"Who are you," said the captain, incredulously, "that claim such knowledge? Are you not the youth I saw with the old hunter at the table to-night? How should you, born in the interior, know about this coast?"

"I was not born in the woods," responded the Lad. "I was born within ten miles of where we are, and I know every rock and reef and point, for I have fished on them all; and I know every beach, for I used to play on them when a boy."

Lightning is scarce quicker than was the motion of Herbert, as he darted forward into the smoke, which was rolling up in great volumes from the front part of the boat.

By this time the forward half of the vessel was almost one sheet of flame. A column of fire rose out of the forward hatch fifty feet into the air, but was mercifully blown onward by the flame. From this the Trapper and the Lad were at least safe, but the flames were now breaking over all restraint. The deck itself was being burnt through, and sections were falling into the hold. The stanchions and timbers of the bulwarks were already in full blaze. The outer edges of the upper deck were girdled with fire. The roof of the pilot-house had begun to kindle. The flames were already eating their way toward the stern, and would soon be in the rear of the two men who were standing half hidden in smoke at a point which would soon be the very centre of the conflagration. But they never flinched. They stood in the exact position where they were when Henry left them; the Trapper still holding the trumpet in his hand, and the Lad still gazing steadfastly ahead.

"Tell them to port two points," said the Lad, quietly. The old man placed the trumpet to his lips, and through the brazen tube his voice poured steady and strong: "The boy says: 'Tell 'em to port two p'ints.' The vessel swayed suddenly to port; and as she leapt away, the Lad said:

"Tell them to hold her steady as she is."

Again the old man lifted his trumpet, and called:

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is.'"

The boy says, 'Tell 'em to hold her steady as she

For a minute not a word was spoken. The steamer tore on through the gloom, lighting her path with the flames. The roof of the pilot-house dropped in, and the smoke and cinders hid the two men from the sight of those, who with prayers on their lips and with agonized faces, were gazing at them from behind.

Suddenly out of the smoke and fire came the tones of the trumpet:

The lad says, 'Tell 'em I hear the surf on the beach.'” Suddenly the starboard half of the upper deck fell with a crash. As it fell those behind saw the lad turn to the Trapper · saw him totter saw him steady himself saw his companion catch him by the arm- saw the old hero, with the sleeve of his coat, that was itself smoking, wipe the cinders from his lips as he lifted the trumpet to his mouth; and out of the black, eddying smoke, as it swept over the three and hid them from sight, bellowed the words, strong as trumpet could send them :

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The lad says:- Tell 'em I see the surf on the beach! Hold her steady as she is.' God

The sentence was never completed. The flat-bottom of the vessel touched the sand - slid along it — and was driven by the momentum of her movements half her length up the beach. Then she rolled over with a great lurch; her smoke-stacks went down with a crash, carrying the upper deck on which they stood with them, and the three men sank from sight in the smoke and fire.— Adirondack Tales.- The Man Who Didn't Know Much.

USÄUS, JOHANN KARL AUGUST, a German satirist; born at Jena, March 29, 1735; died at Weimar, October 28, 1787. He was edu

cated for the ministry, but in 1763 was appointed governor of the pages at the Court of Weimar, and seven

years later he became a professor at the gymnasium. His most popular work is Volkesmärchen der Deutschen, a collection of the popular legends of the Fatherland, which he issued in 1782. Other works, most of which have enjoyed great popularity, are his Deutsche Grandison (1760); Physiognomische Reisen (1778), a keen satire on the works of Lavater; Freund Heins Erscheinungen (1785), written in imitation of Hans Holbein; and Straussfedern (178797), in which the influence of Wieland is apparent. His relative, Kotzebue, has published his posthumous works; and there is a Life of him by Müller. The writings of Musäus are satirical but kindly in tone; they are naïve, and are particularly characterized by delightful humor. He was fond of collecting German folk-lore.

THE GOBLIN BARBER.

The castle lay hard by the hamlet, on a steep rock, right opposite the inn, from which it was divided merely by the highway and a little gurgling brook. The edifice was still kept in repair, for it served the owner as a hunting-lodge; so soon as the stars began to twinkle he retired, however, with his whole retinue, to escape the mischief of the ghost, who rioted about in it the whole night, but by day gave no disturbance. Unpleasant as the owner felt this spoiling of his mansion by a bugbear, the nocturnal sprite was not without advantages, for the great security it gave from thieves. The count could have appointed no trustier or more watchful keeper over the castle than this same spectre, for the rashest troop of robbers never ventured to approach its station. Accordingly he knew of no safer place for laying up his valuables than this old tower in the hamlet of Rummelsburg, near Rheinburg. [A brave youth passes a night in the castle under the following circumstances.] There stalked in a long, lean man, with a black beard, in ancient

garb, and with a gloomy countenance, his eyebrows hanging down in deep earnestness from his brow. Over his right shoulder he had a scarlet cloak, and on his head a peaked cap. With a heavy step he walked thrice in silence up and down the chamber; looked at the consecrated tapers, and snuffed them that they might burn brighter. Then he threw aside his cloak, girded on a scissors pouch, produced a set of shaving-tackle, and immediately began to whet a sharp razor on the broad strap which he wore at his girdle. Franz anxiously speculated on the object of this manoeuvre, not knowing whether it was meant for his throat or his beard. To his comfort, the goblin poured some water from a silver flask into a basin of silver, and with his skinny hand lathered the soap into a light foam; then set a chair, and beckoned, with a solemn look, to the quaking looker-on to come forth from his recess. The operation finished, Franz heartily deplored the loss of his fair brown locks; but took fresh breath as he observed that with this sacrifice, the ghost had no more power over him. Scarcely, however, was Redcloak gone three steps when he paused, looked round with a mournful expression at his well-served customer, and stroked the flat of his hand over his black busy beard. So he beckoned to the ghost to take the seat from which he had himself just risen. The goblin instantly obeyed, and he scraped the ghost as bald as he himself was. The action now became dramatic. Stranger," said the ghost, "accept my thanks for the service thou hast done me. By thee I am delivered from the long imprisonment which has chained me for three hundred years within these walls, till a mortal hand should retaliate on me what I practised on others in my lifetime. Of old a reckless scorner dwelt within this tower: I was his castle-barber. Many a pious pilgrim have I shaved smooth and bald, and packed him out of doors. In this the scoffer took his pleasure, laughing with a devilish joy. Once a saintly. man from foreign lands spoke a heavy malison upon me: 'Know, accursed man, that when thou diest, heaven and hell are shut against thy soul. As goblin it shall rage within these walls, till, unbid, a traveler exercise retaliation on thee.' That hour I faded like a shadow, my