gladdens the eye.

The banks of some streams are covered with ferns in size all the way from the tiny maiden hair, so exquisite and beautiful, up to the great tree ferns with their rich, luxuriant tops, charming the eye with every tint of green. In some places we are in what seems to be a tropical jungle-the whole resolving itself into a chamber of beauty.

The roads are kept in splendid style, and it is delightful to ride through some of the wooded districts, with beauty all around, the sunshine filtering through the foliage upon our pathway. What can the person be who is not fond of beautiful things?

The mountains and hills are covered with forests of eucalyptus, myrtle, jarrah, tallow-wood, iron bark, and other trees; here the lyre bird is heard imitating every sound of the bush, magpies are piping, kookaburras laughing, cockatoos shrieking, parrots are chattering in the branches of the trees-the woods are enlivened by these and other birds of brilliant plumage, flying to and fro.

Among the animals are dingoes, (wild dogs), native bears, kangaroos, wallabys, wallaroos, bandicoots, and padymelons. There is almost a total absence of all forms of mammalia, their place being supplied by a great variety of marsupials.

The country is not devoid of excellencies, as some may imagine; splendid government buildings strike the vision, and there are railways, colleges, and universities, of which the people may be justly proud.

Australia, when discovered, lay in the possession of the tribal blacks found on the land. These aborigines are a peculiar race; rather slender in features, averse to being closely housed, preferring an outdoor life, and, though regarded as being unusually low in the scale of intelligence, are in some of their perceptions remarkably acute. They are anything but good looking. Among them are men known as trackers, because of their ability to trail a person over rocks, fields, and hills, their eyes being employed with their knowledge of nature in the tracing of the tracks. Being able to trail with considerable rapidity they are sometimes used to track criminals where crime has been committed in outlying districts. The origin of the blacks is unknown; they have straight or curly black hair, and in color are a little lighter than the African negroes. They form but a small percentage of the total population, and in numbers are fast decreasing.

Many of the cities have received their names from the language of the blacks, such as Bulahdelah, Coopernook, Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie, Ghinni Ghinni, and Barraganyatti; as many of the names of our own cities have been taken from the language of the aborigines of our country.

On the streets of the larger cities one's attention is attracted to the ever present Chinese vegetable merchant, with a bamboo pole on his shoulder, from each end of which hangs a heavy basket of vegetables, and one hears the cry of the rabbit man, "Wild rabbits, oh! Wild rabbits, oh!" a familiar cry to Australians.

HE Cadets' Special bored its way southward to the "Ancient cradle of American civilization," as John Morris read it in a hand book hastily selected from the public library. He also found himself getting acquainted with little groups of the train's merry company. Sidney Burrells seemed to know everyone and was in turn a favorite, so his new friend found ready access to the best folks aboard. It is human, however, to gravitate into some certain little clique, and before the second day, our John found himself on pleasant terms with the coterie that centered around the Lovemore family. As this group is the one with which we shall have most to do, we may here set them down in all the beauty of their constellation. First, there was old Colonel Lovemore, his wife, and daughter Alice, their distinguished guest, the Honorable Baddington-Burke; the Colonel's sister, Mrs. Arabella May, and daughter Mabelle; then there was Mrs. Marcy Prowd, Miss Berti Prowd, and Sergeant Jack Daunty Prowd; Lieutenant Lang and Captain Carruthers were attentive between times, and the chaplain, Rev. Rodney Rotte, always seemed "come to stay" until little Miss Euphemia Fribbles, "educator" would appear and he would soon be missing, leaving her to the tender mercies of Herr Professor Doderstofft, Egyptologist, who with his compatriot, Henri Vondhorst, and Sergeant Alvord Burrells complete our party for the present.

John Morris was attracted by the studious mien of the professor's younger friend, and while Sidney Burrells was flitting up and down the train, they made some headway in friendship in spite of the difference of tongues. By a fortunate stroke, both were acquainted with Esperanto. John taught the public library class at home and Vondhorst by a vest pocket manual of the system which he carried. For want of something better they practiced upon John's guide book to Yucatan, when time fell heavy the while the train rushed south.

It was during one of these sessions that John's ears pricked up at some chatter that wafted over from two of the Lovemore group. It was Baddington and the chaplain discussing learnedly before

the professor, to show him how much he didn't know. "You will be absorbed, my dear Baddington, in the contemplation of these barbaric monuments, with your vast experiences in the far east you will so much more easily trace the genealogy of our native preaborigines in the crumbling records of their labors. I see in my mind's eye-squinting behind his blue glasses-the trail across southern Asia, the wearisome journey up and along the coast, the passage across to our own Alaska, then onward, fleeing from the cold and privation of the north, to the tropical luxuriance of which their traditions told, to be at length rewarded in the possession of their desire."

"Yaas!" answered Baddington, "By Jove, what a chance for some bright chaps to put in a track and some engines, y'know." "The commercial features of course have their import, yet the time is hardly ripe for such comparatively modern conveniences!" returned the chaplain rather petulantly. "From what I know of those chaps, there is the East Indian," Baddington resumed, "you couldn't make 'em go very far from home. They'll stick by the bones of their grandfathers for a century of generations and then sit down and stay awhile; why should they ever want to come over to your country, my dear reverend?"

"No proper reason can be adduced," complacently dodged the chaplain. "They were children of primitive intellect and simply followed some blind impulse, mere automatons, I would say, with no more forethought than that which governs my dog at home as he moves round the house, sometimes for sunshine, sometimes for shadow in which to enjoy a nap."

"Barhaps dose beoples followed mit der sun," interposed the professor, "it wouldt seem to me der more like nature-der twist of der tree, der resbonse of der flora, der seasons, der migration of der birds, der rosy sidt of der peach, der march of civilization-all, all to follow der sun's trek."

"But how would they cross the blessed watah?" objected Baddington, "you won't let 'em have engines and rails y'know, so you can't allow 'em ships and boilers, b'jove!"

"Then, said the chaplain, siezing on the advantage, "we must fall back on the story of Atlantis, the lost continent, mere tradition and fable."

And having thus disposed of the question he settled back in his parlor chair and folded his fat fingers, certain rings bearing lodge insignia coming into full play.

But the stolid professor was not perturbed, and continued, "How then iss it? I was of der obinion dot dose beoples of so long a journey are not likely to acquire the art of arditecture by gypsying aroundt all ofer der vorldt; it iss der beoples of der 'stay-at-home' kindt which are der great builders by force of habit, in oder wordts, "The rolling stone gathers no mortar.'

"And y'know, I rather like that follow the sun ideah," added Baddington, "like stirring a cup of tea, you know, to get the flavah!" Doderstofft nodded gravely and mused, "Wes'ward der feetmarks of progress points der way. Haf you ever heardt der egsplanation

offered dot our ancient friends vas der remnants of der lost ten tribes of Israel? I read dot in der chournal of Manesseh Ben Israel, a rabbi of Amsterdam who wrote on der subject to der Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and gafe many goodt reasons in his book, der Hope of Israel, aboudt 1650."

For the first time John Morris' voice joined in; "Professor, I would like you to put me in touch with the work you refer to; I have read some of Prescott's works which suggest similar views." The professor seemed glad to hear some one apparently anxious to take up his presentation, and readily acquiesced to John's request, but before he arose from his chair a little crowd of ladies came in from the observation platform and there was some bowing and scraping to do. John's attention became centered on the Reverend Rodney's expression, as a prim little woman cornered that august old bachelor and lodge chaplain and sought a solution to some problem which was just "bothering her girls to death."

Again the pudgy tips of his fingers met as he tried to look interested behind his blue specks, but so far as rendering a decision was concerned, all he had to do was to listen and then agree, for Miss Fribbles was counsel, bench, and jury box all in one, her chin was one point of visible friction in her rapid fire battery of plea, rebuttal, charge to the jury, and decision. John Morris wondered what it was all about. He noted the trembling ends of her motor veil as she talked, the flinty looking shirt waist, the somber gown and the beetle-like patent leather belt, and felt sorry for the Rev. Rodney Rotte and then

Just one of those psychological accidents or happenings-John's gaze went past the two and met the eyes of Alice Lovemore, (yes! and Mabelle Mays'), in a roguish smile behind the covers of a magazine, and they made but a sorry effort to hide their discomfiture at being caught laughing over the plight of the Reverend Rodney.

John Morris always counted this incident as their real introduction, although they had formally met several days before at the cadets' reception, and now he found himself in her most pleasant company quite frequently; it is true that he must share that honor with certain nattily dressed gentlemen and ladies of the party, but there always lingered a sense of his being welcome, and this was the more pleasing as he felt unequal to the effort of keeping up with the Reverend Rotte, Baddington, Captain Carruthers, Sergeant Jack Prowd, and several other dashing fellows who dearly loved a hand at cards. And when Mrs. Marcy Prowd and Miss Berti took a hand also, that end of the car was uninhabitable to Brother John, and he would seek relief in a stroll through the Cadets' Special with Henri Vondhorst. On one of these trips he passed Miss Euphemia Fribbles, whose averted eyes gainsaid the whispered word he barely caught in the rumble of the train, but a swift glance at her companions confirmed it-they were looking at him as though he were some strange creature or freak of nature. "I beg your pardon, ma'am," said John quickly, "but did that refer to me?"

The snappy little eyes of Miss Fribbles turned on him defiantly; she had not expected this. "I merely made a remark privately, to my friend here," she said, "but if you want to know; yes, I said, 'Mormon'; for that's what you are. I've seen you on the stand in the park at home, just before the Union Service. Why, I can't see what the city officials can be thinking about—just a lot of

"Pardon me, again," interrupted Brother John, "but I've no objection to your views so long as they are at least fair to me. When you said Mormon, did you mean to infer a disciple of Brigham Young and his teachings? If so, I must ask you to take it back; you admit you have heard our people at the Park, so must have heard the difference explained and how the courts of our own State have sustained our opposition to the Utah church. That is all," and tipping his hat to Miss Fribbles' company, John went on his way, with a vague foreboding that fighting loomed ahead.

Could he have seen the agitation of the Fribbles chin which marked his retiring from ear shot, he would have been more than convinced that his surmise was correct; but instead he blundered on out to the rear of the train, right into the company of Alice Lovemore and her chum Mabelle, Sidney Burrells, Lieutenant Lang, and, thank goodness, one more, Mrs. Lovemore, otherwise he would have had to retreat; but Sidney's cheery, "Come on, Morris, we just needed one more to make a cozy party!" put him at his ease. He was soon chatting in his best mood with the white haired lady; indeed, he felt this some recompense for missing his own mother, and found himself expressing as much to his elderly partner while the other young folks talked the nonsense care-free youth is wont to cherish. The stars twinkled long in the clear southern skies, till finally the word was passed, "Lights out," and Brother John found himself assisting the ladies to "break camp" as Lieutenant Lang called it; Mrs. Lovemore a benign rear-guard following, with gentle eye upon our hero and her daughter.

"To-morrow we will be in New Orleans, papa says; and the cadets will parade at four. We shall view them from the balcony of the Continental. Won't you make one of our party, Mr. Morris? Make him promise, mamma." So of course Brother John promised and said good-night with many thanks.

And the morning found the Cadets' Special creeping into the heart of the southern city, the cadets all astir and hustling to squeeze into their uniforms and stretch their legs upon the pavement again. An hour later they were mustered beside the train, and with shakos nodding, and with jaunty step were marching to temporary quarters in the Armory placed at their disposal by the entertaining battalion, a guard of honor of whom preceded them. through streets ablaze with bunting.

(To be continued.)