portant-looking letter. She opened it, glanced at an outer sheet inclosing several pages in a different handwriting, and passed it on to me. "We must read the rest together," she said in a low voice, glancing at the children who were at the table; "how interesting it will be!" The sheet she had handed to me was a short note from Mr. Grenfell. It was dated from some place in Norway where he was fishing, and from whence he had addressed the whole packet to my sister's own home, not knowing of her absence. "Yours very truly, "RALPH GRENFELL." The manuscript enclosed was of course from Sir Robert himself. It was in the form of a letter to young Grenfell, and after explaining that he thought it better to write to him, not having my address, he plunged into the real object of his communication. china collecting shows it only too plainly.' So I thought I had better leave off crossquestioning my collecting friends about porcelain and faience, German ware in particular. And after a while I thought no more about it. Two months ago I had occasion to make a journey to the north the same journey and to stay at the same house where I have been four or five times since I saw the ghost-cup. But this was what happened this time. There is a junction by which one must pass on this journey. I generally manage to suit my trains so as to avoid waiting there, but this is not always feasible. This time I found that an hour at the junction was inevitable. There is a very good refreshment room there, kept by very civil, decent people. They knew me by sight, and after I had had a cup of tea they proposed to me, as they have done before, to wait in their little parlor just off the public room. It would be quieter and more comfortable,' said either the mother or the daughter who manage the concern. I thanked them, and settled myself in an armchair with my book, when, looking up-there on the mantelpiece stood the fellow cup the identical shape, pattern, and color! It all flashed into my mind then. I had made this journey just before going into your neighborhood last year, and had waited in this little parlor just as this time. 666 Where did you get that cup, Mrs. Smith?' I asked. "There were two or three rather pretty bits of china about. The good woman was pleased at my noticing it. "Yes, sir. Isn't it pretty? I've rather a fancy for china. That cup was sent me by my niece. She said she'd picked it up somewhere - at a sale I think. It's foreign, sir, isn't it?' 66 6 'Yes, German. But can't you find out where your niece got it?' for at the word 'sale' my hopes fell. "You will not," he said, "have forgotten the incident of the ghost cup in the summer of last year, and the curious story your friend was so good as to tell us about it. You may remember Mrs. will, I am sure, do so — - my strong impression that I had recently seen one like it. After I left you I could not get this feeling out of my head. It is always irritating not to be able, figuratively speaking, to lay your hand' on a recollection, and in this instance I really wanted to get the clue, as it might lead to some sort of explanation of the little girl's strange experience. I cudgelled my brains, but all to no purpose; I went over in memory all the houses at which I had visited within a certain space of time; I made lists of all the people I knew interested in china, ancient or modern, and likely to possess specimens of it. But all in vain. All 1 got for my pains was that people began to think I was developing a new crotchet, or, as I heard one lady say to another, noting more at present. She gave his adknowing I was within earshot, 'The poor man must be a little off his head, though till now I have always denied it. But the revulsion from benevolent schemes to "I can ask her. I shall be writing to her this week,' she replied; and she prom. ised to get any information she could for me within a fortnight, by which time I expected to pass that way again. I did so, and Mrs. Smith proved as good as her word. The niece had got the cup from a friend of hers, an auctioneer, and he, not she, had got it at a sale. But he was away from home-she could hear noth dress, however, and assurances that he was very good-natured and would gladly put the gentleman in the way of getting china like it, if it was to be got. He =3:!-3⪜dZI"" སྡ E" would be home by the middle of the gerly. And where was that?' I asked ea 'It At a sale some miles from here, "But I interrupted him by assuring "The auctioneer's face cleared. He fancied he began to understand me. "I am afraid you are right, sir, if the person you mean was young Mr. Paulet, the lady's son. You may have met him on his travels? His death was very sad, I believe. It killed his mother, they say - she never looked up after, and as she had no near relative to follow her, every. thing was sold. I remember I was told all that at the sale, and it seemed to me particularly sad, even though one comes across many sad things in our line of business.' 666 'Do you remember the particulars of Mr. Paulet's death?' I asked. "Only that it happened suddenly – somewhere in foreign parts. I did not know the family, till I was asked to take charge at the sale,' he replied. "Could you possibly get any details "The auctioneer considered. "I thanked him and left him my address, to which he promised to write. I felt it was perhaps better not to pursue my inquiries further in person; it might lead to annoyance, or possibly to gossip about the dead, which I detest. I jotted down some particulars for the auctioneer's guidance, and went on my way. That was a fortnight ago. To-day I have his answer, which I transcribe: "'SIR, not tell me very much, as she was not The servant I spoke of could long in the late Mr. Paulet's service. To the relations of the family. Young Mr. hear more, she says, you must apply to . looking. His mother and he were deeply Paulet was tall and fair and very nice attached to each other. He travelled a good deal and used to bring her home lots cup "This," continued Sir Robert's own letter, "is all I have been able to learn. There does not seem to have been the very slightest suspicion of foul play, nor do I think it the least likely there was any ground for such. Young Paulet probably died some way further in the forest than Silberbach, and it is even pos. sible the surly landlord never heard of it. It might be worth while to inquire about it should your friends ever be there again. If I should be in the neighborhood 1 certainly should do so; the whole coincidences are very striking." Then followed apologies for the length of his letter which he had been betrayed into by his anxiety to tell all there was to tell. In return he asked Mr. Grenfell to obtain from me certain dates and particu lars, as he wished to note them down. It was the 18th of August on which Nora's ghost" had appeared just two years after the August of the poor young man's death! There was also a postscript to Sir Robert's letter, in which he said, "I think, in Mrs. —'s place, I would say nothing to the little girl of what we have discovered." And I have never done so. This is all I have to tell. I offer no suggestions, no theories in explanation of the facts. Those who, like Sir Robert Masters, are able and desirous to treat such subjects scientifically or philosophically will doubtless form their own. I cannot say that I find his theory a perfectly satisfactory one, perhaps I do not sufficiently understand it, but I have tried to give it in his own words. Should this matter-of-fact relation of a curious experience meet his eyes, I am sure he will forgive my having brought him into it. Besides, it is not likely that he would be recognized; men, and women too, of "pe culiar ideas," sincere investigators and honest searchers after truth, as well as their superficial plagiarists, being by no to the credit of our age be it said rare in these days. means LOUISA MOLESWORTH. From The Leisure Hour. how some have preferences in music, and express these preferences; how some are soothed and others cheered by it; and how not a few have marked musical aptitude, and can be trained to comprehend and reproduce both melody and rhythm. To begin with the dog. Dogs appear in very many cases to be painfully affected by music. On hearing it they grow restless, moan piteously, and at last make their escape from the spot with every sign of distress. Street organ-grinding seems highly objectionable to them, and some dogs continue to howl all the time the instrument is playing. There is a well-authenticated case of a dog which, having once heard the violin played, used to utter the most dismal complaints whenever he saw any one lay a hand on the instrument. He did not even wait till the bow had touched the strings. Instances have also been recorded of dogs trembling at music as if terrified. OUR present purpose is to treat of the influence exerted on animals by the music of man. How men are affected by the singing, croaking, howling, and trumpet-" ing of birds and beasts we all know; let us see how they get on as listeners to our performances. It is a curious subject, for our music produces on animals from the elephant to the spider-effects even more singular than it exerts on the human race. It has occasionally proved fatal to them. Dr. Mead tells of a violinist of his acquaintance who noticed that his dog exhibited symptoms of great suffering on hearing a certain passage. He had the cruelty to repeat it over and over again in order to study the effect, and in the end the poor animal dropped at his feet and died in the most horrid convulsions." Some dogs only give utterance to their feelings on hearing particular tones and combinations of tones, and they howl with pleasure or howl with pain, according as these prove agreeable or disagreeable to their sensitive ears. Berlioz speaks of a dog which howled with delight on hearing A French writer points out that of all the major third played on two strings of the arts music is the only one which ani- the violin, but was quite indifferent to mals, fools, and idiots seem able to appre-fifths, sixths, and octaves. A dog that ciate. We never hear of dogs and cats amateurs in painting, or of birds putting a little of the aesthetic into the architecture of their nests. The fact is that musiccapable though it be of intellectual development appears to rest on a physical basis common to all living creatures. "The perception, if not the enjoyment, of musical cadences and of rhythm," says the late Mr. Darwin, "is probably common to all animals, and no doubt depends on the common physiological nature of their nervous systems." The following notes will serve to show how extremely likely this is. We shall observe how some of these lower creatures -just like ourselves - exhibit signs of delight on hearing music, whilst others are greatly distressed by it; how some have an antipathy to particular sounds; could recognize fifths is mentioned by M. Casimir Colomb in his "La Musique." Discords are readily noticed by some dogs. Mrs. S. C. Hall, "when residing at Old Brompton, possessed an Italian greyhound which screamed in apparent agony when a jarring combination of notes was produced accidentally or intentionally on the piano." Other dogs have been seen to sit and listen to music with great delight, and even to go every Sunday to church with the obvious purpose (?) of enjoying the solemn and powerful strains of the organ." "Cats as a rule," says Mr. Gordon Stables, "do not like music, although if brought up in a musical family they learn to tolerate it." Mr. J. G. Wood tells of a cat which disliked music of all kinds, but bore a special antipathy to barrel-organs. | to discriminate between different sounds; The same writer mentions an exceptional they never mistake one call for another.' cat of artistic taste which touched with her paw the lips of those who whistled a tune, as if pleased with the sound. Mr. Stables, however, speaking of a similar instance, draws a different conclusion, and says that pussy no doubt fancied the whistler was in some sort of anguish. On the musical taste of the rabbit some curious particulars were furnished ten or twelve years ago by a lady to an Edin. burgh periodical. She tells that when the harmonium was played upon, her pet rabbit flew frantically at the instrument and violently scratched the legs till the player paused. If she went to the piano, however, and played on that, bunny was as frantic with delight as he was before with anger, giving vent to his joy by running incessantly round and round the music stool. Rats have an ear for music, and have been taught to dance in cadence on a rope to the sound of instruments. The fond ness of mice for music is well known; it sometimes amounts to ecstasy, and gives rise to frantic action, ending even in death. Horses are certainly musical a fact Lorenzo reminds Jessica of when the musicians interrupt them as they sit in the moonlight and watch the star-spangled sky. Jes. I am never merry when I hear sweet music. Lor. The reason is your spirits are attentive; Which is the hot condition of their blood; The horse can distinguish between musical notes. "There was a work-horse of my own,' says Mr. Stephens, in his "Book of the Farm," "when even at his corn would desist eating and listen attentively, with pricked and moving ears and steady eyes, the instant he heard the note low G sounded, and would continue to listen so long as it was sustained; and another that was similarly affected by a particularly high note. The recognition of the sound of the bugle by a trooper, and the excitement occasioned in the hunter when the pack give tongue, are familiar instances of the power of horses The educated horse of the circus owes a great deal to the influence of music; he marches, trots, gallops, advances, retires, and even dances to the lively strains of the orchestra. He can also be taught to perform music on his own account, and to beat a kettledrum with his fore feet. Recognizing the love of horses for music, a wealthy enthusiast in the latter part of the seventeenth century had regular concerts provided for the benefit of his stud. Jacques Bonnet, when in Holland in 1688, visited the stable, and saw there the raised orchestra, from which, once a week, a selection of favorite airs was played to cheer up the spirits of the listening animals. On sheep and cattle, music, both vocal and instrumental, has a highly beneficial effect. There is a poetic saying among the Arabs that the song of the shepherd fattens the sheep more than the richest pasture of the plains, and the saying rests no doubt on a foundation of fact. Eastern shepherds are in the habit of singing and piping to quicken the action of the flocks under their charge. A lamb which had a discriminating ear is mentioned by Mr. J. G. Wood. It delighted in brisk and lively tunes, such as are set for polkas and quadrilles, but ab horred all slow and solemn compositions. This frivolous lamb "had the deepest detestation for the National Anthem, and would set up such a continuous baa-baa as soon as its ears were struck with the unwelcome sounds, that the musician was fain to close the performance, being si lenced by mirth if not by pity." When cows are sulky, milkmaids in the Highlands of Scotland often sing to them the oxen that work in the fields are reguto restore them to good humor. In France larly sung to as an encouragement to exertion, and no peasant has the slightest doubt but that the animals listen to him with pleasure. Deer are delighted with the sound of music.. Playford, in his "Introduction to Music," says, "Myself, as I travelled some years since near Royston, met a herd of stags, about twenty, upon the road, following a bagpipe and violin. When the music played they went forward, when it ceased they all stood still, and in this manner they were brought up out of Yorkshire to Hampton Court. Even lions and bears come under the charm. Sir John Hawkins, in his "History of Music," quotes an author who speaks of a lion he had seen in London | their fangs extracted, but this is not inva that would forsake his food to listen to a tune. Bears too have from the earliest times been taught to dance to the sound of music. Elephants have good ears, and may be trained as musical performers. Qnite recently, a small elephant, with a surprising amount of cultivated intelligence, was exhibited in London. Amongst other feats, it played a whole band of music at once: there were bells on its head, and it used its trunk and fore feet to other instru ments. About the beginning of this century an experimental concert was given to the elephants in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris by a number of musicians in the first rank in their profession. From the results of this performance some interesting conclusions were drawn. It was observed that it was not the rhythm only that acted on the elephants, since the same air moved them or left them indifferent, according to the key in which it was played. It was not the key either which alone influenced them, for several airs played in the same key produced different effects. The cheering influence of music is seen in the case of camels. During their long and painful marches the conductors of caravans often comfort their camels by playing on instruments. The music has such an effect that, however fatigued they may be by their heavy loads, the animals step out with renewed vigor. Monkeys have a keen ear for rhythm, and have been taught to dance to music on the tightrope. Bourdelot speaks of a monkey, whom all Paris at one time went to see, who, dressed as a woman, danced a minuet in cadence with his master. Seals are very fond of music, and have been known to follow a boat for a long distance in which some one was playing. Their taste in this direction was well known to the ancients, and is often taken advantage of by hunters at the present day. According to some authorities, seal shooters should always be accompanied by a piper in order to entice the animals to destruction, and they assert that the seal prefers the sound of the bagpipe to that of any other instrument. We come now to speak of music in connection with serpents. Few things are more extraordinary than the calming influence exerted over the cobra-capello and other poisonous snakes by the shrill, monotonous ditties of the serpent-charmers | of India. It has been said that the snakes exhibited by the snake-charmers have had riably the case; and observations worthy of credit have been recorded, not only in India but in other parts of the world, of serpents, untamed and in possession of the most deadly powers, becoming docile and harmless whilst there was music in the air. They have even allowed themselves to be played with, and have nestled peaceably for days in the charmer's turban. Sir J. G. Tennant, in his "Natural History of Ceylon," mentions an instance, about which there can be no doubt, of a snake charmer's music inducing a large cobra to leave its hole and perform certain antics at the word of command. Another instance may be quoted from General Campbell's "Indian Journal.” A large cobra had been charmed by music out of a well in which he had taken up his abode. Having caught him in a horsehair noose they carried him to an open space of ground and there released him. "The enraged snake immediately made a rush at the bystanders, putting to flight a crowd of native servants who had assembled to witness the sport. The snakecharmer, tapping him on the tail with a switch, induced him to turn upon himself, at the same time sounding his pipe. The snake coiled himself up, raised his head, expanded his hood, and appeared about to strike; but instead of doing so he remained in the same position, as if fascinated by the music, darting out his slender, forked tongue, and following with his head the motion of the man's knee, which he kept moving from side to side, within a few inches of him, as if tempting him to bite. No sooner did the music cease than the snake dashed forward with such fury that it required great agility on the part of the man to avoid him, and immediately made off as fast as he could go. The sound of the pipe, however, invariably made him stop, and obliged him to remain in an erect position as long as the man continued to play." Certain Indian snakes are called "dancing snakes," from their delight in music and their movements in concert with it. They follow with a swaying to and fro of their bodies all the undulations of the tune, and give evident signs both of pleasure and pain. The lizard seems possessed of a remarkable share of musical sensibility. When a lizard is warming itself in the sun, if singing or instrumental music catches its ear it immediately takes various attitudes which testify to the pleasure |