Will-power

No man likes to hare any one teil him that he has no will-power. A man'i weakest spot of conccit is the supposition oL a personal .possession of willpower. My friend Bjinks got very wrftthy when a friend told him that ho (Bjinks) hadn't will-power enough to stop chewing tobáceo. "What! Tve got no will-power ? Why, man alive, you don't know me. I'Te quit buckwheat cakes. I used to be a perfect slave to the deadly griddle placqucs. I " "Yes, you've quit them becuse your wife's möther will not allow her rooms to be smoked and scented u any more. ' ' W - well! Isn't my allowing my wife's mother to wet her foot down apon oric of my pleasures ono of the STMldeat manifestations of will-power, l'd like to knowP" clustered Bjinks. "It miglit be ; but, all the same, I reitérate, you haven't got will-power enough to quit chewing tobáceo. "Haven't, hey ? Sec hero, I'm going rabbit-hunting to-morrow. When I retnrn 1 sliall be ble to tell you that I' ve formed a solernn resolution to quit chewing. You can believe me. If there is any one thing more than another that I'rn proud of, i te my inimensc " "Very well. Try it on, nd good luck to you, Bjinks. I suppose you'll come back írom rabbit hunting humpbacked with will-power instead of game. Good morning!" and Bjinks's friend took his departure. 'Tve got no will-power! Humph! I'm proud of my will-power. When 1 put my foot down to do a thing, I do it. A stone wall couldn't turn me out of my way, when I say go. Can't quitchewing! Nonsense! Any man can do a thing when once he sets out to do it. I'll go rabbit-hunting to-morrow, and to show my friend that Tve got will-power enough to pass round among my neighbors, I'll form tho resolution to quit chewing while I'rn on the chase. Will-power! Bah! Only children and weak, puny women haven't any will-power." Thus Bjinks mused as he wended bis way toward his office. All day long lio chewed vigorously. To-morrow he will manifest the stupendous abundance of will-power which can be encompassed in one human frame, 5 foet öj inches, weighing 113 pounda When the roseate blush of early mom peeped through the Windows of the house, Bjinks aróse, got his gun, called his dog, and starteu forth to slay the gentle rabbit. The air was crisp and fresh. Bjinks feit as buoyant as a boy with a little red bpb-sled. He feit ftevr strength withim him. He feels more maiuy, more like one of nature's noblemen, and less a serf to a slavish habjt. His thoughts rove to his childhood's days, when he wore a chip hat and went fishing with a pinhook; when he drove the cows home to milk, and stole cream off the pans in the cellar (when he got a thrashing for that act and various other little mistaken ideas of life too numerous to niention); when he wove the wreath of romance from the pages of a dime novel, and went forth bent for the trackless plains to slay redskins with a hammerless pistol and a brass pair of f:ihse knuckles. All those and various other items connected with his da3'g of freedom illuminated the research of his meniory. He is oneo more free He slaps his hand upon his hippoeket. He halts and stares about him. A cotton-tailed rabbit sits upon its haunches and blinks its cnrious eyes and points its rose-tinted ears at him. 'Great heavens! l've come away without my tob- Pshaw! Howfoolishlam. Aha! will-power. Bjinks; will-power." The rabbit flashed out of sight and the man of stupendous will plodded on in search of tracks. His thoughts went back to his sparking days. The little parlor with a flre iu winter and dampness in summer; this gate that swung without a creak when he entered at eight, but groaned enough to wake the .seven sleepers when he went out at three the next morning; the attenuated bundie of conversation he was wont to throw at his darling seven nights in the week; the pop - the "ycs' - the holy altar of matri "By heavem I must have been a blockhead! Here I am five miles f rom home without my tob - Pshaw! nonsense; will-power, Bjinks; will-power!" It was a struggle. It was a relentless, endless, ceaseless struggle. He saw half a dozen rabbits. He shot at them. He didn't bag a single rabbit. His hand was very unsteady. But he was growing big in his own eyes; for - hjs immense will-power. He hurried over the ground as qviick as possiblo and make tracks for the town. The first man he met was his friend who had twitted him about not having willpower. "Ah! my festive Nimrod. Been shooting, eh? Got a bag I-" "For the sake of Heaven and a suffering man, give me a chow!" groaned Ujinks, abjectedly. "Will-pow -" "Be hanged to it! Tour plug- oh! lluuiks. Good morning;" and Bjinks went home feeling like a man again, but very sensitiva on the question of