A Mason's Story.

" Say no more , I beg of you , Mr . Pelham , " replied Mary , " for I could not love such as you were I as free as air to-morrow . Love you , " she continued , indignantly ; " why , it is a piece of impertinence for you to compare yourself with Penrhyn Falconer . He would scorn to be mentioned in the same breath with you , ancl I would scorn to think of you at the same moment as he . " " All right , Miss Mary , " was the sneering rejoinder , as , with a curious

smile , peculiarly his own , he loft her . " All right , we shall see . " Mary saw no more of him that clay . She speedily- recovered her equanimity , and rejoined her mother , who was busily engaged in getting ready the luncheon . She had come to enjoy herself , and she did enjoy herself . Roamingalone , in the deep woods which environ the lake , ancl inhaling the sweet scent of the manifoldbeautiful flowerswhich Uhland so poetically named "stars

, , that shine in the firmament of the earth , " she seemed to draw nearer to that heavenly influence which , as Arnold says , " makes for righteousness ; " and thus , with mind ancl reason expanding , she advanced to meet Penrhyn , who was travelling to a knowledge of that first great cause which set the machinery of this and other planets in motion . As for Pelham , nobody saw him that clay . He did not make bis appearance

at luncheon , ancl he was not missed . He turned up as the steamer moored alongside the landing , and he maintained an imperturbable silence during the journey home . ( To be continued ) .

Furness Abbey.

FURNESS ABBEY .

BY W . M . BRAITHWAITE . Let Layard quarry Nineveh , or Bartlett boat the Nile , Or AlpUonse weave his Gallic lays o ' er Baalbec ' s rained pile ; Let any boast the magic charm that lingers round the shrine Of Attic templesRoman grovesand scenes of Palestine .

, , What boots it that a British child should seek for pleasure there , While PnrneB 8 haunted Abbey stands , and waves her woodland fair ? IT is very strange , but in all the ponderous volumes which we have on our ancient abbeys , castles , and monasteries , scarcely any speak of Furness Abbey . Why this should be so I cannot imagine . Furness Abbey in size is

the second in the kingdom , ancl in ruins is the most complete . A local historian , the Rev . Thomas West , in his "Antiquities of Furness , " gives the following as the dimensions of the church , which only formed the north side of the Abbey : —Inside length , from east to west , 275 feet 8 inches ; thickness of east end wall and buttress , 8 feet 7 inches ; thickness of west end wall , 9 feet 7 inches ; extreme length of church , 304 feet 6 inches ; total width of east end ,

38 feet . Inside length of transept , 130 feet ; whole breadth of transept , 37 feet . Whole width of nave 74 feet ; height 54 feet . The inside of the chapter-house is 60 feet by 45 feet 6 inches . The area of the quadrangular court , 338 feet 6 inches by 102 feet 6 inches . In a fabric of such immense dimensions as this , feelings of great devotion and awe must have been raised—emotions of deep sublimity and reverence awakened , as