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8e.-3tember 18. Letion XIIâ€" The Re- ports of the Spiesâ€" Numbers 13: 1-3, 25-33. Golden Textâ€" The Lord Is the strength of my life; of whiom shall I be afraid?â€" Psalm 27: 1. ANALYSIS. I. THE SPIES DESPATCHED, VS. 1-3. II. CONFUCTING REPORTS, VS. 25-29, 31-33. III. THE MINORITY REPORT, VS. 30. I. THE SPIES DESPATCHED, VS. 1-3. Israel had bean for some time in the wilderness of Paran. Meanwhile they nad consumed the all too slight produce which the w'Merness yielded them. Their flock.s and herds 'lad cropped bare the scanty verdure of the oasis where they were en>;amped. The flesh-poi-i of Egypt lay behind them, and the land ''flowing with milk and honey" before them. Their posi- tioi. was becoming intolerable. God himself, they belie /ed, was in the necessity which -.vad driving them on. They cast their lean and hungry eyes longingly on the fertile land of Can- aan. Thio was the land wf promise, sworn to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and also to Moses, Gen. 12: 7; Exod. 13: 11. Before it could be appropriat- ed it must be reeonnditre'i. Some knowledge must bo gained of the char- acter of its popiilation, the quality of its soil, and ti;e type of towns to be found in it, vs. 18-20. In ancient as in modern times it has bsen the prac- tice to obtain recret information by means of spies as a preliminary to warlike movenie.:ts. Twelve spies vere sent â€" one from each tribe. This â- was a wise Ticasure It would Te- cludt tribal jealousies; nor could any tribe at a later date claim that they had ueen induced to invade Canaan undei false pretences In ;-,onding out the spies, Israel was observing an en- d-ring necessity of life. Man is not content to live in ignorance of the world about him. "Our spirits yearn," said Faust, "for revelation." The practice of sending out spies has been tr?.nsmuted in'o the nobler pursuits of science, art, literature and, above all, religion. All of these rei. resent valiant attempts to determine the na- t. re of reality in life and the \orld. II. CONFLICTING REPORTS, VS. 25-29, 31-33. When the spies rLturned they spoke excitedly and confuse<ny of all that they had seen. The one group (vs. 27- 29) tried to give a bal.inced account in which justice would be done to both the advantages and disadvantages of pro^eading against Canaan. They acknowledged that it was rich and fe tile. "It was a land 'flowing with milk and honey' " â€" both cf which were articles of food greatly prized among a nomadic or an agricultural people. As a guarantee of the truth of what they said, they exhibited the prodi- gious cluster of gripes which they had carried off from (he district about Hebron, v. 23. Over against these more favorable features, however, they asserted that the land was al- ready inhabited by a strong popula- tion. The Canaanites dwelt in walled cities which it would be difficult for the sons of the desert to capture. In this they acknowledged the superior- i,. of the material civilization of the Canaanites in contrast to their own more rudimentary civilization of the desert. For the Can. aniles had long dwelt in a land which had been c oss- fcrtilized by the great civilizations of Ef.bylon and of Egypt. They declared also (v. 29) that the population of the land was mixed rather than uni- form. There were deposits of popula- ti A from the great Hittite Empire of Asia Minor and from the Amorite r.ngdom of north Syria while the A:.ialekites, a fierce tribe of nomads, loamed at will in the barren steppe land to the south of Oanaan. Another %roup (vs. 31-33) were out and out pessimists. Their report was wholly unfavorable. They lost sight of the glorious objective and fastened .heir a'tention only on the dangers, an I the probabilities of faili:re. They laid stress on the unsuitable nature of the country which "eateth up" its in- habitants, â€" meaning either that its climate was trying, o' that it did not produce enough to support its people. It was the gigantic stature of the people, however, which most impress- ed them. They compared the Anakites to the gants, or Nephilim, which, ac- cording to Gen. 6: 4, were a race of demi-irods. "These men are trying to find the strongest possible language for expressing the terribleness of the gigantic Anakites; and this they effect by saying that the Anakites are veritable demigods." Now this evil report would readily find an open ear among people who were already suffering; it tended to depress their spirits and to dissuade them from the project of advancing into Canaan. The trouble with pessimism is that it diminishes our vitality. III. THE MINORITY REPORT, VS. 30. Another trouble with pessimism is that it does not .ake all the facts into account. It leaves out the greatest Fact of all, which is God himself. Fortunately there was among the spies one, Caleb, who saw not only the drawbacks and the dangers, but also the gracious God who, with soveriMgn power, was presiding over the destiny of Israel. Th'i i thers were in one way or another materialists; but Caleb saw the Invisible, and secin:j h'm he had the a.ssiirance (â- { victory. "We are well able to overcome it." Says Blood Spots in Eggs Normal and Unharmful Fears of housewives that blood i^pots in eggs indicate a lack of fresh- ness or that such eggs are not fit for food are not warranted in most in- stances, according to Professor C. S. Piatt, poultry husbandman at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Sta- tion, who says blood spots may be found in strictly fresh eggs and in eggs that are normal in all other respects. The cause of a blood spot is the rupture of a small membrane in the sae which envelopes the yolk before its release into the fowl's oviduct, where albumen and shell are added to make the complete egg. Often only a small blood vessel is ruptured and the blood spot is hardly discernible. At other times sufficient blood may accumulate on the yolk to cause a de- cided discoloration of both yolk and •white of the egg. "When the blood becomes diffused throughout the white," Professor Piatt explains, "the egg should not be con- sidered as edible. When there is only a small speck of blood on the yolk, however, there is no reason for dis- carding the egg. After the egg is broken the blood spot can be removed with a fork or spoon and the egg used for any desired purpose. "The presence of this small amount of blood in the egg is not in any way indicative of diseased birds, as prac- tically every bird produces a few eggs containing some blood at some time during her life. Under most condi- tions blood spots can be detected by candling, which is the general prac- tice on many farms where eggs are sold at retail. Even with the best of care there is a possibility of some eggs being mixed when candled, par- ticularly if the yolks are dark or the e^gs are brown shelled, and buyers of eggs should not be too critical if occa- sionally eggs are found with small blood spots." "Your cook aits on your front piazza every evening." "Well, we like the back porch just as well, and of course we never say anything to hurt cook's feelings in the hot weather." TICKETS, PLEASE The country station-master did not wear a uniform, and one day when a train came in he stood at the plat- form gate to take the passengers' tickets. A pretty girl came up to him, and when ho held out his hand for her ticket she seized it, gave it a tight squeeze, and followed by giving htm a hearty kiss. The station-master was surprised, but managed to say: "That's all very well, miss, but I want your ticket." "Oh," replied the girl, with a blush, "aren't you Uncle John?" Lion â€" "Was the banquet a success last night?" Eagleâ€" "I'll say it was. Two of the speakers swallowed flsh bones and couldn't say a word." Lost in the Jungle A Uraphic Descriptiuu of au Aviator's Kxperlence, by Q. W. T. Garrood, in The Listener, London. It happened in 1916. I was with the R. C. F. and had been ^ent to Mom- bassa. Part of our duties there were to turn (lur then euemy, tho Germans, out of Tauganyil:<t territory. One day I was ordered to fly from our Held it Tulo, just south of tho Uluguru Moun- tains, to bomb a place called Logl Logl. Logl Logl was bout 46 miles due south. One of our infantry col- umns had reached the Rulljl River, on which the pli<ce was situated, but were farther up. However, with the excessive optimism of youth, I de- cided to do without the help which our own men could afford la an einar- gency, and flow due south, over coun- try which was totally uninhabltod in parts and as thick as the African jungle can be. I was about throe miles from Logi Lugi when my ongine began tc cough aud .sputter. I eased th3 throttle, and then tried Jerking to clear it, but I know it was ignition trouble, aud in a tew seconds my propeller stopped and my precious 855 feet of altitude was 600. I selected a "nice green oval stretch of grass" to set the plane down upon, released my bombs, and pan- caked the bus (that is, made a slow landing without running far). To my great constornation I found that the grass was six feet high, and the ma- chine turned on her nose. It was a bog, and the water nearly covered the top of the landing wheels. My first impression was of tho eerie silenco, which .sent a shiver through my spine. I remained perched up in my cockpit for a minute, I suppose, before a bird screeched and broke the silence. Then I reached for my revolver, ammuni- tion, sun helmet, water bottle, some quinine and a tin of .sardi les and a packet o£ chot-olato which were In a small emergency kic. I realized that I probably had a long walk of about forty miles. So off came the compass, and I let myself down into the water. Due north was the course decided upon, chiefly to avoid running into the enemy lines. It as 4.45 p.m., so I de- cided to make tor the nearest lot of trees before sundown, at least, and probably to do a couple of hours' hik- ing. Unfortunately I had had an at- tack of malaria three days previously and was not in cross-country form. We wore right in the rainy season, so the traveling was particularly difficult. My compass proved very valuable, as the growth was high and dense. I soon came across fresh elephant spoors, and then came face to face with an ugly black animal about four feet high and with vicious-looking tusks. Wisdom cautioned making tor tha nearest tree, but the animal must have been nervous, too, for it crashed off into the undergrowth. When the silence died away there was another of those eerie silences. Dark came on, and although my tree was not a very comfortable one, I had to stay there. About seven o'clock a terrific thun ler storm came on, and in less than a minute I. was drenched. When the storm abated the mosqui- toes came out. i was wearing shorts, so my knees were left to every hungry .mosquito, and they were all hungry. About nine a lion roared close by. I tried to doze off when the roaring ceased, but suddenly a twig snapped beneath my tree. The moon was com- ing up, but all I could see was two green lights. The two lights circled round and round my tree. I couldn't fire my revolver because the rain had soaked everything I had. The circling of the bright lights kept up for ten minutes, but it seemed more like ten hours. At last I began to .shudder; my nerves seemed almost at the snapping point. Suddenly something seemed to give way inside me; I yelled at the top of my voice. At once the leopard slunk away in the undergrowth, tho eyes disappeared. I as ashamed of my fearful exhibi- tion of fear, and tried to sing. That helped, and tor hours it seemed I sang evorything I could think of, even hymns which ended with a long-drawn Amen. It did seem incongruous to be sinsing ";U1 Things Bright and Beauti- ful" while wet through, with jungle animals prowling all about, and the incessant sound of frogs and mos- quitoes. About 3 a.m. I began to get very hungry, but I managed to withstand In Germany â€" In Festival Time The groat Spree Forest festival in Germany, calls forUi native costumes of the district. Here we see a revival of an old-timer, that is, the bicycle. the temptation to touch my scanty stores. As soou as it was light enough I left my tree aud pushed off, keeping to my compass course. My khaki drill shirt and srorts and puttees were wet and clammy. I crossed two streanu, which I had to swim, and by 8.30 a.m. I was con£ri,uted by a substantial river running east and west. I could not throw my clothes across, so I put the revolver and food in my tunic pocket, fastened it rounu my neck, so that tho revolver would not have a chance to ge: wot, and tied my boots to the back of my belt. I had only gone a short distance when I caught sight of the ugly nose oi a crocodile quite close to me. In the excitement and the extra energy used at the sight of him the tunic came undone and down went the precious revolver, my compass, and the bit of food. But I reached the shore all right, only to be confronted by a huge hippo. That meant another swift sally into a handy tree. My plight was now bad. The under- growth was almost htartbreaking to penetrate, and I had no means of di- recting my progress. At the end of the first hour I was not more than a hundred yards fron tho river. The bush scratched my face, arms and legs unmercifully. Then it began to rain, and it lasted for a couple of hours â€" real tropical downpour. My stomach began to rumble, I)ut there was noth- ing to satisfy It with, my head ached as though I was in for a return of the fever. I struck a game path which ended in a bad bog, which was au aw- ful trial. Once or twice I heard the drone of an airplane o/erhead, but my signaling was all in vain. Beyond tht bog the country was less densely overgrown, but there was a cruelly sharp, short thorn bush which tore my legs and arras, and jaused ter- rific pain. Added to that were myriads of long, thin flies which also managed to draw considerable blood. I was drinking now from. .streams and any old pool, but the food question was becoming serious. After crossin. m> seventh stream for the day I sat down to get dried a bit, and spread out my shirt and shorts in the sun. Then along came another huge hippo ;nd forced me to another tree. When I came down again it was almost dark, and I could find no trace of my clothes. I remem- bered some quinine which I had put into my helmet a few days previous, and took a little of that to help the fever. But it made me violently sick, and I soon developed that "led-up- tever" feeling. That n.ght I didn't mind the lions anA leopards so much, because I felt almost dazed. Next morning I managed to start out again. 1 soon came across a buf- falo and then a family of giraffes. They moved oft quietly, probably be- cause I was a sorry enough sight to send anything '.way, clad as I was In only my boots and scant undergar- ments. I trudged on, once almost stepping on a venomous snake, but 1 had become too tired to care much what happened. With the third night a terrible depression came over me, and ' began to feel that I would not get through to the Uluguru Mountains, which were now my sole compass. The next morning a pair of vulturee followed my weak and • tumbling way. This frightened me badly at first, but I selected a young bough of a tree as a cudgel, and determined not to give in. About 2 o'clock on the fourth day I came to another bog, and saw odd- looking stakes in the water, rather like a fence. Then, to my great joy, I saw two natives, just as I had tried to ease my hunger with a bit of raw fish. The fish made me sick, but the natives were the means of getting mo back to safety eventually. « Reading a la Carte la an attractive Loudon restaurant the sign that first meeU the ey« uestlona the guest: "Are you lunch, ing alone?" Next, "It so, why not take a book?" The alga hangs be- side the desk where the friendly pro- prietor sits. Above tho notice la a shelf on which a dozen books in attractively colored cellophane rover are ar- arranged. Although the numbor U small the selection is sufficiently varied to suit many tastes. Includ- ed are essays, short stories, vorae plays and novels. The service ia free to the restaurant's patrons. Nor does the bookseller a few doord down, from whom the books are pro- cured, charge the restaurant for their use. A label in the front of the book simply tells the reader tha name and address ot tho bookseller who has donated the volume. The gesture by both the restaurant proprietor and bookseller is gener- ous, and happily not unrewarded. A book lover who is captured by tha scintillating prose or lilting poetry of one ot the season's latest books can. not easily give it up because a mere meal is ended. Even when he must hurry through hsl meals, he finds him- self at dinner time automatically turning in at the restaurant which not only serves delicious food, but where waits his favorite book which he laid aside regretfully yesterday. Some customers, indeed, are likely to patronize the restaurant-library until an interesting book is finished. Or, it that Is impossible, they may resolve to buy the bookâ€" from tha bookseller who so far-sightedly loan- ed It In the lirst place. Thus, with the slogan. "Read While You Eat," a service as wide in its appeal as lending libraries may be initiated. And benefiting by It will be author, publisher, bookseller, restaurant owner, and, most of all, the average man who would like to read more but never seems to have sufficient time. â€" The Christian Scl. ence Monitor. "He's got the foot and mouth dis- ease." "Never heard of it, what's it like?" "Whenever he opens his mouth he puts his foot in it." Cow Swallows $777 And Hides in Herd Lonoke, Ark. â€" Wade Holloway's savings of $777 went into a cow â€" literally â€" and ho is baffled regarding methods for recovery because there is no way of tellinj which of the twenty- three of his herd involves such value. A purse containing money the dairyman had saved for months slip- ped from his pocket in hio milking barn yesterday. He went back to look for it, but found only the chewed billfold and a dime. A veterinarian was summoned. He operated on two cows at $10 a cow but found no money, and HoUoway called off that mode of search because of the expense. "I've half a mind to get married.' "That's all you need." Paper Written 40 Years Ago Ante-Dates Modern Day Toronto. â€" To be told 40 years after that the paper which he had written long ago contained the most modern ideas on colloidal chemistry was the experience of Dr. John Uri Lloyd, String-town-on-the-Pike, Ky., who is visiting Toronto in connection with the Canadian-American Phar- maceutical Association. More than 40 years ago, Dr. Lloyd compiled a paper which lie read to his colleagues at a meeting ot tha American Pharmaceutical AssocIr. tion. Wlien they stated they were unable to understand what he was trying to explain. Dr. Lloyd filed h!s paper away. Two outstanding Ger- man physicians saw the doonnent recently, and declared his theory antedated the most recent discov- eries. Another, bteresting visitor at the convention is P. Gladstone Hlnea, president of the Pharmaceutical As- sociation ot Great Britain, who haa been a candidate for the British Par- liament and Is a well-known tennia player. "I have often wondered about the pharmacy business." said Premier George S. Henry, of Ontario, In wel- coming the convention delegates. "As a boy I used to go to the drug store as a pinre where one got something to take when one wasn't very well." The Dock Dreamer Down at the docks on his lonesoma beat. With broken shoes on his shufflint feet; Watching the tugs as they come and go, With a grizzled grin and his eyei aglow; For he's dreaming ot soft sapphlr* seas, Far tropic isles and ocean breeze â€" And longing again for a lost lagoon. Or a fiddle's rasp in an old saloon; But his watch is over, his days are done. As he sits alone in the noon-tide sun, Seeing 'em still where his fancy strays Those gallant ships of his sailing days. â€" By Harvey McKenzIe In N.Y. Sun. MUTT AND JEFFâ€" By BUD FISHER He Might as Well Get Used to it.