Through months an' years of loneliness, of heartaches, of hopin' an' expectin', of draggin' along for no particular purpose, save to keep body an' soul together; with few joys, an' but little else than sighin'; an' the great world made no more for me than a little farm, a little house, an' a voiceless sky above me--what blame, then, have I, if I brightened an' happified my life an' his by makin' neighbor King my husband? THROUGH THE DARDANELLES. BY CY WARMAN, Author of "A Thousand-mile Ride on the Engine of a 'Flyer.'" Soul of Sappho, if, to-night, When my boat is drifting near Your fair island, spirit bright-- If I sing, and if you hear, From your island in the sea, Soul of Sappho, speak to me. Soul of Sappho, they have said That your hair, a heap of gold, Made a halo for your head; And your eyes, I have been told, Were like stars. Oh, from the sea, Soul of Sappho, speak to me! Constantinople may be considered as the end of the railway system of the earth. Here, if you wish to see more of the Orient, you must take to the sea. There is, to be sure, a projected railway out of the Sultan's city into the interior, but only completed to Angora, three hundred and sixty-five miles. The intention of the projectors was to continue the road down to Bagdad, on the river Tigris, through which they could reach the Persian Gulf. [Illustration: SACRED DOGS, CONSTANTINOPLE.] I had arranged to go to Angora, but found a ten-days' quarantine five miles out of Constantinople, and backed into town, and then made an effort to secure from the office of the titled German who stands for the railway company, some idea of the road, its prospects, probable cost, and estimated earnings, but had my letters returned without a line. To show them that I was acting in good faith, and willing to pay for what I got, I went with Vincent, the guide (the only guide I ever had), and asked them for some printed matter or photographs, or anything that would throw a little light along the line of their plague-stricken railway; but they still refused to talk. No wonder it has taken these dreamers ten years to build three hundred and sixty miles of very cheap railroad.