_Stephen Decatur Smith, Jr._ [Illustration] MY PRETTY LIBRARY VIS A VIS. I. Across the table meekly sat— I could not, would not choose but see— With charms a monk might wonder at, My pretty library _vis a vis_! II. I tried in vain to turn the page— Romance and rhyme had lost their spell; When mind and heart a warfare wage The victory is not hard to tell. III. O sixteen summered rosy lass, I came to read the hour away; But not a sentence could I pass, Save in a make believing way. IV. For glancing up from time to time Filled me with tremors and surprise; The heroines of tales and rhyme Vanished before those dazzling eyes! V. I wonder if she archly knew How fast I grew illiterate; And when _she_ looked off, listless, too, Was it for pity of my fate? VI. The hour went by. She would not leave I tried to seem absorbed and wise. To glance at her was to receive Quick notice from her answering eyes. VII. O bookish nymph, say, was it fair To capture so my holiday? Before your beauty who would dare To turn a leaf, or go away? VIII. But on the morrow when I went To make amends, whom should I see Face me again? (O time misspent!) My pretty library _vis a vis_! _Joel Benton._ CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. _By William S. Bridgman._ Seventy five years ago the earthly property of the house of Vanderbilt consisted of a sandy farm on Staten Island, and a sail boat that plied up and down New York Harbor. These modest possessions have since grown until they now form the immense estate which, held together as a sort of family trust by the sons of the late William H. Vanderbilt, runs far into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The entire previous history of the world cannot show a parallel to this financial romance of nineteenth century America. The gathered treasures of the Lydian Croesus and the Roman Crassus would sink into insignificance beside the bond laden safes of the Vanderbilts, and Midas, whose magic touch turned stones into gold, was, in comparison with these latter day rivals, a mere plodding novice in the art of multiplying riches.