“He can’t come till Christmas Eve,” said Mrs. Brimmer. “But he’ll begin then, and be glad to, for he’s too poor to go home for a vacation. So he told me yesterday, when I stopped into the District school.” “Is that where you went, Mamsie, in the afternoon, when you put on your Sunday shawl and bonnet?” asked Rosy, who hadn’t recovered from the astonishment produced by seeing such preparations made for a visit about which there was no attending conversation. “Yes, child; I asked Jack about it, first; and then he wanted, if Mr. Thomas could do it, to have me tell you and see if you would like to fall into the plan. If Mr. Thomas couldn’t do it, why, then, you two wouldn’t have any disappointment to bear. But he can. O, what a Christmas we will have!” THE RAILROAD ON MT. PILATUS IF the Rigi Railroad is worthy of being considered an extraordinary and wonderful piece of work, the latest undertaking of this kind—the building of the railroad on Mt. Pilatus—certainly ought to attract the attention of engineers and of the travelling public. This new road differs essentially from its older rivals in the construction of its roadbed, as well as of the rolling stock. The ruggedness and steepness of the mountain, together with its great height (sixty-eight hundred and eighty-two feet, against fifty-nine hundred and five, in the case of Rigi), offered much greater obstacles than the roads previously built, and required an entirely different system. The restless spirit of man is always glad to set for itself some new task, and consequently men were found who, equipped with the necessary capital, were willing and able to carry out this tremendous undertaking. When a portion of the road had been completed, all fear in regard to strength and safety were removed, for it was thoroughly tested every day, the locomotives going as often as it was necessary to that part of the road on which they were at work, carrying materials of all kinds, weighing from twenty thousand to twenty-two thousand pounds. The southeastern side of the mountain was chosen for the road, which begins at Alpnach-Stad, between the Hotel Pilatus and the Eagle Hotel (one thousand four hundred and forty-eight feet above the level of the sea). From there it climbs in a northerly direction to the Aemsigenalp, then westward to the Mattalp (fifty-three hundred and fifteen feet above the sea), and after much winding reaches the plateau of the Hotel Bellevue on Mount Pilatus (sixty-eight hundred and eleven feet above the sea). The road is about two and three quarters miles long, and the total height climbed from the shore of Alpnacht Bay to the Hotel Bellevue is fifty-three hundred and sixty feet. The grade is from eighteen to forty-eight per cent., which is scarcely exceeded by any rope road. In the middle of the line, at Alp Aemsigen, there is a switch. Seventy-two hundred and sixty-seven feet of the entire road consists of straight