( 1 MiMdht -lis Ml IE 8 I IHI "JSS'' .'AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 5ZSlZ "Vol. "V". Now Uloomfielcl, J?fi., Tuestlny, f4oitoiiiloi- f, 1871. TVo. 3G. X IVMfsft Weekly, At New Bloomfleld, Tenn'a. BT FRANK MORTIMER. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS. 41 5 PER YEAB! 75 Cents for 6 Months; 40 Cents for 3 Months, IN ADVANCE. A Young Man's Adventures. ONLY twenty-one, with a good educa tion, and five thousand dollars in my possession, I felt like taking the world easy for a short time before settled upon a profession, as I had not yet made up my . mind what to be, a doctor, a lawyer, or an editor, and I did not think there was any need to be in a hurry. I wanted to see a little of life, and my experience at Yale College, among some of the madcaps there, bad given me a strong desire to venture into the great world beyond, Walter Brainard, my especial chum, a native of Baltimore, suggested that we should "do New York" for a week or so, on his way home for the vacation. I closed with the proposal at once. I hail never vis ited the great metropolis, and was anxious to do so ; but he had been there often, and was well acquainted. He promised to show me " the ropes." He did. Let me not an ticipate. I will merely premise that most people who undertake to "do" New York generally get " done." I was not an ex ception. 1 We took the night boat from New Haven, and arrived without accident, In fine feath er, and prepared for sport. I merely' took with me a small carpet-bag, containing a change of clothes and a few necessary arti cles, and about eight hundred dollars. In one week I got rid of five hundred dollars, fell in love, and got into a terrific fight. We Yale boys rather pride ourselves on our " muscle." You will admit I was expeditious enough. The way I fell in love was this i Walter was acquainted with the proprie tor of a popular newspaper, who gave him an invitation, and permission to bring, a friend, to a grand party he was about to give at his elegant mansion on Columbia Avenue, Brooklyn. The guests were ex pected to come in fancy costumes, and there was to be private theatricals and dancing and a great supper. ' , , ; ' ' He took me to a costumcr in . Walker ' Street I think that was 'the 'name and we selected our costumes. He chose the dress of a cardinal : I that of a cavalier of the reign of Charles II. of England. I had rather a good figure, and I was anxious to a show it to advantage. The night came, and we . went. The large parlors were thronged with a most brilliant assemblage. There was every conceivable character represented, and the elite of the literati of Now York were there. Walter Introduced me to a number of no- tables, who lather daisied my youthful ig- norance without creating any very lasting impression, and I accidentally made the ac quaintance of a young lady dressed as "Spring," who took my heart captive in a quarter of an hour. """'"'''i In a short time we were conversing to gether as freely as if we had known each other for years. , There is not much T monr of , reserve . between eighteen aad twenty-one. We exchanged confidences, I told her my name and residence, and in return she Informed me that her name was ' Edith Nones. ' Bhe made her home with a married sister, whose husband owned a large coal mine at Scranton, Pennsylvania. At present, however, she was stopping with an aunt who lived in Cottage Place, New York city.. Bhe gave me an. invita tion to call upon her, which I gladly accep ted. I was desperately smitten with her, and fancied she was rather pleased with . .!: : ' i ) f if N ij 1 " I devoted myself to her for the entire evening, escorting her to the supper-table, doing the gallant in every possible way, Bhe left before we did. The aunt was there, by the way a Mrs. Forbusb, a flne- " looking old lady, to whom I was intro " duced. I cloaked them and put them into theii carriage. The rooms seemed deso late when she was gone my fun was over for that evening. .. ...... " Let's go home," I said to Walter.' , " It's about time," be answered. " getting slow. Say, old boy, I think you've made an Impression." " Pshaw 1" I returned, and I felt that I was blushing like a preen girl. 'Nice girl, that Edith Nones," ho rat tled on his careless way, " a good catch too. I have been making somo inquiries about her ; got some money glio mid her sister came in for about fifty thousand between them, at the old man's death. Go in and win 1" Wo went home together that Is, when I say " home," I mean to the room wo oc cupied at the International in very good spirits. I called the next afternoon upon Edith ; found her alone in a cosey little parlor that looked out upon a garden rather a rare thing to find in New York ; had a long chat with her upon indifferent subjects, and left her with my good opinion strength ened, and feeling strongly inclined to adopt Walter's advice, and try to win her. I hes itated a littlo over this important step, as I did not think I had seen sufficient of life to settle down into a sober married man. The free-and-easy life I had been loading for the last few days had been very exhilar ating, and I wanted to have a little more of it. I got it, with a vengeance, that very night. Walter bad picked up a friend, a sallow- complexioned man, with piercing dark eyes, and splendid black hair and full beard apparently about thirty years of age, who went by the name of Parks. He was very gentlemanly, had delicate white hands, and wore a profusion of rings. One of them, on the little finger of the right hand, was a peculiar seal ring, with some device cut upon the stone. I remember one day trying to examine this ring, but he would not let me, turning the stone inside his hand, with some playful remark about curiosity. Of course I did not press it, but the circumstance struck me as being a little odd at the time. Where Walter picked this man up I do not know, but I noticed that whenever we were in : his company our steps were invariably directed to some haunt of vice. On the night in question he introduced us into the most fashionable and frequent ed gambling house in the city. A marble- front building, with plate-glass doors, with a very .conspicuous gold number upon them and fitted up in what might truly be called a "palatial" style. After passing through the long corridor and two doors, which opened slowly, as if the entrance was vigilantly guarded, though I saw no one but a couple of very sedate-looking colored men, and up a flight of stone steps we emerged into a hall, resplendent with gas chandallers, plate-glass mirrors, long tables, and elegant sideboards, covered with decanters of choice wines and 1 dainty little baskets holding the most fragrant Havana cigars. The room was comfortably full,, and "faro" and "roulette" were In full opera tion, but every thing was conducted in a quiet and orderly manner. Attentive black Iters, . in snowy white jackets, flitted noiselessly about, supplying the gamesters at the table with liquors and cigars. To my inexperienoed eyes it . was like a soene from fairy land. , We took a drink the best Madeira I ever tasted as a prelimina ry, and then watched the progress of the game. I was leaning over the chair of an old fellow, who appeared to have been play ing a rigorous game, and with rather poor success. He looked like a drover from the West, being much more coarsely dressed than those around him. and his features bore evidence of having been exposed to rather rough weather. He had a pile of round pieces of ivory, or some kind of bone with a red ring round the edge, and a red figure S in the centre, before him, and he kept placing them on different , cards that were fastened to a green cloth one of each denomination in the pack whilst the dealer, opposite, was sliding other cards from a square silver box, just large enough to hold a pack, and contrived in some man ner so as to pass but one card at a time. "That's "faro,", whispered ' Walter. " That's what they call 'bucking against the tiger.' " ' ;' ; ., : ' I asked him where they kept the " tiger," and be gave me an indescribable iser as he answered ; , " Just you stake ten dollars on one of those cards, and you'll feel his claws." "Yes," said the old fellow, who over heard us, looking up in my face he had just staked his last ivory chip and lost 'that's so, neighbor. . This ere fighting the tiger is the surest thing out." ; . . f " How suref ' I asked, in surprise. : "The more yon put down the less you'll take np," was his answer. i grinned at me In a ghastly, cadaver ous sort of a manner, got up, made a bee line for a decanter labelled 'whisky,' pour ed out a generous portion into a glass, and drank it off as if it had been so much wa ter, then quiotly walked out of the room. A whole moral lesson against gambling could not have had more effect upon me at the time, than these few quaint words. I recognized their point at once, and resolved that I would put down nothing. Parks ap peared vory much chagrined at this de termination upon my part, though I was at a loss to understand why it should trouble Mm, as my losses or gains would not effect his pocket ; yet that It did trouble him was quite apparent even to my unsophisticated eyes. Finding that I was resolutely bent upon abstaining from the game, and that Walter was of the same inclination, under some pretext or other he got ns out of the gam bling house and into Broadway again. Our next stopping place was in some privato supper rooms down a basement We had stopped at several saloons on the way, and drank in each. My brain was reeling under the effects of thesocumerous potations, and, literally speaking, I was full of tho "old Harry" I did not care a tinker's old sauce-pan whether "school kept or not." Liko a great many other young men, fresh to city life, I was in for a high old time" and I had it At the supper rooms Parks found a friend, a small, dapper-looking man, with curly brown hair, and a splendid moustache in fact a splendid-looking fellow, with a jovial manner, and a rakish appearance al together a man that, if I had been per fectly sober, I should have avoided as a dangerous character one of those elegant human panthers who are always ready to pounce upon verdant young men from the country. I took him for a jolly good fel low on that occasion, and fraternized with him at once. Parks introduced him to us under the namo of Shirley, and whis pered confidentially in my ear that he "was one of the bloods" belonged to one of the first families in the city. I felt rather proud of the honor of knowing this young man. , We exchanged tokens of 1 mutual esteem before we parted.' , !. Parks had been badgering me all the evening about my timidity in refusing to play at "faro," and asked me if I could play "everlasting," in that sarcastic, taun ting manner so extremely annoying to young men just taking their first experi ence of life, and who wish to be thought very worldly wise. , I told him that I could not only play "everlasting," but that I would bet him fifty dollars that I could beat him three out of five games of "eu chre." He accepted at once,, and we all sat down to cards in a private room which appeared to have been expressly arranged for the purpose Walter and I partners against Parks and Shirley. .. More liquor was ordered, and we com' menced the game. Shirley dealt; and I was sober enough to see that ho manipulated the cards with his dainty white fingers in a very dexterous and skillful manner. Ho was evidently an old hand at the business. We lost the first hand ; I dealt for the sec ond, and we won it Parks dealt next, and I observed that be handled the cards in precisely the same roannor that Shirley did, and on the little finger ' of his right hand, as be threw off the cards, glistened (bo peculiar seal ring he wore a large stone of blood color, with some device carved upon it I bent over, (with a strange curiosity for which I cannot account) and glanced at the device upon the stone. He drew his hand quickly away, with an an gry look, and turned the stone to the palm of his hand, as he had done once before ; but my eyes bad been too quick- fot" him. I bad deciphered the lnsription It was an Initial formed by the two capital letters ; A and B twisted curiously together. ' i "What does A B stand for?" I asked, rather enjoying his annoyance,' and - deter mined to let him know that I bad seen the inscription despite bis precautions. ' - " ; "Art Boot P' he answered, shortly. 1 ,'' Every body laughed, and the game' pro ceeded ;' but I could see that Parks would have been been better pleased If I had not read the letters engraved upon his ring. The game proceeded, but It was' Just like open and shut ; when we dtialt we ' won, only there was this difference t when we dealt they bad some, trick cards in their hands J but when they dealt we never . took atrickatalU , As they bad the lead in dealing, they won every .fifth game, and unfortunately for us, that was the game on which the stakes depended. , Before I hard ly knew what I was about, I had lust three hundred dollars. I was satisfied that I had been cheated, and I became enraged. The liquor with which I had been plied made me belligerent. I accused Parks of the cheat ; he denied it indignantly. I started up suddenly and caught him by the arm, and an ace foil out of his right sleeve. He grew furious at this detection, applied some epithet which I did not relish, and I knocked him down. Shirely sprang to his feet, and drew a revol ver upon me ; before ho could fire, Waltor seized a tumbler from tho table and hurled it at him. It took effect between his eyes, and Shirley crashed down to tho floor, the revolver exploding in the fall. " Tho quicker we get out of this tho bet ter," cried Waltor. I was dccldodly of his opinion. Ho made a bolt for the door, and I followed him. We met a waiter hurrying along the pas sage. " What's tho matter ?" he asked, sleepi ly. It was past one o'clock. "Nothing," answered Walter, coolly. One of our party, a little over tho bay, dropped his revolver. They will settle in there we're going homo." The waltor grinned, he evidently knew that we were a couple of pigeons who had been well plucked. We sauntered through the passage liesurely, though our hearts were beating, but the moment we got upon the pavement above, in the open air, we turned down tho first corner, into a by street, and made good speed toward our hotel. We did not hold much conversation until we reached tho International, and then, safe In our own room, with the door locked, wo held a consultation over "the situation." " We have got Into a vory bad scrape," began Walter, dolefully. "It looks like It," I answered in the same key. "I wonder if I killed that follow?" he continued, thoughtfully. " I should not be surprised,'! I returned, "It was a heavy cut-glass tumbler; it struck him full In tho forehead ; I saw the blood spirt as he fell." " Toll you what, old boy, we must get out of this as soon as passible. ; Got any place whero you could hide away for a short tune I" j ' . After a momenr's reflection I answered, "Yes." ! ',.. ;--i. "You see," continued Walter, " they couldn't prove much against ns any way, as Parks was non-eontpos that was a scientif ic rap you gave him before I hit this what's his name Shirley, only they can put us under bonds, and worry ns ; so we had bettor get out of the city before thoy catch us. I don't think they; will make much of a hunt for ns, and I will try to compromise matters with Parks, and the affair will soon blow over. - Where do you think pf going homo?" ' " "By no means," I answered, quickly "that Is just where they would bo likely to look for mo. ' I shall go to Scranton. in Pennsylvania.", , ."' V ,i. " Got some friends there ?" , . .'-Yes.", ' 'J - "The very thing. '.The depots are neat together or that is to say where you start from, for you will have to take the ferry boat to Elizabeth port. I'll show yon the way, buu see you a j ,, - ij'' l.u:., i; i . ... We laid down in our clothes for an hour or so, for it was already near daylight, then packed our Carpet-bags, settled our bill at the hotel)' ' and getting into an ' omnibus, Trent whirled down to the Battery. Wal ter saw me on the little steamer, shook hands, and we parted ; it was quite a time before I saw him again. , . i' . . . When. Walter bad asked me if I had anywhere to go, the idea had suddenly flashed through my mind that I would go to Scranton. r It was Edith Nones' home, and I need scarcely admit that she was the magnet that attracted me thither. She had told me, during my visit to Cottage Place, that she expected to return home in a day or two. What I purposed by this unauthorized visit Is beyond my power to say. I merely felt an Irresistible desire to b near her, to gaxe npon her, drink In the lovellnoss of her features, bask in the sun shine of her eyes, and listen to the melody ofhervoiee. ' '' ' ' ''. '" Seated In the cars, lulled by the monoto nous rattle and whir 1 of the wheels, I in dulged In a most, delicious day dream' as We rolled speedily along. ' There came a jolt, a crash ; the roof of the car suddenly became the floor ; down' the embankment It went, finally landing on Its side. There were shrieks of pain, cries of dismay, and exclamations of, astonishment, mingled with the crash, as the , accident took place. 1 1 clambered through the bro ken window and gained the ground, finding to my great surprise, that I had received no material injury, and had escaped with a few bruises and a good shaking up. Oth ers were not so fortunate, and many har rowing sights met my gaze as I surveyed the scene of disaster. Let me omit the de tails I have no taste for horrors. Two of the cars the rear ones by some defect in the rail, had been thrown from the track. The one in which I was had been pretty well smashed up ; the other, which had remained beside the track, and had not been thrown down the embankment, was not seriously damaged. Cries of alarm, amongst which I recognized female voices proceeded from it I hastened to the assis tance of the inmates. I clambered up the steps, and forced open the door, which had got wedged together some way, and handed ont the affrighted women and children. The last lady that came gave a glad start of surpriso as I assisted her out, and my astonishment was so great that I nearly dropped her. She was Edith Nones. I could but think it a singular circum stance that she, who had occupied such a " prominent place in my thoughts during the journey, should, have been upon the train unknown to me. "Why, Mr. VcVeigh," she exclaimed, is It you?" As I could not deny it, I did not attempt to. Indeed I never was at such a loss for words in my life. " What in the world brings you here ?" she continued, as I remained silent, trying to think what plausible" motive I could ln vent for my Journey. I stammered out something about having a strong curiosity to visit the coal regions and inspect their wonders. . She gave me an arch glance out of her soft, dove-like eyes, and I had a strong suspicion that she more than half suspected the truth. I blushed to my very temples, and attempted to turn tho conversation by speaking of the frequency of railroad accidents at the time. .."If you are morely sight-seeing among our hills," began Edith, when we were once more on our way, "I trust you will not refuse to make my sister's house your stopping-place while you remain. I need scarcely assure you that any friend of mine will be made welcome." , , . . " If you count me among your .friends already," I returned, "I shall most cer tainly accept your kind Invitation," , .17 The rich blood glowed ruddily in her cheeks, and she turned away her head un der pretence of looking out of the oat win dow ; but she did not appear to be dis pleased, which I took as encouraging. I certainly was very far 'gone, ' and X could not help showing it 1 - ! "You will find my sister very amiable," she said, after a slight pause, resuming the conversation ; "and Mr. Briscoe her hus band, Is a most genial gentleman', It was a love-match , between them, and though they have been married six years,' they are more like a pair of lovers now than a mar ried oouple." j ' ,, ' ,' ".'( i ..' 1 Ilave they any children?' I asked, casually. " No j they have lost two and that seems to draw them nearer, to each, other," re ponded Edith. ' , " Ira Briscoe was quite a poor man when Hermina married him," Edith went on with charming confidence, "and our folks thought it rather a poor match for her, thinking, with her money, she might have looked higher, and found some ono better than a hard-working overseer "of a coal mine'; but she had known hun from a boy he was her heart's choice, and as she wa her own mistress, no one could gainsay her. The marriage was the making of him, and! he is not ashamed to own, it, 1 1 have often heard him say he owed all, to his wife. They say now he is worth a hundred thous and dollars ; and he has paid Hermina back what she advanced, and her property is all in her own name.?. . .. : l,.;,;. - '.. 'i I conceived a great admiration for this Mr. Ira Briscoe, and was anxious to make his acquaintance. I like, these men who carve out their own fortunes. ''' ' '' " Mr. Briscoe comes of a hard-working race, I presume ?" I observed. ' "Perhaps ' he' does, ' returned Edith, "but he seems to be the Only one of the race who has Inherited the family .virtue." ! "How so?" I asked, In surprise. "Has herelatiyes?' " ''" , "One oniy. a'brother-an elder brother the pet of too indulgent parents. ' ' "Hoes ho live in Scranton?" I asked, feeling quite interesledln this family jilsto- y . ' . . , .. i .. . ..' .,'. y . y "0, ; he lives In New York city. He is a stock broker.or something of that sort. Always dresses well and lives in good style. . He visits ns uit often., He la vsry civil and agreeable. Hermina likes him, but I I don't J" Concluded next week.
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