,!!mJ U1.3 I - " "-Tr- -
as?
TTFVTiV A PiUamJB .To T'r.n-r.t. lvn!l).,.
t, ,ELK. COUNTY THE RErVBLtftAX PA JIT 1'.
Two Dollars f5 AiOium. "
VOL. I.
RIDGWAY, PA., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1871. ,
1
t rsffT .
El v u illnH nHmynM R inM ; ' ' . : ZJiW "Iff H fill 7 I H ! I V..VJI1 I IJW
' 1 '.I 1?.'.r- '
TUB LAST 1.AV OP TUB RIINSTREL.
It was mi nnrioiit Tetf?mn .
Of maiiv ft bliHHtf llKht,
Ami lie pinuiiil his niy:in lililoonily
Ki'fore my liNr all night; 1
' Nir pmvOTj nor pence, nor bUwiiliemy
UiHtiirlHMl tlie BKtxl IkIiU ,
Ills tlirpRrthftre eoat wn patchwl anil stained
In spots of many a hue,
Tlie primal stratum nronplnn out
of ''regulation blue;'' " '
The rape, " Inraiiable of stain,"
M'aa stnlncil already tlirougli. ' '
The tropic sun had tiromed his chceV,
Anil battle left Its trace
In many a cut and seam anil scar
That plnughnl his f iirrowcil face,
Whose native beauty nothing oweil
To soap's effem'uate grace- "
Anil I cursed that ancient warrior,
PeceaMI I tt as wrong
To st mly out anathemas '
Ulimuslcnl ami strong,
Anil dlaentomb from burled tongues
Oaths polyglot and long,
Wlilch heedless ff'U on that fell wretch,
lteinorscli'SH but Loreiiii ; . ..
He wore my scanty patience out
With " Wearing of tlio Oreen,"
And a alnnibcr-qviellliig Infamy
Ycclpt ye " Uurse Marino."
Then I spake that fell destroyer fair,
And said, " Oh, monster bora.
Of discord sniiernaturiil.
Why dost thou haunt my door I
If gold can buy thy abwuce, tuke
It, gis and sui no more."
" Put up thy pnrse ; the vain jiurmlt
Of gold allures not me.
Hut fain would I detail a tale
Of saddest misery.
The wreck you now liehold was oneo
A reckless youth like thee. .
" In boyhood's thoughtless foolishness
I Joined the U. 8. Keg
Lar army, where, nil me I I lost
In battle this right leg,
I place upon your mantrl-picco
oay I thank me not, I beg.
The left wrs left bnt one short week j
1 lost It with my hair
Tir Apaches didn't leave a patch
UiMn my cranium bare ;
Pray keep them as a icwacy
Or heirloom, as It wuru.
. "The arm was amputated off.
lielow the shoulder bone; a
' Nation'a (colward' did that Job
in lovely Ariroua,
Or ' Arrow-Zone' so called because
The Indian mat it owner. ; . ,
" Our war broke out, I took a hand
And gave roy only arm ;
Though but half ntnieil for the fray,
Koiuehow I felt al-artn
And, Mtrnnger still, when armless quite,
I was nut free from harm.
" A ball at Ball's Bluff timkjn mr spine
And shattered both nivthlghs;
'Twas afterwanl, t Oettysburg,
I lost this nuir of eves ;
Please lay them on tlie carpet, whero
My other baggage lies.
"And then at Rlehmraul I was left
V ikiii the told for dead.
Because a fourteen-iioundcr camo
And took off this here head
Be careful how you liandle it," ,,
The apparition aaiil.
" These ribs"" No more I" I sternly cried !
' Base fragmentary bore,
Desist. Fack up your trunk, mid take-
Ynur shadow from mr disir!"
Witli ribald laugh, his thorax fell
DiHjoliited on the floor.
And there that shattered warrior lay
With his Ainjecta mem
Bra lying ull around, whilo I,
Dejected gazed at them
For quartering soldtura In uiy house
Is Homethlug I condemn.
Then I locked him up (with a skeleton key)
In hla organ neat and amall,
And ground him up Into Aii?rAo,
To the tuiioi nl march In Haul ;
And there won't be a Soldier's ileunlon hero
Till Uabrlel sounds the call.
National Standard.
SHE WOULD ELOPE.
About eifrhty years ago, ou the brow
of Bergen Hill, overlooking the valley
of Newark, there was a fins old home
stead, belonging to the old Knicker
bocker familr of the Van Cortlandts.
It had been built by the grandfather of
the present occupant, who had brought
from Holland most of the materials for
building it.
He greatly prided himself upon this
fact, and was never so happy as when
he was pointing out to bis visitors the
redness and hardness of the bricks, and
the tine designs of the porcelain fire
places;, the vanes on the top of his house
and barns had also been brought from
the old country.
Everything.' about the house and its
surroundings had ' that substantial air
which showed comfort, and no economy
had been studied when it was planned
and built. The grounds had likewise
been laid out with considerable taste.
One side of the house was quite, shelter
ed by loftly trees of the most luxuriant
foliage, while a fine lawn, ornamented
with beds of rare flowers, surrounded the
rest of the building.
Mr. Van Cortlandt and his wife were
about as pleasant specimens of American
Knickerbockers as could be found in the
New World ; they seemed to combine in
them&elvns the solid virtues of the old
land with the modern improvements of
the New. Mynheer Van Cortlandt, al
though of moderate height, was by no
means moderate in rotundity ; his hab
its, too, were indolent, and a good hearty
laugh over one of his own jokes, which
made him shake like a jelly-bag, was the
most violent exercise he ever took, for
daily perambulations around his estate
were so diversified by stoppages at his
numerous acquaintances', as hardly to
deserve the name of exercise.
His good friend, Muller, bad such ex
cellent schnapps that bis feet always by
instinct led him there, while De Feyster,
who had just returned from Amsterdam,
had so many stories to tell about the
old Burgomasters, that 'old Van invari
ably halted there to smoke a pipe. He
generally wound up at the homestead of
Zabrieski, who, next to himself, wis the
most considerable uian in all these parts.
They used to boast that between them
they owned mora land than any other
two men in the State. For many years
it had been their intention to consolidate
their possessions by investing it in one
family, which was to be accomplished by
the marriage of Van Cortlandt' only
child, Greta, to Zabrieski's only child,
Herman, who were considered by their
respective parents as the ultimate flower
of their respective families. . . ,
Greta Van Cortlandt was the leau-Ueal
of a Knickerbocker belle. (She had the
solidity of the Netherlands, with the
grace of the American. Her blue eyes
rivaled the summer skies, while her hair
seemed made out of the sunbeams.
Had she lived now, when blondes are
the rage, she would have driven the
Empress Eugenie from - .the 1 Tuileries,
and Lydia Thompson from Niblo's, She
wanted no patent palpitators to make
. believe, she had a heart. Its honest beat
ings were visible to all who told her a
tale of sorrow or distress., . i . :,.'.
Although inclined to tmlimpoint, she
was as active and lively as a fawn. ' She
could run up Bergen Hill without get
ting out of breath, the only evidence of
the exertion being a brightier, merrier
glance in her eyes, and a littlo deeper
rose blush on the soft cheeks.- : t'. -l 4
As the girls ol those days did not wear
long trailing dresses to sweep the dirty
BtreeU, a lady's foot was visible whenever
she walked, and the young, people used
to say, when they wanted- to describe
tidiness, that it was as neat as Greta's
ankle." , .
' It was certainly a pretty sight to see
Mr. and Mrs. Cortlandt and Greta on
their - way to the.' meeling-houBe every
Sunday morning. .. .
She walked on with some friends a
little in advance of her parents, and it
would have made you smile to hear the
praise they both bestowed upon their
daughter. The old lady would say : '
- " I think, Hans, that I have too much
good sense to be misled by my feelings
as a mother, but do look at Greta. Did
yon ever see any girl with half her
grace ? and just notice her walk I"
Old Hans heartily echoed this disin
terested sentiment, and would call his
wife's attention to some good quality of
Greta, which he thought she had over
looked. ' :
It must bb confessed that Greta was
not only the wealthiest, but also the
prettiest girl in those parts ; and as she
had a pair of the brightest eyes, it is
not to be wondered at that she was
aware of the fact, more especially as she
had the very best and costliest mirrors
in her dressing-room in all the State.
It was certainly a very pretty sight to
see Greta at church. No sooner had she
taken her seat in the old family pew
than she placed her prayer-book open
on the' slope before her, and then gave a
quiet glance at the opposite side of the
church. The glance became a smile,
which lit up her pretty face, when she
Baw in that direction a young man some
two or three years older than herself,
ready to acknowledge the glance with a
tender look, which really made the
geuintfuce of Herman Zabrieski positive
ly handsome.
. We have always thought that good
ness was the finest kind of beauty, and
it was perhaps this that made Greta's
betrothed 's one of the handsomest faces
in Bergen county. .
When the service was over, and the
minister bud pronounced his bltssing,
Greta was in the habit of bending her
head reverently down, and breathing a
short prayer ; and it was most singular
that when she raised her bright beaming
face, she always found Herman Zabrieski
waiting at the pew-door to escort her
home.
Sometimes the Van Cortlandts would
pass the rest of the Sabbath with the
Zabrieskis, and sometimes the Zabrieskis
would return to the Van Cortlandt man
sion. 'But at all events, Herman was
always Greta's escort and companion for
the rest of that sacred day.
There was one tact about their court
ship which, while it would have made
any other girl than Greta very happy,
rendered her perfectly miserable. The
little circumstance we allude to was,
that the proposed marriage of Greta and
Herman had the full approval of the
parents of both.
Greta wouldoften say to her betrothed :
" I am very much afraid, my dear Her
man, that our marriage will not be a
happy one."
" Why '(" he' would reply.
"How can you ask such an absurd
question i" said Greta. " There is no ro
mance in it." '
" "How is that'r" the simple-minded
young Knickerbocker would say.
" Because," said she, " our engagement
has the consent of our parents."
"You don't think," said he, " that I
would marry you without the consent of
your father and mother V
. ".You wouldn't '(" said Greta, with a
look of 'astonishment and indignation.
" Certainly not," said he, " no more
than you would without my father's
and mother's consent."
" Herman, you do not know what love
is. You think you love me, because
your mother and father, and my father
and mother, have no objection to it. If
you knew anything of love, you would
know that 'The course of true love never
did run smooth.' How does a woman
know a man loves her if he will not do
something dreadful for her '("
" Dreadful 1 What do you mean by
dreadful r
"I don't mean dreadful," said she,
" but daring such as carrying me off
in the middle of the night, and when
pursued by my father and his servants,
swimming the river with me in your
arms 1 Would you not do that, Herman '("
" What, and make your name the talk
of the country V Besides, there is no
need for it. Did not your father tell
mine only yesterday that the day you
and I were married would be the hap
piest day of his life i"
" Then, you would not elope with me 'i"
" Certainly not," said he. . - ' 1
V Then you do not love me half as much
as Alcanzordid the Lady Almeida, for
he carried her off from her father's castle,
and while he was carrying her off, cut
down of her fathers myrmidons seven
teen, who tried to impede their flight."
" Well, all I know is, that if the con
stables catch that fellow, and I am on
the jury, I will do my best to hang him.
Was the fellow ever caught 'f". , 7 .
Without condescending to notice his
question. Greta said : -
" There can be no truly happy marriage
without the parents oppose it, and they
are compelled to elope to save the lady
from being forced to marry the man of
her father's choice." t '
" Well, if I was a girl, said Herman,
seriously, ." I would not like to marry
without my parents' consent, more
especially my mother's." - i 1 ,
" Answer me one questions, saia ureia,
with a mischievous twinkle of her eye.
" Did my mother ask my consent '"
No," said be. , " How could she r" ,
" Well," said Greta, " I mean to follow
mymother'8 example. You know how
happy Lord Porchester and the Frinoess
Pauline were, and they ran away.'-
"I never knew a lord In my life," said
Herman.'" J u' . " ' '
" Well, said Greta, you will know
all about them if you read the novel I
have up-stairs."
It was in vain that Herman pressed
ber to name the happy day.
I ! toll you," said he, "that mother
and father fire ahxious to have the mat
ter settled."
" I don't ice," sail Grta, " what they
have to do with it j and I tell you, plain
ly, if you don't love me enough to marry
me in my own way, that I can try and
find a young man who will ; but I must
say ' good night,' for I have left Seraphina
on a rope ladder since eleven o'clock this
morning." t . , .
80 spying she tripped out of the room,
kissing her hand to him as she disap
peared. After saying a few words to Mr. and
Mrs. Van Cortlandt, Herman took his
leave ; and going to the stable, mounted
his fine bay horse, and trotted to Hacken
sack Manor in a very dismal frame of
mind. He bad been brought up in such
excellent habits, that, although he would
much rather have retired to his own
room, and buried his chagrin and dis
appointment in sleep, he could not do
it till he had firBt asked his father's bless
ing, and kissed his mother. For as the
Holy Book says, in one of its inspired
chapters : " There were giants in those
days," we may be allowed to remark
with deep regret over another extinct
race: "There were good sons in those
days." Both Mr. and Mrs. Zabrieski
could not fail to mark their son's serious
aspect.
" What ails thee, Herman V said his
father.
" Nothing, sir ; somewhat fatigued
with my ride."
" Who ever heard of a young man's
being fatigued with a short trot of four
miles, on a moonlight night.wheu.he had.
been to see tbe prettiest girl in all tno
country '" said tbe old lady.
" Perchance," observed her husliand,
"Greta would not give him a parting
kiss because the old folks were on the
stoop!"
" How can you put such absurd no
tions into the boy's head," replied Mrs.
Ziibrieski. " Knickerbocker girls keep
their kisses for their husbands, and don't
waste them on lovers I That was the
plan 1 went upon when I was young."
There was a roguish twinkle in the
old man's eye, as she said this, but he
said nothing ; although the skillful
might have translated the twinkle in
his eye to mean : " I never tell tales out
of school."
" 111 wish you good-night," said Her
man, " for I am really tired, and have a
headache."
So saying, he went up to his father,
who shook his hand and patted his head,
while his mother gave him a good hearty
kiss.
" What is the matter with the lad ?"
said Zabrieski.
"The boy's only a little love sick.
Boys are not what the'y were when you
were young, Jake. Then the more they
were in love the more they ate ; now
they fall off in their appetite and look
dismal. Herman will be himself again
when he is married I"
" For my own part," replied old Za
brieski, " 1 don't see why they don't get
married at once. I'm ready with my
money, the Manor House is all ready ;
and 1 say again, dame, I don't see why
they don't marry at once. If Greta is
giving herself any airs, she ought to be
talked to, and I'll be the Dutch uncle to
do it, if she hasn't got one in her own
family !"'
The next morning old Zabrieski, after
breakfast, went to look round his farm ;
for he was a busy man, and liked to see
that his orders were carried out. He
had no sooner taken his departure than
Herman, who had tried to be as cheerful
as ha could at the morning meal, said to
his mother :
" Mother, can you keep a secret ?"
" Yes," said tbe old lady laughing,
" like a woman !"
Herman look so sadly at her, that she
cried out, " Whatis the matter, my boy '("
"Well, mother," replied Herman, "I
think that Greta is either mad, or else
she wants to break off with me.''
" Good gracious I" was the old woman's
reply, What do you mean V
" Why," said Herman, blushing like a
girl, "she says she won't marry me,
without I'll elope with her."
" Elope with her '(" almost shrieked
Mrs. Zabrieski. "The girl's mad I What's
the need for your running away with
ber when we are all of us dying to see
you both married V"
, " That's the trouble, mother. She says
that such marriages are always unhap-
Ey. She says that in all tbe novels she
as read, the happiest marriages are
those where the parents oppose, and the
bride has to escape from the bedroom
window down a rope-ladder."
" The Lord preserve us !" said the old
dame. " Greta is as crazy as old Mina,
the gipsy."
Herman then told her all that had
passed between them.
The old lady, who was very shrewd,
told Herman she would talk it over with
his father, and begged him not to des
pair. . ... ...
; Old Zabrieski was exceedingly puz
zled when his wife told him of Greta's
whim. His first impulse was to go to
his ancient Van Courtlandt, and suggest
that Greta should be put in a straight
waistcoat. His wife's counsels, however,
prevailed, and it was agreed to take
Mr. and Mrs. Van Cortlandt into the
conference, and consult what was best
ta be done. - - - -
The next morning Mr. and Mrs. Za
brieski and their son drove over to the
Van. Cortlandts,' who were delighted to
see them.
After the first greetings were over,
Dame Zabrieski said to Herman and
Greta, who were chatting in a corner :
" Now, you young folks, go and take
a nice walk, for we have come to spend
a long day here, and we old folks want
to have a chat."
r.When Herman and Greta had de
parted on their stroll around tbe
grounds, Mrs Zabrieski related the con
versation she had with her son. - The
astonishment of Greta's parents was un
bounded.
" It is all owing," said Van Cortlandt
to his wife, H to your allowing her to
read those foolish books. I never read
but one romance in all my life, and then
I dreamed for a week that I was a prince
in disguise, riding about in ft complete
suit of armor. When I recovered from
all this nonsense I resolved never again
to mad another, nml I have kept my
resolution."
We need not repeat all that passed on
this occasion. It is sullicient to say that
the result will show what they determ
ined on.
When Herman and Greta had reached
a secluded spot in the garden, they sat
down on a rustic bench.
After a short pause, the young Knick
erbocker said :
" Greta, I want to ask you solemnly
one question."
' A dozen, if you please," said the
merry girl j " I am ready to answer."
" Were you in earnest last night," re
sumed her lover, "that yon would not
marry me without I eloped with you t"
" Most certainly I was," she said, with
great seriousness.
" Well," said he, " I would rather lose
my right hand than do it; but as I
would rather lose my life than lose you,
I have resolved, very reluctantly, to
agree to your plan, on one condition."
" I'll agree to anything, if you will
only elope with me," said the wilful
girl.
"Greta," said Herman, "what will
the neighbors say of us when they hear
of it V"
" If you think more of our neighbors
than you do of me, why don't you marry
one of them V But what is the condi
tion V"
" How do you propose to escape from
the house V"
"Why, in the usual way, of course,"
returned Greta. " I shall get out at my
window at midnight, descend a rope
ladder, and jump into the carriage,
which you will havo waiting at the end
of the lane."
" A rope-ladder ! I thought so ; it's
just that rope-ladder I'm afraid of ; it is
too dangerous; you might miss your
footing, or the ladder might break, and
you would be killed."
" Those risks," said Greta, " only in
crease the pleasure."
' It is a risk I won't let you run,"
said Herman, with an air of determina
tion. " Then you refuse to elope with me '("
said Greta, hastily.
" No, I don't ; but instead of trusting
to a rope-ladder, Girschen and I will
lower you in a basket."
" In a basket '(" said Greta, spring
ing to her feet. " Whoever heard of a
heroine eloping in a basket ? What do
you mean if"
" I mean that if you will let Girschen
and me lower you from the window in
that large basket I saw in your store
room, when I helped you store away
the preserves, I will elope with you.
But as for trusting your precious lite to
a flimsy rope-ladder, I won't do it ; it
would be the next thing to killing you."
They had a long discussion on this
point, and Greta manfully battled for
her own way j but as she dearly loved
Herman, she finally agreed to his as
she termed it " preposterous plan."
On their return to the house, they
found the old folks waiting Uiuuar for
them. Before the lovers separated that
night, it was arranged that the elope
ment should take place on the following
Thursday; on which evening, by a most
fortunate coincidence, Greta's parents
had announced their intention of invit
ing their neighbors to a grand festivity.
Greta retired to rest that night in ex
cellent spirits, and alter binding Girs
chen to the most solemn secrecy, she
imparted to her the whole design, and
engaged her as an ally.
" My dear Herman," said Greta, on
tbe morning of the important event,
" how very fortunate it is that my father
should take it into his head to give a
grand party to-night! When all are
busy dancing in the large parlor, and
mother and the servants are busy laying
the supper in the hall, I will steal up to
my room and descend from the window.
1 wish that you would let me go down
the rope-ladder, instead of in the basket
it is not half so romantic I"
"But a gteat deal safer, dear Greta."
" That may be ; but I don't remember,
in all the novels I have read, that any
heroine ever was let down in a basket,
said the romantic girl. " They all es
caped from parental tyranny by a rope
ladder ; and only one of all the number
ever met with an accident, and that was
Annabella of Cologne, who was so
clumsy as to miss her step and break
her neck."
Well, without your being clumsy,"
replied Herman, pressing her bands,
"you might meet with an accident.
Perhaps the rope might break. No, my
dear, iou know 1 only consented to
elope with you on condition of your
going out tbe front door, wnich is even
safer still, or else by mi and Girschen
lowering you in that large clothes-bas
ket in your room. My dear, I was prac
ticing all day yesterday, and that pulley
is as safe as a baby's cradle. Besides,
you promised me."
" Well," said Greta, " I would much
sooner run the risk of the rope-ladder ;
but still 1 will keep my word. Any
thing is better than being married like
the rest of the world I
There never was a merrier set than
that gathered together in the hospitable
mansion of the Van Cortlandts. The
clergyman of their church was there.
and all his family. Scarcely a family of
any importance in the neighboiod
but was present at this grand party.
A small band of musicians had been
hired from New York for the benefit of
the dancers, and the larder and tbe
cookery of Mrs. Van Cortlandt had been
taxed to the utmost to feast the merry
throng.
Under the pretense of assisting his
fiancee, Herman bad been at the Van
Cortlandt homestead ail day, and, with
the secret connivance of the old people,
had arranged so that the lovers should
not be disturbed while they fixed the ap
paratus for elopement. At the last min
ute, Greta had made another appeal to
have the rope-ladder substituted for the
basket: but Herman was too much
alarmed for her safety to agree to her
wish.
" I tell you, Greta, you will not be
half a minute descending. With Girs
chen above to steady it, and with me be
neath the window to lower you down,
nothing can be better. It is only fifteen
teet, and we shall be in the carriage and
driving to Newark long before we are
missed. My iriend the Key. Air. W or
tendyke will be waiting to marry us,
and the next morning we can return to
receive the congratulations of our friends
and tbe blessings of our parents. Still,"
said he, " I wish you would abandon
your strange scheme, and be married as
other people are."
io this she would not listen. So the
helpless Herman merely cave a sorrow
ful sigh, and pressed the wilful girl's
hand. - - - -, - - , r - - - -
Meanwhile, the basket and rope were
hidden away beneath Greta's bed, she
flattering herself how nicely all things
had conspired to second her whim. , bbe
had secured the fidelity of Girschen' by
a very liberal sum of money, saying
nothing of a couple of very handsome
dresses, which blinded her maid to any
fear of the old folks displeasure. It was
arranged that she should not accompany
them in their flight, but remain benind
and feign astonishment at Greta's disap
pearance! Never had Greta shown to more ad
vantage. She was the life of the party.
She sat down to her harpsichord and
rattled off a lively country-dance. She
then would spring up to attend to some
of her guests. Then she would steal off
to that part 01 tbe lawn wmcn was
under her bedroom window, and look
up to see that the sash was open. To
disarm suspicion, she had requested Her
man not to speak to her till she should
give him a bouquet to hold, which was
to be the signal for his hastening to the
lawn to lower the basket. They were
all about to join in a general dance,
when Herman received tbe signal or bis
fate. He bowed to Greta, took the bou
quet, and stole out of the door which led
from the grand parlor to the lawn, while
she ran up stairs to her own apartment.
There she found her maid with a large
cloak, which she hastily threw over her
shoulders. She then helped Girschen
lift the basket to which the ropes were
attached over tbe window. In another
moment Herman bad hold of the rope,
in Greta got, and was about midway be
tween her window-sill and the lawn,
when at a least a dozen persons, all
with torches, rushed out of the' house,
and, to Greta's utter dismay, planted
themselves immediately where she was
going to aught.
Poor Herman paused in his action as
though paralyzed, and there was the un
happy Greta midway suspended between
her window and the ground.
" Pull up, Herman I" said the bewild
ered girl. As she said this, a blaze of
light streamed from her wmdow, out of
which, to her horror, leaned the beads of
her mother and father.
" What is the meaning of all this f"
said her mother.
" Herman, let me down 1" screamed
Greta.
Meanwhile, the entire party had
gathered on the lawn under the window,
which, owing to the torches, was as
light as day.
Herman now began to let the basket
descund, from which, when it touched
the ground, Greta was helped out by
Mr. and Mrs. Zabrieski.
" What explanation," said Mr. Van
Cortlandt, " can you, Mr. Herman Za
brieski, give for this outrageous con
duct f
He said this with so stern an air that
Greta, with her characteristic generosity,
hastened to her lover s rescue.
' Father, don't blame Herman ! It's
all my ftfult 1 I made him do it I
"What were you going to do?" said
her mother, assuming great indigna
tion.
" We were going to elope I"
." To elope 1" they all cried in a chorus.
" And why were you going to
olopf. 'f " inquired her mother.
" Because it is so romantic !"
" Come into the house," said her fath
er. " We will soon cure you of your ro
mance."
Saying this, her father and mother
took her by the arm and led her into
the grand parlor, the company all 101
lowing.
Greta was so thoroughly crestfallen
that her high spirit gave way, and,
throwing herself on to her mother's
neck, she burst into tears.
" Pray, don't be angry with Herman !
It was all my fault 1" Buid the weeping
girl. " irray torgive rum r
" I will only forgive him on one con'
dition," said her father, with great
asperity of manner.
" I will do anything to please you !"
said Ureta.
" Then," said the father, " you must
marry Herman to-night. I won't sleep
till 1 have seen the ceremony performed.
Caught thus in her own toils, Greta
consented, and, amid the congratulations
of ber friends, she dried her eyes, and
smiled once more.
It was not until nearly a year after
ward, when their little Herman was
christened, that her husband confessed
his share in the plot . .
A Keen Reply.
Legal bullies who ask women imper
tinent questions in the witness-box ought
to get their deserts, as did the solicitor
general the other day in the celebrated
Tichborne case in England. The wit
ness was a governess who had formely
been employed in tbe Tichborne family.
Governesses in England are generally
regarded as being who are made to be
snubbed and insulted. So the solicitor-
general snubbed and insulted this one,
while' she was testifying to the identity
of the claimant to the Tichborne estate
with the young heir as she knew him
twenty years before. At last she had
chance at him which she did not hesi
tate to improve. - " Was the young man.
always polite to ladies f asked the sohc
i tor-general, "He was, indeed,' polite.
toward ladies, , replied the governess ;
and with a well-understood emphasis
she added, "gentlemen, I believe, always
are so." The court-room burst into a
loud laugh, and the solicitor-general
turned red in tbe face.
" I Railways nt $5,000 a MiIo.,n :l
A wooden railway on the 4 feet .81
inches gauge is being constructed from
the town of Sorel, at the confluence of
the Richelieu river with tbe St. Law
rence, through ' Druramondvillo, to
Arthabaska, P. (4., by Mr. L. A, SeneeaL
contractor. The Montreal Herqld gives
a long account ot a recent trip on tbe
line. Upwards of 2,000 . men were at
work, and the rails are laid on a large
portion of the road. An experimental
trip was made, the train going at the
rate of 23 miles per hour, aud running
with remarkable smoothness. The jour
nal quoted furnishes the following in
teresting particulars: ' ' ' "
1 The ties, which are ot nemiook and
tamarao, are now brought down on
trucks from the woods through which
the railway runs ; they are put on a
rollway, run up to most ingenious circu
lar saws, so gaged that at one operation
they are mortised the prqper depth and
distance, not the difference of a hair's
breadth being found between one and
another. As fast as they are cut, and
the operation is very fast indeed, the
prepared ties are rolled over to a differ
ent siding from that on whicti they were
received, an ordinary circular saw sides
them, and they are loaded up to be run
out to the place whero they are wanted.
The wedges for keying up the rails are
also prepared here, lbe rails are ot
maplM, four by seven inches, and fourteen
feet long, the gauge of the line being four
feet eight and a half inches. The cost
of tbe line, in which cost are included
stations, (nine 111 number), car and I00O'
motive depot, engine aud repairing
shops, engine and tender, two passenger
cars, eight grain cars, and twenty-hve
wood cars, is 0,000 a mile, in lull for all
but tbe Yamaska Bridge which cost 3j,
000. It should be mentioned that land
damages, fences, etc., are included also
in this amount. In payment it was
agreed municipal and (iovernment de
bentures should be taken at par, and
nothing was to be paid except as work
to tbe extent ot flU.UUU was finished.
: The Last King of Ireland. '
Roderic O'Connor, of the ancient line
of Conuaught, was the last king who sat
on the throne of Celtic Ireland. His
character and exploits are painted with
no nattering hand by the monkish wn
ters, who longed lor his destruction, or
later historians, who have written in the
interest of the Roman church. All the
crimes and woes of a fated CEdipus are
attributed to tho unhappy king who
ventured to strike a last blow for the
freedom of Ireland; who resisted with
obdurate patriotism the steel-clad le
gions of the Pope and Henry II., and
who more than once seems to have been
on the eve of a final triumph. It is said
that Roderic was thrown 111 chains by
his lather, who feared bis savage tem
per ; that he put out tbe eyes of his two
brothers, and that he wasted in civil
feuds the forces that should have been
turned against tho foe. He seems, in
deed, to have wanted prudence, and too
often to have been deceived by the
treacherous arts of JJermot and the
priests. Yet one cannot avoid review
ing with sympathy the story of the un
happy monarch whose disastrous reign
was at least marked by a sincere patn
otisoi, and whose misfortunes were never
merited by his treachery or Mb servile
fear. . Amidst his savage and ancestral
wilds the O'Connor, terrified by novel
dangers, assailed by the most powerful
monarch ot tbe age, exposed to the an
athemas of the Italian church, surroun
ded by traitors, and scarcely safe from
tbe intrigues ot his own sons or his tin
bitious rivals, still maintained a spirit
not unworthy of that long line of patriot
chiefs of whom be was destined to be
the last ; and it is a grateful trait in the
character of Roderio that he strove once
more to revive, by liberal endowments,
tbe famous Uollege of Armagh, as if con.
scious that Ireland could only hope to
secure its freedom by a general educa
tion of its people.
Interesting Electrical Experiment.
Astonishing as is the fact of the con
centration of the power of a lightning'
flash into a minute interval, yet as won
derful is tbe extent ot the earth s surface
affected by it, as will be seen from the
following experiments of the writer,
never before published : A galvanometer
consists of a delicately suspended mag
netic needle, surrounded by a coil of
copper wire, through which coil
current of electrioity can pass ; when
ever this passage takes place, the needle
rapidly turns around its point of sus
pension. This being understood, 1 con
nectad the wire of a galvanometer with
the water pipes of Baltimore, and the
other end of the coil was joined to a gas
pipe of a house in the southwest part of
tbe city. Thus a vast metallic system
of electrio nerves stretched away three
miles to the northwest, to the - reservoir,
and about as many to the east and south
east over the city. A thunder storm
was raging at the time, at so great a dis
tance in the north that only the illumi
nation of the clouds told when a flash
occurred. Yet, whenever that flash took
place, tbe needle was instantly deflected
through ten or twenty degress. ', .The
two occurrences were simultaneous, ap-
pareniiy, lor i. couiu uetect no airxerence
in the instant 01 their manifestation
Indeed, so sure an indicator of the flash
was the galvanometer, that when I-'shut
myself up in a dark room, signalling to
an observer of the storm whenever the
needle moved, and receiving a Bigdal
from him when a flash occurred, our
signals were always simultaneous. : The
next day it was ascertained that the
Btorm was over twelve miles distant
therefore, at least five hundred equare
miles of the earth's surface were affected
(inductively)' at each flash 'of the light
ning. Cor. Evening -Pott. ,ia, , li
t r Cincinnati' is said to be inOre densely
populated than, any city in tills oouutry.
The population is 30,000 to the square
mile ; New York, the next most densely
Populated city, has 32,000 to the square
mile : Cincinnati has about 68 persons
10 me square acre, xonaon has 40, id'
inourgn w, and Dublin Vi,
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
Tim nnmnlncical exDerimentalists of
Iowa have evolved" jk'neW. specie of pear
which they call the Bismarck:
Chicago has had a swine 'exposition.
The papers there call it a f four-legged .
hog show," to prevent mistakes.
A rolling-pin. with which a loving
wife knocked her husband flown seven
times, came In as evidence id an Indiana
triah . .
A heroic father in Montreal chose fine
and ' imprisonment rather than tell the
census man how old.'-his "unmarried
daughters were."" -
An independent Missouri girl sot out
to earn her own "living 'as a telegraph
operator, and in two years accumulated
foo.uuo. , it was Jett ner, by, a ricn
uncle. "
On the' first of November next, the in
terest on the five-twenty loans, series of
1862, March and June 1864 and 1865,
falhi due, the payment of which will
take over 121,000,000 in gold. .
An Indiana paper notices the death
of an old subscriber, and touchinglT
adds : We are sorry to hear of the death
of . any of our subscribers who are .
prompt about paying us. ' '- '-
The . Mormons deny ' that Bngham .
Young has sought to evade the process
of the Court and Grand Jury, and they
say he wiU obey a summons as witness
or submit .even to .a warrant of arrest,
but will not yield to imprisonment.
A Milwaukee boy of five is art invet
erate smoker, and has' been for three
years and nine months. At the ' age- of
thirteen months he cried for his father s -pipe
and got it, and, though made des
perately ill, persevered, and had the
habit before he could walk or talk.
Two countrymen 'gaping around a
Saratoga hotel, the other day, were ap-
proached by a lady wearing a fashion
able trail. One of the party dodged it,
but the other walked straight across it,
and on finding out his error apologized
with, , " I beg your pardon, madam ;. I
thought you had passed some time ago."
It is related of a member of the Bos
ton bar that once meeting in the dog
days the estimable son of a father of
rather equivocal reputation',' in an ab
sent minded moment lie amazed him by
inquiring how the old gentleman stood
the beat. The old gentleman bad been
dead two months. " ' '
At the examination of- a parochial
school, a reverend gentleman was ask
ing a class the meaning of words. They
answered very well till he gave " back
biter.". This semed a puzzle. It went,
down the class till it came to a simple
urchin, who looken sheepishly knowing,
and said. " It may be a nea. .'.
One of the silly abstractions of the
" health" journals, which greatly dam
ages their usefulness, is that which de
clares that it is unhealthy for two peo
ple to sleep together. A man of ninety
nine died the other day from the effects
of sleeping with his wife - nearly eighty
years or from some other cause.
"Abuse not him in word," said Don
Quixote to Sancho, "whom you are re
solved to chastise in deed." This aph
orism is clearly stolen by the Don from
tbe antediluvian story of tbe negro
Bailor who, being strapped 'up for the
lash, cut short a prefatory homily of the
captain by saying, "If you preach,
preacbee; or if you flog, floggee; but
don't both preacbee and. floggee too!"
The- will of the late Aristarohus Cham
pion, of Rochester, whose wealth is sup
posed to have been several millions, has
been filed with the Surrogate. He be
queaths one-half of all his real and per
sonal property to the American Bible
Society, and the remainder of his prop
erty, with the exception of $1,000, to the
Presbyterian Society for Foreign Mis
sions. The testament will be contested.
The patriotio Philadelphians have
lately been mortified by the discovery
that a picture in revered Independence
Hall, in that city, which has for many
years been looked on as an excellent
likeness of Gen. Charles Lee, of Revolu
tionary memory, turns out to be a por
trait of Gen. Arthur O'Connor, an Irish
man, who had nothing whatever to do
with our Revolution, although be was a
very brave man in his own country. ,
An Irishman named William, and one
Samuel, a Jew, were partners in the
ownership and management of a large
and valuable rancho, not many miles
from Virginia City. Samuel was up
braiding his Irish partner for his queer
management of some particular bus
iness. William could endure it no longer,
and retorted: "Now, Sam, you had
better dry up about my Irian, blunders,
for you Jews have nothing to brag . of ;
there you were for forty years bringing
your folks through the wilderness, when '
any good smart Yankee would have
done it in four days." Sam, subsided,
and peace was restored. ' "' . ;
At the Chicago' stock-yards the cus
tomary practice of handling disabled . -hogs
is to jerk them up to the shambles,- ' .
by placing an iron hook through their
jaws, and thus hauling them up an in- t
cunea plane by steam power. Two or . -three
butchers, who 'were-sworn, de
scribed, with tbe utmO8t,in0-roi2, the
process, telling how it was often, five
minutes, and sometimes '"tntooh more,' -'
after the animals- are thus lacerated .
before the knife puts an end to their
misery. It is suggested 'that this 'is a"
good field for the Humane Society to
pjjeratein. ,. ,yjy, 1' Mt
t Iui6y-bees were imported, to f the
Paoitio coast several years later than the j
discovery of gold in California.-and'it1""
was questioned it wether-they-- would
thrive in that region, because they ?e -not
. indigenous there; but1 they have'"'''
multiplied wonderfully, and v wild
honeyj' that is, the produot of yagrant -swarms
which have left the parent hives
of rW-dO Aesticated insects, is found 'In'-"
large quantities throughout the .tJtate H
though the beejiupters are frequently
disappointed of anticipated .prizes
through the enterprise of thgriizlyV
bears. In pursuit of such sweet
larcenies tbe bears climb lofty trees, if
the wood be decayed and toft,