A A A A
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Demoreaicoi atc
Bellefonte, Pa., September 12,1890.
m——
THE TROOPER.
Only a common trooper,
Firm and steady of hand,
Upon his charger sitting,
Awaiting the sharp command.
Drawn up in line and squadron
For the king's parade and show,
And the multitude that gathers
On the wide, wide plain below.
There must the squadron sally,
Near that swaying sea of life;
Attack, retreat, and rally,
As if in battle strife.
Only a common trooper,
Unknown to any fame;
He wears the king’s own colors,
But the king knows not his name.
The loud command is given,
Away the troopers fly;
While thundering hoofs of horses
Raise clouds of dust on high.
Down past the thronging thousands
Like whirlwind fierce and wild,
When suddenly before them
Out staris a little child.
There’s a sudden ery of horror,
There are faces pale with fear,
In the awful contemplation
Of the danger drawing near.
Straight toward the child the trooper,
Oh, madly see him ride!
In that mighty rush of horsemen
None can stop nor turn asid- .
But the trooper as he gallops
Bends downward to the grcund;
He grasps the child in flying
And he holds him safe and sound.
Erect he dashes onward,
No moment has he lost,
And with the child before him
Rides forward with the host.
The multitude applaud him
With loud huzzas and eries ;
The king looks down upon him
With proud and loving eyes.
Only a common trooper,
And I do not know his name ;
But his noble deed is written
On the scroll of deathless fr me.
RC RT ATI SRT
THE STORY OF THE FORT.
BY ISABEL SMITHSON.
Six little girls were sitting under an
apple tree. The eldest held a large
book on her lap, and turned the pages
slowly while the other children looked
at the pictures of Indians and log-cab-
ins and all manner of exciting scenes.
Presently they came to a fort made
of posts, with a stream of water run-
ning near it, and woods on either side,
while on the banks of the little river
were women filling pails and jugs.
“What is it about?’ asked he chil-
dren, and Mabel, who was at the head
of her class in history, answered slow-
“There are Indians hiding in the
woods; look, there is a face, and there's
another between the trees.”’—
While she was speaking, an old feeble
lady came out of the house and walked
slowly towards the children, supported
on each siae by one of her sons who
were white-haired, wrinkled men.
“Grandmama wants to sit with you,
children,” said Uncle John, and some
of the young faces clouded over at the
interruption.
Mabel exclaimed quickly, however,
“Perhaps she will tell us a story,” and
the thought of that made the children
start to their feet and greet the old
lady joyfully.
‘‘Here’s a nice seat, Grandma,” they
cried, “and a stool for your feet.”
When her sons had seen her nicely
settled on the rustic bench with a shawl
over her knees and her grasd-children
and great-grand-children clustering
round her, they went back to the ver-
anda to have a smoke and talk poli-
tics.
Grandma Hayward had only just
«come to live at Fairfield and to most of
‘the children she was a new aocquaint-
.ance. Her home for many years had
been with Uncle John and his wife,
-away off in another state. Uncle
.John’s wife had lately died, and as she
left no children, her husband and his
mether found the house very sad and
lonely when they were left alone, and
80'it was decided that they should come
-and anake their home with Grandma’s
.other son who lived in a great farm-
house with his daughters and their
children.
So mow there were four generations,
.of one family at Hazelhurst, and a very
happy houseliold.it was. The young-|
.children were very much surprised,
when the great-grandmother arrived to |
see that she did not look very different
from other old ladies, although she was
close on to a hundred years old. In-
deed, little Bessie, the five year old, had
Secretly made up her mind that such a
very aged person must be as big as a
giant, and she was not a little surpris
to find out her mistake. It was in the
summer ¢f Centennial Year that Grand-
ma Hayward came to Hazelhurst, and
before she had been there many weeks,
the children discovered, to their great
delight, that she could tell the most de-
lightful tales about the days of her
youth, when her family were ‘‘early
settlers,” and lived in a log-cabin, and
her father and brother took their guns
to the hayfield with them, for fear of
Indians. The only drawback to the
enjoyment of these narratives was that
the old lady would often, when in the
most interesting part, stop suddenly
and sit looking straight before her as
if in a dream, entirely forgetting her
young listeners. She had a wonderful
memory for things that happened many
years ago, and seemed to grow young
again while she talked about them, but
when the tale was done, she changed
completely, and could not recollect the
names of her grandchildren or tell
what day it was, or which of her two
sons had gone to town. Yet in spite
of these occasional interruptions, Grand-
ma’s narratives were intensely interest
ing to the young people, and they look-
ed upon her as a perfect storehouse ot
valuable curiosities in the way of re-
collections. It was therefore with feql-
ings of delightful expectation that the
children saw her eyes turn to the big
“Indians, Grandma,” they said, per-
suasively, “and this is a forl, and the
women aie getting water at the brook.”
The old lady looked fixedly at the
picture for several minutes, and then
nodded her head and said slowly. “It
was at Bryant's Station, down in Ken-
{ tucky. I remember it so well!"
“Were you there?’ cried the chil-
dren in amazement, but Mabel signed
them to be silent, and the old lady
went on.
“It seems such a little while ago.
Very early one August morning, my
brother Charley and I were playing in
the dirt near our cabin, and making
little forts out of chips. Mother was
cooking breakfast in a great hurry be-
cause father and the other men were
going down to Hoy’s Station ; a party
of twenty Wyandot Indians had been
there and beaten Captain Holder's men
so badly that he had sent to us for help
that he wished he was old "enough to
have a gun and go and drive away the
Indians, but I only went on sucking
my thumb and looked at him without
speaking, for I was secretly glad he
could not go, to be shot and scaiped as
some of the men had been, or stolen
away and aever brought back again,
like little Tommy Blair at the next sta-
tion
We had a very hurried breakfast
that morning, and then father kissed
us all good-bye, took up his gun and
told us to be sure not to go far away
from the fort while he was gone, and
mother, taking us by she hand, follow-
ed him out of the cabin.
Our fort was made of forty log-cabins
standing in four rows and the outside
ones joined together by a high wall of
thick wooden stakes, with a strong
gate.in each _ide. We found a crowd
of people & anding by one of these ga.es,
and in a few minutes father went out
forty-seven other men, all carrying guns
ready loaded. Just as some of the
boys were goingto close the gate, we
heard loud, terrible yells outside and
then the sharp crack of riiles, and the
next minute the men eame hurrying in
again, the last ones shutting and bar
ring the gate behind them.
“The red skins are on us!” cried my
father, and mother turned as white as
a sheet and drew Charley and me to
her as if to hide us from the savages,
and then seeing the frightened faces
round us she took us to our .cabin and
rocked and petted ane until I tell asleep
in her arms. When I wakened, sie
that we were to stay in until she came
back. So we played ball contentedly
and torgct everything else, (for we were
gariy more than babies,) until we
eard the men tramping about and call-
ing to each other. That worried us,
and we ran to the doorand peeped out;
we saw some of the men busily mend-
ing the wall, and trying to strengthen
the weak places in the pa'isades, while
others were posted at the port-holes
with their rifles in position for firing,
and the women talking together anx-
iously. Then we knew that an attack
was expected, and young as we were
we rejoiced to think that the Indians
had shown themselves just when they
did, for if they had waited but a little
the fort would have been without pro-
tectors, every man, except a very few
old ones, would have been on the way
to Hoy's Station.
After a little while, mother came in
and gave us some bread and cold meat
to eat, but there was no dinner oceoked
that day. Father could not leave his
post at the port-holes for the enemy, so
mother carried his lunch to him. As
a great treat Charley and I had sugar
on our bread, but we had only half a
cupful of water each, and when weask-
ed for more, mother shook her head
gravely and said that the pail avas
empty. We children did not then real-
ize what a serious trouble it was—that
empty pail! Every family in the fort
was in the same trouble, for no water
had been brought from the spring all
day, and who would go and fetch some
when it was known that a band of mur-
derous red-skine was hidden in the
bushes? If Indisus stayed there much
longer we should all be dying of thirst
-no wonder that everv one looked anx-
ious!
The enemy did not show themselves
again, but our men kuew they were
still in ambush and they would try te
make the whites come out of the fort.
All of a sudden our next door neigh-
bor’s son, Frank, came running into
our cabin to tell mother that fatherand
the others wanted her for a few min-
utes, and when she had gone he set to
work to amuse Charley and me, and
calm our fears. He told us that two
of the young men bad crept out of the
side gate and made their way through
the bushes without being seen by the
Indians, and that they were going as
fast as they could to Lexington, to get
a whole lot of men with guns, and they
would all come and drive the Indians
away—but he said nota word about
the empty water-pails! Frank Hay-
ward was a good deal older than we,
and so we thought him almost a man,
and he was such a brave merry little
fellow that we loved to hear him talk,
and before he left us we were laughing
gaily. Then we thought we would go
and find mother and tell her what he
bad said. We ran out to where the
grown folks were standing, and no one
noticed ug, for every one was either talk-
ing or listening, ard we saw by their
faces that a very grave matter was be-
ing discussed.
“We can not possibly do without
rater until the men come froin Lexing-
ton,” said my father earnestly, and the
others seemed to agree with him, and
after a short pause some one else said
in a decided tone. :
“Our first plan is the only one to be
thought of—now who will go?”
One of the young women exclaimed
directly, “I will, if my cousin Mary
will,” “but another girl said with a
frown. “I don’t see why the Indians
should be expected to let us pass any
more than they would the men—"
“Nor I,” said another, ‘they. never
make any difference between male and
female scalps!’ Some of the older
book on Mabel’s lap,
people then explained to these timid
While we were playing Charley said:
had gone away and Charley told mie
ones that the Indians would be sure to
wait for the men to come out of the |
fort. It would be no use for them to
shoot at a few women, but if they could
kill all the men, then it would be easy
to sieze the fort and put the women and
children to death or make them pris
oners.
At the thought of being carried away
by the cruel Indians, Charley and I
were 50 frightened that we began to
ery, and one ot the women turned and
bade us go back to our cabin. So we
went home and waited there trembling
until mother came. She clasped us in
her arms, soothed us with more than
usual fondness and kissed us again and |
again, then taking up the water-pail (
she went out, saying that she would be
back soon. Suddenly it dawned upon
us that she was going for water to the
spring, going with a few other women
right into the clutches of those terrible
savages! We were so frightened at
the thought that we could not cry, but
stood looking at each other in dumb
dismay, and then Charley ran out of
the cabin, I followed him slowly, and
saw that a dozen or so of women and
girls were gathering at the gate, each
carrying a pail or pitcher, and all look-
ing grave but determined. Just as they
had iaken down the bar, Charley ran
to mother, and catching hold of her
skirts implored her not to go.
“We won't ask for any more water,
we don’t want a driok at all,”” he sob-
bed, but father came up aud carried
him away,and the next instant mother
and the others had gone and the gate
was barred behing them.
The men returned hurriedly to the
port-holes, especially to those which
looked towards the sprirg, and I was
left alone. I had just turned to go
back to our empty cabin when Frank
Hayward came up 2nd took me by the
hand.
“Don’t fret, Sadie,” he said coaxing-
ly, “be a brave girl and your mother
will soon come back.” He found it a
hard task to console me, however, aad
at last he said gaily, “I tell you what
we'll do! We'll go and watch them
come back—I know where there's a
i splendid crack that we can look
i through.” Then I followed him glad-
ly to place in the wall where there was
a long crack between two stakes, and
i here we crouched and peered out eag-
erly. We were almost on a line with
the spring,so we could plainly see the
group of women near 1t; we heard
their clear voices, for they talked,
langhed and even sang as unconcerned-
| ly as if they thought there was no In-
dians within miles of them. The grass
and trees were green around them, the
ripe corn waving, and the bright blue
sky of summer overhead. I was not
thinking of all that just then, however,
but of my mother out there exposed to
deadly peril.
“Why does not father go with them
and teke his gun?’ I asked, and
Frank explained quickly. “Thatwould
show they were afraid. The red-skins
known the women go to the brook
every day and if they do not seem fright-
ened the Indians will think we do not
know .hey are there, and they will wait
for the men to come out too. You see,
it is necessary for the women to go
alone—there, they have got to the
brook and are filling their pails!” I
peeped through the crack again and
saw them stooping over the water, and
then I looked anxiously at the brush.
wood on either side, but there was not
an Indian in sight. I did not know
then (as the others did) that nearly five
hundred blood-thirsty savages were
lurking there and watching every
movement of the helpless white women
—1I did not realize that if they thought
best to fire from their hiding-place our
men could not defend their wives and
daughters without leaving the fort un-
protected, and 1t was just as well for me
that I was too young to fully under-
stand all this. And yet, I could not
keep back my tears, while I watched
my mother’s bending form as she filled
her pail, and then helped one of the
young girls, whose courage and strength
seemed to be giving out. Some of the
women called to each other gaily, and
even splashed the water as if in mirth,
and then at last they all stood up and
turned their faees towards the fort. Oh,
how slowly they seemed to walk!
Would they reach the only place of
safety before the Indians suspected
them of trickery ? If they had hur-
ried then, all would have been lost, for
not only would the precious water have
been wasted, but the enemy would
have seen through the plot, and
revenged themselves with fresh fury
on the women. As they came nearer,
carrying their heavy buckets, I could
see my mother’s face ; it was quite pale,
but brave and smiling, for she knew
she was saving her dear ones from the
lingering Jeath of thirst. In a few
minutes the devoted party reached the
fort; I started to my feet and running
round to the gate-way, got there just as
the door swung open and the women
came in. The young girls were first,
with their pails partly emptied, for in
their haste they had crowded a little at
the last moment and the water had
spilled over, and then, more calmly,
came the married women—1I rushed to-
wards them, the gate closed behind the
last ones and the next instant I was
clasped in my mother's arms. Oh,
what a happy moment that was) 1
cared for nothing else when [ felt those
dear arms about me, and those loving
kisses on my face, for it seemed to me
that it did not matter whether the In-
dians were out there in the buslies or
not, now that my mother was inside
the fort a ain, and the gate barred.” !
The old lady stopped speaking and |
wiped her eyes thoughtfully and her
young audience began to fear that she
was not going to tell them any more.
“Well, Grandma, what did the In-
dians do then?” asked the children
eagerly, “did they come out and shoot?”
“No indeed, they stayed in hiding
and pretty soon some of our men dis- |
covered that a party ot ‘ved-skins’ were |
on the other side ¢! us, near the Lex-
ington road. Father and the others
made up their minds that this was only |
a decoy, and that if they were to leave
the fort to chase these Indians, those
round the brook would sieze the oppor-
tunity to rush up, climb over the pali-
sades, fire the cabins and kill the wo-
men and children. So thirteen active
young men were chosen (Frank’s two
brothers were among them) and when
everything was ready they rashed out
with guns loaded and attacked the de-
coy party, firing very rapidly and mak-
ing as much noise as they could so that
it sounded as if every man had left the
fort. Meanwhile, all the rest of our
men had stationed themselves at the
port-holes nearest the brook, and wait-
ed with their guns cocked for the main
body of the enemy.
Charley and I were standing at the
door of our ca’ ‘n holding tight to moth-
er's hands lect she should leave us
again. We heard the quick firing of
the young men on the Lexington road
and it grew fainter and fainter until it
ceased entirely, and the next minute
there rose a terrible war-whoop on the
other side, and five hundred painted
towards the fort, thinkiug to find it un-
defended. Frank was looking through
his crack and saw them and he told
me all about it. We heard their sav-
age yells, as they came, and then saw
father and the other men discharge
their rifles—the dusky mass stopped
astonished, several Indians tell and af-
ter a minute's hesitation the rest tarn-
ed and ran back to shelter, followed by
volley after volley of rifle balls.
the same time our young men came in
at the other gate. breathless but smii-
ing, and delighted with the success of
th» trick.
Then the Indians gradually spread
themselves round all sides of us, and
there was firing from time to time, but
on one was hurt, and in the afternoon
we heard a great noise on the Lexing-
ton road. It was the hurried gallop-
ing of horses, and in a few minutes six-
teen whiie men on horseback dashed
up to the gate. When they were safe
inside the fort they told us that our
messengers, Bell and Tomlinson, had
reached Lexington just after all the
fighting men had left for Hoy’s Station,
but had ndden at tull speed after them,
and persuaded them to turn back to
Bryant's where they were needed most.
Besides the horsemen there were near-
ly fifty others, and just as they were
hurrying down a lane between the
woods and the corn fields they were at-
tacked by an immense body of Indians;
the horsemen managed to break through
and reach the fort but the rest ran in-
to the cornfield and there was a skir-
mish that lasted an hour. Two of the
whites where killed, the others got
away, and then the Indians came back
to besiegeus. Our men kept a sharp
lookout for them, and thauks to the
bravery of the women there was plenty
of water for every one, 80 we were com-
fortable, and felt quite secure. The af:
ternoon passed quietly, and just as the
sun was setting, a man was seen creep-
ing on his hands and knees to a tree-
stump near the fort, and here he stood
up and called to our garrison. He
said we would give his word of honor,
that if he surrendered at once not a hair
of our heads should be hurt, but that
if not, we would all be blown into the
air by the cannon which he was ex-
pecting every minute. On hearing
this, some of our men were in doubt as
to what ought to be done, but others
said that this man was Simon Girty, a
rascally white who had joined the In-
dians, and that we could not trust the
word of a renegade, and after a min-
ute’s pause one of the bravest of our
young men, named Reynolds, stood up
on a bench, looked over the palisades,
and defied Girty to do his worst. The
latter then went back to his red-skinned
troops, and nothing more was heard of
them. Watch was kept all night long,
and the next morning the evening's
fires were found still burning in the
woods, with bits of meat on the roast-
ing-sticks, but not an Indian was to be
found.”
“Ah!” said the children with a sigh
of relief, “that it is a splendid story,
Grandma,” and the old lady added
with a proud smile: “Whenever you
hear of the heroines of Bryant's Sta-
tion you will remember that your great-
great-grandmother was one of them.”
Protection to Bicycle Riders.
The following from the Tyrone Herald
will be of unusual interest to our local
wheelmen as it will clearly demonstrate
the rights of a beyelist, and also make
plain the urgent necessity of joining
the State organization of American
Wheelmen :
“A short time ago one of our bicye-
list; while takinga morning ride was
run down by two men with a horse
and buggy, and suffered some light
personal injuries and considerable
damage to the wheel. The local coun-
sel of the League of American Wheel-
men, for this place, promptly Ppa
the circumstance to Samuel A. Boyle,
Esq., Assistant District Attorney of
Philadelphia and Chief Counsel Penn-
sylvania Division L. A W., and was
by him instructed to bring suit imme-
diately against the offenders, under the
auspices of the L. A. W. The matter
was placed in the hands of Messrs.
Stevens & Owens, who settled the case
yesterday. The offenders made amica-
ble settlement, in preference to standing
criminal and civil prosecution, by pay-
ing the amount of damage sustained,
all costs, and attorney's fees, the amount
in full being $45.
This should be a warning to the many
persons wheelmen meet on the road,
who seem to think that a bieycle is an
outlawed machine and that a bicyclist
has no rights of the road to be respected.
It is well for all such persons to note
that the rider of a bicycle enjoys by law
the same rights and privileges that
drivers of other vehicles d). The
League of American Wheelmen is
an immense organization, its member-
ship reaching nearly 20,000, throughout
the United States. Its object is to pro-
mote the interests of wheelmen, to se-
cure them rights and protection, and to
labor in behalf of the improvement of
our highways, and its prompt action in
this case cannot but help to win it
friends among all those who favor equal
rights.”
warriors, sprang up and came running |
At |
WHEN TWILIGHT FALLS.
When twilight falls in splendor drest,
His couch the sun seeks in the west,
Portward the toiling fisher w nds,
And from the task the swain unbends,
With simple thoughts of home and rest.
A lingering thrush, his joy expressed
In one last anthem, seeks his nest;
And quiet with the dew descends,
When twilight falls.
The lifting music in the breast
Of duly done—of fault confessed—
Of trespass softened by amends—
Of love surpa ing love of friends—
Ah! would—ah ! would this were my rest,
When {(wilight falls.
Had Her Revenge.
A woman carrying a faded carpet bag
stopped a policeman in Chicago and |
said : “Which way must I go to the |
World's fair 2”
“Headquarters of the directors
around on Dearborn street.”
“I don’t care a snap for the headquar-
ters. I want to know whar the fair is—
whar they are showin’ things.”
“There isn’t any such place, madam, |
The fair won’t beopened for three years
yet.”
“What, ain’t thar no show at all 27 |
“Not yet.”
“Didn’t I see in the papers that con-
gress had sent the fair to this town ?”
“You may haveread that this place
has been selected as the site of a fair to |
be held three years from ncw.”
“An’ thar won’t be none till then ?”
“Not that anybody knows of.”
“An’ congress has fooled me into |
comin’ all the way from Missoury to
see that fair.
are
to do with it. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, I hear you.”
«Well, what have you got to say for
yourself ?”
“Nothing.”
a fraud, do you ?”
“I suppose Tam.”
“An’ you are not sorry for it, nuther,
I reckon.”
“No. I am not
down.”
pariicularly cast
«Wall, will you do me a favor, jest to |
sorter make things squar ?”
“I will try to.”
©All might. Then hold this carpet
bag till I step right over yander an’ eat
a snack.”
“Why don’t you take it with you ?”
“Jeered somebody mont steal
while I'm eatin.’
When the woman had been gone half
an hour the policeman began to feel un-
easy. An hour passed and still the wo-
man did not return. Late that even-
ing the carpet bag was opened. Itcon-
tained four dead cats, together with the
following note .
“These cats lay in an alley next to my
house, on the west side, for four days. 1
have time and again notified the author-
ities, but as no notice was taken of my
appeal I have taken this methed of dis-
posing of them. You may return them
to me when we mee. atthe World's
fair.” —Arkansaw Traveller.
Points of Interest.
A rich New Zealand sheep grower
says the mistake American sheep raisers
make is in breeding for wool alone on
high priced lands and not paying,
enough attention to mutton. His own’
sheep are a cross of Leicester and Lincol-
shire on original merino stock. Thus
he has wool and mutton both. He
ships 2,000 frozen mutton carcasses to
England every year from his far Austra-
lasian home, which is 1,000 miles south-
eest of Australia.
Dakota seems to be running wild on
sheep.
Sheep can be fatten:d most rapidly
when they are from one and a half to
three years old.
A terrific fight between two stallions,
Irish and Norman, is reported from the
Murphy stock farm in Pennsylvania.
Neither rails, clubs nor pitchforks had
any effect on the two infuriated brutes.
It is well to remember that a pistol fired
off suddenly and repeatedly over the
heads of fighting stallions will affright
them and cause them to turn tail and
trot away trom each other.
The point in raising hogs now is to
get them ready for market at the earl-
iest stage at which they can profitably
be sold. This age averages eight months
with the best care and feeding.
Young hog pork is better than old
hog pork.
The sense of smell in horses is marvel-
ously acute, A mare recognizes her colt
by the odor. ‘When a horse is uncertain
whether any new thing is dangerous he
smells it thoroughly and makes up his
mind accordingly.
Pekin ducks are very large and beau-
tiful, but it 1s doubtful if they are as
hardy as the common varieties, Swim-
ming in water seems to lame and injure
them. Pekin fanciers say they should
not be allowed to go swimming except
occasionally.
Rules for a Clear Skin.
You want to keep your skin nice all
the time ? Well, then, here are some
rules for you:
Don’t bathe in hard water; soften it
with a few drops of ammonia or a little
borax.
Don’t bathe your face while it is very
warm, and never use very cold water
for it.
Don’t wash your face when you are
traveling unless it is with a little alcohol
and water, or a little vaseline.
Don’t attempt to remove dust with
cold water. Give your face a hot bath,
using plenty of good soap, then give it
a thorough rinsing with water that has
had the chill taken off of it.
Don’t rub your face with 8 coarse
towel ; just remember 1t is not made of
cast iron, and treat it as you would the
finest porcelain, gently and delicately.
Don’t use a sponge or linen rag for
your face ; choose instead a flannal one.
Don’t believe you can get rid of
wrinkles by filling in the crevices with
powder. Instead give your face a Ras.
sian bath every night ; that is, bathe it
with warm water so hot that you wonder
how vou can staud it, and then, a min-
ute after, with cold water that will
maks it glow with warmth ; dry it with
a soft towel and go to bed, and y-u
ought to sleep like a baby while your
skin is growing firmer and coming
from out of wrinkles the whileyou are
resting. — Ladies Home Journal.
| the line of march tw head Lee
! happen.
| within five miles of the rebels
i good and stout.”
him.
| him twice as hard as I could kick.
{ to advance.
it |
Will you hold it?” |
“Yes, I'll take charge of it for you,” |
Antidote for Cowardice.
Just before the battle of Antietam five
recruits came down for my company.
There were no bounty jumpers at that
stage of the game, although the courage
and patriotism of all the recruits could
not be vouched for, says a writer in the
New York Sun. One ot the batch was
named Danforth, a farmer's son, fresh
from the cornfields, and as we took up
oft and
bring him to bay, Danforth said to me :
“See here, sergeant, I've made a mis-
take.”
“How ?
“] hain’t got no sand. I allus thought
I had, but when I comedown here and
see what war is I hain’t got the spunk
of a rabbit.”
“That’s bad.”
“So it1s. We are going to’ havea
fight purty soon, and 1 know what'll
I shall bolt as sure as shoot-
ing.”
“Then you'll be called a coward,
and disgraced forever.”
“That'sso, and I don’t wantit. I
want vou to do me a great favor.”
“Well 27
«Wall, if I can git mad I’ll be all
right and forget my shaking. Xeep
your eye on me, and as soon as we git
kick me
Aftersome further talk, I promised
We were in Hooker's corps, and
as we moved in against Jackson, Dan-
forth obliqued alongside and said :
“Sergeant, kick me or Ishail bolt. I
: oury to | havn’t got sand enough to see a chicken
Look here, this thing is a
fraud, an’ I believe you had something |
die.”
We were moving through the timber,
and I stepped behind him and “lifted”
He
shot aside and next time I saw him we
{were at a fence at the edge of a corn-
2 ' field.
“Then ypu acknowledge that you are
“he fire was hot and men were
faliing thick. I had just fired from
a rest on the top rail wher Danforth
came up,‘ael the other way, and said :
“More kicks, sergeant ! I know I've
dropped two of them, but my sand is
going !”
I kicked him again with a good deal
of vigor, and just then we got the order
Half an hour later we were
driven back, considerably disorganized,
and as I reached the fei.ce I came across
Dantorth again. He had a rebel cap-
tain by the collar, and was carrying the
officer's sword in his hand. As he saw
me he called out :
“Sand is all right, sergeant. No more
kicks. Assoon as I take this chap to
the rear I’m going back and collar old
Stonewall himself, or die trying !”’
The Wife of Plutus.
The No Name Magazine says —Qur
; rich men have very faint notions as to
what women were meant for. A fmil-
lionaire merchant or banker will" rush
down town to his office or counting-
room, spend the day there grubbiag up
more money, rush back just in titne for
his splendid, unscientific dinner, fall
asleep after it, and be as dull as a hog
or log till it is time for breakfast and go
to busines against. Toa man of tiris
sort a wife is merely an apparatus for
for exhibiting his wealth by wearing
fine dresses, riding in fine equipages, pre-
siding at superb banquets. He has no
idea of her use in life-—but then he has
no 1dea of his own. These opulent gen-
try, who amass gold without any notion
of how to spend it, are like the pigs em-
ployed to hunt truffles ; the ring in the
porcine nose preserves the tuber for a
daintier palate ; and the money these
people get together and lavish in osten-
tation, though it brings them no happi-
ness, confers happiness upon the humble
people they employ. Acquisitive pow-
er seldom coexists with power to enjoy :
The money-maker resembles a pump
which brings water from the depths of
he earth to quench the people’s thirst,
but has no palate of its own. Mercan-
tile life can be of a far higher type than
this. It has been so in other countries,
why not in this ? There have been mer-
chant princes in England as well as in
Italy. Haste to grow rich and a foolish
fondness for show are the tendencies
which degrade the mercantile character
in this country.”
The Edible Banana.
The edible banana, it is said, is known
to seed only in one small spot on earth,
the Andaman Islands. However this
may be, it is universally grown from
suckers. Its cultivation in the West
Indies has vastly increased during the
ast fifteen years, owing to the demands
of the United States for its cheap, whole-
some and luscious fruit. About 400 or
500 are planted to the acre, and the
plantations are called ‘banana walks.”
The tree fruits the first year, explains
Garden and Forest, and the expense of
cultivation is so small that a bunch of
banana delivered at the sea coast need
have cost its owner no more than four or
five cents, while it may be sold in the
winter months for from twelve to eigh-
teen cents, ard in the spring months for
four times as much. There are risks at-
tending banana cultivation, however,
for the thievish negroes often seriously
decrease the value of the crop, and it
may be entirely swept away in a single
boar by a hurricane.
Canby GrurToNY.—The gratifica-
tion of the ‘sweet tooth’ is spreading
among fashionable women, and more
candy is now sold at retail than was ev-
er known before. Physicians continue
to argue that a glut of bonbons and
pastry is not the best thing in the world
for health, but the ladies, young and
old, do not séem to mind the warning
much, nor are they deterred by the
prospect of an early visit fo the dentist
which usually follows continued candy
consumption. Not only has the manu-
facture of candy increased, but the
number of retail establishments has
multiplied rapidly of late years. There
are establishments where the finest bon-
bons and bonbon packuges are im ported
from Paris, and there is bardly an fash-
jonable young ladies school witheut one
or two candy shops near by in any city,
where some of the girls with liberal al-
Jowances of pinmoney run up bills that
are almost preposterous
a TE —————
——Short man (nervonsly)— “Did
vou hear Brown say he owed me a lick-
ing 7"
“Yes ; but that’s ail right.
never pays what he owes.”
Brown