hc dpotumbinn,
AN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL,
M rCIlUSllliU CVEltY gATCttDAV, IN
niaomiliufg, Columbia Count)-, ln.
-! I
rr.n.us.
Two Dollars n yrnr, In mlvimco. If not paid In
etui vnncn, Two Dollnl & ntnl l-'lfty (Vnts.
Address nil lrttora to
arcman it, Moonn,
HJItor of tlio Colu.miiiax,
Uloomsuurg, Columbia County, l'n.
For tho Columbian,
CHILDHOOD'S DREAMS.
11Y I.K.NNA r ,
Loxa-rAtiEti visions of my childhood's years,
Where hnve ve fled 1
jJT t search for yo nmld tlio wlldwood bowers ;
v . 1 WOO c mid tho urlght-hued Hummer flowers ;
" ijf I bow my head
' Krocntchyour Inspiration from tlio sunset's Ijcant ;
-ft seek yo In tlio morning's enrly gleam ;
I mourn yc with n lovo Hint will not deem
Your beauty dciid.
1 uY were so bright, so Glorious once, vo lent
r. A rlinrni your own
,to every rosebud by tlio jcphyrs bent
iTo every lovo-tiota o'er by wnrblcr sent
i To blrd-mnto flower.
iVo enst it golden Jmzo o'er every fnr-otr hilt :
(Found sweet-toned musla In tho gurgling rlllj
,-Anu conjured iirigiit-robcil fairy forms to flu
Knch wnod.nnok tonp.
iyX)li, Ircnms Ions vanished! come to me ngnlu
Willi olden cheer.
. jMy hend Is nclilnn with a venrnlni; rmln
'rfVTo Ami your whispered hoi'-words wero so vnln,
Ami earth Boilrenr,
''it long to feel ngiUn iv child's uudoubtlng trust,
jjllecm liumiin truth u thing lest frail thnii dust,
''And htiiunn Jove too pure to dim or rust
- Willi lnpsn of years,
j, . 11 KR, I'A., August, lfCO.
. -JEAN UATIIBUItNE'S LIFE.
;' ASpiunq long and coltl,n short and
.fervid Summer, nn Autumn bearing
''Recant fruit tliat was Jean llnthburne's
jtf'llfe. Ami now sho is dead, and the long
"tfwild grasses aro tangled above her
. , grave by vagrant winds which wanton
through them.
. ' It was the will she left behind her
which was thokoy-noteto her life, nnd
hiatlo It significant a strange will, yet
' lierfeetly legal, and proved in court like
tho rest of them. She bequeathed, after
u few trilling legacies, all her fortune
v Bomo three hundred thousand dollars
. under tho supervision of competent
'trustees, to further tho happiness of
seven young orphan girls. It was, of
. course, the income which was to bo
.'.used thus, the money Itself was to be a
permanent fund, and those whom it en
(.riehed, when they married or otherwise
greased to need its aid, wero to have
afthelr places tilled by the trustees. She
'Jchose the llrst board of managers her
yself, and made provisions, when any of
the number should die, for the election
'of others in their stead.
She explained her intention minutely.
It was not to make tho girls good
merely, or respectable merely, or well
' clothed or well-fed merely; but, if pos
sible, to make them happy, to indulge
: their whims, and give their individual
. pities a chance. For she said, and this
voice from her very grave was tlio only
'complaint she had ever been known to
Gutter:
" One woman who has found life very
-,r'sad, would like to make it brighter for
"iomo of those who will live after her.''
That was all, a quiet, calm statement
ht facts she had found life very sad
ihut did any wall ever come out of bit
tftcrer depths'.'
f' Her parents had died before sho could
' ''remember them, and left her a fortune
iand a guardian; left her, too, with a
''nature at once shy and .sensitive, with
;'a tendency to morbidness and hypoehon
dria, which needed sorely tlio influence
of a warm, loving, cheerful home.
Instead of that Sampson Dredlife and
'his wife starved her and froze her. I do
- fnot mean literally; thoro was lire and ,
Tfood enough in their great, comfortable
'house, and Miss Ilathburnc, as an heiress
"J-should, was served with the best.
Hut she was always Miss Ilathhurno
yiever Jeanie, or darling, or mother's
. blessing, or heart's delight, or any of
'those fond, foolish names familiar to
the Hps of happy mothers. .She knew
' well enough that no ono loved her, and
'that strengthened her shyness, and
"deepened her despondency.
(So site grew up to twenty-one along,
'plow cold Spring, as I said. Then her
fortuno caino into her own hands, and
iwltha certain AVidowDredlife,aslster-Pn-Iaw
of Sampson, to niatronizo the
establishment, she went into a house of
h"er own. Tho widow carried with her
Itho old Drcdlifo intlupiico, nnd the new
Shomowasat first scarcely other than a
repetition of tlio old. Except that now
kMIss Uathlmrno began to go into society,
rand was enough of an heiress to bo re
volved there with favor.
Jf She was not pretty, yet her llguro was
fltflin mirl ftlmiilpr. linr f.nmiihtvlmi mw
nlnn. n.d trolw,l.n,l 1 .... t !
..n ,,111,1 u miv jJiui u Ul ui-uil llllll!!,ui.'ll,
iiiilght liavo been bright. Her eyes
twero largo and dark, but tho lire in them
tmnouldered rather than sparkled. Jf
'ho had had a little self-esteem, if some
one had told iier now and then that she
was handsome, she might have bccn.su ;
.Jor many a woman seta up for a beauty
K)n far less capital. Hut compliments
faiover llowered In tho Dredlife soil, and
ftfeau had grown up feeling horself hope
fiessly plain, till tho feeling had airected
tho very liuo and lineaments of her
countenance.
w Sho had no tasto in dress cither
Womon sehlom havo who do not seo any
charm In their own faces. Sho wore
colors which made her look sallow or
ftclark nearly always, and her gowns de
iracted from tho grace of iier ilguro In
. stead of being skilfully chosen to en
'Jianco It.
According to somo creeds all this
8hoiild liavo made her good by making
'iier humblo, but It had Just tho opposite
effect. It nourished secretly a bitter,
'cynical prido, a grudging sen.o of injus
tice, a hard self-contempt noxious
weeds which do not grow in that weet
VaHoy of Humiliation whoro liunyan's
rilgrlms walked, and " tho herb culled
Iieartsoase flourished."
, . Tii U was J us 1 1 he sto to sick of iierscl f,
;at oddi with tho world, yet desperately
. cat on wringing happiness out of some
VOL. I.-NO. 1G.
thingin which Jack Urcvoort found
Iter.
Ho did not love Jean Ilathburnc you
nro not to suppose that for a moment.
At her brightest and best sho would
never have been his stylo; besides, a
little blue-oyed girl, at homo in his
mother's nursery, a poor cousin, held so
much heart its lie had, and was moro to
him than any ono else ever would be.
Hut the lacked money Just as entirely
as lie did, and it is not In such cases that
two negatives make an nlllrmative. Of
course, lie could be much moro dangerous
to Miss Ilothburno's pcaco than if lie
had really loved iier, for his coolness
would enable him to tako advantage of
all openings. Ho sorely needed money,
and he had settled It with himself that
ho must marry it. 11c thought fate,
Which should, of course, havo a special
kindness for tho old Ilrevoort blood, hud
placed her in his way on purpose.
He meant to make her in love with
him; so lie commenced, like a skilful
tactician, by trying to make her in lovo
with herself. For tho first time she
found herself studied with unmistakable
interest. Ho noticed her tastes, and
showed quietly ids appreciation or them.
Ho gave her hints about dress, and she
grew handsome rapidly much to ids
satisfaction ; for, though ho would liavo
been ready to marry her In any case, it
would be much moro agreeable to have
a wife who furnished to spectators an
excuse for one's choice in something be
sides dollars anil cents.
It was not altogether tho now colors
that she wore which improved her. A
subtle flame ran through all her veins,
and kindled tho smouldering fires in
her eyes, nerclieekswerepalonolongor,
or her face spiritless. AVhen she looked
In tho glass sho saw what seemed toiler,
in contrast with Iier old self, a radiant
vision. And when with this new Jean
Ilathburue Jack Hrcvoortbcgan to fall
in love it did not surprise or startle her.
Tills was tho Summer of Iier life fer
vid us short; it lasted three months.
This time only, to her sad colorless ex
istence, came happiness!
Ilrevoort was an ardent lover. He
was gifted in thoart of seeming to a de
gree amounting to positive genius. Then
Jean was too sturdily honest herself to
doubt the honesty of others, and too
delicately generous ever to remember
that she was rich and ho was poor. So
her Summer was warm and bright, and
all her roses bloomed !
It was something to see her in thee
days Iier old dead-and-alive self no
longer; in its stead a sparkling creature,
melting into tho unspeakable glory of
loveand womanhood. How a man who
truly loved her would have delighted
in what Jack Ilrevoort watched with
tho cynical coolness of Mophistopheles!
He hurried on the preparations for
their marriage when once .she had accept
ed him. He could not do without her,
ho said, longer than till Fall. It was the
truest word ho had uttered since ho be
gan his courtship ; but tho need ho had
of her was of a nature ho would not
have found it pku-ant to communicate.
She thought It was the eagerness of love.
It was to make some of the arrange
ments which his approaching marriage
rendered necessary that Ilrevoot went
out of town for a couple of days ; and of
course, in his character of impatient
lover, lie must write each day to his be
trothed. Tho first letter Jean ltath
burne's first love-letter was full of
subtly sweet words, tender phrases, al
lusions which made her pulses beat fast.
She read it till she knew it by heart, and
then kept reading it over to seo if she
had forgotten anything.
Tlio second she opened with fingers
trembling with expectation. It-commenced
with " Dear Hal!" Her deli
cato seno of lienor bade her fold it up
again, for sho understood at once- that it
had been sent to her by mistake. Hut
as she doubled it over sho caught her
own name. Sho would havo been more
than woman irsho had not read It then.
It was simply tho letter of ono fast
young man toanother.about bettlngand
debts and horses. It shocked her tasto ;
but she loved him enough to havo ex
cused It but for this passage:
"(lenrKc ciinnot wiy that I )im not unking
eirtirt onouxh to pay him. I 11m to nmrry -Miss
Italhburne In October. Splendid woman nsslio Is,
sho is not it y (.tylc never would havo been. Ii
nil- niiiio fur Nell's little llm;i'r. However, n
mini who owes forty (Imusind dollars, mid has
some, conscience still left about paying It, can't
very el! iitU.nl to Indulio In the luxiirynf u heart.
I bellevii I got rid of mine piclly clleetimlly miiiii'
tbnongo,"
Those were words which no sophistry
could ever beguile her Into forgiving.
Her Hummer was over. The untimely
black frost had come.
Who " Nell" was sho did not care, or
"(ieorgo," or "Hal." Sho had no
curiosity at all. Enough for her that
lovo had failed her.
Sho looked in tho glass with sad,
changed oyes, and lost forever all the
fond self-complucenco of recent days.
There was nothing about her to love,
after all. Sho had been deceiving her
self yet moro utterly than sho had been
deceived. The very depth of her self
abasement madoher patient.
It was morning when tho letter came,
and at night Ilrevoort was to return.
So sho sat all day and waited, without
knowing how long tho hours were, or
feeling onco the weariness of delay. She
felt us if her heart and her pulses were
standing still, waiting also. Shu was too
utterly benumbed to caro foriinvtliing.
Through tho weary day tho only thing
like occupation which sho attempted,
was to draw up a check for fifty thous
and dollars in favor of Jack Brevoort,
and sign It.
At last he came;. Kho heard the well-
BLOOMSBURG, SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 18GG.
known ring, tho linn proud step in tlio
hallhow sho had loved to note and re
member every one of his peculiarities I
Then ho opened the door, and caino up
to her ns usual.
She made a slight gesture of warning,
and that, or (something in her face, re
pressed tlio enthusiasm which would
otherwise havo expressed itself in
caresses.
" I believe forty thousand dollars is
the amount of your debts?" sho asked
in a clear, metallic tone.
For oncohlsseir-possesslon failed him.
His knees shook under him, and he sat
down.
" Who told you V" ho gasped.
" Yourself."
She took out tho letter, and laid It in
his hands. He looked at It, and knew
Jean Ilathburue well enough to give up
ids game.
" I. haven't ono word to say, though I
am not quite so heartless, perhaps, us
that letter makes mo seem. 1 nhmttil
have been kind to you. Hut you may
as well despise mo through and through."
" (. as well," she answered dryly.
"Of cnurso I withdraw from my prom
ise to marry you ; but your good inten
tions about paying your debts must not
bo frustrated by my troth-breaking.
Hero is a check for fifty thousand dol
lars. The margin tif ten thousand over
your own estimate of your liabilities
will cover any littlo Items you may
chance to have forgotten, and make you
a free man again, who can airord' to
have a heart."
" Do you think mo mean enough to
tako it'.'"
" I think you will take it. There is a
kind of Justice in it too. I would havo
given you several' limes as much freely,
n you Had loved me as I thought. You
deserve something for tlio weariness it
must havo been to you to act a part so
long."
Her voice softened while sho spoke to
a tender, womanly pathos. He looked
nt her, with iier sad, downcast eyes,
her heavily-falling hair, iier face that
in its very woe was sweet, and lie came
nearer to loving her than he had over
come before.
"You can't forgive me," ho said,
" and I won't ask you."
Then he took his hat and went away,
leaving tiic check lying on the table. '
She sent it to him next day In an en
velope, without an additional word.
I'rido bade him return It; but his ne
cessities constrained him. Jean Hatli
burno smiled grimly when tho check
caino back to her from the bank, punc
tured, like a railroad ticket, with little
round holes.
Pride would havo kept some women,
in her place, in the midst of the world.
S'he was prouder still, and disregarded
tho world altogether. Sho never was
seen any more in society. She hud had her
day her Summer was gone, with its
roses. She chose to pass her Autumn
alone. Sho pensioned oil' the widow
Dredlife, and sent her away. Sho did
not feel young or volatile enough to
need matroni.Ing any more.
If she suirered, no ono know it.
As I said, tho only complaint sho was
over known to utter was that sentence
in Iter strange will.
She died young. Natures like hers
wear out fast, when no Spring of hopo
sustains them. 'Without doubt sho was
thankful when "the life that had been
so sad" was over. Sho did not know,
there under the daisies, that the first
tears Jack Ilrevoort had wept in years
were shed above her grave.
ANECDOTE OF COLUMBUS.
Whi:n this celebrated navigator was
crossing tho Atlantic, after his first dis
covery of America, ho encountered a
dreadful. storm. No prospect of deli ver
eni'o appearing, tho sailors abandoned
themselves to despair, expecting every
moment to ho swallowed up. Tho feel
ings of Columbus at the time aro best ex
pressed in fine of his own letters.
"I would," says he, " liavo been less
concerned for this misfortune, had I been
alono in the danger, both because my
lire Is a debt that I owe to tho Supremo
Creator, and because 1 have at other
times been exposed to the most imiiii-
nent hazard. Hut what gave mo in-
llnito grief and vexation was, that after
it had pleased our Lord to rrivomo faith
to undertake this enterprise, In which
I had now been so successful, that my
opponents would havo been convinced,
and tho glory of your highness and the
extent ofyour territory Increased by me,
it should nieaso tho Divine Malestv In
stop all by my death. Ail this would
havo been more tolerable, hail It not
been attended with tho loss of tlioso
men whom I had carried with nio, upon
promise of thogrcutcst prosperity ; who,
seeing themselves in such distress, curs
ed not only thclrcomlug along with me,
nut icar and awe lor mo which prevent
ed them from returning, as they often
bad resolved to havo done. Hut bosliles
all this, my sorrow was greatly increas
ed ny recollecting that 1 had loft my
two sons at school at Cordova, destitute
of friends in a foreign country, where It
could not In all probability bo known
that 1 have done such services ns might
induce your highness to remember
them."
Trn: latest novelty in tho "feniliiiuo
lino" Is patent eyelashes, now for sale
in many city fancytoro.s. A horrid old
bachelor says that tho way things nio
going now, a man that needs a wife will
only havo to step into a milliner's shop,
purcliiiso a waterfall, 11 plumpers," Ailso
curls, Cilso calves, etc., put them to
gether, aud havo one without farther
trouble.
IP f w HI Jp f ft ll
COUNTRY BOARD.
11Y MA11Y C. VAUdUAN.
Am. the long Winter of 1S0.VU rumors
of tho approach of that dire pestilence,
the cholera, had agitated the public
mind. It was expected hero at the
opening of tlte Spring, and people pre
pared themselves for the dreadful visi
tation. Tlio common pcoplo wero distracted
by tlio theories of it ventilated in tlio
public prints. Many felt slight inter
est in the question of contagion and
non-contagion. Governed by their fears
and their Impulses alone, they resolved
at all events to flee, in good time from
the impending danger.
Profound and anxious thought radi
ates. Excitements aro seldom akin to
pent fires, but far and wide they range
tho popular mind, producing consterna
tion, atrright, dismay; arousing the pas
sions, stimulating greed, and all tho
baser tendencies of mankind.
In tliis ease, country shared with city
in tlio excitement. If tho city was to
be emptied of Its Inhabitants, the coun
try must bo prepared to receive them.
Another necessity suggested Itself to
llusticus. If Urban wanted a Summer
home, and was afraid to stay in his own,
ho would doubtless submit to a good
deal of extortion.
llusticus had some reason on his side ;
also noincoiislderabloamountofshrewd
ness, and more knowledge of human
nature than is commonly supposed to
belong to his habits. It was a very
natural mistake lie made, but it was a
mistake. There was ono thing not pro
vided for his logic that was the abate
ment of the excitement, nnd tho pre
vention of tho spread of tho pestilence.
Nevertheless, all drawbacks duly con
sidered, I think ho lias made quite
money enough out of tho public trou
bles. A rati Dempster was driving along tho
sandy road of a country town of unusu
al rural! ty of habit, situated not more
titan a liundred miles from New York.
Arad was forty-live; but hard work,
the tan of many burning Summers, and
the hardening of many freezing Win
ters, had made him what his boyscho-o
to call him, an "old man." Ho was
bow-backed, and rheumatic, full of
strange angles and of curves, which
nevertheless deviated from tlio line of
beauty.
Since leaving his homo a comfortable
but unpalntcd farm-house ho had prog
ressed a mllo or two, when a tail, gaunt
female, who might havo seen the same
number of years as himself, or more or
less (for it was impossiblo to guess her
age from her looks), came out of a low
roadside dwelling, so tiny that it .seem
ed hardly able to afford shelter to her
self alone, and addressed him.
"Ho! Arad! Arad Dempster! What's
your hurry? Can't you hear nothing,
nor stop a minute? Sa-ay !"
This last word, protracted into a dis
mal monotone, brought the reluctant
Arad to bay. As he said afterward,
"When ho heard that he knew he
might as well give in. 'Twa'n't no use
trying to git away from old Car'llne
when she gotartcr you for a talk."
"Hearn the news, Arad?" she com
menced, as he reined tho old maro up
to the fence.
"No what is it?" quoth Arad,
grimly.
" Why, they'ro go'n' to have the
cliolery down to York this Summer,
sure as you live, and everybody's go'n'
to leave the city. That nro paper't I
saw down to Squire Muzzy's yesterday
said as liow't the grass would grow in
tho streets, and tho ' brown stono
fronts,' whatever they are would bo
covered with moss. An' it said, like
wise, that they'd all go into the country
to board, what didn't go over seas, and
tho country-folks must bo prepared to
'commodate their distress-ed brethren
and sisteren (they didn't sny notliin'
about littlo children, but 1 reckon they
wouldn't leave them at'lium to have the
cliolery), and board them till cold
weather comes ag'in. Now, how many
you golu' to take, Arad Dempster, and
how much you calcuiato to ask?"
With this momentous question Aunt
Car'llne paused to recover breath.
" Dun know," answered Arad; "dun
know; haint lieered notliin' about it,
before. 'Sides, what do wo want o'
1 boarders?"
I " Wal, you Just hear what the folks
has to say about it down to tho Comers
! (1 liavo beenu thinking about it nigh up
lon all the time since I read that aro piece
j in the papers), and Jlst stop and tell mo
when yo come back, can't ye?" she
screamed after him as sho entered her
hoti-e, and the old man drove away.
Arad was a ruminating nulnial, not a
man of words, and he had matter for
thought as ho drove along after tills
colloquy, or perhaps, moro properly,
soliloquy, hong before ho readied tho
Corners, tliis was the result of his cogi
tations: "If all them city pcoplo that are so
rich are u goln' into the country, why,
they'll fill It chuck-full, I guess every
house, an' maybe some in tho barns an'
corn-houses. An' I don't s'poso they'd
mind paying any price as much as
four or five dollars a week, mebby, for
their board. Guess wo can make out to
'comniodato some on 'em, and there's
plenty of pork down cellar, an' n lot of
potaters and Inyons that we'd a had to
throw away. Guess wo can."
Ho actually rode up to tho store with
an erect and delimit air.
Sundry round-about and unimportant
questions at last Introduced the subject
to the circle ho found at tho store, ami
1 he soon found that nearly every one hud
been thinking about the very matter, but
too shy to introduce It to his neighbors.
Then followed a caucus of Elmvlllo
leaders tho squire, tho parson, the
blaekstnith.thcschooMcachcr in which
'It was unanimously voted, in tho lan
guage of tho schoolmaster, that "In
view of tho anticipated exodus of tho
inhabitants of the great seaboard cities,
these distressed people, fleeing before
tho presence of tho pestilence that
walketh at noonday, should bo welcom
ed by the kindly hearts to hospitable
homes, nnd all the houses in Elmville
be opened for their accommodation."
And furthermore, "that it being neces
sary in time of such universal distress
to fix upon a tarlir of prices to keep
grasping people from being extortion
ate, ten dollars a week for grown peo
ple, and half price for children, should
be tho sum uniformly charged.
" An' heow much for dogs and nusln
babies, Mr. Cheerman?" squeaked a
voice from a dark comer. Nobody re
plying to this pertinent question, tho
meeting adjourned sine die, or, as the
blacksmith observed, "sence died."
"Ten dollars a week! Ten dollars a
week!" ruminated Arad, us ho rode
homeward. " I must stop and tell old
C'nr'line, in course, though how It con
sums her I don't see, nohow. Her house
holds her, but nobody else couldn't
squeeze in there. They might cat out
1 under the old apple-tree, and sleep with
their heads Inside tho door at night, jlst
liKeiuatnre mni I've liearn tell or in
Aisy, or Africay, or somowlicres that
puis his head under thesand and thinks
he's covered up. He's a fool of course,"
pursued Arad, " but mebby some of
them city folks nlnt no smarter than ho
Is, if they do wear his feathers."
" Ten dollars a week ! exclaimed Aunt
Caroline (sho was an 'everybody's
aunt'). " Why, the land sako! You
don't say! Wal! I'm just a-goin' to
send word down to York to Sophy Mur
phy (Sophy Drown it used to bo) to
conic up hero and board long o' me this
Summer. Guess I can 'commodate her
slick. She can sleep 'long o' me, and
I've got plenty of chickens and garden
sass coming on. Besides old Crunimie's
calf'll be old enough to kill by that
time, 'n I can cliango round with the
neighbors so's to lias'c veal a considera
ble spell, and "
" And what ye goln' to do with Mr.
Murphy when he comes?" interrupted
Arad.
" Murphy I Why, for tho land sake,
I never thought of him ! Ho can't
come here, o' course. No man has ever
entered my door senco I lived hero. I
won't have 'em, tho ugly creturs!
When I'm dead I s'pose they can take
mo out to bury mo, but 3 won't have
ono on 'em in hero before."
"Wal," replied Arad, coolly, "I
reckon my old woman couldn't go any
wheres to live witbouten I went too,
and I guess Murphy nlnt a fool, nor his
wife uuther. But I've told you tho
price agreed on, and you know better 'n
1 whether you can make hay while thin
sun shines or not. Geo up' Patty," and
oil' ho drove, leaving Aunt Caroline to
finish her remarks to empty air.
Elmville was all commotion from the
Corners to the Green a space of fully
four miles. At tho unanimous request
of his neighbors, tho schoolmaster pre
pared for tho squire (who was also the
merchant) a letter which ho forwarded
as a sort of circular to the firms with
which lie dealt in New York, and which
set forth tlio fact that he, and all tlio
hotter class of tho Inhabitants of Elm
ville, were prepared to open their doors
as places of refugo for tho pcoplo of that
city, driven from their homes by the
horrors of the pestilence; and that in
consideration of tho hardship nnd dis
tress which these unfortuuato persons
wero undergoing, they wero willing to
iiccommodato them for the paltry sum
of ten dollars a week, " children half
price."
In tho cohl days of early Spring sev
eral New Yorkers, deluded by this
high-sounding document, sought tho
classic precincts of Elmvlllo in search
of board. Tho exterior was by no
means promising, for Elmvlllo lias to
make many strides ero sho overtakes
modern civilization, but tho interior
was a thousand times worse. Tho best
bedroom was usually u placo of deposit
for all tho bandboxes and best bonnets
of the family, all the hanks of woolen
and linen yarn unwoven, besides mis
cellaneous odds and ends innumerable,
while littlo by way of furniture, save
the high post bedstead and mountain
ous feather bed, could bo seen. The
blue-edged table-ware, brown, home
made linen, two-tined steel forks, and
utter want of tlio unknown luxury of
napkins, made New Yorkers staro; as
also tho fried pork, swimming In its
own grease, sodden eggs fried in the
same, potatoes in their Jackets, etc.,
which formed tho chief staples in the
feeding department.
Hy the first of Juno all fears of chol
era had subsided. Mesdames Brown,
Jones, and Hobhison had each and all
developed a sudden and keen apprecia
tion of homo comforts and privileges,
and hud each guthorod her flock together
and departed. Not a boarder remained
in Elm vilhyind the magical ten dollars a
week which ICImvIllians had hoped to
charm into their yawning pockets, hud
di-uppeured like tho vaguu fancies
wrought hy a conjuror.
Every ono was gone, nnd only Aunt
Carollno had high hopes, for bur board
er was yet to come.
On the first of Juno arrived Mrs. So
pliia Murphy, ncn Brown, a ponderous
woman, onco Aunt Caroline's contem
porary, but now h-r Junii.r by indnllt-
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
slinal years, If looks wero tho test. In
her shadow meekly followed Mr. Mur
phy always Murphy nnd not so meek
ns lie looked.
Mrs. Murphy had received Aunt
Caroline's invitation to board witii her,
a little wondering nt its phraseology,
and tho nnxlety It evinced that she
should leave tho city nt once.
"Ten dollars a week! How very
cheap, when wo should have to pay
forty or fifty, at tho very least, at any
fashionable place!" Thus said Mrs. Mur
phy to her husband, nothing doubting,
worthy spouse, that tlio invitation was
Intended for tho matrimonial unit, and
not to that fraction of It which she com
posed. He assenting, she forthwith ac
cepted tho proposition, and arranged to
bo with Aunt Carollno on the llrst of
June.
What was her dismay at sight of the
tiny cage before whoso gate they alight
ed. " Why, the whole house Is no larger
titan my bedroom at homo," she said to
her husband. "We never can live
here."
Hut a pair of bony arms encircled
her neck, and a strident voice, with
something of tlio old melody yet ling
ering in the tones produced by genuine
emotion, assured her that this was the
home of tho ancient spinster. Hut
"Who's this man?" cried Aunt
Caroline, when theflrstsalutatlons wero
over.
"Mr. Murphy, my husband. Of
course you remember him."
" Oil ! Wal, you'll only have time to
get to the ears. I'll take care of your
wife and her tilings you needn't
mind."
" Hut I am not going back to-night.
I am intending to remain liereawliile."
"Here! where? I never let any
man into uiy house. Besides, thereaiut
no room for you. Why, tltero nlnt
morc'n dishes enough for two, and
there aint no place for your wife to
sleep only 'long o' me."
Mr. Murphy gave a rueful whistle,
which changed to one of amusement.
" 1 perceive," lie said, "you are very
disinterested. So you meant to charge
my wife ten dollars a week fortheprlvi-
I lege of being exceedingly uncomforta
I bio here. I think she still prefers liv
ing with me eh, Sophy? What do
you say, my dear shall wo return at
once ? The carriage can take us back to
the station for the down train."
And so ended Miss Caroline's specu
lation, and all Elnivllle's magnificent
hopes of .Summer boarders. JYeic York
Ledger.
S I
AN OBLIGING DISPOSITION.
It is several years since tho following
capital story made its last circuit of the
papers, and we start it onco moro on its
travels. It will find somo new readers
and many old ones who will enjoy It.
There is nothing like an obliging dis-
' position, I thought to myself one day
j when travelling in a railway car from
i Boston to Worcester,.seelngagentIcman
put him-elf to considerable trouble to
1 land another gentleman, who had fallen
I asleep, at his destination.
"Passengers for West Needham?"
cried out tlio conductor" tho car stops
but one minute."
" Hallo!" exclaimed a young man
in spectacles, at the same time seizing
an old gentleman by the shoulders, who
was sleeping very soundly, " here's
Captain Holmes fast asleep, and this is
West Needham, where he lives. Come,
get up, Captain Holmes, hero you are."
The gentleman got upon his feet and
began tomb ids eyes, but the young man
forced him along to the door of the car,
and gently landed him on the roadside.
Whiz went the steam and we began to
fly again. Tlio obliging young
man
took his seat again, and said with a good (
ileal of satisfaction to somebody near
him : " Weil, if it hadn't been for mo
Captnin Holmes would have missed his
homo finely. Hut here he lias left ids
bundles;" and the young man picked
up a paper parcel and throw It out.
Well," ho said ngaln, " if it hadn't
been for mo Captain 1 lolmes would have
missed his bundles finely."
When we stopped at tho next station,
a lady began to rumniago und3rtlieseat
where Captain Holmes had been sitting,
and exclaimed in great alarm :
"I can't find my bundlo."
" Was it done up in a pleco of brown
paper?" 1 asked.
" Yes, it was, to bo sure," said tho
lady.
"Then," said I, "that young man
yonder threw it out of tlio window at
the last stopping-place."
Tills led to a scene between the oblig
ing young man nnd the old lady, which
ended by tho former taking tho address
of tho latter, and promising to return
i tlio packago In a few days provided ho
(.should ever find It.
I "Well, "said thoobllglug young man,
("catch me doing a good-natured tiling
again. What can 1 do for that poor
woman, if I cannot find her bundlo ?"
Whiz went thesteaui,dlug,diug,ding
went tho bell, tho dust flew, anil the
cars flow, as they say, like lightning, till
we stopped again at tlio next station, 1
forget tho iiiinio of It now, but it would
bo of no consequence if 1 could remem
ber It. An old gentleman started up
and began to poke under tho seat where
Captain Holmes had sat.
"What nro you looking for?" I in
quired. "Looking for?" said tho old gentle
man, "why, I am looking for my
bundlo or clothes."
" Was It tied up in a yellow handker
chief?" 1 asked.
" Yes, mid Hothlnir eKe," said the old
hKIl).
cni,!i of gitwrlisinjj.
One Kqunrc.ntie or three Insertion SI CO
Knch mibseiiueiit Insertion less than thlitccn.
One Hipinro one month , 2 to
Two " " , 3 (n)
Hirco " " iw
four " " o 00
Ifnlf column loin)
One column ' ..15 CO
Executor's nnd Administrator' Notices .1 00
Auditor's Notices , SCO
Kdltorlnl Notices tncnly rents per line.
Oilier ndvcrtlscments Inserted according to epo-
clnl contract.
"Good heavens!" exclaimed theobllg
ing young man, " I threw it out of tlio
car at Needham ; I thought it belonged
to Captain Holmes."
"Captain Holmes!" exclaimed tho
old fellow, with a look of despair, " who
is Captain Holmes? That bundlo con
tained all my clean clothes, that I was
to wear nt my son's wedding to-morrow
morning. Dear me, what can I do?"
Nothing could bo dono but to give his
nddress to tho obliging young man as
before, and console himself with tho
promise that tho bundle should be re
turned to him, provided it was ever
found. Tho obliging young man was
now in despair,and mndoanothcr solemn
vow that he would novcr attempt to bo
obliging again. Tho next station was
his landing-place, and ns ho went toward
tho door of tlio car, ho saw a silver-headed
cane, which lie took hold of nnd read
tlio inscription on it, " Moses Holmes,
East Needham."
" Well," again exclaimcd.tho obliging
young man, "if here Isn't Captain
Holmes's canol"
" Yes," said a gentleman, who got in
at tlio last station, " and tho old man is
lame too. Ho will miss Ids stick."
"Do you know him?" Inquired tho
obliging young man.
" Know him ? I should think so," re
plied the gentleman ; " he Is my uncle."
" And does hollve at East Needham ?"
asked tlio obliging young man.
" Of course ho does. He never lived
anywhere else,"
" Well, if it don't beat everything,"
said tho obliging young man, " and I
put him out at West Needham, a milo
and a half tlio other sldo of his home."
A BOY STRUCK BLIND FOB
BLASPHEMY.
Tiik vengeance of tlio Almighty was
visited on a youth named llichards, re
cently, in tho most awful and sudden
manner. It appears that the lad, who
is thirteen years of age, and the son of
parents in very humble circumstances,
was playing in the street with four or
live other lads about his own age at "cat
and dog." llichards and his companions
had been playing for somo time, when
a dispute rose among them ns to tho
notches or jumps he had made moro ,
than twenty, and ills opponents protest
ed that he hud not scored so many. High
words and bad language were freely used
on both sides. Each boy accused thu
other of falsehood, and at length llich
ards, failing to convince his companions
of the truthfulness of ids statement, flew
Into a violent rage and fiercely shouted :
" May God strike me blind if I liavo
not made more than twenty!"
Ho had scarcely uttered tlicadjuration
before lie let the "dog" fall out of Ids
hands, nnd throwing up his arms, ex
claimed :
"Oli, dear, I cannot see !"
His companions ran to him, and find
ing what lie said was true, nt his request
led him home, where on examination it
was found that a thick film had over
spread each of his eyes. In tliis miser
able condition the unhappy youth has
remained ever since, and wo are inform
ed that there is little or no prospect of
sight being restored. Brighton Ob
server. NOT DEEP ENOUGH FOR
PRAYER.
A fioon story is told of two raftsmen,
who were caught in the lato big blow on
tho Mississippi, at which so many crafts
wero swamped and so many steamboats
lost their sky riggings. Tlio raft was
just emerging from Lake Pepin as tlio
squall came. In an instant it was pitch
lug and writhing as if suddenly drop-
petl Into Cliarybdls, wliilo tho waves
broke over her with tremendous uproar,
and, expecting instant destruction, tho
raftsman dropped on his knees and eom-
nienced praying with a vim equal to tho
emergency. Happening to open his
eyes an instant, ho observed his com
l.l.Vfll, llJb lll'iH1-" 111 i X'V vl t I'usii-
ing a polo in tlio water at tho side of tho
i,,,, ,,.,1 1 1., i,,,f..,,ti.
raft.
" What's that yer doing, Miko?" said
ho; "get down on yer knees now, for
thoro Isn't a minute between us and Pur
gatory !"
" Bo aisy, Pat," said the other, as ho
coolly continued to punch with his pole,
"boalsy,now ; what's tho use of prayin'
when a fellow can tech bottom with a
pole?"
Mike Is a pretty good specimen of n
largo class of Christians, who prefer to
omit prayer as long as they can " tech
bottom."
Mu.v do not leap tho hill of virtuo In
a moment, nor do they descend into thu
valley of death or pit of vico in an in
stant. You took up your newspaper this
morning, dear reader, Tho cruelty you
shudder at tlio wife-beating, tho mur
derthink you these havo a sudden in
spiration? No! they arc the outcome of
habits, of thought, action, of long and
sternly preparation. You see tho volcanic
flume ; you seo the smouldering embers ;
you seo the broken bridge; you did
not wo the little madrepores eating into
tlio timber. Even In these great sins it
lias been "hero a littlo utid theiv a lit
tle." I'.vsiiioN-Aiiu:, Tho latest stylo of
bonnet has turned up. It Is diueribed
us conslstlngoftwostraws, tied together
with a bluu riblxm on tlio top of tho
head, and red tassels stisju'iided at each
of the four ends of the straws.
"A btethoscoi'K," says a yoatig
medical student, " Is a spy-glass for look
lug luto people' '.'htet" with your own
t.'i.r