2
THE COLUMBIAN, BLOOM3BURG, PA.
THE BISHOP AND. THE ROSE.
I mrriml th old bishop bunch of roses this
morn!n ; . . , . .
Anil linn I himdo-1 thftn to him 1 nlJ :
" alt iliiiii'litcr. tiiireaintliorni upon tlirnnl "
Then he tk out hisknlfo, )ini 'Givems
onn nt time," -I
watcliwl Mm as he cnrofuly cut away ecn
thorn. . . ...
"po you always cut rff the tlmras. lllsnnpf
He k nuoeil ut iiiewlih an i.i'proclatlve twinkle
In me dark nf his eyes.
Sot deep under the sliiugy brown, anil s ild :
"Yes; uuu i your"
"No," 1 snM : "I nm ii oiniin. I only hold my
roue I U'li t aid snilln,
Aud lot the biood triuklo, and any ;
"ily rose has no iIiimus 1"
'Ino Cunnopolltan.
SAVED Ii Y A HISS.
In front of the entrance a "spieler
stood on a starch box and beat upon a
piece of tin with a stick, and we weak
ly succumbed to his frenzlod appeals
and went Inside. We did this, I am
uuro, partly to plenBe the "spieler,"
who would havo been dreadfully dis
appointed if we had not done so, but
partly, too, to please Toppan, who was
always Interested in the great beasts
and liked to watch them.
It is posslblo that you may remember
Toppan as the man who married Vic
toria Boyclon, and, in bo doing, thrust
his greatness from him and became a
bank clerk instead of an explorer.
AfUr he married he came to be quite
ashamed of what he had done in
Thibet and Africa and other unknown
cornors of the earth, ftnd after a while
seldom spoke of that part of his life
at all; or when he did it was only to
allude to it as a passing boyish fancy,
altogether foolish and silly, like calf,
love and early attempts ut poetry.
"I used to think I was going to set
the world on lire at one time," he said
ouce. "I suppose every young fellow
has pome such ideas. I only made an
ass of myself, and I'm glad I-m well
out of it. Victoria saved me from
that."
But this was long afterward. Ho
died hard, and sometimes he would
have moments of strength in his weak
ness, Just as before he had given up his
career during the moment of weakness
in his strength. During the first years
after he had glvon up his career he
thought he was content with the way
things had come to be; but it was not
a and now and then the old feeling,
the love of the old life, the old ambi
tion, would be stirred into activity
again by some sight or sound or epis
ode in the conventional life around
him.
A chance paragraph in a newspaper,
a slight of the Arizona deserts of sage
and cactus, a momentary panic on a
ferry boat, sometimes even fine music
or a great poem would wake the bet
ter part of him in the desire of doing
great things. At Buch times the long
ing grew big and troublous within him
to cut loose from it all and get back
to those places of the earth where
there were neither months nor years,
and where the days of the week had
no names; where he could feel un
known winds blowing against his face
and unknown mountains rising be
neath his feet; where he could see
great sandy, stony stretches of desert,
with hot, blue shadows, and plains of
salt, and thickets of jungle grass,
broken only by the lairs of beasts and
the paths the steinbok make when they
go down to water.
The most trifling thing would recall
all this to him, Just as a couple of
notes have recalled to you whole arias
and overtures. But with Toppan it
was as though one had recalled the
arias and overtures and then was not
allowed to sing them.
We went into the arena and sat
down. The ring In the middle was
fenced in by a great, circular iron cage.
The tiers of seats rose around this, a
band was playing in a box over the
entrance, and the whole interior was
lighted by an electric globe slung over
the middle of the cage.
Insldo the cage a brown bear to me
less suggestive of a wild animal than
of lab robes and furriers' signs was
dancing sleepily and allowing himself
to be prodded by a person whose cel
luloid standing collar showed white
at the neck above the -green of his
Tyrolese costume. The bear was mangy
and his steel muzzle had chafed him,
and Toppan said he was corrupted of
moth and rust alike, and the audience
applauded but feebly when he and his
keeper withdrew.
After this we had a clown elephant,
dressed in a bib and tucker, and vast,
baggy breeches like those of a par
ticularly big French Turco who had
lunch with his keeper and rang the
bell and drank his wine, and wiped
his mouth with a handkerchief and
bedquilt, and pulled the chair from
underneath his companion, seeming to
be amused at it all with a strange sort
of suppressed elephantine mirth.
And then, after they had both made
their bow and gone out, in bounded
and tumbled the dogs, barklne and
grinning all over, Jumping up on their i
sioois ana benches, wriggling and
pushing one another about, giggling
and excited like so many kindergar
ten children on a ahow day. I am
sure they enjoyed their performance as
much as the audience did, for they
never had to be told what to do, and
seemed only too eager for their turn
to come. The best of it all was that they
were quite unconscious of the audi
ence and apeared to do their tricks for
the sake of the tricks themselves, and
not for the applause which followed
them. And then, after the usual pro
gramme of wicker cylinders, hoops and
balls was over, they all rushed off
amid a curious scratching of paws and
filliping of tails and heels.
While this had been going on we tad
been hearing from time to time a great
sound, half whine, half rumbling gut
tural cough, that came from somewhere
behind the exit from the cage. It was re
peated at rapidly decreasing intervals,
and grew louder In pitch until it end
ed in a short bass grunt. It sounded
cruel and menacing, and when at its
full volume the wood of the benches
under us thrilled and vibrated.
There was a little pause in the pro
gramme while the arena was cleared
and new and much larger and heavier
paraphernalia were sot about, and a
gentleman with well groomed hair and
a very shiny hat entered and announ
ced "the world's greatest Hon tamer."
Then he went away and the tamer
came in and stood expectantly by the
side of the entrance; there was another
short wait and the band struck a long
minor chord.
And then they came in, one after
the other, with long, crouching, lurch
ing strides, not at all good humored-
ly, like the dogs or the elephant, or
even the bear, but with low-hanglnrf
heads, surly, watchful, their eyes
gleaming with the rage and hate that
burned in their hearts and that they
dared not vent. Their looso, yellow
hide rolled and rippled over the great
muscles as they moved, and the breath
coming from their hot, half-open
mouth turned to steam as it struck
the air.
A huge, blue painted see-saw was
dragged out to the centre, and the
tamer made a Bharp sound of com
mand. Slowly, and with switching
talis, two of them obeyed, and clam
bering upon the balancing board,
swung up and down, while the muslo
played a see-saw waltz.
And all the while their great eyes
flamed with the detestation of the
thing and tholr black upper Hps curl
ed away from their long fangs in pro
test of this hourly renewed humilia
tion and degradation.
And one of the others, while waiting
.lis turn to be whipped and bulllod, sat
up on his haunches and faced us and
looked far away beyond us over the
heads of the audience over the con
tinent and ocean, as It were as though
he saw something in that quarter that
made him forget his present surround
ings. "Yon grand old brute!" muttered
Toppan, and then he said: "Do you
know what you would see If you were
to look Into his eyes now? You would
see Africa, and unnamed mountains,
and great tony stretches of desert,
with hot blue shadows and plains of
salt, and lairs in the Jungle grass, and
lurking places near the paths the stein
bok make when they go down to wa
ter. But now ho is hampered and
caged is there anything worse than a
raged lion? and kept from the life he
loves and was made for" Just here the
trainer spoke sharply to him, and his
oyes and crest dropped "and ruled
jver," concluded Toppan, "by some one
who is not so great as he, who has
'polled what was best in htra, nnd has
turned his powers to trivial, resultless
U3cs some one weaker than he, yet
tronger. Ah, well, old brute, it was
vours, once, we will remember that."
They wheeled out a clumsy veloci
pede built expressly for him, and while
the lash whistled and snapped about
him, the conquored king heaved him
self upon It and went around and
wound the ring, while the band play
sd a quickstep, the audience broke into
ipplause, and the tamer smirked and
bobbed his well oiled head. I thought
3f Samson performing for the Philis
tines and Thusnelda at the triumph
-jf Germanlcus. The grand beasts,
;,Tand though conquered, seemed to be
the only dignified ones in the whole
business. I hated the audience who
saw their shame from behind iron
bars; I hated myself for being one of
them, and I hated the smug, snigger
ing tamer.
The latter had been drawing out
various stools and ladders, and now ar
ranged the lions upon them so they
should form a pyramid, with himself
on top.
Then he swung himself up among
them, with his heels upon their necks
and taking hold of the Jaws of one,
wrenched them apart with a great
show of strength, turning his head to
the audience so that all should see.
And Just then the electric light
above him crackled harshly, guttered,
dropped down to a pencil of dull red,
then went out, and the place was ab
solutely dark.
The band stopped abruptly with a
discord, and there was an instant of
silence. Then we heard the stools and
ladders clattering as the Hons leap
ed down; and straightway four pairs
of lambent groen spots burned out of
the darkness and travelled swiftly
about here and there, crossing and re
crossing one another like the lights of
steamships in a storm. Heretofore the
lions had been sluggish and inert; now
they were aroused and alert in an in
stant, and we could hear the swift pad
pad of their heavy feet as they swung
around, the arena, and the sound of
their great bodies rubbing against the
bars of the cage as one and the pther
passed nearer to us.
I don't think the audience at all ap
preciated the situation at first, for no
one moved or seemed excited, and one
shrill voice suggested that the band
should play "When the electric lights
go out."
"Keep perfectly quiet, plcaso," called
the tamer out of the darkness, and a
certain peculiar ring in his voice was
the first intimation of a possible dan
ger. But Toppan knew, and as we heard
the tamer fumbling for the latch of
the gate, which he Bomehow could not
loose in the darkness, he said, with a
rising voice: "He wants to get that
gate open pretty quick."
But for their restless movements the
Hons were quiet; they uttered no
sound, which was a bad sign. Blink
Ing and dazed by the garish blue
whiteness of a few moments before,
they could see perfectly now where the
tamer was blind.
"Listen," said Toppan. Near to us.
and on the inside of the cage, we could
hear a sound as of soirtf slender body
being whisked back and torth over
the surface of the floor. In an instant
I guessed what it was; one of the lions
was crouched there, whipping his sides
with his tall.
"When he stops that he'll spring,"
saia Toppan, excitedly.
. "Bring a light, Jerry quick!" came
the tamer s voice.
People were clambering to their feet
by this time, talking loud, and we
heard a woman cry ot't.
"Please keep as quiet as possible,
ladies and gentlemen," cried the tamer;
it won t do to excite "
From the direction of the voice came
the sound of a heavy fall and a crash.
that shook the iron gratings in their
eockets.
, "He's got him!" shouted Toppan.
And then what scene! In that thick
darkness every one sprang up, stumb
ling over the seats and over each
other, all shouting and crying out, aud
denly stricken with a panic fear of
something they could not see. Inside
tho barred death trap every Hon sud
denly gavo tonguo at once, until the
air shook and sang in our ears. We
could hear the great cats hurling them
selves against the bars and could see
their eyes leaving glassy ctreaks
against the darkness as they leaped
Two more sprang us the first had done
toward that quarter of the cage from
which came sounds of stamping and
struggling, and then the tamer began
to scream.
I think that so leng ns I live I shall
not forget the sound of the tamer's
screams. He did not scream as a wo
man would have done, from the head,
but from the chest, which sounded so
much worse that I was Bick from it in
a socond with that sickness that weak
ens one at tho pit of the stomach and
along the muscles at the back of the
legs. He did not pause (or a socond.
Every breath was a scream, and every
Bcream was alike, and one heard
through it all the long snarls of satis
fied hate and revenge, muffled by the
man's clothes and the rip, rip of the
Hearing it in the dark, as we did,
made it all the more dreadful. I think
for a time I must have taken leave of
my senses. I was rcatiy to vomit ior
the sickness that was upon me, and I
beat my hands raw upon the iron bars
cr clasped them over my ears against
the sounds of the dreadrul thing tnai
was doing behind them." I remembei
praying aloud that it might soon bfl
over with, so only those screams might
be stopped.
It Beemed as though it had gone on
for hours, when some men rushed in
with a lantern and long, sharp irons.
A hundred volcos cried: "Here he is,
over here!" and they ran outside the
cage and threw the light of the lantern
on a place where a heap of gray gold-
laced clothes writhed and twisted be
neath three great bulks of fulvous hide
and bristling black mane.
The irons were useless. The three
furies dragged their prey out of their
reach and crouched over it again and
recommenced. No one dared go into
the cage, and still the man lived and
struggled and screamed.
I saw Toppan s nngor go to his
mouth and through that medley ol
dreadful noises there Issued a Bound
that, sick as I was, made me shrink
anew and close my eyes and teeth and
shudder as though pome cold slime
had been poured through the hollow
of my bones where the marrow should
bo. It was as the noise of a fine whip
lash, mingled with the whirr of a lo
cust magnified a hundred ttmes, and
ended in an abrupt clacking nolss
thrice repeated.
At once I remembei ed where I had
heard it before, because having once
heard the hiss of an aroused and angry
serpent, no child of Eve can ever for
get it.
The sound that now came from be
tween Toppan's teeth and that filled
the arena from wall to wall was th
sound that I had heard once before In
the Paris Jardln des Plantes, at feed
ing time the sound made by the great
constrictors when their huge bodies
are looped and colled like a reata for
the throw that never misses, that
never relaxes and that no beast of the
field is built strong enough to with
stand. All the filthy wlqjterness and
abominable malice of the centuriei
since the Enemy first entered into that
shape that crawls was concentrated iq
that hoarse, whistling hiss a hiss that
that .was cold and piercing, like an
icicle made sound. It was not loud,
but it had In it some sort of penetrat
ing quality that cut through the waves
of horrid sounds about us, as the snake
carved prow of a Viking galley might
cut its way through the tumbling ed
dies of a tide.
At the second repetition the Hons
paused, none better than they Knew
what was the meaning of that hiss.
They had heard it before in their na
tive hunting grounds in the earlier
days of summer, when the first heat
lay close over the Jungle, like the hol
low of the palm of an angry god. Or,
if they themselves had not heard it,
their sires before them had, and their
fear of the thing bred into their bones
suddenly leaped to life at the sound,
and gripped them and held them close.
When for a third time the sound
sung and 6hrilled in their ears, their
heads drew betwoen their shoulders,
their great eyes grew small and glit
torlng, the hackles rose and stiffened
on their backs, their tails drooped, and
they backed slowly to the further side
of the cage and cowed there, whining
and beaten.
Toppan wiped the sweat from the
inside of his hands and went into the
cage with the keepers and gathered
up the panting, broken body, with Its
twitching fingers and white face, and
carried it out. As they lifted it, the
handful of pitiful medals dropped
down upon the floor. In the silence that
had now succeeded, it was about the
only sound one heard.
As we sat that evening on the porch
of Toppan's house, in a fashionable
suburb of the city, he said for the third
time: "I had that trick from a Mpong-
wee headman," and added, "It was
while I was at Victoria Falls, waiting
to cross tne Kalahari Desert."
Then he continued, his eyes grow
ing Keener and his manner chancing:
"There is some interesting work to
ne done in that quarter by some one.
You see the Kalahari runs like this"
he drew the lines on the ground with
his cane "coming down in something
like this shape from the Orange river
to about the twentieth parallel south,
The aneroid give its average elevation
about 600 feet. I didn't cross it at the
time, because we had sickness and the
porters cut But I made a lot of geo
logical observations, and from these I
have built up a theory that the Kala
hart is no desert at all, but a big. well
watered plateau, with higher grounds
on the east and west.
"The tribes, too, thereabouts, called
the place Llnoka Noka, and that's the
Bantu for rivers upon rivers. They're
nasty, though, these Bantu, and gave
us a lot of trouble. They have a way
of spitting little poisoned thorns into
you unawares, and your tongue swells
up and turns blue and your teeth fall
out and "
His wife Victoria came out on the
porch In evening dress.
"Ah, Vic," said Toppan, Jumping up
with a very sweet smile, "we were Just
talking about your paper-german next
Tuesday, and I think we might have
some very pretty favors made out of
white tissue paper roses and butter
flies, you know." Argonaut.
A Newsboy's H'cyoln,
Two ragged newsboys, one white, the
other colored, stood on an Olive street
corner as an athletla young man flash
od by on a handsome safety bicycle.
"I wish I had lots of money," said tho
little coon, "so's I coulJ buy me one o
Jem wheels. "Oh, dat's easy, cconey,"
responded the other; "no trouble 'tall.
Take de rubber outer yer nock an' de
wheels outer yer head an' put 'em to
Eerier, and den you got a bicyclo. Seo?"
St. Louis Post Dispatch..
onsumpftoesi
vras formerly pronounced incurable Now it i.i not. In all
of the early stnjjes of the disease
Scott's Emulsion
SOP
Mm
fte
TftACt MIRlt.
SenJ for tmmMet on
Scott A Bowne, N. Y. All
ALEXANDER BROTHERS & CO.
DEALERS IN
Cigars, Tobacco. Candies, Fruits and Nuts
SOLE AGENTS FOR
Henry Mail lard's Fine Candies. Fresh Every Week.
SOLE ACENTS FOR
F .F. Adams & Co's Fine
Sole ngonts for the
:l3sry Clay, Loadros, Noma!, Indian Priacocs, Saaiscn, Silvor Asb
Bloomsburg Pa.
SHOES.
Our shoe sales this season
over before, nnd much larger than w e had any reason to expect.
And it has been almost impossible to get the shoes fast enough
lu,lcll' "V uv sizes, oui we now nave our stock in shape to
-uit our increased sales and will be ablo to nl pnafk fill wonfinrv
Good Shoes at Riht Trices.
All our other lines are complete and prices right.
W. B, MBQBE
vomer Main ard Ircn Streets.
"Thrift is a Good Revenue." Great
Saving Results From Cleanli
ness and
SAPOUO
I AM NOW A
MAN!
Chicago. Oct 6, 1H9S.
"I was troubled with m lotion
and varicocele, and hud been
Mxually weak for seven years,
lJnrinir the lent four imm-i I
tried every remedy that wu aold At HI WAS.
and got no relief for any of my
tronblm until 1 took CA LTHOS-H eurvd aad
ri'Mtored ut and I am now a man."
I fcilracl trm mt UobnU of letter received by at.
Address von MOHL CO., Sole
B. F. Suarpi.ess, Pres.
N. U.
B L O O
LAND IMPROVEMENT COMPANY
Capital Stock, $30,0O0.
Plotted property is in the coming business centre of the
town. It includes also part of the factory district, and has no
equal in desirability for residence purposes.
CHOICE LOTS are offered at values that will be doubled
in a short time.
No such opportunity can be had elsewhere to make money.
Lots secured on SMALL MONTHLY PAYMENTS-
Maps of the town and of plotted property furnished on ap
plication. Call upon or write to the Secretary, or J. S. "Woods, Sales
Agent, or any member of the Board of Directors.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
B. F. SiiAnr-LEss; J. L Dillon.
C. W. Neal, A. G. Brigos, Dr. I. W. Willits,
Dr. H. W. McReynolds, N. Li. Funk.
II-IOtf
THE POSITIVE CURE. F15C
ELY BROTHER!). 08 Warren
hock tjnrincr Jllaile.
fOnly Perfect Comb.
torcpauch Circuses,
Ask vour Dealer fur
Mrr
N5St
Boomr r,,une on the h"S?!& " WMl
will effect a euro quicker than finy other
known npecifie. ficult'a Kmulmun pro
motes tlio making t f healthy lung-tissuo,
relieves inflammation, overcome a the excess
ive waste of Ilia disease und gives vital
tttrength.
For Coughs, CM?, 7oai Lnaj3, Soro Throat,
Bronchitis, OonsurQ;rti:n, Scrofula, Anmmi.i,
Los3cfric3hanl TTastb;; Dko.-cc3 cf Children.
Buy only tho ftcnuiuo villi our trade
mark ou tjlmon-co lore J wrapper.
ScoiCt Emulsion. FREE.
DriiRglat3. SO conts and SI.
Cut Chewing Tobacco
following brands of Cigars-
1 ti, a ri
l .vw.u V AO MUUUUj:
We will send you the mar
velous French preparation
CALTHOS fret), by sealed
mail, and a legal guarantee
that Calthos will
STOP
All IMivfcarcsa
Emissions.
CURE
8permatarrkea.Tarl
OOC.1C, u
RESTORE
Lost Vicor.
Use it Sfpay if satisfied.
American Agents, Cincinnati, O.
Funk, Sec. C. II. Campbell, Treas.
M S B U n C cS
,cf i
Bt, York. Price 60 ettKijE2150c
Spring Gurry Comb
Holt a Binuh. 'P ta.,nn.o m.
Used by U. S. Army and by Buruu'm and
niid 1,
Tt. SnmnU i . .
COSB CO., IQlUUU Susouth BeaMdu
ll-D-iitil-A A 8 '
ILook Mere !
Do you want a
Do you tvaiit an
O0$$ ?
Do you want a
0ewii)VIiidlii)e?
Do you want an v kind
of a MUSICAL IN
STUUMENT? Do you want SIIEKT
music?
If bo, do not send your mon
ey away from home, but di:al
with a reliable dealer right
here, who will make things
right, if there is anything
wrong. '
For anything in this line
the place to go is to
3. Salfczer'Sa.
Ware-rooms, Main Street, be
low Market.
E. A. RAWLINGS.
PKALER IN
All Xvinrfs ofMent.
Beef, Veal, Lamb, Mutton,
Pork, Hams, Bacon, Tongues,
Bclogna, &c. Free Delivery
to all parts of the town.
CENTRE STREET,
C. H. REICE'S OLD STAND.
BLOOMSBURC, PA.
Bring The Babies.
luatantaueous Process Vacd,-!
Strictly first-class guaranteed photo
graphs, crayons and copies at reason
able prices. We use exclusively the
Collodion Aristotype papers, thus se
curing greater beauty of finish and
permanency of results. CAPWELL,
MARKET SQUARE GALLERY.
MMyr. over llartiuiin'g store.
THE MARKETS.
BLOOMSBURG MARKETS.
COREBCTID WIIILT. XITAII, 1BIC.
Butter per lb $ ,28
Eggs per dfJzen a 6
Lard per lb 12 J
nam per pound .14
Pork, whole, per pound 07 to ,08
fleet, quarter, per pound, . . . 06 to .08
Wheat per bushel 70
Oats " " - .45
Rye " " 65
Wheat flour per bbl 3.00
Hay per ton 14.00 to 16.00
Potatoes per bushel, ... .75
Turnips " " ,25
Onions " " 1.00
Sweet potatoes per peck 25 to .30
Tallow per lb , .04
Shoulder " " 11
Side meat" " ; 10
Vinegar, per qt 07
Dried apples per lb 05
Dried cherries, pitted .16
Raspberries ,16
Cow Hides per lb .02
Steer " " 03
Calf Skin 40 to .50
Sheep pelts .60
Shelled coratper bus .75
Corn meal, cwt 2.00
Bran, " 1,10
Chop " 1.25
Middlings " 1.10
Chickens per lb new........ .10
" " "old 10
Turkeys " it
Geese " " .10
Ducks " " .10
Coal.
No. 6, delivered a.40
" 4 and s " 3.50
" 6 at yard a.as
" 4 and 5 at yard 3. 5
PARKER'S
HAIR BALSAM
C1nMt fcitii bettutilief tin nftif.
I'ruuiutv ft luxuriant irruwtn.
WoTor Tmi)m to Bestore Gry
Hair to ll Youthful Color.
Cun cHlp tiM-fm- hftir UUuig.
barker', (imucr Tomo. Ii Kw lliu l'1?"'
Wwk l.mv; IMuliiy, I.,.htion, J'.m.T.kt In lluie. Wf
HINDERCORNS. Th. orl.rfciwfor('urnl.
6101 tHjiuiu. fig. itutljlU, U( lllSCOX CIV !
mm
V