6
THE SADDEST THING.
rhey asked me once, when life was jroung—
Its tale untold, its songs unsung—
And Hope still near. I laughed and said:
"To know my cheeks must lose their red.
And ev'ry shimmering, golden thread
In this fair coronal, its glory shed.
Be coiled and folded, snowy white—
A sign of sorrow, loss and blight—
This is the saddest thing!"
rhey asked me again when partings came,
And Death, triumphant, breathed the name
Of one held dear. I wept and said:
"To sit alone, here, with one's dead
And list in vain their footsteps! This—
To wait their coming, and forever miss
Their voices. Surely life's sad. tale when
told
No other grief so deep can hold.
This Is the saddest thing!"
But now—l sit dry-eyed and cold.
And wonder that a living form can hold
A heart so dead. And if you ask:
"What Is it now? Whet new, hard task
Has left you hopeless?" Thus, to-night,
( answer, with a clearer sight:
"The saddest thing—to sit alone
And face, all tearless, Love outgrown—
This is the saddest thing!"
—Katherine B. Huston, In Dramatic Maga
*ine.
FUEE-L/VIVCEL
By CHAUNCY C. HOTCHKISS
[Copyright, 1897, by D. Appleton & Co. All
rights reserved.]
CHAPTER XVIII.—CONTINUED.
As time went, we saying little or nothing
betwixt us, I marked our follower's growth
a* she drew on. Little by littleout came the
details of her canvas, and, as I picked point
after point, there dawned on me the almost
certainty that our pursuer was none other
than the Sprite, the last vessel of his inaj
etty's flotilla I cared to meet.
From the deck of the Ajax I had been
informed of the Sprite's absence on patrol,
and through the whole morning had held
in my mind the dread of meeting her, only
feeling safe from that particular craft since
noon. Probably she had been sneaking un
der easy sail along the Long Island coast,
and had only fairly sighted ua after the
westering sun had thrown a broad light on
our canvas. Then with a keen nose for
anything less than a three-decker, she had
piled on her clothes the sooner to come by
about what business a trader had to sail
the king's sea without being under convoy.
I dared not unfold my suspicions, but the
girl, with the eye of a hawk and the in
stinct of a woman, saved the necessity.
Turning to me after a long and searchtng
look at our pursuer, she said:
"Capt. Thorndvke, that vessel looks like
the one that took me from Philadelphia to
New York. I hardly know why I think
<so, but I fear me 'tis the same. '
"Ay," I answered, hoarsely, "I have that
fear, and God help us if they overhaul us, as
they are like to do, barring a miracle! — Have
you aught to offer, Ames?" said I, address
ing her brother, whose face had taken on a
look of hardness the like of which I had
marked at the Dove when he was posing as
an old man.
"Nay, friend," he returned, suddenly fall
ing into the Quaker style of speech, and
•without taking his eyes from the vessel
astern— "nay, friend, I have but a light
knowledge of ssa possibilities. To run as
thee be running means to be beaten in the
race. Thee has a head for tricks. Are thee
lost? If so, there is but one thing for thee
and me." And turning his eyes to mine, he
made a quick gesture toward the water,
which motion I thought was unobserved by
the girl. But 1 was wrong in my surmise.
"Has it come to this then?" she ejacu
lated with sudden terror in face and voice.
'"Am 1 to be left alone and at the mercy of
those yonder? — Beverly! brother! you will
not commit suicide and leave me without a
protector!— Donald Thorndyke," she con
tinued, her terror giving place to an im
periousness royal in its effect, "you have
•worn uot to desert me! Are you nerveless
at last? Nay, I know you too well. 1 ask
your pardon," she faltered with a bend of
her head and a rapid change to humility;
"I am wrong. Better give back to the Al
mighty direct the life He gave you rather
than have those yonder, if enemies they be,
take the giving into their merciless hands.
] was wrong. I let the woman in me speak
iirst. Your burden is greater than mine!"
Ar.d with this she placed both hands to her
face and sobbed aloud.
I listened in silence to this outburst with
its shifting emotions. There was no an
swer to make. The blackness of the last few
d«ys seemed to gather and settle itself over
me like a pall. We had been on the brink of
safety, the threshold of content, honor and
success, and to see the prizes snatched
away at this late hour was beyond human
endurance. The softness of the air, the
mellowing light, the silky veiling on the
•ky above us, and the lively sparkle of the
ocean, suddenly changed from gay congrat
ulation to a hideous grin of irony and malice.
Without a word in return I grasped the
•pokes of the wheel with my whole heart
seemingly bent on meeting each surge in a
manner to save our speed. To comfort the
jfirl was beyond my power even had it lain
in my province, and in real life no man, I
in r.cy, ever juggles with the truth (be it
never so bitter] while looking squarely into
the face of death.
Neither did Ames go to his sister's rescue.
As though to let her gather the full import
of the future, he stood apart, only saying,
as the poor girl's sobbing decreased: "There
is a God in Heaven, and what must be,
must be."
If, however, I had remained silent it was
rot because 1 was stunned, for, though my
tongue was dumb, my brain was active
enough. There was one chance in a million
that our pursuer was not the Sprite, or
even que of the British fleet. If so, well.
If not. I would sell myself at such a price
that tnere would be but little triumph for
tliem over my carcass. Turning at lust to
Ames. I said:
"Until it be made certain that we be lost
to one another, 1 shall hold my life as dearly
a* ever. The mere capture of the schooner
—unless that fellow astern be the Sprite—
need not bring despair. We will run as long
as run we can, and then fight; after that the
action of each lies with his own conscience.
A* for me, I shall not LIP hanged from a
British prison, but I swear again that while
you or your live and I can lift an arm
for eii.hiT I will still cling to the breath God
has given me. If. becoming powerless, 1
choose to cheat the rope, I will but be like
many a captain who goes down jvith his
ship. I take it 'twould be no common sui
< ide, for -JY honor would not have suf
fered."
"Ay, I s S id naught to mean the cowardly
taking one's own life," answered tit*
I youth stoutly. "Fight we will bo long
I powder and shot hold out, Quaker or no
Quaker. We l>e scant of the first, though.
1 would to Heaven a sudden darkness like
that which fell on Calvary would settle on
us now! We might then take to the dingy
astern and sneak for the Long Island shore."
He hail hardly spoken when the mainsail
flapped, and the wind, which had been rap
idly growing lighter, almost went out. I
east my eye on the following schooner, and
B.IW with some satisfaction that she, too,
had lost the breeze she had been carrying
with her, for no longer did she heel to its
pressure, and, I thought, no longer were lier
sails bellying, but, like ours, hung in folds,
only occasionally rounded by the dying
puffs. By this she had drawn to within a
couple of miles of us and was still coming
on. Under our stern there was barely a
wake (so slowly we moved), the froth from
our bends and rudder having given place to
an oily flatness filled with tiny eddies,
through which the boat we still towed slow
ly dragged its way. Now there was a yellow
haze on all the horizon, that told of the
v. aning day, but the sun's broad light still
lay over the ocean, and it would be hours
eie darkness could furnish us shelter. By
then our fate would be known.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE CAPTURE OF THE SCHOONER.
I wondered mightily that they had not
fired at us, but the solution of the riddle
came to me when I remembered that the
Sprite had but one powerful gun forward,
and hitherto she had not been in a position
to use it on us without blowing away her
cwn forward rigging. Her silence thus con
finned my fears as to the identity of the ves
sel, nor were we long in doubt as to the
malevolence of her purpose. Still she glided
toward us, wafted as is a feather over a
smooth pond, while we rolled to the long
reach of the surges without more way than
would take us a fathom in a minute.
For all the deadness of the Phantom, I
still stuck to the wheel, that she might not
round into the wind. Ames and his sister
had gone below to reload the firearms and
lay our ammunition, when, just as the last
gasp of wind went out and the shivering
tails set the reefing points beating the can
vas with a musical ripple, the enemy slewed
a couple of points to the south, and a ball
of white smoke broke from her bow. Plain
ly as day I marked the shot as it struck (lie
water and in great leaps came skipping
toward us. It passed us well astern, tor,
with the fall of the wind, we had swung into
the trough of the sea, and the Phantom was
now parallel to her pusurer, the latter lying
o!f our starboard quarter.
There she might remain, and, using us as
n target, sink us at her leisure, though I had
little fear of this action on her part, as the
British policy was ever to capture any
thing that could be of use, only destroying
that which they could not carry away.
I watched the flight of the ball until the
spouts sent aloft as it struck the sea became
smaller and the missile sunk in the distance.
It was a command to come into the wind
and show our colors, and hoping (though
wUhout reason) to defer to the last the fall
of the bolt, I descended into the cabin and
fumbled through the flag locker for the
Union Jack. I had the ensign in my hand
w hen the girl looked up from her work and
quickly asked:
"Are you to make a last stand under
that? Nay, then, Donald," she said, with
nn appeal in her voice, and for the first
time giving me my first name alone, "unless
you hope to blind them for good and all by
the sight of that bunting, 'twere a weak
tning to do. You say you will fight; then
fight under your own colors. It will make •
no difference in the end." And with this
she bent to the locker, picked up the en
sign of the colonies, and, holding it out,
dragged from my hand the red flag of the
enemy. It was a noble act, and worthy of
the spirit which had been'equal to bearding
Clinton in his own quarters. It pat into me
the stimulus 1 needed. Without a word I
turned and bounded up the companion, and
in a moment the stars and stripes were
hanging at the main peak, barely unfolded
by the zephyr that was still playing aloft.
It was a plain defiance, and met with a
ready answer. The bunting had Keen aloft
no longer than was necessary for those on
tbe distant vessel to have made it out with
a glass, when again came a spurt of smoke
and another ball leaped toward us. It was a
well-aimed shot, and, had the gun been
trained a trifle more to the right, it would
have ended matters on the instant. As it
was, the ball dipped close to our stern and
bjneath the trailing dingy. There was a
swirl of spouting foam, a tearing crash, and
the little boat leaped into the air amid a
shower of splinters, spun over and over like
a top, and then settled, keel upward, with
a clean-cut hole yawning in her bottom.
I could almost hear the shout of triumph
that undoubtedly took place on the enemy's
deck as the result of this piece of marks
manship, but in the end, had they but
i known it, they were whetting the tiger's
teeth instead of pulling them. Hardly had
the smoke thinned from the shot, when
• from under the cloud I marked a boat put
' ting away. There was little need of a glass
I to tell me it was filled with a boarding
I Pi-rty, and that the drama was rapidly near
i ing its close. With the few minutes left for
: preparation we made haste to get what arms
; we had on deck, and, while yet the yellow
• flash of the oars was distant, our arrange
ments were completed. For defense we had
two rifles, four pistols, three cutlasses and
3 mv rapier, though the latter and one of the
t cutlasses, being of no use, were left in the
i cabin. The lady was to take charge of the
: ammunition and reload the firearms as
i used, for, though her brother and myself
[ both begged and commanded her to remain
t below, she had for the first time drawn for
) herself her own line of action by simply
shaking her head and following us to the
deck. She was white as chalk as she stood
t end watched the near approach of the boat,
, but I will swear that her fear (if fear it was)
s was not for herself.
, Just before the enemy drew into rifle
shot I went forward and opened the fore
s castle slide, calling both prisoners to come
Y up, for I had a mind that 1 might use them
e to make a show of numbers on our deck,
l But in return 1 received a volley of curses
r only, and, as I had no time to try discipline,
1 shut and again fastened the hatch, rejoin
e :ng the others aft.
r Even at this stage I was possessed with the
a forlorn hope that we might drive off the ap
proacliing boat, and, if they were short
t handed aboard (a condition not unlikely),
y and failed to cripple us with their long gun,
r something might happen in the way of wind
from another quarter or the coming dark
g ness ti> enable us to escape. The hope, how
e ever, was not enough to give life to my
!. spirits to make it worth the telling to my
a companions. I had put my past behind aie,
e j r.vver hoping to reap what I had sowed ard
n I with set teeth awaited with little fear and
d I less doubt for the result of the coming hour.
I | Ames lay along the deck with his rifle
c j over the counter; the girl sat in the coin
s i panion door ready to reload the arms as they
i- j were passed to her; and I, looking for the
1- I proper moment to open fire, stood in plain
j tight above the taffrasL
y j Slowly they came on until I could count
• I ten IUCU acn officer, and as 1 MARKED U-«
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1900
easy range I told Amen to let them have it.
The crack of his rifle was yet in my ears as
I saw the bowman pitch forward, his oar
slipping from his hand into the sea. There
was a slight commotion aboard, and the
boat's progress ceased; but it was only to
recover the lost oar, and then on they came
again. Resting my gun over the rail, I
calculated the roll of the schooner aad in my
turn tired. This shot t»'d as well as the
first. A man in the waist sprang to his
feet, beat the air with his hands for an in
stant, and then toppled over the side, hang
ing harff in and half out of water, as limp as
a bag of wet salt. At this there was more
delay, and by the time they wer® again
well under way both rifles had l»een re
loaded, and as yet there had been no call
for the services of Miss King.
"Let them come nearer," said I, "and
then give them both barrels at once, and
after that the pistols." There was a grim
determination in the way their oars flushed
now, and as they came to within 200 feet
we both, by this time under the shelter of
the rail, fired on the count of three.
Through the smoke that drifted on us I
saw the officer sink back in his seat and the
rowing cease, then there came a yell from
the boat, and two muskets were discharged
at us, but without effect. What fools they
were to delay, for 1 had reloaded before the
first motion had been made to continue the
course! But to my amazement it was for
only a moment they held on their way. As
1 fired again, apparently without hitting, 1
saw the boat's head slew about, and then
they quickly hauled off and started to re
turn to the distant schooner.
It was so far a triumph. Out of ten men
we had disabled and perhaps killed three at
least, one being an officer. Why they had
fled still numbering enough to have van
quished us could only be accounted for by
tl e supposition that they knew naught of
our weakness, and feared the plain showing
of our colors was but a sign of strength and
fearlessness, if not a lure beckoning them
to ruin. I had not dreamed of such an
easy conquest, and for the while it was all
I could do to restrain the extravagance of
my feelings. I turned to Miss King. Her
pallor had given way and left two bright
spots of excitement which glowed on her
cheeks and matched well the brijjiant
sparkle of her eye. She was trembling with
suppressed emotion, and as I held out my
hand to her in unspoken congratulation, she
took it, and, lifting to her lips my grimy
fingers, rose without a word and hurried
forward.
The impulsive spirit of her brother
showed itself in the cry hegaveas, with half
a sob and half a laugh, he danced about the
deck and then threw himself into my arms,
breaking therefrom, shaking his fist at the
retreating boat, and in mighty un-Quaker
nood, though in Quaker style, damned the
British high and low, afloat and ashore.
"A curse on thee, thee white-livered,
scarlet-backed cowards!" he shouted at the
end. "To let two men and a girl drive thee!
Oh, by the Lord God above me, the battle
is not with the strong! Donald! Donald!
mark thee well! I tell thee we will yet best
them though they send the whole ship's
company! We will rise from the depths!
Thy hand and head have so far shown the
way! Thee will yet prevail!"
1 was well aware that this exuberance was
but the reaction following strain. I felt the
"We both fired on the count of three."
relief myself, but knew, despite the fact that
we were so far safe, tlti- repulse would prove
but a respite. The lump that had risen to
my throat when 1 saw that the enemy was
beaten off still held me speechless, but it
passed presently, as did also the wildness
of the youth, and ere long we were speculat
ing as to the next probable move of the dis
comfited redcoats. It was true that I had
li-alized the first part of my secret hope of
overcoming the boat, but, on scanning the
horizon, there was no sign of a rescuing
wind, though I thought the south held some
promise of a later breeze. There was naught
to do but stand at bay and await the issue.
Nor did we await it for long. The sun was
eliding rapidly to the edge of the sea, being
but an hour high, its path lying in a line
with the now thoroughly becalmed schooner
off our quarter; its glare throwing a dazzling
pathway betwixt the two vessels. It is
u.ore than likely they scented thu ad
vantage given them by their present posi
tion, for not long after the return of the
first expedition against us 1 saw three beats
leave their side and proceed along the track
of blinding glitter.
To aim into this eye-watering brilliancy
with any but a mere chance of hit*.log a
mark was an impossibility, but, with the old
determination to face the worst, Ames and
I repaired to our posts, though the girl still
lingered forward.
As I saw the usclessness of protracted de
fense, 1 let her bide away, knowing that at
the bow she would be clear of flying bullets
when the boats should come near enough to
return our lire. How the attack was planned
was at once apparent, for to cover the onset
of the boarders the schooner again opened
on us with its forward piece. In evident
fear of striking their own men, they aban
doned their former manner of ricocketting
the bail across the water, and instead drove
point blank at us. Although we lay a plain
• target, and their schooner, like the Phan
tom, was at rest, the first sli|pt Hew wide of
us; the second passed somewhere aloft, yet
so near that I heard the horrible humming
of the ball, and the third— To this day
they know not all they did, nor, for the
matter of that, did I at the time.
We had let the boats come near, that we
might shoot with effect, and 1 had fired and
was ,VlMint to pass the rifle to Gertrude, who
in my excitement 1 fancied had by this time
returned to the companion, when to my
astonishment I saw she was not behind me.
! There was no time for protracted search,
| lor, as I sprang from the cabin,, where I had
' gone to look for her, 1 heard her brother
discharge two pistols in quick succession and
paw a boat sweep under our counter. In an
instant it had hooked onto our starboard
1 channels. With a round oath Ames seized
the two remain ng pistols and poured their
j contents into it with scarce a chance of
j missing, while 1 rushed to his sid", and
lifting the heavy batch cover from the cabin,
1 against which it had been leaning, hurled it
ion to the heads of the packed mass beiow.
' Beyond the fact that no man boarded the
•chooner at this point, what execution was
made by the broad and bulky timl>er T new
knew, for at that moment the third shot
trom the schooner struck the foretopmast
just above the hounds. In a thundering
crash down came the spar with the square
sail, the outer canvas, topmast, fore and
back stays, blocks and upper running, gear
in general, the broken mast smiting the
with the sound of JHI explosion.
The din of the shot and the tumbling
wreck slewed me around as though I had
been on a pivot, but it was only to see that
all was lost. From beneath the foresail
aoom I saw that the other boats had board
ed us on the larboard bow. and already half
a score of men were swarming over the side.
Even then my thoughts went to the girl,
but she was nowhere in sight. Body and
brain work quickly in times of excitement,
and thinking that possibly she hail fallen
through the gaping* hatch and into the hold,
though time was scant, I sprang for the
opening and looked down, calling her by
name. There came no answer, neither was
her body in sight, the dull gray of the lead
alone meeting my eye. Springing again to
my feet, I drew my cutlass and retreated to
the quarter deck where stood Ames with
drawn steel, his back braced against the
wheel and his breath coming anil going as
though from violent exertion.
" "l'is the final stand, my lad!" I ex
claimed, as I ranged myself by his side and
turned to face (for the last time, I thought)
the enemy, who were now pouring aft.
"Gertrude is gone! I could find her no
where!"
"I know it!" he panted. "The game's up,
I marked her when she—"
I lost the rest, for at that instant an offi
cer whom I at once recognized came run
ning up, followed by half a dozen marines.
As he caught sight of me he halted, and,
eyeing me with profound astonishment, sud
denly broke out
"Good God! 'tis Thorndyke! Touch not
that man, on your lives!" lie shouted.
"Here's game worth a whole watch! Sur
render, ye rebel! Throw down your arms
and surrender! Can t you see you are
beaten? You doubly damned spy, the rope
will have its own! By Saint George, but
this is luck!"
"Surrender to ye, Lieut. Belden?" I
vociferated in turn. "By the Lord, no!
Come and take me if ye can, but 'twill not be
aiive. Your rope is not for me, nor will the
colors aloft be struck while I stand on this
deck! I have given over this world, and
fear neither ye nor the pink shrimps at your
back! Come, now, and clutch your luck!"
If I was strong as two men before, I felt
the strength of ten within me as I spoke.
The swath I would have mowed through
that press would have brought the bullet I
invited, but there was no advance. True,
the crowd showed a tendency to rush in as
I thus defied them, and several muskets
were leveled at us, but Belden nipped the
act by waving his sword and threatening
punishment to the first man who fired a gun
or advanced without orders.
It was plain that to him the prize was a
tremendous one, nor would he have the
glory of defeating me dimmed by my death,
and to this ambition to take me alive and
see me hanged was doubtless due my final
safety.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
KNEW THE MEANING.
Wliat Emnnelpn tlon Meant to the
Down-Truihlon IVimniitH on
ItuMHlmi lOstutes.
One evening our village priest found
a middle-aged peasant. Anton Save
llelT, reading a book of psalms. lie
as reading a psalm of which each verse
began with the word "Rejoice."
"What are you reading?" he was
asked.
"Well, father, I will tell yon," was
the reply. "Fourteen years ago the
old prince came here. It was in the
winter. I had juat returned home al
most frozen. A snowstorm was raging.
I had just begun impressing when we
heard a knock at the window; it was
•the elder, who wax shouting: 'Go to
the prince; he wants you.'
"We all—my wife and our children—
were thunderstruck. I signed myself
with the cross and Went; the snow
storm was blinding me as I crossed the
bridge.
"Well, it ended all right. The old
prince was taking his afternoon sleep,
and when he woke up he asked me if I
knew plastering work, and only told
me: 'Come to-morrow to repair the
plaster in that room.' So I went home,
quite happy, and when. I came to that
bridge. I found my wife standing there.
She had stood there all the time, with
the baby in lrer.arms,in the snowstorm,
waiting for me. That was, father, un
der the old piince.
"And now the young prince came
here the other day. I went to »ee him.
and found him in the garden, at the
tea table, in fhe shadow of the house;
you, father, sat with him, and the elder
of the canton, with his mayor's chain
upon his breast. 'Will, you have tea.
Savelieff?' he neks me; 'take u chair.'
'Peter Grngorieff'— he says that to the
old one—'give us one more chair.'
"And Peter Grigclieff—you know
what a terror for ua he was when lit
was the manager of the old prince—
brought the chair, attd we all sat round
the tea table, talking, and he poured
out tea for all of u>.
"Well, now, father, the evening is so
beautiful, the balm comes from the
prairies, and: I sit and read 'llejoice!
Rejoice!'"
This is what the abolition of serfdom
meant for the peasants.—Prince Kra
potkin, in Atlantic.
\» linrnpr.
Mrs. Thinner—Ernestine, my darl
ing. do you expect Constant to-night?
Ernestine—Of counre, mamma. Why
' do you inquire?
Mrs. Chinner —If lie asks you to mar
ry him, tell him to come and speak to
ine.
Ernestine—And If he doeisn't ask
ine?
Mrs. Chinner—Tell him I am coming
to speak to him. —Brooklyn Life.
The Tfctibk 1 .
Knocker—l don't know why, but
| Smith has an inbred hatred of mother
•A pearl.
Bocker—Why, didu't your wife ever
tell you his wife's name is Pearl?--
Brooklyn Life.
An A||ilioKy.
"See here, Browne, did you tell Bin
rows that I wouldn't run oil with arte,
hot stove?"
"Yes. 1 did. Bronsoa, but I'm willing
to admit I was wrw?." —Harlem Idie
W&Mkm.
HILL SITE ORCHARDS.
An IntrrratinK Subject Intfrt'^ttnglf
nincDnard l»j n Sumaaful
I<'rnl< Grower.
The majority of old orchards in Illi
nois were planted on hill sites and the
rarieties were mostly sweet or very
sour sorts, seedlings being about as
numerous as budded or grafted stock.
Of the named varieties of apples. Ham
bo, Pippin, Bellflower, Milam and Tal
man Sweet were perhaps the most com
mon. As a rule these early orchards
were planted for family use only and
were given but little attention, being
used for pasture for hogs, sheep and
other stock. With such indifferent
treatment very large crops of fruit
were seldom produced, and the trees
were not drained of their vitality.
The big Minkler shown in the en-
I 1
_ DITCH : "
BENCHING HILLSIDE ORCHARDS.
graving is growing upon a steep north
hillside—slant fully half-pitch —in a
hill orchard owned by Mr. J. H. Loy,
in Effingham county. It is six feet in
circumference, 35 years old and is es
timated to have produced $l5O worth of
apples. The orchard has a northern
and southern slope, with a ridge wide
enough for one row of trees. Original
ly there were about 300 trees, consist
ing of 15 or 20 sorts. The trees were
planted 35 years ago and most of that
time the orchard has been pastured. At
this time not more than 50 trees re
main, the majority of which are in rapid
decadence. The 25 Hen Davis trees
were the first to die, and the Jennetings
and Minklers are the best preserved of
those surviving. Nearly all the trees
living in this old orchard are on the
north hillside and they are best where
the slant is steepest. So far as can be
determined from a study of the old
trees remaining in this orchard, decay
and decline are traceable in nearly
every instance to cutting out large
limbs, splitting down at forks and in
jury at. base from borers, sunscald or
other causes unknown. It appears that
trees which made a low or branching
top and bore only moderate crops of
fruit were longest-lived. Peach trees,
mostly seedlings, were planted in this
orchard, between the apple trees after
the latter were in full bearing, but were
short-lived and not very productive,
which I think was rather owing to the
fact that they were in sod than from
MINKLER TREE 35 YEARS OLD.
any other cause. It is worthy of note
in the study of this orchard that the
trees were longest-lived that were on
the sides and at the base of the hill.
My studies of this and many other
old orchards on hill sites seem to war
rant the following conclusions: That
trees planted on hill sites will come
into bearing earlier and will produce
heavier crops of fruit than on level
sites; that a north hillside is a better
site than a south hillside; that an or
chard on a hill site will be shorter
lived than on a level site; that the
longevity and fruit fulness of an orchard
on a hill site would be greatly increased
by sub-soiling and clean cultivation, as
such orchards suffer greatly from lack
of moisture; that only such varieties as
are not given to overbearing should be
planted on hill sites if longevity is de
sired in the orchard; that a hill or or
chard ought to be benched, which may
be done by plowing at a right angle to
the slope and breaking the soil on the
lower side of the trees, as shown in our
illustration. —A. 1). MeCallen, >n Ameri
can Agriculturist.
HORTICULTURAL HINTS.
The best time to prune the oeach
is early in the spring.
Clear lime water is the best for de
stroying worms in pots and in fern
cases.
One of the best things to keep rab
bits away from trees is a mixture of
copperas and glue.
After raspberries have grown two
or three crops it pays to apply a little
manure around them.
Marks made by a common pencil
in zinc labels will after a time be
come distinct and legible. Xo special
ink is needed.
The cherry succeed* better about
the house or eluewhere in grass Hum
most other fruit trees. It needs very
little pruning.
The compact form of growth of the
currant adopts it to close garden
quarters, while its ability to thrive
in a partial ihaiV' is greatly in it«
favor.—St Louis Kepublic.
S6GO Reward
The above Reward will be pud fee
Srmation that will lead to the arrest a>d
conviction of the party or parties vka
placed iron and daoa on the track of tlu
kmpfcnum k Kick Valley K. R., lau
he east line of PrankHn Howler's far*,
m the evening of NOT. 21 at, IH9I.
HEHBT ALCHC,
88-tf. /Veat4*mt,
FINE LIQUOR SIORE
—»—
EMPORIUM, PA.
THK undersigned haa opened a lilt
olaas Liquor ato re, and invitee HM
trade or Hotels, Reetaarasta, Jb»
We ahall carry none bat the beet > nssw
loan and Imported
WHISKIES,
BRANDIES
GINS AND
WINES,
BOTTLED ALE, CHAMPAGNE, Eto
Cboio« lin« of
Bottled Goods.
r addition to any lar»* llaa of l!q«c*e I «aae»
ooaalaatly la etock a full lie* at
CIGARS AND TOBACCO.
Pool end Btlllaad Boom In eaaae
C*LL AND HEE MX.
A. A. MCDONALD,
PROPRIETOR, EMPORIUM, PA.
& F. X. BLUMLE, 112
«' IUPOBIUH, fA
W Battler *4 aa4 Peeler la ? 112
& WINES,
A WHISKIES, a I
And Liquors of All Kinds. 4 |
jj! The beet of goods always jjj
w carried in stook and every- W
tj thing warranted ss represent- JjJ
S Especial Attentloa Pal d *• B
flail Orders. M
$ EMPORIUM, PA. §
112 60 TO J
)J. A. ftlnsler'U
1 Broad Stmt, Fmporluai, Pa.. 1
) VTher* yen can |rt aaythlng 70a wast la C
C th* llta* at /
S Groceries, ✓
1 Provisions, ?
112 FLOUR, SAI.T MEATS, >
( SMOKED HEATS, \
J CANNED GOODS, ETC., ?
) teu, Coffm, Preiti, feafettluery, )
S Ttkun ml Clftn. C
N Geodf Dallycred Free any /
/ Plata in Town. \
I MIL 131 SEE IE AID GET P&ICES. \
C IKiK P. * B. DEPOT (
Baroßica
Bottling Works,
IOHN McDONALD, Proprietor.
Veer P. A E. Depot, Emporium, Pa.
Bottler and Shipper *t
Rochester
Lager Beer,
■EST CCAJDS OF EYPORA
The Manufacturer of Bofl
Drlaka and Dealer In Cholct
Wines and Pur* Llqnora
We keep none bnt the Tery heel
Seer and are prepared to fill Orders on
ihort notice. Private familiea Bervod
lailjr If desired.
JOHN MCDONALD.
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