16
How Amy Was Saved
By Florence B Hallowel
"There! read that," cried Amy |
Fitzhugh, as she burst into the room
where her sister Gertrude sat sewing,
and threw a letter into iter lap. "If
that doesn't turn your hair white
j.othing but old age will do it."
Gertrude looked meditatively at
the open letter lying upon the sheet
she was hemming. It was addressed
to her sister and was written in a
large, slanting hand on the thickest
of parchment note-paper, which ex
haled an odor of heliotrope. The
writer was Mrs. De Councey Harris
tow, the president of the Humane so
ciety, and she informed Miss Fitz
hugli that all arrangements having
been completed for the art loan ex
hibition, for the benefit of society,
she ventured to ask from them the
loan of two or three family heirlooms,
feeling that they must have many
treasured relics of by-gone genera
tions which could not fail to be of in
terest to the general public. She
promised that everything intrusted to
her care should be carefully guarded
and returned intact at the close of
the exhibition.
"I don't see that there is anything
to be done except to tell her frankly
that we have nothing to lend," said
Gertrude calmly.
"Yes; and have her look complete
ly overwhelmed with surprise; beg
my pardon, and say she is so sorry,
and that she wouldn't have asked me
for the world, if she dreamed for a
single moment that we could not com
ply with the request. Oh. 1 know
her! 1 know her only too well.
"If I could only beg, borrow, or— ,
Gertrude! !" Amy sprang up suddenly
from the old lounge on which she had
thrown herself. "1 have it! That
box belonging to our revered great
aunt! In that —'
"Oh, Amy, you wouldn't, you
couldn't open that."
"Yes; I would and I could—under
these desperate circumstances. Where
would be the harm? Aunt Reliance
is in California and would never be
any the wiser, and there is no end of
old china in that box. I'll get the
hatchet and open it now. Glorious
thought!"
Gertrude looked grave. Her old
great-aunt, 'Reliance, was so exacting,
and so imperious, that all her rela
tives stood in awe of her. The previ
ous fall, ongoing to California to
spend the winter, she had sent a large
box to Miss Jane, with the request
that it should be stored until her re
turn. Incidentally, she mentioned in
the accompanying letter that the box
contained the superb antique vase
which had been left to her by a ma
ternal uncle, and the white and yel
low flowered teapot which had be
longed to her grandmother Fitzhugh.
Amy, who had once paid a visit to
Miss Reliance, recollected both heir
looms perfectly, and had described
them minutely to Gertrude.
"Suppose the tilings should be
broken?" said Gertrude.
"We won't suppose anything so un
likely," rejoined Amy, who was in
high spirits, now that she had solved
her perplexing problem.
Amy received a most effusive letter
from Mrs. Barristow, in which she as
serted that she could never be suffi
ciently grateful for the privilege of ex
hibiting heirlooms so beautiful and so
rare, and would hold herself respon
sible for their safety.
The Art Loan Exhibition—thanks
to the tireless energy of the efficient
president of the Humane society—
was a pronounced success. People
were pleased at the idea of exhibiting
their family relics, and of having an
opportunity to air their pride of
birth; and those who did not contrib
ute came to criticise, admire and gos
sip.
Amy and Gertrude arrived a little
late, and after a ramble around the
room stationed themselves near the
table on which the fat teapot and the
top-heavy vase had a conspicuous
place. Upon each was a card bearing
the words: "Loaned by Miss Fitz
hugh." And Amy felt a momentary
pride as she called Gertrude's atten
tion to them.
While they were standing there, Mrs.
Barristow came rushing up to them,
her face radiant.
"Here you are, mounting guard over
your beloved treasures, I see," she
cried, in her most cordial voice. "How
can I ever thank you sufficiently, my
dears, for lending them? That teapot
is just too sweet for anything, and the
vase is a perfect love! They have
been so much admired! I assure you.
my dears, nothing in the whole ex
hibition has attract—"
"Look out! Look out there!" cried
a loud voice, and a man came rushing
toward them, waving his arms fran
tically.
Amy looked around, then up—just
in time to see a large oil portrait,
which hung above the table by which
they were standing, plunge forward.
The next, instant there was an aw
ful crash, the sound of which rang iu
her ears for many a day, and the
portrait lay in the middle of the table,
among those hallowed relics of the
past.
For a few moments she was too
much dazed to realize exactly what
had happened; then she became con
scious that people v.ere uttering ex
clamations oi dismay and regret, and
(Copyright.)
she felt Gertrude's hand on her arm.
"The teapot is in 50 pieces," Ger
trude whispered, "and the vase is ut
terly demolished. Come away."
They made their escape from the
hall, somehow, and hurried home.
Amy did not utter a word until they
reached their own doorstep. Then
she burst out. suddenly into something
very like a groan.
"My pride! my wretched pride!"
she said. "Gertrude, I am well pun
ished."
The morning's mail brought a grace
ful little scented note from Mrs. De
Courcey Barristow, saying that her
mortification and sorrow over the ac
cident which had occurred was so
great that she did not feel equal just
yet to a personal interview with her
dear Miss Fitzhugh.
Amy looked gloomily out of the
window.
"The vase and the teapot were the
only things broken, except a hideous
jug and a decorated cup and saucer,"
Gertrude continued. "It seems like
<?
The Next Instant There Was an
Awful Crash.
the irony of fate. Amy, you'll have to
write to Aunt Reliance."
"What am I to write her? How
can I excuse my folly?"
At last an idea dawned upon Amy,
after a fortnight of anxious thought.
She wrote to Aunt Reliance, asking if
she would sell the vase and teapot.
The answer came two weeks later,
while they were all at breakfast.
Gertrude hastened to read the im
portant document aloud. Aunt Reli
ance, while expressing appreciation of
Amy's very natural desire to possess
the teapot and vase, positively refused
to sell them; she would, she said, as
soon think of selling her grandfather's
bones, and wondered that Amy could
have thought her so lacking in respect
for her ancestors. She announced, in
conclusion, that having found the cli
mate of California beneficial to her
health, she had decided to remain
there permanently, and would soon
send for the box they had so kindly
stored for her.
What Amy suffered mentally dur
ing the next six weeks io best left to
the imagination.
She lost her appetite, grew pale and
thin, and was so despondent and irri
table, that Gertrude became anxious
about her.
"This vase-teapot trouble must
come to an end," Gertrude said, one
morning, as she sat sewing in the sit
ting room, and glanced up to see Amy
gazing idly from the window. "If you
don't write to Aunt Reliance, 1 will.
I She must know it anyhow, when we
I send the box, and what is the use of
! waiting?"
"There's the carrier now," said
j Amy, listlessly, and walked slowly our.
] into the hall, closing the door after
her.
Five minutes passed, and she had
not returned. Gertrude, growing anx
ious, put down her sewing, and went
out into the hall, lialf-expecting to
see her sister in a swoon on the floor.
But Amy was standing by the hat
rack, her eyes shining and a flush on
her cheeks.
"Saved! Saved by a miracle!" she
cried, as she waved a letter above
her head. "Read this, Gertrude,
and —"
"Tell me," interrupted Gertrude, im
patiently.
"Well, our blessed great-aunt wants
her box sent at once, and says she
makes me a present of the vase and
teapot as a return for my trouble in
sending it, and she hopes that my ad
miration for these precious heirlooms
is sufficiently great to cause me to
preserve them with sacred care and
hand them down to future genera
tions."
"It seems to good to be true!" cried
Gertrude, sinking down upon one of
the hall chairs.
'Doesn't it! And now listen to me
—never, never as long as you live say
family heirlooms to me again. This
Fitzhugh has had enough of them,
and then —girl like—Amy burst lnu
| tears.
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1907
NOT ALL A DESERT
WORLD LEARNING TRUTH ABOUT
THE SAHARA.
Water More Plentiful Than the Na
tives Will Admit —Explorer
Found Many Lakes in One
Part of the Country.
Prophesying that the Sahara sand
ocean will in time, be completely
changed .into a fruitful territory, the
journal of the Berlin Geological so
ciety, according to., another German
contemporary, goes 011 to say:
The Sahara rivers all hide a rich
subterranean stratum of water, and
form the natural passage of the Sudan,
on which, with very little trouble,
vegetation can bo largely developed.
In the south of Temassinim and in
the Igharghars there are groves of
tamarinds, gum trees, etc., two miles
in length, scarcely separated by grassy
and clover-covered plains. The rivers,
which in spring are full of water, are
from three to ten miles wide. When
the water retreats the beds of the
rivers are changed into rich meadows.
The date seed planted by travelers
at El Biod have grown without the
least care into fine trees, and the
same is true for the seeds planted
near the cisterns of Tebabbalet, in
spite of the inconsiderate manner in
which the Tuarges get in the harvest.
Trees are not so rare in the Sahara
as is supposed. Natives will deceive
travelers about the scarcity of water,
when the truth is the wells are hid
den, and the Tuarges, who serve as
guides to caravans, always choose the
most difficult and desolate routes, in
order to keep the caravans in a state
of dependency.
Caravans become more frequent;
travelers succeed each other: but the
secret of the Sahara is well kept and
its reputation of barrenness is well
preserved. For example, Oscar Lens
crossed the Sahara and reached Tim
buctoo without seeing anything but
desert land, and yet he mentions that
behind a chain of hills which he
passed there was a place called by the
natives "The Head of the Waters."
Dr. Barth, who was for four months
in Tuargey camps and was the guest
and friend of Shiek el Babey, was
told innumerable facts about the tradi
tions and manners of the land, but its
geography was hidden from him.
When he explored the region of an
arm of the Niger he found a lake near
ly 100 miles long, and when he extend
ed his excursions he found not only
one but 20 lakes, all very large, and
stretched far to the north into the
very heart of the Sahara.
it is asked, if there be no water, and
therefore 110 vegetation, where does
the charcoal come from which is sold
by the Tuarges? Where do they find
nourishment for the numerous camels,
sheep, horses, asses and goats they
possess?
Those Educated Jokes.
The gentle dissipations in which
college men are supposed to indulge
furnish many a would-be joker with a
theme. "Drunk" jokes became so
numerous that only recently the edict
went forth from the Harvard Lampoon
sanctum that they must be veritable
masterpieces of humor to receive any
consideration from a bored editorial
staff. Poker, too, comes to the toiling
candidate's aid, and inspired this
classic epitaph on a pictured tomb
stone:
* Here Men tho Body of Mary Me Ford. :*
: She raised tive and was called by :
the Lord.
Smoking is. not only a favorite
pastime but a favorite theme. "My
gracious, little boy," says the good
old lady to the puffing mucker, "do
you smoke cigars?" "No use hint in',
lady," replies the clever one, "de
butt's promised." This view of wom
an's smoking is taken:
Helen —Do you think a lady would
smoke a cigarette?
Mae —Not if it's the only one a gen
tleman has. —K. B. Townsend in the
Bohemian.
Always Man of Determination.
Herr Dernberg of the German colo
nial office in the early days of his
career served an apprenticeship with
a New York banking house and at that
time made many acquaintances in
Wall street. It is said of him that he
was one of only two or three out of
an office force of 50 who reported for
duty the day of the great blizzard ID
years ago. This was suggestive of the
determination which helped him much
in his later life on advancing him to
his present position, to which he was
named by the German emperor for the
purpose of reducing to order the chaos
which had existed in the administra
tion of the German colonies.
Not in His Line.
"Who discovered steam?" asked the
man who is always looking for in
formation
"Don't know," answered the man
who is abnormally chilly, "but I am
willing to bet it was not the janitor
in our apartment house."—Washing
ton Star.
At the Dinner Table.
Guest —Why does Huber never say
anything?
Neighbor—Because his wife always
declares that two people. should not
speak at once.
A La Card.
Miss De Style—How did that "club"
sandwich 1 made taste?
Miss Gunbusta (sarcastically)—Liki
the "detice."
'SURPRISE FOR ALL CONCERNED.
I
Convivial Russian Party Broke Up ir»
Some Disorder.
As all the world knows, queer things
happen in the land of the czar. There
are a grand duke and a grand duchess
j in St. Petersburg who do not refer in
private conversation to an incident in
which they both figured. A theatrical
company arrived in the Russian cap
ital from Berlin. The leading lady
was pretty and the tenor was an
Adonis. The grand duke and the
grand duchess enjoyed the first per
formance very much indeed. The next
j afternoon the grand duke had an en
gagement and went alone to a first
class cafe in the city, where he was
joined by the leading lady he had
seen the night before. The cafe is so
arranged that it has a number of
small rooms facing a central hall, at
the top of which a band discourses
sweet music. The grand duke found
the actress beautiful, but lacking in
wit. He was having a stupid time and
envied the occupants of the next room,
who were shrieking with merriment.
"I know what we'll do," his high
ness finally said to his companion.
"Let's go into the next room. A party
of four ought to be congenial."
"Isut they may object," the actress
suggested.
"Oh, no, they won't. I am the grand
1 duke."
The couple walked into the next
j room.
Tableau.
To the horror of the grand duke,
there was the grand duchess sitting at
a table with the tenor of the company
!to which the actress belonged. The
I tenor looked at the actress with as
| much amazement as the grand duke
j and grand duchess did at each other.
I Shouting at the grand duke that he had
insulted his wife (for this was the re
lation he had with the woman) he
rushed at him, and for a few minutes
there was a great mixup in the little
room. The attendants hurried to the
scene and separated the combatants.
' The tenor drove away with his wife
and the grand duke took the grand
duchess to their palace.
The next day the theatrical com
pany lacked two of its principals. The
tenor and his wife had been given
passports early in the morning and
; escorted to' the train by the police.
"Never Let It Occur Again."
A young Chicago matron was much
I annoyed one morning at the nonmate
. rialization of her milkman in time to
furnish the cream for breakfast. When
he finally did appear about ten
j o'clock, she took it upon herself to
deliver the deserved lecture, for hud
j not the young husband shown dis
pleasure at drinking coffee sana
| cream and did not that fact alono
brand the milkman too great a tulprit
i to be reproved merely by a maid?
The young wife is quite deaf, and
; with conflicting sounds of traffic in
the street, and her baby daughter's
j crying within, she could not hear the
| defense of the sinful purveyor of pure
I milk, but she thought he looked peni
tent, even sad, and so ended her stern
tirade with a magnanimous:
"Well, see that you never let it oc
cur again."
After he had left she said to thfe
|cook:
"What did he say, Mary?"
"He said his horse dropped dead,
mum," answered Mary.
And she had wisely admonished him
"never to let it occur again."
Tidbits for Their Sunday Dinner.
"Every little while," said the man
ager of a dogs' boarding house,"the
owners of these animals prefer a re-
I quest that seems utterly absurd. The
I strangest of All was made by a woman
' who came to secure accommodation
1 for two of her pets.
" 'What do you feed your boarders
■ on Sunday?' she asked.
" 'The regulation fare,' I told her.
" 'Oh,' she said, 'that won't *lo for
my dogs. They have been used to
something extra for Sunday dinner,
and if there was a change in their
• fare for the worse, now that they have
gone to boarding, 1 am sure that they
would suffer. Kindly see that they
have a good Sunday dinner. I am
willing to pay extra for it, if neces
-1 sary.'
"In consideration of that extra re
muneration clause I promised to pro
vide some fancy dishes for the two
dogs on the Sabbath day. lam quite
• sure the dainties won't agree with the
little beasts, but the contract calls
, for tidbits, and tidbits I'll provide ii
it kills them."
An Enterprising Editor.
"The editor is a philosopher, and
so enterprising!"
I "He is?"
"You bet! Why, while his office
was being consumed by tire, he
ciaught the hot lead from the melting
type, molded it into buckshot, and
went gunning for delinquent sub
scribers!"
Watery.
"Looks like rain to-day," said the
milkman, as he poured the customary
quart from the can to the pitcher.
"It always does," replied the house
wife, compressing her lips with cold
significance.
Stilling an oath, he took up his
liquid burden and departed heavily.
A Tardy Commendation.
' Nero fiddled while Rome burned!"
e: 'aimed the student.
/ell," replied Mr. Growcher, "that's
1 r than the custom many violin
-1 have of practicing at a tiuu
\>.. 1 everything is nice and quiet
otherwise."
HOME
a - radford
EDITOR
Mr. William A. Radford will answer
questions and give advice FREE OF
COST on all subjects pertaining to the
subject of building for the readers of this
paper. On account of his wide expe
rience as Editor, Author and Manufac
turer. he is, without doubt, the highest
authority on all these subjects. Address
all inquiries to William A. Radford, No.
194 Fifth Ave., Chifa*?o, 111., and only
unclose two-cent stamp for reply.
All the essentials of a home are em
bodied in this little cottage. "Be it
ever so humble, there is no place like
home" applies with especial force to
a neat little cottage that is built for
comfort and surrounded by well-kept
grounds. A cottage house well kept
looks a great deal better and it gen
erally contains a great deal more com
fort than a larger house that is in a
measure neglected.
In building a small house it is cus
tomary with some builders to slight
the work in certain directions, because
it is only a cheap affair, anyhow, but
this is a mistake. It does not pay, for
instance, to use outside doors that are
less than one and three-quarter inches
in thickness. You can put on cheaper
ones and dress them up so they look
all right for awhile, but after a time
the panels split, and the doors warp
until it is an aggravation to open or
shut one. Then repairs are neces
sary and you put more expense on the
job than would be necessary to do it
right in the first place.
If you are building a house to sell,
sometimes you can skin it in places
and get out from under, hut it is a
poor way to do business. If you want
to drink from a sieve you must drink
quick. Sometimes a house built for
sale don't sell right away. If it is
■ 4 -■.: i- - .'■■•' x '■ -
well built it may be rented to advan
tage until a purchaser comes along,
but you must not rent a poorly built
house unless you are looking for
trouble.
The cheapest way to build a house
is to put up a box like this and put a
straight roof over it. It makes all
straight work, stock sizes of every
thing work in without waste, and
cheap labor may be used to advantage
in putting it together. Everything
for the house may be purchased,
ready togo together, at the building
supply dealers'.
Years ago it was considered neces
sary to put up some fancy design in
order to have it look right when fin
ished, but this was a mistake. Noth
ing looks better than a plain house if
the proportions are right. Of course
you must have a relief of some kind.
In this case you get it in the veranda,
| M/TCHE/S ZTCCM i
In f-ajr/4-O' -fl 90»A+ O* I
|m j rto&vw I
CCD *OOM I
I |u
I — u —I
I po-mc
Floor Plan
which reaches clear across the front.
It is not, a large veranda and not ex
pensive, but it makes a finish for the
front of the little house and it pro
vides a very comfortable open-air sit
ting-room in summer and it is a pro
tection from snow and other storms in
winter. The money that this veranda
costs is money well spent. No matter
how cheap the house, you don't want
the front door to look bare and unpro
tected, and you can't protect it in any
other way quite so well as by build
ing a solid looking, comfortable ver
anda.
In size, the plan is 20 by 'lO feet,
and in this space the architect has
planned and laid out live rooms, all
large enough to hold the necessary
furniture. To save expense in ii r»t
cost the house Is get on cedar posts
instead of having a cellar. This is
done because there are men who could
afford to build a cottage house cost
ing $1,200 or $1,400 when it would b®
impossible for them to raise the
money for a house costing $2,000. It
is better to build in this way and put
a cellar under the house afterward,
than to keep on paying rent year after
year with the expectation of building
just as you want to in three or four
years' time, because the three or four
years slip away quickly, and you are
in no better position to build then
than you are now.
A little determination goes a lons
way in making a start for a home.
Of course, a little money is necessary,
but the amount paid out for rent each
month would soon pay for a $1,200
cottage and leave the owner in posi
tion togo ahead on something larger
if he needs it. Sometimes people get
so attached to a little home that is
comfortable and convenient that they
are in no hurry to leave it. My advice
has always been to make a start and
make it modest enough so you are not
embarrassed to make your payments,
and I believe it is a great deal better
togo a good deal too slow than togo
a little bit too fast.
I like to see good houses, and when
a person can afford it I like to see
them living in an expensive house,
but 1 don't like to see young fellows
start in with a property a good deal
larger and more expensive than they
need when they haven't the means to
pay for it, because I know it means
many months and years of hard work
and a good many nights of worry, all
of which may be avoided by making
the proper start. A little house may
be buried in vines partially hidden by
shade trees and beautified by a yard
full of flowers until the house is for
gotten and the cozy home only is re
membered.
AROUSED FEARS OF FARMER.
Thought He Was a Member of the
Standard Oil Company.
They told mo of a farmer two miles
away from the Connecticut farmhouse
where I was stopping who had a cider
mill and was making a few barrels
of the sweet, and one day I took a
walk over to the place. The farmer
had made only two barrels of cider
and was through grinding. I asked
him about the apple crop, the prico
of cider, and so on, but found him
disinclined to talk. In fact, it was
plain that he distrusted me. I told
him how I used to walk five miles
to a cider mill in my boyhood days,
and did my best to thaw him out.
but the most that 1 could get out of
him was that he intended to sell one
barrel and keep the other for himself.
He was evidently much relieved when
I took my departure, and I could not
make him out at all. Two days later
1 ran across him in the village, just
as he was unloading one of the bar
rels at a grocery. He tried to dodge
me, but I hailed him, and he came
forward and said:
"I couldn't get but three dollars
for it."
"But that's a fair price, isn't it?"
"It's tolerably fair, and I hope you
are not going to freeze me out."
"1 don't exactly understand you,"
1 said.
"Why, hain't you from the Standard
Oil company?"
"Of course not."
"And you hain't run cider up to
five dollars a barrel and threatened
to freeze out any one that sold it for
less?"
"My friend, you are away off."
"Honest Injun?"
"I have nothing whatever to do with
the corporation you name."
"Gee-whizz! but 1 took you for the
boss of it himself, and I've been shak
ing in my boots ever since you showed
your nose in the mill!"—N. Y. Times.
Just as Good.
Waiter —One of the gentlemen is
asking for some Spanish wine.
Proprietor—Well, give him a bottle
of our sweet wine and charge him two
marks extra. That will be quite
Spanish enough for him, I expect.
Fiiegenue I Halter.