A CRADLE SONG. end swing! Swish and swing! Through the yellow grain Ptoutly moves the cradler to a low refrain, While the swaying blades of wheat tremble to his aweep Till he Jays them carefully in a row to sleep; And he feels a mystic rlivme Makes his eradle swing in time To the rocking of the baby by the door Swish and swing! Swish and swing! Bo the cheeks grow red, Bowls are filled with porridge, and ovens piled with bread, Bossy claims the middlings, and coltie eats the bran, Chicky gets the séreenings, and birdie all he cnn, 80 the eradle’s harvest rhyme Keeps the reaper’s str ke in time With the cradle that is rockiug by the door. Thus the golden harvest falls to yield the precious wheat. Life is golden, too, alas! but on’y love is geal, Labor for tio fireside is the royal erown to wear, And Love that the each heart its share, gave harvest will give While the reaper swings in time, Like a loving, tender rhyme, To the rocking of the cradle by the door Swish and swing! Swish and Ah, the swing! good oid sound, Harvest note of gladness all the world | around! Hear the cradles glancing on the hilly steep; | Hear the litt'e rocker where baby lies asleep— Gentle, universal rhyme Of the reaper keeping time With the ruckiug of the cradle by the doar —{Charles H. Crandall, in the Century. young women from sixteen to twenty. four years old, Scores of girls were dragged away into captivity, only a few of whon were ever so fortunate as to meet their relatives again. The sottlers built block-houses ns places of refuge here and there; and scouts were sent out to give warning of Inlian parties. But often their utmost vigilance failed to detect the presence of the lurking rodskins, Three miles from the block-houses at Chepidneck lived the Cary and Wilson families. Their clearings were on the opposite banks of a large brook, the out- let of a considerably lake. The rich intervale land along the stream offered good farm sites; and with hard-working clonred and burned off tracts of from forty to fifty acres. boys, named Reuben, Joseph, Hiram and George. Reubon was already nearly twenty, and an expert woodsman, Silas Cary was less favored. His boys, as he was wont jocosely to remark to hig neighbor, ull ono—little Josh." But his girls, of whom Merey was the eldest, were almost or quite as good as boys for all the lighter labors of the new farm, and helped their father at his planting and harvesting. The distance from Cary's house across to Wilson's quarter of a mile. led through the stumpy ‘wore was A well-beaten path cle wring nnd over which rude bridge. Beyond the brook were clumps of bushes and a log way led through an open clearing again to Mr. Wilson s house. Morey, with Tige and little Josh, had quarters of an hour, The had set; and meantime Silas Cary, with the three vounger girls, came in from the field where they had been planting cora and san THE BRASS KETTLE. “Leave off spinning, Merey, and reel | what vou've got on the spindle for me. | There'll be enough, I guess, to finish this web, and I'll put it in without scouring. Then run over Wilson's nnd borrow Sarah's brass kettle. We'll have some to up.” It was late on a May afternoon in Maine, then an outlying part of Massa- | chusetts, more than a hundred and thirty. | five or forty years ago. ionoer's wife sat at her loom, plying the shuttle rapidly, while with sturdy blows of her foot on the treadle, she bi yarn into the web. Her daughter Merey, eved girl of seventeen, s making the spinning wheel for the last two hours, laid the wheel-finger with a willing *Yea, mother,” and plied the less noisy reel, counting off the threads “Six knots, mother,” ‘It will make enoug Cary, her voice half drowned by the loud olatter of the high, brown old loom in which she sat. **Wind it on the quills.” The girl did so, but lingered a bit as she set the quill box in the “Can't I take that piece of mother? asked, ¥ : © at the woof am merrily down in aiow tune. 1 } loom cherry rib- she a little con- “Yes yes, child,” said the mother, somewhat impatientl¥. It was pot the first time Mercy had asked forthe ribbon; and with pleasure in her fresh the girl withdrew quietly to the other room of the log-house, where for some secret reason she now attempted f ] face, a few details of self-adornment, before she set off on her errand to the Wilsons’, A ruddy boy in homespun, eight years old, perhaps, ran in barefoot as Mercy withdrew, ““Marm!” said he, with a mysterious half shake of his head, “*I believe there's an old Indian out by the log pile. Tige's all brustied up, and keeps looking out that way.” : ‘“There, there, Josh, stop that talk!” eried his mother, sharply. “What did your father tell you this morning? He bade ye not to say ‘Indian’ again for a month. There's non: anywhere about now. "Twas nothing more than a bear that Tige smelt.” “I'libet it isn’t a bear,” muttered little Josh to himself, as he went out, rebuffed. “Tige always barks for a bear; but he never barks, nor growls out loud, if it's an Indian. Old Jed Haney taught him | that when he was a pup.” Tige, a large white and brindled dog, with a broad head, pink nose and strong, bony legs, was standing in the dooryard. The hair along his shoulders and back showed a tendency to rise, and from moment to moment he turned his glaring | eyes slowly in the direction of the woods | to the southwest of the stumpy clearing. | Mercy meantime started on ber errand | for the kettle. Her mother pecred out | from the loom frame, “There, Mercy, you vain girl?” she | eried, lnughing a little; for Merey had arranged the cherry ribbon in a bow at fier throat, and displayed a little antique pin of gold, a gift of her grandmother. | She blushed at her mother's good. | humored raillery. | ““Don‘tstay,” Mrs. Cary added. "It'll | soon be night now, And Mercy!” she | called aguin, stopping the loom a moment, | “Take lige with you. Josh may go, too, if ho wants to.” Au interesting legend from the early | folk-lore of the eolony has descended to us of Mercy Cary's tiip for the brass kettle. From Casco—now Portland the settlers had by this time begun to push forth into the wilderness, in the | direction of Yarmouth, Brunswick, New | Gloucester and the Saco Valley, It was the period of the French war, with ite many Indian outbreaks, which so rently distressed the people. Incited y the infamous “scalp bounties” and “eaptive bounties” offered in Canada, the savages not only made attacks in force upon the garrison houses, but singly, or in little parties, lay in wait on the borders of the forest, to cut off the sottlers who were at work in their clear. ings, or going ty and fro on their long trips to mill or to procure supplies, Many were thus foully murdered, or captured and hurried away through the woods to be sold to the French in Canada. Young English captives were then in anuch request among the wealthy French families nt Montreal, Threo Rivers, Sorel snd Quebec, as servants, particularly “Where arc Me takinz d Gown sw and Josh?’ asked “the cedar buckets aratory to milking the two cows. “I've sent them to brass kettle,” r d time they were back “Tt t as a faint outery was borne ating ‘Tag! Wilson's for the Mrs. Cary. “It's Patienen, to their ears, to the wy are coming " hear Josh she ilson boys.” ‘he lad was indeed shouting, but not he Wilson As he ed the bridge on their way home the kettle, the dog suddenly grow led lrew back, | i ittle Josh follow had roached the wo hideously pain wi iy out from the alders there, and hem by the wrists, drag bors, and Me res ROTOSS, es ri EN away Tige dashed at one wees and would sailed his own; but h his tomahawk screnmud, and Ind eried out vked his cantor, bu thom along the hollow hnve the redskin beat him off + was beaten so Mr. Cary, now out in the yard with his buckets, heard Mercy 's plorcing scream. He rushed into the nnd dashed down i vast the bridge toward the ho use, seized his gun the o to the | bushes He met Ti I'he eh AA ' | ranning head jue was bieoding from slog like brist 0s i up : © conls, 1 like liv It's Indians! It's Indians!” muttered Cary, } after “Ties wie t ia wpping short, neip. Presently he heard a qui other side, ck wtoep path on the nid saw young ilson coming hastily down to Heuben the bridge. Mercy’'s scream had reached his ear, too, where he had been at mortising with ao fifty rods di Not ten minutes before, had chat passed had only his hands ** Reul works tence posts postaxe, beside the path, about stant he said, Me:cy with | iim, the post-axe in stopped to she He ns 1 n!" hailed Cary. in tones which shook from a father's anguish “The Indians have got Mercy and Josh.’ Reuben tumed without a word and ran back to his father's house to give the alarm and gun. Hearing the tid. ings, Nathan Wilson at once despatched Hiram to the ‘ assistance. Joseph he bade guard the house, and sent George to Cary's get his block house. to summon pl 108, Then seizing his own gun and ammuni- tion, he followed Reuben They overtook Cary half a mile up the brook, and came out on the shore of the last on ns the shone gleam of the fading twilight the water Faintly as it the light imprint of a canoo’s bottom on the soft sand. ar by were several moccasin tracks. Tige had led the way directly to the place. . “That's bad,” murmured the elder Wilson, with a sharp glance along the darkening shores. “There are ‘lwo. The savages had gained a start suffio- ient to have already doubled a point on the shore, six or eight hundred yards dis. The settiers had no boat on the lake. The pioncer knew that the Indi. ans could padd’'e their canoe faster than the whites could follow them through the woods by night, around the shores, The contour of the lake, ton, was such that the whites inust take a wide circuit, and cross two tangled swamps, It was probable that the Indians would no cortainty of this. They might veer away to the right or the left shore. After a hasty consultation it was de. cided that the elder Wilson should return and get a pack of provisions, and lead the purty which might come from the block-house; while Cary and Reuben, with Tige, should skirt the lake in the hope of discovering where the Indians landed. The night bade fair to be very dark. At about ten o'clock in the evening eight men arrived at Wilson's place with their guns, from the garrison house; bat by this time clouds had gathered, and they deemed it unwise to enter the forest until daybreak. Cary and Reuben, meantime, had pushed on around the lake and reached the mouth of a small brook noar the head of it, by the time the clouds obscured the stars, Not only did they find moceasin tracks in the sand here, but other smaller tracks, bt were those of led along the i bank of the small brook. But Cary thought it imprudent to go on before Wilson and the expected party came up, Reuben took Tige and went on alone. The dog followed the trail readily, and the party when they should follow him. At last he came to the foot of a gorge, or ravine, from which the brook issued. Hero Tige sniffed about, and soon en. tored alittle thicket of firs. There Ren ben found a bark canoe, evidently hid- den by the Indians, did not at first understand. He did not | un growth of hemlock trees. Northward the ridge fell off abruptly ina line of erage. lige followed over the ledges; trail downward but | neross the of forest beyond. { The sun was now just rising. i A mile away water which appeared, from the way it | opened to view around the base of a mountain, to bo part of a larger expanse, out of sight beyond it. A slight blaish m.st hovered over the troo-tops along the nearer shore, which Reuben was at first | inclined to think might be the smoke of {a camp-fire, expanse distance: and ns he serutinized the land. scape, his sh ip eyes detected, even at that the woods along the shore. distance, three crows flying over Suddenly the crows circled car-r-r was borne to morning air. Reanben had thst the crows always uttered this peculiar noticed get his bearings, Heaben made a wide circuit ncross the swamp and far off to the southward of the trail along which the Indians would come. Ho hoped that | the two redskins m'ght have crossed into the ravine, on the other side of the hem- lock ridge, before the shot was fired, and that they had not heard it. The distance wns two or three miles. After u hot walk of two or three hours, Reuben, with his companions, came around to the lower luke where he had left Silas Cary. But before this time Nathan Wilson, with the party from the block: house und {two dogs, hud arrived at this spot, and with Cary had set off up the brook, fol- lowing the trail, as Reuben had done, They reached the foot of the second lake | just in time tosee the two Indians escap- | ing in their canoe. | A scout returned and found the three | young people at the head of the lower { lake, and ater in the day the whole 1 party reached home in safety. So much did the ploncers’ wives miss their brass kettle, however, that Reuben and his brother Hiram made a trip to re- The grent- ly-prized utensil wus found in the swamp Rueben had thrown it, and it was immediately put to sorvice again in pro- paring the hulled corn. The legend, indeed, runs that Mercy Cary, who sfterward became Mrs. Rea. Wilson, inherited the kettle from her mother-in-law, and made a of it for forty Companion. : 12. 3 cover it the following week. whore ben proper Youtu's usa RED RIVER VALLEY, Description of the Most Reglon In America. Fertile the Indians snd their captives were oven now on the shore of the pond our bay. Then he side of the ridee, whither Tige had pre- coded him, but in a thick group of hem locks at the foot of the ridge ho met Tige coming buck with bristled hair. The dog turned, fast, as if listening made his way down the steep still at Reaben ® His hair ro=o more stitly on his shoulders, and he backed again Heuben's legs, His whole aspect soomed to give w arning Hf danger near, This Dut stond hint was not the young who aside and concealed lock thicket, he hidden them awif HY when two camo hillside, mocensined a dead leat went backward upon the trail ove they had came Fa arried a gun had his belt. n tomahawk and Ihe faces of pad stood up in tall, stiff tufts, Silent iping-knife Doth were streg with war nt, and their black ind swift as two spoectres, they »«d past, and in a Rouben's heart £2 moment were lost to Wwicw, beat fast, and 2 2 £ 13 4 @ could see Tige's eves glowing like fire 2 jut not a growl vseaped the do } The Were ro. roason why the sa irred instantly to had led their ared them there, fetch their his Ages PE OOK i enplives ond back to CANOD mont, igs minutes f the water through ing from the trees ahead But Tige now again; and after unexpectedly heid back peeping ahead Lor some ed cantiously t, to gain the cover of a ’ Reuben around to the lef ‘ : swamp of fir balsams minutes, nos i ay, foron« reep- here It was fort ing forward fii a third with a bunch inate he dic through the thickeils rain 8 nearer view, he saw Indian along the shore of fish in his hand. ‘he savage approached the embers of a fir which was smoulde ring beside a dritt.dogz, and Raising himself cautiously for a little better view around, BHeuben discovered a large black object beside a tree. which he could 4 coming saat down, a moment's keen scrutiny ho saw Meroy Cary, tied to a small tree, with the brass kettle over her head! Immediately, he espied little Josh's bare head and woe begone face The lad, like his sister, was bound to a sapling close to the shore, his hands tied behind His buck and around the treo. Reuben reflected hurriedly. What he did must be done at once, for the other Indians would soon retarn with the canoe, and probably embark with their captives upon the lake. Presently ho heard little Josh erying “0) Mercy,” whimpered the was ton, two dolefully. tied terribly tight!” Mercy said something to him in a low tone, which Reuben could not distinguish, for her voice was mulled in the kettle, The Indian, who was placing the fish on the embers, granted angrily, rose, and gave Josh three or four Lard blows with a stick. the pain, and his sister, unable to sce, but nearing the blows, cried out, too. Thereat the savage rushed toward her and rained blows upon the kettie to fiighten hor into silence. IKeuben, his blood boiling, was already sighting along the barrel of his flintlock, but he did not fire until the Indian had drawn back a little fr ym the children. Thea the old musket roared heavily on the morning air and the young marks. man saw the Indian fall. Thinking that he might be wounded merely, and that mained concealed, and hastily reloaded his piece. But Tige had run out, and Reuben had scarcely time to ram down a charge when he heard a frightful outery from the wounded Indian. Tige was taking satisfaction for his own wound by fierce- ly shaking his hated enemy. Hearing the shot and the growls of the dog, Mercy made a supreme effort to withdraw her head from under the kettle, and had sucoceded in doing so as Rucben dashed forward. With his knife he cut the thongs that bound her nrms, and those which bound little Josh. He seized the savage’'s gun, throw the brass kettle into a thicket, and started, leading Josh with a rong hand, while Mercy followed hastily in his steps, and » brought up the rear. © al ; The famous Red River Valley is by some students of such comp: {dee to be third . in point of fertility, reg ] there being one Asiatic TOU rative ared the on and 14 i OI Ing Ley In the I Rel sed ot re wevond it, River Valle v tukes in many countie Minnesota and the the Dakota land of oust most 3 counties two pr Ae formed the bod It reaches up i Winnipeg, and is a its southern in the 1 Cannda. his region rey grain or a gv from this that were the sale of th For the farmers of the west would make sufficient profit off all their mortgages this vear It is iu the Red River Valley may hear of a farmer SOARON Were close 1o 8 WIE! that men brougl © X [re 3 Genn instance whose proi t t great ting a for them in ite ny for them years, and th ig vt wonderfal 3 the regio » twin cities If Ceres left the Old when the worship of it must Rei River that she mythology is suggesied tins 3 first upon the inst § Su i. very yvorthwest her wes have bet fn tot a siudy of it is in the recollect the {a river Poet wherein King Mida washed off his power turn all that be touched. That may have been the stream that ono from 10 truly, its sediment retains little less than Mi wn of in, to into side side of this valley, for, daun's power We realize the majesty of agricolture before when we that in Minnesota and the Dukotas the wheat crop alone was worth one hun- millions of dollars last year. Figure for vourself the estimated yield of one hundred and fifty millions of bushels selling at from 75 cents to 82 ns we never did learn {wo dred and twenty cents a bushel. In what story of land is there an account of a literal fiel of gold to equal that? There are 8832.00 acres in the va ley, and leas than a quarter of it was crop last year f every acre were pi into wheat, there would be no market for the wheat: it would become a drug. As is is, of the portion that is under cultiva. tion, only out three.quarters were in wheat, and the yield of last year was es. timated at from 30,000,000 to 37,000,000 bushels, grown at the average proportion of 20 bushels to the acre. The wheat crop of the valley, therefore, fotehed about $27,000,000. At 8) cents a bushel, { each acre returned £16, at a cost of from {86 to 88, Good land has produced 3 bushels to the acre, and good land, | farmed scientifically has yielded as high as 47 bushels to the acre, but 20 bushels is the average proluet, and the farmer is | entitied to a profit of 810 an acre, with prices as they wero last year. Matured azine, — ——————— AR, Astonishing Transportation Rates. roni river in French Guiana, wore discovered jn 188%, Since then they have been getting rich in the trans. port service. They carry all freight around the rapids to the placer diggings at the enormous charge of $18 a barrel, Owing to their curious method of com. puting barrels they greatly increase their earnings. Each box is a barrel, Each man is a barrel. Demijohns and bandbags are barrels. Thus they get about $200 a ton for carrying [reight a distance of 181 miles, which is much higher than the rates on the Congo. The miners say that $60,000 has been dis. tributed in the past two years in the shape of §1 pieces, of native gold, among the Bounis.—{Picay une. ONCE WAS ExoUGn. Clara—Is this the first time you ever okt Miss Clara. In it to be NOTES AND COMMENTS, A sruvpy of the statistics and reports from the various parts of the world with respoot to the production of gold shows the Jewellers Circular, that “all fears of a falling off in the yield of the pre- concerned, are groundless. Instead of a diminishing yield, all indications point to no considerable increase at no distant date. Statistics for 1891 have not yet to warrant us in making the vxsertion that the aggregate will! he con- siderably greater than that of 1890.” Rats makers, of whom General Dyren. forth is the patron saint, seem to have California. The Inter-State Rain Making Company has established headquarters 70,000 acres in grain, and ix negoiiaiing with the farmers to supply rain enough to insure BiX 8 wks or Hore ul this season, the pay to be collected after the crop has been harvested, If the season be favorable, the rain makess OF able, they will lose nothing, ex ept the cost of the fireworks. Tien the remnark of Secretary Tracy that one of the pressing needs of the ! thi grain an will collect fifty cents an nere; imfa i= much food for thought in nited present time is sufficiency i our A modern navy is a d the impregnabiiity of #hips depends upon the In treaties of every co $ us for na promptiy er, CO. ir being conled, of war, h the pel it to renmin in the Chili, the event PW intry woud # i 1 i " sirictiy neutral, and, as trouble witn case of the recent i we should be forced to send with a fleet of cruisers unother fleet of conlers 3 ' ‘ i sorry #pectac © for t tion Ke the We nthe West Indies I nited States, anada it SARA IN y # guns 4 y e¢xfension mo ne pearly 40.000 st na Amer ©t is to pro i t for p with sexes enga pations of life uni Work on ersily i HRINess HO Are uanabhie Io arn thie b ' themselves « ely to study gher| In other vement er Chane. { devole the seats of hi arning ords, the m is a bron: the people's unis igh private study, lec It is " gow ¥ Tet ful signs of the times ersity, pondence one ol Reronts frym Nebraska, lown, Kaness, Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and Cali. fornia, are that all the indications point ton phenomenally early spring, apd it re narked that the farmers are makin great preparations on the strength o *he indications. In North Dakota they are sowing wheat and barley, and plough. is being done in many parts of Kan. If the ins gos, present weather continues ground usual, nearly a month earlier than In the Walla Walla Valley, Washington, and in western Oregon cro. cuses and hyacinths have been in bloom for a couple of weeks, lilacs were in bud a week ago, and cherry and peach trees full blossom soon. In central Cal'fornin almond trees are in full bloom, and the apricot and peach trees are full of blossoms. An incident in the village Prairie, Kan.. a few days ago, will be in of Pretty § men's The Pecos, a tributary range of the Raten of wa er. the early sottlers, It remained river. to HOO000 neres of land, where a few grow, The dam above Eddy, N. M., in which the spring freshets and the cloud. bursts of the heated term are collected, is 1,000 feet in length, 115 feet at its base, and, rising thirty feet above bed. rock, holds more than one thousand million cubie feet of water. From this reservoir canals are earried on each side of the river, abont fourteen miles apart, and are reinforced by five subsidiary ro. servoirs, All erops that are common to Southern California, except the citron fruits, can be raised on this land, and it has the advantage of being two days nearer the Eastern markets. The elim. ate is salubrious in the extreme, the thermometer rarely falling below 32 de. grees—although the valley is 3,200 feet above sea lovel-—or rising to 100. Col. onios of Swiss are establishing them. solves on the reclaimed lands, which they are g into vineyards Strange Birthmark, A short time ago a baby was burn fin Salt Lake City who had a birth. mark of 4 blood-red blotch immedi. ately over its heart. The mark was exactly like a bullet wound which killed a brother of the child's mother. Charles Wanless by name, over a year before the child was born, which the mother had seen. i tl cmt The Skill and Knowledge Essential to the production of the most pare fect and popular laxative rems iy known have Fig to achieve a grew success inthe reputation of enablel the California Syrup Co. its romedy, Byrup of Figs, as it is cone oded to be the universal laxative, druggists, For sale by all “Excuse the liberty I take,’ remarked when he escaped prison "ax the convies from the state —— Mr. 8 G. of Providence, iL 1 Widely known as proprietor of Derry s Wa. terrible sufferings from Fozema and his cure by HOOD’S Sarsaparilla tiemen: Fifteen yemnrs ago 1 y terproof Harness Ol, tells of hus an attack BLOTS a there I wed by rhea Salt Rh um breaking out on my bumor spread afl rigs ww Th ver my legs, ba sores, swollen pad if the si barging constant] } Ten peomenitsl i yours of agony and terture. Thousands of Dollars ful je efforts 1 and raged iw 850 Was I bad » have got we was disco 3 ready 10 die At this me | was unable Lo wi in bed had to sit had all the time unable to walk without crutches, my arms away from my body, and had & twice 8 Axy Hoods aspoonful ny arms, beck ax eg pet Finaily a frien raged take parila. | began by taking half a ww Stomach Was All Order oorrected this, and ares ny Out of Dut the madic in six condition of the It was Sarsapuriile, the sores soon healed, snd the scales fell off soon abie 10 give up bandages and oru'ches, and & happy man was 1d been taking Hood's Sarsapsriiia for sevens months: snd since that time, 2 years 1 have worn besdages whatever and my jogs and arrns dre pound and well The Delight £ myself and wife atl my recovery it Is Impossible otell. ¥ and vor the oon Hood's Sarsaparilla personel experience.” BG Denny, 45 Brad ford Strett, Provides Te WOT weeks | could see 5 change In the bumor which nearly covered my body drives 0 the surface by the i was sil my business frionds In Boston try, 1 recommend from Ri Hood's Fille. P Ifyou are Billous take DAKILMERS Rheumatism, Lumbago, pain in joints or back, brick dustin | urine, frequent calls, irritation, inflammation, / gravel, ulceration or catarrh of bisdder. Disordered Liver, Impaired ation: gout, billions headaches, SWAMP-ROOT cures kidney difficulties, La Grippe, urinary trouble, brights disoase, Impure Blood, Serofula, malaria, gen] weakness or debility, Gunrantes ee contenty of One Nottie, If not bene efited, Druggists will refund to you the price paid, At Druggists, 50, Size, $1.00 Sine, “Iovalide' Guide to Health free Consultation trem Dn Kiuvzs & Co, Brrenaxrox, N, Y. : Ely’s Cream Balm WILL CURE Apply Balm into each wostril, L1.Y BROS, 5% Warren SL. 8. ¥ P0000 OOOO OS TAKE * Tuli's Tiny Pills o “ The first dose often Astuninhos the ve Lh. fe dace hd eet @) wells aml we ceeeecseee a a ett ce MOTHERS®
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers