H r - SECOND PART. I s - r B GDP! 111JU A Tale of Author of "Under Drake's Flag," ALL SIGHTS CHAPTER L How the Curse Beg ax. There was nothing about Carrie's Hold that would have suggested to the mind of the passing stranger that a curse lay upon it. Houses to which an evil history is at tached lie almost uniformly in low and damp situations. They are embedded iu trees; their appearance is gloomy and mel ancholy. The vegetation grows ranK around them. The drive is overgrown with weeds and mosses, and lichens cling to the walls. Carne's Hold possessed none of these fea tures. It stood high up on the slope of a hill, looking down into the valleyof the Dare, with the pretty village of Carnesford nestling among its orchards, and the bright stream sparkling in the snnshine. There was nothing either gloomy or for bidding about its architecture, for the term "Hold" that the country people applied to it was now a misnomer, for the bombarders of Essex had battered the walls of the old fortified house, and had called in the aid of fire to finish the work of destruction. The whole of the present house was therefore subsequent to that date; it had been added to and enlarged many times, and each of its owners had followed out his own fancies iu utter disregard of those of his predecessors; consequently the house represented a med ley of diverse styles, and, although doubt less an architectural monstrosity, was pictur esque and pleasing to the eye of men igno rant of the canons of art. There were no large trees near it, though a clump rose a few hundred yards behind it, and took away the effect of bareness it it would otherwise have had. The garden was well kept, and bright with flowers, and it was clear that no blighting influence hung over them, nor, it would be thought, upon the girl, who, with a straw hat swinging in one hand, and a basket, moved among them. But the country peo ple for six miles round firmlv believed that a curse lay on Carne s Hold, and even among the county families no one would have been willing to give a daughter iu marriage to an owner of the place. The family now simply called their abode The Carries. Carnesford, now a good-sized village, had once been a tiny hamlet, an appanage of Carne's Hold, but it had long since grown out of leadiug strings, and though it still regarded The Carries with something of its old feudal feeling, it now furnished no suit or service unless paid for so doing. Carnes ford had grown but little ot late years, and had no tendency to increase. There was work enough in the neighborhood for such of its inhabitants as wanted to work, and in summer a cart went daily with fruit and garden produce to Plymouth, which lay about 20 miles away, the coast road dipping down into the valley, and crossing the bridge over the Dare at Carnesford, and then climbing the hill again to the right of the Hold. Artists sometimes stopped for a week or two to sketch the quaint old-fashioned houses in the main street, and especially the mill of Hiram Powlett, which seemed to have changed in no way since the days when its owner held it on the tenure of grinding such corn as the owners of the Hold required for the use of themselves and their retainers. Often, too, in the season, a fisherman would descend from the coach as it stopped to change horses at the Carne's Arms, and take up his quarters there, for there was rare fishing in the Dare, both in the deep still pool above the mill and for three or four miles further up, while sea trout were nowhere to be found plumper and stronger than in the stretch ot .water between Carnesford and Dareport, two miles away. Here, where the Dare ran into the sea, was a fishing village as yet untouched, and almost unknown even by wandering tour ists, and offering indeed no accommodation whatever to the stranger beyond what he might, perchance, obtain in the fishermen's cottages. The one drawback to Carnesford, as its visitors declared, was the rain. It certainly rained often there, bnt the villagers scarcely noticed it. It was to the raiu, they knew, that they owed the bright green of the valley and the luxuriousness of their garden crops, which always fetched the top price in Plymouth market; and they were so accustomed to the soft mist brought up by the southwest wind from over the sea that they never noticed whether it was raining or not. Strangers, however, were less patient, and a young man who was'standing at the door of the Carries Arms just as the evening was closing in at the end of a day in the begin ning of October, 1850, looked gloomily out at the weather. "One does not mind when one is fishing," he muttered to himself, "but when one has once changed into dry clothes one does not want to be a prisoner here every evening. Another.day like this, and I shall pack up my traps and get back again on board." He turned and went back into the house, and entering the bar, took his seat in the little sanctum behind it, for he had been staying in the house for a week, and was now a privileged personage, xt was a snug little room; some logs were blazing on the hearth, for although the weather was not cold, it was damp enough to make a fire pleasant Three of the landlord's particu lar cronies were seated there: Hiram Pow lett, the miller, and Jacob Carey, the black smith, and old Reuben Claphurst, who had been the village clerk until his voice became so thin and uncertain a treble that the vicar was obliged to find a successor for him. "Sit down, Mr. Gulslon," the landlord said, as his guest entered. "Fine day it has been for fishing, and a nice basket you have brought in." "It's been well enough for fishing, land lord, but I would rather put up with a lighter basket, and have a little pleasanter weather." The sentiment evidently caused surprise, which Jacob Carey was the first to give ex pression to. "You don't say, now, that you call this unpleasant weather, sir? Now I call this about as good weather as we could expect in the first week ot October; warm and soft, and in every way seasonable." "It may be all that," the guest said, as he lit his pipe, "but X own I don't care about having the rain trickling down my neck from breakfast time to dark." "Our fishermen about here look on a lit tle rain as good for sport," Hiram Powlett remarked. ".No doubt it is; but I am afraid I am not much of a sportsman. I used to be fond of fisting when I was a lad, and thought I should like to try my hand at it again, but I am afraid I am not as patient as I was. I don't think sea life is a good echo! for that sort of thing." "I fancied now that you might beasailor, Mr. Gulston, though I didn't make so bold as to ask. Somehow or other there was something about your way that made me think you was bred up to the sea. I didn't know, for I can't recollect as ever we have had a sailor gentlemen staying here for the fishing before." "No," Mr. Gulston laughed, "I don't , think we often take to the rod. Baiting a six-inch hook at the end of a sea line for a PP HOLD. Adventure. "With Clive in India," etc, etc. RESERVED. shark is about the extent to which we usually indulge, though sometimes when we are at anchor the youngsters get the lines overboard and catch a few fish. Yes, I am a sailor, and belong, worse luck, to the flag ship at Plymouth. By the way," he went on, turning to Jacob Careys "you said last night, just as you were going out, some thing about the curse of Carne's Hold. That's the house up on the hill, isn't it? "What is the curse, and who said it?" "It is nothing, sir, it's only foolishness," the landlord said hastily. "Jacob meant nothing by it." "It ain't foolishness, John Beaumont, and you know it and for that everyone knows It Foolishness indeed; here's Beuben Claphurst can tell you if it's nonsense; he knows all about it if anyone does." "I don't think it ought to be spoken of before strangprs," Hiram Powlett put in. "Why not?" the smith asked sturdily. "There isn't a man on the countryside but knows all about it. There can be no harm in telling irhat everyone knows. Though the Carnes be your landlords, John Beau mont, as long as you pay your rent you ain't beholden to them; and 'as for you, Hiram, why everyone knows -as your great-grandfather bought the rights oi the mill from them, and your folk have had it ever since. Besides, there ain't nothing but what is true in it, and if th 'Squire were here him self he couldn't say no to" that" "Well, well. Jacob, there's something in what you say, the landlord said, in the tone of a man convinced against his will; but, indeed, now that he had done what he considered his duty by making a protest, he had no objection to the story being told. "Maybe you are right; and, though I should not like" it said as the affairs of the Carnes were gossiped about here, still, as Mr. Guls ton might, now that he had heard about the curse on the family, ask questions and hear all sorts of lies from those as don't know as much about it as we do, and especially as lieuben Claphurst here does, maybe it Were better he should get the rights of the story from him." "That being so," the sailor said, "perhaps. you win give us me yarn, jur. uiapnnrst, lor I own that you Have quite excited my curiosity as to this mysterious curse." The old clerk, who had told the story scores of times, and rather prided himself on his telling, was nothing loth to begin. "There is nothing mysterious about it, nothing at all; so I have always maintained, and so I shall maintain. There be some as will have it as it's a curse on the family for the wickedness of old Sir Edgar. So it be, surelie, but not in the way they mean. Having been one of the officers of the church here for over 40 years, and knowing the mind of the old parson, ay, and of him who was before him, I always take my stand on this. It was a curse, sure enough, but not in the way as they Wants to make out It wouldn't do to say as the curse of that Spanish woman had nowt to do with it, seeing as we has authority that curses does sometimes work themselves out; but there ain't no proof to my mind, and to the mind of the parsons as I served under, that what they call the cursa of Carne's Hold' ain't a matter of misfortune, and not, as folks about here mostly think, a kind of judgment brought on them by that foreign, heathen woman. Of course, I don't expect other people.to see it in that light" This was in'answer to a grunt of dissent on the part of the blacksmith. "They ain't all had my advantages, and looks at it as their lathers and grandfathers did before them. Anyhow, there is the curse, and i. bitter curse it has been for the Carnes, as you will say, sir, when you have heard my storv. "You must know that in the old times the Carnes owned all the land for miles and miles round, and Sir Marmaduke fitted out three ships at his own expense to fight un der Howard and Blake against the Span iards. "It was in his time the first slice was cut off the property, for he went up to court and held his own among the best of them, and made as brave a show, they say, as any of the nobles there. His .son took after him, and another slice, though not a big one went; but it was under Sir Edgar, who came next, that bad times fell upon Carne's Hold. When the trouble began he went out for the .King with every man he could raise in the country round, and they say as there was no man struck harder or heavier for King Charles man ne aia. xte might have cot off, as many another one did, if he would have given it up when it was clear the cause was Tost; but whenever there was a rising any where he was off to join it, till at last house and land and all were confiscated, and he had to fly abroad. "How he lived there no one exactly knows. Some said as he fought with the Spaniards against the Moors; others, and I think they were not far from the mark, that he went out to the Spanish Main and joined a band of lawless men and lived a pirate's life there. No one knows about that I don't think anyone, even in those days, did know anything, except that when he came back with King Charles he brought with him a Spanish wife. There were many tales about her. .Some said that she had'been a nun, and that he had carried her off from a convent in Spain, but the general hci; was and as there were a good many Devon shire lads who fought with the rovers on the Spanish Main, it's likely that the report was true that she had been the wife of some Spanish Don, whose ship had been captured by the pirates. "She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that. Such a beauty, they say, as was never seen before or since in this part But they say that from the first she had a wild, hunted look abdut her, as ii she had either something on her conscience or had cone through some terrible time that had well-nigh shaken her reason. She had a baby scfte months old with her when she arrived, and a nurse was engaged from the village, for, strangely enough, as everyone thought at the time, Sir Edgar had brought. uact no aiienuaub eimer lor uimseil or his. lady. 'VNo sooner was he hack, and had got pos session of his estates, being in that more lucky than many another who fought for the Crown, than he sat to work to rebuild the Hold; living for the time in a few rooms that were patched up and made habitable in the old building. Whatever he had been doing while he was abroad, there was no doubt whatever that he had broug"ht back with him plenty of money,, for he had a host of masons and carpenters over from Plymouth, and spared no expense in having things according to his fancy. All this time he had not introduced his wife to the county. Of course, his old neighbors had called and had seen her'as well as him, but he had said at once that until the new house was fit to receive Visitors he did not wish to enter society, especially as his wife was en tirely ignorant of the.E'nglish tongue. "Even in those days there were tales brought down in the village by the servants who had been hired from here, that Sir Edgar and his wife did not get on well to gether. They all agreed that she seemed unhappy, and would sit for boors brooding, seeming to have no care or love for her lit tle boy, which set folks more- against her, since iwseemed natural that even a heathen wotuau should care tor ber child. "Theysaid.too.there were often fierce quar THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH. rels between Sir Edgar and her, but as they always talked in her tongue nobody knew what they were about "When the new house was finished they moved into it, and the ruins of the old Hold were leveled with the ground. People thought then that Sir Edgar would naturally open the house to the county, and, Indeed, some entertain ments were given, but whether it was that they believed the stories to his disadvantage, or that they shrank from the strange hostess, who, they say, always looked on these occasions stately and cold, and who spoke no word of their language, the coun ty gentry gradually fell aways and Carne's Hold was left pretty much to its owners. "Soon afterward another child was born. There were, of course, more servants now, and more state, but Lady Came was as much alone as ever. Whether she was de termined to learn no word of English, or whether he was determined that she should not, she at any rate made no attempt to ac quire her husband's language, and many said that it was a shame that he did not get her a nurse and a maid who could speak her tongue; for in the days ot Charles there were foreigners enough in England, and there could have been no difficulty in pro curing her an attendant of her own religion and race. ''They quarreled more than ever; but the servants were all of opinion that whatever it was about it was her doing more than his. It was her voice to be heard rising in passionate tones, while he said but little? and they all agreed he was polite and cour teous in his manner to her. As for her, she would walk for hours by herself up and down the terrace, talking aloud to herself, sometimes wringing her hands and throw ing her arms wildly about At this time there began to be a report among the coun try round that Lady Carne was out of her mind. I "She was more alone than ever now, for Sir Edgar had taken to making journeys up A.t, ntif i.mnininf fnr nroolra of o !r and there was a whisper that he played J heavilv and unluckily. So things went on until the third child was born, and a fort night afterward a servant from the Hold rode through the village late at night on his wav for the doctor, and stopped a moment to tell the news that there was a terrible scene up at the Hold, for that during a mo mentary absence ot the nurse, Lady Carne had stabbed her child to death, and when he came away she was raving wildly, the efforts of Sir Edgar and two of the servants hardly sufficing to hold her. "After that no one except the inmates of the Hold ever saw its mistress again; the windows in one of the wings were barred, and two strange women were brought down from London and waited and attended on Itre-poor lady. There were but Tew other- servants there, lor most oi tne gins irom about here soon left, saying that the screams and cries that rang at times through the house were so terrible that they could not bear them; but indeed there was but small occasion for servants, for Sir Edgar was almost always away. One night one of the girls who had stayed on and had been spending the evening with her friends, went home late, and just as she reached the house she saw a white figure appear at one of the barred windows. "In a moment the figure began crying, and screaming, and to the girl's surprise many of her words were English, which she must have picked 'up without anyone know ing it The girl always declared that her language made her blood run cold, and was full of oaths such as rough" sailor men use, and which, no doubt, she had picked up on shipboard; and then she poured curses upon the Carnes, her husband, the house and her descendants. The girl was so panic-stricken that she remained silent till iu a minute two other women appeared at the window, and by main force tore LadyCarne from her hold upon the bars. "A few days afterward she died, and it is mostly believed by her own hand, though this was never known. None of the serv ants, except her own attendants, ever en tered the room, and the doctor never opened his lips on the subject. Doubtless he was well paid to keep silence. Anyhow her death was not Sir Edgar's work, for he was awav at the time, and xnlv returned unon the day after her death. So, sir, tht is bow the curse came to be laid on Carne's Hold." "It is a terrible story," Mr. Gulston said, when the old clerk ceased; "a terrible story. It is likely enough that the rumor was true, and that he carried her off after capturing the vessel and killing her husband, and per haps all the rest of them, and that she had never recovered from the shock. Was there ever any question as to whether they had been married?" "There was a questionabout it a good deal of question; and at Sir Edgar's death the next heir, who was a distant cousin, set up a claim, but the lawyer produced two documents Sir Edgar had given him. One was signed by a Jack priest; who had, it was said,.been one of the crew on board Sir Edgar's ship, certifying that he had duly and lawfully married Sir Edgar Carne and Donna Inez Martos; and thcra was another from a Spanish priest, belonging to a church at Porto Rico, certifying that he had mar ried the same pair according to Catholic rites, appending a note saying that he did so although the husband was a heretic, be ing compelled and enforced by armed men, the town being in the possession of a force from two ships that had entered the harbor the night before. As therefore the pair had been married according to the rites of both Churches, and the Carnes had pow erful friends at court, the matter dropped, and the title has never since been disputed. As' to Sir Edgar himself, he fortunately only lived four years after his wife's death. Had he lived much longer there would have been no estate left to dispute. As it was, he gambled away half its wide acres." "And how has the curse worked?" Mr. Gulston asked. "In the natural way, sir. As I was say ing before, it has just been in the natural way, and whatever people may say, there is nothing, as I have heard the old "parson lay down many a time, to show that the poor creature's wild -ravings had aught to do with what followed. The taint in the blood of Sir Edgar's Spanish wife was naturally inherited by her descendants. Her son showed no signs of it, at least as far as I have heard, until he was married and his wife had borne him three sons. Then it burst out , He drew bis sword and killed a ser vant who had given him some imaginary offense, and then, springing at his wife, whov had thrown herself upon him, he would have strangled her had not the ser vants run- in and torn him off her. He, too, ended bis days in confinement His sons showed no signs of the fatal taint ''The eldest married in London, for none of the gentry of, Devonshire would have given their daughter in marriage to nCarne. The others entered the army, and one was killed in the Low Countries. The other ob tained the rank of general, and married and TfflOPv - ' EH ill I sHmMS PITTSBURG, SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1889. settled in London. The son of the eldest boy succeeded his father, but died a bache lor. He was a man of strange, moody habits, and many did not hesitate to say that he was as mad as his grandfather had been. He was found dead in his library, with a gun just discharged lying oeside him. Whether it had exploded accidently, or whether hp had taken his life, none conld say. "His uncle, 4he General, came down and took possession, ahd for a time it seemed as if the curse of the Carnes had died one, and indeed no further tragedies have taken place in the family, but several of its mem bers have been unlike other men, suffering from fits or morose gloom or violent pas sion. The father of Reginald, the present squire, was of a bright and jovial charac ter, and during the thirty years that he was possessor of the Hold had been so popular in this part of the country that the. old stories had been almost "forgotten, and it is generally believed that the curse of the Carnes has died out "And the present owner," Mr. Gulston asked; "what sort ofa man is he?" "I don't know nothing about him, he old man replied; "he is since my time." "He is about eight and twenty," the land lord said. "Some folks say one thing about him. some another; I say nothing. He cer tainly ain't like his father, who, as he rode through the village, had a word for every one; while the young Squire looks as it he was thinking so much that he didn't even know that the village stood here. The ser vants of the Hold speak well of him he seems kind and thoughtful when he is in the humor, but he is often silent and dull, and it is not many men who would be dull with Miss Margaret She is one of the brightest and highest spirited young ladies in the county. There's no one but has a good word for her. I think the Squire stud ies harder than is "good lor him. They say he is always re. ding, and he doesn't hunt or shoot: and natural enough when a man shuts himself up and -takes no exercise to speak ot, he gets out of sorts and dull like; anyhow there's nothing wrong about him. He's just as sane and sensibleas you and I." After waiting for two days longer and finding the wet weather continueMr. Guls ton packed up his rods and fishing tackle and returned to Plymouth. He had learned little more' about the family at The Hold beyond the fact that the Hon. Mrs. Mervyn, who inhabited a house standing half a mile further up the valley, was the aunt of Reg inald and Margaret Carne, she having been a sister of the late possessor of The Hold. In her youth she had been, people said, the counterpart of her niece, and it was not, therefore, wonderful that Clithero Mervyn had, in spite of the advice of his friends nnrthe "reputation of the Carnes, taken what was considered the hazardous step of making her his wife. This step he had never repented, for she had, like her brother, been one of the most popular persons in that part of the county, and a universal favorite. The Mervyn es tate had years before formed part of that of the Carnes, but bad been separated from it in the time of Sir Edgar's grandson, who had been as fond ot London life and as keen a gambler as his ancestor. The day before he started, as he was standing at the door of the hotel, Reginald Carne and his sister had ridden past; they seemed to care no more for the weather than did the people of the village, and were laughing and talking gaily as they passed, and Charles Gulston thought to himself that he had never seen a brighter and pret tier face than that of the girl in all his travels. He thought often of the face that day, but he was not given to romance, and When he had once Returned to his active duties as First Lieufenant of H. M. S. Tenebreuse, he thought no more ou the subject until three weeks later his captain handed him a note, saying: "Here, Gulston, this is more in your line than mine. It's an invitation to a ball for. myself and some of my officers from Mrs. Mervyn. I have, met her twice at the Ad miral's, and she is a very charming woman, bnt as her place is more than 20 miles away and a long distance from a railway stati6n, I certainly do not feel disposed to make the journey. "They are, I believe, a good coun ty family. She has two pretty daughters and a son a captain in the Borderers, who' came into garrison about a month ago; so I have no doubt the soldiers will put in a strong appearance." "I know the place, sir," Gulston said; "it's not far lrom Carnesford, the village where I was away fishing the other day, and as I heard a good deal about them I think I will put In an appearance. I dare say Mr. Lucas will be glad to go, too, if you can can spare him." "Certainly, any of them you like, Gul ston, but don't take any of the midshipmen; you see Mrs. Mervyn has invited my offi cers, but as the soldiers are likely to show up in strength, I don't suppose she wants too many of us." "We have an invitation to a ball. Doc tor," Lieutenant Gulson said after leaving the Captain, to their ship's doctor, "lor the 20th., at a Mrs. Meryinvs. The captain says we had better not go more than three. Personally I rather want to go. So Hilton of course must remain on board, and Lucas can go. I know you like these things, al though you are not a dancing man. As a rule it goes sorely against my conscience taking such a useless person as one of our representatives; but upon the present .occa sion it does not matter, as there is a .son of the house in the Borderers; and, of course, they will put in an appearance in strength. "A man can make himself very useful at a ball, even if he doesn't dance, Gulston," the doctor said: "Young fellows always think chits ot girls are the only section of the female sex who should be thought of. Who are going, to look after their mothers, if there are only boys present? The con versation of a sensible man like myself is quite as great a treat to the chaperons as is the pleasure of hopping about the room with you to the feirls. The conceit and sel fishness of you lads surprise me more and more, there are literally no bounds to them. How far'is this place off?" "It's about 20 miles by road, or about 15. by train, and eight or nine to drive after-"' ward. I happen to knowabout the place as" it's close to'the village where 1 was fishing a fortnight ago." "Then I think the chaperons wifl have to do without me, Gulston. I am fond of studying human nature,but if that involves staying up all night and coming back in the morning, the special seotion of human nature there presented must go unstud ied." "I have been thinking that one can man age without that, Doctor. There is a very aw,nrm 1(1a I win .!.... T ... !. 2 .1 PHUg 1UUK IUII ITI1CIC .L.WJUI ObUppiUfriU iUO village, icujuan a mue irom menouse. j. propose that we go over in the afternoon, dine at the Inn, and- dress there. Then we can get a trap to take us-uptotheMcrvyn's, and can either walk or drive down again after it is over, and come back after breakfast." "Well, that alters the case, lad, and un der those conditions I will be one of, the party." (To be continued next Saturday.) FUMI FOODS. Some of tbe Queer Tains That Are Eaten in Different Countries. Who would ever think of eating butter fliesof making a meal from the pretty in sects that flit about 'the garden on a sum mer's day? But; the blackmen who live in Australia would laugh, says a writer in Little Folks Magazine, at the idea of taking pleasure in a butterfly's beauty, or of cart fully preserving it in a glass case. To .them the butterfly calls up thoughts of a time of great feasting and laziness, when there is plenty to eat and little to do, for this is the black Australian's idea of happiness. There are some mountains in Australia that are called the Bugong Mountains, and on them, at certain times, great quantities of "butterflies collect. The natives flock from all the country round and light great fires, the smoke of which suffocates the little in sects. Then they are gathered and baked upon the hot ground on which the fires were; they are sifted to get rid of the down and wings, and the plump little bodies are made into cakes which are said to have a sweet, nutty taste. A certain African king who came to this country was one day, soon after his arrival, invited to a grand party. His host thought he would give him something to eat unlike anything that he had ever tasted before, so brought him a strawberry ice. "Isn't that good?" he asked the black man. "Yes, it am berry nice," was the reply, "but did white man ever eat ants?" The favorite food in his country consisted of white ants pounded up into a jelly and baked; and the straw berry ice was so very good that it reminded him of this delicacy. While ants are eaten in some parts of Africa, a curry made of their eggs is a favorite dish in an Asiatic country called Siam, and in Mexico a kind of bread is made of ants' eggs. The ugly little busbmen of South Africa are very fond of roasted spiders,and a Japa nese tribe called tbe Airos live chiefly 'on a stew made of seaweed, slugs, fish, roots, berries,! and mushrooms, with a soup in whichiS kind of clay, which is very much like pltty, is mixed. They were horrified at seeing an English lady who visited them put milk in her tea, and thought it very strange'that anyone should like to spoil tea with a liquid that tasted so strong as milk. The Chinese are funny people in many ways, but in none more so than in their fondness for soups made of sharks' fins and birds' nests; The nests that are used for soups are not at all like those that we know; they are no thicker than a spoon, are about as big as a turkey egg, and do not weigh more than half an ounce. Thousands of Chinamen make their living by gathering and selling these queer little nests, and the finest sort are very valuable, sometimes fetching two or three times their weight in silver. These same people are very fond of puppy-dogs fattened and roasted. A leg of a dog is as common in their butchers' shop as a leg of mutton is in ours. A STJKPfiiSED BDEGLAR. How n Woman's Strnngo Behavior Scared the Thief Away. Chicago Inter-Ocean.J "You can't tell what a woman will do in the case of a burglar." The speaker was an ex-police captain, and his eyes twinkled as he thought of the many .stories told him by the victims of burglars and by the burg lars themselves. "A burglar," he con tinued, "is lost when he gets rattled, and a woman in the case of a burglar raid is apt to do the unexpected thing, and in this way disconcert even the coolest professional. To the unprofessional who desires above all things to conceal his identity the impulsive woman is a holy terror. "Not long ago it happened that the wife of one of our prominent physicians was alone on the parlor floor of ber residence. The house had never been burglarized, and no one thought that it would be or could be. On the night in question the lady was awakened by sounds in the parlot, and call ing out to ask who was there she heard re treating footsteps. Half awake and wholly under the influence of the thought that one of her servants or some member of the fam ily was in the parlor, she jumped out of bed, and without a moment's hesitation, started in pursuit, intent only in learning what was the matter. In the hall she came face to face with a strange man, and even then she was not wide awake enough to be afraid. The thought that the stranger was a burglar did not come to her until she had asked, in an anxious way, what was the matter. "The .burglar, who it was afterward dis covered, had made preparations to carry off the silver and certain other articles which he had collected, was so confused that he made a single exclamation, stepped to the front door, opened it, and walked quickly away. He said afterward that the idea of a small, delicate-faced woman following him up closely, made him shiver, and when she spoke to him with the commonplace man ner of one asking his welfare, his senses deserted him, and there was nothing for him to do but to get out." GERMAN SCHOOLS. A Writer Gives tin Account of How the Youth li Trained. Atlantic Magazine. At the age ot 13 a German boy has been carried so far as to write and speak his language correctly; and as to reading, a boy is not admitted to the third form -unless he can read firmly,dist!nctly and intelligently. The greatest exactness is required in this respect. The laws of punctuation are close ly watched; the slightest transposition of words, be it ever so insignificant, is never allowed to pass, and here, too, at an early dge. the boy becomes deeply impressed with that leading principle which runs through the whole system of education, that there are no two ways about truth. Parsing is never practiced in connection with reading in the student's vernacular, and exactness in distinguishing the parts of speech is obtained through the medium of other languages by comparison. Such a thing, for ihstaqce, as parsing a classical poem like Goethe's "Hermann and Doro thea," analogous to the practice of parsing Milton's "Paradise Lost," until it really becomes a lost paradise, was unheard of in those schools. As the instruction in Ger man advances, the "gynosiast" reads in the classroom the leading works bf prose and poetry. Special stress is laid upon develop ing the faculty of expounding thoughts in all their bearings and upon developing the faculty of individual thinking. Free com position exercises are required every month, the sphere of subjects widening with the general course of the class, be it in Latin, Greek, history, French or German, all teachers keeping in touch with each depart ment, which they can do tbe more easily as the whole course' runs in fixed channels. A Generous Physician. -New York "Weekly .1 Mrs. Blinkers jWell, did you go' to the doctor to see about that bee-sting on little Johnny? Mr. Blinkers Yes.he said we should pnt mud on it. He charged me $2 for the pre scription, but he gave me tbe mud for nothing. A CHARMING STQ1Y, entitled "My Hearts Delight?' will be pub lished complete in t&morrou's Dispatch. SIGNS AND PORTENTS. Ancient Omens Which Still Retain Their Force in Sections. . A BIG VARIETY OP DEATH SIGHS. The Materialism of the Times: Holds Fast to the Supernatural. THE "THIRTEEN" AND 0THEE FOLLIES 1. While the corpse is in the house, the looking-glass must be turned toward the wall; otherwise, whoever looks into the mirror will die within a year. This custom is said to be most common among Irish Catholics, but Is not confined to these. (Baldwinsville, N. Y.) 2. The clock should be stopped at the time of death, as its running will bring ill luck. (Baldwinsville, N. Y.) Stop the clock at the time of death. (New Hampshire.) The same custom is noted in GreatBritain and Germany. The object, no doubt, is toot merely symbolic, as might at first appear, but to limit the power of death by introduc-i ing a new period of time. 3. To keep the corpse in the house over Sunday will bring death in the family be fore the year is out. (South Framingham, Mass.) 4. If the grave is left open over Sunday another death will occur before the Sunday following. (Boxford, Mass.) In Switzerland, if a gravels left open over Sunday, it is said that within four weeks one of the village will die. 5. If rain falls into an open grave, another burial in the same cemetery will occur with in three days. (West New York.) . 6. If rain falls on a new made grave, there will be another death in the family 'within the year. (Baldwinsville, N. Y.; "Poland, Me.) , A common saying in England is "Happy the corpse that the rain falls on.'.' Thus, it is said that if rain falls at the time of the funeral it is a sign that the dead -man has gone to heaven. (Boston, Mass.) The method of conception is the same as that ap parent, in tbe two. superstitions above enumerated, but the 'sign is interpreted in a different manner. WHITE HOUSES. 7. If a hearse is drawn by two white horses, death in the neighborhood will oc cur within a month. (Central Maine). If a white horse draws the hearse, another death will soon follow. (Poland, Me. In Bohemia, also, white horses are re garded as warnings of death, though to have a white horse in the stable is also said to bring good luck. To dream of a white horse is a sign ot death, both in the latter country and in England. In Sussex white animals mysteriously appearing at night, are said to be death warnings. In the lore of the English peasantry, white horses play an important part, and are variously con sidered as of good and evil portent, a fact which is plausibly accounted for on the ground that these beliefs are inherited from a time when pagan deities were considered to ride on white horses. Thus in Shropshire St. Milburga so rides, as St Walburga does in the Tyrol. Tacitus mentions the spotless white horses reared in sacred groves by the Germans of his own day, from whose neigh ing auguries were taken. . In Bohemia death is considered as a white woman (survival of the death goddess Morana), whose apparition i is a sign of death to the Seer. This explains why, in England .aad Germany, ceinjr a -white woman is of fatal augury. The original idea doubtless is that the goddess appears to and selects those whose society she desires. That she should be clad in white indicates her deity; for white, as the color of light,. is emblematic of heaven, according to the considerations. It would seem that the pres age of a white horse may rest upon the character of such animal as emblematic ot the divine being who summons a mortal to the otherworld. Should this be really the case, much philosophy and much history would be embodied in a superstition appa rently frivolous. OTHER INTERPRETATIONS. It may, however, be thought that there is a simpler interpretation of these omens, namely their connection with the custom of robing the dead in white. Thus Ariemi dorus, in a work on the interpretation of dreams, written in Borne In the second cen tury, considers that to a sick man a dream ot white garments is ominous of death, "be cause the dead are buried in white raiment; but black clothes signify recovery, because not the dead, but mourners use such apparel. This comes very near the notion of the Sussex peasant above related. In tbe opinion of the writer, it would be a mistake to exclude the higher conceptions already referred to from the associations suggested by white. But the symbolism of color is too extensive a theme to be now considered. It maybe remarked that it is not only in the North f Europe that the messenger of death is represented as riding. Headers will remember that the horse of death is men tioned in Bevelation. In Greek symbol ism the deceased person is often represented as riding forth on his journey, conducted by a geuius. A modern Greek ballot changes Charon, the ferryman, to Charos, the horse man; tbe young walk before him, the old behind, young, babes are carried on his sad dle. 8. It is unlucky to passthrough a funeral, either between the carriages or the files of mourners on foot (Boston, Mass.) - This is a general superstition. The cus tom, which ias become instinctive with many persons, is.usnajly set down to the score of decency and propriety. 9. It anyone comes to a funeral after the procession starts, another death will occur in tbe same house. (Ohio.) 10. Whoever counts the carriages at a passing funeral will die within' the year. (Peabody, Mass.) 11. Tbe corpse must not ' pass twice over any part of the same road. (Baldwins ville, N. X.) BtTERS RULED OUT. 12. The funeral procession must not cross a river. (Baldwinsville. N. Y.) "I was first led to notice the superstition about crossing a river from haying to at tend funerals on the south side, when they would otherwise have been held on the north side.' This is losing ground owing to the frequency of crossing to reach the ceme tery, but I had an instance only last spring. "W. M. B." 13. It is unlucky, jn a funeral, for those present to repass tbe house where death has occurred. (Baldwinsville, N. Y.) 14. At a funeral, entering a church be fore the mourners means death to some of the entering party. (Boston, Mas) 15. If one dies, ana no' rigor mortis 'en sues, it indicates a speedy second death in the family. The superstition prevails in Great Britain and on the continent of Europe. 16. The person on whom the eyes of a dying person last rest will be the first to die. (Boston, Mass.) This seems to be a form of a widely prev alent superstition that if the eyes of the dying person open of their own accord one of his relatives will soon follow.. It is prob able, that the importance, from time imme morial, attached, to the ceremony of closing tbe eyes of tbe dead has for its foundation not merely tbe natural propriety of a de cent usage, but also a belief kindred to the above. . i 17. Tbe last name a dying person calU is the next to follow. (New Hampshire.) , 18. If three "persons look at the same time. into a mirror one will die ymmn a year, (D.lhn.. &r . .r..a U j. ... H.lt.B. 10, Tobreakalooking glass isa death iign,; or of bad luck for seren years. This is quite' a general belief. Domestio servants, and particularly superstitious persons, are often thrown into a. panic by accidents of this sort (Niagara Falls, Ont) A DEATH TOKZN". In Clan Forest (asin Scotland) such a breakage is said to be a death token. In North Shropshire it means seven years trouble, to which, in Cornwall, is added, but no want. It adds to the ill luck to preserve the broken piece. At Wellington anyone who breaks a looking glass will never' have any luck till he has broken two more a rule, however, which seems to apply to all breakages. "When I have broken three I shall have finished." The folk say. "The third time pays for all." In Switzerland, when a mirror breaks, he is said to die who looked in last In Bohemiit means seven years' distress. 20. If, during sickness, a pair of shears be dropped in such a manner that the point sticks into the floor, it indicates the- death of the sick person. (Central New York.) In Greece, if a pair of scissors is left gaping on a table, it is said that the Arch angel Michael's mouth is open, ready to take the soul of some member of the family. 21. To dance on the ground indicates dis aster or death .within a year. (Boxford, Mass.) As such dancing has been a universal custom it seems fair to conclude that this su perstition is local and modern; the inform ant, however, an elderly person, avers that she has always heard it so said. 22. If 13 sit at "table the one who rises first will not live through the year. (Som-erville,-Mass.) If 13 sit at table, the last one who sits down will not die that year. (Brookline, Mass.) This superstition is universal in Europe. In Germany the victim is variously said to be tbe youngest, tbe last who sits down, (he one who sits under the mirror, the first to eat or arise, the one who seems sad and downcast In Tyrol, by way ot exception, the augury extends only to ill luck. In one Bohemian town it is held to be true only for a Christmas festivity, and the fate is ex tended to all over the number of 12. In a recent newspaper an account was given ofa dinner in the interior of the State of New York, where the umen was supposed to be averted by dividing the guests among two tables. In the Netherlands it is said that the one who sits under the beam is a traitor: a statement which points to the Paschal Supper as the origin of the belief; and this is certainly probable while other explana tions are not worth citing. EVEN THE DISHCLOTH. 23. A dishcloth hung on a doorknob is a sign of death in a family. (Deerfield, Mass.) 'It is a common practice to indicate dearth by tying a piece of crape to the doorknob of the house, whence probably the omen. 24. If a hoe be carried through a house, someone will die before the year is out (Mansfield, O.) The same, superstition is found in En gland. "It is most unlucky to carry an ax, or any sharp tool, on your shoulder through the house, as it is a sign of death of one or more of the inmates. Some extend this omen to any tool carried on the shoulder through a honse. At Pulverbatch and Wenlocka spade is the fatal implement; it is a certain sign that a grave will shortly be dug for-some member of the household." The editor observes that coffins were former ly carried shoulder high. 25. Whoever works on a sick person's dress, "he or she will die within a year. fMasflfihnsfltt-S. 26. To put on the bonnet or hat of one in mourning is the sign that you.will wear one before the year is out (PeaboJy, Mass.) To tie on a crape hat or bonnet is a sign oi mourning before the year is out (Niagara Falls, Ont) Don't try on a black bonnet, it meant death. -27-WJin a-woman who haaJieen sewing puts her thimble ou the table as she sits down to eat, it is a sign that she will be left a widow, if she marries. (Central Maine.) Journal of American Folk Lore. CHISESE NOTIONS. Zo olofflcnl Superstitions WhlchTronble tbe Celestial Mind. Chicago News.; . ' A Chinese native paper published re cently a collection of some zpological myths of that country, a few of which are worth noting. In Shan-si there is a bird which can divest itself of its feathers and become a woman. At Twah-sin-chpw dwells the Wan-mu Niao (mother of mosquitoes), a fish-eating bird, from whose mouth issue swarms of mosquitoes when it cries. Yung chow has iu stone-swallow, who flies during the wind and rain, and in fine weather turns to stone again. Another bird when killed gives much oil to the hunter, and when the "kin is thrown into the water it becomes a living bird again. With regard to animals, few are -so useful as the "Jin kih" ox, found in Kansnh, from which large pieces of flesh are cut for meat and grown again in a single day. The merman of the southern seas can weave a kind of silky fabric which keeps a house cool in summer if hung up fn one of the rooms. The tears ot the merman are pearls. A laree hermit crab is attended by a little shrimp which lives in the stomach of its master. If the shrimp is successful in its depredations the crab flourishes, but the latter dies if the shrimp does not return from his daily excursions. The "Ho-lo" is a fish having one head and ten bodies. The myths about snakes are the strangest of all. Thus the square snake of Kwangsi has the power oi throwing an inky fluid when at tacked, which kills its assailants at once. Another snake can divide itself up into 12 pieces, and each piece it touched by a man, will instantly generate a bead and fangs at each end. The calling snake asks a. traveler: "Where are you from, and whither are you bound?" If he answers the snake follows him for miles, and enter ing the hotel where ne is sleeping, raises a fearful stench. The hotel proprie tor, however, guards against this by putting a centipede in a box under the pillow, and when the snake gives forth the evil odor the centipede is let out, and, flying at the snake, instantly kills him with a bite. The fat of this snake, which grows to a great size, makes oil fog the lamps and produces a flame which cannot be blown out In Burmah and Coehin-China is a snake which has in the female sex a face like a pretty girl, with two feet growing under her neck, each, with' five fingers, exactly like the fin gers of a hnman hand. The male is green in color and has a long beard; it will kill a tiger, but a fox is more than a match for it Perfectly Satisfactory. Detroit Free Vress.1 "Have you any work on punctuation?" she asked at the bookstore. "Sorry to say we are just out" "Well, perhaps you can tell me what I want, to know. What does a mark under a word signify?" "That is to emphasize the word." . . "Oh r see. Thank you." And as she passed out a clerk heard her whisper to herself. "And James put five marks under the word 'Dearl' " Improved Circumstances. Grip.: , Peter You children turn up your noses at everything on the table. When I was a boy I was glad to get enough dry bread to eat Tommy Say, pa, you're having a much better time of it now yon are' living with us, ain't you? ,A HAMTID CKirSJKSW ur.tcrc vy u.ivc jiuTper zn lo-morrourl .DIS PATCH, in which the relates some stories of metropolitan ghosts. PAGES 9 TO 12. A FISHING- PARADISE. Idaho's Many Mountain Streams Are Just Loaded With Trout. I ANY QUANTITY TO BE CAUGHT. The Mad Enah of the Salmon to the Small Eivere and Brooks. SOME BIG SPECIMENS Of STURGEON ICOBRESFOMDEXCX OI1 TUX BISPAICH.1 Silver City. Idaho, June 12. A letter of inquiry from a friend of mine who has done much in a true sportsmanlike way to deplete the streams lor Venango, Forest and Elk counties, Pennsylvania, of their speckled beauties, and who is now in quest of newer-and fresher fields to indulge la his favorite pastime, has prompted me to .reply through your paper, that others as well as he may learn something of how thai sport is enjoyed among the mountains of this most attractive Territory. Assuming that others may be as little in formed respecting everything here as my friend by his letter proves to be, I must in form them that we have no sluggish streams here. All of them originate in and are fed by the mountain snows, and are- clear, cold and swiit I have never seen one yet that was not to my mind an ideal trout stream originally, hut many of them have been filled with the debris irom placer mining or the slum from quartz mills, and now run along muddy torrents in which no game fish can abide. Others still exist in their pristine; purity and abound in trout THE PLACE FOR TROUT. In fact, except when salmon come into them no fish except mountain trout exist in them. These mountain trout are not identi cal with those in the tributaries of the Al legheny, lacking the beautiful scarlet spots of the latter and being darker in color, but quite like them in shape, equal in flavor and possessing all the game qualities of their eastern relations. They take the fly with equal avidity and by their abundance) almost satiate a sportsman's pleasure. To reach the streams which they haunt often incurs some rugged mountain climbing, but one finds ample compensation for this in tho varied splendor of tbe scenery and the cool, light invigorating atmosphere, so clear at nearlv all times that one can see objects at astonishingly long distances. It is a most delightful country in which to camp out, always provided that one is amply equipped with blankets, as warm nights are almost unknown here. It seldom rains here during the summer, and tbright clear weather may be counted upon as almost a certaintv. White trout are the only fish in many streams, there are other fish in the territory worth traveling a long way to catch. A series of beautiful lakes on the Payette boast of a fish almost peculiarly their own, kngwn as the red fish. These fish are caught weighing from one to five'pounds, and are the most beautiful specimens of the finny tribe ever found. Their color is maroon or brown on tbe backs, shading off into cardinal and scarlet underneath. They are as swift and game as trout, but 'run in shoals, so that while the sport of catching them when one runs across a shoal is most exciting.the sport is not always at one's com mand. A -WONDERFUL THING. At the risk, however, of being thought guilty of telling stories of a fishy 'flavor, I must tell that the most wonderful thing of all here is the run of salmon- They come out of tjie Coinmbia-,into Snake, river, and . more than 500 miles up tire course ol-tbuz swift and tortuous stream, making their way out into the tributaries and keep on in their wild, mad rush, leaping cataracts and push ing on up into small streams to where they can scarcely find water enough to' float them. I saw one taKen out of a little stream at the foot of the mountain I am now on. The fish weighed 15 pounds, and the stream was so small I could step across it Of course, from such mad runs they never get back to the sea, being either caught by men, or the equally expert fishers, bears, or perishing from exhaustion. Snake river also abounds in sturgeon of most enormous size. These are often caught, weighing from 300 to 500 pounds, and one was exhib ited and sold iu Shoshone last vear which actually measured 13 feet in length and weighed 1,030 ponnds. The country is equally attractive to the hunter. J. L. Seine Sociable. Chicago Trltjnne.1 Husband It is true Maria, I sometimes go out and take a sociable glass with a friend. Associated as Iam in business with men who drink occasionally, and having for my acquaintances and intimate friends chiefly those who are accustomed to drink ing in moderation, I cannot well avoid fol lowing their example once in a while with out appearing unsocial. Wile Gol-leel Christopher beeswax! Confound the luck to thunder! Saw my blamed head ofl If I Husband (in astonishment) Are yoa crazy, Maria? What do you mean by such language? Wife I am only talking as yon do, John, if you step on a tack when you get up in the morning'or run a splinter under your fingernail in making a fire. Associated as I am, John, in close relation with a man who talks in this style I cannot well avoid following his example once in a while with out appearing unsocial. Whoop! Darn it all! The baby has smeared molasses candy on this beastly door knob again Husband (humbly) I'll sign the pledge o-morrow, Maria. NOVEL STATISTICAL PACTS. If Chevrenl Ilnd Never Cnt Ills Xnlla The? Would Ilaro Been 203 Inches Long. London f lgsro.3 'Here is something for the Statistical Society. It has been calculated by a most devoted amateur of statistics that if the late M. Cbevreul, who lately died at the age of 103, had never cut his nails they would have attained on the 9th ultimo, the day of his decease, to the length of 203 inches. This calculation is founded on the fact, which, according to- physiologists, may ba safely accepted as correct, that the nails of the average mortal grow every year to the extent of an inch and two-thirds. Strange to say, however, the nail on the middle fin ger grows a little more quickly than the, others, and annually adds close on two inches in length. It therefore follows, states the statistician, that M. Chevreul in the course of his protracted life must have grown in all on his ten digits no less than 66 yards 1 foot of finger nail. Having thus intimated a new path along which the in veterate statistician may ride his pet hobby, I will leave him to extend this interesting inquiry as he may think best, . A Good Opening. NewYork Sun.1 Harlem Beal Estate Agent I hope you wifl take this store. You'll find it a good neighborhood for an undertaker. Undertaker I'm afraid to risk it "It's c very sickly neighborhood, sir." t '"Indeed!" "And a great many doctors about" "That's good. Still I'm afraid." "And no end to the boarding houses." "Sir, I'll take the room." nTTl. 1WI? talkt to-morrow's Dra-'J lUiIi II I JJ patch, from the depths efhur cxjcnCTfrccj U7 iww .wrwvrM sterue, ana gives CI number of pertinent and personal illuttra-' tions. i Xi 1 4 I -a
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers