ZEB'S SECOND IP,
Tlio Interesting Old Gentle
man From the Country
Yisits the Firemen.
TAKEN WITH THE HOESES.
How the Splendid Animals Are
Taught to Eespond to Calls.
SOME PETS OP THE DEPARTMENT.
liany Bear Illustrious Jianies and ire Sur
prisingly Intelligent
ZEB COULD.YT TOOL MS GOOD HULDA
tWBICTEjr TOR THI DISPATCH. 1
E had promised
Aunt Hulda to
market a wagon
load of garden stuff
in the village Sat
day. Tom was to
go with him, and
they were to start
early in the morn
ing before Hulda
was up. The good
lady, therefore,
gave her final or
ders to Zeb on Fri
day night. He was
to deliver a bunch
of herbs at the
""W
Zeo. "Widow Nose'
houe. "They'll ease her cough some, I
think," she said. He was to be sure and
tsk Betsy Larkspur for the recipe of that
new kind of tomato preserves. "When he
rtopped at the parson's house ho was to
leave a whole peck of peas with her respects.
And he must not forget to ask the weight
of the new baby at Johnson's.
"Oh, e, Zeb," said Hulda, as she tied
the strings of her night-cap and prepared to
retire, "get me five yards of toweling. I
musthaieit or else your threshing hands
next month won't have anything to dry
lhemelves on at mealtime You know I
always get toweling at Measley's general
store
Zeb Did Lots of Thinking.
The next day's light had scarcely as
serted itself when the one-horse market
wagon rolled out of the barn-vard. The
boy Tom held the reins, and Zeb sat evi
dently buried deep in thought. Tom found
it necessary presently to remind him by a
audge that they were at the end of the lane,
and the gate mut be opened. And when the
wagon stopped at the crossroads, down in
the shady nollow by the old Mt Zion
Church, to take me aboard as a third pas
senger, Zeb still sat there as though letting
out ins thoughts with a kite string, farther
and larther away. They must have taken
a dart in the air occasionally, for now and
then a smile broke out on his face. Once
the smile exploded into a jolly laugZ, loud
and long, and then I knew"his thoughts,
kite-like, had come down out of the sky.
I knew the secret of heb's thoughts this
morning. "While I had waited there by the
waysido for the wagon I too had laughed
over the plans for the day. More than a
Zeb's Faithful WorK-Hon.
Yeek had passed since Zeb's memorable
visit to Pittsburg. It had given him a taste
for eight-seeing, and the poor old man felt
that unless he utilized every opportunity of
"goin' to town" before my sojourn in the
country ended, he might never get the
chancre again.
Wanted to Sea the I"iro Horses.
He was bitterly disappointed that he had
sot been able on'the occasion of his visit to
the city to get time to tec something that
he had often listened with open-mouthed
amazement to mv descriptions of That
was the performances of the horses of the
Pittsburg Fire Department. He could
scarcely conceive how horses could be so in
telligent or so well trained, and he doubted
about the electrio attachments to their
stables. So I invited him to go to town
with me some time again and see it all for
himself.
He was shy about asking Hulda's advice.
He knew how she would object. He was
well aware that it was foolish for him to
leave the farm again, even for a day, in the
bnsy season. His own reason told him that.
But, suddenly, Hulda herself unconsciously
offered the opportunity. She had insisted
that Zeb must make a marketing trip to the
village. That took him an ay from the farm
work a whole day, and, as he said to me
during the week, "If I have to leave the
place a day anyhow, why not fix things so
that I can have the benefit of that day?
Would Uarket by Proxy.
I scarcely saw how the marketing trip to
the village would help matters, but when
Zeb laid before me a scheme to trust the
day's business in the village to Tom while
he" went to the city with me for six or seven
hours, I understood. And, now, when the
wegon from the larm took me up at the old
church, the amused expression on Zeb's
lace toid mo that they had succeeded in get
ting away without Hulda suspecting any
thing. Tom was a willing party to the
plot, and had memorized all the messages
which Hulda had intrusted to Zeh.
"'Don't bother anything about It," he
called to us as e boarded the train at the
railroid station. "1 will be waiting here
for you with the wagon when tho 6 o'clock
train pulls up this evening."
And Zeb didn't bother. He was positive
that Hulda would never know anything
about the little plot, and he gave himself
ap to a day's sight-seeing without a qualm
of conscience.
"What was the use of tellin' Hulda?
She'd only worry lest I should tire mjself
out riaiiim' about the city. Tom will do
ever tiling ri-rht, and when we both go
tome to-night in the wagon agin it'll look
quite natural." And Zeb chuckled to him
self. An Een Hundred of Horses.
During the djy I took Ztb and my little
camera around among many of the fire en
gine houses of Pittsburg. What a magnifi
cent troop of horses in the Department of
PublictM-letvEtables Nincty-ninealtogether
there were the day Me taw them, and by the
time this is in type the one hundredth horse
will have.been added. Someare worth S750
apiece, or more, and the total value placed
upon tne ua uy imei J. u. urown averages
Jl'oO each.
They a'e every one beautiful. Faultlesj I
in srnctry, sound in health and limb, sleek
in their perfectly groomed coats, and re- !
ruarkably intelligent,, they will excite the I
admiration of nuy cue, to say nothing of a j
nrownciaL We citv folk think there is no I
grander spectacle than a team of those
matchless steeds madly galloping along the
street in front of the burnished fire engines.
Yet Zeb's restricted ideas appealed to a
higher ideal of grandeur than ours.
"Oh, to see these horses, all lree of har
ries turned loose in the same field," he ex
claimed. JJres Parade at a Brookside.
And I recollected the scene I once wit-
nessed on the stock farm adjoining Zeb's.
Forty agile Indian ponies, unbroken and
unfettered, -went down to a brook to drink.
They ranged themselves in an unbroken
line along the shore, but asthe noses in the
water pushed further out into the stream
for cooler and clearer water, the beautiful
line of 40 arched necks gradually advanced,
and at last the pretty cavalcade reached the
middle of the crek. But how much more
of an imposing spectacle would that have
been had the 90 powerful horses of the Fire
Department, free and barebacked, ranged
themselves in dress parade at the brookside.
How their handsome necks would have
curved, their refined nostrils distended
with the pure country air, and their tutored
J ears pointed rigidly out Hard at the sound
of the water riupline among hidden rocksl
"What a picture Zeb s remark conjured upl
Of all the equines in the department my
farmer friend was most charmed with a new
team in the Seventh Avenue Engine House.
It was only purchased a month and a half
ago, and is now undergoing instructions, so
to speak.
A Pair Chief Brown Purchased.
Joe, a namesake for Chief J. O.Brown,
who purchased the two horses for the com
pany, is a massive iron-gray Clydesdale,
weighing 1,675 pounds. His running mate
is Charley, weighing 1,430 pounds. They
are nearly perfectly matched in color, anil
while Joe is 5 years old, Charlie is only 4
years old.
"My! How Huldie would enjoy Eeeing
them,1' ejaculated Zeb.
The hook-and-ladder truck which Joe
and Charlie haul weighs 11,000 pounds, and
on ing to its cumbrous character must be
hitched only to safe horses. Mr. Brown
I had looted around in "Wester Pennsylva
nia a longtime before he found two such
horses. Joe is learning a little faster than
Charley. The way thev teach them their
duties is to sound a false alarm occasion
ally on the fire gong, and then lead or
chase the new horses out of their stalls to
their places in front of the apparatus. Be
sides that they must be taught not to take
iright when the harness is dropped over
their backs from the ropes above. Many
other things happen in an engine house in
the hurry and confusion of responding to
an alarm of fire to whioh the horse must be
come accustomed.
A Horse Lcann In Three Weeks.
Usually within three weeks a new horse
is reasonably trained to be left to himself
that is to sav, to leave his stall himself
when the stable door is unlatched by elec
tricity, and run to his place before the
apparatus. The gong was sounded several
times to demonstrate to us how it was all
done.
"How do visitors keep out of the way of
your horses if they are liable to pounce out
of their stalls any moment of the day?"
asked Zeb, who experienced great trouble
himself in keeping out of the track of the
steeds.
"We watch visitors usually," explained
the fireman, kindly, "and an accident seldom
occurs. Jackson Couples, who was once a
stoker on Engine Company No. 14, slipped
on the floor one day when he was running
to the engine after the gong struck. He
fell, and two horses dashing out of their
stalls leaped over him. He was not hurt.
A small colored boy eouldn't get out of the
way quick enough at another of the houses,
and the heaviest horse in the place, rather
than hurt the lad, jumped clear over him.
The Horses Usually Gentle.
"The fire horses are not a bit vicious,"
continued the fireman. "We had another
Joe horse here once he's out at No. 14
now who was a regular pet. He would let
women and children come in his stall and
fondle all over him. He would rub a
woman's hair, where if it was a man he
would be trying to pull his watch ontby the
chain. He was a tobacco-chewer, too, and
had a mute way of begging tobacco from
male -visitors. Bnt, as a matter of fact, all
the horsey in the department are remarkably
gentle when you remember the exciting
character of their work and their confine
ment "One of the prettiest teams the depart
ment ever had was two cream-colored horses
that drew the engine for Company No. 8 on
Highland avenue. They were marvelously
attached to their driver, Mr. McCaulley.
One day while he was at dinner in his house
nearby an alarm sounded and he ran over
to the engine house. But the horses had
been quicker than he, and the moment the
men clapped the harness on them the horses
eagerly dashed out of the door unaware that
their driver's seat was empty. Poor Mc
Caulley was just at the curbstone as they
tore out of the door. They could not stop,
and they trampled him to death under their
feet
Hanlod McCaulley to His Tomb.
"A few days later the hearse, in whioh
McCaulley's corpse was confined, was
hauled to the cemeterv by the eneine team.
Thisteam was not much good after that, it
is said, and it is now doing farm work at the
Citv Poor Farm.
''By the way, Mr. Morrow, if you bring
your wife into town some day, I'll be glad
to show her just what we have" shown you,"
concluded the obliging fire fighter.
"Ah," exclaimed Zeb, startled by the
suddenness of the invitation, "Yes, sir,
thank yee; but if I do bring her some time
don't you ever tell her that I was here be
fore. Understand?" and he allowed an eye
lid to drop in a significant manner.
At the handsome Neville street engine
house my friend was shown a whole stable
full of politicians. There was one horse
named "Chris," after C. L. Magee; another
called "Bob," after Eobert Elliott; a third
LUIV
muni1
I Tl i V VI llfl j4
35TTTTT7.
Dress Parade at Vie iVeittte Street House.
dubbed "Bill," in honor of "William Coates,
aud a fourth who responds to the name
"Ben," meaning Benjamin Darlington, de
ceased, -who used to be President of tho old
Fire Commission. "Ben" was bv long
odds the most intelligent of three big four.
He learned all the ropes in two weeks.
There is a fifth horse here which is also
named for Joe Brown, but it is getting old.
They Are Light Feeders.
It is astonishing how little it takes to
keep these fine horses of the fire depart
ment They are seldom ted more than a
quart and a half or tw o quarts of oats at
breakfast or supper, and for dinner they get
soft feed. They are never gh en hay m
daytime, only a small quantity being
thrown to them at night The grooming is
what chiefly keeps them in such prime
health and spirits. Most drivers spend the
hours from V to 10 in the morning grooming
Joe at Ao. S Engine House.
oralis
w&LwmM:
mmmmw
mBL$
L05tjr
THE
their horses. The minutest details are at
tended to in this daily cleansing. Then
comes exercise out of doors. Twice a day,
if there are no alarms to answer, the horses
are ridden up and down the street in front
of the engine house for 10 or 15 minutes.
They gallop to the doors without suggestion
if the alarm is heard to strike while they
are thus exercising.
I repeated for Zeb's benefit the story of
horses sold out of the department giving
their new owners trouble afterward every
time they would hear the gong of a milk
cart ring on the streets. To my own sur
prise the firemen at No. 14 confirmed this
story, which has generally been accepted
as a joke. They knew of many instances,
though innocent Zeb put up more of a
poser than he guessed when he remarked:
"I reckon then, stranger, that these gongs
on them cable cars keep the horses yee s
tellin' me of in an eternal condition of run
oE" Knows What Smoke Means.
Old John, of No. 1, a famous black horse,
is one of the crack steeds of the depart
ment It is said of him that the smell of
burning wood sets him to stamping his
feet and snorting until quieted down by
some of the men. The old-time fire horses
in Pittsburg are nearly all sold off now.
They were generally more sensitive to
signs of a conflagration than the present
stock, for the reason that now the horses
are taught more to depend upon electrical
apparatus and routine practice than upon
any extraordinary sign of excitement, such
as confusion in tne engine house, crowds
upon the street, smoke nnd Came, or of the
dogs which formerly were a part of most of
the engine house live stock. These things
will not in these days affect the fire horse.
On the other hand the slightest move
ment in the electrio maohinery of head
quarters will disturb him. In No. 14 com
pany we were shown how the tiniest click
of a "clicker" would bring up every head
back in the stable in a second. Ears would
spring erect, and the horses instantly be
came alert
Surprised the Old Man.
"It's wonderful, so it is," reflected the
granger, as we walked leisurely over to the
train in the afternoon. "Do you know, sir,
I didn't see a single spavin on any of those
horses, nor a wind-gall, nor any fistulous
The Pet at the NeiMt,
withers. Our old work-horse, Billy, has
got 'em all. If I waz only younger now, I
believe I would try to train Billy too, but
there's no denying it. sir, I'm getting just
like Billy old and stiff You're givln' an
ignorant old man much pleasure, sir, and
if "
He looked up at me as much as to say:
"And if Huldie doesn't hear of this I'll be
awful thankful to yee."
He laughed immoderately presently when
he turned over in his mind all he had seen
and done, while "Huldie" believed him to
be attending to that marketing in the vil
lage far up in the northwestern corner of
Allegheny county. "Joke, Tery good
joke," he gulped.
The wagon was there at the little country
station, waiting as we stepped off the cars.
"It's all right," said Tom, as we climbed
op to the seat, "I got along splendidly with
the garden stuff sold everything, and
here's what money I collected. Hope you
had some fun in town, sir?"
"That I did," gaily returned Zeb, "but
we'll say nuthin moro about it this even
ing. Mind, you be careful up at the farm
house, young manl"
Getting the Answers Down Xln.
The next two miles of the road, and tho
horse was allowed to walk most of the way,
was devoted by Zeb to getting all the
answers to Hulda's message to towns
people off by heart so he could repeat them
to her without mistake. Our whole plot
now hinged upon his success at this.
"Ycre a littls soon'r than I expected,"
called Aunt Hulda, "but I guess supper's
Waiting for Heb's Return.
reai
But
didn1
stable."
Zeb triumphantly handed her the towel
ing. He took the reins in his hands, and
was about to drive away without a word,
when an exclamation of surprise brought
his face around to Hulda's.
She had opened the toweling, standing
by the portico steps, and out of the roll of
cloth there fell a Japanese fan. Printed
aeross it were the words: "Given free with
every purchase at the stores of , Pitts
burg. Head the information on the wrap
per of this bundle."
Picking up the wrapping paper that had
fluttered to the ground, Aunt Hulda saw an
immense advertisment of the Pittsburg em
porium. "Zeb Morrow, how's this?" She spoke
severely and pointed to the fan. "They
don't give notions like these at Measley s
general store in Primrosetown. "Where did
you get this?" L. E. Siorrr.T..
BOS THAT HAKES DAHGSB.
The Liability to Spontaneons Combustion
Makes It Very Blsky Freight
New York Becorder.J
The recent discussion as to whether ocean
liners should carry cotton as well as passen
gers at the same time has brought out
another fact "At present importers here,"
a gentleman said, "are receiving large con
signments of a heavy-dyed silk known as
French twist The French manufacturers
do not spare the dye on these goods, for it
adds to their weight In this dye chemicals
of a peculiar kind are used, and it is this
fact that makes this silk dangerous freight
"There is always fear of spontaneous
combustion unless the greatest care is taken
in packing the goods. These come in bales
of various sizes, but generally averaging
500 pounds. They are wrapped in cotton
bagging, with underlaying layers of straw
and brown paper, and are made compaot by
hydraulic pressure. There have been cases
wnere bales have been destroyed from the
causes mentioned, and not many years ago
a serious fire was caused on a French steamer
by these goods."
Steamship men generally say that they
are aware of the danger of carrying these
silks, and that the greatest care is taken
whenever they are carried as freight One
or two lines, indeed, discriminate against
this freight and iwll not carry it
JSSLM
PITTSBURG DISPATCH;
THE DIN OF THE CITY
Doesn't Eeach the Quiet Retreat Susan
Hale Loves So Well.
SETEN MILES FE0M ANYWHERE.
How She Enjoys Keeping House Just Back
From the Seashore.
DAIS SPENT IN DILIGENT IDLENESS
fCORBEBPONDENCE 01 THE DISPATCH.
Matunuck, E. L, July 15. "KingstonI"
The train stops. Rugs, bags, the basket of
provisions are set on the platform. Quarter
of a dollar to the obsequious porter of our
car, and the train, a New York express, is
off and away. No mora civilization, of that
sort at least; no more steam and whistle,
cinders, noise, conventional conversation
with the next seat, for, let us fay, five
months.
"Hullo, Joel All right? Have you got
the team?"
Of course. There were the gray horse,
open wagon, yellow blanket, just the same
as if I had not been around and aoross the
Mediterranean since I saw them last There
was Father Browning in the background
with the white horse and the lumber wagon.
He took my baggage checks, and we left
him struggling with trunks and flour bar
rels, while Greta and I climbed into Joe's
wagon to be flying along the road before we
were fairly tucked in.
"Goodby, Mr. Taborl Much obliged.
Goodby, John I"
Into a World or Bine Violets.
These farewells to the station master and
the baggage master, who, from the moment
the news was spread that Miss Susie was
coming, have been on the alert to look after
mymany effects. How lovely it isl Greta
and I can do nothing but exclaim: "How
lovely: how delioious to be herel" Blue
violets everywhere of the pedate variety,
with yellow noses and web-footed leaves.
"We turn away from the broad road and its
telegraph poles, and plunge into our familiar
woods.
That first drive over from Kingston in
early spring is the true beginning of the
delights at Matunuck, Delightful any
time, but best in early spring. Then we
come burdened with the accumulated dis
agreeablcness of a winter in town. The
load falls at once. Dinners ad bores, re
ceptions, Brownings, Ibsens, Margery
Flemings vanish with all the other cobwebs
of our mind, our heads feel happily empty,
ready to receive impressions from red bud
ding oak leaves, long tassels of birch,
volantes of fern stems just pushing up
alongside of cowslips yellow as butter,
wickedly and correctly named by the botan
ist marsh marigold. Not only these things
now, but promises of more to be, signs of a
full season of Kalmia, fat buds of Rhodo
dendron, plants that are going to be tall
nodding lilies in July, and point! of
Arethusa sticking up in the wot, all soon to
be in blossom.
The Reception at the House.
There is a certain uncertainty about my
arrival at home in the spring. Only one
thing is true, and that is that things will be
entirely different each time, "Write? Well,
I have written, from Tunis, from New York,
from Boston. They all know I am coming.
Then of course everything will be ready?
Of course I hope so. But you know they
may be all dead. They never write. But
you see Joe was at the station, whioh was
encouraging. Joe keeps the keys through
the winter, and he had opened the house
and set the breeze and bright sunshine to
airing and warming it Cold as Greenland,
by the way, on the 15th of May.
Greta jumped out of the wagon and took
the basket of provisions into the great big
empty house, while I drove down the hill to
see if Louise would come up and "do" for
me that is the correct expression. Louise
lives in the little farmhouse at the foot of
the hill. She is splendid, but you cannot
always get her. Luckily Louise is in fine
frame of mind this year. "Well, I supposj
I must, if you ain't got none else," she says,
and by the time I have reached home by the
driveway," to find Greta in front rejoicing in
the broad view of sea and iky, Louise nas
arrived by a short cut
First Meal In the Conntrjt
A genial clatter of poker and stove lids
shows that Joe is making a fire in the
kitchen. In five minutes I have a good
blaze on the hearth in the Red Room, and
Greta brings in a bunch of violets from the
bank. Unluokily we cannot find the keys
of the cellar or the doghouse, where all the
wood and kindlings are, but there is
enough here for the present Thomas J.
has brought potatoes and Indian meal,
Christie comes this moment with fresh eggs
and butter. Joe has set the milk for cream
beiore, and there was a large, thiok porter
house steak in the basket
That first meal at Matunuok invariably
consisted of a porterhouse steak, hot po
tatoes and bread and butter. I bring the
steak from Boston, and if nobody should be
there to "do" for me I should cook it my
self. But somebody always is here. If not
Louise, it might be Cornelia. Once it was
Jane. Besides, I can cook a beefsteak,
though you might not think it Is there
any salt left over from last year? "Why,
certainly, and here is pepper, though the
pepper pot seems to be lost "We set the
table ourselves, Greta and I, in the Red
Room in front of our crackling fire, near
the south window, not to lose a minute of
tho view. By a brilliant effort I remember
where i. hid tne silver last autumn. Jlnives,
napkins all were discovered.
The Appetite Isn't Lacking.
After a winter of hotels and tables d'hote,
at the mercy of "patrons" and garcons, it is
a sudden change to be looking up my own
knives and forks. Delightful variety, the
spice of life. Now come the steak and po
tatoes, smoking hot, and better than any
thing you ever tasted in your life. Louise
is coy on account of Greta and leaves them
outside the door. "Water is the beverage
that accompanies the repast You mut
know that the water of our pond, fed from
springs, is more delicious than any other.
Such a meal! Seven miles drive through
tho woods supplies the appetite for it
All this exoitement of arrival and re
freshment has taken up the afternoon, and
after this dinner we linger over our wood
fire, which requires constant attention. To
tell the truth, it smoked a little at first, be
cause we had not the right wood. But we
have better now. The keys are found.
Peter Larkin gave them to Franklin and
Franklin left them with "William, but
"William forgot to tell Louise. "We saw the
sun go down beyond our western hill and
its glow over the pond. Tho sun is setting
late now and it nas soon dark and we w ere
very tired. So we went to bed at 7:30 by
daylight, although there was kerosene in the
house, and Joe had filled a couple of lamps.
The joy of one's own bed, after Bix months
away, is worth being away those six months
to enjoy.
Where the Country Home Is.
And now what is this Matunuck. I hope
you all want to know. Matunuck is the
home of the Hales, where they disport and
repose themselves after the fatigues of the
winter. It is about seven miles from every
where and this is its chiefest charm. "W e
have no railway whistle here, nor the rum
ble and groan of trains. There is no tele
phone, nor telegraph, nor tramway, cable
or electric, there Is even no doorbell, as my
brother is wont to boast, and why should
there be, for nobody ever oomes to the front
door, and if anybody did, nobody would
come from the kitchen to admit him.
"We are seven miles from the Kingston
Btation by a lovely drive through the woods.
"We are five miles' from a certain town in
the other direction, where are a railway
station, shops and a bank. Two or three
miles beyond that town is a wicked water
ing place, with all the usual attractions and
objectionable features. But the names of
these places I carefully conceal from you,
because, to tell vou the truth, we wish to
remain obscure. This seems inhospitable j
SUNDAY, JULY 19,
and yet we are very hospitable. We not
only welcome the coming, we speed the
parting guest Individually we should be
delighted to receive every one of you, my
readers, but collectively we prefer that you
do not know how to get here.
Overlooking the Sea.
The Red House is on an elevated ridge
that runs along here about a mile and a half
from the seashore. Very likely we used to
be a bluff with a beach just before us where
the road is now. From our height we over
look tho lower land of fertile level fields:
toward east, south and west is a wide view:
01 tne distant sea, with its horizon line or
water almost unbroken; but north of the
house the distance is hidden by hills, and
we have a lovely pond, close to tho house,
which we might well call a lake. I have
seen smaller lakes that scorned to be called
ponds, while we scorn to call ours a lake. It
is large, and its curving shores, with a
screen of oaks and maples, kalmia, azalea
and wild rose, hide the farther part of it
from the house, so that its waters have the
merit of mystery, added to other at
tractions. There are boats of all descriptions on this
pond, small boats for the small people, and
larger boats for the larger ones. There is no
road, nor house, except our own, which has
the slightest connection with our pond, nnd
beyond it you may roam for miles in old
deserted paths through wildest woods,
where partridges are tamo and the thrush is
not afraid. A wholo series of other ponds
as lovely as ours and even more lonely
makes the region navigable. If you care,
therefore, to oarry your canoe with you on
your shoulder through the wood roads, you
may make a wonderful pedestrian nautical
trip of it
Not What It Once Was.
All this part of Rhode Island was once
more thickly inhabited than now. That
was in the days when largo craft came soil
ing from high seas into our salt pond to a
freat wharf, and there was a brisk trade
ere with other parts of the world. The
trade has fallen off, the shore has ohanged
and the channel Is filled up, so that no
boats pass through its narrow "breaoh" ex
cept venturesome canoes at high water.
Houses and farms of well-to-do farmers of a
generation ago are abandoned, the houses
have fallen down for the most part, and the
roads that connected them with life aro
now overgrown, almost lost, impassable for
wagons, but perfect for pedestrians. There
are plaoes whero Rhododendron over-arohes,
leaving a dim green-vaulted passage, under
its thick dark foliage, long distances where
you must push your way through, tangling
kalmia bushes, the pathway hard to find
under their close branches, to come out
upon some open field once planted with
crops and a deserted houseplace where only
the stones oi a ruined cellar are left over
grown with weeds. Great lilao bushes still
flourish in these abandoned places, and
blossom profusely every year, alone and
not admired.
On the other hand we are not too far from
the sea for our swim, a short drive along
"the Drift-way" brings us to an excellent
sand-beach, where there is always surf
sometimes too much of it, for it is the real
open sea, and we might swim straight over
to Cadiz, but for lack of wind, and for to
much weather,
Plenty of Fish to Fat,
Here also dwell the Rocky Point gang of
fishermen, who, while we are bathing, bring
in shiny boatloads of fresh fish; blue fish
and basi, lobsters not yet red, whioh are
put in the wagons to be brought home, then
broiled and boiled. Our eolony here is one
of perfect dimensions that is, It consists of
two families, with their dependencies; bet
ter to say of one family, composed of that
of a gooa neighbor to whom a great part of
the neighborhood belongs, and of his de
pendency which is ourselves, whom, by a
nappy inspiration, he annexed many years
ago. There are a few outlying provinces,
wnich change year by year, but these two
ere the chief, Every year the two houses
are thrown open as summer comes on, and
exchange happy greetings. Even our guests
are interchangeable. If any one from
either house is lost, he is supposed to be at
the other.
Tennis at "Willow Dell, tea on my east
piazza, are rival attractions every afternoon.
For I am housekeeper at the Red House on
the Hill, with a competent staff of servants
when the season comes on. Strange to say,'
I keep house extremely well, and find the
occupation a salutary change from seeking
a warm climate in January, as I did this
winter, where we found it snowing in
Cannes and met frost in Tunis.
Housekeeping in the Woods,
Housekeeping at Matunuok is very un
like housekeeping in town where a cart is
chronic at your door, and a small book in
the kitchen table drawer keeps the accounts
itself. My supplies come from every
quarter, and with charming irregularity.
Spring chickens come from Mrs. Bradley
up in the woods. Thoma3 T. brings young
turkeys, green geese, ducks and old fowls
as he goes to meeting. Charley B. (that's
tho butcher) calls Tuesday afternoon to ask
what I would like to order for Friday, when
his cart comes round. Franklin raises my
potatoes and green peas, but we get turnips
and carrots from Aloin-Card when we drive
to the beach for the bath. Our fish comes
from the Rocky Point gang, and so on.
"Vegetables are delicious, liut late. "When
I was a novice here, one year, I said to
Elisha, "Can't you bring me some cucum
bers to-morrow?" He replied, "Why!
Miss Susie, we only planted them yester
day!" But why hurry the season? Green
peas just from the vine are worth two
canned. All this requires mind to manage.
The Red House is big enough to hold an
army of Hales and their friends, and it is
always full in summer. This army was
once all little boys who sailed toy boats on
the pond, and fired crackers at an unearthly
hour on the morning of Fourth of July.
Now they are grown to be tall men, with
grown-up boats, and cigarettes, perhaps.
Mother Goose and Red Riding Hood have
been removed from the book shelves, to be
replaced by Freeman's Sicily and Matthew
Arnold.
A Sort of Diligent Idleness.
How do we exist without the distractions
of doorbells and railway whistles and all
their attendant interests? "We rise very
early in the morning that is my whim, and
everybody accedes to it "We have a very
good breakfast at 7 o'clock; then everybody
devotes himself diligently to doing nothing,
out-doors. This takes a great deal of time.
To the surprise of everybody, it is immedi
ately mail time, and time to go to the bath.
Dinner (very good) in the middle of the
day; then naps for those who choose, the
newspaper (a day old, so much tho better);
then aiternoon tea, a stroll, a row, perhaps
a drhe, then the evening meal, then the
porch or piazza in tho moonlight, with talk
and song, or silence. Very early to bed.
Does this sound monotonous? I assure you
it is not Of oourse we have all the novels
and magazines, but I do not observe that
people read them much. There is a pre
tense of writing letters, but the outgoing
mail is not heavy. Fancy work comes
downstairs in ornamental baskets, but goes
back into the trunks in much its first state
of progress, at the end of the visit. Idle
ness is the rule, and yet it is a sort of dili
gent idleness which leaves a sense of duty
performed, without any dragged feeling
such as follows an utterly wasted day.
Our season is from the end of June to
the middle of September, more or kss. At
this latter date wagons daily carry off my
guests and I am left alone to enjoy the de
lightful autumn here in a manner I should
like to describe, but that belongs to another
chapter. Susax Hale.
6ERYIHG A PEACOCK.
How the Royal Bird "Wan Brought to Table
When It Was Fashionable.
The peacock was of old a right royal bird
which figured splendidly at the banquets of
the great And this is how tho medieval
cooks dished up ihe dainty:
Take -and liay. off tho skin with the
feathers, tail, neck and head thereon. Then
take the skin and all the feathers and lay
it on the table abroad aud strew thereon
ground cumin; then take the peacock and
roast him and baste him with raw yolks of
eggs and when he is roasted take him off
and let him oool awhile. Then take him
and sew him in his skin and gild his comb
and so send him forth for the last course.
1891
COMMANDS THE Mil.
The Mysterious Wizard of Canton
Who Makes the Heavens Weep.
A BOARD COOP FOR A LABORATORY
So Ear He Has Produced a Shower Every
Time lie Said He Would,
HE DOES THE WORK WITII A MACHINE
tconaispoNDiracE op tne disfatch.J
Cantos, July 18. "While attempts are
being made to produce rain in the arid
regions of the west,
Frank Melbourne, of
Canton, has been at,
trading attention by
his assertions that he
has discovered tho
secret, and the rains
which have come
according to his pre
dictions verify his
assertions.
Melbourne is a
pan ot 40 years,
with black hair and
beard, and is almost
six feet tall. He
Frank Melbourne, formerly reside"
here, but went to Australia a number of
years ago and engaged in stock raising. He
states that excessive droughts on his pas
ture land turned his attention to the pro
duction of rain. "Long study and experi
ments with great expenditure of money
brought success, and when he was assured
of it, by having p roduced rain a number of
times, he determined to return to the
Z&
HeUxrume't Little Laboratory.
United States and put his discovery into
operation. On arriving in America ha an
nounced his power to produoe rain, and
asked of his brother, John S. Melbourne, a
rioh pottery manufacturer, for permission
to erect an observatory upon the top of hit
magnificent residence.
An Unpretentious Observatory.
His brother scoffed at his pretensions,
but Frank, undaunted, went t o a brother
in-law, residing on the northwestern edge
of this city, and being given permission,
erected upon a carriage shed, a box-like
structure. 6x7 feet in she, and prepared to
give proof of assertions. The shed is made
of boards, and upon each of the four sides is
a small square window. All are tightly
curtained, and those on the south and west
kept closed, the other two being partly
raised.
Little attention was paid to Melbourne'
first announcement of rain, but in the after
noon of the day specified it came. Then
peopU laughed at his luck. A second and
a third prediction, or "production," as
he prefers to call it, came to hand
like a gilt-edged note. This gave
him special prominence, and some who
believed the problem of producing rain
could bo solved, called attention to the dif
ference in the character of the rains pro
duced by Melbourne from those which gen
erally fall in this region. "Whether light or
heavy the fall was straight, unaccompanied
by any wind, and there was no variation in
the quantity of fall during its continuance.
The next prediction was tor Tuesday, June
30, and a wager was put upon it. For a
week hardly a cloud appeared to break the
force of the sun's rays, but Monday after
noon clouds rolled up and a heavy rain fell.
Tuesday, the appointed day.was cloudless,
and continued so until late in the evening,
when a liht shower occurred. Melbourne
said that in consequence of atmospheric
conditions It was impossible to give the
exact hour of rainfall, and it might occur the
day previous to the one appointed.
Had Broken His Machine.;
Then he announced rain for July 11,
Saturday, and said it would be a severe one.
Friday afternoon, July 10, The DiSPAicn
correspondent called at his crude-looking
laboratory. The entrance was bj a rude
ladder in the interior of the carriage shed
through a trapdoor in the roof. Knocks
brought no response, but a shout from the
lawn brought a head into one of the win
dows. It was the wizard's head, but he ap
peared to be in great distress. His hair
was disheveled, his collarlesg shirt and face
and bare arms bathed in perspiration, and
he looked not at all like the carefully
dressed man he is upon the streets. He
hardly allowed a statement of the cause of
the visit before he exclaimed: "My ma
chine has met with an -accident; you must
come to-morrow." He drew in his head
and closed the window. Saturday no rain
came, but in the evening Melbourne came
out upon call and was calm and collected.
"You came at a poor time yesterday," he
said. "As there were no wagers on this
production, instead of commencing opera
tions three days before the day for the rain,
I beean Friday morainir. deslrluz to brinsr
tho rains sooner, and Increase the precision
of fulfillment, in my haste an accident oc
curred, and as I prnvo you to understand,
stopped the rain for to-day. I cannot tell
you anything about the accident, for the
construction of my machine is so simple you
would gain an idea of its character. This I
want to avoid until it Is perfected and pat
ented. This kind of weather is the hardest
in tho world to bring ruin, the dampness
from tho previous one not having ciisap-
f eared. With a drought of a week or longer
can produce rain in a day."
Testimonials for Jerry Bask.
In response to an inquiry as to trie Govern
ment taking action with regard to his dis
oovory, Melbourno said nothing had boon
done. Ha had received a letter from the
Agricultural Bureau asking for several testi
monials. He would not tell what was de
manded in them, hut said they were furn
ished by two well known local puysciaus.
He said he had received a number of offers
to locate in dirrorent parti or tne west, one
being from Mr. ClarkBon. of Chicago, who
owns large tracts of land in Kobraska and
Wyoming. He declined to give them consid
eration until the Government hasmadoa
decision.
He says that in order to avoid misunder
standings Sunday afternoon will bo fixed
upon as a regular time for tbo production of
rain, aud he expects soon to bo able to namo
tho hour for it appenrnnce.
On the days he profeses to produce rain
he leuves his hotel nt X o'clock in tho morn
ing and goes to Ins shed, lcmalning there
until i o'clock at night.
W. E. Melbourno, brother of the rain wiz
ard, offers the following for publication:
"The undoisigned hereby offeis to any
taker or takers to waiter $'00 or less that
Frank Melbourne will produco rain on any
Sunday during tho noxt month, tho date to
bo selected bj- tho person or persons accept
ing this wager. Money awaits a taker at the
Hotel Yoho. This is addressed pirtleularly
to thoso who now gloit over the recent fail
uro, caused bv an accidont. and aro loud in
proclaiming that Frank Melbourne cannot
produco ram at will.
"W. E. Mzlboubbk."
Don't Be Bulldozed
By a rebellious liver. Though it may refuse
to be brought into subjection by ordinary
cathartics and cbolagognes, though it may
continuo to destroy your peaco with its
manifold unpl'easant symptoms, be assured
that Hostetter's Stomach Bitters will effec
tually disciplines it, promptly rectify its ir
recufantles. Malaria, constipation, dyspep
sia, rheumatism and kidney complaints aro
also remedied by the Bitters.
mm
1WSS3Hg'feiaKS
TOSSS
ryf
i l st, rfk tr limine.
fa Til i'fif w I BS '
j Tin r " t rZ7-
AN AMERICAN SERIAL STORY.
WBITXEN rOH THE DISPATCH
JB" CTTJLES "VIEIRIDTIE.
CHAPTER X.
THE KEVEIAIIOX.
March, 18791 They had deceived her. It
was four years since her child had been
drowned, four years since John had set sail
for the Indies. She had, therefore, been out
of her mind for these four long years! And
if Mr. Hollister and Dr. Bromley had
allowed her to believe that she had only
been deranged for the short space of two
months it must have been for the purpose of
concealing the truth about the Drcadnaught
it must be that for four years they had had
no tidings of either Captain John or his
hipl
To the consternation of the employe, Mrs.
Allaire seemed abont to succumb to some
sudden ailment, but with a superhuman
effort she recovered possession of herself
and dashing out of the offico, hur
ried along from one street to another.
Those who met this woman with her wild
eyes and pallid face could not do otherwise
than regard her as an escaped lunatic And
if she was not what they thought her to be
would it not be a mere question of time?
"Whither was she hurrying? It was in the
direotion of the offices of Hollister & Co.,
where she arrived in a few minutes without
knowing how. She crossed the outside
office, flitting by the astonished clerks who
had no chance to detain her, and pushed
open the door of the shipping merchant's
private office. Andrew Hollister's aston
ishment at seeing Mrs. Allaire quickly gave
Elace to dismay upon glancing at her drawn
satures, her deadly -pallor.
"I know all I I know all I" she exclaimed
wildly, before he could find time to utter a
syllable. 'Tfou have deceived me, I've
been out of my mind for four years " "
"My dear Molly calm yourself"
"Tell me about the Dreadnaught Isn't
it four years since she sailed?"
PBEPARIXO rOB THE
Andrew Hollister bowed his head.
"You have had no news of her for
xbur
years for four years?"
The merchants lips still remained closed.
"You look upon the Dreadnaught as lost
aud everyone on board of her? And
John will never como back to me again ?"
Andrew Hollister's eyes filled with tears
they were his only response. Mrs. Al
laire's hands few to her head, she reeled
and would have fallen had not the merchant
hastened to her side. He laid her ten
derly upon the sofa. She had lost conscious
ness. The janitor's wife was called in
to care for her, and messengers were dis
patched in search of Dr. Bromley,
Upon his arrival Mr. Hollister, in a few
words, explained the situation to him. Ac
cidentally, or through some lack of precau
tion. Mrs. Allaire had learned everything.
"Whether it had been at Prespeot Cottage or
in the streets ot ban Diego it made iitus
difference. The whole truth was known to
her now. She knew that four years had
gone by since little Walt's death, that dur
ing these four years she had been out of her
mind, and that for four years no tidings had
been received from the Dreadnaught
It was only with the greatest difficulty
that Dr. Bromloy succeeded in restoring
poor Molly to consciousness, and the ques
tion which he now put to himself was
whether her mind would not be shattered
by this last and most terrible of the blows
that had been rained upon it "When Mrs.
Allaire came to herself she did so with a
full eonsciousness of what had happened.
She had come back to life again with un
clouded reason. Her eyes were bent in
quiringly upon Andrew Hollister, who sat
by her side with her hands clasped in his.
"Speak, oh, speak, Mr. Hollister "
she murmured, and then her voice died
away.
The merchant obeyed, speaking slowly
and tenderly, but plainly aud firmly. He
told her of their nrst anxiety concerning
the Dreadnaught how letters and dis
patches had been sent to Siugapore and to
the Indies where the ship had never ar
rived, how search had been made all along
the course traversed by Captain John, and
how no trace of the shipwrecked vessel had
come to light
With parted anu ngiu lips, witn a nxea
stare, Mrs. Allaire listened, and when An
drew Hollister had finished, a half groan,
half sob escaped her, and theu like a wail
came the words:
"My child dead my husband dead Oh,
why did not Zach French let me die?"
Then her face lighted up; nnd there was
such a wonderful display ot that energy and
force of character natural to the woman that
Dr. Bromley was fairly startled. With a
strong and steady voice she called out:
"Then there has been nothing heard from
the Dreadnaught since you made search for
her?"
"Nothing," replied Mr. Hollister.
"Aud vou look upon her as lost?"
"Yes l03tl"
"Nor not a word from John nor from any
man in his crow?"
"Not a word, my dear Molly, we have
given up all hope."
"All hope? she queried in a tone that
seemed almost tinged with irony.
As she uttered these words, she had risen
from the sofa and stood with her right hand
stretched out toward the window through
which the ocean was visible. Mr. Hollister
and Dr. Bromley followed her movements
with a secret dread, fearing that the worst
had come. But Molly's face was not that ot
a lunatic. It was lighted up with the glow
of her great souL
j'All hope?" she repeated. "You say
'- - "
15
2-1
vou have given up all hope? But Mr Hol
lister, if vou look upon John as lost, I d
not! "Without him this fortune will be but
dross in my eyes. I shall consecrate it to
the search of John and his companions of
the Dreadnaught I And with God's help I
shall find them, yes, I shall find them."
A new life was about to dawn for Mrs,
John Allaire. "While there was absoluto
certainty as regards the death of her child,
this was not so in the case of her husband.
Might not John and his companions havt
survived the wreck of their ship and hav
taken refuge on one of the numerous in
lands of the Philippine, the Celebes or fh
Java Seas? Could it not bo possible that
they had been restrained of their liberty by
some native tribe and were without any
means of escape? This was the hope t
which Mrs. Allaire was henceforth to olinjf
with a tenacity so extraordinary as to bring
about in San Diego and elsewhere a change
of opinion as regards the Dreadnaught
There were frequent consultations at
Prospect Cottage, which, rich as she was,
Molly had not been willing to leave. Cap
tain John had left her there on sailing
away he should find her there on his re
turn. She resolved to make not the least
change in her mode of life until her hu
band was once more back in San Diego. She
was determiijed that the samo simplicity
should characterize her style of living, that
she would spend nothing additional except
as called for by her expeditions and her
charities.
The important task to which Hollister
and Captain "Willis first turned their atten
tion when in consultation with Mrs. Allaire
was to fix upon tho course which had been
followed by the Dreadnaught It was nec
essary to establish this with the greatest
exactitude possible. The house of Hollis
ter & Co. had shipped goods by this vessel
to the Indies, with instructions to touch
at Singapore, for which port she also oar-
ried a consignment of merchandise. Now,
after getting away from the American
coast, the probabilities were that Captain
John had passed in the neighborhood of th
8EAE0H OF THB SEAS.
Hawaii Archipelago or Sandwich Islands,
After leaving the Anson Archipelago th
Dreadnaught had, no doubt, taken the di
rection of the Mariana and the Philippine
Islands, thence through Celebes Sea and '
Macassar Strait to the Java Sea, which i
bounded on the south by the Sunda Islands,
in order to reach Singapore. The Strait orj
Malacca, which is formed by the Malay Pen-'
insula and the Island of Sumatra opens on
the west into the Bay of Bengal, in which,
outside of the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, there was no place where th '
wrecked crew could have found refuge. ,
Beyond all doubt John Allaire had not j
reached the Bay of Bengal, for inasmuah as
he had not touched at Singapore, and this
was now known to be the case, it must be"'
that he had been unable to get beyond ths
limits of ths Java Sea and the Sunda
Islands.
As for supposing that the Dreadnaught
instead of following the Malaysian route)
had attempted to reach Calcutta by thread
ing her way through the difficult passes of '
Torres strait along the north coast of ths
Australian continent, no good seaman would
have dreamed of such a thing. Captain
"Willis insisted that Captain John would
never have token such a rash and uncalled
for step as to expose his ship to the dangers
of this route. The idea was not to be in
dulged for a moment, and it was resolved to
confine the search solely to the route already,
marked out as the one most likely follows!
by Allaire.
The fact is that the Caroline, Celebes and
Java seas are filled with thousands of islands
of all sizes, and there it was that the crew
of the Dreadnaught, if they had survived
the wreck of their vessel, might be living
on some desert isle or be held in bondage
by some tribe. Having agreed upon these
points, it was resolved to send an expedi
tion to the Malaysian seas. Mrs. Allaire
then made a proposition, which to her mind
was of the greatest importance. She asked
Captain "Willis if he were inclined to take
command of the expedition.
As the Flying Cloud had been flaid up by
Hollister & Co., "Willis was on the waiting
list, and therefore, although taken unaware
by this proposition of Mrs. Allaire's, he
didn't hesitate to place himself at her dis
posal, conditioned upon the consont of Mr.
Hollister, who gladly accorded it and
thanked Willis for accepting.
"I'm only doing my duty," replied "Wil
lis, "and everything in my power to find
the survivors of the Dreadnaught shall be
done. "If Captain John is alive "
"John is alive," exclaimed Mrs. Allaire
in a tone positive enough to silence the
most incredulous.
Captain Willis now began the discussion
of sc eral points calling for settlement To
ship a crew worthy of this expedition would
not be a difficult matter. But there was the
question of a vessel. Of course for such an
expedition as this the Flying Cloud was in
no wise suited. It was not a sailing vessel
which a wise navigator would choose in
order to undertake such a task, but a
steamer.
At that moment there.were lying in the
bay of San Diego several steamers suitable
for such an enterprise. Mrs. Allaire com- -missioned
Captain Willis to acquire title to
the swiitcst one oi the lot and placed tna
necessary funds at his disposal. A few day
sufficed "for this transaction. Mrs. John
Allaire became the owner of the Davitt, the
name of which was at once changed to th
Molly's Hope, a most appropriate name
under the circumstances and one of good
augury. .
It was a screw steamer of 000 tons burden,'
and constructed with very commodious coal
1
m: t