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HENRY A. PAItSONS,'Jr., IMKor mid Publisher. ELK COUNTY THE tltJPtJDLlCAN PAIITY. Two Dollars per Aiiiuim.
VOLUME III., j . , 1UDGWAY,PA., TllUllSDAYTAilClt 0, 1873. ' " NUMBER 1.
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SCCilfttfWBaySNBj dctlflilitf.ltfytffy ae y'th 4icr han',Nfl3S i
JOHN REED'S THOUGHTS.
There's a mint on the meadow below i the her
... ring-frogs chirp and cry;
s chill when the sua is down, ami the Bod is not
yet dry
The world is a lonely place, itseems, and I don't
know why.
I see, osI loan on the fence, how wearily trudges
With the fad of the Spring In bis bones, like a
.weak and elderly nmn
Vat hmlit many a time, but we must work when
- w"Bii .
But day after day to toil, and ever from sun to
sun,
Though up to the season's front and nothing be
lelt undone,
Is ending at twelve like a clock, and beginning
again at one.
The frogs make a sorrowlul noise, and yet it's
the time they mate;
There's something comes with the Spring, a
lightness or else a welghti
There's something comes with the Spring, and it
seems to me it's lute.
It's the hankering after a life that yon never have
learned to know;
It's the discontent with a life that is always thus
and so;
It's the wondering what we are, and where we
are going to go.
My life is lucky enough, I fancy, to most men's
eyes,
For the more a family grows, the oftener some
one dies,
And now It's run on so long, it couldn't be other
wise. And sister Jane and myself, we hare learned to
claim and yield;
She rules in the house at will, and I In the barn
and field;
So, nigh upon thirty yearsl as ir written and
signed and sealed.
I couldn't change if I would; I've lost the how
and the when;
One day my time will be up, and Jane will be
the mistress then,
Vor single women are tough, and live down the
single men.
Bhe kept me so to herself, she was always the
stronger hand,
And my lot showed well enough, when I looked
around in the land;
But Ira tired and sore at heart, and I don't quite
understand.
I wonder how it had been if I'd taken what others
need,
The plague, they say, of a wife, the care of a
younger breed 1
If Edith Pfeasanton now were near me as Edith
Keed?
Suppose that a son well-grown were there in the
place of Dan.
And
Ifelt myself in him, as I was when my work
hearanV
I should feel no older, sure, and certainly more
a man!
A daughter, besides, in the house ; nay , let there
- - be two or three I
We never can overdo the luck that enn never be,
And what has come to the most might also have
come to me.
I've thought, when a neighbor's wife or his child
was carried away,
That to have no loss was -a gain, but now I can
hardly say;
He seems to possess them still, under the ridges
of clay.
And share and share in a life is, somehow, a dif
ferent tiling
From property held by deed, and the riches that
oft take wing;
I fel so close in the breast! I think it must be
the Spring.
. I'm drying up like a brook when the woods have
been cleared around;
You're Sure it must always run, you are used to
the sight and sound.
But it shrinks until there's onlyleft a stony rut in
the ground.
There's nothing to do but to take the days as they
And not worry with thoughts that nobody likes
For people so seldom talk of the tilings they wnnt
to know.
There's times when the way is plain, and every
thing nearly right, .
And then of a sudden you stand like a man witli
a clouded sight;
A bush seems often a beast, In the dusk of a full
ing night.
Imnst move; my joints are stiff; the weather is
breeding rain,
And Dan is hurrying on, with his plow-team up
to the lime.
I'll go to the village store; I'd rather not talk
with Jane.
Bayard Taylor in Atlantic for March.
MADAME DUFOUR.
"I wondkr who 6he Is !" said Walter
Druuimond, looking back as he left the
churchyard.
'Who ?" asked Kate Hyslop with a dis
pleat ed air.
"That lady in the blue and gold shawl,
who sat opposite to us in church," he an
swered. "Oh! that Ted-headed woman?" indif
ferently. "Why she was a stranger, of
course ; what else should she be ?'
"But I wonder who she is, and where
she comes from," repeated Walter with
Insistence.
"Really, Walter, you are very odd!
What concern can it be of yours, and why
should you wonder about her at all ?" re
turned Kate with iciest manner ; and her
betrothed, taking the hint, let the matter
drop.
Hinton, where they all lived, was just
a dull English village without a history,
and Walter's curiosity was only natural,
under the circumstances.
Soon the whole place was astir with the
news that a Madame" Dufour, the pretty
woman who had sat .on Sunday in
the chancel just opposite the vicarage
pew, had taken Elm Cottage where old
Miss Donne had lived ; and that she was
busy furnishing it In a manner so costly
as to be next door to wicked.
The stranger came regularly to church,
which counted for something in her favor;
and she was reported kind to the poor,
and charitable beyond the common run
of even generous folks. Not that Hiu
ton quite endorsed this last trait. It had
its own ideas about excesses of any kind ;
and excess of virtue fared no better at
its hands than if it had been a vice. Lit
tle by little, however, her pleasant smile
and genial manner broke down some of
the stifler predjudices which her stranger
hood and unlikeness to Hinton laws of
life had created ; and after a sufficient
time had elapsed to forbid the appearance
of injudicious haste, the Vicar and his
wife called on her rather solemnly, it
must be confessed, but with a good mean
ing at bottom.
The next step was to ask her to tea.
Kate Hyslop was by no means well
pleased when she heard of this arrange
ment ; and in general, Kate - Hyslop's
wishes ruled the vicarage. But Mr.
Drummond had certain notions on priest
ly duties which not even his heiress-ward
could touch ; and this was one of them.
So now Madame Dufour was marked with
the right brand, and the whole parish
gathered round her and bleated her a
welcome to their pastures. From having
been a kind of exile among them, she be
eame the most popular plaything of the
day; Kate Uysiop alone refusing to bleat
with the rest, or to burn incense at her
shrine.
From the first there was a distinct an
tagonism between these two women :
and from the first Kate hated Madame
Dufour, and Madame Dufour feared Kate.
"She fatigues me with her vivacity;
she sickens me with her theatrical -sentiment,
and her affectation of grace is too
transparent for anything but contempt,"
Kate said scornfully, when asked if Mad
ame Dufour was not charming.
While she on her side said, with a pret-
Kate HvsIoP? Silt! is thfi Irvt-mnlrlnn
bound hi chains 1 bhe makes me shudder
as if she was a ghost."
"Or a detective." said Kate with em
phasis; when some good-natured friend
reported to her what the new-comer had
said.
The word struck. It was bitter and
cruel ; but then bitter tilings and cruel
always do strike; nnd Miss Ilyslop's
sharp surmise made the round of the par
ish underhand, folks whispering among
themselves, "She Is not so far out, Isn't
our Vicar's young lady : and maybe the
detective will light on our fine Madame
some day, at last." But no one said this
to herself, and the pretty stranger still
lived in the sunshine and nourished herself
on Incense.
W alter Drummond's habits were chang
ing. From a docile, steady, methodical
young man, in to tlme.proveibiallygood
natnred If not very 'bright, and as inno
cently candid as a child, lie was fast be
coming irregular, uncertain, and reticent.
He was always out, and no one knew
where; nor would lie expla in when he came
home, silent and depressed as no one had
ever seen him before. Neither his mother's
business nor his fiancee's pleasures touch
ed him.
Kate looked on at this change, and
said nothing. She had evidently her own
mind on the matter; and Mr3. Drummond
who knew her, was quite aware of the
future preparing for her boy. But site
wisely left them to fight it out between
them, knowing that the struggle had to
ome, if not about one tiling then abouH
another ; and Kate had to be crowned
queen when all was over.
" Walter, I want you to ride with me
to-day," said Kate one morning.
" I am very sorry," he answered hur
riedlv ; " I cannot to-day."
"No! Why?"
" I have the boat to look to," he said.
She fixed her cold eyes on him steadily,
and her look brought the blood into his
face.
" Are you going to visit Madame Du
four again ?" she said scornfully. " You
need not speak, Walter, your looks are an
swer enough," she added. " Pray don't
add falsehood to the list of your lately
acquired accomplishments. It is what I
have long suspected ; what, knowing you,
and how weak you are, I foresaw from
the first."
"And what is it you suspected and fore
saw from the first, may I ask?" said Wal
ter angrily.
" Why should I say it? You know as
well as I ; and I don't care to dig in plow
ed ground," she answered slowly.
" I will not allow your insinuations !"
said Walter with vehemence.
'Will you not? But if I choose to
make them?"
" Then I will not listen to t'.iem," he
said.
' Your friend shall, Walter," said Kate
deliberately.
" Kate, you are trying me too far !" he
cried. " W hat folly is this you have taken
.up?"
" No folly at all. Waller on my side.
I will forbear to characterize what you
have taken up, on yours. I only know
the fact, that all these long absences of
yours Jheso mysterious affairs which
occupy you from morning to night meaa
simply that you are spending the time
von rlnnv to na with tliia Vftnlnmo Tinfi-uii.
I sty no more, and insinuate no more no
more at least,' she added wl'h a slight
sneer, " than your own conscience ech
oes."
" And if I do see Madame Dufour at
times, am I not master of my own ac
tions?" said Walter.
"I also of my own thoughts," she re
plied. " You are free to be your own mistress
tor an tune, and in all ways, so tar as 1
am concerned," said Walter indignantly,
a great hope irradiating his face as lie
spoke.
" Thanks," she answered, her monoto
nous voice as calm as ever. " You meant
that for magnanimity, I daresay ; but 1
slmll not accept it. ' I always have been.
and always mean to be my own mistress
under all circumstances ; you know that,
Walter. But we have wandered from our
point will you ride with me to-day ?"
" I told you before, I cannot," said
Walter sullenly.
" Very well,'' she answered ; but neith
er shall Madame Dufour."
She.rose on this and walked steadily
aim quietly out ot tne room, leaving Wal
ter with the sensation that a thunderbolt
had fallen at his feet.
Kate had seen clearly and SDoken truly
Walter had carried to the beautiful stran
ger the inner wealth of:i nature which,
until now, had been given to no one. He
had engaged himseit to Kate Hyslop two
years ago, it is true ; but it was a tiling
that had been done for him, more than
one which he had voluntarily chosen for
himself. His parents wished it : Kate's
fa' her had wished it; and Kato herself
wished it which clenched the matter.
At the best, however, Kate was only to
him like a sister ; not always so nice, and
not always so dear.
When Madame Dufour came, the
chained fountain leaped into life and melo
dy. To say that he loved her is to say
little. It was adoration more than com
mon love. He loved her as he had never
loved before, as he had no prevision he
could nave ever loved at all. And she-
well ! she first plaved, and then she learnt,
He was "her hov." she used to sav with
those sweet lips of hers that looked as if
they had not been in existence more than
twenty years at most Kate Hyslop al
ways said sue was long past tinny, and
"made up:" and the youth lust two
years older than she looked longed to
tell her that, if he was a boy to her in the
humility of his devotion, the nothingness
oi nis personality, he was a man to nira
self in the passion and power of his love.
But, now, what was he to do? Brought
face to face with Kate's not unfounded
suspicion and not unrighteous wrath, he
felt that he must take a step as decided as
it would be final. He must choose whicli
to do; abandon Madame Dufour, or break
with his betrothed ; cease to visit the one
he loved better than his life and if so,
what reason to give her, she who was so
far above him he dared not even hint at
bis love ? or he must disappoint his pa
rents, break his plighted word, and dis
tress one whose only fault was her love for
nun and ner claim to De loveo in return.
At luncheon-time he rushed off to Elm
Cottage, thinking only that, come what
would, he should see her once again.
Was he expected ? Half lying, half sit
ting on the sota, was Madame uuiour,
dressed, as she always did dress, In the
most exquisite, the most seductive man
ner; Indeed, she did not dress, she draped
On a small table, covered with ruby-col
ored velvet, stood wine, fruit, and flowers
and a large bowl of old Venetian glass,
uin oi ice. it was etnereai ioou iur lun
cheon ; but Madame Dufour was ethereal
in ner rood, and oiten snoe witn laugn-
ing scorn of the materialistic English miss
who ate and drank like a man. Kate
Hyslop had what is called a wholesome
appetite, and liked cheese and beer.
"Ah, my boy!" she said with her ca
ressing accent and young-motherly man
ner, and holding out both her hands to
him as, he came in, but not rising to re
ceive him. "Toujours lebienvenul"
" How kind you are to let me come,"
VlrrifMcreiiWal ter, flinging htmself on a
footstool by her side. He was pale and j
agitated, hut hi eves told the old etorv
as eloquently as they had always told It.
"now can 1 ever thank you lor an your
kindness to me?"
" Bv not assuming that I have been
kind at, all," sho faid; "or," lightly
touching his shoulder with her fan. "bv
putting it the other way, Mr. Walter, and
counting me grateful to you."
- 1 lie oung nian Hung back nis head;
Madame Dufour's fair face flushed, and
her eyes drooped at the love that was in
his.
He took her hand and carried it to his
lips. "Better than the wealth of the
world!" he murmured In a. low voice;
but she, playfully pulling One of his
brown curls, said In a pretended anger
that was more bewitching than even her
kindnessi "That Is what you deserve.
naughty boy I You presume too much,
mon ami.'
Just then a ring came to the frontdoor.
"TlensI who can tint be?" She cried.
with surprised eyebrows.
Walter first crimsoilcd like a schoolboy
caught, and then turned pale like a man
before whom is a struggle unto death.
He knew who it was, clearly enough ;
and Madame Dufour read his knowledge
in his face.
So, the battle had come, had It? Bien !
She was ready.
She never raised herself from her loung
ing attitude, but even curled herself
round into softer lines. The tender man
ner grew more tender, the sweet, low
voice mors caressing, the creeping touch
of her long white hand rrtore velvety; as
It flrstpuslied back the golden fringe that
shadowed her forhead, then rested on Wal
ter's chestnut head ; the tremulous face
no longer dimpled with smiles or quiver
ed with sympathy, but took on itself a
mask nan mocking, nan impassive, ana
whollv irritating to an antagonist ; and
then Miss Hyslop was ushered into the
room, to find tbe siren in her most dan
gerous mood, surrounded by her most
switching accessories, witn ner own
lover, who was also her -rival's, sitting ut
her fee'', worshipping.
" Miss Hyslop I how very kind !" said
Madame Dufour, in a pretty, languid
voice. "A rare pleasure, but none the
less welcome," she added, offering her
hand.
" I came for Mr. Drummond, Madame
Dufour; not to pay you a visit," said
Kate, !u her stoniest manner. "Walter,
you are wanted at home."
" Poor Walter ! I hope he Is not to be
scolded very severely at home," said
Madame Dufour, wi'h a mocking accent.
Who wants me?" asked Walter indif
ferently.
" I." Said Rate.
" Your pleasure?" was Walter's reply.
not looking up. t
" l preler not to discuss my allairs in
public," said Kate. "1 want you; tha'.
Is enough ; so, if you please, Waller,
come ; pud e.t once."
" I am engaged," said Walter ; " I can
not."
" Madame Dufour. I must ask your as
sistance," then said Kate, turning to her
rival. " Will you kindly command Mr.
Drummond to obey me?"
" what an extraordinary proposition !"
laughed the siren. "What do you take
me tor, aiiss nysiop r'
" wiiat do 1 take you lor?" repea cd
Kate, very slowly, and eyeing her ktnly.
" Well, I might take you for many things
lor an actress, say; or an adventuress ;
for a runaway ; perhaps for a woman who
ought to.be where ahull I say ? in Mill-
bank lor lorgery, like mat Clara lien tne
papers were so full of just before you
came here ; or I., might take you for an
hones'; woman, intending no evil to anv
one, and careiui to avoid scandal, l on
see, Madame Dulour, a stranger as vou
are may be anything, w no knows I"
tours tace Had not cnmigcd a
muscle, save the faintest quivering of her
upper lip, and the sudden starting of big
drops both on it and on ner brow
" You have a fertile fancy, Miss
nyslop," she drawled out with a little
laugn. jteauy your roii-caii ot possum
Ities is so crowded, I cannot remember
half my probable characters."
Have you taken leave of your senses,
Kate?'' demanded v alter sternly
" No ; but you .have," she replied, as
sternly. "Again I ask, Walter, will vou
leave Madame Dufour and come with
me?"
" And again I answer, I will not." said
Walter, taking the long white hand in his
" You have made It necessary, Kate, that
someone should protect Madame from in
suit : and I will be the one to do so."
" Poor simpleton !" said Kate with dis
dain. " You are a greater fool, Walter,
than I took you for ; and I never thought
you very wise. However, your wisdom
or your folly is no business of mine. I
have done my duty ; and you must act as
vou choose."
you choose,
Without auother word she turned
round, and went out ; and as she shut ttie
street-door after her Madame Dufour sank
Into w alters arms in a violent lit of sob-
biug and weeping ; and Walter, holding
her to his heart, kissed away her tears,
and told her that he loved her better than
life itself, and that he would devote his
life to her service, now and for ever.
" Dear boy!" she said, at length, smil
ing through the disorder of her passion.
" It was worth the anguish of enduring
her Insolence to know that I have such a
preux chevalier that I have such a gal
lant soul from so ungenial a fate !"
And while this scene was taking
place Kate was walking homeward
through the lane, muttering, half aloud,
" I wonder if that shaft struck true ! I
could not read her face. I wonder if it is
she, after all! That foolish fellow ! But
1 will not let him go, all the same. He
suits me ; and he will soon forget that
wicked woman when he finds out what she
is, if she is as I believe her to be. If she
is not "
But this thought displeased her, and
she put it from her to indulge the dream
that she was what a certain letter re
ceived that morning from London in an
swer to one of inquiry from her touching
a suspicion she had enterti ined from the
first gave great cause to suppose.
Kate was so far wise in her generation
that she could hold her peace. Having
shot her bolt, she could afford to wait the
result. Accordingly, when Walter re
turned home late in the evening, she re
ceived him with the quiet stolidity com
mon to her : and neither by word or look
made the faintest reference to the stormy
scene that had taken place at Elm Cottage
that morning. She prevented, too, the re
proaches with which his father and mo
ther were charged; and gained golden
opinions for her own part for the gener
rous affection they said she displayed to
wards one so unsatisfactory.
" Oh ! I know him. He will come back
to his better self as soon as this horrid
creature has gone: and go she shall," 6he
said, smiling, while Mrs. Drummond
kissed her tearfully, and Vicar called her
" blessed among women."
"Madame, "'she said to Mrs. Drummond
two or three days after this, during whioli
they had scarcely seen Walter : nor had
she noticed a certain letter of his, giving
her back her freedom, and breakiur off
the proposed marriage ; "I want you to
ask Madame Dufour to dinner to-morrow."
"My love t" said the Vicar's wife In a
tone of astonishment j "why have that odi
ous woman here ?"
"Do not ask me, pray;" she answered.
"I wish It."
Well; my dear, of course you know we
all study your wishes In everything," said
Mrs. Drummond humbly. f,l am sure, if
you like ir, I have no objection; and I sup
pose papa will have none."
"Thanks. A gentleman Is coming from
London," then said Kate indifferently.
asked pretty Madame Dufour, when the
servant, liroue-bt In a note from the Vicar
age, requesting the pleasure of her' coiri-
pany at dinner to-morrow at nan past six
o'clock.
Walter was startled, too. what did it
mean? Had his father and mother taken
to heart how things stood with him ; and
were thev prepared to receive her he loved
as their own ?
"Shall I go ?" then asked Madame.
"Oh, yes! yes!" exclaimed Walter.
"You wish it, my boy?"
"Wish it ! Do I wisli tu live in heaven !"
ho cried. "Don't you know itis heaven to
me where you are ?"
"But this terrible Miss Kate ; will she
like to see me?"
"Oh ! don't vou know that my mother
would not have asked you else?" answered
waiter innocently. "Kate is tne mistress
of the Vicarage, not my mother."
Ana sue win not insult me agamy site
will not punish me, Walter, for whut I
cannot help your love for me ; and" in
tower voice, a shy, sweet, tremulous
voice "mine for you?"
On his knees before her.his fresh, young.
fervid face turned upward to hers as she
bent so gracefully, so tenderly towards
him, his glad eyes dark and moist, with
the passionate love which at last had found
its home, Walter poured forth his thanks,
his adoration, his protestations there was
nothing to fear, and his assurance of de
fense, in a breatli ; and Madame Dufour,
smiling, radiant, lovely, turned to her
writing-table and wrote her acceptance of
tne invitation on pniK scented paper witn
golden monogram and coronet on tne
top.
' i ou see," sne said, witn a pretty laugh,
pointing it out to Walter, "I am really a
countess ; but this is the only sign of my
state in which I indulge myself. A coun
tess with a couple of maids in a remote
English villager'
The gentleman from London came, true
to his time ; and Kate took it on herself
to show him the one local lion, namely.
the ehur"h, with its old monuments, its
tine Norman arch, its quaint carvings, and
the like. Their 'talk was interesting
meanwhile; but it was not on the things
they went to see ; and a listener might
have heard, " Madame Dufonr," " Clara
Hell," "lorgery," "actress," ".clever es
cape," " known Dad cnaracter," uttered
more than once, nut it caiue at last to a
conclusion, the gentleman saying warmly,
liut alter ail, miss, you nave Decn tne
cleverer of the two," as they turned up
the lane to the Vicarage, to dress for din
nerand Madame Dutour.
Exactly at the half-hour she came; more
enticing than ever, thought Walter, as
lie new into tne nan to receive ner. lie
brought her Into the room, leaning on his
arm, his poor foolish heart bounding with
pride and loy. Kate and his as yet un-
annulled engagement with her were
alike forgotten, as he led his queen, His
saint, his idol, to his mother ; and it was
with difficulty that he prevented himself
from saying out netore tnem an, "Motn
er, take her to your heart ; she is your
daughter "
He did, however, hold his peace, and
only Kate read him clearly, and shrugged
ner snouiuers over tne words.
Graceful and soft were the few
sentences said, in her slow, half-
lisping voice, by the fair faced
stranger to Mrs. Drummond, who
received them awkwardly, half-timldly,
as it conscious of the storm that was
brewing. And then she turned to the
Vicar, and made the old man's eves
sparkle with the caressing charm she
threw into such an ordinarv salutation as
that of a guest to her host on entering.
To Kate the bowed witli a pretty little air
of triumph, and glanced hastily at the
back of the gentleman from London,
standing slightly apart and In the
shadow.
' I think there is some one here whw
knows you," then said Kate Hyslop,
slowly. " Mr. l'lumstead, you know this
lad v,1 think?"
The gentleman from London turned
quickly round.
" An unexpected meeting, Miss Clara
Bell," he said with a cruel laugh, and
tapped her expressively on her shoulder.
One fleeting spasm of fear and agony
transfigured her loveliness to horror as
he spoke; and then the candid blue eyes
looked up straight into his, the swtet,
small mouth quivered into its usual half
shy, half-plaintive smile, the graceful
bodv swept a long, low courtesy, and the
silvery voice said smoothly, "You are
under some mistake, sir. My name is
Madame Dufour Caroline Dufour and I
have not the honor to know you."
Game to the last. I see !" laughed Mr.
Plumstead coarsely. "But the dav of
recKoiuug is come, my iauy, and your
tine airs go for nothing." You have been
wanted lor some time, you know, for that
nitie mistake you made about young
Charlie Lawsonfs name to that check you
presented, uy tne look ol things. I'm
afraid we shan't get much out of the fire
there." he added, in a kind of aside: ' and
now I've found you I don't mean to let
you go again, I promise you. You have
no right to complain ; you have
had a pretty long Innings, all things con
sidered." " Walter! kill him !" shrieked Madame
uuiour, turning wildly to her young
lover. She had no need to urge him.
Already his hands were twisted in the
neckcloth of the detective, when, quick as
tnougiit, Mr. riumstead drew a trun
cheon from his pocket, and gave the boy
a blow that rendered further interference
from him impossible.
" My boy ! my boy! You have killed
hlna !' priori tlm TMiaorahla wswvinn J
ing herself on her knees beside him,
"Walter! look ud I sneak to ml Ttravp.
good, innocent boy, speak to me once
again !" she kept on repeating, while sobs
without tears those terrible sobs of fear
mingled with anguish shook her whole
frame, as she crouched close to the. pale
luce, Kissing it wuoty.
" Insolent ! abandoned !" said Kate, In
deep tones, striking her hands from Wal
ter's face. "Your place is not there."
"Ah! but I loved him!" pleaded
Madame Dufour, with unconscious pathos.
"Whatever l-may be, lloved him!"
" Take her away," said Kate, sternly.
"She has stood between us long enough."
"They shall not take me!" she
screamed ; but Mr. Plumstead bent over
her quickly; and, before she well knew
that he had taken her hands in his, he
had slipped on a pair of handcuffs, and
had her at his mercy.
" Loosen his cravat, throw water in his
face, and keep him quiet when he recovers:
and don't fret, madam," to the poor moth
er who was weening violently on the
other side, said tne detective, as he pre
pared tti pass Cut, leaving them with tlte
uoy lying as ir dead on the iioor wi n no
more apparent concern than if ho had
knocked over a rabbit. It was all in the
way of his profession merely a unit in
n s averages and
he knew lie had not
killed him.
" Now, then; nfv beaittri" ho laughed,
turning to the poor wretch Alternately
cowering and raving in his grasp "to
your house, if you please ; and then wc
win get our nine Dtisiness settled'
so ne parsed out tnroitgn tile village,
so fur consenting to appearances as to
cover with a shawl the golden head that
had so lately borne itself in triumph, and
wnicn was now so bitterly abased, and to
conceal the cruel handcufts that shone
among the bace'ets on her wrists. She
wrts a pritfe worth taking', rind ho was
pleased with his day's work.
Years passed, and Kate Hvslon.- for all
her money and unrelaxlng determination
to marry Walter, was Kate Hyslop still,
and Walter Drummond, a sad, grave
man, prematurely old. and always bear
ing that heartbreak of his about with
him, was living in London, in an isolated
miserable fashion enough, seeming to
have little to do wi'h life any way, and
to have parted forever with happinuss and
hope. Ilia father and mother were dead,
and he had made no new friends. The
only interest he took la any thing was in
prisons and reiorniatones. i nese ne vis-
ted constantly; constantly, too. wander
ed about the lower haunts of poverty and
vice ; or, suddenly changing his method,
he would roam about the park and the
fashionable squares, always searching,
always hoping, and ever pursuing what
he never overtook. His search be
came a kind oi monomania with him ;
but he never saw again the woman he
sought, though day by day he said to
himself now the moment had surely
come, he would find her to-day ; anil
when lie had found her, lie would take
her to his hefirt lovingly, reverently, as
of old, and In his rove he would cleanse her
of her stains. He never thought how
t'me would have treated her. Ho looked
for the golden hair, the fair flower-face,
the sweet, shy smile of the early days ;
and once, when he gave a grey-haired,
haggard, broken-down beggar-woman
half-a-crown in the street, he did not
know why she touched his! heart so sadly.
or why she woke a chord that vibrated in
rememorance, put tnat nad no ecno in
recognition.
At last, one bitter winter's night, he
died. He had wandered restlessly all the
dav. feeling so near and yet so far off, as if
ner lorm was walking witn mm side Dy
side, step for step, as he paced the long
streets for hours ; but he could not sec her
face, nor touch her hand, nor hear her
voice. When the night fell he crept back
to his miserable home, once more disap
pointed and ills mission unfulfilled. His
heart broke at last ; and when they came
to rouse him in the morning, lie was
dead.
As thev laid the poor worn body
straight and fair for its last rest, they
found suspended round his neck a locket
in whicli was a long tress of golden hair,
a date, a monogram, and " For ever," un
derneath. And when a wretched beggar-
woman died of drink and privation in n
police-cell, that same winter, they found
on her, too, wrapped in a worn bit of pa
per that had once been pink and stamped
in gold, a short, crisp, chestnut curl, and
" Walter," with the same date as his
written within ; while a trembling hand,
of evidently later days, had scrawled in
unsteady characters across, "My only
real love. God bless him !" London So
ciety for February.
Cottonwood Sugar.
Every ono in the East by this time
knows that a sugar is obtained from the
sugar maple. This tree abounds in the
Eastern States. As soon as the sap be
gins to move, in the spting, holes are
bored into tha trees, wooden snigots in
serted, and the sap liows out into the lit
tle buckets provided lor tne purpose
This sap is then subjected to evaporation,
and the sediment becomes maple sugar.
In the West, the common silver maple
ot our Eastern cities has been experi
mented with and !' und to yield a tolera
bly good article. Another maple, the box
elder, or negundo, as it is called, also
vields considerable. As these two maples
grow very rapidly, they are often planted
as mucli tor sugar-maKing purposes as
for the timber they yield or the shelter
from the keen prairie winds which they
afford.
It has been found, however, that sugar-
Droducing trees are not confined to the
maples. The poplars yield an article lit
tle interior to tne true sugar mapie oi tne
East : and tha annual product made Dy
the- settlers in the cotton-wood districts
of the West is by no means inconsidera
ble.
The cotton-wood nonlar is one of the
best friends to the far western settler. In
many districts there is no timber except
along the river banks and water courses,
and it is then often confined solely to the
cotton-wood. It forms Ins nrewood, ms
fence-posts, and his cattle-corrals; and
now it appears, as well as polling nis coi-
fee, it furnishes the sweetening to make
it palatable. Although found naturally
in damp places it seems to grow as natu
rally on dry land : and it is used lor snei
ter belts on farms and street trees for the
towns. It grows with immense rapidity.
The writer nas seen brandies which have
made ten feet in length in a single season
while some stumps of trees cut down
have indicated bv their annual rings a di
ameter of two feet in twenty years. The
timber is soit and not very enduring
but. take it all in all. the cotton-wood, to
the Western man, is by no means a de
spised blessing. Forney't Pres$.
A Railway Nuisance.
The English Railway system has at least
one advantage over ours the traveler is
not pestered, every live minutes during
his journey, by venders oi Bmail wares.
There, in each station, the handsome and
weU-suppnea DooK-stan gives the traveler
an opportunity to furnish himself with
the books or papers he may desire ; and
then, once seated in the railway-carriage.
he is secured from interruption. But here
the railway compauies sell the privileges
of the cars to vender, and deliberately
subject passengers to a systematized an
noyance, that, with proverbial American
meekness, is submitted to witnout a mur
mur. Scarcely has the train left the sta
tion, ere a boy appears with an armful of
papers. He is not content to wane inrougn
the train, quietly affording those who wish
to purchase an opportunity to do so ; but
he thrusts his wares into everybody's lap,
and then immediately proceeds to gather
them up. No sooner is the car canvassed
for the newspapers, than the vender re-
appears with a supply of candy-parcels,
and these are similarly forced upon every
one's attention; then comes pop-corn,
.1 - I r. , .N . , ., 1 ... .1C1
Damphlets of all sorts, doughnuts and
sandwiches, prize-parcels in which the
lucky purchaser will find a ring the list
is almost interminable, the Industry of
the small Doy worthy or a better cause,
and the tax nnnn the traveler's natience
and endurance rendered almost intolura-
B,blQ.rAfpleton
The "Three-Bottlc" Times.
Lv tiicw days Scotland would have
been a rich field" for Father Mathow's la
bors. Habits of drunkenness were com-
hnon alike to rich and poor. Tbey were
associated with goodfellowship, and were
tenderly dealt with, even by the church.
The orgies of Osbaldlstone Hall, graphi
cally described in Hob Hoy, found their
counterpart In many a Scottish manor.
The old bacchanalian rhyme,
"He who goes to bed, goes to bed sober,
Falls as the leaves do, and dies In October
Iitit he that goes to bed, goes to bed mellow,
.ives a long, jolly life, and dies an honest fel
low,' was quoted, half In earnest, as apology
for the excesses which wealthy and re
spectable hosts, under the guise of hospi-t-dity,
literally forced upon their guests,
when the cloth was drawn and the ladles
had abandoned the dinner-table to their
riotous lords and mnsters.
I have heard.my lather, more than once,
relate what happened on such an occasion,
when he was one of the actors. He had
been dining, with a party of eight or ten
gentlemen and a few ladies, at the luxu
rious country-seat of a friend who had
shown him much kindness. When the
ladies withdrew, the host, having caused
the butler to set out on the table two doz
en bottles of port, sherry, and claret,
locked the door, put the key in his pocket,
and said to his guests, " Gentlemen, no
shirking to-night ! Not a man leaves this
room till these bottles are emptied."
No remark was made In reply, and the
wine passed round. My father drank
three glasses the Utmost limit to which I
have ever known him to go, though he hab
itually took a glass or two of sherry after
dinner. At the fourth round he passed
the bottles without tilling, nis host re
monstrated, at first in jest, then in a half
angry tone, when the recusant persisted.
Thereupon my father, approaching a
front window which opened on the lawn,
only a few feet below it. threw no the
sash, and leaped out, followed by tliree or
lour ocner guests.
This eiiraged their host. As the fugi
tives looked Daek, they saw him upset the
dinner-table withavlolenfkick, smashing
bottles and glasses, and declaring, with
an oath, that, if they didn't choose to
drink that wine, nobody else should.
The deserters joined the ladies in the
drawing-room, out tne nost did not reap
pear ; and my father, as leading conspira
tor. lost, and never regained, his friend'
ship. Robert Dale Owen in Atlantic for
Dlarch.
rroportion of Cfcam.
Few persons are aware, probably, of the
extent to winch tne percentage ot cream
is innuenced ov tne conditions ot tne cow.
It is a curious fact that anv excitement to
which the animal is subjected causes a
very large loss of cream on the milk. At
cue uarre meeting oi tne Mass. state
Board, Dr. Sturtevant of South Framing
bam, said "Under the same feed, and un
der the same circumstances, the same cow
gave, one dav nine and half per cent, of
cream and another day eighteen per cent,
of cream." Thereupon, Mr. Lewis, an old
experienced dairyman said : "I can tell a
bigger story man tnat. I nave taKen a
cood deal ot Dams to test tne value oi mv
milk that I have worked Into cheese, l
have graduated glasses for the purpose,
and I have found a cow whose uniform
percentage of cream was eighteen per
cent, reduced to six, In twelve hours,
not from any change of food, but from a
little excitement. You gentlemen who
make butter, be careful to adopt mv ad
vice and always treat your cow kindly and
gently: never get her excited, because
everv ounce of excitement will take from
her milk one per cent, oi cream. 1 have
known a cow abused by a furious, brutal
milker, and the percentage ot her cream
went down one-half. It is astonishing
what an effect excitement has on the per
ccntage of cream in the milk that a cow
produces. You will be astonished if yon
will rnuko the test, and make it earelully,
I have known a cow, excited from natural
causes, to dron her percentage of cream In
her milk from fourteen to six per cent, in
twelve hours. o 1 would again repeat,
whoever abuses his cow knocks out of his
milk a large percentage of the cream
it will readily be seen now important
It is to keep the cow quiet and from frurli
ind ail excitement. The worry by dogs
tne hurrying and halloing of boys, when
driving the cows home from pasture, the
kicking and pounding of an angry milker.
or any similar cause of excitement will be
sure to reduce tne quality oi tne mnu to
the extent of several per cent, of cream
This fact is too well attested by many
careful ana experienced dairymen to ad
mit ot a doubt, and the nrst oo ect ot con
corn with the butter dairyman, especially,
should be to see that his cows are treated
with the utmost gentleness all the time.
Ihe bovs who drive the cows home win
make a note of this, and when the spring
comes and cows go outj just mark what
we say. Mass. Ploughman.
A Newspaper Office on Exhibition.
There are some things too sacred for
public display, and among thcra may be
classed the art and mystery of "getting
up" a newspaper. It is announced, how
ever, in a letter irom Vienna, mat at me
International Exhibition now being or
ganized in that city one of the great
sights is to be the interior of a newspaper
office, with editor, writers, reporters.
printers and publishers at work, justas
in ordinary life. The ludstrious Journal
ists are to be shown in a huge glass build
ing, like bees in a transparent hive. The
editor will be seen giving out subjects,
revising articles, and exempniying, wi n
waste-paper basket at hand the well
known rule in respect to rejected commu
nications, w riters will De on view at
work of the most varied kind some at
leaders, others at reviews and a few even
(if the character of Austrian journalism is
to be rigorously maintained) at the incu
bation of canards. To complete the pic-
hure a certain number of important visit-
org anxi0Us to obtain "favorable notices"
or to reiv to lust but unpalatable criti-
clgrag gouid be allowed to appear. It is
to be hoped that the literary performers
will be well up in their parts, that tne edi
tors will wear a becomingly grave aspect.
and that the writers will not be seen paus
ing for lack of inspiration or refreshing
their memories too frequently by turning
to books of reference. Cobbett once ex-
firessed a desire" to bring all the journal
sts of London together on Kenuington
Common, that newspaper readers might
see by what sort ot men they allowed
themselves to be Influenced. The writers
of the Neue fVeie Presse had probably
never heard of Corbett's amusing but not
very intelligent sneer. They, at all
events, are the heroic gentlemen who,
their heart8 are ln thelr profession, pro-
with a love or publicity wnicn proves tnat
nose during the forthcoming Vienna Ex
hibition to do their literary and journalis
tic work in presence 01 as many thous
ands ot sight-seers as can De got togetner
from all parts of the world. N. r. Inde
pendent. Wk may as well throw our monev Into
the gutter, or go fighting wind-mills, as
to try to make our fellow-creatures batter
wnue we neglect tneir pnysicai conui
tlons.
The Yalne of BcaHty.
Aft a i-nnod. sorrlcllltliral mCCtlllg ill
Pennsylvania it was discussed whether it
was worth while, from a monetary point
of view, to ornament farm grounds. It
is remarkable that, of the great number
of things discussed, no question seemed
so very interesting, une woum unn
that such a subiect needed no discussion;
but when we drive through the country
and see so many farmhouses not only
without beauty, but absolutely without
comfort and even In defiance of all
beauty, as if cheerless, miserable condi
tion were actually preferable it is clear
that the question" was not at all a pointless
one.
One speaker at that meeting put the
ma'terina practical light in this way:
If, he asked, we are buying apples in the
vmtlrnt nnrl t nm fii'A c u till il nfl HfifllPP 113
111 (ii o i nave iiv cnn '' " -
both large, both of equally excellent
ivor, both, in fact, precisely tne same m
every respect, except that one is oi a
green, uninviting tint, and the other red
nnd rosy which do we take? Indeed,
there is in every breast a love of beauty,
and In many respects it is all we live for.
We like this world because it is beautiful ;
because the flowers bloom, the trees grow,
and the birds sing ; because our eyes, ears
and all our senses are pleased; and be
cause it is beauty that lends more than
any other element those charms of life
which so delight us ; and, whether we
are conscious of it or not, it enters largely
n all our calculations as to what we snail
buy and what we will own.
To make our homes beautiful should bo
the one object of our lives. The mere
making money is all very well. It is In
d. ed one of the virtues. He who is will
ing to work, and is anxions to make and
to save money Dy nis nam iauur, umy
have vices ; but he is seldom so coarsely
bad as the shiftless spendthrift who, while
ridiculing the saving habits oi parents or
friends, is yet willing to bonow from or
spend money for tnem. But too often
these praise wortr-y, irugai, ana saving
habits degenerate into a rule of life, and
very little happiness or good in any shape
results from the money made. A very
little of these savings a very little time
spent on beautifying one's home put a
new phase on existence; anu we reauy
believe men would live an average of ten
years more than they do if they were to
say once in a while "begone dull care" in
the mere matter of money-making, and
devote a little tune each day or so to mak
ing a sort of Eden of their home and the
surroundings. But it is not so much of
the mere pleasure that we would speak.
There is actual money in beauty. As the
speaker above-said of a beautiiul apple, so
it is of a beautiful farm. As a general rule
a place in which taste is exhibited, and
everything is kept up in nice style, will
bring double tnat ot one in wnicn misery
and ruin rules complete. It is to be noted,
however, that these pretty places are sel
dom for sale. Those who cultivate these
tasteful habits with the view of selling
their places In consequence of improving
them, seem to thrive in every other way ;
and in time come to the conclusion that
they can afford it, and may as well enjoy
life in the midst of beautiful surroundings
as to sell out for other people to enjoy.
The Press.
Romance of a Hair.
To hear a French woman glorify France
and vilify its enemies is to feel your own
blood titigta- 1 heard, only the other day,
of an incident quite -apropos to this. A
French lady, who married a German bar
on some fifteen years ago, and who lives
at Berlin in a style befitting her wealth
and rank, had at dinner not long ago some
lilteen or twenty Prussians seated around
her table. .Notwithstanding her marriage
she had remained French at heart, in the
courso of conversation the Prussians be
gan to bewail Paris, poor Paris, which
was no longer raris, ana to predict time
in ten years Berlin would lie the capital of
the world. She listened angrily, until no
longer being able to withhold her indig
nation she Freed her mind to the etl'ect
that. Paris was Paris yet, would always
be Paris, the most brilliant, most attract
ive, most civilized and artistic city in the
world. Moreover, she would lay a wager
that her Prussian friends might select the
most ugly and the most insignificant thing
they might find and Paris would make of
it an object of beauty, such as Berlin
would not dare to attempt. The wager
was accepted, and the next day the lady
received a small box, whicli upon opming
she found to contain a single white hair.
What could be made of one white hair?
She did not know; but, concealing her
embarrassment, she sent the hair to Paris
accompanied by a letter giving an account
of the wager, the circumstances, &c. In
due. course ot time sne received cue oox
back from Paris And what think you
Paris had made of the white hair ? It had
been enclosed in an open trench of gold,
which crossed a medallion surrounded
with brilliants. At the top of the medal
lion the Prussian eagie in black enamel,
with wings extended, held the white hair
in its claws. Then suspended from the
hair was a little escutcheon in white en
asiel bearing this inscription: "Alsace
and Lorraine. You hold them only by a
hair." It is not very probable that the
Prussians were eager for another bet.
raris Cor. N. Y. World.
Divorce Laws.
We are glad to observe that the State of
Indiana snows sigus of reform in regard
to her divorce laws. It has hitherto had
the unenviable reputation, and that, too,
not without reason, of running a great
divorce mill, attractive to all customers
who want this sort of grist ground at the
shortest notice. The Legislature lias just
passed a bill reducing the number of le
gal causes for divorce, requiring that pe
tioners shall have a continuous residence
in the State for at least two years before
they shall be entitled to commence pro
ceedings in a divorce suit, and also pro
viding that where the petition has been
granted without adequate notice, the case
may be re-opened and the decree set
aside. The purpose of the bill is to
make the law more stringent, and there
by lessen the facility with which divorces
can be procured. The direct effect will
dm a decrease in tne nu inner oi sucu suns,
and an Increasing public sense of the 6anc-
nant. Indiana will be less likely here
after to Invite the temporary residence of
persons who want to find tne snortest
way to break the legal bonds of unhap
dv marriages. If all the States would
adopt a uniform divorce code, and then
each State would recognize the validity
of a divorce decree in every otner btate,
our American jurisprudence ln respect to
this subject would be very materially im
proved. There is no good reason why
such should not be the fact. It would
correct many of the evils which grow
out of the present diversity of legal prac-
uoe. jr. i , inu.epena.em.
Therb Is no outward sign of politeness
which has not a deep moi al reason. True
education teaches both the sign and the
reason. Behavior Is a mirror In which
every one shows his own image. There
is a politeness of vhe heart akin to love,
from which springs the easiest politeness
of outward behavior.
L