.3
it;-.
B. F. SCHWEIER,
THE CORSTITUTIOII THE UMORAltD THE ENFORCEUEUT OF THE LAWS.
Editor and Proprietor.
VOL. LIV.
MIFFLINTOWX, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENN., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1900
NO. 3
I
t
f
i
5"
ft
IJ
m
Captaia
BV B. 7VT.
AAilitaiyomaDeeof.goatylfrieft
CHAPTER L
1 don't and won't believe ltl Ther
must be some mistake. It too bad to
be trueT'
This reckless assertion came from the
lips of a tall girl of seTenteeu, who was
leaning her shabby elbows on a wide, old
faBhiuned window sill, and looking out on
a steady downpour, in an attitude of the
deepest dejection; staring blankly at the
whity-gray sky, the dripping bushes, the
roses like sponges, and the flattened flow
er beds, with her pretty face drowned in
tears.
Behind her, gazing gloomily over her
head, with his bands in the pockets of his
shooting coat, stood a young man. No,
not her lover for in him we trace a
strong family likeness, and notice tha
same rery dark blue eyes and crisp,
brown hair he is merely her youngest
brother, who, five minutes previously, had
burst into the room and abruptly inform
ed her that, "just as he expected, he had
been spun for the army, and it was his
luck all over." On the carpet beside
him lay the Morning Post, containing a
list of the successful candidates, among
whom, alas! the name of Edward Braba
tou does not appear.
"I'leaae yourself, my good girll Be
lieve it or not, as you like," he returned
gruffly; "I don't fancy it will make much
difference at the Ilorse Guards. I really
wish to goodness, Ksme, you would not
go on like this."
"But it was your last chance," she
sobbed, in a muffled tone. "And, after
working so hard, and reading for hours
and hours, with a wet towel round your
head it's too hard."
"Fine weather for young ducks," sud
denly interrupted a gay treble voice; and
another girl, having pushed the door open
with her knee, entered slowly, bearing a
tray covered with jam pots.
She is Miss Brabazon Augusta, known
as (jussie, in the bosom of her family;
not so tall as Esuie, and not nearly so
pretty; still, as she says herself, "she is
by no means an unprepossessing young
person." She has a bright, vivacious
a pair of twinkling, mischievous brown
eyes, a neat little figure, and an Impudent
nose.
"Tears!" she exclaimed, carefully de
positing her tray on tha school room ta
ble. "What has happened? Who is
dead 7 or ia it only on -of the dogs V .
- "The list is out, and Ia been spun,"
replied her brother. - '
"Oh, nonsense!" she cried, with a gasp
of incredulity. "You don't mean to say
so," almost snatching the paper out of
his hand in her eagerness to verify the
fact.
"And that odions young Thomas has ac
tually passed!" she exclaimed, at length.
"A miserable little creature in spectacles,
who could never originate one single re
mark beyond 'Yes, Miss Brabazon,' 'No,
Miss Brabazon,' Thank you. Miss Braba
aon,' that positively dared not say 'Boo'
to the proverbial goosel And talking of
saying "Boo" to a goose, who is to break
this to Mrs. B.7"
"I am, I suppose!" returned the broth
er, doggedly. "It is the third occasion 1
have bad to 'break' the same news to
her, as you call it. There' a kind of
fatal familiarity about the subject by
this time!"
"Mr. Edward, if you please, the mis
tress wishes to speak to yon in the draw
tog room at once," said a grim-looking,
Uderly woman from the doorway; a per
son whose figure resembled a deal board
covered with a tight black alpaca dress.
"To mel To speak to me, Nokea'
suddenly sitting upright.
"Yes, Mr. Edward, to speak to yon,
she answered in tone of decorous decis
ion; a tone which, being interpreted by
these experienced young people, nlen';
"And won't you just catch it, that's all.
Then she must have seen it," exclaim
ed Ksme, in an awestruck voice. "Oh,
Teddy!" .
Mrs. Brabazon ia seated at a writing
table In one of the windows of the draw
ing room as Teddy enters. She is a lady
with a very long, upright back a back
that haa a distinct character and exprea
slon of its own, and that of an ag gres
slve nature. When we look to
we discover that sha Is between forty and
fifty, dark and sallow. "BhJ!
plached together in manner that bodes
but ill for Master Teddy; in fact, her
counlenance is the embodiment of a thun
der cloud, as she waits in an attitude or
Hgid expectancy, with the Time. MjP.d
out before her. her eyes fiil Pr
ticular column, engaged in the amiable
task of nursing her wrath to keep i u
warm She heard the door open and
cEsT she heard his approaching tatepa
moving for f'V'f
Ar length she turned her head slightly to
warS tne culprit, and said In a tone
which had gathered intensity from the
P;.U?.WncePbustnessr' rapping the
naoer before her with an impressive fore
nnrer "rray what have you to say
ZTorfa correct he.
"ft -It i in your nature to be
" , - . working wenu
am
wrsted-
," interpolate
"And money,
sharply. - ne continued;
-And money, as you say. ne
,sd I am very sorry you an
m'uch appointed: but , .
rougher on ue i
, be the eh'' BnreYou'" he cried, glar
"Chlef uter! ,,Ynnery little coffee
,n. at him with h t Joa id,e,
colored eyea. TJJ ?" nl. 1. the
lazy. gooa-ir-"-- me with ini
third time 7 T Suffer, in-
isnie story-"' " that unlucky
Seedi- charging that ha.
word. "It ha. been my P
suffered! Tu must - e P f
to earn your own ""med of httVn!
out delay. I !t With keeping
to support ""Dorian's allowance.
op the place JJU m, hand li
and your sisters eV.
e'ont of Pd pf
still there ia 8"
grabajoi?
CRQKBR
in three thousand a rear. si. Kr.h..
-u, said X eddy, inietuously, his soul
revolting at her hypocritical rapacity and
meanness.
"Three thousand a year! It's nothing
of the sort," quickly turning to him with
a livid face. "What business is the
amount of my income to you? It is my
money," passionately, "and not yours!
I ye put up with your insolence too long.
I wou't have you another week. I've been
prepared for this," pointing a trembling
finger to the paper. "I've heard of some
thing at the West Const of Africa that
Will SUlt. I here VOU Will learn ilulilutrr
discipline and manners, and I never wish
to see you again. I shall write about
your passage this very day this very
post."
"You need not trouble yourself, Mrs.
Brabazon," interrupted Teddy, decidedly.
"I may as well tell you at once that 1
shall not go to the West Coast of Af
rica. I can find work for myself. After
what you have said, 1 would rather break
tones than be beholden to von for a
crumb. I know of something that will
suit me better than the yellow fever."
"Take Care whnt run .!" h nvM.in..
ed hoarsely. "If you get into low com
J Pany, or disgrace yourself in any way,
I shall wash my hands of you and your
aiiairs. xou shall be " here she and'
ienly discovered that Teddy bad depart
ed.
When he left his stepmother's presence
be quickly made up his mind what to do.
He bad failed in passing the examination
for an officer, he would enlist as a private
in the ranks.
He so informed his sisters during the
day, and stuck to his determination in
spite of all their expostulations. On one
thinir he was na ohgtinntA n m mill
' he would not pass another night in the
bouse as a dependent on hia stepmother's
bounty. At 9 o'clock that night he bade
his sisters a fond farewell, and left Bar
rowsford to become a soldier.
CHAPTER II.
Mr. Adrian Brabazon had been an idle.
indolent man, whose predilection was
congenial society, and who, when his
pretty wife died and left him with four
small children, had promptly dispatched
the boys to school, the girls to the care of
their aunt, his sister, shut up at Barons-
ford, and takn -himself, off abaoadila
spent a good deal. of money in an easy
going, gentlemanly fashion, passing as an
invalid, a connoisseur in cookery, a pat
ron of the fine arts, and rambling from
Italy to the South of France, from Paris
to the German Spas, in a kind of peren
nial circular tour. During his travels he
wedded a second wife. Beyond the fact
that she was a Mrs. Jupp, widow, aged
10. nothing whatever was known of her
antecedents,, although the ears of the
Maxton gossips were literally aching for
particulars.
To Bpeak quite frankly, Mrs. Brabazon
was not a lady by birth, nor yet one of
nature's gentlewomen. She was a shrewd,
sharp, scheming woman, of scant educa
tion, who had worked herself up step by
step, and who had recently come abroad
as confidential traveling maid to an el
derly lady In bad health. She and her
employer happened to be inmates of the
eame hotel in Paris as Mr. Brabazon. It
was an unhealthy season, low fever was
prowling about and carried off tha elder
ly Englishwoman aa one of its first vic
tims. Mr. Brabazon himself became dan
gerously 111, and was tenderly nursed
back to convalescence by Mrs. Jupp, who
was a skilled sick nurse, and soft-voiced,
F0ft footed, sympathetic and soothing.
Vague possibilities were floating through
Mrs. Jupp's brain at this period. In ad
dition to a small legacy, she had suc
ceeded to her late mistress' handsome
wardrobe, and made quite an imposing
appearance in soft cashmeres and rich
black silks, and dainty little lace caps,
whenever Mr. Brabazon was sufficiently
convalescent to notice such matters. She
spoke of herself as companion only to her
late "dear friend," and talked tearfully
of better days, far more affluent circum
stances, and bewailed her losses in an
apocryphal mine in Cornwall. Mrs. Jupp
had made herself very necessary to the
invalid; he liked her, he was grateful to
her. She exactly understood his want's,
knew his favorite little dishes, and did
not suffer him to be troubled or bored.
His health was uncertain, he told him
self that he could not dispense with her.
He hated the trouble of combating her
stronger . will, and, telling himself that
be was acting for the best, and required
a sensible woman to look after him, mar
ried her at the English church one morn
ing In November, and, as a reward, his
bride carried him away to Italy imme
diately after the ceremony.
Gradually Mr. Brabazon became more
and more feeble and decrepit, and during
the last year of his life his mind wa
much affected. At first he forgot things
that happened thirty years previously,
the! twenty, then ten, then last year
yesterday. His state was not generally
known beyond the small retinue of Ital
ian servants, as for years Mrs. Brabazon
hnd conducted his correspondence and
managed all his business, and his present
unhappy condition made no alteration in
bis affairs.
She corresponded with her step-childrel :
from time to time; stiff, conventional let
ters, -whose contents might have been
posted in the market place; but she firm
ly repressed any desire on their part to
(onie abroad and see their dear papa. The
miserable state of hi health, she declar
ed in one of her first epistles she wrote
to them after her marriage, precluded
their much-desired visit, although per
sonally she was languishing to make their
acquaintance. At last one day they re
teived a letter with au inch-deep black
border, announcing the not unexpected
death of their futher; and Mrs. Brabazon.
having buried him under a touching and
handsome white monument in the ceme
tery at Florence, disposed of her villa,
dismissed her servants and returned aa
1 a widow to reign at liarousloru.
; The will created a profound sensation.
- Everything Was left in the nanus or airs.
Brabazon until Florian attained his ma
jority, and he was not to come of age
until he was twenty-five. Over the for
tunes of her step daughters and tbeir
matrimonial possibilities her power was
tbsolute. She was sole mistress of tho
property till Florian came of age. and
I "
guardian to the four young Brabazona.
The interest of the money in the funds,
the whole yearly rental of Baronsford,
and the nice, large, quarterly dividends
accruing from the first Mrs. Brabazon's
fortune were exclusively hers during the
minority of the testator's children. There
were no executors, no trustees; all power
waa vested in one person, and that person
was the widow.
"The will of a madman!" shrieked pub
lic opinion. "A shameful, unnatural,
wicked will; most unfair to the young
people."
But after a while public opinion veered
around, like a weathercock that it is, and
gravely declared that when yoa came to
look into the matter, the will gained cy
on you, and that really, after all. Adrian
Brabazon had more sense than they im
agined. It was far wiser to leave the
property in the hands of a clever, sensi
ble person, who would keep the house to
gether, and probably put by the money
the saved for the benefit of her step-children,
and be second mother to them
all, than if everything had gone to idle,
thriftless, extravagant Florian.
After that day when Teddy so uncere
moniously left her presence Mrs. Braba
zon never once mentioned his name, and
maintained an ostentatious deportment
of injured innocence, generally taking her
meals In her own sitting room, greatly to
the relief of her step-daughters, who talk
ed about their missing brother with bated
breath, and minds full of misgiving and
conjecture.
At last, one morning, the news came.
He had done it. Eame knew it from her
first glance at Mrs. Brabazon's upper lip,
aa she entered the dining room with a
bundle of letters in her hand.
"There will be no prayers this morn
ing," she said abruptly, sending the ser
vants back into the hall. "You can all
go! I am not in a fit frame of mind to
go ddwn on my knees and ask a blessing
on this house and family. I do not know
when I have been so upset as I am to
day. I suppose you have beard about
your precious brother?" with a sneer spe
cially dedicated to Esme; and now taking
her place before the teapot, aa though it
were a kind of judgment-seat; "he has
written to you, I know, this Private
Brown, of the Prince's Lancers."
"What!" cried Florian, startled out of
his usual lethargy. "Oh, nonsense! you
don't mean to say that the idiot haa en
listed?" "lie has," she returned, with vicious
energy. "He is now a soldier in the
ranks; a common soldier."
"Well, of all the idiots!" ejaculated Flo
rian, contemptuously.
"lie has disgraced us," continued Mrs.
Brabazon, hoarsely, snatching up the su
gar tongs in a kind of blind fury, and
commencing to make tea; but her hand
shook so violently that half the lumps
were scattered about the tray. "If he
bad gone to sea It wonld not have mat
tered; no one would have known. What
will people say?" she demanded, fiercely,
of her audience. "He had every advan
tage, and I had the promise of an excel
lent appointment lor him on the West
Coast of Africa, as deputy superintend
ent of a jail; but, without a word, he
leaves my roof and walks off and enlists
is private Brown. Such base ingratitude
never was heard of. -
Jussie and Eeme were both in tears,
and. Florian waa slicing the ham before
him very delicately and very deliberately,
with an air of deep meditation on hia sal
low brow.
"Ills name I forbid to be mentioned by
any one in this house," proceeded Mrs.
Brabazon. "I forbid you girls to corre
spend with him or speak of him! Edward
has as much passed out of your lives now
as if his death were in the morning's pa
per. I have desired Nokea to keep all
the front blinds down for three days."
(To be continued.)
At lionK Range.
In the Franco-German war, 1870, at
Gravelotte, the German -cavalry lost 200
horses and 100 men, while their artil
lery lost 1,300 horses andoX) men.
At Thionvllle, a terribly fierce battle,
the German cavalry lost 1,000 horses
and 1,400 men, while their artillery lost
1,000 hones and 780 men; but at the
battle of Woerth the German cavalry
lost only DO horses to 00 men. This
shows that when the fighting Is close
and hot the men fall In greater numbers
than the horses.
From the relative loss of men and
horses you con tell whether it was a
defeat or a victory; for In a victory
the difference between men lost and
horses lost would not be very great,
while In a defeat and retirement the
loss of horses would be Immense.
In a well-contested hand-to-hand
fight of cavalry the loss of horses Is
about equal to the loss of men. When
the British troops were engaged In the
Peninsular war they lost In each of the
13 battles an average of 18 horses to 19
men, showing fierce and close fighting.
On the other hand, the loss of horses
Is very great when the cavalry have to
go a long distance over open ground
before delivering the charge, as they
are exposed to the enemy's fire. At
Fontenoy the French killed 87 British
cavalrymen and 837 of their horses.
Fifty to One.
War is not such a dangerous game as
people think. In spite of all efforts to
annihilate each other, enemies do com
paratively Blight damage. Daring the
Franco-German war, with Its scores of
battles on a vast scale, only 19V4 men in
each 1.000 were killed and 108 wound
ed, while 4 per 1.000 were missing.
Thus any soldier engaged had about
nine chances to one that he would sot
get a scratch, and over fifty chances to
ons that he would not be killed. Most
of the wounds received were slight
that Is to say, one-fourth of all the
wounds were severe, and three-fourths
were slight. But it Is surprising how
small a wound disables a man and
knocks him out of the ranks,
The big- wheel at the faris Exposi
tion is 34$ feet in diameter, and its cars
seat 1,600 passengers. The Ferris wheel
wus only 2j0 feet in diameter.
Petroleum has recently been dis
covered on the Nile, and a syndicate of
American. English and European capi
talists has been formed as a result of
the success of the recent borings. The
discovery of oil is admitted, but the
extent and location of the wells have
not as yet been announced.
A resident of Preaburg, Austria,
after years of experimenting, has suc
ceeded in coloring the plumage of birds
by the administration of food mixed
with aniline dyes. In this way he has
produced red and blue pigeons, and has
imparted to canaries all the tints of the
rainbow.
At a prayer meeting in London, in
which people of various sects took part,
one of the sneakers thus" tersely ex
pressed himself: "What I means to say,
gentlemen. Is this if a man's heart is
in the right place, it don't matter at all
what sex he belongs to."
A man of many callings the huck
ster. -
aRE la always
trouble of one
sort or another
when s woman
meddles - with
those things
which do not
concern her sex.
Obviously, car
bines were none
of Miss Mivart's
concern. If she
felt that she had
to play with fire
arms she should
have kept to Flo
bert rifles. Noth
ing would do, however, "but that she
must learn to shoot a carbine, and the
result was that the whole post rose np
tnd cut Burton, to s man; so that there
was no peace for him any longer In
mat regiment and he had to seek trans
fer to another. There were other re
mits, also, bat they come further on.
Some thought that what Miss Mlvart
lid was done on purpose, and some
thought that it was a piece of idiotic
illllnesa. The latter based their argu
ment upon the general frlvolousnees of
ler ways, and noon the lnnocency of
ier round, blue eyas. The former held
o the belief that Miss Mlvart was one
if those women favorites of Fortune
a-ho look greater fools than they are.
They said, with a certain show of rea
lon. that Georgia Mlvart was a child
f the service and not an Importation
"xom civil life. She had been born In
i garrison and bad played with rows
if empty ,green-rlmmed cartridge-shells
it an age when most little girls play
with paper dolls. She had hummed
matches of the bugle-calls before she
sould talk, and the person she had ad
mired the most and obeyed the best
Tor the first dozen years of her Ufa
ind been Kreutser, Captain Mivart's
rwo-headed striker. A few years of
jonrdlng-school back East could sot
lave obliterated all that.
Besides, the veriest civilian, who has
lover come nearer to a carbine than to
a-atch a Fourth of July parade, might
easonably be expected to know by tn
tiitlon that in a target-practice compe
Jtlon every trigger has got to pull Just
io hard, whatever the regulation nuro
er or fraction of pounds may be. Oth
erwise, It la plain that the nearer yon
tome to a hair-trigger the better youi
tlm will be. . i :
However, whether Miss Mlvart was
fully aware of what she was doing, I
lobody ever knew, unless perhaps It
sas Greville and he, like Zulelka,
lever told. But Burton had a bad time
if It, and all his beautiful score went
.'or worse than nothing at all.
That, though, was the end. And the
teglnnlng ought to come first. The be
rlnnlng was when Miss Mlvart under
took to leam. to shoot a carbine.
There was a target-practice compotl
lon going on at the post; not one which
waa of any Interest to the service, or
even to tha department at large; Just
t little social affair, devised to keep up
(he esprit de corps of the troops and to
Ightcn the monotony of life. There
irere three contests, one for troops and
lompantes, as such; one for Individual
privates, and one for the officers. This
ast was to finish off, and then there
ivas to be a big hop.
Every one knew from the first, when
Burton and Greville shot with their
Toops, that the officers' competition
vould lie between them. This made It
nterestlng in more waya than one, be
muse the rivalry was not confined to
die target range, but extended to the
winning of Miss Mivart's hand and
leart, and every one believed that this
would settle a matter she did not ap-'
ear to be able to settle for herself.
Mot that she was to blame for that.
Iny one. even a person much more cer
In of her own mind than Miss Mlvnrt
ras, would have been put to It to
moose.
They were both first lieutenants, and
loth cavalrymen, and both good to
ook upon. Burton was fair and 8re
rille was dark, but she had no fixed
irejudlces regarding that She lift. I
iftcn said so. Also, both were as much
n love with her as even she could have
wished, and were more than willing
ihat all the world should see It -than
which nothing Is more pleasant and
toothing to a rlgbt-mlndcd woman.
The rifle contest lasted ten days, dur
ag which time the air bummed with
itc ping and sing of bullets over on the
augo. and with the call of the mnrk
irs In the rifle-pits. Only scores and
vcords and bets were thought an-!
a Iked about.
Miss Mlvart herself had bet, with all
nc daring wickedness of a kitten teas
ng a beetle. She even went so far as
x bet on both Burton and Greville at
mce. The adjutant undertook to ex
plain to her that that waa called "bedg
ng," and was not looked upon as alto
rethcr sporty. Miss Mlvart waa hurt.
CV'as It really dishonest, she wanted to
tnow. The adjutant felt that he had
Men unkind. He hastened to assure
ier that It was not not dishonest in
e least; only that It took away from
:ho excitement of the thing to a cer
aln extent Miss Mlvart smllcS and
book her bead. No, she didn't think
t did, because, of coarse, she knew
terself which one she wanted to have
win. The adjutant admitted that that
night possibly be Just as interesting
tor herself and the fortunate man. And
which waa he. If he might ask. Mtsa
tflvart shook her head and smiled
igahi. No. she didn't think he might
isk. As the man himself didn't know,
be could hardly tell nny one else just
yet, could she? She had her own Ideas
about fair play.
"I can shoot a carbine, myself," she
told the adjutant, with her cleft chin
Kpudly raised; "and my shoulder Is
U black and blue. Mr. Burton Is teach
ing me."
"Obi" said the adjutant, "and what
doss Greville think about that?" The
adjutant was married, so he waa out
ti the rnnxdjw. ,
'
"Mr. Greville to teaching me, toe,"
said Georgia; "and here he comes foi
me now."
Burton was safe on the target range,
ever behind the barracks. Miss Mlvart
and Greville went in the other direc
tion, by the back of the officers' row,
over In the foothills across the creek.
Greville nailed the top of a big red
pastobsard box to the trunk of a tree,
and Miss Mlvart bit It once out of six
teen time when she was aiming at
the head of a prairie dog at least twen
ty feet away to the right The other
fifteen shots were scattered among the
foothills.
Then het shoulder hurt her so that
she was ready to cry. Greville would
have liked to have her cry upon his
own shoulder, but, ss she didn't he did
some fancy shooting to distract her.
He found a mushroom-can, and threw
It Into the aid and filled It full of holes.
She had seen Burton do the same thins
that morning with a tomato-can. Ia
fact from where she sat now, on a
lichen-covered rock, she could see the
mutilated can glittering In the sun,
over beyond the arroyo. So she thirst
ed for fresher sensations.
"I'll tell you." she said to Greville, as
he held up the mushroom-can for hei
to Inspect the eight holes he bad made
with five shots, "let me toss up youi
hat and you make a hole through the
trade-mark In the crown."
It was a nice, new straw hat Gre
ville had sent East for It and It had
come by stage the day before. It had
cost him, express paid, four dollars and
seventy-five cents. This, too, at a time
when anything he bad left after set
tling his mess and sutler's and tailor's
bills, went Into stick-pins and candy
and books and music and rldlng-wblpa
for Miss Mlvart But be took off the
hat and gave It to her without even a
I tngerlng glance at that high-priced
trade-mark within. And he felt that It
was worth four times four dollars and
teventy-flve cents when she picked up
(he tattered remains, at last nd sk
rd If she might have them to hang In
lier room.
Then she looked down at her grimy
band and considered the first finger,
rrooklng It open and shut "I think
It's going to swell," she pouted. "That
Is a perfectly awful trigger to pull.-
Greville did what any man might
have been expected to do. ' He caught
the hand and kissed It Miss Mlvart
looked absolutely unconscious of it
She might have been ten miles away
herself. Greville, therefore, thought
that she was angry, and his heart was
filled with contrition. Yet he was old
and wise enough to be a first lieuten
ant He walked beside her back to the
poet In a state of humble dejection she
could not understand. The next morn
ing It was Burton's turn. Greville was
over on the range now, vainly trying to
bring his record up to where Burton's
wan. This time Miss Mlvart fired at a
white pasteboard-box cover, and hit it
three times out of twenty. She was
jubilant and so was Burton, because
she was making such progress under
his tuition.
"That" s an easy carbine to shoot l3n't
It?" she asked as they wandered home:
"it Isn't at all liard to pull the trig
ger." Burton glanced at her, and she met
his eyea Innocently. "It's Just tike any
other trigger," he told her.
"Yes, of course. And Is that the very
same carbine you use In the competi
tionthe one you shot with yesterday,
and will use this afternoon when you
finish up?"
He told her that It waa.
"Well." she said, complacently, "I
think Ita doing very nicely, don't you.
I hit the target three times, and my
first finger doesn't hurt a bit- this
morning."
That afternoon the competition came
to an end, with Burton a good many
points ahead of Greville. And that
night there was the big hop. It had
been understood from the first that the
man who won wns to take Miss Mlvart
to the hop. So she went over with
Burton, and gave him one-third of her
dances. Greville had another third,
and the rest were open to the post at
large.
Greville did not look happy at all. It
was not the target record he minded.
He never thought about that It was
having to go down the board-walk to
the hop-room behind Burton, and to
watch Miss Mlvart leaning on hia arm
ind looking up Into bis face from under
the white mists of her lace hood. He
was not consoled at all when she look
ed up into his own face eves more
sweetly at the beginning of the second
dance, and whispered that she waa "so
sorry."
Now as the second dence had been
Orevlllc's the third was Burton's. That
was the way It had been arranged. As
the band began the Walts, Miss Mlvart
stood beside Greville In the center of
quite a group. The commanding offi
cer was In the group, so was Burton's
eRptaln. and so was the adjutant.
Tbexe were some others ss well, and
also some wotnea. Mlsa Mlvart may
have chosen that position, or It may
simply have happened so.
Any way. Just as the waits started.
Burton, light-hearted arid light-footed,
mow slipping and sliding over the can-lle-waxed
floor, and pushing hia way
Into the midst "Ours." bs said, tri
umphantly. But Miss Mlvart did not heed him at
ance. She was telling them all how
the had learned to shoot a carbine as
well as any one, and they, the men, at
iny rate, were hanging on her words.
"Mr. Greville taught me," she said,
"and so did Mr. Burton." This waa
the first either had known of the oth
er's part In It and they exchanged a
look.) "They taught me with their own
carbines, too. The vsy sam ones
they used themselves In the competi
tion. But I shot best with Mr. Burton's
carbine. He must have fixed his trig
ger to pull more easily; It was almost
Ilka, wbat do yoa caU tt, a halr-trlg-1
.- . 'm'J.i annual iiMaiinnniami Hi nn m
She looked about tor an answer, and
saw on their faces a stare of stony hor
ror and surprise. They had moved a
little away from Burton, and the com
manding oncer's steely eyes were on
bis face. The face had turned white,
even with the sunburn, and Burton's
voice waa Just a trifle unsteady as he,
spoke. J
"This Is our dance. I think, Mlsa Ml
vart," he said.
The Innocent round, blue orbs looked
Just a little coldly into his. "No." she
told him, "I xhlnk you are mistaken. It'
Is Mr. Grevllle's dance." And s!i4
turned and laid her hand on Grevllle's
arm. San Francisco Argonaut
Aa To Plas.
The following Is a literal copy of n
compoaitlon written by a Georgia,
schoolboy, the original of which is now,
In my possession. With all Its e rude
ness the essay shows considerable hon
est effort to learn and give facts re
lating to the subject "The pin.", which
was selected by the teacher: "A pin
la a Tory useful apparatus Invention.
It Is very useful to the people of the
United States as well as the people of
other countries In Europe. It Is used
in pinning dresses and other toilets.
The pin Is very cheap In this town, and
other counties of Georgia. They are,
2 or 8 packs for B cents, and sometimes
sold for 4 or 5 packs for 5 cents. Plus
were first used In Great Britain and
tbey were first made of wire in 1540.
Brass ones were Imported from France
by Catherine Howard. At first pins
were made by filing a point of proper
length of wire. In some parts of
France the thorns are still used as pins.
Supposing a boy was climbing a fence
and he accidentally tore his coat and
be was scared his mother would whip
him If she would see that whole In his
wat but If he had met another com
panion of hia on his way home, and
this boy had a pin, of course the boy
would feel better, and go home on a
sly, and slip In the bouse without see
ing hia mother. Some days after this
tha boy's mother would nothe the
whole in her son's coat of course the
boy's mother ask him about this whole,
and the boy tell his mother the truth
about this, of course the boy feels bet
ter after this, and after the boy re
ceives a whipping he meets the boy
that gave him the pin and thanks him
This Is the good of a pin." Truth.
Expressing His Disgust.
Probably most writers of serial
stories are familiar with the sensation
of receiving letters of commendation
or disapproval from Interested readeri
who are following up the stories at
they appear In their regular weekly or
iionthly Installments. Occasionally
some curious person asks for private In
formation as to what the outcome is
to be, while others offer suggestions as
to the disposition to be made of the
villain, or express a fear that the au
thor Intends to marry the hero to th
wrong woman.
The writer of a serial story in one ol
the popular magazines a few years age
received the following letter from an
lndlguant reader. The names are
changed for obvious reasons:
"Dear Sir: I take the liberty of tell
lng you that I regard your 'Simeon
Stacy,' now running through the Blank
Magazine, as a little the thinnest novel
I have ever read. Furthermore, th(
principal cbaiacter In the story, tc
whom you give the title role, so tc
apeak, la so thoroughly detestable s
man that I have taken the most effect
Ive means In my power to show hi j
contempt for him by changing my
name which happened to be the same
as his to something as unlike It as
possible. Yours truly,
"ANDREW JAOOBSO.N,
"(Formerly Simeon Stacy)."
Indians Gave It Che Name.
M. Perrault gives an Ingenious ex
planation of the origin of the word
"Canada." Giovanni Gnloto, who
also known as Cabot, landed in tlinl
country In 1497, being the fir"t. Euro
pean to arrive there.
After him came some Spanish ves
sols, and in 1.100 Denya, a Frenchman
and Verrazzanl, a Venetian, took pos
session of the country In the name ol
France. At that time, says M. Per
rault the French often heard the na
lives use the Spanish words "Ac."
nada," which signify, "nothing here.'
The natives bad picked up these word:
from the Spaniards who had searchec
for gold and sliver, and who, becanst
they had found nothing, had speedll.v
departed. The French came to the
conclusion that the words so often usee
liy the natives were the original name
of the country Another explanation I
that Canada means a vllluge or a town
- Revue Sclentlllque.
Victoria's Coronation Coach.
Queen Victoria has at her disposal
when she wishes to take a ride limu
merable carriages. Of these the coro
nation coach Is first. This carriage It
unknown to the present generation, as
It has never left the royal mews at
Buckingham palace since 1861. It is
lovely, but cumbersome, was designed
for George III. and every portion Is
richly decorated and gilded. Outside
its panels are pictures painted by noted
artists.
Ch nun Barbers.
The barbers In towns in China go
about ringing bells to get customers.
They carry with them a stool, a basin.
towel, and a pot containing tire. When
any person calls to them they run to
him, and planting their stool In a con
venient place In the street, shave the
head, clean the ears, dress the eye
brows, and brush the shoulders, all for
the value of only half a cent
Feel of If oar Kara.
An English writer, who for fifteen
years or more has been a student of
criminal anthropology, says that large,
voluminous ears are the most marked
characteristic of the criminal.
Waste Material Utilized.
Plna anil hpmlncb fttiimna AnA Aid
logs that were supposed to have be- j
come worthless years ago, are being '
gathered In Northern Michigan to be I
manufactured bate lath. I
If you don't like a book yon can abut
tt Woman do not resemble books.
i 1 1 ulil
OF I DAY
Preached by Rev. Dr. Talmage
e'niijcct: Profligate I.ltrMnr Frit Pnl
llratlonft the Grentoat Sconrge of tht
World -It Fllla the FrUon anil In
sane Asjrlauaa Power of the lrtss.
Corjriftht iwu.1
WAsnrsGTOX, D. C Dr. Talmane semi
the following report of a discourse, which
will be helpful to those who have an ap
petite for literature p.nd would like some
rules to guide them in the selection ol
hooka and newspapers; text. Acts xix.
19 "Munv of them also which used curi
ous arts brought their book together and
burned them before all men. ami they
cnilr'H ih1 price of them and found it
5.MMKI j.it .ns of silver."
I .ml !i;.d been Btirrinc up Ephesus with
son.e lively sermons about the sins of that
place. A'-none the more iniMrtant results
was the fact that the citizens brought out
their bad books and in a pwWic place made
a boniire of them. I see the people coming
out. with their arms full of Kphcsian liter
ature and tossinR it into the names. I
hear an economist who is standing by
saying "Stop this waste! Here arc .-jT."))
worth of bonks. Do yon propose to burn
them all up? If you don t want to read
them yourselves, sell them." "Xo." said
the people; "if these books arc not eoocl
for us, they are not (rood for anybody
else, and we shall stand and watch until
the last leaf has burned to ashes. They
have done us a world of harm; and they
shall never do others harm." Uear the
flames crackle and roar!
Well, my friends, one of the wants of
the cities is a great bonfire of bad bonks
and newspapers. We have enomrh fuel
to make a blaze 200 feet hiiih. M.inv of
the publishing houses would do well to
throw into the blaze their entire stock of
goods. Bring forth the insufferable trash
and put it into the fire and let it he
known in the presence of Cod and angels
and men that you are going to rid your
homes of the overtopping and underlying
course of profligate literature.
The printing press is the mightiest aon
cy on earth for good and for evil. The
minister of the gospel standing in the
pulpit. has a responsible position, but I
do not think it is as res-ionsihle as the
position of an editor or a publisher. At
what distant point of time, at what far
out cycle of eternity, will cease the in
fluence of Henry J. 'Raymond or a Hor
ace Greeley, or a .Tames ('.onion Bennett,
or a Watson Webb, or an Krastus. lirooks,
or a Thomas Kinsella? Take the over
whelming statistics of the circulation of
the oaily and weekly newspapers and then
cipher, if vou can. how far up and how far
down an1 hnw far out reach the influ
ences of the American printing presses.
What is to lie the issue of all this
I believe the Lord intends the printing
press to be the chief means for the world'
rescue and evangelization, and I think
that, the great last battle of the world
will not be fought with swords and guns,
but with types and presses, a puritied and
gospel literature triumphing over, tramp
ling down and crushing out forever that
which is depraved. The onlv way to
overcome uncl'JJP' literature is by scatter
ing abroad th.T which is healthful. May
God speed the cylinders of an honest, in
telligent, aggressive Christian printing
press!
I have to tell you that the greatest bless
ing that ever came to the nations is that
of an elevated literature, and the great
est scourge has been that of unclean liter
ature. This last has its victims in all
occupations and departments. It ha.
helped to fill insane asylums and pene
tentiaries and almshouses and dens of
shame. The bodies of ' this infection lit
in the hospitals and in the graves, while
their souls are being tossed over into a
lost eternity! The London plague was
nothing to it. That counted its victims lv
thousands, bnt this modern pest lias al
ready shoveled its millions into the car
nal house of the morally dead. The long
est train that ever ran over the tracks
was not long enough or large enough to
carry the beastliness and the putrefaction
which have been gathered up in bad books
and newspapers in the last twenty year.
Nnw, it is amid such circumstances that
1 put a question of overmastering impor
tance to vou and your families. hat
books and newspaners shall we read?
Vou see I group them together. A news
paper is only a book in a swifter and
more portable shape, and the same rules
which apply to book reading will apply
to newspaper reading. What shall we
read? Shall our minds be the receptacle of
everything that an author has a mind to
write? Shall there be no distinction be
tween the tree of life and the tree ol
death? Shall we stoop down and dring
out of the trough which the wickedness of
men lias filled with pollution and shame 5
Shall we mire in impurity and chase fan
tastic will-o'-the-wisps across the swampf
when we might walk in the bloom me
Cardens of (io-i? Oh. no! For the sake
of our present and everlasting welfare we
must make nn intelligent and Christian
choice.
Standing, as we do. in chin-deep ficti
tious literature, the question that voting
people are asking is, "Shall we read nov
els?" I renly there are novels that arc
pure, good. Christian, elevating to the
heart and enobling to the life, but I have
still further to say that 1 believe that
seventy-five out of 10O novels in this day
are Imleful and destructive to the last
degree. A pure work of fiction is history
and poetry combined. It is a history of
things around us, with the licenses and
the assumed names of poetry. The world
can never pay the debt which it owes to
such writers of fiction as Hawthorne and
McKenzie and Landon and Hunt and
Arthnr and others whose names are famil
iar to all. The follies of high life were
never better exposed than by Miss Kdge
worth: the memories of the past were never
more faithfully embalmed than in the writ
ings of Walter Scott. Cooper's novels arc
healthfully redolent with the breath of
the seaweed and the air of the American
forest. Charles Kingslev has smitten the
morbidity of the worhf and led a great
many to appreciate the poetry of sound
health, strong muscles and fresh air.
Thackeray did a grand work in caricatur
ing the pretenders to gentility and high
blood. Dickens has built his own monu
ment in his books, which are a plea for the
poor and the anathema nf injustice, anil
there are a score of novelistic pens to-day
doing mighty work for (Jod and righteous
ness. Now, I say, books like these, read at
right times and read in right proportion
with other books, cannot help hut lie en
nobling and purifying, but, alas, for the
loathsome and impure literature that ha
eome in the shae of novels like a freshet
overflowing all the hanks of decency and
common sense! They are coming from
some of the most celebrated publishing
houses; they lie on your centre table to
curse your children and blast with their
infernal lires generations unhorn. Vou
find these books in the desk of the school
miss, in the trunk of the voting man, in the
steamboat cabin, on the table of the hotel
reception room. Vou see a light in your
child's room late at night. Vou suddenly
go in mid say, ''What are you doing? '
"I am reading." "What are you reading?"
"A book." Where did you get it?" "I
borrowed it." Alas, there are always those
abroad who would like to loan your son or
daughter a bad book! " Kvery where, every
where, all unclean literature! I charge
upon it the destruction of 10.01)0 immortal
souls, and I bid you wake up to the magni
tude of the evil.
1 charge you, in the first place, to
stand aloof from all bonks that give false
pictures of lite. Life is neither a tragedy
nor a farce. Men are not all either knaves
or heroes. Women are neither angels nor
furies. And yet, if you depended upon
much of the literature of the day, you
would get the idea that life, instead of be
ing something earnest, son cthing practi
cal, is a fitful and fantastic and extrava
gant thing. How poorly prepared are
that young man and woman for the du
ties of to-dnv who spent last niirht wading
through brilliant passages descriptive of
magnificent knavery and wickedness! The
man will be looking all day long for his
heroine, in the office, bv the forge, in the
tactory, in tne counting room, una ne will
not find hor. and lie will be dis-Misfied.
A man who (rives himself up to the indis
criminate reading of novels -will ho nerve
less, inane and a nuisance. He will he fit
neither for the store, nor the shop, nor the
field. A woman who gives herself up to
the indiscriminate reading of novels will
he unfitted for the duties of wife, mother,
sister, daughter. There ihe is. hair dis
heveled, countenance vacant, cheeks pale.
hands tremhlinc, bursting into tears at
midnight over the fate of some unfortu
nate lover; in the daytime, when phe
ought to husv, staring by the half hour at
nothing; biting her finger nails into the
quirk. The carpet that was pluin before
will he plainer after having wan tiered
through a romance all night long in tessel
lated halls of castles. And your indus
trious companion will be more unattrac
tive than ever, now that you have walked
in the rom a nee t h rough pa rk s with
plumed princesses, or lounged in the arbor
with polished desperado. Oh. these con
firmed no-. 1 readers! They are unfitted
for this life, which is a tremendous dis
cipline. They know not how to go
through the furnaces of trial through
which they must pass, and they are un
fitted for a world where everything we
gain we achieve by hard and long continu
ing work.
Again, abstain from all thoe books
which, while they have some good things,
have also an admixture of evil. Von have
read books that had two elements in
them the good and the bail. Which
struck you? The bad. The heart of most
people is like a sieve which lets the small
partirles of gold fall through, but keeps
the great cinders. Once in awhile there is
a mind like a loadstone which, plunged
amid steel and brass fillings, gathers up
the steel and repels the bras. Hut it is
generally exactly the opposite. If you
attempt to plunge through hedge of
burs to get one bJirkhcrry, you will get
more burs than blackberries. Von cannot
afford to read a had book, however good
you are. You say, "The influence is insig
nificant." I tell you that the scratch of
a pin has sometimes produced lock-jaw.
Alas, if through curiositv, as manv do.
you pry into an evil book your curiosity
is as dangerous as that of the man who
would take a torch into a gunpowder null
to see whether it would really blow ux
or not!
In a menagerie in N'ew York a man
put his arm through the bars of a black
leopard's cage. The animal's hide looked
so sleek and bright and beautiful. He just
stroked it once. The monster seized him,
and he drew forth a hand torn and man
gled and bleeding. Oh, touch not evil
with the faintest stroke! Though it mav
be glossy and beautiful, touch it not lest
you pul! forth your soul torn ami bleed
ing under the clutch of the leopard.
'lut' you sav, "how can I find out
whether a book is good or bad without
reading it?" There is ahvavs something
.suspicious about a had look. I never
knew an exception something suspicion
in the index or style of illustration. This
venomous reptile til ways carries a warning
rattle.
Much of the impure pictorial literature
is most tremendous for ruin. There is no
one who can like goo1 pictures better
than I do. The quickest and most con
densed way nf impressing the public mind
is by a picture. What the painter does
by his brush for a few favorites the en
graver does by his knife" for the million.
What the author accomplishes bv fifty
pages the artist "docs by a flash. The lest
part of a painting that costs IflO.OoO you
may buy for ten cents. Fine paintings
belong to the democracy of art. Vou
do well to gather good pi'-tures in your
hojnes.
Hut what shall I sty of the prostitution
of art to purposes of iniquity These
death warrants of the soul are at every
street comer. They smite the vision of
the young man with pollution. Many
a young man buving a copy has bought his
eternal discomfiture. .
.There may le enough poison in one had
picture to poison one soul, and that soul
may poison ten and fifty and the lift y
hundreds and the hundreds thousand
until nothing hut the measuring liulit of
eternity can tell the height and depth and
ghastliness and horror of the great undo
ing. The work of death that the wirked
author does in a whole book the bad en
graver may do on a half side of a pic
torial. Under the guise of pure mirth the
young man huvs one of these sheets. He
unrolls it before his companions amid
roars of laughter, but long after the paper
is gone the result iray perhaps he seen in
the blasted imaginations ot those who
saw it.
The queen of death holds a banquet
every night, and these periodicals are the
invitation to her guests.
Young man. bin not this moral strych
nine for your soull Hick-not. up the nest
of coiled adders "for your pocket! Pat
ronize no newsstand that keeps them!
Have your room bright with good en
gravings, hut for these outrageous pictori
als have not one wall, one bureau, not
one pocket.
A man is no better than the pictures
he loves to look at. If your eyes are not
pure, your heart cannot be. At a news
stand one can guess the character of a
man by the kind of pictorial he pur
chases. When the devil fails to get a man to
read a bad book, he sometimes succeed?
in getting him to look at a bad pirture.
When satan goes a-fishing, he does not
care whether it is a long line or a short
line if he only draws his victim in. He
ware of lacivions pictorials, young man,
in the name of Almighty (Jod, 1 charge
you !
( 'her ish good books and newspa pers ;
beware of bad ones. The assassin of Iwird
Kussell declared that he was led into
?riine by reading one vivid romance. The
?onsecratcd .lonn Angell James, than
whom Kngland never produced a better
man, declared in bis old age that he had
never got over the evil effect of having
for fifteen minutes once read a bad hook.
Hut I need not go bo far off. I could tell
you of a comrade who was great hearted,
noble and generous. He was studying for
in honorable profession, but he had an
infidel book in his trunk, and he said to
me one day, l)e Witt, would you like
to read it?" I said, "Ves; I would." I
took the book and r?ad it only for a few
minutes. I was ready startled with what
1 saw there, ami f handed the book hack
to him and said, "Vou had Itetter destroy
that book." No: he kept it. lie read it.
He reread it. After a while he gave up
religion as a mvth. He gave up mh1 as
nonentity. He gave up the Hihle as a
table. He gave up the church of Christ
is a useless institution. He gave up good
norals as being unnecessarily st rumen t.
I have heard of him but twice in many
(rears. The time before the last I heard
if him he was a confirmed inebriate. The
ast I heard of him he was coming out of
in insane asylum, in body, mind and soul
in awful wreck. I lielieve that one infidel
:ook killed him for two worlds.
(Jo home to-day and look through your
ihrary, and then, having looked through
,our library, look on the stand when? you
;ccr your pictorials and newspapers and
ipply the Christian principles 1 have laid
iown this hour. If there is anything in
our home that cannot stand the test, do
lot give it away, for it might spoil an
m mortal soul. Do not sell it, for the
nonev vou get would lw the price of
Mood, but rather kindle a lire on your
itchen hearth or in vour hack vani and
then drop the poison in it, and the hoii-
ire in your citv shall be as consuming
is that one in Kphesus.
He that is ungrateful hnii no guilt
but one; all other crimes may pass for
virtues in him. r
Human nature Is so constituted that
all see and Judge better In the affaiis
of other men thar. in their own.
He who fears being conquered is sure
of dT-feat.
Truth is quite beyond the reach of
satire. There is so brave a simplicity
In her that she can no more be made
ridiculous than an oak or a pine.
Tie who shall Introduce Into public
affairs the principles of primitive
Christianity will revolutionize the
world.
You are tried alone; alone you pass
Into the desert; alone you are sifted by
the world.