VOL. XXXIII
-#Martinconrt & Co. Always Lead,#-
Have you been looking at buggies and wondering how they
could be made for the price the dealer asked you? If so,
then call at our store and you will think the manufacturer
stole the material to make them of, when you see good bug
gies for the price others sell shoddy for. We never buy a
cents worth on time. Have been in the business many,
many years. We know what we are selling and tell you
straight. "Never misrepresent or try to get rich off our
customers," has ahvay been our motto anil has built up for
us the largest trade in We tern Pennsylvania. No differ
ence what you want about your buggy, wagon or harness,
c< me here and see the largest stock in our line you h've
ever seen, at prices below what any other firm does or can
make. It won't cost you anything to try it and satisfy
yourself.
Thankful for past favors, we are,
s. B. HARTINCOURT CO.
128 East Jefferson St. Butler, Pa.
T. H. Burton T. H. Burton
Why is it that T. H. BURTON is always busy in his store?
Simply because the people of Butler count}' appreciate the
fact that he has the best selected stock of
Foreign and Domestic Suitings
txtra pants and N'en's and Boy's Eurnishing Goods, evtr
brought to Butler, and sells them for less money.
We guarantee everything that goes out of our store to give
perfect satisfaction or money cheerfully refunded.
T. H. Burton T. H. Burton
* Our July Clearance Sale *
Has made this the busiest July in the history
of this Store.
We will continue to sell throughout July
50c, 75c and SI.OO hats at 15c. 25, 35 and some 50c hats at gc.
25c Quills 15c or 2 for 25c. One lot Quills 2 tor sc.
50 and 75c Silk Gloves for 19c. 25 and 35 Lisle Gloves at 9c.
50c Corsets at 39c. 75c Corsets at 50c. SI.OO Corsets at 75c.
Watch this space for Underwear Specialties.
M. F. & M. MARKS.
113 to 117 South Main Street, Butler, Pa.
*NOTICE>
•»NEW FIRM#"
I have taken into partnership, Mr. Edward J. Grohman, and the
d.ug business will be conducted in ihe future under the firm
name of Redick & Grohman. Mr. Grohman is no stranger in
this community. He has been connected with our house foi
the past seven years, and it gives me pleasure to testify that he
understands his business thoroughly. He is a graduate of the
Pittsburg College of Pharmacy, is also a Registered Pharmacist.
1 take this opportunity to return thanks to a generous public
for the liberal patronage extended to me for so many jears, and
I hope to have a continuance of the same as we are now better
prepared to serve our patrons than ever before.
Respectfully,
J. C. REDICK.
DIAMONDS J KINGS, KAK KIN p lN3i STUDS.
'JD /t rnp £T V 7* I uknts' ooi.d. ladies- gold.
WW ii X K* 11 lU * GENTS' SILVER, I.AIMFS CIIaTL.VIN.
.TYTr iKT'F'T, Q XT" I Gold Plus. Ear Kings, Kings.
** a, ( Chains, Br»c«;lct.t,;Etc.
CeTT.Ur K! RL mT castors. Butler Dishes and KverylDlnr
ww XU f tliftt ran be round in a lirst class store.
RODGn BROS. 1874 } KNIVRS ' FOKKB SI>OG T N R S IPIKPIAXE
E. GRIEB^rk
No. 139 North Main St., Botltr, Pa.
+UTBT STTLf * RST
+6IOD WORK M PRICES^
These are the things "that have enabled mc to build i«) a first-class tailoring trade
during the last year.
We have the most skillful, painstaking cutter; employ none but the very best
workmen, handle nothing but the very both foreign and domestic, and
guarantee you perfect satisfaction in each and every particular, and for all this
cl arge you simply a fair living profit.
J. S. YOUNG,
Tailor, Halter and Men's Furnisher 1 ° p
THE BUTLER CITIZEN.
Liver Bits
I.iko biliousness, dysju-psia. headache, eonsti
| pat ion, sour stomach, indigestion arc promptly
I cured hy Hood's I'ills. They do their work
Hood's
| easily and thoroughly. " I | _
Host after dinner pills. lie
25 cents. All druggists. B B■ ■
Prepared by C. I. flood & Co.. I.owell. '.lass.
The only Pill to tak. with Hood's Sarsap: : :11a.
MILLERS
GREAT
88-CENT
SALE.
WOULD YOU MAKE MONEY?
IF SO.
Attend This Sale
$1.50 Men's Shoes reduced to 88c
$1.25 Men's Shoes reduced to SSc
SI.OO Men's Shoes reduced to 88c
$1.25 Boy's Shoes reduced to SBc
OUR LEADERS GO At 88c.
Men's Oil Grain 2-buckel shoes 88c
Men's Oil Grain Creole Shoes 88c
Men's S Kip Brogans 88c
Ladies calf and oil grain shoes 88c
IT IS WONDERFUL
WHAT 88c WILL DO
Men's Ball Shoes reduced to SBc
Youths' Bicycle Shoes 88c
Misses' Strap Sandals go at 8 c
Ladies' Fine Dongola Oxfords 88c
Have You Got 88c?
If you have, bring it to us
and we will give; ou more for it
than you ever got before. If you
have not got it, borrow it and at
tend this
Great 88 Cent Sale,
AT
Butler's Progressive Shoe Hous*.
hi South Main St., BUTLER PA
C. E. MILLER,
REPS .KING PROMPTLY DONE.
e. i).
|LWer- |
|Wfar |
! Points 1
CO C>o
CO -
OJ fV,
irritatioi) ou
i
OO CO
fittss?% &
OO CO
Moderate cy
CO CVJ
co ijj J/jur<os Hygienic
CO
Un?<d!«rw<tfcr. rxi
ommmiimmM
All grade of rnderwer at very
low prices.
Largest stock of hats and
furnishings for gentleman ni the
country. An inspection will prove
this to any ones satisfacture.
Colbert <& Dale.
242 S. Main St., Butler, ern'a
The Place to Buy
GAS COOK
ING AND HEATING STOVES,
GAS BURNERS AND FIX
TURES, HOSE, BATH TUBS,
FNAMEL AND
IMPROVED WELSHBACH GAS
BURNER,
W. H. O'BRIEN«ON
107 East Jefferson St.
Hotel Viart.
Reopened snd now ready for the
accommodation of tbe traveling pub
lie.
Everything in firet-c bBB Btylc.
MRS. MATTIE REIHING, Own**
M H BRGOKS. Cieik.
Found.
A iadieo pur.-e oa the ihye 1 decree
owner can receive by ddduribiug. ex''
atllG West I>. St. Butler Pa.
lUJTLER, PA.,THURSDAY, JULY 23, 189(».
SY WlLililflfl T. fI'CHOUS.
'ijy' i*9%- ty J 13 Ufplncott Coinjar.y...
XX.
Toor Mrs. Loring was laid to rest in
the Tillage burying ground, sineerely
mourned by the new friends among
whom her life had ended. Her foibles
were forgotten, and only her courtesy,
her kindliness, her generosity, were re
membered. She had done little of harm
and something of good in the world
a bet ter record than can be placed to the
credit of many whose pretensions have
far exceeded those of this victim of a
morbidness of imagination approach
ing hypochondria.
Week after week passed, but Dorothy
Cray was still in Rodneytown, reluctant
to quit the kindly circle whose mem
l>ers had shown heartfelt sympathy in
her affliction. I doubt whether she hud
been able to decide whither to go in
case she left the village. She had no
near relations, certainly none to whom
she would turn at such a time. In her
years of wandering with her aunt she
had made few intimate friends. In
short, she was left without anyone from
whom she might naturally seek conso
lation and counsel. The good women
of the ne'ghborhood did their best t >
take the place of kinsfolk and old
friends; they wept with her in the days
when her bereavement had just come
upon her, and afterward, when the first
bitterness of her loss was past, they
kept her company and strove to cheer
her, after the homely fashion of their
kind. And so it happened that she re
mained with us, bearing her sorrow jif
best, she could.
Xot long after the death of her aunt
I had confirmation of the story Mrs.
Weston had brought me. The trustee
of the estate, the income of which Mrs.
Loring had received, came to Rodney
town to attend the funeral services.
ITe was a lawyer, cautious and reserved
in manner, and supposedly its free from
sentimentality as the desk in his office.
Yet undci the professional mask there
was, after all, something of the emo
tional man, which asserted itself in a
practical way. befitting the weakness
of an eminently practical man.
"Dr. Morris," said he, on the eve of his
departure, "there is a result of this re
cent tragic occurrence to which ytmr
attention may not have been called.
Mrs. Loring liad only a life interest in
the property left by her husband, for
she had surrendered her dower rights.
On her demise the estate passes to her
husband's brother and sister, with
whom, I regret to say, her relations
were not amicable. Though she often
told me that she proposed to lay a-slde
part of her income in order to make
provision for her niece, Miss Gray, it
seems that she utterly neglected to put
the plan in operation. In fact, she lived
very close to her income, and had it not
been for a reduction in her expenses on
coming here, it is probable that the rev
enue coming from the property, cal
culated to the day of her death, world
not have sufficed to pay the outstanding
claims against her. As it is, however,
I find that there will be a balance of,
about SSOO, which will be at Miss Gray's
disposal. It is very little for a young
woman reared as she has been, but, un
fortunately, it is all that she can hope to
receive from her aunt."
"She must suffer, then, for another's
carelessness," said I.
"Atonement for carelessness is too
often vicarious," said the man of law.
"It hardly lessens her misfortune to
rcaJize that it is a common one. Do you
linow whether she has anything in her
own right?"
"Xext to nothing. As I have suid, Dr.
Morris, the case is a distressing one, and
I regret exceedingly that I must be the.
bearer of such bad news to the young
lady. She is very likely to come for ad
vioo to you, and it is to put you in pos
session of tho facts that I have spoken.
A chock for your services to my late
client will be moiled to you immediately
upon my return to the city."
Thereupon the lawyer went his way,
leaving me by no means so disheartened
by his remarks as might have been the
case with a man whose regard fox-
Dorothy Gray was entirely platonic.
He was as good as his word in settling
Mrs. Loriug's affairs, and In a few days
my check arrived. Another valuable bit
of paper reached me about this time
from 6, very different source, one froiu
which it was decidedly unexpected.
Jones, the mysterious farmhand, in
trusted it to the mails not long after
I had seen him safely on a train south
bound from Buissettville. In parting
he had thanked me with a good deal of
heartiness for my attendance upon him,
but had maintained his old reticence
as to tho character of the business which
had brought him to Rodneytown with
results so disastrous to himself. The
size of the check, though, was sufficient
to prove that when he entered Mrs.
Weston's employ he was in a position
to care little for thfe pittance she paid
him. Banks, too, Teesived a substantial
token of tho man's gratitude, but ho
w as even less able than I to guess what
Jones' mission had been.
These reinforcements to my financial
strength helped uio to arrive at a decis
ion, though it was a decision burdened
with conditions. In the matter of for
tune, Dorothy Gray and I were not very
far apart; and surely her position was
such as to encourage the most timid of
wooers. So far, I found clear sailing.
But, once tlds point had been attained
in my calculations, there arose a rem
nant of the old perplexities. Lamar was
still the disturbing factor, for, in spite
pf the deadly malady which had him in
its unrelenting clutches, I could not be
certain of his plans, so long as strength
remained in him to leave his present
quarters shoiild he desire to do so. It
could hardly be supposed that he would
survive more than a year; at least that
was the limit I had fixed, after allowing
him what I believed to lie a wide margin.
A second examination had shown that
the disease was advancing steadily.
His precarious condition had in no way
decreased my aversion for him, but it
had the effect of ending any idea I
might ha ve entertained of resigning my
post. To desert him now was out of the
question. Yet to remain with him
meant a post j>onc.ment of the inevitable
struggle for a professional foothold in
some city, or even of a partnership with
Hanks. So long as I was in the hermit's
employ I must be free to follow him
if need arose. It was my duty, strive
as I might to disguise the fact.
Dorothy and I did not continue quite
the old friendship. There was a subtle
difference in our relations. We were
together often, though she seldom drove
\\ ith me and there were no more boat
ing excursions, but there was some
thing of our former comradeship lack
ing. Sir: u;is.graTer..iiuiet<T. more ab-
stracted. The nionrninp she wore was
no meaningless badge of sorrow. She
was grieving l over her aunt's loss, and, I
feared, causelessly reproaching- herself
for the accident- It was not a time for
me to speak; it was better to wait until
her thoughts should be less with the
clead and more with the living. I had
determined, when my opportunity
came, to lay my doubts :vnd difficulties
fairly before her, and to a*k her aid in
seckiugr a way out oT them.
But many days wore away before the
opportunity was mine. I had asked her
to accompany me to Baf»ettvllle, and we
were riding: homeward from that, town,
with the horse fallen into his laziest
jog-trot. For some little time neither of
us had spoken. She was preoccupied, I
thought, but it did not occur to me to
suspect that any unusual cause existed
for her abstraction. As for myself—
well, inasmuch as she was by my side,
I wa-s fairly content,
"May I ask j our advice?" she said, at
last, breaking the silence.
"Surely, in anything," 1 answered.
"It seems to be best, but I am not
quite satisfied with my own judgment."
This she said as if more in explanation
to herself than to her hearer. "I am go
ing away."
"Why?" I demanded. "Why, and
when, and whither?"
"It must be soon; I've realized it ever
since my aunt's death," she said, with a
brave effort at composure. "I am poor
—I think you know that. I must find a
way to support, myself. I have thought
that perhaps I could be mast useful ;ia
a nurse, and that you could tell me
where the best training-schools were.
The people here have been very, very
kind, but I must leave thetn.
"If you heed my advice you will not
go away," said I. "And as to becoming
a nurse, don't dream of such a thing.
Have, you any idea of tine long hours
of duty, the resi>onsibility, the strain
on mind and body?"
"Yes, I think I understand. But
what else is there for me to do? Be
lieve me, this is no hasty decision."
"But it is one you will never cease to
regret."
"Regret? I hardly think that— un
less I should find myself incapable."
"Nonsense! Pardon me for speak
ing so plainly, but that isn't the point
at issue. The quest ion you have to de
cide is this: Do you wish to devote your
best years to labors arduous, exacting,
often rewarded poorly in money and:
even less in gratitude, only to find your--
self at the end of them broken in health
and spirit ? I tell you plainly you were
not sent into this world to lead such an
existence."
"Please don't discourage me," she
said, almost ontreatingly. "You don't
understand. I want to do some good
in my life, and the way I have chosen
seems to me the best. I cannot teaeh,
I am not a musician, 1 should starve as
a seamstress. But as a nurse —"
"You're the best girl in the world,
and the best place for you is right here."
My vehemence seemed to startle her,
and she shrank a little from me.
"Dorothy, you must not go," I blun
dered on. "You speak of making your:
life useful. Can you not make mine,
happy? You are more to mc than all;
the rest of the world. Without you I—
I—"
Then words failed me. I tried to take
her hand, but she drew it from mj"
clasp.
"Dr. Morris, you are wry kind, but—
but —"
It was lier turn to lose command of
her voice, but she regained it quickly.
"Please forget what you have said,'"
she went on. "It will lie better so."
"But I don't want to forget it. I
want to repeat it. Dorothy, can't you
give me hope?"
"Please don't ask me. Why should
you?"
"You may consider me ungenerous,
Lut I must have an answer. What
shall it be?"
"No."
The word was spoken low, but too
distinctly to be mistaken. I looked
her in the vain hope of finding some en
couragement in her face. Her eyes
were averted, and she was very pale,
hut she was clearly mistress of herself.
In desperation I pulled the horse down
to a walk. I was determined to tell
my tale through to the bitter end, now
that it had been begun, and I desired
plenty of time for the recital.
"Dorothy," said I, finding my only
grain of comfort in the fact that she
suffered me to address her thus, "Dor
othy, I—I —love you. I should have
revealed my secret long ago, had I felt
free to do so. But so many obstacles
were In the way. In the first place, I
believed you to be rich. Had I comn
to you then and made my plea, it would
have been with the feeling that I was
playing the fortune hunter. I saw you
daily, and daily the longing to speak
grew, but I could not yield to it. Not
only was I poor, but my prospects were
uncertain. I was held by a contract
which might call upon me to leave you,
to go I knew not whither. If I broke
tliat contract, I should cut off th«
greater part of the Income from which
I was trying to save something, with
a faint chance that eventually I might
be able to seek your hand with less
suspicion of mercenary motives. Then
Banks asked me to take his practice;
but how could I either accept or re
fuse his proposition? Will you for
give me, Dorothy, if I confess that I re
joiced at fhe news that you were poor?"
"Was that generous ?" she asked, but
it seemed to me that there was no re
proach in her tone.
"It was selfish, purely selfish, all
through. I won't try to make excuses.
It would be hypocrisy to attempt them.
When a man's in love, he's selfishness
itself. After I had learned that one
stumbling block was out of the way, I
determined to end my suspense as
quickly as possible. Yet I waited day
after day—you know why. But when
you said that you were going away,
it was too much. Hampered as I am,
knowing how unworthy of you I am,
Dorothy, I could not resist the tempta
tion. I have had my answer. What
hapj>ens to me after this won't matter,
for I've told you that I love you."
This lucid statement finished, I stared
at the trunk of a dead tree on the sum
mit of a little hill far ahead of us, on
which my eyes had rested throughout
the explanation.
To this day I have a vivid mental
photograph of that gaunt trunk and
its seven bare branches —I counted
them as carefully as if my fate had de
pended upon their number.
"I am \erv glad that you have told
me this," said tli<e girl, softly.
"I'm sorry I cant join in tiie. feeling,"
sain I, savagely. " .>o.ntng is very glad
dening to me just now."
"1 had thought—"
"Well ?"
"I had thought, feared, rather,
that—"
"Well?" I repeated, still staring at
t!ie tree.
"That you were—were asking me out
of pity for my poverty."
"You were mistaken."
There was a pause. I continued to
glare at tbe tree; but, after a little, in
some way the idea penetrated ray brain
that the hand withdrawn from me a
little while before was now more neigh
borly. At any rate, a moment later it
lay unresistingly in my clasp.
"You were mistaken," I repeated. It
was pleasant to hold that hand, even
though the privilege was one extended
to a rejected suitor.
"And perhaps you were," she said,
almost in a whisper.
"Eh! How?" said I, turning to her
in perplexity. Her eyes met mine for
an instant, and a deep blush mantled
her cheeks.
"Can't you imagine?" The words
were hardly audible, but at last I un
derstood.
XXI.
Altogether, my memory presents the
events of the next few days in a good
deal of confusion. 1 went about as
usual.& dare say, visited Lamar, chatted
with Mrs. Weston, regularly appeased
an excellent appetite, and demanded i
slightly unreasonable share of Dor
othy's time; but when I endeavor to
recall each incident by itself a veil
falls, as it were, to end the inquiry.
1 was too jubilant to heed trifles, and
therefore there is now but a shadowy
remembrance of delightful days which
went only too quickly. Nevertheless,
in the course of them we contrived to
agree upon a general plan of action—
or rather inaction, far it seemed wise
to let matters continue as they were
until we could see our way more clear
ly. To an early marriage Dorothy de
murred, not only because of the short
time which had passed since the death
of Mrs. Loring, but also because, as
she argued, a wife might seriously
hamper me were Lamar to resume his
wanderings and to demand my com
pany in them. She took the view that,
considering his condition, it was out
of the question to think of ending my
connection with him. In a year we
should probably be free to go where
we pleased, and then it was agreed
that there should be a wedding, and,
rftor all, a renewal of the effort to es
tablish a practice in some city. My
savings promised to suffice to support
two of us for a considerable time, es
pecially as we were willing to observe
the most rigid economy. Meanwhile,
Dorothy was to rem«.in a member of
Mrs. Clark's household.
I have set forth this summary of the
plans we made, not because it was fated
that they should be carried out, but
because there is a degree of satisfaction
in recalling the making of them. Al
most as soon as we had decided to accept
the situation, the events of a few hours
wrought a complete change in them.
Lamar's case had presented several
unfavorable symptoms, and it had be
come advisable to alter the treatment.
I had driven to Bassettville to have a
fresh prescription filled, and, returning,
had reached Mrs. Weston's late in the
afternoon. Ordinarily I should have
postponed delivering the medicine un
til the morning, for I had little con
'fidence in the power of any drugs in
his behalf; but about nine o'clock in
[the evening, having bidden an unusual
ly early good-night to Dorothy, I sat
down to enjoy a quiet pipe. Smoking
induced reflection, however, and after
a little I resolved to visit my patient
and thus to occupy the hour or two
[which must elapse before drowsiness
'would come. The night air was chilly,
and a keen wind was blowing from the
Isea, making the light overcoat I wore
a welcome addition to my attire. Ap
proaching the knoll, I saw light stream
ing from the wimlow of the living
'room of the old house, proving that
Lamar, in spite of his rapidly-failing
health, was not yet forced to give up
his evenings with his books. A volume
in French lay open on the table when
he unbarred the door in answer to the
double knock which he recognized as
mine. With the caution which was a
part of his nature, he shot a heavy
bolt back into its catch before he re
sumed his chair.
The table was a hepvy piece of furni
ture, the length of it running on the
line of the front door and another in
the rear wall opening into the kitchen,
i Lamar sat in his usual place, to the
.left of the tabla as one entered, with
his back to the fireplace. The chair I
took was at the end of the table near
.the en trace. The room was well light
ed by a powerful lamp hangiDg from
the ceiling. The floor was carpeted.
There was t. bookcase in one corner,
and two or three chairs stood against
vthe walls, but the room was bare of
ornament.
Lamar took the phial of medicine,
and heard the directions for its use.
It was hardly necessary to tell such a
man that there was sufficient strychnine
•in it to make an overdose a very serious
blunder, but, as a matter of form, I
gave him the warning.
"The case progresses ill?" he said,
after a pause.
"Yes. That is why the treatment is
changed."
"The probable limit you mentioned
—was it too great?"
There was no anxiety in his tone.
He wanted the truth, and it was as
r well to let him have it. r^.: v;
''Yes," said I. "Please remember,
.though, that such estimates are mere
guesses."
| "I comprehend. It is a game of
chance. You but reduce the period the
odds favor."
"Exactly."
"To what extent?"
"A month—perhaps two."
"From the original six?"
"Yeß."
Again there was a pause, during
which he sat apparently in no wise
shaken by such evil tidings. When at
last he spoke it was to ask me about
my other patients.
"I'm doing next to nothing," said I.
"As you know, Mrs Loring is dead,
and as for the natives, they hold to
the old doctor. I've made no efforts to
supplant him. We're very friendly.
He's offered me his succession, but 1
shall decline it.'
"You prefer a city?"
"Yes, even if 1 have to begin all over
again."
He fell silent for a space, and then
he asked:
"There was another lady—she Is
young —with Mrs. Loring. Has she
departed ?"
"Oh, no. She will remain here for —
for some time."
"Ah J"
The tone gave no reason to suppose
that he gauged my interest in the
young woman, although I suspected
that he measured it accurately. '
"Have you any commands?" I asked,
rather hastily rising and moving to
ward the door. |
"None."
He, too, rose, with_the intention yf
louowing me to the door and barring
it after I had passed out. His move
ments were slow, however, and 1 had
drawn the bolt and turned the knob
before he was fairly out of his chair.
Jn an instant the door swung back
under a violent thrust from without,
and I was seized by a powerful man,
who hurled me from him with such
.Join t'mt I reeled ugainst the table.
As 1 cai. 0 i t : t for support, I saw
Laniar step back ' v all and with
a motion like a tla.-.: f„; i '-'{ness
press the knob, the use of wuicii he
had explained after my discovery of
the wire across the marsh. Then, with
all his habitual coolness, he returned
to his chair, and sat facing the in
truders.
Three men had forced their way into
the room, and, having locked the door
behind them, were now ranged against
tho table, glaring at I.amar like tigers
ready to spring upon their prey. My
fie hurled me from him with su&h force that I .reeled
agaiart the table.
assailant was of medium height, but
heavily built. He was swarthy, black
mustached black-haired, with a
face which, under the influence of pas
sion, suggested little more than brute
ferocity. He was roughly dressed, in
this respect differing widely from his
companions, whose garments, tliough
evidently designed for hard service,
were of costly material. One of these
men was young, hardly more than a
boy—a remarkably comely fellow, with
clean-cut features and a dark clear
skin. The third man, who seemed to
be the leader of the raiders, was tall
and sinewy. His piercing eyes looked
out from under heavy brows; a long
mustache failed to hide the firm mouth.
There was about this man an air of
authority and a soldierly bearing which
more than suggested military training.
None of the three displayed weapons,
though it was not easy to suppose that
they had ventured unarmed on their
mission.
The peril Lamar had dreaded had
come upon him; the enemy he had fled
from had found him at last. With all
my experience of his marvelous nerve,
I was amazed at the unshrinking cour
age with which he confronted his foes.
Not a muscle of his face quivered. 'I he
only change I could mark was in his
eye; the old look of the fugitive had
gone, and in its place was the fierce
light of desperate hate.
For a time, which seemed almost an
eternity, though probably it could have
been measured in seconds, no one spoke.
Then the tall stranger, after motion
ing to his companions to change their
places—a maneuver which brought the
stripling opposite me, as I stood at La
mar's right—addressed the master of
the house, pouring qut upon him in the
native tongue of both of them a stream
of invectives, as 1 could guess from an
occasional expletive of which I caught
the meaning. As he spoke, half
smothered curses broke from the
others. The man who had thrust me
back seemed to be beside himself with
rage, while I could see the lingers of the
youth working convulsively, as if in an
ticipation of the moment of closing
about Lamar's throat.
When the first burst of passion had
spent itself, the spokesman began what
appeared to be the recital of some ter
rible story. More than once he paused
dramatically, but only to proceed with
renewed fierceness. Withal, he. made
slow work of it—no doubt for the joy
of prolonging his enemy's ordeal —for
his tale was still unfinished when the
only reinforcement we could hope for
arrived. There was the sound of a
door thrown open, then quick stejis as
the new-comer crossed the kitclien.and
then Johnson burst into the room.
With a bound he was beside Laniar,
panting from his run, but quite pre
pared to take a hand in whatever might
be doing.
It was a strange scene that the lamp
shone down upon. There we were,
three to three, ranged on either side of
the table, the attacking force no longer
outnumbering the defenders, but, of
course, far better prepared for a strug
gle. Tliey had blundered in delaying
it, and now for a moment they hesi
tated, exchanging quick glances, and
giving the fisherman an opportunity- to
study them. Lamar sat motionless,
except for his eyes, which followed
eveiry movement of his cliief adversary.
Suddenly the tall man gave a short
quick order, and the youth, stepping to
the door, opened it, and whistled shril
ly. We heard an answering signal,
followed by sounds of some one ap
proaching the house, and then a fourth
man, dressed like the ruffian at whose
hands I had suffered, appeared in the
door-way. The light dazzled him at
first, and he halted on the threshold,
shading his eyes with his left hand and
displaying an ugly-looking knife in his
right. While he stood there, his mate,
with an oath, whipped out a similar
weapon and sprang toward the table.
Quick as the roan was, however, John
"No. »
son was quicker, grappling him and
hurling him hoclc against the wall with
such force that he lay stunned by the
blow. I had had high respect for the
fisherman's muscles, but never had I
credited them with the ability to put
forth such power as was evidenced by
the crash of the burly stranger against
the wall.
Again the defense had gained an ad
vantage, but the odds were still against
it. Three able-bodied assailants re
mained, and all of them now gave proof
that they were armed; for, while John
son was putting his man out of the
fight, the leader and the young fellow
opposite me had drawn daggers, al
though they had l»en unable to use
them in aid of their ally, so speedily
had he been worsted. I dare say tliey
hail revolvers us well, but preferred
bold steel fpr t£e work tliey expected
to no. liven on tnat lonely Knoll a
fusillaile of pistol-shots might have at
tracted attention frum the people of the
knot of houses half u' mile away. 1
know that ti*e blades had a most wicked
look, and that the sweat gathered on
my forehead as 1 waUdied theui and
wondered whieh of them might be des
tined for me. 1 was frightened, thor
oughly frightened; such courage as I
posMestx'd vanished at the gleam of the
weapons, and, could I have fled, not
a moment would 1 have tarried. But
there w as no escape; I was forced to re
main and to see the end, which, though
It involved the defeat of the enemy, I
had no hand in bringing about.
Well-laid plans onoe disarranged are
generally worse than none at all. The
programme of the assailants, no doubt,
had been prepared most carefully.
After posting one of their number on
the landward side of the knoll, the only
direction from which,ln their ignorance
of the line of communication with John
son's cottage, they would reasonably
look for interference, they had od
v anced, and forced an entrance to the
house. Once within, their prey was so
completely in their grasp that, I dare
say, they felt able to go about their
business with cold-blooded delibera
tion. Ido not flatter myself with the
belief that my presence disturbed th»-m
in the least. Hut, while the arraign
ment of may have been Intense
ly satisfying as a prelude to their ven
geance, it was a sad blunder; for It
gave Johnson time to reach the scene,
und to change the whole aspect of the
affair.
Had they pressed the attack as soon
as their comrade was overthrown, it is
altogether likely that one of them
might have reached Lamar; but, un
luckily for them, they failed to seize the
opportunity in the second or two of its
existence. Their hesitation, brief its it
was, meant defeat; for no sooner had
his man fallen than Johnson drew a
brace of revolvers from his pockets, and
when the strangers started forward
they looked into the muzzles of the
pistols. Lamar, too, thus protected,
hot! pulled out a key and was unlocking
a drawer of the table; and presently he
added another ugly-looking weapon to
the array trained upon the foe.
"Sorry there ain't none for you, doe
tor," I heard Johnson remark, "but I
guess we can attend to our friends
now."
For a moment I thought that two of
our adversaries would risk the bullets,
though the last comer quailed at the
first sight of the fire-arms; but even for
them the odds were now too great.
They dared not eveji risk trying to
reach their own pistols. They probably
had no stomach for such a combat as
was now offered them. Reluctantly,
step by step, they retreated toward the
door. Then, suddenly, with an oath,
the leader wheeled about, and, gnash
ing his teeth in bnffled rage, strode from
the room.
"ITere, you two," cried Johnson,
"carry off your wounded."
I doubt if they understood his words,
but his gesture as he pointed to the
man lying unconscious on the floor was
I'loin enough. Stdlenlv they picked up
their comrade and bore him into the
open air. The fisherman followed them
to the door, and watched them hurry
away toward the stream on the north
side of the little hill.
"Come in a boat, eh?" said he.
"That's it; you can hear the oars. I'll
bet they've something to do with that
schooner lying off there in the bay.
Well, Mr. Lamar, they're off, and I
guess they've had enough, thank ye, for
one evenin'."
"It was fortunate they chose to do
their talking first and their business
afterward,'' said 1. "But I think we're
quit of them for some time to come.
The abuse that tall chap showered on
you was unpleasant, but it was mighty
valuable, as I figure it out."
"Did you comprehend?" Lamar
asked.
"No, except that he was cursing you
as energetically as he could."
He seemed relieved at the answer.
"How are you feeling?" said I.
"That's not the sort of entertainment
that does you any good. It must not
be repeated."
"Yet it has profited me," he an
swered. "I am stronger, better."
"But you'll pay for it, I am afraid.
Let me see how you have stood it."
"Not now," said he, waving me back.
"To-night I have work to do. May I
request you both to remain here for
a time?"
"Certainly. We should not think of
leaving you before daybreak."
"That will suffice," he answered.
"For the present, I go to my room."
"Johnson, what do you make of all
this?" I asked, when Lamar had left us.
"Not much," he answered, " 'cept
'twas a close shave for the boss. 1
thought he'd have trouble with that
locked drawer if ever he wanted to get
at his guns in a hurry. Why, if he'd
tried to open it before I come, they'd
have carved him into mince-meat be
fore he could have got to his weepins
He would keep it locked, though, and
you know he ain't a man to argy with.
Lucky I brought my brace along; but
'twas his orders I should, whenever 1
got the call."
"Why did they pursue him to this
corner of the earth? What's the se
cret, anyway ?"
"It's clean beyond me," said he.
"Some furrin feud, I reckon."
"This is never the end of it."
"It won't end till somebody's dead,"
ho answered, emphatically. "Like
enough a killin' was the start of it."
fro BB COSTtStTBD.]
The l)an>ge Smasher's Fate.
First Buggage-Smasher—Say, Jake,
I'm thinkin' it 'ud be money in our
pockets if we'd begin handlin' trunks
more kearful.
Jake—Why wud it?
"Because the more we smash 'em the
bigger, and stronger, and heavier they
make 'em. I've struck three this mom-
In' made out of reg'lar boiler iron. Mo
back's 'most broke."—N. Y. Weekly.
Ruined by His Eloquence.
"How's your son, the barrister, get
ting on?"
"Badly, poor fellow. He's in prison."
"Indeedl"
"Yes; he was retained by a burglar
to defend him, and he made so good a
plea in the burglar's behalf that the
Judge held him as an accessory."—Tit-
Bits.
Measurements.
"I've seen the machine workers," said
Senator Sorghum's emissary.
"How do they feel?"
"Their enthusiasm is beyond Meas
ure."
"No it isn't. There ia always one
way of measuring their enthusiasm."
"How?"
"By the Star.
An Cnlucky Star.
They look upon the gems of nlg?lt.
So clear, so bright. so far,
"My love," said he, "will constant be
Aa yonder steady star."
Cut even as he spoke there came
To botk u sudden Jar-
That speck of light has dropped front
sight—
It was a shooting star!
( r l»val%ag_Plaln Dealer.
TSTo. 29
IN SOUTH AFRICA.
l*ortu ifuoht- flaw I.owt the ImpulM of
UUrovery and Conquest.
In the t-arlv years of the sixteenth
cny.tury, le.n n ' t.'-torv the first Dutch fort
was ere-'.-d at t ape Town, Portugal
had planted her settlers at various
]«>intsnlongtheeast coast from D«lngoa
bay to the Zambesi ;md Mozambique,
says Century. They did some trading
in gold and ivory with the interior, and
they ascended the Zambesi for several
hundred miles. But the pestilential
strip of flat ground which lay between
the coast anil the plateau damped their
desires and threw obstacles in the way
of their advance. They did little to ex
plore and nothing to civilize the inte
rior.
Three-centuries passed, duringwhich
our knowledge of south central Africa
was scarcely extended; and it was not
until some 60 years ago that the Dutch
Iloers. in their slow wagons, passed
northeastward from Cape Colony to the
spot where Bloemfontein and Pretoria
now stand; not till ISM-6 that David
I Avi rigs tone made his way through
liuchuanaland to the Victoria fr.lls of
the Zumbcsi and to the Atlantic coast at
Loanda; not till 1880 that t'.ie v.-.st ter
ritories which lie between the Trans
vaal republic and Lake Tar.ganv \a be
gan to be occupied by the MjuthukiUand
pioneers. All these farmers, exploring
and mining prospectors came up over
the high plateau from the extreme
i southernmost end of Africa, checked
! from tfme to time by the warlike native
tribes, but drnwn on by finding every
where a country in which Europeans
could live and thrive; while the Portu
guese, having long slues IM the im
pulse of discovery and coc quest) did no
more than maintain their bold upon the
coast, and allowed even the few forts
they had established along the course of
the Zambesi to crumble away.
SUBMARINE DINNER PARTY.
One of the Most Singular Banquets Ever
Partaken Of.
Some time ago the labor of deepen
ing the harbor of Clotat was completed.
To celebrate the completion of hia la
bor and to make the occasion memor
able the contractor gave to the mem
bers of his stall and the repre tentative*
of the press a banquet unprecedented,
soys Harper's Hound Table, for it#
originality. The table waa act eight
meters below the level of the aea, at
the very bottom of the harbor, inside
the "caisson" in which the excavators
had been at work, and only the narrow
walls of the caisson beparated thfl
guests from the enormous mass of wai
ter atound and above their heads. The
new fashioned banqueting hall was
splendidly decorated and lighted, and
but for a certain buzzing in the ears,
caused by the pressure of air kept up
in the chamber in order to prevent th»
inrush of water, nobody would have
suspected that the slightest interrup
tion in the working of the air pump
would huve sufficed to asphyxiate the
whole party. After the banquet an
improvised concert prolonged the fes
tivity for several hours, after which
the guests recscended into the open air.
AN AWFULLY LAZY MAN.
Too Lrzt to Work and Slept While Off
KUhlnff.
"The laziest man I ever knew was
Jeff Towson, of Peoria," said J. C. Tap
pan, of that city. "Jeff was too lasy
to work, and fished in Peoria lake,
about three or four miles above Ifie
cltv. Ho was a more constant sleeper
that Dickens' fat boy, and it used to
be said that he slept as he walked, but
it is certain that as soon as he sat
down he would fall asleep. On account
of this habit ho lost several poles and
fishing lines, which caused him to adopt
an original method. lie lay on the
bank, fastening a line to his ankle. If
a fish bit the hook it would wake him,'
and he pulled it in. One day a larger
fish than usual snapped the bait, and
when Jeff awoke he was in the river.
After the; most energetic struggle he
e\er made he succeeded in getting t<j
shore, but it looked as though he would
have to devise a new plan. But he did
not abandon tying the line to his ankle;
he simply procured a rope and fastened
one end around his body and*the other
to a tree, and in this way he has fished
and slept for a good many years sow."
PATENT ON A FARO BOX
Inadvertently One Wu iHied by the Gov
ernment In 111$
During a discussion ewer a satiable
gamc.oX cards a few evenings since, la
which several prominent congressional
people took part, the statement was
made that the faro box, an instrument
in use in every gambling establishment
of the land, had been consecrated by
letters patent of the United States. To
settle the controversy two of the par
ties spent the day hunting up the rec«
ords.
They found that Robert Bayley wu
given a patent May 15, 1812, for a new
and useful improvement called the fair
dealer or the chartae lusodiae. The
letters patent were "under the hand of
James Madison, president, by James
Monroe, se<%-etnry of state, and were
executed by William Pinckney, as at
torney general. In the schedule which
was attached to the patent the ordinary
faro deal box is described perfectly.
Job for a Good Statistician*
It is reported in court circles, says the
London Daily Chronicle, that Queen
Vn-torin will never hold another draw
ing-room in person, as the fatigne
too great at her advanced age. Some
statistician equipped with a counting
machine should figure out the number
of English girls who have been present
ed to Queen Victoria in the course of her
reign.
Phonograph* In TOatche*.
The new watch Is to have a phono
graph cylinder hidden away, and at the
hour and at cnch quarter of an hour
a tny voice will be lieard giving you the
exact time. You will simply touch a
spring, hold the watch to your ear, and
the little fairy on thoHnslde will whis
]>er the hour.
An Admonition.
"My boy," said the father of the am
bitious young man, "let politics alone.
Save your money and invest it in real
estate." ;
"But some men seem to get along
very well."
"Of course. And if your country real
ly needs you, It'll call for you. But
don't throw yourself into the scramble.
Blocks of houses are safer investments
than blocks of five, every time."—
Washington Star.
The Clove Care.
She was talking confidentially to her
bosom friend.
"Now that we are married," she
"John has stopped drinking entirely.'
I have not detected the odor of llquori
about him since our wedding day."
"Was It difficult for him to stop?"
inquired the bosom friend.
"O, no; notatall. He just eats
ne says thatis a certain cure."—Bay!
City Chat.
A Matter of Making t*p.
The wlfo of h!s bosom had bought for htm
Just the loveliest made-up tie
And be only escaped from wearing thai
thin# .
liy eyw/ lie. j