VOL- xxxvii nickel S Footwear! Extremely large stock of winter footwear at away down prices. If you are in need of boots, shoes or slippers of any kind call and see us and we will suit and please you. JSSHOLIDAV SIJP pKRS|- «s*sxs*ews* s*»- ! s^«s^»-®'<SKSKe* ea » ! »<s> < B >s s> e ' Have you been thinking of Xmas, we have a large stock of Holiday slippers—aP the new and latest pattern -J—at very low prices. LAD IKS FINE SHOES. "SOROSIS," The New Shoe for women—The ma- erpiece of the shoemakers art and standard of the wor d. High or medium cut box-calf, tine d >nu' la. enamel and patent lefther, button or lace in light or he ivy soles. Cu-iiuonet turn shoes unequalled for their comfort qiving and lone wearing qualities —all styles. Co mplete stock of The Nettleton fine shoes tor men in .he latest styles. , , Large stock of (Jokey's shoes—High cut, hand-pegged bo t ->e b >ots ami shoes for driller- Our line of school .hues is com plete Gok'jy's high-cut copper toe shoes for boys and high cut heavy kip shoes for girls. We wish to call your spec,a. attention to our extremely large stock of FELT and RUBBER goods which we bought early. We are prepared to ofler you some great >argai..s. Large stock of Ladies' and Gent's overgaiters and Ladies and Chil dren's tine Jersey Leggins. Full stock of sole leather and shoe makers supplies. Sole leather cut to any amount you wish to pur chase High iron stands with four lasts at s oc - Sample Counters Filled with Interesting Bargains. JOHN BICKEL, 128 SOUTH MAIN STREET. - - BUTLER, IJA1 J A j? floney having Opportunities, g S THESE PRICES MEAN S f? BIG SAVING TO YOU *1 U m : JAt KKTS. CAPES AMI M RS-To buy elsewhere is Uk ▼ i absolute extravagance. Nobby Jackets, lined tnrougn (\ Jt/Jkj ou t 85.00, ffi.3o, ->s.co ami ?1". .... 40 rfWS IMush, Cloth and tiolf Capes, SO.OO to lln.OP. JO P7* Misses Jackets and Keefers. to jlO.Oii. \ U VTjTI pine Fur Nerk Scarfs, ja.tX), J3.00. *l.l*l and up. WARM BI.ASKETS The sto"k is larirc and the prices Jf Htt iR are as comfortable as you'll find the .llunkets them- jpl JIL-M■ mi V selves Large cotton blankets, worth <•■<• ai wv. t A \ s.-arlet and plaid blanket", worth J.i.i'o at v-.W. JA 0f t \\U \ \ All wool white blankets, ?1.00, ?4.0u. £."» <»> and JG.On. m \ Vine sanitary grey and fancy plaid blankets, ».!«' J UNDERWEAR. $ m // / \ For Men, Women and Children. U Men's heavy fleeced underwear 50e. Men's natural wool underwear SI.OO. ' Women's tteeced underwear "»and JOC. J0 Women's tine wool underwear *I.OO and am JO Children's underwear in cotton and wool at less prices than elsewhere S LINENS. 5 Every careful housewife worth the name, cherishes j ~ y rt handsome damasks. Vou might as well have the new- ,<4- .-? r est designs as uot. Lots of new ones here. Wo quote .»» just two sample values: Heavy cream damask, 01 1 |^|^.Nf , ; 'J - . '.Jfl: m Fine bleached double damask 4 tts inches wide, all 'J* pure linen, worth $1.25 at SI.OO. IL. Stein & Son,, | £ 108 N. MAIN STREET. BUTLER, PA £ I lit Men don't buy clothinp for the jH I JU (J I yMjUPj]JI purpose of speciiiug money. They p /||>F 1= SWmSiHi Itl desire to pet tbe best possible re- J"*, M.l JL! A. J] H feulls 1< r tlie nif.i;ey t xj,ended. Not / 31* ' cbeap goods but goods as cheap as V MM tbey ceii be solil for nd marie up |l ibirj' .-'t ibc- correct price, call and I \ V(I t f\ cxfinnt e (tit laipe si ick t.l I'ALL . < 1 \ mi'MiMm \!i f V and WINTI:K wiaGHTfc— L \l nam -M •jl LATEST STYLES, SHrtDES uM K E 0 K Fit and Workmanship Guaranteed. G. F. KECK, Merchant Tailor, 142 North Main Street, >= Butler, Pa C. E. MILLER 9 SHOPMAN j Makes a Grand Offer to the Trade. A GREAT REMODELLING SALE. We iVUst Have Money, We Must Have Room. We are a big change in our building. Nev\ basemt-nt new front, another -,l<>ry and a large addition on the rear. Our large ami increasing ir.ide makes it necessary tor us to make this change, and to make this change we need money and room. Ot.r tall goods arc all i:i and our building is packed from cellar to root. While we don't pi'ispose to lt.se any money on these fresh, seasonable goods, we intend cutting • >nr profits so as to m:ike this largr; stock move quickly. To our old ti :de we just have to say to them, we are going to close some goods cheap; they know what it means. TO OUR NEW FRIENDS. We wish to say that when we advertise a sale of goods it ii gc iuin ;,tII r1 • tratle knows it anil approves a:ul profits by it. Wt wish to impress on your minds that just now we are having a Great Sale of Shoes, just such as you need at this time of the year. Bettei take advantage of this sale. G. IS. MILLER. HANDSOME COUCH FREE DON'T SEND IS ONE CENT. Here is an honest offer. You can get this magnificent Upholstered Couch and one half dozen Sterling Silver Plated Tea Spoons FREE. There is no '"f ' hance or deception. We speak the truth and noth "-SN>nK l>ut the truth. We are determined to introdm e " OLICk.M AID" Rennet Tablets for making delicious desserts, into every nousehoKl, and everv ▼ person who will soil only twelve packages, will receive our generous offer of this handsome 1j ph«>l stered Couch, with one half dozen Sterling Silver Plated Tea or Dessert Spoons which we give absolute ly Iree for selling only twelve packages at 10 cents a package. If you agree to sell the 'I ablets write to-day and we will send them by maii. When sold you send u* the $1.20 and we guarantee to send your premium the same day, all expenses prepaid, absolutely Free. If you wish us to send the premium at once with tlie 12 packages of Rennet Tablets remit $1.20 with the order and prem ium will be sent immediately. We arc an old, reliable concern, with a reputation for square and honesl dealing, and we guarantee'to d.» exactly as we say. The Silverware is Ruaranteed silver-t>latcd on pure metal. The Couches are full size, over 6 feet long .tnd over 2 feet wide. They are well stuffed, beautifully upholstered with handsomely colored vclour, and when shipped are sent from the factory by Lreignt direct to your adtlress, TBANJvI.LN rHKMK!Af. Subscribe for the CITIZEN THE BUTLER CITIZEN. Headache Is often a warning that the liver is B torpid or inactive. More serious B troubles may follow. lur a j rumiit, £ i efficient cure of Headache a fc. liver troubles, take Hood*& PBH& | While they rouse the liver, fej full, resular action of the bowtU. M thev do not gripe or pain. do not Hg irritate or 'aflame the internal 01 f r . •: » but have a positive tonic eftect. Ue. at all drusrslsts or by mail of fcg C. i. 11 '■ ■' CATARRH LOCAL* DISEASE and is the result cf col !" i.na i^B: COLD sudden climatic change*. W9, For your Protection KHtffEVEft QjZ i we positively state ti*at t'..3 Bl remedy does n>»t cont.rn fcj . i©?- mercury or any other injur- Ely's Cream Baim is acknowledged to be the most thorough cure for Nasal ( atarrh,Co!d in Head and J lay Fever of a.l remedies. It opens ar.d c ;nses the nasal passages, allays pain ana inflammation, heals the sores, pro tects the membrane from colds restores thn sens 3 of taste and smell. Price 6«v. nr Druggists or by mail. ELY UKOTH£US, 6* Warren Street, New lurk. \ Tee Cure that Ceres / $ Coughs, \ Golds, ji ,1) Grippe, (k \ Whooping Cough, As*hma, I s\ Bronchitis and Incipient A CJ Consul-notion, is \ O /J \ "I k The AIRMAN remedy* (I V Cures •axvd VUTVQ J Butler Savings Bank . .m t le- r". Pa. Capita] f6o,uuo.<* Surplus . n<l Profits - - *200,000 co JOS. L Pl'KVlis President J. HENRY TROIJTMAN Vice-President WM.CAMPREI-L Jr r s' l ;"' r LOUIS B. STV.N DIRECTORS -Ifiseph' I. nrvtb, .1. He: r Tnv.traan. W. I> Ur».n<io»i. w. *■ Stein .1 v CamDbell. The Kutler Savings Hank is the Oltiest Ranking Institution', n Butler County. General banking business transacted. We solicit accounts of «il prcducers. mer :hants. farmers, and others. Allboslntss entrusted to us will receive ironistattention. InrereK* paWl on tiin* deposit s. ________ T M K Buticr County National Bank, Hvitier Penn, Capital paiil in - - S2OO, cro.i Surplus and Profits - f6", coo.o fos. Hurtman, President; J. V. Ruts, Vice President; John G. McMarlitr, Cashier, A. G. Krug, Ass't Ca-hier A general banking business transacted. I uteres 1 paid On time deposits. Money 1 janed ou approved security. We invite you to open an account witli this 3.ink. , „ DIRECTORS— Hon. Joseph Ilartman, Hon. W. y. Waldron, I>r. \. M. Hoover. ll■ Mf 'weeney. C. I'. Collins I. G. Smith. Leslie 1* Hazlett, M. Firiegiri. \Y. 11. Larkin, Harry Heaslcy, Dr. W. C. McCandless. Hen vi-.. wth. \V. J. Marks. J. \ T . Kitts. A. L. Kelbei THE Farmers' National Bank, BUTLER, PENN'A. CAPITAL PAID IN, Sioo.oco.oo. Foreign exchange bought, and sold. Special attention given to collections. OFFICERS: JOFN VOUNKINS President JOHN HI'MPIIREV Vice President 3. A. HA 1 LEV Cashier B. W. BINGHAM Assistanl Casl.h r I. I HUTZLER Tell, r DIRECTORS. John Younklns. I>. L. Cleeland. E. E. Muaras. C. N. Boyd, W. F. Metzger, Henry llllir, John Humphrey. Thus. Hays, Lev VI. Wise and I raie-is Murphy. I uteri s! paid on time deposits. We respectfully solicit your business. A Safe Soap When a woman hangs si out the clothes after a wash with WALKER'S SOAP she knows they are unin jured by alkali. There's no free alkali in Walker's Soap. Look for the r-Jfflfaroost'r on the wrupprr. Y\ OO a P ostal card to Dnllr ° rcail u p n ° 4> "I IWI of tlie People's l'iione or l)ciI 122-3 and W. B. McGEARY'S aew wagon,'ruunlng'tojaml from Mis Steam Carpet-Cleaning istablishment, will call your house take away your dirty carpets anil return ;hem in a day or two as clean as new. All on a summer morning—Carpets, ruga and curtains thoroughly cleaned otj short notice. L. C. WICK, DEALER IN LUfIBER. BL'TLEH, PA., THURSDAY, DKCKMBER 13. ISOO FL JOHN TOPP^FIRATEII *l* * ' is-*-*"!? B '* i* .—mm . . I j !»■ | By Weatherby Chcsney and Alick Muaro. ] T * J A • OOPYIUOHT, 1900. BV WEAHIERBY CHESNF.V AND ALICK MTSLIA T - ? LLXU-THATIOX3 BY H. C. CO'JLTAS. I -» *- * • w Jlf ■»■■' "« «»»»«» « V <•'* <•." <• "* <•" 2%,+x CHAPTER XIV. A cold gray dawn at length lighted up the wreck, and as the chilly rays ruddied ami grew warmer the violence of the gale began to moderate and the crested seas lost their cruel whiteness. The stern half of the galley had been torn away by the heavy surf and crum pled up like a sea urchin's shell, and with it most of the heavily armored Spanish officers had disappeared. Per haps a score, too. of the slaves had been washed away and drowned and with them three or four of the soldiers who had rushed into the waist when we struck. Of the English, howevfcr, not a man was missing. Used to truck , ''l bfi A ■U W© VLO 1 F 'The licit r s shttlliiu.' stint luh "ShuLl ICC tjtt it shift f ing with the ocean they had scrambled to what i' -itsnct was a coign of safety anil now « :;;ste:ed. a brawny, well armed group i.ti I lie forecastle head A short .-aliie oil from where we were weiiu'd the land rose high and jiry a small island, so far as we could make out in tin* as yet uncertain light. "The water's shallow." said .lob Tre balion with his Iwoadest grin. "Shall we go ashore, captcin?" "We can wade most of the way," said I. "and. for the rest, those who can't swim can raft themselves on planks. There are plenty of them floating about." "What about sharks?" observed Alec. "Oh. ho. ho!" chuckled the old man. "Never fear the sharks They've en joyed a good meal of fat Spaniard; they won't be hungry for lean Eng lishmen See. I'll give a lead." And Into the water he flopped and paddled With liis arms to the shore. The rest of us followed. 3ome swim- Ming. some on fragments o" wreckage, and in a short time all got safely to land. It was a small island about two miles iu girth that we had been cast on. and the myriad sea fowl circling around our heads showed us there was little danger of starvation. But as there was no pond or stream in sight half of us scattered in search of fresh watqr, while the rest busied them selves on the shore or in the surf, lay ing hold of any bits of wreckage that might drift within reach. Spanish bandit aud Spanish soldier worked cheerfully beside the Eugiish sailor, and no one could have told that a dozen hours ago they were flying at one another's throats. But, though we had by no means ceased to regard the Spaniards as prisoners, the pressing need of the moment thrust party ran cors Into the shade. We were all ship wrecked. and for the time everything else was of minor moment. The blazing sun quickly dried what ever we wore abje to rescue from the water, so we were soon in a position to light u fire with which to cook the sen fowl which some of us had caught. Before nightfall we had a goodly array of those hanging on spits before two huge fires and scores of fresh eggs roasting in the embers. "Better food this than you've I n accustomed to of late," cried the old man, as he threw down a carcass from which he had been tearing they tough, -fishy fiber with his teeth. "But the sea fowl will soon become scary if we stay here long, and then we shall have to take to barbecued Spaniard. Oh, ho, ho! A juicy morsel, iudeed!" I turned from the old ghoul with a gesture of horror. He noticed it, and I thought he winced. "Ah, ha, ha! Jack, how do you like the prospect?" he inquired bauteringly. "Oh, ho! I'd give another toe nail, if the torment chamber had left me one, to see those great jaws of yours mum bling over a rib of fat Spanish mut ton." "Peace, cannibal," said I. "The sea fowl will last us for many a long day, and when they're gone we can live on slielllish." "Nay, but the old man's right. Mas ter Topp," growled Jan Pengony's deep voice. "Gulls soon gets scary, an fish is bad to depend on, let alone being thin sort o' food to fight on at the best o' times." "Then," said Alec decidedly, "the sooner we get away from here the bet ter. There are six other Islands clus tered uear us. One is a mere wave washed rock; four are, I think, about the size of this, and one, which lies some league and a half to the south east, appears to be of considerable size." "Aye, captain, if we had a boat to reach it," put in Pengony. "We have what's as good—the ma terial for a raft." replied Alec. "Now, I think that the first thing to be done is for a suiail party of us to raft it across to that larger island, and see what prospect it offers. If bad, we are no worse off than before, and can come back and rnak" H larger raft on which we may attempt t lie voyage to the Spanish main itself. And once there, and in the neighborhood of Spanish towns, we shall be able to improve our fortunes by a sufficiently geuerous use of our English muscle." "We'll help ourselves and spoil the thieving dons, no fear, captain," ob served one of the men. "But if that's to be our venture what call to go over to tiie large Island at all?" "Because I hope we may find a ship there, or even a town. I have heard that the Spaniards have pearl fisheries hereabout, which ought to prove an easy quarry for us, while the other plan may meau a long, tiresome hunt lasting for months." "Axing your pardon, captain," said another, "but wouldn't it be best to build the big raft straight away? If there's Spaniards on that there island, why, then, the more of us as there is to tackle 'em the hettc an if there bain't, why, we can just go straight on." "No," said Alec; "a raft large enough to carry all of us would be heavy to handle and far too conspicuous. I pro pose to build a light vessel, just big enough for four, without being cum bersome. In this we could go across quickly by night and land unobserved, while a larger raft, sluggish in its movements, would certainly be seen if the island is inhabited, and an arque btisier or a couple of archers could pick us off one by one before we got a chance of landing." "Oh. ho. ho!" put in the old man at this point. "The youngster's got some sense in him after all! Do as your cap tain tells you, you dolts, and If he lands you all in heaven you can say it's the old man's fault!" The men said no more, for they yield ed to the old dotard's counsel when an other. and he a man of unimpaired brain, might not have succeeded in persuading them. Even I felt more comfortable now that the plan bad been approved by this uncanny author ity. The discussion was closed, for no one iiad anything more to say. We set a watch to guard against possible at tempts ou the part of our prisoners and addressed ourselves to slumber. During the next day a small raft was made, and when uight fell four of us embarked on it. Alec and myself, with lan Pengony and apotber—the two last being enormously powerful men—form id the crew, and after we had cautious ly paddled out through the re#f we set a rag of sail and steered a course by the stars. The sea was smooth, the wind was dead aft. and. slipping through the water at about a knot and a half an hour, we made the island a little before midnight The surf broke at the foot of tall, forbidding cliffs, and as there appeared no place for a land ing we lowered the sail and. taking to our paddles, worked round to the southward. In about a mile we came ipon a scran of shelving bench upon which, alt r much trouble, we drew the raft, ana then h»»t out to explore. It wu.» mighty hard work scaling the cliff, and all our nii:ib!eness was need ed to keep clear of falls. But we reach ed the top at last and at once found ourselves in a tangled liaue bound for est, through which it was furiously hard work to press a passage. It did not, however, extend very far. and presently we came out Into the open. The sea fowl were not quite so nu merous as on Galley island, but there Were gay pluma;;ed parrots and other land birds in abundance. There were traces, too, of four footed beasts, and presently we flushed from a piece of swamp a tine drove of pigs, which made our mouths water and our heels, itch to give chase. This, however. Alec forbade, saying that hunting cries might be dangerous if there were Span iards in the neighborhood. He bade i'f walk prudently, therefore, rove our eyes and kennel our tongues. "Why all this caution?" said I with a laugh. "There's never live toed foot troddeu these thickets siuee deluge time." "Very possibly. Jack. But have you no*' sense besides those keen eyes of yours? Turn your nose up wind, man." "Well?" "Now Sniff." "There's nothing but a smell of heat ed marsh and rotting leaves, with a sprinkling of pungent flower odors ev ery now and again." "Yes? And what bush do you think those same flowers grow on, Jack?" "How should I know? I never learn ed their outlandish names. Firetree perhaps. It smells something like smoke." "Something like smoke?" replied Alec dryly. "Why, it Is smoke!" "Aye. smoke sure enough. I saw a thin blue wreath of It floating up above the clump of bushes ahead there not a minute since. Look! There goes an other!" "Phew!" said I. "Philistines, for an emperor's ransom!" "Exactly." said Alec, "and therefore It seems to me we had better advance carefully and reconnoiter their position. They may be only one or two. or they may be hundreds. So forward to the bushes. Keep the cover of the long grass as much as possible and be ready to duck down your sconces smartly if any one puts in an appearance. There's no use In bringing the whole rookery round our oars by carelessness." "Aye. aye, captain," said Jan Pen gonv. with a grin. "Trust me an Garge here for that. We haven't forgotten how a Dartmouth deer's poached yet. an we've got the wind o' this un. so It's as easy as making a riled Spaniard swear." We went on again through the rank vegetation, startling more pigs and keeping a bright lookout for chance snakes, but not a trace of Spaniards did we see. and in a very short space we were peering through the farther end of the copse. Neither house nor tire was in sight, but the thin trunk of smoke rising in front of us could mean nothing but that there was a fire burn ing somewhere out of our sight. It rose from a rocky fissure In the open ground, circled listlessly into the air and was carried away on the wings of the pen tie breeze. "The Lord be good to us!" said one of the men in awed tones; "we'se got ten ou a burning island that'll belch out fire an melted rocks, like the vol canoes they tell of on the Peru coast." "Sniff it. Gargo; sniff It," said Pen gony. "Smoke like that hain't coine from the devil's stithy. There's brim stone in his'n. an this be honest wood reek or 1 never smelt my mother's fire. Lift up your bottle nose an sniff, Ga rge." Like a hound at fault, Garge sniffed, and as he sniffed pondered at some length. "Aye. woodreek sure enough," he rumbled out at last and relapsed into puzzled silence. Meanwhile Alec and I had advanced to the fissure and tried to look down it, but the pungent vapors made all the air in the shaft to dance, and at the same time bit our eyes so smartly that we were glad to draw our heads back out of their reach as quickly as possi ble. We could see nothing at all. "I have it. Jack," said Alec in a whis per. "There's a cave somewhere below us, and its occupants are cooking their breakfast; that's the meaning of the wood smoke." "A cave? Then it -must have some other opening besides this chimney, if there an* men in it." "Of course: at the foot of the cliff- If we go to that knoll in front there, we ought to command a view of it." "Forward, then, and we'll tind out." "Cautiously, Jack; cautiously! We don't want to bring the whole hornets' nest about our ears. We had better tell the other two to hide in the copse and fill their bellies with plantains, while you and I reconnoiter." We did so, and then crept cautiously forward to the brow of the cliff. The sight that met our eyes when we gain ed the crown of the knoll and looked out from among the graceful fern fronds which sheltered it was one to make a sailor's Heart sad. There before us lay rt landlocked har bor. sheltered from outside view on every side, yet capable of giving an chorage to an armada if need be. Not a vessel floated on its smooth waters, and a solitary seal was swimming about near its upper end. now fishing for his breakfast beneath the surface, now erecting his head and staring anx iously about him. We paid but little heed to him. however, for at the har bor entrance we saw that which to any true mariner is the saddest sight in the whole world. A finger of rock rose, black and ugly, from the soft blue waters and. wedged into a cleft which divided it to the wa ter's edge. If»y the corpse of what had once been a stout and stately ship, a snowy plumaged 'arrack. Now, with her foremast snapped like a carrot above the round top. a great, yawning chasm in her waist and rivers of clear water hiding into the retreating ebb from a score of starting seams in her sides, she was but a battered ruin, a ghastly wave racked wreck. A hundred different signs—the litter of cordage on her deck, the streamers of fluttering canvas hanging over her shattered bulwarks, the tangled fringe of broken spars and sea torn planks floating like fallen leaves around her— oil made it easy for a seaman's eye to judge that she had not lain there long, and the great storm of two days ago gave an exact date. No sign of life showed upon her lit tered decks. The sun was high in the morning heavens, but her gunners were not furbishing up her culverins and falconets in the waists. No candle trimmers were in the poop lanterns cleaning the glasses and refilling the sconces; no cooUs were busy heating the great ship's kettle to boil the morn ing meal. The last sentry had left his post without calling relief. The silence of death was over all. In the open channel which lay be tween the carrack and the land spit there floated something over which a dozen sea fowl were screaming and fighting. A glance was enough to show what it was for which they fought; it was the ill starred lover of a mer maiden—some stout mariner swept from the decks by a huge green wave and then seized by snowy arms and carried away to a beauteous home among the branching sea shrubs. I could see in my mind's eye all that happened from the moment when he was loosed from his trance. He yawns, stretches, shakes himself, awakens. The mermaid is standing beside him, glass in hand, combing her streaming tresses. She turns, meets his gaze and speaks in words which till him with delight. She puts a conch shell to her ruby lips and blows a call. It sounds afar through the waving bushes, through the rainbow colored weeds, over the open plain, through the tangled forest. The brilliant fishes hear the note and shoot away through the limpid water with its message. A school of dolphins cry holiday to their master and come gamboling up to the tryst to lie in a gleaming circle ou the jeweled sand. Then follow troops of merniaidens, some riding on the backs of shaggy sea horses, some racing along in shell chariots drawn by teams of emulous porpoises; and after them come the mermen, bearing posies of fair sea flowers which wither when they meet the air. All stand and mar vel at the mortal who has ventured down among tlio glories of their en chanted kingdom. Then there bursts out a strain of deli clous melody, and the mermaldens' chant, which rises and falls to the throb of the sea bosom, tells the lone stranger how he must comport himself if he wishes to endure In this land of his new birth. And this did 1 hear them sing: THE GREETING. Welcome, brifc.it welcome. O wave cradled mari ner I Welcome to t»ask in our beauteous realm. Pleasure it is tor the merfolk to minister Unto a mortal beneath ocean's whelm. THE PROFFER. We are thy servants, lord, slaves to thy beckon ing; Come, let us lead to the great ara king's hall; Seat thee on Neptune's throne, 'neath azure COT ering. There to receive our best riches, our all. Gold of the galleon groans in thy treasuries; Jewels the chastest we'll lay at thy knee; Fruit trees most curious blow on thy terraces. Flowers, heaven nurtured, to brighten the sea. Pearls we will bring to thee, corals and cowries. Perfume thy robe with the gray ambergris. Uen give their hands to thee, maidens their dow ries; Never, great lord, shall our fealty cease. THE WARNING. Bat, oh, lord, bewarel Have a care, have a care. Keep thy beating heart still in its breast. Have a carc, have a aare. Good my lord, oh, bewarel Love for maidens is not for our guest. Love for maidens Is not for the mer folk's guest. The man knows that it is true and sighs as he looks at the radiant beauty round him—comely forms and soft white skins coyly half hidden beneath the trembling cascades of their silken tresses. He sits In the stately palace they have given him and covers his face with cruel bands to shut out the light of a hundred lus trous eyes. In vain those ravishing glances must prevail. The shielding fingers uni<asp, the bowed head erects "See, there they go!" Itself, and the man is lost nis heart swells within him. and half delirious with ecstasy, half mad with terror, he drinks deep down into the cup of pleas ure aud feels every moment his amour ed body becoming lighter, more fatally light. He clutches the sides of his throne and again closes his eyes for an in stant. But only for an instant, for the loadstone is one that none has ever yet withstood. The merniaidens see his strait and stretch out their soft, white arms, bidding him stay. Their eyes flash love unspeakable. Their floating curls caress his burning cheek. The perfume of their breath Intoxicates him. With a cry of joy he lets his willing fingers loose their grip of the throne an<l reaches out a lover's arms to clasp the nearest Fatal movement: Like an arrow he sh'i: ts up from among them, and their wail mingles with his cry of doom as he rises. A swollen corpse, he floats alone on the surface of the ocean, and the laugh ing mermaids take themselves again to their interrupted play. CHAPTER XV. "Wake up. Jack," whispered Alec, nudging me. "While you've been sleep in? the snails have made up their minds to creep out of their shells. See. there they go!" And he pointed to some half score of men who were making their way down to a boat which lay drawn up on the beach. A Jag of rock almost concealed it. and It was only when we saw the point for which the men were making that we caught sight of the boat at all. "What shall we do?" said I. "Call the other two fellows and have at them at once?" "No use. We might manage that armful, but no doubt there are plenty more where they came from. We should simply be running into their net." "Are we to let them wander about at their own sweet will? Look! Those fellows are oIT toward the carrack!" "Can't help ourselves that I can see. So you'll just have to let your valor simmer quietly, old hothead!" "We shall have a score or two of them up here pig hunting for their dinners directly." "Yes; they won't be content to patrol the shingle down there like so many harmless crabs." "Thpn let's get to our raft at once and back to Galley Island. There's no plunder to be made out of these fel lows. so where's the use of meddling | with them?" "Plunder! Jack, 1 do believe you're j the most thoroughgoing rascal of a sea thief as ever deserved short shrift and a fathom of rusty chain!" "Hard words. Alec!" I retorted hotly. "But true words, though none but your sworn shipmate dared have used them. Hark! What's that?" There arose from below a sound which caused us to prick our ears to their sharpest angle. A body of men had emerged from the cliff leading some prisoners with them, and one of the latter was singing an English sea song. The words came up to us dis tinctly through the clear morning air: Sail away. Hack away. Plunder I [Clank.] Gather all the valuables you can. Come back. Nothing lack. Thunder. [Clank.] Scatter all the money like a Kan. His mates Joined In the chorus with all the recklessness of men who know that they are In too tight a place for their conduct to matter. The guards, however, seemed to think the merri ment untimely and did not spare their | buffets, and one of them, catching the i principal singer a whack on the head ! that knocked his cap off, exposed to view a smooth shining scalp that was as hairless as a mirror. "By all that's surprising. It's Willie Trehalion!" said Alec in a whisper. "Sure enough, but how did he get here?" "Ou the carrack, of course, but not as a willing prisoner, I'll go bail. Just hear how he's cursing! Confound the foolish fellow; why can't he keep his tongue quiet, now that he's in their hands? We shall see him knifed be fore our eyes in a minute. We must let him know we're here." And up from among the slende- fern fronds arose the "peewhit, peewhit" of a plover. Willie's solitary eye glanced for a second at the knoll on the low cliff's edge, and then he burst out again into his song as cheerily as if he were seated on an English tavern bench. Presently the cortege came to a standstill, and three armored Span iards. seating themselves on bowlders, motioned for the prisoners to be drawn up in line before them. "A court martial!" 1 whispered. One of the Spaniards began to ad dress the prisoners In English, and it seemed to me that his voice was strangely familiar. "Traitorous curs!" said he, "do you make full confession? Come, you dog, there, you with the crippled eye and the crippled hand, you who worst mis used your trust, do you speak for your companions?" "Meaning me, Don Uglyface?" quoth Willie Trehalion with unruflled compo sure. "Measure your words!" said the Spaniard angrily. "Aye. with a lead line, not with a foot rule. I bain't going to stint language just because you've promised to bang me in an hour's time. I tell you plain to your yellow teeth that 1 plumped the carrack on them rocks o' purpose. I could have fetched her in through the fair channel an brought her up to snug anchor within a cable o' this very spot, an that without losing a spar or carry ing away a shred o' canvas. But, Se nor Spaniard, I didn't choose. An if I'd got her again with a tine reef on the lee I'd up helm an risk 40 drownings in welcome. So, Don Migael, you can Wrap that in your cigarillo an smoke It" "Don Miguel!" said Alec, with a gasp. "I knew I hail heard the voice before." "Yes. it's Inez s father," said I gloom ily. "Then we'd better not allow our selves to fall into his hands. There are old scores against us, and Don Miguel Is not the man to forget to wipe them off. God help Willie Trehalion!" "Hush!" said I. "He's speaking again. Listen." Willie Trehalion appeared to be en joying himself down there on the beach. He was by nature a talker, and his subject seemed to have in spired him with eloquence. The Span iards did not interrupt him, but it was little safety that I argued from their silence. "Seven months ygone, Don Miguel," said Willie, "you lured me an those other lads a boat i yon craft at La Guayra an gave us fair promises. I was to be pilot, tliey a crew to show your own lubbers how to furl a sail an splice a rope, an for a reward we was to be given our liberty an set a boa rd the first English craft that was brought within hail. We labored willingly an like fools trusted to a Spaniard's prom ise. We overhauled all your running rigging, set up ail your standing rig ging again, altered your canvas an made your carrack a seaman's ship insteail o' a soldier's as she was afore. An then how did you treat us? We had to lie on the deck all through the glass, like so many willocks, with no shelter from the rains an no shade from the sun, an if there was anything o' a sea the spray drenched us through an through at every dip she gave. Like dogs, we was given the dirty dishes to lick after your idolatrous stomachs were satisfied. "Aye, aye, Don Miguel.'" cried the his. voice rising almost » sliriek as he burle<l out his striug of ac- i cusations. "You can frown an stamp your foot an put your hand to your sword hilt, but you can't deny the gos- ■ pel truth o' what I say. If wtulid well, you thanked us with curses; if 111. you Messed us with blows. Then when a smali brig hove in sight an. drawing ; near, flew a Plymouth ensign, we made bold to remind you o' your promise. Ha. ha. ha! We might have saved our breath! A Spanish promise! A 1 Castilian oath! Easy made, both o' j 'em. an just as easy forgotten. You j sneered at us an said we were doomed i to everlasting captivity. Then you j bade us bear arms against our country men. forgetting maybe that we wasn't j born south o' the Pyrenees. We re- j fused. You flogged us with leaded J whips. clap[>ed us under hatches, sailed ; a trifle nearer the brig an then, feel ing your courage ooze away, went 'bout ship like a lily livered coward that you are an ran in under the guns o' La Guayra. where she weren't able to get i at you." Don Miguel's sallow face turned livid at the taunt, and I expected to sec him run the boatswain through on the spot, for a sharp tongue is a weapon which more often than not turns Its point back on him who uses It. With a vio lent effort, however, he restrained him self and for the present let the squat, square mariner alone, evidently reserv ing him for a worse fate. "Have your say out to the full," he said, with an angry gesture. "There will be a bitter repayment when you have done." "Thank you, Senor Jack Spaniard," replied Willie Trehalion coolly, "but It seems to me there baln't much more to say. When I've called a villain both liar an coward, I don't think I want to add anything else. Other black words would fall white on him after those." "Do you know what I shall do with you?" "Hang me," said Willie, with a con temptuous shrug of bis broad shoul ders. "You think so?" replied the Spaniard, with a cold smile. "Maybe before long you'll hope so too. But a rope would not pay one tithe of my debt; it will require a far slower death than a mere dance on nothing. I shall have a post let Into the sand yonder at low water. You will be lashed to It. The flood be gins to mak? about sundown, and there will be five hours for you to regret the loss of my ship In before you draw your last gurgle. I have often heard you boast that the sea and you were old friends, and that many is the pleas ant tussle you've had together in which the sea has been beaten. Well, you shall have one more duel together, and it will be curious to see which of you comes out the master this time. "And now," he continued, turning to the other ten prisoners, "can any of you tell me how far we are from the main?" "Happen a hundred league; happen two." replied one fellow gruflly. "Ah." said Don Miguel, looking keen ly at the speaker. "And will you un dertake to build a small craft from the wreck of my carraclt to take some of us there to seek assistance? I promise you your liberty and a capful of gold pieces each. If you will." "No, you blasted cur, I won't" growled out the fellow. "May my fin gers be withered to the bone if they ever hale rope for you again and may my eyes drop out of their sockets if they ever see to drive a nail for you, except into your cofiin! That's my answer, and you won't get a different one from any lad here." And then he spat contemptuously and relapsed into silence. His mates nudged one another with their bound elbows, and burst Into a leather lunged cheer of approbation. "That'B it, lads," sang out Willie Trehalion. "Stick to it; never give way, an these unsailorly lubbers will have to leave their bones on the is land, unless the devil, their master, comes to fetch them away in a flaming chariot o' brimstone." But at tbis point, at a sign from Don Miguel, the guards led off our poor Eng lish lads out of sight—lnto a cave, we supposed—and as two or three Span lards showed signs of wanting to scale the cliff we retreated to the covert where we had left our two men. In It we lay close all the rest of the day. The time was one of plans and plots, of doubts and difficulties; but, though we whispered together long and ear nestly, yet so still did we lie that the parrakeets perched boldly In the boughs above us and preened their bril liant plumage In the sun as though their nearest enemy were many inlles away. Great velvet winged butterflies as large as linnets fluttered past our eyes, and mosquitoes bit our half naked bodies, but never a thought had we for butterfly or mosquito, for our minds were busy and anxious. "Willie Trehallon must be rescued Ismehow," said Alec ror the fortieth yiiiie, "even though It costs us our lives to do It." And the rest of us eagerly assented, for our old boatswain was A favorite with us all. The scorching sun above us, arching his brazen course In fiery splendor, be gan at last to verge toward the distant wavy water line. The dancing air grew cooler and was freshened by a welcome breeze from the sea. Cautiously we drew out from among the plantains and, looking sharply around to make sure that no one spied us, crept all four back to the knoll and once more peeped from beneath the graceful fern screens. The tide had not yet turned, and a couple of Spaniards were fastening a stout stake in a hole, which they had scooped beneath the outermost of the ripples. They laughed and joked over their work as though It were some holl dav diversion and every now and then gave the post a shake to try whether It was secure. When they had finished, one of them must needs lean his back up against the wood and pretend In pantomime Down they brought Willie TYehallon and lashed him to the stake. that the tide was rising around him, and, to judge from the shouts of laugh ter which proceeded from unseen ob servers under the cliff, his companions found something intensely humorous In this grewsome clowning. Presently there was a shout that the flood was beginning to make, and down they brought Willie Trehalion and lashed him to the stake. The other ten Kngllshmen were made fast to the out No. 49 lying trees of a thicket that ran down to the edge of the beach, and when they were all secured Don Miguel once more addressed them: "I asked you Just now to build me a ship that would take me away from this island, and you refused. Well, senores. there are consequences to tliat refusal, and I am going to acquaint you with them. You may think 1 shall punish you today, but such is not my plan. 1 a;n simply going to let you en- Joy the sight of a man drowning by slow inches before your eyes In order that you may have the opportunity of observing what a peculiarly unpieas ant exit from this world such a death is. Tomorrow 1 shall again ask one of you to serve me. If in spite of the les son of today he refuses, the rest of you shall see him slowly choked by the ris ing waters. The next day I shall try another, and so on. It will be interest ing to see how many times 1 shall have to repeat this pleasing spectacle, but pray do not hurry yourselves to come to a decision. The island, senores. is a pleasant one. and < shall not be dis tressed if my play should run even for ten nights. It is a thousand pities that the audience will necessarily be dimin ished by one at each performance. Adios, senores!" And with that he strode away. Some of the other Spaniards lingered awhile and then followed him. and the rest, to the number of perhaps 40, lit a fire and prepared to see the tragedy to Its close. Wh n n the kindly shades of night be gan to steal over the island, we crept from our eyrie. A bush covered slope led from the cliff down to the beach, some hundred yards or so from where the prisoners stood, and down this we scrambled, avoiding carefully every lit tle twig that might betray us by its snapping and forcing our very breaths to come lightly lest they should stir the leaves and give the alarm. The breeze had dropped, the air was heavy and still, and the gabble of the Spaniards' voices came to us softly through the silence. A slight mist had blotted out the stars above, and the only light we had was the fitful glare of the bonfire. It burned dully for the most part, giving out dense clouds of smoke that rolled slowly upward till they were lost in the dark night, but every now and then some one would give the logs a stir, and the darting flames would for a moment send a lu rid radiance over the whole scene. There In the creek we could see Wil lie Trehalion, with the waters already up to his chest and bis smooth, bald head shining like a mirror in the flash ing firelight Round the fire were grouped the Spaniards, chatting and smoking and, standing out dark against the uncertain blaze, were the ten forms of the bound Englishmen. To cut the prisoners' bonds without at the same time drawing from them a shout of surprise was work to make the least nervous fingers tremble. Alec crept up to the first and, whispering to him not to move a finger till he was told, cut the cords that bound him to the tree. I went to the second and had Just drawn my knife across the first "cord when one of the Spaniards, whose ears were sharper than those of his fellows, heard what he thought were suspicious sounds and strolled up to see what was going on. Motionless we stood as tree trunks, and, though he peered curiously Into the thicket, he could not see us, for at that moment, fortunately, the fire was burning dim. He was only half satisfied, though, so he sat him down within a fathom of the feet of the man I had been engaged' upon and there remained. Heavens, how slowly the leaden min utes dragged themselves away! Time had never seemed so long before. Ev ery now and again, when the laughing talk of the Spaniards lulled, I could hear the monotonous lap-lap of the ris ing tide, which told that Willie Tre balion's respite w r as growing every mo ment more fatally less. I could see him, too, when the dancing firelight fell upon the waters, and, though his stolid face showed no sign of fear, still his solitary eye roved the shore unceas ingly, backward and forward, looking for the help which, it might be, would not come in time. The suspense was awful. Suddenly a voice from beside the fire called out, "Pepe, you rascal, come and join In a madrigal." Pepe rose, stretched himself, heaved a pebble playfully at one of the bound men and went As the first words of the watchers' madrigal rose round the fire I drew my knife across the second man's thongs. Alec loosened the third man and I the fourth, and then a blaze of summer lightning flashed through the sky and for a moment lit up the smooth, shin ing head of our boatswain, whose chin was now being lapped by the hungry ripples. There was a shout Some prying Spaniard had spied us in the brief glare of the lightning flash. The madrigal ceased in the middle of a bar and then —confusion! t- [TO BX CONTINUED.] J Board Inn Some StMlu That Orel* Tender Under a Fonr Ton Hammer. "Speaking of luck," said a reminis cent man, "reminds me of how fortune came to a boarding house keeper in a mill town where 1 once lived. There came to the house when he first struck the town a new millhand. This board er seemed at first just like any other young man with a good appetite, out of whom the profit to be made was likely to be small, but It was speedily discovered that he was a man of abil ity and promise, who was likely to get ou at the mill. He made great prog ress at the works. It wasn't long be fore he was at the head of the section of the forge department there, the boss, in fact, of the four ton hammers. "As far as he was concerned the only thing that marred his happiness was the toughness of the steaks they had at the boarding house, and that they were tough nobody could deny. But he was equal to the occasion there as he had proved himself to be at the mill. " 'Madam,' he said one day to the landlady, 'if you will let me take the steaks you buy before you cook them I will make them just as tender as can be without any cost to you whatso ever.' "Now, he had paid his board regular ly, and he was at that moment virtual ly the star boarder. The landlady handed him the next morning without hesitation the bundle of steaks Just as it came from the butcher, and the ham mer boss just took 'em over to the mill, this being before the regular starting time in the morning, and, adjusting one of the four ton hammers to about the right gauge, started It up and ran the steaks a couple of times under the hammer. "Good? Why, they were Just simply beautiful, and every morning after that the genial hammer boss used to run across to the mill before breakfast and quietly, without the knowledge of any one, run the landlady's steaks back and forth once under the four ton ham mer. The fame of the landlady's ten der steaks grew rapidly, as did also, naturally, the number of her boarders. And so she accumulated wealth."—New York Sua.
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