THE BEACON.
From dusk to dawn a golden star,
Hung steadfast between sky and sward,
Sent forth across the moaning bar
The smiting of its two-edged sword.
Seafaring men with babes at home
Asleep and rosy in their orlbs,
Beat inward through the curdling form
That tosses to the shivering jibs.
And wistful wives who cannot sleep
Feed little hearth-flres warm and red,
And comforted their vigil keep
With that great star-flame overhead.
Night wears apace; the blackest night
Wanos when the womb of morning broaks.
With lance Od spear from heavenly height
Her conquering way the new day takes.
Ana one by one 'he weary boats,
All drenched and spent, are beached at
last;
The children hug the wet sea-coats;
Tud good wives sing of perils past,
E.Saugster.in Harper's Baaar.
'AM in i GolSi.J
They !iad been friends all their
fives.
There had been, iu their native vil
lage, two viue-covered cottages side
by side, and all oue summer on the
veranda of one or the other of these
little homes two young women had sat
sewing through the long afternoon ou
dainty white garments, setting each
stitch with a prayer and weaving with
the flying needle more precious things
than cross-stitch and feather-edge,
as they talked of their babies' future,
as loving women will, and planued
gi eat things for the coming ones to
accomplish.
Then these mothers conferred to
gether about the momentous question
of "shortening," and, this decided,
the baby boys had each become ac
quainted with the restless pink play
fellows at the edge of his petticoat at
the identical moment. The women
bore each other company during the
trying period of the little ones' teeth
ing, their croup and measles, and, in
due time, cut from one pattern their
first short trousers, their little coats.
When the boys were six, they were
ready for the September term of
school, and the two mothers led
them up to begin the second chapter,
as they had done the first, together.
Red-niittened and tippeted in winter,
they played with their sleds on the
long hill on whose top the schoolhouse
stood,and one day a little girl watched
them as they flew down, and began
crying.
The two boys trudged up to her
together.
"You can ride ou my sled," said
one.
"I'll pull you up again ou my sled,"
said the other.
And so the story began.
Tue years went by, and Charles
Paxton and Sidney Harper fulfilled
their promises. Nellie Ransom rode
ou both sleds; and the boys were her
chivalric defenders aud champions in
in every cause. If she failed iu her
arithmetic the teacher received black
looks, aud if she ciaed over her gram
mar each boy felt a 1 ersonal encouu
ter with Lindley Murray was all that
could wipe out the stain. So far
the old friendship was as strong as
ever, aud they fought, as one, the
battles of the yellow-haired girl. There
raine the swift, strange transforma
tion ot the heart which makes a boy
ft Plan; these lads turned,on one day,
»hy, troubled eyes each to the other's
face; aud when their glances fell,
something from within had risen to
Veil forever their frank and friendly
glances.
They were rivals; and the pretty,
shallow little thing, pouting now,
under )>er wide-brimmed hat, had
kuown it all along.
Nell R«nsom was the beauty of the
neighborhood; a little creature, soft
»yed and golden-haired, with youth
ful curves and dimples. She was the
ilaughter of a farmer; one of a half
ilozen girls, but the only one among
Ihem with any pretensions to good
\ooks. So the rough old man spoiled
her.
"When I'm plowin'," he said, in
/eply to some one who reproached him
for treating Nell better than he treat
ed her sisters, "I run light through
the bouuein' betties an' smartweed,
hut I vanny ef I can run over a wild
lose. That little gal of mine wan'l
meant for common folks like us. I feel
A good deal like 'pologizin' to her fur
bein' her father. But, seein' she's
»urs, I'm goin' to make life jest as
Hisy as I can fur her, an' kinder keep
lier on the warm side of the shack."
So the little girl was sheltered and
petted by the rude but tender hands,
*nd it is not strange that she grew up
with no care for any one but her own
pleasure and comfort. When she was
lfi there were many moths singed by
the brightness of her hair; many
hearts wounded by the darts from her
blue eyes; but she didn't realize that
there was any harm. Hers was not a
\ad or cruel heart—she simply
Didn't, and wouldn't aud couldn't know
why,
And did not understand.
The two friends whose hearts had
been pushed apart by her little, un
feeling hands had grown to love her
just in proportion to the way they had
)ome to hate one another. Charles
Paxton tried first; was refused and
went away; no one knew whither, but
a woman grew gray as she sat on the
little, vine-covered veranda and turned
her eyes, with their waiting and lis
tening look, westward.
Then Sidney Harper put his fate to
the touch; he, too, left the village,and
two womeu again sat together praying
and fearing on one of the porches
through a long summer.
It was midsummer in the Klondike,
but the air was as chill as it is when
redcheeked Canadians start journey
ing on ouow-shoes over crisp fields of
sparkling snow. On left and right
were stretches timbered with the
sturdy pines that straggled like an
army over plain and hill, and sent a
vanguard up the mountain from whose
farther timber line it seemed to signal
to the troops below. In front lay the
river coiling like a twist of - silver
braid, and farther on the everlasting
hills rose, height on height, to pierce
the perfect azure of the sky.
Two men stood in this amphitheatre
of the north, their rough and bearded
faces turned toward each other as they
had been turned in the cradle swaying
on a cottage veranda so many years
ago. Their eyes flashed like steel to
steel in the morning light, and their
lips were set in lines never seen by
those tWo waiting mothers.
"It's the only way out of it," said
one, at last, doggedly; as if to bring
to a close a long and useless argu
ment. "We didn't come here to meet
eacli other, and the plnce isn't big
enough to hold us both. We've both
struck it rich, and Nell Ransom owns
us and our mines. One can go back
to her—with all the gold of both "
The other finished the sentence:
"The pistol shall decide which one
it shall be."
Calmly the men paced the distance
and took their places, the revolvers
catching each added gleam that
faltered through the pines against the
eastern sky.
"One!" and the line of light rose
to the level of those strong, bared
bosoms.
"Wait a minute, boys! Wait a
minute."
An old miiier stepped out of the
thicket and walked leisurely between
the duelists. He was known to "both
men as a quaint character of their own
village, a man who had been among
the defeated gold-seekers of '4!) and
'SO. He had struck camp but the day
previous to this meeting.
"I've ben watchin' ye a leetle,
boys," he said. "I ain't said much,
but I've ken' atliinkin.' I know
young blood, an' I calc'lated it was
just about time l'nr it to bile over; but
I've got a powder to cool it."
He lighted his pipe and pufl'ed medi
tatively.
The young men turned angrily.
"Oh, ye needn't get riled, now,"
he continued, pulling a fine grass aud
cleaning his pipe-stem with it, "but I
reckon there ain't either 0110 of ye
mean enough to tight over another
man's wife!"
He stopeil aud looked at the rivals
sidewise; the words had gone home.
"I calc'late ye don't git the papers
reg'lar here; trains is sometimes late,
ye know; bein' there ain't 110 tracks
fur 'em to run 011, an' like as ver
mail ain't real prompt, an' ye don't
use yer dust fur telegi aphin' when ye
ain't got 110 lightnin' chained. So
p'r'aps ye don't know that that gal of
Ransom's —there, stand still an' go
with yer shootin'!—is married."
Two lines of light sank suddenly
downward as the pistols fell with the
nerveless hands. The old man saw it
with a twinkle of his faded eyes.
"That's right,boys; now come here,
and I'll tell you about it."
Slowly and with shamed faces
Sidney Harper and Charles Paxton
drew near aud heard the old miner's
story.
"Yes," he said, after the whole had
been recited, "she married a 110-ac
count feller, an' has taken him home
to the old folks. She wasn't
never wuth dvin' fur lads; but when
1 ratne away I seen two other wini
niin' wuth liviu' fur. They're a-wait
in' 011 their cottage porches now as
I've seen 'em sit for HO years. Only
them babies, them little shavers they
uster hold an' cuddle in thtir arms
ain't there; they "
"Stop! God bless you, you old
meddler "
One man spoke, but the other's
eyes made answer.
"Those are the women we'll live
for and care for and go home to see!"
And, single tile, with strange new
looks the men went back to camp.—
Grace D. Koylnn, iu the Brooklyn
Standard-Union.
(tuHint Old Curarnn.
Curacao is a Dutch colony, and the
quaintest little island iu the world.
It is not bigger than the District of
Columbia, but has about 40,000 in
habitants, and has played an impor
tant part iu the history of America.
It has belonged at different times to
England, Spain and Holland, and its
cozy harbor has been the scene
of many a bloody battle between
the navies of the old world, as
well as between the pirates and buc
caneers that infested the Carribeau
sea for two centuries. It has been for
100 years and still is an asylum for
political fugitives, and many of the
revolutions that rack and wreck the
republics on the Spanish main are
hatched under the shelter of the pre
tentious but harmless fortresses that
guard its port. Bolivar, Santa Anna
and many other famous men in Span
ish-American history have lived there
iu exile, and until recently there was
an imposing castle upon one of the
hills called Bolivar's Tower. There
the founder of live republics lived in
banishment for several years and wait
ed for rescue.
The houses are built in the Dutch
style, exactly like those iu Holland;
the streets are so narrow tkat the peo
ple can almost rhake hands through
their windows with their neighbors
across the way, and the walls are as
thick as would be needed for a for
tress. The Dutch governor lives in a
solemn-lookiug old mansion fronting
the Shattegat, or lagoon, that forms
the harbor, guarded by a company of
stupid-looking soldiers with a few old
fashioned cannon. The entire island
is of phosphates, and the government
receives a revenue of $500,000 from
companies that ship them away.—
—Chicago Record.
THE CAROLINES UP-TO-DATE
WU«t (he United States Consul at Tomll
Sny* of the Group.
In the advauce sheets of the consu
lar reports lately issued by the state
department the Caroline islands was
made the subject of an interesting de
scription by the United States agent
at Yap, one of the principal islands of
the groop. The consul describes in a
brief and entertaining manner the Isle
of Yap, which, will be seized by the
United States aud utilized as a coaling
station or a naval base. Interesting
in the extreme is the history of the
people of this little island, occupying
as it does such a commanding position
on the high rond of original traffic.
The island proper,theconsul writes,
is surrounded by a coral reef thirty
live miles long by five broad. There
arc hardly ajiy rivulets in its area,but
inla id are exte isive swamps with a
dense growth of tropical foliage. Tho
island is richer in scenery, the groves
of bamboo, crotpn, cocoanut and
spreading palms being most impres
sive. Yap is lull of relics of a vanished
civilization—-old embankments and
terraces, sites of ancient cultivatic n,
stone-paved roads, enormous council
lodges of quaint design, with bold,
high projecting gables, and lofty
cavern pillars. Walls of ancient fish
ponds aud stone weirs till (he lagoon
between the tcoral reef and the shore,
thus making navigation a difficult
matter 011 many pa ts of the coast.
Huge species of alligators are found
in the underbrush,and reptiles abound
in great numbers. Bird life, hoVev. r,
is scarce, and there a-e but few cattle
and horses 011 the island.
The' e aue about SO ID natives on Yap
—kilidiv, industrious and peaceable
folk. They arc very dark in coloi
and speak a quaint dialcc\
The consul, in conclusion, makes a
statement which Wa-s no little signi
ficance and treats of a subject which
may cause no small friction will the
Germans, who even now are none too
friendly toward our country ami tlie
policy of our government in tho ]li - -
pano-Auierican war. German traders
have spent a vast amount of labor and
money iu the last 1' w years in build
ing up trade in an 1 about the Caro
lines. The I-le of Yap is rich in pro
duction of cocanuts the kernal or in
side of which, when dried, is called
copra and is the chiet article of ex
port. Any interference with the trade,
which has been greatly stimulated by
the labor of the Germans, would im
mediately be met with a protest from
the German government,and consider
able discussion, if not serious trouble,
might follow.
The principal town of the island i.*
Tomil, which, the consul writes,
would make an excellent coaling sta
tion. It is at present garrisoned by
about 100 soldiers, with some 150 po
litical prisoners capture 1 in tlie late
Philippine uplifting. Tomil harbor is
peopled with many Europeans and is
the seat of the Spanish governor of
the Caroline islands.
Annexation, it is thought, would be
very acceptable to the inhabitants ot
this island, as they, as in most cases
where Spanish rule predominates, are
tired of the treatment they receive at
the hands of the authorities.
A Niglif Marcli in ('til)H.
Shall 1 ever forget that night? It
had rained a little and the ground was
soft aud heavy. We had to walk on
an old, disused railway track for two
or three miles. 1 have heard of the
troubles of certain members of the
dramatic profession while they were
addiug to their muscular development
by walking 011 railroad ties. I sym
pathize with them from the bottom of
my heart if they ever struck such a
road as we did. Hesides the night
being pitch dark, the tics had never
been laid carefully, for the line had
been used only for conveying sugar
cane. We stumbled and fell over tho
ties and into the swampy ground be
tween them until we were sore from
head to foot. When at last we left
the track it was to meet fresh ob
stacles; our route lay across a moun
tain, and I am inclined to think that
a volcanic eruption had occurred there
iu years gone by, for every few feet a
huge rock of irregular shape lay in
our path. Roots of trees and branches
of thorn helped to make life miser
able, especially when a person in front
brushed past one which in its recoil
suddenly struck another person iu
the face. Finally, at midnight, wo
came to the conclusion that we should
break down if we did not rest; so we
decided to camp for the night.—
James H. Hare in Collier's Weekly.
All Invincible.
Wlieu Aloibiailes was told that hi.s
countrymen had passed sentence of
death upon him for being at the head
of a conspiracy to overthrow tho re
ligious and political constitution of
Athens, he said: "I will show them
that I still live." He obtained from
Sparta assurance of personal snfoty
and went hither. He delighted aud
charmed the Spartans as he had the
Athenians in his earlier years; he
adopted their customs and dress and
was the strictest Spartan of them all.
He wore his hair, short, bathed in the
icy waters of the Emotes, and ate
their black broth aud barley bread.
They believed that he had been mis
represented. Iu truth, as Plutarch
said, "he changed color more quickly
than a chameleon." In Sparta, he was
grave, temperate aud foud of physi
cal exercise; in lonia, he was easy
goiug, luxurious and merry; in Tlies
saly, he was devoted to horsemanship,
and in the court of the Persian satraps,
he surpassed Tissaphernes, himself,
iu magnificence. As Sparta was to
be the prize of the Atheniau victory,
he showed the people their danger,
advising them to begin active opera
tions against that city. No better
advice could have been given them,
and they profited by it.—Detroit Fr«»«
Pivesa.
I THEREALM |
j OF FASHION. I
rucked Shirt Waist With Fitted Lining.
The shirt waist is again prominent
imong the styles, and tucking is one
jf the marked features this season.
Witli a well-cut and fitted fine percale
»r lawn shirt waist, fresh from tho
TUCKED SHIRT WAIST.
aundry, there comes an appei r nice
>f style and neatness that accounts for
ts long -continued popularity.
Fancy dotted percale in lavender
»nd white made the stylish model, the
tucks of uniform depth giving a desir
able fullness across the bust that is
irery generally becoming. The waist
is arranged over a fitted lining (which
san be omitted if desired), and has a
LADIES' HABIT BASQUE.
straight back yoke which meets the
front in seams forward on the shoulders.
An applied box plait finishes the right
front, through which the closing is
effected by studs or buttons and but
tonholes. Gathers at tho waist line
pouch the front in latest style, the
back being drawn smoothly to the
waist. The neck is finished with a
collar band, and the standing collar of
white linen iB made adjustable.
The correct sleeves are of fashion
able size, the moderate fullness being
gathered at the top and wrists into
straight cuffs. A leather belt is worn
at the waist, and a bow tie of satin at
the neck.
To make this waist for a lady of
medium size four yards of material
thirty inches wide will be required.
An Equestrian Costume.
For ordinary wear as well as for
equestrian exercise the style of basque
shown in the large engraving is popu
lar, writes May Manton, it having
the merit of being especially becoming
to ladies of generous proportions.
Its special adaptation to the require
ments of stout women is further em
phasized by an extra under-arm gore,
provided in the sizes' above thirty-six
inches bust measure, by which the
width of the back, and side back,
forms are so decreased that an illusion
of slimness results. The narrow pos
tillion back, with regular coat plaits
and lap, is a becoming feature aud
will be weloomed by those who aim to
dress correctly.
Navy blue cheviot is here repre
sented, smooth covered tailor buttons
effecting the closing in center fraiit.
The glove-fitting adjustment is ac
complished by double bust darts and
curving front edges, the upper portion
being reversed in small lapels that
meet the rolling collar in notches.
Machine stitching finishes all edges
in strictly tailor style.
The chemisette is of white linen,
but oan be of material to correspond
or oontrast with the basque.
The sleeves are of fashionable size
and fit closely at the wrists, alosing
with three buttons and buttonholes.
Basques m this style usually match
the material of the skirt, firmly woven
textures being the invariable choice.
Serge, covert or broadcloth, whip
oord, homespun, corduroy, Henrietta
and poplin will all make smart basques
that are suitable for shopping or gen
eral wear, as well as for bicycle or
other out-door exercise.
Narrow braid may take the place of
machine stitching, if a different com
pletion is desired.
To cut this basque for a lady of
medium size two yards of material
forty-four inches in width will be re
quired.
Queen Regent'i) Motlicr.
The Arohduchess Elizabeth, mother
of the Queen Regent of Spain, is in
her sixty-eighth year. She is sister
of the Archduke Joseph and of the
Queen of the Belgians. By her first
marriage with the brother of the last
Duke of Modeua she became mother
of the Archduchess Maria Theresia.
The Archduohess Elizabeth became a
widow, after two years of marriage,
before she was nineteen, and four
years later Bhe married the Archduke
Charles Ferdinand, son of Napoleon's
antagonist, the Archduke Charles, to
whom she bore throe sons and a
daughter.
New Hlouse Waists.
The new blouse waists have large
revers, edged with narrow lace inser
tion, over a foundation of chiffon
puffing. Silk waists, veiled with chif
fon of the same color, have the waist
body, basque and epaulettes decorated
in this manner or with baby ribbon.
Up-To-Date Sleeve*.
A new pair of sleeves, up to date iu
cut and style, will tend greatly to suc
cessful results in making over a lasi
year's gown. Two styles are given ii
this design, which are adipted to an]
basque or waist, and can be made o:
the same or contrasting material.
No. 1 is represented in black net
ting, made over black satin. Thi
under-portions are smooth, two fill
sections being gathered on the inside
and outside seams, and arranged ai
the cenlre in tucked shirrings, be
tween the edges of which the smooth
lining of satin is disclosed. Bands o!
ribbon, velvet, or other trimming may
fill in the space when other thai
transparent fabric is used for thi
sleeves.
No. '2 illustrates a close-fitting
sleeve of light gray faille that has n«
unnecessary fulness at the top. Th«
seams are left open at the wristi
*
WOMAN'S SLEEVES.
about two and a half inches, ani
turned under to form squares,
trimmed arouud with blao'c sill
velvet ribbon, and a frill of iac«
sewed on underneath falls over thi
hands.
To make No, 1 will require one and
ii quarter yards of material forty-four
inches wide, and to make No. 2 wil
require three-qnart.ers of a yard of thi
■nine width material.
Daat Tokscce Spit ttmi Smoke loir Life Away.
To quit tobacco easily and forerer, be mag
netic. full of life, nerve and vigor, take No-To-
Biic, the wonder worker, that makes weak men
strong. All druggist*, 50c or 11. Cure guaran
teed. Booklet and sample Tree. Addresi
Sterling It'-""- '« fr, . <• i, New
A Texas farmer killed himself because
bis crop was so big that he had no place to
store it.
Hnw'i This?
Weoffer One Hundred Dollar' Reward for
any ca eof Catarrh that cannot be cured by
Hall's Catarrh Cu'e.
F. J. CHKNKY & Co., Props.. Toledo, O.
» e, the undersigned, have known F.J. Che
ney lor tho la-t. 15 years, and believe him ner
fectlv honorable in all business tran-act.lons
and financially able to carry out any obliga
tion in do by their firm.
WEST A TRUAX, Wholesale Druggists, Toledo,
Oh o.
WAI.DINO, RINNAN SC MARVIN, Wholesale
Druggists, Toledo. Ohio.
Hall's Catarrh Cure istaken internally, not
ing dirnctly upon the blood and mucous sur
faces of th•• system. Pile-. 75c. pe'- bottle. Sold
by all Dniggists. Testimonials free.
Hall's Family Pills arc the best.
Iron horseshoes have beoa found dating
back to the year 491.
Ever Have a l)og Bother You
When riding a wheel, making you wonder
for a few minutes whether or not you are to
get a fall and a broken neck? Wouldn't yon
have given a small farm just then for some
means of driving off the beast V A few drops
of ammonia shot from a Liquid Pistol would
do it effectually and still not permanently
in.l l ye the animal. Mich pistols sent postpaid
for fifty rents in stamps by New York Union
Supply Co., I'is Leonard St., New York City.
Every bicyclist at times wishes he had one.
Last year Greece was buying guns, and
this year it has ordered 10,000 plows.
No-To-Bac for Fifty Cents.
Guaranteed tobacco habit cure, makes weak
men strong, blood pure. 50c, fl. All druggists.
The proportion of foreigners to English
ID England Is about one in 250.
Pimples
Are the danger signals of impure blood.
They show that the vitnl blood is in
bad condition, that health is in danger of
wreck. Clear tho track by takinf; Hood's
tiarsaparilla and the blood will be made
pure, complexion fair and healthy, and
life's journey pleasant and successful.
Hood's B ;™,,
Is America's Greatest Medicine. $1; six for s•}.
Hood's Pills cure Indigestion, biliousness.
Toad* Will Drive Away Kata.
Pierre Loti, the French naval offi
cer-novelist, makes the statement that
toads are antipathetic to rats. In his
"Letters From Lands of Exile" he
tells how every night his mau placed
at his cabin door a wire cage contain
ing three live toads, in order to keep
oft' the rats, which otherwise made
forays on his boots and gloves.
"It is," he says, "a wrinkle Ipicked
up from some Euglish sailors. The
rats, it seems, seeing the toads, are
frightened and do not come in,"
According to this, live toads are
more effectual than broken glass or
poison placed in the runways of the
rats. For they generally manage to
remove the one and fuil to touch the
other. They circumvent the cat. they
evade the ferret, and a good terrier is
unable to follow them into their holes.
Toads are plenty, and housekeepers
whose cellars are infested, farmers
whose barns are overrun, will at least
find the remedy worth trying.
REGAINED HEALTH.
Gratifying Letters to Mrs. Pink
ham From Happy Women.
••I Owe You My Life."
Mrs. E. YVOOLHISKR,
Mills, Neb., writes:
" BEAU MRS. PINKHAM : —I owe my
life to your Vegetable Compound. The
doctors said I had consumption and
nothing could be done for me. My
menstruation had stopped and they
said my blood was turning to water. I
had several doctors. They all said I
could not live. I began the use of r >dia
E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound,
and it helped me right away; menses
returned and I have gained in weight.
I have better health than 1 have had for
years. 11 is wonderful what your Com
pound has done for me."
"I Feel Like a New Ferson."
Mrs. GEO. LEACH,
1609 HelleSt., Alton, 111., writes: ■"»
" Before I began to take your Vege
table Compound I was it great sufferer
from womb trouble. Monses'would ap
pear two and three times in a month,
causing mc to be so weak I could not
stand. I could neither sleep nor eat. and
looked so badly my friends hardly
knew mc.
" I took doctor's medicine but did not
derive much benefit from it. My drug
gist gave me one of your little books,
and after reading it I decided to try
Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Com
pound. I feel like a new person. I
would not give your Compound for all
the doctors' medicine in the world. I
can not praise it enough."
Lazy Liver
"I h«T« been troubled a great deal
with a torpid liver, which produces constipa
tion. I found CASCARETS to be all you claim
for them, and secured such relief the first trial,
that I purchased another supply and was com
pletely cured I shall only be too glad to reo
ommend Cascarets whenever the opportunity
la presented." J. A SMITH.
-F-JO Susquehanna Ave., Philadelphia, Fa.
£ CATHARTIC
ksvmasim)
TRAOI MARK ItCOWTIWtD
Pleasant. Palatable. Potent. Taste Good. Do
Good. Never Sicken. Weaken, or Gripe. 10c. 25c. 50c.
... CURE CONSTIPATION. ...
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