SPIN CHEERFULLY,
Spin cheerfully,
Not tearfully,
Though wearily you plod.
Spin carefully
Spin prayerfully,
But leave the thread to God.
The shuttle of His purpose move
To carry out His own design,
Seek not too soon to disapprove
His work, nor yet assign
Dark motives, when with silent dread
You view each sombre fold;
For lo, within each darker thread,
There shines a thread of gold.
Spin cheerfully,
Not tearfully,
He knows the way you plod;
Spin carefully,
Spin prayerfully, .
But leave the thread with God.
290 VV VB VV VVO
; Clint Loring’s Neighbor &
BY JENNY WRENN. é
00 VOTO VE
# Clint Loring had fallen almost
asleep in his chair on that warm Sep-
tember evening. He had been bend-
ing over his easel all day, and was
worn out in mind and body.
Painting for amusement and paint-
ing to keep the wolf from the door he
found to be a totally different matter.
In days gone by his studio had been
constantly thronged, not with buyers
(he had no need to foster his genius,
but with friends and admirers—those
who smoked his cigars and drank his
wine, as they dilated on the merits of
his pictures.
. He had neither the one nor the
other now to offer them, and the pic-
tures seemed to have lost their charm,
Fortunately, there were a few dealers
who cared more for art than the artist,
and so when Clint one morning
wakened to find himself practically
beggared, he determined to make his
talents available, and so he quietly
moved away from the large and expen-
sive quarters he had so luxuriously
furnished to the plain upper room
where we now find him dreaming,
perhaps, of the past, when suddenly
a woman’s voice,rich, sweet and clear,
breaks upon his reverie.
+%He starts, awakened in an instant,
and listens to the end. .
It is in the very room next his own.
Nothing but a thin partition divides
the two. Only last night a man’s
tread, heavy and somewhat uncertain,
denoted its occupant. Tonight all
had been silence, until the pure notes
rang out upon the evening air.
Somehow they lingered in Clint
YLoring’s dreams that night,again with
an echo of the dim past, when he had
stalls at the opera by the season, and
could gratify the very passion for
music which possessed him.
The room had had many tenants
since he had occupied his own; but,
with the next morning’s dawning, his
first thoughts flew to his neighbor,
with a regretful wonder whether she,
too, would be fleeing like the rest.
It seemed not, for, as the days
merged into weeks, there were many
moments when Clint would forget his
palette and brush, and listen en-
tranced.
® He grew to feel a strange interest
in his unknown neighbor.” Never yét
had he been able to catch a glimpse of
her face. Sometimes a light, quick
step would pass his door, but, let
him turn his head howsoever quickly,
it had disappeared.
' One night, returning home, rather
Tater than usual, he caught sight, just
ahead, entering the door, of a stylish,
girlish figure, which ran lightly and
swiftly ahead of him up the stairway.
w. The figure was graceful, the dress
plain, bit he had little time to observe
either as she hurried into her room
and closed the door.
+ A sudden impulse caused him to re-
frace his steps, and when next he ap-
peared, he bore carefully in his arms
a rosebush full of blossoms. He
neither paused nor hesitated until he
stood at hisneighbor’s threshold, when
Be knocked, A moment later the door
opened, and the owner of the room
stood revealed before him.
» It was a face worthy the voice. A
fittle worn, a little pale, perhaps, for
beauty, but with its wondering blue
eyes and framework of 'Titign hair,
one could easily imagine how perfect
would be the picture, with hore and
there an added dash of color.
Both stood in silente, she inquir-
ingly, he wondering how he should
begin, when he spoke:
‘“You will pardon my intrusion, I
hope, but I fear if I leave these flowers
in my room they will fade and wither.
I have not muchtime to give attention
to such things. May I leave them with
you?”
““Oh, how lovely! Indeed, indeed
you may! Thank you, very mueh,”
stooping to kiss one of the blossoms
of the plant she held in he? hands.
“But how came you to think of me, a
stranger?’
‘I had heard you sing, and I knew
you were a woman, and all women
love flowers. May I come in and tell
you more about it? My name is Clint
Loring, and I am your next-door
neighbor. If I wait to be formally
presented, I fear I shall never know
you.”
For a minute she hesitated, then a
bright smile lit up her face, as she
looked into the honest eyes awaiting
an answer to his question. Handsome
eyes they were, too, which had found
their way to many a woman’s heart.
Bo she answerad:
“Yes, you may come in. It seems
strange to receive visitors, but I bid
you welcome. Iam Mrs. Andrews.”
Did his ears deceive him? Was
that young girl a wife? Perhaps a
widow,.he thought, with a glance at
her black dress, since she seems alone
and desolate. -
Yet she was not alone; for, as he
crossed the threshold, he noticed in
the corner an old woman knitting.
“It is my aunt,” she explained.
*‘She is growing very old, but I dread
the time when’she will leave me alone.
Aunt, this is a friend of mine, Mr.
Loring.”
The old woman looked up only for
a moment, as though nothing could
longer detain her from her work.
“Tt's not Henry,” she muttered.
“Henry will never come again.”
In other days, many women had
smiled at Clint Loring, drawing him,
they hoped, to their feet, but all had
failed. He had gone on in his bright,
happy, careless way, until the. crash
came, and then, without even a fare-
well word, he had taken his pride and
his poverty out of their sight, lost in
the great city.
But a strange, sweet intimacy
sprung up between him and his next-
door neighbor. The rose he had
taken her blossomed as no rose had
ever done before, and it grew to be a
nightly occurrence that he should
leave a little offering of flowers or
fruit at her door.
1 da she was absent giving |
Al 3; When g © | More Than $330 Per Square Foot Paid
the vocal lessons by which she lived,
and he hard at work over his easel, his
thoughts were with her.
She had told him something of her |
early life—her girlhood—but nothing
of her marriage; from that she shrank
as from a blow. But still the old
woman in the corner muttered of
“Henry.” She never heeded what
they said, nor seemed to have a
thought beyond her knitting, save the
utterance of that one name.
So the weeks sped into months,and
winter was upon them, when Clint’s
heart called out against further silence,
and demanded food for its hunger.
He never doubted its answer, as he
entered Edna Andrews’s to ask her to
be his wife. Their intercourse had
been one of purest friendship—no talk
of love had ever entered in; but still
he felt she loved him,even as he knew
he had given her the worship of his
soul.
Her patient endurance—her noble
courage—her true womanhood—had
first aroused the feeling; but it had
grown and strengthened, until it
formed part of himself.
So, in the winter twilight, he told
his story, and, in the shadow, did not
note the great start his listener gave
—how ashy white grew her face.
A moment’s silence fell between
them, as he told the story of his love.®
Then she spoke, but her voice was
harsh, as though struggling to choke
down unbidden sobs:
‘From you, Mr. Loring, I did not
expect this. I had grown to regard
you really as a friend—to feel I had in
you a protector—to lean upon the
rock you seem to have afforded me—
and, lo! I find it all quicksand. How
could you? how could you?” and the
slight frame shook with the passion
of sods which at last overcame her,
‘Edna, what do you mean? Have
I, then, judged you so wrongly that
the mention of my love thus agitates
you? An honest man’s love is no re-
proach. Forgive me, if I have erred
and startled you from your repose. In
my hope of taking you from this life of
toil, in sharing with you all. T have—
which, thank God, is enough for both
—1I forgot to break it gently. I am
not a rich man, Edna, as you know;
but I am succeeding in my art beyond
my anticipations, and I could have
offered you a home more worthy of
you, my darling. Do you so shrink
from the thought of becoming my
wife?’
‘Your wife?” she almost gasped.
“What else, Edna, could I offer the
woman who has opened my eyes to a
perfect womanhood?”
“Your wife? yours? Am I not a
wife already—deserted and betrayed,
it is true, but bound, hand aud foot,
by the fetters he has forged?”
“Yes, yes, Henry will come back!”
muttered the old woman, in her
corner.
‘You hear her? It is he of whom
she speaks—Henry, my husband.
Listen and I will tell you all. It is
your due. I married him when I was
but sixteen, attracted by & handsome
face, a few loving words. Well, he
won me, no matter how. I had pot
been his bride three weeks before he
told me he had married me for my
dowry—that he needed money, and
must have more. Then I obtained it;
but my father, a rich farmer, grew
tired of my repeated demands, and
refused me more. When I told him
this, he struck me, in his anger, and
left the house. I have never seen him
since. He forged my father’s name
for a large amount, obtained the
money, and fled the country. It is
his anut, not mine, of whom I have
the care. She is always looking for
his return. My parents died soon
after, and my father was so incensed
that he left meJpenniless. Yet, thank
tod, Ihave youth and strength, and
though I never again can listen to
your words of love, though we must
part today, perhaps never again to
meet on life’s highway, I shall remem-
ber that one true man has loved me.’”
With an ashy face he heard her to
the end. Her eyes, looking into his
with a great despair, told him what
her lips dared not utter, but in them
was a resolution as well, which he
dared not combat.
He rose like one stricken, turned to-
ward the door,then retraced his steps,
and opening his arms, clas éd her in
an embrace she was pofverless to
resist, rained passionat isses upon
cheek, brow and lip,<then, without
another word, went out into the night.
The next morning found him tossing
in high fever, unconscious and delir-
ious. The long excitement, constant
work, with this last shock, had been
more than even his strong frame could
endure, and it had given way at last,
and cast him adrift and helpless in the
fever’s strong hold.
For weeks he lay hovering between
life and death; but when he opened
his heavy eyes, it was on the pale,
worn face of the woman whom he
loved, who had mingled in all his
dreams, that rested,andtis first ques-
tion was:
' “Why did you not leave me ? Why
return for a second parting?”
¢‘Because—because,’’she whispered,
in answer, while a wondrous light
beamed in her eyes, ‘I need never
leave you, Clint, if you will keep me.
I am free, dear. The news of my re-
lease came to me after you were taken
ill. My husband died a year ago—
died as wretchedly as he has lived.
The disappointment wasmaore than his
aunt could bear, and she, too, lies
under the sod. I am alone in the
world today. Clint, have you room
for me?”
With a wonder if it were not still
delirium, and a prayer that it might
last forever, Clint Loring opened his
arms, and the weary, storm-tossed
woman had found rest at last—rest
and love. Clint lost his neighbor—he
found his wife.—Saturday Night.
HIGH PRICES FOR LAND.
for a Lot in New York.
The most valuable plat of ground in
this country, at least, the one that has
commanded the highest price, is lo-
cated at the corner of Broad and Wall
streets, New York city, in the heart of
the great financial district. Several
years ago, says the Washington Star
Mr. Wilkes established a record for
high-priced realty by paying $168,000
Aor 508 square feet of ground on this
site, or $330.70 per square foot.
The immensity of this rate of valua-
tion can best be appreciated by meas-
uring off a square foot of space and
then comparing its dimensions with
those of $330 in money, Such a com-
parison will show that if Mr. Wilkes
had paid for his property in one-dol-
lar bills he would have been able to
cover his entire lot with 82 layers of
greenbacks, or he could have paved it
with four tiers of silver dollars placed
edge to-edge as closely as they would
lie. Doubtless if the worthy Dutch
burghers of New Amsterdam could
return to earth they would be as-
tounded to learn the value of the land
on which they pastured their cows 200
years ago.
Though no other piece of ground
has commanded an equal price per
foot, there are several other plats in
New York city which are quite equal
to the Wilkes property in value. For
example, a considerably larger lot on
the northwest corner of Nassau and
Pine streets, one block above the
Wilkes property, was sold last year
for $250 per square foot, and the op-
pogite corner of the same streets, in-
cluding 6043 feet, was bought by the
Hanover National bank for $1,350,000.
The lot on the corner of Broadway
and Maiden lane, and the site of the
Commercial Cable company’s build-
ing in Broad street, arealso properties
that could be cbvered fifty deep with
dollar bills out of their purchase price.
Probably the largest amount ever
paid for the site of a single building
was that given by the Broadway Realty
company for the lot on which the
Bowling Green building has been
erected. This sky-scraper, which is
the largest in the city, extends from
Broadway through to Greenwich street,
and covers 29,152 feet of ground, for
which $3,000,000 was paid. This is
$102.90 per foot, and though the price
per foot is less than has béen paid for
several other plats, the total represents
an enormous sum to pay merely for
the ground on which to erect one
building. One peculiar effect in real
estate values that has followed the
sky-scraper era is. the ‘extraordinary
price which has been put upon sites
that are suitable for very high build-
ings.” Spots with open surroundings,
on which other lofty structures are
not likely to be built, are, of course,
the most desirable for this purpose,
and such places are few in the city of
New York. The result is that many
buildings which are already very prof-
itable are being torn down to make
room for the erection of sky-scrapers.
Child Saved by a Bear.
Residents of Apalachin, N. Y., had
a bad scare recently, when the four-
year-old child of Henry Rathburn
started out alone to look for trailing
arbutus. It was half an hour before
she was missed, and then all trace of
the little one was lost. Her distracted
father and his neighbors joined in the
search.
While passing through a ravine they
were startled to see an uncouth object
shambling toward them some distance
up the road, carrying a bundle in its
mouth. Closer inspection proved
to the terrified searchers that the ob-
ject was a bear and the bundle a child.
It is many years since a-bear was seen
in this section, but the men, though
unarmed, prepared to give battle, ene
of their number going back for help.
But the bear trotted toward them as
though totally unconcerned,and when
a few yards away carefully laid down
the child it was carrying by its dress.
When the men approached and took
up the little one the bear did not show
fight,and a closer investigation proved
he had a ring in his nose. Later it
was found the bear belonged to an
Italian who was camping in a nearby
barn, making a tour of the country.
He had purchased the animal when
a cub and reared him in a New York
tenement, where he was allowed to
play with the children, and it was
there he had learned the trick of car-
rying the little ones.—New York
Press.
Where Old Hats Are Popular.
The inhabitants of the Indian ocean,
have an extraordinary fancy for old
hats, and a regular trade in such cast-
off headgear is carried on between Cal-
cutta and Nicobar, the most desired
head pieces being paid for in cocoanuts.
A tall chimney-pot is the favorite
among the Nicobarians, and the acme
of fashion is considered to be a high
white hat with a black hat band. This
is worth from fifty to sixty cocoanuts,
and is worn by the Nicobarian dandy
when he goes out fishing, the rest of
his attire consisting solely of a waist
coat.
® THE REALM OF FASHION.
mS
i
oy
f{Charming Waist For as Miss.
Gray cashmere, plaid ribbon and
gilk embroidered edging combined,
to make this charming waist, which,
gays May Manton, is as eimple in con-
MISSES’ WAIST OF GRAY CASHMERE.
struction as it is stylish in effect. A
fitted lining, made with the usual
darts and seams, closes in the center
front, over which the Russian blouse
with left-side closing is effected, The
gether, being shaped [in six sections
that fit the neck comfortably, and can
either be joined to the top or left
partly open, to form tabs through
which the plaited mousseline {falls with
a soft, becoming effect. Each section
should beinterlined with canvas before
joining.
The cape or pelerine portion is
shaped in circular outline and joined
to the lower edge of yoke, the stole
being joined to the right front section
of yoke.
A very handsome jeweled buckle
decorates the front, the closing being
invisible in centre.
Smart capes in this style are worn
by both young and middle aged ladies,
the former preferring generally to
omit the stole front. A handsomesilk
or satin brocade lining adds much to
the attractiveness of this dainty top
garment, which can also be developed
satisfactorily in silk, satin or cloth, or
of material to math the gown.
Braid in different designs, passe-
menterie, fringe, ruchings or moss
trimming, will provide suitable deco-
ration.
. To make this cape for a lady of
medium size two and‘ one-quarter
yards of material twenty-four inches
wide will be required.
LADIES’ PELERINE CAPE.
yoke is simulated by rows of insertion
overlaid by alternate rows of the nar-
row plaid ribbon, the pattern provid-
ing for the shape on both back and
front. The fashionable sleeves are
closely fitted bys double seams, the
full epaulette being: gathered at the
top, falls in graceful folds. The
blouse. or pouch effect is confined
to the front, {the back being drawn
in slight fulness at waist line, the
under [arm portions presenting a
smooth appearance. This design is
guitable for wash fabrics as well as
for wool or silk and bright-hued
chambrays, plaid ginghams, flower-
sprigged organdie and other cotton
goods can be charmingly decorated
with lace or embroidered edging and
insertion in this style. Velvet or
satin ribbon, braid, gimp or applique
bands will effectively trim waists of
wool or silk, and the lace can be
omitted if not desired. The yoke and
epaulettes can also be of contrasting
material, a useful suggestion where a
garment has to be made over. To out
this waist for a miss of fourteen years
two yards of material forty-four inches
wide will be required.
Ladies’ Pelerine Cape.
The handsome wrap is the velvet
wrap, declares May Manton, and the
shorter it is made the daintier it seems.
One of the very newest styles ‘is
shown in the large engraving in black
velvet decorated with jeweled applique
bands and edged with fine plisse of
mousseline de soie.
The single stole end is a new feat-
ure that may beomitted if not desired,
the cape being perfect without it, as
shown in the smgll sketch.
The yoke and collar are cut to-
Sh Ladies’ Dressing Sacque.
The utility of this comfortable neg-
lige will be readily recognized. Ibis
here represented in fine French cam-
brie trimmed with embroidered edg-
ing and narrow insertion. . The fall
fronts join the back {in under-arm
seams, the tops being gathered and
arranged on the lower edges “of {the
deeply pointed yoke. The closing is
effected by buttons and buttonholes
through an applied box plait in center
front. A turn over collar completes
the neck. Moderately full bishop
sleeves are gathered top and bottom,
straight wrist bands and a frill of em-
broidery giving a graceful finish.
Flannel, cashmere, china silk, cam-
brie, nainsook, lawn in plain, striped
or figured varieties may all be used to
develop this useful sacque. Lace or
embroidered-edging, feather stitching
Yi
LADIES’ DRESSING SAOQUE.
or frillsof the material will provide a
suitable finish. Drawn to the figurs
with a gfillle of ribbon deftly tied at
the lef this garment may be
made qy pactive and Recoming.
To cut { efor a lady of medium
size th half yards of mater-
ial thi 8 wide will be re-
quired
| he was the chief of desperadoes
| those parts.
| a respectable life inn Nebraska over 15
| years ago and was engaged in the cat-
A DARING DESPERADO.
SOME ESCAPADES OF THE NOTORI*
OUS “DOC” MIDDLETON.
For a While He Ran Things With a High
Hand in the Black Hills Country — De=
fled ‘the Federal Authorities. and Made
a Jadge Quickly Throw up-His Hands.
¢“ ‘Doc’ Middleton was the most
daring desperado that ever terrorized
the Elkhorn valley and ruled the
Black Hills country with a high hand,”’
said John C. Barclay, a shoe drum-
mer, at the Lindell, as a party of -
western traveling men were swapping
stories.
‘‘Middleton always bore the sou-
briquet of (Doc,” but nobody seems
to know how he was so dubbed. Be-
fore the railroads were built into
Deadwood, S. D., I used to make one
trip a year by stage to that country,
and I saw ‘Doc’ Middleton several
times. He was a powerful fellow, with
quick, elastic step, and wore a dark
sombrero, an overcoat ®f wildcat
| skins and a bright handkerchief, and
{ his cowboy make-up gave him the ap-
pearance of atypical western frontiers-
man. Leading a band of rangers, he
waged war on the Sioux Indians and
protected the settlers of the Elkhorn
valley, Neb. Government officials in
those days feared him, and for years
in
But he settled down to
tle business.
‘‘When I first knew ‘Doc’ he was
freighting from Sidney, Neb., to the
Black Hills. One night, in a Sidney
dance house, a half-dozen soldiers en-
gaged in a quarrel with ‘Doe,’ and
there was a shooting scrape. Middle-
ton escaped and hid in the hill sands
on the Platte river. While living in
the hills he picked up a bunch of
horses and started out withthem. He
was captured and thrown into jail in
Sidney. The second night there he
got the jailer drunk and walked away.
He next appeared at a road ranch up
the Elkhorn, having been without
food for five days. Soon after that he
was hurrying down the Elkhorn val-
ley with a bunch of horses that be-
longed to the Indians. ‘Doc’ and
his party were pursued by a company
of United States soldiers, about 50
settlers and a band of Indians. The
white men gave up the chase in a few
days, but the Indians kept on the
trail. One night the thieves were
overtaken’ by the Indians. The red
men dared not shoot Middleton, so
they took the herses and returned
home. Middleton’s front teeth were
filled with gold, and he was known to
all the redskins as the ‘Gold Chief.’
The Indians believed that ‘Doc’ must
have been favored by the Great Spirit
in order to have gold teeth, and they
would not kill him.
‘One of Middleton’s escapades was
known all over the country. He was
at North Platte, and a deputy sheriff
tried to take him. ‘Doc’ mounted his
horse, pulled a couple of revolvers and
rode over all the town daring any man
to ‘shoot at him. The government
finally made a determined effort to
capture ‘Doe’ and sent out four se-
cret service men. They met ‘Doc’ at
a Fourth of July celebration at Atchi-
son, Neb. He took their pistols away
and made them run foot races and join
in the other festivities of the day.
Once Judge Moody of Deadwood de-
manded Middleton’s surrender. He
made the judge throw up his hands
and then took all the valuables he
had. ;
‘‘Middleton was finally captured by
Deputies Lewellen and Hazen, who
were sent out by Governor Thayer of
Nebraska. ‘Doc’ was taken to Omaha,
where he received a sentence of five
years in the penitentiary. He was
shown leniency because he always
protected the white settlers and only
stole the stock belonging to the In-
dians. At the expiration of his term
‘Doc’ returned to Atchison, Neb., and
became a law-abiding citizen.” —St,
Louis Globe-Democrat.
The Ginger Habit.
“What is it I am chewing?’ asked
the man coming out of the drug store
in response to a query from his com-
panion, -*‘Why it’s ginger root, and
it is'a fine thing to nibble on between
meals.’ It is a great tonic, too, and a
digester. Will you have a nibble?”
and he extended a bit of the root to
the other man.
““Thanks,no,’”’ said the other. ‘How
long have you been doing it?”
“‘Couple of years or sucha matter.”
‘‘Have you tried to quit it since you
began?”
“Of course not. Why should I?”
¢‘Suppose you try to quit.”
“Why?”
“Simply to test the strength of the
ginger habit. I had it once. A friend
of mine talked to me just as you are
doing and I, thinking it was a harm-
less kind of thing, bought a nickel’s
worth and tried it for indigestion, I
think it was. Anyhow, whatever it
was, I tried the ginger, and before I
knew what I was about it was as
necessary for me to have ginger root
to chew on as it is for a tobacco
chewer to have tobacco. Its stimulat-
ing effect had become a need I had to
meet, and as soon as I felt the force
of the habit I proceeded to break
myself of it. I did it, as any habit
almost may be got rid of, but I want
to tell you it was no easy job, and if
you doubt me just you throw that
away you have and try going without
it for a week.”’—New York Sun,
An Excessive Rate.
A countryman, says Household
Words, walked into a western news;
paper office to advertise the death of
a relative. ‘“What is your charge?"
he asked of the clerk. ‘We charge
$2 an inch.” “‘Oh,” said the country-
man, ‘‘T can’t afford that. My friend
was six feet three inches.”