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THE GIRL | LEFT BEHIND ME.
The dames of France are fond and free,
And Flemish lips are willing,
And soft the maids of Italy,
And Spanish eyes are thrilling;
8till, though «I bask beneath their smile,
Their charms fail to bind me,
And my heart falls back to Erin’s Isle,
To the girl I left behind me.
For she’s as fair as Shannon's side,
And purer than its water;
But she refused to be my bride,
Though many a year I sought her;
Yet, since to France I sail’'d away,
Her letters oft remind me,
That I promis’d never to gainsay
She says, “My own dear love, come home,
My friends are rich and many,
Or else, abroad with you I'd roam,
A soldier stout as an
f you'§li not come, nor of me £0,
I'll think you have resigned me.’
My heart nigh broke when 1 answered
No”’ a
To the girl I left behind me.
For never shall my frae Joe brave
A life of war and toiling.
And never as a and don slave
I'll tread my native soll on;
But were I free or to be freed,
The battle’s close would find me ~=
To Ireland bound, nor niessage need
The gf¥l I left behind me. From the girl I left behind me:
—Author Unknown.
By Alice and Claude Asken.
2 -
Thought-transmission? Clairvoy-
ance? No, I can't say I believe much
in that sort of thing; you wouldn't ex-
pect it from a matter-of-fact old city
man like me, would you? I've had to
look on the practical side of things
ever since I was a boy.
All the same, I did have a rather
curious experience the other evening.
It was only a trifling affair, and I
dare say there is nothing in it, really,
but I've tried to apply the ordinary
rules of experience to it—tried to
work it out by the rule of three, as it
were; but somehow there's always a
hitch that I can’t quite level up.
Here's the story for what it's
worth: I had had a busy day at the
office, and was tired out when I took
my usual ‘bus home—Hammersmith,
you know; and I had walked as far
as Charing Cross by way of exercise
and to clear my brain of stuffy fig-
ures. It had just begun. to drizzle,
and I was lucky to get a place in the
’bus—just about the centre of the left
side it was, up against the metal bar
that divides the long seat into halves.
There was only just room for me,
for my two fellow passengers on the
right were bulky individuals, so I was
wedged up pretty tight against the
bar. It’s lucky that I'm not a big
man myself, or I don't know what we
should have done. As it was, in set-
tling down, my arm came rather
sharply into contact with the shoulder
of a girl who was placed to my left—
just the other side of the bar, you
understand. She gave a little ery and
started, just as if she had been
aroused from a nap, and didn’t quite
know where she was.
Of course, I apologized, and then
forgot all about the matter. I didn’t
even look at the girl, didn’t realize if
she were smart or shabby, fair or
dark. It’s very rare for me to take
interest in folk I meet in omnibuses.
I tried to read an evening paper, but
the light was so bad it couldn’t be
done. Long experience has taught
me the futility of such an attempt, yet
I'm always doing it—out of sheer per-
versity, I suppose.
Well I had to shut up my paper
and amuse myself as best I could
with my own thoughts. It was then
that I cast a casual glance at my
youthful neighbor, and—I can't tell
you why, for, as I have said, it is
quite at variance with my usual hab-
its—I began to speculate as to her
position and occupation; a silly thing
to do, for she was just like thousands
of others with no special points about
her.
She was quite young—ninteen or
twenty, perhaps—nueither pretty nor
ugly, and of nondescript coloring. Her
hair was fluffed out on either side of
her ears, and she wore a round cap
of some cheap fur. It was quite un-
pretentious, but somehow it suited
her. Her features were rather thin,
and she had no complexion to speak
of; one could easily guess that she
was out in all sorts of weather, or
subjected to an unwholesome atmos-
phere of some kind. Her under lip
shapped a little—you know how cold
it was about a fortnight ago?—and
there was a little drop of blood just
about the centre, where her teeth
may have closed on the lip if she
had been out of temper; or, of course,
it may merely have beén the result
of the weather. Anyway, that drop
of blood fascinated me, and I think it
was because of it that I took such
special notice of an everyday sort of
girl. There, were a couple of curious
black “spots on her cheek and chin as
well. I couldnt make out if they
were moles or if she had been spat-
tered by the mud of the street. the
state of her dress—a frayed serge—
rather indicated the latter, poor child.
J think her eyes were gray, but she
kept them half closed, leaning back in
her seat, inclined a little to my side,
as if she were tired out and wanted
to sleep. She had nice long lashes, I
remember.
Oh, no; 1 wasn't in the least bit
fascinated, or any rot of that sort.
I'm not the kind of man who is al-
ways on the lookout for chance ac-
quaintances—that game is played
out, as far as I am concerned. But I
had to think of something, and the
girl by my side was more interesting
than any of the other stodgy folk who
had got into the ’bus—a job lot, if
ever there was one. There was a
woman sitting opposite me—a young
woman, with a baby on her knees—
whose expression was as inane and
vacnous as that of the baby itself.
Everybody was wet and uncomforta-
ble, and we all hated éach other with
a cordial hatred.
Well, the bus rumbled on, and no-
body seemed inclined to move. We
were all bound for Hammersmith. I
leaned back in my seat as well as I
could, to make more room for my
stout neighbor, who kept wedging me
closer against the ‘rail; the girl was
leaning back, too, and my arm—I
couldn't help it—pressed against hers.
I had my hand upon the rail, you see;
she had both of hers clasped upon her
lap. She wore no gloves, and she had
a cheap ring on one of her fingers—
an engagement ring, I suppose it was
meant to be. Nobody spoke, and by
degrees I began to feel sleepy—forgot
all about the Bus, even about the lit-
tle lady by my side, and allowed my
mind to be a perfect blank. I have
rather a habit of doing that after a
heavy day, and I give you my word
it’s most restful to the brain.
At the same time, ] suppose—as
the clairvoyants would say—the brain
is particularly receptive when it is in
that condition. Anyway, after a while
a curious mist began to form before
my eyes, a mist which soon became a
blur of dim color; and this gradually
worked itself to a focus of light in
which I felt, somehow, that I could
see pictures if I wished. It was a
strange sensation, quite new to me. I
‘wasn’t asleep, you understand. If I
tried I could see the vacuous faces of
the woman who sat opposite me and
the baby on her knees, the mist dis-
pelling to let me do so; but when I
gave myself-up to the thoughtless re-
pose it collected again, and the clear
spot in the centre became more de-
fined. I was conscious of one other
thing—a curious tingling sensation;
in my left arm, the arm that presse
against that of the girl by my side;
it was just as if the blood were rush-
ing from her veins to mine. I don’t
know if I make myself clear; it was
such a curious experience for a
matter-of-fact man like myself that I
hardly know how to express it. 1
hadn’t the smallest desire to read the
the girl’s thoughts or to intrude my-
self unwarrantably into her affairs;
but I couldn't help myself any more
than she could; we had got unaccoun-
taboy en rapport—isn’t that what you
call it?—a sort of- unconscious cele-
bratoni,
Well, she must have been thinking
hard of something that had recently
happened to her—that very day, I
take it. And I saw it all with her
eyes. First of all a dingy workroom
—a lot of girls sitting at a long table
and sewing mechanically dress mate-
rials of some sort—I'm no good at de-
scribing that kind of thing, but I saw
it as clearly as if I'd been in the
room. The floor a litter, the table a
litter, patterns, stuff of every hue and
quality, cut and uncut, yards of it,
spread out or tumbled together; dum-
my figures, some partially clad, some
only framework and wooden bust;
sprays of artificial flowers, lace, rib-
bon, cotton. Cotton! Why, the at-
mosphere of the place seemed loaded
with it. You know the close smell of
a draper’s shop? I assure you I got
exactly that kind of ‘impression,
All the girls seemed to be chatter-
ing together gayly enough—all except
my girl. I saw her as plainly as I
see you. She was working a sewing
machine, and she kept glancing at a
big, clumsy clock upon the wall. She
could hardly see the.time by it, for
the room was so full of mist; there
were flaming gas jets hanging from
the ceiling, but they didn’t seem to
give sufficient light. However, I knew
well enough what the girl wanted;
she was anxious for the hour to strike
when she would be at liberty to take
her departure. The minutes seemed
to drag out into eternity for her.
“Will he be there?’ That is what
she was repeating to herself, -and of
course, being for the time, as it were,
in her brain, I knew all about “him”—
as much as she did, anyway. I
thought, with her, that he would be"
certain to turn up at the appointed
meeting place.
He did. They met at an A. B. C. tea
shop, and he was evidently cross with
her for being late. I didn’t like the
look of the fellow at all; he was a
shocking bounder, loudly dressed, and
with a bowler hat set on one side of
his head. A loafer, if ever I saw one.
He had shifty eyes and a receding
chin and horrid thick lips. He smil-
ed and chatted amiably enough at first
while the girl nervously sipped her
tea; but uals expression changed
quickly when she leaned forward and
began to talk to him very earnestly.
I quite expected it would—as did she,
poor girl. You see, I knew what was
in her mind.
It was pitiful, He regained his
composure and began to talk sooth-
ingly, but it was such obvious acting.
Even she was scarcely deceived by it
He kept shifting about
in his seat, anxious the whole time
to get away. There were tears in
her eyes when she rose to go, but he
whispered something that made her
him genuine.
smile up at him through her tears.
I think it was a promise to met her
again.
They parted under the Hite of the
electric light outside the shop. She
lifted her face for a kiss, and he give
it to her; but I think that his kiss
must have told her the truth. She
stood gazing after him as he disap-
peared in the crowd, and there was an
agony of apprehension in her face.
“He won’t come back! I shall never
see him again!” You may laugh, but
1 felt as if the words were torn-from
my own heart,
Well, I'm very near the ond of my
story. The girl must have moved
her arm just about then, for all of a
sudden the whole train of impressions
was broken. I started up as:f I had
just come out of a dream, and those
words were on my lips—I actually
spoke them aloud—“He won't come
back! I shall never see him .again!”
She heard me. It must ‘have seem-
ed to her as though 1 tad spoken her
actual thought. She,too, was sitting
up, and there was a scared look on
ber face—her eyes were absolutely
wild. : :
“How did you know?’ she whis-
pered. Then, realizing that I was a
stranger, fancying, I suppose, that I
had not addressed her, that she had
been dreaming: “Oh, I beg your par-
don,” she said, hurriedly.
I can’t remember if I replied or not.
I was struggling to collect my own
thoughts. I felt a bit dazed myself,
and perhaps it was lucky that the ba-
by set up a howl just at that moment
and distracted everybody's attention.
Before I had time to decide how to
act, the girl got up, and without so
much as looking at me jumped out of
the ’bus. We were nearing Hammer-
smith by then, but I'll vow she hadn’t
reached her own destination.
A queer story, isn’t it? I can’t at-
tempt an explanation, but I'm abso-
lutely positive that, quite innocently,
I got an insight that evening into
the poor little tragedy of a. girl's life.
For I'm quite sure he never came
back—he wasn’t the sort of man to do
sO.
No. I never saw her again, though
I traveled back by the same ’bus night
after night, rather in the hope of do-
ing so. But there is a sequel, and it’s
this—perhaps the strangest part of
the whole affair, when one remembers
that it was all an. impression, a sort
of dream.
1 saw the man, the identical fellow,
dressed just as I figured him that
evening. It was at an A. B. C. shop
where I sometimes go myself for a
cup of tea. He was sitting at one of
the little tables, and there was a girl
with him, to whom he was engaged in
making violent love.
But it was not my friend of the om-
nibus—oh, no; it was another girl
altogether, though I think she was of
the same class.—London Sketch.
QUAINT AND CURIOUS.
There are only 800 clergymen in
the whole of Norway.
Extremes meet. A house in St. Avu-
gustine, built in 1655, has been turned
into a garage.
There are 256 railroad stations
within a six-mile radius of St. Paul’s
Cathedral, London.
The Somali soldier keeps himself
in perfect condition ‘on a diet of nuts.
He eats only 20 a day, but ey are of
a very nourishing kind.
Germany publishes every year near-
ly twice as many new books as
France. The number of new German
books in 1907 was 30,073.
It is estimated by mining experts
at Johannesburg, that the amount of
gold still to be mined along the Rand
Reef is to be valued at $5,000,000,000.
Twenty percent of the population of
Canada earns its living in connection
with the country’s carrying trade.
Railroad employes alone number 124,
000.
Rumania is the most illiterate coun-
try in Europe. The last census shows
that in a population of about 6,000,000
nearly 4,000,000 neither write nor
read.
Because of the lichens which grow
abundantly on the stone-paved streets
in Madeira, making them slippery, it
is possible to se sleighs’ ‘the’. “fear
round. .
A clock once owned by John Wes-
ley and presented by him to the John
Street Methodist church in New York
city, is still doing good service in the
church.
There are 26.78 miles of railroad
line in the United States for every
10,000 inhabitants, as against 6.2 miles
in Germany, 5.5 miles in the United
Kingdom and 7.4.in France.
A Boston paper has discovered that
a large amount of horse meat is be-,
ing sold in the markets of that city,
some of the restaurant keepers buy-
ing horse meat for beef stews,
All the trade of Zanzibar and Pem-
ba goes through Zanzibar, and these
two islands produce, according to re-
cent estimates, 95 percent of the
cloves used in the world, and the
clove crop for the last two years was
excellent.
One of the effects of the German
old-age pension scheme is rather pe-
| vision has been a deterrent to strikes.
culiar. The pension is forfeited if
the workman does not work forty-
eight or forty-nine weeks out of the
fifty-two on an average, and this pro-
PENNSYLVANIA
Interesting Items from All Sections of
the Keystone State.
BANDITS TORTURE WOMEN
Masked Robbers Batter in Door of
Farmhouse and Bind Two
Occupants.
Washington—Three masked robbers
battered down the front door of a house
occupied by Miss‘ Maria Dé Garmo
and her niece, ° ‘Miss Lizzie Hartman,
on a farm in Fallowfield township,
tied the two women and then ran-
sacked the House for money. The
women did not ‘hear the burglars until
they broke into the room where the
two were “sleeping on the second
floor. Both fought the men and at-
tempted to tear the masks off before
they were overcome and securely
‘bound. The men demanded 1o
know where the $1,500 “was hidden
which had been secured from the sal?
of a tract of timber land the day be-
fore.
While cne man stood guard over
the women the two others ransacked
the rooms. Carpets were torn up,
mattresses ripped open and every pos-
sible hiding place searched futilely.
After subjecting their = victims to
many abuses the masked men took
two gold watches, five rings, three
having diamond settings; a cluster-of-
peal breast pin and $20 in money, and
left warning them to make no out-
cry.
IMITATED JESSE JAMES.
Altoona Business Man and Woman
Companions Robbed While
Driving.
Altoona.—As Charles Straney, an
Altoona business man, his mother and
sinall daughter were driving up the
Allegheny mountains to Buckthorn
Inn, a man emerged from a thicket
and covered them with a revolver,
after firing a shot in the air.
Straney was forced to get out and
hand over hiz money, and the mother
and child were then compelled to dis-
mount. When Straney protested the
footpad fired a second shot. He en-
tered the buggy and whipped the
horse, driving Sy es Cambria coun-
ty. Straney followed, but was driv-
en back by a bullet.
Chief of Police Clark left at once
and captured the robber along with
the vehicle. The highwayman’s name
is Carlton Parnell and his age is given
as 16.
MANY SEEK STATE AID
Tuberculcsis Dispensaries Treated
3,000 in July.
Harrisburg.—Reports to the State
Health Department for July show
that at the close of the month 3,000
persons were being treated at the
free tuberclosis dispensaries main-
tained by the department in each
county. Allegheny county led with
366 patients registered; Luzerne was
next with 344; then Philadelphia with
317; Delaware with 278; York with
219; Dauphin with 148 and Lacka-
wanna with 122.
Some of the dispensaries are becom-
ing toc small and larger quarters are
contemplated.
Dig Up Human Bones.
Canonsburg.—Workmen emplayed
by John McNary, a contractor who
is installing sewers in South Canons-
burg, dug up 77 bones of human
bodies in Orchard avenue. Some
were those of a child of 4, some of a
child of 10 and some of a person
about 35. It is thought the bodies
were placed in a well or vault that
contained water, as the bones are in
first stage of decay. They must have
been in the ground at least vu years.
Sham Fight, by Vets.
Jeannette.—The second annual re-
union of the Westmoreland County
Veterans’ Association, embracing
members cf the G. A. R., Spanish-
American Veterans and Sons of Veter-
ans, will be held at Oakford Park, Au-
gust 27. Five bands have been en-
gaged and ex-Congressman E. E .Rob-
ins will make the principal address.
Among the attractions will be a sham |
battle between tlie Greensburg and
Irwin camps Sons of Veterans.
Mail Cis Held.
Harrisburg.—John L. Holly, rail-
way mail clerk, who was arrested here
Saturday for robbing the mails, was
held for the October term of the
United States Court after a hearing
before United - States Commissioner
Wolfe. Helly, who was Grand Com-
mander of the Knights of Malta of
Pennsylvania, has tendered his resig-
nation to Grand Recorder Hoffman,
who came here from Philadelphia to
receive it.
Dies at Age of 102.
Greensburg. — Mrs. Jane Kerr,
widow of Alexander Kerr, 102 years
old, died on the 11th. She was the
mother of James Kerr of Hempfield
township, and of John Kerr of Greens-
burg. She was born in Scotland.
Three quarters of a century ago she
married Alexander Kerr, also a na-
tive of Scotland, who died 36 years
AgO. Mrs. Kerr all her life had re-
| markable health, never taking medi-
cine.
Nc More Bounty for Scalps.
Harrisburg.—The fund of $50,000
appropriated by the legislature of 1907
for the payment of bounties on scalps
in Washington.
of noxious animals was exhausted Au-
gust 12, when 10 per cent was paid |
on bills aggregating $22,000, sent in |
by 43 counties. |
———— {
Washington.-—David Crawford and |
his wife of Meadowlands, have sued |
the Washington & Canonsburg Rail- |
way Company for $5,000 on account |
of injuri ustained by Mrs. Craw- |
ford in alighting from a car. |
ECHO OF BANK FAILURE
ET. >
Mercantile Firm Suspends as Result
of Waynesburg Crash.
Washington.—As the result of the
Farmers and Drovers National bank
failure at Waynesburg, Barney Gross-
man’s mercantile establishment here
was closed, the business going into
the hands of a receiver. C. B. Groom
of Pittsburg was appointed receiver.
Ggossman was a business partner
of J. B. F. Rinehart, former cashier
of the Waynesburg bank, who is now
‘awaiting trial on several charges. A
mercantilé business owned by Gross-
man in Waynesburg was bankrupted
as a result of the bank’s failure. Later
Grossman realized on some assets and
purchased an dld established business
Recently, on account
of the unearthing of additional bank
‘debts, Grossman, who with others was
responsible by indorsements, was
forced to apply for a receiver.
NEW PLANT, MORE WORK
$= milion Dollar Job In Oil City.
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= a county.
“Truly Remarkable County.”
‘Washington.—Of the 64 constables
in Washington county 56 reported io
the court and not one reported any
irregularities with the exception of a
few bad roads. When questioned
closely by Judge Taylor each asserted
his bailiwick was in ‘perfect order.
Not an illegal liquor resort according
to them is in operation. -A“ truly re-
markable county, indeed,” was Judge
Taylor's comment.
Reaching Out for Oil.
Washington.—Believing the Follans-
bee oil field, where so many wells
have been’ struck recently, extends
over the wate line into ‘Washington
county, operators from Wellshurg,
Cleveland and Pitisburg are prepar-
ing to exploit the territory in the vi-
cinity of Independence. Several thou.
sand acres have been leased and one
test well has already been started.
| Will Be First Colored Mason's Home.
Harrisburg.—The grand lodge of
Colored Masons of Pennsylvania has
completed the purchase of 64 acres
in the vicinity of Linglestown, and
will establish a home. It will be the
first home for colored masons in this
country.
County’s First Hanging.
Sharon.—Governer Stuart has fixed
September 28 as the date for the exe- I-
cution of Anabelo Lombardi, who two
years ago Shot and killed Pasqualli
Panelli in this city. :
first hanging
in Mercer coun ty.
This will be tne |
Recipe for a Political Campaign.
Take the roots of several ripe ques-
tions and cover them well with equal
parts'of fudge and dead beets. Add
one modicum of sense and a number
of great scoops of nonsense. Some
of the more fastidious often add a
pinch of progress, but this is not abso-
lutely necessary. Stir in some care-
fully selected verbiage strained
through a rhetorical colander. Beat
vigorously until the enthusiasm rises
to the top, and then drop in a hand-
ful of candy-dates.
It is then ready fer the griddle,
which is best made in the shape of a
platform constructed from well-worn
planks.
Now let the whole thing boil and
bubble for several months. If it should
not rise well, 'add newspapers: When
it is at white heat, garnish liberally
with long green. Now let the steam
off and set aside to cool. Preserve
in alcohol for future use. ’ :
A political campaign should be
served in gum shoes, and should also
be taken with a grain of salt.—Suc-
cess Magazine.
BABY CRIED AND SCRATCHED
All the Time—Was Covered with Tore
turing Eczema—Doctor Said Sores
Would Last for Years—Per-
fect Cure by Cuticura.
“My baby niece was suffering from that
terrible torture, eczema. It was all over
her body, but the worst was on her face
and hands. She cried and scratched all the
{imp a= ~~nld mod Slane wight or day from
~der the doc-
-1¢ and he
to
4
ES
veer.
It’s the same with coffee.. Thou-
sands of people suffer headache and
nervousness year after year but try
to persuade themselves the cause is
not coffee—because they like coffee.
“While yet a child I commenced
using coffee and continued it,” writes
a Wis. man, “until I was a regular
coffee fiend. I drank it every morn-
ing and in consequence nad a blinding
headache nearly every afternoon.
“My folks thought it was coffee
that ailed me, but I liked it and
would not admit it was the cause of
my trouble, so L:stuck to coffee znd
the headaches stuck to me.
“Finally, the folks stopped buying
coffee and brought home somes Pos-
tum. They made it right (directions
on pkg.) and told me to see what
difference it would make with my
head, and during that first week on
Postum my old affliction did not
bother me once. From that day to
this we have used nothing but Postum
in place of coffee—headaches are a
thing of the past and the whole fam-
ily is in fine health.”
“Postum looks good, smells good,
tales good, is good, and does good
to the whole body.” © “There's a Rea-
son.”
Name given by Postum Co., Battle
Creek, Mich. Read, “The Road to
Wellville,” in pkgs.
Ever read the above letter? A new
one appears from time to time. They
are genuine, true, and full of human
interest.
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