[ UNCONFESSED. '
! She may Beck to flirt and flout me,
f She may seem to dream and doubt
I She may lead me devious ways
With her wiles about me;
But, beyond it—ah, she knows
By her footstep my heart goes I
She may will to tease and try me,
She may choose to run and fly me.
She may give me stint of praise
And he seldom nigh me;
But, beside it—ah, she knows
By her footstep my heart goes I
' She may cozen and deceive me,
She may show pretense to leave me,
She may turn away her gaze
Thinking thus to grieve me;
But, beneath it—ah, 1 know
By my heart her footsteps go!
—Post Wheeler in New York Press
| THE DEATH BIRD f
?;j BY M. QUAD. 'i'S
ag coPTitianT, 1000, BY C. B. LKWIS. SJ|
Long enough before I, a lieutenant of
Infantry, made my first trip across the
great Staked plains of Texas as an es
cort to a couple of civil engineers I had
heard of the death bird of the desert.
No living man had ever seen It, hut
there were plenty who had heard its
notes, and Its notes always meant dan
ger. One might travel to and fro on
the Staked plains for a year and never
see n bird of any sort except about their
edges. The only living things to be
met with are serpents, lizards, scorpi
ons and skulking wolves. The aridness
and desolation are too much even for
the buzzards.
The death bird, so the legend went,
appeared only ut night, and then no
man saw him. He came to give warn
ing. Ills notes were peculiar, and no
hunter could imitate him, hut one hear
ing them In the silence of the night and
the desert could make no mlstnkc. Re
fore making the trip an old hunter said
to me:
"There Is hut one danger to look out
for—the Apaches. They may follow
you clear aeross the desert. They
will not attack you hy daylight, hut at
night, without your having seen a sign
of them, they will creep upon you as
softly as serpents and spare none. Lis
ten for the notes of the death bird, and
when you hear them take instant warn
ing."
There wore 1G of us In the party.
Fourteen soldiers were supposed to
constitute a force able to take care of
Itself anywhere. There was more anx
iety as to our water and rations than
as to the Indians who might dog our
footsteps. It was midsummer, and the
heat on that great surface of sand and
alkali soil was simply terrific. After
the first day, when we were clear of
shelter, a march of six or eight miles
was all any one was capable of. The
\nights brought cool breezes and recu
peration, but they also brought a lone
liness no person can describe. Men
afloat on the wide ocean In a small
boat hear strange sounds at night and
are made afruid. Men on the desert
are almost made cowards by the un
canny surroundings. If there is the
chirp of a cricket or the howl of a coy
ote, it is not company. It simply adds
to the loneliness. If the night is unbro
ken. then it is as if a heavy blanket
had been thrown over your head to
shut out the living world.
We saw nothing of Indians. No one
believed that a party took our trail. A
faithful watch was kept, however, but
after a few nights when I had come to
realize how helpless we really were I
found myself depending on that legend
of the death bird. If we were menaced,
he would warn us. We had been out a
week when there came the blackest of
black nights. It was black because it
was moonless and a storm was gather
ing. Our tents were set up in a clus
ter, but they could not be seen at a dis
tance of six feet Three scutinels were
on duty, but they could not see the
sands at their feet. If the Indians had
followed, there would never be a bet
ter night for a surprise. It would be
no trick at all to creep within stabbing
distance of the sentinels, and a volley
of arrows and bullets sent through the
tents must wound or kiL most of us.
I was sitting in the door of my tent
an hour after midnight, wondering
how soon the storm would break, when
there came to me from a point not far
distant the notes of the death bird.
They sounded a bit like the call of a
quail, and yet they were unlike. They
were like words instead of notes. They
were soft and clear, and from the very
first they said to me:
"Look out! Look out! Look out!
Danger! Dnnger! Danger! Death
Death! Death!"
I repent that the bird seemed to be
talking Instead of crying out In Its nat
ural notes. 1 may have got this Idea
from my state of nervous apprehen
sion, hut so It was. 1 turned nnd wbke
up the two sleeping engineers and nak
ed them to listen. They did not make
out words as I did, hut one of them
whispered:
"That's a danger cry, or I never
heard one. I tel! you we are menaced
hy some great peril!"
Thrice thi' dentil bird called Its notes,
and then all was silence as before. A
soliller was sent creeping away to cnll
In the sentinels. A few rods to the
north of us, as we had noticed when
going into camp, the sands had been
toyed with by some strong gale until
the ridges almost formed a itttnrnl
fort. With the greatest care and in the
deepest silence we left tents and bag
gage. and, taking nothing but our wa
ter bottles and muskets, we crept out
of camp to the north ana by and by
reached the fort. It was so dark that
men had to be felt for instead of spo
ken to. but at the end of halt an hour
we lay in line with our muskets resting
on a sand ridge and pointing toward
camp. One could tell by the feeling in
the air that the storm would soon
break and that the first break would be
a vivid Bash of lightning. The men
were Instructed to tire with the flash la
case It revealed Indians about.
At last, when we were all in a trem
ble with anxiety, the flash came. For a
few seconds it was as if a (treat search
light had fallen upon the desert. It
was so blinding that every eye was
closed for a second. When opened,
they beheld a band of 20 Apaches oa
hands and knees within 25 feet of the
tents. A volley was tired straight Into
their faces and a second as another
flash showed a few In retreat, and
then we lay there in the pouring rain
till daylight cnnie. There had been In
the band, as near as we could figure it,
21 Indians. We had fired without aim,
and the destruction wrought was due
to luck or accident, but there were 1G
redskins lying dead on the sands
around the camp. Among these were a
full chief, a subchief nnd five or six
noted warriors. Our volleys had ac
complished more than a year's cam
paigning with GOO soldiers. Indeed
they brought pence for two years. Said
one of the survivors to me afterward:
"We had planned to kill the entire
lot of you. We heard the notes of the
dentil bird and knew you would hear
them also, but we didn't believe you
would understand the warning. Had
you not understood and moved away
not a man of you would have escaped."
For many days subsequently—aye,
for many months and years—us I was
posted along the desert or journeyed
across it I looked for the death bird at
morning, noon and night, but I never
got sight of him. His mission was to
fly only at night and to tell of peril.
Why Did They Mlsif
Hunters' tales rarely make mention
of poor shots and failures, and a story
which depicts the remarkable ill suc
cess of some famous shots In Califor
nia a few years ago is therefore all the
more interesting. The narrator, Mr.
Frank Marryat, terms the incident the
one marvelous tale In his book, "Moun
tains nnd Molehills." In former times
it would have passed for a miracle.
Three of us were out at midday in
search of venison in the Santa Itosa
valley. The sky was cloudless and the
sun blazing hot. Making for a shady
thicket, we unexpectedly started a doe
in the long grass. She was out of
range before we could raise a gun, but
there still remained a fawn. The pret
ty innocent stood perfectly still, gazing
at us. Our larder was bare, and we
could not afford to be merciful.
The fawn stood motionless as I ad
vanced a few paces and took, as I fan
cied, deadly aim. I missed, and still It
did not move. The others fired and
missed also.
From the same distance, about 75
yards, we fired each four bullets with
out success. Still the fawn moved but
a pace or two, and our rifle ammunition
was exhausted.
I then crept up to the fawn and with
in 20 paces fired twice at it with my
pistol. Then, unharmed, it quietly
walked away in search of its mother.
We looked at each other in surprise.
Fourteen shots within 70 paces of a
motionless deer! "Well, I'll be hang
ed!" was one man's comment. "Crack
shots!"
Wo could not explain It, unless the
rarefaction of the air had made the
deer seem nearer than It was.
To Rnlne Pnlmn From Beedn.
To start palm seeds is an easy mat
ter. Place half a dozen seeds in a six
inch pot, covering them so they will be
about two inches below the surface.
They should then be well watered, and
the soil should be kept fairly moist con
tinually until the little seedlings push
their way up. The soil should never be
allowed to dry out, nor should it be
kept soggy. Another good plan Is to
place all the seeds In a box of moist
sand and examine them every few
days. Those that burst and begin to
sprout may be planted in flat boxes two
or three inches apart In a good, rich,
sandy soil, or they may be potted if
well started in small pots.
It should be tome in mind that the
embryo, or seed, leaves of palms are
usually entirely different In form from
the true, or character, lenves which
come Inter. In the embryo leaves the
form is long nnd narrow, swordlike and
usually with no divisions.—Robert It.
McGregor In Woman's Home Compan
ion.
The Stonea Rnrned.
In 1701 Philip Ginlor, the discoverer
of coal at Summit Hill, near Mauch
Chunk, lived In a rough cabin in the
forests on the Mauch Chunk mountain.
While in quest of game for his family,
whom he had left at home without
food of any kind, his foot struck a
black stone. Hy the roadside not far
from the town of Summit Hill he built
a fire of wood and threw pieces of the
supposed stone about it so that the em
bers might last longer while he was
roasting a fowl. lie was surprised
after a little while to see the stones
glow and retain their heat for a long
time. He carried a lot of the coal home
and burned it there. The few neigh
bors soon learned of the discovery, but
there was no mining to any extent in
Carbon county until after the war of
tSlli had begun.
An Old Custom.
Why Is it the duty of tlie bride to cut
the wedding cake? The fact is—at
least so a professor told me the other
day—that the Romans are at the bot
tom of it. The original Roman mar
riage was effected by the simple proc
ess of the bride and bridegroom break
ing n cake of bread and eating it to
gether. This developed into the bride
cake, and the bride cut it because It
was the duty of the woman to prepare
food for the man. Young brides of to
day who think it the height of ill luck
not to cut their own wedding cake are
probably not in the least aware of
what they are symbolically pledging
themselves to, but they had better bear
In mind that if they wish to keep a
man in a good temper they must not
forget to feed him.
NEUBURGER'S HOLMY STORE HEWS.
SPECIAL PACKAGE DELIVERY.
As an inducement to early buyers we have arranged a Special Room for the storage of
Christmas Gifts. These we will deliver Free of Charge anywhere in the region next Mon
day. We have also added additional help to our clerical force, so that the many patrons
of the Big Store can be promptly and courteously served.
Exceptional and Matchless Opportunities
TO HOLIDAY SHOPPERS.
The Big Store, never in its history, offered such a
Magnificent Array of Useful and
Practical Christmas Gifts
at the astonishing low figures that each and everything
has been priced at for this special sale.
Suits and Overcoats.
"What is more substantial or would be more appreciated by the young or old than a Neußurger Suit, Overcoat or Retfer?
Ton eaa make your selections at Keußurger's out of a stock fully three times as large as any in Freeland.
CLOTHING. jIOLiDAY - NICETIES FOOTWEAR.
Boys' all wool blue or black Knee Q .. The Very Latest" is the motto of our
ants, per pair X j Shoe Department. In leather goeds noth-
Boys' Reefers, regular *i. 50 kind, j ing but strictly solid leather finds its way to
reduced per pair to ißjl I Holiday blipperS or shelves. In rubber goods nothing but
Boys' extra fine >4.00 Reefers, O i Q strictly first qualities and those we offer you
in three styles, reduced to Jewelry Novelties at exactl 7 the same prices you pay for
Child's $ 2.00 Vestec Suits, neat- -| gy ** secend grades at other stores.
ly trimmed and well made p p ® ur Holiday Slipper Stock is a wonder
Boys' fancy .11 wool hair-line -g V rUI " SeS and prices are incomparable.
striped *2-50 Suits, now X.OVf Ladies Dongola and Felt Slippers,
Ten stvfes in Boys' fine *4.00 O in Sllk and Line n per pair "Ub
Cassimere Suits, reduced to .4.40 Me "' B Fancy Velvet and
Boys'three-piece Long Pants all > Fancy Handkerchiefs TJ- . e "' P er P air Ov O
..o, „ Suit., JL- ,0 2.98 L " d ™ r ssjjr--' Nul "- 75c
""SL£££ oluZ' ,s 2.98 Neckwe * r 65 c
Mufflers Child '- c "" : "™ ed
<8 Overcoats 4.C/0 Umbrellas Slippers
Our entire stock of Slippers has been
SS.SO, 9P©.50 and $lO now equally low-priced for rapid selling,
places at your disposal an array of custom- ArticS and Wool - Lined Shoes
made Gents' Suits and Overcoats in the __
very newest shades, fabrics and styles For the Old Folks \) 1 //\ jy^,
which were bnilt for sl2 to 1 15 selling.
Our complete stock of Men's Suits ranging and Rubber and Felt Boots Everything new and nice in Cloaks for
, # . „ , , Ladies, Misses and Children.
"P *" °" e " ,d n '" s " "" For the Little Folks .venting i„ shin j.ckea, Cap.*
binding guarantee that they are 20 per ne L,ttle Shirts and Wrappers in an unmatchable as
cent cheaper than you can buy them sortment at lowest prices in the county.
elsewhere. : Ladies', Misses' and Children's 1
Men's heavy rubber-lined TYT>X r
Duck Of? Jersey Leggings xxXx X
Coats,large storm collars
FurS Collars Muffs Our Dry Goods Department is more coni-
A "13 plete than eVer ' Ever y tllin g in Dress
U Jal I / ITi 111 W iXi J\ JX, Goods, Linens, Domestic Flannels, Laces
and Collarettes and Ribbons, Blankets and Comfortables
_ , ~ , , are priced for rapid selling.
For young and old, in wool or cotton. D
...... k'iH r | n „ ac Potters best 49-inch Table Oil- -<
Positively the greatest assortment in lower rviu uiuves Cloth per yard 1 V/C
Luzerne county. 3^c Turkey-Red Table Lineq, per f*
Men's heavy Random wool Under- -| Columbia Fancy DreSS Shirts yard JLOO
wear, each X 0 ; All Shades 50c Dress Cloths, per QA
Ladies' heavy fleece-lined Under- -i Q Cardigan Jackets yard OUC
vests, each X3U Lancaster Apron Ginghams, per ** |
Boy '' l,e, "Ur.h"d U ° der -25c Sweaters ln '" d °2C
' All standard makes best 6-cord 200- 4
Men's heaviest and best fleece- A/\ yard Spool Cotton, per spool 4C
lined Underwear, each 'xAJU and Fancy Caps c . ~ .
Men's fine pure S.ntasy W- Elox4 Blankets
"DC Mackintoshes m White or Gray, 59c
Jos. Neußurger Estate,
P. O. S. of A. BUILDING, FREELAND, PA.