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VOL. XI.
NEW 33L.OOMIPIEL33, 1J.A.., TUESDAY, OCTOBIEI 23, 1877.
NO. 42.
I1W
x lifyti- - Y
THE TIMES.
An Independent Family Newspaper,
' IS PUBLISH Hit BVIRT TDB8DAT BT
F. MORTIMER & CO.
Subscription Price.
Within the County ...tl 25
Bixmonui 10
Out of the County, Including postage.
" " " six months "
1 W)
(A
Invariably In Advance I
V Advertising rates furnished' upon appU;
atlon. '
Saved by a Piece of Lace.
MIIS. RUTHERFORD Mas looking
over her laces. There were many
choice pieces of pointe purchased In
Europe ; Mechlin and Brussels pointe,
Limerick pointe, with other Irish laces,
Honiton, delicate d'Alencon, and one
precious piece of antique pointe de Ven
Ise, for Mrs. Rutherford was a connois
seur In laces, and threw away her mon
ey in a recklessly extravagant way
whenever a fine piece was concerned.
, "Hope Rutherford, I wish you would
tell me how you happened to take the
lace mania," I said, as I lifted from the
handsome Japanese casket an odd piece,
a mixture of lace and em broidery, which
I fancied she had picked up in someout-of-the-way
corner of Switzerland.
" I believe I was ten years old," she
replied, " when I began my study of
laces. The strip which you hold in your
hand was my first acquisition. It has
a rather curious history. Would you
like to hear It V" ' ' '
And then Hope Rutherford told me
the following story, which proved to be
not of quaintly costumed peasants in
wm'e Swiss Valals, or of some princely
lady of the court of Francis I., but of
her own stormy childhood and first
love.
The daughter of a pioneer judge,
Hope's early life had been spent in the
West, five' miles from the little town of
Conflict. Their nearest neighbors were
the Antoines. A shrinking little woman
with light hair and washed-out eyes was
Mrs. Antoine, but she had a furtive
way of glancing from them that seemed
to tell that she might have had ideas of
her own before they were crushed out
by the Colonel, who had never been In
the army, and held his title only as a
mark of respect. Of French descent,
and of a fiery Gallic temperament, he
- united to many hereditary vices others
for whose distinctive originality he
might have taken out a patent. Life
with him could not have been pleasant
to him under any circumstances.
The two dwellings stood within a few
rods of each other, but a long detoirr was
necessary to pass between them, for,
dividing the wooded knoll, on which
Colonel Antoine had reared his strange
structure, from the broad acres of corn
field, scarcely overtopped by 'Squire
May's stockade of logs and mud, ran a
deep ravine, the bed of a fierce little
stream called the Wild Cat.
Another gulf separated them, for
though their position as settlers In new
Kansas offered many points of resem
blance in the trials and hardships which
both met so bravely, yet the heads of the
families when they met, as they did on
their way to and from Conflict, never
recognized each other. Mrs. Antoine
would have explained this in her mel
low accents, " 'Taiut to be helped, I
s'pose, sence you uns are from the
Nawth and we uns from the Saouth."
The very houses with their sur
roundings spoke the difference between
them. 'Squire May's farm had been as
thickly wooded as the Colonel's estate,
but with his own right arm he had
chopped down the trees, built his home
of two rooms and a loft above them,
pried up the stumps, ploughed and sown
bis corn field. After three years of la
bor as a farmer he was beginning to reap
results. The deserted law books stood
upon the rough shelves against the log
wall of the "front room ;" a good libra
ry of miscellaneous literature kept them
company. Above the book hung the
'Squire's carbine, only used against the
prairie chickens, for he was a man of
peace. A rag carpet of Mrs. May's
workmanship covered the floor. Every
thing bore marks of thrift and industry.
Colonel Antoine had preempted his
claim the year previous to the coming of
the Mays. The Wild Cat Joined the
Missouri river near the site which he
had chosen for his resldence,and the rea
son of his choice of this particular spot
had been the presence at its mouth of a
sunken steamboat, its upper cabin just
emerging from the muddy water. A
band of the Colonel's companions, sym
pathizing In the noble cause which had
led him to leave his plantation in Mis
souri, that of helping to drive all " free
State" men from Kansas, had come over
to help establish him in his new home.
They brought a gang of negroes with
them, and had a " raising," In which
a great deal of whiskey ' was consumed,
and the cabin of the Bunken steamer
was raised and dragged to the top of the
knoll. Its side faced the road, presenting
the peculiar spectacle of a house with
twenty front doors. After this it needed
not a great deal of work on the Colonel's
part to render it habitable, and it was
not long before he removed to it his
family and chattels. The former con
sisted of his gentle wife and four boys,
and the latter of one mule, one cow, and
one " niggah," faithful Aunt rollyan
thus. The Colonel made no attempt to
improve the place, but proceeded daily
to Conflict, mounted on his mule, and
armed in the most ferocious manner, his
business being politics and gambling.
And yet, in spite of this chasm be
tween them, human nature asserted its
claim, and the " women folks" of these
two homes became earnest friends.
Though Mrs. May disapproved of the
shlftlessness of Mrs. Antoine's house
keeping, of the dirty ruffled pillow
cases, of the painted plaster paris parrot
on the clock-shelf, of the number of the
Colonel's empty whiskey bottles and old
boots that strewed the ground opposite
the front entrance, and of the calmness
with which Mrs. Antoine regarded the
confusion of her kitchen and the ragged
condition of her sons' clothing, while
she worked endless bands of very dirty
but very fine embroidery, yet she loved
the little woman with all her heart, and
had done so ever since the night she had
locked the drunken Colonel in one of
the staterooms, and battled death with
her until at dawn a fifth little Antoine
lay in his mother's arms.
" Don't talk to me," she would say to
her husband. " One has only to look at
those boys to know there Is plu;k in
their mother." And If Gus Antoine,
the eldest, was a sample of what the
rest would be, her words had their
weight. Gus was fifteen, a clerk in a
bookstore at Conflict, and it was prin
cipally from his earnings that the fam
ily were supported. They saw him walk
ing bravely to town early every morn
ing, carrrylng his dinner In a little tin
pail, his jacket, whose buttons were all
old bachelors, In that no one of them
had a mate,fastened tightly to the throat,
where it was met by a turned paper col
lar and flashy magenta necktie. 'Squire
May liked the boy. Once, when he had
called on some errand, he stood for a
long time puzzled and curious before a
box of geological specimens which the
'Squire had collected. " What are them
things " he asked.
" Fossil leaves," replied 'Squire May.
" I give myself a vacation every sum
mer, and go off for a week or two geol
ogizing." The boy asked a few more questions
before he left, which showed him bright
and observing. A fortnight he came
again. ' '
" I've been reading all about them
things," he said. The sale of books was
not brisk at Conflict, apd during the In
tervals of trade Gus had plenty of time
to read. Still, the Squire was surprised
to find that the boy had gone through a
volume of Hitchcock and one of Hugh
Miller, making himself as Intelligent a
master of their contents as it was pos
sible to be without the aid of specimens
" I recited what I read daytimes every
night to mother," he continued, " and
If father would only lend me Sarsaparil-
la, that's the mule, I'd like to go Jolly
gizlng with yer."
I'll take you with me la the buggy,'
seld the 'Squire, " if you can obtain
leave of absence from the store,"
Through their three years of neigh
borhood the friendship between the two
grew and strengthened, till at the time
at which your story finds them the
'Squire remarked to his w ife that he did
not believe he could think more of Gus
Antoine If he were his own son, and he
Intended to commence reading law with
him soon. There was one other who
looked forward to the boy'B visits with
pleasure, the 'Squire's only child, little
Hope. She had gone strawberrylng and
hazel-nuttlng with him before, he had
won her father's favor. All the Antoine
boys had strongly marked French
features, with startled black eyes and
hair to match, forming a strong con
trast to Hope's blonde beauty. Mrs.
May had been horrified on their first ar
rival to And her little daughter seated
beside a stump, on which her toy dishes
were displayed, entertaining a troop of
ragged boys. The entertainment con
sisted of a doughnut broken in minute
bits, and, most astounding sight for a
New England mother, the youthful
Antoines had brought as their contribu
tion to the feast a cup half filled with
New Orleans molasses, some scraps of
dried orange peel, and a bottle, in which
there still remained a few spoonfuls of
whiskey, with which ingredients and a
little water Gus was compounding a
drink and filling the tiny pewter cups
with all the expertness of n California
bartender.
While Gus was awny " Jollyglzlng"
with her father, Hope went every day to
recite French lessons to Mrs. Antoine,
and to learn to make the marvelous em
broidery, whose great eyelets were filled
in with cobweb-like wheels in lace
stitches of pointe d'Alencon. So the
summer passed, but with the fall came
the elections. 'Squire May returned from
his brief vacation to learn with sur
prise that the " free State" party had
nominated him as their candidate for
the district judge-ship, and that his op
ponent on the Democratic ticket was
Colonel Antoine, The election was close
ly contested but ended in the usual way,
Colonel Antoine's friends coming over'
from Missouri, voting for him and ren
dering the Demooiats triumphant.
'Squire May was heard to protest loudly
against the illegality of this proceeding,
and as he drove toward home it was ob
served that his usual calm temper was
much disturbed.
The day following the election was an
eventful one to Mrs. Antoine and Hope
as they sat over their embroidery on a
bench under the broad-leaved catalpas
In front of the Antoine mansion. A
grotesque shadow was thrown upon the
path, and Hope grasped Mrs., Antoine's
arm in alarm, wondering what strange
animal would follow. It was only a
pedlar, and both she and Mrs. Antoine
were soon deep In the contents of the
pack, which consisted of several cases of
cheap jewelry, a few pieces of flimsy
dress goods, arid some coarse Hamburg
embroideries. Mrs. Antoine ' looked
over these in teres tedly, but with a smile
on her lips. " I can embroider better
than that myself, and so can this little
girl."
"Let me see what you do," said the ped
lar, and Hope displayed a long strip of
the mingled embroidery and lace work,
the pattern in each eyelet being one of
Gus Antoine's design an anchor it
meant hope, he said. ; .
" I give you fifty cents for dat," said
the stranger.
" Oh I will you V" exclaimed Hope de
lighted, while Mrs. Antoine rose, has
tened into the house, and returned with
the entire collection, which she had
worked since she left the convent. The
pedlar was an evil-looking man, and
Hope was afraid to be left alone with
him, but Colonel Antoine sauntered In
at the gate as his wife entered the house.
For a wonder, he was Bober, and Hope
felt her courage revive. He regarded
the pedlar gruffly, and began to scold
Mrs. Antoine when she returhed,thoueh
his ill humor vanished when he saw she
was selling not buying. The stranger
selected a number of bauds, and paid for
them from a chamois-skin purse filled
with gold pieces, which he took . from
his bosom. The Colonel's eye glittered
as it fell upon it, and his manner chang
ed perceptibly.
"Are you going on to .Conflict V" he
asked, as the pedlar returned the emptied
gourd, which Mrs. Antoine had ottered
him filled with water, and stooped to
take up his pack. " Yes r Well, so am
1 and I'll walk along with you. You
look tired ; just silng your pack across
Sarsaparilla. I don't mind a tramp with
a pleasant companion."
Mrs. Antoine looked frightened. Such
condescension on the part of the Colo.
nel was, to say the least, unusual and
portenllous.
The next day the little Sabbath school
of which 'Squire May had been the orig
inator, and which held its meetings in
the log school house two miles away,
met at his house for a celebration. It
was a pleasant Bight, the children about
a table-cloth spread upon the grass on
which the food was laid in pio-nlc fash
ion. As soon as the children were help
ed ihe 'Squire disappeared, and while he
was gone a report of a pistol was heard.
He returned in the course of an hour to
say that a swing was ready, and Gus
Antoine remained for some time longer
tossing the little ones into the air.
On his way home, aB his foot touched
the little bridge which he had built
across the Wild Cat for the convenience
of the two families ,Gus's eye was caught
by an object in the ravine below. It
was his father, lying half in and. half
out of the water, with his face covered
with blood. Quick as thought he swung
himself down to his side. There was a
deep, round, terrible hole in his fore
head, from which the blood had flowed
that formed this hideous mask, and he
was quite dcad The boy tried to lift
him out of the water, but finding that
Impossible, he washed away every trace
of blood from the face no one else
should Bee his father look like that and
then he went on toward home for help.
The MIssourlans had nearly all gone,but
Big Bill, a cousin of Mrs. Antoine's had
remained after the election, and was JuBt
bidding her good-by, and remained now
to render assistance.
The funeral followed soon after. As
'Squire May was on. his way to attend it
a sheriff seized him by the shoulder,and
arrested him for murder. Frightened
Hope ran with the news to her mother,
and even beneath this crushing blow the
heroic woman did not flinch. It was her
arm that supported the hysterical widow
as they stood togctherat the brink of the
terrible grave, and It was Gus Antoine
who comforted sobbing Hope, saying
that he knew her father had not killed
his, and it would be so proven.
When Mrs. Antoine heard of it she
was no less positive as to the 'Squire's In
nocence, and her tears fell like rain over
black the bo'mbazlne dress, which she
was making over for Hope to wear at
the trial.
How stlflingly hot tho court-room
was, packed to its utmost, with an in
tensely excited audience, and still they
come long after Hope was certain that
there was not room for another one.
She had never seen so many people be
fore, and looking around upon them
from her seat In the upper part of the
room, saw only a sea of heads. She was
conscious of but one individual face,that
of her father, pale, but calm in front of
tho swaying mass. By and by the law
yers commenced talking. She felt faint ;
It all buzzed and hummed through her
head ; she could not have told a word
thev were savimr. After what seemed
to her a long while, the witnesses for the
prosecution were called and Big Bill
took the stand. He related the quarrel
between the Colonel and 'Squire May at
the polls, enlarging upon it and running
on in a way that showed him entirely
too willing a witness. Then the widow
Antoine was sworn. She trembled vio
lently, and nothing could be got from
her except by questions.
' " What time was it when your hus
band left the house 5"'
" Twelve o'clock," came in a frighten
ed gasp from behind the black veil.
" How do you know it was twelve
o'clock r"
" Because dinner had just been placed
upon the table."
" Do you always have dinner at exact
ly noon V"
" No, but as he left the door I heard
the whistle at Catling's saw mill."
" Why did he leave the house just as
dinner was ready V"
" He was angry because the boys were
not at home, and said he would go down
to the bridge and call them."
" That is sufllclent,"said the attorney,
nex calling "Master Gus Antoine."
Uus came forward reluctantly, with an
appealing glance toward Hope,as though
he were asking her forgiveness before
hand for what he was about to say ; then
he looked In the same way toward
'Squire May, who answered bis glance
by an cnoouraging nod of the head.
" Did you attend the plo-nlo at the
house of the prisoner r"
Gus swallowed hard, pulled his jacket
down strongly, and replied, " Yes, sir."
" Was the prisoner with you through
out the whole day V"
" No sir."
" At what hour did he leave you V"
" At twelve o'clock."
" now do you know it was twelve
o'clock V"
" I heard the whistle at Sam Cat
ling's."
Did you hear anything else remark
able soon after this and before the return
of the prisoner V
The boy's face flamed scarlet and
white in streaks and patches, as though
he had been struck with a whip of
thongs, but he answered bravely, " Yes,
sir, I heard a pistol shot."
" How do you know that it was not a
shot from this carbine V"
" Because I know the noise that old
shooter makes. 'Squire May has lent it
to me often to hunt partridges."
" You may sit down."
Gus paid no attention to the lawyer's
order, but leaning forward, eagerly ad
dressed the judge and the jury : "May it
please your Honor, and you gentlemen
of the jury," he said 'Squire May smil
ed. " He gets that from me," he said to
himself, for they had talked often of
law and legal terms en their geological
trip. " What a fine lawyer he will
make," he thought "and you gentle
men of the Jury," Gus went on, "I
would like to make a few further re
marks." " If they have anything to do with
facts bearing upon the case," said the
judge, with a smile at the boy's attempt
at forensic eloquence, " you may pro
ceed." '
" My mother and I, sir, do not believe
that 'Squire May shot my father. We
think that the murderer was a stranger
from whom father had won a considera
ble sum of money the night before."
" The court has nothing to do," said
the Judge, "with what you or your
mother may think or believe. The
question Is, can you prove anything V"
" No, sir," replied Gus. " I went down
to the Union saloon and found that
father had won the money from a ped
lar, that the man who had lost it was
desperate, but he had left the town, and
no one knew where he had gone, or
what was his name."
" May It please your Honor," said the!
prosecuting attorney, "all this seems
to me utterly Irrelevant, and a useless
consumption of precious time."
" Have you anything further to stater"
asked the judge kindly.
" No, sir," said Gus, bursting into
tears, "but If this trial could be put off,
though I've never seen the man, I'd
track him like a bloodhound, if I had to
follow him to California." And the poor
boy sat down, covering his face in an
agony of grief."
The discovery was nearer than he
thought for a messenger pressed through
the crowded room, touched Gus upon
the shoulder, and whispered that he was
wanted. Utterly bewildered, he rose
and followed hir to a low boarding
house In a disreputable part of the town.
There, upon a wretched bed, a man lay
dying. In a drunken condition he had
fallen from a high bridge, and his skull
was broken in several places. Father
Murphy, the Catholic priest, had heard
his confession, and was now committing
It to writing. He did not look up or
speak as Gus entered, but went steadily
on with his work. A pedlar's pack lay
open upon a chair, and Gus Antoine's
sharp eyes detected an object which
made him start forward and seize it. It
was the strip of embroidery which Hope
had made. He had found the man he
sought.
Father Murphy, who had signed and
certified the paper, handed it at this
Instant to Gus. Its purpose was, that
having been ruined in play by Colonel
Antoine, he had waited for and shot
him in Wild Cat Hollow. His money,
which he got from the murdered man,
he now left to the church, and he pray
ed for the forgiveness of thoe whom he
hod Injured. Gus turned to grant it, but
the hand that had committed the crime
- had stiffened upon a crucifix, and with
the word Feooavi upon his lips the soul
had gone.
" Then Gus turned to Father Murphy.
" Come quick to the court house," he
said. " We may be too late now."
And with the confession in one hand