h ' i -1 '.i f I t'-.i- -V 0".. . ' VOL Xtll. 13LOOMFIELD,.PA., TUEBDAY, iriBUlttLVItY 5, 1871). NO. " .in . m -ir 't - wAt'itt""' ' " T THE TIMES. Aa Independent Family Ncwxpnprr, IS FDBLI9IIID BVBRT TUKDDAT BT F. MORTIMER & CO. 8UH8C HIPTION l'llICK, (WITHIN TUB COUKTT.) One Year II 2 Hlx Mouths "ft (OUT OF TUB COUNTT.) (Ins Yar, (Postage Included) fl Ml fllx Moulin, frontage included) ftl Invariably lu Advance I "Advertising rates furnished upon appll- cation. Belc(5t PoctiV. DER DOQ UNDDER LOBSTER. Dot dog he vos dad kind of dog Tot ketch dot ret no sly, Und squeeze him niit his little teeth, Und don dnt ret vas die. Dot dog he vos lniiulelte Vareller he to go, Und, like dat woman, all der time Bomeding he vants to kuow. Von da;, all by dnt market-stand Vare vlsu und clams doy sell, Dot dog he poke his nose ahoud Und And out vot he smell. Dot lobster he vos took dot snoozce Mltvone eye open vide, Und den dot dog vas come along Dot lobster he vas spied. Dot tog he smell him mlt his nose, Und scratch hi in mlt Ills paws, Und push dot lobster oil aboud, Und vonder vat he vas. Und den dot lobster he voke up, Und crawl yoost like dot snail, Und make vide open ov his claws Und grap dot doggie's tall. Und den so quick as never vas Dot cry vent to dor sky, Und, like dora swallows vot dey sing, Dot dog vas homeward fly. Yoost like dot dandorbolt he vent Der sight vas awful grand, Und every street dot dog vas turn Down vent dot apple-stapd. Der shildren cry, der vlmmln scream, Der mens fall on der ground, Und dot bollcoman mlt bis club Vas novcre to he found. I makedot run und call dot dog, Und vlstle awful kind Dot makes no difference vot I say, Dot dog don't look behind. . Und pooty soon dot race vas end, Dot dog vas lost his tall Dot lobster I vas took him home, Und cook hint In dot pall. Dot moral vas, I tole yon 'bout, Peforo was ufTer known Don't vant to find out too much dings Dot vastn't ov your own. " JOSEPH'S ADVENTURE. TAN'T you tell us some of your J adventures V" I asked of my friend Joseph, who had returned from his many years' travels in the bush, and was sitting with me and my wife. And, though he had been absent so long, he was, so to speak, a young man yet. " Adventures y Well, I have met with plenty. Rough ones, some of them." " Please tell ui of one," chimed in Mary. Joseph laughed : " I can tell you of a queer one that I met with in the moun tains." " Oh yes, do ! Which mountains ?" " In California up in one of Its wild districts." " That will be the very thing." ' When I started from home to settle in unfrequented districts," began Jo. seph, " I set up a theory that no man should ask a woman to marry him un til he has prepared a home for her. It is surprising how much you begin to think of a wife West yonder ; which arises, I suppose, from the extreme loneliness of one's existence. I was no exception. The land I took up was in the Rogue River Valley, and after I had got it a bit ship-shape I worked away with one object in view to bring home a wife." "liut, Joseph, hud you selected a wlfoV" leaked. " No. I intended to' do that as soon as 1 could, though you may say I was rather young to bo thinking of it. I built a house, got a considerable stock of cattle, made ft flower-garden for iny wife, and even put up pegs and nails she would want to hang her dresses on. I Intended tliut same autumn to mount my horse, ride through the Wallaniet Valley, find iny wife and bring her home." At the notion of courting in that off hand style we laughed a little. Joseph laughed too,as if the recollection pleased him. " You think it strange, I see. It was not so very strange in those days out there, where girls were as scarce as angels. There was not a girl within forty miles of me; and I assure you that the very thought of one, as I drove in those nails for her garments to hang on, went through mo like a thrill. You don't believe y (Jo West yourself and try it." " Rut I do believe." " I had about two hundred and fifty head of cattle, a good house with a gar duu, a young orchard, vegetables grow, ing, sweet-scented flowers, all In readi ness for the wife I hoped to bring home to bless me and to take care of these my possessions. And what do' you think happened to them t There came such a plague of grasshoppers upon the val ley that everything perished. Crops.or chard, flowers, grass, every green and delightful and promising thing; the grasshoppers destroyed all. I consider ed myself disappointed in love too. Though I had not yet been out to And my girl, I knew she was somewhere in that other valley waiting for me ; and when the greedy grasshoppers ate up everything I felt that I had been jilted. It actually gives me a pang now to think of those useless pegs on which my imagination had so often seen a girl's pink cotton dresB and white sun bonnet. I became misanthropic Bald to myself that between Fate and the grasshoppers I had been hardly used. Packing up my books and a few other traps, I bade adieu to the Rogue River Valley for ever, and started for the mountains. It was a long Journey, as I had to drive before me the Block which was left me. There, in the mountains, I settled down again, built myself a fort and played hermit. No Jilting girls should come near nienow. A regular fort a stockade eighteen feet high, with an embankment four feet high around It, and a Btrong gate in the middle. My tent was in the midst of the enclosure, 'With my books and household gods, Are arniB and all the rest of my property stowed away in it." " Were you afraid of Indians V" " Indians and white men. Yes, I saw a good many Iadluns at first within the range of my rifle. They learned to keep away from my fort, finding it did not pay to attempt an invasion. Down in the valley below there were mining camps ; and you perhaps know what some hangers-on of such camps are. I sold beef that is, heads of cattle to the miners ; and as I had sometimes a tidy sum of money by roe, it was neces sary to be careful. " I herded my cattle, drove them to market, cooked, studied, wrote and in dulged in'a mixture of misanthropy and rifle-practice. By the time I had enter ed on the second Bummer in the moun tains I felt quite at home, and was get ting rich. After all, the life hod its charms. A man cannot quite tire of it when he is but ft few years out of his teens." "And the girl-wifeV" " I am coming to her. Having had time to forget my ill-usage, a reaction set in, you see, and I thought, after all, I must ride to the Wallaniet to see after my girl. But I was not in the hurry over it that I hud been before. This is all very dull, you will say, but there'll be some stir presently. " I was sitting outside writing, whon ft shadow fell across the paper, und, look ing up, I beheld a skeleton standing there before me. Accustomed as I was to lonely encounters with strange men of all kinds, my hair stood on end as I stared at the spectre. He was the merest boy in years, pretty and delicate by nature, and evidently reduced to this shadowy state by starvation. His story was soon told. He had left Boston on board a vessel bound for the North-west Coast, had been wrecked at tho mouth of the Umpuque, and been wandering about the mountains ever since, sub sisting on roots and berries." "He was" " No, I assure you, the boy was not a young woman In disguise, If that's what you are thinking. He was just a poor, weak, half-starved lad named Ed ward?. I fed anil nursed Mm until he wus able to work for himself, and then I got Hani Cluing Hung to let him take up n claim alongside a Chinese camp, prom, islng to favor the Chinamen lu a beef contract If he would be good to the boy, I still continued to see a great deal of him. " One day two Chinamen stole some of Ham Chbng Hu tig's horses, and he of fered four hundred dollars to Edwards If he would go after tho thieves and track them. Edwards asked my advice, and I encouraged him to go, telling him where I fancied he would And the men. Ho he htarted in pursuit, and I confess I missed him. " A man came to my fort one day later who was naked andsturving. He was a bud looking fellow, very, but you will say a man naturally does look bad when his clothing is nowhere and his bones protruding his skin. I clothed him, fed him, cared for him kindly until he was able to travel, and then he went away. The next Hunday I was sitting outside my fort, as customary on that leisure day, reading some translations from the Greek poets for I dare say you remem ber I was never much of a hand at the original when, chancing to look off my book, I beheld a vison." "A what y " A vision. A vision of a lovely wo. man. Hhe was riding up the approach to my fort on a Ane horse riding grace fully and slowly, as if to give me time to get over my surprise; and I believe I needed it. The picture she made is in my mind now : I see the very flicker of the shadow and the sunlight across the road, and the glitter of some steel that fastened her horse's trappings as lie arched his neck In impatience of her re straining hand. "That vision, breaking in suddenly, as it did, upon my solitude, gave me tho queerest sensations. I was Just spell bound. Not so she. Reining in her horse at my gute, she squared round on her saddle and looked at me, silently asking my assistance to dismount. I helped her down what else could I do '( and then, at her request, gently pre ferred, went to put up and feed her horse. Had she dropped from theclouds? I did not know. " When I turned indoors my guest had got her habit off. Evidently, she meant to make herself at home. A tall, young, beautiful, well-dressed woman. Her eyes were large, black and melting : her hair was superb, her manner easy. Hhe was hungry, she said : would I give her something to eaty And while I was making preparations to give her of my best, she read aloud one of the Greek translations an ode to Diana com mentlng upon it herself. That she was a woman of culture and education .what ever might have brought her into her present strange position, was obvious, Well, now," continued Joseph, "you can guess whether a young man, Isola ted on the mountains, ruined by the grasshoppers and jilted by the girl of the Wallaniet Valley, was bewildered or not. Entertaining goddesses was not in my line. " What with reading and eating, our acquaintance Improved fast. Bhe offer ed to sing a song, and gave me ' Kate Kearney.' I might have lost my head too perhaps to say nothing of my heart but for a certain inward lurpnt. rinuht I did not care that? my girl should ride about, elegantly attired, on prancing Horses, ana drop down unexpectedly on hermits. Still, it was a pleasant feeling to And one's self near ber, and certainly a novel one. I asked her her history and she told it me. She was of a good New England family, reared in afliu- ence, well educated and accomplished. but by a freak of fortune she had be- come reduced to poverty and exile from home." " What was it, Joseph V" " Ah 1 what Indeed y The old story. I suppose, but I did not ask her. She had made her way to California, resolved to get on and get money ; and she hnd got It. Hho went about from camp to camp wttli stationery end various arti cles needed by the miners end others sold them these things, wrote letters for them, sang to them, nursed them when sick, end carried their letters express to Han Francisco to be posted. For all these services she received large pay. meuts, end she had also hud a good deal of rough gold given to her us specimens. Did she like that kind of life y I asked her, so contrary to her early habits, and she answered me quickly: 'It is not what we choose that we do In this world, but what Fate chooses for us. I have made a competency and gained a rich and varied experience. Life Is not what I once pictured It would be, but I am content.' Hhe sighed as she said it ; and I didn't believe In the 'content.'" " But what had brought her to you that day y" " Bhe had not told me herself then, but presently I asked her. I sluill never forget the smllo with which she turned to ar.Bwer. It pretty nigh disunited me. We were sitting somewhat close too; her flowing silk gown touched my knees. Altogether, I begun to think of those useless pegs in my house down In Rogue Rlyer Valley. But what she said pulled up my wandering thoughts and turned them to present things. ' Shall you be surprised to hear that I came to do you a real service V she asked. And she went on to relate that, having had to pass the previous night ut a place not many miles away, in a house where the partitions were thin, she had chanced to overhear a plun for murdering and rob bing me, the vliluln-ln-chlef of the plot being the sturved and naked wretch whom I had sheltered and sent away re joicing not many days previously. All lu a moment, while I was pondering on the doubtful problem of gratlt'.vle, a fancy came over me that she might not be telling truth that it might be Just an excuse got up to Justify her own vUlt ; and I playfully hinted as much. 'A woman does not trifle with subjects like these, nor does she deceive when she goes out of her way to do a service,' she answered. " I rode off from that house the other way this morning, made a long detour, and came here to warn you. And now that I have dune it, if you will please get my horse, I will ride away aguln.' All fair, that. I, full of thanks and repentance, asked her to stay longer if Bhe was not perfectly rested ; but she declined, and I brought the steed round and helped her to mount him. Once in tho saddle her humor changed ; she smiled and reminded me that I had not been polite enough to invite her to re turn. A week of reading, talking, rid ing, trout-fishing and romancing up in those splendid mountains would be very charming; perhaps she would come if I asked her." " And did you ask her V" " I did not. A young man with a reputation to sustain up there in the mountains couldn't invite a young lady to stay a week with him: could he now?' cried, Joseph quaintly; which set us both laughing. " So I parried the question as easily as I could, and she rode away. In going slowly down the trail she turned and kissed her hand to me with a gracious sweetness. I assure you the struggle within my own mind was great at that moment; and I don't know whether I have forgiven myself even yet for what happened afterward." " What did happen y" "Bhe came back again. She came back again, and I drove her away. That Is, I niuje the best excuses I could for not readmitting her, saying we should perhaps have lighting and murder and what not in my fort that night, and it would be no place for ft delicately-bred woman. The pretty and modest girl who was to come from Wallamet Valley and hang up her pink garments on my pegs, had rushed into my mind, you see, But I never like to confess to this part of the story, because I get laughed at. But don'i yod think I did right, having my reputation to keep up V' he went on thoughtfully. " She Anally rode away, not having been invited to get oft her horse, leaving me in anything but pleasant frame of mind. From telliog myself I was a bear, I turned to the other subject the contemplated robbery and murder of myself. Had she simply invented that little fable t or was it true blU? I felt inclined to believe it the latter. Anyway, I deemed It well . to be prepared for all contingencies, bar ring and boltirtg my fort against intru ders and sitting up late over the fire. This was Sunday night. On the next Tues day morn big three or four men rode up, one of whm was tho traltor.my former hungry and naked protege. Ho no longer attempted to conceal his true character from me, t ut said he and his comrades were determined to 'clean out' the Chinese camp, and lie asked me to join them In the raid. I was on my guard in answering him, simply saying I would have nothing to do with rob. blng the Chinese that they' were my friends and customers, and I thought they had best be let alone. With that he went oft". That same afternoon Ed wards 'cume In, having recaptured some of the horses, He was very tired, and asked leave to stay with tho horse at my place till next duy. I said nothing to Edwards of the gang just gone away or tliut (as I suspected) they had talked of making a raid on the Chinese only to throw me ofT my guard ; for lt'was my fort on which the attack was undoubt edly to be made. " Dusk came on. I sent Edwards, dead tired, to bed, made a great Are In the tent, and sat by it, fuclng the win dow. My expected visitor came, the villain 1 He made believe to have been drinking, and put that forward as a plea for asking shelter until the morning. The instant he was inside I made the gate fast, driving the big wooden pin home with an axe. I caught a gleam from his eyes as 1 was doing this which-" " But why not have made the gate fast before he entered '" I asked, " Because he was safer inside than out. A conviction had come over me that this man was some most desperate character. His comrades were no doubt waiting near, and his plan had been qui etly to open the gate to them." " Hod you no arms but your rifle y" " I wanted none, for we understood each other, my rifle and I. This villain understood us too. 1 don't think, either that he liked to see Edwards sleeping in the tent. The lud was not good for much, but still, he was somebody. It would now be a contest of skill between the fellow and me. He was waiting his opportunity, and so was I. He sat on one side the hearth, I on the other side, our eyes Axed on one another. " You guess, I dare say, that I have a quick ear, for you know what my tem perament Is all sensitive consciousness. My good hearing had been cultivated, too, by listening for the Indians. By and by I detected a very stealthy move, raent outside the fort, and then ft faint chirrup, such as a young squirrel might make. Up sprang the man, but I cov ered him with my rifle, cocked. He saw the movement, showed his teeth and drew out ft pistol, but not before I had ordered him to throw down bis Arms or die. He hesitated: he saw that io my eye and aspect which made him quail. While I held the rifle levelled and my Anger on the trigger he threw down his arms pistol and knife with a dreadful oath. I had the best of him, and he knew it, for before he could have put his pistol into form or rushed on me with his knife the ball from my rifle would have been in him. His language was awful and we are not nice in that respect, you know, in California the foam lay upon his Hps. He demanded to be let out of thei house, denouncing me as a robber and a murderer. To all his ravings I had but one answer to be quiet and obey me and he should live ; dare to disobey me and he should die. He sat there, cowed, on the opposite side of the Are, not daring to make even doubtful motion. Then I told him what I knew that I had heard what he was and what he meant to do. With that he broke down utterly, or pretended to do so cried like a child.Ueclaring that now he knew my pluck, and I had been the first man ever to get the better of him, he loved me like a brother. All the same, love or no love, be had to sit where he was, and I in front of him with my rifle on my knees. There was a long night before us : he could have no liberty In it, and the restraint was ter rible to him. One moment he laughed uneasily, the next cured,the nextcriej. It was a strange experience, was it not ? To pass away the time, I asked him to relate the history of h is life. He said he
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