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VOL. XUl.
NEW BLOOMFIELD, PA., TUESDAY, JULY 15, 1879.
NO. 29.
THE TIMES.
in Independent Family Ncwspnper,
IS PUBLISH BD IVBBT TUB8DAT BT
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Beledt Poeti'v.
"IN THE LONG RUN."
The old-fashioned saying
80 lightly expressed
And so carelessly uttered,
Is one of the best.
Oh, ponder, young trlller,
With young life begun,
The deep, oarnost meaning
Of "In the long run."
For " In the long run ," boys,
The seed will spring up
That was sown In the garden
Or dropped In the cup.
And, remember I not roses
Will spring from the weed,
And no beautiful fruit
From the unworthy seed.
How many a stripling
In trouble to-day,
' By riotous living
With comrades too gay.
With character shipwrecked
And duties undone,
Will be sorrows harvesting
" In the long run."
And " In the long run" will
The toller fare best
Who performs honest labor
And takes honest reBt 1
Who, contented and happy,
Hastes not, In a day,
Or a year, to heap riches,
That will pass away.
The good and the evil
That bide on the earth,
The Joy and the sorrow.
The pain the mirth,
The battles unheeded,
The victories won,
Will yield what was sown, lad,
"In the long run."
GUIDED BY A GHOST,
on
The Professor's Courtship.
IT WAS an afternoon in late February,
and Tom Kingsley was lounelnar in
the bay-window of,the little sitting.
room, ma .Latin and Greek books all
around him, and, what was worse, a
broad snow covered the hill in front of
him, down which sled after sled was
gliding with the most tantalizing rapid
ity. Tom was twenty, and devoted to
learning, but he was not above a good
coast when the chance presented itself.
Occasionally he favored his sister, who
was the only other occupant of the room,
wltn very audible growlings against the
restrictions of study hours.
The two were students in the academy
whose mathematically square building
rose almost opposite to the Kintrslev's
house. Thev were nearlv of An n
o
but one was preparing to enter college ;
tne eaucauon of the other was consider-
ed nearly completed. The two young
people witn- tnelr father and another,
'made up the whole family : but Mr.
King'sley's, in the simple, unnretendlnir
vay of the village, received Into his
nouse as a boarder one of the academic
professors, and also occasional' students
when they happened to be friends of rh
children. It was this first nanie.1 in.
dividual that was excltlne Tom'aatren.
jtlon, in lack of anything better to look
at.
" May," he said, ierkinnr his head fivpr
Siis shoulder with a quick, characteristic
novement, "just come here and see
3rofesaor Rensel go by."
His sister dropped her work and came
ko the window. On the other side of the
itreet stood a tall ungainly man, with a
cholarly stoop in his shoulders, a heud
Jof bushy hair much threaded with grey,
p pair or mild, wise spectacles, and a
;enerai air or perplexed acquiescence in
ill mundane affairs, whatever. In hia
Lands he held a very tiny sled, looking
it it at arm's-length, as if it was some
thing of an explosive nature. One six-year-old
little fellow was surveying his
broken plaything with despairing eyes,
while two other excited urchins danced
up and down in front of the professor,
endeavoring duly to set forth the nature
of the accident that had happened to the
runner. Two dogs wagged their tails
hopefully in the background, and, to
complete the procession, a disabled crow,
the pet of the villagers, brought up the
rear. It hopped gravely along, now jui
one foot now on the other, setting its
head on one side in oracular fashlon,and
looking ten times blacker and wickeder
than ever against the whiteness of the
snow.
After considering the situation a few
minutes the professor started off again,
dragging the Bled by the rope, and his
procession, crow and all, trotted along
behind him.
"Now," said Tom, "he M ill go straight
to the carpenter's shop to get that thing
mended ; and the carpenter, after im
pressing upon him the arduous nature
of the job, will charge just ten times
what it is worth, and he will pay it
without a word."
"No doubt he will."
" And those little beggars will run off
without even thanking him."
" Hut they are fond of him, Tom."
"I don't care. May,you can make that
man believe anything."
" I know it."
" Just fancy his going out with a
telescope and watching the moon all
night because we boys told him there
were changes on its surface indicating
some great interior convulsion I And
when he couldn't find tbem, and came
to me to point them out, we pretended
to see them plainly enough, told him his
eyes were getting weak, and he believed
every word of it, and has taken to wear
ing spectacles from that day."
"Well, they are becoming, at any
rate, and he is short-sighted," said his
sister, laughing.
" But, May, the best joke of all you
ever heard of. Promise me you won't
tell anybody about it."
" Of course not, except Jem."
" Oh, Jem knows all about it already ;
he was in it. Seems to me you're very
dutiful, though, all at once. Getting en
gaged has improved you."
" Well, pray that it may last," said
his Bister, demurely.
"Which? the improvement or the
engagement ? How many people have
you been engaged to before this, May 1"'
" About half a dozen, I think."
" I think so too. Don't treat Jem in
that way. He's a friend of mine ; and
after all it's rather mortifying, you
know, to a fellow."
" It can't very well be mortifying in
this case, because nobody Is to know of
the engagement."
" I should like to know if they don't.
Why, May, it is known all over town.
Jem told of it himself. You see, you
are rather pretty for a girl ; and then
there's that bit of money grandmother
left you. On the whole, Jem's rather
proud of it, and no wonder."
" Let's have the joke now, Tom ;
never mind the compliments."
" Never complimented anybody in my
life. What are you talking about ? But
about that little affair ; you remember
when we were experimenting with that
nitrogen iodide in the labratory, May ?"
" Yes."
" You remember how explosive it was
safe as long as you kept it wet, but go
ing off like nitro-glycerine and dyna
mite put together when it got dry ?"
" It didn't go off without some one
touched it, Tom."
"I rather guess it did. If a fellow merely
breathed a yard away from it.off it went.
But that's of no consequence, for In this
case somebody was expected to touch
it."
" And that somebody was the profes
sor, of course ?"
" Of course. We had a lot of it, and
put some on the handle of his door, some
in his slippers, and some among his
books ; the rest we scattered around pro
miscuously. And, as good luck would
have it, there came up a heavy thunder
shower that very afternoon. The pro
fessor came hurrying in ; accidentally
Jem and I met him on the stairs. We
asked him to explain a difficult Latin
passage.
" ' Oh, come right in come right In,
boys,' he says, in that benevolent way of
his, and laid his hands on the door-knob.
Bangl He jumped back as if he had
been shot, ' Bless, me, what's the mat
ter ?" he exclaimed, rubbing his nose.
We didn't soy anything, but acted as if
'twas the most every-day occurrence.
Well, we went In, and he pulled olf his
boots and started to get his slippers on.
Bang I bang 1 Oh, May, you never saw
the like of that jump I I believe he
actually struck the ceiling. When he
went to draw down the window-curtain,
bang 1 again. When he took down the
Latin book It was a big and heavy one
bangl bangl bangl And soon with
every thing he touched in the room, till
I began to think the poor man would
lose his wits. But the best of it was he
never even suspected the cause. You
know his wisdom lies in Latin and
Greek ; he doesn't know anything about
the sciences, though I believe he regards
them with more awe than all the rest of
the curriculum put together. Well, Jem
Just told htm the thunder shower had
done It, that it had charged the room
with electricity, and that he himself was
a first-class prime conductor. Jem ex
patiated learnedly for half an hour or
more on the freaks of electricity ; talked,
you know, as if it was a usual thing to
Bee rooms behaving in that fashion.
And, if you'll believe me, the professor
actually took It all in ; is writing a pa
per now if Jem's any authority on the
subject on these extraordinary natural
phenomena."
Tom was In ecstacles of laughter by
this time, and his sister was not slow in
joining him.
" I was only afraid father would hear
the noise, and stop the fun," gasped he
at last, when he was able to speak.
" Luckily he didn't come in till it was
all over. I suggested to the professor
that it might frighten mother if he was
to mention it at the table, and he has
been as mum about it as possible ever
since. May, we can make him believe
anything anything whatever. If I
told him there were ghosts in the house,
he'd put out his light and sit watching
for one the very next night."
" Why don't you show him a ghost
then ?" queried May. "You know we
read how they did it at the spiritualistic
seances. I'll help you, and"
"May I" cried Tom, Jumping to his
feet and dancing the Fisher's Hornpipe,
" you're a trump 1 Just wait till Jem
comes, and we'll have it all fixed. The
professor never locks his door."
The two pairs of brown eyes looked at
each other, and the respective owners
of them burst out laughing, with the de
lightful unanimity of sentiment that oc
curs whenever any specially delectable
piece of mischief is on foot.
Jem in no way dissented from the pro
gramme when he presented himself at
night, but on the contrary added some
timely suggestions. Tom considered his
friend the quickest-witted mortal in the
world, and a handsome fellow besides,
which last was true enough. The young
people soon found out that to copy the
spirits successfully required more time
and practice than they had counted up
on, their ghostly advisers having failed
to provide any short road to perfection.
They were very patient, however, as
people will be when engaged in some
thing which they have no manner of
business, and in about a week had all
their arrangements completed. Jem was
to personate the ghost, Tom and his
friends the audience Tom having re
luctantly yielded the post of distinction
to Jem in consideration of his abilities.
But when It came to the point the
would-be ghost had a new proposal to
make. " Let's tell him to do something
or other," he said " something that
he would never think of himself so
that we shall know by that afterward
whether he believes in it at all or not."
This being hailed with acclamation,
Tom suggested that the professor should
be commanded to wear a cocked hat for
a month ; May, that he should make a
daily pilgrimage to the top of Meeting
house hill for that length of time. But
Jem rejected both of these proposals;
they would be liable to bring about dis
covery, and were not solemn enough to
be accredited to a ghost.
"No; It must be something that will
affect his whole life," he said " some
thing of so much consequence that he
would think it likely that the spirits
would be charged to deliver it. We'll
tell him be must go as a missionary ; or,
no, better still, let's tell him to marry
somebody May, here, for Instance; he
was always fond of her, and she is right
in the same house."
" But, unluckily, May is not fond of
him, but of you," eserved Tom, wick,
edly.
" Well, he doesn't know that. He will
think It's his duty to ask her. And
when she says no, he will wait for some
spiritual light. You don't mind, do you
May V"
May did mind very much tit first, but
the two boys, aided by her own sense of
fun, at last persuaded her into it. Fer
haps the thought that it was sure to be
discovered, and that the professor could
not possibly carry his credulity to that
point, helped to quiet her conscience.
At any rate, she not only yielded, but
after the fashion of womankind was the
one to originate the boldest part of the
scheme.
" If I let you do that, boys, you must
let me do what I want to."
Of course they both asked, "What
is it?"
May refused to tell them. " You'll
know soon enough," she said, with the
mischievous sparkles coming and going
in her brown eyes. " Only, if I don't
say anything to spoil your fun,you must
promise not to spoil mine."
They both gave the promise very
readily, finding a new interest in the
project now that something not laid
down in the plan might possibly hap.
pen.
In about a week everything was ready
and the night set in for the ghostly vis
itation. The professor, after putting out
his light was just getting into bed still
absorbed in the true interpretation of a
difficult aorlst construction, when the
door creaked gently, seemed to swing
open of itself, and presently, to his as
tonlshed eyes, a tall white figure pre
sented Itself, with a faint blue light en.
circling It, and a general misty un
certainty of outline that might be attri
buted to the shifting of some thick va
por, but to an uninitiated person, was
highly suggestive of uncorporeal spirits.
"Bless me, bless me!" said Professor
Itensel, staring at this vlson. "Who
are you, my friend?"
" lama disembodied spirit," replied a
sepulchral voice.
"Dear, dear, what a pity: Can't
can't anything be done for you ?"
"Nothing. I am sent to you."
" Well, my friend, I am here" after a
pause, In which he seemed to imagine
that the embarrassed spirit required
some encouragement. His face shone
with a mild benevolence. " I am here,"
he repeated, " what can I do for you ?'.
The blue light was shaken for a mo
ment, as if the spectral visitor was dis
turbed by this tantalizing calmness, and
even disposed to back out of the situa
tion. Then the sepulchral voice re
plied: " You are commanded to marry Mary
Klngsley."
"How? What? My good friend,
you are talking like a ghost!" ex.
claimed the astonished professor. A
slight flush rose to his benevolent
face.
" You are commanded to do it," re
peated the spirit monotonously.
"Bless me! bless me! It isn't possi
ble!" " With us, all things are possible."
" Indeed ?" said the professor, inquir
ingly. "Indeed?" he repeated, with
as much deliberation as if he were ad
dressing his classes. " Well, well. Let
us consider that settled, and pass on to
something else," with a certain mild
dignity, as if he objected to discussing
the lady they had named even with a
ghost. He was evidently disposed to be
hospitable, but somewhat at a loss how
to entertain his visitor.
"You are not," said the professor,
glancing hesitatingly at the suggestive
blue light, " from the celestial regions, I
am afraid?"
"No."
" Dear me ! dear me ! what a pity I It
must be very unpleasant. Yet if you
could if you could be persuaded to give
me a little information about the other
place. The truth is I have a young
friend who is going that way, I very
much fear, and" ,
Here something not laid down in the
programme happened ; the ghost incon
tinently bolted, blue light and all. Out
side there was a suspicious scuffling and
hurrying of feet that may have been
produced spiritually, but was very much
like scampering humanity.
The professor deliberately got up and
dosed the door, murmuring to him
self :
"Very singular very singular, in
deed!" The same embarrassed flush still lin
gered on his face, but he got into bed '
and calmly went to sleep, alf nothing
unusual had happened.
Meanwhile the ghost aad audience
were holding a hurried) eonsultatlon
down stairs. All three wwe considera
bly taken back.
" He knew," said Jem, disconsolately.
" He must have known us the very first
thing. His young friend! This was
cool, at any rate. Which of us does he
mean Tom you or me ?"
"Perhaps he didn't know himself
which It was," said Tom.
As neither of them could settle this
point, they at last adjourned to bed,each,
perhaps with a little sense of dlscom.
fiture under all his merriment.
The next morning, after watching
Tom out of the house, May sat down
to some feminine work of her own, to
ponder over the ill-Jated schemes, when
in walked Professor Rensel, who was
supposed to be safe in his class-room.
May was aghast at the sight of him.
"Now for It 1" she thought. "It is
too bad that I should have to take the
scolding alone."
For It could not be but even so mild
a man would be angry at such an esca
pade. True, he could not know of her
share it, but then it was nearly as bad
to have Tom made the scape-goat.
Miss May was an audacious young
lady, but conscience made a coward of
her, and she dared not look up or ask
him why he was not at school.
" Why don't he begin ?" she mused
still keeping her eyes on her work, as
the tall figure shuffled uneasily about
the room. -
Presently the professor stopped in
front her and cleared his throat.
"My dear Miss May, do you think
you could ever bring yourself to marry
me ?"
The work fell out of her hands, and'
May sat fair dumb with astonishment.
The professor picked it up again for
her.
" I am very much older than your
self, Miss May," he went on, "and a
very awkward man in action and speech,
as you see. Not such a one as a young
lady would ever be likely to fancy.
Only I felt It my duty to ask you."
Then at last May found her tongue.
" One would not like to marry anybody
who asked her merely from a sense of
duty," she said, bending still lower
over her work.
The same flush tinged the professor's
face that had been there the night be
fore. " When I said so, Miss May," he re
plied, half reproachfully, " I only ex
pressed the motive that had led me to
speak to you this morning. I said noth
ing of my own feelings. Surely you
must know what they are and have
long been. Ycu must know that a man
like myself, who has no youthful attrac
tions of any kind, would, under ordi
nary circumstances, feel' debarred from
the right to ask what a younger and hap
pier man might ask. Such a one as
myself can only stand aside, glad to be
your humble friend, and wish you all
happiness to the end of your life."
There was something so pathetic of
this gentle, learned professor addressing
such words to the thoughtless girl whom
others treated only as a companion In
mischief, but whom his love elated to a
pedestal above common womanhood,
that May might well have been restrain,
ed by it. His gray hairs and simple
kindliness of life might have turned
aside the jokes his credulity brought
upon him. She wavered visibly for a mo
ment ; then the old mischievous sparkle
came back to the eyes that were so de
murely dropped.
" Yet you have altered your resolution
this morning?" she said inquiringly. -
" As I told you, Miss May, because I
believed that it was right for me to do
so."
" Well," said May, after a long pause,
in which she was scarcely able to keep
down the roguish quivering of her lips .
" if it is your duty to marry me, it must
be mine to marry you."
" Then you consent ?"
"Yes."
The tall ungainly man stooped, with.