6
TEDS NATIONAL. TIHBTJNE: WASBINGTON, D. a, AUG-XJST 5, 1882.
IN EVERY SOUND.
HAY rKOIJVIf.
In cvcrv sound I think I licar her feet
And btili I wend my altered way alone.
And fct ill I Kiy " To-morrow we shall meet."
I wnloh the shadows in the crowded street
Each passing face I follow one by one
In every tound I think I hear her feet.
And months go by bleak March nnd May-day
heat
Harvest is over winter wcIJ-iiIkIi done
And Mill I say ' To-morrow we .-hall meet.'
Among the city squares, when flowers are Hwcct,
"With every breath a bili of her's seems blown
Jn every sound I think I hear her feet.
Jtolfry and clock the unending hours repeat.
From twelve to twelve and Mill the come in
none
And still 1 5Ry "To-morrow wc shall meet."
Oh, long-delayed to-morrow! hearts that bent
Measure the length of every minute gone
In every sound I think I hear her feot.
Icr the suns rie, tardily or fleet,
And light the letter on n churchyard stone
And still 1 say "To-morrow we bhall meet.'
And Mill from out her unknown, far retreat
Hhe haunts me with her tender undertone
In every sound 1 think I hear her feot
And still I cay, "To-morrow we shall meet."
"A LITTLE GOOSE."
There are many charming sentiments con
nected vrith clanship, and it cannot, be de
nied that union in families is delightful to
witness, hut of even such good things as
these one may possibly have a little too
much. So, at least, thought young Hugh
Lestrange, when his grandfather affection
ately intimated to him that the family of
which he had the honor to be the eldest,
bachelor representative unanimously con
sidered it his plain and obvious duty to
many his cousin Pauline. Hugh's father
had been dead some five years, and hisgreac
uncle's grandson, Pauline's father, had fallen
in the Franco-Prussian war ; for the branch
of the Lestrange family to which, she be
longed was of French nationality, and had
but recently migrated across the water.
There had been a family conclave, whereat
it had been resolved and carried van. con.
that the common interests, pecuniary and
berwise, of the house of Lestrange would
be materially advanced by the matrimonial
union of the two young people. The result
of this important conference being duly
communicated to Hugh, by his grandfather,
and to Pauline by her mother, it was confi
dently expected that both cousins would re
gard the alliance in the same light as their
seniors, and enact their respective parts with
willing concurrence. Indeed, so far as Pau
line was concerned there could be nothing
unusual or despotic to her in this parental
arrangement of her future ; for her French
education and surroundings had accustomed
her to the .idea of family arbitration in
matrimonial affairs and she was not, as are
English girls, familiar with the notion of
maidenly independence. She received the
news of the proposed union with calm ac
quiescence : her cousin Hugues, as she called
him. was not likely to prove an unkind hus
band, and she was content to let matters
drift quietly to the desired consummation.
Not so, however, the ' bridegroom-elect.
Hugh. Lestrange felt a distinct and deliber
ate injury had been done to him, and he re
solved to resent it. But being a young fel
low of amiable nature, hating arguments
and dreading open rupture, he confined the
exprcsion of his dissatisfaction to a few
words of mild remonstrance, secretly deter
mining the while so to conduct his part of
the affair as to demonstrate unmistakably
alike to Pauline's mother and to the young
girl herself his utter inability to enter into
the spirit of the new character allotted to
him.
It was arranged that the necessary propo
sal should be made, and the courtship inau
gurated at a certain country house to which,
during the hunting season, both parties had
been invited. Pauline liad but lately
quitted her school in Paris.; Hugh had not
long left Oxford, and sometyears had elapsed
since their last meeting. Under such cir
cumstances this renewal of old ties with a
new intent was regarded by the family
confederation as an event of critical interest.
On the evening ofthe duy which witnessed
the arrival atSbireton Manor of Madame
Lestrange and her daughter, Hugh was de
puted to conduct Pauline to dinner, and, as
the two cousins placed themselves side by
wde at the table, many inquiring and specu
lative glances were turned toward them by
those of the guests who had been admitted
to the secret. Indeed, they were a couple
any family might have been proud to escort
to the altar. The young man, now in hi3
twenty-fifth y-ear, was tall, bearded, stalwart,
and fair-faced; Pauline, thoroughly French
in feature and complexion, was yet not mean
of stature; and though the national petulant
and impulsive temperament showed itself
in the curves of her lips, the tmthful stead
fastness of her brown eyes stood sponsor for
a heart that was not empty of English blood.
"What a pity it was that, being so handsome
a couple, and carrying with, them the good
wishes of all 'their mutual relatives, and a
line inheritance to boot, they could not find
each other cliarming! But ? Fate will lnue
her way. Throughout the whole of that
critical dinner, young Le3trauge, meditating
on his wrongs, was unsociable, monosyllabic,
and' unpleasant. Pauline, disposed at first
to accept with affability such affectionate
advances as her cousin might make, when
she perceived that none were vouchsafed,
assumed a frosty reserve, and stood aloof on
her dignity. During two hours five courses
and desert the pair sat side by side, prim,
morose, and mutually uncivil; and when
the hostess rose a thorough misliking had
been established. The incidents of the re
mainder of the evening confirmed the opinion
each had formed of the other. The ice froze
harder and harder over the hearts of both,
and before Pauline had retired for the night
she disburdened her mind to her.mother in
voluble French, very much after the follow
ing fashion:
"Mamma, it is perfectly useless to tell me
to marry Hugues ; he is altogether odious
and insupportable. As for him, he hates
me; that you must all have seen plainly
enough. He hardly spoke two words to me
all dinner-time; and directly ho saw me go
to the piano he went off to the smoking
jooai with Captain Lovell. He thinks him
self u-o good for me, no doubt; you can see
Lowr abjiuiuably conceited he is by the con
temptuous way in which he looked at every
body, and by his air of ill-bred reserve."
Jiut, Pauline, dearest," pleaded Madame
Lestrange, deeply chagrined, "suppose all
this arises from slyness on his part. Re
jneniber his position is rather a difficult
one; and a young man brought up in
English ways, as he has been, may feel more
embarrassed than would a Frenchman under
similar circumstances."
"Awkardness is not charming," returned
Pauline; "and a shy man is hardly better
than a rude one. However, I will give him
another chance to-morrow : but if he is not
nicer at breakfast and luncheon than he has
shown himself at dinner, Twill have nothing
more to do with him. He is not the only
husband to be had in the world, I suppose:
and 1 am but eighteen after all, and just as
good-looking as other girls. Good night,
dear mamma." And with a parting kiss and
a satisfied glance in the mirror, Pauline
passed light-hearted to her chamber.
But next day things wore no better an
aspect, and Mademoiselle's second denuncia
tion of her intended spouse was unequivocal
and decisive. Hugh, on his part, saw reason
to congratulate himself on the course he had
adopted, and when he quitted the smoking
room at midnight he had accepted a Mend's
invitation to leave Shireton Manor on the
morrow for more congenial joys elsewhere.
"Certainly," said this recalcitrant young
mau, as he extinguished his candle, " J have
acted wisely in getting out of this business.
I should have been miserable for life if I had
given in. "What a monstrous thing it is in
this century for a man's relatives to take on
themselves the disposal of his liberty in such
an outrageous way as this! Pauline is the
last girl in the world to suit me, with her
prim affectation of coyness and her ridiculous
air of pitiic rcine. 1 believe she has not an
idea in her mind these French-bred young
women never have and she doesn't know
how to be natural and sociable and .sympa
thetic. "Whenever my time does come to
turn Benedict my wife shall be just as
unlike Mademoiselle via coimnc as pos
sible." So there was an end of this most excellent
match, to the infinite disgust, vexation, and
dismay of the intriguing parties. Hugh
communicated to his grandfather in respect
ful terms, but with firm expressions, his ab
solute repugnance to the proposed alliance,
and his unalterable resolution to undergo
the worst that might happen rather than
submit to it. And Pauline declared, with
immense fervor, that rather than perform
her share in the contract she would be cut
in pieces or buried alive. In the face of such
obstacles no more could be done, and after
Sundry futile reproaches and laments the
family scheme Avas abandoned. Hugh was
admitted to be a free mau, and Madame
Lestrange began to turn her thoughts to the
pursuit of some other eligible jor.
But the cousins, however widely separated
from a matrimonial point of view, were
cousins still, and the unavoidable failure of
mutually-cherished hopes could not be per
mitted to effect an estrangement between
the two branches of the family. Early in
the spring Pauline and .her mother reap
peared in Loudon, and thither also came her
In-other Jacques, but recently emancipated
from the bonds of Alma Mater. Now
Jacques was the chosen particular friend of
his cousin Hugh, and although, being the
younger man, he had entered the University
later, they had during more than a year been
fellow students at the same Hall and insep
arable allies in ail the pursuits andunteresta
of college life. Therefore, immediately on
his arrival in town, Jacques sought out his
cousin, and within half an hour of their
meeting the younger Lestrange was in pos
session of the details of the family machina
tions and the fiasco consequent, ihereupon.
"I heard something about the affair from
home," said Jacques, but in such a vauc
way that I could make nothing of it. 1 low
ever, we need not trouble ourselves about
the thing now, and I suppose you won't let
it make any difference to you. Are you
going to Lady Leigh's on Thursday?"
" Upon my word," answered Hugh medi
tatively, " I don't know. I was going, but I
hear Pauline and your mother will be there,
and that seems awkward, doesn't it ?"
"My good fellow, you don't mean to say
you are going to cut us on account of this
untoward affair? You will have everybody
gossipping about the thing if you behave
so ridiculously, and you may injnre Pauline's
chances in a way you donit think of. "Why
should people know there has been anything
contemplated between you? All sorts of
tales will be told, a hundred times worse,
every one of them, than the truth; and
nobody need guess anything at all if only
you conduct yourself rationally and in a
natural manner. And really I cannot see
why you should dislike meeting Pauline.
There has been no regular quarrel between
you, no jilting or jealousy or anything of
that kind; it was a simple mutual dissent
from certain views entertained for you by
older people who ought to have been wiser.
Besides, it all happened four months ago, and
the entire scheme has been dropped. Were
I you, I would not only go to Lady Leigh's
ball, but I would dance with Pauline, just to
show friendliness and a disposition to put
things back on the old footing."
This discussion ended as Jacques wished,
nugh promised not to absent himself from
the ball in question, and he kept to his word.
It was one of the first balls of the season,
and was well attended. Pauline seemed to
be a great success, and danced unwearied ly.
But shortly after supper, as Hugh, having
handed his last partner to her seat, stood idle
a moment by a doorway, his surprise was
great at being lightly tapped on the arm by
Pauline's fan, and hearingher say, as though
echoing her brother's advice :
" "When are you going to ask me to dance,
cousin Hugues? I have just this waltz free
if you like." Then in lower tones : " Do not
seem to avoid me ; there is no need for us to
be strangers to each other on account of
what has occurred. People will notice it,
mamma says."
What could Hugh do? Impossible to re
fuse; and, besides, whether he danced with
her now or not mattered nothing; their en
gagement had been formally nullified, and
no attentions he might pay her could be mis
interpreted. After all, too, she was a hand
some girl, and supportable enough as a mere
cousin. A cousin may be tolerated and
even danced with very agreeably, provided
one is not expected to make her one's com
panion for life. So Hugh resolved to be
pleasant. Perhaps, indeed, poor girl, he
owed her some amends for his part in there
cent failure of the family plot ; at any rate,
they stood now in no false light together,
and there was, therefore, no reason for ob
serving constraint or reserve in his manner
towards her. And so the next minute the
young man's arm was round Pauline's waist,
and the pair were whirling together amicably
down the room.
They paused at length by a conservatory,
and Hugh found his partner a seat beneath
a tall tree-fern. .
"What a splendid waltzer you are!" he
said graciously. "Did they teach you that
in Paris?"
She answered pleasantly, with a manner
so unaffected and a smile so bright, that
Hugh recalled with wonderment the stiff
primness which had characterized her every
gesture and word when last they met. How,
he asked himself, could four short months
have brought about so striking a difference.
Their talk flowed gaily on, for Hugh
melted and warmed under the influence of
his companion's gracious manner, until
Pauline, being in request for another dance,
dismissed her cousin with a partiug intima
tion that she hoped to meet him the follow
ing evening at the house of a mutual friend.
""We shall bo there early," said she , with .
an ingenuous air. "If 3'ou like to come by,
10 o'clock I can give you the first quadrille."
Hugh went home bewildered; and, enter
ing his room in the gray morning twilight,
threw himself into an easy chair, and medi-
j tated there lill sunrise.
"What! This girl, so mindless, so world
less, so prudish, so unsympathetic, whom a
mistaken devotion to the interests of kinship
would have forced npon him as a wife, had
suddenly changed her whole nature-'' and
become genial, frank, intelligent charming!
Hugh could make nothing of the mystery.
It did not occur to him that he too must
have appeared to Pauline that night under
a new and very different aspect from that
presented by the grufi and unamiable young
man who had been offered her for a hus
band. Let that have been as it may, how
ever, it is not on record that Mademoiselle
Lestrange made any observation of this
latter kind to her mother.
Lady Leigh's ball was but the first of a
goodly number of dances and "at homes"
at wincii tuc cousins were aesuneci to meotj-
JjLUgU LU1U IlllllfcUll U1U.I) IU SILICUIJIL ilVUlUllJU
such meetings would be childish and affected ;
and that, moreover, as Pauline showed no
evidence of embarrassment or annoyance in
his presence, but, on the contrary, a most
natural and perfect gaiety of speech and
manner, he ought not to consider himself
an obstacle to her enjoyment.
One circumstance only began, little by
little, to disturb the peaceful equanimity of
Hugh's existence. There was a certain
Colonel Spiers Gordon, a tall, handsome
officer of the hussars, with whom Pauline
danced much, who rode often beside her in
the park, and whose presence at Madame
Lestrange's afternoon tea was uot infre.M""-.'
It was, Hugh admitted to himself, supici.'ir'
ridiculous to feel annoyed by such t n$
incidents as these; for the Colonel hj" a t
man of the best reputation personal . and
his pedigree and fortune were all tha M v '
fair could desire. Hugh examined hi: T.i.iid
deeply on the subiect, and found there
nothing to account for the incipient m rat '
and discomfort which this acquaintance
caused him. Pauline was his cousi;.. cer
tainly, but in tho third degree only, a..' his
interest in her welfare was cornparat , .iy
remote and of a merely friendly chaiatrer.
Donbtless his uneasiness arose from t:.rir-;
.congnxity presented to his mind by tin- ?1 TXr. i you leave the Colonel alone?" he
ui a marmigu pu&ssiuiy uiKing imiuu uu. .vcvu t ftrspq-fne said 'JNo and i suppose there's
so young a girl and the Colonel; for liijeffhe thing."
latter must certainly have attained uss j .j ..,0od Hugues, don't be in such a
fortieth year, while she was not yet n-no-J jieue,,. rage about it. Upon my word, if
teen. Hugh had sufficient regard fo 1, j,. dm;; know how matters stood between
cousin to feel some solicitude for her uy- jqx njwl Paulino, I would swear you were
pincss jus a wife, and to wish for her a :. is- tw."
band at least more suitable in age than this , 'Ijalous! what of Paulino! Confound
gallant hussar. Young Lestrange was not i,j ,ae dropped my cigar somewhere!
a little comforted at having thus sati Cirim - light, old man."
faetorily solved the secret of his disquietude, j
It had looked at the outset so suspiciously ,
ti - i.-.-x n . f 1 1 il.l j....i
I1KC a jaient namu ui jeaiuuby, liuii. to - i
assured of the harmlessness of its true na .
was most gratifying. To havo been jeal'--'even
in the smallest degree, would 1
implied the existence of a feeling in regard
to Pauline which it was absolutely and
eternally impossible he should ever enter
tain ; and he was well acquainted with tho
fact that she, on her part, held similar im
mutable views in respect to herself.
One brilliant May noontide, Mademoiselle
Lestrange, entering the breakfast room on
her return from her morning ride, found her
mother apparently absorbed in meditation
over a letter which lay open on a table at her
elbow beside a cup of untastcd chocolate.
When she saw Pauline, she started slightly,
and refolded her letter, but observing her
daughter's eye upon it as she did so, said
lightly:
" From Colonel Gordon, dearest."
"No bad news, I hope?" asked Pauline in
the same tone, gathering up the folds of her
habit and contemplating the splashes upon it.
With a smile Madame Lestrange imt the
letter into her daughter's hand.
Pauline read it hastily, the rosy color gath
ering brightly over her face and throat;
then, turning again to her mother, she said
in a low, tremulous tone:
"So he wants me to be Madame Spiers
Gordon."
"They call it 'Mrs.' in this country," re
plied her mother correctively, and with an
expression of playfulness. ,
"Well, mamma, will you please say 'No?'"
" No !" echoed Madame Lestrange, :iston
ished. "Surely, my dearest, you don't mean
to refuse such an offer as this?"
" Why should I accept it?" returned Paul
ine. " 1 do not care for him as I ought to
care for a husband, and it would not be right
to say 'Yes.'"
"You plunge me in despair, Pauline; this
is the second most excellent chance you havo
had within four months, and you decline
both unconditionally. Tell me, my child ;
is there any motive for this behavior on your
part ? Do you can you be thinking of any
body else ?"
As she spoke, Madame Lestrange rose and
took her daughter's hand caressingly in her
own. But there was no emotion in Paulino's
gay rejoinder.
" Dear mamma, of course not. I don't
want to marry Colonel Gordon, that's all. Is
it so very inexplicable?"
"And you would not marry Hugh cither ;
such a charming, intelligent young man, too,
and exactly suited to you in every way.
Eist-cllc, difficile, cctto chcre Pauline?"
Paulino turned abruptly away, and seated
herself by the window.
" I wish Hugh had always been what ho
is now," she exclaimed almost fiercely.
"Que dis-tu la?" cried her mother, doubt
ing her ears.
" Why, that it was his own foul T
hated him," continued the girl, st i in
away from her mother. " He cho - '""
himself rude and disagreeable, an
I thought him odious then?
Binge we havo been here he has ket- i'uie, j
quite different, and nobody would suppose
he was the same man. There ! I have said
too much ; but 1 couldn't help it. You must
keep my secret, mamma, and tell Colonel
Gordon that Pauline is a spoilt child, and
won't marry."
Madame Lestrange caught her daughter
impulsively in her arms.
"My poor, darling child, never did I dream
of such a romance as this! Tell me, tell thy
good mother, thou wouldst not say 'No' to
Hugues would ho but ask theo of us now."
Pauline burst into a shower of passionate
tears."
"Malheureuso enfant!" cried Madame
Lestrange, " what can wo do for thee ? It is
too late !"
Precisely at this critical moment the door
of the room was opened, and brother Jacques
walked in.
" Why," cried he, standing aghast, "Mother
Pauline? Qu'y a-t-il done?"
"Pauline is a little gcose," answered Mad
ame, with a tearful effort at playfulness.
"Colonel Gordon has written the most
I charming letter, asking my permission to
make her an offer of marriage, and she will
have nothing to say to him."
""Well, that's unlucky for him, certainly,"
rejoined Jacques; "but what has my little
sister got to cry about? Has she, perchance,
been scolded for wanting to say unkind
things to the Colonel?"
" Of course not," replied his mother un
easily. " 1 told you she was a little goose,
that's all. Now run upstairs, Pauline, and
change your dress, dear; and you, Jacques,
ring for the luncheon tray."
"Girls are certainly odd creatures," said
Jacques to himself, as he lighted a cigar on
the doorstep that afternoon. "Fancy crying
like Niobc because somebody whom, one
?doesn't care about wants to marry one!
"What an excess of heart!"
He strolled into the park, and presently
at an accustomed rendezvous met his friend
Hugh, iuid forthwith related the episode.
"So you think she has refused him defi
nitively ?" asked the elder cousin when the
story was finished.
"I understand so, certainly. And it is
easy to see that by doing so she has greatly
vexed ni3r mother. It was an excellent pro
posal, you see."
"I see nothing of tho kind," replied Hugh,
with some heat. "Confound Colonel Gor
don! I never liked the fellow from the
beginning."
"Sapristi!" ejaculated Jacques; "what
can he have done to you? He's a capital
'.-. and never had a bad word for any
x threw away the cigar he was smok-
V
XiV
t'.in't mean to say he ever offended or
inju,.J me personally," said he; "but I
pui. that I never liked his being so much
I icli your sister. She ought to marry a
.younger man, Jacques."
ii.
V. ejy, I daresay she will, returned
! jfjteq-.io,. carelessly. "Pauline is a great
yortt, But then, you know, tho Colonel's
iti ,ds really first-rate."
-k turned on his cousin almost wrath-
&r i-
t Yf.
h .i-'n
. epeated Jacques steadily, looking
in the face, as they paused a mo-
ie Hugh kindled a fresh cigar, "to
J3E
tf'i ..or. .he truth, I should certainly have
'!.. - -m were jealous. Come; is it so?
J .i y i betrayed yourself."
"Look here, Jacques, old fellow," said
Hugh after a pause of brief duration occu
pied by several violent puffs at the cigar, "I
don't exactly knoAV what it is I feel on this
subject; and, upon my honor, if I am jeal
ous, you have found it out first. The fact is,
Jacque3, can you keep a secret ! "
" I can when it's necessary," returned his
cousin laconically.
"Well, when they all wanted me to marry
Pauline, you know, she took considerable
pains to make it evident to me that I didn't
please her, aud, as you know also, she ex
pressed that opinion to her mother. In fact,
she was so extremely distant and cold and
and unall'ectionate, and put on such an air of
noli me iangcrc toward me, that I thought her
a very unpleasant young person, and was
much relieved to find my antipathy recipro
cated. But the first time I met her in town
at Lady Leigh's, you remember sho was
totally changed charming, vivacious, full
of smiles, aud so she has been ever since. I
have seen her during the last six weeks un
der a perfectly new aspect, and perhaps, old
mnu, if she hadn't been Pauline, I might
have been jealous of the Colonel."
"What a drama in two acts!" cried Jac
ques. " But is the fact of this delightful young
women's identity really an insuperable ob
stacle? Why not speak to her, or to my
mother, now?"
"Speak about what?" retorted Hugh.
" Why should I go and make a fool of my
self? Don't you know that Pauline made
up her mind long ago to look on me as a
cousin only?"
"Ikuow she did long ago," cried Jac
ques, as a sudden light broke in on him;
" but why may not sho also have come to
look on you in a new light ? Do you know,
iteeelns possible to mo that just such a
change on her part may be the explanation
of those otherwise enigmatical tears, and of
a certain tragic utterance of my mother's
which caught my ear as I opened the door so
opportunely. C-cst troj) tard! she said. What
could be too late if not a tardy repentance
on Pauline's part, aud a futile willingness to
accept something she had once rejected!
Hugh, old man, aro you really in earnest this
time? Do you really think you would be
happy with my sister?"
"Upon my word, Jacques," answered
Hugh, somewhat agitated, "I begin to be
lieve that I cannot bo happy without her,
but if it hadn't been for this confounded
Colonel,. I declare I don't think I should
ever have found out the true state of the
case!"
"Then follow my advice, man, and let me
take you homo to dinner thiseveuing. Now
i i for judging from my own ob-
-. . Miss Paulino and tho present
I5eni .' v ,':' of affairs, I would not mind
ventui .,., . c. nsiderablo sum on the success
ful t&tne ',"' n appeal suit. Only be sure
yen know v mr own mind this time, for
tuliae exftj uot bo inclined to let you off
again, and you might find your last state
worse than your first if another repentance
were to set in on your part."
"Don't congratulate me too soon, old fel
low. Of myself I am sure enough, but of
Pauline Ah, Jacques, perhaps if your peo
ple and mine had not been at so much trou
ble to bring us together, we might have
found one another out and fallen in love
naturally ! As it is, yon see "
" My good Hugh, I see nothing but a logi
cal and comprehensible state of things.
Four months ago, when you were strangers,
you choose to exhibit yourself forgive me
in a very unpleasant light; now Pauline
knows you better, and she has seen through
the fraud you put on her. Our people made
a mess of the thing, as folks always do when
they try to manage the matrimonial con
cerns of othera. Love should be led, not
driven ; and when my turn comes, let's hope
they will show that they've learnt wisdom
and not get manoeuvring on my behalf with
any desirable young person. Well, its 0.30,
and if we are to be home in time for dinner
we ought to be making tracks."
Later on that same eventful day, in a re
mote corner of Madame Lestrange's drawing-room
over two cups of postprandial cof
fee, Hugh and Mademoiselle Pauline pri
vately arranged their own love affairs very
much to their individual satisfaction, and to
the subsequent joy and gratulation of the
parties secondarily concerned.
And I only hope that the gallant and re
jected Colonel found balm for his disappoint
ment in the reflection that but for his time
ly intervention two foolish young persons,
whom nature had designed for each other,
would probably have never told their love,
and might have gone on until the end of
this dispensation mistaking the ardor of
Cupid's flame for the mild effulgence of
cousinly affection.
AN EGYPTIAN PRISON.
The Hideous Scenes KnenujvhTed by a lienevolcnt
Kiilislimau at Cairo.
We were in a sort of ill-paved, ill-looking,
ill-smelling square. On each side of the
square was a large door, now thrown open,
displaying an inner door of cross-barred,
wooden grating, and behind- row upon row
of miserable, hopeless faces. Already the
old folks and children who had followed us
had begun to pilfer from the bread panniers,
and as soon as the prisoners caught sight of
the food the horrid clanking of chains grated
on my ears, loud cries and howls came from
the gratings, and the faces at the apertures
multiplied threefold. I could see the poor
wretches struggling with one another for a
place in front, the weakest, of course, going
to the wall, the greediest and strongest
crushing forward. And such faces! Most
of them were revolting enough in themselves,
and could well have spared the loathsome en
vironment that made them worse. On some,
indeed, the scourge of the East, leprosy, had
left its mark ; some were merely ill and hungry-looking;
the better-favored seemed to
stay with their chains behind, for shame,
perhaps. All the foremost cried out for the
bread they saw, and scrambled and fought
like wild beasts for such of the round cakes
as escaped through the bars without being
torn piecc-nieal in their passage. One or
two of the officials volunteered to help us to
distribute our doles; and, of coirrse, inviol
able Eastern custom demanded that a little
of the sorry stuff should disappear by the
way into their own capacious pockets. I
tried to get one of these fellows Jusef, as I
had heard some of the prisoners call him to
deal out the bread in something like order,
but order seemed impossible ; official author
ity stopped short outside the bars of the
prison house, while inside I could see some
sturdy ruffians dealing blows to their fellows
with rude whips and sticks, and even with
their chains, driving them from the raised
step that led to the door, cursing loudly.
And while this din was in our eare, and we
were feeding the wretches inside the bars,
the unfortunates outside, who had followed
us closely to this very holy of holies, vrere
pilfering as fast as hands, big or little, could
help them. Yes, big or little. One tiny
child, about fivo years old, stole three cakes
before my eyes, was culled, hustled away and
returned in a minute to steal a fourth from
my left hand, while her mother was snatch
ing from my right. The cigarettes produced
almost equal excitement, and were hugged
by the happy possessors almost as eagerly as
the bread.
And now that my stock of provisions was
exhausted, I thought I had seen enough for
once, and proceeded to make my way out of
the vile den. As I was moving off one of
the officials blandly asked for backshish, in
reply to which I used all the few Arabic in
dignant expletives I knew, and failing that,
French, and when that, also, came too slowly
for my indignation, I found relief in native
English.
I heard subsequently that " the Khedive "
i. c, I suppose, the government sends
daily supplies to the prisons to the extent
of three of those small round cakes for
each person in confinement, but they only
get one, and some who had tasted the sweets
of this same prison-house assured me that
they often got none. Where do the rest go ?
What man avIio knows Egypt knows not
this, too? Macmillan's Magazine.
A GIPSY MARRIAGE IN ENGLAND.
An interesting ceremony took place yes
terday at St. Mary's Church, EastMoulsey,
when two members of tho ancient Gipsy
tribes of the Coopers and Taylors were mar
ried with Trotcstant rites. Tho Rev. F.
Reynolds, rector, officiated. Prior to the
marriage ceremony a baby belonging to the
Cooper family was baptized, after which
Elias Taylor, styling himself "cab pro
prietor," and Louisa Cooper, whoso father
described himself as a "traveler," were mar
ried. The church was crowded with Gipsies,
who were in the neighborhood in great num
bers to attend the Hampton races. The bride
wore a striped, pale blue, French silk dress,
with a long train, covered with a cream
colored satin shawl, and a white straw hat
trimmed with wild flowers; she carried in
her hand a bouquet of wild flowers. The
bridegroom looked like a London coster
monger in his " Sunday best." At the close
of the ceremony the " Wedding March" was
played on the organ by Mr. Wymau, and as
tho newly married pair left the church they
were received with a shower of rico. Almost
all the Gipsies present were profusely deco
rated with wild flowers. It has become the
practice with Gipsies within the last ten or
fifteen years, whenever a marriage is agreed
upon, to havo it celebrated in the church
nearest the locality where auy race or sport
iug meeting is being held which the tribe
attends. London Standard, June 18.
A SORT OF BREVET DEVIL,
Strange 1'oiTcr to IJwist FIro I'ossesscd by &
21arylaiul Xcxro.
Nathan Coker is of pure AMcan lineage,
black as ebony, and of stalwart frame. He
is now somewhere between sixty and seventy
yenrs of age, and has resided all his life in
the lower part of Tuckahoo Neck, Md. He
has no knowledge of books, cannot even re
peat the alphabet, but is much above medi
ocrity in point of general intelligence and
good, hard, cornfield common sense, as com
pared with his race. When quite young he
conceived the idea of becoming fire-proof,
and before he was twenty-five he was a ver
itable fire-king. How he acquired the power
to perform the feats of placing his hands and
arms in a vessel of boiling water and keep
ing them there for ten minutes, licking a
red hot shovel, holding in his mouth molten
lead, and even swallowing it, as well as
many others more daring, without apparent
injury, no one knows, nor has he ever re
vealed the secret. In fact, it is doubtful if
he can himself explain the mystery; but ho
can and does handle bars of iron clcwin
with white heat, eat glowing charcoal made
from hickory or oak wood, walk barefooted
on a red-hot bar of iron sixteen feet Ion"-,
with perfect coolness and deliberation. These
facts are attested by many respectable wit
nesses. He used to delight in frightening
the ignorant and superstitious country peo
ple, to whom. he was unknown, whenever he
could find a crowd gathered aronnd the stove
in a village or country store, by stalking in,
opening the stove door, aud running his7
hand down in the fire and deliberately tak
ing a live coal in his fingers and coolly place
it in his pipe and walk off.
He was at one time on exhibition, and his
strange feats created considerable excite
ment, but owing to his dislike of notoriety
and lack of education he retired from the
stage. His power of resisting the effect of
fire is singular, and has never, so far as I
know, been explained, thongh he has been
examined by a number of scientific men.
Many of the colored people, and, in fact, not
a few of the whites, who had been taught by
the crude theologians of fifty years ago fb
believe in a personal devil with horns, tail
and cloven foot, whose kingdom wa3 the
bottomless pit, and who occasionally treated
his refractory subjects to doses of molten
lead, firmly believed, and perhaps some of
them still believe, that Nathan was a sort of
brevet devil himself. Wilmington Neics.
m-
A WINDFALL FOR MINISTER HUNT.
A recent telegram from New Orleans says:
Jose Domingo, a native of Spain, came here
40 years ago a Carlist exile, and soon be
came prominent as an importer of cisrars
from Havana, a business in which he accu
mulated an immense fortune. On Sunday
last he died, and to-day his will was opened
for probate. Ho declared ho had no heirs,
gave his relations and friends a few liberal
bequests, but left his homestead in Caronde
let street to Cornelia Bedgly Hunt, daugh
ter of the Hon. William H. Hunt, late Sec
retary of the Navy "and now Minister to
Kussia, and the balance of his entire estate
to Minister Hunt. Of late years Mr. Hunt
has been in somewhat embarrassed circum
stances, but this unexpected gift of his old
friend and admirer will render him one of
the wealthiest men in tho diplomatic ser
vice. A TRUE FRIEND.
Promising a Uyinjj 3Ian the Best Funeral Ever Seen.
The sun was sinking behind the snowy
peaks of the Rockies, gilding their glisten
ing tops with rosy light, as poor Dave York
was born by the boys to his cabin. He had
been terribly hurt by a blast in the mine.
They carried him into the rude hut, and laid
him on a pile of soft bear-skins before the
fire. He was suffering intensely, but ha
bore it like a hero. There they left him
with his partner, Dan Hamlin. Dan sat
beside the injured man and held his hand,
while the tears silently flowed down hia
sunburned cheeks. The sun went down; tho
room grew dark, and the dancing fiame3 in
the fireplace made the shadows leap up and
down on the wall. For a long time the two
partners were silent. At last the injured
man spoke:
" Dan, I'm going over the range," he said.
"No, no; old pard, don't say that; yon
will scoop the pile yet."
" No, Dan, no. Old Death holds four aces
to my two pairs. I must pass in my checks.
Old pard, we've worked together, gambled
together, got drunk together, and fonghfc
together for four long years. It's hard to
part."
"You bet it is, partner."
"But it has got to come, old man. Dan,
you've stood by me always. We've accumu-
! iateu quite a little pile, there's no one on
I earth has so good a right to lay share as you.
i It's yours, Daa, when 1 am gone. But, Dan,
I promise me one thing."
"Anything, old partner."
"Gimme a bang-up funeral!"
"I will, old pard."
"See that there's a good pair of flyers on
the hearse. Of course, 3rou'll race going to
the cemetery. I never was beat in a race
while living; don't let 'em get ahead of mo
at my funeral."
"They shan't, Dave."
"And, Dan, see that there's plenty of
liquor at the grave."
"I'll have a barrel, Dave."
"And in the fight at tho cemetery see that
there is at least three men killed. I don't
want an' half-way funeral."
" I'll kill the men myself."
"And, Dan, don't you think it might give
tone to the thing to lynch the undertaker?"
" It might."
"And you will do it?"
" We will, pardner. And after we've gofi
tho ceremonies at the grave attended to, we
will come back to town and have a dance
and the biggest drunk ever seen in Leadville.
You shall have the be3t funeral ever seen in
these parts."
"Dan, ycr a true friend. Good-by, old
pard, I'm goin' ! Good-by, good "
Dave York had gone over the range.
ONE WOMAN TOO OLD.
" Old Dinah," an Onondaga Indian squaw
living on the New York reservation at a
wonderful age and in great bodily infirmity,
has just received a pension of 3 a month
and arrears of $100. Those who ought to
know as much about her as ever can bo
known affirm that she is 108 yeara old.
While the pension agent was reading to her
the official notification that a pension had
been granted she listened attentively until
he finished the clause, "so long as said Di
nah John shall remain in her widowhood,"
when she broke into a hearty laugh and ex
claimed, "Me too old now."
'