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THE DYING VOLUPTUARY.
1 must obey, I must not stay,
Tha scene of life is ending;
The lot is cast, Death rails at last;
My final hour's impending:
Farewell estate, and hopes elate,
All like a song is ending.
Thou glorious sun, my day is done,
J3ut thou, thy journey keeping,'
Go on thy way, groat king of day
I must in death be sleeping.
Night's pall is spread, the light is lied,
My bark in poit is sweeping
Thou moon serene, Willi silver sheen,
Ye planets golden seeming,
And little eyes that star the skies,
For my descendants beaming;
The fates' decree of death to me,
Is told by cornels streaming.
Three hundred times, three thousand times,
Farewell, thou world defiling;
Unsteady thou, and slippery now,
Farewell, with all thy smiling:
With falsehoods sweet and artful cheat,
No longer me beguiling.
Ye castles bright, with gems benight,
Farewell, on high erected,
With marble wails or ivory halls,
In Fancy's skies reflected;
1 sec my bed among the dead,
13y Death's dark steeds directed.
Ye "beauties rare, whose charms, so fair,
My captive sense delighted;
'Delirious dream of love supremo,
That all my mind excited;
Now solemn shade o'er all it m'ade,
On sight and sense benighted !
Ye dances vain and snorts profane,
In wanton chorus singing;
J3e still, I pray, your orgies stay,
God's summons now is ringing
His crier, Death, with startling breath,
My mortal sentence bringing.
Delights of life, witli luxury rife,
The table's social pleasure; '
The dainty meats, the honeyed sweets,
And wine-cup's crowned treasure:
I loathe ye all, while death doth call
To pledge his brimming measure.
'Haste ve away, fade and decay,
Ye rich pert nines and dresses:
Be cold and stale, ye pleasures frail.
Provoking love's caresses ;
Foul worms shall dress in loathesomeness
The grave my body presses.
Oil, honor's height! oh, glory's light;
1 leave all honors fleeting,
As hence 1 go, my fate to know,
Eternity now meeting;
Title and fame and noble name,
How worthless and how cheating !
Yo chosen few, my comrades true,
Dear friends my pleasure sharing;
Insulting death stops every breath,
Nor wit nor wisdom sparing;
And hero to-day I leave our play,
My last farewell declaring.-
.'Body, farewell, thy fatol tell,
This final summons hearing;
Thou too hast known and called thine own,
My griefs and joys endearing:
Uody and mind, in life combined,
One goal are always ncaring.
THE GIRL MUTINEER,
Toward tho close of an October day
in 1777, a vessel sailing in a southwest
erly direction crossed the fifty-soventh
degree of west longitude. Iler keel
plowed the waves of Ihe north Atlantic,
mid her destination seemed to bo the
Azores she was sailing before a strong
wind, and tho arrangement of her sails
Indicated iliglit. If flight, from whom V
i Tho naked oyo could perceive no pui--sner
on tho bosom of tho ocean; but
the sea-glasses leveled by a number of
British oflicers, who graced tho clean
decks, revealed a dark speck on tho rim
of tho horizon.
This distant object occasioned no lit-
tlo anxiety among the oflicers. A
silence which had reigned among thorn
"for many moments was suddenly broken
by a man whoso bearing might have
proclaimed him an English admiral.
"Ho still follows," were tho words
that fell from his lips, "but with tho
help of Neptune we'll outsail him in
tho night."
Though tho ofllcer spoke with much
assurance, there lurked in his tone a
Intent fear which his companions de
tected, and thoy exchanged significant
glances.
.Over iho faco of tho deep, night was
sotting, and tho vessel kept straight be
fore tho wind, to tho joy of tho com
mander who had lately spoken. Tho
shadows gradually veiled tho far-away
f pursuers from sight, and whon tho ofli
cers separated, expressions of triumph
wore on their lips.
Tho British vessel was tho Meteor, a
fast sailor, whoso armament consisted
of seventy-eight guns. She was a well
built double-decker, and had seen much
servico in the war which had .raged
nhndst three years between Great
Britain and her American colonies.
Her speed and her formidable arma
ment had made her a terror to Ameri
can vessels in European waters. Her
commander, a sea-born Englishman,
named Gilderoy, was an oflicer of un
doubted courage and cunning, to which
he added a vindictiveness that rendered
him obnoxious to many of his own
crew.
The Meteor was flying 'from a now
and very formidable foe flying with a
hold filled with booty. On tho day pre
ceding the one that had just closed upon
her flight, she had captured an Ameri
can cruiser, after a spirited contest.
The prize had proved one of value, and
Capt. Gilderoy did not wish- to risk an
engagement with tho vessel following
in his wake,
Capt. Conyngham, the pursuer, was a
second Paul Jones. He was one of the
most daring spirits of our then infant
navy, and his name had become a ter
ror along the coast of England. He
pursued and captured a number of
English ships, which he either burnt or
sent into friendly ports; and when lie
descried the Meteor, fresh from her vic
tory, he hesitated not a moment to
crowd all sail and give chase.
There were men on the decks of tho
Revenge, as Conyngham's vessel was
appropriately named, who watched the
flying Englishman. Much speculation
concerning the result of tho chase ran
through the several groups, and Conyng
ham smiled when he turned to reply to
tho words of a youthful lieutenant who
stood beside him, sea-glass in hand.
"Wo can outsail her, Gilbert," the
American captain said, with emphasis;
"this wind favors both of us alike, and
in the calm that will prevail, she must
lay by till day."
Tho young oflicer turned from his
captain and again his eyes were strained
to make out the form of the ship rapid
ly disappearing among the prevailing
shadows.
Conyngham did not return to his
glass, but he watched the faco of his
youthful companion.
tX1
i
I am confident that Miss Temple is
on board tho Englishman," he said, at
last.
"Of coarse she is!" exclaimed the
lieutenant, with a flush. "I knew she
was on board the Mischief when it fell
into the Meteor's hands, and I am sat
isfied she in a prisoner."
"The fairest prize old Gilderoy has
captured in many a long day!" remarked
Conyngham with a laugh at tho lieu
tenant's smile, and the flash that lighted
up the depths of his anxious eyes.
The conversation was interrupted by
an unexpected veering of tho wind that
paled the cheeks of the numerous watch
ers on tho deck, and the oflicers sepa
rated. Now, having learned something of
tho Meteor's pursuer, let us return to
tho English vessel.
Tho calm prophesied by the Ameri
can captain fell upon the ocean shortly
after tho descent of darkness. Tt wor
ried Gilderoy, and ho held frequent
consultations with his oflicers, now on
deck, now in his stateroom, lie held
consultations in tho latter place over a
bottle of choice wine, and under liquor's
influence, ho soundly cursed the daring
Yankee privateer.
Uccalmed on tho water and beneath
tho stars, tho Meteor lay like a huge,
slumbering leviathan. Her lights were
hidden, and tho spectral figures that
trod her decks conversed in whispers.
In a small apartment not far remote
from tho council cabin, stood a beauti
ful young girl. There was a look of
sorrow in her dark eyes, and her face
was quito pale. She appeared to be
listening, for her head was bent to
ward Gilderoy's room, from which direc
tion came a faint and confused murmur
of voices.
"I know we aro becalmed," sho said
to horself in an audible tone, "and 1
know, too, that tho oflicers aro worried
about it. The nion? L know that
many of them halo Gilderoy. Didn't t
hear tho helmsman say last night that
the sailors would refuse to fight for tho
man who rules them with a rod of iron,
and when he had spoken thus, didn't
he remark to a fellow tar that the pris
oners did not know their strength?
Yes, that he did. The men think of
mutiny, and the man at (he wheel is
now ready to Vise against the captain of
this ship. Thoy want a leader, they
gnaw in silu jo the chain of tyranny,
with which their captain has bound
them. 1 will spring the mine! 1 will
lead the Meteor's mutineers, and the
Revenge may have our prize.
Adaline Temple spoko with'fierco de
termination and clenched her hands.
The observer would have laughed fo
think that she had decided to head a
body of mutineers that she n fragile
girl of nineteen, had resolved to rob the
English navy of ono of its best vessels
or to perish in the attempt.
She left the room with a resolve well
formed, and steadfast in her determi
nation. Like a spectre she glided down
the darkened corridors of the vessel,
and at last, climbing upward with care,
reached the deck.
Captain Gilderoy and his lieutenants
were below, discussing Iho situation
over several bottles of wine. Adaline
saw the stars overhead, and turning
her faco to the various points of the
compass without greeting a breeze that
would have pleased the British captain.
The man at the wheel, having noth
ing to do, seemed to have fallen asleep,
for he started when Adaline's hand fell
upon his shoulder, and his hand made
a rapid movement toward his belt,
when he saw her figure.
"I want to talk with you," she said
in a low tone, making no display of the
knife whose hilt she clutched a knife
like the helmsman's. "I want to say a
few words, and are you going to listen ?
T heard you use mutinous language
last night, and I could have you hung
at the yard arm just by speaking tp the
tyrant Gilderoy."
Tie was her man!
"You are harboring schemes of mu
tiny at this very moment," she contin
ued, after a. brief pause, "and you aro
not alone in the diabolical work. I
can tell the captain before an hour,
if"
Adaline paused a moment, and heard
the beating of the sailor's heifrt. lie
stared into .her face like a man suddenly
frightened by a ghost, and she finished
her sentence with lips almost touching
his ear.
"If you do not obey me!"
Then the helmsman's lips parted.
"Foi tho love of heaven do not throw
us poor devils at the feet of Gilderoy,"
stammered the sailor. "He would hang
every one of us before morning. Do
you want us to mutiny to-night! Our
time has not yet come. There is but
nineteen of us now "
"But the prisoners sixty-two strong
men and brave."
"They aro Americans!"
"Nevertheless, they will not hesitate
to rescue gallant English sailors from
the tyranny of the captain of this ship.
To-night, if you say so, I will drive
this knife to your heart, and have your
comrades hung to the yard before day."
The helmsman saw the knife whose
blade flashed very near hib breast, and
the next moment he stoxl on the deck.
"We'll do it!" he said. "But Chester
is wounded hurt yesterday by a ball
from your ship. Chester was to have
led us."
"I will take his place, said 'Adaline.
"Xow let us strike!"
Capt. Gilderoy, unsuspicious of the
mutinous spirit on his ship, had placed
watches who had belonged to the Ches
ter party. Adaline soon discovered
this, and at length, seven determined
sailors, armed with knives and pistols,
prepared for tho fray.
She stationed two of tho strongest at
tho door of tho council room, whilo as
many more guarded tho hatches. Then
the prisoners wero called forth, one by
one, until sixty-two strong-limbed
Yankee soldiers stood on deck, ready to
do their duty
There was a tumult among tho cap
ain's party when tho mutiny was dis-
tain
covered, and tho ollicers wero apprised
of tho stato of affairs by tho discharge
of several pistols in tho hold.
"Mutiny!" cried Gilderoy, springing
from-the table ; and tho next moment,
having opened the door, he found him
self flung to the floor'by one of the mu
tineers who guarded the portal.
Another British officer was knocked
down, when several prisoners made
their appearance, and the inmates of
the cabin were secured. It was one
of the most startling mutinies in the
British navy; but the most thrilling
part was yet to come.
"Xow. three cheers for the English
sailors!" cried a, stalwart mutinee, who
had ably seconded the patriot girl.
Three cheers were given with a will
they swept far into the night, and
startled the tenants of another vessel's
deck.
"Xo mori such cheers!" suddenly
cried Ada Temple, in a tone of com
mand "The Meteor is to bear the flag
of the American congress at her mizzen
peak. The British mutineers will lay
down their arms. Yankee sailors will
prepare to shoot those who refuse to
obey.
A moment's silence was followed by
curses, and the nineteen mutineers look
ed into the faces 'of the men whom
they had armed with English pistols and
cutlasses. Obedience alone would save
their lives and in a few moments the
British mutineers were prisoners like
their more faithful comrades, and the
good ship Meteor was in Yankee hands!
Before dawn rockets revealed the
Meteor's position to her pursuer, and
the astonished Cogyngham soon stood
on the bloodless deck ! Then the young
American lieutenant encountered the
heroine of the hour the girl on whose
finger he had placed a shining ring.
"I knew that you were near in the
Revenge," she said to him "and L
thought I would present you with the
Meteor "Why, Gilbert, if I had not led
the mutineers, T might have run away
from you, as I did yesterday. Gilbert
Farley assumed command of tho valua
ble prize, and in many of his cruises he
was accompanied by the gallant girl
whoso fame was sung on the decks of
every vessel in our little navy.
After the war well, the reader can
guess what "happened after the war."
A Good Exhibit.
The number and value of stamps,
stamped envelopes and postal cards is
sued by the third assistant postmaster
general upon requisitions received from
local postmasters throughout the coun
try during the month of October aro
the largest ever known heretofore in
the postoflice department. The figures
are as follows : Stamps: number, 119,
048,218; value, 3,255,490. Stamped
envelopes: 26,731,900; value, 647,404.
Postal cards: 40,964,000; value, 409,
800. Total number, 186,744,218; value,
4,312,694.
The report of tho auditor of tho treas
ury for the postoflice department for
the fiscal year, ended June 30th, 1880,
shows the actual cost of the postal ser
vice to the general treasury (luring this
period to have been only 2,786,341. This
deficit is 245,114 less than the deficit
of the proceeding year, which was un
commonly small, the deficit for the fiscal
year 1878 having been upward of 4,
600,000. The total revenue of tho post
oflice department for the last fiscal year
was 33,315,479; total expenditures,
36,101,820. Tho principal items of
expenditure are as follows: Compensa
tion of postmasters, 7,718,784; clerks
in postoflices, 3,569,466; letter carriers
and incidental expenses, 2,363,718;
railroad transportation, 8,509,591; star
servico by liorses and ordinary vehicles,
6,962,502; railway mail service em
ployes, 3,450,114. Auditor McGrew's
report also shows the number of do
mestic money orders issued during the
fiscal year was 7,240,537, amounting to
100,352,819. The principal foreign
money order business was as follows:
With Great Britain 116,778 orders wen!
issued, amounting to 1,669,943, and
18,912 paid, amounting to 338,090;
Canada, 25,895 orders were issued,
amounting to 511,617, and 23,213 paid,
amounting to 422,730; Germany, 03,
855 orders wero issued for 1,014,462,
and 22,655 orders paid, amounting to
637,157 ; total net revenue to tho gov
ernment from the money order busi
ness of the year, 269,205.
Ono day is worth three to him who does
everything in order.
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