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COXSTANCr.
BY KDQAB FAWCKTT.
Tt o'er the ded-bliu-k rret
Of the bar bill, one ilw hti rest.
And gp&rkles La the bollow yeliow west.
AlmoDt the nlisft b come
Sxinc swwp iT reedy marsh lie dumb
Ik-low the guli'i Dig Ut ana the gny gnat'i
bum.
She fttMide Mralnrt the Bern,
Walrhes the night about to b,
Wtch- the breakers break, and form, and
flee.
"Olove! where'er vou bide,
I know, with huppy, thankful pride,
ou yearn to linger at my ioviug aide.
"Yon yearn to aee my face.
In whatsoever stranee, fair place.
You dwell, and ird rue with your glad cm
brace."
So, hound with love'i dear bond,
She mak- ber murmur proud and fond
To rum that tame league and lt-aguea be
yond. And he, in far, warm land,
v...,- .,.. .1.. 1..
Iri9ontn)r with his own, two, slim, brown
1AU US.
" GEORGE'S DONATION PIETY.
BY HOSE TKRRY COOKE.
Taiison Wii.iiru's ol.l house in Noppit
was lighted up unusually; you lianlly
ever saw signs of life there except in the
hack windows, where kitchen ami ' keei-
m' room" were one, lor Aunt Nancy's con
venience and the saving of fuel, 'i'he par
son's Ixilroom opened from this same pen-
oral refuge, for the Mike of warmth, and
Aunt Nancy slept on a lounge to le near
at ftand ; there was a boy w ho did chores
for these two old eoile, hut he occupied
Hie kltoiicn-cliamhcr, lieing used to cold
weather, and not particular about his toi
lette luxuries, it only lie liad comlortables
enough for warmth. Aunt Nancy w-as a
sprightly old ludv of sixty-seven I arson
Wilbur's youngest half-sister; for he him
self was ninety-two. tor ten years lie
had shared his labors with a colleague,
that is he stayed at home ami prayed for
his jx-ople, and " Brother Smith ' preached
and visited, and did all the work:
Noppit is a poor place: a sparse, mul
lein-prowinp, moldy old village, on top
ot a hill : ami Brother Ninth had a small
salary, hut Parson Wilbur's allowance was
smaller still, and so it had lonp Ixt-n the
oustoin to ;rivc him a donation-visit once a
year to which the jH'ople came from all the
villages about, for he was the lion of those
parts; a minister nettled in one plat in
Cotiticeticut for lifty-five years boinp
almost as rare there as a woman who never
pot a divorce. This is why the house was
lit up to-nipht in every corner; all the bed
rooms wen- "dressed," not only with
white spreads on the tall ImiIs, and quaint
chintz curtains on the testers, but some
distant branch of the Wilbur tri!e, fresh
from boarding-school, had decked the wry
faecd looking-glass, and the mourning
piece done in hair, and the tall candle
sticks, and the high clock, with wreaths of
ground pine and hemlock twigs, so that
whoever looked into the glass aforesaid be
held therein a curiously twistd face set in
gnt-n, that mipht have passed for tiie like
ness of a masquerading Kami if Noppit
eople hail been classical in their read i up.
It was a bitter Noveuilter nipht, dark as
blackness, and the lires I hat blazed on
ovory hearth, and kept Aunt Nancy run
niup about wilh a brush in terror of snaps
and sparks, were welcome to the chilled
visitors who had come miles in cold and
darkness, partly for fun, partly from hal
it. r.clow stairs all the doors between the
room wen- oicn, and a stove in the parlor
wanned its chill gentility to an endurable
pitch; lien-were the portraits of the par
son and his wife, taken at a time when
these worthy icople must have been con
structed of sheet-tin ; pictures calculated
to strike terror into the hearts of refracto
ry children, and awe sinners to propriety,
it either class should ever penetrate that
KHietiiary.
Then' were certainly Ijoth sorts here to
nipht, for the I 'arson's posterity to the
third pencration had pat In-red in force;
there was .Miss Mali Wilbur, aped three,
whose real name was Mehitaltel, after the
awlul female hii the wall, whose cap and
rulllcs and small, sharp eyes seemed to
plan' fiercely on the little yellow-haired
mile in cheap linery In-low ; a child who
fdiri:ked, and fretted, and pot. under foot
very when-, and inislx-haved pi-herally:
then- was her aunt, pale, and skinny, aiid
worn-out, as became a woman who had
kept district school from fifteen to twenty
live, then married a poor tanner and had
eight chil'ln'ii ; by her sat her mother, a
fat and fair woman of sixty, very positive
ami practical; other descendants were
there, also deacons "palore." Ieacon
l'etcrs. short, lean, and tn'inulous. with a
squeak in his voice, rol.inp blue eyes, and
a dominant, black-uycd, siiar-noscd wife;
IVacon (I raves, lonp and lank, with aqui
line feat un-s and a wip, but such a meek
look withal -you knew his wife, recently
deceased, had' can-fully trained him. and
was now deeply mourned ; you could see
bow shocked he was once to catch him sell
in a smile, how he hid it with a white
liandkcrchicf as hip as a cri!-sheet, looked
furtively almut and oouphed. There was
I caooii" Collin, very fair, smilinp, and
vomfortable, with a flip watch ami chain
of solid silver, and a chronic cold in his
head : and there was Deacon Gallup, tall
ami shy, and caper to please everybody, a
man to whom the opinion of other people
was a matter of life or death ; tortures
would not have induced Deacon Gallup to
1m-a di-houest man for tear somebody
should find it out!
There was overyltody else and their
wives then- too; tanners with hands
rough as the rocky soil they wrestled with,
ami faces red with summer sun midwin
ter winds, men who worked so hard they
did not know how to play, whose Sunday
coats were as pleasant to them asstraipht
jaekets, and who wen', one and all, se
cretly limping tor a bit of pine and a jack
knife, they were so unaccustomed' to
wearinp their hands as an article oflress ;
the wives too, presented remarkable a-jx-arances
to the eve of k-en observers;
their hard and lonely lives knew no more
!iow to blossom than the potatoes in our
own cellars, they only sprouted, and
sprouts are not comely to Ndiold. To st
their dn-ss was to Ik atli-cted hysteric-ally,
for it induced tears and lauphter both, the
struggle for fashion and style was pathet
ic: the flimsy "delaine'' or " popliuette "
tortured into overskirts so curiously loop
cd you saw with terror that the wearer
could not sit down with safety to the
dn-ss; polonaises of skimpy cut, clinpinp
helplessly to lipures most' like chestnut
rails; flounces of frantic arranpement,
and colors but then let us pause, a rain
bow would have shudden'd out of sipht.
Tin' center of all this crowd was pior
old l'arson Wilbur, in a thick, warm,
dressing-gown, and a bip arm-chair by the
- parlor stove; his failinp mind, that seemed
usually to have withdrawn itself trom the
world and its affairs, half from conscious
inability to pfapple wilh life, half from
want of interest therein, to-night under
the intbiemr of more lipht and warmth,
the atmosphere of lresh society, the map
notisii; of youth and paiety that the younp
men and "maidens pathered about him
all'orded. seemed to rally and briphten
wonderfully. As the little gifts that one
and another brought him were laid on his
knee or exhibited to him by his "oldest
jrirL'" tu he called ihe old lady of sixty we
have mcii ln-fore, his fact? beamed with
pleasure, a child's simple delipht in pitt
at tirst. and as pradualiy he comprehended
the whole occasion, a deeper expression ot
affection and pratitude. It was touchinp
and painful both to secthi slow reconcilia
tion of mind and body, so lonp alienated
from oach other; one could not but won
der if the soul's iark cottape. batten-d
and decayed." did not encumber its inhab
itant instead of k-ttiup in
".Vew lit'ht through chinks which
I inje hath made. ' '
But Noppit people were not piven to nieta
plivsic. thev had to work; and now a
committee of matrons wen? arranping
pifte in the pantn , uuveilinp heaps ot bis
cuits piles of douphnuts, more pies than
would kill an ostrich, and p.tn after pan ol
frosti-d cake, not to speak of potatoes and
apples in the cellar; salt pork, squashes,
meal, lard, apple-iuce, hanks of yarn,
mittens, tea from the procor, herbs from
Aunt Sally lcnks, w ho looked like dried
catnip herselt. so wilted and lean and
brown : even a raw-hide from Ben Jones,
the small tanner on Sandy Brook, who had
notbinp else to "donate." The parlor
swarmed with voun? jn-ople, who did noth
inpbut pirpleand flirt atter the mannered
younp ix-ople; one happr pair particular
ly, ensconsed in a comer "behind two dea
cons conversinp on church airairs, seemed
to be havinp a " lively season," as Deacon
; raves remarked about the last revival;
these two were liuth Jiay, a farmer's
HE
VOLUME I.
daughter from Naupeapue, and Georpe
Wilbur, a prandson ol the Parson's. liuth
was a little ttimp witn nnpnt. Drown eves
fair hair, and checks like rose-ml apples
bripht, saucy, cheery, ai:d willful enoiiph ;
but. as her father said, " chuck full o' prit."
"unt' is a distinctive xankee virtue.
It is silica handed down from the men
who set their feet on Plymouth Kock
and heard the wintry sea dash be
hind them and the wintry winds
howl on their track, while before them lav
a worse wilderness and wilder howls, but
did not turn back. Georpe was a hand
some younp fellow, full of life and en
erpy, fond of pleasure, like all younp peo
ple, out courapi'ous ana nt to turn Ins
hand to anythinp ; he was twenty-two,
and had already been a fiirm-haiuf, clerk
in a country store, chain-bearer, and then
surveyor on a railroad, district school
master ; now he had learned carjwnterinp,
and had pist set up a little shop of his own
in niiisiue. w-n nines iroui rsoppit. lie
and J'nth were half quair-elinp with one an
other always; now they were in the full
tide of saucy repartee, when suddenly a
stir in the lonp kitchen announced sup
per not tor them ; the old people took
their turn tirst, but the younpstcrs were
to do the waitinp, and these two pot to
the door just as l'arson Wilbur rose to ask
ablessinp. Poor old man 1 as he stood
there hoidinp on to Aunt Nancy, with un
closed siphtless eyes and trembling out-
stn-tched hands, so pathetic was the sjm-o
t.icle that a stranper mipht endure the
lonp and ramblinp prayer he uttered ; then
came the real business. What cups of tea
(Iisapx-arcd, what piles ot biscuit, pickles,
and sliced ham, what cakes of all species !
A hvpieiuc philosopher would have shud-
den-d and pn-dicted an epidemic next
niorninp; bwt where the soil prows mul
lein and mayweed I have always observed
that the eoplc can eat unlimited pork,
pie and cake. I don't know why, nor do
1 oflcr any theory ; but so it is : '
Nor was the feast silent, but seasoned
with such utterances as seemed pood to
the puests. Mrs. Ieacon Peters, in a loud
voice, commemorated the death and vir
tues of Mrs. Deacon Graves, and the meek
relict brandished his pocket-handkerchief.
snifli'd a little. and said he was "obleepcd"'
to her. Then this fearful and wonderful
female turned upon the poor old parson :
"And here we be apain. Parson Wil
bur; I didn't exiect last year you'd sur
vive to hev another party; you've tailed
some sence then, it's a fact, but heic you
be!"
"Yes'm, yes!" feebly piped the old
man. "it s ot the J.ora s mercies we arc
not consumed ; if I could only have an
assun-d hope of salvation I should pray to
le taken ; heart and flesh fail, yea, I am in
straits ofttimes ; longing, if I mipht, to de
part in jx-ace."
Poor old man ! in ninety-three years he
had only known the Lord throuph the As
sembly's Catechism !
Mrs. Peters' appressive voice havinp
broken the silent buzz ol eatinp and drink-
np, there nowliepan the flow of soul, and
the voting folks n-turued to their chat.
I don't see why I can't have a dona
tion party too," said Georpe to lluthy.
"Who do you s'pose would pi veyou any
thinp?" she snapped back.
" I think you would," was the confident
answer.
" I should like to know what ?"
" Sass," replied Georpe, dryly.
There was a titter lrom the by-standcrs
that tired Kuthy's soul.
" No need o' that ; I don't send salt to
the sea."
"Guess you've pot it now, Georpe," a
sheepish youth chuckled.
"Sass? oh yes, I told you I should ! "
lluth was a little cornered, so she rv
sumed the subject seriously, for now the
table needed fresh supplies, and the rest
wen- swarming toward it.
" What on earth do you want a donation
party for, Georpe Wilbur ? "
" 6h, I want somcthinp."
"What?"
" I don't know as I shall tell."
" Well, I ain't curious."
" That's lucky." replied the exasjierat
inp Georpe, knowing very well that those
brown eyes were as curious as a sparrow's,
and that he had inflicted a small thorn on
Ilttthv's soul that would fret her till she
made him take it out. Georpe was sly !
Now it came to lie the younp iM'ople's
turn forsupjM'r. and amerry time they had;
in the middle of which lluthy May sudden
ly announced :
" Georpe Wilbur sars he wants a donation-party
isn't he preedy?"
"Good for Georpe !"" said Sam Hill.
" We'll pive him one when his shanty's up
over to Hillside."
" What do you want, Georpe? tins, or
wooden-ware, or garden-sass ? " genamcd
Hetty Adams, from the other end ot the
table.
"That's tellin'! " answered Georpe.
Puth's eyes flashed
" I puess" he'll bike what he em pet ! "
"I shan't take what I can't set, of
course," was the cool answer. Sam Hill
stood up in his chair, " sprv as a cat," said
Aunt Sally, who was " waitiu' on the tea
pot." " EvcrylKwly who's in favor of giving
Georpe a donation-visit when his shanty's
up, please to say. Aye ! " and the Ayes
had it. But there were months to pass
first, and after that nipht's supper was
eaten, the tables cleared, the Parson's
thanks delivered in a wanderinp, prolix
discourse that still touched many a kindly
heart that had vibrated so many years to
his voice, a cheerful hymn was sunp, and
all the women pone up-stairs to roll them
selves up in frost-proof bundles, Georpe
contrived to stop lluthy at the foot of the
stairs
'Say, Kuthy. you'll fetch me somethin'
to my donation-party, won't you ? do
now !"
"Sass?"
" No," said Georpe, with a look that sent
her up stairs quickly; for, to tell the
truth, Georpe and Ruth had been, in the
phrase of their kin and country, keopin'
company " for more than one year, and
thotiph with real New Enpland reticence,
their hoies had never taken shape in
words, each knew well that the other felt
their mutual necessity, that it was only a
matter of time when the outward and audi
ible sipn would be given.
Georpe had a pood business in expecta
tion, he had hired a saw and planing mill
and two men to help him. Hillside was a
place of preat "mill-privilepe," and a new
factoiy ju-t built needed a row of tenement
houses. For these he had taken a contract,
and meantime had boupht two acres of
land just above his mill on the bank of
Mad Kiver, and as soon' as sprinp came
meant to pet out the ti-nber and plank and
build himself a little house; "dredful
handy to the shop and mill." as his fore
man said. K ith meanwhile taupht school
in Noppit Centre, half-way between old
Noppit and Hillside ; boardinp in the fami
ly of a muster carpenter by the name ot
lteale. who had broupht her over to-nipht
with his wife, for Georpe had to go thirty
miles west the next morning to settle a
lumber contract, and w-as not able to take
her himself; so he tucked her up in the
sleigh beside Mrs. Heale and said a reluctant
pood-night Now Mrs. Heale certainly had
as much claim to be called the " mother of
mischief " as the proverb says a midge's
wing has, though she was by no mean so
small. Nature liad piven her "full measure;
her tipure, unlike most American women's
was full and pliant, and even graceful; her
rose and white skin showed her Enplish
de-cent as well as the large blue eyes and
nd-gold hair that wound its waves about
her head and parted in little rings over
her smooth low brow ; full red lips with
an uncertain curve finished this peculiar
face; nobody could (Jeny that Mrs. Heale
was "awful prettv lookin'," but nobody
ever called her "a real pretty woman"
that true Yankee idiom which I have heard
applied to a fern de with a parchment skin,
gooseberry eyes, and Lantern jaws, who
was a saint upon earth if there are any.
Neither was Mrs. Heale a popular woman,
for Noppit Centre distrusted her. She had
made more than one small mischief there,
MILAN,
being a woman of rampant vanity, no
truthfulness, jealous and greedy ; though
by no means devoid of a certain acuteness
and considerable executive enerpy. No
children occupied her leisure hours, she did
not like children ; so she took tlm-e or
four boarders and kindly, or otherwise,
overlooked their affairs. Among these was
Kuthy May. Now Mrs. Heale liked to be
admired, extremely. She knew she was
handsome, she thought herself fascinating,
and she almost hated Georpe Wilbur le
eause he never looked at or spoke to her
mon than courtesy demanded, but devoted
himself to that little thing who could not,
to us; Mrs. Heale's own phrase, " hold a
candle " to her own beauty. So she set
herself to work to trouble him if she could,
and dropped here and there, in Ruth's
hearing, but not to her, little contemptu
ous remarks, and dubious opinions, and
half sentences, till in spite of the girl's real,
loyal affection for Georpe. there was a sore
spot in her heart that her subtle tormentor
did not sutler to heal.
This woman's husband was a "Teat hon
est fellow, who adored his wife as a spaniel
does its master. Clumsy and kind, he
waited on and worked for her, thoupht ber
perfect, and supposed everybody else did.
and was as pood to little Kutn as n lie hail
been her brother.
All the way home from the donation
party Mrs. Heale contrived, in her own
feline way, to scratch the absent Georpe
while pretending to pity him ; she apolo
gized lor his not cominp nacK witn nutn
till the poor pirl felt as if he had meant to
slipht her; fbe spoke of his wishing for a
donation party, and noped evcrvoody
would carry hiinoincthing, it was so hard
to start In" life with nothing at all ; she
should use her influence to have Mr. Smith.
who owned a chair-factory, send him at
least four chairs; and she guessed sin
could persuade the tin-man out ot some
Iiiivplates or bread-tins; and the store
keeper, Mr. Blivins,- was her husband's
cousin, she knew he would send a little
sugar and tea ! Due would have thoupht
( ieorpe a literal pauper; and Ruth choked
with rape, but manaped to say, bitterly.
Perhaps you'll pive huu some cold
pieces V,
Oh, yes, 7 pippled Jlrs. Jlcaie. "i ll
do all I can to help; he's a younp man
that'll itlwa3'spct helped" and she em
phasised the words in a way that made
them say he would always need to be.
In a hundred ways atter that, she told
the tale of George's donation party, till the
lea spread and took root that he was an
idle, uncertain, "shiftless" fellow; the
bank cashier who boarded at Mrs. Heale's
was shy of discounting bis small notes ;
the painter and glazier whom he tried to
engage hung back, and delayed, and asked
for security; even Ruth's" letters grew
short and dull, and the rare evenings he
could sM'iidwith her she seemed silent and
eootfor Mrs. Heale had clouded even her
clear head and warm heart with these
cnt-ping, clinpinp scandal mists, and,
moreover, planned with Jesuitical inge
nuity that each night George came some
other visitor should help occupy the par
lor, and not leave him a halt-hour alone
with Ruth.
At last she contrived to have him hear
that Ruth said he was too poor to get
ilong without begpingcold pieces, and had
told Mrs. Heale so! George's foreman had
come to Heale's shop on an errand, and
Mrs. Jle.-ilehapiH-ned tohein the hack shop
just as her husband stopped in to pet the
new saw Jones wanted to ask atiout. Mrs.
Heale prasped the situation ; her husband
was very deaf ; she knew that Jones was
thoroughly devoted to George, and she be-
in in a loud tone:
"Georpe Wilbur wants the saw! well.
lon't trust him for it ; pet voutJiav. Ruth
Mav savs he's so ooor he'll have to lieg for
cold pieces yet, she won't never take up
with him. 15o sure ot your pay, Sain ! '
With this she slipped out of the back
door, but Jones had heard enough, and.
paying Mr. Heale on the spot, in a great
rage told him he'd heard "somebody a
lyin' to him about Georpe Wilbur. (Ieorpe
was a doin' fust-rate, and there was better
fish in the sea than that stuck-up little
school-marm, who nuedn't think Georpe
was poin' to knuckle down to her!"
So Jones went to Hillside, his quick
Welsh temper still mpinp. and raved all
out at Georpe. who, poor fellow, laid this
and that topether,and. with a silent agony
at his heart, went about his business, anil
Mr. Heale going home at noon and report -
up Jones s talk to his wife, she repeated it
loudly after hiin with small alterations and
explanations, knowinp Ruth to lie over
head m her own room, and the stove-pipe
that ran up throuph a hole in the floor that
very day taken down for sprinp cleaning.
Here was a nice little situation : One
which common sense and a cool head could
have riphted in an hour; an honest dis
passionate letter from either lover to the
oilier would have broupht the truth to
lipht dinx-tly. But when was an angry and
grieved man ever able to see any side to a
question but bis own? when did an exas-
iM-rated and disappointed woman ever write
a letter that was just, or even generous?
And,
"To be wroth with one we love
1 th work like madness in the brain,"
is as true a diagnosis as ever any physician
pive of disease. No more letters passed
from either side: no more visits were paid;
Ruth's rosy cheeks puled to the delicate
tint of hot-house blossoms, her bripht eye
prew languid, her quick step slow and
weary. But her "prit" came to the recue ;
she did not fall ill, she only worked harder
than ever, laughed louder and took inter
minable walks before and after school hours
with anybody who would go with her, or
else alone, and said in her sweet soul all
the bitter things about men, and life, and
love that could have occurred to an ancient
cynic. George meantime worked with un
natural energy ; his mill ran late into
the moonlight nights, his hammer and
plane were hcanl at early dawn. The
widow Jones where he boarded vexed her
kind heart to see how little he ate. Had
he been in bonds to any vice now it
would have grown up with fatal luxuriance,
but George inherited a strong moral na
ture, and it was fortified by a vital Chris
tian fa th ; he had a life to live and a death
to die yet ; it was not in him to evade the
one or court the other, and if religion did
not in this hour of darkness afford him any
rapture or replace to him the hitman love
for which his human nature longed, he
could yet, like agonized Samson, " feel the
pillars whereon the. house standeth,"
though the edifice itself seemed to reel
and quiver about him. It was f;ir into
spring by this time. A New England
spring is but a shivering travesty of the
poetic season. Its rare iale blossoms are
sweet as stars, but they are stars between
the clouds that threaten storm ; its fields
are more brown than green, its tenderest
buds open on the edge of snow-drifts, its
gayest songster is the sad warbling song
sparrow that utters only a passionate re
gret: "So sad, so sweet, the days that are no more."
And there is still less poetry in the long
rains, the flooded swamps aiid the linger
ing fevers they engender.
George's mill-pond was not the most
wholesome place after dusk and before
dawn, and frequent showers and melted
snows had saturated all the swamps. By
the time the hot May sun shone out in all
its fervor, George came home to Mrs.
Jones's one night for his supper, but he
did not eat it neither did he go back to the
mill ; Jones went for the tWtor at mid
nipht, but the doctor jvas called toe late ;
all lie could do now was to watch, to ruard,
to alleviate. Typhoid fever has the prasp
of an anaconda once in irs coils, if you
escaje alive you are still thoroughly
crushed. So there he lay for weeks rav
ing, sinking, reviving; sometimes merped
in a blankness he knew not sometimes
tortured to the brink of death, sometimes
apathetic butawake. Ruth heard all about
him. His doctor lived in Noppitt Center,
and he had a wide acquaintance there who 1
were glad of an excitement and made the
most of it though they would one and all :
have sworn they were" dreadfully grieved
for poor George ! But one must live in a
Milan
GIBSON COUNTY,
country villasw too small for a daily paper
to know how poignantly delightful an ac
cident, a sickness, a crime, or a scanuai out
become ; how it is turned and returned,
guessed at and commented on, shaken and
dusted, and held up to light. It is not so
pleasant to a sore heart vitally concerned
in the matter in hand; it was like a little
judgment day to Ruth May. She had be
gun to distrust Mrs. Heale's truthfulness,
she began now to find out the secret of her
own heart : she found too late that even it
Georpe had said all she had heard, her w hole
nature nevertheless went out to hiin with
a love that was only not forpiveness be
cause it was love so miphty ami so over
whehninp that offenses and sins were
swept under its great, glad rush, forever
and ever. And jet she was here and he
then, dying ! Five miles were a separa
tion wide as the wild wide sea for them
she had no right to go to him, he could
not wish for her, he could not forgive her.
Whv should I recapitulate her slow tor
ture? Some of us have known It to the
rest it is a dead letter ; can my words
make them understand what it is to have
few miles only lie between you and what
you love best on earth, and yet that brief
distance be practically the distance be
tween earth and heaven so far as power to
pass it is granted you?
Of the two, poor little Ruth suffered
most ; a raging helplessness possessed her,
and more than once she decided to go to
Hillside at all risks, see George and ask
his pardon at least before he died ; but the
feminine instincts, and the restraint of the
world about her, stronger for a woman
than the bands of Orion, held her to her
daily routine that with throbbing heart
and' boating brain she pursued unflinch
ingly in virtue of her Puritan grit ; a less
er niartvrdom that lost its Palm for want
of a good motive. But things do some
times abate their dynamic force. Provi
dence helps us when our foothold seems
failing. One bright Saturday morning, as
Ruth was taking her daily walk, feverish
with repressed excitement and taking it.
as she always did lately, down the Hill
side road, a horse and wagon suddenly
drew up beside her.
" I was a goin' after ye," said Jones, the
foreman ; " George is a dyin', I expect,
'nd he wants to see you."
Ruth climbed in without a word, and
Jones drove oft' like a madman. I wish I
might make here a pretty, dramatic, pa
thetic scone; a scene of parting, forgive
ness, tears; a pictorial death-bed of atti
tudes and platitudes, all to end with a mi
raculous restoration of the dear object,
and a grand tableau, but I can't I must
tell the truth. " It Is my duty, and I
will ! "
lluth never got so far as the door, for
Mrs. Jones stood at the yard pate and
warned them off. George had fallen into
a quiet sleep ; Dr. Barnes said it was the
crisis of his disease, and his life depended
on it So Jones got down, turned his
wagon about, as if he went on opg-shelU,
and, driving silently off, took Ruth back
to the Centre. But on the why they had
a very honest talk ; he told lier all he
heard in Mr. Heale's shop, and she told
him what Mrs. Heale said, and this was
Jones's summing up :
"And you two hev jest ben twisted
round by a tonpuey woman ! 'nd a tea
spoonful of common sense would ha'
straightened ye both out. Why in thun
der didn't one or t'other of ye speak aout
and ask what t'other was up to? 'nd now
he's a dyin' and you'd jest as lievos your
self. Good Jehoshaphat !" With whi. h
curious expletive he whipped up his old
horse, and landed Ruth like a ghost In a
blue sun-bonnet at her own door !
I should stop here and recommend all
men and women (lovers or not) about to
quarrel to meditate on and accept Jones's
succinct advice ; but I know, in the first
place, it would bo quite useless, and. in
the second place, if it could be useful what
should we poor hard-working story-writers
do for a living? Where would our
plots, our situations, our clearing-off fi
nales, our repentant sinners, and our last-dying-siM-ecli-and-confessions
be ! For
the pood of the trade 1 forliear. But.
thotiph Ruth cried herself ill, and repented
herself into abject humiliation, she did not
die, nor did George; slowly and sadly he
came back to life, and endured the long
anguish of convalescence, but he did not
send for Ruth again, and she, who waited
trembling and expectant, dtred not offer
to goto him. At length, one lovely day
in June, George was lifted into Doctor
Barnes's chaise, to take a little long
er ride than hitherto had been allowed
him. He had boon as far as the store
twice, and sunned himself on the steps
there ; once he had boon to the minister's ;
now he said he was quite well, only weak,
and he must pet to the shop, so the Doctor
said he should ride about a mile first, and
stop there on the way back. The air ot
the wooded roadside was clear and sweet
onotiph to have revived the dying. Bobo
links chattered and pippled in the mead
ows, the younp grass and the new leaves
sent up tlieir inexpressible odors all about,
the hillsides were pink with kalmia blooms,
and the south wind's gentle breath was
like silent kisses on the face it caressed.
After half an hour's slow driving Doctor
Barnes turned into a pair of bars they
w'.-re the entrance to George's lot, and to
his wondering eyes arose a vision ; the
very little house whose tinibersand boards
ami shinples lay safe in the shed of his
shop, as he imagined, and its plan in the
trunk at Mrs. Jones's ! Was it really a
house or a fever-dream ? He passed his
hand across his eves, and the Doctor,
laughing, answered the thought :
" It really is a house, Georpe, and your
own. llalt-a-uozen ot the boys happened
to be out of work for a spell, and they
reckoned you would like your house ready
to start with when you pot round, so they
put to and run it up ; 't wasn't much ot a
job; but 1 expect they'd like to see yon
take possession, lor they re an there. to I
said I'd fetch you !"
They were all there to be sure, and no
less than four came out to help George
out of the chaise and in at the door. He
was not fit to speak, but they spoke for
him.
"Didn't we say we'd pive vou a dona
tion party? shouted Sam Hill; "'nd
Aunt Nancy, she sent over some things
out of the Parson's garret that she said
you ouphter have, and a consider 'ble piece
ot hit-or-miss carpetin' she wove herself;
so we tinkered 'em up and varnished 'em
over, and they look slick !"
Surelv thev did ! Four old high-backed
chairs, a claw-legged stand, a tall clock and
chest of drawers that had been George's
father's, and waited in the parsonage ior
him to have a place for them; an old
splint-bottomed rocker that his mother
used till her death, for which Aunt So
phrony had furnished a red cushion and a
tidy; a pair of brass fire-dogs shone in the
chimney, and the tongs and shovel were
dressed" with bunches of cinnamon roses;
the room was so bright, so homely and
cheerful, that George felt a great wave of
gratitudojise to his lips, and a sharp rock
of memory receive its swell and shatter it
td spray ; for, where was Ruth ?
" Easy, boys !" said the watchfnl doctor,
seeing him turn pale. " Lie down in the
bed-room a minute, George,"
Dear me ! how white and clean was the
bit of a bed-room !
"Thank you all like everything!"
George would say, before he was shut up
to rest.
" I'll come back to you in half an hour,"
said Dr. Barnes, "and the boys won't
bother you till then." George hoard the
wheels go softly by on the turf, he closed
his eyes not to sleep perhaps because lie
was weak and they were a little misty ;
but in a minute somebody said very softly
" George !" and when he looked at her,
still with dim eyes, she went on
" You said you wanted me to fetch
something to your donation party ; so I
have."
George put out his hand and she put
hers into it
And that was George's Donation Party.
Christian Union.
TENNESSEE, APRIL
Some of SothonTs Latest Jokes.
A Washington correspondent writes
oothora has a national reputation as a
practical joker as well as an actor, but I
never have learned to what an extent does
M carry his passion for practical joking
until his last week's engagement at the Na
tional Theatre. It appears that foking is
a passion with him. Ilis daily joke is as
necessary as the morning appetizer for the
averape man. Upon the stage, even dur
ing the incidents of an act, before the au
dience he is continually playing his jokes
Here is an example: In one ot the acts ot
" Our American Cousin," a young lady
who was playing one of the prominent
parts oi one play stoou a niue uacK miring
one scene, and as she was to come forward
during the act, Sothern passed her. and
said in a whisper : " For heaven's sake be
careful, your skirt is coming off." The
young lady was distracted at the intelli
gence, ami clutching at her skirt, clung to
it convulsively until she had an opportu
nity of stopping behind a flat, when she
V ivered that it was only another one ol
Sot hern's jokes.
Friday nipht "David Garnck" was
billed, and Sothern that evening seemed so
full of a breezy humor that it could only
find vent in some sort of practical joke.
In the cast of the play was a very beauti
ful younp; lady, who is very sensitive upon
the subject of admirers. Sothern, when
he came on in the second act noticed a
bald-headed old gentleman in the second
row front literally devouring the face of
the young actress with a double-barreled
opera glass. Here was too good a chance
for a joke.. A few moments alter his
conceiving the idea a box was brought
behind the scenes by one of the ushers.
It was for the younp lady mentioned
above. It was a beautiful box, ami filled
with exquisite French bon-bon. At first
she was vert much pleased with the pres
ent, but as she read the note ijceompanv-
mg it her cheeks Hushed, am! she fairly
stamped her foot with indignation. The
note was as follows :
" Lovely Vision : I love you ! I adore
you ! Look for me, the bald-headed party,
second seat to the right, in iront. l-ou
will recognize me by my bald head and my
firm Roman nose, my mother's I mean 1
have it from her by inheritance. Be mine.
1 love vou madly. 1 ani a wu lower with
no children, but long to be a father. I have
$28,000 a year. Say, will you be,minc? If
so, please drop, your tiandkercluet at the
end of the scene.
"Yot'R Devoted Admirer."
This note so discomfited the young ladv
from he unusual experience of having so
viporous an admirer, and so Doid a one
durinp her presence upon the stapo, that
she missed several of her cues in the suc-
ceedinp scene. She was poinp to send the
box and note back to the bald-headed party,
but ber friends discouraged her saying it
was bettor not to notice it at all. Fancy the
feelings of the old man if the box and note
liad been sent back.
Toward the close of the next scene up
came an usher with another note, which
was us follows :
"Oh, cruel, cruel one ! Why di 1 1 ever
meet you ? I swear yon shall be mine. I
am in the box now, so that 1 can be nearer
you. Behold me. your fate. Lovely cruel
one. do not think to eseaiie mo.
" W. P. B."
This wa too much, the young lady
thought and ic was with flushed cheeks
and indignant, snapping eyes that she
went on with her business. Wonderful
coincidence. When the curtain wont up,
there was the bald-headed party in the
box.
1 Mrectly up came another note. It was
a follows :
" The struggle is over. lam going to
cut my throat in five minutes in the box.
Cruel, obdurate one, why did I ever meet
vou? No, I won't cut "my throat, I will
haunt you for years, and then cut my
throat. Beware how you scorn mo ! I am
on your track, and you can never escape
mo!"
The young lady now became quite
frightened, as she' thought she had an
amiable lunatic for an admirer.
The following conversation explains the
sequel to the above. Time The next
evening, after the curtain had boon run
down on the last act. Scone Mr. Soth
ern bidding fiirewcll to the members ot
the company. He approaches the young
lady.
" Good-by," said he as he took her by
the hand.
" Good-bv," she replied.
"Oh, by "the way," says Mr. Sothern.
"Well?"
" Did he cut his throat ?"
(Sudden light dawning.) "Oh. Mr.
Sothern, I will never forgive you !" and
the little body walks indignantly away,
only to be overcome with laughter after
ward at the real excellence of the joke.
Senator Sumner, the President,., and
San Domingo.
The late Senator Sunnier prepared for
delivery in the Senate, in March, 1871, a
speech in reference to the Sa:i Domingo
job, for his persistent opposition to which
it is well Known he incurred me naireu
and ill will of the President and the rest
of the ring interested in getting the bill
through Congress. This speech, through
the intercession of some of Mr. Sumner's
friends, was withheld, and has never been
published until since the Senator's death,
when it found its way into prii't throuph
the New York Tribune. We append here
to an interesting extract. Mr. Sumner
said :
" At last some time in June, 1N70, a
few weeks before the San Domingo treaty
was finally rejected by the Semite, the
Secretary came to my house about 9
o'clock in theevening and remained till af
ter the clock struck midnight, the whole
protracted visit being occupied in earnest
and reiterated appeal that I should cease
rav opposition to the Presidential scheme ;
and here he urged tliat the election which
made General Grant President had been
carried by him and not by the Republican
party, so that his desires were entitled to
especial attention. In his pressure on me
he complained that I had opposed other
projects of the President In reply to my
inquiry he named the repeal of the Ten-ure-of-Oflice
act and the nomination of
Mr. Jones as Minister to Brussels, both of
which the President had much at heart,
and he concluded with the San Domingo
treaty.
"1 assured the Secretary firmly and
simply that, seeing the latter as 1 did,
with all its surroundings, my duty
was plain, and that I must con
tinue to oppose it as lonp as it
appeared to me wrong. He w;is
not satisfied, and renewed his pressure in
various forms, returning to the point again
and again with persevering assiduity tliat
would not be arrested, when at last find
ing me inflexible, he changed his appeal,
saying, 'Why not go to London? I
offer you the English mission. It is
yours.'
" Of his authority from the President I
know nothing. I speak only of what he
said, ilv astonishment was heightened by
iudignation at this too palpable attempt to
take me from my post of duty ; but I sup
pressed the feeling which rose to the lips,
and reflecting that he was an old friend
and in my own house, answered gently,
' We have a minister there that cannot be
bettered.' Thus already did the mission
to London begin to pivot on San Do-
mintrA
"1 make this revelation only because it
is important to a correct understanding of
the case, and because the conversation
from beginning to end, was official in char
acter, relating exclusively to public busi
ness, without suggestion or allusion oi a
personal nature, and absolutely without
tne slightest word on my part leading in
the most remote degree to any such over
ture, which was as unexpected as nnde-
sired.
" The offer of the Secretary was in no
respect a compliment or kindness, but in
the. strict line of his endeavor to silence my
ANGrE.
30, 1874.
nnnosilion to the San Domingo Scheme,
as
too apparent from the facts, while it w
nl-iin twwiHva an1 mienuivocal. niakil
as
mg
its object and import beyond question. Had
it been merely an inquiry, u were u;
in,inr-h iimlcr tlie cirrnnlst.inccs. but
was direct and complete as by a plenipo-ti.iiti-itn-
" Shortly afterward, being the day imnie-
oiuiciv luiiuw iu; mc i nun nn .-
Domingo treaty, Mr. Motley was summa
rily removed, according to present pre
tense, for an offending not only trivial and
formal, but condoned iy tune, ncuip a
year old very much as sir Walter Raleigh,
it.r hcinir n-lenseil from the Tower to
conduct a distant expedition as admiral of
the fleet, was on bis return beheaded on a
judgment of fifteen years' standing. The
Secretary in conversation aim m eorres
K)iulence with me undertook to explain
the removal, insisting tor a long time that
1, -.ia tlxi Iri.'iwl rf Mr Alotli.v hut bt
always made the matter worse, while the
heats of San ioiuingo encored niio
discussion."
the
Grant and
FUh Twe
'ames.
Dishonored
The recent publication ot Senator Sum
ner s suppressed speech throws additional
light on the disgraceful conduct of the
President and Secretary of State, n spect
ing the San Domingo scheme, and the re
moval of Sunnier and Motley from the po
sitions they tilled and adorned. Sufficient
was already known to vindicate the two
deposed oilicials, and to damage irrepar-
tblv their persecutors, yet this speech, so
tardily made public, shatters to atoms the
fabric" of excuses built up about the Presi
dent, the Secretary, and the "party,"
to protect them from popular in
dignation. It makes an ugly revela
tion. Grant and Fish are dishonored
names.
The President ardently desired to add
to his laurels of war the glory of annexa
tion, and in furtherance of this desire, not
only overstepped the ltounds of interna
tional law, but violated the Constitution
of his own country. The armed forces of
the United States were sent, upon his own
order, to the Carribean sea, to support the
usurper Baez, and pive him a de facto pow
er to sell his country to a foreign govern
ment. In addition to this, the republic of
Hay ti was menaced by the same armed
forces in its own harbors. Sumner, Chair
man of the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
was asked to approve and aid in the con
summation ot this scheme. Secretary
Fish used every inducement to procure
Sumner s aid, calling at his residence
many times, ami urging liitn with indecent
importunity, and protracting his efforts
far into the night, as though he hoped to
coerce a Senator whom he could not con
vince. Then, when all other means had
failed, he pointed out to him a convenient
direction in which he might skulk away
from his post of duty, and avoid all re
sponsibility. It is iM-yond all doubt that
t-ish, bv Grant s permission, ollcrrd Sum
ner the English mission. I'nder the cir
cumstances, it cannot be considered any
thing but an attempt to bribe the latter in
to silence, by securing his removal from a
scone in which they knew he could not
remain a passive observer, instead oi ac
quiescing, Sumner opposed the scheme,
and with such Io.it and etleet as to
kill it.
Mr. Sumner was then, at the President's
suggestion, deposed from his position at
the head of the ( 'otninittit on Foreipn Af
fairs, no one doubting at the time the mo
tive that prompted the humiliation. That
was not all. He was still lM-rseeuted
rough his friend Motley, then minister
to England. After performing olhciont
and honorable service at the Court of St.
James. Motley was removed summarily
in order that Sumner might be made to
feel the power of the President's avenginp
inn. Indeed, so indecent was the rape ot
this brute that ho allowed himself to for
get the dignity of his ollieo so far as to say
that if he were not President. " ho would
call Sumner to account" ! Coming from
the 1 'resident, who could not hope to van
quish the Senator in a debate upon the
merits ot tin scheme, tuts expression
meant personal violence, it it meant any
thing at all. It meant that Beastly Grant
would finish the work begun bv Bullv
Brooks. Suppose Grant had not Ixt-n
President, what a scene would have been
presented ! A man, whose life-long work
was that of peace, confronted and menaced
by a man whoso only distinction had been
won in war ! Because of what ! Simply
on account of words spoken in open de
bate, and in the performance of a sworn
duty.
The reason assigned by the senators
most active in deposing Sumner was that
i i .1 . .. i , ;.i .
lie nan no relations wmi me i resiuein
mil Secretary of Stito,"and this was, as-
ignod without anv attempt to show that
the performance of his duty had been, or
was at all likely to bo, obstructed in the
least. But this was only the beginning of
ubterfupes. In a formal palter, signed
by the Secretary, and sent to the Senate,
it" was alleged that the death of Lord Clar
endon (June 27, 170), " had determined
the tune for inviting .ir. .Motley to make
place for a successor." In point of fact.
the place had been offered to Sumner
some time before, and it now appears tha
the announcement ol the removal was
made in the London newspapers two days
before Clarendon's death.
It is alleged also in the same document.
that the President embraced the opportu
nity "to prevent any further misrepre
sentation of his views throuph Mr. Motley,
by takinp from hint the right to discuss
further the Alabama claims." In truth,
the Secretary stated in a letter to Sumner
that the discussion had been withdrawn
from London, " because we think that
when renewed it can lie carried on hen
with a better prospect of settlement"
For removing Mr. Motiev, the interesting
document sent to the Senate sets up " the
important consideration ot having a rep
resentative in sympathy with the Presi
dent's views." On the other hand, it is
shown conclusively that Grant Fish, Sum
ner, and Motiev were in perfect accord on
the question of the Alabama claims. The
Secretary, from the time of his accession to
office, consulted with the Senator, was
anxious to obtain his views, adopted the
state papers written and published by him,
and, in short, leaned upon him without re
serve and without fear.
The exposure of these pretexts, so ably
and characteristically made in the undeliv
ered speech, leaves "no question as to the
President's motive in securing the deposi
tion of Sumner and Motley. It is the
mo-t ub,iml'nl nQoro in tlio tutnrTr nf thp
administration ofthe American Govern
ment. It reveals in strong light the true
character ot Grant and his witling tool.
Fish. It leaves no furtherdoubt upon the
fact that Grant intended to make money,
through the operations of Rufus Ingalls
and O. E. Babcoek, in Sari Domingo real-
estate. No other motive would have led
this sonlid creature to such extreme and
hazardous measures as he adopted. We
have had Presidents before who did the
nation no credit, but Grant is the first one
who ever debased the office for the pur
pose of making money. Chicago Times.
A short time ago a discovery interest-
in 2 to archxTologists w-as made while dig
ging in a tumulus a few mile3 north of
t redenckstadt Norway, ine nun oi a
vessel, made entirely of oak, and evidently
of grr-at age, was found imbedded in a
stratum of clay. It is rather flat and low
in the water, tapering to a point at each
end, with a length of keel or 44 feet and a
breadth of beam of 13 feet It is supposed
to have been used a a war vessel for coast
service, being propelled by oars and sans
An ancient practice in Norway was to
place the vesel over the remains oi tne
captain, and fragments of dress, horse ac
coutrements and harness have been dis
covered under this. 1 he vessel is sup
Ksed to date from the time of the vikings,
and the Society of Antiquaries at Chris-
ti-ina have caused the entire lot to be con
veyed to that place, to be setup within the
precincts of the University.
NUMBER 9.
IDUX FIGHTING.
Vivid Drnrrlption of erl BnMl'i
Her eat Mtirmisn wun me 4 mnn
ehem. A stock-drover, who has just returned
from Texas, furnishes the Philadelphia
Pre with the following account of Brevet
Major-General Buell's recent fight with
the Comanches, which will In found inter
estinp :
On Feb. 2. 1S74, Lieutenant Colonel
Buell, Eleventh I'nlteil States Infantry, in
command at Fort Griffin, the most remote
post on the northwest frontier of Texas,
left the post in search of hostile Indians
Comanches and Kiowas. After four days'
march in disagreeable weather, in the
midst of a cold, sleety rain storm, he
struck hii supply camp, which had been
previously sent out. On the following
morning, a cold, freezing, slt-ty day.
Colonel Buell started out with 40 "men of
the Tenth United States Cavalry, with
Captain Lee and Lieutenant E. Turner as
his junior officers. After searching ten
miles that day they came to a boggy river,
which had to" be crossed by the command.
Lieutenant Turner rode into the river, and
was thrown from his horse, the poor ani
mal sinking in the mud. He eventually
succeeding in extricatinp his horse and
reached the opposite side of the river.
mounted, and rode up the stream halt a
mile, where he found safe fording for the
rest ofthe command, when they al I crossed.
After the soldiers liad ridden all day in the
rain thev arrived, cold and wet, at a camp
on one of the branch streams of the Salt
Fork, where they staved all nipht. It
may not be out ot place to state that there
was no grass or forage for the horses.
The next morning at daybreak Colonel
Buell aroused his command, and made a
march of thirty miles, the men riding still
in their wet clothes, and the horses lx-inp
prettv well tapped out, when he discov
ered from his Ton-ka-wa Indian scouts,
who were both on his right and left flanks,
that there was danger in his immediate vi
cinity. Oneot these Indians commenced
wheeling rapidly to the right, wincii was
the signal agreed upon to warn the sol
diers. Colonel Buell at once moved his
men in that direction at a gallop, ami in
joining the Indian mentioned discovered
at the edge ot a precipice a tire burning in
the valley below, m the Double .Mountain
fork of the Brazos. Upon a closer exami
nation, the officers in command saw a
large herd of horses all bunched together.
W hue lookinpon at this camp Lieutenant
Turner saw that the enemy had discov-
red them, when he immediately da-tied
his horse over the precipice, and took the
lead toward the camp. When about half
way down the hill he found one of Colonel
Buell s Indian scouts undressing hun-
:elf stripping for action. Before
the Lieutenant had an opportuni
ty to pass, the Indian mounted his
pony and dashed on ahead, on arriving
at the foot of the hill, the Indians shout
ing the Ton-ka-wa war-whoop, they both
rode toward the herd of horses, the In
dian on the right and the Lieutenant on
the left, when a strong volley ot balls and
arrows passed by without hitting them.
rtie Comanches then raising their yen,
stood their ground. The scout rode on to
the summit of a small bill, where ho
could get a good aim, while the Lieuten
ant stopped where he was, wheeled his
horse to the right, and commenced lirmg
:it the Indians. The tire beginning to lie
too sharp he dismounted and called to the
troops to hasten their steps to his support.
It should lie understood that the cavalry
could only reach the valley in single file.
Colonel Buell was already there looking
;Uter the herd of horses, and had sent
twenty men to stop the stani'M-de. Caj
tain Lee was in advantf of the men com
ing down hill, and as soon as he reached
tint v,illl f,irhr iiii.il iItkIiciI fiv him mill
joined the f.ieutenant who immediately
charged the Indians, killing live on the
spot, the balance running up the cnt-k.
One of the latter, while running, shot
Lieut Turner in the left side with a stecl-
pointttl arrow, without inflicting any se
rious injury, however, it striking some
W inohestcroartriilpes in Ins vest pocket.
Before his men could reload he himself
hot the Indian in the back, w ho dropped
flat on his fait", dead. A vounp squaw
then turned around and trieil to surrender,
hut was also shot dead by the Lieutenant.
Hie nest ot the escaping Indians were
all killed bv the troops on the left.
Colonel Buell directed the whole altair,
and won the esteem of officers and men by
his coolness, courage, and soldierly abili
ties. The result of the tight may be sum
med up as follows: Indians killed, 11;
horses captured, 0-1; two handsome silver
mounted saddles, two solid silver bridles.
and several very handsomely mounted
bows and quivers, and a numlH-r of rilles.
pistols, etc.. were also captured. One sol
dier was shot in his left shoulder, and was
compelled to ride five days without surgi
cal attendance. Two horses were al.-o
wounded. A Ton-ka-wa squaw took the
scalps off of ten of the killed ami (listrili-
uted them among the victors. Lieutenant
Turner getting two. The party returned
to Fort Gritfin with their spoils, driving
nipht and day for ninety-six hours.
Colonel Buell distributed the stock on
the way to the Texan farmers from whom
those Fort Sill reservation Indians had
stolen them, receiving in return th ir
warmest thanks. The people of Texas
are very enthusiastic in their praise of
Colonel Buell, not only for his success
and energy heretofore in putting down
horse and cattle thieves, but also for his
Indian fiphtinp.
Shaking Down Crows.
A Delaware correspondent ot the Balti
more American- writes these queer stories
about crows: "A novel amusement,
which is at present indulged in to a great
extent in the tipper part of this Suite, is
crow shooting as a substitute lor pigeon
matches. The rules and customs are the
same in either case. The substitute was
made out of a sort of humane notion among
the jeople, as well as for the pecuniary
benefit of residents about Reedy Island, in
the Delaware, from which place the crows
are token. I have been told Unit this spot
is the favorite roosting ground of these
birds, and that toward nightfall they con
gregate there by thousands. When dark
ness overspreads the island, the catchers
enter among the low trees with bags, and
catch any desired number, simply pluck-
. . , i- . 1 1 r 1 - I.
ing mem iroui uie mnos iikc so mucu
fruit. The birds cannot fly in the darkness,
and even if shaken from their roosts, they
cling to the first object that comes within
their reacn. it is saiu tunc a mansiamunp
beneath the tree from which the birds are
shaken with outstretched arms. Will soon
be covered."
A Remarkable Story.
The Jefferson City (Mo.) Journal pub
lishes the following extraordinary cow
and calf story :
V e are informed oi a most remarkaoie
occurrence, said to have taken place at the
farm of A. D. Wilson, a well-known citi
zen of this vicinity, which, if true, and
our informant Is of undoubted veracity,
presents the most singularly interesting
instance of Dame Nature's freaks that has
lately come to our knowledge. A cow
that had died in attempting to give birth
to a cak' was opened and found to contain
two full-sized male calves, and to the
preat astonishment of the owner and by
standers, seventy-five other perfectly
formed calves, ranging in size from that of
a small mouse to a" full-grown rat. None
of them were alive, but quite a number
showed signs of having possessed anima
tion. This is certainly the most astonish
ing cac of fecundity on record. Had the
cow lived, she would have been a most
valuable animal for new beginners in the
stoek-raisinsr line, producing a whole
drove of cattle at a single birtn.
Ix pocket-picking, as in everything rise,
a man never succeeds until be get his
hand in.
PUS GOT PABAGRIPHS.
Stepping with the bare foot on an oil
cloth at 2 a. m., rarely falls In suggesting
new figures of speech.
A r what hour did the devil make his ap
jearanee in the Garden of Eden? Some
time in the night. He certainly came after
Eve.
A missing man was lately advertised for
and described a having a Roman nose.
He won't be found. Such a nose as
that will never turn up
Tne demon of dullness which is often
allowed to reign at home, has more to do
with driving young men into vicious
company than tlian the attractions of vice
itself.
Gknti.k Spring run a pin Into old daddy
Winter vestenlav. He humped himself
for about half an hour, and then cme
lwck and souatted in her Lip again. St.
Louis Republican.
A n iRf.Tvu being annoved by some
of his audience leaving the church while
he was sixaking, took for his text " Thou
art weighed in the balaiu-e. and found
want'np." After a few sentences he said,
" Vou will please pass out as Cist as you
are weighed."
Ik vou are in a hurry, never get behind
a couple that are courting, lhey want
to make so much ol eticn oilier mat nicy
wouldn't move ftuick if they were going to
a funeral. Get behind your jolly married
folks, who have lots oi children at noine, u
you want to move Cist.
Tenderly stroking the soft, silken curls
of his innocent boy, and prizing into the
liquid depths of his blue upturned eyes,
w ith a glance that told what fountains of
larental love were running over in his
ireast. Mr. Marrowfat affectionately mur
mured : " No, Artaxerxes, you can t learn
to chaw tobacker so long as your dad is
boss of this ranehe."
As- editor in a small town in Iowa, who
attended an apple-paring, became imbued
with the whirl of society, and this is how
it affected him : " V e are in the umlst ol
the season for parties, dancing, mirth ami
festivity. The rosined hair ot the horse
travels merrily over the intestines of the
ipile cat. evoking music to w hu ll the im
patient feet trip gaily over the floor."
A new method of compounding drugs
was proposed to one of our drugpUts a
few il.-ivs since. A well-known bummer
entered the Wore and asked for a pint ol
whi.-kv. The proprietor saw' the point.
ind was determined that the Diiininer
shouldn't see the " pint" " 1 must have
it," says the latter, "I've eaten niore'n a
pound of camphor, and must have the
whisky to dissolve it."Sanlt Creek
yews.
California Relics of a Forgotten Age.
Little Butte Basin is about three-quarters
of a mile in width either way, and is
capiH'd by a bed of marl, supposed, from
explorations made, to be at least 200 feet
in depth, and which is evidently not ot
primary formation. The claim will not
exceed' twenty feet at its deepest point
There have been mortars and pestles
found, and thev are continually being
found, underneath the banks as they are
washed away. Those ancient relics con
tained no carvinps at all. Near where the
mortars and pestles were found the re
mains of a camp-tire wore plainly vi.-ible.
The charred brands, the iinbiirned coals
and the ashes had more the appearance ot
Ix-inp the remains of a tiro but recently
built ami extinguished, than of one act
ually kindled in the early ages of the
world. That the relies t a tin of a cer
tainly very remotely ancient period should
have been so iutactly preserved in such
entirety of freshness is astonishingly re
markable. In near proximity to the old
camp-tire tlicre were six excavations, or
" pot holes," as thev are commonly called,
in the marl, some "four fi-ot in depth, and
five or six feet across the surface, the holes
being in funnel form and jn-rfectly similar
in regard to size, and w ith particular ex
actness as to the distance each one from
the other. A piece of petrified wood ev
idently elder was found near this locality,
as was also a portion of petrified bark.
A numlH-r of years since a company of
miners while sluicing near the center ot
the basin, w here the proiind w as ten feet
deep, uncovered a large quantity of mor
tars, estlos. and numerous other
Indian trinkets, together with four
piHs coiitructed of pray slate,
eighteen inches in length, two inches in
diameter at the center, and flaring at each
end both extremities being fiTliiieil ex
actly like the butt end of a common tin
horn. The pipes were tastefully polished
both externally and internally. The drill
ing of the cavity was evidently done with
anhistruinent iiot of sufficient length to
perform the entire work from one end. a
it was plainly to lie observed that the pipes
were drilled from either end, as the une
ven condition of the inside work at the
center clearly indicated. These pipes
wore long kept in this phut as curiosities,
and frequently shown to different Indians
that the use for which they were construct
ed might lie ascertained ; but the present
race of Indians being as ignorant of the
purpose ofthe manufacturing of these sin.
gular antiquarian relics as were the whites,
no lipht on the object or the use for
which they were made could bo obtained.
In mining outa portion of the ranch of
the late Isaac Trip several years ago. many
ancient relics were unearthed similar to
those already mentioned. In a bank of
twenty feet in depth mortars, pestles, arrow-heads
and human bones were found
from within two feet of the surface to the
very extreme bottom. The skeletons on
and" near the marl were not as perfectly
preserved as those near the surface, but
they had the api'aram.-e of belong
ing to a giant race, as the frames were
much larger than those of the pres
ent inhabitants. The trunk of a
black oak tree was found about midway
between the top and bottom of one of the
banks, and which was in a perfect state of
preservation. It was cut into stove-wood,
and proved to be of the most inflammable
nature, burning with the intensity that
wood perfectly saturated with oil would
burn ; and what seemed most remarkable
about the peculiar qualities ofthe timber
was the slow manner in which it was con
sumed by the tire. The earth overlying
the marl of the basin has a sinpular and
diversified af pearanee. The banks as they
are washed away bv the miners siiow stra
tified formations of a very numerous and
nterestiiiL' character, am leach strata seems
to Ik composed of substances wholly dis
similar from the others, which would in
dicate that they were separately formed in
different epochs, and that the materials
composing them came from different
sources. The evidence that the country
was inhabited by a race of people previ
ous to the formation of any earth over the
marl is perfectly conclusive. 1 he excava
tions in the marl, some have thoupht and
some still think, were caused by the action
of water ; but the most reasonable theory
is that thev were the work of the ancient
inhabitant's pj-rha.-w they wore the base
ments ot the ruts ks which tne people
lived such is the peneral belief of thos
who have given the subject the niosc
thought and attention, as the " pot holes "
are only to be soon in the vicinity where
the mortars, pestles and other relics of an
tiquity are found.
A Clergyman Conquers a Burglar.
McLeod, an Episcopalian clergyman, re
siding at "Clark Hill." near Niagara Falls,
in Canada, 's thus described by the Buffalo
Commercial A'irertiser : "On Wednesday
ni"ht last Mr. MeLeod was awakened from
sleep by the barking ol hi3 dog. l tanking
ihuK, i.iitrlit nnssitilv hp snmethintr wron?
nKit tli nntmitfs h nrocppiled to an Aif-
joininp room, and there found a large-
sized burglar, liotn men Doing aoove me
average weight and strength, a pretty
lively time ensued for a few minutes. The
minister, determined on lorcing an uncon
ditional surrender on the part of the burg
lar, very soon Drougni nis amajromi w
....cii'jirwr cAncA rf tha Ttnurfer flful influence
of muscular Christianity when properly
directed. Succeeding, after a violent
struggle, in throwing the burglar to tne
floor. Tie held him there until the arrival ot
a male son ant, who was sent to procure a
rope. The servant was oniereu u uc uic
man, but, throuph icar ann treuioiiiip. iuj
finders were unable to perform the office.
Seeing that he hail only himself to rely
nponrthe parson placed" his knee upon the
breast of his victim, and finally succeeded,
without aid, in securely Dinning uus inw,
after which he la-hed him to a heavy piece
of furniture, and mounted guard over him
till morning. In the course of the strug
gle, Mr. McLeod sustained quite a severe
injury to oue of bis hands, a bone having
been fractured. The burglar was lodged ui
WellandjaiL"
