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i- fr& ii "J|^^H& t* y* The Beautiful Story on Whloh the Well Known Sony was Founded. Few are prob tbly the persons who have not one time or other heard the Sunday scnool song "A Light in the Window." Unless I am mistaken, says a writer in the Louisville Times, it is founded upon a stoi*y told upon the little island of Sylt, but which might easily have its exact counter part on almost any seashore wheie a mother's heart beats with yearning love for her sailor son and keeps its fond promise from night to night. W Among the simple fisher folk on the Island lived a woman and her son. He was her only son, the pride of her heart as well as the source of oonstant dread, for the boy loved the sea as his father before had loved it, and nothing gave him so much pleasure as to watoh the incoming tide tumble its curling waves over the sands. No sooner was he strong enough to wield an oar and steer a boat than he joined the men in their fishing expeditions. The mother, with all her fears, and the fate of a long line of sailors in her mind, yet would not have had it other wise, for it would have been deemed dishonor among the hardy coasters to have kept the boy at home or sent hvm safely at work for some farmer. The fishermen taught him the tricks of his craft until he know how to sail a bo it, splice a rope, or do many little things which a sailor must know. He was a great favorite among the long shore folk and with the sailors, and when at last his thirteenth year came around and he obtained the consent of his mother to go to sea, he easily found a good ship and captain. Then there was parting, and tears shed by the mother, while he looked forward into the great, wide world with all the joyous eagerness of a boy. But with her last blessing the widowed mother promised that every night a light ,should burn in the seaward window of her cottage to light him homeward and to show him that she still lived, awaiting his return. The ship sailed. Six months passed and sailors dropped into the village and told how she had been spoken and all was well, and the neighbors came to the cottage and told the pleasant news to the waiting mother, who nightly trimmed the candle, lit it, and set it in the window to make a bright path up the sands. Again six months elapsed, and other sailors arrived from far-off lands, but they hdd no news to tell of the ship. A great storm had happened and she was overdue. She might yet make port, butand the people shook their heads and carried no tales to the widow, whose candle burned brightly every night and cast long streamers of light out upon the sea. Another year passed, but the sailors going or coming brought no news of the ship, and the neigh bors whispered apart and shook tbeir heads whenever any spoke of the widow's -son, but no one was cruel enough to cut the slender threads which held liie anchor of her hope. And thus the light continued to glow out toward the sea at every gloaming, and burned steadily througn every night. Years came and went The children who had played with the sailor lad had grown to be men and women, her own head had been silvered with age, her form was bowed, yet no one dared to cut the cables of her hope. Tender words cheered her and tender hands smoothed the way for her as she patiently waited for the home-coming of her fair-haired boy, and every night the glow of her candle streamed out to rseawatd and told the story of the lov ing heart waiting at home. How many years did she watch and wait? I do not know. But one day at eventide, there was no gleaming patch of lignt across the sands. The window remained dark, and the accustomed beacon .failed the fisher folk, and when they wondered and went to the cottage ithey found that the mother^ soul had igoneout to seek the son. "It's the Elephants One .day, about seventy years ago, wiben a menagerie was almost a 'thing unknown, and a solitary wild beast was 't now and then carried about the country for -eLKhihition, a certain New England village wa3 thrown into great eammo- _. lion by the news that an elephant was to be .exhibited in a neighboring town. j The village that is the scene of my story was not large enough to itaduee *fhis exhibitors jto make any stay then&, but his ssoad lay through it. jf Now, an elephant icould not be ^packed ava. or in any manner be kept out of sight. His jourjaey must be fl made in lull view, and everybody could get a look at him, and everybody was ftf excite accordingly. Day after day parsedno eleph'ant. fThe exhibition had been advertised for a Monday, and Saturday night had Income, with no tidings of the famous traveler. Sunday .morning! the "sound of the church-going belt" sum moned the people. Parson Adams had 5beguR "the long prayer*' and the con gregatien stood, devoutly attentive, to all appearances. But thre was at least one exception, t'op Dr. Dobson's pew, near an open window, commanded a view of the highway, audi Dr. Dobson's eyes, wide open, were fisod upon the prospect. A cloud of Ami arosethen slowly above the hill opposite the window the head of the huge bflflstcame into sight, ,yhe eager doctor forget the time and place, and shouting, "The elephant's coming! There he is!" he was out of the window like a dart. Off rushed the congregation, and whether Parson Adams finished his prayer, tradition has never told. Wide-Awake. jMWi BLADDER FISHING. How to Reach the Fooket. In the course of a sermon on charac ter, which Rev. Dr. Phelps, of Buffalo, N. Y., preached lately, he said that he once visited a certain farming commu nity to solicit funds for a needy educa tional institution. He was accom panied in his calls by a shrewd' old farmer who knew all the people in the settlement, and was a keen student of human nature. As they approached the first house the farmer said: "If you want to get any money out of this man you must appeal to him on the highest motives that's the only way to reach him." Coming to the next house, said: "Here's a man whose pride must be touched. If you hope to get a sub scription from him tell him what his neighbors are giving." As they near ed the next farm he said: "If you want to get any money out of this man you must talk to him in his barn." "In his barn?" cried the amazed domi nie "why in his barn?" "You must get him out of the way of his wife," answered the farmer. "She has such dominion over him that he does not dare say his soul is his own. So get him in the barn, dear brother, get him in the ibarn."Exchange. The Stepmother. First she came to our house, Tommy run an' hid, An' Emily an' Bob en' me We odea jus' like we did When mother died and we all said 'At we all wished 'at we was dead! An' nurse she couldn't stop us, An' pa he tried an' tried: We sobbed an' shook, and wouldn't look, Bntonlv cried an' oned. An' nen some one~we coaldn't jus' Guess whowas yin' same as us! Qur stepmotherl Yes, it was her, Her arms around us all iFor Tom slid down the banister An' peeked in from the hall! An' we all love her, too, because She's purt, nigh good as mother was! Be Careful in Speech. Carefulness and exactitude in speech are sometimes characterized as af fectation and mere pedantry, but, say what some people maty, it is unques tionably the unfailing mark of culture. No one thoroughly and lovingly acquainted with the literature of his language can regard propriety in its use with contempt The purity and harmony aad rytkm of his native tongue are as precious to him as the perfect rendering and interpretation of music are to the musician, and to the preservation of the English lan guage ia its integrity it should be the duty and the pleasure of every in dividual lover of it to Gontribtite. New York Ledger. .^.JtififfiB Ji^The Very Best Policy. "Remember always,1* said the dying man to his only heir, "that honesty is the best policy." "Always, excepting the insuranoe policy," murmured the grief-strickeh Light. tn4 Novel Sport on a Famous Pond Pike County, Pennsylvania. They have a novel and amusinar way of fishing for pickerel ou this pond, high among the Pike oounty hills, during the summer season, says a Brink Pond (Pa.) letter to the New York Sun. It is known as "bladder fishiog." A number of dried pi s1 bladders, blown up as large as they can be blown, long lines, and live bait are used. The line is tied seourely to the closed neok of the bladder, the hook is carefully baited with a lively minnow, and the bladder is thrown into the water. A dozen .or more of these novel fishing traps are put out. The fishermen drifts about in his boat, "watching the bladders as they are floated about by the wind. They will not have been long on the water be fore one will be seen to suddenly dis appear. It will soon appear aain on the surface as suddenly as it went down. Then if it goes down again, the fisherman knows that the chances are that a pickerel is on the hook. This particular bladder may be a long dis tance away, and while the boat is be ing rowed toward it here and there and on every side bladders may be seen disappearing and bobbing up again, until the fisherman is at a loss to know which one to go to first. Sometimes a piokerel will hook him self and start rapidly across the pond, his course marked by the bladder, which he cannot keep long beneath the water, no matter how large he may be. Then the fisherman may have a long and exciting chase, for the heavy, flat-bottomed boats which they persist in using on this pond cannot be handled with much dexterity. If the pickerel is a large one he will at intervals draw the bladder below the surface and keep it out of sight a min ute or so, thus forcing his pursuer to await its reappearance before the chase can be resumed. During the time the bladder is under water the pickere1 may change his course, and when he makes his presence known again be far away in another part of the pond. The sport is very exciting when several of the bladders are sailing away over the pond at once, with as many boats in chase. DEAKI N ^"*Jgg* Old Doakin Brown lives out urn town About four mile or so, An' drives a npunjdn' team o' bays Wen he goeet to an* fro, An' alius w'en he overhauls Some feller walkin' on the ground, He stops his team an' cramps around, An' calls: "Hullo, gfilG it in an' hev a hitl'^f You'll Bee 'ira sit an' chaw an' spit And saw ttpon the lines, His lolly face os red with pride It reg lar glows and shines Them hosseB step so gay an' high, An' tear along at sech a gait. You'd scuvely think their owner'd wait An' cry: i "Hullo, eGit in an' hev a lift!" T' see ol' Brown a saggra' down On one e'end o' the Beat, An* leaning wdewoys now ag'in To watch 'em pick their feet, You'd think* "Here comes a rooral swell," But my! How quick your mind 'ud flop Wen deakin'd make them hosses stop An' yell *&$$*>' "Hullo." My friend was a mining engineer, and had been in the employ of the Siamese government. Only a few weeks before he had landed in his native country, and at this, our first meeting, a jest of mine, to the effect that it was getting to be time for, us to show gray hairs, called forth the above remarks, and being myself fond of adventure, insisted upon his explaining himself at length. "Well," he began, "It was up the Kao Donreh mountains, a few miles to the north of Kabine, a city of Central Siam, that the adventures I ave alluded to occurred. "I was there in May, 1886, com. missioned by his royal highness, Prince Ang Nor, the Siamese minis ter of the interior, to look into the practicability 'of opening up an old gold mine belonging to the govern, ment. "This mine had quite a history of its own. It had formerly belonged to a Siamese nobleman, who had de veloped it to some extent, and was evidently making it pay no small revenue, when he was suddenly ac cused of plotting against the reign ing monarch. "No evidence seemed sufficient to convince the government officials of his innocence, and he was beheaded, his family disgraced and his property confiscated. "The government then attempted to work the mine, and for a time quite extensive operations were car ried on there. A second mine was opened a few miles from the first, a railroad was constructed between the two. and two engines and several truck cars of American manufacture were actually placed in operation up on the road. "Then the mines were suddenly abandoned, whether through the ex haustion of ore, the inefficiency of the officials in charge, or lor some other cause, I found it difficult to learn. "My commission at this time was simply to visit the mines, make a thorough examination and report to the interior whether, in my judge ment, it would pay to reopen them. I left Bangkok, therefore, with only two attendants, my Chinese cook, Heng, and a Siamese interpreter, Ah timili. "My route was by a small stenmer down the Menam river to the Gulf of Siam. thence along the coast to the mouth of the Bang a Kong river, and up this thirty-jBve miles to the As the steamer ascended the river no further I called upon the governor of the province, showed him my royal passport and requested of him trans portation to the next upper prov ince. "He promptly granted my request and had ready for the next morning ihis.own official barge and at an ear ly hour we started up the river. $88* "We traveled continuously for two days and two nights, through a mostly open and thickly-settled-coun try, to Pactum, the capital of the province by the same name. "Here my journey by water ef&led, but the governor of Pachim furnished me and my attendants with two buf falo cartslarge, rudely-built vehi cles, without springs, but having coarse tops to protect their oc cupants irom the hot rays of the sunin which we were jolted across the district over which he ruled to a large village at the fron tier of tho next province, called Chun du Cram. i"|5*S?!^w^ ^M"- .X^* *W i? t:iv^ 3' |\!S Climb in an' hev a liltl" '****$? They's folks who ride in all their pride In Fortune's lig on hJe's highway Us folks who truds along a-loot *J* Ken see 'em drive past every day. They hain't like Deakin Brown et all It ^kfs no odds how*tircd ye git Ye'll never *w them wait a bit, An' call* '"Hullo, & Climb ani hev a lift!" 'George Horton in Chicago Herald. "'if-i STKUGGLE WITH A PYTHON. Bev. William Chipman in Golden Days I am not gray headed I ought to be," said my old col lege friend, as we sat at the table after dinner and .discussed our coffee, "for I've been in enough tight places in the last seven years to make a man not only gray-headed but bald-headed. I was in one a few years ago that scared me more than I was ever scared before, or ever want to be scared again." "I had been so thoroughly fatigued y the jolting cart, I was now glad to change it for an elephant, a meth od of riding with which I was already familiar, and my journey for the few remaining miles through a densejun gle was comparatively cool and re freshing. "Leaving the village where I had passed the night at early dawn, I reached before noon the city ojLKn bune. "As soon as dinner was dispatched I gent word to the governor of the city, requesting an immediate inter view with him. This was granted me, and I delivered to him ray official papeYs, announcing my object in vis iting his province, and requested him to supply me with a sufficient force of men for the carrying out of my purpose.^] st "He assured me he would give me all needed assistance, and, two days after, lurnished me with twenty men and seven elephants, and I started for the mines. "As I left the- 'city the "governor accompanied me to the gate, and in parting with me there expressed a desire that I might be successlul in my undertaking, but intimated that it was a hazardous one. "Somewhat surprised at his words, I asked, throngh my interpreter: 'Is it, then, a locality, peculiarly beset with danger?" 'Ah!' he replied gravely, 'whocan tell what the dangers may be when the very gods are against you? Their curse has hung over the mines since the cruel death of their first owner, and you run a very great risk in your undertaking. Nothing but your royal commission can save you from harm,' "I turned away from him with a light laugh, 4ind mounting my ele phant, gave the order for the train to move on, for I knew well the native's dread of the jungle, his aversion to any encounter with the wild inhabit ants of the forest, and also his be lief that a royal commission would preserve the bearer from all danger until his mission had been accom plished. 'Our route for a few miles was across a level country, dotted with villages. After a time, however, the villages grew less frequent, and we soon entered an immense jungle, through which there was only an ele phant trail, and from which the great trees, with their thick foliage, com pletely shut out the sun. "There were three or four hours of this travel, and then we began to wind around a mountain slope and ascended into a rugged and narrow pass. About noon we halted, and my attendants announced that we were at the site of the first mine. "Anxious to make as rapid an in vestigation of the locality as possi ble. I called one of the men to ac company me, and while the others arranged the camp and got dinner I walked on toward the place where an upheaval of the soil told me the open ing of the mine was. "I soon came upon the disued rail road tracks, now largely overgrown with rank vegetation, and saw, ly ing down the steep embankment, the two engines formerly in service upon thp road, broken by their fall and rusty from their long exposure to the weather. "Leaving the track, I slowly pushed my way through the thick under growth to the pile of rocks and earth that had been cast up from tfhe mine. "Under my directions my attendant tore away the weeds and shrubs that had grown over the pile sufficiently to allow me to make a brief examin ation of the sub-soil, in* which I had no difficulty in discovering traces of the precious metal. "Leaving the mound after a time, I went on to the place of excavation, and found it a eompantively small ODening, that went on a sharp de cline into the side of the hill. To my astonisemhnt, moreover, there was what peemed to be a hard, well-beat en track leading directly into the mine, and, as I could discover no evi dence that it had been made by wild beasts, I jumped to the conclusion that some of the natives were secret ly working the vein to their own profit. "I was all the more convinced of this by finding a small nugrget of gold lying quite loose just within the opening, and somewhat excited by my discovery, I determined to exam ine the mine more closely before re turning to the ca mp. "I therefore directed my attendant to form a rude torch of some resin ous wood that lay on the elope of the i hill a few rods beyond us, and having lighted this, we started down the passage. "It soon became so narrow we had to proceed in single file, and, telling my servant to keep close at my heels I led the way onward. "Perhaps twenty feet had been passed over in this way when we came to'a heap of rubbish that near ly filled the narrow chamber. "I hurriedly clambered over this, and my attendant started to follow me, when the light of his torch, flash ing down from the heap above my head, suddenly revealed to me that the passage-way was alwady occu pied by some living object, and before I had hilly recovered from the alarm into which I had been thrown by the discovery, a huge python raised his head and glided toward me, his tonsue darting rapidly in and out, and his eyes glistening and scintilat jng, like black diamonds, with anger. 5g?"To add to the horror of my situ ation, my companion at once drop ped his touch and fled, leaving me in darkness and ,alon_e with^jny ugjy antagonist. f=A 1SI-1I "As for myself, I did not even have time to turn around, much less to flee out of the entrance, before he was But when his huge, head rose before my face, and he sought to wrap me in his terrible folds, I in stantly did the only thing it seemed possible for me to do under the cir- cumstancesI seized hold of his neck with both hands and tried to fihoke him. it "With a mighty contortion that hurled me against the side of the passage with a force that nearly took my breath, the python now endeavor ed to swing his tail around so as to enfold me in its coils, but, fortunate ly for me, the passage was too nar row to permit this, and I saw, if I could only keep my grasp upon his neck, I might possibly hold him at bay until help arrived from the camp, where I knew my cowardly servant must have gone. So I threw all my strength into the effort, and clutch ed that hideous throat with a grasp of iron, at the same time calling loud ly for help. "Back and forth, to and fro, we swayed therein the darkness, the python seeking to throw off my grasp, and I holding on for dear life. "I freely admit that I was scared. 1 had faced the howling tempest and shot the infuriated tiger gin his lair without a tremor, but I was now pitted against an antagonist from which I should have unhesitatingly have run had I been at liberty to have done so. "I am not sure but I might have been willing to face even this same python under more favorable cir cumstances, but the feeling that I was completely at his disposal, save for what strength lay in ray bare hands, almost unmanned me.' "I had a revolver in my belt, but I dare not loosen my hold upon my huge assailant even for the brief moment necessary to draw it. Had I possessed any other weapon, it would not have altered tho situation, or re lieved the unfortunate dilemma. It was my strength of one of the most powerful of all the denizens of the Siamese jungle, there could be but one issue to this terrible struggleI should be the victim! "Bruised and bleeding as I was from striking repeatedly against the rocky sides of the passage, each new struggle of the python perceptibly weakened me. The end could not be far off. "Already I felt myself gradually loosening my hold upon the neck of my still vigorous enemy. A sicken ing sensation came over me as his next contortion shook me free, and I fell forward in to his huge folds, which wrapped about me with an evertightening force that I knew meant speedy death. "There was a brief minute wherein I seemed to hear a short t, followed by rapid footsteps, and then I faint ed. "When I came to consciousness, I found myself lying on the mountain slope jus"t outside the mine, and a number of my followers standing around me. My Chinese servant, Heng, was pouring a hot liquid down my throat, while two of my Si amese attendants were bruising leaves of some tropical plant and wrapping them about my bruised and smarting limbs. "My chest still felt as'though in a vise, and I breathed with great diffi culty. Under the skillful manipula tion of my men, however, I soon re covered sufficient strength to be car ried on a stretcher to the camp, where I learned the story of my res cue. "When my companion fled to the camp and told me of the desperate encounter I was having with the py thon, the Siamese, on account of their superstitious belief that to any animal is posssibly to rob the departed spirits of their ances tors of their abode, were completely demoralized, and made no effort to come to my help. "Not so, however, with my Chinese boy, Heng. He was at the camp fire preparing dinner when he heard of my danger, and snatching up a blazing stick for a torch with one hand, he drew the knife he carried in his belt with the other, and ran for the mine, calling upon his compan ions to follow him. It was his shouts and footsteps that reached my ears just as I fainted. "As he bravely clambered over the heap of rubbish in his efforts to reach me, the blazing torch he carried attracted the attention of the python, and ho raised his ugly head up to ward the intruder. "This was Heng's opportunity and he dexterously raised the knife with which he was armed, and drove its keen blade into the python's throat. "Then the huge snake quickly un coiled itself from my body, and think ins: only of its own safety, scuttled off out of the passage and into the thickest of the underwood, where it disappeared, evidently writhing in pain. My brave rescuer now sum moud help and carried me out of the mine, and finding there was still life in me, worked zealously over me un til I was restored to consciousness. Even after my removal to camp he hovered about me until assured that I was not seriously hurt, when his joy knew no bounds. "The next morning, Heng, at my request, took a half-dozen of his Siamese companions and followed up the python's trail. "It was not a long one, for a few rods below the old railroad track they came upon him, wrapped about a sapling, which he had torn and lacerated in his dying throes, quite dead. Unbending him from the tree and stretching him out to his full length, they brought me his accurate measure, which I found to be only a trifle under thirty feet. "I UOAV clearly"understood the rea son the mine had been abandoned, though the Siamese officials would never admit it. The python had some night, in the absence of the work- men, taken possession of the pasage^ and the superstitious natives refused to continue their work in a place where the curse of the gods, as they believed, rested. "In a few days I was able to pro ceed with my examination of the mines and the adjacent mountain gorges, and found evidences of gold existing in Ipaying quantities so un-ft raistakahle, that on my return tol Bangkok I had no hesitancy in recommending to the minister of thei interior that work should be begun! there at once and now both mines-i are in full operation. fMlji^^ "Nor was Hong's timely resuefor-rQ gotten. I rewarded the brave fellow* 0M in a way that secured his warmest gratitude and on my return to my own land, I confess I parted with him with profound regret. "It is not at all likely, however,, that I shall very soon forget him, or* my well-nigh fatal struggle with the hig python in the mountains back* of Kabine." Dropped Stitches. It you want to seem tall and com manding carry a white parasol and wear a white hat or white aigrette. The Princess of Wales was offered recently $5,000 by an American magazine for 100 words. Girls in bright red jackets of box cloth are seen in Central Park every afternoon, walking or driving. Gold braid is put on gray dresses and silver on brown. The Grecian border is very beautiful done in rib bon or machine work about the skirt and corsage of a house dress, but to employ either on a street dress is an. offense against good taste. Australia is sending to England a* new contralto, whose voice is said to be of exceptional richness and power. Her name is Helen Rowe, and she has been a great favorite in Melbourne. A black fan of turkey's feathers is considered chic with the most deli cate evening toilet. A fan made of human hair is display ed at a London store Even what appears to be a beautiful Jace fring ing the sticks is real hair. White tcilets will be vogue this summer green is unquestionably la mode brown is the poet's color, and the yellow tints, particularly baize, primrose, apricot and cameo, are on. the top wave of popularity. A MinisterialJoke. Ministers like their little jokes a3 well as any one else. Chaplain Whar ton, of the Grand Army of the Re puplic for the state of Wisconsin, is no exception, and he perpetrated one a while ago which acted as a boome rang it came back and hit him hard. It was at sotoe great G. A. affair, where speeches were being made, and one speaker desired to refer to the incident mentioned in the Bible where some one tied the tails of two hares together. The speaker was at a loss to remember who this person was, and he asked the chaplain. With a face as sober as a judge, that gentle man said it was Goliah Thespeaker went on with his talk and made hi* reference, speaking Goliah's name in all confidence. Some one behind pulled his coat tail and said in a whisper "It was not Goliah it was. Absalom." This rather knocked him, out for a moment, but quickly recov ering he said "Well, there appears to be a little discrepancy about who it was that tied the hares' tails to gether As I was not sure of myself" I went to Chaplain Wharton, thmk kill i ing he should be authority on the matter and he told me it was Goliah." This so completely turned the laugh upon the chaplain that the speaker got back his composure and finished, his remarks in good style.Chicago Herald. With One Arm. "On the whole," said the one armed man, reflectively, "I am glad I lost my arm, even if I don't get a pension for it. I was never in any war in my life. I could have gone, but I did not want to do it. Isn't that good reason enough? "Still, I am not sorry I lost my arm. It saves me cuffs and sleeves and lots of other things you fellows have to buy. Do I miss it? Yes. But not so much as you would think. I have got used to doing without it,, and I am quite happy." I was single when I lost my arm I had just been jilted by a girl. After I got carried: through the mill and maimed I paid court to another girl, and she took me as I was. Since then we have made money, and had eight healthy children." As he spoke he reached to the top* of thedoorand lifted himself up ei,Ut times in succession. Then he held by his little finger for two minutes and a half. There is not one man in 10,- 000 with two hands who can do that Boston Globe. Cost of Railroad Dining. It is said that one of the great trunk line railroads deliberately pro vides for a loss of many thousands of dollars a year upon the meals served in its dining cars, and charges the loss to the advertising account, in full knowledge that the talk such prodigal outlay will create is as good as that amount ot money's worth in printer's ink. A friend told me that, as an illustration of how the loss is occasioned, he had for breakfast in one of those cars, one day in April, a. trout, a game bird and a bowl of strawberries and cream, besides coffee, rolls, butter and a glass of milk. The meal cost a dollar, and his wife told him she could not buy any one of the principal dishes in the markets for that sum of money.Chatter.