Image provided by: Santiam Historical Society; Stayton, OR
About The Stayton mail. (Stayton, Marion County, Or.) 1895-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1906)
Prisoners and Captives By H. S. NERSIMAN C H A P T E R X X V II. Three year* an* an important period, but in tin* middle of existence their weight ii lets perceptible. They s»x*iii«*d to have passed very lightly over the small phase of existence working itself out unheeded by the world in the drawing room where we last saw Agnes Winter, and where we now And her again. The room as unchanged, and the Agnes Winter dwelling therein was the same woman. The same strong, finished grace attended her movements, but her eye» lacked repose. They were the eyes of one who has waited and waited in vain. None need search very far afield to tiud such eyes as now looked up nervously to ward the door at the sound of the large, old-fashioned boll |iealing in the basement. “ Who is that?” said Agnes Winter to herself. “ Who can that be?” She rose and set one or two things in order about the room, and after glancing at the clock, stood motionless with her tired eyes fixed on the door, listening in tently. While she stood there the door was opened, and the maid announced : •‘ .Mr. F.aston.” Matthew Mark Easton came into the room immediately afterward. He shook hands rather awkwardly, as one sees a man go through the ceremony whose fin gers arc injured. “ How do you do. Miss W in ter?" he ■aid. gravely. “W ell.” Rhe said in a sharp, unsteady voice, ignoring his question, “ what news have you?” “ I have no news of the ship. Miss W in ter.” he replied. “ T ell me," she said, “ what you have done." " I have," he said, “ explored every yard o f the coast from the North Cape to the Yana river." “ And why did you atop at the Yana river?” asked the lady, with an air of knowing her ground. “ I will tell you afterward,” he said: “ when Miss Grace is with you— if— if •he d o e s not object to my presence." She drew writing materials toward her and w rote: "M r. Easton is here; come at once." She read it aloud, and. ringing the hell, dispatched the note. “ I presume.” said Easton, slowly, “ that the admiral is still with us?” “ Y e s ; he is alive and well. Helen is— you will find her a little changed.” He raised his eyes to her face. His glanee was as quick as ever, but his ey.-s did not twinkle n o w : they were grave, and the rapidity o f their movement, be ing deprived of brightness, was almost furtive. Then they sat waiting, until thi> silence became oppressive. Suddenly Easton spoke with a return o f the quain'. narrative manner which she remember ed as characteristic. “ One evening." he sail!, “ a« we were steaming down the Baltic last week— a dull warm evening. Tuesday, I guess— I was standing at the stern rail with my arms beneath m.v chin, when something fell upon my sleeve. I looked at it curi ously. for I had not seen such a thing for years. It was a tear— most singular! I feel like crying now. Miss W in te r; I should like to sit down on that low chair in the corner there and— cry. There are some disappmntments that come like the disappointment* o f childhood— when it rained o r one's birthday and put a stop to the picnic.” Miss W inter said nothing. She merely sat in her gracious, attentive attitude a n ! looked at him with sympathetic eyes. " I t shows,” he continued, presently, “ how entirely one may be mistaken in one's own destiny. I never should have considered myself to be the sort of per son into whose life a catastrophe was in tended to break.” She still allowed him to continue, and after a pause he took advantage o f her silence. “ Some men," he went on, "expect to have other lives u|>on their consciem-es— but their own lives are more or less at equal stake, and the risk is allowed for in their salary, or is supposed to be. I have thirty lives set down on the debt side of my account, and some of those lives are chips off my own.” "T h irty ? ” questioned Miss W inter. "Th ere were only eighteen men on board — all told.” “ Y es; but there were others. I shall td l you when Miss Brace comes. It is not a story that one cares to relate more often than necessary.” In a few moments they heard the sound o f the front door bell. Easton rose from his seat. He did not go toward the door, but stood in the middle o f the room, look ing rather breathlessly toward Miss W in ter. She it was who moved to the door, going out to the head o f the stairs to meet Helen. "Dear,” he heard her say. and her voice was smooth and sweet, “Mr. Easton is herp; he has come bsok.” There was no answer, and a moment later Helen Grace atood before him. As he took the hand she stretched out to him with an air almost of bravado, be «aw at onre the difference hinted at by Miss Winter. It lay in the expression of her face, it hovered in her eyes. It is to be seen in most ball rooms, and the faces carrying it are usually beautiful. The striking characteristic of such wom en is their impregnability. “ I am glad. Miss Grace,” Easton said, “ that you have done me the honor of com ing.” And she smiled exactly as he expected -— the hard, inscrutable "society” smile, which never betrays and I* never Infec tious. She did not, however, trust her self so far as to speak. There was si lence for a moment— such s silence and suck a moment as leave their mark upon he entire life. Easton breathed hard, lie had no doubt at that time that he was bringing to each of these women jew s of the man she loved. C H A P T E R X X V III. " It Is a long story,” he said. "W ill you sit down?" Both obeyed him so mechanically and rapidly that he had no time to prepare his words, and he hesitated. " I have to tell you,” he said, “that here is no news of the ship. She sailed from l.ondon three years and seven months ago. She was sighted by the whaler Martin on the third of May. three years ago. in the Greenland Sea, sin-e when there is no word of her. It is the opinion of all the experts wliom 1 have vnsulted that the vessel was crushed by its». Her crew and her officers have per ished." "\o u give us." said Miss Winter, “the >pinion of others. What is your own?" "M ine?" he said, after a pause. "Mine is the same. There is no reason to sup pose— there is no hope whatever.” "B ut I have something else to tell you — something which is not a matter of ■onjeoture. But first I must ask you to — assure me that it goes no further. It must Is* a secret sacred to ourselves, for it is the secret of two men who— well, who know more than we do now.” "O f course." said Miss Winter. “O f course,” echoed Helen. He went on at once, as If anxious to show his perfect reliance in their discre tion. "A re you going to slay in England?“ she asked. “ N o ;" ami he offered her his hand; " l am going back to America for some years, at all events." "W hen you come hack to England.” she •aid, in rather a faint voice, "w ill you come an<l see me?" "D o you mean that, Miss Winter?” "Y es." His quick, dancing glance was Mining over her whole person. " I f I come," he said, with a sudden relapse into Americanism, " l surmise it will he to tell you something els«* -a*»me- thing I thought I never should tell you.” She stiKid quite still, a dignified, self- possessed woman, but never raised her eyes. "lb * you »till mean It?" She gave a little nod. The door handle ruttled in his grasp, as if hit hand were unsteady. “ I thought,” he said slowly, "that it was Oswin Grace.” "N o ." "Never?” he inquired, sharply. "Never." "'Then I stay." Aud he closed the door again. ( The end.) T R A V E L S 23 Y E A R S . M s rrls u e l*r<«|»»»al W en t A stray In In l.rlls r IS S 2 . th at The rapidity with which until Is de- llvered In tin*Unit«*dStaton cuuaed much comment at the isistnl conferences held abroad lust year, but the rts-ord non delivery of a letter came to the atten tion i>f tin* |Mistnl ntllcluls some week* ago when a letter w as nxvlved In the «lead lett«*r «»tfice after having traveled for twenty-three years. it w as mall«*«! In New Orleans Mny 11, 1882, ami w as received at Vera t ’ru* the following day. From then un til July 10, IlMgl, when the letter waa brought to light In the Mexican |s>st- "This expedition,” he said, "w as not oltiic. nothing was heard from either dispatched to discover the northeast pas sage. It had quite another purpose. the w riter or the peraon to whom the There is a political side to the question. letter w as directed, and, thinking of At present the history of this generation nothing lM*tter to do, the Mexicans sent is not yet dry— it is like a freshly written the letter to Washington, where It was page, and one cannot yet determine what opened. will stand out upon it when all the writ The ill fate o f the letter must have ing is equally developed. But there is a lxx*ii a cans«* of dlsap|iuiutiueut to the huge blot, which will come out very black sender, for tin* purimrt of tills missive ly in the hereafter. When this century is history, all the world will wonder why w as a proposal of m arriage, couched in Eurojie was so blind to the internal con the tenderest and most endearing dition of its greatest. I mean Husain. I terms and asking for u speedy re- have given more than half m.v life to K[smse. this question, ami Tyars— he knew a lot It Is not unusual for the clerks in about it. Together we worked out a tlie* o|M*iilug division to come u|sm <>50 scheme for aiding the es -a|»e of a num and $ P ni hills with no other clew .or ber of the most gifted nihilists men and their return to the sender than “ From women— who had been exil.sl to Siberia, your darling Jack” or jierhnps “ Your who were dragging out a miserable felon's In an Instance like existence at the mim*s for no other crime devoted hubby." than the love of their own country. Our this an <*tfort Is made to locate the intention was not political: it was hu sender through the ¡■ostotHce where the mane. Tyars and I clublesl together and letter was mulled, hut If no name can supplied the funds. I w*as debarred from 1«* obtained, after exhausting all |s>ssl- going— forbidden by the ihx-tors— please Ide sources of Information, the money never forget that. But Tyars was the Is turned over to the United States !x*st man for the pnrjK>.se to be found treasury and a complete history Is kept anywhere, and his subordinate officer. Os- win Grace, was even better than Tyars :n of the conditions surrounding the re his position. A rendezvous was fixed i* ceipt of the l«*tter. Last year the total amount of cash the mouth of the Yana river, and a dare was named. Three Ilussians were dis turned Into the treasury from the <>|x*n- patched from London to aid in the es ing division was $5!),101.16 ami the cape. They did their share. The party amount o f checks, drafts and money arrived at the spot fixed, but the ship— orders taken in w as $l,do:t, 187.16. The the Argo— never reached them. I have greater part o f this w as returned to been there. 1 have seen the dead bodies of nine men— one of whom, Sergius Pav- tile senders. If this amount wliotild l>e loski, I knew— lying there. They seemed confiscated by the l ’ostotllce Depart to he waiting for the great Assize, when ment, the dead letter office could lie judgment shall be given.” operated for five yara on oue year's He stopped somewhat suddenly, with receipts. a jerk, as a man stops in the narration of something which has left an inefface « • l i n e » « - W n s Kitrn is. able pain in his life. After a little pause W hite Chinese w ax affords an In- he returned to the table and slowly folded coine to hundreds of farmers In the thp rugged maps. The manner in which Cliien Chang valley, where the Insects he did so betrayed an intimate knowledge of each frayed corner; hut the movements flourish which coat their eggs und co of his fingers were stiff and awkward. coons with the pure white wax. They fetal U[>on the leaves of a plant Helen was watching him. ■ "And you,” she inquired gently; "you which grows only in that valley, but have endured great hardships?” If left to remain in their birthplace «lie He folded the maps and placed them before It is time to deptaht their eggs. in the breast pocket of his coat. F or that reason a w ax farm consists "Yes,” he answered, without meeting of plots of ground some distance apart, her eyes, “ I have had a had time of it.” They waited, hut he said nothing more. the lustx'ts being transported from tho That was the history of the last two valley to the outside farm s by |M»rtcrs, years. Presently Helen Grace rose to go. who carry thousands at one time upon She appeared singularly careless of de their hacks. tails. I’art of the news she had learned The industry Is almost as profitable was old, the remainder was too fresh to as the raising of the silk worm and comment upon. She kissed Miss Winter, requires even more care, hut the pains shook hands with Matthew Mark Easton, taking farm er looks as carefully after and quickly left the room. "I always felt.” said Miss Winter mus his minute charges as the American ingly, "that something was being conceal farm er does after Ills cattle. ed from us.” "A t one time I thought you knew all about it. You once warned ut against the Itussian minister.” She thought for some moments, recall ing the Incident. "Yes,” she said at length, “ I remember. It was the merest accident. I suspected nothing.” “Concealment,” pleaded the American, was absolutely necessary. It made no difference to the expedition, neither add ed to the danger nor detracted from it. But I did not want Miss Grace and your self to think that these two men had thrown away their lives in attempting such a futile achievement as the northeast passage. They were better men than that.” She smiled a little wearily. "N o one will ever suspect,” she said; “for even now that you have told me the story I can scarcely realize that it is true. It sounds like some tale of by gone days; and yet we have a living proof that it is all true that it has all happened.” “ Helen Grace------ ” he suggested. "O f course you knew. And did you know aliout him?” He did not reply at once, but glanced at her keenly. " I knew that he loved her,” was the an« we*. H u tton * 11«- h I m l . “ Yes,” admitted the Human Snake, as she put on her company gown after the performance, “ 1 do have some ad vantages over my nonprofessional sis ters.” Thereupon she bent double, tle<l her self Into a knot and buttoned her bod ice with easy grace.— Philadelphia Ledger. An T. 0. Bartletf, of Socorro Oonnty, N. M.. recenti/ solil 12.000 potimi* of •colim i wool, thè lust your's clip o f hi* mvn fiiM-ks. He clalms to bava mudo $1,200 off III* wool. , To ciuuhat thè frittiti of selllng *lu*«p- •klu for reni khl a deiuonatrutlon waa m v u tly inailo tu Wllmlngtnii, Del., wltli a view to e<luciillng purchuser* to btty nothlng hut thè n*nl artici«*. Iis iiru tls s M ir S tork. The la*st families of horatM, whether thorutighbretl runners or trotters, were produits! from a few selected ■ui'Mtora, litbrcixllng being largely practiced. Breeding close to til«* Messenger blond. (Inoligli llauihleliMilan. lias certainly Incivus,si the s|x*»l of our trottera, ami, admitting that the Instinct of trotting has I mvii more firmly lmpr«*sm>d, yet there Is a much larger proportion of failures, compunsi with the siuxvaM a t tained. If the fact Is considerisi that tin* number of the whole Is many times greater than that of half a ivntuuy ago The form of the trotter, ns well as that of the thormighhrixl, shows plainly the work of lnhro«*dlng, for while the spirit and will force have lx*on increased. It lias required an oc casional Infusion of new blood (not, however, altogether foreign) to retain the ntamlmi so esseutlal to roadsters. The thoroughbred runner of to-day Is largely ludebted to Dlomed. Sir Archy, Glencoe and Lexington for Improve ment In endurance and *| The mutton breed* o f sheep are now apuble of producing specimen* exceed l u g -U ni |xmnd* live weight, with ulso an Increase In length of wool and weight o f fioece, while the lx»*t meri nos can shear over thirty pounds. Every dix'itdc has witnessed the breaking of *'reconls" among all class«*» of animals, which Is the tx»»t evidence that Improvement Is rapid, much of the suives# lielng due to Inbreeding, a system that Is unsafe unless practiced by one who fully understands the se lection of the choicest Individuals, their adaptation to clrcunistamvs and thu oli Jects sought to he accomplished. Ila n ilr «s ii Ilo «. This handy salt Ixix can Is» put up against tin* shed, and rattle can get salt at wilt. The salt will I m * out o ' the weather, and there « III be no tr.m- b’.e of salting the cattle every few days, rile ls*X should Is* made 1*4 Inch *s wide. .1 Inches long. I’J Inches deep In front and 16 luche* In the Imck, so that the lid will have enough fall to shut itself when released. The lid should extend four Inches over the Isix for a cow to get hold O i l . A notch should lie cut four Inches deep In front of the ts»x ( a ) , so that when a cow smells the box she will smell salt and <*tlrk her tongue in the notch ( a l ami lick It. By A* a ride It m ptlres quii«* a change of thè program to Indtuv a man to leava thè rorufield to engagé Iti otlier piir««ii11 h wlii*n there ara so muuy w «**D thut n«**l kllllng, hut It I* all rlght to stop to I imu I o ff a lot of Imgs thut bave toeen fi ni shed for thè market when prie«*» are rlght. \ NtilPklnff CONVENIENT ST AC KINO DEVICE. over ns shown In the dott«*d lines so tlx* fork hangs over the stack when the strip Is thrown and the load dia- churgtal ou the alack. In s erts Million«« of Kruirn 4 n rrnaar*. According to Sir E. Montague Nelson, says the E nglm vr of l.ondon, there are sixty large meat freezing establish nti-nts In the colonies and A rgentina; the carrying trade Is represent«*! by 17-1 refrlg«*rated steamers, with a cu parity «*)il«-iilat*sl nt no less than 10,- M10,000 carcnsw**; and In England there art* I!8 r«*frlgeratisl store* In London and lot) In provincial towns for tin* storage of meat on arrival. These dis tribute «lally on the average over 26,- 000 sh«*«*p and lambs und 4,000 quarters lx*«*f. Th«; total Importation of fr«i7.«*n meats Into Great Britain during consist«*! <jf 8,277,751 carcasses mutton slid lamb and 1,271,353 quarters h«*ef. Ilrlrf l-'iirin T o p ic s, The farm er who broke his hoe hnn die l«*uning on It was leaning oil the wrong thing. Ono way to tell a goml row I* to watch those that the dairyman does not want to sell. A cow which will not make more than 125 pounds o f butter In a year has no place In a dairy herd k«*pt on K o s lc r Job. She belongs to the range police had handed In his $50 land. herd, where It may puy to let her ral«*c said to the m ayor; “you a calf. T w o very good w ays to market farm the lid on the town and Anyhow, I've an easier crops may lie found In the pig skin und In the milk cun. The chief of resignation. “ No use.” lie told me to put I can’t do It Job In sight.” "W h a t ’s that?” It Is n«>t so much the number of "Putting a lid on Vesuvius.”— Phila stalks to the hill as It Is the number of ears of corn one Is able to gather delphia Ledger. In the fall. T w o go«xl sized ears to Sl ot I m p r o b a b l e . each hill means sixty bushels of corn “W h at do you think o f Belmont's pay per acre. Do you exp«**t It? ing $125,000 for a horse?" A 'i authority on such matters «jlalms The one addressed pondered for a that one-fourth o f the hay crop comes moment from wild grass. It Is n notable fact “ I think,” he rpplled, “there Is a that «»f the wild grasses used for hay strong probability that Belmont wanted In the Unlte<l States not one variety the horse.”— Philadelphia Ledger. baa boen brought Into cultivation. wn firn ss. Numerous Itxjulrl«** have come Into tile olttco of the Blusli* Islam! Kxperl- uieiit Station regarding the cause o f the frothy musses, on grass and other herbaceous plants und on shrub* hih I trees. Popularly this has ls»*u »»c rlb - <*d to frogs and snakes mid uumi»! ei ther frog or snake spittle, as the on»*» might he. In fact. It is due to a small Insect hflonglng to the H«*mlptera or true hugs, which live Inside the frothy muss. Commonly th«*se lii»c<-ta are call ed spittle Insects for obvious rim sons, and also frog lin|«p«*rs. btx*aue o f th«*lr comuH-tlon with Hi«* frothy mass which w as formerly known as frog spittle, or tss'iiiiSM In their broad, s«|uatty ap- |H*urim»* when mature, they r«*s«'lublo frogs to some extent. It Is not known exactly how the frothy mass Is pro- >lu<'«»l, hut it Is sii|qHiM»l ttut the In- sei-t pum|M the sap out of tin* plants, and hi passing It through tin* alim en tary canal mix«** air with It to form small air hulihl«**. Thera are «pilt«* a number <>f »[»*•!«•» found at the pre»«*nt tin»*. Home living on grass, other* <•■> »lim bs, and also on tree*, Isitti ever green and ihx'lduou*. Most of tin* -qs*- «•!«** have their «*arly or nymph stage entirely within the prot«*-tlon of tho frothy mass. \Yh<*u adult, however, ttn*y are found outside In the iqien air. riK pushing a little harder tho lid will raise up and sin* can get enough salt, and the box w ill close.— Farm Prog res*. rr»n*f»roe»»l. The two po|«> stucklng arrangement bere show ii cuti he readlly «*»nstructi*l. The poh** are h*iinlng agaln*t III«* two timi guy wlr«*s so thè fork bang* <11- reetly over thè lumi. As thè hors* polis oli thè rope wltli pulley »tinche.I a short distaiti** from thè ground thè loa<l of bay oli thè fork ls draw u tip to tho pulley Hiid tln* pulllng druws thè |sil«*a d n trn M« - i * l . Gluten f«*i*d Is very valuable In the d a iry ; rich In protein ami something of which tin* stiM-k are very fond. It can Is* profitably us«*d If hau<ll«*l rightly; on th>> other hand there Is opportunity to f«*cd It extravagantly as well a* to f«**«l so much of It that tin* cow* will he Injur«*!. It Hliould I m * invaria bly fed with aouie other grain, ami If other concentrati*! foods art* used It Is better not to feed the gluten «hilly. If. however, brail Is us«*l to a consid er a hie extent the gluti‘ii f«*«*«l may I«» salcl.v mad«* a part of the dally ration. W hile glut«*n meal Is frispieutly f«*l with ground corn and <*>h meal, and f«*l Inexpensively In lids way, we pre fer to use It with corum«*al and bran, a limit thr«** pounds of glut«*n meal to two jfounds each of tin* bran and corn- nieul, giving, of course, a lllieral quan tity of rotighng«*. As gluten priHltiee* <‘oiisi(l«*rahle body heat, ami more wh«>n fed in «'«injunction with i*oriiu*anl, It is i*.*sentln!ly a valuable winter f«*ed, hut Is lx.*st cut out of the summer ra tion. ll»K n * 4 lo ve r Mee d. Tho clover m « mm | tumlncHK 1« being closely watchixl by agents of the De partment of Agriculture. O f 521 sam ples o f r«*d clover obtained In the o|x*n market 116 samples were found to con tain seed of the dodder, five sample* were adulterated with stxxl of yellow trlfoll, a worthless plant, o f which the seed resemble* the clover. In fact, • 'little have lxs>n made slek by eating clover mixed with the trlfoll plant, will!.* the dodder plant I* a still more serious |x*st. I'o rflu i* nml M oilin g C rop «. O f the crops grown during the »hree year* at the Pennsylvania Station sor ghum and eowpen* prix I need the larg est yield of green substance ¡«er acre and a lfa lfa the greatest weight <*f air- dry substance. Both «Tops ar«i consid ered very satisfactory ns green forage. Corn grown as n single er«>p ranked second In the production of nlr-dry matter. Field |x»aa and oats are also ronshlenxl very satisfactory field crop*. Flat p«*ns nnd rajs* are not r«*«x»tnmend ed. Cowpeas are considered preferable to soy beaus.