36T
THE SUNDAY OREGOyiAN, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 25, 190&
Obadiah Oldway on Art cf Hoppicking
OUR HOAXVILLE CONTRIBUTOR DISCLOSES THE SECRET
OF MAKING BIG WAGES AT LIGHT WORK
HOAXVILLE, Or., Sept 20. (Mr. Edi
tor.) I'm all alone this afternoon,
and peace reigns supreme, as Shake
speare says. I'm a-feelln' pretty well con
siderln' the circumstances, but at the
same time I don't know what this world
Is a-comin to. Things keeps a-gettln
worse and worse as time goes on. "Women
ain't got no sense of duty any more, but
I've made up my mind It ain't no use to
say nothln', and my days Is glidln' swift
ly by to the time when Hanner will be a
lone wldder and a sorrowin with a great
and mighty remorse for the way she's
done gone and left me for the flcetln
things of this world.
A week or two ago she come to me and
says, says she: "Obadiah, bein as' Becky
Ann's pa has got her the planner, it
stands us In hand to give her some les
sons so's she can play for company and
sich."
"Hanner," says I, "you know as well
as I know that wc ain't got the means
to throw away on planner lessons. Taxes
is high and crops is poor, and we're goln'
down hill like sixty. I don't believe in
no such hifalutln things as planners no
how, and Becky Ann's pa Is doln' a wrong
thing encouragin' of it."
"Well." says she, "Becky Ann says she
wants to go hoppickin' to earn money for
her music lessons, but I don't like the
Idea of her agoin' without some of the
Test of us, and I told her so."
"Now see here. Hanner," says I, "you
ought to be glad If the girl has took a
notion to earn something for .herself. I
think it would be a good thing if her and
Sammy both would go and make a little,
even If it wasn't but a few cents; it
would be quite a help in buyin' clothes
and sich."
"Obadiah Oldway," says she, "be you
plumb crazy that you'd send them two
youngones down there alone to the hop
yard? If they're a-goin', I'm goln' too,
mark that."
"What do you say, Hanner," says I,
"to us all a-goin'? Til bet I can pick
hops along with anybody, and 50 cents
Is a big thing when it comes to you every
little while durin the day."
Well. Mr. Editor, she didn't much think
we could make anything, but the chil
dren, they put in and begged so hard
that we finally up and went. "We took
our camp outfit and our team and went
down-country somewheres nigh Indepen
dence, where there's more hopyards than
you can shake a stick at, as the poet
says.
I never see such a lot of dust in all my j
born days as we got into down there.
"We had to camp right by the side of some
more folks as was forever a-movin' ;
around and stlrrln of the dust whenever
it did take a notion to settle. It got be
tween my teeth, and I could hear It
grit whenever I chawed, but that wasn't
all 1 had to contend with.
The morning after we got there, I had
to get up to start a fire outdoors in one
of them air consarned sheet Iron camp
stoves as you have to turn bottom side
"upwards to get the ashes out. and it was
so derned foggy it chilled a feller to the j
bone, and to cap It all, I couldn't find
the matches. After I'd nigh about wore i
myself out, Hanner she got up and j
bustled around and found them, and got ;
breakfast and made such a commotion
that I lost my appetite before I'd et half
enough, and then we went off to the
pickln'.
The folks had kinder poked fun at me
about my pickln', and so .1 wouldn't pick
Into the same box with the rest
"No, sir." says I, "you'll be claimln
that you done all the work and I'm just
a-goin to pick by myself to show ye that
1 ain't no small nubbins if I am gettin'
along in years."
Hanner and the children had went and
spent a lot of money to get '-em some
leather gloves and rubber nipples to put
on their hands, but I reckoned my hands
was tough enough to stand off the hops.
Well. Mr. Editor, I began to pick on
the row that the yard boss set me at, and
I declare my hands was so mimb I could
hardly move 'em, still I got along mld
dlin' well in spite of havin' to stop every
little bit to blow my nose It beats all
natur how chilly it gets down on the
river. As I was a-sayin', I got along
middling well, and was a-pilln' the hops
into my barrel pretty lively till the sun
come out, then it just seemed as if I
couldn't make no show at all. I must
have got kinder confused or something,
or else the yard boss had give me the
tangledest row in the whole field, for it
wasn't long till everybody else was way
yonder ahead of me. Every little while
some bloomin' fool would sing out "box
ful" and "check," and by 10 o'clock they
was a-whoopln' and a-yellln' all over
everywheres.
I picked arid picked, but it just seemed
as if there wasn't no bottom to that old
barrel. Jt would get just so full and no
fuller. .
"When noon cone, Hanner, she comes
-along and says: "Why, Obadiah, ain't
you got a boxful yet? We've got five
checks already."
"No," says I, "I ain't got a sight of a
check yet, and I ain't likely to have as
long as I'm shoved off here to myself,
with this old barrel like the bottomless
pit, and the poorest row in the yard to
pick on."
At that she dived her arm . down into
my barrel and begun to stir up the hops.
"Quit that," says I; "my back's tired
enough now without stoopln' down to
pick up what you're a-spHin' over."
"Obadiah," says she, "you want to stir
'em up, that's the way the rest ot the
pickers do. Make "em" out as big as you
can. The sun wilts 'em, and- a-pickln by
yourself this way you can't make nothin
if you let 'em settle. You'd better pick
with the rest of us. this afternoon, and
all of us together can get a boxful be
fore they have time to wilt much. There's
lots of families here doln that very thing,
and they tell me that's the way to make
money at it"
"Been a-spendin your time a-gosslp-in"
says I, '.'while I've been a-workln
like a Turk all the mornln'. I'll pick
where I derned please." I was bound to
show her that I wasn't goln to be
laughed at for taggln around after her
before all them hoppickers.
After dinner I went put again, and kept
at it. Along toward evenln the boss come
up- and says he: "You're behind on your
sow. You'll have to keep up or I'll have
to get some one to come and help you
out." "You mind your own business,"
says L "I ain't askin no help of you
nor no one else as I knows on."
"That may all be," says he, "but you'll
set so far behind that the others will be
on the other side of the field before yo'u
get through with your row, and we've got
to keep the work up somewhere near
even." Then off he went as if he was the
Czar of Russia and owned the earth, with
Japan throwed in. Pretty soon here he
come back again with an Injun family
and set 'em to work with me. That riled,
me to the uttermost. "See, here, mister,"
says I, "I am a decent and law-abidin
citizen, but I'll be hanged if I am a-goln'
to pick hops along with them Injuns. If
you ain't got more respect for old age
than that, give me my hire and I'll go
and leave yc with your klnfolks to
finish up what you picked out on pur
pose for me because It was the worst
mess In the whole yard, and thlnkln' be
cause I come from a distance I wouldn't
know any ttetter. If there was a speck of
manhood about you, you'd be ashamed of
yourself." v
Yes, sir, I walked right straight at him,
lor I wanted him to know that Obadiah
Oldway couldn't be run over by any
whipper-snapper boss .of a one-horse hon-
rCL BE HAJfGED IT 131 A-GOIN' TO VlCK HOPS ALONG WITH THEM
INJUNS.
yard. He 'lowed that the boss had to
stand everything, and he was the one
that had to be run over, but nevertheless
he measured up my hops and said as how
there was about half a box, but he'd give
me a check seeln' as I'd worked all day.
I guess he saw he'd carried things Coo
far, and thought he'd better compromise-
the matter before I reported him to head
quarters. By this time people had begun goln' to
camp, and I went over to where my folks
was. They was gettin' ready to quit, and
had made $5, they said. You can see, Mr.
Editor, how I was imposed upon, for
there I'd worked right along without stop
pin to talk to nobody and had only 50
cents, but I didn't say nothin'.
That night my hands and face smarted
so I could scarcely sleep a wink. Them
pesky hopvlnes had scratched and pl'soned
me till I felt like I'd been scalded.
Hanner, she got up and worked with me
and rubbed me with mutton taller, but
even that didn't help much. I tell you, I
was glad to see mornln' come.
While Hanner was a-gettin' breakfast I
slipped off down to the pasture for the
team. When I got back the children was
a-eatin. and Sammy says: "Why, gram
pa, what are you a-goin to do with the
horses?"
"I'm a-goin home," says I.
"Home!" says Hanner. "What for, I
want to know?"
"Because I want to," says I. "I ain't
a-goin to stay here and be treated like a
dog. There ain't anything in hoppickin',
nohow, so hurry up and swaller your
victuals so's we can load up."
The scene that followed Is too sad to
be told outside of the family. The chil
dren made such a fuss and the way
Hanner belittled me was a strain on hu
man ears. She threw out that it was me
that wanted to come to the hopyard, and
she didn't, and now that she was there
she was a-goin' to stay till she made
Two Views of a Ftacetr ack Plunger
New York Sun.
ya'VB heard a lot about the ups and
1
downs of the regulars who make a
."business of following the horses,"
said a jewelry saleseman whose territory
embraces the Pacific Coast, "but I never
had such a close, first-hand view as I had
at San Francisco more than a year ago
and at Sheepshead Bay only the other
day.
"The story had Its beginning at San
Francisco a year ago last March. One
rainy, gloomy evening during the month
I dropped into a Kearney-street pawn
shop to price some valises that were dis
played in the window.
"I was looking over the stock when a
tall chap who looked considerably up
against it came into the pawnshop. yDe
splte the raw weather, he wore no over
coat, and his clothese looked shabby and
thin for the season. His collar was
frayed and his cravat appeared to have
had a lot of wear.
"He needed a shave badly. His shoes
were broken at the sides. He was a good
looking, well-built man; but he had a
gaunt, underfed appearance, and there
was a certain cast in his eye that attract
ed my attention as soon as he entered the
pawnshop.
"But the fact about him that chiefly at
tracted my eye was that he carried a
very fine Gladstone alligator bag just the
article that I was looking for. It had
hardly been used at all, as I could easily
see, and I judged it to be worth at
least $50.
"When Its owner placed It on the
pawnshop counter I was surprised to ob
serve that on one side, in small, neat gold
letters, was a tidily stamped set of ini
tials, three of them, exactly corresponding
to my own initials.
" Til take ten on that," said the gaunt
chap to the pawnbroker.
"The pawnbroker shook his head with
the aggravating smile of some men who
follow his business.
" 'Five, he said. 'That's all we ever
loan on valises.'
" 'Just look this one over, said the man
without an overcoat, 'and see If it calls
for any $5 loan.'
" 'Oh, I can see that it's a good bag, all
right' said the pawnbroker, "but we
can't get anything for bags. They're a
drug, like fiddles. Besides, your initials
are stamped on it That spoils it for me.
The leather's scraped away for the sten
ciling, and there's no erasing stenciled
letters. Five is all."
"The' man with the bag looked foAa
moment as if he would have liked to jump
over the counter and crab the pawnbroker
enough to buy a new store carpet for th.e
parlor to kinder match the planner, and
wound up by teltfh' me not to talk so
loud, for the other campers was all a
llstenin. "Let 'em listen," says I; "you can stay
if you want to, but I'm a-goln' back to
Hoaxville, carpet or no carpet and the
planner be derned."
Well, the upshot of, it was that I went,
and here I be". There wasn't a thing to
cat cooked in the house wh'en I got here,
and bein' as I ain't never cooked none, I
don't make many- fancy dishes. We've
got plenty of milk and cream, though,
for the day I got home I told the man
we'd got to do the milkln' that he needn't
come any more, as I had to come back
home anyway, and I could do the milkin
myself.
The hardest of the cookln is to make
bread: I've tried to get the holes into It
like Hanner does, but somehow I ain't
got on to It yet I tried stlckln' it with a
fork, but when I get it baked there ain't
any holes left I reckon they sort of
evaporate in the oven. The last few
timei I've just took some cream, good
and thick, and stirred flour into It and
baked it that way. It does pretty well
with a little salt. Hopplcking won't last
much longer, and I guess I can manage
some way until Hanner gets ashamed of
herself and comes home.
Of course, they'll all make quite a bit
down there, if the boss don't get a spite
tt 'em like he did me. I'd a-stayed If it
hadn't been for that, for we need the
money, but as the business is carried on I
don't think there's any honesty in it and
my conscience won't let me uphold it.
Yours truly,
OBADIAH EVERAT OLDWAY.
P. S. As I was a-comin' home from the
hopyard I come by a fence as had some
Salvation Army prlntin' on it, and one
text says "Raisin' hops Is of the devil,"
and-I says right out: "That's the Hvln'
truth if ever anything was." O. E. O.
by the throat But ho swallowed a gulp
or two of pretty visible wrath, and I could
seey with what an effort he restrained
himself.
"He was perhaps thinking of the big
amount of Interest money he had paid out
to pawnbrokers in his time and it made
him sore. But, as I say, he kept his anger
down, and he started to stake the pawn
broker to a little talk.
"It was as good a talk of that sort aa I
ever heard the talk of an educated mar
pretty nigh down and out
"He had been with the horses in San
Francisco all Winter, it seemed. The
horses had got him, as, of course, they
get everybody who stays with 'em long
enough.
"He wanted to got East for the begin
ning of the Eastern racing season. But
he was all in, and he needed a front to
enable him to go out and get the price
of .the ride over the mountains to the At
lantic seaboard.
"He couldn't do much with a Ave spot
But with a $10 note he could go down the
bay and get enough tog ,stuff to put up
some kind of an exterior.
"That was the way it stood with him.
He'd be getting the bag out Inside of a
month there was no manner of doubt
as to that Would the pawnbroker let
him have the sawbuck?
"No, the pawnbroker wouldn't.
" 'There's no use in talking about it,"
said the three-balls dealer. 'I'm staked
to talks like that 20 times a day. If I
listened to all or half of 'em. I'd have to
go out of buslnes. Five for the grip, arid
no more.'
"The gaunt man with the grip picked
It up and he was pretty ashy about the
mouth, too and walked out without an
othec word. I followed him out. That
grip he was carrying seemed to haverbeen
made to order for me, Initials and all,
and, bsides that, I wasn't unwilling to help
the man if he cared to be helped my way.
"I'll give you $20 outright for that bag,'
I said to him, halting him In the misty
drizzle.
"He turned around and looked me over
for a minute, and then he passed over the
bag.
" 'All right, pal,' he said, 'and thanks
to you.'
"I handed him over a $20 bill. He took
the money with a nod and disappeared
around a corner. I carried the bag to my
hotel and have been enjoying the use of it
ever since.
"Well, at Sheepshead Bay the other
afternoon I was being pushed and hauled
down the line of bookmakers, helplessly
trying to get a peek at the prices against
the horses in the Twin City handicap, so
as to get a little piking holiday bet down,
when a tall chap, dressed to-the nines
probably the most tastefully dressed man
on the Igrounds swung: through the crowd
and began to bet $500 at clip with every
bookmaker he could reach on the horse
Caughnawaga.
"The bookmakers accepted his bets, with
out the money he had merely to hold up
his fingers to indicate the amount he
wanted to bet, and the sheet writers
clapped the figures down without the in
terchange of any money the method, in
short, whereby only the recognized plung
ers make their bets.
"I recognized the tall man instantly as
the fellow from whom I had bought the
Gladstone bag in the drizzle outside the
San Francisco pawnshop a year and a
half ago.
"As he strode by mo I couldn't refrain
from giving him a bit of a nudge and say
ing to him:
" 'Useful and ornamental traveling arti
cle, that bag of yotfrs.'
"He gazed down 'at me for half a minute
in a puzzled sort of way, and then his face
spread into a smile and he held out his
hand. '
" 'Why, you're the decent chap that
passed me the twenty for that grip out in
'Frisco, aren't you? he said. 'That was
the biggest twenty I ever saw before or
since. I've never known a broke minute
since you passed it over,' and with a good
natured nod he swung down along the line
of bookmakers.
"After he had got some distance away,
however, he hurried back to where I was
standing. He bent close td me, and said
in a matter-of-fact tone:
" 'Caughnawaga's people think a lot of
him for this race If you're playing them,
that is,' and he was away again.
"I only visit the racetrack occasionally,
but I know enough not to take all the tlp3
that are handed out on racetracks. This
one, however, looked too good there was
every reason to suppose that the tall fel
low who fancied I had done him a, kind
ness wouldn't swing me wrong if he knew
It. Moreover, wasn't he making $500 bets
all down the line on Caughnawaga him
self? I put down $50 on Caughnawaga
at 3 to 1, and the horse walked in.
"After the races wereover, I saw that
tall man step Into a swell French auto
mobile, take the wheel himself and treat
the pretty women in the seats behind to a
fine spurt down the boulevard.
"I was glad to see him In such good
feather glad as I could be.
"But all the same; I couldn't drive out
of my view the mental picture of him
standing, shivering and overcoatless, in a
mean March drizzle In San Francisco, and
I fell to wondering how long It ud be be
fore he'd land that way again.
"Never, I hope, of course. But you
know those ponies and what they do to
folks who stay along with them."
PROVERBS ABOUT
RUSSIAN CZAR
"TT DIPLOMATIST who has been at the
r Russian Court for a long time has
collected some interesting Russian prov
erbs concerning the Czars. Here are a
few:
"The Czar himself can get muddy If he
steps in the mud."
"Even the crown of the Czar cannot cure
headache."
"The Czar's cows cannot have more
than two horns."
"An active Czar puts wings upon his
Ministers' feet"
"A Czar who limps can nevertheless
make some long strides." .
"A drop of water In the eye of the Czar
costs the country a great many handker
chiefs." "A Czar in the desert is only a man."
"When the Czar Is a rhymster poets are
unhappy."
."When the Czar makes you a present
of an "ess he expects of you a hen."
"When the Czar wishes to cut some
thongs the people should furnish their
skins."
"Even the hens of the Czarina cannot
lay goose eggs."
"When the Czar squints the.' Ministers
are one-eyed and the people blind."
"The Czar never hurts his finger but
what everybody carries his arm in a
sling."
"That which the Czar cannot accom
plish Is only accomplished by time."
"The Czar can disturb the earth, but he
cannot move it from it axis."
"The Czar knows not misery because he
does not live in a cabin,"
"The arm of the Czar is long, but it
cannot reach to the sky."
"The valet of the Czar believes he has
some right to the crown."
"The voice of the Czar has an echo
even when there are no mountains."
"The ukases of the Czar are worth
nothing If God says not 'Amen.' "
"The horse which has once been mount
ed by the Czar neighs continually."
Our Red-Headed Kid
(Continued from Page 33.)
cold, so I just gave him one to pick up
the satchel an' march, an' he didn't wait
for the count, neither. An' dad knew
when he was licked, too. Say, they was
easy, wasn't they? That's him now,
ain't it?"
He was bleeding to death, and I thought
the doctor would never come. It seemed
pretty tough luck after what he'd done.
His parent was lying on his back, cursing
like an Irish Gatling gun, and when I got
toa point where I had to do something
or make a fool of myself, I hunted up
Williams, and we kicked them both on
to their feet and put them id the lock-up.
When I got back the doctor was making
his examination. It was a solemn crowd
that stood around and watched him. Bob
was the only cheerful one in the lot. For
tunately the bullet had gone clear through
so there was no probing to do.
When the last bandage was fixed Bob
tried to get up again, and had to be held
down while Doc Richards explained to
him that he would probably bleed to death
if he didn't lie still. Then we put him
on an improvised stretcher and took him
up to Martin's. I waylaid the doctor.
"Will he get well. Doc?" I asked.
"Yes," said the doctor, "I think so. He
lost a lot of blood, but he's pretty tough,
and with Mrs. Martin and the girls to
nurse him he'll be 'around before long."
I waited till I got av block from the
house, and then turned loose one long, up
roarious yell, and doubled for the bank
with the news.
"Well, say," said Tom, "isn't that kid
about 24 karats fine, though? Lay on,
MacDuff. He'll be president of a bank
while we're still footing columns. You
see if he Isn't."
"I always did think that boy had some
thing In him," said Harvey. "He sort of
loQked like it to me the first time I saw
him." (Copyright by S. S. McClure Com
pany.) '
Adventures' of a Commuter.
McL&ndburgh Wilson.
Each night a small commuter goes
"Where fragrant fields a-bloseom lie;
He takes the train 'in Mother's arms
And speeds away for Lullaby,
The fairy town of Lullaby.
No scenery bedecks the route
To please the weary travsler'a eye;
He only hears the station sung:
And knows he Is In Lullaby,
The dreamy town of Lullaby.
Some nights he bles him back too soon.
And then It Is, with sudden cry,
In wild alarm he seeks a train
To bo onco more to Lullaby,
In Father's arms to Lullaby.
What's this? A tack la on the track! v
The train, derailed, rolls down the bank!
Conductor calls the station out.
He hears he Is in Blanky Blank!!
The torrid town of Blanky! Blank!!
The accident at once brings aid
And, helpers to their rescue fly;
Commuter takes another train,
And starts again for Lullaby,
The sleepy town of Lullaby.
CLIMBIN' UP DEM RAZOR STAIRS
AN ELIZABETHAN ROMANCE NOT TO BE CONFOUNDED
' WITH SIR GILBERT PARKER'S "LADDER OF SWORDS
CHAPTER I.
Roland de Rosin was a most sweet
villain. Right well did he love to drain a
dram, wreck an English 'merchantman, or
carry off a maiden from England the south
to his selgnourle In the Isle of Jersey.
Withal he was of a kind heart He
("weighed 350- pounds. His nature was sim
ple, and direct He was a man, every
pound of him, and had a man's laugV
although there were those of his enemies
that likened it to a hyena's. He was
hereditary shoe-shiner to .the Kings and
Queens" of England, and had the privilege
of never being tagged while touching wood
in Rosin. As body servant he had one
Despair, an amiable cut-throat, whose
vicuauuas upon ine sea naa raaue
Drake of Devon smash hi tpth pr now.
CHAPTER II.
Angele de la Lumlere Rouge was but
lately escaped out of a convent In Britt
any, where she haA frttPi1 th ."Mnthpr
Superior by over-frequent renderings of
-Deaeiia- upon tne virginal. Beautiful
she was; fair as the sun and clear as a
spring of running water. As she tripped
toward the beehive in the mornings to
milk the bee she looked. In her straight
front as dainty a milkmaid as ever sung
a glee or flirted with a. shepherd.
CHAPTER III.
Angele was at her knitting in the dove
cot when a shadow fell across her feet
and gave her corns a twinge. Looking up,
she saw that it was de Rosin.
"Lady," said he, awkwardly, but with
a simplicity that bespoke his good heart,
"I am shoe-shiner to the Queen her
majesty."
Angele suspected what was coming, but
she could not flee, for the dovecot was
ten long feet above the ground.
"Also I may never be tagged while
touching wood on my estate," continued
de Rosin. .
"You can never be It, then," answered
Angele with ready feminine wit.
Pausing to meditate upon this sally, de
Rosin's face grew purple with the effort
of attempting to think. Soon he gave up
the hopeless task and resumed his wooing.
"I have three dovecotes," he went on.
BROTHER MASON' SAVED PRESIDENT DIAZ' LIFE
Dramatic Story of Protection Amid Grave Danger and an Example of Yankee Quick Wit.
Brooklyn Eagle.
HOW THE fate of the Mexican Re
public once hung on the Masonic
honor and fidelity of a Brooklyn man
Is the point of a remarkable political story
that has been revived in every Brooklyn
lodge by the recent visit to the Mexican
capital of a member of Kings County
Lodge, F. & A. M.
It la the story of a country made stable
by the strength and ability of one man,
and it contains every element of heroic
manhood, unquestioned bravery, passion
ate politics and grim humor, running the
gamut, from the fate of a nation to that
of a fistic encounter in which future Pres
ident Diaz was sent sprawling across the
deck of an American steamship by a pur
eer .who proved to be the greaest "friend
he ever had.
The facts given below are vouched for
by leading Masons in Brooklyn and are
in detail as corrected by Rev. T. Morris
Terry, of Kings Countjf Lodge, a veteran
member of the order and a. past master.
The member who is responsible for the re
vival of the story, because of recent hon
ors extended to him both in New Orleans
and in Mexico City, Is another member of
the same lodge, John Jerome Farley, an
expert connected with the Goodyear (shoe)
Machinery Company, now of 133& North
Front street, Columbus, O. Among those
who have been prominent in an investi
gation of the story is Fred L. Jenkins,
the head of the Veteran Masons; of 452A
Hancock street, Brooklyn.
Mr. Farley, h'owever, though his recent
visit to the Mexican lodges brought forth
the story, was at the time of the series of
events that are hereinafter told a babe In
swaddling clothes in Brooklyn. Just who
the real hero was Is not yet disclosed, but
on the statements made to the Eagle yes
terday it seemes certain that his identity
is known to some.
In the early '70s President Diaz was
not known as a patriot. Patriots in Spanr
ish-Amerlcan Republics are successful
revolutionists. Rather he was a fugitive
beyond the confines of his own land, and
few who saw him about the cafes and at
the festivals of New Orleans paid much
more attention to him than did men of
later years to Cubans who talked filibus
tering in Philadelphia before the war with
Spain.
At the time there was plying between
New Orleans and Vera Cruz an American
merchantman, taking to the war-racked
nation cotton, grains and foodstuffs and
bringing back the tropical products and
the mineral wealth of Mexico. The pur
ser of that vessel was a young man from
Brooklyn.
Price of $50,000 on His Head.
The purser did not know Diaz, nor did
he know that there was a price of $50,00(1
on the head of any man in New Orleans,
and the full knowledge of what such a
munificent headpiece means did not come
back to him till later years, when, tried
by fire and not found wanting, he came
to his reward by the hand of the man
who, on that eventful night, he met as an
exile in the Louisiana metropolis.
While walking along one of the city
streets, thinking of the sailing in the
morning, the purser was accosted by a
friend who Introduced a quiet-looking
young man whom he asked the purser to
make a passenger with him on the mor
row. The stranger wore a magnificent
Masonic emblem.
"He Is a fugitive," said the friend, "and
must return before It is too late."
"But I can't take him. My ship and my
cargo might pay the forfeit," said the pur
ser, shaking his head.
"But you must take him. He is your
brother and his very life is at stake,"
was the stern answer.
The purser wavered and then consented,
promising to protect to the utmost the
stranger in his cabin, from spies and Mex
ican officials who might be watching for
the "rebel" leader.
On the morning when the ship was pass
ing out of the muddy delta of the Missis
sippi, Diaz, who even for years afterward
was unknown to the man who was be
friending him, was seated at the purser's
desk. He had' been writing on a long, nar-.
row strip of paper. Toying with It as the
ink dried, he turned to the purser and
slowly said:
"You have helped me, but I must tell
you something. I am in your power. There
is a prize of $50,000 on my head. To earn
that .all you will have to do Is to hold me
till we get to Vera Cruz and deliver me
to thevmilltary Senor, you may do that
if you like."
Dramatic Climax.
The young purser looked steadily at the
man 'before him, started to say something
and then stopped. Clearing his throat he
slowly and with a voice choked with emo
tion answered:
"I don't befriend a man to betray him.
I took you aboard. If I can, whatever the
cost, I am going to put you on the beach
in your own country."
Diaz's oyes filled with tears, and all the
fire of his ardent nature was in his em
brace as he exclaimed, fervently:
. "Thank you."
The scene was dramatic, but no master
'Then you shall not lack squab pie," an
swered Angele.
"No, nor muscadella to wash it down,"
said the flattered suitor, now convinced
that the girl was influenced by the cata
logue of his possessions.
"Wilt be mlstres of all these?" he asked
with a great smile.
"Nay, that cannot be," replied Angele.
"I love Michel d'Albina."
De Rosin staggered. "Thou hast turned
me down cold, then?" he muttered.
"I love another," said Angele, standing
tiptoe on, the dovecote and kissing de
Rosin's cheek.
"She gives up the Queen her shoe
shiner," muttered the huge seigneur In
amazement.
CHAPTER IV.
A sail hove In sight over the horizon. In
the boat belonging to the sail was Michel
d'Albina. Angele knew it, although the
boat was yet 20 leagues away. Climbing
upon the dovecote, she waved her em
broidered kerchief to the daring mariners.
"He must have obtained a pass from the
O. R. & N.," she murmured, "for his
pouch haa been bare of gold pieces these
many days."
The boat came nearer. She distinguished
Michel d'Albina leaning over the side. A
rock jumped up and struck the boat abaft
the binnacle. The crew fell into the
water. Angele closed her eyes. When she
opened them she saw de Rosin riding his
horse into the foaming billows. He
caught Michel by the neck and dragged
him ashore at full gallop.
"I present him to you," cried de Rosin,
throwing' the man whose life he had
saved at the' feet of the girl who had re
jected the Queen her shoe-shlner.
"Mike!" cried Angele, and fainted.
CHAPTER V
Angele now finds herself at the Court
of Elizabeth, a necessary proceeding if
Elizabeth is to be dragged in for the
amusement ofhe reader. Needless to
say, the Earl of Leicester meets Angele
and would buss her. "Nay, nay, my Lord
Leicester, don't molest her," cried the
Queen, and the court roared merrily at
the monarch's jest, which a historian
noted down for later use In Punch.
Stung with fury at being made the butt
of the royal wit, Leicester turned upon
of stage craft ever completed another such
with so strong a climax.
Handing the purser that long, narrow
strip of paper on which had been written,
the Mexican said:
"Here's a check equal to what they
would pay you."
Again the young purser looked at the
man before him, almost angrily, this time,
then seizing the paper he tore it to bits
that were borne away by the lazy, slug
gish gulf winds and lost in the wilderness
of blue waters. His answer was:
"I would not take you for money. I
won't take money for saving you."
The next In a series of incidents In this
game where the life of a nation rather
than the life of a man was at stake hap
pened off Vera Cruz, where the American
ship came to anchor.
"You must put me ashore," begged the
future ruler.
"It's death, man," pleaded the purser.
"I can't do it. If you are captured I will
be taken and so will the ship. And they
will kill you."
"I must go! I will go! I will swim it!"
young Diaz cried with that determination
that afterward made him what he is
today.
"It's madness, man. You will drown.
The harbor Is full of sharks. You will
never reach the shore."
Diaz was obdurate, however, and that
afternoon he dfvested himself of his
heavier clothing, girded on a knife to de
fend himself against not only man-eating
sharks, but man-hunting soldiers, and
sprang overboard.
Taking to the water, he headed toward
the beach, and the friend who had pro
tected him so far watched him with his
glasses as he rose and fell with the waves,
now tossed on their crerts, now hidden
behind them as they broke In combers on
the sandbars.
Quick Wit Saved a Life.
Suddenly Diaz turned back and seemed
swimming- with redoubled effort to regain
the ship. Through the breakers there
plunged a boat and from it came the glint
of sunlight as the red rays struck on the
drawn swords of soldiers. The man had
been seen and was pursued.
The race was an exciting one, but the
swimmer had the start and was alongside
as the purser shouted to the men in the
fo'castle:
"Line the starboard rail! Lower a line!"
and made a place for that pit of the ri
diculous that so persistently seems to en
ter Into every affair of moment.
As Diaz siezed the thrown rope and wag
drawn aboard the patriot soldiers were
already coming up the gangway. The sit
uation was powerful, and a false move
would .have meant death to the young
man.
Yankee wit, however, saved the day.
Seizing the wet swimmer by his frowsy
hair and giving him a heavy blow behind
the ear, the purser threw him to the deck,
and, with an oath, pounced upon him and
grabbed him by the throat.
"You drunken dog! You hound! I'll
teach you to jump ship. I'll teach you to
try to drown yourself," he cried.
Then, leaping to his feet, the purser
gave orders to put the man in Irons, and
turning to the astonished soldiers asked
them what he could do for them.
In broken English the leader explained
that tho country was in the throes of a
civil war, and said that all ports wero
beings watched for rebels, who had been
driven from the country, but who might
at any time return. Seeing a man in the
surf, they thought that he had been
caught, but were glad to know they were
mistaken, and that Senor EI Captain had
got his drunken sailor back. With many
other apologies they went away.
The next danger that menaced the young
man was when two lighters came along
side to take off the cargo. These had
aboard, besides their crews, emissaries of
the government, and it was with a good
deal of difficulty that the situation was
met.
The work of loading was made as slow
as possible, and It was long after dark
when the scows were filled. Hiding the
fugitive as best they could, the officers of
the vessels Invited the crew to share their
hospitality, while Diaz was rowed off into
the darkness and put ashore further down
the coast. This effort was successful,
but it interrupted for years the friendship
that had sprung up between the humble
purser and the great Mexican leader.
The Purser's Reward.
A few years ago, however, there came
the climax, and It was brought about with
all the dramatic effect of the modern melo
drama. The sailor hero of this story
chanced to go to Mexico, and among the
places he. visited was Mexico City. As
he alighted from his train he was sud
denly arrested by military officers. Being
Innocent of any wrong, he grew Indignant
and begged to be Informed of the cause
of his detention.
"This Is an outrage; send for the Ameri
can Consul," he cried. But the soldiers
only the more pushed him along toward a
carriage drawn by gayly caparisoned
horses and gave the order to the driver to
proceed. Bands played and the hole poloi
alone the streets waved their sombreros
I and shouted. Being arrested with martial
de Rosin, who had come from Jersey to
befriend Angele.
"Art a barber, sirrah?" he asked the
Jerseyman, espying a shoe-brush in his
hand.
"I am the Queen, her shoe-shiner" an
swered do Rosin, in the patois of the
period.
"Well, cut no monkey shines around
here," said the Earl.
The allusion to a monkey stung de
Rosin, for he was in good sooth not un
like an ape In appearance.
"Rat3l" ho exclaimed.
"Tomorrow morning in" the courtyard?"
questioned Leicester.
"It's a go," answered de Rosin.
CHAPTER VI.
They met at daybreak. Leicester had
a cunning thrust out of Italy. He ran
his sword two feet Into de Rosin at the
second pass. "Ha. my Kuropatkin, how
like you that?" cried the Earl. But de
Rosin was being hauled away in a cart
drawn by ten horses.
CHAPTER VII.
"How do you like my hair, child?" asked
Elizabeth of Angele.
" 'TIs excellent well arranged," replied
the tearful girl, with diplomatic indirect
ness. "And Mary Queen of Scots, is she as
tall as me?" asked the Queen, with royal
disregard for grammar.
"She seemed less to me," answered An
gele, with the mental reservation that
Mary had been seated the only time she
had seen that Queen.
"In sooth thou shalt marry thy Michel."
said the Queen.
CHAPTER VIII.
Disguised as Dr. Dowie, Michel had won
his way Into the palace. While tending
de Rosen's wound. Angele entered tha
room. "The Queen commands me to
marry three," she shyly said to Michel.
"And thou?" said Michel.
"I am a loyal subject." answered An
gele. "Bravo!" cried de Rosin, "even it she
does lose the Queen her shoe-shiner."
"But we gain in sunshine," observed
Michel, with true Hibernian wit, and if
you don't believe it you can see the Isle
of Jersey on any good map.
honors was something he did nqt under
stand. His amazement grew as the procession
drew up in soldierly ranks before the
plaza and the American was politely as
sisted to alight and escorted Into the cen
tral room of the palace, where there stood
before him, dressed in a finely-fitting
frock coat, a thickset man of small stat
ure, in whose eyes he saw a look of.
friendly recognition.
An officer in uniform, still like the stage
this story goes, then broke the clouds:
"El Presidente."
The friend of years ago. the exiled rebel,
the brother in trouble, was President
Diaz, for years the head of the Mexican
Republic. It all came back to him, even
the head price was explained.
"But how did you know I was here?"
asked the American.
"My friend, never since the day I left
you have I failed to know where yon
were. I have followed you and watched
you prosper. You saved me and you saved
Mexico. I could do no lcs3 than wait for
you to come back to her."
Recently the Masonic papers contained
the announcement of 'tho'honors bestowed
upon an American, but Brooklyn was not
connected with the matter till the New
Orleans and Mexico City lodges sent com
munications to Rev. Mr. Terry about the
visit of Brother Farley.
The Masonic announrpmfnf wao
rever, that the $30,000 which floated' away
mi me Miirm waters or uie Uulf stream
30 years ago was paid later as a present,
and that- an American Mason, the friend
of President Diaz, was holding a respon
sible office under the Mexican govern
ment. MASTER OF GRAFT.
Machen Robbed His Partners and
Government as Well.
William Allen White in McClure's.
When one turns from Beavers to Machen
In the Postal Department it is a3 though
one walked from the room where the
young woman with pig-tails down her
back was practicing one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and
on the piano into the
room wherein the master was playing a
sonata. For If ever there was an artist
In graft, one who reduced graft to a
really beautiful handicraft, it was Autrust
W. Machen. b
He not only robbed the Government, but
he robbed his partners who were robbing
the Government, and would have robbed
himself soonor or later If he hadn't been
caught He came from Toledo. O.. In
President Cleveland's second term, and
was made superintendent of the free-delivery
service in 1893. He left an unsavory
rep:tation in Toledo, where he had been
Assistant Postmaster, and was a bank
ruptwhich is not particularly to his dis
creditbut in addition to that he was a
deadbeat. He was a borrowing swindler
in Toledo, and as Assistant Postmaster
was In league with, money-sharks to col
lect usurious Interest from postofllce em
ployes. How he imposed himself on ex
Governor Campbell and ex-Congressman
Ritchie, who indorsed him. Is one of a
thousand similar stories of politics. He
was morally incompetent for the place
he held, and was living by his wits when
he got It. No railroad company or in
surance company would have given him
responsible employment, but the Gov
ernment gave him one of Its most impor
tant places. Before leaving Toledo he in
augurated a grand borrowing carnival
and cleaned up about $3000, using the fact
that he desired to move his family to
Washington's an excuse. Little of this
money was repaid, and those who .were
paid only got their money after threat
ening to sue, although while they were
trying to collect their dues Machen was
robbing the Government of thousands of
dollars a year. In Washington he bor
rowed money on forged mortgages, and
filched from the Government by making
an appointment date back several month3
from its actual beginning, and by forging
the Indorsement on the warrant and pock
eting it. But these were mere jim-cracka
and cornices to an edifice of graft that
was the admiration and marvel of official
Washington.
The Pony That Knew Best.
"Jim, dear, I think that the pony knows
better than you what to do In this case,"
said Jimmy's mother.
Jimmy sat on his little Shetland pony
and was kicking his heels into its sides,
trying to force the pony to wade the
brook. But the pony only shook its
rough head' and tried to go across the
little rustic bridge.
"Get up, you!" said Jimmy, forcing the
pony into the brook. The pony snorted
and plunged. The water came up to his
flanks and then up to Its shoulder. The
next minute Jimmy was shouting "Ho.
Ho!" with all his might, for the water
was over the pony's back and Jimmy was
getting very wet with ice-cold fluid.
But the pony would not "Ho!" It
splashed through the brook, and it was a
wet and shivering Jimmy who admitted
to "his mother with sobs that she was
right when she said that the pony knew
better than he what to dr