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About The Eugene City guard. (Eugene City, Or.) 1870-1899 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1881)
THE GOBLIH GOOSE. A numu maBMABi. Onoe, It happened I'd beto dining, on my eouch Ami awoke with moonlight ehlutng brightly on It was ia the ifk IXrerabor, Cbriitrau night as I rememurr, But I bad do d tin j ember, m To bad; t ka Ir when Like a gartronoinic goblin juat bwids my ehan beraoor Stood a bird and no more. And I id, for I'm no craven, "Are you Edgar1! Seeking at with bim a hnren-were you mi maiilli Tiwt" iied Then the bird nproM tnd fluttcr'd. end this -. tMnM lit n Hjl en trim . enw sew m "Hang Lenore," be mildly eiclaimed; "you AflM ftfM have Been me on this festive Christmas, seen meiurely onoe o lore, I'm the Oooee" and nothing more, Then be murmured, "Are yon ready. ' and wit motion alow and steady , Straight he leapt upon my bed. I simply gave ;iil And I eried, "As I'm a ainner, at a Cooee Hub I waa winner, Tie memory of my dinner, which I au at half- Goose well stuffed with sage and onioni, which 1 ate at naii-naK lour Quoth Le hoarsely "Et no morel fl! T. '!' Miloted rnur tuioee, brent and back; tut lull me, Gonee, ia ThiirevenRcnd what the me it of your being For Gooee f)Mh I will no more 'a,' If you'U ail am tri et iKnraV. not Oo, try honey mixed with bora, for I hear your throat i n; Too ipeak grainy, though loo plainly, and 1 1 aure your Ihrort iiaore." Quoth the nightmare," Eat no more.1 Gooee!" I shrieked out, "Leave, oh leave me now my penance must m o en Though to niyht you've brought nieeurrow,oon Ion ettmea lo-morrow. Some relioffrom thee I'd borrow at my doctor ample etore, Tier are pi lie of purest eiure In the doctor ample etore." Quoth the Goblin, "Eat no more!" And that fat Gooee, never Sitting, like a night l il I lm aiflin With me all the night, emitting wordi that thrill my uoeom a core: KoWjthrouBhout the Chrietmu aeaaon, while 1 lie and gaap and wheese,on Me he aiu, until my reason nothiug a urely can restore, I am driven mad, and Raton nothing surely can restore; While thai Goose seys,"Eat no more.' Al Old Apple TTomai. BI I. B. X. I never think ol the geography of Bos ton without being reminded of Tillage to which I was onoe directed by planter whom I mot by the roadside in the back woods of Georgia. "Oo straight on," aaid he, till yon come to a shingled house, blacksmith shop and tobacco barn, landing right around paddle of water thet s the village." uoston, w do sure, ia something more than a ahinglod house, blacksmith ahop and a tobacco barn; it ia, in fact, a ton several time larger than the Oooreia Tillage; but. tor II tl.nt it .iun.la "riirlit rnliml" a tlllrl m . tut., j -- " i die I beg nardon, a pool of wator. This pool is known in history as a Frog Fond, and it probably derived its name from a mere family of frogs who onoe bad there a family residence; tut why it ,!.. ti. .m. in .1 i 111 1 A.nnioilHM since all the Boston croakers now spend their summers at Newport or ohant. and their winters in much drier, if not more wholesome Quarters. Hut a dooI of wit has already been hod on this pool of water, and it ia not my intention to swoll a small pond into an ocean. Abler pens than mine have tnod to do that, bo 1 shall content my self with emptying my inkstand upon i little woman who, in rsin or shine, wook in and week out, for many a long year, kept an applo-stund near the margin of tliat unions puddle of water. She was little and she waa old, and I do think about aa ugly as any woman who has lived since the birth of Eve that Orat of apple-women but she lovotl and served her country, and so,, in spite of her ugliness, I foul bound to give tier "half a dozen pagos of gonoral history." At first she served it by vending green apples and striped sticks of stomach-ache to the hungry lawyers and ragged urchins who congregate about Court Square; and at the same time was sole mistress of a peripatetic ahop a huge willow basket, goiug about on two legs and ojwn at the top, except iu rainy weather, when it waa roofed in by a big cotton nmbrolla. Sho was a meagre anatomy, with sharp nose, a sunken chin, and a hatchet lace, covered all over by a shriveled skin of the precise complexion of a peel, d potato. In winter she wore a faded hood, a blanket shawl, and a woolen gown short enough to ahow a pair of oorrugatod stockings, far whiter than the snow in the streets of Boston. In summer she was clad in a dainty cap, calico frock, and a cotton bandana; pin ned closely over hor bosom; but, sum mer or winter, she was always elong ated by o pair of stout brogans, with high heels aud thick soles thick enough oue would say, to be impervious to all the moisture that human feet are heir to. But they were not impervious to the rheumatism. That, one dsy, got into the legs of the old woman's apple-bosket and forced her to shnt up her m ripatetio hop, and to open one of a loss roving character. Then she pitched her tent upon the Common or, more literally, she planted there a three legged stool, the big um brella, and a rough pine table, Leaped high with russets, pippins, and gilly flowers, vthich she waa ready to dispense tU VUUIVI Mitt rto ci ens cent for one, and half a dozen so several paper placards, floating, like flogs of truce, from as many golden pippins, told all and singuLtr who frequented the Com mon. Business bore throve with the old wo men; for, in pleasant weather, the Com mon is a great resort for young couples, who bill aud coo under the spreading elms or on the iron-clad benches; and billing and cooing is a deoided sharpener of the appetite, as is proved by the lamentable case of the young maiden who died of lore and green apples. There is no telling the quantity of stomach-ache and ebolera-morbus that the old woman daily dispensed to hungry lovers; but it must have been larg, since it waa often noticed that however high her table was beeped ia the Morning it was always low down at night, when, with her baskot on her arm, she ambled homeward. One evening a gentleman passing-that way jut at dark found the table almost untouched, and the old woman in a great deal of trouble. Jl noa rainuu au unj, an.1 fw lovers had come upon the Com mon, so with apples and clothe weeping in sympathy with her eorrow, ahe sat there with no one to help her home with her basket. , It is said that evil loves the dark; but it is quite as true that many good things svoia the daylight. Other's eyes are then open, and the fear of what "men may say" often sends ns sneaking br on the other side, like the Priest and the Levite in the parablo. But now it wu dark; so the gentleman shouldered the annla basket and went home with the chl woman. She lived in a small room on the top floor of an old rickety bouse at the north end; and as he went bp the sUirs the gentleman wu in mortal fear of their tumbling down, and spilling both him and the apples. At last, bow ever, he reached the room, and setting down the basket, ast himself down to rest his tired legs and shoulders. It wu a narrow, moan apartment, and so low that, when be stood upright, his neaa at' most hit the ceiling. Two young chil dren. a bov and a girl, who were spread' ing the table for the evening meal, and a thin, emaciated woman, with sunken eyes and pallid featnres, who was lying on bed in a corner were its oooupauw. The floor wu bare, the furniture plain and poor, and everything indicated that its tenants lived on me verge oi starva tion: bnt on all their faces was a cheer ful look that showed that somehow they had imbibed of that divine elixir that ?ives to us most wretcnea coin ort and contentment. Curious to set at the secret of their happiness, the stranger asked the old woman about her history, Twenty years before, she said, her two sons aud her husband bad died, leaving hor destitute and alone with one child a little daughter, loo weak to work, and unwilling to beg, she then resorted borself to street vending, and. br hours of daily toil, managed to support herself and bring up her daughter. At twenty the latter married a worthless fellow, who broke her heart, and then cast her jxMiuiiort upon the world with yoang son, the little boy whowu then setting the table. The old woman took them in, and about this time also adopted the little girl, who was an orpnan cnuu oi a poor ooiguuor. "Anil wam von able to suoDort them all by vending apples?" used Uie gen Human. "No, sir" she answered. I tried to, but I Couldn't. My darter was sick, and couldn't do nothing, and we got into debt twentr dollars. Then, as if to make bad worso, I was took down with the rheumatics. I was down with them for a fortnight, and when I got up oouldn' get around like I could afore; so not knowin' what to do, I went with mv basket onto a bench nigh the frog pond. - t .n,..Tn iUl .1.- at night I had two dollars olean profit. 1UIU V-UIV W IUV MUMim tum UJ cuu Then I saw the Lord's hand; He know'd I couldn't make ft livin going round, so he gave me the rheumatics, to show me it wu best to open stand on the com mon." "And since then you have made both ends meet?" 'Yos sir; since thon I have boon pros- pored wonderful. I've paid off the debt, and now when 1 want to I esn lay in a stook of ten dollars, and that you know brings apples cneaper. "But have you no foar for the coming winter?" 'No, sir. It's two months off; I can make thirty dollars afore it comos, and thst with what sowing and warning I can do will take us round to the tine weather." And how old are you?"askod the gen tleman, looking at her furrowed face and white hairs, which seoniod to say a contury. "seventy next Christmas. Cut ye would not think it to look st me. I feel 'most u pert as when I wu thirty." "And at vour aco in such tiovertv. can you always look hopeful at the future?" "xes.sir. 'ibeiiord is my shepherd, shall not want, lie maketh me to lie down in green postures. lie lcadoth me beside the still waters. The stranger looked at her in wonder. He had heard those words before, but now they had to him a new sound and a new meaning. All at once it dawned upon him that "the poor are blessod," because of their faith; which, of itself, is "the Kingdom of Heaven." Drawing a roll of bauk notes from his pocket, he handed one of them to the old lady. She took it. held it ui in curiosity to the candle, and then aaid, with a smile that made ugly features atwolutely handsome: "It's more money than I ever saw at once afore; 'twould take us olean through the winter. Ye is a good gentleman.and I thank ye; but we can get along, and hile we can I don't like to toko money from nobody." This she said in a gontle way, u if she feared to wound his feelings. lie made no reply, putting the note back in his pocket, rose and bade her "good evening." When he ivached the door he turned, and saying, "I forgot the children," took both of them up in his arms and kissed them. Then he went down the long stairs, and walked slowly homeward, lie bad groped in the dark for thirty years, and this old woman had given him his first living revelation. After that he kept his eve upon her. Every .morning and evening he passed her stand on the common, and never went by wjthout saying cheerful words, or pausing to ask after her sick daughter and the children. "The children are all well, thank you, ir, aud Eliaa ia as well as can be ex pected," wu her almost invariable an swer. But one sultry day in August she said: She seems to be sinking fast, air. Way np where we live we don't get none but hot air, and the sun dout come till into the afternoon. Tears to me we need sunshine as much u the plants and the flowers. The next day the gentleman went home earlier than usual, and as he rams near the old woman's stand he oaught sight of the invalid daughter, seated in a hand wagon, propped np by a pillow, and shaded by the) big nmbmlla. The atten tion of the old woman wu engrossed by a juvemla customer; but the daughter noticed his approach, and called to Lim u be made u if he would go by without peaking. 'Hip. air " ahe slid, "pleau to stop want von to seel I shall soon be well for now I can go out every dsy in fin weather." , "And who got yon down the stairs and upon the Common?" "The man that lives on the lower floor he carried me down; and Tommy drawed me here before school time. "And who sent ns the wagon?" asked the old woman, her ugly face lighting up with a smile that, this man always made it handsome. "The Lord. I suppose. All good things come from Him; and this seems to be a good wagon, answered tne gen tleman, taking the vehicle by the wheels and shaking it u if to test iu quality. The old woman looked at him for moment, without, ft word. Thin ahe aaJJ: "The Lord will uy to them on .his richt hand. 'Ye did it unto me. in u much as ye did it unto one of these, my poor children.'" The man turned and walked away, in his eye a tear, and in bis soul another revelation. He had learned the whole of religion faith and works at the cost of carrying an old woman a oasici, ana DUying lor Iier uauguicr vucbjj uauu ' 1.t.- J 1.4 -I t. l wojron. Evory pleasant dsy lor montn alter this be lound uie sick woman seawa . . . " . . Al there in the wagon under the old um brella. She always han a smile for him, and he always lingered awhile to get the smile and a mile oi tne oiu woman s sunshine. But one morning he went by. and found there neither the apple-stand nor the handsome wagon. It wuso, too. when he went by again at evening and then, without going borne, he made his war to the home oi the old woman, Softly opening the door he entered the dingy apartment. A few rays from the settina- sun came through the open win dow, and by the dim light he saw the old woman and two children kneeling by the low bed in the corner. She wu holding the hand of the young woman, who lay with her eves upturned to the fading sky. as if looking in the clouds for some one coming. He had come, the Great Angel, and he had already token hor to the bosom ol the AU-t steer. For several years after this the old woman's life rirpled along as smoothly as gentle stream flowing on over a sandy bod to the great ocean. The old umbrella got many a patch, and the new bonnot grew old, and the block silk gown that she first wore at her daughters funeral wu turned and re-turnea to ni to appear en Sundays; but she never begged, and never borrowed, and tne winter was never so bard out sue uaa enough ready money st command to buy her small wares "by wholosale." Little br little the young lads and bun- rrr lovers who frequented the Common came to know her; and though many a rival apple stand from time to time dis puted her right to monopolize the trade, in stomachache they bad to eat their own candy, and to ."fold their tents like the Arabs, and silontly steal away." One day the gentleman who had learned of her his first lesson in Chris tianity passing hor stand, noticed some new flags of truoe floating from her pip pins. "Who wrote these, Aunt Betsy?" bo askod, pausing to look at the placards. "Oh, Tommy did thorn Bir. He's amazin' smart at such things. He can writo like any schoolmaster." "And how old is be nowr "Going on fifteen: and I'm thinking, sir, it's about time ho was doing some thine. I milhi snivnort him some longer; but bo's lamed all he can lorn outside of college" ' "What does he take to? . "Well, he wants to be a merchant. I suppose he gets a hankerin' artor it from my ooin' in the business; but there's a world of wickedness between buyin' and sollin'. Don't ye think he'd better be a lawyer?" "A lawyer! There's not an iionest awver living. Let him be a morohont. Send him down tomj counting room to morrow. Tommy went, and so became nnder olerk in a large commercial house on the Central Wharf. When he drew his first month's pay he brought it home, and pouring it into his grandmother's lap, thon threw his arms about his neck and said: "Now, grandmother, you shall shut up shop. I won't have no more of your selling apples," 3ut the old woman wu not bo easily lured from the "walks of commerce.' She still kopt her stand on the Common; but in summer, she staid at home on rainy days, and in winter, laid by, like the frogs, doing neithor washing nor sewing. So throo years passed away, and then Fort Sumpter fell, and President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand volun teer to suppress the rebellion. When Tommy went home that nigut with the news, bis grandmother was tnougiiuul for a time, then, looking in his face, she said: Tommy, the country has done every thing for you; hadn't you better do something for the country: "Ion mean I ought to volunteer, said Tommy. "les; it ilr. bpeegie is willing. Mr. Speeglo wu willing; and so, sooi afterwards, a queer scene wu witnessed on the common. The whole parade ground wu in commotion. A regiment. bicb bad been under reviow, wu marching out of one of the gateways, and the old woman, perched on her three- ggd stool, wu wildly waving ber um brella, and, at the ton of her lungs cheer ing the departing soldiers. At her back sat a little maiden, holding her head in her hands, and trying to hide her tears in her handkerchief. This wu Rose; and w J t O tf -- - --- msnt. Ue was the only stay - ol bis grand mother, -the only hopi of hor eighty years; but cheeriuiiy, and ai her own prompting, she had given him up to the country. "The country had done every thing for him; he ought to do something for the country. '4 He wu awar several months, and then came back, r-enlited, and went away again.leaving his bounty with his grand mother. After this he wu often heard from, and always with honored the old woman seemed to grow young again, in recounting his daring deeds to some pa tient listener at her apple stand. "Just to think," ahe would wr, with tears in her eyes, "that suoh a poor woman as me should rear such ft brave boy for the country!" . At lut ewa came oi ft great battle. mt , ... .;,! bad fallen on both .i.e.; and every morning with beating heart, the old woman weut to the mail for ft letter from Towmj- 1Ju ,no letter came, and ft few day. later she found bit name among the list of those who, in the great struggle hod riven up their lives for their country. She wont home that night, and the next morning she did not go as usual to the Common. Noticing her absenoe, Jir. Speegle went to her humble home at nightfall, The curtains were down, but in the dim light he ww her stretched upon a bed, and KoscAneeling br her side weeping. He took her hand, but something in her foce kept back the words he would have spoken. After a moment she uid: "Mr. Speegle, Im glad you've come. I owe yon and you owe me; but I guess the balance is in my favor. Fay it to Kose." . " I will," said the man, hi roice husky. She made no reply, but lay for many minutes without speaking. Thon, clutch ing the young girl's hand, she said : "Bosr. I'm going; but love the Lord, . mi . . , n'- and some uay you win ue w$oi.ut ' fnMffAr" Then her head sank back, and she -rent went to live in ft home even .!. .I. a earth than the ton floor of that dingy old house at the north end of Boston. And now. all of her that wm ugly, and all that wu old, is at rest in a narrow grave not a hundred rods from where I am writing, at its head stands ft simple stone, and on it is this inscription ; Acred bl. She was poor and friendless, but sho loved Uod and her country, lie D fln't Bunko. The bunko men who sat down in Do troit six weeks ago to make their pile have had a bard time of it, and must be about ready to leave. Fact is, the game is too old to work on our citizens, ami strangers who reach here are generally pretty well posted on all sorts ox games to deceive. The other dsy there was a dreadfully innocent looking farmer do ing little trading at a Woodward ave nue harness store when ono of the bunko steerors got after him for ft sheep head. After following the stranger long enough to learn his name and place of residence, he suddenly confronted him on the corner with: "Hello! Mister Smith! Well, well!" "You've got the start of me," said the old man u he looked bunko over. . But I know yon. Yon live inst out side the corporation limits of Blankville, and have got one of the best farms in the county." "xes, thst b bo, and who be you. "I'm a brother of the Fostmastor." "Is that so?" "Yes, and I've seen you in the post- office a hundred times. How are all the folks?" "All well, I believe." The farmer not only knew what bunko wu, bnt his own son was Fostmuter at Blankville. Nevertheless he asked: . "Seen your brother lately?" "Not for three months, but I'm coming np there next wook." .-.. a ... All "sure you ve seen my larm, are your "Sure? Say, didn't you miss some early pears one night last fall?" 168 "Weil, I ha! ha! I'm a great lover of early pears, and I was there about "Say, I'd like to speak to you," said the farmor, aa he looked up and down the street. 'Certainly. Then we 11 have ft glass of beer togother and I'll show you around town." The two walked up Congress street to Bates, and half way down Bates to Lamed, and thon tho farmer reached for the collar of the bunko chap and said: When I found them pears gono l swore I'd lick the thief if I had to live a hundred years to do it!" "Hut 111' "Stole my pears, did you robbed my pot troos, eh? growled the farmer as he slammed the young man around. "No! nol 1 never 1 "Lying won't help you a bit!" rauttor- od the old man, and he put on steam and cracked the boy's heels together, slam med him against a brick wall, and flung him on a snow heap with only breath enough left in his body to agitate a feather, while his store clothes were a sad sight to see. "lie stole my airly pears last roll, ex plained the old mau as several persons came running np, "and if I haven't got the worth of 'em back I'll have to wait till some other time. He'll oome to directly, and if he feols like talkin' he'll give you all the little particulars!" But when bunko wu helped to his feet he wouldn't say a word, and was in such a hurry to get somewhere that he wouldn t stop to dig the snow out of his back hair. f Dotroit Free Press. The Declslou Against the Banks. A Washington dispatch of the 11th says : There has been a suppressed lever about the treasury all day, owing to the forthcoming decision on the application of the national banks to re-deposit bonds withdrawn during the funding bill scare and take back the lawful money de- incited for circulation. The cabinet took the matter nnder advisement, and Secretory Windom having given the subject careful consideration, declared it wu contrary to the spirit of the law and against the uniform practice of the department for the banks to do what they now desired to do, and it wu a dangerous power for them to preserve. The president and nearly every member of the cabinet had something to say upon the subject, and there wu a gen eral agreement upon the character of the ucoisscs. After the cabinet session, Secretary Windom returned to the treasury and found himself quite over whelmed with advice by mail and tele graph from New York. Dispatches kept coming in the rest of the day, and there were frequent callers who made a special effort to ascertain the views the treasury would hold, in time to telegraph tho stock operations'. It wu not until put 4 o'clock that the matter wu finally given out, immediately after which the secretary left the building. A gravestone in Woonsocket cemetery bears, beside the ordinary inscription, the words, "This stone is not paid for," cit in by the irate maker. The Old Lore ud the lew. Bt A. B. c. "In two years, Alice, I un coming back with my fortune made to claim yon." Theso had been John Maxwell! lul words, and there had been a fire in his eye, and certain lines of determination about his mouth, which argued that he would make thorn good. But the two years hsd passed, and for the last six months Alice Tower had heard nothing. Sitting under the trees one warm May afternooon, she idly wondered whether his silence gsve her J)ain or pleasure. When John had bidden ber good-by the thought of his return had been the sus taining power in the moment of his de parture. Though she had shed bitter tears over the story of his many failures; though she had received with gladness the knowledge of his first successes; though she had onoe waited with impa ,nnA for letters that did not come, she now felt it to be almost a relief. am Alice would not whisper to ber num tr.n.its that there had been an niliAr tniuher: that not so easy would have been the lesson of forgetfullness had not another lesson been conned in its stead. It wos all a bewildering maze in the little head nnder the niassos of rich brown hair, with just a glint of rod nmona- them as the sun gave thorn its far Avail kiss. But a brighter red stole into tho rounded cheek as a well-known step drew nearer, and ft shadow for which tho trees were not responsible was thrown btftideher. "flood eveninc Miss Alice, said cheery voico. "1 thought I should find you here, The evening is too lovely for mdoor bfo. "Yes." she answered, "it is very lovely." "As it should bo," he added, in lower more impressive tones, "to grace your irence. Alice." he continued, throw fug himself on the ground besido ber, "shall I toll you why I am so glad to find vou here? Because to me it seems the most fitting place to tell you some thing else, which though you must al ready know, it is tit that I should put in words. They ore poor words, darling. I am not versed in eloquence; and even were I, eloquence might stammer. But they are words u old as the world itself 'I love you.' I have but one hope in life, and that is, that you will shore it. It is not much that I can offer you dear. Perhaps I should wait. But yet, why should I? If you love me, you will stand bravely by my side, and we will share whatever storms life may have in store for us. as we share its sunshine Alice, what is your answer? Will you be my wife?" Ah, it had come at lost! Once the girl hod tried to check the torrent of his words. He had but caught the little, detaining hand in his own strong palm and held it tightly. The small head had dropped lower. A short, gasping sound wu in ber throat, letting no wora noa its war there. What wu she to do? Two years ago she had given another promise; two years of toil and homosickuess hod been endured for ber sake; but for six months she hod heard nothing. Perhaps John had forgotten her as ah, as she had almost added, "as she bad forgotten him." But of John, Dent Dexter knew nothing, and Dent Dexter she loved. So it was, that when, half wondering at her long silence, be again repeated his question, she simply raised to him the fair face, and content with what he read thore, he stooped and pressed his first kiss on the young red lips. Somebody has said it wu bad luck for a bride to don her wedding-dress before the wedding-dav. It wu all nonsense, Alice thought, u, some six weeks later, she stood before her mirror and sow re flected there her own form clad in white silken robes. Dont had been so impatient for their marringe before the July roses faded on the outside waljs of the pretty little cot tage he had prepared for her home-nest, that she had been forced to yield to bis wishes, and now but few short days would intervene before sho would cross its threshold u his wife. In all these weeks she had told him nothing of John. Somehow she could not gother courage to frame the words. And John hod forgotten her. . He would nover Know, it wu better mai ne should not. Love is ever jealous, and he might upbraid her, or think even that while he had won her that she might prove inconstant to him u to her first lover. Some day when she wu his very own she would whisper the story into his ear, and they would bury poor John together. Poor John! She wished she had not thought of him, as she stood in her wedding-dress. The air was very heavy to night. It was this which oppressed ber so "Come iu," she called, to the knock at her door. The little moid entered. "Oh. Miss Alice! law. Miss, how beautiful you do look! The gontlemon is down stairs and wants to see you imme diate, Miss." The gentleman! Of course she meant Dent. She had a great mind to run down just as she wu, to hear if he would echo the little maid's verdict, and say that he, too, though her very beautiful. The impulse of vanity was not to be resisted, and gathering np her silken skirts, she ran lightly down the stair way. The room wu in a shadow, the large. old-fashioned lamp on the table burning dimly; but sitting in the corner of the sofa she uv a man's form ft man who rose impetuously to bis leet aa bus entered. With a smile upon her lips and in her eves, and a bright spot of scarlet on her cheeks, she tripped serosa the floor and turned the lamp so that its light streamed full upon her, and looked np into Dent's face to see the look of love and admira tion gathering there looked to find it not Dent, but some one who. for a mo ment, seemed ft stranger some one whose face wu bronzed and bearded, but with strange pallor gathering on it u he looked in vain for the words of love and recognition which did not come looked for her own paling face, from the dying spots of scarlet on her eheek to the silken train which swept the floor in its purity, and the orange flowers she had fastened in her breast. Yes she kasw him now. It wu John come home o claim her, Ilia voice wu hoarse when be spoke. "I came for my bride," he aaid. "Jt he here? Is this dress for me?" "Have pity," she wailod, in answer. "Two years were such ft long while. For six months I had not heard from yon. I thought yon wore dead or had forgotten me " "Men do not forget," he answered. "We leave that to the women who undo us. Six monthst And it seemed to you long time to wait. Child, do yon know what I have endured for the reward of this moment? What wu hunger, toil, privation, homesickness, to me? I al most weloomed them, for ever behind thorn was the thought that all were for yon, for the day which wu slowly creep ing on, when I might stund before you and Bay: 'Alice, I have proved my love with, a price. Yon may .accept it, darling, withont fear. It hu been purified through Are.' And when, six months ago, my crowning success came, I started in search of you; but the long hardships had tlono their work. For months I wu at death's door, unable to writo or let others write. Then, when I grew stronger I said: 'I will wait until I can go to her.' You were sheltered, cared for, happy. I am u the man who toiled all his life for a glittering diamond, and when at length he picked t np triumphant, discovered it to be a pieea of shining gloss," "John, John!' foigive mel" she pleaded, clinging with both hands to his arm, hor face npturned in its pole beauty to his. "I loved you then. Be lieve me, I loved you then." Through the open window stole her words, paralyzing the form of an unseen listener, who had that moment appeared upon the scene. What did it mean ? He heard, not the man's answering words "Forgive you? Never 1" but saw only his last, mad, mad, passionate embr.ee u he snatched her unresisting form in his arms, and covered her face with kisses, which seemed half hatred and holf love; then released her, and went out into the night. The next day a little note wu put into John Maxwell's hand; and, as he tore it open, the strong man trembled like a child. He had grown calmer since the night previous, though all the joy and light ness had died out of his life. "You have had your revenge," she wrote. "The man I was to marry saw yon take me in your arms, and heard me say that I had loved you. Perhaps I de served my punishment, but it is very bitter. Yoa left me two years. If you had loved me you would not have done so. I wu a child, and forgot you, and learned to love another. I no longer ask .you to forgive me, since you have wreaked upon me your revenge." His own life stretched bare, and blank, and desolate before him. for moment he felt a wild joy that so hers might prove. The next, after a brief struggle, his manhood conquered. His revenge should be something nobler thon a girl's wrecked life some thing which, after long and lonely years, he might recall without ft blush of shame. Dent Doxter was alone in the cottage he had prepared for his bride, sitting with bowed hood, when John Maxwoll sought him out. The interview between them wu very brief, bnt u they parted their hands met in a long, silent clasp. One man hod given happiness one had renounced it. So the wedding-day wo8 not postponed, but Alice's fingers trem bled as she again fastened her wedding dress, and tears dimmed hor eyes as she bent to fasten the orange blossoms iu her breast. She knew that Dent had taken her back to his heart and homo, that somehow all hod been explained to him; but quite how it all happened she never knew until a year later, her hus band bent over her where she lay with her baby-boy sleeping on her breast,, and told hor all the story, ending with a proud glance at the child, "He gave us our happiness, darling. We will name our boy after the man who wreaked such a noble revenge." Electricity In the Banian Body. Many people are familiar with the "spark" which may be produced under certain conditions "by stroking the fur of a cat; and travelers in Canada and other cold, dry countries hove witnessed the still more remarkable phenomenon of the human body being turned into a con ductor of electricity, and the possibility of lighting the gas by merely placing one's flngor giving the necessary con ditions of electrical excitement near the gas jet, without any other agency. Mr. A. W. Mitcheson, the African traveler, who is engaged in writing a narrative of bis exploring expeditions in Western Central Africa, gives some still more startling facts. Ue states that one even ing, when striking an African native in a moment of anger with a cowhide whip, he wu astonished to see sparks pro du.od, and still more snrprised to find that the natives themselves were quite accustomed to the phenomenon. He subsequently found that a very light touch, repeated several times, under certain conditions of bodily excitement, and in certain states of the atmosphere, would produce a succession of sparks from the bodioa of native men os well M native Cattle. A lazy negro, it seems, yielded none of these signs of electricity, a rather fortunate circumstance' for his more active brethren, who may come in for a share of undeserved flogging from the hands of future travelers in search of electrical phenomena among the human race. We are not aware that these facts have been recorded by other travelers, but they certainly deserve thorough sift ing by competent observers. Londoft Lancet. (torman IYi7a ('.to t Jia.nini. .u. . " V .... coffee-cups of bread doujjh.four heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar, one-half cup of butter and drippings (equal parts of each); mix all well together, and add one large handful of flour; mix well again, and set it aside to rise. - When sufficiently raised, roll ont about three fourths of an ineh thick and place in buttered tins, and raise again until quite light. Then best the yolk of an egg with a teaspoonful of milk, and rub it over the top with a brush, and bake. When done, brush again with milk, ftnd sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon on the top; or, before baking, brush over it melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. The Astors of New York own about 1, 100 brown stone front dwellings.