Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Eugene City guard. (Eugene City, Or.) 1870-1899 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 1887)
A VISION. fly hands Invisible I iu caught I'p to a rare and dlujr height, Hard bjr the placet where are wrought The miracles of the Infinite. The springs of the world were let to play Before me, anil I looked fur down The sapphire reaches that stretch away ThrouKh starry spout to toe Unknown: Felt Earth's line heart b'ata rise and fall, Had power oonfurred to apprehend The Immortal longlngi which ascend From burdened breanU In but and ball; Haw bow human instinct iboot li loving nix-re all abroad, Firm grappling with Iti deepest root The restful soils ordalued of God. Richard Realf. A YOUXG NAPOLEON. i, "When is it to be?" I asked Jolm Strong till question be eause be was my Intimate friend. Ho hod told me all aliout bis engagement with Varina Vincent, t he pretty school teacher. Ho hud opened his heart to me, and I felt that I hiul the right to auk when the wed ding would take place. To tny surprise Strong's handsome face clouded and he paused for a moment be fore making a reply. "To Ml you the truth," he said, "we do not see our way clear to 'an early mar riage. We are both poor, but we are young and can afford to wait." I said nothing, but I could not help thinking. In a smaH town like Cotton vllle Strong was regarded as a very pros perous young man. Ho hud saved a few thousand dollars, and his salary was the . highest paid to any one In the place. Only a few years before Strong had en tered a country store as a clerk on starva tion wages. He hud advanced steadily nntll he had become the cashier of the only bank In Cottouville. "I have done pretty well," resumed Strong, giving me a keen glance, "but I do not know exactly how I stand. Some of my investments may turn out well, or thoy may ruin me. Besides, I have bor rowed some money." "That Is what I cannot understand," I interrupted. "Vou are prospering, and jet you borrow money for speculations. That Is not wise." Strong laughed, and throw his head bock proudly. "Old fellow, you don' t know my plans," he answered; "I have never made a fail ure yet. 1 have the gift of seeing farther ahead than most people, and I am going to utilize It. I borrow money, but I know where to place it. I don't venture be yond my depth. Debt Is a blessing under some circumstance. The most successf ill nations and individuals go the deepest In debt." It was useless to argue with Strong. In our debating society he had always come off victor In every discussion. Self poised, well equipped and magnetic, there were few men, or women either, that he could not win over to his side. "Vuriuu understands me," he said. "She is willing to wait. She knows that It is best for us both." "Well, my young Napoleon," I re marked, "I hotie that one of your brill iant, siHTiilutive cumpulgns will satisfy ' your ambition, and that you will then cttlo down and marry aud take life as you find it. Only a few men find the short cuts to fame and fortune, aud it is dangerous to seek them." Everybody in Cottonvllle called Strong the young Napoleon of business. His brilliancy, his rapid intuition, his imperi ous ways, and the fact that his classic features resembled somewhat those of the great Corslean, had llxed the name on lilm when he was lu his teens. And he liked It, All men like to think that they resemble heroes and conquerors. II. "Twenty thousand dollars profit in cot ton futures!" It was a big thing for Cottonvllle. But the young Naiolcon took It quietly. Ho was not surprised, he said to his Inquiring friends. He hud felt certain that lie would niako a tun strike. "I am off for New York," said Strong, the next day after the intelligence of his good fortune had reached him. "Goodby, old fellow." "Hut when are you coming back ?" I asked, holding him by the hand. "Oh, I don't kuow. I cau't very well ay at present. " "There is Vnrtna!" I exclaimed. "Ah, I ace. After your return there will be a wedding." - "Don't bother me with that subject now," snapped my friend; "my head is full of important business matters, and I musX go to New York. There Is no way out of It. It is all right with Vnrinu. Of course I am coining home h mum T possibly can, but I have an opportunity of getting on the inside in Wall street, and I must go." "Getting on the Insider" "Yes, I said so, Hut you know nothing about speculation and care less. I mean Just this: I have some friends there who will put me up to something that will pny better than any of my past ventures." "My dear friend," I urged, "why not let well alone? With vour iircMiwit Mart you will soon be tho richest man lit Cot- tonvllle." "Iu Cottonvllle!" he sneered. "There, rover mind that. I like the towu and I am coming buck. Goodby." People shook their heads at first. In a few weeks their suspicions were confirmed. Strong had plunged Into tho very vortox of the speculative maelstrom In Wall street, and It was not long lHfore we heard that he had made unot her lucky hit. "Strong is a phenomenal genius in his way," said Hanker Jones to me oue day. "He reads huinnn nature at a glance, and cau adapt himself to any class of men. I have no doubt that he is as much at home among tho New York capitalists as if he had liecn oue of them always. And he will impress them, too, just as he im pressed people here."1 I vent n ml to express a doubt "You are mistaken," said Jones. 'Have you never noticed a few rare men who seem to have nothing in common with the people around them men who, from their birth, are cosmopolitan by na ture, with nothing provincial about themf Strong Is such a man. A stranger could not tell from his appearance and con versation what part of the country he is Identified with. LuJXcw York, San Fran Cisco or New Orleans he would be at home. It is only here, where he was born, that he appears to be altogether differcut ' from his follows." Hanker Jones was something of a philosopher and I had to yield to him. I saw Varina every day. Sometimes I was at the poKtoftloe when she called for her mall, and I was always well pleased to see her bend her pretty head and hnrry off with white envelope bearing the New York pout mark, and addressed in the handwriting to well known to me.' It was nearly a year before Strong re turned, and then It wa only on a flying Ull A special car bearing some of the biggest railway magnates In the couutry passed through. Strong was with the party, but he left it. and spent half a tiny at his old home. Ho was with Vurlna most of tho time aud I saw him only a moment. "No changes, I see," said ho in a curt businesslike way, "not a bouse painted, and not a hammer has been heard since I left. Everything Is Just tho same." "Vnrlna, too?" I suggested. "Yes, Varina, too," he replied. "Poor little thing. Do you know that she lucks force of character!'" "I think nothing of the kind," I an swered shortly, "she certainly has a grcut deal of patience under trying circum stances, and there is some force. of char acter in that." Strong's eyes fell, and he gave me a parting clasp of the hand. Ho hnd to re join the railway kings at their next stop ping pluce. It was hard to tear himself awny, but it could not be helped. His visit could not hove been very sat isfactory to Vurlna, for from that time I saw a change In her. Her face began to hiive a weary, sad look, and she plodded on with her school work, withdrawing herself almost entirely from society. She still received letters from New York, but they were less frequent than formerly. When Strong paid his next visit to Cot tonvllle, tho following yeur, he was a millionaire. This tine he remained several days, and was at his best. Everybody re marked thut prosperity hnd not spoiled him. Ho was devoted to Varina, but the poor girl seemed to be In a dazed stut. .She snw something In her lover thut no one else saw. a coldness thut she alone could detect. After his departure we nil began won- ,l..rliwr u.hmi tlifl IlllirrlnL'B WOUld take placo. I hnd soid nothing to Strong about it, and he had not mentioned it to mo. Only once hnd he snld anything thut re motely referred to It. "Vim tuuiritn pll iin a rich man." be said, "und I supisise i am, but yon do not know how complicated my business is. I am liable any night to go home a million or two richer or a wroched pauper. For God's sake let speculation alonol" I thought of Strong's words often dur ing the next year. From time to time we heard of Ills Biiccess. Everything thut he ft.kitr.1im1 nfimiinil In turn to irnhl. Even In New York men spoke of him as the young Napoleon. HI. Tt tt-ns an awful crash, and it carried soiuo of tho proudest firms in tho groat city down with It. In our little village we couiu nnruiy re- oll u If Knndff Ki rnii ir bail hepn nrudellt enough to save something out of the wreck. flnr hniiA nroved to bo without founda tion. Not only had Strong's entire fortune lu.i.n au'i'fit. nwnv. hut lie would have to begin the world again owing fully a mil lion dollars. Tim lirnvn follow lvora nn for a few daVS. His conduct was so manly that there was some talk of setting him Uxm his feet ngaiu, anil it was predicted mat ne wouiu retrieve his losses and muko another for tune. Hut tho strain was too much. Flnully tm uiiiirfrcrnil to bin, lxtl. nnil when he arose .... nn - . from it, long weeks afterwards, his attack of brain fever had done Its worst. "Ho Ih a mental wreck," said nunkcr Jones, who had Just returned from New York. "Is there no hope!1" 'Vnnn ivhiitnvMF Tin will never recrnln his senses. He may improve physically, out ins nuiiu is goue rorevcr. "We must do something for him," I snld. "Something has been done," replied Jones wit h very moist eyes. "Varina" "What hns she doner" "T,hat noblo woman, sir, went on to New York with her undo. They took Door Ktrimir and olaced him in a urivuto asylum, where lie will receive every enre ami attention. 1011 Know mat vunuu has given up her school and is living with her uncle, who is going to make her his heiress. Well, those two are going to foot tlm liilln. and sen to it that Strontr Is taken care of us long as ho lives." It was years afterward when I snw Strong for tho Qrst time since his misfor tune. llusiness had called mo to New York, and on the second day after my arrival I visited tho usylum, a short distance from the city. At ilrst I thought that Strong had com pletely recovered, he was looking so well, but his talk undeceived me. "And how is Cottonvillef" he asked. "Slow old pluce, too slow, no progress, nothing to keep a man of ability there. Why don't you coino here? I have some big schemes on foot, and possibly I'll let you in." I was glad to see that he recognized me, and I humored his rumbling talk for an hour. "I saw Varina before I left," I said. "Vurlna! Oh, little Vnriiin Vincent. Do you know I once thought of marrying her, but. 1 saw that It wouldn't do. Good girl, but tio force of character, you know. Why, they call me the young Napoleon of flnnnco. Now, how would such a wife have milted me? Well, I managed tt so as not to hurt her feelings. I let the en gagement run along, and at Inst she of fered to release me. I accused her of not having faith in me, and got in a high dudgeon and accepted my freedom. Good, wasn't It?". It was too much for me. I rose to go. Strong accompanied me to tho door, and chatted uhout his imaginary speculations. "htny!" ho cried, as I was leaving. He handed men little flower from the profusion that decked his table. "Give that to arlna," ho said. I took it and rushed off, unable to speak. Of course I pressed thut flower, and took the utmost cure of it until I reached Cottouville. When I gave it to Varina, and told her who sent it, the poor thing cried over It until I thought her heart would break. Women are so peculiar. Wallace P. Keed In Atlauta Constitution. An Absent Minded Person. One of the most absent minded of men lived and died, not long ago, in a town not fur from Concord. He was a most worthy minister of the Gospel, and conducted the greater part of one long midsummer ser vice with one pair of heavy spectacles on his nose and another canted high up on his massive forehead. He once culled on a lady parishlon r and invited her with characteristic polite ness to go to ride. She accepted gladly and "fixed up," ouly to find with the dominie when they reached the door thut he had made his call on horseback, and that his chnlse was at his home a half dozen miles away. Concord Monitor. The Galveston News says Texas has 8,M(i,0W dogs. The dogs cost their own ers Ove centa aday per head, or altogether 10.000.000 a yea;', and sheep owners n.OOO.OOt) a rear mors, a total cf ,THE DIFFERENCE. Touch me, clasp m and keep me fast; Yet warm and near as your touch may bold me, . And close as your clinging clasp may fold we. Time laughs it away and It cannot lost. Grieve me, leave me, but if you give The thoughts of your heart In any fashion, " In words of wisdom or words of ptwloo. It stays with me while I breathe and lire. -Mary Ainje De Vere lo The Century. NO MERCY FOR PIRATES. I have several times heard my futher, who was a lieutcnunt aboard of II. M. S. Spitfire, tell of his adventures among the pirates who used to make the coasU of Arabia and Persia such a terror lo sea men. It took many years and plenty of hurd knocks to clear the sens of those gentry, and the crews of the war ships re ceived more wounds than prize money. One story iu particular, which I heard my futher tell several times over, had a pecu llor interest for me, for I hud seen the vessel spoken of in dock at Liverpool. I will give the yum in his own lunguage as near as I can: "We had run across from the Lacca dive Islands to the Gulf of Aden, and were Just inside the Island of Socotra, when we picked np a sailor floating on a plunk. It was about 7 o'clock in the morning, with little or no sea running, and the lookout saw him when ho was yet a mile away. How he was preserved from the sharks has always been a matter of mystery to me. When we lowered a boat to pick him up he was fairly surrounded by the hungry monsters. Through the ship's glass I counted nineteen cutting the water around his float, and I could not believe that the boat would be ablo to reach him before he was drawn down. If Providence ever makes a special effort for poor humanity it made a grand effort to preserve that sailor's life and permit him to fulfill his mission. Ho was drawn safely aboard the Voat, and when he had hnd a glass of grog we got his Btory. He had been second mate on board an American brig named the True Flag. I think she hailed from Boston, but am not sure. I saw her In Liverpool three years before this incident, und painted on her stern was the first Amer ican flag I had ever seen except at a dis tance. This was the reason I remem bered her above all others. "The American hud been np the gulf and into the Hed sea, and hnd come out with part of a cargo and was going ftp to Mlrbat to finish loading, when ho was attacked by three pirate dhows. This oc curred the evening before, and only twenty miles, north of the island. The attack was made after sundown, and while two other merchantmen were in sight The dhows had been noticed hovering about, and their evil intention was suspected, but It was little the crew of tho brig could do to defend themselves. They hnd a few old muskets and cutlasses, but the dhows ran the brig alxiard, poured fifty or sixty men on to her decks, and the flght was over in five minutes. The mate, knowing that all was lost, had goue overboard with a plunk during the .confusion, and the wind and sea hnd drifted him down across our conrse. There was no doubt that every man aboard the brig had been cut down or saved for captivity and ransom, and that the vessel hud been thoroughly plundered by that time, but it wns Just such an in cident as we wanted to hear of. We hadn't hud a brush with the pirates for several weeks, and were getting rusty for the want of work. "The Spitfire was, of course, a soiling ship. She was a snug craft of thirty-six guns, with a strong and ready crew, und the first thing done after hearing tho sail or's story wus to heuve her to in the light wind and transform her from a tuught and trim man-of-war into a merchaut mnn. I had churge of this work, and it was not tho first time we had mado the change to deceive the pirates. Inside of three hours the best glass aboard of a dhow could not have told the Spitfire, of the royal nnvy, from the Surah Jane, of New Hed ford. And then we beat up to tho north for further nows concerning the brig. The wind was light and buflling, and when night came we had seen noth ing. Just at durk, however, a French bark coming out of Kcshin reported see ing three dhows and a brig standing in for a bay between Mirbat and the latter place a hiding place and rendezvous, as we hnd previously been informed. We could do nothing going in there in the night, but we stood on till pretty well in to the const aud then prepared to lay off and on. After midnight we got a stilllsh land breeze and had to ruu to sen, and it was well thut this happened so. W hen morning came we could Just make out the coast rango or mountains through the glass, and the breeze was dead against us. It wns ouly well into daylight when the dhows were espied coming out We set a signal of distress and pointed the ship's nose for the gulf, but we took good care not to run too last. "The success of the evening previous had emboldened the pirates. I don't know what sort of a looking over they gave us from their mastheads, but they were certainly deceived as to our Identity. They did not como dead at us on the start probably intending to give us a bit of in vestigation, but no sooner did the signal of distress become plain to them than each dhow altered her course and bore straight down. Did not our signal call for help? Was it not their duty to hasten to our aiiir There was but one other suil in sight, and she was well up the gulf. The pirates had a clear coast and a hapless victim, and they cracked on all sail. They had scarcely been seen before the Yankee mate recognized them as the identical dhows of the day previous, and after that we hnd no feurs of making a mistake. Our whole crew entered into the scheme with a will. While we did not beat to quarters, every gun was made rendv. ammunition passed up, and long enough before the dhows were up we had every preparation made. Two-thirds of the men were kept lu shelter behind the bul warks, and the pirates could see nothing to arouse a suspicion. "The piratical crafts came along in a bunch. They were of aliout the same size and burden, and each carried fully forty men. When they had come down within cannon shot they separated, having probably planned to lay us aboard stem and stern, but our captain did not propose to let it go that far. While he could have no doubt of our ability to clean out the scoundrelly gang, he realized that a hun dred determined fellows dumped upon our decks with pistols and cutlasses meant death aud wounds to some of our crew. Just as the dhows separated our ports were knocked open, the guns mil out, and next moment we were giving it to them hot and heavy. The fellows could not have been more surprised had the sea sud denly opened to swallow them un. Each of the dhows had a couple of cannons on deck, but there was no thought of using them. The knowledge that they ha aught a Tartar seemed to unaem them, and the first dhow hnd gone down before either of the other two seemed to think of escape. Then it was too late. Our shot went right through thorn and left terrible gaps for the sea to pour in, and in Just seven minutes by the watch from the firing of the flrst gun we got the order to cealo firing. "One dhow was at the bottom, the second with her rail awash, and the third was on her beam end and slowly fuming turtle. The survivors of our cannonade went floating about on pieces of the wreck age, but by the time we had lowered our boats and picked up seven the rest hod been pulled under by the shnrks, which enmo to the feast in a great school. Among those rescued were the captains of two of the dhows. Seven worse looking villains. than those we picked up were never seen in or out of prison. They were a dcflunt lot, too. Having recovered from' their shock of surprise, and comprehend ing that a trick had been played on them, they fought us even as we rescued them from the sharks. No matter how bad a gang you get a hold of, on sea or land, some one of them will be ready to 'turn nose' to save his neck. It was so in this case. Six of them refused to answer a question concerning the American brig, but the seventh was willing to tell all if it would save him from the yardorm. Ho suld'thut every one of the crew had been made awny with, and that the brig was then lying in the bay spoken of. They wero intending to plunder, dismantle and scuttle her. but hnd not yet begun the work, having espied the Spitfire and come out to Investigate her. He gave the num bcr of men altoard the three dhows at 110. . "In those d.iys the captain of one of her majesty's vessels on a foreign station, or I might say on a bnrburous coast, had things much his own way. Breakfast was only over when our captain ordered whips at the ynrdurms, and informed the six pirates thut their time had come. JNot a man of them even changed countenance, while, each uttered tho word 'Kismet' it is fate. Each man went to his death as calmly as if it was an every day affair, and tho informer gazed upon tho spectacle with as little concern as you please. Y hen the necks of the six were well stretched the bodies were lowered and sent to sharks. Then we spruced up a bit, headed in for the bay, and by mid-afternoon were alongside tho brig. She was auchoror. within pistol shot of the shore, and nUio or ten villainous Arabs made their escape from her before we had como up. "Tho sights aboard that brig have al ways haunted me. There were stains of blood all over her decks, proving that the crew had fought a gallant flght, and in the cabin were the gory heads of two of the sailors. At the foot of the companion was a bloody hand, and near the scuttle butt was another. I believe three or four of the brig's crew surrendered, and were deliberately tortured to death. Our cap tain had agreed to spare the informer' life. We put a crew aboard the brig to sail her out, and when ready to go tin Arab was ordered overboard. It was onlj a fair swim to shore, and he did not neei to be told twlco. He mado a dive off tli mil, came up like a duck, and then hcade. for the bench with an easy stroke. II had gone aliout fifty yards when a doze: of our crew called out in chorus. Wesnv. two or three black fins cutting the water, a gleam of white at the surface, and the swimmer was gone." New York Sun. Pet Superstitions of the Fair. The other evening I went to a party ant1 tried to find out the pet superstition o' each girl I danced with. And they nl have them. One wouldn't go under i leaning ladder, nuother would be sure o Incoming ill If she saw the moon over he left shoulder, nnother would not read iu epitaph for fear of losing her memory. one girl told mo she could stop a dog'i howl uny time by taking off her shoe ant", spitting in it. In drawing her kcrchlel from her bosom a narrow slip of paper fluttered to the ground, on which were somo hieroglyphics. "Oh, my charm!" sho exclaimed. I supposed she had lost an article of Jewelry, and was seorchinp aliout. for it when she seized upon the scrap of paper as though it were a deed to a San Diego corner lot. My curiosity was aroused, and she explained that it was n charm insuring success in undertakings, purchased by her ut a great price from an Egyptian fortune teller in Paris, and that its possession ulone amounted to nothing, but it must lie put into the pocket or in tho lsom of a dress during the recital of an Egyptian verse. If one failed to re member that, however, the Lord's prayer might bo substituted. I havo taken notes since then, and I find there is not one of tho sweet creatures that has not her pet superstitious whim. 1 have a little friend on Van Ness avenue who would go to church with her sealskin Jacket wrong side out, if by any iniprob ability sho happened to get it on that way, rather than incur the bad luck- suro to overtake her by taking it oft to change It. I know a girl on Fourteenth street, in Oakland, who becomes quite radiant when her dressmaker Is obliged to rip a seam she has Just sewed, as she is sure sho will live to wear the garment out I remem ber visiting n ranch where bees were kept and the hostess telling me tho honey wns a failure that year on account of their neglecting to rap on the bee house to tell the occupants that her father hud died. "He died very suddenly," she said, nn- thetieally, "and in the surprise and hurry and all ,we forgot all aliout it until day light, and it wns too late then, for he'd been dead four hours, and the bees must do told within tho hour or you'll lose 'em all, and suro enough we did." San Frttn cisco Post Ills Flyshlp on a Spree. The bartender said: "A rnnMi ( aappy, harmless drunkurd, but liquor nukes a fly quarrelsome." At that in ttnnt a big house fly fell into a glass of -hamnngne that one of the spectators of tho roach's debauch was preparing to truiK. ine ny was rescued from the wino and laved on tho counter. He ap peared at first to be dead, but ho finally revived, struggled to his feet and tried to walk away. Oue of the spectators thrust jis nnger oeiore tne iiy's head, but his fly ship paid no heed to the act. He walked tootit in a circle and staggered like a toner. Occasionally the leirs on nun al.la of his body would give out and he would fall over on his back, wearily wave his icgs in mo air and men lie motionless and supremely contented. A magnifying giass was produced and a view of tne fly's countenance showed that his eym were glassy and his expression idiotic as com pared With that of the temnnrntd hv When the wine h.1d begun to fully ussert us power tne uy struggled to his feet And proceeded to viudicufe the bartender's es timate of him. Ha reeled counter until he met a sober fly that was making toward a cube of loaf sugar. The toper darted toward the temperate fly and attacked him with malice aforethought The temperate fly tried in Tain to escape. Then he turned on. his assailant, rolled him over on his back and kit bia TiUi his kfilotbsai)-. INDECISION. Invisible, unspeakable, whose voice In the soft murmur of this neighboring- sea, From the beginning everlastingly Is tby own witness, energize my choice! Even now, by more than balf the allotted span Wisely assigned, the unreturnlug years In timorous doubu and all too scrupulous fears Have dwindled sore my little terra of man. Must It be ever thus! even to the end Fearing to do augnt lest i uo iue wrung r. Shall I my spirit's patrimony spend Arise, u uoai vm uuur " Let me this hour to fruitful usury lend One talent in tne napicin uuneu iuuk. The Spectator. BEATTIE'S APPARITION. The city was creeping up that way: there was no manner of doubt about that. Indeed, why should one sny it was creep ing upf It had crept up ulrendy. To be sure, thcro were lone blocks hero and there as yet, defined solely iy a line of curbstones, Intersected ut right angles by unpaved roads that, after rains, turned Into canals of oozing mud, and bestrowed over their quudrungulur expanse with ejected tomato cans, old shoes and such rubbish generally as habltuuKy tenants those waste suburban Bpnces given over to to the frolicsome goat blocks, in short, which a belated wayfurer in the vicinity of the nark would be apt to pass through ut a more or less rapid pnee ufter 10 o'clock at night But other blocks again were, always with gaps and hiatuses of empty lots be tween! what one might call built up. A semi-rural modo of life obtained with the inhabitants, some of whom kept a few chickens in their yards. Many of these houses were divided Into flats, and tho sep arate dwellings brought low rents, as yet It was a refuge within city limits for busi ness men who had fulled honorably, not being quite abreast of the progressive spirit of the times, aud for unambitious young people beginning life oi these there were not many. Now, a number of these houses-r-ln fuct wholo rows here und there in the vl ciuity were owned by Timothy Pinck ney, and it has been said that they brought comparatively low rents. Never tbeless Timothy was well content. Ho knew that the rents would increase by and by. And he held on to his property and dreamed dreams of the future when it would make him many times a million aire. This prospective millionaire, with now more money in his coffers than any one knew, lived in a two-story white frame house whose rear yard was contingent to the rear of some of those very houses owned by him. No one ever saw the in side of that two story frame dwelling torn the simple reason that Timothy had no friends, relatives or acquaintances. He hnd a daughter, to be sure a young. plump and black eyed tiling, with long, demuro lashes, who occasionally appeared at the door when a tinman came around to negotiate exchanges of old bottles and rags. But Timothy evidently intended to keep his Bertha's charms safely away from the covetous eyes of gallants. The women of tho neighborhood for instance, the undertaker's wife across the lot were quite aware that black eyed Bertha never had a new frock from year's end to year's end; no, "nor a new bunnit, neither." Well, Timothy was a pitiless and piti ful old miser; there was no question of thut. And, seeing that he was progress ing in years, he ought to have commenced to realize, mark and repent of the evil of his course. But it is safe to surmise that his conscience had given him no un easiness of any sort this long time past. His digestion was as satisfactory as that of an ostrich, and his thoughts were pleas antly occupied with airy or arduous com putations, as the case might be, day in end day out When the stomach and the brain are thus in good condition it is as tonishing how little place there remains for conscience in all the human mechan ism. However, one hot night in June Tim othy camo lulne not feeling quite so well ns usual. The day had been sultry nnd he hnd walked about a great deal in the busy marts of commerce down town and in the sun. Ho had a heudachennd it made him cross. But after Bertha had gotten him his supper, nnd he hud no ap petite for it, these novel phenomena niude him pensive instead. He went out in his back yard and sat down on an overturned barrel nnd began to brentho the evening nir. It wns heavy, and compounded of many local and in digenous odors, not all of them pleasant. Ou one sido there wus a gap in tho wooden rails of the fence. That gap opened out upon several empty corner lots, rocky in places, nnd gave nn uninterrupted view of the ghastly undertaker's emblem by the s!de of that functionary's dwelling, di agonally across on the next street Timothy could not see it this evening. It was too durk. But he knew it was there, and the knowledge somehow was uncom fortable. A more agreeable object of contempla tion presented itself in the row of build ings before him, the row which represented a portion of his possessions. But his mind seemed determined to take a new course this evening. His thoughts, start ing from the row of buildings," began to travel backward over the years gone by, and the first acquisitions which had marked them. For the first time in Lord! how many years? he thought of Beattie. Now, there was no denying that the first of his good luck had liegun with his acquaintance with Beattie. Beattie had given him a great deal of good advice. Yes, and he was very sorry that things turned out Just as they did with regard to Benttie. Very sorry. But a man has got to look out for himself. Timothy now re peated that assertion to himself, rising in rebellion against this suddenly resurrected pang of a guilty conscience; repeated it with heat Some people might say that he had ruined Benttie Beattie, w ho had been his first friend and left him to die In the poorhouse; but he, Timothy Pinck ney, would always stand up nnd say that a man must look out for himself first! Must look out for himself In the excitement of these unexpected retrospective memories, Timothy, who had been sitting there in the pure night much longer than he knew, raised up his hand to bring it down with emphasis on his knee. It remained arrested in midair. A trembling seized it The trembh'ng com municated itself to all his body. A cold sweat beaded his brow. H ig heart left its normal place and Ugnn to thump and flutter horribly in his throat In a mo ment more excess of terror gave him a frantic power of locomotion, succeeding upon the first interval of parrjysis, and he burst headlong into the kitchen, startling Bertha into dropping a pan she held and causing her to exclaim, as she beheld his blanched visage: "Good land o' mercy, father! What is the matter?" "I've seen a ghost," he said. Juno went and July came, and with It days moro sultrv presslvely flavored with i,. the bone factories rwros, thi rt'lor k. The plump and black ev ' child, would doubtless tlcipate In that sochU I l?.Uk?'!5 tributed itself over open tt t upon friendly enrbstone, iokU H nights. But no such inCtbrS were comprised In Tltnuti,, 1 system of discipline. II.uMS n,A "1(4" is OUt of IV. UIU hitn already in hi. 4 before the lust lingering ray, ul ...... ...... HUUC muedoutnf n. "i expecting, of course, Uk, H. iioum irom ins auughter. Therefore, returning C.. . slon unusually late-the hell. 0lle copal chapel a few block. Ei struck 11 his ready wrath l7 by seeing a feeble ray flltetin. .J18 one of the windows on the pAd " he approached his house. immediate!- airnln. mi ri ... "Pi -that was the way w that Bertha hail rrni .. " Mk down and then into the back of ti?i? the kitchen, there to wait for hta In accordance with this sunnosiik1 stead of applying his latchTv front door he mado a dctonr by tLl1 the house and came out by thTt!" fence surrounding the yard n. been a good many heavy cloud, oils? lug the moonlight, so that the nlrti rather durk. Hut nt that moment iL!! shone forth with a sudden sllverrJ i j and Timothy distinctly saw J, something dart rapidly ncrou it. Now, Timothy had well nigh fL? the occurrence of thut other m.J?? night. For a few days (though t never tolerated an allusion to It (J! Bertha, after that one moment of W stricken abandon) he had been hZ! with an abiding terror, which . J and then Bent the cold penplratloo Z ning down his buck. But that hud off, and he had recently onlv lmvi l! upon what had happened then u on, halluclnntion which had come of hljo! heated blood and overtaxed nermw general indisposition; promising hliwJ grimly, that If ever he wrought blnttut thinking of Beuttie nnd all thatdaui t nesB again, buried long ago well L would know it I But all this elaborate and dcJu philosophy sank together llkeshtuw ashes when he saw that shadow croa h yard. His knees shook and bis tin trembled. Ho stood stHL with him. ies pounding wildly and his eyes ttatw into the yard, which the moon, now t3 once moro, only illuminated In i uj and ghostly wny. Then he 6awa ray of light shbeosj from the kitchen window. To mate dash for that becamo his only instuxt To stand there a second longer had come unbearable. He moved and passed through U n in the fence. Ho took a few steps. 6u thing moved in front of him. He wanted to cry out but hit tooja seemed glued to the roof of bit mouth. Again a sudden burst of moonM And this time no mistake, no Aem possible. Four steps iu front of hla. turning a ghastly white face upon hit rooted to the spot, stood Beattie! Beuttie, as ho had stolen up to the b in the fence thut other night, pressed hi fnce through it nnd guzed at him wiilii distended eyes, and vanished! A low cry of horror came from & house. The kitchen door had her. opened. Bertha stood upon the thrc bold. One second she stood, then ill glided forward and past the appariti i and threw herself on her father's bm; f "Father, father! Oh, don't look sou fully! Say something!" "Sir Mr. Pinckney," said the arc lion, instead, and, for an apparitloO had a wonderfully substantial voict though one that trembled and pw "I can explain' everything if you will Id me." "Yes, yes; he can explain everylhici repeated Bertha, hysterically. "Yes, sirl Explain, sir! Explain' thundered Timothy Pinckney, In trwwr dous tones. "Who ore you, slrf I passing in my yard nt this time of nightf "Mr. Pinckney, my name Is lieati "Bentticf I see It is, sirl Goon." "And nnd and Mr. Pinckney, H 1 love Bertha and Bertha loves me." "The devil sho does!" "Look here, young man, If I'm notn taken, I used to know your father." "Oh, futher," moaucd Miss Bcrus again. "Don't be a fool!" snld the old M sharply to his offspring. l'hcn-"C in, both of you." When the trembling culprits w under the dim light of the tallow wicla the kitchen, Timothy looked Bcattie'i over with lynx eyed scrutiny under to beetle brows. "Humph! You don't look so WW like your dad after all!" Then "How lung's this thing bectp stiir nn linrlni mw iifwift" "We've been keepin' company slncM winter, Mr. Pinckney, and Bertha pro ised to marry me then. Only as yen kinder opposed to her meetin' joimsm we sorter kept it quiet, and Bcrtbi used to come out in the yard sonietta "While you slunk around the lew eh?" "Oh, father!" came from Bertha Timothy hnd been ruminating. He looked up. . t "You got enough to support s wfe "Yes, sirl" proudly, from theesit bridegroom. "Well, you can have her." "Oh, father," said Bertha nvcmlm later, as father and daughter fcf'"? sleeping apartments upstairs, what made you look so dreadful ffM")" saw Beattie standing in theysw- " looked most most as frightened did!" ..i "Hold your tongue and mind yonrj' ncss, will you?" said Timothy, slammed his bedroom door. fl He is still accumulating androiww his gains; and neither his consciena Beattie have troubled this tough""1" since. Agnes Gifford in New iors cury. Killing- a Shark. . A negro cook on board of schooner is the author of a novel . killing a nhnrk. He heated a flit- red hot, wrapped it up in a greasy and threw it overboard, when t . cious shark darted after it aDd ' it The shark's fury was soon a and he flouted to the surface dean. York Tribune. Tber Was No Dneft . I Old Mrs, Robson-John, I'm W that electric light in front of th Old Mr. Robson-There's n Bamanthy, the wire is insulted.-!" A French anthropologist rL0e tfllon, enumerates twenty-one co- fette forms of the human nest.