JWy f elloW-pd$$eD3ef'$ Story. e e e e PKCTILIAR sound came from iwhind the newsnnner in the corner of the railway carriage. It was a prolonged groan, followed by a string of adjectives, uttered in quick succession, like the reports from a six chambered revolver fired agiilnst time. I shifted my seat a little further from the newspnper and let down the win dow, so as to be within reach of the communication cord should necessity arise. As I did so, the paper fell on to the fat, drab knees, disclosing a red, clean-shaven face and a pair of sav age gray eyes. The man in the corner appeared to have experienced a warm time of It behind the newspaper, for drops of perspiration stood like small glass beads on his high forehead, and his face was distorted by passion, which made him look anythlug but a desira ble fellow passenger. I wished the train would reach a station; even a slight accident to stay Us headlong speed M ould have been welcome to en able me to put a few carriages between me and the man in the corner. But nothing of the kind happened, only my fellow passenger, after staring fiercely at me a few seconds, blurted out: "Them sales of great nuks' eggs made me wild. I hate the very name of 'em. They say the blooming bird is extinct, and the sooner them eggs are, the better I shall like It." I felt relieved that my fellow passen gen wasn't a madman or In a fit, as I had been at first led to suppose. He was only laboring under a little excite ment occasioned by reading an account of the recent sale of a couple of great auks' eggs. I smiled, and remarked that he was not a lover of great auks' eggs. "No; dash 'em!" returned the man, savagely; "I wish the whole seventy, which, they say. are knocking about the world, were burnt up, and the ashes scattered to the winds of heaven!" I felt Interested and longed to hear further particulars, so, taking out my cigar-case, I handed it to him, at ttie same time venturing to Inquire if he had ever had any dealings in great auks' eggs. I thought by his manner he had. He paused' a moment before answer ing, while he bit off the end of his cigar. "Well, yes or, more strictly speaking, no," he said slowly. "But there, It's a queer story." I ftokcd Interested, and after lighting up he began: "It was one night some years ago I was accosted in the Commercial Iioad by a shabby follow, who asked me to buy a queer-looking thing which he held In his arms. It looked something between a foot-ball and an Edam cheese, as hard as adamant, and the color of a wnl nut-peeler's hands. The man said he had just arrived In Eng land from abroad, where many years of his life had been spent. The ball had been n present from some black king; he did tell me his name, but I for get it now. I know It took ten minutes to say It, and you had to sneeze twice at the end to pronounce It properly. The man didn't know what the ball was, but the king had valued it highly. I to'.d him It was no use to me, but he begged so hard for enough to get him a night's lodging that I at last gave him a trifle for It, and took the thing home, thinking It would do to keep the door oiH'ii, If nothing else. "For n long time the queer old thing was knocking about the house; It was useless for holding opvii the door. The only use it appeared to be was for peo ple to fall over. I fell over it first and injured the bridge of my nose ami knocked a leg oft' a table. My mother-in-law followed me over it a few days after, and was laid up three weeks with a black eye and shock to the sys tem. Then one of the kids let it fall on the cat's back, and though they say a cat's spine Is made of India-rubber It couldn't stand that ball, and snapped. At last the baby mil do a desperate ef fort to rid the house of that dashed thing by eating It up, and lujured the only two teeth It possessed. My wife grew very Indignant at this, and said the Injury to Obsidian's teeth was the last straw that made the load too lumvy to lK'ar, and she chucked the Imll into the back-yard, where it lay for months lohtnd some boxes, forgot ten and uncared for. "It was a couple of dnys before the IVrby, nnd a friend of mine had drop ped In to arrange about going, and how we were to raise the necessary funds, as we were at very low water. We were having a smoke together In the yard, while his little beggar of a dog wa scraping alwut for ruts, which ex isted only In his Imagination. Iu his scorch, among other things ho laid bare was that old ball, which he sent rolling forward almost onto our toes. ' 'Why, Bob, what have you got here?' cried Joe, beudlng down to ex amine It. " 'Thut's Just what I want to know,' I said. 'It's a ball of mystery alto gether.' "Joe began scraping the dirt off with his foot, and examining carefully. Then be began laughing for to kill himself. It ain't a great auk's egg, eh, Bob?' he said. " 'No,' I says; 'I wish to goodness it was.' " 'If it don't happen to lay claim to that proud title, why don't you make it? "'What's the good?' I answered. I couldn't see what Joe was driving at. " 'Why, said Joe, 'I was thinking it was Just the article to suit that old fool, Billy Muster. Fake It up a bit and sell It to him as a great auk's egg. He'd never know the difference; at any rate, It wouldn't hurt him, and do us a great deal of good.' "I thought it a capital Joke. We soon cleansed the old ball of the dirt, and set about at once converting It Into a great auk's egg by a good polishing up. I have never seen a great auk's egg, and never want to; but I should think it was as near like one as you could make any thing. "Billy Muster was one of those fel lows who would never, as the saying Is, 'set the Thames afire.' He had been in business once, and Just as he had been on the verge of bankruptcy an obliging relative died and left him sufficient to pay off his debts and retire gracefully from business. He wisely didn't ven ture again, but gathered together the remainder of his money, and was try ing to do the Independent gentleman in a tiny, gayly painted villa out Clapham way. "The next morning we pt out with the great auk's egg to pay Billy a visit. As we neared his abode we saw him do ing the grand in "his smoklng-cap and slippers In his six feet of front garden. 'Just taking my usual morning walk in the garden,' he remarked, as we shook hands. We explained that we had got something special to show him, and he at once led the way into his pretty front par'.or and bade use be seated. "Joe placed the great auk's egg on the table, and began relieving it of the six newspapers which had enshrouded It. It is always well to give worthless things a good packing; It lends such an air of value to 'em. Billy watched the sheet after sheet of paper being pulled off with great Interest. As the last bit was peeled off, and the shiny, round, mahogany-colored ball stood revealed. Muster rose from his chair and ap proached the ball. 'What did you say it was? he asked. " 'A great auk's egg,' chimed in Joe and I, together. " 'A grauorkseg,' repeated Billy; 'and what may that be used for?' "'An ornament which no centlo- man's house Is complete without,' an swered Joe. "'Bless my soul, you don't say so?' said Muster. 'What won't they Invent next? Well, at any rate, they are showy-looking articles. What did you ,say the figure was?' " 'Five guineas,' answered Joe, 'and It s a bargain.' " 'Dear, dear,' said Billy, 'five guineas is a lot of money. Won't they make 'em chonper? I could do with a couple of sizes smaller.' "We laughed, and said it was the only size kept In stock, and further gave him to understand it was dirt cheap, several of them having been sold for over a hundred iounds each. 'Well, I never,' was all Muster could say. We could see he was greatly impressed with it, and was dying almost to call it his. But ho wanted something to bring him to the buying point. So Joe rose, and began replacing the paper. 'I see, Mr. Muster,' he said, 'you ain't a buyer. If we go to any of the dealers we caii get three times as much as we have, out of pure friendship, agreed to accept from you. I thought, as you are now classed among the gentry, it would have been your greatest ambition to own a great auk's egg, which, as I said before, no gentleman's house is com plete without.' "This fetched him. 'Stop a minute,' he cried, starting forward; 'you are In a blessed hurry. I'll tell you what I'll do I will give you thrte pound ten.' " 'No, said Joe; It's no good, I see, haggling over such a bargain.' "Muster grew very serious, and came and took the parcel from Joe's hand, and unwrapped the ball, and gazed in tently at it a few seconds. Then with out a word he went to fetch the money. " 'Joe,' I said, iu a whisper, 'you don't mean to let the old fellow payover the money, do you?' for, to tell the truth, I didn't relish this kind of business. " 'No,' said Joe, 'of course I don't What do you think? You know is fair In business, love and war. Besides, It may, after all, be a valuable curi osity, as It belonged to a king, and worth the money.' "Presently Muster reappeared, and counted the money into Joe's hand, and we took our departure. "'It shall be a good day for us to morrow,' said Joe, chuckling. "Well, to make a long story short, we went to the Derby and blued every shilling of that five quid. We never ex perienced a worse run of luck In our lives. It was a sort of judgment on us, I thought at the time. "A few days after Joe called round to see me. As he shook hands he laughed so much I thought he had gone a bit wrong under his hat. He said, by way of explanation, he had been .to see old Muster and the great auk's egg. It ap peared he had accidentally encountered Muster, who seemed delighted to see him, and Insisted on his going Indoors. "One of the first things Joe's eyes lit on as he entered the little front parlor was the great auk's egg. A big hole had been made In the side, disclosing the fact that It was hollow. 'Been get ting the yoke out, eh! Mr. Muster? said Joe, laughing. 'Yes,' returned the old man, in a pleasant tone. 'Was it yellow and fresh?' Inquired Joe. 'Beautiful,' said Muster, beaming with pleasure ail over his face. 'You don't regret your bargain?' queried Joe. 'No, no, that I don't,' returned the old man. And to show he didn't he went and got out some whisky and behaved like a brick. "We both agreed the old fellow must be gone a bit wrong In the upper story. "Soon after Billy Muster moved from Clapham and took a large house up west, where he lived for soine years in good style. When asked by his friends where the money came from, he said he had made a very successful specula tion. It was only when he shuffled off this mortal coll that I, learned that I had been fool enough to let a fortune slip through my fingers, for that bless ed old great auk's egg was crammed with precious stones, which the curi osity of the old man had unexpectedly laid bare. It was supposed that a sailor eomlng off a long voyage had. In a drunken bout, lost a treasure which he brought from a foreign shore, and Billy Muster had luckily bought It." Yankee Blade. LAW AS INTERPRETED. The right to read medical books to jthe jury for the purpose of proving the symptoms of disease Is denied In Blx by vs. Omaha & C. B. R. & Co. (Iowa), 43 L. R. A. 533, although they are ad mitted to be standard books, where they have not been referred to by wit nesses whose testimony is to be contra dicted by them. The rule that freedom from contribu tory negligence must affirmatively ap pear and Is not presumed Is adhered to in McLean vs. Perkins (Me.), 43 L. R. A. 487, in case of the drowning of employes while going to their work in an old punt with a crack in one side calked with waste and a psrt of one end split off, when they were all drowned, and thert is no evidence as to the cause or manner of such acci dent. The acceptance by a defendant In a divorce suit, over whom no jurisdiction was obtained, of the decree rendered and his remarrying are held in Hek king Vs. Pfaff (C. C. A. 1st C), 42 L. R. A. CIS, insufficient to stop him from disputing the validity of a subse quent ex parte proceeding in the di vorce suit by which the judgment is opened and a decree for alimony en tered against him. . Crushing of Jack Iarlin. More cruel treatment was never ac corded to anybody than that meted out by Miss Jennie Smithklns to Jack Lark ins. Mr. Larkins is the stenographer and corner-stone of a wholesale gro cery house and Miss Smithkins Is tak ing a course In oratory at the univer sity. Both of them live on -57th street. Miss Smithklns has blonde hair and innocent blue eyes. Lessons In elocu tion and felsarte have taught her to talk with her eyes and smile with her reddish halr.v Larkins was captivated as he passed" the Smithklns home on his way to the Illinois Central station.' They had never spoken except with their eyes, nnd Larkins not being as well up in Delsarte as Miss Smithklns, may not have said all that he thought he did. When he Judged the acquaint ance was well established, he wrote Miss Smithklns a note. He received no answer. Another note met the same fate. The third was found pinned to a lamp post next day just In front of Larkins' boarding-house. Seventeen people in the house had read It before Larkins suspected what the fun was about There, on violet-blue note pa per, with Miss Smithklns name cut out, was Larkins' touching epistle, in which he compared his auburn-haired lady to "a star," declared that she "had broken his heart" aud wanted to know when, If ever, she intended to answer his note and fly with him from stern parental objections. "I get a salary of flS and work for . Your Jack Larkins," vsas the way the letter concluded. Larkins has changed his boarding place. Miss Smithklns Is still practic ing Delsarte. Chicago Inter Ocean. THE 'YOUTH'S COMPANION ... For I We mean to have the new volume surpass all former ones In the. Interest of its articles, the charm of its stories, and the value of its miscellaneous reading. :::::: I The Companion Calendar For 1900, which is given to every new sub scriber, is a Calendar beyond compare. : QUBSCRIBE NOW, sending $1.75, the price of a year's subscription, with this slip or the name of this paper and we will send you The Companion Free for the remain ing weeks of i8gg, the beautiful Companion Calendar, and the53 issues of the new volume to January, igoi. l 303 Send us your address on a postal and we will mail you our Illustrated Announcement of the 1900 volume and sample copies of the Paper Free. I The Youth's Companion, Boston, Mass. A new cotton spindle is said to be capable of running 20,000 revolutions per minute, and, if so, will indeed rev olutionize the epinning process. Denny 'Th' gur-rul thot Oi mar ray must be loike foine silk." Kora "An' how is thot?" Denny "Not shrink when it comes to washing." Voter, in Belgium. Under the Belgian law unmarried men over 25 have one vote, married men and widowers with famili.s have two votes and priests and other per sons of education have three votes. Severe penalties are imposed on those who fall to vote. 25c SAMPLE- BOTTLE 10c FOR NEXT 30 DAYS No DISEA SE has so baffled the medical skill of all ages as RHEUMATISM. and no remedy has even been known o euro iw unui "O urops," the Rheumatio Cure demonstrated Its wonderful curative power It has never failed to euro RHEUMATISM In any form, Acute or Chronic, tt ,,... . ... tradb mark years of active l'ractice of Medicine i . e. never b?fre ln ,y 35 years of practice of medicine given my testimonial or recon. inendatiou to any patent medicine, but there Is a remedy, the result of which has come under mr own observation ; for there is no IMsnase which has so baffled the medical skill of all aeti u 2r5S?Ifs and,to .find. Kellable remedy for the same. At last we have founjitu . ---".. me uniuuuu nimuuiuuo tun company, cnicago, ill. as 1 8K0, tr,?if ..Vouo1.. mdl? wh.j?h I skillfully selected, but without desifable results. I Urn heard of "5 DllOPS" and of its Wiwli-f,,i ,i t .i...v. .wrS,!.- V -,?m it;us.e-willun a few iaJa- After that I prescribed it to a great number and to bj nrP..R r.,w; i'K 1 .at lnAhe co,,rse ?f wo or TUree Weeks after they had used "5 DROPS and "5 Drop" Plasters they were Cured. RhmtnuheAer5 J?-,ff Hh0 ha,d- for a nmler of years, been suffering with Chronle out r rn t '& a? ??d pll.,.ted themselvf s around on Crutches. They came to ray office with- nd fn i"dTM d theyi Ze,Te, Pf-y Well. They give all the credit to " 6 DltOPS" T,t l?.Pi 1:la8ters "d "'i 9 their testimony to the Sanson Itheumutio Cure Com F . eM al.T f?r th,5 conscientious way in which they are placing these Wondor. acL?wUdment?0ng 8uffenng hulI"ty, which they told me to write to the Company as.. mflnvAfnIsth,n?.r?therrC,1,ratlTe Pwer of 5 DKOPS" and "5 Drop" Plasters, in t gmt Sable tS de"l withran rrU.lyTe,2m,1lU,em.and also that the firm perfectly honest ind liable to deal with. C. A. JACKSON, Physician and Surgeon, Kearney, Neb., Aug. j9, 1699. Mow Long Have You Suffered with RHEUM A T1SM ? How Long Havo You Read About "n nanos'r iajm... t ti yfiU 1? tiUnk ou ve waste1 Precious time and suffered enough? If so, luentry Uie 5 drops ' and be promptly and permanently cured of your afflictions. 1 ,,mk. i 'T V , . . "& c lor vncumaiism, neuralgia, auuuwi FKkSL V?' Asthma, Hay-Fever, Dyspep. NervouZne eiSi' P5 Earache, Spasmodic and Catarrhal Croup, Toothack, e f?? ' S,f,eP,essness, Creeping Numbness, Halarla, and kindred dis named AFS hasUT more People; during the past four years, of the abort curinorf thaV er remcs known? in case of Rheumatism L aU ttet doctor9 Patent medicines, electric belts and battenei Sank itl "leycannot ce Chronic Rheumatism. Therefore, waste no tnon " s Drom rnoney longer, but try 5 Drops " and be promptly CURED. contS dncA only .the bes medicine, but it is the cheapest, for a t. 00 bolt!. foi - U For P"f Pe,bottle Prepaid by Iftail or express, or 6 bottlM Kndm10nra ? neX,1 SO days we will sen a 25c. sample FREE to anyone R to pay for the mailing. Agents wanted Write to-day. SWANSON RHEUMATIC CURE CO., 160-164 E. LAKE STREET, CHICAGO. PORTLAND DIRECTORY. , BUY THE GENUINE UP OF FIGS Fen on hikI Wire Works. l'OR'IXANn WlltlC lt I HON" WORKS: WIRE andiron fencing; ollice railing, eic. m Alder. Blachhiwi-y Sin,,,i. CAWSTOK A CO.: ENG1XKS, liOIMCUS, MA. chinery, supplies. 4S-6U First St.. PMri'.ind.Orl JOHN POOLE. 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A. nn inDDUli B1 nt CTAriD uHkMIOALUO. """"" " rffU, WINOINNATI.O.C 1 w,,u C.m IT ' 1 "lya, I ME.'w GnaraoMtd 11 14 J ft Pri".r' pr-P.lV WOMAN RELIEF FOR That tired, lanirnld feeltiifr.tho W'J.'lpne bark and the chronic headache will awvr quickly If you take Hoore's Revealed Re"1 It It an ideal medicine for women, Vicanant to take. 11.00 per bottle at youru N. P. v. n NO. 43- mention tuTi paper. :' '