THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL.: PORTLAND,. SUNDAY "MORNING, NOVEMBER I, 1903 .
' '- - - . . ... - . ' " l j 1
" ' . , . ' ' '''""v ' - ' ' ' i, , (Copyright.. 3130g.r Th North Amerlcaa Company) ' -. -- ' - "' 1 m'immi
AMouseinArmar
PERHAPS wdu or you may lemera
ber how Uttle Elsie was impris
oned In lb Immense clock which
stood In the hallway et grandpa' house.
Sh had always supposed a big slant
Jived there, jrou know, and that It was
h who boomed forth solemnly th half
hours and the hours. And when aha
, saw the door ajar and no one within
she felt tempted to hide there, just to
see how U felt Then the door swung
to and ahe waa Held faat Inside. Grand
pa had rescued her, so that really no
harm was done; but ever afterward
aa ahe passed along that hall, by the
old clock, she couldn't help shuddering.
Months after this adventure happened
she paid another visit to grandpa and
grandma, accompanied by her father
and mother, as was her custom. - she
ran out to the barn as soon as she had
greeted every one at the bouse, and
there saw her friends among the ani
mals. -
When she had satisfied herself that
not one of her old pets had been slight
ed, and when she had said "Good after
noon" even to the geese, she made her
way back to the house. Running up the
steps, across tne porch and then through
the great oaken doors, soon she' found
herself in the hall. Timorously she tip
toed along. She had almost reached th
REMOVED THE CASQUE
stairs leading to : the sitting room . on
the floor above., when suddenly' she
heard a funny creaking noise. Elsie
quickly turned her head. What a sight
met her eyes I
Right behind : her stood a complete
suit of armor, worn by one of Elsie's
ancestors far back in the Middle Ages..
" And now It' seemed that this suit of
mall waa turning its headpiece toward
her, while it squeaked and creaked as
tnough striving to speak. ,
One moment the little girl looked,
spellbound ; then she darted upstairs
with- a shriek-
"Grandpa! Grandpa! the armor baa
come to life!" she cried.
Of course, all the folk descended to
the hall at once.- And when father re
moved the casque of the figure what
do you think he found? Nothing but a
little mouse, which eaped to the floor -and
darted through the hall. This little
mischief-maker, ft seems, built his nest
In -the armor, and he it was who moved
the head and made the mysterious
1 squeaks. . ' ' -
TTtxe ?v6ocIoo Qucerv
MRS. LACERC gazed anxiously
across the table at the colonel,
who nervously toyed with the
food before him,
"Aren't you feeling well?" she asked,
solicitously. "You look worried."
; 'I beg 'ydur pardon," exclaiiued the
colonel, rousing himself from his reverie.
"Th fact Is," he added, frankly ,"I am
a bit worried. Until lately everything
ba gone well witb my new project for
th manufacture of paper bags from
bagasse, the woody fiber of sugar cane.
Uut now the darkles' appear discontent- -ed
both those in the fields and the
workers In the mill. Why, even old
Uncle Toby; who Is usually aa open
and cheerful as the day, Is moping and
sullen. The hands seem to think they
deserve . higher wages, although for
merly . they always were contented. I
don't understand it."
LOUIS EXPLAINS
Louis and Marguerite listened to this
conversation, of course, without saying
a word. But when breakfast waa oVer,
and theywere trudging toward the
stables to have their ponies saddled for
the usual morning canter, Louis gave
expression to the thoughts which
troubled them both.
"I knew something was the matter,"
be muttered. "And, do you know. I
think it's' all on account of that, nice
looking darky girl they c&4l "Handsome
Sue, who came here to work about two
weeks ago. Her people all believe she
ran do all sorts of wonderful magic
through her voodoo charms. She has a
iireat Influence among them an influ-. .
ence which 1 don't believe will make tor
unv good. ; .. . - .. i .'
"Did I tell you of what happened to
.? last weekt I was paddling in the
i a you toward Lake Pontchartraln. It
as about ' eight miles from Pecan
;rove, if you measure the distance as
the crow , flies, when I crew up under
an overhanging. cypress to rer a mo-ii.i-iit.
All at once there came to me the
fund or voices, mingled in a kind of
iiant, That started me Investigating.
j pnuureu iuiij w quieuy as l could.
Jt seems thattheyhad some one on' the
... wpout to come
in viW Of th group there w.. -
merice. and when I scrambled bp the
tank I found a greet number of foet.
j -ints. tmt'no on? was there. Yet I'm
fine when I, was in the boat I heard
mrh;..th,. voces that of 'Handsome
ow f
AT THE smithy, in the glare of a
blaaing forge. Paul wrestled
with 4 troublesome problem.
Where DID they go? Closely
his eye would follow .the comet flight of
pale golden sparks, created in myriads
with each rhythmic descent of the
ponderous hammer. Darting from the
glowing metal like tiny stars, they
twouJd hang suspended In the air. All
a'gllttering and a-mmerlng they
would be. until a fairy breath would
blow them out. Then gone would be
sputter and shimmer and star. And
lltfle Paul would rub his eyes and won
der and wonder Just WHITHER they
had vanished.
But Paul was not ao much absorbed
In this problem as to be indifferent to
happenings out of doors. Suddenly he
exclaimed:
"Oh, father, there's a man coming
'down the road and he bar a gun and
wears soldier clothes!"
Shading his tyes with his hand, the
blacksmith gazed from the doorway
along the one, straggling thoroughfare
of the village. An instant later he bel
lowed :
" 'Pon my word, If it's not Remsen
young Dick Remsen! Well, well, Dick;
so you're home again!"
The wayfarer was easily within range
of the smith's powerful voice, and he
shouted lustily. In return,."K!ght you
are, John!"
Having cordially shaken hands, the
two engaged in animated conversation.
It seemed that Lord Howe's troops had
sailed for Halifax, and Dick, a private
in the Continental Army, was home
from Boston on a short furlough.
"Before long," commented John Elli
ott, '.'we'll see a British fleet riding
here in the sound; mark my words."
- "Then they'll go as did the other
fleet!" fiercely responded Dick, shoul
dering his musket with an eager move
ment. Turning to go, he observed little
PauL - v
"Have you no greeting for me. lad no
greeting for your old friend Dick?"
Paul came forward shyly. Of course,
he always had a welcome' for Dick, but
this wasn't the same Dick to whom he
had been accustomed. HIS Dick wore
no uniform ot- buff and blue; nor was
"PEERED THROUGH
Marguerite noddci her head thought
fully, as she replied, "Yes, there's
something strange about that girl. 1
wish we knew more about her."
"I have it!" cried Louis. "Today, of
course is a holiday, being All Saints
Day. It a ten to one Sue is holding a
meeting out there in the bayou. Sup
pose we take tho two hounds, and pole
down the stream in the little scow. We
might be nbiv to break up their Jab
barree and do a good turn for father
Becaus. if they believe he knows wh"t s
going on. 1 11 wager they won t be so
aiHtious to held their council again to
plan mischief" Are you game?"
4H4a sister recklessly whispered, "Yes "
And aoon the two were steaithi y mak
ni.llt.helLr.LtOW,a.rd boatndftg.
without ieing- observed by $Tt&
stablemen. They quicklycast off the
painter. In a moment till tun,, of Iht
bayou hid them rrom view """ ot lne
A long voyage It was to their deati
, nation. After winding for a full h,r
; through m Wtuous Biya""f thS
Louisiana bayou.; they came to the la-
goon. Over this they poled,- then nait
fields of cotton and rice-and suga?
and sweet potatoes; then again into the
bayou, traveling silently along
gloomy watery paths, shaded .by thick
ly growing pine and cypres. Turtles
; snd -snakes would splash off dead
stumps of tree at th boafg approach.
1 -MlKI " :
the JJick be remembered - it to carry
big, heavy musket. During' the men's
conversation he had watched Dick with
. laeoien eyes of astonishment,
clutching a corner -of hia father's
leather apron the while.
Tins lear soon passed away, however,
and so much did Paul learn from "Pri
vate Dick" about the soldiers that he
longed for the time when he himself
could carry a big, heavy gun and march
away to fight.
Several weens passed. In the mean
time John Elliott enlisted In the army.
Mrs. Elliott. Aunt Harriet and Paul
were left by themselves In the little
house and the village of Bucschwlcka
was without a blacksmith.
One peaceful summer's day, still In
the year 1776. John Elliott's predic
tion was -fulfilled. Into Long Island
sound sailed a British fleet; therefrcm
swarmed an army of red-coated sol
diers. Lord Howe had come from Hall
rax. With him In the encampment on
Staten Island were troops of 30.000
well-trained men.
THE ..UK OK Him o'oij.'
Beneath them catfish, drum, crapple,
buffalo-fish and black bass disported
themselves. But the adventurers were
not to be tempted today. They were
after greater prey.
"Aren't we almost there?" whispered
Marguerite,- when for hours they had
steadily progressed away from Pecan
Grove, in the direction of the lake.
"Almost," tersely responded Louis.
Then he raised his hand.
"Did you hear that?" he asked in a
low voice.
Marguerite nodded. From afar off
there came the sound of a quavering
chorus, rising, and falling In mournful
cadences. Afterward there was a min
ute of quiet, then came a succession of
qui,ck. savage yells that fell confusedly
on the ear.
Louis again bent to bis work of forc
ing the punt through the tangled brush,
while Marguerite set about quieting the
hounds, whtf had become exceedingly
restless. At last they rounded the bank
Louis had described that' morning. He
one had witnessed their approach.
"You stay In the boat with the dogs,
while 1 reconnoiter," said the boy:
Carefully drawing himself up the slip
pery embankment, he sidled from one
tree t another. . ;. .
Meanwhile, his I sister waited with
growing impatience. .It seemed, a full
hour had elapsed when, the lad re
turned. ..-.'
"Bring thj) dogs,', he arttculaled. tt
5 A
"CUT IMMENSE CHUNKS FROM A HAM"
Scarcely two months later there was
borne to the ears of those who re
mained in Buesckwicke the sound of
strenuous conflict. The rattle of mus
ketry could be distinguished clearly,
together with the persistent boom of
cannon.' Paul huddled close to his
mother as she and Aunt Harriet sat
In pale-faced anxiety. At last the
tiring ceased; silence again reigned
over the hamlet. Wishing to escape
from the stifling air of the closed
T,oom Paul took advantage of a fa
vorable opportunity to steal away to
the red barn. High up in the hayloft
he secreted his small person. Cer
tainly no redcoat could find him There!
All at once the boy was startled to
hear a fumbling at the door latch.
The door swung open and a soldier
in the Continental uniform staggered
In. After a momentary indecision he
desperately climbed to the hayloft,
flinging himself down, exhausted, near
the lad's hiding place. Paul's first
impulse was to bury himself deeper
in the hay. Then, although 'his heart
NOT that the monkey was an un
gracious host no. Indeed, he
was anything but that. When
the tortoise arrived at his house on the
evening before, he had made the old
fellow welcome, saying:
"Come In. Mr. Tortoise, and I shall
make you as comfortable as I can."
And when the rabbit came wearily to
a halt beforethe monkey's door, and
begged the favor tof a glass of water,
the monkey straightway pulled him Into
the house and declared that he should
lodge Ihere for the rest of the night.
So. too. the kangaroo waa forced to
become the guest of the kind Mr. Mon
key. his mouth, though making no sound,
and beckoning with his' hand. -
With the dogs held in leasn, Ihey
traveled with little difficulty toward the
open space among the trees, where the
negroes were holding their voodoo meet
ing. There was no fear of being de
fected now, for the darkies wef so
hilarious thst they could not have heard
a cannon above the uproar.
Peering through the screen of bushes,
the eyes of the two grew big stnd round.
Upon a large box In the middle of a
clearing stood "Handsome Sue," garbed
in clothes and scarfs of brilliant colors
In which red predominated. Bound and
round the box she writhed In a peculiar .
sort of dance, while about her In a great
circle danced negro men and women
with queer. Jerky, convulsive move
ments. THE NEGROES FLEE
Then, with a sign of warning to Mar
guerite. Louis released the dogs. Right
Into the center of the meeting ground
dashed the two huge animals. One
glance, and with cries of alarm and ter
ror, every negro was In flight. So sud
den was the disappearance that Mr
guerlte and Louis could hardly believe
their eyes. They recalled the dogs, who
were about to pursue some of the ne
groes. '" '
So excited were the boy and girl that
they could hardly accomplish th Jour
ney back home quickly enough. And
when they burst In upon their father,
the colonel, you can imagine how In
terested he was in their story. .
"You shouldn't have done It," he said,
when the tale of their escapade was .
concluded. "Nevertheless, I'm glad, -indeed,
to learn of these doings among
my hands. I believe I can now go about
remedying my troubles in the proper
way."
As a result of the children's discovery.
"Handsome Sue" was discharged on the,
morrow. She It was. nq doubt, who had
Incited the darkies to make sucb unrea
sonable demands. There was-a. general -murmur
of protest and somewhat of
defiance when Sue Was tld -to depart.
A few of the hands left with her. but
the rest, now removed rom-lbe influ
ence of the voodoo queen, soorr "became
the capable workers they were for
merly, and all discontent- seemed to
vanish., -r , - ,
..- Marguerite and Loujs often recalled
"Handsome Sue," and wondered whether
she became the queen of another body
of voodoo worshipers, Marrnarlte was -just
a teeny, weeny bit afraid that per- ..
. haps the "queen" might' east some "
horrible spell upon them, as was inti
mated by her .old bursa But Louis
scoffed at the Idea and declsred He wss -
i ready to meet any numher of '"!"
andjat grjmgj foqry
went thump, tliumu. l(iuui! ie lound
courage to, peer through the hay
screening. hvim into the wounded man's-dust-begrlmed
face.
private uick! ' ue gasfed. thrust
ing aside the hay.
"Lieutenant Diek." corrected the
man as he feebly smiled.
Again, there came a noise at the
door: Lieutenant Dick motioned the
boy to be silent. The- next instant
there entered four British troopers.
Reasoning from the quantity of pro
visions carried their foraging for
food had not been unsuccessful.
The. troopers had Jested for a while
about the Americans' defeat, when
one of them, busily occupied In cut
ting Immense chunks from a ham
with his claspknlfe, remarked:
"I believe about 3000 of the rebels
got away. They've scampered toward
the fort ny the ferry. ,Lrl Howe's
orderly says we're going to clean
them out tomorrow before daybreak
least, so he heard the general say.
Shortly afterward the soldiers In
Wherein the
Quests Do
But It was for the very reason that
the monkey Indignantly refused pay-P
ment that the three Wayfarers wished
to return his kindness in some fitting
way. Had he not something to do
work of some sort with which they
might aid him?
No. said the monkey at first, and then
he bethought himself that t waa high
time his wheat were sown. Did the tor
toise, the rabbit and the kangaroo wish
to help him? It would not take so very
long.
Of course the three Vould help. And'
they straightway stung the bags of
grain about their shoulders. Over the
field they went, sowing the grain Indus-
(nningf Ofin Airships
'"A''-;:"'!" ' " "v- V );'" ; '''.' ' J: " v "-"' i. '"'''. ''' '-"'' -V;. -".'V. ' .
high humor tramped from- the barn.
"Going to attack the fort tonlghtl
I must warn our men! I've simply
got to do It!" Dick, with an effort,
raised himself to his elbow; then be,
collapsed.
"Confound this leg!" he moaned, his
features working with anger .and
naln "
For a minute he lav aulet. his eyes
closed. Suddenly he looked up at
Paul.
"Lad," said he, "your father told me
he would turn Dobbin Into the woods.
Is the horse still there?"
"Yes, father took Jupiter svwaywltk
him," replied Paul, "but Dobbin Is In
the woods." ' -
"Perhaps the British haVen't found
him," Dick murmured, reflectively.
Looking . straight Into Paul's eyes, he
said:
"Lad, I taught you to ride. Are you
willing to catch old Dobbin, and ride
to the ferry with the message I will
give you? Will you do this for me,
and for your country?" '
Paul drew himself up to his fuu
height, and clenched his sturdy little
fists tightly. "Yes, Lieutenant Dick.'
be whispered steadily, although his lip
quivered the least bit.
Dick hastily wrote upon r a piece of
paper. When finished, he read aloud i
"Colonel ,Hall: "l
"Am lying wounded at Bueschwlcke.
Fort should be abandoned Immediately.
British attack, tomorrow morning
"LIEUT. RICHARD REMSEN."
As though in afterthought, the lieu
tenant scribbled -another little note.
Both pieces of paper he rolled Into
tiny pellets. He handed them to Paul,
saying:
"Take this first piece of paper and
give it to the soldiers at the fort
that Is. if you can. Should British
men stop you, destroy the paper
(swallow it, if you have to), tell them
you nave just come from the fort, but
have lost your way, and. show them
this other pellet. Now, lad, you'd beat
be off. May God bless you!"
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Monkey's
Hxrrn -
trlously. So hard did they work that
by noon the task waa finished. There
upon the monkey Invited them to din
ner, after which he speeded them upon
their way.
The monkey had almost forgotten
about his three guests when the shoots
of the young wheat began to appear
above the ground. Out to his Held
trudged the monkey to examine Its
growth. But when there he stared
aghast. . How did it happen that the
wheat grew in such, peculiar fashion?
Then the solution of the problem pre
sented Itself to him.
The tortoise, la sowing, made such
slow progress that the grains were
Caliph-Merchant
XOUR MAJESTT. there remains)
. " I 2i la treasury.,
What .hill ww do t detrn
the expenses of our household?"
"Dp aa you bay done la th paaV"
returned the oallpb, with a scowl: 1u
th people." , . '
The grand -vizier book his ' bead
doubtfully, They ar already on the
point of revolting because of thelt
heavy Uses," said he, -nor do r"thtaa
tiorrWni ubroU to t further lmposv.
"Qo". cried the caliph, "you weary
me- Why, after my having , appointed
you th look after my affairs, do VoS
com to me- with your troubles Have) "
"SELLS THE GOODS"
you not sufficient brains to plan I Leave.
Sfflculty."1 tS'nk ot Way out
And when the caliph had smoked sev
enteen narghllehs which, aa you know,
are a sort of water pipe he hit upon a
scheme.
.The next day it was .announced
throughout Bagdad that the caliph nim
seir was about to sell merchandise upon
the main street. v
J?J S0"?; tho whoI population of the;
city flocked to where the caliph sat
under his tent, erected on the sidewalk
.nd ""'rounded with bales of costly fab-'lc,"-
Th" caPh had but to flx his own
FhS Ji0 tnay "ur that he made
tnem high enough and the people
bought and bought until be had dis
posed of all his wares.
w" long before the callphj
21? ,!.uc.nu.vaft "um" ,n tho way oC
profit that his treasury was again filled,
whereupon he promptly retired from,
business." The very first thing he did
after resuming his throne was to order
t2vFra,nd. vU'er DUt to death, because
of his lack of cleverness. Bo, you see,
the caliph couldn't have been a very
good man. even though he had mucH
brains.
dropped very close together so close
that when they grew up tfley would
make it difficult for the monkey to pas)
through the waving top. And the rab
bit ran so swiftly that the wheat was),
distributed over a vast tract of ground,
only a grain or two appearing In any.
one place. While the kgaroo deposit
ed a handful of wheat at each hop, so
that the wheat grew up In widely sep
arated clumps.
And the monkey found that the tor
toise, the rabbit and the kangaroo bad
unintentionally made nlrn the Uoghlag
stock of every one thereabout; People,
came from far and near to view thla
strange-looking field of grain, and poked
all manner of fun at th monkey.
r a A