OUT OF LOVE AND OUT O? DEBT
Of happy inen the happiest yet
Is he that's out of lore ard debt, .
"Who owes no kLss to womankind,
Who has no duns to craze his mind;
"With heart and thought and conscience free
"Where is the man more blest than he?
"Out of love and out of debt,"
Motto none will e'er regret.'
To all surrounding reconciled,
' Ee sleeps as sweetly as a child;
By neither love nor debjt distress'd,
Bis dreams but glorify his rest.
Ea never dreads the morn to see,
For days with days in peace agree.
"Out of love and out of debt."
Motto none will e'er regret.
"Who's had his share of debt and love
Knows what the peace they rob him of;
And, once relieved of love and debt,
His slavery never can forget.
No longer will he bend the knee,
But sing the paeans of the free
"Out of love and out of debt,"
Motto none will e'er regret.
For all the bliss that love can give,
There's more of woe with love to live;
Ee plucks the perfect, thornless rose,
Who honored manhood, no man owes.
No love, no debt, an I there's the key
Of life, for him, who'd happy b3.
"Out of love and out of debt,"
Motto none will e'er regret.
George Birdseye.
OUTJUGGLED.
"Now, turn your tongue loose, Mac,
and tell us a good story; some wild yarn.
We don't want any fancy stuff, but a
eal adventure, something exciting, out
of your knock-about experiences on the
frontier."
It was during our hunting trip up Red
river into Texas and the "Nations" terri
tory. We had camped that night in ihe
shelter of the bluffs, and had a roaring
camp-fire burning; for a blustering
'norther" had come down on us. Mac
tad figured as a traveling magician.
"Well, gentleman," Mac responded, at
length, and in compliance with our ur
gent, hilarious demand on him, "I will
tell you a little thing that happened tome
once on a time,, and not so very long ago,
either. It was last fall, in fact, and
came off at one of the Comanche vil
ages. "About the middle of November, I
was trailing my cart and show-truck over
the "Sill Route" once more, and I
camped for the night at the Comanche
town, as I had done a hundred times be
fore that. I knew the bucks, every one
of them, or thought I did, and I felt no
fear of going among 'em alone, though
before I'd always carried a driver.
"Well, I hadn't got my supper cooked
bef 6re a lot of young bravos came down
to my wagon and engaged me for a show
that evening in their new school-house !
Well, they've got one, a big log house,
with a board floor and seats. It had
just been built, and they'd got an edica
ted half-breed girl to teach.
"I told the young chaps that if they'd
help me rig a little staging and put up
my curtains and raise me live dollars, I'd
give 'em a first-class show, with all the
latest performances in legerdemain.
"Well, these young bucks that I was
Bpeaking of came down in 'bout an hour
with half the town, young and old, big
and little, at their heels, and away we
went, cart, horse and all, over to the
school-house, which was built in the
woods 'bout forty rods from the village.
In a very short space of time we had a
narrow staging rigged, and I hung my
calico curtains 'cross the front of it,
packed in my truck-chests, and while
the house was a-filling up plumb full of
the black, greasy-faced beggars, I got
ready for business.
"They raised me the five dollars in
silver, and paid it cheerful 'as you please ;
the beggars'll give, their last cent either
for a drink of whisky or to see any kind
of a queer performance that is new to
them.
"Well, I opened, up on 'em. I per
formed with rings, with cup and ball,
and set 'em all a-grunting and a-chug-gering
with delight.
"Then I loaded a pistol, marked the
bullet, and let em examine it ; and then
handing the pistol to a young buck, I
told him to shoot me square between the
eyes, lhat was too much for them Com
anches ; they just gripped their seats and
grunted like a lot of wild hogs . that
you've just jumped in a thicket of sweet
briers. "That young buck's hand trembled
like a mule's ear ; but he pulled down on
me, gritty like, shut his teeth and cut
loose. Then them Comanches just rose
to their feet and yelled! But I stepped
down out of the smoke and motioned 'em
back into their seats, and got 'em quiet
agin.
"Then I opened my lips and showed
'em the bullet between my teeth, and
when they'd all seen it there, I took it
out ffnd passed it round.. It had the
same marks as the bullet they'd seen me
put in the pistol.
"But I hadn't done with 'em yet; fool
that I was, I proposed the rope perform
ance, and called on two of their best
men to come up and tie ' me, telling 'em
that I could get out of their knots before
one of 'em could find time to saddle a
pony, if the horse were right there.
"I produced my rope, a good long one,
three-eighths, and stout enough to hold
a two-year-old steer. I laid down on the
platform and told 'em to come on and do
their tying. At first they all seemed a
little scared of trying; that bullet busi
ness, you see, had made 'em a little shy
'bout fooling around me.
"Presently, a big, tall, ugly-looking
old buck, wearing a green blanket round
him and a lot of dyed turkey feathers in
his hair, c:ime up on the stage and mo
tioned to a stout young one, sitting near,
to come and help him. The young chap
trotted up and they went at me.
"I swelled out my muscle3 with all my
might; you know how the trick's done;
bat, gentlemen, before they got half done
I knew I was cornered.
."I saw it in that old black villain's
wrinkled, scowling face and in his mur
derous, snaky little eyes. He was one of
their medicine-men, probably the greatest
of the tribe. The old brute was jealous
of me ; and, knowing there was nothing
any more supernatural about my tricks
than about his own heedyus juggling,
he'd made up his mind to corral me in
one of my own performances.
"Well, gentlemen, that rope was
passed round my wrists in a twinkling,
and drawed so tight that I winked- hard
with the pain, and I felt the veins swell
almost to bursting.
" From my wrists they passed the rope
tight around my waist, then took a half
hitch round my neck and knotted it
under my arms. Then they went for my
legs with the other end of the rope, and
tied my ankles (I'd. taken off my boots)
so tight that my feet ached before they'd
finished knotting.
"I laid there and never opened my
mouth; I wouldn't even let myself think
till they pulled the curtains .on me.
When they got through, I told 'em to
draw the curtain and shut me in so that
I might set my medicine at work upon
the ropes. I saw the old medicine-man
grin as I give the order. He shoved the
young fellow off the staging and pulled
the curtains to, leaving himself fnside.
Then I heard a surprised grunt all over
the house, and I began to think.
" I let my muscles relax and shrunk up
like a turtle; but them knots shrunk
with me, and I found myself helpless as
a baby; and there was that old grinning
wretch bending over me with his snakish
black eyes just glittering in triumph !
" 'Guess you've got me, old man,'
said I ; 'what arc you going to do about
it ?"
"He bent lower over me, and made a
hissing noise with his mouth, a noise that
sounded exactly like the buzz of a rattle
snake's tail. Everything and everybody
in the room was as still as a tomb-stone.
I couldn't hear a breath outside. All at
once that wretch stopped his hissing, and
y. ith. a quick movement jerked my head
up between his knees, jammed something
between my jaws, whipped a red scarf
out from under his blanket, and passed
it around my head and mouth gagged
me, in fact, tight as a double-sinched
bucker.
" 'I've given my last show on this
earth,' I thought. Then the old villain
backed down off the platform and slipped
out from under the curtain.
"There" was a general grunt of curiosity
and astonishment outside ; and a heap of
admiration for their old juggler was mixed
up with their racket.
" 'Silence!" growled the old wretch in
Comanche. 'Silence 1 I have breathed
upon the bad medicine-man of the whites.
If I had not done so, his vile, poisonous
breath would have slain every warrior in
the room. At midnight every one of you
would have died. Just as the moon rose
above the tree-tops, your spirits would
have left your bodies. Your squaws and
your children would have been given to
them crawling snakes the Creeks and the
Choctaws in the East.'
' ' Of course I'm only trying to give
you the substance of what he said. I
dont understand their jargon only well
enough to get their general meaning.
When the did man ceased speaking the
crowd just got up and shrieked the
awfullest blood-curdling yells you ever
dreamed of ! for a minute I thought my
time had come, and that I should be
torn to pieces by the screeching mob ;
but the old man shook his madicine-rat-tle
at 'em and down they set again, quiet
as you please.
"'Listen!' he" said. 'Go home now,
my children, to your tepees and sleep ;
come not here till morning, when you'll
find the bad medicine of the whites
harmless as the water of the Coder. He
shall not hurt you. Go and leave me
with the medicine-dog; for I must
breathe again upon him, and my breath
will take away all his charms and all his
magic. He shall ketch no more bullets
in his teeth. Go, my children, for my
breath is sacred and can be of no good,
until all the members of my tribe are in
their lodges.'
" And do you believe it, they all got
up ana skipped out of there, every
mother's son of 'cm ! There I was left
alone with the heedyus old beast. I had
worked desputly all the time he was
talking, trying to draw my hands from
the rope. I loosened one of 'em just a
trifle, enough to know that in half an
hour of hard work I could bring my
wrist through, by peeling all the skin off
with it. "Well, when they'd gone and
the last sound of 'em died away, the old
juggler stuck his face inside.
" 'I go now,' says he, 'I go to my
tepee to prepare my medicines against
the. medicine of the white dog. When I
come again the white man's magic shall
all be mine ; he will tell me all his medi
cines.' Then he came inside, felt of all
my knots, made himself sure of 'em, and
then went out and left me.
" 'So that's your game, is it?' thought
X and I began to take hope at once. I
hadn't time to think over the situation;
I just worked like a beaver, with the
sweat .pouring off me like rain off a
slicker. - 1
"It was a struggle for life; for of
course I hadn't a doubt but the medicine
man meant to kill me, whether I told
him any of my tricks or not. " He would
smother me like a cat in a sack, and pre
tend to his tribe that his. breath had
killed the medicine man of the whites,
when he would possess himself of my
trinkets and be the greatest man that
ever trod a Comanche town.
" AVell, he was gone longer than I had
any reason to hope for; and after a time
I wrenched my right hand through the
loop that held it. And I peeled it, too,
peeie'd it horribly. But after that the
work was easy; I got my arm loose, got
my jackknife out of my pocket, managed
to open the big blade with the stiff,
swelled fingers of my other hand. Then
I cut and slashed for a minute, tore the
bandage off my mouth, and spit out a
deer's-horn charm. I was nearly
smothered with my efforts; for of course
I couldn't breathe through my mouth till
I got the scarf off; but I soon gained my
breath and set up a free man.
"Then I began to think and to act.
My right hand was just streaming with
blood, and an idee struck me. I smeared
it all over my face, till it was perfectly
red with blood. Then I got up and
fished a white sheet out of one of my
chests, a piece of white 'factory' that I'd
used in some of my tricks. I put that
around me, turned down the lantern and
the other light inside the curtains, got
out my six-shooter, then leaned back
against the wall and waited.
"I was nearly half an hour yet before I
heard the old heathen coming, lie stole
in, soft as a cat, and slid along up the
curtains. I always carry three lamps
with me. Two of them were burning in
the room; but he seemed puzzled about
the light behind the curtain. Presently
he opened a crack and peeked in. What
do you think I saw? Thehorriblest fac
ever-a human being wore! The cheeks
painted a blarish green, half-moons of
ghastly yellow under the eyes, a jet
black ring about the ugly, grinning
mouth, and three blood-red stripes across
the forehead ; while the little black eyes
shone with a fierce, beastly glitter that
couldn't be described.
"He'd got himself up. in a more fearful
shape than I had. Hewas going to scare
me; but he didn't succeed not any 1
"He give a surprised 'whooh' as he
looked on the floor; there was nothing
there but a bloody spot. I'd cleared
away the ropes and tossed 'em one side.
Then he looked up and I stepped for
ward, jerked the curtains one side, and
exhibited my git-up to him. With a
sharp yell he threw up both his hands,
and there came over his bedaubed face
the ghastliest look of fright it's ever been
my fortune to behold. I wish I could
have painted it; I should be famous to
day. .
"But I didn't give him any time to re
cover; I jumped for him, and struck out
as I jumped. He went his length on
that platform like a beef-ox. Then I
grabbed the pieces of rope, and before
he come to himself enough to realize
what the movement meant, I had him
tied, yes, and had that old deer's-horn
charm between his jaws, bound there
with his own red scarf, tighter than
wax !
"I'd bound him with limp muscles, and
he was there to stay ! He came to him
self in a minute and glared at me fright
fully. "Ha; ha! says I. 'You'll breathe on
the white dog, will you you? Lay there
and learn to let the medicine of the white
man alone!'
But I didn't waste time palavering at
him. I hustled my things out of there,
hitched onto my cart, and skipped out
and away ; and, gentlemen, I never went
fooling round any Comanche village
agin." Youth's Companion.
The. Origin of the Postoffice.
The English Illustrated Magazine says
that the postoffice is an example of the
mode in which things change while
names remains. It was originally the
office which arranged the posts or places
at which, on the great roads, relays of
horses and men could be obtained for
the rapid forwarding of government dis
patches. There was a chief postmaster
of England many years before any sys
tem of conveyance of private letters by
the crown was established. Such letters
were conveyed either . by carriers, who
used the same horses throughout their
whole journey, or by relays of horses
maintained by private individuals, that
is, by private post. The set erne of car
rying the correspondence, of the public
by means of crown messengers originated
in connection with foreign trade. A
postoffice for letters to foreign parts was
established "for the benefit of the Eng
lish merchants" in the reign of James 1.,
but the extension of the system to in
land letters was left to the succeeding
reign. James I., by a proclamation is
sued in 1635, may be said to have
founded the present postoffice. By this
proclamation he commanded his "post,
master of England for foreign parts to
settlca running post or two, to run night
and day between Edinburgh and Lon
don, to go thither and come back again
in six days, and to take with
them all such letters as shall be directed
to any post town in or near that road."
Neighboring towns, such as Lincoln and
Hull, were to be linked on to this main
route, and posts on similar principles were
rdirected to be established on other great
high roads, such as those to Chester and
Holyhead, to Exeter and Plymouth. So
far no monopoly ' was claimed, but two
years afterward a second proclamation
forbade the carriage of letters by any
messengers except those of the king's
postmaster-general, and thus the present
system was inaugurated. The monopoly
thus claimed, though no doubt devised
by the king to enhance the royal power
and to bring money into the exchequer,
was adopted, by Cromwell and his parlia
ment, one main advantage in their eyes
being that the carriage of correspondence
by the government would afford "the
best means to discover and prevent any
dangerous and wicked designs against
the "commonwealth." The opportunity
of an extensive violation of letters, espe
cially if they proceeded from suspected
royalists, was no doubt an attractive bait;
and it is rather amusing to notice how
the tables were thus turned on the mon
archial party by means of one of the sov
ereign's own acts of aggression. How
ever, from one motive or another royalists
and parliamentarians agreed in the estab
lishment of a state post, and the institu
tion has come , down without a break
from the day of. Charles I. . to our own.
Wild Animals in Madagascar.
The woods of Madagascar are full of
wild animals, according to a " traveler,
who says the country contains vicious,
venomous serpents of extraordinary size.
Not snakes, but huge serpents bodies
as big as a man's, and thirty or forty
feet long; powerful enough to kill a
horse or swallow an ox. Thy hang
down from the limbs in the forests ana
snatch up the natives, going along, and
make a breakfast off one with as much
unconcern as a fly taps -a sugar cork.
Near Andavaka Menarana is a deep cave
called "The Serpent's Hole," and it is so
full of them that they frequently drive
the villagers all indoors. Then the
rivers swarm with crocodiles, the biggest
I ever saw. These the natives worship
as water-gods, and are superstitious
about killing them. They try to pro
pitiate the creatures by prayers and
throwing in charms or odys, but. their
virtue is owing to the noise and shouting
and beating the water with which the
offering of ody is always accompanied.
Why, these animals eat up all the sheep
and hogs, and even larger cattle that
come anywhere near the banks ; and they
don't refuse women and children who
venture near. A Jtasy. which is a fine
lake, sixty miles west of the capital, the
people believe that if a crocodile be killed
a human life will within a very short
time be exacted by the monster's brother
relatives as an atonement for the death.
When I was there some Frenchmen shot
several, and they had to leave the coun
try at once, or the people would have
murdered them. . The earth has white
cats, the air wild bees, sand-flies and
mosquitos as big as beetles, and whose
sting hurts like a dog's bite. The ants
are the greatest pests I ever saw. They
eat every article of provision or apparel;
scarce any precaution can elude their
vigilance and cunning. They raise a
hollow cylinder of earth perpendicularly
toward their object, and through it as by
a ladder they ascend by thousands. They
are terrible persecutors of the sick ; they
will reach the bed in a night's time,
though hung at a distance from the
ground, when their bites, like scalding
water poured upon the skin, was more in
tolerable than the disease itself. The
sandflies and mosquitoes were terrible
plagues, but nothing to compare with the
wild bees, who would swarm in the bed
room and sting every intruder. Locusts
come two or three times in a summer and
eat up everything green. But nature is
so prolific here that in eight days the
verdure -will be all out again.
The First Inauguration.
Ben Perley Poore. the Washington
correspondent, in his "Reminiscences,"
says : William Dunlap, the artist, graph
ically described the appearance of Wash
ington and other dignitaries at the first
inauguration. The oath was adminis
tered on the balcony of Federal Hall, in
Wall street, New York, where a statue of
Washington now marks the spot. This
building had been erected for the ac
commodation of Congress under the di
rection, of Major L'Enfant, a French offi
cer of 'engineers, who afterward planned
the city of Washington. In front of the
balcony were the volunteer companies of
militia in full uniform, with a large con
course of citizens. General "Washington
is described as having worn on that day
a plain suit of brown cloth, coat, waist
coat and breeches of home manufacture,
even to the buttons, on which Rollinson,
an engraver, had portrayed the arm3 of
the United States. White silk stockings
showed the contour of a manly leg; and
his shoes, according to the fashion of that
day, were ornamented with buckles. His
head, was uncovered and his hair dressed
and powdered, for such was the univer
sal custom of the time. Thus was his
tall, fine figure presented to our view at
the moment which forms an epoch in the
history of nations. John Adams, a shorter
figure, in a similarly plain dress, but with
the (even then) old-fashioned Massachu
setts wig, stood at Washington's right
hand, and opposite to the president-elect
stood Chancellor Livingston in a full
suit of black, ready to administer the
prescribed oath of office. Between them
was placed Mr. Otis, the clerk of the
Senate, a small man, bearing the Bible
on a cushion. In the background of this
picture aid in the right and left com
partments formed by the pillars stood
the warriois and sages of the Revolution.
When all was ready General Washing
ton stretched forth his hand with that
simplicity and dignity which character
ized all his actions, and placed it on the
open book. The oath of office was read,
the Bible was raised and he bow ed his
head upon it, reverentially kissing it.
The chancellor then made proclamation :
"God 6ave George Washington, Presi
dent of the United States of America."
A shout went up from the multitude,
cannons were fired near by, the music
played and every one appeared delighted.
A Frightful Fungus.
One of the most remarkable fungi of
which .there is any record grew in the
wine celiar of Sir Joseph Banks. He
received a cask of wine as a gift, and
finding it too sweet had it locked up in
a cellar to ripen. There it remained for
three years, probably during the time he
was with Captain Cooke in his voyage
around the world. At the end of that
period he directed his butler to ascertain
the state of the wine, but the cellar door
could not be opened on account of some
powerful obstacle within. The door was
cut down, when the cellar was found to
be completely filled with a fungus so
dense and firm as to require an' axe for
its removal. It was then discovered that
the fungns had consumed every drop of
wine and raised the cask to the ceiling.
According to statistics prepared by Dr.
Ale. Johannsenr scarlet fever is oo j
the main causes Qi death in Sweden.
NEWS AND NOTES FOE WOMEN.
Sapphire-blue is a favorable color for
the dresses of growing girls.
Queen Victoria' is the richest woman
in the world, and growing' richer.
The grain of wood makes the pattern
for the polka dots on some of the new
patterns in calico.
Tufts of white chenille in the form ol
dots, balls, tassels and blocks occur on
many of the new veilings.
Coquelicot red bonnets with trimming?
of red maple wings will be worn by pale
ladies of fair complexion. .
Mrs. Livermore, in a recent lecture,'
said that in the west she nnas "a periect
network of women's clubs."
Very narrow velvet ribbon, as narrow
as soutache braid, is used in large quan
tities on imported bonnets.
It is now the extravagant fashion to
use as much material as possible in the
Bkirts and overskirts of dresses.
Spring wools in the new brown-gray
tints and also those in vert-de-gris pre
dominates in fresh importations.
The beautiful and durable taffeta is
again the favored silk both for all-silk
toilets and silk and velvet combinations. ,
India shawh arc formed into graceful
spring mantles by means of silver or gilt
buckles, used to hold the folds in place.
Lace waistcoats, or rather satin waist
coats, covered with pleatings of lace,
are very fashionable on toilets of black
silk.
The full silk waistcoat used in the
summer dresses will be elaborately
strapped rather than allowed to hang
loose.
Pleated pelerines, of the. material of
the dress, come as the fashionable wrap,
with Parisian 'dresses for very young
ladies.
New .York florists have adopted a
fashion of encircling all bouquets with a
wreath of ivy leaves, giving them a very
stiff effect.
Round hats trimmed with velvet
scarfs, which are fastened loosely about
the throat, are called Spanish by those
who find that the curves of the scarf re
mind them of the mantilla.
White nun's veiling is extensively worn
by little girls at children's parties. Some
of . the new styles for children's dresses
are exceedingly quaint and pretty. Puffed
sleeves are worn, and the Kate Greenaway
waists are still very popular.
The Princess Louise has recently re
gained the youthfulness of appearance
which she possessed before her late visit
to Canada. At a recent wedding she
wore a dark-red satin, with bonnet to
match, and a boa and muff of skunk fur.
Mrs. Mary A. Miller's final capture of
the captaincy of a Mississippi steamboat
has kept biographers busy in setting
forth her many merits. She is said to be
equally at home on the river or on shore,
and to carefully adapt her language to
the emergencies of either.
Nilsson displayed at a recent reception
in Philadelphia many elegant diamonds,
among which were a diamoud bird of
paradise in her hair and a comb of five
very large diamonds. On the front of
the corsage she wore twenty-seven dia
monds, nearly all presented to her by th(X"
late czar of Russia and the king of Swe-V,
den. On the left of her corsage she wore
the court order of Sweden, encased in
diamonds, also an order of the comman
der of Germany of art and science, and
a similar one from Russia. Her bracelet?
and shoe-buckles were also ornamented
with the same precious jewels.
The Brakeman's Story.
"Was I ever in an accident?"' echoed
the brakeman, as he took off his gloves,
readjusted his necktie, and brushed off
imaginary dust after putting some coal
in the heater. "Never had an accident
in my life, sir, but I come mighty close
to it several times. Closest call I ever
had was down near Laporte. We stopped
to fix up a hot-box, apd as I knew the
limited was close behind us I skipped,
back with my lantern in a hurry. Hadn't
gone more'n ten or twelve yards when I
heard her a-comin' about a mile off, per
haps more. There was a curve right
there, 'and I couldn't see her. Ilearin' of
her made me a bit anxious, and I started
to run faster it was a snowy, blowy
night when I slipped down, broke my
lantern, and the wind blew it out. Here
was a fix me a hundred feet from the
rear of my train, expected to stop No.
20, and her a-comin' down the grade
and round the curve, and my lantern
outl Now I tell you I did some
pretty quick thinking then. I hadn't
time to get back to the train, get another ,
lantern, and get far enough to stop her.
Couldn't strike a match in the wind, cer
tain, and for a second or two . I didn't
know what to do. Then it come back to
me like a flash, and didn't I hustle ! , Run
back to my train, pulled the rope for our
I engineer to go ahead, yelled with all my
might to the conductor, who was ahead
where the hot box was, and grabbed the
red bulls-eye from the rear platform,
climbed up on the brake and then on to the
coach, and when I got there held my
bulls-eye up high and waved her across
the track. It was as I thought. I could
see twenty's headlight frora up there
would she 6ee me? Apparently not, for
she came along like mad as I felt myself
going crazy. But - as soon as she struck
the tangent of the curve the engineer
looked my wny, saw the red light, and
put her down hard. You see if I had
stayed off the track he couldn't have seen
the light at all; but even as it was, noth
ing saved us but the fact that our train
started up in time to get fairly L'oing be
fore twenty saw my bulls-eye. Not a
passenger knew what a close call we'd
had. ' Neither did the buperintendent,
you bet. Elkhart! Elkhart! Twcntv
mmutes ior ainner v vntcajc utruia.