South Carolina leader. (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-18??, December 23, 1865, Image 1
AIXEK COFFIN, Editar.
?<
First the blade, then the ear, after that the full cx>rn in. the ear."-Paul.
FO?FR D0I?AES ME
Vol. I.
CHAJRLESTO?-T, S?TTJEDAY, [DECEMBER 23, 1865
2ST?.
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POETRY.
TKEASUKES.
i lave some withered Mowers
That are softly laid away,
Not i-eeause they were so beautiful
And fragrant in their day ;
Bat litt le lingers clasped them,
And little lips caressed,
.lad little hands so tenderly
Place.! them on 44 mothers " breast.
Ti* paper that enfolds them
Was white in other years ;
ir "tis yellow now, and crumpled,
And stained with many tears.
Vet, though they look so worthless,
This paper and that enfoldsthera
They clasp and hold; like links of gold,
Memories of jewel-hours.
1 have some litt-e ringlets
That are softly laid away,
Their lustre and their beauty
Arc like thc sun's glad ray.
But 'tis not for this 1 prize them
it is that they restore
Thc tender grace of a loving face*
That gladdens earth no more.
As shipwrecked men, at midnight,
Have oft been known to cling
With a silent prayer, in wild despair,
To sorac frail floating thing
So 1, in darkened moments;
Clas,\ with a voice ess prayer,
Whi st wandering wide on griefs deep tide,
These locks of golden hair.
I have some broken playthings
That are softly laid away,
With some dainty little garments
Made in a long past day.
To each there is a history ;
But this I may not tell,
Lest the old, old flood of sorrow
Again should rise and swell.
Sw that the skies have brightened,
And the fearful storm is o'er,
Let me sit in tender c Imness,
On^lemory's silent shore,
And count tlic simple treasures
That still remain to show
Where Hope's fair freight, by saddest fate,
Was shipwrecked, long ago.
1 have another treasure
That 1 have softly laid away,
And, though 1 have not seen it
This* many a we?ry day,
?rora everything around me
Comes a token and a sign
Toat His fondly watched and guarded,
And that it still is mine.
When the dowers lie dead in winter;
In their winding-sheets of snow,
We know they'll ris^to charm our eyes
Again in Summer's glow.
Thus ?, in this chill season,
When frost and darkness reign,
Wait the blest Spring, whose warmth shall bring
Life to ?y flower again.
Home Joumtd.
The Philadelphia Board of Health have em
ployed agents, who go to every house and di
rect >the . removal of everything calculated to
generate noxious effluvia that meets their atten
tion.
An enfant terrible once asked a lady if the
person living in the next house to her was an
idiot. ""Not that I know of," replied the lady.
..Why to you ask, ?rnld:" ? Because," said
the child, " mamma says you are next door to
an idiot.n
It is remarked (says a London reporter),
hy the police of the water side, that nearly
every female who throws herself into the water
is careful to divest herself of her bonnet and
lhawl, which are placed on the ground in such
a manner as n&t to be in the least damaged.
COMMUNICATED;
Articles inserted under this head are written by
correspondents. We shall be glad to publish com
mmweations of merit, but do not hold ourselves re
spoaesfel? lor their sentiments.
SANE-BANK ZOTTIN&S.-No. IV;
MK. EDITOR,-I promised td write upon ?ne
social condition of the colored people of Hil
ton Head. The blacks are no exception to the
remark that man was made for society. It is
pre-eminently true of them. Given to excite
ment, they associate together, and adopt an eh
customs as the social element of their nature
suggests. Those in whom the religious element
predominates find their pleasure in their estab
lished forms of worship. Others, more fond
of mirth, gratify this propensity in the dance
and other light and exciting diversions;
It is not to be expected that a people so late
ly out of the house of bondage should exhibit
the highest phase of social life. That would
be a miracle. Bought and sold in slavery like
chattels; herded like cattle, and compelled to
lead beastly lives, it ia unnatural to suppose
that they would spring all at once to a state of
moral and social purity. No nation on earth
would have shown such a transformation as
that. We should expect that many of their
loose habits would cling to them for years.
To some extent, this is so with these people.
Still, they show no unwillingness nor incapac
ity to improve when properly taught the prin
gles of cultivated society. Much progress
f\a* been made. The marriage bond has been
established on a firm basis, and family ties are
generally respected. True, there are those on
*hom their covenants sit lightly. They can
narry and dissolve, and shift about almost any
way to accommodate. But such looseness is
restrained when discovered.
In their contracts and general dealings with
each other, and with white people, the blacks
have not yet generally adopted the principles
.f upright, honorable dealing. 1 have found
-trict integrity the exception, and not the rule.
L'rue, the exceptions are numerous and honor
tbb, and, 1 hope, are multiplying ; but too
many either do not understand the nature of a
contract or other obligation, or they conaider
'hem too trifling to be of any account.
Even the religion of some is sb slipahod as
.o alli?*? and tu?M di^/ioncotj. Por inot?ntc,
i man was Wick and about to die ; in this con
.inion, he desired ? religious brother to attend
him and perform religious duties. The brother
whom he selected came ; after a day or two, he
.ook the sick man to his own home near by .and
attended him till his death, which occ?rred in
A few days. He then claimed and appropriated
ill the deceased man's property, and only gave
?he legal heirs their share at the end of a law?
-un:
lt may seem paradoxical to say that though
rhe colored people have strong social feelings,
lhere is jet a lack of hospitality. It is too
much "me and mine.'* There is not that whole
hearted feeling which melcomes the way-farer,
and gives him an humble meal or a night's
lodging, and cheers him on his way. The
Freedmen's Bureau must provide for him.
This should not be so.
It is said, .? a fellow feeling makes us won
drous kind." And certainly those who ere re
joicing in their new-found! liberty bhould not
leave it for Freedmen's Bureaus ta do what
they should leap tot joy to do for each other
when in their power;
There are many things which'education alone
can do for these people ; ana not alone the edu
cation of the school-room, but the lessons of
precept and example. Slavery crushed their
naturet* ; freedom must heal and elevate them.
The mothers, especially, must be taught their
duties in ^raining their households. It was a
law of slavery that v the child followed the
condition of the mother." And in another
sense, the children follow the condition of the
mother the world over. The child confide? in
the-mother, is cheered by her sweet words, and
blessed by her counsels. Education must sub
due Vicious tempers, break down enmities, and
establish the reign of love and kindness.
In the intercourse of the white and colored
people on this island, one thing has been found
true, and that is, that they can live together;
There are some of both races who advocate en
tire separation, but on no tenable ground, lt
is said they quarrel with each other. Granted.
But whites quarrel with each other, and so do
I blacks. Do they therefore separate? Let all
have their rights, and there will be no quarrel
ing, and none need be horrified at the idea of
social equality.
Many things in social life are matters ef
tiste. Every one can choose his own associ
ates, and drink tea or dance polkas with whom
he pleases. That the whites have committed
numerous outrages bil the blacks, even since
emancipation, is undeniable. That the blacks
have been unfaithful to th* whites in some
cases, is no less true. But as they need etch
other's services, and are therefore mutually de
pendent, why not act in simply good faith, and
cause enmity to cease ? Is not this th# more
j excellent way ?
France has* had sixtt-?e*en queen?. Of
these, it is said that eleven were ditorced ; taro
etecuted j* nine died yoting} seten were wid
owed early ; three cruelly treated; three exiled,
? the rest either poisoned or broken hearted.
This is a Prench fashion that our American la
ta will not caxe to adopt.
Tl
MISCELLANY.
BRAZIL.
TM BRAZILIAN SLAVE TRADE.--THE REPUBLIC
OE PALMARES.
[Correspondence of the Evening Post.]
Rio DB JANEIRO, October, 1865.
Near the close of the fifteenth century the traf
fic in human beings, which irrespective of color,
had existed from the days of the Greeks and
Romans, had nearly ceased on account of public
Sentiment and ?rom the decrees of kings and
popes It was, however, considered perfectly
legal to enslave the Moors of ?frica, who could
not be reached by public sentiment or the procla
mations of European monarchs, and who per
sisted in making slaves of every Spaniard
Frenchman or Italian whom they might capture
in the Mediterranean.' The Portuguese took ad
vantage of the permission to put Moors into
bondage, by extending that name to the non
Mahommedan heathen tribes of trophicai Africa.
I The Portuguese, therefore, became the fathers of
the modern Atrican slave-trade.
THE EARLY BRAZILIAN SLAVE TRADE.
In 1508 the Spaniards began to import slaves
from Africa into the West Indies. But when
Brazil had become a prosperous colony of Portu
gal and poured the productions of her fields and
forests into the lap of Lisbon and Oporto, the
labor question assumed new importance, and
Africa, only eighteen hundred miles away, was ?
more th?n ever cruelly set ?pbu to furnish sup- ,
plies of involuntary laborers, and up to the year j
1850, negroes ware annually brought by tens of t
thousands to Brazil, and sold from he Amazon 2
to the La Plata into the severest bondage. So j
it is only here and there that we can find an in- |
cidentai account ol the condition Of the slavery t
previous to this century-when the cruelty was t
such that a man t*i nih |?nd?min five years. 1
Indeed, up to 1850 it was considered cheaper to c
use up a man every five or seven years, and th?h \
purchase a 'new one, than to take care of him. s
The Latin race, it has been observed, have al- t
ways been more cruel to the negro in slavery ]
than the Anglo-Saxon ; but on the other hand -,
the Portuguese, the Spaniard and the Brazilian t
have always been more Just to the emancipated /,
slave, and have given him more scope for self- f
emancipation than the English or the American, t
The larger number of the slaves were landed
at Bahia,-LVrnambuco and Kio de Janeiro, some- <
times tiie market was so glutted with them at y
Bahia that an able-bodied man could be pur- t
chased for fifty-dollars. The situation of Bahia (
made it from early times an important rendez- 8
vous for the slave-traders, and one great cause of c
the decline of the commerce of Bahia from 1838 c
to 1850 was the activity of the English cruisers, i
which prevented embarkations on the coast of c
Africa, lt is not generally known that, notwith- j
standing the effective opposition to the trafile j
which the English have manifested during the i
present century, the strong bulwork of the abom- f
inable trade was the English capital, by which ?
the marts of human flesh and blood were kept \
up. Rev. Dr. Kidder, who visited Bahia in 1839, ?
put upon xecord here the history of the slave- r
trade up to that time. He says that M few slave t
vessels were fitted out without large credits from T
English houses, based on'the anticipated sale of '
their return cargo. It was not principle that cut
off these credits, but the repented losses of the
slave-dealers, which left them nothing to pay. ?
Yet the deiangement of so vast a business as the ?
slave traffic had Income has been severely felt J
in the commercial aff?irs of Bahia, not only on ?
account of the number of persons engaged in it, 1
but also on acct)unt of the market it had hitherto <
furnished for two principal products of the pro-. '
vince-rum and tobacco,"
RANSOM.
The Portuguese, hard-hearted ai they were,
did not fully enter the slave-trade without some
twinges of conscience. They glossed over the
matter by pretty euphemisms, and laid the flat
tering unction to their souls that they were send
ing vessels- " to ransom those poor pagan Afri
can captives, and bring them where they could
be Christianized by baptism." In the seven
teenth and*eighteenth centuries the official ferm
always employed for thc ?lavt-trade waa " the
commerce for thc ransom of slaves."
In 1756 King Joseph of Port?gal issued a de
cree, which is a great comment on the times.
Many planters of sugar cane and tobacco in the
province of Bahia sent the king -a memorial, set
ing forth that the bcrsiness of " ransoming
slaves " had become a monopoly, and praying his
royal interposition. This was soon forthcoming,
and was worded to the following effect : .
44 First. That this commerce should thence
forward be free td every one in ali the ports of
?frica, both this side of and beyond the Cape of
Good Hope."
u Second. Brit that iq order to avoid the evil
of having vessels employed and a bad selection
of provisions, boards of inspectors in Bahia. Per
nambue J and Parahiba should examine, with ail
care, the ca-go and provisions of each>ship fitted
out, and see th?t the vessels were light, not car
rying at most more than three thousand packages
of tobacco, in order th*t they might enter ?ny
port and accomplish ? good ransom at moderate
pricei."
TfiE REPUBLIC OP PALMARES.
The slavea brought from Africa ? Brszil
from the middle of the seventeenth century to j
the extinction of the traffic were fine specimens
of humanity--particularly those called Minas,
who were brought from the interior and em
barked at Btdagray, in the Bight of Benin That
theee men felt their degraded condition and re
solved to enjoy personal liberty, and were ca
pable of maintaining it for a long time against
i .larg? odds* is evident from the biitory of tba i
"republic of Palmares," of which a numb
Brazilian writers have given us interesting
counts. Southey, in his ? Histprv of ?ra
gives ?? extended narrative of Palmares.
the Atlantic coast, about half way beti
Pernambuco and where the great river
! Francico debouches, is the town of Porto C
Sixty miles from this.town, in the in t?]
there, existed in the seventeenth century a ?
ernraent and people wholly composed of A
cans, who, escaping from slavery, here fo
a refuge in the virgin forests where the p
tree predominated-hence the name, " The .
public of the Palmares." Here, amid a se
ery resembling that of their native land, t
found secure shelter, and they increased by r
ural augmentations and by constant dcsertii
from the plantations for hundreds of miles ale
the coast. They formed villages and cultiva
the ground. Their chief town contained
thousand houses, and M it consisted of th
streets, each being a half hour's walk in leng
The huts were contiguous, and each had its g
den. The forest supplied them with fruit a
game. And they were also a provident and i
dustriou8 people, for they were flood tillers
the land, so that at all times they abound
with food."
Twice a year they gathered their maize, ai
celebrated both harrests with a week's festiv
if rejoicing. Th y had their forms of religio
md justice, both being a comingling ot heathe
sm and of Christian civilization. They bad
jystemized military disipiine. Every evening
vas their custom to call the muster roll and si
f any were missing. The two disadvantages <
heir situation were want of water in dry seasot
md nearness to the Portuguese settlements. Th
>roximity, however, favored the escape of the
jrethren, and gave them opportunities of pred;
ory warfare. Their contact with Europeans an
heir descendants had not practically impresso
ipon them a very rigid notion of Christianity c
)f mourn and tunm ; for, had they not been stole
rom their own homes by Christian Portugues<
md had they not been compelled, at the point.(
he goad, to labor without remuneration for th
brazilian colonists? Who, then, will wondertha
vhen their watering parties were attacked km
heir fields destroyed that they answered by th
ex tai?oni*. They carried destruction to thi
ron tier settlements, and inflicted more injurj
aan they received.
The war they waged was without quarter ex
,cpt for those ot their own coior. J. neir practice
^as tc receive all who fled on equal terms, bu
hey retained as slaves all whom they made pris
mers. In sixty years they acquired such strength
md audacity that they infested the surrounding
;ountry. Their numbers were increased by men
)f color who fled from justice, a3 well as by slaves
?vho sought liberty. Like the early.Romans, they
)btairjed their wives by force. Whenever {hey
uade an inroad they carried off the negresses
md mulattoes, and often their uxprial tastes were
mt limited to their own color, bdt they seized
;h? wives and daughters of the Portuguese plant
ers, and thus compelled their enemies td deal
vi th them upon equality ; ?nd; where the wives
md daughters of the whites were concerned, no
.eturn would be made unless a hcav^ ransom was
?aid in arms, money, or whatever the palm-tree
^publicans demanded. Thus they instituted their
4 good ransom."
GOVERNMENT OF T?E REPUBLIC
According to their enemies, they were well
governed. They had an elective chief, ahd ?
.ouncil of their best men. They were perfectly
oyal in their obedience to their chief ; and it is
?aid that no conspiracies or struggles for power
had been known among them. Robbery, adult
ery, murder, and attempted desertion by the slaves
who joined them, were punished- with death.
They were clad in the spoils of the Portuguese >
but they also derived supplies by a regular trade,
which was carried on with some of the people of
Pernaub?e?, who supplied the Palmaresians, in
defiance of the law, with arras, amunition and
European goods of every kind, in ex hange for
the produce raised in the Palmares, and the gold
?nd silver acquired in their incursions.
In a well planned ditched circuit of five miles
twentr thousand of their people could be en
closed in the strong stockades or fortifications,
and chosen men were always placed as watch
men on the outpost. At lehgth the Portuguese
suffered so much from the depredations of the
citizen* of Palmares, that in 1695 they resolved
to exterminate this republic of fugitive slaves.
For this purpose an army of ten thousand men
were sent against them. . So long as small arms
only were used tbe negroes held their own, but
when, after heroically defending themselves,
artillery was brought against them, the fate of
the republic of Palmar?s was sealed. The lead
ers perferred death to bondage, and hurled
themselves from a lofty pinnacle in the centre
of their stockade. The survivors of all ages
were again reduced tb slavery. Husbands and
wives; parents ?and children were, separated ;
one fifth of the men were selected fur the crown,
and the remainder were divided among the cap
tors as . booty, and thus Palmares was obliter
ated;
Not half the people of the neighboring prov
ince? now know of ita former existence; but the
administrative capacity exhibited in the three
score years of ita duration' show these men to
have been more capable of self-government than
half the European descendants of South Amer
ica. For Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Mexico,
and others of the t?ispano-American countries
have had chronic self misrule' since their inde
pendence.
NEGRO CAPACITY. .
Wiuie thia wa? the only instance, on a large
3
scale, of the administrative and military a
of negroes in South America, there were i
single examples of capacity and valor. I vi
not rjave to cite, at the present day-, in any
of BrazU, more than the mere name of
rique Dias; to call up all that is und erst cc
intelligence^ bravery; and skill. He wa
African, the son of a slave woman, who <
I mended the army in the famous battle of (
tapes, which was fought between the Pc
g ii ese and Hollanders in 1646; and wjiich
elded forever the power of Holland in Br;
.That many of the blacks brought over bj
slave trade have snown tnemselvos worthy
freedom, I need not but mention that 1
many of them previous to 1850 worked
their own freedom, and then paid their fi
back again to Africa. Captain Burton infon
me that he had found many in Africa who i
once been slaves in Brazil.
The prospect of trie extinction of the tra
i? human beings was hailed with pleasure
every lover of Brazil, but was harped upon
croaking prophets, who confidently predic
that the ruin of the country would ensue ; I
no country connected with slavery ever exh
ited such a striking example of benefits imo
diately resulting from the extinction of the <
tested trafile. J. C. F
THE SEARCH POA JOHN SMTT?
John Smith married my father's great uncl
eldest daughter, Melinda Byrne. Consequent
I was a relative to John.
John's family had often visited us at o
quiet country home, and at each visit had mt
cordially pressed us to return the complimei
Last October, business called me suddenly
the city of B-, where they resided, an
without having time to write and apprise th?
of my coming, I was intending a visit to t
family of Mr. John Smith.
With my ?ceustomed carelessness, I had 1<
his precise address at home iii my note-boot
but I thought little of it ; I could easily fli
him, I thought to myself, as the cars set E
down amie the smoke and bustle of B-.
I enquired for my relative of the first bael
nan I came across.
He looked at me with an ill-suppressed grii
What was the fellow laughing at ? To be sur
?y clothes were not of the very latest cut, an
it was not just the thing for any one out of th
array to wear oiue witn urtajut uunutw , v%.
my coat was whole, and my aunt Betsey ha
scoured the buttons with whitening and soft
?oap until they shone like gold. I repeated m
juestion with dignity.
" Can you direct me to the residente bf Mi
Smith ?"
" Mr. S-rri-'i-tJh ? " sa'id he slowly.'
??Yes, sir, Mr. John Smith. He married m;
father's great uncle's eldest daughter, Melinda.'
"I don't think I know of a Mr. John Smitl
with a wife Melinda."
John Smith seemed to be a common nour
with him, from the peculiar tone he used ii
speaking of that individual.
"Ah! " remarked I, <4 then there is more o
that name in this city ? "
.? I rather think there is. '
44 Very well, then, direct me to the nearest.'
.? The nearest is in West Street, second left
hand corner-you'll see the name on the door.'
I passed on, congratulating myself on th<
cordial welcome I should receive from John anc
Melinda.
I soon reached the place-a handsome house
with a silver doorplate. I rang the bell. A
servant appeared.
" Mr. Smith .in ? "
??.No, sir : Mr,. Smith is in the army."
?. Mrs. Sihith, is she ? "
44 In the army !-no, no. She's at the beach."
.? This is Mr. John Smith's house, is it ? "
? It is."
44 Was his wife's name Melinda, and was she
a. Byrne before she was married, from Squash
ville ? "
The man reddened, and responded angrily.
44 I'll not stand here to be insulted. Make ofl
with ^ourself, or I'll call the police. I thought
from the first that you were an entry thief, tut
you don't play no game on me : Aaa ut
banged the door m my face.
A thief! If I had not been .in stich a hurry
to find the Smiths I should have given that ras
cally fellow a sound chastising."
Inquiry elicited the fact that a John Smith re
sided in Arch Street. Thither 1 bent my steps, ?
maid servant answered my ring.
?. Mr. Smith in ? "
Before the girl conld reply, a big; red-faced
man jumped out from the shadow behind the
door, ?nd laid his heavy hand upon my shoul
der. m
44 Yes, sir!" he cried in a" voice of thunder,
44 Mr. Smith is in ! Yes, sir, for once he's in.
He stayed at home all day tb catch you. Aud
now; by Jupiter, I'll have my revenge ?"
44 Sir," said I, ,4 there must be some mistake.
Allow me to inquire if you are Mr. John
Smith r" , ,
<4 I'll inform you about Mr. John Smtth in a
way you won't relish, if you don't settle the
damage forthwith. Five thousand dollars is
the very lowest figure-and you must leave the
country."
44 Good ?|racious ! " I cried, .* what cfo you
take tne for ? You'd better be careful, or you'll
get your head caved in."
44 I'll cave your head in for you, you young
villain, you!" eried he, springing at me with
.his case*
r
44 Oh/John ! dear John ! " cried a -shrill fe
male voice, and a tall figure in a sea.of flounces;
bounded down tiie stairway. ";Bon't, don't
for the love of heaven-?^?*t^urd>r himj ? ..
?.? Who the deue? do you taxa inc for^ erica
I,%iy temper risings ,
44 It looks well for you ta ask mc tnaV^uei*
tion," sneered the man ; 44 you who have
my wife's heart," and are here now to .plan to
I elope with her ? I have found it all out - you
j needn't blush,-" ( .
? I beg your pardon for interrupting you/ '
said IA.*?butI have never seen you*, wife. ?
perceive she Is not Melinda, the eldest daughter
of my father's great uncle-" ;
" Sir, will you denv you are William Jones ?
Do you deny that you are in love with my
wife?" # 4j
141 am not a Jones-I have not the horicf, sir J
My name is Park well, Henry Parkwell," and?
with a bow, I took myself off. ,
After that I had called at the residences ot
three John Smiths, none of wh'ich was my Mri
Smith, and nothing occurred worthy of note*
My next Mr. Smith resided in Portland Str?etj
Thither ? bent roy steps. It was a very ,smal?
house,' evidently not the house of wealth and
cleanliness. I made my way up to the frotff
door, through a wilderness of old rags,' rpfokerv
crockery., old tinware, etc., scattering a flock of
hens, and rousing a snappish little terrier from
his nap on the steps; . .
A red-faced woman answered my rap, but
before I could make my customary inquiry; she
opened upon me like a two-edged* butcher*
knife.
.? Well, of all the impudent rasc?is that ever
I see, you beat the lot ! I want to know if you
had the cheek to come here again ? You'd like
to sell me another German-silver teapot, and*
another brass bosom-pin to dear ?raminty
wouldn't you ?"
. r . . ; . if--.. --.?j
" By no means," said I, 44 I beg to inform
vou-"
"Oh, you needn't beg; we don't believe in
beggars. I suppose you thought I shouldn't
know you ? but ? did. I should, know that,
black bag; of yours in Californy. Clear out of
my premises, or I'll lay my broom-handle over
you ! If there is anything I hate it's a peddler
-especially a rascal like you ? " . .
44 Allow me to . inquire," said I, " if t?r.
Smith's wife was Melinda, the daughter of my
luutct a
The broomstick was lifted. I heard it cut tho
lir like a minnie bullet, and streng down the
steps into the street at my best pace.
An angry man I did not fearf but who car
stand before an angry woman ? ? had rather
face a roaring lion.
I called on two more ftfr. Smiths-still un?
successful in my search. It was getting near
dark, and I was more than anxious to reach mt
destination. .
My next Mr. Smith was located in te?os;
Street. It was at twilight when ? rang the bell
?t his door.
A smiling fellow admitted me, fairly forcing
me into the hall before I had time to utter a
word.
.-?.... ?,
44 Walk right in, sir ; they are waiting for
you. The ladies will be down in a moment.'
Hattie is in the back parlor. Wal? right in,*
sir. . ?
I was gently pushed toward the door of a
shadowy apartment, and at the entrance I wat
announced. *
44 Mr. Henry ?99
The gas was not lighted, and the apartment
was in semi darkness. I neara a soft, quick
foot-fail on the carpet, ana1 a pair of arms fell
around my heck, and a pair of the sweetest lips
on the footstool touched mine ; and, good gra
cious ! the world swam, and I felt aa if I had
been stewed in honey, and distilled into Lubin's
best triple extract of roses.
134 Oh; ??enry ! my dearest and best! why
don't you kiss me, Henry ! " cried a voice like,
music. 44 Have you ceased to care for:" and*
again the kiss was repeated.
Who could resist the temptation ? I waa
naturally a diffident man, but ? have some hu
man nature in me,' and ? pa'id her,; principal anet
Hue. cot.
44 Oh, Henry, I had so feared that being in
the army had made you cold-hearted-Good*
heavens ! " She fell back against a chair, pale
as death. The servant had lit the gas,' and ?
stood revealed.
"I beg your pardon, mar*m," ?aid I. Ther?
is evidently some mistake. May ? inquire ?
Mr. Smith's wife waa Melinda Byrne, the eld*
est daughter of my father's great uncle ! "
The red flush came to the young lady's cheek*
-she was as handsome as a picture-and ik\t
replied with courtesy ;
She was not. 44 You will, ? hope, excuse mt?
for the blunder I have committed. We are ex?
pecting our brother Henry from the army, anil
your blue clothes deceived me.*" . . ,
44 Por which I shall always wear blue," I re
plied gallantly. Allow me to introduce myself?
I am Henry Park well, of Squashvilie," and in
making my best bow, I stumbled backwards
over an ottoman,' and fell smash into a china
closet," demolishing at least a dozen plates ano.
as many tumblers.
? sprang to my feet, seized my" bag, ar d' with
out a word dashed out of the house.'
? knocked over a man who- was passing al
the moment, aiid landed myself on my hea<ij"n .?
the gutter. The man picked himselt up, aaa
was about to make .a display of muscle, wnsc
the glare- of the street lamp revealed to ma d?