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w3^^ii;x.Tr. . l. m. orist's sons. Pnbu.her,. J" ~ % ^amilj $ earspaper: 4or the promotion of the political, Social Agricultural and (Eommerrial interests of the people. {tkk,?olecopVhvkiLmVANtK established 1855. YOKKVTLLK, S. C., TUESDAY, DKCK.MBEK 15, li)C>8. ]STO. 100. m iw m iif in m n? ihw in m nt iw i 'THE it!* By OPII Copyrighted 1896, by Wm. h By Permission of Lai mm mi in an mil hi mi miiiufciiii " CHAPTER XII. L Stuart was buried the next day, and the mourners passed our house. Mrs. wF Jucklin was sitting at the window when the hearse and the buggies came within sight, and her chin was unsteady as she reached for her book. And there she sat, holding the old leather covered Bible in her lap. I had thought that Chyd Lundsford would come, with words of encouragement, but we saw him not, neither L that day nor the next. But four days later I came upon him as I was going to town. He had a gun, was followed by a number of squirrel dogs and came out of the woods near the spot where & Alf had eased Stuart from his horse to the ground. I stopped and bluntly asked him why he had not been over and he answered that he was busy preparing for a rigid examination. I asked if they were going to examine him on the art of killing game, and he laughed and replied: "No, on the r science of killing men. But the way," he added, looking up Into the top of a tree, "how is Alf getting along? Does Ihe appear to be hopeful?" "He is more desperate than hopeful," I answered. "Yes, I should think so. Is that a squirrel's nest I have heard It hinted that a love affair had something to do with it?an affair pretty close, at that. Well. I've got nothing to do with it. Can't drive out of my mind what I have had so hard a time driving into it. Sorry, and all that sort of thing. That's no squirrel's nest. But if people persist in being romantic they f must expect to have trouble. I'm sorry for the old folks?must take it rather hard. Good-hearted and simple enough to worry over it, surely. Well, if you happen to think of it. give Alf my re gards." The coroner's jury had returned an expected verdict, influenced largely by fwhat Etheredge had to say. I had given my testimony, but I could not make it sound as I wanted it?Alfs own words were against him, as I repeated them that day. The preliminary trial, the mummery before a Justice of the peace, also went against Alf: the grand Jury had brought in its finding. and the next step was the formal arraignment before the circuit Judge. And I was now on my way to town to engage additional legal help, as the lawyer whom we had retained appeared to be luke-warm and half-hearted. I had heard many stories relating to htmt force and ability of an old ex-judge named Cor.kwright, and I called at his office, though I had been warned that his price was exceedingly high. He met me gruffly, I thought, hut 1 soon discovered that he had a f heart. I told Alf's story, now so familiar to my own ears that I fancied that I could give it with effect, and 1 must have touched him, for he said: ^ '"Oh, well, I'll go into it and we'll say ' nothing about the price. I've been working for nothing all my life, and 1 don't see why I should change now. Why, of course, he ought to have killed him," and his old eyes shone as he said it. "Had to kill him. It strikes jne that they are rushing things pretty last, especially as the docket is covered with murder cases that have been put over from time to time. That s?iuart set has lots of influence. Beat J me tor re-election, I know that. But we 11 show them a few things that are W not put down in the books. And you don t want tne young lady's name men B tinned. Of course, not. woman i oe gauant, eh? Well, I'll go down and see tne young fellow some time today. Tney'U take it up in about a week Horn now, that is, if we are ready, anu we'll be there. Tell old Jucklin not to fret. He's an old lion-tamer, I tell you, and if 1 had any interest in that leliow Etheredge 1 d advise him to walk pretty straight. But the old man has quieted down mightily of late j years." Alf had undergone no change. He was glad to know that Conkwright took an interest in him, but he shook his head when I told him that we were v sure to win. "I don't believe it, Bill; don't believe jt because I don't feel it. But don't tell the old folks that I'm not hopeful. Have you seen Millie?" "No, and have seen Chyd but once, and then I came upon him in the road." "What, hasn't he been at the house? A tine husband he'll make for Guinea, 'i ell her that I say she must forbid his coming near her again. No, don't," he added. "It's better to wait. I wish y she loved you, Bill, but I'm afarid she ? doesn't." i know she doesn't." I reDlied. * "Has she said so?" "No, but she seems always afraid \ that I may tell her of my love." jfc "And I would if I were you, Bill. No. not yet. Tell father not to come near me yet a while. He couldn't stand it." He had written home, begging his parents and his sister not to think of seeing him. had actually commanded them not to come near the jail. ".Mother can stand more than he can. for she's more religious. How about w your .school?" "<>h. it's all right. The people know that I couldn't teach now, even if I should try ever so hard, and they are very considerate. They say that they -Jk are willing to wait." "God bless them for that, any way. And this reminds me of a preacher that came in yesterday to prav forme. I thanked him for his kindness, but told him that some one was at home praying, and that one of her words had more influence in my behalf than all the prayers he could utter in a lifetime. I merely mention this to show 1 what sort of an atmosphere I'm in. I Z didn't like the fellow's look?understand that he hasn't been a preacher but a week. Still on suspicion, as they say, Bill. I was almost crazy, but my mind j has cooled wonderfully. A fellow's mind generally does after he's done the worst he can." whpwhuwhuwiwiwiwiii mm CHINS* S READ. L Lee?All Rights Reserved. i rd & Lee, Publishers. ; "I hope that my reading: of the poem I didn't start you off." "Oh, no, that had nothing to do with it?relieved me, if anything; set me to thinking that some one else had been in the same fix. By the way, a telegraph operator here brings me something nearly every day. Says that he's a life-long friend of yours. Told me to tell you that he was about to pick up a piece of calico and take it home with him?said that you would understand. Now, you go on home and stay there until the trial. You have almost worn yourself out. You and the general are still on good terms, I suppose. Wish you could slip over there and see Millie. Do you know what Chyd's waiting for? He's waiting to see how the trial goes. Bill, I'm beginning to feel sorry for Stuart. But his face doesn't come up before me at II1?UI v\ mi rt, ucaiu-ivvi\. a *iv*v w good deal of nonsense about that sort of thing. When I see him he's always sitting on his horse, cursing me. And that's not very pleasant. Go on, Bill. I have kept you too long. It's nearly night." Old man Jucklin was smartly encouraged when I told him what the exjudge had said, and he related a number of anecdotes of the old fellow's early days on the circuit. "Oh, help is comin' our way," old Limuel said, and his wife, pointing to her book, replied: "It has always been with us." "At the stake," he answered. I did not speak of having seen Chdy. I I had no right to do so. for I knew that he was now an additional distress. But the next morning when Guinea and I were alone at the breakfast table she I asked me if I had not met him down the road?said that she had seen him crossing the meadows with his dogs. I began to quibble and she spoke up spiritedly: "Oh, you shouldn't hesitate to tell me. It amounts to nothing, I'm sure." "I must manage some way to see Millie," I remarked, determined to say no more about Chyd lest I should lose my temper. "I hope you won't go to the house," she replied, her face coloring. "I won't, but I didn't know but that I might see her going to a neighbor's and then " "No," she broke in, "I hope you won't even do that. She must know how we feel, and if she had any interest in us she would come over here. No, I won't say that I don't know what she may have to contend with. But her brother could come if he wanted to, but it makes no difference, I'm sure." "Suppose I meet Millie in the road; shall I speak to her?" "Surely, but don't ask her why she hasn't been to see us. What did Chyd say?" "Not much of anything?said that so long as people were romantic they must expect trouble." She frowned and thus replied: "A good authority on the evils of romance." "Why not an expert on the thrills of romance?" I asked. "Hasn't he played up and down the brook?" "So have the ducks," she answered, with a return of her smile. "But let us not talk about him?I would rather not think about him." I could not play the part of a hero; I was not of the stock that had stood at the stake glorifying the deed with a hymn. I had wanted to drop the subject, not because it was painful to * I * ?%??/-ioA/1 o enllra Jntrt licit UUl UCta U^r U |'l concu cv 0|;mv my own flesh: but her wish to dismiss him from her mind urged me to keep him there, to torture her with him. Brute? Surely; I have never denied it. but I loved her, and in love there i? no generosity. The lover who seeks to be liberal is a hypocrite, a sneakthief robbing his own heart. "But how can you put him out of your mind if he is worthy of your love?" I asked. "You did not place him therein, nor can you take him away." She looked at me a long time, looked at me and read me; she did not frown, she smiled not, but searched me with her eyes until I felt that my motive lay bare under her gaze. "You would help Alf in his trouble." she said, "but you would throw a trouble at me." How sadly s' sjioke those words, and my heart fell under them and lay at her feet in sorrow and in humiliation. I strove to beg for pardon, but I stammered and my words were almost meaningless. "Oh. you have my forgiveness, jf that is what you are trying to ask for. Now, please don't say anything more. I know you didn't mean to make me feel bad." "I think I'd better cut my throat!" I replied, taking up a table knife. She laughed at me. "How can a big man be so silly? Cut your throat, indeed. Why, what have you done to deserve it?" "What have I done?" I cried, leaning over the table and making a fumble, as if 1 would take her hand?"what have 1 done? I have wantonly wounded the divinest creature?" She was on her feet in an instant; she put her hands to her ears and shook her head at me. "No, you must not say that. Don't you see I can't hear what you say? So, what is the use of saying anything? Think you are a brute? No. I don't: but you must not talk like that. I can't hear you?I won't hear you. Oh. don't worry about Mr. Iaindsford mo win Kneei at my foot." CHAPTER XIII. The next day I took a "turn" of corn t<> the water-mill, far down the stream. The old man had not been off the place since Alf went to jail, and the office of attending to all outside affairs was conferred upon me. Guinea came out to the corn crib and stood at the door, looking in upon mo as I tied the mouth of the bag. The old man was not far off, calling his hogs; a sad cry at any time, but growing sadder, it seemed to me, as the days wore along. "Old Moll will have a load," the girl said: "you and that bag." "Yes, if I were to ride on the bag like a boy, but I'm going to walk and lead her." "Oh, that will be nice," she cried. "Nice for Moll. I wish I could go with you. It's beautiful all down that way: high rocks and pools with fish in them. It isn't so awfully far. either. I have walked it many a time." "Alone?" I asked, tugging at the string. "That doesn't matter. It's the distance I'm talking about. Why, you haven't asked me to go." "But I ask you now," I said, dragging the bag toward the door. "No, I won't go now," she replied, making way for me to come out. "Won't you, please?" "No, not since I have come to think about it. I'd have to walk along all the time with my hands to my ears, for I just know you'd say something t rl/-v?-?' n-ont tr\ Konr "Vmi qrp nq ornpl as you can be, lately." I had taken up the bap to throw it across the mare, but I dropped it upon the log step. "You'll burst it if you don't mind, Mr. Hawes." "But I handle it more tenderly than you do my heart!" I cried. "You have thrown my heart down in the dust and are trying to burst it." Her hands flew to her ears. "Oh, I knew you were going to say something mean. But I can't hear you now. Isn't it an advantage to say what you please and not hear a word? You can do this way if you want to. No, I won't goreally, I can't. I mustn't leave mother." She ran away toward the house, and I stood watching her until she was hidden behind the old man's "stockade." Torturer she was, sometimes with her dignity, but worse with her whimsical, childish ways, when she seemed to dance on the outer edge of my life, daring me to catch her in my arms. But was it not my size that made her feel like a child? It must have been, for whenever she spoke of Chyd she was deeply serious. I was resentful as I led the old mare toward the mill. Oh, I understood it all. She had seen that I sought to punish her, had read me as we sat together at the table, and now she was torturing me. Well, I would give her no further opportunity; I would let her lead young Lundsford into her mind and out again, just as it suited her fancy. The coves and nooks and quiet pools that lay along the stream were dreamful; there was not a mighty rock nor bold surprising bluff to startle one with its grandeur, but at the end of every view was the promise of a resting place and never was the fancy led to disappointment. Now gurgle and drip, now perfect calm, the elm leaf motionless, the bird dreaming. And had history marched down that quiet vale a thousand years ago and tinged the water with the blood of man, how sweetly verse would sing its beauty, from what distances would come the poet and the artist, the rich man seeking rest?all would flock to marvel and to praise. Ah, we care but little for what nature has done, until man has placed his stamp upon it. I loitered and mused upon going to the mill and upon returning home. And when I came within sight of the house I halted suddenly, wondering whether I had forgotten something. Yes, I had. I had forgotten my resolve to be cool and dignified under the reading eyes of that girl. I led the mare to the rear end of the passage and had taken off the bag of meal when Guinea came out. "Mr. Hawes," she said, "I wish you would forgive me for the way I acted last night and this morning. Now let us be good friends, friends in trouble, and let us hereafter talk with sense and without restraint. I am going to bel frank with you, for I don't see why 11 should be cramped. I am not going- to pretend not to know?know something, and you must wait; we must all wait for?for anything that Is to come. I hardly know what I am saying, but you understand me." She held out her hand, and I took it, tremulously at first, but I held it with a firm and manly honesty as I looked into her eyes. "Yes, I understand you, and it shall be as you say. I have been strong with every one but you. and I am going to show you that I can be vour friend. Wait a moment. You know what I think, but I will not hint at it again. It was mean of me?yes. I must say it?it was mean of me to jibe you. But I'll not do it again. If you only knew what my early life was. I was the victim of size, an awkward boy, the jest of a neighborhood; and while I might have outlived some of my awkwardness, I am still sensitive, for I carry scars." "Awkward," she laughed. "Why, I don't see how you could have been called awkward. Everybody at the general's spoke of how graceful you weiv, and really it would make you vain if I were to tell you all that was said." The old man came round the house, and Guinea sprang back. I was still holding her hand. "Hah." he grunted. "Got home all right, eh? Parker was over here just now and said that the trial had been set for next Thursday, not quite a week from now. you understand. He seems to think we are goin' to pull through all right; said that you've made friends with everybody in the town. That's good, both for now and also for after a while, when you set in as a lawyer. I tell you. Parker's visit helped us mightily, and Susan has eat a right smart snack, and I didn't know how hungry I was till right then. You better go to town tomorrow." I went in early the next morning and found nothing to serve as a basis for the hopefulness that Parker had given the old people. Conkwright was busy with the case, frowning over his papers, but he had no words of encouragement, except to say that lie was going to do the best he could. But after a while he Hashed a gleam of hope by remarking that there was one important factor in our favor. And eagerly I asked him what it was. "It won't do to talk It around." said he, "but we can count on the Judge doing the square thing. He is comparatively new in our district, and the Stuart Influence hasn't taken hold on him?has had no cause to. His favor, or, at least, his lack of a cause to be directly against us. will mean a good deal: It will enable us to secure a new trial at any rate." As I entered the corridor of the Jail 1 saw Alfs face brighten behind the bars. "Have you seen Millie?" he asked. "No. your sister commanded me not to go near the general's house." His countenance fell, but he said: "I reckon she's right. And I didn't mean that you should make a dead-set call, you know?didn't know but you might happen to meet her. That preacher, the one I told you about, has been round again, and he declares that ' I must come into his church. They do pull and haul a fellow when they get him into a corner, don't they? Well, I don't see what else can be done now except to go Into court and have the thing over with. I know as well as I know my name that he would have killed me if I hadn't killed him; not that night, of course, but some time. I am sorry, though, that I stood there in the road, waiting for him, for that does iook line muraer, Bill. But look how he had drawn his sight between my eyes and abused me for everything he could think of. And whenever I see him now, there he sits on his horse, with one eye half shut and the other one looking down the barrel of his revolver at me. I can see his lips moving and can hear every word he says." I went home that day earlier than usual, resolved to keep the old people in the atmosphere of encouragement which the deputy sheriff had breathed about them, and I told them that the presiding judge was our friend, and that old woman put her worn hands in mine and gave me a look of trustful gratitude. "God rewards the man that seeks to ease an old mother's heart," she said; and the old man, standing there, with his sleeves rolled up, threw the droop out of his shoulders, the droop that had remained with him since that early morning when he stood at the gate of his "stockade," fumbling with the chain. "And, Susan," he spoke up, "if we've got two judges on our side we're all right. Let him set down there now. Let him set down, I tell you. When a woman gets hold of a man she never knows when to turn him loose. I'm tempted now to go and see him. No," he added, shaking his head, "can't do it?couldn't bear to see a son of mine locked up like a thief. But it won't be for long. That judge will say, "turn that boy loose," and then?oh, it's all right, Susan, and a year from now we'll almost forget that it ever took place." T4la n-lfp hpcnn tr? erv. for in this trouble her heart demanded that he should lean upon her for support, and It appeared to me that whenever he straightened up to stand alone, she felt that her office was gone. "Susan, don't take on that way. Jest as we see our way clear of the woods, you act like you are lost. Smile, till you find the path, and then you want to cry. Act like you want the Lord to do it all?don't want the circuit Jedge to do nothln'. That's it, brighten up there now, and, Guinea, you go out and tell that nigger woman to cook enough for a dozen folks. Hawes, I've got them chickens down to a p'int that would make your eyes bulge out." "I believe that Bob came very near making one of yours bulge out," I replied. "Ah, didn't he, the old scoundrel. But Sam pecked a grain of corn out of my mouth tills mornin' and never teched a tooth. That's what they call art, ain't it? Come out with me." "Limuel, let him stay with me, won't you?" his wife pleaded. "Of course, Susan, but don't you reckon a man wants to unstring himself once in a while? They can't understand us, Hawes. Women know all about the heart, but they are sometimes off on the soul." "You think more of those old chickens than you do of me, anyhow," his wife whimpered, still resentful that he was not leaning upon her for support. "Did you hear that. Hawes? By jings, sir, you've got to be foolish or a woman will think you've ceased to love her. The minute you are strong she thinks you have forgotten her. About the happiest woman I ever saw was one that had to support a bed-ridden husband. Fact, as sure as I'm standin' right here. She was the kindest and sweetest thing you ever saw, but when the feller got up finally and got strong enough to go about, blamed if she didn't jump on him every time he come in sight." "Now, Llmuel, you know you are makln' up every word of that." "It's the truth. I tell you?knowed the man well." "Well, who was he?" "Oh. he lived away over yonder on the branch, nut of your range." "He didn't live anywhere: that's the truth of it." "But. Susan, he might have lived anywhere. His name is man and his wife's name Is woman. What, you goin' to cry about It? Now, there, it's all light. No, there never was such a man. I'm an old liar, that's what's the matter with me. Never was a man fitten to live with a good woman. Why, bless your life, what would I be without you. Why, you've been the makln' of me. And a long time ago, when I used to drink linker and fight, you'd set up and wait for me and you never scolded me. and that very fact turned me agin linker, for I jest nachully thought that, it was too much work for you to keep up a show of good humor all the time. Yes, It's all right, and that boy's comin' out of there without a scar on him, and I'll pay back the money that I owe the general?" He hastened out of the room, and we heard him veiling at his chickens. To be Continued. tr:' The Serbian empire, comprising most of what is now known as the Balkan States, was the power that once stood between Turkey and the rest of Europe, says Van Norden's Magazine. The armies met on the field of Kossovo on June 15, 1389, when one of the most decisive battles was fought. The Turks won and the Serbs have never ceased to mourn the defeat. On each recurring anniversary of the battle solemn services are held in all the churches throughout the Serbian lands. Every born Serb wears a black band on his cap as the mourning badge of his race. The Montenegrins add crimson to represent the blood shed on the battlefield. *' ' Every square mile of the ocean has a population of 120,000,00 fish. ittis(fllanrous.'i?ratUn(). EMPRESS TSU TSI AN. Interesting Facts About China's Grand Old Woman. The death of the masterful and unscrupulous woman, who has for so many years held the reins of power In China, and so long exerted all her vast Influence against "foreigners" of every description, Is an event of great Interest and significance, says the New York Evening Post, although the Immediate consequences are difficult to' foretell. For more than a generation, acting as the power behind the throne, she has continued to monopolize all actual authority, and although her Influence has been, until lately, malign and reactionary, It imparted to the Chinese government about all the stability t, v,i?v. u nnaooQQoH This remfLrkable woman was the daughter of a poor Manehurian noble, and followed the fortunes of her family from Pekin to Canton, until, when she was about seven years old, she was sold as a slave into the family of a Canton merchant. Her beauty even at that time was pronounced. according to Chinese standards, and her cleverness notable. Her opportunity came when she was about 17. At that time the Emperor HIen Fung, as Is the Chinese custom, Issued a proclamation calling upon the daughters of Manchuria to present themselves at Pekin for a choice to be made among them for the imperial harem. Tsu Tsi traveled up to Pekin, triumphantly passed the ordeal of inspection by the emperor's officers, and was installed in the imperial palace among the emperor's women. This was in 1848. Beautiful, accomplished and possessed of consummate tact, Tsu Tsi soon attracted the attention of the empress, or "chief wife" of the emperor, and it is recorded that the little Manchu princess actually succeeded in being brought to the notice of the emperor, largely through the Interest taken in her by his empress. When later she presented the emperor with a son and heir to his throne, and still managed to preserve the friendship of the "chief wife," who was childless, she established her clever ness beyond cavil. In 1860, while her boy was still young:, his father died. At the time It was only vaguely hinted that his death was not due to natural causes. In the light of subsequent events, however, the opportuneness of his death becomes significant. Since 1860, at every difficult crisis In Tsu Tsl's affair death has removed any person Impeding her progress. Certain It Is that her sonr was the next heir, and the sooner he beg^m to reign the longer the regency would be. In due course the small boy was proclaimed emperor under the title of Tung Chi, with the dowager empress and mother empress as co-regents. Cautious and Strong. Thing*r moved smoothly for tt ttmeThe junior regent was cautious, but hers was the strong hand, and was so recognized by Prince Kung, brother of the late emperor and chief adviser of the two regents. It was towards the end of the emperor's minority that his mother noticed certain signs of Independence in her royal son. Too shrewd to resent them openly, she allowed matters to continue their course until Tung Chi attained his majority, was duly proclaimed emperor, and the regency ended. Apparently her career was closed> but she was merely watching for an opening. Presently tnere was a rumor that the emperor's health was falling seriously, and what more suitable than that the regents should be summoned again to take the reins of state? Within a month the youthful emperor became, as his subjects were piously Informed, "a guest on high." But the government was saved for the two empresses were in full authority. Tung Chi had mahied a young wife not long before his death, and as she was about to become a mother, it was supposed that if she bore a son he would naturally be proclaimed the heir of his father. Tsu Tsi did not wait for any such development, but presented at once to the Chinese people a new emperor In the person of Kwang Hsu, a young son of a brother of the Emperor Hien Fung. Her choice of the new boy emperor was a distinct violation of one of the most sacred traditions of the country, that of ancestral worship, but Tsu Tsl had reasons of her own, and carried her point. In order that no possible complications should arise, a mysterious illness fell upon the young wife of the late Tung Chi, and the next imperial funeral was that of herself and her unborn babe. About 1881, however, It began to be rumored that there was friction between the senior and junior regents; it was not at all extraordinary, therefore, that the former should develop heart failure and finally died, leaving Tsu Tsi dowager empress and sole ruler. In due time Kwang Hsu attained his majority, and Tsu Tsi once more nominally retired. The peace of the palace continued unbroken until Kwang Hsu declared himself strongly In favor of progressive reform in the Chinese empire, and failed In health, when Tsu Tsi once more assumed the regency. Her son soon rebelled, and in 1898 it became a question whether the empress and her friends would have to fly for their lives or the advisers of the emperor. In September a decision was reached by the empress dowager, who, having first possessed herself of the military force of the capital, compelled the emperor to sign a decree ordering his own deposition. This was dated September 22, 1898, and, in addition to the order depaslng himself, the emperor was made to appoint his aunt regent of the empire.. It was feared at the time that she had made away with her nephew, but she contented herself with confining him on a small is1 a ~ o I v? Tonnnm- 1 QOO o IclIlU. WI1 LUC 1.1 in ui uuiiuw.* j , kwv, w week before the Chinese New Year an edict was issued announcing the emperor's abdication of the throne, but this move had some unexpected results. Among them was the awakening of a genuine public opinion in China, and the filing of protests from all parts of the empire against the contemplated act. Before this storm the empress dowager and her kitchen cabinet at once yielded, and the emperor kept his semblance of a throne. Held the Reins of Government. But although the weakling emperor was accepted nominally as the head of the state, it was the dowager who held the reins of government, transacted business with foreign plenipotentiaries and occupied the highest: seat at public functions. It was her rigorous measures of repression and extermination that compelled the Chinese reformers to flee to foreign countries if they would save their heads, and the Boxer outbreak of 1900, which resulted in the International expedition to Pekin, has always been attributed to her machinations. After the imprisoned embassies had been rescued by the European and American forces, the Chinese caDital Daclfled and terms of reparation imposed upon the Chinese government, it was the empress who was regarded as the most important factor in the future course of the country. An English correspondent furnished a vivid sketch of the return of the imperial court to Pekin, jvhence it had fled at the first sign of danger. He wrote: "The different uniforms? yellow, red, blue?the variegated banners that fluttered in the breeze, the glittering swords and tridents, had a fine scenic effect as the bright sun began to shine on the throng. By 7.45 the advance cavalry passed. Then came the eunuchs in carls, followed by yellow-jacketed officers with flowing plumes and prancing ponies. Then the royal sedans were carried past, each containing seme important trophy. Next came the royal mounted body-guard, ordering the crowds to kneel, and instantly they flopped on to their knees. Soon the outriders, pullers, bearers of the first yellow-dragoned chair were in view. The emperor was pulled by twenty and borne by sixteen men, dressed in decorated silk gowns. His chair was richly draped with embroidered satin and decorated with jade jewels. His majesty sat bolt upright, with features that were as fixed as a statue. He looked only straight ahead, as if unaware of the lines of his kneeling subjects, or, more likely, afraid he might not manifest the self-possession that is the essential mark of dignity and rank. His chair was followed by that of the 'Old Buddha'?as the dowager is familiarly called. She was dressed (or rather 'drowned') in dragoned yellow satin. Her face is long and wan, with high cheek bones, big mouth and thick lips. Her eyes gleamed like fire. She was as awake and alert as the emperor seemed inert and indifferent. Nothing escaped the sharpness of her vision. The beggars received tablets of silver and the curious glances of scorn. Every one remarked how careworn she looked, and that she was quite ten years older since last year," T o f ftlif tV>A nlrl Awnrooo Via rl orli/Dn uaicij liic utu cui^icoo iiau b1 T many signs of her apprttclatlon of the changing condition with which China is confronted. She abandoned her attitude of determined hostility to all things new or foreign. She gave receptions, to the ladles of the diplomatic corps, granted audiences to western visitors In the most sacred hall of the Forbidden City, and encouraged the Introduction of foreign dress and costumes. Not long ago she permitted a foreign artist to paint her portrait, but strictly according to her own directions. Europeans who have had opportunities of observing her have told of her Imperious temper, her fits of temper followed instantly by an assumption of the blandest courtesy, of the cruel light In her eyes, and her unfailing suggestion of Intellectual power. Her whole appearance corresponded with the conception of her as a ruthless, treacherous, bigoted and highly ambitious woman, with the guile and glitter and grace of an Oriental serpent, such a woman In short as she proved herself to be when she Inquired anxiously about the comfort and health of the besieged and starving embassies in Pekln, sending them ineanwnue presents ui vegsuiuieo, which were useless as :'ood, and may have been poisoned. The personal qualities of the empress dowager are said to have been great and such as belong to a gifted woman. Though whimsical and stubborn and exacting with her officials, and often pettish and Jealous with the women of the court, she had a gift of humor, and sometimes turned a solemn audience Into a laughing one, when provoked to mirth by the awkward drolleries of some of the old councillors who had to be helped about in their courtesies by oftlmes still more Infirm associates. In the "Awakening In China," W. A. P. Martin described her ;hus last year: "A trifle under the average height of European ladles, so perfect are her proportions and so graceful her carriage that she seems to need nothing to add to her majesty. Her features are vivacious and pleasing rather than beautiful; her complexion not yellow, but sub-olive, and her face Illuminated by orbs of jet half hidden by dark lashes, behind which lurk the smiles of favor or the lightning of anger. No one would take her to be over 40. She carries tablets on which, even during conversation, she jots down memoranda. Her pencil Is the support of her sceptre." ARCTIC TEMPERATURES. Zero Weather Is Regarded as Mild and Agreeable. , According to eminent arctic explorers, physical sensations are relative, and the mere enumeration of so many degrees of heat or cold gives no Idea of their effect upon the system. One explorer states that he should have frozen at home In England In a temperature that he found very comfortable indeed In Lapland, with his solid diet of meat and butter and his garments of reindeer. The following is a correct scale of the physical effects of cold, calculated for the latitude of 65 to 70 degrees north: Fifteen degrees above zero?unpleasantly warm. Zero?mild and agreeable. Ten degrees below zero?pleasantly fresh and bracing. Twenty degrees below zero?sharp, but not severely cold. One must keep one's fingers and toes In motion and rub one's nose occasionally. Thirty degrees below zero?very cold. Particular care must be taken of the nose and extremities. Plenty of the fattest food must be eaten. Forty degrees below zero?intensely cold. One must keep awake at all hazards, muffle up to the eyes and test the circulation frequently, that it may not stop somewhere before one knows it. Fifty degrees below zero?a struggle for life.?Chicago Record-Herald. CHRISTENSEN ON PROHIBITION. Broad and Practical View of a Troublesome Question. Senator Christensen of Beaufort, one of the active workers In the state senate, and who is one of the coming men of the state, was Invited to attend the recent caucus of the Prohibitionists in Columbia, after he had written the superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League that he was not In full sympathy with a state-wide prohibition law. Among the things he said In his letter to Rev. J. L. Harley Is the following: "I do not know that you would consider me a Prohibitionist. I am a local optlonist. Of course one can be Kr\t h "This phase of the liquor question was not discussed in the campaign In which I was renominated to the senate, and I am not pledged or In any way committed to my constituency as between local option and state-wide prohibition. Personally I have always been a teetotaler and wish to do what I can to bring the day when liquor shall no longer be used. So I presume some would call me a Prohibitionist. But I believe that we can establish an enforced prohibition sooner through local option and through statewide prohibition. "I congratulate you and your organization on the work you did for prohibition in Union, Clarendon, Chester and other counties where the question has come up for decision at the ballot box. The work of the Anti-Saloon league, as I have known of it through the press, seems to me to be one of the hopeful signs of the times. But I think that in this state at this time our common object can be soonest obtained through county movements. "It may be possible to pass a state prohibition bill at the coming session of the legislature, but you can not secure at present in many of the counties an enforcement that will help matters. The counties are the units and they should be won over. Spartanburg makes a success of prohibition because she has a public sentiment that will convict a prominent citizen of Illegal liquor selling In 15 minutes, as was done last week. But what of us who will not convict on any evidence? We don't need more laws, we need a ref ormatlon. We can not be driven, we must be convinced. This is a slower course, but it is, I believe a surer fee." Senator Christensen also gave out the following statement: "The prohibition leaders point with pride and satisfaction to the good effects of prohibition in twenty-one 'dry* counties in this state. These results are the results of local option prohibition. They are the basis of the faith we local option Prohibitionists have in reformation as opposed to the proposed coercion of the state-wide Prohibitionists. The people of these new dry counties made up their minds gradually that it would be best for themselves to stop legalized liquor selling in tlifeir counties, and they stopped it and like the results. But if, before they had been educated up to that point, the people of other sections of the state through the legislature or a state-wide vote, had forced them to take that action the results would be very different. "Counties In the southern and eastern portion of the state are being educa leu up IU piUUlUILIUIi, aiiU UUU.-1 luvai option will, I believe, vote liquor out in the next few years. But if it is attempted to force them through a statewide law, the growth of prohibition sentiment will be checked, and Juries and local officials will not attempt to enforce the obnoxious measure. "Prohibition is winning its way under local option. Every gain is a healthy gain. Why give it up? Why is it not wiser for the eloquent, able and public spirited workers for prohibition who went into Laurens, Chester and Clarendon and helped educate their citizens up to the point where they reached out and took prohibition? why is it not wiser for them to continue this successful fight rather than turn from that plan of campaign and begin an attempt to coerce? They have succeeded in leading, but can they drive?"?Manning Times. AUSTRIA AND THE BALKANS. Good to Provinces, But Failed to Win the People. In spite of the unquestioned good that Austria has done in the material development of Bosnia and Herzogovina and the social betterment of the inhabitants, she failed to win the peothameoltfoQ cava a wrlfpr \ri Van Norden's Magazine. There are always two elements to be considered In the vexed question of governing the Balkans, race and religion. Scarcely had Austria occupied the two provinces when she set herself to the task of destroying the Serb nationality. From churches and official buildings were removed all statues and pictures of Serb saints, or persons renowned in Serb history. Space was refused In the Sorajevo museum for a collection of Bosnian coins of the Middle Ages, because it includes a series of images of Serb sovereigns. She availed herself of every opportunity to widen the divisions which had long and inevitably been established by differences of religion. The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina are divided into Mussulmen, members of the Greek orthodox church and Catholics.' Of these three churches Austria determined to make three separate nationalities. The Serb Mussulmen, she contended, were not Serbs, but Bosnians; that the Catholics should be Included with the liroats, ana mat tne orcnouox lunations should be allowed the privilege of speaking the Serb language and of being styled Serbs. Restrictions were placed upon Serbian schools, churches and literature. The extent to which the censorship upon books was carried is Instanced by the case of Count von Kallay, the Austrian governor, who had actually to prohibit the entrance into Bosnia and Herzegovina of a book written by himself. In this work, a history of Servla written many years before, he had been guilty of declaring that in Bosnia and Herzogovina there were "three religions, but only one nationality. the Serbs." As the majority of the people of the two provinces are Serbs they bitterly resent Austria's attempt to uproot their national spirit, and to crush their hope of a united Serbian race. It Is this same spirit, this same racial ambition, that has drawn Servla and Montenegro, the strongest of the Serb states, and with naturally belligerent people, into the tangle and caused them to stand ready to make war upon Austria, rather than permit the irrevocable loss to the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzogovina. And If Bosnia and Herzogovina, why not next Servla and Montenegro? THE ALASKA RAVEN. , A Scavenger That la Highly Esteemed By the Natives. In Alaska the raven Is highly esteemed, and the natives regard it as a \ery unfortunate event should one be killed. In Alaska ravens fly around the beach and village unmolested, and were It not for their scavenger work the flsh nffo 1 that lino at*Aiin/l t Wa L /> ?? IIVO VUA1U bite ouuio anu houses would soon engender disease. The Alaska raven is a fine looking bird, as large as a turkey and upon closer acquaintance a real handsome fellow. His coat Is Indeed black, but of a black glossier and more rich than silk and softer than velvet, while fti a semishade the feathers are tinged with that peculiar color so often seen on well preserved blue black bronze. It Is very funny to see these birds holding, as It were, a conclave. Ten or a dozen alight on the ground and walk to the meeting place with a stately, erect step, their every movement cool and assured. Then an old bird steps gravely Into the middle, and the meeting begins with a series of guttural and harsh croaks, which gradually swell In volume until the entire lot of birds have joined In the debate. Along comes a dog, and for him they scatter, resuming their positions when he passes, until the meeting again terminates, and they fly off to the beach and hills. If you examine the bills of these ravens the peculiar construction Is remarkable. They are a combination of a chisel, scissors, dagger and gimlet. The bill forms an important factor In the raven 8 existence, for he has to dig on the beach for clams, bore the hard shell by repeated chipping, and again in pure mischief he will tear and break anything that his bright and unerring eye lights upon. Just as soon as the bright sunlight appears the ravens leave their roosting places on the hilltops for the beach line, and over the village and shores of the bay they fly and wander until sundown invites them to rest. The raven is a fine flyer. On the wing his movements are well under command. With strong, decided beats he winnows the air fast or slow, never seeming In a hurry. But If occasion requires the raven can travel at express speed, and, when he sees another bird feasting on some delicate morsel or oflfal, down he comes from midair with his discordant caw, ready to share or steal the prize. The same characteristics are 'TMWr" all along the southern coast of Alaska to Sitka. The natives from Yahutat bay through the network of islands as far as British Columbia have an ancient legend that the raven was the bird that brought light from darkness when the world was created. On this account they venerate it, and the totem of a raven is regarded as denoting the most illustrious descended family. The raven does not appear to migrate, as the residents all over that portion ot Alaska where the birds are found state that they remain throughout the winter.?St. Louis Globe-Democrat. CONGRESSMEN ANGRY. They Don't Like New Rule For Choosing Postmasters. Representatives in congress from those states affected by President Roosevelt's order placing fourth class postmasters under the civil service umbrella are mad through and through, says a Washington dispatch. A few of the congressmen are not angry at all, but take the view that the president has relieved them of a lot of trouble. Since the foundation of the government the appointment of country postmasters has been one of the precious political assets of the rural congressmen. In some districts where the great bulk of the population is composed of farmers and dwellers in small towns and villages, political machines have been constructed with * fourth-class postmasterships as the most vital part of the construction. By the terms of the order issued by the president recently, all fourth-class postmasters in states east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio river are "covered into" the classified service, and the postmasters can now be removed only upon charges. Not a few members of congress have in times past professed to regard the appointments of small postmasters as not only a bore but a source of infinite trouble politically. It frequently happens that where one man or woman Is pleased by an appointment as postmaster a dozen are offended, and the congressman from the district reaps a big crop of enemies. The fact Is, however, that members of congress generally are not pleased over the president's order and would prefer that the status quo In the matter of fourth-class postmastershlps be maintained. Democratic congressmen generally are mightily tickled over the president's order. They did not share In this patronage and they are having lots of fun with their Republican brethren in the house. They point out, incidentally, that no southern states are Included In the new civil service order, and this they regard as significant. In the south the patronage Is distributed upon the recommendation of Republican referees. ts* An ordinary European railway engine is equal In strength to 900 horses. tiT in Italy there are more theatres in proportion to population than In any other country, there being in Catania one to every 9,300 inhabitants. In London there is only one to every 145,000 Inhabitants. t3" Antwerp claims to have printed the first of the world's newspapers in 1605, and celebrated the tercentenary in 1905. The paper was published by Abraham Verhoeven, and antedated the first English paper by seventeen years.