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3 BUCCANEER By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY, Author of *'The Southerners/* "For Love of Country/* "The Grip of Honor/* ?tc. COPYRIGHT. 1?03. BY G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY astern fight was being waged in the WQgare, whittier all the combatants teil congregated, the buccaneers driv ?zu&ere, the Spaniards following. The disciplined valor and determination of 4E?e Spanish, however, were slowly the buccaneers to give ground. Spanish soldiers that ever lived nave defeated the old time buc-.] cancers, but these were different, and ^fhe"r best men had been killed with 3Geach and L'Ollonois. The opportune Arrival"'of Morgan and De Lussan, how? ever, put . heart in their men. Under H?be direction of these two redoubtable champions they began to make stouter resistance. - TEfce battle might have gone in their *tiror if, in the very nick of time, the Ifieeroy himself and the remainder of ?:rJte troops had not come up. They had not thought it necessary to come on foot since the surprise had been sf?ected, and the viceroy rightly divin? ed they would have more advantage if jxaounted. Choosing the very freshest therefore, he had put fifty of best soldiers upon them and had led them up on a gallop, bidding the -??aers follow on with speed. The fighting had gradually concentrated ?before, the church and in the eastern tort, where Bra Tri li ano had' his head -^Barters. The arrival of the horsemen -decided the day. Morgan and De Lus? san, fighting desperately in the front ?Eks with splendid courage, were .overridden. De Lussan was wounded, JSefi "anti was Irampleti to deathly Spanish horsemen, and Morgan taken prisoner, alive and unharm When he saw that all was lost he had thrown himself upon the ene xny^s?eking a death in the fight which. the viceroy's orders, was denied form. Many of the other buccaneers j ?Iso were captured alive-indeed, the . viceroy desired a^ many of them saved ? possible. He could punish a living man in a way to* make him feel some Using of the%>rt?Te he bad inflicted, wad for this reason those who sur -rendered had been spared for the present indeed, after the capture of Morgan ^the remaining" buccaneers threw down their arms and begged for mercy. :Tbey fright as well have appealed to a slone wall for that as to their Span? ish captors. A short shrift and a heavy punishment were promised them in the morning. Meanwhile, after a brief struggle, the east fort was taken by assault, and Braziliano was wound? ed and captured, with most of his men. town was in the possession of the inish at last It was all over in a Quarter of an hour. . Instantly the streets were filled with at mob of men, women and children, ^whose lives had been spared, bewil ?ered by the sudden release from their imminent peril and giving praise to God and the viceroy and his men. As soon as he could make himself heard fa the confusion De Lara inquired for Alvarado. *tWhere is he?" he cried. "And De aWbarr **My lord,*" answered one of the par? ity, "**we were directed to take the west Sort, and those two cavaliers were in lead, but the pressure of the pirates so great that we were stopped and ?save not seen them since. They were ahead of us." ~De Cordova," cried the old man to one of his colonels, 4take charge of the "town. Keep the women and children inhabitants together where they for the present Let your soldiery patrol the streets and search every house from top to bottom. Let no one 4BT these ruffianly scoundrels escape. "Eake them alive We'll deal with them Ja the morning. Fetch Morgan to the .*??est fort after us. Come, gentlemen, we shall find our comrades there, and pray God the ?ladies are still unharm ?ar j A noble old soldier was De Lara. He had not sought his daughter until he Jtad performed his full duty in taking 'the town. The anteroom of the fort they found Sa a state of wild confusion. The dead hodies of the sentry and the others the *wo cavaliers had cut down on the -stairs were ruthlessly thrust aside, and .fix- party of gentlemen, with the vice ?hoBCm?o drove borne the stroke in the lead, poured into the guard? room. There, on his back, was stretch? ed the hideous body of the half breed -where he had fallen. There, farther away, the unfortunate De Tobar lay, gasping for breath, yet makins no out? cry. He was leaning on his arni and staring across the room, with anguish In his face not due to the wound he had received, but a sight which broke his heart. "Alas, De Tobar!" cried the viceroy. **Wfcere is Mercedes?" He followed the glance of the dying man. There at the other side of thc room lay a prostrate body, and over it h?nt a moaning, sobbing figure. It -was i Mercedes. ''Senorita," cried one of the officers, ! "Don Felipe here is dying! He would j speak with you." ! Mercedes suffered herself to be led j to where De Tobar lay upon the floor. ! One of his comrades had taken his I head on his knee. The very seconds of I his life were numbered. Lovely in her grief, Mercedes knelt at his side, a great pity in her heart. The viceroy stepped close to him. . "I thank you, too," she said. "Poor Don Felipe! He and you saved me, but at the expense of your lires. Would' God you could have been spared!" ~ "Nay," gasped the dying man. "Thou lovest him. I watched thee.. I heard j thee call upon his name. Thou wert : not for me, and so 'I die willingly. He is ?i noble gentleman. Would he might 1 have won thee!" j The man trembled with the violent I effort it cost him to speak. . He gasped faintly and strove to smile. By an im? pulse for which- she was ever after grateful she bent her head, slipped her arm around his neck, lifted him up and kissed Mm. In spite of his death agony at that caress he smiled up at her. "Now," he murmured, "I die happy content You kissed-rae-Mercedes" "He is dead," said the officer. "God rest his soul, a gallant gentle? man,** said the viceroy, taking off his bat, and his example was followed by every one in the room, "And Captain Alvarado?'* said Mer ! cedes, rising to her feet and turning to the other figure, j "Senorita,'* answered another of the i officers, "he lives. See-he moves!" A little shudder crept through th? figure of the prostrate captain, who had only been knocked senseless by the ! fierce blow and was otherwise unhurt '"His eyes are open^ Water, quick!" .With skilled' fingers .begot by. long practice the cavalier cut the lacings of Alvarado's doublet and gave him wa? fter, then a little wine. As thte young captain returned to consciousness once more the officers crowded around him, the viceroy in the center, Mercedes on her knees again. "Mercedes," whispered the young captain-"alive, unharmed?" "Yes," answered Mercedes brokenly, "thanks to God and thee." "And De Tobar," generously asserted Alvarado. "Where is he?" " "Dead." ; "Oh, brave De T^obar! And the city?" "Is ours.** "And Morgan?** "Here in my hands,*' said the vice? roy sternly. , "Thank God, thank God! . And now, your excellency, my promise. I thought as I was stricken down there would be no need for you to" "Thou hast earned life, Alvarado, not death, and thou shalt have it" "Senors," said Alvarado, whose faint? ness was passing from him, "I broke my plighted word to the viceroy and Don Felipe de Tobar. I love this lady and was false to my charge. Don Al? varo promised me death for punish? ment, and I crave it. I care not for life without" "And did he tell thee why he broke his word?" asked Mercedes, taking his hands in her own and looking up at her father. "It was my fault I made him. In despair I strove to throw my? self over the cliff on yonder mountain, and he caught me in his arms. With me in his arms, which of you, my lords," she said, throwing back her head with superb pride, "would not have done the same? Don Felipe de Tobar is dead. He was a gallant gen? tleman, but I loved him not. My fa? ther, you will not part us now?" "No," said the old man, "I will not try. I care not now what his birth or lineage, he hath shown himself a man of noblest soul. You heard the wish of De Tobar. It shall be so. This is .the betrothal of my daughter, gentle? men. Art satisfied, captain? She is noble enough, she hath lineage and race enough, for both of you. My in? terest with our royal master will se? cure you that patent of nobility you will adorn, for bravely have you won it." CHAPTER XXII. HE blow that struck Alvarado down had stunned him rather than anything else, and he would not have been put out of the combat so easily had it not been that he was exhausted by the hard? ships of those two terrible days through which he had just passed. He faced tlie viceroy, his hand in that of Mercedes, with a flush of pleasure und pride upon his face. It was the consciousness of havinf won permission to marry the woman whom he adored and who loved him with a passion that would fain over? match his own, were that possible, that so quickly restored him to strength. With the realization of what he had gained there came to him such an ac? cess of vigor as amazed those who a few moments before had thought him dead or dying. "But for these poor people who have so suffered, this, my lord," he ex? claimed with eager gratitude and hap? piness, "h. J th been a happy day for me. Last night, sir, on the beach yon? der, I found a mother. A good sister, she, of holy church, who, rather than carn- the ladders which ira ve access to "lue town. killed herself wita" ber own hand. She died not, praise God. bi fore she had received absolution from a brave priest, although the holy father paid for his office with his life, for Morgan killed him. Tonight I find, by the blessing of God, the favor of your excellency and the kindness of the Indy's heart, a wife." "Long life to Donna de Lara and Captain Alvarado!" cried old Agra monte. lifting up his hand. "The hand? somest, the noblest, the bravest pair in New Spain! May they be the hap? piest! Give me leave, sir," added the veteran captain, turning to the vice? roy. "You have done we'll. Say I not true, gentlemen? And as for the young captain, as he is fit to stand wit%tke best, it is meet that he should win the heart of the loveliest. His mother he has found. None may know his fa I ther" "Let me be heard," growled a deep i voice in broken Spanish as a one eyed ! old sailor thrust himself through tie 1 crowd. I "Hornigold!" screamed the bound ? buccaneer captain, who had been a j silent spectator of events from the 1 background. "I missed you. Have you" The boatswain, mindful of his safety -for in the hurry and confusion of the attack any Spaniard would have cut him down before he could explain-had followed feard upon the heels of Alva? rado and De Tobar when they entered j the fort and had concealed himself in j one of tlie inner rooms until he saw a j convenient opportunity for disclosing himself. He had been a witness to all that had happened in the hall, and he realized that the time had now come to strike the first of the blows he bad prepared against his old captain. As soon as he appeared from behind the hangings where he had remained in hiding it was evident to every one that he was a buccaneer. Swords were out1 in an instant "What's this?" cried the viceroy In great surprise. "Another pirate rree and unbound? Seize him!" Three or four of the men made a rush toward the old buccaneer, but with wonderful agility he avoided them and sprang to the side of Alvarado. "Back, senors!" he cried coolly and composedly, facing their uplifted points. . "My lord," said Alvarado, "bid these gentlemen withdraw their weapons. This man is under my protection." "Who is he?" "He I told you of, sir, who set me free, prdvided 'Donna Mercedes with a wecr/on, opened the gate for us-one Benjamin Hornigo?d." \ "Thou traitor!" yelled that fierce, high voice on the outskirts of thc crowd. There was a sudden commotion. A bound man burst through the surprised cavaliers and threw himself, all fetter? ed though he was, upon the sailor. He was without weapon or use of hand, yet he bit him savagely OD the cheek. The old buccaneer was an awful fig? ure as he poured out a horrible torrent of curses and imprecations upon the traitor, grinding his teeth beneath his foam flecked lips, and even the iron He bit him savagely on the check I hearted sailor, striving to stanch the i>lood, involuntarily shrank back ap? palled before him. "Senor," he cried, appealing to Al? varado, ""J was to have "protection!" "You shall have it," answered the young soldier, himself shrinking away from the traitor, al though by his trea? son he had so greatly benefited. "My lord, had it not been for thfs^man I'd sK?Tbe a pris?ner,~"tneTady Mercedes like those wretched women weeping in the streets. I promised him, in your name, protection, immunity from pun? ishment and liberty to depart with as much of the treasure of the Porto Bello plate galleon, which was wrecked on the sands a few days ago, of which I told you, as he could carry." "Aiid you did not exceed your author? ity, Captain Alvarado. We contemn treason in whatsoever guise it doth ap? pear, aud we hate and loathe a traitor, but thy word is passed. It will be held inviolate as our own. You are free, knave. I will appoint soldiers to guard you, for should my men see you, not knowing this, they would cut you down, and when occasion serves you may take passage in the first ship that touches here and go where you will. Nay, we will be generous, although we like yoti, not. We are much indebted to you. We have profited by what we do despise. We would reward you. Ask of me something that I may meas? ure my obligation for a daughter's hon j or saved if you can realize or feel what I that may be." "My lord, hear me," said the boat? swain quickly. "There be reasons and reasons for betrayals, and I have one. This man was my captain. I periled my life a dozen times to save his. 1 followed him blindly upon a hundred terrible ventures. I lived but for his service. My soul-when I had a soul was at his command. I loved him. He could ask of me anything that I could have given him and he would not have been refused. "Sirs, there came to me a young brother of mine, not such as I. a rude, unlettered sailor, but a gentleman, and college bred. There are quarter? ing-^ on my family scutcheon, sirs, back in merry England, had 1 the wi' or care to trace it. Ile was a reckless youth, chafing under the restraints of that hard religion io which we had been born. Tho fr,.,- bf,, of a brother of the coast attracted him. Ho became, like me. a buccaneer. 1 strove to dis? suade him, but withoui avail. Ile was ?io ' L';:v? . Llie handsomest tue m gail:;n' of us all. Ho came into old heart i TKO a son. Wc are not brute, gentlemen. I have waded blood and plunder like the rest, but every hear: there is some spot tl beats for things better. I~ divided : love between him and my captain. T man"-he pointed to his old mas with his blunted finger, drawing h self up until he looked taller than was. his one eye flashing with an and hatred as with a stern, rude ( quence he recited his wrongs the gr indictment of a falso friend-"this u betrayed us at Panama. With w] he had robbed his comrades of bought immunity, even knightho from the king of England. Ho v made vice governor of Jamaica, a his hand fell heavily upon those w had blindly followed him in the i days, men who had served him a trustei him. as I-men whose valora courage had made him what he was. "He took the lad I loved and cause nis proud spirit would not brc to his heavy hand and he answered h like the oold, free sailor he was hanged him like a dog, sirs! I stooped for his life. I, who cared i for myself, offered to stand in 1 place upon the gallows platfor though .1 have no more tas?te for 1 rope than any of you, if only*lie mi; go free, fie laughed at me! He inoi ed me! I urged my ancient service. ; j drove me from him willi curses a threats "like a whipped ?og. I rroi have struck him down then but t? I wanted to save him for a reven that might measure my hate, slow a . long and terrible-not mere sudd death; that would not suffice-sou thing more. "Treachery? My lord, his was t first. I played his own game and ha overcome it with the same. D'ye blai me now? Take your treasure! I wa none of it I want only him and my ; venge! Liberty's dear to all of us. ] give mine up. You may take my li with the rest, but first give me tl man. Let me deal w/ith him. I will i venge jrou all, and when I haye finis iel w ith Lim I will yield myself "to yoi He was a hideous figure of old ha and rancor, of unslaked passion, monstrous possibilities of cruel tortui Even Morgan himself, intrepid as I was, shrank from the awful menace the mordant words. "My lord," shouted the unfortuna captain, "give him no heed. He lies his throat; he lies a thousand time 'Twas a mutinous dog, that brother his, that I hanged. I am your prison* Yon are a soldier. I look for speec punishment-certain death, it. may be but let it not be from his hand." 4Thin!:, senors," urged the boatswai "You would hang him, perhaps. It the worst that you could do. Is th; punishment meet for him? He has d spoiled women, bereft children, tortu ed men, in the streets of La Guayr A more fitting punishment should awa him. Think of Panama, of Maracaib of Porto Bello. Recall what he di there. Is hanging enough? Give hi] to me. Let me have my way. Yo have your daughter, safe, unharme; within the shelter of her lovers arm The town is yours. You have won tl fight. 'Twas I that did it. Without m your wives, your children, your sui jects, would have been slaughtered i Caracas, and this dog Would have bee free to go further afield for prey, ll coveted your daughter-would fai make her his slave in some desert ii land. Give him to me!''4 "Old man," said the viceroy, "I tak back my words. You have excuse fa your betrayal, but your request I ear not grant I have promised him to A varado. Nay, urge me no further. M; word is passed." "Thank you, thank you!" cried Moi gan, breathing again. "Silence, you dog!" said the viceroy with a look of contempt on his fact "But take heart, man," he added a he saw the look of rage and disappoim ment sweep over the face of the oh sailor; "he will not escape lightly Would God he had blood enough in hi boay^to pay\dftfp -?y drop -for-ail h hath shed. His death shall be slow lingering, terrible. You have said it and you shall see it, too, if you-will He shall have time to repent and t( think upon the past. You may glui yourself with his suffering and feec fat your revenge. 'Twill be a meet a fitting punishment so far as our pooi minds can compass. We have alreadj planned it Take him away and hole I him safe. Tomorrow he shall be pun? ished. Alvarado, art ready for duty?' "Heady, your excellency," answered the young man, "and for this duty." 44Take him, then. I give him into your hands. Y'ou know what is to be done; see you do it well." "Aye, my lord. Into the strong room with him, men!" ordered the young Spaniard, stepping unsteadily forward., * _ As he did so the crucifix he wore, which the disorder in his dress ex? posed to view, flashed into the light once more. Morgan's eye? listened upon it for the first time. "By heaven, sir!" he shouted. "Where got ye that cross?" "From his mother, noble captain," interrupted Hornigold. coming closer. He had another card to play. He had waited for this moment, and he threw back his head with a long, bitter laugh. There was such sinister, such vicious mockery and meaning in his voice, with not the faintest note of merriment to relieve it, that his listen? ers looked aghast upon him. "His motlier?" cried Morgan. "Then this is" "The boy I took into Cuchillo when we were at Panama," said Hornigold in triumph. "And my son!" cried the old bucca ! neer, with inn lignant joy. ! A great cry of repudiation and horror j burst from the lips of Alvarado. The : others stared with astonishment and j incredulity written on their faces. Mer ' ced.--, moved closer to her lover and ! strove to take his hand. ~"My lo?vLs an G gentlemen, hear me," continued the buccaneer, the words rushing from his lips in his excitement, ?Where got ye that cross?" for in the new relationship he so ?promptly and boldly ailirmed he thought he saw a way of escape from his imminent peril. "There lived in Maracaibo a Spanish woman. Maria Zerega, who loved me. By her there was a child-mine-a boy. I took them with me to Panama. The pestilent raged there after the sack. She fell ; ill and as she lay dying besought me to save the boy. I sent Homigold to her with instructions to do her will, and he carried the baby to the village of \ Cuchillo with that cross upon his breast I and left him. We lost sight of him. ! There the next day you found him. j He has English blood in his veins. Ii . ; is my son, sirs, a noble youth," sneered j the old man. "Now you have given me j to him. 'Tis not meet that the father should suffer at the hands of the son. You shall set me free," added the man, turning to Alvarado. "Rather than that"- cried Homigold, viciously springing forward, knife in hand. He was greatly surprised at the i bold yet cunning appeal of his former captain. "Back, man!" interposed the viceroy. "And were you a thousand times his father, were you my brother, my own father, you should nevertheless die, as lt hath been appointed." "Can this be true?" groaned Alvara? do, turning savagely to Homigold. "I believe it to be." "Why not kill me last night, then?" "I wanted you for this minute. 'Tis a small part of my revenge-to see him die and by his son's hand-a worthy father, noble son" "Silencer' ' shouted De Lara. "Art thou without bowels of compassion, man? Alvarado, I pity thee, but this makes the promise of the hour void. Nay, my daughter," as Mercedes came forward to entreat him, "I'd rather slay thee with my own hand than wed thee to the son of such as yon!" "My lord, 'tis just" answered Alva ! rado. His anguish was pitiful to be? hold. "I am as innocent of my parent? age as any child, yet the suffering must be mine. The sins of the fathers are visited on the children. I did deem it yesterday a coward's act to cut the thread of my life, but now-I cannot survive-I cannot live-and know that in my veins runs the blood of such a monster. My lord, you have been good to me. Gentlemen, .you have honored me. Mercedes, you have loved me-O God! You. infamous man. you have fathered me! May the curse of God, that God whom you mock, rest upon you! My mother loved this man once, it seems. Well, nobly did she expiate. I go to join her. Pray for me. Stay not my hand. Farewell!" He raised his poinard. "Let no one stop him!" cried the old viceroy as Alvarado darted the weapon straight at his own heart. "This were the best end." Mercedes had stood dazed during this conversation, but with-a shriek of hor? ror as she saw the flash of the blade she threw herself upon her lover and strove to wrench the dagg. from him. "Alvarado," she cried, "whatever thou art, thou hast my heart! Nay, slay me first, if thou wilt!" cHAPTEg-sxffir " -- YE, strike, Alvarado," cried the ""viceroy, filled with shame and surprise at the sight of his daughter's extraordinary bold? ness, "for, though I love her, I'd rather see her dead than married to the son of such as he. Drive home your weap? on!" he cried in bitter scorn. "Why stay your hand? Only blood can wash out the shame she hath put upon me before you all this day. Thou hast a dagger. Use it, I say!" "Do you hear my father's words, Al? varado?" cried Mercedes, sinking on her knees and stretching up her hands to Jahn. "'Tis a sharp weapon. One touch will end it all, and you can fol? low." "God help me!" cried the unhappy young captain, throwing aside the poniard and clasping his hands to his eyes. "I cannot! Hath no one here a point for me? If I have deserved well of you or the state, sir, bia them strike home." "Live, young sir," interrupted Mor? gan. "There are other women in the world. Come with me and" "If you are my father, you have but little time in this world," interrupted the Spaniard, turning to Morgan and gnashing his teeth at him. "I doubt not but you were cruel to my motlier. I hate you! 1 loathe you! I despise you for all your crimes, and most of all for bringing me into the world. I swear to you, had I the power, I'd not add another moment to your life. The world were better rid of you." "You have been well trained by your Spanish nurses," cried Morgan reso? lutely, although with sneering mockery and hate in his voice, "and well you seem to know the duty owed by son to ! sire." "You have done nothing for me." re? turned the young soldier. "You aban? doned me. Such as you are, you were my father. You cast mc away to shift for myself. Had it not been for these friends here" "Nay," said Morgan, "I thought you dead. That cursed one eyed trai*)r there told me so. else I'd have sought von ont-." Physicians pronounce drunken ness a disease of tho nervous sys? tem. No *'wiil power" can heal the stomach membranes which have been burned anc seared by alcohol. Cures Whiskey and Seer Habit ORRTIvE re mr. ves the craving "Tor?iocor by acting direc''ly on the effected nerves, restoring thc storr.ach and directive organsj to ?orrual condition, improving the ap ..etite a:id rvs;.> rinsr the "heal th. No san? itarium treatment or publicity. To cs re without patient's JcroTrlec^e, buy Or? h*I NIC No. !: fer voil*.!irarv sre?tacen?, ; DREINE Nc. 2. Price fi ?er box. Cit re Effected or f.Ioney Refunded A registered gcararice ir. each box. Book C.. "!>i'-akenaess"' sealed snailed irt-.'oa r?<<ue>t All correspondence confidest?al. OS?INK --ailed (sealed; ou receipt of price bv thc 0RRIN2 CO., Inc., Washington, I>. C-.orsoW bv 37 DeLorme?s Pharmacy, Sumter. S C. "Glad am I that you did not, for I have passed my life where no child of yours could hope to be-among honor? able men, winning their respect, which I now forfeit because of thee." "Alvarado/' said tho viceroy, "this much will I do for thee. He shall be shot like a soldier instead of undergo? ing the punishment we had designed for him. This much for his father? hood." "My lord, I ask it not," answered the young man. "Sir." exclaimed Morgan, a gleam of relief passing across his features, for he knew, of course, that death was his only expectation, and he had greatly teared that his taking off would be ac? companied by horrible tortures, "you, at least are a father, and I thank you." "Yes, I am a father, and a most un? happy one." groaned De Lara, turning toward Alvarado. "Perhaps ft is well you did not accomplish your purpose of self destruction after all, my poor friend. As I -said before,- Spain hath need of you. You may go back to the old country beyond the great sea. All here will keep your secret; my favor will be of service to you even there. You can make a new career with a new nsjne.'JL _ ? (To Be Continued.) j A Lively Tussel } * With that old enemy of the race, constipation, often ends in appendi? citis. To avoid all serious trouble with stomach, liver and bowels, take Dr. King's New Life Pills. They per? fectly regulate these organs, without pain or discomfort 25c at all drug? gists. _L_ Tile Rich Men and the Law: A Xar rative. And after jhiany years the Auditor put his head close to that of the treasurer and their lips were seen to move. Then the Auditor got busy and before many days a scroll bearing names strange to the column of the Treasurer's book marked "income tax" was prepared and scanned by the au? thorities. Now it so happened that these things came to pass after the twentieth day of the second month, which is a day full of sorrow to many taxpayers, though it brings smiles to those who gathered gold through the delinquencies of men. A certain de? scendant of Dives hearing these things hailed one who also had much gold and silver and lands and other things representing money. And quickly a number of these men in like circum? stances were * gathered together and they asked one another why they should be forced to pay tribute to the State who jh^?tec"fed~Tn?ir pefrSfffiS*Sl-? their property. And straightway they began devising means by which they might evade this tribute. Many, were lawyers and not a few had been law? makers and while they all agreed that the statute was writ large and plain, without loophole for even wily men learnecUin the law, they must devise some way by which they might keep their gold.. So one of these men crossed the highway and summoned to this meeting of rich men the poor man who was the Auditor, and said, O, Au? ditor, we beseech thee help us to keep our gold! lhere is enough without it. Pee how many tithes you gather from the thousands of pc- ;- ff our tribe: it has proved enough in years past, why make us pay? And tne Auditor said. It is the law. But we are ignorant of the law. said these, among whom were many lav. vers and lav makers, and be? cause of ibis ignorance we beseech you fo<civf us and !< t n.* Veep our vrold. Wt rromise tuat another year will find us prepared; for while we shall then have knowledge of this un? just law. we shall see to it that our in? comes are no larger than those of our brethren whom this law does not ?f? fest. And straightway the Auditor promised that he Would consult one high in authority and do what he coould to have this most unjust law abrogated, for he felt deep compas? sion for those who love the State and all her institutions and who call them? selves patriots and who sit in high places in the temple of worship, but who love gold above all things else. Carolina Spartan. * Indigestion is much of a habit. Don't get the habit. Take a little Ko dol Dyspepsia Cure after eating and you. will quit belching, bulling, palpi? tating ami Trow nine-. Ko,lol digests what you eat and makes the stomach sweet Sold by all druggists.