The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, September 11, 1889, Image 3
r ;
A IAD MARRIAGE;
? OB,
The Heiress of Lawrence
Park.
I STORY OF ABSORBING INTEREST.
BY MKS. S. B. COLLINS,
i 1
CHAPTER XI7.
ONLY MASK.
Arthur glanced up with a Blighl
emile.
"I believe it will be wise to heed the
advice of 'A Friend,' he said, "and
jkeep my eye upon Mr. Mark Alleyne,
las well as the 'nu airess.' "
And although his heart was heavy,
(he laughed heartily, for the absurdity
of the orthography was mirth-provoking.
"And I believe," he went on,thoughtfully,
the smile vanishing from his
handsome face, and the gravely hopeless
look coming back, which was
irrowing habitual to it, "that I had
better make a call at Lawrence Park
Bow. Ah, I see my own wisdom in accepting
Mrs. Gabrielle St. Cyr's invitation
to call there."
But if Arthur Wynne had dreamt for
- ft single moment of all that his acceptance
of said invitation was destined to
east him, he would have hesitated before
the next step was taken.
He made up his mind to call without
delay.
Adelo was out, he knew, and he
would thus be spared the sight of her
usurping Euby's place in Ruby's home,
and perhaps he might be able to find a
stray clew.
He re-entered his carriage and -was
driven to Lawrence Park, rang the
bell, and sent in his card to its misteess.
He was shown into the grand drawing-room,
and loft alone, while the servant
went to acquaint Mrs. Lawrence
(so Arthur must force himself to call
her) with his presence there.
A shrewd detective never allows any
possible chance to him to pick up odds
and ends of information.
Arthur glanced curiously around the
room to see if any change had been
effected in its arrangements since the
interlopers bad taken possession.
The first new object upon which his
eyes fell was a portrait of Adele. A
lovely, girlish face it was, with sunny
hair and great, dusky eyes like velvet;
a bewildering face, which he studied
with eager gaze.
Slowly a strange, inexplicable feel
ing crept over him. Something familiar
in the features of the portrait before
him touched his memory.
"I have seen that face before, long
ago," he muttered under his breath.
"I have seen that face somewhere before,
surely; but where, or when ?"
He could not. decide. He could not
recall the time or the place; but that
he had seen it before, that he had even
been some time presented to Adele St.
Cyr, grew gradually to impress itself
upon Lis mind.
Give Arthur Wynne a clew, be it
ever so slight, and he would work it np
to a starting point before he was done
with it.
A book lay upon a tiny gilded stand '
at his side, a copy of Meredith's poems,
elegantly bound.
Arthur turned it over carelessly as
he stood there, vaguely taking in the
-fact that there was nothing to remind
one of Ruby in the apartment. That
everything pertaining to the unfortu- j
nate girl had been banished?as though j
disgrace, black disgrace, trailed itseli j
over everything which had been hers.'
Glancing carelessly at the book ha j
foecame aware that, in his abstraction,
jhe had opened it, or, rather, the leaves
had fallen apart at the poem "Aux
{Italians," "which bore the marks of
much reading, the first lines being
marked lightly in pencil:
At Paris it 'was. at the opera, there J
And she looked like a queen in a book, that
' night,
With the wreath of pearl in her raven hair.
And the brooch on her breast, so bright 1
He stopped short. A vision arose
before him; avast, crowded theater,
in a blaze ot brilliance, anH upon the
stage a light, airy figure in white,
spangled tulle, with a lovely face,
framed in by waves of floating, dusky
liair, flitted over the boards like a
bird.
Then the vision vanished, and he
at Ruby's side in the flame-wrapped
box, tearing lier away from the grasp
of death; while all the time, from the
, Btage near bv. those mocking, dark
eyes, that lovely face with a dazzling
smile?that face which never once, in
that lile and death struggle, held a look
of pity or sympathy, or any human attribute
of sorrow or regret.
Ruffling the leaves of the book under
his hand he turned carelessly to the fly
leaf.
A name had been written there?the
name of the owner.
The book had been presented to
Adele by one of her admirers, who
had written her stage name (not knowing
any other) upon the fly leaf, and
she ha:l subsequently erased it, with
the assistance of a bit of india-rubber.
Arthur Wynne drew a tiny magnifying
glass from his pocket and placed it
over the name.
"L?B?lie." That was what he deciphered.
Still the truth did not come
home to his brain. The enormity, the
:?*-> wwiVialiilifir nf cn/^ll a thin<r was too
v* wmv? ? 0
immense to easily take possession of
any one's mind, even to tne astute detective's.
He closed the book, and turned his
eves upon the lovely grounds outside
the window, his heart aching with
tlioughs of the lovely girl who had
reigned there so short a time before;
the petted idol of her father, queen of
the household, beautiful Ruby Lawrence
!
"My darling! My poor, wronged
darling! I will right your wrongs; I
will refute this awful calumny, though
the effort cost my life!"
He stopped short. The door of the
drawing-ioom opened slowly, aud
Adelo stood before him.
She had returned from her drive,
ud donning a violet silk house-dress,
trimmed with swan's down, which
made her fair face dazzingly fair, she
had hurried down to the drawing-room.
He glanced up with a startled look.
For an instant he had half believed
it to be Ruby standing there before
him. both white hands extended in
greeting, a sweet smile upon her perfect
face.
"So good in you to call, Mr. Wynne 1"
she began, graciously. "Mamma is
out; I have just returned from my
drive, and so took the liberty of representing
mamma upon this occasion."
What couia he cTo but murmur some
low words of flattery, which made the
color rush to her face for au instant,
and she seated herself upon a silken
couch close at his side.
A chill passed over Arthur Wynne at
the contact.
How did he know what hand this
beautiful enchantress might have had
in Euby's downfall ?
"Who was yonr escort this morning,
Miss Lawrence?" (he choked a little
over that name) "who wa3 the gentleman
with whom you were driving, if
it's a fair question?"
She smiled sweetly.
"Oh, that, of course!" she returned
quickiv. "It was only Mark i xou see,
Mark Alleyne has been like a brother
to me all my life! I cannot remember
a time when I did not know Mark! He
has always escorted me, is always at
my command! He is?just Mark, that
is all!"
And the sweet smile grew into a
lauga.
It was evident to her that Arthur
Wynne was really interested, or why
should he trouble himself to ask such a
question. And the belief was strengthened
by Arthur's murmured observation
that Mark was to be envied, and
must be a verv happy man!
Ui course Arthur "Wynne despised
himself for the part he was playing;
but it must be played. He must lose
no chance to find a clue to the awful
mystery which he had sworn to unravel.
And he watched the fair face
beside him as a cat watches a mouse,
as ho put another question:
"Miss Adele, have you heard anything?
Is there any news of?of?
Miss Ruby ?"
She turned away with a little shiver
of disgust.
"No, none!" she replied, so harshly
that it made him start. "Don't speak
of her!" she added, hoarsely.
He arose to go.
"I will do myself the honor of calling
again scod," he said. "I would like to
see your mother and hand over to her
the key of the rQom up-stairs. It has
been in my possession long enough,
since no clue can be obtained. And I
prefer returning it to her direct!" he
added.
Adele smiled assent. It was so easy
to see that the key was a mere pretext
to repeat his call at the earliest possible
opportunity. "What a bright idea
it had been for her to represent mam
ma!
And all the time Gabrielle, np-stairs
in her own chamber, was patiently
awaiting the termination of the interview.
Some one else was waiting, too! In
the music-room, which was separated
from the drawing-room by heavy portieres,
Mark Alleyne had overheard nil
that had passed. His face was like a
corpse; his eyes flashed like fire as he
muttered silently:
"Only Mark! Like a brother to
her, all my life! Ah! my dear little
sister Adele, you shall live to learn
that there is no fend like that between
brethren! She shall remember that
while Cain was the first murderer, it
was his brother whose life he took!
"But I have made up my mind to
one thing! I shall know her decision
?her final decision?soon! Ah!" as
he heard Arthur Wynne's retreating
footsteps, "she shall answer me now I
She shall not make a mook or a plaything
of me any longer! I will know
my fate?happiness or woe! It is better
to know the worst! And, if she
refuses me! Bah! I hold her?and
hers?in the hollow of my hand!"
And Adele, smiling a last adieu to
Arthur Wynne, turned when tne ouier |
door had closed upon him, and found
herself standing face to face with Mark
Alleyne?the only living creature on
earth -whom she and her mother feared
and had good reason to fear.
" Come in to the drawing-room, Adele,"
he began, sternly, his eyes burning
into hers. "I have something to say to
you!"
CHAPTER XV.
THEEE DAYS OF GRACE.
Trembling in spite of herself, Adele
obeyed his command, and followed
Mark into the drawing-room once more.
He closed the door behind them, and
fated her, white and stern. She had
never seen him so angry before ia her
life; aud her heart sunk with a premonition
of coming trouble.
"The time has come," he began,
slowly, his black eyes burning into hers
like flames, "when a certain question
mu3t be settled for all time! Adele
St. Cyr, are you going to become my
wife? No more evasion; no more postponement.
The answer must be given
me?now!"
Ho laid his hand upon her shrinking
shoulder with a grasp of iron as he
spoke.
She started, shivering violently, and
her eyes were averted from his face.
"I?I cannot now!" she faltered,
brokenly. "Oh, Mark, Mark, don't be
so cruel! I cannot answer you to-day!
And?I do not wish to marry yet! I
have already promised to give you my
answer soon. Mark" (with a sudden
assumption of courage) "you must
wait!"
He frowned darkly, his eves blazing
with a lurid light, liia hands clenched
savagely.
"Wait!" he panted angrily. "That
is the only answer I can ever look for,
T .1 A T ^.Aim
X SUppoSB r AUe:e, JL iiu > tj ucou j vui
humble slave for years. Has it never
occurred to you that the slave might
tire of his -bondage and burst his
shackles and assert his rights?
''You are mine; you shall be mine?
my wife; I Lave sworn it! To that
end I have waited?toiled?sinned!
Think you, then, that I will relinquish
you without a struggle ? lou must be
mad! Never!
"You shall be my wife or I will
crush you as I would crush a serpent
in my path! You shall disappear
from the gilded society into which
you have launched yourself through
the might of yo;ir ill-gotten wealth!
You shall vanish from it all, and the
world shall laugh your memory to
scorn.
"For I have it in my power, Adele
St. Cyr?I have it in my power to ruin
your game?yours and your mother's!
I must have my answer?I will have it
now?yes or no ?
"MarK r
Big, tearful, black velvety eyes uplifted
to his face, perilously near,
while red lips quiver, and a bit of a
white hand steals into his own.
"Dear Mark!" (in a tender, appealing
whisper) "I want you to give me a
little moref time for reflection! Just a
little more?even three days!"
For a moment he holds the white
hand in his clasp, showering kisses
upon it; then lie?gazes down into the
tender, beseeching eyes.
"I will give you three days, then,
you little witch!" lie made answer.
"Three days of grace I grant you?no l
more! * * '
"Adele, do you care for tliat meddling
fool, Arthur Wynne, so much?
He, whose whole heart, whose every
thought belongs to Ruby Lawrence ?
He loved her living, and he will mourn
her dead!
"Ah! your face betrays you, and tells
the secret! Now, Adele St. Cyr, listen
to me. I am a desperate man, and I
mean what I say! You will never mar*y
Arthur Wynne?never?so help me
heaven!
"Should he be beguiled by you
(which I doubt) into an offer of marriage,
and should you accept said offer
''which goes without saying), as I live,
it win do your ruin?yours, ana
Gabrielle Sfc. Cyr's!
"I know more than you think, more
than you know yourself, of this dark
game that you are playing my friend I
It is a wheel within a wheel.
"Ah! did you but dream all that I
know concerning this matter, you
would fly from here this very night!
"Adele, to-day is Tuesday; I give
you three whole days in which to make
up your mind! On Friday I shall
come for my answer?my final, irrevocable
answer; no more evasion, no
more tricks or putting off I I hope you
understand me, Adele?"
He had spoken rapidly, his eyes
burning with a fevered light, his form
quivering witli excitement. Adele lifted
her eyes to his face, and a shiver of
fear passed over her slight frame. She
bowed her head.
"You are cruel, Mark," she said once
more. "Yon are cruel, and harsh, and
relentless; but I promise you I will give
you my answer?my final answer?on
Friday."
And low under her breath she was
saving: ""I will give you my unswer?
something, anything?so that it will
keep him quiet for the present, until
Arthur Wynne has proposed. He shall
ask me to marry him, and, once his betrothed
wife, I need not fear what Mark
Alleyne can do."
As thfse unspoken thoughts passed
through her mind, he was gazing into
her face with eager, devouring eyes.
He stooped and pressed his lips uuon
her small hand.
"My life will be a? void utterly without
hope until Friday," he murmured,
passionately. "Oh, Adele! Adele! I
will make you happy! I swear I will
make you a happy wife, my darling!"
sAnd as he left the room, and the
house, the passion deepened in his
eyes, and he set his teeth together savagely,
as he hissed between, them:
"I will put that troublesome detective
out or tne way at once, and be done
with it! I have a plan in my mind
which shall sweep Arthur Wynne from
my path! And with him out of the
way, the rest will be easy. I will win
Auel? far my wife! She shall marry
me1"
Arthur Wynne left the house after
his interview with Adele with a
strange feeling of having been outr
wit ted.
"I was so hopeful of finding some
- ' ? ' ^ it. 1 II L.
clew wnen x emarea iue uuuse, 110
said to himself; "yet Heave just about
as wise as when I came."
As the thought flitted through his
mind ho turned his head and in the
spacious flower-era rden which lay spread
out like a variegated carpet all round
the Lawrence mansion, he. saw the girl
Maggie Willett. She was busy gathering
flowers to make into bouquets
for the house. At sight of the detective
her sallow face grew white as death,
and her eyes fell before his steady
gaze.
Arthur "Wynne had come prepared
for this emergency. He went straight
to the girl, and bade her a kindly
good-morning. She oourtesied humbly.
"Good morning, sir!" she made answer.
"And, if vou please, sir, have
you heard any news yet of the poor
young lady?"
He shook his head, drawing from'
his pocket at the same time the coral
comb.
"This is your property, Maggie!" ha
said, tersely. "I found it in Miss
Ruby's room, after it had been locked
to keep out all intruders. Now, tell
me, Maggie, what is your price?how
much do vou ask?in short, how large
a sum must I pay you for telling mo
bow that comb came into Miss Ruby's
room?"
Tha girl was staring into bis face
with great, wide-open, honest black
eyes.
"Me, sir!" sbe ejaculated, frankly;
"why, sir, I never was in that room
siuce the day?you remember the day,.
sir ?"
Aye, tbat be did! He remembered
it, to bis sorrow; be would remember
it to tbe day of bis death.
"The comb's not mine," added Maggie,
shrinking from contact with the
article as though it were poison. "I
have just such a comb," she went on,
glibly, "and I mislaid it; but I found
it again, yoiu see, sir."
And she dexterously whisked off her
big sun hat, revealing a comb, the
counterpart of the one in Arthur's
hand, confining heir ietty braids.
He nad no reason but to take his departure,
which he did, with a feeling
of defeat. Without a backward glance
he left the place, re-entered his carriage,
and was driven home, sad,weary,
heart-sick. That very night he received
a written message, in a straight hand,
as follows:
"If Mr. Arthur Wynne will go down
to the lake, and out to the end of the
pier, to-night, at nine precisely, he
will learn where to look for Ruby Lawrence.
"
it-r, V - _ i. Mil. .M .1
"IE may oe a wapi no saiu, bwwij,
us lie laid the note aside; "but I must
leave no stone unturned which may
hide a clew to my darling's fate! I will
go to the pier to-night V
Nine! tolled from the clocks in all
the church towers, and the darkness of
Erebus had settled down over all
things, when a tall figure stepped upon
the pier which jutted out into the black
waters of the lake.
Close behind that figure another
form'loomed up, a black patch against
the inky darkness of the sky. On, on
to the very end of the long pier the
first form made its way. with that
black shadow following, unsuspected,
in its wake. A pause, and silence follows.
Then a sickening thud, as a heavy
blow is dealt; a dull splash, as the dark
waters open hungrily; and there is
only one person standing above Upon
the pier, in the night and in the darkless.
Surely, murder has been done I
Ito'be continued.]
.Father Hayseed's custom of blowing
out the gas was reversed by a girl
brought up in London when she first
went out to service. After she had
gone to bed her mistress noticed that
her candle had been left burning, and
when asked why she didn't put "it out
she replied: "Please, ma am, I do not
I know how to turn it off."
' -. - 4 , ^
- --Lt-'i*vi- t?rk..-J-'-.
THE TELEPHONE.
AN HOUR WITH TEN THOUSAND
TALKERS.
Scenes in a New York Telephone
Exchange?How Subscribers are
Brought Into Communication
With Each Other.
We busy people who live in cities and
who cry "Hello Central!" fifty, nay, one
hundred times a day, never give a thought
to the perfect machinery and admirable
system by which we are enabled to talk
? <V ~i. -
ousiness wicn our neiguours m u uibuuwg
of many miles, and even with our betterhalves
if only to enquire after the baby,
or to announce that business most unexpectedly
detains us in town.
"What is the central office like?" I
asked myself one day last week after I
had uttered the stereotyped "good-bye"
to an invisible female with a very charming
voice. "By Jove, I'll go and see."
I!
"hello! what number?"
In New York there are several exchanges,
each exchange having its hundreds
of subscribers. I was elevated to
the top floor of ap enormous building on
ID./vn/lmATT 'rkifl- fnn Aaai* io ronrnoonforl
JDlUUllYVajr . lUXO UVUi XVJ ivpvuvuKuvfc
by a single room, a room which the
gushing novelist could not say was
sumptuously furnished. On the contrary
it is monastic in simplicity, and
almost as bare as a ball alley.
When John Smith subscribes John receives
a number, and this number represents
him on a great black-board, called
the "switch-board." A metal flap attached
to the "switch" agitates itself
when John Smith wants to speak with
Ed. Brown, or anybody with whom he
may be desirous of conversing.
Around this loft are desks, opposite
the desks a high screen, and at the desks
a number of young women, each armed
with a writing pad and pencil. i
The murmur of subdued talking by
many tongues greeted me on entrance?
this murmur being created by the young
A LOXG REACH
ladies at the desks, who were engaged in
the busy feminine occupation of asking
questions and returning replies.
These young ladies are adorned with a
not unbecoming headdress, composed of
two bands of steel somewhat like a pair
of silver combs. These combs are connected
with a telephone transmitter, which
is pressed by them tight to the left ear,
pad fashion. This transmitter is attached
to the wires, so that when John Smith
wants to talk with Ed Brown, the operator
in charge of him can listen, reply, jot
down the number he wants, and adjust
Jus peg on the particular "switch."
m
PEGQENG.
The screen opposite which the operators
perch is covered with metal flaps.
These flaps are perpetually dropping
down, as on the electric register behind
the qlerk's desk at a swell hotel.
A flap falls! A pair of bright eyes
glance at it. A lily white hand snatches
a hanging cord ornamented with two
pegs or plugs. The lily white hand by a
rapid motion plugs the hole revealed by
the fallen flap, and disposes of the other
peg by pushing it into another hole on
the screen, the cord connecting both.
I stood behind these operators, and be
came fascinated by /the extraordinary
rapidity and precision -with which they
worked. Flap! flap! flap! flap! Peg!
peg! peg! peg!
"Four, fifty, John." "Yes, sir."
"Not yet. Wait a minute?" "What did
you say?" "No." "Yes." "One moment."
"Are you through?" "Seventyeight?what?"
"No such number."
"Forty-four, Broad?'' "Yes ma'am."
"Speak lower, please!" "Idon't understand
you!"
By such sentences as these is the buzz
and murmur and hum kept going. Now
rising, now falling, but never for a
second silent. A. grave, thoughtful,
| concentrated man, the superintendent,
with a hawk's eye, sits at a desk called
the "monitor." He is argus-eyed, for
nothing would seem to escape his glance.
A peg out of sorts, a cord entangled, a
pad not in its place, an operator talking
too loudly,- and he is on the qui vive.
The superintendent can, at any moment,
without the knowledge of the operators,
place his desk in circuit, and catch whatever
may be going on upon the wires.
TAKING CARE OF THE BATTERIES.
This kills all chances for gossip or for
incivility.
"This is a much better way of earning
a living than standing behind a counter
all day," exclaimed one of the operators.
"We work ten hours, but we sit, and
are not at the beck and call of every
person calling herself a lady who comes
into the store merely to toss over things,
ancl give poor girls no end of trouble and
worry."
"Do you ever receive rude or coarse
messages?" I asked.
"Well, yes," replied the superinten
dent. "JNot so many now as at nrst.
We send a complaint to the office right
away, and that ends it in that quarter."
jfiBj*
' LxW^f"
I
THE SUPERINTENDENT.
An operator requires to be very quick
in her movements, and above all to keep
on the track of John Smith after he has
opened a conversation with Ed Brown.
John cries, "Hello Central." Central
seeing the flap fall, pegs and replies to
John.
: "Give me sixty-five Warren, please!"
says John.
"All right," cries Central, and she
pegs sixty-five Warren, leaving John to
his gossip.
Ishould mention that right opposite
the mouth of each operator swings a telephone
receiver.
The operator must follow up John
Smith so that when the. conversation is
ended the pegs may be withdrawn and
the flaps fly back.
It now amuses me to know what takes
place when I call "Hello Central!"?
Once-a- Week.
General Jackson's Tomb.
The tomb of Andrew Jackson is in the'
Aiuthweat comer of the garden, three'
hundred feet or so from the Jackson
monument, near Nashville, Tenn. The
material used in the construction is solid
limestone, and the flight of years has
made but slight impression on it. The
dome is supported by eight columns of
the Doric order and three large steps
serve as well-proportioned base. Upon
either side of the monumental piece in
the centre are two heavy slabs of stone,
lying horizontally upon the floor of the
tomb and in them are cut the inscriptions.
Nothing could be simpler than one,
"General Andrew Jackson. Born March
16,1767. Died June 8, 1845." History
ANDREW JACKSON'S TOMB.
tells and will ever tell the rest. Poor
Rachel, who never saw the White House |
to live in it and who never cared to go
there except to be with her illustriuus.
husband, has one of the most beautiful;
inscriptions ever cut in stone or graven,
in bronze:
"Here lie the renains of Mrs. Rachel Jack-1
son, wife of President Jackson, who died the;
22d of December, 1828, aged sixty-one years.:
Her face was fair, her person pleasing, her;
temper amiable, her heart kind. She delighted
in relieving the wants of her fellow-'
creatures, and cultivated that divine pleasure]
by the most liberal and unpretending:
methods. To the poor she was a benefactor,,
to the rich an example, to the wretched aj
comforter, to the prosperous an ornament.!
Her Dietr went hand in hand with her benevo-;
lence, and she thanked her Creator for being
permitted to do good. A being so gentle and!
so virtuous slander might wound but could!
not dishonor. Even death, when he bore her'
from the arms of her husband, could but
transport her to the bosom of her God."
. Jackson might have had a more pretentious
monument. A short time before
his death Commodore Elliott brought
home from a cruise in the Mediterranean
the sarcophagus of a Roman Emperor,
minus the remains. He offered it to the
ex-President, who sent him this reply:
"I have received your kind letter with
its accompaniment, and you must pardon
me if I do not accept it, for I do not
think the sarcophagus of a Roman
Emperor a fit receptacle for the remains
of an American Democrat." The sarcophagus
then went to the museum of
the Smithsonian Institution at TVashiDgton.?New
York World.
The Lunatic of Ealing.
kraatic living at Ealing,
Declared he could walk on the ceiling.
There is no need to tell
When he tried it he fell.
And hits wounds took a long time m healing
?Harpers Young People. ,
,.-t : / , - . "\ ''
j?.aMSsiS*#, i^HUhi
RELIGIOUS READING
WHAT JESUS IS.
O Lord, Thou art so much to mo!
I marvel and adore;
My heart's enamored of Thy lore,
Aud panls to love Thee more.
The truest, purest human lofre
Is taint compared with Thine:
That love, unchanged through changia
year.-",
Is fathomless, Divine.
What Thou hast been in days gone by,
What Thou art now to me.
What Thou wile be while time shall last,
And through eternity.
It baffles all my powers to think,
Dazzles my mental sight;
The finite cannot comprehend
Nor grasp the Infinite.
All types and emblems joined in one,
Fail to lell half Thy worth;
Thy glory cannot be conveyed
By imagery of earth.
But Thou art everything to me;
Be all things else forgot?
In Thee I have sufficiency,
There's nothing Thou art not.
LOVE MIGHTIER THAN LOGIC.'
You may hammer ice on the anvil or bray
it in a mortar. What then? It is pounded
ice still, except for the little portion melted
by heat of percussion, and it will soon congeal
again. Melt it in tbe sun and it fiowa
down in sweet water, which mirrors the
light which loosed its bands of cold. So
hammer away at unbelief with'your logical
sledge-hammers, and you will change its
shape perhaps, but it is none the less unbelief
because you have ground it to powder.
It is a mightier agent that must melt it?the
fire of God's love, brought close by a will
ablaze with the sacred glow.
PERSONAL OBLIGATION.
I recently heard a very intelligent lady
say that she would not unite with the
church because' she would not dare to take
solemn vows upon herself for fear she might
break them. She failed to realize apparently
that her own personal obligation to
serve her Lord remained the same even
though she were "out of the church." Obligation
was born long before the church
was. The Lord wis "King," and all people
His subjects, before church organization
was thought of. Right is right and wrong
is wrong, to all people under the sun. It is
a deplorable mistake to think that "belonging
to a church" makes our obligations to
God, but it is a happy fact, nevertheless,
that it is a most delightful and satisfying
help in performing them.
It is Henry Ward Beecher, I think, who
said, "Sink the Bible to the bottom of the
ocean, and man's obligation to God would bo
unchanged. He would have the same path
to tread, only his lamp and his. guide would
be pone; he would have the same voyage to
make, only his compass and charts would be
overboard." ;
In I Cor. 4:1, it reads, "Let a man so account
of us. as the ministers of Christ, and
stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover,
it is required in stewards that a man
be found faithful." In Matt 23: 8, we have
this verse, "Be not ye called Rabbi, for
one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye
are brethren." In 1 Peter 4:10, wo find this
inlo "is flvonr man hath raneivad the flrift.
even so minister the same one to another, as
gjod stewards of the manifold grace of
Dr. Camming in speaking of personal
obligation, says: "It is by each soldier
feeling his obligation in doing his part that
the army conquers; it is by each bee doing
its work that the hive is stored with honey;
it is by each insect putting forth all its
might, that the coral reef becomes an island,
and cities rise upon the bosom of the main."
Personal obligation has its source back of
consciousness. Whether Christians or not,
we are the Lord's for we have been bought
with a price. Therefore our personal obligation
demands that we serve our Saviour,
that we surrender ourselves to Him soul and
tody.
Spencer relates a story of a beggar who
asked something of a lady. She gave him a
sixpence, saying: "ThU is more than ever
God gave me.* "O madam!'' says the beggar,
"madam! you have abundance, and
God bath given all that you have; say not
so, good madam." "Well," said she, "I
speak the truth, for God hath not given but
lent unto me what I have, that I may bestow
it upon such as thou art."
There are few sights, as lovely in this
world as a person who deeply feels his or her
obligation to the Lord (ana the wdfrld which
of course is necessarily included), and resolutely
and earnestly and unswervingly performs
itj no matter what discouragements
are in his way.?Christian at Work.
THE RESOURCES OF THE CHT7RCH.
God has given to the church of our day
a material equipment for this work of evangelism
which is as far in advance of apostolic
days as the speed of steam and lightning
is ahead of camels and horses. Every
resource is divinely at our disposal. We can
go round the earth in 90 days, and. girdle it
with electricity in 90 seconds. Steam cars
wait to carry us wherever engineering can
construct a track, and steamboats are ready
to float xis wherever rivers run. The printing
pross will multiply the healing leaves .of
the tre3 of life as fast as we can scatter
them, and the common school, now fast becoming
universal offers to fit every man to
read the Scripture in his own tongue. God
has flung open all the doors, and every land
is now a Macedonia whose voice is, "Come
over and help us." Back of the missions of
a century stacd results so amazing that even
unbelievers confess the finger of God. Id
front of the mission band lie unoccupied lerritories,
inviting the plowman and the
sower, and white harvest fields demanding
the reaper with his sickle.
As to money, if one-tenth of the treasure
now in the coffers of Christians in England
and America was put on the altar of sacrifice?,
it would suffice to multiply all that is
now spent on .the entire mission field two
hundredfold. Do we realize what that
means? It means 1,200,000 missionaries in
the fleH, or one 'to every 800 of the unevangelized;
it means churches, schools and
colleges; in every heathen, pagan, paoal and
Moslem community; it means the blessing
long since promised, when all the tithes are
brought into the store-house,?a blessing
poured out, until there be none left to pour
out. (Mai. iii, 10, according to the Hebrew.)
Here is a magnificent mat?rial equi- ment,
but it is a machine without ail adequate
motive power. All the combined energv of
the flesh will never set this huge mechanism
in motion. There is but one Power equal to
the emergency; it is the vital spark that
flashes from above, and only prevailing
prayer can brine that spark down. The
whole church of Go 1 should bo on her lenses,
pleading and waiting for the celestial fire.
Let that descend, and every who?l will m >ve
and everv lever play; money will be outpoured
like water; life will offer its vitality
and vigor, and better than treasure or life,
love will count no cost dear, no toil hard, no
burden heavy wlun Jesus leads and souls art
dvincr.?Dr. Piersoiu
in tne course or me voyage you may, ana
will, encounter cross winds and cross currents;
baffling dispensations. But God is
faithful. Thus the story of the shipwreck
will, in a spiritual and eternal sense, be ful
filled?"And so it came to pass, tint they
escaped all safe to land.' ?J. R. Macduff.
D. D.
If it were only the exercise of the body,
the moving of the lips, the bending of the
knee, men would as commonly step to
heaven as they go to visit a f riend; but to
separate our thoughts and affections from
the world, to draw forth all cur graces, and
engage each in its proper object, and t<J hold
them to it till the work prospers in our
hands, this, tlm is the difficulty.?Baxter. '
TOTAL ABSTINENCE INSURANCE.
The addition of total abstinence depart- 1
ments to several American and European
companies has materially cheapened insurance.
The Total Abstinence Life Associa- '
tion of America, formerly a department in a :
Chicago co-operative company, has recently I
withdrawn by a unanimous vote of its mem- .
bers, and organized under the above name as
a separate co-operative institution. It begins
business with a membership of 3700, and 8
is the first insurance company ever organ- <
ized, devoted entirely to the interests of }
total abstainers. It would be of interest to 1
hear what can be said on the other side of 1
this particular phase of insurance. Thus far 4
we are unable to find a writer who will ?
attempt the absurdity of trying to prove {
that insurance in a sober company,or even a *
total abstinence company, is not the cheap- s
est.-rThe Statesman. y
TEMPERANCE. .
BO!HCBO?r^-CHILD. ~s 1
When piteotft' plight of a mssjou observe, J
In vassalage vile to the demou of drink, |
'Twill better the purpose of charity serve
Than ottering epithets calmlyto think.
His artlessnees once a charmed mother beguiled;
Besotted, degraded, he's somebody's child.
To a bacchanal bound with a martial vow,
Yonder woman with children in poverty1* '
clothes,
With want on her face and with care on her
brow, 1
The shoes of the little ones out at the toes,
In the arms of a father seductively smiled,
And gleefully prattling, was somebody'*
chUd.
When^on youth's native countenance token*
Of tracing of Bacchus's bewildering art,
I reflect, though himself from contrition be _
free,
'Twere happy he break not some other
one's heart, "i"
And I grieve for his father with woe on him Ji
piled,
I weep for the mother of somebody's child.
For a pittance of coin a man earnestly plead
That he might relief for his burning thirst
claim; *
On his person was Alcohol's livery spread, -1
Unmistakable badge of inebriate's shaine; V
With my hand on bis shoulder I said:
'Though defiled,
Not evil but good Fd do somebody's child."
Then spread o"ver his features a spasm of
pain t
An ci burst forth the fountains by memory / .
fed,
Hot tears of remorse from his eyes fell like
rain.
While he Grazed at a bar as of something in
dread"
His tone vu despairing, bis countenance ,s
wild X
As he said: "Sir, don't tell me I'm some- \ i
body's child." A
Oh! terrible thought, that my boy should V
become
Such a curse to himself, to his raoe saoh ?
shame;
His face foully bloated, breath reeking with
rum,
Dishonor and odium marring his name 1
Homeless and wretchisd, despied and reviled,
With few to consider he's somebody's child.
?C. A. Ingraham^ in the Pioneer.
TO THZ INDUSTRIOUS EVERYWHERE.
Do you want increased sales of products,
increased prices, increased wages? I can tett
you how to get them. Nearly $1,000,000,000
are wasted annually iu strong drink!
Abolish the saloons and this vast sum will
be spent for more food, more clothing, more
comforts, more luxuries, so that there will be
greater demand for the. special line of
goods you are interested in; and iu capacity
to purchase .increases, a more excellent
quality will be demanded, and you will, If a
manufacturer or merchant, not only sell
more goods, but getu higher average prioe
for them. If a laborer or clerk you win not
only be more steadily employed, but at ai>
increase of wages.
street-^ab placard
A placard in a Chicago street-car reads as
follows:.
: CHICAGO'S BEER BILL, : ; . !
: hobs than *.
: 126,800,000. :
: population, 1,100,000.
: .average, ??*.?>
I FOE EACH MAN, WOMAN AJTD '
I CHILD 117 CHICAGO. > ,y;V;
: ; >: ": >(
THE LEAK IN THE THOUGH.
A great many persons cannot understand
now it in, when there appears to be plenty
money in the country, that there is nevartheof
hard times. It puts me in minS^m,
story I once read about a farmer and his
hogs. He had a lot of hogs, of a good breed
too, which ho could not get fat. Hegaya
them milk everyday, and plenty of it/and
yet, in spite of all they got poorer continuously.
fie concluded those hogs had some;
uew and strange disease. -He wrote, to an
agricultural journal about them. A veterin- ,
as y surgeon thought it a strange case, and
determined to investigate. He went to look
at the hogs; they were a sorry looking set indeed.
He climbed into the hogpeax to investigate,
and, lo, the mystery was solved?there
jvas a large leak in the troughs If society,
tirishes to exist and prosper, this leakage, the
liquor traffic, must be. stopped.?5amu?f;
Schwarm. i
HOW HARn DRINKERS MAT BE REFORMED.
1. Sign the pledge. ' . *
2. Join an organization holding weekly
meetings.
3. Faithfully attend the meetings when- ever
possible. ? v_-.?
i MVinn all Hn'nHnff rosnr+.q us VOI1 would
a pest-house.
5.. Carefully avoid all drinking companions
except to reform them.
6. Select an old drinking friend, and do
jour utmost to make him habitually sober.
7. If greatly tempted, go to God in prayer
three tunes a day; the attitude of prayer
sincerely taken implies humility and consequent
docility. This condition enables us to
be insensibly influenced by unseen spiritual
agencies.
8. Have charity for all offenders, remembering
that Christ came to save sinners and
not use righteous; we will succeed only
through the medium of kindness.
9. Remember, always, the first glass is the
most dangerous of all glasses. Avoid the
first glass and you are safe.
10. The reformed man, feeling his weakness,
should cut this slip, carry in the poc
ind read daily or weekly as may be conveaafl^n
ient.?Goodalfs Sun.
TKMPEiiENCE NEWS AND NOTES. VK
The Armenian Church at Berlin
started a total abstinence society. 39M
It is said that there are thirty temperance^^B
societies in the Hawaiian Islands. HH
Intoxicating liquors in India are called by
the natives "Uovernment Shame Water."
A Good Templar Lodge has been formed
among the Manchester (England) police
force.
Of five hundred men Released from the
Birmingham (England) work-house on a recent
holiday, not more than fifty went back
sober.
Sir Matthew Hale declared, even as long ago
as 1670, that eighty per cent, of the
crimes committed in England were due to
drunkenness. .
If the AY. C. T. U. lives?fives with the*
love of a stainless wifehood and a pure motherhood
at the heart of it, the saloon will die,
says th9 Rev. H. A. Delano.
Michigan W. C. T. U. has a popular
^'chart lecturer" in Mre. M. M. weeks, of
Laingsburg, wno not oniy invented ner caarc
herself, but lias also made it a great success
in temperance object lessons for children.
The Southern Journal says: "Under
whisky liberty in Shelby County, Tenn., one
out of every 374 citizens makes the most of
life in State prison. Under Prohibition in
Union County, not a single convict out of
10,260 citizens peers out of prison bars."
Rum in the United States makes more
than 1200 funerals of inebriates every day,
and you help to pay for the coffins and graveliggars?you
pay fcfr the board, washing and
clothes of "the men who staeger out from the
ram-saloons to fight, or snoot, cr debauch
society, and are imprisoned.
Lord Shaftesbury, in his evidence before a
select committee on lunatics, in 1839, expressed
his opinion that fifty per cent, of the. *
'nsane admitted to English asylums owe their
:ondition to intemperance. ?>r. T. TV. Pish- ^
jr, of the Boston Hospital for the Insane,
ilaiius that alcohol acts more potently to
nake the children of those who arink crazy
;han themsolves. This being true, alcohol
ias more to answer for concerning insanity
;han is commonly supposed.
Alfred H. Love, President of the Univeral
Peace Union, urges the W. C. T. U. to
establish a national annual "Mothers' Peace
Day," and admirably says in connection
vith this suggestion: "Ours is a work of pro oluticn,
for I am not satisfied with revoluion,
a rolling backward, nor with evolution,
irolling out of; I must coin a word that
neans rolling forward and upward." To
lelp hasten this great provolution of univwal"
reform, the "Mothers' Peace Day" ia
warmly advocated,
. < ,4 ..