Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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1Diamond. BY NATHAN D. URNER. CHArTER VII.-(Continued.) Mr. Marlowe instinctively took tip a long, ronnd book-keeper's ruler, of heavy ebony, that was lying within convenient reach, and listened intently. The steps paused at the end of the -kali. There was heard the opening of the back door communicating with the - bank, more footsteps crossing the narrow passage directly outside the partition, and then, as the door itself opened, a stranger entered. He was a rather poorly dressed man, who might have been a seafarer, and he looked at the banker rather curiously fj'om under the brim of a slouch hat, vhioh he did not lake the trouble to reaaove. "Who the detce are you?" was his first cmtbur6t. "And what do yon mean by aneaking into my house at this hour?" "I have business with you," was the urly response. "Business?at nine o'clock at night? Come, give an account of yourself, and be quici about it! "Wasn't the gate locked, e woil as the street door?" *Of course; but I have key6 for both." "Impossible! Or von mast be a thief, then. Ha! skeleton keys!" No, no; good, honest, rightful keys, nd I have carried them for more than eighteen years. Look at me well, Gilbert Marlowe.*and say that you do not recognize me if you dare!" He reaohed back his hand, closing the floor behind him, and then slo wly removed bis hat. Gilbert Marlowe uttered a hoarse, as tounded cry. The ruler dropped from | his nerveless hand into the mass of bud* died papers on the table, and he reeled baok against the money-vault, where he partly crouched, shivering, pale, panting, while gazing upon his visitor with starting eyes. Can the earth give up its dead?" he managed to articulate. "Jasper?Jasper Harlowe! tfo, no; it cannot be!" "But it certainly is, though,"coolly obBerved the intruder, seating himself at the round table. "It's me, and no one else but me, and alive and kicking at that, j All for the obvious renson that I have never been dead, or otherwise than alive and kicking." Gilbert Marlowe wqb b.id, but no coward, and we have seen that he was a man of powerful resolution. With his first reeling sense of the supernatural dissipated, in a meisure, by tbese matter-ofxact words, Gilbert Marlowe 6lowly straightened himself up, and clasped his hands for an instant over his face and ayes. "When be removed them his visor w&6 down, the helmet of his self-posses' vien reassumed. "T*he deuce!" he exclaimed, with his harsh laugh. "I have been superstitious from boyhood, I am ashamed to say; there is just the ghost of a resemblance between vou and my dead cousin, Jasper; ? ? ^ J ? "11 APf + Vii>f miflcrj UiU?UUU"?WV.'il >UU QODCllCU IU1H able fiction so solemnly by your manner that I really 'was fool enough to take momentary stock in it." "But I am Jasper Mnrlowe, and you know it,"eaid the other. "Ye?, yon do; that iron mask with which you are ac- i customed to hide your emotions has thickened and hardened with the years, but I can penetrate it, as of old. You recognize me; I know yon do.3 "By heaven! I do not;" nnd Gilbert advanced, threateningly. "Curse your impudence! get out of this house?maka tracks at once, or I'll have you hurled in^ to prison." The stranger was a slender man, apparently not in rugged health, notwithstanding that his bearded face was bronzed and his hands calloused and tanned, as though from many seasons oi rough work, but he was not in the least daunted by the banker's tone and man* net. "To prison, eh? So be it," said he, with a laugh. "Como, I should like nothing better, as a preliminary. We 6hall see i< a. inntifle of th? neaee will be as incredu. lone as yon are, or as von pretend to be.* "What do yon come here for, anyway?' "Fir6t,to demand my rights?the money ?f which you defrauded me. Next, to learn the whereabouts of my wife, if 6he be Btill alive." "Come, the subliraityof your assurance, in thus parading in a dead man's shoes, interests me?I D consent to talk with yon. Supposing, for the joking instant, that yon are Jasper Marlowe, are yon not rather dilatory in demandingyour rights, M you call them, after eighteen years of silence?" \'es; but my health is at last permanently breaking?I am out-wearied and cut-worn with fortune's abuse." "Ha! the ordinary adventurer's plea. "Well, still in this hilarious supposition that you are what rou pretend to fce. I would ce cpmuelled to inform you first, thnt you have neither rights "nor money to demand of me. Secondly, that I know nothing of your wife's whereabouts; that 6he disappeared from this neighborhood soon after the death of her UillC UUVj VUVUUCi t? nujv u vv. v uigu m i l?ss than a year after her husband's cruel [ and cowardly abandonment of both wifa and child; and that I have never seen or heard of her since." "I have for year been aware of our boy's death," said the stranger, not without emotion. "But I was in hopes of finding some traces of Isabel. You must know of her whereabouts." "I tell you, I do not. I could not inform \ou, were you" really Jasper Marlowe, which you nre not. He died; he was drowned, and his body identified, nearly seventeen years ago. I have proofs in abundance." "You cannot have. It is false." "Wait, you rascal! I will be yet more condescending." The backer drew from his pocket the key of a combination-lock, and, disappearing around the angle of the great money-vault into the narrow passage on which it fronted, was heard to unlock and open the massive doors. When he returned ho had in his hands seme old newspapers and some manuscripts, yellowed and dusty. "You ere. perhaps, secretly marveling at my combined patience w?th you,'" Baid he, slowly opening the papers and seatins himself at the table, so that the relative positions of the two men were similar to those occupied by the banker and Boncourt several houis previously?that ib, the Btrangor with his back to the office etoor, the banker facing him and the round edge of the table partly separating them. "No, I am not," eaid the other. "I don't wonder at it all. Yon can't help yourself." 'But I am not essentially proud 01 evere," with on off-baud gesture, ag though lie had not been replied to. "You may smile, but leniency oud mildness are my predominating traits. Here are the printed reports of Jasper Marlowe's death by drowning off Cape DisappointWio sIau/1 V?rw"lv Trut cnltormiAnfelr found and Identified. Taese reports were the first intimation of the miserable event to his wife and myself." "What! and she, too, oelieved m? dead? Bnt I can explain it all." "Softlv. These printed reports were not nonoh /or me. I disoatched an agent ? : z? _ . L with instructions to make a rigid personal examination. This was done. Everything was confirmed. Theee mann?cript paces ate the apent'e swprn statement. Perhaps yon would like to loot them over?" not necessary. As for thenevspaSnraHfi^^^gnts, I read them long ago. I HWigWraffiBBgBlMfcaggr in a few words." Lad just secured ior uib eiBtor?u mcio child, but whose rare beauty was the wonder of the town?a legal divorce from a worthless Englishman who hnd induced her to marry him. Then, jupt before his visjiinj: me* her little child had been lost, or stolen; the young mother was clistracfed, and her brother was spending money like water in every direction, but without Buccess, to recover the boy. "These matters comprised the nature of his confidences in me. He told me of the | birthmarks on the child, bv which he ' might be identified, and the like. In re! txrrn, for I believed myself on the point j of death, I told him my real name and I history. He laughed at me, called me a j a weak, timorous dolt, and advised me, in I case of recovery, to hasten home and ex-s pose the reel story of the forgery, i did recover, but was still too cowardly to act upon his advice. He quilted me at last, and I never saw him again." Gilbert Marlowe burst into a harsh, discordant laugh, which, however, could not wholly disguis 3 his excitement. He had recognized this man as his consin from the first, and he resolved to persist in the policy of pretending to ignore him. But the story that wa6 being unfolded was so plausible, and the fidelity with which it coincided with Bonconrt's statements, began to give him fresh alarm. However, the opportunity was presented for him to discover whether or not he was *- * rvAtror* r\r?/l 4 Vi i c Via | icany mi,jjvuvuu*v d uuu **x* deemed a great point. Better have one enemy than two?better, a thousand fold, have to deal with this poor, still feeble, and apparently helpless, returned wanderer, than with the wide-awoke, penetrative, self-poised brother of Adelel "Ha, ha!" laughed the banker. "It is astonishing how one can become interested in a sheer fabrication. But come; I'll still humof you. So you told your romantic story to this Goncourt?" "Boncourt." "So. And I suppose you vr^ie, likewise, soft enough to give him tangible proofs of its correctness?" "No, I wasn't." "What! Your strength of mind must have been exceptional. You gave him nothing at all in your gushing exposition of your imaginary wrongs? No written or signed paper, ior instance, anogemer exculpating you?" "I was not 6uch a fool. I told him of my possessing 6ach proof, but gave him nothing." The banker was straightway immensely relieved. The man before hiti might, even at that moment, have the dreaded paper on his person; but he alone was to be bought oft, or otherwise silenced, instead of the dangerous Boncourt. Come what might, the latter might be safely defied. "Go on with your yarn, if you intend spinning it out," said Mr. Marlowe, concealing his satisfaction, and yawning, with pretended weariness. "I've said I would hear it, and I never go back on my word. But," with a glance at the clock, "it's a quarter past nine already; there are visitors in the garden, and we may be interrupted at any moment." "Oh, I shan't particularly heed an in' * ? ? 41 | xerrupuou lor my pun, whs me tuncti* ed reply; and then the story went on: *"lhere isn't a ereat A ' more to tell. 1 recovered my health, as I s-iid. Then 1 joined the company of adventurers that were just setting out for the new discoveries at Paget Sound. The vulgar Dearer of my name wn6 of the party. Our schooner foundered at t>ea off Cape Disappointment. "One man alone was saved, and that wns I. I fioa'ed about ali night, clinging to a hen-coop; was picked up by a whaler bound from Vancouver's Island to Honolulu, and remained as one of the crew for two years. "The rest of my story can be of no interest to you, at least for the present, save that I have continued to bear my false name up to this hour. "Hob Bently, the bearer cf my name, was among the unfortunates, whose V.a/Koo TPCkfn Aftot nn iVia rnnl*Q T-Tiu body was identified, in good failh, as mine, by the prospectors-who chanced to be in the neighborhood, and some of whom he hud made the acquaintance of in San Francisco, of course, under my name. That is all." Gilbert Marlowe laughed again, and in a more natural and assured tone. "Scoundrel as you unquestionably are, you pocses some talent, said he. "And do you expect me to believe your highly colored, but preposterous story?" "You already believe it; you cannot dupe me as you used to do," was the firm rejoinder. "Take care that you do not dTipe yourself, instead, Gilbert Marlowe. Others?others who. nerhans have little lore lor you?can be found U> recognize ane, and credit my stater.ients." "I dou't believe it. "What proofs can yon offer?" "Oh. Couein Gilbert!" cried the claimant, with eudden gentleness, "Do you force me to say proofs, but be just, be generous. Think of how you influenced me to abandon wife, and ehild, and country; think o? my years of painful, precarious exile; think of how long and uncomplainingly I have borne the foul ctigma of a guilt that belongs to yon, to you alone!" "Silence?hold your tongue, ruffian! But you're a madman. I don't know what you are talking about." "Don't you, indeed?" cried the other, with suddeft indignation, "TJisu it becomes me to rovrve your recollections. You know best, perhaps, whether or not j yon forced Thomas Alwortb's signature to ? draft" calling for everything he vai worth. Whether or not you then diegused yourself as a countryman, and abstracted from Lawyer Croak's desk, with his full connivance, the k-tter of introduction designed for Alworth, whether 01 no!, thus armed, you hastened to London in advance of him, and thus, secur ng your identification by a reputable man, managed to draw the entire eighteen thoncAnd nnniids without detection or Idelny. And whether or Dot. you mnda youi way tack horn? in you* proper pertour-utter epcretly ebpddi^ir. joc*?dis? S^^^arlowe leaned Sack, with hla Thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat. chapter vih. a momentous intebview. "That I am Jasper Marlowe, whom you have bo long supposed dead, you will presently acknowledge," said the banker's viBitor. "I did not at first change my name, after fleeins from family and-native land, at your special urgency. I did not deem it necessary. But, shortly after reaching San Francisco, my fears of a pursuit were renewed and intensified. I bad made the acquaintance of a rougb fellow ?part sailor, part desperado ? named Hob Bently, while oil the voyage. For a slight consideration he gladly consented to exchange names with me witnout questioning my intention. He deemed my name an aristocratic one, was vain of the permission to assume it, and during the time we remained in San Francisco, ne aired it everywhere he went, and formed new acquaintances under it. I did the same with bis name. Thus we became generally identified with our false appellatives. Only once cna i reveai my true name, and then to a man who shortly after quitted the coast, never to return, 60 far as my knowledge goes." "Indeed!" sarcastically interposed the banker, but with a secret increase of anxiety. "And to "whom may that have been?" "To a gambler?a finished sporting character of the name of Alphonse Boncourt, continued the narrator; and then, without noticing hie hearer's surprised tart, he went on, "I first met him at a horse-race. Some desperadoes surrounded and threatened me with their revolvers drawn. He extricated me by his coolness and courage. It was a signal service, but I did not then reveal my true name. That revelation was mnde afterward, when he kindly visited m.e at the hospital, where I was lying low with a fever?in fact, not expected to recover. He not only gave me money, but was also the first to oner some confidences. He guise in the <JreB6lng-room of ? railway station on the way "back?there to deposit your plunder With old Croak, until euch time ae yon eonld conveniently borrow it again for investment in your business, with the lawyer himself aB a silent partaker of the profits, as hush-money!" "Measureless liar!" exclaimed Gilbert, gritting his teeth and clinching his hands. "Would you dare " "Be quiet and let me talk. Turn and turn about is fair play. These items of real history, in sequence, have come to me .through reflection during my T rnnfo oq iVinv H iS jca ro ui a. vv?v? ?vj v..^ not occur to me at first. But you will acknowledge that my name, before my insane flight abroad, was not dreamed of in connection with the forgery. "I will not dwell on the arts and arguments by ? hfoh I permitted yon to per. euiide me that appearances would arraj themselves against me?that, if I did not fly, I should snrely be suspected, aiTested, tried upon the charge, and convicted, in spite of my innocence and my utter ignorance of the disposition that had been made of the stolen funds. "v?. an(*h a reviflwof mv nusillanimitv. my oowardice, my feeble surrender to your powerful will, I willingly forego. But years of reflection and privation have, thank heaven! made another man of me. Iam no longer the contemptible nature, the puttv image that was but as wax in yonr molding grasp. But oven this was not enough. "Even after having been thus, in a measure, persuaded. 1 still refused to fly. What did you resort to? I loved my wife, I adored my child. You undertook to prove that the former was unworthy of my confidence?that I would sacrifice nothing in abandoning ner." "Was she not so proven?" "I doubt it, though I was mad enough to believe it then. You took me to a win dow Becretly overlooking and within earshot of an interview which 6he wat holding iu our garden with a man?with & stranger to me. Theii relative attitudes betokened intimate acquaintanceship, no more, but my awakening jealousy invested the rendezvous with an unjustifiable significance. I likewise overheard her companion leeeech her for money, and theD thought I heard her promise to try to procure some from me for his benefit. I have since thought that he might have been some dissipated or needy relative of hers, Keeking her assistance out of some entanglement. She had smch relatives, who wert personally unknown to me; and six words of explanation from her, if frankly requested, might have cleared up all. Bui this is irrelevant now. You have secured your infamous end. Then 1 believed in her unworthiness of confidence?I believed she had ceased lo care for me?the very thought of oui child became temporarily hateful to me. I consented to bear the stain of your guilt?to go far away, never to return, on the receipt of sir hundred pounds from jon, togeher with your -written promisa to send me, at the end of one year, five thousand more, in full, for my interest in tne bank here. Well, hard-pressed at you were, you raised for me the firstmentioned amount on that very day. You had not the cash yourself; but poor, misused, plundered old Alworth still had about the required amount in yonde! vault. You appropriated it, covering up the transaction by a series of false entries against his account, and gave me the money." " 'Ti6 false! This is monstrous!" "Softly, softlr, as you yourself enjoined but a short while ago! There is still more. Having got the money?having proceeded thus far in your toils?I hesitated again. I wanted a better guaranty for the future. I still refused to flee, without a written acknowledgment on your part of mv total innocence and if your guilt, by implication, wnicn 1, on my part, agreed on oath never to mak? public, save in self-protection from nn unjust prosecution for the crime. At your best, you would never have placed such an instrument in my hands. Bnt vniir fflars were thickening around you. It was absolutely necessary that my flight should divert suspicion from yourself; continued delay was dangerous. In your desperation, you wrote out and signed the paper I had demanded. Fool! Do you prate of proofs? That paper is yet in'my possession." "False, false, false!" repeated tb? banker, hoarsely, and his outstretched hand just then* coming in contact withg the heavy ^bonj. j^ler, _t>iat had Jfallen amid the litter or tne Table at tbe beginning of the interview, his grasp instinctively closed upon it. "There is no such daper in existence." "See, villain, it is here!" cried tha other, r.nd, slightly stooping forward, h? drew from hie bosom an oilskin, out of which be produced a folded document somewhat soiled nnd discolored, tbougi otherwise fairly preserved. "Here!" he cried, unfolding and flaunting the papei in the banker's f< cc\ "Behold the proof in your own writing, over Your owu sipnature! Read it, if you still doubt, and then " TJo ma i mir.tAfl hv the lieavv rtilei descending on his head with crushing force, and without another word, without a groan, he fell to the tioor like a log. Gilbert Marlowe snatched the paper, and then hastily examined the fulleu man. "Heavens!" he exclaimed. "The list of my misdeedb is complete! I am a murderer!" CHAP1ER IX. A MTS1ERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE. At that terrible iustnnt, the street dooi was heard to noisily open, and there was the 6onnd of Noel's familiar footstep passing through the hail. "He is coming in here?I shall be detected?what sliall I do?" gasped Mr. Marlowe, in a perfect agony of trepidation. Then, thinking no more of the precious flnnnmtnt t?rVii/\l> mflrfllv flnnced nl sufficiently to identify -witb Lis handwriting and elcnature?solely engrossed with the wild fluttering instinct to conceal the yet greater crime?ho thoughtlessly tossed the paper on the table, and, lifting the prostrate form in his arms, hastened with it around the angle of the vault, just as he heard the opening of tbe outer door communicating with the halL He then heard Noel come into the office, and at that movant he flung his unconscious burden far into the interior of the dark, spacious vault, and began closing and locking the great doors, with considerable noise. "Are voa there, father?" called out the young man. "Yes," replied the banker, without coming into view, and mastering the tremo18 in his voire by a great effort. "Have they gone yet?" "No; bnt I've got the newspaper I was looking for, and they will be going, as fcon ne I road Adele something ont of it. Yon will be there to Bay good-night?" "Yea; I will come presently." Then, to Marlowe's great relief, he heard tne young mau take himself off. Satisfied*that the vault would preserve his secret till he could make a securer disposition of it, Gilbert Marlowe came out from the narrow passage. The norrible thought of having com UilVi^U O JX1 UiUCi DVX14 Vl'UbiViiVU uiui , wu the exclusion of every other. Panting, breathless, as.though from hard running, palpitating in every fiber, and with the sweat standing in beads on his forehead, he sank listlessly in the chair he had occupied before, and looked atruight before him, with a dull, dazed feeling of horror. "A murderer! What! I.Gilbert Marlowe, with the red, indelible brand of Cain henceforth upon my soul forever more? Yes. yes! He was sittiug right there when I struck him down ?his body fell with the peculiar de*d weight of a falling corpse?I think I beard the skull crack and Bplinter" beneath the blow?I felt of his heart but for an instant, but that was enough?it had ceased to beat? Oh, horrible, awful fciutb!" His disjointed mutterings gradually ceased, aud ha remained for some mo- j routs plumed in & species of &?5thy. However, the lrt?n nerve and resolution of the man were not long in reasserting themselves. He presently looked up, with something like his customary alertness, and his lace began to recover its color. "Ha! what's done can't he unuone, in a matter of this sort," he thought. "The deuce! what hare I to regret, after all? There was no living witness to this deed. To-morrow, being Sunday, -will give me a whole day and a night to dispose of the body; and my victim, having just returned from his Jong exile, unknown, friendless, and under an assumed name, is the last one in the world to be missed, or leave a noticeable vacancy behind him. " 'Sdeath! anuply affair of this kiud could not have turned out core fortunately for the perpetrator. lie: ard haven't I got back that paper, whose publicity might have transported ^e? Am I not rid of both Jasper and Boncourt at one stroke? Why, I ought to congratulate myself! By the way, what did I do with the document? Ah, yes; in my excitement I threw it here on the taole in nickine ud the dead body, on Noel's ap proich. Let me see, let me Bee; it mast be destroyed at onoe." But a moment later he was wildly rncimagiug over various articles on the littered table, with as mucn excitement as ever. The document was nowhere to be found! Nothing had fallen to the floor, and he carefully examined every other paper and fragment of paper on the table, inside and out. b?t without avail. He grew bewiiaered?lrantic. "NO Get). TlTe paper ?the all-significant, tell-tale, crime-betraying paper, which he had just snatched from a pulseless hand?for the possession of which he had just stricken a dastardly and murderous stroke?that paper was missing and conld not be found! "Heavens and earth! what can have become of it?" he gasped. "I know I placed it there?I'd ewear to it! Could Noel have taken it tip and read it? No; impossible! Hie voice, as he spoke to me, was affectionate and gentle. It must be here ?it can be nowhere else!" But a fresh examination was no more successful. By another gTeat effort, Mr. Marlowe quelled this new excitement. He looked at the clock, which marked a few minutes m have to say goos-mglit to Aiiele and her brother," he muttered, quitting the bank nnd locking the door after him. "I can return and make another search before going to bed." He passed through the hall and was taking hia hat from the rack when he heard some one descending the stairs. To hi6surprise he saw that it was Lawyer Croak. "Where the deuce have you be?n, up there?" be exclaimed, gruffly. "And why did you slip away from us?"" "My dear Gilbeit," said Mr. Croak, genially. "I merely slipped away because I wan*id to confer with my old nnd dear fri?nd, Thomas Alworth, on a delictte, I may say on a de-lightful subject. And I have been ' np there,' even unto this late hour, because I have been taking tea and spending the eveniDg with that dear, good gentleman and his charming daughter. Ah! what an ndorable child it is!" Marlowe pondered as as to whether 01 not he should inform Croak of whit had happened, and concluded to keep his own counsel. "You are progressing better than I anticipated," he muttered, opening the door. Adele, her brother, and Cnptain Rollingstone were just taking their departnrA nnd nt tlia same time the servants were returning from their outing. Mr. Marlowe spoke some commonplaces in the way of excusing his inattention tc hi6 gues*6, and gloomily thought of ho* be mighv already have begun his intimations of defiance to Boncourt, but foi that odd incident of the missing paper, whose disappearance had, of course, renewed his sense of alarm and insecurity in all its force. He knew that the missing paper was not concealed upon the body, and that disposed of all present consideration ol the latter. He was equally certain thai it had not been taken by Noel, when the young man had come back after the mislaid newspaper; for a glance or two at the contents of the writing would have fillec him with abhorrence, and Noel had wished his fi.ther pood-night, in passing uj the stairs, with his customary kindness Completely fagged out at last, physically and mentally, the banker turnec out the gas, and eonght his own bed, aftei looking to 'the inner fastening*! of the bank, and locking the back door altei him. But it was not to find r<?po?e or relief, For hours he tosssd upon his couch ir painful restlessne6rf, and only fell intc troubled sleep at last, to dream of murdered men and m:86ing papers. At l&et he dreamed that a police office] was clutching him by the collar, and bellowing the charge of forgery and murdes into his ears; and he started out of hif 6leep with a gasping cry; but only to find it broad daylight, and to hear Miss Winford knocking on his door, to call himuj for breakfast. I TO BE CONTBiUED.] The Food Value of Wheat. TVhen -wheat is low and corn high, eays L. B. Pierce, there is often a narrow margin between tho two. If the wheal is of poor quality, or for any reasoi grades low, the difference is still less and when to this is added the price o grinding the corn, or the miller's profi on wheat offal, some farmers figure tha it is poor economy to sell wheat and bu; fped. Whv not feed the wheat? the* ask, and some do. This would be sound reasoning were the feeding value th< same. I know nothing of the pbysiologi or chemistry of the matter, but it is the testimony of those who have tried tha wheat has not a feeding value equal t< its price. A friend bought 900 bushel: of wheat from a burned elevator to feet to hogs. It was but slightly damaged yet the result was such that he said h would rather have wheat offal, ton fo ton, than whole wheat. If we study th< matter from a human diet standpoint,wi find that white wheat flour is emphatical ly the food of brain workers. In spit of all written about graham, crackec wheat, farinose, etc., its use docs not in crease as fast as the population. Thi higher the civilization the greater thi demand for the finest flour. Betweer the products of the inside and the out side of wheat there is a great gulf, anc this divides the human race from the do mestio animals.?New York Tribune. Greeting the New Moon In Fiji. In Colo, the mountainous interior o Viti Levu, the largest island of the Fij group, the natives have a very curiou method of greeting the new moon. Oi seeing the thin crescent'rising above thi Mils tney salute it win: a proiongei ,lAh!" at the same time quickly rappinj on their open mouths with their lef hands, thus producing a rapid vibrator; sound. An old chief, when asked re garding the meaning and origin of thi curious custom said: "We always lool and hunt for the moon in the sky, ant when it comes we do as you see to shou our pleasure at finding it again. "W< Ar\r%'f lr?r?w fV?o mpfirnnrr nf Tvhnf". wp rln uwu ~ ?? ? ? our fathers always did so."?St. Loul Republic. If a man could see Himself as othen tee him he would pull down the blind* 0 WILD PIGEONS. 1 HOW THEY ARE TRAPPED NEAR A BREEDING PLACE. Characteristic Scenes "Where Migratory Birds Enjoy Pennsylvania State Protection?Slaughtered Wholesale While Breeding. EE arrival of . spring is nowhere ^ 1 Trinrp nnvirmalv I f awaited than in I " a*.Bradford, Penn., j. *or t0 inbabit'tftoMi'': <fSfrr* ant3 of this Pic" I ftPP-' turesque part of <?&'' ^ ' Bradford County it betokens the annual flight of the flocks of wild pigeons that come from the South to settle on the State breeding ground and there hatch out their young. It is now nearly two centuries since the State found that the pigeons which had for centuries visited the same spot each year for breeding purposes were beiner attacked bv soortsmea and slaugh tered wholesale while breeding. The State government determined to prevent this wholesale extermination if possible, and so designated a certain tract of forest just outside of Bradford for a breeding spot for the birds. Laws -were passed making it an offence punishable by a fine of $100 to shoot a gun or set a trap within a mile of this breeding place. This law has been conscientiously enforced, and the pigeon shooting and trapping is now carried on outside of the limit. It has, owing to the enormous number of pigeons that visit the breeding ground each year, become a business, and a very profitable one, to many of the residents of Bradford and its VicinifTT The custom of reserving a certain tract of land for the use of birds duriug breeding times is still recoguized in many other of the Eastern and Southern States. Many of the old sportsmen have always on hand several live pigeons which they have saved from the slaughter of the preceding season and which they use as decoys to tempt the flocks to their traps. The work of preparation for the ! annual hunt is begun early in the spring and continues until after the young are ' " BOUGH IIOUSE torn and nurtured and able to fly with J the parent birds to the south again. j I The trappers locate on an open piece r ! of land iii the direction of the south from the breeding spot. Here they build . a house from the boughs of the neigh1 boring trees. This is called the "bough 1 house," and in it the trappers do all the work of trapping the birds. f This house is about four or five feet . liigh and ten or twelve feet square. ' Openings are left in the sides and on the | top so that the men inside can follow with their eyes a flock of birds and know j just when to spring the trap. A large opening is left on one side for entrance and 2gress. Two long, thin pieces of hickory are taken to a neighboring brook and left lor days m ine waier. When they are in condition for bending they are bent into hoops and fastened securely from one end to the other, , forming a hoop the shape of a half barrel hoop. Four of these pieces are needed | for the proper making of the trap. Two are iaid upon the ground, forming a cirj cle. These are fastened down and are t only used to support the other two j pieces. A straight piece of wood is then ; fastened to each of the other hoops from ' point to point. Then these two hoop9 j arc laid upon the others and fastened by himres and nowerful springs to each other. 3 O & ? w * The hoops are covered with a loosely laid on piece of netting, which lays flat | on the ground until the trap is sprung, 3 when it completely encloses everything 3 that i3 inside. A powerful spring which j closes the trap is connected with the "bough house," and the men cau spring | it from the house. ( When all is in readiness for the game a the men, generally two or three, retire to " the house to wait for the appearance of ? rm._ 1 ,3? 3 I10CK. I IJU LLfU UUVV UJitaujf ovv i ? in the cenlie of tbc trap two small spools, ami have ruu a small twine from a ball in the house over these spools. To the * end of mis twine is fastened the decoy. I The twine is run through the eyelid of * the bird and it is allowed to rise a few feet above the trap. Two birds are j generally used with each trap. Perhaps the men wait for days, perhaps only a, few hours, when in tbe distance they see the black cloud which betokens the approach of the flock. Now, it is important that the hunter, by means ! of his decoy,attracts the attention of the 1 leader of the tlock before he leads the flock to the breeding ground and the a safety to be found there; for if they once ^ reach that haven of safety the trapper can whistle for his pigeon. As they fly neater and nearer the beat' ing of tbe hunter's heart, should he hap1 pin to have such a thing, can be plainly heard. lie slowly lets out his decoy 5 strings that gave apparent freedom to * ' f i <^i?i- 4i? ? ... " tnc Dims. OlUWIJf iuc) iiffv; iu tut un, giving at the same time their peculiar ' cry. When they have reached a certain 2 height the trapper winds up the string ' and the birds commence to descerd up* on the trap. Should th*; flock be at all inquisitive they are lost, for they slowly wheel about aud follow the descending I birds until they alight with them on the trap. Now is the time, acd as the birds / * " - . v ' - . _ . i i mil i finally settle down on'the trap one of the trappers touches the spring and with a peculiar, whirring noise the two hoops spring into an upright position and the game is caged. Then the work of killing and counting the game is all that is left for the trappers to do. One steps up to the trap and with his hand forces a small opening in the trap between the hoops. Inserting his hands he draws out a bird quickly, twists its neck and goes after a second. This is kept up until all the birds are caught and killed and then the birds are * -3 ?_ A _ Al 1(1 1 11 A. _ 1 carneu idio uie uuugn uouse 10 oe counted and strung. The trap is again THE TRAP 8PRCNGset and the men withdraw to await the next flock. Receiving an invitation to partake of the pleasures of a pigeon trap during a visit to Bradford, I was conducted to the open space outside the mile limit wher< the trap had been set. Two men were in the expedition against the birds, and when everything was in readiness we entered the house. "You watch the trap," said the leader, "and I will guide the decoys." Then he let fly the two birds whict ^ ^? I* ? fl />olr /v^ were i') unug w tuc uco iuc uidw iauuiv v/4 pigeons that should arrive in search of a place to nurture their young. "I captured thest two old fellows five years ago," said he, "and have used them ever since, and I have never lo3t a flock of birds that they have been withit hearing distance of." After waiting five hours for the approach of the expected flock the cry oi AND TRAP SET. one of the decoys was heard and then, as we looked out of the house, we could see the flock approaching. The trapper who had charge of the decoys let out the string slowly at first, but faster and faster as the birds rose in the air until finally they were about as high as the flock they were to lead to destruction. Thn flnnk nassed over the traD and then turned as the cry of the decoys reached them and flew back again. Then, after sailing back and forth for a few minutes, they finally settled down right over the trap. As the leaders alighted upon the ground the trapper in charge of the decoj had been slowly winding up his ball ol Wine and the dec.iys were about thefirsl to settle in the trap. "When most of the birds were safely ii the trap I heard a sharp crack like the report of a pistol shot and then a fluttering of wings as the poor birds, caughl at last, tried to escape through the net ting. Then for a few minutes all was activity. The two trappers left the bough house and opening the trap proceeded to kill the pigeons. When deac they were thrown in a pile to one side and later were carried into the bough THE BREEDING SPOT. house to be counted. ?-;hcrc were jus 226 birds. Later I visited the State breeding spoi and found it a peculiar spot. The tree.' were literally covered with the birds, every branch having as many as it would hold. The trees are fir and large and strong. All along the limbs arc nest! on which the mother birds set and warir the eggs until the young are hatched out. The Government does a larg< business in guano, which is sold t( farmers in the neighborhood for fertiliz itig purposes.?Neva York llcrald. There is a proposition on foot in Seat tie, Washington, to establish there i plant for drying the codfish caught ii Alaskan waters, and making Seattle thi " - r 0 great distributing point ior nsn uu m> Pacific Coast. 1??? Koughly speaking, while in Franc< tbere is one doctor to every 3000, and ir Germany one to every 1500 inhabitants in the United States there is one to ever} 600 possible patients. '9 =#i Yonngest Federal Soldier of the fay There have been many claimants to the honor of being the youngest codP 1 rede in the Grand Army, but now tfi? Prm is enabled to definitely settle t& . y vexed question. Every statement caa be proven by both documents and records The history is very interesting. i James D. Campbell is a comrade of Winchester Post No. 197, of Btooklyfe _ , He was born July 8, 1851, and enlisted as a drummer December 16, 1861, in Company B, 109th Regiment, PeniN? ' sylvama volunteers, lor ? perioa 01 three years. He was at the time tea years, five months and eight days of ag*l He -was large for his age and very aK 1 besides he could handle the drumsticks to perfection, and this made him a desiiv able recruit. The regiment was attache^, to the Army of the Potomac, and youngj Campbell was with it in every engage-* ment from the South Mountain t? Gettysburg. For a time he acted a? mounted orderly for Colonel Stainrook^i who commanded the brigade up to the battle of Chancellorsville, where he wal killed. I [ H3 After the battle of Gettysburg the Twelfth Army Corps, to which the rem;! ment belonged, was consolidated with the Eleventh Army Corps, formerly ttfe Twentieth Corps, which was transferred" to the Army of the Cumberland beforjji' Atlanta, Ga. After the famous battler -:1 here, under General Sherman, the corpib' JAMES D. CAMPBELL. marched to the sea with him, and young] Campbell reached Savannah a few days( after his term of service had expired^ ; He was thereupon honorably discharge^ During.the entire march through Georgiahe kept up with the regiment and regtrc larly took his rations of sweet potatoes^ bacon and Confederate poultry. j 1 Having obtained a taste of a soldier's] life and liking it he endeavored to re-! qo o nriooto hnt; not hp.incr of Kcrtt . I cuuov <*? u O QJ| the mustering officer iefused to must?, him in. This was one of the greate?j disappointments of his life, as be had] tired of the drumsticks and wanted t3< carry e musket, which he claimed to bdj as able to do as any man in the corpti^' but the officer was immovable, and It?! I came home as he left?2 drummer. I though so young the records of the regi?j ment show that he kept up with it in elj. its marches and was in nearly every battleVj When many a strong man was aboraj . giving out the "kid" of a drummer wa? about as lively as a cricket. Since the war he has been a member, of the Grand Army, having joined1 Lincoln Post No. 3, in Washington*, D. C. In 1882 he removed to Brooklyjr and was transferred to Winchester Port.*; For many years Campbell has watche4' the controversy that has been going onl as to the youngest soldier of the war.j ^ He has kept notes and finding none tb1 ' match him, now comes to the front if! the youngest of the youngert. Th? family Bible and also the town recordf prove the age and the army record prove*} the service, all of which appears to settle the question.?-New Torlc Preu. , ^jjppfr Two Voices. ' First Voice?"Eddie, get up; breakfast is ready." ^ Edward"-'?Yes W'^ Second Voice (five minutes later)-^ "Edwar.il" Edward?"Yes, sir."?Puck. Breakfasts on Hot Water and Celery. A man who had every appearance of being well fed and in good health saontered into a fashionable up-town cafe a few mornings ago and, after deliberately,, devesting himself of hat, coat and gloves', seated himself in a cozy corncr and be gan reading a newspaper. A polite waiter put a napkin and a glass of water on the table and waited for an order. ? He mu9t have known his customer, fof^ j. he waited patiently for nearly ten min-' utes. Then the deliberate man quietly k ordered a cup of hot water. "Have it J boiling hot," said he. The hot water was soon brought, and the gentleman [ ] sipped it as rapidly as possible. When' I the cup was empty, he said: "Bring mo . another one and some celery." The seck ond cup of hot water was sipped more [ leisurely, and the eating of the celerr , occupied about half an hour's time, th6 ^ pruest readiog his paper meanwhile. When the check was brought it read: "Two cups of hct water, fifty cents; one portion celery, forty oeats." It was paid without a murmur, and after the - 11non Jviri the waiter communi UJftt* 1 cated to a curious observer at the next 1 table the fact That ua good many gentle- I : men come here and breakfast just that I 8 way."?New York Times. , I n?lw nf v VorV M ail^uovtu 1/wu , V* ??w.. ? ? i City, possesses oue of the finest libraries 1 of dramatic works in this country. g r A rccent census gives Montreal,Canada, H a population of 211,302. A ^