University of South Carolina Libraries
The kinc * _^h0n1 A NOVEL OF AMERICAN LIF ? E3 V MAURICE Copyright, 1892 and I?f>3 CHAPTER II. VASSEUR AND HIS JEWELS. As Fairfax walked back toward Vasseur's, be was filled with a sense of indescribable satisfaction. The whole world just then was, so far as his feelings went, condensed so that all its essential delights were pressed together in this lonely nook, as flower petals are sometimes pressed into a potpourri. He was old enough and certainly stalwart enough to be a man -his age was twenty-six?but just now he sauntered and smiled like a great pleased boy. His latest adventure bad been of a sort to dash into his experience a good strong element of the tender strain of romance so dear to young men. How did Mr. Vernon know that ho was the son of the late Colonel Stirling Fairfax? Of course, our young friend was not aware of the means of knowledge sometimes possessed by a man whose wealth and peculiar influence control far-reachieg and comprehensive combinations of force and in telligence. From Mr. Vernon he had heard the story of old Burns, the preacher, and that, too, was adding its thrill of strangeness and pathos to his reflections. But most of all, he thought of Pauline. Her beauty ol form and face had captivated him, and the sound of her voice was yet echoing through his heart with a certain timbre which no other voice e^r had. It was past sundown when he reached Vasseur's, and he heard the mocking-birds fluting tenderly in the magnolius as he entered the low, oddly constructed house. A little way off, the sea was pounding on the beach with a heavy throbbing and swashing. Vasseur himself met him at the door. "Mo'sieu has had a good day, I hope," the little Creole said, in his soft, insinuating voice. "It vare fine wetter zis day." Fairfax looked down at him with a comprehensive smile, but only nodded a response. He flung aside his burden of implements and weapons. "Mo'sieu is vare 'ungry, is it not? Suppaire it come soon," Vasseur went on, rubbing his brown little hands together and grimacing violently. "No; I dined late and well," said Fairfax, in French. "I am not at all hungry." It was one of Yasseur's hobbies to peak English. He pretended to fancy himself quite at home in that language. Fairfax had become sincerely fond of the little dark man, whose restless eyes, bushy, black hair and singularly mobile mouth in some way reminded him of the descriptions he had read of certain fascinat;ng outlaws famous in Martinique?men of half or quarter breed, at once gentle, soft-voiced and murderous, who would die for you one day and rob you the next. Yasseur looked uo particular age. He'was tifty, perhaps, though not a gray hair or a wrinkle proslaimed the years. A long, narrow forehead, slender black brows, deep-set black eyes, a high straight nose, a mouth small and expressive and a protruding chin made his face one to be remembered. In stature he was below the medium, but he was strong, tough, 9upple, restlessly active. It would seem contradictory to add that Yasaeur's general air was that of extreme indolence, but such a contradiction existed in the man's make-up. He was not indolent, and yet his greatest activity was seen through an atmosphere of languor and iudifference. Fairfax found Yasseur's house a delightful lodge. It was built of pine I?rvn n>wl AAt'Atta'Q tvifK Inn/* vnn r?li lUpO ttUU boards; its rooms, large and airy, were yet huddled in appearauce, and seemed to have no system in their arrangement. The floors? there was but one story?were of dried mortar, smooth and even, and the walls were bung with a great variety of dressed skins, while the chairs and tables, the bedsteads aud the armoires were of every grade of finish, from a rude 6tool to the mo6t exquisitely carved piece of mahogany. It was plain that * this heterogeneous furniture had been obtained, piece by piece, in the course of a life devoted to snatching treasures from the sea; flotsam and jetsam bad found their way into the house of the creole; and the mishaps of others had in this degree, at least, contributed to his enrichment. The reputation of having once been a pirate clung to Yasseur, though he stoutly denied it. But how came he by all the odd and valuable things in bis possession, especially the precious stones? These latter he had shown to Fairfax?diamonds, rubies, emeralds, topazes, sapphires, opals, amethysts?hundreds of them, none of the more precious ones large or very valuable; but still, in the aggregate, the lot was worth quite a pretty sum. One amethyst, however, was remarkably large and beautiful, aud had been cut to the form of a cross; the workmanship showed that a master hand had done it, aud the color of the stone, almost a sapphire blue, was exquisite, clear as a summer sky aud as transparent as the purest water. If Yassenr loved anything with passionate steadfastness, it was this treasure of jewels, and above all, the amethyst cross was prized--nay, indeed it was worshiped. This he kept separate, inclosed in a much-soiled but Bound old leather case, which he carried iu an iuside pocket of his waistcoat. It amused Fairfax to encourage the man in his raptures over the beautiful stone cross; aud, like any other mau with a hobby, Vasseur was delighted to find au appreciative listener, while ho expatiated ou the merits of his property; but when Fairfax demanded the gem's history, iU owner suddenly became confused } OF::-.- 1 BY ISLAND E DURING THE WAR OF 1812. ' THOMPSON. by Robert Bonner'* Bon*. ] for a moment and had some trouble to resume his air of half-jaunty indifference. Of course, this was not surprising; it only led Fairfax to suspect that there was a good deal of truth in the rumor about Vasseur's antecedents. The man said that he bought the cross in Seville; but Fairfax thought he saw that it was not a very clear lie that he was telling. That night something happened which caused Vasseur's jewels, and especially the an\ethyst cross, to enter as an important factor into the body of our story. CHAPTER in. THE CAVALIERS. At the time of which we write, there was a road, or, more correctly speaking, a trail, leading from the west shore of the bay of Saint Louis in a direction somewhat west of north through a wild country to the wilder region of the upper Pearl River. This trail, which was known as the Blackwolf Trail, had been a highway for the Indians as far back as tradition went?a road which led from their hunting-grounds to the breezy bluffs of the gulf, where they spent the hot ? ? 1 1L.I season, like tne pnuosopuers they were, in bathing, fishing, eating and smoking. Since the coming of the white men, the Black-wolf Trail had been pnt to other nses. Soldiers, horses and can ron had followed it; caravans of settlers, with their oxen, their mules, their servants and their household appliances, had made it the road to new homes and a life of hardy and lordly independence. Large plantations were opened and comfortable, even spacious and, in a degree, luxurious houses built on the beautiful and fertile lands once tilled by the aborigines, whose descendants still skulked in the swamps and held the fastnesses of cane-brake and cypress-jungle all around the coast. Many other trails, less distinct- and more meandering, came into the Blackwolf Trail on its way from the highlands to the coast, and he was an alert and experienced woodman who could go among these crossing and apparfintlv entangled oaths without bewil fcf ?~?W i derment. In those days, all of the way? of the woods were -ways of danger; for not only were the Indians treacherous and savage in the extreme, there were white men more to be feared than the red ones; reckless knights of adventure devoted to a life of utter lawlessness ?bold riders whose dashing exploits would have been themes of song and story if done some centuries earlier? Claude Duvals, Kobin Hoods, Wolfstanes of the new land, all seeking the excitement of desperate emprise, and all defying every word and letter of law, human or divine. The wood-paths were known to these men as familiarly as the cowpaths of his father's farm aro known to the country lad to-day in the same region. Singly or in small parties, these self-reliant freebooters rode beneath the pines aud the wide-spread ing oaks; the Indian heard their horses' feet beating the yellow saud and their careless songs echoing through the brakes. It was not for the red man to attack the outlaws; a sort of bond held between them, both being enemies to the settlers. Moreover, the Indians feared the "riders," as they named them, and were glad to slink away whenever those picturesque cavaliers made their appearance. , Most of the ' 'riders" made pretense of being traders, buyers of cattle,furs, skins, cotton?anything, indeed; and sometimes they did buy, when buying seemed safer thau taking by force; but robbery in one form or another was their main business. Pearl River, as far up as Honey Island, afforded a waterway by which vessels of considerable draft could be used to bear the pluuder of the cavaliers to New Orleans, by way of the Rigolets and Lake Pontchartrain; and the "traders" who maaaged these vessels shared in the rich profits. Indeed, no small part of the traffic of the city at that time came from this and somewhat similar sources. With the Lafittes, the Ce Jourdains and the Mascots on one side, and the confrers of Pierre Rameau on the other Bide, New Orleans was fed by constant Btreams of ill-gotten wealth. As for Rameau and his immediate associates, they preferred, for prudential reasons, to do most of their boldest and most remunerative work at a long distance from their headquarters; wherefore, a greater part of the booty, shipped down Pearl River came from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and even as far away as the Carolina3, while iu the country round, about Honey Island, within a radius of fifty or sixty miles, people and their property were not molested to any great degree. It was this policy, enforced by Rameau, which had so long protected him and his followers; 4r\y TTT Kiln vn o Q f o 111 l nil P (1 1VA U UllO ^UUiUlUU & ULUVTA. u w>? him as king of the island, and kept afloat startling stories of his prowess and daring, almost notl.ing had been done toward investigating the situation. The main fact was that wealthy and influential men in New Orleans, largo sharers in the unholy revenues, were standing behind the outlaws aud affording them the protection which . it* was so easy to give so long as the ; power of the civil and miliary gov ernment was almost paralyzed in ; Louisiana, and so long as these very citizens controlled directly or indirectly the government itself, either by ccrruptiug the ollicials 01* by holdiug i official positious themselves. With a glance at the foregoing slight sketch of tLe situation of things iu the fiulf-coast region, the > readers of this story, which, in all its ' parts, is histoiically true, will be able ! tc understand wby a party of horsei men should be following the Black! wolf Trail in tho direction of the bay of St. Louie at a late hour la th? night. The road in most places was! wide enough for two of the cavaliers to go side by side, and four of them j chatted as they rode, while the fifth,' who evidently was the leader, held his way oomewhat in advance, sitting ; on his horse like a statue, and maintaining a strict and apparently moodj silence. Seen in the deep gloom of the wood, the moving figures were more like shadows than realities, and but foi the heavy tramp of the horses and the occasional sharp jingle of a spur o* the clink of a bridle-bit, they might nave been regarded by a superstitious fancy as ghosts of the followers of De Soto or Bienville. Their voices, however, were evidently real, and what they were sayiDg referred to the present. "The king is breaking his own law to-night," said one to another, "and 1 don't expect anything oat of it that'll pay for the trouble. What have these people down here got that's worth going after?" "You might wager your head," remarked tne other, "that the king knows what he iB about. When did he ever fail to do just what he wanted to? There's more'n we dream of at the end of this ride." "Maybe so; I don't say there ain't; but it's a queer move, you may say that." "All of our moves are qaeer enough, for that matter." "Yes, but " "But?but?what's the use of yer 'buts?' Yer a constitutional grumbler, Tom Newkirk?a chronic, incurable growler." "Alebbe so, but " "Ob, grumble at my foot, my head aches!" At this point the last speaker burst forth singing in a low mellow voice au old and not very elegant ditty about a maid who? "WeDt away, went a-wa-y? \ With her love toafaircountrfa." He had reached what -was perhaps the last stanza and was droning out the fact that? "Her lover was false and cold was his | heart, And she died by his cruel hand," when the leader suddenly exclaimed in a tone that indicated irritation: "I'm tired of that. Stop it I This is no time for your songs." The singer obeyed promptly; but could not refrain from muttering under his breath: "Awful particular all at once; must be ailing!" "Who's got the grumbles now?" said his companion, tauntingly. "Told you that something queer was at the bottom of this here move." "Humph! I'll admit that when the king gets bo particular that he won't let a fellow sing, there must be something kind o' bilious on hand." At a certain place at the edge of a mprsh, over which there oame a sharp tinge of salt air and a far-away boom of sea-water, the leader of the cavaliers drew up hie horse and called the others around him, so that his strikingly tall and shapely figure made the centre of a dark group sketched against the marsh rushes and the? shining line of the bay. "What is done to-night," he said, "is between us; not another soul upon earth is ever to know even a hint of it. I have cliosen you four, as the best of my men, to join me in an affair of great importance to me. It may turn out profitable in itself; it may not; but, in any event, you four will be well paid." The men drew closer, leaning toward him over their saddles, as he proceeded to describe his plan and its purpose. Like most leaders, he deceived his followers, while at the same time he told them the truth as far as he went. He was going to rob Yasseur; that much was openly avowed. He had good reason to believe, he said, that Vasseu?1 had in his house a treasure of precious stones, probably of great value, besides n large amount of gold coin. How this information had been obtained he did not say, nor did the men inquire; they were in the habit of taking his word without question and were ready now to follow him without fear. <<<~k 11,: m ind ?? \JUV IU1U? 13 tu rniuu, he went on: "There is to be no personal hurt done to the man or to any of his household. We are to gain our point by clever work." (TO BE CONTINt'ED.) Getting Acquainted. The family had occupied the dwelling about a day and a half, and the mistress thereof was putting a carpet down in the sitting room, when there came a ring at the door bell. She hastened to the front door and opened it. A smiling woman greeted her. "Good morning," "said tbe caller. "This is Mrs. Murkley, I presume." "Yes." "I am Mrs. Pergallop, your nest door neighbor." "Glad to see you. Will you come in?" "Thanks. I believe I will step in for a little while." "You will find us all torn up, of course. Wo haven't began to get thiugs iu shape yet." "Now, don't you apologize, Mrs. Mnrkley. 3 know all about tki3 thing of moving." "It's an awful job, isn't it?" "Terrible. I sometimes tell Mr. Pergallop I'd rather have a spell of sickness than to move. Two moves are as bad as a fire. Well, I thought I'd drop iu and get acquainted. Can you leud me a cupful of coffee?"? Chicago Tribune. Inducement to Atteml Clmrch. A student attending au Edinburgh church put a half-crown into the plato by mistake, and tbe cider stoutly refused to give it back. He was determined to he even with that elder, however. For thirty Sundays he attended the church, and persistently allowed the plate to pass him. Then ho was conteut. At a penuy a Suu| day the account was now even bel tweeu hint and the elder. Perhaps the thirty sermons did him little good, j although they cost him hut a penny a piece.?Youth's Companion. j The Spanish ore amor.g tbe most | charitable people on earth. "Without I a poor tax, Spanish communities of | fifty thousand pelf-supporters feed a ! pauper population of live thousand or moro * 1 I 1 j ^ Jtas J^lodern Arms arvd Equip China has shown her teeth. The great inert mass of Orientals is not lifeless, after all. As the "foreign devil" approached her capital she aroused herself from her dragged' sleep and prepared to strike bach. Her activity has startled the Powers. Fifty warships are plowing through Asiatic waters to check her murderous designs. Ninety thousand troops are being ' rusbed with feverish haste toward the I turbulent province of Pe-chi-li, where | Pekln, the capital, is situated, and where the mouth o^ the empire, the j GvJf of Pe-sbi-11, opens. Tbe fact Is that since the war with Japan the Chinese have been doing precisely what the Boers did after the Janeson raid. It is even said that their leaders have gained their chief encouragement in the present anti-forj elgn uprising from the remarkable sucI cesses^ of, the Boers against the British j last winter. / , I There is no longer any doubt that the nui -n**4-Vk i v^iiJuese iruujjs uxe uilucu >>ilu muunu I weapons and know how: to fight, which they did not five years ago. The British mistake of underrating the 'enemy, if made by the Powers ia' the present instance, would entail results too appalling to contemplate. An upheaval thc-n would Involve the whole empire, all foreigners would be slaughtered or driven into the sea, and the Tellow peril would literally menace the entire "vorld. It would then be necessary to decide whether to abandon China utterly, with the future manace which woald always be impending, or to send the utmost resources of all civilization to conquer an enemy numbering from a quarter to one-third of the human race. It is easily understood, there fore, wny Europe is nesuaung ueiure a problem so gigantic that there is nothing in modern times with which to com pare-it. The arsenals and batteries of Russia j I op.** I &ox~^ ' command the northern approach at j Port Arthur; a licet of British cruisers, ! a regiment of soldiers and a formida! ble fortress holds the southern ap| proach at Wel-hai-wei, white yet furi ther south, at Kiao-chau, Germany has ' a fortified naval base. I The mouth of the Chinese dragon is filled tvi^li foreign teeth. i What,then, is her equipment to cheek i the race of the Powers? What are her | resources to resist the force of the civi ilized nations: i Population 400.100.000 | Annual revenues $75,009,000 ! Revenues collected and anpropriated by officials.. .$373,000,000 j Sucli a population and such a vast annual revenue should form a comhin | ' v^/ \V I It trcmi>I^H^B^^^HH^M^^^H| to o'^^IDB^H )Icr One cruiser ^HflHHH^HHH torpedo !*0I6IGIGIQIGIGIGIGIGI6IM >S fjerl?eth J w >mer\t to Jtepel the leaders. ^ Motetoeeeaeee^ One gunbont. Two armored cruisers of 4800 tons. Four antique gunboats of 400 tons. Four modern torpedo boats. None of these ships is adequately manned or armed. In her entire empire China has but one dock where even repairs could be made, and that with a capacity only for a 3000-ton ship. With this Insignificant navy she inagt defend 4000 miles of coast line. Six of her cruisers are at present locked up in the Gulf of Pe-chi-li. China, therefore, can expect nothing from her navy. What, then, does her army offer. Her army: I A LI HUNG CHANG'S R] (Formerly the temple of the To begin with. China is dominated by a foreign army, 200,000 strong. The JIanchus garrison the empire. They ride high-handed over the Chinese, and are commanded by Tartar generals. Very little loyalty could be expected from the Chinaman if forced to enlist. The entire army system is corrupt. Revenues collected to support the garrisons have been diverted and divided between the generals in ' ommand and the viceroys of the provinces. It is probable, therefore that in the entire Chinese empire there is not equipment for a foody of troops exceeding 200,000, and even for that number it is questionable. General Yuan Shi Kai has 10,000 men. They are the best body of troops in the empire, and are now entrenched between Pekin and Tientsin . In the Hunting Park, outside of the walled city of Pekin, is encamped Prince thing's field force of 10,000 picked men. Outside the walls of Pekin are General Tung Funsieng's Mohammedans, a badly drilled and murderous rabble, 13.000 strong. They are the troops that have menaced the European element in Pekin for some time, and are tlie ones wlio have probably broken into the city and endangered the lives of the foreign element. North from Pekin, swinging around the shore back from the Gulf of PelI chi-li, is General Sung's force of 20,000 men. General Nieh is close to Tien-Tsin with 1"?.000 men. These troops are the [ ones who caused Admiral Seymour's return. They are drilled by German I officers and are armed with Mauser rilles. In .Manchuria are 15,000 men drilled and fairly well armed, commanded by General Yi-Ke-Tong. One of the most formidable forces in China is the feudal armies of Mongolia, who are allied by mutual inter ^HE GOD OF WAR. to the Empress Dowager and the ] dynasty. The force consists , commands of cavalry tuim^^Hme 1U0.000, commanded 1 H^^^^kccs. They are loyal to their H^^^Hds, hut ti^'ht pay unite common Scattered the coast and along the rloang Ho and Yang-tee rivers are numerous arsenals and military campg. A list and location would give an inad FAMILY OF CHINESE C0NVEBT8. equate .Idea, as the figures obtainable are largely based upon hearsay. It is known, however,'that Li Hung Chang, at Canton, has at bis command over 20,000 men, mostly Manchos. I have visited the forts and gprriaons there, and they are of the mort^urtiqne and old-fashioned kind, totallsubfitted to make a resistance of angfdmporThe Chinese forts are monnOTfarge* ly with old breech-loading cffeiqitaiid every' kind of a rifle manufacqj^Rro the last half century is used^jflpbgc. There are, In some of the . ^\ Taku, for instance, a few and in the Pekin field for<MjffiraHK tered around the Manck^Rw3H^9H| The to accomplish its avowed"purpose of driving the "foreign devils out," iwtf upon its navy, hardly upon Its axmyW but largely upon its potation. now liolds them in ch^|||p?^tMfr"long PRINCE CHIN'G, FRIEND OF FOREIGNERS, REMOVED FROM THE TSUNG- LI l'AMAN". suffering race will wreak a revenge upon civilization and their own ruler? that will "stagger humanity." The racc for an empire that is now going on in Asia is a race for human it y. The nation that storms Pekin ant strikes a blow at the barbarism ant ignorance of antiquity that still ra f 1 lAtl'fKTAT uiaie jrum nit* uuuui- i/i mv ....j,-Empress will commence a new cycle in Cathay and confer a lasting obligation upon the civilized world. Who will win the great prize? Lord Charles Beresford made an investigation of the condition of the Chinese army, and declares that not even the imperial Government at Pekin ;uows the real strength of the military forces. Some of the commands are Mancnu and some Chinese?distinct the one from the other. The army is entirely a voluntary service, but when once a man lias joined it lie finds it Jifficult if not impossible to leave it. Besides the Mancliu and Chinese armies there are Kio.imio .Mongolian cavilr.v, excellent men. ruled bv their own princes under a system of feudal tenare. They are not paid. This cavalry force is s;Wd to be devoted to the pres- i ?nt dynasty. Direct evidence of the friendship of the Km press Dowager for the Boxers lias been given in the removal of Prince Ching as chief of the Tsung-iii'amcn, or Foreign Office. and his re|)Iacemcnt l?y Prince Tuan, father of the heir apparent to the throne, who is i sympathizer with the Boxers. Prince riling is one of the best known and titost aide of Chinese statesmen, and is known to be friendly to foreigners. Automobile Power Stations. Tt will imt li<> many years before there will be little stations all along j the principal highways where autonio- ; liiles can Ik? charged with motive [?ower and sent whizzing on their way. Siam's Crown I'rinn*. who is studying at Oxford. Knglaiid. is liound to lie an up-to-date potentate like liis rather, lie reivntly "leveloped appendicitis. and enjoyed the modern operation for that misfortune. The somnambulist who tumbles from x roof is au illustration of one way to ; fall uslveu J 1 I NOVEL FLOWER-STAND. Plant* Made to Grow Out of Banaboq ] Stalk*. One of the prettiest flower standi which has appeared of late, says the London Express, is made of a piecet of bamboo from four feet to Ave feet ? high, nailed onto two smaller bits* ; arranged in the shape of the letter} X. A hole of about three inches deep| is cut at each knot in the upright bamboo, and a natural receptacle fon . flowers is made in this easy fashion! Bamboo grows in sections, so that aaj there is a solid piece of wood between < each portion of the upright stickj nothing remains to be done but to pouij ? Water into the holes and to placej a branch of flowers in each. Lilac* and laburnum look exquisite wheri JI nlnpprt <>ltornntolv In thp bamboo! a flower stand, but almost any kind ofj fm foliage is effective whet used in this m THE STAND IN PULL BLOOM. * V 3 The lower staud should be placed in j the corner of a room or entrance hallr and the stand becomes almost invis-i ! Ible when it is nicely filled with flow-' ers. 1 j A H mowing-IMrd'n Umbrella. In front of a window where Ij worked was a butternut tree. A hum-J ming bird built her nest on a limb thatj grew near the window, says a writer] i in the American Sportsman, and wej ] had an opportunity to watch her close-, ly. In fact, we could look right into J the nest. One day when there was] a heavy shower coming up we thought1 we would see If she covered her young during the rain. Well, when the first; drops fell she came and took In her bill one or two or three large leaves growing close by, and laid this leaf over fhe nest so as to completely cover, It; then she flew away. Qa examln/|ng the leaf, we found a &#e in u-and In the side of the -aest was a Small stick that the\leaf:;waii fastened; jflo or hooked upon." After the storm E" - t-'-J 'Am.. Knob onrT < ; ;',VU "Oter Itlti oiu uuu enmv ? ' nnhookea the leaf, and ^ie -nest was perfectly dry. 1 ~ :?4?- I , Joaraalicjn m Profession. it* 1 The number of young men wlio sat " tq^ping their attention to the news-j [ paper business as a life work is much 'larger tb-day than at any time in the nation's history. j This fact was emphasized i# an ad-j M dress recently delivered by President Allot, of Harvard University, when he; ^ -;8tated that more graduates of that in-, -stltution were going Into journalism and literature than any oiher business. or profession, with the possible ex- i cepticn of the'law. It is not difficult to discover the I causes of this change in the attitude i of the educatPl young man toward the profession. More attention is paid j to it*by the schools and colleges. Special courses in the work have been established in at ieast half a dozen academic institutions. JournaHsm is J now theoretically taught by corre- i spondence from many of the large I ' 'ties. The natural result of all this ] i to send a rapidly increasing uum- ;j ber of young men Aspirants for Journalistic honors to the newspaper offlees. There is a glamour about journalism 1 tiiat attracts many you up men to it> 1 ranks. It is a business which at once lifts a young man out of obscurity and places lrim in contact with the men who are making the history of the community. He is afforded opportunities for meeting men prominent in business and social life whi?h might not coiue to him in other professions. It is this sense of impdltance which the young journalist feels at the cut- J set of his career that encourages him to continue in journalism as a lire* ; work.?Fouith Estate. . ?. . i Only Quintain Poit in England. > This iiiterestiuR relic is to be seen at Offhan. in Vent. Just off the main > - Mnlil. I'OiHl lll'l H fl'tl lUUUIillll aun .uaiu- ? stone. England. It is in an excellent M state of preservation, it being kept in S repair by the owner of a bouse hard by. The stipulation that the Quinr 1 ?-?J ? j OLD yriNTAIN l'OST. fain is to bo kept in order by tho owner . ^ is made in tin' title deeds of tin* house. * T!iv <>uintain I'ost formed part ot* a vi-ry popnlar pastime in Queen ICliz- I al-etli's days. T?? one end of Ib?* erossl>ar. which swings on a pivot, a heavy ^ sand ha.sr was lixed. The other end, the broad llat end. was the objeet ofi the lilt by a player who rode against it. la nee in hand. The objeet was to tilt ii at tin- broadside and to ride vwii'tlv l<v before the sandbar, eominjr ' roiiiiil. should strike liiin to tin- jrroiimL A 1'rUou fH|ivr an Exhibit. Jj Tlio Star of Ho|r\ puhlishoil Siiil? jfl Sitiir. l>y iIiO inmates of the Stata fl prison of Now Vork, is in <.:vliibit u.|l tbe Paris Exposition. ?j M