The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, October 26, 1904, Image 6
/A Blues
i
51 romani
'~*rm
By Miss Ani
chapter vii.
Continued.
The one dread of her life Is a second
lover, a second shipwreck, for
Daphne, and during the past two
iours she has been keeping stealthy
cratch over a certain pair of figures
(happily unconscious of her scrutiny)
as they stood together in the
sunset on the beach, or loitered
through the soft gray shadows of the
farm garden.
"Fief-de-la-Reine is no place for talk
fcf wedding rings," she continues, with
?. quick glance at Daphne's face. "As
long as we confine our reveries to potato
crops and heifers we shall do
Well."
"But Fief-ae-ia-Keme is not Europe,"
says the girl, in her subdued
voice. "There are people in the world
beside us?people for whom the word
life' has still a meaning. Sir John
Severne, for Instance. He has been
telling me about"?if the voice falters,
she steadies it so promptly that even
Aunt Hosie does not detect the weakness?"about
the lady he is engaged to
anarry. A Miss Hardcastle."
Theodora Vansittart looks round,
jrith a jump, from her backgammon.
"Hardcastle! Well, I protest this is
one of the most curious things imaginable.
It did not occur to you, I suppose,
child, to inquire if she came of
the Dinorben family?"
"I inquired nothing," Daphne answers,
a little Wearily. "But if you are
curious In the matter, Aunt Theodora,
you will have an opportunity of investigating
it at first hand. Miss Hardcastle
is coming over from London in
ft friend's yacht, it seems, before Sir
John Severne leaves Jersey."
"And I have no doubt will prove to
be the daughter of my very oldest
friend," cries poor Theodora, to whom
the words "yacht" and "London"
sound like delightful echoes from some
tiigher state of existence. "I knew
them in Dublin; we were quartered
there together?and a pair of the most
elegant creatures they were, Captain
end the Honorable Mrs. Hardcastle?
or Harrington? Now I think of it, I
believe the name must have been Harrington.
At all events, these chance
meetings are most charming ? unexpected
flowers along life's dusty wayside!
If novel writers were to set down
fcalt the romantic things that actually
happen the critics might well call their
situations overcolored."
"I care not what romances go on in
the world," says Aunt Hosie, rising
and resting her hand kindly on
Daphne's shoulder, "so long as we keep
clear of them. Romances are delightful
affairs, I have no doubt?to every
one but the people who enact the prominent
parts."
Daphne is silent.
CHAPTER VIII.
Reality.
Three days pass by. on the fourth
comes a telegraphic message informing
Severne that his mistress has
reached Guernsey. Eight-and-forty
liours, perhaps less. Miss Hardcastle
*nd her friends will give to the smaller
<sland6, and then?Sir John may look
tor their arrival in Jersey!
.The last day has come, and, as
*isual, the lovers (I mean the people
jwho under no possible circumstances
must ever be lovers) are spending it
' together; the hour, four of the afternoon;
the scene, a shady spot upon the
beach .which by common consent has
* ?rown to be called Sir John's atelier.
Paul is enjoying his afternoon siesta
tipon his mother's lap, Sir John lazily
sketching in a group of weed-grown
txmlders for the foreground of a picture,
already taken, of Daphne and her
little son.
1 Alas, if he -works lazily, he is thinking
hard; counting with miserly greed
every look from the soft lucent hazel
eyes, every smile from the sweet lips,
that after to-day shall be as nothing
to him!
"Next to the performance of one's
fluty, the best thing is?one's wellearned
rest after duty." Thus speaks
a pleasant, slightly drawling voice
from the bank immediately above, so
close to them that little Paul hears it
Ihrough his dreams, and half awakens.
"We have searched for the man it was
our duty to search for. In vain. We
give the man up. .We sit down."
Daphne peeps out cautiously between
a crevice of rocks and grass, and
discerns a lady and gentleman, young,
twell favored, and, as she judges, newly
married.
' "The question is," says voice number
two from the bank?just for a moment
Sir John starts a little at the
Bound?"whether the first best thing
would be, not to perform one's duty at
all? It certainly was less dusty at
cea than we have found it among
these horrible lanes."
"But among the lanes, my dear child,
nvc have been alone."
"Our position is not honorable,"
Hvhispers Daphne, rosy red. "I don't
believe they are bride and bridegroom.
They are lovers, poor things! We have
no right to hear their conversation."
And then falls to listening again
Urith all her might.
"Besides, there is something I have
long wished to speak to you about,
only I could never find an opportunity.
I intend to marry."
The speaker is a bored "atrociously
good-looking fellow" of two or three
and thirty. His dress, the cut of his
blonde mustache, the fact of his carrying
a white umbrella as a protection
from the sun, lead j*ou to class him,
at a glance, as a Continental Englishman,
but of what particular type it
(would be hard to say.
"Marry!" This time it is the lady
(who speaks, with a disdainful little
curl of the lip?a disdainful inflection
In the clear, slightly metallic voice,
have always said "
"That it was hard to see of what use
married men could be in the scheme of
things. Well, we are most of us queer
studies, perhaps, from that point of
.view. I think you, my dear, at all
f '
HOCKING;
3E | REALITY.
"Tie Edwards.!
events, are not a fitting persoa to decry
marriage."
"I think we came to a decision some
time ago that there was one subject
of whifch you and I would never speak
?nA? no \ftt mar.
U LI 111 1L .?as> J-UltCU UJJUU UO. WJ
rlage"?the clear voice falters a bit?
"can have no connection, in the whole
wide world, with you."
"None. Possibly that Is the fact
that has made me think of opening a
domestic happiness account on my own
behalf."
There is a little pause after this;
then:
"It would be asking too much!" exclaims
the girl's voice, petulantly; "it
would be trenching on ground too delicate
for an outside observer, to inquire
the name of your intended?"
"I put much the same question to
myself to-day."
"To yourself?what absurdity!"
> "At breakfast; limiting my speculations,
for form's sake, to the company
present Naturally, but for Jorningham
I would have fixed on Lady
Lydia."
"That goes without saying. You forget,
perhaps, that Lady Lydia's greatest
charm is?Mr. Jorningham."
"Afterward, coming down, with a
crash, from the ideal to the actual and
earnest, I thought?You need not look
so scornful, my poor child, I am perfectly
in earnest."
"Scornful? I? How wonderful one's
face must belie one at times!"
"?That I could not do better than
think of Agatha de Mauley."
"A widow."
"I adore widows.** '
(Under the shelter of the rock beneath,
Mrs. Chester colors. Sir John
Severne is looking singularly, unac
countaoiy ill ul uis ease.;
"A woman who has been already
married," proceeds the voice masculine,
with slow emphasis?"a woman who
has been once trained, however badly,
in the way wherein she should go, must
have gained some rudimentary knowledge
of the art of dining. If the first
husband has a temper, she has probably
been drilled to putting on her bonnet
with dispatch. Two cardinal virtues.
This brings us to a question of
the late Mr. de Mauley's temper."
"Do you know what I am thinking?"
cries the girl, impatiently. "I am
thinking that every month, every hour
you live, you grow more and more
foolish."
"I know it. At two-and-thirty years
of age I am fool enough still to carry a
heart about with me. somewhere."
"A heart!" she repeats mockingly.
"A heart that beats for Agatha de
Mauley!"
"Of course, if you choose to say so."
"A designing creature, old enough to
be your grandmother, and fast, extravagant
enough?no! I should be sorry
to finish the comparison. Married to
Agataa ae Aiauiey, you wouia ue m
jail, both of you, in a fortnight. Now,
if you were to turn your thoughts to
Mattie Rivers "
"Aged twenty-nine, emancipated to
the extent of living alone in chambers,
suspected by her enemies of the most
advanced theology, and by h#r friends
of the very heaviest flirtations, and at
the present moment collecting materials
for a three-volumn novel! It is a
curious fact," the speaker remarks, deliberately,
like a man carefully ransacking
the storehouse of his thoughts,
?"a deuced curious fact?that all the
new-looking people who go about the
world in yachts should be accompanied
by a writing woman in search of materials
for a novel. I met with precisely
the same thing last autumn?
somewhere on the Levant, was it?"
"Cousin Felix, you may not be very
deep in some subjects, not quite as
deep as Fraulein Schnapper, for instance.
But for generalizations, at
once rapid and profound, I don't know
your equal."
"Yes. If I had Clementina and a
dictionary constantly at hand I believe
I might pass muster in time."
* * * * *
Sir John Severne springs to his feet
with an abruptness that sends his
color-box, pencils and Daphne's portrait
spinning!
CHAPTER IX.
The Zeit-Geist
"Have you got any shade among the
rocks there?" says Cousin Felix, glancing
lazily down under the edge of his
umbrella. /
It is a modest boast of Mr. Broughton's
that no situation of life (and,* unless
his friends malign him, he has
been in some sufficiently complex ones)
has ever put him off his guard, ever
upset the equilibrium of his finely balanced
conscience.
The sudden apparition of Sir John
Severne, at the very instant when he,
Felix Broughton, is murmuring soft
confidences into the ear of Sir John
Severne's promised wife, causes him
no embarrassment
a irigntenea little cry irom miss
Hardcastle, her guilt-stricken face,
bring the truth home to his moral perceptions
before he has had time to survey
the material aspect of things
through his eyeglass; and on the moment.
.with the look, the voice of in
nocence, he hits upon an appropriate
commonplace.
"If there is any shade worth speaking
of you shall be the mountain and
we Mahomet, otherwise "
' "We have been driving half over the
island," cries Miss Hardcastle, actually
betrayed into the indiscretion of excusing
herself. "At last I remembered
the name of your friend's house?Fiefde-Ia-Reine?is
it not? And the people
there directed us to the beach, and?
we have been looking for you "
"And have been unexpectedly successful
in our search," says Cousin
Felix, calmly?all this before young
Severne has uttered a word. "Allow
me to offer you my arm, Clementina,
as the question of shade seems decided.
The bank is steep."
At last after a ^oo^ manv abortive
starts, and forced baits, and unexpected
avalanches of sand, tbe descent ic
accomplished.
Miss Hardcastle quits Felix Broughton's
arm.
The lovers, divided during the lapse
of three cruel years, stand face to face,
They shake hand:;. Cousin Felix look?
ing on witn the pleasantest?I had almost
said the most fraternal?expression
In the world. They don't find one
syllable to say.
Is this the beginning of the end?
"Clementina forgets to introduce me,**
remarks Mr. Broughton, coming forward
with his little air of genial suavity,
a hand outstretched. "Or perhaps
she thinks it is a case in which introduction
is superfluous. How are you,
Severne? Welcome back from India.
Warm, Is it not?"
"Very warm," repeats Sir John, laconically,
and submitting to, rather
than accepting, the proffered handshake.
"You arrived in Jersey this
morning, I conclude, Clem?Miss Hardcastle?"
He had thought of her as Clementina
during their three years of betrothal;
as Clementina has written her love
letters, hopeful, despairing, ardent,
gradually cooling, by the score. Yet
now that hope is so near fruition, now
that they are to be married in August,
and stand under this June sun looking
into each other's eyes, the familiar
Christian name refuses to leave his
lips. (And during the last day or two
he has scarce been able to restrain
himself from calling Mrs. Chester
"Daphne.")
"Yes," answers Cousin Felix, upon
whom all the onerous burden of talking
seems to fall, but with grace, "we
ran over from the other island,
Jersey?no, Guernsey?help me, Clementina,
you know I can never remember
which is which. At all events, we
ran over from the other place this
morning. Jorningham found out from
some culpably interested pilot, no
doubt, that the tides would suit for
longer, and hurried us off in the very
middle of our breakfast Capital fellow,
Jorningham; you know him, Severne?"
"I remember hearing Lady Lydia
Jorningham had a husband."
"Precisely, the very man, and an excellent
fellow, too, in his quiet, unobtrusive
way, but crazed on the score
of fish. Ah!" a sudden animation
brightening his bored voice as the face
of a pretty woman, the face of Daphne,
comes within range of his eyeglass,
'what have we here?sketching?"
Sir John Severne's color-box, overturned,
his pencils and sketch book,
lie on the wet sand. Daphne, with
senses ostensibly fixed on the distant
sea, sits, half In light, half in shade,
beneath the rock; her yellow hair glistening
in the sun. her girlish figure
looking more girlish than its worit in
the plain cotton gown that forms so
strong a contrast to the silk attire: the
drawn back skirts, the fan-shaped train
of Miss Hardcastle. Little Paul, rosy
still from sleep, stands barefooted,
finger on lip.intently watching tbp newcomers
at his side.
"We wex*e just?that is, I was sketching
in the foreground," says Soverne,
betrayed in his turn into the weakness
of an excuse. "One sees such wonderful
effects among these Jersey r<x?ks."
"Charming effects, in truth," returns
Cousin Felix, with an expressive
glance in the direction of Daphne Chester.
And then there was a full stop.
Daphne, country taught Daphne, ir. the
first to break the silence.
She rises, hesitates for an Instant,
then conies forward, a smile of genuiDO
welcome round her lips, to Clementina.
"Every one around Fief-de-la-Reinc
will be glad to see you, Miss Hardcastle.
Sir John Severne has told you?
no!?what makes us look upon him as
an old ajjd valued friend? Ah, then,
you must hear our version of the story.
Paul, come here. This is my little son,
who but?"
"For a certain high spring tide would
never have taught? me the mystery of
fioMnr*" intprrnnts Severne.
quickly. "Do your best, Mrs. Chester.
I know the excellence of your intentions,
but 'tis work thrown away. You
will not succeed in getting Miss Hardcastle
to look upon me in the light of a
hero."To
be Continued.
Ingenious Swindle in Carlos.
The craze for antiques and -curios is
responsible for some ingenious swindles,
but it is doubtful if many could
surpass that which victimized an
American woman traveling abroad, who
while in Holland purchased some alleged
-Dutch pottery which proved on
close examination to be common gran
ite ware made in America in oaa
. shapes and decorated in Dutch fashion
to be sold in Holland as antique
I cooking utensils.
American enterprise is frequently
encountered in various ways in Europe,
as, for instance, the experience
of an American gentleman in London
who bought a pair of rubber overshoes
in a London shoe shop which were
unusually satisfactory. On examining
them preparatory to buying another
pair, he made the discovery that they
were manufactured in Providence, R.
I., by an American firnf, although they
were sold as English rubbers or
| "gums."
The fact is well known that there Is
a considerable industry in the manufacture
of so-called Egyptian scarabs
in America, which are sent to Egypt
to be sold to unsuspecting tourists as
genuine antiques.?Boston Transcript.
The Stitches of a Lifetime.
The other night a party was in J.
Dreps' tailor shop discussing the general
topics of the day, when the conf/\
flio Cllhlpft flf tflll
tcioauvu IU1UVU VV muvjvv.
oring, and the number of stitches required
to make a garment. Mr. Dreps
was timed for one minute, and the
- ? ~
number or sutcnes ce niuue wus ivuuu
to be seventy. This makes 4200 an
hour, 28,800 per day, 21,462,000 per
year. This tailor has fallowed his
trade for thirty years, and during that
time has made over 643,800,000
stitches.?Central!* (Mo.) Courier.
Pamphlet and Newspaper.
A prominent advertising man affirms
that for some lines of business the
pamphlet is of great value. "But the
advertiser who should think pamphlets
can replace newspaper advertising
must be mad. The two work hand
in hand, each helping the other. It is
a fact, however, that less than ten per
cent, of the pamphlets distributed
broadcast receive anv at! ration." _
I
Humor of
I To ctay
Two Men.
One man by making both end? niect
Believes himself in clover,
Another's joy is not complete
Unless the ends lap over.
?Philadelphia Press.
The Impropriety.
Horseowncr?'"Did you feed the horse
his oats?"
Stable Boy?"Yes, but he wouldn't
eat; I wonder what's the matter?"
Folisher?"Probably objected to eat- '
Ing breakfast food, for supper."?Detroit
Free Press.
No Use For It.
The Czar?"Vi8kyvitch."
The Orderly?"Your Highness."
The Czar?"Go and take down that j
sign in the front parlor window."
The Orderly ? "Which sign, Your
Highness?"
The Czar?"Boy wanted!"?Cleveland
Plain Dealer.
Very True.
"If Washington was alive to-day, do
you think he would be elected Presi- j
dent?"
"I do not."
"Not enough of a politician, eh?"
"That isn't the reason."
"What then?"
"He'd be too old."?Cleveland Plain
Dealer.
As It Should Be.
"Xo," said the dentist, "it would simply
be a waste of good money for me \
to advertise in the newspapers."
"Why do you think so?" queried the
persistent solicitor.
"Because," explained the tooth car- j
nontor ?'mv work sneaks for itself I
through the mouths of others."?Chicago
News.
Modern ReceM.
"Have you practiced on the piano?"
"Yes, mother."
"And read Professor Simson's lecture
on Greek art?" >
'Yes, mother."
"And studied your calculus?"
"Yes, mother."
"Then you may go out and play for
ten minutes."?Life.
Their Specialty.
"The Americans ran away from their
foreign competitors in the athletic
games at St. Louis."
"So I saw. But if a certain Euro*
pean country had been represented, the
result would have been different."
"To what country do you refer?"
"To Russia. Her representatives
would run away from anything."?
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
After a Few Washings.
.Mrs. Gee?"How mapy pieces are
In that set of dishes your husband gave ;
you on your birthday?"
Mrs. Whiz?"About a thousand now."
?Chicago Daily News.
Willie.
Dashaway?"You say your sister will
| be down in a minute, Willie? xnars ;
good news. I thought perhaps she j
.wanted to be excused, as she did the (
other day."
"Willie?"Not this time. I played a
trick on her."
Dashaway?"What did you do?"
Willie?"I said you were another fellow!"?London
Tit-Bits.
An Artful One.
"I am very much bothered. I can 1
marry a rich widow whom I don't love, !
or a poor girl that I do love. What i
shall I do?"
"Listen to your heart and marry the I
I one you love."
"You are right, my friend. I shall j
marry the girl."
"Then you can give mo the widow's ,
address Fliegendc Elaettcr.
Xothinfr But the Truth.
"Yes," said Mr. Stormington Barns, j
"we did well in the West. At a one- I
night stand in Arizona we played to a !
$10,000 house."
"Say, what are you giving me?" queried
Mr. Walker Ties.
"Facts," answered the great footsore
tragedian. "The one man who com:
prised the audience was said to be
j worth fully that amount."--Chicago '
News.
I
tittle WIllle'H Trick. I
Dashaway?"You say your sister will i
be down in a minute, Willie? That's j |
! good news. I thought perhaps she
.wanted to be excused, as she did the i
other day." .**1 i
Willie?"Not this time. I played a !
trick on her." i
Dashaway?"What did you do?"
"I said you were another fellow!"
exclaimed Willie, triumphantly.-Lon- :
don Tit-Bits.
I
Tlie FatulJtipf.
Mr. Rooter?"The liiants were too
J much for the Pirates, seven of the lat:
ter dying at first, four were struck out
and the only man that reached third
was doubled up when trying to reach
home."
Mrs. Rooter?"Oli, don't read any
more of that terrible war news. John.
Read the baseball news instead."?Chicago
Journal. j
Bioemphy.
"Here is a notable new work of biography,
'The Life and Letters of Thomas
Higgs,' in four volumes, profusely illustrated"
I
"Higgs? Who was Higgs?" .
"Why, he sold groceries to Robert
Boggins."
"And Boggins?"
"Boggins was gardener :o a man who
onee saw the Duke of Wellington. Or
was it John Henry Newman that he
jaw? Perhaps it was Dante Gabriel
Rosscti. These, details escape me at
the mo'r.pnt."?Lit'a
i - -
THE SUNDAY SCHOOI
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENT;
FOR OCTOBER 30.
.Subject: Klinha at Dotlian, II Kiner?,
?Memory Verses, 15-17?polder
Text, Psalm xxxlv., 7?Commeutarj
on the Day'* Lesson.
I. Elisha assisting the King of Israel
(vs. 8-12). 8. "King of Syria." Hennadad
II., who sent the letter about Xaamar
(2 Kings 3:5-7). A powerful king, bring
:ing thirty-two vassal kings with him 1c
the first siege of Samaria (1 Kings 20:1)
He was killed by Ilazael (2 Kings 8:7-15)
"Warred." Not an open war but a de
eultoryskirmismng. The plan of the Syr
ian king was to set an ambush that would
tempt the king of Israel to hits capture.
9. "Man of God." Jehovah rescued Is
rael not by kings, mighty armies or greal
generals, but by the man of God, that it
mitrlit be seen that salvation was not a
ivork of human strength or wisdom, bul
due to ,the God of Israel. "Beware." B?
on the lookout. "Are come down." "Are
coming down." R. V. God knows all
that the yicked are doing, and He will
employ this knowledge for the benefit oi
the good. 10. "King of Irrael sent."
A party of troops to pre-occupy the place;
and thus the Syrians found their designs
had been detected. It is probable tnat
whenever_ the Syrians arrived at a point
selected for attack they found superioi
Israelitish forces already there. "Saved
himself." Those who carefully follow
God's directions will have no difficulty in
out-gencraling the foe. "Not once nor
twice." This was done repeatedly.
II. "Sore troubled." A exed and chagrined
that all his plans were made known
to Israel, and that they could thus treat
all his stratagems with derision. "Shew
me." When nis design was thus repeatedly
frustrated it was natural to think
of treachery among his own people. 12.
"One of his servants." From some Israelite
this Syrian may have obtained his
knowledge. "Telleth." A confession oi
the boundless knowledge, as, before, of the
boundless power, of Israel's Gpd is extorted
from the Syrians. "In thy bedchamber."
In the greatest possible secrecy.
II. The Syrians seek Elisha (vs. 13-15).
13. "Go and spy." How blind to imagine
that He who could tell his secret counsels
could not klso frustrate the movements of
his spies. "In Dothan." Dothan means
"two wells" or "the double fountain." It
was situated on the south side of the plain
of Jezreel.
14. "Horses and chariots." What unconscious
tributes bad men pay to good
influences! The king sent "horses and
chariots ar.d a great host" to take a man
whose sword was the word of God, whose
helmet was the defense of the Most High,
whose breast-plate was righteousness!
Even had it L .m possible to kill Elisha,
God could easily raise up and instruct
another prophet. "By night." To take
the city by surprise and Elisha in it without
any warning or opportunity for escape.
15. "Servant. "Or minister." R. V.,
margin. "A special servant, probably
chosen from one of the schools of the
prophets." He had only been with him
since Geliazi's dismissal, and .had little experience
of his master's powers. His
faith was easily shaken. "Risen early."
He may have been aroused by the arrival
of the Syrims. "Alas." Contrast the terror
of tha servant with the calmness of
the prophet. "How shall .Ave do." The
worst oi unbelief is, that it not only loses
courage for itself, but assumes that all
other Christians are in the same plight.
III. God delivers Elisha (vs. 16-18).
16. "Fear not." Elisha speaks as a man
vrhnsp sve.n are oDened and who is sure of
God's protection whether he beholds the
angelic host about him or not. He quiets
the fears of his, servant, 1. By showing
his own faith in "God. 2. By causing the
young man to catch a glimpse of their
protectors. "Are more." The person who
has God with him has more than all that
can possibly be against him. One with
God is a majority.
17. "Open his eyes." His natural eyes
are open and he sees the danger; now
open the eyes of his faith that he may
see the protection. The greatest kindness
we can do for the fearful and fainthearted
is to pray for them, and so to
recommend them to the mighty grace of
God. The onening of our eyes will silence
our fears; tne clcarer sight we have of
the power of heaven, the less we shall
fear the calamities of earth. "The Lord
opened." God opened his spiritual eyes,
unveiled his inner sense. "Mountain wag
full." How thickly crowded the spiritual
world muit be when such a host could
be spared for Elisha alone. "Horses and
chariots." Horses and chariots were there
to match horses and chariots of the Syrian
invadeV. When Judas came to Gethsemane
with a detachment of the Roman
guard, Christ said. "Thinkest thou that
1 cannot beseech My Father, and He shall
even now send Me more than twelve le'pions
of angels?" The reserves were of
the same military order as the foe. "Fire."
Ezekiel, Isaiah and John, when they describe
the divine equipage, represent it as
a wheeled, harnessed conflagration. That
means purity, justice, chastisement, deliverance
through burning escapes. Charlot
cf rescue? Yes, but chariot of fire.
IS. "They." The Syrian army. tame
down." From the surrounding hills on
which they were cncamped. "To him."
Elisha, to capture him, which was their
object in coming to Dothan. It was quite
in the character of Elisha to go forth from
the city with his now courageous servant.
"Elisna prayed." He had prayed for his
icrvant that he might see (iod's army.
He now prayed for his enemies that they
might be withheld from doing the evil
they designed to do. For the servant the
eyes of his understanding were enlightened;
but for the Syrians their faculties
failed them. The- were so confused as
not to know hie place to be Dothan or to
recognize Elisha. They groped as in darkness.
liuis protection came in answer to
prayer. God is merciful to sinners when
lie defeats their plans and saves them
from crime. "Smote with blindness."
Not the usual Hebrew word for blindness,
but a compound word meaning to blind,
to shine. The resiilting idea would be
that of dazzling. This would denote hallucination
ratner than total loss .of sight.
IV". ElfSlia's treatment of his enemies
(vs. 19-23). 19. '"He led them io Samaria."
There is a sort of irony in these words of
Elisha. which virtually treated the enemy
with derision.
20. "They saw.'' Elisha led them twelve
miles to Sainaria and then their sight was
restored and they found themselves captive
in tVir? mirfsfc of their enemies. 21.
When Jehoram, the king of Israel, saw
them he asked Elisha it he should kill
them. 22. Elisha strongly objected to
this and ordered them to be well fed and
sent back to Eenhadad. 23. The result
)f Elisha's kindness was that the Syrians
ceasea thia sort of warfaie against,
Israel.
Wives For Sale Cheap.
In the Kharkoff, Poltava and Ekaterinoslav
provinces of Russia, says the Xovoe
Vremya, there is a rapidly growing
trade in the sales of wives, frequently at
(heir own desire. The usual cause is the
extreme poverty of the husband, who can
no longer keep nis wite, inougn 11 is ouen
because the wife desires to be free from a
cruel, drunken partner. The trade has become
so common that few markets are held
\<cithotit such transactions, which are considered
so binding that no ease has been
known of a husband demanding his wife
back. Their market value varies from ?8
to ?15. Afore is never paid. The women
are required to be good housewives and
field workers. The dealers or agents are
Jews, who get ten to fifteen per cent, on
the purchase price.
Aggravating Protection.
Paris costumers have started a crusade
against the foreign dressmakers who copy
their designs. They will execute no American
orders for winter goods before September
7, or European before September
15, Parisians wish it understood that modjls
displayed outside France before these
dates are spurious.
A Hybrid Foxvl.
A hybrid fowl, the offspring of a wild
English pheasant cock and a guinea hen,
recently died on a' farm near Palatine,
K.J. _
??mmmmmmmrnmmm
| THE GREAT DESTROYERj
i SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT j
THE VICE OF INTEMPERANCE. !
j Or, Swall&ir Shows by a lteinarlcabla !
Grouping of Facts the Part That In.
loxicants Play In the Decritdatioii of
Labor?Total Cost of Liquor Business.
The following article is an cxcerpt from
1 | an address delivered by Dr. Swallow as
1 National Park, N. J., on Labor Day, ScpI
teinber 5, 1904:
1 I Abstinence from intoxicants, the use of | (
I of which as a beverage has never helped 1
one human being, but has ruined millions,
for time and eternity, would go far toward ;
. | adjusting the difference between lafcor and
1 ] capital.
We now crave your indulgence while
, we present a few figures culled from the
! National Bureau of Statistics, at Washing- j
i ton, showing the part that intoxicant/5 play
1 j in the degradation of labor. W<? think it
demonstrates the fact that labor's greatest
1 enemy is the Government-sharing and Govj
crnment-protecting liquor traffic.
In the manufacture,and sale of liquor,
! less money is paid for labor in proportion
! to the cost to the consumer, than in the
I manufacture and sale of any other com'
j inodity.
! ' If a laboring man buys ?100 worth of
boots and shoes, he buys $20.71 of labor.
In buying $100 worth of furniture he
j buys $23.77 of labor.
, In every $100 worth of hardware lie buys
$24.17 of labor.
; In every $100 worth of clothing he buys
$17.42 of labor.
.in every wortn or cotton goods lie i
buys $16.91 of labor.
In every $100 worth of men's furnishing
! goods he buys $18.34 of labor.
In every $100 worth of worsted goods he
buys $13.55 of labor.
In every $100 worth of woo'.en goods he
buys $12.68 of labor.
. In every $100 worth of liquors he buvs
?1.23 of labor. _ '
If eight laboring men spend $800 for
furniture, hardAvare, clothing, cotton,
worsted and woolen goods and men's fur|
nishing goods, they contribute $147.43 to
| labor, and at the same time they bring i
valuable supplies to their families, they I
| I stimulate business and add to the demand
j : for labor. .
; | If the $800 is spent in the saloon only
j $9.84 goes for labor, the families are made
wretched, and the men themselves are.
made worse phySfcallv, financially and
morally, their jobs are imperiled and they
have wasted their money. Liquor is labor's
worst enemy.
We quote from Rev. James H. Mohorter,
of Massachusetts, the following paragraph:
l?Ar oirortr Ol voaaitta frnrii fliA linunr
! * V* - V. A. LH. ..MUV?
; business we lose $16.50. This is the kind
! of economy for which -the license parties
! stand. The loss from the saloon business
! is about as follows: Loss from drunken
ness is estimated at 50 per cent, of the
: cost of liquor; loss to sober men, 5 per
j cent.; loss in pauperism. 1 per cent.; loss
| in insanity and disability, 2.5 per cent.;
i in sickness, 14 per cent.; labor of liquor
j makers, 40 per cent.; total, 145.5 per Cent.
i Thus the indirect cost foots up about 145.5
per cent, of the direct cost. The direct
i cost in 1900 was $1,172,493,000. This gives
as the actual cost of the Nation's liquor
business for 1900 the enormous sum of
$2,804,958,000. The revenue from the traffic
for the same year, amounted to $700,000,000,
or just $1 out of every $16.50 cents of the
cost. If this is not biwiness stupidity, will
| not some one tell us what is? In 1900 the
1 city of Boston received $1,000,000 from, the
I liquor business, but it paid $22,000,000 to
! maintain courts, police, hospitals and to
j sustain its paupers. Why do we practice
j such financial folly? In our attempts to
! remedy the saloon ill by the license we get
j the worst of the bargain.
In a government-where the people rule,
a majority of them have a right to dissolve
' the partnership existing between the GovI
ernment?that is, themselves?and the
i liquor traffic. They have a right further,
i to prohibit the manufacture, sale, imporI
tation and exportation of all intoxicants
I for beverage purposes.
________
Progress in Temperance.
John Bull sober is the defense of London
| Tid-Bits. It admits that John is no total
abstainer, but it avers that he is not the
champion guzzler of the world. He drinks
| an average of 500 glasses of beer a year,
[ but your Belgian Brinks 710. For every
I prlass of wine he drinks, the Frenchman
| drinks fifty-six, and for every gallon of
I spirits that John takes the Dane takes
! seven. This is encouraging. It shows
| progress in sobriety 6ince Shakespeare's
time. In "Othello" we liave this:
"Cassio?'Fore God an excellent song! ,
"Iago?[ learned it in England, where.
| indeed, they are most potent in potting:
I Your Dane: Your German and your swag|
bellied Hollander (Belgian) are nothing to
I your English. , J
j "Cassion?Is your Englishman so expert
' in his drinking?
"Iago?Why, he drinks you, with facil- j
: ity, your Dane dead drunk; he sweats not !
to overthrow your Almain; he gives y<wr {
Hollander & vomit, ere the next pottle can I
be filled."
This is good evidence, and had Tid-Bits j
used German instead of Frenchman in its j
?/M~innricAri flip nnrallel would have been <
exact. As it is, it would seem that since j
I Iago beguiled poor Cassio and made him |
i lose his reputation, the Englishman has
! become less potent in potting. It is well I
1 for him if it be so; for the measure of j
drinking is no bad gauge of a nation's pro- j
! gress. It is well known that the decad- |
ence of France is intimately connected j
with the use of alcohol. Whether as a
cause or effect, the increase of the oon- i
sumption of alcohol in France <roes with j
the decline of physique and the dwindling j
j of stationary population. -Improvement in
i manners and increase in population and
j the attainment of a higher standard of
j living keep pace with decrease in the use
of alcohol.
IIow it may be in England we -do not
know, but in this country the cause of
temperance or total abstinence has come
on as a matter of business. Large corporations
especially, where rules have to be
somewhat sweeping and obedience rigori
ous, simply decree temperance of the most
i temperate kind on the part of their cmj
ployes; the kind that is so closely akin to i
i total abstinence as to figure the same in
I the result. It is not a moral question, and
j (without wanting to discuss the question)
! it may be said that this is the right way to
! get at it. By saying it is not a moral ques|
tion we mean that these prohibitions of
drinking by the general business standard
! of the time are put on business ground, as
' if to say: "You may drink water or wine
for your dinner, but it is at your own ri?k;
I fsobriety is the rule of business." It is
thus that the world is progressing along
the better wiys and that men are becoming
better, if on no higher ground than
that "honesty is the best policy;" in other
! words, because it pays.?Indianapolis News
The Crusade- In Drlcf.
From guzzling beer keep thyself clcar.
Beer is never so flat as (hose who drink
|
Strong support is being given to a move- I
I nient to close all the saloons i:i Ireland on I
I St. Patrick's Day.
TIabitual. drunkards. after conviction in
j Montreal, Canada, are now given the opportnnity
of paying a fine, imprisonment
r.r taking a euro.
Since the English Government introj
duced tiie iniquitous license bill, which is
I practically the brewers' endowment bill, it
has received some stinging defeats in contested
elections.
In a recent important division in the
British House of Commons on the Science
bill, in which the Government had a ma- !
jority of thirty-eight, no fewer than fiftv
who voted with the Government were pc
6onally interested in the liquor trade.
The American Friend says of the sitna- !
tion in Great Britain: "The real trouble (
in England appears to be that the friends ,
of the liquor business are not afraid of ,
temperance forces. V?Te are in danger of
having the same thing happen here."
The great breweries of Rochester, X. Y.,
have prohibited beer drinking during
working hours. The bosses say the work !
ingmen have averaged about ten barrels ol j
beer each per year, and have become "dis- I
obedient, careiess, indifferent and incom-1
T?it,ev>t "
? 1
"i, *. '
%
The Common Tblnxi,
The sunshine and the gentle rain,
The clear bird soap that hails the mora,
The meadow land with flower stain,
The swaying banners of the corn,
The grass that whispers to the breeze?
What common, common things are these}
The broad, blue mirror of the lake
That smiles back at the sleeping sky;
The billows, too, that leap ana break
And fling their foamy jewels high;
The silver clouds that one by one
Toss back the lances of the sun. *
T1 _ _ i iL.t 11 1_ '
xoe 8tars mat, maze as jeweja maze,,
And make the world old mystery, *
While they, on their appointed way%
Go speeding through eternity
Across unfathomed seas of space
On paths that we but dimly traceAll
these are common?brook and bird.
And rose of red, and meadow green;
So common that they seem unheard,
So common that they seem unseen.
And yet there is no day or night
But borrows all of theii; delight. f, .
No common thing is heM apart
Ftom us, or pent witn- fockvaacLkey,
But in the goodness of His heart
They all are made for you and me.
It always seems God loves the best
Things He makes the commonest.
?St. Louis Globe-Democra.tr
IVhat the Bible Teaches About Hmtm
All we know about heaven we know fron
the Bible, and we know all that we nee<
to know. We know enough to fill us wttl
happy confidence and exultant hopes. An?
all we know is upon the authority of th(
only being who ever came out of heavu
to report to our humanity its character &n<
its glories, our Lord Jesus Christ.
For one thing, the Bible assures us tha
in heaven there is room for everybody
The Jewish rabbis used to declare that, n<
matter how many hundreds of thousand
came up to Jerusalem at the great feasts
the streets of the city and the courts o
the temple were never crowded. Tha
fancy is gloriously true of the New Jern
salem. #
Our entrance to this wide heaven, th
Bible teaches, is by a narrow way. Ther
is only one door. In ancient days, whei
the Christians were fighting the invadinj
Turks, a mother, from the fortress, sa?
her son returning from a battle, defeate<
and in swift retreat. She shut the rate
of the fortress and called to her son iron
the battlements, "You cannot enter ex
cept as conqueror!" At that heroic won
the son returned 10 xne iray ana unm
formed defeat into victory. We cannot eo
ter heaven except as conquerors, yet, am
"more than conquerors," in Christ Jesus.
Probably the feature of heaven that i
dearest to most hearts is its freedoih iron
suffering and sorrow. Browning expressed
the universal anticipation:
"But deeg within my heart of heart then
Ever the confidence, amends for all, '
That heaven repairs what wrongs earth's
journey did."
No more lame feet or aching backs it
heaven! No more deaf ears or near-sightec
eyes or throbbing heads! All faces exqui
site, all bodies strong and swift, all mind)
clear, all spirits at peace! The wonder ii
that so many, believing this, yet (bread th?
Sates of death.
But to the sinner, wearied with the Jsn<
struggle against temptation, saddened" bj
remorse even while he is grateful for the
victories which Christ has won for him,
there is a joy in heaven far sripecior to the
absence of pain. Some- little girls wen
telling their thoughts of heaven. To one
it was a place of lovely meadows and trees:
to another, a great, golden city; a third
thought of the singing, and still others^ oi
the joy and safety and plenty of the cetC?
tial abodes. But last of all spoke a thougm
ful lass: "Heaven; why, heaven, I think
is just a place where you're never sorry.'*
That's it exactly. . *
After all descriptions of heaven, eve*
k)ip olmvincr visions of the Apocalypse
there is one thought that always meanj
heaved to the Christian; it is where Chris}
is. A little boy was once asked, "Wher#
Is your home?" He didn't know what t#
lay, for his family had moved about a great
deal, but he turned at last to his raothe*
ind leaned against her, "My home's when
mother is," he said. If the love of Chris
has entered our hearts, then our heavenly
home is where He is. in the next worlq
ind in this world alike.?Amos R. Welli,
in Sabbath Reading. I
Two Imperative Don't*.
The longer we live and the more we
itudy, the more imperative become two
"don'ts." They seem to comprise the
7uole life. The first?don't talk about
re*.?? neighbors or criticise people so much.
Judge not, and you shall not be
;ondemn not, and you will not be condemned.
The second?don't murmur and
complain about your troubles; bear them
it least philosophically, if not with Christian
patience and resignation.?Rev. C. P.
rhoraas, Baltimore, Md.
Greater Faith, Greater Trial.
The Lord giveth faith for the purpose o!
trying it, for the glory of His own name
ind for the good of him who has it, and by
the very trial of our faith we not only obtain
blessing to our own souls, by becoming
the better acquainted with God, if we
hold fait our confidence in Him, but omr
faith is also by the exercise strengthened.
And so it comes that, if we walk with God
in any measure of uprightness of heart the
trials of faith will be greater and greater,
?George Muller.
Life's Growth.
Yonder grows the tree of life; its leave?
ire for the healing of the nations. And
when Orod's Son is aoroaa io save our sick
iouJs, when our Brother and Saviour
brings us in, sick unto death, is there no
Father who stands behindthe tree of life,
with heart that aches for His straying ion?
Wounded unto death, we will come in.
And in His love and pity He will carry ui
in His arms and save us.?Rev. Dr. Newell
D wight Hillis.
Desire.
We are all the custodians of desires, and
each of us cherishes an ambition ot' some
kind, for the success of which we pray, after
a fashion, and labor according as the
idea of toll possesses us. The god of one
man is ease, while that of another is luxury.
Brain sweat and brow sweat are
freely shed that name and game may
weave the laurels around the brow.?Rev.
W. C. Conn, Brooklyn, N. Y.
How Fortune Affects.
The strain of an increase of fortune affects
men in different ways; one has so little
self-restraint that he immediately turns H
it in for enjoyment. Another is bitten fc
with the love of accumulation. Each ofH
these men has been overwhelmed with ma-1
terialism. If the nation were composed of H
such men they would bring it to'aisaster;I
they would make'the country the home of I
self-indulfence, luxury, and Anally of cyni-fl
cism and despair, or the desert of hard I
materialism, without imagination, joy or I
Lope.?Bishop William Lawrence, Boston. K
Methodism has 1224 deaconesses. fi
wwpi' War on Telephones/
It is reported that the Chinese and Jap
anese Telephone Company of Shanghai,
has its aerial "wires, which are enveloped in
lead pipes, attacked by -wasps, which breed
in bamboos, says the London Globe. Id
July or August they bore holes in th*
stems to lay their eggs clear of birds. In
default of bamboos they have done the 1ik?
with the lead covering of the wires. Th?
company has coated the lead with boiled
linseed oil and canvas, which the insect!
:annot penetrate. i
Beard 11 Feet Lon;.
Valentine Taplcy, living at Frankfort^
Mo., has a beard ov . eleven ieet K g. ...