Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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lewis m. Ctrist, Proprietor. [ !|it |nbcjpbent jfamtlg jtctosppcr: jor % Inunction of % political, Social, Agricultural anb (Commercial Interests of t|c Sontjj. {terms?$3.00 a year, in advance. VOL. 18. YOEKVILLE, S. C., TEUESDAY, MARCH 38, 1873. HO. 13. j j " Selected! ffiwftg. CLING TO THOSE WHO CLING TO YOU There are many friends of summer, Who are kind while flowers bloom, But when winter chills the blossoms, Thej' depart with the perfume. On the broad highway of action "Friends of worth are far and few; So when one lias proved his friendship, Cling to him who clings to you. Do not harshly judge your neighbor, Do not deem his life"untrue, If he makes no great pretentions. Deeds are great though words are few. Those who stand amid the tempest, Firm as when the skies are blue, Will be friends while life endureth, Cling to those who cling to you. When you see a worthy brother Buffeting the stormy main, Lend a helping hand fraternal, Till he reach the shore again. Don't desert the old and tried friend When misfortune comes in view, For lie then needs friendship's comforts, Cling to those who cling to you. Ofigiual ?ri*c Written for the Yorkville Enquirer. THE FATE OF MILDRED WEIR, BT MRS. CLARA DARGAN McLEAN. CHAPTER IV. "A bow-shot from her bower-eaves, He rode between the barley-sheaves. The sun came dazzling through the leaves, And flamed upon the Drazen greaves. Of bold Sir* Lancelot. A red-cross knight forever kneeled To a lady in hie shield." Lady of Shalott. The short winter afternoon was rapidlj verging into night, when there came a thun dering rap at the front door, followed by ? terrific peal of the bell. "Good gracious!" Henriette exclaimed 9tartled out of her usual apathy at that hour for the whole family were enjoying a siesta previous to dressing for the opera. "Whai on earth can be the matter, Kate?" "Either the house is ou fire, or the police * man drunk." Kate rose leisurely out of the depths of f huge arm-chair before the fire where she hac been coiled up, half-asleep, and turned th( Venetian blind a little. "Why, there is a hack before the door, and trunks, and?Oh ! I do believe it is Jack!" She opened the bed-room door, and rushed down the hall en deskuliUe as she was, anc called over the landing? "Who's come ? Fulton, who's come ? I.? it Jack?" "Hallo! Is that you, Kitty ?" cried a mas culine voice,and masculine steps came bound ing up the stair-case. A scream?a laugh and? "Oh! my dearest, darling Jack!" declared to the breathless listeners in the room that the long-expected miracle had taken place, and the absentee returned. Henriette followed suit in a breath, and the same scream, laugh and series of osculations ensued. "By Jove, you are a jolly pair!" Mildred heard the "jolliest" voice exclaim. "I wonder if any other fellow ever had two such sisters to give him such a welcome. It's worth while going away to get such a shower of kisses when you come back." "But Oh ! Jack, to think how you caugh! us! It is such a surprise! And we had nc idea, you know!" Kate was saying this in bursts, as if she hardly kuew whether to laugh or cry. "No matter! I can't see you?it is sc 'darkly, deeply' dusk in here. But where'.' my mother ?" ^ m M yy "In her room, uome, we n go wuu pu ? and the three started down the corridor, when Jack suddenly stopped and called out? "By gracious, Kate, you're a stunner!" "No doubt," she said laughing; "don't be making fun of me, Jack. This is a real each mire robe-de-chambre, and you know you always admired hair a la Ninon" A peal of musical laughter followed this thrust, and Mildred heard no more but the confusion of tongues. It was a happy family group that asseram bled round the dinner-table that evening The proud parents looked from one to the other of their children, but their eyes rested with peculiar fondness, upon the handsome face of the returned heir. He was of thai unusual style of masculine beauty whicli unites regularity of feature with great physi cal power; a combination seldom found in these degenerate days. The rather low, clas sical brow was redeemed by the phrenological development of the tup-head, over which th* close-cut, luxuriant dark brown hair clustered in shining masses ; the long, straight, slendei nose that gave a feminine delicacy to the pro file, was contradicted by the strong, rounc chin ; and the perfect woman-mouth and smal white teeth, which must have given him ? right to be called a "beautiful boy," was al most entirely concealed by the drooping silky moustache. Then the great, broad shoulder; that seemed formed for somebody's support the deep chest, the powerful muscles, devel oped by exercise in athletic sports, all com r biued to strike the most casual observer witl admiration. Among his friends he had beer styled "Prince Schamyland, indeed, hi; rare achievements in horsemanship, his brave ry and knightly accomplishments, entitled him to rivalry with the Georgian chief whe so long defied the Autocrat of all the Russias "Priuce Schamyl" now sat leisurely drink ing his wine, the dark-blue eyes?Tartar-lik< in their peculiar oblique setting, inclining up ward toward the temples?bent from undei their slender arched brows upon his newly found cousin. Mildred did not blush wher she looked up and found the thrilling orb; fixed upon her. She very quietly returnee the look with a smile. Jack laughed out right. "Well, my pretty little cousin, you art either the most unconscious of your sex, oi the most?consummate little flirt. Don't yoi ^ see how desperately you strike my fancy ?" "What nonsense, Jack!" Kate cried. "Mil dred, don't mind him. He has a way of say ing things, like all the men, that don't araoun to much." Mildred joined in the laugh which followec this sage remark, and then said in her simph way: "I am not accustomed to flattery, cousii Jack, and you must give me time to grov used to it gradually, otherwise I may bi spoilt." "No danger of that," he answered, setting down his glass emphatically; "you must havi jp? been shut up in a convent all your life, ti come out such a perfect daisy. Now, that i not flattery. I am glad you abjuro brigh ! colors ; I never can believe in natural roses 1 again." j tl : : "Take care! Ninon has bloomed out su- sj perbly." i c; "And still hides the thorns, I presume," he . fi laughed. "Well, she is certainly 'excellently . a ! well done, if nature did all.' I am not averse p ! to wearing such a rose in my button-hole?at, a , least so long as it does not fade. But at the w | end of a few seasons she must regard that I change as inevitable. Sic transit," &c. ^ | "Why, Jack, you are become a veritable ; ti ! heretic in despite of beauty," said his father, j a j "This comes of your Continental experiences." j c "Oh ! one doesn't require a tour of Europe ! d j and the Holy Land to grow sceptical on such ii ! subjects. Indeed I don't doubt if I had been ^ o j sojourning iu the i^'ejee islands instead, i a I should have arrived at the same conclusions j si | with regard to the charming creatures who b i tattoo themselves with the very same aim and j c i end for which our more civilized damsels like- j si . . ,, " wise paint , Then suddenly changing his bantering tone, h . while the laugh at his ridiculous comparison 1< continued, he asked : "What has become of Waldemar? I haven't t< , heard from him in an age. Last letter I had h was about six months ago, while he was in it the full sweep of a flirtation with?. But no A matter. He's an incorrigible; no end of man- b gled hearts and that sort of thing, but a real g good fellow for all that." a Mildred listened with tingling ears; she had never heard Waldemar discused before, and tl had quite forgotten Kate's warning. ci "Oh ! a harmless sort of amusement for a w 7 young man of Waldemar's circumstances in a life. Rich, talented, idle, with not a single si i restraining tie, if his guardian be excepted." a "Is Colonel Meredith related to him ?" d , Mildred asked, drawn out in spite of herself e; u*r *v>q ininroof olio trinlf-in t.hp. snhiect! and 1 7 UJ iiibvivuv ?vw? ? > j , ? then added half-apologetically, while a slight b t color tinged her cheeks: g "Mr. Waldemar told me he was the ward ir of our friend and nearest neighbor, Colonel h Meredith ; but did not speak of any relation- ir i ship existing between them." oi 1 "There is not," Mrs. Moreton replied, a; ' "Colonel Meredith's younger brother was betrothed to a Creole heiress of great beauty, gi I They were shortly to have been married; but fc she met in society here a Polish nobleman, I and without a word of explanation or fore- ra I warning to her former lover, was wedded to bi this Count Waldemar. It was such a cruel 3 shock that young Meredith never recovered : d< he literally threw himself away, fllise Wal- ai demar and I had been thrown much together gi * during our first winter in society, but I lost c} , sight of her entirely when she went abroad g< shortly after her marriage. We heard that a< 1 she lived in great retirement on her husband's ei s estate near Warsaw, and that he spent all his vi 1 time and fortune at the German baths where 1 many of our friends met him?but never e: , filise. Jack was scarcely four years old h< when she returned to this ?ountry a crushed h< I and saddened woman, her husband having ' been killed in a duel with a Russian officer. S< i A Wis was then a child of five or six, and I al s well remember how struck I was with his I s beauty when I went to call on his mother and ; w saw him playing in the shrubbery with a cun-: us t ning little black-eyed girl, the niece of Colo> nel Meredith's housekeeper, we were told, j es Madame Waldemar, as she was called, her ti- in i tie being tacitly ignored, had thrown herself | ni on the magnanimity of her murdered lover's ) brother; but so noble and chivalrous was tl ! Charles Meredith that he gave her the place aj of a sister. No one knows the particulars, j - but the whole city was dumb with surprise j gj i when it became known that they were living? ; tl I Madame Waldemar and her son?at Col-! S onel Meredith's country-house on Bayou La 1 fe s Fourche.' It was there I saw them while on a | c< visit to your mother twenty years ago. Elise zi was faded, but still possessed those fascinating, it high-bred manners which have been so directly ) transmitted to her son. Poor creature! I be- : re } lieve shedied a true penitent, only surviving jjw their return to this country a few months. : vi Alexis lived with Colonel Meredith till he was : pi . fourteen, from which time till last winter he ; s? J was abroad, part of the time with his father's j bi I family in Poland, who I understand are peo-' m i pie of the highest consideration. Jack and j ir t he were at Heidelburg together, and after-' i ward at Berlin and St. Petersburg?were you ! hi not ?" j si i "Indeed we were," Jack said, looking up ! oi from a bunch of Malaga grapes, with which | I he had been intently occupied during nis j d : mother's interesting recital, "and a gay time st I we had of it. Those simple frauleim never ci could understand what the 'musical Polish oi student' would be after in his love-makings ; I but the Russians were one too many for him. w 1 Their masculine, independent style over- o: i whelmed him. But I thought you were go- bi ing to the opera, to-night," he added, taking r j out his watch : "If it is to be Faust, I am not si s willing to miss a bar of it." j h , j Several voices began to protest that as he , d - had just arrived the opera ought to be given , up for the pleasure of his society; but he j r< i laughingly declared they would see quite ? enough of"him while Marguerite was singing; si i and shortly the whole party?including as a j ei - rare treat, Mr. Moreton?adjourned to the; t! 1 opera-house. i a ) Of course, Tjefore the evening ended Jack j n ., had found his way to the box where his old oi | enchantress was weaving her spells around ri 3! half-a-dozen men; but he did not remain long. E - j "She is too franc et aise," he muttered with ci r a drawing down of the corners of his mouth j a; -! extremely significant. Pulling his moustache l I grimly for a moment he turned suddenly to J 3! his cousinwho sat listening intently to the lc 1 j music. He watched her face long, and then ir - j in a spirit of mischief began teazing Heuriette. b j si CHAPTER V. r1 tl "Good, now piny one scene I i Of excellent dissembling, and let it look h : Like perfect honor." x * * * * * * "Why, me thinks by him a i This creature's no such thing." Mark Antony. P II The ladies were driving down the principal j y ' street of the city next morning, and Mrs. a 11 Moreton proposed stopping at the milliner's, a 3 Madame Olympe's was a fashionable establish- ii I ment; crowds of well-dressed people, princi- h l j pally dashing dark-eyed Creoles, were coming ti v and going. As they entered Mildred lingered w e near the door, attracted by an assortment of w j beautiful ribbons which were arranged in the o I show-case. When she looked around, her d 3 aunt was at the other end of the apartment; w o and both Kate and Henriette were engaged p s , with some mutual friends, chatting gaily over II flowers and laces. T Mildred wandered around, idly enjoying ! be pretty feminine knick-knacks which were pread about with true French taste. She | urae presently to a kind of recess, separated 1 rora the rest of the room by a muslin curtain, j nd through this the profile of a remarkably retty girl caught her eyes. She was smiling ! nd. shaking her head with a coquettish grace, I diile she lifted one finger as if in warning, j t was such a brilliant little genre picture that j lildred paused to look upon it. The bright | nts of various silks, ribbons, flowers, heaped ( round the pretty workwoman, her own rosy j harms enhanced by the exquisite fit of her ! ressjand jaunty little apron?were all bathed j 11 \ . !? J I i sunlignt wtucn streamed tnrougn a winuow f the tiny room. She was evidently holding conversation with some person or persons ireened from view by the half-drawn curtain, ut as Mildred looked, a masculine head beanie visible bent slightly forward, and then be heard a voice say in a half-whisper? "You must go. If Madame catches you ere, she will be?Oh ! so angry, and I might j ise ray place. Do go at once 1" The pleading tones were strangely iuconsissnt with the roguish smile which played over er dimpling face, and no doubt her companra felt the contrast and took advantage of it. I hand was placed under the pretty chin; efore Mildred could withdraw her astonished aze, she saw Alexis Walderaar bend down nd kiss the pouting lips upturned to him. As Mildred sat in her room that evening, linking in bewilderment over the scene, there ame a summons to the drawing-room. It as Colonel Meredith. She had known him II her life?it had been but a few years since le sat upon his knee and laid her curly head gainst his shoulder. He was a man of great ignity, with hair slightly silvered, and kind ves. "I have just come down* to look after some usiness," he said, after their first cordial reetings were over; "and as I saw your lamma and aunt Agatha, only this morning, aving stopped to ask if they had any comlission?I could not resist coming round at oce?especially as I have this little package 3 an excuse." He handed it to her, and she opened it easrly, too accustomed to his society to use >rmality "Oh! it is that ring I have so often begged lamma to give me! How kind to rememer it!" She held up her hand?those "music-burened fingers"?and upon one glittered the otique gem. It had been an heirloom for derations, a topaz of great size and brillianir set in facets of finely-chased, old-fashioned Did. Colonel Meredith smiled at the artless imiration with which Mildred turned it in ;ery light, and called his attention to the arious reflections. "You are not much altered by your city tperiences," he said, putting his hand on er head, "May you always remain ray trueBarted little girl." Mildred looked at him for a moment. Dmething in his tone struck her, and she was Dout to speak when he added : "Come, tell me all about your pleasures? hat you have seen and done since you left 3." They sat down, and were engaged in earnit conversation when Jack entered the drawig-room. He was an old favorite of Coloel Meredith's, and the meeting was warm. "You are looking so well, ray dear boy, mt I must conclude lager and the tdndler %ree with you." Jack laughingly declared they did, and bean an enthusiastic description of his life in j le Bavarian Highlands, of the "Scheibenchiessen" or shooting-matches, his successful ata in bringing down chamois and black>ck; and finally wound up by declaring the ther the most exquisite music one could nagine. "I remember well a similar experience of ty own," Colonel Meredith remarked. "I as a wild young fellow attending the Unisrsity in Munich, and several of us made a arty for the Highlands during the huntingsason. I shall never forget the sunsets I eheld then over Chiem lake, the holy stilless of those mountain recesses, and the thrrll\gjodel echoing over peak and valley." "Oh ! how beautiful!" Mildred exclaimed, er eyes beaming with delight. "How I lould like to witness such a scene once?only ice, if no more!" Jack's noble face seemed to reflect the ra-1 iance from hers. His simple, honest nature, rong yet tender, was fully capable of appreatiug and understanding the rare character f his cousin. "Once?only once," he repeated; "that j ould satisfy you I do believe, for you are j ae of those favored few to whom 'a thing of eauty' is indeed 'a joy forever.'" "Yes, I think she is," Colonel Meredith lid;"and I think, too, Fate must have this appiness in store for her. 'Nothing is acci- j ental that happens to such as her.'" "You are quoting my book: have you been sadiug it lately ?" asked Mildred. "Your aunt offered it to me sdrae weeks nee, and I must confess to being sentimental uough to enjoy it. You would like it, Jack; lis 'Charles Auchester' is just such a charcter as would charm you with his lesthetic , ature and musical temperament. Then, too, I ue re-lives in the book one's German expe-1 ences?those halcyon days spent on the | Ihine in purpling vineyards and among old j istle-ruins. Ah ! I should like to be young gain!" "If we three could but be there together!" ack said, as if half thinking aloud. He >oked at Mildred, his beautiful eyes soften- j lg with the happy anticipation. Years after y the flowing Rhine those three stood side by de, and Mildred recalled the love-light of le eyes which shone upon her that night in le drawing-room of her distant southern ome. When the family had gathered here again fter dinner, Colonel Meredith was not surrised to see his ward already there. Nor et sorry, for Waldemar was a favorite with .? i t i i i n n. 11?even with tnose wno nest Knew nis iauiis i nd failings. Mildred shrank from the meet-! )g; there was a change in her feelings since ! e had sat by her the night before, keeping 1 me with her fan to the mad wild waltz,; hose ecstatic measure one can never hear | ith calm pulses. She felt that the memory f the scene to which she had been an acciental?and, oh! how grieved a witness? ould forever remain to influence her in the resehce of Waldemar. But none of us can say we know ourselves, 'rue as she was to her nature, Mildred was too I young?too utterlunexperienced, to be con-1 scions that a passin once conceived is often i t only intensified bythat which would seem to j murder it. Waheraar charmed Mildred's t asthetic tastes whie he fascinated her senses, c With the hurailitjof true love, she could not realize that one w!o appeared to her so in fin- j s itcly superior to al she knew, could have be- jc stowed his affectioB upon her. And now the js trembling babancebetween hope and fear had * suddenly sunk, wih the precious burden too j( light to weigh aganst the heavier disappoint- 1 meut. Poor little nnocent girl! she believed* 1 he loved the prett]modiste; and with all the 11 pain of such a disovery there was mingled ! a new stream of iicense in her hero-worship, j ' How noble in hirrto love truly this lonely I work-woman?thiVprentice-girlin a milliner's j * establishment! Fital element in a woman's j worship. It was .he highest attribute with |' which she could jndow him?for she never ! ? dreamed of self ii all her thoughts of him. j 1 As he leant over her at the piano that! night, and his eyes told ihe same fond tale to i ^ which she had listened vitli gladness when ( the murmur of fountain ind distant music * formed the exquisite acompaniment, she ' found that the spell had noilost its charm. "I have been longing fora sight of your * face all day," he said, bendiig down to look ] into her eyes. I Phe raised them straight to lis : a sudden j pang of memory came to her, which the joy of his presence had caused her for a moment ^ to forget. " ^ *4- *V*/\ ofwAAf Jita tYAnninrv nttfV* X WttB UUl Ull tilt. 3Httt tuio iiuiuiiig, mill my aunt and cousins, at Olynne's. I saw you." , She spoke simply and quietly, but a deep flush crimsoned her face. It was dvidly re fleeted in that of Waldemar; he started, and like a flash of lightning a quick, tngry expression crossed his features. "You saw me!" he exclaimed. "Surely you are mistaken." "I am quite confident of it," Milired replied in the same quiet tone. He siw how hard it was; it subdued while it lattered ( him. ( "Ah ! let me see," reflecting a monent, his { profile between her and the light?showing its , beautiful lines to great advantage. "Yes, I ; remember now; I stopped to get a glove mend- ( ed. The daughter of my nurse?raj foster- , sister, she is?works at Olympe's, and I fre- j quently get her to do little things of that kind t forme. A good-hearted child she is, bat then ( we played together when we were babies, and that makes oue feel free to claim 'auld ac- j quaintance'?don't you think ?" laughing and t meeting her eyes fully. I "Oh ! ye3, of course," Mildred answered, rather confusedly. She was ashamed now of i her jealous fears. It was so natural?his fos- i ter-sister mending his glove, and he giving < her a kiss by way of thanks. The pedestal of | the demi-god was elevated. To think of his < / An^lonfloa on/1 lrin/lnaoo In romnmKnrlnrr fhp , gou WCIJWS UUU aiuu UWO ?U IVUiuuiwviiMg *>MW | playmate of his youth?his nurse's daughter! j Walderaar watched the changing expres- i siona of her face. "Can you believe for a moment," he raur- j mured, beuding low over a piece of music with which she was toying?"can you believe that any one could e7er take your place to , me? Can you not tiust me ?" ( Involuntarily she gave him her hand. The topaz ring sparkled upon it?and his fingers : closed over hers! Meanwhile the rasrry party around the whist-table was becoming noisy. Colonel < Meredith and Kate as partners declared in J emphatic terras against the flagrant injustice of their opponents. Jack sat in provoking si- . lence, throwing his conquering trumps upon 1 the board with the air of a conscious yet care- i less victor; while Henriette was stirred out of i her usual indolence by the exciting state of J affairs. "That is too bad.. I declare!" Kate exclaimed, as the last card in her hand completed the triumph of her opposers; "I say, ( Jack, you ask mamma to take your place, i otherwise, I won't play another game. "You 1 are such an incorrigible cheat." "If" Jack's tone of surprise and injured innocence was ludicrious in the extreme. , "That is an imputation most foul; I resent it j by retiring forthwith from the contest." i He rose, and goiDg over to the sofa where his mother was entra^ed in work, took his seat ' o "o ? ' ( beside her, and began urging her in that boyish way which was sometimes natural to hirn, to fill his place at the card-table. < "In fact my fair sister Katherine?Heaven send us shortly the valiant Petruchio 1?has cast such aspersions upon my integrity that I am honor-bound to leave. Come, mamma, for the sake of your son's good name!" Laughing, Mrs. MoretOn allowed herself to be led to the vacated place; and Jack was free to seek more congenial employment by i his cousin's side. "Waldemar, old fellow," he said, approaching the piano, "you have had it all your own way long enough. I want to hear Mildred sing Re de Thule. Go on, my Marguerite! Get thee behind us, Mephistopheles!" She began at once; the simple, plaintive little ballad suited well her voice, .and one could scarcely imagine a more perfect Gretchen?the daisy-face shining with tender sincerity, which the real Faust beheld with a thrill of irrepressible joy. The two young men never appeared to greater advantage than when side by side; each was a perfect type of his own genus; and when Mildred ceased singing, she exclaimed, struck by the contrast? "How different you are ! How did you ever happen to be such friends?" Jack made a wry face. "Pardonnezmoi, macousine," he said bowing, "I utterly disclaim Alexis Waldemar as my other self. A man of my dignity would be utterly lost in such companionship." Waldemar laughed at Mildred's look of incredulous surprise. "Don't take him literally, Miss Mildred. He is proud of my friendship, but has a peculiar way of showing it." "Yes," Jack said, with an ironical intonation, "I was very proud to recognize you at the Casino this afternoon. You turned your 1 11? no if mxr Vmmlilp Sfllf Were lurui^ ncuu unuj uo u iuj ?uu.u.? no longer worthy of your acquaintance?still less friendship. By-the-bye, who was that very pretty girl on your arm ? I don't remember ever to have seen her in society." The amused expression on Waldemar'sface now gave way to one of unmistakable anger. "Excuse me, but I am not aware that you have any right to ask such questions. I believe I am free to choose my own associates." "Of course, mon ami. Pray forgive me, 11 >ut upon ray honor, I meant no offense." ' e Prince Scharayl looked his courtly charac-1 ^ er to perfection : Mildred began to appre- j s siate the title. ; ^ At this generous disclaimer, Walderaar jj eemed to feel ashamed. "Really, Jack, my j I lear fellow, I don't know what makes me so ; p ensitive this evening. I believe I am not t rery well. And I just remember, "taking his s >ut his watch, "I hare an engagement for this a lour. Will you excuse me, Miss Weir," aud t )owing low over her hand, he made his adieux D o the rest of the party and disappeared. Mildred looked at Jack in dumb astonish- e nent. . 8 "What is the matter?" she asked. "Can r le be really angry with you ?" Jack laughed: he had a merry, boyish ; ^ augh, which was very contagious?so full of j a jenuine mirth that Mildred found herself in-1 L /oluntarily joining in it. s "You dear little iunocent!" he said at e ength. "Waldemaris nott&red, but he could 1 :ut my throat for showing him up in such an 8 iwkward light before you. I did it to teaze j lira, but had no idea he was so far gone." c "Was he really walking with a pretty c girl." 1 "Yes, but that is not surprising. Walde- 1 nar has a new flame every day, and I serious- * iy surmise this is "some rural beauty to whom lie was doing the grand. She had very pink iheeks, but I judged from her general style j :hat she had not studied the art of painting; I jrgo, she is from the country." i "And was she not?not?elegant ?" 1 The next minute Mildred could have bitten ! her tongue for betraying "her foolish jealousy, j Jack's risibles were excited to the utmost. Ee laughed till he was fairly exhausted. I "Oh 1 my airy, fairy cousin, is it possible!" ^ satching her hand, and trying to get a glimpse < if her crimson face. But his gentlemanly in- 1 itincts recoiled when he perceived the effect of 1 his teazing; and he continued in a more se- ' rious tone: I ' 1~ - -1 klnolr. "no, sne was uxuy a piuuip, *voj, umtasyed lass?probably s- girl he met down an the Gulf some where?who has come in on i shopping expedition, and Walderaar is always gallant to anything that wears a bonnet [ must confess I was surprised, but it was auly at his evident desire to avoid me. They passed a stall where we had our coffee and ices?Falconer, Gervais, and several others? ind he deliberately turned away his face, though, I afterward saw him chatting with Aichille Pignolet, la petite paysanne still hanging upon his arm. Why he should deny the soft impeachment I cannot imagine. Something is wrong." The arched brows were drawn together, ind Jack pulled at his moustache as was his wont when puzzled. His honest face looked ilouded; but he soon forgot it in the charm of ;he presence which was now becoming more lear to him than he was aware. Mildred played and sang as long as he stood beside aer?striving to forget the unpleasant occurrences of the day. But she could not forget Waldemar's angry face, and something whispered "Beware!" [to be continued next week.] [Copies of the Enquirer containing the previous chapters of his Story can be furnished to new subscribers.] |p3ttMani0H$ |lradituj. MARK TWAIN'S FIRST LECTURE. T ieno home oornin in San Kranfiisco. with cut means and without employment. I tor- 6 tured my brain for a saving scheme of some i kind, and at last a public lecture occurred to i me. I sat down and wrote one in . a fever of 1 mticipation. I showed it to several friends, i but they all shook their heads. They said nobody would come to hear me, and I would 1 make a humiliating failure of. it. They said < that as I had never spokeD in public I would i break down in the delivery, anyhow. I was 1 disconsolate now. But at last an editor slap- < ped me on the back and told me to 'go ahead.' * He said, 'Take the largest house in town, and < charge a dollar a ticket.' The audacity of 1 the proposition was charming; it seemed i fraught with practical worldly wisdom, how- 1 ever. The proprietor of one of the several 1 theatres endorsed the advice, and said I might I have his handsome new Opera House at half i price, fifty dollars. In sheer desperation I took i it?on credit, for sufficient reasons. In three I days I did a hundred and fifty dollars' worth of ] printing and advertising, and was the most < > . j ?j j. j j. tu? R? . uiBoresseu aim inguieiieu ureaiuic uu ma x a- > cific coast. I could not sleep?who could un- ^ der such circumstances? For other people ' there was facetiousness in the line of my post- \ era, but to me it' was plaintive with a pang i when I wrote it: < "Doors open at half past seven o'clock. 1 The trouble will begin at eight." 1 That line has done good service since, I < have even seen it appended to a newspaper I advertisement, reminding school pupils in va- 1 cation what time next term would begin. As ] those three days of suspense dragged by I grew more and more unhappy. I had sold my ] two hundred tickets among my personal i friends, but I feared that they might not I come. My lecture, which had seemed "hu- i morous" to me at first, grew steadily more and ] more dreary till not a vestige of fun seemed I left, and I grieved that I could not bring a I coffiu on the stage and turn the thing into a I funeral. I was so panic stricken at last that i I went to three old friends, giants in stature, 1 cordial by nature, and stormy voiced, and 1 said: ' "This thing is going to be a failure; the \ joke3 in them are so dim that nobody will ever i see them. I would like to have you sit in the i parquette and help me through." s They said they would. Then I went to ] the wife of a popular citizen, and said that if she was willing to do me a very great kind- j uess I would be glad if she and her husband I would sit prominently in the left hand stage- 1 box, where the whole house could see them. I explained that I should need help, and .< would turn toward her and smile, as a signal, 1 when I had been delivered of an obscure joke? i "and then," I answered, "don't wait to inves- i tigate, but respond!" ( She promised. Down the street I met a < man I had never seen before. He had been j drinking, and was beaming with smiles and ] good nature. He said: i "My name is Sawyer. You don't know 1 me, but that don't matter. I haven't got a 1 cent, but if you knew how bad I wanted to i laugh, you'd give me a ticket. Come, now, 1 what do you say ?" i "Is your laugh hung on a hair-trigger? 1 that is, is it critical, or can it get off easy ?" i My drawling infirmity of speech so affected ] him that he laughed a specimeb or two that 1 struck me as being about the article I wanted, i and I gave him a ticket, and appointed him i to sit in the second circle -in the centre and I be responsible for that division of the house. 1 I gave him minute instructions about how to detect indistinct jokes, and then went away ; and left him chuckling placidly over the nov- i eltv of the idea. I I ate nothing on the last of the three event- i fill days?I only suffered. I had advertised 11 hat on the third day the office would be opend for the sale of reserved seats. I crept iown to the theatre at four in the afternoon to ee if any sales had been made. The ticket eller was gone, the box office was locked. I iad to swallow suddenly or my heart would lave gone out. "No sales," I said to myself. might have known it. I thought of suicide, retended illness, flight. I thought of these hings in earnest, for I was yery miserable and cared. But I had to, of course, drive them .way, and prepare to meet my fate. I could iot wait for half-past seven; I wanted to face he horror and end it?the feeling of many a nan doomed to be hung, no doubt. I went down back streets at six o'clock and ntered the theatre by the back door. 11 tumbled my way in the dark among the j anks of canvass scenery, and stood on the j tage. The house was gloomy and silent, and ts emptiness depressing. I went into the dark nnong the scenes again, and for an hour and l half gave myself up to the horrors, wholly inconscious of everything else. Then I heard l murmur; it rose higher and higher, and inded in a crash, mingled with cheers. It nade my hair rise, it was so close to me and o loud. There was a pause, then another; >resently came a third, and before I well mew what I was about I was in the middle >f the stage, staring at a sea of faces, bewillered by tne fierce glare of lights, and quating every limb with a terror that seemed ike to take my life away. The house was "all?aisle and all. The tumult in my heart and brain and legs :ontinued a full minute before I could gain my command over myself. Then I recognized the charity and friendliness in the faces nefore me, and little by little my fright melted iway, and I began to talk. Within three or our minutes I was comfortable and even conent. My three chief allies, with three auxliaries, were on hand in the parquette, all siting together, all armed with bludgeons and ill ready to make an onslaught upon the fee)lestjo?e that might show its head. And vhenevera joke did fall their bludgeons came lown and their faces seemed to split from ear* ;o ear. Sawyer, whose hearty countenance vas seen looming redly in the centre of the iecond circle, took it up and the house was carried handsomely. Inferior jokes never * " 11_ I /* area so royaiiy oeiure. Presently I delivered a bit of serious mat;er with impressive unction, (it was my pet,) ind the audience listened with an absorbed lush that gratified me more than any applause ; and as I dropped the last word of the jlause, I happened to turn and catch Mrs.' 's ntentand waiting eye; my conversation with per flashed upon fte, and in spite of all I jould do I smiled. She took it for the signal, ind promptly delivered a mellow laugh that ;ouched off the whole audience, and the explosion that followed was the triumph of the evening. I thought. that that honest man Sawyer would choke himself?and as for the pludgeons, they performed like piledrivers. But ray poor little morsel of pathos was uined. It was taken in good faith as an inentional joke, and the prize one of the enter;ainment?and I wisely let it go at that. All the papers were kind in the morning? ny appetite returned?I had abundance of noney. "All's well that ends well." MONKEYS. The true monkeys are smaller and morenunerous than the apes and baboons. Those -IlL r\P nnrnmAn onnfiQTfln^O fYlLU WJO lUUg Uklioauu Ul WIUUIVU ii|;i/v?ii.uWv nay be inhabitants either of the Ola World >r of the New, while those with the prehensile ails are found in the never-ending forests of ;he New World. The natural food of monkeys is vegetable?fruit of all kinds, corn, ind even grass; but when domesticated they nrill eat most anything that may be given ;hera. Monkeys exhibit a very striking affection for their young; indeed, both the male ind female seem never to tire of fondling their poung ones?instructing them with much asliduity, and often correcting them severely, if itubborn and disinclined to profit by their eximple. They may frequently be seen handing them from one to the other, and when ;he female has done showing her regard, the nale takes his turn in the work of affection. One of the smallest of the monkeys is the ittle Marmozet, called, also, Quistiti (Fac'.husvulgaris,) which inhabits Brazil, the nody measuring not more than seven inches, though ;he tail is nearly a foot in length. The weight rfthis pretty little animal is about six ounces, ind, like others of its kind, it lives not only >n vegetables, but also on insects, th? eggs of oirds, and even, it is said, small birds. The fece is almost naked, of a swarthy flesh-color, with a white spot above the nose. The long, Dushy tail is annulated with ash-colored and black rings alternately. The nails are sharp, ind the fingers resembles the feet of a squirrel. This monkey is an engaging, curious lit;le creature, and is frequently kept as a pet. Its twinkling black eyes are set off by a tuft )f long, white hair behind each. Marmozet nonkeys are generally very attentive to their young. A pair of them which were kept in Paris many years ago, had three young ones, ;he first born in Europe. The mother was rather careless, and teemed soon to get tired )f carrying them about; and when this was the case she would hold out the little creatures ;o their father, or would playfully put them )n his back. The male monkeys generally took them in his hands, and nursed and played with them until they became very restless for food when he gave them back to their mother. The Lemurs and the Mongoos may be regarded as the connecting link between the monkeys and the true quadrupeds. They have been called lemurs, or ghosts, from their nocturnal habits. They pass a considerable portion of the day in sleep, rojled up like a oall with their long tails passed between theft bind-legs and twisted round their necks. They live in troops more or less numerous, like the ipes and monkeys, on trees; and they climb with great quickness, and leap with so much force as frequently to rise ten feet at a single bound. They feed on fruits, roots, and other things, and they convey the food to their mouths with their hands, like the ape. They ire all inhabitants of Madagascar, hut allied jpecies are also found in Bengal and other parts of Hindostan, in Ceylon, and in Java. It may be well to put the reader on his ;uard as to some of the marvelous accounts of the doings of the monkey family which have been given by travelers, such as the following: rhat troops of the pigmy ape assemble together, and defend themselves from the attacks of wild carnivorous beasts in the desert by throwing a cloud of sand behind them, thus blinding their pursuers, and facilitating their escape. If this extraordinary feat on the part rf the pigmy ape were really true, it would irgue a faculty in the monkey family far surAP inofinnf l^llf toKA CkX7QV QQW pUCdlUg HiOU 1/1 lliObliiVU* l/uu u uv \jy\jt, umtt monkeys in a sandy desert ? That apes armed with clubs assault men in the forest; that apes throw fruit at stated distances from orchards into each other's hands; that apes build habitations for themselves ; that monkeys preach in the wilderness ; that the Pata, or red monkey (perhaps the most wary of all the family, ind ever on the alert to escape when man approaches,) breaks off branches and throws them at travelers as they pass under the trees, md frequently with so sure an aim as to anloy them not a little; that other monkeys act the part of skillful surgeons, by stopping hemorrhage and by subduing inflammation. If any one should desire to capture a wild poung monkey, a month or so old to educate is a pet, the only chance of success is to shoot the poor mother; for when stationary, as when n motion, the baby monkey adheres to the mother's body so closely that it requires a keen and an accustomed eye to distinguished it The mothers may be aptly styled a kind of moving cradle, their fur, or coat of hair, serving as blankets for the little ones in earliest infancy. A fowling-piece should not be used, for nine times out of ten the wounded mother would stay in clefts of the trees, where she would perish ultimate with her progeny. An arrow poisoned with wourali is the surest weapon, and, with a good aim, in a few minutes the monkey will be lying dead at the feet of the shooter. The wourali poison entirely destroys all tension in the muscles; but a gun-shot wound, even though it be mortal, has not such an immediate effect. Thus, by using poisoned arrows, an ill-fated animal s ovi^onoo ;a nnf. nrnlnnaed under the Dainful VAIQWUVV ?u MWH -? 4 anguish of a deadly gQushot wound. THE STORY OF A CURIOUS CHARACTER* A Georgia paper?the Telegraph and Messenger, of Macon?is responsible for this story. In the old town of Sunbury, on the coast of Georgia, now a melancholy ruin, James Somersall, the subject of this notice, was born fifty-one years ago. His parents emigrated from the Island of Bermuda over a century ago, and are in part responsible for the introduction of that beautiful grass which is the bane of planters on the seaboard. The father of James was a tailor and cripple, and his mother kept a small baker's shop. She had one other son besides James, ana was very poor. The former, from his earliest childhood, was unlike his kind, and developed tastes and habits of the strangest and most abnormal character. Once, at a very tender age, he was missing for several days, and finally turned up fast asleep upon a tomb-stone in the village grave-yard. FnnH nf solitude, he lived in the thick re cesses and tangled forests. A passion for natural history was thus engendered, which afterward produced, we venture to say, the most complete work (in manuscript) ever compiled on the ornithology of Georgia. Skilled in snaring birds, his home was strong around with ingenious cages of his own manufacture, filled with feathered inhabitants, some hitherto utterly unknown to the residents of the country. He has been known to watch, and follow day after day without ceasing, a paroquet or some other strange bird until he had secured his prize. Nets, bird lime, traps and robbery on the roost, were the means employed by him in capturing his feathered, treasures. This protracted life in the woods and close association with beasts and birds gradually transformed the wonderful creature into a wild man, and, strange to say, his physical appearance underwent a change, and his natural tastes and appetites also. The writer has seen him with a pocketful of live grasshoppers, which he would eat like sugar plums or Bon bona. Lizzards, locusts, and even serpents were dispatched in the same way. Indeed, among his other sylvan pursuits, the capture " " ? - Ati?? J of snakes was a iavorite pastime, iirmeu with a forked stick only, we have seen this man crawl on all-fours through a covered ditch forty feet wide, filled with ooze and slime in quest of the deadly moccasin. When encountered, after pinning the reptile's head to the earth, he would seize it by the neck and inserting a coarse cloth into its mouth so as to cover the fangs, forcibly extract them with a sharp jerk. He often ate snakes alive. The dwelling of this man monster was visited by every stranger and antiquary who made a pilgrimage to Sunbury to view the old fort and enchanting water scenery of the di| lapidated town. It presented a unique ap[ pearance. Hung around the walls were the cages of a multitude of birds, embracing many of every variety to be found in this latitude, and a long chest upon the floor contained his collection of serpents. But who would suppose that this snake man courted the muses, and is the author of quite a collection of poems mostly of the amorous cast, which were published, we believe, in Charleston. Several of these are in our possession, and form a curious melange of sentiment, vulgarity and nonsense. Occasionally, however, he wrote quite respectable doggerel, and his doting mother proclaimed him to be, not quite the equal of Byron, but the superior of Burns. The writer and Mr. James Seymour, of this city, were class mates at school with this curious genius. He died about six years ago, and is still regarded, like the black dwarf of Sir Walter Scott, as one of the celebrities of old Liberty county. | "PATRONS OTHUSBANDRY." The Abbeville Press and Manner contains the following letter from Col. D. Wyatt Aiken, whose efforts in behalf of agriculture in this State are so well known and so highly appreciated. To planters and farmers we commend Col. Aiken's card. The agricultural class above all other classes, demand at this juncture union and organization. The following is Col. Aiken's card: Cokesbury, S. C., Feb. 20,1872. Editors Press and Banners?Your readers have at one time or another seen the announcement that the "Patrons of Husbandry" were an organization banded together by mystic ties, for the benefit of all parties directly interested in the cause of agriculture. During a recent visit to the city of Washington, I took occasion to investigate this subject carefully, and have no hesitation in asserting that as organized, it can be of incalculable advantage to the planting interest of our country, North, South, East and West. Having been proffered a responsible position in the Order, I accepted it solely on the f ound that it would be purely agricultural, xperience has proven to us its virtues, and while I would not advise an organization (a Grange) of this sort in any community, simply upon the ground of curiosity, I ao not hesitate to advise our planters and farmers to unite and form Granges everywhere; I guarantee to them that just so soon, if ever, that I observe any politics, sectarianism, or other demoralizing influence obtruding itself into the Order, either .through the National or any State Grange, I will expose the imposition, and protect my fellow-planters from injury or loss. You will observe, by the enclosed constitution, that nine persons may organize a Grange. Thirty persons is the maximum number, ten of whom must be females, that may do the same. It is better to have the larger number at first, because the initiation fee for males in the outset is only three dollars, and for females fifty cents; whereas, five dollars for males and two dollars for females is the initiation fee to join an organized Grange. I am prepared to discuss the merits of this Order before the public; and will cheerfully go to any portion of our county, or indeed of the State, where as many as thirty persons desiring to organize a Grange may wish to. be informed on the subject. Apart from the social feature of the Order, our people will be astonished to learn the practical advantage accruing from it in many of the Northern States, and in more than one of the Southern. A careful reading of the constitution will die abuse the mind of the centralization suggested by the name "National Grange," whence emanate the controlling laws of the Order; and convince every sceptic, who believes in them there is strength, that a National Head is as necessary for the successful working of the "Patrons of Husbandry," as it is for the vital existence of genuine Republicanism. Very truly, D. WYATT AIKEN. ? tST A student at Yale startled the class at recitation the other day. "What stars never set ?" asked the Professor. "Roo-stars 1" was i his prompt reply.