Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, July 12, 1883, Image 1
lewis m. (sbist, proprietor, j % Jitbtptnbtnf Jfanulir Ictosjiajitr: Jfor flit fromotk of tljt folical, jioral, Igriraltural anb Commtnial Jnttrats of iljt Sott% |terms--$2.50 a year, in advance.
VOL. 29. YOEKYILLE, S C., THURSDAY, JTJLY 12, 1888. ]STO. 28.
JWertcd ?0*tog.
AIOTH..EATEN.
I had a beautiful garment,
And I laid it by with care;
I folded it close with lavender leaves
In a napkin fine and fair.
"It is far too costly a robe," I said,
"For one like me to wear."
So never at morn or evening,
I put mv'garment on;
It lay by itself under clasp and key
In'the' perfumed desk alone,
Its wonderful broidery hidden,
Till many a day had gone. *
There were guests who came to my portal,
There were friends who sat with me,
And, clad in soberest raiment,
I bore them company ;
I knew I owned the beautiful robe,
Though its splendor none might see.
There were poor that stood at my portal,
There were orphaned sought my care;
I gave them tenderest pity,
But had nothing besides to spare;
I had only the beautiful garment,
And the raiment lor aauy wear. >
At last, on a feast day's coming,
I thought in my dress to shine ;
I would please myself with the lustre
Of its shifting colors fine;
I would walk with pride in the marvel
Of its rarely rich design.
So out from the dust I bore it?
The lavender fell away?
% And fold on fold I held "it up
To the searching light of day.
Alas ! the glory had perished *
While there "in its place it lay.
Who seeks for the fadeless beauty
Must seek for the use that seals
To the grace of a constant blessing
The beauty that use reveals,
For into the folded robe alone
The moth with its blighting steals.
??????
ifte feller.
THE DETECTIVE'S STORY.
I had been down to Liverpool on some
incendiary job and was returning to town by
early train one morning. At Crewe I purchased
a London paper, and while unfolding
it, my eye caught the following advertisement
in what is now called the "Agony
Column"?
? ? 4 ' 1?*
GOLOIETO WEE VV IKIK.-.Aaiiiiu-uuuei m^uuujiA. |
jnokolwmwnh oe prqe rvsotu unvwex Myezeat
Bmce dteofin gohrir Jo k win mingohpt Qorns
Sttuevpws zovfzasat bmeadrettignhs Cjhkulrmenhoop
rqirlsit vuivswixtyaz nanbccldeeafrg
Philiajcfcel amtnaonpvdrr isstkubvew wxayr
zeaf bacidle afnghiijlk dlomfnoor pvqoru.
Now, I have a method of solving simple
mysteries of this kind which is infallible.
I postponed the process of it in this case, however,
until I had called to mind where I
had before seen the words "Goldie" and
"Wee Wifie" together.
In a few minutes I remembered "the
Marquis"?the most ingenious and daring
of all the burglars and swindlers I have
ever known who had not been trained to
the "business" from youth. This man had
been a chemist in a good way in South London,
but "went wrong" through drink and
gambling.
Ten years before 1 had sent "the Marquis"
away to prison for that period. At that
time a bunch of old love letters fell into
my hands. They were memories of better
days, when he and his pretty wife called
each other by pet names.
I knew that Goldie, or "the Marquis,"
had been liberated on ticket nearly twelve
months before, and was surprised that I had
not already seen him back in town. Here
was a clue to his whereabouts and mode of
livelihood, and so I set to unravel it.
Long before reaching Stafford I had deciphered
the mysterious advertisement.
How few people understand the tragedies
that underlie some of those announcements
occasionally! This plainly told me that
a burglary?with violence, if necessarywas
contemplated. It contained an assignment
of a place of meeting betweenihe released
burglar and his wife, and I determined
to be a witness of that meeting, safely
disguised.
That, however, was not to be. Before
reaching Rugby there occurred one of the
most fatal of railway collisions, and I was
one of the most seriously injured.
The terrible accident happened on Thursday.
The meeting was to have taken
place on the evening of Friday. Weak, ill,
and nearly prostrate from cold, I arrived
in London late on Saturday night, and
after forwarding a message to headquarters,
I re-booked for the Countess of Denvers'
residence, Roycliffe, near St. Albans.
The snow was being swirled about in bewildering
eddies by the cutting wind, and
although I am the abstinentest of men, I was
impelled to visit the refreshment rooms
and indulge in some hot drink. My illness
had made me less acute than usual, and yet
I could not help noticing a very old man
with thin grey hair, wearing blue spec bides
and black clothes several sizes too large
for him, because he appeared to hover about
me curiously. He wore a voluminous
white neckcloth, and I put him down for
o ArotliArlicf nnivAn
At St. Albans he got out of the same train, i
and entered the Railroad Hotel after me. |
He stood beside me while I drank my warm j
whisky. 1 certainly was not myself that!
night.
A fly brought me to the door of Iioyclifte? :
a fine mansion surrounded by a terraced j
park, semi-circular drives sweeping from
one elevation to the other.
It was nearly eleven o'clock, and the
household were about retiring to bed, when
iny arrival was the means of postponing that
arrangement. My card was sent up stairs.
I longed for bed myself, but duty made me
struggle against sleep. I could scarcely keep
my eyes open. I determined to come to the
point at once. Upon being introduced to j
Lady Denver's?a tall, handsome, and still !
youthful widow?I began :
"Your ladyship took into your service
about ten years ago the presumably innocent
wife of a man who had been imprisoned
several times for burglary ?"
DT ili/1 M vA+nvnn/1 T + + 1
l um, sue iciuiui;ii? x ^/ibivu vjiv |/v\/* j
creature. Has anything occurred ?" and |
the lady paused.
I drew the newspaper from my pocket, i
and indicated the advertisement.
"Oh, that is Greek to me, laughed the'
beautiful dark woman.
"Pardon me," I said, absently.
I began to imagine I had been drugged, j
and was thinking when and where that
could have been accomplished.
"I have been ill, my lady," I continued, j
"I saw that on Thursday while traveling!
from Liverpool. I was hurt in the collision,;
and could not come quicker."
"You must have some refreshment;" and
she was about to ring the bell.
"Presently, madam, if you please," I fal-1
tered. "The advertisement, puzzling as it j
appears, it issimple enough. It reads thus: ;
"Goldie to Wee Wifie. Am out, and know j
where you are. Meet me to-morrow night j
on steps of St. Martin's Church, or I'll visit'
and clear place at any risk. Beware ! Fail, I
and I'll do for you.' "
"That accounts for Mary Carson's absence, i
then," cried Lady Delivers. "She left to go 1
to town yesterday, and has not returned.
But how do you make that message out ?"
"You perceive, my lady," I replied, "the j
first five letters are A. a, b, 111, e. Take the j
first, third, and fifth away, and you isolate
the A, m, or "Am." The first, third, and
fifth being the first three of the alphabet, it
leads one to take every following alternate
letter, and we find the whole alphabet repeated
over and over to the end. Cutting
out these alternate letters leaves the message
1 have read, bare and clear."
"Very ingenious," said Lady Delivers.
"Very simple?to us," I proceeded. "Goldie
and Wee Wifie were the pet names
Mark and Mary Carson gave each other
years ago."
"I know it," cried Ladv Delivers. "The
poor creature has told me everything. Do j
you believe that she can have left me to join
that guilty man ?"
,'Sne is not here madam."
"But she may be detained forcibly," cried j
thegood countess, who could not make up j
her mind to believe the woman guilty or un-;
grateful.
"That is not the point, madam," I said, i
"It is plain to me that a burglary is con-!
templated here."
"Oh," smiled the lady, "who would come j
out on such an errand on such a night as
this ?"
"The Marquis acts promptly when he
makes up his mind. From the beginning
of his career of crime he treated his wife
with terrible cruelty. He used to beat and
pet the woman alternately, like the tigerish
brute he is. By threats and blows he may
have torn from her?presuming ner innocent?sufficient
knowledge of her house and
its contents to enable him to succeed in
midnight robbery?unless he is prevented."
"And you have come"
"For that purpose, my lady," I answered
almost rudely. I wished to be alone that
I might, to use a slang phrase, "pull myself
together."
I was soon left in a spacious room opening
from the hall. A fine supper had been
supplied me. I had insisted on not alarming
the servants, being confident of my own
ability to cope with any intruder.
Imagine my horror when I began to feel
my limbs becoming heavy as lead, my eyelids
resolutely closing. 1 felt sure now that
my drink had been tampered with, and?I
fell back neany unconscious, despairing at
my heart, into the luxurious easy chair
which had been wheeled in front of the
blazing fire.
A square table stood in the centre of the
room, on which had been placed a hall
lamp with a pale pink opaque globe. On
the mantleshelf a handsome timepiece ticked
deliberately, until at length its "click,
click" became madening.
Click, click! and I became so powerless
that it seemed best for me to succumb to inevitable
influences cheerfuly. The wind
howled outside, and I could'hear the loose
snow dashed fitfully against the window
panes. I made an effort to rise to open the
shutters, when the thought rose that a light
would alarm the coming marauder; so I dis
missed it, and gazed helplessly at the clock
until the blue-spectaclea, grinning face of
that old Methodist parson waveringly intervened.
Click, click! and my surroundings became
invisible, but only seemingly for an instant.
The old white haired parson arain amused
me. Then he annoyed, for he kept close to
my elbow, still grinning gleefully. Once
more I opened my eyes.
Click, click! How drowsy that incessant
ticking makes one. The hrst had become 1
unaccountably dim and low. The walls, 1
with their hunting pictures, were shimmer- :
ing in a kind of wreathing mist. At last 1
darkness and a cold blight fell upon the 1
hitherto warm room, and then vanished
altogether. ' 1
Suddenly, as I thought, a piercing scream 1
woke me up. I could not move for a mo- 1
ment. It was repeated once?twice. Then
the clock struck slowly?one, two!
I had been fast asleep two hours.
Another scream startled the house.
Every faculty acute now, I by a great effort
of will cast aside my drowsiness, threw
the door open, and rushed up the grand
staircase, as the servants descended from the
upper stories, to find the beautiful countess
standing in the centre of a long corridor, in
night attire, her long black hair streaming 1
down to the floor like a veil over her tall
form.
The moon was shining brightly. A black '
figure dashed against the French window
opening at the end of the corridor on the
balcony, as the heroic noble-woman fired a
revolver she had torn in a most terrible
struggle from the burglar's grasp.
He smashed the great square of plateglass
and disappeared over the edge, or
parapet, of the balcony, pursued now by me.
The leap was a terrible one, but was followed
by others equally awful. The flying
robber avoided the circular drives spoken
of, jumping fearlessly from the parapet of j
one terrace to the gravel walk of the other, 1
until he reached tire level of the lodge.
There was an ornamental lake in view of \
the road, and 1 was close behind him.
Turning, he presented a pistol full at my .
face, and tired?and, thank heaven, missed. ,
In ducking to avoid the bullet I recognized '
the large black clothes and white neckcloth ,
of the man I supposed to be a Methodist '
parson. Wig and spectacles were gone. A
superhuman effort enabled me to rise; but
from illness and the leaps, I was still reel- '
ing. "The Marquis" caught me in his arms, (
and threw me right into the cold water, over
whose surface a thin film of ice had been
forming. The scoundrel escaped. Detectives
are not always successful.
I was soon rescued by the servants. The
countess had struggled magnificently, when, :
awaking, she found "the Marquis" departing
with the contents of her jewel-safe and ,
dressing-case. He had entered by a back ;
window, gone coolly to the lady's room, '
and, while she slept, taken the keys from
under her pillow. Jewels were stolen valued
at four thousand pounds.
1 never was more annoyed in my life with
a case, and so 1 labored vigilantly to capture
"the Marquis."
Disguised as a Jew wicture-dealer, 1 visit
man ami ner ciinureii up to iiuu|i.
"Skinner will get back about eight o'clock.
I guess the sick boy only wants a little feeding
up to make him all right," remarked
Flynn as they approached the hut.
They found the woman seated oil the
rougli floor with the boy on her lap, and
Maggie, their late visitor, at her side sound
asleep. With tearless sobs she related her
sad story. About five years before, or
when Freddie was only a few weeks old,
her husband left her to join a party of prospectors
who were going to the Sierra Nevada
region, and she had never heard from
or seen him since. She waited until her
funds were nearly exhausted; then made
her way to Sacramento. While supporting
her children as best she could, she learned
that the party had broken camp ; her husband
had ueen brought to Sacramento and
placed in a hospital, where he remained a
long time seriously ill with brain fever.
She traced him to the hospital only to find
that he had gone away again; no one could
tell whither. Recently she learned that a
man answering his description, and bearing
the same name, was working in the
Kiwanna mines, and she was on her way
there. He had always been a fond husband
and father, and she believed lie had searched
for her also, but they had missed each
other.
The two men were deeply moved as they
ed Barney Moss, the* well-known "fence,"
one night. I not only secured without assistance
the whole of the Denvers' family di- ,
amends, but about ten thousand pounds'
worth of other long-stolen property.
When I left Barney at Thames-street that ,
night, he snarled: ,
"You've copped me, my tear, but you
haven't got 'the Markis' yet. Clever, ain't
ye??I don't think. You've often been in
his company lately, but you carn't tumble to
him. He swears he'll make you trink mit ,
him next Derby Day, an' I'll bet he will,
for he's a hot 'un the Markis is. it was him
that drugged you at St. Albans that night."
Barney went away for twenty-one years
before the great Epsom meeting came off.
I knew there was something in that boast.
Some men delight in narrow and useless
risks.
Disguised as a "nigger," I went to Epsom.
I play the banjo pretty well, and could sing
well then.
Just after the second race 1 was playing at
the entrance to Harry Broome's tent. I
heard a voice say:
"I promised to treat a slop or two here today.'1
I looked round at the speaker, and saw an
elaborately-clad swell, in dust-coat, white
hat, green veil, and eyeglass. His hair was
yellow, with Dundreary whiskers to match.
"The Marquis" had a faculty of disguising
the appearance of the muscles of his face,
the form or weight of his body, and his
height. These whiskers were beautifully
glued to his cheeks, but they betrayed him.
"Wanted to treat a slop?" said I. "Bet+Uf
ufiiiul trip n nint. Cullv."
"Who the deuce are you ?" he asked, contemptuously
brushing past me.
"Jack Poynter!" I cried, throwing my
banjo away, and pulling off his hat, wig,
whiskers, moustache and all.
"Ha!" he cried, with an effort to get away,
hut the crowd was too great.
Before he could draw his "shooter," I had
him nearly crushed in my arms, and the
"bracelets" on.
He had a lot of pals, who tried to rescue
him, but there were too many of us about.
At his house hundreds of pawn-tickets
were found, by means of which some of the
less valuable of the jewels of Lady Delivers
were found, of course, freshly mounted.
His wife, innocent, broken down from illusage,
was found under charge of a coarse
hag, who was well paid for acting as gaoler.
When "the Marquis," or Goldie, went to
prison for twenty-one years, "Wee Wifie"
was again rescued by the beautiful Countess
Den vers, who has long now enjoyed another
and a higher rank. The lady often relates
to her friends the story of a Cipher Advertisement
.?IjhhUm Jimlyet.
A MINING STORY.
" 'Eureka gold mining company.' Don't
it look important on paper? I* tell you,
boys, we've got a good thing but we must
work!" said Tim Flynn, glancing at the
piece of paper in his hand.
"Yes," replied Joe Bagly with a sleepy
yawn, "but let's go to roost now. We can't
do anything more to night."
The men, eight in number, had been sitting
around a camp fire discussing their
prospects. The Eureka mine originally belonged
to a party of Eastern capitalists, who,
having worked it for a short time and finding
it did not "pan out" according to expectations
sold their interests to the men
who had just taken possession of the property,
which they firmly believed would
prove an Eldorado. They were poor in
purse, for they had invested their all in the
new venture, Out were nen in nope ana
courage.
"It is a well-known fact," Flynn would assert
twenty times a day, "that the Eureka
is on a range with the famous Empire,
which yields as high as thirty thousand per
ton, and we aresure to strike the same vein.
Some day we will wake up to find ourselves
millionares. It is only a question of
time." ~
The next morning seven of the men, who
were the actual owners, began to work,
leaving Si Heed, whom they termed silent
partner, to do the chores about the camp.
Iteed was pale and thin and had an anxious,
expectant look upon his face. He seldom
spoke to anyone, which fact had gained him
the soubriquet of Silent or Si Heed. He
was devotedly attached to Flynn, who had
befriended him while in Sacramento, and
exhibited such sincere grief when he heard
of his intended departure for the mines, that
Flynn invited him to join the party.
The miners worked like beavers, delving
down in the earth that each felt certain
held in her virgin bosom the gold which
would enrich them. They began their labors
at the first streak of (lawn, toiling unceasingly
through the entire day, each
dreaming his own dream of future greatness.
Weeks sped by; pan after pan was
washed, the contents examined, then thrown
aside. But they were not disheartened.
The gold was there. The next blow'of the
pick might reveal it.
One evening, after supper, Joe Bagly said:
"How's the fodder, Si? Last another
week, eh?"
"No, hardly enough for another week."
"You must put us on low rations men.
What d'ye say, boys?"
"Agreed, they answered in chorus.
The next day, when Si gave each man his
portion, they laughingly declared that
Flynn had received the lion's share?which
was true; for Reed had robbed himself in
order that his friend should have his usual
supply, albeit no one suspected the bit of
self-sacrifice. The week was stealing away
and they had not "struck it." The hearts
of the miners were growing heavy with
dread. Yet thev dared not give vent to
their fears. Each felt that success depended
upon his individual courage, and no
one was willing to dampen the ardor of the
others by expressing doubt of their ultimate
triumph.
One day, while seated 011 the ground eating
their midday meal, a little girl appeared
before them.
"Hello !" cried Flynn, springing 1o his
feet, "where did you come from ?
"Please, sir, I've bin walking ever so far.
Ma saw yer camp-fire las' night, and told
me how to get here. She couldn't come
herself, 'cause Freddie's sick. May 1 sit
down? I'm awful tired."
She glanced timidly at the men, then at
the empty pot in which the dinner of beans
and bacon had been cooked.
"Where does your ma live ?" inquired
Bagly.
"She doesn't live nowhere. We're ahunting
for pa."
"Did you expect to tind'im here ?"
"No, sir; but we're hungry, and ma
thought you'd give us somethin' to cat."
The men roared with laughter. Something
to eat, when they had just devoured
their last cut of bacon.
"Not another mouthful, boys. We must
give the chick what's left," said Bagly,
scraping the remains of each dinner into his
own tin plate. "Here, little 'un, eat this,
and when you've satisfied the cravin's, ye
can tell us where ye come from."
"Please I'd rather take it to Freddie,
pleaded the child, "'cause he's little an'
sick."
"Ye ain't bigger'n a pint of cider yerself,"
laughed Bagly. "Eat it, an' we'll
give ye some for the others."
The promise satisfied the child, who
quickly devoured the contents of the dish.
"Been on low rations, too, I reckon,"
chuckled one of the men.
"Now tell us about your mother. Where
is she, and whose trail is she on ?" said
Flynn.
"She's 'way down there in an old loghouse
where nobody lives. We was going
to Kiwanna camp, 'cause we heard pa was
there, but Freddie took sick, and ma's
afraid he'll die ; soifye'll please give me
some wittles I'll go back, 'cause she'salone."
"What'll we do, boys?" asked Bagly..
"We can't leave the critters there ; some of
us must go with the chick and bring them
Knro 'J
"Heed am be spared," suggested one of
the men.
"Bah !" interrupted Ben Skinner, a surly,
ill-natured fellow?"lteed, with his white
face, that grows whiter every day ! If the
woman saw him she'd think death had
come for the youngster, sure."
The men glanced toward Si, who was
leaning against a tree, apparently oblivious
of what was going on around him, and evidently
did not hear the unfeeling remark.
"Look here, remarked Flynn, gravely,
"our larder is about empty, and we must
replenish it. Let's draw lots to decide who
will ride into town for provender. We are
out of funds, but this," taking a valuable
watch from his pocket, "can be left as security."
"And this can keep it company," said
Bagly, producing a handsome pistol.
Skinner drew the slip of paper upon
which the word "go" was written.
"The little gal can sit before ye, and ye am
stop at the cabing and give this, the last of
our hard tack, to the woman," said Bagly.
Fleetwood, their only horse, was quickly
saddled, and Skinner started on his errand.
"Tell yer ma to tight her luck a few hours
longer, and when supplies come we'll give
ye a rousing supper," shouted Bagly, as
they rode away.
When some distance from the hut, Skinner
put the girl down; gave her the biscuit
and resumed his journey.
In the evening Flynn and Bagly went
over to the hut, intending to bring the wo
listened to the story of her sufferings, and,
: after much persuasion, induced her to rei
turn to the camp with them; promising
j that one of the miners would go the following
day to Kiwanna, about ten miles distant,
and make inquiries concerning the
person she supposed was her husband.
Without further ceremony Flynn wrapped
the boy in the blanket he had brought for
i the purpose, and Bagly trudged along with
! Matre-ie in his arms.
Wlien the party readied camp it was
East the time set for Skinner's return, but lie
t ad not arrived. A bed of brushwood
covered with a blanket was arranged for
the guests, and after they had lain down
the men lighted their pipes and gathered
around the fire, conversing in low whispers
and listening eagerly for the sound of the
horse's footsteps.
"He oughter bin here long afore this,"
said Bagly, rousing himself from a brown
study. "Boys, he's scooted."
The suggestion fell like a bombshell; no
one spoke for a moment, then Bagly resumed
:
"He's got your watch, Flynn?my pistol
and Fleetfoot. He's gone sure as shootin'.
I saw the cussedness a shining in his eyes
when he drew the slip," .
The others were loth to accept their comrade's
suggestion, but all crept to their resting-places
with heavy-hearts.
"We kin live on beans," muttered Bagly,
"but what will become of the woman an' her
on
Jvms ;
In the morning there was considerable excitement
in Eureka camp. Two of the men,
Bagly and Reed, were missing. After a
protracted search the latter was found near a
clump of bushes some distance away in an
unconscious state, having apparently fallen
in a fit. They carried him back to camp,
laid the limp form 011 a bramble bed and
gazed at each other in blank dismay.
. "Callsthe woman; p'raps she'll know
what to do," advised Tom Knowles.
The woman did not wait to be called. Seeing
that something was amiss she approached
the group. The next moment a heartrending
cry burst from her lips. Falling
upon her knees she threw her arms around
the sick man and kissed his still, white face
in a wild distracted way. A slight tremor
passed over Iteed's frame. He opened his
eyes, looked wistfully at the woman bending
over him. Then a gleam of intelligence
illuminated his countenance; he recognized
the faithful wife from whom he had been so
long separated by a singular freak of fate.
For one brief moment soul met soul. He
raised his lnnd heavenward, murmured
faintly, "Up there, Maggie," then earned
his soubriquet of Silent Reed.
A solemn stillness prevailed around Eureka
camp when Flynn and his comrades returned
from their unsuccessful search for
Bagly. The remainder of the party were
sittinc around in desnondent attitudes.
while Mrs. Reed, with tfie sick child on her
knees and one hand fondly resting on the
dead man's face, looked the very embodiment
of inconsolable grief. Flynn?tenderhearted
Tom Flynn?how his burly frame
shook with sobs as the touching death scene
was described to him.
"Boys," he said, huskily, "we must face
our hard luck like heroes. 1 have insisted
all along that the Eureka held a fortune for
each of us, because I believed it. But?" it
cost him a struggle to utter the next words,
which were the extinguishment of the hope
that had enabled them to endure privation
and hunger without a murmur. "But," he
went on, "I was mistaken. After that poor
creature has grown accustomed to her sorrow
we will bury poor Si and pull up stakes.
We won't abandon them, boys. For his
sake, we must protect those he loved."
The others heartily agreed to the last
clause. While arranging-their plans for the
future, little Maggie bounded down the hillside,
singing blithely, unconscious of the bereavement
that had befallen her.
"Look!" she shouted gleefully, "what
nice stones I have found. Full of bright
specks jes like eyes."
Flynn took the stone she held toward him.
His face, rough and weather-beaten, grew
pallid with sudden joy.
"Boys," he whispered, in a tone of suppressed
excitement, "she has 'struck it.'
Where did you find this, Maggie?"
"Way up there past the big hole," she replied,
vaguely wondering at his white face.
In a moment the men fell into line, Magi~..,1:
+i... ?V.r.
me lecumiy uic n u,y tu inc n]?uu nucic n?i^
lound the precious stone. As they passed
the mouth of the pit, the scene of their
fruitless labors, Flynn stopped to get a
shovel. The others followed his example,
carrying with them the implements which
they had cast down, in a hopeless way, the
night previous. They set to work silently,
being too much excited to speak. If disappointment
awaited them now! No, two or
three blows, such as had never been dealt
before, told them that they had "struck it"
at last. They paused, looked at each other
for a moment, then the hills echoed and reechoed
with theshoutof triumph that burst
simultaneously from their lips.
They returned to camp, Flynn carrying
Maggie on his shoulder, just as Bagly appeared
in sight with a bag of provisions 011
his back. In a few words he explained
how, before daylight, he had started for
Kiwanna to beg food for the woman and
her children. After a hasty dinner some of
the men went to select a pleasant spot in
which to lay the remains of their comrade,
and Flynn set out for town to make arrangements
about having the camp supplied with
provisions.
Several hours later he returned in high
snirits and related how he had encountered
.skii#ier in a tavern, and demanded the return
of the horse, watch and pistol that had
been entrusted to him. He blustered and
swore for a while, and finally agreed to sell
his claim for the articles he had already
appropriated to his own use. Flynn did
not apprise him of the lucky turn of Fortune's
wheel, but took precautions to have
the exchange legally drawn up and signed.
"He played us a mean trick," concluded
Flynn, "but I got the best of him, and now
L propose to transfer his share to the orphans
and widow of our old friend."
No dissenting voice was raised against
the proposition; furthermore, they all declared
tnat Maggie should henceforth be
called the Ward of the Eureka Mining
Company.
The next day >Si was buried, and a week
later, when the success of the mine had
become an established fact, Mrs. Heed and
her children were taken back to .Sacramento.
The sudden change of fortune, coupled
with the death of her husband, proved too
much for the poor woman, and two orphans
became actual wards of the Eureka
Mining Company.
wmaammmmmmummammmA
Words ok Wisdom.?It is upon the
smooth ice we slip; the roughest path is
safest.
There- is always hope in a man that actually
and earnestly works.
Vivacity in youth is often mistaken for
genius, and solidity for dullness.
To conceal a fault by a lie has been said
to be substituting a hole for a stain.
Life is a battle. From its earliest dawn
to its latest breath we are struggling with
something.
When you fret and fume at the petty ills
of life, remember that the wheels which
go round without creaking last the longest.
"ii 1 -e
nil' SUUI U1 (I illitll IB ilimiuic, inn n.iuni..
A sound alone betrays the flowing of the
eternal fountain, invisible to man.
The man whose soul is in his work finds
his best reward in the work itself. The joy
of achievement is vastly beyond the joy of
reward.
Whatever busies the mind without corrupting
it has at least this use, that it res-1
cues the day from idleness; and he that is
never idle will not often be vicious?indeed,
if wisely busy, lie cannot be so.
He that has never known adversity is but
half acquainted with others or with himself.
Constant success shows us but one side
of the world, for, as it surrounds us with
friends who will tell us only our merits, so
it silences those enemies from whom alone
wo can learn our defects.
: HJisceUancotts Reading.
I CKOCKETT\S COON-SKIN.
P
In 1827 Davy Crockett was elected to Con
; gross from Tennessee and during the canvas
j played the famous 'coon-skin trick, whicl
lie related as follows :
"J started off to the Cross lloads, dresse*
; in my hunting shirt, and my rifle on m;
| shoulder. Many of our constituents had as
sembled there to get a taste of the quality o
the candidates at orating. Job Knelling, :
gander-shanked Yankee, who had bee:
caught somewhere about Plymouth Bay
and had been shipped to the West with :
cargo of codfish and rum, erected a larg
shanty and set up shop for the occasion. J
large posse of the voters had assembled be
fore I had arrived, and my opponent ha<
already made considerable headway witl
his speechifyingand his treating, when the;
spied me about a rifle shot from the camp
sauntering along as if I was not a party ii
the business. "There comes Crockett," crie<
one. "Lot us hear the colonel," cried an
other, and so I mounted the stump that ha<
been cut down for the occasion, arid begai
+ /-? l\i*olntrL.?/i1r I 4-L/-\ .mnrni-Ofl L'fi'lo
lvj uiwji>viuili\ in tn\j niv/cu v.u ovj iv
1 had not been up long before there \va
such an uproar in the crowd that I could no
hear my own voice, and some of my con
stituents let me know that they could no
listen to me on such a dry subject as the wel
fare of the nation, until they had somethinj
to drink, and that 1 must treat 'em. Ac
cordingly I jumped down from the rostrun
and led the way to the shanty, followed Ir
my constituents, shouting, "Huzza fo
Crockett," and "Crockett forever."
"When we entered the shanty Job wa
busy dealing out his rum in a' style tha
showed that he was making a good day'
work of it, and I called for a quart of tin
best, but the crooked oritur returned no oth
er answer than by pointing at a board ove
the bar, on which he had chalked in largi
letters, "Pay to-day and trust to-morrow.'
Now that idea brought me all up standing
it was a sort of cornering in which there wa
no back out, for ready money in the Wes
in those times was the shyest thing in al
natur', and it was most particularly sir
with me on that occasion. The voters, see
ing my predicament, fell off to the othe
side, and I was left deserted and alone, a
the Government will be when it no longe
has any offices to bestow. I saw plain a
day that the tide of popular opinion wa
against me, and that unless I got.some run
speedily, I should lose my election as sure a
there are snakes in Virginny?and it mus
be done soon, or even burned brandy
wouldn't save me.
"Well knowing that a crisis was at hand
I struck into the woods with my rifle on nr
shoulder, my best friend in time of need, an<
as good fortune would have it, had not beei
out more than a quarter of an hour befor<
1 treed a fat 'coon, and in the pulling of ;
trigger he lay dead at the root of a tree,
soon whipped his hairy jacket off his back
and again bent my way towards the shanty
and walked up to the bar, but not alone, fo
this time I had half a dozen of my constit
I uents lit my heels. I threw down the 'cooi
skin upon the counter and called for a quar
of rum, and Job, though busy in dealinj
out run), forgot to point to his chalked rule
and regulations, for he knew that a 'cooi
was as legal tender for a quart in the Wes
as a New York shilling any day in the yeai
My constituents now nocked about me am
cried 'Huzza for Crocket,' 'Crocket, forever,
and finding the tide had taken a turn,
told them several yarns to get them in:
good humor, and having soon dispatced th
value of the'coon, went out and mountei
the stump without opposition, and aclea
majority of the voters followed me to se
what I had to offer for the good of the na
tion.
"Before I was through one of my constit
uents moved that they would hear the bal
ance of my speech after they had washe<
down their first part with some more o
Job Snelling's extract of cornstalk and mo
lasses, and the question being put up, it wa
carried unanimously. Jt wasn'tconsidere<
necessary to tell the yeas and nays, so \v<
adjourned to the shanty, and on the way !
began to reckon that the fate of the natioi
pretty much depended upon my shootiiq
another 'coon. While standing at the bar
feeling sort of bashful while Job's rules am
regulations stared me in the face, I cas
down my eyes and discovered one end of thi
'coon skin sticking between the logs tha
supported the bar. Job had slung it there ii
the hurry of business.* I gave it a sort o
quick jerk, and it followed my hand a
if I had been the rightful owner. I slappet
1 it on the counter, and Job, little dream inj
that he was barking up. the wrong tree
shoved along another bottle, which nr
constituents quickly disposed of with grea
good humor, for some of them saw tin
trick, and then we withdrew to the rostrun
to discuss the affairs of the nation.
"i don't know how it was, but the voter
soon became dry again, and nothing wouh
do but we must adjourn to the shanty ; am
as luck would have it, the 'coon skin wa:
sticking between the logs, as if Job hac
Hung it there on purpose to tempt me. !
was not slow in raising it to the counter
the rum followed, of course, and 1 wish .
may be shot if I didn't before the day wa
over, get ten quarts for the same identica
skin, and from a fellow, too, who in thos<
parts was considered as sharp as a steel traj
and as bright as a pewter button.
"This joke secured my election, for it sooi
circulated like smoke among my constit
uents, and they allowed with one accort
that the man who could get the whip-hunt
of Job Snelling in a fair trade could outwi
I Old Nick himself, and was the real grit fo.
them in Congress. After the election wa:
| over I sent Snelling the price of the rum
hut took care to keep the tact irom tin
knowledge of my constituents. Job refusec
the money and sent me word that it die
him good to be taken in occasionally, as i
served to brighten his ideas; but I after
ward learned when he found out the trie!
that had been played upon him he put al
the rum that 1 had ordered inhisbiilagains
j my opponent, who, being elated with tin
speeches he had made on the affairs of th<
nation, could not descend to examine in tin
I particulars of a bill of the vender of rum ir
| a small way."?Forest ami Stream.
? ? ?
THE DRY TORTl'GAS.
\V. It. Prentice, an old New York soldier
recalls the following interesting reminis
cences of the old military prison, in a lettei
to the San Francisco Bulletin : It hanpenet
to be my fortune also to be sent to the Drj
Tortuga's soon after Dr. Mudd, though J hat
the good fortune to. be relieved from dutj
somewhat sooner. The place isa queer one
and has seldom been described. The Drj
Tortugas (the word, I believe, means tur
ties) embraces a group of several small eora
islands, or keys, lying in the Gulf of Mexi
co, 120 miles west from the southern part o
Florida. The largest embraces only a few
acres; they are destitute of fresh water, ant
barren, with the exception of a few man
grove and cedar trees. They were a part o
the Florida purchase, and a fort was com
menced on Garden Key, one of the larger
by the Spaniards. It is now a first-elns;
brick fort, with two tiers of casements and
mounts more than three hundred ^uns
During the war it was used as a military
prison, and many a poor fellow, after a courtmartial,
heard the words: "Sentenced to th(
Dry Tortugas for life." These had accumulated
till, in the autumn of 186"), more thai:
600 men of all nationalities and all colors,
were gathered there, and for all crimes,
from some hasty word, most likely true
said to a subaltern officer, up to robbery and
attempted murder.
()ur guard consisted of only about two hundred
men, and there was plenty of work-foi
us to do. The records had been but imperfectly
kept, and the term of sentence of some
prisoners had long before expired. These
were hunted out and sent home first. Then
100 or more of the better men were recommended
for pardon which was freely granted
by President Johnson, for he was in a
pardoning mood at that time. But the main
| interest centred around the four conspirators,
, i Mudd, Arnold, Spangler and O'Loughlin.
They were supposed to be terrible fellows,
11 ready to cut all our throats any time at 11
! moment's notice. Dr. Mudd was the cen.
| tral figure. He was a fair-haired man ol
s i good size and rather prepossessing appeari
anee. His one all-absorbing thought was
that he was the victim of great injustice,
1 and whenever he could gain a listening ear,
y into it he always poured his griefs. He war
detailed as general nurse in trie hospital and
,f did good service there, till in an evil day lie
a attempted to escape by secreting himself or
a board a steamer. Of course he was found
- sent back in disgrace, and afterward kepi
a in solitary confinement. Arnold was n
L. young man, not more than twenty-four oi
V twenty-five, handsome, highly educated, re
lined and retiring in his manners. He saic
I little, never complained, but felt his dis
I, grace most keenly. He was kept as a clerl111
flin lirni'ncf TYUIIVIIOI^C orwl innnv
y in uiv iiituoiiui o viiivv^ uuu miviij ?.
i descriptive or muster roll, in his beautifu
ii handwriting, went to Washington. Me hue
j the ability, and ought to-day to be taking
. good care of himself somewhere. Spangler
1 the stage-carpenter at Ford's theater, was j
u jolly German, and to all appearances, as hap
py there as mortal mau ever is. How wel
s I remember his portly form, bustling abou
t at his work, the happiest looting man in tin
. fort. Lastly was poor O'Loughlin, an Irish
t man, I think a shoemaker by trade. H<
. had left a family in Washington, and couk
r not bear up under his punishment. H<
Z drooped from the day he reached the place
! and died soon after I left. I have to-day i
letter from Mudd and one from Arnold
r written after I had left the service, asking
my aid in procuring some mitigation o
s their punishment. While I did not pity
t them as I did the more than 150 soldier:
s sent there for the most trifling breaches o
q military law, 1 can still see how they were
. all, perhaps, more unfortunate than criminal
g Home of tiie Blue Chase.?Mr. Johr
, L. Dunlap has returned from a hunting ex
. pedition in Spencer county, Ky. The onlj
^ trophy lie brought back with him was a gi<
j. gun tic blue crane, which measured five feei
. trnrii fin fn fin nml pviipflv siv fppf. ir
1 "v"* V*I' vw W'I'1 V ?
height. Mr. Dunlap tells a very curiouf
story of a resort of these cranes. About tw<
^ miles from Taylorsville is an island ir
s Say re's creek whose area is perhaps ter
r acres.
The island is a favorite haunt of thes<
' peculiar birds, who annually resort there foi
' the purpose of rearing their young. Not
withstanding the fact that the crane is (
V wading bird it builds its nest, in the tallesi
trees it can find. The island is not clearec
up, but is covered with gigantic sycamores
towering eighty or ninety feet in height
' and the loftiest of these are selected by then
I for their nests. One of the trees has twenty
; eight nests upon its topmost branches, anc
B another has twelve. The nests are rude
i ugly structures, built in a slovenly mannei
j of sticks, leaves and twigs, and are guardec
jealously by the birds throughout the breed
jl The cranes have been in the habit of re
sorting to this island for a term of years be
~ yond the memory of the oldest inhabitant
+ Here they have been left undisturbed unti
^ it has become a royal domain on whicl
? nothing else of the feathered tribe dare in
' trude. The silence of centuries broods ovei
I the primeval forests, unbroken save by tin
. dapping of their wings, or it may be tin
j chance shot of the wandering sportsman
, The stream for miles around is frequentec
V by Hocks of the birds who here seem to lose
at least for a time, their solitary instincts
' and become sociable and gregarious. Thej
.j leave annually about the first of September
_ returning the 1st of April, and have beer
? doing so for years and years. Their numbei
upon the island is almost incredible, and ok
citizens of that country say it must be full^
1,000, perhaps much more.?Louisville Cou
rier-Journal.
4 Ancestry.?When Ben Franklin, a grimj
f young printer, was carrying his form;
l_ through the street one day, he met ayounj
s fellow of his own age, the son of an aristo
1 cratic family, who was so poor as to want n
p meal.
I Franklin offered to find work for him in a
1 neighboring shop, but received the haughty
I rebuff: ,
> "The G 's are not fallen so low as tc
i become mechanics!"
t When Franklin was Minister to France,
e this man died a pauper in the Philadelphia
t almshouse.
1 Family pride of another kind was shown
f by a sturdy farmer in Congress, who, when
s ail attempt was made to buy his vote on a
* certain question, replied: "Sir, every out
' of my km in the old graveyard at home
> would rise if I should touch that money!
f 1 would not dare to do it."
t In countries where social rank, estate and
2 title, all solid realities, descend in an un1
broken line, there is some apology for family
pride, and even in America it is natural
s for a man to take a keen interest in those
J whose blood and character he inherits. A*
' long as the knowledge that his ancestors
* have been truthful, honest, manly men,
J helpers in God's world, makes him more
t anxious to be himself honest, independent
? and useful, family pride is a help in his life.
I Tint, when. ns is more often the case, we see
s a family dawdle weakly through life, un1
willing to engage in trade or honest work,
2 justifying their right to he alive by their far}
off kinship to some titled or rich dead man,
pride of birth is only a hindrance, and is n
1 vulgar and absurd pretense.
lienor and fame from no condition rise,
1 Act well your part, there all the honor lies.
t Young Men.?Young man, save that
r penny; pick up that pin; let the account
s be correct to a farthing, find out what that
t ribbon costs before you take it; pay the
I half dime your friend handed you to make
1 change with; in a word, be economical,
1 be accurate and know what you are doing;
t be honest and then be generous, for all you
. have or acquire thus belongs to you by every
i rule of right and you may put it to any
I good use you please. It is not parsimony
t to be economical. It is not small to know
3 the price of the article you are about to
3 purchase, or to remember a little you owe.
3 What if you do meet Bill Pride decked out
3 in a much better suit than yours, the price
of which he has not learned yet from the
tailor, who laughs at your laded dress, and
old fashioned notions of honesty and right?
your day will come. Franklin, from a
? penny saving boy, walking in the streets
" with a loaf of bread under his arm, became
J a companion of kings.
Drinking Impure Water.?Seta pitch1
er of iced water in an unoccupied room, and
' in a few hours it will have absorbed nearly
, all the perspired gasses in the room, the air
' of which will have become purer, but the
- water utterly filth v. This depends upon the
1 fact, that water has the faculty of condens
ing an<^ absorbing nearly all the gasses,
f which it does without increasing its own
' bulk. The colder the water is, the greater
I its capacity to contain these gases. At or
dinary temperature a pint of water will
1' contain a pint of carbonic acid gas and sev
oral pints of ammonia. Hence, water kept
, in a room awhile is unfit for use, and should
be often removed, whether- it has become
1 warm or not. That which has stood in a
pitcher over night, is not fit for cott'ee'
water next morning. Impure water is more
injurious to health than impure air, and
' every person should provide means of ob
taining fresh, pure water for domestic purt
poses.?Dio Lewis.
| The Canary Islands, the largest of
, which is Teneriffe, are falling into a misera1
ble condition consequent upon the discovery
of aniline and tne fabrication of colors
from it. For three centuries past Spanish
inertness caused these beautiful and richly
endowed islands to exist solely upon the
i breeding of the cochineal insect, which is
; not able to compete with the much brighter
l and cheaper aniline dyes. The islanders
have therefore lost their main source of
support. Those who have anything left
l emigrated to Brazil, frequently leaving
i their wives and children to beg and starve.
MYRA CLARK GAINES.
I see Myra Clark Gaines received a short
' time ago, another decision from the United
1 States Court compelling New Orleans to
" levy a tax of $2,000,000 to satisfy her last
' judgment, and that the City Council say
' they will go to jail before they will obey it.
' For the last fifty-eight years this idomitai
ble woman has fought for her rights in the
' Courts of the United States. Her case is
5 one of the most remarkable ones on record.
[ It involves the title to millions of dollars of
! property in New Orleans, and will probably
1 not be finally settled as long as the city
i can legally fight against it. It is now eighty^
two years since Daniel Clark, a handsome
1 polished young man who had been for
r some years leading the life of an Indian
" trader in Mississippi, came to Philadelphia
1 to spend the winter. Clark was a gay fel*
low and took all the pleasures of the then
: metropolis of America. In his rounds he
} met a French beauty and fell in love with
{ her. This woman's name was Zulime Char1
rier, and at the time she was living with a
' Frenchman, named La Grange, Clark met
> her. Whether she was married to La
1 Grange or not is one of the points in ques"
tion. The defendants claim she was his
| legal wife. At any rate when Clark met
1 her in 180") she left La Grange and went to
3 live with Clark. The Supreme Court of the
" United States has declared that she was
3 privately married to Clark and that she
1 was merely La Grange's mistress.
3 In 180G, seventy-seven years ago, Myra
i Clark was born. She was the only child
1 Zuliuie Charrierhad by Daniel Clark.
? At this time Clark sent Zulime to New
>. Orleans and acted as a bachelor, lie en
1 gagea mmsen m marriage ana iormeaotlier
connections producing other offspring.
* He denied the fact that he liad married
f Zulime, and when she came back and pushed
the case in the Philadelphia Court, she
was unable to succeed. She finally took up
with a Dr. Gardette and lived with him until
he died.
But while Clark would have nothing to do
with the mother, he took good care of the
child. .Myra Clark was well educated by
him and was treated by him as a daughter.
He went again into the Indian trading at
New Orleans and amassed a great fortune.
In 1813, just seventy years ago, he died,
and a will was produced ; howing that all
of his property was left to his mother and
the city of New Orleans. Myra Clark, then
only seven years old, was apparently penniless
and the executors took charge of the
estate.
When Myra grew up to the age of twenty
' she married a Mr. Wnitney, and then she
began to contest the will. She claimed that
she was the only legitimate daughter of
Daniel Clark, and that his property was
hers. The claim was at once Iiotly contested,
and Mr. Whitney died before it was
tried,
' The widow continued to prosecute the
I suit. Shortly afterward she married Gen_
oral Gaines and he entered into the case as
warmly as herself. The case was tried at
New Orleans. It was lost. It was carried
to the Supreme Court at Washington. It
was again lost. In 1852 it seemed a hopeless
j fight and at this time General Gaines died.
But Myra Clark Gaines was not discouraged,
and shortly after this time she dis"
covered a will executed by her father cer[
tifying that Myra was his only child and
j creating her his sole heir. Upon this will
" she again went before the Courts in New
Orleans. She again lost. She again appealed
to the Supreme court at Washington,
l i iaai ? i 1 4.
anu nere, m iooi, sne uuiumeu a juugmeui
confirming this will and giving her the
' property left her by her father and the rents
j thereof for the past thirty years. Then the
war broke out and justice was again delayed,
j Since then she has, I think, received soine.
thing from the city, but nothing in compar^
ison with her rights. She is now seventyseven
years of age and will be, perhaps,
the richest woman in the United States if
r she ever comes into the property for which
i she has so pluckily fought for a lifetime.?
r Washington Letter.
l Tiie Baptist Bible.?In 1855 the orthodox
Baptists were able to raise more than
i a half million dollars to pay for the trans'
lation of the Bible which should give to
the passages relating to baptism their exact
) meaning as understood by those who contend
that complete immersion is essential to
, real baptism. Xow-a-days, judging by tinl
proceedings of the recent Baptist Convention
in Saratoga, the importance of a sepai
rate Bible is not thought worth fighting
i over, and the American and Foreign Bible
t Society, organized years ago to distribute .
; the Bible in which the word baptidzo was
! translated immerse, was voted out of exis!
tence by a vote of 400 to 30. Interest in the
matterseems to havestrangely waned. Yet
i the money and self-sacrificing labor involved
in the Baptist translation amazed the world
twenty-five years ago. When $500,000 hail
1 been collected for the work of transla!
tion, commissioners were sent to all parts
> of the world to procure books needed in the
i work. It took four or five years to get this
, library together at acostol $200,000. It is
! now stored in the basement of a church in
; New York, and consists of 123 volumes of
the Church Fathers, 102 copies of the Greek
; and Hebrew Scriptures, 124 ancient versions
of the Bible, 398 translations, 891 commen,
taries, 293 lexicons and grammars, 223 vol
umes of Biblical history and criticisms, 272
, volumes of Greek and Roman history, and
, several thousand miscellaneous volumes,
ancient and modern, relating to the subject.
For years the best scholars in the Church?
Drs. Thomas Conant, A. C'. Ivendrick and
H. B. Hackett (now dead)?worked without
; ceasing. The first volumes of the new ver;
sion were issued in 1860, but since then
I there has been constant trouble in getting
| the recognized Bible Societies organized for
such work to distribute it, the charters of
these institutions not allowing them to
change their version. For years the cause
; of a Baptist Bible has been losing ground,
and the result of the recent Convention was
not unexpected.
The fine library gathered for the work of
translation was send some years ago for
$15,000 to t'apt. Morgan, a retired sea captain,
who, it is understood, will40ve it to
' some Baptist college.
Alcpiiol Scientifically Considered.
Medical men who have become enthusiastic
I as to the possibilities of alcohol, have often
prescribed it. for every condition of exhaustion
for a long time. The results are often
possible transient good at the expense of
propagating a disease more intructible and
disastrous than the one they sought to relieve.
The frequency of inebriety has
brought out a special medical declaration in
England, signed by most of the physicians
and surgeons, asserting that alcoholic liquids
should be prescribed with as much care as
any powerful drug. The disease of inebriety
may be compared to malaria which having
once pervaded the system leavesa peculiar
predisposition which only waits a train
of exciting causes to spring into activity.
Inherited conditions of organism may exist
which give direction to weakened functional
activities, exploding in inebriety with
great certainty. The medical of alcohol to
such persons becomes the exciting cause,
awakening and fixing conditions that may
not break out at once, but sooner or lateV
will be manifest. Anaemia, neuralgia and
r\ /11/\mo nf *?! > /xtimofiorvi o i?n nffnti /]n_
oUUiU tuuiuuvuo ui incuixiatioiii aiV/ uxivxi uv~
veloped into serious disease by alcohol.
The general rule may be laid down, that all
cases of physical and mental exhaustion are
extremely susceptible of poisoning by alcohol,
and liable to take on diseased conditions
that are more or less permanent from
its use. From the best authority in this
| country and in Europe the use of alcohol in
| the sick room is attended with great danger
j unless judiciously used. The conditions
contra-indicating its use are numerous and
should be studied carefully where alcohol is
1 thought to be of value. The value of alcohol
for a medicine is not assumed beyond
all question ; the evidence upon wliichit has
been given will not stand the test of analysis
or accurate clinical observation.?Medical
Examiner.