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lewis m. grist, proprietor. | gut Jndependcnt Jamilg Dtaapaper: Jor the fromolion of the foliiieal, Social, ^jrieutlural and Commercial Interests of lite jsouth. [terms-?$2.00 a year in advance. VOL. 36. YORKVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1890. NO. 27. [Copyright, by publiflhec CHAPTER XVH. The morning report of the following dav showed some items under the head of ''Alterations" that involved several of the soldier characters of this story. ExSergeant Clancy had been dropped from tho column of present "on daily duty" and taken up on that of absent without leave. Lieut. Hayne was also reported absent. Dr. Pease and Lieut. Billings - drove into the garrison from towp just before the cavalry trumpets were sounding first call for guard mounting, and r. 1 the adjutant sent one of the musicians to give his compliments to Mr. Royce and ask him to mount the guard for him, as he had just returned and had important business with the colonel. The doctor and the adjutant together went into the colonel's quarters, and for the first time on record the commanding officer was not at the desk in iiis office when the shoulder straps began to gather for the matinee. "Nevermind! Don't firtf" . Ten minntes after the usual time the adjutant darted tn and plunged with his characteristic impetuosity into the pile of passee and other papers stacked up by the sergeant major at his table. To all questions as to where he had been and what was the matter with the colonel he replied, with more than usual asperity of manner ? the asperity enx gendered of some years of having to answer the host of questions propounded by vacant minds at his own busiest hour of the day?that the colonel would tell them all about it himself; he had no time for a word. The evident manner of suppressed excitement, however, was something few failedpto note, and every man in the room felt certain that when the colonel came there would be a revelation. It was with something bordering on indignation, therefore, that the assemblage heard the words that intimated to them that all might retire. The colonel had come in very quietly received the report of the officer of the day, relieved him, and dismissed the y new officer of the day with the brief formula, "Usual orders, sir," then glanced quickly around the silent circle of grave, bearded or boyish faces. His v eyes rested for an instant with something like shock and trouble upon one face, pale, haggardy Tfrlth almost bloodless lips, and vet full of fierce determination?a face that haunted him long afterwards, it was so full of agony, of suspense, almost of pleading?the face of Capt. Rayner. Then, dispensing with the customary talk, he quietly spoke the disappointing words: "I am somewhat late this morning, gentlemen, and several matters will occupy my attention; so I will not detain VTAtl fllvfVlAV " jvu The crowd seemed to find their feet very slowly. There was visible disinclination to go. Every man in some inexplicable way appeared to know that there was a new mystery hanging over the garrison, and that the colonel held the key. Every man felt that Billings had given him the right to expect to be told all about it when the colonel came. Some looked reproachfully at Billings, as though to remind him of their expectations. Stannard, his old stand by, passed him with a gruff "Thought you said the colonel had something to tell us," and went out with an air of injured and defrauded dignity. Rayner arose, and seemed to be making preparations to depart with the others, and some of the number, connecting him unerringly with the prevailing sensation, appeared to hold back and wait for him to precede them and so secure to themselves the satisfaction of knowing that, if it was a matter connected with Rayner, they "had him along" and nothing could take place without their hearing it. These men were very few, however; but Buxton was one of them. Rayner's eyes were fixed upon the colonel and searching for a sign, and it came?a little motion of the hand and a nod of the head that signified "Stay." Then, as Buxton and one or two of his stamp still dallied irresolute, the colonel turned somewhat sharply to them: "Was there any matter on which you wished to 6ee me, gentlemen?" and, as there was none, they had to go. Then Rayner was alone with the colonel; for Mr. Billings quickly arose, and, with a significant glance at his commander, left the room and closed the door. Mrs. Rayner, gazing from her parlor windows, saw that all the officers had cpine out except one? ner nusoana?ana with a moan of misery she covered her face with her hands and sank upon the sofa. With cheeks as white as her sister's, with eyes full of trouble and perplexity, but tearless, Nellie Travers stepped quickly into the room and put a trembling white hand upon the other's shoulder: "Kate, it is no time for so bitter an estrangement as this. I have done simply what our soldier father would have done had he been here. I am fully aware of what it must cost me. I knew when I did it that you would never again welcome me to your heme. Once east again, you and 1 can go our ways; I won't burden you longer: but is it not better that you should tell me in what way your husband or you can have been injured by what I have done?". Mrs. Ray ner impatiently shook away the hand. "I don't want to talk to you," was the blunt auswer. "You have carried out your threat and?ruined us; that's alL" "What can you mean? Do you want me to think that because Mr. Hayne's innocence may be established your husband was the guilty man? Certainly i-/u i r m Q nnnr IpqHq tn fV?of infornnpfl though his does not, by any means." "I don't want to talk, I tell you. You've had your way?done your work. You'll see soon enough the hideous web of trouble you've entangled al?out my husband. Don't you dare sav?don't you dare think"?and now she rose with Budden fury?"that he was the?that he lost the luoneyl But that's what all others will think." "If that were true, Kate, there would be this difference between bis trouble and Mr. Ilayne's: Capt Rayner would have wife, wealth and friends to help hint bear the cross; Mr. Wayne has borne it five long years unaided. I pray God the truth has been brought to light." What fierce reply Mrs. Ravner might have given, who knows? hut at that instant a quick step was heard on the piazza, the door o|>ened suddenly, and Gapt. Rayner entered with a rush. The pallor had gone; a light of eager, half Charles King, U.S. A. Dunraven Ranch," "The Colonel's ter," "Marion's Faith," Etc. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, and 1 by special arrangement with them.] incredulous joy beamed from liis eyes, he threw his cup upon the floor, and his wife hud risen and thrown her arms about his neck. "Have thoy found him?" was her breathless question. What has hapin X7 l.-l. ?? peueur iuu yxjb. nu uiuncuh "Found lrim? Yes; and he has told everything." "Told?what?" "Told that he and Gower were the men. They took it all." "Clancy?and Gower! The thieves, do you mean? Is thafr?is that what he confessed?" she asked, in wild wonderment, in almost stupefied amaze, releasing him from her arms and stepping back, her eyes searching his face. "Nothing else in the world, Kate. I don't understand it at all. I'm all atrem'ble yet. It clears Hayne utterly. It at least explains how I was mistaken. But what?what could she have meant?" Mrs. Rayner stood like one in a dream, her eyes staring, her lips quivering; and Nellie, with throbbing pulses and clasping hands, looked eagerly from husband . to wife, as though beseeching some explanation. "What did she mean? What did she mean? I say again," asked Rayner, pressing his hand to his forehead and gazing fixedly at his wife. A moment longer she stood there, as though a light?a long hidden truthwere slowly forcing itself upon her mind. Then, with impulsive movement she hurried through the dining toom, threw open the kitchen door, and startled the domestics at their late breakfast "Ryan," she called to the soldier servant who rose hastily from the table, "go and tell Mrs. Clancy I want her instantly. Do you understand? InstantlyP And Ryan Beized his forage cap and vanished. It was perhaps ten minutes before he returned. When he did so it was apparent that Mrs. Rayner had been crying | copiously, and that Miss Travers, too, | was much affected. The captain was I iwninn flia rnnm ujifh norvnua atririfl in mingled relief nnd agitation. All looked up expectant as the soldier re-entered. Ho had the air of a man who knew he bore tidings of vivid and mysterious interest, but he curbed the excitement of his manner until it shone only through his snapping eyes, saluted, and reported with professional gravity: "Mrs. Clancy's clean gone, sir." "Gone where?" "Nobody knows, sir. She's just lit out with her trunk and best clothes some time last night." "Gone to her husband in town, maybe?' "No, sir. Clancy's all right; he was caught last evening, and hadn't time to get mor'n half drunk before they lodged him. Lootenant Ilayne got him, sir. They had him afore a justice of the peace early this morning" "Yes, I know all that. What I want is Mrs. Clancy. What has become of her?" "Faith, I don't know, sir, but the women in Sudsville they all say she's run away, sir?taken her money and gone. She's afraid of Clancy's peaching on her." "By heavens! the thing is clearing itself I" exclaimed Rayner to his gasping and wild eyed wife. "I must go to the colonel at once with his news." And away ho went. And then again, as the orderly retired, and the sisters were left alone, Nellie Travera with trembling lips asked the question: "Have I done so much harm, after all, Kate?" "Oh, Nellie! Nellie! forgive me, for I have been nearly mad with misery!" was Mrs. Rayner's answer, as she burst into a fresh paroxysm of tears. "That ?that woman has?has told me fearful lies." There was a strange scene that day at TTaiiCUUl WUCIA, WVUOIUOUWU, H>U Uii" riages drove out from town and, entering the east gate, rolled over towards the guard house. The soldiers clustered about the barrack porches and stared at the occupants. In the first?a livery hack from town?were two sheriffs officers, while cowering on the back seat, his hat pulled down over his eyes, was poor old Clancy, to whom clung faithful little Kate. In the rear carriage?Maj. Waldrons?were Mr. Hayne, the major, and a civilian whom some of the men had no difficulty in recognizing jis the official cliarged with the administration of justice towards offenders against the peace. Many of the soldiers strolled slowly up the road, in hopes of hearing all about the arrest, and what it meant, from straggling members of the guard. All knew it meant something more than a mere "break" on the part of Clancy; all felt that it had some connection with the long continued mystery that hung about the name of Lieut. Ilayne. Then, too, it was being noised abroad that Mrs. Clancy had "skipped," and between two suns had fled for parts unknown. She could be overhauled by telegraph if she had left on either of the night freights or gone down towards Denver by the early morning passenger train; it would bo easy enough to capture her if she were "wanted," said the garrison; but what did it mean that Clancy was pursued by officers of the post and brought baca under charge of officers of the law? He had had trouble enough, poor fellow! The officer of the guard looked wonileringly at the carriages and their occupants. lie saluted Slaj. Waldron as the latter stepped briskly down. "You will take charge of Clancy, Mr. ( mliiun " ll?o mstirnv *4TTi? ilia. charge will be recalled; at least it will not take effect today. You will be interested in knowing that his voluntary confession fully establishes Mr. Hayne's innocence of the charges on which he was tried." Mr. Graham's face turned all manner of colors. He glanced at Ilayne, who, still seated in the carriage, was as calmly indifferent to him as ever; he was gazing across the wide parade at the windows in oflicers' row. Little Kate's sobs as the soldiers were helping her father from the carriage suddenly recalled his wand :ring thoughts. He sprang to the ground, stepped quickly to the child and put his arms about her. "Clancy, tell her to come with us. Mrs. Waldron will take loving care of her, and she shall come to see you every day. The guard hogse is no place for her to follow you. Tell her so, man, and she will go with us. Come, Katie, child!" And he bent tenderly over the sobbing little waif. "Thank ye, sir. I know ye'll bo good to her. Go with the lootenant, Kate, darlin', go. Shure I'll bo happier then." And, trembling, he bent and kissed her wet cheeks. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him in an agony of grief. Gently they strove to disengage her clasping arms, but she shrieked and struggled, and poor old Clancy broke down. There were sturdy soldiers standing by who turned their heads away to hide the unbidden tears, and with a quiver in his kind voice the major interposed: "Let her stay awhile; it will be better for both. Don't put him in the prison room, Graham. Keep them by themselves for a while. We will come for her by and by." And then, before them all, he held forth his hand and gave Clancy's a cordial grasp. "Cheer up, man. You've taken the right step at last. You are a free man i today, even if you are a prisoner for the < time being. Better this a thousand times ; than what you were." Hayne, too, si>oke a few kind words in a low tone, and gave the old soldier < hia hand at parting. Then the guard closed the door, and father aud daughter were left alone. As the groups around ] the guard house began to break up and 1 move away, and the officers, re-entering 1 the carriages, drove over to headquar- ] tera, a rollicking Irishman called to the sergeant of the guard: i "Does he know the ould woman's t skipped, sargent? Shure, you'd better 1 tell him. 'Twill cheer him, like." i But when, a few moments after, the ' news was imparted to Clancy, the effect i was electric and startling. With one j bound and a savage cry he sprang to the < door. The sergeant threw himself upon 1 him and strove to hold him back, but i was no match for the frenzied man. 1 Deaf to Kate's entreaties and the ser- < geant's commands, he hurled him aside, < leaped through the doorway, shot like a < deer past the lolling guardsfften on the < porch, and, turning sharply, went at the I top of his speed down the hill towards 1 Sudsville before man could lay hand on 1 him. The sentry on Number One cocked 1 his rifle and looked inquiringly at the 1 officer of the guard, who came running < out. With a wild shriek little Kate ] threw herself upon the sentry, clasping < his knees and imploring him not to shoot i The lieutenant and sergeant both ( shouted, "Never mindl Don't fire!" and 1 with others of the guard rushed in pur- < suit. But, old and feeble as ho was, i poor Clancy kept the lead, never swerv- t ing, never flagging, until he reached the J doorway of his abandoned cot; this he 1 burst in, threw himself upon his knees by < the bedside, and dragged to light a little i wooden chest that stood by an open trap i in the floor. One look sufficed; the mere l fact that tho trap was open and the box ] exposed was enough. With a wild cry 1 of rage, despair and baffled hatred, he I clinched his hands above his head, rose i to his full height, and with a curse upon i his white lips, with glaring eyes and 1 gasping breath, turned upon his pur- ; suers as they came running in, and ] hurled his fists at the foremost. "Let me 1 follow her, 1 6ay! She's gone with it 1 all?his money 1 Let me got" ho shrieked; 1 and then his eyes turned stony, a gasp, 1 a clutch at his throat, and, plunging 1 headlong, he fell upon his face at their 1 feet ? Poor little Kate! The old man was in- 1 Hrwvl frpfi at last. ? 1 CHAPTER XVIII. She saw Iiayner grasping his hands. There had been a scene of somewhat dramatic nature at the colonel's office but a short time before, and one that had fewer witnesses. Agitated, nervous and eventually astonished as Capt.Rayner had been when the colonel had revealed to him the nature of Clancy's confession, ho was far more excited and tremulous when he returned a second time. The commanding officer had been sitting deep in thought. If was but natural that a man should show great emotion on learning that the evidence he had given, which had condemned a brother officer to years of solitary punishment, was now disproved. It was to be expected that Rayner should bo tremulous and excited. lie had been looking worse and worse for a long time past: and now that it was established that he must have been mistaken in what he thought ho saw and heard at Battle Butte, it was to be expected that he should show the utmost consternation and an immediate drsiro to c make amends. He had shown great emotion; ho was white and rigid as tho colonel told him Clancy had made a full con- a fession; but the expression on his face a when informed that the man had admitted that he and Sergt. Cower were the only ones guilty of the crime?that Clancy and Gower divided the guilt as they had the money?was a puzzle to tho colonel. Capt. liayner seemed daft; it was a look of wild relief, half unbelief, half delight, that shot across his bagged features. It was evident that he had not heard at all 1... Mil.:. -r.1,.,1 C ijno ? uai the colonel. lie had boon pondering over c it ever since the captain's hurried de- J parture "to tell his wife." "We?we had expected?made all preparations to take this afternoon's train f for the east," lie stammered. "Wo are all torn up, all ready to start, and the ladies ought to go; but I cannot feel like going in the face of this." "There is no reason why you should not go, captain. I am told Mrs. Rayner should leave at once. If need be, you can ^ return from Chicago. Everything will * be attended to properly. Of course you will know what to do towards Mr. Hayne. c Indeed, I think it might be best for you ? to go." [ But Rayner seemed hardly listening; and the colonel was not a man to throw 8 his words away. 1 "You might see Mrs. Rayner at once, and return by and by," ho said; and Ray- ^ ner gladly escaped, and went home with the wonderful news he had to tell his wife. And now a second time he was back, * and was urging upon the commanding officer the necessity of telegraphing and capturing Mrs. CTancy. In plain words v he told the colonel he believed that she ? had escaped with the greater part of the 1 money. The colonel 6miled: 11 "That was attended to early this morning, captain. Hayne and the major 1 asked that she be secured, and the mo' | ment we found her fled it confirmed their suspicions, and Billings sent dis- j patches in every direction. She can't getaway! She was his temptress, and 1 1 mean to make her share all the punish- c ment." 1 "Colonel," exclaimed Rayner, while J beads of sweat stood out on his forehead, "she is worse?a thousand times worse! 8 The woman is a iiend. She is the devil A in petticoats?and ingenuity. My GodI J sir, I have been in torment for weeks 4 past?my poor wife and I. I have been J" criminally, cowardly weak; but I did not know what to do?where to turn?how to % take it?how to meet it. Let me tell * you." And now great tears were standing in his eyes and beginning to trickle ! down his cheeks. lie dashed them away. His lips were quivering, and he strode 8 nervously up and down the matted floor. "When you refused to lot Clancy re-en- c list in the ?th, two years after Battle ) Butte, he came to mo and told mo a story. He, too, had declared, as I did, that he had seen the money packages in Ilayne's 8 hands, and he said the real reason he was 8 kicked out of the ?th was because the v officers and men took sides with Htyne and thought he had sworn his reputation , away. He begged me not to 'go back on him' as his own regiment had, and 1 . thought ho was being jxn-secuted because he told the truth. God knows I fully believed Ilayne guilty for more than threo a years?it is only within the last year or s so I l>egan to huvo doubts; and so 1 took , Clancy into B company and soon made ^ Mrs. Clancy a laundress. But she made trouble for us all, and there was something uncanny about them. She kept throwing out mysterious hints I could not understand when rumors of them 1 reached me; and at last came the fire 1 that burned them out, and then the stories of what Clancy had said in his delirium; and then she came to my wife and told her a yarn that?she swore to its truth, and nearly drove Mrs. Rayner wild with anxiety. She swore that when Clancy got to drinking he imagined he had seen me tako that money from Capt. Hull's saddle bags and replace the sealed Sackage; she said lie was ready to swear lat he and Gower?the deserter?and two of our men, honorably discharged now and living on ranches down in Nebraska, could all swear?would all swear?to the same thing?that I was the thief. 'Sure you know it couldn't be so, ma'am; and yet "lie wants to go and tell Mr. Ilayne,' she would say; 1 'there's the four of 'era would swear to it, though Gower's evidence would be no ;ood; but the two men could hurt the 1 captain.' Her ingenuity was devilish, For one of the men I had severely punished once in the Black Hills, and bom lated mo and had sworn they would get jven with mo yet. God help me, coljnel, seeing every dly the trowing conviction that Ilayne was inno- 1 cent, that somebody else must 30 guilty, I thought, what if this nan should, in drunken gratitude to Elayno for saving his life, go to him and ;ell him this story, then back it up be:oro tho officials and call in these two >thers? I was weak, but it appalled inc. [determined to get him out of the way )f such a possibility. I got his discharge, ind meantime strove to prevent his Irinking or going near Hayne. She tnew tho real story he would tell. This was her devilish plan to keep mo on watch igainst him. I never dreamed the real ;ruth. She swore to mo that $300 was ill the money they had. I believed that when he confessed it would be what she leclared. I never dreamed that Clancy rad his confederate were tho thieves; I never believed the money was taken intil after nayno received it. I saw how Hayne's guilt was believed in even in the face of contradictory evidence before tho court. What would be the tendency if three men together were to swear igainst me, now that everybody thought liim wronged? I know very well what fou will think of my cowardice. I know p-ou and your officers will say I should nave given him every chance?should nave courted investigation; and I meant t ;o do so, but first I wanted to hear from 'j ;hose discharged men in Nebraska. The j whole scheme would have been exploded ] .wo months ago had I not been a cow- , ird; but night after night something f cept whispering to ine, * x ou nave wreca- ] id and ruined a friendless young soldier's ] ife. You shall be brought as low.'" ( The colonel was, vs he afterwards re- 1 narked, hardly equal to the occasion, i 3e had as much contempt for moral S veakness in a soldier as he had for phy- I lical cowardice; but Rayner's almost ab- ] iect recital of his months of misery really 1 eft him nothing to say. Had the cap- 1 ain sought to defend or justify any de- t ail of his conduct, he would have 1 jounced on him like a panther. Twice * he adjutant, sitting an absorbed and 1 iilent listener, thought the chief on the * ^erge of an outbreak; but it never came, j tor some minutes after Rayner ceased he colonel sat steadily regarding him. ( \t last lie spoke: j "You have been so frank in your state- t nent, captain, that I feel you fully ap- ? ireciate how such deplorable weakness } nust be regarded in an officer. It is un- 1 iecessary for me to speak of that. The i 'ull particulars of Clancy's confession ( ire not yet with me. Maj. Waldron has I t all in writing, .and Mr. Billings has ' 1 nerely told me the general features, t Df course you shall have a copy of it in l food time. As you go east today and * lave your wife and household to think or, it may be as well that you do not at- 1 empt to see Mr. Hayne liefore starting. 1 \.nd this matter will not be discussed." j And so it happened that when the layners drove to the station that bright ? ifternoon and a throng of ladies and ^ s >fficers gathered to see them off, some of : he youngsters going with them into j own to await the coming of the train, ^ Nellie Tracers had been surrounded by f shattering friends of both sexes, con- ^ tautly occupied and yet constantly ooking for the face of one who came 1 lot. For an hour before their depart- ] ire every tongue in garrison that 1 vagged at all?and few there were that i vagged not?were discoursing on the ( ixciting events of the morning?Ilayne's < mancipation from the last vestige of uspicion, Clancy's capture, confession 1 md tragic death, Mrs. Clancy's flight J iiid probable future. At Rayner's peolie spoke of these things very guardedly, !" >ecause every one saw that the captain ? vas moved to the depths of his nature. ^ le was solemnity itself, and Mrs. Ray- j ler watched him with deep anxiety, earful that lie might l?o exposed to some ^ houghtless or malicious questioning. Ier surveillance \v;is needless, however; wen Ross made no allusion to tho events if the morning, though ho col uuni:atcd to his fellows in the subsequent lonfidenees of tho club room that Midas ooked as though he'd been pulled hrough a series of knot holes. "Looks nore's though ho were going to his own uneral than on leave," ho added. As for Ilajnc, he had been closeted vith the colonel and Maj. WaJdrou for iome time after his return?a conference hat was broken in upon by tho startling lews of Clancy's death. Then he had oined his friend, tho doctor, at the hoslital, and was still there, striving to :omfort little Kate, who could not bo inluced to leave her father's rapidly stiffining form, when Mrs. Waldron re-enered the room. Drawing the child to ier sido and folding her motherly arms ibout her, she looked up in Hayne's pale ace: "They are going in fivo minutes. Don't ou mean to see her?" "Not there?not under his roof or in hat crowd. I will go to the station." "I must run over and say good-by in a noment?when the carriage goes around. >hall?shall I 6ay you will come?" There was a light in his blue eyes she vas just beginning to notice now as she tudied his face. A sinilo flickered one nstant about tho corners of his mouth, ind then he held out his hand: "She knows by this time, Mrs. WalIron." An hour later Mrs. Rayner was standng on tho platform at the station, Ross md others of her satellites hanging about ier; Capt. Rayner was talking in subluod tones with one or two of tho senior iflicers; Miss Travers, looking feverishly iretty, was chatting busily with Royce md Foster, though a close observer could lave noted that her dark eyes often ' 1.4. 4-1.~ ......4...-r, sinn,. ...I.L.K lUU^llt LUC >> wi^ii (1 voundjtho road to the distant post. It } vas mSirly train time, and three or four ^ lorseuien could bo seen at various dis- \ ances, while, far out towards the fort, ong skirmish lines and fluttering guidons J vero sweeping over the slopes in mimic t var array. "I havo missed all this," she said, point- 1 ng to the scene; "and I do love it so that * t seems hard to go just as all the real oldier life is beginning." 1 "Goodness knows you've had offers ^ tnough to keep you here," said Foster, J vith not the blithest laugh in the world. ! 'Any girl who will go cast and marry a cit* and leave six or seven penniless subs ^ ighing behind her, I have my opinion of; , he's eminently level headed," ho added, ( vith rueful and unexpected candor. j "I have hopes of Miss Travers yet," ; >oomed Royce, in his ponderous basso; ( 'not personal hopes, Foster?you needn't eel for your pistol?but I believe that 1 icr heart is with the army, like the sol- > lier's daughter she is." And, audacious < us was the speech and deserving of in- i tant rebuke, Mr. Itoyco was startled to ( :ee her reddening vividly. He would lave plunged into hasty ai>ology, but t 'oster plucked his sleeve: t "Look who's corning, you galoot! Sho hasn't heard a word either of us has said." And though Nellio Travers, noting the sudden silence, burst into an immediate and utterly irrelevant lament over the loss of the Maltese kitten?which had not been seen all that day and was not to be found when they canio away?it was useless. Th* effort was gallant, but the flame in her cheeks betrayed her as, throwing his reins to the orderly who followed him^Ir. Havne dismounted at the platform and came directly towards lier. To Mrs. Itayner's unspeakable dismay, lie walked up to the trio, bowed low over the little gloved hand that was uxtended in answer to the proffer of his awn, and next she saw that Royce and Foster had, as though by tacit consent, fallen back, and, coram publico, Mr. Elayne was sole claimant of the regards of her baby sister. There was but one comfort in the situation: toe train was in sight. Forgetful, recklesj for tho moment, of what was going on around her, Bhe stood gazing at the pair. No woman could fail to read tho story; no wernan copld see his face, his eyes, his whole attitude and expression, and not read therein that old, old story tliat prows sweeter igith every century of its life. * That lie Hhoold be inspired with sudden, vehement loye for her exquisite Nell was sbmetbiifjf she could readily understand; but what?what meant her downcast eyes, the flutter of color on her soft and rounded cheek, tho shy uplifting of the fringed lids from time to time as though in response to eager question or appeal? Heavens! would that train never come? The whistle was sounding in tho distance, but it would take ages to drag those "heavy Pullmans up the grade from the bridge where they had yet to stop. She could almost have darted forward, seized her sister by the wrist, and whispered again the baleful reminder that of late had had no mention between them?"Thou art another's;" but in her distress her weak blue eyes sought her husband's face. He saw it all, and shook his head. Then there was nothing to be done. [to he continued next week.] IflisccWanfflus grading. A TALK WITH A BIG FARMER. I PLANTER WHO HAS MADE A FORTUNE OUT OF COTTON AND CORN GIVES AWAY HIS SECRET. A reporter for The Enquirer spent a day at the home of Mr. W. [iolmes Hardin, about five miles lorthwest of Chester, not long ago. Mr. Hardin is one of the largest planters in Upper South Carolina, 19 well as one of the most successful. Fie is also an active promoter of all tinds of manufacturing enterprises alculated to advance the interests of lis section, but his principal vocation s farming, because he finds this puriuit not only the most congenial but it the same time the most profitable. Fie thoroughly understands his busneas, has made an independent fortine out of the ground, and continues o add to it at a most satisfactory ate. He is essentially a cotton farmer, but in order to the most economcal production of this crop, he raises ill the necessary adjuncts?corn, vheat, oats and meat, seldom buyng any of these "supplies." Mr. Hardin's plantation consists )f about seven thousand acres?neary eleven square miles, most of it in >ne body. On the whole place there ire between seventy-five and one lundred mules, andprobably three uindred people?croppers, renters, md wage hands?men, women ancl ihildren. With the help of his sons, VIr. Hardin givesthis entire district lis personal Vupervisibn, and every :ropper and renter on it who works aider his advice?which most of hem do?makes a good living. Mr. Hardin is a plain, practical nan, of the self-made order, with alnost unlimited capacity for work? ihysical and mental. He has very ittle to say, except in seeking or giving information, and expresses m opinion when asked only when atisned of its correctness. He is, n all cases, a safe man to follow, lis career is summed up in a diaper of energy, perseverence and deermination to "get there"?a long vay to go and not long to go it in. When seventeen years of age Mr. Tardin had $7">0 in cash. This sum le invested in a negro, and then lought a small farm on credit, agree -oAtr/itvInnn limulrO/1 lollars. The first year, 1848, lie unlertook to work a two-horse crop, md shortly after it was planted the legro died. This misfortune served inly to stimulate his energy. Unaile to buy anpther negro, or to hire ufficient help, he determined to do ilonc the work he had blocked out or both, and successfully worked out lie crop himself, by putting in more lours and working both horses?one l half a day while the other rested. iVhen fall came he had made a heavy :rop, a part of which averaged a bale o the acre, which was an unusual field in that day. Continuing in his way, at the breaking out of the var, Mr. Hardin owned one thousand acres of land and twenty-seven laves. When the war was over he iad little left except his thousand teres, and during the gloomy five rears succeeding '(?;>, seriously debattd as to whether or not he would sell his and move West. In 1870, however, he decided to reconnoitre a litle and in the spring went out to Misissippi to see the crop planted. In he fall he went back to see it gather?d, and returned to his home satisfied hat our own section is the garden pot of the earth. "If a man can't nake a living and get rich here, he leedn't try it anywhere else." Though owning such a large quanity of land Mr. Hardin does not beievein planting more cotton than he lan cultivate thoroughly. In fact he lislikes to plant an acre that will not nake a bale of cotton, but says that my of our lands can be made to make his much, at least. According to he South Carolina agricultural re>ort, in 1887 Mr. Hardin raised one >f the most remarkable cotton crops wer grown in this State?180 bales >n 100 acres of land with six mules. V part of this crop was a twelve icre patch which was given especial i? *i... .... mention unua mi' iiuim-uunc du>ervison of Mr. W. II. Hardin, Jr. t yielded 2(5 bales averaging ;">3i) lounds, or 31 four hundred and fifty jound bales. In securing this yield inly about four hundred pounds of ioniniercial fertilizer and twenty lushels of cotton seed was used to he acre. In company with Mr. Ilardin, the eporter rode over his plantation, and t prettier crop he has never seen. Though planted late, the cotton was ibout eighteen inches or two feet ugh (on the loth ultimo) and the veil developed stalks were growing ,'igorously. The first patch we came to, Mr. iardin said had been under cultivaion ever since colonial times. It had >een cultivated by his grandfather, lis father, and himself, and will make i bale of cotton to the acre this year. "Now you will notice one striking icculiarity about my cotton," said Vfr. Hardin. "I give it more distance ban most farmers. My opinion is hat as a rule it is planted too closely. <\ir ordinary land the rows should be it least three feet-a]tartaiul the stalks welvo to eighteen inches in the row. This is very important. Before this otton is done growing, it will have ocked across, and if you don't give t plenty of room, it can never properly develop. "Here is a row that seems to have teen skipped when the other cotton vas put in. 'litis it been planted tver ?" The row in question was ibout two-thirds sis hi^li as those on ither side of it. "No, it was all plsmted at the same ime, hut there is no fertilizer under hat row. You will lind one or more such rows in different parts of every e separate field. I do that intentional- e ly in order to test the value and qual- g ity of the fertilizers, and also the s< strength of the land with and with- t out them. Now you can see quite a | g marked difference in this case. If all k the cotton was like this row, it would o still have the appearance of being ? pretty good, but side by side it does tl not compare favorably." " "What kind of fertilizers do you use, Mr. Hardin ?" r "Sometimes cotton seed and acid r: and sometimes cotton seed and guano, and of course lots of stable ma- ci nure and litter." f< "And which gives the best results, a the guano or acid ?" tl "The acid, usually, though it is pretty hard to tell. The field on this h side of the road has acid under it and s< that on the other side has guano, fi The guano cotton, you will notice, g although no larger, seems to have i s< somewhat the healthiest color, and is i> at present giving the best promise, ri However, you can't tell what it will K? 181^ i] if; u mi HON. JOSEPH H. E S&'' THE CANDIDATE! do by fall. The result of my expo- j tii rience is rather in favor of acid. gi "Speaking of manure, here is an- i w other very important matter that a j it great many farmers are making a ' hi mistake in. I refer to this foolish- j tl ness of putting up a compost heap. I la I've done it?a great deal of it, but it | 01 doesn't pay. You lose a large per i tl cent, of the"most valuable element of j di your manure, which goes off in vapor, j c< There is no sense in that, for it doesn't j la do any good in the air. If you want 01 to get the best results and save all j bs the fertilizing properties of your acid t m and cottonseed, you must compost in \ 1} it 1 rni.1 ?ii frtC ground. LIltMiyuu Ulll IIW uuui- ; <11 ing. No vapor can escape, and all N the strength is retained." ai "Now, Mr. Hardin, I would like j tl you to give me your method of pre- j le paring the land' and cultivating a | hi crop of cotton from first to last." In "I'll tell you how to prepare the j a( land, but when it comes to cultivat- ! r;i ing, I have no fixed rule. In fact, ' tl there can he none?it depends alto- j T gether on the season. For instance, ; la at this time last year the cotton fields j m looked like it would pay to mow t m them, and this year we have no grass | m at all. So sometimes you cultivate one way and sometimes another?no j ai two years exactly alike. But to pre- pi pare the land, in the first place you I al break it up as deeply as you can get it p< with a grab plow. Then pulverize tl thoroughly with the Corbin Disk lx harrow. (And right here, about this d< harrow, I will say that it is the best tl agricultural implement that has ever c< been on a farm. I have two of them n< and any intelligent farmer who has hi used one will never again try to farm b< without it.) Now lay off your rows, and put in your cotton seed, stable tl manure, acid or guano. This should lo be put in very deeply. I always run ai a double furrow?a straight shovel as d< deeply as I can stave it, followed by a diamond pointed bull tongue. Cover this and plant your cotton. The only general rule from there out is to eul- ,Ji tivate shallow with the exception of the middle furrow which should be Fr the last plowing, and a double one as deep as you can get it. All litter ci manure should be applied on top of el the ground before harrowing." c< "How much commercial fertilizer C and how much cotton seed do you li use on an acre, Mr. Hardin." T "Usually about from two to three "1 hundred pounds of guano or acid and til anywhere from ten to twenty bush- it els of cotton seed. The more you lx use, however, the better it pays. It tl is hard to use too much. j\Ir. F. II. se Barber, you remember, said he was at going to try one thousand pounds T of guano on an acre to show people Si that it would burn the cotton up. B Well he has put on over two thous- tli and pounds, and I believe it is going in to actually nay him this year. But In even if it doesn't pay this year he cr can't lose anything." ai With very little variation Mr. fo Hardin follows the general rule of working his uplands in cotton two years, sowing down one year, and S( allowing it to grow up in weeds one (i year. During this year of rest Ik; r< will not allow any kind of stock "to ai put its foot on it." "In this way," is ho "it rem ho kont in eultivn- lx tion perpetually without wearing w out. If you haven't enough land to w do that, you can keep it in cotton to year after year, if you will put hack c<: everything except the lint, and sup- tl: pleinent it with about two hundred di pounds of commercial fertilizers to to the acre. Each year it will become is more and more productive." S. In speaking of wheat, Mr. Hardin deplores the fact that our people seem ai disposed to quit raising it. Head- tli mits that this year his wheat has cost to him about two dollars a bushel, hut si lie has harvested forty-two crops, and ti this is by far the poorest he has ever pi seen. He has, however, raised forty 111 bushels on an acre, and one year av- sc raged seventeen bushels on a whole rop. On bis plantation is a splendid rist and flour mill, which be built Dine fifteen years ago at a cost of ten bousand dollars. He used to buy a rent deal of Western wheat, and eeping a sample of his own wheat n hand, would offer the drummers a ertain advance on the car load if bey would come up to his sample. But they could never do it," says Ir. Hardin. "We raise as fine wheat ight here in this section as can be nisedin the world." Mr. Hardin said very little about orn except that he never bought any >r anybody. He has raised as high s eighty bushels to the acre. One of le fields we rode through was about ivo miles long, and the corn was sis igh as our heads sitting on the horis. It was all bottom land, beautiilly cultivated without a blade of rass or a weed to be seen, and the >il pulverized more thoroughly than i common in the ordinary garden Misting ear patch. But, getting back to a very imporCAPT. TJEN. K. TILLMAN. 1ARLE. * GEN. J 3 FOR GUBERNATORIi nit matter, Mr. I lardin said: "The peat trouble with all of us is that e try to work too much land, and is very foolish. I do it myself, ut somehow I can't help it. I see ic neighbors all preparing for a rgo crop and 1 go ahead and plant le too, although I know at the time lat I am doing wrong. Now it is itticult to estimate the maximum ipacity of an acre of land in cotton, ut 1 am satisfied, from actual demlstration, it is not less than three des. A great many people don't take one bale to three acres. Realr, you may take this whole.section ul it won't average much more, ow if they wotild put the same nount of work on one acre that ley are putting on three, it would at ast make a bale. That would pay imlsomely, while as it is they are sing money. A half a bale to the ire, hardly pays, and the cotton liser who makes only six bales to ic plow is barely paying expenses, here is scarcely an acre of cotton nd in this country that cannot be lade to yield a bale of cotton, and fit only that, with proper work and lanure, it can be done profitably. "Hut while I know these things e true I don't even practice what I reach myself to the best of my lility, and how can we expect other sople to try to make two bales to ic acre when there are very few who ilieve it can be done? AVby I fin't like to let you print the fact uit I have made a hundred bales of >tton on a hundred acres, to say Thing of a hundred ami eighty lies, because very few people will dieve it." "Well, Mr. Hardin, I'll just tell io.se peopje who are incredulous to ok at your corn crib, smoke house ul some of those other little evimces that speak for themselves." THE TOWN'S HIP BONDS. J I) (IE SIMOXTOX DECREES IX FAVOtt OF Til E RAILROAD AXD.JUDGE ROXD CONCURS. om the News nnd Courier. The decree of the United States rcuit court in the case of the Massalusetts and Southern Construction nnpany against the township of herokee, York county, South Carona, and the Boston Safe Deposit and rust company, better known as the township bonds case," has been led in the clerk's office. This case, will be remembered, was heard Tore Judges Bond andSimonton at ic May term. A multitude of coun1 appeared on both sides, and the guments occupied several days, he decree was prepared by Judge monton, and concurred in by Judge ond. It decides the case in favor of te complainant, and orders the bonds ; question to be delivered to him ; the Boston Safe Depostand Trust nnpany, in whose custody they now e. The text of the decision is as llows: 'NIK DECKEE. In 1S7S the (icncral Assembly of >uth Carolina incorporated the eorgctown and North Carolina Nar?w Gauge Railroad company. This t was amended in 1882, 18H8 and is"). The only amendments which ar on this case are the ones by liich the name of the corporation as changed into that of the Charles11, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad impany, and the one providing lat the townships on certain oonitions were authorized to subscribe i this road. This last amendment in these words (IS Stat, at Large, C., MO.) "It shall he and may be lawful for ly county or township interested in ic construction of the said railroad subscribe to its capital stock such mis as a majority of its voters vongat an election heldforthat pur>se may authorize the county eomlissioners to subscribe, which subription shall be made in 7 percent. j coupon bonds, payable twenty-fivi years after the date thereof, and t j be of the denomination of $100, $50< ' and $1,000. Such counties and town ! ships as shall vote for subscripts i are hereby created bodies politic an< | corporate under their respectiv ; names, and are vested with power necessary for carrying out the pro 1 visions of this act; and the com I missioners of any county so incor porated, or any county in which shal i be situated any township so incor 1 porated, are hereby declared to b< ' the corporate agents of such counts or township." ; At the time of the passage of thii ; Act there was no provision in tin constitution of South Carolina, or ii i any act of assembly of that State I conferring any corporate or othe: function or duty on townships. The} ! were simply territorial names cover nift tn uuu JJUI uuin ui u t iming, ur>cv for convenience only. On the f>tl September, 18H.r)fan election was heh under this act in Cherokee township York county, and a subscription o !f|p pill IP ^jp ki i ?iis OHN BKATTON. % ,>? !?#? AL NOMINATION. $2f>,000 voted to the capital stock ol this railroad company. Thereupon the county commissioners of York county made the subscription and prepared and executed the bonds. By an agreement made i>etween the Railroad company, the Massachusetts and Southern Construction company, (the complainant) and the' county commissioners, these bonds were placed in the hands of the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust company, t<; lie delivered to the complainant a> j the construction progressed between] certain points in this township, sc that upon the completion of the road through the township all the bond* | should be delivered. The delivery was to l>e made upon the certificate ol the engineer of the complainants thai the road had been so completed, endorsed by the chairman of the board of county commissioners. Under this agreement the road was built through this township. It was ; accepted by the railroad commission. ers on the 1st day of December, A. 1)., ! IKS?; $10,000 of bonds have been dej livered to the complainants, leaving i $8,400 still in the hands of the Boston Trust company. The chairman of the county commissioners of York county refuses to endorse the certificate oi the engineer that the road has l)een completed through Cherokee township, although he admits this fact to be true. The Boston Trust company has endorsed the bonds as required by the agreement and has them in hand ready for delivery. In fact the company is anxious to deliver them and is only awaiting the action of the chairman of the board of county commissioners. They have no claim upon and no interest whatever in the bonds. The bill is against the township setting out these facts, praying a specific performance on the part of tne township of its contract, and the delivery to complainant of these bonds and general relief. The refusal of the chairman of the board of county commissioners is based on this ground: The supreme court of South Carolina at April term, 1SS8, after these bonds had been prepared, signed and deposited with the Boston Trust company, decided that township bonds prepared ] and issued under the provisions of an ' act in this respect, like the one pro| viding for these bonds, were issued ; without constitutional authority and j were void. [Floyd vs. Perrin, .'10 S. j C., 1.] It may be noted that the i chairman of the county commission! ers was not bound under any agree1 ment to express or pass any opinion ' on the validity of these bonds, nor I was he to exercise any discretion whatever. All that he was to do under the agreement was to state a fact, to wit, that the railroad was built through the township. The consequence of that act he was in no sense | responsible for, as the board had al: ready done everything toward the issue of the bonds upon the occurrence of the fact be was called upon to staie. The case of Floyd vs. Perrin having been decided, the legislature passed in Decend)er, 1.S8H, an act to provide for the payment of township bonds issued in* aid of railroads in this .Shite (20 Statutes at Large, 12.) The constitutionality of this act has been sustained in State vs. Whitesides, 20 S. ( ., ;">79. The act recites that certain townships in this State have by vote expressed willingness to be taxed to pay bonds issued by them in aid of certain railroads, which bonds, by reason of defect in the acts authorizing their issue, have been declared invalid. For the purpose of carrying into effect the expressed will of the people of Jhese townships it is enacted that the township bonds heretofore issued*by county commissioners, as the corporate agents of any township in this State, in aid of any railroad by vote of the township are declared to be e debts of the township which author0 ized the issue of the same, the i) interest and principal to be paid by - tax levied annually on such town1 ship for the purpose to the holders of 1 such bonds its the interest may bee come due, according to the terms s thereof. All dividends on stock re ceived for such bonds are pledged to - the payment of such interest. No - tax shall be levied until the road is 1 completed through the township and - accepted by the railroad commissioni ers, and no interest which accrued 7 on said bonds before such completion is to be paid, s This act distinctly recognizes and b imposes on the townships these i bonds as a debt of the township to l>e , paid by the taxes levied on it; and r not a debt to take effect from the 7 passage of the act, but a debt pay able as to its interest from the day 1 the road is completed through the i township and is accepted by the 1 railroad commissioners. The bonds i , issued before the net was passed nre f recognized as in existence; the issue of no new bonds is required, and such l)onds are declared to lx? the debt of the township, according to their terms. That is to say, the bonds fix the amount of the debt, the interest payable thereon, the time for the payment of interest, the time for payment of principal, an<l the person to whom payable* As the taxes are to be levied annually, and when collected to l>e paid to the holders of said bonds, such holders are entitled to the possession of the bonds as muniments of title. Such is the result of the opinion' of the supreme court of South Carolina in the State vs. Neely,:!() S. C., <*05. If, as is contended, this is but the expression of an opinion upon a matter not necessary to the decision of a question before the court and so obiter dictum, we may construe the act for ourselves, and doing so have reached the same conclusion. The railroad having been completed through the township, the complainant is entitled to possession of the bonds. But the defendant insists ' that this right cannot l>e enforced under these proceedings. It objects to the jurisdiction of the court because the defendant, the Boston Trust company, is a citizen of the same State as the complainant. But no relief is asked against that company, no delict of the company has l>een set up, and no act is complained of. These pleadings and testimony all show that it is a mere stakeholder, with no interest whatever in these bonds, with no interest in the controversy as to their validity. It is called in merely to see that the defendant township does an act in fulfilment of its obligation to complainant. Then the trust company can complete its duty. (Foster, Fed. Pro., Sec. 18, page 2G.) It is said that the chairman of the board and the clerk of the -hoard should be parties. The former 'is one of the agents of the defendant corporation and the latter is his agent. The only act they can do is as such agents, for and on behalf of the principal, to certify that the road has been completed through the township. Surely when the: principal is present, the court can deal with it directly; can ascertain as a matter of fact whether the road has been completed through the township, and it upon this fact depends the delivery of the bonds to the complainant can order and direct such delivery. It is also alleged that complainant in this case is the assignee of a corporation of the State of South Carolina, and cannot sue a citizen of the State of South Carolina in this court. The relief sought in the bill is the possession of certain bonds to be field and used as muniments of title elsewhere. The bill does not seek to collect these bonds or coupons on them, or to collect the debt or any interest on it. It comes wholly within Dishler vs. ' Dodger, 15 Howard, 621. The question is as to the form of a decree. The bonds are to be delivered to complainant when the road has been completed through the township, and when f the agent of the defendant certifies to that fact on the engineer's certificate. The latter is on record. The defendI ant's agent refuses to endorse it. The fact remains, however, that the road > has been completed through the . township. The certificate providing 4-lw\ zlAlltfAHir A f f V? A time HJl llicucinn^ *?i II1VT mjuun nun n? the mutual convenience of the par, ties. i The court cannot permit that which , was intended for mutual convenience i to 1k? used by one of the parties as ! an unreasonable obstruction. The , act of the chairman in endorsing the I certificate would he an act binding 5 his principal as to the fact of the - completion of the road. For this f purpose only would it be desirable. The principal l>eing in court, the de. cree can bind it as effectually to the [ admission of this fact as his certificate would. It is ordered that the t Boston Trust company deliver to i complainant the bonds properly eer. titled. Things to he Found in the' Bible.?The learned prince of Granada, heir to the Spanish throne, and imprisoned by order of the crown, was kept in solitary confinement in . the old prison of the palace of Madrid. After thirty-three years in that living tomb, death came to his release. The following researches in the Bible, marked on the rough walls of his cell, told how his mind sought employment through the many years: In the Bible the word "Lord" is found 1,853 times; the word "Jehovah," 0,855 times; the word "reverned, but once?Psalm 3:9; the word "girl," but once?Joel 3:3. Psalm 117: S is the middle verse in the Bible; Isther8:9 is the longest verse in the Bible; John 11:35 is , the shortest verse in the Bible. In Psalm 107, four verses are alike?8, 15, 21 and 31. No names or words of more than six syllables are found in the Bible. Isaiah 37 and Second Kings 19 are the same. In the Bible there are 00 books, 1,189 chapters, 773,043 words, and 3,580,483 letters.| The 23rd Psalm is the most beautiful; the most cheering and inspiring promises, are in Matthew 11: 28, John 14:2 and 7: 37, Psalm 37:4. Isaiah 00:1 is most suitable for new converts; Matthew 7th chapter for vain boast ers; for all men, Luke 7tli chapter, from the 2l)th verse to the end of the chapter. The Most Alarming Sins.?Dr. Howard Crosby utters a startling truth in the following: "If I were called on to point out the most alarming sins of to-day?those which are most deceitful in their influence, and most soul destroying in their ultimate effects?I would' not mention drunkenness with all its fearful havoc, nor gambling with its crazed vrctims, nor harlotry with its hellish orgies : but the love of money on the part of men, and the love of display on the part of r women. While open vice sends its thousands, these fashionable and favored indulgences send their ten thousands to perdition. They sear the oonscienee. inerust the soul with tin impenetrable shell of worldliness, debauch the affections from every high and heavenly object, and make man or woman the worshiper of self. While doing all this the poor victim is allowed by public opinion to think himself or herself a Christian ; while the drunkard, the gambler or the prostitute is not deceived by such a thought for a moment." A Waste of Lead.?For fifty years military men clung to the belief that nothing but an ounce ball would do for an army musket. It is only within five years that they have come to see that if the lm.ll does not hit it is wasted. If it docs hit it kills no sooner than a bullet from a revolver. All the new arms now call for bullets no larger than a hunter uses.?[Detroit Free Press. A