Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i-Kwis >i- grist, proprietor. 1 gin independent ileirepaper: ,tfor the promotion of the political. Social, glgrirultural and Comniertial interests of the Eolith. | TERMS?*2.00 A YEAH IX ADVANCE. VOL. 39. YORKVTLLE, S. C? VP]DNESDAY, SLPTLMBLH 1 -3, 1 893. NO. 37. Waring BY CAPT. CHAR [Copyright, 1>SW by J. lb Lippinrott A' C XL The sunshine of an exquisite April morning was shimmering over the Louisiana lowlands as Battery "X" was "hitching in," and Mrs. Cram's pretty pony-phaeton came flashing through the garrison gate and reined up in front of the gun6. A proud and happy woman was Mrs, Cram, and daintily she gathered the spotless, crcam-coiorea reins ana sianteu ner long English driving-whip at the exact angle prescribed by the vogue of the day. By her side, reclining luxuriously on his pillows, was Sam Waring, now senior first lieutenant of the battery, taking his first airing since his strange illness. Pallid and thin though he was, that young gentleman was evidently capable of appreciating to the fullest extent the devoted attentions of which he had been the object ever since his return. Stanch friend and fervent champion of her husband's most distinguished officer at any time, Mrs. Cram had thrown herself into his cause with a zeal that - challenged the admiration even of the men whom she mercilessly snubbed because they had accepted the general verdict that Lascclles had died by Waring's hand. Had they met in the duello as practiced in the south in those days, sword to sword, or armed with pistol at twelve paces, she would have shuddered, but maintained that as a soldier and gentleman Waring could not have refused his opponent's challenge, inexcusable though such challenge might have been. But that he could have stooped to vulgar, unregulated fracas, without seconds or the formality of the cartel, first with fists and those women's weapons, nails, then knives or stilettoes, as though he were some low dago or Sicilian?why, that wus simply and utterly incredible. None the les3 she w'ks relieved and rejoiced, as were all Waring's 'friends, when the full purport of poor Doyle's dj-ing confession was noised abroad. Even those who were skeptical were now silenced. For four days her comfort and relief had been inexpressible; and then came the hour when, with woe and trouble in his face, her husband returned to her from Waring's bedside with the incomprehensible tidings that he had utterly repudiated Doyle's * confession?had, indeed, said that which could probably only serve to renew the suspicion of his own guilt, or else justify the theory that ho was demented. Though Cram and the doctor warned Waring not to talk, talk he would, to Pierce, to Ferry, to Ananias; and though these three were pledged by Cram to reveal to no one what Waring said, it plunged them in an agony of doubt and misgiving. Day after day had the patient told and retold the p* eiory, and never could cross-questioning shake him in the least. Cram sent for Reynolds and took him into their confidence, and Reynolds heard the story and added his questions, but to no effect. From first to last he remembered every incident up to his parting with Lascelles at his own gateway. After that?nothing. His story, in brief, was as follows: ne was both surprised and concerned' while smoking and chatting with Mr. Allerton in the rotunda of the St. Charles to see Lascelles, with a friend, evidently watching an opportunity of speaking with him. He had noticed about a week previous a marked dif ference in the old Frenchman's mam ner, and three days before the tragedy, when calling on his way from town to see madame and Nin Nin, was. Informed that they were not at home, and monsieur himself was the informant; nor did he, as heretofore, invite Waring to enter. Sam was a fellow who detested misunderstanding. Courteously, but positively, he demanded explanation. Lascelles shrugged his shoulders, but gave it. lie had heard too much of monsieur's attentions to madame, his wife, and desired their immediate discontinuance. He must request monsieur's assurance that he would not again visit Heau Rivage, or else the reparation due a man of honor, etc. "Whereupon," said Waring, "I didn't propose to be outdone in civility, and therefore replied, in the best French I could command: 'Permit me to tender monsieur?both. Monsie\ir's friends will find me at the barracks.'" "All the same," said Waring, "when I found madame and Nin Nin stuck in the mud I did what I considered the proper thing, and drove them, coram publico, to 'bonne maman's,' never letting them see, of course, that there was anv row on tan. and so when I saw the old fellow with a keen-looking party alongside I felt sure it meant mischief. I was utterly surprised, * therefore, when Lascclles came up with hat off and hand extended, bowing low, praying pardon for the intrusion, but saj-ing he could not defer another instant the desire to express his gratitude the most profound for my extreme courtesy to madame and his beloved child. lie had heard the whole story, and, to my confusion, insisted on going over all the details before Allerton, even to my heroism, as he called it, in knocking down that big bully of a cabman. I was confused, yet couldn't shake him off. lie was persistent He was abject. He begged to meet my friend, to present his, to open champagne and drink eternal friendship, lie would change the name of his chateau?the rotten old rookery ?from Ilcau Itivage to belle Alliance. He would make this day a fete in the calendar of the Lascelles family. And then it began to dawn on me that he had been drinking champagne before he came. I did not catch the name of the other gentleman, a much younger man. lie was very ceremonious and polite, but distant. Then, in some way, came up the fact that I had been trying to get a cab co take me back to barracks, and then Lascelles declared that nothing could be more opportune, lie had secured a carriage and was just going down with monsieur. They 4 had des affaires to transact at once. He took me aside and said: 'In proof that you accept my amende, and in order that I may make to you my personal apologies, you must accept my invitation.' So go with them I did. I was all the time thinking of Cram's mysterious not. bidding mc return at taps. 1 couldn't imagine what was ip, but I made my best endeavors to get & cab. None was to be had, so I was really thankful for this opportunity All the way down Lascelles overwhelmed me with civilities, and I could only murmur and protest, and the other part}- only murmured approba.? tion. He hardly spoke English at all. Then Lascelles insisted cm a stop at the Pelican, and on bumpers of champagne, and there, as luck would have it, was Doyle?drunk, as usual, and determined to join the party; and, though I endeavored to put him aside, Lascelles would not have it. He insisted on being presented to the comrade of his gallant friend, and in the private room where we went he overwhelmed Doyle with details of our grand reconciliation and with bumper after bumper of Krug. This enabled me to fight shy of tho wine, but in ten minutes Doyle was fighting drunk, Lascelles tipsy. The driver came in for his pay, saying ho would go no further. They had a row. Lascelles wouldn't pay; called him an Irish thief and all that. I slipped my last V into the driver's hand and got him out, somehow. M. I'hilippes, or whatever his name was, said ho would go out?he'd get a cab in the neighborhood; and the uext ;s Peril. | LES KING, U. S. A. _ o? and published by special arrangement.] thin? I knew Lascclles and Doyle were in a fury of a row. Lascclles said all the Irish were knaves, and blackguards and swindlers, and l)o3"lc stumbled around after him. Out came a pistol! Out came a knife! I tripped Doyle and got him into a chair, and was so intent on pacifying him and , telling him not to make a fool of himself that I didn't notice anything else. I handled him good-naturedly, got the knife away, and then was amazed to find that lie had my own pet papercutter. I made them shake hands and make up. 'It was all a mistake,' said Lascclles. But what made it a worse mistake, the old man would ! J If hraniln uruer inuiu wiuv, uuu ???vu i? wiwuvij, lie insisted on celebrating this second grand reconciliation, and then both got drunker, but the tall Frenchman had Lascclles' pistol and I had the knife, and then a cab came, and, though it was storming beastly and I had Ferry's duds on and Larkin's best tile and Pierce's umbrella, we bundled in somehow and drove on down the levee, j leaving Doyle in the hands of that Amazon of a wife of his and a couple ' of doughboys who happened to be around there. Now Lascclles was all hilarity, singing, joking, confidential. Nothing would do but we must stop and call on a lovely woman, a belle amlc. lie could rely on our discretion, he said,laying his finger on his nose,and J looking sly and coquettish, for all the world like some old roue of a Frenchman. lie must stop and see her and take her some wine. 'Indeed,'he said, 1 mysteriously, 'it is a rendezvous.'Well, I was their guest; I had no money. What could I do? It was then after eleven, I should judge. M. I'hilippes, i or whatever his name was, gave orders to the driver. We pulled up, and then, to my surprise, I found we were at Doyle's. That ended it. I told them i they must excuse me. They protested, j but of course I couldn't go in there. So they took a couple of bottles apiece , and went in the gate and I settled my- : self for a nap and got it. I don't know 1 how long I slept, but I was aroused by tho devil's own tumult. A shot had been fired. Men and women both were screaming and swearing. Some one , suddenly burst into the cab beside me, j really pushed from behind, and ^.hcn ' away we went through the mud and ; rain; and the lightning was flashing | now, and presently I could recognizo Lascclles, raging. Tnfnme!' 'Coquin!' 'Assassin!' were the mildest terms he was volleying at somebody, and then, recognizing me, he burst into maudlin tears, swore I was his only friend. He had been insulted, abused, denied rep- i aration. Was he hurt? I inquired, and instinctively felt for my knife. It was ; still thore where I'd hid it in the in- i side pocket of my overcoat. No hurt; , not a blow. Did I suppose that he, a Frenchman, would pardon that or leave the spot until satisfaction had j been exacted? Then I begged him to j be calm and listen to me for a moment. I I told him my plight?that I had given my word to be at the barracks that j evening; that I had no money left, but ! I I could go no further. Instantly he | j forgot his woes and became absorbed | in my affairs. 'Parole d'honneur!' he j would see that mlno was never unsullied. lie himself would escort me to the malson de Capitaine Cram. lie would rejoice to say to that brave en- | nemi, Heboid! here is thy lieutenant, . I of honor the most unsullied, of cour- | age the most admirable, of heart the I most magnanimous. The Lord only j knows what he wouldn't have done had we not pulled up at his gate. There I | ! helped him out on the banquette. lie j was steadied by his row, whatever it had been. He would not let me expose i myself?even under Pierce's umbrella, j j He would not permit me to suffer j j 'from times so of the dog.' 'You will drive monsieur to his home and return here for me at once,' he ordered cabby, grasped both my hands with fervent good night and the explanation that; he had much haste, implored pardon for leaving me?on the morrow ho , would call and explain everything? then darted into the gate. We never could have parted on more friendly terms. I stood for a moment to see that he safely reached his door, for a light was dimly burning in the hall, ! then turned to jump into the cab, but it wasn't there. Nothing was there. I ' jumped from the banquette into a berth aboard some steamer out at sea. They tell me the first thing I asked for was Pierce's umbrella and Larkin's hat." And this was the story that Waring maintained from first to last. ''Pills" ventured a query as to whether the amount of Ivrug and Clicquot conj sumed might not have overthrown his mental equipoise. No, Sam declared, he drank very little. "The only Bacchanalian thing I did was to join in a jovial chorus from a new French opera which Lascclles' friend piped up and I had heard in the north: "Out, buvons, buvons encore! S'il est un vln qu'on ailore De Paris a Macao, C'est le Clicquot, e'est le Clicquot." Asked if he had formed any conjecture as to the identity of the stranger, l Sam said no. The name sounded like ' "Philippes," but he 'couldn't be sure. Hut when told that there were rumors to the effect that Lascclles' younger brother had been seen with him twice or thrice of late, and that lie had been in exile because, if anything, of a hopeless passion for madame his sister-inlaw, and that his name was Philippe, i * i i i rut. l.l.... waring iookcu tuizeu. jlih-u u auuiau light, us of newer, fresher memory, Hashed up in his eyes. He seemed about t<> speak, but as suddenly controlled himself and turned his face to the wall. From that time on he was determinedly dumb about the stranger. What roused him to lively interest and j conjecture, however, was Cram's query as to whether lie had not recognized in the cabman called in bv the stranger the very one whom lie had "knocked endwise" and who had tried to shoot him that morning. "No," said Waring, "the man did not speak at all, that I noticed, and I did not once see his face, he was so bundled up against the storm." But if it was the same party, suggested he, it seemed hardly necessary to look any further in explanation of his own disappearance. Cabby had I simply squared matters by knocking him senseless, helping himself to his watch and ring and turning out his pockets, then hammering him until frightened off, and then, to cover his tracks, setting him afloat in Anatole's boat. ' - 1- - t 1 I.. 4k? "remaps cauuy iook u uunu m cue murder, too," suggested Sain, with eager interest. "You say lie had disappeared?gone with his plunder. Now, who else could have taken my knife?" Then Reynolds had something to tell him; that the "lady" who wrote the anonymous letters, the belle amio whom Lascelles proposed to visit, the occupant of the upper floor of "the dove-cot," was none other than the blighted floweret who had appealed to him for aid and sympathy, for fifty dollars at :lrst and later for more, the lirst year of his army service in the south, "for the sake of the old home." Then Waring grew even more excited and interested. 'Tills" put a stop to further developments for a few days. He feared a relapse. Hut, in spite of 'Tills," the developments, like other maladies, throve. The little detective came down again, lie was oddly inquisitive about that chanson a boire from "Flcur de The." Would Mr. Waringjhum it for him? And Sam, now sitting up in his parlor, turned to his piano, and with long, i slender, fragile-looking fingers rattled a lively prelude and then faintly quavered the rollicking words. "Odd," said Mr. Pepper, as they hsul grown to call him, "I heard that sung by a fellow up in Chartres street two nights hand-running before this thing happened?a merry cuss, too, with a rather loose hand on his shekels. Lots of people may know it, though, mayn't they?" "No, indeed, not down here," said Sam. "It only came out in New York ...1..J* ?n.l lincn't. been south or west at all, that I know of. What did he look like?" "Well, what did the fellow that was with you look like?" Hut here Sam's description grew vague. So Pepper went up to have a beer by himself at the cafe cliantant on Chartres street, and didn't return for nearly a week. Meantime eaine this exquisite April morning and Sam's appearance in the pony phaeton in front of Battery "X." Even the horses seemed to prick up their ears and be glad to see him. Grim obi war sergeants rode up to touch their caps and express the hope that they'd soon have the lieutenant in command of the right section again "not but what Loot'n't Perry's doing first-rate, sir"?and for a few minutes, as his fair charioteer drove him around the battery, in his weak, languid voice Waring indulged in a little of his own characteristic chaffing: "I expect .you to bring this section up to top notch, Mr. Perry, as I am constitutionally opposed to any work on my own account. I beg to call your attention, sir, to the fact that it's very bad form to appear with full dress schabraquc on your horse when the battery is in fatigue. The red blanket, sir, the red blanket only should be tised. Be good enough to stretch .your traces there, right caisson. Yes, I thought so, swing trace is twisted. Carelessness, Mr. Ferry, and indifference to duty are things I won't tolerate. Your cheek strap, too, sir, is an inch too long. Your bit will fall through that horse's nunith. This won't do, sir, not in my section, sir. I'll fine j-ou a box of Partagas if it occurs again." But the blare of the bugle sounding "attention" announced the presence of the batterj* commander. Xell whipped \ip in nn instant and whisked her invalid out of the way. "Good morning, Capt. Cram," said he, as he passed his smiling chief. "I regret to observe, sir. that things have been allowed to run down somewhat in my absence." "Oh, out with you, you combination of cheek and incapacity, or I'll run you down with the whole battery. Oh! Waring, some gentlemen in a carriage have just stopped at your quarters, all in black, too. Ah, here's the orderly now." And the card, black bordered, handed into the phaeton, bore a name which blanched Waring's face: <#/. fjhiUppc gascellef, N'lle Orlearn. "Why, what is it, Waring?" asked Cram, anxiously, bending down from his saddle. For a moment Waring was silent. Mrs, Cram felt her own hand trembling. "Can you turn the battery over to Ferry and come with me?" asked the lieutenant. "Certainly. JJugler, report to Lieut. Ferry and tell him I shall have to be absent for awhile. Drive on, Nell." When, five minutes later, Waring was assisted up the stairway, Cram towering on his right, the little party came upon a group of strangers?three gentlemen, one of whom stepped courteously forward, raising his hat in a black-gloved hand. He was of medium height, slender, erect and soldierly in bearing; his faclc was dark and oval, his eyes large, deep and full of light. Tie snoko mainlv in Enerlisli. but with marked accent, and the voice was soft and melodious. "I fear I have intrude. Have I the honor to address Lieut. Waring1? I am Philippe Lascelles." For a moment Waring was too amazed to speak. At last, with brightening face and holding forth his hand, he said: "I am most glad to meet you?to know that it was not you who drove down with us that night." "Alas, no! I left Armand but that very morning, returning to Havana, thence going to Santiago. It was not until five days ago the news reached me. It is of that stranger I come to ask." It was an odd council gathered there in Waring's room in the old barracks that April morning while Ferry was drilling the battery to his heart's content and the infantry companies were wearily'going over the manual or bayonet exercise. Old llrax had been sent for, and came. M. Lascelles' friends, both, like himself, soldiers of the south, were presented, and for their information Waring's story was again told, with only most delicate allusion to certain incidents which might be considered as reflecting on the character and dignity of the elder brother. And then Philippe told his. True, there had been certain transactions between Armand and himself. lie had fully trusted his brother, a man of affairs, with the management of the little inheritance which ho, a soldier, had no idea how to handle, and Armund's business had suffered greatly by the war. It was touching to see how in every word the younger strove to conceal the fiu't Hint tho elder had misannlicd the securities and hud been practically faithless to his trust. Everything, ho declared, had been finally settled as between theiu that very morniny before his return to lluvuna. Armand had brought to him early all papers remaing in his possession and had paid him what was justly due. He knew, however, that Armand was now greatly embarrassed in his affairs. They lia?l parted with fond embrace, the most a licetinnate of brothers. Tint l'liilippc hail been seeing and hearing enough to make him gravely apprehensive as to Arinand's future, to know that his business was rapidly going down-hill, that he had been raising money in various ways, speculating, and had fallen into the hands of sharp| ers, and yet Armand would not admit it, would not consent to accept help or to use his younger brother's property in any way. "The lawyer," said Philippe, "informed me that Beau Itivage was heavily mortgaged, and it Is feared that there will be nothing left for inadainc and Nin Nin, though, for that matter, they shall never want." What he had also urged, and he spoke with reluctance here, and owned it only because the detectives told him it was now well known, was that Armand had of late been playing the role of gal ant liommo, and that the woman in the case had lied. Of all this he felt, lie said, hound to speak fully, because in coming here with his witnesses to meet Lieut. Waring and his friends lie had two objects in view. The first was to admit that lie had accepted as fact the published reports that Lieut. Waring was probably his brother's slayer; had hastened hack to New Orleans to demand justice or obtain revenge; had here learned from the lawyers and police that there were other and much more probable theories, having heard only one of which lie had cried: "Enough," and had come member of your family who entertains the idea that it was I who killed Ar| mand Laseellcs?" And l'hilippe was deeply embar| rassed. j "All, monsieur," he answered, "I i could not venture to intrude myself \ 1 upon a grief so sacred. I have not j seen madame, and who is there who j could?who would?tell her of Ar| mand's?" And Philippe broke off j abruptly, with despairing shrug, and outward wave of his slender hand, j "Let us try to see that she never does know," said Waring. "These are \ ; the men we need to find: the driver of | ! the cab, the stranger whose name sounded so like yours, a tall, swarthy, black-haired, blaek-eved fellow with pointed mustache?" j "(."est lui! e'est bien lui!" exclaimed Lascelles?"the verj' man who insisted I on entering tlie private office where, j Annand and I, we close o\ir affairs | that morning. His whispered words ; make my brother all of pale, and yet ' he go off humming to himself." "Oh, we'll nail him," said Cram, j "Two of the best detectives in the j j south are on his trail now." And then came Ananias with a ( silver tray, champagne and glasses | (from Mrs. Cram), and the conference went on another hour before the guests went off. "Mess my soul!" said Rrax, whose | diameter seemed in no wise increased by the quart of Roederer he had j swallowed with such gusto?"bles9 | ' my soul! and to think I believed that | we were going to have a duel with ' I some of those fellows a fortnight or so j ! ago!" ! Then entered "Pills" and ordered I , Waring back to bed. lie was sleeping j placidly when, late that evening, j | Reynolds and Cram came tearing up j the stairway, full of great news; but i the doctor said not to wake him. Meantime, how fared it with that j bruised reed, the lone widow of the I late Lieut. Doyle? Poor old Jim had ; been laid away with military honors under the flag at Chalmette, and his faithful Rridget was spending the I days in the public calaboose. Drunk j j and disorderly was the charge on | | which she had been arraigned, and, though she declared herself almndantj ly able to pay her fine twice over, Mr. Popper had warned the authorities to ] keep her under lock and ke}' and out i of liquor, us her testimon}* would be of i vital importance, if for nothing better j than to send her up for perjury. Now ' she was alternately wheedling, curs- j ing. coaxing, bribing; all to no purpose. The agent of the Lcmaitro property had swooped down on the dove ; cot and found a beggarly array of empty bottles ami a good deal of discarded feminine gear scattered about ! on both floors. One room in which cer! tain detectives were vastly interested j contained the unsavory relics of a late ppcr. Three or four empty champagne bottles, some shattered glasses, and, what seemed most to attract them, various stubs of partially consumed cigarettes, lay about the tables and floor. Adjoining this was the chamber which had been known as Mrs. Dawson's, and this, too, had been thoroughly explored. 'Louette, who had disappeared after Doyle's tragic death, was found not faraway, and the police thought it but fair that Mrs. Doj'lc should not be deprived of the services of her maid. Then came other additions, though confined in other sections of the city. Mr. Pepper wired that the party known as M. Philippcs had been run to earth and would reach town with him by train about the same time that another of the force rei turned from Mobile by boat, bringing a young man known as Dawson and wanted as a deserter, and a very sprightly young lady who appeared to move in a higher sphere of life, but was unquestionably his wife, for the officer could prove their marriage in South | ; Carolina in the spring of 'Cf>. As Mr. ^ Pepper expressed it when he reported j i to Reynolds: ''It's almost a full hand, | but, for a fact, it's only a bobtail flush. : We need that cabman to fill." "llowdidyou trace Philippcs?" asked Reynolds. "Him? Oh, he was too darned rausi- ! cal. It was?what do j*ou call it?? i 1 I'lure dc Taj' that did for him. Why, 1 he's the fellow that raised all the moncj' and most of the h?11 for this old man Lascelles. He'd been sharpI ing him for years." "Well, when can wo bring this thing to a head?" asked the aide-de-camp. 1 "I'oco ticmpo! by Saturday, I reckon." Hut it came sooner. Waring was seated one lovely evening in a low reclining chair on Mrs. | Cram's broad gallery, sipping content- i edly at the fragrant tea she had handed i him. The band was playing, and a number of children were chasing about in noisy glee. The men were at supper, ' ^he officers, as a rule, at iness. For several minutes the semi-restored invalid had not spoken a word. In one ' of his customary day-dreams he had been calmly gazing at the shapely white hand of his hostess, "all queenly with its weight of rings." "Will you permit me to examine those rings a moment?" he asked. "Why, certainly. No, you sit still, Mr. Waring," she replied, promptly rising, and. pulling them off her fingers, dropped them into his open palm. With j the same dreamy expression on his clear-cut, pallid face, he turned them , over and over, held them up to the i light, finally selected one exquisite ' gem. and then, half rising, held forth , the others. As she took them and still stood beside his chair as though patiently waiting, he glanced up. "Oh, beg pardon. You want this, I suppose?" and, handing her the dainty j teacup, calmly slipped the ring into his waistcoat-pocket and languidly murmured: "Thanks." "Well, I like that." "Yes? So do I, rather bcUer than the others." I "May I ask what you purpose doing with my ring?" "I was just thinking. I've ordered a new Amidon for Larkin, a new ninetydollar suit for Ferry, and I shall be decidedly poor this month, even if we re to pray the forgiveness of Mr. Waring* for having believed an ollieer and a gentleman guilty of so foul a crime. Second, 1 c had come to invoke his aid in running down the murderer, l'hilippe was affected almost to tears. ''There is one question I must beg to usk irionsHMir, .sum tu^: i oliispetl hands. "!. > thorn not still a over us, demanding' to know what it meant. Then like another flash he seemed to realize what was up, sprang back and drew pistol. lie had caught us in the net. There was nothing else to do; we both sprang upon him. He flred and liit me, but only in the arm, i and before he could pull trigger again cover Morton's watch." "Oh, well, if it's only to pawn one, why not take a diamond?" "lint it isn't." "What then, pray?" "Well, again I was just thinking1? whether I could find another to match this up in town, or send this one?to her." "Mr. Waring! Really?" And now Mrs. Cram's bright eyes are dancing with eagerness and delight. For all answer, though his own eyes begin to moisten anil swim, he draws from an inner pocket a dainty letter, postmarked from a far, far city to the northeast. "You dear fellow! How can 1 tell | you how glad I am! 1 haven't dared to ask you of her since we met a" Washington, but?oh, my heart has been just full of her since?since this trouble came." "God bless the trouble! it was that that won her to me at lust. I have loved her ever since I first saw her? long years ago." "Oh! oil! oh! if Ned were only here! I'm wild to tell hiin. I may, mayn't IV" "Yes, the moment lie comes." Rut Ned brought a crowd with him when lie got back from town a little later. Reynolds was there, and Philippe Lascelles, and Mr. Pepper, and they had a tale to tell that must needs be condensed. They had all been present l>y invitation of the civil authorities at a very dramatic affair during the late afternoon?the final lifting of the veil that hid from public view the "strange, ' eventful history'' of the Lascelle.s tragedy. Cram was the spokesman by comI mon consent. "With the exception of j the Dawsons," said he, "none of the j parties implicated knew up to the hour of his or her examination that any one of the others was to appear." Mrs. Dawson, caper to save her own pretty neck, had told her storj' without reservation. Dawson knew nothing'. The story had heen wrung from her piecemeal, but was finally told in full, and in the presence of the officers and civilians indicated. She had married in April, '05, to the scorn of her people, a young- Yankee officer attached to the commissary department. She had starved all through the war. She longed for life, luxury, comforts. She had nothing but her beauty, he nothing but his pay. The extravagances of a month swamped him; the drink and desperation for the next ruined him. He maintained her in luxury at the best hotel only a few weeks, then all of his own and much of Uncle Sam's monej' was gone. Inspection proved him a thief and embezzler. lie fled, and she was abandoned to her own resources. She had none but her beauty aud a gift of penmanship which covered the many sins of her orthograplij'. She was given a clerkship, but wanted more money, and took It, blackmailing a quartermaster. She imposed on Waring, but he quickly found her out and absolutely refused afterwards to see her at all. She was piqued and angered, "a woman scorned," but not until he joined Battery "X" did opportunity present itself for revenge. She had secured a room under Mrs. Doyle's reputable roof, to be near the barracks, where she could support herself by writing for Mrs. Doyle and blackmailing those whom she lured, and where she could watch him, and, to her eager delight, she noted and prepared to make much of his attentions to Mme. Lascelles. Incidentally, too, she might inveigle the susceptible Lascelles himself, on the principle that there's no fool like an old fool. Mrs. Doyle lent herself eagerly to the scheme. The letters began to pass to and fro again. Lascelles was fool enough to answer, and when, all on a sudden, Mrs. Doyle's "long-missing relative," as she called him, turned up, a pensioner on her charity, it was through the united efforts of the two women he got a situation as cab-driver at the stable up at the eastern skirt of the town. Dawson had enlisted to keep from starving, and, though she had no use for him as a husband, he would do to fetch and carry, and he dare not disobey. Twice when Doyle was battery officer of the day did this strangely - assorted pair of women entertain Lascelles at supper and fleece him out of what money lie had. Then came Pliilippcs with Lascelles in Mike's cab, as luck would have it, but they could not fleece Pliilippcs. Old Lascelles was rapidly succumbing to Nita's fascinations when came the night of the terrible storm. Mike had got to drinking, and was laid low by the lieutenant. Mike and Bridget both vowed vengeance. But meantime Doyle himself had got wind of something- that was going on, and he and his tyrant had a fearful row. lie commanded her never to allow a man inside the premises when he was away, and, though brought home drunk that awful night, furiously ordered the Frenchman out, and might have assaulted them had not Bridget lassoed him with a chloroformed towel. That was the last he knew until another day. Lascelles, Philippcs and she, Mrs. Dawson, had already drunk a bottle of champagne when interrupted by Doyle's coming. Lascelles was tipsy, had snatched his pistol and fired a shot to frighten Doyle, but had only enraged him. and then he had to run for his cab. He was bundled in and Doyle disposed of. It was only three blocks down to Heau liivage, and thither Mike drove them in all the storm. She did not know at the time of.Waring's being in the cab. In less than fifteen minutes Mike was back and called excitedly for Bridget; had a hurried consultation with her; she seized a waterproof and ran out with him, but darted back and took the bottle of chloroform she had used on her husband, now lying limp and senseless on a sofa below, and then she disappeared. When half an hour passed and Lascelles failed to return with thera, bringing certain papers of which he'd been speaking to I'hilippcs, the latter declared there must be something wrong, and went out to rcconnoiter despite the storm. He could see nothing-. It was after midnight when Mrs. Doyle came rushing in, gasping, all out of breath, "along of the storm," she said. She had been down the levee with Mike to find a cushion and Inp-robe he dropped and couldn't afford to lose. They never could have found it at all "but for ould Lasccllcs lending thcra a lantern." lie wanted Mike to bring down two bottles of champagne he'd left here, but it was storming so that he would not venture again, and Lieut. Waring, she said, was going to spend the night with Lasccllcs at Ileau Rivage; Mike couldn't drive any further down towards the barracks. Lasccllcs sent word to Philippes that he'd bring up the papers first thing in the morning, if the storm lulled, a* 1 Philippes went <iet indignantatall too time lost, but Mike swore he'd not drive down again for a fortune. So the Frenchman got into the cab and went up with him to town. The moment he was gone Mrs. Doyle declared she was dead tired, used up, and drank huge goblets of the wine, until s.ie reeled off to her room, leaving an apron behind. Then Mrs. Dawson went to her own room, after putting out the lights, and when, two days later, she heard the awful news of the murder, knowing that investigation would follow and she and her sins be brought to light, she fled, for she had enough of his money in her possession, and poor demented Dawson, finding her gone, followed. Philippes' story corroborated this in every particular. The last he saw of the cab or of the cabman was near the house of the hook and ladder company east of the French market. The driver there said his horse was dead beat and could do no more, so Philippes went into the market, succeeded in getting another cab by paying a big price, slept at Cassidy's, waited all the morning about Lasccllcs' place, and finally, having to return to the northeast at once, lie took the evening train on the Jackson road and never heard of the murder until ten days after. Ho was amazed at his arrest. And then came before his examiners a mere physical wreck?the shadow of liis former self?eaugnt at the nign tide of a career of crime and debauchery, a muah less bulky party than tho truculent Jcliu of Mme. Las-: celles' cab, yet no less important a witness than the same driver, lie was accompanied by a priest. He had been brought hither In an ambulance from the Hotel Dieu, where he had been traced several days before and found almost at death's door. His confession was most important of all. lie had struck Lieut. Waring1 as that officer turned away from Lasccllcs' gate, intending only to down and then kick and hammer him, but lie had struck wit h a lead-loaded rubber clul). and he was horrified to see him drop like one dead. Then he lost his nerve nnd drovo furiously hack for llridget. Together they returned and found Waring lying there as he had left him on the dripping banquette. "You've killed him, Mike. There's only one thing to do," she said; "take his watch and everything valuablo ho has, and we'll throw him over on the levee." She herself took the knife from his overcoat pocket, lest he should recover suddenly, and then, said the driver, "even as wc were bending over him there eainc a sudden flash of lightnine. and there was Lasccllcs bending ' we both grappled liiin. 1 seized his i gun, Bridget iiis throat, hut he screamed and fought like a tiger, then wilted all of a sudden. I was seared and helpless, hut she had her wits about her and told mo what to do. The lieutenant began to gasp and revive just then, so she soaked the handkerchief in chloroform and placed it over his mouth, and together we lifted him into the cab. Then we raised Bascelles and carried him in and laid him on his sofa, for he had left the door open and the lamps on the table. Bridget had been there before and knew all about the house. We set the pistol back in his hand but couldn't make the fingers grasp it. We ransacked the desk and got what money there was, locked and bolted the doors and climbed out of the side window, under which she dropped the knife among1 the bushes. 'They'll never suspect us in the world, Mike,' she said. I 'It's the lieutenant's knife that did it, and, as he was going to fight him anyhow, he'll get the credit of it all.' Then wo drove up the levee, put Waring in Anatolo's boat, sculls and all, and shoved him off. 'I'll muzzle Jim,' i she said. 'I'll make him believe that ! 'twas he that did it when he was i drunk.' She took most of the money end the watch and ring. She said slio could hide them until they'd be needed. Then I drove Pliilippes up to town until I began to get so sick and faint I could do no more. I turned the cab loose and got away to a house where I know thej*'d take care of me, and from there, when my money was gone, they sent me to the hospital, thinking I was dying. I swear to God I never meant to more than get square with the lieutenant. I never struck Lascelles at ! all; 'twas she who drove the knife into j his heart." Then, exhausted, he was led into an adjoining room, and Mrs. Doyle was marched in, the picture of injured Irish innocence. For ten minutes, with wonderful effrontery and nerve, she denied all personal participation in the crime, and faced her inquisitors with brazen calm. Then the chief quietly turned and signaled. An ofilcer led forward from one side the wreck of a cabman, supported by the priest; a door opened on the other, and, escorted by another policeman, Mrs. Dawson reentered, holding in her hands outstretched a gingham npron on which ??*? /? ?" /-> /Innr, ctnincs thn shnnn and V"wr "vv(/ ?? 1? size of a long, straight-bladed, twoedged knife. It was the apron Jhat Bridget Doyle had worn that fatal night One quick, furtive look at that, one glance at her trembling, shaking, cowering kinsman, and, with an Irish howl of despair, a loud wail of "Mike, Mike, you've sworn your sister's lifo away!" she threw herself upon the floor, tearing madly at her hair. And so ended the mystery of IJcau Rivage. There was silence a moment in Cram's pretty parlor when the captain had finished his story. Waring was the first to speak: "There is one point I wish they'd clear up." "What's that?" said Cram. "Who's got Morton's watch?" "Oh, by Jove! I quite forgot. It's all right, Waring. Anatole's place was 'pulled' last night, and he had her valuables all done up in a box. 'To pay for his boat,' he said." * * * ? ? * A quarter of a century has passed j away since the scarlet plumes of Light j Battery "X" were last seen dancing j along the levee below New Orleans. ! Beau Rivage, old and moss-grown at 1 the close of the war, fell into rapid de: cline after the tragedy of that April night. Heavily mortgaged, the property passed into other hands, hut for years never found a tenant. Far and I ?-??? - lw. ? rtrtHAAP etAAlrn r\f fhrt llAmA. llUtli inc o^/unv; ui vuw uuutv stead as haunted, and none of their race could be induced to set foot within its {fates. One night the sentry at the guardhouse saw sudden light on the westward sky, and then a column | of flame. Again the fire alarm resounded among the echoing walls of the barracks; but when the soldiers reached the scene, a seething ruin was all that was left of the old southern home. Somebody sent Cram a marked copy of a New Orleans paper, and in their cozy quarters at Fort Hamilton the captain read it aloud to his devoted Nell: "The old house has been vacant, an object of almost superstitious dread to the neighborhood," said the Times, "ever since the tragic death of Armand Lasccllos in the spring of 1808. In police annals the affair was remarkable because of the extraordinary chain of circumstantial cvidenccwhich for a time seemed to fasten the murder upon an officer of the army then stationed at Jackson barracks, but whose innocence was triumphantly established. Mme. Lasccllcs, it is understood, is now educating her daughter in Paris, whither she removed immediately after her marriage, a few months ago, to Capt. Philippe Lascellcs, formerly of the confederate army, a younger brother of her first husband." "Well," said Cram, "I'll have to send that to Waring. They're in Vienna by this time, I suppose. Look here, Nell, how was it that when we fellows were fretting about Waring's attentions to madamc, you should have been so 1 serenely superior to it all, even when, as I know, the stories reached you?" "Ah, Ned, I knew a story worth two of those, lie was in love with Natalie Maitland all the time." PiIIE END1 A DEEP GULF. liio liangcm uncoiiim-rcii m r..\|>iuun6 ? , by Meitn* of ii Hope. Under the Icononzo bridge over the Snmapaz river in tin; United States of Colombia is a black gulf :>()() feet deep. A few feet below the bridge is a great bowlder, which can be reached by going down the rocky sides of the ravine, and from which the river can be seen and , heard as it dashes against the rocks, i This abyss was explored some years ago. Twelve strong men took their places around an opening in the rocks over the ; gulf. They fastened stout leather ropes . to Jean, who was to make the descent, and arranged another rope for "telegraphic correspondence" by means of liti tie pieces of paper, in case Jean's voice could not be heard. They lowered him slowly, and soon he 6tood on a ledge beneath the great bowli der. Thence he was lowered some 5)0 feet farther and stopped again to exploro . a cavern filled with owls. He captured I a bird and took a nest with some eggs. Thirty feet, below this lie explored another cavern, where the air was thick | with birds. The floor of this cavern projected into the gulf, and below that Jean could not be seen from above. Now began the dangers of his undertaking. lie hung like a spider on the end of a thread, and could neither be seen nor beard from above, and ! the "telegraphic line" bad been broken. At the next cavern lie was attacked by the owls. He defended himself against their sharp beaks and elaws as best lie I could with his knife and shouted to the j men at the ropes to draw him up, but ' they continued to lower him. lie went down, down, until his feet touched the water. lie shouted and shouted, but still the rope was let out, and the water reached his waist. There was only one tiling to do?cut the ropo and swim out of the gulf if he could, at tin* risk of being dashed to jiieees on t lie rocks. 1 As In; raised his knife to cut tlie rope I he gave a last despairing cry. It was heard, and the men began drawing up ! the rope. A few minutes later Jean j stood on the Iconozo bowlder. He had : been badly frightened, but was none the I worse for his adventure.?Youth's Companion. B^y-It is the easiest thing in the world ; to resist others' temptations. It is the | temptations that come to ourselves I that so often prove irresistible. JtttSffUanfous pending. A TRIP TIIKOKJH TKXAS. Mr. I.. 15. Williiiins Writ**"* Iiiti*ri*sliiij;ly ol His |{i*i*i*iit Visit to Hit* I.mi** Star Slati*. Kimtor of Tiii: KxqriitKK: At the request of numerous friends who tell me that they would he interested in the details of my recent trip to Texas, i I respectfully request the space in your paper ill which iu icii ihc ?iuij. : I comrocnccd the trip at Clover, on i August 3, at 11.20 a. m., and arrived at (iastonia at 12.15 p. m. Here I 1 hoarded the Air-Line at 1.15 p. ro., and arrived at Atlanta at 10.20 on the night of the same day. After a delay i of 20 minutes, I set out for Birmingham, and reached that city nt (i.3C next morning. At Birmingham, I only had forty minutes, and of course did not see much of the city. 1 can say, however, that it is a big place, full of dirt and smut. Mining is the principal industry of the surrounding country, and the city is devoted to the manufacture of iron and other products. Agriculj turc stands hut little show in the vi: cinity. But I will not go into further i details. Most of my time in the city J was taken up in getting breakfast, : which, under the peculiar circumstanj ces, was far more interesting to nie at [ the time that the linfited opportunity ; of exploring what is now the South's j greatest iron centre. 1 Leaving Birmingham at 7.10 a. in., I traveled all day through the mining regions of Northern Alabama and Mis' sissippi, and at 5.30 p. m. reached i Memphis, Tcnn. When I got there, more than anything else, I felt like some soap and water, which necessities, not to say luxuries, as can he easily | imagined, are somewhat at a premium after such a long, smoky and dusty trip. At Memphis, to several of our party, the .Mississippi liver was uie principal object of interest, and we at once went down to take a look at the magnificent i new iron bridge. We found a large river steamer in port. This was an interesting sight to some of us, and we went aboard and explored its upper and lower decks from stem to stern. We then returned to the city and got j supper. We left Memphis at 7.40 p. m., and ! going by way of Little Rock, next ; morning, at 8.30, reached Texarkana, i on the line between Arkansas and Texas. Here we had a stop of only thirty minutes, which left no time to j take in the town. From Texarkana we went to Longvicw, a distance of 98 j miles. This portion of Texas is not generally I under cultivation. It was at one time densely timbered, hut is so no longer, i The forests have been cut down and sawed into lumber. All "along the railroad tracks are to he seen great j stacks of lumber, cut and dressed and I ready to go up. Rig fortunes have | been made in the business, and those ! who still have lumber on hand, have ! good money in it. I was informed , that it was worth one dollar and six j hits a hundred feet. From Longvicw, I went by way ol Overton to Henderson, and arrived there 011 August 5, at 10 p. 111. From this point I went to the home of my friend, Mr. S. W. Wallace, a distance of fourteen miles, by private conveyance. Around Mr. Wullace, I found quite a colony of South Carolinians, and all of them, I am pleased to say, seemed to he happy and prosperous. 1 This portion of the State is called j "Eastern Texas," and is about the same latitude of Charleston, S. C. j The sun is very hot, and the water it warm, even when lifted directly from j the springs. The water here is abunj dant, but most of it is limestone. This portion of Rusk, down through I Panola county, as far as I went, is ; well timbered with a dense forest 01 j large pines, the same as in some sec; tions of York county. The soil is ; sandy and productive, and the farmers ; raise a little of almost everything with j the exception of wheat. Cotton grows luxuriantly everywhere, especially in ; the bottoms and 011 fresh uplands \ Ribbon cane grows nicely and matures I well. From it they make an excellent 1 quality of syrup, equal to that known 1 as Orleans. It is difficult to estimate the croj , outlook. The farmers tell me that 1 the crop is rather short as compared with last year, and although cot ( ton looks pretty well, it has so many ! things to contend with that there is nt | way of making a definite estimate ; When I was there, the boll worms | "sharpshooters" and leaf worms, wen ! all doitig business with alarming ener gy, and the share of the crop that would ] be left to the producers, was still somewhat a matter of chance. In Panola county, I saw a field 01 thirty-five aerds of cotton. In heighl ; the weed would average from a man's I waist to head high all over, and I an not exaggerating in a way that will be badly misunderstood, when I say that there was not a leaf 011 it. 'flu ; leaf-worms had stripped it completely Farmers who,were acquainted will: such conditions, said the cotton would not make 250 pounds to the acre. 1 can say this much for Fasten Texas, however. They have as tine fruit as grows, especially peaches After a week's delightful stay wit! I my friends here, I bid good-bye, and I taking the train at Henderson, left foi Middle Texas. (Joing by way of Dal las, I went to the town of Garland, ti , visit Alexander McC'allum, my onh blood uncle. I spent the remaindei of the day and night with him, am as the following day was the Sabbath we went to "meeting," as the Texan; ! call it. At Pleasant Valley church, I met : host of relatives and friends. I fount them all well except Alter, a son of W A. J. McCollum, who was suflcriiq j from jaundice, and Abe, a son of I>r | Win. McCollum, deceased, of Chestei I county, who was just convalescing fron i an attack of billions fever. W. A. J. McCollum being the senioi of the colony of Carolinians, insistei that I make his home my headquarters and assured that I would lie welltakei care of by him and his estimable wife j I was not slow to accept. It was ai idle season with most of the male pop | ulation, and I had little or no difficult) in getting someone to take me around I visited such a large number of peo pie, however, that 1 will not take uj the space by mentioning their names but I will say this much. I found al the South Carolinians comfortably sit ; uatcd in nice new cottages, or remod ! eled old hollies. In York county, stable manure is : great item, and we are glad to movcil to our fields. Out there, they build their stables in such a way as to lu easily moved away from the accumula tion of manure. They have 110 use foi it. and claim that they cannot see thai it does their lands any good. Middle Texas is a vast prairie, will a deep, black, waxy soil, covered will grass and bushes. The soil contain: a good deal of lime. My friends lien were very anxious that it should rail during my stay, but Providence die , not so will it, and they were disap pointed. When it rains much, the) tell me they just "hang up and gt fishing." Crops, as in the middle section, an t - * j 1,MM* . ? SOOIl. nuilie JUII I m ill .11 V...V third less than last year, and it i: thought that cotton will average ahou one-half bale to the acre. The wcc< is not large, l?nt seems to be wel fruited. The boll-worm is at work j but the farmers do not think it will dc much damage. The leaf worm is not troublesome in this section. Wheat j yields well, and the greatest trouble presented is that of separating it from the black soil. Oats is considered a r profitable crop. There is no fruit of consequence in this section, except an i , inferior variety of peaches. The worst I i drawback to the black belt is the water. The people out there like it, but a stranger from our country?who ! ! knows what good water is?does not. 1 ; However, it is said that a man can get i ! accustomed to anything except hang- < I ; ing, and it may be so. Every farm is abundantly supplied J with water, especially for stock. The i | i water is kept in ponds. The people j i here do not raise a great many cattle. ! but what they do raise are kept in i irood condition. I also saw a ereat crystal waters of the spring which fifty ninc years before was red with blood, was the only beverage used on the occasion. With it the following toast was drunk : "The memory of Mrs. Martha Bratton. In the hands of an infuriated monster, with the instrument of death around her neck, she nobly refused to betray her husband. In the hour of victory she remembered mercy, and as a guardian angel interposed in behalf of her inhuman enemies. Throughout the Revolution she encouraged the Whigs to light on to the end. Honor and gratitude to the woman who proved herself so faithful a wife, so firm a friend to liberty." Fanny Moork. TAKING CARE OF THE HARIES. Can any one imagine why a mother with a puling infant, so to speak, would want to visit the World's Fair? l'Ainwr f.-w onrd fur lllPIH ' I O- I many fine mules unci horses out there. 1 ' | Most of the lands arc enclosed with i , wire fences. The ordinary method of | 1 fencing is to sink a "bodock'' post every ! twenty feet, and stretch along three strands of barbed wire, ltodoek tiinj her is very valuable to that section, j , The i?eo]>le tell me that it never de- | cays. I heard one man say that you could drive down a piece of bodock . ! alongside of a piece of iron of the | same size, and the bodock would out' last the iron. Maybe the man knows what he was talking about. I cannot ' ' Sa*V'r Middle Texas is a fine farming couni try. It takes a good deal less labor to i raise a crop there than here, but lands j are over-rated in price. Improved lands are held at from $30 to $40 an acre, and bush lands from $12 to $20. i From (Jarland, I took a Hying trip down to a point near Waxahatchie, in , Ellis county. I found a colony of Carolinians there and spent the time pleasantly. The Carolinians arc qu'.to pros- < perous. Cotton, however, has been \ somewhat injured by drought. This i is a fine wheat section. I saw some cotton that was planted after the wheat ! was harvested, and with favorable sea- ' ; sons it looks as if it will make from r 400 to ofiO pounds to the acre. , From Ellis, I went to Dallas county, and remaining over night, left for Northern Texas, being accompanied as . far as (hit land by a friend. From , (iarland I went to Dallas; thence to i , I Fort Worth, at which place I took the Fort Worth and Denver railroad for Alvord, at which place I arrived at j 12.30 p. m., on August IS. At Alvord, I met my only brother for the first time in thirty yci.rs. We ; met as strangers, but it did not take a \ great while to renew our brcthership ! back to the sweet boyhood days of I long ago. With my brother and his ! family, I spent six days. Northern Texas is abundantly sup! plied with almost every kind of timber I ; that could he desired, except the pine. ' i The land is somewhat rolling, and ; 1 the soil, which is dark and sandy, is , | very productive. Cotton grows large ' and fruits well, but as in Eastern Tex- j I ? . . . . MM. _ : i as, issunjeei 10 numerous jtesis. j ue j I crop is late, and may yet he badly ; damaged, though if there is no mishap, ! there will he a good yield. Corn 1 I crops are very good. They raise no j ! wheat in this section. j : p I Land can he bought in Northern [ ! Texas for from $0 to $15 per acre. I i The water here is much better than I | in the middle portion of the State. I > saw hut few running streams any. I where. I While in Northern Texas I attended I a Methodist meeting. There were ! ' j several converts and three of them | : wished to be immersed. It was a dif[ 1 ficult matter to find a suitable place j . j for the ceremony, and the converts J ! were taken to what is called the "Int j dian Hole" on Sandy creek, a distance j I of four miles. Here the ordinance ; T was solemnly administered in the presj ence of a respectful audience. , .It was my intention before I left i ; Northern Texas, to take a trip through : f j the Indian territory, hut owing to re- | i cent changes in the schedule, I could 1 i ! not do so to advantage, as most of the i j trip, going and returning, would have t ! j to he made at night. The time had ! ; I now arrived for my departure, and | i j being satisfied that I had done my I j friends all the harm in my power, Ibid s j them farewell and set out on my ; return to Carolina. 1 L. II. Williams. Fodder, September 7, 1893. MRS. MARTHA BRATTOX. j I ' From The Cotton Plant. I Among the names of South Carolina 1 ' j women who became famous during the > ? Revolution, that of Mrs. Martha Brat i ton stands out in prominence. i j Mrs. Bratton's home was in York j ! j county, ten miles south of Yorkville. i Her husband, Wm. Bratton, was a col- ; I | onel in Sumter's army. In June, 1780, ' | Colonel Bratton defeated a British t troop at Mobley's Meeting house, in f Fairlield county. To avenge this de- ! t ; feat, Captain Huyck was sent out at 5 ; the head of JOO British calvary and a 1 large band of Tories. On the 11th of ' i July they reached Colonel Bratton's ' house. Soon after his arrival, Captain 5 Huyck entered the house and asked Mrs. Bratton where her husband was. L "He is in Sumter's army, where he ' ' ought to be," she replied. Captain Huyck then told Mrs. Brat- ! 1 | ton that if her husband would give up 1 j the cause of his country and join the j Royalists, he.should have a commission 1 J in the Royal service. ? | Mrs. Bratton answered that she \ r would far rather see him remain true , to his country even though he should > perish in Sumter's army. ' i Her answer very much infuriated >' Captain Huyck, ami his men who stood ' near. Captain Huyck gave her little > sou, whom he was fondling on bis ' knee, such a sudden and violent push that the child was hurt by the fall it i caused him. One of the men, a Scotch1 man, seized a 'reaping-hook which . hung near, and brought it to Mrs. . Bratton's throat, saying he would kill . i her if she did not immediately tell r where her husband could be found. i j But even then she refused to tell, j Captain Huyck did not interfere, but r | the oflicer second in command com1 : pel led the hiatal man to release her. , I Captain Huyck then ordered Mrs. i ! Bratton to prepare supper for him, self and for his men. Mrs. Bratton's i i feelings, as she prepared the meal for - , her uninvited and unwelcome guests, ; [ was shown by the desperate idea that . j occurred to her, to put poison in the food. But she shrank from such an ? act. and after reflection she gave up ; the plan. Then, too, she remembered I that her husband and his men might - even then be near at hand, and thus - she might deprive them of a victory. After supper, Captain Huyck and his i officers went about half a mile away L to spend the night in a house owned 1 1 "Oil: T4.will) i uy .nr. ? niiiiiiioiMi. ...... ; their men encamped arouiul them, they slept in fancied security, r In the meanwhile. Colonel Bratton, L with ahout seventy-live men. eame into the neighborhood from North Carolina i and inarched within a short distance" 1 of the British encampment. While < the enemy was sleeping soundly, they began an attack. Captain Hayek rali lied his men as quickly as possible, but 1 early in the light he and one of his officers were killed. Then the men threw down their arms and lied. In ) the pursuit the conflict raged around Colonel 15 rat ton's house. Mrs. Brat; ton and her children were in great - danger of being shot. She made her < little sot? sit within the chimney. L While he sat there a bombshell fell 1 through the roof on the floor. Inline1 j diatelv the boy ran to it, picked it up , and began a critical examination of its ) i character and object. He continued j the examination until he was again brought within the line of fortilieation. About daylight the firing ceased. The early morning light displayed a terrible scene. Scattered over the ground lay the dead, the dying and the wounded. The spring near by, once so clear and pure, was red with the mingled blood of friend and foe. As soon as possible, Mrs. llratton went out upon the battle-ground. When she found that all of her own dear ones were spared, she began to attend the wants of the wounded. She threw open her house to all. and tenderly ministered to friend and foe alike. As she leaned over one dying man, he opened his eyes and looked at her. He was the Scotchman who had attempted to take her life the evening before. With his dying breath he murmured, "Madam, forgive me." She answered, "If (Jod will forgive you, I most assuredly will." Among the prisoners was the officer who took command when Captain Huyck fell. He was sentenced to immediate death, but as a last favor he was allowed to see Mrs. Hratton. She at once recognized him as the man who had rescued her from the Scotchman. She begged that he might he spared. Her request was granted. He whs iriven into her charore. and she entertained him in her own home until he was exchanged. Another time during the war, Mrs. Rratton displayed her determined spirit. Governor Rutledge sent some ammunition to Colonel Rratton, hut, he being absent, his wife took charge of it. Some Royalists, hearing of it, determined to secure it for themselves. Mrs. Rratton determined that they should not do so. She laid a train of powder from the place where it was deposited to the place where she stood. When the detachment came in sight, she set fire to it and blew it up. The officer was enraged and swore vengeance upon the person who had outwitted him in such a manner. "It was I who did it," said Mrs. Rratton. "Let the consequence he what it will, I glory in having prevented the mischief contemplated by the cruel enemies of my country." During the remainder of the war, Colonel Rratton was away from home almost constantly. His wife devoted herself to herhomennd to her children, hut ever ready to aid and encourage her neighbors. When the war was ended, Colonel Rratton continued the cultivation of his farm. There he and his wife lived to a ripe old age. They died within a vcar of each other and now lie side by side in the old Bcthesda graveyard. Their descendents are numerous. Many of them live in the vicinity of the old homestead, which was made famous by "Huyck's Defeat." The battle ground, which is still marked by Captain Huyck's grave, and the old house itself, are owned by one of tbeir granddaughters, Mrs. A. B. Harris, of Columbia, S. C. The little boy who sat within the chimney during the battle?afterwards Dr. John S. Bratton?was the first of three generations of physicians. His son, Dr. J. It. Bratton, of Yorkville, (to whom I am indebted for some of the facts of this sketch,) is widely known as a skillful physician and surgeon. Two of his sons have adopted the profession. One of them, Dr. Sumter Bratton, has recently settled in Columbia. i>n .July iz, is;jy, ai me suggestion of Dr. John S. Bratton, the fifty-ninth anniversary of Huyck's defeat was celebrated on the battle ground. The V-... selves would prove sin inexpressible burden in the long stretches sicross the grounds, and the pleasure would be banished when it became necessary to take them in arms. Hut ample provision has been made for the comfort and care of the children, even to the very youngest, and it is on record that an infant only throe weeks old was received at the Children's Huilding, which is a dainty structure and one of the most useful within the enclosure. The rooms are so arranged that visitors can look upon the lovely scene, where the babies arc congregated under the auspices of trained nurses, and the raised platform upon which spectators usually stand to see the children through windows, is generally crowded. Cradles, swingingchairs, toys, dolls carriages and hammocks are seen all around the room, and the attendants are variously employed in amusing and entertaining the children. Some of the babies are wide awake and crying lustily, while others are sleeping sweetly, with a total unconsciousness that they arc forming part of the exhibit at the great Columbian exposition. Some arc doubling up their little lists or kicking up their rosy heels, utterly oblivious as to the whereabouts of precious mamma, who is away over yonder gazing upon the intricacies of real lace or fondly viewing shawls from Persia, which are valued at fabulous sums and are beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. These children arc not forsaken, nor are they foundlings. They are real, live, evcry-day infants, the hope of their parents and the chief desire of their grandmothers, and they are left in charge of the matrons and nurses for a consideration,, very much the same as one leaves an umbrella at the parcel room of a hotel or depot. The babies are checked and labelled like the umbrellas, so there will be no awkward mistakes made when mamma gets through sight-seeing. She has the check for her darling tootsy-wootsey, and a corresponding check is fastened to the left shoulder of the child, by which she will know beyond question when the day's freedom is over. For the care and attention of the babies, the managers receive twenty cents a day in each instance, unless the mother is unable to bear the expense, when there is no charge at all. This building was erected by the proceeds of a bazaar held at the residence of Mrs. Potter Palmer last winter and there is nothing connected with the fair more useful and beneficial. I have described only one of the rooms, but the entire building lurnisnes nuieii of smpassing interest, including a kinder-garten. dining room, kitchen and laundry, while the large square hall in the center is fitted upas a gymnasium. There is plenty of light and fresh air, and the children of any size can find pleasant occupation while the parents are inspecting other departments.?J. A. II., in (ireenville Mountaineer. ? Bfca?"In London one woman in every twenty is u pauper, one in every thirteen is illiterate, and one in every sixty is a gin drinker. So says a recent report of an Knglish industrial society.