Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, February 13, 1897, Image 1
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ISSUBD TWIOE-A-WBBK?WEDNESDAY AN3D SATURDAY.
l. *. oeist & sons, Publishers, j % jfamitg gfemspgtr: <j|br the |jromolion gf the political, gonial, ^flriqultmal and ^ommcr^ial Interests of the fouth. {TE "0"le c0oryVthreecentsNCE
VOLUME 43. , YOBKYILLE, S. C., SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1897. NUMBER 13.
ROB Md
BY MARTHA McCl
Copyright, 1896, by the Author.
Synopsis of Previous Installments.
In order that new readers of The Enquirer
may begin with the following installment
of this story, and understand it
just the same as though they had read it
all from the beginning, we here give a
synopsis of that portion of it which has
already been published:
m Chapter I.?Life in Walnut^Creek.^in
leuuessww, ueuiers niuuuu xupmui n. ^
store. Magnolia Tubbs, a mysterious
newcomer in the neighborhood, not without
attractions of a coarse type, is a nocturnal
caller on Top mark.
Chapter II.?Mrs. Topmark dies from
the poison of herbs brought to the store
by a charm working Negress, ostensibly
to kill mico. Gossips and a managing
mamma are trying to bring about a match
between Topmark's niece, Alice Winfold,
and aristocratic Colonel Talbot's son Jack.
But spirited Rob McGregor, heiress of
Roscoe, has been before Jack's eyes from
childhood.
CHAPTER IE.
Roscoe, the McGregor plantation, lay
np stream from Topmark's in the valley
of Walnut creek. There were a thousand
acres of it, more by half than the
storekeeper's area. Luray in tho tablelands
above abntted abont equally upon
both the water front places. Luray was
not for sale nor likely ever to be. It
was the same with lands npon the
stream's farther 6ide. Henoe for any
broadening of his borders Mr. Topmark
could look only toward Roscoe.
Everybody knew he wanted the place,
and nearly all said he would get it when
Mr. jnctiregor aiea, or earner n mere
were not some miraculous change in the
McGregor affairs. But no thought of
that came to Bob as she rode home at
speed. For more than a mile her way
was over her own domain, along a mill
road that ran through Roscoe's ramshackle
gates. So it did not surprise her
to encounter by the roadside three riders,
who stared hard at her as she came up
with them. But she was all taken aback
when, in answer \o her civil good day,
she got only a stony and hostile silence.
And she was still more amazed to hear,
as she rode on, the elder of two women
say stridently: "That's her Magnolyerl
The proud piece wouldn't wipe her feet
on the likes of us. But may by"?
Distance cut short her listening. She
had purposely set the old mare at her
best pace. "Ah, if only I had my dear
Lightlady!" Rob murmured. "Bonnybel,
I know you do your best, but your
daughter was ten years younger and as
wild as her mistress."
By this she had come in sight of the
house. It was wide and square, with
all rod nnfflr pliimnPTR OllCfi the WJllls
had been white, the blinds a vivid
green. Now both had weathered to deliciously
soft tones of gray and drab. Tall
Lombardy poplars stood sentinel either
side the yard gate. Nearer the honse
there were thick spreading trees?
elms, maples, tniip poplars and oaks.
The shade of them was so thick and cool
there was still a hint of dew on the
sparse grass at their roots.
One hand lay the garden, gay with
all manner of flowers. Upon the other
a wide tangled orchard space overran
with fruit trees in full bearing. They
spread, indeed, all down the side of the
sunny lawn and on to the road.
"We shall begin to have heaps of
company. Early peaches are getting
ripe," Rob said to herself, with a little
whimsical smile, as she unsaddled
Bonnybel and set her at graze. Then she
ran on to the shady front porch, saying,
with a perfect negro accent, "Marse
Robert, you don't want nobody ter do
nothin, does you?"
The man she spoke to was blind,
with a scarred, mobile face and thin
hands almost as translucent as old porcelain.
His hair was like silver floss
and lay carefully bruehed upon the collar
of his flne black coat. His linen,
too, was spotless, his neckerchief carefully.
neat and his soft, low shoes of
flawless new gloss. He sat among soft
cushions in a wicker chair, bis head
thrown back, his eyes closed, his whole
frame drinking in the scented softness
UX IUO OUXUUJOX UiUlUlUg.
"I want some one very much?that
mischievous daughter of mine," he said,
affecting not to recognize her voice.
"There are just the two of us, and I
miss her dreadfully, though she is so
full of pranks. You see, we have not
been much apart ever since sho was
born."
"Nor ever will be, daddy," Rub said,
dropping a kiss upon either eyelid.
Then she stood back a pace, clasp?d her
hands behind her, closed one eye and
looked him critically over, saying:
"Upon my word, daddy, you are simply
stunning this morning! I've been haunted
by the fear that I had not got the
part of your hair quite where it should
be nor the bows of your neckcloth mathematically
under your chin. You know
you hurried me a bit at my work as
valet. But I find you without spot or
blemish, and, as you always are, so very
much the best looking inau^ I know I
wonder the rest don't bate you outright.
"
Mr. McGregor laughed cheerily. In
the isolation of his darkness thoro had
grown up a delicious small vanity over
his appearance. He was not only blind,
but helpless. There were nervous twitchings
in the fine, thin bands, and when
he walked it was a bowed, halting progress,
painful to look upon.
Over the sight Mrs. Winfold shook
her head, saying: "Yes; it is a real
pity; but, then, may by, too, it was well
folks should see what comes of fool
GREGOR.
JILOCH WILLIAMS.
hardiness. I remember Mr. McGregor
a strong man, good looking, too, bat
DObody could ever make me believe he
' had any call ter go an dnsh in that
burnin cabin jest ter git out a poor ole
niggeT that had nursed him when he
was a Daoy. sue qiqu t nvc uut ? yvm
after all. An look at him?blind an
1 crippled, that beam fallin on his back,
1 besides the barns he got He oaght ter
. of thought of his own fam'ly. It wonld
be really his fault whatever happened
ter that girl of bi&"
! Rob's mother .bad died at her birth,
and there were five little mounds beside
the long one in the graveyard back of
the orchard. All the other ohildren bad
gone before. With her latest breath the
dying woman had whispered, "Call her
by your name, Robert, darling, and
bring her?with you?safe?across the
1 river."
So from the beginning Rob had been
her father's comfort, companion, counselor.
She had come to 8 years old when
be was stricken and took her place as
head of the house with the quaintest
childish dignity. Everybody said how
pitiful it was to see her pattering about,
keys in hand, to note her watchful care
for h8r father in every detail or to heaj
her piping child's voice stumbling mu
sically through chapters of the Bible.
Mighty few of them knew what heroism
the reading had entailed. To the
day of her father's blindness Rob had
refused to learn even her letters. "I
hate old books. I won't learn and be shut
up in school all day," she had said passionately.
But when she saw her father
fingering the big Bible and murmuring
snatches of its contents it made her
throat swell, .her lips quiver. Yet she
said nothing then beyond telling him
breathlessly of the little chickens and
the teeny new calf. Bnt three Sundays
later she came, saying shyly, "If you
like, pappy, I can read you some Bible
now." And with that she began the
Twenty-third Psalm and went through
it without a break.
"Do you like it, pappy? Does it sound
good and help you?" she asked very low
when she had done. Mr. McGregor
could not speak. He put his arms about
his child and answered her with a rain
of kisses.
"Can you read, really?" be asked after
awhile. "It seems too good to be true.
How did you leam?"
"I don't know?only that much. Jack
Talbot is teaching me. He comes Sundays
when you are asleep. I most know
the letters now, but they are hard, and I
did not want you to wait so long for
your Bible, so ho read this over and over
till I knew it all. I am glad you like it.
But, oh, pappy, don't cryl Rob will
take care of you until?until we both
can go to the green pastures and the still
waters."
"My darling, my precious child!" the
father groaned, burying his face in her
Bilken hair. "I think it would be a signal
mercy of God if we might go to him
now."
The mood passed, as such moods do.
In the Bunshine of Rob's presence her
father learned to half forget bis blindness.
She grew and strengthened and
became wise beyond her years. With
love as the incentive nothing came hard.
Though she still forswore school, once
the letter learning was over she grew so
fond of books that by mousing in the
library she got a sufficient if unusual
education. Then, too, she could sew,
knit and look after housewifely affairs,
to say nothing of riding, duncing and
Annnl aaw^aa JaT,
IU Cl|UQJ puncviiuu*
Naturally the good folk whose ideal
of young womanly perfection was Miss
Winfold looked half askance at poor
Bob. It was the shooting which most
condemned her, albeit the root of her
reprehensible proficiency was the wish
to keep her father supplied with game
when he craved it. There were frequent
intervals when he relished nothing else.
Mrs. Winfold in such case would have
appealed successfully to the chivalry of
her neighbors. Bob took up her father's
gun, as she had taken his other burdens,
without whining or moaning over the
necessity which laid them upon her
shoulders.
Long before sbo came to 19 she was a
personage noted, gossiped over?if the
i truth must be told often belied?
throughout the length and breadth of
Walnut Creek. She was so bravely,- so
unconventionally truthful at all points?
save one?it was not strange the air was
filled with tales of her sooial daring.
For example, she said openly she loved
to dance, best of all to waltz, "when
ihe had Jack Talbot for a partner."
Mrs. Winfold found that speech simply
shameless. Dear Alice never went beyond
the basket cotillon and had scruples
even as to that. Waltz! Not she!
i She bad been too well brought up and
knew too entirely what a modest girl
owed to herself and society.
Yet?such is the depravity of the human
mind, even in Walnut Creek?
there were not wanting people who said
n/i*nnlna worfl a fine
mat iuiss n juiuiu a uuupivo nv?>, ?? thing
for her possible partners. She was
so springiest and wooden they musi
needp have carried her. Then, too, contrast
vith Rob might evoke comment to
ruftle even her amiability. Thiugs were
best as they were. Jack and Rob might
dance their fill together and be none the
worse of it when he was safely married
to Alice Winfold.
Rob went to much less than half the
merrymakings. Though she was cer
tainly more l'n need of friendly counteDance
than was Walnut Creek's paragon,
in some way nobody took account
of the fact. The reason was perhaps
that she was too fine of fiber to bewail
her unprotectedness in the right quarter.
Her few outiue3 were all in the
shadow of Mam Lisa's ample person.
Perhaps their very rarity gave $ob's
pleasure a keener edge.
Usually upon such occasions she
danced the night away with Jack?Jaok,
whose height and step suited hers to a
nicety; who was, after her father, her
very beet friend. Of course she liked
him more than any other of the boys,
more than all of them indeed, and why
should she not say so, especially when
it made Mrs. Winfold look so angry and
horrified? It was the highest possible
tribute to her undeniable charm that, in
the face of a frankness so desperate, she
never lacked a partner for the numbers
that Jnck was constrained to share with
Miss Winfold.
It set the dullest tingling to have heir
floating beside him, her eyes starry, hf
cheeks the clearest rose, her lithe sle?
derness vital, vibrant, swaying responsive
to the music, as the wind harp to
the wind. Besides, there was distinction
in taking her out. She had th?
courage of her antipathies no less thai
her convictions. Quick and full of readf
courtesy as she was, there were times
when subterfuge was vain. Then, sooner
than take hands with one who repelled
her fine, subtle instincts, she lifted bet
eyes and said clearly, with no trace of
shy confusion: "Excuse me, please. %
think my father would not like to have
me dance with you, and I know I should
not like it myself."
"Poor, misguided ohildl I wonder she
is so unmannerly. Her mother was' a
lady if ever there was one," good Mrs.
Talbot said when such speeches, distorted
and magnified a hundredfold, came
to her ears. "We must remember,
though, Rob has almost brought herself
up and judge her as kindly as possible
It is dreadful to be motherless."
"Ah, yeB!" Mrs. Winfold sighed in
answer. "Mayby that does have a little
ter do with it. But, Mrs. Talbot, I believe
people act like they were born ter.
I know ef Alice had lost me years ago
an bad grown np with jest nobody but
brother ter look after her she never4uever
in the world?would have been a
Rob McGregor. Do you know some*
times when I think of her?Alice, I
mean?I git down an ask the Lord t$r
keep me from idolatry?ter make nje
jest humbly thankful over bavin hdjd
such a daughter given me."
"H-m-m! I wonder what Miss Aliqe
prays over having such a mother!" Jack
said irreverently when he heard of the
good woman's orisons. Jack liked Miss
Winfold so sincerely he had much ado
to keep from hating her mother. In
fact, he quite agreed with Rob. She
said upon the rare times that she named
the mother and daughter, laughing a
little and with dancing eyes: "Oh,
Jack, do be good to poor stubby Alice!
There is not a mite of harm in her. Indeed
she is rather nice. And think what
sho must endure in being her mother's
daughter!"
Rob bad a habit of regarding all
things humorously, even herself. It was
well that she had. Her laughing bridg
ed many a minute of heartbreak. Koscoe
had been fine and flourishing when
its master last looked upon it. Now it
was woefully desolate after 11 years of
thriftless freedraan tillage. Hillsides
showed red and barren; gullies gashed
the fairest slopes; the richest bottoms
had overlay of sand and gravel, to say
nothing of the tangle that yearly encroached
farther upon the arable land
or the rank hedgerows waving where
once there were trim lines of fence.
All the croppers bad belonged in the
old days to Mr. McGregor. Possibly he
fared better at their hands than he
would have done at those of strangers.
But he had never got out of the way of
regarding himself as a sort of special
providence to his black people. In sickness
or trouble his hand was open to
them always, and when it came to the
matter of division and payment of accounts
he always enjoined his daughter
not to charge "little trifles of meat and
bread and occasional money against the
poor things."
For he knew nothing of bow his land
was served. Rob was eyes to him, and
when in the beginning she saw how it
pained him to hear of rack and ruin she
made up her mind to paint all things in
the rosiest colors. Yearly she had told
him tales of growth and blowth, pathetic
in their untruth and sublime in
the motive that underlay them. No
matter how bare she went, he lacked
nothing, not even g'old to jingle in his
pocket, and she agreed dutifully when
he said: "You must not dress extravagantly,
dear child. That is always bad
taste in so young a woman. But something
is due your position as mistress
here. It is my wish that you bo well
clothed, though. So be sure you have
always plenty of good silk gowns, with
lighter frocks for home wear and neighborhood
visits."
, Pretty soon sue naa a siik; 11 wasner
mother's wedding gown refurbished.
Then it was the easiest thing in the
world to- make it of new shapes and colors.
It was the same with all else. Tho
girl was so gallant, so loyal in her love,
tho sternest moralist might have condoned
her sins uguiust fact. Mrs. Winfold
did not condone them. A fine soul
may gauge with sympathetic accuracy
one of lower fiber. A coarse ono invariably
puts into all things tho taint of itself.
She said, casting up her eyes:
"That po-ore little minx! Tor thinkhow
she does lio ter her old blind father,
makiu bim believe they're well off
when we all know they haven't more'n
got bread ter eat an' mayn't have that
long. Bet, that used ter belong ter us,
is mighty thick with ole Liza, that
cooks fer Rob, an Bel; says Liza says ef
things ain't changed she don't see how
in the world they'll keep ole marster
from findin oat another year. I mast
think they don't manage. Why, brother
says I live well on what another wornan'd
half starve on. Bat then I have
him.ter help, an Alioe too. Besides, I
don't really think the Lord can bring
himself ter prosper the McGregors, with
Rob goin on like she does."'
The good woman spent her opinion
once too often. It happened to be where
Jack Talbot heard her. He flnng op his
bead and said pointedly:
"I don't think Rob sets ap for a pat
tern or au tne virtues, due i Know sne
is above gossiping with servants abont
her neighbors' affairs. As to her truthfulness,
I'd take her word for gospel.
I've almost brought her up and never
knew her to Vary an inch from it, exoept
to her poor old father. Truth would
be only torture to him. I'd feel like
shooting the man that told it. Rob simply
could not lie maliciously or falsely,
but I am sure she could and would keep
silence if she knew anything that would
wound another person in feeling or in
reputation."
Rob felt the attitude of her public,
but never spoke of it, not even to Jack.
She knew how slight was her father's
bold on life. It might snap any day. At
the best the end was not far. And to
bis last hour she would ease and spare
him all she might. He was her world
and love of him her religion. In the
strength and light of love she could
Btand blameless before a multitude of
accusers.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Miscellaneous Reading.
COUNTY PHYSICIAN MATTER.
A Taxpayer Thinks the Commissioners
Should Make an Explanation.
Editor of The Yorkville Enquirer;
As a public office is a public trust,
it naturally follows that every taxpayer
has the right, legal and moral,
to criticise each and every official act
nf mil. nnhlin dfirvnntfl And this re
minds us that we have a word to say
with regard to the recent action of our
county commissioners with regard to
awarding the county practice to Dr.
Saye.
Now, we admit that Dr. Saye had a
perfect right to submit a bid for the
county practice. That was his privilege?nothing
wrong about that. But
his bid should hot hhve been accepted.
Why? Chiefly because of a question
of distance?a distance that will lend
no enchantment to the view of the
suffering poor in need of a physician.
From Yorkville to Sharon is perhaps
7 miles by dirt road. From Sharon to
tbe County Home is something like 9
miles.
Now let us suppose a case?a perfectly
reasonable one? and justified by
the facts. An inmate of the pdor
house takes sick and it is thought
necessary to summon the county physician.
It is now 6 o'clock p. m. An
official writes a letter to the physician
requesting his presence, goes to Yorkville
and mails it. If there is no delay
tbe letter will reach Sharon the
next evening at 5.40. And when the
letter does reach Sharon the chances
are that Dr. Saye, who has the reputation
of being an excellent physician
with a large practice, will be six or
eight miles away. In the mean..me
the poorhouse patient may suffer, die
and be buried, "unwept, unhonored
and unsung." If a patient happens to
need the services of a surgeon, be (or
she) will have ample time to bleed to
dautH limn htr dpnn hefore the doctor
can get a summons.
Perhaps the commissioners will attempt
to justify their action on the
ground of economy. If so, we would
beg to remind them that there is such
a thing as being "penny wise and
pound foolish." There is such a thing
as false economy. We don't think the
average taxpayer will expect you to
practice such economy (?) as you have
recently shown in dealing with the
physical well-being of wretched and
helpless creatures locked behind iron
bars and those other equally wretched
paupers who, except for public charity,
are poor and friendless and miserable.
Can't you explain a little, gentlemen ?
w. S. G.
Fodder, S. C., February 9.
NERVOUSNESS.
Nervousness is a condition not easy
to define ; but the common use of the
terra in every-day speech indicates the
commonness of the thing itself. There
are few persons, indeed, who have not
at some time suffered from irritability
of the nerves and its accompanying
depression.
It is to be remembered that this
state always indicates a falling away
from the normal, standard of health.
It should be taken as a danger-signal,
a notice from the nerves that something
is wrong. The cause of the
trouble is sometimes easily found, as
for example, temporary or habitual
loss of sleep ; or the difficulty may be
more deeply seated and more serious.
Whatever its cause, uervousness indicates
a lack of nervous force, a lowering
of vital energy. Somewhere a
tap is loose, and waste is proceeding
more rapidly than repair. In such a
state of things, the performance of
every voluntary action and of every
unconscious organic function is affected
unfavorably.
Women suffer from nervousness
more commonly than men. It is a
mistake, however, to think that there
is any material difference between the
nerve structure of the two sexes.
Unfavorable surroundings and occupations
account for the greater frequency
of nervous disease among
women. Farmers are rarely affected
with nervousness. Farmers' wives
are almost proverbially so affected.
Loss of sleep, indigestion, grief or
worry, and many other functional
causes may produce nervousness.
Doubtless the most frequent cause is
lack of sufficient out of door air and'
of moderate exercise.
It is too common for nervous people
to think their complaint too trivial for
a physician's notice. Strict inquiry as
to the manner of life often reveals
errors the correction of which relieves
the condition and averts serious disease.
"nuerwftrt <lnpQ nnt. kill hilt, nvftr
worry does,", some one has said, with
a measure of exaggeration. Excessive
work may no doubt shorten life, but
constant worry over every-day cares
is sure to do so.
Ceaseless cares exhaust the nervous
energy. Change of occupation and
of scene allows the nervous forces?
the cerebral gray matter?to become
restocked. Nervous matter is actually
consumed in performing the details
of every-day existence, just as muscular
tissue is expended in exercise.
A spring kept at a constant tension
surely loses its elasticity, while one
which- is frequently unbent does not.
The figure is a good one to apply to
mental and nervous experience.?
Youths' Companion.
ALCOHOL.
Externally applied, arcohol is an antiseptic
and a disinfectant, though it
is principally' used as a local irritant,
and by allowing it to evaporate, as a
cooling lotion to the skin. If the vapor
is confined and penetrates to the
flesh underneath, or if the alcohol is
diligently rubbed into the flesh, it.bardens
it. In this way it is of use in
preventing bed sores and the like.
Spirituous liniments which contain
essential oils and other stimulants are
sometimes applied with friction to
increase nutrition at the place which
is the seat of long-standing inflammation,
pain and stiffness, such as is present
in chronic rheumatism, stiff joints
and paralysis.
Internally the action of alcohol is
both local and general. If allowed to
come directly into contact with tbe
walls of the stomach it irritates them,
causing them to assume an inflamed
appearance. If the quantity of alcohol
is, large, or more or less continuously
applied, actual inflammation of
the lining of the surface follows.
-i?L_I
VYuen aicuuui is lukcu witu iuuu,
and mixes with the contents of the
stomach, it is partly decomposed into
substances which in turn decompose
the gastric juices, rendering them inert
and thus depressing digestion. Whatever
may sometimes be said in favor
of the use of stimulants with meals, it
is very doubtful if the slight temporary
stimulating effects of. such drinks is
at all compensatory for their interference
with the action of the gastric
fluids.
Alcohol enters the blood unchanged,
and is distributed by it to the various
organs and parts of the body, where
it is rapidly absorbed, and where its
action is nearly the same hs in the
stomach.
It first stimulates the organ to increased
activity, but at the same time
causes the chemical change in the substance
of the organ by which the organ
itself is weakened ; so that eventually
depression ensues. .
It is this peculiar double action of
alcohol which is misleading. So long
as the organs of the body are in a
healthy condition, alcohol is little
short of a poison. The organ, in order
to do its work properly, needs food,
and unless there is interference the
food will be absorbed and changed in
e r :?U ?i A I
to proper lunus ui uuunsuuicuu. xncobol
robs the organ of the power of
doing this.
In these days of prepared foods and
general advance in science, there are
many ways of securing the only beneficial
result which alcohol gives, that
is to say, stimulation, without resorting
to its use.?Youths' Companion.
HE FELL AMONG BORROWERS.
According to the Sheridan (Oregon)
Sun, there is a schoolmaster in that
state who has bad enough of boarding
with people who treat him as "one
of the family." He wishes to maintain
a brotherly spirit, but says that
there are certain personal effects,
properly socalled, which he prefers to
neither borrow nor lend. Let us hope
that The Sun exaggerates the story
of his afflictions.
He was boarding around, and in the
course of his peregrinations arrived at
a house where there were several
grown-up sons and daughters. He
was takeu at once into intimate fellowship.
Ou the second morning William, one
of the boys, came into the new boarder's
room and borrowed bis toothbrush.
The schoolmaster demurred,
and went so far as to enter iuto par
ticulars about'microbes and microbic
infection ; but William took the brush.
"I ain't afraid to use it after you
if you ain't after me," he said.
The next evening Samuel, another
son, borrowed the master's best white
shirt to wear to a dance ; and Maria,
one of the daughters, while trying to
extract some of his perfumery, spilled
the greater part of it upon her clothes.
So matters went on, with increasing
friendliness, and when the teacher
took his leave, the mother was wearing
a pair of his socks, the girls had
begged his tooth-powder and the remainder
of his perfumery, the old
man had worn out bis ulster hunting
deer, and the boys had on two of his
white shirts, two pairs of bis sooks, a
vest and a bat.
One of the girls had made love to
the boarder's $4 silk umbrella, but
though the fact is not stated, we are
given to understand that her suit was
unsuccessful.
FIbHTlNH A BEAK WITH PIKE.
Not lODg ago aD English hunter and
prospector in the mountains 01' Nevada,
being out without a gun, was attacked
by a hungry grizzly, and took
refuge on the top of a boulder. The
stone was too smooth for the bear to .
climb, and just large enough so that he
could uot reach the man.
The boulder was narrow, and rested
on soft earth. The Englishman realized
the desperateDess of his situation,
therefore, when presently he felt the
stone begin to shake. The furious animal
was digging at the ground at one
side of the boulder, and either as the
result of his intelligence or of the exercise
of blind fury, was undermining
the rock. The man saw that he must
soon be precipitated into the bear's
clutches.
What should he do? With nervous
and desperate eagerness, he fumbled in
his pockets to see what he bad. He
discovered a bottle of brandy that he
carried for restorative purposes in case
of accident. Would not the fumes of
this liquor, poured on the bear, terrify
him and possibly drive him away?
He resolved to try it.
He emptied about half the brandy on
the bear and on the ground at the
place where the creature was digging.
The bear sniffed, and seemed to like it.
Pausing only a moment, be went on
digging more briskly than ever. It
was plain that this means of defence
was a failure. The man fumbled
in bis pockets again, and this time
brought out some matches. Handling
them nervously, he wondered what he
could do to the bear with them. Suddenly
an idea occurred to him.
He bad half the brandy left. ' Why
not pour it on the bear, and see ii he
could set it on fire ? It was a slender
chance, but the only bne. He watched
for the right opportunity, and spilled
the liquor on the grizzly's shaggy
back.
Of course the bear did not mind
this, but kept on undermining the rock.
In 'another, moment he did mind some
thing, however, for the man dropped
a lighted match on the brandy.
The brandy caught fire, and the *
flames spread. In a moment more,
the bear was enveloped in fire, and
roaring and screaming with pain.
Then he took to flight, the speed with
which be raced over the hills only fanning
the blaze.
The Englishman was now in full
flight. He took the shortest way back
to bis camp, where he found a companion,
and both, armed with rifles, started
out in pursuit of the bear. They soon t
found him, seated on the ground and
licking his sides, on which very little
fur remained. He was so much exhausted
and so badly injured that he
had little fight in him, and was quicky
despatched.
tGF There is one feature of the service
iu the German chufches which
people accustomed to the ordinary
chprcbes of the country will notice at
once. This is the method of contribution.
In other churches?no matter
of what denomination?the people
contribute more or less as they please ;
perhaps one member of a family, perhaps
two, possibly each one, but that
is not usual. In the German church
there is no child so small that it does
not contribute a penny. There may
be many pennies in the plate when
the contribution has been taken, but
each person in the church has given
something.
Horse Beef.?From recent discoveries
made in Europe, it seems that
enterprise and ingenuity is not altogether
confined to Yankees. The
discovery was made in London during
the trial of a man for abusing a horse.
The facts were elicited from the employer
of the man who attended the
court to testify to the character of the
accused. Twenty-six thousand invalid
omnibus horses iu London are absorbed
every year by factories in Antwerp
and Rotterdam, where they are canned
as beef and retailed throughout Europe
in cans bearing American labels.
SA notice has been sent to the
army and naval officials that on and
after July 4, 1897, the American flag
will have forty-five stars. An order
has also been issued to the custodians
of public buildings to begin at once to
put the additional stars in all old flags
or secure new ones which must comply
with the order. There will be six
rows of stars. The first, third and
fifth rows will have eight "stars each,
and the second, fourth and sixth, seven
stars each.
S?* The man who in literature or
religious teaching aims to reach the
highest rather than the mass, seldom
finds himself on the way to success.
He is teacher, leader and commander of
the people who reach downward rather
than upward. When the churches
begin to look for nice neighborhoods,
for the better class of people, the cultured
and the wealthy, they run to'
leanness and disappointment.