Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ISSUED TWICE A WEEK-WEDNESDAY A.WE SATURDAY. i. m. GRIST & sons, Publishers, 1 ?, ^amiijj ^tcurspitpcr: ^or the promotion of the lotitirat^ocia^J^ricutturat, and <Commei(ciat Interests of the ?onth. )TER sraoE0coPT.VTHSELNc^NCE" VOL. 43. YOKKVTLLE, S. C^WEDNESDAYTFEBBPARY 17, 1897. 3STO. 14. " " " " ' " "m-? I "1? tnrya anrl onirt of.il] I "Vnn miahf if flinro Vinri hoBtl n .Tank I fruit. ifoalf la nntn. J? ROB Mc( BY MARTHA McCU] 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 nnnrtntilo fKuf At* if whinh hftQ OY UUpotO ui vucii vav*? v i? T*M?vM already been pnblisbed: Chapter I.?Life in Walnut Creek, in Tennessee, centers around Topmark's store. Magnolia Tubbs, a mysterious newcomer in the neighborhood, not without attractions of a coarse type, is a nocturnal caller on Topmark. Chapter II.?Mrs. Topmark dies from the poison of herbs brought to the store by a charm working Negress, ostensibly to kill mice. 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 oefore Jack's eyes from childhood. Chapter III.?Topmark covets the Roscoe acres, which are heavily mortgaged and adjoin bis own. Rob is the mainstay and comfort of her widowed and blind father. CHAPTER IV. When Mrs. Topmark had been dead six weeks, Walnut Creek was discussing her burying with an interest but the more lively that it was so decorously subdued. Such a magnificent coffin as she hadl And a minister from town to preach the funeral sermon, instead of old Brother Macpounder, who, for all his religion, did unquestionably lack polish. Then, too, the widower's grief had been so notable, his tears had fallen like hail, and Mrs. VVinfold, sobbing upon Mrs. Talbot's shoulder, had begged those about not to let him fling himself into the grave with poor, dear Louisa. Afterward she had shaken her head, sighing out that nobody knew in the least what might not happen. "If it wasn't for them pore little orphans of hie, I really don't believe brother'd care ter live another day." Widowers have been, time out of mind, kittle cattle. Beyond question Mr. Topmark mourned his wife. Why, throughout the six weeks he went to church every Sunday and sat inside with bowed head, listening to the ser- . mon. Still some of the more irreverent noted a sober smartening of his garb, "Cain't you wait long ernough ter hear the newsf" not to mention wandering and furtive glances about the assembly. But even they were wholly unready for that which came to pass. Teddy Barton told it to a group of lounging customers upon the store porch just as Jack Talbot came there in hot hasto. The store kept everything from tarlatan and candy to plow points and pitchforks, with especial strength in plantation hardware. Jack wanted a keg of nails; hence bad come in his buggy and had Timothy and Clover, his span of blood sorreis, in a white lather as he reined them in and shouted at Teddy: "Hurry! That's a good fellow! I'm paying five darkies to do nothing until I can get buck and set them hammering again." "Oh, ho! Cain't you wait till you hurry's over?long ernough ter hear the news?-' Teddy demnudod, winking at the rest. Jack laughed easily and shook his head, saying: "Impossible, Teddy I I read all my romances; take them Sunday afternoons or rainy ones. I hate not to help exercise that imagination of yours, but today really I'm too busy. Do give me my nails." . ' 'Mayby you don't know olo Top's got er new buggy?" Teddy said, with another wink at his other auditors. Again Jack laughed. "Yes, I do," he said. "I mot him driving home in it and saw that he had on 6pau new clothes as well. So, yon see, your news is not news after all. Give me what I want or I shall drive on to the crossroads." "I'm sorry, ra-ale sorry, Jack, but you'll have ter?we ain't got er kag in the house?the right size, I mean," Teddy said; then as Jack set his horses' heads again toward the road: "Hold on, though. I'm jest bound ter tell you what all tbem new things meant. OJe Top, he's dead in love with Miss Rob McGregor; went up thar ter see heryistiddy evenin, but sho was out somewhars 'bout the place, so he's goiu ergin, an soon." Teddy did not intend that his 6peech should reach the ears of a strange customer?a tall, rawboned old woman, who was just then getting down from her horse at the steps. But she heard t. and suid, with her foot still in the stirrup: "Young man, I've beared tell as you lie mighty easy, but ef Ben Topmark has got any s^ch notion as that you tell him he better come an find out what old Sister Aunis has got ter say ter it." "Yessum Cert'uly, I'll toll him," Teddy said, rushing to tie her horse, the while looking significantly at the rest with the eye away from the old woman. Clearly she was crazy, as crazy as ole jREGOR. LLOCH WILLIAMS. Phemy, who Jived on the fears of the other niggers, who, poor fools, took her for a conjure woman. Tbie was in Teddy's mind. His speech was so civil that without in the least intending it Mrs. Annis had spent $3 with him before she rode away. Jack Talbot drove home at a slapping pace. He woold have been amazed bat that he was so furiously angry. There must be something in Teddy's tale. And why should that old virago prick up her eyes and scowl at the mention of Rob? The Annises be recalled as distinctly disreputable folk. He knew his fathor and Mr. McGregor bad said "Good riddance!" when they went west 15 years before. He recalled, too, that he bad heard of them anew within the last month. Somebody at the courthouse had said the old man was dead, and his wife and son had straggled back and rented the Nolan place, a poor, lean farm in the edge of the hill country ten miles away. Why should the old beldame ride all that distance to do her trading? There were at least three stores nearer than Topmark's, and in either of them she might look for better bargains. Clearly her concern was with Topmark. It could not be with Rob?his Rob, whom he would go and see at once. His Rob, his own true love! Now he faced the knowledge with which for three years at least he had fenced and played. Before that he had told himself she was his little sister. He had even tried to keep up that pleasing figment after he came to find his heart beating liko a trip hammer at sudden sight of her. Of course ho had known in the depths of consciousness what it meant, but love, marriage, were not for him until he had straightened all the tangle of home affairs. He had a sort of chivalrous idolatry for his parents, and, though he rejoiced to know that his father understood Rob and loved her as she deserved, he knew, too, what his mother felt. If only she bad been harsh in judgment, be might have thought of defiance. It was the gentleness of her disapproval that gave it so much weight wun ner sou. There was the question of money toa Meager as was the return it brought, Roscoe was unquestionably a valuable estate. A man needed to think well of himself or have little of manly independence to go courting the heiress of it with empty hands. Jack was proudly independent He wanted his wife to owe to him comfort and cherishing. But what ought he not to put aside to save his love from the insult of Ben Topmark's wooing? "Maybe the land is what he's after, confound him!" Jack said to himself as ho strode across fields to Roscoe after he had set his black hirelings at another task. "Heaven kuows the place needs a master badly enough, but not that master! Rob, any dainty girl, had better be dead." Roscoe fields were truly a pitiful sight. Weeds stood as high as stalks in the scant breadths of corn land, and crab grass made a thick, tufty maze between. If tobacco had cleaner tilth, tall" blossoming suckers sapped the richness of the leaves, and fat green worms in multitude ravened at will. "And not a nigger in sight!" Jack said to himself angrily. "Yet if they don't do some tall wrestling with these fellows," crushing a fat worm as he spoke, "the whole crop won't pay the taxes, much less half of it. Something has got to be done, my little darling. Maybe I'm a presumptuous fool, but I shall ask you to marry mo out of hand." Ho had como to this proper and reasonable conclusion just as ho camo likewise upon Aunt Phemy's cabin. It stood upon a rocky knoll, with acres of tangle about it. A cold spring boiled up at the knoll foot and sftit a vein of bright water through the fields to the creek, a mile away. Aunt Phomy had chosen the site herself. She wj:s Mr. McGregor's foster sister, and, though saving her mother had cost him so dear, showed little of open affection for either himself or his child. But then conjure women never cared for people, and all her world knew Aunt Phemy for a conjure woman, though only the bravest ever even whispered so much. She lived alone, spending much time in the woods or swamps. Social visitors she had none, yet there was not a house high or low roundabout that would not have made her eagerly welcome, for, said popular belief, she was one to bo conciliated. If one had a mor-' tal enemy, ho need only go in thick darkness and whisper his grudge to a certain hollow stouo in her chimney. Then he must put money in the hollow, wait three days and go back. If the money was gone, he might bo sure of the wished for vengeance, but if the coin lay untouched ho must tuko it and mako off with all speed, never telling anybody how he had been balked, upon pain of having the witch throw her spells upon him. All this Jack had heard at piecemeal from his frightened black people. For the most part he had laughed at their tales. He was too young and open minded for belief in the black art. Yet now, in spite of himself, Jic shivered. Through the narrow batten window, which stood wide, ho saw the black woman, with a live rat in her hand, bending over a table upon which lay some fresh wheaten dough rudely molded in human shupe. As he looked 6he drew a knife across the rat's throat and held it so the spurting blood dyed the whito effigy beneath, the while half chanting: "Death wus in dis hail. Death went wroDg. Death hit de good, spa-ured do bad. Pass on, death! Pass! Puss! Don' you try ter stay wid me!" With a long, hard breath, Jack went noiselessly away. Rob was chattering like a magpie lo her father when he oame opto them upon the back piazza. She was peeling peaohes for the blind man, who ate them with great relish. Her voice was gay, bnt had a little shake underneath that, set Jack's heart more than ever in a flutter. "Come and settle this dispute of our3. Ton are just in time," she cried at eight of him. "Would you believe it? This wild parent of mine has been preaching that things have no intrinsic value at -II . i-U-4- it- ia oil ?alntiro and rinnArwl.S Oil f uiiau IV *o nii IWIWW..V MUV on how badly you happen to want them." "H-m. Why, there are not two sides to that question. Htf is entirely right," Jack Baid, with his most judicial air. Mr. McGregor laughed aloud. "I was proving it by a story"? lie began. "Made to order," Rob interrupted. "Do you know, Jack, he was trying to make me believe that we would never have had Roscoe but for?a spotted heifer?" "Wewould not, Miss Impertinenoe," her father said, still laughing. "I will tell Jack the story. I had not thought of it in ten years until I fell talking day before yesterday with Benjamin Topmark"? "Why, what brought him here?" Jack interrupted. Rob looked nway, but said gayly: "The finest new turnout in the county; at least Mam Liza says so. And, only think, I missed sight of it; was way out in the fiolds." "He came to see me, " Mr. McGregor said, with dignity, "to eay, poor fellow, how sorry he was that ho had not been in three years before. Now, in his own sorrowful desolation, he is learning"? "Excuse me, dad, but what has his grief to do with a spotted heifer?and Roscoe?" Rob asked saucily. Her father patted her hand. "Vnn ol?nil linnr in crnnd timfi." he said. "Jack will pardon an old man's rambling. The story is not muoh, after all. Yon both have heard me tell about coming out of Virginia, a boy of 17, riding at my father's elbow. He had not bought land before coming out, and as soon as we chanced upon this place he made up his mind that he wanted it. It belonged to a man named Pickius then, one of the poor whitea But, oddly enough, he had a good title, though most of bis sort merely squatted where they chose. Ho wanted to sell and move to one of the prairie states, but his wile was against it. She would, in fact, have brought the trade to naught had she not fallen in love with"? "The spotted heifer. I see. But how came you to have that valuable animal?" Rob asked, her eyes twinkling. Her father gently, pinched her ear as he went on: "Why, she was my pet. I had raised her back in Virginia and had refused to Bell her with the rest of the cattle. She was broken to the halter, so I led her over the mountains into Tennessee. Mrs. Pickins tried first to buy her through somebody else. She was a sharp old la dy, but not too sharp for me. I let it be known to her that my May Blossom was not for sale, bnt that I was ready to make her a present of the animal the minute she would sign a quitclaim deed to the land. Even then she hung back a day and night, but ended by coming round. And so, Miss Rob, you will one day havo Roscoe." "I think?yes, I must look up that quitclaim," Rob said saucily. Her father's face clouded. "You will not find it," he said. "Twenty years after it was given my father sent it to a lawyer in Illinois, who wanted it to help the old woman's children in some legal matter. He promised faithfully to return it, but never did. That does not matter if it is recorded. It was, I know. But bo many books were burned in that fire at the courthouse. Benjamin Topmark spoke of that and said ho would find out for me. He was going to Bearch the books on his own account and would be glad to look for me." "Mr. Topmark is?too kind," Rob said, with the faintest curl of the lip; then, with a quick change of mood: "Jack, do you want to be useful? Then come help mo food my chickens. They are spoiled, almost as badly as this dad of mine. They eat nearly their own weight in meal every day, yet to hear thorn quawk and complain you would think they were starving." "They are deceitful, like their mistress," Jack said as ho followed her to the feed coop, a tent shaped affair of rough slats, which was set some 50 yards from the back steps. Rob had a big basiu of wot meal. Sho flung it by generous handfulR within the coop, then leaued upon it, watching her pets at their greedy feeding. One of them, a pretty, tame, ash blue creature, flew upon her outstretched hand and perched * L 1? j mere, preening nursou uuu giviug uui soft little sounds us she pecked daintily at remnants of dough in tho basin. "Poor Bluebird I" Rob said, stroking the soft feathers. "I am afraid, sweetheart, next winter you will be hungry unless I can bring myself to kill you or give you away. Do you know, Jack, I havo corno to wish, almost, that everything I lovo may bo doad when winter comes?" "Hush!" Jack began imperatively, but sho went on recklessly: "It is tho only way out. You see how things are?t ho crop going to destruction and not a hand raised to stop it. Undo Ned's wife's brother's mother-in-law is dead. To show respectful sympathy with him every soul hero quit work and went to tho burying. It was bad enough before. Now I have quite lost heurt. Pappy has lacked nothing so far. I hud rather die a hundred times than let him know the truth. How could I even hint to him that we must sell part of the land wo both love so well? Yet that scorns tho only way in which I can save him from actual want unless?unless God were good enough to let us die together." "Ah, thero is another way, almost a? bad maybe?still away," Jack said, with unfeeling levity. "You?you c?n marry me, Rob, though I am not half so good a chance as you deserve. KOD nnsnea a iUV?Mcr ncunei. xu&e u that back. You musl!" she cried. "Ob, a but I am ashamed of you?myself?everything! I did not think you would c misunderstand. I was blue and miserable and began to whine?yes, actually t to whine. So you offer to?to help me ( in the only way you oan! My name ought to be Winfold. I did not think I oould behave so. Do, please, take back s everything and forget all I said. If you x do not, I shall never be able to look my- t self in the face, not for a whole year." r Jack caught her hands, not roughly, j but in a firm, masterful grasp. "You f are the one to ta^e back things," he i said in her ear. "#ob, it hurts?rath- \ er?to?to say what I said and find t yourself laughed at for your paina " t The tremulous little fingers ought to a have told him ho hrave a light she i was making for p ide and love. Bat Jack was too full of feeling himself for judicial considerate i. His faoe flamed and his brows drew together when Rob said difficultly: "Jack, it is notlwise, hardly right indeed, for yon to?to speak so when yon have your mother, all of them I Oh, don't you, won't yon, see how impossible it all is?" Jack let her hands fall and swung upon his heel, saying, with freezing courtesy : "Pardon me. I did forget I could offer you nothing bqyond a poor man's heart It was presuipption. I take it all back. I see you want a rioh husband. No doubt you will get him. Accept my felicitations in advi^ca Yon have spoken of Miss Winfold. Let me add that, cold blooded as she notoriously is, I think she would scarcely trample upon a fellow's heart as you delight to da " "Certainly not, if you were the fellow," Rob said, tyeginning to laugh. "Ob, Jack, my onef friend, you are not going to take youtself away from me with all these heroics? Let's both forget for a year. Then |I am sure yoa will think baok and s$o how much your friend I am showing myself to be." She held out her hand. He took it between both his own and raised it to his lips, just as a throaty, good humor- > ed voice said behind them: ? "Lookyyere, Miss Rob! Yon take your 2 co'tin inside de bouse. I not gwine hab no scch carryin's on out yere ter de c chicken coop. Bnt'foreyou goes I want fi Marse Jack dar ter tell me is he begaged \ ter yon?" "Yes, Mam Liza, engaged hard and r fast. Bo snre you tell everybody," Jack s said, with an uproarious laugh, catch- j ing Rob in his arms. Before he let her { go Mam Liza gasped out: "Bless an sabe us, dar's de whole ( crowd frum de fun'ull Dis yere gwine j be spread all ober de kentry." CHAPTER V. j At nearly the same minute Mrs. An- ^ nis, riding home through the deepening ( dusk, met a horseman, at sight of whom ^ she turned her own beast square across ( the narrow road, barring bis progress until she bad questioned bim to ber heart's content Evidently the answers pleased ber. Very shortly she rode on, chuckling aloud. She got down at ber own stile in tempestuous good humor, patted the bead of a lank bound which [ came to greet ber and strode within the squat log house, which had one door ajar. It was mean and squalid, forlornly weather beaten and full of slatternly discomfort The open passway between the two pens was like a muck heap. Racks had been set upon the log walls either side for holding guns and saddles. Mrs. Annis noted with pleasnre that all of them were empty. She slung her own riding gear in plaoe, saying half under breath: "Ef that thar fool Noch jest will keep erway! He shorely had better. Some er his gang has got faces ter hang 'em anywbar's. He's er plumb fool ef he don't stay way one while. I kin manage Magnolyer by herse'f, an onless I'm reckonin mighty wrong I'll manage it so he kin change his business fer better, and that right soon." Magnolia stood listlessly in front of the fireplaco, with yet a spark at bottom of her velvety eyea It had been kindled by sight of a gorgeous silk handkerchief and some lengths of broad red ribbon which lay across her arm. Without a word she held them toward the old woman, who said, with a harsh laugh, fingering them eugerly: "So he's fetohin things ter you erready, agh? I met him in the road; had er nice dish er chat with him, too, though he was in sech er hurry. Now, you listen at me, Magnolyer, jest you mind me, an you kin marry Ben Topmark an bo as big er dog as any er the big dogs." Magnolia flung her arms above her ^ head, with a quick shiver. "I woou't have heern," she said dully. "I woouldu't?no, not for nurthin. All I wants er heem is?murney. I woouldn't stand heem er ya-air fer all hee's got. I?I hate heem, I do?ef? ef ho stays jest er leetle wlii-ile." "You air er big fool," Mrs. Annis said roughly, "all on account er Nooh, an, though he is all the child I've got, I'm bound ter say he is no account? wusser'n no account. Besides you jest as well see, fust as last, he woon't never marry you, not ef you git your full rights an money besides." "Burt?burt?the?chile?the leetle un!" Magnolia gasped, her mouth gathering whiteness. "He?he caiu't deny it?the pore leetle uu. It's 8 year ole now. Ef I jest had it an Noch?an? an we had er place whar nobody knowed"? "Shet up I" Mrs. Annis commanded. "Gal, lemme tell you somethiu. Noch's like all the rest er men?crazy fer what he ain't got. Now ho's plumb distracted arfter Betty Hiusley. He'll git her too. Now Hiusley's done gone ter jail, Betty's froo as any onus." "1 mought as well be dead, then," 3 Magnolia said passionately, dropping i into a chair and breaking into dry sobs. ] But in a little her eyes went back to the ' gay ribbon. She got up and began to tie | i* about her round waist. Then she draped the kerchief over her shoulders ] and smiled to see how ivory fair her I long throat showed in contrast. When 1 her dusky hair had been piled high on i her head, she surveyed herself in the old 1 lUUii. D lUUAiii^ giaoo i.auv mum um?m| ? railing: 1 "I would look right fine ef I had fine ; ilothes all the time." ; "Yes, an I mean ter see that yon git im," Mrs. Annis, added with her most ] inergetio nod. i < A very wise cyan has said there is no : uch thing as a trifle. And myriad hu- . nan beings will echo the saying when I hey cast baok to crnoial minutes and i lote whereupon they hinged. If only Ham Liza had not been at perpetual end with Luce Allen, Miss Winfold and | ler mother might have postponed if not i vholly escaped a very bad quarter of an ! lour. Lnce was the foremost of the i ilack passersby who came upon Jack ind Rob. She had seen enough to make < ler smile, thrust her tongue in the cheek I ind resolve to go to Mrs. Winfold's i iright and early next morning. Besides < i born gossip's relish for things of ac- ; ount she knew she could give herself : he donble satisfaction of revenge upon < dam Liza and of getting even with i klrs. Winfold for more than one grudge 1 cept this long time in mind. < Yet her face was a pattern of demure ind ebon innocence when she came askng if Miss Alice and Miss Sairey could tot be persuaded to undertake making . ler a new black calico agninst an occation of combined funerals soon to come iff at Boiling Spring church. They . igreed readily, and throughout tho time if cutting and fitting Luce let her tongue nn to such purpose that she left them < loth upon the verge of stormy tears. That was not surprising if you conider that Miss Winfold's world thought , ier as tender hearted as she was admi- , able. Her mother said indeed she didn't j lee how dear Alice got along even as , veil as she did, so sensitive as she was. j iVhy, the least little trouble coming to ] mybody made her cry half a day. Brother even noticed it and was mighty larefnl of what he told her, and when tcame to conscience, "Oh, my, ef Alice bought anybody, no matter who er vhat they might be, had injestice done em, most of all by anybody that was mytbing ter her, why, I do believe Uice would go almost out of her mind." Assuredly Miss Alice bad a fountain >f ready tears. They flowed freely as ;he said, looking after the vanishing flack woman: "Mommer, what makes you stare at ne that way? God knows I wish I could lay I don't believe anything, but I do. ! just know, in fact, Luce told the ruth." Mrs. Winfold's heels beat a rataplan m the floor. It was a full half minute, ndeed, before she gathered voice to say: "It ain't, it can't, it shan't, be sol The idear, brother goiu ter court that ittle upstart minx, that limb, that rixen, Hob McGregor, an Jack Talbot ingaged ter her an huggin her in the 'ace of daylight an everybody! Ef them ihings can bo, I cain't no longer believe n Providence. Poor Mrs. Talbot 1 I mow she'd a heap rather see Jack dead, is I'd rather see brother"? "Do shut up, can't yon? I'm sick an ;ired of all you can say about anything!" \lice interrupted irritably. "Let me get my head clear. I must think hard, ["here's a way out of all this. I'll find t as sure as my name's Alice Winfold." "Dear me alive! Ef it stays Alice Pinfold muoh longer, I think I'll run iff with the first tin peddler that comes klong," Nina, the younger Winfold, laid pertly. "You are so cross there kin't no livin with you, an so ugly it lin't no wonder Rob McGregor has cut rou out" "You better mind bow you taJK, nissy!" Alice almost shouted. Mrs. j iVinfold scowled darkly and muttered lomething about pert vixens that needed >0 be whipped. Nina had sauntered to ;he front door and stood leaning out of t Over her shoulder she called malisiously: "You better hush an straighten up 1 rour faces. Yonder comes Mrs. Talbot, in Jack with her." "1 wonder why she could not have lense enough to stay away until some- I iody wanted to see her?" Alice said, grinding her teeth as she made a dash < 'or the water basin and began dabbling ' ler eyes. But that did not prevent her I rom running to the horse blook to meet I md greet the visitor, nor from saying I is she set the easiest chair for her: "You < ire too kind for anything. What would j ve do without you?" i Peace remained with Mrs. Talbot in ;he bosom of the Wiufold family. That 1 vas not long, though. By 10 o'clock she I iad gone, and Mrs. Wiufold was saying jetween bursts of angry tears: "Oh, yesl She's heard it. That's i vhat brought her here. I mean that lie ibout brother. She wanted me ter name 1 t. The fooll I'd 'a' died first!" "I only hope it isn't a lie," Alice re- i inrned, with an ugly sneer. "La, ma, rou're most as big a fool as Mrs. Talbot taerself 1 If she wasn't a fool, she'd be i )ouud to see through us. But that ain't ] aere nor there. The thing to consider < s how we can keep Jack from marryin , Sob inside a month." , "Alice, you don't think he moans eally"?Mrs. Wiufold began. Her daughter cut her short "You , )ught to know?you must if you had < be least sense?that, whether he cares , .'or her or not, Jack will marry her out )f baud if he hears that peoplo talk , about her on account of him. So the | rery best thing that can happen for mo , s this chauco to make him jealous of [Jnclo Bon"? "Oh, Alice, don't say you believe ;hat!" Mrs. Winl'oJd cried tragically. 'Why, I'd die ef I thought brother real- 1 y"- I "Brotber'll make a fool of himself lanae as any old widower. As it has got , :o bo over some girl, I'm mighty glad ' 30 pitched on Rob," Alice said. "Iknow ( rou hate her. I don't. If lean just man- , age to make Jack believe she has the | east thought of marryin Uncle Ben? : well, it won't be long bofore he's en 1 gaged to marry ui6." "What a head you have got, Alice! [ never could have seen through things 1 thata-wuy," Mrs. Winfold said, with 1 admiration. Her daughter gave her 1 shoulders a pronounced sbrag as she an- j iwered: 1 Talbot in the caso. I think the man you married must have been an awfu.' poor stiok." "He wasn't a good chance, poor man," Mrs. Winfold said, with an at tempt at a sigh, "bnt I was most SO, an brother always did hate old maids In thefam'ly. He'd rntberhaveme like [ am, with yon two throwed in, than be bothered with me in bis honse, an I oonldu't live nowheres else ef I hadn't never married. Jack is wnth a heap er trouble. Any girl might be prond ter git him. Of co'se I want yon ter marry, no matter what comes, bnt he's the one I'd ohoose fer yon ef I had the world ter pick from." Alice got np and shook herself free of shreds. Her eyes were unusually bright, and there was a tinge of muddy red in her roaad cheeks. It was not besoming. It tamed to tawdriness the fellows below the creamy surface. She raised her hands above her head, clinched them and said with a sharp, hisBing utterance: "Here, ma! You an Nina finish this. I'm goin to see Rob McGregor, but don't ynu dare hint to anybody ?least of all, any of the Talbots?that I have gone." TO BE CONTINUED. ptec?UattC0u$ grading. LOVE-MAKING IN MEXICO. CuHtom Raises Obstinate Barriers Between the Wooers. "As a rule, no one is received in an exclusive Mexican home unless his 3ocial caste is equal to that of the family he desires to visit, and then he must needs be presented and vouched for by a friend in whom the household has implicit confidence," writes Edward Page Gaston of "A Pair of Lovsrs In Mexico," in the February Ladies' Home Journal. "A suitor, therefore, is not admitted to the residence of his inamorata on her invitation alone, for the portero, in charge day and night of the great doublvbolted zahuan giving entrance from the street to the inner courts of the bouse, is under instructions to admit oo one except by order of the parents }f the senorita whose audience is being 30 eagerly sought. The young gentleman may earnestly pound upon the massive brass knocker for hours, seeking admittance, but his knocking will aot avail. So be and the lady of bis choice must do their distant love-making in the public view and bearing until such time as the stony parental heart shall have melted sufficiently to grant bim admission to the family circle. Inside of the domestic citadel the lady meantime warmly pleads the cause of the unhappy one without, extolling his constancy and the many other good qualities which she has proved her faithful admirer to possess. The day is at last victoriously carried, by one means or another, and the lovers are allowed the privilege of the parlor; but they are never left alone, for the old system of chaperonage is still rigidly in vogue. "If the attentive lover desires the company of his chosen one to the opera, or upon a coach drive, he must include an invitation begging the presence of the father or mother, or more properly, of the whole family. Mexican families are, unfortunately, given to the prompt acceptance of such invitations in a cheerful body, and the remit is, that the son-in-law-to-be and the destined bride, when they appear in public, find themselves mere members of a large box party at the play, Dr a full coach load of company, for all of which gayety the young matrimonial aspirant pays the bills. The sanctioning presence of the family gives formal announcement that there is a wedding on the tapis." SIMPLE ENOUGH. As a change from the story of Co lumbus and the egg, which may now very properly be laid aside until 1992 draws near, an incident related by a French man of science, and vouched for by him, may be told. This gentleman relates that he was at his work before a glowing coal fire when some ane tapped at the door, and a young girl, belonging to a family who lived in the "flat" above him, came in. "Sir," she said, "would you kindly lend me a live coal or two to start our fire with ? It's gone out." "Certainly, my dear," said the savant. "But you have brought nothing to carry it in. Take my shovel." "Oh no, sir," answered the child. "I will carry the coals in my hands." "In your hand ? What do you mean? You'll be burned." "Oh no, sir. I'll show you how." The child dipped up some ashes from the grate and placed them in the hollowed palm of her left hand. Then with the tongs she laid two burning coals on the top of the little heap of ashes. Then she bowed, smiled and went out, bearing her coals unharmed. "Well, well!" said the man of 3cieuce to himself. "Here I've been 3tudying natural philosophy 40 years, and never had the wit to do that!" Whether he ever repeated the experiment on his own account we are not told, but if young readers are tempted to do so we should advise caution. fiST The banana is as much the reliance of the tropical man as barley or rye of the dweller in northern climates. A banana plantation, after being first set out, requires little or no attention. The plants grow from 5 to 3D fpef. in heicrht, and nrndnce food SO abundantly that Humboldt estimates that the same land which yields 1,000 pounds of potatoes will yield 4,000 pounds of bananas. A surface bearing wheat enough to feed one man will, when planted with bananas, feed 25. The banana plant, at almost every stage, furnishes food or some article of utility. The young 3hoots are cut as greens; the leaves and stems furnish material for thatching, as well as dyes and fodder. The IIU1V IVOVI1 ?o OOWU 1U OU LUCklJjr U1UUent ways that even a recapitulation of them is impossible. "By Jove, now, don't you know the boys in this country are cool," said the Earl of Linsdale, who is now visiting Arkansaw. "Why, the other day I was ont here in the hills, and seeing a boy chopping wood I approached, sat down on a stone and began a conversation." " 'How long have you been living here, sonny?' " 'Ever since I was born.' " 'How old are you ?' " 'I'm the youngest in thd family, T\i/ktr A**' 1%A'A ' uopu au uc o ucau. " 'Are there many rattlesnakes in this neighborhood ?' " 'Well, er few.' " 'I'd like to see one.' " Well, jes' look thar behind yer,' and, by Jove, looking around I saw a bloody reptile, just ready to fasten his teeth in me. Oh, the boys here are cool, don't you know." V&" Web Wilder recites in his "Annals of Kansas" that in 1854, when the first tide of New England settlers began to drift bitberward, the Missourians tied a cow at each crossing of the Missouri river.' When an immigrant arrived at the crossing be was certain to make some remark about the animal, and if he said "cow" he was suffered to cross, but if he said "keow" he was hustled back east and out of the country as a bloody-minded abolitionist. In retaliation for this, it is said, the Kansas fellows tied a bear on their side of the river, and when an immigrant crossed who called it (iL 9 U A mnn fltal AAtMA/1 4 U A?%nn "UtJUr UD HBO WCIVUUICU nibu UJjtu arms; but the fellow who called it "bar" was scooted back into Missouri as an unwelcome slavery advocate. A Powerful Freezing Mixture. Many readers know that a mixture of two parts of pounded ice and one part of common salt will reduce the tern* perature of anything inclosed so as to be wholly surrounded by the mixture (say a milk can in an ice-cream freezer) to a point 36 degrees below that at which water freezes. There are but few readers, however, that know of the remarkable properties of a mixtore of chloride of lime and ice. A mixture of three parts of crystalized chloride of lime and two parts of ice forms a combination that will freeze mercury in seven minutes. He Could Earn a Living Anywhere.?The following advertisement appeared in a German newspaper of the year A. D. 1640: "Isaac Markel, barber, wig-maker, school teacher, shaves and cuts hair for two kreotzers; for which he also smears pomade on the hair. He makes and patches boots and shoes, bleeds and applies leeches cheap. He teaches dancing at private houses, and sells perfhmery of every kind, including axle grease, salt herrings, honey cakes, brushes, mousetraps, and other confectionery, including bitters for liver complaint, * seed potatoes, sausages and other vegetables." Peg" "Penelope, can you tell me where my clean socks are, and could you find -1 11!. J TTTllll. O fTLAn time to wasa jxeme ana wuue r iuey are dirty as two little pigs, and Nellie says she has no clean aprons. Dinner is now nearly an hour late, and the cook says that?" "Henry, do keep still and stop confusing! Our Woman's Club meets at 8 o'clock, and I simply must finish this paper on 'Plain Living and High Thinking,' and I have to give a talk at the Progress Club on 'The Ethics of Marriage.' Do stop interrupting me and attend to the household affairs yourself." t@T The average age of doctors is much higher than that of any other calling?it is no less than 56. Their great pull consists, no doubt, in their opportunities of observing what treatment is most efficacious with the patients. A certain physician is said by James Payn to have let this partcular cat out of the bag to one to whom he was paying marked attention. "I am very much interested in your care," he said, "because I have the same complaint myself; and if this medicine really does you good, I shall try it." While wages, salaries, and the price of merchandise have been reduced by "hard times" to a low level, says The Commercial Bulletin, the charges of professional men seem to be unchanged. The lawyer still charges fat fees. The doctor wants three dollars for looking at your tongue, and, if he is a specialist, ten. The dentist, after driving you wild for an hour, "onto fun Hnllnm for. "Drofessional x servicesand you must pay two dol, lars to the actor, and five or more to the opera singer. Extremely Modest.?"I think," said the . minister's wife, "that you ought to cultivate more vehemence in your elocution." "You mean that I ought to make more noise?" "I believe that might help to make your sermons more popular." "I doubt it very much. In fact, I'm afraid that method would have the opposite effect, and send some members of the congregation away with an unfavorable impressioB." "I don't see why." "You know, my dear, that most people are liable to be ill-natured when they have just been awakened from a sound sleep." f6T A minister once submitted an account for tithes to a blacksmith, whose exclamation, "But I don't go to your church 1" was met by the rejoin* "%T L i - ** -I L aer, "ino, dui me uoor ui uiy uuurvu is always open I" Next day the blacksmith submitted an account for shoeing to the minister. "But my horses are not shod at your smithy!" exclaimed the minister, with some heat. "No," was the quiet reply, "but the door of my smithy is always open."