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i. m. grist & sons, Publishers. I % ^amilg Jleicsgager: j[or the promotion of the political, Social, Agricultural, and (Eommeitcial Interests of the ?outh. {TER*|fN'ScoApJ,EAre^c?Sm?NCI!' established 18557 TORKVILLE, S. "C., SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1899. NO. 6. 1 i I r 77 ~ . i _77" ZT7 . "177 Z I 7~j ~ ~ j m www BY GUY ! Author of "ABId For For Marriage of Copyright, 1898, by D. Appleton and Cot Synopsis of Previous Installments. In order that new readers of The Enquirer may begin with the following installment oi 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: Dr. De Norinauville, an English physisician at Hongkong, hears of a woman called the Beautiful White DeviJ^ making her home on an island in tne racinc oi which she is the sovereign and leading a Biratical life in a white yacht on the ocean, r. De Normanville receives a call from a stranger who engages his professional services to go to an unknown place to treat an epidemic of smallpox. Alter an eventful voyage he finds himself on board the Lone Star, the yacht of the Beautiful White Devil. He is taken to her island home, where he fights the plague successfully. CHAPTER VI. A TRIP INTO THE COUNTRY. Sixty-four days exactly after my tak ing charge of the health of the settlement the last patient was discharged from the hospital, cured. Out of 195 cases treated 138 had recovered. The rest lay in the little graveyard on the hillside to the eastward pf the town. It had been a weary, harassing time from beginning to end, and the strain and responsibility had had a more severe effect upon me than I should have anticipated. Alie alone, of all the workers, seemed untouched. Her indomitable will would not permit Her body to know such a thing as fatigue, and for this reason the last day of on* work found her powers as keen and her energy as unabated as they had been on the first. On the afternoon of the day following the discharge of my last patient she came into the surgery, and seating herself in my armchair looked about her with that interest my medical affairs always seemed to inspire in her. "Dr. De Normanville," she began, clasping her little white bands together on the arm of the chair, "I have been watching you lately, and I have come to the conclusion that you are thoroughly tired out. There is but one cure for that?rest and complete cnange 01 air and scene." "And pray what makes yon suppose I am worn out?" I asked, wiping a pair of forceps that I had been using on a native boy five minutes before and putting them back into their case. "The color of your face for one thing,"she answered, "and the way you move about for another. Your appetite, I have al60 noticed, has been gradually falling off of late. No, it won't do. My friend, you have been so good to us that we should be worse than ungrateful if we allowed you to get ill. So, without consulting you, I have arranged a little holiday for yon." "That is very kind of you," I said. "And pray what is it to be?" "I will tell you. You are an enthusiastic botanist and entomologist, are you not? Very well, then. This island abounds with unclassified flora and fauna. I will have an expedition fitted out today, and tomorrow morning we will leave the settlement and plunge into the interior. I expect a week's absence from worry will work a wonder ful change in yon. At any rate, we'll try it. What have you to say to my proposition?" "I should like it above all things," I answered eagerly. And, indeed, apart from the scientific chances it wonld afford me, a trip anywhere in her company could not be anything else than delightful. Having gained her point, she rose to go. "I may consider it settled, I suppose?" she said. "At daybreak tomorrow morning we are to mount our ponies in the square down yonder and set off. You need not bother about rifles or any impedimenta of that kind. I will 6ee that you are well provided." So saying, she withdrew, and I saw no more of her that day. Therestofthe afternoon I spent in preparing my specimen boxes for the trip, and when I sought my couch at night it was to dream of birds aud beetles of the most glorious coloring, size and variety. True to our arrangement, daybreak next morning found me, booted and spurred, striding toward the village square. Early as 1 was at the rendezvous, Alie was there before me, mounted on a neat bay pony, and evidently awaiting my coming. She wished me "good morning" and then pointed to the group of pack horses standing at a little distance in charge of half u dozen men. "We shall not want for provisions during our travels," she said, with a happy laugh, and as she did so she sign ed to one or Her attendants to lead up a pony 6he had reserved for my use. "The cook and his staff, "she continued, "have gone on ahead of us to prepare our breakfast, so now if you are ready we'll start." The order to march was thereupon given, and we immediately set off up the mountain track. When the first half dozen miles were overcome, the aspect of the country began to change. It became more open, and we continually emerged from timber on to highly grassed plains, where pig and deer of many kinds were to be seen feeding placidly. Toward 8 o'clock the trend of the country lay upward and continued so until we had mounted to a considerable elevation, when an extensive panorama was unfolded before us. The island must indeed have been a large one if it could be judged by the extensive views we had presented to us of it. Only on the settlement side could I see the sea, while on the other the forest rolled away as far as the eye could reach. A little before sundown Alie inform L WWTS ?sm. BOOTHBY-. tune," "Dr. IVlhola," "The Esther," Etc. upany. I ecT me that we were close upon our desI Mnotinn And cnrolv ennnch. iust as the orb of day disappeared behind the tree tops, we saw before us, ou a small plateau, four or fire large aud exceedingly comfortable huts, which the men who had preceded us that morning had erected for our accommodation. They faced toward the east, and the view from the little terrace on which they stood was beautiful in the extreme. Across it and for a short distance be "How beautiful it all is!" said Alie, looking up at the winking stars. low the land was open; then the undergrowth began again, gradually rising from small bushes to great trees, and afterward continuing in one unbroken sea of green away to where the faint ontline of a mountain range peered up upon the southeastern horizon. It was a picture to see and remember forever. Having dismounted from our ponies we prepared to make ourselves comfortable. The distribution of huts was as follows: Alie took that to the right, I had a large one on the left, while that in the center was set apart for our dining room and sitting room (if we wanted to be indoors, which was unlikely); the fourth was destined for the accommodation of the cook and from it already resounded the clatter of pots and pans. Full of curiosity to see in what sort of comfort Alie traveled, I entered my own but and was amazed at the completeness of the arrangements A com fortable bedplace, with mosquito curtains, occupied one side, a square of matting covered the door, a portable wash hand stand stood near the bed, while against the opposite wall, neatly arranged in a ruck, were my guns and specimen cases. By the time I had washed off the stains of .travel and exchanged my riding costume for a lounge suit the uative pong naa summoned us to diuuer, aud Alio and I, meeting on the terrace, entered tbe center but together. If I bad been surprised at the completeness of the arrangements of my own but bow much more astonished was I now. Indeed bad it not been for tbe walls, which were covered with some peculiar sort of tapestry, and the different ceiling. I should hardly have known that we were not "in the bungalow at tbe settlement. Tbe white cloth, tbe glittering glass and silver, the costly ornaments and tbe profusion- of dishes were tbe same, and when tbe same impassive servant entered to wait upon us, clad in bis usual white livery, my astonishment was complete. Alie was in exceptionally good spirits, and for this reason tbe meal proceeded in a most delightful fashion. When it was over, we drew our chairs outside into tbe gathering gloom and sat watching tbe fireflies dashing in and out amid tbe tangle of dark forest across tbe plateau. It was indeed a night to be remembered. Overhead tbe tropic stars shone in all their beauty; around us were tbe unfathomable depths of tbe forest; from tbe right sounded the inkling music of a stream; while dow and again oat of tbe darkness would come the deep note of some forest animal or tbe melancholy boot of an owl or other night bird. "How beautiful it all is!" said Alie, looking up ut the winking stars. Then as if to herself, "If only we could always be as peaceable as this, how much happier we shouid be!" "Do you really think we should?" I answered. "Don't you think it is the wild unrest and turmoil of the world, to say nothing of thut constant struggling, which make existence so sweet to us?" "Ah, you speak of your own world!" she said sadly. "Think what my world is?continual plotting, endless striving, with always the one great dread of capture hanging over me. Ub, Dr. De Normanville, you little kuow the sort of life I lead!" "Then why do you go on with it? If only I might"? I checked myself suddenly. Another moment and the fatal words would have nassprl mv lin? Rnt tn sea her thus and not to tell her of my love was almost more than I could bear. I kept a tight rein upon myself, however, and crammed the words back into my heart. She had paused and was looking away toward the dark forest. "Why do I go on with it?" she answered, a few moments later. "Because I must. Because there is no one else to guide and care for them but me." "But supposing you were caught? They would have to shift for themselves then." "I shall never be taken alive?that is, except by treachery. No. Dr. De Normauville. come what may. I can never forsake them. My duty lies Before me, and as I have endeavored to do it , in the past so I must strive to do it in the future. But it is getting late, and we have traveled a long distance today. Don't you think we had better bid each other good night?" As she spoke she rose, and I followed her example. Then she shook hands, wished me good night and disappeared into her own hut, her dog at her heels. When she had gone, I reseated myself, lit another cigar and fell to work upon my thoughts. Away in the darkness beyond the leaping fires a Sambhur deer, probably disturbed by our lights, was barking to bis mate, and in a tree near at band a night bird hooted dolefully. The first sweetness of the evening bad passed, and now an unutterable melan choly seemed to have laid its hand upon it. When my cigar was finished, I passed into my hnt, glanced at my rifles to see that they were ready to my hand in case of need, and having disrobed myself went to bed. Tired as I was, my slumoers were almost dreamless, and it seemed bat a few minutes from the time I laid my head upon my pillow before my servant was waking me to the newborn day. Immediately breakfast was over I took my specimen cases and a light rifle, and, accompanied by Alie and two of our native servants, dived into the forest, on collecting thoughts intent But the profusion of subjects was so vast that it was difficult to know quite where to begin. At every turn some peculiar grass, some plant, some shrub would arrest my attention, while in the air butterflies, beetles and birds innumerable seemed to call upon me to catch and catalogue them without delay. Alie had quite recovered her good spirits by this time, and having onoe grasped the general idea followed her new hobby with the same impassioned ardor that was noticeable in everything she undertook. By midday our cases were full to bursting, so we returned to the camp to lunch. In the afternoon we continued our work, but this time without our native followers, who, when all was said and done, preferred chattering to working, and in more wuys than one were in the way. By the time the sun declined upon the mountain our boxes were once more full, and we turned our heads campward, following on our homeward route the course of the same stream we had pursued on our outward journey. It was warm work, and when aboht half our walk was done we stopped on a little rise to look about us. Alie seated herself on a fallen tree, and I put down my boxes and took my place beside her. Throughout the afternoon she bad been a little quiet, and I must own that my own spirits were none too lively. Enjoyable as our excursion bad proved, it was nevertheless a fact that every day was bringing my stay in the island nearer to its close, and under the circumstances I could not help feeling that, my duty done, it behooved me to be moving on as soon as possible. And yet the thought of leaving this woman, into whose life I had flashed like a meteor and whom I bad come so desperately to love, was agonizing to me. Alie rolled a small stone into the foaming torrent below us and then turned to me. "Dr. De Normanville," she began? and it struck me that she hesitated a good deal over what she bad to say? "when my agent visited you in Hongkong and induced you to come to onr assistance, be promised that as soon as your work was completed you should be returned safe and sound to the place whence you started. Your work is completed, and now it only remains for you to say?well, to say when you wish to leave us." This speech, following on top of what I had been thinking myself, put me in a strange position, and for a minute I did not know how to answer. Then a torrent of words and protestations rose upon my lips, Due i pressed mem duck and to gain time for reflection asked a question. "I hope that I have done my work to your satisfaction?" "How can you ask such a thing?" she answered promptly. "You have worked for us as few other men would ever have done. I cannot"?here her voice trembled a little, and her beautiful eyes filled with tears?"I cannot ever thank you as I would wish to da" Either her tear laden eyes or this expression of her gratitude must have deprived me of my self control, for when she had finished speaking my presenoe of mind completely deserted me, and without more ado I drew closer to her on the tree, and, taking her hand in mine, said, almost without thinking of my words: "Alie, cannot you see that there can be no question of thanks between us? Cannot you see why I have worked so hard for you? Cannot you see that I would give my own existence to save for you even the life of the dog you loved? Have my actions not spoken for themselves?" She rose to her feet, but I noticed that sbe turned her face away and would not look at me. I could feel that sbe was trembling violently. In spite of this I continued: "Alie! You must see that I love you with my whole heart and soul. From the moment I first saw you on your yacht's deck I have been your slave. I i* iu mnrlnpHB fnr ft man like me auun av ia ? to hope to will such a queen among women as yourself, but I cannot help it: Send me away from you if you will, but there is one thing beyond your power to do, and that is to take away from me my love." "Hush, husb, for pity's sakel" "No, Alie, I cannot stop. I have gone too far now to draw back. Day by day I have hidden away in my heart?I have tried to crush down and stifle this love of mine, but it will not be hidden, it will not be crushed, it will not be 6tifled. Now the flood has risen, it has burst its bonds and washed away all thought of prudence. You have learned my secret. Alie, is there no hope at all for nie? I know I am not worthy of you, but 1 am an honest man, and I love you with my whole heart and sou]." I "Dr. De Nnrmanville," she said slowly, turning her tear stained face toward me, "I am sorry, more sorry than yon will ever guess, that you should have told me this. Many men have let me know their love before now, and I was able to tell them without pain to myself that it could not be. Now, you love me, you who have been so true and so brave, and I have to make you see that what you wish can never be possible. Do not think I am insensible of the honor you have done me, for it would honor any woman to be asked to be your wife. Do not think that it does not pain me to hurt you so. But, oh, Dr. De Normanville, cannot you see that I can be no man's wife, much less yours?" "And why, in heaven's name, not?" All this time she bad not attempted to withdraw her hand from mine. "Because, according to your lights, I am not worthy. You have this moment called yourself an honest man. Well, then, judged by your ideas of honesty, 1 am not an honest woman. Look at your own career; look at the name you have already created for yourself; tbinK rrrwyy fntriro* t.hpn Hnw nan T a wnm an bunted by every nation, a woman on whose bead a price is set, who dares not show ber face in a civilized country? allow herself to share that name and that future with you. Ask yourself that question and answer it before you think of making me your wife." "I can have no future without you." "That is no answer to my question. No, Dr. De, Normanville, I am sorry, more sorry than you will ever know, that this trouble should have come upon you. But wheu you have time to refleot you will see as clearly as I do that what you ask is impossible. It can never bo." "One question before you say it cannot be!" I cried. "I will not insult you by imploring you to tell me the truth. You will do that without my asking. But we will suppose for the moment that you were not the outlaw you declare yourself to be and I asked you the same question. Will you tell me if you would give me the same answer then?" "It is unfair of you to put it in that way," she said, toying with a leaf. "But since you do ask I will tell you truthfully. If I were in the position you describe and you aBked me to share your life with you, I would give you this answer?that I would be your wife or the wife of no other man." "You love me, then, Alie?" My heart seemed to stop beating while I waited for her answer. When it did pass her lips, it was so soft that I could hardly hear it. "Yes, I do love you." Before she could prevent me I had taken her in my arms and rained kisses upon her beautiful face. For a moment she did not resist. Then Bbe withdrew herself, panting, from my arms. "Let me go!" she gasped. "Yon must not do this. No, no, no! What am I telling you? Oh, why cannot you see that what you wish is impossible?" "As I live," I cried in return, "it is not impossible, and it never shall be! Since you own yourself that you love me I will not live without you. I love you as I verily believe man never loved woman before. If I were a poet- instead of a prosaic doctor, I should tell you, Alie, that to me your smile is like God's sunshine. I would tell you that the wind only blows to carry to the world the story of my love for you. I would tell you all this and more?yes, a thousand times more. But I am no poet. I am only a man who loves you for your own beautiful self, for your sweetness, your loneliness, your tenderness to those about you. What does fame mean for me? I want only you. Let me have you for my companion through life, and I will go with you where you wish, stay here with you if you please or go away, just as you may decide. I have but one ambition, and A nd with a chokivpeob she fled. that is to be w orthy of you, to help you to do good. All I ask is to be allowed to live the life you live yourself." "And you think that I would let you make this sacrifice for me? No, no I Oh, why cannot you see that it is impossible?" Again I attempted to take her in my arms. Bat this time she eluded me, and with a choking sob fied through the scrub toward the camp. Seeing that it was useless to attempt to reason witb her in her present state, I followed more leisurely, reaching the huts just as the gong was sounding for dinner. As soon as my ablutions were performed, I sought the dining hut, but my hostess was not there. I waited, and presently the servant arrived to inform me that oho w?o Tint well and would dine in her own apartment. I was not prepared for this, and my thoughts daring my solitary meal and when I was smoking on the plateau before the huts afterward were by no means pleasAnt. Glad though I was that I had made her aware of my sentiments toward her, I almost began to wish, if she were going to avoid me, that I had deferred my explanation until we had reached the settlement again. But I was destined to see her that night after all. About 10 o'clock, just as I was thinking of retiring to my own hut, I heard a footstep behind my chair, and a mo meat later Alle, accompanied Dy ncr dog, stood before me. "Dr. De Normanville," she said softly, "I cannot imagine what yon mast think of me. I have come to tell yon that I felt I could not sleep until I had apologized to you." Her penitence sat so prettily upon her that it was as much as I could do to prevent myself taking her in my arms and telling her so. But I managed somehow to keep myself within bounds and only said in reply: "You must not say a word about it I was equally to blame. Great as is my love for you, I should not have forced it upon yon in that unseemly fashion." "No! No! Don't say that I want you really to understand my gratitude. That I love you, I have said. Perhaps I ought not to have confessed it. But seeing that I have done so, and have told you exactly what my position in the world is. von must see that it is that very love which keeps me from giving myself to yon as I should like to do. I don't make my meaning very clear, but can yon understand that?" "I think I do," I said. ."But it does not alter my position. I love yon as I shall never love any other woman. As I told yon this afternoon, my whole life is bonnd np in yon. It remains for yon to say whether I shall be the happiest or the most miserable of men. Remember, save for my sister, I am alone in the world. Therefore, as she is amply provided for, I have only myself to think of. If yon will have me, I will give my life to yon to do as yon please with." "This generosity is like yourself. Will yon let me make a bargain with yon?" "What is it?" "It is this. First yon shall promise not to speak of this to me again nntil I give yon permission." "I will promise that. And on your part?" "I will promise to give yon my answer at the end of 12 months. In the meantime yon will go back to England, live yonr own life, and on the first day of May next year, if yon still love me and are as anxious then to make your sacrifice as you are now, I will meet you again and be yonr wife as soon as yon please. What do yon say?" For a few moments I could answer nothing; then, thongh I am not theatrically inclined as a general rnle, I fell on my knee, and taking her band kissed it, saying in a voice 1 hardly recognized as my own: "My queen and my wife!" "You are content to abide by that?" ' 'Since you wish it I am more than content,"I answered, my heart overflowing with happiness. "Then let us say no more on the subject. ' Good night, and may God bless you." She turned and left me without another word, and when I bad seen her disappear into her hut I, too, sought my oouob, to dream, as I hoped, of' the happiness that the future had in store for me. TO BE CONTINUED. the; repeal op the homestead. What Senator Sullivan Expects of HI* Constitutional Amendment. Columbia State, Tuesday. Senator Sullivan, of Anderson, is opposed to the homestead, and yesterday in the senate, introduced a resolution looking to its repeal. He purposes to make a hard fight this year agaiDst the homestead, and when asked about the object of bis resolution, said : "The joint resolution offered for the repeal of the present homestead provision of the constitution, looks to leaving the matter of exemption of personal property to the general assembly, and to prohibit homesteads in lands. "TtiA nrflapnt homestead law is the root of many evils, sucb as our obnoxious lien law, a source of constant litigation and legislation. "Get the homestead out of tbe way and we can repeal the lien law, and at the same time leave tbe people of limited meaDs a basis of credit. Tbe necessity of so much mortgage-taking will no longer exist. Tbe credit of our people and of the state will be greatly enhanced. "Why should money be tight at 8 and 10 per cent, in South Carolina wbeu in other states it can be bad at from 4 to 5 per cent? This homestead law discredits us at once before tbe world and keeps out pf the state money products and out of touch with those who are glad to extend credit on tbe least margin. Repeal tbe present homestead exemptions and money in South Carolina can soon be had readily at 5 or 6 per cent. "Tbe homestead law is no friend to the poor man who desires to rise in the world. Get it out of the way and we can then legislate to some purpose on questions relating to the credit system. There may have been a time in the years and centuries gone by when this law served a good purpose; but I think reflection will convince us that it is now out of date and a real obstacle to every branch of iudustry and trade." Traveling Post Offices.?The post office department has ordered an innovation in the postal service by the experimental establishment of a post office on wheels, to operate in the vicinity of Westminister, Md. Tk^^ervice, which is to begin shortly, calls for the use of a postal wagon to travel over a designated route in rural districts. Mail boxes can be placed at some point on the route for every farmer living within a mile or two from the proposed route and mail will be collected therefrom. One important feature of the contemplated innovation, which, if successful will be extended generally, is that it will have money order and registry matter facilities. I?-No man will ever be celebrated for his piety whose religion is all in his head. i (ills ml in mm, Interesting Story For Friends at Home. BOUGH TRIP ON THE TRANSPORT. Strange Sights In a Strange Country? The Cubans at Home?How They Dresa? So-called Beautiful Senorltas Require Less Faint and More Soap?The Horrors of a Crowded Troopship. The following splendily written and unusually interesting letter is from Sergeant Augustus Deal, The Enquirer's Second Regiment correspondent, to bis mother, Mrs. M. E. Deal, of nUntahnmr Tt man aont to THR En. quirer at SergeaDt Deal's request, with the explanation that having already written a long letter to bis mother, he did not then feel inclined to undertake another; but that The Enquirer might use such extracts as it should consider desirable. . Such a capital letter, however, could not be condensed to advantage, and, therefore, in the exercise of the discretion allowed by this highly talented young soldier boy, the editor prefers not to undertake any changes: "Camp Columbia," Havana, Cuba, Jan. 12, 1899. My Dearest Mother : I know that you are anxious to hear from me and that I should have writteu to you before this; but after the horrible trip over in the overloaded, top-heavy old cattleship of a transport, and the unnecessary confusion and hardship caused us by the bungling of some of our own officers, I have felt disposed to do little else, in my spare moments, than lie on my cot in tbe shade and swear in execrable Spanish at tbe hordes of Cubans (every shade) that are continually swarming through tbe campB selling oranges and "sbigaretty" and shrewdly trading their stock for whatever articles of a soldier's apparel that may strike their fancy. However, my first letter from Cuba, and my first in the New Year of 1899, shall be to you; but knowing your love for the beautiful in nature, I sincerely regret that I am not able to describe, or even suggest to you, the beauties and wonders of this strange island. We are encamped now on an old sugar plantation out in the bills, high up above and to tbe west of Havana. it is a spienaiu site, possessing uiuuy natural advantages for a camp, and commanding a beautiful view of the city and the ocean. The discipline is very leoient; the men being allowed to go pretty much anywhere they please, except to Havana, nine miles away, where a strict provost guard is iu charge. To the sea it is only about three miles, and a great many of the men have availed themselves of the opportunity to take a surf bath; but the beach is rocky and covered with sharp shells, and proved to be a disappointment. The weather here is charming? neither cold nor warm?with a most delightful breeze all the time ; but this is winter and their dry season, you know, and I suppose we will all wish ourselves well away from here before we get away; before the torrid summer, with its terrific rains, strikes us. We have already experienced one rain?a perfect downfall?and we have been wading in the reddest, stickiest mud ever since until today, when we moved our camp to its present site. The country around here is beautiful beyond description ; the landscapes glorious. But it is not this that attracts the attention of the men. It is amusing to see them stand in wonder before a bearing orange or banana tree, or a field of sugar cane, sown broadcast like wheat, and so thick a rabbit could hardly get through. The royal palms, with their extremely tali and slender columns, of a color that might easily be taken for stone masonry, and their cane-like stems at the top, capped by a tuft of leaves, come in fur a eood deal of admiration. Some of them taper gradually, with apparently not the slightest variation from the symmetrical in any direction, while others beginning small at the bottom, bulge to enormous proportions, tapering symmetrically and gracefully at the top. Of the city of Havana I have seen very little, and of that I am not near so enthusiastic. If I were to express in as few words as possible the sensations that overwhelmned me as I passed through it on the day of our arrival, and in the order of their importance, I should say, ''filth," decay, children, inertia and the ancient splendor of the old fortress-like houses, with their invariable iron barred doors und windows. Filth certainly deserves the first place?in fact the first several placestor it is no exaggeration to say that the streets, which are also the sewers, stink strongly with an odor that was particularly repugnant. "Decay" was stamped so deeply on everything, both animate and imauimate, both bouses and people, that it is entitled to second place, although "children" is a close third. They swarmed through the city singly, in bevies, iu droves; by tens, hundreds and thousands, and the strangest, funniest part Sara 11/qa t.hnf.! tu tUO AUJVI1VHU QV1U1VIUJ Tf Hw VUMV the majority were entirely naked, and it their mid-winter also! They reminded me of the flies of Jacksonville, Fla., where the men used to say, with more truth than poetry, that "if you wished to sit down, you must first brush off the flies and then sit dowu quick." The next thing to particularly impress me wasjhe general inertia of the populace. From the extremely graceful and iudolent manner in which they nearly all were reposing, one would naturally be led to believe that this was their past, present and future state, and further experience with] mem nas leoueu iu cuuurui mm view ? oue "South Carolina nigger" being worth at least five of them. The most fascinating and interesting study, however, was the bouses. Built of solid masonry, usually only one storied, with every open place heavily iron-barred, and with no yard, they were more like' mediaeval castles than dwellings. They were usually only two rooms thick, and in the rear would be the most beautiful gardens. The strangest, most unreal thing of it all was to see the most magnificently furnisbed houses, with the prettiest and most artistic fresco and tiling, face streets not wiae enougu ior twa waguua to pass, and filthy to buch a degree that Americans would not believe it. The sidewalks almost everywhere that ' I saw, were only about two feet wide? two people could not pass upon them. ' There are several other small towns around us: Mariano, with a population of 15,000, being about two miles distant. About half a mile below us, where we were first encamped, is another old plantation. The majority of the heavy stone buildings are in ruins, having been burnt; but the dwelling, grim and grand, is still intact, and presents an interior of marvelous beauty. Tiling seems to be used on all the floors, and some of it and the frescoes are exquisite. Lumber is $120 per 100 feet, I hear; but I cannot believe it. Anyway, we are paying $15 a cord for wood to burn. The prices of different things are, to us, so disproportionate that they furnish a subject of unflagging interest. Eggs, for instance, are 80 cents a dozen, while you can get several packs of splendid cigarettes for a sickle. One of the men asked for a uickle's worth of apples and was given one shrivelled little apple. He preferred to take six big oranges instead. The dress of the natives is very simple. Twenty-Ave cents for a hat, 20 cents for a pair of slippers, $1 for a pair of trousers and a jacket made of some light stuff*, throw in a nickle for "shigaretty" and for $1.50 you have dressed your Cuban. Now add a little dirt, a smile for the "ab-may-ree-cahna b" and give him a machete (ma-cheyle) and you have the type. This is thelaboring class; but some of the richer Cubans dress elegantly and with taste. MitmnAM nkiMean natrlonh f.hifl AUO JUUUgUt VUUUI VU uvgivvv vww little item, and in a state of Datura, play io the mud to their heart's content, with uo fear of being scolded for soiling their clean clothes. The people are generally and unusually small and slight. I, with my 5 feet 7 inches and 180 pounds, feel like a giant among them. Their hands and feet are very small, and I should say their average weight is about 110 pounds?possibly 115 pounds. The soldiers generally are great admirers of the dark beauty and lustrous eyes of the sayn-yo-ree-tahs; but as for myself, I am free to confess that I prefer less powder and paint and mora soap. But to go back a little. We took the transport Roumanian at Savannah on Tuesday morning, January 8, and debarked at Havana on Friday morning; being just three days out. And obi those days. Truly, "a tale I could unfold whose lightest word would barrow up thy soul." The ship was top-heavy and overcrowded?carrying beside our own corral, that of the Ninth Illinois?in all about 1,000 men and 800 horses and mules. We were fortunate in catching a very quiet sea ; but, nevertheless, the ship rolled' fearfully. Consequently, the young volcanoes Within us scon began to erupt, and it soon became an open contest as to whose stomach contained the most, who could strangle the loudest and become the most gbastly, deathly sick; and your precious son, mamma, was not the least of these if be didn't beg to be either -? ? l.ill-1 on/1 cnioroiormeu ur &mcu ubv ovU didn't have the strength and necessary vocabulary to swear as loud and proficiently as most of the others. I had remained on deck during the first afternoon "feeding the fishes"; but toward night went down into the hold, which had already become foul and sloppy, to get my blankets, intending to return; but I never got back. I managed to get lodged in a hammock beneath some poor devil who seemed to be having a particularly hard time of it. Periodically he would interrupt bis prayers, curses and lamentations, launch over to one side and emit volumes, it seemed to me; and as the hammocks were continually swaying as the shipped rolled, it occurred to me in a kind of dull way, that I might offer some obstruction to its passage; but strange to say I neither moved nor cared. 1 remember wondering bow in the world he could ever have gotten so much inside himself and if be would never stop; when alter an unusually hard straugle, I heard him declare, with a perfect avalanche of army oaths, that he bad thrown up everything but bis government job, and I know how heartily, just then, that the poor fellow wished that could be thrown up also. All around, packed like hogs in a pea, but without the advantage of fresh air, everything was the same way. I heard men slashing around on the door that had been at least dry a few hours before, and drop valuable articles that they never used again. It was a perfect pandemouium of groans, curses, coughs and strangles that continued all night long and was still in progress, although the storm had aimost spent itself, when ? finally mustered up strength enough, at 12 o'clock the next day, to crawl up on deck. Whether I slept any during the night, I do not know. Sometimes I would drop otf in a kind of stupor, and then I suppose I slept; but it seemed to me that I was always awake and could never lose conciousness as I so longed to do. The sickness seemed to attack the miud as much, if not more, than the body; and when I began to realize CONTINUED ON FOURTH PAGE.