University of South Carolina Libraries
\ / i YORKV MgOTD gKK1>WKEKL^ ~ .. ?^^?___^_________, i. m. grists SONS, Publishers. } % ^amilg gemgpgtr: 4or th$ promotion 0f th$ goitiiial, j^ojqial, &flri4ttltoi[al and d^jinmgiifial gnlmgtg of ihq { ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKYILLE, S. C., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1903. . NO. 99. 1 ? ^7 1 WHEN KNI | WAS IN I Or, The Lore Story of Charles Brandon i 9 Happening In the Reign of His Angi Y LnrrMn and Rendered Into M 9 Caiskoden'a tBy EDWIN CASKODEf Copyright, 1838 and 1901, by th. ?????????????< CHAPTER IV. A LESSON IN DANCING. |AI j LAUGHED heartily when Jane |^| J, told me of the tilt between Brandon and Princess Mary, the latter of whom was in the habit of saying unkind things and being thanked for them. Brandon was the wrong man to say them to. as Mary learned. He was not hot tempered?in fact, just the reverse ?but he was the last man to brook an affront and the quickest to resent in a cool beaded, dangerous way an intentional offense. He respected himself and made others do the same, -or seem to do so at least. He had no vanity, which is but an inordinate desire for those qualities that bring self respect and often the result of conscious demerit, but he knew himself and knew that he was entitled to his own good opinion. He was every inch a man, strong, intelligent and brave to temerity, with a reckless disregard of consequences, which might have been dangerous bad it not been tempered by a dash of prudence and caution that gave him ballast I was not surprised when I heard of the encounter, for I knew enough of him to be sure that Mary's high handedness would meet its counterpart in my cool friend Brandon. It was, however, an unfortunate victory, and what all Mary's beauty and brightness would have failed to do her honest open acknowledgment of wrong, following. so quickly upon the heels of her fault accomplished easily. It drew him within the circle of her fatal attractions, and when Jane told me of It I knew his fate was sealed and that sooner or later his untouched heart and cool head would fall victim to the shafts that so surely winged all others. It might and probably would be 'later," since, as Brandon had said, he was not one of those who wear the "/ met your friend. Did he tell your' heart upon the sleeve. Then he had that strong vein of prudence and caution which, in view of Mary's unattainableness, would probably come to his help. But never was man's heart strong enough to resist Mary Tudor's smile ^ for long. There was this difference between Brandon and most others?he would be slow to love, but when love should once fairly take root in his intense nature he would not do to trifle with. The night after the meeting Mary cuddled up to Jane, who slept with her, and whispered, half bashfully: "Tell me all about Brandon. I am Interested in him. I believe if I knew more persons like him I should be a better girl, notwithstanding he is one f of the boldest men I ever knew. Ho says anything he wishes and, with all his modest manner, is as cool with me as if I were a burgher's daughter. His modesty is all on the outside, but it is pretty, and pretty things must be on the outside to be useful. I wonder if Judson thought him modest." June talked of Brandon to Mary, who was in an excellent humor, until the girls fell asleep. TTru?? Ta?a ma A# fhJci T haPfllTIP tv licit dilUC iVIU UIV V* vu*0, a vvvwu.* frightened, for the surest way to any woman's heart is to convince her that you make her better and arouse in her breast purer impulses and higher aspirations. It would be bad enough should Brandon fall in love with the princess, which was almost sure to happen, but for them to fall in love with each other meant Brandon's head upon the block and Mary's heart bruised, broken and empty for life. Her strong nature, tilled to the brim with latent passion, was the stuff of which love makes a conflagration that burns to destruction. and should she learn to love Brandon she would move heaven and earth to possess him. She whose every desire from childhood up had been gratified, whose every whim seemed to her a paramount necessity, would stop at nothing when the dearest wish a woman's heart can coin was to be gained or lost. Brandon's element of prudence might help him and might forestall any effort on his part to win her. but Mary had never heard of prudence, and man's caution avails but little when set against woman's daring. In case they both should love they were sure to try for each other and in trying were equally sure to find ruin and desolation. A few evenings after this I met the princess In the queen's drawing room. ^ She beckoned uie to her and. resting her elbows on the top of a cabinet, her chin in her hands, said: "I met your friend. Captain Brandon, a day or two ago. Did he tell you?" "No," I answered. "Jane told me, but he has not mentioned it." It was true Brandon bad not said a word of the matter, and I had not spoken of it either. I wanted to see how long he would remain silent concerning an adventure that would have set most men of the court boasting at a great rate. To have a tilt with the ^^B ever victorious Mary and to come off victor was enough. I think, to loosen any tongue less given to bragging than H Br&ndpn's. MMMNINNNNS*#^.^ CHTHOODI FLOWER I and Mary Tudor, the King's Sister, and f ist Majesty King Henry the Eighth 3d em English From Sir Edwin '(i Memoir fit i [CHARLES MAJOR] # e Boxocn-MerrQX Company yfr MHMMMHtlMHM*# "So,"- continued Mary, evidently somewhat piqued, "he did not think his presentation to me a tiling worth mentioning? We had a little passage at arms, and, to tell you the truth, I came off second best and had to acknowledge it too. Now, what do you think of this new friend of yours? And he did not boast about having th% better of me. After all, there is more virtue in his silence than I at first thought." And she threw back her head and clapped her hands and laughed with the most contagious little ripple you ever heard. She seemed not to grieve over her defeat, but dimpled as though it were a huge Joke, the thought of which rather pleased her than otherwise. Victory had grown stale for her, although so young. "What do I think of my new friend?" I repeated after her, and that gave me a theme upon wh'ch I could enlarge eloquently. I told, her of his learning, notwithstanding the fact that he had been in the continental wars ever since he was a boy. I repeated to her stories of his daring and bravery that had been told to me by his uncle, the master of the horse, and others, and then I-added what I knew Lady Jane had already said. I had expected to be brief, but to my srrprise found a close and interested listener, even to the twice told parts, and drew my story out a little, to the liking of us both. "Your friend has an earnest advocate in you. Sir Edwin," said the princess. "That he has," I replied. "There is + '>. onu r\f hint " UUUUUK IUU j,UUU IU OUJT VI U14U. I kuew that Mary, with her better, clearer brain, held the king almost in the palm of her hand, so I thought to advance Brandon's fortune by a timely word. "I trust the king will see fit to favor 1 him. and I hope that you will speak a word in his behalf should the opportunity occur." "What, in the name of heaven, have we to give him?" cried Mary impatiently. for she kept an eye on things political^ even if she were only a girl. "The king has given away everything that can be given already, and now that the war is o\er and men are coming home there are hundreds waiting for more. My father's great treasure is squandered, to say uothing of the money collected from Empson, Dudley and the other commissioners. There is nothing to give unless it be the titles and estate" of the late Duke of Suffolk. Perhaps the king will give these to your paragon if you will paint him in as fair a light as you have drawn him for me." Then, throwing back her head, with a laugh. "Ask him." "It would be none too much for his deserts." I replied, falling in with her humor. "We will so arrange it, then," went on Mary banterlngly. "Captain Brandon no longer, but Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk. How sounds it. Master Caskoden?" "Sweet in my ears." I replied. "I really believe you would have the king's crown for him, you absurd man. if you could get it. We must have so Intoi'outlrxr n nprson at court. I shall at least see that be Is presented to the queen at once. I wonder if he dances. I suppose not. He has probably been too busy cutting and thrusting." And she laughed again at her own pleasantry. When the mirth began to gather In her face and the dimples came responsive to her smiles, when she threw back her perfectly poised head, stretching her soft, white throat, so full and round and beautiful, half closing her big brown eyes till they shone again from beneath the shade of those long, black, sweeping lashes; when her red lips parted, showing her teeth of pearl, and she gave che little clap of her hands, a sort of climax to the soft low, rippling laugh, 3he made a picture of such exquisite loveliness that It Is no wonder men were fools about her and caught love as one patches a contagion. I had it once, as you already know, and had recovered. All that prevented a daily relapse w is my fair, sweet antidote. Jane, whose image rested in my heart, a lasting safeguard. "I wonder if your prodigy plays cards?that is, such as we ladies play?" asked Mary. "You say he has lived much in France, where the game was Invented, but I. have no doubt he would scorn to waste his time at so frivolous a pursuit when he might be slaughtering armies single handed and alone." "I do not know as to his dancing and card playing, but I dare venture a wager he does both," I replied, not liking her tone of sarcasm. She had yet to learn who Brandon was. "I will hazard ten crowns." said Mary quickly, for she loved a wager and was a bor i gambler. "Taken." said I. "We will try him on both tomorrow night in my drawing room," she continued. "You bring him up, but tell no one. I will have Jane there with her lute, which will not frighten you away I know, and we will try his step. I will have cards, too, and we shall sec what he can do at triumph. Just we four, no one else at all. You and Jane, the new Duke of Suffolk and I. Oh. I can hardly wait!" And she fairly danced with joyous anticipation. The thing had enough Irregularity to give it zest, for while Mary often had a few young people in her drawing room, the companies were never ? .. small as two couples only, and the k.ns. a?.d qm c... i.< ,;.;.?.e up for greater faults, were wonderful sticklers in the matter of little proprieties. The ten crown wager, too. gave spice to it, but to do ber justice she cared very little for that. The princess lovou gamming pureiy iui e?4iuL.nu& Bake, and with her the next best thing to winning was losing. When I went to my room that night, I awakened Brandon and told him of the distinguished honor that awaited him. "Well, I'll be"? But he did not say what he would "be." He always halted before an oath, unless angry, which was seldom, but tlien beware. He had learned to swear Id Flanders. "How she did fly at me the other morning! I never was more surprised In all my life. For once I was almost caught with my guard down and did not know how to parry the thrust. I mumbled over some sort of a lame retaliation and beat a retreat. It was so unjust and uncalled for that It made me angry. But she was so gracious In her amends that I was ulmost glad it happened. I like a woman who can be as savage as the very devil when it pleases bef. She usually has in store an assortment of possibilities for the other extreme." "She told me of your encounter." 1 returned, "but said she had come off second best, and seemed to think her overthrow a huge joke." "The man who learns to know what a woman tmnus ana reeis wm uuve a great deal of valuable Information," be replied, and then turned over for sleep, greatly pleased that one woman thought as she did. I was uot sure he would be so highly flattered If he knew that he had been invited to settle a wager and to help Mary to a little sport As to the former, 1 bad an interest there myself, although 1 dared not settle the question by asking Brandon if be played cards and danced, and, as to the matter of Mary's sport. I felt there was but little if any danger of her hgviug too much of it at his expense. Brandon being well able to care for himself in that respect. The next evening at the appointed time we wended our way by an unfrequented route and presented ourselves as secretly as possible at the drawing room of the princess. The door was opened by Lady Jane, and we met the two girls almost at the threshold. 1 had told Brandon of the bantering conversation about the title and estates of the late Duke of Suffolk, and he had laughed over it in the best of humor. If quick to retaliate for an intentional offense, he was not-thin 1 ' > - -< r? n/t SKIUIHM lit a piece VI (/icaauiiu;? uuu had uone of that stiff, sensitive dignity so troublesome to oneself and friends. Now. Jane and Mary were always bantering me because I was short and Inclined to be. in fact round, but, I did uot care. It made them laugh, and their laughing was so contagious it made me laugh, too. and we all enjoyed it 1 would give a pound sterling any time for a good laugh, and that I think. Is why I have always been? round. So. upon entering, I said: "His grace the Duke of Suffolk, ladies." They each made a sweeping courtesy. with baud on breast and gravely saluted him: "Your grace, good even." Brandon's bow was as deep and graceful, if that were possible, as theirs, and when be moved on into the room It was with a little bait in bis step and a big blowing out of the cheeks in ludicrous imitation of bis Intj In in** 11 tod nredeeossor that sent the girls into peals of soft laughter and put us all at our ease immediately. Ah. what a thing it is to look back upon?that time of life when one finds bis heaven In a ready laugh! "Be seated, all." said the princess. "This Is to be without ceremony and only we four. No one knows a word of it Did you tell any oue, Sir Edwin?" "Perish the thought!" 1 exclaimed. She turned her face toward Brandon. "But I know you did not I've heard how discreet you were about another matter. Well, no one kuows it then, and we can have a famous evening. You did not expect this. Master Brandon. after my reception of you the other morniug? Were you not surprised when Sir Edwin told you?" "I think 1 can snfely say that I was prepared uot to be surprised at anything your highness might graclous'y. conclude to do?after my first experience." he answered, smiling. "Indeed?" returued Mary, with elevated eyebrows and a rising inflection on the last syllable of the word.' It was now her turn for a little surprise. "Well, we'll try to find some way to surprise you one of these days." And the time came when she was full of surprises for him. Mary continued: "But lot us not talk about the other day. Of what use are 'other days,' anyway? Before the evening is over. Master Brandon, we want you to give us another sermon." And she laughed, setting off three other laughs as hearty and sincere as if she had uttered the rarest witticism on earth. me princess uau iuiu iinue uuu > uuc had told me of the "Sermon in the Park." as Mary called it "Jane needs it as much as I," said the princess. "I can't believe that" responded Brandon, looking at Jane with a softening glance quite too admiring and commendatory to suit me. for I was a Jealous little devil. The eyebrows went up again. "Oh. you think she doesn't? Well, In truth. Master Brandon, there Is one failing that cannot be laid at your door -you are 110 flatterer." For answer Brandon laughed, and that gave us the cue. and away we went in a rippling chorus, all about nothing. Some persons may call our laughter foolish, but there are others who consider it the height of all wisdom. St. George! I'd give my Garter for just one other laugh I "I thought yon wished me to teach you the new dance." Teach me at once! How, now. master of the dance? Here is your friend outdoing you in your own line." "I am glad to liear it" I returned. "If Lady Jane will kindly play some lively air written in the time of 'The Sailor Lass,' I will teach the Lady Mary (be new dance," said Brandon. "3ane threw one plump little knee ovei the other and struck up "The Sailor Lass." After she had adjusted the playing to Brandon's suggestion he stepped deliberately In front of Mary and, taking her right hand in his left, encircled her waist wifti his right arm. The girl was startled at first and drew away. This nettled Brandon a little, and he showed it plainly. "I thought you wished me to teach you the new dance," he said. *T do, but?but I did not know It waa danced that way," she replied, with a fluttering little laugh, looking up Into his face with a half shy, half apologetic manner and then dropping her lashefl before his gaze. "Oh, well!" said Brandon, with a Frenchman's shrug of the shoulders, and then moved off as if about to leave the floor. "But Is that really the way you ? they dance it?with your?their arm around my?a lady's waist?' "I should not have dared venture upon such a familiarity otherwise," answerea uranaon, witn a grimmer or a smile playing around bis lips and hiding in his eyes. Mary saw this shadowy smile and said: "Oh, I fear your modesty will cause you hurt. 1 am beginning to believe you would dare do anything you wish. 1 more than half suspect you are a very bold man, notwithstanding your smooth, modest manner." "You do me foul wrong, I assure you. I am the soul of modesty, and grieve that you should think me bold," said Brandon, with a broadening smile. Mary interrupted him. "Now, J do believe you ure laughing at me?at my prudery, I suppose you think it" Mary would rather have been called a fool than a prude, and I think she was right. Prudery is no more a sign of virtue than a wig is of hair. . It is usually put on to bide a bald place. The princess stood irresolute for a moment in evident hesitation and annoyance. "You are grieving because I think you bold. And yet you stand there laughing at me to my face. I think so more than ever now. I know it Ob, you make me angry! Don't! I do not like persons who anger me and then laugh at me." This turned Brandon's smile into a laugh, which he could ,not hold back. Mary's eyes shot fire, and she stamped her foot, exclaiming: "Sir, this goes beyond all bounds! I will not tolerate your boldness another moment" I thought she was going to dismiss him, hut oho did not The time bad come After a time the dancers stopped, and Mary, with flushed fuee and sparkllnf avtao oonlr Intn n nhnlr AVflnimlnff when be or sbe must be tbe master. It was a battle royal between tbe forces on tbe floor, and I enjoyed it and felt tbat Brandon would come out all right He said good bumoredly: "What! Shall you have all tbe laugh in your sleeve at my expense? Do you expect to bring me bere to win a wager for you made on tbe assumption of my stupidity and lack of social accom* plisbments and then complain when It comes my turn to laugh? I think I am the one wbo should be offended, bat you see 1 am not" "Caskoden, did you tell him?" demanded Mary, evidently referring to the wager. "He said not a word of it" broke in Brandon, uuswering for me. "I should have been a dullard indeed not to have seen it myself after what you said about the loss of your 10 crowns. Be let us cry quits and begiu again." Mary reluctantly struck her flag. "Very well, I am willing," she said laughingly; "but, as to your boldness, I still insist upon that I forgive you, however, this time." Then, half apologetically, "After all, It is not such a grievous charge to make. I believe 11 never yet injured any man with women. They rather like it, I am afraid, however angry it makes them. Don'l (.uey, .mut- ; Jane, of course, did not know, go we nil laughed, as usual, upon the slightest pretext, and Mary, that fail bundle of contradictions and quick transitions, stepped boldly up to Brandon, with her colors flying in her cheeks, ready for the first lesson in the new dance. She was a little frightened at bis arm around her waist, for the embrace was new to her?the first touch of man?and wus shy and coy, though willing, being determined to learn the dance. She was an apt pupil and soon glided softly and graciously around the room with unfeigned delight, yielding to the new situation more easily as she became accustomed to it. This dance was livelier exercise than La Galliard. and Mary could uot talk much for lack of breath. Brandon kepi the conversation going, though,'and sh< answered with glances, smiles, nodi and monosyllables, a very good vocab ulary in its way, and a very good way, too, for that matter. Once he said something to her in I low voice, which brought n flush to hei cheeks and caused her to glance quickly up into his face. By the time hei answer came they were nearer us, and I heard her say: "I am afraid I shall have to forgive you again if you an not careful. Let me see an exliibitior of that modesty you so much boast' But a smile and a flash of the eyet went with the words and took all thi ntf no> rmt nf them. "The new danCe is delightful, Jane. II is like flying, your partner helps you so But what would the king say?and tk< queen? She would simply swoon wit! horror. It is delightful, though." Then with more confusion in her ruanuei than I had ever before seen, "That is it is delightful if one chooses her part ner." This only made matters worse and gave Brandon an opportunity. "Dare I hope?" he asked, with a def erentlal bow. "Oh, yes; you may hope. I tell yot frankly it was delightful with you Now, are you satisfied, my modest one! Jane, I see we have a forward bodj here. No telling what he will be a) next," said Mary, with evident impa tience, rapidly swaying her fan. Sh< spoke almost sharply, for Brandon'i attitude was more that of an equal than she was accustomed to, and hei royal dignity, which was the artificial part of her, rebelled against it now and then in spite of her real inclinations The habit of receiving only ndulatioi and living on a pinnacle above every body else was so strong from continued practice that it appealed to her as e duty to maintain that elevation. She had never before been culled upon tt exert herself in that direction, and tbf situation, was new. The servile onet with whom she usually associated maintained It for her; so she now felt whenever she thought of It that she was In duty bound to clamber back, at least part of the way, to her dignity, howeTer pleasant it was personally down below in the denser atmosphere of Informality. In her heart the princess preferred, upon proper occasions, such as this, to abate her dignity, and often requested others to dispense with ceremony, as in fact she bad done with us earlier In the avanlnir Rnt Tirnnrlnn'a. pnsv manner. although perfectly respectful and elegantly polite, was very different from anything she had ever known. She enjoyed it but every now and then the sense of her importance and dignity? for you must remember she was the first princess of the blood royal?would supersede even her love of enjoyment and the girl went down and the princess came up. Besides, she half feared that Brandon was amusing himself at her expense, and that in fact this was a new sort of masculine worm. Really she sometimes doubted if it were a worm at all, and did not know what to expect nor what she ought to do. She was far more girl than princess, and would have preferred to remain merely girl and let events take the course they were going, for she liked it But there was the other part of her which was princess, and which kept saying. "Remember who you are," so she was plainly at a loss between natural and artificial inclinations contending unconsciously within her. Replying to Mary's remark over Jane's shoulder, Brandon said: "Vnur liln-hneaa naked us to lav aside ceremony for the evening, and If I have offended I can but make for my excuse i my desire to please you. Be sure I shall offend no more." This was said i so seriously that his meaning could not be misunderstood. He did not care whether he pleased so capricious a person or not Mary made po reply, and It looked as if Brandon bad the worst of it i We sat a few minutes talking, Mary , wearing an air of dignity. Cards were proposed, and as the game progressed jshe gradually undent again and became affable and famiHar as earlier In i tie evening. Brandon, however, was frozen. He was polite, dignified and deferential to the ladles, but the spirit of the evening was gone since he had , furnished it all with his free, offhand , ^manner, full of life and brightness, i After a short time, Mary's warming mood falling to thaw our frozen fun, maker, and In her heart Infinitely preferring pleasure to dignity, she said: , "Ob, this Is wearisome! Your game is t far less entertaining than your new I dance. Do something to make me laugh, Master Brandon." i "I fear you must call In Will Som! mers," he replied, 'If you wish to laugh. I cannot please you In both ways, so ! will hold to the one which seems to t suit the princess." * Mary's eyes flashed, and she said ironically: "That sounds very much as though ,you cared to please me in any way." Her lips parted, and she evidently had something unkind ready to say, but she , held the breath she had taken to speak It with and after one or two false starts In as many different lines continued: i dul ptmaps 1 UCBCiTC au A aoo. JTVM , to forgive me, and hereafter desire yon j three, upon all proper occasions, when , we are by ourselves, to treat me as one of you ? as a woman, a girl, I mean. Where Is the virtue of royalty If it only I means being put upon a pinnacle above all the real pleasures of life, like foolish old Stylltes on his column? The queen is ulways preaching to me about the strict maintenance of my 'dignity ! royal,' as she calls it and perhaps she is right But out upon 'dignity royal.' say I! It Is a terrible nuisance. Oh ! you don't know how difficult It is to be a princess and not a fool. There!" An<' she sighed in apparent relief. Then, turning to Brandon: "fouhave \ taught me another good lesson, sir, and from this hour yon are my friend, if you will be, so long as you are worthy?no, I do not mean that; I know you will always be worthy?but forever. Now we are at rights again. Let us try to remain so?that is, I 1 will," and she laughingly gave him her , hand, which be, rising to Lis feet, bowed low over and kissed, ratuer lerJ vently and lingeringly, I thought. Hand kissing was new to us in England, excepting in case of the king and | queen at public homage. It was a little startling to Mary, though she permitted him to hold her hand much longer than there was any sort of need ?a fact she recognized, as I could easily see from her telltale cheeks, c which were rosy with the thought of ' it ' So it is when a woman goes on the defensive prematurely and without ' cause. It makes it harder to apply the check when the real need comes.. [ After a little card playing I expressed regret to Jane that I fcould not have 't a dance with her for iack of music. "I will play, if the ladies permit," J said Brandon, and he took Lady Jane's ' lute and played and sang some very ' pretty little love songs and some comic [ ones, too, in a style not often heard in England, so far away from the borne ' of the troubadour and lute. He was ' full of surprises, this splendid fellow, with his accomplishments and graces. ' When we had danced as long as we ' wished?that is. as Jane wished; as for : myself, I would have been dancing yet ^ ?Mary again asked us to be seated. Jane having rested, Brandon offered to 8 teach her the new dance, saying he 1 could whistle an air well enough to ? give her the step. I at once grew unr easy with Jealous suspense, for I did ? not wish Brandon to dance in that ' fashion with Jane, but to my great relief she replied: ' "No, thank you; not tonight" Then, shyly glancing toward me: "Perhaps ' Sir Edwin will teach me when he learns. It is his business, you know." 1 Would I? If a month, night and day. would conquer it the new dance was ? as good as done for already. That was ' the first real mark of favor I ever had ^ from Jane. TO BE CONTINUED. I Antiquity of Wreitltnc, I Probably the first authentic record of r s wrestling match Is in A. D. 1222, 1 ' ?* Tnrnnflitn nnnH I W Lieu LUlVail J UU IUC uuivyvu^ - I nent was undergoing a change for the better. During the reign of Henry III. i of England a match took place in St Giles' field. London, between citizens I of Westminster and the city of London i, proper. Wrestling was, however, pop>' ular as a pastime In England at a > much earlier period, and from that > country many of the different styles i originated. i i Ittiocctlanrous Reading. I ? t ORIGIN OF MONEY. fl li It Has Been a Medium of Exohange u Since the Dawn of History. c Money seems to us such an lndls- t( pensable article that we cannot even imagine what we would do- without n it. And yet Herodotus tells us?and Herodotus was an honorable man? j( that when the pyramids and the beautiful temples of Ibsampoul and Karnac were built money was an unknown t quantity. Concerning the coinage sys- ^ tern of ancient Egypt?after this era? we have little or no knowledge, but their standard of value was probably the "outen" or "ten" of copper, which 9 was circulated in the shape of blocks or bricks and measured by weight The copper came from the mines of e Mt. Sinai, which were worked as ear- tj ly as the fourth dynasty. Apparently there was some little usa of gold and a silver, generally in rings resembling the money of the Celts, which was used j* in Ireland as far down as the twelfth century. The flrst money in Egypt j was struck off by Aryandes and was more for the use of the Greek and Phoenician merchants than it was for the convenience of the natives. ^ The earliest use of coins in the Western World is generally ascribed to Phiedon, a King of Aegina, who reign- ^ ed, according to some writers, about the year 895 B. C. Others have . ' '? J- A ? AAA T> n Drougni xne aaie uuwn ouv ?j. c If this is so we owe the Invention to G the Lydians, about 700 B. C., when Gyges held the throne. The question is simply one of dates. Rawiinson, c Barclay and others have defended the ^ claims of the Lydians, and old Herodotus is very emphatic in his asser- j tlons that to Gyges belongs the whole A credit. Even so, it would not rob Phiedon of all his glory, for he it b was who first Introduced the use of w weights and measures. h The coins of tne Lydians were ovai, ^ stamped with their weight and bear- c Ing their official value. They resem- c bled the silver staters of Aegina, but G were more regular in form. In the Old v Testament the word "shekels" is frequently found, but as it denotes a c weight as well as a coin we can gather little or nothing from it. The earliest mention of money in the Bible proba- j bly refers to the coins of Persia, as s the word "drachm" is a mistake for p the Persian "daric." This piece bore . on the obverse the figure of the king kneeling and holding a bow and ar- ^ row. The reverse shows a rude ino cuse. These were used abou? the flf- ^ teenth century B. C. Long before this we find that Abraham received from Ablmelech 1,000 pieces of silver, and again that Joseph was sold by his brother for 20 pieces but there is much doubt about the c, meaning.of the term "pieces of silver." One ancient Hebrew shekel bears on ^ the reverse "Shekel of Israel, year 4," ^ and above a chalice on the reverse h 'Jerusalem, the Holy Triple Citv." Some students say these coins were of h the period of Ezra. At any rate, SI- g mon the Maccabee, under permission from the seventh Antlochus, struck off q the first Jewish coin. . The word money Is from the Latin "moneta." In Rome coins were first . s struck In the temple of Juno Moneta, and the name of the temple is derived from the Latin verb "monere"?to ? a warn, because the edifice was built on the spot where Manlius heard the ap- j. proach of the beseiglng Gauls. The sou is from the Latin "solidus." Our dollar, which Is a corruption of t, "thaler," Is from the Joachims thaler, w the money of the Joachims Valley, in d Bohemia, where, in the sixteenth cen- j tury, they were first made. The word y coin is probably from the Latin ^ "cuneus," a die or stamp. Many g pieces are named from their weight, as Q the English pound, the Italian lira, p the- French livre; others are called jj from the metal, as the aureus, the t rupee?from the Sanskrit rupya?sil- a ver. Some are known from the ruler p of the country, such as the Napoleon, t Louis d'or and the daric. 0 The origin of our word penny is unknown. Possibly we have it from t pendo?to weigh, but this is far-fetch- r ed and unsatisfactory. The English tl pound was originally not a piece of 0 money, but a weight, and comes from s the Latin pondus.. The French franc ^ is an abbreviation of the inscription p "Franeorum Rex." Guineas were so a called from the land In which the gold was first obtained. t( These are only a few of the deriva- j, tions and origins. A complete list of n them would fill a volume.?Baltimore p Herald. v THE BANK OF ENGLAND. " t Interesting Chronicles of a Famous d Institution. When the Bank of England rjmmenced business in 1694, with a staff t of fifty-four clerks, all of whom work- f ed in a single room and the directors h with them, no one imagined that it v would develop into the great national institution it Is today. And its career, d extending over two centuries, has s brought it In touch with a wealth of e romance, relics of which may be found In that department of the bank with s which the public is least familiar? t namely, its museum. How many people know that the s bank once issued a note for a penny? o although it should be explained that r this was entirely due to an error. But l the penny note went into circulation all the same, and only by offering a u reward of ?5 was the bank able to get t it back again before it passed into the i onvln rtAllnnfnrc rT^l Is c UUUU9 U1 kllC kui 4U VV/44WW4 w. u note is still preserved in one of the f albums, and in another are some of a the curious notes which saved the bank o in 1745. In that year a great run on c the funds took place?so great, in fact, c that it was thought that the bank would be unable to meet it, but the di- a rectors in the nick of time sent a num- t ber of their clerks into the crowd to r present notes which were paid In sixpences, thus giving the officials time \ to prepare for the demand for specie, c Another curiosity is a note for ?1,000,000, which is the only one of that f value ever printed, while there is also c a note which was in circulation for d nearly 150 years before it was presented. t Specimens of all the forged notes v which have been uttered from time to f time by the unscrupulous are kept, and h their value aggregates several million c ounds, while notes brought from th< /reck of the Eurydice and one taker rom the stomach of an enormous codsh captured off the coast, of Greenin d are among the bank's most valed treasures. There are hundreds of specimens ol urious coins which have been returned 3 the bank from all parts of the world r found in the testing machine. Thif lachine, by the way, tests 35,000 sovreigns a day, and automatically re ?cts any which have oecome - ugni. The museum library contains all the Id ledgers which have been used bj he bank since it was first opened, anc hey number 70,000, while another sel f volumes gives a record of everj lember of the staff who has evei erved at the bank. There are als< 0,000 volumes of all kinds for the use t the staff, some of which are a< are that the same number of sover? igns would not purchase the collecIon. The bank bus its own churchyard djoining, and here many of the ofclals have In former times been burid. In one corner is the grave of a lerk who stood eight feet two lnchee l his socks.?London Tid-Blta. ' CHINESE MEDICINE. imazing Concoctions Manufactured By Celestials In California. Ordinary existence is a perilous unertaking for horned toads in Califorla, for not only are they captured y thousands each year, mounted or ards and sold as souvenirs of the lolden state, but they constitute th< rlnclpal ingredient in a popular Chiese medicine, which is guaranteed t< ure rheumatism and various othei Is. If one peeks into any of the hunreds of Chinese shanties of L02 .ngeles or San Francisco he will dls over what at first glance appears u e a collection of preserved fruit, bul rhich on close inspection proves to b< orned toads, snakes, centipedes orms, scorpions and bugs. N< lelestiai is without such a medicin< abinet, and as there are thousands ol 'hinese in California the gathering ol enomous creatures sufficient to suply the Oriental pharmacists is beoming a profitable industry amonj lie lower classes. L. A. Fown, a well educated Chines* iterpreter, of No. 310 Apabldsa street ays that horned toad and rattlesnak* reparations, taken Internally or exernally, are used to treat rheumatism Hop Lee, a Jolly vegetable man, wh< i a conspicuous figure in the street) f Los Angeles during his peddlint ays, often varies his work by goinf n a bug hunt. Hop is a medlca Izard and the decoctions he manufacures in his old shanty are a marvel. A party of tourists recently cam* pon the pastoral home of Hop ant aught him marching up a dusty patl rith a basketful of toads. In respons* 9 exclamations of amazement iron tie visitors be said: "I ketchum heaj orned toads." Then, twisting bis ctn lore tightly to the back of his head e continued: "What for you llket ee? I no gottee time, lain come heaj ulck." By moneyed persuasion he was inuced to abandon his Inhospitabh leas and allow the tourists.to go inIde the laboratory. Horned toads are prepared in varl> us ways for various purposes. Thej re regarded as an excellent antidote jr the itch, the theory being that like ills like. In preparing for the cure f this ailment Hop puts the toads ir small crematory: usually alive, se hat none of the medicinal qualltlei ill escape, and heats them until thej issolve Into powder, which he serve! ri homeopathic doses. For curing colle lop boils the toads until they are rem er, after which he mashes anc trains them and seals them In glasi r earthen jars. If not convenient t< reserve them he puts them on trayi 9 the sunshine, where they remali 111 dry and crisp. He then stores then way in sacks, just as he does his surlus potatoes, and uses them at ode imes according to the requirement! f his patients. Rheumatic sufferers have the utmoa aith in the horned toad cure. As ? c-n.edy for this disease Hop puts th< cads in glass jars of whisky, the mosi ypensive to be obtained, and lets then oak for at least a year and a half 'his preparation is taken internally it rescribed doses, or is rubbed over th< filleted parts. Though horned toads are more exensivel; used in medicine by the work' ig Chi . .e in California, the medici al qualities of rattlesnakes, scorpions entipedes and worms are regardec nth favor. Snakes are prepared li bout the same way as the toads fhile the other "bugs" though someimes preserved, are more frequentlj rled.?Los Angeles Dispatch. The Conductor's Joke.?He hat raveled from Ingleslde every morning or-a week on the first car. Each daj i* proffered a twenty-dollar gold pieci /lien the conductor asked for his fare "I can't change that," was the com uctor's daily plaint, and six times ii uccesslon the man with the doubli agle deadheaded his way into the city "I'll fix that fellow with the twenty,' aid the conductor, as he stepped t< he cashier's window at the car barn. "Give me $20 in nickels. I want t< pring a little bunch of small changi n a cheap guy who's been workinj ne for a week," said the wise conducnr. The passenger boarded the car, ai isual, and with a half apologetic smih endered his twenty-dollar gold piece The conductor took the coin, sank li afely in an Inside pocket and produced ive rolls of nickels, opened each rol nd counted the contents into the pain if the passenger, withholding flv< ents that fare and a nickel for eacl if the previous free rides. "Guess that will 'hold him foi iwhlle," the conductor chuckled as hi valked forward to tell the story to th< notorman. "i tixed mm," naia tne conaucio vhen he turned in his cash at the em if his run. "Come again," replied the cashier lipping back the double eagle tha onstltuted the chief part of the con luctor's pile. Slowly the conductor picked up thi wenty. He sounded it. He bit it. I ^as lead, richly gilded, but a counter eit and a bad one. The passengei las not since been seen.?San Fram ioco Chronicle. FARMER 8M1TH BUNCOED. A New Way of Meeting Trouble In the Road. Hezekiah-Smith is one of the most thrifty tijlers of Jersey soil, as can be t verified by looking over his fine lot of 1 sleek cattle and his fertile fields. The , farm Just on the outskirts of Wllllamsi town has supported Hezekiah and his family for over thirty years, but it never taught its owner to beware of the sharpers who are always ready to i fasten their clutches upon the rural- i itaa HnA iflnxr In at tbaa!r TTavnlrloti txraa I driving to, jnarket with well-filled t baskets, the results of his labors, when i he observed a well-dressed stranger r Who was critically eyeing every inch ) of the dusty tiirnpike. Surmising that i something was wrong, "Hex." reined in > his horse, and Shouted, "Hey there, . somethin* the matter?" "Yes," replied the stranger, "I have lost a diamond pin that cost me |500." I "Phew!" exclaimed "Hex."; "a $600 diamond pin." He hitched his horses and assisted in the search for the vall uable pin. Ijuck was against them, i however, and iheir search availed them nothing. The stranger promised the farmer a reward if he would guard the spot until he returned with a lnrgfer force of searchers for the treasure, and I if the farmer found it he was to get $60. ' Hezeklah promised to, and the . stranger drove off. He had been I gone but; a few minutes, when a peri feet specimen of the hobo appeared. i He was quickly informed of the lost 5 gem, and he, too, was soon engaged . in diamond-hunting. Weary Willy > had not Jobked for more than ten minp utes when' he found the pin. Hezeklah ami in jrietueu lu icmyuiuuii, uv w . tually offered $10 for the gem, bat j the tramp demurred. After vigorous . pleading, however, the pin was finally > turned over to the farmer upon the t payment of twenty-five good, bard 5 dollars, andVthe tramp waa soon mak, lng traclg" toward Harrrmonton. > Hezekiah waited for two hours, but s* s the stranger failed to appear.' Being t Impatient to get to market, the trip to t the city to* resumed. Time anff time . again the . farmer patted his long . leather toilet and chuckled to him-. f self at his good fortune. But sad to relate it was nbt to last so very long. > After his wares had been disposed of , "Hez." carried his Valuable gem to a ; reputable dealer, who examined It carefully;1 And Imparted the lnforma. tlon that'Heseklah Smith, fanner, of > Wllllanistown, New Jersey, had paid j $26 for a pin which the Jeweler would t duplicate for twenty-five cents. f ? 1 WILL YfORLD GET IT8 COTTON. What It ilsM and Whsre It Gets It? i . How, Its Use Has Inoreased. 1 The widely varying cotton crop estli mates, the repeated assertion that not' i enough has been grot^i this year for i the worlds.spindles, the amazingly low ) crop estimates put out in some quari ters' thlp toekr .and the recent Eufrlisli^' , figures on the extent fa which Its use J ir.ay be ouiHuWtl consequence of ) the excessive price?all these developments give keen Interest to the history of cotton, consumption In the past It > Is a curious history. Twenty yeaxd ago the world used for Its spinning industry some 7,600,000 bales of cotton. Ten > years ago It consumed 9,000,000 bales, r I*ast year the use ot cotton rose to ful 8 ly 14,300.000 bales. 8 Most of this huge Increase has been 8 rendered possible by the larger Amerli can production. In 1883 cotton crops > outside this country were figured at i 1,800,000 ' bales; In 1893, at 2,100,000 f bales; In the past crop year, at 4,000,i 000. Meantime, the American crop, : whose 1883 figures, 6,400,000 bales, was - the largest then on record, ha4 since 1 (1898-1899) reached 11,000,000 bales, ) bringing consumption up along, with It. > This is why a threatened short crop ' here brings dismay to the. trade. In i 1900 and 1902 more cotton was used i than the season's crop produced; but - this drawing on old reserves cannot 1 continue Indefinitely. 9 But the world's consumption has a way of contracting suddenly. In the t year of trade reactions, 1884-'85, it fell i off 645.000 bales. In 1892-'93, another 8 similar year, the decrease was 298,000. t It decreased moderately, even last 8 year?a consequence of high prices. This is what Ellison's Intimation ? means when It hints at a possible low8 erlng of this season's estimate of consumption by half a million bales.?New York Evening Post SULTAN'8 IRON HAND. 1 How tlje Turkish Rulsr Mysteriously 1 Disposes of His Enemies. ? Things get done In the sultan's ' realms?things like the massacres of ' 1895 In Asiatic Turkey ana 01 i?uo m Macedonia?which come home to the consciousness of every thinking Turk, 1 says Henry Thompson In the World's f Work. f Take the case of the Koordlsh Sheikh - Obeidullah, who was a guest of the sultan for a time in 1883, and was af terwards sent to Mecca in order that i pious occupation might keep him out J of mischief. He died very soon after his arrival, of cholera, it was officially ' announced, although he was the only > sufferer from cholera in Mecca that year. > Takej the case of Mlthad Pasha, the i Liberal prime minister and champion r of parliamentary government. He was tried fpr treason in aiding to rethrone Sultan'Abdul ul Aziz, and was sent to i Talf, pear Mecca. After a time he died J rather suddenly. By and by a man . who had been a soldier in Arabia apt pearedi in Constantinople babbling a 1 tale tljat ended with, "I did not know 1 that it was Mlthad Pasha or I would i not hajve put the soaped cord about his 3 neck.": Of course the police saw that i the man was crazy and put him where he wap safe from harm. r Take the case of Said Pasha, exgrand : vizier, w"ho fled to the British . embassy in Constantinople, seven or 8 eight j years ago, declaring that he would: be killed unless allowed asylum, r and cjuld not be induced to leave the building until the ambassador brought 3 Mm ? formal promise of safety sealed with the sultan's own seal. Meditation upon this class of mys' terles makes people shake in their 1 shoes every time that they see one of - the great army of paid informers who know everything. Men do not say , that the sultan does the things which cause this trepidation, but that "the 1 palace" does them. They speak of the - "palace" as though It were a sentient, r but invisible organism; and when they speak of it they look behind and take * out their handkerchiefs and wipe a clammy sweat from their faces.