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A ' VOL XVII. Barnwell court house, s. c, august 23. 1894. no. : ‘".V- ALABAMA. O Invpiy l«,^, 1, gonjuj cu.^, , , , WW towers aloft the aeervtetl pi„,. Here once the fleelox a«. ur t m) ,e o / ru t0 tlle ,,1<1 #l,,e * k thelr ''♦‘“I: O feUowm^n the bounteous Mam ton F ^IL '?" ,UUant> ^“u* »'«? be found *"1'* ™' kh '' c ' 1 ,>0ld,y sfa1 ^ “found rh » * ia <UfuJ panther and dread eat All here at home wujte fierce combat Thus speaking they pf the tribe A lama, Gave to the land the mime of Alabama; Here gentle aephera ever entry blow Among the stately pines with murmur ing* low. Anon they sweell anon with gweet cad ence • JF he ;T * icl1 and Rroau }et " ot with ve- w hemenee. * ’ '. May Gtal preserve thy motto blest O friendly Ian dof “Here we rest.*' ' Li -T. M. W. , Aratiiima—An Indian word signifying •'Her* w? rest." * ,/ * \ " - ——rrrsrv-iA^itt.a.-;; A STORY OF STITI1.\KY. h Hy Kdgnr L. VYnkeiniin. Tin> .'misent and tinr church-town of Stithney stands acar the southern oonst of Cornwall, at thu- edge of dreary, wind swept downs. An far as the eye can reach to the north, are ragged, furrowv hillocks of furge, ami to the south, over a treeless plain, there is nothing to relievo the senate of desolation but the white sails, or the trail.ug plutOes from passing steamers' iuniic.a. utKiu the gray or spumy sea. Of the hundred or more souls Iwused in the stone cottages, huddling close against the venerable parisii church, jtpray and dinar as the oea and IjukI. a few gain their scant livelihoods hi the <liatunt mine*; a few sell "growder,” n sort of rotten stone which from time immemorial has provided the Cornish housewife with jt substitute for soap in her weekly scouring of Hours am) furni ture; some are hedge-cutters. Held hamks, tinge-gatherers and cottage thntchers; otliers are tlie village black smith, shoe maker, joiner and what-not of the scrimp {unuy village; hut most are coasting -sailors, or lasher men who seek the har vests of the deep, from Mulbion Cove to Maruzioif and Mount's Bay. One of the latter. J<s* 1 >ftvy, was des tined to give the hamlet of Stithney uo little Cbmish distiuetiou. And it aK. originated In ^ils tui,wise .-iixlT inexplRable devotion to the church bells of the vil lage. ‘ These, three in number, had bung In ' i > their little old Norman tower foci more than an hundred years. Jo«» had'.been their head ringer since he was it lad; and though he knew not one note from another, his dogged insistent.* and # in domitable perseverance had left him for many years undisputed, though not un- dlsturlied, master of the Stithney bells. All this time a tragedy of tihcridcial * lave was enacting ahr Stithney. Poll Treenoodle was Jot* Davy’s betrothed. Meraggy, lean and gaunt, the girl slaved on and waited for the blessed bans to be read; but Joe's life was so wrapped up lu the bells, was so distraught fiwn tlie*gonstaut cunning attempts of rivals to oust him from his proud position, and his meager earnings were so engulfed In repairs for ropes, brasses, gudgeons, stay straps, bolts, head-stocks, sliders and pulleys, that the time never came - \ when the bitter tongues of the Stithney harridans could lie stilled by the only act, that of a welding, which might give them kindly silence. * Poor Poll Treenoodle bore their, gibes In silence, and starved and slaved'until fhe yeurs silvered her hair and l>ent her scraggy homf: while Joe Davy, fiercely contentious for the possession 0/ his be loved bells, grew to be stiff and old in “ the hard life of the sea. -• For yhprs, __ Poll Tri-enoodle. forced from housework by the cruel taunts of the ignorant women about her. had been a despised "growder” seller. With donkey and cart she had hurried up and down the village highways and halted before village doors, with her well-filled tub and her shrill cry to the Cornish housewife of. “Growder today, mawther.?” . '‘Hown't a wellin' tin today, Poll?" was the endless rejoinder. Her changeless reply would be: “Same ol’ drug— Hapn’y a tub!” Then the housewife would empty the tub, jiay the immemorial half penny and look at old Poll Treenoodle contemptu ously or pityingly as she trudged on. If the latter, she would sometimes be . moved to call after her: "Poll. Poll, besn’t tha coortin’ Joe Davy o’erlong?” “No. no. mawther:" Poll would sadly and wearily reply. "Joe be coortin’ th’ Stithney bells o’erlong!” Perhaps the housewife would toss poor old Poll a half penny with. “Wee!, weel. Poll, theer be a hapn'y for tba marryln’." This the growder seller would clutch with nilserly eagerness and hasten on to her next customer But though bey ragged form sped from hamlet to hamlet in a seemingly endless <iuest for growder buyers, whenever the bells of Stithney rang. Poll Treenoodle would be found crouching in a corner of the old church tower, well away from the whipping of the ringers’ rones. living another life as she Watched old Joe and his men with an almost fierce pride and happiness, or closed her eyes,and lis tened nnddinglv to the chiming of the bells-above her. “ Then, when their tones had cens°d. the old counle would sit alone in the tower and croon over their plans for wedded life, when Joe Davy should feel • it safe to have the bans read, precisely as they had done times without number for nearly two score years. One Sabbath dsv Rector Dnnlea came lo them here, with resolute bnt troubled •face - * . “Poll and Joe.” he said with n touch of genuine com passion In his voice. “I’ve something to say to yon very earnestly.” “Thankee, sir:” said Poll humbly, crouching a' little closer to Joe. “Its A word an’ Ji -scat wi’ ns Oodrn feonsint Jacks. * Bp. bear aWrny sir." And tln/iomnslyt “Resn’t aboot th’ heels; sir?” . “Yea. Joe. about the 1 tells and your selves besides.” “We need na words, sir: an’ th* bells need lees!” “Joe.” continued the rector unheeding the ringer's reply, “yon and Poll should have been man and wife long, lone ago.’ Poll's face took on a harder look; Joe cave the rector a furtive glance: but v the two remained silent. “Its the scandal of Stithney!—of course nobody thinks 111 of either of yon. Poll And J«a:” .thle as the two eyed him doggedly and dangerously; “bnt. Joe. Ton most glue fjny to a younger man: ; to n scientific linger. Be- I C S' #v. Hi' sr nr devotion to our old anivenng a grand, Joe; but CcowMU. iff? »dron,JSt. Hilary, even » all replacing vtbeir old ^ n * old foi aides, we muat bare a peal of belk at Stithney,” “A peal o’ beela?” mattered oM Joe huskily. "Yea, of six, at least, Joe. Now, yon know yon cannot ring their changes properly. Your devotion to our old bells has been Hplston, Wen St. Earth, are all replacing -chimes with peals. Stithney cannbt fall behind.” The old fellow’s hand sought Poll's unconsciously and he held U dose and hard for a time. Then he asked asser lively: ^ “Tha’U na he sax new beeto.” “Oh. no. we’U need but three—four, five ary) six, they are called.' "Hown’t a sellin’ un—tha four, five sax?" “They will cost at least a hundred pounds, Joe, put in place.” "Doan’t ee knew, an’ tha a pas son, Stithney’ll braak under th’ drug (bur den)?” retorted old Joe desperately “Joe. there’s no user* replied the rector sadly -hut emphatically. “Poor as we are at Stithney, th^ bells rndst be 1rwd: They must be rung properly, - be sides. Here now. both of you, listen? I’ll put ten ponnde in your own and Polly’s hands, the day you’re married, and you, Joe, will let some younger man take your place at the bells!” This was a grand burst of generosity for ee peer -a -niaric . as the rectoy of StHhney. He patted each of the grlz 8t. Hilary and there, night after night practised with the ringers and trained hia own ringers on tha tuneful numbers of “Hark That Newa.” “Hark The Herald” and “Hail Smiling Morn;” while a haggard old woman always sat shivering and mute but radiant in the shadows of tbe tower*; and when were done the same tremb- form trudged beside Joe Davy’ over the dreary roads or through the ghostly lanes, back to dark old Stithney hamlet Three days before Christmas old Joe bad ‘'set up” the bells of Stithney, and, after locking fast the chnreh tower, so that no envious hands should endanger hie great triumph at midnight of Christ mas eve. he hastened hack to the shore and his boat for another short cruiee for fish, the. proceeds of which were to be expended’ upon his ringers for their payment and good cheer: so that Stith ney should assuredly hear the bravest change-ringing that Cornwall had ever known. =S=i Thia “setting np” the bells, as may not be generally known, k a common custom among the peal-ringers of Eng land. when, as at midnight of Christmas ~or New-Yeark ova. or -on the occasion zled old lovers kindly on the shoulders, as though the thing were done, with his Meaning on it besides; and, humming a pleasant melody, stepped lightly away to the mossy rectory behind the ancient church. * - ,r~" A pretty, quizzical face greeted him at the rectory door; a smiling, doubtful, half-mocking, bnt : altogether loving, face; and. as the rector entered, its lips parted witn. 7 ~ “Well, father?” “Well, Rose—it is well.” “I don’t believe it!"- “Assuredly it is, daughter. Why, showed the obstinate old fellow how useless was his persistence; the neoessi ty for the change; and what do you think t did besides?” ——— — “Told him he was standing In the light of the whole parish?” suggested Rose tcazlngly. - "No,” said herTather gravely, “thongh that should not have been omitted. But I actually promised. them a gift of ten pounds if they would marry and Joe would step aside for some younger and more competent man. “And yon believe Joe Davy will do this?” "Certaiqly he will.” I "Certainly he will not! • Father,’noth ing but death will ever loosen his hands from the tenor bell of Stithney churchr- And that poor, half-demented old—Polly Trenoodle would shed her last drop of Hfe,Jbl<xxL before she would let him do it.” —“Nonsense, Rose! We shall have no fifVther annoyance from that quarter.” “Why, father, you don’t know old ‘Joe and old Polly. When Will Hardy was down here from London—you know ho has a genuine literary penchant for odd characters?—I made him acquainted with them both. He said there was the stuff in the old couple for a grand romance." The rector laughed goodhumoredly and ventured the opinion that if the young London literator. William Hardy, based his hopes for literary fame an the portrayal of eueh a pair, he had better take a haberdasher’s clerkship for a livelihood at once. “But, father, you 'don’t . understand ^em:” urged the rector’s 'Thiugihter. ’’Joe's love for those bells amounts to a .na hicss. In proportion to his very ignor- rauce is his intensity of idolatry for them. To him, they are wife. home, love—all. And old Poll has but one dull, dead, endless hope before her, to minister in some dumb way to his pas sion for them. So Will Hardy says, and l ladieve It. too.” “Well, well, well!” exclaimed Rec tor Dnnlea dubiously, just us stumping, sturdy footsteps were heard approach ing over the graveled walk. He parted the vines at the open win dow and looked out. Hand In baud old Joe Davy and old Poll Treenoodle were approaching the door. The rector no ticed that Joe was very stern and white, and lie asked him kindly: “Well, Joe, what can I do for you now?” "Its naught tha can do for me, passon. Its sumet we s’ll do for tha!" “About the bellsr’ This to Joe; and then to Rose behind him; “You see he has oome to give in, like the good fel low that he Is!” "About th’ bee Is;" he answered lacon ically. - - “Well. Joe.?*’ “Weel. paeaon. Poll an’ me’ll bren (bqy) th’ beels fra Lunnon. Poll ha’ saved a prill (a bit of gold) fra growder sellin’, an’ I ha’ saved a scubmaw (a little wreckage) fra th’ sea. We’U bren Jth’ beels fra Lunnon—atf passon, God’s word on’t! I’ll ring ’em t’ th’ eend!” He said this determinedly and fiercely and old Poll chuckled hoarsely and strangely, as. still clutching each other's hands, they turned on their heels and stumped proudly away. Rose Dnnlea came close to her father's chair, .gently pressed her pretty finger tips over his astonished eyes, and ns she bent and kissed his flushed forehead, she softly murmured: “What does father think of Will Har dy’s judgment now?" “I—I think.” he said feelingly as raked his own hands and held his dan. tor’s for a moment where she had lov ingly placed them, “that God alone can fathom the depths of the lowliest human heart!” No power could turn the old lovers from their purpose. The village folk laughed and jeered, but they went brave- ly on and on. Slaving and utarving Poll dug and aold her growder. adding fiercely and savagely to the hard-earned hoard. Savagely and fiercely, too. old Joe braved all dangers of the coast, from Mullion Cove to Marazlon. and tbe sea. as If resjionsive to his daring, gave Jw rich est harvests to his furlons queat. “Their haan* (bans) will be caa’d oot above Jtheir greaves!" the villages would whisper as they wagged their heada. "Th’ brave beck ’ll bring tha curse on Stithney!” others would gravely prophe- "Awd rat tha beels!” still others would mutter; “they'll ernmble like growder an’ rot like tfisht Ja,tched (got) by seeh bet wattled hoddymandoddies (crazy sim pleton*)!” ■* "T* Despite the croaking ot the villagers, ♦he new hells‘for SHtfiney came at last ftom Tjondon. and. old Joe and Ph|l. fend ing all sacrilegious bands from their shining forms, saw them safely pnt In place. But the full neal remained nnheard. All entreaties that it be rung were un heeded. Old Joe’s triumph was to be had in such a surprise to the Stithnev- ans as they had never before experi enced. • He clanged awky with old time clamor noon the three ancient hells but tbe new ones were mote. A/ Christ mas. not before, should the glorious peal ‘ be heard. ’ -• MeanHme the bent old ringer stole •eeretiy to Crowns, to Helston sad to of great weddings or general "jubilations, a sudden melodious and tremendous clamor of the bells is desired. For thk purpose, upright oaken or iron “stays” are fitted Into the stocks or beams upon which the bells are hung. When the he.i U tavaraoL aumth up- ward, this stay strikes a “slider" and tha stiffened objects, to which the Mat ing flakes bad strangely molded. White as the drifts In blossoming hawthorn lanes, the faces that they found beneath. For there lay the ringer of the tenor bell of Stithney, with sand and tiny sea sheik and seaweed drift in his grizzled hair and beard, just Os old Poll had laid hia lifeless body in her cart; and there beside it, too, her tblh and shrivel ed hands clutching the other one’s against her pulseless heart, lay Poll Treenoodle, a smile on her weazened face:—for had not their bells been rung, tfieir bans called Out, and had not the two at last become aa one in the ever lasting sleep? Stithney would not ever since have rested under the shadow of something like a superstitious curse,’’ perplexedly remarked Rector Dnnlea to hk daugh ter Rose and their young literary friend from I»ndon. William Hardy, as they sat together in th© pleasant library of the rectory, some three years later, “had not an unaccountable incident at that moment occurred.” He had been recounting the tragedy of three years before, and the awe and solemnity which had overshadowed the , . , . . ..._ vIRagertt from the ghostly mum of the- < ? hBrch *>«**<?« and not fit to '•«.t ^ TT, —_ ||t aiiy nme, J6U 7HUU JUBiMl -Try again, now.” moves against It gently, permitting the bell at last to remain stationary in this position, but so triflingly overbalanced that a babe’s hand upon the ropes will bring bells of tons’ weight whirling mad ly In their thnhderona throbs: and a full peal or from five to eleven bells, set off in this impetuous manner in the slletfces of the night, produces one of the most thrilling and solemn effeeta~with which the human ear can be greeted. ■ ■ This afternoon before Christmas was a wild one in the English channel. Great banks of fog pounded along the southern Cornish downs.' Driving rain and sleet cut sharply the faces of all who braved the blast; and the thunder ing* along the coast were fearsome to hear. . J It was so dark, but an hour after midday, in the single straggling street of Stithney, that huge miners’ candles flared in the dingy windows of the din gier shops, and other lights Ihrshed .liccri' ly out of a few of the better hntntatlons and from the latticed windows of the rectory. Little for, Christmas cheer was pre paring In the scrimped homes of this old Cornish hamlet: and the only objects of animation or life In the storm-lioatcn village street were Poll Tree noodle with her donkey and cart, and a greedy rab ble of children following after, as Poll ..passed from door to door, her usual load of growder now' exchanged for sprigs of holly, wreaths of mistletoe and that greatest treat to Cornish little folk, the currant-filled, saffron-smothered Christ mas bun. ^ But old Poll was in surprising spirits and even in more surprising attire. Over her poor, lieni. frame was a strange white gown. She had twined about this, scraggy garlands of mistletoe, interlaced with gaudy ribbons, and on her pakied head bung an outlandish Cornish gowk; a wide bonnet wh6se flap covers the shoulders: and from this the mist and sleet trickled upon her. gown, sadly dis coloring it with the flimsy, fading rib bon shade*. - Some came to door*-and windows and looked pityingly upon her. with such say ings as "See the poor nyized pattic (sim- pletooU” or “JLwd rat it! ’Tk a pity on th’ roadlrng p th* ’ skew (petting storm)!” or “Ol* Poll’s etreeved (lab ored) o’erlong, thar’s down souse (that’a plain)l" and the like; but the lonely soul smiled and gurgled to compassionate or railing face alike, and sold her Christ mas wares betimes, unheeding all the folk and storm. She had come in front of the little parish church, with her stores nearly gone. She looked np to the lielfry with a grand and knowing air. Some who were near heard her mutter: “When our heels bes’t once wrang th’ beans'll lie caa’d oot. an’ then Joe an’ Poll’ll bo just one!” Those who heard this, also saw her suddenly grow pale and totter against the cart. They<*aw, too., that her eyes were .almost starting from their sockets and were fixed in an agony of terror upon a corner of the church tower battle ment. Peering through the mist, they saw a single raven, perched upon the stone. The bird of ill omen liobhed and ducked and craned Its cunning head, first toward the belfry and then down toward old Poll and her egrt. Then it settled its head back between its shoulders, opened its uncanny throat and uttered a mourn ful: , “Caw—caw—^atr!” — With an unearthly cry of "Joe. Joe! —ye’re a korph maro (demTlxidy) corb’n (bumping) on tn’ shore!’k she leaped - into her cart, ahfiekingly urged the don key into a mud pace, and disappeared in the thickening fog In the direction of the sea. f They tell at Stithney to this day how the miner, “fatehln' hoam,” from the pits; the fisher folk, trailing into the village from their bpats and their nets; the laborers hastening l»ok to their cottages in the early evening hours: and all the lowly folk that gather there from lowly work and toil; watched In little groups in shops and the smithy, or In open cottage doors, discussing the grew- some sign, and peering with eager eyes far down the' highway toward the een, for sight of returning Poll and Joe. They tell, too, that It was the dreari est Christmas Eve old Stithney eyer knew; that as the storm ehanged from fog to sleet,, gnd jrom sleet to pelting snow r it drove the villagers- Indoors early that bnt few were bold or strong enough to loiter and wait; and that ifinally, bnt two old minora, nerved by brave tSles and gin and treacle, were the last ones left beside the village smithy door; whore the flickering light from the forge played fantastic conjnrings with the strange snow shapes along the hedges and the roads. But here the two old miners waited until nearly midnight: and at last, stupid from waiting and from grog, were just about closing the smithy door to plnnge throngh the snow-drifts to* their cottage home*. _ One more look they would take down the swirling, snow-pelted road. They stepped from the door together. They fell upon ahd over some suddenly unrawed obstacle. One of the old men plunged headlong over a snow-whitened donkey Into drift, and the other sprawled strugglimrly within a snow-filled cart. What his hands tonched and his body met. besides the snow, sent him bounding apd floundering into the highway. Then old Stithney ham!et was awakened by cries of terror whleh brought Us men and brnwnv housewives to the smithy door; Crouching' behind It. the watch ing miner* were chattering and mum bling in anneratltions fear. They nulled and pushed the mnte don key and its cart within the shadowy place. White as a rew washed fleece they eonld see the donkey then.- White as driven snow were the donkey cart and wheels. White as enow or death. reach of rope, directly acroee the belfry, of fully (fifteen feet in length. He noticed thle. as he noticed tbe most Ulval circumstance, hot iu every direction he was completely baffled In accounting for tbe happening which had brought such unrest to ancient Htlthney hamlet. ’ , r 'One stormy night, ’ate in December, be had set old Joe’s tenor bed and hail determined to pass the night alonga'd* 1 It in the bolfry ; He stepped over to tin* rectory to apprise his friends of hia probable absence until morning. On hi* return to the etaurch he was sur prised to find the door ajar and, after he had 1 silted it securely .tnd begun the ascent of the belfry, he was Mart led at coming upon • ragged lad heavily laden with a huge basket, a cricket bat and various well-patched bag*. The lad immediately began to whine and plead for mercy. — “I tan th’ door op’n, an’ I jess pushed un in'” "Never mind that.” replied . Hardy cbeeringly-. "What are you after up here, anyhow?" “Staarlin’s. sir. fur Kersma* pie!" “Starlings!—and for Christmas pic? Not this time- of the year, soimy nor In dead, when donkey, cart and mute bur dens bad come with their appalling si lence out of the bitter storm to the open smithy door. “They had got the frozen bodies stretched stark upon a rude litter in n corner of the smithy, had covered them tenderly wiJh sheets from near house wives’ stores, A apd were whispering among each othen arranging for watch ers of th© dead until morning, as Is the custom here in Cornwall, when there burst upon their startled^ears a> mighty clamor of the old chiirch tenofr bell.",.. ’ “That was Joe's bell. Mr. Hardy,” in terrupted Rose. ' “Ye*. It is tbe largest bell. A* head ringer. Joe-had rung that <bell for more than forty years. It had never been Vet’ for a full peal lief ore. - It thunder ed madly for a time, finally subsiding into something like a toil, and at last died tremutouslv away." “It startled evtfry one in Stithney, even us here at the rectory, from our beds iu fright;” added Rose shuddering!}-. “And brought all those in the smithy to their knees in added terror,” resumed the rector; “for to their superstitions Imaginations nothing short of some super natural |K>wer could have rung Joe Davy’# bell, as he lay there dead before them. " ‘Lane!. Joe’s speris!’—his ghost or wraith —they cried as they tremblingly crouched together. From that moment to this, the great bell has been the ‘Gboet Bell of Stithney,’ for it has reng out v.iJiy oloul midnight of each Cnrtet- mas Eve, but at no^other time; and the villagers stoutly claim that ihts is done by ol 1 Joe’s ghostly hands.” “The oblwlves of the village have many ^rewsome sayings, Mr. Hardr, ^ which you should know;” persiated Rose with .1 fc.-m ‘much which won r alef'il re sponse from the writer’* ongl'lei.ing eyes. "I rac leoall a few iumi at this moment. Here is pne; ’Ghuis! lieel—Ghaist Bed.-- lUng»- hr a' not weedc) «eel! - "This passes current as tine scorn In the villages roundabout,'- particularly t»s 11 reflection on the .quarrelsome nature of some of our people. Another is; “ Th’ Ghaist Beel o’ Stithney Warn* him lies't wed na!’ “And many of the sailor* ami tisher- folk profess to have heard on that dre.id- fm night, and to hear every night the bell is stlii mysteriously rung, those dole ful and distinctly repeated words in the *kes of Mo Joe's bell: *? Mil—>#■ ’ivo’n . eweeUieurtfr-offri) - hind! Banns—caa’d—too-tote—for—th' —hand!’ % “There are others I will try and get for you," she concluded, as he wrote the couplet* hastily in his note-book; but these will serve to show how the unhap py superstition is ,ompletely tpterwoven with the villagers' lives.” "That is the worst of it.” returne«Jher father discouragedty. ”It has grearet influence upon them than my pulpit. It has brought hundreds of morbidly curt-' ous people here. It haa become the subject of untrue, unjust, trtval and most irritatlug newspaper comment. It has actually rendered the living here nl- most / unbearable. More painful still, the ghost-bell rings on from year to year ami no one has been a| >le to silence It. 1 would give,” he added with deep feeling, “five years of my life to discover a rational and (dearly explainable cause for this manifestation, and to have the tongue of this ghost-bell stilled!” \\ illiam Hardy was a writer* of—the dav who fortunately recognized an oppor tunity when he saw it; for .be asked quietly, without raising hi* eye* from bis note book or betraying the slightest emotion; “Instead of five years of your useful life, would you not rather bestow the hand Of Rose here upon an acceptable suitor?" Tlie girl, suffused with blushes, lied precipitate!* from the library; but any <'11*. save perhaps a father distraught by ghj.ists_pr_ghost-beIls. could easily have seen when* her heart am^jviabes lay. Rector Dnnlea turned and faced' the young -writer in amazement; almost In anger. The latter wrote on impertur bably, and finally turned his eyes full upon the clergyman’s face. Perhaps because they were honest eyes, in a moment more Isith face© had broken into pleasant smiles. “Well, well. well. Hardy, Isn’t this a little abrupt?” “Let’s call It straightforward. Is it an agreement?’’ “Yes; yes—if 1 find—” “■niat the party of the third part, who in this Instance is the real party of-the first part. Is willing to thus covenant and agr«'e?" replied young Hardy i*a (Hantly. * , ”t)h. of course: of course! Well, well, well! That ghost-hell 1* working strange havoc in Stithney parish!” Upon this. William Hardy, securing the key to the church tower, liegan his investigations amid the smiles and shruggings of the villagers, as hundreds had done before him. He first made sure that> no human be ing coaiId have entered the belfry to mis chievously affect the ghostly action of did Joe’ tenor bell. Then, night after night, he “set” the bell, a* tbe ringers set them all for the annual Christmas peal, hoping by some fortunate chance occurrence to dispel the supernatural character of the single yearly happen ing; bat the hell remained apright and silent. >He now visited the belfries of sur rounding parish churches ami studied the conatmction of their liell-cnges and the arrangement-of wheels, pnlieys and rope*; hut without eliciting a single hint 6r suggestion to aid him. They were nrecisely alike save In one particular. He discovered that, owing to the diminutive size .of the Stithnpy belfry, the cares of its six bell* were *0 crowded that there was no room for the rope upon the great, bell'to pass straight from the fillet of its wheel, to the rope- stand on the tower floor below. Instead, it nassed over tbe smaller bell* to a fixed pulley, at 'eqnal height, on the opposite side of tbe belfry; giving, when the fop or bell was set. a font horizontal Th© lad sat doWn on one of tlie atone stops a« If from very exhaustion at the writer’s ignorance. "Skin ’em an’ cat ’em, an’ ec’ll know!” he flimllv retorted' triumphantly; and .... ... _ then added with (1 no diploiiwiV'v: "WWt ' ta> l l rtiar ^ ( ha *(*? of tha eWP. and ndf am u,. declared that It was ■■>. 11 I’ll * u< h extraneous cireumstoncee a* tarifft ©r«ti© ns^»ia »hsf s The estimates which <m.‘ give me a’ I'll scat t’ Icms (nil knock to piece*?"| “In ibis belfry?’’ • "Yes. i’ the' beelfrv. ” “How do they get In there?” “Th’ stoorm dreaven hutuicr* ihun- dredsl o' ’em in th' cr.’.zu’d (broken) shutter*.’* "Come on hid! You shalT have ©very rtnr+ing in the belfry!" exclaiimed Hardy exestedly, a* he led the way. "Dnrk th’ kendlc—durk th’ kendle (put 'oil) tin 1 light*!" whiiqiered the bid bonna'- 1y springing after him. Hanly did aa bidden, but not until his head was above the - belfry (hair, and a quick and Henrching look had revealed a remarkable spectacle. Within countless nooks and crnuuiea. crouching upon atom*, iron and timbered projections, clinging lo wheels, pulleis, stocks, blocks ami Mays, and—far more import,-mt in its meaning to him. thickly crowded iipdn the taut but swaying rnp© of Joe Davy's, tenor belU—were hpii- dnsh», perhaps thousands, of dazed nnd half afarvtd starlings, which had thus taken refuge from the atonn. The suddcji impulse of flight given the hurdhsl Hue of birds ii|nhi tlie rui»e. he had noticed, was oven then as the light went outswaying from its piise the huge mouth of the bell! In another instant there was a- deafen ing clamor tn the lielfry. As though’ a- thnuoanri brazen throats bad madly shrieked protest at luJruNion, the great bell swayed and groaned and thoodeTe.l, startling and Mumiing the young writer, until bp shrunk down ujion the belhy floor:‘and the lad, springing pas! with, “Mind ycr eyes an' feace, an' let me at* un!" M>gan shouting am) swinging hs bat like u wicked demon of the dark. Ahmad as terrific as (he thmideriugs of the Ih-!I, were now the flutteriugs, darlings, nhrieklnga and plaintive dealiv gurgh* of the Wrds atsmt' him. How long it laated, he never knew. But when the youiig bird-butcher desisted from sheer exhaustion. -Hardy realized that his face ami hands -Weru bleeding from countless strokes and gashes of the bills and talons of the frenzied' starling*; that the Villages were astir from the ili- limed Clint*!-peaI of Joe Davy’s beU and were fuJJTBgl? the locked door below: and that the sturdy Cornish lad who knew ItoW to pro vim* his 0W11 and neigh- lairs' larders with material for starling pie, and slaughtered more birds than they Mali could curry to the street; while from out of the darkness, as the tired fitint, weird flash of the lad's "kendle” broke throngh the gloom, Ik* could hear a putting, panting Cornish voice as it trium phantly muttered: "Wa*K think o’ tin now?—Wass think o' mi now?” ’•-The next morning when Wililm Hardy, ittcrntnfgfflpiicnrod late in his place at the breakfast table of the rectory, his or- drnunly expressive face was drawn into immobility by. sundry cubes ami paral lelograms of courtplaster, crossed and Interlaced-in strange and fantastic con f union. “Bless us!" exclaimed the rector in unr©i^ne^)Kil:vriii. “Mercy!” cried the startled Rose. "W hy, Mr. Hardy, rail it lie possible that yon encountered the ghost?” ' ’ ■‘X-not exactly;” res|M>sided \Ylllias,i Hardy grimly, while extricating the edgt*s of his cuffs from the (wle eubra and parallelograms upon his hand* and wrist*. “But if the Rev. Mr. Dunlea wifi expend the matter of alsnit two pounds in nqiairing th** broken shutters of his belfry—*0 that the starlings can not utilize it “as a cote in time of win ter hfo’ins and |iraerise peal.-ringiog upon old Joe. Davy’s tenor beil—tlie Ghost Bell of Stithcvy will Ije forever stilled.” ONE ON LA HE PENCE. - Mr. Pence, of Colorado, was making on eloquent address in the House on Monday night on on© of the pending tariff bills; and, soaring to 4 high ora torical attitude, pointed tn the House clock, and in a solemn tone exclaimed; “This bill will pas* when that clock strikes 10.” ’* • There was a soletnn hush that’lasted a second or two, when It was broken by a voice on the Republican side; t “That clock doesn’t strike, I/afe " r; _ It was Mercer, of Nebraska. The House collapsed with laughter, and it w-as some time before Mr. Pence could regain his equilibrium. Pence cornered Mercer at the main door yes'erdtay afternoon and held him. “Say, M* rcer,” he said, “Pve got a little hill I want yon to help me pao*. It appropriates a shiali sum of money, not enough to cut any figure In >the Treasury balance. Will you vote for It?" “Certainly,” said Merger; “what i* Ft for?” „ , \ er for that clock,” said, Pence, sending Mercer across the lobby with a slap on the back.—Washington Post. OHOLERA. London, Aug. 20.-The Tijue* has a dis patch from Vienna stating that 'ru.e Sal- palcti from Vienna ‘ stating that h-om Thursday to Hntuniay there were 'ZX i*w esses of cholers. and 229 deaths from tie disease In Galicia. In Bukowln ahlrty- elgbt new cast's and twenty-oe deaths w, e reported li> the same time. OFF TO MOROCCO. Ol bra! ter. Aug 19.—The first Has* British gun boat Bramble ha* in con sequence of the disturbed condlthtas prevailing in certain parts of Morrocco. been ordered to prdceed to Tangier to safeguard British interests. BETTER TONE APPARENT. IlKHIiAHD, PKICB A €30.'* WKKKLY FOTTO* LiKTTBR. S1XK OF fHK CHOP WILL DKTKK MIMIC IT* VALLB. Heasoa of the Katlnintea at This roar aro Aboard New York, uAg. 18.—Hubbard, Price & Co.'s weekly cotton letter of August 17th anye: With the passage of th#' tariff btU in the United States, the last of fh« dis tressing factor*" which have operated against business has disappeared, and it Is to be expected that from flow on we will see a gradual revival in the trade of the country. Already it la noticeable that a bktter tone la apparent in dry goods circles and the iron tnda, and ImyeiSt are Uitily flocking into the mar ket to secure at least what they need for their immediate consumn(ion, al though as yet they have net btvjQ to lay in any large stocks of goods. ITU evi dent, therefore, that the question to de termine 1 the value x>f cotton for the com Tb* episode of the year U far beyond qnrarton, tbe vac __ Senator Gorman I* reply » tbe lott** aw - , by President Clevetand to Mr. WHoo*. of f the Home. Tb* know the purport of tha Uttar sod read tbe description of the scene Sens tor Arthur P. Gorman, of Minimi delivered hi* famous rsply- Thera was# loll tn the tart IT eon trover*/, lb* Homs* had Monad IU MU sad by a tramaadam majority. It hod been tohsa op by tbe - -e.tts.te end, after a prolonged J:«i»yTrt*»* ■mended almost beyoad recognition and sent back to the Hoiwe. Tbe MU was be lieved to be <*bre of the support of tba Howe. There- was no doubt that tba oou- try opposed tbe me*sore, but so •are wen tbe Senators that any Uriff roilof what- ever wontd be accepted that they bmltated^ not to sxpres# their oonfldence In tbe *1- nmate enactment of the MH into a law. " The people themselves rather thought that th© Senate held Itf tu hands th* destiny ot tariff reform and began to look open the Mil which wan reported from tb* goo. ate Finance Committee a* the MfeomJ'of the session. But/thore cam* * change. It cafn© as a ttnsb from tM (Hosriit Mflia. U Mtml adfth. aa narnmehsimv they peyq. lyzed at the stfme time thaUit nstsaidsfl Mr. Cleveland, Free I dent of th* United Spues, the great admitted exponent of the thrill reform Idea of his party, saw flt to write a letter to Mr. Wilson. In that lat ter tbe President denounced the Senate the A Remarkable Mirage Shaw* City of Taroata. m Buffalo. Aug. 16.—Buffalonlans who lifted their exes twilld the northern ally between 10 and 11’ o’clock thla, morning saw there a benutlfall/ and wonderfully perfect mirage. It was tbe city of Toronto, with Its harbor and the little Island which lies In Lake Ontario a abort distance to tbe south. Toronto Is flfty-aix mite* north of Buffalo, hut those who ftrst wltuemel :tie phenomenon were able to count the eburrb splrre In the Ganadian city, the pbcuuin*. non Is classed by natural scientists as a mirage of the third ordei*, the objects loom ing np far Abo^e their real level, nnd not Invert(*d, n* In tbe canes with mirage* of the first and second class, but appearln« Mke a perfect landscape far away In tb* *ky. The mirage showed the entire breadth of Lake Ontario, a projection east of tbe mirrored Toronto being einly recognized u* CSarToIte, a suburb of Rochester. In a direct Hue between this point and To .un to Bay n large side.wheel ike.inier eo.ild be seen making her way. The vessel was the Norseman. Far.to the north of this steamer ivere **©u two dark objects sur rounded by smoke, and rteudlng out from the glassy surface of the water. They were two iarge steamers of tbe New York Cen tral Hue. plying between Lnwiston and Toronto. A sailboat, apparently a yacht, win* the most distinct of all the object#. ...„ ■ . Her iiialiissll was set, and she <ws* IvKur • V,; IlTf« *trjk-‘rtose )o .be wind. She was seen to fnrn and careen with the west wind, and then suddenly disappear, as tuough nature ha.l removed.# s.ide for her magic .antern. In lhe s.i me way the wiio.e great scene bogan Alowly to dlMulre, a bank of bl*-k ct./dds sweeping along *ud obliterating the pldtme, to tue disappointment of thoitsa.ida who baJ sw#rmed to the top* of the high est buildings. Experts who nsed fine gia-a- *# tn viewing the mirage any they were able to discover the omllues of all he streets of Toronto, and declared that a hr Her view of^the etty eonld nof Tie had witbont approaching within ten miles of It. A careful examination of a map of the Country pictured lo the sky showed 'ha' tbe ml 1 age was without tbe allghtest t It-, lortlon. Tbe gradual rise of fhe city as 't slopes back from the water <wa* distinct, and the perspective bad a natural appeir- ancc. Twenty thonsard people saw th* rare spectacle.—New York Boa. to ^ cm tic. He skid that the conn try had peered something far more radical sod tbe Democratic party was pledged the people more re©ef than Senat seen tit to heatow. But Mr. Oh when be had given snch vent to Ma nance, utd not atop. He went much far. (her. He thrww tbe javelins of Ms fll^ndt •qnarely Into the midst of tba Democratic ■Ode of the Senate. They were petaonOd Jaretina. They hit tba mark and atang tha vlcUnis. They entered the epldermta of sgatast whom they were alsneu and atang to the quick. IF was a bold letter, it w**' *" moat pointed. It was fall of contempt. I| spoke sa from a superior to hia Inferiors. There was In it non* at tbe language which makes attractive tbe epistolary corraapoa- dence of lovers. There •were no sighs of fondness and breathings of t* Thera were no metapuora. m rhetorical axtravoganma of whatever actor. It was-a rindtetiva, terrible Indict ment of men wbo held high pftoe* In tb* political part/ to which tba PrasMaat be longed, and meant nltlmntaly attber thatr downfall or bis. It called them traitors or allver agitation. are now current regarding a large yield are so generally received and believed, tha( it is though that the consamption will lie less than th* production by at leaat 1,000,000 bales and that there fore, tbe cotton trade will witness tba same gradual receaalon in price which has marked the wheat market for the past twelve month*. This belief la baaed entirely upoff present crop prospects, and It muat he stated that should these pro*i»©©t* lie realized It is generally thought that the yield wfli aLleast reach 0,000,000 bales. Of ©ourso'all estimates of the yWd of the cotton crop In the month of August are absurd, as it de pend* entirely upon the weather from now pu whether the plant be well fruit ed. or whether it I* destroyed by storms, or worms or many other contingencies, atich aa rust, which asaail th© cotton crop at different times during its period of development. However, tbe trade are convinced that nothin will reduce the yield below the consumption, and baaing their operations upon that belief It la __ very difficult to find anyone who hflrVi’ affii ri^^akas "it *d*nomlnatad"tbrir good word to my In favor of cotton, and everybody la strongly of the boltef that w© shaH #e« a decline In cotton be low price* ever recorded In tht* market rtiuoe the exchange was opened. Acting upon thee* reports which come from the 8011th, the trade here is abort of cotton, and the spinners thongh taking daily for immediate shipment from this market, do not buy any qnantity of cot ton from the shippers who are so eager to Offer them fall shipments from Bouth- ern point*. The amount of cotton which ha* been sold forward for delivery this W *« variously estimated and it la dlfficnlt to give an approxtmat* idea of what is believed to be the extent at this business, which ha* for many year* been .profitable to those who have, en gaged In It, and tbla season i* no ex ception to the general rule of (surge sains of forward dell varies, especially to Un ripe. The receipt* of cotton for the latter p ^ ,u,d PoatiNy September ■will he light, as the plant appears te have been retarded in It* development by the recent •©ver^ rMflif throughout the eottoascountry, and It ta universally reported a* being^very large and not so well fruited ta might be hoped for. However, the rejiort* from Toxia are assumed to be or onoh a nature sa to point to a yield in that State largely ex ceeding any crop brought to market there, and It Is not at oil unlikely that these reports are substantially true. In f , act ,? v,, rrthing that comes to hand from the Texas markets ta to the effect that to * least «K).()00 bales larger than last year In that 8tate. When that 1a considered aa making this crop equal to 8,000.000 bales, and the increase in the Misslaolppt and Atlantic over last year ta taken Into ac count. it can he readily understood why the trade believe* that the crop 1a 9.- 000,000. still, it is well always to recol lect that the crop I* not yet made, and the accident* which tbe plant will en counter from now on may greatly redace the present prospects as was notably the rase In.1889. This crop now coming to not , ** m to exceed 7,480,000 bales, instead ot the larger ee- ((mates which were current In the spring. PAIWTED Off THE HKAVKWg. f* duct as infamous. It branded them In way that was calculated to oaake honest men. of whatever party, hoot at them whan they appeared npaa the etreate end decry them at all thn*s aa renegade* and trai tors. The Senate felt It. All knew at whom It we* directed. All know that a few 1 tjjcni of the noble boose bad nated -In fact •* directly ue If the had been nwutloaeu. AH kaesr reply waa to be made, nnd ail know that upon one aperial Indlridanl devolved tha re*pon*bMMty of each reply. It ram*. Ben- ator Arthur P. Gorman, for thirteen year* a member of the Baited Staten Men at*, tor thirty ream at iraet. an ocrapaat of b'gh ptaco, one of the recognised leaders of ht* Tffnrty. * man of conceded TbWiy ead >..ae« influence In the country, an oeatdf, a *10- dent. a political factor ©f anch ennee'inence that ssplrante for even the Praoidsiaay hnv© been deottaed to rise er toll at hia nod of approval or frown of dtapteaoara. Mo 1 The Ffty-third Congress wiM poop he a memory.. CHCLEBA IN RUSSIA. St. Petersburg, Aug 17. broken oat At Riga. Tea oases of or* reported by tt» were mentioned by President Cleveland and no direct peraooallu** ladtagad la, hut all understood that Mr. anewan most dripror hlmaelf. And Mr. Gorman did It mgttier and method at \ hta ‘dstog. unique 111 tIk* (©jvrriMncnt’i history, bnrt and who hated the barter. He piled oratorclaHy, dramatically and pointedly. He replied tn hntradraM hi to- man He .replied n* one who had boon hurt and wbo bated tb© h.ura©r. He ra> pi left amidst th* bravo* of th* majority of his ooHeoarnra Jiei with th* oar of tha country. It waa a metnonsM* Men*. The Hcnafe Chamber w*« crowded a* It hod not been for yean. Upon th* floor the II©- piibtlean minority waa -rapreoeated in Its rnffrety. Tbe Popullat Benatora were *a houffl' Every Democrat woe tn hi* nhtt. The Hon*'! adjourned because a quorum of Its n'cmbera gonld net be secured. »o grant was the 'ntercat felt In what wa» going <n at the other end of the Capitol. Tha gfF Jerte* wet© p*ti*«* with ©pectato.ra, vni tnooaanda were te ued awav Mena tor Gopmwn, cold, pot©, but with de termination stomped upon every feature, -began promptly after th© reading of the Journal. He wandered by no ctreottoua paths to the direct imue. He wasted »• word* In opproscMng the aubjact. H* waa not sadtmed oy the pOratMlMaa of word phraalng and fancy sentence ah etching- He denied tbe President’* charges and flaflod their ©nthor. Ha ptck«d np the gamttat of tbe first man of the land, boldly Imp an chad Ms veracity, and bald Man peraaaolly Op to acorn and dertalon. The fltannta was turw- ed Into • court and Gorman took tbe rota of prosecutor with Mr. Cleveland, figura tively. lo the prisoner'* dock. And a ta mo n« trial it wa*. Witnesses were intrado- red from th* number of Ms cotleagseo, who were questioned by hHn wHh all th* dtaost* naas at court room proctloe. Sgnston Jonra. of Arkansas; Vest, of Mlasoori; Har ris. ot Tennessee, men away op la (nance were called upon to onks men fa sustaining tbe speaker and lug *0 the President. TWa uo-heafd of pro ceeding had Its dramatic effect greatly heightened by the praaonre and ©apdib eloquence ’of th* orator. It was not th© same Gorman whom th* Senate hod boos In the habit of listening to. It waa not tha conoervhHve, mild-mannered man, •haai tamper bad never before been know* ta approach personalities or ctoata It waa tbe greatest effort of a man was fighting for hia honor and Ma poltti- cal life and waa determined ta addition to pull down from Ms lofty pedestal th* head of the party and of the Qovirraaaht For taro hour* the weaker bald tha floor, and for two hoar* ha was accordad tha most rapt attention. When b* finally took Ms seat all present j war* prepared to ad- mlt that the Marylander had added ta th© volume of Ms renown a* an orator, wheth er or not he had onoceoafalty acgatttafl himself of the ch*i*ea of tha PrasMaat. Certainty the apeech made th© Hamae Mil an Impossibility. Certainly it! and Intensified hatreds and prejudices. The Senate cotad The House must, or else loav# th# Ifcs Klnloy enormity apon tha statat* books at the Tend. Whst the future of Mr. wa cannot tell. He ta a and! has bnllt op a powagi chfne In ala State. It ta anto t© ever, that it will ha tang batata ha 1 the confidence of the conn try. Brice anff Smith are Their _ ^ aUy regarded with that the forerunner of •tend of patriotism tbay rather goMty of partJL of being prophet# of f thortsed Interprataaa^ ton* " . kept ahwoera ©a tha t 1 am not and I of lllr. ohancter