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ihf PUBUSHKD EVKKT THOEBDAT MoRHIXtt. ^ENBT J. JHOMPSON, PBOl’KIETOB. tfrUS Pe r Aniiuni iu Advanc*;' 50 for 0 month!*; »5 c«?ut» for 3 months. Advertising Bates: j One Square first insertion |1.00 j One Square second insertion 50 | Every subsequent insertion.... Contract advertisements inserted npou the moift reasonable terms. By AUGUSTA LARNED. lt'opyrl*lit, ISC, by American Press Assoc is llou.1 CHAPTER IV. —N He carried her nuH/tly through the darn street to hie uun door. Hiss Mayhew humbly hoped that her tightened grasp on life—the little hectic flush of hope that came to her that au tumn morning—was not due to a presen timent of Sister Martha's near depar ture. The world looked very beantif nl to her eyes that crisp, blowy day. There was a little gap between the W oods' house and old Mr. Simons’ place, where she could catch a distant glimpse of the hills with the yellow foliage shining against the blue like golden billows fringed with flame. The pale glimmer of the fad ing willows, the white stems of young birches seen through thinning veils of leaves, seemed like a new and delightful picture. Today there were no troops of school children passing by with their dinner baskets and books, bat a great company of emigrating birds settled down in her front yard, preened their feathers and consulted together with noisy talk on the wall, and at last roue and flew away with a great whir of wings. The smallest incident made her happy. It was easier to love her neighbors when her head ached less and the films of weakness, spotted with black, ceased to dance before her eyes. She held up the little rose colored garment she was making in her thiu, pale fingers, and felt an unusual sense of comfort and warmth steal over her as she listeued to the soft ■napping of the logs on the old brass andirons. The large empty house seemed wanner and cozier now that she knew Sister Martha was speeding homeward on the train. In country phrase Mrs. Whitcumb was “no company” for her •ister-in-law. They could not And a com mon meeting ground, and to have her in the house, even though nnsoen, brought With it a sense of oppression. Meantime the captain sat just where his visitor had left him, when she closed the front door and he heard her foot steps retreating down the walk. He felt utterly weak and unmanned; the water stood in great drops on his forehead as he lived over the scene and saw what was in his heart when he was tempted to clutch the woman's throat. He had knocked down a mutinous sailor once on shipboard with a belaying pin, and he remembered having had the same sensa tions then, before the fellow began to show signs of life. But there were other things to think of, terrible as that mur derous impuls” looked to him, and deep as was the precipice over whose brink be had taken a flying gl.mpse. The confession of that woman came back to him bit by bit out of the turmoil of hi* sensations. He saw how poor Vinie had been tricked by Martha Whit cumb and her own mother, who was rabid to seize upon any minor to his hurt, however black. But Vinie had loved him all the time. Her soul, inuo- oeut and white, had taken no stain Evan if she believed he bad wronged her she bad forgiven him. Hhe had faded and withered and suffered in silenoe throngu the years, but bad kept a glimmer of trost in him alive in her gentle heart. She bad sat by her win dow to watch him as he passed with averted head. Bhe had listened for his footsteps and lived on the signs of bis existence—the smoke going up from bis chimney, the light in his window, bad known when he came and when he went, had trained her ear to catch all reports of him in the wind. He felt his strength quite broken as he sat there with hie dark head in his hands, and the tears began slowly to trickle throngh his brown fingers. The impress of the mother's hard, unjust words seemed all washed away by those jrops wrung from the soul of a stalwart man, to whom an outward show of emo tion was a kind fif agony. Oeorgo Bligh bad shed no tears when b>s mother died *r whoa ho burled Ids last sister and Was left alone. But now he crying Ukeaohild. These were the drops of awe and pity that are said to purge and purify the heart. He never knew bow long he thus set. The sunlight faded out of the room and traveled westward. " His Maltese cat jumped upon the table, stepping softly among the neglected dishes. The par rot, In a weak, cracked voice, kept scold ing and fussing about ou his perch. “Hullo, George!" he would cry, “don't be a fool.” He had lived a long time on shipboard, and the sailor* had taught him the use of bod language, and some times he varied his advice to George by the introduction of a “swear" word. But the captain did not hear him. He was reviewing all his past He seemed to be standing outside himself, where he could see his life iu all Its deformity— the warping and perversion of his better iiatnre, layers of hardness and selfish ness that had gathered in moody, nn- |ym pathetic years, the appetite for greed gild gaiq that had grown upon him itoaUhiiy tyke a creeping mold. He had ftrqggled for advantage like other men. Md setq* weaker brothers had neces sarily gone to the wall. A strong, masterful, self willed (pan, he had made bis purposes tell In tb» world affairs, while be shut himself away from his neighbors and lived in a narrow groove. A good lover, a good hater, a valiant fighter, half way measures were not possible to George Bligh- But now his purposes all looked poor and mean and sordid. Us Usd last his only love long years ago. Had fiercely deuounoed her because be believed she had swallowed the evil reports of his enemies, and th* good that wasnoMiblttohiabaidtanMd jp Mtterneia, the .wound In his aatare mgrene and proud flesh. But these hour* had brought Vinie hack to him. She seemed to have come from the pale sjiade* of the other world, after their long separation, and to be Standing there in the room with her gentle, beseeching face. He could think | of nothing but Vinie, and her presence ■nd nearness seemed to wrap him around in a soft atmosphere of forgiveness and reconciliation lie remembered her as she was who. a girl, among the morn ing glories and tall hollyhocks of the old Mayhew garden, with the tender rose and snow of tor pure skin, and th sun shining >n her dark curls. He ro mom hi red ail her little movements, her smallest words, the glances, half playful, half loving, she had given him,’ the blush that came so readily to her cheek when he appeared. How was he ever to approach Vinie across that impassable gulf of years that had been dug between them? He had promised Mrs. Whitcumb never to re veal the secret of her perfidy, and al though the woman was a viper he must keep his word. Should he stride boldly into the old Mayhew homestead and find Vinie there by the window where he had known she was sitting all these years, although he had never looked her way, and clasp her and kiss her and claim her for his own? And would she understand without speech and come to him with the confidence of a child? The man was shut out from all sights and sounds by the little world of emo tion in which he lived. He was away hack in his youth, wandering again with Vinie in the Pelham woods on a spring morning when the laurel was in bloom, and all the intervening, fruitless, with ered time had dropped away. The day had sloped to twilight, then melted iuto darkness when he raised his head, for a strange sound had pierced the quiet street through and through. It was the sound of many feet, the running of men and boys close pressed, breathing hard, down the roadway. Suddenly a church bell clanged ont, then another and another. He stepped to the window, opened it and thrust forth his head into the still even ing air. A significant smell of burning came to his nostrils, the sound of stealthy crackling and snai>ping flames greeted his ear just as a woman's shrill voice be gan to shriek, “Fire! Fire!” A snaky red tongue shot up among the apple trees clone to the bounds of Captain Bligh's garden. He looked about bewildered for a moment trying to get his bearings. Suddenly it came over him like a blow that the fire was making headway in the L part Of the old Mayhew honse. He heard the en gines and hose carts rattling down the street, but he never knew how he got out of his house or scaled the interven ing fences and walls between his garden and Vinie’s home. He saw at once the tire was confined to the kitchen and shed and had not yet stacked the maiu building. The night was windless, and the flames went straight up against the sky with dense volumes of smoke and showers of sparks that hang like a lumi nous cloud just above the trees. The firemen in their shiny black hats and coats were getting two streams of water to play on the burning roof. Some of them were mounted on ladders knocking out windows and cutting holes through the shingles. At first the stream of water flew wid* of the mark and dashed in among the branches of the trees, but presently it took a better aim; the fire cowered down as the jets like a million writhing serpents hissed on the hot embers. It is the fashion in Little field to “run" to a fire, and Miss May hew’s lawn was filled with neighbors who conld do nothing bnt get in each other's way, and were as glad to come as if it had been a garden party. Ladies ran out bareheaded and without wraps: young men and maidens sat on the wall looking at the blaze, and a large com pany of boys roosted in the trees in front of the honse. AH the honse doors were wide open and neighbors were bringing out the furniture, jostling each other on the steps and in the passages. Absorbed as the people were with the spectacle, there were some eyes sufficient ly disengaged to note the presence of Captain Bligh's tall form on the ground. There were silent nndgee and “Well-did- you-evers” whispered behind hands. J ust as the captain was pnshing his way toward the door there was a crash of falling crockery from above. The cap tain looked up and saw it was one o' those giddy Wood girls, who had lost her head and had thrown a toilet set out ot the window. The crowd in front of the house swayed back, then parted, and two young men came ont bearing Miss Mayhew iu her armchair well wrapped in shawls. As they neared the gate with their burden the captain, who had followed with long strides, stepped in front of them, dost then the roof of the L part fell in with a noise like thunder and all eyes were turned that way. “Where are yon going?” the captain asked in his brief, curt tones. “They told us to take her to Tucker's, next door.” "Leave the lady to me,” and the tones were again decisive. "I will see that she is safely boused. You will be needed back there at the fire.” The young fellows knew Captain Bligh by sight and judged him responsible. They were only too glad to get the job off their hands and to rush away into the thick of the excitement. The captain picked np the chair as if it had been a feather and strode with it swiftly across the road, making a long slant to avoid the groups of people who were hanging over fences or thickly clus tered together under the wayside trees. “They've got it under control,” he heard one man say. “and the main build ing isn't so mnch os scorched. It's a good thing to clean out the o)d rookery. The insurance people will have to re- build." The captain strode on. with his heart going like the piston fif 4 steam en gine and hi« strength redoubled, until be came to a dark clump of mnples in a lonely retired part of the street, where not a cat was stirring, because every, body had mn to the Are. Here he set down the chair, and stooping took Miss Mayhew in his arms. Bhe was very light, like a child of ten years. Her eyss were closed and her pale lids shone in the fitful gleams ot light. He could feel no pulsation of the heart. Had she fainted or was she dead—killed on.right by the excitement of the fire? The though. turned him cold from bead to foot There was only a little pale moon of a face to be seen through the shawl in in which her head was swathed. He carried her swiftly through the dark street to his own door, which he pushed opeu with his foot, then groped his way with his burden throngh the nn- lighted passage, and turned in at the living room, where the glare of the ex piring flames still fitfully illnminated the windows. Ha laid her down on an old couch in one corner of the room, then felt for a match and a candle, and when tye had kindled a light he timidly approached the place where »ho lay*- Her eyes M/gra stif) sealed, but the shawl had fallen away, allowing the white hair still in thick tresses and softly curled at the ends; the thin, delicate cheek, with its refined coutoor. pale as marble: the blue veining of the lids, the sunken temples, the forehead that seemed touched with sanctity, a* if a martyr’s crown rested upon it; the seusitive mouth drawn slightly with pain, bat ■U0 bcartojLthe trace of infinite sweet- The beauty of that face vending the tovelinsee of whom he had been dfc noon seemed to press George Bligh „ his knees, and hard, dry sots shook bis | breast. It was ■ long time beforf she opened her eyes and then they rested on his face, apparently without seeing any thing or being conscious of where she was. He hail taken one of her slender, chilly hands, and was softly chafing it between his own. ' l "Don’t yon know me, VinieT h*; whispered, beading toward her ear. | Possled lines ran in her forehead and then suddenly the light sprang into her eyes. "Why yes, of coarse 1 know yon —you are Georg* Bligh." Then she paused, as if trying to frame a question for which the words would not come, and said at last: “Where am 1, Georgef “Yon are here in my house, Vinie; I brought you here in my arms away from the fire." “Oh, yes,” said she, growing brighter. “I remember now. 1 was alone in the house; Ann had gone to meeting. Then I saw the people all running and heard them calling, ‘Fire!* And I don't seem to remember what happened after that.” Her gase was wistful and questioning now as it rested on the captain’s face. There seemed so many things she wished to ask, bat for which she could not frame sentences. “Yon are not afraid to trust me, Vt- nie?" “Oh, no, George,” with a little smile abont her pale lips. “Why shonld 1 be afraid? 1 have always trusted you." “I guess, Vinie, I’ve been most crazy with love aud remorse all day. Ever since your Sister Martha came here this morning; seems as though 1 had slipped my anchor and was going right ont of my senses." “Sister Martha?" she repeated with a questful look. “1 don't know what she said, but I've been thinking of you George for fifteen years, and yet I was like one paralyzed that couldn't pat oat a hand to beckon. They tried to make me distrust you, but 1 never did. They told me strange stories of perfidy and a dissolute life, but 1 always believed you were true to me until they came between ns. I thought you might go wrong at times, George, because you are a quick and passionate man, bnt 1 knew your heart. I saw your real self. It makes me glad to tell you the simple truth at last. It is just ss if we were both dead and in heaven talking over the post, and clearing np old misunderstandings with the light of eternity on onr faces. I am a poor, broken winged creature, George. a miserable little hit of seaweed that the tide has left high and dry on the shore. But to speak with you once more, to tell you that 1 always believed in your better nature is a precious priv ilege.” He put down his dark head on the edge of the couch, as if ashamed to let her see his emotion. “It was a damnable conspiracy to sep arate us, Vinie. I never can tell you the whole story, ss it has been told to m< because my lips are sealed by a promise made with my hand on the Testament But it was all made up of fraud and lies. And they made me think you believed the lies, and thought 1 had been trifiin with you to lead you to ruin, and that you hated me like poison, but now I know 1 was all ont in my reckonin, Vinie It's as if I'd been to sea years and years without seeiu the sun. No notion where the north star was, either, compass varied so. Kept driftin hither and yon, like an old abandoned hulk on the current Tried to go by dead reckonin, but 1 was all wrong. Tried to clutch things that hadn't no comfort in them” "But when you saw the old house blazing, George, you forgot all that had come and gone?” "Vinie,” said he, solemnly, “1 felt ns if 1 could snatch you right ont of the clutches of death.” “But 1 wasn’t worth saving. George- such a poor creature, all broken and spent, tied to the chair or to the bed. Georgh, yon might as well think of a dead woman as of me. ” At that moment the old parrot awoke on his perch, shook himself, dabbed fiercely at his breast feathers and piped out, "George, kiss Polly." Vinie burst into a little, weak, hysteri cal laugh, and the captain raised her pale hand and laid it on his lips. “Vi nie," he said, "1 swear I'll devote my whole life to yon if you'll let me. I’ll cleanse my mouth of every foul Word and my heart of every drop of gall. I'll let nothing come in but you, just you. I'll watch over yon as if you was a saint right out of heaven and no wind shall strike you roughly, you poor, long suf fering. patient Vinie. I’m not th* heathen folks wonld make me, for right here oq my knees 1 fee) as if | conld pray and tliank the Lord for giving yon back to me.” “What's thatr said Vinie, raising her bead. They listened to a kind of moaning and scratching st the door, like a hungry dog pleading to be let in. “Oap'n Bligh! Oap'n Bligh!" wailed a a distracted voice, “Where’s Miss May hew? Some say yon kerried her off ont the bnrniu house awl some say you didn't i can't find her. She's lust Oh. Cap'n Bligh, open the doorl" Ann had stumbled into the dark entry and Captain Bligh took up the tight and held it as she came limping forward in a disheveled state pitiable to witness. "Merciful man!" she exclaimed as soon as her eyes fell on her mistress. "If you aint a-laying right here on Cap'n Bligh's eofy, of aU places In this town the moet iinproperest." The tone of wailing had changed to one of sharp rebuke, like a distracted mother who, as soon as she has found her lost child, begins to shake him. “I couldn't find yon nowhere, aqd 1 thought you was smoke suffocated. I Med to rush right into the kitchen part when it was all of a light blaze. They held me back h/ main furce, aud i onasa l fit gnd scratohed like a tiger oat. Them Insurance men, if they choke me, can't make me say how it ketched. 1 don’t know to save me whether it war the dumbly bornin ont or ashes in a bar’l. 1 sometimes bed put ashes in a burl, but was always xeerful about them hew cold and no sparks. If them insurance men use alow torture they can’t mak* me tell; I don’t know, “ Twa* preparatory lecture night and I was kind of hurried to get my disbee done and be off, for 1 hain't missed a preparatory lecture never since 1 came to the Mayhew place, and that was when Vinie was tittle; and the lecture room was warm, and 1 eat in a dark corner up against the wall, and the minister's voice went right on without a change. I knew he was sound in dec- trine and I conld trust him, so I guess 1 must have dozed off, for 1 set right up with a start when the church bell clanged and somebody screeched fire! and all the folks liegan scuttlin out of the room and 1 after them as hard as I could pelt, for | hain't missed a Are no more than a ipeetin for over fortv years. When 1 huasd somebody sqy it was the old May hew place, seemed as though my head shot away from my legs, and 1 come ! right down on s kerbstone on all fours, and give myself a bruise 1 guess 1 shall kerry to my grave. “When I got home i see at once my part of the house was gone and all that jelly I had put up. It kind of haunted me, that JeUr did. Thei ■Over hod aU been took eat of file ceraer cupboard that woe plum up agin the burnfa part and keiried no body knows where, and my clothes, they do say, ore scattered all over Littlefield. When 1 tried to find Miss Mayhew 1 went kind of blind, distracted like, and bumped up agin Frank HaUey, and he said the captain had took her to Tuck- ersea. Bo over there 1 went and there wasn’t a soul to home; everybody bad ran to the fire. Bo I navigated aU over the honse and opened Mis’ Tucker's presses and even looked under the beds, and 1 did the same at Woods’, hot it wa'nt no nee. So says I to myself she’s fainted somewhere in s corner and been overlooked and Captain Bligh's got to answer for It. Bo 1 came straight here and found her layln on the sofy and Ionian as contented as a kitten in a basket of wool. Now Captain Bligh I want yon to pick her right np and kerry her home again. Her room hasn't had a scorch and the bed’s aired and her things lain ont for the night" The captain had a pleasant twinkle in his eyes as he stood looking st Ann, and he said slowly and with a great show of deliberation: “Bnt suppose your mistress has con sented to stay with me?” "Yon cant hev her!" cried Ann fierce ly, like an old hen fighting for its ont chick. “And what a place this is to ask a lady to stay in. A man of your prop erty should be ashamed of himself, Cap’n Bligh. It’s downright heathenish, if I do say it.” “Don’t be an old fool," the parrot pnt in casually, as if making a mere passing remark. Ann jumped as if she had been bitten in a sensitive part. “Oh,” she cried snappishly, “I’d jest like to wring the neck of that old swearin bird, as you've filled up fnll of bad lang- widge.” “Don’t get angry with poor old poll, Ann. Bhe learned those bad tricks at •ea. The sailors tanght them to her.” “I don't like anything seafarin,” said Ann, with her nose in the air, “an old Mis’ Mayhew never did either. We al ways agreed on them pints, though we did differ some. Bhe knew seafarin men is ungodly, mod parts, and prodi- gions swearers. I guess she'd turn over in her grave if she conld see her darter a-layin there on th.# there sofy." The captain gave a laugh that sounded happy and confident, and to Ann's astonishment she saw that Miss Mayhew was smiling, too, and a little girlish blnsh had stolen into her cheek. "Sup pose Ann,” said she softly, “we were to ask the captain to come home and live with ns. If we were to make him com fortable and happy he might forget all he has suffered in his lonely life, and all the evil that has been done him by un kind tomrues." “Well, Leviny-Mayhew, 1 never did hear the beat of that it's just as if you was throwin yourself at the captain’s head—as if yon were offerin yonrself." "No, Ann,” and she raised her voice a little so that every word might be clearly understood, “he asked me and I've accepted, seeing as he thinks I'm worth taking, thongh I don't understand how he can; bnt it's all settled between ns now. 1 tike onr honse better than this one. 1 would rather live there, and l shall beg thecaptain to come home and stay with ns before long.” Ann had listened to this speech with her month open and consternation paint- ed on her face. "Merciful man!" she ex claimed, "I'm beat all ont and don't know whether I'm standin on my head or heels. He's axed yon and you've accept ed! Well, if there’ss]iook81 shonld think Mis' Mayhew wonld be walking into this room. Bnt, of course, if you want him and think it's proper to take him st your time of life and his’n, with them nervous spells of yours comin on, when it’s hot water bags in a jiffy, and the squeak of a mouse sets your head to jnmpin, why. I’ve nothing more to say. 1 ain't one to meddle or make. Bnt I don't hev no profane par rots around me, and when the insurance folks builds up my part of the bouse, 1 want the cap'n to know that I'm cock of the walk and has no master orderin on my quarter deck. 1 don’t black boots, nor lift trunks, nor ran arreute, nor stand sass from no man, I don't care who he is. If you want him in your part of the honse, Miss Mayhew, why, take him; and may suthin bad and black light on his head if he don't treat you well." Here Ann broke down in a tit of uassionate sobbing and tears. At the end of a few weeks Littlefield was startled by bearing that Captain Bligh and Vinie Mayhew had been mar ried very quietly on a November morn ing and were spending their honeymoon at home. It wonld be difficult to say at just what day and date Am; Ba ikett was won over to become, with the exception of his wife, the greatest admirer and ad vocate of the captain in the town. Fierce had i>een her contention for the body and son! of her mistress, the one creature she had taken into her strong nature and cherished like her own flesh and blood. The captain iu time won a place in her loyal and strong soul almost equal to that she gave to her. Gradually the fragile lady, under the wonderful magic of love, began to come back to the ways of health, driving beside her husband, living mnch in the open air, and on rare occasions entering her neighbors’ doors. People wondered st the marvelous tenderness and devotion so long latent in the heart of this man, who for year! had been an enigma to all around him, whoee sole thought now was how to make one trail woman happy, cherishing her with his strength and watching over her with a care more than maternal. Life sweetened and brightened for these two who so long had wandered on lone ly and barren paths. The old house uq- fier the elms seems to smile on the pass ers 4S if it had renewed its youth, and times the door swings open to the en trance of gnosis, thus fulfilling that ides] of hospitality that always lay so close to Miss Mayhew's heart. Yon may see her almost any day, still at her win dow. returning the greetings of the eehool children, still fashioning th<*e dainty little garments for the babies of life m the Q?” ''Mayhew house is as ample and unostentatious as of old. Under the gentle prompting and influ ence of his wife th* captain has found new use and exercise for his energies. HU fortune has become fruitfnl in the best sense, and is blessed to others. The old honse where he lived so many years alone has been enlarged and altered, and tamed into a hospital for incarables supported mainly by his gifts, and just beyond through the trees yon may see the walls of a beautiful new free library building rising rapidly. And if yon ore a stranger and ask for details you will find that it has been endowed by Cap tain Bligh, one of the moet public spir ited men in the town. Ann, in tne new kitenen, tram for her his repentant and meek dotage she aas become reconciled, speculates on the strange events in her life; and one of the insoluble knots to Ann's understand ing is Mrs. Martha Whitcnrab, what ailed Bister Martha that day she depart ed so suddenly for home, and why has ■he never congratulated Captain and Mn. Bligh on their marriage, nor paid toother visit to th* old Mayhew A Oaeer Balia, Lieutenant Peary, who is bow sonewhere in the north, had charge of certain govern ment works at Key West. While th* work was in progress he noticed on th* bottom of the harbor, near where a breakwater was being built, something which shone throngh the water. He in quired what it was, but he was able to get no response more satisfactory than the assurance that it had always been there. The boatmen of the neighbor hood had seen it shining there in theii childhood, and had in turn been assured by their fathers that it had been there all their time. Although the inhabitants of that sub tropical clime might be content to live and die with an unsolved mystery at their very doors, it will easily be under stood that the temper of Lieutenant Peary was different He sent divers down to investigate and after mnch dif ficulty succeeded in bringing to light a •mall copper cannon of the Fifteenth een- tury. He was able to satisfy all ths claims of the government to the piece for the price of old copper and the inter esting relic became his own.—Boston Courier. A Gallant Kentuckian. When the name of Mrs. Mary Brown Day was before the Kentucky legisla ture the other day for election as state librarian Senator Mulligan made this fervid and chivalrous plea in the lady's behalf: “The storied stream that surges near ns, floating on its bosom a full, round century of history, poetry, tradition, was broader, deeper, clearer than now; these old hills that tower above ns were greener, loftier, yet easier climbed; this old pile was statelier, majestic; men were braver, youth more heroic, lasses were fairer, may 1 be pardoned for at least believing? and amid that troop ing throng of maidens, more beantiful than the nymphs of Thessalian graves, purer than the virgins who fed the sa cred flames on Ephesian altars, brighter in glance and smile than the beam of Venus, happy as the wild birds that twittered around them, the echo of these bills repeating, bnt adding no sweetness to their laughter, the most winsome and beloved, gentlest, bonniest, best, was she whom we so love to remember as Mary Brown Russell." She was elected.—New York Poet. An Amusing Trick. Select a boy who will be easy to man age and seat him at a table with a gob let between his teeth. Now tell him to groan and make other doleful sounds, still keeping the glass lietween his teeth. This part of the performance having passed off, say to him, “1 think, my friend, that the results would be more satisfactory if 1 should cover your head with this towel.'' Accordingly his head is then enveloped in a cloth on which two marks havf been previously made with charcoal to represent the eyes. Care must be taken that the glass is still kept between his teeth. When all is ready he is told to con tinue to make the sounds he had made before. If all goes well the resonance of the sounds, amplified by the presence of the glass and the curious aspect of the boy, will form a combination quite sufficient to please the moet exacting.— New York World. PerHian Tombak. Tombak is a narcotic, which is known under the name of Nicotiana Persica, and is cultivated in Persia exclusively, in the provinces of Uhiraz, Kechan and Ispahan. Its quality varies with the place of production. The best tombak is that which is derived from Chiraz The production of this province varies between 1,500 and 2,000 bales a year, which is almost entirely consumed by memliers of the imperial family. Tombak of this superior quality is not very abundant, and the price paid for it is about fifty or sixty francs the oke, the oke being equivalent to 2.8 pounds avoir dupois. The province of Kechau pro duces the second quality of Persian tom bak. With small leaves like the Uhiraz tombak the product of Kechan is not even so abundant.—Kew Bulletin. An Old KnglUli Institution. We have quite lost the mughouse This was a kind of music hall, a large room where only men were ad mitted, and where ale or stout was the only drink consumed. Every man hail his pipe; there was a president. A harp played at one end of the room, and out of the company present one after the other stood up to sing. Between the songs there were toasts and speeches, sometimes of a political kind, and the drank to each other from table table.—Walter Besant in Harrier's They Never Met. “Is it true," asked a sympathetic friend, "that yon met with another ao- cidiint on the street yesterday?" "No, sir,’’ said the victim surlily, “it isn't. I'm not meeting these accidents at all; they're following me np, d'ye bear—fullowing me up!’’—Bt. Joseph Daily News. Little Pet Explained. Mamma (with her best company smile) —Why do yon raise your feet so high, my pet, when you walk across the door? Little Daughter—1 is afraid i'll kick np zat new rug an show the holes wat's under it.—Good News. B© IT Understood That *THE RED ELM RACKET !*- Is still here and here for SUCCESS We have just returned from New York with a stock that will prove a thunderbolt and an eye-opener to the sore oppressed con sumer of this county; we want your trade and believe we will get it: for the simple reason we are going to give you more goods tor your money than you can get elsewhere, either in this town or another. HERE IS THE SECRET: We know when, where and how to buy and we knew how to attend to our own business and leave others’ alone; also, we underbuy and can undersell, and so for the future we will be in New York a great part of our time and have an office there. Two thousand years nave not developed a better method of learning the state of affairs than to come and see for yourself. We buy as we sell—for cash. The house that sells for cash has no reason to put on long range profits. Now, when you read these MATCHLESS PRICES BELOW, Don’t try think of the quality of the goods, but come and see them and you will be convinced that all we say is near the solid truth. Remember, we are a shoe store, dry goods store, notion store, tin and hardware store, jewelry store, and handle more real imported goods than anyone else in town. Come and see our Japanese fire screens, fans and other novelties. 100 Barrels Tooth Picks at 5cts. Bbl. 7X LWAYS the cheapest. Alarm clocks, 80 to 90c. Adamant pins, 14 rows, 1 c each. Agate buttons, 3 cents gross. Albums, 45 cents up. Ash receivers, 5 cents. It is not likely that, gave in Russia Persia and China, there will again be snch dreadful loss of life as has been ex perienced from the failure of the crops The railways of the United States pro vide a living far nearly 8,000,000 per sons, or nearly one-twentieth of the population of onr country. Huse English RrilitontU. The English four posted bedstead was a huge affair. There is one at one of the inns at Ware, a small market town near Hertford, which is large enough to hold a dozen people, and it is one of the curiosities of England. It is referred to in Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night.”—Ta ble ToU. B IG drives that make trade lively. Buttons, 1 cent dozen up. Button hole twist, 1 cent a spool. Basting spoons, 4 cents. Basting thread, 2 cents. Battice dress goods, bargains. F AMILIARIZE yourself with our goods and prices. Fans given away. Fans at 1, 2, 5, 10 to 50c. Flannels all prices. Family Bibles, sold by agents at $12, we sell at $4.95. Flouncing, 24 to 45 inches, at 25, 38, 45c per yard. Fayle, i wide, only 14c. c ONSTANTLY receiving goods. Cuffs, linen, 5 cents up. Collars, 5 cents up. Curtains, lace, 11 cents and up. Corsets, 25, 45 cents up. Corset clasp, 5 and 10 cents. Cologne, 10 cents and up. Curling iron, 5 cents. Combs, 3, 5, 8, 10 cents up. Crash, 5, 6, 10 cents per yard. Curry combs, best, 5 cents. Clocks, large walnut $2.85. Chiffon laces, 8c up; all colors. D RIVES for all. m ATCHLESS prices. Millinery in its phases. Latest styles cannot be surpassed. Ladies’ hats, 5, 10, 20, 25, 30, 35c up. Mits, all shades. 10c up. Muslins and challies from lie yard up; fast colors and white s OMETHING for every body. Shoes, we are up to the hub in this line. Ladies pebble grain button, 85c, patent cap kid button, 90c, love, $1. xfords all kinds, 65c up. Wo are headquarters for all kinds of shoes. Suspenders, 9, 10c up. Shirts, 20, 25, 30 up. Socks, 5c up. Suits, $1.50, $2.85 up. N OTHING dealing. but honest Notions of all kinds. Nottingham curtains, spreads and shams, 28c up. Th* Lahicr Way* ▲ boy of three end a half years, on hearing about a man who strained his bock by lifting a barrel, said: "I should base thought he would liave rolled 1L”— Cor. Babyhood. The cries of none of the quadrupeds approoch more closely that of the hn man voice than those of seals when la menting the loss or capture of their yoong. Potatoes ore now treated with acids, gardened by means of great pressur* *nd manufactured into buttona which cannot be disttngm&hed from th(*e of hone A Ban Jaee judge has decided that a fence twenly feet high, and which shut* off the light from a neighboring build iqg. is a nui.<ince and must come *lowu Dornet shirts, 20c each. Dish pans, 10 to 35c. Dictionaries, Webster’s large, 1,443 pages, only $1.25 each. Damask, fast colors, 25, 30, 33c. Dippers, black handle, 5c. Dress stays, 5c dozen. VERYBODY undersold Embroidery silk, 7 spools for 5c. j envelopes, best, 25 for 5c. trimming, 1c per o p IL, machine, 5c. il, hair, 5c. LUCK and prices win. Purses, 5c. Pocket books, 10c up. Pencils, 5c dozen up. Potatoe mashers, 4c. Pens, 4 for 1c. R EFERENCE, the coin. For Sale The place on which O. B. DuBose resided, five miles from Darlington on the rood to Lamar and containing 215 acres. Apply to O. B. DuBOBE or BOYD A BROWN. Ribbons, big job, 1c up; wide at 10c. Razor strops, 25c. Ruching all kinds. T RADEMARK bright. Honor Tinware, all kinds. Tooth brushes, 5c and up Tooth picks, 100 barrels at 5c a barrel, toy u NDERBUY and under sell Underwear: Ladies’ vests, 8, 10, 15, 28, 30c Umbrellas and parasols I8IT us; no charge for courtesy Vests, 8c and up W HALING big stock of all kinds of dress goods, latest shades in cotton, wool and silk goods, at prices that know no competi tion. Come and see and be con vinced. Mr. Brasington will handle this end of the rope while I will be in the markets sending in each week land slides that wtl shake the foundations of all competition. I am well satisfied with my experience in Darlington and feel safe in say ing that the Racket has a host of friends. Respectfully, Shepard