The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, May 11, 1887, Image 2
- ? < ...v~ .
tHK S?MTKK WATCHMAN, Eitablis?ed April, IS50.
l3e Just and Fear not-Let all the Ends thou Aims't at, be thy Country's, thy Goa's and Truth's
THE TE?7E SOUTHRON, J&t?b?teh?d Jane, ?8tf&
? C?c?^?i?atefl Aug. % 18811
. SUMTER, S. C., WEDNESDAY, MAY ll, 1887.
Sew Series^Tol. TI. So. 4L
* : GK OSTEEN,
gP8^#?r> TERMS; .
. Two Dollars per annum-in advance.
. A ci-vi ? SX KS STs'V
?0*?. Square, first insertion-....~.^...$1 00
.livery subs?quent insertion..-. 50
~ Contracts^ for three mon til s, or longer wiR
^be made at reduced rates.
P All commuiiic?ti?Ds which subserve private
. interests;^ fora? advertisements.
. Oblarles and tributes ofjrespect ?IS be
Tb^ powder never varies. "A marvel of
pcT?tj,: "strengii and wholesomeness. More
economical th?tn tbeK>rdiaarj kinds, and can
Botbe?&t? ia competition with the multitude !
-of lowtest; short we?gbt, alum or pbospbate
powders^: J&Zd-ady ta ams,: ?OYAL BAK?
ING P#W^ER,?0., 106 Wa?I-st.,.N. Y.
corros BATTING MATTRESSES.
"SERS WE SPEND ALMOST HALF
- bf tour ?ife should be rar.le as comfort?
able as" possible, and for xbe purpose of]
aiding this good work, and making some
money, we jw>w offer the best COTTON BAT?
TING JfATTEESS ever pat upon this market.
I Taree*grad?B?w made-S5.00, $6.00, 87.00.
-Simple and fail information at Store of
Treasurer, A. Moses.
Satisfaction guaranteed in every case, or
money refunded.
'N . " SUMTER COTTON MILLS.
O. BART & CO.,
Importer? and Wholesale jDealers ia
FRUIT !
CHARLESTON, S. O,
Are receiving. by ^steamer and rai! from the
North and -Westfull .supplies
each week of
CHOICE APPLES. PEARS. LEMONS. PO?
TATOES. CABBAGES, ONIONS. NUTS
OF ALL KIN DS, Ere., ETC.
^^^rders solicit?e: and promptly filled.
(Nov 9 x
GM pp-lBgral ?ater.
Testimonials of Eminent Physicians
- j . pf th? State
The following are selected from many sim?
ilar ones:
Da. L. C. KEXXEDT, of Spartan burg,
wiitesrthe Proprietors : fctThe remedial qual?
ities of Glean Springs I have known for over
fortyjrearsv and can attest to its value ic
Dyspepsia from gastric or functional derange?
ment of the Liver, general Debility, Dropsies l
Effasions. Uterine Irregulariiy and Affections
of the Sidneys, and Bladder. To the last dis?
eases I would particularly, cali attention, as
the waters have shown large curative powers
in these complaints."
;DK. O. B. Maraa, of Newrberry, S. C.,
says : ? "I have sent more . than fifty persons
. suffering with Jaundice to these Springs, and
bare never been disappointed ia any case;
they all speedily.recovered. I cannot find
words to express my confidence in the Glenn
Springs, water, a3 a remedy for the Liver,
woen functionally deranged. Dyspepsia,
Dropsy, certain skia diseases, troubles in the
Kidneys and Spleen, if produced by the Liver,
nave all; as I know, disappeared at the
Springs.-"
DR-^. JAMES MCIXTOSH. President of the Med- j
ical Association o? South Carolina, in his an?
nual address before"' thnt body remarks :
"Glens'Springs, for diseases of the Stomach,
Liver and Kidneys, deserves to rank with
acy other on the continent,"
PRICE OF WATER.
Per caseof two dozen qoart bottles, securely
packed and delivered on the train at Spartan
burg, $4.00.
Per gallon, by the barrel, delivered at
Spartan burg, 20 cents.
Per gallon, for less th?n a barrel. 25 cents.
Address SIMPSON & SIMPSON,
.-Glenn Springs, S. C.
For sale in Sumter, by Dr. A. J. China.
BOOKS.
QCHOOL BOOKS. MISCELLANEOUS
)^ Books, Blank Books, Copy Books, Memo?
randum Books, Draft Books, Receipt Books,
Note Books, Music Books. Best grade of all
kinds of Writing Paper and Envelopes,
Photographic, Autograph and Scrap Albums.
Playing Cards in variety and Marriage Certi?
ficates, at The Sumter Book S?ore. kept by
W.G.KENNEDY,
2 Doors North of John Reids.
BIBLES AND TESTAMENTS.
FINE ASSORTMENT OF BIBLES
and Testaments, in large print at Sumter
>k Store, kept by
W. G. KENNEDY,
2 Doors North of John Reids.
ICHABOD AND OTHER POEMS,
BY W. G. KENNEDY.
TjTOR-SALE AT THE SUMTER BOOK
Jp STORE. Price reduced to one dollar
per copy.
THE TEMPERANCE WORKER,
Removed from Columbia, S. C.
A Live, Temperance Paper,
Pobl?3hed Semi-monthly ia
SUMTER, S. C.
?Under the Editorial management of
RJSY. H. F. CHKKITZBKR?,
.O.W.C.T. OF I.O.G.T. OF S. C
Assisted by an able corps of Editors.
Tfee patronage and influence of all friends
o?Temperance is solicited. Terms only 69
cents a year. To advertisers desiring a wide
circa Ja?on, it offers an excellent medium,
Q? busioessj address N. G. OSTEEN.
Pabilsber.
AN APBIL MAID.
SAMUEL MIKTURN PECK.
Tripping through the April breeze
IQ a kirtle blue,
Brighter blossom mellow bees
j$e*er in Summer woo.
From her little scarlet mouth
Rills of song are gliding,
Ballads of the balmy South
In her memory biding.
She is winsome, she is shy,
. Clad in sweet apparel ;
Like the song of Lorelei
Floats ber dainty carol.
Round about her wayward hair
Tricky fairies hover,
j Trapping sunbeams unaware ;
Who could choose but love her?
Up and down her velvet cheek
[ Pimples share ber bl ashes
Wilt she listen if I speak
When ber carol hushes7
Be my fate or drear or bright,
Soon, ah 1 soon I'll know it ;
If I may not be ber knight,-??
.Still Vil heber poet !
-?V. 0. Times-Democrat.
?
Br H AIDER f{AGGARP,
rcoxTXjrcEO.1
CHAPTER X.
JOHN HAS AN ESCAPE.
On tile foHowing Monday John, taking
Jantje to drive him, departed in "a rough
Scotch cart, to which were harnessed two of
the best horses at Mooif ontein, to shoot buck
at Haas Coetzee's.
- He reached the place at about S:30 o'dcclL.
and concluded, from the fact of the presence
of several carts and horses, that he was not
tbs only guest Indeed, the first person that
he saw as the cart pulled up was his late ene?
my, Frank Muller. .
&Kek (look), .baas," said Jantje. "there is
Baas Frank talking to a Basutu!"
- John was, as may be imagined, not best
pleased at tins meeting. He had always dis?
liked the m"T> and since Muller's conduct on
the previous Friday, and Jantje's story of the
dark deed of blood in which he had been the
- principal actor, he positively loathed the sight
of bini. He got out of the cart, andvvas go?
ing to walk round to the back of the house in
order to avoid him, when Muller, to all ap?
pearance, suddenly became aware of bis pres?
ence and advanced to meet him with the ut?
most cordiality.
."How do you do, captain?" he said, holding
out his hand, which John just touched. "So
you have come to shoot buck with Om Coet?
zee; going to show us Transvaafers how to do
it, eh? There, captain, don't look as stiff as a
rifle barrel I know what you are thinking
of; that little business at Wakkerstroom on
Friday, is it not? Well, now, I tell you what
it is, I was in the wrong, and I ain't afraid to
say so as between man and man. I had had
a glass, that was the fact, and did not quite
know what I was about. We have got to live
as neighbors here, so let us forget all about it
and be brothers again. I never bear malice,
. not L It is not the Lord's will that we should
bear malice. Hit out from the shoulder, I
say, and then forget all about it. If it hadn't
been for that little monkey.'' he addedK jerk?
ing his thumb ia the direction of Jantje, who
was holdingtbehorses' beads, "it would never
have happened, and it is not nice that two
Christians should quarrel about such as he."
Muller jerked out his long, speech in a suc?
cession of sentences, something as a school
boy repeats a hardly learned lesson, fidgeting
his feet and letting his eyes travel about the
ground as he did so; and it was evident to
John, who stood quite still and listened to it
in icy silence, that it was by no means an ex?
temporary one It had too clearly been com?
posed for the occasion.
"Idonot wish to quarrel with anybody,
Meinheer Muller," he answered at length.
**I never do quarrel unless it is forced on me,
and then," he added, grimly, UI do my best
to make it unpleasant for my enemy. The
other day you attacked first my servant and
then myself. I am glad that you now see
that this was an improper thing to do, and,
.so far as I am concerned, there is an end of
the matter," and he turned to enter the
house.
Muller accompanied him as far as where
Jantje wasstaudingat thc horses' heads. Here
be stopped, and, putting his hand in his
pocket, took out a two shilling piece and threw
it to the Hottentot, calling to him to catch it
Jantje was holding the horses with one
hand, ia the other he held his stick-a long
walking terrie that he always carried, the
same on which he had shown Bessie the
notches. In order to catch thepiece of money
he dropped the stick, and Muller's quick eye
catching sight of the notches beneath the
knob, he stooped down, picked it *up, and
examined ic
"What do these mean, boy?" he asked,
pointing to tho line of big and little notches,
some of which had evidently been cut years
ago.
Jantje touched his hat, spat upon thc
"Scotchman," as the natives of that part of
Africa, call a two shilling piece, and pocketed
it before he answered. The fact that the
giver had murdered ail his near relations did
not make the gift less desirable in his .eyes.
Hottentot moral sense is not very elevated.
"No, baas," he. said, with a curious grin,
"that is how I reckon. If anybody beats
Jantje, Jantje cuts a notch upon the stick,
and every night before he goes to sleep he
looks at ft, and says: 'One day you will
j strike that man twice who struck you once,
and so on, baas. Look what a line of them
i there are, baas. One day I will pay them all
j back again, Baas Frank."
In another minute old Hans Coetzee came,
and announced that it was time to bo moving.
Accordingly the whole party got into their
carts or on to their shooting horses, as the
case might be, and started. Frank Muller
was, John noticed, mounted as usual on his
fine black horse. After driving for moro
thai> half an hour along an indefinite kind of
wagon track, the leading cart, in which was
old Hans Coetzee himself, a Malay driver
and a colored Cape boy, turned to the left
?across the open veldt, and the others followed
in turn. This went on for some time, till at
last they reached tl? crest of a rise that com?
manded a large sweep of open country, and
here Hans halted and held up his band,
whereon the others hui ted, too. On looking
out over the vast plain before him, John dis
: covered the reason. About half a mile be
j neath them was a great herd of blesbuck,
! feeding, 30 ) or more of thom, and beyond
i them again another herd of some sixty or
I seventy much larger and wilder looking ani
I mais, with white tails, which John at once
! recognized as vilderbeeste Nearer to them
again, dotted about hore and there on the
plain, were a couple cf dozen or so of grace
! ful yellow springbuck.
Then a council of war was held, which re
suited in the men on horseback-among
whom was Frank Muller-being dispatched
j to circumvent the herds and drive them
i toward the carts, that took up their stations
j at various points toward which the buck were
likely to make.
Then came a pause of a quarter of an hour
or so, till, suddenly, from the far ridge of the
opposite slope, John saw a couple of pufFs of
white smoke float up into the air, and one of
the vilderbeeste below roll over on his back,
kicking and plunging furiously. Thereon the
whole herd of buck turned and came thunder?
ing toward.them, stretched in along line
across the wide veldt; the springbuck first,
then the blesbuck, looking, owing to their
peculiar way of holding their long heads
down as they galloped, for all the world like
a herd of great bearded goats. Behind and
mixed up with them were the vilderbeeste,
who twisted and turned, and jumped into the
air as though they had gone clean off their
heads and were next second going clean on
them. It is very difficult, owing to his ex
: traordinary method of progression, to dis?
tinguish one part of a galloping vilderbeeste
from another; now it is his horns, now his
[ tail, and now his hoofs that present them?
selves to the watcher's bewildered vision, and
now again they ali seem to he mixed np to
. getber. On came the great h$rd, making the
ground shake beneath their footfall; and
after them galloped the mounted Boers, every
now and again jumping from their horses to
fire a shot hito the line of game, which gen?
erally resulted in some poor animal being left
sprawling on the ground, wherein tho sports?
men would remount and continue the chase.
Presently the buck were' within range of
some of the guns in the carts and a regular
fusillade began. About twenty blesbuck
turned and came past John, within forty
yards of him. Springing to the ground, ho
fired both barrels of his "express" at them as
they tyre past-alas and alas! without touch?
ing them. The first bullet Struck under their
bellies, tho second must have shaved their
backs. Reloading rapidly, he fired again at
about 200 yards* range, and this time one
fell to his second barrel. But he knew that
it was a chance shot; he had fired at the lost
buck, and he had killed one ten paces in front
of him. The fact of the matter is that this
Sort of shooting is exceedingly di??cult till one
knows how to do it.
J umping into the cart again, and leaving
the dead biesbuck to look after itself for the
present-not a very safe thing to do in a
country where there are so many vultures
John, or rather Jantje, put the horses into a
gallops and away they went at full tear.
Every few minutes or so they would pull up
whenever the game was within range, and
John would spring from the cart and let
drive, and then jump in and follow on again.
This went on for nearly an hour, in which
time he had fired twenty-seven cartridges and
killed three blesbuck and wounded a vilder
beeste, which they proceeded to chase. But
the vilderbeeste was struck in the rump,- and
a buck so wounded will go a long way, and
go very fast also, and some miles had been
got over before he began to rest, only starting
on again as they drew near. At last, on
crossing the crest of a little rise, John saw
what at first he took to be his lilderbeesto
dead. A second look, however, showed him
that, although it was a dead vilderbeeste, it
most undoubtedly was not thc one that he
had wounded, for that was standing, its head
hanging down, about 130 yards beyond the
other animal, which had, no doubt, fallen tc
somebody else's rifle, or else been wounded
farther back and come here to die. Kow the
vilderbeeste lay within 100 j'ards of them,
and Jantje pointed out to John that his best
.plan would be to get out of the cart and
creep on his hands and knees up to tho dead
animal, from the cover of which he could get
a good shot at his own wounded bnlL
Accordingly, Jantje having withdrawn
with the cart and horses out of sight under
the shelter of the rise, John crouched upon
his hands and knees and proceeded to carry
out his stalk. He got cn all right till he got
quite close to the dead cow, and was just con?
gratulating himself on the prospect of an ex?
cellent shot at the wounded bull, when sud?
denly something struck the ground violently
just beneath" bis' stomach, throwing up a
ploud of earth and dust He stopped amazed,
and as he did so heard the report of a rifle
somewhat to his right Scarcely^ had he
realized this when there was a sudden com?
motion in his hair, and the soft black felt hat
that he was wearing started from his head,
apparently of its own accord, and, after
twirling round twice or thrice in the air, fell
gently to the earth, and as it did so the sound
of a second report reached his ears. It was
now evident that somebody was firing at him;
SOMEBODY WAS FIBING AT Sd.
so, jumping up from bis crouching position,
he tossed his arms hito the air and sprang
and shouted in a way that left no mistake as
to his whereabouts. In another minute he
saw a man on horseback, cantering easily
toward him, in whom he had little difficulty
in recognizing as Frank Muller. He went
and picked up his hat; there was a bullethole
right through it Then, full ct ?rrath> he ad?
vanced to meet Frank Huller.
"What the-did you mean by firing at
me?" he asked.
"Allemachter, Carle!" (Almighty, my dear
fellow) was tho cool answer, "I thought that
you were a vilderbeeste calf. I galloped the
cow and killed ker, and she had a calf with
her, and when I got the catridges out of my
rifle-for one stuck and took me some time
and the new ones in, I looked up, and there,
as I thought, was the calf. So I get my ride
on and let drive, first with one barrel and
then with the other, and when I saw you
jump up like that and shout, and that I had
been firing at a man, I nearly fainted. Thank
the Almighty I did not hit yon."
John listened coldly. "I suppose that I am
bound to believe you, Meinheer Muller," he
said. "But I have been told that you have
the most wonderful sight of any man in these
parts, which makes it odd that at ZOO yards
you should mistake a man upon his hands and
knees for a viiderbeesie calf."
"Does the captain think, then, that I wished
to murder him; especially,'7 he added, "after
I took his hand this morning?"
"I dont know what I think," answered
John, looking straight into Muller's eyes,
which foll before his own. "All I know is
that your curious mistake very nearly cost
me my life. Look here!"' and he took a lock
of his brown hair out of the crown of his per?
forated hat and showed it to the other.
"Ay, it was very close. Let us thank Ged
that you escaped."
"It could not well have boen closer, meiu
heer. I hope that, both for your own sake
and for the sake of the people who go out
shooting with you, you will not make such a
mistake again. Good morning."
The handsome Boer, or Anglo-Boer, sat on
bis horse stroking his beautiful beard and
gazing curiously, after John Niel's sturdy j
English looking "figure as he marched toward
the cart (for, of course, the wounded vilder?
beeste bad long ago vanished).
"i wonder," he said to himself aloud, as he I
turned bis horse's head and rode leisurely
away, "if the old volk are right after all, and
if there is a God." (Frank Muller was suffi?
ciently impregnated with modem ideas to bo
a free thinker.) "It almost seems like it," he
went on, "else how did it come that the one
bullet passed under his belly and the other
just touched bis head without harming bimi
I aimed carefully enough, too, and I coukl
ma ko the shot nineteen times out of twenty !
and not miss. Bah, a God! 1 snap my |
fingers at him. Chance is the only god. 1
? Chance blows men about like the dead grass,
till death comes down J i ko the veldt fire and
burns them up. But there are men who ride
chance as ono rides a young colt-ay, who
turn its headlong rushing and rearing to their
own ends-who let it fly hither and thither
till it is weary, and then canter it along the
road that leads to triumph. I, Frank Mul?
ler, am one of those men. I never fail in the
end. I will kill that Englishman. Perhaps I
will kill old Silas Croft and tho Hottentot,
too. Bah ! they do not know wha* is coming.
I know; I have helped to lay the mine; and.
unless they bend to my will I shall l?e thc ono
to fire it I will kill them all and ? will tako
Mooifontcin, and then I will marry Bessie.
She will fight against it, but that will make
j it all the sweeter. Site loves that rooibaatje;
I I know it, and I will kiss her over his dead
I body. Ah! there are the carts. I don't see
J the captain. Driven home, I suppose, on ac?
count of the shock to his nerves. Well, I
I must talk to those fools. Lord, what foote
they are with their talk about the 'land' and
the 'verdomde Britische gouvemmenf They
don't know what is good for them. Silly
sheep, with Frank Muller for a shepherd 1
Ay, and they shall have Frank Muller for *
president one dav, and I will rule them, too
Bah! I hate the English; but I am glad tba
I am half English for all that, for that
?where I get the brains! But these people-1
fools, fools. Well, I shall pipe and they sha!
dance!"
"Baa=;," said Jantje to John, as they wen
driving homeward, "Baas Frank shot at you.'
"How do you know that?" asked John.
"I saw him. He was stalking the woundec
bull, and not looking for a calf at alb Then
was no calf. He was just going to fire at tk<
wounded bull when he turned and saw you
and he knelt down and covered you, and be
fore I could do anything he fired, and ther
when he saw that he had missed you he fircc
again, and I dont* know how it was he diem'!
kill you, for he is a wonderful shot with c
rifle-he never misses."
"I will have the man tried for attempted
murder," said John, bringing the butt encl
of his rifle down with a bang: on f o the bot
I tom of the cart. "A villain like that shall
not go scot free."
Jantje grinned,
j "It is no use, baas. He would get off, for J
am the only witness. A jury wont believe a
black man in this country, and they would
never punish a Boer for shooting at an Eng?
lishman. Ko, baas, you should lie up one
day in the veldt where he is going to pass
and shoot him. That is what I would do if 1
dared,"
i.. _______
CHAPTER XI*
OS THE BHIXK.
John found that thc Jifo of a South Afri?
can farmer came well up to his expectations.
He had ample occupation; indeed, what be?
tween ostriches, horses, cattle, sheep and
crops,- he was rather over than under occu?
pied. Nor was he greatly troubled by the
lack of civilized society, for he was a man
who read a great deal, and books could be or?
dered from Durban and Cape Town, while
the weekly mail brought up an ampio supply
of papers. .On Sundays he always read the
political articles in The Saturday Review
aloud to old Silas Croft, who, as he got older,
found that the pi int tried his eyes, and this
was ait attention .that the old gentleman
greatly appreciated!. He was a well inf ormed
man, and had, notwithstanding his long life
spent in a half civilized country, never lost
his hold of affairs or his interest in the wide
and rushing fife of the world in one of whose
side eddies he lived apart. This task of reading
The Saturday Review aloud had formerly
been a part of Bessie's Sunday service, but
her uncle was very glad to effect an ex?
change. Bessie's mind was not quite in tune
with the profundities of that journal, and her
attention was apt to wander at the most
pointed passages. And thus it came about,
what between Tho Saturday Review and
other things, that a very warm and deep at?
tachment sprang up betwixt the old man and
his younger partner. John was a very tak?
ing man, especially to the old, for whom ho
was never tired of performing little services.
One of bis favorite sayings was that old peo?
ple should be "let down easy," and he acted
up to it. Moreover, there was a quiet jollity
and a bluff honesty about him which was un?
doubtedly attractive both to men and women.
But his great recommendation was that ho
was a well informed, experienced man and a
gentleman in a country in which both were
rare. Every week the old man got to rely
more and more on hin, and let things pass
more and more into his hand?.
"I'm getting old, Niel," he said to him one
night; "Tm getting very old; the grass?
hopper is becoming a burden to rae, and I'll
tell you what it is. my boyr" laying his hand
. affectionately upon John's shoulder, "I have
. ho sou of my own. and you will have to be a
son to me, as my dear Bessie has been a
daughter."
John looked up into the kindly, handsome
old face, crowned with tho fringe of snowy
hair, and at the two keen eyes set deep in it
beneath the overhanging eyebrows, and
thought of his old father who was long since
dead; and somehow he was moved and his
own eyes filled with teal's.
"Ay, Mr. Croft," he said, taking the bid
man's hand, "that I will to the best of my
ability."
"Thank yon, my boy, thank you. I don't
like talking much about fuese things, but as I
said, I am getting old, and the Almighty ma}*
require my account any day, and if he does I
rely on you to look af ter these two girls. It
is a wild country this, and one never knows
what may happen in it from da}- to day, and
they will want it. Sometimes I wish I were
clear of the place. And now Fin going to
bed I am beginning to feel as though I had
done my day's work in tho world. I'm get?
ting feeble, John, that is the fact of it."
After that he always called him John.
Of Jess they heard but little. She wrote
every week, it is true, and gave an accurate
account of all that was going on at Pretoria
and of her dany- doings, but she was one of
those people whose letters tell one absolutely
nothing of themselves and of what is passing
in their minds. They might ashwell have
been headed "Our Pretoria Letter^"'_s Bessie
said, disgusted!}-, after reading.three sheets
in Jess' curious, upright handwriting. "Once
you lose sight of Je&v' sbe"went\m, "she
might as well be dead tor all you leam about
: her. 2sot that one learns very much when
she is with one," she added, reflectively;
"She is a peculiar woman," said John,
thoughtfully. At first he had missed her
very much, for, peculiar as she undoubtedly
was, she had touched a new string in him
somewhere, of the existence of which ho liad
not till then been himself aware. And what
is more, it had answered pretty strongly fer
seme time ; but now it was slowly vi) ?rating
itself into silence again, much as a harp does
when the striker takes his fingers from the
strings. Had she stoved on another week or
so the effect might have l>een more enduring.
But although Jess bad gone awaj Bessie
had not. On the contrarj-, she was always
about him, surrounding him with that tender
care a woman, however involuntarily, can?
not prevent her from lavishing ou thc man
j she loves. Her beauty moved about tho
! place like a beam of light about a garden, for
! she was indeed a lovely woman and as pure
1 and good as she was lovely. Nor could John
j long remain in ignorance of her partiality for
him. He was not a vain ?ian-very much
the reverse, indeed-but neither was he a
fool. And it must bo said that, though
Bessie never overstepped the bounds of maid?
enly reserve, neither did she take particular
pains to hiMe her preference. Indeed it was
too strong to permit of lier doing so. Nut
that she was animated hythe half divine,
soul searing breath of passion, such as ani?
mated her sister-which is a very rare thing,
and, take it altogether, as undesirable and
unsuitable to the ordinary conditions of this
prosaic and work a day life as it is rare-ba.%
she was tenderly and truly in love after tho
ordinary young womanly fashion; indeed,
her passion, measured hythe every day stand?
ard, would have proved to bc a deep one.
However this was, she was undoubtedly pre?
pared to make John Niel a faithful and a
loving wife if he chose to ask her to be?
come so.
And a? the weeks went on-though; of
course, he knew nothing of all thi :-it be?
came a veryseriotis question to John whether
he should not ask her. It is not good for man
to livo alone, especially in tho Transvaal, and
it was not possible for him to pas??lay by day
at the side of so much beauty and so much
grace without thinking that it would he well
to draw the bond of union closer, indeed,
had John been a }"ounger mau or had less ex?
perience he would have succumbed io the
temptation much sooner than he di l. I hit ho
was neither very young nor ve>*y iuexperi
Dt:ced. Ten years or iuorer?g'\ m his green
ami gushing youth, ho had. as has U-eii snidj
La?rned his.iinjyirs prettys!iarply.and a lively
recollection of this incident hi Ids ?-nrevr had
heretofore proved a very cfl?cicn? warning Ur
hi;::. Also, be had gol to th at period of Jifo
when men think a great many times before
they wildk- commit themselves to tho deep ?
matrimonial water*?. But, however com- j
niendably cautious n man may be? foo is always
liable to be thrown into temptation sufficiently
j strong to sweep away his caution and niakeis
i mock?-ry of lus plans. However strong the
i*ope, it has its breaking strain; ami in tho
same way our power of resistance to any
given course depends entirely upon the |>owcr
of tho temptation to draw us into it. And so
it 'was dost med to bo with our friend Jobu
Niel. i .
It was about a week after his conversation
with old Silas Croft that it occurred to John *
that Bessie's manner had grown va tho* .strange
of late, it seemed to him thatshe bad avoided j
his society instead of, if hot courting it, at
least showing a certain partiality for it.
Also, she had been looking pale and worried
and evinced a tendency to irritation that was
quite foreign to her natural sweetness of dis>
position. Now, when a person on whom ono
is accustomed to depend for most of that
social intercourse and those pleasant little
amenities that members of one sex value from
another, suddenly cuts off tbe supply without j
any apparent rlryme or reason, it is enough j
to induce a feeling of wonder, not to say of ?
vexation, in tho breast. It never occurred to
John that thc reason might be that Bessie
was truly fond of bim, and perhaps uncon?
sciously disappointed that he did not show a
wanner interest in her. If, however, we were
to examine into^hc facts of the case wo
should probably discover that this was the
real explanation of the change. Bessie was a'
straightforward young woman, whose mind
and purposes were as clear as running water.
She was vexed with John, though she would
probably not have owned ic even to herself
in so many words, and her manner reflected
the condition of her mind.
"Bessie,*' said John one lovely day, just as
the afternoon was merging into evening
Bessie"-he always called her Bessie now
"I am going down to thc black wattle planta?
tion by the big mealie patch, I want to sae
how those* young trees are doing. If you
have done your cooking"-for Bessie had been
engaged in making a cake, as young ladies,
to their soul's health, often have to do in tho
colonies-"I wish yon would put on your bat
and come with me. I don't believe that you
have been out to-day."
"Thank you, Capt? "Niel," answered Bessie,
looting at him in a bewitehiug little way she
well knew how to assume, "thank you, but I
think I had rather not go out walking." Thia
was what she said, but her eyes added, "I am
offended with you. I want to have nothing
to do with you."
"Very well," said John; "then I suppose 1
must go alone," and he took up his hat with
the air of a martyr.
Bessie looked through the open kitchen
door at the lights and shadows that chased
each other across the swelling bosom of the
hill behind the house.
"It .certainly is very fine," she said; "ara
you going far?"
"No, only round the plantation."
"There aro so many puff adders down there,
and I bate snakes," suggested Bessie, by way
of finding another excuse for not coming.
"Oh, I'll look after the puff adders-com?
along."
"Well," she said at last, "I will come, not
because I want to come, but because you
have overpersuaded me. I don't know what
has come to me," she added, with a little
stamp and a sudden filling of her blue eyes
with tears, "I do not seem to hate any will of
my own left. When I want to do one thing
and yon want me to do another, it is I who
have to do what you want; and I tell you I
don't like it, Capt. Niel, and I shall be very
cross ont walking;" and she swept past him,
.on her way to fetch her bat, in that peculiarly
graceful way that angry women can some?
times assume, and left him reflecting that ha
never saw a more charming'or taking lady in
Europe or out of it
He had half a mind to risk it and ask he*
to marry him. But then, perhaps, she might
refuse him. and that was an idea that he did
not quite take to. After our first youth few
men altogether relish the idea of patting
themselves hi a position that gives capricious
woman an oppoitunity of first figuratively
jumping on them, and then perhaps holding
them up to the scorn and obloquy of bet
friends, relations and other admirers. For,
unfortunately, until tho opposite is clearly
demonstrated, many men are apt to believe
that not a few women are by nature capri?
cious, shallow and unreliable; and John Niel,
owing, possibly, to that unhappy little expe?
rience of bis youth, must be reckoned
among their misguided ranks.
.CHAPTER SDL
oves rr.
On leaving the house Bessie and John took
their way down the long avenue of blue
gums. This avenue was old Silas Crofts
particular pride, for although it had only
been planted for about twenty years, tba
trees, which in tho divine climate and.virgin
soil of the Transvaal grow at thc most ex?
traordinary rate, were for the most part very
lofty, and as thick in thc stem as English oaks
of 150 yea rs' , standing.
Down this charming avenue John and
Bessie walked, and on.reacbing its limit turned
to the right and followed a little footpath
winding in and out of the rocks that built up
the plateau on the hillside on which thc house
stood. Presently this led them through the
orchard, and then came s bare strip of veldt,
a very dangerous spot in a thunderstorm, but
a great safeguard to the house and trees round
it, for the iron stone cropped np here, and
from thc house one might generally see flash
after flash striking down on to it and even
running and zigzagging about its surface. To
thc left of this were some cultivated lands,
and in front of them tli3 plantation in which
John was anxious to inspect some recently
planted wattles.
When he hnd finished looking at the young
trees he returned. On getting to the border
of the plantation ho paused to look at Bessie,
who was some twenty paces from him,
perched sideways on the low sod wall, and
framed, as in tho full, rich light of the set?
ting sun. Her hat was off, for thc sun had
lost its buming force, and the hand that held
it hung idly by her. while her eyes were
fixed on the horizon flaming with all tho
varied glories of the African sunset. He
gazed at her sweet face and lissome form,
and some lines that he had read years before
floated idly into his mind:
The little curls about her head
"Were all her crown of gold.
Her delicate arms droopec? dywmvard
In slender mold,
As white veined leaves of lilies
Carve and fold
She moved to measure cf music
As a swan sails the stream.
Ile had got ss far as this when she turned
and saw him, and he gave up thc poetry in
thc presence of ono who might weil have in?
spired it.
"What are you looking at?" she s dd with
a smile: Kthe sunset?'
"No; I was locking ct you."
"Then you might have beert better employed
with the sunset," she answered, turning her
head quickly. "Look at it! Bid yon ever
seo.^acha sunset;? Wo sometimes get thew
like that nt this time of thc year, when tko
thunderstorms are about '
Siv was right; it was glorious. Thc heavy
clou-ls which a couple of boars before bad
been rolling like celestial ^hearses across thc
azure deeps were now aflame with glory.
Some of them glowed like bilge castles
wrapped in fire, et hers with the dull red heat
of burning coal.
John stood and looked at it, and its living,
glowing beauty seemed to fire his imagina?
tion, as it fired earth and heaven, in such
sort that thc torch of lov?? lit upon bis heart
like the sunbeams on the mountain to?;s.
Then from the celestial beauty of the skies he
turned t<> ?cont?mplate tho earthly 1 -eaury of
the woman who sat there before him, and I
found that also fair. Whether ir. was tho j
contemplation of the glories of nature-j
thero is always a suspicion cf melancholy in j
beautiful things-or whatever ii- was, her !
face had a touch of sadness on it that ho had :
neverrseen before, and which certainly addtd ;
to ils ?-h?rm as a shadow adds to thc charm j
of the light
"What aro you thinking of, Bessie?" he :
asked.
Hil?.- looked up. and ho saw that her lips j
wore quivering si little. "Weil, db yon ?
know," she said, "I was, oddly enough, ?
thinking of my mother. I can only just re- j
memin-r her, a womau with a thin, sw. ct j
face. I fclfoe^nbcr one evening she was sitting !
in front of a house, just as tho sun was set- !
ting like it is now, and I was playing by her, ?
when suddenly she. called ute to ber and j
kissed me, and lh< n pointed to the rod clouds j
that wera gathered in tho sky, and said: 'I !
wonder if 'vou will ever think of me, dear, j
when I have passed through those golden j
gates? I did not understand what che meant j
then, but somehow I have remembered tho j
words, and though she died so long ago I do ]
often think ot lier;" and two hugo tears j
roiled dov.-:i her face as sb?- spoke.
Ke'w. m- .:: eau bear lo see a sweet and pretty
vf oman in tears, and this little incident was j
too much- for Joh)), whose caution and doubts j
ali went to" thc winds together, and bave not
since been heard of.
"Bessie," be said, "don't cry, dear; ple?se,
dons! I can't bear to see you cry.''
She looked Up as though to remonstrate at
bis words, and then looked down again.
"Listen, Bessie," be went on, awkwardly
enough, ul bave got something to say to you. ?
I want to ask you if-if, in short, you will i
marry mc. Wait a bit, don't say anything i
yet; you know me pretty well by now. I am
no chicken, dear, arid I have knocked about
the world a good deal, and hud one or two
tove affairs like other people. But, Bessie, I
never met such a sweet woman, or, if you
will let me say it, such a lovely woman as
you, and if you will have me, dear, I think
that I shall bo the luckiest man in South
Africa;" and he stopped, not exactly know?
ing what eise to say, and the tim* bad not
come for action, if iudeed it was to come at
ill.
When she first realized the drift of his talk
Bessie bad flushed tip to the eyes and then
the blood had sunk back to her breast and
[eft her as'pale a? a lily. She loved the man,
and they were happy words to her, and she
was satisfied with them, though perhaps some
women might have thought that they left a
?Ood deal to be desired. But Bessie was not
of an exacting nature.
At last she spoke.
"Are you sure," she said, "that you' mean
all this? I mean sometimes people fay things
of a sudden, upon an impulse, and then after?
ward they wish that they, never had l>cen
?aid. If that was so it would bo rather awk?
ward, supposing I were to say 'yes,' you
know."
"Of course I am sure," he said, indig?
nantly.
"Yc-i s- c," went cn Bessie, poking at the
sod wah with thc stick she had in her hand,
"perhaps in this placo you might bo putting
an exaggerated value on me. You think I am
pretty because you see nobody but Kaffir and
Boer women, and it would be the came .with
avery; hing. Tin not fit to rnarry a man like
you/7 ibu went ou, with a sudden burst of
distress ::1 have never seen anything or any?
body. I ara nothing but au ignorant, half
educated f irmer girl, with nothing to recom?
mend me,-and no fortune except my looks.
You. are different to me; you are a man of
the world; &nd if ever you went back to Eng?
land I ihoiiid be a drag on yon, and yon
would bo ashamed of nae and my colonial
ways. If ic had been Jess now, it would have
been different. for she has more brains in her
h'ttle finger than I havein my whole body."
Somehow the mention of Jess jarred upon
John's nerves and chilled him like a breath of
cold wind on a hot day. Ho wanted to put
Jess out of his mind just now.
'.My dear Bessie," he broke in, "why <lo you
.appose such things! I can assure you that
if you appeared in a London drawing room
you w< iud fut- most of tho women in it into
thc shade. Not that there is much chance ??
my frequenting LondoB drawing roomc
agai:i,: he added.
"Oh. yes, I may be good looking!-1 don't
say that I am not; but can't you understand
[ don't want yon to marry me just because I
am a pretty woman, as the Kaffirs marry
their wives. If yon marry me at all I want
you to inarry me because you care form?,
the real me-not my eyes and my hair. Oh.
1 don't know what to answer you! I don't,
indeed!7' and she began to cry softly.
"Bessie, dear Bessie!" said John, who was
pretty well l>eside himself by this time, "just
tell me honestly-do you care about mc? I
am not worth much, I know, but if you do,
all this just goes for nothing," and he took
her hand and drew her toward him, so that
she half slipped, hah* got off the sod wall and
stood face to face with him, for she was a tall
woman, and they were very nearly cf a
height
Twice she raised her beautiful eyes to his to
answer aud twice her courage failed her, and
then, at last the truth "broke from-her almost
with a cr}^
"Oh, John, I love you with all my heartF
And now I think that we may drop a ve?
over the rest of these proceedings, for therfr
arc some things that should be sacred, even
fj-omthe pen of the historian, and tiio first
transports of thc love of a pure woman is one
of them.
Suffice it to say that they sat there side by
side on that sod wail, and were as happy as
people ought to bo under such circumstances,
till thc glory departed from the western sky
and the world grew cold and pale, till the
night came down and hid the mountains, and
only the stars and they were left to look out
across the dusky distances of the wilderness
of piain.
meanwhile a very different scene was being
enacted up at the house, half a mile away.
Kot more than ten minutes after John and
his lady love had departed on that fateful
walk to look at the young trees, Frank.Mub
ler's stalwart fora\ mounted on his groat
black horse, was to be seen leisurely advanc?
ing toward the blue gum avenue. Jantje was
lurking about between thc steins of .the trees
in the peculiar fashion that is characteristic
of the Hottentot, and which doubtless is bre.i
into him after tens of centuries of tracking
animals and hiding from foes; There he was,
slipping from trunk, to trunk and gazing
round him cs though ho expected each instant
to discover the assegai of an ambushed fee cr
to hear thc footfall of some savage beast ol
prey. There was absolutely no reason why
he should be carrying on in this fashion; he
was simply indulging bis natural instincts
where bc thought nobody would observe him
Life at ?looifontein was a?together too tame
and civilized for Jantje's taste, and he abso?
lutely nee ded periodical recreations of this sort.
Like a civilized child he longed for wild
beasts and enemies, and if there were none
handy he found a reflected satisfaction in
making a pretense of their presence.
Presently, however, while they were yet a
long way off, his quick ear caught the sound
ot' the horse's footfall.-, and he straightened
himself and listened. Not satisfied with thc
results, ho laid himself down, put his car to
thc ground and gave a gutteral grunt of sat?
isfaction.
JOHN, I LOVE TO!" WITH MY WHOLS ITEAUT.
"Bans Frank's black horse,'' he muttered to
himself. ''Thc black horse has a cracked
heul und r.itc foci hits tho ground more softly
than thc others. What; is Baas Frank com?
ing here for? After missie (Bessie), I think. ?
lio would l>o mad if ho knew that missie went
down to the plantation wi ch Baas Niel just
now. People go into plantations to kiss each
other {Jam.;e was not far out there), and >fc
would make Baas Frank Mad if he knew
that. Ho would stri!c?-> mo if ? told him, or I
would tol? him."
The horse's hoofs were getting iwxrr by
nov/, so J?I nt jo slipped ns easily and naturally
as a snake into a thick tuft of "ank grass
that grow between the blue gums and waited;
Presently the big horse approached, aud
Che snake like Hottentot, raised his head ever
so little and peered out with his beady black
eyes tl ?rough tho straw like grass stems.
They fell on MrrHerV: <rold face. It was evi?
dent that he Was in a rejective mood-in an
angrily reflective mood.
"What is Baas Frank thinking of. j won?
der?" said .Iant je to himself ns horse and man
passed within four feet of him. Then rising,
bc crossed the road, and slipping round by
a lack way like a fox from a covert, was
standing at the stable door with a vacant and
utterly unobservant expression of face some
seconds before the b?acK horse and: ?S rider
had reached thc house.
"I will give them one more chance, jost
one more," thought the handsome Boer, or
rather half breed (for it will be remembered
that his mother was English), "and if they
won't take it," then let their fate be upoc"
their own. heads. To-morrow I go to the
Jbymakaaf at Paarde Kraal to take counsel
with Paul Kruger and Pretorias, and th?
other .'fathers of the Enid,' as they call them?
selves. If i throw in my weight against re?
bellion thero will be" n?- rebellion; if I urge it
there will be. and if Om" Sites will hot giver
me Bessie, and Bessie will not merry me, L
will urge it even if it plhnge' the whole
country in war from the Cape to Waterberg.
Patriotism! Independence! Taxes!-that is
what they all cry till they begin to believe it
themselves. Bani those are not the things
I would go tc war for; but ambition and re?
venge, ah! that is another thing. I would
kill them all if they stood itf my way,- all ex?
cept Bessie. If war breaks Out, who will
hold up a hand to help the 'verdomde'Engels
mann?' They would all be afraid.' And it
is not my fault. Can I help it if I love thai?
woman? I would slaughter every English?
man in the Transvaal to gain Bessie-ay!
and every Boer, too, and throw all tho na?
tives m:"and he laughed. aloud and struck
the great black horse, making it plunge and
caper gallantly.
"And then," he went on,- giving his am?
bition wing, "when I have got Bessie,1 and
we hav? kicked all these Englishmen ont cf
the land, in a very few years I shall rule this
country; and what next? Why, then I will
stir up the Dutch feeling in Natal and in the
old colony, and we will push tho Englishmen
back into the sea, make a clean sweep of the
natives, only keeping enough for servants,
and have a united South Africa, like that
poor silly mah Burgers used to prate of, but
did not know how to bring about A united.
Dutch South Africa, and Frank Muller to
rule it! Well, such things have- been, and
may be again. Give me forty years of life
and strength and we shall see"---.
Just then bo reached the veranda of the
house, and, dismissing his secret ambitions
from his mind, Frank Muller dismounted and
entered. In the sitting room ho found Silas
Croft reading a newspaper.
"Good day, Om Sites," he said, extending
his hand.
"Good day, Meinheer Frank Muller," re?
plied the old man, coldly, for John had told
him of the incident at the shooting party
which had so nearly ended fatally, and
though he had made no remark he had
formed bis own conclusions.
"What are'you reading in The Volkstem,
Om Sites-about the Bezuidenhout affair?"
"No; what was that?"
"It was that the volk are rising against you
English, that is alL The sheriff seized BeV
zuidenhout's wagon in executic n cf taxes, and"
put it hp to sale at Potchefstrooi:- But the
volk kicked the auctioneer off the wagon and
hunted him round the town; and now Gover?
nor Lanyon is sending Raaf down with power
to swear in special constables and enforce the
law at Pochcfstroom. He might as well try
to stop a river by throwing stones. Let m?
see, the big meeting at Paarde Kraal was to
have been on tho fifteenth of December, now
I it is to bo ca the eighth, and then we shall see
if it will bc peace or war."
"Peace or war?" answered the old man,
! testily. "That bas been the cry for years.
How many big meetings have there been
since Shepstone annexed the country? '. Six,; I
think. And what has come of it all? Just
nothing but talk. And what can come of it?
Suppose tho Boers did fight, what would tho
end of it be? They would be beaten, anda
lot of people would be killed, and that would
be the end of it. You don't suppose that
England would give into a handful of Boers,
do you? What did Gen. Wolseley say the
other day at the diunef at Potohefstrooin?
Why, that the country would never be given"
up, because no government, Conservative,
Liberal or Radical, would dare to do such a
thing. And now this new Gladstone govern?
ment ha3 telegraphed the same thing, so what
is the use of all the talk apd clhldisbness? Tell
me that, Frank Muller."
Muller laughed as ho answered; "You are
all very simple people, you English: Dont
you know that a government is like a woman
who cries 'No, no, ho,-and kisses yon all the
time? If there is noise enough, your British
government will cat its words and give
Wolseley and Shepstone and Bartle Frere
and Lanyon, anda? of them, the lie. This is
a bigger business than you think for, Om
Silas. Of course all these- meetings and talk
are got np. The people are angry because of
the English way of dealing with the natives,
and because they have to pay taxes; and they
think that, now that you English have paid
their debts and smashed .np Sikukuni and
Cetfewayo, they would like to have the land
back. They were glad enough for you to take
it at first; now it is another matter. But
still that is not much, lt they were left to
themselves nothing would come of it except
talk, for many of them are very glad that tho
land should be English. But the men who
pull the strings are down in the pape. , They
want to drive every Englishman ont of
South Africa. When Shepstone annexed the
Transvaal he turned the scale-against the
Dutch element and broke np the plans they
have been laying for years to make a big
anti-English republic of the whole country.
If tho Transvaal remains English there is an
end of their hopas, for only the free state re?
mains, and that is hemmed ia. That is why
they are so angry; and that is why their
tools are stilling the people up. They mean
to make them fight now, and 1 think that
they wlli succeed. If the Boers win the day
they will declare themselves; if not, you will
hear nothing of them, and the Beere will
bear the brunt of it. They are very cunning
people, the Cape 'patriots,rbut they look well
after themselves."
Silas Croft looked troubled and made no
answer, and Frank Muller rose and stared
out of the window.
[TO ns coKTX?re2if.l
"Who is a Trespasser.
?
The owners of lands are often annoy?
ed by irresponsible people hunting and
fishing on their premises. Section
1,6S9 of the General Statutes reads as
follows : 'If any person shall hunt or
raoge on any lands, whatsoever, with
out the consent of the proprietor, every
person so offending shall forfeit and
pay tue sum of ten dollars for every
such offence.' The man who hunts,
fishes, or ranges about on lands of an
other, without permission, is a tres?
passer.
Thirty-five car-loads of beef cattle
have been shipped from Anderson this
season. This was a business unknown
in Anderson before thc advent of the
stock law.-Ex.
Governor Richardson ha9 moved into
the Agricultural building where he will
have his office pending the repairs on
the State House.
??JIU o *. ~^mmtm?i.
Thc grand jury of Aiken recommend
thc establishment of the whipping post
for punishing persons found guilty of
larceny and other such mean offences.
- I- .<>?>- IM I II -
Attorney General Garland had a ?>ard
time of it rn his earlier manhood. After
his admission to thc bar he hiing out
his shingle at Washington, Arkansas,
but the clients all passed his door and
entered the office of an older lawyer.
One day he astonished his office asso?
ciate by blindfolding himself, stepping
up to a map of the State and viciously
thrusting his pencil icto the map, wrth
the words : 'I am going to move where
my pencil strikes. If it's a town, I'll
practice law ; if it's country, VU farm
it; if it's a river, I'll go to steamboat
iug ? Thc pencil struck Little Rock,
nd there he went.
Our State Contemporaries,
A Remarkable Operation.
Florence Times'; - y
On Tuesday, Brs. Kollock, KingV
Miller and Evans'performed a reuprlc^
able surgical operation on .Mr?&,'?J&.
Smith of our town. She fa-as been sore^
ly afflicted for months, std the rembraf
of the tumor promises fo give rifer back
her health. Before beginn'ing.the ope-.,
ration, at the request of the physicians,
Rev. J. Thos. ?ate lead fy prayer
After prayer the work wasguccessfullj^
done. Sceb devout action on thVparic
of the physicians rr worthy of the" higlw
eso commendation.
Palmetto Fast.
Tuc ?bfcr?o?s W. J. Whimper,?'who'
was daring the. .radical regime,, ??ec&?f
circuit judge bas beeny during the past
week, arrested in Beaufort on a c&arge
of officiai misconduct, corruption m
office, fraud, oppressen tn office; prefer
red by one Thomar C. Scott, of his otzkl
. cojor, who claims that Whipper- ha* '
officially and individually defrauded
him. He tried to get. oat by habeas
corpus, but Judge. . Aldrich refos^i ??fr
petition.
Abbeville Medium.
The contract for grading (he Geor?
gia, Carolina and Northern railway be?
tween Chester and Monroe,.N. C.,-baa
been? let out to Wright Bros* Thef
have already commenced work atthe;1
Catawba river, working in the dir'ectt?rf
of Chester\ ?bej have one hundred
carts and several hundred hands em?
ployed. It is said that work is also*
. progressing beyond fne North barolin*
line. ---
EJgefield Advertiser. .
? The South Carolina Baptist Coirten-'.
tion will meet this year in the town of
Sumter. Next to EdgefieH and Sreen-;:
ville, Sumter is the. srrongest Baptist
stronghold in the State.
Wtnnsboro News. .
The idea seems to prevail rn' certain
quarters that the salaries of tire public
school teachers may be reduced Iff
about one-half without destroying t??/
. efficiency of the service. We fail to See1
the force of such reasoning. ' The high?
est salaries now paid to public school'
teachers, to state the proposition in the
very mildest manner, is not a whit more
than they ought to receive for their ser?
vices. If Newberry County wants to
prolong its school term by reducing the
salary of hs teachers-to ten or- fifteen
dollars per month, let it do so, bot we
hope lhat the trustees of th? public
schools in Fairfield will Contiuu?to ?nre
the teachers something like value re?
ceived for their services. The idea
that a first class school teacher cartr Ile"
hired even in this country for fifteen
dollars per month is unadulterated non- ,
sense. When salaries are cat dowa ia
any county to this starvation point/ the
teachers, after the manner of the Arabs,
will 'fold their teats and siren try steal
away.'
.,a;r?. Bes
Camden Journal;
We rt ere told recently that ?bout tent
days ago a colored woman m Camden:
gave birth to a healthy child, and/ for
some days after its birth the' Child cpu
tinned healthy, improving each day./,
About this time a visitor came ?n ?ndS.'t
looking at the child, she said that ita?"!
head was not shaped rigftt/and that;i>"
ought to be pressed into shape, as jt .
was customary to do when a head wa?
not properly shaped. She stooped down
and.did press the head into^a different
shape. The child never nursed from
that time, but lingered for ? few ^aj*
and died . i ; J
There is no doubt In Che1 mind of .th?T
physician but that the act of the visitor'
caused the death of ?he child. .Under
the circumstances, an investigation
might dp good in that if she did cause
its death, a just pantshinent inflicted
upon her would save' ?lh?r children
from snch a terribie fate.
Marion Star. * '
That fearful malady, the Birmragf
ham 'fever' struck Marion a few day*
since with all of its severity. TJie'f??V
' tims of tho disease on this occa*ioa>
were two of our most wort bj? represeo
tatives of adventurous 'Young Am?r?
ica.' They had concocted a scheme'to
fill their pockets ont of their fotberV
tills and obtain money b? ??y ofh?r
means fair or unfair which might pr?^
sent themselves. Thc 'Kids' were to
have skipped on Sunday night but by
not beicg sufficiently watchful-their
plans were discovered on Thursday
night. One of the youngsters was
caught in the act of hiding his pocket
book, which on being examined, waa
found to contain ?19.50. He denied
the ownership of the money, saying
that it was the property of a younger
boy, and this boy, on being asked abon?
the matter, unearthed the fact that 9
plan had been forcred to proceed to tho
'Magic City' and try their fortune?
there. The other boy had ?19.65 in
cash on his person. Five boys were iu
the secret bat only two were tc go tm- .
mediately.
This schenke is nothing more or less
than the natural outgrowth of the il?
licit reading of 'dime novels1 and sucht
trash as the boys of this age take sehool
hours as well as leisure time to peruse*.
What a pity that the 'darlings' were
not allowed to go a short distance any?
way and find themselves at night wita1
no covering but the broad 'blue canopy
of heaven' for 2 time. They would
have discovered shortly that all the ex?
periences of 'Deadwood Dick,'^Bowie
Knife Ben/ -Rosebud Rob,7 'Sierra
Sam' and others more or less celebrated,1
were not altogether stern realities.
Mr. J. 0. Strong, of Cedar Swamp" ...
captured a strange bird on his plac? aN
few days ago. He was attracted to it
by a light going on between it and his
dogs, lt was about the sise of a largo
goose, with a neck ar-d beak like & %
duck, and its plumage of a light blue,
its legs were long aud projected straight
out from the rear of its body, and its
feet w*re webbed. Tts legs and feet
seemed to be very little Use to it on the ,
ground, as its locomotion was by jump?
ing, it fought furiously and had to-bo
killed before it was captured. Mr.
Strong says ir. screamed like a dying
child. It was very fat and weighed 12
pounds.- Williamsburg Record*