Greenfield Republican, Greenfield, Hancock County, 3 May 1889 — Page 6

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1UNG SOLOMON'S MINES.

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

CHAPTER XIX. IGNOBl's FABEWE1.L,

Ten days from that eventful morning found us once more in our old quarters at Loo and, strange to say, but little the worse for our terrible experience, except that mv stubbly hair came out of that cave about three shades grayer than it went in. and that Good never was Quite "the same after Foulata death, whioh seemed to move him greatly. I am bound to say that, looking at the thing from the poiut oi view of an oldish man of the world, 1 consider her removal was a fortunate occurrence, since, otherwise, complications would have been sure to ensue. Th«? poor creature was no ordinary native girl, but a person o£ great. I had almost said stately, beauty, and oi considerable refinement of mind. But no amount of beauty or refinement could have made an entanglement between Good and herself a desirable occurrence for, as she herse'f put it, ''Can the sun mate with the darkness, or the while with the 11kcK?"

I need hardlv state that we never again penetrated 'ito Solomon's treasure chamber. After we had recovered fr in quj* f&tigues, a process v?hich too^ u^ forty-eight hours, we drcanded into the great pit in the hope of finding the hole

sooor and what is more, the sines oi the vast pit were fad oi ant bear and other hoi.-s. it was impossi hie io say to which thene we owed our salvation. V.'o tdi-o, on the day before p.ta!t"-d u-k to Loo, made cxrV'H'iiviii'tu of tlie wonders of thM cave, and, drawn hv a kinde.f ivj-tless feelincr, even v-f'jw-trated ou«e more into the Chamber

we [art her

With a sigh of disappointment we made our way back, anil next .y started for Loo. And yet it was really very ungreateful of ua to be disappointed for, as the reader will remember. I had, by a lucky thought, taken the precaution to fill the pockets of my old shooting coat with gems before wo left our prisonhouse. A good many of these fell out in the course of our roll down the side of the pit, including most of the bi:r one.", which I had crammed in on the top. But, comparatively speaking, an enormous quantity rrtill remained, including eighteen large stones ranging from about one hundred to thirty carats in weight. My old shooting coat stii! held enough treasure to make us all, if not millionaires atleai-texceedingly wealthy men, and yet to keep enough stones each to make the three finest sets of gem* in Europe. So we had not. done so badly

Ou arriving at Loo, we were \nost cordially received by Ignosi, whom we found VP-elS. and busily u:aged in consolidating his power, and reorganizing the regiments which, had suffered most in the ^r^at strntrale with Twala.

He listened with bn-athlesn interest to our wonderful storv b"t. when we tohl bim of old Gasrooi's frightful end he grew thoughtful. "Come hither," he called, to a very old Induna (councilor), who was sitting With others in a circle round ihe king, but out oi ear shot. The old man rose, approached, saluted, and seated himself. "Thou art old." said Ignosi. "Ay. my lord (he kint!'' "Teii m*». when thou wast little, didst thou know Gagaoola trie witch-doc-treso?" "Ay, my lord the kin?!" "How was she then—young, like thee?" "Not ho, my lord the king! She was even as now old and dried, very ugly, and full of ickedne/'s." "She is no more, the is dead." "Ho, 0 king! then is a curse taken from '4he land." "Go!" "Kootn! I go, black puppy, who tore ou, the old dog's throat. Koom!" "Ye se-e, my brothers," said Tsnosi, "thiB wa3 a strange woman, nr.d I juice that she is dead. She would have let ye die in the dirk pi nee, arid mayhap afterward who had found a way to slay»me a* she found a way to slay my fathtr, and net up Twala. wtiotu her heart loved, in his place. Now go on with the t.\lc surely there never was thelikt!"

After had narrated all the story of our escape. 1,88 we had agreed between ourselves that I should,, took the opportunity to address Ignosi as to our departure from Kukuaaalahd. "And now, Igooai, the time hag come lor us to bid tbee faro well, and start to seek once more our own land. Behold, Ignosi, with us thou earnest a servant, g,. and now we leave thee a mighty king.

If thou art grateful to us, remember to /"'do even as thou didst promise: to rule Justly, to respect the law, and to put i^Sfri-iijione to death without, a cause. So shalt thou prosper. To-morr-jw, at break of •day, Ignosi, wilt thou give us an cscojt

-*VV

•n-ftli the 2^d, with

of lie Drxt'i M'.«d FpearoIt.hu white Deii'h sensations w! ie.:i it won.', be quite-: impossible -or me to describe, at the mass of tec a which had Rhutus o.'i iriai excape. thinking, the while, of the priceless re a. res be.vond, of the mysterious old ha{ whose flattened fragments lay crushed beneath it, and of the fair girl of whose totnb it was the portal. I say gazed at the "rock," ior examine as we would, we could find no traces of the join of the sliding door nor, indeed, could we hit upon the secret, now utterly lost, that worked it, though we tried for an hour or more. It was certainly a marvelous bit of mechanism, characteristic, in il3 massive and yet inscrutable simplicity, of the minds whichprodncedit audi doubt if the world has such another to show.

At last- we gave it up in disgust, though if the mass had suddenly risen before our eyes, I doubt if we would have screwed up courage to step over Gagooi's mangled remains, and once more enter the treasure chamber, even in the sure and certain hope of unlimited diamonds. And yet could have cried at the idea of leaving all that treasure, the biggest treasure probably that hi's ever in the world's hist'ry been ac.-umnlated in one spot. But there we.3 no help for it. Only dynamite could. force its way through five feet of folid rock. .And so ^elett it. Perhaps, in some remote, unborn century, a more forinnr.te explorer ma? hit'npon the "Open Sobsme" and flood" 1 tie world with gems. But, mvselt. I doubt it. Somehow, I seen* to feel that the millions of pounds' worth of gems that lie in the three stone coffers will never shine round the neck o[ an earthly beauty. They and Foulata'a bones will keep cold coi.axany till the end of all things.

who shall lead ua across the mountains?

Ib

it not so, O king?" Ignosi covered his face with htjs haiid^ for awhile before answering. "My heart is sore," he said, at last "your words split my heart in twain. What have 1 done to ye, Incubu, Macumezahn, and Bougwan, that ye should leave me desolate? Ye who stood by me in rebellion and battle, will ye leave tin-in the day of peace and victor.? Wint will ye—wives? Chooes

from

out the !and! A place to live iu? Behold, the land is yours as far as ye cau see. The white man's houses? Ye shall teach rnv people how to build the.m. Cattle for beef and milkT Every married man shall bring ye an ox or a cow. Wild game to hunt? Does not the elephant walk through my forests, and the river-horse sleep in the reede? Would ye make war? My impis (regiments) wait your word. If there is anything more that I can give, that will I give ve." "Nar, Ignosi, we want not these things'," I answered "we would seek our own place." "Now do I perceive," said Ignosi, bitterlv, and with flashing eyes, "that it is the bright stones that ye love word than me, your iriend. Ye have the stones noiV would ve go to .'"atal and across the moving black water and sell them, and be rich, as it is the desire of a white man's heart to be. Cursed for your sake be the stones, and cursed he who seeks them. Df&t.h shall it be to him who sets foot if the place of death to seek them. I have :.poken, white men ye can go."

I Jeid my hand upon hi* arm. "Ig-no.-i," 1 said, "tell us, when thou didifc wander in Zuiuland. aud among the white men iu Natal, did not thine heart turn to the hind thy mother told tb.ee of thy native land, where thou did- see the light, and play when thou wast little, the land win-re thy place wan?" "It waa even so, Macumazahn." "Then thus does our hearts turn to our land and to our own place.

Then came a pause. When Ignosi broke it, it waa in a different voice. "I do p'.rct-ive that thy words are, now as ever, wi»o and full or reason, Macumazan that vvhi'-h flies in the air loves not to run along the yround the white man loves not to live on theievel oi the b'sek, Weil, ye must go, and leave my heart fort\ Localise ye will be as dead to me, since from where ye will be no tidings can come to me. "But liBten, and let all the white men kn*w my words. No other white man shall cross the mountains, even if any may live to come so far. I will see no traders with tbeir guns and rum. My people shall fight with the spear, and drink water like their forefathers before them. 1 will have no praying-men to put fear of death into men's hearts, to stir them up^ against the king, and make a path for the white men who follow to run on. If a white man comes to my gates I will send him back it a hundred come I will push them back if an army comes I will make war on them with all my strength, and they shall not prevail against me. None shall ever come for the shining stones, no, not an army, for if they come I will send a regiment aud fill up the pit, and break down the white columns in the caves and till them with rocks, so that, none can come even to that door of which ve speak, and whereof the way to move it is lost. But for ye three, Incubu, Macumazahn, and Bougwan, the path is ai ways open for behold, ye are dearer to me thaa aught that breat hes. "And ye would «o. Infadoos, my uncle, and my Induna, shall take thee by the hind and guide thee, with a regiment. There is, as I have learned, another way across the mountains that he ahailshowye. Farewell, my brothers, brave white men. See me no more, for 1 have no heart to bear it. Behold, 1 make a decree, and it shall be published from the mountains to the mountains, your names, Incubu, Macutnuzahu, aud c-ovigwan, shall be as the names of dead kings, and be who speak them shall die.* Bo shall your memory be preserved in thu land for ever. "Go now, ere my eyes rain tears like a vroinati'iH. At tiuit-s when ye look back down the path of iih*, or whtn ye are old od gather yourselves together to crouch bei'oro- the "fire, because the tun has no more heat, ye will think of ho.v we stood shou'der to shoulder in that reat battle that thy wise words planned, Macuma^ihn or how thou wast the point of ih.'it horn that galled Twahi's tlank, Bougvyan whiipt, thou utoodat in the ring of the Gray.", Iucubu, and men went down before thine a.x like com before a sickle ay, and of how thou didst break the wild bull's (Twala'.?) strength and bring his pride to du-?t. Fare well howt'ver, Incubu, Macuaia^-ihn. and Bougwan, my lord.? and my friends.1' lie rose, looked earnestly at us for a few seconds, and then threw tli« corner of hid karops over bin face from us.

We w^nt in silence. *111in oxtniordiimry ami negat vrt way of stxnvi:ig iutt'iiKe ronp' i:t Is by ii-j ineiiiis \mkiMir uriHiiiLr Afrir-iin people, hikIi.h rtsult is tliiit if, ns is usu.i 1, the nuiiR'in i'ie.-.tion has a fcigtii'i-way f-iiiK-O, the iiiOiniiii'.r n.-is to exprvs.seu by ail iiliom or another word. Iu this way a memory is preservi-ii tor Ki-iienitions, or until the nyw word Hupplsuits tlir old one.

Next day .'it dawn we left Loo, escorted by oar old friend Infadoas, who was heart-broken at our departure, and the regiment of Buffaloes Early as the hour was, all the main streets of the town was lined with multitudes oi people, who gave us the royal salute as we passed at the head ot the regiment, while tho women blessed ub as haviag rid the land of Twala, throwing flowers before us as we wen-. It really we,a very affecting and not the sort of thing one is accustomed to inset with from natives.

On? very ludtcrons incident occurred, however, which I rather welcomed as it gave us something to laugh at.

JiiRt before we get to the confines of the to»v» a pretty young girl, with some beautiful liiien in her hund, caiae running forward and {/resented them to Good (somehow they nil seemed to like Good I think his eyeglass aud solitary whisker irave him a fictitious value), and then said she had a boon to eek. "Speak on." "Let my lord show his servant lii? beautiful white legs, that his servant may look on them, and remember them ho her days, and tell of them to her children his servant has traveled four days' journey to see them, for tho fame of them has gone throughout the land." "I'll be hanged .if I do," aaid Good, excitedly. "Come, come, my dear fellow," said Sir Henry, "you can't refuse to oblige a lady." "I won't," said Good, obstinately "it ia positively indecent."

However, in the end he consented to draw up his trou&era to the kneei«midst

notee of rapturous admiration from all the women present, especially the gratified young lady, and in this guise he had to walk till we got clear of the town.

Good's legs wiil, I fear, never be so greatly admired again. 01 his melting teeth, aud even of his transparent eyo" they wearied more or "lets, but of his legs, never.

As we traveled Iufadoos told us that lb ere was another pass over tho mountains to the north of the one followed by tfolomon's great road, or rather that there was a place where it was possible to climb dosn the wall ot a cliff that separated Rnkuanaland from the desert, and was broken by the towering shapes of Sheba's Breasts. It appeared, too, that rather more than two years previously a party of Kakuana hunters had descended this path into the de«ert in search of estJ-icheis whose plumes were much pna -«1 ar :ong them for war head-dresst-s, siix! that iu the course of their hunt they had been led far from the mountains, and were much troubled by thirst. See ing, however, trees on the horizon, they made toward them, and discovered a large ami fertile oasis* of miles in extent, and plentfullv watered. It was by way of this'easLs that he suggested that we should return, and the idea seemed to us a good it appeared that we should escape the rigors oi th» mountain

PR83, and as some of the hunters were iu attendance to guide uh to the oa?i*. from which, they stated, they cou'd perceive more fertile spote far away in the desert.

Traveling easily, on the nieht o.f the fourth day sjourney wefouud ourselves once more on the eie^t- of the mountains that separate Kukuanaland from the desert, w.vich rolled away in sandy billows at our feet, and about twentyfive milwj to the north of Sheba'a Breasts.

At dawn on the following day, we were led to the commencement of a precipitous descent, by which we were to cfescend the precipice, and g2in the desert two thousand and more ieet below.

Hero we bade farewell to that true friend and sturdy old warrior. Infadoos, who solemnly wished all good upon u*, and nearly wept with grief. "Never, cny lords," he said, "shall mine old eye?, see the like of ye again. Ah! the way that Incubu cut nis uien down in the hattie! Ah! for the Night of that stroke with which, be swept oil my bro:h n- T-v.Ua' head! It was beautiful—beautiful! I may never hone to see such another, except perchance in happy dreams."

We were very sorry to part from him, indeed, Good was eo moved that he gave him as a souvenir—what do you think?—an eyeglass. (Afterward we discovered that it was a spare one.) Iniadoos was delighted, foreseeing that the possession of such an article would enormously increase his prestige, and after several vain attempts actually succeeded in screwing it into his own eye. Any thing more incongruous than the old warrior looked with an eyeglass I. never saw. Eyeglasses don't go well with leopard-skin cloakB and black ostrich plumes.

Then, having seen that our guides were well laden with water and provisions, and havinc: received a thundering farewell salute from the Buffaloes, we wrung the old warrior's hand, and began our down ward climb. A very arduous business it proved to be, but somehow that evening we found*"oursei ves at th-.-i bottom without accident. "Do you know," said Sir Henry that rjgtghl, as we sat by our fire and gaaed up at the beetling" clilfa above us, "I think that there are ./orse places than Kukuanaland in the world, and that I have spent unhappter times than the last mouth wo, though I have never -pent such queer ones. En! you fellow 8?" "I almost wi-ah I were back," said Good, with a sigh.

As for mvxelt',1 reflected that all's well that ends well but in the course of a long life of shaves, I never had such sbavt-s as those I had recant.lv experienced. The t'nought oi that battle still mair.es me feel cold all over, and as for our experience iu the treasure chamber—?

Next morning we started on a toilsome march across the desert, having with us a good supply oi water carried by our tive guid&y, him! camped tnat night in •.he op in, ofartiug again at dawn on the morrow.

By midday of the third day's journey v/e could see the trees o£ the oasitf ot which the guides spoke, ami by an hour before sundown we vera oaoa mora waking up grass aud lisctnlng to tho sound of running water.

CflAFTER XX potr^i).

And now I come to perbapa the strangest thing that happened to us in ail that strange business, and one '.yitich shows how" wonderfully things are brought about.

I was "wall-ing quietly along, some iu /rout of the other two, down the banks of the stream, which ran from the oj.sis till it was swallowed up in the hungry desert s*ndg, when I suddenly stopped smd rubbed my eyes, as well 1 might. There, not twenty yards in front, placed in a charming situation, under the shade of a me»ies of tig tree, and facing to the stream, was a cozy hut built more or legs ou tue Kafir principle of grass and withes, only with a full length doer inseead of a boo-hole. "What, the dickens, said I to myself, "can a hut be doing here?" Even as I said it, the do of the hut opened, snd tb»re limped out ot it a v/hitw men clothed ia skins, and with enormous black ard. 1 thought tbst. 1 mviiit have got a touch of the sua. It was impossible. No hunter ever came to such a place as Ibis. Certtfiuly no hunter v/ould ever settle in it. I stared and stared, ar so did the other mac, aud j«!iA at that juncture Sir Henry and Good csme up. "Look here, you fellows," I said "ia that a whit.-. Hi ), or am I mad?

Sir Henry looked, aud Good looked, and theu ail of a sudden the latne whit* man with the black beard gave a cry, and ime hobbiing toward na. When hfi got close, he fell down in a «ort. of faint.

Wilh a spring Sir Henry waa by lus side. "Great Powerf!" he eried, "it is my brother Georsre!"

At the roorid of the disturbance, another figure, also clad in skins, ©merged from the hut, with a gun in his, and came running toward u.i. On. seeing me he too gave a cry. "Macuroazabn," oe halloed, '-'don't VO\T know rne,

1

aah? I'm Jim th» hunter.

1 lost the note yoa save me to give to the Baza, and we have b«en hero nearly two

.Y* Pipp

years." And the fellow fell at my feet, and rolled over and over, weeping for joy. "You careless aeoundrel!" iBaid "you ought to be well iiided."

Meanwhile the man with the black beard had recovered and got up, and he •and Sir Henry were pump-handling away at each other, apparently without a word to say. But whatever they iiad quarreled about ia the past (I suspect it waa a lady, though I never asked), it was evidently forgotten now. "My dear old fellow," burst out Sir

Henry at last, "I thought that you were dead." I have been" over Solomon's Mountains to find you, and now I come across you perched in the desert, like an old Aasvogel (vulture)." tried to go over Solomon's Mountains nearly two years ago." was the answer, spoken in the hesitating voice of a I man who has had little recent opportunity of using his tongue, "but when I got here, a bowlder fell on my leg and crushed it, and I have been ablf to go neither forward nor back."

Then I came up. "How do you do, Mr. Neville?'*' 1 said "do you remamber me?" "Why," he said, "isn't it Q'latermain, eh, and Good, toa? Hold on a minute, you fellows, 1 am getting dizzy again It is all so very strange, arid, when man has ceased to hope, so very happy.''

Tnat evening, over the camp-tire, Geo' re Curtis told us his story, which. in it-i ways, was almost as eventful as 1 our own,' and amounted shortly t. this. I A l:Hle short, of two years before, he had I staued from Sitanda's Kraal, to try and reach the mountains. As for the note I had sent him by .lira, that worthy had lost it, and he had never heard of it till to-day. Bar. acting upon information he had received from the natives, he made, not for Sheba's Breasts, but for the ladder-like degcent of the mountafas do'-vn which we h'td ju-3t come, which was clearly a betier route than that marked out in old Drm Silvestra's plan.

In the desert he and Jim suff-jred great hardfihipo, but finally they reached this oasis, where a terrible accident befell George Curtis. On the day of their arrival, he was sitting by the stream, and Jiai was extracting the hon from the nest of a stintless bee, which is to be found iu the desert, on the top of the bank immediately above him. In so doinfc he loosed a great bowlder of rock, which fell upon Georre Curtis's right leg, crushing it frightfully. From that day he had been so dreadful lame, that bo had found it impossible to go either forwaid or back, and had preferred to take the chances of dying on the oasis to the certainty of perishing in the desert.

As for food, however, they bod got on pretty well, for they had a eood supply of ammunition and the oasis was frequented, especially at night, by large quantities of game, which came thither for water. These they shot, or trapped in pitfall*, using their flesh for food, and,after their clothes wore out, their hidsse for covering. "And so," he ended, "we ha^e lived fo*- nearly two years, like a second Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday, hoping agaiust hope that some natives might come here and help us away, but none have come. Oniy last night we settled that Jim should .leave us and try to reach bitanda'a Kraal and get assistance. He waa to go to-morrow, but I had little hope of ever seeing him. back again. And now you, of all people in the world, you, who 1 fancied had long ago forgotten ail about me, and were living comfortably in old England, turn up in a promiscuous way and find me where you least expected. It is the most wonderful thing ever heard of, and the most merciful, too.

Then Sir Henry set to work and told him the main facts of our adventures, sitting till late into the ni.o:ht to do "By Jove! he said, when I showed him some of the diamonds, "well, at least you have got something for your paims, besides my worthless s-df."

Sir Henry laughed. "They belong to Qiiatermein and Good. It was part of the bargain that they should shnrc any spoils there might be."

This remark.*etrnethinking, andbavng spoke.n to Good I told Sir Henry that it w?.s our unanimous wish that he should take a 1 hiid share of the diamonds, or i/ he would not, that his share should be handed to his brother, who had suffered even mora than ourselves on the chance of getting them. Finally we prevailed upon him to consent to this arraogement, but George Curtis did not know of it till liomo time afterward.

And here, at this point, I think I shall end this history. Our journey across the desert back to Sitanda's Kraal was mostarduous, especially as we had to support George Ctmip, whose right leg was very weak indeed, and continually throwing out splinters of bone but we did accomplish it somehow, and to give its details would only be to reproduce much of what happened to us on the former occasion.

Six months from the date of our resrrival at tsitandi's, where wo found our guns aud our goods quite safe, though the old scoundrel in charge waa much disgusted at our surviving to claim them, saw us all once more safe and sound at my little place oa the Bsrea, near Durban, where I r.m now writing, and whence I bid farswell to all who have accompanied me throughout the strangest trip I over made in the course of along and rajied experience.

Just as I had written the last word, a Knlir came up my avenue of orange trees, with a letter in a cieftstick, which he bad brought from the post. It turned eur, to from Sir Henry, aud as it speaks lor itself I give it in full. "Brayley Hall, Yorkshire. "MtDeau Quateumaix:—f sent you a line few mails back to say the three of ua, Geo ge, Good, and myself, fetched lip all riyht ia England. We got off the boat at Southampton, and went up to to»vn. You should have seen what a ewe.l! Good t^rued out the next day, beaiui'uiiy shaved, frock coat fitting like a glove, brand new eyeglass, etc, etc. 1 wont and walked ia the park with him, where I met some teople I knew, and at on^e told them tho story of his 'beautiful white legs.' "He is furious, especially as some illnatured person has printed it in a society paper. "To come to business, Good and I look the diamonds to Screeter's to be valued, as we arranged, aud I am really afraid to teli you what they put them at, it seems so enormous. They say that of course it's more or lees guess woxk, an such stones have never to their knowledge been put ou the market in anything like such quantities. appeals that they are (with the exception of one or two of the largest)

of

"jf'** £*Uh:

the finest:

water, and equal in every way to tho

r?nr^

swsxsw

best Brazilian stones. I asked them if they would buy them, but they said it [wasbeyond their power to do so. and recommended us to sell by degrees, for fear we should flood the market. They' offer, however, a hundred and eighty .. thousand for a small portion of them, "You must come iiome, Quatermain, andeeeabout these things, especially if you insist upon making the magnificent present of the third share, which does not belong to me, to my brother orge.

As for Good, he is no good. His time is too much occupied in shaving, and other matters connected with the vain adorning of the body. But I think he is Btili down on his luck about Foulata. He told me that since he has been home he hadn't seen a woman to touch her, either as regards her figure or the swe«tnees of her expression. "I want you to come home, my dear old comrade, and buy a place near here. You have done your day's work, and have lots of money now, and there i3 a place far sale quite close which would suit you admirably. Do come the sooner the better you can finish writing the story of our adventures on board ship. We have refused to tell the story till it is written by you, for fear that we shall not be believed, If you start on receipt of this, you will reach here by Christmas, and book you to stay wit.ii me for that. Good is coming and George, aud so, by the way, is yonr boy Harry (there's a bribe for you). I have had him down for a week's shooting, and like him. Ha is a cool young baud he shot me ia the leg, cut out the pellets, and then remarked upon tho advantage of having a medicai student in every shooting party. "Good-bvw, old boy I can't say any more, but I know that you will come, ii it is only to oblige, "Your sincere friend, "llhNllY (."t'iiII-3. "P. 8.—The tn«drs of ih«? great hull that killed poor Khiva have hecn uu! up in the hall here, over the pair of uffalo horns you ga ir.p, and look magnificent and the ax with, wlii-h I chopped off Twala's head is stuck up over my writing tab!*--. I wish wt could have managed to bring away the oats of chain armor. "IT. C."

To-day is Tuesday. There is a steamer going on Friday, and I really think 1 mast, take Curtis at his word, and sail by her for England, it it is only to see my boy Harry and see about the printing of this history, which it a task I do not like to trust to anybody else.

THE END.

Getting Rich by Small Inventions. Philadelphia Press. The New Jersey man who hit upon the idea cf attaching a rubber erasing tip to the end of lead pencils is worth 5200,000.

The miner who invented a metal rive or eyelet at each end of the mouth of coat and trousers pockets, to resist the strain caused by the carriage of pieces of ore and heavy tools, has made more money from his letters patent than he would have made had he struck a good vein of gold-bearing quartz.

Every one has seen the metal plates that are used to protect the heel3 and 3oles of rough shoes, but every one doesn't know that within ten years the man who hit on the idea has made §250,000.

As large a sum as was ever obtained for any invention was enjoyed by the Yankee who invented the inverted glass bell to hang over gap jets to protect ceilings from being blackened by the smoke.

The inventor of the roller skate has made £1,000,000, notwithstanding the fact that his patent had nearly expired before the value of it was ascertained in the craze for roller skating that spread over the country a few years ago.

The gimlet pointed screw ha:J produced more wealth than most silver mines, and the Connecticut man who first thought of putting copper tips on the toes of children's shoes is as well off as if he had inherited SI,C00,000, for that's the amount his idea bag realized for him in cold, clammy coin.

The cominoa needle threader, which every one has seen for sale, and which every woman owns, was a boon to needle users. The man who invented it has an income of $10,000 a year lor his invention.

A minister in England made $30,000 by inventing au odd toy that danced by winding it with a string.

The man who invented the most recent popular to}', Pigs in Clover," will bo rich before the leaves turn this autumn. He was poor last November.

Josh Billiugb' Philosophy. N. Y. Weekly. The man who kan live in idleness successfully, must either be too pure or too lazy too commit enny sin. 1C

Poetri is a disseaze common tew ail the literati sum hav it quite hard, but most hav it dredful lite.

Inkredulity iz the wisdom ov a phool it ia only a wise man who kan afford tsvf be credulous.

Prejudice iz a hous plant which iz very apt tew wither if yu take it out amungst pholks.

I am so phully aware ov the uncertainty ov the law, that if a man whom I never seen nor hear ov should su me for debt ov one hundred dollars, and couldn't kompound with him for fifty, would pay the whole rather than defend the suit.

Aphorisms.

Twenty years in the life of a man is sometimes a eovere lesson.—Mme. de Stael.

The prejudices of men emanate from the mind and may be overcome the prejudices of women emenate from the heart, and are impregnable.—D'Arcens.

We attract hearts by the qualities we display we retain them by the qualities we possess.—Suard.

The surest way to please is to forget one's self and to think only of others.— Monciii

I AIDS TO AGRICULTURE. I The Experiment (Stations in tho Torious States and Their Work.

The first document published under the authority of Gov. llusk, Secretary of Agriculture, is bulletin No, 1, about the agricultuial experiment stations oi the Department of Agriculture. This pamphlet, advance copies of which were furnished to the press to-night,.contains a great dea. of information relating to the history and prospects of the agricultural experiment s'ations which are now conducting scientific and practical experiments in soil, manuring, tillage, crops. Btoek feeding, dairying, horticulture, etc., in the different States. Such institutions for scientific investigation ia behalf of agriculture have been long in operation in Europe. The first one in this country was begun in Connecticut, in the chemical laboratory of the Wesleyan University, fourteen years ago. Other States followed thec-xamplo and in 1S57 Congress espoused the eaterprise. and appropriated

$15,000

per

annum to each State and Territory. The enterprise has enlisted in its support the best universities and colleges, and the ablest investigators of tho country, as well as a great army of practical farmers, to whom it has already brought substantial benefits. All. the States and one Territory—Dakota—now have agricultural experiment stations. Several States have two, and Louisiana has three. The t«tal number of stations .row is forty six, or, counting brau'-h stations, nearly f-ixty. Thev employ more than

370

*57 "!,ono

scientists aud

fiirriruitu.ijds, and receive this year

f.'om thw National Government

Kiid about S-l-o/ 0.) from the Slates and other nirces. This is one of the most importani'. of the Government's scientific enterprises, and, although so young, is the largest of the sort yet undertaken by any nation. An especially favorabio feature is the cordial relations existing between the stations and the Department of Agriculture at Washington, which is charged by Congress with the duty of supervising and aiding the stations in their work, The officers of experiment stations, acting with the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and experiment stations, are able to accomplish much in this line. Thpre is established a direct connection between the National department and the people of the country, which must result in much good.

The Kxtermi nation of tho Buffalo. Harper'* Monthly. sv At tha present time, outside o? the* National Park, where about tw« hundred and sixty buffaloes are now harbored, there are not over three hundred, probably not as manj', left in the whole United States.

rihe

survivors of this

magnificent race of animals are scattered in little bunches in several localities. There are about one hundred in Montana, or at least there were a year ago, some at the head of Dry Creek and the remainder at the head of Porcupine Creek. In Wyoming there area few stragglers from the National Park, which, when chased, run back there for protection In the mountains of Colorado last summer there were two bunches of mountain bison, one of twenty-live head and the other of eleven. These have probably been killed. There are none in Dakota, though eighteen months ago thirty were known to be there. It was estimated in ]887 that there were twenty-seven in Nebraska, and about fifty more scattered in the western part of the Indian Territory and Kansas. Those in Nebraska have since been killed by the Sioux. Oi the thousands tbi.it once inhabited Texas.only two bunches remain. Thirty-tv.o head are near the Eatons, in the northwestern part of the Panhandle, and eight in the sand-hills on the Staked Plains north of the Pecos River. These were seen and counted on the 1st of April of last year. This estimate of the remnant of a great race is believed to be essentially correct. It was obtained from reliable aud well-informed persons throughout the West, and in part from personal observation during the past years."!

They Didu't Like It.

Cbienst.Mail. I v. i:-t to tell you a good story told to me at the expense of a millionaire piano man.

The gentleman alluded to is somewhat of a wag, at least his friends givo hira such a reputation. My informant sajrs that this man, who is not altogether unlike a clergyman in appearance, entered a State street hat store and asked to bo fitted with a bat. "How do you like this one?" asked the obliging salesman, holding up a shining dice box." "That's a nice hat how much?" "Eight dollars worth it, too." "That's my sixe, is it?" "I think so. Try it on." "Yes that fits." "Yet just your size." "Don't you make a reduction to clergymen?" lt

4iNo

.,

we do not as a rule, though if

you are a minister I'll knock oil $JL." "Make it $7, eh?' "Yes, to you."

The gentleman tried it on again, looked in the mirror, aud said: "Think that is not too gay for a minister?" "Oh, bless von. no! It's a nice, quiet hat."

Again the man looked in tho plass carefully, toek the hat off, looked it over and paid: "Well, I'll take it. If tl couerwttion don't like it they can go to—."