Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 September 1887 — Page 2

TUB INDIAAPOIilS JOURKAL, BU&DAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1887-TWELTE PAGES.

Printed by Special Arrangement with Anthor Copyrighted by Associated Literary Press. TEXAR'SYEVENGE BY JULES VERNE. A Story of the American Civil "War.

CHAPTER XVIIL THE DAY BEFORE. It was in the morning of the 11th of March lhat Gilbert Biirbank had been tried by the Jacksonville committee; and the same evening bis father bad been arrested. The next day but one the young fflieer was to be shot, and doubtless James Burbank. charged as being his accomplice and sentenced to the came penalty, would die with him. As we know, Texar held the committee in band. His word alone was law. The execution of the father and the son would be the prelude to sanguinary excesses against the Northerners in Florida and all who shared in their ideas on the slavery question. What an amount of personal vengeance would be gratified under the cloak of civil war! Nothing bat the presence of the federal troops could put a stop to this. But would they come, and, above all, would they come before the first victims bad been sacrificed to the Spaniard'e.hatred? Unfortunately it seemed to be doubtful. One can fancy the anguish at Castle House at this prolonged delay. It seemed as though the plan of ascending the St. John's had been temporarily abandoned by (Stevens. The gunboats made no movement to leave their anchorage. Did tbey not dare to clear the bar now that Mars was not with them to pilot them along the channel? Had they given up the idea of taking Jacksonville, and by the capture assuring safety to the plantations on the St. John's? What new events of the war had modified the projects of Commodore Du pont? Such were the questions that Mr. Stannard and Overseer Perry asked themselves during this interminable day of the 12th of March. From the news then current it seemed that the federal efforts in this part of Florida, be tween the river and sea, were confined to the coast Commodore Dupont, in the Wabash, with the heaviest gunboats of the squadron, had Jast appeared in the Bay of St Augdstine. It was even reported that the militia were preparing to abandon the town without attempting to defend Fort Marion any more than Fort Church had been defended at the surrender of Fernan dina. Such, as least, was the news brought by the overseer during the morning to Castle House. And he at once reported it to Mr. Stannard and Edward Carrol, whose wound not having healed, was obliged to recline on one of the sofas In the balL "The federals at St Augustine!" said the lat ter; "and why do they not come to JacksonTiller "Perhaps they only wish to blockade the river without taking possession," answered Ferry. "James and Gilbert are lost if Jacksonville remains in Texar'a hands," said Mr. Stannard. "Could I not go," said Perry, "and tell Com mod ore Dupont that Mr. Burbank and his eon are in such danger?" "It would take a day to reach St Augustine," said Carrol, "even supposing that you were not stopped by the retreating militia. And before DuDont could order Stevens to Occupy Jackson ville, too much time would have gone! Besides, there is this bar this river-bar which the gun boats cannot pass. How can they save our poor Gilbert, who is to die to-morrow? No! it is not to St, Augustine you should go, but to Jackson ville! It is not to Commodore Dupont you should appeal, but to Texar!" "Mr. Carrol is right, father and I will go!" said Alice, who had heard the last few words. The brave girl was willing to risk anything for Gilbert's safety. . The evening before, when he left Camdless Bay, James Burbank bad particularly enjoined that bis wife should not be told of his departure to Jacksonville. It was better to hide from her that the committee had ordered his arrest Mrs. Burbank was thus unaware of his having gone as she was unaware of the fate of her son, whom she believed to he on board the flotilla. How could the unhappy woman bear up under the double blow that had fallen on her? Her husband in the power of Texar, her son on the ve of being executed! She would never survive it When she had asked to see James Burbank Alice had replied that he had left Castle House in resumption of his search after Dy and Zermah, and that he would be away forty-eight hours, so that all Mrs. Burbank's thoughts were concentrated on her stolen child. Alice knew all the dangers that threatened James and Gilbert Burbank. She knew that the young officer was to be shot in the morning, and that the same fate was in store for his father. Bat though she knew all this, she resolved to see Texar, and asked Mr. Carrol to take her cross the river. You Alice at Jacksonville !" exclaimed Mr. Stannard. "Father, it is necessary!" Mr. Stannard'a very natural hesitation suddenly ceased before the necessity of acting without delay. If Gilbert could be saved, it was only by the way Alice wished to try. Perhaps by casting herself at Texar's knees she could shake his resolution! Perhaps she micht obtain a res pite! Perhaps she might find support among the better citizens who might be induced to rise against the intolerable tyranny of the committee. In short, she must go to Jacksonville whatever danger she might run. "Perry," 6he said, "will you take me to narey's bouse?" "Immediately," said the overseer. "No, Alice; I will go with you,'' said Mr. Standard. "Yes, I will! Let us start" "You, Stannard?" asked Carrol. "Youare exposing your life. They know your opinions." "What does it matter?" said Mr. Stannard. "I will not let my daughter go alone amongst those vagabonds. Perry can stay at Castle House, as you cannot walk yet, for we must prepare in ease we are detained " "If Mrs. Burbank asks for you," said CarrolL "If she asks for Alice, what am I to say?" "Say that we have gone with James in his earch on the other side of the river. Tell her, if necessary, that we have had to go to Jacksonville in fact, anything you like to keep her quiet, but nothing to lead her to suspect the dangers that surround her husband and son. Perry, get a boat ready." The overseer retired at once, leaving Mr. Stannard to prepare for his journey. It would be better for Alice not to leave Castle House without telline Mrs. Burbank that she end her father had been obliged to go to Jacksonville. If need be she could even say that Texar's party had been superseded, that the federals were masters of the river, that to-morrow Gilbert would be at Camdless Bay. But -tild the girl have sufficient self-command, W tld her voice not betray her when she assertu as facts what now seemed like impossible? When she arrived in the invalid's room Mrs. Burbank was asleep, or rather in sorrowful lumber, in profound torpor, from which Alice had not the courage to wake her. Perhaps it was better that the girl had no need to speak end soothe her. One of the women of the house watched near the bed. Alice told her not to leave for a moment, and to ask Mr. Carrol to answer Mr?. Burbank's questions. Then she bent over the unhappy mother, almost till their lips met, and then she went out and joined her father.

As soon as she saw him, "Let us go," she

said. They clasped Carrol's hand and went out in the ball In the middle of the bamboo-path to the landing-path they met the overseer. "The boat is ready," he said. "Good," said Mr. Stannard. "Keep careful guard over the house, my friend." "Never fear, Mr. Stannard, our blacks are coming back to the plantation, and that means much. What would they do with a freedom for which nature has not created them? Bring us back Mr. Burbank. and they will all be found at their post " Mfe Stannard and his daughter took their places in the boat with four of the Camdless Bay men. The sail was hoisted, and under a light easterly breeze they speedily left the shore. Mr. Stannard thought it best not to land at the wharf at Jacksonville, where he would inev itably be recognized, but to run into a little creek, a short distance above. From there it would be easy to reach Mr. Harvey's house, which was on this side and well out in the sub urbs. Once there they could consult over mat ters and act accordingly. The river at this time was deserted. Nothing above stream; nothing below. There had been no fight between the Floridan vessels and the gunboats under Commandant Stevens, whose anchoraze could not even be seen, owing to a bend in the St John's closing the horizon below Jacksonville. After a quick passage, Mr. Stannard and his daughter reached the left bank. Without being noticed they wero able to land in the creek which was not watched, and in a few minutes they found themselves in the house of James Burbank's correspondent. Mr. Harvey was much surprised and much alarmed to 6ee tiiem. Their presence could not be without danger among a mob more and more excited and Quite devoted to Texar. It was known that Stannard shared in the anti-slavery ideas adopted at Camdless Bay. The pillage of bis house at Jacksonville was a warning that could not be disregarded. Assuredly he was running a great risk. The least that could happen to him, if he was discov ered, was to be imprisoned as an accomplice of James Burbank's. "We must save Gilbert!" was all that Miss Alice could answer to Mr. Harvey's observations. "Yes," he said. "We must tryl But Mr. Stannard must not go out of this house! He must stay here while we act" "Will they let me into the prison?" asked Alice. "I do not think so, Miss Stannard." "ShaS E- to see Texar?" "We will try." "Will you not let me go with you?" said Mr. Stannard. "Ne; that would do harm with Texar and his committee." Before they left, however, Mr. Stannard asked if there bad been any war news which had not reached Camdless Bay. "None," said Mr. Harvey; "at least none that concerns Jacksonville. The federal flotilla has appeared in the Bay of St Augustine, and the town haa been surrendered. At the St John's nothing has been done; the gunboats are still at anchor below the bar." "The water is too low for them to get over." "Yes, Mr. Stannard, but to-day we are to have one of the highest tides of the equinox It will be high water for three hours, and perhaps the gunboats will clear it " "Clear it without & pilot now that Mars is co longer there to guide them through the channels!' said Alice in a tone which showed that she thought little of this hope. "No! It is impossible! Mr. Harvey, I must see Texar, and if he repulses me, we must sacrifice everything to help Gilbert escape " "And we will do so, Miss Stannard." "Feeling has not changed in Jacksonville?" asked Mr. Stannard. "No," replied Mr. Harvey. "The roughs are the masters, and Texar leads them. But owing to the exactions and menaces of the committee the respectable people are growling with indignation, and it only wants a movement of the federals on the river to bring about an imm e diate change. The mob is a cowardly mob, and if they have cause to fear Texar and his parti sans will be upset I hope still that Commandant Stevens will be able to clear the bar " "We will wait for that," said Alice resolutely; "and before then I shall have seen Texar." It was then agreed that Mr. Stannard shoul d remain in the house, so that his presence in Jacksonville should not be known. Mr. Harvey waB to help Alice in all her plans, the success of which, it was well understood, was problem ati. cal. If Texar refused to give Gilbert his life, if Alice could not get to see him, they would try even at the cost of a fortune to procure the escape of the prisoners. It was about 11 o'clock when Alice and Mr. Harvey left the house for the Courts of Justice, where the committee under Texar's presidency was in permanent session. The town was still in a state of great excite ment The militia, reinforced by the detachments arrived from the South, were constantly on the move. Those set free by the surrender of St Augustine were expected during the day, either by the St John's or by the road through the forests on its right bank. The people thronged the streets. A thousand rumors were afloat, contradictory as usual, and provoking a tumult akin to disorder. It was easy to soe that if the federals did arrive there would be no unity of action in the defense; there would be no serious resistance. Fernandina had sur rendered nine days before to the troops landed under General Wright; St Augustine had re ceived Dupont's flotilla without even attempting to bar bis passage; and so would it be at Jack sonville. The Florida militia would give place to the Northern troops, and would retire into the interior of the country. There was only one thing to save Jacksonville fiom capture to prolong the powers of the committee and allow them to accomplish their sanguinary plans . That was, that for want of water or wa nt of a pilot the gunboats kept outside the bar. And in a few hours it would be seen if this were to be the ease. Through a crowd which grew closer at every step. Alice and Mr. Harvey made their way to the principal square. How were they to get into the court? Tbey could not imagine. Once there, how could they get to see Texar? They did not know. Who could tell if the Spaniard, when he beard that Alice Stannard demanded to see him. would not arrest her and imprison her until after the lieutenant s execution? But she would not think of sucn things. To see Texar, to compel him to have mercy on Gilbert, no personal danger would b too great for her to run. hen she and .Mr. Harvey reached tne square they found there a still more tumultuous crowd. Shouts rent the air, and the words of menace were yelled from one group to Another: "Death, Death!' Mr. Harvey ascertained that tbe committee had been sitting as acourt of justice for an hour. A dreadful presentment seized on him. and the presentment was only too well justified. The committee were trying James Burbank for being the accomplice of bis son Gilbert, and holding communication with the federal army. The same crime, the same sentence, there could be no doubt, and the crowning of Texar's work against the Burbank family. Mr. Harvey would have gore no further. He tried to lead Alice away. He would not subject her to the sight of the violence which the people threatened when the condemned men came out

of the court after sentence had been pronounced. This was hardly the lime to seok an interview with the Spaniard. t "Come away. Miss Stannard." said Mr. Harvey. "Come away! We will come back when the committee " "No!" answered Alice. "I will throw myself between the accused and the judges " The girl's resolution was such that Mr. Harvey despaired of overcoming it Alice led the way. He was bound to follow her. The crowd was quiet some of them recognized her, perhaps, and yet it opened to let her pass. The cries of "Death!" sounded horrible in her ears. Nothing could stop her. She reached the doors of the court. Here the crowd was rougher than ever not the roughness that follows the storm, but that which precedes it The most terrible excesses were to be feared. Suddenly a tumultuous wave burst from the court. The shouts redoubled. Sentence had been given. James Burbank, like Gilbert, had been condemned for the same pretended crime to the same penalty. Father and son would fall before the same firing platoon. "Death! Death!" yelled the crowd of roughs. James Burbank appeared on the steps. He was calm -and collected. A look of scorn was all be had for the shouting crowd. A detachment of militia surrounded him, with orders to take him back to prison. He was not alone. Gilbert was by his side. Taken from the cell where he awaited the hour of execution, the young officer had been brought into the committee's presence to be confronted with James Burbank, who could only confirm what his son had said. Gilbert had come to Castle House to 6ee his dying mother for the last time. On the evidence the charge would have collapsed, bad not the trial been settled beforehand. Th same doom awaited both innocent men a doom imposed by personal vengeance, and pronounced by iniquitous judges. The crowd closed on the prisoners. It was with great difficulty that the militia could clear

the way. There was a sadden movement in the crowd, Alice rushed towards the father and son. Involuntarily the mob recoiled, surprised by this unexpected attempt , "Alice!" exclaimed Gilbert. "Gilbert! Gilbert!" murmured Alice as she fell into his arms. "Alice! why are you here?" asked James Burbank. "To asu mercy for you. To beg it from your judges. Mercy! mercy for them!" The girl's cries were heart-breaking. She clung to the clothes of the doomed men, who had for a moment stopped. Could they hope for pity from the wild cr6wd that surrounded them? No! But her intervention for a moment prevented them from proceeding to violenco, in defiance of the militia guard. Texar, informed of what was happening, appeared at the threshold of the Courts of Justice. A gesture from him silenced the crowd. The order he gave was to take the Burbanks back to prison. The detachment resumed its march. "Mercy! mercy!" sobbed Alice, throwing herself at Texar's knees. The Spaniard's reply was a gesture of refusal. The girl stood up. . "Scoundrel!" sho said. She would have rejoined the prisoners, followed them to the prison, and spent with them the last hours left for them to live. The? were already out of the square, the crowd escorting them with yells and insults. It was more than Alice could bear. Her strength abandoned her. She staggered and fell. She had neither feeling nor consciousness when Mr. Harvey received her in his arms. She did not come to herself till she was with her father in Mr. Harvey's house. "To the prison ! To the prison !" she murmured, "Both of them must escape." "Yes." said Mr. Stannard. "'That is all we can try !" Wait till night comes !" Nothing could be done during tb day. When darkness enabled them to act with more safety, without fear of being surprised, Mr. Stannard and Mr. Harvey would endeavor to help the prisoners escape, with the connivance of their guard. They would take money with them, so much so they hoped that the man would be unable to resist them; particularly as a single shot from Stevens's gunboats might end the Spaniard's power. But night came, and thev had to give np all thought of their scheme. The prison was guarded by a detachment of militia, and all idea of flight was in vain. CHAPTER XIX. A GALE FROM THE NORTHEAST. There was only one chance for the doomed men that before a dozen hours had elapsed the federals were masters of tbe town. At sunrise James and Gilbert Burbank would be shot Their prison was watched, so was Mr. Harvey's house: how could they escape? Tbe capture of Jacksonville could not be made1 br the troops landed at Fernandina, who could not abandon that important position in tbe north of Florida. The task must be that of the gunboats; to accomplish it the bar must be crossed. Then when the line of boats was driven back, the flotilla could anchor opposite tbe town. Once they had the town under their guns, the militij would beat a retreat to the marshes. Texar and his partisans would certainly follow them to avoid the well-de3erved reprisals. The respectable citizens would then resume tbe place from which they bad been hunted with such indignitv, and negotiate with the federal representatives for the surrender. Was it possible to effect this passage of the bar, and within the time? Was there anv way of overcoming the obstacle which the want of water put in the way of the gunboats? It was very doubtful, as we shall see. After sentence was pronounced Texar and the commander of the militia went down to the wharf to inspect tbe lower course of the river. Tht-ir attention was fixed on the bar. "Nothing fresh has been reported?" asked Texar. as he stopped at the end of the stockade. "Nothing, said the ofneer. "A reconnoissance 1 sent out to the north tells me that tbe federals have not left Fernandina for Jacksonville. Probably they are kept in observation on the Georgian frontier until their flotilla baa forced the channel." "Have any troops come from the south, from St. Augustine, and crossed the St. John's at Picolata?" "I think not. Dupont has only troops enough to occupy the to'wn, and his object is to blockade the whole coast from fet John s to tbe furthest Inlets of Florida, we have nothing to fear from that side, Texar!" "Then the only danger is from the flotilla if it clears the bar, below which it has been at anchor for three days." "That is so. And the question will be decid ed m a tew nours. r ernaps, alter an, the enemy's object is to close the river so as to cut off the communication between St. Augustine and Fernandina! It is most to his interest not to occupy Florida at present but to stop the contraband of war coming in from the south. The expedition has no other object at least I think not. If it had, the troops at Amelia island would have been on the march to Jacksonville." "Yon may be right," said the Texar. "It doesn't matter! But I wish this question of the bar was over." "It will be settle this very day." "If the gunboats do come, what will you do? "Act according to my orders, and take the militia into the interior, so as to avoid all con tact with the federals. If they can occupy the towns, let them. They cannot keep them long, for they will be cut off from their communications with Georgia and the Carolinas, and we shall soon retake them." "But " said Texar. "if they are masters of Jacksonville only for a day, we must expect re prisals. All these pretended honest men; these rich planters, and Abolitionists will return to power, and then liut it shall not be! No! And rather than abandon the town " The Spaniard did not finish his thought, but it was easy to see his meaning. He would not surrender the town to the federals, who would place it in the hands of the magistrates he had supplanted. He would give it to the flames; and perhaps his measures were taken with a view to this work of destruction. Then he and his fol- ; lowers would retire after the militia, and in the; marshes of the South find inaccessible retreat, ' where they could await events. But there was nothing of this, to be feared if , the gunboats eould not clear the bar, and the time had come to settle the question. Tbe people came crowding onto the wharves. ; A moment was enough to show why they had come. Deafening shouts (iron a. "The gunboats are coming!" "No! they have not moved." "The sea is open!" "Thev are going to try it at full speed!" "Look! loot!" "So they are?" said the commander of the militia. "There is something! Look, Texar!" The Spaniard did not reply. He never took his eyes from where the horizon was closed by the line of boats drawn across the stream. Half a mile below were the soars and funnels of the gun-vessels. A thick smoke was rising, and driven by the wind came floating up to Jacksonville. Evidently Stevens, taking advantage ot the full tide, was trying to cross the bar at all cost Would he do so? Would he find enough water even if he scraped his keels as he came? N$ wonder there was violent excitement among the crowds on the banks of the St. John's. And the exeiterosnt increased as some thought they saw something, and others thought they did not. "Thev have gained half a cable!" "No! they have not moved further than if their anohor was still down." , , "There is one moving."

"Yes, but she is swinging on her pivot because

she has not got water enough." "What a smoke!" "They may burn all the coal in the States, but they won t get over." - "And now the tide is slackening!" "Hurrah for the South!" "Hurrah!" The flotilla's attempt lasted about ten minutes ten minutes which appeared long to Texar, to his partisans, and to all there whose liberty or life would be endangered by the capture of Jacksonville. Y nat bad really happened they did not know; the distance was too great for them to be sure. Had the channel been forced or not? By discharging all useless weight to lighten his draught had Stevens been abie to clear the narrow shoal that kept him out of the deep water, by which the passage up to the town would be easy? So long as the tide was on the turn there was a chance that he might But as the people said, tbe tide bad begun to run out. Once the ebb began tbe level of the St John's would soon sink. Suddenly arms were stretched towards the bar, and there was a shout that was heard over all "A boat! a boat!" A little boat was sighted coming along the left bank, where the flow of the tide was still per ceptible, while the ebb appeared in mid-channel. The boat rowed up rapidly. In the stern sat an officer in the uniform of the Florida militia. He soon reached the stockade, and. running ud the ladder, landed on tbe wharf. Perceiving Texar he came towards him, followed by a crowd al most choking with anxiety to see and hear. "What is it?" asked the Spaniard. "Nothing, and there will be nothing," said the officer. "Who sent you?" "The commander of the boats, who will soon be back here." "And why?" "Because the gunboats have failed in crossing tbe bar, although they were lightened for draught and were oriven at full speed. There is now nothing to fear " "For this tide?" asked Texar. is or lor. any other at least for some months." "Hurrah! "Hnrrah!" The cheers spread over tbe town. And as the roughs more than ever cheered the Spaniard, in whom all-their detestable instincts were incarnate, the respectable people saw with despair that for some time yet they would be under the iniquitous rule of the committee and its cnief. The officer's report was true. From that, day the tide would decrease each dav. The tide of the 12th of March was one of the highest of the year, and several months would elapse before it again reached the same level. The bar being impassable, Jacksonville would escape Stevens's gun. lexar wouid remain in power; the scoundrel would accomplish his work of vengeance. Even if General Sherman seut Wright to occupy the town with the troops landed at Fernandina, tbe march would take several days. As far as the Burbanks were concerned, their execution being fixed for the next morning, nothing could save them. me news spread to tne suburbs. we can imagine its effect on the riotous portion of the community. Decent people prepared to leave a town in which they could not be safe. The cheering and shouting reached the prison ers, and told them that all hope of life had van ished, and they were heard in Mr. Harvey's bouse. We need not dwell on the despair with which they filled Mr. Stannard and his daugh ter. What could they do now to 6ave James Burbank and his son? .Corrupt the gaoler? They could not row leave the house in which they had taken refuge ! A troop of desperadoes kept them in sight, whose curses could be beard at the door. . Night came on. The weather, which bad been threatening for some hours, changed rapidly; the wind had gone round to the northeast. Great masses of grey, broken clouds came racing past, toe hurriedly to dissolve in rain, and almost low enough to sweep the surface of the sea. A frigate's masts would certainly have reached into the mass of vapour. The barometer suddenly fell, and there was every sign of a storm over the distant Atlantic. From its position the storm would strike full into the estuary of St John's. It would raise tbe waters and drive them back like the bores of large rivers, and the flood would rise over the lands by the riverside. During this night of trouble Jacksonville wasswept with terrible violence. A part of the stockade succumbed to the fury of the surf against tbe stockades; the water came over the wharf and .dashed to pieces on it several dugger-Jboats, whose cables broke like thread. It was impossible to remain in the streets or squares, owing to the ehower of fragments that rained down from the I roofs, i'eopie tooK reruge in tnepuonc nouses. Uknd the noise therein contended, not without advantage, with the roar of tbe storm. It was not only over tbe land that the gale raged. In tbe St. John's the agitation of the waters produced quite a furious sea. The boat3 inoored above the bar were cevbt in the storm before they could get intAsafeiy; their grapnels broke, and their cables parted. Tle jpigbts tide increased by tbe gale, carried them up the river resistlessly. Some were stove against the piles, others were swept past Jacksonville and lost on the islands and points miles ud tbe St John's. Many of the sailors lost their lives in the sterm, which came on so suddenly as to render useless the measures usually taken under the circumstances. Had the gunboats weighed anchor and steamed off to shelter in the creeks at the mouth? Had they, thanks to the precaution, escaped complete destruction? Had they gone out of the river? That they had remained at their anchors Jacksonville could not believe, for the bar would now be impassable. Darkness enveloped the valley of the St John's, while the air and water mingled together as' if some chemical action was trying to combine them into one cement. It was one of those cataclysms which. areso frequent at the equinox, bnt in violence it exceeded all that this part of Florida had experienced. Owing to its violence the etorm lasted but a few hours. Before the sun rose the storm had passed over into the Gulf of Mexico. About 4 o'clock, as the first streaks of dawn were tinting the horizon, a calm succeeded to the tumult of the night, and the people began to crowd into the streets from the drinking bars where they bad taken refuge. The militia reappeared at their deserted posts. The damages caused by the tempest began to be taken in hand, particularly along the river front, where they were considerable, the tide bringing down wilth it many of ihe drifted boats that had been wrecked and carried up the river. (But these wrecks could onlv be seen for a few yai'ds out from the bank, as a dense fog accumu lated over the river, and was rising toward the higher zones that had been cooled by the tem pest. At 5 o'clock the center of the stream was 6till invisible, although but a few moments would elapse before it would be dissipated in the rays of the sun. Suddenly, just after 5 o'clock, loud reports broke through the mist There could be no mistake. It was not the lone 'roll of thunder, but formidable detonations of artillery! Something whietl.ed characteristically overhead: a shout of terror rose from the crowd, who rushed towardi i tbe wharf. The fog began to open; it was pierced by bang after bang. Its wreathes mingled with the smoke from the guns and fell to the river. There lay Stevens's gunboats in line before Jacksonville, which they commanded completely within short range! "The gunboats! The gunboats!" The words repeated from mouth to mouth soon spread to the outskirts. In a few minutes the respectable population with extreme satisfaction, the disreputable population with extreme alarm, learnt that Stevens was master of tbe St. John's. What had1 happened? Had the Northerners found the storm of unexpected assistance? Yes. The gunboats bad not sought shelter in the lower creeks of the estuary. Notwithstanding the violence of the wind and sea they had held to their anchors. While the enemy cleared off with his small craft. Stevens rode out the hurricane at the risk of disaster so as to attempt the passage, which circumstances bad made practicable. The storm, by driving back the waters up the estuary, had raised the level of the stream above the normal height, and the gunboats being driven at full spend at the bar bad eafely got over, although they bad scraped the sand with their keels. About four o'clock in the morning. Stevens, coming up in the foj, calculated that be was off Jacksonville. There he had anchored. And when all was ready he had rent the mists by the discharge of his heavy guns, and hurled his first projectiles at the left bank of the St John's. Tbe effect was instantaneous. In a few minutes the militia had evacuated the town, following the example of the Southern troops at Fernandina and St Augustine. Stevens, seeing the wharves deserted, began at once to slacken fire, his object being not to destroy Jacksonville but to occupy it. Almost immediately a white flag was displayed on the courts of justice. When the guns were firiM heard in Mr. Harvey's house great was th anxiety. The town was certainly attacked. The attack could only come from the federals. Kither they had ascended the St. John's or come from the north of Florida, Was this the unhoped for chance of safety the only one that could save James and Gilbert Burbank? Mr. Harvey and Alice rushed to the door of the bouse. Texar's men who bad been on guard had taken flight and followed the militia. Alice and her companion rustled to the riverside. The fog was just vanishing and the other bank of tbe river eould be seen. The gun boats were silent, for already Jacksonville had abandoned its resistance. A number of boats had put off from the

flotilla, and were landing on the quay a detachment armed with rifles, revolvers aud axes. Suddenly a shout was heard among the soldiers. Tbe man who had shouted rushed toward Alice. "Mars! Mars!" she exclaimed, stupefied to find herself in the presence of Zermah's husband, who she thought had been drowned. "Mr. Gilbert! Mr. Gilbert!" asked Mars. "Where's he?" "Prisoner with Mr. Burbank! Save him, Mars! Save him! and save bis father!" "To the prison!" shoutod Mars, turning and joining his companions. And then all set off at a run to prevent a last crime being committed by Tt-xar. Mr. Harvey and Alice followed them. . So that, after jumpine into the water, Mara had escaped the eddies on the bar? Yes! And tbe brave half-breed had prudently refrained from letting his safety be known at Castle House. To have sought there for shelter would have been to risk his safety, and to accomplish his worlt he must be free. Having swum to the right bank of the river he had been able, by creeping through the weeds, to get down opposite the flotilla. There his signals had been noticed, and a boat had been sent to baring him on board Stevens's vessel. Stevens was fully informed of what bad occurred, and on account of Gilbert's imminent dancer efforts were made to get through the channel. But they were useless, as we know, and the operation was about to be abandoned when, during the night, the storm raised the river level. But without Knowledge of the difficult waterway the flotilla might have grounded on the shoals. Fortunately Mars was there'. He had skillfully piloted the commandant's gunboat, and the others followed, notwithstanding the storm. And before the fog had risen on the St John's, they were anchored with the town under their guns. It was time, for the two men were to be executed at daylight But already all cause for fear bad been removed. The magistrates had resumed their authority usurped by Texar. And when Mars and his companions reached the prison, James and Gilbert Burbank were coming out, free at last In a moment the young lieutenant had clasped Alice to his breast, while Stannard and James Burbank fell into each other's arms. "My mother?" asked Gilbert. "She lives! she lives!" answered Alice. "Well, let us go to Castle House!" said Gilbert. "Not before justice is done!" answered James Burbank. Mars understood his master. He rushed towards the main square in the hope of finding Texar. - Vv ould not the Spaniard have already taken flight so as to avoid reprisals? Would be not have withdrawn himself from public vengeance

with all those concerned with him in the late period of excess? Would he not have followed the militia, who were in full retreat? It would have been thought so. But, without waiting for the intervention of the federals, a number of the inhabitants had run to the courts of justice. Texar was arrested at the moment he was about to escape. He was put under guard: and very resigned to his fate did he appear. But when Mars came towards bim. he saw that his life was in danger. The half breed threw himself on him. In spite of the efforts of those who guarded him, he seized him by the throat, and would have strangled him there and then if James Burbank and bis son had not appeared. "No! no! Living!" shouted James Burbank. "He must live! be must speak." "Yes, he must!" said Mars. A few minutes later Texar was locked up in the very cell where his victims had awaited the hour of execution. (TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUNDAY.) CHINA'S GliEAT WALL. A 5IITII. Surprising: Statements Made by a French Missionary. London Truth. Abbe Larrieu, formerly a missionary in China. has published a pamphlet, (Pan, Leroux, ) on the great wall of China, to demonstrate that this structure does not exist and has never existed. The popular belief is that this wall stretches for about 800 leagues across China, from the sea to the province of Kan-Su, that it is wholly con structed of cut-stone, and thirty cubits high by twelve broad. It is believed to run straight on regardless of obstacles, going down valleys aDd up mountains, without a break, except such as time has made, along its whole course. This notion originated with a Jesuit named Martini, who visited China about 1650. and his descrip tion was followed by subsequent writers. M. Larrieu had lived for several years under what would have been the' shadow of the Great Wall bad there been one; he has studied the writings of recent writers especially Abbe Hue who have crossed the line of the alleged wall in various places; he has likowise studied tbe Chinese history of the subject, and his conclusions are as follow: (1) The term Great Wall" is at the bottom of all the misunderstanding, and it comes from the Chinese expression, "the wall of the ten thou sand li;" (2) as described by Martini and other writers who have copied him, this wall does not and never did exist; (3) a Chinese Emperor un doubtedly did conceive the idea of a great wall from the Gulf of Liao Long on the east to KanSu on the west, and this, though never realized. had a beginning; (4) all along .the proposed line of tbe wall square towers of earth, or of earth faced with brick, were constructed at considerable distances from each other, but these were never joined together by any wall as was originally inteded. In some of the defiles along the route there are walls, but these were intended to close these particular passages, or they are merely tbe walls of villages, and are not parts of a larger scheme. Hence the only part of the scheme of the Great Wall carried out was the construction of these scattered towers; the rest never went beyond the brain that conceived it; it was never more than a fancy, and it is now a mvth. This huge Chinese wall, says Abbe Larrieu, is a huge Chinese lie, and as for the million soldiers which were said to-guard it night and day, they are myths likewise. The alleged Great Wrall is a favorite excursion for Europeans visiting Pekin, and such a question as whether it exists at all or not should rje an easy one to settle definitely. LIFE IX VIENNA. A Jerky Description of Scenes la tbe Inter esting Austrian Capital. Buffalo Sews. Women here carry hods and mix mortar. Peculiar class. From the provinces. Wear long boots to the knee. Short skirts to the boots. Practical dress. But not ornamental Seven different costumes seen daily on the streets. Laborers at noon lie down and sleep on the pavements. Ditto in the parks, on the grass. Both sexes seen lying side by side. No "keep off the grass" at every turning. Polish Jew fre quent in black gowns, reaching to the heels, high hats, and long corkscrew curls. Look liKe Othello. Big dogs drawing hand-carts. Street cars won't stop for you. Only at certain places. Indicated by a sign-post on the track. The tub the universal vessel to carry things in. Oval shape. One stave longer than the rest So that it can be bound on the carrier's back. Carries all the water up the six or seven pairs of stone stairs in the Vienna bouses. Clean clothes ditto for wash. Separate shops for brandy, beer and wine. Peasant on a spree carries a green twig stuck in his hatband to indicate to the Vienna public his present mental and moral condition. Hacks hung low on the wheel, iirivers in umrorml Every thing's in uniform here. Fares low. Ten cents carries you from Dombach to E-eopoldstadt. Suburban villages five or six miles distant Emperor and Empress are frequently seen driving on the streets. No fuss; all hats go off as they go by. Soldiers everywhere; sentries ditto, in a chronic condition of saluting officers. Fleas abundant. Everybody eats at the restaurant Vienna is ail restaurant on the ground floor. Little home cooking is done Melange and rolls are the uni versal breakfast Melange is half coffee and half hot milk, alwavs brought you in a tall tumbler with a bie table epoon. Living here is very public. If you hire a room the chances are you must pass through somebody's bed-room to get to it, or have some one pass through yours. Female help, indifferent or oblivious to gentlemen lodgers, come right in at all hours, and without knocking, when on duty. jJJStoves are like monuments, nine feet high, covered with porcelain. The furnace holds about two quarts of coal. The rest is monument. Handsome men, good shapes, full chests, fine base voices. A pleasure to sit in railway stations and hear the ' officials in charge call the trains. Handsome women ditto. Everybody out on the'street and shopping by 8 or 9 in the morning. Nap at noon. Gardens full of families dining in open air at 5 p. m. They go it till 1. Music, flowers, statuary all about. Eating not done at a gulp. More happiness to the square yard. Newspapers small. Outside world disposed of in about twenty lines. Lots of small comic illustrated papers. "Trink halles" on every corner. Round pagodas. Girl inside. No room for more. Sells lemonade, orangeade, soda water, and other light foggy fluid. People here always swallowing something. Elevator at hotel. Big fuss over it Two men in uniform to run It Pace, mile an hour. Beds all Bingle. Everbody seems to sleep single here. One more bed on top of bed quilt. Very lieht, full of feathers; in green silk bag. Barracks everywhere. Six stories. Full of soldiers. Soldiers everywhere. Drilling everywhere. Drumming every where. Tooling everywhere. Soldiers marching past hotel at 5 in the morning. Always getting ready to kill

somebody. Same all over Europe. Never out of sight of a bayonet. Nations here are awfully afraid of each other. Singular pumps. Very talL Long, crooked iron handle. Reach to the ground. Tobacco shops all run by government Keep stamps also. Invariable sign over door "K. K." (King and Kaiser). The Emperor does all the tobacco business. Not much tobacco in their cigars. Washed out Prices of groceries and dry goods always marked q article in shop windows. Helps one to iearn tbe language. Can read and translate as you walk. Cultivated shade trees lay over anything ia America. Six rows, full grown in some streets, with walks underneath. Fountains, benches everywhere. Business streets all shaded, not bare to sun like Broadway or Fifth avenue. Bath houses five stories high. . Everybody here really washes by the bath and not by the bedroom washbasin. Went to one. Girl cashier. Took my money. Turned me over to another girl. -Clack-eyed. Good looking. Went in with me. Turned on water hot and cold. Both of us waited for the tub to nil ud. Wondered if she'd leave. Strange country. Novel customs. Tub fills uo. Girl leaves. Examine door. No lock. Took off collar. Girl bursts in agaio. Brought more towels. And then aprons. Wondered what they were for. Found out. Inquired of the girl. What do you suppose? To put on one behind, the other before, and sit still in while, after using the hot water, the girl came back to turn on the cold. No handling of water by customer in Viennese bath. Girl must do it all. No such place as Vienna known in Austria. Austrian name: Wien. From the bit of a river running through it. Danube river in the rear of city. Timber rafts alwavs passing. Miles and miles of cultivated pine forests in Austria. Pass through them by rail. No underbrush. Trees tall and straight, by tens of thousands. INDIAN METHODS. Why tbe Utes Do Not Fear the Result of an Uprising. Correspondence New York Eveuins Post. I traveled through parts of Mexico and New Mexico during the last Apache campaign, and became somewhat familiar with the methods employed by the Apaches to evade the soldiers. A little band of Apaches would swoopdown from the mountains, murder some lonesettlers family, and drive off his stock. A company of soldiers were, of course, at once dispatched to the scene, and they followed up a trail- for a fewdays until it was lost in the mountains. Here the Indians scattered, to be called together again by signal fires. Single Indians stationed at different points would kindle their signal fires, which were repeated and flashed from peak to peak, until every Indian within a radius of one "hundred miles knew the exact whereabouts of the soldiers. It was easy to watch their movements, and while they were making long and tedious marches to intercept the Indians at some point, the very Indians they were, after were perhaps swinging around, gathering and concentrating close in their reitr, where they 'could have days of uninterrupted rest ere the toldiers came to a halt and took the back trark again, and so this was repeated and tbe campaign kept up month after month, the Indians always days in advance of the soldiers, or else resting or following in their rear and committing their depredations wherever thev felt disposed, without the least fear of the soldiers, or, if by chance the soldiers did come ciose upon them, all tbey bad to do was to scatter, each pridian for himself, and gather again at some point designated by signal fires. If the present Ute war continues and increases, and tbe-gov-ernment fell disposed to employ 300 picked men, mountaineers and residents of this section, arm thena and turn them loose, with but one general order, viz.: "Gq and fight these Indians individually or collectively in your own fashion until they hoist tbe white flag," the war would soon end, and many valuable lives and millions of money would be saved. The punishment meted out ' to Indiana who have indulged :.n uprisings and massacres during late years, if there has been any punishment at all, has been so mild that but few Indians fear the result of an uprising. They think that a kind and considerate government will gently cbide, but not retaliate upon them for atrocities committed. In the case of the White-river Utes

they were really rewarded for that cold-blooded massacre, ambusb and war of 1879. When they tired of the war and found tbey were to get the worst of it, they hoisted the white flag and were ready to come back to the "Great Father" and be "good children" again. Tbe "Great Father" took them back, bought their reservation and placed the purchase money at interest to their credit, and cave them another reservation as good for their purposes as the old one. and now every Indian, great and small, draws an annual sura of money, which they never received before and would not receive now had they remained good Indians, and had not committed that dark deed of 1879. The Uinta Indians, who did not join in that war. occasionally refer to it with savage humor and say, "Guess we'll kill an agent, And then the Great Father send us money, too. We too good Gret Father no like 'em too good Indian. p Soda Water Without Soda. New York Times. Let not the scientists despise this paragraph as a "chestnut" It is meant not for him, but for the millions who do not "know it all." Soda water is an anomaly. Its language ia at variance with the chemical analysis. There is no form of soda in it. It is but ordinary water stuffed with gas. the pressure that ia. brought to bear varying from about 200 peutfds to the square inch, as in the soda supplied first-class bar-rooms and clubs, to sixty pounds, as in that supplied the street standees a rule. Aside from the difference in the quality of the flavoring syrups, cost is a mere matter of pressure, which calls for additional agitation of the gaseous fluid, which in turn calls for more time and turns. The carbonie acid gas with which the water is charged under pressure is evolved from the action of common oil of vitriol upon a paste made of ordinary whitine, or it may be of marble dnst, as that and whiting are alike cheap carbinates of lime. Soda powders, once in vogue, were composed of bicarbonate of soda and tartaric acid, two things which, added to Rochelle salts, constitute the familiar seidlitz powder. It is because it was originally made of soda powders that soda water received the name it still retains, although the bicarbonate is no longer added, unless as a fancy by some few manufacturers. It ia as well . for the heavy drinker of soda water, or rather carbonated water, that bicarbonate is now absent, as the average cook puts quite as much soda into everyday food as is wholesome for the average human stomach. A Chinese Anaesthetic. Boston Journal. " A curious anaesthetic used by the Chinese has recently been made known by Dr. U. Lanibuth in bis third annual report of the Soochow Hospital. It is obtained by placing a frog in a jar of flour and irritating it by prodding it. Under these circumstances it exudes a liquid, which forms a paste with a portion of the flour. This paste, dissolved in water, was found to possess $vell-marked anaesthetic properties. After the finger had been immersed in the liquid for a few minutes it could be pricked with a needle without any pain being felt, and numbness of the lips and tongue was produced by applying the liquid to them. CoIds of Use as Weights. Paris American Register. The coins of the German Empire may be used also as weights. A pfennig piece weighs exactly two grams, so does a cold five-mark pice. A nickel ten-pfennig and a ten mark gold piece weigh each four grams, two five-pfennig pieces fifteen grams, a twenty-pfennig piece eight grams, three nickel two pfennige pieces ten grams, nine silver twenty-pfennig pieces tea grams, nine silver nrty-pfennig pieces twentyfive rrams, nine silver one-mark pieces fifty prams, cine silver two-mark pieces one hundred grams, and nine silver five-mark Dieces two hundred and fifty grams. New Houses at Jerasalem. Galignani's Messenger. Outside the walla of Jerusalem a new town has sprung up. a building club having been es tablished a tew vears aeo. under tbe operation of which 130 hout.es were erected in four years by the Jews, while along tbe Jaffa road many country villas have been erected of late by European residents as summer abodes. The latest development of the building of new bouses without Jerusalem is to be fonnd in the enter prise which haa led to much building being done on the elopes of the Mount of Olives, the sum mit of which is crowned with the Cuurcn I the Ascension. Modern Improvements. Letter in Boston Pout. In the old davs of primitive notions at Bar Harbor the cottagers who had their meals at the hotels and who had cottages outside were called "nualers " Some of those who lived at too re mote a distance to walk were snt for in a sort of vehicle which was more substantial than stylish, and these were called "hauled meaierf," But now. alas! what a change nas come over trie dream of this fashionable summer city. One must say instead: "1 am in lodgings and have table d'hotel at an hotel" Just as an Englishman says at Brighton or the Isle of Wight In discussing bloat ia cattle before a farmers' club, one of the members said that when turning cattle on young clover he usually placed old hay where they could get it, and tbe consequence was that the cattle would always, eat a - portion of the old hay, which, having been dry, absorbed the moisture and prevented injurious results.