Plymouth Democrat, Volume 15, Number 26, Plymouth, Marshall County, 3 March 1870 — Page 1

POETRY.

TUE RR WAR IK BT jous a. wHimn. Who. looking backwarrt from h's uianhood'a prime. Sa no; the -pec: i e of hi miaspent timu ? And through the ahnde Of funeral cypress, plantad thick behind. Hear nj reproachful whisper on the wind, Frum hi loved dead? Who heara no trace of fluhion's evil course I Who nun thy ting. O terrible rmon ! Who dj not cast On the thrcis-d page or h:a memory book. At Lime a ami half reluctant look, K-rgnmuL of the pat Alia, the erV. which we fain would shna w e üo, and ham ll.s wianed for good undone : Oar tfvn:th to-day fa Nut to-ru ,rro woakueaa, prona to tall; roor, blind. nnpr Arable servant aLl Art we alway. T wy, ihna lrokin backward o'er hi years, F.eir not h ', wet with grateful tear. If he hath been 3Parm!ted. weak aud ainfiil aa ha waa. To chcttr ia n- mabttli cati;e Hi fellow men If he hath Md4 the ontctut. or lat in A ray of mvsatae to tne call of ain ; If he hat1 lent BtrragthJ he wo tit. aud in an honr of r.eod, O ver the aaST-rin. nvad o of hie cracd Or home, hath heat, He hn-i - : ;n r.i'.n. ' while he givea The praise to Miiu I e ernasi lie wo and Urea, vVieti riiankful haart, II gaes Kaekw.ir.i, aid w:th hope before. Know.uj th M Grose Ilia -k ha uaver more Qea hevBcvfunh pjrt. MISCELLANEOUS. BROILER'S DEFALCATION. Wl always used In pity Browler on account o( his three Mtoi; though I do not MtppOM lie would have cared much what we thought, even if he knew. Hut it was really comical to us fellows to see the way Im toted those three old girll around. Hfl was great for lectures; and became be scribbled a little for the papers, plenty of tickets came to him with compliments. You might see them almost any niirht, at about eight, march- - ill a soli.; phahni, the two oldest arm-in-arm in front, with Browler and the youngest bringing up the rear. All four of them won .spectacles, add kept a perfect step ; and little Browler, being rather short, was obliged to stretch a great deal to keep up the stride. It was fun, too, to see the way he gl oweredafotn 1 at the men who went past; arm he would matte nothing ot stonnin"' the w Koiu ciwucaue anu givinsr some po r fellow a h-cture on civility. If he fancied he paid too warm attentiou to the ladies. And such a rigmarole it was, too. Buttel said he got it from one of Canning'. speeches, and learned it by heart; but I never ormld iiad it. öuddcnly we f mnd out, one day, that none of us ever visited Browler, or knew where he lived. Wo could tell pretty near the quarter he came frum m rnii g, but he used to slip away from us at night, in a way that seemed mysterious, now that we noticed it. Baxter, who is our policy-clerk, said he believed he lived in a sewer somewhere, on account of the mustysmell he used to have about hi- d Othea, and his shrivelup skin, which Bister said, came from bting in the water so much. But, of course-, we did not think this was a fact. However, we commenced to have an ye on Browler's movements, as there would be a reward coming to us, if we found him out in any rascality; aud we vowed tkat uo pity for his three sifter? should prevent us from exposing him to tin- world, it w-c unearthed him. He bad h mean way of rating his lunch behind his I gers, th mgh we found out it was nothing but a cracker and an apple ; but some day be might be pretending to take his hneh and remilj be altering some figures, andao we d-.iermined to keep a strict watch. About this time, a young fellow was brought into the office by the President, and introduced to us lower clerks oy the Baiaeof O'Nefl. He was a handsome one, and lot ked so mucli the gentleman that all of us were afraid to speak with him at rirs, though be presently turned out to he oiite x-ial and civil. lie told us right off, as though he meant we - . andenteM it, that he dMn't know anything about work, and that he had been used to .-laves in the South, but thai the war had made him poor; but he ai 1 he could W riatk aud box beautifully, and we might take it out in that if we liked. Weal! liughed, and we struck up a friendship directly. That day, at ab ut ten, when we were all busy and slid as death, we heard O'Neil sing out, M Hello! I say. Van Coit, is that you?" AVe all looked aroun 1, and there was O'Neil, looking at Browk-r, quite pale in thttfaee. " 1 1 add Browlcr, keeping hit red face d wn and writing away like mad, "Here I am." We fit - stared like owls to hear the o I geaÜeoma called Van Coit, and to see how it affected him. Baxter eyed the two like a hawk, but managed to give us a to .t thai said, "How are tue iunoeent apples and bread now, eh ?" '-ieil stood for a minute, looking as eril a a thunder cloud, and then walked lowly over to old Browler's desk and toed beside him, fiddling with his watch -Chain ail the while. We did not let a ove or sign escape us. Browler pretended to be trying his pen on his thumb-nail, and tried hard to appear unconcerned ; but he could not get rid of the flush in his face and his hanging head. )'Neil leaned - shoulder against the desk, and looked .'.own very cool but very fierce at Browler, who was a little below him, and said something to him in a very low voice, so low that we could not catch a syllable. Browler answered him in the same mean, u:id srhaaded style that was a piece of the mat of his actions lately. They talked pome minutes this way, then suddenly Browler broke out : " It will only make a heap of mischief, sir." "That' exactly what I want to make," Hid I 'eil, turning away. " An eye lor an eye. and a tooth for a tooth 1 say I." He male a few steps, as it he were going back to th s private ofhes, when Browler scrambled otT his stool and touched his mi deeve very hurriedly, but very gently"Don't, for God's sake," says he, trembling like an inpim " For who's sake?'' "For my mUera sake," stammered Browler, much cut up. " Von mean your income's sake'" re-torte-; Ned. " y,Ui mean your comfort, your miserable salary." Browler said nothing, but held his bald head down Urther than ever. They were both silent for a moment, O'Neil scowl ing, and dnimmiug his foot on the floor, and Browler very me-k and quiet. Then 0 Neil walked him off to the window , and leased down and spoke in his ear very quickly and in a sharp, decided tone; but was very careful not to let us hear. Tuen Ii turned about and came back to hiso"esk, with his hands deep in his pockets, and f 11 to staring at his inkstand without a word to any of n. Here waa mystery for us I We were not at all surprised that Browler had committed some act of treachery or bloexlthiraty violence, for we had long been r it tin that a man of his peculiar skull and features would hesitate at nothing when once fully aroused ; but that O Neil did not brain hinrt with a ruler at once, Completely ponied aa Baxter said he expect e-1 . very instant that O'Neil would the bowie knite which he had coneealei between his shoulders, and the reason that he did not was, probably, because it va not sharp enough for BMW h-r' tough skin. Baxter pointed out the t wie knite to us, it making some irregular bunches in O'Neil's coat behind ; and when omebody hinted it might be only a BBteat-taMpaadea, Baster toM htm, with a horrid sneer, that he had better go and ask. and then come back alive, if he th-night he could. Many w re the theories we hatched regardiag thg mystification. One fellow w ent directly oyer to Brawler's side, all on account of the old nun's downcast 1 oks, and the furtive, meek way he had of watching o Neil's slightest movement. I Neil himself did not say a word to us, but stalked off home two hours before he had a right to go, leaving as four m aa

The

VOLUME XV. agony of curiosity and suspicion. We worked ourselves to such a pitch, that had Baxter but given us the word, we would have denounced Browler to the police and had him in the station-house in tw enty minutes but Baxter advised us, in a whisper, to let the plot ripen, and then crush it at one fell swoop ; to which we slowiy assented, grasping hands over our lunch-baskets to demonstrate our unity. On going gloomily and sternly back to my policy-book, I found a bit of paper between the leaves addressed to me, and marked "confidential," which ran thus: " Dear Smythe would you do me the great kindness to call on me at No. 100 Cockloft street, at eight this evening? Yours, in trouble, David Browler." I looked over at him and he was watching me anxiously over his penrack. I was indignant that he should try to drag me into his rascality, and I nothing but a boy ; and so I tore the bit of pa-er te flinders, and Hung them on the door with as much contempt as I could get into my motions. His lip trembled just like a crying btby's; and his eye drooped under mine, and he went to work again. Ten minutes after, I was conscious of being a cruel brute. People are always very civil and kind to a man who is to be hung, and why should not I try to be obliging to a man who certainly deserved it ! I determined to accommodate Browler. To get him to understand this, 1 w as obliged to wait until the other fellows had gone, and I then slipped around and whispered over the top of his desk as if Baxter was only a yard off and it surprised me to see how very kind I could speak to the hoary old villain after all. " 1 11 come, Browler, saiu L He lifted his head up quickly, and appeared very much pleased. M You'll do me a great kindness, if you will, Smvthe." " Shall I fetch any thing?" " No, thank you eight, sharp," With that I went away. Although I knew Baxter and the others would be awftdly enraged if they got an inkling of what f was about, and although I was positive that old Browler was endeavoring to get me into some hangman! scrape, yet when I found out that I could do a great favor for him I thought of the many holidays and advance salaries I had wheedled him out of. Besides that, he was not so much sly and deceitful in getting me to visit him as he was begging and asking, and I henn rather to fancy the idea of a little diplomacy ; especially as I should find out what this was all about. Although I had never been there before, I had but little trouble in finding Cockloft street. It might have been a quiet sunny place in the day-time, at any rate it was seber and dark enough in the night. The boome were like men's stocks, eminently old-million ed and highly repectable. 1 also found Browler easily, and he shook my hand cordially and dragged me into his sitting-room, with a joviality that I never supposed he was capable of. It looked very strange to me to see bis glasses and bald head any where but in the office, and that coupled with wondering how a man could be so pleasant and alFable and a deeply-dyed villain at the same time, made me" feel a little ill at ease. Nor was this at all banished by the solemn entrance in singlefile of Browser's three thin spectacled relatives. " Mr. Smythe," said Browler, bowing, H allow me to introduce my sisters, Utas Amabel, Miss Belinda, and Miss Cora. Alphabetical order, you observe, A. B. C, while 1 close up with D-l)avid ; a pretty idea of my honored father, who set out to finish the alphabet, but my mother interferred by dying and my father quenched all hope by following suit two months after." I bowed three times successively, and the three thin sisters .smiled reprovingly at Browler, who set chairs for us. After some trilling interruptions, incln iing a dish of pippins, a jug of cider, and a general overhauling of the common enemy, an open-tire, Browler proceeded to business, placing himself in front of the semi circle we formed, w ith his teu ringers spread out in a fan like and explanatory manner. The three Bieten turned their close attention to their brother's boots, and prepared to listen closely. "Mr. Smythe," said Browler, deliberately, " what I say shall be very concise and is in' a measure an autobiography." He paused an ic. staut, and pressed his lips together. I simply bowed, while the three sisters gave an adjusting rustle of their skirts. m Some years ago, in the far South, there Was an exceedingly wealthy firm doing business in cotton and rice, by the name of O'Neil 6c Co., the head of the tirm being the parent of the young in iu who entered our place to day. Our head office was not a very large one, and I was the only book keeper. I had been brought up in their employ, and one of the results of my twenty years' Steady labor was a deep attachment for the principal, Mr. O'Neil. In spite of this, and my ordinary sense of honor and duty, I became what people called an unmitigated scoundrel." Here another rustle occurred, and to my disgust, an undoubted smile gathered upon the lips ot the Me-phistophiles-Browler. "This wickedBcei extendfel through a period of several years, and was known to two persons, though they were not in collusion. Business was carried on, on an niHoand basis but without contraction, until tin; 10th of December nine years ago. On that day, finding concealment no long r possible, I drew a forged check for twelve hundred dollars and fled North." " We instigated the last act, I mean the 1 forgery, said Miss Amabel to me. " Vou? you three gi Ladies?" said I. " I contcss that they did," mid Browler, quietly, as it he were mentioning their subscription to a race-cup. I stared rather blankly at the four pairs of spectacles which were trained on my devoted face, and at the lour sin-hardened visages, which were as calm tvs if the only crime they knew of was an excessive amiability. "The hue and cry after me was something frightful," continued Browler, " but it was unsuccessful. I came to this city, obtained my present situation, and under the name of Browder have been a happy man, but still a robber an undoubted and confessed robber." The three ladies were p.tiil as quiet and demure as possible, while Browler made the lat reiteration with an elasticity that nearly approached a tone of triumph. The papers credited me with a defalcation amounting to a quarter of a million, though it was really not so large. The mis". ppropriation was effected by surreptitions advances obtained on products under storage, and the replacement by fort ed notes of checks intended for the liquidation of claims. All was skillfully aud neatly done, and t he IpflBgittg of the tra found i e in possession of sufficient fui ds for my expenses, hey, girls? ' 4 Ouite a pknty," said Miss Amabel "Yes, indeed, quite enough," rejoined Miss Belinda. "Certainly," added Miss Cora. What sort of people I had fallen among I did not know, but a sensation of fear crept over me as I realiz d that they would not consider the cutting of my throat in any more sschius light than the cutting of a dress. Those cold blooded staring glasses, the prim slate colored dresses, the thin cheeks, were to my mind exemplars of a systematic cruelty and villainy, that to fly from was n cowardice. "Mr. Browler," said I, hastily spring ing up. One moment, Mr. Smythe, I beg of

Plymouth Democrat.

you ;' be touched me on the shoulder with his odious white hand, and I sat down again. " My irregularity was the final act which disclosed the position of affairs, and the total failure of the house instantly followed. Tue crash was felt far and wide. They rushed through the Bankruptcy court and paid forty two cents. The war bloke out, Mr. O'Neil became separated from his beloved family, and finding himself without power to reach them, hit upon the idea of making money out of the war. This was done, I have reason to believe, on an article called burlaps, which the (iovernment made extensive use of. You know that I have been discovered by a singular accident, and I wish to place myself in communication with Mr. O'Neil, who is now two hundred miles off, and who by the way is still totally lost to his family, wishing to get arrangements for settlement with his creditors completed, before making the happy disclosure to his family." " But where is the money ysu st you ah bum " " Stole, that's it." "Gone mostly for kickshaws," this from Miss Amabel. " Wines and horses," said Miss Belinda. " Ormolu clocks, Turkey carpets, articles of vertu," rejoined Miss Com, allowing her glasses to roam about the room. " General debauchery, my dears," said Iirowler, coughing behind his hand. "Yes," they answered in concert, turning their glasses full upon me, "general debauchery." " Mr. Browler," said L getticg up, being unwilling if not afraid to trust myself with people whose only merit was their possible lunacy, " I understand that you wish me to take a message to Mr. O'Neil." " Yes, Mr. Smythe, I am not at liberty to go into explanations, but merely assure you that if you will kindly do so, you will be serving the interests of honesty and not rascality." " Yes," said the chorua, "our obligation will be very great." " I will go on condition that your brother will give his word of honor as a gentleman and a book-keeper, that he will not run off before I can return." I said this with the dignity of a fellow of principle who was holding a scourge over iniquity. The promise was given with acclamation, and Iirowler wrung my hand, which liberty I tolerated lottily. He gave me my directions and a parting bumper of cider, which, coming from the iniquitous hands of Belinda, and being mulled by a thief s hot poker, nearly strangled me to death. Assured of my absence being satisfactorily accounted for at the office, I left in the midst of thanks and blessings, for my two days' trip. What would Baxter have called me? How miserable would I have felt, had he turned up on that wretched ride. The vision of his contempt made me very uncomfortable, and I reproached myself that I had fallen so low a to be the emissary of a black leg. This was Thursday night; I could arrive at my destination, complete my object, and be again at the office on Saturday noon. I was sorry at not being able tobe on the ground to watch the progress of I il'airs, but consoled myself at being admitted above Baxter to the secret of the matter, unhallowed though ;it was. Of the three women I had the meanest opinion; that Browler could cheat was an evident thing, but that his three sisters should tolerate his kuavery and reap the abvantage so coolly, was not punishable on earth. I found Mr. O'Neii, who was conducting his operations under the name of Townsend, behind a sugar refinery, and he turned out to be a tall, gentlemanly, gray haired man, but who received me with a tritle of coolness and suspicion. But I had no sooner mentioned the name of Van Coit in a whisper, than he seised my hand aud burst into tears, instead of flying off into a paroxysm of fury as I fully expected he would. " Bless my soul ! and so you know the gentleman? you know where he lives? how to direct me to him?" "I do know him, sir, but I also know Sardanapalus, Jonathan Wild. Warren II i-iings, Jack Sheppurd, and Boss," said I, tartly. He looked at me curiously for a moment, while I, ruffled with indignation, gazed buck at him. " And so you don't know " "But I do know that he is a defaulter, an infamous vulture, a stupendous Uriah Deep." "Bless him!" said he, half thoughtfully. " His three sisters are also well, and ready to try their hand9 again at similiar business," I added by way ot sarcasm. " Upon my soul, sir, I hope they may never have the requirement, but long live their pluck, ingenuity, and sympathy." There was no understanding all this, and I gave it up in disgust. I yawned, and wished myself. back at the office again, with Baxter and the rest, instead of being a go-between of a set of foids and knaves. He asked some oher foolish questions, and I answered them in a like manner. He seemed very much agitated all through our conversation, a fact I could have accounted for, had he exulted at the prospect of the capture of old Browler, but which in view of his apparent liking for that man was to me inexplicable, and sol gave it up. He was very civil, though, and" gaye me a crushing dinner with claret, and a box at the theatre afterward, which put me on good terms with all but his brains. He said he would follow me to town and hunt up Van Coit instantly, and all would be right. I therefore posted back to the city at twelve p. m., on Friday, and entered the office at ten a. m., Sat urday. There was an awful row directly. Baxter gave me credit for more wickedness than I ever knew of, and it was not until I threatened to whip oil my jacket that he became bearable. Where was Browler? "Arrested! Put in the station house Thursday night" "Good gracious, who did that?" " I did, said O'Neil, swinging himself around on his stool. "Do you object, hey ? " " No, he deserved it, and his sisters too." 44 You're a fellow of sense ; all the rest set me down for a stupid. If a man is not to be punished for robbing you of house, home, father, property, and making you go to work in such a confounded stable as this is, I should like to know it !'' Although I appeared very just and stern, I must say I was a little, sorry for t he old fellow, after all. It would come hard on him in his old ago to le put to breaking stones, and all that. Baxter said that he heard that they had to put five ballets into him before he gave in to the officers. He and his sisters barricaded the dining-room doors and windows, and laid in a stock of Colt's revolvers, and they only brought them to terms by squirting chloroform through the keyhole. O'Neil was very savage against him, and vowed he would push him to the wall, and would put on every screw the law would allow him to. He was very rough on Browler! sisters too. He said they doubtless instigated the whole plot, and harped on their brother so that tbey finally badgered him into gratifying their sellishness. He said he always hated their way of sneaking about town at home, with their drab dresses ami the pots of two-penny jelly and gruel for the poor folks. They pretended to talk well, and know a great deal, and uged to be so confoundedly pliilanthropic, always up to libraries, and cooperative wash houses, and that sort of

PLYMOUTH, INDIANA, THURSDAY, MARCH

thing He managed to get up quite a feeling among us, in spite of the sympathy we felt for his prisoner, and when he described the poverty his family was brought to through the rascality of Browler, we swore to stand by him to prevent any rescue that might "be attempted by roughs who might be hired by Browler's sisters. When we got out of O'Neil's hearing, though, we could not help slipping back again. Even Baxter was not quite so hard on him. And when we looked at his vacant desk, and closed inkstand, and remembered how gentle he always was with us and out blunders, and how he would oftentimes stand between us and the officers for any blame that rightly belonged to us, and how blind he used to be to our cuttings up, we could not help thinking that we had no ctuse of spite against him, for he never was anything but kind and obliging te us. If his shining old bald head ever bobbed up at anything we did, it would only be to wag once er twice, but never a harsh word came from him. He never used to make us pay for postage stamps, and if his monthly balance came out within twenty - four hours (as it did about once in ten), he used to stand us a bottle of claret, which we used to drink standing, out of paper cornucopias. After we got pretty blue by talking it over, Browler's friend boldly proposed we should visit him at the station-house. This was pretty emphatic, and we were all silent, but Baxter said we had better do it, as it would be our only chance of telling him what we thought of him and his villainy. Then something was said about carrying some chicken and Rhine wine, and Baxter assented on the ground that it would be an additional punishment, as it would remind him what his knavery had deprived him of. I had not told O'Neil that I knew the whereabouts of his father, or in fact anything about him whatever, as I did not know how Browler might like it, and as it could not affect O'Neil to wait a little. We did not ask him to go with us to see Browler, of course, as it would only make it more disagreeable all around. We provided ourselves with a permit from the deputy sheriff, and with trembling legs and thumping hearts sat down in a row on the edge of the waiting-room sofa, to have ourselves announced to Browler, who they said was in No. 10. " The worst one in the whole house," said Baxter, under his breath. " It's where they put the violent ones. They probably have got him shackled to the wall, with his arms and legs stretched out spread-eagle, they call it." I never knew a fellow of seventeen to know 8s much as Baxter did. " If I were an officer here, I think I would try the water punishment. Two quarts would make Browler tell where the money is he's got such a line bald head." To this we made to rejoinder ; we were all too busy staring at the long rows of clubs and pistols hung up against the wall, and wondering if Browler would be kind to us. " He'll be very much emaciated," whispered Baxter, "and you must not be frightened at his eyes nor his thin hands, for he's probably well into the prison fever by this time." Poor Browler. The vision of his suffering was vividly before us, and the memory of our hard words about him came strong upon us as we gazed through the open door, at the long white-washed corridor with its row of black iron grated doors. We four trembling little wretches, or at least three of us, would have given worlds to have known that we had fought O'Neil instead of backing him up. Suddenly, in the midst of a dead silence, a laugh came from somewhere down that long dismal passage. It was Browler, for we recognized his voice in spite of the hollow, ringing reverberations. We looked at one another in terror, and more than half inclined to put off out the door into the street and leave the prisoner to his own reflections. "I told you so," muttered Baxter, as soon as his teeth stopped chattering. " He probably imagines himself in the office, and that they've raised his salary." Before we had time to muster enough courage to run, a turnkey entered and beckoned to us to follow him. Half choked and half scared we did so, and skipped along over the stone pavemjnt with a tread anything but firm and even. "Don't you feel a little spooney, Smythe ? " w hispercd Baxter. " Yes," said , " have you got a pockethandkerchief?" "No, I want it myself." " Now, then, youngsters," said the officer, who looked rather pleasant, " hurry up and get through." He pushed open the solid iron door and we filed in, I being the last. " Where's Smythe ?" I heard a voice ask, and I pushed forward, and we all stood stupefied with amazement at what we saw. Instead of being chained, half-starved, and bleeding from bullet-holes, to the wall, and being sick and raving crazy, there was old Browler sitting smilingand hearty behind a dinner table, surrounded by his three spectacled sisters, all staring at us goodhumoredly. We all went sheepishly f rward and gave a limp hand shaking, hiding our chicken and Rhine wine behind US. "Well, young Smythe," cried the oil fellow, 44 is it all right?" " Yes, sir, he'll be here to-day." Then there was great confusion, Browler giving his three sisters a hug all around, while Baxter and the fellows glared at me like wild beasts, for I had given them to understand my absence had been on my own business, and it had really transpired that I was a traitor after all. " I should like to know, Mr. Browler," said Baxter defiantly, stepping forward and eying him, " whether you . an off with O'Neil's lather's money or not? If you really did, why, we won't stay, and we only came because we thought you might be miserable. But it seems to me that if you can carry on this style with such a thing on your conscience, you can get along well enough without our sympathy or grub." It was just like Baxter to say that. All the four spectacles broke out into a scream of laughter, while we all looked black as thunder. Presently Browler sobered a little, and leaned forward on his knuckles on the table. " Boys, you are very kind to me indeed. Indeed, I cannot tell you exactly hew I stand just now, but I and my sisters thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and we assure you that your sympathy : NOT misplaced." At this instant the turnkey entered, and whispered to Browler, who nodded quick ly, and then whispered to his sisters, who immediately began to fidget with their hats and gloves and to look very much cut up. Presently somebody came along the corridor, and pushed open the door. 44 Dear old Van !" Then came such a tempest of embraces, exclamations, hand shakings, tears and all that stuff, which Baxter declared after wards made him sick, but I know it made him cry with the rest of us. It was a long while before any thing like sense was restored, and then Browler discovered BM sitting all huddled up in the corner, with the confounded jugs of Rhine wine be tweet our legs. He whispered to Mr. O'Neil, who looked at us and then hhnt the door. 44 Boys," said he, very kindly ami pleasantly, 44 Mr. Van Coit or Mr. Browler, has long been known to you, but much longer to me. Latterly he has been, in the character of a defaulter and robber to a few people in this city, but is kaown as

such all through the South, where he made his extensive theft." Here he bowed to Browler, who bowed back again. "I have besn known in the South as an Upright but sadly unfortunate merchant, who was ruined by the machinations of his principal clerk. Now I briefly say, that lam the criminal and Mr. Vin Coit the innocent man. I was the forger, the wrong doer, and I thought my operations were unknown to any but myself, but was mistaken. Van Coit knewT me ; Van Coit imagined I had all to lose if I was discovered, and by the earnest entreaties of his brave sisters he did nteal a comparatively small sum and fled, leaving a letter for me explaining his conduct, and solemnly assuring me that all hopes of discovering him would be useless The storm broke, I remained passive and let it ferment and settle as it would. The odium was heaped on Van Coit, and I escaped. I settled according to law, and have since been able to re-make my broken fortunes, just as the savior of my name c discovered and thrown into jail for a c ime he rever committed. He sends for me, having kept track ot me, and here I am, beginning to rectify the infamous yet generous error of his reputation, by setting him right with those who will be the happiest to know the truth." We all made a 'dash for old Browler and his sisters, vowing as loud as our thick voices would let us that we knew all along that he was shamming, and begging he would forgive us. He was guilty of a little dampness and his three sisters of a great deal. Young O'Neil wTas very penitent, but Browler told him he did just right, and was pretty smart at it too, and they were great chums after they got settled again. Mr. O'Neil settled up dollar for dollar, and took Browler in as even partner. They said Van Coit got a perfect ova

tion when he went South, and his sisters marrifd off with a vengeance. Baxter says he believes it was a regular put-up job al! around, but he only stands by that as a biuff, as Baxter's stock is awfully low with us fellows since the bullets aud shackles. Putnam's Maganns. Remarkable Rains. Tiierk are, sometimes, real showers of very unreal rain. It is stated by an old writer that in Lapland and Finmark, about a Century ago, mice of a peculiar kind were known to fall from the sky ; and that such an event was sure to be followed by a good year for foxes. A showTer of frogs fell, seal Toulouse, in 1801. A prodigious numb- r ot black insects, about an inch in length, descended in a snow storm at Pakrod", Russia, in 1827. On one occasion, in Norway, the peasants were astonished at finding a shower of rats pelting down upon their heads. Showers of fishes have been numerous. At Stanstead, in Kent, in 18G0, a pas turefield wras found one morning covered plentifully with fish, although there is neither sea nor river, laae nor fish pond near. At Allahabad, in 1839, an English office! saw a good smart down-pour of fish, and soon after thousands of small dead fish were found upon the ground. Scotland has had many of these showers of fish, as in Rossshire, in 1S29, when quantities of herring fry covered the ground ; at Islay,in 18.0,whenalargc numb( r of herrings were found strewn over a field after a heavy gusty rain; at Wick, much more recently, when herrings were found in lai ire quantities in a field a mile uv..; ii. tiiv iK.idi. In al! these, and numerous other cases, when a liberal allowance has been made for exaggeration, the remainder can be explained by wellunderstood causes. Stray winds blowing from the sea or river : a waterspout licking up the fish out of the water; a whirlwind sending them hither and thither all these arc intelligible. The rat shower in Norway was an extraordinary one. Thousands of rats were taking their annual excursion from a hilly region to the lowlands, when a whirlwind overtook them, whisked them up and deposited them in a field at some distance, doubtless much to the astonishment of such rats as came down alive. The so-called showers of blood have had their days of terror and marvel, and have disappeared. Not that any one ever saw such a showrer actually lull, but red spots have occasionally been seen on walls and stones, much to the popular dismay. Swaminerdam, the naturalist, told the people of Hague, two centuries ago, that those red spot were connected with some phenomena of insect life, but they would not believe him, and insisted that the spots were real blood, and were portents of evil times to come. Other naturalists have since confirmed the scientific opinion. Kogucs Cheated. Two rogues in Albany were recently sold very neatly. A shrewd citizen had just drawn twenty-five hundred dollars from a bank, and they saw him put it in his pocket-book, and, mistaking him for a stranger from the country, determined to get his money. He heard them talking together, and saw them following him, and, suspecting their object, determined to trap them. The story is a good one : One ot them asked, "Can you tell me where Hudson street is? " " Don't know. I'm I stranger in the city ; just come from Ouilderland," replied the agent, remembering that he had been " spotted as a "countryman " by the young man who propounded the query. After answering the question, the agent continued on up North Pearl street ; as he entered Sherman's real estate agency office, he noticed that his two "friends" still dogged his steps. They remained outside the door, awaiting his return, surmising, no doubt, that he would not remain there long. And they were not disappointed, for in a few minutes 44 their man made his appearance again on the street. Of course they were totally ignorant of what his business was in the office. Being aware that these men were following him for no good purpose, the agent very wisely left all his money with his friend, Mr. Snerman, and then stuffed his wailet with scraps of newspapers. He then sauntered out, determined to " see the thing out." He passed up Maiden Lane, crossed Eagle Street, and was going along near the Capitol Park, when he was again accosted by one of the men, who inquired of him what time it was. "Can't tell you; left my watch at home," replietl the agent. 44 Can you give me change for a tendoHer notef1 "Guess I can accomodate you," replied the agent. At that the sharper handed a greenback to the agent, and the latter drew forth his wallet, stuffed with scraps of newspapers. He no sooner did so, than the thief snatched the wallet from his hand, and rac oil', with the speed of a deer Of course, the agent did not pursue, but chuckled to himself over his good luck in getting $10 for an old wallet hllcd with newspapers. He expressed himself well satisfied with the exchange. oi. mRv A wniTEU in the Krtn(jdicd Memger estimates the amount spent yearly in the C nited States for intoxicating drinks at nearly a billion and a half ot dollars. He shows that this sum would build 50,000 churches and parsonages, ami supply minister to each; would support Q;Uuü home missionaries furnish every eian, woina i and child in the country with a cony of the Itible- would Im i Irl a hisrh school wherever there is a post office, and do multitudes of other things to elevate and bless the race.

3, 1870.

facts and figures. Philadelphia has an Anti-Woman's Rights Society. The population of British Columbia is rated at 120,000. The Mormon missionaries in Denmark made a thousand converts last year. QrEEN Victoria is the richest widow in the world. She has laid up at least $10,000,000. A " ltceum for ladies" has been opened at Breslau, in the Russian province of Silesia. Theke are at the present time upward of 300 scientific and learned societies in Europe. A season's expenses of the various base-ball clubs in this country amounts to over $2,000,000. A peceaskd citizen of Nashville has left six widows 5,00Q each, conditioned that they never marry. A Tuoy Police Justice sends a man to the work-house for having 44 an abject contempt for hard work." Font hundred new money offices will be opened July 1, and new ones will hereafter be opened only semi-annually. Out of 7,426 books taken from the Mercantile library in San Francisco during the month of January, 5,430 were novels. One of the stipulations in an approaching marriage in Massachusetts is that the bride shall pay the groom $500, cash down, on the wedding day. The cost of telegraphic dispatches in Australia has been reduced to one shilling for twelve words and one penny for every additional word. A Vermont court has decided that if any person winks at an auctioneer, the winkist is not bound to take the article knocked down to him on account of the sign. For every death in a community it is said there are two persons constantly sick, and for every person who dies there are twenty-seven who suffer from attacks of temporary illness. A Belfast storekeeper, annoyed by loafers who persisted in roosting on the granite sill of his window, poured sulphuric acid on the stone, so that each of the loafers left a part of his trousers there when he got up. The Massachusetts railroads, comprising 2,235 miles, carried, during 18G9, twenty-eight millions of passengers, killing only ten of the number, thirty nine employees, and forty persons who were lying or working on the track. There are 12,000 wind-mills in constant use in Holland at the present day, for the simple purpose of drainage. They are almost all of colossal size, each lifting from teu million to fifty million gallens of water every twenty-four hours. North Bkookkiei.d, Mass., has a citizen who was born with only one ear. There is no auricular orifice on one side of his head, and only a rudimentary external ear, about an inch long, near the jaw, where the front part of the ear is located. Evaporation of ammonia is said to be the best method of producing artificial ice, and a German machine has been constructed capable of turning out by this means, with the aid of three men and a horse-power engine, a thousand pounds of ice an hour. Fi'NERAL style in Paris consists in not issuing the Hilft de morl till a month after the death. and theu baclosinc photograph. the size of a postage-stamp, of the departed, with scriptural extracts suitable to his life, and with a request to pray for the repose of the soul. A minister in New England, receiving a salary of $400 a year, wears an overcoat made from a cloak he wore in 1834. His wife has one cloak only, and it is thirtyfive years old. A ran company in Pawtucket, R. I., recently captured a golden eagle, and proposed to keep him in captivity. But Mr. H. C. L. Dorsey, the prisoners' friend, could not remain easy under such circumstances, and so he bought the bird fer $20, half in gold and half in greenbacks, and set him at liberty. TnE numerously deluded 44 American heirs to English estates," who are continually being fleeced by lawyers, would save their money if they were aware that an alien cannot be an heir in England where there is no will, and that he cannot take real estate even if left to him by will The Maine 8upreme Judicial Court recently tried a suit on a promissory note. The plaintiff claimed that the endorsement of the note was : " I back this note holden for debt and costs." The defend ant claimed that the endorsement was: 4-1 back this not holden for debt and costs," and that the letter " e " has been added. Verdict was rendered for the defendant. The machine power of England and Wales is competent to perform the labor of nearly six hundred millions of men, and is probably greater in productive capacity than the labor power of all the world besides. The machiue power of the United States, though growing with amazing rapidity, does not more than equal the labor power of two hundred millions of men. A mono a number of letters addressed to the late Traupman, which have been opened by the French Post Office authorities since his execution, was one from a romantic damsel, who enclosed her portrait, with a request that he would grant her a private interview to confide to her the names of his assistant assassins, and another postmarked from North America, announcing the safe arrival of his accomplices on our shores. Notwithstandino the trying climate of Massachusetts, deaths from consumption have diminished twenty per cent, in that State in the last seventeen years, owing to greater sanitary knowledge. The report of the State Board of Health to the Legislature shows that in 1853, 427 out of each 100,000 inhabitants were victims of consumption. In 104 the rate was 478; in 1850, 408; in 1858, 334; in 1800, 305 ; in 1800, 801 ; in 1808, 344. A lady living in Marseille!, (France,) was returning from church on a recent Sunday, when she heard steps behind her, and felt some one take her hand and draw it under his arm Turning around she saw a gentleman, elegantly dressed, who was quite a stranger to her. She tried to draw away her arm, but the unknown held it firmly, and said with an air of t he greatest politeness, " Madame, I am a thief, and am closely pursued by the police. They know that I am a stranger in the town, and will never suspect me if they sec me in the company of a lady so respectably connected as you must be." A CULD while playing near Droghcda, Ireltnd, found a curious piece of metal which she gave to an old woman, who took it to a dealer in old iron and got a shilling for it. The dealer in his turn sold it for two pounds and a half, and it has finally been purchased for the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin for A'300. It proved to be the celebrated Tara Brooch, one of the most remarkable pieces of goldsmith's work known to exi.st. It is formed of white bronse this probacy saved it from the melting pot to which countless treasures of gold and silver have been consigned -the surface overlaid with gold Migrafl work of surprising intrioaovand marvelous delicacy of execution. Such is its excellence, that one of the most accomplished living goldsmiths declared that he could not find a workman, with every ap parent advantage of modern knowledge and appliance, competent to make such another.

NUMBER 2(5.

YOUTHS' DEPARTMENT THE FACES WE MAKE. BY ROSELLA RICK. Mt Pear Little Children. One day last week I went to visit some poor, lonely little boys and girls whose mother was dead, and who had nobody to take care of them but their old grandmother. I feel so sorry tor such desolated households that I like to visit them and say something to comfort and help the moth erless ones. It is twenty-eight years since my own mother died, and we, five little crying children, were left, oh so lonely, that even now I never think of it without shedding tears. I remember how in tho$e still summer nights we would cuddle together out on the grass in the farthest corner of the doorvard, all closely together as a brood of chickens, and the poor little head1 would lie in my lap. and we would look up at the Btars and talk of our mother, and creep closer together ; and then the dear baby would reach his chubby handheavenward and cry, 44 Oh, mamma, main ma ! " so piteously that our hearts could not contain their grief, and we would all cry aloud, calling on that beloved nam. This must be the reason why I so love and sympathize with motherless children. I said to those little ones whom I visited lately, 41 Have you a picture of your mother? I would like to see it, if you have." The oldest girl said they had not that they always moor,t to have one taken some time when the re at town, but thej neglected it, aud it never was done. 44 Why, yes, sis, we have ma's picture," said the child next older tiian the baby; and he jumped off my knee and ran to a closet, and tumbled about among some old papers and brought out a ragged old ge g repay; whirled the leaves with gn at alacrity, and holding it up as high as his head, came to me in triumph, saying'. I here s our ma s picture that looks 'zuctlv like our ma now!" " Oh now, Teddy, it don't look a bit lila her," said the oldest sister, blushing and looking ashamed and grieved. I gave her a glance sideways as much as to say, 41 0 1 course it don't, but then let the little fellow have it his own way it's a trifling matter." Now a mple sweet little child is not to be deceiv d in anything of this kind. I knew there must be some resemblance to his mother in that picture, or he would not have seen it so plainly. Oh, the picture was such an ugly one ! the mouth w as drawn down at the corners; and you know what a true tale that tells of a dissatisfied, fretful, fault finding disposition. I never saw that kind of a mouth belonging to a healthy, happy, hearty, contented person. A haudkerchk f was bound about th jaws as if for toothache, and the shoulders were stooped, aud the whole attitude was everything but pleasant and agreeable. The dark brows were drawn down and were scowl ing and repulsive. This little incident made me very sad indeed. I talked to the children and told them how to be good, and that they must love and help and care for one another, and not tempt each other to anger that if one was angry they must speak only the soft answer that 4turneth away wrath.' an. I by co doing they could help each other to be good. They listened attentively, and said, 4 We will," and the three smaller ones held each othef's hands, and looked up into my face as though they were treasuring up every word that fell from my lips. My heart yearned over those lone little dears. On inquiry, I learned that their mother had been a fretful, scolding woman, impatiently and easily excited to anger, and that the picture in the old geography was not at all unlike her, the ill-natured face being the true index to her character. Oh what a legacy to leave one's children WM the memory ot a scolding, whining, cross mother ! Our faces are to our souls what the index page is to the book. Don't let us make them ugly. We should not allow ourselves to be angry, and our faces to scowl, and our brow- to draw down, because if we indulge in evil passions, no matter how sweetly we may smile, and what honeyed words fall from our lips, the truth is to plainly written in our faces to deceive any one very long at a time. It is carved therein every feature by a chisel that is wielded by a Hand that never e rs or makes mistakes. One time I went with a lady to have her little boy's picture taken. He was a handsome child, had soft blue eyes, tine fresh complexion, long eurly hair, and he was dressed in a new velvet suit with dainty rutlies about his neck, and bosom, and wrists, and we thought his picture would be one of the finest ever taken. His little dog w ent with us, and Eddiesaid Prince's picture should be taken sitting on his lap. His mother said, " We'll see about it, dearie:" and all the time she meant that no dog's picture should go with her boy's, hut she had not the decision of dutl ter to tell him so. After Eddie was all tixed nicely, with one little t u leg doubled up in a very natural childish posture, and hu hands fixed ami little ringlets made to fall prettily at one side of his face and i n his ton head, the artist said, 44 Now he is all ready. I think this will BU ke a fine pie ture " " I want my dog," called out Eddie. 44 Oh no, dear; the picture is to send to Chicago to papa, and we'll not have J ours and Prince's taken together. Let Princy be taken by hincll," said the silly mother, kissing him. "No, I will have my dog, now sec if I don't;" and he straightened both legs out SS stitllv as sticks, and tangled his curls. and crumpled his ruffles, and changed into J a a a., a m w 1 one ot the aguest-iooking nttie poys i ever did see. " You shall not have your dog." mid his mother, angrily, shaking him all ovi r "I will, you uglv old thing, von!" said 1 a i rri at- I he, stamping luriousiy. l nen came uu graooful tight, and Eddie's list s were emde very round and solid, and he pouinh d h -mother and pulled the ties of her new hat, and kicked, and behaved badly. Iam sorry to my it, but the wiik woman yielded, and said, ' Well, rather than not have the pic ture at all, 1 guess it n ay he taken with the dog on hisiap." "Well, there now, ha ha!" said the spoiled boy, as he drew a Ion-:, restful breath of triumph, astd looked at the artist, and then at myself and at bis mother, who sat panting and smoothing her ruf fled plumage. Really, I did feel as though the little termagant deserved to be thrown from th window, which was three stories high. So the dog was curled down in his lap, and his leg was tucked up again, and ÜÜt ringlets fixed, and he was coaxed to smile, and the farce was gone through with ; but to me all his beauty ai d sweetness and innocence were gone forever. He w as no more a pretty child or a good little boy. and I was rather glad, too, w hen I looked on the picture, that that grand old artist, the Sun, could not bo wheedle! or flattered, or made to paint a lie. The right royal old king told the truth, for under the shallow smile lurked a frown, in the tender blue rye that looked out so mildly seemed hidden a spirit of evil, and the sweet lips that parted slightly looked cold , ami hard, and a bitter as when they framed the cruel words, UYou old thing! ' After the man had taken a picture ht the mother, I hail him take a copy off from it for mt-.

"Oh. do you want one of mine auntie said Eddie, looking op delighted. 44 Yes " I said, "I want one to keep that I may show it to you when you are man. People t&y Of our nation that we are writing history every day. You have leen writing history to day. Your face is full of it now the whole picture is full of it. You have written a great deal for a s:nall boy only six years old. Your fac is hard and cold, and all seamed over with scars of battles and of fights, in which pride and selfishness arc the Tietors. Anv one looking into your face would know that you are a bad boy and a coward, and that there was not much promise in your young years of a noble manhood. You can grow to be a good boy and a good man, and may see the time you will blush with shame when you look at this picture." If a little boy has a good, kind, loving heart, his face will appear handsome; no matter how sunburnt he is, or how freckled or how irregular his features sre, the goodness and sweetness will shine out just as the light shines out of a lantern. It will illuminate the paths of others too, and he will make every one with whom he associates happic and better. Every child is of real use in the world, even if he is bihad, r has to walk on crutches, or so crippled that he cannot walk at all. God hasa work for him to do. lie can comfort some one who is in trouble, or he can be go cheerful that his influence will be felt by the winde family. I have known sonae little children who seemed to be all the sunshine that there was in their homes, all the comfort and blessing that their parents had little hands always ready to lulp, and little feet ready to run on kindly errands, and dear little hearts oversowing with love and tenderness and good-will The blessing of God goes with such darling children, and if they love Him and confide in Him as their friend, His gr.c I will be sufKehaat Cor them even unto the end. Child rem'' Hour.

Lightning (alt illations. Remembering that Prof. Sifford, of the Dearborn Observatory, was in the habit, la his lisping infancy, of coing through marvelous calculations like a blaxe t forked lightning through a summer cloud, we recently to. ik occasion to consult him as to the process. In reply to our question, how many 44 figures all in a row'" it was convenient for him to multiply 44 in his head," he informed u that he had no disinclination to handling them by sixes. We, therefore, selecting our numbers, begged him to multiply 724,025 by 123,446. Without seeing the numbers, but retaining them In his memory, as heard, the Prolessor, after an interval of about two minutes, stated the reantt 89,452,067,750. This however, was not our object What We Were driving at was the exact mental process by w hich it was done. This, the I'rofessor Statee, is as follows: The numbers to be multipled being TMJB1 aaaai he takes them by threes, first perpendicularly and then disgonallv, thus: niiiit ot.sti s :xii3 rr 7-21x44; BUMN 6-r.x4l. 178,751 9,452.057.750 This, he assured us, was the whele mental process. He then cave us a very saccitt account of the mode in which the Missouri lad would square s number, however large, which emanated of numbers that repeated themselves by threes. For instance, suppose he wishes to multiply 3G5,3C-!viGo,365 by itself. The process is very simple. He first multiplies 968 by MS, which gives 133,225. Then substitutes Is fortaaU, and multiplies OT1,O01,OO1,OO1 by itself which e i res 1 no,(X)004,003,(J02,b01. Tin n he multiplies the common factor 130.225 by 1,002,003.004,003,002,001, w ith the following result : isaJHi .4.11 aV9.75 2üi.4öl ISSJM i si, v. iaawjaasaijBsjBi which, the Professor informed us, is the true result; and we have faith to believe it is without n:al;tng the eslculailon iu th" old way. Accord iug lo this easy and simple mode of arriving at the square of any number which repeats itseif by three figures, a number in billions may be Sqoared by itself in less time than Dexter would trot a mile the rapidity of the process increasing in each case with the degree of dexterity. We fiel, for our own part, that it is an intense satisfaction to understand just how this thing is done, and, therefore, publish it that our readers may experience the same satisfaction. Cliiat'jo Tribune. A Potent Charm. Twenty-three years ago or a little over a man, who was then young, set up in the grocery and dry goods business in a small village in Maine. He was known as a free-hearted, jovial fcOoW and as the habits of those times were not such as they are happily now, was quite as ready as any off his neighbors in taking a glass or two of mm. Indeed, his best frieuds became somewhat alarmed for him, fearing that his fate was likely le boomne that of a systematic drunkard. One day the clergyman w ho i fliciated in the district happened to say in the presence of this man ( whoundoubtedly had a superstitious quality about him), that he had a charm of amulet, the possession off which would surely lead a man to competence or fortune." The remark was noted, and great desire was expressed by the person in question to posses' such a valuable article. The clergyman mal he had many evidences OS the efficacy of the article ; but certain sacrifices were demanded of its possessor which he telt afraid his unfortunate friend might promise to make, but would forget to carry out, w hen the virtueof the charm would depart and never be restored Hut this objection was not allowed to stand in the w iy of the receipt ot such a valuable boon as the amulet was to prove, for the strongest promises off tidel ity to whatever condition might be impoocd were .civen. The g.vnl pastor gave Iiis consent to trial, and in due time product d a small pat kage, bound in leather, which he gave to the young tradesman, telling him that so long as he kept :t about his petOOSa, and so long as he never tasted a drop of intoxicating liquor, wealth would begin to come, and continue to flow into his coders. The conditions were accepted, and most faithtolly observeil, and the amulet worn until a few w reeks ago, when its on am fried, a worthy, wealthy man. After his funeral it was found in oue of the pockets of his clothing, and opened. The only thing in it was a circular piece of card on which could be faintly discerned the written words, which constitutes the moral of this true tale " fkmerotf Habit art th SvrtU flsmmss of fVesjawtfe esaf the Btt ViBtsuwee Wrfsat" Mother. Lamartine tells a story that exquisitely illustrates a mother's love: In some spring freshet, a river widely washed iU shores and rent away a bough whereon a bird hail built a cottage tor her summer hope. DaaiW nun white and whirling si renn drifted the green branch, its wicker eup of unfledged song, and fluttering Inside it as it went, the mother bird. In heeding the roaring river, on she went, her cries of agony and fear piercing the pauses in the storm. How like the love off the old-fashioned mother, who followed the child she had plucked from her heart, all over the world !wt pt away by passion that child might be, it matu red not, though he was beating away with him the fragrance ot the shattered rat tree, yet that mother was with him. a Ruth through ell Us life, and a Rachel at his death. A nf.w sjHuting mineral spring has let u accidentally de eloped Uear Saratoga, N V It throwi vaunt mi etui Inf high, similar to the Geysers ot belaud and California. Thb heart is six inches in length, foi r in diameter, and beats To times per min ut, 4.2m limes per hour, ldO.nuo times per day, und 37 770,000 times im. r year.