Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 November 1889 — Page 3

ALLAN QUATERMAIN.

A Record of Remarkable Adventure* aad Discover!ee.

SrNOPSIS. £ Allan Quatermain, hunter, chafing under the restraints of civilization, and in the death of his son Harry being lonely and disconsolate, without kith or kin, concludes to make another trip into Africa. He had heard indistinctly of a distant part of Africa being peopled with a strange white race, and he proposed to go to Alt. Kenia, thence to Mt. Lekakisera. thence into the unknown beyond, and if possible, discover the the truth or falsity of the report. He broached the subject to his old friends and associate adventurers 4n Kukuanaland— Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good—who themselves weary of their situation, eagerly join in the proposed expedition. Thereupon the party embark for their new field of adventure. In due season they reached Lamu and with the aid of the consul soon complete arrangements with a party of Wakafi Askai to transport their goods. This party were loth to make the trip, but wore induced to do so by the de inands and threats of U mslopogaas, a |deposed Zulu chief whom' Quatermain had knowd in other adventures.! The reader will be enabled' by this synopsis to peruse the thread of the story in the following chapters: CHAPTER 11. TIIE BLACK HAND. In due course we left Lamu, and ten days afterward we found ourselves at a spot called Charra, on the Tana River, having gone through many adventures which need not be recorded here. Among other things we visited a ruined city, of which there are many on this coast, and which must once, to judge from their extent and the numerous remains of mosques aud stone houses, have been very populous places. These ruined cities are immoasureably ancient, having,l believe, been places of wealth and importance as far back as the Old Testament times, when they were centers of trade with India and elsewhere. But their glory has departed now—the slave trade has finished them—and where once wealthy merchants from all parts of the then civilized world stood and bargained in the crowded marketplaces, the lion holds his court at night, and instead of the chattering of slaves andjdfe eager voices of the bidders, his awful note goes echoing down the ruined corridors. At this particlar place we discovered a mound, covered up with rank growth and rubbish, two of the most beautiful stone door-ways that it is possible to conceive. The carving on them was simply exquisite, and I regret that we had no means of getting them away. No doubt they had once been the entrances to a palace, of which, however, no traces were now to be seen, though probably its ruins lay under the rising mound. Gone! quite gone! the way that everything must go. Like the nobles and the ladies who lived within their gates, these crtics have'had their day, and now they are as Babylon and Nineveh, and as London and Paris will one day be. Nothing may endure. That is the inexorable law. Men and women, empires and cities, thrones, principalities and powers, mountains, rivers, and unfathomed seas, worlds, spaces and universes, all have their day, and all must go. In this ruined and forgotten place the moralist may toehold a symbol of the universal destiny. For this system of ours allows no room for standing still—nothing can loiter on the road and check the progress of things upward toward Life, or the. rush of things downward toward Death. The stern policeman Fate moves us and them on, on, uphill and downhill and across the level; there is no rosting-place for the weary feet, till at last the abyss swallows vis, and from the shores of the Transitory we are hurled into the sea of the Eternal. At Charra we had a v.iolent quarrel with the headsman of the bearers we nad hired to go as far as this, and who now wished to extort large extra payment from us. In the result he threatened to set the Massai—about whom more anon—on to us. That night he with all our hired bearers, bolted, stealing most of the goods which had been intrusted to them to carry. Luekily, however, they had not, happened to steal our rifles, ammunition and personal effects; not because of any delicacy of feeling on their part, but owing to the fact that they chanced to be in the charge of five Wakwafis. After that, it was clear to us that we had enough of caravans and of bearers. Indeed, we had not much left for a caravan to carry. And yet, how were we to get on? It was Good who solved the question. • 'Here is water, ”he said, pointing to the Tana River; “and yesterday I saw a party of natives hunting hippopotami in canoes. I understand that Mr. Mackenzie's mission station is on the Tana River. Why not get into cafioes and paddle into it?" ■ This brilliant suggestion was, needless to say, received with acolamation; and I instantly set to work to buy suitable canoes for surrounding the natives. I succeeded after a delay of three dayß in ebtaining two large ones, each hollowed out of a single log of some light wood, and capable of holding six people and baggage. For these two canoes we had to pay nearly all our remaining cloth, and also many other articles. ' On the day following our purchase of'the two eanoes we effected a start. In the first oanoe were Good. Bir

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD,

Henry and three of our Wakwafii followers; in the second myself, Umslopogaas. and the other two Wakwafis. As our course lay up stream, we had to keep four paddles at work in each canoe, which meant that the whole lot of us, except Good, had to row like galley-slaves; and very exhausting work it was. I say, except Good, for, of course, the moment that Good got into a boat, his foot was on his native heath, and he took command of the party. And oh, my word, didn’t he work us! On shore Good is a gentle, mild-mannered man, ahd given to hut, as we found ta our cost, Good in a boat was a perfect demon. To begin with, he knew all about it, and we didn’t. On ail nautical suhjects, from the torpedo fittings of a man-of- war down to the best way of handling the paddle of an African canoe, he was a perfect mine of information, which, to say the least of it, we were not. Also his ideas of discipline were of the sternest, and, in short, he came the royal naval officer over us pretty considerably, and qpaid us out amply for all the chaff we were wont to treat him to on land; but,’ - on' the other hand, lam bound to say that he managed the boats admirably. After the first day Good succeeded, with the help of some cloth and a couple of poles, in rigging up a sail iu each canoe, which lightened our labors not a little. But the current ran very strong against us, and at the best we were notable to make more than twenty miles a day. Our plan was to start at dawn, and paddle along till about half past ten, by which time the sun got too hot to allow of further exertion. Then we moored our eanoes to the bank, and eat our frugal meal; after which we slept or otherwise amused ourselves till about three o’clock, when we again started,ahd rowed till within an hour of sundown, when we called a halt for the night. Oh landing in the evening, Good would at once set to work, with the help of the Askari, to build a little ‘scherm,’ or small inclosure, fenced with thorn bushes, and to light a fire. I, with Sir Henry and Umslopogaas, would go out to shoot something for the pot. .Generally this was an easy task, for all sorts of game abounded on the banks of the Tana. One night Sir Henry shot a young cow-giraffe, of which the marrowbones were excellent; on another I got a couple of waterbuck right and left; and Once, to his own intense satisfaction, Umslopogaas (who, like most Zulus, was a vile shot with a rifle) managed to kill a fine fat eland with a Martini I had lent him. Sometimes we varied our food by shooting some guinea-fowl, or bush-bustard (paau) —both of which were numerous—with a shot gun, or by catching a supply of hfiautiful yellow sis, with which the waters of the Tana swarmed, and which form, I believe, one of the chief food supplies of the crocodjles. Three days after our start an ominous incident occurred. We were just drawing in to the bank to make our camp as usual for the night, when we caught sight of a figure standing on a little knoll not forty yards away, and intently watching our approach. One glance was sufficient, although I was personally unacquainted with the tribe, to tell me that he was a Masai Elmqran, or young warrior. Indeed, had I any doubts, they would have quickly been dispelled by the terrified ejaculation of “Masai!** that burst simultaneously from the lips of our Wakwafi followers, who are, as I think I have said, themselves bastard Masai. And what a figure he presented as he stood there in his Bavage war gear! Accustomed as I have been to savages all my life, I do not think that I have ever before seen anything quite so ferocious or awe-inspiring. To begin with, the man was enormously tall, quite as tall as Umslopogaas, I should say, and beautifully, though somewhat slightly, shaped; but with the face of a devil. In his right hand he held a spear about five and a half feet long, the blade being two and a half feet in length, by nearly three inches in width, and having an iron spike at the end of the handle that measured more than a foot. On his left arm was a large and well-made elliptical shield of buffalo hide, on which were painted strange heraldiclooking devices. On his shoulders was a huge cape of hawk's feathers, and round his neck was a ‘naibere, ’ or strip of cotton, about seventeen feet long, by one and a half broad, with a stripe of color running down the middle of it. The tanned goat-skin robe, wbidh formed his ordinary attire in times of peace, was tied lightly round his waist, so as to serve the purposes of a belt, and through it were stuck, on. the right and left sides respectively, his short, pear-shaped sime, or sword, which is made of a single piece of steel, and carried in a wooden sheath, and an enormous knobkerrie. But perhaps the most remarkable feature of his attire consisted of a head-dress of ostrich feathers, which was fixed on the chin, and passed in front of the ears to the forehead, and being framed like an ellipse, completely framed the face, so that the diabolical countenance appeared to project from a sort of feather fire screen. Round the ankles he wore black fringes of hair, and. projecting from the upper portion of the calves to which they were attached, were long spurs like spikes, from which flowed down tufts of the beautiful black and waving hair of the Colobus monkqy. Such was the elaborate array of the Masai Elmoran who stood watching the approach of oar two

canoes, but it is one that, to be appreciated, muit be seen; only those who see it do not often live to describe it. Of course I could not make out all these details of his full dress on the occasion of this my first introduction. being, indeed, amply taken—up~wtt3r the consideration of the general effect, but I had plenty of subsequent opportunities of becoming acquainted with the items that went to make it up. Whilst we wore hesitating what to do, the Masai warrior drew himself up in a dignified fashion, shook his huge spear at us, and, turning, vanished on the further side of the slope, “Halloo!” hallooed Sir Henry from the other boat; ‘ ‘our friend the caravan leader has been as good as his word, and set the Masai after us. Do you think it will he safe to go ashore?” I did not think it would be at all safe; but, on the other band, we had no means of cooking in the canoes, and nothing that we could raw, so it was difficult to know what to do. At last Umslopogaas simplified matters by volunteering to go and reconnoiter, which he did, creeping off into the bush like a snake, whi’stwe hung off in the stream waiting for him. In half an hour he returned, and told us that there >vas not a Massai to be seen anywhere about, but that he had discovered a spot where they had recently been encamped, and that from various indications he judged thas they must have moved on an hour or so before; the man we saw having no doubt been left to report upon our movements. Thereupon we landed; and, having posted a sentry, proceeded to cook and eat our evening meal. This done, we took the situation into qur serious consideration. Of course, it was possible' that the apparition of the Massai warrior had nothing to do with us, that he was merely one of a band beat upon some maraiiding and murderons expedition against another tribe. Our friend the consul had told Hgrtbat such expeditions were about. But when we recalled the threat of the caravan leader, and reflected on the ominous way in which the warrior had shaken his spear at us, this did not appear very probable. On the contrary, what did seem probable was that the party was after us and awaiting a favorable opportunity to attack us. This being so, there were two things that we could do—one of which was to go on, and the other to go back. The latter idea was, however, rejected at once, it being obvious that wo should encounter as many dangers in retreat as in advance; and, besides, we had made up our minds to journey onward at any price. Under these circumstances, however, we did not consider it safe to sleep ashore, so we got into our canoes, and, paddling out into the middle of the stream, which was not very wide here, managed to anchor them by means of big stones fastened to ropes made of cocoanut-fiber, of which there were several fathoms in each canoe. Here the mosquitoes nearly eat us up alive, and this, combined with anxiety as to our position, effectually prevented me from sleeping as the others were doing, notwithstanding the attacks of the aforesaid Tana mosquitoes. And so I lay awake, smoking and reflecting on many things, but. being of a practical turn of mind, chiefly on how we were to give those Massai villains the slip. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and, notwithstanding the mosquitoes, and the great risk we were running from fever from sleeping in such a spot, and forgetting that I had the cramp very badly in my right leg from squatting in a constrained position in the canoe, and that the Wawakfii who were sleeping by mo smelled horribly, I resllv began to enjoy myself. The moonbeams played upon the surface of the running water that speeded unceasingly past ustoward the ~Bea, like men’s lives toward the grave, till it glittered like a wide sheet of silver, that is in the opon where the trees threw no shadows. Near the however, it was very dark, and ,he night wind sighed sadly in the reeds, To our left, on the further side of the river, was a little sandy bay which was clear of trees, and here I could make out the forms of numerous antelopes advancing to the water, till suddenly there came an ominous roar, whereupon they all made off hurriedly. Then after a pause I caught sight of the massive form of his majesty the lion, coming down to drink his fill after meat. Presently he moved on, then came a crashing of the reeds about fifty yards above us, and a lew minutes later a huge black mass rose out of the water, about twenty yards from me, and snorted. It was the head of a hippopotamus. Down it went without a sound, only to rise within five yards of where I sat. This was decidedly too near to be comfortable, more especially as the hippopotamus was evidently animated by intense curiosity to know what on earth our canoes were. He opened his great mouth, to yawn I suppose, and gave me an exoellent view of his ivories; and I could not help reflecting how easily he could crunch up our frail canoe witfi a single bite. Indeed, I had half a mind to give him a ball from my eight bore, but oh reflection determined to let him alone unless he actually made for the boat. Presently he sunk again as noiselessly as before, and I saw no more of him. Just then, on looking toward the bank on our right, I fancied that I caught sight of a dark figure flitting between the tree trunks. I had very keen and I was almost sure that I saw something, but whether it was bird, beast, or man I could not say. At the moment, however, a dark cloud passed over the moon, and I saw no more of it. Just then, too, although all the other sounds of the forest had ceased, a species of horned owl With which I was well acquainted began to boot with great persfjvency. After that, save for the

rustling of trees and reeds when the wind caught them, there was complete silence. But somehow, in the most »«»/»- .countable way, I had suddenly become nervous. There was no particular reason why I should be, beyond the Ordinary reason* which surround the Central African traveler, and yet I undoubtedly was. If there is one thing more than another of which I have the most complete and entire scorn and disbelief, it is of presentiments, and yet here I was aH of a sudden filled with and possessed by a most undoubted presentiment of approaching evil. I would not give way to it. however, although I felt the cold perspiration stand out upon my forehead. I would not arouse the others. Worse and worse I grew, my pulse fluttered like a dying man’s, my nerves thrilled with the horrible sense of impotent terror which anybody who is subject to nightmare will be familiar with, but stillmy will triumphed over my fears, and I lay quiet (for I was half-sitting, half-lying in the bow of the canoe), only turning my faee so as to command a view of Umslopogaas and the two Wakwafii who were sleeping alongside of and beyond me. Iu the distance I heard a hippopotamus splash faintly, then the owl hooted again in a kind of unnatural screaming note, * and the wind began to moan plaintively through the trees, making a heart-chilling music. Above wai the black bisora of the cloud, and beneath me swept the black flood of the water, and I felt as though I and death were utterly alone between them. " I ; was very desolate. Suddenly my blocd seemed to freeze in my veins, and my hea; t to stand still. Was it fancy, or were we moving? I turned my eyes to look for the other canoe which should bo alongside of us. - 15 1 sould not see it. but instead I saw a lean and clutching black hand lifting itself above the gunwhale of the little boat. Surely it was a nightmare! Atthe same instant a dim'; but devilish-looking face appeared to* rise out of the water, and then came a lurch of the canoe, the quick flash of a knife, and an awful yell from the Wakwafii who-was sleeping by my side (the same poor fellow whose odor had been annoying me), and something warm spurted into my face. In an instant the spell was broken; I knew that it was no nightmare, but that we were attacked by swimming Masai. Snatching at the first weapon that came to hand, which happened to be Urnslopogaas’s battle-ax, I struck with all my force in the direction in which I had seen the flash of the knife. The blow feel upon arm r andr catching it against the thick wooden gunwhale of the canoe, completely severed it from the body above the , wrist. As for its owner, he uttered no sound or cry. Like a ghost he came, and like a ghost he went, leaving behind him a bloody hand still gripping a great knife, or rather a short sword, that was buried in the heart of our poor servant. Instantly there arose a hubbub and confusion, and 1 “fancied, “rightly or wrongly, that I made out several dark heads gliding away toward the righthand bank, whither we were rapidly drifting, for the rope by which we were moored had been severed with a knife. As soon as I had realized this fact I also realized that the scheme had been to cut the boat loose, so that it should drift on to the right bank (as ! it would have done with the natural swing of the current), where no doubt a party of Masai were waiting to dig their shovel-headed spears into us. Seizing one paddle myself, I told Ums opogaas to take another (for the remaining Askari was too frightened and bewildered to be of any use), and together we rowed vigorously out toward the middle of the stream; and not an instant too soon, for in another minute we should have been aground, and then there would have been an end Of US. -rvAs soon as we were woll out we set to work to paddle the canoe up stream again to where the other was moored; and very hard and dangerous work it was in the dark, with nothing but the notes of Good’s stentorian shouts, which he kept firing off at intervals like a fog-horn to guide us. But at last we fetched up, and were thankful to find that they had not been molested at all. No doubt the owner of the same hand that had severed our rope should have severed theirs also, but I was led away from his purpose by an irresistible inclination to murder when he got tbe chance, which, while it cost us a man and him his hand, undoubtedly saved all the rest of us from massacre. Had it not been for that ghastly apparition over the side of the boat—an apparition that I shall never forget till my dying hour—the canoe would undoubtedly have drifted ashore before I realized what had happened, and this history would never have been written by me. «N» doubt this owl a wingless bird. 1 afterward learned that the hooting «>f au owl la ! a favorite signal auto g the Masai tribes. TO BE CONTINUED.

Little Helps.

Good Uoaiekeeplag. P ants will not thrjive in a draft Sponge a shiny coat with ammonia and water. 1 Soak machine oil stains in cold water before washing. r Butter is tainted by any strong smelling odor. Therefore it should bt kept by itself. | Have coffee pulverized. A third less will be required, and the quality much improved. There Is no economy in cheap soap* Get the best, when half the quantity Clothes dry out much stiffer when powdered borax is put into the hot starch just before using.

THE REWARD OF MERIT.

Robbed by a Highwayman In tha Mammoth Cave. When I stopped off at the Mammoth | Cave House last fall to have a look at she big underground exposition,“there were only a few guests in the house. Only one of them particularly attracted my attention, and he might not have done so had he not introduced himself, borrowed a cigar, offered me a sip of his cough medicine and otherwise exhibited his desire to be friendly- When he finally got seated for an interchange of views he claimed to be Col. Henry Blanchard, late of a Tennessee regiment. That is, he was about twenty-five years late, having coloneled the regiment during the last years of the war. 1 think he also told me which side he fought on, and that he was an awful fighter, but just at that time I was wondering about the :cave and I didn't put down the figurea I do remember, however, that the colonel told me that he was a millionaire, and I furthur remember that I managed to convey the impression that I had about three millions at my disposal. Experience has taught me that it is better to lie about those things—to out-lie the other party. When a stranger has in ormed you that he can draw his check for a coot million, and you h ,ve replied that you’d be glad if you could draw one for §25, the inevitable result is a coolness which soon drifts you to opposite sides of the pasture of life. 1 tbere-fox-e make it a rule to let the other man fix hi 9 figures to suit himself und then I double them. The colonel next informed me that he. had arrived, on too grounds with speculat.on in view. He bad heird that the cave was for sale at a. ridiculously low figure. The owner of it had got the idea that mammotff caves were going out of style find would soon be a drug in the market, and would therefore sell out for a trifle—something like $50,000. “Was I looking for au investment on which I could double ray money in thirty days ? I was. Would I take half of it? I would. If it had been a farm or a viney rd or a yoke of cattle I might h .ve hesitated, but one never runs any risk in buying a cavo. It is right there. It stands in any climate. It is always he .1 thy and productive. If it should fail as a cave, owing to some change of public sentiment, one can turn it into a eakb storage, a state prison or a pirate's lair and reap fair interest on the capital. It was agreed that we should walk over to the cave the next day, and it was further agreed that we keep the matter as still as death. There were other millionaires there and they might catch on. We were to set out at 8 a. m. so as to go slow and look for other caves orr the road. Before setting out I gave the landlord my watch and all my money but a dollar, and when ready to go I stepped off as light infantry. The colonel was awaiting me down stairs, and under his directiocs I slipped quickly away in one direction, while he took another aud soon joined me. “We’ve got to work this thing mighty easy," he explained. “Chances to t make a million dollars don’t grow on e very bush, and if the fact that this cave is for sale was known in Louisville a special train of millionaires would be out here to-night.” 1 agreed with him, and we took to the fields and made short cuts. We had gone two-thirds of the distance and were passing over a wooded ridge , and chatting : s friendly as two emper- ' ore, when I heard a click ! click ! behind me and the colonel sang out: “Halt! Throw up your hands! “What’s the matter, colonelsnakes ?’’ “If you don’t do exactly as I order I will blow your head off!” he replied. “But what’s the order ?” “Shell out! I want everything you’ve got!” “Is this a put-up job ?’’ “It is." “And you are not Col, Henry Blanchard, late colonel of a late Tennessee regiment in the late wai*?” “Not any ! Shell *” “Would you rob an orphan of his all ?” I asked, hoping to reduce his heart to a liquid state and then outrun him. “I would, and don’t you bother me too long!” Then I began to shelL 1 shelled out a silver dollar and laid it on arock. Then I shelled out a cigar c se, two quill toothpick*, am tch safe, a cigar, a pocket knife, and a phial of peppermint essence which I used for toothache. “Come down!” he yelled as I stood and looked at him. “I have.” “I want your money P “There it is. I’ve got $23 and a railroad ticket to Detroit at the hotel, but you’ll nave to wait until we return there.” “Where’s your watch ?’’ “At the hotel.” “You miserable, poverty-stricken wretch, but you lied to me about your millions!” he shouted. “But you lied first” “Turn your pockets wrong side out!” I complied and be saw their emptiness. “That’s a regular Yankee trick,” he growled as he tried to hide his chagrin. “If it wasn't for the trouble of hiding your carcass I’d shoot you! Now, then, do as I tell you I” * W ith pleasure. M ~- “Go straight toward those trees, and don’t you stop until you reach them. If you look back I’ll shoot you.” “I picked up everything but the dollar, wished him good day and setj out. and after reaching the trees I I made a circuit and finally brought tip I at the hotel. When I told the land- : lord what had happened he cxolaim- j ed: „ “Is it possible? Why he owes me j for a week’s board ! What will hap- ! pen next, I wonder !” A week later I met the colonel In Lexingtonr Kv. I met him face to face on the street, end his embarrassment! was so great that I feitsorry for him: ! In order to put him at his e se and I prove that l bad no h >rd feelings towards him, I held out my hand and { said. !

“Colonel, yon owe mo a dollar, bor rowed money,’* “Just looking for yon tort I might pay it," be replied, and he wont into his.vest pocket aad brought up mj 1872 dollar. Then we smiled and pasted on.

A Senatorial Poker Game.

Years ago Senators Jones, Vest Stewart, and Cameron were playing a game of poker one evening, says the San Francisco Examiner, and although the stakes were not high the company was good and it ran until long after midnight. A few days afterward Vest remarked to' Jones: “I say, Jones, wasn’t that a nice game the other evening? Everything went along so weß and no one at the game had to watch the other*throe. I like a gentleman’s game like th it, where you don’t even have to cut the cards for a square deal.” Jones, who is an incorrigiblo wag, fllUinAnl if DAnooi vail tKrt Koifina ouuucu'j LUuLciVCU Lut3 IUCiI U 1 UavtUg some fun with Vest, so he manufactured a story to fit the occasion. “I’m glad you . think so,” he said, “but Bill Stewart doesn’t have that idea of it” “What!” said Vest, quite seriously, “do you mean to tell me that Stewart thinks there was cheating in that game?" _ “That’s the idea he conveyed to his wife when he reached home. She spoke to me about it yesterday." “I’m re illy sorry to hear that," said Vest “I feel hurt to hear be felt that he hadn’t, lost his money on the square.” “I feel thesame way,” replied Jones. “I felt as if a thunderclap had struck inq." “What did he really say about it?' asked Vest “We i, he enme home about 3 o’clock and his wife noticed that his bs.ird was all covered with tobacco jnioe —a very unusual thing for him—and she took him to task for it: He said he hod been in a senatorial poker game. “ ‘Were there no cuspidores in the room?’ “ ‘Yes. plenty of ’em.’ “Couldn’t you turn from the cards lon enough to uso them?’ “ *No, my dear; not in that game.”’

Four Old Churches.

Lincoln county, Maine, famous for Indian relics and other antiquities, ha* three churches that were built before the Revolution, and one whose doors were opened at the very d iwa of the present century. The German Lutheran Church at Waldoboro was erected in 1771, and is still in a good state of preservation. It is a queer old wooden structure, with pews like boxes, and an elevated pulpit, and galleries around three sides. Its interior finish is quite elaborate, but unpainted, and its windows are set with odd little panes of glass, which admit a very doubtful light. Its Bible and other books are as old as the building, and the sexton, Miles W. Standish, is a lineal descendant of the Puritan Captain. Waldo* boro was settled by Germans, and us to the year 1830 services in the old church were connected in the German language. At that time, however, the congregation had become Anglicized to such, a degree that they preferred their sermons in bad English. Regular services were discontinued fifty years ago, but the society keeps up its organization, and once a year the whole countryside flocks to the quaint old church to attend the anniversary services, which prevents it from fall, ing into complete disuse. “Walpok Church” in Bristol closely resembles the Waldoboro edifice, and is still iq good condition after 117 years oi almost continuous use. Io Aina, near Wiscasset, there is a church which it supposed to be about 115 years old. and one mile from Newcastle village stand* a Catholic church, built of brick, which was completed early in the year 1800. It is plastered with lime burned from rock brought from Ireland, and, although a dingy little church, seem* likely to stand for a century yet

Cologne Drinking.

One of the latest fads is cologne drinking. It is common in England and France and is gaining ground !• America. Cologne can be bought without exciting suspicion at the drug stores and its intoxicating qualities are of the most reliable character. The cologne drinker usually begins by taking it On lumps of sugar and progressively works up to take it straight in liberal quantities. As most of the American cologne is made from wood alcohol, a particularly venomous and fiery decoction, its effeett are more marked than those of the ordinary liquor, and the drinker may indulge ■ his appetite with a responsible cer tainty that he will wind up with de lirium tremens. But this, instead o being an objection to cologne drinking, is regarded as one of its merits, the tendency of bibulous development Beeming to be in the direction of something more deadly.

The Prettiest Girl in St. Louis.

Miss Nellie Pratt, who was chosen by the votes of the exposition visitors as the prettiest of all the pretty girls in the building, is a very handsome and petite young lady, who carries her honors easily. She is neither a blonde nor brunette, having golden hair, with just enough curl iu it to give a pretty effect to the well poised head. Deep blue eyes, which the owner knows how to use to the best advantage, sparkle saucily beneath drooping eyelashes, and a well-round-ed outline, with shapely arms and bust, small but well-formed feet and bands, coupled with a no t dress, makes an ensemble that is fair to look upon. Miss Pratt claims 19 summers to her credit, but tothe usual observer this looks like an exaggeration.

Wanted Something New.

*•1 love you, Emeline. with all the fervor at ray command,'* he said, a* they strolled out East avenue. “Tea. George,” she replied, “I know It, and yet I would that you told mo of your love in some other terms. 1 have been lqved with fervor, oh! so many tines, and 1 do want this match to amount te something. ”