Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 2, Number 37, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 9 March 1872 — Page 6

6

8®

j*.. r"

THE LA WYER'8FARM

BT LTDIA MILUBK

My husband, though a lxwyer city bred, tJoio roe one morning said. "I think I'll boy a well- liled farm, With liuiue ana fluids and mock and barn.

A forty-acre farm f'd like If on« 1 »•«, I'll innkv Mrlko Qo rlichtofT, forthwith, and buy it,

jf

And we'll have some yearn of quiet. Bp added this wise expression,

,{Money

I K*-t from my profession

We need noi as**, we'll

make

the farm pay—

The rye aud wheat, the oau and hay.

ill. after weeks of search and thought, The forty-acre farm wax bought— A qunlnt ol'l house, ol1-fa"duoned farti

With woodland, saw-mill,dock pond, barn.

Instead of books, mosic. pin no, Ah! then we bought feed and guano! Money for ple«*ure once we used How went for plows and horses' shoes.

As for time lor arts and graces To l»e lu'lfy our lorm anl faces, Enrich and cultivate nur mind. 'm: Qr gratify our taste refined

ii=s|

li

into town our way we'd wend •To see some picture, book, or friend •"f Ko, no," «av Jnck, or Tom, or Motes, *We plow to-day, you can't have horsesf"

A1 »*1 we 0ud, to our great sorrow, They plow to day. and plow lo-inorrowf When plowing'* done, they all exclaim, '"Can't go to-day, the horse is lame!',

We want a bonnet, gloves, and collars, "And faintly **k for five more dollars. i"Onn'l spare It now," dot-s Nema nay, j*There's leed and blacksmith bill to pay.

'Then we want a waaton stronger, iQur's can't lust but little longer ijThat, ami three new horses' collars, ,Cost us ninety precious dollars.

)We can't buy nlrknacks, g'oves, and shoes, jTlll we pay for harness, »pHd«-s, and hoes. There's neighbor ,see how the tries

To do with little una economize!

ilS rightly managed, fall nnd spring iThls larm a fortune yet will brimg ^Bacli man around here I've heard say

We can and ought to make It pay.' I kept still then, as good wife ought, II pay» like rixty nr/w.' 1 houghi •-••"From morn till nluhteach mortal day

There's nothing—else to do—but—pay!

fortune can be made right here, 'If low imire hundreds he could take, And these broad acres richer make. -Had been widow, 'reft and lone, ,0r maiden old, with friend" nil gone

r-7

These horses, hens, ducks, g^ese, and cows These w.igoti*, pho.»pnaies. pigs, and plows, Thko all the money one can rake, An all for precious farm's dear sake.

We meant to make small fortune line, I'll cahhage mid the onion line Hul all our cabbage* proved small, And onions— ne'er came up at all!

Disease attacked the best potatoes, $ Aud hens ate up the larg'- louuitoes The little i111.-vini, wreu:h*H 6irlpp*'l all the currants off the hushes!

We hung twelve ponderous hams,one night, O'er smoke-house lire, all covered right. JJ»t 11, nexi morning, grieved, we louud Time-honored Ntnokt-hHio burned to ground! That ratal morn of fatal day Kacli prostrate ham In ashes lay!

Through all the years of ages hoar, Were tm* ne'er smoked quick before, llains eiirly losl! we drop a l« ar As we recall their uiemoiy dear. ..

I dll belles leltres «U resign. -, f. 'I ii butter-making spend some time, To see ir rortuiie'o crown my labors, Like iny good, skillful, Irugal neighbors.

I ohurned and churned and churned forever I thought the butler wouM emne—never! When butler did arrive at lust, It had no beauteous yellow cast.

Sut

1

Neina says he still sees clear

w.

Lii all wide earth, no (arm I'd see Should e'er bo bought or woi k» for me ,»,

IJnleas In midst of farm could be 'ifl} tfoiue great, wide-spreading money tree That 1 could give, each tall, a shake, And quick descending fortune take Now,'tis my settled, sage opinion, :'aA fui iii'm ii ^ond piiioe to Kp'-iid a million,

To work yomell iiIiiionI to ileal h,

i'Nor

take a ill .incut to get breath. :y you by farming wish to thrive, "nfou must your own plow hoi or drive And then, three hours before daybreak, *Your own protluce to maiket take

Hell every individual cherry (That Is, if birds have left you any), Aiiil pick each everlasting beiry, A»d never let one apple fall— \Jhbrul.ed, unhurt, pray, pick thoin all. You have money to throw away,

?ourwho

go and buy alarm some d.iy* great-great grand clilldicn, I daresay, If lhey work hard, may make li pay! But you can do n« we have done Uet limn* where railroads s«n :i will come! !Not on, bi/ farms the money's m.ide— When sold for thrlee the sum you've paid!

[Jonquln Miller In H« ribner's Monthly.]

A Miner's Secret.

A S A N IN W A CAMP.

Mexican Camp was a nesl of stibwwhl'e minor's tonta hudtlled down in a xllmple ol the Siorrtui. if you hud intood near the flag pole in the centre of the camp,on which the slurs and stripes raised or lowered on the arrival or departure ot the mustang express—the jonly regular thread connecting the camp with the outer world—and looked Intently West, you might have seen,on day of singular clearness, ueyond iaoiue new-born cities, the flash of the raciflo in the sun. At your back, mountains black with pine aud cedar, then hold atld grav with granite, basalt and cinder, then while with everlasting •now, and made you feel strong ana necure of intrusion in the rear. Close about you, on the hill-sides and in the

fiutbs

sstfSKill

MP

ulch, you h4ve seen trees lifting their above the beads of thou^auds of men who know for this tiuie no other •heller while at yout leelin the gulch, and as far down as the eye oould lollow it, ihe little uiuddy nirearn struglod on through little fleets ol lin and roti pans, great Mexican wooden bowls and through cradle*, loins, and sluiaes. You h*d sven long gray lines of Mexi 04n mulea stringing around the uioun lain, winding Into oaiup with their heavy burdens you had heard the •bouts, spiced thick with oaths, of the tawny packars. You had heard the •ound of the hammer and axe on every haud, lor a new city bad been born as it were, the night before, aud this was ita first struggl«*-cry and reaching of uncertain hauds. All day on either aide the stream sat a wall of men washing for gold. The Mexican and the American were aide by side that had been breast to breast at Montetey the lawyer wrought beside hia client the orter found his strong ariua made im the superior here to tne dainty genileman t» whose wants he had ouoe •ninistered.

That waa a democracy pure and aim* pie. Lift?, energy, earnestness. That the beginntug of a race in life in Vhich all had an even atari. Wh.t to impulse it waal It in»ptred the most iluugUb. It thrilled the uokI indifferOntrdignift«d and eum»bl«sd the

Uni»hI

mam that was there. Mexic.m mp

that was there.

baa pt rished, but it has left us :e*»ou— a verdict clear aud unqualified in favor of the absolute equality ot men without

r«r^^^ion of mervy to m^ U.flng, and both

sn *ecom turw of distress

Xch man, peer or peon, bad six feat the keen

of ground. That waa made a law at a miner's meeting held around the flagthe day it was raiaed. at which Kangaroo Brown presided with uncommen dignity, considering bis long term of service at Sydney, not to mention the many indiacretiona laid to hia charge before leaving hia native country at hia country'a expense,tor his country's good. It waa tirat passed that a miner should hold five leet only, but a Yankee who had an uncommonly rich claim moved a reconsideration, and without waiting to get a second, made a apeech and put in hia own motion. Thia waa hia speech and motion, delivered at the top of hia voice: "Boys, I go you a foot better. Blast it, let's give a fellow enough to be buried in, anyhow. Ail those that aay six feet make it manifest by aaying 'aye.'

There waa a chorua. "The »y®# have it, and aix feet is the lawj and I now declare this meeting adjourned 'sign die,' and the convict chairman descended irom the pine stump where be had stood iu his shirt sleeves, took up his pick and pan, and, divested of his authority of an .hour entered bis claim and bent bis back to the toil, as did the thousands ot men around him.

Mexican Camp flourished like a palm for many years, then, like all placingtniner cmnps, it began to decline. The gold washed from the best parts

of the gulch, and the best men ot the heart out of an

camp, one by one, returned to their bonais in other lands, or retired to camps deeper in the mountains, as their fortuues directed. As theSixon went out, the Celestial came in but gave no new blood 'o the camp. Vacant cabins and adobe chimneys stood

But there was one cabin that was never vacant it stood apart from town on the brown hillside, and us it was one of the first, so it promised to be the last ot the c.ttnp. Jt Always had an ugly bull dog tied to the door, and was itself a low, suspicious looking structure that year by year sunk lower and lower as the grass grew taller around it till it seemed trying to bide in thecliapparral. It had but one occupant, a silent, selfish man, who never une out by day except to bury hirnsell alone in his claim at work. Nothing was knowu of him at all save the story that he had killed his partner in a imbling house away back somewhere in '49. He was shunned and feared by all and he approached and spoke to no one. except the butcher and the grocer and the express-man and to these only briefly on business. I believe, however, that the old outcast known as "Forty-nine Jimmy" sometimes sat on the bank and talked to the murderer at work in his claim. It was even said that Fortynine was on fair terms with the dog at the door but as this was doubted by the man who kept the only saloon now remaining in Mexican Camp and who was consequently an authority, the report was not believt d.

This solitary man of the savage dog was known as "The Gopher." That was not the name given him by his parents but it was tue name Mexican Damp had given him a generation before, and it w.is now the only name by which he was known. The amount of gold which he had hoarded and hidden away In that dlstnul old cabin through years and years ol Incessant toil was computed to be enormous.

Year after year the grass stole fur ther down from the lull lops to which it had been (.riven, as it were, in the early settlement of the camp at last it environed the few reitiaing cabins, as if they were besipged, and tl s'ood up tall and undisturbed in the only remaining street. Still regularly three times a day the smoke curled up from the Gopher's cabin, and the bull dog kept unbroken sentry at the door. quartz lead had been struck a little way further up the uulcb, and a rival town established. The proprietors named the new camp "Orodelphl," but the man of the saloon of Mexicm Camp, who always insisted he is a born genius, called it "Hogem." It stuck like wax, and "Hogem" Is the only name by which the Utile town Is known to this day.

One evening there was consternation among the idlers o' Mexican unp. It was announced that the last jaloon was to be removed to Hogem. A remonstrance was talked of but when a man known as the "Judge," from his calm demeanor in the fice of the greatest trouble, urged that the calamity waa noi'so grave after all, since each man oould easily transport his blankets and trying pan to the vacant cabins of Hogem no more was said.

The next winter the Gopher was left utterly alone, ami in the January spring that lollowed, the grass and clover crept down strong and thick from the hills, and spread In a pretty carpet across the unmeasured st.eets of the once populous and prosperous Mexic in Cunp. Little gray-horned ton Is sunnod themselves on the great flit rocks thst had served as hearth-stones, and the wild hop-vines clambered up and aoross the lopliug and shapeless cbiuioeys.

Some idlers sat at sunset on the verandah of the saloon at tgein, looking down the gulch as the uiansiniti smoke curled up Irom ihe Gopher's cabin.

A sailor broke silence: "Looks like a Feejee oamp on a S »uih Sea Island. Robinson Crusoe—the last man of Mexican Camp—the last rose of Sum n.er." This was said by a young man who hnd sent some verses to the Hangtown Weekly.

Looks to me, in its crow's nest of chaparral, like the lucky aoe ofspades," added a man who sat apart contemplating the wax under the nail of his right forefinger.

Tbe schoolmaster here plclred np the ace of hearts, drew out hia pencil and figured rapidly. "Thcref" he cried, flourishing the card,

M1

put it at an ounce a day

eighteen years, and that is tbe result." The figures astonUhed them all. It was decided that the old miser had at least a mule load of gold in his cabin.

It Is my opinion," said the Squire, who was small of stature and consequently insolent and impertinent, "he bad ought to be taken up, tried and hung for killing hia trtner in 'IB." "The time has run out," add the Coroner, who now came op, adjusting a tall hat to which he was evidently not accustomed "tbe time for such esses, by the law made and provided, haa ran out, and it'a my opinion it can't be

dW-H

Not long alter this it waa discovered that the Gopher waa not at work. Then it came out that he waa very ill, and that old Forty-nine waa seen to enter hia cabin.

irlv ouc frosty morning jn the fall following, old Forty-nlue Jimmy the only aaloou In Hr by the door of the only aaloou In Hogeifi. He held an old bull-dog by a tow

man and

dog were

cold

p^

*s

tbey

wind that

group awaiting him away in the East, to be found wearing patches on his clothes, and even patches on the patches in fact I have known many who, coupling quaint humor with economy, wore—neatly stitched on that portion of a certain garment most liable to

all up and down the gulch, and liz trds wear slid tear when the owner had only bowlders and ird benches to sit upon —the last week's flour sack bearing this inscription in bold black letters, "Warranted superfine, 50 lbs,'* But

sunued themselves upon them undis lurbed. The butcher, the great autocrat of the mining camp, began to come around with nis laden mules but twice a week, instead of twice a day. A bad sign for he camp.

Forty-nine did not even have a patch, therefore no flour sack, ergo, no flour. The most certain sign of the wreck of a California miner is the absence of top-boots. When all other signs fail, this one is infallible. You can, with tolerable certainty, in the placier mines tell how a miner's claim is paying by the condition and quality of his topboots. Forty-nine had ho boots, only a

[lad

air

of slippers, improvised from "what been," and between the top of these and the leg* of his pantaloons there was no compromise across the naked. cold-blue ankles. These signs, together with a buttonless blue shirt that showed his hairy bosom, a frightful beard, »nd hair beneath a hat that dropped like a wilted p*lm leaf, were the circumstantial evidences from which Judge Barkeep made bis decision.

I have noticed that tho*e who stop, stand, and look longest at the tempting display of viands in cook shop windows are those who have not a penny to purchase with. Perhaps there wis something of this nature in old Forty-nine that impelled him to look again and again over his shoulder—as he clutched tighter to the tow string—at ihe cinna-mon-headed bottle washer behind the bar at Hogem.

As I stood before the man, he turned his eyes from the bar-keeper, and lifted them helplessly to mine.

Charlie is dead."

A new commotion in Hogem. Say what you will of gold, whenever any one shuts his eyes and turns forever from it, as if in contempt, for ad iy at le«st, xssumes a 'jesty proportionate with the amout he has left behind him, and se**ms to despise.

TERKK-HAUTE SATURDAY EVENING MAIL. MARCH 9, i872.

&

down from the anow-peaka. Aa I proachfd, the man ahivered till teeth chattered, and, clutching at hM string, looked helplessly over bfsshoulder at the uncomproulaing bar-keeper, who had juat ariaen and opened the the door to let out the bad odors of his den. The dog shivered, too, and came np and sat down close en* ugh to rereceive the sympathetio hand of old Forty-nine on hia broad bowed head. Thia man was a relic and a wreck. Nearly twenty years of miner's life and labor in the mountains, interrupted only by periodical spree, governed in their duration solelv by the reault of hia laat "clean up," had made him one

.. w,

of a claaa of men known only to the Pacific. True, he failed to negotiate with the aavage cinnamon-headed vender ol poison but be waa no beggar. It was aitnply a failure to abtain a Wall Street accommodation in a amall way. I doubt if the bristle-hair-ed bar-keeper himself questioned the hon sty of Forty-nine. It waa merely a question of ability to pay, and the deciaion of the autocrat had been promptly and firmly given againat the applicant. Perhapa in justice to the red-haired wretch that waaaed his tumblers and watched for victims that frosty morning, I nhould state that sppearancea were certainly against Fortynine. It is nothing at all xgaiust a brave, frugal gold-miner, lifting hia a over the Sierras to a

s-!

"Charlie who? Who is'Charlie?"' "Charlie Godfrey, the Gopher, and here is his dog and as he spoke the dog, rs if knowing his master's name, and feeling his loss, crouched close to to the old man's legs.

The Coroner, who was a candidate for

a higher office, marshaled the leading (spirits at Hogem, and proceeded to the cabin where the dead man lav. He felt that his reputation was at stake, and entering the cabin, said in a solemn voice: '"In the name of the law. I take possession of this premises." Some one at the door, evidently not a friend to to the Coroner's political aspirations, (rilled out: "O, what a hat!" The officer was not abashed, but towered up till his hat touched the roof, and repeated "In the name of the law, I take possession of this premises." This time there was no response or note of derUon, and it was quietly conceded that the Gopher and all his gold were in the hands of the Coroner.

Standing there ihe iury under direction of the Coroner, gave a verdict of "death from general debility." Some one tried to bring the Coroner to contempt again, by afterward calling attention to the fcict that he had forgotten to swear the jnry but the officer replied "It is not necessary in suoh cases by the law made and provided," and so was counted wise and correct

They bore the body of the last man of Mexican Camp to the graveyard on the hill—mav be a little nearer to heaven. How odd th it nearly all graveyards are on a hill. Tbe places of chief mourners were given because Forty-nine was the only present acquaintance of the deceased, or whether the dog quietly asserted a right that no one cared to dispute, is not certain. Most likely It was one those things that naturally, an therefore correctly, adjust themselves.

When these bearded men in blue shirts rested their burden at the open grave, they looked at each other and there was an unpleasant pause. Perhaps they thought ot the Christian burial service in other lands and felt that something was wanting. At last Forty-nine stole up close to the head of the grave, hesitated, lifted and laid aside his old slouch hat, and looking straight down into the earth said in a low and helplesa way:

E irth to earth, and dust to dust." hesitated again, and then continued "The muatard and the clover seed are but Utile things, snd no one can tell the one from the other yet bury them In the ntlerinost part of the earth, and each will bring ita kind, perfect and beuitiful—and—and—min Is surely more than a little seed, and—and here he broae down utterly, and knelt and kissed the face of the dead."

The men looked sway for while,aa If to objects on tbe borison, and then without looking at each other, or breaking alienee lowered the nnahapely box. caught np the spades,and found a positive relief in heaping the grave.

Then the Coroner, aa iu duty bound, or, as be expressed it, "as required in such cases made *nd provided,' directed his attention to a search for the burled treasure.

Yeast-powder boxes, oyster cans and sardine boxes, old beota and qickailver tanks were carried out to the light and luapeeted, without results. tTln

met ths

sblvwml

carna

e»g*r

pitching baked earthen

tbe

atraw of the bunk." said the Crooer— and bltnketa, bunk and atraw were carried out to the aun, bat not an ounce of grid. To make sure againat tbe Intrusion of the 111 disposed, the unwearied Coroner slept «»n the spot. The next day the hearth was taken up carefully, piece by pieoe, but only crickets cl id in black, and little pink «yed mice met the eagwr eyes of tbe men. At last

-yes of the men At

Iron some one suggmted th«t as

last

the hard-

floor

in whlehone would look for hidden treasures, that waa probably tbe first and only plaoe in whioh tne Oopber had bariea hia gold. The thought made the Coroner enthuaiastlc. He aent for picka, and, if I must ftell the truth, ana tbe whole truth, he sent for whisky also. By aunset, the earthen floor had been dug to tbe depth of many feet, and emptied outaide the door. Mot a fartbing'a worth ot gold waa found. The next day the cb.inney waa taken down. Lisarda, duat of adobes, but nothing more. I am bound to aay that about thia time, the memory of the man juat taken to tbe hill waa held lu but little reepect, and that a good or bad name, ao far as tbe over-sealous Coroner waa concerned, depended entirely on the reaulta of tbe aearch. But one inore thing remained to be done that was to remove the cabin. Shingle by ahlngle, log by !og, tbe atructure waa leveled. Wood rate,kangaroo mice, a rattleanake or two that had gone into winter quartera under tbe great logs, and that waa all. Not an ounce ot gold was found in the last cabin of Mexican Camp.

The flat waa then ataked of aa a mining ground by some enterprising strangers, and they began in the center to sluice it to the bedrock. Tbey sluiced up tbe gulch for a month, and then down the gulch for a month, until the whole hillside was scalped as it were, to the bone, and the treasure-hunters were bankrupt, but not even so much as the color of the dead man's gold was found.

Hogem was disgusted, and the Go-

fIvlng.

iher was voted a worse man dead than

It began to be noticed, however, that Forty-nine bad mended somewhat in his personal appearuuee since the death of the Gopher, and it was whispered that be knew where the tieasure was. Some even went so far as to say that he bad the whole pile of it in bis possession. "Some ot these nights he'll come up a missing," said the butcher strikiug savngeiy at his steel across nis block. Injustice to Hogem it must be observed she was not without grounds to go upon in her suspicions. For was not Forty-nine near the man at his death? And if he could get his dog why not get his gold also

One night Forty-nine, holding tight to a tow string, shuffled up to ine in a saloon, and timidly plucking my sleeve, said: "U.' •'Going away, I hear?" ,' "Yes. "To the States?" "Yes." 'o "Near to Boston "Maybe." a "Well, then, look here come with tne." And with an old dog bumping bis bead agamst his heels he led the way out of the door, down thegulcb to his cabin. He pulled the latch-string, entered, and finally struck a light, Slicking the candle in a whisky bottle lhat stood the greasy table in the center of the earthen floor, he picked up the tow string, and pointing to tbe bunk in the corner, we sat down together, and the old dog rested his nose be tween the old man's legs.

After lookihg about the cabin in nervous silence lor a time, Forty nine arose with a look of determination, handed me his string, stepped to a niche in the wall, and taking an old crevlcing knife, stuck it iu stoutly above the latch. "This means something," said I to myself. '"H- re will be a revelation,' and I confess that a vision of the Go pher's gold bags crossed my inind with tempting vividness. After a while the old man came back took up the whisky bottle, removed the candle from the niche, »nd, holding it up between his and the light, which he held in the other, seeincd to decide some weighty proposition, bv the run of the beads in the bottle, and then turned and offered It to me in silence. As I declined his kindness, he hurriedly took a long draught, replaced the candle, then came and sat down close at tny side, took bis string and the old dog again thrust his noso between his knees, "You so«"-1-and the man leaned over to tne, and began in a whisper and strangeness of manner that suggested that his mind was wandering—"you see, we all came out from Boston togother—Godfrey, that's the Gopher Wilson, that's Curly and f. Things didn't go right with me there after I cune away, so I just let them drift here. Lost my 'grip,' as tuey say didn't have any 'snap' any more, as people call it, Godfrey and Wilson got on very well, though, till Wilson was killed. "Till the Gopher killed him? I added. "Well, now, there's where it Is," said old Forty-nine, and he shuddered. The dog, too, seemed to grow nervous, and crowded his ugly head up tighter between the old man's legs.

Inartistic as it is, I must add that here he again bonded ine the string, and rising solemnly, went deliberately through the process of removing the candle and contemplating the contents ot the bottle. Agiin I declined the offer. I was wondering in what part of ihe wretched cabin were the bags of gold.

The man sat down and continued his storv exactly as before. '•"there's where it is, Godfrey did not kill Wilson. The Gopher did not kill Curley no more than did you. You see, Curley was young, a bright, beautiful, sunnv-ficed boy, that had bt»en petted to death by hi* mother and a houseful of sisters, and somehow, out here he fell to imbling and taking bit too much, and one night when Godfrey tried to get hiin away from a game, a set of roughs got up a row. upset the table, and Curley got knifed by some one of the set, who made a rumpus to get a grab at the money. Godfrey was holding the boy to keep him from striking for he was mad with drink. Poor Carley only said, 'Don't let tbein kn It at bome,' and died in bis arms. Everybody was stranger to evenrbody then, and no one took stock in that which did not directly concern him. People said Godfrey was right—that it was a case of self defense, and Godfrey never said word, never denied be kil'ed him, but went back to the cabin, took possession of every thing, snd bad It all bis own way. He worked likes Chinaman, and never took part in tbe miners' meetings or soything of the kind, and people began to fear and ahun him. By-and-by all his old acaaaintances had gone but me, snd be was only known as tbe Gopher."

Agiin Forty-nine paused, and the dog crept cl «er than before, as If he kn )w the name of bis master.

Onoe more tbe man arose, lifted the candle, contemplated tbe beada in tbe bottle aa before snd returned. He did not alt down, but took up and pulled back the blanketa at the end of the bunk. "I thought as much aald I to myself. "Tbe gold is bidden in the straw."

Look st them," said he and be threw down a bundle of papers, snd held tbe dim candle for me to read.

There w«te hundreds of letters, all written in a flue steel-plats lady's hand.

Some were -dd«ssed to•£

some to Wilson. Now

and

waa the last plsee! one with border of black, telling

I ben

was

someone at home no longer waited the return. Some of the letters I read. "Come home, come home," was at the bottom of them all. I chanced on one. addressed to Wilson, of a re® nt date, thanking him with all a mother's snd sister's tenderness for the money he had so constantly sent them through all the weary years. I did not understand it snd looked up st Forty-nine. He bent over me, as I sat on tne bunk beaide the letters, with his candle. "That was it* you see that wSa it. As Godfrey, that's the Gopher, is desd, snd can send them no more money, snd ss you was going to the States, I thought best that you ahould drop in and tell the two famillea gently somehow that they both were dead. S ty that tbey died together. He sent them the last ounce be had tbe week before he died, aud made me take theae let ters to keep them away from ihe Coroner, so that be might not know his address, snd so they might not know at borne lhat Curley had died long ago, and died a gambler. Take one of the letters along, and that will tell you where they are."

Again old Forty-nine resumed the tow atring. He looked toward the door and when I stepped across tbe sill, he pot out the light, snd we stood together.

The old dog knew there was but the one place for bis master outside of bis cabin at such a time, and, blind leading the blind, thither he led him through tuedark. -,w

AN UNSYMPATHETIC RAILROAD OFFICIAL. Your tare, if you pleaae, madame," said the conductor to an elderly lady who had got aboard at a way station. The elderly lady looked up and drawing forth a letter, spoke with a voice that was shrill: "Two of Mr. 'a children is dead, and they've writ me to come to tbe buryin, to-day. Isn't it turrible?" The conductor looked as shocked as possible, and expressed sympathy. "And," continued the old lady, "I want you to let me ride free." I can't let you ride free unless you have a pass," returned tbe conductor, mildly, "Not go to a funeral said the old lady. "No, madame," replied the conductor "I'm sorry to say that the rules of the road are very strict, and I am not allowed to discriminate." "Well, I think you oughn't to charge folks for going to a funeral," persisted the old lady. "If we let every body glng to funerals ride free," again spoke the conductor, "it wouldn't pay. Besides, it would be encouraging the funeral business in a way that would cast gloom over the eniire country, Your fare is a dollar and a half, madame."

Well retorted the old lady, drawing oi.t a well-filled purse, "1 think you might let me go free, 'specially as I'm going to a double funeral. Mr. 's children is both dead, and they'll be buried in the same grave, I reckon. Oh! it's a turrible blow!" And the old lady, wiping hereyes, paid her fare. As the conductor moved ou, she turned to a passenger and remarked, with some indignation, "Theso railroaders is the most unfeelin' folks I ever seed." —[Knoxville Press and Herald.

WALTZrNG. ,7

I have done a good deal of looking on while waltzing was in progiess. I have noted three varieties of waltzers. 1. Those to whom the business is hard and painful necessity, to which they are pre-ordained aud commanded, and which must be fulfilled. About nineteen out of twenty of the waltzing couples I have seen, served their generation in this variety of service, sad, serious and sorry, bot brave. 2. There are those to wh^ui the dance is a tine art, who enter upon it as artists, glad to carry out perfectly a system ot invention, which because It is existing in society, it is well for them to sustain absolutely well. These people do not havo Ihe agononized look of the first class they are p. eased with themselves which is something, and they are worth study, as illustrating one" more form of harihony cast in action. The third variety—most Germans by nationality—are people who are thoroughly happy, unconscious and at ease as they dauce. They dance as the thistle-down floats, w-nich we hoys used to cill a zephyr. When you see their unconsciousness and really childish simplicity in the in itier, it is hard to frown at waltzing, or to find any wrong in it.—[E. E. Hale in Old anil New.

AN EMBA RRAS8ING SITU A TION. An exchange informs us that the old philopena trick has been revived again in Alabama, where "the young lady takes a double almond in her teeth,and the young tnan bites It off. That sort ot thing used to be popular in Doylestown, Pa. but It is hardly ever tried any more since the painful accident which occurred at a philopena party last Winter. The lady who held the alinon between her teeth was somewhat advanced In years and not a Utile dilapidated. The almond was uncommonly tough, and the man who nibbled at it was in deadly earnest. He closed his teeth on It and polled. It would not give. He pulled harder but made no impression. He clinched his jaws upon it and gave a desperate wrench. It is unpleasant to relate what followed but, as truth crushed to earth will certainly rise again anyhow, whether we try to keep her down of not, we may be pardoned for saying that as a consequence of tbe violent efforts of tbe young man he found himself standing up in that room holding in his mouth a nut In which were fixed a double set of porcelain teetb belonging to the aforeaaid maiden. It was embarrassing in a certain sense for sll parties, tbe young man thought it would be soothing to tbe feelings of tbe company if be went bome. Other and less perilous games are in vogue st Doylestown this year.—[Max. Adeler.

CAST1LIAN PRIDE.

Probably but a small proportion of our readers were aware that Spain waa at war with half the countries in South America, snd has been for some scores of years. It has been a u.ost comical sort of wsr, one possible only for state like Spain, too proud to peroeive its own ridiculously humiliating position. Spsin could not endure to recognise the independence of its colonies, snd it bsd not tbe strength to fight them. So there has been a long cessation of actusl hostilities, but no declared. Our government offered its meditation to the peaceful belligerents, and has been suocessfuL But uoes the resder suppose peace to have been declared?" Ob! no. Spsin oould not brook such sn indignity. England might be so poor-spirited ss to acknowledge tbe independence of her coionlea: but 8paln never! But pragmatical Spain would consent to agree to "a general armistice or truce," and that is solemnly declared by tbe plenipotentiaries of Spain, and of Peru, Chill, Ecuador and Bollva. Bot It is not a peace. By no means. And Spain has not acknowledged the Independence of the allied republics, nor will she everf—

I 1 1

A DIVE FOB A DIAMOND

Bttng a Nowt BoiUd Down.

CHAPTER I.

"•I1BOUNDING TBS SQtTABK.

St

It wss night. The moon shone brlght-

ly, silvering the tree tops of a dingy New York square, on the pavement around the railings of which two persons wers promenading, conversing ths whUe. "And you will always love me, Hughie—always—fbrever and ever

It waa a fair-haired, graceful girl who spoke these words and there was an eloquent tenderneaa In her blue eyes whioh would have melted a harder heart than that of the handsome young fellow on whose arm ahe leaned so lovingly.

He gnsed fondly Into the beautiful pleading orbs upraised to his, as hs replied: "Love you, dsrling yes. slways—as faithfully and truly aa I do to-day. And you—are you content to wait till your father's clerk earns enough of your father's monov to buy you a bome —and then to wed ntin Are you willing to abare hia lot—his po\erty, It maybe? Is your love strong enough for this, Esther my p*edous?" "It is Hugh, it is," she whispered. "Henoetorth your lot is mine. If I have your love, I care for neither poverty nor rlchea." "My darling." replied Hugh—"ray sweet, unselfish darling! How shall I reward such devotion

Helgbo! the old, old story, you see —tbe old story, always old, yet ever new—the old, old story.

CHAPTER II.

THE PILING OT OF THK AGONY. It was morning—morning at the Central Park end of New York, and in a magnificently furnished apartment, in one of its largest mansions, were two persons—father and daughter.

Tbe room was brilliantly lighted— necessarily so, lor outside log reigned supreme, and it was as dark us pitch. Yes, it was morning. "Now, Esther," said the gentleman, "let us have no nonsense about it. Hugh Grayson, a clerk In iny employ, acting in what he calls a straightforward manner, asks me very coolly to let him marry you. I don't intend ho shall do anytning of the sort hut as I admire straightforwardness as much as innch as he, I have sent him straight about his business." "But, papa—1 love him! oh, ,how I love!" said she, and her eyes filled with tears. "Nonsense!"

,v«

"But, papa" .. "Nonsense, I tell you. Now, run away and dry your eyes, aud let me road my city article." "Bui, papa I do love hiin, and—I am so unhappy." "I won't henr another word. I will take the consequences, if you do what I tell you. So run—a—way with yout" "What do you say?" Esther cried, starting up with a strange light in her eyes. "I said go—a—long— with—you. That is what I said." "Pa !', said Esthor again, as if stunned. "I repeat," continued the obstinate old man, be—off—with—you

Tne next Instant she is gone. "But what the duse the means," said her t'.ither, when he was alone, "I dou't

CHAPTEU III. ."1 TUB SKTTLKU.

It was fortnight later. Great bliss

Frevailedain

a little cottage at Staten

sland, where resided a newly married couplo. Great consternation reigned in a big house in Fifth Avenue, from which a young lady, named Esther, was missing.

The newly married couple were enjoying a cosy tea, one pleas.int evening, when, without any ceremony whatever, in walked tho identical hard-hearted parent treated of in the last chapter. ".So, I have found you at last," he said: and then, with a directness thit reminded Esther irresistibly of Wllkie Collins, he went on "And what I want to know Is—is it Mrs. or Miss "It isn't Miss, papa it's Mrs.," said Esther. "Yes, sir," said Hugh, rising grandly and drawing Esther to bim "this Is liiv wife." flie father looked from one to the other in mute surprise. "Rebellious girl!" said he, "is thia tbe way you obey me "You told me I might," Esther responded, "and I did." "1?" "Yes you said you hnd sent Hugh away, and then told me to accompanv him. You said 'Run away with Hugh. Go away with Hugh, and I did." "Oh!" cried the old man, aa tbe frightful truth flashed upon bim, and be fell down all of a heap on tbe floor.

The old gentleman never got his senses again,'

Tbatdretdful misconception settled him. He lived for years, but never afterward would touch anything that was spelled with U. He wouldn't carry an Umbrella, nor go Up a street, and he cut his Uncles dead.

His favorite amusement was to buv boxes of toy alphabets, and destroy all the U's he could And. Aud In this sort of occupatton he psssed the remsinder of bis natural life.

DIABOLICAL REVENOE. Down in Wilmington tbey haves law against tbe storage of nitro glycerine and other explosive chemical compounds within the city limits. And so tbe other d*y a certain individual, who had a grudge against a man named Smith, informed the authorities that Smith had large quantitie* of congealed protoxyd of hydrogen aecretea In an out-house in his yard. Two policemen immediately proceeded to Smith's to make an investigation. Smith denied the allegation. He said It was a sheer fabrication the man who asserted that be had protoxyd of any kind around his place was a sinner in whom the truth was not to be found. But tbe policemen insisted upon examining tbe premises. Smith said tbev shouldn't. A conflict ensued snd, sfter Smiths bead bad been smashed into a jelly, and lumpa had been raised on him, and bis srin broken, snd chops enough for a small family dinner had been bitten from his leg by the policemen's dog, tbe officers laid him on the sofa to recuperate, and started for the yard. Tbey found there only the Ice-house, packed full. It occurred to them then to go around to the drug store and ascertain tbe nature of oongealed protoxyd of hydrogen, so that tbey would know it when they aaw it. Tbev learned that hydrogen In that shape is mereas now lyiee. And poor old Smit brought aix or seven suits against the city for dafnsges—one suit for each ruined arm, leg, bead and nose. But all the policemen now are studying up In chemistry.—] Max Adeler.