Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 17, Number 33, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 5 February 1887 — Page 7

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THE MAIL.

PKUOY MOFTAT.

A PAPER FOR THE PEOPLE.

•AS A SUNBEAM DP.AWS THE DEW.

'Mid tho petals of tbe roses ':|V Trembling dcwdropH hide apart, Till the morning soon discloses

Sunlieams mirrored in each heart: Till each heart is warmed and lightened And it's sphere of action heightened

Ah, th« heart of hearts doth woo As a sunbeam diaws the dew.

Thou, ray sunbeam, wanning, gleaming, Art tbe someone of my heart TVith hy hcav'n alluring beaming

Blessing of thy Joy impart To thy somewhere heaven toko me What thou hopest of me mabo me

Lo! my hand and heart are thine In my heart, too, thou art mine. -G. L. Wilson in The Current

HEIRESS OF RED DOG.

family others had felt perhaps too keenly the deep responsibility resting upon them when chosen from the panel as jurors, and had evaded their public duties a few had declined office and low salary but no one shrank front the possibility of having been called upon to assume tbe functions of Peggy Moffat, the heiress.

The will was contested—first by the widow, whom it now appeared had never been legally divorced from the deceased next by four of his cousins, who awoke, only too late, to a consciousness of his moral and pecuniary worth. But the humble legatee—a singularly plain, unpretending, uneducated .western girl—exhibited a dogged pertinacity in flailing hw rights. She rejected all compromises. A rough seme of justice in the community, whilo doubting her ability to take care of the whole fortune, suggested that she ought to bo content with $900,000. "Sbe^i bound to throw even that away on some darned skunk of a man, natoorally bat three millions too modi to give a chap for makin' her ouhappy. It's offerin' temptation to cuasedness." The only opposing voice to this counsel came from the sardonic lips of Mr. Jack Hamlin *8uppaw," suggested thai gentleman, turning abruptly 00 the speaker*-"suppose, when you won $30,000 at

away in tbe first skin game in

^•5.

BT BRET HAUTE.

^Copyrighted by Houghton, Mifflin A Co., and published by arrangement with them.]

The first intimation given of the eccentricity •of tbe testator was, I think, in the spring of 1854 He was at that time in possession of a -considerable property, heavily mortgaged to •one friend, and a wife of some attraction, on 'whose affections another friend held an in•cumbering lien. One day it was found that toe had secretly dog, or caused to be dag, a •deep trap before the front door of his dwelling, into which a few friends, in the course •of the evening, casually and familiarly dropped. This circumstance, slight in itself, seemed to point to the existence of a certain humer in the man, which might eventually get into literature, although his wife's lover— a man of quick discernment, whose leg was broken by the fall—took other views. It was some weeks later that, while dining with certain other friends of his wife, he excused himnelf from the table to quietly reappear at the front window with a three-quarter inch by--draulic pipe, and a stream of water projected at the assembled company. An attempt was made to take public cognizance of this but a majority of tho citizens of Red Dog, who were not at dinner, decided that a man had a right to choose his own methods of diverting bis company. Nevertheless, there were some hints of his insanity his wife recalled other •acts clearly attributable to dementia the crippled lover argued from his own experience that tho integrity of her limbs could only be secured by leaving her husband's house and the mortgagee, fearing a further damago to his property, foreclosed. But here tho cause •of all this anxiety took matters into his own hands and disappeared.

When we next heard from him he had, in somo mysterious way, been relieved alike of his wife and property, and was living alone at llockville, fifty miles away, and editing a newspaper. But that originality he had displayed when dealing with tho problems of his •own private life, when applied to politics in the columns of Tho llockville Vangulfird wtia singularly unsuccessful An amusing exaggeration, purporting to be an exact account of tho manner in which the opposing caiuli•date bad murdered his Chinese laundryman, was, I regret to say, answered only by assault and battery. A gratuitous and purely Imaginative description of a great religious revival in Calaveras, in which tho sheriff of the county—a notoriously profane skepticwas alleged to have been tho chief exhorter, resulted only in the withdrawal of tho county •advertising from tho paper. In tho midst of this practical confusion he suddenly died. It was then discovered, as a crowning proof of his Absurdity, that ho had loft a will bequeathing his entiro effects to a freckle faced maid mrvant at tho Rockville hotel. But that at surdity became serious when it was also discovered that among these effects were a thousand shares in the Rising Sun Mining company, which a day or two after his demise, and while people wero still laughing at his grotesquo benefaction, suddenly sprang into opulence and celebrity. Three millions of dollars was roughly estimated as tho value

of the estate thus wantonly sacrificed. For 4t is only fair to state, as a just tribute to the enterprise and energy of that young and thriving settlement, that there was not probably a singlo citizen who did not feci himself better able to control the deceased humorist's property. Some had expressed a doubt of their ability to support a

me last FHday

sight —suppose thai Instead of handing you over the money as I did—suppose Fd got vp on ay hind legs, and said, 'Look rw, Bill Wetbcrsbee, you're a d—d fooL If give ye that twenty Ujwaand, you'll throw it

fFrisco,

5*"^

and

hand it over to the first short card sharp youH meet There's a thousand—enough for you to fling away,—take it and get!' Suppose what Pd to you was the frozen truth, and you ltnow'd it, would that have been the square thing to play on your But here Wethersbee quickly painted oat the inefficiency of the comparison by stating that he had won the money fairly with a stake. "And how do you know," demanded Hamlin savagely, bending his black eyes on tbe astonished casuist—"how do you know that the gal beaut put down a stake!" The man stammered an unintelligible reply. The gambler his white hand on Wethersbee's shoulder. "Look here, old man," he said, "every gal stakes her whole pile—you can bet your life on that—whatever's her little game. If she took to keerds instead of her feelings, if she'd put up 'chips' instead o' body and soul, she'd bust every bank twixt this and 'Frisco! You tiAftf mef)

C.1

Somewhat of this idea was conveyed, I fear not quite as sentimentally, to Peggy Moffat herself. The best legal wisdom of San Francisco,retained by the widow and relatives,took occasion, in a private interview with Peggy, to point out that she stood in the quasi-crimi-nal attitude of having unlawfully practiced upon the affections of an insane elderly gentleman, with a view of getting possession of his property, and suggested to her that no vestige of her moral character would remain after the trial, if she persisted in forcing her claims to that issue. It is said that Peggy, on hearing this, stopped washing the plate she had in her hands, and, twisting the towel around her fingers, fixed her small pale blue eyes at the lawyer. "And ee that the kind o' chirpin these critters keep upf "-"VY'' "I regret to say, my dear young lady," responded the lawyer, "that the world is censorious. I must add," he continued, with engaging frankness, "that we professional lawyers are apt to study the opinion of the world, and that such will be the theory of— our side." "Then," said Peggy stoutly, "ez I allow I've got to go into court to defend my character, I might as well pack in them three millions too."

There is hearsay evidence that Peg added to this speech a wish and desire to "bust the crust" of her traducers, and, remarking that "that was the kind of hairpin" she was, closed the conversation with an unfortunate accident to the plate that left a severe contusion on the legal brow of her companion. But this story, popular in the barrooms and gulches, lacked confirmation in higher circles. Better authenticated was the legend related of an interview with her own lawyer. That gentleman had pointed out to her the advantage of being able to show come reasonable cause for the singular generosity of the testator. "Although," ho continued, "the law does not go back of the will for reason or cause for its provisions, it would be a strong point with tho judgo and jury—particularly if the theory of insanity were set up—for us to show that the act was logical and natural. Of courso you hove—I speak confidently, Miss Moffat—certain ideas of your own why tho lato Mr. Byways was so singularly genus to "No, I haven't," said Peg decidedly "Think again. Had he not expressed to you—you understand that this is confidential between us, although I protest, my dear young lady, that I see no reason why it should not bo made public—had he not given utterance to sentiments of a nature consistent with somo future matrimonial relations?" But here Miss Peg's large mouth, which had been slowly relaxing over her irregular teeth, stopped him. "If you mean he wanted to marry me— No!" ... "I sec. But were there any condition.«£-of course you know the law takes r.o coguizance of any not expressed in the will but still, for ho sake of mere corroboration of the boquest—do you know of any conditions 011 which he gave you the property "You mean did he want anything in return F' "Exactly, my dear young lady."

Peg's faco on one side turned a deep magenta color, on tho other a lighter cherry, whilo her noss was purple and her foiTltcr.d nn Indian rat. To aud to tho effect ni thij awkward and discomposing dramatic

rxhibitionof embarrassment, she began to wipe her hands on her dress, and sat silent.

understand," said the lawyer hastily. "No matter—the conditions were fulfilled." "No!" said Peg amazedly. "How could they bo until he was dead!"

It was the lawyer's turn to color and grow embarrassed. "He did say something, and m&ke some conditions," continued Peg, with a certain firmness through her awkwardness "but that's nobody's business but mine and liis'n. And it's no call o' yours or theirs." "But-, my dear Miss Moffat, if these very conditions were proofs of his right mind, you surely would not object to make them known, if only to enable you to put yourself in a condition to carry them out." "But," said Peg cunningly, Vpose you and tho court didn't think 'em satisfactory? S'pose you thought 'em queer? Eh?"

With this helpless limitation on the part of the defense, the case came to trial. Everybody remembers it—how for six weeks it was the daily food of Calaveras county bow for six weeks the intellectual and moral and spiritual competency of Mr. James By ways to dispose of his property was discussed with learned and formal obscurity in the court, and with unlettered and independent prejudice by camp fires and in barrooms. At the end of that time, when it was logically established that at least nine-tenths of the population of Calaveras were harmless lunatics, and everybody else's reason seemed to totter on its throne, an exhausted jury succumbed one day to the presence of Peg in the court room. It was not a prepossessing presence at any time, but the excitement and an injudicious attempt to ornament herself brought her defects into a glaring relief that was almost unreal. Every freckle on her face stood oot and asserted itself singly ber pale bine eyes, that gave no indication of her force at character, were weak and wandering, or stared blankly at the Judge ber orer-sised head, broad at the base, terminating in the scantiest joerible light colored braid in the mfckUe of her narrow shoulders, was as hard and uninteresting as the wooden spheres that topped the railing agdnst which she asfc.

m:i%!

«•aw

The jury, who for six weeks had had ber described to them by the plaintiffs as an arch, tHly enchantress, who had sapped the foiling reason of Jim Byways, revolted to a man. There was something so appallingly gratuitous in her plainness, that it was felt

three

millions

hat

was scarcely a compensation

for it. "Ef that money was give to her die earned it sure, boys it wasnt no softness of the old man," said the foreman. When the jury retired it was felt that she 'had cleared her character when they re-entered the room with their verdict it was known that she had been awarded three millions damages for its defamation.

She got the money. But those who had confidently expected to see her squander it were disappointed on the contrary, it was presently whispered that she was exceedingly penurious. That admirable woman, Mrs. Stiver, of Red Dog, who accompanied her to San Francisco to assist her in making purchases, was loud in her indignation. "She cares more for two bits than I do for five dollars. She wouldn't buy any thing at the "City of Paris," because it was "too expensive," and at last rigged herself out, a perfect guy, at some cheap slopshops in Market street. And after all the care Jane and me took of hor, giving up our tima and experience to her, she never so much as made Jane a single present." Popular opinion, which regarded Mrs. Stiver's attention as purely speculative, was not shocked at this unprofitable denouement but when Peg refused to give anything to clear the mortgage off the new Presbyterian church, and even declined to take shares in the Union ditch, considered by many as an equally sacred and safe investment, she began to lose favor. Nevertheless, she seemed to bJas regardless of public opinion as she had been before the trial took a small house, in which she lived with an old woman who had once been a fellow servant, 011 apparently terms of perfect equality, and looked after her money. I wish I could say that she did this discreetly but the fact is, she blundered. The same dogged persistence she had displayed in claiming her rights was visible in her unsuccessful ventures. She sunk $200,000 in a worn out shaft originally projected by the deceased testator *he prolonged tbe miserablo existence of The Rockville Vanguard long aftqr it had ceased to interest even its enemies she kept the doors of the llockville hotel open when its custom had departed she lost the cooperation and favor of a fellow capitalist through a trifling misunderstanding, in which she was derelict and impenitent she had three lawsuits on her hands that could have been settled for a trifle. I note these defects to show that she was by no means a heroine. I quote ber affair with Jack Folinsbee to show she was scarcely the average woman.

That handsome,' graceless vagabond bad struck the outskirts of Red Dog in a cyclone of dissipation, which left him a stranded but still rather interesting wreck in a ruinous cabin not far from Peg Moffat's virgin bower. Pale, crippled from excesses, with a voice quite tremulous from sympathetic emolion, more or less developed by stimulants, he lingered languidly, with much time on his hands and only a few neighbors. In this fascinating kind of general deshabille of morals, dress and the emotions he appeared before Peg Moffat. More than that, he 'occasionally limped with her through the settlement. The critical eye of Red Dog took in the singular pair—Jack, vdlublo, suffering, apparently overcome by remorse, conscience, vituperation and disease and Peg, open mouthed, high colored, awkward, yet delighted and the critical eye of Red Dog, seeing this, winked

meaningly at Rockville. No one knew what passed between them, but all observed that one summer day Jack drove down the main street of Red Dog in an open buggy, with the heiress of that town beside him. Jack, albeit a trifle shaky, held the reins with something of his old dash and Mistress Peggy, in an enormous bonnet, with pearl colored ribbons a shade darker than her hair, holding in her

•a 0UMWV

The moon was hi^li when they returned. Those who had waited to congratulate Jack on this near prospect of a favorable change in his fortunes were chagrined to find that, having seen the lady safe home, be had himself departed from Red Dog. Nothing was to be gleaned from Peg, who, 00 the next day and ensuing days, kept the even tenor of her way, sunk a thousand or two more in unsuccessful speculation, and m&de no change in her habits oif personal economy. Weeks passed without any apparent sequel to this romantic idylNothing was known definitely until Jack, a month later, turned up in Sacramento, with a billiard cue in his band, and a heart overcharged with indignant emotion. "I dont mind saying to yoa, gentlemen, in confidence," said Jack to a circle of sympathising players—"! dont mind telling yon regarding this thing, that I was as soft on that freckled

IBIPf WM A WflM awwiV «JM SMM iwws sai a

Jack, with a hysterical laugh. "Why, blank it all! offered me $35 a week allowance—pay to be stopped when I wasnt at home!" The roar of laughter that greeted this frank confession was broken by a quiet voice asking, "And what did you say?"—"Say?" screamed Jack, "I just told her to go to with her money."—"They say," continued iho quiet voice, "that you asked her for the loan of $350 to get you to Sacramento—and that you got it."—"Who says so?" roared Jack. "Show me the blank liar." There was a dead silence. Then the possessor of tbe quiet voice, Mr. Jack Hamlin, languidly reached under the table, took the chalk, and, rubbing the end of his billiard cue, began with gentle gravitv: "It was an old friend of mine in Sacramento, a man with a wooden leg, a game eye, three fingers on his right band and a consumptive cough. Being unable, naturally, to back himself, he 1« aves things to me. So, for the sake of argument," continued Hamlin, suddenly laying down his cue and fixing bis wicked black eyes on the speaker, "say it's me!"

I am afraid that this story, whether truthful or not, did not tend to increase Peg's popularity in a community where recklessness and generosity condoned for the absence of all the other virtues and it is possible also that Red Dog was no more free from prejudice than other more civilized but equally disappointed matchmakers. Likewise, during the following year, she made several more foolish ventures, and lost heavily. In fact, a feverish desire to increase her store at almost any risk seemed to possess her. At last it was announced that she intended to reopen the infelix Rockville hotel, and keep it herself. Wild as this scheme appeared in theory, when put into practical operation there seemed to be some chance of success. Much, doubtless, was owing to ber practical knowledge of hotel keeping, but more to her rigid economy and untiring industry. The mistress of millions, she cooked, washed, waited on table, made the beds and labored like a common meniaL Visitors were attracted by this novel spectacle. The income of tbe house increased as their respect for the hostess lessened. No anecdote of her avarice was too extravagant for current belief. It was even alleged that she had been known to carry the luggage of guests to their rooms, that she might anticipate the usual porter's gratuity. She denied herself the ordinary necessaries of lifa She was poorly clad, she was ill-fed—but the hotel was making money.

A few hinted of insanity others shook their heads, and said a curse was entailed on the property. It was believed, also, from her appearance, that she could not long survive this tax on her energies, and already there was discussion as to the probable final disposition of her property.

It was the peculiar fortune of Mr. Jack Hamlin to be able to set the world right on this and other questions regarding hei

A stormy December evening had set in when he chanced to be a guest at tbe Rockville hotel. He had, during the past!week, been engaged in the prosecution of his noble profession at Red Dog, and had, in the graphic language of a coadjutor, "cleared out the town, except his fare in the pockets of the stage driver." The Red Dog Standard had bewailed his departure in playful obituary verse, beginning, "Dearest Johnny, thou hast left us," wherein the rhymes "bereft us" and "deplore" carried a vague allusion to "a thousand dollars more." A quiet contentment naturally suffused his personality, and he was more than usually lazy and deliberate in his speech. At midnight, when he was about' to retiro, he was a little surprised, however, by a tap on his door, followed by the presence of Mistress Peg Moffat, heiress, and landlady of Rockville hotel.

Mr. Hamlin, despite his previous defense of Peg, had no liking for her. His fastidious taste rejected her uncomeliness his habits of thought and life were all antagonistic to what ho had heard of her niggardliness and greed. As she stood there, in a dirty calico wrapper, still redolent with the day's cuisine, crimson with embarrassment and the recent heat of tho kitchen range, she certainly was not an alluring apparition. Happily for the lateness of the hour, her loneliness and the infe'ix reputation of the man before her, 6he was at least a safe one. And I fear the very consciousness of this scarcely relieved her embarrassment. "Xm&s' "I wanted to say a few words to ye alone, Mr. Hamlin," she began, taking an unoffered

seat on the end of his portmanteau, "or I shouldn't hev intruded. But it's the only time I can ketch you, or you me for I'm down in tho kitchen from sunup till now."

faced, red eyed, tallow haired gal a* if ahatt hurriedly. "Hefe ailin' agin, and is mighty been a a—an actress. And I dont mind low. And he's losin1 a heap o' money here

gentlemen, that, as far as I trader- and thar, and mostly to you. Yoa cleaned women, she was jot. as soft on me, him out of two thousand cjkrilars last nightYon kin laugh but it's so. One day I took all be had." her out boggy riding—in style, too—and out on the road I offered to do the square thing, just as if she'll been a lady—offered to marry mine, Pd sak ye to let up a little 00 him, bar than «nd there. And wb^di^dor said ^jajd Ig with an affected ling. -You kin

She stopped awkwardly, as if to listen to the wind, which was rattling the windows, and spreading a film of rain against the opaque darkness without. Then, smoothing her wrapper over her knees, she remarked, as if

TT U|'^l VfW "VI AUVW)

short, pink-gloved fingers a bouquetof yellow opening a desultory conversation:

1 «.1.«n*A/1 Avktvw-KOJSM In /Iiefnaeefitl ..mi 1 i.„: J«

roses, absolutely glowed crimson in distressful gratification over tho dashboard. So these 'two fared on, out of tho busy settlement into the woods, against the rosy sunset. Possibly it was not a pretty picture nevertheless, as the dim aisles of the solemn pines opened to receive them, miners leaned upon their spades and mechanics stopped in their toil to look after thorn. The critical eye of Red Dog, perhaps from the sun, perhaps from the fact that it bad itself once been young and dissipated, took on a kin'!y moisture as it gazed.

"Thar's a power of rain outside." Mr. Hamlin's only response to this meteorological observation was a yawn, and a preliminary tug at his coat as he began to remove it. "I thought ye couldn't mind doin' me a favor," continued Peg, with a hard, awkward laugh, "portik'ly seein' ez folks allowed you'd sorter bin a friend o' mine, and bed stood up for me at times when you hedn't any portiUer call to do it. I bevn't," she continued, looking down on her lap, and following with her finger and 1'iumb a seam of

ber

gown—"I hevnt so many friends ez dinga a kind word for me these times that I disremeiuber them." Her under lip quivered up a little here and, after vainly bunting for a forgotten handkerchief, she finally lifted tho hem of ber gown, wiped ber snub nose upon it, bat left the tears still in her eyes as she raised them to the man.

Mr. Hamlin, who had by this time divested

hirrtcnlf

of his coat, stopped unbuttoning his

waistcoat, and looked at her. "Like ez not that'll be high water on the North Fork, ef this rain keeps on," said Peg, as if apologetically, looking toward tbe window.

The other rain having ceased, Mr. Hamlin began to unbutton his waistcoat again. "I wanted to ask yo a favor about Mr.— about—Jack Folinsbee," began Peg again

•Wellf" said the gambler ooidly. "Well, I thought as yoa woe a friend o»

do it. Dont let hiui play with'ye." "Mistress Margaret Moffat," said Jack with lazy deliberation, taking off his watch and beginning to wind it up, "ef you're that much stuck after Jack Folinsbee, you kin keep him off of me much easier than I kin. You're a rich woman. Give him enough money to break my bank, or break himself for good and all but don't keep him forlin' round me in hopes to make a raise. It dont pay, Mistress Moffat—it dont pay!"

A finer nature than Peg's would bavo misunderstood or resented the gambler's slang and tho miserable truths that underlaid it. But she comprehended him instantly, and sat hopelessly silent. "Ef you'll take my advice," continued Jack, placing his watch and chain under his pillow and quietly unloosing his cravat, "you'll quit this yer forlin', marry that chap and hand over to him the money and the money makin' that's killin' you. He'll get rid of it soon enough. I dont say this because I expect to git it for when he's got that much of arraise he'll make a break for 'Frisco, and lose it to some first-class sport there. I dont ray, neither, that you maynt be in luck enough to reform him. I dont say, neither—and it's a derned sight more likely 1—that you mayn't be luckier yet, and he'll up and die afore he gits rid of your money. But I do say you'll make him happy nour and, ez I reckon you're about ez badly stuck after that chap ez I ever saw any woman, you wont be hurtin' your own feeling either."

The blood left Peg's face as she looked up. "But that's why I can't give him the money— and he won't marry me without it"

Mr. Hamlin's hand dropped from the last button of bis waistcoat. "Cant—give—him —the—money?" he repeated, slowly. "No." sj-4* "Why?" xii "Because—because I fore him." 'J

Mr. Hamlin rebuttoned his waistcoat and sat down patiently on the bed. Peg arose and awkwardly drew the portmanteau a little nearer to him. "When Jim Byways left me this yer property," she began, looking cautiously around, "be left it to me on conditions not conditions ez waz in his written will, but conditions ez waz spoken. A promise I made him in this very room, Mr. Hamlin— this very room, and on that very bed you're sittin' on, in which he died."

"On that very bed you're aittM on."

Like most gamblers, Mr. Hamlin was superstitious. ^e rose hastily from the bed and took a chair beside the window. The wind shook it as if the discontented spirit of Mr. Byways were without, re-enforcing his last injunction.

"I dont know if you remember him," said Peg, feverishly. "He was a man ez hed suffered. All that he loved—wife, fammerly, friends—had gone back on him. He tried to make light of it afore folks, but with me, being a poor gal, he let himself out. I never told anybody this. I don't know why he told me—I don't know," continued Peg, with a sniffle, "why he wanted to make me unhappy, too. But he made me promise that, if he left me his fortune, I'd never, never—so help me God—never share it with any man or woman that I loved. 1 didn't think it would bo hard to keep that promise then, Mr. Hamlin, for I was very poor and hedn't a friend nor a living bein' that was kind to me but him." "But you'vo as good as broken your promise already," said Hamlin. "You've given Jack money," as I know." 1 "Only what I made myself Lts£en & me, Mr. Hamlin. When Jack proposed to me, I offered him about what I lcalliilatcd I could earn myself. When he went away, and was sick and in trouble, I came here and took this boteL I lmew that by hard work I could

inula* it pay. Don't laugh at me, please. I did work hard, and did make it pay—without takin' one cent of the fortin'. And all I made, workin' by night and day, I gave to him. I did, Mr. Hamlin. I ain't so hard to him as you think, though I might be kinder, I know."

Mr. Hamlin rose, deliberately resumed his coat, watch, hat and overcoat. When he was completely dressed again he turned to Peg. "Do you mean to say that you've been givln all the money you made here to this A1 first class cherubim?" "Yes but he didn't know where I got it Oh. Mr. Hamlin! he didn't know that." "Do I understand you, that he's bin bucking agin faro with the money that you raised on hash? And you makin' the hash?" "But he didn't know that. He wouldn't hev took it if I'd told him." "No, he'd hev died fust!" said Mr. Hamlin gravely. "Why, he's that sensitive—is Jack Folinsbee—that it nearly kills him to take money even of me. But where does this angel reside wben he isn't flghtin' the tiger, mi is, so to speak, visible to the naked eye?" —be—stops here," said Peg, with an awkward blush. "I sea. Might I ask tbe number of his room—or should I be a—disturbing him in his meditations?" continued Jack Hamlin, with grave politeness. "Ob! thenyouHpromise} And youH talk to Mm, and make him promisef "Of course," said Hamlinquietly. "And youH remember he's sick—very Ask! His room's

No.

—W

44, at tbe end of the ball. Per

haps rd better go with your "I'll find it" "And you wont be too hard on himf

IH be a father to him," said Hamlin demurely, as he opened the door and stepped into tbe halL Btafc be hesitated a moment, ami then turned 'and gravely beld out bis hand. Peg took it timidly. Ho did not seem quite in earnest^ and his black eye*, vainly

faint cough from within, and a querulous protest, answered his knock. Mr. Hamlin entered without further ceremony. A sick- ... ening smell of drags, a palpable flavor of stale dissipation, and the wasted figure of $ Jack Folinsbee, half dressed, extended upon the bed, greeted him. Mr. Hamlin was for g* an instant startled. There were hollow circles round the sick man's eyes there waa palsy in his trembling limbs there was diss®lution in his feverish breath. "What's up?" he asked huskily and nervously. "I am, and I want you to get up too." "I cant, Jack. I'm regularly done up.* He reached his shaking hand toward a glass half filled with suspicious, pungent smelling liquid but Mr. Hamlin stayed it. "Do you want to get back that $2,000 yoa lost?" v. {-i x.

"Yes."# "Well, get up, and marry that woman, down stairs."

Folinsbee laughed half hysterically, half sardonically.

"She wont give it to me." "No but l^filL" "You?" i. "Yes." Folinsbee, with att'attempt at a reckless laugh, rose, trembling and with difficulty, to his swollen feet. Hamlin eyed him narrowly, and then bade him lie down again. "Tomorrow will do," he said, and then"

"If I don't"— "If you don't," responded Hamlin, "why, mi just wade in and cut you out!"

But on the morrow Mr. Hamlin was spared that possible act of disloyalty for, in tha night, the already hesitating spirit of Mr. Jack Folinsbee took flight on the wings of the southeast storm. When or how it happened, nooody knew. Whether this last excitement, and the near prospect of matrimony, or whether an overdoso of anodyna had hastened his end, was never known. I only know that when they came to awaken him the next morning the best that was left of him—a face still beautiful and boy like—looked up coldly at tha tearful eyes of Peg Moffat. "ft serves me right, it's a judgment," she said la a low whisper to Jack Hamlin "for God knew that I'd broken my wprd, and willed all my property to him."

Sho did not long survive him. Whether Mr. Hamlin ever clothed with action the suggestion indicated in his speech to the lamented Jack that night is not of record. He waa always her friend, and on her demise becama her executor. But the bulk of her property was left to a distant relation of handsoma Jack Folinsbee, and so passed out of the con*, trol of Red Dog forever. *V" THE END.

WHAT IS SAID ABOUT IT. There Is no medicino which has been offered to the people for the past fifty years that has attained the popularity of Pomoroy's Plaster. It Is an external Remedy that relieves at once Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Backache, and all common ills that are sure to como, whioh do not need a doctor, but must be attended to, and it is so simple and harmless that anybody, old or young, can use it. As a guarantee of their worth, physicians everywhere recommend thom, and in many instances they use them in their own practice. They areaniiulispensiblo household remedy, and no family should be without them.

JPOR DYSPEPSIA,

Mental and Physical ExIwostioB,

Nenonsness, Weakened Energy, INDIGESTION, Etc.

ACID PHOSPHATE

A liquid preparation of the phosphates and phosphoric acid.

Recommended by physicians. It maKes a delicious drinx.

Invigorating and strengthening. Pamphlet free. For sale by all dealers.

Ruiuford Chemical Works. Providence. R.

BEWA BE OF IMITATIONS.

P18C8

RKWEDY

FOB

CATAB&H

jrfves immediate relief. Catarrhal virus is soon expelled from tho eyn tcra, and the diseased action of tht mucous membrane is replaced by healthy secretions.

The dose to small. One packfl,, contains a sufficient quantity for a long treatment.

A A

A cold in tbe Head is relieved by an application of Pixo's Remedy for Catarrh. Tbe comfort to be srot from it in this way is worth many times its cost

Buy and pleasant to use.£f£|M Price. SO cents. Sold by druggists or sent by malL

T. HAXELTIKB,Warren, Pa.

OB ATEKUI.—COM FOKTIW O.

Epps's Cocoa

BKKAKFA8T«

"By a thorough knowledge of the natund laws whlchj tton and nut tlon of the flnc propertkCocoa, Mr. Epp* has provided our breakfa—, tables with a delicately flavored beveraga. which may save us many heavy doctors' bills. It is by the judicious use of such a*tides of diet that a constitution may be graioaJiy bulltup until strong enough to restate, every tendency to disease. Hundreds

tie maladies are floating

But be shook

her warmly, and tbe next moment gone. fie found the rswes with no difficulty. A

OIIOIH

around

tut ready tm

attack wherever there Is a weak point. We. may escape many a fatal shaft by keeping, ourselves well fortified with pure blood and. a. properly Gazette.

nourished frame."—{Civil Bervtoa

»»«..

Homoeopath Ic CkaaUsts, Losdoa,