Pittston Gazette

              1 i V" d "."iV.""'."™*" ! Oldest ''ewsoaoer in the Wyoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE! CO., PA., FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1890. A Weekly Local and Family Journal. I"* TWO SOLDIERS. Graham was an arid and forbidden station, so far as one could judge byappearances. Trees, verdure, turf were items almost unknown within a day's march of the flag staff; but in the old times when the Navajoes were the terror of the wide southwest, and even the Comanches sometimes carried their raids across the Rio Bravo del Norte—the Rio Grande of today—the post had been "located" where it might afford protection to the "Forty-Ninera" and to the pioneers of the prairies; the trans-continental trail led past its very gates, and many a time and oft the miner apd the emigrant thanked God and the general government that tho old fort was placed just where it was, for Indian pursuers drew rein when once in sight of its dingy walls; and so from year to year for more than thrice a decade the flag was raised at sunrise, the post was always garrisoned, and now, with tho Southern Pacific piercing the range but a short distance beldw, and landing stores and forage at the quartermaster's depot within four miles of the corrals, it became easier to maintain a force of cavalry at Graham; and one of the troops there stationed was Lane's new command, the relict of the late lamented Curran, "the Devil's own D." a heavy shortage, which he had to make up at a time when it was probably most inconvenient. As to the other loss, it isn't to be wondered at. She is a beautiful and most charming girl, and many a man, I fancy, has laid his heart at her feet. It is said, however, that Lane's loss is the heavier in this case because— well, I fear it will come to nothing. A young lady told me yesterday that there was something back of it all—that she, Miss Vincent, was deeply in Jove with a Mr. Rossiter, of New York, and had been for over a year, and they were to have been married this coming September, but that the gentleman (?) learned that her father had been nearly swamped in speculation and had not a penny to give her. My informant went to school with Miss Vincent and knows her intimately, and she says that Mr. Rossiter simply threw her over a short time ago, and that it was through pique and exasperation and to hide her heartbreak from the world that Mabel Vincent began to show such pleasure in Lane's devotions. She led him on, so her lady friends say; and now Mr. Rossiter has found out that old Vincent was sharper and shrewder than any one supposed, and made instead of losing a pile, and now he is suing to be taken back, and they say that she is 60 much in love with the fellow that the chances are all in his favor. This is why I feel such sorrow and anxiety for Lane. flid talk mucn about tue regiment ana never would talk much about yourself. Wednesday evening wo had a littletheatre party, liegy got it up, and we just filled two adjoining loges. Capt. Noel was Fanny Ilolton's escort, but ho talked most of the time with me—a thing that my escort, Mr. Forbes, did not seem to like; but, as he couldn't talk, and Mr. Noel would, what could I cold crcarn to plaster on my nose and cheeks: it would all be melted,of course; but when I clapped it on it would sizzle like so much lard in a frying pan. And down at Fort Yuma our hens laid hard boiled eggs from June to October." And then his eyes would twinkle with fun, and ho would bury his dark mustache in the cracked ice of his julep witn infinite relish. son-in-law, Vincent ha-1 toLl tliC? fiileni ol&ccr the i y of tn.iv. jKjrilouj crisis anil of Lane' ' •: :1 loan —but nota "Do not fli: tresa yo one," wrote Lan.» to! year L tU . . are a li; now. I lino .7 lie- A FEATHERED EACEE. colored lad. Mr. Root says they will be harnessed to a two wheeled vehicle weighing thirty-seven and a half pounds, the darky weighing sixty pounds, and will make four miles straightway and return in less than nineteen minutes. CHOLLY ON CLASS DAY. Nool tal.l is to M His Talo of Ardent Love and Yaln At* f, lay darliai; BILL NYE DESCRIBES THE AGILE tsmpts to Finitli It. Ar,d Cholly commenced early in the* day to tell his little tale of ardent affection; but it still remains untold, because By O&pt. OHAELES JKTNQ-. fiitncee, "because ia.-s frequent just unied you must i .1 how anxious AND GRACEFUL OSTRICH The novelty of these races will easily advertise them and the expense will be small. Local entertainment bureaus are requested to communicate with Mr. Root, who will give rates of percentage on which he will play. A good mile track, properly inclosed, will bo all that is necessary when he goes on the road. Different colored ribbon3 will mark the favorites, and naturally much money will change hands. [Copyrighted by J. B. Llpplncott Company, Phil*. deiphla, and published through special arrangement with the Americas Pre Association.] A Itide on the Famous Paris Bird Tout bo wit: old father. Ne::t de Suite—Some Incidents of Ostrich "Oh, Mis3 Rosebud! So glad we've met at last. Couldn't catch your eye this morning in the crowd. The girj» have all got so much foliage on their hats, and your own hat had the most provoking droop on just the wrong side —just enough to hide those little eyes. Oh, certainly, your chaperone. So glad to see you, Mi's. Ferret (confound her!). Suspending your own conquests today, I seppose, to watch those of your fair charges. (I guess that sop will do for a starter. If I can only get her off in that alcove now, with plenty of feed and some downtown fool of a man, shell keep quiet.) do?" "I say," queried Mr. Morris of his chran, Terry, Jr., one languid afternoon after Noel had jauntily strolled away, "don't you envy a feller who can enjoy life like that?" week you will bo .in tie mountains; and then, as you say, people will (jive you time to write, and then, too, I shall be happy in your regaining health anil spirits. The papers tell mo how intense ha3 been tlio heat;'it almost equals ours hero in one way, and i3 much worse in being moist and muggy. There is a prospect of my going on a two weeks' scout with my whole troop early in tho month; but your letters will reach me safely." vou are a.xi t .10 ( Life—The Bird Viewed from Ail Points. (CONTINUED ) "Sunday evening. Penalties of Robbing a Mamma Bird. "Don't you think it would be better to wait a day or two, and have a little dinner, and invite a few friends to meet him?" asked Mrs. Vincent. "Your father, perhaps, would like to be consulted in the matter. I've no doubt thatrhe would like to do something to show attention to any friend of Capt. Lane. What do you think, Mabel?" 'It is late and 1 ought to be asleep, but the last caller has just gone, and tomorrow there may be no time to write at all, and you are such an exacting, tyrannical, dear old boy that— Well, there, now, let me tell you of the day. You say anything and everything that 1 say or do is of interest. So. to begin [Copyright by Edgar W. Nye.] William H. Root, late Duke of Council Bluffs and prefect of police at Laramie city, in the state of Wyoming, has secured, and is now training for the track on a southern Wyoming ranch, five bright, intelligent and highly elastic ostriches. Mr. Root contemplates taking these birds next reason to the larger eastern cities and racing them publicly, charging an admission price, of course, and has already written to Sir. Erastus Wiman regarding the use of the Wild West grounds at Erastina, on Staten Island, for thi3. purpose. .Never saw anything like it!" quoth ;he younger. "One would suppose that after being a slave all ma wiling in those beastly works I ought to enjoy a little recreation: but I can't, you know." "V, The study of the ostrich is filled with interest to the thinking mind. Minds not used for thinking purposes, however, will find little to interest them in the ostrich. One odd feature about this bird is the custom common to the female of laying several extra eggs outside the nest for the young to eat as soon as they are hatched. This is only true, however, of the birds who inhabit Syria, Paleqjine and Egypt, as they are not stricuy tropical. In the tropical latitudes, of course, the ostrich does not sit on her eggs, but deposits them in a sand pile, and with a degree of indolent faith worthy of a mother who is a corporal in the Salvation Army she turns them over to an all wise providence to hatch out, while she goes forth seeking out other people's children in order that she may reform them. with, yesterday I had a headache, due, I fear, to the late supper Regy gavo us at the club after the theajcre. Fanny Holton came to take mo for a drive, but I did not feel like going, and begged off. Then she told me that Capt. Noel was in the carriage waiting, and that he would be so disappointed. Mother came in and said the air would do me good; and so we went, and I came back feeling so much brighter. Mr. Noel was very amusing and kept ua laughing all tho time. Coming home Fanny got out at her house, as she had to dress for dinner, but told the coachman to drive me home and Mr. Noel to tho club. lie began talking of j-ou the moment she disappeared, and said he so hoped you were going to write regularly to him. Are you? He seems bo fond of you: but I do not wonder at that. "Queer ducks, those army fellers! Gad! tliis love making by proxy is what gets me—this 6ort of Miles Standish courtship business. She's prettier .though, than tho original Priscilla." "I vote for both," replied that young woman, with much alacrity. "I have met Mr. Noel twice." Why wa3 it that she should experience a feeling almost of relief in reading that ho was going to bo absent from tho garrison awhile—going out on a two weeks' "Capt. Noel, dear," said Regy, "Capt. Noel." "How do you mean?" queried young Terry, vaguely. He had been brought up under the thumb of Ixia elder brother, and from tho outset had been given to understand that if be expected to share in the profits ho must learn the business. There had been no college for him, and New England legends were sealed books. "I was .just going to propose to Mia Rosebud to make up a little cozy groui in that alcove over there and get something solid, for Tom will want us to be perfectly at honu here, yon know, and there will be a perfect jam everywhere else. Good! I thought you'd like it. Oh, yes; 111 collect the rest of the girls and bring them to yon. You jnst sit in behind this little 5 o'clock and sort of preside. There, now, you won't have to move for an hour, and I'm going to bring John Jay Tandem over here if yon don't mind. Ho lias begged me bo many time3 for an introduction to the irresistible Mrs. Ferret. "Oh, you need not shake your fan at me; yon know it's so; and, Miss Rosebud, if youH just step out here one moment with1 me and point out the straying lambkins from Mrs. Ferret's flock IH help you bring them in. (Believe I've done it.) For heaven's sake, Miss Rosebud, let mo get yon just one moment by myself alone. Here, in this window. Yon must know that—confound that waiter. No; I don't want anything, nor the lady neither. You do, yon feel a little faint? Oh, do forgive me! Here, waiter, a cup of bouillon, quick. I must be crazy to think you can fly round as you have been flying round with only the 'Gym.' spread lo sustain you. Heavens! I'm a brute; but oh, Miss Rosebud, I have no thought but for one thing—one wish ever in my heart, and that is— How-de-do, Smiles. With pleasure (confound his impudence!). "Miss Shallow, may I introduce Mr. Smiles? Yes, certainly. Excuse us, Smiles, but Miss Shallow has loSt-the buckle off her shoe, are in search" of it. See you again this year, I hope). Oh, Rosebud, you are an angel to think of that. Wo should never have shaken him in tho world, and your dear little ruso to keep him off leads me to hope that you do love— Why, Mrs. Ferret! after I placed yon so nicely behind the little 5 o'clock, and Miss Rosebud and I are hunting frantically for those frisky lambs of yours (incautious of me). Mustn't take Miss Rosebud off again? Bat, my dear Mrs. Ferret, I didn't take her off. We haven't been out o room. Going! and before Miss Roi has had anything to eat? Yon let her have a little salad, bees Heavens, Rosebud, my heart break if I don't have a? word with yon. Tell me, where are you going? Tm to Beck & Agassiz, and the Pi and over to Weld & Matthews' on to Garden street, and doT Port, and how I am ever scout? "Ho is not a captain yet, Reginald; I happen to know from tho regimental roster; I have a copy upstairs that Capt. Lane very kindly left me." And here a decided flush stole over the fair cheeks of the young lady. "I learned a good deal about the officers of the regiment from Mr. Lane—Capt Lan^—while he was here. Mr. Noel ranks second among the lieutenants of the regiment. As Capt. Lane said, ho is so very near his captaincy that perhaps he accepts the title that you all give him at the club as only a trifle premature." "Well, captain or lieutenant, it doesn't make any difference," said Regy, impulsively; "he's a mighty good fellow, and a mighty good friend of your friend SUo had Bent liini, as she promised, a lovely cabinet photograjih of herself that had been taken expressly for him. It edmo to the old frontier fort just a3 the men were marching up from evening stables, and the messenger, distributing the mail about the post, handed the packet to the captain as he stood with a little knot of comrades on the walk. There was in- Btant demand that he should open it and 6how the picture to them, but, blushing like a girl, he broke away and hid himself in his room; and then, when sure of being uninterrupted, he took it to the window and feasted his eyes upon the exquisite face and form there portrayed. Ho kept it from that time in a silken case, which he locked in a bureau drawer whenever he left the house, but in the evening or when writing tit his desk he brought it forth to light again and set it where every moment ho could look upon and almost worship it. Those who have had the pleasure of riding on the back of the agile and graceful ostrich "tout de suite" (French for "immediately") at the Jardin Ma- An easy going old dragoon was Curran, and for years before his retirement it vras an open secret that his first sergeant "ran the troop" to suit himself and that the captain never permitted his subalterns to interfere. A more independent, devil-may-care, and occasionally drunken lot of troopers were rarely gathered in one such organization, and while steady and reliable men on getting their discharges at the end of their term of enlistment would refuse to "take on" again in D troop, but would go over to Capt. Breese or perhaps to a company at another station, all the scamps and rollicking characters in the regiment would drift over into "D" and bo welcomed by the choice spirits therein assembled. And this was the gang that Capt. Lane was now expected to bring up with a round turn and transform into dutiful soldiers. Obedient to the colonel's behest, he had stopped over a couple of day3 at headquarters, had had a most cordial greeting from every officer at the post, had called on all the ladies—not omitting his fair defamers—and then had hastened on to Graham and his new and trying duties. "Why, I mean that 'twouldn't surprise me a bit if we had a modern version of the old 'Why don't you speak for yourself, John?' He's with her incessantly." ' "V * "Well, I led the german at a lovely partj' at the Prendergasts' last night. Miss Vincent was there, looking like a peach blossom, and we danced together a great deal. When it came time to break up I believe half the people in the rooms came to say good night to me and to tell me they had never seen so delightful a german—'everything so depends on the leader.' I have invitations for something or other for every night for the next fortnight; and yet I so often long for the old regiment and the true friends I had to leave. It did me a world of good last night to meet old Col. Gray, of the retired list, whose home is here, but he commanded the th infantry in the Eioux campaign, and when he saw me he threw his arms aroun(Tiny neck and hugged me before the whole throng of people. Give my love to our chief, always, and believe me, dear, true friend of mine. Yours, most affectionately, - "Oh! Hiss Vincent you're speaking of. Her name's Mabel, I thought, not— what d'you call her?" Little boys should never rob the nests of these birds unless they are in readiness to face an infuriated God. Once there was a little boy living about eighteen miles southwest of Timbuctoo whose name was Gooloo Goolison. He did not know what was right and what was wrong. He had a little rudimentary conscience, but it did not annoy him at all. A little gospel had entered the family years ago, but Gooloo was too young to get much of it, as he had to eat at the second table, and there was very little left after the old folks got through. So Gooloo did not know that it was wrong to rob an ostrich nest and substitute a scooped out watermelon. "Never mind, Jimmy," said Morris, rising. "Come and have a cigarette." "This morning we went to church, and afterwards Mr. Noel joined and walked home with us, and papa begged him to come into luncheon, which he did. You dear fellow! what have yon done to my beloved old daddy, that he is so ardent an admirer of yours? lie shook Mr. Noel's hand three times before he would let him go, and begged him to come often; he liked to know men, he said, who could so thorongldy appreciate—whom do you think, sir?— Capt. Fred Lane. After he had gone papa spoke of him delighted on two 01 three occasions. Will they take him away, too, as soon as he is really a captain V" And it was not only in the club, over their cigars, that men spoke significantly of Noel's attentions to the lovely daughter of the house of Vincent. It was not the men, indeed, who did the greater part of the talk. If they noticed and 6poke of it what must not tho womon have been saying! Noel, quitting the hospitable roof of Cousin Amos, had taken rooms down in town, midway between tho club and the Vincent homestead, and those two points became the limits of his field of action. The Withers household had gone to the Maryland mountains, and the massive master of the establishment was treating himself to a month's vacation. mother, Til bring him around to dinner tonight, and then perhaps wo might go "to the theatre afterward. Fm very sure Capt. Lane, and if you have no objection, that Capt. Noel will enjoy it. Fact is, he enjoys everything. Everybody in the club is perfectly delighted with him. Yon ought to hear him sing an Irish song or tell a French story! Ill try and get him started when he comes here. He's a wonderful mimic; and he's so full of information about their service on the And then came her letters announcing their safe arrival at Deer Park: "Our journey was most trying, for the heat was intolerable until we got well up among tho mountains. Papa came; but I know he i3 simply fretting his heart out with anxiety to get back to the office. Mr. Clark only returned from his vacation the day we started. Gordon Noel came down to tho train to see us off, and brought mother a basket of such luscious fruit. He says that he hoa no home to go to now that we are gone. Indeed, ho has been very thoughtful and kind, and 1 don't think he is quite happy despite his efforts to bo always gay and cheerful. RIDING TOUT DE SUITE IN PARIS, bille—or possibly I am mistaken in this; it may bo the Jardin des Pie Plantswill remember that Immediately is a good roadster. frontier. Now, Lane so seldom spoke of anything of the kind; but Noel will talk for hoars at a time about the wonderful country through which they have scouted and fought, and all that they have been through in their campaigns. By Jove! but that fellow has seen a lot of hard service, and lias been through some hairbreadth escapes!" "Who?" inquired Mrs. Vincent; "Capt. Lane or Mr. Noel?" "Noel, of course—Noel I'm speaking of. Lane, no doubt, saw a great deal of eer- But he does now. » » # * * "Gordon Noel." "Wednesday. Almost all the pretty girls were gone. What more natural than that Mr. Noel should so frequently seek tho society of the prettiest of all, even if she were engaged to Frederick Lane, as people said she was before ho went away? There was no monitorial Amos to call him off, no one to bid him turn his devotions elsewhere; and she herself could 6eo no harm, for was not almost all his talk of Capt. Lane? Was he not his legal and devoted friend? Tho captain's letters came every day, and ho seemed pleased to know that Noel had 6uch pleasant things to say of him, and was so attentive—or rather kind, because it wasn't really on her account that he came bo frequently. To be sure, Capt. Lane did not say much about the matter one way or the other; and if ho saw no harm, if he expressed no dissatisfaction, who else had any right to find fault? Whither he has went people know almost everything. Especially they know that to fool the mamma bird with a warm watermelon rind is no Tray to live. Condensed, edited by feminine hands, and accented here and there us suited the writer's mood, this was the letter which formed the basis of the one received by Mrs. Nash. Lane by this time was cozily ensconced in his quarters, and was giving all his time to the improvement of affairs about his troop's barracks, kitchens and stables, to drill and target practice, and to company duties generally. His days knew no relaxation from labor, from reveille until "retreat" at sunset, and then came the delicious evenings in which he could write to her, and read a chapter or two of some favorite work before going early to bed. After the first week he seldom left his house after 8 o'clock, and the garrison had therefore ample opportunity to discuss his affairs. Some color was lent to the story of his having lost monev in speculation oy a letter received from Cheyenne, written to the new major of the th infantry, who had recently joined by promotion from Fort Russell, near that thriving town. The writer said that Lane of the Eleventh cavalry had sold his property there for fifteen thousand dollars about the end of June, and he had bought it for twenty-five hundred only nine years before. He could have got eighteen thousand just as well by waiting a few days, but he wanted the money at once.  "You dear, dear, extravagant fellow! Never have I lniC\such exquisite flowers, or such profusion of them. You must have given your florist carte blanche. Nothing that came to me compared with them. My birthday was the cause of quite a little fete in the family, and 1 had some lovely presents. Mr. Noel, too, sent a beautiftil basket of roses, and it pleased me very much. I want your comrades to like me, and yet I know he did this on your account. Though he is so thoughtful and delicate and never refers to our engagement I feel that he knows it; and it seems better that way, somehow. A good horse has no business with an ostrich. While a horse is considering where he will put his hind feet, so as not to cork himself, the ostrich with a whole arm movement steps off at the rate of eighteen feet per step with no danger to her extra limbs. The ostrich also has her limbs reasonably far apart, and therefore does not interfere. Every day, as he was w' h'. 1 Cither from the home of her win . L-. devotedly loved, he wrote loi.j letters to her, filled with—only lovers know what all. And his heart leaped wit': joy t'uat topmost in the little packet of letters awaiting him at the adjutant's office when he reached his post was a dainty billet addressed to him in her beloved hand. Until he could get his quarters in habitable condition the new troop commander was the guest ot Capt. and Mrs. Nash; and he could hardly wait for the close of that amiable woman's welcoming address to reach his room and devour every word of that most precious missive. She had written—bless her!— the very day after he left, and a sweet, womanly letter it was—so shy and half timid, yet so full of faith and pride in him. Every one at Graham remarked cn the wonderful change for the better that had come over Lane since he went east. Never had tiny seen him so joyous, so blithe in manner. He seemed to walk on air; his eyes beamed on every one; his face seemed "almost to have a halo round it," said Mrs. Nash, and neither she nor any woman in garrison had the faintest doubt as to the explanation of it all. Love had wrought the change, and being loved had intensified and prolonged it. Every man, every woman in garrison was his friend, and the happy fellow would gladly have taker dozens of them into his confidence and told them all about it, and talked by the hour of her, The ostrich is not a brainy bird. Even in Arabia, where knowledge instead of being a power is generally regarded as a calamity, the natives, when they want to say a biting thing of some peculiarly gifted ass, say he is "as stupid as an ostrich." "Do you really mean that you will be gone a fortnight? How I shall miss your dear letters, Fred. And now indeed I will try to write regularly. There's no one here I care anything about, though the hotel seems very full, and therols much dancing and gayety. You say that my letters will reach you, wonder how." vice with the regiment; but Noel says he was adjutant so much of the time, and on other staff duty, while he (Noel] was almost incessantly scouting, hunting after various Indian parties, and being on the warpath, as he laughingly expresses it" "Does ho mean that Capt. Lane didn't see much actual service there?' asked Miss Mabel, with heightened color. "Oh, I don't know that he means that. Don't understand me a3 saying for a mo- Abou Ben Pangborn, of Watermelon township, Congo county, had a young filly ostrich which wanted to sit in the summer of '79, and ho did not wish to have her do so, as he had sold the setting of eggs to a Sabbath school for Easter. So ho tied her by the hind leg at the kraal of a neighbor, 28} miles atf-ay. The chain was attached to her limb just below tho calf of the limb, the other end being fastened to the root of a bamburrowallispus tree which grew near the kraal. A bird dog is of little use in hunting the ostrich, for in many instances instead of flushing the bird he gets a little flushed himself. BTTOYCiO THE OSTOCH '  "Yon did not answer my questions about him, Fred Didn't you read my letter?" Lane read this with a sigh of relief. He had persuaded himself that it was because he dreaded the effect of the long continued hot weather upon her that be so desired her to get to the mountains. Any other thought would have been disloyalty to his queen. He wished—just a little bit—that she had not written of him as Gordon Noel; he much preferred that she should call him captain. She would not write so fully and frankly of him if he were anything but friendly, he argued, and she would not tolerate his visits on any other grounds. Yet she did not tell him that they had walked up and down the platform together for ten minutes before the train started, and that when it was time to part ho had bent down and said, almost in a whisper:f 1 t Among the letters that came from the Queen City was one which bore the tremulous superscription of the head of the firm of Vincent, Clark & Co. It was brief, but it gave Capt. L:me a thrill of ' gladness: ment that Noel disparages Lane's services; on the contrary, he never speaks of him except with the most enthusiastic regard. Neither does he boast at all of D his own service; only you can't help seeing, in the modest, offhand way in which he speaks of his campaigning what a deal of hardship and danger he has encountered, for the simple reason that he was with the command that had to go through it all." "Your father tells me," said Mrs. Vincent, "that he met him one day on 'Change when Mr. Withers brought him in; that was before the crash, and when he had no time to pay him any attention. Of course, the cousin of Mr. Amos Withers was received with a great deal of bowing and scraping by Mr. Withers' friends in that honorable body. But all the same, I know your father will be glad to meet Mr. Noel now, and . by all means bring him, if you feel disposed, to-night. What manner of looking man is he?" "A remarkably handsome man, mother," said Mabel at once; "one of the handsomest I ever saw, and he certainly made himself very entertaining and very jolly the night we sat together at dinner at the Thorntons'." "There's a great contrast physically between him and Lane," put in Regy. "Noel is such an elegantly built fellow —so tall and fine looking. Lane would be almost undersized when standing beside him, and it very much at a disadvantage when they appear together, 1 should judge." A very bright and joyous party it was, seated around the home like table of the Vincents that eveninr. aad. as Eetrv had predicted, Noel proved very entertaining and a most agreeable guest. While showing much deference to Mr. Vincent and attention to his good wife he nevertheless managed to have a great deal to say about the regiment and its daring and perilous service on the frontier, and to throw in here and there many a pleasant word about Capt. Lane and their long and intimate acquaintance, and before dinner was over had won a warm place in Mabel Vincent's heart by the way in which he so frequently spoke of the man to whom she had plighted hei troth. And that very evening, as Frederick Lane—far out under the starlit sky of Arizona—with his heart full of longing and love for her, and thinking only of her as he rode over the desolate plain, with the lights of old Fort Graham already in view, Mabel Vincent, seated by Gordon Noel's side, was looking up into his handsome face and listening to his animated voice between the acts o1 "Twelfth Night." Her mother, was the answer that conscience pricked into her heart quicker even than she could think. For days past the good lady's manner to Noel had been gaining in distance and coolness. "She is ill at ease—worried about papa," was Mabel's attempt at a self satisfying plea; but conscience again warned her that she knew better—far better. Her father, engrossed in business cares that seemed only to increase with every day, had no eyes or ears for affairs domestic; and so it resulted that when Noel came sauntering in at evening with his jaunty, debonnaire, joyous manner, there was no one to receive him but Mabel, and he wanted no one more. When tho desire to sit comes over the female ostrich she cannot overcome it any more than a walking delegate can. She yields to it and becomes its willing slavo. You can play on her with a fire department or tie a red rag to her overskirt, but you cannot quench her desire to occupy a sedentary position. ► "It was your timely and thoughtful aid that enabled us to recover so much of our losses. You alone came t o our rescue, and I fully appreciate the risk yon ran. It will never be forgotten. "Clark will send draft for the entire am't, or deposit to your credit, a3 you may direct. I go to New York and Chicago in two or three days. Our prospects are flattering." That was the way with this young thing. Her name was Patience. She had already sat several weeks on a pineapple chcese, and, aside from giving it a rich home flavor, she coftld not detect any progress toward hatching out a wholesale grocery store. ing to that other have one blessed! Give me your hand just I let me feel— Too bad Mrs  Rosebud got some salad oil on her I was trying to rub it off, but ] seem to. If you would kindly let me take your handkerchief. Now, Rosebud, quick! Bob Buncombe's next. Oh, thank you, dearest; Til be there in five minutes."—Boston Saturday Evening Gazette.* I No one, of course, could ask the captain any direct questions about his affairs of either heart or pocket, but Lane was puzzled to account for some of the remarks that were made to him—the interrogatories about the methods of speculation, the tentatives as to chances of "making a good thing" in that way, and the sharp and scrutinizing glances that accompanied the queries. The sweet, sympathetic, semi-confidential manner, the inviting way in which the ladies spoke to him of his present loneliness and their hopes that soon he would bring to them a charming wife to 6hare thenexile and bless his army home—all this, too, seemed odd to him; but, as he had never been in love nor engaged before, he did not know but that it was "always the way with them," and so let it pass. to CHAPTER X. "Do yon want to send a message for me to Fred Lane iu your next letter?" So one day a great longing to get back to her own nest 28} miles away came over her. She lost control of herself. Her mother nature asserted itself in a brief ejaculation such as the female ostrich makes when suddenly confronted by a great mental problem. In her mind's eye she saw lho3e Sabbath school children blowing the interior out of her large and juicy handiwork, and then decorating the exterior with lilies, etc., etc., and tying ribbons to them, and Patience arose and girded up her loins and gave a great lack that busted the perphirey of the kraal and tore down the bamburrowallispus tree, and with the chain and a prong of the tree root, together weighing thirty-seven pounds, she trotted across to her home, by actual computation, in sixteen minutes and twenty-two seconds, though Abou Den Pangborn made it a little short of that with his new stop sand glass. Patience thus made a record of at least a mile in thirty-three seconds, carrying thirty-seven pounds attached to the calf of her limb. "Does Capt. Lane know of this and approve it?" was the grave question her mother had at last propounded. "I will do so, if you wish," she murmured; but her eyes fell before the gaze in his. and the hot blood rushed to her face. WILLIAMS." But there were reasons, Mrs. Vincent had said, why it was most desirable that tnere should be no announcement of the engagement as yet. What these were she did not explain to Mabel herself, but assured her that it was her father's wish as well. Lane had rushed to the great jewelry house of Van Loo & Laing, and the diamond solitaire that flashed among the leaves of the exquisite rosebud he smilingly handed her that night was one to make any woman gasp with delight. Could anything on earth be rich enough, pure enough, fair enough to lavish on her, his peerless queen ? "I have written to him with the utmost frankness, mother," was Miss Vincent's reply, whilo a wave of color swept over her face and a rebellious light gleamed in her eyes, "and he has never hinted at such a thing as disapproval. He lias more confidence in me than you have. If he had not"  Feather dusters are mostly the handiwork of the Nandu or Americanos— trick. At the Cape Colony many ostriches are domesticated for their plumes, eggs, oil and rarely their fliesh, which is a little gamey, but not half bad. "Tell him there's no man in all the regiment I so long to see, and no man in all the world I so envy." Reward of Merit. Probably conscience smote her, for during the week that followed five letters came—five letters in seven days! His heart went wild with delight over their tenderness. The last was written Saturday, and then none came for three da**; and when the fourth day came and brought the longed for missive it was a disappjintment, somehow. "In looking over your matter, Mr. Quilpen," said the editor in chief to the new man on the staff, "I have not seen the phrase, 'it begin3to look as though.'" Cases of croup in Africa have been almost instantly relieved by catching an ostrich, frying the oil out of it while yet warm and applying it to the exterior and interior of the child. The ostrich is gregarious, omniverous, polygamous and endogenous. It gives a great deal of time to the pleasing occupation of digestion. The parent bird does not hunt food for her young at all, but leaves them to hustle for themselves, as Aristotle has it. The mother provides them at their birt'a with but one worm apiecc, and that is al'. Dut the rest was left unsaid. "I never use it," answered the new man. "Mr. Dyson," observed the editor in chief to the business manager an hour or so later, "you will oblige me by raising Mr. Quilpen's salary $10 a week."— Chicago Tribune. Poor Mrs. Vincent! She turned away, well knowing that argument or opposition in such matters was mistaken policy. The words that sprung to her lips were, "Alas! he does not know you as I do!" but she shut those lips firmly, rigorpusly denying herself the feminine luxury of the last word and the launching of a Parthain arrow that would have made, indeed, a telling shot. If heaven is what it is painted, there can be no more joy over the sinner that repenteth than over the woman who tramples down her fiercest temptation and "bridleth her tongue." Mrs. Vincent deserved to bo canonized. And then he was very happy in her letters. They were neither as frequent nor as long as his, but then she had such a round of social duties; she was in such constant demand; there were visitors or parties every night, and endless calls and shopping tours with mother every day, and she was really getting a little run down. The weather was oppressively warm, and they longed to get away from the city and go to the mountains. It was only a day's ride to the lovely resorts in the Alleghanies, but papa was looking a little thin and worn again, and the doctors had said his heart was affected—not alarmingly or seriously, but mamma could not bear to leave him, and he declared it utterly impossible to bo away from his business a single day. He and Mr. Clark were very hopeful over a new venture they had made, the nature of which she did not thoroughly understand. "PaiDa left us to go back to the office last night," she wrote. "Ho could stand it no longer. I foar it did him little good here. The Witherses came on Saturday, and that strange girl, Miss Marshall, is with them. She always impresses mo with the idea that she is striving to read my thoughts. She speaks so admiringly of you, and says you were 'so courteous' to her the night you dined at the Witherses'; and I do not remember your ever saying anything about her to me. You see, sir, I am much mwe communicative about my friends. She had held forth her soft white hand and let him slip it on the engagement finger, and then bend the knee like knight of old and kiss it fervently. She reveled in it, rejoiced in it, but, heeding her mother's advice, stowed it away where none could see it* in the secret drawer of her desk, and Lane was perfectly satisfied. "I will tell you the reason some day," Mrs. Vincent had said to him, "but not just now, for I might be doing wrong;" and he had protested that she need never tell him. What cared he so long as Mabel's love was his, and they understood each other as they did ? "What! Have you never met Mr. De Courcey? Why, he's a great society man. Let me see. How can I describe him? I think his name will give you a good idea of the man." A Good Description. There teas no one to rccclre him but Ma- bel, and he wanted no one more. ♦ ♦ * It U a tape worm. * * * « * » August was close at hand. Queen City "society" had scattered in every direction. The mountains and the seashore were levying tribute on the plethoric pockets of the "big men" on 'Change and on business of every conceivable kind. Blinds and shutters were closed at scorcs of hospitable mansions in the narrow streets of the old city, and even in the elegant villas that crowned the surrounding heights. The sun glare at midday was so intense that no man was safe in venturing forth without a huge sunshade of some kind, and even within the sacred precincts of the club, where broad awnings hung on every side and palm leaf fans were in constant motion, the men strolled into luncheon in shirts of lightest flannel or pongee, with rolling collars and infinitesimal neckties. Every one who could leave tcyvn had long since gone; and yet the Vincents lingered. Each day seemed to add to the anxiety in the mother's eyes as she watched her husband's aging face. He had returned from a business trip of ten days or so looking hopeful and buoyant, and had gone to the office the following morning with light step and cheery demeanor, but came home long after the dinner hour listless and dispirited—a severe headache, he said, but the wife knew that it was far more than head or heart ache. The family physician took occasion to warn Mr. Vincent that he was doing himself grievous wrong—that his health imperatively demanded rest and change of scene. Vincent looked in the good old doctor's face with a world of dumb misery in his eyes, and only answered, "I will—I will—in a week or so. I cannot quit my post just now. Clark is taking his vacation. When he returns I'll go." And until he could accompany them Mrs. Vincent refused to budge; and yet she began to urge that Mabel should start now. What was to prevent her going at once and joining the Woodrows t Deer park? Clarissa and Eleanor Y. oodrow were always such friends of hers. But Mabel begged that she might stay until both papa and mamma could go too; she could not be content there without them, or at least without mother; and Mrs. Vincent could not find the words in which to frame the causa of her greatest cppreheiision. Mr. Root says that he can reduce this record greatly, and has done so already in several instances. He has five birds now in hand, named and described as follows: * • "Reggie."—New York Sun. "What is it?" And meantime, how went the world with Lane? Faithful, honest, simple hearted man that he was, holding himself in such modest estimate, marveling as lie often did over the fact that he could have really won the love of a being so radiant, so exquisite as Mabel, he lived in a dream that was all bliss and beauty, except for the incessant and all pervading longing to see her—to be near her. He loved her with an intensity that he had no means of expressing. Not a waking instant was she absent f his thoughts, and in his dreams she appeared to him, crowned with a halo such as never angel knew. He used to lie awake afc times in the dead hours of the night, wondering if the very newsboys and workmen realized their blessed privilege, that they could stop upon .the flagstones that her little foot tad pressed, that they could see her face, perhaps hear her voice, as she strolL-.l ia the cool of evening along the graveled pathway of the little park that adjoined her home. Loving her as he did, his heart went out to any qne who knew her, or was even tamiliar with the city where she dwelt. He had felt for years a contempt for. Gordon Noel that, at times, he had difficulty in disguising. Now he was tempted to write to him, to shut out the past, to open confidential relations and have him write long letters that should tell of her. She—Here they come, but how despondent Jack looks now that Mabel is married to Harry. He seems to be drifting on a sea of despondency. With the Tied. Timbuctoo, a large ashes of roses bird, over ten feet high, who paces without urging at thirty-seven on an empty stomach. Give him a little hot lunch out of the cellar of a recently burned hardware store and he can make it in twenty-nine, so Mr. Root says. Timbuctoo has a powerful digestion and a tapeworm which coaxes ship chandlery and railroad rolling stock. It will pay to get your tips from Timbuctoo. "Wo had such a delightful surprise Saturday night. Who should appear in the hop room but Gordon Noel. He stayed until the midnight train Sunday; and I really was very gl%l to see him." And here Lane stopped reading for a while. Couldn't Be Denied. And so, while people at Graham plied him with questions and insinuations and side remarks about the "girl he left behind him" in the east, he kept faithfully to the agreement, and though the whole garrison knew he wrote to her every day and took long rides alone that he might think of her, doubtless, and though every one knew that those dainty missives that came so often for Capt. Lane were written by Miss Mabel Vincent, never once did he admit the existence of an engagement—never once until long afterwards. Mrs. Brown—What mado you mate a face behind my back? He—Yep, going with the tied, as it were.—Boston Courier. Little Johnnie—Why, ma, you didn't think I was fool enough to do it before your face, did you?—Epoch. Deserved It. Perspiring Citizen—Is  Cowboy (with revolver)—Bang! Verdict of the Coroner's Jury—Justifiable homicide.—Chicago Tribune. But let us take a peep at some of those early letters—not at the answers to his eager questions, not at the shy words of maiden love that crept in here and there, but at those pages any one might read (TO BE CONTISUED ) His Performance. Poseyboy—Miss Sweetlips, I am all in the dark about you. Ilallad of the Wicked Nahwlttl. Ail Indian bold and a warrior old Overgrown Williams is a large, soiled whito gelding, with no record as yet, though he has taken no dust from any other bird in the United States, barring those on Mr. Root's ranch. He is young yet and awkward. He also shies some, and when he does so is apt to step out from under his rider, leaving him in a comatose state. He weighs 287 pounds, and hopes to do even better than that as he tills out by another spring. Guiltless. Was Nahwlttl, the bellicose Sioux. Miss Sweetlips (coyly)—I wonder you don't snatch the usual privilege, then.— Burlington Free Press. 1 r,i ■[f!j Ij "Tuesday night light; He gloried in all kinds of murder by night, And he had a most puissant and strong appetite He would fight when tight with the greatest de- "Such a delightful german as we had last night at the Prendergasts'I Capt. Noel led—I have to call him captain, for every one does here, and if I say 'Mr.' they want to know why, and it is embarrassing to explain how I know. He leads remarkably well, and I was very proud of 'our regiment,' sir, when li#tening to all the nice things said about him. How I wished for a certain other cavalry captain, now so many cruel miles away! Mr. Noel took me out often—and indeed I was a decided belle—and he told me that he had to lead with Miss Prendergast, but would so much rather dance with me. For a white man's scalp in a stew— This Internally sad, infernally bad. Reprehensible, scampish old Slouz. All Explained. The first real tidings that the Graham people had of her came in a letter from headquarters. Mrs. Riggs had had such a long, charming letter from Mr. Noel that she called in several of her cronies and read it all to them; and that very evening one of the number, unable to bear the burden of so much information, shifted it from her mental shoulders by writing it all to Mrs. Nash. Perhaps the best plan will be to read the extract which referred to Lane exactly as Mr. Noel wrote it: Head of Firm- -I understand, sir, that you are building a tine houso in the suburbs next to mine. How in the mischief can you afford it on your salary? An ugly old squaw, with a prominent Jaw, Was the wife of this rascally Sioux. Each cheek she would streak with red paint, and CHAPTER IX. her pique She would show if a female a little more sleek E're appeared by polychromatlcal freak. T. De Witt Talmage is a pearl gray ostrich of rather slender build, who has always led an upright life, or at least, if not, he has never allowed anybody to get on to it, as Mr. Root says. Do Witt makes good time and acts as his own jockey. The Duko of Council Dluffs says this bird is the shrewdest one he has ever seen. Ho can throw a race with wonlerful ease, and in a style that would tickle Satan almost to death. Employe (modestly)—Some years ago, sir, I bought a little stock in the railroad that takes you and me home every night.—Clothier and Furnisher. And would hammer her yellow and blue— This sagacious. Inhumanly gracious. Conceited, disgraceful old Sioux. So Nahwlttl and wife, that they might enjoy life. Then plotted with devilish glee With care to ensnare all the men to their lair That they could. So they advertised, "Good coun- An early book on manners, written for lords and ladies of the court, advises the employment of the left hand in the service which the handkerchief now performs, because the right hand is most frequently employed in "taking food from the dish. Only ' 'vulgar persons," we are told by this treatise, use the right hand in this service' Mr. Gaul (leaning forward suddenly) —I sees yo'! Mr. Brothers (somewhat new to the game)—Weil, s'posin' yo' does? I warn't doin' nuffii t' bo 'shamed of.—Judge. "By this time I presume Fred Lane is busily engaged with his new troop. I served with them in the Sioux campaign and they never gave me any trouble at all. So, too, in the Geronimo chase a while ago, when Maj. Brace picked me out to go ahead by night from Carrizo's I asked for a detachment from D troop, and the men seemed to appreciate it. I knew they would follow wherever I would lead, and would stand by me through thick and thin. If Lane starts in right I've no doubt they will do just as well for him; but I expect he is feeling mighty blue at having to rejoin just now. You know I've always been a warm friend of his, and it hurt me to see him so unwilling to go back. No one seemed to know him very well in society, and it's very queer, for this was his old home—and I was never more delightfully welcomed anywhere; the people are charming. But Lane had held himself «!.C jf a good deal, and fellows at the c! .b Siiy ho didn't 'run with the right ec1.' Then, If all accounts be true, he had had huid iuck in several ways. I'm told that he lost money in a big wheat speculation, and everybody says he totally lost his heart. I tell you this in confidence because I know you are a devoted friend of his—as indeed you are of all in the dear old regiment—but h§ waa much embarrassed when it came to turnbiff 0T«C th* foods. Then tu unite "It is almost settled that we go away in August for the entire month. Dr. Post says mother must go, and that father ought to go. Of course I go with mamma. Deer Park will doubtless be the favored spot. I wish August were here; I wish you were here; I wish—oh, so many things! Your letters are such a delight to me. I wonder if other girla have anything like them. Yes, you shall have the picture on my birthday; but mind, sir, you are to take the utmost care of it, or the original will feel neglected." And board, $3 a week." And I'll swear That in ten days they'd got forty three! They (lllod 'em with lead, and they killed 'em In bed. try fare Lily Dale is a largo black ostrich from the Soudan, She is twenty-seven hands high and easily cats out of a second story window. She is not particular whose window it is, eyether. Lily is a broad shouldered brunette and has a record, but it is not a very good one. It was made in Africa, before sho came here, and Mr. Root would rather not have anything said about it. She is very cross whilo sitting, an! Mr. Rooc is short two hired men this summer on that account. They are both buried in the same grave. An unknown bird fancier who came to sea the ranch in May approached too closo to the aviary, and Lily, who was at that time sitting on a tin sprinkler and endeavoring, by putting her mind on it, to hatch out a spring freshet, arose and kickei off the gcntk'ina'i's silk hat. Literal. There were three men in his troop in whom he felt a vague, mysterious interest simply because they had been enlisted at the old rendezvous on Sycamore street, only three squares from her home. He was so full of hope and faith and love and gratitude that the whole garrison seemed to hold naught but cheer and friendliness. He never dreamed of the stories tho men were telling or the confidences women were whispering about the post. Noel had written again to Mrs. Riggs, and Mrs. Riggs had not spared her information. It was now said in Queen City society that the engagement was of Mr. Vincent's making. He had been associated with Lane in soma speculations that proved disastrous, but tho captain had shown such command of money and had "put up" at such an opportune moment that they came out in good shape after all, and aa soon as the old man found that Lane loved his daughter he insisted on her accepting him. The information about Lane's coming to the rescue with money he had heard from Mr. Vinoent himself—as indeed he had. One evening when they were for the moment alone, in a burst of confidence to the man whom tie believed to a devoted friend of hi# prD Cspectijf And then tbese two Siou* started off on n rfiree! —Harrard Lamnoon. "Going down?" shouted a conductor to George Knox, who was walking very rapidly. The Figures Clian~od Ernest—Mamma, in just one ilay more I will bo 4 years old. What are you going to give me? Job Briggs, the mail carrier on the Campbell (N. C.) route, delivers his mail to the offices on foot, walking twenty-four miles one day and thirtyone miles next day. During a year he steps over 8,458 miles, and at this rate would cover the circuit of the globe in three years, exclusive of Sundays. Conductor stops car. George goes right along. "Yep." Mamma—Yes, inv dear. You shall have a lovely birthday cake,' with four candles in it. ; Conductor (indignantly)—I you said you were going down? thought "So I am—but I prefer walking."— Exchange.  "Friday night. Ernest (thoughtfully)—Can't I four cakes atjd cne candle, mamma?2 "So many interruptions today, dear Fredl You see what an incoherent thing this is thus far, and now I'm tired out We had a charming time at the Woodrows' dinner last evening. The day had been hot, but their table was set on the lawn under a canopy, and, the walls being raised, we had a delightful breeze from the river. Their place is one of the fine^*on the heights. I do so wish you could have seen it. Capt. Noel took me in, and was bright and jolly and fnll of anecdote. Everybody likes him, and I like him mainly because he is such a loyal friend of yours. He talks so much of you and of all the dangers you have shared in common; and you know how interesting all this must be uD me. Sometimes 1 wonder that you nad so Uftle to say aboTtfhim^thoughjou nevej Sure to Suit. A Test of Superstition. "Are you superstitious?" "No, not at all." "Well, lend me $13, won't j-ou?"—New According to Ilansen-Blansted, the beech is overcoming all other trees in the struggle for existence in the Danish forests. It is driving out the birch, except in marshy places; it is taking the place of the lire, and there are signs that it is fraduallv gaining the advantage over the oaks. Contractor- I want another lot of fuse for our blasting operations. The last we had didn't work well. It burned too fast, and we had several very narrow escapes. Give me something that will burn slowly.Only a short distance from the Ari»na border, with the blue range of the Santa Catarina shutting out the sunset skies, with sand and cactus and Spanish bayonet on every side, the old post of Fort Graham stood in the desert like a mud colored oasis. All the quarters, ali the store houses, stables, corrals and barracks were built of the native adobe; and though whitewash had been liberally applied, especially about the homes of the officers, and the long Venetian at their front windows had been Dinted the coolest of deep greens, and dear running water sparkled through the acequiaa that bordered the parade, It could not be flarrUrt that atlta best rc wrote long letters to her. The one uian whom tho heat waa pow York- Sun Overheuru In a Magazine Office. Dealer—Here is a fuse I can confidently recommend. It was made in Philadelphia.—New York Weekly. erloss to subdue was Gordon Noel. In the met immaculate and becoming costumes of white or p+raw color that genial officer would saunter Into the club at noontide, looking provokingly cool and comfortable, ana, as he expressed it, "without having turned a hair." "What do you mean by saying that the author of tills story is a young man of 20? He is 64 years of agtC." « Als # * ■i head. ♦ * * * "You fo:0"i. l. JI-j was 20 when the story was accepted."—New York Even- » * The king of Siam has a private fortune of $50,000,000, with an annual income of $10,000,000. Of course the temptation of a man with thfa wealth to require everybody to approach him on all fours is very great, and yet the Siamese monarch has lately abolished this custom. A Natural Inference. Especia.ly ' Dn h a heavy set bird, weighing at: ' • o\ cr 300 pounds. He is very docile a. 1 cats out of one's hand, sometimes returning the hand when he gets through with it. He has very beautiful corn colored plumes and does not Bing while moulting. Especially Oleaon and Lily Dale will be driven by a small Mr. Slowpay—Madam, I im a reputable drummer, and you need have no anxiety about this bill. r Landlady—You're a drummer, and I suppose you take this house for a dram. Mr. Slowpay—What do youmean? Landlady—Well, you are trying to teat it—New York World. ing Sun. "Hot!" he would say. "Call this hot? Why, bless your hearts, fellows, you ought to live in Arizona awhile! Gad! I've come in sometii»ea from a scout tiu&ugh the Gila desert and rushed for To Order. Possible Buyer (doubtfully) — Thi« looks like made ground. House Agent (briskly)—Yea, siree— made to order!—New York Weekly.