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Oldest NewsDaDer in the Wvoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1891. A WeeKly Local and Familv lounial {'"•."ZOO,'* Uttla Jack Tiro-Stick*. less and ungrateful. Oh! Iliram, what a noble, loving, forgiving nature you have, and how unfeeling must have been the child wao could so ruthlessly trample upon it." "I know that, mother, but I was thinking that I might borrow some." Twas a terrible day, and we spr* t It fighting the third division of Hill's mDmmand In the Wilderness: then, just as night waa fall- she would not, and could not, doubt him in anything. he trudged to and fro across the field in the long furrows, singing blithely, no one would have guessed what pangs of trouble had racked his soul all through the long, tedious winter, ne was not of a brooding disposition, and even under the most trying circumstances he could feel cheerful so long as there was ever so dim a ray of light before him. He had work to do now, and there was a prospect of good results, so he felt confident once more, and in the thought of the bright future which his fancy {tainted he lost sight of the hardships of the present. Paul, and forget what 1 was foolish enough to say?" i.nat way. i/accnes tnemin a ciose piace, 1 suppose, and then bears down on them to the last notch?" JACK'S BUDDING HOPES. hero, "that it wouia be a good idea to send a man down to Coney island and let him write it np." "I don't know who you could borrow them from, Louise. I don't suppose anyone about here has them." Such thoughts as these ran through 'the mother's mind, and she trembled ffor the safety of her child. Then she Recalled all she knew of Paul. He iwas a man of perfect character, and fen all the years she had known him he had not been guilty of an ungentletaanly act. This review of the young man's past somewhat reassured her, and she felt thankful that it was Paul "who held such an influence over her (daughter. She was far safer with him than with most men. It would have required an iron will to withstand that tender little appeal, spoken in such a soft tone, and those mild brown eyes looking so sorrowfully up from beneath their long dark lashes. It was not in the nature of things for Paul to hold out against it for an instant, and like a flash the cloud went from his face and it shone out again all light and smiles lug, we finished the combat hand to hand. Oar ranks were thinned, and the men had fast- "That's it, exactly," said Paul. ed hoar after hoar of the hard fought day, With canteens empty and knapsacks lying on the ground In camp when we marched away. At this point the good Sarah, who all along had shown strong symptoms of weeping, was so overcome that she could restrain her tears no longer, and broke down and poumi forth in a perfect flood on her shoulder. Hiram was deeply touched, and he was forced to exert himself to keep back the tears of self pity that welled up in his own eyes. lie had never before realized how deeply he had been wronged, and never before had he understood how much he had been martyred. His heart went out to himself, and he pitied himself from the bottom of his soul. "I know who has them," Louise replied, "but 1 don't know whether you would want me to get them of him. Paul has lots of books that he brought from school with hhn, and he has often proposed to let me have them." "Then he is a merciless miscreant," the other replied. "A heartless wretch, ana i sympathize mtn tnose wno are so unfortunate as to fall into his power. Indeed 1 do. Well, 1 must ride on, for my journey is a long one yet." HE ASKS BILL NYE WHAT HE MUST "For the paper?" asked the editor, pounding on the wall with the drawhead from a wreck which he once participated in. DO TO BE EMINENT. Corporal Hunt had stood beside me all through the fight as oar men went down- That tall, blue grain in its long swaths lying, the earth where it had been brown, the cleft twigs dropped from the trees above us, cat by the ballets which whistled there. William Telia Him a Story of a Young Man Who Suddenly Row to a Great Height—Try It, Asterisk, and Jamp Off When Ton Get There. "Yes, for the paper," said Ambrose, "for the first page." "Paul Markhain?" Mary asked. With that he put the spurs to his horse and galloped away. Louise listened nntil he was out of hearing, then gave a sigh of relief. Paul heard her and looked around inquiringly. "Well," said the editor, "I hare thought of that. I thought of it eighteen years ago. We have had spells of thinking of it ever since. So have the other papers. Are you a native of New York?" "Yes," said Louise; "he has the books I need, and he has begged me to take them." "There, there, Louise," he said, "it is all right. I was sure you couldn't have so poor an opinion of me, and I'm sorry that I said anything to hurt yon. We'll forget it all and never think of it again." ICopyrlght, 1891, by Edgar W. Nye.l Craig-y-Nos, Buncombe Co., N. C., 1 October, 1891. f The following letter has been waiting for some time, but other matters have interfered with a prompt reply: And with labored breathing we clambered forward, mattering sometimes a corse or prayer. "Louise," Mfry said aftsr awhile, "you know howjold Markham talked to you that niglftyou went to the store, and you know we have had nothing to do with them 6ince, and you know that we can't accent any favors from Paul." So after considering the matter well, Mary decided to say nor do nothing to antagonize her daughter's sentiments. She remembered only too vividly what the result of such action had been in her own case, and-she knew that young lovers could not be driven. She 'realized that harsh measures would 'only bring the lovers closer together, Jand result in the very thing she was anxious to avert—a premature marriage. So at last, taking Louise's hand |n her own, she said: "It is a long lane, Mary," he sometimes said, "that has no turn, and I believe in our case the turn is near at hand. We have had a long siege of misfortunes, but I think we have about reached the end of the list. The prospects are flattering for an abundant crop, and with the amount of stuff I have in cultivation we only want a fair yield to enable us to pay off the mortgage and have plenty left to tide us over the year. We'll come out all right yet, and within a short time be comfortably fixed with a good home and plenty of everything to live on. Why, what's a little hard times, anyhow? It don't amount to anything and is soon over, and it don't hurt us any, but only makes us appreciate our good fortunes all the more when they do come. In•ide of two years we can look back on the past few months and laugh over our privations and wonder what it was we fretted about. Wp'll come out all right" "I'm glad he's gone," she said. "Why?" asked PauL Little Jack Two-Sticks, the company's dram mer—you see we had nicknames among the boys- Was dramming away at my left, and helping to deaden the shriek of those leaden toys. Jack was a lad, and a little fellow about the size of my youngest girl I had left at home; eyes the same color, and hair that was always trying to carl. "Because I don't like him." "No, sir; I am a native of Bellefonte, Ohio. I got here early this morning." "I judged that you had not lived hen always. You are too considerate of other people's feelings to pass for a native of New York. But you can acquire metropolitan air if you try. If you go up to the slaughter house and drink hot blood for a month, then come and ride on the elevated road, you will get that man-about-town air." And Paul bent to kiss the rosy lips which Louise turned up to him, and the little misunderstanding was at an end. Yes, so far as Paul was concerned it was, but a little shade of doubt remained in Louise's heart and rankled for a long time after. "He appears to be a gentleman," Paul urged, "and I'm sure he treated us very respectfully. I like the way he talked about old Scraggs, too." "There, there, Sarah," he said, "don't let the tenderness of your heart cause you to grieve too sorely for what I have been made to suffer. I promise you that I shall not forget my wrongs again soon, since the weakness that possessed me for a short time is gone. No, I'll never make any advances to a child who so far forgot her duty to me and treated me with such cruelty, and I am glad that yon called me Jo myself in time to save me from taking the step X had anticipated." ' Gt7RDO*. Ark., Aug. 18,1891. Edgar W. Nye. Asheville, N. C.: Dear Sir For several years 1 have been a reader of your excellent "Bill Nye" articles, and, being somewhat young and literaryly Inclined, have longed for a bit of advice from your pen. Probably "while the delegation are waiting" just outside your door you could drop a few "Nye" nuggets into my receptacle and they would never be missed. Louise arose and going to the window stood for a minute or so looking out into the snow-covered prairie. Unconsciously she let a sigh escape her, and, though it was soft and low, the quick ears of her mother caught it. "Oh, he talked well enough, but I don't believe he meant it. I didn't like his looks from the first." "Look at that corporal shouted. "Look drumming awayl"4M And we sortfaces "He play!" And the Hf the corporal softeners BP^hardened. and dowa he "Whatl Hunt, are you nit?" But he made no answer, and I heard In the front the rebel yell. And our colonel shouted, "Charge bayonets, men!" I rushed through the thicket to take my part. Leaving the corporal lying quiet with a mlnle ball lodged in his gallant heart. "Well, I didn't notice anything particular in his looks. He is young and "Louise," Mary called, "don't fret about the books, for we shall try to get them soon." "Do as I have told you, Louise; treat Paul as kindly as you can, and remem'ber him as your best friend, but do not make him any promises. He knows you are too young to think of marriage, and he will not think it hard to leave .you free for a year or two longer." You 'are free to keep company with him and jto love him, and when you are a year older, if you want to promise to be his wife you can do so with my consent. I think I have offered fair terms, Louise, j?nd I hope you will consider them fcuch." very good looking. What was there about him that yon didn't like, Louise?" "But you look fatigued, and your clothes are old. Look at your trousers, how they bag at the area!" "Yes, sir." "It is not the books, mother," Louise replied as she came and- put her arms about her mother's neck and laid her face on her bosom. "I can wait for them." "I don't know. I just know that I don't like him, and I was glad when he left us. I had a sort of dread and fear of him. But he's gone now, so let's not talk about him any more." . "Yes, I am told that they do, sir, but one cannot beat one's way from Cincinnati here and keep the crease in both legs of one's panties and have them drape alike when he arrives here. Folks tell me that they are rather out at elbows, sir, but, thank Qod, they cover a warm heart." Sarah checked her tears and by degrees her sobbing ceased. The effort she had made had been a great one, and her soul was terribly sore from the effects of it, but she had saved her husband from abusing himself and sinking his dignity, and she was satisfied. Of course she had saved him from all expense on Mary's account and kept that much more money for herself, but that would not count for tftiything with such a noble soul as that of the angelic Sarah. "Hiram," she said when she had got her feelings sufficiently under control to be able to cease her tears and sobs, "I hope I have not said too much. I am sorry that your daughter cannot occupy the place in your heart that a child should occupy in the heart of a parent, and I know I would be the last person to aid in estranging you from her. Perhaps I have said too much, but I have your good so deeply at heart that I couldn't help saying what I did. It was; all for the sake of your loving, self." "Then what makes yon sad, my child?" and Maiy stroked her daughter's Hair and tried to lift the bowed head. "What is it you sigh for?" Louise's fancy struck Paul as rather ridiculous, for he was very matter of fact in his ideas, and he never counted anything on first impressions. He put every man down for what he claimed to be until he knew him well enough to understand his character and motives. He judged that on account of her situation Louise was out of humor with the world and not in a frame of mind to form favorable opinions of anyone. We fought and we won with the little handful left of our brave old Company G. Our colonel dropped, half rose, and (boated. "Follow them, boysl Not a man stays with me." Bat after the cannon had stopped their rattle, and after the ballets had ceased their Play. And we searched for oar comrades, I heard th« drumming of little Jack Two-Sticks far away. "I—I'm afraid you and pa do not like Paul," and Louise buried her face deeper on her mother's breast. "lie is so good and generous, and is all the friend I have in the world aside from yon two, and I'm afraid you do not like him." And John went off to his work singlag as happy as a king, and Mary looked after him smilingly, equally as sonfident as he. "I see," said the editor, "that you have a wonderful command of language. I will give you a chance, though the office is full of idle men. You would think that the office ought seek the Ambrose, but it is not so here. I will give you an assignment. Go to the top of Trinity spire and write it up. Bring your stuff tomorrow. At the elevator give the good hailing sign, and repeat the word •Mesopotamia.' You will be admitted." "I do, mamma, I do, and I am willing to do as you say, and I know Paul will •)C, too. I will never have any Becrets irom you, and never go contrary to your wishes. Paul and I will wait, and neither of us will think it hard, since you wish it, but nothing, mother, can part us. Nothing, nothing." Paul, too, applied himself to his work, and as he plodded after the plow he dreamed of the future, of the time when he should be a doctor and have a cozy little home with Louise for its mistress. Ambition or love ought either to be sufficient to urge a man on to his best endeavors; but when they combine, as' they did in Paul's case, there is no telling what strength they will put into a man's arm nor what determination into his heart "Why, I'm sure I have nothing against him, child. He is a quiet, honest, industrious young man, and if it wasn't that he is a Markham I couldn't say a word against him." FAR FKo.M HOME They talked but little after that, and walked at such speed that Louise soon became exhausted. The night had come on now, and off in the south the cloud was stealing up, while ever and anon a low growl of thunder rolled slowly from the east to the west and vivid forks of lightning streaked the heavens. Wueer that Jack wasn't np with the company as the sharp tattoo of his dram we heard. Bat it suddenly changed to a muffled long roll, and Are of as started without a word And followed the aoand through the Wilderness shadows. There, with his back to a fallen tree. And six of his comrades dead around him, he was beating the long roll for Company G orr i "He is a Markham, mother, but he is not like his fatlfer. He is as generous and kind as he can be, and I do wish you and pa would be friendly with him." Alas that Louisa's fond hope was doomed to be blasted, and that one undreamed of should come between hei and Paul—come in a way, too, to bring her the trying ordeal of her life. The lovers t from home, w ful way, vv, more imLX) ijiiite a distance i in that unmindD ia taoajats of t ;..t they entire- Ambrose knew that was only a polite way of getting rid of him, but ha0 asked a policeman to show M«n Trinity church, and he went np in the spin alone. He cried a little np then, for m he looked ont over the big, smoky city he thought that in that great swarming "human hive," as he had called it at home in The Advance, he had no friend. Here, even under the golden cross of the church, he was alone. It was a pitiful thought, and Ambrose hungered far his home away in Ohio; but with a big sob in his throat he sharpened his pencil and looked about him, for he had a keen sense for the unusual. I have ncger heard that yon encouraged young scribblers to indulge in writing to yon by answearing there tiresome sheets by return mail, as, undoubtedly, you were prompted to do. Unknowingly I make the experiment. How would you advise a young man of a literary bent, and possessing a keen sense for that which is unusnal or humorous? How ■hall he find the market without money or influence? Is humorous writing remunerative? Can you cite an instance in regard to your gaining literary notoriety? AT THE ELEVATOR. Mary began to have a suspicion of something underlying this uncommon interest felt by Louise in Paul, and for several minutes she was undecided how to proceed. Finally she took the girl's head in her hands and lifted it np until the face was opposite her own, and if she had wanted any further evidence to confirm the truth of her surmises, she would have found it in the telltale blushes that swept over the fair young checks. ly forgot a 00 at iind distance. Lovers never di 1 liuve any consciousness of time, and it always seems that when a couple become deeply engrossed in each other's society and grow oblivious to time, the little sprite pla; trick and goes skimming aloi hours into minutes and mii .cconds. Such was the "Whjr. Jack, old chap, are you hart7" we questioned: his jacket was torn and tbe front was red. I thought of my girl aa I watched him faintly beating the long roll there to the dead. "How did it go—who beat?" he whispered. "We saved the day at the last—we won!'' "Write to mother about it"—his hands fell lifeless, and little Jack Two-Sticks' drumming was done. CHAPTER VI. TACT. AND LOUIS*. Thus it was that among all the set-D tiers on that great level plain there were none that devoted themselves more sedulously to work than John and Paul, and as the season advanced and the spring months gave place to those of summer, there were no fields in all the settlement that looked more' flourishing or promising than theirs. And each of these men, sanguine natured as they were, Qounted the victory won, and each in his way made his plans for the future and constructed innumerable castles in the air. "Paul," Louise said, "what shall we do? We shall be lost out here, and never find our w ay home." Louise accepted Paul's books now and with her mother's aid she studied them well and faithfully. She had at« tended school sufficiently back east to lay the foundation for a fair education, and, being bright-minded and qaick to learn, she made excellent progress with her studies and bid fair to gain a good education even under such unfavorable circumstances. D "I know that, Sarah. I do not mis-, understand you. I know how it pains you to have to say such things, but you feel it to be your duty, and you do it. I thank yon, my dear wife, with all my "We must go on, Louise, and do the best we can. Perhaps we may find the way." Again they moved forward, but with slow step, for with fatigue, fright and Please don't dispair at this. It is mearly the introduction of what a bore can do. Possibly 1, too, shall be eminent some day, and in lieu of this great impossibility will close as the opportunity presents. Please comply. Very sincerely, • » ♦ The night came down with its blessed quiet. and I said a prayer for my little girl. And the little chap in the darkness sleeping. with hair too stiffened with blood to curL Bat of all the sights that the Wilderness shadows were trying to hide as the smoke clouds fled. The saddest of all was that little fellow beating the long roll there for the dead. —Marlon Manvtlle. wa\ •d Paul and Louise that back t r surroundings they found that it umost night, with the sun hangi:: . .e a gTeat red ball low down in the sky. but a few feet from the earth, seemingly. day. 1 eventually they did come "Louise," she said, "don't keep any secrets from me, but tell me why you ftake such a deep interest in Paul." Mary was a good scholar and well adapted to the duties of teaching, and she never tired of aiding Louise. Then Paul came over quite frequently of evenings and he was not by any means averse to giving such assistance as lay in his power. In fact he was so anxious to teach Louise and pursued the task |vith such diligence and earnestness that it was apparent that he derived, fully as much pleasure, if not Erofit, from it as Louise did. Paul 'as a most exemplary teacher, and nothing was too difficult or too hard for (jis efforts so long as it was for Louise's pood. He never wearied of explain jg |ry, tough arithmetical problems or of Conjugating juiceless verbs. But it fcmst be remembered that Paul's pupil (vas a seletfc one, and it is more than probable that almost any young man, Jeeling as he did, would have done iqually well, or at least labored with fully as much zeal. The above letter is written by a joung man who needs information about as severely as any one with whom I have ever met up. 1 put three asterisks in place of his name in order to shield his family. This is only a specimen of one kind of correspondent out of a list of a great many hundreds. I pause to wonder where they all come from. "Because—don't think me silly, mother, for I can't help it. I love him." These last words were spoken in a faint whisper, but Mary understood them, and drawing her child to her, pressed her close to her bosom, and thus they remained for a long time. Mary was the first to break the silence. Cut with a knife on the little window frame by his side he read: Louise was greatly surprised and shocked when she saw how late it had grown, and expressed a wish to return home with all possible speed. Every Sunday now Paul came to John Green's house, for it was distinctly understood all around that Paul and Louise were to marry by and by, though not a word relative to the matter had passed between their parents. Often the young people read from the same book, as they sat on a bench outside the house, and on such occasion they seemed to have a vast amount of difficulty in making out the words, for they brought their eyes close down to the page, their faces almost touching, and the words they sometimes pronounced were not printed on the page at all. But every person who has courted knows how that is. : and : : DOROTHY. f : July 4. : That was all; bat he took thoae two names and wove around them a story of tender possibility and humanity. He MORTIMER =H!EIR= Father's Victim. "Ah, Paul." said she, "how could you treat me so? Why didn't you turn back before this?" "Paul shall never receive anything |but the kindest treatment from me," she said, "and I know John will treat him as a gentleman. Paul is n good |inan, and if yoa love him he shall have my love, too." "Why didn't you call my attention to the fact that it was getting so late?" Paul said in reply. Passing over the first paragraph, which is kind, flattering and fulsome, let ub come at once to what Mr. Asterisk—Mr. Jack Asterisk, if yon please— really wants to know. AN OF UTO A 8T0BY OF WESTEBN ZIFE. "I—I didn't know it. I wasn't noticing.""Neither did I know it. But it don't matter, Louise, for the moon will shine out bright to-night and we are in no danger of getting lost-" In the first place, I do, as often and as lucidly and pellucidly as I can with what few talents 1 may embrace, answer the inquirers who have something to inquire for, if 1 am able t o supply the information. First then. Jack, you should know what you want to inquire for, and, secondly, you should know how to spell it. Then any one would be glad to drop the information into your receptacle.By THOMAS P. MOSTTOHT. i "Thank you, mamma, I knew you ,would like him, for my sake, and yon iwill like him better when you know how good and noble he is." (cohtutukd) "I'M GLAD HE'S GONE," SHE SAID. CHAPTER IV. THB BtATCHTOBDR "Are you sure of that, Paul?" "Sure of which, Louise?" "Why, that the moon will shine out." "Why, I think it does. It ought to, anyhow, and I reckon it wilL" anxiety, Louise was trembling so that she could hardly bear her weight. The cloud spread out, and soon the whole heavens was obscured. The thunder grew louder and more frequent until it became terrific, and the lightning flashed incessantly. Then directly it began to rain. First a few large, scattering drops fell, but in a moment this was followed by a swift dash, and a regular downpour succeeded. A stout breeze sprang up, sweeping the rain along in great sheets, and blinding Paul and Louise, who were compelled to face it. "I HOPE I HATS SOrt SAID TOO UTCH?" Then another long silence followed, after which Mary said: One day Paul and Louise went for a stroll on the prairie. It was a clear, calm Sabbath, such as summer Sabbaths usually are, and a misty haze danccd about near the green earth. They walked on and on, mile after mile, and at last coming to the road thai ran over toward Paradise Park, they turned into that and went on to the east. When old Farmer Green announced to the world that he had disowned and disinherited his son he felt he had put the finishing stroke to his duty. When he thundered forth the awful edict he ended hi* connection with this story, so we gently drop him ont of its pages feeling that his absence can well be spared. Blatchford, however, cannot so readily be disposed of, since he figures in the narrative to the end, therefore it is necessary to go back and give a little further account of him. heart, for your disinterested mindfulness of me. Let us now drop the subject and try to forget it. It is not right that yoa should afflict yourself with thoughts of one who is so far beneath .you in point of goodness, and I will try and think of her with as much charity as possible. It is a sad thing to feel the ingratitude of one's own flesh and (blood—a sad thing to be a parent .spurned by the child for whom I have done so much. But I can Hve over it, 'Sarah, and perhaps in time forget. |There, we will say no more about it." "Has Paul spoken to you of love, Louise?" "No, he never has. That is, not exactly.""And are yon sure you love him?" Louise not only progressed in her Itudies, but sbe spent some very happy (veilings, and tho remaining months of winter passed off much more pleasantly ihan sbe bad anticipated. John and uary always welcomed Paul to their louse, and as they came to be better acquainted with him they grew to liking »im more and more. He was of a happy tisposition, and he had a way of making people forget their sorrows and (roubles, and often be chirked John up rut of a fit of downheartcdness and brought a smile to his lips and a twinkle Df pleasure to bis eyes. Paul made it a point to take the •heerfulest view of the future, and sometimes he went off into the wildest flights of fancy in speaking of what he contemplated accomplishing for himself. Ills dreams were extravagant, but dreaming them was better than repining. Louise bad some doubts on the point, and misgivings took possession of her. What if it became quite dark, and they so far from home with no road the greater part of the way to guide tbem back! Sbe began to worry and fret, and Paul began to console and comfort. Thus they went along for a mile or so, and Louise began to feel more cheerful. But directly she espied a dark cloud stealing up in the south. Only the edge of it was visible as yet, but it was stead* ily approaching and bade fair to mantle the heavens within an hour. Undoubtedly! "I know I love him, mamma, he is so good and kind, and is all the friend I have aside from you and pa." Now comes the would yon advise a young man of a literary bent and possessing a keen sense for that which is unusual or humorous?" The mother smiled faintly at the girl's earnestness and stroking the soft, brown hair gently, said: "About the 1st of September," Paul was saying, "I shall be ready to go back to school. There will be a year of separation, and it, will seem long, but when it is passed I will come back and build up a home, and then we will marry and settle down in it to live as happy as can be." I would advise such an one to avail himself of it and enjoy it. Few people are blest with a keen sense of the unusual. It should be fostered. At the time John and Mary married, Hiram Blatchford had been a widower for two years, and he remained so until after his daughter removed to Kansas. Soon after that event, though, he met Miss Sarah Spickler, an elderly spinster, and asked her to share his home. Miss Spickler having been on the matrimonial market for a good many years with no bidders for her hand, was desperate enough to accept any Bort of jffer, and accordingly she snapped Blatchford up in short order. "Louise, you are young yet, a mere child, and I'm afraid you do not know your heart as well as you think. You have a great liking for Paul as one is apt to have for a good friend when friends arc few. You admire his kindness of heart, for, poor child, you have For an hour they kept on, and all the time their speed grew less and less, until at last Louise, who bad exerted herself to the full of her strength, sank to the ground. In an instant Paul was on his knees at her side holding her head in his arms and shelter; ug ber face with his hat. The good Sarah was quite willing to Jlet the subject rest, since she had -gained her point. Dinner being at that moment announced, she went out and took her place at the bead of the table, from which position she beamed smiles of love and tender sympathy on the old fool, her husband, who sat opposite her nursing his martyred soul. Not once, as he 6at at that board laden with a superabundance of the choicest viands, did old Blatchford feel ,a tinge of pity for his poor daughter, who was an outcast from home, a stranger in a strange land, denied even the food necessary to stay the pangs of hunger. And yet he condoled himself and imagined that he had a wounded heart; he, a man who was as void of heart as the veriest flint. You ask next, "How shall he tind tlie market without money or influence?" He will naturally have great difficulty. The market for a keen sense of the unusual was never more panicky than it is now. Without money or influence you will have quite a long search before you will get your price. To tell you the honest and never dying truth. Asterisk, there is no market for a keen sense for the unusual or humorous. It is a good thing to have, for your life will be longer and sweeter for having it. Don't market it at all, any more than you would market your keen relish for what is good or beautiful. Yoa doubtless want to find a market, not for your keen sense of the unusual, but for your ability to describe such things in an entertaining way, and you cannot deliver the goods at present, 1 fear. n iu Louise gave a little start, and after casting a hurried glance at Patfi, looked down and blushed. Paul noticed her manner, and thinking it due to embarrassment went on: "Paul," she said, "what shall we do? There will be no moon, and the night will be cloudy. Ah, we shall get lost and not get home till morning. What will pa and mamma think?" put in the high lights of happiness and the shadows of sorrow as they must come, dear Asterisk, to all of u*. He wrote on as the sun went down, and thonght not of his hunger and the home* less, pitiless, scad night that was coming on. He wrote while the shadow* lengthened in the churchyard and the roar of business along Broadway died down to a sort of mercantile parr. "I can't go any further," she whispered; "not another step." "I have not forgotten, Louise, what you told me your mother said, and I do not ask you to promise me anything— not until the year is out. I am quite satisfied without it, for I know that you love me, and it requires no words to reveal your heart to me, and no promise to make me understand that you will be my wife." "Don't, Louise," Paul replied. "Be calm, and don't fret. I'm sorry that we came so far, but we shall get back all right. Are you tired?" "Then rest here," Paul replied. "The rain will blow over directly and then we can go on. I'm glad it's so warm, for the rain won't hurt us, and we shall be none the worse for the wetting. We won't care for it when it is over, and tomorrow we can laugh about our adventure."Paul bad studies of his own. He was reading medical works and was going to be a doctor. He had taken one coursc at a mcdical college and hoped to return the next fall to take another if he was fortunate enough to raise a crop on his claim and get money to pay his way. His sole possession was the claim, and he could mortgage that as Green had his, "on longtime and easy terms," but be hoped to have a home ere long for himself and Louise, so he hesitated to raise money in that way. Old Markham liad money, but be waa ppposed to Paul's plans, and he refused; to let him have d dollar on any kind of terms. Miss Spickler was anything but iretty, and her temper was soured and ler intellect none of the strongest, yet ;he had not been in the Blatchford tome a week, as Mrs. Blatchford, beore she had her husband under her humb, and held complete sway over rverything and everybody about the dace. "No, not a bit." "Then let's walk fast while it is light and get as far towards home as possible. There will be a light in the window at your house, and if we get near enough to see that we will have no trouble in finding the way, even if it is dark." Then he took his "copy" and went up the Bowery to where one may abide all night for fifteen cents. There he abode the night. But he did not care. He was happy. He did not have to sleep there any more. The editor read his little story aloud till his voice got husky and then he read it to himself. But it was not the wetting or the mere fact of being lost that worried 'Louise. She realized that it was not the proper place for her, out there in the night alone with ber lover, and she dreaded what her parents would think. She never bad been guilty of an act that would shake their confidence, and she felt that it would break her heart if Bhe should know they harbored even the faintest suspicion of her. All this cams through her mind and she broke into tears and sobs. "I do love you, Paul," Louise said, "with all the fervor of my nature, and I will never love you less. You are so good and noble. But, Paul, you—" They hurried on as fast as they could, and before the night came on they had traversed several miles of the way. They were hurrying on thus, when just as the twilight began to fall they heard the fall of a horse's feet behind them, and soon thereafter a man on horseback came clattering up. They thought he was going to pass without speaking, but when he had got in front of them he checked his horse, and turning in the saddle so as to face them, lifted his hat, saying: Blatchford was her Blave from the lrst, and with him her word was law. Vhatever sXe wished she had, and vhatever she commanded to be done, vas done without delay. She married Uatchford for his money, and she was etermined from the first to have it. A month or so after his marriage •latchford began to study about his aughter, and the more he thought of er the more he became convinced that e had ill treated her. In short, after 3 long a time he came to the conclaion that he was as much to blame as tary, and, knowing-that she must be offering privations, he decided to ex;nd to her the band of friendship and •v tier to her and John some pecuniary ssistance. Having come to this contusion, he hastened to mention the tatter to his wife for her sanction, arah listened until he had unfolded is plans, then with uplifted hands and .aring eyes exclaimed: "Well, did I ever hear of Buch a thing i that! Hiram Blatchford, have you Dst all your senses?" ••Why, Sarah," Hiram replied, taken ack, "what's the matter?" i "Matter?" 8arab repeated. "Well, I'd never a believed it, never." "Never believed what?" Hiram asked. "Why, that you could ever have been iken with such fool notions, Hiram. Whoever heard of the like of it?" "Why, I—" Hiram stammered and s topped. A week or so after the incident described Sarah came to Hiram with a letter from an adjoining state, in which letter she was informed of the derth of a married 6ister. Her sister had left three children, and Sarah's tender heart prompted ber to take them and care for them if Hiram wasn't averse to it Learn first to write good English. Write at a mar:: for eight or nine years and let up on busy people, if you please. I once knew a young man who decided to go to New York and to try to get a job on the metropolitan press. He had practiced on a country paper for several years, and had received a cyclopedia and a reversible wall map as a reward for his genius and toil. So he said to himself: "1 will go to New York. This life is killing me. It is time to call a halt." He did not take a trunk because he said it woulil only be a burden to him, and one hot day when the sun was bringing out all the hidden fragrance that a century has concealed between the heated paving stones of Newspaper row, he found the door which led into the inhospitable dwelling of the great newspaper upon which he had decided to bestow himself. . "What is it, Louise?" Paul asked. ' "I—I don't know," Louise replied. "I suppose I am foolish, Paid, but I can't help it. I am so common and insignificant, and you will be thrown among so many women who are beautiful and accomplished." Now Ambrose is himself a managing editor, and has engraved visiting cards with "Mister" on them. Yon ask if I can cite an instance in regard to my gaining literary notoriety, and I reply with my hand on my heart that, so far aB I know, I cannot ."LOUISE, YOU ABJi YOUNG YET, A. MERE cutld. " "It's all blamed foolishness," Markham said, "this idea of studying to be a doctor. I never got no fool notion that I was too eood to work for a honest Jivin', an' by jinks, I ain't goin' to furnish no money to help on anybody that has got sicb a notion. Paul kin gtudy medicine if he wants to, but he kin do it at his own expense. I ain't in on makin' gentlemen out o' fellers that 'ud better be at work tillin' the soiL Not a bit I ain't, an' by jinks I won't do it, nuther.". For a moment Paul was unable to understand the girl's words, but after a time a light began to break on his mind, and with a light, cheerful laugh be drew her closer to him and said: "Bring them right along," Hiram said; "we have plenty and they must not suffer. Send for them at once." known little enough of such in your life. You like and esteem Paul above all others, but perhaps you may not, love him. Love is a broad and a deep thing, and you are too young to understand what it really is. Go on thinking of him as you do, if you wish, and always treat him with the kindnest consideration, but do not go beyond that, if he sp&aks to you of love do not encourage him, and make him no promises. Tell him that you arc young and that I wish you to wait a year or two longer before you enter into any compact affecting your whole future life. But perhaps this is all unnecessary precaution. *He has said nothing, and perhaps he may not say anything for a long time. It may be—are you sure he loves you, Louise?" Paul tried to comfort her, never seeing beyond the bodily inconveniences of the hour. Honest, openhearted soul that he was, a thought of the impropriety of the situation never came to him. He never thought of what others might say or think; but knowing the purity of his own motives took it for granted that everybody else would see the affair in its true light Ah! old man, where was your conscience, your sense of right, that it did not prick you when you thus opened your home to a horde of strangers, and admitted them to the place that belonged to one who needed it more? Where was your good angel that it did not whisper to you of the sorrow and trouble, the foundation of which you that moment laid with your own hand Bitter, bitter will be the regrets follow ing that act, old man, and though the; may follow at a long distance, they will surely follow, and terrible will be their weight when at last they come. And now, if I have been of service to yon or any one who may read theee lines, if there be in this brief note a grain of goodness which yon may pick up and file away, I am repaid—that is, of course, figuratively speaking — and with this, and hoping that possibly I, too, may be eminent some day, and in lien of this great impossibility, will close, as the opportunity presents. Very sincerely, "Excuse me, but could you inform me whether I am on the road leading to Paradise Park?" "And so you think I will be so blinded and dazzled by the beauty and accomplishments of other women that I shall forget my little girl away off out liere on the plains? Is that the brilliant idea that has edged its way into your mind?" "You are," replied PauL "Thanks, can you give me the distance?""A matter of a dozen miles, I presume.": Louise walked on some distance before she replied, half vexed at herself for uttering words that showed she doubted Paul's constancy, and half glad that she bad uttered them, as it gave him an opportunity of reasserting his love for her. Louise was an uncommonly sensible person, but the most sensible girls love to play the coquette just a little. Finally, after the lapse of a minute or so, sbe looked up into Paul's face and said: The stranger asked no more questions, and, evidently having gained all the information he desired, Paul expected him to ride on. But he did not. He went along stewly for several yards, retaining the same position in the saddle and keeping his eyes fixed on the couple. Louise had not dared to look at him after the first glance she gave him when be came up, for somehow she felt that his eyes were fixed on her, and she felt an undefinable dread of him, and longed to be rid of his presence. After awhile the stranger broke the silence, saying: "We can't go any further," Paul said, "until the rain is over, for we have nothing to guide us, and if we tramped all night we would not find your house. We might pass and repass within a few yards of it twenty times and never know it." But Paul's design was not to be thwarted by that sort of talk, and he resolved to work his own way. He * planned to raise a crop and get the means to continue his study that way if possible, and, if the crop failed again, he would mortgage his land. Everybody about him looked so cool and superior that he hated himself because he perspired so, and he knew that even the elevator boy looked down on him. He felt homesick, and when he took out his handkerchief to wipe his brow he accidentally pulled out a little red pincushion that his sister gave him when he started for town. It smote on his heart very heavily, Mr. Asterisk, and he compared the welcome he generally got at home with the chilly glare he got when he came to town. The orphans were duly installed in Blatchford's house, and by him were educated and supported. The eldest, a boy named Harry, was taken into the bank, and of him we shall hear more later on, as he figures quite extensively in this history, which would probably be less sad if it were less true. So the winter passed and the spring came, and a soft, warm haze lay over all the endless stretch of prairie. Again the poor settlers brought out their plows and set to work to break Louise silently acquiesced, for she was too weak to stand, and knew that it was impossible for her to go on even if it were best. So they remained waiting for the rain to blow over, and hour after hour passed. Bis trousers are Immaculate, The Perfect Man. "I know he does, mamma I—I can't tell you how I know it, but I do know he loves me; and some day he means to ask me to be his wife. I am sixteen now, and in a year or two I shall be & woman, and then he will speak and you will not object. Will you?" No bag disturbs their faultless kmise; The pattern, too, is up to date. And always just the one to please. "Why shouldn't you, Paul?" "Why shouldn't I forget yon?" His coat Is simply "out of sight," } It was a solemn time away out there on the wide waste of lonesome prairie, in the stillness of the night, with the deep thunder rolling through the ens and the lightning glaring and flashing all about. It is impossible to picture the desolation of such a scene or to describe the feeling of loneliness that comes over one bo situated. No wrinkle, bulge or crease appears; "Yes." "Then I will ask why Bhould I?" "A dozen miles. That is a long ride, and this is going to be a bad -night, too. It will be terribly dark, and I think it will rain, don't you?" The collar sits exactly right, No "Jumping tall" its beauty "queer*." CHAPTER V. MOTHER AND DAUGHTKK. "Because, Paul, I am so insignificant and small, and you can win the love of whom yon please. I know there must be grand ladies out in the world, and, as compared with them, I am so common. You cannot help but see the difference and know how much more worthy of your love they are than I." When he mastered the courage, he took a deep breath and stepped into the elevator; the elevator boy pushed him back and asked him whom he desired to see. Then it came over him that he did not know the editor and that, probably, he never would. The elevator boy gave him a blank replevin to fill out, stating whom he wished to see and also on what business, whether friendly or otherwise, whether married or single, and if so, how it agreed with him. » "Why, yon," Sarah put In, "want *D be a fool, Hiram Blatchford, a regular out and out fool, you do. That's all there is of it. The idea of you making the first step towards a reconciliation between you and your daughter, when she threw you away for the sake of John Green. Yes, if I was you I would. I'd go and get down on my knees to her, and own that I was in the wrong. Yes, I'd do all that, and beg her with tears in my eyes to come back to my arms." With their dearly secured "accommodation" John Green's family managed to get through the winter without suffering anything beyond severe privations. Their clothing and fare was, of course, common and limited, but that was nothing so long as it kept them from starving and freezing. "No, not unless I have better reap! pons than I know at present. But a1 Fear or two is a long time, Louise, and we need not consider now what we will do then. It may not bo necessary for me to say aye or nay to Paul, for you may see him differently then. You may see some one else that may sup*- plant him in your heart." His waistcoat is the proper thing. His linen and bis four-in-hand: The gauntlet to Perfection fling, His figure what the girls call "grand." "It may possibly," Paul replied. "Are you a stranger in this section?" "Yes, entirely so. I am just out from the east and came up from the railroad to-day. You live near, I suppose?" "Yes, quite near." He has a weak but pretty "phiz;" He ne'er was known to dissipate: And this exquisite mortal Is The fellow in the Fashion Plate. —William Barclay Dunham in Clothier aa4 Furnisher. At last the rain ceased, and shortly » faint gray light began to show in the east. They knew the morning was coming, and they never welcomed it more gladly in all their lives. After several efforts Louise was able to stand. Paul held her in his arms and slowly they walked toward home. After walking a short distance the numbness began to leave her, so she could proceed with tolerable ease. An hour brought them within sight of the cabin, and soon thereafter John met them. He had been out the greater part of the night in search of his daughter. Louise was soon at home, weeping on her mother's bosom, while Paul and John stood mutely looking on. At this point Paul placed his hand over her month and stopped her speech. "There, jou have gone far enough," he said, "and I will not hear another word. I have done nothing to deserve so poor an opinion from you, and you have no right to talk so. I would never have such an opinion of you, Louise, never." Then they went on silently again, and Lonise kept wishing that the stranger would ride away and leave them. His presence and his voice bored her and made her nervous. Paul felt that his company could very well be spared and he would rather have him go, but he had no particular objection to his presence. He experienced none of that aversion for him that Louise felt. It was a long, dreary winter, especially to Louise, off on the prairie, with no friends or companions, and no books or papers, and with nothing to do but to drag idly through the days. The nearest neighbor lived two miles away, and, that being Markham's, they might as well have been forty miles away for all the good they were to Green's, for since that night when Markham talked so abusively to Louise there had been no intercourse between the two families."Oh, mother, that is impossible! No one can be to me what Paul is. I could not be so ungrateful as to give him a second place in my heart, when he has been so good to me." D Inconstancy. Was it something said. He sent this up to the editor and got word that the editor had gone to Honolulu to start a branch office, but would be back in the spring. Something done. Vexed him? Was It touch of hand, "Sarah. I—" Turn of head? Strange! that very way "Yes, I know what you thought, Hiram. I know that your soft, silly heart prompts you to make a fool of yourself. But before you do it, ask yourself if it would be right. Wasn't you always kind and indulgent to Mary, and didn't you do everything for her The mother smiled again. She was assured from these last words of her daughter, that Louise had mistaken Iter heart, and that what she felt to be loVe was only gratitude and friendship. She understood how easily one of Louise's age, and one placed as she was, could deceive herself, and she could not believe that the child knew her own heart. For a long time she was silent, and for a time doubts, fears and misgivings possessed her. She realized how easily one of the girl's age and temperament could be deceived. She was inexperienced, and knowing nothing of human nature, judged all mankind by her own standard, and reckoned all hearts like hers, pure, innocent and honest. Whether she really loved Paul or not, he was her idol, and she looked ap to him as a paragon of perfection, and was that confident and trustful that Love begun- I as little anderatand Lore's decay Paul spoke like one very deeply hurt, and in an instant Louise was all contrition. She saw that she had wounded Paul, and she would not hurt him for the world. She was anxious to make amends, but she was at a loss how to proceed, and again they walked on in silence. She thought of various things to 6ay, but none of them were suited to the occasion, and so at last, wnen tne long suence was becoming oppressive and she felt that something must be said, she decided to come out boldly and beg his forgivenness. Laying her hand on his arm she looked wistfully into his face, and with lips all a-tremble, said: He did not believe this. So he lingered lear, and pretty soon he saw a clergyman with the manuscript of a sermon under his arm and heard him ask to see Mr. Must This gave him an idea. He would also ask to see Mr. Must as soon aa the clergyman came back. So he took out his second papers, and where the blank occurred regarding what he wished to see Mr. Must for he wrote, "Wish to see Mr. Must regarding scoop." -Robert Browning. THEY READ FROM THE SAME BOOK. "Are you acquainted," asked the stranger, again breaking the pause, "with Solomon Scraggs over at Para-' dise Park?" That which we know UD sweeter yet. Knowledge. that a father could do?" "Yes, that's true." Hiram replied the soil and plant the crops, full of hope and confidence. With the return of the bright spring sunshine, camo back the grand expectations that ever buoy up the hearts of honest, struggling mortals, and the faces of the pioneers shed the cloud of fear and doubt that had hung over them like a dark mantle. Do we Dot love the near Earth more Than the far Heaven)1 Does not Kegret Louise grew pensive and melancholy, and it was plain that she longed for a different life, though she never uttered a complaining word. Once shortly after Christmas she and her mother were alone in the cabin, and after they had sat a long time silent Louise suddenly said: Walk with us always, from the door That shuts behind as. though ire leave Not much to tnake as grieve? with no little inward satisfaction, and "I am," said Paul, "and I suppose most anyone in this section can tell you the same. The most of them know him quite well, and they would perhaps be a great deal happier if they knew him less." [TU BB 0 C KTWCtD J Cowardice. with a growing feeling that he was a much abused parent. Sarah M. U. Piatt. A Story About Mozart. "Then you have done your duty, Hi- ram, more than your duty, and i£ any- Cowardice? Tea, we are coward* coward* Here is a story about Mozart which wa do not remtmber to have heard befora. Thai great man was paying a visit to a monastery, and during mass was tortured by the playing of a ludicrously inefficient organist. At dinner the prior asked Moaart how he liked the organist's performanoa. body is to bend the knee let it be the one who has done wrong. I don't believe in a father being made a slave to the whim and wishes of an ungrateful child. If I had ever had such a father as you, and had ever crossed him in one wish even, I never would have forgiven, myself. I couldn't ever looked thet world in the face after beintr so heart-D from cradle to bier. And the terror of life grow* upon as aa we Then he was bidden to come. He thought hard all the way up trying to have an idea, for the paper offered as high as $3.75 apiece for ideas at that time. When he got there he was scared* almost to death, bat the editor greeted him rather kindly and said: John Qreen was among the more industrious and persevering of all the farmers in his section. lie began work early, and every day he was in his field plowing and planting. He had a double incentive to work, for his family must live and that debt on the farm must be paid. He went at it cheerfully, and as "So? Then he is not popular?" "No, nor would any other man be under the circumstances." grow year by year; Our smiles are bat trembling ripples, urged on "Mother, I wish I could manage some way to go on with my education." by a subtlde of fear. And hence, or at substance or shadow we start. "So do I, Louise," Mary answered; "but I can't think of any way that it can be managed. If we had the books I could help you with your studies, but We haven't the monev to buv books." •What is that, may I ask?" "Why, loaning money to the settlers at thieving rates of interest. He just roba every man who borrows from him." though we scarce know why. Life seems like a haunted wood, where wr "He plays in quite a Biblical faahtoa." ■aid Mozart "Paul, I am a silly thing, and you must not mind what I say. I do not mean to doubt you, dear, good Paul, and I want vou to fortrive me, will you, tremble and crouch and cry. Beset, or robber, or ghost—our courage ts stli to fly "You don't say? why he must have an iron heart, to take advantage of people "I had an idea in the elevator," said Ambrose, for that was the name of our "WeUf' with a rising inflection, "What do you mean?" —Alfred Austin. "His left hand doea not know what U( right hand doetV
Object Description
Title | Pittston Gazette |
Masthead | Pittston Gazette, Volume 42 Number 3, October 09, 1891 |
Volume | 42 |
Issue | 3 |
Subject | Pittston Gazette newspaper |
Description | The collection contains the archive of the Pittston Gazette, a northeastern Pennsylvania newspaper published from 1850 through 1965. This archive spans 1850-1907 and is significant to genealogists and historians focused on northeastern Pennsylvania. |
Publisher | Pittston Gazette |
Physical Description | microfilm |
Date | 1891-10-09 |
Location Covered | United States; Pennsylvania; Luzerne County; Pittston |
Type | Text |
Original Format | newspaper |
Digital Format | image/tiff |
Language | English |
Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ |
Contact | For information on source and images, contact the West Pittston Public Library, 200 Exeter Ave, West Pittston, PA 18643. Phone: (570) 654-9847. Email: wplibrary@luzernelibraries.org |
Contributing Institution | West Pittston Public Library |
Sponsorship | This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER Library: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education. |
Description
Title | Pittston Gazette |
Masthead | Pittston Gazette, Volume 42 Number 3, October 09, 1891 |
Volume | 42 |
Issue | 3 |
Subject | Pittston Gazette newspaper |
Description | The collection contains the archive of the Pittston Gazette, a northeastern Pennsylvania newspaper published from 1850 through 1965. This archive spans 1850-1907 and is significant to genealogists and historians focused on northeastern Pennsylvania. |
Publisher | Pittston Gazette |
Physical Description | microfilm |
Date | 1891-10-09 |
Location Covered | United States; Pennsylvania; Luzerne County; Pittston |
Type | Text |
Original Format | newspaper |
Digital Format | image/tiff |
Identifier | PGZ_18911009_001.tif |
Language | English |
Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ |
Contact | For information on source and images, contact the West Pittston Public Library, 200 Exeter Ave, West Pittston, PA 18643. Phone: (570) 654-9847. Email: wplibrary@luzernelibraries.org |
Contributing Institution | West Pittston Public Library |
Sponsorship | This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER Library: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education. |
Full Text | Oldest NewsDaDer in the Wvoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1891. A WeeKly Local and Familv lounial {'"•."ZOO,'* Uttla Jack Tiro-Stick*. less and ungrateful. Oh! Iliram, what a noble, loving, forgiving nature you have, and how unfeeling must have been the child wao could so ruthlessly trample upon it." "I know that, mother, but I was thinking that I might borrow some." Twas a terrible day, and we spr* t It fighting the third division of Hill's mDmmand In the Wilderness: then, just as night waa fall- she would not, and could not, doubt him in anything. he trudged to and fro across the field in the long furrows, singing blithely, no one would have guessed what pangs of trouble had racked his soul all through the long, tedious winter, ne was not of a brooding disposition, and even under the most trying circumstances he could feel cheerful so long as there was ever so dim a ray of light before him. He had work to do now, and there was a prospect of good results, so he felt confident once more, and in the thought of the bright future which his fancy {tainted he lost sight of the hardships of the present. Paul, and forget what 1 was foolish enough to say?" i.nat way. i/accnes tnemin a ciose piace, 1 suppose, and then bears down on them to the last notch?" JACK'S BUDDING HOPES. hero, "that it wouia be a good idea to send a man down to Coney island and let him write it np." "I don't know who you could borrow them from, Louise. I don't suppose anyone about here has them." Such thoughts as these ran through 'the mother's mind, and she trembled ffor the safety of her child. Then she Recalled all she knew of Paul. He iwas a man of perfect character, and fen all the years she had known him he had not been guilty of an ungentletaanly act. This review of the young man's past somewhat reassured her, and she felt thankful that it was Paul "who held such an influence over her (daughter. She was far safer with him than with most men. It would have required an iron will to withstand that tender little appeal, spoken in such a soft tone, and those mild brown eyes looking so sorrowfully up from beneath their long dark lashes. It was not in the nature of things for Paul to hold out against it for an instant, and like a flash the cloud went from his face and it shone out again all light and smiles lug, we finished the combat hand to hand. Oar ranks were thinned, and the men had fast- "That's it, exactly," said Paul. ed hoar after hoar of the hard fought day, With canteens empty and knapsacks lying on the ground In camp when we marched away. At this point the good Sarah, who all along had shown strong symptoms of weeping, was so overcome that she could restrain her tears no longer, and broke down and poumi forth in a perfect flood on her shoulder. Hiram was deeply touched, and he was forced to exert himself to keep back the tears of self pity that welled up in his own eyes. lie had never before realized how deeply he had been wronged, and never before had he understood how much he had been martyred. His heart went out to himself, and he pitied himself from the bottom of his soul. "I know who has them," Louise replied, "but 1 don't know whether you would want me to get them of him. Paul has lots of books that he brought from school with hhn, and he has often proposed to let me have them." "Then he is a merciless miscreant," the other replied. "A heartless wretch, ana i sympathize mtn tnose wno are so unfortunate as to fall into his power. Indeed 1 do. Well, 1 must ride on, for my journey is a long one yet." HE ASKS BILL NYE WHAT HE MUST "For the paper?" asked the editor, pounding on the wall with the drawhead from a wreck which he once participated in. DO TO BE EMINENT. Corporal Hunt had stood beside me all through the fight as oar men went down- That tall, blue grain in its long swaths lying, the earth where it had been brown, the cleft twigs dropped from the trees above us, cat by the ballets which whistled there. William Telia Him a Story of a Young Man Who Suddenly Row to a Great Height—Try It, Asterisk, and Jamp Off When Ton Get There. "Yes, for the paper," said Ambrose, "for the first page." "Paul Markhain?" Mary asked. With that he put the spurs to his horse and galloped away. Louise listened nntil he was out of hearing, then gave a sigh of relief. Paul heard her and looked around inquiringly. "Well," said the editor, "I hare thought of that. I thought of it eighteen years ago. We have had spells of thinking of it ever since. So have the other papers. Are you a native of New York?" "Yes," said Louise; "he has the books I need, and he has begged me to take them." "There, there, Louise," he said, "it is all right. I was sure you couldn't have so poor an opinion of me, and I'm sorry that I said anything to hurt yon. We'll forget it all and never think of it again." ICopyrlght, 1891, by Edgar W. Nye.l Craig-y-Nos, Buncombe Co., N. C., 1 October, 1891. f The following letter has been waiting for some time, but other matters have interfered with a prompt reply: And with labored breathing we clambered forward, mattering sometimes a corse or prayer. "Louise," Mfry said aftsr awhile, "you know howjold Markham talked to you that niglftyou went to the store, and you know we have had nothing to do with them 6ince, and you know that we can't accent any favors from Paul." So after considering the matter well, Mary decided to say nor do nothing to antagonize her daughter's sentiments. She remembered only too vividly what the result of such action had been in her own case, and-she knew that young lovers could not be driven. She 'realized that harsh measures would 'only bring the lovers closer together, Jand result in the very thing she was anxious to avert—a premature marriage. So at last, taking Louise's hand |n her own, she said: "It is a long lane, Mary," he sometimes said, "that has no turn, and I believe in our case the turn is near at hand. We have had a long siege of misfortunes, but I think we have about reached the end of the list. The prospects are flattering for an abundant crop, and with the amount of stuff I have in cultivation we only want a fair yield to enable us to pay off the mortgage and have plenty left to tide us over the year. We'll come out all right yet, and within a short time be comfortably fixed with a good home and plenty of everything to live on. Why, what's a little hard times, anyhow? It don't amount to anything and is soon over, and it don't hurt us any, but only makes us appreciate our good fortunes all the more when they do come. In•ide of two years we can look back on the past few months and laugh over our privations and wonder what it was we fretted about. Wp'll come out all right" "I'm glad he's gone," she said. "Why?" asked PauL Little Jack Two-Sticks, the company's dram mer—you see we had nicknames among the boys- Was dramming away at my left, and helping to deaden the shriek of those leaden toys. Jack was a lad, and a little fellow about the size of my youngest girl I had left at home; eyes the same color, and hair that was always trying to carl. "Because I don't like him." "No, sir; I am a native of Bellefonte, Ohio. I got here early this morning." "I judged that you had not lived hen always. You are too considerate of other people's feelings to pass for a native of New York. But you can acquire metropolitan air if you try. If you go up to the slaughter house and drink hot blood for a month, then come and ride on the elevated road, you will get that man-about-town air." And Paul bent to kiss the rosy lips which Louise turned up to him, and the little misunderstanding was at an end. Yes, so far as Paul was concerned it was, but a little shade of doubt remained in Louise's heart and rankled for a long time after. "He appears to be a gentleman," Paul urged, "and I'm sure he treated us very respectfully. I like the way he talked about old Scraggs, too." "There, there, Sarah," he said, "don't let the tenderness of your heart cause you to grieve too sorely for what I have been made to suffer. I promise you that I shall not forget my wrongs again soon, since the weakness that possessed me for a short time is gone. No, I'll never make any advances to a child who so far forgot her duty to me and treated me with such cruelty, and I am glad that yon called me Jo myself in time to save me from taking the step X had anticipated." ' Gt7RDO*. Ark., Aug. 18,1891. Edgar W. Nye. Asheville, N. C.: Dear Sir For several years 1 have been a reader of your excellent "Bill Nye" articles, and, being somewhat young and literaryly Inclined, have longed for a bit of advice from your pen. Probably "while the delegation are waiting" just outside your door you could drop a few "Nye" nuggets into my receptacle and they would never be missed. Louise arose and going to the window stood for a minute or so looking out into the snow-covered prairie. Unconsciously she let a sigh escape her, and, though it was soft and low, the quick ears of her mother caught it. "Oh, he talked well enough, but I don't believe he meant it. I didn't like his looks from the first." "Look at that corporal shouted. "Look drumming awayl"4M And we sortfaces "He play!" And the Hf the corporal softeners BP^hardened. and dowa he "Whatl Hunt, are you nit?" But he made no answer, and I heard In the front the rebel yell. And our colonel shouted, "Charge bayonets, men!" I rushed through the thicket to take my part. Leaving the corporal lying quiet with a mlnle ball lodged in his gallant heart. "Well, I didn't notice anything particular in his looks. He is young and "Louise," Mary called, "don't fret about the books, for we shall try to get them soon." "Do as I have told you, Louise; treat Paul as kindly as you can, and remem'ber him as your best friend, but do not make him any promises. He knows you are too young to think of marriage, and he will not think it hard to leave .you free for a year or two longer." You 'are free to keep company with him and jto love him, and when you are a year older, if you want to promise to be his wife you can do so with my consent. I think I have offered fair terms, Louise, j?nd I hope you will consider them fcuch." very good looking. What was there about him that yon didn't like, Louise?" "But you look fatigued, and your clothes are old. Look at your trousers, how they bag at the area!" "Yes, sir." "It is not the books, mother," Louise replied as she came and- put her arms about her mother's neck and laid her face on her bosom. "I can wait for them." "I don't know. I just know that I don't like him, and I was glad when he left us. I had a sort of dread and fear of him. But he's gone now, so let's not talk about him any more." . "Yes, I am told that they do, sir, but one cannot beat one's way from Cincinnati here and keep the crease in both legs of one's panties and have them drape alike when he arrives here. Folks tell me that they are rather out at elbows, sir, but, thank Qod, they cover a warm heart." Sarah checked her tears and by degrees her sobbing ceased. The effort she had made had been a great one, and her soul was terribly sore from the effects of it, but she had saved her husband from abusing himself and sinking his dignity, and she was satisfied. Of course she had saved him from all expense on Mary's account and kept that much more money for herself, but that would not count for tftiything with such a noble soul as that of the angelic Sarah. "Hiram," she said when she had got her feelings sufficiently under control to be able to cease her tears and sobs, "I hope I have not said too much. I am sorry that your daughter cannot occupy the place in your heart that a child should occupy in the heart of a parent, and I know I would be the last person to aid in estranging you from her. Perhaps I have said too much, but I have your good so deeply at heart that I couldn't help saying what I did. It was; all for the sake of your loving, self." "Then what makes yon sad, my child?" and Maiy stroked her daughter's Hair and tried to lift the bowed head. "What is it you sigh for?" Louise's fancy struck Paul as rather ridiculous, for he was very matter of fact in his ideas, and he never counted anything on first impressions. He put every man down for what he claimed to be until he knew him well enough to understand his character and motives. He judged that on account of her situation Louise was out of humor with the world and not in a frame of mind to form favorable opinions of anyone. We fought and we won with the little handful left of our brave old Company G. Our colonel dropped, half rose, and (boated. "Follow them, boysl Not a man stays with me." Bat after the cannon had stopped their rattle, and after the ballets had ceased their Play. And we searched for oar comrades, I heard th« drumming of little Jack Two-Sticks far away. "I—I'm afraid you and pa do not like Paul," and Louise buried her face deeper on her mother's breast. "lie is so good and generous, and is all the friend I have in the world aside from yon two, and I'm afraid you do not like him." And John went off to his work singlag as happy as a king, and Mary looked after him smilingly, equally as sonfident as he. "I see," said the editor, "that you have a wonderful command of language. I will give you a chance, though the office is full of idle men. You would think that the office ought seek the Ambrose, but it is not so here. I will give you an assignment. Go to the top of Trinity spire and write it up. Bring your stuff tomorrow. At the elevator give the good hailing sign, and repeat the word •Mesopotamia.' You will be admitted." "I do, mamma, I do, and I am willing to do as you say, and I know Paul will •)C, too. I will never have any Becrets irom you, and never go contrary to your wishes. Paul and I will wait, and neither of us will think it hard, since you wish it, but nothing, mother, can part us. Nothing, nothing." Paul, too, applied himself to his work, and as he plodded after the plow he dreamed of the future, of the time when he should be a doctor and have a cozy little home with Louise for its mistress. Ambition or love ought either to be sufficient to urge a man on to his best endeavors; but when they combine, as' they did in Paul's case, there is no telling what strength they will put into a man's arm nor what determination into his heart "Why, I'm sure I have nothing against him, child. He is a quiet, honest, industrious young man, and if it wasn't that he is a Markham I couldn't say a word against him." FAR FKo.M HOME They talked but little after that, and walked at such speed that Louise soon became exhausted. The night had come on now, and off in the south the cloud was stealing up, while ever and anon a low growl of thunder rolled slowly from the east to the west and vivid forks of lightning streaked the heavens. Wueer that Jack wasn't np with the company as the sharp tattoo of his dram we heard. Bat it suddenly changed to a muffled long roll, and Are of as started without a word And followed the aoand through the Wilderness shadows. There, with his back to a fallen tree. And six of his comrades dead around him, he was beating the long roll for Company G orr i "He is a Markham, mother, but he is not like his fatlfer. He is as generous and kind as he can be, and I do wish you and pa would be friendly with him." Alas that Louisa's fond hope was doomed to be blasted, and that one undreamed of should come between hei and Paul—come in a way, too, to bring her the trying ordeal of her life. The lovers t from home, w ful way, vv, more imLX) ijiiite a distance i in that unmindD ia taoajats of t ;..t they entire- Ambrose knew that was only a polite way of getting rid of him, but ha0 asked a policeman to show M«n Trinity church, and he went np in the spin alone. He cried a little np then, for m he looked ont over the big, smoky city he thought that in that great swarming "human hive," as he had called it at home in The Advance, he had no friend. Here, even under the golden cross of the church, he was alone. It was a pitiful thought, and Ambrose hungered far his home away in Ohio; but with a big sob in his throat he sharpened his pencil and looked about him, for he had a keen sense for the unusual. I have ncger heard that yon encouraged young scribblers to indulge in writing to yon by answearing there tiresome sheets by return mail, as, undoubtedly, you were prompted to do. Unknowingly I make the experiment. How would you advise a young man of a literary bent, and possessing a keen sense for that which is unusnal or humorous? How ■hall he find the market without money or influence? Is humorous writing remunerative? Can you cite an instance in regard to your gaining literary notoriety? AT THE ELEVATOR. Mary began to have a suspicion of something underlying this uncommon interest felt by Louise in Paul, and for several minutes she was undecided how to proceed. Finally she took the girl's head in her hands and lifted it np until the face was opposite her own, and if she had wanted any further evidence to confirm the truth of her surmises, she would have found it in the telltale blushes that swept over the fair young checks. ly forgot a 00 at iind distance. Lovers never di 1 liuve any consciousness of time, and it always seems that when a couple become deeply engrossed in each other's society and grow oblivious to time, the little sprite pla; trick and goes skimming aloi hours into minutes and mii .cconds. Such was the "Whjr. Jack, old chap, are you hart7" we questioned: his jacket was torn and tbe front was red. I thought of my girl aa I watched him faintly beating the long roll there to the dead. "How did it go—who beat?" he whispered. "We saved the day at the last—we won!'' "Write to mother about it"—his hands fell lifeless, and little Jack Two-Sticks' drumming was done. CHAPTER VI. TACT. AND LOUIS*. Thus it was that among all the set-D tiers on that great level plain there were none that devoted themselves more sedulously to work than John and Paul, and as the season advanced and the spring months gave place to those of summer, there were no fields in all the settlement that looked more' flourishing or promising than theirs. And each of these men, sanguine natured as they were, Qounted the victory won, and each in his way made his plans for the future and constructed innumerable castles in the air. "Paul," Louise said, "what shall we do? We shall be lost out here, and never find our w ay home." Louise accepted Paul's books now and with her mother's aid she studied them well and faithfully. She had at« tended school sufficiently back east to lay the foundation for a fair education, and, being bright-minded and qaick to learn, she made excellent progress with her studies and bid fair to gain a good education even under such unfavorable circumstances. D "I know that, Sarah. I do not mis-, understand you. I know how it pains you to have to say such things, but you feel it to be your duty, and you do it. I thank yon, my dear wife, with all my "We must go on, Louise, and do the best we can. Perhaps we may find the way." Again they moved forward, but with slow step, for with fatigue, fright and Please don't dispair at this. It is mearly the introduction of what a bore can do. Possibly 1, too, shall be eminent some day, and in lieu of this great impossibility will close as the opportunity presents. Please comply. Very sincerely, • » ♦ The night came down with its blessed quiet. and I said a prayer for my little girl. And the little chap in the darkness sleeping. with hair too stiffened with blood to curL Bat of all the sights that the Wilderness shadows were trying to hide as the smoke clouds fled. The saddest of all was that little fellow beating the long roll there for the dead. —Marlon Manvtlle. wa\ •d Paul and Louise that back t r surroundings they found that it umost night, with the sun hangi:: . .e a gTeat red ball low down in the sky. but a few feet from the earth, seemingly. day. 1 eventually they did come "Louise," she said, "don't keep any secrets from me, but tell me why you ftake such a deep interest in Paul." Mary was a good scholar and well adapted to the duties of teaching, and she never tired of aiding Louise. Then Paul came over quite frequently of evenings and he was not by any means averse to giving such assistance as lay in his power. In fact he was so anxious to teach Louise and pursued the task |vith such diligence and earnestness that it was apparent that he derived, fully as much pleasure, if not Erofit, from it as Louise did. Paul 'as a most exemplary teacher, and nothing was too difficult or too hard for (jis efforts so long as it was for Louise's pood. He never wearied of explain jg |ry, tough arithmetical problems or of Conjugating juiceless verbs. But it fcmst be remembered that Paul's pupil (vas a seletfc one, and it is more than probable that almost any young man, Jeeling as he did, would have done iqually well, or at least labored with fully as much zeal. The above letter is written by a joung man who needs information about as severely as any one with whom I have ever met up. 1 put three asterisks in place of his name in order to shield his family. This is only a specimen of one kind of correspondent out of a list of a great many hundreds. I pause to wonder where they all come from. "Because—don't think me silly, mother, for I can't help it. I love him." These last words were spoken in a faint whisper, but Mary understood them, and drawing her child to her, pressed her close to her bosom, and thus they remained for a long time. Mary was the first to break the silence. Cut with a knife on the little window frame by his side he read: Louise was greatly surprised and shocked when she saw how late it had grown, and expressed a wish to return home with all possible speed. Every Sunday now Paul came to John Green's house, for it was distinctly understood all around that Paul and Louise were to marry by and by, though not a word relative to the matter had passed between their parents. Often the young people read from the same book, as they sat on a bench outside the house, and on such occasion they seemed to have a vast amount of difficulty in making out the words, for they brought their eyes close down to the page, their faces almost touching, and the words they sometimes pronounced were not printed on the page at all. But every person who has courted knows how that is. : and : : DOROTHY. f : July 4. : That was all; bat he took thoae two names and wove around them a story of tender possibility and humanity. He MORTIMER =H!EIR= Father's Victim. "Ah, Paul." said she, "how could you treat me so? Why didn't you turn back before this?" "Paul shall never receive anything |but the kindest treatment from me," she said, "and I know John will treat him as a gentleman. Paul is n good |inan, and if yoa love him he shall have my love, too." "Why didn't you call my attention to the fact that it was getting so late?" Paul said in reply. Passing over the first paragraph, which is kind, flattering and fulsome, let ub come at once to what Mr. Asterisk—Mr. Jack Asterisk, if yon please— really wants to know. AN OF UTO A 8T0BY OF WESTEBN ZIFE. "I—I didn't know it. I wasn't noticing.""Neither did I know it. But it don't matter, Louise, for the moon will shine out bright to-night and we are in no danger of getting lost-" In the first place, I do, as often and as lucidly and pellucidly as I can with what few talents 1 may embrace, answer the inquirers who have something to inquire for, if 1 am able t o supply the information. First then. Jack, you should know what you want to inquire for, and, secondly, you should know how to spell it. Then any one would be glad to drop the information into your receptacle.By THOMAS P. MOSTTOHT. i "Thank you, mamma, I knew you ,would like him, for my sake, and yon iwill like him better when you know how good and noble he is." (cohtutukd) "I'M GLAD HE'S GONE," SHE SAID. CHAPTER IV. THB BtATCHTOBDR "Are you sure of that, Paul?" "Sure of which, Louise?" "Why, that the moon will shine out." "Why, I think it does. It ought to, anyhow, and I reckon it wilL" anxiety, Louise was trembling so that she could hardly bear her weight. The cloud spread out, and soon the whole heavens was obscured. The thunder grew louder and more frequent until it became terrific, and the lightning flashed incessantly. Then directly it began to rain. First a few large, scattering drops fell, but in a moment this was followed by a swift dash, and a regular downpour succeeded. A stout breeze sprang up, sweeping the rain along in great sheets, and blinding Paul and Louise, who were compelled to face it. "I HOPE I HATS SOrt SAID TOO UTCH?" Then another long silence followed, after which Mary said: One day Paul and Louise went for a stroll on the prairie. It was a clear, calm Sabbath, such as summer Sabbaths usually are, and a misty haze danccd about near the green earth. They walked on and on, mile after mile, and at last coming to the road thai ran over toward Paradise Park, they turned into that and went on to the east. When old Farmer Green announced to the world that he had disowned and disinherited his son he felt he had put the finishing stroke to his duty. When he thundered forth the awful edict he ended hi* connection with this story, so we gently drop him ont of its pages feeling that his absence can well be spared. Blatchford, however, cannot so readily be disposed of, since he figures in the narrative to the end, therefore it is necessary to go back and give a little further account of him. heart, for your disinterested mindfulness of me. Let us now drop the subject and try to forget it. It is not right that yoa should afflict yourself with thoughts of one who is so far beneath .you in point of goodness, and I will try and think of her with as much charity as possible. It is a sad thing to feel the ingratitude of one's own flesh and (blood—a sad thing to be a parent .spurned by the child for whom I have done so much. But I can Hve over it, 'Sarah, and perhaps in time forget. |There, we will say no more about it." "Has Paul spoken to you of love, Louise?" "No, he never has. That is, not exactly.""And are yon sure you love him?" Louise not only progressed in her Itudies, but sbe spent some very happy (veilings, and tho remaining months of winter passed off much more pleasantly ihan sbe bad anticipated. John and uary always welcomed Paul to their louse, and as they came to be better acquainted with him they grew to liking »im more and more. He was of a happy tisposition, and he had a way of making people forget their sorrows and (roubles, and often be chirked John up rut of a fit of downheartcdness and brought a smile to his lips and a twinkle Df pleasure to bis eyes. Paul made it a point to take the •heerfulest view of the future, and sometimes he went off into the wildest flights of fancy in speaking of what he contemplated accomplishing for himself. Ills dreams were extravagant, but dreaming them was better than repining. Louise bad some doubts on the point, and misgivings took possession of her. What if it became quite dark, and they so far from home with no road the greater part of the way to guide tbem back! Sbe began to worry and fret, and Paul began to console and comfort. Thus they went along for a mile or so, and Louise began to feel more cheerful. But directly she espied a dark cloud stealing up in the south. Only the edge of it was visible as yet, but it was stead* ily approaching and bade fair to mantle the heavens within an hour. Undoubtedly! "I know I love him, mamma, he is so good and kind, and is all the friend I have aside from you and pa." Now comes the would yon advise a young man of a literary bent and possessing a keen sense for that which is unusual or humorous?" The mother smiled faintly at the girl's earnestness and stroking the soft, brown hair gently, said: "About the 1st of September," Paul was saying, "I shall be ready to go back to school. There will be a year of separation, and it, will seem long, but when it is passed I will come back and build up a home, and then we will marry and settle down in it to live as happy as can be." I would advise such an one to avail himself of it and enjoy it. Few people are blest with a keen sense of the unusual. It should be fostered. At the time John and Mary married, Hiram Blatchford had been a widower for two years, and he remained so until after his daughter removed to Kansas. Soon after that event, though, he met Miss Sarah Spickler, an elderly spinster, and asked her to share his home. Miss Spickler having been on the matrimonial market for a good many years with no bidders for her hand, was desperate enough to accept any Bort of jffer, and accordingly she snapped Blatchford up in short order. "Louise, you are young yet, a mere child, and I'm afraid you do not know your heart as well as you think. You have a great liking for Paul as one is apt to have for a good friend when friends arc few. You admire his kindness of heart, for, poor child, you have For an hour they kept on, and all the time their speed grew less and less, until at last Louise, who bad exerted herself to the full of her strength, sank to the ground. In an instant Paul was on his knees at her side holding her head in his arms and shelter; ug ber face with his hat. The good Sarah was quite willing to Jlet the subject rest, since she had -gained her point. Dinner being at that moment announced, she went out and took her place at the bead of the table, from which position she beamed smiles of love and tender sympathy on the old fool, her husband, who sat opposite her nursing his martyred soul. Not once, as he 6at at that board laden with a superabundance of the choicest viands, did old Blatchford feel ,a tinge of pity for his poor daughter, who was an outcast from home, a stranger in a strange land, denied even the food necessary to stay the pangs of hunger. And yet he condoled himself and imagined that he had a wounded heart; he, a man who was as void of heart as the veriest flint. You ask next, "How shall he tind tlie market without money or influence?" He will naturally have great difficulty. The market for a keen sense of the unusual was never more panicky than it is now. Without money or influence you will have quite a long search before you will get your price. To tell you the honest and never dying truth. Asterisk, there is no market for a keen sense for the unusual or humorous. It is a good thing to have, for your life will be longer and sweeter for having it. Don't market it at all, any more than you would market your keen relish for what is good or beautiful. Yoa doubtless want to find a market, not for your keen sense of the unusual, but for your ability to describe such things in an entertaining way, and you cannot deliver the goods at present, 1 fear. n iu Louise gave a little start, and after casting a hurried glance at Patfi, looked down and blushed. Paul noticed her manner, and thinking it due to embarrassment went on: "Paul," she said, "what shall we do? There will be no moon, and the night will be cloudy. Ah, we shall get lost and not get home till morning. What will pa and mamma think?" put in the high lights of happiness and the shadows of sorrow as they must come, dear Asterisk, to all of u*. He wrote on as the sun went down, and thonght not of his hunger and the home* less, pitiless, scad night that was coming on. He wrote while the shadow* lengthened in the churchyard and the roar of business along Broadway died down to a sort of mercantile parr. "I can't go any further," she whispered; "not another step." "I have not forgotten, Louise, what you told me your mother said, and I do not ask you to promise me anything— not until the year is out. I am quite satisfied without it, for I know that you love me, and it requires no words to reveal your heart to me, and no promise to make me understand that you will be my wife." "Don't, Louise," Paul replied. "Be calm, and don't fret. I'm sorry that we came so far, but we shall get back all right. Are you tired?" "Then rest here," Paul replied. "The rain will blow over directly and then we can go on. I'm glad it's so warm, for the rain won't hurt us, and we shall be none the worse for the wetting. We won't care for it when it is over, and tomorrow we can laugh about our adventure."Paul bad studies of his own. He was reading medical works and was going to be a doctor. He had taken one coursc at a mcdical college and hoped to return the next fall to take another if he was fortunate enough to raise a crop on his claim and get money to pay his way. His sole possession was the claim, and he could mortgage that as Green had his, "on longtime and easy terms," but be hoped to have a home ere long for himself and Louise, so he hesitated to raise money in that way. Old Markham liad money, but be waa ppposed to Paul's plans, and he refused; to let him have d dollar on any kind of terms. Miss Spickler was anything but iretty, and her temper was soured and ler intellect none of the strongest, yet ;he had not been in the Blatchford tome a week, as Mrs. Blatchford, beore she had her husband under her humb, and held complete sway over rverything and everybody about the dace. "No, not a bit." "Then let's walk fast while it is light and get as far towards home as possible. There will be a light in the window at your house, and if we get near enough to see that we will have no trouble in finding the way, even if it is dark." Then he took his "copy" and went up the Bowery to where one may abide all night for fifteen cents. There he abode the night. But he did not care. He was happy. He did not have to sleep there any more. The editor read his little story aloud till his voice got husky and then he read it to himself. But it was not the wetting or the mere fact of being lost that worried 'Louise. She realized that it was not the proper place for her, out there in the night alone with ber lover, and she dreaded what her parents would think. She never bad been guilty of an act that would shake their confidence, and she felt that it would break her heart if Bhe should know they harbored even the faintest suspicion of her. All this cams through her mind and she broke into tears and sobs. "I do love you, Paul," Louise said, "with all the fervor of my nature, and I will never love you less. You are so good and noble. But, Paul, you—" They hurried on as fast as they could, and before the night came on they had traversed several miles of the way. They were hurrying on thus, when just as the twilight began to fall they heard the fall of a horse's feet behind them, and soon thereafter a man on horseback came clattering up. They thought he was going to pass without speaking, but when he had got in front of them he checked his horse, and turning in the saddle so as to face them, lifted his hat, saying: Blatchford was her Blave from the lrst, and with him her word was law. Vhatever sXe wished she had, and vhatever she commanded to be done, vas done without delay. She married Uatchford for his money, and she was etermined from the first to have it. A month or so after his marriage •latchford began to study about his aughter, and the more he thought of er the more he became convinced that e had ill treated her. In short, after 3 long a time he came to the conclaion that he was as much to blame as tary, and, knowing-that she must be offering privations, he decided to ex;nd to her the band of friendship and •v tier to her and John some pecuniary ssistance. Having come to this contusion, he hastened to mention the tatter to his wife for her sanction, arah listened until he had unfolded is plans, then with uplifted hands and .aring eyes exclaimed: "Well, did I ever hear of Buch a thing i that! Hiram Blatchford, have you Dst all your senses?" ••Why, Sarah," Hiram replied, taken ack, "what's the matter?" i "Matter?" 8arab repeated. "Well, I'd never a believed it, never." "Never believed what?" Hiram asked. "Why, that you could ever have been iken with such fool notions, Hiram. Whoever heard of the like of it?" "Why, I—" Hiram stammered and s topped. A week or so after the incident described Sarah came to Hiram with a letter from an adjoining state, in which letter she was informed of the derth of a married 6ister. Her sister had left three children, and Sarah's tender heart prompted ber to take them and care for them if Hiram wasn't averse to it Learn first to write good English. Write at a mar:: for eight or nine years and let up on busy people, if you please. I once knew a young man who decided to go to New York and to try to get a job on the metropolitan press. He had practiced on a country paper for several years, and had received a cyclopedia and a reversible wall map as a reward for his genius and toil. So he said to himself: "1 will go to New York. This life is killing me. It is time to call a halt." He did not take a trunk because he said it woulil only be a burden to him, and one hot day when the sun was bringing out all the hidden fragrance that a century has concealed between the heated paving stones of Newspaper row, he found the door which led into the inhospitable dwelling of the great newspaper upon which he had decided to bestow himself. . "What is it, Louise?" Paul asked. ' "I—I don't know," Louise replied. "I suppose I am foolish, Paid, but I can't help it. I am so common and insignificant, and you will be thrown among so many women who are beautiful and accomplished." Now Ambrose is himself a managing editor, and has engraved visiting cards with "Mister" on them. Yon ask if I can cite an instance in regard to my gaining literary notoriety, and I reply with my hand on my heart that, so far aB I know, I cannot ."LOUISE, YOU ABJi YOUNG YET, A. MERE cutld. " "It's all blamed foolishness," Markham said, "this idea of studying to be a doctor. I never got no fool notion that I was too eood to work for a honest Jivin', an' by jinks, I ain't goin' to furnish no money to help on anybody that has got sicb a notion. Paul kin gtudy medicine if he wants to, but he kin do it at his own expense. I ain't in on makin' gentlemen out o' fellers that 'ud better be at work tillin' the soiL Not a bit I ain't, an' by jinks I won't do it, nuther.". For a moment Paul was unable to understand the girl's words, but after a time a light began to break on his mind, and with a light, cheerful laugh be drew her closer to him and said: "Bring them right along," Hiram said; "we have plenty and they must not suffer. Send for them at once." known little enough of such in your life. You like and esteem Paul above all others, but perhaps you may not, love him. Love is a broad and a deep thing, and you are too young to understand what it really is. Go on thinking of him as you do, if you wish, and always treat him with the kindnest consideration, but do not go beyond that, if he sp&aks to you of love do not encourage him, and make him no promises. Tell him that you arc young and that I wish you to wait a year or two longer before you enter into any compact affecting your whole future life. But perhaps this is all unnecessary precaution. *He has said nothing, and perhaps he may not say anything for a long time. It may be—are you sure he loves you, Louise?" Paul tried to comfort her, never seeing beyond the bodily inconveniences of the hour. Honest, openhearted soul that he was, a thought of the impropriety of the situation never came to him. He never thought of what others might say or think; but knowing the purity of his own motives took it for granted that everybody else would see the affair in its true light Ah! old man, where was your conscience, your sense of right, that it did not prick you when you thus opened your home to a horde of strangers, and admitted them to the place that belonged to one who needed it more? Where was your good angel that it did not whisper to you of the sorrow and trouble, the foundation of which you that moment laid with your own hand Bitter, bitter will be the regrets follow ing that act, old man, and though the; may follow at a long distance, they will surely follow, and terrible will be their weight when at last they come. And now, if I have been of service to yon or any one who may read theee lines, if there be in this brief note a grain of goodness which yon may pick up and file away, I am repaid—that is, of course, figuratively speaking — and with this, and hoping that possibly I, too, may be eminent some day, and in lien of this great impossibility, will close, as the opportunity presents. Very sincerely, "Excuse me, but could you inform me whether I am on the road leading to Paradise Park?" "And so you think I will be so blinded and dazzled by the beauty and accomplishments of other women that I shall forget my little girl away off out liere on the plains? Is that the brilliant idea that has edged its way into your mind?" "You are," replied PauL "Thanks, can you give me the distance?""A matter of a dozen miles, I presume.": Louise walked on some distance before she replied, half vexed at herself for uttering words that showed she doubted Paul's constancy, and half glad that she bad uttered them, as it gave him an opportunity of reasserting his love for her. Louise was an uncommonly sensible person, but the most sensible girls love to play the coquette just a little. Finally, after the lapse of a minute or so, sbe looked up into Paul's face and said: The stranger asked no more questions, and, evidently having gained all the information he desired, Paul expected him to ride on. But he did not. He went along stewly for several yards, retaining the same position in the saddle and keeping his eyes fixed on the couple. Louise had not dared to look at him after the first glance she gave him when be came up, for somehow she felt that his eyes were fixed on her, and she felt an undefinable dread of him, and longed to be rid of his presence. After awhile the stranger broke the silence, saying: "We can't go any further," Paul said, "until the rain is over, for we have nothing to guide us, and if we tramped all night we would not find your house. We might pass and repass within a few yards of it twenty times and never know it." But Paul's design was not to be thwarted by that sort of talk, and he resolved to work his own way. He * planned to raise a crop and get the means to continue his study that way if possible, and, if the crop failed again, he would mortgage his land. Everybody about him looked so cool and superior that he hated himself because he perspired so, and he knew that even the elevator boy looked down on him. He felt homesick, and when he took out his handkerchief to wipe his brow he accidentally pulled out a little red pincushion that his sister gave him when he started for town. It smote on his heart very heavily, Mr. Asterisk, and he compared the welcome he generally got at home with the chilly glare he got when he came to town. The orphans were duly installed in Blatchford's house, and by him were educated and supported. The eldest, a boy named Harry, was taken into the bank, and of him we shall hear more later on, as he figures quite extensively in this history, which would probably be less sad if it were less true. So the winter passed and the spring came, and a soft, warm haze lay over all the endless stretch of prairie. Again the poor settlers brought out their plows and set to work to break Louise silently acquiesced, for she was too weak to stand, and knew that it was impossible for her to go on even if it were best. So they remained waiting for the rain to blow over, and hour after hour passed. Bis trousers are Immaculate, The Perfect Man. "I know he does, mamma I—I can't tell you how I know it, but I do know he loves me; and some day he means to ask me to be his wife. I am sixteen now, and in a year or two I shall be & woman, and then he will speak and you will not object. Will you?" No bag disturbs their faultless kmise; The pattern, too, is up to date. And always just the one to please. "Why shouldn't you, Paul?" "Why shouldn't I forget yon?" His coat Is simply "out of sight," } It was a solemn time away out there on the wide waste of lonesome prairie, in the stillness of the night, with the deep thunder rolling through the ens and the lightning glaring and flashing all about. It is impossible to picture the desolation of such a scene or to describe the feeling of loneliness that comes over one bo situated. No wrinkle, bulge or crease appears; "Yes." "Then I will ask why Bhould I?" "A dozen miles. That is a long ride, and this is going to be a bad -night, too. It will be terribly dark, and I think it will rain, don't you?" The collar sits exactly right, No "Jumping tall" its beauty "queer*." CHAPTER V. MOTHER AND DAUGHTKK. "Because, Paul, I am so insignificant and small, and you can win the love of whom yon please. I know there must be grand ladies out in the world, and, as compared with them, I am so common. You cannot help but see the difference and know how much more worthy of your love they are than I." When he mastered the courage, he took a deep breath and stepped into the elevator; the elevator boy pushed him back and asked him whom he desired to see. Then it came over him that he did not know the editor and that, probably, he never would. The elevator boy gave him a blank replevin to fill out, stating whom he wished to see and also on what business, whether friendly or otherwise, whether married or single, and if so, how it agreed with him. » "Why, yon," Sarah put In, "want *D be a fool, Hiram Blatchford, a regular out and out fool, you do. That's all there is of it. The idea of you making the first step towards a reconciliation between you and your daughter, when she threw you away for the sake of John Green. Yes, if I was you I would. I'd go and get down on my knees to her, and own that I was in the wrong. Yes, I'd do all that, and beg her with tears in my eyes to come back to my arms." With their dearly secured "accommodation" John Green's family managed to get through the winter without suffering anything beyond severe privations. Their clothing and fare was, of course, common and limited, but that was nothing so long as it kept them from starving and freezing. "No, not unless I have better reap! pons than I know at present. But a1 Fear or two is a long time, Louise, and we need not consider now what we will do then. It may not bo necessary for me to say aye or nay to Paul, for you may see him differently then. You may see some one else that may sup*- plant him in your heart." His waistcoat is the proper thing. His linen and bis four-in-hand: The gauntlet to Perfection fling, His figure what the girls call "grand." "It may possibly," Paul replied. "Are you a stranger in this section?" "Yes, entirely so. I am just out from the east and came up from the railroad to-day. You live near, I suppose?" "Yes, quite near." He has a weak but pretty "phiz;" He ne'er was known to dissipate: And this exquisite mortal Is The fellow in the Fashion Plate. —William Barclay Dunham in Clothier aa4 Furnisher. At last the rain ceased, and shortly » faint gray light began to show in the east. They knew the morning was coming, and they never welcomed it more gladly in all their lives. After several efforts Louise was able to stand. Paul held her in his arms and slowly they walked toward home. After walking a short distance the numbness began to leave her, so she could proceed with tolerable ease. An hour brought them within sight of the cabin, and soon thereafter John met them. He had been out the greater part of the night in search of his daughter. Louise was soon at home, weeping on her mother's bosom, while Paul and John stood mutely looking on. At this point Paul placed his hand over her month and stopped her speech. "There, jou have gone far enough," he said, "and I will not hear another word. I have done nothing to deserve so poor an opinion from you, and you have no right to talk so. I would never have such an opinion of you, Louise, never." Then they went on silently again, and Lonise kept wishing that the stranger would ride away and leave them. His presence and his voice bored her and made her nervous. Paul felt that his company could very well be spared and he would rather have him go, but he had no particular objection to his presence. He experienced none of that aversion for him that Louise felt. It was a long, dreary winter, especially to Louise, off on the prairie, with no friends or companions, and no books or papers, and with nothing to do but to drag idly through the days. The nearest neighbor lived two miles away, and, that being Markham's, they might as well have been forty miles away for all the good they were to Green's, for since that night when Markham talked so abusively to Louise there had been no intercourse between the two families."Oh, mother, that is impossible! No one can be to me what Paul is. I could not be so ungrateful as to give him a second place in my heart, when he has been so good to me." D Inconstancy. Was it something said. He sent this up to the editor and got word that the editor had gone to Honolulu to start a branch office, but would be back in the spring. Something done. Vexed him? Was It touch of hand, "Sarah. I—" Turn of head? Strange! that very way "Yes, I know what you thought, Hiram. I know that your soft, silly heart prompts you to make a fool of yourself. But before you do it, ask yourself if it would be right. Wasn't you always kind and indulgent to Mary, and didn't you do everything for her The mother smiled again. She was assured from these last words of her daughter, that Louise had mistaken Iter heart, and that what she felt to be loVe was only gratitude and friendship. She understood how easily one of Louise's age, and one placed as she was, could deceive herself, and she could not believe that the child knew her own heart. For a long time she was silent, and for a time doubts, fears and misgivings possessed her. She realized how easily one of the girl's age and temperament could be deceived. She was inexperienced, and knowing nothing of human nature, judged all mankind by her own standard, and reckoned all hearts like hers, pure, innocent and honest. Whether she really loved Paul or not, he was her idol, and she looked ap to him as a paragon of perfection, and was that confident and trustful that Love begun- I as little anderatand Lore's decay Paul spoke like one very deeply hurt, and in an instant Louise was all contrition. She saw that she had wounded Paul, and she would not hurt him for the world. She was anxious to make amends, but she was at a loss how to proceed, and again they walked on in silence. She thought of various things to 6ay, but none of them were suited to the occasion, and so at last, wnen tne long suence was becoming oppressive and she felt that something must be said, she decided to come out boldly and beg his forgivenness. Laying her hand on his arm she looked wistfully into his face, and with lips all a-tremble, said: He did not believe this. So he lingered lear, and pretty soon he saw a clergyman with the manuscript of a sermon under his arm and heard him ask to see Mr. Must This gave him an idea. He would also ask to see Mr. Must as soon aa the clergyman came back. So he took out his second papers, and where the blank occurred regarding what he wished to see Mr. Must for he wrote, "Wish to see Mr. Must regarding scoop." -Robert Browning. THEY READ FROM THE SAME BOOK. "Are you acquainted," asked the stranger, again breaking the pause, "with Solomon Scraggs over at Para-' dise Park?" That which we know UD sweeter yet. Knowledge. that a father could do?" "Yes, that's true." Hiram replied the soil and plant the crops, full of hope and confidence. With the return of the bright spring sunshine, camo back the grand expectations that ever buoy up the hearts of honest, struggling mortals, and the faces of the pioneers shed the cloud of fear and doubt that had hung over them like a dark mantle. Do we Dot love the near Earth more Than the far Heaven)1 Does not Kegret Louise grew pensive and melancholy, and it was plain that she longed for a different life, though she never uttered a complaining word. Once shortly after Christmas she and her mother were alone in the cabin, and after they had sat a long time silent Louise suddenly said: Walk with us always, from the door That shuts behind as. though ire leave Not much to tnake as grieve? with no little inward satisfaction, and "I am," said Paul, "and I suppose most anyone in this section can tell you the same. The most of them know him quite well, and they would perhaps be a great deal happier if they knew him less." [TU BB 0 C KTWCtD J Cowardice. with a growing feeling that he was a much abused parent. Sarah M. U. Piatt. A Story About Mozart. "Then you have done your duty, Hi- ram, more than your duty, and i£ any- Cowardice? Tea, we are coward* coward* Here is a story about Mozart which wa do not remtmber to have heard befora. Thai great man was paying a visit to a monastery, and during mass was tortured by the playing of a ludicrously inefficient organist. At dinner the prior asked Moaart how he liked the organist's performanoa. body is to bend the knee let it be the one who has done wrong. I don't believe in a father being made a slave to the whim and wishes of an ungrateful child. If I had ever had such a father as you, and had ever crossed him in one wish even, I never would have forgiven, myself. I couldn't ever looked thet world in the face after beintr so heart-D from cradle to bier. And the terror of life grow* upon as aa we Then he was bidden to come. He thought hard all the way up trying to have an idea, for the paper offered as high as $3.75 apiece for ideas at that time. When he got there he was scared* almost to death, bat the editor greeted him rather kindly and said: John Qreen was among the more industrious and persevering of all the farmers in his section. lie began work early, and every day he was in his field plowing and planting. He had a double incentive to work, for his family must live and that debt on the farm must be paid. He went at it cheerfully, and as "So? Then he is not popular?" "No, nor would any other man be under the circumstances." grow year by year; Our smiles are bat trembling ripples, urged on "Mother, I wish I could manage some way to go on with my education." by a subtlde of fear. And hence, or at substance or shadow we start. "So do I, Louise," Mary answered; "but I can't think of any way that it can be managed. If we had the books I could help you with your studies, but We haven't the monev to buv books." •What is that, may I ask?" "Why, loaning money to the settlers at thieving rates of interest. He just roba every man who borrows from him." though we scarce know why. Life seems like a haunted wood, where wr "He plays in quite a Biblical faahtoa." ■aid Mozart "Paul, I am a silly thing, and you must not mind what I say. I do not mean to doubt you, dear, good Paul, and I want vou to fortrive me, will you, tremble and crouch and cry. Beset, or robber, or ghost—our courage ts stli to fly "You don't say? why he must have an iron heart, to take advantage of people "I had an idea in the elevator," said Ambrose, for that was the name of our "WeUf' with a rising inflection, "What do you mean?" —Alfred Austin. "His left hand doea not know what U( right hand doetV |
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