Pittston Gazette

              4 [ Oldest NewsoaDer id the Wyoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, I8Cl|. A Weekly Local and Familv Journal. forsaken soul. He wept and He prayed. Yet He knew that God was with Him and that He, was only to pass through the shadow of night and come into a brighter and better life. Mary wept. All alDoat her there was darkness, j Ther? was no future hope to buoy her A TOBY OF WESTERN LIFE *?"' no bcacC?light C*D eryiide her on She was penniless and friendless, and « In ■ short days she and her child !EI R— mc lila address, and I'll write when I get home." looking daggers and shaking his head angrily at Scraggs, but the agent paid no attention to these gestures, and went goods, having lost heavily In Scraggs' boom over at Paradise Part." produce lood to tea onr wives and children they inn ;t sailer the panjja of hunger. If we are without money and compelled to borrow it, w(! are placed at the tender mcrcies of such men as this Mills. No, congrcss nor our state legislature" have any money to appropriate for the fostering of our interests, thor time to devote t-j the making of Jaws to protect us from money sharks." the room ic.i taut it was not a matter of rejoicing, rathrr thau sorrow, that the old man was dead. BUNCOMBE'S BUNKO MAN how he looked like a man who is having a three-quarter picture taken to send to one he loves. He was a good looking man, and as I stood there I fell unconsciously into comparing hia snuff colored derby of the newest block with my hat, which was of course clean and decent, but it was a soft and shapeless little thing with no self assertion about it. I knew that, but still I did not think he would freeze me for that. Father's Victim. John gave the address, and that night the doctor wrote his letter to Hiram Blatchford. ''Were you a victim to thit boom?" on: "I was. I went into I on Scraggs* representation, and like ycu and all the rest I got stuck, while Scriggs got rich. Scraggs has plenty of inraey, but he knows how to keep it." Mule the men were still standing about the silent form, the door to the private office opened and Mills came m,t He saw at a glar.ee that something unusual had happened, but the cordon of men shutting out the sight, he approached the group and in rough, grr.ff tones asked: "I have exhausted every means in the effort to induce these capitalists to show a liberal spirit to the settlers, but it has been all in vain. They say advance no more money under any circumstances, and that ends the matter for me. I would let you have the money, Green, if I could, and I'd be glad to do it, but my hands are tied, and I can do nothing." WHEN YOU SEE EILL NYE COM ING, RUN FOR DEAR LIFE. CHAPTER XIV. ANOTHER LOAN NEEDED. John was, of course, compelled to givo up the idea of going east in quest of employment. He could not think of leaving his wife. He waited day after day and week after week, hoping against hope for a happy turn of affairs. The doctor had written his letter to Blatchford, but no reply came, and after a month of waiting all hope of any was abandoned. John's faith in Scraggs tos of a recent growth and consequently tasily shaken, and it is no great wondei that he inclined to Harry Pearsoi. Moreover, Pearson's talk and manne- were earnest, and his estimate of Scraggs was quite plausible, to say thC least. John decided to avoid Scraggs aid accept the loan from narry's friend, and accordingly went to that friend'soffice without delay. Be Is » Bad Man from Buncombe, with Store Clothes and Parachute Pants Two Victims Who Escaped—Life and By THOMAS P. MO ST FORT would be alone on the great plain with no one near to offer aid or speak a consoling word. "That's too true,'" said Green, "too true, indeed. Yet we have no power to remedy it." \\ I'.at's the matter here?" Death in a Museum. It got colder and colder though. I told him who I was as I rubbed my chilblains and felt his icy manner calling forth the goose eruptions on my peachy surface. lie said be had never seen me —never. I finally asked him if his name were not Mr. . (CONTINUED ) "No, not so long as money rules the land—not so long as men can buy then way into office. Yet an effort ought to be made to effect a change, for as it is we arc drifting into a state of serfdom, and in a few short yenrs these western farms will belong to land corporations, and we will bo the tenants. Ninety per cent, of the farms in this section pre moi"tgaged, i ring about the old man parted, showing to Mills the lifeless form, but for an instant no one spoke. At last the elderly gentleman who had spoken before, and who, it transpired, was a Christian minister, turned his eyes1 upon Mills and said, in slow, measured tones: [Copyright, 1S91, br Edgnr W. Nye.] New York, October.—After an entire summer in the pine clad hills and fii trimmed valleys of North Carolina, New York seems to me more vociferous than ever. To a pastoral person like myself, interested in the growth of plant life, the mean annual artificial rainfall and the growth of glanders in equestrian circles, the exposed bowels of Broadway— as I may be pardoned for saying, I trust, since that street so forcibly reminds me, The agony of that hour was too great for her, and her feeble frame sank under it. The dread disease that had long been stealing into her system and undermining her constitution, the terrible malaria of the west, made itself master of its victim, and when John returned home he found his wife burning with fever, while her eyes roamed about deliriously. "Could you let me have some on my team and agricultural implements?" Green asked. CHAPTER XIIL DO HOT COME SING LI It was Tuesday that the meeting ol settlers took place at Markham's store, and all day Wednesday Mary Green busied herself arranging John's clothing and preparing for ''eDarture. John was away most of tne ciay lourwng after some business affairs, and Louise went over to the store to make some trifling purchases. "Couldn't do that even," Scraggs replied, with another slow shaking of his head. Mary continued in a precarious condition, and all through the long days her life hung in a balance. The good old doctor was faithful in his ministrations, but the dread malaria had gained so firm a hold on its victim that it was difficult to make an impression on it. John and Louise shared the duties of nurse, and often through the sad. solemn nights John sat out the hours by the side of his sick wife, and in the solitude and loneliness his thousrhts ran back over the events and scenes of his life. Often in her delirious hours the mind of poor Mary wandered, and in a weak, frail voice she talked of her youth, of her old home in the east end ol her father. Again and again she imagined herself a child and thought her mother came and bent over her and soothed her with loving words and caresses, just as she had so often done in the long ago. Again she would r jmember her father as she knew him when a child, and in her wild fancy he would come and kiss her and fondlo her as he used to do in the old, happy days. Sometimes she would dream that she was in the old house, playing about the large, airy, cozy rooms, and again at other times she romped over the smooth, soft lawn. He said it was not. "Not even a very small amount?" John persisted. "No, not a dollar." CHAPTER XV HARRY PEARSON'S TBI END. ' Mr. Mills, God has had mercy on him to whom you showed none. He has taken the poor old man out of your toils and removed him beyond the reach of your greed and avarice. There lies the unconscious form of one of your victims. You brought him to his death. ou robbed him of all his possessions; broke his home, his hope, his heart and his life, and God has taken the poor old sufferer home." He lied. I went to his hotel. It gave me something to do. I was glad of it I discovered that 1 was right. There was only one way to account for it. He thought very likely that I wanted to borrow money or I would not have given him a western welcome in a city where it is not the custom. I was too glad to see him. That was all. Since then, in the light of a riper experience, I guess he was right. The indications were "agin" me. "Then, what in the name of God am I to do? Must my wife die of want before my eyes, and my daughter and myself starve? Surely there must be some way to avoid that. Surely all mankind are not brutal." Harry's "friend" proved to be one of those benevolent gentlemen found in almost every western torn, who make it their business to 'Accommodate" people with short time loans on chattel security. His office wasin a double upstairs room, and when Tolin Green entered he found a dozen or more men sitting in a row alongone side of the first room, which was evidently a waiting-room, and Harry motioned him to take a seat at the lowerend of the row. and ninety per cent, of those mortgages A doctor was summoned immediately, and when he came and examined his patient, he shook his head ominously. will never be paid, but will run on ! until the high interest devours the Left thus alone, poor Mary had plenty of time to think ovpr her situation, and naturally her mind reverted to the past —to the long line of sufferings that had fallen to the lot of herself and lovefi ones, and from that to her childhood home and her father. Unable longer to hold her feelings in check, the poor woman laid her head down on the table where she sat, and gave way to her grief. Long the tears of bitter anguish flowed, while her frail form shook with heart-rending sobs. THE KL'STIC BCNCOMBE. "It is a bad case," he said, "a very bad case. The disease has been growing in her system for months, and she is thoroughly impregnated with it. It will take a long time to eradicate it, and it may be several months before she is able to go about. I am afraid she has suffered a great deal mentally, for her mind appears to be broken down. It is a bad case at any rate, and she ought to have the be3t of care, and good nursing." farms." "There is v.tDt much hope cf the ' people in this section ever being able to redeem their farms," Joha remarked, "so long as they have crop ! failures three years out of four."' "No, nor there is not much h;Dpe for 1 those farmers who are more fortunately situated, since in the best and most favored parts of the land the small fanner is barely able to live. His products fetch him beggarly prices tied the little lie has to sell only suffices to pay his taxes I and his store-bills. As for us 'veil, we And the tears came to John's eyes, strong man that he was, and his voice trembled and his form shook. Even Scraggs was touched by the sad spectacle the poor man presented and he felt anxious to do something for him. After the lapse of a minute, during which the agent did some serious thinking, he looked up and said: ' I do not know," said Mills after a short silence, "why you should say such things to me. I have not robbed that old man, and I am not responsible for his misfortunes!" Presently a door conrecting the two rooms opened and a eouple of men came out. One of the men was plainly the "friend," while the other John knew to be a farmer, and he rightly judged that he had been gettiag an "accommodation." The farmer departed, and the "friend" signed the man at the head of the row to come to tbe next room. But we ought not to judge people by their clothes. We do it, of course, unconsciously. Clothes do not make the man, but they finish him up somehow. Thare was a western judge once who reprimanded the defmduafc in court for wearing such a ragged and reprehensible pair of trousers. "You loaned him money on his possessions, Mr. Millsl" "Green, I pity you, and-all the poor settlers who are so situated, and I wish I had the power to help you all. But I haven't. I am not rich. Far from it. I have some means, it is true, but it is nearly all in real-estate, and in these times it is impossible to get it out. Your case, though, is a little harder than any I know of, and I feel that you must have help, so I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll do my best to get in a little money from some source, and if you'll come here again day after tomorrow I'll let you have some. Say nothing about this offer, though, for if it was to get out that I had made it to you, I would be overrun with importunities from a hundred others. Keep it quiet, and come day after to-morrow."Arising after awhile she went to a little drawer and, unlocking it, took therefrom a picture ot her father. Tlirough all her sufferings and through John sat a long time with his face bnned in his hands before he made any reply. Then, looking up, he said: "Yes, and like the rest of you people he was glad to get it." are satisfied, and feel ourselves fortunate if, by mortgaging everything we possess except our souls, we are able to raise enough money to keep breath in our bodies for a few weeks or a few months longer." "Yes, he was glad to get it because want drove him to such extremities. But that did not give you the right to rob him with exorbitant interest, and order the sale of his property to pay a debt of less than a tenth of its value. Mr. Mills, the world's view may be what it will, but with God robbery is robbery, whether you do it under the law or in defiance of it. To force a fellow creature under necessity to give up his property to you, is not far different in principle from forcing him to do so at the point of arms. The desire to obtain what is not yours and what you have no right to take is the same in both cases, and there is no moral distinction between them. In either oase it is robbery. It is taking something for nothing." "Great God, doctor! What is it you say? Is it possible I have brought the best and noblest of women to this? Oh, it can't be so bad! She cannot be in such danger! You can! you must save her!" '■J'idge," said the prisoner, "yon must not judge me by these poor old worn trou-iers. It is unjust to me, judge. It is not fair or generous. My pantaloons may be poor, judge, but they cover a warm heart." all tier father's cruelties and neglect she had clung to this shadow of him, and often in her hours of sorrow, when the days were darkest and her heart heaviest, she looked on his face and recalled all that he once had been to her. Long and intently she scanned the well remembered features, recalling the times when he had taken her on his knees, hugged her to his breast and kissed her with a father's fondest affection.The "friend's" name was Mills, and it was by no means an inappropriate name either, for he was a "grinder," and resembled the mills of the gods, insomuch that he ground the grist that came to liim exceedingly fine. The reader, however, will leammore of this by and by. It is our business at present to follow John Green. At this point in the conversation the door connecting the two rooms opened, and an old man with white hair and bent form came tottering out. II is frail, withered form shook and the tears were running down his wrinkled cheeks, lie stopped on the threshold, and made as though he would reenter the private office, but Mills had beckoned the next victim in and closed and bolted the door. "Well! well!" cried the doctor, who, by the way, was as kiDtl and generous an old soul as ever lived, "don't get excited, Green. It is not so bad as that. Didn't I say she would get along all right, only it wonld take a long time to bring her through?" This is often the case. Then her fancy would take a turn, and through her mind would come trooping remembrances of less pleasant scenes. She would live over again all the sufferings of later years and in the agony of her soul cry out to her father for mercy. Ytsterday I visited the wonders of the museums. Tliey are delightful. All dime museum* resemble one another in one reapect—they smell the same. Why should art snffer so? I am greatly interested in every little Jew de sprit of nature. such as the two headed girl, the boy with various limbs and only one head, etc. Nature, when she tries to be humorous, will always find an appreciative audience in me. with its open expression and exposed pipes, conduits and canals, of the man on the title, page of the zodiac—Broadway, with its hurry and rush and business and omitted dividends; its torn and disfigured surface; its crowds of young men who brag about being such roocys, as the French say, when in fact they are not or they would not blow so much about it; its flocks of beautiful girla with bright, new, becoming frocks; its gangs of patient toilers, who are putting in the new cable at a rate which makes the old moss covered street opener of New York crazy; its returning troops of brown and beautiful children, fresh from the fields where the black eyed susans and the bluebells grow, all, all bewilder a rustic from the woods of Buncombe county, N. C., and cause him to buy new clothes for himself so that he will not so readily attract the green goods man. This time, somehow, when I am busier than ever, I think I am more than usually annoyed by these people. A very disagreeable thing occurred to me not long ago. It was different from anything I had ever before experienced. I was in the well known publishing house of the Scribners, looking at new books in the salesroom and especially admiring a beautiful volume of "Hiawatha," illustrated by Remington, who makes such truthful frontier horses and—I had Doing business with Erastus Mills, the money-lender, was like doing business with the flouring mills—each customer had to await his turn; so John, from his position at the foot of the row, a position which he did not hold long, however, since cither anxious borrowers rapidly filed in, had plenty of time to watch the proceedings and observe the workings of the place. Looking along up the line of waiting men, John thought he had never seen a sadder lot of faccs in all his life than these men presented. Somehow they impressed him with the thought that they were victims awaiting a terrible doom, and he was unable after the lapse of a few minutes to disassociate them in his thoughts from a string of condemned culprits who were "Ah, father, father," she cried, in deepest anguish, "little did I ever think then that you could be so cold and unrelenting to your child. Little did I think those lips that so often kissed mine could be bo cruel of speech. Little did I dream that you could steel your heart against me and make me less than a stranger to you." "Yes, yes, but you said she must have good care and attention, and I have no way of procuring them for her. How can I get them, doctor, when I haven't a dollar in the world?" "Oh, papa, papa," she would cry, "have mercy on me and spare me. Do not be so cold and cruel to your child, but let me once more feel the touch of your hand, the pressure of your lips. Let me once more hear jkDu speak words of tender love as you did when I was a child." For a moment the old man stood hesitatingly, then in a weak, faltering voice he cried: At this point Harry Pearson left the office, and Green arose, and, pressing Scraggs hand, thanked him again and again for his offered aid. For a little while the old physician remained silent. This state of affairs was nothing new to him, for he met with similar cases almost every day now in his practice, but he was not inured to it, and each now case appealed to his sympathy and touched his heart. "The last hope is gone, and the worst has come to the worst. There is nothing left to me but starvation. Oh! my God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken us?" Mills winced a little under these words, for hardened, unfeeling wretch that he was, he could not help but see the truth of the remarks. Perhaps if he had been a man with the least particle of conscientious scruples, he might have shown some sense of shame. As it was, however, he only made an effort to exculpate himself from the charge, and place himself in the position of a benefactor, by saying: "I loan you people monty as a business venture. Like you, and like man-' kind in general, I limit my profits by the necessity of my customers. Yon sell your products for the highest prices you can get, and I do the same.! That is a law of business. Further-! more, if you people do not want to accept my terms why do you come to me As a boy I walked twelve miles to see the Siamese twins. I remember it because it was the first time I ever ordered a dinner from a printed menu at a high price resierntr, as we called it. I look back on that dinner with horror. Preserves and terrapin, I think, constituted one course. The waiter early began to read me, as did the young man who waited on David Copptrfield when he was on his way to sg1kDo1. He helped me order-, things. People came from a disfhnce to see the goods I had ordered. The order was kept for years, till the restaurant burned down. If it had not been destroyed I would not have had the courage to rise and win a deathless name. "Mr. Scraggs," he said, "I have misjudged you in the past, and I feel that I owe you an apology for it." For a long time Mary Green sat there gazing on the picture she held in her hand, her mind busy with fancies of the past and present. She lived over again all the old happy days when she was at home with her father, and as she recalled his tender expressions of love a faint shadow of a smile lurked about her worn and wasted features. But even that shadow waa fleeting, for the remembrance of the present brought a cloud to drive it away, and the old sorrow that preyed on her soul came back to her in all its terribleness. Thus the weeks dragged by and the autumn came. John's store of provisions dwindled down until the larder was almost empty. For days he and Louise had gone on short allowances in order that so much as possible might be spared to the sick woman. But now the time had come when the larder must be replenished in 3ome way. John pondered the matter over long, and at last he hit upon a plan. lie had his wagon and team and few farm implements left. He would make an effort to dispose of them. He was loth to take this step, for with the sale of the things he parted with all chance of raising a crop the coming year. "That's all right, Green," Scraggs replied, "all right. I am not a saint by any means, but I guess if the truth was known I would not be considered altogether as bad as some people think I am. However, that is neither here nor there. Come back as I tell you and I'll see what I can do for you." As the old man ceased speaking ho tottered to a seat, and dropping into it allowed his chin to fall upon his breast, and in- this listless attitude remained a long time, while great tear- "Yon can get some means from your friends to tidayonover this spell, can't you?" the doctor asked. "From your relatives or hers?" "No, it is useless to think of tflat, doctor," John replied as he slowly and sadly shook his head. "We have no friends to call on for aid, and both my parents and hers have cut us adrift and left us to stem the tide alone. Her father is rich, but he denounced and disowned her when she and 1 married, and from that day to this he has not spoken to her. She is dead to him." i/ii. .. .in. Ti J l/v/i « ~ The reader may be inclined to look upon Scraggs as a changed creature, and decide that he has undergone a change of heart or something of that sort, but such is not the case. He is Scraggs still—the same in heart and principle that he has always been. The truth about Scraggs is, he never was as bad as he seemed. Like a great many other successful business men, he knew how to look out for his own interest, and made it a point to turn every dollar possible into his own pocket. In doing this he did not stop to consider the welfare of those with whom he dealt. But outside of business Scraggs had a heart, and ho could, and did, sympathize with the needy. Scraggs was charitable in his way, but he never mixed charity and bvslness. ►waiting their turns to be led out and guillotined by Mills, the executioner. John saw that the men were chiefly farmers like himself, and he knew that like him they had come there as the last resort to raise money to buy bread for their -families, and even in his own deep distress he pitied them. They were a sight well calculated to touch the heart and claim the sympathy of any human being. Their sunbronzed features, swarthy and deeplined, told only too plainly the Btory of their sufferings, while the restless roving of their eyes and the uneasy moving of their limbs betrayed all too well the anxiety of their minds. They were thinking of their loved ones at home—of the wives and children clothed in rags and pinched with hunger, and of the wolf that '■overed about their thresholds, and the pfctatv was forbidding «~ make their hearts quaite. They realized how dearly they would be required to pay for Mills' "accommodation," but even this dearly-bought favor— this longed for and prayed for robbery —was by no means assured them. Mills was particular about his security, and even at the exorbitant rates of interest he charged a man must put up choice chattels to secure ever so small an "advance;" and these men, knowing that, trembled with anxious fear lest they should be turned awsy empty banded. Then Louise returned from the store, bringing with her a tetter addressed to her mother. Listlessly Mary Green took it and glanced at the postmark. Then she eagerly tore the envelope, for it waa from Dayton, and her first thought was that it must he from her father, and for a moment she indulged the wildest, fondest hopes. Perhaps he insleai ofal'fthis and "But surely, Green," the old doctor urged, "in a case like this he would not maintain such unnatural and unfathcrly feelings. He cannot be so hard and inhuman as to let her suffer when he has it in his power to prevent it. Why, think of it, man, that would be simply terrible. It would bo heathenish. It would be worse than brutal, and surely no Christian man would be so hard as that." "Yet, it must be done," he mused. "They must go, if there is anyone to buy them." So he made an effort to raise some means that way, but day after day he sought for a purchaser in vain. There was nobody to buy them, for few of the settlers.Avere much better off than he, and many another wonld gladly have exchanged his possessions for provisions or the means of securing them. Finding it impossible to get a purchaser for his things at any price, John began to seek out anpther_Dlan. and at last hit upon tme. 2 Si  said such tratbfnl Indians. While I was thus engaged I saw at a distance a Chicago gentleman who published a hook for me once. I met bim when we made the contract, about five years ago, and expected to see him every sixty days after that, at which times I "I fear it would do no good to appeal to him," John replied. "I don't know what to do, doctor, I'm - **j~i»®or wife must have attention, but I am not able to even so much as pay you for your attendance." When John Green came down from Scruggs' office after the interview just "THE LAST HOPE 13 GONE." w fruiml XIa—T awaiting him on the street, and the two men walked away together. They had not gone far when Harry remarked:drops fell from his eyes and damped his shrunkenD r- ■1 1 v -- J- I-3— -—J nuuro ui me other men crowded about him, begging him to tell the import of his trouble. Scraggs still lived, and as a last resort he decided to go once more to him. Perhaps under the circumstances Scraggs would be so good as to increase the loan on the farm, or at least accommodate him with a loan on the wagon and team. There was no great hope of his doing either, but as a drowning man catches at a straw, so will a starving one catch at anything that offers a bare prospect of relief. Nobody save S:raggs seemed to have money to loan, so to Scraggs John went. "Never mind about me, Green," the old doctor replied. "Don't worry about my pay. I'll attend her and do whatever is in my power to benefit her, and you can pay me when you are able. There won't be any trouble on that score." also bought a team. jil, for those reasons I did not see him any more, and so was not quite sure that it was he—in fact it was not, but I felt sure it must be. However, I was well dressed and wished to let the Chicago man know that we New Yorkers are a courteous and kindly race of people, ro, as I looked well and had my new fall hat, I thought I would ask him up to my club, blow him off, as it were, have dinner with cake and preserves, and practically have a time of it, allowing bygones to be bygones."Scraggs is a pious old chap, ain't "An! men," he said, at last, "mme is a sorry story. You all know what suffering is or you would not be here, but I think my lot must be a little the hardest of any. Four years ago I lost everything I possessed, no matter how, and with my wife left our old home and came here to live with our son, who was a young man and had entered a claim. It is useless to recount the hardships and disappointments we underwent, for you are all but too well acquainted with them. Last fall my son took the fever, and after an illness that lasted through months he died. My wife, already feeble with age, followed soon after with a long spell of the malaria, and yesterday she died. In the meantime everything that I could sell to raise money was sold, and everything that I could mortgage was mortgaged; and yet, gentlemen, I have the sad consciousness of knowing that she died of want. But she 5s dead, and I thank God for it. I never expected that I should live to see the day when I would rejoice at the death of my loved life companion, but such is the case. I rejoice over her death because I know that she is now beyond the reach of want, and that the pangs of hunger can never affect her again. Yes, I rejoiced at her death—the death of my dearest friend, because in that I saw her only hope of relief. To-day I came here to try to borrow a few dollars with which to bury what remains of her, but he," pointing to Mills' office, "refused to let me have it, and now I must go to the county and ask to have my wife buried as a pauper. The farm and everything on it is under mortgage, and to-morrow all the household things and the farm tools are to be sold, and I will be alone and penniless in the world, with no money, no home, and no friends. Would to God, men, I had never lived to see this day, and now having seen it, I have nothing to look forward to but death. That is the only hope and the only consolation that is left me." he?" "He seems to be a much better man than I thought," John replied. "Yes, seems to be," said Harry. "It's not very hard for some men to make appearances, though, is it?" "HIS SUFFEIUXG8 AKE AIX PASSED." HE LIED. John wept like a child at these words. It was the first time he had heard such for three or four long years, and he had come to believe all mankind heartless. Be had felt all alone in the world and thought that of all the millions of souls on earth, not one had a feeling of sympathy for himself and family. And now to meet with such kindness, and to hear such generous language from the lips of a stranger, touched John's heart deeply. He reached out and took the and beg me for favors? You are not' compelled to come." ! At one of the museums a gToup of wax figures has a breathing apparatus connected with it. • A man with a spear in his watch pocket and a gaping wound with roof jiaint oozing out of it is breathing his life away by means of nice new rubber lungs, the only kind that can stand the stifling and poorly ventilated air of the place. "I don't know what you mean, Mr. Pearson." "We are compelled to come, want drives us to it,"' the minister replied. "As to it being a law of business to govern profits by necessity, I have very' strong doubts. It is not the law of honest business I am sure. There is a wide difference between necessity and demand—at least between the necessi-' ties of such times as these and the de-; mands of ordinary times. In the markets of the world we sell our products for all they will bring, and in that market you have a perfect right to so dis1 pose of your money. But we do not 6ell our produce at exorbitant prices. When we find a fellow creature suffering the pangs of hunger we do not compel him to pay us his last cent for a morsel of food. But that is the principle upon which you work. Mr. Mills, and I cannot think it far short of robbery,"When he entered Scraggs' office John found Harry Pearson there. Pearson gave him a warm salutation, asked after the health of the family, and was greatly shocked and much saddened when John told him of Mrs. Green's sickness. "Oh, I don't mean anything, only that of course Scraggs' pretended interest in rir welfare is nicely put on. The idea Scraggs feeling an interest in anybody. That's rich, Green." After the lapse of near an hour, during which time Green had studied the faces of his companions, and drew pictures of this one's and that one's condition, he made bold to break the deathlike silence and engage the man next him in conversation. TMK IJETTEB WAS HOT FROM HER FATHER. had relented, and again opened his heart to receive his child. With trembling fingers, and fast beating heart, she drew the letter from its cover and began to devour its contents. But soon the flush of hope died out of her face, and a shadow of sorrow and grief deeper than any it had ever worn succeeded. I sailed gayly up to him and assumed a well bred attitude which my coachman has taught me on rainy days this summer. "Do you suppose he didn't mean what he said?" One man said to the keeper, "Sir, the air here in this museum seems fixed, does it not?" "It is too bad," he said, "and I regret it exceedingly. You have my heartfelt (sympathy, Mr. Green, indeed you have. I have felt a great interest in you, and v. hile I was away I often thought of you. I should have been out to see you, but only returned from the east three days ago, and I have been very much crowded with business since." "Good morning, Mr. Skeezix," I said. Skeezix was not the name of the man I knew, but it to be. "Good morning, Mr. Skeezix. When did yon leave Chicago?" "Why, so far as letting you have the money is concerned, no doubt he did. But what sort of terms would he make you?" "My friend," he began, "our business here is evidently the same. I came to try to get some money on my farm chattels, and I judge that is the object of all these men. "Yes," said the museum lecturer, who is a great wag; "it was fixed by Soodoo, the six legged calf that died Thursday and is being embalmed today. We should have done it sooner. This figure, ladies and gents, is that of Eva Hamilton, the actress, who rose to sudden histrionic prominence by means of her liason. She,did not receive that recognition by the profession which she thought she deserved, and the press was real mean to her. She looks a little bilious in this figure as you see her here, thus showing that her liver did not act any better than she did. The letter was not from her father, tratlrom a lady of ber acquaintance, "I don't know,", said Green. "I never asked him about that. I don't suppose, though, the terms would be very liberal, but let them be what they may I am glad to accept them. I am not in a situation now to cavil over terms. I must have money at any cost, and Scraggs is the only man from whom I can get it." who wrote with more zeal than discretion. A portion of it was as follows: "I guess it is," replied the man John had addressed. "That is my object, at least." He looked at me as one does who has been bunkoed only a week or so before and whose fesifring wound is torn open afresh by a new bunko man. He turned a little pale and pnt his hand to the pocket which contained his pass. With the other hand he felt for the bright, new and massive watch chain with the gold horse hanging from it as a charm. "Your father la well and apparently contented. His wile is all he can desire, I suppose, since he bows to her will in all things. She has her way in the home and the business, and ahe needs hot to hint a wish to havelt gratified. She has brought her sister's children, three In number, to live with her, and of eoorse your father supports them. The two youngest, girls, he keeps la eollege, while the other, a young man grown, he has taken Into the bank with him, making hiaD a partner In the business. Tour father and his wife are active members of Reverend Wheedler's church, and She is one of the most devout members of the congregation. The young man whom your father has connected with him in the bank Is somewhat rakish, and I think very unprincipled. He spends money lavishly, and of course It Is your father's auaey, for he has none of his owd. He has lust returned from a stay of several months In the west, and has married the daoghter of a merchant here. It's my opinion, though, that he did not marry for love, but for mooey I think, from what I have learned, that be met some one out west whom he loves. Your father made a great dinner on the occasion or tba wedding, inviting all his wife's relatives. X was there, as was also Rev. Wheedler. The minister pronounoed it a most enjoyable meet lac and I wondered if he noted your -absence, John thanked Pearson for his kindly interest—thanked him from the bottom of his heart, for he was in that condition when the kindness of a dog, even, would have been grateful. Moreover, John looked upon Mr. Pearson as an exceedingly generous young man and vras glad to have his friendship and company. So he expressed a wish that Ilarry would visit his family as often as he found it convenient. "Do you know," asked John, "anything of this man and his methods of doing business?" "No, only from report." "You are mistaken, Mr. Green. There is another place to get the money, and I will help you to get it. You must not take it from Scraggs, because he only wants to get you in his power. He would loan you twenty-five or thirty dollars on your chattels at exorbitant interest, and if you failed to take up your note promptly to a day he would close you out That's his purpose and a nice little speculation he "What does report say of him?" Mills flushed with anger, but seeing that it was useless to argue, and perhaps not being disposed to do so any way, let the matter drop, and sending out to have the remains of the old man removed, resumed the order of business and went on with his ruthless, heartless, jrrinding process. "It don't say anylhing good, mj friend, nor anything calculated to tickle us poor devils who have to come to him for 'favors,' as he calls them. It says he has no mercy on his customers, charges them outrageously for a little money, loans only for thirty or sixty days, and if payments are not met promptly to the day your property goes at any sort of sacrifice to pay the debt." "That is not ray name, sir," he said, with dry lips and husky voice. "The maa yon want is coming this evening. He has a car load of watermelons." "The figure was formerly that of Mary, queen of Scots. The artist who doue it over regards it as his great chief do over." "No," I said, "he is not in the watermelon line. He is a publisher. Are you not Mr. Skeezix?" Scraggs looked on this little scene with anything but a pleased expression. His face showed a mingling of anger and pity, and if John had been a close observer, capable of reading the human countenance, he surely would have seen something in the expression of Scraggs' face and eyes to have warned him against future danger. But as it was John saw nothing. [to be contjxukd.J I have just received here, since I came to New York, Mr. Robert P. Porter's little brochure containing some of the most thrilling statistics that I have ever read. I am delighted with the work, though pained to read that during the past year death has robbed us of 765,211 horses and asses. It should be a lesson to those of ns who are still spared as monuments of mercy, and we should so live that we may be always ready when our own summons comes to meet our fate with a glad and resonant bray. Do you not thi ak so, Brother Porter? "No, sir; I am not Mr. Skeezix, and I am not going to tell yon who I am so that yon can go around the corner and tell your partner either." A Little Misunderstanding. "just give me his address." "It's a shame and an outrage," said John. doctor's hand in hi3, and as the big tears rolled down his swarthy cheeks he cried: Just then Mr. Scribner came along and said "Good morning," as he called me by name, and we chatted on pleasantly about books, of which I am passionately fond, buying almost everything of value that has a pretty binding, go that now I have one of the prettiest little libraries in the east. I have no old books. I keep onlv the neat, new ones, with kaleidosC opic backs, so that my bookcases are perfectly resplendent. "Yes," replied the other, "it's worse than that. It's legalized robbery. Our laws permit this man to come here like a vulture to feed off our misfortunes. There is nothing to rest rain his avarice, nor law to hold him in check, and his charges are governed by our necessities. He knows that wo are compelled to borrow, and that in our present straits we are glad to jump at any kind of terms and make any sacrifice, and he is not slow to avail himself of that advantage, and the terms he makes us are such as Shylock made with the Jew. It is a shame and an outrage indeed, my friend, but it is useless for *s to fight against it. There is no law to protect us, and we have no reason to hope that there ever will be. Laws are made to foster and protect the interests of the wealthy, and our interests are not taken into consideration. Congress is always passing laws to protect this interest or that, and appropriating money to foster and encourage this or that industry; but did you ever know of the farmer's interest being considered?" "How can I ever thank you, doctor, for such kindness? [low can I ever repay you for such generous conduct?" "Come, come, Green," said the doctor with embarrassment, "don't act so. Let's not be children. Why, why it's nothing. Come, rally up, man, and be quiet." "Mr. Scrag-gs," John said when the salutations were over, "I hare come to you for a little further accommodation; as you call it, and in this instance I will term it an 'accommodation' myself even though dearly bought. I have come to that point where I must have money from some source, even if I have to steal it, and I want to know if you couldn't possibly make a slight advance on my loan. The farm is undoubtedly perfectly good for more than double what is now on it, and yon could surely let mo have fifty dollars more, at least. Come, Scraggs, cant you do it under the circumstances?" your tether for no good cause. I told this m! i later afterwards that I oould Dot nnderetam how your father oould so far forget his ow: * flesh and blood and take to his bosom thou Who were nothing to him. I told him that 1: bj opinion no parent oould be a gooC Christian while he was so unrelenting. lie rc piled that sometimes children tried thel parents sorely, and that no matter bow Chris tlan a man might be it was not lu his natur to forget some things. He thought firothe Slatchford was more forgiving than tie m« Jority of men, and as for Sister Blatchford, shC was deserving of mnch sympathy, for hers wai • trying situation, and no doubt her heart oftei Med for her husband's wrongs. Mrs. Blatch ford has a brother, Joseph Spickler, whom youi tether has set up in business several times Joseph doesn't seem to be of any great oonse qnenoe in a business way, and about all tj/ seems to hare any success at is telling. He has failed enough already to make your fathei several thousand dollars poorer. He Is not the only one of Mrs. Blatchford's relatives who have had your father's asslstanoe. for nearly all of them have gone to him for money to tide over hard plaoes. Old Mrs. Spickler, Mrs. Blatchford's mother, has come to live with your father, and Intends remaining there all her life. 1 hope the day will come when your tether will see and understand his duty, and I think It will." that you were a stranger t« The old physician's tone and manner were so frank, quiet and unpretentious, that John was struck by them, and they acted on him like a soothing potion. In a little while he became calm  and as the doctor talked on, always in a cheerful, confident tone, John's spirits revived and something of his fear and dread forsook him. Not a man in the room but what would have gladly given the old man aid if it had been possible, but the fact that none of them were much better off made that impossible, so all they could do was to sympathize and pity; and though they attempted to offer words of consolation, they felt that it was but a mockery. "Waiter, our coat3." As we talked I saw the keen student of hamanity who had done me the cruel wrong to take me for a bnnko man. He was evidently asking the salesman something. When he had gorged his curiosity for eight or nine seconds he went out of the door hurriedly, leaving a large eighteen dollar Bible which he had paid for but forgot to take with him. The above is substantially true. Once I met a gentleman at a dinner in St. Lonis and we talked for half an hour, being neighbors at the table. A year afterward I was in New York and did not know a single human being; and, I may add, only one married one. "Don't mind me—I can help myself." A Sovereign Remedy. A young physician commencing practice had among his first patients an uncommonly unclean infant brought to his office in the arms of a mother whose face showed the same abhorrence of soap. Looking down upon the child a moment, he solemnly remarked: As they remained about him looking upon his bowed form, his head drooped lower and lower upon his breast, his nervous hands became more quiet and composed, and at last it appeared that he had fallen asleep. Some one so remarked, and John Green stepped forward and laid his hand on the wrinkled brow. "We cant have everything in this world that we want," continued the doctor, "so we have to do the next best thing, and get along the best we can with what we have; and I guess we'll get along well enough." Scraggs made no reply further than to shake his head slowly in the negative. "Scraggs," said John, "it is a matter of life and death. I must have money or my wife will die, and you must let me have it. You must, do you hear? I can't get it anywhere else, and you must let me have it." "SCBAGQB, I MISJUDGED TOD." would make of it. But don't you do it Don't put yourself in his grasp." "It seems to be suffering from hydropathic hydrophobia." So he put out the medicines for his patient, saying as he did so that he never liked to give prescriptions to the drugstore, because the medicines there were not always fresh, and the druggists were not always careful in com- Dfmnding them, thus unostentatiously taking it upon himself to furnish his remedies with his skilL Having completed the object of his visit, he arose to go, saying that he would call on the morrow, but when he came out of the cabin he halted by the door, and for some time stood hesitatingly on the threshold. At last he beckoned John out. "I know," replied John, "that Scraggs makes it a point to drive a good bargain; but still he has been very lair with me. lie hunted up a customer for my lots over there at Paradise Park, and begged me to sell out and save my money." "Och, docther, dear, is it as bad as that?" cried the mother. "That's a big sickness for such a mite. Whatever shall I do for the crathur?" "I never did." "Yes," said John in a low tone, "he is asleep, and his sufferings are all passed. Hunger, want and cold will never affect him more, and never again will he feel the force of man's inhumanity to man." Suddenly on the street one day when I was walking—walking in imitation of a man w8o is walking toward some place which he has in his mind, and not succeeding very well with the imitation —all at once, when I would have given twenty dollars for the sight of a familiar race, no matter wnose, i saw my ainnei acquaintance coming. "No," replied the other, ' and you never will. We are not in a position to be of use to the politicians, and they cannot look to us for financi&l assistance, therefore we are not worthy of their consideration. 'X tie manufacturers, the railroad companies, the ship owners and all other rich corporations must have millions of dollars in' subsidies to enable them to amass ttelr millions more surely and more rapidly. But did congress ever dream oi making an appropriation to aid the p*or western farmers in their strugglei against every imaginable obstacle? No Indeed. They are left to fight it out aonre and unprotected. They are left to the mercy of drouths, pests and grasping moneylenders. And yet the farmers ire the salt of the earth. Without arrogating anything to ourselves, we cai claim that we are as necessary to tte world as the best of the giant corporations. We produce the food of the w»rld, we improve and beautify the land, we add »o the country's wealth, and yet we are not fostered or protected. If we fail to "No," said John, It was a long time before Scraggs spoke, and then he delivered his words slowly, and there was a tinge of sadness in his voice so foreign to him that It 6onnded strange even to his own ears. "Wash its face, madam; the disease will go off with the dfrt." And it was even so. The poor old man's broken spirit had fled from its worn-out, emaciated tenement .and bounded up and away to that bright, immortal glory, the inheritance of the poor and the lowly who have, like the Master, suffered the pangs and sorrows of this life. "Wash its face—wash its face, indadel" exclaimed the matron, losing her temper. "What next, I'd like to know?" When Mary Green finished the letter she sat for a long time with her hands clasped in mute despair, too deeply troubled to otter a sound Then turning her wid face to Heaven she moaned in anguish, and in her soul cried out: "My (iod. what have I done to merit this" U'hat crime, what sin have I com in i tied to call down on my head such punishment? Was it so wrong to marry the good, honest man my heart loved? Oh! God, if Thou be just, how can.st Thou permit such things to be?" For an hour Mary sat there heartbroken and disconsolate, pouring out the sorrow of her soul in tears and "Yes," said Pearson, "and what was his purpose in that? Was it to serve you, or to make a good sum of commissions for himself? Scraggs would rather some other man than you would lose when the other man's loss means fifty dollars in Scragg's pocket. The worst of us can afford to be honest and generous under such circumstances. Of course you can do as you please, but as a friend who has no interest in the matter except your good, I say keep away from Scraggs. I can help you get the money, and, if you wish it, I will." "Mr. Green," said he, "I sympathize with you, and were it in my power to aid you with a loan I'd do it gladly. But it is not. You know that the money I control is eastern capital, and I have rules to govern me—rules that are not of my making, and I dare not overstep them or vary from them in the least. I have had other petitions such as yours from the settlers of the plains, and in the hope of being able to accomplish something for those people, I have written to the company whose money I have, laying the true state of affairs open to them, and begging them to make more liberal terms so that these unfortunate people might have a chance to live through these close times." "Wash your own, madam—wash your own."—Harper's Magazine. I need not say that I was glad. 1 hailed him with a welcome that was no doubt a little too boisterous for New York. It was too unstudied and glad. But you must remember that a measly landlady who was constantly borrowing money of me and weeping on my vest was the only one in the city whom I knew, and I wanted to meet some one who was healthy and normal and who could talk with me. Wise Words. "He is dead," John went on, "and I thank God that he is. It is better, far better, that such as he should die than that they should . live to become wanderers on earth or objects of public charity. In calling him away God has Bliown Ilis greatest meroy." "I think I'll ask the boss to get this afternoon off," said the youthful clerk. "Don't," said the old cashier. "Why not?" "Yon came into this establishment to try and get on, didn't you?" "Green," he said, "your wife's father ought to know about this sickness, and if you don't object I'll write to him. It can't do any harm, and it might result in some good. What do you say?" "I don't know that there would be anything wrong in it," John replied, after thinking a moment, "and if you think it best I shan't offer any objection. But I don't think it will do any good." HELPED. —From the German So great is the demand for suburban homes near New York that almost any sort of a land speculation succeeds hereabouts if managed with any degree of akilL Not long a.L'o a landowner enclosed a bare suburban hill with a strong wall, pierced it with pretentious gates, laid out the ground with graveled drives, and gave the' place an attractive name ending In "park." The sale of lots came off and much of the land sold at the rate of $14,000 an acre.—New York Sun. A Good Way to Sell Land. "Yes." "Where can I get it?" Green asked. "It is even so," said an elderly gentleman who stood near. "This world has no fitting place for such as he, save the grave, and it is a thousand times better for him to sleep there than to live out a few more years of wretched existence here." "Well, don't be so often trying to get off or you'll never get on."—New York Press. "I have a friend up town," said Marly, "who has a little money to loan, and though your security is not exactly in his line, I can induce him to take it. I wish I had the money for you. If I had you could have It at low interest and on all the time you wanted, but unfortunately J have very little of this world's He drew himself up to his full height, which made his little tan colored box coat look like a Garibaldi waist on him, and said in deep chest notes—ice chest notes: "I beg your pardon, sir, but you are mistaken. I do not know you, sir." moans Obi who can picture the misery of that hour? Christ in the garden of Gethsemane wept tears of blood. He knew what it was to be poor, friendless fnd alone. He felt the bitter srrief of • Killing; the Good Angel. "Well, perhaps it won't, but we can try. Anyhow, we will give him a chance to show his heart. Just friv© At this point Scraggs happened to glance up and his eyes met those of Pearson. The latter was seowlincr and To have to hoe the same row over every day takes all the poetry out of life and kills the good angel in many people. —Augusta Herald. No one doubted the justice of these remarks, and not one of all the men in I can still remember how nice and white his teeth were as he said it. and