Pittston Gazette

              PITTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, ECEMBER 18, Oldest NewsDaDer in the Wyoming Valley 891. A Weedy Local and Familv Journal. n A PRISONER OF WAR rest of Georgia, bnt, a—11 old Brown, notliin would satisfy him, the cussed luny, but Habersham county must go out with the state. Why, we uns met up at Clarksville Court House and passed resolutions declarin that, if Georgia had aright to secede from the Onion, then, by G—d. old Habersham she had a plum right to secede from the state. But it didn't work; the d—d conscription officers come in and every doggone man that could tote a rifle, and some that couldn't, was swore in. The folks down south of us that's got lots of niggers was hell bent on wah, but they ain't done much o' the fightin. I went up to Varginny ami was shot at Gettysburg. Jest look at tljat." and he held up his mutilated left hand. "Then they sent me home and placed me in the quartermaster's department to raise the tax in kind, and I tell you, neighbor, 1 enjoy collectin hit—outside of old Hahersham." which was a long line of hitching racks. Mr. Owen introduced Bell and myself to the landlord of one of the hotels, after having secured our promise to go with him the next day to his father's place and spend a few days with him. Soon after our arrival several hundred cavalry and a battery of mounted howitzers took possession of the town, and all the officers put up at our hotel. "Hit's a hlazin pity 1 couldn't hook a couple of critters foil you mis to ride off on," explained Sleigh, "but by keepin ver off eyes peeled you uns may be able to nick some un." ragged and much stained note book, ami these 1 handed to the man. He opened them in a way that showed he was not accustomed to such work; then he suddenly handed them back, and saidr armed with oiu lasuioned rifles. They appeared about us as suddenly as if they had been shot out of the rocks, and the leader, an old man with gray beard and eyes that looked particularly cold and white in contrast with his dark, leathery cheeks, called ont: A NEW VERSION, you can, bathe the fare trequently in arnica, apply poundeil ice poultices to the base of the skull and hereafter in Kentucky remember that you take whisky or pass through the state at night." when we saw papa, for lie was a hollow chested man with the mark oft death on his pallid face and the property flush of consumption on each cheek bone. We saw him on the platform at Lone Pine, with hungry eye looking through the very walls of the car till he found them. The little one said, "Hello, papa," and bounded into his trembling arms. The elder one caught him by the coat tails and called attention to how hard it had been to keep her sister tidy in the long, dusty, hungry ride. "Just look at them hands! Yon wouldn't believe that I washed them back here about fifteen miles and wiped 'em on her shawl, 'coz we got our money that the passengers give us done up in han'kercher, would you?"' *0h, mother, take the plaques away Aud put them out of eight. For I am almost tired to Clcatb, I cannot paint tonight. I'll tell yoti all about it if you'll listen: mother, dear. So come and sit beside me on my little ha»- sock here. The Escape of Two Union Offi- I objected to the arms and was called "a d—d fool" for my pains. 1 stud we both had that accomplishment•You ntis ken read?' cers from Millen, Ga. "What's ;i man in these hills in these yar times without a gun?" asked Sim Sleigh contemptuously; then answering his own question: " W'y, he's helpless as a baby in colic time. No, sir-ee, you uns haz got to be heeled right smart if yer bound fob home. And let me say. gents, them guns ain't meant foh ornament by no manner o' means. Yon uns knows euougli not to crowd into a fight but if nothin else will sarve the purpose and keep you uns free, then give em the last in the shop, that's all." \i/ - r.-^A ij •''' "Cy„ g^asijse nvo HORSES WEEE REINED IN CLOSE BV Those are his words as I remember them dimly at this writing. " Wa'nl. re.vl them papers, and if so be it nhotild turn out that you unscan't rend C*ui right. then it'd be a doggone Bigtit bettah If you tins whssu t never Yesterday I received a pitiful letter from Mrs. Bartholomew Tidd, of Percale, O. She addressed me at Mount Sterling, Ky., and writes as follows: "You bearCl the we-1 li»DC |D Ola tonight, ULs wedding belts i hc.v v.CTe; I'm very giad they r.eiv not mine, I'm glad he married lier. Oh, how can I live through it. My heart's so full of cheer! You tried so hard to catch him, but you couldn't, mot tier, dear. By ALFRED R. CALHOUN (Late Majoi U. S. Volunteers). Bell and 1 stuck close to our room, in which there were three double beds. We were discussing the situation when the landlord, whose name I made no note of, entered with four officers who were to share the room with us. They wero manly fellows, but I noticed that one of them seemed surprised to see my companion, and refusing his proffered hand, he asked: bawii." "You can do me a great service while in Kentucky by making inquiries for my husband, Bartholomew Tidd, of this place, who left home for Lexington over six weeks ago intending to open a Keeley bichloride of gold institute in Kentucky, His family fear that he has been iscautious. ]jerhaps, and met with foul play. Ob, sir, be kind enough to inquire, and if death has really beea his portion will you help me get track of his remains before they liecome undesirable?"' tCopjTigUt, 1891, by American Press Assoeia I read the furloughs exactly as 1 had written them, the men and the boy watching inu the while like hawks. Then I had to explain my object in carrying the note book, and at Mr. Si Kyle's request 1 read extracts from that, showing that we had been in South Carolina the week before. This had an excellent effect. Si Kyle and his brother Mart and his son Flint shook hands with us and promised to help ns through. tion.l [CO STINTED.] "Miss Krizbang carae among us With her blushes sweet and fine, With ruby lips and lDearlv teeth. Far lovelier than mine. Yes, they were manufactured; excuse thi* joyful tear. She thought that she cotfld fool him, and she did it, mother, dear. We showed our papers, but the ladies would not look at them. Then we pointed out that search parties were out pick.ug up strangers and sending them back to the army, and that if we were caught in the house this might be our fate despite the fact that we were furloughed men. But this objection had no weight noble wonjen. They assured ns ¥D*ut Sre were as safe there as in our own homes, so there was nothing left us but to consent "Ain't your name Tom Bell, and ain't vou 1'iTim Buncombe county. North Cariinv?"Sleigh gave us minute directions about the roads as far as the Tallnlah river in the northern part of Habersham county, where, lie assured us, we should find hia folks and a welcome. The two men accompanied us about half a mile out on the Walnut hill road, then advised us to ■'cut dirt," and we parted. He said nothing. He bowed his head over theui, one at a time, with a hungry little sob, and there was a tremble in his beard and we heard him say, "You poor little neglected, motherless babies." "I'm from Tennessee. My name's Bell, and I've got a Cousin Tom 'bout the place you uns call to mind," replied my "In vain you urged me, mother. To put. curline on my hair. And wash my lips with oculine. And blush of roses wear. But to your kind entreaties I never would give ear, They didn't cut a figure; no, they didn't, mother, dear. This was said as we drove along, and vis broken into by explosive crackings of his whip and whole volleys of objurgation fired at the mules in the lead. The "off" mule he swore he would kill as soon as he reached Walnut Hill. We resumed our march with our strange allies, and about a mile beyond the place of meeting we came to a bowl shaped valley, in the center of which there was a cluster of log cabins. Here there was an extensive cornfield, and the cattle and mules grazing along the creek, with :t number of tow headed and nearly naked children watching them .-Tiowed that Mr. Si Kyle was more prosperous than the average mountaineer I hadn't the heart to look for Bartholomew after I read that he had started in here to build a .Keeley institute. It was a foolhardy thing to do. Some men do not know much. They have good hearts, but they are impulsive and do their reflecting with their digestive organs it would seem. Bartholomew Tidd will never more return to Percale, Ohio, and his home. He meant well, but his judgment should have been brought in of nights when the cold weather came on. Many a man with a good heart has gone to his death Ixicause his judgment bagged at the knees. "Hit's a mighty pleasant day, boys." Then he took them away with their rag dollies and their tear stained faces, .and I thought as they turned away at Lone Pine that in case eternal punishment is a settled fact, the Associate Mephistopheles whose duty it may be to now and then pour hot rozzutn on that fugitive mother and occasionally turn her around so that the other side cau get a little better done ought naturally to be a very busy man. I trust she may read this letter and that she will find it duly "funny.*' companion. We agreed with him promptly, and Bell, with a view to getting intC5 the good grases of the band, said: CHAPTER VIIL A NARROW ESCAPE FROM THE ENEMY'S It was about 9 o'clock when we started, and we knew that if we were missed pursuit weald be made at once. We fully realized what capture under the circumstances meant, and we confirmed, with a strong hand clasp, the resolution "to die a fightin, but not to be took," Tubs of water, towels and soap were placed in the laundry and before a black man conducted us thither Mrs. Tyson, who had covered her dress with a big a'pron, made us sit on the back porch, and then, with an immense pair of 6hears. she cut our hair It bung in matted masses down to our shoulders, and when she had finished she said i asked Mr. Sleigh why it was that he was carrying provisions in the direction of the mountains when Johnson's army, a few days march to: the southwest, needed supplies. "This is a pouahful promisin country you tins has got down 'bout lieah." CAMP. "Peace to you, Mr. Moneybag*, And happiness for life; I'd be au old maid all my days Before I'd be your wife. Now. mother, I will sober down, I am not crazy quite. But please to take the plaques away, I cannot paint tonight." ' Yes," responded the old man, and tlio sold gray eyes were, searching ns, "we uns allows ez how this is jest ez fine a country ez his outdoahs, and that's w'y we uns is d—d perticklar who comes yar." All'" :/5% 'If yon uns can tell Die why anythin's done in this d—d wah, 1 can explain. -But the talk is that Mr Wharton, he's a-comin np har and a-jom to make np a raid into aist Tenn'see and on into Yankee land and hes got to have feed goin over the ridge. But. between we uns, hits all a d—d lie Hit's the quartermasters! Why. they sell the tax in kind, and they're a makin money hand over fist. The quartermasters and commissaries and receivers has a soft thing of it, We were hurrying on at a double quick, but had not gone a mile from the court house when we heard yelling away to the rear. We listened for a few minutes: then enme the pounding of galloping hoofs. Sleigh had informed us that there were no pickets out, and the furious pace at which the horsemen were coming told that they were out on an important mission, and it was natural that we should associate it with ourselves.;^Scfi ' v *» "■a.-RTs m,W. fit/ We were conducted into one of the cabins and introduced to Mrs. Kyle, a particularly gaunt woman, with very long, yellow teeth, and to her daughter* Sally, a wild eyed and rather pretty girl of sixteen, whose feet appeared to be as little acquainted with shoes as her lithe and supple form was with corsets. There were tsvo beds in the room, and benches of hewn logs with legs fitted in auger holes answered for chairs. We handed our guns and trappings to our host, and Mart Kyle, the brother, brought in a Aisty tin can full of vile smelling raw whisky and a gourd to drink it from. —rharmaoeutical Era. The others nodded and grunted their approval, but Bell understood tho men and he proceeded to win their regard in a way well calculated to bring on a fight outside of those hills. He informed the old man and liis five friends that he considered them "the doggondest everlastin lot of fools and lunkheads" he had seen for an age. "If you uns had sense enongh to git undah kiver whin bit rains," he went on in the same animated and recklessly personal way, "you uns would see as ain't no d—d tax in kind men, but old Blue Ridgers, jest ez good men ez any &f tlie crowd bar, even if we una hez been in the Confederacy army and is dow a makin a bee line fob home." BLUE GRASS THOUGHTS. /^-tD1ju •There. It will be easier to comb, and yon won't look so much like frights." We passed through Dwight, Ills., not long ago. Dwight is the home of the Keeley institute. Certainly 1,000 men were in line or ready to fall into line for their regular hypodermic bichloride of gold, and they were good looking men too. Sad to say, they were in the main young men. Surely 75 per cent, were below forty, and none that I saw looked like wrecks. They were healthy and normal in every way apparently, except that one horror that had darkened their own liv«?s and tear stained many a pillow in far away homes. That night we went to sleep in a well furnished bedroom under the roof. There were clean sheets on the bed, and after looking at them for some time Bell scratched his bead and said BILL NYE'S TOUCHING LITTLE POEM ABOUT THE HORRSE. HOSS HOCE. The Czarina—Alex, there's a Deep Laid Villain; The Man Wlio Courted Death by Start- •Wa-al, this is somethra we una ain't nster Hit's too d—d bad to spile them things, so i propose we uns sleeps on the flooah Hit's a heap sight better'n anything we've had since befoah the wah." ills; a Keeley Institute—Chicago R«- This and much more in the same vein Mr. Sleigh pointed out with intense bitterness and amazing volubility. He believed "the Confederacy was away to h— and gone." and he said with refreshing frankness that when the end came, and he evidently expected it very soon, he "was a gwyne to freeze on to them thar mnles." and the son of a gun who tried to take them away from him •would have the biggest fight on hand old Habersham had seen since Adam was a barefoot boy." d—11 'em!' To the right of the road there was a wood, and into this we plunged and con cealed ourselves behind the trees till tho four trooiKjrs had gone past. Sleigh'a advice was to "stick as close to the roads as you uns can, fo' the country's pouahful rough." As the horses swept by we could hear one of the men shouting out something about "a needle in a bundle of hay." and this confirmed our suspicious. As soou as they had passed we returned to the road and hurried on in the same direction, halting every half mile or so, while Bell placed his ear to the ground to listen. visited—Two Little Girl» Who Lett Their Mamma. ICopyTigUt, 18S1, by Edgar W. Nye.] Tn the Bi.uf. Grass Country, , December. I This country is as hard to beat as a refractory carpet. -From an agricultural point of view it has few equals and no superiors. On every band values are advancing in every direction. Advancing in every direction is one of the most difficult jobs I know of. I used to attempt it myself, but now I do not use liquor in any form. As we had had a good bath and nightshirts were laid on the pillows, 1 pointed ont that it would be a violation of the laws of hospitality not to use them, and believing that 1 knew more about etiquette than tie did. Bell gave way As it would be a gross breach of mountain hospitality to refuse the treat, 1 drank 6ome to the health of Mrs. Kyle. The gourd was passed around, our hostess and her daughter drinking with the ready ease that comes of long practice. Bell praised the whisky and said that, good as it was, 1:3 thought that a few months more age would improve it. •WHAR'S YOU CNS OW1NE?" 1 had every reason to believe that my nerves were proof against shock, but when 1 heard the Confederate officer calling my companion Bell by name I felt for the instant more alarmed than I had ever been before or have ever been since, and if I had had to respond I am very sure my voice and manner would have betrayed me. It must be a pood thing. Some three or four patients who have tried the home treatment have died, but probably through ignorance or carelessness, and the best proof of the institute's success is the growth of the patronage. He then told the old story and explained that the reason we had gone out of our way to rest awhile in old Habersham was because a good fi-iend of ours named 5im Sleigh, who helped us out of a mighty bad hole back at Carnesville, told us if we would hunt up his folks across the Tallulah that they'd treat us like white men and keep us as long as wo wanted to stay. "Now," said Bell, In conclusion, "you uns ain't actin to wo uns ez if you mout bo any kin to Sim Sleigh, foh hit him to condemn i Btranger without giving him a show to explain." A rap at the door the next morning and a black man came in with our clothes cleaned and patched Our worn boots looking like new and two pairs of stockings and two straw hats which Mrs Dnffy sent with her compliments, were just wliat we wanted Be LI declared that l"looked so doggoned peert he wouldn t a knowed me " and the change in him was striking, for he was a remarkably handsome, very well built fellowplot against us right here in our own household.Jf it will do the work we will let Dr. Keeley settle with his conscience, and every edi tor can well afford to give him a column advertisement every Sunday morning. It will do more good than many hales of dark and morbid literature of the '"Father, dear, father, come home with me now"' order. That night we encamped in a lovely little valley through which flowed Silver ran, a tributary of Hudson's fork, v. hich in its turn is a tributary of the Savannah. 1 slept with Sim Sleigh and Bell with McNeil, the other driver; but as wo sat about the fire before lying down, it was evident that the other driver was quite in accord with mine. It surprised me then, and the surprise increases as I think it over after all these years, that the Confederacy—rotten within and hammered remorselessly from without—last- lasted as long as it did. And yet, with all the discontent of these drivers, if the Yankees had attacked our little camp that night i am certain they would have defended their charge as bravely as if their hearts were entirely given to the war It was the savage pride that refuses to acknowledge defeat that kept these heroic men fighting after the principles with which they began were lost sight of and the cause that called them out was entirely hopeless. Before our supper of bread, bacon and milk the gourd was again passed around, and to my surprise Si Kyle gave all the children a drink of whisky, explaining to me that "hit was the best thing in the world for worms;" then he asked a blessing A majority of these mountaineers are of Scotch-Irish descent, as the uauies and physiognomies indicate, and the asking of a blessing before meals is simply the survival of an ancestral Custom. It did not impress me as having any religiotft significance, for Mr. Kyle and his wife and all the children swore with remarkable ease and fluency, and they were as unconstrained in all their actions as so many savages. The Czar (carelessly)—Oh, I'm getting used to that sort of thing. The Czarina—But this is the most dastardly plot yet. The Czar—What is it? The Czarina (in awful whisper)—The cook is going to leave.—Life. Far away in whichever way the enraptured eye may turn it tsees extended vistas among the stately trees, carpeted with beautiful blue grass and studded with neighing steeds. Up to this time our greatest trouble was to avoid the search parties who were scouring the country for Confederate deserters and horse thieves, but here we were in the enemy's camp, disguised In his uniform and pretending to belong to his army. Detection now meant that we should be treated as spies, and we both knew how relentlessly men of that character had been executed by both sides. My back was to the window, which v/as to my advantage, but Bell faced the light, and there was a set to his lips and a glint in his gray eyes that assured me that he at least was not demoralized.In about an hour the soldiers came back at a walk, while we concealed ourselves as beforo. This time all doubts as to their mission were set at rest by the remarks which they shouted out as if all hands were deaf: "That Bell's one of the damnedest scoundrels in the country." "Ought to've strung 'em both up atonee." "Ouiy think of letting 'em walk right out as if they owned the place." "i can respect a soldier, but d—n a spy!" From Dwight we Bailed into Chicago for ft. day and saw the big fat stock show. I am passionately fond of fine stock, having Cjuite a considerable of it myself on my country place at Bnck Shoals, N. C. An Able Financier. That morning we had the rare honor of breakfasting with the ladies and Mrs. Duffy's little daughter, a lovely child of five, who wanted to know if we had met her father in the war. Mrs. Tyson asked Bell to say grace, and he really excelled i'imst If. though he quite forgot to mention the food while calling Heaven's special attention to the "good Samaritan women, who like angels of marcy had been so kind to pore critters like we uns." Instead of exciting the mountaineers this speech seemed to have a soothing effect. The old man told us that his name was Bowman and that Sim Sleigh's mother was his sister and that tho homes jf all were close by. Ho questioned us is to Sim's looks and where and how he was wounded, all of which we answered satisfactorily, and to prove our faith we offered to give up our carbines. The men whispered apart for some minutes, then Mr. Bowman came back, shook hands with us and presented three of the men as his sons: the other two were brothers named Bennett, but all looked so much alike that any two of them might have passed for twins. As a young man passed along the street a resident remarked to a visitor: "That i" one of our ablest financiers." "Why, I am astonished," was the reply. "He doesn't look to be over twentj-- five." Whenever I see a wide horse with a heavy head of whiskers on his feet or a buff or baritone rooster, I am tempted to purchase him for my stud farm. The fact that we could have emptied the four saddles without serious risk to ourselves gave us a great ddal of confidence, and ray res-pect for the good sense of the man who had furnished us the carbines rose accordingly. It was now very certain that an alarm would be sent out at once, and that every man with a gun and southern sympathies in Qart and the adjoining counties would join in the chase to hunt us down. We already knew the ground we could cover on a forced march, and now we determined to exceed all our former efforts. We did not walk, we trotted; and from about 11 o'clock at night till daylight the next morning we must have averaged five miles an hour, and this over roads rocky, hilly and cut into ruts. "He isn't so old as that even." "How does he happen to be so successful?"After supper, and when it was quite dark', our host proposed that we should visit the still. "And ez thar's no knowin jest what we uns may expeo' in these yar times, I reckon," he said, "ez how hit mout be well to have yerguns handy, for no d—d tax in kind hunter is n gwine to catch Si Kyle asleep." We slung our carbines; *then, each being provided with a pine knot torch, we 6tarted out. Some of the ablest Shorthorns were there, and I must say that, they are a more popular class of cattle with me,' though not so tailor made, perhaps, as the Jersey and Alderney. The Shorthorn is possessed of those elegant qualities of mind and heart which make him beloved by good people everywhere. He is full of good impulses ait just, and even In death we gather round him and appreciate him. The Shorthorn strikes a good average for weight, too, for five steers of this class left Mount Sterling recently averaging 2,150 pounds apiece. "Blamed if I know. He came here a stranger three years ago, with nothing except his good looks, and todav h« is the husband of the richest woman in the town."—i'ntroit Free Press. "Well," said the Confederate lieutenant, after my companion, with a .flood of original and rather startling profanity, had declared that he was not 'Tom Bell, the Yankee scout,' but his cousin, "I'll have to allow that I'm mistaken, for a man ought to know himself, but I'd have been willing to bet against big odds that you are the Bell who lias been raising hell with our people over round Buncombe."When we parted with those kind women that morning it was with the feeling that to have met them was in itself a full compensation for all our suffering To this very day the sight of a locust tree recalls Mrs. Tyson, and I never see a widow wearing a white cap that the beautiful, sad face of the young Confederate captain's widow does not rise before me as distinctly as the face of my own daughter looking in on me as 1 write down these memories of that terrible past Glv« Him a Chance. Hostetter McGinnis proposed to Miss Esmeralda Longcoftin one day last week. She replied: About noon of the second day, and just as Sleigh, who was now in the lead, was looking ahead for a place where he conld rest the animals for an hour and cook dinner, a young man with one bar, the insignia of a second lieutenant, on the collar of his faded gray coat, halted the wagons at the forks of the road and said be was ordered to take them on to Carnesville, ten miles away, instead of to Walnnt Hill. That country is filled with springs and streams, so that w« bad no difficulty in finding acamping place near by These mountaineers had a reputation for hospitality, and the old man, wishtrig to set himself right in this matter, explained his conduct by saying that the hills were being overrun by squads Df cavalry out hunting deserters, and by wagons out collecting the obnoxious tax in kind. Tliey regarded the conduct of the Confederate authorities as highway robbery, and to resist it they had formed in organization. The country was well picketed by the mountaineers, and when the wagons or the cavalry were too itrong to be resisted they went into hiding, taking care that their corn, pigs and :attle were kept out of reach. "I want you to distinctly understand that I refuse to be your wife." About half a mile from the cabin we entered a rocky glen admirably adapted for defense. A hundred yards from the entrance it widened out into a little amphitheater, and here, set against a towering rock, was the still. The stench told that there was a pigpen in the vicinity. , "Now, don't say that, at least not yet. Wait until next Saturday before yon say positively that you will not marry me," pleaded Hostetter. "Look me over," said Bell, and he irew himself up for inspection. "Now, do vou uns think I look like a d—d fool?" Along with the fat stock .and adjoining the hog department was the Lincoln log cabin. I never before so fully realized from what a lmmble and beggarly beginning this powerful and gentle man arose. It is u little broken backed sty of one room to begin with, and another worse one added when Abe got too big to sleep with his parents. It is not the romantic log cabin of Joaquin Miller, but the shiftless, badly laundered hovel of weak and hopeless, doless, miserable poverty of the inexcusable class. We were within sixty miles of Tallulah Falls, anil ;n a straight, lice not more than 120 from the Blue Ridge, west of Buncombe county. North Carolina.which was our objective poirt. Once there. Bell was certain that we could cross to Greenville, east Tennessee, the home of Andrew Johnson, and at that time the headquarters of Carter's gallant division of loyal mountain men. The officers laughed and declared he appeared to be as sensible and brave a man as they had ever met. As soon as it was light we left the main road and followed a path that ran in the same general direction. Bell, who could read a trail like an Indian, said there had been pack mules over this route within forty-eight hours. The country was densely wooded, and springs and clear streams were abundant in the valleys, but we traveled till noon without seeing a house or a human being. Soon after noon, as we were making our way along a brawling stream which the trail crossed at a dozen points, we were brought to a sudden halt by a hoarse shout from the front: "Why wait nntil Saturday?" asked Esmeralda. "Because before you reject me I wan*- you to see, me in mv new suit, and ! 11 get it from the tailor Friday night. Jnst wait nntil you see me in them lavendepants! Don't stand in your own light. Esmeralda."—Texas Siftings. "But if 1 was Tom Bell of Buncombe and come a trapesing ovah heah, I'd be the cussedest fool God Almighty ever made. Tom Bell of Buncombe's my cousin, and that ain't to his discredit; but up to the time he joined the Yanks, no man ever dared to look him in the eye and say he was a fool or a coward; cowardice don't run in the blood, whether we nns fight fo' the Confed'racy or agin hit." The glow from the log building and the boisterous laughter of men showed that there were others ahead of us, and that they had been loing their best to keep Mr. Kyle's whisky from getting old. There were eight men in the still house, all in the prime of life, all dressed in butternut trousers and cotton shirts, and all with powder horns and bullet pouches slung from their shoulders and long bunting rifles within reach. These men shook hands with Bell and myself as if we were old friends, and that they had heard of our arrival and all about us was shown by their addressing each of us by his proper name. CROWNED WITH LAURELS. The lime dust from the magnificent Toads falls upon the stimulated roots of the eternal lawns and fertilizes them the year round till the rich carpet crowds the white toll road and checks the trunks of the trees almost, as one may say. Lieutenant Owen was abont my own age. and, although burning with anxiety to meet the Vankefs. he had never seen one He and 1 became chummy at once. He was at school at Athens, Oa.. when the war broke out. and would have gone to the front but for his mother, who lived near Carnesville aqd was an Invalid He quite envied me my experience. and told me be had hopes of going with Wharton on the raid into east Tennessee. Wo broke down all the barriers of suspicion by producing the whisky given us by Si Kyle, which neither of us had touched. We told of our experience with the distiller and of his great kindness, ind after the six men had emptied the bottle we became friends. With our new formed allies we resumed our march to the west. I walked beside Mr. Bowman, and to my great delight I found him to be an out and'out Union man, and he declared with an oath that he did not care who knew it. He had been in the Creek and Seminole wars and Andrew Jackson was hi3 idol. He assured me that the mountains were full of Union men, and on my expressing surprise that they did not organize and fight, he explained that if they did so they would have to get out of the hills and leave their families unprovided for. "And then," he added, "the young men don't feel about the wah like we uns ez hez fit and voted fo' Ole Hickory. Ah. bit's a blazin pity that they ain't got no men like him now, but I reckon thar wasn't stuff enough of the same kind left ovah." The Shores of the Rhine. Little Paul had memorized a bit of poetry iu order to celebrate his mother's birthday. They were iu the parlor an 1 / he began his address, but broke down./ He attempted it once or twice, but each occasion his memory failed him. \ His father, however, prompting him. started him again with the old result. J The poor little fellow burst into tears. "Try it still once more, Paul." • . / He did so, the tears running down his cheeks and sobs breaking his utterances. / He began: How much rejoiced I am to say. And smile, mamma, because this day, etc. —Fliegende Blatter. About uoon we sat down beside the road to rest and to eat the luucheon so thoughtfully provided by Mrs. Duffy In the course ol the morning we had met a number of men .and talked with some of them, but our appearance was so clean and respectable that they treated ub with consideration, and one gentleman of whom we asked the distance to "'the falls'' requested us to remain over to dinner From here he started away down the river with his flatboat load of farm produce and badly rectified whisky, only to give his work and cargo over to the first unidentified bunco man, who bought his load and agreed to meet him later at New Orleans and pay him, but who forgot about it np to the present time. Here he visited the old folks again as he left for the White House, and here he drove a sharpened stake in after years to mark the grave of his father and place a monument there. Where will you see such wonderful Shorthorns, such slender legged, graceful and high blooded horses, such elongated men, such powerful native wines, made from the clustering corn? Where will you see such thrift among the thrifty and snch a lack of it among the other people? Echo, after wiping off her chin thoughtfully, answers, ''Nowhere." This and much more of the same kind Bell rolled off with an earnestness and vehemence that carried conviction with it My cnly fear was that he would overdo the matter by protesting too much. The officer apologized for his mistake; one of the four produced a canteen and proposed that we drink to better acquaintance, which we did, but I felt that this was only a truce and that the best thing we could do was to shake the dust of Carnesville from our feet as soon as possible. "Hello, thar! Whar's you uns gwine?" We could not see the man, but there was that in his voice that indicated he was in no amiable mood and that he was quite prepared to dispute our advance. This bright young fellow, whose name would indicate that he was himself of Welsh extraction, was firmly convinced that the Yankees were of an entirely dif-" ferent race from the southern people. He believed that nine-tenths of the men in the Union army were "Hessians and hirelings," and that they were only here by virtue of their overpowering numbers. The memory of young Owen's confidence and my own feelings as he denounced the Yankees as "cowardly cutthroats" makes me smile now, but I distinctly remember that I lay on my face looking up at him with all the tiger in my nature swelling my muscles and increasing the beating of my heart. He had a sword Strapped to his belt and a big pistol on his hip, and although 1 was unarmed, save for tht'lcnife given me by Abe back on the Lamar place, it gave me a feeling of intense satisfaction that 1, a fugitive Yankee, if alone with this kindly braggart for one minute, could strip him of his arms and tie him with his own trappings. As it was, 1 actually found comfort in echojng his assertions that "the Yankees were doggone cowards." With the two Kyles there were ten mountain men in the still house that night. They were physically strong and brave, just the fellows for soldiers, yet not one of them had been in the army. Nearly all of them had been conscripted, and when 1 expressed surprise at their being able to avoid the service, they laughed, and declared with much pride that they had "desalted," and they "allowed that if any sojers had come into the hills to take we uns, they'd a had a d—d sight harder time of hit than if they run into the Yanks." And these, 1 have every reason to believe, fairly represented the men of the Blue Ridge from West Virginia down to Alabama. "We uns is gwine home, if you uns ain't got no objections," replied Bell. It is here that we strike still another pronunciation of the word "horse." It has inspired me to write a few stanzas entitled "A New Pair of Lines on the Hoss." It reads as follows: Coming up the winding road we saw two wauoaa evidently iroinc in our di rection Cleanliness and hunger allayed gave us courage, and we determined to stand our ground. The sight of them forty-eight hours before would have sent us flying into the woods like hunted beasts. "Whar is yer home?" "Crost the Blue Ridge." "Then why in blazes don't you uns stick to the roads that leads to the Ridge?" asked the man, and through the jungle in front I caught the gleam of a rifle barrel. No Illinois boy need fear the future if he will look at that sorry structure, that tottering, pathetic wreck of Abraham Lincoln's early home. When the cowboy lights out o'er the alkali plain. With a skin full of mm and remorse. You'll And him most always, in sun or in rain, Outside of what he terms a horrtt. His Great Need. After supper 1 proposed a walk to Bell, and we went down past the little court house, about which were drawn up scores of wagons that had come in with the tax in kind. I felt certain that we were being watched and that it would be courting death to go back to the tavern 1 knew some men in Chenowith's regiment, two squadrons of which were then in tha town and others were expect«d before morning. If I were recognized, the suspicion already directed to Bell would become a certainty and we should be arrested and treated as spies. v Not far away on Wabash avenue is the old Libby prison, brought here with every brick and shingle in its place, and now a most interesting war museum. It is filled with w inders of the civil war, which every \ ".»r is making more valuable as tne swift centuries play tag with each other down the musty corridors of time. Bearded Stranger—Madam, you may not recognize me, but years ago, when but a little child I lived next door, and one day in my childish romps I lost a button from my coat. I had no mother, as yon know, and shall I ever forget, madam, that yon took me in and sewed another button on for me. Ah, madam (brushing away a tear), through all these years I have treasured that little button as a sacred relic, and here it is. Each wagon was drawn by four mules, the drivers were lank, wiry white men. and the loaos were corn and bacon, the 'tax in kind," which they were taking to Walnut Hill, in Franklin county This tax in kind was keenly felt by the planters of the south 1 cannot recall the percentage of farm products that had to be turned over to the Confederate government, but, if I mistake not, in 1S64 it amounted to fully one-third, and in addition to this the planters suffered from the raids of their own people qnite as much as they did from onrs; that is if their place chanced to be along the ever increasing and ever devastating line of march This tax in kind, while cheerfully borne by the few planters who had risked their all on the hazard of the war had a most disheartening efiect on the masses who had given their sons, and who believed that they were being robbed of the food necessary for their wives and children by the Confederate authorities. "Is thar any law against we uns gwine any way we uns likes?" asked Bell, and he fired off a volley of oaths, which were returned with interest. And up in New England, with abdomen blue. The Puritan, frescoed with moss. Puts cod liver oil on his wagon so new And tew it he hitches a hogs. The man told us that he was not alone, and that if we took another step forward he would fire. "You uns," he continued, "is out nosin foh the tax in kind, but hit ain't no go. We uns hez give the last, and not one more d—d drop goes om of these yar hills unless hits paid foh. Go back and tell the quar'masters that Si Kyle and his crowd hez got thar backs up. We uns hez allowed not to still no more foh the Confed'racy, onless the Confed'racy she comes bar with the cash, and lots of hit Now go back, fo' you uns looks like mighty pore critters, ez hit wouldn't be no credet to shoot." But here in Kentucky, where nature is kind And betting is middling close. You'll find the fair girls and elongated men Admiring and loving the hnee. Not a man of the party could read, and their ignorance of the outside world was astounding. They were loud in their denunciation of "niggahs and Yanks," and seemed to have only the vaguest notion of the causes that led up to the war; but they took no pains to conceal their contempt for the "Confederacy," principally, it would seem, because of the conscription and the tax in kind. Stories of Sherman's advance on Atlanta had reached them, but so long as he kept away from "Old Habersham" they did uot care if he overran the state, indeed, they rather hoped that he would do so, and they were particularly anxious that he should catch and hang "Old Joe Brown," then the governor of Georgia. After marching about an hour, three of the men left us on the summit of a treeless ridge that commanded a splendid view of the mountains towering about us on every side. Patches of emerald corn and brown pasture land far below ns, and pillars of bine smoke rising from behind the woods far off and beneath us, fold of a settlement that appeared to be walled in from the rest of the world. Chicago certainly is getting ready for the most startling display of everything that can surprise, astonish and instruct the gaping millions from abroad and the eastern gentleman who has not had time to go west of the Hudson river since William Penn swapped eighty-five cents worth of passementerie for the state of Pennsylvania. [Words and music for sale at this office, or gent on receipt of price by addressing the author at Buck Shoals, N. C.] Kind Lad}-—Well, my good man, what can I do for you now? All this 1 explained to him, and he agreed with me that our only hope lay in getting away from Carnesville as speedily as possible. It was now night, with a half moon overhead, and we were in good condition for a twenty-four hours' march. We had jnst passed the wagon camp when we heard a quick step behind us and a voice calling out: Here I met young Mr. Beck, 6on of Senator Beck and late president of the senate of Wyoming. He presided when I revisited my old home a year ago in the young state where I was once a justice of the peace and editor of the frolicsome but impecunious Boomerang. Bearded Stranger—All I need is another coat.—Clothier and Furnisher. An Approximation. It i3 seldom that a woman's curiosity leads her to the morgue, but during the past week there have been quite a number there. Among them were two ladies that looked at the body of the then unknown floater who was found in the river at Sedamsville. Two little girls were on the train south the other day, bound for Lone Pine. We As we marched west and south the roads grew rougher and the hills higher, so that the drivers offered no objection when Bell and I proposed to get out and walk. As we went on to Carnesville, and about the middle of the afternoon, we were overtaken by a troop of cavalry —bronzed, sturdy fellowB, who looked as if they had just come out of the furnace heat of battle. They were a detachment of Chenowith's Kentuckians, and, rebels though they were, my heart went out to them, for they were soldiers, men whom I had myself met face to face in battle, and I loved them none the less for it. "Down tliar's whar Sim's folks lives," said Mr. Bowman, "and up the Gold Crik valley, »z you uns can't see from har, is my place. They'll be right smart glad to hear from Sim, fo' he is jest 'bout ez peert ez they make 'em, though most of we uns allow he was a plum fool to go off an git shot by a Yank." It was at Cheyenne last year that I said to myself, "I will see the new capitol building and shake hands with Secretary of State Meldrum, whose lawn used to be the arena on which my cats and Judge Brown's used to settle past differences." It was evident the man was running a still back in the hills, and that he took us to be Confederates out collecting the tax in kind Bell repeated the old story and gave the reason for our being off the road, and he offered to lay down our arms and let the man and his friends come out and search us. In conclusion he said: I turned, expecting to see a man with a tnusket, but to our great relief our challenger was Sim Sleigh, the teamster, with whom I had ridden into town. This man had been so outspoken in his denunciation of the Confederate authorities and so eager to have the war brought to an end and so very kind, that on the impulse of the moment 1 determined to take him into our confidence, so far as was consistent with the story wo had already told him. 1 pointed out that the chances were that Bell and myself would be made prisoners if we returned to the tavern, and that while we had nothing to fear from an honest investigation, the result must be to us a great deal of unnecessary hardship and useless trouble; then 1 asked for his advice. 'Hello,boys! Whar's you uns off to?" "Do you know him?" asked Superintendent Shaw. "No," replied one of the ladies hesitatingly, ' 'but I think I know his mother." —Cincinnati Enquirer. The men driving the wagons were Confederate soldiers. Each had a musket beside him and a big revolver on his right hip. They were evidently mountain men, for they spoke with a voice, accent and vernacular eo much like Bell's that 1 could not have told them apart with my back to them. We told the men our destination, nnd they offered to carry us to Walnut Hills, forty miles northwest. As this was nearly the direction we were making, it did not take us long to decide Bell and I had a chance to whisper to each other, "The same story all. the time and no trimmings:" then he got up beside one driver and 1 beside the other, and our Eight was resumed under circumstances that were the acme of comfort compared with the sufferings «nd subterfuges during the preceding month. That night Bell and I slept in one of the beds witli two of the children. The oldest girl and another lot of children slept in the trucdlebttd, and Si Kyle, his wife and the rest of the family occupied the bed across the way. The whole arrangement was entirely primitive and unconventional. As I went into the assembly chamber the gavel of Speaker Downey fell with a mellow thud and he announced that on the floor of the house a pioneer of the early days, crowned now with the laurels of a grateful people, bearing modestly upon his highly emphasized brow the wreath which he had so bravely won in the face of outrageous fortune, now stood, and he took pleasure in saying to gentlemen and members of the assembly that the regular order of business would tDe suspended pending a motion to adjourn. The member from Crook county (Mr. Kellogg) then rose and, with a flood of eloquence worthy of a better cause, welcomed the prodigal, and after asking that the fatted maverick be 6lain he moved that the house do now adjourn in honor of the occasion. It was an eloquent address, and placed Mr. Kellogg at the head of the house as au easy going and graceful speaker. It was afternoon when we reached the valley and entered the settlement, which consisted of log cabins with a little log church in the center. A pack of yellow curs and a swtfrm of very brown and scantily clad hailed our approach with much bar King and shouting. Some lank, barefooted women, nearly all of whom carried babies astride their hips, and most of whom held between their lips the "dipping swab," came to the doors to wonder who the strangers could be. There were fields of corn, sweet potatoes and patches of peanuts or "goobers" along the valley, and masses of hollyhocks and sunflowers here and there that gave an air of comfort and thrift to the place that was in striking contrast with the wretched cabins we had seen since leaving Carnesville. On the Safe Side. He was barefooted and altogether, looked like a sign for a rag store. "Sim Sleigh —mebbo you uns hez heard of him—told us back thar at Carnesville to take to the woods, so's not to be picked up, and he said if we uns could strike his folks up on theTallulah, in old Habersham, they'd do the equar thing and help we uns on." "You can't deny," said the magistrate, "that a loaded pistol was found in your pocket." They swore at the teams, they hailed the drivers, they joked the lieutenant. They asked Bell and myself where we were caught, and then passed us and were hidden in the dust cloud from 400 hoofs. Bell and 1 did not waut to go to Carnesville, and so told the drivers and young Owen, but the former inarmed us we were fools and the latter Jold me he would take myself and friend to his father's house to rest as long as we chose. Indeed, the kind hearted young fellow insisted that 1 should ride his horse for the rest of the distance, and there was nothing left but to accept the generous offer Aftt-r breakfast the nest morning Sir. Kyle. lifter refusing pay for his hospitality. plitt'cd some corn bread, bacon and h ImtU I whisky in a bag, which he cave in Bell; then he accompanied us for M'VHinl miles. He gave us directions which, if followed out, he assured ns would take us, "without hurt or harm," to the Tallulah river and the home of Sim Sleigh's family. "No, your honor," was the tramp's reply, "but you must understand that these times nobody knows when he may be attacked and robbed."—Fliegende Blatter. Sim Sleigh, who had so befriended us the night before, was still our guardian angel He was evidently a prominent character in these hills, for the man in front, with less anger in his voice, called out: A Sleigh Ride. She looked so sweet among her furs To our surprise Sim Sleigh told us that he had heard it hinted that we were spies, and that he was hunting us up to tell us of the dauger when he met us. He assured us that he had unbounded faith in us, and that he had explained to others where and how he had picked us up, and that it was through his urging we had come on to Carnesville. All this Sim Sleigh told us with all the emphasis that profanity could add to his statement; then lie gave us each a hand and said: 'Shot Do you uns know-Sim Sleigh?" I longed to press her to my heart; Bat with one hand to rightly drive. He was assured that we did, and that we esteemed the acquaintance to be a very high honor Following this we could hear talking in low tones beyond the angle of bush covered rocks in front After a few minutes of earnest discussion the man said: CHAPTER IX. PASSING THE HAT. A ligl I did not have the art. WE STRIKE THE SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN got to talking with them. They were very poor and ail alone, with a tag pinned on their poor little gauzy shawls telling the conductor to see that they got to Lone Pine. I tried, and tried and tried again; The man to whose wagon I was assigned was named Sim Sleigh. He was from Habersham county, which he assured me "was the garden spot of all God Almighty's creation I was born up thar in the Nacoochee valley. Ever hear on't? No? Waal, you una don't know nothin of this yar wotld. That's the land of iron, that's the land of gold, and thar dimements grows bigger'n eggs Thar ain't fco place like it foh water and trees, foh cohn and wheat and fruit; and as foh the men and women. my friend, they can't be beat for strinth and beauty"  THK BLUE RIDGE. Bat when my arm stole round her waist The skittish colt would leap aside And make me draw it back in haste. After leaving Mr. Si Kyle, the moun tain distiller we kept to the trails, fleepiuglii the woods at night, and once coming within sight of a number of wagons escorted by a lot of mounted men who were evidently out collecting the tax in kind. The third day in the hills Bell shot a pig, but as we had not the means of making a fire we carried the hind quarters till we came to a dreary oabin occupied by a gaunt woman and the usual swarm of towheaded and nearly naked children. In consideration of half the pork the woman gave vb the use of her fire and contributed tome corn bread that had evidently been cooked in the ashes, for it was incrusted with pieces of charcoal, which Bell assured me was an excellent aid to digestion."Old Man Sleigh," as every oue called our friend, Sim's father, was the patriarch of the settlement. He lived in a large double cabin, and preached in the little church on Saturdays, for he was a Seventh Day Baptist, with a great deal of contempt for education and a firm belief in the power of personal inspiration. He heard our story, and when Mr. Bowman offered to take us to his house Old Man Sleigh clasped his liauds and closed his eyes in the attitude? of prayer, and said, with an accent that no combination of letters could reproduce: She chatted gayly all the while And did not eeem to see mo strive, Until at last she pouting'said, "Give me the lines and 1 will drive." —New York Herald. There were pistols in the holsters, and we were behind the wagons; there was a clear road to the rear, and if it had not been for Bell 1 should have yielded to the impulse that came into my heart as 1 felt the stirrups beneath my feet and the reins in my left hand to "wheel and run for it." Young Owen kept beside kb with his hand on the pommel and his bright face upturned to mine. He talked to me about school days and authors, and we discussed history and poetry and love and literature in a way that might have been very interesting to me if 1 could have forgotten for one minute that I was an escaping Yankee or that 1 was acting and must not forget my role. The senate had received the wink and adjourned, so that in ten minutes an informal reception was in progress and the legislative branch of the state government of Wyoming had taken an hour's holiday, just as it would if I had been a deceased member of that body. "We are going there to meet papa," the littlest one said, for she wasn't old enough to keep her affairs to herself. "He had a bad con%li and 60 the doctor told Aim to go to Lone Pine." "Wa'al, we uns hez allowed you uns may be all right. But if so be you una ain't squar', then may the good Lor ho massy on yer souls. Now. come on." "By G—d, 1*11 see you uns through. Make fo' old Habersham. Once you uns is in the hills of old Habersham, hit'll be like home." "What kind of a dog have you?" asked Robbie. A New Kind. We advanced, and beyond the angle ' we came face to face with two lank mountaineers, clad in butternut trousers and coarse cotton shirts, and a boy of about twelve, who if he had taken off his shred of a shirt would have been entirely naked Their brown faces and long, black hair made them look like Indians, and the old fashioned rifles, powder horns and the boxes for flint and steel fastened to their belts increased this impression. They were not yet assured that we were what we claimed to be, for the man who had done all the talking asked if we had any papers about us that would prove our statements. "Have you no mamma, then?" It was a proud moment to get the eulogy and the obituary and yet be able to eat breakfast the following day. No cne who has not swelled up with pardonable pride over his own well worded epitaph can fully appreciate the pleasure of such a thing. "Yes, bnt when papa went away she run off with a young man that had pompydoor hair. I'm going to tell papa on her when I get to Lone Pine. Oh, she was a bad one, you better believe. She sold the stove and they butchered the cow and sold it. Oh, she was a bad one, mamma was. 'N 'en Uncle Ab bought our tickets and sent us to papa; bnt we've got our dollies, though." The dollies were in their empty lunch box. It was rather pathetic and a good chance to do a little direct charity. It was easy to start such a movement. The harvest was ripe and the passengers were willing. We were not sorrv about it "A New Yorker," answered Fred, "but his mother was a Newfoundland.'" —Harper's Young People. Acting on his advice, we sat down under a tree beside the road, but within full sight of the camp fires in the court house square. It was a half hour, and a very anxious one, before Sim Sleigh returned, and then his appearance startled, us. for he came silently from the rear, accompanied by another man. Each carried a Burnside carbine and belts plentifully supplied with ammunition. The arms and equipments hid been purloined from two drunken troopers, who were then "sleeping hit off" in one of the wacons. The Reason. "I hear that friend Gnstav is going to get married." "Indeed! Is he in love?" "No—in debt—Sondags Nisse. 1 stopped the eloquent mountaineer to assure him that if the men were like him he in nst be quite right. He shook hands with me. anil continued: "Bill Bowman—ah, these yar strangers —ah, hez come liar from my son—all, and the Lor gave, and the Lor he tooketh away—ah, so shall they tarry under my roof—ah, so long ez they need the Samaritan's heln—ah.1' Kentucky is full of chivalry and other wet groceries. I was asked to try some of the other wet groceries. I took a creme de menthe. My physician says that there is a mark of brass knuckles on one side of my face and an abrasion at the base of the skull that looks like the work of a slungshot. "Keep as quiet M 'You and me's sojers and d—d fools. Your from Kaintuck. and she showed a hell of a lot of sense in fightiu without secedin. Why in blazes didn't they leave Habersham county alone? We didn't like the Yanks any more'n the Equivocal. "Have you read Sir John Lubbock's List of the Best Hundred Books?'" We reached Carnesville about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and found it a pretty village, with the court house, stores and several hotels facing a little plaza, about On the fourth morning after leaving Kyle's we forded the Tallulah river, and about a beyond we were brought to a halt by six men, .all of .whom were [TO BE CONTENTED.] fnu hlngL-mli to Consumption. Samp's Balesm will stop the cough at once "Yep." "Every book on the list?" "Yep; every book—on the list."—Lif*. I had the forg§d furloughs in my