Pittston Gazette

              * * Oldest Newspaper in the Wyoming Valley. 1'ITTSTOX, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, I8»X ESTABLISHKlD 1850. » VOL. XLIIL SO. 1»- V A Weekly Local and Family Journal. j .151.SO PRR ANNUM ( IN AD VANCE. mount 'n follow y. They was gitten ready, and I slipped out to the barn and tuk iny pony, what I rode over on this afternoon, 'n Jakey's squirrel gun (Jakey's my brother), what I alius carries when I ride round in these hyar war times, *n I makes tracks cross country by a trail I alius goes to uncle's 'n comes hum agin while the men air comdn by the road. I jest rode Sally Maria among the trees thar and tied her and squatted behind the fence till y' come along and—Lordy sakes!" ou the bank watching him. Had he been near enough he would have seen anxiety depicted on every feature of her pike. Jakey, you mougnt go along *n show'm th' way." 00 brother in a place given up to the spiv ants." SIKONTHEHWYEAR ing to accommodate the miners who work at night and cannot see society except in the daytime. Men wear their hats and smoke Cable tobacco—i. e., tobacco that one can smoke in Wisconsin and smell iu Europe. Wearing their hats at these theatrical performances is a cheap imitation of the custom among ill mannered ladies, but the tobacco habit they have picked up out of their own heads. ana "Do you know the road your father speaks of, leading to the Chattanooga pike?" asked Mark of the boy. "Does I know, Souri?" "What nonsense. Laura! We are taking a great risk to let them into the house at all. Heaven grant that the horses are not all taken before morning. Ihe man may be in league with a band of guerrillas, for all we know." "Keep up the stream!" she called, pointing at the same time. He turned his horse's head as she directed, but soon lowering his eyes to the water began to go down stream again. "Look at me," she called: "don't look at the water. Its runnen makes it seem sif y' war goen straight when yer goen crooked. Thar's a ledge o' rocks below thar and deep water beyond." Mark fixed his eyes on his guide, and turning his horse's head toward her urged her forward. She picked her way slowly, as if conscious of danger, and at hist coming to the brink stepped quickly out of the water and shook herself. "What makes you tremble so?' he asked ol' Souri. "I ain't," she said, coloring. "Is that a dangerous ford?" "Ef y'd a-tumbled off en the ledge y'd 'a' drownded." "I've done some scouting )Defore this, but I see now that I haven't learned to cross a current till today. Next time I'll look out for something on shore to steer by." face. IT ISN'T WELL TO BE TOO MUCH '■None o* them sideaways talken, Jake. Answer straight," Baid Mr. Slack severely. OF A "JOLLY DOG." William Relate* a Pathetic Box Office "Recken 1 does. I knows all th'roads 'bout hyar." The daughter withdrew, for the moment quite impressed with her mother's prudence. As she stepped out on the veranda Mark rose respectfully and stood looking into her black eyes with his blue ones. Her mother's caution fled away before that honest countenance. Scene The Landlord Who Ran a Hotel tig-ikm—, • // »t Hurley, and Something About That Mark looked at the boy and thonght a tew moments without speaking. He was a stupid looking child, but Mark thought that if he could get him to go with him it might avert suspicion. Were he brighter he might be of use perhaps. At any rate, he would doubtless serve some purpose. Place—The Newly Wedded* Pair. [Copyright, ls«8, by Edgar W. Nye.] The new year brings with it many hopes and fears, joy and regret—hopes and fears for the future, joy and regret for the past. A great French philosopher says that after forty we should be verv grateful if we are not absolutely and cor" The opera is in the line of comic opera and consists of varied specialties and is played by artists who wear thin property clothes on the street, and their tights when on the- stage show how high their boot legs come when they are dressed for the street. •-S- "What's the matter now?" Zat They were both quiet for a moment, the girl's two big black eyes denoting her auxiety. They could distinctly hear the tread of horsey coming on a brisk lope. "Listen!" "You can have some supper," she said, "if you care to eat in the lower hall, and you can sleep—you—you can sleep"  Mark was bowing his thanks. "Would you mind sleeping in"— She paused again. C~0DfKTCHT, 1892, By AMERICAN PRESS ASS'n. CHAPTER L NO MAN'S LAND. nnnseir to a piato ot Dacon ana corn bread, with a cup of chicory in lieu of coffee (for the blockade of the southern ports had stopped the flow of the coffee bean from foreign countries), he walked out on the gallery, and seating himself on a wooden beccli took a brierwood pipe and a tobacco pouch out of his pocket and began to smoke. Without a word the girl seized Mark's bridle rein and led horse and rider off the road into the wood. At a short distance behind a rise in the ground she stopped. Mark was inclined to go ou farther. "Jakey," be asked, "how would yob like to go with me on—a trip?" "How would I like to shoot squirrels?" "You, Jake! Didn't 1 tell y't' answer straight?" from the father. "Yas, I'd like ter go." The girl who sings about the picture that was turned toward the wall has an ■iEolean noSe, through which she sings a sad lay. She stands on the outside of her feet as she warbles, and there are traces of sadness on her face, also traces of iron ore around her waist. Possibly some one has loved her—some man under the influence of drink, I mean—and with his iron covered arm has clasped her ore and ore, only to be repulsed impatiently by those thoughtless words, "Oh, go and chase yourself!" It was the twentieth of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-two. Corinth had been evacuated more than two months before. The Army of the Ohio had moved ■eastward into northern Alabama. The president and eminent Union generals were anxious as to east Tennessee, where, it was rumored, the Confederates were preparing for some new move. "Have you come fart" ashed the girl erates than Unionists, tliey passea on stealthily. "The barn? Certainly not." "You know these are troublous times," she said apologetically, "and we are alone. I mean we haven't many men in the house," she quickly added, conscious of having made known the household's weakness to a stranger. About midnight they came to a rivulet, and Mark concluded to bivouac there. They turned in among the trees beside the road. "No, no," she said hurriedly. "My pony's right thar. If she ketches sight o' your horse she'll whinny." "I've a mind to take you, if your father will let you go," said Mark meditatively.Jasper was "no man's land." The people living there and thereabout were nearly all Confederate sympathizers, but had learned to look for Union or Confederate troops with an equal chance of either. From the moment of the soldier's arrival they had discussed his coming in whispers. Soldiers ot either 6ide usually came in numbers. It was seldom that a single trooper had the hardihood to enter the town of Jasper alone, especially one wearing the bine. Presently an old man dressed in "butternut" got up from his seat among the loungers and approached the stranger for the purpose of reconnoiter: "Many fevers 'bout Chattenoojy?" asked the mother, taking the pipe oat of ber mouth and coating an anxious glance at her son. High in the Cumberland mountains a soldier in the blue and yellow uiiiforn,. of a private of cavalry *at on his horse, looking down on the valleys of the Sequatchie and the Tennessee. A carbin« ■was slung over his shoulder: a Colt's revolver was at ms nip. ae was long ana lithe and graceful. About him was an air of refinement seldom found under a private's uniform except during that war which called out men from all classes, both in the north and in the south. His hair was light; his blue eye was restless and denoted its possessor to be a man ot great mental and physical activity. Mark dismounted, and the girl, plucking a handful of grass, held it to his horse's mouth to keep his attention from other matters that he might not neigh and betray them. The two stood looking at each other while the sounds grew louder, dreading every moment that either one Of their horses might give the signal that would lead to their discovery. There were evidently not less than half a dozen of the horsemen on the road, altogether too many for one man, even if well armed, to meet. The men rode up to the fork of the road, where they reined in their horses for a parley. It was a question doubtless wliicl) load the Yankee soldier had taken. Presently they divided, one party taking the left hand road to Tracy City, the other the road leading up the valley. "Jakey," said Mark, "before we go a step farther, or do anything in fa' we must fix this money." Mark Btiiired. The„yoting lady was looking at him as ho did so, and shC thought he had a, very charming smile* "We will sleep anywhere you choose to put us. Leastaways we ain't purticularr Another ten minutes brought them home. They came upon the house from its rear. It fronted on the road running northward and faced east. Souri led the way to u rickety barn, where both horses were stabled. She left Mark in the barn while she went into the house to inform the inmates of his presence. "What y' goen ter do with him?" asked Slack. He pulled his roll of bills from his pocket. "Take off your boot," he said. And so he has gone away, leaving her there alona to face all those people and sing and try to be gay. Girls ought to be more careful what they say to men who are intoxicated. "I only want him for a companionto divert suspicion—and—well, I can't tell exactly what—for an emergency, perhaps." Jakey pulled off his boot and handed it to bis companion. Mark took a number of bills, and ripping out the lining of the boot put it back in its place with the bills under it. Smoothing it down, he handed the boot back to Jakey and told him to put it on again. The first sentence was spoken in his natural way; the second in dialect. Mark's manner of speaking to her was singnlarly mixed. "Whafs a "mergency?" asked Jakey. "Well, if I should learn something of importance 1 might want to send you back with the news, or if 1 should be caught in a—in a"  I one© knew of a young lady who told a man to avaunt under those circumstances, and now, although she is happy and wealthy, she is an old maid. Presently she came out. "I suppose your men are fighting our battles," he remarked to relieve an awkward pause. "Dad 'lows y' mought come in fur a spell 'thout much resk. They won't know o' y'r beiu hyar yet awhile, Leastaways thar's no But dad reckons y' mought sleep in the barn with one eye open." They took a bite of the snack Souri had prepared for them and drank from the rivulet Then they laid down, resting their heads against the root of a tree. It was not long before Jakey was asleep, and Mark drew his head over toward himself and laid it against his own breast. Thns the two rested. Mark slept at intervals; Jakey with all the gpundnesa of healthy, irresponsible boy hood. "Papa is away." How much better it is to have some one you can call your own, no matter how worthless and low, than to be an old maid! "Have you no brothers?" "Yes, one; he is fighting for the Confederacy.""Reckon y' come from Decherd, Yank?" "Tree, like a coon, with a gun or a dorg below," supplied Jakey. "That's it exactly. I might want to send word about that." While there was something statuesque in the appearance of the man and the horse, they presented a marked contrast, accoutered as they were for war, with the peaceful scenes before them and about them. Not a sound was to be heard up there in the mountains, except such as came from the insects or the birds. The equestrian figure mounted on its lofty pedestal was the personification of war in solitude. "Thereabout." Hurley is gav and lively w. ,h its foreign tongues heard here and there, the merry music of the orchestra of tha nearest theater and the dull thud that strikes one's ear as he is richly repaid for wearing eyeglasses on the street or wiping his nosa with a handkerchief. I can imagine a sweet voiced cmjenew girl elocutionist reading one of Browning s poems here to these great, strong, manly fellows who wear whiskers wherever they happen to spring up, and who drink to excess. "Over the mountains?" "I shall not sleep anywhere tonight I must go on. Kut I'll go in with you for awhile." "And your father—is he at the war?" "No; papa does uot care much about "Yes." "I'm afeard he's too little ter be of any use that a-way," said his father. the war." "You una got many sojera over tharS" "Where?" "At Sparty." "Oh, Jakey can't go. He's got ter Stay right hyar '11 do hoen," chimed his mother. "Perhaps he's a Union inau." "Well, yes. Papa la Union." Mark concluded to hazard a surmise. "Was he driven out?" he asked. As soon as they were gone Mark took the girl's hand and gave it a grateful pressure: A man met them at the door with white, shocky hair and a stubble beard. He looked sixty, though he was ten or fifteen years younger. He walked as if awn CVillmrin.tr tb« Til(iw 'His tTOUsers were drawn nearly up to his armpits, a donble breasted waistcoat served in lieu of a coat, and an old woolen hat covered his bepd to the back of his neck. "No.' "HO SEATS, I SAYf "Murfreesboro?" "1 don't know." "What do you say, Jakey? Do you want to go?" asked Mark. "Would I"  stantly unhappy. This ought to buoy up those who are only unhappy every four years or every alternate four years. X like to sit down on the first day of every year for a few moments and think over the good I have done. It does not take long. I can mostly attend to it before breakfast. Then I can attend to my regrets for duties unperformed during the rest of the day. But I am a poor regretter and soon tire of this. "God blets you, my girl; you've saved me from capture or being shot in the back—shot, I expect." The moon was setting, and Mark canght a glimpse of it between the lower branches of the trees and the horizon. When he cast his eyes Upward he saw the stars. He fell to musing upon his singular position. He remembered that far to the north of him Confederate cavalry were dashing hither and thither, attacking bridges, capturing the guards, threatening Union pickets and in every way harassing the Army of the Ohio. Vat hew be was beyond the Union front, in a region which belonged to no one save the outlaw guerillas—ruled neither by the United States nor the Confederacy—with all silent and peaceful about him. An innocent face, careless of danger, lay on his breast. The leaves of the trees hung listlessly above him. "Not exactly," she said, with a frown "He's gone north, though." "Reckon thar's a powerful sight at McMinnvillbV" "You, Jake!" again shouted his father. She did not like to tell the whole story to a stranger, who was gradually getting a good deal of information. Her father had come to Chattanooga from the north years before, where he had married a southern woman. After the opening of the war, on account of his pronounced Union sentiments, he had been warned several timesD to leave, and his family were much relieved when he was well away from the danger that threatened him. "A division perhaps." The girl shnddered. She knew well enough the fate he would have met if his pursuers had overtaken him. They wonld have come upon him warily and shot him from behind % tree. When the sounds from the retreating horsemen had died away in the distance she said: "Course 1 want ter go." "I'll tell you what 111 do. If you will let him go I'll bring him or send him back safely and leave a twenty dollar greenback here with you for him on his return,'* The man paused a moment and then went ou: "Them blue clothes looks kinder peart to we un8 down hyar ez ain't seen Tiotben but gray," said the man. "I 'lowed when you uns went up ter Cliattenoogy last June and fired then} big g'ws at the town y' was goen to hold onto these hyar parts." "VY-e did not play Hurley. I would net mind playing the Siberian tallow candle circuit, but Hurley does not appreciate rgalart. "Thet's an all fired pert rifle & yourn. Wouldn't mind letten me handle it, wouM y"f Mark cocked the piece, took off the cap and handed it to his interrogator. He still had his revolver, while the man had a weapon which could not be fired without a percussion cap. "Souril Sourir called Slack. Opposite to ns on© day in a Pullman there was a pair of newly wedded people. I was reading, but the story 'was too massive for me, treating of fin de cycles and one thing or another, and of living for u purpose, and of getting a firm -grasp on the tail of the age in which we live, and so forth, and thus I sort of listened to the bright and childlike talk of the two sweet things cuddled up there together, with her little gray gloved hand now and then gliding through his whiskers in such a way as to make him feel that he was one great solid mass of whiskers, whereas he only had little "siders," which looked like ear muffs that had worked forward. . 'Come!" Souri came in so quickly as to argw that she bad not been out' of bearing of all that had passed. The glad new year should be more wisely used. We should only regret just enough to chastise ourselves, and then with a firtn and rigid upper lip proceed to do better. Some people do not allow their sorrows to heal, but keep them open, torn and bleeding, just as weak and cowardly soldiers sometimes create and maintain ghastly sores in order to avoid a coming battle. We must cheerfully go forth to meet our duty with each returning year, and the home is the best place to investigate a man's efforts. There are a good many "jolly dogs" iri this world; but, as Gretchen says: "Did you ever see the wife of a jolly dog? She sleeps in o kennel. Did you ever soe the children o: a jolly dog? They the curs of the street." S CHAPTER II. A. CHANGE OF UNIFORM "Perhaps it was a mistake," said Mark, "but I never criticise the acts of my superiors." "Waal, now, thet's quar." The soldier followed her, leading his horse, till they came upon her own pony tied to a sapling. Mark offered to help her mount, but she was not used to such civility, and leading her horse to the trunk of a fallen tree mounted by herself."Snack fur these two uns," said her father. "You are divided," said Mark, "as we are. Now, my leetle brother hyar's a Union boy. I'm Confed'rate." The man looked from the rifle to the soldier, not ku« wing which to admire mast—the mechanism of the former or the coolness of the latter. Then he handed it back. Souri departed, and presently returned with a bundle containing cold eatables. "Come inter th' honse." The dwelling was composed of two square log houses, some ten feet apart, under one roof, with a floor between the two. The man led Mark into one of these parts or houses. The articles in it that struck the soldier's eye were a very high bedstead, heightened further by a feather bed; a chest of drawers, and a clock on the mantle that ticked loud enough to be heard out in the barn. There were some pieces of rag carpet on the floor, two or three hard seated chairs and a rocker. "Now, Jakey," said his father as they all stood at the front gate before the departure of the two travelers, "remember yer a Unioner *n treat the stranger f'ar." There was a pause, and the girl, remarking that she would see about their supper, turned and went into the house. "You ain't 110 Yank," "Why not?" Then that blue vault above! Its serenity seemed to mock the puny contests upon a world which, with all its campaigns and battles, was but a grain of sand among the heavenly hosts. Its heaviest artillery could not be heard at the nearest planet. Its marshaled armies could not be seen. Save for the reflected light of the sun it would revolve in space, unknown by those on even the nearest planets. And so musing he fell asleep. There was a delay in getting the meal ready. Perhaps the negrocook demurred at cooking for "poor white trash;" at any rate it was quite dark before supper was announced. The mistress of the house came out, and as Mark saw her eying them both he knew that she came to have a look at them. Fortunately for him, the darkness prevented her getting a good view of him. Mark at once com menced to probe a mother's heart by dwelling on the tired condition of little Jakey, and kept it up till the lady was quite unwilling to boy to sleep in the barn. She inwardly resolved that the child should have a comfortable bed. "Yanks don't come down hyar all alone. Besides a Yankee sojer wouldn't ride a blooded mare like that a-one. Morgan's men rides them kind o' critters and wears them uniforms sometimes." M ark smiled knowingly. "You think I'm one of Colonel Morgan's men, do youi" Crossing the road the two e?itered a wood on the other side. The girl kept a straight course till she came to a creek, which she forded below and near a log that had been felled across it to be used for a footbiidge. On tfye farther side she struck an old road, abandoned, at least, for wheels. Mark rode up alongside of her. She was a wild looking thing, with hardly a trace of civilization about her except her calico dress and cowhide Bhoes. "Oh, 1 ain' no slouch, t 1 am little," replied the boy, with a shrug and a scowl, indicating that he regarded the injunction entirely for. '* 'N, Jakey," called his mother, "dont yer go 'n sleep out nights 'n git th' ager." 'o, and God bless youP' he said. As the noldier gazed down upon the expansive view different expressions flitted across his face. At one moment there was a serious* look, such as men wear on the eve of battle; at another a shrinking expression; then a dreamy one. He saw territory that lay beyond the Union lines. He wondered what warlike scenes were hidden down there within the blending of rocks and rivers and undulations, lying calm and sweet before him that summer afternoon. Were clusters of white tents there? Wore brigades, divisions, army corps marching? "And so we go to New Orleans, Ambrose?" she asked as she opened her new traveling bag and took out anew cake of soap to smell of. So the jolly dog may be as bad as the malignant regretter. Let us therefore not overdo the jolly dog business with strangers and exhaust ourselves, so that at home we may be more civil. "What y' got fur supper?' the old man asked as his wife entered. "Never yer mind, maw. 1 ain't goen ter git no ager." "Yes," said Ambrose, scowling at the toe of his new boot, which was hurting him, I judge, "we take the Q. and C. from Cincinnati, or we take the luxurious Illinois Central, which has such cunning little depots all along its line, and ye will spend a week in New Orleans." "Reckon yer one o' ourn anyway." And the man walked away well satisfied with his penetration. The two started off up the road. The air was pleasant, and it was not toq warm for tramping. Tbey passed out of the clearing, and were about entering the wood into which the road took them when they heard a step behind them. Turning, there was Souri. "I don't want any supper," said the soldier. "I only ate an hour or two ago." At the first sign of dawn Mark waked Jakey, and after they had both thrown the refreshing water of the rivulet over their heads they started in Bearch of a honse, at which they designed to "happen in" at breakfast time. Fortunately they soon found such a place. Turning into the gate at the first farmhouse, a farmer's wife received them kindly ami gave them what for that time and country was a palatable meal. The soldier got Up, went into the tavern at:d paid for his supper with one of the jM-stal shinplasters used at the time in lieu of silver; then he came out and called for his horse. Whiio waiting he stood leaning against a post of the gallery, maintaining the same easy confidence that had characterized him since his arrival. Presently a negro came around from the barn, leading the slender legged mare, and the soldier, sauntering up to her leisnrely, stroked her neck; then mounting, without once looking at his observers, he rode away. Pardon me for moralizing on the glad new year, but there ought to be one day in each year when we can put our past out on the line and look it over and pound it with a broom to knock out the harvest of selfishness and uukindness. "Where are you taking me to?' asked Mark "Hum." The woman, who was bent down through some nervous disease, went to the chest of drawers, took therefrom a cob pipe and some tobacco and began to smoke. Jake)- ate a hearty supper—the heartier for the delay—anil the two wayfarers were shown up stairs to a, large room with a big bed in it. A few sticks were lighted on the hearth to dry the dampness, for the room had l»een long unused, and there was a general air of comfort. Jakey, who had never seen such luxury, rolled his little eyes about aiul wondered. But he . was too tired to waste mufh time in admiration. He was soon in bed and asleep. "Where's home?" "T'other side o' th' Seqnatchie river." "How'far is it to the river?1' " 'Bout a mile from the creek we jest crossed." "How long d' y' 'low y' mought be gone down thar?" she asked. Now he thought he could hear a distant creaking of caissons and gun carriages. But he knew this could not be. If they were there, they were too far to be heard. The sounds, never became real. The young man's fancies were always broken by the actual rustle of the leaves or some sound from the furred or feathered inhabitants of the moun- Enough of tho glad new year! "Much shaken among the sojers, stranger?" she asked. Mark looked into her face, and she lowered her ejes. Last evening there was a pathetic scene at the box office in Paris, where we spoke for the benefit oj a thrifty church society under the auspices of the ladies' committee. As usual in such cases, the seats were sold the day before. Paris' generally is regarded as tbe wickedest and most immoral city in the world, but Paris, His., should not be confused with Paris, France. "A.nd how far from the river to your houie?" "At the beginning of a fight there's a good deal," replied Mark, "but after they're once in they get on without much trouble." "Why do yon want to know, Souri?" "Waal, maw, she'll worrit "boat Jakey." Refreshed by their breakfast, they walked on. Various people—countrymen, negroes, Confederate soldiers and occasionally a squadron of cavalry— passed them on the road, but they were not questioned or interfered with by any one. Occasionally they would ask the road, but upon receiving the necessary information, and after making a few commonplace remarks, would go on. At noon they turned aside from the pike in among the trees and ate what was left of their snack. " 'Bout another mile. We live on a road ez runs from the Chattenoogy pike to Anderson." "I can't tell you." "How fur y* goen?" "Don't mean that kind of shaken— ager." But private Malone's confidence was all assumed. He did not start on the road he designed to follow; he trotted off up the valley, intending later to find a path or a crossroad which would take him southward to the Chattanooga pike. He suspected that the group he was leaving would not suffer him to ride that night in safety, and he did not care to let them know his true route. "That's well. I want to reach the pike." "Oh, ague. No, I don't think there's mnch ague." "Fever?" "To Chattanooga. Perhaps farther, bat not likely." A.matear liicjciera versus frolcssioiials Then a scene he had passed through the previous evening caine up before him. tains, "Waal, y'll only hev t€r go a couple o' mile from our house t' git thar." "You seem to know all about this country." "WhatH th' do t* y" ef they ketch yT "They'll probably lift me off my feet with a hemp cord." It would he a hopeless and a thankless task to even attempt to raise the present cyclists to a pure amateur basis. I fear they arc imbued with the taint of professionalism beyond redemption; they do not want a pure amateur basis; by their own confession they would prefer money prizes, and they are-racing today solely for what they can make out of it. We came at noon and registered at the Hotel Bristol, on the Place1 Vendome— pronounced Plass Vondome—and in the evening wo began, after prayer meeting, it being Wednesday evening. At 0 o'clock a tired man, with tall, heavy boots and the sad air of one who had been thirty* trying to prove that agriculture was ono of the most delightful occupations known to humanity, asked the man at the box office window for a good seat. "There's always more or less camp fever. It seems as if every nxan who campaigns in this country must have a dose of typhoid to get acclimated." Ho stood in the presence of a general of division—the finest specimen of physical splendor of all the generals of the Union army—one who was a year later to achieve the title of "the Rock of Chickamauga." The general was speaking while his subordinate was listening respectfully and attentively. "They won't, will they? Don't talk that a-way." "Reckon I do. I was born hyar. 1 done a heap »' hunten in these hyar woods. I toted a gun all over 'em." She looked at him with her black eyes and shivered. "Thar's a powerful lot o' fevers 'bout hyar. Thar's the typhoid, the broken bone, the intermitten and the remitten, and onct en awhile we git yaller jack when it comes up the Mississippi from Orleans." ' tcat the only bit of finery the posgestei "I guess 1 can get through all right," said Mark reassuringly. "I've done it before." About sunset they reached a large place set back off to the left of the road. The premises were more imposing than any they had yet passed, and they judged by it that they were in the environs of Chattanooga. The house was a large, square, old fashioned building, with a very high basement. It had two stories, with a peak roof, in which were dormer windows. A gallery or veranda extended across the front both above and below. Some large trees were scattered about the yard. In the rear were the negro quarters and the barn. Mark trotted on up the road whil j the daylight was fading. He was musing upon the difficult, the hazardous talk before him. The road was deserted except by himself; the evening was still and his horse's hoofs beat loud on the stoues beneath him. When he was riding in the open he felt comparatively confident, but upon eutering a thicket he would uneasily and put his hand upon his rifle. He knew the bushwhacker of the period, and fancied that a rifle or a shotgun lurked behind every tree. Amid the peaceful auiet of a summer evening in the country it waa strange that one should look for death. None but a practiced scout Would have been thus on the alert. It must be extremely mortifying to American sportsmen—it is to me—not trD be able to point with pride to the fast riding of our racing cyclists as the work o» amateurs, llow cau one be proud of a countryman, be his work ever so clever, who is riding under false colors, which is tantamount to skying he is leading a dishonest life? A man who is dishonest in his sport I would not trust iu.auy walk of life. There are no degrees of honesty. I claim that some of the manufacturers and some of our clubs are responsible for the souls of many unsophisticated young men whom t hey have led astray. I have no language strong enough to express my contempt and the contempt of all fair minded men for the officials of clubs who will deliberately plan the pollution of innocent and ignorant lads for the sake of securing a few more points than the rival club. The girl stood for a few moments irresolute. Then she drew a red silk handkerchief from her bosom and handed it to Mark. It was the only bit of finery she possessed. "I am ordered by the department commander to find out what is going on at Chattanooga. Our rcconnoitering parties have thus far bronght us nothing save that there is no enemy very near. We are liable to be flanked and cut off from east Tennessee. Seo herel" H; turned to a map spread out on a pine table. "Here is Chattanooga; here the Sequatchie valley; up here to the north is Knoxville. held by General Kirby Smith for the Confederates. Hero i* Cumberland gap. if tho enemy is concentrating at Chattanooga, he may not only hold it against a greatly superior force,' hut can march right along here" —he traced the route with his finger— "form a junction with General Smith at Knoxville, and into Kentucky. Louisville and Cincinnati will be in danger. Forrest and Morgan are hammering at our communications; we get reports of immense forces of the enemy at Knoxville; everything points to this or some similar plan of campaign on the part of the Confederates. If so, they must be concentrating at Chattanooga as a point of rendezvous." "That's a good deal of fever," replied Mark; "but, to come down to business, I want to say a few words to you people. You're sure you're Union?" "If you had been here yesterday," said the ticket seller, "you could have bought a seat, but not today." "Sir?" said the man. THE NEWLY WEDDED FAIR. "And wluit is Now Orleans like, Ambrose?" she asked in a shy way, nestling her head under his arm, with her nose in his cigar pocket. "Barten," said the old man, "What is that for, Souri?" asked Mark, affected in spite of himself. "Got. a young'un in Jim Brown's company of east Tennesseeans," said the old woman. "I hearn th' all had the measles in th' spring. Henery hed it." "Waal, ef 1 don't see y* no more, y* mouglit keep et ter— ter— Mebbe ef y* git inter trouble y* mought find a chance ter send it ter me—Jakey mought toto it—'n I'll go down 'n—V— She turned away. It was evident she could not clearly express her meaning, and her voice wm ufDtfiner hnakv "Seats all sold yesterday," was the gentle reply. "New Orleans is an old city of the south," he said,'"with Creoles and crocodiles in it, and a shell road, so called because the two armies shelled each other along that road in the war. "I didn't hear what you said," answered the old gentleman, unrolling his ear and placing a hand with a red mitten on it behind the ear. "Yes, that regiment was nearly all down at one time. Now, I'm going on a very dangerous mission. May I rely on—who are you?" Mark determined to ask for food and shelter for the night here. Turning into the gate, he followed a straight road leading for perhaps a hundred yards to the house. A young girl robed in a white muslin dress of a very simple pattern, and a pink sash, stood on the veranda watching them as they came on. When they reached the steps leading up to where she stood, Mark saw a pair of black eyes looking at him, which, conscious of the deception he was about to practice, seemed to read him through and through. Indeed he was sufficiently confused to take off his hat to the girl with all the grace and manner of a polished gentleman. "No seats, I say!" was the hurried answer in a loud tone. "New Orleans," ho said, looking hastily at his cuff, "is also a great sugar market for the plantations along the river." A boy about thirteen years of age had come into the room, and squaring himself before Mark began to stare at him. "Qoodby, my little tfrl," said Mark, going up to her and taking her hand. "I have a notion that if it is necessary to the Union cause for my life to be saved again you will be on hand to save it." "Not even in the orchister?" "No!" "Whassay?" "No!" The twilight was nearly faded. Mark hail gone about three miles from the tavern when, nearing a fork in the road, he heard: "Oh, how 4,veet!" she said. "We will go out to a plantation where they are making sugar, and wo will make wax sugar. Did you ever eat anyof that, Ambrose?" "Jake," replied the intruder, "I have something of importance to say to your father and mother." Then to the parents, "Won't you please send him out?" This question of legislation in amateur sport is too lightly considered and intrusted too often to men not In touch with its truer and higKer significance. Sport is an educator of the boy; if he is honest and fair in that he will follow a similar course in the more serious walks of life. If a trickster in his play he is likely to carry it into his business.—Caspar W. Whitney in Harper's Weekly. "Well, that's me all over. Come fourteen miles over a road that's froze tighter than the top on a new bile, and can't hear nothin over eight foot to save my life, and got to buy standin room. Louisiana and the girls has got the laff on me "Halt, thar!" "Tell me something about yourself. What's your name?" Instinctively his hand went to the handle of his revolver, for the sound w. ; i,ear enough to indicate that a pistol rather than a rifle might be needed. Then the girl went back to the house, and the travelers went on their way. "No. What is it:" "Bouri." "Jest's y' like, stranger," answered the tatner, "Dut meDDe Jane mougnt snow y* th' way or somep'n. He's purty peart." "Jakey," asked Mark, "can your sister read writing?" "Reckon not." "Can you?" "Why, you just take the hot sugar, you know, and pour it on the snow. Ib is real good." "Sourt what?" "Air you uns the sojer ez tuk supper at the tavern at Jasper?" asked a voice, singularly soft for a bushwhacker. "Oh, yes! You're one of the Slacks, you told me. Isn't Souri a singular name for a girl?" "Slack." this time." Jake's appearance did not bear witness to the encomium. Much has been printed throughout the United States regarding the condition of society at Hurley, Wis. Probably somo of it is true. It is said that the people there are mostly miners who have been imported from abroad under contract. Some of them were caught in Poland alive, and others were snared in Russia. They talk their own language, drink alcohol when depressed mentally and chew tobacco in the English language. She Will make a good wife to him, I am sure, and will "order things from the market. She will order her croquettes by the set and live for weeks on purple cold slaw because it matches the tablecloth. "Can I sing like a bird?" "Do you mean that you can or you can't?" Leaden Messengers of Death Preserved, "Well, suppose I am!" "I know y' fraip yer voice." "How's that?" asked the soldier, puzzled."Waal, dad, he kem from Missouri. So thet's what he named me." "HaVe you a mother?" "YasV "Well, let him stay. I would like to rely on this house as a place of refuge in case I have to get back here rapidly. 1 want you to take care of my horse, and if I never come you can keep him. If 1 do come Til pay you more liberally for horse fodder than you ever were paid before.""If you please, ma'am," he said, assuming the dialect of a countryman, "me 'n my leetle brother's goen ter Chattenoosrv. Mv brother, he's walked a right smart show for sech a younker. Could y* give us some supper and a place ter sleep all night?" "You can come up here and sit down, and HI see." - In the relic case of General Lander post, of Lynn, Mass., there has been placed an object which commands the reverence of every veteran who has fought for his country. It is merely a common, ordinary piece of planking, but deeply imbedded in that plank are eleven bullets, each of which found a billet in the breast of some gallant soldier during the war. At the battle of Ezra Church, near Altoona, Ga., a number of fallen soldiers were buried in a trench. The wearers of the gray and bine were placed side by side where they slumbered peacefully until a short time ago, when the bodies were exhumed for burial in the soldiers' lot. The general paused; then looking the soldiet in the eye said impressively: "I can't." "You are the only man to whom I can intrust so important a mission. I can't order you, as you know, beyond our lines, except in uniform. Go as far as you dare as a soldier; I leave the rest to you. Will you undertake to bring me the information we require?" "Well, your sister is a good girl, and a smart girl, and a courageous girl. She has saved me once, and if I get into trouble I would rather have her near by than a sergeant and ten men." But Ambrose will not care—that is. for three or four weeksr—and then he will have the colic some night, and she will talk to him about his heart and how to keep it ever true to her, when it is not his heart that is hurting him at all. and she will put a beautiful pale blue nightshirt on him to roll 011. the floor in till the doctor comes, and the doctor will, after ho has heard the history of the case, take her aside and tell her if she really does love Ambrose she had better get goods that will match his interior decorations instead of the tablecloth, and he will recover, and by-and by they will accidentally know something. "Kind o' deep and smoothlike. Y' mought as waal put up yer shooten iron. 1 gut a bead on y\" "Brothers and sisters?' "Heuery and Jakey." Mark could see no one, but judging from ' ue voice of the speaker his alarm partially subsided. "How old are they?" "Henery, he'B 'bont twenty-two. He's in Jim Brown's company o' east Tennessee cavalry." "Y' talk purty rich fer a common "Reckon she giv y' th' hanshicuf ter send instead o' whiten." sojer." "What a musical voice," thought Mark. Several times the world lias been startled by the news that a large stockade had been established in a forest a few miles from Hurley, and that young girls were being kidnaped from Chicago to be locked up in these stockades to lead wicked lives or be cruelly slain and buried at midnight in the asparagus bed adjoining the prison. It was a sad tale and aroused much sympathy, hut later information shows that theso girls were kidnaped from Boiler avenue, and that "I will, general." "1 reckoned y' mought come along hyar, so I jist squatted and waited." "What? Union cavalry?' "Don't fear for that. I have money," and Mark showed a roll of bills that astonished his host. "Do you agree?" Mark looked down into the stupid face of the boy beside him. He began to think that the child's stupidity was not flattering to himself, inasmuch as Jakey had penetrated further than he had into Souri's design, and her diffidence as tQ confessing her ignorance. "Very well. The fate of this army, the success of the Union arms in the west, perhaps the prolongation of the war, depend npon you." "Yas." The travelers went up onto the veranda and Bat on some wooden benches ranged along the rail. "Have yon come far?"' asked the girl, who regarded them with evident curiosity."I'm one o' the Slacks. We're Union, we Slacks uir. They're goen to drive us out soon, 1 reckon." "Well, what do you want with me?' "You mean regiment, not comjiany. I know Brown well. How old is your other brother?' j "Sarten, but the money don't make no differ. I'm a Union man to the backbone."The young man baw&l, but said nothing."Jakey, he's thirteen." "At home?" "Yas." "What are you going to do me when you get me to your home?" The bullets dropped out while the bodies were being transferred and were preserved carefully by being placed in the plank which was presented to Superintendent William Stone, of Pine Grove cemetery, at the national convention of cemetery superintendents, aud he in turn presented it to Lander post.—Exchange. "Union, «ih? What are you—man, woman, boy or gal?" "I'm a gal." "I hope there'll be no necessity for that, Jakey. But we must1 arrange what we shall pass for in Dixie. Now do you know what you are?" "You will need a pass to get beyond our pickets." The general drew a camp cnair oesiae a pine table and tooK up a fen. "How will you have it written?' "Have you any citizen's clothes?" "Thar's Henery's store clothes ez he left when he went to jine th' army." "Will tliev fit me?" "From our leetle farm on the Se|uatchie.""The dickens! What are yon stopping me for at muzzle of a gun?' "Lordy! Mow'd I know y'? Y'mought 'a' ben a bushwhacker. I war at the tavern whar y' tuk snpper. The landlord's wife, she's my aunt. I sor y' come in and hearn y' talken to old Venables. They reckoned y' war Confederate till y' paid in Yaukee shinplasters; then they reckoned y' mought be Yankee after all." "Your brother does look tired. Are you nungryAffile uoyr "Is it a-gitten dark?" "Take y' to the barn, I reckon." "Why not to the house? Aren'tj your folks all right? I thought you saitjl they were Union." " 'Pass Private Mark Malone'—that jname will do as well as any—'beyond j our lines at will.'" The general wrote the pass and handing it to Private Malone, "Go, and God bless you!" he said. He took his emissary's hand and pressed it heartily. "Reckon so. Henery's'bout your size." "Do I?" they also huug on the flank of the Union aimy during the war. They have therefore arrived at the age of discretion. If they did not care to be kidnajjed they could have gone right away from there. Slack took the soldier into the twin log cabin and there gave him a suit of clothes which were intended for best wear, but they had evidently been so intended for years, with frequent deviations from the intention. Mark took off his uniform, which, with his rifle and pistol and other accouterments, he put under the bed. Then he drew off his boots (so loose that he could easily remove them without unbuckling his spurs) and put on a pair of shoes. A felt hat completed his attire. "Yes, do you?" "I'm y'r little brother." "Why, yee," she said, surprised, "What has that to do with it?" Tin* ITitlveimil Postage Stamp. "Exactly. And what are we going to Chattanooga for? What shall we tell 'em?" The Swiss papers are again taking up the important subject of the creation of a "universal postage stamp," which shall have currency in all the states included in the postal union. As the union now includes nearly all civilized world the movement ought to tind zealous advocates A Doubtful Compliment. "Oh, they're all Union. But mebbe they mought suspect at the tfcvern (seein I'm gone 'thout sayen goodby and knowen I'm Union) thet I've putiy' up to somep'n or tuk y' hum." "I'm hungry jest as sartin," and Jakey's little eyes glistened at the thought of a hot supper. A minister in the east said: "My brethren, the collection will now be taken for my expenses for a trip, for I am going away for my health. The more I receive the longer I can stay." The largest collection ever made in that church was taken. And now the question under discussion is whether the size of the collection was a compliment to the preacher or much the reverse.—Louisville Westem Recorder. We met a retired landlord from Hurley on »no tram to Alpena the other flay, lie was a handsome young fellow of Irish birth and was dressed in purple and fine linen. He also wore a high silk hat, with a broad band on it, and his golden hair seemed to have caught the gleam of a dying day in October. He was just the kind of man to make a low, dirty, drunken, imported murderer mad, he looked so cool and clean and sweet. "Goen ter buy caliker fur maw 'n Souri, 'n galluses fur paw, 'n terbaoker fur you uns, 'n a squirrel gun fur me." The young lady laughed and went into the house. As the words, "Go, and God bless you!" rang again in memory the soldier touched the tlanks of his horse lightly with his great brass spurs and began to descend the mountain. Mark began to be interested. It was now evident to him that this person ensconced behind a snake fence, holding him under cover of a gun, was a friend instead of an enemy. "Sonri," said Mark meditatively, "do you know that since I met you I thave When he came to the squirrel gun his little eyes glistened under the rim of his hat. "Mamma, there's a young countryman and his little brother out on the gallery. They want some supper and a bod for the night." in every nation The timbre post, nniversel could be inserted in any letter which required an answer ii#(l would effect a most profitable revolution hi commercial and other correspondence. JSoue of the successive postal congresses has yet ventured to deal practically with the subject, as they have been too conscious of the financial difficulties in several states where the post is profitable. It is hoped, however, that the perseverance of the bureau of the union des postes m Berne will in time iind a way to smooth the difficultiesvand secure the accomplishment of this much needed international blessing.—Pall Mall Gaiette. "Doen a job o' thinken?" "You've hit it exactly." "What 'bout?' been"  An hour later he the little town of Jasper. Riding up to the tavern he reined in his horse and let him drink at the rough wooden trough in front. A number of country people were sitting on the veranda, and every one fixed his eyes on the soldier, who sat on his borse looking alxjut him with as much apparent indifference as if he were within the Union lines. When the animal had drunk his fill his rider cast the reins to a negro and dismounted. Then, detaching his carbine from where he had hooked it to his saddle, he took it in his hand and tramped into the house to the jingle of his spurs. "By George!" exclaimed Mark, laughing. "You onght to be 'Old Pap's* chief scout ins teal of me." An elderly lady, with two white puff curia on either side of her face, looked up from a book she was reading. Her appearance was dignified and refined. "I kem out hyar to tell y' 'bout it." "Then let me see you as well as hear "Well?" "I've been thinking that you'rp nobody's fool" "La sakes!" said Souri, raising her hands as she met him passing between the cabins, thus arrayed for secret service." '8 thet what y' air?" "I am just now." "Gollvl" The girl laughed, or rather chuckled. She enjoyed the compliment and was too unsophisticated to pretend that she did not. They soon struck a dirt road leading directly south, which they followed till they came to the Sequatchie river, striking a ford at the same time. Souiii led the way into the ford, Mark following. Her pony was used to such crossings, this one in particular, while Mark's horse preferred to feel his way slowly; consequently Souri reached the opposite bank before Mark had got half way over. It was now night, but it was clear and a half moon castits faint light upon the land and the river. Mark suddenly IgjjJwd up fraajilutxaJsrwtd fcteqri "The young man looks quite like a gentleman, if he is a countryman," added the daughter. Ho had been at Hurley running a hotel. Ho had worn a white vest one day last summer to market, also a tall hat. He did not get his marketing, but ho got a wealth of tobacco juice on his white vest, and his hat was found on the roof of the opera house after ten daya had sped on winged winirs. Hurley has seven or eight opera houses which are open every day in the year. The audiences are entirely men folks, and opera glasses are not called for. The Sabbath is set aside as a day for recovering from the Saturday night debauch, but the recovery also requires Monday, and even Tuesday forenoon. The Hurley jag has a worldwide reputation and speaks for itself. Making Sure. yon." Two tourists from Pittsburg were parting in Paris one day last summer. A figure with a gun climbed over the fence and advanced toward the soldier. When it came near enough Mark saw a girl who might be anywhere between sixteen and eighteen, for her skirt only reached to the tops of her shoes, and her hair wa« cut square around her neck. She came very near to him and spoke in a low tone: As Mark entered the room where he had left Mrs. Slack and Jakey their eyes stood out wonderingly. Jakey's admiration for the soldier in uniform had been great, but one who could suddenly transform himself was an object of curiosity. Mr. Slack followed Mark into the room. CHAPTER m. "You must be sure to write to me when I get to Heidelberg—poste restante,"' said one. Mark and Jakey trudged on. They met no one on the way, but at one part of the road running through a thick wood they saw a light in the distance to the right in the thickest part. They halted for a moment and then advanced cautiously. Coming to a place where they could get a view of what the light Tevealed, they saw several men in "butternut," whose horses were picketed nearby, lying around the embers of afire. A CONFEDERATE norREHOIJfc "We must be very cautious, Laura; you know how we are situated; your father and brother away and no man in the house, we can't let strangers sleep here. But they may have something to eat, and perhaps it might do to let them sleep in the barn if they look right." • "Oh, I'll be sure to," replied the other. "Is poste restante the principal hotel all Heidelberg?"—Pittsburg Chronicle. Nu New England Man 111 t)i« Cabinet* "Now how about the road?" asked Mark. Attention is called to the f.ict that the present is the first time for haif a century that New England has not hwl a representative in the cabinet, excepting only about five weeks under President Polk and during the summer of 1874, between the resignation of Secretary Richardson and the appointment of Postmaster General Jewell by General Urant,—Charleston News and Courfer.  raise Hopes. "After y' left the tavern some on 'em 'lowed y' was Union, and some on 'em 'lowed y' was Confederate; leastaways, they wasn't sartin. Uncle, he's bad secesh, and he 'lowed y' was Union and bound on some errant fur the Yankees. So pwrasdtf KVfdji Caa "Whar?" "Where shall they have their supper?" "Have it put on the hall table down stairs." "Do you enjoy a nice bird?" asked thfl obtuse young man as they came cut of the theater. Not a word was spoken by those watching in admiration the strapping young fellow with 60 young a face set on so stalwart a frame. He paid no attention to them, but walked into the dining room tnd called fa® euDixsr. Aitw devotuw "To Chattanooga." y— "Waal, y' moughtgo right up the foad in front 'n the house fur 'bout a/mile. Then y'll come ter a road leaden sort o' southeast like. Ef y' go down this ar itll take y' ter tb' Ohattenoqgy "Yes," replied the gill with an appetite."Guerrillas," quoth Mark. The daughter paused a moment and thought. Not caring to disturb these villains, w&o trad bo xoote reepBCt for Cbnffcd* "Well, I'll introduce you to my aunt. She has some lovely canaries."—Waah« ingtonStar, . '. i "Do you know, mamma, I can't exfeel satisfied to cut tbe elder Social matinees arq held in the morn-