Pittston Gazette

              Siteklliktd 18S O. I VOL. L No. fc I Oldest Newspaper in the Wvomine Vallev PiTTSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY, PA., FRIDAY, 1899 J Sl.OO a Year ; Id AdnuiM. A Weekly Local and Family Journal. | Vhe !Pearl | By 15 for their owners. A couple of weeks' neglect will make any brass work look unyachtlike and a little withholding of the paint brnsh soon uiakes all small traders wonderfully kin. for a long time Uarnrortn naa Deen snaffling diligently. "I'm sure I smell something," he saiiat last "It's there," said Kettle. "Have yon ever been in a north country Norwegian port, sir?" crew aii quarters, omcers wnu swuiua on and everything cleared for action. The Japanese flag ran np to her peak. Promptly an English Royal Yacht clnb bnrgee broke ont at the poacher's main trnck, and a British bine ensign rnn ap to her poopstaff and dipped three times in salate. Carnforth came up on to the bridge. "Now, sir," said Kettle, "yon mast do the talking. I gaess it's got to be lies, and lying's a thing I can't da" "What shall I say?" "Say what's needed," replied Kettle concisely, "and don't say it wrong. Remember, sir, you're lying for your big degree and made a lizzie of after life. You got plowed and became a commercial success. So. you see, we've little enough in common, and, besides, I was here first, and I resent your coming."and Captain Kettle found themselves waked by three men who carried marlin repeating rifles, and were quite ready to use them if pressed. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.! CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. LESSON X, THIRD QUARTER, INTER- Tople for the Week Beginning Sept* Bnt the little sailor was not easily cowed. "By James I" he cried. "This is piracy I" NATIONAL SERIES, SEPT. 3. 3—Comment by Re*. S. H. Doyle. ' Tone.—Holding up the pastor'a hands. What' emu we do to help our pastor f—Ex. xvii, 1-18. Rechristening, of course, is but a clumsy device and one which is (the gentle novelist nothwithstanding) most seldom used. A ship at her birth iB given a name and endowed with-a passport in the shape of "papers.' Without her papers she cannot enter a civilized port. She could not "clear" at any custom house, and to attempt doing so would be a blatant confession of "something wrong." l3o, when the paint brushes went round and the oauie Vestries on counter, boats and life buoys was exchanged for Governor Ls C. Walthrop (which seemed to carry i slight American flavor), a half sigh went up from some of the ship's company and a queer little thrill went through the rest, according to their temperaments. They were making themselves sea pariahs from that moment onward until they should deem fit to discard the alias. "By Jove, yes, skipper! It's just the same. Decaying fish." "Oh, rnbbisb. man I Come below and have a cocktail." Text of the Leaaon, Ea. 111, lO, to It, 5—Memory Veraea, 10, 11—Golden Text, I Cor. Ill, IT — Commentary Prepared by tbe Rev. D. M. Stearns. Every pastor seeds tbe help of bis people. Bis bands, like those of Moses, become weary and heavy and need to be beld np by the Aarons and Burs., Every pastor deeerves tbe help of bis people. Dnty demands of tbem that they shall support him in all his labors. They have covenanted with God and with Him that they will hold np Bis hands. And the wonder is that. In the face of these solemn o many can, often for the lightest . jason, tnrn against their pastors, and, instead of helping tbem, hinder them in every conceivable way. Those wbo do so in-! enr the condemnation of God, for Be has said, "Tooch not Mine anointed and do My prophets no barm." The, first step in doing onr dnty toward our pastor ft to realize that we owe it- to God and to bim to bold np bis hands. 1. We can help onr pastor by prayer. Tbe elevation of Moses' hand with tbe rod in It was an appeal to God for aidand most have been accompanied byfervent prayer and have ev£i symbolized prayer. When Aaron and Bur assisted Moses in holding up the rod, they joined with him in prayer. Bow many pastors would be blessed and helped in their arduous toil if constantly beld np to God in prayer by their people! "You are always remembered in our family prayefiB," said a lady to her pastor, and he went from that home having received a benediction and an, uplift * 7r "There's no other stench like it on this eartb. You know what it means here?" "Thanks, no. I prefer not to be under tbe tie of bread and salt with—er— trade rivals." He dropped his eyeglass and walked to tbe head of the accommodation ladder. "Look here, Master Carnforth," be said, "I'll give yon a nseful tip Clear out." Then be went down into his whaleboat, and the brown men pulled him back to the lagger. "It'll be a fnneral," said the man with the eyeglass, "if you don't bring your hand ont frcm under that pillow, and bring it out empty. Now, don't risk it, skipper. I'm a good snapshot myself, and this is only a two ponnd trigger." CUTCLIFFE HYNE. "I suppose some other fellows are in the lagoon before ns, and they're rotting ont shell." [Copyright, 189#, by D. M. Stearns.] [COPYRIGHT, 1899,BY C. J. CUTCLIFFE HYNE] 10. "And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise the Lordjttfter the ordinance of David, king of Israel.'' That God should dwell In the midst of Israel was His purpose from the first, and so He said to Moses concerning the tabernacle, "Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Ex. xxv, 8), and when the tabernacle was finished He filled it with His glory, as He did also the temple (Ex. xl, 83, 8*; I Kings viil, 10, 11). He would fill the church with His glory now if she was wholly given up to Him, and so He would every individual believer, and He would be glorified in us if we were willing. 11. "And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid." In each of the 36 verses of the one hundred and thirty-sixth psalm the refrain is, "For His mercy endureth forever," and the first verse is, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for "He is good." It is probable that this was one of the songs they sang. We would do well to make at least the first verse our daily song. God is good and God is love In all that He does. Righteous also is He In all His ways, and it becometh us ever to praise Him. Tbe foundation of the house of the Lord makes us think of the silver sockets on which the boards of the tabernacle stood, the silver being the ransom money which the numbered ones paid as an atonement for their souls (Ex. xxx, IS, 18; xxxvlli, 25-27). "That's it," said Kettle, "and we're going to have our work cnt out to get Captain Kettle did not chuck his life away uselessly. He let go his revolver and drew out his nand. "Weil," be said "what are you grimy pirates going to do next ? By the look of yon you've come here to steal our soap and hairbrushes." i iS ii "Uo, Mr. Carnforth," said Kettle, "it would be lying if I was to say I knew anything about pearl fishing. I've beard of it, of course. Who hasn't T And, for tbe matter of tbat, I've bad on a diving suit myself and gone down and examined a ship's bottom to see if tbe divers tbat had been sent down to look at some started plates had brongbt np a true report. But I've never done more than pass through tboee north Australian seas. Tbey tell me tbe pari fishing's done from small luggers of some 10 or 14 tons, sailing out of Thursday island." nulling. Bat it that gunboat steams back to Nagasaki, or wherever her port "Cnrse that beggar's impudence!" said Carnforth hotly. "I wonder who the dence he isf" "Maybe we'll find out," said Kettle. "I tried to catch your eye while he was speaking. If I bad my way, he'd be on board now, kept snng till we were tbrongh with our business here. He'd have been a lot safer that way." "Carnforth," sbonted the man with the eyeglass, "come in here and be told what's going to happen. 1 say, yon fellows, bring Carnforth into the skipper's room." —=■* ■ "Oh, nol" said Carnforth. "We couldn't have done the high banded like that on the little he raid. Wonder who be can be, thought Some poor beggar whose corns I trod on up at Cambridge. Well, anyway 80 years and that beard hawe completely changed him ont of memory. However, if he chooses to come ronnd and be civil h« can, and if Le doesn't I won't worry. And now, captain, pearls I The sooner we get to work the mqge chance we have of getting a cargo nnder hatches and slipping away undisturbed." Martin Carnforth came into Kettle's room sullenly enongb with his hands in his pockets. Captain Kettle himself finished lettering the last of the life buoye and pat iown his brash and shook his bead. "Now, I'll give yon the whole case packed small," said the spokesman. "A crowd of ns fonnd this place and discovered the pearls and the shell. We were all badly in want of a pile, and we took the risks and started in to get it Most of us went away with the first cargo, and only two white men were left, with a few Kanakas. Then yon came. Yon are told yon're not wanted, bnt you gently hinted at force, and were allowed to stay. Finally the rest of our crowd comes back, and it's force on the other side, and now you've got to go. If you've the sense of oysters, you'll go peacefully. There isn't enough for all of us. At any rate, we don't intend to share." Carnforth was watching him froin a Jeck chair. "Yon don't like it?" he wid. "It ta," aaid the big man. "And"— "I never did such a thing before," 3aid Kettle, "and I never beard of it being done and come to any good. We're nobodies now, and it's everybody's business to meddle with a no body. If you're a somebody, only the proper people can interfere." "Well, sir, you'd better get another captain. I'm a steamer sailor by bringing up, and on a steamer I know my buaineas and can do it with any other man alive. But you'd not find me much good on a little wind jammer like a Thursday island pearler. I'm a bard up man, Mr. Carnforth, and desperately in want of a berth. I hope, too, you'll sot think it undue familiarity when I say that I like you personally. But honestly, I don't think you'd better engage me as your skipper for this trip. Ton could get a so much better man for your money. V "Skipperhe aaid, "you're a queer mixture."a cargo. But we'll do it, Mr. Cam forth, never yon fear. I suppose there'll be trouble, but that'll have to be got over. We've not come all this way to go back with empty bold*." "1 didn't know about the steamer," said Kettle. is, and brings out a whole blessed navy at her heels we may find the contract outside our size. Of course if you are going to fit out a real big steamboat with a gun or two and a hundred men"— "Rigbt-o," said Captain Kettle. "They've got the other two sand banks, and by the smell they're doing a roaring business. We'll bag this empty one near ns and set about fishing this very hour and plant our shell to rot there. It'll smell a bit different to a roae garden. Mr. Carnforth. but it'll be a ■igbt more valuable." "I can't help it," said Carnforth. "The Vestris is well known at home, and I'm well known too, und we've just got to see this business through one way or the other under purser's names. She's the Governor L. C. Walthrop, and I'm Mr. Martin, and you can be what you like." Carnforth looked at the little man slyly. Here was a very different Captain Kettle from the fellow who bad been mending the white drill coat half a dozen hours before. He was rubbing his hands, bis eye was bright, his whole frame had stiffened. He was whistling a jaunty tune and was staring keenly out at the phosphorescent blaze of the breakers, as though he could see what was behind them and waa planning to overcome all obstacles. An hour before Martin Carnforth had been cursing the tedium of his expedition. A little chill went through him now. Before many more hours were past be had a strong notion he would be scared at its liveliness. He had seen Captain Kettle'a methods before when things went contrary to his plans and wishes. 2. We can help our pastor by speaking well and never ill of him. Araon helped Moses here, bnt how he hindered him when, with Miriam, he spoke ill of him I What we say of oar pastor haa a greater influence upon his life work than we ever imagine. If people speak well of their pastor, they help them; if ill, they hinder and harass them. Commendation is better than criticism.! Very often criticism of the pastor is thoughtless and meaningless, bat it is ' no less injurious in its effects. 8. We can help our pastor by following his leadership. He is called and installed to lead us, and yet, wonderful to tell, in many cases he is no sooner settled than the people want to lead him rather than to be led by him. Thi& is inconsistent, dishonorable. It is also an-8criptural. The Bible demttadlLjttF is that we shall obey those who have .. jr -IS Carnforth laughed. "Wait a bit," said he. "Yon're going ahead too fast. There's no question of fighting a whole navy. In fact, we mustn't fight at all if there's any means of wriggling out of it. I believe fighting would amount to piracy, and piracy's too lively even for my tastes. Besides, if we got very noisy we'd have some cruiser of the British China squadron poking her ugly nose in, and that's a thing we couldn't afford to risk at any price." "Look here," said Carnforth hotly. "This is all nonsense. We've got as much right here as you." A last despairing hail came over the waters. 18. '' But rainy of the prleeta and Lerites and chief of the fathers, who wen anoient men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voioe, and many shouted aloud for Joy." In Hag. 11, 3, it is said that this seemed as nothing in comparison with the first house. The old people, looking back and thinking of the past glory, wept as they remembered that which had Men, while the younger people probably rejoiced in anticipation of a temple for the glory of God Ezekiel had said that Ood would do better unto them than at their beginnings Sxek. xxxvi, 11), and it may have been th in Qod that led to the shouting aloud for joy. "I'll still nee my own name, sir. I've carried it a good many years now, through most kinds of weather, and it's had so many stones thrown at it that a few more won't hurt. If we get through with this little game, all right; if we get interrupted I guess the only thing left will be to attend our own funerals. I'm not going to taste the inside of a Japanese jail at any price." Then began a period of frantic toC and labor. Every man on board waa "on shares," for it had pleased Carnforth's whim to use this old buccaneer's incentive. Half of the profits went ttD the ship and the rest to the crew. Each man bad so many shares, according to bis rating. Carnforth himself, in addition to his earnings as owner, earned nlso as an ordinary seaman and sweated and strained like any of the hands. From an hour before daybreak to aD hour after snnset be waa away in the boats under the dews of morn and eve or the blazing torrent of midday sunshine. Every night he tumbled into hie bed place dog tired and exnlting in his tiredness. Every morning he woke eager again for the fierce toil He was unshaven, sunburned, blood smeared from the scratches of the shell, filthy with rank sea mud. But withal he was entirely happy. liberty. It's neck or nothing. She's got two big guns trained on us, and a shot from either would send us to Jones before we could get in a smack in return."Carnforth langhed. "My dear Kettle." be said. "I don't think I ever came across a fellow with leas real notion of looking after his own intereat Aa yon are avpre, I know your peculiar qualifications pretty thoroughly. I'm aa eminently practical business man. I offer yon a handsome salary with both eyes open, and yet you refuse because you are afraid of robbing me of my money." "Right I" said the pearler. "Right haCWt)etter not enter into the question. We're all a blooming lot of poachers if it comes to that. You know that, Mr. Martin, or Carnforth, or whatever you choose to call yourself for the time being. You came here under a purser's name, your yacht is guyed out like a Mediterranean tunny fisher, and I guess you look upon the thing much as yon did bagging knockers and brass doorplates in the old days at Cambridge. Half the fun's in dodging the bobby. "What ship's that?" came the hail in perfect English. "Steam yacht Vestris, Lord Martin, owner." said Carnforth, who knew the value of titles on the foreigners. "I am Lord Martin." - it?" "Then bow are you going to manage "What we must hope for is to be left undisturbed- There's every chance of it The reef is out of all the steam lanes and circle tracks, and the Jap's gunboat patrol is not very close. In fact, the place has only been newly charted. It was found quite by accident by the skipper of a sea sealing schooner, and he missed the plnra because be happened to have been a brute to one of hie hands." "What are yon doing in here?" "Been watching those poachers." "Mr. Carnforth," said the little aailor stiffly, "I have my own ideas of what's right. You have seen me at sea using violence and ugly words. But yon will kindly remember that I was in service of an employer then and was earning his pay by driving his crew. It's another thing now. We are ashore here, and I would have you know that aabore I am a strict chapel member, with a high pressure conscience and a aoal that requires careful looking after. I could never forgive myself if I thought I was taking your pay withont earning it thoroughly." "I never saw such a fellow as you for looking at tbe gloomy side of things," said Carnforth irritably. Slowly the night dragged through, and by degrees the blackness thinned. The eastern waters grew gray, and the •ky above tbem changed to dull sulphur yellow. Then a coal of crimson fire burned out on the horizon and grew quickly to a great half dish of scarlet, and then the rest of the sun was shot np, as an orange pip is slipped from the fingers, and it was brilliant, staring, tropical day. "Heave to and explain." "It's tbe gloomy side that's mostly "I shall do nothing of the sort, and if you dare to fire on me I will bring the British fleet about your ears." 13. "So that the people oould not discern the noise of the shout of Jay from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." There was much noise, and it was heard at a great distance, but it was very oonfused. Missionaries have gone into all lands, but there is often a confused testimony just as it is in what we call the home There Is a great need of a clear, Joyful testimony that Christ died for our sins; that He Is risen from the dead and alive forever more, ready to receive all who will oome to Him, and that He is ooming again to reign In righteousness and subdue all things unto Himself. come my way, sir." "Now, we're here on bueiness. Yes, Carnforth, solid all the way. We're all of ns poor men, and we've been all of us what we call 'on the beach' for more years than we like to count, and we want to wriggle out of the curse of poverty once and for all." "I wish to goodness I'd never been idiot enough to come out here on this harebrained scheme." The Japanese spokesman gasped and consulted with a superior, and the steamers drew abreast. inthority over us in spiritual things. It is also detrimental to the cause of Christ's chnrch. Success demands leaders, and nnless the leaders are followed confusion, disorder, disaster, are the inevitable result He had been her pastor for years. Bnt in all those years she had never said a word of commendation or of appreciation to him, bat now he was going to leave, and she came with many expressions of appreciation and regard. Well and good, bnt how mnch better if the helpful words had been spoken in the midst of the years of toil and labor. It was like placing flowers upon the grave of one to whom we had never spoken a kind word in life. Yet bow many are like this Christian woman. A kind word is often like a soothing balm to the wearied heart of an earnest, hard working pastor. "Why," said Kettle in surprise, "you've got tbe remedy to your hand. Yon give your orders, Mr. Carnforth, and I'll 'bout ship this minute and take you home." "Yon must heave to." "But I thought you said this reef was out of all ship tracks T" "1 shall do nothing of the kind." "You're taking the wrong sort of tone, "said Carnforth. "I'm not used to being hectored at like this." "Then you should put up a notice to say so. I shall report this to my admiralty in London." "But you are in forbidden waters." "Don't hustle me. The schooner had been sealing off tbe Commander islands. She was coming home and got into heavy weather. She was blown away three days by a gale and picked up the surf of this reef one morning at daybreak, ran down into the lee and lay there till the breeze was over. Tbe reef wasn't charted, and the skipper, who was 'on tbe make,' wondered bow he could gather dividends out of it In tbe off sealing season be was in tbe Thursday island trade, and his thoughts naturally ran upon pearls and shell. He'd a diving suit on board, and be rowed into the lagoon, made one of his crew put on tbe suit and &nt him down. "And don't you want to go through with it, skipper?" For full an hour the yacht had been under weigh at half steam, with lead going, circling round the noisy reefs. Tbe place was alive with the shout of breakers and tbe scream of sea fowl. Inside, beyond tbe hedge of spouting waters, were three small turtle backs of sand and a lugger at anchor. Kettle toiled with equal vigor, working violently himself and violently exhorting tbe others. Neither his arms nor bia tongue ever tired. But be waa always neat, seldom unclean. Dirt seemed to have an antipathy for the man, and, against hia disheveled owner, he looked like a park dandy beside a ragpicker. "I can believe it," said the pearler dryly. "You are a successful man." "I don't see my tastea need be mentioned," said tbe sailor stiffly. "You are my owner, sir. I'm here to do as I'm bid." "Go it," said Kettle, sotto voice. "For blooming cheek give me an M. P." "If you'll let me get a word in edgeways, " said tbe other irritably, "and not be so beastly cocksure that you can rob me—which yon could no more do than fly—perhaps you'd understand what I'm offering and not sneeze at a good chance. The lugger is your own invention, and so is tbe idea that I'm merely going pearl fishing in the ordinary way. My notion ia to go pearl poaching, which ia a very different matter; to get rich quick and take tbe riaka and get over them, and to go at tbe boaiaeaa in a steamer with a strong enough crew to—er—do what's needful.""And let me tell you this: You've got the upper hand for the present, I admit. You may even force ns out of tbe lagoon. But what then? I guess tbe account would not be closed, and when a man chooses to make me his enemy I always see that he gets payment in full sooner or later." "But you must stop," said tbe Japanese, "or I shail be compelled to fire." 1. "Mow when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple onto the Lord God of Israel." The great adversary, the devil, la ever going about aa a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (I Pet v, 8), and he has had long practloe, for he has been at It ever ainoe he began In Eden to tempt Eve, bnt our Lord Jesus has taught us that he may be overcome by the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. In Rev. xll, 11, we read of some who overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and who loved not their lives unto the death. 2. "Then they came to Zerubbabel and to the ohief of the fathers and said unto them, Let us build with you, for we seek your God as ye do, and we do sacrlfloe unto Him since the days of Esar-haddon, king of Assur, which brought us up hither." This king is mentioned by name in II Kings six, 37, and the people are mentioned In II Kings xvll, 84. As to their worship, it Is aaid that they feared not the Lord, but they had a kind of fear they still worshiped their own gods (II Kings xvll, 83, 84, 41). They talked fairly, and their request sounded well, but their hearts were not right with God. They were the adversaries of God and of His people. Cain worshiped God in his own way, but he was really an adversary of God and of his brother, who worshiped God in truth. "Captain Owen Kettle," said the other, with a laugh that bad got some sour earnest at tbe back of it. "you're a cantankerous little beggar. I sailed with you before and found the most delightful of shipmates. 1 sail with you now, and you keep me always at boathook's length away ftom you. Be hanged if 1 see what I've done to stiffen _ __ »• you. "You can do as you please," said Carnforth. "I shall report to your commander in chief at Nagasaki. I never came across such insolence. You heard my name, Lord Martin. You'll hear more of it before long." The wuter outside was clear as bottle green glass and of enormous depth. Tbe only entrance to tbe lagoon waa • Barrow canal between tbe reefs, shown up vividly by tbe gap in the ring of creaming surf. It was not likely that any one from tbe lugger would lend a hand for pilotage—or be trusted if they offered. So Kettle steamed tbe yacht to some balf mile off tbe entrance, called away tbe whaleboat and went off in her himself, with a crew and a couple of leadsmen, to eurvey the channel. He did it with all deliberation, returned, took his perch on the fore crosstrees, where be could see tbe coral floor through tbe clear water beneath, and conned the yacht in himself. Camforth leaned over the bridge end and watched. At tbe other aide of the lagoon tbe white man from Cambridge and a white friend and their crew of ten Kanakaa worked witb similar industry. Tbe ring of tbe lagoon waa some balf mile in diameter, witb lanes of deep water running through its floor where divers could not work. There waa no clashing of tbe two parties. One of these water lanes seemed to set oat a natural boundary, and neither transgressed it On each submarine territory there was enough shell to work on for the preeent and each party toiled witb tbe same frantic energy, and Bpread out the shell on the sun baked aand banks and poisoned heaven with tbe scent of decay. But there waa no further intercourse between the two bodies of men, nor indeed sny attempt at it. How tbe othera were doing the yacht'a party neither knew nor cared. "All right," said the man with the eyeglass. "Pay away. Don't mind us." "A hint at one of the Japaneee ports as to what was going on would upset your little game." Steam was rising in tbe gauges, and tbe yacht was getting into her stride of 12 knots She sped out through the passage and rolled in the trough of tbe glistening swells beyond. Tbe crew of tbe warship stood to their guns, but tbe officers were in a dilemma. These pestilential Britishers always did make such a row if any of their vessels were fired on, and this apparently was a yacht, though grotesquely unkempt and tricked out witb a black and white funnel, and, moreover, she was owned by a peer of the realm. 22; a.—I Kings : , 21, 23; PB : i t 4 a _ "Sir," said Kettle, "on the Saltan of Borneo yon were my guest. On this yacht yon are my owner. There's all the difference in the world." "Not being fools," said the pearler coolly, "of course we've thought of that We've"— 15; 4 n n "Now observe the result," said Carnforth, with sly relish, "of being too severe on one's hands. This sailor, who was sent down in the diving suit had been having a dog's time of it on the sealing schooner, and when be got on the floor of the lagoon and saw the place round him literally packed with shell that had never been tonched by human fingers be made up his mind that the time had come to repay old scores. So, when be came up out of the water again, he said sulkily enough that there was nothing below bat seaweed and mud, and the beat rowed back out of the lagoon, and the schooner let draw her forestaysail sheet and ran away on her course. The skipper reported the new reef, and in due course it got on the charts, and tbe sailor kept on holding bis tongue till be could find a market for bis information. He didn't find one at once He had to wait tyo years, in fact, and then be found me. I guess that skipper would be eaaier on bis hands in fntnre if be only knew what he'd lost, eh. Kettle T" "Piracy," suggested Kettle gloomily. 25; I Tin. v, 17, 18; Heb. x, 2 xiii, 7, 17, 18; Jan. 1, 22; Rev. i, ■*:r. * "Piracy be banged. The Japs have annexed certain pearling islands and have declared tbem closed. At the outaide we should be only guilty of poaching, and that'a a tolerably mild offense and one I want to see both sides of. I've got pheasant covers here in England which are poached. It amuses me to chase tbe poachers, and occasionally I catch tbem, and when I do I go for them hot and heavy. So I know tbe joys of tbe game preserver, you see, and I want to taste tbe excitement— and the profits—of the poacher." "Ton wish to point out, I suppose, that a shipmaster looks upon an owner as his natural enemy, as he does the board of trade. Still 1 don't think I personally have deserved that" A hail came down tbe saloon skylight ontside from tbe deck above: "Scoot, boys, scoot I Tbe Philistines be upon ns!" Tke Novel and the Falflt. We should think that a minister whoee chief aim was to preach the gospel might be trusted to make use of whatever material would farther that end. More and more the story appears to be the form of discourse which appeals to the multitude and which is often the vehicle of trnths that wonld never otherwise be grasped. No man of sense would devote 60, or even 25, Sunday evenings dnring the year to sermons of this character, bnt an occasional sympathetic discussion of a story of the first order by a minister well versed in general literature and skillful in discerning its relations to life is as legitimate and may be as fruitful as expository or doctrinal or any other kind of preaching.—Congregational ist. "What's that?" shouted the man with tbe eyeglass. "I am as I have been made, sir, and, I suppose, I can't help it" "Well, it's one of those blasted Jap gunboats, if yon want to know. Hurry, and we shall just get off. We'll leave these fools to pay the bilL" "You are a man with some wonderfully developed weaknesses. However, as to going back, I'm not going to stultify myself by doing that now. We'll see tbe thing throngh now whatever happens." A last despairing bail came over tbe waters, "Are you noble?" The coral floor, with its wondrous growths, came tip toward him out of the deep water. The yacht rolled into the pass on the backa of the great ocean swells, and the reef ends on either aide boomed like a salute of heavy guns. The white froth of the snrgea spewed np against her sides, and the spindrift pattered in showers npon her deck planks. The stench of the place grew stronger every minute. "Yea. Haven't I told youT Lord Martin. Ton'll know it better when yon're next in port" "Hnmph 1" said the pearler. "Well, thia settles the matter another way. 1 mnst go, and. I suppose, you'll try to hook it too. Tata, skipper! You're a good aort. I like yon. B/'by, Carnforth I Can't recommend the Jap jails. Hope yon get canght, and that'll square up for yonr giving me a bad time at Cambridge."In a nicer life the smells of the place wonld have offended them monstrously. Here they were a matter for congratulation. The more the putrefaction the more the profit They ripped the ahells from the sea and spread them npon the beaches. The roasting ann beat npon the spread ont shellfish and melted away their aoft tissues in horrible decay. The value was all a gamble. There might be merely ao much mother of pearl for inlay work, or a aeed pearl, such aa the Chinese grind up for medicine, or larger pearls of any size and color and abape, from the humble opalescent sphere, worth its meager half a crown, to the black pearl, worth its score of pounds, or the great pear shaped pink pearl, worth a prince's ransom. It was all a gamble, but none the leaa fascinating for that Carnforth was mad over the work. Kettle, with all his nonchalance gone, waa nearly as bad. And that was the last word. The gunboat turned and steamed out after tbem, but her turning circle was large and her speed slow. By midday she was hull down astern. By evening her mast trucks were ont of sight Hartin Carnfortb nodded cartly and got up and walked the deck. He was conscious of fine sense of disappointment and disillusionment He had started off on this expedition filled with a warm glow of romance. He bad been grubbing along at distasteful business pursuits for tbe larger part of bia life, and adventure, as looked at from the outside, bad always lured bim strongly. Once in Kettle's company he had tasted. °f the realities of adventure among Cuban revolutionists, had got back safely and settled down to business again for a time, and then once more had grown restless. Bat be had the virus of adventure in bis blood, and be was beginning to learn that it was a cumulative poison. So, once more he bad started off, but this time be was being chilled from the outside. Properly treated, the prospects of the trip would have been rosy enough. Handled by Captain Owen Kettle, the Whole affair was made to assume the pspect of a commercial speculation of more than doubtful sanity, and as he walked he cursed Kettle from his inmost heart for bringing him to earth and keeping him there among sordid considerations. "And yon're a rich man," said Kettle, "with a fine position in the country and a seat in parliament. Some people never do know when they're well off." 8. "Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God, but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord Ood of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, hath commanded us." Although this seemed unkind, it was not so, but was on the part bf Zerubbabel and Joshua real faithfulness to Qod. A great difficulty and disgrace and dishonor to Ood in the church today is her oonformlty to the world and the way In which she seeks the favor of the enemies of God in what she oalls the Lord's work. Because she is in partnership with Sodom she cannot know the blessing of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. He followed the others out on deck, and a moment later their whaleboat was pulling hard for where the luggers rode lazily at their anchors. Carnforth and Kettle went after him, and the engineers and the yacht's crew, who had been held down in the forcastle at rifle's muzzle, came on deck also. Carnforth strutted the deck complacently. "Rather a gorgeous bluff, eh, skipper?" he said at last. "Some people don't" said Camforth, "and you're another of them, skipper. For myself, I do a mad thing now and again because—oh, because I like the excitement and flurry of it But you I Ton go and refuse a profitable billet that would fit yon down to tbe boots merely for the sake of a whim. A quarter of an hoar ago yon told me yon were practically destitute —er—on tbe streets your own word were, and here yon are chucking np • certain £20 a month, and a possible £#0, when it'f ready to yonr band." "I didn't know about tbe steamer," said Kettle, "and that'a a fact" Then she shot tbrongh into a mirror of still, Bmooth water, slowed to half speed, and. with hand lead going diligenly, steamed up to an anchorage in 16 fathoms off one of the sandy islets. A white whaleboat put off from the lugger, rowed by three Kanakas, and by the time the yacht's cable was bitted a man from her bad stepped up the accommodation ladder and waa looking abont bim on deck. "Yon're the only man on this ship that could have done it." said Kettle admiringly. "It takes a parliamentary education to lie like that" Faith ia better than doubt, and confidence better than questioning. It is better to be a sunny Christian, rejoicing, songful, happy, than a sad, gloomy, despondent Chrietian. It makes oue's own life sweeter and more beautiful, j Then it makes others happier. Agloomy Christian casts dark shadows wherever he goes. A sunny Christian ia a benediction to every life be touches. —Friendships of Jesus. A Sunny C The sailor frowned. "A shipmaster, sir, has to get the full amount of work out of bis bands or he's neglecting his duty. I can picture that schooner, Mr. Carnfortb, and I can picture her old man bearing what he's missed and still carrying on the driving game The thinga we have to ship as sailors are beasts, and you have to treat tbem as such, and it you can show me a master wbo'a popular in tbe forecastle I can show you a man who'* letting bie bands shirk work and not earning his owper's pay." "3'fnl" said Carnfortb- "I've seen yon handle a crew, and I know your theories and little ways, and I know also that you're far too obstinate an animal to Cengs' your opinions in a hurry. Live a pretty strong will myself, and so I can sympathise with yon. However, we'll let that matter of ethics slide for the present find go into tbe question of wsys and means." And on tbe dry detail of this tbey talked till far into the night. Again the silence grew between them, and then Carnforth said musingly, "I wonder who that Cambridge man was!" It did not require any pressing to get the engine room staff to their work. The boilers were cold, but never were fires lit quicker. Paraffin, wood, small coal, grease, anything that would burn waa coaxed into the furnace doors. The cold gaugea began to quiver; but, as every man on board well knew, no hnman means could get a working steam pressure under half an hour. "He seemed to hate you pretty tenderly."He was a biggish man in striped pyjamas, barefooted, roughly bearded and wearing a crumpled pith helmet well down on the back of bis head. His face was bnrned to a fine dark mahogany color by the sun. and dangling over hjs chest at the end of a piece o! fine sinnet was a gold rimmed eyeglass, which glittered like a diamond when it caught the sun. He touched bis helmet to Kettle. "You've brought a fine day with you, captain," said be. 4. " Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building." People can say and do very hard and cruel and wioked things when satan gets control of them, and the most wicked and cutting and killing things are not always said by the ungodly, but by those who profess to be the Lord'8 people and perhaps are. I have known those who have been much used of God allow themselves to be used of the devil to try and hinder the Lord's work by misjudging, and saying unkind and untrue things of the Lord's servants. Our Lord has told us that we shall have tribulation and shall suffer persecution, and He has said, "Woe unto you when all wen shall speak well of yon." "He did that I suppose I must have played some practical joke on him. Well, I know I used to be up to all sorts of jokes in those days, skipper, but that's long enough ago now, and all that sort of foolishness is papt." But the proceea of realizing their wealth waa none too fast and, in fact, seemed to tbem tedious beyond words. "Well, I'm telling you now, captain, and if you don't take charge at ber upper bridge it will be /our own fault Why, man, there Isn't a job between bore and N«w Jerusalem that would suit yon better, and, besides, I'm keen to go there myself, and you ar» tbe one man in tbe world I want to have M a shipmate, and 1 aak you to come as a personal favor. All Tklisi New. Having the mind of Christ, let the days find you bearing one another's burdens or filling the hours as they pass with a beautiful service, which shall be as gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh laid again at the feet of Him who came to cover our sins with forgiveness andi to make all things new.—L Mench. Chambers. Still at last came the first moment of realization. They bad toiled a month, and they had collected that day the fruitB of their first day'a labor. The mother of pearl shell waa packed in the hold. The little crop of pearls stood in a basin on the cabin table, and they gloated over tbem as they supped. On deck the crew had run the boats up to davits, had hove short by band and then stood like men on the drop, waiting their fate. The luggers bad mastheaded their yards and were beating down the lagoon against a spanking breeze. One after the other they tumbled out through the passage and swung on the outer swell, and then, with their lugs goose winged, fled like some scared sea fowl out over the blue, aun scorched waters. Captain Kettle laughed. "Have you done with pearl poaching, sir? Or are you going to have another try at it t But don't paint out the name of your ship next time. If that Jap bad had the eyes of a mole, he'd have seen the change, and he'd have taken his chances and fired. Governor L. C. Walthrop is no name for an English milord'a yacht" "Rather warm," said Kettle. have not looked at the glass this morning. J hop® H'a going tQ keep steady." The little mariner himself was seated in a deck chair under an awning  ing in the frayed sleeve of a white drill jacket His sewing tackle stood in a pictured tin biscuit box on tbe deck beside him. He ripped the old stitches with a pocket knife and renewed the sleeve with exquisite accuracy and neatness. His fierce eyes were intent on the work. To look at his nimble fingers one would think that they bad held anything more deadly than {be ordinary utensils of tailoring. Carnfortb broke off bis walk and stood for a moment beside bim. Carnforth atirred tbem lovingly with the butt of his fork. "Pretty little peas, aren't they, skipper?" "I'm sick of this smug, orderly, frock coated life here- Nature jptended p»e for a pirate, and fate bas made me # Bflcpetsfpl manpfapturer. I've tasted the wild, nnregeoerate- life pf the open air under your auspices and rubbed against men who were men, and I Want to be there again. I'm tired of fiddling among men and women wbo are merely dollar millers and drees pegs. I'm aick of what tbey call success. I'm aick of tbe whole blessed The visitor glanced round and sized up the yacht and its resources. "Ob, I should say it's likely to for the present. You've a nice little boat here and a likely looking lot of men. You'll be having ten of a crew all told, captain, eh T" S. "And hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia." So did they with Stephen and Paul and even with our Iiord Himself, and Stephen and our Lord were slain by their enemies, yet Qod was glorified in them. In the case before us the enemies were successful In causing the work to cease by force and power, but it was only for a time, for the work was resumed and the building was finished and dedicated to God with great joy (ohapter vl, 14-18). Let us never be disoouraged because of our enemies, for if God be for us who can be against us? The work may aeem to be hindered, but when Ood says, "I will work, and who shall hinder it" (Isa. xllll, 13) how can we be discouraged? The Lord will perfect that which ooncern•th us (Ps. oxxxvtil, 8), therefore we will thout for ioy.  Bcarlm Thy Helen. /V f D Come, Lord, and tarry not. "For those they amuse, though I like to aee a bit more color in a woman's ornaments myself." In Deep Mourning. Clad in somber black Bring the long looked (or day. Oh, why thsae yean of waiting her* These age* o( delay? But, though the yacht had canvas, Kettle knew that she could not beat to windward, and so dare not break bis anchor out of the ground till tbe engineers had given ber steam. There waa nothing for it but to wait with what patience they could. Surprised was I to find my friend with his wife and two fair haired daughters. Black were their hats, made blacker still with crape, "Matter of taste and matter of fashion. Pearls are all the rage jast now. Diamonds are slightly commonplace. Bat women will spend their money on something, aad so the price of pearls is up." Oome, for Thy taint* still wait; Daily ascends the righ; The Spirit and the bride say come, Doat Thou not hear their cry? • * • * Here, however, the historian may for awhile withhold bis pes. since thoee in the chipping interest can fill in the gap for themselves, while to all others these small questions of ways and means would be infinitely tedious. The yacht's voyage oat to Japanese waters pay ttio M omiiteu. xne auguau papers announced its commencement in one of the nana} formal paragraph*: "Mr. Mvtin Carnfurth, M. P. fpr the Monro division of Yorkshine, has started in his fine steam yacht, tba Yeetris, for a lengthened tonr in Chiga eeaq tq study oriental qnestttftfs on tfto spot and will probably be absent nut considerable time." "Thirteen," said Kettle. With feathers, bowl and ribbon*. Black! Black! Black! Earrings of blackest jet, with pins to match. The very latest style Finished the headgear. Shawls, basques, sacks, skirts, Finback and all, In newest fashion made, They were ready now to mourn. I said, "Why, who is dead of those you loret" For when I saw them last Plain and simply were they dressed. Becoming their station. But now calamity had come upon them. Death had cut off an aged and respectable unci*. Who, dying, left them half a million dollars. Poor had they been all their lives long, And the gift cai»e entirely unexpected, without "Humph! It's an unlucky nnmber. Well, captain, if 1 were you I wouldn't stay here too long. The weather's a bit uncertain, you know, in these seas." Oome, and begin thy reign Of everlasting peace; Oome, take the kingdom to Thyself, Great Sing of righteousness. —Uoratius Basse. The Japanese gunboat had been sighted far enough off, and, as she was coming up from the farther side of the ring of reefs, she had to circle round them before she could gain the only entrance. Moreover, her utmost paper pace was eight knots, and she happened to be foul, and so her advance was slow. But still to the watching men it seemed that she raced up like a western ocean greyhound. "So much the better for us, air. It's a pity, though, that some of them seem a bit off color, like that big gray chap, for instance." Psptain Kettle thonght of Mrs. Kettle and her children in the squalid house in 8outh Shields, with the slender income and the slim prospects, and be sighed drearily. But be did not utter thoee thoughts aloud. He said instead that he was very grateful to Mr. Carnforth for his magnificent offer, and Wpuld do his best to earn thoroughly the lavish income which was held out "We want some pearls and shell before we go." "Skipper." be said, "yon're a queer mixture. You've lived one of the raos$ exciting lives any man's ever gona through, and yet you seem to tnrn youj more peaceful moments to tailoring oj poetry {ndi$erppt]j and ppjoy thejg with guato" "I might have guessed that. Well, it's a nuisance from our point of view, becanse we thought we'd the lagoon to ourselves and intended to skim it clean ourselves, if the Jape don't interrupt. But take a tip, captain, and don't b« too greedy. If you stay too long, the glass may fall suddenly, and"— ''Gray, man I Why that's a black pearl, and probably worth any ten of the rest put together." be for ITI "Well," said Kettle, "I don't set up for being a pearl merchant Poaching them's trouble enough for me." a moment's warning. Woet woe! woe! said dress. But their faces wore the look of those' Long reconciled to such dispensations of Divin* Providence. Her First Ball Game. "Mr. Carnfortb," said the little sailor, "I guess we're all discontented animals. We alwaya like most what we get least of." "Take care, my lad," snapped Kettle. "I'm a man that accepts threats from no man living." "Pass the biscuit, will youT" said Carnforth, yawning. "I suppose that little lot is worth anything over £1,« 000"— And with that he dropped back dead asleep in his chair. with a forkful Qf food in wWWtr Kettle finished his meal: hut he, too, man ot wire though he was, suddenly tumbled forward and went to sleep, with his head on the table. It was no new thing for them to da Tbey had dropped off like this into unconsciousness more than once during that month of savage toil. Then the chief engineer called up to the bridge through the voice tube that he could give her enough s'eam for steerage way in another uiinnte. It was her first ball game, and it didn't take long for the people within a radius of 30 feet to find it out. to him. Carnforth reached out and gripped his hand. 'Tbanky, Kettle, " he said, "and, mind. I'm going to try and lng yoa into a competency over this. Yon might Just as well have given way before. I always get my own way over tbie sort at thing*. And now probably {oac2r*# Wt mOTe *b°^ "If yoa please, air." "Well. I can't quote yon latitude and longitude off band, but I'll abow yoa the wbereabonta of the place mark* ed on the chart afterward. It'a Japan way, and the Jape have chosen to claim •11 the bita of reef* thereabouts and to proclaim a sort of cloee season against ill foreign pearlers. Now the place ['ve got news of is in their area, bat so Car It baa never been fished. Jf'e enormously fjcb. and if'a absolutely virgin. Why, man, if we can pat in six months' work there undisturbed we can worth of The official log kept on board was meager and scanty, being confined to arid statements of distances ran and tbe ordinary meteorological happenings of tbe ocean, and toward the latter entries even these were skillfully fictitious. Indeed wben the veeeej peafef} tbe scene of actipn ber yellow funnel changed to black, with a crimson band, a couple of squarish yards were crossed on her foremast, ber dainty gaJhpils vanished and were replaced by serviceable trysails, and the midship bonse was soiled by tbe addition of a coat of crude white lead above tbe trimly polished peak and straddled over by a clumsy iron bridge, defended by ill fitting canvas dodgers $nd tywpings. Tfjepe was np making the expert believe, of course, that she was a mere der that bad always been a trader, to tbe nautical eye she was pnsuspieioas. Bhe looked "oi.r of those exyachts that have been bold out of tbe petticoat cruising service of Cowes and been adapted to tbe more homely needs of the mercantile marine, and in tbe Mediterranean, tbe Australian seas and CUa* waters there am mmmj ct this I lHaiatfnft jaakiMr a hnmhie faring "Dear me!" she wonderingly exclaimed after a few preliminary glances, "it's so funny! When the man runs so fast after "Well, I suppose that'a intended to sum up my character as well as your own," said Carnforth, and sat down and watched tbe sewing. "Oh, all right!" said the strangei carelessly. "Bat who have we here?" And he stuck the glass into hia eye and whistled. "Foredeck, there 1" cried Kettle. "Break out that anchor! By hand!" And the men labored with the hand gear, so as to save the precious steam. Then a thought flashed across Captain Kettle's brain, and he quickly gave it to Carnforth. "It's only a beggarly chance, sir, but we'd better try it, I suppose V "Ye* •• said Carnforth. When the Shaft Strikes Home, "Put off your woe," 1 said; "Grieve not against God'a will; The sun is shining overhead. The 4reatna are towing stilt. the ball, it seems to me that he would , keep it instead of throwing it away." The mate, 9# the yacht'* upper toidgja, nicked pp {be reef with hDq glasses that evening a couple of hourq after sqndowp. The night was velvet black, with pply 4 few stflni «bow*ng; A aullep ground swell rolled tbe aeaa into oily bills and valleys, and the reefs ahead showed themselves in a blaze of pboephorescence where tbe swell broke into thunderous surf. It seemed qq though tbe yacht wae steaming (owqrd tfc6 of some distant piarine volcano. The watch bejow were el} on deck, drawn there by curiosity, and along one bulwark tbe Vfatch og fluty were handing gejj }eafl £t came the 'wjport, tnuled la a minor key, of MNo bottom I" Captain Kettia made a formal intro duction. "My owner, sir, Mr. Martin of New York." Ten minutes' earnest conversation on the part of the young man made this rexed polut quite clear, and she was "just •ure" that she understood all about the game. "You have been stricken! Yet There's many another who Has less to love, more to forget, Oh, foolish than youl" "Humph!" gpid the visitor. "Yoti used to be Carnforth up at Cambridge didn't yon? M. Carnforth, I remem ber, and M. might possibly stand foi "The bluea are our fellows," he said. "You wuut to cheer for them, you know." The next day ttjey had a smaller crop ready to glean—a bare £500 worth, in fact. But they did pot lament. There would be an enormous quantity ready for the morrow. "If otly we hadn't painted out those names. we might have done it more safely. As It is, w« W*at risk it. Off with yon helovf. sir. and get into some $eC:ent Rothes. You'd give the whole away if you staid up on the bridge here in those filthy rags. You may be a yacht owner, sir, but, by James, yoq \ook far more like an out Of Yjqrk coal trimmer." Carnforth ran down the ladder, and Kettle gave crisp orders to the hands OP deck, who disappeared also, and presently came back dressed as spruce yachstmen—in white trousers, white {hfill lumpers and straw hats, and by that dime the yacht was underway and steaming slowly to th# pass. The junhoat waa coming in with her Oae day he came to me. "Put off your grief," he said; "The birds are singing merrily. The sun shines overhead," ♦'Why, certainly," she murmured reproachfully. "Blue Is my favorite color." Martin." And that was Just the beginning of an awful end,—Kansas City Independent. Captain Kettle smiled grimly, ant. Carnforth swore. • • Compel the nib to cease. He Saw George. "Bit of a surprise to find you pear poaching, Carnforth. I see your namC in the Australian papers now and agaii and got a notion you were something big at home. Had £ bust up*"' Stpnd earth and sea apart, then with words you may put Into a breaking heart. George Washington's body servant has not died for several years, so it is safe to assume that he has been gathered finally to his fathers. There is a man in Ohio, however, who is quite old enough to have seen the Father of his Country. His name is Nathaniel Polan. He lives at Elenor, Clermont county, and his age Is 102 years. Mr. Polan does claim that he was personally acquainted with the first president, who died when he was 2 years old. He bases his claim to distinction on the possession of a lantern which onee hung on one side of the state coach of President Washington and which was given to his father in 1788 by tU kaad that riwiwrt tk thwrD twk That further realisation * of their wealtj), never came. During the night another lugger sailed Into the lagoon and upset all their plans She was the consort of the lugger commanded by the Cambridge man, and she had taken t° a safe place their first crop of pearls and shell Further, she was manned by 14 whites, all armed, and all quite ready to defend what tbey considered their poachers' monopoly. As a consequence they polled across to the yacht soma two hours beforo 4ayhmk* uwi Carnforth The "Way of th* WarM. "It makes nie very weary," said the mosquito, with a sigh, "to see the manner in which the American public allows itself to be carried away by a fad. Any old thing which comes along under a new name can create a furore." ACTIVE SOLICITORS WANTED KVERY" where for "The Story of the Philippines," by Marat Haistead, commissioned by the Government as Official Historian to the War Department The book was written in army camps at San Francisco, on the Pacific with Gen. Merritt, in the hospitals at Honoiula- in Hong Kong, in the American trenches at Manila, in tne Insurant camps with AKuinaldo, on the deck of tne Oiympia with Dewey, and in the roar of battli at the fall of Manila. Bonanza for agents Brin fnl of original pictures ten by governs «at photographers on the rot. T*iyebook. ]xD' • prices. Bis profits. Freight paid. Credit L-ivwa. Drop all trashy unofficial war books. Oatftt free. Address, F T. Bar Vsr, BaCy, Star Insurance Building, Chicago. "No," said Carnforth "I'm al right there. Come below and have » drink and a talk. By the way, it'«- awfully rude of me. 1 haven't tumbled yet to who you are." easily carry off £1,000,000 ibell and pearls." "Six months!" said Kettle, a big order. I've no doubt that The engines were running half speed ahead, and presently they stopped, and the order was given for the yacht tq lay to where she was till daybreak..  light bnot had spwng or, bringing with afaajtar tai»*la*»tl* "You talk as if you had a personal grievance," said the moth. ■with a rifles, we "That'a "Never mind my name," said tb* visitor coolly. "I don't suppose you'd remember me. I was a reading man up there and you weren't Yon did youi ba* to torment my life oot 1 took a "I have. I have for years been stinging people so that their faces swelled up, but nobody puts my picture in the paper and calls me a 'kissing bug.* "—Washington Star.