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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1891-7-16, Page 6Viten the Snot Ana !eight. He wouldn't plant when fanners rouod veore Plantineall etas t, 'Cause the sign—wanet--right. _ He woolen.% hie hogs for fear tee fat would sizzte _ceth nse e sign—want --right. He wouian't sheer his sheep wheneeturus ruled the zodiao ; The gecee want phased when he was home, though other e ale might lack; Nor would, he shave his wniter's beard, he'd rather breale his back, 'Less the sin--was—right. Hod never Mee; at the now moon, Sloss he could see it clear, 'Cause the sign—went—right. Ho woulen't buy on Friday, though goods not day might be clear, 'Cause the eigo—neent—right. 'Twould melee hint cuss like forty, to eee a rail fence laid, When nights were dark, as if the moon a dirty trick had, played, By Mean' round to Chinewhen at home she might have stayee, 'Cause the age—went—right. Ile wouldut gather seed corn but when Cancer was the Isiu.g. 'Cause the sigu—went—riehte Io woulcnet trim his whiskers when he heard a rain crow sing, 'Cause the sign—wa'n't--right. He did't dast to oat no moat, onless 'twas in the heart ; The truth was only inhiva when the virgin took leis part ; It took the crab to make himpay his debts, he was So smart, 'Cause the sign—went—right, Yet come to think, he wa'n't so very queer in doing so, . Cause the We an at times our duties shirt and go almighty slow, When the sign—ain't—right. It takes e deal of nerve and push, met lots of moral backing, To toe the line, and-conscionce keep from giving us a whacking; And so if there is anything that in tide poem's lacking, Why, the sign—aint—right. —Yankee Stade. TWICE MARRIED. CIL91'TER VIII. Blanche Smith was not at all a clever girl—not like Norma. Norma had always stood first in her classes, had borne off prizes anl medals, but with Blanche it was otherwise. No amount of coaching ever sufficed to pull her through an examination, or to remove her from the middle of her class. Blanche was a dunce confessedly; she hated. books, and the acquisition by Labor . If the people told her things and took the trottble to explain them, she re- membered them sometimes sometimes not. To accomplishments she tocile as a du* to water—donced beautifully, was a fair ninsician, sang,. with taste and sweetness, and chattered French with absolute self- confidence and a tolerable accent, although her rudimentary knowledge of the tongue Was of the vaguest. Christmas, the grand high festival of the year, was approaching,, and all the com- munity was stirred. with deep desire for its -worthy celebration. Sociability ceased, or at best was sustained in limp, half-hearted fashion by the men. The ladies had other things to think of; for on them rested the sole responsibility of the Christmas preparations And it was Christmas eve The shadows were gathering, and the sun sending in his resignation to the night, when Pocahontas, tying on her pretty scar- let hood and wrappings, armed herself with a small basket of men, and proceeded to the poultry yard to house her turkeys for the night. They usually roosted in an oldeatalpa tree near the back gate, earlier in the season; but as Christmas approached Pocahontas found. it expedient to turn the key upon them, since leaving them out caused weaker beothers to offend, As she passed theskit- °hen door she celled to little Sawney, whose affection for his grandmother increased at Christmas, to come out and help her. The little fellow had that morning been invested. by a doting parent with a " pa'r o' sto' boots" purchased entirely, with reference to the requirements of the future. They were many sizes too large for him ; the legs adorned with scarlet tops, reached nearly to his middle; they flopped up and down at every step, and evinced an evil propensity for wabbling, and bringing their owner with sorrow to the ground. They were hard -natured, stiff -soled, uncompro- mising—but ! they were boots !—" sto' boots, whar cos' money !"—and Sawney's cup of bliss was full. Any one who has e.xsperience in the ways and wiles of the domestic treasure, must be aware of the painful lack of consideration sometimes evinced by turkeys in this appa- rently simple matter of allowing themselves to be housed. Some evenings they march straight into their apartment with the directness and precision of soldiers fi1in7 into barracks; on others the very Prince of Darkness, backed by the three Fates and the three Furies, apparently takes possession of the perverse, shallow -pates' birds. ' The Lana,rth turkeys were behaving in just this reprehensible manner, and Poca- hontas was working into a frenzy over them. Three times she engineered the flock successfully up to the open door, and three times the same old brown hen advanced, peered cautiously into the house, startecl tragically aside as though she beheld some evil thing, and produced a panic and a stampede. " You miserable wretch 1" exclaimed Pocahontas, hurling her empty basket im- potently at the dusky author of her woe, "1 could kill you! Shoo! shoo Sowney, why don't you help me? Ilea,d them I Run round them ! Shoo! shoot you abom- inable creatures I" Sawney essayed to obey, grasping the straps of his boots, and lifting his feet very high. "Take them, off and run," commanded Pocahontas. But Sawney would as soon have parted with his ekin. "1 dwine ter run," he responded, and gripped, his boots valiantly. It was of no use. Sawney had gotten too much boot for his money, and if walking in them, was difficult, running was impossible. He held on to them bravely, but that only impeded progress further ; the faithless cowhides wobbled, twisted and finally landee him sprawling on his back in the middle of the flocls, which promptly re- tired to distant parts of the poultry yard, " puttering " and dodging. " Sawney proves a broken reed, as oval," called a pleasant voice front somewhere in the background ; "here, let me help you," and Nesbit Thorne leaped over the fence, and advanced, gun in hand, to the moue. it's the fault, of his sto' bootee " Pocahontas c7( Ode al, laughing, as RI)e extended her hand. " Sewneya inten- tions were honorable enough. f. shall be gled of your sesistatice—as listed," with a merry ginner., for these aggravating birds arc shattering my nerves, and ruining my temper." There:together, the pair prated the wi- ndy fowls, and pressed upon them and buf- feted them, until the turkeys were righl. glad to defy the vieion of the old brosvit sen- sationelist, mid fake refitge in their house. Pocaliontes dinsol the door with a sharp bang idinose tope the tail of the hindmost one, locked it, anti then Wetted corlielly to her companion end invited him to remain and Mice tee \ vi tit them. `Nonni glaneed down et his Washed boots; and certhieova " rm seereely ize trim for a lady's tea, table," he said, nflhsg " yott midst exenee me, and let ine come some other time. I met your brother on the low grounds as I came up. I've been shooting over Ids land, and called to leave your mother a few birds." " Had you good spot:LT" inquired Pocahontas, with interest, watching, him empey the pockets of his shoptinencoat on the top of an adjacent chickezacoop, and isdrairing the oft shades and. exquisite markiegs of the plenage of the dead birds. " Here's old 'bur -rabbit,'" add Thorne, reechiug his bend behind his back, and drawing out the pretty brown best by the Legs. I knocked him oyer just below your garden fence in, a little patch of briers. It was a pretty shot; see, right through the head. I hate te mangle my game.Id prette, fair sport; the birds are a little wild, though, and I had. no dog. I lost a fine duck—e canvas -back, this efternoon, by its fallinginto deep wieter. 1 1111151) send North for a brace of good dogs," "That isn't necessary," said Poca- hontas, touching the birds gently, and stroking their soft feethers. "Berke end Royal' both have good dogs, trained retrievers, eucl used to the country. Strange dogs don't do so well over unaccue- rained ground. It's a shame that you had no dog, and dreadfully neglectful of the boys not to have noticed, No, no I" as Thorne moved away from tlae coop, "you must not leave all those; you have none for youreelf, and you'll be disgraced as a sports- man if you go home empty-handed. They won't believe you've killed a thing. We never do'when our men come home with nothing to show. Jim Byrd never dared face Nnia, or me, without, at least, half a dozen birds." Who is Jim Byrd ?" demanded Thorne, quickly. "1 never heard you mention him before." "Haven't you ?" regardhy himwithgreat surprise. "Well, that is curious, for he is one of our oldest, dearest friends, Berke's and mine. A year ago I couldn't have imagined life possible without Jim's dear old face near us. He fonnerly lived at Shir- ley; it was the Byrd patrimony for gener- ations. His sisters were the closest girl- friends Grace and I ever had, and for years the two families were as one. There were financial troubles handed down from father to S012, growing always greater; the old place had finally to be sold, and your uncle bought it. Jim is in Mexico now, engineering, and the girls are all married. I wonder you have never hearcl me mention Jim. I think and speak of hint frequently. We all do." So perfectly unembarrassed was the girl's manner that, despite a faint wistfulness discernible in her face, Thorne put aside the half -thought formulated in his brain by the familiar mention of Jim Bryd's name. He allowed himself to be persuaded to repocket part of the gaine, particu- larly a brace of ducks, which the sod of the general loved. As he rose from his seat on the chicken -poop, Poca- hontas noticed the handsome gun beside him, and leaning forward with a 'woman's instinctive desire to handle dangerous things, she took it in her hands with an exclamation of admiration. "Is it loaded V she inquired, raising it to her shoulder, and laying her finger lightly on the trigger. Yes," Thorne answered, drawing nearer, "take care, Miss Mason. It always makes me nervous to see& gun in a woman's hands. Don't pun the trigger, please; the charge is heavy and the recoil will hurt you." But the warning came too late; inten- tionally or unintentionally, she did pull the trigger, and the gun carelessly- held, re- coiled sharply, striking against her shoulder with such force that she staggered and would have fallen, if Thorne had not caught her in his arms. The gun slipped -to the ground, but fortunately did not discharge the second barrel Thorne regarded the white face upon his breast with trepidation, amazed even amid his anxiety at the firece pang that shot through his heart at the sight of its pallor. Suppose she should be seriously hurt! Brute that he had been, not to have taken better care of her. Fool ! fool I to have let her touch that accursed gun! His hand trembled as he loosened her cloak, and passed it tenderly over her shoulder. Dis- located? Nr, ; such cruel harm had not befallen her ; a bruise, a little stiffnese was the worst in store. A passionate relief, bewildering in its intensity, thrilled. through him; his dark cheek rivaled. hers in pallor; his eyes glowed. Then her lids quivered, the gray eyes unclosed, and the color flushed bsek warmly, covering cheek and brow and neck with aemighty surge of crimson. With a quick effort, Pocahontas disengaged herself from his arms, and leaned against the fences a few steps away front him. Struggling for. selfonastery. Thorne made his anxious; inquiries, striving by a fierce exercise of will to still his bounding pulses, and. banish from his eyes the expression he felt glowing within them. And Pocahontas, with her paleness in force again, replied to his in- quiries with tremulous but determined hghtless, putting aside his self•reproaches, and assuming the blame with eager inco- herence. She made a terrible mess of it, but Thorne was past all nicety of observation; his only thought, now that he was assured of her safety, was to get himself away without further be trayal of his feelings. His mind was in a tumult, and his heart rose up and choked him. For a moment he held the small, tremulous fingers in a strong, warm clasp, then with a quick "good night" relinquished them, sprang over the fence and walked rapidly away in the direction of Shirley. CHAPTER IX. Walking home in the still dusk of the winter gloaming, Thorne found himself compelled at last to look the situation in the face without disguise or subterfuge; to take stock" of it all, as it were, and ask himself what should be the result. He had lingered in Virginia, lengthening his stay from week to week, because the dd world quaintness of the people, the freshness and yet antiquity of thought prevalent among them, charmed him, pleased the aesthetic side of his nature, as the softness of their voices pleased his ear, and the suavity of their manners, his taste. He was tired to death of the old routine, weary beyond ex- pression of the beaten track, of the same- ness of the old treadmill of thought. Here he had found variety. And ne had no right to love her; he was a married man. When this idea, flashed across his mind it almost stunned him. Ile heel been free in heart and mind so long that he had ceased to remember that he was boiled itt fact The substance had so withdrawn itself into the background of his lite that he had for- gotten that the shadow 8til1 rested on him. He was free, end he was bound. Thorne terned the lice over itt his mild, as one burns a once familiar thing that has grown strange from being hidden long from sieht. Was ho a married man? Undoubtedly. Ihe idea appalled him. Two years had passed since the separa- tion and there had been no divorce. Thome had thought the matter out at the time, as a man muse, and had decided to wait, and in let any initial steps be taken bsr hie wife. Ile had no love left for her, and he ecalleed with grim iritertsity that their marriage had beet a terrible mistake, but there was suffitiont Ohivalry in hie slater: to stake him feel that the Mother of hie child had, claims upon him—to make hint willing, for the child's sake, to leave her the Protection of his home and 214/110 as long as she cared to keep it. Then, too, the habit of thought in Itis family, and 011 hie early influencee were againet divorce. The idea hae not pre- sented itself spontaneously, as the natural solutien of his domestic difficelties ; hise been obliged to fendliarize himself with it. His family had been Cathelics for gener- etionse hie mother had become ()lip on her marriage, a,nd had been ardent and devout, ie esuel with proselytes. Thorne Was nob it religious man himself, but he respected religion, and in an abstract way considered it a beautiful and holy thiug. He had ewer thought of it with any reference to his own life, but it made a halo around the memory of his mother. Her views had influenced Min in his decision in the matter ef is divorce. The world had given him credit for religious scruples of his own, but the world had done him more than justice ; he was only haunted by the ghosts of his mother's scruples. Did she love him? As he asked himself the question, Thorne's heart bounded, and the blood coursed hotly through his veins. He had tried to make her love him—had he succeeded? Thorne wee no fatuous fool, blinded by his own vanity, but his power over women had been often tried, fully proven, and he had confidence itt himself. Deeply the mall cursed his past folly ; bitterly he anathematized the weakness which had. allowed sha.dcavy scruples and. a too fastidious taste to rule his judgment in the matter of a divorce. He would wait no longer; he would break at once and forever the frail fetter that still bound hire to a union from whichall reality, all sanctity hadiled. He would be free in fact, as he was in heart and thought, to pit his strength against that of his rival. This prize should not slip from his grasp uncontested. No man should approach the shrine unchallengecte CHAPTER X. The Christmas festivities were to close on New Year's Eve with a grand ball at Shir- ley. It was to be a sumptuous affair, with unlimited Chinese lanterns, handsome deco- rations, a magnificent supper, and a band from Washington. The Smiths were going to requite the neighborhood's hospitality with the beating of drums, the clashing of cymbals, and the flowing of cham- pagne. This cordial, friendly people had welcomed them kindly, and must have their courtesy returned in fitting style. Mrs Smith suggested a simpler entertainment, fearing contrast, and any appearance of ostentation but the general gauged his neighbors better. They were at once too well bred and too self-satisfied for any idea of comparison to occur to them. They would eat his fruit -cake or make him wel- come to their corn -bread with the same hearty unconcern. His wealth and their own poverty troubled them equally little; they were abstract facts with whichhospitality had nothing to do. But in their way they were proud; having giten their best without grudge or stint, they would expect his best in return, and the general was determined that they should have it. The risk of offence lay in simpli- cit , not grandeur. After an exhaustive discussion of the subject, at which both Berke and Royal' ignorantly and gratuitously assisted., and wore flouted for their pains, it was irrevo- cably. decided that Pocahontas should ap- pear 1tt pure white unrelieved by a single dash of color. "I want her to look -unusual," declared Grace; "to make her so is at present the object of my being. I shall hesitate at nothing short of cutting off her nose to secure that desirable result. To be admired a woman must stand out distinctly from the throng; and I've set my heart en Princess' being the belle of the ball. Have you plenty of flowers, dear? As flowers are to be your sole garniture, you must have a profusion. I can't tolerate skimpy, rub- bishing bouquets." "None at all, Grace," confessed Pocahon- tas, ruefully, "except a single calla. I cut my last white rosebuds and camellias to send to Nina Byrd Marion the very day be- fore I heard about the Shirley ball. Isn't it provoking?" "Then somebody must get you some," Grace responded promptly, pausing in her preparations, and regarding her sister with the air of an autocrat; "11 the men are /tot lost to all sense of honor and decency, you'll have plenty. If only they will have suffi- cient intellect to selectwhiteones ! Butthey won't. I'd better instruct Roy and Berke - lee, at once." On the morning of the ball, Berkeley en- tered his mother's room, where the three ladies sat in solemn conclave regarding with discontent a waiter full of colored flowers which a thoughtful neighbor had just sent over to Pocahontas. He held in his hand a good-sized box which he deposited in his sister's lap with the remark: "Look, Princess! Here's a New Year's gift just come for you. I don't know the writing. I wonder what it is 1" "A subtle aroma suggests—fruit," haz- arded Grace, sniffing curiously. Pocahontas lifted a card and turned it, in her hand, and a smile broke over her face as she answered. : "Flowers ; from Jim Byrd." Then she removed the damp moss and cotton, and lifted spray after spray of beautiffilsnovey jasrain—Cape Jasmin, pure and powerful, and starry wreaths of the. more delicate Catalort- hin• Only white flowere—all jamb", Jim's favorite flower; and with them were tropical ferhs and grasses. As she held the exquisite glossoms in her hands and in- haled their. rich perfuxne, the girl was con- scious that when her old, friend penned the order for the fragrant gift, his heart had been full of home, and of the evening be- side the river when she had worn his flowers in hair and dress, and had bidden him farewell. "How beautiful they are !" exclaimed Grace, excitedly, "and just in time for to -night. To think of the way I've made that wretched hus- band of mine charge through the country since day -break, this morning, in pursuit of white flowers, and here they come like a fairy story. It was very nice of Jim. I'd no idea, there was so poetical an impulse in the old fellow, as the selection of these flowers appears to indicate." "Yoe. don't appreciate Jim, Grace. You do him injustice. If thought end care and have for other, combined with tenderness, and delight ill giving pleasure, consti- tutes poetical impulse& then Jim Byrd is the enigma pet we ase likely over to meet." Pocahontas. :moire *nerdy, the eolor flushing to her choke, the' light, coming to her epee Poor Jini l—so far away. Was it clieloyel to her old friend to go that night to dance among strangers in the rooms that had been his, --that were full of associations connected with him ? At all events, no flowers wonld she wear save his ; no other ornaments of any kind. It woold ; Amin, then, as though he participated in her I pleasure ; rejoieed in her joy. Jim loved 1 always to tiee her happy. Fror reaf3one of r their own, the two elder ladies had decided ' on remaining at home, so that Pocithoitte,s repaired to the hall in ' mole custody ;done. Blanche, ' who was on the watch for the lanarth partye ! came forweed the inetant of their arrival, accompanied by her father, to welcome I them, and tee bear Pocahontas AWAY too the upper regions to warn herself and remove her wrappings. The room were is little chill, she expiained, with te ehiver, in spite of the splendid fires the general had kept roaring ne them all day. Pocahontas must remain where she was aid warm herself thoroughly, and the eveuld send one of the boys for her presently. And after a little girlish gossip and mutual admiration of eaca other's appearance, the small maiden tripped away to her duties below. Soon there was a knock at the door, and Pocahontas, Gatching op fan, bouquet and handkerchief, opened it and stepped into the hall. Nesbit Thorne, slooder end dis- tinguished -looking, was awaiting her, Blanche haviog encountered and despatched hint immediately on her return to the parlors. .As the girl stood an instant framed by, the open door, thrown into relief by the soft glowing baelsground of the warmly lighted room T.horne'e heart swelled with mingled gladness and impatience, Joy in the pure perfection of her beauty; impatient et the restraint circumstances forced him still to put upon his love. At the foot of the stairs they were pounced upon by Percival, who had seleeted that eoigne of vantage as less likely to attract his mother's attention, there to lay in wait for the cards of the unwary. He had been strictly forbidden to importune young ladies for dances unless they happened to be wall- flowers, and the iujunctiou lay heavy on his soul. "1 sed/ ask girls other men ask," he 'fluttered, darkly, "I hate putting up with refuse and lemons. I'm going to ask the ones I want to ask," and he intrenched himself beside the stairway with intent to blackmail such girls as he should fancy. Pocahontas, who had anatural affinity for boys, and a great fondness for Percival, yielded to lus demand readily enough, surrendering her card to him in gay defiance of Thorne's outspoken reprobation, and laughing mischievously as the boy scrawled his name triumphantly opposite a waltz. B. M. ! Who's B. M., Miss Princess?" he questioned, as he dexterously avoided Thorne's extended hand, and placed the card ha Pocahontas'. "You have got him down, just above me, and you wrote it yourself. Who is he 1 Benevolent Missionat7 ? Brother Mason ? " "Exactly 1" she answered, smiling, and watching Thorne scribble his name us sev- eral places on her card. "It is Berkeley. The Byrd girls and I always saved a waltz for him to prevent his feeling left out. He don't like to ask girls generally; his one arm makes it look awkward, and he knows they wouldn't like to refuse beceuse they all feel sorry for him. We put a hand on each shoulder, and don't care how it looks. Berke is adroit, and man- ages quite nicely. Often, too, it's an ad- vantage to have a dance you can dispose of later on, so I continue to put the initials, although Berke seldom dances now. He liked waltzing with the Byrd girls best." "You wereveryintimate with the Byrds, I think you said," Thorne remarked idly, bowing to an acquaintance as he spoke. "Very intimate. See what came to me this morning; all these exquisite flowers, just when I needed them for to -night. Roy searched the neighborhood through for white flowers, without success, and then these came. Aren't they beautiful ?" .And she lifted her bouquet towards his face. "Extremely beautiful !" he assented, bending his head to inhale their fragrance. "It was very kind and thoughtful of your friends to send them. I suppose, from the connection, that they are a Byrd offering." "Pocahontas laughed softly. " Yes, ' she said, "but they did not come from Belle or Nina, and Susie is in California. Jim ordered them for me. I ani so pleased." "Our little, squaw is smashing things, Berke," remarked. Roy Garnett, later in the evening, as he joined his brother-in-law in the recess by the fireplace. "The men all swear she's the handsomest woman in the room—and on my soul I 'believe they're right." "She does look well," responded Mason with all a brother's calm moderation. "Her dress is in good taste, and she moves gracefully. But she isn't the handsomest woman in the room by long odds. Look at Norma Smith." "1 have looked at her," retorted Roy shortly, "and so I suppose have the other men. There's no more comparison between her and Princess, than there is between a gorgeous, striped tulip, and a white tea rose," (For some inscrutable reason Roy had never been able to endure Norma, and even grudged acknowledgement of her un- deniable beauty.) . "Look at that fellow Thorne, now!" he added, with the pleased alacrity of one producing an unexpected trump, "I should say that he shared my opinion. He hasn't danced voluntarily with another woman in the room nor lefteher side a moment that he could help. At looks as though he were pretty hard hit, doesn't it?" And so the hours sped, golden -footed silver -footed; and the pipers piped and the men and maidens danced and the elders gossiped, drank champagne, and reveled in the fleshpots yawning surreptitiously be- hind fans and handkerchiefs as the evening waned. Pocahontas, roused from a dream of en- joyment by Roy's mandate, aped lightly up stairs to the dressing room and arrayed herself hastily in her mufflings. At the stairway Thorne joined her, and as her foot touched the lowest step he took her unre- sisting hand raised it to his lips murmuring softly; "A happy New Year to you—my darling ! my. queen I" Thorne, etanding by the steps watching the receding carriage noticed the laouquet of half -faded jasmin' blossoms, which had slipped unheeded from the girl's hand, and lay neglected and forgotten on the frozen ground. The impulee came to him to raise them tenderly because her hands had touched them, and then the thought of who had given them arose and struck down the impulse. He set his heel upon them. For hire also, the New Year had boom. (To be continued.) Nine Long Years. Mrs. John McLean writes from Barrie Island, Ont., March 4th, 1890, as follows : "1 have been a great sufferer from neuralgia for the last 9 years, but, being advised to try St. Jacobs Oil, can now heartily endorse it as being a most excellent remedy for this complaint, as I have been greatly benefited by its use." That Estimable Lady. " Knoxonian " in Canada Presbyterian Leaning gently on the men of a tall mon her from one of the Preebyteries of northern Ontario, the deceased, ,wife's sister entered the Assembly, She came in answer to remits that had been sent down to Presby- teries anent her eligibility. The remits did not make it clear whether she was eligible or ttot. Dr. Gregg, like a gallant Irishman, offered the lady hie arm, a.ral proposed to escort, her out of the Assembly. She de- clined. On the last evening of the session ex,Moderator teeing, so the report say, moved that the "matter should now take end.- Whether a hunt limy even yet legally marry his cIeeetteed wifc'e sister is a ques- tion we dare not answer. Perhaps he may the siger is willing. Tf not, he must just look out for somebody elseht deter. —The meet utterly lost of all days is that 00 which you have not once laughed. TIMMS OF TRADE, Practised in New Turk Dry Goods Stores. There aro it 'lumber of smart and useful tacks connected with the day goede trade, says the New York ditad mat Express, which the average reader knows nothing about. As in almost every other business, competition has mado it necessity of these tricks, ontil there is now scarcely a big establishment of the retail dry goods die- triet that does not resoet to this or that plan to advance its interests. How many shoppers imagine that all the large stores keep one or more ,girls from eitch depart- ment constantly employed itt treveliugto their r rivals' headquarters to ascertain just whet they have on sale, or whether the price is lower than theirs? The regular line of goods is known, of course, but novelties, crop out at times in one or other of the various houses, and the game of the young ladies who are paid for touring purposes is to take stock of this novelty and report to the home office. Supposing there is a bar- gain sale of dress .goods at one particular store, and that tine sale is cheaper or as cheap as wholesale prices, each of the oppo- sition houses picks out six or seven of their best girls and sends them out to buy differ- ent.quantities of the stuff, from 25 yards up. If any of the girls happen to be recognized as an employee of the opposition houses the goods will not be sold to them, .Another clever scheme is the discount business. Some houses give a discount to their rivals, but net always. When they do the girls simply give an order signed by the house they represent. It the two houses are not friendly and the trade requires the exchange of cash, it is often the common custom of the girls to get the card of a prominent dressmaker and pre- sent it after she has purchased 'what she re- quires. The majority of the houses make a discount to modistes. It is pretty difficult to decide whether it girl is really from a dressmaker or a rival concern, because all the best dressmakers keep two or three girls, whom they call experienced shoppers, em- ployed constantly 'watching goods or getting samples. It is a seven days' wonder among some people how the big dry goods stores keep track of their stook. It they knew that every article brought into the house is given what is called a stock number, and is entered on an immense book in red ink, they would have no trouble in seeing how everything can be kept straight. When an article bearinga certain number is sold it is i checked off n the big book, and when January and July, stock -taking dine, come round and they find any article missing and not duly registered on the book as sold, they put it down as lost or stolen. The big dry goods stores seldom attach suspicion to their employees. They are not watched half as much as some people sup- pose they aro. There is no necessity, be- cause the employees rarely take anything, knowing full well that their honesty is sure to be questioned sooner or later. The only persons watched by the detectives and floorwalkers are the shoplifters, and those - light -fingered persons keep them busy and no mistake. Notts From,Scotland. Colonel sTopp, for many years the com- manding officer of the Aberdeen City Rifle Battalion, died on the 18th ult. The outbreak of influenza is spreading rapidly in the east of Scotland. In Down - field village there were so many cases on the 17th ult. that medical aid had to be sum- moned from Dundee, where an epidemic ia also raging. .tt is'understood that the command .of three important Scotch regiments will be- come vacant during this month. The regi- ments are the Scots Guards, the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers and the 2nd Gordon High- landers. At a tnecting of the Brechin Established Presbytery, on the 18th ult., the Rev. J. A. St. Clair'Melville Parish Church, Montrose, and who has come to America, failed to ap- pear to answer to a charge of desertion of tninisterial duty, and the moderator pro - flounced sentence of deposition. A memorial to the late Earl of Glasgow has just been placed in the graveyard at Cumbrae It is in the form of a recumbent slab, with a Celtic cross on the upper face. The cross itself is perfectly plain, and is surrounded with the usual ring or halo. Mr. llenryBloom Noble, of Douglas, Isle of Man, who a few years ago presented the town of Douglas with a hospital, at a cost of £10,000, has again presented a limilar amount to the Is1and,Z5,000 for a Convales- cent Hospital and £5,000 to the Church Pastoral Aid Society. There has been erected in the cemetery of Govan, Glasgow, a handsome monument to the memory of the late Sir William Pearce, Bart., M. P. The deceased was buried at Ming Ram, Kent, among his own people, but this monument has been 'erected by Lady Pearce in consideration of the wishes of many in Govan who shared his labors and admired his great abilities as one of the foremost shipbuilders of the day. A Mail Therinometer. Lean men make the best thermometers. Fahrenheit never invented better ones If the weather is warm and sunny,' they are 'cheerful If cold and frosty, they are irritable and snappy. If clamp and cloudy, they are downcast and gloomy. But if either lean or fat men are suffering from biliousness,'headache constipation, or indi- gestion, the weather will always be damp and. cloudy in their locality, unless they use Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets. These Pellets are small, sugar-coated granules, calculated to start the liver and digestive organs into healthy activity, and thereby raise low spirits, and dispel gloom. A Mighty Hunter Abroad. Good News: City Sportsman—Boy, is there a hotel near here? Mountain Boy—Never heard o' one. " What is that curling smoke by the edge of the forest ?" " That's a hunters' camp." " Good I I can go there and get a game supper." ' "Guess not. Theist's city sportsmen. They never have nothin' but canoed conied beef an' croakers." What Shalcspeare Might Have Said. To lake or not to take; that is the question. Whether 'tie bettor for a inau to Auger The pangs clod torments of indigestion, , , , . Or Romething take and in its taking end them Shekspeare didn't say that, but very likely he would have eaid ecenething similar, if he were living in this 19th century, wisest so many suffer untold agonies from indigos - time Of coulee he would have gone on to say that a inert must be e fool not to hake the " something " Which weld put an ehd to the "pangs and torments" spoken of, if he could get it Now it is e fact that weekened, impoverished blood brings on indigestion, which itt the cause of dyspepsia, constipation poisoned condition of the whole system --end it is e fact, also, that Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery will fi0 purify the blood and enrihlt it that ell the weakened organs 540 revitalieed and strengthened. It is guaranteed to ,do this. If it doesn't, your motley will be /titanic(' to you. ugust lower" There is a gentle- DYspepsta. man at Makien-on- the-Hudson, N, V., named Captain A. G. Pareis, who has written us a letter in which it Is evident that he has made up his mind concerning some things, and this is what he says: "1 have used your preparation called August Flower in my family for seven or eight years. It is CCM - gaudy in my house, and we consider It the best remedy for Indigestion,, and Constipation we Indigestion. have ever used or known. My wife isi troubled with Dyspepsia, and at times suffers very much after eating., The August Plower, however, re- lieves the difficulty. My wife fre- quently says to rae when I am going to town, 'We are out Constipation of August MOWerr, and I think you had better get another bottle.' 1 am also tronbled with Indigestion, and when- ever loam 1 take one or two tea- spoonfuls before eating, for a day or two, and all trouble IS removed." filt TUE FASTEST MILE, As Made on Mails, on Ice. on Mee.. Track, Ete. The following items will prove of interest to young folks: The fastest mile run by a milroa,d. train was made in 50k seconds. The fastest mile made in rowing ha a, single boat took 5 minutes and 1 second. The fastest mlle ever made by a running horse was run in 1 minute 35, seconds. The fastest mile by a man on a tricycle was made in 2 minutes 49 2-5 seeonds. The fastest time on snow -shoes for a mile is recorded as 5 minutes 39 3.4. seconds. The best time for a mile by a man on a bicycle is recorded as 2 =mutes 25 3-5 seconds. The fastest mile ever made by a man swimming was done in 26 mmutes 52 seconds. The fastest Mile ever accomplished by & man walking was made in 6 minutes 23 seconds. In running, the fastest mile made by it man was accomplished in 4 minutes 12 seconds.—Gelden Days. Loaf by leaf the roses fall; One by one our dear ones the. OLto keep them with us still: Loving, hearts send up the err. Wife and mother.0 how dear, Fading like a mist away. Father, lotus keep them here. Tearfully to God we pray. Many a wife and mother, who seems doomed to die because she suffers from dis- eases peculiar to women, which saps her life away like a vampire, and baffles 'the skill of the family physician, can be saved by em- ploying the proper remedy. This remedy is Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription, the greatest boon eyer conferred by mart on weak, suffering, despairing women: It is & specific for all phases of female weakness, sio matter what their name. Pensions for French Laborers. TheFrench Minister of the Interior has introduced a bill for providing pensions for laborers. All workmen having served for 30 years and having complied with provis- ions of the bill, will be entitled to an an- nual pension of not less than $60 or more than $125. Every workman will be con- sidered to have accepted the terms of the pensions law unless he sends in a disclaimer to the competent authorities. The pension fund will be supported to the extent of two- thirds by the State, the other third will be borhe equally by employers and workman. A man's contribution will be one cent for every working clay for a pension of $69, and a penny for pensions of $1.35. Foreign workmen will be excluded from the benefit of the law, and their employers will have to pay on their behalf two cents a day, to go to asspecial pension fund for French work- men prematurely disabled. Paul 'Went to the Theatre. Washington .Post: Some one has re- minded Bishop Coxe, of Buffalo, that the Bible does not anywhere condemn bicycling by women, and the prelate has been obliged to admit that, so far as bicycles are, con- cerned, the Bible is behind the age—which reminds us of an occasion when ex -Chief Justice Drake, of the Court of Claims, ad- dressing a meeting of the Washington City gItresbytery against theatre -going, and, being eked where the Bible condemned it, answered that, of course, theatres, were not mentioned in the Bible—a remark which brought up the Rev. Dr. Sunderland, of the First Church, like a shot, but in his suavest manner with "1 beg the judge's pardon, hut we read in the book of the Acts of the Apostles that St. Paul went to the theatre at Ephesus." The judge was floored, A Wise Jeweller. A Vine street jeweller was recently called upon by a well-known young society Malt W110 gave an order to inserilee hie initials and those of a certaiii young lady upon a gold ring. The next day he came ux in a hurry and told the jeweller to holdback for a day or two. In about three days he came in smiling and gave the jeweller the initials of another young lady to inscribe in place of the first order. The jeweller said. nothing and did nothing. In a day or two the young man came m in a hurry and countermanded hie second order and had the initials ia his first order inscribed alter alt It is easy to see that there had been& lover's stuarrel and that when the young_ man had taken up with a convenient eecond love that his i first love held come to im s being un- . evi ling to ster n any foolishness of that sort. And of the jeweller it must be said that he was a very shrewd man..—Canctnnata Pintee- Starr. A mixture of powdered charcoal, one pound to four poends of plaster of pads, sprinkled under porches or in clamp corners will prove an excellent dieinfectent, Travellers in Ceylon are astonished to die- eover that the nen there are far timed graceful than the women. They ere better looking also, and dress more stylishly, while the women work in theefields and be- come coaree and homely. —Mr. Mercier, the Canadian delegate, hag received aop desorations and titles from the Popp to be distributed. among Papal Zonaves in Canada. , is estimated that more than 6,000 Americans are now staying atthe hotele in Pane.