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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1886-4-1, Page 6AN LIV. GY6 T"IAN ROM ANO!. R Story of Love and Wild. Adventure, founded upon Startling Revels*, tions in the Career of Arabi Pasha; ,fj . itglio+ 0/ " NINA, Tsi NI ILLLST," S' THII RED SPOT," Ir `,CHIC Alls.¢I41,LT SIT," ETC, ETC. The prinoese seemed annoyed and yet at. traotod by the question. She felt, indeed, like the dog in the fable, atroegly inclined to drop the Bubstenoa in her greed to snap at the larger shadow. But a momenta reflection seemed to open up to her a way by which to secure both mouthfuls, and looking fixedly at the war minister, so that she aright detect the alight est intention on hie part to deceive her, she said elowly and distinctly "You might be able to redeem her with the blood of her entire race, the blood of all, I mean, who still remain in Egypt. Will you ehed it for her sake ?" " Allah, Allah 1 How can ycu have con• et ived so deep a hatred against her race ?" " Becenee its women aro free like the flowers and able to show their loveliness to the world and win what is to our sex the supremest of all delights, admiration, I hate their women because they can do this, whilst I tau not, and I hate their men because the only one of them who ever beheld my beauty was moved thereby, but preferred that of the ghl who is at present my prisoner, and whom even youwould like, if yon only dared, to place above my head." " Zeenelr, T cannot command a wholesale measure cf Christians merely to please a woman." " The question is not that of pleasing a woman, but of presorving a girl." Arabi Pasha winced bus made out : " I cannot do it even for that, Zeeneh" " Then, by Allah and the prophet I will do unto the girl what I have threatened." " To the care of Allah and the Prophet I must consign her, then, rather than commit so great a crime. I will not stain the saored- nese of our cause by nnneoessary bloodshed, no matter how you may seek to drive nee to it." The princess was not so enraged at this speech as her visitor had feared she would be, perhaps by reason that she was gratified to learn tnat the war minister did not love the English girl to such en extent as will. ingly to commit a gigantic crime for her flake " Well, do as von please," said she ; "this is in hnain-as of mine. Whatever betides, one the di y thet Egypt belongs solely to the Egyptians, and you ereheiled as its Khedive, I will become your Valide Khanonm and hand over to you, as the most beautiful of your clave girls, the Feringhee maiden whom £ now hold in sure custody. This palace will than be yours and no woman in the harem will be able to draw her curtain against you. Until that time arrives, hoe - ever, you know full well that it would be death to seek her whom you would release if you could, and as your life belongs not to yourself, but to the nation, you will hardly care to jeopardize it in order to save the wits of a girl who would now be far happler with- out them, and of mach less trouble to you in the passession as well. Is it not better to have her smiling blankly on thee than to have hor forever weeping, moaning and up• braiding ? Go to, thou art a fool. Depart and leave me free to enjoy my pleasures, which heaven knows are few enough, im- prisoned forever within stone walls or behind a hideous face veil when I take the sir. But I mean to have some delightful hours with the Feringhee wench ere I have to give her up to thee, and not of a single one of them will I be robbed. I have even a slab of blank marble for hor snowy nakedness to be stretched on, and thou mayest picture to thyself how radiant it will look and bow I shall enjoy its quivering as the loathsome things creep over it. Now go, for I would not epeak another word though you stayed for home." As Arabi Pasha knew that the strong willed woman world keep her word ho groan- ed deeply and suffered Elmarr to lead him away in the same manner as she had intro- duced him. CHAPTER XLII. DIAMOND PUT DIA3IoND—THE PRINCESS'S IILTIBIATU3f. Leaving both Frank Donelly and his lovely bride in their respective prison Dells, we will follow the war minister in his attempt to effect the liberation of the latter. Behold Arabi, Pasha, therefore; once more by the connivance and with the active as- sistance of Elmarr the bufl•oon, in the pros- enee of tho beautiful Egyptian princess, who receives her supposed female vieiter with an outward show of joy and welcome, though her heart is dark within her by reason that she gueeses why he has come, As she lies in voluptoone abandon amidst the heaped up piles of amber satin cushions that form her couch she waits for him to speak, but though she is outwardly so con• placont and calm the labored heaving of her maguificent and almost nude breset, and the nervous working of her little naked henna tipped toes, as one moment she thrusts her small ivory feet inside her embossed leather, gold filigree•wcrleed slippers and then next draws them out again, sufficiently shows the inward agitation of her mind, Her full, fleshy arms are bare to the very shoulders, and the golden cliro'es that clasp then here and there sink into their yielding softness, whllat the heavy ebon mattes of her perfum- ed unbound hair seem to flow all over her like inky rivulets, causing her clear brown and by no means unlovely skin to seem pos. itively fair by the contrast. In short, she looked a woman oapabte in every way of turning a man's brain and scorching up his heart, and perhaps the knowledge of this enraged her at the little effect her beauty seemed to have upon her visitor, " Have you run the peril of having your head stricken from off your shoulders and of mine being treated iu like manner only to gaze at me as a child looks at a medicine bottle?" she exclaimed petulantly, after a few moments of silence on both their parts, " Why do you. not hasten to confess that I am so lovely that you could not keep away from me, despite my advice that you should do so until my brother had lost all power to hurt you, until in fact yon were on his throne and he in your dungeon ?" "= I would have done so, Zeeneh, had you not taken an unfair advantage of me, had you not surreptiticualy got into your power ane whom you know is dear to me, and, as I believe, to do her an injury. I know year tigriah nature well," " The tiger is the most graceful of beasts, and I thane you for the compliment of com- paring me to one. Yes, I have your lily fleshed Feringhee girl in safe cuntody, but 1 will swear to you if you like that the day on which I deliver her over to you she shall be as pump and as white as any houri of Paradise." The promise sounded well to the ear, but there was a something in the accentuation of the words that the war minister did not like. and which °seised him to rejoin with : "Zeeneh, yon speak fairly with your lips, but falsely from your' heart. Though you promise to deliver the Frankish girl over to me without a bruise or soar on her adorable fleah, you have yet resolved to punish her in some terrible manner or you would not have been at the trouble of bringing her hither. You cannot swear to me that i am wrong." " Tell me first, do you love this Feringhee for her beauty or for her mind ?" " Allah 1 what a question. Why, for her beauty, cf course, for beauty is the gift of God, whereas mind, bah 1 that is what is knocked into the head in youth by the pada gogue and in after years by experience, and the older and uglier a woman grows the more she gets of it," " Then give to me this girl's mind and 1 will guarantee not to injure her beauty." " You must be more explicit, Zeeneh, 1 know not yet what you mean." " I will tell you, and indeed I am thinking as much of doing you a aervico as tf pleasnr• ing myself, for as long as this Frankish girl' retains her mind she will hate you, by roaster, that she loves another, and, furthermore, in grieving for that other she will fret herself thin and weep away the brightness of her eyes, o that in time she will be soarmely worth the possession, But when once I have taken away from her that useless thing, het mind, she will no longer fret, for her grief will depart with her knowledge, and she will grow as attached to you as a dog world do. I will bathe her each day in milk, so that she shall retain her snows, and maintain her plumpness with Dream and oil and rahat el loneoum, and when I give her to you she shall, as I said before, be as white and lovely as one of the prophet's houris." " But you studiously avoid telling me how you intend to kill her mind ?" The princess's eyes fleshed, and ber great brown bosom heaved as she rejeined " I will have her held down naked on the floor for hours at a time, whilst stinglees scorpions and huge hairy spiders, whose poison bags have been drawn, creep to and fro over the snowy whiteness of her flesh,. and equally harmless but still more tickling centipedea shall each drag his hundred clinging lege over the same fair, broad path- way, whllat every other hideous insect and reptile that Egypt knows, yet all equally h.armicas , shall join those that I have already mentioned on the smooth and glossy pre - nen ado, and the more she writhes and pants the closer they will cling, until at last they will drive bar mad, mad,mad." She almost shrieked the last words, et great was her exoitement ; but at this full disolosure of her terrible and fiendish ir,• tentiona her visitor grew equally agitated. "You beautiful fiend, I darn you to prose cute your foul intentions on this !unmeant English girl, I also command you to give her up to no at once—at once, I say 1" Rut his words only infuriated the princess still more. She sprang to her feet, with a rattle and clatter of all her bracelets and beneles the a quiver of her plump, gloaey limbs, enc confronting hor visitor in an attitude of defi- ance exclaimed, tauntingly : " Yon dare me l You oarnmand mo ? Why, at the mere dapping of my hands the eunuch guard would rush to my aid end in a ainglo minute lay your bead at my feet. 3 refuse to give the Feringhee girl up to you. I have and I will hold ; for the eagle high polled in air is not wont to give up the pre} which he grasps in hie talons, at the bidding of the wingless, earth -prowling wolf. 1 have promised that you shall receive the girl from my hands as white as a lily and as beautiful as a houri, and if you dare to menace me again it will only oauso mo to re- grot that I have promised so much," The war minister naw that threats were Cif no avail, no he next tried diplomacy. " Can I not buy her ata price ? I mean i'e pry, her immunity from harm ?" he asked, HAPTER XLIII. THE PRINCESS AND THE BUPFOON ARE FR_6HT- ENED BY THE DEVIL Thus was our beautiful Nellie left entire- ly to the mercy of the woman who hated her. Arabi Pasha had quitted the palace won- dering how it was possible to serve her and much fearing that hie visit to the seraglio had done her more harm than good. He went back to his house in the arsenal and wrote a letter to ))Gr, and Mrs. Trezarr at Cairo, stating that he had discovered where their daughter was, but not a word about her marriage to the young dragoon officer, and inclosing a safe conduct under Ilia hand and seal he urged them to come on to Alexandria at once ; for he had a faint idea in his head of a way in which they might bo able to deliver her without his own name being at all mixed up in the matter, for the Princess Zeeneh being his active ally in the rebellion he dared neither expose her nor provoke her to expose him, since the one course would be dishonorable and tho other might yet.prove dangerous. Meanwhile Nellie remained a prisoner in that innorinoat of the three rooms, which seemed to form et all events a portion of h , Princess Zeeneh'a especial suite, and to which none of the other ladies of the seraglio riot even, the Khedive's chief wife, had any right of access, And as it happened, this was in reality a somewhat unusual case. Notwithstanding all the threats that the had need towards her a and her deep and bitter grief at what was supposed had been the terrible fate of her husband, Nellie's Lodily fatigue was so great that no sooner had sho grown weary d looking forth from the window and thrown herself down on a pilo of soft cushions in a "corner than ehe sank into a deep and profound sleep, nor awoke therefrom until night had usurped the place of day and her prison room wart enveloped in profound darkness. ' For a moment she weld not remember where she was, and when the knowledge cameback to her she grew frightened at the pitchy blackness by which she was surround- ed, but at length catching sight of two friendly stare looking down upon her, ehn crept over to the window so as to feel near- er to them, for the Arab belief that the stare are the eyes of the angels was a plea sant thought to ponder over at a time like the present. No sooner had she rcaohod the window thou she saw what looked like other stare, each having, a shimmering reflection, brit sho know that these were the lights of the three British ironolads, As she knelt there, loaning on her arena, Ind almost panting for air, for the night wow intensely oloae and sultry, she could hear the little wavelets lapping the found• onions of her prison wall, and also after a while another sound which somehow or other auggeated to her the idea of tho dig- ging of graver). Yee, it certainly resembled tho me a lured strokes of spades, tho dull thud of earth as It fell on earth, and pow and then there was a murmur as of subdued vetoes and a faint rolling and oreakizig, suck as might have been ousted by the passage to and fro of band barrows, Pressing her fare as close against the window as she was ablo, she locked;, down ho right cwt 'left and eeon beosni aware hat a number of tiny, glow-worm like tights were moving to and fro almost under, ueath that side of the pekoe, and about two hundred yards to the right of the window she was looking out from, but hardly had the made this discovery when the door of her room was suddenly opened and the flesh of a lamp almost blinded her. Only tor a moment, byressonef its sudden. tress and its oxoessive brirhtnoes, and then Nellie recognized behind it the Princess Zeeneh and the horrid women with the slok• ly leer. This witch followed her mistress and fastened the door behind her, "Put down the lamp on that ]ow brac fret," said the princeee, and directly the Was obeyed she turued fiercely upon the English girl and added : "Go you over to that pile of cushions directly under the light. You need rot choose your attitude, beoauso we shall put you in several before we have done with you, We are going to tickle you, little one, filet is all, to"night." She laughed bitterly as she uttered tho last word, for she had resolved to torture her prisoner by degrees, Nellie did as she was bidden; bet the next command was that the should strip herself, and this, rather than be roughly handled by the two women, she ileo com- menced to do, and indeed with somewhat of alacrity, for a hope arose within her that her naked loveliness would soften her per• seoutora' hearts towards her and force them to treat her gently. She began to deubt its power, however, when upon the removal of her dross (one that she had obtained of Merle) and the con- sequent exposure of her exquisite nook, arms and shoulders, the princess merely gave vont to a contemptuous laugh, and raising her own great, brown but by no meansuulovely bosoms, drew forth from underneath them a withered flower and a gem that seemed to flash with rainbow heed flames. "Behold, you thrice accursed Kaffir, the ring that I gave him when I lowered my lineage, my rank, my faith and my uride in the very dust for his Bake. Yes, I risked death and far worseineffable disgrace, to behold him yet again, but when the sum- mons of the lotus had brought him unto my presence and I was ready to surrender all tbinge up unto him, aye, even to the wreck- ing of my faith by marriage with a Ghiour, he flung my love and my wondrous con- descension back in my face,• and had the effrontery to tell me that 'twae an earth- worm like thee who had dared to enter into competition for his love with a daughter of the Pharaohs and who had futhermore borne away the prize. Prize, indeed 1 It would have been one that would have destroyed my soul, Yet, as surely as that in his in- sulting and contemptuous indifference to my charms he oast even my love gift, this ring, upon the floor ere he withdrew forever from my presence, I will kill thy mind, even though 1 dare not bruise thy body. Duro not, did I say ? By Allah 1 I will dare if I choose. Strip, accursed Feringhee 1—strip !" The great tears rose to Nellie's eyes and trinkled down on to her beautiful breasts. Her lingers were buoy with her Dorset olaspe now, but they trembled so that they could not undo them. Bat the princess was in no hurry, for she found it pleasant to gicat over her prison• er's plump and quivering whiteness, on the rounding of her arms, the dimpling of her shoulders as she fought with the obstinate corset clasps. But presently one gave way, then another, then another. Nellie looked down upon hor beauteous self with a sigh, and then up at the two women in silent questioning, for she felt that her loveliness was pleading far more eloquently for pity and gentle treatment than words could do. She oonld hardly imagine that any one could possess sufficient cruelty to redden it even with slaps, and thus it was almost with a smile of victory that she looked up, but the expression of the face changed into one of terror ae the princess screamed out ; "I cannot keep my hands off her. She makes mo giddy and my heart beat to look at her. She meet owe such beauty to the devil, for sho can have got it in no other way. She must have sold hermit to the fiend to win my Feringhee lover from ma. I do not wonder now that she succeeded, let the devil protect her now if he can." With these words oho flung herself on the poor girl, and thud, thud, thud went her fists against the yielding, palpitating flesh, whereepon the lovely victim uttered a shrill scream, and in an !natant a vivid and ghastly glare lighted up the entire chamber, canning both hor assailants to shriek' in turn and rush therefrom in the moet abject state of terror. • CHAPTER XLIV. SAVED BY THE ELECIBIC FLASH—HAS SHE AN AMULET The ghastly white glare that had sudden. ly Invaded Nellie's prison chamber, and which seamed brighter than the' sun at noon- day, was in foot the electric light, fleshed along the coact from the British ironclad Superb, e0 that it might be ascertained whether in disobedience to the Sultan's or. dors and the promise of the Egyptian note. hies the forts were being still further strengthened and'arencd. Thie, to the Egyptians, perfectly novel method of illumination tt enadenly flashed upon the working party, whose spades and barrows Nellie had heard, and whose glow- worm -like lanterns she had seen, ae it was afterwards aeoertaiued gave thorn such a Beare then they threw down their tools and rushed poll moll into the town, screaming out that " there wad a new Bun and it had come out of the water." Since a body of mon were so alarmed at; the strange eight, it is by no means eurpris: irg that the Budden and terrible glare abused the Princess Zeeneh to leave off pummeling Nellie and to jump to the rapid oonolasion that, cis the foul fiend had bestowed such Enmity upon hor, he was ooming in person in order to see that she wasn't robbed of it, and tho same idea having seized upon the buffoon, their heltor•elralter retreat was the most natural thing in the world. They locked the room door in their rear, and when We had been done the princess summoned up auffinient courage to stoop down and peer through the keyhole. Bat though the light had by that time quitted the room again, the fact did not at all reassure hors but rather the rovetae, and she acid to the buffoon inanawor to her quo. tion whether they shouldn't now go in again and finish what they had intended to des " I am afraid Shaltan only left beeaue° we left, ff we went in again he would dome again also, and perhaps show us ilia terrible form or oven tear us to pieces, You may depend'upon it, Elmarr, that the Kaffir halt an amulet about her by which she summons the fiend whenever she needs him, and I no. Hood that indeed of trying to clutch my wrists as I struck at her, she merely shield• ed ber breasts with one fat white arm and dived her other hand down amongst the clothing which she bad just taken off. It was assuredly to feel for the amulet, and the moment that she grasped it that fearful light oame, v,htoh must have been the reiltotion of the flonnoa of hell, and the next instant Shaitan himself would have beau clutching us if we had not got away as quickly as we did, I'll never try any tricks on her again until that amulet is got away from her, Bo that your teak, good Elmarr." The buffoon !coked by no means over- ploaaod with the job that had been set her. " Iuaballah, I Bout feel like disturbing her again to-niglrt," said she. " No, not even to bring the light away, I would not do it for the brightest jewel is your highness's casket." "I do not require it of you, good Elmarr. Let her have the lamp and the rest of the night as well to herself. But when day comes it will be a very different matter. The devil and his imps hnve little or no power in the daylight, and au you will bo the Kefflr's sole attendant, you must then get the amulet Dither by guile or by force. . Strike her, bite her, do anything to her in order to forte her to give it up to you, for now that I have looked upon her I cannot bring myself to spare her. I throw my promise to the winds. I will not only tiokle, but I will thump and claw as well, aye, and I will whip her, too. Oh, how I will whip her for daring to be more lovely than myself, and how she shall writhe and palpitate and quiver in the licking, burning emartfng coils of the thong. Left alone, Nellie even rushed to the win- dow to learn the one of the light, for she herself was somewhat alarmed thereby, fancying that the palace might,bo in flames. When, however, she saw that; it was streaming forth from the black side of one of the huge Brltleh ironclads and tho ex. tremiiy of its rays moving slowly along the coat, all her alarm vanisned. She now knew what it was and guessed its object as well, and the thought that brave and chivalrous fellow countrymen were working it and studying its resulte, while she was a hapless oaptive in a Moham- medan harem, threatened hourly with per- secutive torture and, perhaps, murder, affected her so deeply that she retreated with faltering steps to her pile of ouehions, and sinking thereon contemplated with tears and sobs 'neath the mellow light of the oil lamp the pink eplotoheel on her plump, dimpled shoulders and fu,l, rounded right arm, where the furious princese' blows had fallen on her, moaning piteous y. " Oh, how oonld she ? tiow could she have done it ?" Aad so she gradually sank down at full length among the yielding ouehions, and failing again asleep awoke no more until the morning. (TO BE CONTINUED ) AiaNld&a.II� i, B In the street—Hat lifted when saying " Good -by." or " How do you do V' Al- so when offering a lady a seat, or acknow- ledging a favor. Keep step with any one you walk with. Alwaya precede a lady up stairs, but ask if you shall precede her going through a crowd or public place. At the street door—Hat cff the moment yon atop into a private hall or office, Let a lady pass first always, unless she asks you to precede her. In the parlor—Stand till every lady in the room, also older people, are seated. Rise if a lady enters the room after you are seated, and stand till she takes a seat. L )ok people straight in the face when they are speaking to you. Let ladies pass through a door first, standing aeide for them. In a dining-room—Take your seat after ladies and elders. Never play with your knife, ring or spoon. Do net take your napkin in a bunch in your hand. Eat as fast or slow as others, at;d finiah the cnrroe when they do. De not tisk to be exeaaed before the others unless the reason is imperative. Rare when ladies leave the room, and stand till they are out. ,If all go together, the gentlemen stand by the door till the Indus pass. Spoeisl rube for the mouth—Smackicg the lips and all noises should be avoided. If obliged to take rsnythlug from the mouth, cover it with your hand or napkin. The Two Anf„els. FROM Tua aaa0arr. Darkness falls. The voloa of day Is dying, Twilight slowly creeps noon the sky. ,,o, two brother angels earthward flying— Sleep and Death—with errands from on high. One of them, in heavenly beauty glowing, Scatters grains of blumber far es d wide, Which the rising breezes gently blowing) 4 Writ from house to house on every tido. Soon the wearp all ere soundly eleoplr-- Pain at last the bad of sickness Rtes, See't repose has hushed the mourner's weeping Rind oblivion closed his tearful eyes. Now the aged, weary, ozre.o'erladen, And the intent en his mother's arm, And the ruddy youth and blooming maiden Sweetly rest without a thought of harm. „ When they waken, brother, they will gladly Praise me for the good which 1 bestow.” " None to me " the other answered sadly, "Thanks will render. I am oohed their foe." NaWhen untfor o ahe brighter lite ood will they ris , brother, When their blessed spirits meet enoh other In the shining fields of Paradise." Why Her Hair Turned White. Mr. Daseuberry, here's a story of a man's hair turned white from fright. Now, that's a little hard to believe, isn't it ?" " Oh, no, my dear. The medical books are frill of such cases. I once say a girl's hair turn white right before my eyes. She was on a chair -back reaching for pre- serves on the top shelf of a panty. The chair tilted, and sho fell heavily to the floor." "And her hair turned white I" "When I helped her up her hair was an white as the wall." 'r Oh,that's an exaggeration, Mr: Dusen- berry, Caused by fright, wee it 1" " Well, I don't know that I'll insist upon that part of it, ray dear. She had lauded her head in the meal tub." —sea. ewe ---•An envelope Is like a woman. It can't go anywhere without address, HUNDREDS or WOLYES IN Ii. CAPE. THEY ARE ROUTED OUT OF TIHEIIR WOMB. HOME BY 'TEE HUNTERS. A day or two ago a farmer carne into Le►wrence, Kan., with the report that he had dieoov ered a nave on his farm that war inhabited by prairie wolves, and from what he could find out they numbered aboub three hundred. He had killed a few, but the rest would nob come out, and he was afraid to enter the cave. Pre- parations were at once made to raid the den. A large party arrived at the place the other morning, and turning the dogs loose, one or two of them rushed into the cavo and were at once torn to pieces. A force of men then commenced oper- ationo, and in a short time ring a hole in- to the cave back of the wolves. Two men entered, and all the doge that could be found, and advauced on the rear of the mess of animals, who had by thin time assembled in the front part of the cavern. The dogs became frighten- ed and beat a re'reat, and the men, ofter firing a few shots, also gob out. After an all -day's skirmish, the hunters decided to make a dash, drive out their prey, and kill as many as possible. All drew back from the front and kept quiet, and two men again entered, in the rear. This time they succeeded in caus- ing a stampede, and in a short time the cave wan empty. Zhe shooters did some good work, and by the time they were through about one hundred dead wolves strewed the ground. The others escaped, and the party returned minus four doge, but covered with glory. A grand hunt is proposed. It is supposed the animals wintered in the cava. He Didn't Advertise. A pointed illustration of the folly of trying to get along wibhout advertising co- cnrred quite recently. A very clever English writer aoj onrning in San Francis- 0odecided to de liver a lecture on"Literary Life nd London. He didn't deslre any newspaper assistance he said, as he wished the lecture to be a success on its own merits. So he hired a hall, and on the evening appointed repaired thither attired in full evening dress and with hie portfolio lee• turn under his arm. The audience didn't arrive. Eight o clock paeeed—eight fif- teen—eight thirty—but no one invaded the brilliantly lighted but empty chemberr At laet. bis heart was gladdened by the sound of faint footsteps and peeping tnrough the curtain he beheld two rather crummy looking parties Blink into the hall and take very back Beata. After another half an hour the crushed lecturer approached the pair of auditors and muttered something about there being a mistake in the date—the lecturer had missed the train—money would be return- ed at the door—lecture tomorrow even- ing. "Lector i—wet Lectet" I asked ore of the men. "Didn't you come here to hear the groat lecture on 'Literary Life?" asked the emi- nent writer. "Pard, said one of the two, earnestly, ' I will not deceive yer. We ve jot walk- ed clear up from San Jose, and as we ie busted an hain t no place tor go we thought we d sneak in here over night ter git outen ther weather. It was the last straw on the camel's back and they carried the lecturer home on a stretcher. Is Ignorance Bliss ? When it was diacasoed among the students of forty years ago, whether civ- ilization contains more happiness than the savage ccndition, it was forgotten that we cannot secure the facts upon the sav- age side of the case. Ib is wholly ins posalble to call the witneesea, because they would not comprehend our question• nor should we understand their replies. Upon the tido of civilization we could a:;le the ills of poverty, crime, dlseaae, baffled hopes, unhappy marriages, disappointed ambition. the injteattce of gcvernment, and of man to man, but when it cones to hear- ing the other side, the barbarian con ld not be called, nor if called, could he fin d any interpreter. We know, indeed, that poverty is an evil, vain longings are an evil, unhappy married life, 111 health, failures in business, vloaa, sins, all are evils ; but when we ark what it is to be a Sioux Indian, or a Fiji IBlander, or a bushman of Afrloa—a mind that has a few grunts for a language, revenge for amusement, raw meat and stupid sleep for luxuries—no answer can come to us' because we have never been in that death of the soul and mind, and therefore cannot come as by a resurrection to bring any report into the court of c.vlllzatlon. If one wore to ask you whether ib were butter to be a man or a dog, it would ho almost imperative for yon to confess the difficulty of rho answer, because of your inability to secure all the facts upon the dog's aide. An African New Year's Card. Tho oddest use of the cactus prevails in Cape Town, South Africa, where its leaves are made to serve the purpose of visiting-oarde. Fancy carrying about in year coat pocket a lot of thick Ieaves covered with opines as sharp as needles! But, wait a moment. The leaves of the particular kindofcactus Bo need are not very prickly, and, moreover, they are not carried about, but aro left growing on the plant, which stands at the foot of the front steps. When is lady calls she has only, to draw out one of those ever ready hat pine, with which ladies are always provided, and with the sharp point scratch her name on the glo ,sy, green surface of a leaf. A. g, nblcman generally uses the point of his penknife. The lines turn silvery white and remain on the leaf, clear and distinct, for years and years. On Now Yemr'n day these vegetable cards are specially convenient, and ladies who wish to keep the calls of that day apart from thosoof other days, appropriate a branch of the cactus to that purpose. " What a beautiful marine 1" oilclaimed a lady at a picture gallery. " Beg your pardon, team," said a laboring Toa n em- ployed about the premises, "but I am a periecenian. It's the blue clothing what desaved yen." ARE TUE RICH uAI' i'x AN OPINIION THAT RICHES Do NOT RHINO IIAPI iNrSS. May thero'nob be sono mistake aboub bhe power of Na large fortune to make a man llaDpy 7 ay 'Ib not be trap that oar- rying $200,000,000 or even $0;000,000 for board and clothes ie doing a €reet deal of hard wfor, v!mo pI If a morkan eatinery g couldall kayeep pane will his wealth, if Mr. Vanderbilt could swat- low cord of tenderloin, and a ton of nlap- j seise for breakfast, a groan of turkeye and .an ocean of champagne for dinner, then his great wealth would amount to some- thing; but he does net enjoy his rioh din- ner Half at much as ono of his humblest workingmenenjogs a cruet, Mr. Vander- bilt probably oonoumer wide indifference four inches of sausage, followed by heart- burn and a ballcon full of gas, while hie poorest railroad digger uerounds with eager joy sixteen inches i sausage, and w secretly wishes sausage vheaper. The digger eats four times the length and enjoys it ten times as much. Multiply four by ten std yon have forty. This poor digger is forty times as well off at the table an the richest man in the world. And in the luxuries of life the table occu- pies a very prominent place. When Mr. Gould reaches horse and his rubber has spent an hour in trying to rub life and appetite into him, he goea to the table. Just an he begins to pick up a lite; tie, and sip a little, all at once the skele- ton of some wretched stook apeonlation darts before him, and even that little ap- petite is gone. And yet, hie gardener who enjoys with keenest relish every mouthful of plain food, monrna that he cannot take Mr. Gould's plane; not to secure food, for he has enough of that; not to secure clothing and bad, for he has those; but to be envied by hie nelghbora, and swester than all else, to have the street point at him with the exclamation, "That's hien 1 That's him l" If this silly gardener knowa what he is wishing for, and ebill goes on wiehing, he is a fit subject for an insane asylum. If Mr. Astor oonld wear a thousand coats at once, with as many breeches, a pyramid of hats reaching to the sky, and unnumbered boots, if he oonld be accom- panied by a procession of express wagons crammed and flattering with richest hand- kerchiefa loaded with choicest perfumes; if he could wear shirt collars of the finest Irish linen so wide that they would turn over and drag on the very ground, orif he could wear gold garments covered with diamonds, then his great fortune would be gorgeous. Bat Mr. Astor probably wears but one suit of clothes at a time. He may indulge in silk underwear, bub it le not as gocd as the workingman's flan- nel; he may wear fine boots, but the akin was probably taken from the back of an untitled calf, and if examined, would be found very much! letk that worn by the janitor of one of ie twelve hundred hm�ae4 If Mr. Mackay could get out of one regal bed and into another more regal, every 30 seconds all night long, his enor- mous wealth would tell, But he ooeupies a single bed, after the poor man's fashion, and hie snoring is probably quite as bar- barous as it was when ho was working in the mines at four dollars a day. I have watched the faces cf rich men when they were entering church on a pleasant Sabbath morning, and again as they left, and havejtought unless these people are coneumenate actors, assuming an expression of discontent and dissatis- faction, they are not happy people. I have talked with some of these rich men, asking them frankly if their money made them happy":: Their answers confirm the testimony of their faces. Their load of care and endless round of social dissipa- tions bear heavily upon them. I have known a great many working- men. such as carpenters and blacksmiths. They are generally interested in their lit- tle homes, well acquainted with their wives, watch with loving interest the pro- gress of their little ones in free schools, earn an honest living, are envied by no one, are free from vexing caree, enjoy good health, and with it ell the sweet and natural blessings of Iife. I have studied the faros, and have talked with them, and, unions they are also consummate actors and hypocrites, they are fivefold happier, and therefore, five -fold better off than the rich, A Dignified Editor. The champion fighting editor of the country lives at Albuquerque, N. M. As the story goes. eleven cittzena of the vari- ety known as "toughs," came to the con- clusion, a short time ago, that it was their duty, in the interest of law and order and„ the purity of the ballot box. to take the editor out and hang him. Now, our Al. begnerque journalist lived alone is a leg cabin, oonaisting of a Bingle room with a cellar underneath. His only companion, a pet grizzly boar, ocoupied the cellar. On the night when the editor had good ren • sons to expect a visit from the reformers, he retired to the cellar and Ieft the upper room to the grizzly. At the hour of mid- nighb eleven ataliireart men arrived with a rope. They batDown the door and rushed n eager fie fray. They a sued f oa had g Y y no light; but they rushed against their man, as they supposed. For an editor, he showed unusual plunk and strength, He went for the lyxtchers with such acti- vity that the fight wan over in five min- utes. In the gray of early morning three men turned up in Aitugnorque, each with an eye toriraing. One man called at the dcabor'r] c face with one foot and three fin. gera chewed off. The remaining seven re- formers wero loafing around on the streets, more or lens mutilated. Whetntho alleg- , ed facts of the fracas got oat, tl'e editor beoteme the most popular man in the terri- tory. Hie paper is doing a booming busts Hess, and he can get any office he wants, He still keeps the grizzly in the cellar, ready for an emergency. --•----.mnse.-y.ao.fl-twat • Mr. Young, of Wabash, Minn., locked his wife in the house; Mr. Potts', of P. kin, Wiet, locked his wife out of the house, and now both women. axe ening for divorce. It certainly is a difficult thing to please a wonari. "What station do you call tide?" asked a man as ho Drawled out of a railroad Wreck. "Devastation," responded the passengers in chorus.