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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1892-12-9, Page 22 BEYOND RECP.I,L. CHAPTER XIX. A coast's OP .°anal'8, "I've seen eel like this before, Sim," Maid the old warder to his urate, when they led me bank in speechless madness to my cell. " Leave hfm to himself, poor beggar ; he'll come round when the fit's over," Be was right. When the paroxyere had 'taken its course, I sank down like one ex- hausted in the darkest corner like a beast beaten and tortured to the last stage of en- durance. I lived ; there seemed little other difference between hie and the bricks and stones against which I lay huddled up. My first feeling of returning animation was a sense of hunger—not physical lunger, buta spiritual craving for that which was as nec- eseary to my existeuce as bread to for starving victim of famine—every way as strong, as urgent, as maddening. I must have vengeance, or lose what vestige of reason remained. What was not to be ob- tained by force must be got by stratagem ; that was suggested by the subtle cunning which took the place of wild fury. There is a certain method in every case of mad. Hess. I was sufficiently self possessed now to look at my position calmly; to reason upon it, as it seemed to me, justly and even gen- oroasly. This is wrong, ' I argued with myself. "Nothing in nature can exist contrary to the laws of right and reason. It is against the will of Good and man that the guilty should enjoy bhe fruits of their orime while their victims rot in unmerited misery. An end must come to that: justice must triumph. My wife has done nue the foulest wrong that ever one human creature inflicted upon en - other. It would have been a guiltless act in comparieon to have thrust a knife into hey heart as she bent over me that night. Never mind that. How do we stand now ? She has suffered through my folly: I have suffered through her fault. Every day adds to the sum of my misery : every day dtnmin- ishes her suffering. That's not fair. If we go on that way the balance of misery will ne all on my side, It's time to clear orf the old scores. If I take her life and my own at the same time, end by the same blow if pos- sible, there'll be an end to the whole wretched business. Never mind if I ane still a loser on the transaction: we shall be equal when wo lie side by side—dead. Life is not a farce—not a drama, even for no ; it's a grim tragedy, and that is how it must end. How shall I do it? Easily enough with the first weapon to hand when I come within arm's reach of her treacherous, faithless heart. Weapons ! aly naked hands will serve well enough to destroy her. It was Providence that glued my tongue to my palate when I tried to denounce my wife before the old vicar audthe warders. Mere• ly to publish her infamy would be a pitiful and mean vengeance, out of all proportion and harmony with her colossal guilt. Be- sides, who would believe the word of a convict against her whose looks are all innocence. The fellow's a maniac, they would say. In that way I should defeat my own purpose. Sevenoaks, Kent that's where they live—she and the man who helped to get rid of me. Oh, he may live ; there are scoundrels as bad here, and it isn't him whom I loved and trusted. How am I to get there—how to escape from this place? That's the question . Not by heedless force. I must avoid the folly of such an attempt. I must keep my temper under control—not dwell too much on the delight of vengeance until itis quite within my reach. They must suspect nothing if I am to hood -wink them here. Thank Heaven again for choking down the words that would have betrayed me 1 I must keep my strength up : feed well, sleep well, go on with my work day by day in the same way as before, keeping the chaplain and every one else in the dark while I watch and watch for the opportunity which Providence must surely offer for the accomplishment of justice that is more that human. I am but an instrument in the divine hand." With this knew incentive I picked my. self up from the ground as I heard the or- derlies coming down the corridor with the tea. The warder found me washing my face. " Well, do you feel a bit better now?" he asked. "Yes, sir ; Pin all right again now. I was a bit upset, not having seen a friend for getting on for five years." "I said so. I ain't been here thirteen years without learning something of human na- ture. Told the governor he needn't feel anx- ious about you. " No, sir ; please tell hits, with my respects, that I am much obliged for bis consideration, and that I shall be glad to go out just the same as ever to -morrow morning." The next morning I went with the gang down to the fields, and•there something oc- curred which to my excited imagination seeined nothing less than a Divine inter- position. We were clearing the potato plantation, which lay on the very outskirts of the culti- vated land. In one corner was a great bon- fire that had been burning for a week, and close byita stack of potato haulm and neb- bish carted from a newly tilled patch of moorland for consumption. Two men had been occupied for four days in feeding the fire and stacking the rubbish as it came up. It was an envied employment, for the men at this work could talk together to their heart's content. Now, whether the warder saspeeted that these two men meant mis- chief or not I can't say ; bub when we got on to the ground he called one of then bade as they were going off to the fire, and, nodding to me, said— " You can have a tura at that job to -day, as you're net over strong: a day's digging will do you good, Cowen." Cowan looked at me as if he wished mo dead, and turned away muttering to him- self. I joiner. the other man, whose name was Tilly, a comer, and wo set to work, the warder h vi"g given directions as to what emelt was to do, For half an hour after he was gone he worked in silence—Tilly look- ing only less displeased with the change of mate than Cowan, 0uoo or twice I caught him looking ab me with doubt and barleos• ion on his fano, At length, when our eyes again met, lie satd, is the undertone habit- ual to convicts. "Have you got such a thing as a heart in your body mate?" "What's that to you?" Tasked, "If you had you could help a poor fallow what's got a wife anti children hard tip for the wants of him," While 1 was digeseing this hint he went to the heap for a shovel- ful of rubbish. "And if you hadn't," he added, coming hack to my side, " you might stend se chance of helpingyourseif." Whet d o you mean ?" "No splitting. You know bow a split• er gels rounded en hero, first or last. "I know. No one ever knew me tosnWe. I'm not a fool. Say what sots like, or bold your tongue, it': all one to 15)5. THE BRUSSELS POST. DEC. 9, 1802. He fetched another shovel of rubbish, and, having given me another searching look, be said— " If Cowan hadn't been took off, either him or me would have been a free man to- night. One can't get away without the other." "Are both to nsoapo together ?" " No ; one must help the other and stay behind. That's why I ask if you've got a heart in your body.' I've got a heart but I'd glee every drop of blood that's in it to be free for forty-eight hours," said 1, &erectly. "You can t get away unless I show you how ; so you might help a poor fellow and be none the worse off for it ;" and then he mala an appeal on behalf of his wife and olildren that might under other conditions have led mo to help him. But I had no feeling of tenderness. I was impressed with a belief that providence had put an oppor- tunity in my way that 1 must use to my own ends, " No," said 1; "I won't make a hand stir to save you unless I have an equal ohaneo of escape," Well I'm game to leave it to ohaneo," said he, "same as Cowen and me went, though he's been helping at the job for four days, and you've done nothing. We'll draw lots who's to get away." "Right," said I, eagerly. "And if Heaven's hand is in this I shall win," I add. ed to myself, with the conviction that I should succeed. " First of all, we bind ourselves by all that's square to abide faithfully by the oast. The one who loses to do as much for the other as if it was for Itis own self." "I agree to that," " Then presently when 1've gone to the top of the heap to show myself, and see old Graves !nor none of the guard is about, we'll draw our lots." A shifty look in his eye lad me to suspecb that if he lost he might suggest some impos• sible scheme for me to attempt, reserving Ids own for another occasion. I was already too canning to be outwitted by another's subtlety. " You'll have to show me how the thing's to be done before we draw lots," said I. " Curse your suspicions," growled he, savagely ; ' I've a good mind to give it yen. He went off, and for a time left me in fear. fel doubt whether he wound not abandon the scheme; but presently, to my intense relief, J. saw him scramble up the heap and glance all around as he forked the rubbish down, ' It's no good falling out," he said, more cheerfully, when be cams back ; " the chance might never come again. Graves may take me off to•inorrow. Look about you, mate, and tell me if you can see any sign of a hole long enough for a cove to lay himself down in,' I worked my way round the fire, shovel- ling the stuff on and patting it down, all the while searching the ground round about for the sign of any hole or displacement of earbh. " No," said I, Doming bank to Tilly ; " I tan see no hole," "There is one, though, not six foot from where you're standing. And a nice old job we've had to get the earth out and fill up the place with tater tops, and we shouldn't a' done it never if the wind hadn't been a blowing down so as we could work in the smoke. See that bit o' red brick over there ?" Yes," " Go over there and make pretend to be scraping the bits together; drive your fork down close to the brink, and you'll feel the tater tops underneath," I did as he bade me. Standing with one foot beside the brick, I could neither Bee nor feel any difference between the earth there and the surrounding ground ; but when I thrust my fork in, I perceived that Tilly had told the truth. With a look ands nod I expressed my satisfaction on back. " We'll bank the fire in before going up for dinner, and when we conte back we'll open a vent on this side. I've got a bit o' damp stuff !lankly, to clap ou, that'll make a rare smother; then if the wind'll only blow this way getting on for dark, we'll get out the tater tops, and one of us'11 gob in for the other to kiver over nice and comfortable in a jiffy. With a bit of green over your head you can breathe pretty well. I've tried it. Now For the draw. With the next forkful of rubbish he brought back two square piecesof palter ; both exactly the saute size, about an such square. One was marked with "0" and the other with "T." " Poor old Cowan, He'd gob everything ready, he had. This is Ins bit of paper what he was to try his luck on. Here's his letter, and this here's mine. You take his'n." He gave me the paper marked "0,"stuck his fork in the ground, and havinggathered some rubbish up in his arms and thrown it on the heap, came beck to me. "Now, then, look sharp," said he, " put your ,aper alongside mine—on the handle here: I laid my paper beside his, on the top of the fork handle, " Come close beside me," said he, "Give me your hand, and swear to act square by me as I swear to act square by you." I took the oath, ]folding his hand. "Now turn round, and when I say three, blow with me, and the paper as goes furthest from the fork ie the winner, and !'other is the loser. We turned ; he counted " one, two, three," and we blew. It mems ludloross enough now, hub then tie fever of hope and dread brought out drops of sweet on our faeee. The papers fluttered in the air and fell within a foot of the ground. The breeze caught up mine and swept it a couple of yards beyond the other. You've won, matey, said Tilly, in a tone of deep dejection. " I don't bear yon no ill will, but God help my wife and Ririe," CHAPTER XX. BURIED ALIVE. As I ate my dinner, I had time to refloat upon the hazardous undertaking before me. I know dant I must be for hours buried alive ; that when I broke out of my grave in the night, I must matte my way across the wild moor, eluding the men sent out in pursuit ; and that before I dared to von. Wire near a taws, 1 must procure some sort of costume to conceal my prlaan dress. The scheme was desperate enough to daunt, in ha very inception, any ono but a convict or a madman, It had no terrors for Inc, I could not oven ,impbt the inane, believing, es 1 did, that I was the chosen instrument for the exentiou of a Divine vengeeseo, " if the wind don't change, it's all up," said Tilly, when we were none agars, "with the smoko 0 blowing that way the can never open the ground, lot alone lay yen n, and cover you up, without being spotted." '" If it isn't for to -day, it's foe to -morrow," 1 replied, calmly, '"Snpposin' the wind's contrary to morrow, or suppose old Graves jobs you off a digglse , how then, matey ?" "I shall escape all tiro same," said I, "Do you drink Cowan was ivapired with the idea of making that pit for nothing? Do you believe he was called away for Wei hing, 15 ie nothing that Graves singled ole out to take his place—nothing that the same breath of wind carried my piece of papas further than yours?" "',Well,"replied TIlly ;" your questions is periLplesicing, but 1'11 answer for 1t, Owen wouldn't have boon inspired to make !bat pit if he'd ti guessed he was serapin' it out for you, As for old Graves calling him off for nothing, and putting of you. in his place, all Ioan say is I hopes Cowan won'b take it nasty end blow on us, With regard to the breeze a oarryin' your lot furder than mine, the on'y remark I've got to stake is dam the breeze!" We worked for some time in silence, and then, after eyeing me curiously, he said— " I've beau thinking over your argument, nate. It do seem curious that things should turn out one way when they might Peet as easy tarn out another, Are yea a religious cove ?" ' I believe in a just God," said I, with a strange feeling of exultation. " Ah, that's it 1 I knew a man who got on wonderful just because he got what he called faith ; and he didn't have to work hard, nor pick pockets, nor nothing. There must be something in it ; still," said be, rubbing his stubby chin, and looking up at the smoke, " I should feel more oonfident like if the wind would change a bit. It ,won't be amiss, neither, to keep on banking up tine fire !'other side Again wo worked for some time without speaking. "1 say, of you're a real religions sort of covey," he said, breaking the silence, "and if you could allow that 1 ve got some kind of hand is getting you off, you might give my poor old woman a bit of a help when you're safe and comfortable." I reflected for a moment, and recollect- ing the money Mr. Renshaw held at may disposal I promised I would help his wife if he told me where to find her. "I'll tell yon where to find her for cer- tain," said he. "But, first of all, let me know what you intend to do. If you get there in the dark, which way shall you go?' "I shall trust to the guidance of Provi dente," said I. "For a change of togs and a bit of ready money and everything?" his eyes growing round with wonder. I nodded. "It's slicker !" he said, giving up the mys- tery of faith with a shake of his head. "However, if it don't go against your prin. oiples, you'd better keep in a straight line with the run of the $ighStreet;keep on goin' right over the hollow, ever so far, till you oome to a brook ; and when you coma to that brook, take and turn to your Left hand, and go on and on along that running water till you reach a bit of a bridge made of wood. Standing on that bridge, if there's any light at all, you'll see a sort of a cottage by the side of the road leading to the bridge, which might have been a turnpike house once on a time. Most likely there'll be a nigghblight burning in one of the windows that will tell von for sure that there's no mistake. You knock three good raps at the door, and when you hear a voice say, ' who's there ?' say this, 'It's me, Jack Tilly.' Then the door will be opened, and a woman will let you in. That woman is my wife, and she'll take mere of you for my sake, bless her heart." His eyes filled with tears. "I can't help it," said he, dashing his cuff up to his face and stamping his heavy foot. "I thought to hear her voice and see the little ones." " We've been hopiu' andhopin' and look. ingforrarde to it solong," he oontinued,pree. eptly. "The old woman managed to put by a bit of money out of her earnings, and when she thought she'd got enough, she left London and took this bit of a house, laying up things for me against the time 1 should get away ; but her money's all gone, pretty nigh, and she must go back to London, and there's au end to all our hopes of meeting, unless you give her a bit of help to keep her and the kids alive until another chance -turns up. It's all her in. vontion, and her 'as kept mo hopin' to got away. She knew I could never get off the moor without togs and a bit of money; and I'll tell you how she managed to let me know without getting her letters stoPped by the governor. She's a scholar, you know; a regular first -close scholar, as writes like a dictionary. Well, I couldn't snake it out at fast, ]tow she cane bo write so badly, and spell her words wrong, till I found out one day that every letter as wasn't square spelling went to make up the words she mad to tell me secretly. There's for you 1 When I tumbled to it, 1 took to spelling bad my- self, and that way we've kept up a regular conversation unbeknown to any one. God knows when I shall get another chance of cutting away, and then perhaps Providence will send some other cove to profit by it. However, matey, I won't grudge you your good fortune if you do a good turn for the mteaus. ° Our shadows grew hanger and longer. Ab length Tilly passing me with his fork, said, with ill -concealed sarcasm, "If the wind don't change pretby quick, you'll have to make up your mind as Providence don't mean you to hook it to -day." Ab that very momenb the column of smoke swirled round and enveloped us. We got nub of it, rubbing our smarting ayes, and Tilly choking with the pungent, acrid fu S es that had got clown his throat. To me this was nothing short of a Divine demonstration. I think bite effect upon Til- ly was scarcely less uonvin ing. "There mase be something in ib," he said again, gasping for breathg_. " it's a warning if ever there was one, Well, now for it, anyways. Cone en, matey." He made his weyiindo bho cloud of smoke bending down close to the ground. I fol. lowed °lose at his heels, "Iles" wo are," he said through his closed lips as he came to a stop ; "'stick your hands in down there, and lay hold of the snuff in a lump." I plunged my hands through the loose earth, and laid hold of the roll of closely matted haulm. N ith one or two vigorous jerks wo scattered elide the overlying earth, and then a strong and long pull brought up the roll "Beck 10 the doe out of this 1 Pin a bead lie" His £eco was purple through holding his breath so long when wo mob on the side op- posite the smoke. I couldn't have stood 10 another minute Without bnrebhi , maid he ; end it won't be amiss to shote ourselves, When you ere me go clown off the tap of the heap, you pat your way round the fire into the smoke, and melte for the hole again. This wind wont he'd on forever." 1 obeyed his instrnetinns, and ranee more we met in tine smoke beside Lino long that. low pit. s1 In yougo,euro and good luck to I Y Y, yon," said he; the wind's balding," I bhrew niyeelf in the (tole and stretched myself one full length on my fano. Tilly stuffed a lump of haulm aboetmy head, and with furious haste shovelled the loose earth upon ins, " Lord help us, the smoke's going I" T heard him !nutter. "Don't stir, Time enough when we're sawn. It's all rigitb; the amolre's hanging on the ground, and rolling over towards old (leaves, 1 nusb stamp it down a bit. Never mind if it hurts a bit. ilia words grew fainter and fainter as the earth closed c niekerand deep. er over inn, The last words I distinguished were, "Don't forgeb the missus and the youngsters ; be good to 'cue." But 1 heard the grating of the shovel above still a little longer ; then that ceased, ' He has gone bads to the fire," thought 1. `fro are much of a size, he and 1; by allowing himself first in one plane, then soon after in another, which le easy euongh with bhe smoke about, no ono'tvill suspoet that one of the two men Is gone. He will do that, wibhont doubt, for the love of his wife and children. Poor wretch! he would give anything to be lying here in my place, but what would I give—my ohanoe of liberty, my life—all, to change places with him in the love of one good woman? What a con- trast between ns; he longing for escape to help the woman whose love for him is pure end noble ; I, to take the life of one who is steeped to the lips in infamy. How shall I do it? I must hide in that cottage till my hair is grown, and the prison look is worn off from m face • then I mush go to Seveuoaks and find her out, But hw shall I ]rill her? I need not trouble my head about that. Tltot power that is leading me to her will put the means in my way. It is decreed; who can avert the blow ? There's the shovel ab wore again ; the wind has blown the smoke over me. It would seem marvelous this combination of helpful oir•' onmitances if one had no faith but in aced. dont, I felt that the earth was being stamped down upon my body. I could not move a muscle; ft seemed as if I were encased in solid concrete. livery minute respiration was becoming more difficult, With each breath a ton of earth loomed added to the weight upon my loins and shoulders, " You're all right?" asked Tilly, his voice sounding far away. " Yes," I answered with as much force as I could muster. The sense of suffocation—a terror to think of now—have me no moral uneasiness then, The physical pain was nothing to nee ; I knew that Providence would enable tea to live it out. Gradually these pains gave place to a numbness in the lower extremities, as if death were stealing upon tee, but the suffer- ing from fullness in my head and chest was unabated. I tasted blood in my mouth ; my lips wore wet with it. 1 was losing consciousness, when, above the gushing and throbbing of the blood in my ears, I distinguished the hurried tramp of feet above and tate report of two shots fired in succession. " They have found out my escape," thought I. " Thank God, one stage in this ordeal is peat." I had no knowledge of how long I had been lying there. If these men had been mustered for return to prison when my ab - sense was discovered, thou it must be nearly five. How long must I lie now be. fore it would be dark enough to break outs How could I tell? How could I measure time when every minute must seen an !roar ? Then the terrible question came to mind shall 1 have the force to stove when 1 darn to venture ? All feeling was gone from my limbs ; they might be dead and powerless. Could I exist till Tilly came the next morn- ing to find the ground as he lefs it ? Would he nob find me dead? Could I endure this suffocation even an hour longer? Must not a vessel burst? As my faith bogey to waver my torture increased, Dread of some physical agony beyond any I had yet en- dured began to madden tee. What were they doing above there ? At one moment I heard the sound of shovels scraping the ground. Had Cowen, learning my escape and seeing no further hope for himself, told of tine means by which I had ob- tained concealment? Were the men enroll- ing the ground for me ? Was 1 being dug out like a ferret? A moment later I felt the heavy thud of earbh being thrown down ; I felt it strike the ground over my ohesb : it was like a rib being driven into my lungs. Then I could no longer draw breath. What had happened? Wore they burying nee deeper and deeper, rendering escape impossible ? With less faith in mire ales, Tilly had thrust a piece of wood through the ground into the haulm which eurrouuded my head; this he carefully withdrew now, leaving a channel for the entrance of air. Neverthe- less, the pain of breathing increased • my face, my tongue, my nook swelled as 11 the vessels trust break with the blood, forced upwards from my constricted limbs and body. Then a terrible cramp seized my feet and crept slowly upwards. It was as if my tendons were being dragged from the muscles. My fingers began to tingle, as if they were being powerfully galvanised ; and then the same tearing of nerve and tendon spread up my arms, Without that strange semi-relfgioua confidence in Divine grace the torture would have been unendurable, and 1 must have buret out of the grave in which I lay buried. With tbo mnvuleive efforb of a man at the point of existence, blind now to the eon- sequences, oysequences, unconscious of the thing I did, my limbo contracted violently, and I heaved my shoulders up. Oh, that first gasp of air 1 I can give no idea of its effecb upon me, for every form of physical relief is inadequate to describe it by comparison. Whether 1 was safe from discovery, or whether I had betrayed my. self, was, at the time, a matter of indiffer• once ; it was enough to feel that I breathed again. But presently Inoticed that the sound of falling earth still ccntinuod ; that showed I heel not been discovered. "How lait,"lasked myself, "that though tlsab terrible weight is removed from my body, and my head is comparatively Froe, I can see notbieg ?" Using my numbed Iambs little by little as they regainer! strength, I raised my body high. Still all was clack. I raised my arms cautiously, and found that I was covered with dry potato haulm. Then the mystery was explained. The guard, suspecting I had concealed myself in the rubbish heap, were pulling it down and stacking it iu a fresh plane, and the lighter stuff had been thrown over the very spot where 5 ley buried, ('s0 mss OMIVttian, ) When Philippa Faweett, the bright Eng. lisp girl who ranked ste Cambridge "above the setter wrangler ,"was six years old, she was sem ttoher grandmother's in the country. One day, when the had been playing with n Drying doll as though it were alive, her grandmother sand! "Philippa, yourdell gives you a groat deal of bioulsle, Sh h. hell 1" said the olsfid, "It has been the ob. jean of my life to keep her from knowing that she is a doll I" - 'YOUNG FOLKS. Not .d True Story Tiloro le a funny little girl, who reads me overs day The moat surprising travels :frost a volume worn and grey In landsd wigo rerose trs nl000tnlceysbuy and sell, and talk, an And thorn me bons, numerous as tushes in a pool. Anddreadfulsavage mon whobuild greet antes out of bones, And dwarfs, whose woods aro bits of moss, their mountains pobble•sbonea, But the book in which the rude about those br'avellors of renown Is the Family Receipt Book, and she holds it upside down,. The Pumpkin•Pie Tree. At:sxs c:bRR SAun. Little Juan and Juanita 1'ettiboos stood in front of the farmhouse, biting half-moons out of generous pisses of such delicious, rich, spicy, hot pumpkin pie as only an old- fashioned hhousekeeper knows how to con- eoot, Now, some nineteenth century wise• acres contend thatpumpkin•pie making is a los tart, one that !vent out with the Pilgrim Mothers, But Mrs. Pottitoos' pastry was good enough for anybody, and, as the sav- ory morsels melted upon their tongues, Iter offspring nodded, and gurgled, and smaok- ed in a manner that expressed most entire and complete satisfaction. "Dood I Ithn't it?" lisped amallJuanita, "Prime 1 A regular Jim Dandy of a pie 1" agreed Juan, with a beaming smile. A smile thab was almost grotesquely reflected and exaggerated in the shining black conn• tenance of poor Ananias Crow, a lank Nepro boy, who just then ambled up, casting green glances of envy upon the tempting brown and yellow slices fast disappearslg down two narrow "reel lines." icor this son of Africa, who had breakfasted very lightly that morning, was painfully conscious of an inward oraviug in the region of rho waist- band, while Itis " sweet tooth" seemed end• deny possessed with a jumping toothache. But if hunger sharpens the appetite, it sharpens the wits as well, and, instead of whining out a piteousappeal for a crumb of charity, in the manner peouliar to the pro- fessional beggar, this worthy namesake of the Bible falsifier came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the road, and hold isp both hands in horrified amnzeneenb, exolatming " Well, well, bress my soul i 11f you plaid• ensisn'tjest de most wastefullest critters I clone come across in a month of Sundays ! To be gobbliu' down punkin' pie in dat nr fashion, when you might raise a tree dat would gib per a dozen turnobers ebery day in de week d" " What do you mean by that?" demand- ed Juan, pausing in his crescent making, while little Juanita hid her lash piece of crust—the pert fancifully decorated by the jigging iron under her apron as though she feared the newcomer had designs upon it. "I mean what I see," replied the wily youth, " Ain't you neber heard tall ob a pie tree?" " Why, no 1" and now the tiny pair drew near in curious wonder. " Is there really such a thing ?" " To be alto dere is 1 To be she ! And I'low you is dreiful iggeranb not to know dat' ", know there is a broad -fruit tree I" re- torted Juan, who, being counted rather a bright scholar, was stung by this slur ; "we learned about it in our geography. It is a native of hot countries, and beats a fruit resembling a loaf of bread in appearance." The lad rattled off this quotation with con- siderable pride. "Yep ! and I sped de pie tree he belong to de same fambly, Whar I was raised dey wits thick as pusley ; apple•pie trees, mince pie trees, cranb'rypie trees 1 Ef you is hongry, all you hab to do step out an'. help yourso'f to a hot tart," "Oh, dear 1 How niche 1 I with they grew here," sighed little Juanita. "So dey would. So dey would of you planted um. Dat's why I sez you is wicked, wasteful chillens to be swallowin' down dose slices instead ob turnin' um into seed." Big and bright as full moons booamo the four bine eyes gazing into mendacious Ananias's ebony features, which never flinched a muscle, while Juan :eked, with an excited tremble in his shrill, boyish voice, "Do you want its to believe that theee pieces of ma's pie would grow up into a tree?" "Grow I Grow like Jack's beanstalk if you plant um right; in a nice, sunny spot, wed a little fence aronn' um, but no earl on top. Day jest want de sun an' de air, an' dey spring up like toadstools, so in free days you hab snuff ripe pies to stock a bake. shop. S'pnse yer try it au see." "But we haven't a great deal left," said Juan, contemplating, somewhat ruefully, the remains of their feast. " There are five whole pities on the pantry shelf," suggested Juanita, in astage whisper. ""Den jest you borrow de biggest, an' next week yott kin return two for one," prompted the shrewd Ananias, who already saw prospects of a delectable meal (loatiug before his mental vision ; while a few more highly -colored statements from his rosy im- agination soon sent the small Petbitoes danc- ing off in a perfect ferment of enthusiastic anticipation. And, in the dusk of evening two figures might have been Peel emerging from the farmhouse, bearing something carefully between them ; something which they hid, or planted, in bhe south corner of the One Acre lot. "Now, we mustn't look at it for three days," remarked Juan, as he hammered in the last paling of a protecting inelosnro. "But, thea, we cin make a Thanksgiving and Christmas for every one ill the neigh. borhood. Olt, won't it be fun I and how surprised and pleased ma will be 1" But I fancy the mother would have been more astonished than delighted if, an hoer later, the could have beheld a certain naughty, black Crow supping 'upon her masterpiece, and chuckling gleefully ab the result of his strategy, " You is cut out for a politician, 'Nina, my boy 1 You is, an' no mistake 1" he ejaculated several times, as he smacked Isis lips with enraptured gusto. Strange, too, to relate, the dreams which What night visited the pillows of Juan and Juanita and those which eeepb under she Negro lad': kinky wool wore very ranch of the same ebaracter. For both tools the form of an extremely flourishing and !vide -spread ing tree, that bore an hatched pumpkin pies; but, while one &lowered tempting tartlets upon the happy little white !elks, the other appeared to spring from the chest of the wretched dreamer, crushed him to the very earth, until he awoke with a gasp and a scream, to find hitnaelf in the clutches of a wild and distressing nightmare, paused, who shall say, whether by the late, rich repast, or by the qualms of tui uneasy eon. &donee? Only, l fear, harem seamen Ananias was seldom troubled with moral dyspepsia, But, rho next horning an licssb wird blow in the 1?ettitoes, homestead, and Mrs, Pcttetocs, ---whose tamper was almost as hot as the ginger with which eke flavored her pies,. -•w11(1 sadly put out by the disappear - :moo of her largest and finest pastry. Clic ane designed for the minister's own coring, " Where is my pie ? The parson's pio?" s11e demanded again and again, until, ob. serving the red (Meeks and sheepish looks of her son and daughter, alto pounced upon them, and by maim £epee as ib worn, drag. god from their unwilling lips an ucoount of their attempt at pastry farming, "13ut--but, ib W'on't aproutifyou look let it for three days," etatemersd the nreliin, who was on the verge of tsars, " Three days I fiddle:ticks 1 Lead me to the spot ab once I" commanded the irate dame, and, sorely egainab their will, the children were obliged to concl»ot her to the south corner of the One Acre lot, " No, it hover will grow, beeauth it itln'b here," announced Juanita, who stripped ahead, and Hest stooped down to examine the seed, " Of course .Cs not there 1" exclaimer) her mother, "Thab chip of the old Scriptural block Inas seen to that, you :lay be sure, and, if I could catch the pi•o,es fraud, I'll teach him the moral of his fairy tales 1" "Only die weasel ain't gwnle to be cotched," chuokted an eavesdropper behind the fence. "While as for you, silly children, you can parry the next best pie to the minister, tend go without, yourself, for a month." This was a bitter sentence for the sweets. ovi ng little folks, and as, with unusually obs r faces, they trotted down the road in he direction of the parsonage, Juan re. marked to his sisber, "'Nita, I guess we'd better go out of the business, and give up trying to raise punkin•pie trees." STAGE FRIGHT IN OLD SPEAKERS. Cnacs of Tienidtly and Dread Among Sea coned Graters. It has been recently stated by those who knew hien web that Mr. Spurgeon was still another example of the fact that public men often quake on the eve of their great sec. ceases. Though few guessed it, he was nervous in speaking, and one result of the disastrous panic at the Surrey Gardens in 1850 was that he ever afterward dreaded exeitemeutin greet audiences. At the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, 187'2, the orator was in buoyant and brilliant form. Yet be- fore delivering his address he had been at. tactced by nervous sickness in the ante. room. As we have suggested, this curious preliminary recoil seems to be a frequenb characteristic of the climes that establish or increase fame. Inquiry shows that some form of timorousness dugs distinction like its shadow. It may have peculiar and even eccentricfeetttres. Mr. Edmund Yates has mentioned the case of a distinguished living politician, noted for his dash and aplomb while in the House of Commons, to whom on one occasion Sir Henry Hal. ford, the eminent physician, gave an ac- count of a railway accident. The narrator was elaborate in Ifs description, and it was too much for his listener's nerves. In bhe midst of the story the Doctor had to break off. Ilis friend was on the point of faint- inJg. oss lition of mind bordering on panic has often prevailed up to the test moment with men who have had to face critical audiences. The late Lord Derby earned the title of the " Rupert of debate " from Ids dashing alac- rity, but he declared, " When I am going to speak, my throat and lips are us dry as those of amau who is going to be hanged." He never rose to speak without experiencing a peculiar and very unpleasant " nervous tremor," The same was said of Lord Lynd- hurst. That eminent jurist and statesman was totally unable to fee himself, from. be. ginning to end of his career, of trepidation and nervous emotion when he got upon his legs to address either court or Parliament. Canning, too, told his friends that he knew beforehand, by a disagreeable set of symp- toms, when he should win and hold the ear of the House and extort the admiration even of his adversaries. He was always conscious of an ominous chill of fear, It meant not failure, as was his dread, but a fine oration. Emilio Castelar, the silver- tongued Spanish tribune, is simply miser- able on the eve of a great epeeols, His un- rest and anxiety on such occasions are a churacterisbiefeabure of the man. He wan- ders distraught about the building in which the Cortes is in session. "He rushes into the cafe to tale a glass of water ; seems to be seized with a fever; fancies he will not know how to put the words together ; that he will be laughed at or hissed ; eat a single lucid idea of his speech ronainsin his head ; he has confused and forgotten everything" —unbil the moment when he looks around upon the expectant fame end delivers the first sentence of his address. Then words do nob fail ; they oome to his help in state - 1y sonorous order. Then courage does not flag. He is a statesman with a mission, inspired and earnest. Every atone of timor- ousness has evaporated. A Curious Bird. A very strange bird, about which people in general know very litble, is the mound fowl of Australia and Guinea. This family of birds works things iarely on the com- mon wealth prinetple of Bellamy. They scratch up a large mound of earth and fat - age, in the thickest underbrush of the for- est, scoop out a hole on top of the knoll some distance toward the center, there de- posit their eggs ; fill up she hole, round off the top and leave their eggs to be hatched by the fet'tnentabion of the decomposing vegetable matter. The strange thing about it is that several females work in harmony, each depostting one or more eggs in the mound. The young chickens are full flodg- ed as soon as they make their appearance, and are not so much a source of caro and trouble to their mothers as youngsters usually are. These mound fowls have been studied with great inherest by naturalists, Ono Who ex- amined several mounds, some of which had not yet been eonpleted, says they aro about 411 feet in circumference, and if rounded in proportion at the top would have been fully 5 foot in height, Mounds with their tops rounded contain eggs. Those mounds that do not contain eggs have the centres so scooped cit es to form a hollow. The eggs are deposited in a circle with the strictest regard to geometrical precision. They rest on their smelter apex, and the earth around them has to be very carefully removed to avoid breaking the shell, which is oxtromely fragile when fleet exposed to the atmosphere. The interior of the mound is composed of the finer particles of gravel mixed with vegetable matter, the formation of which produces warmth sufficient, as abated, for the purpose of hatching. The heat around the eggs 15 about 80 o In appoaraneo these Mile resemble the domeatie few', bat they are extremely wary and so effectually con. oacl their hotbeds in the thick underbrush 'as to make their discovery depend almost wholly upon chanes. The fact that the mounds resemble the forest 'debris adds to the illusion that they are natural elevations of the ground, and increases the diflfenity of finding !het n, v—W Alen with grey or blue oyes are usually im"nr marksmen than those with dark eyes.