The Huron Expositor, 1914-07-31, Page 7••••.*
0
el
JULY 31, 1914
R. S. 1HAm r
liarrister, Solicitor, Conveyancer and
votary Public. Solieitor for the) Dome'
Aires Bk.. Otttee itt mar et the Dom- 1
geoe Bank, Seaforth. Money to loan,
. M. BEST.
literriete „ %elicitor, Conveaancer s.nd
getery Public. Office up-etaire over
Walker's turniture store, Main litreetA
feteforth.
HOLIMSTE13.
eSarrieter, Solicitor, Conveyancer sad
yarns for sale. Office, La Scott's block,
Vials street, Seaforth.
trBitIIDFOOT,_ RAYS & KILLORAtt.
Notary POlie. Solicitor for tne Cana -
Ikea Bseak of Commerce. Money to Iowa
Serristers, Solicitors, Notariee
etc, Mallet" to lead .11 Seaforth an Mon-
et each week. Office in Kidd hlock.
attelitt =EVE, V. fik •
Row graduate of Ontario Veterin-
exa Ooltarite- All diaeasea of Doneestic
Sealisals treated. Calls prorngtly attend.
sato and charges- moderate. Veterinary
ItontistrY a• specialty. °Mee and resi-
lience on Goderich street, one door east
et Itet ficott's °Wm Benteltia
• J't BARBARA V.
Senor graduate of Ontario Veterin-
ary College, and honorary member ist
She Medical Aeseciation of the Ontario
"Italian College. Treats diseases ot
siltionesstie Animals by the most mod-
liges geliciplete DentbtrY and- Milk lreve
er siescialty. Office opposite Dicks
WW1. Main street, Beaforth. Ali or -
bra lett at the hotel vrillreceiveprompt
attalitlan. Night calls received at the
Mose
4
1011DICALit
G. J. W. KARlf, H.D.alvt
425 Richmoral street, London, Ont.
Specialist: urgery and Genito-Urin-
say Diaea.ses cit men and. women.
vi.or••••••*111• • VORSMLOMWOMO,
Ban P, BURROWS.,
smog Asa risideaes--Goderich street,
Ma at tin Methodist church, Eleaforth.
'bone No. it Goroner for the County
fat igurtme
Datfi, SCOTT & tlateCKAY,
J. G. Scott, graduate ot Victoria and
1.bilegie -at PhYSICians and Surgeons,
Inn Arbor, and raemieer of the LC/Uteri°
ittetoner for the ConstY ot Humid
It Mackay, honor eFaduate ofTrinitY
versity, and gold. naedalitst Wilda,
itY Medical Ccillege ; raemeeeir dela cede
lege of Physicia.ns an,d aurgeonsiOntaalo
1at. H. HUGEl. ROSS.
Gxesluale of Univer ty at iTorotetex
ir
raenktY of Medicine, meraber of Cale
:Awe of Physicians an Burgilons of On.
ts.40; pale graduatereesjn Chicago
Mica School or Ohl ago; dloyal-Opha -
Umiak Nosedtel, Lo a, Engle- ;!
1;o t
itiliaersity College pital, Londoa
11. ,
1111110.Otthanack of 'the Dominion
Rank inatorth. Ph No. A: Night
Meillit answered from r eidenceatnatoria
atraati ileaforth,
titt. CTIONEERB.1.
ni011AS BROWN.
Lbws,* auctioneer for the counties
at Miran _aati Perth Correspondence
,r1111110.11sta for sale dates can be made
by' calling up Phowe 97, Beaforth, or
Tao Inpositor office. Charges 'soder-
atei and satisfactioa guarantee& .
JOHN A0oLut,
Licensed auctioneer or the counties
of Huron and Perth. eangernente for
wale dates cart he mar e by calling up
Phone 41, Seaforth, ' o The Expositor
Office. Charges moder te and sattsfac-
tion guaranteed.
13, _at PEI
Licensed auctioneer:
ot Huron and Perth.
farmer and thorought
the-_ value of !arm stock
acese me in -a- better
Satisfaction guaranteed
adze good 'prices. . C
orderer left in Exeter
eeeniptly asswered.
attended to.
IE.
or the countiee
eing a practical
understanding
and atiplereente
position to re -
or no pay. Ail
argee moderate.
ill be promptly
Immediate ar-
C. P. R Tit
Gu'elph and God,
TO TORO
e Table
rich Branch
TO
•• Goderich ...... .:......Lv.. 7.C.5 a m 2.00 p m
Auburn ..... ......... " .. - • T.O30 " 2.25 "
Myth, 4.a0 2.35 '
1 4 .
Walton., . - ... . .. " , T.52 " • 2.17 '
Ifilverton if !,,,,..t5 cr, 3.,20
Anwood Jct... 8:45 '' 3.40 " 1
tt
. 4 ;mum " ' 0.05 c 400 "
Guelph
Guelph Jet
Toronto.
4.ss t I
" 10.15 " 5.95 "
... . Ar. 1 .20 6,15.
, FROM TORNTO
' Toronto ...... . ao a. fn.
Guelpf. Ar 1..41 "
Guelph .. . "
.. .. ..5a•
1-1
Linwood it
.23
Milvertop " i .47
watton 1,
esetn
1.30 o
real
6.5C
7.72 “
7.13 14
8.36 "
"2.42'
p, rn. 9.25
Connection% at Linworid for Listowel. Con
• eotions at Guell 1 3t wit.h main line. for Cart
Vootistook, Lond(Ai Dc:roi nd Chicago an al
uterrediate
Gran, "[run
Syste
Railway Time
Trainsleavc Seatorth a% folk,
10.45 w For ClintOft • Goi
Kincardine.
1.2' p m For Clinton and
For Clintoa, W
dine.
11.1% p ra For Clinton and
7 5*. r•.-ni F,r- Stratford,
Orilla, North
Belleville and
east._
p For Stratforo„ Gu
trearand points
i• q. -For btrattord au
Rai way
able.
. •
forich Wingitaro o id
Goderich -
'wham and Kinoa
aorletioh.
Guelph, Toronto
y and Prima watt
eteri_loro and points
lph, Toronfoalon4'
t,
iph and Toronto
LONDON IlleRON di BRUCE.
:NOLTE Passenger
[.or.. &pat c 42 4 50
33 5 13
E rr. 44 5 51
65 6 05
Kipp.-ff, 10 01 6 Il
Bru-ei,e1-1, 10 00 6 19
Clifft,•ff, 10 25 6 35
Lor.11,-,..-I,E4c,. .„. • • • . ..... • ... • 11• 18 6 .52
UAL, 11 27 7 00
Belgrn; P. ... 4..-....... . .. . 11 40 7 13
Wirr,thaf••,. ft e .. .. .. 11 50 7 26
Stil Tit Passenger
Winzhata, ;it pirt 6 38
Belgrue, 6 50
Myth, 7 e4
Londei,ort,, 7 13
Clinton, '7 20
Brucetit-I-1, 6 28 .
Kippetf, 835
Hensall, .. 8 41
Exeter, 8 54
Centra".ia, 9 01
LOndoir,, arrive 0 52
-
3 33
3 44
3 56
0*
18
4 39
4 47
4 57
6 05
6 15
00
eatost
rt Stories
NoIiL.
-A MUNICIPAL .REPORT.
By 0, HENRY
0. nEii-stlt
Copyright by Doubleday, Page
-
Twenty-four famous authors were
asked recently to name the best
short story in the English len-
&age. NiontagueGlass,Gouverneur
Morris andRichardHarding Davis
'all declare that 0 Henry's "A Mu-
nicipal Report" is one Of the world's
greatest -short stories:
emir
PART 1.
AST is east and west is Sam
Francisco. according to eall-
forniane: Californians lerr a
race of people, they are not
merely inhabitants of a state. They
are the southerners of the west. Now,
Chicagoans are. ntt less loyal to their
they stammer and speak of ake fish
city,. but when you ask thra why,
and. the new Odd Fellows lbuilding.
But Califorinatis go into detail.
Of course they have in the "climate
an'argument that is good for -half an
hour while you are th4nking of your
coal bills and heavy underwear. Mit
ap soon as they come to mistake your
islience for conviction, Madness comes
ppon them and they picture the city
6f the Golden Gate as the Bagdad of
the new world. SO far, as a matter ol
opinion, no refutation is necessary.
Butl dear cousins all Mona Adam and:
,Eve l descended), it is a rash one who
•eviIi lay his finger on the map and
say, "In this town there can be no
romance -what ebuld happen ,here?"
tres, it Is a bold and a rash deed to
challenge in one sentence history, re
mance and the atlas.
Nashville. -A city, port-. of delivery and
the capital -of the state( Of Tennessee, is
on the Cumberland river tiad on the N. C.
and St L. and the L. an N. railroads.
This city is regarded as the most impor-
tant educational center inthe south.
I stepped off the train at 8 IC. m.
Having searched the thesaurus in vain
for adjectives, I MusIras a subetita-
lion, hie me to comparison in the form
of a recipe:
Take of London fog, thirty parts;
malaria, ten parts; gee leaks, twenty
parts; dewdrops gathered in a bkek
yard at sunrise, twenty-five parts; odor
of honeysuckle, fifteen parts. Mixel
The mixture -win give you an lap,
proximate conception. -of a NashVille
&bele , It is not ea fragrant as a
mothball nor as thick as pea soup, but
enough -'twill serve.
I went to a hotel in a turabriL 11
required. strong self suppresilon fin
Me to keep from climbing to the top
of ittancl giving an imitation, of Sidney
Carton. The vehicle was drawn hy .
beasts of a bygone era and driven by
soinething dark and emancipated.
Tlie hotel was one Of the kind. de-
scribed as "renotated." That means
$20,000 worth of new marble pillars;
plectrit lights andetbraSe`enspi-
doreiti the hibby and A new L. aid N.
timetahle and a lithograph -of Lookout
mountain in each one of the great
meats above. The management Inas
without reproach, the atteution fulref
exquisite southern courtesy, the serv•
ice as slot fits the progress of a snail,
and as good humored at Rip -Vail
kle. The food was worth -traveling a
.thousand Mites for. There is no ether
hotel in the World where you can get
such chicken livers en brochette. '
At dinner I aeked a negro waiter if.
there was anything doing in town:. He
pondered gravely for a minute; arrd
then eeplied, "Well, !toss, I doift really
reckontibere's anything at all doin'
after sundown."
-a-un3own bad been accomplisbed- It
had Veen drowned in the &title long
before. So that spectacle was denied
me. But I went forth upon the streets
in the drizzle to see what miglit be
there.
It is built on nnthilating grounds, ane
the streets are lighted by electriotty at a
cost of $32.470 per annuni. "
, •
I walked through, long- streets, alt -
lending uphill. I wondered how those
streets ever chme down again. Per-
haps they didn't Until they Were "grad-
ed.- On a few of the "nlutin streets" I
Saw lights in stores helve and theriii
env eteeet enter go by cenveying
thy burghers hither and yon; eaw pece
itle pass engaged in the art °emu -e'er.
gfrtion anti heerd a buret of semilie-elt
laughter issuing froma soda water
and ice cream parlord here was in-
deea little "doing-," r wished 1 lind
come before *sundown.; So 1 rettn.ned
to my liotel.
iiiN.;0-icamber, ISGI, the Confederate Gen.
eral flood advanced aratinsr Nashville
where he shut up a national forc.e uallet
tteneral Thomas. The latter then salllec.
forth and defeated the Confederates in n
terrible conflict. -
Ail my Reel had 'tenn• i of, edmiree
met wit -treed the tine merksmaneldi
of the sot th in its peaceful contlicisle
the tobitevo chewing regions. Bet 'it
my hotel it surprise aivaited.me. hitt
were twelve bright, new, unposmg,
pacious brass cuepalers in the groin
tall enough todie called tuns ane
sd wide mouthed that the crack pitehre
or a lady baseball team eternal hare
been able to throw a ball into one ot
them at five paces distent. But, al
though a terrible battle had roged nc
,was atm raging, the enemy had no!
suffered. 'Bright.new, imposing, capa-
cious, Untouched, they stood. But:
similes of Jefferson Brick --the tile
floor, the beautiful tile Boor!
Here I first saw Major (by misplaced
courtesy) Wentworth Caswell. I knew
him for a type the • moment my eyes
suffored the 41,ght,91.14al.A rat
Materaellt MAUI
, haS no geograpnical natant. axy WU
friend A. Tennyisonetaid, as be so well
said almost everything: _
Prophet, citriie me the blabbing hp
And curse me the'Brithih vermin, the rat.
Let us regard the word "British" as
,
interchangeable ad lib. A rat is a rat.
This man was hunting about the
hotel lobby like a starved dog that had
forgotten where he bad burled a bone.
He had a. face of great acreage, red,
pulpy and with a kind df sleepy mas-
siveness like that of Buddha. .tre po0.
sessed one single virtue -be was very
smoothly shaveti. The mark of the
beast is not indelible upon a man until
he goes about With a stubble. I think
that if be had not used his razor that
day -I- would have repulsed his _ ad-
vances, and the criminal calendar of
the World would' have been spared the
addition of one mirder. '
I happened to be standing within dye
feet of a cuspidor when Major Caswell
opened fire upon it. I had been observ-
ant enough to perceive that the attack-
ing force was using Gatlings instead of
squirt.el .rifiei, so I sidestepped BQ
promptly that the major seized the op-
portunity to apologize to a noncom:
batant. . He had the blabbing lip. In
four minutes he had become my friend
and had dragged me bathe bar.
I desire to interpolate here that I am
a southerner. But I am not one 1,17 pro-
fession or trade. 'I, eschew therstring
tie, the slouch bat:, the Prince 'Albert,
the number of bidets of cotton destroy-
ed 'by. Sherman,. and Wag chewing.
When the orchestra plays "Dixie' I do
not cheer.
Major Caswell banged the bar with
hia fist and the first gun at Fort Sum-
1 ter re-echoed:, When he fired the last
one at Appomattox I began to hope.
But then be began on faently trees and.
' demonstrated that Adam: was only. a
'third cousin of a_ collateral branch of
the Caswell family. Genealogy dls-
pased of he took up to, my•distaste his
, private family matters. He -spoke of -
his wife, traced her descent back to
Eve and profanely denied any -possible
,•
rumor that she may have had relations
in the land of Nod.
By this time, 1 began to suspect that
he was trying to obscure by noise the
fact that he had ordered the drinks on
the chance that I would be bewildered'
into paying for them. But whenthey
wete down he crashed a silver dollar
upon the bar. Then, of course, an-
other 'serving was obligatory. Afid
when I had paid for tbat I took leave
of him b .uscniely, for I wanted no
more of ini. But before -I had ob-
tained my release`le had prated loud-
ly of an 1 come that his wife received
and show d a bandful of silver money.
When, I, got my key at the desk the
clerk said to me courteously "If thet
mitn, Cas ell has annoyed you and if
you would like to make a compliant we
Will have him ejected. He Is a_ nuis-
ance, a lb fer_ and without any known
means of- support, although he seems
to have rn ney -most of the time. But
we don't eem to be able to hit ppon
any meant Of throwing him out legal -
IV .
"Why, no," said 1, after some reflec-
tion, "I- don't see' my way clear to
making a eomplaint. Btit I. would like
to place nyself on record as asserting
that I do not cate for bis company.
.Your towi," I continued, "seems to be
e quiet o e. What sanner of enter-
tainmentadvet etre, ,tir- excitement
have you to offer to the-strenger with-
ineyour glites?"
"Well, 41r," said the clerk, "there
will be a sbow , hereanext Thursday.
!ft is -1'11 look it up and have the am
inouncemett sent up toyour room telt')
ethe ice eviller. Good night."
After I event up to my room I looked
out of tbe window. It was only about
10 o'clock, but I looked tipolp a silent
toter'. Tile drizzle continued, spangled
with dim liglits, es far apatt as cur- .
rants in a cake sold at the L dies' ex-
change.
Nashville occupies a foremost • place
antong the manufacturing centers Of the
co try. It is the fifth boot and shoe
awar cat In the Upited States, the largest
candy and cracker manufacturing -city in
Ole south And does an enormous whole-
sale dry gotpds, grocery and drug husinesS.
I must ell you bow I can* to be in
_Nnslivillet and I assure you the digres-
sion brings as inucb tedium to me as it
does to ;fon. 1 was traveling else -
'where op my own business, but I had
a comulistion front a northern literary
magazine to stop over there and estab-
t ,
ash a personal coxenecOon between the
publication and one of its contributors,
Azelea Adair. ,
Adair (thete yeas no clew to the per-
sontlity except the handwriting) had
sent in ecane T essays (lost art!) and
poems that`had made tbeeditors swear
approvingly over their 1 O'clock lunch-
eon. So they bad cemmissioned -me t
retina upi said Adair and corner
contract ais or her output at 2 dents
word before some other publisher o
fered her 10 or 20.
At 9 o'clock the next morning, after
my claicken livers en brocaette (try
them if' you can 'find that hotel), I
strayed out into the drizzle, which was
still on for an unlinitted run. At the
Ye -
HURON EX OS/TOR,
&--
lit corner -I came inion Unele-Caeaan
He was a stiawart negro, older then
' the pyramids)with gray wpol and a
face thin reminded me of Brutus and
a second nfterward of the late King
Cetew8y0, He wore -the 'nest eemark-
able coat that I ever had Seett or ex-
pect to tee. It rettelted to his ankles
and had once been a Coufederal gray
In colors. '13ut rain and sun mid age
bad so variegated it that Joseph's coat
beside it would have faded to a pale
mouochreine. 1 I
• I
Once it must have been the militarir
coat of an officer. The cape of it had
vanished, but all adown its front It had
•been frogged and thseeled magnificent-
ly, But now the frogs.. and tassels
were goite. ' In their stead had been
patiently stitched (I surmised by some
mimic/1)3g "black mammy") new frogs
made of cunningly twisted common-
hempeu twine. This twine was frayed
and disbeveled, - It must have been
added tO the coat Heel!' anbstitute foe
'
Itt
he long miss:
vanished .spiendors, tritt tasteless but
painstaking devotion, f r it followed
taithfulite the curves of
•ing frogs. And tie complette the comedy
and pathos of the garment all its'
but
.-
-
tons were gone save one. The Second
.button from the. top alone remained.
The coat was fastened by other twine
strings tied through the buttonhole
and other boles rudely pierced in the
opPosite side. There was never such a
weird garment se fantastically bedeck.
ed and of so manymottled hues. Tbe.,
lone button was the size of a half dol
la; made of yellow horn and sewed oxi
with coarse twine -. , ' .
This negro stood by g carriage so old
that Ham himself might have started
a hack line.with it after he left the ark
with the two animals hitched to It..
As 1 approached he throe open the
door, drew out a feather duster, waved
it without using it and Said in deep,
rumbling tones:
"Step rigbt in, sub; ain't a speck of
dust in it -jus' got back from a fu-
neral, suh." ,
"I" want to .go to 861 Jessamine
street," I said and was about to step
into the hack. But for an instant the
thick, long, gortiladike arm of the old
negro barred ma On hts massive and
saturntne face a look of sudden sus-
picion and enmity flashed for a mei:
extent. Then, with quickly returning,
.conviction, he 'asked ' blandishingly,.
"What are you gesfine there for, boss?'t
"What is that to you?" I asked, a Ut-
' tle sharply.
- "Notaina suh, jus' nothin't Only it's
'a !ones -mile kind of part of town, and
few folks ever has business out there.
Step right in. The seats is clean-ja
got back from a funeral, sub."
A mile and it half it must have been
to our journey's end. I could hear
nothing but the fearful .rattle of the
ancient hack over the uneven brick
paving; 1 could smell nothing but the
drizzle, now further Savored with coal
smoke and soMething, like a mixture
of tar .and oleander blostionist All I
could see threugle the streaming win
-
davits were two rows of dim houses.
The City has an area of ten squire _
ranee, AA miles of streets, of which 137
-
miles are paved; a .system of waterworks
.:
that coat $2,000,000, with seventy -siren
miles of mains. ..
Eight -sixty-one Jessamine street ;tv:i'it
a decayed mansion.- Thirty de back e
from the street it stood, out erged'ill
a splendid grove of trees and untrim-
m.ed slirubberte A row of 'bo ' bushes .
overflowecl and almost hid th paling
fence from sight; the gate as kept
closed by a rope noose the encircled
the gate post and the ilrs pilling of
- the gate But when' you go inside you
aaw that .861 was a shell, a badow, a.
ghost of farther grandeur and excel;
• lence. But in the story I have not yet
got inside.
When the hack bad ceased from rat-
tling and. the weary quadrupeds -came...
to a rest I bahded my Jelin his 56 cents
with tin adhitional quarter, feeling 'a
glow of conscious generosity aslt did
so. He refused it. '
"It's $2, suh," be, said. -
.. • -
"How's that?" a asked. "I 'plainly
beard you call out at the hotel, 'Fifty
cents_ te any part of the town.'"
"It's $2, sub," he repeated Obstinate-
ty: "It's a king ways from the, hotel." '
-"It is within the city limite and well
withinhthere," I argued. "Don't think
that you ha-ve picked dp a greenhorn
Yankee. Do yoti see those hills over
(here?” I went on, pointing toward the
east (I could not see' tbem myself for
the drizzle), "well, I was born and
raised on their Other side. You, old fool
nigger, can't you tell people from other
people when you see 'em?" ..
The grim race of king Cetewayo
softened. "Is you from the south, suh?
I reckon it was them shoes- of yburn
fooled me. They is sometbin' sharp in
the teen, for -a southern gen,rmap to
?retie a
"Tlien the charge it 50 cents, I sup-
pose?".said I inexorably. - -
"Bose," he said, ."50 cents Is right,
hut I needs $2, sub. I'm cibleeged to
hate $2. t ain't demandin' it now,
31111, after I knows whar you's, from.
I'm jus" sayin' that I has to have $2.
tonight, and business is mighty poa"
Peace 'and confidence settled upon his
&env relatives. Zee had been luckier
Bum he had hoped, Instead of having
,. . _
picked up a greenhorn, ignorant of
rates, he had come upon an inheritance.
"You., confounded old rascal," I said,
reaching 'down into my pocket; "yoa
ought to be turned over to the police."
. For the first time I saw hira smile
He .knew, he knew, HE KNEW. - '• ,
- I gave 14m two„one-dollar bilis, As
I handed them over I noticed that one
of them bad seen parlous times. He
upper rigirt.hand corner was missing,
and it bad been torn through In the
middle, but joined again. A strip oi
blue tissue paper pasted over the split
preserved its negotiability.- "
The house, as I Add, was a shell. A
paint brush had not topched it in
1 twenty years. I could not see wby .8
strong wind should not have bowled it
over like a bouse of cards math I look-
ed again at the trees that bugged it
.close -the _trees., that saw - the battle Of
Children Ory
FOR FLETCHER'S
CASTO R IA-
Naal4vuie and still drew their pro
Inganehes around it against storm
a enemy and cold.
. PART \ It.
zAr.p:A ADAIR, fifty years (lid,
white haired, a descendant of
the cavaliers, as thin and frail
as the house she lived ire robed
in the ,cheapest and cleanest dress I
ever saw.- with an air as simple as a.
queen's, received me.
The reception room seemed "a mile
Square, because there was nothing in
It except some rows of books, on un-
painted white pine bookshelves, a
cracked marble top table, a rag rug, a"
hairless horsehair sofa and two or
thtee chairs. Yes, there was'a picture
on the. Wall, a colored crayon drawing
of a cluster of pansies. I looked
around for the portrait of Andrew
Jackson and the pine cone banging
basket, but they. were not there.
Azalea Adair and -I lad conversation,
a little of •whieh will be repeated to
you Shee Was a product of the old
111
south, gently nurtured In tbe sh ,Itered.'
life. Her learning was not broa , but ,
was deep and of splendid origin ' ity in i
its somewhat narrow scope. She had
been educatedat home and her knowl-
edge of the world was derived from in-
ference and by inspiration. Of such is
the Precious, small group of essayists
made. While ishe talked to me I kept
,brushing My fingers, trying iincon-
viciously to rid,them guiltily Of the ab-
sent dust from the half calf •backs of
ltamtirehaucer, Hazlitt, Mamas Aure-
lius, Montaigne and Hood. She was ex
-
visite, she was a valuable discovery.
Nearly everybody nowadays knows too
, much -oh, so much too much -of real
1fe•
I could perceive dearly tbat Azalea.
Adair was very poor.. A house and a
dress she had, not much else, I fancied.
So, divided between my duty to the
magazine and my loyalty to the poets
and essayists who- fougbt Thomas in
the valley of the.Cumberland, I listen-
ed to her voice, which was like a harp-
sichord's, and found I could not sneak
of contracts. In the presence of the•
nine muses and the three graces one
hesitated to lower the topic to 2
cents. There would have to be anotht
er colloquy after I had regained my
commerclaligm. . But I spoke of my
mission and 3 o'clock of the nett after-
noon was set for the discussion of' the
business proposition.
"Tour town," I said, as I began to
make ready to depart (which is the
time for smooth generalities), "seems
to be a quiet sedate place. A home
totem I should say, where few things
out of the ordinary ever happen."
• It carries on an extensive trade in
sto1res and hollow ware withthe wept and
south, and its flouring mills have a daily
capacity of more than 2,000 barrels.
Azalea Adair seemed to reflect
"I have lnever thought of it that
'way," she said, vrith a kind of sincere
• intensity that seemed to belong to her.
"Isn'A it in the still, quiet places that
things do bappen? I fancy that when
God began' to create the earth on the'
first Monday morning one could have
leaned out one's whidote and heard the
drops of mud splashing trom his trow- •
el as he built-up the everlasting hills.
What did the noisiest "project sin the
world -I mean -the building of the tow-
er of Babel -result in finally? 4 page
and wthalf of Esperanto in the North
American Review."
"Of course," said I platitudinously,
"human enaturel is the same every-
where, but there is more eolor--er-
more drama and movement and-er-
romance in some cities than in others."
"On the surface," said Azalea Adair.
"I have traveled many times around
the world in a golden airship wafted
on two wings -print and dreams. I
have seen (on one of my imaginary
tom's) the • sultan of Turkey bowstring
with his own hands ope a his wives
who,had uncOvered her face ID public.
I have seen s man in Nashville: tear ult._
his theater tickets' because bus wife
was going .out with her face covered
,-with rice powder. In San " Francis-
co's Chinatown I saw the slave girl
Sing Tee dipped slowly, inch, by inch,
ID . boiling almond • oil to makeher
swear she would never see her Ameri-
cen lover again. She _gave in when
the boiling oil had reached three incbes
above her knee. At a euctre party in
East Nashville the other night I saw
Kitty Morgan -cut dead by seven of her
solloolinates and lifelong friends be-
cause she had married a house .painter.
The'bolling 41 was sizzling. as •thigh as •
her heart, but I wish you could hae
seen the finelittle smile that she ca
ried from table totable. Ob, yes, It is
a humdrum town, just a tew miles- of
red -brick houses and mud and stores
and lumber yardst'',
Setae- one knocked hollowly at the
liaek of the house. Azalea Adair
breathed a soft apology and went to
investigate the sound. She came back
ID tbree minutes with brightened eye,,
a faint flush ,on her cheeks and ten
years lifted from her shoulders.
"You must have a cup of tea, before'
you go," she sat& "and a euearl cake."
She reached and stook a little iron.
bell:. 1 shuffled a- small negro girl
about twelve, barefo.ot, not very tidy,
glowering at me with thumb in mouth
and brulgieg eyes.
Azalea Adair opened a tiny, worn
purse anddrew out a dollar bill, a dol
tar bill with the upper right- band cor-
uer 'missing, torn in two pieces and.
pasted together again with a striped
blue tidaue paper. It was one of the
bills I bad given the Piratical negro- I
theiq was no doubt of it. 1
• "Go up to Mr, Baker's store on the
corner, Impy," she said, handing the
girl the dollar bill, "and get -a quarter
of a pound -of tea -the kind he 'always
sends me --and 10 cents' worth of sugar
cakes. Now, hurry. The supply of tea
In the house happens to beiexhausted,"
she explained to me.
Impy left by the back way. Before
the serape 4•),•.f her hard, bare feet had
died .away on the back porch a wild
shriek -I was sure it was hers -filled
the hollow.house. Then the deep, gruff
fones of an angry man's voice mingled
with the girl's further squeals and un-
intelligible ',words.
Azalea Adair rose without surprise
or emotion and disappeared. *For two
Minutes I heard the hoarse rumble -of
PbSITIVELY THE '1.A44.Gth SALE IN CANADA
the man's voice. wen something nue an
oath and a slight scuffle, and she fe-
turited calmly to her chair.
"This is a roomy house-" site said,
"and I have a tennut for part of it. I
am sorry to have to rescind my invita-
tion to tea. It was impossible -to get
the kind I always use at the store.
Perhaps tomorrow Mr. Baker will be
able to eupple me."
I was sure that Impy bad not had
time to leave the 'mime,. I inquired con-
cerning street car lines and took my
leave. After Vwas welt on my way I
remembered that I had not learned
Azalea Adalee name. But -tomorrow
would do.
That same day I 'started in on the
course of iniquity that this uneventful
city forced upon me. I was in the
town only two days, but In that time
-1 managed to lie shamelessly by tele-
graph and to be an accomplice -after -
the fact, if that -is the correct legal.
term -to a murder.
As I rounded the corner nearest my
hotel the Afrite coachmeen.of the, poly-
chromatic, nontiariel coat seized me,
swung open the dungeony door of his
peripatetic sarcophagus, flirted his
feather duster and began his ritual:
• "Step right in, boss.' Carriage is clean
-jus' got bacleefrom a funeraL Fifty
cepts to any"-\
And, then be knew me and grinned
broadly. "Sense me, boss; you is de
genliman whafeeld out with me dts
mawnin'. Thank, you kindly, suh."
"I am going out to 861 •again tomor-
`row afternoon at 3," said I, "and if
you will be 'here I'll let you drive ine.
tSo you know Miss Adair?" I conclud-
,
ed thinkino•e.
of my dollar
"I belonged to her father,' Judge
Adair, sub,' he replied.
tI judge that she is pretty poor?' I
said. "She hasn't much money to
speak of, bas she?"
For an instant I looked again at the
'fierce countenance or King Cetewayot
and then he changed back ito an ex-
aortionate old negro back driver,
• "She ain't gwine to starve, sub," be
said slowly. 'She, has reso'ces, suh;
s4e bas resolces."
"I shall pay you 50 cents for the
r'
titre" said I. . •
"Dat is puffeckly eerie-et:shit," he
answered humbly. jus' hadto bave
*dat $2 dis mewl:tint- boss"
I went to the betel and lied by elea
trIeltY. wired the roagazine: "Aa.
Adair holds ou-t for 8 cents a word."
The answer that came back was,
"Give it to her quick, you duffer"' • .
Just before dinner Major Wentworth
• Caswell bore down upon me with the
greetings of a long losttriend, I have
seen few inen whom I have so instan-
taneously hated and of whom it was so
difficult to be rid. I was standing if
tbe bar wbee he invaded me. 'There-'
fore I could not wave the white 'rib-
bon 'In his face. I would have Paid
gladly for the drinks. hoping thereby
to escape another, but he was one of
those despicable, roaring, advertising
bibbers Who must have brims bands
and fireworks attend upon every cent
that thee waste in their follies.
With an air of -producing -mill ons he
drew two one dollar bilis from pock-
et and dashed one of tbem upon the
barr looked once more at the -dollar
bill with. the •upper right band eorner
missing, tern through the middle and
patched with a strip of bine tissue pa-
per.- It was my dollar hip. again. It
could have been no other, •
went up to my room. 'The drizzle
and the coonotouy of a dreary, event-
lese southern town had rattle me tired
and listlese. • •
King Cetewatfo was at his post the
next day and rattled `niy bones over
the stones outtto 861. Fle was to wait
nrenaarattle
111
e back again when I was
dy.
Azalea Adair looked paler and ,cleate
er and frillier than she had looked on
the day before. After she had signed
-
the contract at 8 cents per word she
grew still paler and began to slip
out of her chitin Without Ouch trou-
ble I raanag,ed to get her -up on the •
antediluvian horsehair sofa and then I
ran out to the sidewalk and yelled to
the coffee cot:reed pirate to bring a
doctor. With a wisdom that I had
not suspected in him he eliandoned his
team and struck off up the street afoot,
realizing the value of speed. In ten
minutes he returned with a grave,.
gray haired and capable man of medi-
cine. In a few words (worth much less
than 8 cents eacbt If:explained to him
my presence in the hollow house of
myistery. He bowed with stately un-
dhrstandng and turned to the old ne-
gro. • -
"Uncle Caesar," he said calmly, "run
up to, my house and ask Miss Lucy to
give you eitreara pitcher full of fresh
Milk and half a turobler of pott 'wine.
And hurry back. Don't drive -run. 1
want you to get back some time this
week."
The doctor looked' me over " with
great politeness and as much careful
calculation until he nad decided that
I might do.
"It is only a case of insufficient nu-
trition," he said -"in otheiewords. the
result of poverty, pride and starvation.
Mrs. Caswell has many devoted friends
who would be glad to aid her, brit she
will accept nothing except,from that
old negro, Unele Caes.art who Was once
owned by her family!'
"Mrs. Caswell!" said 1 in surprise.
And then I looted at the contract and
saw that she had signed it "Azalea
•
, Adair Caswell. -
"I thought she witietliss Adair," 1
s'ai‘'ciliarried to a drunken, worthless
loafer, sir," said be doctor. "It is said
that he tobs her -even of the small
-
sums that aer old servant -contributes, -
toward her support"
When the milk and 'wine bad beet
brought the dector soon, revived Azalea
Adair. -She sat up and talked oaths
beauty .of the autumn leaves that were,
then iu season and their height of col-
or., She referred lightly to her fainting
seizure as the outcome .01 an old_paltei-
tatien of the beart Impy fanned her -
as she lay on the sofa. The doctor
was due eisevehere, and 1 &lowed
him to the doer. I told that it
was within my power and intentions
to make a reasonable advance -4
money to 'Azalea Adair on future eon-
tributions to the magazine, and ho,
seemed pleased. •
"By the way," he said, "perhaps yott
would like to know that you leave hatt
royalty for a coachman. Old Caesar*
grandfather was a king in Bongo,.
Caesar himself has royal ways, assets-
ayhave observed."
As theidoctor was -moving off betted
-Uncle Caesar's voice inside, "Did he
git bafe of dem $2 from you, Ins' Za-
lea?"
•
"Yes, Caesar," I heard Azalea Addle
answer weakly. And then I went *
and concluded business negotiatioan
with our contributor 1 assumed the;
responsibility of advancing $50f, 'put-
ting it as a necessary formality
binding ou; bargain. And 'then MAO
Caesar drove nee back to the hotel.
. Hoe ends ati of the story as far ao -
I can testify as a witness. The: rest
must be only bare statements of kettle
At about 6 -o'clock- I went out for al
sttoll. Uncle Caesar was at hit ,tor -
nen He threw open the doer of hie
carriages flourished his duster and bel.
gait his dePreseing aormitia: '"Step iigb
in, sub. Ittfty cents to anyifeee ixt
the cite. Hack's puttlekly clean, auk):
Jus' got back from a funeral" -
And. then he recognized me. I thing
his eyesigbt -was getting bad. His coat
had taken on a few Mete faded shades
of color, the twine.strings were more:
frayed and ragged, the leettremaining
butbaii-the button of yellOwebern-veas
g011e. A motley deseendaett ef Waive
vette! Uncle Caesar! . • ,
tabout two bourialater I -saw an eke
cited erowd besieging the front of a
- drug store. In a desert wber- e nothing
happens this was. Manna, .so I edggil
xny way inside. On an extemporized
couch -of empty boxesand chants was
stretched the mortal -corporeality of
Major Wentworth- Caswell. A doctec.
was testing him for the immortal . •
yo.
aredient His decision was that .it was
eenSnienenS by its absence.
dee erstwhile major nail neon rouna
dead 'on ,a dark street lend brought by,
citrons and ern -tilled citizens to, the
drag store , The late human being bad
been engaged in terrific liattle--the dee •
tails showed that. Loafer und repro-
bate though he lied been, he hnd been
also a warrior. But be bad lost. His
hands were yet clitched so tightly that
his fingers would riot. be opened. 'Tile
gentle citizens who had knower him
stood about asurteearched their 'rocab'-
ularies to find sonic good evords, if it
were poseible, to epeak of bina thee
kind looAing mate said after emelt ,
thought, "When ens wee about f,trteen
be was one of the best spellers in
school." -
While I stood there the fingers of
the right hand oftatbe men tire wa,a°
which hong tiOWn the side of a white
pine box, relaxed and dropped some •
thing at my ,feet. I covered it with'
one foot quietly and a little later ott -
I picked it up and pocketed it. I teal-
soned that in his last struggle Ns
head' must have seized that object mac
wittingly and. held it in a death grp. -
At the hotel that night the main topt-e
ic of conversation, with the possible'
exceptions of politics and prohibition;
was the demise of Major Caswell:
heard one man say to a group of hat
teuers:
"In,.my opinion, gentlemen, Caswell
was murdered bY some a these no act`
count niggers fat his money. He had
$50 this afternoon, whieb he showed
to several gentlemen in the hotel'
When he was found the money was
not on his person." •
I left the city the next morning at 9,
and as -the train was crossing the
bridge over the Cumberland river 1"
took out of my pocket a ye/low horn
overcoat button the size of a
cent piece, with frayed weds of coarse").
twine hanging frota it, and cast it out
of the window inte the slow, Muddy,
waters below.
I wonder What's doing in Buffalo! 1
1
Co/soling Thought.
Country i ar (to widow whose best
tV
pig has dIed)-Well, you know, altet.
Higgs, these little troubles Bee sent us
by.Providence for our good.
Res. Higgs -Oh, yes, sit But what
a comfort it is to know that there'
one above as won't let Providence gd
too fart -Toronto Globe.
_
Children Cry
FOR FLETCHER'S
CAS ar 0 R