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THE NEBRASKA ADVEKTISER
W. W. HANDIClia, VublUher.
NEMAHA.
NEBRASKA.
BY THE DEAD.
Is thin tlio friend of yesterday
The Rentlo wornnn. loved of nil,
Whoso cheek was like the rose of May
That bliiHlion oil the garden wall?
No! 'tis not sho who lleth hero
In awful dignity of death,
With cold, mute lips and deafened ear,
Of whom wo whisper, under breath.
And yet bo llkot Her hair was gold;
Her face had biicIi a shape as this.
Hut thin strungo face Is marble cold
And would not warm at Iovc'h long kiss.
How full It In of mystery!
It thrills mo with a mighty awe;
I fancy that these shut eyes seo
Things that no mortal ever saw.
They may behold the Heavenly choir,
The Htreetfl by shining angels trod,
The sea of mingled glass and (Ire;
It may bo that bIio seeth God!
Hut what nho seeth no one lcnows.
TIicbo mule lips shut the knowledge In,
And nevermore will they uncloso
To tell the secrets death can win.
Havo you forgotten what nhe said
Ono Bummer day to you and mo?
About tlio living and the dead,
The future and Infinity?
"Life Is a riddle none can read,
And death a mystery will remain
Till Clod gives wisdom that wo need
To make all hidden meanings plain."
That wisdom she has gained, while wo
Who wondered with her stand to-day
Beside her cold, still form, and sen
Naught hut an empty house of clay.
Blio has put oft all earthly things;
The chrysalis has left Its shell,
And somewhere spreads unfettered wings
In Joy too great for words to tell.
Dead I Dead? I cannot make It seem
That she wo loved so Is no moro;
It Is the phantasm of a dream
That haunts us when tho dream Is o'er.
How hard It Is to understand
Tho weird significance of death,
Tlio marble lip and Icy hand,
And utter absence of tho breath!
O, could we start In form llko this
Tho Btlllod machinery of life
By flubtlo power of will or kiss
But no! she should bo spared tho strife
And woo that wearies overmuch
Hearts stronger than was hers to bear
Tho troubles of our life that touch
Tho heights and depths of pain nnd
prayer.
Still lips, through which tho soul went out
To tho eternity of God,
Past loss and sorrow, pain and doubt,
To venture In tho ways untrod;
Dear lips, whoso music wo shall miss,
Take ono hist kiss from mo to-day,
And sho will somewhere know that this
Was meant for what has gone away.
Ebcn K. Rexford, In Boston Transcript.
c;i: t : i ; 7 t i intts:
S
8 STRANGE FISH."
BY J. FREDERIC THOME.
sxss;
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tS211!!l.
j O EMA Prank, you're just the
JjL low I want to seel Will you ec
it
fel
. come
lor a sail?"
"Yes; certainly."
"All right. I will go down and get
the Seagull ready."
Frank llaughton and his chum Wal
ter Laurence were skillful sailors., and
had spent many an hour in Walter's
little sloop Scugull, sailing around the
bay, even, at times, going oh far as "the
Hook." It was a bright, beautiful
morning, in the summer of 1775, that
these two boys of Elizabethport, N. J.,
utarted upon their sail.
Walter hoisted the jib and fnstencd
the halyard just as Frank pulled the
anchor inboard; then, as the head of
llie boat swung around into the wind,
both boys grasped the mainsail hal
yards and soon had the sail spread to
the wind.
The sails bellied out, and, with Wal
ter at the helm and Frank tending the
sheets, the Seagull heeled over under
the strong breeze and went skimming
along, speedily emerging from Jtnrituu
bay and rounding the upper end of
Staten Island. The boys then eame
about and pointed for the Narrows.
"Let's run down to the Hook."
"All right; we've got plenty of time,
nnd this Is a splendid breeze; 'twon't
take us more than about two hours, go
ing at this rate."
"We may see some British ships."
"Wo may, but 1 hardly think It is
likely none have been reported.
George Trevers, whose father, you
know, is one of the committee of safety,
told me that his father said at dinner
last night that nothing had been seen
or heard of any British ships for some
time."
Tel like to see one, wouldn't you?"
"Oh, yes; unless they capture usl"
"Why should they do that?"
"They migln try to find out something
about the continentals from us."
"Well, they wouldn't learn anything
from me. I'd let 'em cut oil' my head
first."
"They would have a hard time mak
ing me tell anything."
The boys continued discussing what
they would and would not do in the
event of their being taken prisoners by
the British. Meanwhile the Seagull,
which tho boys declared was the fast
est boat in New York harbor, was mak
ing good use of her wings, and showing
that she deserved their boast. They
had passed through the Narrows, and
were rapidly nearlng Sandy Hook.
"1 hear that Ueorge has got a new
Look there! A British shipl"
"Where?"
"Over there."
"Sure enoughl"
"1 wonder If she's a man-of-war?"
"I don't think so; she doesn't look
like one to me."
"She's taking In sail."
"There goes her anchor."
"Let's run down close enough to sec
what she Is."
"All right."
A turn of the tiller, and the nose of
the Seagull was pointed in toward the
.Jersey shore, where a large, square
rigged ship, Hying the easily recog
nizable "Union Juek" of England, was
nut-boring.
The boys tan up quite close, and soon
saw that she wus not a man-of-war.
As they came near they were hailed by
u sailor:
"Boat ahoy!"
"A hoy I"
"Come tin alongside."
"Whut do you think, Frank shall
we?"
"Yes, we might as well. I don't
think they will touch us."
The boys accordingly sailed up neur
the ship, and dropped their mainsail.
This time art ollicer leaned over the
side and asked:
"Where are you from?"
"ICIlzabethport, sir."
"Where Is that?"
"In New .Jersey."
"Near JS'ew York?"
"Yes, sir."
"Are those rebels whipped yet?"
"Not yet, sir."
"Gov. Sir Henry Clinton is in New
York, is he not?"
"Yes, sir."
"Will you deliver a letter to him for
me?"
There was a moment's hesitation up
on the part of Walter, who was acting
as spokesman, and then he answered:
"Yes. sir; I'll take it."
"Thank you. my boys. He will be
very glad to get it, as he's fond of a
good dinner. Here it Is catch it!"
The ollicer threw down a sealed let
ter, which Walter deftly caught.
"Now, don't lose It."
"We'll be very careful, sir."
The boys hoisted their sail again and
put about, returning the oflicer's wave
of the hand.
Neither spoke until they were quite
some distance from the ship. Then
Walter, takinir the letter from his
pocket, where he had placed it, turned
it over and reread the superscription:
"To Gen. Sir Henry Clinton,
"Governor, etc., of New York
"In the American Colonies."
"Frank, I'll wager you anything that
that is a provision ship for the British
troops!"
"What makes you think so?"
"Didn't you hear that ollicer say that
Gov. Clinton would be glad to get this,
us he liked a good dinner?"
"Yes."
"Well, he wouldn't be likely to ac
cept an invitation to dine on an ordi
nary ship, way down at the Hook, at
that, would he?"
"No; 1 shouldn't think so."
"Of course not; and I tell you it is a
provision ship."
"I shouldn't wonder but that you arc
right."
"Well, Gov. Clinton will have to wait
some time before he eats anything
from that ship! I'm going to give this
letter to the committee of safety!"
"That's right! We're not tories, to
be doing anything to help our coun
try's enemies!"
"No, indeed, we're not!"
"Maybe the committee will send
some men to capture the ship."
"My! but that would be great!
They could do it. I didn't see any can
non, did you?"
"No."
"We want to get back home just as
fast as we can and tell the committee!"
"Well, the Seagull can get there
quicker than anything else I know of."
"Bight on are! Bull in that
maius'l-sheet; we can go several
points closer to the wind."
Frank did as directed, and the little
boat buried her scuppers in the water,
and fairly flew along.
The boys were almost too excited to
talk, and as soon as they dropped
anchor again at their mooring plaee,
they hurried ashore and started on a
run for the town to inform the commit
tee of safety of their discovery and the
letter.
Almost the first man they met wns
Mr. Trevers. '
"Oh, Mr. Trevers! there's a British
provision ship down at the Hook!"
"What's that?"
"A British ship down by the Hook,
and we think she's loaded with pro
visions for the British. The ollicer
.gave us a letter for Gov. Clinton, and
asked us to take It to him. We took
It, and here it is!"
"Slowly, slowly, boys. 1 can't un
derstand you when you talk at such n
pace. Did you say you had a letter
that Is addressed to Gov. Clinton, of
New York?"
"Yes, sir here it lb!"
"How did you come to get it?"
"Frank and I took a sail down the
Hook this morning, and saw the ship;
and the oflleer gave it to us the letter,
1 mean; and we think it's a provision
sliip, because he said Gov. Clinton
would bo glad to get it, as he liked a
good dinner."
"It's not a war ship, anyway."
Mr. Trevers finally managed to get
the boys to give a lucid account of their
adventure, which they wound up with:
"And then we eame for home as fast
as the Seagull could go!"
"Thut's right, my boys. You are
bright lads, and have done just right.
This may be of importance to us. Go
up to the hall and wait for me; I will
notify the rest of the committee. I want
them to hear your story."
Within the hour the committee of
snfely had assembled. The boys re
peated their story, and then the letter
which had been given them by the
oflleer was read. It ran as follows:
"On Board of His Majesty's Transport
"Ship, the Deernound.
Sandy Hook, July , 177ft.
"To Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, Commander
of His Majesty's Troops In Amerlcu, and
Governor of New York:
"Sir I have the honor to Inform you that
1 have arrived In the harbor with a cargo
of provisions for the troops under your
command, and also some choice delicacies
and wine for your own table.
"I am at anchor near Sandy Hook, and
respectfully await your commands.
"I am, sir, most respectfully, your obedi
ent anu numwo servant,
"GKOFPHKV HKNDHKSON,
"Commander of tho Deerhound."
The boys galnced proudly at, each
other to see their suspicions verified.
"Did she carry any cannon?"
"Not that we could see."
"Were there many men on board?"
"We only saw the sailors who were
furling the salts, and the man and the
oflleer who spoke to us. We think, sir,
if you will pardon our boldness, that
she could easily be captured."
"The boy Is right."
"We will do it."
The boys were questioned closely
upon all they had seen, and then the
committee held a long consultation ns
to the plan to be pursued to capture the
ship, thus adding to their own stores
and crippling the enemy.
The British had found it necessary to
send provisions across the sea to their
troops in America, as, not only were
supplies scarce In the colonies, but the
patriots destroyed whatever they could
not use themselves that was likely to
fall into the enemy's hands. At this
time food was atn premium with both
the Americans and the British, ana the
provisions aboard the Deerhound would
be as grateful an addition to the pa
triots' store, as it would be n severe loss
to the British. So these patriots of
Elizabethport were more than willing
ti take the risk in order to capture the
supplies. To fight, men must cat, and,
as they ate that they might fight, so
they often fought that they might eat.
That afternoon four large boats put
out from Elizabethport, each manned
by two rowers, who, apparently, were
fishermen. But a search under the
hatches would have shown each boat
to be loaded with men patriots, who
were all heavily armed with muskets,
swords and pistols. Among them, in
the leading boat, crouched Frank and
Walter. They had been taken along
upon their earnest solicitation, repre
senting that they were needed to show
where the British ship lay. But they
determined earlier in the day to do
more than act as pilots.
"I'm not going to be left out of the
fighting if I can help it, are you?" said
Walter.
"Not much; but I'm afraid they won't
let us have any arms."
"We'll get some for ourselves, and not
let them know it until we get there."
"Where can we get any?"
"1 saw a lot of them when we were at
the hall. They won't all be used. We
can get some without their seeing us I
think."
"Come on."
The two boys were favored by chance,
as no one was at the hall when they
reached there, nearly everyone in the
town being down at the beach watching
the preparations for the expedition.
They secured a cutlass and pistol apiece.
with ammunition. Then came the
question how to conceal the weapons.
It was easy enough with the pistols, but
with the swords it was a much more
dillicult matter. Finally they con
cluded to put them Inside their shirts
and down the legs of their breeches.
This made walking rather awkward,
but the boys hoped to escape detection,
and in the excitement of the prepara
tions they did so. As they lay in the
dark hatchway they fairly trembled
with suppressed excitement, and in
fact, the older members of the little
band were not too self-possessed.
Jt was nearly dusk when a sailor on
board the Deerhound sang out:
"Four boats on the stn'board bow,
sir!"
"What are they?"
"Look like fishing craft, sir."
"Many men?"
"Two in each boat, sir."
"How are they headed?"
"This way, sir."
"Good! Hail them when they are
near enough, and tell them to come
alongside. I'd not mind a mess of fresh
fish."
"Ay, ay, sir."
The four boats drew slowly nearer,
and, upon being hailed by the sailor,
they ranged along the side of the ship.
The oflleer before mentioned hailed
the man at the bow-oar of the leading
boat with:
"What have you there, my man?"
"Strange fish for you, sir."
"What's that?"
"Fresh fish, sir."
"Send some on board."
"I will that, sir more than you'll
like."
"What say you?"
"I'll send as many as you want, sir."
"All right; send tiicin nlong."
The supposed llslierman then turned
unnecessarily loud:
"Get out the fish!"
This was the tigroid signal, and the
words had no sooner left his lips than
the hatches were burst open nnd the
armed Americans swarmed up the sides
of the ship.
Capt. Henderson had given a sur
prised shout at this catch of what were
indeed "strange fish," and they were far
"more than he liked."
His shout and the sight of the climb
ing Americans aroused the crew of the
Deerhound. They sprang for their
arms, and, what was not nn altogether
pleasant surprise to the Americans,
were joined by a company of soldiers,
who came pouring up from below, guns
in hand. This put the numbers in favor
of the British, but the Americans hesi
tated not n moment.
Frank had sprung for and grasped
the anchor-chain, up which he went,
followed by Walter, their swords be
tween their teeth, and the pistols stuck
in their waistbands. As Frank leaped
down from the bulwarks his foot
caught, and he fell headlong on the
deck. One of the soldiers sprang for
ward, and in another moment would
have run him through with his bayonet,
but Walter was right behind his chum. '
He had one leg over the side of the ship,
when he saw the soldier spring at
Frank. Walter whipped the pistol out,
and, hardly waiting to aim, fired, and
had the satisfaction of seeing the man
fall when he was within a foot of Frank.
Frank wns on his feet again in a min
ute; he grasped his friend's hand for a
second, without speaking, and then
the two boys dashed Into the fray. In
a few minutes from the first shout, the
deck of the ship was the scene of a hot
and fierce fight.
The Americans were forward, led by
.Mr. Trevers, while the British snilors
and soldiers were massed just abaft the
mainmast. There was not much time
for any formation, as the fight began
when the first American put his foot on
deck. It was shoot, cut, slash and .
stumble. Back and forth across the.
deck raged the conflict; at one time it
seemed as though the Americans would
be driven dack to their boats, but they
were rallied by the cry of: "Remember
Lexington 1"
From then on the British were driven
slowly but surely bnck. The two boys
played their parts manfully, more than
once saving each other's life.
The conflict, though sharp, was short;
there was a final rush on the part of the
Americans, and then, less than half an
hour from the time the first shot wns '
fired, the Americans were in full pos- i
session of the ship, with the defeated
British prisoners. They had been taken
completely by surprise, and lost nearly
30 men, while the American loss was
but four killed nnd half-a-dozen i
wounded. The captors manned the j
Deerhound and sailed her up to Eliz- i
abethport, where her cargo was landed '
amid the cheers of the whole town, who
crowded the shore. j
Frank and Walter were the heroes of
the day, and the objects of envy of every
other boy in town. J
So Gov. Clinton was deprived of some
good dinners by two boys, and it be
came a catch word in Elizabethport,
when asked what one had. to reply:
"Strange fish!" Leslie's Popular
Monthly.
THREE POPULAR ERRORS.
.Mulr by .Many IVrsons In Thrlr I.lv
In. Three popular errors in living consist,
in too much meat eating, an excessive
consumption of sweet and starchy
foods and overeating. To the lay
in'nd nothing seems to augur so
strongly in favor of robust health
n? a hearty appetite. Further
more, there would seem to be a stronir
conviction in the public mind, sancti
fied by tradition from time almost im
memorial, that the more a man eats the
better he is. The quantity of food that
many people naturally eat is very large
as compared with their actual physio
logical requirements; add to this the
many tempting forms in which food is
presented to the palate by our modern
culinnry arts, the sharpening of the
appetite by the nntc-prundinl cocktail,
the stimulus afforded the appetite by a
bottle of good wine, and the result is
often the consumption of an amount
of food that simply overwhelms the as
similative organs. Such indulgence, if
unrestricted and habitual, taxes both
the assimilative and the excretory
organs to their highest capacity, es
pecially when coupled with sedentary
life, and moreover it lends an additional
impetus to the evils springing from the
use of improper quality of food. The
human elaborating and excretory
mechanism was evidently adjusted for
ordinary wear and tear to an average
limited period of about 70 years. Under
10 ner cent, of extra work we must.
naturally expect impairment or break- ,
down of the mechanism much earlier.
It should, therefore, excite no sptcial
fiurprise that so large a proportion of
our well-to-do people die from Bright's
disease, heart failure, and allied dis
eases at SO or .r5, who should, and under
properly regulated lives and habits
would have attained the natural nges
of 70 or over. North American Beview.
Larrikin, a famous Australian
toe pie-chaser, fell in the grand na
tional hurdle race near Melbourne,
breaking his neck. As soon ns the
rnee was over the crowd broke in and
began to cut up the dead horse for rel
ics. One man took his tail, another
?.he ears, and others the teeth and hoofd,
JOPKINS MISTAKE.
Cont Illtn n New Drcfm and n I'rcttr
Hon net.
Jopklns had read somewhere that if
a woman got hold of a newspnper with.
a clipping cut out of it, she would
never rest until she had procured a
complete paper and read the missing
item. This struck Jopklns as u very
thrcwd nnd Machiavellan plan of ex
posing this well-known weakness of
lovely woman, nnd he Aisolvcd to put
I It Into practice.
j So that night, when he went homo
from the ollice, there ostentatiously
protruded from his coat pocket tho
doy's paper, from which he had neatly
cut a paragraph referring to the rings
of Jupiter or some such matter.
He threw the paper to one side in a
careless way, and after supper he noted
with an unholy glee tlint Mrs. Jopklns
had secured it, and was running her
eye over the bargain ads, and work
ing her way, after the manner of her
sex, through the personals, marriage
notices, and back to tho telegraphic'
dispatches.
Presently Jopkins observed n sudden,
and suspicious frown overcast her face.
She had come upon the hiatus made by
the waggish penknife. Jopkins reveled:
with internal hilarity, but preserved an.
outward appearance of innocent uncon
sciousness. "My dear," said Mrs. JopkinB, laying
the paper gently aside, "I'm going to
run over to Mrs. Hopkins a minute. 1
won't be gone long."
She went over to the opposite neigh
bor's, nnd while she was gone Jopkins
hod lots of fun. She came back pres
ently, and Jopklns noticed she curried
unother paper under her shawl. She'
went upstairs nnd Jopkins leaned back
in his chnir and shook all over with joy.
"Best joke I ever got off," he said to.
himself. "Won't she be sold when 1
tell her?"
Mrs. Jopklns remained upstairs about
20 minutes, and when she enme down
she had on her hat and street dress, and
Jopkins felt his knees shake when he
looked into her eye.
"Wh whereareyougoing?"heasked.
I'Wherc am J going?" said his wife.
"You want to know where 1 am going,,
you deceitful, disreputable, underhand
ed, depraved, villainous, brutal, wicked,
unprincipled, scandalous, nbandonedi
monster? I'm going home to my moth
er!" "Wha what's the matter?" said Jop
kins. "Look at that!" said Mrs. Jopkins,.
thrusting the paper in his fuce. "Cut it.
out to hide it from me, did you? To
think that I should ever have married'
such a ruffian I"
Jopkins looked where her linger
pointed and reud:
"After the performance of Thc
Devil's Auction' last night quite a re
cherche little supper was given to the
lending lndy actresses by u few of their
admirers. A prominent merchunt
whose name we withhold is said to have
cut up some rather high jinks on ihe
occasion. We wonder if his estimable
und charming wife knew of his where
ubouts." A cold shiver ran over Jopkins. lie
wns innocent, but he had neglected to
read the other side of the clipping wben.
he cut it out. He began to cxplaiu, and.
the milkman says he was still at it when,
he called with his regular morning
supply of chemicals..
As Mrs. Jopkins was seen a week lut
er wearing an elegant new silk dress,,
to say nothing ol "a dream ol u bon
net," it is presumed that the mutter was
satisfactorily arranged. Tit-Bits.
FASHION NOTES.
Sonic Nimv Notion In Di-cnm for the
SeiiHon.
A novelty dress skirt has u trimming;
made of bauds of velvet und puttings ot
silk muslin alternating. This is in uprou.
fashion and covers three-fourths of the
length of the skirt in front and slopes
up in shawl shape to the hips, ending,
at the middle of the back in a baud
not over four inches wide. The joining,
is concealed by loops und ends of vel
vet ribbon. Two bands of velvet are
set around the entire skirt just above
the hem.
An evening dress hns shoulder straps
of very wide velvet ribbon, with butter
fly bows at the tops of the shoulders.
Around the shoulders are rullles audi
velvet bands, making a trimming about
eight inches wide. This forms an al
most straight line around the tigure
aud is a revival of a very old fashion.
A hat of fauey braid hns u wide brim,
rolled well up at the back and fastened
to the crown. At the back of the brim.
Is a large bunch of ostrich tips and.
the trimming is made up of wide rib
bon in loops and ends and a large bunch,
of popples at one side.
The fancy for wearing the hut on one
side is rapidly increasing, but the bal
ance of effect is maintained by bunches,
of flowers or puffs of crimped silk mus
lin or chiffon on the opposite side.
While navy blue and other dnrk col
ors arc used for yachting costumes, it
Is a generally accepted sentiment that
white with a little dush of color is the
most dressy and stylish.
A yachting dress of fine and heavy
ivhite serge has a collar und vest of blue.
The collur nnd edges of the white waist
next the vest are braided with gold and
white.
The silk shirt waist with skirt and
jacket of moderately lirm cloth Is the
deal outfit for the summer girl. N. ,
Ledger.
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