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THE.HEBRASKA ADVERTISER
W. W. 8ANDKUS, roblUhev.
NEMAHA. NEBIIA8KA
NIGHT AND MORNING.
When the cvcnlnK Inrnpfi are burning, and
tho clock-hnnd points nt elKht,
And mother throws a glnnco at mo that
means: "It's growing late;"
When I'm deep within a story of a chap
chased by a leopard,
Or when tho popcorn's popping out like
sheep without u shepherd,
Or when I'm at a game with Hen, and know
I'm sure to beat him,
And havo to stop It off at onco before I can
defeat him
Why, then It really seems to me ns though
It might bo said
There's nothing I dlsllko so much ns ono
little bed.
Hut when tho night has passed away, and
back the morning comes,
And Mary, standing by my door, upon.lt
loudly thrums;
When I'm dreaming Jolly dreams all of
skating on the ocean,
Or of coasting down Vesuvius with swift
and easy motion,
Or when tho air Is chill outside, and I am
warm and cozy,
And long to sleep a little more, because I
am so dozy
Why, then It really seems to me as though
It might be said
There's nothing I enjoy so much as one
llttlo bed.
Martha Hurr Hanks, In Outlook.
HiJMMmtifflfflMMMMtMtMMty.
Tifclr PHUtMlflfc tUU.
i
5
BY NELLIE KELSON AMSDEN.
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WHEN Caroline Hunter married
John Miggins' he was poor, and
they were glad to be able to cover the
iloors of their little six-room house
with cheap mattings and tlrree-ply in
grains, and were thankful that they
could pay the bill when It was present
ed the first of the following month.
Hut all that is changed, for John Winn
Miggins 1b now a rich man.
Caroline little knew how devotedly
John Miggins could cling and hang and
-fasten himself to a fad, or I urn sure
that after their great Inheritance came
fihe would have hesitated n long time
before letting that first simple little
1'erBian rug come Into the new house.
The new house suited them to a T at
first, but as John continued to gather
prayer rugs and nnclent tapestries he
wished that there were more landings
to the oaken staircase, and that all of
the iloors had been built of hard woods
for the displny of his expensive col
lection. So a new house was built '
The next year, during a trip abroad,
lie came upon a large nnd very expen
sive rug In Constantinople, worn and
frayed and excessively odd In coloring.
The seller brought out its mosaic ef
fects and showed Mr. Miggins that it
needed sunlight to bring out its won
drous coloring.
Then Jolin turned to Caroline Caro
line, who was weary with three
luoii'ths' globe trotting after "old car
pets," as she now began to designate
them, in her mind, at lenst.
"Well, Cara, we have no sunny room
large enough for this. What do you
think we had better do about it?"
"Do?" was her reply. "Why, buy It,
of course, and build on. Make a big
outdoor parlor or dining-room, or
something for tills, rag car Turkish
rug, 1 mean." She meant It ns a bit of
sarcasm, but her enthusiastic husband,
Intent on the wonders of the pattern
spread before him, did not perceive this.
"Caroline," he made answer, "that's
ji.st what we'll dot I've always
thought we needed more porch room,
and (in airy summer parlor would be
just the thing for this pattern."
And so it went on till Caroline knew
thnt the house was made for the rugs,
not the rugs for the house. She felt
herself quite n slave to these revered
bits of carpet, so many of her unen
gaged hours at home had to be spent
in seeing that the iloors were perfectly
polished and that the man shook and
brushed the rugs carefully and that
they were again laid in their proper
places, for nothing exasperated John
more than to bring in a friend, equally
mad on the subject, and to And that
u certain rug which lie had expected
to find in the southeast corner of the
library had by mistake been placed be
fore the threshold of the butler's pan
try. What baseball is to most men nn auc
tion sale of orientnl rugs was to John.
All their vacations, their many jour
ney high abroad,, were mapped out in
Johu's mind by the raritleB in his col
lection; tlie winter in Cairo had given
them the dingy prayer mat on the first
landing; the, fall after the baby died
and Caroline needed change they had
gone to Naples, and John had run over
to Algiers and found that treasure in
ipurple nnd green before Caroline's lit
tle desk; the couch covering in John's
u"en was the product of that trouble
some journey to Bagdad the year they
lost all their baggage save the rugs;
the sleazy od square in blues, burnt
briok reda nnd ecstatic purples, on
which stood the Chinese' god in the li
brary, hud been found the year they
had the unpleasant encounter with the
Huntlngton-Browns in Damascus.
It was Caroline who kept the ac
counts. One day, when she was a lit
tle overburdened with John's enthusi
ftsiu over u certain heavy teu-by-twelve,
which had coat a good ninny hundred
of dollars, she reckoned up the small
fortune spent In buying nnd In duties,
and reckoned tlint It might cattily have
founded nn orphan asylum.
She had a little mania, mild, of her
own, u fad for collecting hiiiiiII toy dogs
in china, Ivory nnd metals. Good ouch
were rare and hard to find, but she
searched for them In London, Paris,
Nice, Naples, in little Swiss towns, in
New York nnd Chictigo, and once found
one, a little pink-blanketed spaniel, in
Brooklyn.
It was such u change from the rugs.
They .needed, so little care, and they
were clean. Mrs. Miggins had been
born In New England, nnd consequent
ly abhorred dirt; nnd those long jour
neys In the far east had led her to feel
that rugs which had been associated
with great deserts and camels and elc
phants, long, dusty pilgrimages, dirty
Turks, Persians, Algerians, Egyptians
and Arabs could never be wholly cleun
even after a long sojourn at the steam
renovating works. Hut with John a
rug which bore evidences of age, whose
colors were faded, which had little
worn places on it where mnny prayers
had been said, was as dear to his heart
as it had been to his purse.
The world's fair at Chicago came to
Mr. John Winn Miggins as a special
dispensation in tapestries, rugs and
antiques, while it enabled Caroline to
add some beautiful little specimens of
the toy dogjto t lie already crowded col
lection on her drawing-room table.
Two weeks before the fair closed
Jolin was called home to attend to some
important financial affairs, but Caro
line, to please him, promised to, stay
and finish the negotiations concerning
some rare tapestries and old prayer
mats which her husband wished to pur
chase. She concluded the business nnd
was sure that, unblinded by too great
n desire, she had made much bettter
bnrgnlns than John Miggins would
havo driven.
On the wny home to HuiTnlo she
stopped over in Cleveland to visit her
old friends, the Kennedys.
Sitting witli Mrs. Kennedy in her
cosy upstairs sitting-room one monning
n few dnys before her intended depart
ure, she was discuhslng with her
friends the subject of a gift for John's
coming birthday.
"I declare," said Caroline, "I've often
wished that John had been born on the
20th day of Feburnry. It's an exasper
ating thing to buy a present for a man.
Of course, I know a prayer mat or a
moth-eaten tapestry would please him,
but just now, after the fair, my pocket
money is at too low an ebb for rug-buying
such as would please John; and
then I'm so tired of rugs thnt I'd be
glad to live on bare iloorsor rose-strewn
Brussels."
She looked Out of the window. The
old ashman was stopping at the oppo
site house. The day was unusually
cold, and the brisk wind from old Luke
Erie swept straight up the street and
whisked the nshes about. Da.ngling
from the bony mule was an old oriental
jug, more worn, more frayed, more
faded than any she had ever seen, yet
witlial an oriental rug, as she knew by
Its coloring, which neither dirt nor age
could quite disguise.
Caroline ran out and waited, bare
headed, till the driver came out from
the back yard with his barrel of ashes,
and then nsked him if he would sell the
old rug.
' "Yis, mem," he replied, "if ye're will
in' to give me me price, fifty chits,
though mighty handy it is to throw over
me mule, Shamrock, on a cold day, or
to make me seat somewhat the softer."
She was anxious to know where he
got it amd he frankly and confidential
ly told her all about it. And she gave
him a dollar more than he had asked
her.
The rug was sent to the cleaners; and
when It came back Caroline darned
and redarned and cross-stitched it with
some old, faded yarns and threads.
With the most affectionate of little
motes it was rolled up and placed beside
John's chair at breakfast the morning
of his birthday.
"Where, Cnrolhie, did you happen, on
this rare old treasure?" exclaimed John
after he had aiurolled it. "This is some
thing truly antique."
While John was spreading it. out old
Buttons, their English mustlff, came
into the room. Buttons growled and
bristled nitid showed his teetli at the
ery first sniff of the new rug, and re
treated, growling savagely, to the other
side of the room, and never again could
they get get him to approach It.
"Do you see, Caroline," Mild John,
"the old fellow smells the camels and
elephants doesn't like them, evident
ly," while Caroline, smiling behind the
coffee urn, was Inwardly commenting
that Buttons probably disliked mules.
"1 tell you, Caroline, you weren't fooled
this time; this is old and genuine, sure
enough. See this odd stitching where)
some of those old Turks nave tried to
repair the ravages of time. Or is it
Turkish? Where did you find It? I
had no idea you were such a fine judge.
No cheating you, this time at least."
For, sad to say, ,lohn had often been
swindled an antiques and importa
tions. But Caroline would not tell a bit of the
history of her pur'chnse. She said the
rug itself ought to tell the story.
John had sent to New York for his
friend, Jack Watts, the artist, to come
on nnd examine the new acquisition to
his collection. They sat in John's den
looking It over. Both men were a bit
puzzled by the pattern, the cross-stltch-Jng
nnd darning.
"Find out whntshe paid for it," said
Jack Watts; "that may give a clew as
to its origin." "
"She refuses to tell. I suppose she
paid a whopping prlee for it, not be
ing used to dealing with these (Turks
and Jews who sell rugs, though she did
mighty well at tho fair. 1 suppose she
bought this there."
Then Caroline came In and nsked
their guest what he thought of her
judgment.
"J tell you, Mrs. Miggins, this is a
wonderful art treasure. When a wom
an buys she lets fancy and money go
to the winds. Even the darns, doubt
less, nre hundreds of years old. I have
made a study for years of this weaving
and cross-stitching. Tell ns where it
came from, nnd I'll give you the New
York "ddrcss of a little second-hand
shop where I saw some fine little bisque
dogs for sale."
And Caroline, woinnn-liko yielded
sufficiently to say:
'Til tell you (his much the rug came
from Palestine."
"Just ns 1 told you," remarked Jack
Watts, "It has been carried on many a
pilgrimage."
The year after the fair there were
many loan and art exhibitions, and
.Jolin loaned the old rug n number of
times, sending it away from home
boldly labeled as a bit of antiquity
from the Holy Land. Caroline began
to wish it would get lost on some of
Its journeys for the sake of art, when
sure enough a calamity befell it.
One dny when John came home to
dinner Caroline heard him looking
nbout in the library and hall. Then
he called up to her:
"Cara, where is our Palestine rug?
I want to send it to Mrs. McWatters;
she's to have on exhibit in her studio."
. "Why, In the library, of course,"
replied Caroline, coining downstairs.
"No, it'p not there."
The maid was called. Yes, her mis
tress had told her to dust the rooms,
and she had taken that old rug before
the Inlaid cabinet out on the veranda
to shake and dust it. Oh, yes, the
cook hnd called her before she was
through, and she had left it on the ver
anda railing.
Then she discovered that the servant
had broken one of her choicest dogs,
a life-like chinn spitz from Vienna.
And Mrs. Miggins sat down nnd cried.
"Why, Caroline, nothing but a china
dog, and that rug missing! I declnre,
you make regular idols of those toy
dogs!" said her husband.
"Idols!" nnd Caroline stood up and
paid some very sharp things about rugs
TUB SKLLER BROUGHT OUT ITS
MOSAIC 13FFECT.
and fads and collectors In general, and
the consequence wus that she and John
said very little to each other for some
hours.
But the Palestine rug was really
gone, stolen was the general decree.
One dny when John wns sorry for call
ing her dogs "idols," he brought her
home another little dog for her tnble,
and said as he gave it to her:
"Cara, dear, I was savage that day,
but that rug was a great lossto me.
1 liked It more thnu all the others be
cause It was the only one you ever gave
me."
Caroline hesitnted. Should she tell
him its history? No, she would wait
for an occasion, some one of her de
lightful little dinners when she wanted
a good story to tell with some surpris
ing little points in it for Toh n Winn Mig
gins. But John, likewise, did not tell her
that he had n detective employed in
hunting up the old Palestine treasure.
One day, some months later, Mr. Mig
gins came home hi radiant spirits.
"Caroline," he called up the stairs,
or she was in her room dressing for
dinner, "it is found!"
"Found?" questioned she, emerging.
"What's found?"
"Why the rug, the Palestine rug, of
course," he replied.
"Tiut old thing!" laughed back his
wife. "Who found it?"
"My detective found it in one ovf
those places where the rag men take
their woolens to be ground up for mak
ing those cheap frieze coats. An old
rag peddler had taken it off the ver
anda lulling. The detective unenrthed
him, but 1 shall not prosecute him,"
explained Mr. Miggins.
"I should sny not," responded his wife,
and she sal down on tho top stair and
Inughed till the tears came, .lohn
thought it was pure joyousness over the
recovery of his antique.
The rug from Pnlestlne was given a
place on the lauding of the staircase
where John might enjoy it ns he passed
up nnd down. It had been there but a
few weeks when Caroline, coming down
to meet her husband, caught her heel
in its curious cross-stitching and was
thrown violently hcndlong.
Three times in the next two weeks
she was carried to the gates of death
and then led back again to life.
The first dny thnt she was well
enough to come downstairs she walked
about, leaning on John's arm, looking
at all the old familiar things. And
when John hnd settled her in an easy
chair by the Window she looked up at
him and said:
"Why, John, whore's your Pnlestlne
rug? I do not see it."
"No. That's the one you tripped on,
so I threw it into the hall closet, but
I'll have it out if you miss it, after It is
repaired."
"Never mind. I don't care for rugs
which cost but n dollar and a half. I
must tell you all about it now."
"A dollar and a half!" And John
pushed bnck his chair and whistled so
loud that Caroline cried out:
"Hush! Sh! John, you'll wake the
baby. Isn't he sweet?" smiling down
at the warm, flnnnclly bundle beside
her.
"But, Cara, you said it came from
Palestine?"
"Yes, John, it did
East Palestine,
home." N. Y.
0., the
ashman's old
Ledger.
t h e Qui c k"hoirs E.
Au OutKrowtli of Improved American
McthoilH of Flre-FllitliiKr.
It Is only within recent years that
quick horses have bfen developed and
appreciated and admired, and the poet
has not yet attempted to sing the
praises of this more prosaic but noble
animal. Yet, after all, to one who care
fully examines the matter, the quick
hoise appears to have quite as good, If
not a better claim upon our admiration
and sympathy and encouragement. The
swift horse wins the race; and in these
dnys he may cause considerable money
to change hnnds, in which there is cer
tainly nothing that is commendable.
But the quick horse 1 write about saves
life, saves property, and under modern
conditions of life is essential to our
safety and general well-being. He is
the result indirectly of poor building
an outgrowth of our skillful Ameri
ca!? fire departments, which could not
now exist without him.
Not so very mnny years ago, when a
fire broke out, everybody far and neur
begun to run and, especially, began to
ye'l and the volunteer firemen of thut
time, being in the service for the ex
citement of it, joined in the yell and
started out the old hand engine from its
solemn repose, while the foreman, run
ning ahead shouted innumerable or
ders hoarsely through his trumpet, to
the great delight of hundreds of small
beys pan dug to keep up in the glorious
race. -
The fire that was altogether a sec
ondary matter and when they finally
got there, they went to work with more
or less efficiency. There was a great
deal of fun in the business, but fires
were not extinguished. Our cities in
the eurly days were not built to prevent
fins, but skeined, if auything, rather
built to encourage them.
In France we may well be amused as
we watch the pompier corps trundle its
bnth tub on wheels to the Mjene of the
co.ifiugratlou, and deliberately fill its
apartments with water dipped up from
the gutter, whence it is thrown by n lit
tle pump upon the fiames, because we
know much of the architecture there is
solid, and if a fire is not extlnguis-hed
it will soon burn itself out. But in our
country a mere spark may in a few sec
onds become a devouring furnace, and
destroy house after house and block
after block. Many buildings are tinder
boxes, and our dry climate adds to their
inflammability, while the ever-present
careless or lazy workman by improper
construction gives the fire its first op
portunity. F. S. Delienbuugh, in St.
Nicholus.
Mullen; nnil the Ass.
But, while so many "dumb things"
hne been excellent actors, one of their
number at least has been immortalized
through failure. Moliere himself was
the actor who brought about the unre
hcarsed scene between himself and his
ass. The piny was "Don Quixote," nnd
Moliere played Sancho. Some minutes
before he had to appear on the stage
he was waiting in the wings, mounted
on his ass. But the latter suddenly for
got his part, and insisted upon appear
ing on the scene without delay. Nor
was it of any avail that half a dozen
assistants hung around his head and
clung desperately to his tail. The ass,
with Moliere on his back, dashed wildly
among the actors on the scene, and the
fiasco would have been complete hud
not Moliere saved the situation by
shouting to the audience, while jogging
along: "Pardon, gentlemen! Pardon,
ladles! but this confounded beast has
come on against my wishes!" The pub
He responded nt once with ronrs of
Inughter and applause, but Moliere
never again mounted an ass. West
minster Gazette.
No KnollltU'N.
Snllle De Witte Do you play whist,
Mr. LangeV
Willis Lange Me piny whist? Well,
I don't think!
Snllle De Witte Ah, true! I had for-
J gotten that. BrooWyu Life,
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
--It has been discovered that the
Ptumps of pine trees make very durable
shingles.
In Wetzel county, W. Va., there is
n gas well from which the roar of escap
ing gas can be heard at a distance of six
miles.
Elephants nre transported on the
railroads of India at the rate of six cents
a mile. Each elephant Is allowed to
carry one trunk.
Compressed flour, In the form of
bricks, is used by the British nrmy and
navy. In this form space is econo
mized, and :i()0 pounds of packed flour
may be stored in the space which 100
pounds would occupy in a loose condi
tion. A noted physician asserts that high
living checks the growth of the hair.
He declares that It Is easy In society to -pick
out the girls whose parents have
arisen from the ranks of poverty, by the
superior quality and abundance of their
hair.
The Alaskans trap bears by tying a
piece of whalebone, In the shape of un
N, In a piece of meat. The bear gulps
down the meat whole, the gastric juice -dissolves
the meat and decays the
string, the whalebone springs straight,
and the bear dies.
The electric light is still a puzzle to
some folks. A lady occupying a room
In tho Windsor hotel, Milford.Dol., hav
ing failed to turn off Hie electric light,
tied n skirt around it. The skirt dropped'
off. Then she tried to fan it out, and
broke the globe.
On their wedding day the bride and'
bridegroom of Thuringin, Germany,
partake of soup from the saie plate.
They watch each other closely during
this performance, as there is a belief
that the one who takes the last spoonful
will be the first to die.
The last wish of n Tippcrary ex
sergeant in the aruvy, who died recently
In Whittington, England, wns that a
bottle of Irish whisky should be pluccd '
in his coffin. As the sexton objreted, u
comrade of the dead soldier reverently
sprinkled the coffin with the whisky.
A PAIR OF INNOCENTS.
Tvro rjodKorn of the CiintoniN Olllclala
Compare Notes.
It was during the brief time that the
customs officers were on the alert to
capture all kinds of sealskin wearing
npparel, that she was coming across
the river. Though fine-looking, she
had a provincial air nnd u pair of eyes
as innocent as u baby's.
After the officer hud passed two-thirds
the length of the car she looked up to
see him standing beside her seat.
"What is it, sir?" she asked, in a so
licitous way. "Have you lost some
thing?" and .-jhe began gathering her
skirts nbout her feet that he might
have a clearer view of the floor.
"I'm a customs ofiicei, madam," he
raid, very impressively, for a man in his
position feels humiliated at having to
identify himself. "Have you anything
on you on which duty should be paid?"
"Why, my dear sir, I wouldn't smug
gle. If 1 did it would be when 1 could
get the best of the states, for I'm from
the dominion, don't you know?" just
as if it were not as plain ns though
the union jack had been tattooed on
her forehead. "I thought you had lost
something." The eyes were more con
vincing even than her artless talk, and
when the officlnl made a perfunctory
examination of her valise just to hold
his job, she indulged in a contngious
l.uigh, telling how very odd it ull
seemed.
Three blocks from the depot she was
met by a man in a silk hat, box over
coat, flash suit and puffing at n big
black cigar.
"What luck, Kit?"
"Forty-seven diamonds, two pounds
of opium and a sealskin jacket under
this cloak. I'm melted." Detroit Free
Press.
Ascot Tien Still In Vok'uc.
The Ascot tie is as much In vogue as
it was last fall. And no wonder, for it
is very becoming to any woman on
whom the shirt waist and high linen
collar look well. The lntest design is
made of accordion-plaited satin, and is
as dressy and graceful as a tie can be.
It comes in all colors, bright and deli
cate, and is running a close race for
popularity with the Roman neck scarfs.
These are made of heavy Ottoman rib
bons, in gay stripes and plaids, and are
finished at the ends with knotted fringe,
the longer the better. They are wound'
around the neck, crossed in the back,
and tied in front, four-in-hand style or
in a loose sailor knot. Artists delight
In them as much as they hate stiff!
collars and mannish ties for women.
Chicago Tribune.
IliMt'H Ailment.
"Yes, John was quite sick for several
days," explained the little girl. "He's
the boy that lives in the next house,
you know. He had the the jondice,
I think they called it. And he got well,
and then his brother Ben got sick."
"Did Ben have the jondice, too?"
nsked the caller.
"No," said the little girl. "I think
Ben hnd the Bendice." Chicago Trib
une. KxplnlntMl.
Knox I wonder why it is that we
hear of so many men breaking down in
the prime of life nowadays?
Fox It is due,' no doubt, to there be
ing so mnny more self-made men than
formerly. Boston Courier.
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