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A
r THE NEBRASKA ADVERTISER
W. AV. HANDUU.", I'ubltNhrr.
NEMAHA, NEBRASKA.
THE CHOICE.
It It could choose, would tho chattering
brook
Flow tirelessly on, from each shndy nook,
Out to the sun nnd the sen?
Would It blend with the waves In the nonp-
tlde alow,
Or hIhk Its own sour, In melodious! flow
Monarch of meadow nnd lea?
If wc cou'.d choose, would n starless sky,
Or a frot or a Jar or a tear or a sigh
E'er enter these lives of ours?
Would we willingly go through life's devi
ous ways
Serene in the sunlight, dark In the haze,
Unmindful of Pleasure's flowers?
Ah, could wo choose, wo would miss, I
think,
The strength of our striving the towering
brink
Of Virtue too hard to climb; '
But man In his bosom has burled a dream
God-given, and' tenderly, lltfully glcnm
Under the enrth-mold nnd rime
Glimpses of beauty that lure our hearts on,
Despite, of life's failures, out Into the dawn
Of peace through tho tempest of pain;
lor man's but a child, nnd his lesson to
learn
TThat earth's rarest hues, tenr-bowed may
burn
Out of the mist and rain.
Knlhcrlne B. Huston, in Dramatic Mag
azine. new EKELArtM
WEJPTURJ&
tn
CAPTjHj?ignS
ICopyrlcht, j393, by S. 3. McClure.
CJ 1 APTEH 1 V. Continued.
Five minutes later he was back again.
Tom had not returned, and Hitler
gulped down another draught of fiery
liquor nnd, then skulked up the street
until he came to tho darkest portion,
where narrow alley nlTordcdihiin n se
cure hiding place. Ills right hand was
hidden in the pocket of his coat, nnd
grasped 11 short implement made- of
bone, which the snilors call n "fid," and
which he had secured while on board a
few moments before.
Under ordinary circumstance the
liquor he had imbibed, would, havt con
fused) his brain, but now he was only
conscious of an intense, overpowering
determination to secure the papers
which meant so much to the man who
could reach the gold region with. them.
There had been a smart shower in the
early part of the evening, and the drip
ing from the low eaves- of the houses
still continued, but had a dragging and
relenting sound. A solitary street light
50 yards away cast a dismal gleam for
a. few square yards in cither direction,
while nn occasional burst of drunken
laughter from the next street told of
some party of revelers making their
noisy way home.
The mate noticed none of these
things. His eyes were fixed intently
In the direction from which he expect
ed his victim to come, and his square
jaws were set. Through his brain ran
but one thought:
"The papers!"
Half an hour passed and Tom came
striding along under the gaslight,
humming a tune and merrily rehears
ing the play he had just witnessed.
Suddenly the watcher uttered an im
precation under his breath, for just as
lie was gathering himself for a spring
Ac espied, a dark figure stealing noise
lessly along behind the young man.
Closer and clober crept the fateful
shadow, and as Tom arrived opposite
hc alley where the mate was crouch
ing, the latter saw the second figure
take a few rapid, noiseless strides.
Then an nrm was raised over Tom's
3icad and fell with crushing force, send
ing him stunned nnd senseless to the
muddy pavement, while his assailant
"bent over his form to secure the valu
ables he might have about him.
With a shout of rage the mate rushed
Xrom his place of concealment toward
1hc stranger, who sprang nimbly to his
feet and sped-down the street at mnaz
ing speed, without waiting to dispute
-the field with the newcomer.
To kneel by the prostrate form and
-tear open his clothing was the work
of an. instnnt, and when Obed Hider
arose to his feet he held the belt con
taining the precious documents in his
"3 uinds.
Slipping it quickly into his pocket he
gave a hnsty glance about him. All was
till and once more he knelt by Tom's
side, panting.
"Is he dead? I must bo sure!"
In one hand he grasped his weapon
and the other he placed over the young
man's heart.
At first he detected no pulsation.
"then there was a feeble- flutter and a
moment later Tom groaned faintly.
"lie's, alive!"
Tho words were hissed forth jn a
murderous manner and as he spoke
'Hitler raised his weapon.
Hut the blow did not fall, for even as
'3ie nerved himself for the stroke the
natc had a new thought which arrested
"U urnJ 'jje ,mist jaye money stud hud
,:m time to lose If he robbed Tom of
K$g$r "wt ss&ssshl.
both money and papers the victim,
even if he recovered, wn powerless to
pursue his journey further. Who
would believe his story of the gold
mine?
All this flashed through his brain in
much less time than it take to write it,
and with feverish, trembling haste he
began fumbling about in Tom's clothes,
lie was not long finding the money
which Tom carried In an. inside pocket
of his vest and was rising to his feet
when a door suddenly opened n few
yards away and n man came out of the
house.
Without waiting to see in which di
rection he was turning, Obed Hider hur
ried away toward the wharf and was
soon safe in his stateroom with his ill
gotten booty. His eyes shone with dev
ilish triumph as he pored over the pa
pers, and the sight of over $700 in cash
wrapped around the railroad ticket to
Seattle filled his measure of satlsfac
tlon to' overflowing.
lie hntl no knowledge of the amount
left Tom by the old miner and as he
carefully secreted his treasures nbout
his person, he chuckled:
"I'm a made man. He's lost his pil
and the papers, too. I'll take the train
to-day, you fool, in your place. I won
der if he vlil get over the rap or not?
1 don't need to fret, anyway. I didn't,
hit him, nnd he'll never know who did."
Tom's unintentional rescuer came
quickly along until he caught sight of
the prostrate figure, then he stopped
short and slipped his hand behind him,
glancing sharply nbout on every side.
Apparently satisfied that no one was
near, he knelt by the motionlcso form
and struck a match.
It was a ghastly picture. Tom's face
was so covered with blood that his fea
tures were not recognizable, his cloth
ing was disarranged and covered with
black mud, and as the newcomer looked
a deep groan came from the prostrate
man's lips.
With a little exclamation of horror
the stranger rose to his feet and ran
back to the door he had just left, lie
was gone but an instant, returning
with another man, who assisted him in
enrrying the inanimate form to the en
trance. With much trouble they lifted
their heavy burden along n narrow
passage into a scantily furnished room,
where they placed it upon a narrow bed
in one corner.
A small kerosene lamp stood on a
table, and by its light the first ninn took
a look at the face, saying:
"Get a basin of water, Ned, quick!
We must see how bad he is hurt."
When the water arrived a moment
later, he washed the blood from" Tom's
face with a gentle hand, then as the
features became distinct he uttered a
little cry of astonishment and dropped
on his knees by the wounded man, ex
claiming: "Hy thunder, Ned, I know this r.ian!
He was a passenger with us! If it isn'r
Mr. Scott, I'm a sinner! Somebody has
knocked him on the head and gone
through him! Uring the light! He
may be hurt bad!" .
As he spoke Tom moaned and stirred
upon the bed. Then he opened his eyes
and struggled with a wild look into c
half-erect position.
"What's all this!" he groaned.
"Where am 1?"
"It's all right, Mr. Scott." replied a
familiar voice. "You are with a friend.
Better lie down awhile till you feel bet
ter." Tom looked at him in a bewildered
fashion, blinking his1 eyes in the glare
of the lamp which the third man held
close to him.
".Mr. Ureen!" he said, wonderingly.
"Yes, sir," replied the second mate
of the Seablrd, "it's me. 1 happened
along just in time. Arc you hurt much?
Let me look at your head."
".My head?" repeated Tom, who had
no clear conception of where ho was or
whether he was asleep or awake.
"Yes," replied his rescuer, lifting the
hair on the top of his head as he spoke.
"You were knocked down on the street
and I found you there. I was going
down to the vessel after some things I
left there and I stumbled over a man
on the sidewalk. I had no idea it was
you, but I couldn't let a chap lie thciv
in the mud, so wc took you in here
This is my room. 1'vo left theSeabird,
you know. I'm oh" for the gold mines
in the Klondike if I can get there."
The last word acted like magic upon
Tom.
"The Klondike!" he repented. "Yes.
I remember. It all conies' to me now. I
forgot where I was. 1 remember now
I was attacked on the street! Some
body came up behind nnd struck me!"
"That's it. Then I came along and
found you. You've got an ugly cut on
the head, but I don't think it will
amount to anything after you rest
awhile. There is no doctor round here
that 1 know of, and I'll just put a bit
of plaster on it for you if you don't
mind. You can get it looked at to-morrow
if you want to."
The third man held the light while
this was done and then left the second
mate with his patient, who asked:
"Who was that?"
"I hire this room of him," was the
reply. "lie helped me bring you in
from the street."
"You are very good," said Tom, "hut
it's late and I'm keeping you out of your
bed."
As ho spoke he tried to rise, but the
other restrained hint.
"You are not well enough yet," he
said, hlr.dly. "Hotter rest awhile. Hid
you lose anything when jou were
struck? Have you watch or money "
Tom interrupted him with a hoarse
cry and sat bolt upright.
".My bolt!" he panted, wildly.
His hand went to his waist and
then the full force of hlsloss burst upon
him.
It was gone!
The unfortunate young man looked
stupidly nt the sailor a moment, then
he broke into meaningless laughter nnd
fell back upon the bed. Tho blow had
robbed him of his scattered senses nnd
he fainted.
When the doctor renched his side a
few hours later, Tom was suffering
from brain fever and could not be
moved. The second mate had sum
moned Capt. Collin nnd now turned to
him, saying:
"We can't leave him nlonc nnd with
out a cent. I was going to try my luck
up north Jn the mines, but hang me if
I'll leave him this way. I'm going to
stay alongside the poor chap till he gets
well or dies, if it tnkes every red I've
got!"
"Put It there!" roared tho bluff old
skipper, holding out his hnrd fist.
"You're a man, you nro. lint there's
plenty of money belonging to him in
1113 safe, and you needn't use n cent of
yours. See he has the best care and
call on me for the pay when you need
it."
Thnt afternoon the northern train
included Obed Hitler among its passen
gers, while Tom Scott tossed unenslly
from side to side, rambling on about
secret trails and gold mines until the
stout sailor by his side shook his head
sorrowfully as he glanced at the burn
ing cheeks and growled:
"I'm afraid the poor fellow has got
his discharge."
CHAPTEH V.
RIDER GETS A SURPRISE.
Obed Uider was far from easy in his
mind as the train sped on, leaving San
Francisco behind, lie had slept on
board the vessel the previous night un
til the noise of the second mate arous
ing the captain had nwakened him.
They did not call him, knowing the en
mity that had existed between himself
and Tom, but he overheard enough to
tell him that Tom wan alive, although
badly hurt and out of his head with
fever.
He knew Tom was in utter ignornnce
of the identity of his assailant, but had
he been aware of the loss of the belt?
Would the skipper remember the time
he had seen the mate coining out of
Tom's room and place any new sig
nificance on the incident?
A guilty conscience made him imag
ine all sorts of dangers to himself, nnd
he trembled each time the train slopped
at a station lest an otliccr bhould be
in wait for him.
Hut nothing of the kind happened,
anil in due time he reached Seattle.
They piaccd'him on the' bed.
Here tilings seemed more encouraging,
for he was fortunate enough to find a
man who had engaged a passage on a
steamer for Skaguay and Dyen, which
sailed the same day. The man had re
ceived a telegram announcing the dan
gerous illnessof his wife, and was eager
to leave Seattle by the next train.
The mate happened to be the first
man he met, and the latter soon came
to terms with him, and hurried on board
to secure his quarters. He kept him
self out of sight as much as possible,
but when the lines were cast off the
following day and the City of Seattle
steamed out of the harbor he drew a
long breath of relief, and said, half
aloud:
"We're off at last, audi I'm safe now."
He found that his ticket entitled him
to a stateroom, and that the trip from
Seattle to Dyea usually occupied about
five days. All his fellow passengers
were wild with impatience to reach the
land of gold, nnd now that he felt safe
from pursuit he eagerly listened to the
stories of wonderful wenlth found by
lucky miners, for each one mnde it
more probable thnt the papers he had
sceretedi about him were genuine evi
dence, a fact which at times he was in
clined, to doubt.
He had paid the returning miner $500
for his ticket and outfit, the latter in
cluding three horses and n good supply
cf provisions, while the former includ
ed their transportation to Dyea free of
cost. He must, however. land them
himself, the company declining all re
sponsibility for this part of the work.
A short stop was p.ade nt .Juneau, nnd
'two days later he found himself on the
bench at Dyea with his belongings and
feeling utterly at n loss how to proceed.
I'V "VM N ISA
How to handle this formidable outfit
was a puzzle. On board a vessel he was
at home, but n horse was nn uulmnl of
which he knew very little and. here
were three of them besides the heap
of miscellaneous articles piled on the
rocky shingle.
It was plain that they must bo moved
before the tide eaint' in, nnd with a
sailor's knowledge of kuotH he soon
lashed the bunions on the backs of the
raw-boned animals nnd succeeded in
getting them to the town safely.
A small tent was among his newly
acquired possessions and he proceeded
to pitch it us best he could, piling lily
goods outside. He set up his little
sheet-iron stove and was going for wa
ter when ho passed close to one of his
animals, who launched out viciously at
him. with ills hoof, sending him to the
ground several yards-i away with, a
broken rib and Ills left arm badly
bruised.
"What's the trouble?" said a rough
voice from the next camp us a burly,
bearded man strolled, leisurely to the
spot. "Hurt ye much, parti?"
A string of oaths burst from Hitler as
he scrambled to his- feet.
"Something's cracked, inside," he
growled, "and my arm's hurt. I) n
the horse, nnyway!"
"Hotter let my mute see If anylhing's
wrong. He's a master hand with nny,
thing o- that kind- Here, SeottJ" lie
added, raising his voice.
Obed Hitler started at the name, but
he turned, fnirly white with amazement
as a tall hrond-i-houldcrcd mnn In the
prime of life issued) from the tent and
came toward him, saying:
"What is it, .Jack?"
Uefore the other could, reply both
Hhler and I he newcomer uttered ex
clamations of astonishment.
"Obed. Hider!"
"Capt. Scott!"
The mate looked, about him in a help
less way as if socking some avenue of
escape, but 1 lie other held out Ills hand
cordially, saying:
"Of all men, to see you hero!" Then
he added:
"Hut you nro hurt. Can I do any
thing for you? Lot me have, a little
look. We can talk afterward."
The injury was soon located., and lift
er predicting that a few days, would
set the matter right, Capt. Scott said:
"What on earth brought you here?
Have you been hmne lately? Did you
see my boy?"
The mate liadi done, considerable
thinking during llio past few minutes.
After the first surprise was over he had
rapidly determined upon his course,
and he now shook his head, replying:
"I'm afraid. 1 can't give you much
good news from home, enp'n."
His eyes fell au he spoke, but the
other was too eager to notice.
"What do you mean, Hider?"
The voice was hoarse now with sup
pressed eagerness1. ".My boy! Toll me!
Is he why don't you speak? .My
brother, too! D it, man speak out!
Has anything, happened to them? They
might, both be dead by the. way you
act!"
'They are," murmured Hitler, still
with his eyes east down.
Without a word, the captain turned
on his heel and disappeared. It was
half an hour before he returned, nnd
there, was such a change In Ids rugged
features that even the mate felt com
passion for him. Hut he had. no alter
native. Anything to prevent Tom's
father from learning the truth. He
had told his. story, and now he must be
prepared with the details. Fortunate
ly the absence of his latest victim had
given him time to rapidly sketch o'u J a
line of procedure which he hoped
would be safe.
to in: coNTiNunn.
Medieval I-'rcjioli I'cKKitr.
The rank nnd file of the beggars
were, divided into distinct classes, each
following some particular form of
mendicity to which strict attention
was demanded. One had to be u spe
cialist and stick to his own line of busi
ness; the general practitioner was ac
corded no recognition. Tho subjects
of the kjng of Argot kept no chronicles;
consequently our knowledge nt the
beggar dynasty is somewhat limited.
Three kings, however, managed to
make naincH for themselves in history:
Kngot, a Solon in Hags, who founded
the monarchy and drew up a system of
laws for Its government; Anaeroon,
who, wrapped in a mantle of a thousand
pieces, collected alms while riding nn
ass through the streets of Paris, and u
monarch who Is known to us as the
king of Tunis. The latter reigned for
three years only, and was broken on
the wheel at Uordeaux because his ideas
of personal liberty differed from those
of tin French government, whose min
ions happened to be stronger than his
own. At stated periods the French
beggars held a general parliament at
Sainte Anno d'Aurny, in Ilrittany,
where menus wore discussed for he
advancement of mendicity in all its
branches. What a gathering it must
have been! What a fantastic, nightmare-like
assemblage, of rags and tat
ters! I.ippinoott'H.
Spoke for Mini.
Hiram Jinks O, Muudie, are
neiri going to listen to my suit?
you
Miss Maud listen to it? Hi .'finks,
I've done nothing but listen to it for
half an hour. It's the ioudest one you
ever wore Chleuco Tribune.
THE TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN.
Bcnntnr Wolontt Cliounn liy Ihn Xittlnrml
Comtiilttro tn l'rrnlilo Over First S-
ftloiift of Itcpulillritii Convention.
Philadelphia, .Juno 18. Tho com
mittee to notify Senator Woleott of
his seleotlon us temporary chairman
of tho republican national conveu-
, SENATOR WOLCOTT.
(Temporary Clmlrmnn of tho Republican
Convention.)
Hon discharged that duty yesterday
afternoon. Hon. Powell Clayton, min
ister to Mexico, was chairman of tho
committee. Tho notification mid re
ply were Informal.
THE CUBAN ELECTIONS.
Tho Kntlrn Ticket of thn Nntlnnnllttl
Kleotuil In lltiviwin I'orfoct Ortlor
it thn I'ollR.
llnvana, June .18. Gen. Alejandro
Uodrigucz, nationalist, has been elect
ed mayor of Havana, polling 13,073
voles, against 0,0111 cast for Senor Es
trada Mora, Independent. Tho total
vote fell about -1,500 below the regis
tration. The national parly elected
Its entire ticket, 18 eouncilmou, tho
treasurer, one correctional judge and
three municipal judges. The other
correct ionul judgeship fell to an In
dependent candidate as did also tho
fourth municipal judgeship. Of the
six other councllinen four are repub
licans nnd two nationalists, who ran
independently.
Ucports from every purl, of the Is
land go to show that perfect, order
prevailed at the polls. To an Ameri
can observer of the election here it
seemed ns if tho people rgardctl tho
whole matter with absolute Indiffer
ence. There was not even a crowd in
waiting to hear the result declared.
Not a cheer was raised, nor wore
there nnyt of the ordinary indications
of election excitement.
TICKETS FOR CONVENTION.
Kiiiiiiih City Will Uftvolvo Only HOO-'klmmr-
oiih Niliiilmr of Hmitit "Will llo Hot
Apitrt for Country lMKor.
Kansas City, Mo., June 18. Tlio
democratic national sub-committee
decided thai Kansas City should re
ceive only 800 admission tickets to
the national convention. This is a
great disappointment. In Philadel
phia the local committee was given
3,500 tickets. As Kansas City con
tributed about iFSOO.OOO to get the con
vention it was thought the national
committee would be more liberal in
providing the city tickets.
There is to bo a generous number
of seats set apart for the country and
visiting newspaper men who nre not
included in tho 030 seats for tho
working newspaper men. It was tho
unanimous opinion of the sub-committee
that the country editors must bo
cared for and that the committee
would be under obligations to see
that visitors from distant states bo
given scats in the hall. They figured
that no less than 1,500 and possibly
2,000 seats would be needed at every
session for the country newspaper
men and they will be held for them.
None of the tickets will be given out
before July 3.
('lurk SuiK'i'imriil In Moiitmin,
Helena, Mont., Juno 18. Tho dem
ocratic primaries have been held in
every county. Senator CInrk's friends
carry 19 counties nnd divide delega
tion in one. Daly forces carried four
counties, not a single state officer
who signed the protest against Sena
tor Clark being admitted to a seat in
tho United States senate is sent to
his county convention or state conven
tion. Clark will head the delegation
to Kansas City.
Wlmrn tho Unlteil Htute ICxcnlx.
Washington, June 18. Importations
of coul from the United States in the
ten mouths ended with April wero
nearly 50 per cent, larger than those
of the sume months of the preceding
fiscal year and 80 per cent, larger
than those of tho corresponding
months of 1898, while our total pro
duction wns larger than that of any
other country in tho world.
llrUtow Ik SluRhliie Kulnrln.
Havana, June 17. Joseph Hristow,
acting director of posts, has made re
ductions in expenses in tho Cuban
service that will save $190,000 a year.
Salaries of postmasters, especially of
smaller offices, have been leveled to
the basis of those in tho United
States. A saving of $50,000 has been
made here.
ISP
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