^njdcra I, V
W '
/ I /
'HE people of St.
* Luis park that
New Year's eve
' looking to the east
saw under the tow
ering white crests
/ of the Sierra Blan
ca a high smoke
pillar rising with
the sky, and it
brought Joy to
their hearts, for It
assured mem now, as u am
after every great storm, that
81m Belden was still alive, still able
.to grub under the foot of the ever
threatening avalanches tor the fortune
he had left the world to win.
81m Belden was a tall, handsome
giant of 30, who had come from no one
knew where. The few who knew him
thought he was unsocial, and #iose
with whom he traded at Garland be
lieved that he had hit upon a rich find
under the snow line, and that he would
make It hot for the man who tried to
be his neighbor.
Sim Belden had been mining alone
y In the Sierra Blanca, but during the
. Past twelve months he had a compan
ion, a young Ute lad named Pedro,
whom he had found dying and aban
doned over on the headwaters of the
J)el Norte. ,
When Sim Belden, without any pro
cess of law, became Pedro’s guardian,
that youth's knowledge of English was
confined to the one word, "damn.” His
acquaintance with Spanish was a llt
, tie more extensive. He knew that
buenos dlas meant "good day;” sabe,
“understand;” si, senor, “yes, sir,” and
dlnero, “money." But there Is a lan
guage of slgnB which all understand.
'• Sim had just tome up from Garland
. burdened with a great pack of eata
. bles, and a proportionate amount of
drinkables, for the traditions of his
yo\fth led him to believe that both were
essential to a popular observance of
- the season.
This evening In the cabin, after sup
per, Sim Belden was unusually talka
tive, and. forgetting or ignoring that
Pedro’s comprehension of English was
limited, he rattled on like one thlnk
, lng aloud and wishing for no comment
on what ha said.
"It’s been no end of a fine day, Pe
dro—Just like the New Year eves we
J; used to have back In the AUeghanlea
when I was a hoy like you. But to
night we’ll pay for it, and I’m much
afraid tomorrow will be a regular old
■ now-lug Mew i ear s day.”
Seeing that the white man hesitated
Pedro looked wonderlngly up and said
"SI, eenor."
*. Sim Belden lit hla pipe and throwing
himself on a cinnamon bearskin before
the toe, looked at Pedro for a few
ift minutes and then went on, “Of course.
& Pedro, you wasn't ever In love?”
Pedro said, “SI, senor,” and scratched
his head like one perplexed.
[ “So, Pedro, you don’t savey, and I
hope you never will. If you should
•ror be took that way, commit suicide
, unless you’re dead sure. But. then.
M one is over dead sure of a woman,
or of a man either, for the matter of
that.
"Now, Pedro, I ain’t In the habit of
giving myself away. I’m one of the
kind that keeps his trouble to him
self, but there's something ’bout Now
Year's that makes one ’ confidential
like."
“SI, senor,’’ said Pedro, as he ex
tended his lithe form toward the warm
ing fire.
Sim Beldcn turned over on his
breast, and resting his bearded chin
on his upturned palms, looked at the
dancing flames and continued:
"There was never a man loved his
brother as I loved my brother Jack.
Two years younger’n me, and hand
some as a picture—no wonder Alice
Thorpe shock me for him. But it
wasn’t fair. That’s why I kicked.
When our raft went to pieces on the
Susquehanna years and years hgo, it
was Jack that, not caring for himself,’
dove under the logs and fished me out.
But often and often, as I’ve sat by this
fire as I'm doing now, I wished he’d
have let me drown. It's no use to
save a life and curse It.
“Jack was always wild, and when
father died and loft all the property to
me except $5 for him, I put my arm
about him and said: ‘Never mlud.
Jack. I’ll divvy fair. So long as I’ve
got a dollar 50 cents of it is yours.'
Then he kissed mo like when we were
boys, and there were tears on my
cheek that did not come from my
eyes."
The giant’s voice became hoarse, and
while he was clearing his throat Pe
dro gave utterance to his first English
word. "Damn!’’
"Yes, Pedro, that’s Just how I often
feel. You see I can’t blame him for
falling In love with her, for heaven
never made a prettier woman: but It
was the deceit on both sides. You un
derstand?”
“SI, senor.”
“Curious enough, It was just three
years ego this very New Year’s eve
when I discovered them in the hall of
her house talking In loving whispers
and with his arm about her. My God!
I felt like striking the two dead, but I
bit my lip till the blood came; then 1
galloped back home, where my aunt
was she housekeeper, for mother was
“WHITE MAN! WHITE MAN!"
dead. I said nothing to her, but I
wrote two notes—one to Jack, leaving
him all the property, and the other to
Alico Thorpe, telling her I’d discov
ered she was false and asking her to
marry my brother. Then I started for
the west, and the life before me was
\ gloomy sb the canon depths on a
| cloudy midnight.
“At first I felt like changing my
name; but, as I’d never brought dis
I grace on It, I let it stand. What mat
ters a name to a man. who’s left the
world behind forever?
"There's the story, Pedro. That’s
why I’m here, and you’re the first and
the last human being that’ll ever hear
of It from my Ups. Savey?”
“Si, sonar." snld Pedro, without the
slightest comprehension of the secret
that had been confided to him.
Sim Belden was about to speak
again, but ho changed from his pur
pose by a rush, a roar, and a crash
that filled the air and shook the earth
as If the mountain was tumbling into
St. Luis park.
“A Bnowslide! Thank God there’s
no one on the trail between here and
Garland tonight!” Sim Belden sat up
and looked at the Indian boy, whose
lean face £nd black eyes were filled
with an expression of intent anxiety.
“What is It. Pedro? What do you
hear, man? Speak out!”
For reply Pedro bounded to his feet,
and pointing In the direction of the
trail he shouted:
"White man! White man!”
In an instant Sim had t£e door open.
The whirling snow clouds limited his
"A HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR SIM!”
vision to the path of light before the
open door, but above the roaring of the
storm he heard the cry:
"Help! For God’s sake, help!”
“Stay here and keep the door open!”
That Is what Sim Belden shouted as
he buttoned up his fur coat and leaped
down the snow-piled trail.
Pedro had no conception of the or
dinary measure of time, but it seemed
to him that at least a day had passed
since the white man had disappeared.
At length his heart was gladdened as
he saw him breasting through the snow
and bearing another white man in his
arms.
Sim Belden staggered into the cabin,
and laid his burden on the fur covered
floor, and the Instant he saw the face
of the unconscious man he dropped on
Itls knees, took the head in his arms
and cried out as he kissed the face so
like his own.
"Jack! Jack! O God, it’s Jack! Do
you hear me? Look up! Hero’s Sim!
Here’s Sim, asking you on his knees
to forgive him!"
Sim and Pedro stripped off the wet
clothes, rubbed the white form till tl»e
glow of life came back, and placed him
in a bunk and wrapped him in furs.
By the time a steam punch was
ready Jack Belden rubbed his eyes and
looked about him. Then from the
bunk two white arms were extended,
and he sobbed:
“After years of seeking I’ve found
you, Sim!”
There is nothing more sacred than
the tears of honest, strong men.
Pedro looked on in ' wonder, and,
though he could not understand what
vas said, he realized that one had come
vho was nearer to his guardian’s heart
than himself, but he felt no pangs of
Jealousy.
After^a time Jack Belden felt strong
enough* to sit up. He looked at bis
watch, and seeing that it was after
midnight, he reached out his hand to
his brother and said:
“A happy New Year, dear Sim!” And
sttU holding his brother’s hand, Jack
told the story of his three years’ search
and how only that afternoon he had
learned at Garland of Sim's hiding
place.
But there was more to toll. When
Sim discovered him with Alice Thorpe,
just three years before this, he was
telling the girl that he had become
engaged to her cousin Ethel, and wa3
begging her to plead his case with the
father and mother of his betrothed.
“Since the day you left, Sim, I’ve
been a changed man, and a drop of
liquor hasn’t passed my lips. But it is
not of myself, but of Alice I would’
speak. She was ever true to you, and
though she thinks you dead,she is still
true to your memory, and tonight by.
the fire In the old home, where shei
gave you her love, she is weeping for
a dead one who thought her false.”
The storm continued the next day,
but in all that wild land no cabin held
two happier hearts than those of the
brothers reunited under the eaves of
the avalanche far up the Sierra Blan
ca.
Shortly after this Sim Belden sold
out his claim and accompanied his
brother to the east. They took Pe
dro with them and sent him to the In
dian school at Carlisle, where he be
came a teacher.
Every new year he visits his guar
dian and his wife, and the children of
both brothers love him. His knowl
edge of English is perfect, and he ful
ly comprehends the story told him by
Sim Belden in the mountain shack that
New Year’s eve.
THE VESTAL AT THE CATE.
When today with vestal grace
She stood before your dwelling place,
Did you take her by the hand.
Bid her welcome to the land,
With the cordial love and greeting
That we owe a friend at meeting?
Fair and sweet to look upon
Was this lily maid at dawn.
With her dark locks flowing down,
And her saffron hood and gown
Set about with starry border,
Symbol of her priestly order.
And we owe to her. I hold.
Whether she be kind or cold,
Whether she being rue or myrrh
When we lift our gates to her.
Well and duly to receive her,
Lest our sad complaining grieve her.
What she brings us, heaven sent,
Take your gift and be content,
Though it be not what you sought.
And your prayers seem set at naught,
He knows best, who ruled the giving,
What we need .for holy living.
Do not vex her with dismay
At the pangs of yesterday,
Nor disturb her heart in vain
With the hint of coming pain;
For a fell, impending sorrow
May be God’s best gift tomorrow.
—Ola Moore.
ETHEL’S NEW YEAR'S CALLER.
All day long Ethel wished and wish
ed that she was a grown-up lady like
Sister Grace, so that she could have
a New Year's caller.
But the long, bright day went by
and not a single call did she have.
After supper she went slowly up into
the parlor and looked discontentedly
out of the window.
Right under the gaslight she saw a
glossy black cat. He took up first
one paw and then the other out of the
flaky snow and looked this way and
that before starting on his journey
once more. Then he ran along the
sidewalk in front of Ethel’s home and
jumped quickly up the steps.
"It’s my caller!” exclaimed Ethel,
breathlessly. “It truly is!”
She opened the door and In walked
pussy, over the fur rug, Into the par
lor and sat down in front of the fire.
In a second Ethel was beside him,
hugging and petting him.
Pussy seemed to like it and curled
himself up contentedly in Ethel’s lap.
He purred very loud for a few mlnutos
and then went to sleep.
“It’s my New Year's caller!” ex
plained Ethel. “He came his own
seif, mamma, and I’m going to keep
him forever!”
Pussy has never made any objection
to that plan and so Ethel still has her
caller, and she says her New Year’s
-
“IT’S MY CALLER!" EXCLAIMED
ETHEL.
call was the very best one, for it haa
lasted nearly a whole year.
MARJORY DEANE.
In the Holiday*.
Tla chilly when returns come in.
And you have done your part,
To And that the majority
Gave you the marble heart.
•Tis chilly when you woo a girl
To have a rival win.
And get invited finally
To see her marry him.
But, ah, the coldest thing of all
In this chill month, no doub^
Is to be told at 5 a. m.
"The fires are all out!"
THE TIDAL FRICTION.
ACTING AS A PERPETUAL
BRAKE ON THE ROTATION.
Change In SclentlBc Views—No Contra
diction or the I.awn of Growth and
Decay Which Represent tlio Ini unit
able Order of Nature.
ER.HAPS the most
interesting accorn
plishments of
mathematical a o
tronomy—frotn a
mundane stand
point, at any rate
—are those that
refer to the earth’s
own satellite, says
Dr. H. S. Williams
in Harper’s Maga
zme. That seemingly staid body was
long ago discovered to have a pro
pensity to gain a little on the earth,
appearing at eclipses an infinitesimal
moment ahead of time. Astronomers
were sorely puzzled by this act of in
subordination; but at last Laplace
and Lagrange explained it as due to
an oscillatory change in the earth’s or
bit, thus fully exonerating the moon,
and seeming to demonstrate the ab
solute stability and permanence of our
planetary system, which the moon's
misbehavior had appeared to threaten.
This highly satisfactory conclusion
was an orthodox belief of celestial me
chanics until 1853, when Prof. Adams
of Neptunian fawe, with whom com
plex analyses were a pastime, reviewed
Laplace’s calculations and discovered
an error which, when corrected, left
about half the moon's acceleration un
accounted for. This was a momentous
discrepancy which at first no one could
explain. But presently Prof. Hem
holtz, the great German psychist, sug
gested that a key might tie found in
tidal friction, which, acting as a per
petual brake on the earth’s rotation,
and affecting not merely the waters
but the entire substance of our planet,
must in the long sweep of time have
changed its rate of rotation. Thus the
seeming acceleration of the moon
might be accounted for as actual re
tardation of the earth’s rotation—a
lengthening of the day, instead of a
shortening of the month. Again the
earth was shown to be at fault, but
this time the moon could not be ex
onerated, while the estimated stability
of our sysem, instead of being re-es
tablished, was quite upset. For the
tidal retardation is not quite an oscil
latory change which will presently
correct itself, like the orbital wabble,
!but a perpetual change, acting always
:in one direction. Unless fully coun
teracted by some opposing reaction
therefore (as it seems not to be), the
(effect must be cumulative, the ultimate
consequences disastrous. The exact
’character of these consequences was
first estimated by Prof. G. H. Darwin
in 1879. He showed that tidal friction
jin retarding the earth must also push
the moon out from the parent planet
on a spirai orbit. Plainly then the moon
^must formerly have been nearer the
earth than at present. At some very
remote period it must have actually
touched the earth; must, in other
•words, have been thrown off from the
’.then plastic mass of the earth, as a
polyp buds out from its parent polyp.
At that time the earth was spinning
about in a day of from two to four
hours. Now the day has been length
ened to twenty-four hours and the
moon has been thrust out a distance
of a quarter million miles; but the end
is not yet. The same progress of
events must continue till, at some re
mote period in the future, the day has
come to equal the month, lunar tidal
action has '•eased, and one face of the
earth looks out always at the moon,
with that same fixed stare which even
now the moon has been brought to
assume toward her parent orb. Should
we choose to take even greater liber
ties with the future it may be made
to appear (though some astronomers
dissent from this prediction) that, as
solar tidal action still continues, the
day must finally exceed the month and
■lengthen out little by little toward co- -
■incideme with the year, and that the
moon meantime must pause in its out
ward flight and come swinging back on
a swinging spiral, until finally, after
the lapse of untold aeons, it plows and
ricochets along the surface of the
earth and plunges to catastrophic de
struction. But even though imagina
tion pause far short of this direful cul
mination, it still is clear that modern
calculations, based on inexorable ti
dal friction, suffice to revolutionize
the views formerly current as to the
stability of the planetary system. The
eighteenth century mathematician
looked upon this system as a vast ce
lestial machine which had been in
existence about 0,000 years, and which
was destined to run on forever. The
analyst of today computes both the
past and the future of this system in
millions instead of thousands of years,
yet feels well assured that the solar
system offers no contradiction to those
laws of growth and decay which seem
everywhere to represent the immut
able order of nature.
Securing a Substitute.
Mattie—I’m so sorry, dear, to learn
that death has robbed you of your
favorite poodle. How can you ever
console yourself for his loss? Helen
(sobbing)—I d-don’t know; b-but I
s-suppose I'll h-have to g-get m-mar
ried.
His Sorrow*
Guyer—“Where Is Downtrod?” Chce
wlt—“I left him alone with his sor
row.” Guyer—“Why, I though his wife
was dead.”—New York Evening Jour
nal.
The late Andrew M. Spangler, of the
Philadelphia board of education,
an authority on fishing, and anjjfK'
his published works on this siiJM
are “A Paradise for Gunners muTTH V
lers” and “Nearby Fresh and sift,
Water Fishing,” which latter stales
when to go, where to go and how to
go, to find some good fishing within
a radius of one hundred miles of
Philadelphia. He was the founder and
publisher of the Farm Journal, and
several other agricultural papers, and*
for a time was editor of the Philadel
phia Evening Herald, the Star, the
Globe, the Evening Journal and the
Age. When the civil war began he
helped to organize the Philadelphia
home guards and was active in rais
ing funds to care for the wounded
during the war.
Old Gentleman (dictating indignant
letter): “Sir: My stenographer being
a lady, cannot take down what I think
°if ^0J' being a gentleman, cannot
think it; but you, being neither, can
easily guess my thoughts.”—Brooklyn
Life.
William Shaw, Jr,, of Pittsburg has
built and equipped a bath house at
that! place where the poor may enjoy,
the luxury of a bath upon the payment’
of 5 cents. It was opened on Thanks
giving day.
Mr. Candle—Hello, Lamp, seems to
me you’re getting quite stout.” Mr.
Lamp—“H’m, may be. but I dare say
I’m lighter than you.—Harper’s Bazaitf
Mrs. Martha Littlelleld Phillips corH
tributes to the January Century rT
chapter of “Recolections of Washing
ton and His Friends,” as preserved in
the family of General Nathaniel
Greene. Mrs. Phillips was the adop
ted child, and for many years the con
stant companion, of her grandmother
Cornelia, next to the ycungest daugh
ter of General Greene. From the lips
of her grandmother, who died duriug
the civil war, the author heard many
narratives of the revolutionary tlme3.
Cornelia Greene visited the Washing
tons at Mount Vernon, when she was
a little girl, and later she snent two
Vinters with the president and his
wife at Philadelphia.
Buncoincr Inventors.
me clays or buncoing
Inventors are about at
an end. Under the new
law which goes Into
effect January 1st, no
solicitor or lawyer will
be allowed to call hia
place of business a
i aiem umce, as sucn a claim or
advertisement Is calculated to mis
lead and deceive inexperienced Inven
tors Into the belief that such an of
fice were in some way connected wltli
the United States Patent Office. With
the new year, the so-called “Iowa Pat- ,
ent Office,” .“Nebraska Patent Office,” I
“Northwestern Patent Office,” and, In >
fact, all private patent offices will dis
appear and each solicitor, attorney or
firm of attorneys will be dependent
upon his or their qualifications and
standing In order to get business.
This Is as It should be. Parties de
siring free information as to thp law
and practice of patents may obtafc the
same in addressing Sues & Co., regis
tered patent lawyers, Bee Building,
Omaha, Neb.
The feature that will attract all lov
ers of modern dramatic fiction to the
January Atlantic is the first install
ment of Gilbert Parker’s new story,
“The Battle of the Strong,” which
promises to be one of his best and
strongest works. It transports the
reader to the historic shores of the
isle of Jersey in the year 17S1, on the
eve of the French attack upon the
island. The movement of the story
begins with an energy and quickness
that engages immediate attention and
arouses strong interest in what is to
follow.
Iowa Patent Office Report.
In view of the fact that the rules,
of practice 7 and 8 are violated in j|
the United States Patent office by J
sending misleading communications j
direct to applicants for patents vho^
have not paid the filing fees, a public
explanation seems necessary. in.
said communications occurs the fol
lowing: “Your attorney ha3 been ad
vised of the non-payment of this fee,
but has made no response. Until the
fee is paid the application is incom
plete and no action whatever can be^,
taken.” £
In personal conversation with Ac*?
ting Commissioner Greeley last Sep»Jj
tember I made complaint of such of-*
ficial action and he replied he was not
aware that they were doing so. Evi- .
dently some subordinate is doing this>.
and the chief in command allows it
to go on even after my complaint.
Valuable information about securing,
valuing and selling patents sent free.
THOMAS G. ORWIG,
Solicitor of Patents.
Dos Moines, la., December 22, ’97.
A woman begins to show her age a3
soon as she gets the idea that she
doesn’t sleep near so well in a strange
bed.
FITS PermanontlyCurod. No fits or nervousness aft©* ^
tirufc day's u»o of Dr. Kliue h Great iServo Kesturee. |
Sond for FRETS $3.00 trial bottlo and treatise. *
Du. R. H. Kline, Ltd..931 Arch St.. Philadelphia. Pa.
The first year a woman is married
she thinks most .of her husband, the
second of her baby and the third of her
teeth.
We admire a man who is positive In his cnnvle.
tinns. Pr. Teft. >.... 4 Kim St., Hnehester. X. V. is so
nitre that UK. TAFT'S AST1I MAI.I5N1S will
eure every ease .-f Asthma that he will send a trial
bottle absolutely free to those nfflletod.
Don’t judge a man by the character
given him by his next door nsighbor.
HAIRRENEWERi
j Gives new life and
vigor to the roots of the
hair. It's like water to
a drooping plant.
No gray hair. A
No baldness. [f
Sr;
