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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1900)
AAA By ELTON HARRIS AAA Mmmmm— » ■■ ' CHAPTER 1. ’•It is not like going home at all," said Molile' 1,’Est range disconsolately, 5 looking round at the open trunks, the wearing apparel spread upon every available chair or bed in the school dormitory. “And I had no idea that 1 possessed so many things.” •‘You he? been these four years here." said the German governess kindly, “and you spend much money, bad child! But they will be pleased to see you home—o—h, yes! ' “I don’t know who will be pleased, 1 am sure." returned Molile. with a sigh, “for there is only my half-sister Kate.” “Ach hlmmel! Well, she is no doubt looking forward to your return. She is older than you—wiser?" “She is ten years old.” Interrupted the girl, sitting down on the edge of the bed, and regarding the well mean ing Fraulein gloomily. "When I last saw her she was about bIx, and my stepfather spoilt her shamefully.” “What? With whom will you lif then, mine Mollie? With the step father?” "Oh, no; he died twelve months ago. I shall live at Chalfont House, the property of my half-sister, Kate, with her, and her aunt, Madame Debois." “Ach, a French lady!" "No. but she married a Frenchman, dhe is now a widow with one son, and after my mother’s death she went to keep house for her brother, Mr. Barlowe.” “Thy stepfather?" "1 never called him that." Arid a strange look of scorn and bitterness swept over the girl's pretty, glowing face. "It is wrong to hute any one hut I hated him living, and I find it hard not to hate him dead.” "So, so, the Bible teils us to hate no man,” reproved the governess, with a placid shake of her head, as she be gan to fold up some of her favorite pupil’s clothes. “And I try not to do so; I pray ev ery night to forgive him," burst forth Mollie In a shaking voice, "but he separated me from my mother; he did not make her happy—” She paused abruptly, conscious how impossible It was to make the solid Fraulein understand that the wrongs that were rankling In her mind had grown with her growth, and become part of her life; and, as a rosy-cheeked German maid entered at the same mo ment and announced that she had been sent to assist Fraulein L’Es trange to pack, nothing more was said. For four years Molile I/Estrange had been left at Frau Seckendorf's school in Hanover, without once re turning to England, without any one coming to sec her. But she lrnd been very happy, for she had naturally a merry, buoyant disposition, and was the pet and favorite of the school es tablishment, from the grave, kindly Frau herself downwards. Then she was liberally supplied with pocket money by her father’s trustees, generously paid for in every way, while Frau Seckcndorf had carte blanche to do everything for her amusement in the holidays, and the time had gone so fast that Mollie could hardly believe she was nearly nineteen, and that a few days would see her once more In her native land. Ah, that dear native land! How often in her dreams had she seen it as it would he looking now. with the ilrst faint breath of spring rustling through the bare, brown branches, the leaves sproutlug in the heugerows, the vio lets peeping forth from some sheltered nook! Yes, though there was no one now in the house where she was horn to welcome her home with affection, It would be something to be in Eng land in the sweet spring time, to gath er violets and primroses iri the well remembered woods and fields around Reverton. The packing was accomplished at last, more by the Fraulein's and Liza's exertions than her own, for the girl was restless and excited, torn by con flicting feelings, sorry to bid farew'ell to quaint old Hanover, and all those . who had been so kind to her since she came there,—a pale, motherless child of fourteen—yet anxious to rush into the future, to see what it h?ld in store for her. iv . fit r. if -si So when the trunks wvere shut and Liza had departed with her arms full of the gifts she had bestowed upon her, Mollie made her way with un usual sedateness to Frau Seckendorfs private apartments. Since the girls of her own age had left one by one, and she had outgrown the class rooms, she had been promoted to the use of these salons, and taken out to con certs, theaters, aud coffee parties by the good Frau, who was secretly im mensely proud of the pretty, well dressed English heiress confided to her cave, and watched over her with a vigilant eye; and Mollie looked round them with a friendly glance, and a sigh at the thought that after tomorrow she should* see them no more. The dusk was falliug fast; it was difficult to see the houses across the wide street, and as she stood by tfca porcelain stove, w'armlng her cold little fingers, her thoughts went bark to her childhood days aa they had not done for a long time, and scene after scene seemed to rise before her. Mollle could not remember her fa ther at all, for he had died when she was but a few months old, but her pretty young mother had been her playfellow, and until her sixth year, her constant companion. Then came the days when a tall, dark man was always with her mother, and that dearly loved parent was somehow not the same to her, while the dark man used to bring her sweets, Hnd smile grimly when she put her hands be hind her back, and refused to accept them. Yes. from the very first Mollle had disliked and distrusted Leonard 13ar lowe, and he had cordially returned the feeling. With her mother’s sec ond marriage all her troubles began, and the child would often sob herself to sleep at night, feeling neglected and forlorn, missing the tender voice, the lullaby ever since she could remem ber. Afterwards Moliie grew to know that her mother had not forgotten her, but that her stepfather, jealous and morose, resented even the affection she bestowed to her own child, and timid and clinging by nature, she had not the strength of character to oppose him in any way. Moliie was sent to school soon after the birth of her half-sister, Kate, and though she spent the holidays at home, Chalfont House was never the same place again. Looking at the past through the softening vista of time, Mollle knew that her woes had not been Imaginary. She would have been fond enough of the little usurper, who seemed to have pushed her out of her place, had she been allowed, for she was neither jealous nor revengeful; but Mr. Bar lowe, while spoiling Kate until she was unbearable, resented the least at tention shown to Mollle, and the holidays had been misery, school a refuge. She gradually grew t,o know that her mother was miserable, that she only dare caress her In private,and that she fearod her handsome dark husband more than Bhe loved him. How well she remembered the last time she had any talk with her mother! It was the night before her return to school, and her mother came Into her room as she was preparing for bed, and, closing the door, took her into her arms as If she were a baby again, kissed and cried over her in a passionate, heart-broken way, saying tha* whatever happened to the future, she must never doubt her poor mother’s love, that save her dead fa ther, no one was so precious to her, no one; and that her last thought and prayer would be for her own Mollle. It was not until her death a few months later that Moliie understood what she meant, Chalfont and a good income had been Mrs. Barlowe’s pri vate property, and she left them to her husband for his lifetime, and then to her daughter Kate, no mention be ing mado of her elder child, save that, failing them, she would be her heiress. This had not been her mother's wish—Moliie knew aa, well as if she had been told—and the fierce anger burned In her heart, not for the loss of the property, but for what Mr. Barlowe had made her mother suffer. Oh, how she hated him as she saw his fine eyes roviug with an air of pro prietorship round her mother’s room! In her childish heart she felt that In had got what he had schemed for, and It mattered little to him that he hnd ruined her mother’s and her life to obtain it. They lived at open warfare during the months before she was sent to Hanover; and it was an additional blow to find that he had constituted himself her guardian in her mother’s place. His motive was not far to seek. Mollie was her father’s heiress, and though he could not touch the princi pal. a handsome allowance was made for the care of Colonel L'Estrange's daughter. And now he, too, was dead, and she was going back to live at Chalfont House with her little half-sister and Madam Dubois! Were brighter times coming, she wondered, as, in company with the English governess, she once more set foot on her native land, or was Madame Dubois but a repetition of Leonard Barlowe? lit was a bleak March day when the governess put her charge into a first class carriage at one of the great Lon don stations, and reluctantly bade her farewell, after carefully scertaining that two elderly ladies in the further corner were going the same journey, and Reverton would be reached in lit tle over an hour, where Madame Du bois was sure to be at the station. So she kissed the pet and pride of Frau Seckendorf’s school with tearful eyes., and hurried away to catch her own train, while Mollie sank back in the corner of her carriage, sorry to part with her last friend, yet excited at the prospect before her. For a little while she occupied her self in watching one familiar object after another appear, as the express left the chimneys behind and rushed j through the green country, it even amused her to nee the r re: t open fires ! In the waiting rooms cn^e more as j they flashed through the stations. ! Then she suddenly became aware that I the two ladies were talking very hard, j and she heard her own name, j 'You will find Reverton looking | much the same, Louise.” the elder was ! saying. “The people alter, but not the place. Why, you have not been here since the yenr poor Mrs. L'Es trangc married Mr. Barlowe, have you?” “No; liow pretly she was! I know no one liked him; you thought him an adventurer. What has he done since her death?” “Oh, he feathered his nest well— got the whole of her property for him self and his wretched little girl, to the exclusion of the elder child! Every one knew that his poor wife was hor ribly afraid of him, and he had il all his own way. Well, I must not say more, for he was hurried to his ac count with all Ills sins upon his head, and no time to repent him of his wickedness." “What do you mean?” “Did you not see it in the papers? It was the talk of Reverton! He was found murdered in his study nearly twelve months ago. Yes, I remember, it was on Easter Sunday.’’ "Murdered?" ecuoeil the other blankly. “That handsome man? Who did it?” “It has never been found out.” CHAPTER II. Murdered! Could this awful word, so full of terrible meaning, apply to her stepfather, who she had last seen standing at the door of Chalfont .House, full of life and health, holding the fretful Kate by the hand? Mollie sat up and turned hastily to the two ladles, the color fading from her face. "My name is L'Estrange," she stam mered nervously, looking from one to the other. "I am Mrs. Be.rlowe’s eld est daughter. I thought I ought to tell you. I-1 did not know that he died like that; no one told me. Are you sure?” Mollie could see the ladles were gaz marks; but she was too eager to learn the truth to mind that, or anything else. Why had she been allowed to come home in ignorance of the trag edy that hung undiscovered over Chal font House? In the pause before any one spoke she was not conscious of feeling any sorrow for her dead step father, nor had these ladies expressed any; but she did feel a thrill of horror at the thought of the crime that had been committed in the house where she was born—her mother’s house— and could not repress a shudder. Then, the first lady got up, and, coming over, sat down heavily in the seat opposite to her. “I am heartily sorry you have heard me, my dear,’ she said kindly. "It is a lesson to me not to talk of my neighbors in the train. But are you really Amy Barlowc’s child? Yes, looking at you, I can see your dear father. Your parents were my dearest friends. You do not remember me, but surely you have not forgotten Reggie and Joyce?” Mollie started, und, leaning forward, turned her beautiful, miserable grey eyes on the speaker with dawning rec ognition. “Yes—yes. I do now,” she cried. “You are Mrs. Anstruther; you live In that pretty white house near the church. Oh, Mrs. Anstruther, about this dreadful thing about Mr. Bar lowe. Madame Dubois wrote that he died suddenly, and she was now my guai-dian; but how did it happen? Why was I not told?" And she glanc ed imploringly at the pleasant mother ly face now regarding her with a troubled frown. (To be continued.) CRUELTY IN TONE. CrosH 'Words Kill » Bird In Its Cage. A bird which receives a scolding is made as miserable and unhappy there by as a child would be. To illustrate Our Dumb Animals tells the following story: A Massachusetts woman had, a few years ago. a beautiful canary bird which she* dearly loved, and to which she had never spoken an unkind word in her life. One Sunday the church organist was away, and she stopped after church to play the organ for the Sunday school. In consequence of this the dinner had to be put off an hour, and when she got home her good hus band was very hungry, and he spoke to her unkindly. The things were put on and they sat down in silence at the table, and presently the bird began to chirp at her as it always had to attract her attention. To shame her husband for having spoken so, she turned to the bird, and for the first time in her life spoke to it in a most violent and angry tone. In less than five minutes there was a fluttering in the cage. She sprang to the cage—the bird wa$ dead. Mrs. Hendricks, the wife of the late vice-president of the United States, says that she once killed a mocking biid in the same way. It annoyed her by loud singing. To stop it she spoke in a violent tone, and pretended to throw something at it, and within five minutes it was dead. A lloy’* Reurntr. The present German emperor, then a small boy, attended the wedding of the prince and princess of Wales. He was under the charge of his two uncles, the duke of Edinburgh and the duke of Connaught. As may be expected,young William fidgeted sadly, and conse quently received an occasional warn ing tap the shoulder. But how he did revenge himself! His uncles were in Highland dress, and the future em peror slyly knelt down and bit inte their bare legs with great earnestness Boston Journal. TAKJJVG THE ') +T FO'RTS AT TAK.X/ One of the thrilling incidents of the j bombardment and reduction of the ! Tabu forts occurred after the north west fort had been taken under the Are of the British gunboat Algerine. That ship then moved down the river and proceeded to reduce the north fort. Owing to its position the British gun ners had some difficulty in getting their range, and it became imperative that the exact position of the guns be discovered. In this situation the Ger man gunboat litis steamed along, passed inside of the Algerine and drew don Graphic by Dr. Peacock, the chief engineer of the British warship Alac rity. Toward the beginning of the action the Fame and Whiting had attacked and captured the four Chinese torpedo boat destroyers lying off of the dock yard, meeting with very little opposi tion. The last of the forts w'as taken about 7 A. M., the action thus lasting a little over six hours. The British loss was slight, being only one man killed and nine wounded. The Rus sians and Germans suffered much more rity, Barfleur. Centurion, Orlando, Aurora and Endymlon, in command of Commander C. Cradock of the Alacrity. Small unarmorod gunboats were pit ted against the strength of eight very powerful modern forts and batteries, armed with the latest guns and sup plied with all the improvements for facilitating rapid fire which make mod ern war such a grim business. The capture of Taku under these conditions is an achievement of which each nation concerned may justly be proud. The forts did not show much damage from the outside, but on entering one a vivid idea was gained as to the effect of mod ern shell fire. The place was wrecked, and mutilated men and horses were thickly strewn over the blood-stained ground. When one of the batteries on the north side of the river had been stormed and carried by a British, Ital ian and Japanese landing party the guns in it were immediately turned on to the forts on the south side of the river. At 6 A. M. a shell from this battery entered the magazine of the the Chinese fire.' It was a brave act for the litis is a small ship and her armament was not sufficient to answer the big batteries of the forts. Her after funnel was riddled and her bridge was shattered by a shell which wound ed her commander severely and de stroyed two Maxim guns. The crew of the Algerine cheered the litis fran tically and succeeded in silencing tho fort, thanks to the work done by the Germans. The picture printed here was made by a British naval officer on a gunboat lying near the Algerine, and shows tho litis just beginning to work into the line' of Are. The other picture, showing the gen eral operations during the lively little engagement, W'aa drawn for the Lon severely, the litis alone having eight killed and nine wounded, while the Russians had five officers and twenty eight men killed and over sixty wound ed. The only gunboat disabled was a Russian, which sank in a shallow part of the river. The British landing party was composed of men from the Alac »WS^WWWNA/VSAAAAAA/VWWWW' south fort, causing a terrific explosion, the shock being strongly felt by the ships which were lying thirteen miles oft, outside the river. The explosion decided the fortunes of the day in favor of the allies, and only desultory firing followed at lengthening intervals, until all the forts were captured by 7 A. M. CHINESE J./V TOLE'RAJSTCE At Icliang there was until lately sad trouble about the visitation of the ser vants of darkness. The city is built on the north bank of the Yang-tse just below the entrance to the grand suc cession of gorges, and opposite to it are a range of hills, called the Pyra mids, on account of their curiously pyramidal formation. It was found by the local professors of the great science of Feng-shui, or knowledge of light and air, that the evil spirits sailing down the river rebounded from the hill, can noned off the Great Pyramid on to the city and brought bad luck with them. This was an intolerable grievance, and resulted in the sacrifice of a Christian church and many worshipers. The prejudices and superstitions of the Chinaman have had uninterrupted growth of at least 4,000 years, so to speak, in a ring fence. Small wonder they excel even those of rural Europe. Except in the rich province of Szech uan, the peasants and yeomen dwell in small villages, modeled in every par ticular of their squalid narrowness upon the plan of a regular city, without its encircling walls. Mutual suspicion, if not actual conflict, is the habit of life, and to live in quick-set village communities is to carry out the obvious and convenient principle. Chinese so ciety rests upon a basis of mutual guar* antee through family and neighbor hood, and to lead an isolated existence is to run counter to the main current of national instinct. From the mean and tortuous alleys that fringe the riverside men and women pour out at daybreak to the labors of the field, and, save in time of flood, allow themselves little time to rest their weary limbs. When the flood come3, their ramshac kle habitations, run up of mud and reeds, are either swept away or utterly waterlogged for the season. That is as nothing to Chinese equanimity. The house is put together again, and the mishap is set down to the inevitable malignity of the river god, who has not been sufficiently fed and pampered at the shrine hard by. The late Duke of Edinburg gave it as his opinion that Shanghai was the wickedest and fastest city east of Suez. Certainly there is in Shanghai more glaring disregard of all the laws of God and man than can readily be found in other parts even of the Celestial em pire. As one approaches it along the Hwang-poo, or Wusung river, the stream becomes crowded with anchored vessels, and shipyard hammering and the noises of industry fill the air with a deafening din. Factories, and mills, 1 I MASSACRE IN A CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT ICHANG. and works of various kinds line the shore, and the hum and roar of mod ern activity dull the ear until it is dif ficult to realize that this rushing, hustling, feverishly busy place is Asiatic at all. But the heavy, nauseous scent of China-bean oil, plus incense, plus 4,000 years of accumulated and concentrated essence of abominations, are so unmistakably Oriental that they soon reassure one. Heard the Corn Grotu tn lotua. L. K. Hilliard of Iowa, who has just arrived in Washington, declares, in allr ‘ solemnity, that he had "heard the corn grow” out in the Iowa fields. He says further: "They have corn fields in Iowa that it is half a day’s journey for a man to walk across. Iowa corn stalks are noted for their prodigious height and size, as well as for1 the size of the ear. An ear of corn fifteen or eighteen inches in length is not by any means a curiosity, and the stalk frequently attains the thickness of a man’s arm. Farmers are often com pelled to split their corn stalks, as they would split a log into rails, be fore they are able to feed them as fod der to their cattle.” Our Student Population. The entire number of pupils in all schools, public and private, last year in this country was 16,687,643, out of an estimated population of 72,737,100. There are 101,058 young men and wom en in the universities and colleges, 54, 231 in schools of law, medicine'and theology, 67,538 in normal schools, 70, 950 in business schools, 23,501 in re form schools and 97,737 in kindergar tens. An aid de camp of King Humbert says he never saw the king angry but once. The aid was then at a dinner in the role •'of the officer whom the queen always kept at hand to make a fourteenth at the table if necessary, and arose to prevent the sitting of thir teen when a lady was obliged to leavif the room. The king angrily insisted that the aid keep his seat, as the super stition was all nonsense. The Russians have a veteran actress of whom they are very proud. Mme. Orlav, in spite of her being 95 years of age, recently appeared on the stage in a performance specially given in aid of a charitable institution. Mme. Or lav has the distinction of having been the first actress to play Lady Macbeth and Ophelia in the Russian tongue. At the trial of Powers for complicity in the murder of Goebel the prosecut ing attorney, Robert Franklin, excited much admiration by his dramatic elo quence and ability as a mimic. It has since become generally known that Mr. Franklin was at one time an actor, but gave up his stage career in obedience to the desire of his relatives. Major Lothaire. the Belgian officer who executed the Englishman named Stokes in the Congo Free State, has been dismissed from his position as manager of the Congo Free State Trad ing company. It is understood that this is the result of the charges brought against him of cruelty to the natives. The Rev. Charles M. Sheldon, author of “In His Steps,” is said to be pre paring to write a novel on the liquor question, as he observed it in Eng ; laud. Y