Plattsmouth weekly herald. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1882-1892, September 08, 1887, Page 6, Image 6
1 rhATTSMOUTll WEEKLY HEltALD, TlllUSDAV, SEPTEMBER , 1BS7. lAlil Q . uateraaiii I 1)J II. UIDEIl n AO GAUD. f rruan o ' h jksv 'KINO SOLOMON'S fI.fE$,! ' "T0 WITCU'U ILCAD," ETC. 'BnE, i t7 honest tratlo and savings In tho bank at I Zanzibar, for living bcre costa mo next to ! nothing. Bo, though it will bo hard to leave this j.luco, which I Lavo niailo to blossom liko a rosy in tho wilderness, and hunler btill to loave the peoplo I bavo taught, I ahull go." "I congratulate you on your decision," an- f Bwerel I, "for two reasons. Tho first U, that ; you owe a duty to your wifo aiul daughter, i and more efqioeially to tho latter, who should receive ttomo education und mix with girls of !lier own race; .otherwise she will grow up wild, shunning ber kinL Tho other is, that us suro a I am standing hero, sooner or later i; the Mubai will try to avenge tuo slaughter 111- llicted ou them today i wo or turoo men are mirn In hnvn f-scjinul in tho confusion, who L will carry tbo utory buck to their people, and tne result win do mat a great eipoumon wui one day bo sent against you. It might bo do layod for a year, but sooner or later it will coma. Therefore, if only for that reason, I kIjouI.1 iro. Wlion once thev have learned t that you are no longer hero they may per- r . i haps leave the place atone. "You aro quit right," answered the clergy man. "I will turn my back uion this place In a month. Cut it will bo a wrench; it will lm a wrench. h l C I A ITER IX. - I INTO THK UNKNOWN. " " A wook nau passeu, ami wo an tw. u(r iVht in tho Mission dininx room. feeling Tery much depressed In spirits, for r!the reason that wo were going to say good by ..to our kind irieuaa tno xacKenzies, anu ue- part upon our way at Uuwu ou ino morrow. Ftuo Masai, and save for a spear or two which n.. v,,u... Atrarhw.bul ci ml was mstJnor in the h tiUU UWU V V uv - o If grass, and a few empty cartridges where we had stood outside the wall, it wouni nave k beeu difficult to tell that tho old cattio Ki aai Pat the foot of the sloiw had been tho scene of rtnsmratA a struirsle. Mackenzie was, E, thanks chiefly to his being so temperate a ! man, rapidly recovering from his wound, and t i i 4. -. i .... -. Lnin tiifrl,oc nnil n3 IjCOUHl gin, ttUWUk Ull u vri. w ""-" - Ffor the other wounded men, one had died of f gangrene, and the rost were in a iair way to recovery. Mr. Aiacnenzie s caravan ui fj had also returned from the coast, so that the K station was now amply garrisoned. nwi..r thsn circumstances wo concluded. warm and pressing as were tho invitations for us to stay, that it was time to movo on, first to ML Kenia, and thence into the un known in soarch of tho mysterious white race which we bad,sct our hearts on discovering. This time wo were going to progress by means of the "humble but useful donkey, of which we had collected no less than a dozen to carry our goods and chattels, and, if neces sary, ourselves. "Wo had now but two Wak wafls left for servants, and found it quite im possible to get other natives to venture with us into the unknown parts we proposed to ex plore. Thot avoninr. while wo were sitting on the veranda, smoking a pipe before turning in, who should come np to us but Alphonso, and with a magnificent bow announce his wish for an interview. Being requested to fire away, he explained at some length that he was anxious to attach himself to our party a statement that astonished me not a little, knowing what a coward the little man was. hnwovpr. soon, appeared. Mr. EA 11U tlJVlJ -w - 1 Mackenzie was going down to tho coast, and E thence on to .England, now, n no went, uuwu country, Alphonso was persuuutxi mu would be seized, extradited, sent to France and guillotined. This was the idea that haunted him, as King Charles' head haunted Mr. Dick, and he brooded over it till hi3 imagination exaggerated the dangor ten times. As a matter of fact, tho probability is that bis offense against the laws of hia country had long ago been forgotten, and that be would have been allowed to pass un molested anywhere except in France; but he could not bel got to see this. Constitutional coward as tho little man was, he infinitely preferred to face the certain hardships ani great risks and dangers of such an expedi tion as ours than to expose himself, notwith standing hia intense longing for his native land, to the possible scrutiny of a polico officer--- which is, af ter all, only another exem plification of the truth that, to the majority of men, a far off, foreseen danger, however shadowy, is much more terrible than the most serious present emergency. After listen ing to what he had to soy, we consulted among ourselves, and finally agreed, with Mr. Mackenzie's knowledge and consent, to owwrt hia offer. To beein with, we were very shorthauded, and Alphonse was a quick, active fellow, who could turn his hand to anything, and cook ah, ho could cook! I believe that he would have made a palatable dish of those gaiters of hi3 heroic grandfather which he was so fond of talking about. Then he was a good tempered little man, and merry as a monkey, while his pompous, vain glorious talk was a Bourco of infinite amuse ment to us; and what is more, he never bore malice. Of course, his being so pronounced a coward was a great drawback to him, but now that we knew his weakness, we could more or less guard against it. So, after warn ing him of the undoubted risks he was expos ing himself to, we told him that wo would ac cept his offer on condition ' that he would mmlM imnlicit obedience to our orders. We also promised to give him wages at tho rate of 10 a montn snouia ne ever return to a ni'iriii'To v-inntrv to receive them. To all of this be agreed with alacrity, and retired to write a letter to his Annette, wnicn air. iiac keuzie promised to post when he got down country. lie read it to us afterward, Sir Henry translating, and a wonderful compo sition it was. I am sure the depth of his de votion and the narration of his sufferings in . flc M M a. a barbarous country, iar, iar irum inee, Annette, for whose adored sake I endure such sorrow," ought to have touched up the feel inc3 of the stoniest hearted chambermaid. Well, the morrow came, anu oy i o ciock the donkeys were all loaded, and tho time of rfinr nu nt hand. It was a melancholv business, especially saying goodby to dear little Flossie, one ana i were great iranos, i nffn nvd to havo talks together but BUU ' her nerves had never got over the shock of that awful night when she lay in the power of those bloodthirsty Masai "Oh, Mr. Quatermain," she cried, throwing her arms round my neck and bursting into tears, "I can't bear to say goodby to you. I wonder when we shall meet again i "I don't know, my dear utue giri, x said. I am at one end of life and yon are at the Bother I have but a short time Dei ore me ac best, and most things lie in the past, but I hope that xor you luere mo mou happy years, and everything lies in the future. By and by you will crow into a beautiful woman, Flossie, and all this wild life will be like a far off dream to you, but I hope, even if we never do meet again, that you will think of your old friend and remem ber what I say to you now. Always, try to , i rD1. f.n,l tr da what i3 right, rathor than what happens to be pleasant, for L tho end, whatever sneering people may say, what is good and what is happy ore tho same. Bo un-stllish, and whenever you can, givo a helping band to tithers for tho world is full of buffering, my dear, and to alleviate it is the noblest end that we can (set before us. If you do that you will become a sweet and Ood fearing woman and make many i)o plo's lives a little brighter, and then you will not have lived, as so many of your sex do, in vain. And now I have given you a lot of old fashioned advice, aud so I am going to give you something to sweeten it with. You seo this little piece of paper. It is what is called a check. When wo are gono glvo it to your father with this noti not before, mind. You will marry one day, my dear little Floasio, and it is to buy you a wedding present which you ore to wear, and your duughter after you, if you havo one, in re membrance of Hunter Quarterinain." l'oor littlo Flossio cried very much, and gave me a lock of her bright hair in return, which I still have. The check I gave ber was for 1,000 (which, being now well off, and having no calls upon me except thoso of charity, I could well afford), and in tho note I directed her father to invest it for her ia government security, and when she married or came of age, to buy her tho best diamond necklace he could get for the money and accumulated interest. I chose diamonds be cause I think now that King Solomon's mines are lost to the world, their prico will never bo much lower than it i.1 at present; so that if in after life she should over bo in pecuniary difllculties, she will bo able to turn them into money. Well, at last we got off after much hand shaking, hat waving, and also farewell salut ing from the natives, Alphonso weeping co piously (for ho has a warm heart) at parting with bis matter and mistress; and I Was not sorry for it at all, for I hate thoso goodbys. Perhaps the most affecting thing of all was to witness Umslopogaas' distress at parting with Flossie, for whom tho grim old warrior had conceived a Rtrong affection. He used to suy that she was as sweet to see as the only star on a dark night, and was never tired of loudly congratulating himself on having killed the Lygouani who had threatened to murder ber. And that was the last we saw of the pleasant Mission house a true oasfo in tho desert and of European civilization. But I often think of the Mackenzies, and wonder how they got down country, and if they are now safe and well in England, and will ever seo these words. Dear littlo Flossie I I wonder how eho fares thero where there are no black folk to do her imperious bidding, and no sky piercing, snow clad Kenia for her to look at when she gets up in the morning. And so goodby to Flossie. After leaving the Mission house we made our way comparatively unmolested past tho base of Mount Kenia, which the Masai call "Donyo Egere," or tho "speckled mountain," on account of the black patches of "rock that apiar upon its mighty spire, where the sides aro too precipitous to allow of tho snow lying on them; then on past the lonely lake Ba ringo, where one of our two remaininj Askari, having unfortunately trodden upon a puff adder, died of snake bite in spite of all our efforts to save him. Thenco we proceeded a distance of about 150 miles to another mag nificent snow clad mountain, called Leka kisera, which has never, to the best of my belief, been visited before by a European, but which I cannot now stop to describe. There we rested a fortnight, and then started out into the trackless and uninhabited forest of a vast district called ElgumL On emerg ing from the great Elgumi forest, wo, still steering northward, in accordance with tho information Mr. Mackenzio had collected from the unfortunate wanderer who reached him only to die so tragically, struck the base in due courso of the largo lako called Laga by tho natives, which is about fifty miles long by twenty broad, and of which it may be remembered be made mention. Thence we pushed on nearly a month's journey over great rolling uplands something like those in the Transvaal, but diversified by patches of bush country, -WW .1 rvWI.'rt - Into the unknown. All this time we were continually ascend ing at the rate of about 100 feet every ten miles. Indeed, the country was on a slope which appeared to terminate at a mass of snow tipped mountains, for which we were steering, and where wo learned the second lake, of which tho wanderer had spoken as tho lake without a bottom, was situated. At length we arrived there, and having ascer tained that there was a large lake on the top of the mountains, ascended 3,000 feet more till we came to a precipitous cliff or edge, to find a great sheet of water, some twenty miles square, lying 1,500 feet below us and evidently occupying an extinct volcanic crater or craters of vast extent Perceiving villages on the border of this lake, we descended with great difficulty through forests of pine trees, which now clothed the precipitous sides of the crater, and were well received by the people, a simple, unwarlike folk, who had never seen or even heard of a white man be fore, and treated us with great reverence and kindness, supplying us with as much food and milk as we could eat and drink. This wonderful and beautiful lako lay, ac cording to our aneroid, at a height of no less than 11,450 feet above sea level, and its cli mate was quite cold, and not at all unlike that of England. Indeed, for tho first three days of our stay there we saw little or nothing of the scenery, on account of an un mistakable Scotch mist which prevailed. It was this rain that set the tsetse poison work ing in our remaining donkeys, so that they all died. This disaster left us in a very awkward po sition, as wo had now no means of transport whatever, though, on tho other hand, we had not much to carry. Ammunition, too, was very short, amounting to but 150 rounds of rifle cartridges and some fifty shotgun car tridges. How to get on we did not know; in deed it seemed to us that we had about reached the end of our tether. Even if we had been inclined to abandon the object of our search, which, shadow as it was, was by no means the case, it was ridiculous to think of forcing our way back some 700 miles to the coast in our present plight ; so we came to the conclusion that the only thing to be done was to stop where we were tho natives being so well dispo- ed and food plentiful for the pres ent, and abide events ard try to collect infor mation as to the countries beyond. Accordingly, having purchased a capital log canoe, large enough to hold us all and cur bggaff, fromths headman of the vil lage we were staying in, presenting him with three empty cold drawn brass cartridges by way of payment, with which he was perfectly delighted, we set out to tnako a tour of tho la'e in order to find the most favorable placo to muko a camp. As we did not know if we should return to this village, we put all our gear into the canoe, and also a quarter of cooked watw buck, which when young is deli cious eating, and oil we set, natives having already gone bef ore us in light canoes to warn tbo inhabitants of the other villages of our approach. As we went we began to pass a considera ble accumulation of floating rushes, weed, boughs of trees, and other rubbish, brought. Good bupposed, to this spot by some current, which ho was much puzzled to account for. Whilo wo were speculating about this, Sir Henry pointed out a flock of large white swans, which were feeding on the drift some littlo way ahead of us. Now I had already noticed swans flying about this lake, and having never come across them before in Africa, was exceedingly anxious to obtain a specimen. I had questioned the natives about them, and learned that they came from over the mountain, always arriving at certain periods of tho year in the early morning, when it was very eay to catch them, on ac count of their exhaust d condition. Well, we set to work to stalk the swans, which kept drawing as they fed nearer and nearer to the precipice, and at last we pushed the cuiioo under Rbelter of a patch of drift within forty yards of them. Sir Henry had tho shotgun loaded with No. 1, and waiting for n chance, get two in a lino, and, firing ut their necks, killed them both. Up roso the rest, thirty or more of them, with a mighty splashing, and, as they did so, he gave them tho othor barrel. Down came one fellow with a broken w-ing, and I saw tho leg of another drop and a few feathers start out of his back, but he went on quite strong. Up went the swans, circling ever higher till at last thoy were mere specks level with tho top of the frowning precipico, when I saw them form into a trianglo and head off for the unknown northeast. Meanwhile we had picked up our two dead ones, and beautiful birds they were, weighing not loss than about thirty pounds each, and were chasing the winged one, which had scrambled over a mass of drift weed into a pool of clear water beyond. Finding a difficulty in forcing the canoe through the rubbish, I told our only remain ing Wakwafl servant, whom I knew to be an excellent swimmer, to jump over, dive under the drift, and catch hirn, knowing that as there were no crocodiles fa this lake he could come to no hurm. Entering into the fun of the thing the man did so, and soon was dodg ing about after the winged swan in fine style, getting gradually nearer to the rock wall, against which the water washed as he did so. Suddenly be gave up swimming after the swan, and began to cry out that he was being carried away; and indeed we saw that, though he was swimming with all his strength toward us, he was being drawn slowly toward the precipice. With a few desperate strokes of our paddles wo pushed the canoe through the crust of drift and rowed toward the man as hard as we coflld, but, fast as we went, he was drawn faster toward the rock. Suddenly I saw that before us, just rising eighteen inches or so above the surface of the lake, was what looked like tho top of the arch of a sub merged cave or railway tunnel. Evidently, from the water mark on the rock several feet above it, it was generally entirely submerged; but there had been a dry season, and the cold had prevented the snow from melting as freely as usual, so the lake was low and tho arch showed. Toward thi3 arch our poor servant was being sucked with frightful rapidity. He was not more than twenty paces from it, and we were about thirty when I saw it, aud with little help from us the canoe flew along after him. He struggled bravely, and I thought that we should have saved him, when suddenly I perceived an ex pression of despair come upon his face, and there before our eyes he was sucked down into the cruel, swirling, blue depths, and vanished; at tho same moment I felt our canoo seized as with a mighty hand and propelled with resist less force toward the rock. We realized our danger now, and rowed, or rather paddled, furiously in our attempt to get out of the vortex. In vain; in another second we were flying straight for the arch like an arrow, and I thought tbat we were lost Luckily, I retained sufficient presence of mind to shout out, instantly setting tho ex ample by throwing myself into the bottom of the canoe, "Down on your faces downl" and the others had the sense to take the hint In another instant there was a grinding noise, and the boat was pushed down till the water began to trickle over the sides, and I thought that we were gone. But no; suddenly the grinding ceased, and we could again feel the canoe flying along. I turned my head a lit tle I dared not lift it and looked up. By the feeble light that yet reached the canoe I could make out that a dense arch of rock hung just over our heads, and that was all. In another minute I could not even make out as much as that, for the faint light bod merged into shadow, and the shadows had been swallowed up in darkness utter and complete. For an hour or so we lay there, not daring to lift our heads for fear lest the brains should be dashed out of thorn, and scarcely able to speak even, on account of the noise of the rushing water which drowned our voices. Not, indeed, that we had much inclination to speak, seeing that we were overwhelmed by the awfulness of our position and the immi nent fear of instant death, either by being dashed against the sides of the cavern or on a rock, or being sucked down in the raging waters, or perhaps asphyxiated by want of air. All of thuse and many other modes of death presented themselves to my imagina tion as I lay at the bottom of the canoe listen ing to the swirl of the hurrying waters, which ran whither we knew not One other sound only could I hear, and that was Alphonse's intermittent howl of terror coming from the center of tho canoe, and even that seemed faint and unreal Indeed the whole thing overpowered my brain, and I began to be lieve that I was the victim of some ghastly, spirit shaking nightmare. CHAPTER X. TOE ROSE OP FIRE. On wo flow, drawn by the mighty current, till at last I noticed that the sound of the water was not half eo deafening as it had been, and concluded that this must be be cause there was more room for the echoes to disperse in. I could now hear Alphonse's howls much more distinctly; they were made up of the oddest mixture of invocations to the Supreme Power and the name of his be loved Annette that it is possible to conceive; and, in short, though their evident earnest ness saved them from profanity, were, to say the least, very remarkable. Taking up a paddle, I managed to drive it into his ribs, whereon he, thinking that the end had come, howled louder than ever. Then 1 slowly and cautiously raised myself on my knees and stretched my band upward, but could touch no roof. Next I took the paddle and lifted it above my head as high as I could, but with the samo result I also thrust it out laterally to the right and left, but could touch nothing except water. Then I bethought me that there was in the boat, among our other re maining possessions, a tull's eye lantern and a tin of oil. I groied about and found it, and having a match on me, carefully lit it, and as soon as the flame bad got a bold of the wick I turned it on down tho bor.t. As it huppeued, tho first thing the liht lit ou was tho whito and scared face of Alphonso, who. thinking that it was all over at lost, and that ho was witnessing a preliminary ce lestial phenomenon, cuvo a terrific yell, and was with difficulty reassured with the paddle. As for tho other three, Good was lying on tho flat of hli back, hi eye glass still fixed in his eye, and gazing blankly Into tho upper darkness. Sir Henry hail his lip.ul rpitint on tho thwarts of tun canoe, and with his hand was trying to tostlhe speed of the water. But when tho beam of light fell upon old Umslopogaas I could really have laughed, i think I have said that we bad put a roast quarter of water buck into tho canoo. Well, it so happened that when we all pros trated ourselves to avoid being swept out or the boat and into tho water by the rock roof, Umslopogaas' head had come down uncom monly near this roost buck, and so soon as he had recovered a littlo from the first thock of our position it occurred to him that he was hungry. Thereupon he coolly cut off a chop with Inkosi-kaas, and was now employed in eating it, with every appearance of satisfac tion. As ho uf terward explained, he thought that ho was going "on a long journey," and preferred to start on a full stomach. It re minded mo of tho people who ore going to be hanged, nnd who aro generally reported iu tho English daily papers to havo made "an excellent breakfast." As soon as tho others saw that I had man aged to light up tho lamp, we bundled Alphonse into tho farther end of tho canoe with a threat, which calmed him wonder fully, that if he would insist upon making tho darkness hideous with his cries we would put him out of suspense by sending him to join tho Wakwafl and wait for Annette in another sphere, and began to discuss the situation as well as we could. First, bow ever, at Good's suggestion we bound two paddles mast fashion in tho bows, so that they might give us warning against any sudden lowering of the roof of tho cavo or water way. It was clear to us that we were in an underground river, or, as Alphonso do fined It, "main drain," which carried off tho tho superfluous waters of the lako. Such rivers aro well known to exist in many parts of tho world, but it has not often been tho evil fortune of explorers to travel by them. That the river was wide wo could clearly Bee, for the light from tha bull's eye lantern failed to reach from shore to shore, although occasionally.when tho current swept us either to one side or tho other, we could distinguish tho rock wall of tho tunnel, which, as far as we could make out, appeared to arch about twenty-five feet above our heads. A3 for tho the current itself, it ran, Good estimated, at least eight knots, und fortunately for us was, oi is usual, fiercest in the middle of tho stream. Still, our Cret act was to arrange that one of us with the lanttrn and a pole there was in the canoe tihould always be in the bows ready, if possible, to provent us from being stove in against the side of the cave or uny project ing rock. Umslopogaas, having already dined, took the first turn. This was abso lutely, with ono exception, all that we could do towards preserving our safety. Tho ex ception was that another of us took up a po sition in the stern with a paddle, by means of which it was possible to steer the canoo more or less, and to keep her from the sides of the cave. Theso matters attended to, we made a somewhat sparing meal off the cold buck's meat (for we did not know how long it might have to last us) ; and then feeling in rather better spirits, I gave my opinion that, serious as it undoubtedly was, I did not consider our position altogether without hope, unless, in deed, the natives were right, and the river plunged straight dowu into the bowels of the earth. If not, it was clear that it must emerge somewhere, probably on the othy side of the mountains, and in that case all we had to think of was to keep oui-selves alive till we got there, wherever "thero" might be. But, of course, as Good lugubriously pointed out, on tho other hand we might fall victims to a hundred unsuspected horrors, or the river might go winding away insido the earth till it dried up, in which case our fate would in deed bo mi awful one. "Well, let us hope for the best and prepare ourselves for the worst," said Sir Henry, who is always cheerful and even spirited a very tower of strength in tho time of trouble. "We have come out of eo many queer scrapes together that somehow I almost fancy we shall come out of this," he added. This was excellent advice, and we proceed ed to take it each in our separate ways that is, except Alphonse, who had by now sunk into a sort of terrified stupor. Good was at the helm and Umslopogaas in the bows, 60 there was nothing left for Sir Henry and myself to do except lie down in the canoe and think. It certainly was a curious, and indeed almost a weird, position to be placed in rushing along, as we were, through tho bowels of the earth, borne on tho bosom of a Stygian river, something after the fashion of souls being ferried by Charon, as Curtis said. And how dark it was! the feeblo ray from our little lamp did but serve to show the darkness. There in the bows sat old Umslopogaas, like Pleasure in the poem, watchful and untiring, the polo ready to his hand, and behind in the shadow I could just make out the form of Good peering forward at the ray of light in order to make out how to steer with the pad dlo that he held, and now aud again dipped into the water. "Well, well," thought I, "you have come in search of adventures, Allan, my boy, and you have certainly got them. At your time of life too! you ought to be ashamed of your self, but somehow you are not; and awful cs it all is, perhaps you will pull through after all ; and if you don why, you cannot help it, you sec I And when all's said and done, an underground river will make a very appro priate burying place." It was nearly mid day when we made our divo into darkness, and wo had set our watch (Good mid Umslopogaas) at 2, having agreed that it should bo of a duration of fivo hours. At 7 o'clock, accordingly, Sir Henry and I went on, Sir Henry at the bow and I at the stern, and tho other two lay down and went to sleep. For three hours all went well, Sir Henry only finding it neces sary once to push us off from the side; and I that but little steering was required to keep us straight, as tho violent current did all that was needed, though occasionally the canoe showed a tendency, which had to be guarded against, to veer and travel broadside on. When I had been for three hours or 60 at the helm I began to notice a decided change In the temperature, which was getting warmer. At first I took no notice of it, but when at tho expiration of another half hour I found that it was getting hotter and hotter, I called to Sir Henry and asked him if he no ticed it or if it was only my imagination. "Noticed it!" he answered, "I should think so. I am in a sort of Turkish bath." Just about then the others woke up gasping and were obliged to begin to discard their clothes. Here Umslopogaas ha-4 the advantage, for he did not wear any to speak of except a moocha. Hotter it grew, and hotter yet, tlH at last we could scarcely breathe, and the perspira tion poured out of us. Jlalf an hour more. and though we were all now stark naked wo could hardly bear it The place was like an antechamber of the infernal regions proper. I dipped my hand into the water, and drew it j niif nlmvf wlfH a rrv ifc nric nun rlv 1 u i i i n f VUH -' 1 ' ' H .KM J , v " ' ... 'J Wo consulted a littlo thermometer we bad the mercury stood at 123 dogs. From the sur face of the water roso a denso cloud of steam. Alphonse groaui out that wo were already in purgatory, which indeed wo were, though not IiNjho uenso that he meant it. Sir Henry BUgiWod that wo must be passing near the seat of Borne underground volcanic fire, and I am inclined to think, especially in the light of what subsequently occurred, that ho wa9 right Our sufferings for some time after this 1'aa.IIv ran my cowers of description, To be continued.) A TWO-INCH MISS. Narrow Escape of an Alabama Church from Destruction by a Cyclone- The Colonel had contributed fifty cents at Denver, a quarter nt Hiriningliam thirty cents tit Yerbcnii and thirty cents at Ik'sscmer all for the "rebuilding of colored churches destroyed by cyclones," and when we got to Sheffel and an an cient darkey struck liim again witli the same old chestnut, he turned on the ma'i with: "fieo here! Where is that church?" "IJout ten miles from heiili, sir." "When did the cyclone hit it?" "Las' September." "I don't believe it! I believe you are lying to me! Now, then, will you tell me the truth for half a dollar?" "Y-yea, sab." "Very well. Was that church building blown down by a cyclone or not? I want a straight forward answer." "An' you'll gin me fo' bits?" "Yes, I will. You only wanted two bits for the church, while here (ire four for the truth." "Den, Fall, I sliall let de church slide nn, stick to de troof an' hope fur da Lawd to forgin me! Dat sigliclone jist missed de cIibitIi by two inches, but I fought dat was clu 'nuf to collect a few dollars on!" Detroit Free I'nus. Dr.C. A - Marshall. TISTI Preservation of natural teeth a pprelalty. Teeth extracted without ja in by use of Lawjhino (Jan. All work warranted. Prices reasonable. FlTZGKKALD El.OCK. pLATTSMOUTH.NElt. can live at home and make more money at work for u than at, any thing else In this world. Capital not needed ; you are started free. Both sexes : all aires. Any one can do the work. Larue oarnintrr" sure from first start. Costly outfits and terms free. Iietter not delay. Costs you noth ing to send us your address and find out ; and if yon are wise you will do so at once. Address II. Hallktt & VvO., Portland. Maine. ' 3Gly .1 ill IS; it i.i -A3- muW OF ALL After Diligent Search lias Public will not be greatly surprised to know that it was found at the Large rmwnum OP Where courteous treatment, square dealing and a Magnifi cent Stock of Goods to select from are responsible for my Rapidly lacreaslii IT WILL BE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET To Consult me before Buying. UNDERTAKING AND EMBALMING A SPECIALTY. CORNER MAIN AND SIXTH, B 1 (SUCCESSOR TO J. M. EOBEUTS.) Will keep constantly on hand a full and complete stock of puie Drugs and Medicines, Paints, Oils, Wall Paper and a Full L,ino of DRUGGIST'S SUIDZROIIES. PURE LIQUORS, THE CITIZENS nxr jesl 2 I'LATTSMOUTII. - MEUUASKA. CAPITAL STOCK PAID IN, - $50,0C0 Authorizod Capital, $100,000. OKKICKKM lit AN K CAKKUTH. JOH. A. CONNOlt, President. Vio-J'resldeiit. W. 11. CUSillJJO. Caidiior. initr.cTOKH Frank Carrntli, J. A. Connor, K. It. Giitliinanu, J. W. JoliiiHon, Henry Jiuuck, John O'Kcoftt, W. 1). Mv-rnum, Win. Weteucamp, Y. II. CuKhing. Transact a General Ilankiiifr Kindness. yll Who have any 11. inking busim-ns lo transact are iiiviivd to call. No matter how lare or ninall the trntiaclion, It will receive o'.ir careful attention, and we promise always cour teuus treatment. IsMiiex Cei'tllleutes of Deposits lcarlh Interest liuyeniid scli Korean Kxelianfce, County and Cilv sccurltlo-. Bank Cass County Cotiier Main and Hlxtli Ktreets. ,C. II. I'ARM NXK, Prf.-l.linl, I I .1 M. i'A'11 KK.NON. Cashier. ( Transacts a General Banting Basinessi- II 13 II EST CASH i'lUCE Paid for County and City Warrant. t'OM.IXIfOiN 11 AUK and promptly rerouted for. JolUKC'C'TOliS : O. II. l'arn !, J. M. PaltciHon, Fied O order. A. B. 8n!th. It. B. Wiudham. M. Morrisey, Jaines Patterson. Jr. John Fitzof.kald, s. Wauihi Presldeiit. Cashier FIKST NATIONAL. wfMii m.aM 3L-vf oafjua&tut OK PLATTSMOUTII. NEBRASKA, . ... . Offers the very best tacllltles for the fo.j)i transaction of legitimate BANKING 'BUSINESS. Stocks. Konds. fold. f overnnu'iit arid l.oc Securities Hou;lit and Sold, Iiej.-osits r-lv-ed m:d interest allowed on time Certifi cate. I raftprirawn, available in ar.y part of the United State and all the principal town of Eurooe. Collections made fr promjdly rerr.itled Highest market prices paid for County War Utate ai.d County Bond. DIRECTORS 1 .T ihn FltzrerMd John K. Clark, I. nawkswoL . wa:iun. aJ2.l I'1 I BOOMS at last been Located, and th trl PLATTSMOUTII, NEBRASKA. ' FUMIOBI! g Trade ! i : i i i .' ! n !! j: