The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902, June 28, 1900, Page 10, Image 10
I I 10 THE HEBHADKA IITDEPEITDEITT- Juno CO, 1000. hXM'. vMc v(- 4 1 t- " ' ''rYwMeot McKIn!-y UTler TiliE TO CALL A HALT tfeo Atfcaw of Kmirm- Will Ti.l WOr rt? After an existence of a century and a quart a a coectry wbre the govern meet derives ii authority colely from the eoorct of the gorerted. the United States u turning back upon its own history and tradition. From a . free it is is drz e tootaiag a tyrazxicaL imperialistie oligarchy. The adult repbie. me tan to be entering it aeoaod childhood a a baby eta pins. -As a a, that it ha deserted the principle cl individual freedom "upon which it vu founded it u at this pres- est oxazt try i eg to craia its rale, at the beyoset point, down the throat of the people i ui pi do. Cubans and Por to Fijurasa vhota the declarmttoa of tode prodeoce declared were crald eual, with certain e&aiie&able rijhW amoci; which are life, liberty azd the pursuit of happisai. A far as the Fi!ipio-i are condensed the Csited Slat i doing it damsed to ahesate all three of these "on aliecabi tigthC TLtir Urtm hare bn lakes, they hare beea robbed of thr liberty, Ed istrad erf pruir:ff hppi ceaa tiy are beieg pursued like wild beart ito the aae ictetior f their tatiTe inlands- axkd all bectQKe they be iiered, luce the Atsericaa co!ocit of 1774, that they were jotied ia tryieff to ictitut a new poTemsaect ia con formity with their leptixsale desiresi aad ceed when the old ce imposed vpoa theta bj tjpaia had become tatol erb. It l abost time to fare the fitcatioa fruarely. The Ucited State caanot. vnll sot allow the war to oosticue xauch locker. Is the Crst place, it doe cot py eiht ce cise bead red thomaad dollars a cay for tailitarj aad caral eipenditcre i taore thas the i'b cf graft Ir if the A&ericaa oostiUitioa trpoa the liiip paae ieUcd ie rth. la the &raocd place, the caiioaal pajiuoa for freedom is the Ucid State rio'ectJy oppo-ed to the forcihle &bjsgatioa of a people, be they Malay or Jioer. that have back I one eoouh to fht for their iadepeod- I a the perfod iaased lately foUowicg the dose of the Spaaih wr it may hate beea jgpnhble to withdraw from the lfeilippuea. The ulaad hare beea bocht aad paid icr, both with blood aad treasure, aad a Spaia tu uaable todelirertheroudathe Caited States waa perhapa eoacpelled to prove title by force of area! but cow taat thi haj bees doae. cow that the oppotettiaa ia the inlaada h beea redoeed from aa active stajf to little cuore thaa a ullea frobmkwaoa to the power of the pur chaser, the tiae ceeak to have cotne to Set the weyward is4er go ia peace At aay rate' co reaaoa exit why a very large taeajrare of aatoootay should aot be offered to the Filipiao. ladeed, cotazaoa prudeace dictate that this ahooM be doae. aad quickly, too. it would be the first tep oa the home trial to the tree aad coble tradition of the Aiaerkaa peoj le. It would indicate a healthy recuariatloa of the unhealthy oolocial ezpaaaioa phaataiajrora. "Therefttisal to shoulder the re'pon bility of patmmizg coJoaie i the begin cirx of calical wisdom, for colucie are vulnerabie rjot in a reran try "a cuirass. Spaia fouad out thi to her cost. " 1 1 i big h tis&e the Ucited St ten wok e op aad pulled out of the imperial bui aa, The gaoe ia cot worth the caadle, for that way ruia tieM. " The real aatiocal taWioa of the Unit ed State u pacific aad commercial one. Such a iaiioa ia the won ruccinsr aate ia the world for imperial apeiatioxua. "Irsperialifoa i a military. ot a com oerciai aaibitioa, aad is oae that, by a atrarfe fatality, detroy thoethatcher Shit. The republic of hitory lie buried ia the aahea d etspire. Is the Ucited State etii ready to be added to the heap? The Harveyixed armor plate f the Aseriraa republic up to the prefect ha beea it complete freedom from the ae ceKty of directly participating ia the q uarrtji cf the outidoe wdrld. There ia ao advaatare to be by abandon in thai pokey aow. Oa tbe contrary, there absolutely Bothlafr to justify the Aaic r icaa people ia utarticc oil upon a career cf imperial aad eokeual adventure. " The Uaited Statee caaaot aSord to be a baby expire. It caa afford to staad oi? aad catch the Ijaby empire of ilnr- laad.the baby empire of Germany, worry with their trouble--New York Herald. RAILROAD PASSES ilk Vmltm Mla fckl4 f aa We who have aat aad llateced to all the public epeaktr ia a political cam tbin hi party." Ilanna." New York WorldL paiga ia which a new reform party fig ured prominently, are familiar with the oaay reasons given why our legislators should aot accept passes. That- the member who has a railrad pass resting saugly ia his vest pocket is not so likely to legislate ia the interest of the farmer, taechanic or general laboring man, and against a railroad system, as the one who returns his pass unused. And it is always thought of the latter class that bring the wrinkles of uncertainty to the brow of the Ilailroad magnate. Tbe leaders of our political parties are act particularly interested whether the iadieg understand that the Railroad systems are or aot great monopolies or corporations. The great hosts of Christian ministers are not seizing every opportunity to enlighten us on the wickedness of railroad pass bribery; and our thousands of prominent educators are aot writing books nor holding insti tutes to instruct the women as to the benefits to be derived from, or burdem ira posed by the roads. Without having much knowledge of railroad affairs we can make restful homes, have pleasant emiles for those returning from the outside work, tea:h our boys and girls to be truly honorable aad attend to our religions and social duties. Still we have a grievance, not one of those that is said to oppress the masses as against the clashes or that is bo far reaching that it is being grappled with by our men of energy and brain, aad one that touched au every day life, our home life. Women's lives are said t be made up of urnall things. Hut onf fmall drop of water after another will wear away the hardest fctone. Oar grievance is the woman with "the railroad pass. Krery man in the state who happens to be aa office holder, from the governor to the pouee couimissioner, is expected to hold railroad "v? passes, and the fact does rot trouble us seriously, but when every employe of a great railroad com pany caa and does furnish the female members of his family with passes, so many a year or go many a month, then our troubles begia. When the cold storms of winter come aad we ' imagine we will tit COsil 2y by the fireside, or the spring days aad with them the feeling that we would ecjoy a time of real laziness, or when the long days of hot f ummer come, and with fagged bodies and weary minds we plaa to rest quietly at home, or have de cided to go to some cool resort for a few day, then it is that the tever failing letter from our dear railroad mend or relative arrives telling us how much they would enjoy a visit with us and as they caa get a pass they will visit us at our homes and thus save us from paying railroad fares. Maay womea receive such letters every month aad while reading them, cope dies witain us ana we say, "now long oh Lord! how long." But there is no time for repining. ureat loaves of bread must be gotten into the oven. pi?s aad cakes must be baked, vegetables prepared and spring chickens cooked, for our railroad manV wife is always a good eater, and there is no use of cook ing regular meals, you Know, wnen ooan is off ca the road. Aad the dollars that were ived up for a week's rest are take n and exchanged for luxuries for our rail road company. Of course the pass costs them nothing and they bad the rest aad change, we the expense and labor. In do-es repeated numth after month this becJme wore ttan monotonous, it makes life a burden and the thought of company is like a nightmare, and we wih with our very fuls that we had enough influent over the Congress of the United States to induce all its mem bers to banish all passes from our fair land. C. Summer Excursion s VIA The Union Faciflc will place in effoct oa June 21, July 7 to 10 inc, J uly 18 and Augut 2d, Summer Kxcursioa rates o OliE FARE FOR ROUND TRIP plus 12 from Kaasas & Nebraska points TO- nrrxrEK. Colorado piti??Gs, rt'EBLn.(MiOX, AND SALT LAKE. Ticket good for return until October 31t For time tab!ea and full informa tion call on E. B. SLOSS0N, Agt. LINCOLN Tent & Aivning Go. Wholesale manufacturers and retail dealers in Tents, Awnings, Wagon Cov ers, Flags, and camp Furniture. Tents and CAMPING OUTFITS TO RENT. LINCOLN, NEBR; W. M. Bayard . . Second-Hand Store We Lave bargains for you most every day, in furniture, iron bedsteads, stoves, ranges, gasoline stoves, window shades, carpets, queensware,glassware, tinware and granite iron ware. 1325 0 Street, Lincoln, Neb, Special Kxcursions to Colorado and Utah via the Chicago, Rock Island & 1'acific liailway June 21, July 10 and 18 and August 2; Good returning until October 31, 1900. - Denver and return, $18.25; Colorado Springs and return, $18.85; Pueblo and return, $19.00; Salt Lake City and Og den and return, $32.00. For further in formation, apply to E. W. THOMPSON, A. G. P. A., Topeka, or F. II. BARNES, C. P. A. Lincoln, Neb. An Ideal Climate The first white man to set foot on Uah soil, Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante, who reached the GREAT SALT LAKE on the 23rd day of Sept., 1776, wrote in his diary: "Here the climate Is so delicious, the air so balmy, that it is a pleasure to breathe by day and by njght." The climate of Utah is one of the richest endowments of nature. On the shores of the Great Salt - Lake especially and for fifty miles therefrom in every direction the climate of climates is found. To enable persons to participate in these scenic and climatic attractions and to reach the famous HEALTH, BATHING AND PLEASURE RESORTS of Utah, the UNION PACIFIC has made a rate to UGDEN and SALT LAKE CiTY of one5fare for the round trip, plus $2.00, from Lincoln, to be in effect June 21st, July 7th to 10th inclusive, July 18th and Aug. 2d. Return limit Oct. 31, 1900. For full information, call on or ad dress E. B SLOSSEN, Agent. Whiten the Teeth and . Sweeten the Breath Try a Tooth Wash made by a Lincoln Dentist. Ask for a Sample Bottle. Dr. F. D. Sherwin, Dentist. Office hours 9 to 12 & 1 to 5. Second Floor Hwrr Itlock, Corner room. LINCOLN - - NEBRASKA BEST LINE TO Kansas City, By all odds. Two daily through express trains. One leaves at night and the other at 2 p. m. City ticket office 1039 O street, Lincoln. F. D. CORNELL, CP. and T. A THE TWO JOHNS 915 O St., Lincoln, Neb., Dealers in Fine Wines, Liquors and Cigars. Jug trade a spe cialty. Hot and cold lunches. John Vittorff. John Rosenstock. CALIFORNIA BROAD VESTIBULED FIRST-CLASS SLEEPERS DAILY.., Between Chicago and San Francisco WITHOUT CHANGE VIA Leave Omaha on big 5 at 1 :30 p. m. All the best scenery of the Rocky Moun tains and the Sierra Nevada by daylight in both directions. Theso cars are carried on the limited trains of the Great Rock Island Route, Denver and Rio Grande (scenic route), Rio Grande Western aad Southern Pa cilic. ' Dining Car Service Through. Buffet Library Cars. , IL W. Thompson, IC&P. A., " Topeka, Kansas. J oh Skbastiap, G. P. A., Chicago, Illinois. UAH- SEPflHYS QUEST By PBAKOIS LYNDE. s ...... .-v .... .; r V Copyright. 1000, by Frtscia Lynde. ."Is you all de cap'n of dlshyer raft load, Buhl" ;,' v " '' Russell looked up from his desk. It was not the omnipresent negro vender of persimmons or muscadines. It was a woman, gray, bent and wrinkled and with the pleadlngest old eyes that ever looked out upon a masterful world. She wore a knotted bandanna on her head, and her dress was of the coars est," but Russell, whose glance was that of a trained summarist, remarked that everything -about her was scrupu lously neat and spotless. T am the passenger, agent," he said. "What can I do for you?" , "Yes, sur; flat's whut 'dey tole me, an I des climm up dem sta'rs ter see ef you all couldn' holp de po ole nig gah 'ooman git back ter ole Firginny. I'ze dls nigh home, mahsteh, but dese ole lalgs dey ain' gwine cyar me dah no, suh. - Dey des mek out lak dey couldnV' ' V - i "Where are you. from, aunty?" Rus sell was new - to the" south, and all negroes . of- a. certain age were yet "aunties" and "uncles', to him. 5 ? "Fze fom Alabama, suh, dis las' time; yes, suh. Done tromp all de way fom Montgomery, suh." -" J Now, a railway passenger agent, be ing stationed at a principal junction point of human desires and disabili ties, must needs harden his heart, but it is a long walk from Montgomery to Chattanooga. " "What will you do when you get to Virginia? Have you relatives there?" "Kinfolks? No, suh. But dan's wha I'ze bo'n an rats'." , , "How long have you been away?" "Ain' been dah sence de wah time; suh." "Since the war? Why, you won't find anybody there now that you know!" ' . . ' "No! suh; I don't spect ter. But I'ze lak ter lay' my ole bones en de ole manneh fahm wha' de mahsteh an de missis is sleepin; yes, suh, I would." Russell put business aside and with it the stereotyped rule in such cases made and provided. An application for half, fare "account charity" should have come from the proper official of the county court, but he waived the formality. 1 "What is your name, aunty?" he asked, dipping his pen. ' ! "Sephny Dickson, suh" yes, suh. T"ank you kln'ly, suh." "Dickson?" It was a family name in which the passenger agent was deeply interested for cause. "Yes, suh; Sephny Dickson." Russell filled out the order for half rates, but; when the v money stage of the small transaction, was' reached the little heap of nickels and dimes which the old woman took from a knot in the corner of ;. her kerchwjf was all too small, and the charitable causeway broke down in a new place. - : "Is that all you havK.aunty?" "Yes, suh; ev'y las picayune, suh." "It isn't half enough, even for the half fare." V Thedim, old eyesj filled-with tears. "Dat's dat's des what I'ze skeered of, suh. 'Spect I'ze des got ter trompv it after all. How" fur is it, mahsteh?" Russell's hand sought his pocket, but something in the old woman's manner made him, withdraw it empty. "It's too far for you to walk, j Can't you stay here , till you've earned money enough to pay the half fare?" "Dat's whut I'ze layln off ter do twel I tried, yes! suh; but I'ze mighty ole an no 'count, an de white folks dey wants de young ones nowerdays yes, suh, dey. does." , , Russell recalled something which had been said on the occasion of his latest visit to a certain hospitable household on the hither slope of old Lookout. "Can you cook, aunty?" he queried. "I kin dat, sho'Iy, suh." "Would you like to get a place in a good family here for awhile?"., "'Deed t would dat! Mo 'speshully ef dar's any chillun." Russell 'smiled under his mustache and wondered if a certain young lady he wotted of, aVouhg woman who had recently attained to the dignity of be- 11 Thank you for coming to meet me," h vv- " said, si lng. her. father's housekeeper, would consent to pose a's a child for Aunt Sephny's benefit. Then he took his courage In both hands and wrote a note: " -V -' " 'Dear Miss Lois I heard you say the other evening that you would be glad to get one of the old time, before the war 'mammies for a v house serv ant. Here Is one who stumbled Into the office a few minutes ago, and 1 hope she will Impress you as she has me. She ' will' if . you'll v give her a chance to work upon your sympathies. Will yon pardon the liberty I'm taking -rla for Everybody Tmg9 A. and send her back to town if you do not want'Uer?" . . - When It .was written and Inclosed, he found his hat and closed his desk. "Come with me, and III put you on the street car he said. "I think I know,ot a plscEfor you" y v r V- ; The shadow cf Chattanooga's great sentinel mountain was marching out across the valley when Russell board ed the Incline car at St. Elmo that evening. He was tofbe a dinner guest at the Dlcksons', and when he dropped from: the ascending car at the end of the white paved battlefield . boulevard the major's daughter was there to meet him. She was a sweet faced young girl of the type known to our forbears as winsome, and to the young Illinol san the" four -mile pilgrimage from Chattanooga to the mountains was long only In its retracing. None the less there was a fly in his pot of ointment In the shape of an old fashioned pearl ring worn on a suggestive finger of Miss Dickson's left hand, the gift, some one had told him, of a cousin gone to fight the Spaniards. The ring was in evidence when he shook hands. Thank you for coming to meet me," he'said when they had faced about for the walk to the cottage. f ? She laughed softly, ; and Russell thought of gurgling brooks and' whis pering leaves and ! such' like lyric similes. . "Don't tank 'me. It was I who couldn't wait to thank you. You don't know what you've done for us. How did you ever happen to think of it?" "If youll tell me what it is, perhaps I can explain." . ' "Why! Mam Sephny, how did you ever come to send her up here, of all places in the world?" "She got next to the sympathetic side of me, and I didn't know what else to do with her. .And I happened to re member what you said the other even ing about the old time negro women. What have I done?" "If you had been our good angel, you couldn't have done a lovelier thing. Do you know who Mam' Sephny is? She is papa's own old Triack mammy. She was a house servant in Grandfather Dickson's bid home in Virginia." "Well,ril be blessed! You don't say! Why, it was the merest chance in the world! As I say, I didn't know what else to do with her." "It 'was an an inspiration, I think," declared Lois Impulsively. "Papa can't make enough of her. and she well, I just thought she would die with the sheer joy of U. , Poor old woman! She has had such a dreadfully hard time of it."- i "Has she? T guessed as much from her eyes, you know." Then she didn't tell you her story?" "No." "It is fairly heartrending. She had a child, a little boy who was 3 years old when she lost him. It was in the last year of the war. and Wythe county was overrun with negro stealers, mak ing the most of their opportunity while it lasted, papa says. They stole the boy, .and Mam " Sephny . . could never learn anything more definite about him than that he was sold south with a lot of others, old and young. Wasn't it pitiful?" The . young man nodded. He had abolition ; blood- in his ' veins, and it made him glad to the finger tips , to know that a daughter of slaveholders could also sympathize with a black mother bereft. - "Of course there was nothing for her to do at the time," Lois went on, "but when grandfather and grandmother died and papa was reported killed at Petersburg she was free, and she start ed out to hunt for her baby. Did you ever hear of such a hopeless task?" "Never," said Russell, trying to im agine himself seeking a loved one, say. a sweet faced young woman with star like eyes, under like hopeless condi tions. "Did she find the boy?" "Oh, no; it wasn't to be expected. She has spent her whole life going from place to place all through the southern - states, looking and asking and always hoping. But she has given it up at last, and she was trying to get back to the old home place in Virgin ia." "Yes; to die and be buried beside her old master and mistress. She told me tfcat It's very pathetic, and and, Miss Lois, you don't know how glad I am that you can sympathize with her." He said It because It was in him and clamoring for speech, but he was quite unprepared for her half reproachful protest. '.'""'V-''"1'"' :'' "Glad, but surprised Is that it?" she queried, with a little note of antago nism in her voice. "1 suppose T ought to, be polite and say 'No,' but I'm going to be truthful and say .'Yes.- I've always been led to believe that your attitude that is, the attitude of the southern people toward the er the negroes was a" He stumbled, not knowing just how to put it in the least offensive phrasing, but he needed not to go on. "I know," she laughed, and the little whiff of antagonism was gone. "But after you've been here longer you will understand. They are men and women to you yet. I suppose, but to us they are simply good natured. overgrown children." And we are kinder to them than you will be until you know them as well as we do." . The young man suspected that he was getting upon'thln ice and made haste to go back to Mam Sephny and safety. ; , "Will you tell me what the old aunty's name' Is?" he asked.' "It's been puzzling me all day," 'Persephone. of course." said Lois. "She cried when papa called her that; said she hadn't heard her 'chu'eh name' since her bid mistress died. But you, mustn't call her ''aunty. That's only a brevet title, you know. She Is a 'mammy.' " Russell promised to remember and opened the gate for his companion. A moment later he was trying to explain to Major Dickson that, his sending of 8e th Armstrong- ! oa pfs 8 andl 1. Mam' Sephny was the purest bit of haphazard and so quite thankless. , "But our obligation is , the same," said the major. "Why, bless my soul. sen, I couldn't feel mo' gratified if somebody had made me. a present of Sthe . old home , place in - Virginia I couldn't, for a fact!' JBeing from the north, you cyahi't quite appreciate buv feelings toward these old black mam mies of burs; you'd have to be south era bawn for that. Will you walk out to youh dinner, seh7" " Under the circumstances the table talk was Inevitably of faithful old servants and the patriarchal system of bygone days, but later, when they had all adjourned to the veranda, the ma jor with his long stemmed pipe, and Russell with his camera, the young man made good his promise to Induct Miss Dickson Into the mysteries of the fad photographic. Lois proved an apt pupil, and when they had taken snap shots of the valley, of each other and of the negro man working on the lawn the young girl sighed for fresh sub jects. "Hwlsh we could get Mam Sephny. She's "a, type, you know, and one that is nearly extinct. , Is there light enough? Shall I call her?" Before Russell could reply, and as if the wish had evoked her, the aged ne- Tht negro flood over him with a great ttone uplifted. gress came around the corner of the house and stood with arms akimbo scanning the man at work on the lawn. Her pose was exceptionally good, and Russell made haste to adjust the cam era. ' ' - "The light is exactly right on her face." he said. "Tell her to stand just as she Is for a moment, please. It's a chance in a thousand." Lois called to the unconscious pose use: "Stand still. Mam' Sephny don't move. Mr. Russell Is going to take your picture." - The effect of the warning was alto gether unexpected and not a little dis concerting. The old negress threw up her hands, shrieked and disappeared, and the man on the lawn caught up his scythe and ,: made as If he would charge the group on the veranda. Lois laughed merrily - - "Dear me," she said, "I quite forgot that Mam Sephny might object." And then In explanation, "It's a foolish su perstition among the older ones; some how connected with the 'evil eye, I be lieve." "She didn't object soon enough," said Russell, laughing. "I got her before she moved." He said it In an ordinary tone, but the stalwart negro overheard. With a quick thrust of his boot heel , he knock ed the scythe blade from its socket, and it became a sword to slay. Catch ing up the weapon, he made a dash for the veranda. Russell saw him coming and realized dimly that he might presently have to fight for his life with a superstition crazed maniac. But at -the critical in stant the artistic prompting was stron ger than the self defensive. The man on the steps, with his weapon swung high, became for the moment a camera sub ject not to be duplicated in a 'lifetime. The rays of the setting sun, streaming over , the shrugged shoulder of the mountain, fell full on his rage distorted face, and a livid scar, invisible at other times, gashed one black cheek from temple to jaw angle. If there had been certain death In ' the biting of the scythe blade, Russell could not have re sisted the impulse to photograph the man as he stood. . The click of the camera shutter broke the spell for all of them. Lois shriek ed, her father sprang from his chair and the negro dropped his weapon. It was tbe major who first found speech. "Why, David, you black rascal, you! What are you about, seh? Put that scythe back on the snath and go to youh work! ' Do you heah me?"" The man turned and went back to his grass cutting without a word, and when he was out of earshot Russell laughed good naturedly. "You've been telling me all along that I've a good bit to learn about the brother In black, major, and I'm be ginning to take it In slowly. 'Pon my word, I believe that fellow really had It in mind to kill me! From that tbe talk drifted easily to oblsm and racial characteristics and things atavistic, and it was late when Russell rose to take his leave. Lois rose, too, and went around to the side veranda to look for the incline signal at the Point hotel. It had disappeared. "The last car has gone down." she announced, going back to the two men at the steps, whereupon the hospita ble major made Instant offer of bed and breakfast, but the young man would not fray his welcome. "I shan't mind the walk In the' least," he protested. "It. will do me good. I don't have enough exercise anyway." So It was concluded, and. Russell shook hands with his host. Lois walk ed to the gate with him." and, since there was now no car haste to be. con sidered, the leave takings .were pro- Cnt out and All Subscription Blank,iaft-9 longed until the light In the upper win- dows of tbe cottage warned Lois that her father had gone to bed. ' v "Really, I must go now," she said across the gate for the tenth time at least. "Do be careful, and be sure to take the road. It's longer than the path, but ifs much safer." The young man" laughed and was glad. What he would rain have said could never dare say Itself while she still wore the old fashioned pearl ring.! but it was worth something to have her anxious for his safety. "Don't borrow . trouble on that score," he rejoined, slinging tbe cam era over his shoulder. "I: doubt if I could find the path in tbe dark If t should try. When may I come again?"", Her blush . made him thrill with pleasure. He could not see it, but he knew It was there. r - "When do you want to come?" "Tomorrow and. the ;next day and1 the day after that and"-- ! "Hush!" she commanded. And then by way of reprieve: "I'm glad you like our . mountain. Come whenever you please. Papa Is always glad, to see you." f , . A sudden access of daring filled hi soul. "And you?" he queried. "Et moi aussl. toujours," was. the laughing concession as , the fluttering ' draperies disappeared up the. path,' The music of the . words sang itself over and over as he went his wayi down the starlit lane making shift to forget the dull luster of the pearls on Miss Dickson's finger-temporarlly, at. least. . ; Lois stood at the edge of the porch until the shape of him. was but a dark er blur against the shadowy back ground of the forest at the lane's foot. Then she turned to go In. In the act she had a glimpse of a shadow darting quickly across tbe lawn. It disappeared in the blacker shadow of the cedar hedge, and something impelled her to go back to the gate. She was just, In ' time to see the figure of a man glide through an opening in the cedars. It crouched for an Instant, as one who gropes for a missile In the dark, and then ran swiftly down the lane. Lois , saw and needed no explanation. It was the negro David,. and his supersti tious rage bad again got the better of his fear cf consequences. In the catch ing of her breath she understood that Henry Russell's life lay in her hand, and tbe next moment she. too, was flying down the starlit lane. ' She came upon the. two men at tbe first turn in tbe main road, and at tbe sight ber tongue clave to the roof of her mouth, and her bones became as water. Russell was down, and tbe ne gro stood over him with a great stone uplifted. .. ' "David r Speech and strength came back to her in a tidal wave of conflict ing emotions, and she flung herself be tween them. : ' ' '- : The man dropped" the stone, as he had the scythe blade;-but he was loath to abandon his purpose. . "Doan yor- git en' deiway; Miss Lois. I ain't gwine ter hu't him none.-1'ze'--des almin terstnash dat debbil's hoo doo box of hlsn.9i etri -i "You've -knieaniflm!" she sobbed, kneeling be'sld-therelled one. Then, with a sudden upblaze of authority: "Run run to the house and call my father! 5 Tell him what you're ;4oue nrt hrinv him nnlrklr! On?" - 'W. When Russell opened his eyes, be thought he was on a train which was roaring through an Interminable tun nel. Not otherwise could the din and clamor drumming In his ears be ac- counted for. Then tbe imaginary train shot ' out into -darkness and starlight and silence, and he remembered. None the less, there was a gap and things unaccountable in it. Something had struck him fairly between the sboui ders, and be had fallen face down ward. Now he was lying on his back.1 with his head pillowed. He groaned,! and the hallucination returned. It was' a train, after all, and he must be in a1 berth In the Pullman, with tbe roof of i the car gone and the stars twinkling " sleepily overhead. Undoubted stars they were, and In a clear sky, and yet' It was raining. He felt a drop plash on his cheek and was vaguely con- ' scious of a prompting to get up and seek shelter. But when be would have essayed it two soft arms went about his neck, and a pair of tremulous Hps touched bis forehead. As a half stun ned man might, he said the first thing that suggested itself, "I don't care if It rains pitch forks f "Oh. 1 am so glad!" said a voice with, a sob In It. "1 was sure be bad killed' yon! Where are you burt?"- Itussell came to his own In the mat ter of self possession with gratifying celerity. - "As long as I lie perfectly still I'm, not hurt anywhere. Don't move, ple&ieJ. Was It the crazy beaded negro?" . "Yes; it was David. He thought you had 'hoodooed' Mam Sephny, and he was trying to smash the camera." "Where is be now?" V "He has gone to tbe house for help.' Oh, I do wish they'd hurry!" "Don't. I'm quite comfortable."' Then in a spasm of reluctant thought fulness. "But you'll take cold sitting on the ground." He made a shameless pretense of ris lng. and the two arms held him down, as be had hoped they would. One of. them was unsleeved for a little way, and be kissed it. . , . "Ob, I don't believe you are hurt at all!" . . . . "Yes, I am dreadfully. How dtd you come to be here?" "I saw David following you." . . "Then you were not In such a hurry to go. In as you said you were." "I I was going In when I saw him." "Oh! And then you ran after him , and tried to save me, like the brave lit tle girl that you are. Lois, my darling. . I suppose you've got to be true to the other man, but I love you love you a thousand times better than he ever could If he tries till doomsday!". "The other V There was a whole ' PatronU our AdvrtUers. V 1