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About The Sioux County journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1888-1899 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 1894)
tLuHi i ? if-v Hy wSi-f'i'' I rmlTKR XXX. -Continued. Felix recogni.P'l Ht once that he hnd pairr d u point. "Then look t. it well," lie. i.ail. ars erelv. "He careful how you act. In no'h'n? rash. Forei'her the soul of the god is in the heart of 1-avita. the ran of Sami' ami then, eincn I refu e to eat it. it will decay away, an I avila's body decays, and the world will shrivel up, and all things will perish, because the god is dead and crumbled to dust forever. !r e!so it is in my bodv, who am god in his place: and then, if anynody does me barm or h'irt. he will be an impious wrutcU, and will have broken talioo. and Heaven knows what evils and mis fortunes may not, therefore, fall on each and all of you " A very old chief rose from the ranks outside. His hair was white anl his eyes bleared Tu-Kila-Kila speaks i well," he cried, in a loud but mum bling voice. "His words are wise. He argues to the point. Ue is very c m- J ning. 1 advise you. my people, to be carefiil how you anger the white-faced stranger, lor you know what he is he is criiol: he is j owerful. There was never any storm in my time and 1 am an old man so great in Bouparl as the 1 storm that ro-e when the Kin',' of the Bain ate the rtorm-apple. Our yams and onr taros even now are suPering from it. He is a uiiyhty ttrong god. Beware how you tamper with him.'' He sat down, trembling. A younger chief rose from a neai-er rank and trnid hiM Bay in turn. "I do not agree with our father,'' he cried. "His word Is evil: ho is much mistaken. I have another thought. My thought is this: Let i:s kill and eat the white faced stranger at once, by waaer of battle, and whosoever fights and over comes him receive his honors and take to wife the fuir woman, the Queen of tne Clouds, the sun-faced Korong, whom ho brought from the sun with him." "But who wi'l then be Tu-Kila-Kila'''' Felix asked, turn'ng round upon him quickly. Habituation to danger had miido him unnaturally alert ,n such utmost extremities. "Why, the man who slays you," the youngchief aoswcre 1, pointedly. grasp ing his heavy tomahawk with pro found expression. "I think not." Felix answered. "Your reasoning in bad. For if I urn not Tu-Kila-Kila how can any man In come Tu-Kila-Kila bv ki'ling me? And if 1 um Tu-Kila-K la, how dare you. not being yourself Korong, and not having broken o!T the sacred bough, as I did, venture to attack me? You wish to net aside all the customs of Bonpari. Are you not ashamed of such gross impiety-"' "Tu-Kila-Kila Boeaks well," the King of Fire put in, for he had no cause to love the aggressive young chief, and he thought IsHtor of his chances in ll'e as Felix's minister. "Besides, now I think of it, he must be Tu-Kila-Kila, beca so he has taken the life of the last great goi, whom he Blew with his hands; and therefore the life is now h s - he holds it.' Felix w :s emlxildened by this favor able opinion to strike out a frobh line in a further direction. He stood for ward once more, and beckoned again lor silence. "Yes, my poonlo," he said calmly, with slow articulation, "by the custom oT your race and the creed you profess I am now indeed, and in every truth, the abode of your greal god, Tu-Kila-Kila. But. turthermore. I have a new revelation to make to you. i a n going to instru t you in a fresh way. This creed that you hold is full ot errors. As Tu-kila-Kila, I moan to take my own course, no i hindui' hin dering me. If you try to depose me, what great gods have yon now got loft' None, save only hire and Water, my ministers. King of the Hain there is none; for I, who was he, am now Tu-Kila-Kila. Tu-Kila-Kila there is none, save only me, for the other that wis, I have fought and conquered. The Queen of the Clouds is with me. The Kitigo. the Birdj is with me. Consider, then, O frien s, that if you kill us all, you will have nowhere to turn; you will bo left quite godless." "It is true " the people murmured, looking alsiut them, hal. pu..leil. "He is wine. He speaks well. Ho is indeed a Tu-Kila-Kila." I clix pressed his advantage home at once. ".Vow, listen"' he haid, liking up one solemn forefinger. "I come from a country very far aw.-iy, where the customs are letter by many yam than those o' Boupfri. And now thut lam indeed Tu-Kila-Kila -your god, your muster -1 will i haugo and alter some of your customs thut seein to mo here ami now mo-it undesirable. In the lirst place hear this! I will put down uli cannibal! m. No man shall eat of human llesh on pain of death. And to begin with, no man shall cook or eiit tho Isidy of Lavita. the son of Kami. n that I am determined I. Tu-Kila-Kila. The King of tne Birds an l I wil' dig a pit, and we will bury in it the corpse of this man that was your pod. and when his own wickedness compelled ine to fight and sluv. in order to prevent mote cruelty and blood shed." The young chief stood up. all rod in his wrath, an interrupted him, brand ishing a coral-stone hatchet, "i bis Is blasphemy," be said. "This is sheer rank blasphemy. These are not good words. They are very bad medicine. Tlie white-faced Korong is no true 'Tu-Kila-Kila. His advice is evil ami ill-luck would follow it. Ho wishes to chango the saorod customs of llouparl. Now. that is not well. Mv counsel is this; lotus eat him now, unless ho Li- h.,ar.i i n.nun.u ii. wavs, an 1 partakes, -w is right, of the 1 a.. i . . bodv of Lavita. the ton of Sami The assembly swayed visibly, this wav and that, some inclining to tho conservative view of tho rath young chief, and otners to the onutiou liber" aliiin of tho gray haired warrior. Fe lix noted this division, and spoko once more, this time mor ataoritatlvely than vor, 1 1 "Furthermore." pie. har me. A I welled by lire over he i-aid. "my peo- esme in a shi pro- 1 pencil ny lire over me men waves oi the sea. so I go away in one. We ; watch for such a ship to pass by Hon- ', I ari. When it conies the Queen of the ; Clo. ds upon whoso li fe ' place a great i TuIkmi: let no man dare to touch her at 1 his peril: if ho does. I w 11 rush unon , him and kill him as I killed Ijivita, the j son of Sami. When it comes, the i Hieen of t :e louds. the King of the i Birds, and I, we wi 1 go away back in it to the land whence we came, and be quit of Bouparl. But we will not ; leave it tireless or godless. Wrhen I return back home again in my own far land, I will send out messengers, very good men, who will tell you of a God more powerful by much than any you ever knew and very righteous. They will teach vou great things you never drea-red of. Therefore, I ask vou now to disperse to your own homes, while the King of Birds and I bnrv the body of I avita. the Mn of Sami." All th's time Muriel had been seated on the ground, listening with pro'ound intorest, but scarcely understanding a word, though hero and there, a'ter her six months' stay on the island, a single phrase was dimly intel igiblo to hor. But now. at this critical moment i she rose. and. standing upright by Felix s side in her shitless English puritv among those assembled savages she K)inted just once with her uplifted finger to the calm vault of heaven, and then across the moonlit horizon of the sea and last of all to the clustering huts and villages of Boupari. "Tell them " she said to Felix, with blanched lips, but without one sign or tremor in her Tearless voice. J win pray ior them to Heaven, when I go across tho sea. will think of the children that 1 loved to pat and play with, and will send out messengers from our home beyond tho waves, to make them wiser and hnppior and better." Febx translated her simple messare to them n its pure womanly goodness. Kven the natives wore tou. hed. They whispered and hesitated. Then after u time of much murmured debate, the King of Fire stood forward as a medi tator. "There is un oracle, () Korong," he mild, "not to prejudice the matter, which decides these thn.'H-a great conch-shell at a s ici od grove in the neighliorin.r island of Aloa Mauna. It is tho ho'iest oracle of our holy relig ion We gods and men of Boupari have taken counsel together and have como to a conclusion. We will put forth a canoe and send men with bloo 1 on the r faces to inquire at Aloa Mauna of the very great oracle. Till then, you are neither Tu-Kila-Kila nor not Tu-Kila-Kila. It bohooves us to bo very careful how we deal with gods. Our people will stand round your precinct in a row, and guard you with their spears. You shall not cross tho taboo lino to them, nor they to you; all shall be neutral. Food shall belaid bv the l'ne. hs alway. morn, noon, and night: and your Shadows shall take it in: but you shall not come out. N either shall you bury the body Of I.avita, the son of Sami. Till the can ie comes ba'-k it shall lio in the Jnn and rot there." He clapped his hands twice. In a moment a tom-tom bep an to beat from behind, and the cople all crowded without the circle. The King of Fire came forward ostentati ously and made taboo. "If any man cross this line." he said in a droning sing song, "till the canoe return from the great oracle of our fai" n on Aloa 1 Manna, I. I-Ire, will scorch him into cinder and ashes. If any woman trans- j gress. I will pitch her with palm oil, and light her up for a lamp on a n.oon- ' les night to lighten this temple." The King of Water distributed shark's torth spearn. At onco a great serried wall hemmed in the Ki.ropeans i all round, an I they sat down to w ilt, three whites together, lor tho upshot of the mission to Aloa Mauna. And tho dawn now glca i ed red on tho Eastern horizon. CHAITKH XXXI. AT 8EA: Ol'K UOl' PA HI. Thirteen days out from Sy ney, the good ship Austrulahianwus Hearing t:ie o uator. It was four of the clock in the after noon, urn! the ca tain 'Oil duty paced the deck, pulling a cigar, and talking id y witn a a-senger on former ex periences. Eight bells wer.t on tho quarter deck; time to change watches. "This Is only ourseeona trip through this channel," thacuptaih suid, ga ing across tho channel with a casual glance at the palm-trees that stool dark against the horizon. "Wo used to go a hundred miles to eastward, here, to avoid the reefs. But last vovago 1 lainu through this way quito safely though we had a nasty accident on tho road - unavoidable unavoidable! Big sea was running free over the sunken shoals, caught the ship aft unawares, unit sto.e in bettor than half a dozen portholes. I adv passengor on (lin k h;ip)enod to be leaning over tho weather gunwhale; big sea caught her up on its crest in a jillv, lifted hor like a'baby, and laid her down again gent ly, ju. t so. on tho lioliom o tho ocean. Bv George, sir, I was annoyed. It was quite a romance, poor thing; quite a romance: we all felt so put out about it the rest of that voyage. Young fel low on board, nophew of Sir Theodore Thurstan. Of the ( 'olonial o l'co, was in love with Miss Ellis-girl's name was Fllis father's a parson somewhere down in Somersetshire- and as soon as the big sea took her up on Its crest, what does Thurston go and do, but ho ups on tho tall' rail, and, beforo you could say Jack Uobinson, jumps over to sa e her." But he didn't succeed.'" the pas- ' semror asKou. wim languiu interest. "Succeed, mv dear mr.' and with a sia running twelve f?t high like that.' I ill i .. i n!lk Atm mtlr anil aai t it 11 am Whv. it was Pitch dark, and such surf on that tho gi( could hardly go through it." The caiitaln smllod and puffed away pensively. "Drowned," 1,1 said, alter a brief pause, with complacent ompoure. "Drowned. Drowned. Drownel. Went to the bottom, both of 'cm. Davy Jones' locker. But unavoidable, quit). These accidents Will happen, even in the liners. Why, there 'J'uiii. in the C'unard ;,it boast thev n. ver bast icgtilal 1 was mv li; ot her s'T'.'i - f:: IIK- I , ta aiengcr t hero was my broi her '1 o - . he w so t olio day o.T the .ew iound un banks, heavy swell setting in from the mr'-mr - a-t icel ergs ahead. 1 a-s njcri battvned down -!::- n. y -i ul bow that light stems to ciiiiie and go, don t it? ' It was : re-ccteii light, ftVlrns Irom tne inland straight in the cap tain's eyes, 8 all and insignificant as to si e. but strong lor all that in the full tropical nr-hine. am glittering like a diamond Irom a vaue eleva tion near the center of the island. "Seems to i oiiie and go in regular order," the pa-,-enge -ols;rved rellect ively. withdraw. ng h'a c gar. "I.ojks for all the world Ubt like naval big nailing." The capta n paused and shakod his head a oinent. "Hanged il that isn't just what it is," he answered slowly, "it's a rigved-up heliograph, and they are us'ng the Morse code dush my eyes if thev aren't. v ell, this is civ ili. ation What the dickens can have come to the island of Boupari? There isn't a darned Enropeau soul in the place, nor ever Has been, ani norage unsafe: no harbor, bad reef; too souall for m sionaries to make a liv ng, an 1 t,ativca got notning worth speaking of to trade in "What do they gay?" tne j avenger asKea, WUU suuiienquicseueu iiiwi-cbh, "How the devil should 1 tell you yet, sir'?'' the captain retorted with choleric erumuliiets. "Don't you see that I am spelling it out, letter by let ter:1 O, r, e, s, c. u, e, u, s. c, o, tn. e, w, e, 1. 1. a. r, m. e, d Yes, yes, I twig it." And the captain jotted it down In his note-book for so.ue seconds, sil- entlv. ...V.- a t ' t Urt uV.nnlrJ a I iun me uag liuuc, no onw".'-". moment later, rushing hastily forward. "Stop her at once. vAalker, Easy, easy. Get read the gig. Well, u on mv bouI, there is a rum start any- wav." 'What does the message say?" the passenger in jUirod, with intense sur prise. Say. wen, mere b wuut i nimc out," the captain answered, nanuing paper on which he nm the scrap oi had jotted down the letters. "I missed the beginning, but the end's all right. Look alive there, Isiys, will vou. Bring out the Winchester. Take cutlasses, all hands. I'll goalong mvelf in her." The assenger took the pieco of pa per on which he rea I, "and send a boat to rescue us. Come well armed. Savages on guard. Thurst.in, Ellis." In less than three minutes the boat was lowered and manned, and the ca tain, with the Winchester six shooter by his side, seated grim in the stern, took co umand of the tiller. m the island it was tho lirst day of Felix and Muriel s imprisonment in the dusty precinct of Tu-Kila-Kila 8 tem ple. All the morning through, thev had sat under the shade of a smaller banyan in the outer corner, for Muriel co id neither enter tho noisome h'lt nor on near the ereat tree with tho skeletons on its brunches; nor could she sit where the dead savage's bodv, still festering in the sun. attracted tho buzzing blue Hies by thou sands, to drink up the blood that lay thick on the earth in a pool around it. Hard by, the natives sat, keen as lynxes, in a great circle ust outside tlie white tal oo-lino, where, with set rled spears, they kept watch and ward over the persons of their doubtful gods of victims. M. I'eyron, alone preserving bine uanhuity ' nder these adverse circumstances hum bed low to hlm.-elf in very dubious tones: even he felt his French gayety had somewhat orsaken him: this revolu tion In Boupari failed to excito his I'arisian ardor. TO HK CONTINUED. I'rlile (Joeth Before a Foil. '1 was admitted to the bar in 18SL'," said Hep esentative Heinerof Pennsylvania, "and I thought it the greatest event of my life, ba ring birth ana attainment to the estate of ii anbood. 1 immediate v set to work to make an immortal name for myself as a great orator I did not hae long to wait until the oppor- tunity to distinguish myself was ollered. It was my maiden speech and 1 threw my whole soul into the e ort. 1 thought it was one of the finest speeches I had ever heard. There were tho-e kind, t.enevoient spirits who are alwavs ready to en -eouraire a struggling genius, and who ..PA fjlwtij rKiH i' t fx itn 1 went to so:ne extent in expressing approval or it. To sum up my feel ings I may say I was entirely s.ilis fle I with myself. Why, even the chlldien on the streets as 1 passed to go to the depot looked at me in awe, and pointed to me, while they wliis pcred among themselves: "There he he Is; there he is." "1 shall never forget how my heart swelled with pride and how my pu ses throbbed In silent glee over my success. Why a gro p of boys followed me at a d stance an: lin gered at the dejiot where 1 expected to take the train. I smiled at them In an encour ginglv way and alter a little delay they appro iched tne " 'Well, boys,' 1 said, 'what can I do for yo ?" ".My heart sank Into my shoes as the boldest or the group bluned out: " 'Say, mister, ain't you the man what gives boys ti kets to the clr cus?' From that day to this," concluded Mr. Helner, "I have never allowed my head to obtain a circumference that could not be modestly cere lied from view by an eight hat." Wash ington 1'osU Foil n l ly a In vining-Itod. The di?lnlrig-rod has again beca psel In Essex, England, with sue ess, th s time on tlie estate of Gun. Thompson, of Whetherslleld place, near Ural n tree Some year ato v cn. Thouip"on hud a field surveyed by an eminent engineer, who alter testing tho ground with boring apparatus, t:vp es-ed n opinion that no water was obtainable there. Hearing, how over, of the succca Cf the divining tod In the ImniedUvo neighborhood, tho General Invited Mr JL W. Gold Ing of Bocklntt, 1 wallt over the field, with the i es.nl that at two places which M. Coldlnt marked water was found at loss than ten feet fiom the surface. THE NIGHTINGALE'S SONG. 1 1. ev cr.iui aod ftdl, '1 ruu it w li i 1 to rant, lle tuuo . U-LlliU Ibe lull l.im. med on heklU r W t. ( tit ' hi 'liew-y n li 1 u 'e t' - UMonl'i'Mini mle, A uivieli- t'liife' lia-l iiirtM. Ju tllo limirl uf II. o mtliUtigals Like a bird nt-pited nb bhuk t impftU'i li ; i ir 'n U'irast, I J.,- a lu nun, i-ari.l rHUri lie iou. in., of i e jiiou breast V bi ilia d 'W ou ti r ue t a li i i.'t. AuJ (lie b iKlit tHra btirne.l abovo, the fti'iifj I') i be ililiiut ir.tf it 'f tba uldtju dawu of lute. Ai.d 1 Haul to iuv 1 tttin 1 enrt, -l-e -t II :" Iir the iiuiir.tr, l ird Kail torn i:u ij'.u-l h.ur,.. nil it gu- biij& fountain 1lrr'cL Ab, I ovi-. i.ov.. i oa:" I nie.l, 1 niler i be nnxm e .ma p il. lieu that uiy-tic in. .hit uleil In thatbrmtof luaulUuu ale. Ixiligiiiaa'a Uagazlna. A QUEER BARGAIN. Well, you i-ee, said Cousin Sally Baker, when the railroad people lirst caiue along here with their queer looking machines, a lavin' out the new track, we were all mightly exer cised aboi.t it. Nme took one view and some another, home was pleased, and said 'twould open up a market to u and increase the vally o' land, while others allowed that the farms would be ruined, the wheat fields set atlre, the cattle run over and killed, and the noise itself be an abidin' Doosunce. '1 tell you some of 'em was real mad, but the maddest of the bull lot was ondeniably Uetsey Ann Sim uc. She was a single woman, about forty or more, and lived on a poor little place of her own, Just above the C oss Feys tavern. 'Twas only two or three a res of gravelly land, with a two-room frame h use en it Folks said she had a ie. tie money hid away somewhere, for she was powerful sharp at making bargains and held a tight grip on all i she "gut hold of: but. all the same,' 6he made a great talk about poverty as an excuse for not giving more to the m ssionary society aud for repairs to the meeting house Still she seemed to "zet along as well as anybody with her garden and her cow and her poultry, and the lit tle gal she'd 'tirenticed from the city's poorhoue to help to do chores. She wasn't a bad-tempered woman in gen'ral, but 1 tell you she was mighty riled up the day the railrcad folks come to her house and told her they w re surveyiu' the track and that It would hev to run stra ght thiough her house. She rarcd up to them and Mowed the property was hers, aod nobody ha I a right to so much as set a foot on It without her consent. They were civil enough and explained, and the said they was willing to pay double the vally of the hu l property for the privilege of ruuniug the rail road through She wouldn't hear it, but out o' sheer contrariness refused every oiler, though everybody could see that her mouth watered at the very mention or the money. She said she'd never give up her home and If they run their lnjine through the house t'woul.l be over ber mangled body. And she wound up by threatening if they didn't quit in a short time, she'd have them ar rested for trespass on her preml.-es. Well, the next day sbe went down to Hobb's Holler to see her cousin, Luclndy larks, and talk over the ra lroad business. Lucindy and the rest tr'ed to tonvlncc her she'd get the best o' the bargain by letting the railroad company have the land, but she "'lowed she'd not be turned out, o' doors to 'commodate a passel o' sassy men folks that cared for noth ing but their own good." she stayed two days at Lucin iy'8, and then w nt back to her own house at t ross iveys Leastwa.is, she went to where she'd left her house standing, but when j she come in sight of it, twas gone, and tiothiti' of it left but a lot o' burnt wood and ashes, Then there was a row! Betsey Ann accused the railroad folks of burning her house, and threatened to perse cute 'cm by law. I hey said they could prove it by the neighbor ) that it had been done accidentally by a pastel o' tramps who camped on the place the night she was away, aud made a lire in the woodsfled to roast some of her chickens for upper. The l : chips had caught and set fire to the j house, then they got skcered and made short tracks out o' Cross Keys. I Betsey Ann was convinced the rail road folks knew more about these , tramps than they chose to let on. But she didn't say uiu h only d.opped a little hint that she'd he j even with them biineby. They ollered to build her another house If she'd give up the land. She said she'd consider of It and let 'em I know. Burty soon they come to an agreement by which, besides paying j will for the land, they was to build her a two-story, four-room frame house, and likewise allow her to travel free on tho road for the rest of her life whenever she wanted to, with I a female companion along. At first they objected to the com panion; but when she explained that she was a one woman and couldn't think of exposing herself to the at tentions of stranue men by travel ing unprotected, they laughed and agreed to put in that in the condition too, which was done, and the papers made out and signed and sealed ac i ccrding to law. Yon see they heard i the neighbors laughing at the idea of 1 si Slmcoe ever traveling on tho railroad she that has hardlv lcen farther from home than llobbs' Hol ler or Bowling Green tneetin' horse id all her life, and wasmost afeard to trust herself out o'slght of her own house. Well, the company keptthelr word, and run up a two story, four-room frame house for Betsey Ann scch as It was. She declared that 'twas nothing better than a shanty, that wouldn't keep out the summer's heat nor the winter's cold and was liable ! to be blown awi-r by the first high wind toat came along. The company ba.il they hadn't stipulated for tlie ex.ict way the house was to te hurt, they'd done the est lliev C uild altord to do, ai.d she ought to ie sat stied. S e shut up theu, and sol her aw in a way she bad when she'd made up her mind t something she didn't chouse to t ilk aiout just yet. At last the road was finished, and one d.iv . very bodv tin ned out to see th irijitie for the fust lime as it tore and screeched up to Cross t-eys. Betsey Ann Slmcoe looked on with a sin le .f triumph as il the hull con cern he ouged to ber Every time the train passe i she came out aud looked at it tiil she got used to see ing it and bearing its unearthly noise. And then one day she tuk her little while heip along, aud got aboard the cals and roue to the next station, as sbe said to see how It felt and how she like , it. e.t week she went again as fur as Cloverdale, and a lit- , tie while arter made an ther tiip, 1 'long with hercousiu, Lucindy Barks, clear up to the city. Burty soon she got to be known to al the railroad folks along the Mn , and there was no end to the jOkes about her. "By go-h " says old Mr. Potter to one of the conductors one day, "I'm thinking you'll hev to fix up a car lor her special 'commodation, if it goe on tins way much longer." The conductor smiled. "Oh," he answeid, "it's a novelty to her at present, but we don't objec'. W hen her curiosity's gratified she'll be (onlent to settle down at home again, and talk over her travels." "Weh, she did stay quiet for a week or two, and then took again to rid ing on the rail. First she went to Cloverdale to buy a tin kittle for 0 cents, which, she said was a saving of ;") cents from gittin' It at Cross Keys. ! Then she left ber gai at home and tuck Lucindy Barks along all the way to the city to sell her eggs and buy a caliker gownd; and so it went on all summer. ",;h, never mind," says the con ductor, smi.ing a hard kind of smile, "she'll get tired or traveling after a while." ' But she didn't seem to get tired. On the cont.ary, sho took to making regular trips, takiug along first one i person and then another, until, the conductors got to looking asgrum as bears; and even the firemen and en jineers scowled or laughed every time Bhe appeared One en ineer ' used to let oil a fearful scree h o' the b'iler when he seen her corain". but after the fust scire she got used to it and tuk no notice bnce when she was late, and the conductor started the train just as she and Lu cindy larks was cllinbin' in, she threatened to sue the company if it I happened agaiu. They knew she'd , keep her word, so they were obliged j to be on their good behavior to her. ; j So she kept it up all the first year , ' or two. iter wav was to get aboard 1 with ber fema'e companion, whoever 1 it might be, and jest fl h rself io.d- 1 fot table near the stove or at a win der, 'cording as it was summer or , winter, and thar s t and knit the , whole journey through. I I She'd carry one woman up, maybe, 1 I and bring another down and at last ' It i amo out that she was making a 1 regular business of It with folks that ' wanted to visit the town or country, I ' they paying her half or a quarter the ' regular faje on what was i assed o f ; ' on the railroad folks for a free trip, i The company interfered then, and ' said something about stopping it by ' ' law, but she 'lowed they hadn't stip erlated about any business matters o' . hern, and she was keeping to the lctr ter of the ag ee t etit I Then ihey tried to buy her off. but she said she was satisiled as things was and wanted no change. Still, it was , lear that she was not only mak ing money for herself, but keeping the co pany out of it. ' There was one injlncer named . Wells on one of the train , and hinie by, when this had been going on a matter of four o:- live years, Betsey Ann Slmcoe noticed that he always telched his cap and looked at her In a soft, spoony sort o' way when ever he seen her. One day, when she was stand ing on the bank he flung a bokey of pinks and bachelder buttons to her feet, and another time pitched ber a pound of candy. Then he handed her a newspapei with some verses in it marked with charcoal something about his heart being captivated by a lady "over the way" that he'd never spoke to; and at last came a letter, , saying as how he'd been Interested in her ever since he'd seen her so often on the cars., and he was sure she would make him the good, clever, sensible wife he'd always wanted, it she could only bring herself tofancy fancy h m as he did her. Well she answered the letter, and a meeting was fixed; but meantime one o' the railroad chaps stepped in and toid her that. Wells was getting so dissipated that the company talked of discharging him, but that she might be able to save him by stiper at ng that she'd n arry him only on condition that he'd give up going to barrooms He considered of it and said he wou d if she'd promise likewise to give up her railroad traveling and stay at home and make it comfort able and agreeable fo him and her. So they both ut It down in black and white, and got witnesses to It, and took oath to keep their Wurds, and then they was married. Ofcou.se Betsey Ann Wells stayed at home now, and set about doing all the could to make it pleasant for her husband. She had plenty of time to do it In, for he dldn t make his ap pearance there onco a month.skeerse ly; and at last she found out that It was all a put up job of the com pany's who'd bribed Wells will. MOO to marry her nnd get her off the road for Rood. He was a reeulMs sort of a chap, but not, ta', and had always been as solr aud free from bar.ooms as a ;udr'e 1 e.sey Ann was awful cut up when she louud it all out. Ior sh.-'d et her heart on h m, as o d ma ds are apt to set their he.iris on the first man that piet nds to keer fur 'em. She didn't say not nir, even to Luehidy l arks, but went ri.'ht along doing the best she cou d to make it pleasant for ber husband wheuever be came t see ber. And at last, when lie met with an accident from a collision on the road, and had to be laid up for weeks lie fore he got well aaiu sht bad him from the hospital an i nursed hitu as tender and keer ful as a mother does her ailing baiy And would you believe it, that in time she brought the man round to be ashamed of the triclc he'd played her and to tie jest as steady and easy going a husband as any in Cross Keys' Betsey Ann Wells never went on the rails again except once or twice with her husband, paying her own far . Once she told the conductor that, spite of everything the company bad done, she'd got the best of the bar gaina good husband and money enough to make him abd her com fortable lor life W aver j Jiagazine. HE STRUCK OIL ONCE. Which Kxphtlna the Fact He Now Has fortune Nearly L'nrountable. ' I see petroleum has been discov ered up in Mann County and a com pany Is buy ng up all the laud in the neighborhood," remarked a rancher at a down-town hotel last evernn,', and it was noticed that there was a tinge of incredulity in h s tone. "Yes; I believe thev have strucK oil up that way," was the corrobora tive evidence of one of his hearers. "Well, I'll believe It when they commence piping it into tanks, and not a minute before. 1 struck oil once " "la that the way you made your fo:tune?" "Yes, that's the way I inado inr fortune, which at the present time just lacks its:!, ut O of being a blamed cent Those are my liabilities; as sets nominal, as the papers sa.." "llow did it happen?" "Well, it was this way: 1 had a mineral spring on my ranch up in LakeCouuiy, and the gas that came out of it used to kill little birds that tame to dr.nk. -Natural gas,' says land (Oinmeuced poking around a little with a spade. Then a yellow, gre isy scum formed on top of the w. ter. 'Coal oil,' says I and commenced dreaming of tanks of petroleum and barrels of money. 1 got a chea.i drill lug outfit and bored a hole down about eighty feet, and all the neigh bors sat around laughing at me, but 1 reckoned on having the last laug'i. ",,ne morning when I went to worlc the hole smelt awful strong of coal oil, and the first lift brought up a lot ot oil that burned for half an hour. I've struck oil,' says 1 to my self, but I kept it quiet. I lei a few of my friends in, we organized a company, bought up all the land around there, got an expensive, out fit, and commenced drilling We punched the ground full of holes for about six months and couldn't find enough oil to make, a grease spot on a silk dress. It broke tte whole crowd of us." j "How did you chance to strike that little pocket of Oil in the first place?" "1 just found out that one of the neighbor's boys poured a five-gallon can of coal oil In the. hole one night to make me feel good, an , if any body shoild ask you, you (an tell thein that I am feeling a blamed sight better than he is right now, for his dad went broke on 1c. too, and we took turn about walloping him." San Franci co Bost. A Honkong lto'j'iery. An extraordinary aud daring rob bery was that which took place at the Central Bank of Western India, Hongkong, in IHtiii, when the thieves succeeded in getting clear olf with gold and specie to the extent of nearly xoU.OOO. The robbers must have been at work lor some week3 before they entered the bank's treas ury. Their princ pal labor was in constructing a tunnel of sixty feet from an adjacent drain to a spot ex actly below the iloor of the bank's treasure vault. A per, endicular shaft of ten feet of suillcicnt diameter was theu made to permit of the passage of one man to reach the granite bouldors on which the Iloor ot the vault rested. These ave way through being un dermined; and a flag being forced up, entrance to the vault was at on e ob tained. Two boxes were removed containing gold bars or ingots marked with ihe bank's stamp, as well as all the paper money, some bags of dol lars, and a box of 10-cent pieces. fewer than between twenty and thirty men were arrested on suspicion. One of them had $6,000 in his posses sion and two bars of gold bearing the bank's mark. The robbery was effected between a Saturday and Sunday, and the first thing that roused suspicion was the fact of a little boy trying tosell a bar or gold to a hawker In one of the bazaars in Hongkong. A gentleman who was passing asked where he got the gold, and the boy replied that It had been found at a certain place. He gave tho youth what he asked for It namely, l and then Informed the p lice. Chambers' Journal larig Doctors on flicyltiiff for Wo men. To tho question whether the use of the bl ycle in moderation Is Rood for women, the Barls Journal do Mcdlclno has just received answers from forty-three doctors, of whom thirty-three say yes, and ten say no. SMOKK-proof helmets have been In vented for fireman. aa4 51