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About The Sioux County journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1888-1899 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1896)
TALJIAGE'S SERMON. THE PREACHER TELLS A TOUCH ING BIBLE STORY. rt Beaatv of Cadldhood-lta Power Over the Parental Heart-Ita Bliaafol Trauitioa froaa Karth to Heavea The Loved a ad Lost. A liar veat Shadow. While the reapers are busy in many part of the land and the harvests are ueing gathered the scene brought before U)i in this subject is especially appropriate. The text ia 11. Kings, iv, IS, 18, 20: "And when the child wu grown it fell on a day that he went out to his father to the reaper And be said unto his father, 'My head, my head!" And he said to a lad, 'Carry him to his mother.' And when he had taken him and brought him to his mother he sat on her knees till noon and then died." There is at least one happy home in Shunem. To the luxuriance and splen dor of a great house had been given the advent ol a child. Even when the angel of life brings a new soul to the poor man's but a star of joy shines over the manger. Infancy, with its helplessness and inno cence, had passed away. Days of boy hood bad come, days of laughter and frolic, days of sunshine and promise, days of strange questions and curiosity and o.uick development. I suppose among all the treasures of that house the brightest was the boy. One day there is the shout of reapers heard afield. A boy's heart always bounds at the sound of sickle or scythe. No sooner have the harvesters ut a swath across the field than the lad joins them, and the swarthy reapers feel young again as they look down at that lad, as bright and beautiful as waa Rnth iu the harvest fields of Bethlehem glean ing after the reaisrs. But the sun was too hot for him. Congestion of the brain seized oi him. I see the swarthy laborers drop their sickles, and they rush out to see what is the matter, and they fan him, and they try to cool his brow, but all is of no avail. In the instant of consciousness be puts his hands against his temples and cries cut, ".My head, my head!" And the father slid, "Carry him to his mother," just as eny father would have said, for our hand is too rough, and our voice is too harsh, and our foot is too loud to doctor a sick child if there be in our home a gentler voice, and a gentler hand, anil a stiller footstep. But all of no avail. While the reapers of Sbunem were busy in the field there came a stronger reaper that way, with keener scythe and for a richer har--evst. He reaped only one abeaf, but, oh, -what a golden sheaf was that! X do not want to know any more about that heart--iireaking p. cue than what I see in just this one pathetic sentence, "He snt on her Knees till noon and then died." Though hundreds of years have passed away since that boy skipped to the harvest field, and then was brought borne and died on his tnotner s lap, tne story stui tnritls us. in deed, childhood has a charm always and everywhere. 1 shall now speak to you of childhood its beauty, its susceptibility to impression, its power over the parental heart, and its blissful transition from earth to heaven Child Life. The child's beauty does not depend upon form or feature or complexion or apparel. That destitute one that you saw on the frtreet,. brused with unkindness and in rags, has a charm about her even under tier destitution. You have forgotten a great many persons whom yon met, of finely cut features and with erect pos ture and with faultless complexion, while you will always remember the poor girl who, on a cold, moonlight night, as you were panning late home, in her thin shawl and barefoot on the pavement, put out her hand and said, "Please give me a Jen uyT' Ah, how often we have walked on nd aid, "Oh. that is nothing lit street vagabondism!" but after we got a block or two on we stopped and said, "Ah, that is not right!" and we passed up that same vay and dropped a mite into that suffer ing hand as though it were not a matter of second thought, so-ashamed were we of our hard hcartedness. -' With what admiration we all look upon a group of children on the playground or in th school, and we clap our hands al most involuntarily and say, "How beau liful!" All stiffness mid dignity ar" gone, and your shout is beard with theirs and you trundle their hoop, and tty their kite. And strike their ball, ad all your wenri iiess and anxiety are gne as when a child yon bounded over tie playground your self. Thnt father wl.o stands rigid and unsympathetic amid Uie sinfulness of children ought never to have been tempted out of a crusty and uredeemable solitari ness. The waters leap down the rocks, but they have not the graceful step of childhood. The morning comes out of the gates of the east, throwing its silver on the hike and its gold on the towers and its fire on the cloud, bnt it is not so bright and beautiful as the morning of life. There is no light like that which is kindled in a child's eye, no color like lhat which blooms on a child's check, no music like the sound of a child's voice; Its face ;n the poorest picture redeems any imperfection in art. When we are weary with toil, their little hands pull the bur dens ofl our. back. Oh, what a dull, stale, mean world this would be without the sportf-aliiess of children! When I find people that do not like children, I imme diately doubt their moral and Christian character. But when the grace of (iod comes upon a child how unspeakably at tractive! When Samuel begins to pray, ind Timothy begins to read the Scrip tures, and Joseph shows himself invulner able to temptation, how beautiful the scene! 1 know that parents sometimes j;et nervous when their children become pious, beesnse they have the idea that good children always die. The strange questions alioiit God and eternity and the dead excite apprehension in the parental mind rather than congratulation. Indeed, 1 here are some people that seem marked for heaven. This world is too poor a gnr len fr them to bloom in. The hues of fceaveu are in the petals. There is something about their fore head that makes yon think that the hand ot Christ has been on it, saying, "Let this oaar ronie to me, and let It come to me While that one tarried in the ' fan felt there was an angel in the and you though t that every sick- mm weutd bt the hut. and when finally ti wtada of death did scatter the leaves jmi wff no taore surprised than to arc MM reaa ot above tlx ekiad oa a dark tXtfar ra ba4 efts aaid to yoar eom- "lw AmM mm afcall immmm Mtaa tttlnatti. CEsrt 1 Matt tks aVt that V 1 .a Um ahaasa aUa. , aauaatal the I'kiu boy became Samuel the great prophet. Christian Timothy became a minister at Kphesus. Young DaAiel. con secrated to God. became prim minister of all the realm, and (here are in hundreds of the schools and families of thia coun try tc-day children who love Uod and keep hi coomaudments, and who are to tie foremost among the Christians, and the philanthropists, and the reformers of tne next century. The grace of God never kills any one. A child will be more apt to grow up with religion than it will be apt to grow up without it. Length of days is promised to the righteous. The religion of Christ does not cramp the chest or mrve the spine or weaken the nerves. There ar no malarias floating up from the river of life. The religion of Christ throws over the heart and life of a child a super nal beauty. "Her ways are ways of pleas antness, and all her paths are peace." Susceptibility of Childhood. I pass on to consider the susceptibility of childhood. Men pride themselves on their unchangeability. They will make an elaborate argument to prove that they Ihink now just as they did twenty years ago. It is charged to frailty or fraud when a man changes his sentmietits in politics or in religion, and it is this deter mination of soul that so ofteu drives back the gospel from a man's heart. It is so hard to make avarice charitable, and fraud honest, and pride humble, and skepticism Christian. The sword uf Cod's truth seems to glance off from those mail ed w.irriors, and the helmet seems battle proof against God's battleax. But child hood how sn-eptible to example and to instruction! You are not surprised at the record. "Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob," for when religion starts in a family it is apt to go all through. Jcz eiel a murderess, yon are not surprised to find her son Jeboram attempting assas sination. Oh, what a responsibility un the parent and the teacher! The musician 'ouches the keys, and the response of 'hose keys is away off amid the pies and the chords, and you wonder at the dis tance betwen the key and the chord. And so it is in life if you touch a child the result will come back from manhood or old age, telling just the tune played, whether the dirge of a great sorrow or The anthem of a great joy. The word that the Stbabth school teacher will this after noon whisper in the ear of tbe class will be echoed back from everlasting ages of light or darkness. The home and the school decide the republic or the despot ism, tbe barbarism or the civilization, the upbuilding of an empire or the overthrow ing of it. Higher than Parliament or Congress are the school and the family, r.nd the sound of a child's foot may mean more than the tramp of a host. What, then, are you doing for the purpose of bringing your children into the kingdom of Uod? If they are so susceptible, and if this is tbe very best time to act upon their eternal interests, what are you do ing by wav of right impulsion? There were some harvesters In the fields of Scotland one hot day, and Hannah Le tiond was helping them gather the hay. She laid her babe under a tree. While she was busy in the field there was a flutter of wings in the air, and a golden eagle clutched the swaddling band of the babe and flew away with it to the mountain eyrie. All the harvesters and Hannah Le aond started for tbe cliffs. It was two miles bef ire they came to the foot of th cliffs. Getting there, who dared mount tie cliff? No human foot had ever trod it. There were sailors there who had gone up the mast in the day of terrible tempest. They did not dare risk it. Han nah Lemond sat there for awhile and looked up and saw the eagle in the eyrie, and then she leaped to. her feet, and she start-d up where no human foot had ever i rod, crag above crag, catching hold of this root or that root until she reached the eyrie and caught her babe, tbe eagle wooping in fierceness ail around about her. Fastening the child to her back, she siarted for her friends and for home. Oh, what a dizssy descent, sliding from tnis crag to that crag, catching by that vine and by that root, coming down far ther -nid farther to the most dangerous pas, where she found a goat and some kids. She said: "Now I'll follow the goat. The goat will know just which is the safest way down." And she was led by the animal down to tbe plain. When t he get there, all the people cried, "Thank God, thank God!" her strength not giving way until' the rescue was effected. And they cried. "Stand back. now. Gice her sir!" Oh. if a woman will do that for the physical life of her child, wmif n il! you do for tne eternal life of your boy and your girl'.' Let it not be told in the great day of eternity that Hannah Letnond put 'orth more exertion for the saving of the physical life of her child than you, O parent, have ever put forth fur the eternal life of your little one. God help you! Power of Childhood. I pass on to consider the tower which n child wields over the parental heart. We ofteti talk about the Influence of par ents upon children. I never hear any thing said about the influence of children ulKin their parents. Yoa go to sehwl to them. Yon no more educate them than they educate you. With their little hands they rave caught hold of your entire na ture, and .Ton cannot wrench yourself away from their grasp. You arc different men nnd women from what you were be fore they gave you the first lesson. They havj revolutionised your soul. There are fountains of joy n your heart which never would have been d'-scuTerod.had they not discovered them. Life is to yon a more stupendous thing than it was before those little feet started on the pathway to eter nity. Oh, how many hopes, how many joys, how many solicitudes that little one obs created in your soult You go to school eu-ry day, a school f self denial, a school of patience,. in which yon are gef ting wiser day by day, and that inlluence ot the c'nld over you will increase and inereisc, and, though your children may the, from the very throne of Uod they will reach down an influence to your soul, leading you on and leading yon up until yon mingle with their voices and sit be s'de their thrones. The grasp which the child has over the parent's heart is wen in what the pnretit will do for the child. Storm and darkness and heat and cold are nothing to you if hey stand lstweeti yoa nnd your child's welfnre. A greut lawyer, when yet un known, one day stood In the courtroom and made an eloquent plea before some men of great legal attainments, and a get 'ieman said to him afterward, "How cm Id oil t.e so calm standing ia that august presence?" "Oh," said Krsklne, "I felt rny children pnlliag at my, skirts crying for bread." What stream "will yon not swim, what cavern win yoa iot ntr, what battle will yoa got fight, what Hangar wiH yon not eadure for roar chil dren? .- Your rhildTra mast have bread Jumgh yo J starve. Your children must be well clothed though yoa are ia rags. ftm ay, "My children shall be educated, though I never had any chance." What to you are weary limbs and ach ing heads and hands hardened and cal lous if only the welfare of your children can r wrought out by it? Ti?it row t your sorrow, their joy your joy. fty"'' advancement your victory. An4.h, when th last sickness comes, ho"j ou tight back the march of disease, and it is only after a tremendous siruggle that you surrender. And then when the spirit has fed the great deep is broken up, end Kaetn I will not be comfoited because li- r children are not, and David goea np the palace sUirs, crying. "O Absalom, my son, my Sou, would to Uod I had died for tbee; O Absalom, my son, my son!" The Loet Treasare. There U not a large family, or hardly a large family, that has not bent over such a treasure and lost it. In the family fold is there no dead lamb? I have aeen many such cases of sorrow. There is one pre eminent iu my memory as pastor Sco ville Haynee McColluui. Tbe story of his U-atb has brought hundreds unto God. He belonged to my parish in tbe West. A thorough buy, U or 10 years of age. Nothing morbid, nothing dull about him. His voice loudest ami his foot swiftest ou the playground. Ofteu he has come into my bouse and thrown himself dowu on the l'..ir in an exhaustion of boistemus mirth, and yet he was a Christian, consecrated to God, kopiug bis commandments. Thai is tbe kind of childish piety I believe in. Wbe;i the lsys of sickness came suddenly and he was told that he could not get veil, be said: "Jesus alone can save mu. Jesus will save me. He has saved me. ii.ru't cry, mamma. I shall go right straight up to heaven." And then they ai' him a glass of water to cool his hot lips, and be said- "Mamma, I shall take a draft from the water of life after awhile, of which if one drink he shall never get thirsty ai,ain. I lay myself at Jesus' feet, and 1 want him to do just what be thinks best to do lib me." In those days "Kest for the Weary" was a new hymn, and be had learned it, and iu a perfect ecstasy of soul in bis las: hour he cried out: "In the Christian's home in glory There remains a land of rest. There my Savior's gone before me To fulfill my soul's request. There is rest for the weary, There is rest for you. "Sing, oh, sing, ye heirs of glory. Shout your triumphs as you go! Zion's gales are open for you. You shall find an entrance through. There is rest for the weary." "There is rest for you, papa; there is rest ( for you, mamma." And then putting his bands over his heart, he said, "Yes. I there is rest for me." And then, be asked i them to read "The Ijord is my .Shepherd; I I shall not want. He maketb me to lie! down in green pastures and leadcth me ts'sidj still waters." and be cried out: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, j where is thy victory?" , j Only 10 years old. And then he said," "Now 1 wish you would just turn this j bed so I can look once more on tbe foliage ' and see the sun set" And they turned . the bed. And be said, "I do so wish that Jesus would hurry and crime and tak iie." They said to him, "Why, are you not willing to await the Lord's time?" "Yes," he said, "1 am; but I would ratbet Jesus woi ld come end hurry and take j me." And so, with a peace indescribable, be passed away. The l ord's Will. ) Oh, thi re is nothing sad about a child's death save lhe grief in the parent's heart! , You see the little ones go right out from a world of sin at;d suffering to a world ol . ;oy. Hon many sorrows they escape, how many temptations, how many trou 'iles! Children dead are safe. Tho lhat live :ire in peril. We know not what dirk .path they may take. Tbe day may come in which they will break your heart, but child I en dead are safe safe forever. Weeping parents, do not mourn too bit tcrly over your child that has gone. Ther are two kinds of prayers made at n child' iek bed. One prayer the Iird likes: th. other prnyer be does not like. When s Mini knecis down at a child's sick bed am! says; "O Ird, spare this little one. sHf is very near to my heart. I don't want to part with him. but thy will lie done" -thai is th- kind of a prayer the Lird loves There is another kind of prayer which 1 have lie;tr men make in ulistan-c when tbey say: "O Ird, this isn't right. It it hard to take this child. You have in right to take this child. Spare this child I can't give him up, and I won't give him up." The Iird answers that kind of a prayer sometime. The child lives on ami lives on and travels off in paths of p-jek , edness to erisii At the end of every j prayer for a child's life say, "Thy will. I I Ird, be done." Th! brightest lights that can be kindled Christ has kindled. I-t us, old and oung, rejoice that heaven is gathering uf so in ieh that is attractive. In that fat land we are not strangers. There ar those there who speak our name day by day, and they wonder why so long w I irry. If I could count up the names of sd those who have gone out from tbes families into the kingdom of heaven, it would take me nil day to mention tbeii names. A great multitude before tin throne. Yon loved them ouce, you lov them now, and ever and anon you tbinl you hear their voices calling you upward 1 Ah, ye:, they have goue out from al' these families, and yon want no book tc ' ell you of the dying experience of Chris tian childrn. You have heard It. It hat lieen whispered in yonr ear, O father, C mother, O brother, O sister. Towarc I that good land all Christians are bearing This snapping of heartstrings, this llighl it yeiirs, this tread of the heart remind! us that we are passing away. I'ndei spring bl ssoins and through suruinei harvests and across autumnal leaves and through the wintry snowbanks we no passing on. Oh. rejoice at it, children o! God, rejoii-e at it! How we shall gathei I hem up, the loved and the lost! Befon we mount our throne, before we drinl of the fountain, before we strike the burr of our eternal celebration, we wit) cry out "Where are our loved and ost?" Am; then how we shall gather them up! Oh I how w shall gather them up! In tliis dark world of sin and pain We i nly meet to part ngaiu, lint when we reach the hejvenly shore We there shull meet to part no more. The hop; that we shall aec (bat day Should chase our present griefs away. When these short years of pain art pail We'll meet before tbe throne at last It l held that It. la on Inatroctlon anil education that the future security attc direction of tbe deatlny of every natloi chiefly and fanrUnjenUlly ml A MAN'S VENGEANCE. IT was a stiff climb from I'eugelly and the liasket of flab Isaac Hocken carried was heavy. At the top of the LIU he was fain to atretch himself on tbe turf and rest bis beut old back against the low atone wall which in closed John Tregon's field. "No use going up to the house; John's nt market and the lultwes U lie turning tbe place tojwy-turvey," he reflected. "What with spring cleanlu's all the year round and the drtviu", Brthn his had a terrible hard time. And they do say iu the village Well, well," ho muttered, checking himself. "It wasn't to tie exs?cted w it U her pretty fa-e that Jim's her first sweetheart. And If Will Carter deceived her, niclibe she'll think tbe more of him. Jim Just dotes on her. More fule, be! Had wives are of n account whatlver, nnd supiMislu' you do hap on a good woman and It pleases the Lord to take her, the year won't fill the emptiness In you she leaves le lilnd. I ought to know," and Isaac heaved a mighty sigh. "I've burled w Ives of both soils three of 'em." Not a breeze stirred the lifeless calm; and the midday sun poured fiercely down. Presently he sought the shade of a spreading tree which overhung the wall a few tiaees from him. But be was no longer solitary. Voices fell on bis ear Bertha Tregon's and that of tbe inun who report said hud Jilted her. "My ioor Bertha! You've no cause to fear me. I know exactly how It wu you forsook me for James Hocken. But I wrote w henever 1 had the chance." "Nit a single letter reached me." "Because your mother waylaid the postman." Oesrilte the heat, Isaac shivered. AYlll'a Insight was making clear much that luul puzzled lilm. "Perhaps. What matters now?" asked Itcrthn In forlorn tones. "You should have kept away. It would linve been kinder." "And let yon continue to think tht I was false. Ixikoe here, Berthn, yon proralned to lie my wife liefore ever Hocken courted you. And now you know I've been faithful to you " "I durstn't break with Jim. Mother la aet on lilm. Oh, why did you come? Y'ou'll get a fresh sweetheart, but Jim won't I feel he won't. And 1 shull keep my promise to hlin." But Bertha's love was unchanged, and to the breathless listener on the thither fdde of the wall, Will's tender pleadings were the knell of Ills son's hopes. What girl who loved him could resist handsome Will Cnrtcr? Gaunt nnd grlz7.1cl, with weather beaten, strongly marked features, be had always known that Jim wasn't one that a girl would fancy. And Bertlia had only accepted lilm at her mother's bidding, believing that Will was untrue to heT. It was all so plain to him now. Poor Jim! Even a flower that Beri!iK had plucked was prcelou to him. Hadn't he found a rose withered nid dead In his iockef ? And all his Icrij In vnln! Isaac whipped out his hutdl.er chlcf and mopped his face. 1 H, if Will hadn't returned But, contrary to his expectation!, the girl was firm In her resolve. "I won't listen to you," she M -it last, roused by Will's upbraiding. "Jim Isn't to blame lie knew nothing of our sweetlicartlng -nor am I. It didn't enter my mind that mother might 've got your letters. How sjiould It? As if you alone suffered; si.e faltered. "I't us part friends." "Sweethearts or uotlu," said Will, gxullly. With the swish, swls'j &f feet througli the long grass, crawl.ig to his kuces. old Isaac ppered riurtyUHly over the wall. Bertha was. rrjaiilug; toward the house and Will Ciute.-, with his head thrown back, strU'xf lu an opposite, di rection. "Bless the littlo B.'nhy" ho ejaculated. "One time I was fenred for Jim, But she's got n good grip o' things. Yes, plenty more swthcnng for Will," h chuckled, obserraut of the pose of h;s head. "And Olcre's but one In the world for my lad Bertha Trcgon May my tongue tie slit If I let out to hJm." Rising, Iriaac shouldered hU basket and procfttdiHl on his round. Tbe ojj fisherman had been some what raso, however, In his conclusions. By hf own admission, Fs-rtba's de rision biul Is-en prompted so'.ely by fear of her mother and consideration for James Hocken. But If on reflection she were tlll willing to sacrifice her hnpp ttfss, 'Will Carter certainly had no In tention of yielding to her weakness. A i;ie seaman, of whom Pengelly vy.is proi., for the hist year Will had been on Uuird a yacht crulslsg In the Mcdlt dvanenn. But for rcam Ixnt known to herself, Mrs. Trego had discounte iifciiicd his suit, and, although lie had ft t-ry confidence In hi-r, Bcrthn's si lence luid Inspired misgivings not easy to allay. Once more free, he had re turned at the curliest dnte to England, and at Plymouth, where he landed, had met a friend, who, among other Items of Pengelly nwa. Informed him ot her desertion, ailing: "And sbe'U be Mrs. Hocken In a fort night." j Determined to demand a full explana tion from Bertha herself, Will mode no comment, but his laugh waa un mlrthful. And with rage In bla heart he had balled n passing rah, driven lo the railway station aril taken the tram for Wadebridge. Thence be could walk to the Trvgons". But the house In view. In crossing tbe field. Will had espied Bertha In the gar den and, with a muffled ahoy! sped to tbe tree that sheltered old Isaac. She had swiftly Joined him. Nevertheless, the shock of his return was visible lu her white face, and her trembling Hps would frame no weU-ome. looking at blm Imploringly, her blue eyes tilled. And, longing to clasp her In his arms, the reassuring words which, whilst en lightening him, bad chilled Jim's fath er, did duty for tbe reproaches be had come primed with. But Will had taken Bertha ly sur prise, and between her dread of him and terror of her mother, who nihil the Trcgon household with a roil of Iron, he rightly divined that she had caught at the readiest means of escajie which in her distraction had presented Itself to her. Yet bis faith In her firm ness was limited; the revival of fond memories would tend to lessen her mother's Influence. And cunningly cal culating that apparent Indifference would further Incline her to lie guided by his counsels later, he devoted a week to bis friends and generally enjoy ing himself. His disapisilntment treat ed thus lightly, he succeeded In delud ing everylswly. Including Bertha, who shed bitter tears In secret that he snotild te so ensily consoled for her loss. The bare sight of James Hocken almost maddened her, nnd she hnd to hide her aversion to him and listen evening af ter evening to his dull talk. And In an other week she would lie his wife. The tree Is'neath which she and Will had parted Is'cnnie her favorite resort. Here she could Indulge In the luxury of a "good cry" unrebuked, and, grown desperate with the nearer approach of the wedding day, sitting on the gnarled roots one afternoon, she burst Into a very passionate grief. A face Will's appeared nlove the wall. "Ahay! Wh.'itlver's the matter. Miss Trcgon?" he gravely inquired. "Shall I fetch Mr. Hocken to 'eef "I hate hlin! I bate him!" she sob bed hysterically. "That's bad." said Will, sympnthU Ingly. "What's be been up tor "I'p to! Isn't he old, Isn't he ugly. Isn't he stupid? And and I hate lilm. Mother may storm, but 1 don't care." Will vaulted over the wall. On the day apiwiinted for James Hockcn's nuptials tbe whole village flocked iM'tlmes to the church. But licit her bridegroom nor bride pu t In an appearance, nnd by and by It whs known thnt WIH Carter and Bertha Trcgon were missing, and that there would be uo wedding at Pengelly that day. Weeks and months rolled by, and no tiding could Ik; glenned of the grace less couple. They had clean vanished, leaving no clew to their whereabouts. Mrs. Tregon's tongue sharcncd to a doiinlile-edged sword, rendy to slay friend nnd foe alike who alluded to her daughter. And the dumb misery In Jim's plain face was pitiful to see. Old Isaac's heart ached for his son. If he had only prepared lilm for the blow! To have him so Imposed on! And with his experience of womankind. Curiosity was nt length appeased. An acquaintance of the runaways rksited London and returned wiih a woeful story. She had sin-n Bertha, who had confided to her that after being mar ried nt a registry office Will nnd she had decided to go to America, but while looking 111 a shop window he had Iweli robbed of Ills savings, ami that subse quently they were reduced to great straits. Then he had brought her tbe welcome news that he hail obtained a berth ou n steam launch, and the next morning hade her good-by to go a!onnl. since when she bad never elnpiied her eyes on him. Mrs. Pcgg also said that Bertha had refused to give her address. But Jim ascertained that she had met her at Kotherhlthe, ami that was enough for blm. "I'm off lo London," he nuiiounceil when he came downstairs, after pacing the fliKir the livelong night. "I shall never rest until Carter and me are face to face." "Tbee l.en fule. Jim." his father, who hnd la-en disturbed by Ills monotonous tread overhead, Sllld peevishly. "If you must stir In this business, find Bertha. It'll be a charity, l'or nil her sharp temper, her mother's frcttln' her self Into the grave. Take what money you want out o' my leather bug; only promise, lad," noting the sulloif lire In his deep-set eyes, "not lo meddle wP Will." "Trust me to find Ilcriha! But (he would lie destitute," he said hmirsely. "And she tuny have become a shame lo her kith and kin. And In that case no promise would bind me, fntlicr. I'd 've bis life If I swung for It," Hut I'eugelly whs convinced that Will had ladakeu himself to "foreign parts." And, recalling this, old Isaac was en couraged to hoie that Jim would Ih de nied the opportunity of vengeance. Jim had Is-en In London three months; his quest had been unsuccess ful; yet he continued to hunt the prin cipal thoroughfares, tramping north, south, east and west In turn. Big Ben had struck one; he was re crossing Westminster bridge to his dglugs when woman crouching by lamp post ahead of blui fell forward la a heap and, hastening his stepa, b endeavored to raise ber. But with th light falling on the pallid, hunger pinch ed face, a groan escaped him. Hla quest for Bertha Carter bad ended. At that moment a policeman came up. -Poor soul! she's dead." be said at a glance. "Better so than the leap Into the water she was U-nt on. I've had my eye on her sim-e 7 o'clock. Shu seemed dared." The body was conveyed to the mor tuary and the verdl-t at the inquest was in accordance with the medical testimony, thnt death was due to star vation. Outwardly calm, his sole thought to avenge Bertha, Jim staggered out of the court. His Inquiries for the mna who bad robled hlin of the one jewel he coveted, to cast It from him, at length elicited that a seaman answering to his de scription of Carter was hoiuewarj bound from Singaiore. Thenceforth, knowing neither hunger nor weariness, he was watchful of new arrivals at the docks. His desire for revenge was by now monomania. And to-dny he had a strange prescience that Will and ho were soon to meet. Self-absorlsd. In croMSing the street, he was knocked down by a dray, and, stunned, convey ed to the hospital. On recovering consciousness, his first request was for his discharge. "Not yet awhile," said the nurse. "But you won't le dull. That poor chap yonder," Indicating a bandaged object iu a distant lied, "has la-en ask ing for you. You don't recognize hlmT No wonder! He was brought In months ago after the fire In Ht Thomas street. He was looking on, and a woman and some children appeared at a top win dow. The firemen were beaten back by the bhize below, and ior Will he won't tell us his surname couldn't withstand their cries, and he climbed up the watersout on to the roof with a roM', nnd threw one end to them, a'nd bad actually lowered two of the chil dren In safety when the walls collaps ed. He wns picked up so teriilny In jured that we had little hope of him. But he has done splendidly. If you" But Jim was midway across the ward. Oh, heaven, to think that this txior man gled wretch was "handsome Will!" And so sorely misjudged! Leaning over the brave fellow, Hockcn's emo tion was hard to restrain. "Ikm't give 'em my name," whisper ed Will. "I'm maimed for life. And wouldn't 'ye iny jioor little Bertha sad dled with a helpless husband not like ly. To have happened Just when the tide had turned!" he groaned. "Where is she?" "She has reached port before us," said Jim, In a smothered voice. "Don't 'ee take on, Will." His own tears were coursing down bis rugged cheeks. "We'll go back to Pengelly. I can work for bolh." "You work for me? You " "We lioth loved her," Jim reminded him. "If so be you'll trust yourself to me. You will be doing me a favor." Feebly pressing the hand that' grlfi ped his. Will mumbled liidistfu-tly, and hastily covered his face. House hold Words. Hiw They Baffle Pa as fiends. . Charles C. Black, assistant attorney of the Missouri Pacific, who for the Inst two years has resided In Athlson, has resigned his jswition with tile com pany, and will resume general practice of law af Kansas City, Mo, Sam Har burger will succeed Mr. Black. Har bnrger long has been Bailey Waggen er's right-hand man. They have a code of slgnak, which are particularly helpful when the man who wants n puss droi In. "Ham," Waggoner will stiy when a wtntesmau who has no claim on rallrontU presents himself, "llns Doddridge nt those blanks?" "No," Sam will promptly re ply, marking the Interrogn lion, "and I guess he hfis tipplled the ltiterstafe com merce rule to us nni We will not get any more." "Then," a froub'lcd took stealing over his face, Mr. Wnggener will suggest that Sum "try Uatliburn." "It would do no gisid," the ready lieutenant will say. "You know we sent over to lilm yesterday with a request for trnnspor. tation for Senator lugalls, and he waa out of blanks, too." "Then," Mr, Wag goner will say, wearily, to the appli cant: "I nm nfr;!d I can't help you. It's got so now that I am little tnrre than a clerk. Sometimes I nm tempted to resign." The next applicant comes within the rule. "Sum," Mr, Wnggener will sny, Imperatively, "write out a pass for Mr, BUI here." ami the puss Is written. Kansas City Stnr. - Pathol of Presidential Conventions. No one cna examine the records of Presidential Conventions, with their personal kiicciwwr nnd failures, and ensily escape the conviction that there is far more of tragedy t'oin coined r In our national politic. There are touch es of humor here ana there, but the dominant note Is that of pathos. Be hind every great success there Is to bo seen the somber sluniow of Miter dis appointment, of wrecked ambition, of liTeloiig hopes in ruitia. As one pursues through biography, auloblgraphy. and memoir, the personal history of tho chief figures In the convention that have been held during tho sixty years which have passed since that method of nominating Presidential candidates enme Into use, he finds It almost luvarl nbly ending In sadm-ss nnd glixun. Not one of those seeklug the Pienhlency with most perslsletirp has siicceixled iu getting iKMiscssloti of thnt great office, nnd few of them, when final ra'hire has come, hsve shown themselves nbln to ttear tbe blow with fortitude. Cen tury. First Amrrlcan Hallway. The Bret AmerUiu railroad was laid in UOn, It three mllea Ion, from the granite, quarries of Qulncy, Mass to NfuoMot Ulrvr. , , . . .