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About Harrison press-journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 1902)
T HERB," said Marlowe to bis Wife, tossing a letter Into her lap, "I hope we have seen the li3t of v "From Koger," said Mrs. Marlowe, with a sigh. Then she read these linen: "Here I am at Flagstaff, Arl., and Within two weeks I start with three other good men and true ou a prospect ing tour. One of the men says lie knows of a mine of marvelous richness, once worked by Indians or Aztecs, or ome long forgotten beggars of an tiquity. Perhaps he's a liar you know X don't place much faith in hum iu na turebut the other men say that he has shown up nuggets as big as your thumb, so there may be something In It Imagine me as a millionaire! I bare a present in mind for Milly. At any rate this is touch and go with mo. I've been down on my luck so long that if I don't strike It rich now I'll leave my bones In the mountains." "Poor fellow," said Mrs. Marlowe, trying to wipe away a tear, uuobstrv ad. "Poor humbug!" roared her husband, avagely. "If anything shows the de generacy of woman it Is her fondness for rascality. Itoger is a liar aud a cheat and you know It, yet you have always an excuse for bis follies and au apology for his crimes." "He has been unfortunate," she be gan. "Unfortunate," lie Interrupted, "In that he was not killed long ago in bis escapades or jailed for bis villainies. He might hare then been saved from ome punishment In the next world:" "Of course I know," she returned, with a pitiful attempt at fairness, "that he has not been exactly good, but you must consider his disposition. He Is so Impetuous, go careless, that he never tops to think of the consequences of his actions." "How logical and at the same time how touching," retorted Marlowe, bit terly. "He Is only a mere child of 32. not old enough to know the difference between right and wrong. So careless that he has twice written another man's name to notes that I have been compelled to pay; so impetuous that he has been four times in hiding for as saulting people who were wicked enough to thwart bis cheating. He thinks so little of the consequences of hi actions the dear child! that he has been false to every promise and deeeiv-' ed every man or woman who trusted ' him." , "O, Walter!" she cried, entreatingly. "Dare you deny it? Shame ou jou to waste tears or regrets on this dis grace to humanity. Of what value are love, charity, kindness, and benevolence when bestowed on a monster and with held from real suffering? I have never heard you become sentimental over the woes of the poor washerwoman on the back street with a criplel son and a daughter little better than an idiot; you are not noted for your charity or visit ing the sick; but Koger! In possession of perfect health and all his senses, but Without a single good trait, a villain "Who never did an honest deed!-Pah!" be wound up In utter disgust. Pretty Mrs. Marlowe buried her face In her handkerchief, and had nothing to say. In fact, there was nothing she could say. The small portion of fair ness and common sense she possessed acknowledged that Koger, her hand some cousin, was a thorough villain, and a curse and a burden to every one he met; that he had fleeced her hon est, manly husband; that she would be happier If she never saw the scoundrel again and yet? Meanwhile Marlowe was pacing the floor and when be came to a halt In front of her his face was set with reso lution. "Now, Mllly, listen to me," he said, sternly. "I know that you have written to blm. That must stop. Yon have sent him money. Send no more. I will not argue; I will command. One word of correspondence, one cent of mouey, that goes from you to him will mark ur separation." "Walter," she cried, rising to ler fast, and clasping ber bands in hor ror, "yon do not mean that?" "Yea, I do, every word. I hate, de spite, and loathe the man; bis presence la a taint The wretch would sell your latter If he could raise money In no ether way. I will write to blm, and I'U warrant he wilt not show my letter. He wRt get no more money, and you shall tabs none of bis. If be becomes a bill ionaire. If you commnnlcste with blrn I Will leave you; If he comes to see you I iak I will kill him." C'jsns nan might bare been touched ' ft It'J Jaactare by the aspect of Mrs. , f "jm tm naad faint, bat Mr. Mar M too tharoaghly angry to be 1 tr any eaoaa. Bat be raised t f inssjs and laid bar on a TCTl wcSsI ana ana bags to open her eyes, and then he left her to write a letter to Koger Arnott that would sting bis soul to silence. Apparently It did, since no word came from the ne'er-do-well for six months, and then arrived a box ad dressed to Mr. Walter Marlowe. The servant brought the express man's book to Mrs. Marlowe to sign, and told her that the box was In the ball. She went to look at it with Inward quaking, although it was a prosaic wooden affair, and might have come from Hoboken. But her presentiment was correct. In the upper left hand corner was rudely printed: "From Rog er Arnott, Tombstone, Arizona." "Is it for me?" she asked qulvering- iy. "No, ma'am; it's for Mr. Marlowe." "Thank goodness! I mean let it lie there, and give It to him when he comes home." Then she hurried away and hoped that her husband would not tell her what the box contained, while at the same time she was burning to know. Mr. Marlowe made no remark on the subject until after dinner, and then he said, with an ominous frown: "A box came from ttie rascal to day." "Yes," she assented, afintiy. "A present for you, I suppose. After all I have said!" "Please don't." she said, with a half frighteued shrinking away from him. '"Keally, I have bad nothing to do with it. I never wrote to him, or sent word in any way, after what you said." "Of course not," he said, with open eyes. "My dear, I don't suspect you of deception only of feminine weakness. I blame Itoger for his audacity, i,fter my distinctly telling him that he must send you nothing. However, It shall go back." "But," she corrected, mildly, "the box Is directed to you; perhaps the present is yours." He frowned vexatlously over this suggestion and then, rising impatiently, snld; "Let us see." The box was brought Into the library and put on the table. When opened It disclosed a lot of straw on which lay a letter. Marlowe tore it open contemptuously ind read with rising wrath: "Dear Old Boy I know you ordered me to not write to you or Cousin Milly, but I never promls-ed to abstain. I have a habit of having my own way, you know. "You will be delighted to hear that I did not succeed in locating the mine. After a month of horrible hardship one man died and we three survivors gut back just as poor as we started, and reduced to skeletons in flesh. No one welcomed us; in fact, no one seemed to care, one way or t'other. But we got mouey somehow, and as fools never learn by experience we three started out again. 'This time we actually found a mine, or at any rate struck a rich lead of ore; so rich that I might have been ft mill-' lonaire If I could have got the stuff out of the mountains. The ore was almost as soft as clay, and we had shoveled up I don't know how many tons when a cursed band of Indians swept down on us, killed my two chums, and took me prisoner." "O, heaven!" cried Mrs. Marlowe. 'I had better sot read any more," said Mr. Marlowe, gravely. "Why does he tell all this, anyhow?" She gave him a reproachful glance and said: "Do go on." He bad been scanning the following pages and now looked up with a trou bled face. "This Is too horrible," he muttered. Then, with sudden resolution, he read rapidly. "The devils dragged me around with them for a week or more, and then tortured me In a fashion that I believe to be unique. They brought me to a place beside a running stream and set up a poet on its verge. On a flat rock near by they laid out a quantity of Jerked meat, and then they spiked my left hand to the post snd left me." Marlowe looked at his wife. Her eyes had a half glassy stare and every ves tige of color left her face, but she mo tioned blm to go on. "It Is too dreadful to give In detail. When you are calmer you can read It yourself If you care to do so. I will give you the substance. For two days he suffered agonies of thirst and hun ger In addition to the heat and the pain in his hand He could not pull up the slake or get the spike out of the wood, and on the third day are you sure you wont to bear It?" "Yes-yes.," "With his bunting knlfa be severed bis hand at the wrist It was the only way to escape from the Imprisonment, and between death and " He stopped and caogbt bit wife as ha pitched forward, "What a fool I waa U gratify bar curiosity," he said sharply to himself. "The villain! He seems always des tined to cause ber pain. And to think that he lived through all that sgony and can write about It In this strain! The devil takes care of bis own." Meanwhile he was chafing her hands, and when she revived he was a bo at to help her from the room, when she push ed blm away and ran to the table. "The boxthe box," she cried, fever ishly. "Let me see It!" "The box? See-what?" be asked, wondering If she had gone mad. "Don't you know can't you under stand?" she exclaimed with an impa tient stamp. "He has sent usyou something. I want to see It." "A piece of mineral, perhaps some of the ore for which he paid so dearly," he replied. "Of what consequence Is It? To-morrow will be time enough. You bad better go to bed nqw." "You'll drive me crazy," she said, trying to push him aside. "If you will not look at It " "There, there," he said, soothingly. "You shall see It. What a foolish girl you are. I believe the fellow has hyp notized you, or rather charmed you like a snake. To be anxious to see some trifling " lie checked himself with a gasp. A misshapen package came to view, too light for ore no form. An indefina ble shudder ran through his band and up his arm as he slowly unrolled the casings aud then dropped on the table a human hand. Koger's left hand complete, even to the silver ring on the little finger, shriv eled and wan, distorted at the palm, the fingers drawn in as if clutching some thing, aud the muscles of the wrist stump haggled and discolored with blackened blood. A hideous object at the best to be displayed In a civilized house and doubly repellant when con nected with Ks taking off. For the space of a minute neither spoke and it seemed as If the thing had been a serpent to charm them. Then the woman touched It shlveringly, aud that broke the spell. "What hideous prank Is this?" cried the man, passionately. "The fellow would Jest with Satan himself! Ill burn the thing." "Wait!" said the wife, picking up the letter, ."lie must have had some mo tive. See! He says: 'My dear cousin, I pray you take good care of this part of me. It Is my left hand I never did much harm with that. Keep it as a me mento until I come to claim It. Then I trust you will not refuse me my prop erty.' " Marlowe smiled grimly. "He seeks to torment me and per haps work on my sympathies," he said, with recovered nerve. "Is there no postscript asking for money? I nm surprised! But that will come later. Weil, I will gratify your precious cous in; I will keep his hand. It wljl make a novel ornament for the library ta ble." "How can you be so heartless?" she cried. "My dear, what will you have? Am 1 not carrying out bis wishes? Shall I bury It in the cellar, or put It In a safe deposit vault at bank? He Is evidently proud of what most men would want to forget. It is an eccentric notion and I'll humor It. I can be eccentric, also. Let It lay where It has fallen." "I cannot bear to look at It," she moaned. "You need not," he responded, cold ly. "There is no necessity for your vis it lug this room. Please to remember also that you brought this on yourself. Had you been less Inquisitive I would have opened the box aud thrown the thing away, and you would have been none the wiser. But you would not have It so. Now let It lie. 1 forbid you to touch It as you have already," he added, quickly. "You will keep It?" she stammered. "Of course; at least until be sends for it." "But he says he will come for it." "He had better not. 1 have warned him that he must not enter these door. When be wants his hand he may sen! for It; if he comes In person well, he knows what will happen to blm." 8he looked at blm with swimming eyes and then went slowly out of the room, saying, "jPoor Koger." The hand laid on the table ns Mar lowe had promised a hideous paper weight, at which no one cared to look twice except Marlowe! He took a grim delight In gazing at the thing, examin ing the nail hole In the palm, and trying to get off the ring, which resisted all bis efforts. Then be would Indulge In frequent speculations over the owner of the hand. "Ha Is well punished, tba rascal, but I cannot Snd It In my heart to pity him. Many an honest nan has suffered mora. And K la not much low to him, what avar tba laconraalaaoa. Ha nukes a I living by scheming and cheating and his mutilation will be a sympathetic aid. I suppose be sent me this hand to horrify and torment me. Well, he miss ed his guess." But Mrs. Marlowe was not so philo sophical. She never got over ber horror. ! and kept ber word by not entering the library. She would not even talk about 1 it, aud soon Koger's name was no more beard between these two. Thus matters stood for four or five months, until one day toward the end of January when they were sitting at dinner. Mr. Marlowe had been particularly vivacious, having made some specially good business deal that morning, and It was some time before be noticed that bis wife was nervous and abstracted. t "Well, what Is the "matter r"he 'asked," at length. "Has the milliner disap pointed you?" "You think I am a child," she replied, with a pout. "I'll not tell you." He laughed In an Irritating way until she was piqued Into speaking. "I saw Roger to-day." "What! Has be dared " There was danger of bis sweeping everything off the table In his excitement "After all I have told you!" "Don't be hasty," she returned, with a little ring of resentment In ber tones. "I did not speak to him or be to me; In fact I doubt If be saw me." "Yet be came to see you?" "There you go again with your Infer ences. How do you know he did? He may have been looking for you." "For me? Tell me about It" be de manded, Impatiently. "There is not much to tell," she an swered, slowly. "I was coming down stairs when I saw Roger In the lower hall. He went Into the library, and I well, you know I never go In there; so I called Susan and told her that there was a vislor In the library." "And what did he want?" "He wasn't there." "He wasn't there?" "No. There was no one In the library. Wasn't that strange?" "Not at all. Y'ou were simply mis taken." "No, sir," she protested. "I saw him as plainly as I see you. Haven't I seeu him often enough to know blm?" "Too often," be retorted blunt!. "Well, I'm going to investigate this af fair." Which he did, but to no effect. No one had seen Koger except Mrs. Marlowe; no one had admitted a visitor that day or let any one out "It was an optical delusion," said Marlowe, with a laugh. "Such things are not uncommon, and generally mean biliousness." "A delusion?" Mrs. Marlowe laughed, too, but nervously. "Perhaps It was, but I'm sure I have not felt at all 111. Perhaps " Theu she shuddered aud became so distraught that Marlowe, who dearly loved his pretty, foolish wife, gave up all idea of going out and stayed at home to keep her company. He took up the latest magazines and read bits here and there, she ran over some new music on the piano, aud be tween whiles they chatted, until a charming evening was developed. "I declare," said Marlowe, at length, looking at his watch, "It is 11 o'clock. How time does fly when a man is In love!" Mrs. Marlowe blushed charmingly and laid her dimpled hands on Li-t shoulder. Then she gave a terrible cry and pointed to the hull with a shaking finger. Marlowe turned like a flash and saw or dm lie see itoger s mocking race peering In from the semi-darkness? ? With a fierce Imprecation he dashed Into the hall and in a few minutes came back with a bewildered face. "You you saw it?" she whispered in a faint voice. "I thought I saw something," he ad mitted, reluctantly, "but I was mis taken. It was the shifting of the gas light on the curtains." "No, no," she insisted, clinging closer to him. "It was he Koger." "How could It be?" he demanded sharply. "Still," be added with a frown, "It uiay be after all. It would le In keeping with his malicious spirit to con ceal himself and play these baby tricks. If I catch him " At that moment the door bell sounded with a clung that caused Mrs. Marlowe to utter a little scream, snd Marlowe, In spite of his habitual self-command, gave a nervous sturt. Then he recover ed himself and went to the door to re ceive a telegram. He glanced at Its contents as be came Into the parlor aud would have bid it from bis wife, but she was too quick for blm end read It over bis shoulder: 'Tombstone, Ariz., Jan. 23, 1HX. To Walter Marlowe: Koger Arnott killed to-day In quarrel. Shall we ship body? "H. B. CURZON, Liberty Hotel." "He Is dead!" site exclaimed wildly. "And yet I saw blm you saw blm!" "Come, come," be said, checking her evident tendency to hysterical alarm. "We will talk this over to-morrow when you have become calmer." "But you will send for you will take care that be " "Yes, yes; I will attend to all that. Don't talk any more to-night." She submlttid to lelng led away to ber room, and when be had seen her safely bestowed he returned to the li brary and wrote a letter to "n. B. Cur zon," giving directions for the decent burial of Koger's body, and prepared It for dispatch next day. As be arose to retire bis eye csught Roger's band, and the strangest feeling came over him, as of something cold creeping up his back, until he felt as If standing la a current of damp air. It required a rigorous effort for blm to overcome this weakness, yet somehow ba could not bring himself to touch the band, and sfter a moment apent In pro tasting with blmaelf against bis weak ness, be laid tbe letter on the table and went to bed. It was some time In the middle of the night that he was awakened by his wife. "What Is the matter?" he asked. "Why are you sitting up In bed?" "I bear something." he replied, with quivering lips. "I have been listening for a long time, and It Is driving me crazy." "You have a nervous spell," he said, holding her reassuringly. "No, I am not Imagining I hear it Something is moving around the house as if searching for something. I hear it above and below aud on the stairs. It Is walking walking and Oh, If It should come In here!" To bis dismay be saw her eyes dilate agalu'while her face became deathly pale. He was out of bed In au Instant. "Moving around, is It?" he said, going to the closet for his revolver. "I'll make It move If I meet it." "No, no," she pleaded, following him and holding him fast. "I shall go mad If you leave me alone." "Mllly, for heaven's sake! There there I'll not go. Wait. Let us listen. 1 hear nothing; do you?" "Nothing," she said, after listening Intently. "You see you were mistaken." She shook her head In mute protest, but after a while consented to lie down again. He sat up and smoked a cigar by the BrejJuce, keeping bis ear pricked up, but heard nothing. Finally sleep overcame him aud he returned to bed. Once he thought he heard a noise, a faint rustling below, and once he was awakened by his wife's troubled moan ing In her sleep. . In tbe morning she arose with him, something unusual for her, and they went downstairs together. She made no comment ou the happenings of the night, but to his surprise she walked to the library and directly to the table. "Look!" she said, with a little cry of terror. The letter he had written was lying as he had left It, but on the envelope was faintly scrawled "Koger." 'nd the hand!" she cried. "It is gone! I knew it I knew It!" "You knew?" he questioned, wondnr Ingly. "It was Koger. He was looking for his hand!" Chicago Tribune. Ul LEGITIMATE GOLD BRICKS. Their Sale at the United States Ana Oflice in Wall Street. Beneath stout bars guarding a wide, arched window of the United Sta:es army oflice Id Wall street thousands of dollars' worth of little gold bricks, tbe honest and true kind, kiss every day from Uncle Sam's coffers to the hands of Jewelers and bankers. And all that Uncle Sam charges for tbe exchange Is 4 cents on $1)0 dollars for the large bars find 5 cents on $100 for the small ones. For the week ending July 28 the gold bars (they did not csill them bricks In the nnsay office) exchanged for gold coin amounted to ?r.,7t0.17. This Is a small figure compared with what the office has done ou a busy day. Once, six or seven years ago, when a largo quantity of gold was to be shipped to Europe, the a-ssay oflice exchanged $8,000,000 Into bars. The liars Uncle Sam dispenses arc ol two general sizes, the $3,000 size for the bankers, aud the $1.10 size for Jew elers, tbe small size being about as Inch aud a quarter long, thrce-quurtcrt wide, and j-crhups half an Inch or I(s lu thicknesN. Very of.teu they run up to flX) or even more in value. Theii size adapts them to the size of the Jeweler's crucible. As for the bunker, he docs not melt his gold; he contents liimself with shipping it back and fortt acros the ocean. A remarkable feature of this ex change of legal tender for gold tars Is that one cun not always got just the amount he wishes. If a Jeweler or a lwinker wishes $1J,M. in gold bul lion, Uncle Sam gives blm as near that amount as he possibly can. It may be $0,970.50 or $10,0;o.30, because the bars vary In size and weight, and practically all of them have odd cent! In their value. Two bars the casblci bunded out one day this week wort stamped $531.70 and $123.10. In buying gold bars the purchase first tells the cashier at the assay of fice how much he wishes; the cashlei comes as near this amount as be cac with the bars on hand, and then th purchaser goes next door, to the sub treasury, where he deposits his legal tender, gold certificates, greenbacks, or gold coin, for tlie amount designated by the assay office catthliT ns the near est to the desired amount, receiving therefor a certificate which, upon pre sentation at the assay office, insures the delivery of tlie bars. But before they may be taken away the recipient must sign for them lu the register wh!cb lies open beneath the lwirs of the wide arched window. New York Post. Sim I'mleralood Them. 1-re Is an extract from a girl's essay; "IV. .pie are composed of boys and girls, also men and women. Boys lire good till they grow up and get married. Men who don't get married are no good either. Girls arc young women who will be ladies when they graduate. Boys ore an awful bother; want everything they see except soap. If I hud my way half the boys would be girls and the oilier half dolls. My mamma Is a wom an and my pa Is a hoy. A woman Is a grown-up girl with children. My pa l such a nice man that I guess be must have been a girl when he was a little boy." When a woman who has chased a man wins what she started out for, it has a very unhappy tendency to a courago atbara. PAGAN RITES IN SCOTIA. Many ScottUh Cuatoaas that Orii nated la Superstition. Nearly all travelers In central Afrlci have referred to the curious custom! prevalent among all pagan native tribei of driving quantities of nails into sa cred trees and other objects that bavt been adjudged worthy of veneration, and this not in malice, but as a religion rite, the nails In question being intend ed an votive offerings. F.xactly the ssm thing may be witnessed to-day at th sacred well of St. Maebruha, In Locr Maree, Kossshire, where is an anclem oak tree studded with countless ualll of all sizes, the offerings of Invalid pil grlms who came to worship and b cured, says a writer In Stray Stories. Pennies and half pennies aiso are U -be seen in enormous quantities drivel edgewise In tbe tough bsrk, and I friend of the writer's who visited th spot some little time back dlscoveret In a cleft high up lu the trunk what hi took to be a shilling. On being extract ed, however, it proved to be counter felt. Probably the donor, finding thai he could get no value for bis coin ll the natural world, concluded be might as well try, as a last resort, what effeo It might have on the spiritual. Of course, the Kor cottars and otb era who flock to St. Maebruha wltl their nails and their pence do not for t moment admit that they are asslstlni at a pagan ceremony. But they moi undoubtedly are. Well worship has al ways occupied an Important place I paganism, and the sacred oak, befor which each pilgrim must thrice knea ere humbly presenting bis offering what is it but an obvious survival of the sacred groves of Dnildlcal times? I, THE fW OF CAMPING OUT. More and more popular is camp lifi becoming each year, says Country Lift in America. With those who go lnti the deep woods In quest of big garni and fish the camp life Is, after all, tin real attraction, and not the mere da sire to kill. But where one can maki these trips there are thousands wh cannot. 1'or these there are peaecfu rivers, wood-girt bikes and ponds am beautiful spots on the shores of OH Neptune available for quite as charm Ing a two-weeks' outing beneath can vus. In making up a camping party choose you such congenial spirits ai shall be fonwworn to philosophies optimism. And let there be u wag uiuong them who, catching the humor of every sit uatlon, puts to flight all thought 01 discomfort. A level site near a Bprlni with plenty of shade, a pleasant shea of water with good fishing, pine bought for a bed and driftwood for a fire and who would trade his life for I king's patrimony? How delicious th fish flavored with the pungent tunyk of the fire! How rarely satisfying tht simple bill of fare, and how few, afta all, are the needs of this life! Youn Is the Joy and happy freedom of th gypsy and vagalwud. You have be come a species of civilized barbarian aud It Is gotxl. Sunshine or shower what matters it? You Like wbai comes and give thanks, and If you an of the right sort some of the beaut; of each Is absorbed into your ver; nature. days, lazy days, but hap py days, are the days iu trump, llaj and mishap will don the jester's cai and bells and parade through uicuiorj many u time during the after mouthy BANKRUPTS IN LIVERY. Curioua I.ana Once ICnforced In n gland and Scotland. At one time Knglund and Scotland bankrupts were compellled to wear I distinctive dress. This was a resuh of enactments passed at various Umei In Scotland from the year It JO to lo88 The Kdluburgh Court of Sessions sped fled the dress to be of parti-color, oue half yellow and the other brown, some thing after the style of the dress now worn In English prisons by the Wornl class of prisoners, (hose who have at tempted to escape or been guilty murderous assaults on officers. Th enactment also provided that the bank rupt should be exhibited publicly In tie market place of his town for a perlo of two hours and then sent away, con demned to wear the dress until suet time as he had' paid his debts or sorai one else had done It for him. Although this was a period of lawi which can only be described as fero clous, this law was such an outragi on public sentiment that In 1088 It wai so far repealed that the wearing of th dress was only compulsory In casa In which fraud bad been proved, or curiously enough, If the bankrupt ha been convicted of smuggling. Tb same practice was legal, but not gen erally In force In Kngland down to tlx year 1X.TI. The Idea wus, of course, tc warn persons who might have giver credit that the bankrupt was not abl to pay, but popular sentiment soon rec ognized thut It was wholly unfair tc Jvipose excessive penalties ou a mat who might have become bankrupt through no fault of his own, snd, at usual, when the law became contrarj to public feeling It ceased to be op eratlve. Higher than King. "I have played cards enough to be come fairly familiar with whist slang," said oue American financier, "hut I don't quite see why you refer to ai ace as a Plerpont Morgan." "Because," replied the other, "It' bigger than a klng."Londoa Answer According to statistics, out of eack 1,000 people In love sixteen beeomt hopelessly waana. Tba other M art only tanrparartiy out of thatr bead.
