S. M. COCHRAN * CO. ,
ABE AGENTS FOR THE CELEBRATED
Ill ' Union Press Drills and
One Horse Hoe Drills ,
WAGONS AND BUGGIES.
ALSO KEEP REPAIRS FOR ALL KINDS OF MACHINERY.
A ! Tinware
Their prices on aU goods are as low as the
lowest possible.
COCHRAN & CO. ,
XVest Dotiniaon Mrcet , nicCOOK , NEBRASKA.
W. 0. BULLARD & CO.
-ot-
LDIE , HARD
CEMENT ,
AND
DOORS , E
WINDOWS , SOFT
BLINDS. COAL.
G
toj-
BED CED&B. AND OAK POSTS.
JT. WARRRN , Manager.
B. & M. Meat Market.
FRESH AND SALT
MEATS ,
BACON , BOLOGNA ,
CHICKENS ,
TURKEYS , Ac. , &C.
F. S. WILOOX , Prop.
Hotary Public. Justice of the Peace.
S. . COILIItT
REAL : - : ESTATE ,
LOANS AND INSURANCE.
Nebraska Farm Lands to Exchange for Eastern Property.
Collections a Specialty.
40 TO 2000 ACRE TRACTS ,
Damn $5 TO $15 PER ACRE.
Mnfrn f (1111 ( enrf sf amp /or Price List and Descriptive
Circular of Southwestern Nebraska to
AND STOCK RANCHES. S. H. COLVIN , McCooMerf wniow Co. , Neb. I
Mexican ,
: Mustang
' * " -
>
Liniment.
A Cure for the Ailments of Man and Beast
A long-tested pain reliever.
Its use is almost universal by the Housewife , the Farmer , thu
Stock Raiser , and by every one requiring an effective
liniment
No other application compares with it in efficacy.
This well-known remedy has stood the test of years , almost
generations.
No medicine chest is complete without a bottle of MUSTAWG
LINIMENT.
Occasions arise for its use almost every day.
413 druggists and dealers have it
THE NEW YEAR.
A flower unknown ; a book unread ;
A tree with fruit unharvested ;
A path untrod ; a Louse whoso rooms
Lack yet the heart's divine perfumes ;
A landscape whose wide border lies
In silent shade 'ncath silent skies ;
A wondrous fountain yet unsealed ;
A casket with its gifts concealed ;
This is the year that for you waits
Beyond tomorrow's mystic gates.
Oh , may this flower unfold to you
Visions of heauty sweet and new ;
This book on golden pages trace
Your sacred joys and deeds of gracel
May all the fruit of this htrange tree
Luscious and rosy tinted be ;
This path through fields of knowledge go
This house with love's content o'crflow ;
This landscape glitter with the dew
Of blessed hopes and friendships true ;
This fountain's living crystal cheer ,
As fail the springs that once were dear ;
This casket with such gems be stored
As ehlne in lives that love the Lordl
Lewiston Journal.
EVELYN MALCOLM.
N THE chill of the Oc
tober twilight the fire ol
twigs in the huge fronl
i fireplace at Holly farm
was as welcome as a rosy face.
Deb sat before it and impatiently
kicked her small , rough boots against
the clawfooted andiron. Her delicate
black brows above intense violet eyes
met in a frown , as if she meditated mu
tiny. Her arms , wrapped in a gray
woolen shawl , were defiantly folded
npon her bosom. Napoleon surveying
his army did not give a better idea of
sublime , slumbering strength than little
Deb as she sat there.
Poor , passionate , motherless little
Deb ! She was so unhappy or she
thought she was , which as far as suffer
ing counts is quite the same thing.
"I hate myself jest ! I hate most
everything ! Aunt Ann sez there's nuth
in wuth a cuss on this airth , but Miss
Mirabel Vane has showed me it ain't so !
She's goin back to the city tomorrow
back to the place she calls a theayter ,
where she makes believe she's somebody
else , behind a row of lights. She'll for-
git this old farm where her doctor sent
her to drink the milk ; she'll forgit me
fur all she sez I'm so putty , an I guess
she'll be plaguy glad to forgit Aunt
Ann , with her nagging and Scripture
mixed together so it's hard to tell one
from t'other. "
The ache of longing darkened Deb's
eyes as she leaned closer , as if the blaz
ing twigs could furnish an answer to
the questions tormenting her.
"The city ! How I wish I could go
jest onct ! Hiram sez he'll take me there
on our weddin journey but , " and the
pretty nose gave a scornful tilt upward ,
"I don't know as I'd care to see it
when I'm married to Hiram ! I don't
know as I want to marry Hiram at all
there ! He ain't like city folks no mor'n
me. "
As if this audacious statement even
shocked the twigs ! They crackled the
louder and sent up fiercer orange and
purple flames that transfigured the love
ly , rebellious face watching them.
"AIN'T SHE LOVELY ? "
The outside door closed sharply and
brought Deb to her feet with a bounce
in time to see a natty , feminine figure in
"blue serge pass the window.
"Ain't she lovely jest ? " sighed Deb ,
not dreaming that her own face was so
much lovelier than Miss Vane's , whose
Coloring on cheeks , eyelashes and hair
was so distinctly manufactured.
For a moment Deb stood in thought ;
then obeying a sudden impulse she
slipped from the room , just dodging
Aunt Ann at the foot of the stairs.
Stealthily , as if she were committing a
teime , she dropped to her knees before
Miss Vane's door and took the key from
beneath the mat. When she stood within
the room her eyes were excited as a
cat's ; the pulsations of her heart ached
tier throat.
Oh , how sweetly the place smelled of
violets ! How pretty the toilet table was
draped with lace and ribbons !
Deb crept to the wardrobe and cau
tiously opened the doors. A shimmer
of silks of delicate colors met her en
raptured gaze. With almost religious
awe she leaned her flushed cheek against
them and gave a great sigh. In all her
life she had never had more than two
gowns one to work in and one for Sun
days. There were fully twenty and
such gowns !
With trembling fingers Deb took one
from its hook , mastered its intricacies
and stood arrayed in it before the mir
ror , regarding her reflection with rap
ture , almost with veneration. It was
the first time she had worn a low necked
gown , and the effect of her white throat
and shoulders iu contrast to her little
sunburned face was positively dazzling.
A smile rippled over her lips as she
recalled grandiloquent phrases which
she had often overheard Miss Vane re
citing. She struck an attitude of hau-
tear and in a sepulchral whisper hissed.
"Bather would I lie dead at your feet ,
Sir Algernon , than deseycrate my fath
er's secret mem'ry by becoiniri your bride !
Hearest thou ? " , '
Aunt Ann's shrill voice rose in a shriek.
"Deb ! Debby ! D-eb ? "
But she paid no heed. She grew seri
ous again as she gazed at this new Deb-
one who acknowledged her own beauty ,
whose pulses leaped , whose brain teemed
with chaotic , dazzling visions of an ex
istence as yet unknown , but where
women wore gowns like this and were
happy !
" 'Tain't no use ! I might wish my
heart out , and it wouldn't make a bit o'
diff'rence ! I'll only bo Deborah Toinp-
kins all my life , aud not in no ways like
beautiful Miss Vane. "
The abrupt opening of the door broke
in upon her suppressed , tempestuous
sobbing , and a horrified scream , with
the sharp fall of a broom handle across
the threshold , had the effect of a thun
derclap.
"Le' me set down ! " shrieked Aum
Ann , her gaunt and grenadierlike pro
portions looming in the doorway , iron
gray curls bobbing like wire springs ,
eyelids fluttering , upraised hands quiv
ering in horror. "Le' me set down or
I'll faint ! Le' me set down , I say ! " and
although no one prevented she continued
to flutter on the threshold , emitting weak
screams.
Deb , absolutely colorless , leaned
against the mantel , her thick soled , ugly
shoes protruding with pathetic incon
gruity from beneath the shimmering ,
silken skirt. But she began to tremble ,
while defiance and pride grew in her
eyes , as a footstep so heavy that only n
"LOOK AT HER , HIRAM. "
cowhide boot could make it sounded on
the stairs.
"What in thunder's the row ? ' ' cried a
hearty nasal voice , and Deb was 'con
fronted by her lover.
"Look at her , Hiram ! " yelled Aunt
Ann , holding her skirt back , aa if even
at ti few yards' distance Deb might con
taminate her. "Look at that exposure
of pusson ; at that ungodly disclosure
oh , vanity vanity ! Heaven forbid that
my dead , sister should look down on this
'ere sad sight her own offspring gone
over to the washup of Baal. Deborah ,
Deborah you air a lost soul ! Worm of
the dust , whar will that vain heart of
yourn land you ? "
J'Lordy ! " was all Hiram could say as
he stood dazed , but full to the lips with
admiration , suffering from a sudden con
sciousness of her loveliness and his own
uncouth ugliness.
"Deb" he commenced , but the girl ,
stung to open revolt , threw up her little
head and stamped her foot.
"Don't you commence preachin , Hiram
Pond. I won't stand it from you. What
ef I did put on one of Miss Vane's dresses !
Guess it s no affair of yourn I I love 'em !
I love Miss Vane. I wish I was her I
wish I never seen you nor Aunt Ann
nor this old , stupid place ! "
She broke into wild sobbing and flung
herself on her knees beside the bed.
"Oh , how I wish I was dead ! " she
cried in heartfelt bitterness.
There is a look that death brings to
the human face there is a look that
love brings and neither can be counter
feited. It was this look of love that
Sashed over Hiram's rugged face , giving
it for a moment a pathetic beauty abso
lutely real while it lasted.
Deb's words went through him like a
taife. Unable to speak he went slowly
from the room to shut out the sight of
that sobbing , kneeling figure , to forget
lier words , if possible.
But he could not forget. As he strode
blindly along the road he saw the truth
so plainly Deb was growing cold to him
she was changed.
"Deb Deb that look on your face to
night stabbed me ! 'Tain't like as ef I
wuz alive quite. I'd ruther you'd killed
me , Deb killed me with those dear lit
tle hands than look at me ag'in as you
did tonight ! "
A sob broke in his throat. He stopped
at a familiar stile on the edge of the
r
i
r
r
r
"WHAT IS IT ? " HE GASPED.
red October woods , and covering his
iace with his old soft hat prayed that it
might not bo true this awful thing
; hat Deb no longer loved him.
It was the cold gray and blue twilight
of the next day when Hiram again went
lesitatingly up the path toHolly farm.
i' '
In the interval his generous heart had
argued out Deb's cause , and he had for
given her absolutely.
" 'Twas jest a longing for fine clo'ea
and things like that sech as makes gals
frackious at times that made her say
what she did to me. P'raps tonight ,
arter she's lied her cry out , she'll say
ag'in she loves me dear , sweet , littb-
Deb ! "
Aunt Ann met him in the doorway.
She was as pale as a piece of bleached
linen , and she looked at Hiram with
eyes that chilled him to the core of his
heart.
"Aunt Ann ! What is it ? ' ' he gasped.
"Oh , Hiram , don't blame me ! I warn't
to blame ! " she groaned , holding out shiv
ering , appealing hands. "I was mad , I
allow , and I told Miss Vane to git out ;
that I might 'a' known a curse would
come from rentin my room to a play
acting , godless critter who could wear
sech clo'es , but' '
"But Deb ? " interrupted Hiram fierce
ly. "What about her ? " and he fairly
shook Aunt Ann until her false teeth
rattled.
"She's gone with that Vane woman :
Deb's gone ! "
"Deb ! " ' came in a heart broken , quiv
ering cry from Hiram's white lips , and
he clasped his great , strong arms hard
across his breast , as if longing to shut
her close within that shelter.
Echoes of the striie and sin of great
cities had stolen to the green solitude
where his life had been spent , and it
was to New York , that faroff place of
glitter and pain , that little Deb had
gone. Suddenly his eyes narrowed and
flashed.
"I'm goin to git Deb and bring her
back ! " he said.
"Ef you can , Hiram oh , ef it ain't
too late. And tell her I won't never
"I'M THE HER AM WHOSE HEART WOULD
BREAK. "
preach again , " wailed the old woman
as she clung to his hand ; "we air all
worms of the dust , bntr I'll never call
her thet. Deb never useter like to be
called a worm ! "
"I'll git her or die myself ! " and
Hiram was gone.
* * * * * *
Half past 11 o'clock. The bell that
gave the one beat had a mournful sound.
The old year was dying , snowflakes
pattering in icy kisses upon its old ,
scarred face.
The great noisy pantomime at the
Crystal opera house had been played for
the last time , and at the narrow , dark
stage door a group of discharged chorus
girls stood shivering.
They disappeared in twos and threes
until only one was left. It was Deb
but how changed ! Something hard and
reckless had come to her young face , the
lips and eyes still smirched with the
grease paint , her brows bent.
As she waited there a coupe drew up
at'the curb , and a man much older than
Eierself and very fashionably attired
went toward her.
"Dear little girl , have I kept you
long ? " he asked in a drawling tone.
"Tell me are you discharged ? ' '
"Yes , " came in a hard , bitter sigh
[ rom Deb's lips. "Yes there's nothin
but starvation now or goin home to bo
pitied , " and the last word came with
indescribable bitterness.
Her companion drew her close to him
and looked into her face.
"There's something else there's my
love ! Say the word I'm longing to hear
and I'll take you far away. Say it ! "
"No , no ! " she whispered , her face pal
ing under the rouge. "Oh , I couldn't ! "
"It would kill Aunt Ann ! And and
Hiram it would break his heart. "
"Nonsense , dear. You'll just disap
pear and they need never know"
Then something heavenly poured in a
misty ray from little Deb's eyes.
"And even if they never knew I
would know I , myself , " she whispered.
The snow muffled the footsteps of
passersby , and she did not hear the mim
who had approached and who stood
I i
very quiet in the shadowy angle of a
perch. He only waited to hear her last ! i !
words ; then he tprang forward and
caught her to him , looking the fashion
able stranger in the face.
"I'm the Hiram whose heart would
break got anything to say to me ? " he
asked in a voice of fury.
No , there was nothing to Bay. Re
treat was best. In a moment Deb was
alone with Hiram , the snow falling
around them like a veil.
"Oh , Deb , I be'n lookin for you every-
whar ! " he whispered , framing the
shamed little face in his big , tender
hands and hungrily kissing the pleading
mouth. "At last tonight , when I'd most
given up , I reckernized you as you
marched around in that yaller jacket.
Oh , Deb , I love you yet ! Do you love
me ? Will you come home this verj
night ? "
Deb nestled closer , but shook her head.
"I'm not worth your love , Hiram ! I
be'n so bad to run away like that. "
"You're worth my love ef I love
you ! " said Hiram conclusively , and that
seemed to settle the matter.
Over the wind swept , snowy street the
music of the New Year chimes came
stealing so s vveet they made Deb cry.
But they were happy tears , and she
drew Hiram's face down and kissed it.
"I'll allus love bells , " said Hiram.
"Hark ! Sounds 's ef they war sayin.
'She's yourn yourn yourn forever ! ' "
" \Vlicii the New Year
Among most oriental peoples the year
is lunar and begins with the first full
moon of December. In England , from
the Fourteenth century to the change of
calendar in 1752 , the legal year began
on March 25 , and after the change was
made much confusion in dates resulted
before the matter was fnlly understood.
Even yet a historical issue is sometimes
clouded by the difference in modes of
reckoning , and it is thus made uncer
tain whether an event took place in the
year named or in that following.
The present beginning of the year on
Jan. 1 , in the middle of winter , is not : i
natural but an entirely artificial start
ing point. The Greek year originally
began with the winter solstice , as did
the year of most northern nations.
Among the Latin Christian countries
there were seven different dates for be
ginning the new year. March 1 , Jan. 1 ,
Dec. 25 , March 25 , used in two ways
first , by beginning the year nine months
sooner than at present ; second , by be
ginning it three months later at Easter
and on the feast of ascension.
The usage of the same country has
also varied at different times.
In France under the Merovingians the
year began on March 1 ; the Cerlovin-
gians began their year on Dec. 25 ,
and the Capetians at Easter. The Ro
mans , till Caesar's time , began the year
on March 1 , and an illustration of the
reluctance to change names is seen in
the fact that , although the names Sep
tember , October , November and- De
cember originally denoted the number
of the month , they are now grossly in
applicable.
The Egyptians , Chaldeans , Persians ,
Syrians , Phoenicians and Carthaginians
began their year in the autumn , as did
the Jews their civil vear.
Helping Him Ont.
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Young Tuttor Miss Clara , I have
jnst got a diary to begin the now year
with , and do you know what I would
like the * first entry to bo ?
Miss Pinkorly Xo. Mr. Tuttor ; I
luivon't the faiutost idea.
{
Young Tntter Something about era
a kis.
Miss IMukorly Yon might put down
the fact that you tried to kiss a girl and If
miserably failed.