The Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, October 01, 1896, Image 2

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W1U THdROSIN SING THERE
Will thi robin sing in that land
That land so fair and so far
That liesas our souls fondly dream
In the depths of the uttermost star
Will the violet bloom in that land
And the mosses so sweet and so shy
Alijthe deaccommon things that we love
In the dim distant deeps of the sky
Will the children sing in that land
All the sweet simple songs of the earth
And shall we rejoice and be glad
In their music and frolicsome mirth
Oh will there be friends in that land
Friends who loye and rejoice in our love
Will they look will they speak will they
smile
Like ourv own mid the strangeness
above
Oh shall we have homes in that land
To return to whereer we may roam
Oh the heart would be lonely and sad
Een in heaven if we had not a home
I love not the new and the strange
But a frind and the clasp of his hand
Oh I would that1 my spirit could know
That the robin will sing in that land
Womans Magazine
MUGGINS
Van Gaiters bought his famous bull
pup when bull pups were in fashion
and paid a good round sum for him
The pup came of a long line of fighting
ancestors and his noble name was
Muggins
Inside of a week Muggins had Van
Gaiters completely in subjection Mug
gins slept pn Van Gaiters bed and
chawed Van Gaiters7 feet -when he
moved them in the night Muggins
breakfasted on Van Gaiters cuffs
lunched on Van Gaiters boots dined
and supped on choice bits of Van Gait
ers friends
Muggins plus Van Gaiters walked
down Fifth avenue of an afternoon
and was sure to become involved in
some street brawl before Van Gaiters
got him home again Generally Van
Gaiters got mixed up in the row as well
and once the two landed in a police
station and had to be bailed out
Not that Muggins picked quarrels
Far from that But Muggins was so
bow legged that he walked in a chain
stitch pattern from one sidd of the walk
to the other and Muggins was of an
ugliness that appalled one like the re
flection of a respectable dog in a con
vex mirror 3rith n TrjpVjn it
There was something about the crook
ed yet jaunty advance of him some
thing in the slanting leer of his bulg
ing brown eye that set other dogs
teeth on edge Hence battle for Mug
gins brooked no criticism Pugs and
such things he rolled about on the cob
bles until their tails were out of curl
But when big dogs went home minus
an ear or a section of tail or with badly
lacerated leg the owner merely groan
ed Its that beastly bull pup of Van
Gaiters
So much for the valor of Muggins
For intelligence Muggins was a wonder
Humor Muggins sense of humor was
colossal
He used regularly to charge upon the
blind man who sold pencils at the foot
of the L station and grab the handful
of his wares the old fellow so patheti
cally extended Then Muggins would
retreat to the cable track to devour
them leaving Van Gaiters to pick up
the poor old chap set him on his camp
stool and make good his loss The
blind man never came to endure Mug
gins onslaughts with equanimity
though he profited largely by this novel
aethod of sale i
Muggins went about Brooklyn in a
cab with Van Gaiters at the time of the
trolley strikes when Van Gaiters was
hunting up sensations and various regi
mental friends of his Muggins escap
ed from the cab in Hicks street and
upset a whole company of the Thir
teenth Regiment boys who were drill
ing in front of a Chinese laundry their
temporary quarters Muggins started
to run around the block and dashed be
tween the legs of company K then
changed his mind and dashed back
again bowling over the whole line The
boys were angry enough to have bayo
neted him if Van Gaiters had not
caught him in the rebound and hauled
Mm into the cab
Then Muggins was the sworn enemy
of the young De Peysters next door
who were always playing tricks on the
passers by They were trying the cob
blestone trick one day and had set on
the walk a granite block done up in
wrapping paper with a pink string
While- they lurked in - the areaway
waiting to hoot at the first unfortunate
who should attempt to kick Jt out of
his path Muggins came trotting down
the steps and made for it The boys
charged him but Muggins kept themv
off He tried his jaw on each of the
fouricorners of the block and a howl
of derision went up from his foes Then
Muggins tried to carry It off by- the
string and failed Finally
nite difficulty and low growls he rolled
It to the foot of the Van Gaiter steps
and stood guard over it nibbling it pen
sively the while till his master appear
ed
It was tamale year that year and
tamale men were on every corner Mug
gins has ideas on the subject He
liked the smell of the hot tamales and
the grateful warmth emanating from
the big tin cans in whieh the tamales
were stored If he found a tamale man
absent from his post for a moment Mug
gins would squat down like a Chinese
ldcl in front of the can and take charge
of It for the rest of the evening while
customers waited and the tamale man
shrieked and swore afraid to approach
and Van Gaiters enjoyed the fun
Then Muggins prevented his master
from proposing to Miss Emilia Remsen
The night of Mrs Van Gaiters empire
ball Muggins had concealed himself in
the conservatory some timeduring the
j f
day and appeared when Van Gaiters
was starting in Emilia looked very
well under the light of the fairy lamps
and it was all very tender and touch
ing Muggins changed all that by pre
tending to start a rat or a cat or any
old thing and chivvying it round and
round the conservatory till he got Van
Gaiters laughing so that he couldnt
speak and another man came up and
claimed Emilia for the next dance and
there was an end of that Very glad
Van Gaiters was of it too for just then
he felin love with little Marie
Marie was the only person whom
Muggins feared She was a second
cousin and poor and visited the Van
Gaiters most of the time You can
judge of her status in the family by
the fact that the children alternately
hugged and bullied her and the elders
made her handsome presents when
they remembered her existence
Marie was little and fragile and sen
sitive but by no means a coward She
remained dependent because she had
been brought up to believe that she
would be doing a deadly injury to the
family if she attempted to earna liv
ing for herself She had the courage
of a dozen men in her slender body and
was only withheld from rash plebeian
enterprise by her loyalty to the great
Van Gaiters line
Muggins was rather nice to Marie
True he affected her society when she
didnt want him and deserted her when
she most needed consolation yet he
paid considerable attention to her com
mands and came to her after his battles
to be bathed healed and lectured
Van Gaiters perhaps might have ex
plained this partiality Marie had not
been anxious to make Muggins ac
quaintance Indeed Muggins had
been obliged to introduce himself He
entered into Maries room one day and
seized a pair of slippers Marie shriek
ed and Muggins fled down the hall his
mouth full of red morocco Marie pur
sued and caught him just outside Van
Gaiters door
Van Gaiters hearing the scuffle
rushed out and was astonished to find
Marie kneeling on the prostrate Mug
gins and pommeling him violently with
both little fists Muggins was snarling
like a fiend and his face was screwed
up like a withered apple but protect
himself he could not unless he gave up
his prey and relinquish it he would not
while life lasted and anyone opposeu
So Marie continued to beat him
Van Gaiters grasped Marie by one
thin little wrist and drew her to her
feet She was crimson and out of
breath and more than a little ashamed
of herself
I hope I havent hurt you Gerard
she said apologetically
Van Gaiters could have roared but
he asked very seriously what Muggins
had done
Stole said Marie briefly
Van Gaiters looked but was unable
to ascertain the nature of Muggins
mouthful
Something valuable
To me yes said little Marie with
a sob in her throat and then she turned
and hurried away
Muggins started after her his big
under jaw hanging- Then he let the
slipper fall and followed her silently
apologetically his bullet head dropped
upon his massive chest Marie slam
med the door in his face and Muggins
sat down outside Presently he began
to claw energetically at the woodwork
and Marie opened the door on a crack
Muggins frisked grotesquely and paw
ed the door It was opened a little
wider and Muggins shot in
By Jove thats a bright dog de
clared Van Gaiters picking up the dis
colored object from the floor If it
isnt one of the Turkish slippers I
bought Marie at the fool bazaar last
summer Well well and Van Gaiters
walked into his room reflective and
set the poor little mangled slipper in
the place of honor on the mantelpiece
He had never noticed Marie very
much but he always had been kind to
her in a careless way Now he noticed
her a great deal for there seemed to be
something uncanny in her ascendency
over Muggins His own attempt to
discipline the beastly bull pup had
been a dismal failure and here was
little Marie ordering the brute about
as she pleased He tried to find out
her methods but Marie was reticent on
the subject and so was Muggins
Still Muggins relapsed from grace
occasionally Once when he ate Maries
best hat Van Gaiters heard of it and
wanted to buy her another and little
Marie refused almost rudely to allow
it There was never a more astonished
man than Gerard Van Gaiters when he
found he had fallen in love with little
Marie except when he informed little
Marie that he wanted to marry her and
Marie refused him out and out The
little thing even seemed to take a cold
delight in his discomfiture Only when
Van Gaiters sulkily announced his in
tention of going abroad and forgetting
her she offered to take charge of Mugr
gins
So Muggins went down to Long Isl
and by boat along with little Marie
and the particular Van Gaiters aunt
with whom she -was to spend the sum
mer
No word came from Marie but his
aunt wrote Gerard a letter of grievance
against Muggins Muggins had dis
graced himself Marie nad bribed the
mate of the steamboat to take charge
of Muggins for the night and the man
had chained Muggins to the leg of the
lower berth in his stateroom
Muggins had promptly chawed no
other word expresses Muggins method
chawed it through and when the mate
turned in at 330 in the morning he
found Muggins peacefully snoring in
the lower berth with his head on the
pillow The man was afraid to wake
Muggins and afraid to climb over him
to the upper berth so he turned the
quilt over Muggins anG in his own
words
Chucked him out An- he runa all
ft-
israriMOcsggisTtgaw
j Xi
over de boat and in ter de ladies cabln
and scares de wimmen half ter det
till d engineer catches him and makes
him fast ter der capstan
The capstan had been freshly paint
ed vermilion and in the morning Mug
gins was a gory honror The monster
refused to get into che carriage which
awaited them at the landing and none
of the deck hands would go near him
so little Marie had to boost him in her
self
Van Gaiters didnt go to Europe at
all He went down to Long Island in
stead His aunt was surprised to see
him walk in one hot day
Well said the aunt
I came down said Van Gaiters to
look after Muggins y
Muggins is out walking now said
his aunt and Marie is with him I be
lieve They are inseparable
Which way asked Van Gaiters
after he had something cool to drink
You are throwing yourself away
Gerard said his aunt But if you
follow the path through the field there
Into the woods you will find Mug
gins
Thank you aunty said Van Gait
ers
Van Gaiters followed the path till it
led him into the thick of the woods still
no Muggins no Marie He hoped Mug
gins would have sense enough to make
himself scarce He wanted to say
something to little Marie things no fel
low could say with a frog faced bull
pup staring at him That goggle eyed
Muggins would take the sentiment out
of any man
Still no Marie Perhaps Muggins had
cavorted off through the underbrush
and led her away from the beaten
path Perhaps they were coming home
another way Perhaps what was
that
A shrill scream and another and an
other Van Gaiters set off at a run
That was Marie as sure as fate What
could have happened Was she hurt
Why was she so quiet now And where
was Muggins Muggins should be
taking care of her
Marie Marie No answer She
must be hurt What right had they to
let her run about like this little Marie
with no one to look after her He
would soon stop all that
A turn in the woodland way and Van
Gaiters almost fell over her She was
silting in the middle of the path with
Muggins head in her lap She looked
at Geraid with her mouth open and the
big tears running down her cheeks
All Gerard said she poor Mug
gins
What has happened gasped Van
Gaiters kneeling down beside her
There was a distinct crackling in the
underbrush Van Gaiters sprang to
his feet
No no said Marie catching at his
arm its too late now the man oh
oh such a brute If it hadnt been for
Muggins
Muggins tried to lift his battered
head but dropped it with a queer gruff
moan He was covered with blood and
so was Marie
The man sprang out and caught my
arm and I called Muggins who was
some way behind and Muggins flew at
his throat and the man let go And
then Muggins got him by the arm and
hung on and wouldnt be shaken off
And the fellow beat him with a great
stick and finally Muggins dropped
Muggins quivered and wagged his
stump of a tail feebly and Marie took
one of his clumsy paws tenderly and
held it in her small hand
Poor Muggy poor bad brave old
Muggy who loved me
Rook said Muggins faintly A
rook a rook Woof and so with that
hoarse bark he died game to the last
and most sincerely mourned
Van Gaiters buried him there un
der a big oak tree and cut Muggins
in the bark and proposed again to lit
tle Marie on the way home
Please Gerard said little Marie
another day
To day said Gerard stoutly But
It was not that day nor for many a
long day that little Marie made an
swer
By that time Muggins epitaph had
extended until it climbed up into the
branches Van Gaiters added some
thing to it every time he and Maria
visited Muggins grave
That beastly bull pup said Gerari
jealously one day when Marie was
reading the finished epitaph aloud
Weve made him out a regular angel
Poor Muggy said Marie softly
putting her frail little hand on his
sleeve Poor bad brave old Muggy
who loved me
And that I think should have been
Muggys epitaph Vogue
The Sistine Chapel
The chapel is a beautiful place in it
self by its simple and noble propor
tionsas well as by the wonderful archi
tectural decorations of the ceiling con
ceived by Michael Angelo as a series of
frames for his paintings Beautiful
beyond description too is the exquisite
marble screen No one can say certain
ly who made it it was perhaps design-
ed by the architect of the chapel him
self Baccio Pontelli There are a few
such marvels of unknown hands in the
world and a sort of romance clings to
them with an element of mystery that
stirs the imagination in a dreamy way
far more than the gilded oak tree in the
arms of Sixtus IV by which the name
of Rovere is symbolized Sixtus com
manded and the chapel was built But
who knows where Baccio Pontelli lies
Or who shall find the grave where the
hand that carved the lovely marblo
screen is laid at rest Century
Compensation
I hear half the audience left the the
ater at the end of the first act of your
play Hicks
Yts said Hicks gleefully We
sold their seats to late comers and
cleared enough to makt the perform
ance equal to a three night run
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W
EMPEROR WILLIAM AND HIS ONLY DAUGHTER
s
tt
i -
Hnnters in Ceylon Imre Crocodiles to
Tneir Death
The fondness of crocodiles for babies
is used by hunters in Ceylon to lure
the reptiles to death A nice fat baby
Is tied by the leg to a stake near some
pond or lagoon where crocodiles
abound Soon the child begins crying
and the sound attracts the crocodiles
within hearing distance They start
out immediately for the wailing infant
The hunter in the meantime conceals
himself in the bushes or swamp grass
near the baby with a rifle in his hanl
projecting out and almost over the
child He remains perfectly quiet and
the reptile intent on its prey notices
nothing but the screaming and kicking
child As the monster approaches to
within a few feet of the bait the hunter
sends a bullet directly into the alliga
tors eye causing instant death A miss
would mean death for the baby but
the huaters are expert shots and at the
short distance at which they fire a miss
is next to impossible As a rule the
sound of the firearm scares the baby
worse than the presence of the croco
diles jaws and the rows of sharp and
glistening teeth but after being shot
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4 I
From the latest photograph
WITH BABIES FOR BAIT
and speaking to each other in this se
date and meritorious fashion
With ever new delight we now attend
The counsels of our fond maternal
friend
The Western Idea
It seems just a bit strange and awt j
ward that as we grow older as a peoples
we cannot get away from this West J
era idea this stigmatizing a portion
of our country because it is accom
plishing with certain enterprising meth
ods what could not possibly be accom j
plished by any other It cannot be that
we are jealous in the East because we
attach so much importance to the
West It cannot be that we are ashamed
of the West because we like to speak
with pride of it Its people cannotj
differ so very much from us since half
of the American West is really made up
of Eastern folks But yet we go on and
on and everything in the West that is
not to our taste is the Western idea of
things Surfeited with section
alism we are full of the notion that
one part of our country is superior to
another We have still to learn and im
bibe the idea that America is America
whether it be New York Boston Chi
cago Denver or San Francisco
-
USING A BABY FOR CROCODILE BAIT
over a few times the child takes the
shooting as a matter of course and pays
little attention to it So expert are
many of the hunters that they do not
shoot the alligator until it has ap
proached to within a few feet of the
lbaby Then with but a few inches of
space between the muzzle of the rifle
and the eye of the alligator the fatal
shot is fired
School Theatricals a Century Ago
Miss Agnes Repplier writes a little
sketch entitled At School a Hundred
jyears Ago for St Nicholas Of one
Iform of diversion allowed the pupils
Miss Repplier writes
Few things more amusing than Miss
Witfords Early Recollections have
ever been told in print We know ev
ierybody In that school as intimately as
-Mary Wltford knew them in the year
1796 The English teacher who was
so wedded to grammar and arithmetic
Mary hated to study the French
teacher whom she both loved and fear
ed who had a passion for neatness and
used to hang around the childrens
necks all their possessions found out of
place from dictionaries and sheets of
music to skipping ropes and dilapidat
ed dolls the school girls who came
from every part of England and
France above all the school plays
The Search After Happiness which
they were permitted to act as a great
treat because Miss Hannah More had
written it If you know nothing about
The Search After Happiness you
have no real idea how dull a play can
be Four discontented young ladies go
forth to seek Urania whose wisdom
will teach them to be happy They
meet Florella a virtuous shepherd
ess who leads them to the grove where
Urania lives Here they are kindly
received and describe all their faults
at great length to their hostess who
sends them brimful of good advice to
ithelr respective homes Think of a lot
of real school girls acting such a drama
We have to learn in this country to ac
cept a man as an American whether he
lives in Chicago or in Portland in New
York or in Tacoma He lives in Amer
ica and that makes him not an Eastern
man nor a Western man nor a South
ern man but an American living not
after an Eastern idea a Western fash
ion nor a Southern fancy but under
one central American idea equality
Ladies Home Journal
Their Customs
A lady who dines with the family trt
a German professor found the table
customs very odd As soon as those at
the table were helped they at once cut
up all that was on their plates and then
putting their knives down leaned on
the table with their left hands and
with their forks disposed of the food
with celerity and without interruption
At supper the hostess ground and cook
ed the coffee at the table and the butter
was taken with individual knives out
of an earthen pot that was used in com
mon Cheese was served and secured
in a similar manner and was smeared
over thick slices of buttered bread
When the eating was finished every
body still sat and watched the hostess
wash the dishes which she did at table
using the snowiest of napkins without
wetting her fingers while the master
puffed a cigar
The Crook
In some parts of Scotland it was cus
tomary to carry a newly born child
three times round the iron crook
which hangs in the middle of an old
fashioned chimney and serves to sup
port cooking pots the ceremony being
supposed to insure the infants future
prosperity To double up the chain of
the crook at night prevents witches
coming down the chimney
I have a poem on the sea said
the lover I think 111 take John re
plied the maiden He has a ship
there Atlanta Constitution
v
THE ROOF OF THE WORLD
Marco Polos Account of the Plateatt
of Pamir and Its Inhabitants
In leaving Badashar you ride twelve
days between east and northeast as
cending the river that runs through
land belonging to a brother of the
Princa of Badashan and containing a
good many towns and villages and
scattered habitations The people are
jMahommetans and valiant in war At
the end of those twelve days you come
to a province of no great size extend
ing indeed no more than three days
journey in any direction and this is
called Vokhan The people worship
Mahommet and they have a peculiar
language They are gallant soldiers
and they have a chief whom they call
None which is as much as to say
Count and they are liegemen to the
Prince of Badashan
There are numbers of wild beasts of
all rorts in this region And when you
leave this little country and ride three
days northeast always among moun
tains you get to such a height that tis
said to be the highest place in the
world And when you have got to this
height you find a great lake between
two mountains and out of it a fine river
running through a plain clothed with
the finest pasture in the world inso
much that a lean beast there will fatten
to your hearts content in ten days
There are great numbers of all kinds
of wild beasts among others wild
sheep of great size whose horns are a
good six palms in length From these
horns the shepherds make great bowls
to eat from and they use the horns
also to enclose folds for their cattle at
night Messer Marco was told also
that the wolves were numerous and
killed many of those wild sheep Hence
quantities of their horns and bones
were found and these were made into
groat heaps by the wayside in order
to guide travelers when snow was on
the ground
The plain is called Pamier and you
ride across it for twelve days altogeth
ed finding nothing but a desert without
habitations or green thing so that
travelers are obliged to cany with
them whatever they have need of The
regon is so lofty and cold that you do
not even see any birds flying And I
must notice also that because of this
great cold fire does not burn so bright
ly nor give out so much heat as usual
no- does it cook food so effectually
Now If we go on with our journey
toward the east northeast we travel a
good forty days continually passing
over mountains and hills or through
valleys and crossing many rivers and
tracts of wilderness And in all this
wa v you find neither habitation of man
nor any green thing but must carry
with you whatever you require The
country is called Bolor The people
dwell high up in the mountains and
are savage Idolaters living only by
the chase and clothing themselves in
the skins of beasts They are In truth
an evil race St Nicholas
In Hard Lnck
Just across from the depot was tne
town graveyard and sitting on a bag
gage truck on the platform was a
ragged lonesome man whom any one
would have spotted at once for a tramp
There were a dozen of us walking up
and down as we waited for the train
but for a quarter of an hour the tramp
sat with his head in his hands and had
nothing to say to any one Then a pas
senger who was evidently on good
terms with himself walked upjt6 the
man and said
Dead broke of course old man
Yes dead broke replied the man
on the truck as he looked up
Havent had anything to eat in two
or three days eh
Not since yesterday morning
Willing to work but your health
wont permit it I take it as is the case
with all the rest of em
My health aint overly good replied
the tramp after a bit
No of course not laughed the man
Perhaps you are also worrying about
your family Do you want to raise a
dollar in time to get home to see your
wife die
Come along you come along
gents said the tramp as he rose up
and climbed the graveyard fence
Half a dozen of us followed him and
as we reached the fence and looked
over he pointed to three graves which
were so new that grass had not taken
root and said
Theres the family wife and two
children A week ago I was 100 miles
away but I got to thinking about these
graves and I couldnt stay away This
morning I finished my walk and I was
waiting for the train to go before I
came up here Yes Im dead broke and
hungry and in poor health and a tramp
and theres the reason of it When they
died it broke me up
One by one we went back to the plat
form The tramp came last of all and
he was going away -without looking at
us when the man who chaffed him put
the money we had raised in his hand
added a 5 bill from his own pocket and
kindly said
Take it old man and better luck go
with you Im sorry I spoke as I did-
New York Mercury
Her Little Month
Mrs Hard Do have some more
rream Miss Sweetooth
Miss Sweetooth hesitatingly Well -just
a little Mrs Hard Only a mouth-
ful
Mrs Hard Bridget fill up Miss
Sweetooths plate again Tit Bits
Alivaya New Ones
Mrs Ulnow Dont you doctors ever
get out of patience
M D Oh of course some die andt
others leave but there are always new
ones to fill in Detroit Journal
Nine Feet of Mustache
A clerk at the Fort Hall Indiana
agency has a mustache that measures
nine feet from tip to tip
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