ft
t o
Van Mciai's Bargain.
By M. THEm
Continued from last ireek.)
It is not an agreeable sensanon, tnat ol
being tete-a-tete with a madman, even though
he be old and feeble and you apprehend nc
violence from him. In the moonlight, too.
things have a strange, uncanny look with
then I tried to flatter myself that I was
keeping silence and pretending not to be
flwake, partly in order to see what my
visitor was about to do. partly to defeat his
insane malice: but I was conscious, in spite of
myself, of a fascination ugainst wluch I was
potrerlKS. To Island watch from between
my clo?ed eyelid. was r.Il I couM 'o.
Still with hands outstretched, s-till with thf
came tottering gait, iast tho foot ot
the bed, and toward the fireplace
where, turning round in tha mid
stream .of the moonlight, faco and
figure alike stood revealed. Tho same and
yet not the same, a mask rather than a face
tho lips parted, the eyes open and staring
fixedly before them, with a terrible, unmis
takable stare of vacuity the face of one
moro dead than alive. Terrible as tho sight
was, it brought with it a sudden and un
looked for relief. Tho fiivt look at those ap
parently sightless orbs and that expression
less countenanco assured me that tho old man
was as genuinely unconscious of his sur
roundings as I was endeavoring to appear to
be of mine. Once before, I hud seen a man
walking in his sleep, and I had not forgotton
that ghastly phenomenon.
He was still groping about with his hands,
and it did not occur to me at the moment as
altogether opposed to the theory I had so
readily adopted that what was in his normal
state only nearsightedness should be exag
gerated in his present condition into almost
if not total blindness. Suddenly, while 1
was still watching him, for my eyes had not
quitted him for a moment, one wandering
hand found a resting place on the arm of the
big chair I had noticed upon entering the
room as having been pu for my accommoda
tion. The effect upon the frame of the old
man was as though there were connected
with tho wood a galvanic battery. Every
nerve in his body seemed to be put in mo
tion, but though his teeth cliattered and his
eyes moved in their sockets, no sound escaped
him it was us though one had electrified a
corpse.
So strong as that, and yet not strong
enough to awaken him! A chill that I could
not account for, and that seemed to bo numb
ing all my faculties, was creeping over me.
Tiie face that I was staring at, with eyes
which refused to leave it for the shortest mo
ment of time, seemed more and more tho dis
torted image of that I was familiar with; I
felt as though break this unnatural silence I
mut, but no word.-, cams to my assistance.
Had I, too, leeii struck dumb and helpless?
If only he would peak, rave, do an3"thing!
1 wa scarcely conscious of tho longing
that was ujxtn me, liefore it was gratified;
the trembling figure erected itself, as if de
terminedly getting the liettcr of the shock it
had received, and once more, but this time
as of fixed purpose, tho thin grasping lingers
were stretched out m the direction of th
chair. As they closed uK)ii it, tho whole
luce changed, an expression of eagerness and
ttvidity took the place of the vacant staro I
hud hitherto confronted, what looked liko a
nWi of triumph seemed to quicken into life,
beneath their bushy brows, the eyes whoso
Iower of vision I had thought suspended,
and with a strange, unearthly sound, half
cry, half chuckle, which made my blood
creep, the old man flung himself on his knees
lef ore the chair.
In this attitude, and with his back to me,
what was it he was doing, or attempting
to do.
I raised myself a little in tho bed and saw
to my increased mystification that he had
taken hold of tho chair a ponderous old
contrivance, swathed in a loose cover of faded
damask and was apparently endeavoring to
tilt it up. Tho chances were ho would upset
it, and not escaiR! without more or less in
jury to himself iu doing so. Yet how to
withdraw him from it without awakening
him, and that roughly a measure ulways
iso I had been instructed, to be carefully
avoided in cases of somnambulism.
"Mr. Van Deckermanii," I said, finding
my voice at last with an effort, "can I come
and help youf
There was a short, sharp sound as of some
thing falling, but there was no answer am'
where was Mr. Van Deckermann?
The old chair was still standing and
standing on terra firma in the track of tho
moonbeams of the homely elderly figure in
the brown suit, which had been kneeling
ttefore it a moment before, there was not a
trace. I sprang out of bed, fired with
a sudden overmastering indignation at find
ing himself, as it were, battled and cheated,
and flung open the doors of the closet, of the
emptiness of which I had assured nvyself be
fore retiring for the night. It was as 1 had
left it. The only other way in which, even
supposing my senses for the moment to have
deserted me, my visitor could have eluded
me was quitting tho room outright.
I went to the door it was locked, as I had
taken the precaution of locking it a few hours
previously, on the inside.
I stood for a moment in an utter hopeless
bewilderment, and then I burst into a laugh,
which sounded even to myself forced and un
natural. "PshaH I exclaimed, "I must have been
dreaming."
The words had scarcely passed my lips
when something, the liko of which I had
never heard before something between a
laugh and a wail an indescribable mingling
of pain and mockery sounded close at my
elbow. Turning sharp round to see whence
it came, I lost my balance and fell faco for
ward on the bed, dragging tho sheet, at
which I clutched to save myself, to the
ground. As I did so, something fell on tho
floor with a thud. It was my watch, which
failing its accustomed receptacle, I had
stowed away under my pillow, but of this I
did not satisfy myself until tho morning,
when, upon finding and picking it up I dis
covered that it had stopped at a quarter
to 4 o'clock. Of tho rest of that night I have
no remembrance, save a confused one of
scrambling into bed with, I think, the most
fervent prayer to be delivered from evil I
had ever uttered on my lips.
"And you expect me to believe that you
were in your sober senses when you saw, or
imagined you saw, this what shall I call it?
double of myself f ' said Mr. Van Decker
mann when I had related as briefly as I
could my experience of the night before.
"I have told you already, sir. that I was
wideawake. Put it to yourself whether I
should be likely to be such a fool as to let
anything which I could possibly account for
to myself as a bad dream or a mere optical
delusion stand in the way of my acceptance
of so substantial a benefit as ttiat you offer
me? I could no more subject mv'wife'
"P'sh!" he broke in, scornfully; "don't
talk about your wife. -Be honest mid say
frankly that you are not prepared to faco it
yourself."
"I had said as much already, Mr. Van
Deckermann. Nothing would "induco me,
after what I went through last night, to be
come your tenant."
"And yet you don't believe in the super
natural f
"I did not," I replied. "P should liave
said 'no' to anybody who might have put the
question to me yesterday in all good faith.
To-day I should decline to answer it; I don't
know what to believe."
The old man puckered up bis brows and
regarded me thoughtfully.
"Well, it is 3"our own look out," ho said.
"I suppose I was mistaken in my man. It
would have been better for both of us if your
nerves had been stronger. I told you last
night I had been too candid with you. I
should have hit upon some other expedient,
but I was over scrupulous. It is my own
fault and I must pay the penalty of it "in my
disnpointment. I am sorry for your wife;
you must explain matters to her iu your own
way. Between you and me there need bo no
more said about it. You will find your room
. here ready for the lught, and the longer you
can stay the better."
He shook me warmly by the hand as be
spoke.
"Believe me," I began, "I shall never for
gef "Not a word about it,"1 he said, "as you
value my friendship. The time may come
when I uliall myself reopen the subject,
though I think not I think not. Until then
let it, I beg of job, drop.:
I am afraid 1 took 1
: to my work that day a
very divided attention, l aia not regret mv
candor, though there were moments when!
wm diap,M"nS my mutton chop, for ex
ample, in my own special snug corner, not
BBaccompanied by a good tankard of stoat
in which 1 1 elt more courageous, if not more
skeptical. Granted the existence of a ghostly
vjtfant. might one not in time become ac
Mtotned to it? What positive harm could
aMTthuxr of the kind do one? But across
Zwi2a these faint efforts at reasoning camo
thereon of the wife and children scared
iato sickness or something worse, and I felt
Hat. in any case. I had acted for the best.
I foundmyTiost even more cneerroi ana
loquacious than was his wont that evening.
He ordered the old Dutchman, who com
bined with other duties those of butler, to
bring up some champagne and tossed it
off, while ho hospitably pressed it upon
me, with a freedom which surprised me. It
was this, I imagined, which led him to talk,
in a bragging and boastful tone not habitual
to him, of tho wealth which had rewarded
the labor of his earlier years, and of sundry
past achievements of industry and applica
tion of which he had never before made men
tion. The more he drank the faster he
talked, and I was not surprised when his
self laudation took another and more of
fensive form, and he began to enlarge upon
his own strength of mind and purpose as
opposed to the weakness and mental deficiency
of those with whom he came in contact. It
would have been the easiest thing in the
world to pick a quarrel with him, but I was
sincerely grateful to him for one thing, and
!or another I was satisfied he had taken moro
nan was good for him. I was not sorry,
aowever, when as 10 o'clock struck tho
olitary game of cribbage, for which the
ong monologue to which he had treated me
bad left time, coming to an end simultane
ously he suggested that I should retire early
and make a long night of it.
"You look as if 3-ou had not slept for a
week," he added complimentarily, "and n:y
pipe is good enough company for mo better
than most You'll find everything ready for
you upstairs."
I heard and obeyed, and that night I slept
like a top, so soundly, indeed, that when the
old servant came to call mo in th? morning
I was only awakened to the fact of his
presence by an agitated appeal to me to
arouse myself. Tho scared expression of the
man's faco, and the concern and trepidation
to which it bore evidence, effectually re
called my scattered senses, and I sprang up
in bed eagerly demanding what was amiss.
"The master," he gasped out; "what has
come to the master? Ho is not in his room
he has not slept in it Ho is nowhere in tho
house nowhere about the place. What can
have come to himf '
His wife was close at his heels, echoing the
inquiry with a look 111 her face not less
anxious and perturlied than his own, but in
which there mingled a strango suspicious
ness, which even in the shock of th- an
nouncement which had just been made to
iik I could not but mark and resent. "lbw
in heaven's name should I know?'' I de
manded angrily. "How long is it since 3-011
missed him, and where have you looked for
him? He was having a pipe in tho dining
room when I camo up last night.
You must liavo seen him later than that He
went round with you last thing, I supixse,
as he did the night before as I understand
him he always didf
"Not alwais. - If he cets anv sleen in the
day a me worth speaking of, he won't go up
at his usual time. He'll go round by himself
then later on, but I do my duty by the houso
and by him just the same. I did it last
night I saw to the doors and shutters ns
usual, and I put up the chain and bolted and
barred tho hall door I could not have slept
in my bed else and this morning I found the
chain down and the bolts drawn. Lisa hero
would have had me go straight to the police
to set them to find him, but I thought there
might have been something in his talk last
night might put us on tho track. I've been
with him these forty years and I've never
seen him as I saw him lat night He is not
used to strangers, and he is too old to change
his ways. He was wandering about yester
1U13', and talking to himself Lisa heard him,
and if airy harm has come to him its the
worry and excitement will have done it," the
old man wound up viciously.
"Before I went to tho police, I would send
to your master's other house," I said
quietly. Thero had come back upon
my mind as I listened to him very
vividly the half veiled taunts and
jeers to which I had been subjected the
night before, and, with tho recollection of
them, there flashed ujwn it the iosibility
tbat, wrathful and disappointed at my fail
ure, he had resolved to faco the mystery,
whatever if might be, himself. I was not
prepared, however, for the effect of the sug
gestion upon the old couple. They stood, as
a.were, transfixed, exchanging a look f uH of
terror and apprehension.
"The other house!" ' they murmured. "Gone
to the other bouse!"
The woman was tho first to recover herself.
"I don't believe you, master! You're trying
to frighten us. Don't listen to him, Jan. He
knows better than that Mynheer Andrew has
gone there, and so do we."
"It is there 1 shall go to look for him, at
any rate," I replied. "As to 3-ou, you can
please yourselves, so long as you leave mo to
turn out and get into my clothes."
I made no long business of nvy toilet, being,
as may be supposed, anything but easv or
happy in my mind. Katherto my surprise, af
ter the tone she had adopted to me upstairs, I
found Lisa waiting below to insist upon nry
swallowing some hot coffee before I left the
house, and to tell me that Jan had preceded
me to the Cedars.
"I was hast3' just now,' she said, "and I
ask your pardon, but I would sooner have
found the master dead in his bed than that
he should be where you say he is. Better
dead in his right mind a thousand times
better than all vo with us here, out of it ;
and out of it he will ha' been before ever he
went to the old house. You don't know
there's nobody knows but us three there are
those that have seen, but they don't under
stand. 1 tell you I would sooner I never saw
him again though God knows how it would
be with us without him than that ho should
be found so."
It was with this comforting assurance that
I set forth. There was no time for thought;
what was required of me was action, and I
did not let tho grass grow under my feet. I
met the old Dutchman just outside the gate
at the Cedars. Nothing had been seen or
heard of Mr. Van Deckermann there. He
had been satisfied it would be so, but as for
me
"I am not satisfied yot," I said. "I shall
not be satisfied until I have been over the
house. You can como back with me or not,
as j-ou like."'
lie did come back with me, though that he
thought me headstrong, if not more, and that
his opinion was shared by the Minchins, was
evident enough. What strange intuition
possessed me 1 do not know, but what had
been at first no more than an idea had grown
into a conviction. I felt sure I should find
my host in tho room 1 had myself occupied
the previous night In vaiu did thev try to
persuade me that even had Mr. Van" Decker
mann been insane enough to let himself iuto
the house at midnight in midwinter, his en
try could not have been made without arous
ing them. I was bent upon taking my own
way, and they had no alternative but to fol
low ine.
At the door of the room I iwuscd and list
ened. I could hear nothing, and I was about
to open it when, as I laid my hand upon it,
I was arrested by the sound of a low, pro
longed laugh proceeding from within. It
was succeeded by a sharp cry behind me, and
an exclamation in his native tongue, full of
piteousness and horror, from Jan. If he
could, the poor old fellow would have held
me back, but I had not persisted so far to
shrink from what lay before me at last, and
I turned the handle without more ado and
went in.
The arrangement of the furniture had been
undisturlxxl since 1113 brief occupation of tho
room with ono exception; the old arm chair
lay literally upon its back, its dingy damask
covering hanging about it In rags and tat
ters, while at a little distance from it, seated
on the ground, smoothing out some crumpled
pieces of paper, and chattering and chuckling
to himself as he did so, in a manner that
made m3 blood creep as I listened to him,
was the object of my search. He looked up
as we went in, but he did not cease from his
occupation, and for some seconds the silence
was unbroken, save by himself. My com
panions stood huddled together at the door,
too much appalled to speak, and I was nvyself
in little better case. By way of attracting
his attention I drew the curtain from across
the further window and let the light full in
upon him. He blinked and shifted his seat
somewhat, as if to escape it, but he took no
further notice. "Mr. Van Deckermann," I
said. "Don't 3-ou know it is past breakfast
time and you are keeping me waiting f
But the words conveyed no meaning to
him, no more meaning to him than his own
wordless, incoherent jabbering did to us.
"It is no good, master," Jan said in a broken
voice. "He'll have nothing more to say to
any ono in this world. He has come at tho
truth after all these years, and he has got his
death blow with it Where did he find them,
think youf
He had dropped on his knees by the side of
his master, and ho now held up for my in
spection what I now perceived to be a bank
note. Van Deckermann "still engaged in his
monotonous occupation of smoothing out and
fondling its fellows, took no notice of the"
action. Tho note was yellow with age, and
involuntarily, as tho strange experiences of
the night I had nryself spent in the room re
curred to my mind, I turned my attention
upon tho chair which had met with such un
gentle usage.
It was even more mutilated than It ap
peared at first sight: the double webbing, of
which the seat was composed, having been
partly hacked with a pen knife, partly torn
apart, nor had the rifling of this strange re
pository been so complete as to leave any
doubt as to the purpose to which it bad been
turned
As I turned away from it, sickened at a
discovery which showed me only too plainly,
the connection between my own narrative
to the unhappy being before me and the fate
which bad overtaken him, the woman Min
chin broke into tears and lamentations.
"If I had only left it where it was! If I
had let things take their chance! If I had
only seen the end of it!"
It was not without considerable difficulty
wo got my poor friend home, and the verdict
pronounced upon him by the medical men,
wnom wo lost no time in calling in, was not
more favorable than I anticipated. His
reason had sustained what they had little
doubt would Drove to be a fatal shock, and
the uuctcren vioiez cnuigcnent ot too ner
vous system threatened his life. The genuine
pity and distress of the old servants spoke
well for them and for their master, and while
be lay, as he did lie, for many days between
fife and death, there sprang up between them
and myself a certain mutual respect and con
fidence. It was from Lisa I heard as much as there
was to tell in the way of explanation of what
I bad myself seen, and of the catastrophe
which had befallen Van Dockermann.
According to her, he had been confronted,
as I had been the previous night, by the ap
parition of his father, and had arrived thus
at last in his own proper person at the secret,
the elucidation of which had been for years
the object nearest to his heart
It appeared that in telling us my wife
and nryself the story of his early life, he had
stopped short at what was at once the saddest
and the most striking part of it It was not
so much in the bare fact of his cousin's death,
but in the terrible circumstances acconipany
ing it, there had lain the overpowering
anguish of which wo had been per
mitted a glimpse. Old Van Deckermann,
growing more and more miserly and suspici
ous of all around him as the years went on,
bad at last, after emptying the house of
every servant it contained by a succession of
similar charges, accused his niece of the
theft of a large sum of money, and had posi
tively gone the length, in what would appear
to ha e been an access of insanity, of giving
her into custody. The evidence was insuf
ficient, but the disappearance of the money
was proved beyond a doubt, and the fact
that she had oidy the day before her arrest
lohtcd a letter to Andrew Van Deckermann
lit tho Cape seemed to give a certain coloring
to the theory advanced by his father that
the robbery had been committed on his be
half. Had tho truth ns to tho 3-oung man's
Ioo!tio:i been known, it must have been seen
al once how untenable was the argument,
but his cousin in her strangely isolated life
had made no confidences, and the poor thing
had not tho strength of mind to wait for that
redress of wrong which time must inevitably
have brought her. Whether open or closed
to her, within her uncle's doors it was im
ossible that she should cater again, und
bhe found a refuge from ber unmerited shame
and sorrow where so many had found it be
fore her, and have found it since in the
rivoi-l
lie Iiad dropped on his knits by the tide of
his master.
Vho old man never recovered the shock of
her death, though he persisted to the end in
his belief in ber guilt, and he died miserahly
only two days before his sou's return. For a,
long time past ho had become strange iu his
ways, and had turned night into day, wan
dering about the house at all hours, so that it
was scarcely surprising that, left to itself as
it was after his death, the place should have
come by the uncanny reputation of which its
master had spoken.
Of one thing I was left in no doubt, al
though I never had it from his own liiis, and
that was the superstitious horror with which
its owner himself regarded the house; but
that horror was dominated, as the event
proved, by a still stronger influence. That
his father's uneasy spirit haunted the scene
of his cruelty and injustice he was lully per
suaded, and he had confided to Lisa mora
than once his further conviction that by
some means 3-et natural or supernatural
the charge brought against tho ioor creature
who had fullen a victim to it would be
cleared up. He had employed me as his tool,
und, hojeless of 1113- following up the clew I
had found, had worked himself up to the re
quired pitch and gone, heaven 01113- knows in
what state of mind, to surely as strange an
encounter as ever man contemplated.
What he saw cau 011I3 be matter of sur
mise; he lived for a year or more, all his
faculties restored to him, but minus any
memory, and quite tractable and gentle.
My own belief is ttiat the missing notes, tho
hiding place of which 1 have no moral doubt
was discovered to him that night, must have
been secreted there b3" the elder Van Decker
mann himself, under the influence of som
nambulism, though that he was a somnam
bulist 1 have no evidence to show. All I
know is that thefacelaaw was tbefneeof one.
At Mr. Van Deckermann's death it was
found that l3' a will, made some months lie
fore his fatal visit to it, he had bequeathed
the Cedars, with other more desirable prop
erty, to ine. To the best of 1113- lielief, its
supernatural history bad come toim end with
the catastrophe of which this i.s the record,
but the terms on which it was lelt tome were
happily unconditional, and a terrace of small
houses, given up to the most prosaic associa
tions, occupies the site of it.
THE EXD.
The "Freak" Business.
It is about time for public opinion to
call a halt in the museum "freak" busi
ness; the public jlisplay, at so much a
head, of wretched deformities of mis
shapen creatures. It is time to suppress
the posters that reproduce these mon
strosities in yet more aggravated distor
tion, compelling unwilling eyes to rest
upon their hideousness at every street
corner. Every intelligent adult, man or
woman, knows that the sight of a repul
sive deformity can and does lead to the
gravest consequences, and it will not be
iiecessar3' here to be more explicit. Pitts
burg Bulletin.
A Not to Crack.
The something called lightning will
melt a cold iron rod in a hundredth part
of a second. A hard razor will drop like
water in time quicker than thought. But
that heat is not in the lightning, but it is
made at that point at which the lightning
meets an obstacle. Thus from the sun
some substance or potentiality may go
forth which is a harmless traveler until
something retards it. This exile may
meet its first foe near the sun's disk, and
enough of it may escape to go onward
and meet a second obstacle in the envi
ronment of planets. Professor Swing in
Chicago Journal.
Very Bad. Manner.
It ought to be clear to any one who has
the most elementary knowledge of the
laws of etiquette that to disturb others
needlessly in the enjoyment of a dearly
purchased pleasure is evidence of very bad
manners. Musical people suffer more
from such interruptions than persons
whose ears are not similarly refined can
imagine; for the true colors of a Waguer
ian score are as exquisitely delicate and re
fined as the evanescent films and colors of
a soap bubble, so that the mere rustling
of a fan or a programme mars them.
Henry T. Finck in The Cosmopolitan.
A New Wagon Tire.
A recent English invention is a corru
gated rolled steel Wagon tire for use in
towns where street cars are run. The
object of the invention is to assist the
wheel to get out of the train line and
thus avoid skidding of the wheels and
the wrenching of vehicles and horses.
The invention consists in what may per
haps be described as a series of slopping
projections on each side of the felloes of
the wheel. St Louis Republican.
At the Lake's Bottom.
Bright green moss has been discovered
growing at the bottom of Lake Leman, in
Switzerland, attached to the calcareous
rocks 200 feet below the surface. Moss
has never been found at so great a depth
below the surface of the water, and it is
considered remarkable that chlorophyl,
the green coloring matter of plants, could
have been so richly developed at so great a
distance from the light Globe-Democrat
Larceat Known Flower.
The largest known flower is the rafllesia,
an extraordinary parasite of the forest trees
of Sumatra, which measures three feet in
diameter, weighs fifteen pounds and has
a calyx holding six quarts. The odor is
that of tainted meat. The plant consists
only of the flower, growing directly on
the stem of its host. Arkansaw Traveler.
An Eacllsh Invention.
An Englishman has invented a brake
by which any person in a compartment
car can turn a lever and stop the train.
At the same time a white disk will appear
outside of the compartment to notify the
conductor in which carriage the brake has
been used. Boston Bndsret
TIIE KING'S DAUGHTERS.
MARVELOUS GROWTH OF A BEAU
TIFUL ORDER OF SISTERS.
Its Members Ride la Carriages and Wear
Diamonds They Also Include Hard
Work! ns Shop Girls and Cash Girls 1b
Our Hie Stores.
1 A richly dressed lady leading a shabby
little waif of a girl boarded a train at
Hartford one morning last summer and
led her little charge through the long
train, looking inquiringly into the faces
of the passengers. Evidently she was
seeking some kindly person to whose care
she might consign the child, which she
was sending into the country for a season.
Seeing no face which inspired her with
confidence to ask so great a favor, she re
traced her steps to put her charge in care
of the conductor, when a passenger beside
her, a lady, removed her wrap and re
vealed over her heart a tiny silver Maltese
cross tied with n purple ribbon. In
stantly the lady approached her, touched
the silver cross, whispered the m3sterious
words, "In his name," ami told her all
her need. "In his name," answered the
traveler softl3', aud tenderly lifted the
child on her lap, and cared for aud
amused her through the journey ns
loviugly as though she were her own.
A huh-, wliose elcganca of attire and
beauty of person attracted the attention
nnd awakened the admiration of all who
saw her, stepped out of oue of the large
aud fashionable stores of Xew York to her
carriage, which stood waiting at the door.
The wild March wind caught her flutter
ing silken draperies, aud rudely tore her
cloak from about her. As she struggled
against it a little silver cross fell from her
dress und went tinkling down 011 the
pavement. A mite of a girl with a scrap
of shawl over her head darted out of tho
shelter of the doorway, picked up the
silver trinket and drew its counterpart
from her own shabby little frock. "It is
the badge of the King's Daughters," said
the lady, softly; "are you one, too" She
held out both her hands with a smile so
gentle and tender that it was more
precious to the shivering little girl than
tho money the lady left in her half frozen
hand "In life name."
Who are these royal daughters of the
king? What is their mission:' What is
the signification of the silver s3'inbol they
wear nnd the potenc3' of the mystic motto,
"Iu his name?"
'. Iu January, 1880, a circle of ten ladies
met to discuss and arrange some plan
which should unite all Christian women
iu one grand sisterhood of service. Adopt
ing the system of Edward E. Hale's Ten
Times One clubs they constituted them
selves a Central Ten, around which
should crystallize other-Tens of workers,
not assuming any authority or responsi
bility over them, but simply to form a
nucleus around which they might cluster,
and from which might rudiate encourage
ment, advice ami guidance. Of the va
rious names proposed for the order that of
the King's Daughters was most favorably
received and finally adopted; the badge of
the society was selected iu the small sil
ver cross tied with the royal color; the
watchword chosen was the simple "In
his name" of the apostles of old. and the
mottoes of action selected were:
"Look forward and not back."
"Look out and not iu."
"Look up and not down."
"Iend a hand."
! The society as organized had no consti
tution and in code of laws save the one
general regulation that whenever an y rea
sonable request should be mude "Iu his
1 namu" it should be grautcd without ques
, tion or delay.
j Never was less said- or written, and
I never so few plans made for any work, as
I the design of the society was to move
, silently and steadily, aud to secretly ac
complish its purpose of bridging the
I chasm between the rich and the poor, aud
to unite all women engaged 111 any kiud
of good work in such a way as to secure
to each the sympathy and co-operation of
all. Yet from almost every state in the
Union, and from most remote countries
over tlie sea India, Australia and Xew
Zealand -from jieople in every walk in
life, from pastors of churches, matrons of
hospitals, teachers of schools, leaders of
philanthropic societies, presidents of col
leges, from the belles of Fifth avenue and
the street gamin of the Bowery come tid
ings of tho continual organization of tens
upon tens of King's Daughters, until
8,000 silver crosses have been sold and
10,000 members have enrolled their names
among the King's Daughters, although
the societj- has been organized onlj two
years.
As for the kind of work accomplished
by this remarkable sisterhood, it is too
varied and extensive to be recorded in de
tail. There are Tens that visit the sick,
Tens that supply the hospitals and nomes
with flowers, Tens that support i oreigu
missionaries, Tens that sing and Ten3
that sew, Tens that endow beds in hos
pitals, Tens that provide pleasant coun
tr3' homes for deserving poor, and Tens
that simply "bridle their tongue" and
"endeavor to live in love and charity with
all men" all "In his name."
The cash girls above referred to are
known as "the little doorkeepers," whose
unique motto is "Lord, keep thou tho
door of m-mouth;" and there are Hearts
ease Tens of little children who cultivate
pansies for the hospitals. There are the
Quiet Tens in schools, and the Courteous
Tens, who claim that "King's Daughters
should ever display the manners of the
court;" the Old Maids' Tens of helpful
unappropriated blessings, and the Old
Lady's Ten, whose youngest member is
more than 80 years old, and whose oldest
member donned tho silver cross on her
100th birthday; the Faithful Tens in
guilds, the Look-up Tens in deaf mutes'
homes; and even in tho Home for Incura
bles the patients waiting for death have
organized themselves into a. Considerate
Ten, who shall endeavor to make their
nurses' labors as light as possible. One
of the young ladies' Tens in Boston sent
loads of sand to the tenement 3nrds in the
city for poor children to play in, and the
graduating class of a fashionable board
ing school calling themselves the Con
tinuing Ten have adopted a little girl, and
intend to provide for her and give her all
the advantages of culture aud educatiou
which they have received. Musical Tens
of the most cultured and gifted ladies in
the city devote their talents to the enter
tainment of the poor, and also, through
their use in charitable concerts, accumu
late funds for the support of various mis
sions, thus bringing iuto use the talent ot
the wealthy for the benefit of the poor.
Xew York Sun.
Sample Case of Blackmailing.
Not long ago a man well known in so
cial, business and club circles had trouble
with his wife, a beautiful and accom
plished woman, and they separated, the
intention being to eventually- become di
vorced. So quietly was the affair man
aged that none but their most intimate
friends knew that they- had disagreed, and
the acquaintances of the couple only knew
that the wife was visiting friends and
relatives iu Xew York. In an evil mo
ment the young wife employed a private
detective to shadow her husband, daily
reports to be sent to her. These reports
were sent, and the wife was astonished.
She didn't have any idea before what the
life of a club man might be. Then, woman-like,
she determined to win her hus
band back. She wrote him, the quarrel
was patched up, and the pair lived to
gether again.
Their home was a happy one. Tho
husband forsook his gay companions and
compromising associations of both sexes
and became domesticated. One night
there was a knock at the door. The hus
band responded; it was a visitor for his
wife. When the lady entered the parlor
she recognized the private detective. She
had been foolish enough to write him two
or three letters, and these he had, to
gether with copies of letters he had
written her concerning the private life of
her husband. The wife had paid the
agency by which this man was employed,
but this made no difference. What the
man wanted was a loan, and he got it.
He has solicited several loans since then,
and has never been refused. In the mean
time the husband remains in ignorance of
the drains on his wife's purse, but cheer
fully foots all bills. Chicago Cor. New
York Herald.
New Orleans' Colaretf ScrvaaU.
It is useless for a housekeeper to at
tempt economy with colored servants.
Their ways are naturally wasteful, and
tbey entertain a scorn for all attempts at
thrifty management. A lady whose war
time experience had taught her thet
twelve biscuits could be produced from
one pint of flour, lost several servants be
fore she discovered that their defection was
due to disgust at her frequent- enuncia
tion of this theorem in domestic economy.
Let the mistress be never so close, or ever
lilieral, she will be utterly unable to re
strain the extravagance of her servants.
When supplies arc measured out it is fre
quently the dining room table, never that
of the kitchen, which is stinted.
Servants out of employment time their
visits to their friends iu service so as to in
clude at least one meal hour of the family;
und the cook's husliand, sou or fourth
cousin usually appears during the progress
ot dinner to escort his relative home and
to assist in the transportation of any un
usually heavy burden. A stranger trav
ersing thestreetsof Xew Orleans at night
fall and seeing the hundreds of homeward
bound cooks, each with her sagging basket
upon her arm, would imagine the whole
colored population to be on the way to a
picnic. They are-merelj, however, trans
porting what they seem to regard as their
rightful spoil of food, and wood, nud coal.
The statistician has yer not risen with a
brain large enough to compute the col
lective value ot this daily universal drain.
New York Post.
The Slav's Love of Music.
The Bohemian Dvorak relates in an au
tobiographical sketch that in his country
every child must study music. "The law
cuncting this is old; it was once repealed,
but is in force again. Herein I consider
lies one great secret of the natural talent
for music in my country. Our national
tunes and chorals came, as it were, from
the very heart of the people, and beautiful
things they were. I intend some day
writing an oratorio into which I shall
introduce some of these chorals. The
Slavs all love music. They may work all
day in the fields, but they are always sing-
1 1 Al A. 1 1 fa.
ing, und the true musical spirit burns
bright within them. How they love the
dance, too! On Sunday, when church is
over, they begin their music and dancing,
and often keep it up without cessation till
early in the following morning. Each
village has its band of eight or ten
musicians." Home JournaL
There are seventy-one "champions of
England" iu games and sports of all
sorts.
Some men allow their imaginations to
April fool them every day of the year.
Bncklrn's Arnica Salve.
TnE Best Salve in the world for Cuts,
Bruises, Sores, Ulcers, Salt Rheum,
Fever Sores, Tetter, Chapped Hands,
Chilblains, Corns, and all Skin Erup
tions, and positively enres Piles, or no
pay required. It is guaranteed to give
perfect satisfaction, or money refunded.
Price 25 cents per box. For sale by
Dowty & Becher. jnly27
Knowledge is no burden.
Habitual Constipation
And kidney and liver ills, depending on
a weak and inactive condition of the kid
neys, liver or bowels, are successfully
nnd permanently cured only by the use
of the gentle yet effective laxative and
diuretic, Syrup of Figs. Its advantages
are evident; it is easy taken, pleasing to
tho taste, acceptable to the stomach,
harmless to the most delicate system,
and truly beneficial in effect. For sale
only by Dowty & Becher.
A little labor much health.
Is Conxumptiou Itit-uriiUlt-
Read tlio following: C. H. Morris. New
ark, Ark., says: "Wad down with Abscess
of lungs,and friends ami physicians pro
nounced 1110 an Incurable Consumptive.
Began taking Dr. King's New Discovery
Tor Consumption, am now on my third
bottle, and ubie to oversee the work on
my farm. It is the finest medicine ever
made."
Jesse Middlewnrt, Decatur, Ohio, says;
"Had it not been for Dr. King's New
Discovery for Consumption I would have
died cf lung troubles. Was given up
by tiie doctors. Am now in best of
health." Try it. Sample bottles free at
Dowtj- & Becher's drug store.
Beauty draws more .than oxen.
Daily excursions have been arranged
for over the Union Pacific Railway, to
San Francisco, San Diego, Colton, Los
Angeles, San Bernardino and Snn Jose,
California, also to Portland, Oregon, at
880.00 for the round trip. Tickets are
good 60 days for the going passage and
good for the return trip for six months
from date of sale, with the usual stop
over privileges in both directions within
these limits. These tickets are also good
by way of Denver and Salt Lake City in
each direction. The Agent, Mr. J. R
Meagher, tells ns quite a number are
thinking of making the trip soon, and it
would be well for those intending to go
in select parties to see him and arrange
for their accommodations. Mr. J. 5.
Frawley, Traveling Agent, Union Pacific,
at Omaha, is arranging for these select
parties, and will be glad to give any fur
ther information in regard to these ex
cursions. Parties who prefer can corres
pond with Mr. J. Tebbets, G. P. & T. A.,
Omaha, Neb.
Long jesting was never good.
Klrctric Hitters.
This remedy is becoming so well knorn
and so popular as to need no special
mention. All who have used Electric
Bitters sing tho same song of praise.
A purer medicine dots not exist nnd it
is guaranteed to do all that is claimed.
Electric Bitters will cure all diseases of
the Liver and Kidneys, will remove all
Pimples, Boils, Salt Rheum and other
affections and prevent as well as cure all
Malarial fevers. For cure of headache,
consumption and indigestion try Elec
tric Bitters Entire satisfaction guaran
teed, or money refunded. Price 50 cents
and 81.00 per bottle at Dowty & Becher's
drug store.
Divine ashes are better than earthly
meal.
English Spavin Liniment removes all
hard, soft or calloused lumps and blem
ishes from horses; blood spavin, curbs,
splints, sweeney, ring-bone, stifles,
sprains, all swolen throats, coughs, etc.
Save 850 by use of one bottle. Warranted.
Sold by C. B. Stilhnan, druggist, Co
umbus. C-ly
When it thunders the
honest.
thief liecomes
Mothers, Read.
The proprietors of SANTA ABIE have
authorized Dowty & Becher to refund
your money if, after giving this Califor
nia King of Cough Cures a fair trial as
directed, it fails to give satisfaction for
the cure of Coughs, Cronp, Whooping
Cough and all Throat and Lung troubles.
When the disease affects the head, and
assumes the form of Catarrh, nothing is
so effective as CALIFORNIA CAT-R-CIJRE.
These preparations are with
out equals as household remedies. Sob!
at $1.00 a package. Three for 20.
One father is more than a hundred
school-masters.
Want of Sleep
Is sending thousands annually- to the
insane asylum ; and the doctors say this
trouble is alarmingly on the increase.
The usual remedies, while they may
give temporary relief, are likely to do
more harm than good. What is needed
is an Alterative and Blood-purifier.
Ayers Sarsaparilla is incomparably
the best. It corrects those disturbances
in the circulation which cause sleepless
ness, gives increased vitality, aud re
stores the nervous system to a healthful
condition.
Rev. T. G. A. Cote, agent of the Mass.
Home Missionary Society, writes that
his stomach was out of order, his sleep
very often disturbed, and some im
purity of the blood manifest ; but that
aa perfect cure was obtained by the use
of Ayer's Sarsaparilla.
Frederick Vf. Pratt, 424 Washington
street, Boston, writes: "My daughter
was prostrated with nervous debility.
Ayer's Sarsaparilla restored her to
health."
William F. Bowker, Erie, Pa., was
cured of nervousness and sleeplessness
by taking Ayer's Sarsaparilla for about
two months, during which time his
weight increased over twenty pounds.
Ayer's Sarsaparilla,
PREPARED ItV
Dr. J. C. Ayer & Co., Lowell, Mass.
Mold by alt IruBKUta. Price $1 ; six bottles, f&
The Commercial Travelers Protective
Association of the United States, has a
membership of over sixteen thousand
and is probably the strongest association
of the kind in the world. Mr. John R.
Stone their national secretary and treas-
I . -Tm Tt....l.A.. , A "M.r I
urer, uearoone street, unicago, in a
letter states that he has been severely
troubled at times, for the past twenty
years, with cramp and bilious colio
which would compel him to take to his
bed from three to six days while in St.
Louis at their lust annuul meeting he
procured a bottle of Chamberlain's Colic,
Cholera and Diarrhoea Remedy and has
since used it with the best results. It is
the only remedy he ever found that ef
fected a rapid and complete cure. No
one can safely travel without it. Sold by
Dowty & Becher.
If great men would have care of little
ones, both would last long.
The PanseMger Department
Of the Union Pacitic, "The Overland
Route," has gotten out a fly-bill design
ed to call attention to the summer re
sorts along the line of this railway. It
is a good bill and tourists, pleasure
seekers, sportsmen and fishermen should
apply at once to J. S. Tebbets, General
Passenger agent, Omaha, Neb., for in
formation in regard to the points of in
terest along the line, before deciding
where they will spend the summer sea
son, or vacation holidays. 3tf
If the mother had never been in the
oven, she had never sought her daugh
ter there.
An Absolute Cure.
The ORIGINAL ABIETINE OINT
MENT is only put up in large two-ounce
tin boxes, and is an absolute cure for
old sores, burns, wounds, chapped hands
and all kinds of skin eruptions. Will
positively cure all kinds of piles. Aak for
the ORIGINAL ABITINE OINTMENT
Sold by Dowty & Becher at 25 cents per
box by mail 30 cents. mar7
It is a bold
cat's ear.
mouse that nestles in
(iarfleld Branch,
On the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake
City, on the Union Pacific, "The Over
land Route," was formally opened to
the public on Decoration day, May 30th.
Ample accommodations have been pro
vided, and the Pacific hotel company
will have charge of the hotel accommo
dations at this famous resort under the
supervision of the Union Pacific railway.
No pains or expense have been spared to
make this the summer resort of the west.
It is only eighteen miles from Salt Lake
City on the Utah & Nevada branch of the
Union Pacific. Trains will be run at
frequent intervals daily between Salt
Lake City and the Beach. Cheap trains,
good baths, and excellent meals are
among the attractions. 3tf
NEBRAJSKA.
FAMILY : JOURNAL.
A Weekly Newspaper iftied every
Wednesday.
32 elnsus f readiig Batter, con-
sistiig ef Nebraska State News
Itens, Selected Stories aid
Miseellasy.
sT"8atnple copies sent free to any sadrea a,
Subscription price,
$l.a ytir, in idvinec.
Address:
M. K. Tobneb & Co.,
Columbus,
Platte Co., Nebr.
LOUIS SCHREIBER.
BIackrsnitti anfl Wagon Maker.
All kiids f Kejairiig deie on
Shtrt Nttiee. Biggies, Wag-
it, etc.. Hade ft rder,
aid all wark tiaar-
aiteed.
Abe Mil tki worM-faMotu ITalter A
Wiid Miwn, Imlmts, Cabin-
1 HMhiiM, HarTMUn,
aad filf-biadt-the
lt audi.
"Skop opposite the " Tatteraall," on
OllT St.. COLUMBUS. 'JO-m
a
CIRCUS, JOII, WAIT !
FIRST TOUR IN AMERICA!
THIS TO YOU: Tho arrangements of the European and American's Pooled
league will prevent any other circus from visiting here this season. -Ed.
GRENIER BROS.
Royal European' Railroad
LlClfUplii!
1 Ring Circus 1 1 Menagerie 1
BE SURE AND SEE IT!
BEC
We have a grand Arenic Assembly from all nations. Malo and female champions
of many lands. A cyclono of refined pastime. No old acts. Everything now.
strictly moral and painsworthy. The people's choice A stupendous menngerio.
Trained and educated animals from all parts of the globe. A 810,000 den or
performing lions. A herd of performing elephants. The only educated hippo
potamus on earth. Celebrated American and European riders male and foinalo,
in heroic deeds of daring and rivalry. Aerial sensational acts, lofty ladder ac
robats, active voltigeurs, Caledonian athletes, wonderful jugglers, tight rope stare,
high standing wire slides, electric leaping and tumbling, quadruple high brother
acts, equilibrists, herculean feats of strength. Arabian ami Japanese jugglers and
aerialists, funny clowns, two celebrated bands Prof. Ward's Lady band and
Armstrong's American band -in new and catchy music. Grand street parade at
10 o'clock, free to everyone. The carnival day is coming, its equal impossible.
Come to town early. Seats for 10,000 people. " We travel in our own train of 22
novel and beautiful fifty feet cars specially limit Tor thi3 enormous World's
Fair.
At Columbus
Thursday,
Two Exhibitions Daily at I and 7 p. in. .sharp
Circus Performance one hour later.
Admission,
Children under 9 years,
FAUHI.K &. HKADSHAW,
,SttCf-iuor tit t'lllllilf V" l:iishrll),
BRICK MAlvERS !
JjjyCoutr.ictors unl biiililr will find mir
brick fintt-clatw anil otfeml at rea.onal!t ratt-s.
Wearu also prcpar.! to ! all kimN of brick
work. lfimajtlm
Pi r WiKX -TAsrc - octmto C0U GH CI
THr
-221
c
h.- r-nruiiv, it-ivuvp1
'"Bl, --- --- -f
Send for ccrcujjr.l WWP-
iABiETiNEijEDH'o.oRoviiLiCALi
&
EfEESlfe
sun e
theONLY-
K
, QuAAWTEED
,-PI Tvyw.-3
'CURE TOR
.Stoa,CHCl-Afi
-CATARRH
I An i mup unriL
r0R0VILLECAL'
inoiLUNLroLU-icr
SMTHBIE 'CIT-RCURE
Trade snpplieri by the II. T. Clahk Dkco Co.,
Lincoln, Neb. 7marS8-ly.
iBfX. for I ailMlBS Lite CO.
August 2d.
50 Cents.
- 25 Cents.
;is theTop of the Genuine
Pearl Top Lamp Chimney.
Allothers,similarare imitation.
.This exact Label
is on each Pearl
Top Chimney.
A dealer may say
and think he has
others as cood.
BUT HE HAS NOT.
Insist upon the Exact Label and Top.
?c Su.e EttamKSE. Mace amy by
GEO. A. MACBETH & CO., Pittsburgh, Pa.
PATENTS
Caveats anl Trail Marks i.I.taintil, ami all I't
fut l.iinin.- i.itt!uml r.r MODKKATK KKKS.
JlLi: OFKICK IS OPPOSITE U.S. PATENT
() riCK. WlianMilKii;iici-.;ill buiine-a
ilirtTt, li-rxf we ran trantart icit:it biixiiifMt in
lt-s tiin-anil :.t LESS COST tlran tlioetc rctuot
from Waxliinulon.
S-nI iikkJcI, (inuvlnir. or plioto. with iIsTi
tion. Y iiilvt.-- if iKitfiitable or not, Irvf of
rharKP. Our fit- not i!ni- till iatciit i mm-iiiviI.
A hook, "Hov. to Obtain Patent." with reh.r
fniii to actual client in your Mattr. county or
town, Mnt free. Aiftinwt
. C. A. SNOW & CO.
Opportitu Patent Oiheo. Wailiiuton. I. C.
RICHLYi
REWARDED are thoe
who rer.il this and then act;
they will liml honorable eni
Iiloi merit that will not fnlc
them from their homes ;uid familiex. Thw
profit are larw and wnre for every industrious
iron. many have made and are now makine
-."veral hundred dollar a month. It is eay for
..Hi ost to make $5 and upward per day, who i
willing to work. Either -ex, jouni: or old; capi
tal not needed; we start you. Everything new.
No hecial ability reiiuired; you, reader, can d
it a well a. any one. Writ to us at oncn for
full particular, which we mail free. Addre
StiuHou A Co., Portland, Me. decSy
wo&zzmitimm
USumj
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