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A TERRIBLE LIAR.
*s* Mail Who CraU Oi>l-l>rniiHrai.
Kll l-rrkl.n Jo.. Mulholiau. or Tom
OeUllttr.
‘‘He was tlieorfulest liar I over 81*611,"
?• °' Leftr 3’ ns I*o returned from
ms friend’s funeral. “ Why, lie told me
once that lio lived on a small island out
in tho Pacific Ocean, on which there was
a volcano. And he said there was an
active demand out in that region for
watermelons, and lie went into the busi
ness of raising them. And he said one
year his whole crop failed except one
melon, and that kept on growing at such
a fearful rate that it crowded him ofi* tho
lowland and up on tho side of tho vol
cano, which generated steam and caused
an explosion which blew up the wliolo
concern to atoms, and shot him four
hundred miles out, to sea, where he was
picked up by a whaler. He used to toll
mo that the one great mistake of his lifo
was that he didn't drive a plug in tho
crater of the volcano so as to make it
water-tight, and then slice open tho
watermelon and come sailing home on
the half-shell.
"Ho would lio. lie said that onco he
was cast nw'ay on an iceberg, with no
baggage but n pair of skates and a fish
ing pole. Hut he skated around until he
came across a dead whale, frozen into the
ioe. Ho he took oft’ his shirt—it was
night for six months that year up there
—tore it into strips for a wick, ran the
strips through the bamboo fishing-rod,
stuck the rod into the fat of the whale,
and lit the other end. He said it burned
splendidly, and the iceberg rellectod the
light so strongly that it was as bright as
day for forty miles around, and one ves
sel ran into the berg, thinking it was a
light-house. He said ho sold the ice
berg to the captain for fifteen thousand
dollars, and the captain split it up and
took it. home, and made two hundred
per cent, profit disposing of it to ice
companies.
“Lio ? Well, sir, he boat any man I
ever came across. Told me that once out
in Nevada a mountain lion attacked him,
with his mouth wide open. He had
presence of mind enough to grab it by
the tongue and pull. The lion roared
with pain, but ho did his level best at
pulling, and pretty soon the tongue
began to give and the tail to shorten,
and directly out they came, the tongue
and the tail, in one long continuous
string. 110 said he hid ’em at home and
he showed ’em to me, but my belief is
that they were only three or four cow
hides and a bull’s tail dovetailed to
gether.
“He was astonishing as a truth crush
er. Said he served on a gunboat during
the war which was very small and light,
while the mortar on the deck was very
large and heavy, and ho said the first
time the tried to fire a fifteen-inch shell,
the shell remained stationary, while the
recoil was so great that it fired the gun
boat four miles up tho stream and landed
it in a tree. He was a liar, but now lie’s
dead I reckon he’ll ketch it.”
There was no doubt about it; Mr.
O’Leary was very successful as a con
structor of energetic work of fiction.
lu a Whale’s Mouth ami Escaped With
His Life.
Here I met Captain Wood, who has
been in a whale’s mouth. After edging
carefully toward the matter, a friend in
duced him to tell about it—probably for
the ten thousandth time.
“Yes, I was standing in the bow of
the boat, but with the non in my hand,”
said he, “ looking around for his majesty,
for I thought we had given him his death
blow. Suddenly up he came right ahead
of me, and he struck the boat under
neath with Ids prolonged lower jaw,
knocking it out from under me, and 1
fell straight over into his mouth.”
“ What did you think then ?” asked a
listener, as the Captain paused.
“ Thought I was a goner,” answered
the Captain, “especially when he shut
his mouth on me. But ho was, for
tunately, in the ugonieß of death, too
worried to think of me, and, after giving
me one savage crunch, ho blowed
me out of his mouth, covered with
blood. I at once struck out for the
boat.”
.“And when tlidy picked him up they
thought he was killed,” said another
captain; ‘ ‘ though, after a good while, he
recovered, with the ugly wounds that
you see. ” There was a scar some inches
long across Captain Wood’s scalp, and
a great lump on his side was visible
under his coat.
“What did you think when you were
in his mouth, and knew where you
were?” asked another bystander.
“ Thought he’d yield about eight bar
rel,” said Captain* Wood, turning over
his quid and calmly firing at the l>ox oi
sawdust. —Nantucket Correspondence oj
Indianapolis Journal.
A Satisfactory Candidate for Life In
surance.
Josh Billings says: “I kum to the
conclusion lately that life was so onsar
tin that the only wa for me tu stand a
fair chance with other folks was tu git
my life insured and so i kalled on the
Agent of the Garden Angel Life Insur
ance Cos , and answered the following
questions, which was put tu me over the
top ova pair ov goold specks, by a slik
little fat old feller, with a little round
grey head, and as pretty a little belly on
him as enny man ever owned : Ques
tions—lst. Arc you mail or femail ? If
so, pleze state how long you have been
so. 2d. Are you subject to fits, and if
so, do yu have more than one at a time !
3d. Did yu ever have enny ancestors,
and if so, how much? 4th. Du yu ever
have enny nite mares? stli. Are yu
married and single, or are yu a bachelor?
6th. Do yu believe in a future state ?
If yu do, state it. 7th. Have yu ever
committed suicide, and if so, how did it
seem to affect yu ? After answering the
above questions, like a man, in the con
firmotif, the slik little fat old feller with
goold specks on ced I was insured for
life, and proberly would remain so for a
term ov years. I thanked him, and
smiled one ov my most pensive smiles.”
Onght to Seen Them Wasps Singe.
Boys and wasps are natural enemies.
Boys hate wasps and wasps hate boys.
Generally the wasps are victorious and a
boy who has an interview with a wasp
gets over the ground much faster than
the boy sent on an errand. The boy
does the electioneering shouting, but the
wasp does the real work of the campaign.
It is so rare that a boy gets even with
the wasps that when he does so, the event
is worthy of more than a passing notice.
Down near Kingston, Ont., a boy had a
heated dismission with some wasps and
the latter got the better of the argument
—at least they made more pointed appli
cations. As the stings burned, the boy
thought about fighting his Satanic
Majesty with fire. It was a brilliant
success. The next neighbor’s barn and
grain were the first to go, and the peo
ple barely escaped from the dwelling
house. The woods and fields of wheat
next went with stacks and other com
bustible matter, while every now and
then the burning of a house and barn
added variety to the scene. The de
struction was very great, but as the de
lighted boy afterwards remarked, “Yon
ought to see them wasps singe!”
Hamilton Journal.
LAMAR & DENNIS. Publishers.
VOL. VI II— NO. 46.
(Written for Tli Chicago Idnlgor.]
MLKEPY HOI.TOW.
HY CHAIU.ru M. LOO AM.
111 m tlour, secluded Talley, between tlio hollow of tho
hill*,
’Mlilnt tho rook* and chiwunn grouping, in tho pool*
and innrHht'H drooping.
Staudu an ancient mill—a ruin in it* alow and mire
decay ;
Yet nt til it roam in hrokou tier* ; it In falling faat
away;
It id overrun with iiuishoh of tho wildont ereiqHiig
grUHHOH,
That liavo atarted from tho inointuro of tho rill*.
In thin hollow', of an evening, not a soul haa dared
to roam;
Though tin' BtillneH* there in aieeping, and the
crescent moon 1h pooping
I>own into tho crumbled, broken stonework of tho
„„ l>He,
.there Id a dread, an of the dead, that hunts of former
stylo
Are still and slowly treading where tho moon ia
always shedding
uttered silver through the fragments of tho
Tho willow shades the marshes with a waving hedge
of green,
Its boughs to waters bending, from whoso darkest
depths are sending
Phosphorescent wisps of grasses to illume the somber
air;
It is a sight so ghastly bright that a mortal fain
would dare
Its solitudes of mystery in quest of ancient history
To enllght’ the worldly mind upon the things that
he hail seen.
But when tlrst those broken wulis unfolded to our
vJoWj
The daylight’s sun was streaming, and through
the windows seeming
Like a welcome to tho long-forgotten room.
*ud lu the sun, unlike a nun alone, 1 saw a crimson
plume—
A butterfly. Its wings, its gaudy trapping, were
noiselessly flapping.
Driving from its cloak the morning dew.
The glimpso reminded strungely a lung-forgotten
past
That rushed in freshening surges—through my
mind there slowly merges
A suspicion that I sec the noted pirate that once theso
beums bestrid—
That it’s tho fiery-whiskered Kidd, guarding his
treasure hid
From the greedy hands of miners that would seek
the phantom shiners.
That were thought to have lieen buried and benoaUt
these walls amassed.
In this room they once were sitting, theso pirates
hard and §tern,
Like tho pictures of Miles Btandisli, dressed in
costumes now outlandish,
Though picturesque in attitudes, like sculptured
Roman clay,
With faces cold, in rigid mold, until the twilight
day,
With morning breezes rising, their sordid minds
apprising,
They vanished to the spirit world, though nightly to
return.
Distant, ghostly sounds were heard to echo through
the bare
Ruins of the mill decayed, and through the morn
ing's darkness vague,
And sjiectral rushed the rushing streams
In broken rills between the hills and from the dark
ravines.
Clanking chains and flapping sails, that seemed to
be amidst the gales,
Fell with deep distinctness upon the morning air.
St. Hhlicna. CaL
[Written for Tlio Chicago Ledger.]
The Mysterious Cadet.
A College Reminiscence.
BY CARB.
This evening, as I was seated on tho
veranda, with my feet elevated upon
the railing and leaning back in an arm
chair, listlessly watching the passers-by
on the street, one of them attracted my
attention and caused my thoughts to
drift back down the long corridors of
time, and bring up vividly to mind
scenes and faces long buried in the past.
He was only a boy, this individual
who had thus suddenly stirred up old
memories, and a casual observer would
have noticed nothing peculiar about liim
except that he was dressed in a suit of
cadet gray, heavily bespangled with glit
tering buttons, and wore upon his head
a cap of the same color—the uniform of
some military college. But as he turned
his head for a moment toward me I saw
the letters “A. C. C.” on his cap, sur
rounded by a glittering wreath. In an
instant. I knew that he was a cadet of the
University of .
Some of my readers may remember
that in the catalogue of that university
for the year of 18- the name of Leslie
Barton appears as a student, and oppo
site the name there was a blank where
the residence of the cadet should have
been. As I have the time at my disposal,
I will gratify the morbid curiosity that
any may have upon the subject.
It was at the age of 18 that I entered
the university, and it was upon the day
of my arrival that I first met Leslie Bar
ton. I was standing near the entrance
of the college, watching the groups of
oadets out upon the parade ground, and,
being unacquainted with any one, I was
feeling decidedly homesick and lone
some.
I had been standing there some time,
trying to devise some plan of getting
acquainted with the boys, when my at
tention was directed to a youth who was
standing a few yards from me, leaning
against the corner of the building. My
attention was called to him by an excla
mation which he had, seemingly, un
consciously let tall from his lips, and as
I turned toward him I heard him mutter:
“Yes, it is he. It is impossible for
me to be mistaken in that face.”
And as I followed the direction of his
eyes I saw that he was intently watching
a cadet who was approaching the college
from the direction of the entrance to the
grounds. As he came nearer I saw that,
though rather small of stature, he was a
man of at least 25 years of age. Had it
not been for his smoothly-shaven face
and the badge of the Clantonian Society
which he wore upon his breast, I should
have supposed him one of the professors.
As he passed I looked into his face and
met a pair of as wicked, devilish eyes as
it is possible to conceive of. It hail al
ways been customary with me to read a
person’s character by the eyes, and I had
found that during my brief experience I
hail seldom been mistaken in my esti
mate ; and as this man passed into the
building I decided that he was one cadet
whom I did not care to become intimately
acquainted with.
As I turned from watching him, I
found that the boy I had first noticed
had moved up quite close to me, and,
seeing that I was observing him, he
raised his cap from the cluster of crisp,
black curls that covered his head, and
asked, in a voice that struck me as being
uncommonly low and soft:
“Do you know the gentleman that has
just passed ?”
“No," I replied, “I am a stranger
here ; this is my first day, and I am not
acquainted with any one. ”
“ Then we two should become ac
quainted by ail means, for we are in the
barne fix. My name is Leslie Barton,”
he said, holding out bin hand, which, I
noticed, was white, soft and shapely.
“ And mine is Carl ,” I said, as I
took the proffered hand.
Just then the cadet I had before ob
served entering tlio Oollego eamo out
and brushed against Leslie llarker in
passing. Hnch a look of mingled hate
and disgust ns eamo over his face I hojx)
never again to see on a human counte
nance. I saw his small white hands
clinch till the nails were buried in the
flesh. He stepped back as suddenly as
though some loathsome reptile Imd
touched him, and I heard him mutter
between his clenched tooth :
“Ourso him, lie does not recognize
me, and it is well for him that lie docs
not.” But, remembering that 1 was
standing near and must have heard his
remark, he turned toward me, and, see
ing the look of surprised inquiry upon
my face, he said :
“ That fellow reminds mo very much
of a person I onco knew.”
“ The remembrance is not. a very
pleasant one, I should judge, from tho
look you gave him as ho passed,” I re
plied, laughing.
To this ho made no reply, and in a
few minutes bade me good evening and
walked into the building.
My curiosity was excited. I felt aa
sured that Leslie Barton knew this man,
and that he had some reason for hating
him with all the strength of his fiery na
ture. I wondered why it was that ho
had endeavored to load me to believe
that ho had only recognized a resem
blance to some ono lie had mice known.
The more I thought about it, the more
deeply interested I became. What puz
zled mo most was that the stranger had
looked directly into Leslie Barton’s face
as he passed him, and I could detect no
sign of recognition on his part. There
was a mystery about theso two, I was
satisfied, and I determined, if possible,
to discover what it was.
During the following day the different
classes were organized for the term, and
the cadets assigned to their rooms. Two
boys occupied each room, and, as every
boy had the privilege of selecting his
room-mate, I sought out Leslie Barton,
and, on the strength of our slight ac
quaintance, asked him if he would oc
cupy tlio same room with me. Ho
seemed surprised at my proposition, and
informed me, rather haughtily, that ho
had made arrangements with Col. W—,
the commandant, to have a room entire
ly to himself.
“ Very well,” I replied, turning away,
but he laid his hand upon my shoulder,
detaining me for a moment, as ho said :
“ I am sorry I cannot room with you,
but I always prefer a room to myself.
We’ll bo good friends, though, won’t
we?”
“ Certainly,” I replied, for I had taken
a strange interest in this pale-faced boy.
I was assigned to a room with Edward
Walton, an overgrown, good-natured
sort of a fellow from Mississippi, who
had attended tho two previous sessions
at the University. He knew everyone
connected with the college, from the
head Professor down to tlio old negro
who attended to the building.
One day, about a week after my arri
val, I was standing in tho hall, in com
pany with Ed, when the cadet who had
so excited my curiosity on the day I
first met Leslie Bart mi passed.
“Do you know that fellow, Ed?” 1
inquired.
“ Oh, yes; that’s Oscar Phelps.”
“ How long has he been attending
school here ?”
“He came in at the beginning of the
last session. Why ?”
“ Nothing, only ho seems pretty old
to be attending school. Do you know
much about him ?”
“Very little. He’s from New Or
leans, I believe, and from the way he
spent money when he was here last year
he must be pretty wealthy. That's
about all I can tell you of him. Fact
is, he is a queer kind of a cuss, who has
very little-to do with the rest of us fel
lows. ”
And that was all I could learn about
Oscar Phelps. I made inquiry of sev
eral other boys, but none of them
seemed to know more about him than 1
had already learned from Ed.
The more I saw of Leslie Barton the
better I liked him. He was of a modest,
retiring disposition, and while he had
rfo intimate friends among the boys, yet
they were all ready to declaro him “a
real good fellow—a little queer in his
notions, but a good one, nevertheless.”
There was one thing that struck me as
peculiar, and that was tha the never re
ceived or wrote any letters, or ever
spoke of his home or relatives. One
day I asked him which Btate he was
from. He replied that he had lived in
so many different States that he claimed
any and all of them as his home. And,
as I saw that he was very reluctant
about conversing upon the subject, I
never referred to it again.
I remember distinctly the first time I
saw Leslie Barton and Oscar Phelps
speak. It was just after our class in
French had recited, one day about two
months after the beginning of tlq> term.
We were lea' ing the recitation-room,
and were just without the door, when
Oscar Phelps walked up beside Leslie
Barton and addressed liim in sneering
tones.
< • j sav, young what’s-yonr-name, yon
always seem to know your French pretty
well; I think I’ll give you a dollar a
week to post me up in all the difficult
translations.”
Leslie Barton turned toward him with
an angry light in his bright, black eyes,
and, regarding him with a haughty stare
for a moment, asked in a voice which he
in vain attempted to make sound natn
ral : .
“ Did you speak to me, sir ?
Oscar smiled in a most sarcastic and
tantalizing manner, as he replied:
“ Yes, did it hurt yon ? ”
“You will please remember, then,
sir, that my name is Leslie Barton, and
unless you can call me by that name
and Vie more respectful in your manner
when addressing me, I would infinitely
prefer that you would not speak to me
at all.”
And, as he finished speaking, he
walked away to his room. Oscar looked
after him for a moment, then, turning
to me, he asked :
“Who the devil is that fellow, any
way? One would think from the way
he acts that it was necessary to remove
one’s cap when speaking to him.
“DUM SPIRO, SPERO.”
HAMILTON, GA„ NOVEMBER 11. 1880.
" His name is Leslie Barton, as he
has just informed you,” I replied, “and
that is all I know of him.”
“ Know where lie's from ?”
“No.”
“ It. strikes me I have met him some
where liefore, but ourso me if I can re
collect where it was. Well, no matter.
I’ll learn him before he leaves this
school that it is bettor to have Oscar
Phelps’ friendship than his enmity.”
*****
Months passed, and it was drawing
near the close of the term. I had never
heard Leslie Barton and Oscar Phelps
exchange a word since the occasion pre
viously mentioned. They seemed to
avoid each other by mutual consent., and,
though 1 had been uuable to fathom the
mystery that l was satisfied connected
theso two, yet 1 hoped that they would
separate at the end of tho term without
having had any trouble with each other.
But I was disappointed, as tho sequel
will show.
One Saturday, just before tlio com
mencement, Leslie Barton met me as I
was on my way to my room, and asked
me if we could a few minutes’ pri
vate conversation together. I replied
in the affirmative, and invited him to
accompany me to my room, secretly
wondering what he could want of me.
After locking the door to preclude the
possibility of an intrusion, we seated
ourselves, and 1 waited impatiently to
hear wluvt his business was.
After a few moments ( during which
time ho appeared lost in thought, lie
suddenly looked up and asked :
“Carl , are you a friend to me?"
“Certainly, Barton," I replied; “ but
why do you ask ? ”
“1 have a favor—a very great, favor—
to ask of you. You are the only one I
have been on ally thing like intimate
terms with since I have been here, and
yet I hardly think our acquaintance has
been of sufficient length to justify me in
expecting the favor I am about to so
licit.”
“ Anything I can possibly do for you
will bo done cheerfully, Barton,” I re
plied, anxious to know what it was ho
washed me to do.
Again he was silent for a brief time.
At length ho spoke :
“ Carl, I am to fight a duel this even
ing.”
“ The devil you are ! ” I exclaimed,
springing up from my chair.
“Yes,” he replied, “ this evening at 5
o’clock. ”
“ With whom?” I asked, having some
what recovered from tho astonishment
his words had caused.
“With Oscar Plieljis. The arrange
ments are alLimode between us. Wo
are to fight in the cedar grove just be
yond the college grounds, with pistols
at toil pacos distance. What I want is
for you to act as my soooud. Will you
doit?”
“But, Barton,” I asked, “have you
thought of what tho consequences may
be ? I liavo heard that Phelps is a dead
shot with a pistol.”
“I have thought of everything,” ho
replied. “You will be surprised, Carl,
when I tell you I came here to limit this
man. Oscar Phelps he calls himself,
but that is not his real name ; what liis
name is, no matter. For two years I
have been seeking him, and only acci
dentally found that he was here under
an assumed name. He has wronged me
so deeply that only liis lifo can atone
for tho injury. My name is not Leslie
Barton, and lam not what I seem. I
might h'.ll you the story of my life, but
it would do no good, and it better rest
untold. Phelps has no idea that lam
the one whom ho so foully wronged in the
years gone by, and I have no wish that
he should know it. One of us, perhaps
both, may fall ; for, as you say, Phelps
in a good shot, but lie has none the ad
vantage of me in that respect.”
“ Now, Carl, knowing what you do,
will you act as my second in this affair?
If you refuse, 1 must fight without one.”
What could I do? Leave this friend
less boy to fight that man, without a
single friend near to see fair play? Jt
was against my nature, and I did what I
think most boys of my age would have
done under similar circumstances—l
agreed to act for him.
“Thank you, Carl,” ho said, taking
my hand. “If you are ever placed in a
position like this, I hope you may find a
friend as true. I have only one request
to make; should I fall, have me buried
in the cedar grove where the fight will
take place, and in the same clothes I am
then wearing. Ydh Will find sufficient
money in the huiidp of the President of
the college to defray all expenses. I
dejKisited it with him' when I paid my
tuition.”
And with that 1# again pressed my
hand, and left the row**.
At twenty minutes to five, I arrrived
at the grove and found Leslie Barton
already there, walking back and forth
beneath the tall cedars, whose thick
I>oughs were so closely interwoven as to
almost entirely exclude the rays of the
setting sun.
As I approached, I noticed that he
had discarded the college uniform, and
was dressed in a neatly-fitting suit of
black broadcloth, and wore upon his
head a narrow-brimmed white hat. He
did not observe me until I was quite
close to him, and then, glancing up with
a smile, he said:
“You are the prince of punctuality.”
“Phelps has not arrived yet?’ I
asked, looking around.
“No; but he will be on tune,” he re
plied. “I never heard of hit being late
on an occasion like the present.”
“Then this is not his first? ” I asked,
in surprise.
“No; Oscar Phelps has made more
than one vacant chair in what, bt.t for
him, would now Vie happy homes.”
“ What kind of pistols will you use?”
I asked.
He stepped to the foot of a large tree,
and picked up a black ebony case, which
I found, upon opening, to contain a pair
of gold-mounted jiistols, the finest 1 had
ever seen. They were Colt’s latest
improved patent, 38 caliber. Buch
a wcapon in the hands of one skilled in
its nse would easily kill a man at forty
yards, and they were to fight at ten
paces. I shuddered.
“ They are coming,” said Barton, in
terrupting me in my examination of the
pistols.
I looked in the direction indicated by
him, mid saw Phelps, accompanied by
a cadet named Mnnifoo, with whom I
Imd but a very slight, acquaintance.
They raised their caps politely as they
came up; Barton acknowledged the
presence of Mumfoo with a haughty sa
lute, lmt did not deign to notice Phelps.
“We ore on time, I presume?" said
Miimfeo, looking at his watch,
“Yes,” I replied, “and have several
minutes to spare before the time ap
pointed.”
“Then let. me sec you a moment," lie
said. And we walked apart from the
others.
“Do you know how this trouble orig
inated ? ” lie asked, when we were out
of hearing,
“ No,” I replied; “don’t you? My
principal did not consider it necessary
to tell me.”
“.lust, the case with mine, f say, this
is going to boa bud business for us, I'm
afraid. They say Phelps is a sure shot."
“Yes, and, from wliat I can learn,
Barton is no indifferent hand with a pis
tol.”
“ I presume those are the weapons to
lie used,” lie said, pointing to the ease I
held in my hand. "Let mo see them,
please. ”
I handed him the pistols, and saw by
the way he handled them that lie was
familiar with such things. He examined
them closely for several moments, anil
then said:
“Ono or tho other of those hoys is
doomed.”
Before I had time to reply Phelps
called to us :
“ Gentlemen, time’s up.”
Wo walked back to where he and Bar
ton were standing, a little apart from
each other, and, having selected suitable
ground, Mumfoo measured off toil paces.
We then carefully loaded tho pistols,
after which I walked to whore Barton
was standiug.
-•Is everything ready?” ho asked, as I
came up to him.
“ Yes. Is there anything you want to
say ?”
“ Nothing, except to thank you for
your kindness to me, and to ask of you
to seo that, my instructions of this morn
ing are carried out. Don’t try to dis
cover wliat my real name is, for it would
be useless."
And without another word he took liis
position. Phelps was already in his
place with liis pistol in his hand. I
handed Leslie the pistol selected for him,
and walked oil'll few steps to his right.
A moment’s silence, and then Mum
fee, who was to give the word, cried out:
“Gentlemen, are you ready?”
“Ready,” came from both.
“One!’ 4
They both raised their pistols, ami the
sharp, metallic “click, click,” of the
locks resounded upon the evening air.
“Two 1”
I looked at Leslie Barton. Not a
muscle moved. His face was hard ami
stern, and there was that same light in
his handsome black eyes that I had no
ticed on the day that Phelps addressed
him in the hall of the college.
“Three 1 ”
Simultaneously the reports of both
pistols rang out—so near together were
they that it seemed that but one pistol
had fired. My eyes were fixed upon
Leslie, and at the crack of the pistols 1
saw him stagger for a moment, drop his
pistol and clasp both his hands over his
left breast, and, before I could resell
him, he had fallen backward to the
ground.
As 1 raised his head upon my knee he
gave one or two gasps, a convulsive shud
der passed over him, and he was still.
Unclasping hiH hands from his breast, I
saw where the ball hail entered, just
over his heart, and I knew that the spirit
of Leslie Barton hail taken its (light
from this world.
Laying his head gently back upon the
ground, I turned and saw Mumfee bend
ing over the .prostrate form of Phelps.
Approaching, I asked :
“ Is he badly hurt.?”
“ Jiiully hurt 1 the devil. Why, he
was dead before he touched the ground.
Look at that,” and he pointed to a bul
let-hole just lie tween the eyes. “How
about Barton ?”
“ lie is dead, too. Bhot directly
through the heart.”
For a time we were both silent. Mum
fee was first, to speak.
“ Well,” he said, rising, “something
must be ilono—one of us must report
this at the college. Will you go ?”
“ Yes,” I replied, and, without, a mo
ment’s delay, hurried to the college. I
found Col. W in his room, and re
ported the affair to him. At first he
seemed to think I was drunk or crazy,
but when I told him that Cadets Barton
and Phelps were lying dead in the ce
dar grove ho sprang from his chair, ex
claiming :
“ And you assisted these two in mur
dering each other ?”
“ f acted as Barton’s second, sir," I
replied.
“ Then go to your room and consider
yourself under close arrest. You will
answer to a higher court than a college
court martial,” and, seizing his hat, no
hurried from the room.
I went np to my room, and threw my
self into a chair. My stab) of mind cau
more easily Vie imagined than described.
In a few minutes 1 heard foots trim as
cending the stairs, and then the key was
turned in my door, from the outside, and
the steady tramp of someone back and
forth before my door told me that a sen
tinel was on guard there.
The hours dragged wearily on, and,
just as the clock in the hall told the hour
of 10, the door was opened and a cadet
came in with orders for me to report to
W immediately. He followed
me down the long hallway, down the
stairs to the door of the Commandant’s
room. I entered, but the guard re
mained on the outside. 1 found Col.
W excitedly walking the floor.
Turning to me, he asked, fiercely :
“ What did you know of Leslie Bar
ton ?”
“ Nothing, Colonel, until to-dav, when
he told me nia name was not Leslie Bar
ton,” I replied.
“Did he tell you what his name
was ?”
“ He did not, but he told mo some
thing else.” And I told him of the con
versation I bad with Barton, and what
be said in reference to injuries received
at the hands of Phelps, and that his only
J. L. DENNIS, Editor.
SI.OO a Year.
object in attending (lie college was to
seek out Phelps, and be revenged.
“Then 1 can toll you something that
von did not know," lie said. “Leslie
Barton ii’in a icomroi. No one over
dreamed of it until since her death. 1
have not the slightest, idea who she was
or where she eamo from, for she declined
to give any place of residence when she
entered. Hut why 1 have sent for you
is t his : You will lie arrested to-morrow
if you are here, and my advice to yon is
to leave to-night, and tlio further you are
from this town to-morrow morning the
safer you will lie. There is a train
leaves in twenty minutes ; wln-n it gis-s
out, lie sure that you are among its pas
sengers. i foii’t bother about your bag
gage: you can write back ami have it
shipped to you."
The ml vice was too good not to be fol
lowed. I went In my room ami changed
my uniform for a plain citizen's clothes,
hurried to the-depot, boarded the train
just iih it was pulling out, and before
daylight the next morning I was in an
other State.
A week afterward I read an account, of
the affair m a newspaper, but so differ
ent was it from wliat, really occurred
that, had it net been for tlio names, I
should have failed to recognize it as the
same.
The mystery was never cleared up.
and in tlio cedar grove where she fell ami
was buried there stands,a marble shaft,
erected by tho cadets of the college,
with the inline of Leslie Barton upon it,
and underneath the Latin injunction,
A 'it mortuus nisi bonum.
I*ll ATT V11.1.K. A Is.
The Franklin Expedition.
It was thirty-five years last .Inly since
Franklin’s ships were for the last time
seen in Baffin’s Bay. Throe years after
ward England sent the first expedition
in search of him and his men, and sinco
that time more than twenty more have
sailed. Little by little and piece by
piece, they have brought home the relics
and mementoes which have gradually
told tho story of the fate that overtook
them in that land of perpetual ice. For
many years, there were Heating about
vague beliefs that lie and bis men were
still alive, anil might one day bo found
again. This tradition was fostered by
Lady Franklin’s devotion to her hus
band’s memory, anil her heroic measures
for discovering the secret locked up some
where in the dreary Arctic wastes. Her
bereavement infected the sympathies of
the civilized world, and the crusades
which were preached and led, sometimes
by English pluck, often by American
enterprise, have at last brought back tlio
tidings that nothing more can over bo
known.
In 1854 skeletons of some of the men
were discovered. In 18511 a paper found
ilia cairn where it had been placed by
one of Franklin’s officers, briefly saying
“Hir John Franklin died on the 11th of
June, 1847,” blotted out the faint figures
which the Imagination fancied it saw still
moving in that northern twilight, and
nearly destroyed Lady’s Franklin's grief
stricken miiul. Then half a dozen
Biiooiiß, inwrought with Hir John Frank
lin's crest, were, in 1872, given by a na
tivo to Captain Barry, an American ex
plorer, with the statement that he had
taken them from a cairn 700 miles dis
tant, where books anil other relics still
remained. Captain Barry, with Lieuten
ant Hchwatka, were, two years ago, sent
out by the enterprizo of New York mer
chants, and landed at the heud ol lit pulse
Bay. Thence, going and returning, they
made a sledge journey of 3,000 miles,
traveling over ice anil snow, and, what
was still more difficult, ove.r broken and
jagged clay stone, with marshes inter
vening, ami covered with patches of
brown and green moss, with purple How
ers peeping through the crevices of the
stones. On this journey they lived and
preserved their health by eating the lood
which the Exquimaux eat and the game
which in sqpie places abounded. I luring
the winter the thermometer was fre
quently from 59 to 60 degrees below zero,
anil, at one time, fell to 103.
They found no cairn, ait was told to
Captain Barry, but they discovered sev
eral skeletons, a ship’s boat, or rather the
prow and stern post, with a few elink
orod boards still holding together, gilt
navy buttons, copper anil ir.-m bolts,
shot, cartridges, powder-cans, barrels,
broken medicine and wine bottles, axes
ami a few barrel staves. The rigid clim
ate had preserved, for over thirty years,
pieces of navy blue cloth which wero
scattered along the shores of the inlets.
With the exception of a scrap of paper
marked with an index finger pointing
southerly, no writing of any sort was
found.
And so, after enduring great hardships
but no great suffering, the ex]Kidit,ion
returned, still leaving to the Exquimuax
and the eternal cold the remains of
Franklin and his crew. Beyond the fact
that they abandoned their vessels, the
Erebus anil Terror, and attempted to drag
their boats overland in the hopes of
launching them in the open water again,
nothing is yet, nothing probably ever
will lie, definitely known of their strug
gle and their end.
Mr*. Smlth’H Revenge.
A little woman and two children made
their appearance, lout trammer, at the
Grand Central, in Tahoe City, Lake
Bigler. The woman wuh plainly dressed,
and so were both of her children. They
were not taken much notice of, and no
one called to make the acquaintance of
the modest little lady in plain clothes.
Then the woman, who saw herself snub
bed every day, got her duiuler up and
sent down to Han Francisco for the bal
ance of her clothes, and likewise her
children’s. They came. Next morning
she appeared at the breakfast-table with
a toilet from Worth, and her diamonds
dazzled everybody.
“Oh, good morning, Mrs. Smith,”
came from all sides.
But this v.as only the beginning of the
toilet boom. At lunch she was simply
magnificent, and at dinner overpowering.
She had nine Saratoga trunks to draw
from, and her little daughter’s evening
dress created a regular furor. Now came
her turn to put on airs. She simply
treated everybody with the coolest kind
of politeness, (if course she was civil,
but didn’t overdo cordiality to any ex
tent. After overwhelming the place a
! few days with an avalanche of style, she
sent her trunks bark to San Francisco
j and resumed her plain $25 suit.—Curso/i
Appeal.
PITH AND POINT.
A oratb singer—Tlio toa-kettlo.
A roi.K light man—Tlio lamplighter.
Asa physiological fact it may lie man
tinned that negroes are not light-fin
gered.
Tint man who died in harness probo*.
lily forgot to shuffle off his mortal coil.
Wintuit to go when short of money—
Go to work.
Hthanok to say, when the mosquito is
on tho wing he is always at hum.
• LltoNinas was one of the original
deadheads. Ho hold the pass at Ther
mopylae.
Is it on eridenco of a low taste when
a man gets on liis knees to drink from a
brook ?
Hah it ever ooonrrod to linse-hall men
that a milk pitcher is generally a good
tty-catcher I
Thbrh is not much danger when it
rains “oats and dogs;" but, when it
Bpitz dogs, look out.
Tub baker’H business should hs profit
able ; a good part of his stoek is rising
wliilo ho sleeps.
AlilitmiHO to Beecher's estimate that
one female house-fly will lav 20,(XX)
eggs in a season, the Church Union
thinks “it is a pity a fly oouliln't tie
grafted on a hen.”
Womkn have cliook enough to wear
men’s hats on their heads, but there is
one thing they dare not do: Net one of
them dare remove liur lint in public and
dust off tlio bald B|Mit. —Detroit Free
Press.
Toubist —"I say, bov, what's the
name of Unit hill yonuor?” Boy—
“Diuino.” Tourist—" Don’t know?
Wliat 1 lived here all your life and don’t
know the name of it?” Boy—“No;
the hill was hero afore I oom’d."
“Dm you find Mr. Bpriggins, Pat
rick?” “I did, surr.” “What did he
say?” “Niver aworrud, surr." "Not
a word? Not a word? Why not, Pat
rick?” “Because ho was nut, surr,”
“Outl I thought you said you found
him.” “I did, sun - , found him out.”
A man out West obtained a divorce
from liis wife anil married again within
three days after the decree was granted.
An Irishman, commenting on tho man's
action, remarked : “Bedad, 1m couldn't
have had much roHpiot for his first wife,
to be marrying again so soon after
leavin’ her.’
A Gai.vkhton school-teacher hod a
great deal of trouble making a boy un
derstand his lesson. Finally, however,
he succeeded, and, drawing a long breath,
he remarked to the boy, “If it wasn’t
for mo you’d lie the greatest donkey on
Galvestoia island.”
A ohay hair was espied among tli
raven locks of a charming young lady.
“ Oh, pray pull it out I” she oiclaimed.
"If I pull it out ton more will come to
the funeral,” replied the one who made
the unwelcome discovery. “ Pluck it
out, nevertheless," said tlio dork-haired
damsel ; " it’s no consequence how many
come to the funeral, provided they all
come in blook. ”
What lio was quick at—A clerk was
discharged, and asked the reason. “You
are so awful slow about everything,”
said his employer. “ You do me on in
justice,” responded tho clerk. “There
is ono thing lam not slow about.” “ I
should liko to hear you name it,” sneered
the employer. “ Well,” said the clerk,
slowly, “ nobody can get tired as quick
os I oan,” ________
They Can’t Help It.
There is u limit beyond which tho
housewife who has eagerly plunged into
the cunning anil preserving season can
not go. There are only 1,(100 known
methods of putting up iieaches. It may
take her sometime to get to the last oue,
lmt she’ll reach it in time. The latest
estimate places the number of fruit jars
on sale in this country at 80,000,000. No
housewife can socure more than her pro
iHirtion of these. After she has asked
iier husband seventy-eight consecutive
times to “send up another dozen of those
cans,” there must come a lull. Who may
then demand her share of the crocks
and jars and jolly tumblers of this great
mid growing country, but winter is only
three months away. By anil by there
will come an end to this asking for “an
other twenty pounds of that same kind
of sugar.” The stock on hand in this
country will not. allow any family to con
sume over 5,000 pounds in putting up
preserves. Tho woman who f?oes lie
yond that must do so at her peril. While
the average husband feels a thrill of ex
altation ns he realizes that plums lire
played, he must not be plunged into
despair to loam that poaches will go down
l/i fifty cents before tho last of tho crop
is in, and that pears were never known
to lie so plenty. No cellar can hold more
than it can. After the jugs and jars and
cans mid pitchers are stacked from floor
to joioe, the wife has either got to lay off
her big apron and quit or else rent spooo
from tlio neighbors, and tlio ohonoes will
be that they will have none to spare. In
two weeks more she'll liavo to gwe up on
ponchos and pears. Then ■bo’ll begin
on tomato pickles and oatsup, jump to
cucumbers—slide off on apple butter—
work up a bushel of quinces—boil down
a barrel of cider, and then sit down and
givo up the unequal struggle. That is
she’ll suddenly remember that every oan
und jar and jug must be lifted up or taken
down and opened and heated over, and
if perchance she finishos the job liefore
spring the iniuoe-pie season will serve to
keep the house stirred up. They were
born that way, and men must suffer and
endure.— Detroit Free Press.
She Was Strictly Temperate.
“Why,” thundered an impassioned
orator at a temperance mass meeting,
‘.‘in only one year, in twelve short
months, the people of tho United States
drank 27,867,915 gallons of beer, and
7,853,291 gallons of whisky! How much
of that hideous aggregate did you drink?”
he shrieked, glaring around at the re
spectable vice-presidents on the platform.
And in the impressive pause that followed
tho corresponding secretary arose, and
said that with the exception of the tonio
drops sho was compelled to take before
breakfast and tho anti-malarial bitters
that Dr. Bolus prescribed for her, and a
little pale ale for her digestion and a pin!
of beer at night, which jhe couldn’t dose
an eye in sleep without it, and maybe an
occasional drop of brandy for the
neuralagy, she had not tasted a drop of
spiritual or ferventuous liquids since she
joined the society. And a great hush
fell upon the meeting, like the voice of a
man who has just been asked for the loan
of ton dollars. —Burlington Hawkeyf.
Remedy for Bone Felons.
Tho London Lancet , which is author
ity on such subjects, gives the following
unique cure for bone felons :
As soon as the disease is felt, put di
rectly over the spot a fly-blister about
the Hize of your thumb-nail, and let it
remain for six hours, at the end of which
time, directly under tho surface of the
blister, may lie aeon the felon, which
can be instantly taken out with the
point of a needle or lancet.