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TheBainbridge Weekly Democrat.
RUSSELL, Editor and Proprietor.
JME 4.
‘Here Shall the Press the People’s Rights Maintain, Unawed by Influence and Unbribed by Gain.”
TERMS; $2.00 Per Annum.
BAINBRIDGE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 5 1875.
TIMELY TOPICS.
yO The y< llow lever is at PenBaoola. It
unusually early for this dreaded man
7-- estation. In some of the mo3t de
vastating yellow fever seasons the dis-
' ase has Dot shown itself on the gulf
jjjsjr.’oist until September.
ears
The plague, or Black Death, has
waked from its thirty years sleep in the
cast, and is reported to be spreading
with rapidity in Asia. About eighty-
live years ago, it desolated Russia, and
one hundred and fiftyjears have passed
since it ravaged nnd almost depopu
lated some parts of Europe,
Tub postoffice department has sent
to the department of justice the names
of thirty-nine mail contractors who are
to bo prosecuted for failure to perform
service after their bids were accepted.
The contracts were relet by the gov
ernment, and the difference between
the amount paid and the bids, for the
thirty-nine routes, was $-117,087, which
is the nmount of damages claimed
ngaiust the delinquent bidders.
TnE German minister of finance re-
porta a deficiency in the Budget for this
year of $5,000,000, and the tax on beer
is to be raised—a proceeding which will
be immensely unpopular in Germany,
where everybody consumes largely of
the ruby liquid. Such a large deficiency
as $5,000,000 would seem singular, with
the millions which have been paid by
Franco, were it not apparent that Ger
many has been putting all her money
nto her armies.
The Boston Journal of Chemistry re
grets that the millers use all their
finest, soundest wheat for fine flour, and
the poorest for Graham or brown bread,
a genoral name given to mixtures of
bran and spoiled flour. “What we
need is good, sweet, whole wheat flour
finely ground, and put up secure
ly for family use, and any western mil,
or who will give his earnest attention
to furnishing suoh flour will realize a
fortune speedily; securing the most
nutritive principles the Creator has
stored up for man’s food.”
NUMBER 43.
states three per cent. Gnlf states, in
land southern states, twelve per cent.,
states north of Ohio seven, west of the
Mississippi fourteen per cent. The
condition of the crop is below an aver
age in the New England and South At
lantic states. The minimnm condition,
eighty-two per cent,, being in Rhode
Island, Florida and Alabama are also
below the average, but other Golf
states and inland southern states are
about the maximum, 112 in Mississippi.
All pother states except Missonri, 103
are below the average, the minimnm
eighty-two being in Wisconsin.
THE GRAVE’S VOICES.
Sunk ax In dreams, and loxt in anxious tbonxht
My footsteps brought roe to this locely sj*ot. .
To whom belong* ih<s field ? this flowery bed ?
“ The dead.”
Rogers, and a fine old gentleman be
was, with a good property that he had
amassed by hard work. But Breece
was a wild lad from the first; and as
soon as he came of age he grew worse,
Enter thoa in, my sonl; why xbonldst thon fear ? i • . . .... . - —i
Nought but sweet buds and flowers are blooming I instead of better, ana in three vears
rrv„ .. _ time had spent, all his own pronertv
Whence comes the essence for these sweet per-I i *1 iA_ i—A- 7fV,
The substance of Jno. D. Lee’s con
fession is that thirty Mormons, with the
assistance of a large number of Indians,
decoyed emigrants from their entrench
ment by a flag of truce ; that all were
murdered except seventeen children;
that the deed was done under orders of
the leaders of the Mormon Church;
that ho took news of the massacre to
Brigham Young, who deplored the
transaction, and said it would bring
disaster upon the Mormon people. The
statement of Lee, so far as knowD, only
confirms preaious reports in regard to
the massacre.
Since the first of June, wheat has
advanced thirty-three cents in the
Chicago market. If the reports at hand
are reliable, the wheat crop of Europe
will bo almost an entire failure, and
consequently the demand upon our
products will be unprecedented. This
will ensuro the prodaoer good paying
prices for tbo products of his farm for
at least a year to come. While Great
Britain and the continent may suffer,
the people of America will be greatly
benefited. Just when the advance in
prices will cease it would be hazardous
to predict.
Tnu clerical newspapers in France
speculate on the causes of the great
Hood with some asperity. It appears
that the municipal council of Toulouse
recently refused to erect a statue to
“the glorious and miraculous shep
herdess of Pibrao,” oud one of the coun
cilors said, “We prefer a fountain.”
Whereupon the Gazette de Nimes now
remarks, “God has fulfilled the wish of
tbeso honorable councilors and sent a
fountain to the capital of Laguedcc
which they little expected. Had the
town voted the required sum Divine
Trovidence,” says the editor, “would
never Lave treated Toulouse so. se
verely.” It is understood that the
bishop of Chartres is ot the same
opinion.
That most insufferable of all idiots,
the practical joker, does not always
escape on earth the wrath that is laid
up for him. There lived and taught
school in St. James parish, Louisiana,
recently, a man by tho name of Bow
den, a well-meaning person, but af
flicted with that peculiar sense of
humor which is sure to get somebody
or other into trouble sooner or later.
One of his most successful jokes was
that of displaying advertising bills
printed in imitation of greenbacks, and
offering to bet hundreds ana thousands
of dollars with people who didn’t know
that he was fooling. The other day an
offensive smell coming from an out*
house led to a search for the cause, and
the corpse of Bowden was found
beneath the floor and under a covering
of corn husks, where it was rapidly
decaying. A Swedish plantation hand,
who had seen him displaying his imita-
tion bills, had mistaken him for a per
son of large and available means, and
had murdered him for his money. The
Swede is now a fugitive, and he feels
doubly the weight of the joke, for he
got no money, and the Governor has
offered $1,000 for his arrest.
Ptof. Donaldson, the aeronaut,
has been traveling in company with
Barnum’s Hippodrome, and making bal
loon ascensions after the conclusion of
tho afternoon performances, made his
second trip frum Chicago on the 15th,
accompanied by Mr. Newton S. Grim-
wood, a reporter of the Chicago Journal.
After ascendiDg into the air the balloon
took a northeasterly course, sailing
over the lake in the direction of Mus
kegon, Mich. About seven o’clock in
the evening it was sighted by a schooner
about thirty miles northeast of Chicago,
at which time the balloon was skim
ming the surface of the lake. The
schooner followed after it until it was
observed to rise suddenly into the air,
when the chase was given up. A very
severe gale occurred on the lake
about midnight, and, as no further tid
ings had been received in Chicago from
the balloon or its occupants up to the
moruing of the 17th, grave apprehen
sions were felt for their safety. It was
the opinion of experts that the balloon
could not possibly have reached the
Michigan shore before the storm burst
upon it, and that the aeronauts per
ished in the lake. It is said by some
that the balloon was a rotten, patched
up affair.
and then his father died, leaving him
his. That waa scarpe two years ago,
but the fine estate is nigh used np with
fast living, and the young i ran is going
to the bad, ma’am, as quid as he can
go. He is a handsondb led, but a wild
one, and will never VL^ii ne’er-do-well,
“ And now, Rose,” mamma said, after
reporting this conversation to me, “you
must discourage any further attentions
from this Breece Rogers. He is no
companion for you, the betrothed of
Rolliu Weatherbee. think we have
been sufficiently kind to him for the
service he did you, and I do hope the
acquaintance, or at least the familiar
footing on which he has placed himself,
will be discontinued in the future. It
is not proper for a bride-elect to be as
sociated so familiarly with a strange
youDg man of whom she knows no good.
You should tell him of your approach
ing marriage, and then his attentions
AVON- wonld undoubtedly cease, if he has any
sense of honor whatever.”
A wet east wind came blowing across I The necessity was saved tpe. That
the moore, that stretched eastward from veiY ^ ern 5 1on mother to , > the task
Merideth House. A wet wind, that ™ pon herse } { ; Breece came t^cMerideth
blew nobody good, but was full of I House, and found me absenfttgathering
miasma, sn 1 heavy with the odor Q f mo8 ^ e ’- Be sat down m the tool porch,
decaying nature. I sat by the window f nd * e * c ^ at,tl °8> ia hiB fight, care-
and looked out upon the dreary autumn -f 8 ,*’ eas ^ ^th my mother. How
landscape, almost hidden now by the ^ happened * do n °t know, but mother
shadows of the dreary autumn gloam- mana 8 ed s P e& k of my approaching
in nr I nifliriEge,
Mamma moved the lamp upon the
table, so that its rays fell upon the win- * vfn la 5 Up to t he . M ® nd ? th
dow near which I was sitting, and out fi f nre stood leaning
upon the gravel walk beyond, lighting a t he ^ne gateway, as I saunted
small space with the radiant of day. of m088es - Good
I trazed out Hstlesslv VA J ev «?mg, I said, gay
*' Frem tombs.”
Ssp hers, O man ! where gll tby paths most end,
However varied be the way they wend.
Listen! the dead leaves speak, 'ay, hear they must
“ To dnst.”
Where are the careless heirts that on the earth
Trembled in pain, or beat so high in mirth ?
Those in whose breasts the flame of hatred smoul
dered 1
“ Mouldered.”
Where are the mighty who take life by storm ?
Who e en to heaven’s heights witd wisheR form ?
nii&t croak the ravens on yon inoss-prown wall ?
“ Bnried all.”
Where are the dear ones in death’s cold sleep lying,
To whom love swore a memory undying?
What wail yon cypress trees?—oh, hear’st thon not?
“ Forgot.”
To see where these once passed, did no eye crave
May no wild longing pierce beyend the grave?
The fir trees shake their weird heads one by one;
“ None, none.”
The evening wind amid the trees is sighing;
Fettered in dreams, my saddened soul is lying,
The twilight falls, tie red glow paleth fast—
“ ’Tie past.”
THE
LIGHT-HOUSE
DALE.
AT
gayly. “Will you
walk up with mu ?”
He did not answer, save to step for-
The committee appointed by the
Delaware Fruit Growers’ convention to
roufeiwitli the steamship companies in
regard to the shipment of peaches to
Liverpool have reported that they called
n pon the authorities of the American
steamship company, and they favored
project. The company would allow
the prowers to fit np the steerage for
ward ci bin with their refrigerators,
which can bo done with five hundred
dollars for each vessel. This portion of
the ship would hold 25,000 or 30,000
baskets, and a compartment immedi-
diately underneath oould be fitted up
Tvhicli would carry 6,000 additional.
They would charge the growers for the
shipment of this amount of fruit to
Liverpool about two thousand dollars,
aud give them the privilege of Bending
°ut an agent free of charge with each
consignment.
The July returns to the department.
°f agr.culture shows that the acreage in
corn is about three per cent, greater
ihuu last year. New England has in
creased her acreage about eleven per
cent, and the Pacific states about one
Per cent. All the great corn growing
re gions have increased acreage—Mid-
sle states two per cent., South Atlantic
Beautiful Villas Up the Hudson Beg
ging for Purchasers.
Within the past season a well-known
estate on the Upper Hudson, beautifully
situated and carefully laid out, which
cost the owner $100,000, was sold for
lesB than the mortgage upon it, or for
$30,000. As the traveler sails up the
Hudson from N«wburg he will within a
short distance see three fine properties,
one cf which belonged to a British
embassador, an ether to one of our
foreign ministers, and the other to an
equally prominent person, all of which
are in the market, unsalable and nnrent-
able—one, indeed, being turned into a
brick-yard. Passing still further np
the stately river, the traveler will be
pointed to other splendid properties
belonging to old manorial estates—
some whose titles came from tho British
crown, and others whose deeds were
signed by the Indian chiefs—now utterly
worthless as sources of profit, the ex
penses of keeping them up exceeding
any rent possible for them, and they
themselves not finding a buyer at the
prices of the mortgages upon them
These places, too, it should be re
marked, are among the finest in the
northern stateB, with handsome lawns
and gardens, old trees and parks, and
superb views of river and mountain.
The houses themselves are perhaps
old, but not uncomfortable, and they
are easy of access by boat and railroad.
The same state of things prevails far
ther from the river. There is one place
in Dutchess county which is said to
have cost $25,000, and which could not
be rented, and probably not sold, for a
third of its value.
In the interior of the Btate there are
numerous other estates in the same
plight.—N. Y. Times.
gazed out listlessly. v A figure came
out from the dark shadows, into the
I - Afi-jwas* arc
up at the window, the blaze of light & * h house * down toward
falling upon his handsome, daring face. - u- « .
I bit my lips to keep back a sfream, T t 5 “ d
and my heart thumped so loudly I feared °f hls * yes
—* “• ““ «*■' £&£££& „ W LSSflfi S
spoke.
side smiled, and made a gesture which
signified “Come out.” ±tat I turned
my face away, determined not to betray
my knowledge of his presence. Why
did he haunt me so, when he knew how
I had determined to forgot him—when
he knew how absolutely necessary it
was that I should put all thoughts of
“ Is this thing true that your mother
tells me ?” he asked.
“ What thing ?” I almost whispered.
“ You know 1” he answered, fiercely.
“ Is it true that you are to be the wife
of a white-faced aristocrat next Octo-
him out of my mind, now and forever. Ler ? That you are here to m^ke your
Mamma’s voice broke the oppressive P r f p -S rat !? n ™’ . , i
silence. «I hope this is not the fore- , Y ® 8 - T1 je word came reluctantly,
runner of the equinoctial storm,” she I and a g^P* He took my
said, ** but I almost fear it is. It will in ail< i looked down upon me,
be an unsafe time for ships to cross the s hall not—-you shall not I” he
lake, if tho storih comes on with its • *‘1 l°v© you, you afemjpe, now
usual force. Rollin will be here Thurs- and f° rever -
day night, he wrote, and this is Qatar- Before I could speak or woocWj;, be
day. I hope the stotm Will blow over bad taken me in bis dims, anui co‘| .rain-
in a day or two. t should not like to ing kisses upon my lips. I waA J bung,
have your wedding postponed on any romantic, and impulsive. This iLian had
account. It is an evil omen.” * aroused a strange feeling in my breast,
“Mv wedding!” yes, I was to be I ^bat now, as I lay in his arms, I believed
married the following Friday to Rollin p u8 ^be love. I could see the reckless
Weatherbee, heir of the Wetherbee beauty of his face as it bent above me,
estates, and tbo Wetherbee pride aDd and ahnost unconsciously I. c asped my
blondasbeauty. I had been engaged to arr ? s ®bout his neck, sobbing* wildly,
him two years, and all that time it had ®n d /whispering, Oh, if I bad only
been understood that 1 should wed him eoonet “ “ *ere not too
on my eighteenth birthday, and the Ia ” • . . . , , „ ,
day drew very near. I had loved him . 18 no , . ? be cried, pas-
very dearly, I thought, and was very I sionately, straining me to bis heart,
proml of him. But three months ago, _ Yoa ar ® , mme * aud for a11 time,
a few months after our arrival at the You must b9 my wife !
Merideth House, where we had come to But I cannot, I sobbed, I am
remain until after the wedding, I met | weddin g-day
with a little adventure, which had "
diaws near.”
altered the Whole matter, so far as 1 was | “ ^ care nothing for that,
concerned, and put my foolish young
heart in a tumuli. I was out for a gal
lop, on my pony Sinbad, when a gale of
wed me, ana no other,
j yon np.”
Elis imperious manner,
You must
I cannot give
bis
lmpas-
—A popular theatrical manager says
he has been the means of keeping be
tween two and three hundred youDg
ladies off the stage within the space of
five years. “ One reason was,” said he,
“because they had no talent, and an
other was because I knew that before
they had been in the profession many
weeks they would be heartily sick and
tired of it The life of an actor is a
hard one. People come,” said he, “and
see the actor walking aronnd the stage,
speaking a few lines, dressed in mag
nificent dothes, and winning the ap
plause of the multitude. ‘How de
lightful!' they exclaim. ‘Nothing in
the world to do but to dress well and
look j ire tty.’ They do not know what a
dog’s life it is. And traveling through
the country is the hardest work of all.
Out t ill twelve ana one o’clock at night,
and ent of bed by four or five in the
morning to take an early train to the
next town. Sometimes they do not get
to bed ht alb”
wind came up, and my hat was blown sioned earnestness, aroused my girlish
from my head. I felt it going, and admiration. He seemed like some
threw up both hands, just as Sinbad, knight of olden romance to me, beside
with a snort, gave a leap which unseated whom Rollin Weatherbee, with his pa-
me; and I toppled over his side, and trician beauty: was completely over
down upon the ground, and lay stunned Bhadowed. We walked long in the
for a moment, while Sinbad galloped gloaming, be pleading, I hesitating,
away. I was not seriously hurt, only almost yielding, but leaving him at
stunned, and soon rose to my feet, and length with no definite decision. For
brushed my taDgle of brown hair out of three weeks I met Rogera clandestinely
my eyes, to see Sinbad struggling to each day, and listened to his words of
free his bit from the iron grip of a passionate devotion, and let him im-
ninil’s hand. A young man, with a print warm kisses npon my lips. Day
lithe, erect figure, dressed in a hunting after day he urged me to fly with him ;
suit, that well displayed the tiger-like but, though I believed I loved him,
grace of his persen. He held the better than I had ever lov?d Rollin
frightened animal until he ceased to Weatherbee, I hesitated to make him
plunge and rear, and then led him to- promise, and a strange fear of him
ward me, touching his cap lightly as he held me back from flight. Yet each
neared me, and looking me through day my resolution grew weaker, each
with his dark eyes. “I beg pardon,” day the man s hold upon me, and power
he said ; “I saw the accident that befell over me, became stronger. At last
you, and was just in time to catch your came an afternoon late in September,
beast by the bit as he plnnged by. 111 was to meet Breeee that evening, and
hope you are not seriously injured.”
“ Not at all,” I answered. “ Only a
little bruised. Thank you for saving
me a two mile tramp home, to find
mamma frightened to death at the re
turn of Sinbad without me.”
He assisted me into the saddle, and |
walked by my side, on toward Merideth
House.
stood looking out at the gorgeous sun
set, with a heart full of contending
emotions, when mamma came into the
room. “ Rose,” she said, “ you remem
ber Breece Rogers, who came here so
often some time ago ?”
Remember him! but I only said,
“ Yes, mother,” in a very low voice.
Well, Harwood tells me a painful
I am going to see you safe home, I thing in connection with him. Shs
unless you forbid it,” he said. “ You says her husband tells her it is the
may have received injuries that you do neighborhood talk now. It seems there
not kEow of, and I do not think it safe is a very lovely young girl, a gardener’s
for you to ride home atone. You are daughter, Cora Smith by name, whom
very pale, I assure you, and your hands Breece has been very attentive to for
unsteady at the rein.” some months. The girl’s father says
I did feel nervous and weak, and was I is betrothed to him. At all events
not at all unwilling the young stranger
should walk at my side; he looked so
handsome, with his gun slung care
lessly over his shoulder, and his rather
he has been a most ardent lover, for a
year or more, and now, without a word,
or any apparent cause, he has deserted
her. Has not been near her for two
reckless face turned up to me. He I months, and the girl iaveiy ill—calling
walked by my side to the house, and, tor constantly, but he does not go
at my urgent request, cime in and re- near her. It is thought she will die.
ceived mamma’s thanks for what he She is a poor, frail, childish thing, and
had done. He bowed with princely I never knew what it was to anffer before,
grace, saying,” “Breece Roger, ma - R « very sad. What a heartless villain
dame, is highly honored in having the I must be,
opportunity to do you or your daughter My heart seemed to die within me.
a service.” And then he left us, with A rush of emotions, shame, anger, grief,
one last glance of his dark passionate misplaced love, and wounded pride I
eyes. fought together in my breast. Oh ! how
The very next day he came back, mean the man was whom I had placed
bringing my scarf, which was lost when above Rollin Weatherbee in my heart’s
I fefl from my horse. And after that affection. How I despised him from
he came off and on, whenever he oouid that moment. Then I began to think it
find s pretext or excuse, until mamma might not be so—there might be some
became annoyed at the frequency of mistake. “ I will go to him to-night,”
his calls ; and, fearing that he was not I thought, “ and I shall know.”
a s uitable person for an associate, I did go, when the shadows of the
made inquiries of the man who had gloaming settled down over the earth,
taken charge of the Merideth House all I found him waiting for me. He held
tne years we were absent. What he | out his arms, but I stood aloof,
told her did not help the matter any. “Go to Cora Smith,” I said. “She
“Breece Rogers, m’am ! Yes, I know is entitled to your caresses—she wagts
him. His father was old ’Squire 1 them—I do not.”
I needed no further proof ot his guilt,
ffis face turned crimson from brow to
ohm—and then pale as death. “What
i ^ 0 ?-.^ mcnr °* "®r ?” be cried, hoarse-
*7’ ' Who has been telling you lies?”
. “ No one,” I answered. “ Your face
« a proof of the truth of all I have
heard. I will make this our last meet
ing. My eyes are opened in time,
God. I do not want to set them upon
you again. Do not try to see me, for it
will be useless. I utterly despise you.
Go back to the only person who believes
you worthy of love—who is dying for
you.”
I turned and sped back to the house,
and for two weeks scarcely stepped
outside its walls. I was ill ir mind and
body. My romantic folly, that I had
called love, died suddenly, at one blow,
and I knew that there was only one
man that I loved, or ever had loved, and
that one man was Rollin Weatherbee.
Bat my heart was filled with regrets for
my past folly, and fears for what might
follow.- But two weeks passed by, and
I heard no word and saw nothing of
Breece Rogers, until that chill October
night, when my story opens.
I tamed my face away, lest the light
of those dark eyes shoold bring back
the old delirium. For at that one
glance I felt the blood leap through my
veins, and a strange glow shoot through
my heart. I thoroughly despised this
man, yet he had a power over me still.
A woman who has ever been held in a
man’s arms, and felt iiis kisses npon
her lips, can never so learn to despise
or forget him that the sight of his face
will not sometimes move her. At length I
arose and moved away from the window.
A second later something struck the
glass with a sharp cliok.
“ What was that ? ” asked mamma.
“The wind hurled something against
the window-pane,” I answered. A mo
ment later and it was repeated. “Why.
it sounds like something thrown against
the glass,” mamma said. “Tell Har
wood to see what it is, Rose.”
I got np and went out of the room. I
knew it was useless to resist Breece
Rogers’ summons longer. I must go
and see what he wanted. I threw a
dark cloak over my shoulders, and went
out. He heard the door open, and
glided into the shadow again.
“ What do you want ?” I asked, ieily.
“ Why are you here ? I told you never
to approach me again.”
“ Yes, but you were angry then. You
have had time to think more kindly of
me since, and I came to tell you that
Cora ia dead. She died last night, and
with her dying lips she forgave me
whatever wrong I have done her. I
was with her and caught her last breath.
If she could forgive me, surely you
ought. I know that I did her a great
wrong, but I repent of it, and she has
forgiven me, will you do the same, and
come to me ? ’*
He took a step toward me, but I re
treated. “I have nothing to forgive.”
I answered, coldly. “If she whom
you so wronged has forgiven you, well
and good. I owe you l.o ill will, but I
do not love or respect you now, and
never can.”
“Rose !” he cried, “you are cruel!
Oh, come to me, and fly before it is too
late.”
Hush!” I said, sternly. “ All that
Wild folly is past and forever. I shall
be the wife of Rollin Weatherbee next
week at this time, and far from here.
The wife of the only man I ever loved.
That mad fancy I conceived from yon
died as suddenly as it sprang to life,
and never can live again. Go away
now and leave me. Good-night and
good-by.”
I sped back into the house, and
locked the door behind me, leaving
him alone in the darkness. I found
mamma had fallen to sleep in her chair
by the stove, and was relieved that I
would thus be spared answering her
questions.
The wind blew colder and harsher
across the moorlands. A dreary rain
began to fall, and the night settled
down, desolate and lonely. Merideth
Honse was oppressively quiet, and my
heart was full of sad forebodings. What
if the dreadful autnmnal storms should
come on just after Rollin embarked for
Avondale! What if the ship went
down in the waters of the lake, and he
never came to me? Would it not be a
just punishment for my wild folly?
Had I not been untrue to him in
thought, and almost broken my vows,
and fled with another, and that other
abase-hearted, unprincipled villain?
Had I not let bis kieses fall on my
lips, and listened to his words of love?
Oh! I was ashamed—ashamed; and I
hid my face in my hands praying God
to forgive me, and send Rollin to me in
safety.
The days that followed were damp
and chill, with mist and wet east winds.
But the dreaded storm did not come on.
Each night I went to rest with a heart
full of anxious fear ; each morning I
arose thankful to find only wet winds
and sombre clouds. Thursday morning
came, gray, cold, chill, like the ones
that had preceded it. Thursday night
the ship Cora Bell was expected, and by
that ship Rollin Weatherbee would
come to me.
I was restless and uneasy all the long
day. No glimmer of sunshine lighted
the dull, gray skies. A damp mist fell,
and the cold eaBt wind blew over the
moor. By night I was almost hysteri
cal, and my heart was like lead in my
breast. “A wan-faced bride ye’ll be, if
ye dinna brighten up a bit.” Harwood
aaid to me, and I did not wonder as I
caught sight of my dead white face in
the mirror.
The evening came on dark and deso
late. No moon, no Btars, only a gray
sky, varied here and there with dense
black clouds. I could not stay in the
house. It seemed like a prison to me,
and, seizing a cloak, I threw the hood
over my head, the cape over my
shoulders, and walked down the avenue,
and leaning on the stone pillars of the
grate, looked out toward the lake.
Suddenly something caught my eye; it
was a bright fight, high up in the air.
“A light house, of course,” I said
mentally, “but why have I never seen
it before? That is not the light-house
that directs ships to Avondale landing,
for the landing is exactly opposite
Merideth House. I have seen the light
night after night from my chamber
window.” I turned my eyes in the
direction of the landing. It was dark
as pitch, Put off to the left, full half a 1
mile, shone that brilliant lighk Sud
denly a thought struck me. “My God,'
it is the light house on the rocks!” I
cried, and my heart seemed to stand
still. I remembered that I had been
out there onoe in my boat. An old
fisherman sitting on the rocks, and
dropping his line in the water, had
answered my queries oonoerning the
light-house. “It is where the red light
is hoisted of a very stormy night,” he
said. “Not often used, miss, for the
beaoon at Avondale guides the ships
safely to ihe landing. But this is
lighted sometimes to show where the
danger lies, if the night is o’er danger
ous.’*
His words all came back to me now
with a dreadful distinctness. The light
seemed to burn into my very eye-balls
—the light that shown olear and bright,
not the red signal of daoger-
ou the .cruel rooks. Q nick as
one had lighted the lamp to wreck the
Cora Bell upon the rocks. Who could
that some one be but Breece Rogers!
He knew Rollin Weatherbee was com
ing to me on that ship, and he was
fiend enougn to wreck a hundred lives
for the sake of killing one man. What
could be done—how oould the danger
be averted? Without even a glance
back at the bouse, I opened the gate
and sped toward the lake, I knew every
inch of the ground.
On I went till I reached the hut of
fisherman. I gave a loud knock at the
door, then burst it open without waiting
to be bidden. A stalwart man and his
son sat over the grate. Both started to
their feet at the sight of my deathly
face and staring eyes. “Why, Miss
Rose—but ” I stopped them,
“For God’s sake,” I cried, “come
with me! The beaoon at Avondale
landing has not been lighted, and the
house on the rooks is burning a white
light, and the Cora Bell will be a wreck
unless something is done. One of you
go to Avondale, and see why the keeper
has neglected his duty, and one of you
come with me to the light-house on the
rocks.”
“ With you, Miss Rose, why-
“ Yes, with me ! J can’t stay here,
I must go with you in the boat aud see
that the fight is put ont. I am not
afraid. The night is dark, but the
lake is not rouph. The only danger is
threatening the Cora Bell. We must
be quiok.”
On we hurried, I keeping pace with
the long-limbed fisherman. Down to
the landing the young man hastened,
and np into the light house ; while
sprang into the boat which the old man
unlocked, and soarcely waiting for him
to seat himself, seized an oar and
rowed with all my might. How slowly
we went—how slowly. Would we
never reach the rocks? And all the
time that wicked, hateful light burning
into my very eye-balls. There at last!
The light made the landing less dan
gerous tban I had thought. The old
man fastened his boat and I clambered
up the rooks.
“ Careful, miss,” he continued, “those
rocks are wet and slippery;” but I
reached the fight-house, and entered
with a heart so wild with fears for the
Cora Bell, that I forgot all danger for
myself. I ran like a squirrel up stairs,
up the ladder—on—up—up—till I
reached the tower. I opened the door,
I leaped into the loft where the lamp
gleamed and flashed its white light into
my very eyes. A man, with a dare-devil
face, turned at the noise. He had been
so intently gazing through a glass out
upon the waters that he had not heard
my approach. “Fiend!” I cried, “what
would you do !” and with one bound I
dashed my whole force against the lamp,
shattering it iD pieces, and extinguished
the baleful light. For one moment we
were left in utter darkness, and a man’s
voice hissed—** Girl, you shall rue this
—I have you in my power now.” I felt
his iron grip npon my wrist, and
screamed outright. Then the door
burst open—the fight of a lantern
flashed into the tower, and the bnrly
form of the fisherman entered and stood
behind us. “ Seize him—bind him !” I
cried. He will kill me.”
The bnrly fisherman set down his
lamp, and caught the arms of Breece
Rogers, and quickly as thought pinioned
them at his back. I tore up the skirt
of my dress and twisted in a stout cord,
that securely fastened the villain’s
limbs. He scarcely moved—so sudden
had been the fisherman’s attack, so
iron-like his hold. “Now bring him
down,” I said, “I will lead the way
with the lantern.” He took Breece
Rogers’ tithe, slender figure in his arms
as if it had been a child’s and followed
me down the ladder. It was a treacher
ous descent, but we landed safely upon
the rocks, and took our seats in the
boat. Breeoe was not gagged, yet he
had said no word—made no sound. We
had not rowed half the distance back to
the landing, when, joy of joys! the fight
flashed out from the Avondale beacon
house, reaching far over the waters, and
I knew the Cora Bell was saved.
The strain upon my nervous system
had been too great. As we reached the
Avondale landing I fell in a dead faint,
and knew no more till I woke in my
room surrounded by a crowd of anxious
faces. Harwood was rubbing my hands,
mamma bathing my forehead, some
strange faces were scattered about the
room, and Rollin—my Rollin—bent
over me with tears in his blue eyes.
When I was strong enough they told
me alL How I had been brought back
by the fisherman, hours aud hours be
fore, and the story of my adventure
briefly stated to him. How the fisher
man’s sou had found the keeper of the
light-house in a dead stupor, a drugged
sleep, aud the lamps so tampered with
that it took him a full half hour to right
them, and make them burn. How they
did burn at last, in time to guide the
Cora Bell safely to shore, aud bring
Rollin and the wedding guests in season
for the morrow*s bridal.
I was a pale bride, and had to be sup
ported on my husband’s arm, but it was
glad bridal for all that. We left
Avondale, mamma, Rollin, and a few of
the wedding company, that very day,
and I have never set foot there since.
Breece Rogers was tried, convicted, and
sentenced to prison, where he died two
years later. Rollin knew the whole
story of my folly before I became his
wife. He did not censure me—since I
had risked my life to save his, and to
atone for my error.—Peterson's Maga
zine,
FACTS AND FANOIE8.
—The supply of diamonds from
South Africa has fallen off while they
from South Ameriea has increased.
Well informed persons assert that half
of the diamonds worn in Ameriea have
been smuggled.
—The ooffee-planters of Ceylon are
threatened with pecuniary ruin, the
rata having seized their plantations,
grasshopper style. Not being able to
import American music, they are trying
to frighten off the invaders with the
tom-tom, a home instrument.
—There is an English paper which
thinks that in case of war the chief
food producing nations, by combining
with
it all flashed tHroogh my mind. Some --The Patrons of Husbandry of Indi
ana have resolved that they will not buy
certain agricultural implements, for the
very reason that the manufacturers re
fuse to recognize the grange agents, and
will only sell through the old established
agents.
—Some of the clergymen in Kentucky
propose to hang slates in the church
vestibnles, so that young ladies on en
tering, can register their names, thus
saving a great expense for providing
seats in the vestibule for young men,
and making a great deal of waiting un
necessary.
—“James Brown,” of St. Giles, Lon
don, claims to be reckoned among the
ncble band of viviseotionists, his trade
being the catching of eats and “skin
ning ’em alive.” “The simple foot is,”
he says, “I get an honest living by
skinning eats, and because skins taken
from the live eats are worth sixpence
apiece more than those taken from the
animal when dead I skin the cats alive
whenever I can.”
—A farmer on the road between Ch*l-
ton and Worcester, Mass., having been
terribly annoyed by drummers, put np
a sign: “No sewing-maehines wanted
here. Got one.” It was no use; the
next drummer wanted to see the
machine, “and perhaps he’d hitch up a
trade.” So the farmer put up: “Got
the small-pox here.” That worked well
for a little while, but then came along a
drummer frightfully pitted with the
small-pox, who smilingly said : “Seein’
you’ve got it bad here they’ve put me
on this route.”
—The modern school girl must have
queer ideas. In a conversation with a
New York reporter at a Yassar hop, one
of them qnerried, “Are you single?” an
affirmative answer being given. Then
she asked thoughtfully, “Do editors
ever get rich?” The “pencil heaver”
again replied in the affirmative, and in
stanced several leading journalists, and
then added, “I leave for New York to
morrow, and it will take me three days
to pay my taxes and out the coupons off
my bonds !” “Is it possible 1” replied
the miss, “ and you so young, too.”
—If there is a manufacturing city on
this continent which might be called
the Manchester of America, it is
Lowell, Mass. There are daily em
ployed nearly eighteen thousand opera
tives in the various mills. The capital
stock of the several corporations is
over $16,000,000, while the total valua
tion would foot up six times Bixteen
millions. In many* instances the origi
nal stockholders have, perhaps, more
than doubled their investments by mag
nificent dividends ; and it is a notable
fact that even in these depressed times
the stock of these old and wealthy cor
porations is not for sale at any price.
—An Englishman—traveled, of course
—relates that an American gentleman
who had at an early age gone the over
land route to California, told him this :
We crossed the sandhills near the scene
of tbe Indian mail robbery and massacre
of 1856, wherein the dnver and con
ductor perished, and also all the pas
sengers but one. But this must have
been a mistake, for at different times
afterward on the Pacific coast,
was personally acquainted with
one hundred and thirty-three or
four people who were wounded
during that massacre and barely escaped
with their lives. There was no doubt of
the truth of it; I had it from their own
lips. Aud one of the parties told me
that he kept coming across arrow heads
in his system for nearly seven years
after the massacre.
—The work of excavating the arena
of the coliseum at Rome, has been sus
pended since May, as it cannot be pro
ceeded with until the discovery of the
duct or canal used by the old Romans
to drain off the water collecting from
the adjacent slopes. The canal has been
traced in its starting point near tbe
ruins, and in its passage through the
forum, leading into the Cioaoa Maxima;
but its intermediate course has yet to be
.unearthed, which operation, together
wRh its repairs,
will be a jwtured trove time and
expense. Inlhe meantime the excava
tion in tbe coliseum already made, will
have to be kept dry, or as free from
water as possible, in order that the
foundation of the building may not be
seriously damaged.
The New Era in the South.
The Chicago Tribure takes cogni
zance of the improved condition of
affairs in the south, arising from a di
versity of crops ana improved methods
of agriculture. Among other things it
says: “ A new and promising era has
dawned upon the states where onoe
king cotton held undisputed sway.
Southern planters have experimented
in the way of diversity of products, aud
the experiment has proved a wonderful
success. If it bad been predicted ten
yean agi that any of the cotton raiaiag
states would in the year 1875 have a
surplus of cereals, the existing facto
and prospects of the time would hardly
have borne ont the prophecy. Yet
such is the foot. The states of Ten
nessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and
Alabama will this year have enough
and to spare, and the southern farmers
are proud and happy. In addition to
this unprecedented grain yield, the old
staple, though reduoed in acreage, has
by a more thorough system of cultiva
tion rewarded the planters as never
before, and they boast of an indepen
dence that has heretofore been un
known to that portion of the country.