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THE SUNNY SOUTH
EVEN UNTO DEATH;
— OR THE—
Mystery of Monk’s Tower,
BY ROSE AMI LEIGH,
or Son til Carolina.
Author of •'His Other Wife," ‘•'■The Wid
ow's Wages," etc.
CHAPTER XIX.
MISS ROCHESTER BECOMES THE SUBJECT OF
AN EXPERIMENT.
tissue, and a tingling sensation ran along her
I limbs; in her eais a sound as of fairy bells:
1 i before her eyes a starry scintillation that
blinded them. All this came to her by an
instantaneous physical perception, and then
every faculty became as instantly obtruded.
Her arms fell at her side; her head drooped
against the doctor, v ho still bent over her;
and the miraculous light went out of her,
body and brain.
A smile full of satire and enjoyment of the
ways, as day after day he came and found
her stronger—nearer the perfect health she
had so abruptly lost.
She thinks each moment she will see him—
mounted on Rudiger, or driving his famous
steeds—emerge from the shadowy vista of
the avenue before her. This expectancy
gives to her eyes the longing, restless look
that she makes no pretence of hiding. A lit
tle way off, and slowly pacing a paved walk _ _ „ ^ JH
. . : by the broken fountain, goes Dr. Raolfo. He knowledged a comradeship that neither dare
most diabolic character shone over Raolfo s i affects to be reading from a small volume in utter nor yet disclaim. Each beheld the se-
face. It was as if a great brilliant beetle j bis hand; but his glance is ofte>.er wandering ; cret malice in the others heart—each re-
had said to the curious insect that invaded j over Lady Ina’s averted face. He seems to
read there her inmost thought—to perfectly
tered the strange, bewildering glitter of Miss
Rochester’s eyes. She stood just within the
narrow walk, hedged with tall evergreens,
that led to the side door. Evidently she had
been an unseen witness to the whole of what
had transpired. Raolfo divined thus the mo
ment he met her fixed, significant gaze.
By one of those mystical exchanges of feel
ing impossible to trace or to explain, these
two dark souls recognized and tacitly ac
“See now what you have got for your j divine the unconsciousnesss of his presence,
pains!” ! and of all things else than the hope in her
He then gently lifted the flaccid form, and i heart, that the giant form of Lord Creveldt
bore it along the dark corridor, through the j will soon till her vision. He knows what is
With the wondrous swiftness of thought | door of Miss Rochester's apartment,
and action that so intensely charatenzed her ' -
feline nature. Miss Rochester retreated from
grand salootn up^the broad stairway to the | stirring into birth in her soul far better than
she knows. She cheats her fancy into the
vain conceit that he is to her a beloved friend
Placing her upon the floor, he struck a
.... » , , , , , , , match, and found that the door was locked j —a glorious intellectuality with whom her
-he staircase and turned the lock that moved j an d the key gone. He at once surmised that i mint! may hold high and unforbldden com-
noiselessly m its wards. Y\ hen Dr..Raolfo j s p, e jj ad removed it, and sure enough found munion—“the shadow of a great rock in a
entered his laboratory, a few eeconds later, jt ,h rust under her girdle. To open the door weary' land,” under which her dreaming and
he started back, and stood dumb w-ith amaze-j an d place his comatose burden upon the romantic spirit may rest itself—too different
ment to see Joan Rochfster seated at grace-| cout ]j was the work of a moment. Miss and too much above all other men to be at
ful ease in bis leathern chair, holding unroll- j Kochester's frame was slight and almost all judged according to the ordinary rules
ed beneath the lamp the parchment scroll in
scribed with Arabic characters.
“You here, Miss Rochester!” he asked in a
severe voice, under whose low vibration
Joan plainly detected a smothered rage.
She appeared not toobserve bis displeasure,
but answered very sweetly:
“Yes, I grew so restless and nervous—may
be a little awed, too, by recollections of the
fleshless, and he lifted it with ease.
| He put his t ar close to her chest, and felt
| over the region of her heart. The examina
tion satisfied him, for he threw a warm cov
erlid of eider-down over her, and, leaving
her lamp dimly burning, slipped away with
a step as soundless as a cat's.
“I may bless my guiding-star for this
night's luck,” said Raolfo, aloud, as he flung
so great was my relief to feel that some
other human creature was awake in the
castle, that I determined to seek your com
panionship until my r tremulousness subsided,
and, may be, ask for a sedative.”
I that regulate inrimacies between a man and
a woman. She has never once imagined him
capable of the follies, the sentimentalities,
the weaknesses of others of his sex. Never
has he approached the same level on which
! she is accustomed to meet other men. No
I touch of 'gallantry' has ever tinged his calm
demeanor towards her or any other woman
in whose soeety r she has seen him. If some-
‘times a look of softer melancholy had crept
into his deep eyes when she found them rest-
discover, ing on her, she took no sign from it, but sim-
I or may already have learned, will hardly ply let it steep her heart with the nameless
i be revealed after she comes to the end of this gladness that a dew-drenched rose must feel
| little escapade.” wheu from the chill and the darkness of night
Lighting a cigar, he put his feet upon the ic lifts its face to the sun, and grows warm
j table, and smoked meditatively during the and fragrant in the welcome light and heat.
I space of an hour. Then he pored over a Look Nor was she at all aware of a new and “ten-
ghost stories that I found it impossible to j himself back in his chair with a satanic mirth
sleep, or even to he down. Going out for an g] e8m ing over his whole counienance.
instant on the balcony, I chanced to see your “YYhatever she shall chance to d
lamp shining outside there on the sward, and
It was all so naturally spoken that Raolfo j p or s0me time, meanw hile glancing at inter- der grace” that was blossoming out upon her
it hlS apprehension subside. At first he i vnls tn Ills Wbtfh tlmt lav nnpn r.ftciflA him n rptnrnino- nf fha croaot. nhn rlswi r»i
felt bis app
believed she must have heard the cry which
was dreadful enough to have caused an
ordinary woman to die of fright, and by
whic h he thought even Joan, with her un
mistakable self-command, must have been
terribly shaken—if, indeed, It had reached
her ear. Immediately' after leaving his un
happy prisoner, te had hastened to the upper
rooms to discover if their occupants had
been disturbed. But he found Lady Ina
vals to his watch that lay' open beside him.
As the dial hand pi .inted to’ five o'clock, he
rose, extinguished his lamp, and let the pale
dawnlight into the chamber, which he left,
after carefully locking its door behind him.
He proceeded to the countess's room. All
here was unchanged. Benedetta still dozed,
or rather slumbered, deeply beside her mis
tress. The doctor touched the bandages, and
found them freshly moistened with the iced
lolion, according to his directions. He re-
sunk in a stupor the nurse still dozing .aud, i tired without vva kjng the weary uursei a ud
as he imagined from the profound stillness j then entered Miss Rochester’s chamber. She
and darkness of her chamber, Miss Rochester
asleep.
He determined to set bis mind finally at
rest on the subject, and fixing his glittering
eye covertly upon Miss Rochester’s face, he
said:
“Perhaps your excited fancy conjured
some unusual sounds or visions to fright your
soul to such unrest !”
Joan felt though she did not encounter his
eye; and determined not to betray her real
feelings, she answered promptly:
“On the contrary, the deathlike stillness
had not moved a muscle, but her deep and
| regular breathings denoted a sound, safe
sleep. He seemed prepared to find her thus;
for he sat down upon the edge of her couch
and applied some powerful salts to her
nostrils. After a little she moved uneasily.
He removed and hid the phial of salts in his
bosom; then passed his band gently aud
monotously over her brow umil she opened
her eyes wide, and stared confusedly at him.
His face restored her senses to their normal
acuteness. She started to a halt-sitting pos
ture and glanced about ber. Evidently she
was more try ing than any sounds. Not even I expected to find herself stili in the labora-
a mouse stirred, until about twenty minutes
ago, perbaps, w hen the dreary cry of some
distant beast of prey oisturbed the deep mid
night hush, and made it more palpable.”
“You have more courage than most wo
men to have ventured through the dark
windings of the castle at such an hour, and
in such mental plight.”
“Ob, no; it was only a choice of evils.
Anything was better than the solitude. I
looked in upon the countess, and found her
so quiet that I feared to excite her by enter
ing and rousing the nurse. You, then, were
my only recourse. Behold the extent of my
heroism. 11
She was smiling, and the iridescence of her since.”
tory', for she exclaimed in a low voice:
“How came I here!’”
“In my aims, mademoiselle,” replied tfie
Italian, with a sleek significant smile that
made Joan’s blood boil with rage.
“How dared you”
“Hist, mademoiselle!” interrupted Raolfo,
with his finger to his lip, and glancing to
wards the adjoining room; then, leaning
down, he whispered, “Perhaps it would be
as well to defer all conversation on the sub
ject of your late adventure for the present.
Already Benedetta knows that 1 brought
mademoiselle up from my study'at midnight,
zi my arms, and that I have not left her
eyes w r as positively dazzling. For a piainter,
they furnished a tableau, these two. One
might have painted from them an Eastern
necromancer in conference with a sibyl.
The w arm glow of the soft, large flame under
its alabaster globe, gilded still more the sheen
of Joan’s yellow tresses, and enhanced the
brilliant hue of the crimson robe in which
she had wrapped her slender person. Be
tween this gold arid scarlet, the lustrous del
icacy of her skin showed at its best. She
was a rare creature, and the Italian was not
the man to lose a single impression of her
strange, enthralling beauty.
Nature had made him a sensualist, and
Art had developed him into a voluptuary',
and the beauty of woman was the one weak
ness of his fibrous organism.
Not that he was or could be in the least in
love with Joan Rochester; but she fascinated
him for the moment, and the witchery of
the hour and place surrounded her like en
chantment.
He put the taper from his hand, and cross
ed to where she still sat, resting one of her
hands on the scroll, and w ith the other was
slowly moving the tiny pestle round in the
porphyry mortar.
“ vVhat precious drug have you here ?” she
inquired, in a half-dreamy voice.
“I am making an experiment, mademoi
selle. Can you read Arabic ?”
As he spoke, he drew the parchment from
her hand, and unrolled it.
“Indeed, no. I fancy that few’ modern
women are so wise as that. What says your
Caloba!”
“Many things; but chiefly' it gives a price
less recipe for a compound that is said to
possess properties so wonderful as almost to
bring the dead to life. In cases of paralysis,
its miraculous effects gave to the Oriental
sages who employed its virtues the reputa
tion for having mastered the awful secrets
of the Black Art.”
“And shall you be able to produce this
revivifying ccmpound, signor?”
“I know not. For years I have been ool-
lecting certain herbs and minerals from
which it is prepared, but the exact propor
tions are not given, and it may' te years still
ere I shall find my patience rewai ded by dis
covering them from laborious and continued
experiments.”
"How do you test the efficacy of your ex
periments ?”
“That is simple enough. I piouuce in
animals a condition suitable to the test.
Each several case gives me more or less en
couragement of final success in finding the
buried secret of these mystical pages.”
“Whence obtained you that aged scroll?
It looks as if it might have lain for centut ies
in some damp crypt with the bones of the sor
cerer who doubtless inscnbtd it.”
“You are a ‘witch for guess,’ mademoiselle!
It was, in fact, found in the bri ken tomb of
an Arabian temple that had fallen to decay.
I myself exhumed it while travelling in the
East. A dervish offered to buy it of me at
the fabulous price of a pouch filled w'ith
diamond and emerald stones of great size and
value.”
“Has it no other occult secret—none that
interests me specially?”
“See,” said he, herding down over her
shoulder, and taking upon the tip of his lean
fingers a few atoms of the shining dust from
the precious mortar. “One would say that
jewels had been ground to p. wder te pro
duce this substance.”
“Wbat is its effect?”
“Try it. Touch your tongue to these par
ticles, and observe the sensation they will
create in your blood.”
Joan drew her head back from his hand,
and replied, with a nervous laugh, while she
looked up in his eyes:
“Do 1 seem to suffer from paraly tic symp
toms ?”
“By no means; nor will there be any seri
ous or permanent effect, k ut only so much
as to let ycu understand what momentous
possibilities lie concealed in these glittering
grains of dust.
One moment of reckless curiosity took
forcible possession of Miss Rod ester’s adven
turous soul: she longed to e.ssure herself of
the life-giving properties of this wonderful
drug. She openi d her lips, and touct ed her
tongue to the white atoms that gleamed on
Raolfo’s finger.
CH.APTER XX
A SPIDER AND A FLY.
Scarce had she tasted the subtle ccmpound,
when an electrical glow Hashed tl rough her
veins, aud seemed to light up her brain as a
spark of fire illumines an opaque void. A
sensible vibration stirred through ber nervous
Fiend !’ f
Joan hissed out the word from her hueless
lips, that writhed with her passionate w rath
and disgust. But she felt herself impotent to
meet the present emergency; for her head si ill
swam aizziiy, and she felt faint. She lilted
her hand and pointed to the door with a
mute gesture, to which her flashing, furious
eyes gave such terrible emphasis, that even
Raolfo dared not trifle w ith her an instant
longer. He rose, bowed low, and with a
smile on his lips, retn ated from the chamber,
and passed down the stairway into the gray
whiteness that now filled the hall which
Giacome had just opened.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE DOCTOR AND MISS ROCHESTER BECOME
ALLIES.
seif—a returning of the sweet, abandon of
youth—a melting away of the sadness that
had se' tied like a light frost upon the surface
of her nature.
The impulsive candour of a child shone out
in her looks and manner, and emphasized her
speech w hen 1 he earl was present, which at
other times disappeared under the gentle re
serve that had been so long maintained as to
become natural to her.
If all this had escaped her own perceptions,
not an iota of it had been lost to the sleepless
scrutiny of Dr. Raolfo’s eyes. It was like
vitiiol, drop by' drop, into his passionate
heart, and eating to its core.
Now he can bear the silence, and, above
all, her evident indifference to aud forgetful
ness of his presence, no longer. Each time
that he turns upon the path, he makes a step
nearer to her chair, as if to attract her atten
tion to himself. But the experiment is vain:
her eyes never move from the drive. Not a
pulse, either of like or loathing, stirs at his
approach. He might as well be dead for all
that she, at this moment, knows or cares
about him. She has been too happy of late
even to recoil from him, as her w’ont was.
She seems simply to ignore his existence,
save wheu it is forced on her observation,
when she accepts it with cold apathy and pre-
occupati' >n.
j He understands it all, and he knows that
j she does not.
■' He stops now just behind her, so close that
he can touch her if he likes—so close that the
heiioirope fastened in her dark hair comes up
to him warmly. Its voluptuous scent thrills
him—draws him. He leans over a little, and
says, softly, in Italian:
“Signora caro, of what dreamest thou?”
! She hears, feels him near her, and with a
spasmodic revolution closes her lids, and
i moves hi-rself away from his hand that has
1 rested on ber cushion. He has rudely'broken
up the train of a delicious reverie. She ab
hors him for having thrust his odious pres
ence between her sight and the visions her
floating fancies have found in the fair em
pyrean of thought apd imagination. She
answers coldly, and with ill-concealed aver-
Bi°ll
“My dreams are my own, signor. Will
you be so good as to take vourhar.d away ?”
He removes and thrusts the offending ny^i-
ber into his bosom. A sudden flare of lurid
light, which she does not see, leaps into his
black eyes, and shows red under his swarthy
skin; but be has his sleek mask on in a trice,
i He murmurs sweetly—for his voice is very
| mus cal when he pleases:
| “S gnora, you are cross as a si' k child; but
I forgive you. ’Tis the privilege of a conva
lescent.”
“Is it also ‘the privilege’ of the physician
A breath of the Indian summer has stolen : to torture his patient s sore nerves!
back to flush and warm the bright autumnal Her tone was sharp with suppressed excite-
morning that flings its radiant magic over ment. He f« It she would not bear too much
the far-stretching forest, the tangled shrub- from him just now; but he meant she should
“ * • 11 —den, and theTvy-draped . have one turn more of the rack to punish her
A vivid picture of an- for h<Jr lttte contempt. He bent his head
walls of the castle,
cient romance it ail seems, and the two
figures upon the silent lam scape only inten
sify' the illusory' effect.
Under one of the great gnarled oaks, in a
garden chair, Lady Ina is seated. She has,
| for more than a week, been released from the
j imprisonment of her chambers; and though
still very' wan, and too weak to move about
without assistance, she seems to suffer no
! pain—rather to enjoy ber existence with
| the delicious langour of an invalid, who feels
j the glow and tlie bloom of health stealing
; thiough the relaxed fibres and the wasted
frame. A small red mark upon her temple
I is all that remains of the woul d made by the
■ stones upon which she Nil, as Ninon gave up
I the ghost on the edge of the cliff; but her
! right arm bangs helpless in a sling composed
j of a blue silken scarf, w hose turquoise hue
j is rarely becoming to the whiteiess of her
throat and face. The firm chin and softly-
rounded cheek lie against it, as on a bas-re
lief. Her bead is resting on the cushions
! that prop her in her chair, and her eyes
! seem wistfully to watch along the drive, as
{ if th^y looked for some one—as in truth
they do.
liver since she has been sufficiently recov-
! ered to leave her chamber and sit up, or oc-
! cupy the sofa in ber mornit g room, she has
! received daily’ visits from Lord Creveldt, of
ten attended by his mother. Joan Rochester
has never left the castle for an hour since her
arrival there.
“Mav 1 bring the marquis with me to-mor
row? Reis wild to see you again,” Lord
Creveldt bad said to her, on taking leave the
prevous evening.
“Not till I am a little stronger. I want to
tell him in person how much I thank him for,
even so unwillingly, indulging meinn y fool
ish whim the day that came so near to being
my last.”
“To thank him!”
But for that, I should never
for her late contempt,
lower, and whispered these words:,
“No, but to test them when necessary.
Since they are sufficiently strong to evince
so much temper, they' will bear the journey
south, which we shall begin in three days.
Be requires it.”
He w atched her narrowly over the back of
her chair. A swift pallor came over her face,
as if a sudden agony' had wrenched ber. She
shut her eyes for a second, as if to rid them
of some dreadful apparition. All the blood
left her lips, and seemed to congeal at its
source.
Alter a little, she said, with great effort:
“Are you in earnest? Are we to go back—
thereT'
“Yes, signora, it must be.”
“Surely you can manage to spare me That. ^ ^
Have some pity, as you are human. It was | court house was the finest and most suhstan
sponded to the stifled pas-ion-ery in the other’s
breast for vengeance upon the authors of that
moment’s anguish.
With a slight but unmistakable gesture,
Miss Rochester extended her hand. In fever
ish comprehension the Italian clasped it.
Thus mutely they pledged themselves each
to the other.
For what?
(To be continued, l
THE TRAVELS
A TEAMP.
Win:Iti: HE A>I>
WHAT III. SAW.
His Experience in Texas, etc.
By Unlucky Calamity.
CHAPTER III.
Dallas is situated at the junction of two of
the most important railroads in the state, the
Texas Central and Texas Pacific. Drawing
a large and remunerative trade from the sur
rounding country, within the last few years
it has become one of the most enterprising
and prosperous cities in Texas I called it a
little place; permit me to recall the misnomer.
Dallas is, or rather was then, a big place
every way. True her population did not
equal that of New York, but what she lacked
in quantity she made up in variety and qual
ity. The objective point of emigration in
northern Texas, she very naturally' became
the rendezvous of a horde of villains from all
quarters of creation. Here could be found
every' phase of human character, from the
highest to the lowest order of human nature.
When I arose the next morning, Mr. Dut
ton’s friendly hint in regard to making favor
able impressions was fresh upon my mind, so
I concluded I would get my waten out of my'
valise, where under his directions I had
placed it for safe keeping, and enjoy the
pleasure of wearing it around town. What
pleasant emotions tickled my boyish heart as
1 pictured myself dressed in my best “bib and
tucker” and proudly strutting under the
weight of a fine gold watch! How eagerly I
unwrapped the many papers my friend had
so carefully rolled around it. Finally I got
the last one off. Oh, horror! what a sight
met jny vision! Instead of the bright gold
watch that had daily filled my mind with
pleasurable anticipations, I now beheld a
greenish, cankered counterfeit that looked
for all th9 world like a frost-bitten green
tomato. This sudden transition was very
perplexing to me I examined it carefully
and concluded after much thought that the
change of climate, assis'ed probably by the
incessant motion of the cars had wrought
this alteration in its appearance. I could
account for it upon no other hypothesis, for
I was assured my friend would not deceive
me in his representations of the character of
the article. Hastily swallowing my break
fast I hurried from the hotel for the purpose
of consulting some jeweler in regard to this
verv curious atmospherical phenomenon.
The"first one I encountered was a Dutch Jew,
who, when I entered his shop was busily en
gaged with chalk and brush cleansing some
old jewelry. He slowly raised his eyes from
his work and said: “Yell, mein frent, vot can
I do mit you?”
1 immediately showed him mv watch and
enquired what had changed its color, at the
same tinje suggesting my own theory in re
gard to the climate.
“Nix, nix,” said the Jew, “der gli-mit he
do noding mit it. ’Tts der merterial. He
no golt; he brass. I sells der same votch for
one tollar and six bits; I show you him.”
I could not believe this and told the Jew
he must be mistaken; that I got the watch
for a gold one from a most respectable gentle
man who I kaew would not deceive me. The
Jew laid down his brush and regarded me
with contempt not unmixed with pir.y. Said
he: “How long you be mit Texas?”
I told him that I had just arrived.
“Veil, I dinks so. I tells you, mine frent,
der votch is brass. Der only way to make
him golt is to wear him in vun pocket filled
mit ashes. But as you be one strange chen-
tlemons in der city I will trade you a golt
ring for him, if you pay me four bits to
boot.”
I examined the ring and accepted the
Dutchman’s offer, leaving the watch, togeth
er with some of my youthful credulity, in
the shop of the descendant of Abraham.
Here, thought I, is one leaf learned in the
book of experience; let me turn it down and
remember that the old adage, “All that glit
ters is not gold”,has a much wider application
than to mere inanimate metals.
CHAPTER IV.
Bidding the child of Israel adieu, I com
menced a ramble thuough the town to Exam
ine its different points of interest. The
dreadful as death before, but now—now
Oh, it will be worse than any death now !
Say, is there no escape from it?”
i She was pleading desperately with eye and
tongue. A wonderful energy trembled all
through her. There were two forces at work
in her soul—vii lent loathing of the thing
proposed, and a wild, fond, but yeerning de-
| sire to remain where she was—a clinging to
! some new-bom delight.
I He discerned all this at a glance. He held
his peace for a moment; then, fixing his
i snaky eye upon her, he answered, slowly:
; “Ycs—there is one way.”
| She needed no explanation. She writhed
! away fi om him as if he had been a viper that
stung her to death; and with a gasp she ex
claimed, under her brea>h:
I “Leave me, demon that you are! You
! know that I would suffer myself tom limb
i Irom limb rather than that."
' This pass onate burst of rage took all her
strength fiom her. Her head sank back—
i her lids closed—her breath came in gasps.
I Raolfo seemed scared at what he had done,
| and made a motion to lift ber from the chair,
tial looking building I saw. I was informed
that it was built entirely of a peculiar stone
that the contractor had to haul in wagons,
twelve miles, and that it cost about two hun
dred thousand dollars. Beside this, if I ex
cept the cot on compress and one or two
warehouses on Main and Elm streets, there
are few buildings in Dallas to arrest the at
tention of a stranger.
Leaving the court house I wended my w r ay
down to the river (Trinity) which runs at the
foot of the tow’n. Here "on the Fort Worth
I was approached by a very amiable looking
gentleman who seated himself beside me.
He introduced himself by saying i hat he had
learned from the register that I was a Mary
lander; hailing from that good old state him
self he had determined to make niy acquaint
ance, as he always felt a peculiar interest in
one coming from his native state. He said
h-s name was Fowler, Colonel Fowler from
Baltimore. Under my peculiar circumstan-
cances the colonel’s kindness was very ac
ceptable. He relieved my embarrasment
with great lact and restortd me to compari-
tive composure. He observed that. I was
young and inexperienced and insisted that I
must consider myself under bis guidance and
protection; an offer I was willing enough to
accept, hoping that it would in some measure
relieve me from the mortification to which
my boyish greenness subjected me. He as
sured me if I would follow his instructions I
would soon be au fait so far as city etiquette
was concerned. Calling for a bottle of wine
he proposed that I should join him in a glass.
I told him that I was not accustomed to the
use of the beverage, but he insisted that I
would never learn the ways of the world if I
did not accommodate myself to its customs.
I drank a glass of the wine and found it very
palatable and was easily persuade that it was
quite harmless. Indeed 1 became very foud
of it, aud drank enough to become very com
municative and feel on the best of terms
with myself and the world generally.
After dinner we crossed tha river and
strolled up the bottom which, he informed
me, was the favorite rendezvous of i ha nu
merous robbers and desperadoes that infeste i
the city. The Arabs have a saying that
“no one meets a friend in the desert”—an
adage that w:ll apply with equal force to
this Trinity bottom. Indeed, the place
seemed invested with a wild and weird ro
mance. It was thickly' settled with a horde
of uncouth looking wretches of both sexes
huddled together under an old fly T tent, or
tattered quilt, and reminded me of the de
scription given by travelers of the Bedouins
of Africa.
Upon our return to the town the Colonel
gave me something of his history'; said that
he had embarked his all in the “Lost Cause,”
and that finding himself penniless after the
surrender at Appomattox, he concluded to
migrate to Texas; that he was succeeding
admirably until an unfortunate fire broke
out in the town and reduced him again to
poverty.
“But,” said he, “I’ll soon be on my feet
again. I am now in the Insurance business,
and make it quite remunerative.”
Well, I hoped he would, for he seemed so
amiable I thought he deserved to succeed.
H's manners were very captivating, his in
formation extensive and bis kindness charm
ing.
After supper he proposed to show me
Dallas by gaslight and the sight did increase
my* admiration for the place. After visiting
the different saloons, where we very liberal
ly partook of more wine, we adjourned to
the “Varieties,” which I found to be the low'-
est sort of theatrical performance. Becom
ing disgusted here, we left the place and re
paired to a saloon to imbibe more wine.
Beginning to feel its effects, the Colonel pro
posed that we should take another drink,and
visit the “Tiger.” Not understanding his
remark, it meant a game of cards called
“Faro.”
With some conscientious scruples, I fol
lowed him up a flight of steps that led him
into a room blazing with light and reeking
with human depravity. For a moment I
was nearly stifled with the odors of mean to
bacco and meaner whiskey, but getting near
an open window, I soon recovered, ami took
the opportunity to observe the place. It
was my first, and thank God, has been my
last visit to such a place. Nor would I re
vert to it here, did I not hope that my exam
ple may r prove a warning to some young
man who may be placed in like temptation.
These places are called “Hells,” aud I feel
assured if you were to exhaust the English
language, a more appropriate name could
not be found for them' Here all the grosser
passions of man were let loose and human
nature revelled in all its naked, hideous de
formity. Misery, ribaldry, blasphemy, and
coarse" jests seemed to unite for the purpose
of making the place more horrible than Pan
demonium.
Here could be seen the representative of
every condition of society—how little the
outer world really knows of some of its most
respectable members. Judges, lawyers, doc
tors, merchants, clerks, gamblers, pimps,
murderers, convicts, hack-drivers, etc., com
posed this motley assemblage Old age and
.youth, wealth and mendicancy, criminal and
judge sat here “cheek by jowl,” eagerly
tempting the fickle jade Fortune; and, judg
ing from their half-smothered curses, tempt
ing her to their ruin.
Here I saw more games of chance than 1
supposed the ingenuity of man capable of in
venting. Every' available corner, and niche
in the room was filled with some device to
cheat you out of your money—for I contend
that every species of gambling, is cheating
according to the old-fashioned standard of
quid pro quo. In the most obscure corner of
the “Hell” sat an old man whose appearance
particularly arrested my atten'ion. As soon
a« my eyes rested upon him, an involuntary
shudder passed over me. Apparently he was
three score and ten, with hair and beard as
white as the driven snow. His body was
bent with age, but his voice was as strong
and vigorous as a mountaineer, and his eyes
—such eyes I trust I may never see again—
were as black as midnight, and as cruel and
fiendish in expression as the untamed hyena.
In contrast with his hair and long white
whiskers, they seemed like the spirit of eter
nal youth, chained to the tottering body of
lingering death. Notwithstanding all this,
there was a fascination about them. I had
heard of snakes charming birds and children,
had read and reread the account of the se
duction of our grandmother, Eve, by the
serpent, but never until then, had I any con
ception of the arch-fiend’s powers. As I
gazed upon him, the perspiration fell, in
clammy drops, from my forehead, and 1 felt
that I was in the immediate presence of the
devil himself. Seeing Fowler, I begged him
for heaven’s sake to leave the place. He ob-
road the citizens have erected a very sub-j jected and proposed we should “try our
, which ought to pay a luck;” but I told him I wouldn't
have known'tbe b'appine^ofViVTso loved ! “ A el1
and eartd-for by the dear friends that my ca
lamity drew around me. Do you know',
these "are the first days of unalloyed pleasure
I've known in—oh, so many rreary years!”
The words had come fr< m her In ai tub bid
den, as if she spoke to herself lather than to
him; and her eyes were gazing gratefully,
and a'most tenderly, up to bis as she uttered
them.
“Poor child! How hungry and how athirst
you must have 1 een fc r happ res?, if j ou
could enjoy life with your maimed atm at d
wounded head, simply because of our poor
efforts lo atone to you for your sufferings!”
L< rd Crevi ldt -poke to and look>d <n her
with that‘neffable gentleness so peculiar to
himself, and each word was like the light and
soft caress of a loving hand.
“That is just it—‘hungry and athirst.' But
how can you, or any one, understand itf’
She hi d changed the topic at ruptly. as if
unw illing to re' eal more of herself. And so
they bad parted.
As she sits here, there comes to her, with
all the spicy edouis that the mid-day sun
shine is extracting fri m the blossoming
grasses end the spicy shrubs, a fond and keen
i emembrance of the thousand 1 ttle acts, in-
cidsnts, words, glanees--meie i otbings m
themselves—that have been w re: thing their
shapes like fairy tracery about the slowly-
passing invalid homs that he bad spent near
her—never for one moment alone, but over
shadowing every other presence. Sbe hs d
come to farcy that his face w as less sombre,
his snide less"rare, his whole aspect more ge
nial during the past week. A something of
gaiety had entered into his grave, sweet
he felt himself thiust so violently aside by a
pow erful ai m, that he almost li-st his footing.
“AYhat have you done to her? Cou-ard'."
It was the deep-toned voice of Lord Cre
veldt that ut ered ihis demand (the last word
under his bi eai h, and auoibie to himself and
Raoifo alone) with a savageness of eye that
made the Italian tremble with sheer physical
fright.
At sound of the earl’s voice, Lady Ina
opened ber eyes and siarttd towards hm
w ith "a soft exclamation of relief. Involun-
tai ily she put out her left band and caught
his arm. Her chill and nervous fingers cling
to it as if fi r protection, and in her look was
a world of gratelul joy. “A tower of
strength" te seemed to her as he bent over
and bid from her view the hated form of her
tormentor.
“Shall I assist you indoors, signora?” he
stantial iron bridge
handsome dividend as they charge every
man a nickel who walks over it. The river
at this point is quite shallow, quite narrow
and inexpressibly filthy It presents a stag
nant, sluggish appearance, but I was told
when swolleft by heavy rains it becomes very
dangerous, frequently overflowing its banks
for several hundred yards and sweeping
everything before it. Tired of looking at so
uninteresting an object I concluded I would
return to the hotel and get my dinner."
My first sensations upon landing in Dallas
were anything but agreeable. YVirh the ex
ception I f this trip I had never been twenty
miles from home before in my life. Of course
I was very green—in fact as ignorant
of the ways of tbe. world as a baby—
especially the ways of such a place as Dallas.
I was painfully conscious of my ignorance,
and what added to my embarrassment, I
knew that others were as cognizant of the
fact as myself. In walking the streets I was
gazing at"everything that struck my boyish
fancy, and frequently came into collision
with some unfortunate pedestrian. The
looks and muttered maledictions I received
upon such occasions were enough to have
annihilated me, but some new thing arrested
my’ attention and I rushed madly on only to
stumble against some other unfortunate
traveller. Finally I concluded I would take
the middle of the street. But this experi
ment like to haveproved my destruction, for
remain an
other hour in the company of that old man
for the city of Dallas. Seeing that I was de
termined to leave, he reluctantly acco i pa-
nied me. Upon arriving at the hotel, he pro
cured a bo'tle of wine and propos d that w-e
should occupy the same room that night, as
it would be more agreeable to us both. I
readily assented, and after we had become
seated, enquired if he knew anything of the
history of that strange old man. He replied
that he knew little, or no bing about him;
that who he was, where he came from, and
where he lived, was a mystery to every one;
that he was never seen during the day, and
where he made bis den, no dhe had yet found
out: that one of the fraternity had avowed
With this consoling advice, I returned to
my room, to make some effort to reclaim my
scattered senses, and, if possible, extricate
mvself from mv overwhelming trouble Oh,
the memory of" that hour! How I moaned
and groaned, and prayed, is only known to
God, to myself, and to misery. Truly my
situation was a sad one. Two thousand miles
from home, a stranger in a strange land, and
almost penniless. Aud the bitterest pill of
all was the reflection that my own wicked
conduct had brought my trouble upon me.
Conscience lashed me with her scorpion
stings for disobeying my father, while mems
ory held up in bitter contrast, my situation
at home, with my situation now.
The lesson I learned then can never be for
gotten. I stood upon the dividing line be
tween credulity and doubt. I leaped the
boundary, and from that moment became a
different being.
I entered Dallas with all the bright hopes
aud unsuspecting confidence of a boy. I left
it with a heart seared by bi ter experience—
an experience that taught me there was
neither honesty, truth nor feeling in my spe
cies.
Upon mature reflection, I saw but one
course to pursue. I would go to work and
gain my living by honest labor. Thank God,
my education in my humble old home had
impressed upon my mind a loathiug for all
that was mean and dishonorable.
We frequently hear of men living by their
wits—do my readers know what living by
one’s wits means in Texas? 'Tis to cruise
around the coast of rascality, and possess wit
enough, not to venture so far into the inte
rior that you will fall into the clutches of
the law. This sort of life wouldn't suit me.
I preferred digging in the grouud to such
precarious employment. Having chalked out
my course, I felt a great deal better; when a
man once determines to do a thing, it is half
accomplished.
Fortunately I had loose change in my
pocket sufficient to settle my bill. This I im
mediately did, though it took my last nickel.
Shouldering my valise, I set out in search of
employment.
Having some education. I made an effort
to obtain some situation in a store or count
ing-house, but uo one paid my application
much atteniion, The truth is, ic was the
dull season, aud very little business doing;
besides, I knew no one, and knew little or
nothing about business.
Finally hunger began to pinch me, and I
moderated my expectations—would have
been glad to get work of any kind. How
wearily 1 trudged from door to door begging
the simple boon of earning my daily bread.
Foot-sore and heart-sore I dragged myself
along, timidly enquiring for a job of work;
but no one responded to my prayer, no voice
of sympathy met my ear; all was cold and
gruff denial, until starvation and want stared
me boldly in the face.
At last, utterly exhausted and hopeless, I
sank upon the curb-stone in front of a tin-
shop to rest myself. The old tinner seeing
my condition, kindly enquired if I was sick,
and bade me come in and take a chair. 1 ac
companied him into the shop, and when I be
came seated, told him my sad story.
He was a tnun who possessing not only the
milk of human kindness, but the love of
Christ in his heart. He was one of the few
men, whom God, in his inscrutable wisdom,
has set, even in i he most benighted regions,
as lights and evidences of the truth of his
gospel. Three such persons were found in
Sodom—why not one in Dallas?
He cheered me with his sympathy, and
kindly took me to his dwelling where he bade
me w elcome. As soon as we reached the
house, he introduced me to his wife, to whom
he repeated my story. YVith the gentle in
stinct of a true woman, she tried to make me
contented aud comfortable. In memory I see
her now—her face beaming with benevo
lence, her eyes brightened by the holy fire
that incessantly burned within her Christian
heart.
My kind old friend advised me to go into
the country and work on a farm; said that
an industrious man could always get some
thing to do in that branch of business, and
make an honest living. I thought myself
that this was the best thing I could do—in
deed, 1 wanted to get as far from Dallas as
pos-ible.
We talked pleasantly until near bed-time,
when he took from the shelf his much worn
bible, and read that beautiful Psalm of Da
vid, “God is my shepherd, I shall not want,
etc.” Reverently laying the book aside,
we bowed in prayer.
1 now felt for the first time since I left
Maryland, the sweet influence of those early
lessons I had learned at rome and determined
by the help of God to lead a better life.
Early the next morning, I bade my kind
old friends adieu, and struck out for Tar
rant county. My short stay with them had
done me much good; I felt strengthened and
invigorated by their holy example. My spir
its again rose with youthful elasticity and I
walked briskly on my way, buoyed up by an
abiding faith that my present troubles would
eventually redound to my good.
As I walked along, I had a favorable time
for meditation, and thought deeply of many
things; of home and its pleasures, of human
nature in general, and of Unlucky Calamity
in particular. Uf course, these reflections
were not very agreeable, the most prominent
of them being the consciousness of what a
fool I had been. Then I thought of Dutton
and Fowler, and wondered at the utter de
pravity of man—the one clothing his villiany
under sanctimonious hypocracy, the other
prostituting his great endowments to tbe low
est, basest of purposes. Finally I closed my
cogitations as I shall close this chapter, with
repeating my father’s parting advice to me,
and hoping that my reader will glean some
instruction from it. Said he:
“Have as little to do with strangers as you
possibly ken! When you meet a man what
wants to be overly civil, and perfe>sestotake
an over-plush of intrust in your affairs, you
keep both eyes skinned, and watch him migh
ty close! No man is gwine to do much for a
stranger unless he sees way ahead, whar his
grist is gwine to come in. Tharfore you may
be certain he’s trying to make something out
of you!”
(To be Continued.)
One peculiarity of a liquor law now in
force in Massachusetts is that it forbids the
use of screens, curtains or ground glass in the
doors and windows of drinking saloons. The
openness of the thing works like a charm,
and it will eventually close or move all the
barrooms upstairs; not because the hardened
Massachusetts man is ashamed to be seen tak
ing a drink, but because a hen in the act he
does not want half a dozen fellows to come
in and join him, uninvited, as the tramp
drink hunter will surely do when he sees a
possible victim.
A letter from Captain M. Cooney, of New
Orleans, from Silver City, New Mexico, rep-
his intention of watching him one night, but reselds that there is much excitement in that
if he discovered anything he was never per
mitted to divulge if, as he was found near
the river, the next morning with a bullet
through his forehead; that there was no evi
dence to connect the old man with the mur-
section of the country. It will be recalled
that Captain Cooney’s brother was killed by
tbe Indians at the Mongolian Mines, N. M.,
about a month ago. He left mining claims
valued at over $‘oo,ooo, wnich Captain
der, but all the gamblers believed that he was j Cooney has gone to look ’after. The latter
the author of it—at any rate, no one had the j descr jjjes the barbarities practiced by the
temerity, afh-r that, of investigating the old j Ind j ans of Vietorio’s band as something
man s mystery. I frightful, the bodi-s of the men, women and
We talked until a late hour, and drank un- , chi f dren lately killed in the valley being hor-
til I was brutishly drunk. How I got to bed ! mutilated. R fles are in demand, and
I do not. know, i awoke the next morning , ^ sel ti ers are organizing and arming to
with a terrible headache; and a most fever- | otect themselves aga.nst Victorio, who
ish thirst for water. I looked into the other ; £ ars to have little fear of General Hatch
bed tor Fowler, but found it had not been ! ^ troops.
« ^ - occupied. I immediately examined my j
said <>ee ng how unnerved and ill ^fae seemed * I soon became entangled with the numerous ! pockets, and was shocked to fin el my money
“Yes, if j ou will be so kind. I think I had j wa J g? DS J an ?> d J a -\ s tbat crowded the way j all gone. Like lightning the truih flashed U(11J 1CB „ SIJlIletlme8 ru( , e vet PI _
1 al «i bad to beat a hasty retreat for personal ; upon me-Fowier had s olen my money. *ad impanneUillg a new a
“YYhen I walked into tne dining room upon Ito'lra and^cquffiftedlhe*Jro’prietor with my Colorado court recently the judge W as "called
best lie down f >r awhile."
YVith the help of his bands she rose to her
r u te P !5 j 0 ui tre ^' Vaki'g nornore reach’ng the hotel, I did not know what to ; loss. He seemed perfectly indifferent to my
ado than if she had been a child, or hs sister, | do m ^. j, ati ^ j pi aced it conspicuously story and expressed no sympathy for my si r -
the earl raised her lighily in hie arms and
bore her away, leaving the Italian shudder-
iig with an impotent desi*e to rend hm
pit ce-meal. .
As tbe earl, smiling down in the face of bis
lovely burden, disappeared wit) in the castle
1 all, a low, hoik w laughter broke from Ra-
olfo's lips, followed by a hoarse maled.ction.
on the table beside me. In vain the waiters uation, merely remarking that it was my
offered to take charge of it. I preferred to own fault, and would teach me a lesson about
keep it within reaching distance. My beriav- trusting strangers in the future
ior soon drew the attention and provoked
the ridicule of the guests at the table. I was
designated as the gentleman from Green
Island, Verdant Springs and such other face
tious names as suggested themselves to their
He turned abruptly towards a s de en-| fancy. Of course, I was very much embar
trance tl at i dn.itted to the tuilding just be- 1 rassed and was tempted to leave the table at
math the tower. A^ he did so, he encoun- the sacrifice of my dinner. In this dilemma
“This m m, Fowler, as you call him,” said
he, “is nothing but a gambling pimp, and
lives by his wits. He has got aw ay with you
and to get e' en you'll have to get away with
some one else. Every man that comes to
Texas, has to pay for "his experience: ’tis the
tribute that shrewdness demands of ignor
ance.”
Colorado justice is sometimes rude, yet ef-
i new
recently the judge '
upon to hear tne usual number of excuses for
not serving. Among those who asked to be
excustd was one Adams, a notorious gam
bler. “I am a gambler,” said the man claim
ing exemption from jury duty. “You are a
common gambler, are you?” remarked the
court. “\es, sir.” “You are excused,” said
the judge; but before the satisfied smile of
the gambler had crept entirely over the face
of the festive c.tizen, the judge added, "Mr.
Sheriff take this man into custody.” Adams
was an old offender, and had given himself
away in open court.