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THE HOUR GLASS.
||is ifthou no hast rushing heard torrent, from bards dark and and hoarse, old;
sages
L^ t th:Sh„te t “
SSZIwS.'Zr.ia fewh^he^rw ^KSTn
brever btoid,
is returned unto itssource!
p is Time’s stream, by whose repeated fall
^numbered fond ones, since the world was new,
oitered as we, unwarned of doom the while:
uldst think so slender stream could cover
utas we speak, some eddy draws us, too—
s“uie gr ° W eyeS y
—Edith M. Thomas in The Century.
A QUEER RACE.
fct 11 ■ tell you I’ll back my bay mare Ver
any distance under a mile and a half
■ jPthc $1,000 against any living quadruped
state. Now, then, money talks!”
F he speaker was a typical American
sport, ” tall and well knit, of ruddy com
lex ion, with gray hair and mustache, and
pbably file wps 40 a guest years at of the age. same house
as my
If last fall, in a pleasant little country
k wn in Iowa, whither he, like the rest of
bad gone to recuperate for the winter
pipaign. fous hearted Qur American, host was passionately a genial, fond gen
| horses and all appertaining to them,
[tending k and breeding most meetings little during in the sea
a an amateur
m at his country house, where we were
l*n located.
IHe had one fault which constantly drove
I wife and pretty daughter to the verge
Flistraction; hour that was, he could not be
P in any man’s company who
umced to interest him on any subject
| ate ver, without giving that individual
cordial invitation to his house for the
iinual house party in the fall. This natu
“y brought a discordant element into
le circle at times, regretted by no one
ore than himself; but no matter how
Iscordaht the element might be, so long
Uhe general behavior kept within the
rands of conventional society, nothing
as permitted to even hint that absence
ts desiVabte. Hospitality was sacred,
d if a mild curtain lecture ensued, and
jDerpefcual *ced againstr black the delinquent’s mark was in future the
name,
er guests knew nothing whatever of
matter.
[Last L-b not fall the bad disturbing of fellow atom in was himself, a Col.
a sort
Phans, but one decidedly out of place in
societ y that surrounded him just then.
fo matter what the subject under dis
ssion was, he always had an opinion
| [J, it—a very decided, egotistical opin
delivered in a blatant tone with a
mi i nee ring ai w that plainly said, “Apres
; n la deluge.’ - •
^r ■^auy can easily people, be would imagined be particularly that this type, ir
Siting, for to calmly stand being con
adictcd and out lied, upon every phase
id yarn of shooting, fishing or racing
ithout annoyance would rank a man
rnmear the angels. I am, personally,
try far removed from a celestial temper
lent, I and the colonel, doubtlessly noting
annoyance, appeared to seize every
ning I gave to direct his conversation
I e or at me. This continued for some
e, in course of which I discovered X
a firm friend and a kindred spirit in
dislike to the colonel in my host’s
tty daughter, Miss Jennie, a thorough
P*ican girl, full of fun and mischief,
■ quite capable of carrying out any
■erne that might enter into her curly
lle head.
When Col. Ford made his appearance at
piTy house, he was surprised to find a
?11 fitted training stable, grounds laid
t into straight running tracks, round
)tting tracks, and all the paraphernalia
rtaiuiug to an expensive hobby carried
p> the full by a wealthy man. Most
p Irad our own horses along with us,
ll the days were passed in hunting,
luting, liu fishing, riding to points of inter
the vicinity, studying the minutiae
■.irgta’ole, Ptting or getting up running or
races among ourseives just for
n and glory. The very first night he
rived the colonel had telegraphed for
u [if. groom to bring along Verdant, and
I that time he never ceased boring ns
death abegit his mare, what she had
done, nml " hat she could do, until we
W certainly ^ e <!!i eary a °i fine piece f nb ^ ec of J- horseflesh, The mare was
had performed very creditably in public,
Sfin 1 J“i‘ n h
™ ; bu 5 snrely J*f t Was n ° “ t0T
make a match with him. ^ryo^e We had all V?
come to rest and enjoy ourselves, not to
work ourselves to death in pursuit of
pleasure.
One day at dinner, to which I had the
good fortune to escort Miss Jennie, the
' 0, ,' wrsfttl ™ ‘»™ed npon a very fast colt
belonging to a friend of mine living a few
hundred miles north of \ alley house; I had
just concluded my remarks, when Col.
Ford burst out:
‘*1 tell you I’ll back my bay mare Ver
distance under a mile and a half,
for $1,000, against any living quadruped
in this state.”
I looked across at him rather indignant
ly> not desiring any wager upon the mat
ter, when Miss Jennie chirruped: “Is that
so colonel? What about weights?”
“My dear young lady, catch weights, of
course; have you a match to propose? If
bo, 1 would be delighted!”
Miss Jennie laughed saucily, looked at
me, and giving me a slight tap with her
foot under the table, said:
“1 leave my case in your hands. I
t to match my pig Peek-a-boo against
the colonel’s Verdant, distance 300 yards,
to be run two weeks today on our left
track.”
Of course the table roared with merri
ment, the colonel turned first crimson and
then white witji rage; tried to laugh, but
could not, and finally said:
“Very funny, Miss Jennie, very funny,
Indeed.”
During the merriment Miss Jennie
whispered a few words to me, and I said:
“I do not see anything funny, colonel;
you offered repeatedly to back Verdant
against anything in the state; Miss Jennie
takes you up, and I am empowered by her
to draw up articles of agreement, and de
posit the $1,000 im any one’s hands you
may suggest.”
The colonel was staggered for a moment,
but recovered himself and said:
“Well, if it is serious, let her go. lap
int Tom Carswell, here, for holder, and
will increase it to $5,000 if you or any one
want to go the limit.”
Ou r host jumped into the pool, “I’ll
take $ 1 , 000 .”
Carswell said: “I guess my thousand
Is as good as another’s.”
George Hoyland took another, and I
increased mine to $2,000. Articles were
drawn up, signed, and for the next few
days fun was rampant, every one trying
to find out what Miss Jennie and I were
after with that pig. The colonel held
aloof. Verdant had regular exercise, and
nothing further was done.
Notwithstanding the rigid surveillance
we were subjected to. we succeeded in
keeping it secret. We all retired to rest
about 11 p. m., and every morning at day
break a tap would come at my door, and,
dressing quickly, I would find a cup of
coffee and Miss Jennie awaiting me down
stairs.
Peek-a-boo was one of those long,
lank, hungry, scrub porkers that a drover
will tell you can run like the wind when
they like. We fed him once a day on a
bushel of corn; he was placed in a crate
with a sliding door of bars, he saw the
corn dumped into a trough, and was then
carted, hungry and squealing, to the 300
yard limit. Here the word “go” was
shouted, the door opened and piggy went
down the homestretch like a flash of por
cine lightning.
Even the first day he went straight
along without an error; and after a spell
of twelve days he was a phenomenon; say
“go,” open the door and away he would
start; commence pouring the corn into
the trough as he came nearer, and he
spurted in the last fifty yards like a pro
fessional pedestrian. Then he was taken
back to his stye, and by the, time the
household awoke to the duties and -pleas
ures of the day, Miss Jennie and I would
be completing our toilets a little later
than the rest.
Greatly to the colonel’s annoyance,
some one put a prominent advertisement
of the race into the papers, and friends
from far and near came round to see the
fun. House and grounds were thrown
open to the public, and the place was
throaged with eager people to see____
Jennie's roan porker Peek-a-boo meet the
colonel’s bay mare Verdant.
a5^"toiJ5 wL e^ught mSSm! ufanW
tody, ‘o fancy he
trap of his own setting.
At 6 o’clock p. m. the saddling bell rang
out, ladies began to group on the grand
stand specially erected for the occasion,
Again the bell, and Verdant came out
looking like a picture. She took a short
carter past the stand, and then turning,
passed it asain going to tin starting post,
As she neared* the post Peek-a-boo was
carried out in his pen, squealing lustily as
usual, and I noticed the mare lay her ears
back and kick somewhat viciously, as if
the music did not suit her.
“Oh, ho!” I thought, “here is a new de
velopraent.”
The starter asked if we were ready. I
looked up the course and saw the man
with the corn in his arms at the trough,
I took hold of the trap door and nodded;
the flag fell, “Go,” I thundered. Peek
a-boo shot out with a demoniacal squeal,
darted in among the mare’s legs. Ver
danfc reared, nearly falling backward,
turned round once, and shot off like a
rocket to find Peek-a-boo beat heron her
merits, literally outrunning her, and was
muching his corn contentedly when she
came up.
The colonel swore dreadfully; we of
iered to repeat the wager, but he was
“froze out.” We won the $5,000, and
the colonel made an excuse, and left the
Valley house two days later.
Peek-a-boo hereafter is to live in
clover; he is to feed on the fat of the land,
and die a natural death; his placid porcine
temperament never to be troubled by fear
of butcher or shambles; for him the hor
rible knife and scalding tub will hold no
terrors; he will see his brothers led out to
slaughter, and will slumber along to a
good old age, with the promise, from his
fair mistress, that when he dies his head
will be stuffed and mounted, as the fleetest
hog in Iowa.
Happy pig I
And Miss Jennie 1
Ah! dear reader, it is a most prosaic
ending. Miss Jennie was happily share mar- the
ried this spring, and my of
plunder went toward buying her wedding
present. She had noticed the strange dis
like Verdant had to pigs one day when
the mare was leaving the stable for exer
else; and on that knowledge took up the
colonel’s bombastic wager by challenging
him to run the mare in “a queer race.”—
The Journalist.
Mountain Hill Cimrci* M.ntinn * •
With your permission. Mr. Itclitor,
» A desire ta inform vour corps of in
telligent correspondents , and- a your
rea d C rs generally that there is anoth
er spot of God’s green earth worthy
of their attention—in fact the great¬
est of them all— and a narration
the numerous incidents transpiring
around here would very greatly as¬
tonish them. IS^ar the place Irom
which I write lives the inimitable
and original Jno. A. Cook, He is
known to some of your readers as
the older brother of Capt. S. P.
Cook who has but recently entered
the contest with his bro. J. A. for
the blue ribbon.
Your correspondent may be per¬
mitted to interview the “Inimitable”
occasionally; if so you shall hear
from us again. In this brief notice
I will merely rise to say that the
farming interests of this vicinity is
moving up briskly*
Oats and wheat are looking well
since the recent warm rams.
One of the cleverest citizens of this
sec ion is Jas. H. Brawner. for the
week he has been receiving con
gratulations from his numerous ft ic
He . the . . heio of the th
is 19 cu t
It is a boy.
Mrs - h ! a,, i e B i awner l,as
d™**™ 0 '* . 1 l ! 1 with neuralgia. 7
physicians were summoned tr
bed-side one (lay last week,
now to note her convalescence \
** j u dl: P « t}
J* V” ‘ ’
. ,
mar b has recent')' located v
a stefne's throw of this rilace, on
premises of Mr. Flynn Hargett,
w here w as sawef i a la rve> Inr #
‘ t n
. . ,, - . l
timber. • bor first class heart lun
our mountain timber cannot l >e
celled. We learn that Mr, 7m J
bad a t 11 j ie 5 rnicformnp m S 0riu ^ tn t0 liw ^ tl i
, (lays Its neck Im
a ago. w.is
by careless driving. . He purr
another of Mr. Harrington, ant
n ow it Mr * ’ I T \ Hurtoi k \ win- ‘
wl ,, s aWanot le r ar e ^ i0
»
Miss . Exa Fitzpatrick . has
a
school at this place, and we h<v
may ‘qj ve an( ) prosier” ml
e Aliia, A ‘CC „
. quietly . , along , the
arc moving in
tenor of their way, “looking ('<
to the day when tlieir brethren
masters or a, me situation *» u '*
derstana the mission of this nol
der to be (i) To labor for the c
tion of the agricultural classes
»herebv ^ develon a bet ter i n *
‘
.. .. ■ .. ,
* a 'v> m° ra ‘*y> socially andhn.un
( 2 ), To constan'ly strive
harmony, among all mankind
Krntheiiv love amonn f i!u*m*
p * ronaniy one nrici sen.^nre, ■**.
del stand it would cover its c,u
doctrines and intentions ~“lVu
earth and good will towards me
1 , will «, not now trespass , ( tui then .
your columns, but reserve some
teresting items for a. future co- ^
nication. Long ' b may lhe In
•
w j\ >.x
Kllerslle Topic*.
Misses Maggie and Lula I*.
have gone to Columbus to sqx*n
few days with friends.
Dr. Ashford has gone ovi
Hamilton to day on business.
Mr. James Ashford was in
town yesterday evening. \\ v
glad to see him convalescing
though he looks worsted fror
illness.
Mrs. Dr. Ashford spent the
noon in our town last Saturday j
Mrs. j. H. Moore.
R. F. Carter is having sofife
pairs done on his dwelling.
J, H. Moore’s new resideu
nearing completion and he' hope
move into it in a fev days.
The heavy rains last week s< 1
farmers back dief considerably with -
work and great damage to
lands. Some say the) will have
go down the river to get the h
of their guano. Our alliance at
place seems to be quiet, We into
they should rally and fall
and reap the reward that is siiT
await the order.
We saw Mr. S. M. Brannon s
mentioned as good senatorial ti
and we think whoever did it h
level head. r. Brannon \
grace the senate chamber and d
country as good service as any *
we could send, and if he was as
ular in the district as he is at
we could send him if he would
trot himself out.
Mrs. Hp.mf