Newspaper Page Text
CARE’S SLAVE.
It was the budding May-time,
The white boughs overhead;
*’Oh, give to me some piay time.
Good Master Care,” I said.
1 saw his head begin to shake:
“Not now; just wait and see,
I’ll give you a holiday
When planting’s done,’’ said he.
It was the glowing summer;
How cool the woodland’s shade!
Again an eager comer,
“Oh, give to-day!” I prayed.
Old Master Care his forehead knit;
“The grass is ripe to mow;
Work on till haying time is past,
And then I’ll let you go.” .
It was the glad September;
The maple leaves were red;
*‘Oh, Master Care! Remember,
You promised me,” I said.
“And you will find,” he answered me,
“I’ll keep my promise true,
And you may sport when harvest’s
done,
With nothing else to do.”
blow winter’s winds arc blowing—
CHow weak I feel and old!)
And by the hearth bright glowing,
I shiver with the cold.
Arid Caro sits down beside me,
And counts up one by one.
The tasks that I have doao amiss,
Or I have left undone;
While 1, low muttering to myself,
Wished 1 had laughed and sung.
And had my share of honest joy
When I was strong and young.
CRPTHIN STORRIS
Captain Storms put the glass to bis
eye, and took a long look. Far on,
black against the silvery horizon line,
that shapeless speck showed, What
was It? Captain Storms' prolonged
survey ended, he slowly dropped his
glass, and turned to Mr. Scott, the
mate.
“I knew I was right," he said; “it Is
a wreck, a dismantled hulk, drifting
about at the mercy of wind and sea.
There may be no one left aboard, but
we’ll bear down and have a look.” i
And then Captain Storms lifted up
his voice a stentorian voice It was -
and gave the proper orders to the man
at the masthead, or at the helm, or
somewhere—I don’t know exactly. I
would tell you the precise words which
Captain Storms used on this occasion,
If I could; hut I’m deplorably back¬
ward in nautical matters, So you’ll
have to be content with learning that
horo
straight down upon that dark mass,
outlined against the sunny sky.
Captain Storms leaned over the aide
find lit a cigar. He was a bronzed
young man, stalwart and gallant as I
take it sailor men mostly are! and he
looked the very beau Ideal of n dash¬
ing seaman, in his off-hand seafaring
costume. He had a beard, and he had
a mustache, big and brown, like him¬
self; and, from the crown of his glazed
hat to the sole of his boots, Captain
Storms was a sailor, every inch of him.
The I,ovely Lass bore down along the
sunlit tropic sea and reached that float¬
ing wreck. Captain Storms was the first
man to hear the moaning cry of a faint
human voice. No living thing was to
be seen; but from a corner of the deck
^''Thi' . , tw . , o.Lalivp| ,, ' ,
‘
O s alive h 1 p I r » stIO S tiir
said Captain Storms. .Speak, friend.
Who are you? Where are you?”
Again that unspeakably mournful
wail. Captain Storms strode across to
where a heap of torn canvas and rotten
wood lay, and looked down. There in
the garish sunshine, with her face
upturned to the serene sky, a woman
lay dead. Crouching over her, a skele
ton child, with long, wild hair, sat
making that feeble moan of dumb
agony,
"My child!" Captain Storms said,
pitifully "my child, what is this-”
The ghastly little creature lifted a
bloodless face and a pair of haggard
eye:
“Mother’s dead!'
“My poor little girl," said the sailor.
bending over her ns tenderly ns that
dead mother could have done, "you
must come with me, or you will die,
too. Como!"
She rose up a frail little sbadovg of
ton years and held tip her skeleton
arms.
"Peace Is hungry," she cried, piteous
lv "Peace ts sick and cold, and
mother’s dead."
And then as the strong arms lifted
her as though she hud been a wax doll.
the blue eyes closed wearily, and the
weak baby drooped heavily against his
breast; and hunger, and sickness, and
cold and death were all blotted out in
blind darkness.
And for wearv days and weary nights
—while the Lovely Lass sailed along
the southern stvts. and the dead woman
lay quietly under the great Pacific
the little rescued waif lay fluttering
between death and life And during
these endless days and nights, the big
sun-browned sailor watched over his
little girl as a father—nay. as a mother
— might have done, until the fluttering
spirit ceased its struggles and grew
calm in strength and health once more.
Little Peace her name was Priscilla
Weir IV for sJ
Hi oh inch —v - j. »
still, and lisped her story to the soft¬
hearted sailor.
“There bad been a great storm—oh a
dreadful storm!” Peace said, with a
shudder; and they went away in boats
—all the men did—and mamma was
sick down in the cabin, and left behind;
and Peace stayed with mamma and was
left behind, too. And then mamma
came upstairs on deck, and died; and
Peace sobbed, ar.d was so ill and so
cold; and then you came,” looking
gratefully at the captain, "and Peace
doesn’t remember any more.”
"Does my little Peace know where
mamma came from, and where she was
going?” Captain Storms asked.
“Yes, Peace knows. Mamma came
from New York and was going to China
to papa. Papa lived in China and was
rich.”
But that was all she could tell; and
Captain Storms knew that among all
the unlikely things on this earth, the
most unlikely now was that papa and
his little girl would ever meet.
The Lovely Lass spent nine long
months on the Pacific coast, and then
sailed back for America.
"And I shall leave my little Peace be¬
hind next voyage,” Captain Storms
said. “I have a sister who keeps a
school in Philadelphia, a fashionable
young ladies’ academy—and Peace
shall stay there and learn to play the
piano, and talk French and paint pic¬
tures, and grow up a pretty young
"And I shall have silk dresses and
lots of pictures and story books!”
Peace asked, with interest.
"Heaps of ’em, Peace! And nice lit¬
tle girls to play with, and music, and
dancing, and everything beautiful all
the day long.”
Peace clapped her hands—that
would be lovely. So, by-and-by, when
Philadelphia was reached, the captain
of the Ixively Lass consigned his little
girl—a willing captive—into the hands
of Mrs. Lee. Not but that she shed a
few tears at parting, too, and clung to
the sailor’s neck, and was very sorry
whe » !t came to the last, and the good
by ki ss was siren.
“There—there, my little Peace! (
Captain Storms said, unclasping the
clinging arms; “you mustn’t cry like
that; it will redden your eyes and swell
your nose, and make you look ugly.
Keep up heart, little Peace; I will come
»«<<* 1,1 a year or two with a cartload
°f lovely presents for my little girl.
Kiss mo again, and let me go.”
Captain Storms imprinted a sound
smack on the wistful little tear
w< ’ 1 face, and unwound the clasping
arms and walked off, and straightway
was whistling cheerily along the deck
of tbe Lovely Lass, and quite forgetful,
I am afraid, of his little Peace and her
grief.
"Bear;—gssS Tnardtan," thought
Peace; "he’s so kind and so good-na¬
tured, and it was nice playing on the
deck of the Lovely 1 /ass; but, for all
that, I had rather be here and wear
pretty dresses, and play with Mrs. Lee’s
boarders, and never be afraid of ship¬
wrecks any more."
Captain Storms sailed for New Zea
land; and on windy nights, when the
doors and windows rattled, and great
soughs came down the chimneys,
Peace lay awake, and thought of him
on the terrible ocean, and said her sim
pie child’s prayers for his safe keeping,
Two years went by, and Peace had
just one letter from "guardy” (guard
ian) In all that time, and that one to
say lie was coming back. She was a
tall, rather awkward looking school
rrjj.i twelve now with preternatur
ally long limbs, that were always in
^ hlf?h shoulders, and promin
ent cheek-bones. And so Captain
Storms found her when, more bearded
and sunbrowned than ever, he walked,
with his sea-swing, into Mrs. Lee’s
P r * m parlor,
Peace sat at the piano singing, My
""lie’s On the Dark-Blue Sea, am.
w "h a shrill cry of joy, she jumped up,
"'mg herself headforemost into
1,is ’"'to pilot-coat.
"Oh. guardy! dear, darling guardy!
I’m so glad to see you again! So glad—
j so gtad!”
"And so am I. little Peace. Don’t
choke me with those long arms, my
) girl. Heads tip, and let us see you."
Peace lifted her flushed face and
I kissed him ecstatically.
"Why, how my little woman s grown,
getting as tall as the mainmast, by
George! and as thin as a shadow. Don’t
. they give you enough to eat Peace?”
1 “Plenty, guardy; but growing girls
are always thin Mrs. Lee says so. And
; now, what have you brought me from
| New Zealand
j “Bushels of things. Peace, They11
'>*' by-a»"-by. How does the
, hear
learning progress? Let us you
at '"” piano.
j Peace sat down and rattled off polkas
and waltzes.
"And I read French, guardy, f>
i can
whirling gayly round on the stool,
"and draw pencil drawing, you know.
and do fancy work. 1 like everv thing,
! And. guardy, when I grow up and am
a young lady, and my education is fin
{ ished. I want you to fit up the cabin of
the Lovely Lass with a Brussels carpet.
j and a piano, and heaps of new novels.
and take me to sea with you all the
time until 1 m an old woman, won t
- you?” devoutly
Of course. Captain Storms
promised, and rose up to take his leave,
i “I’m going to China this voyage,
he said, pulling her long, brown braids.
Fro to t” aim hij lit
vo a rove, l suppose?"
“Ah! if you only would see him!”
Peace cried; clasping her hands. “Dar¬
ling papa! Guardy, he used to he in
Hong Kong, I know. Try if you can
find him fer me when yon go there.”
Captain Storms promised this also
and departed. Peace clung to him sob¬
bing at the ast.
“You’U write to me often this time,
won’t you, dear guardy? You only sent
me one Htt e stingy letter last time,
you know.”
"All right, Peace,” the captain said.
"I’ll try. I never was much of a scr e,
but this time I'll uo my best.”
So once again the captain of the
Lovely Lass left this little girl, to sail
merrily over the world; and once more
Peace went back to her horn-book and
fancy work.
But the months strung themselves
out, and the yoars rolled slowly back¬
ward, and Captain Storms, sailing to
and fro in golden eastern and southern
climes, never came to take this little
girl from sch< >1. His letters were few
and far betw; jn, despite his promises,
only six in si' : long years, and in ans
wers he had 'l least received sixty.
But the start i ■ and last announced his
coming, and old her the wonderful
news that he eiifaad met her father in
Hong Kong, Vjirth eind that she must be
ready to go him next voyage to
China. .
Captain ts,
handsome den; te his middle age, rang
Mrs. Lee’s do<*j.-bell, into and the strode, boarding- like
a sun-burnt gijtat,
school parlor.
“But of corn te she couldn’t know I
was coming,” lie thought, as he sent
up his name; " poor little girl. I hope
she’ll be glad t 3 see guardy.”
Tbe door opened and a young lady
walked In. A tail and stately and
graceful young Sfedy, with a dark, hand
some face and ' aves of sunny brown
hair. Surely, su rely, this was not “Lit
tle Peace.”
“My dear gua »dian, welcome back!
Oh, how happy i am to see you once
more!” 5
Yes, Peace, b< yond doubt; but, oh,
so unutterably ohanged. Captain
Storms reddened! mder his brown skin,
and actually etat| 'Sw mered.
“Yon surely H me, I see,” she
smiled brightly.*) 1 dare say I 1 taller have
grown out of all reason. Am
than the main roe it now? I was almost
as tall, if you ifremembei, six . years
ago. said
one recollected what ho had all
these years, and 'Captain Storms’ face
beamed.
“I expected to 'r.i my little Peace,
and I find a youLg lady so stately and
womanly that I ;Sim at a loss what to
say to her. I'm* not used to ladies’
society, you see.” i
She laid her <-i -d on his arm, and
looked up la his honest sailor face,
with deep, sweetly shining eyes.
“Talk to me as Gon used to, and call
me Little Peace. Ah, guardy, how I
have longed fa your coming, And
my father-—teflR e of him."
Captain StorL told her how, by
merest accident,i^he bad met, how he
was rich and lotAeiy, and longing for
her, but unable to come to America;
’how that she the was steward to ;je of turn the with Lovely him, Lass
was to take out his wife with him to
wait upon her. And Peace listened
like one in a pe iceful dream, t
being a heroine- -it was living a chap
ter out of one bt her pet nove s, to
romantic Peace. ,
So they sailed for that mr-ofi eeles
tial land of tea tnd pig-tai s. a P
Storms and his (fairy handsome wan . - i
Peace had her Yearns realized
and there was • a Brussels carpet: m
the cabin, and a piano, and lots of new
j novels; and ah' - was as h»T>l>>' *“«
j days were long Her music filled the
Lovely Law with sweetest melody,
her clear voice rang out over the pur
pie midnight sell, in songs sweeter than
the siren stratnp of the mermaids; and
her beautiful {face iummer lit up the grim itself. old
ship like the sunshine
Peace was bright and bewitching and
happy as a bijrtl. gad of light: The sailors and the adored cap
her as an an
tain-uh. the daptain!-adored her too.
Sailing along.) by day and by night,
through days of amber sunshine and
nightsof misty moonlight, to that dis
tant land. enough Captain and Storms, big in enough his 42nd to
vear—old desperately
know ridiculously better-j fell madly
and in love. He lost his
sleep and he lost his appetite; and he
hung on a girl’s foolish words, and ex
isted only in the radiance of a pair of
laughing girlish eyes. he
"Fool that I am for my pains!
thought, sometimes, in bitter moodi
ness; “I am more than double her age;
and I am rough and black and weath
er-l.eaten as the timbers of my old
ship. No. no, Harry Storms; the only
wife for you, my boy, is the Lovely
And yet. sometimes he wildly hoped,
She talked to him so happily, she smil
ed upon him so sweetly, she was ever
so eiad when he came, so regretful
when he w«t And girls of IS had
married men of 42 before now; and.
oh whv should it not happen again,
and and Harry Harry Storms st rn be the most blessed
“S' 'reached China-they r«mbed
Hong K' ,n S P-e was folded in
•UfhkeVo^ mother.” he said, hts
tears faiung. ’Oh, my child’ So like
was to stay thr~
weeks in the Celestial Clly-to tan
*. perbapn. never again. He made
the most of his stay; visiting Peace
every day in her palatial home, and
growing moodier and moodier every
visit. Peace, too, drooped a little, and
looked at him wistfully, and lost some
of that bright happiness that made her
the light of all places. And when the
last day came, and he stood up to say
good-by. she broke down altogether
and cried like a very child.
"And I shall never see you again,”
she said; "you who saved my life! Oh,
Captain Storms, must you go?”
And then that bashful giant took
heart of grace, as a landsman would
have done weeks before.
"I must go,” he said, “but we need
not part, my darling Peace, if you say
so. for I love you dearly; and if you
will be my wife, we will sail together,
for ever and ever, as you once wished,
until our heads grow gray. Mine is
not so far from it now,” he added, rue¬
fully.
But Peace had thrown her arms im¬
petuously around him, and kissed the
dark, crisp locks.
"And if every hair were white as the
foam of the sea, I should love you,
and go with you, just the same. Why,
Captain Storms, you have been my
hero all these long years; and I should
have died of disappointment, I know,
if you had left me behind.”
So the China merchant lost his
daughter, and the Lovely Lass had a
second commander; and in all the
years to come Peace will reign peren¬
nial in the heart of Storms.
A Muskrat ‘ Farm.”
John Duffield of Cedarville, Cumber¬
land county, New Jersey, is the owner
of a unique farm. He runs a muskrat
“farm,” and, in a way, too, that is
profitable to himself, Duffield, about
two y ears ag0 , f 0U nd that an extensive
- liete of he owned along the
shores of Delaware Bay, near his home,
was of no use, unless he turned it into
a muskrat “farm.” This he did, and
ho bids fair to become quite -well-to-do
in a few years from the proceeds of the
rodents, which are rapidly increasing
in numbers, Duffield secured a num
her of muskrats and placed them on
his "farm,” which was well adapted
for the purpose. He kept a watchful
eye on his charges, and really took as
much interest in the outcome of his
new venture as ne did In his crop of
potatoes and melons.
Muskrats once settled on a piece of
marsh land suited to their taste will
not leave it. The soft-coated rodents
need little or no care, and increase at
a marvellous rate, The harvest time
for muskrat crops comes in the winter
season, at a time when the South Jer¬
sey farmer puzzles his brain to pass
away the dull hours, Duffield gath
ered muskrats from his “farm all of
last winter, and he has ieaiued that
no farming he ever before engaged in
is as profitable. There is a ready mar¬
ket for the sale of the “rat furs” in
Philadelphia and New York, and the
prices the skins command are from ?20
to $25 per hundred. Duffield has left
several hundred pairs of the animals
on his “farm,” and if nothing unfore
seen occurs he expects to gather sever
at thousand pelts next season, The
fur is not the only valuable part of
the animal, The musk sac has a value
to perfumers and wholesale druggists,
while the carcass has become quite a
delicacy as a substitute for the flesh
^ rabbits Much of the so-called rab
.
bit stew served up in the city restaur
ants , g plain every day muskrat meat,
j n j] a - vor jt is similar to that of the
rnUhit and an expert epicure could
‘ j
not d stinglliRh 0 ne from the other.
^ difference is in the cost of
the meats that of the muskrat being
abouj . one .’ ha]f )f)e eost of rabbit meat.
wquW be hard t0 8nd a cleaner ant
thiU1 the muskrat. Svery article
{o((d , g tborougb i y washed before
^ en an(J . tg principa i diet is the
t j der"roots of sedge grass.—Philadel
P , Timeg
______
Europe n R , iiw , v * Mileasre. ’ “
If the pac
tries have'established in the building bmldmg
of railroads is a >
the future has m store for this conn- n
try, it may truthfully be s.
American railway enterprise is sti
its infancy.
According to the London Eng neer,
one of he leading industrial PubUca
turns ol Gioat Britain, the railway
mileage of the various European coun
tides is as o o^ns. g Miim - •
Britain, "Jf* Z iG.6, k the tlTTetheri^ds Netherland , m
Germany, .6, '. “ ’ ’
France, ll.o, and Ita < • •
in spite of the fact that American
railway enterprise has distanced all
competitors in the speed and luxury
of travel, as well as in actual railway
mileage, this country nevertheless pre
senta a limited development in propor
tion to its area. Indeed, the mileage
for the United States is only 5o to the
hundred square miles, or -.1 less than
Italy’s. While this record seems to
place the l mted toates at a serious dis
advantage, the showing is more a ppa
rent thlin real and is due sole,v to the
vas[ extent of territory comprised
within our national borders When
this J
Prance or Belgium, it will not only
P-nt
portion to Us area which will surpass
■ '■ '■ 0unt,y *
Constitution.
THROUGH GEORGIA.
A fight on the present system of
fees as compensation for county offi¬
cials in Fulton, which has long lain
dormant, has been renewed by the
county commissioners.
A meeting to discuss the all import¬
ant question of building a cotton fac¬
tory for Dublin was held a day or two
ago. The idea was only informally
discussed, but the sentiment was that
the people should not fail to raise a
sufficient amount to erect such an en¬
terprise.
* * *
The supreme court of the state has
decided that Terrell Hudson, colored,
of DeKaib county, must suffer death
for the murder of Seab Halcomb, an¬
other colored man. Last fall Hudson
quarreled with Seab Halcomb about a
dog, and the altercation quickly ter¬
minated in the shooting of Halcomb.
Judge Newman, of the United States
;ourt, has changed the date for hear¬
ing the petition of the Atlanta Consol¬
idated Street Railway people relative
to the granting of transfers. He has
set Hay 21st as a time for hearing
the case. The hearing will be held in
New Orleans, to which city Judge
Newman will go for that purpose.
The Savannah police commissioners
have been asked to abolish the “free
and easy” places now so numerous in
the city. The chief of police holds
that these resorts are responsible for
most of the crime committed in Sa¬
vannah. He declares that three re¬
cent murders are directly traceable to
these places, where both white and
colored of the lower classes congregate
in large numbers every night.
* * *
The governor has shaped thq future
of the Atlanta artillery. The company
w ill not be disbanded, and the rem¬
nant left by the courtmartial will be
allowed to enlist new men until the
complement required by the regula¬
tions is secured. The reorganization
will pot take place until the ranks are
full. This will bring in new blood
and give the new men a chance to
participate in the organization.
The memorial exercises at the Re
pnen Confederate cemetery will be ob¬
served on Saturday, May 15th, and
quite an elaborate and entertaining
programme will be carried out. Gen¬
eral Clement A. Evans has been invit¬
ed to deliver the memorial address,
and speeches will he made by ex-Gov
ernor R. B. Bullock, Major C. H.
Smith (Bill Arp), Colonel W. P. Me
( i..»- n..y oLChattaapoga, and General
Phillips, of Marietta.
* * *
The application filed by the receiv
ers of the Southern Mutual Building
and Loan Association asking for au¬
thority to offer a reward for William
O. Hale, was argued in the superior
court at Atlanta before Judge Lump¬
kin. That Hale is badly wanted was
plainly shown by the argument of the
receivers and their attorneys and
others interested in the case. The
attorneys contended Hale might be
caught and if he was once brought be¬
fore the court, they were of the opin¬
ion that he could tell many things
which are now unknown. Judge
Lumpkin has taken the matter under
advisement.
Governor Atkinson has decided that
the bonds of two tax collectors and
two tax receivers m the counties of
Fulton, Floyd, Houston and Crawford
are illegal, and has notified them to
make new ones by the second of June,
if the surety company which made
their bonds does not in the meantime
perfect them by depositing $50,000 of
United States bonds or Georgia bonds
as required by law. Since the new
law was passed, bonds for twenty
three tax collectors and receivers m
various counties have been made by
comp(mieg _ Niae teen of these
bonds were made by a company which
^ t , ied witll the !aw by making
the $50,000 deposit. The other four
bondg were made by the American
Bonding and Trust company, which
complied with the law,
theOT(ler
The weather bulletin issued for the
t week is uite encouraging to the
farmers and shows that a very good
a q vance was made in farm work during
the week. Cotton is about,all planted;
some is up ' and being chopped. Re¬
ports rela tive to this crop are favorable
as a rule, though in a few localities
the stand is rather poor. Wheat, oats
and rye are doing well, Gardens,
though still backward, have made
noticeable improvement. The melon
crop is not first-class, but in some lo¬
calities is promising. Light frosts oc¬
curred in exposed places on the morn¬
ing of May its' 2d, but it was not damag¬
ing in effects. Reports from the
northern counties indicate that the
damage to the peach crop is less seri¬
ous than it was thought some weeks
ago, while from other sections of the
state unfavorable reports have been
received. In the middle and southern
divisions peaches are falling rapidly.
Pears are cut short by blight. The
prospects for apph s and berries are
good.
