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About The Advocate-Democrat. (Crawfordville, Ga.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1897)
THE STORY OF ULLfl. Told at the Edge of the Northern Sea, and 3 Written for This Paper. BY EDWIN LESTER AENOLD. C’lf AFTER VI. It was just at dusk that evening: th« western sgy was streaked with crimson and black, the white mist was lying In thin wreaths along the purple river meadows; the landrails were croaking In the fern and the night Jars churning on the oak; the little stars were twink¬ ling in the smooth heaven, and the pale trescent of the moon was adlp upon the Sea when a thin curl of smoko rose from the thatch of a hut In the fishing village below the burgh. A minute after a bright tongue of flame shot up and a cry of alarm rose from inside the stock¬ ades. "Hurely some careless housewife had let an ember fall among the thatch,' they thought, and the great oak gates Creaked upon their hinges and out tc the extinguishing rushed in their loose Sheepskin cloaks two luckless herds As they passed the portal an arrow sped across the grass, and, plunging deep he Into the chest of the foremost, bounded half his height Into the air, then fell with n heavy thud Into the fern and went rolling and kicking and screaming down the hillside. At the same minute an unseen hand from be¬ hind, with a single sweep of u good Norway ax, severed the head of the other from his body as he stood glaring after his comrodo, and now the starlight was twinkling on the weapons and mail of hurrying Norsemen, and while the fierce cry of "Odin! Odlnl” went up to the black sky, and tho dusky crows, startled from tholr roosting places, flapped dismally about between the stars, a long, low wail of fear and terror rose from tho hundred corners of thut doomed citadel. And the game was ours from the be¬ ginning. Numerous and strong, fierce and bloodthirsty ns bloodhounds on tho trail, we raord for tho open gates, nnd tarried the first ono nnd swept round the way between under tho unguarded palisades, where a dozen men might nave held us at bay, and so to tho inner portal, where wo stabbed a bravo old crone who tried to shut it ln our face, and th**rft tho place had fallen—tho wolves w'or • In tho fold. And wild work wo mado of it! As wc gained the entrance the English chief tain rushed out of the mid-door of his hall In his nightwear (for he had al ready gone to bed), a naked sword In his hand and by his side a fair young boy with curly yellow hair. By Thor, i Would not have been the wild fowl on the neighboring marsh when that comely lad was hungry. He shot so close and Straight, although the light was poor for ^ffTffrtRcrc 'Win L rltfen* such it would have gone badly indeed w.Hi us. At the first shaft he pierced Kolhlorn through the wrist, and tho sec ond wounded stalwart Kveinke in the thigh; then he shot one In the throat and another in tho stomach, and kept us all at bay until bis last arrow was spent, and then died far down on the haft of bloody l'agson’s bear spear like the fierce young cub he was. As for tho other although he was stout enough of heart, yet his limbs were - L-r-JU \ m ft \ N. | I ( . I Ip. “BY HIS FIl»E A FAIR YOUVQ HOY ” lean nn.l old. and my merry fellowi made short work w ith him. and he laj In the moonlight ns they left him, pal* and Moody across his threshold, al! the evening. Then wo shut the gates to keep the •creaming women In and lit a stack oi two to give us light nnd so fell on. Bui why should I try to tel! you all we dir thnt evening’’ Why should 1 try t< pteture the wild, tierce hell of lust anc cruelty hip! rapine that raged withli those grassy shambles under the milt white starlight? And If I had a hundred pens 1 could not tell each incident ns il befell, amt if 1 did you might not cart to listen. If 1 had a hundred pens 1 could scarce recount how, one by one, we first drugged the men from theii hiding places, and how some of then fought desperately, while some sub mitted sullenly, but whichever way i was we killed them. Or how the tv tuner •creamed and struggled in the arms tJ the sea rovers ami cried for mercy anc tore the yellow beards of their new grimly laughing masters, and were sen down to hades, the old and lean ones and how the others—the pale, fair girls < ■ith fear-bright eyes nnd long, loosi rr air and bare feet, all in their torn, di shovelled night gear—were bound hand ami foot and lashed to the pillars in tin dining-hall, or how the little ones moaned and wailed, and hid behind th» he aps of ib-a t a 1 strove to wake with timid petulance t use who won!- "3 nevet wake again, or, t ten, with the - her ished playthings looked tightly withit their arms, crept into wondrous vrners and h d from us—ask me nosma or do tv.,., for 1 c. ui i s r:\i: y u with hor.ors until compassion , dimmed , your eyes anJ , stayeil your reading. , 1 or an hour .he place was full of th« guttural Shouts of men and the shriek. of women, the scream of the maiden an< (,f hc ,J , :' ,her 1 ° 8in(f llttle 0ne he wad of , the . captive and the moan « the dying down in the shadows; anc men ran here and there struggling with white-shrouded forms or dragging bj heoi or ha r strange the shapes Into dusk, , corners, and tires blar.ed and the ; sparks fell—and then, presently be cause noise died there down were until no presently more to kill silence th. | i reigned, broke, only by the laughmg | , and shout ng of my men and thus we gathered in the hail, relit the lamps, brushed off the remnants of the earlier pvening supper and laid out for our pelves all the best we could put out bands on. And fierce, wild revelry mj fellows made of It, The hot blood ol rapine and pillage had got Into theif veins and they heated It higher with the strong, abundant drink from that Brit |sh chieftain’s hiding places, until they were more like a tawny, handsome band at furies than mortal men—gods! 1 think I never brought such a crew of devils to that shore before. They made ! the rafters ring with their wild pagan hymns; they danced and shouted and lie and drank, whllo the pale captive pirls stood huddling In the shadows or waited trembling on them, and the wine ind ale went streaming down the floor Huong the blood and litter, and the torches flared, and the dogs howled out lido. Oh, It was strange, wild revelry ind went on for half the night-time. It must have been near the dawn and most of the maidens iay swooning upon She floor between weariness and terror, tnd half the rovers wore drunk as •hleftain, iwine, when setting they him, fetched pale in and the bloody, dead ) in his chair, and putting a cup into his iiands while the ribaldest fellow thore made a song and sung it to him. Then text a cry aroso—who started it I know not, but may God forgive him—for the English franklin’s daughter! We had not seen her-—she was not among tho paptlves—and now a hundred buxom fellows were on foot hunting with torch lnd lamp high and low in every find crack her, aud corner of tho burgh to Unhappy damsel, they hunted futibdy ,v« rywhere until they came to tho „,iall round tower on the cliff verge; there the strong oak door whb barred lnd B hut from within, and a wild yell of ;,- unken pleasure told their quarry was it ba y. What^was it that made me just then to siok of all that revelry and sat like a i black foreboding on my soul? I know ; not, but I turned, and, weary of the | r iare nd walked and tumult, down slowly to tho loft beach, the wheru burgh , |ay my ship, Just as the men were mak lug a tall mound of sticks and heath and Umbers about the door of tho doomed lower that held tho silent princess. | climbing on board stood I by gave the orders Wolf to tho .e who had to make all ready for the sea, then threw ■ j myself down lstless, strangely sr-d. and 1 | fi' ?-o S °1 e ln a *r’eu by my P the tiller to await the com ng of the pillagers. And presently, oue toy one, tho sons of the crook came reeling down the path singing as they stumbled i iown the darkness and carrying bundles • nd bags, and furs and cups, and weapons in sheafs, and dragging falter ! |ng slaves, and surly, snarling dogs in I leashes, and so at last when they were » Ion board but one. that we «me luj aing down tho path, and before he ha pot half wav to us the burgh was all illuminated with a rosy light, and look .ng up we saw that the laughing vi lam had tired It in twenty p.aces and no only the dwellings hut a so the great mound of fu. 1 his friends had built against the tower door. .... Ip came our anchor . and . out . we lurched upon the waves once more. Me set sail and drifted slowly down under the cliff where stood the castle, and as we came the lire raged furiously until when we were below that beetling brow we were sailing on a heaving molten sea . of blood, and all our spars and cordage were shining copper red, and all tho up ! turned faces of the vikings were flushed I and hectic in tho shine—and then—oh. ; how can I write it?—Just ns we came [he nearest a white woman’s form stepped frantic out on top of th® tower and clasped her hands across her eyes, and hid her face and wept And I—oh the fiercest, strangest gust of agony and joy sprang up within my heart—1 j | gasped the strangeness and glared, of it and, in all the forgetting horror oi the moment, dropped the tiller, ant! leaping to the clanking bulwarks stared another moment, ami then, out of m\ deepest heart, out of the hot inspiration t»f mv very soul, burst a tierce, wild cry of "Gunna!” And in an instant that white form was pn her feet and staring terror-dazed at us, and then she saw me by the shrouds as l s'ood limned in gold, with all my ship against the black setting of th* night, and gazed down steadfastly up ( m me for a minute, then clapped het hands upon her bosom and stretched them wildly to me, and above the hiss I b >g of the flame ar. I the thud of the white surf upon the-rooks I heard het I pry, "Vila! Vila!" I And now the strength of twenty jarh ' was m my heart. I tossed off as thougl thev were t a by Angers the strong grip of two stout fellows who thought tc s -«v me and in a minute was j n r! s-:r ' bravely th » n 8 t:iU ng out t- r The great fr- ■ y pillows oi int Liu boiled for a *p£k de|| under my chin, anc now I was down in a humming upon black sea curling vali|j; and o? anon mast and then, higi a -rest spume, ail In the blac: shadow of the cliff, tin black waters stemed to dissolve into t hell of ghostly ihaos and white thunder, and my feet toughed the pebbly bottom. I landed someiow, but how only the pale Noras can tell, and scrambled up i sheep track th< boldest of my men had said in daylight was impossible; caret to the paiisadta and clambered ovei them, and roller, into the fort on top o! two mangled fct lies, and up again, anc now, in the geiden shine of the lire, rushed to the great hail. There in his chair o' state was th« dead chief Just t* my robbers had left bimt w jt b mout( wlde open and flxed eyeB Btar j n g grimly > down his hall and Wen wine bloody cllnched within hi6 fingers and whibin night gear wrapped strike about him, his face the o{ ‘ in and twitching with s hld OUB mocker- J * i i{( . a s the smoke curled and a* fi - went80aring over . head in rosy eddl To right and left wa8 wUd di90rd tables overturned and ben ,. he8 cast ut broke , Hagons and squandered ,uaIs, bent swords and cleft UrgetsAnd costly stuffs pulled shr eds «td dead men a-snrawi upon tl^eir faces, and h-ood and dirt and lit ter. and over aU tie fire was humming Ito flerc<j Rg it mount-1 from point to AaXi t u Um roof and shed great burning flakes and emb on us below. But nothing with foot I cared of f|>r Wool and litter, but a d and a heart hotter than the flames x>ve rushed through the banquet pla and brushing rudely by the scowling king got out to the Inner court and s<j» reached the portal of the tower. j with Over a bare red patl| of elnders theflame-ro I flew, and my nan$ cMt ei doorway into ret] ruins, and up me twining oaken steps I raced— scarce i—r--- - J f TT->> U yz % =*+•= —* r p-»- • “WAS IN THE BtTW£ AlfD HTRIK1ICO OITf RRAivKLY. ” nntlelnrr that the* Sefhir f.n to l 7 nassed-and “ In j moment in ^as lt of wUdlv llu^nL i iarai o^and I out upon the tho outer walls au4 see^intr fnfr asleen was .l white maid wknao Nth haunted ^ Throu^h rav for-st ‘LT and ahooe I un vn through th the e u , c and r eck of te n ’ iiown iNent um!' , tionNelllug , strono love n m^ up uol.n*W in‘ heart took the ^f “ . fn head mine^ 7 shnnirfor shoulder nnH and rba d nd in a minute sho fear a htveLi„___... het «f«a1nd°looked „> __ a and oooned 8 iAJn^neerPv swo et Skulla taterval“!S“ij’ti‘3?’I iWeo' f J vll worth the t J? e P , , „ ht f „i paB L lr . wn „ Hf w , L‘ n ’mdasu g of ' ^aN hT s .nd !' h ^ know „ nB oke * 0 ur hearts svcr0 one nnd our; troth unbro k en . it Kaii a ha l P>' mom iect, but all too brief, ; or i knelt and eoupage framed the hot words af j ove and an “ 1 drew “ her ‘ Z^i^lSy t vie i d i n(t fonf 1 Taraered t ^issesdn , in h .. r <!( , ar , pa f 0 t J£e?l f felt the oaken [ platform whereon J we stood heave and rembI(3i and , w h a ga f j iooked abnut and Baw Ivery crue (lame had g B nawe d through ,? Uofe joist platform upon that , urret< and le was Brackllng and buttered and hanging by a thread, while J flown below, hungry >J for , tB faUi wa th 8 at roar gopthing ;- fm.eralj i risj of the inner tower - Uunna C d - ray own? there , s but one way j , Look! lcok! X he Btairs are gone, tb e platform rocks, and down below the co urtyard is cruel hard. Ounna, so—and my hide life! dome—quick!—there— lf-Bkin foldi.r vou r face deep down to mwo IntU And as she (led to mp and leapt my arms I hid her ( aco in my cloak - nd stepped off on to the narrow rim offlscraeked tf.Jj and felllnto ru-ged pa ra p e t Just as platform ru j ns an d went f undering down into j be yellow and neon caldron under neath. Ljnute j- or one g rim I poised ravsolf D pon that narrovf- giddy shell of bfack ened wall with the J bowling flame rour !ng beh s nd and he dark vortex of {he Fea thunderinrg ic dim dreadfulness two hundred feet below upon the other then —wrapping my sV-e^t burden still elo-er to my bosom and muttering between mv ' ' 1 T- V 7 Ti ,x m r/J m 'y 7 \ r t ^ Yt r / %) o / / pJ /> rv' -i “nr h. NOW rou OK .ISjt KAT.PEKSUXD—OB OLO rA t,aAtc v." » » •oeih, 'New for -recn Baidersund or Id Talhalla:"—leapt braveiy out mvej uiQ night! is of TTlla This is all! This the story the viking, Vila the priest. The lamp wavers to its ending—the ink is dry. AVhen the clansmen picked us up and the maid was dead, and so was the light the loving of Vila. For three days we staggered back across the melancholy ridge and furrow of the black North Sea, and then we buried her here under a grassy mound by the white lip of tho ocean in Baldersund. And grief, dull and abiding, sat in my heart, and none could assuage it. At last, after many years, there came one barefooted, a cross and a staff in his hands, from over seas and whispered comfort. He poured the unction of the new faith into my heart and the baptismal and water on my head and bid me forget arise anew. And I took the cowl of him, learning to read and write, and built me a hut by the green mound I loved and strove by penance and privation to do as I was bid. But can I forget? Can the sharp thong and the mean fare purge the hot, free, loving spirit in my blood? At times it shakes off tbe shackles of sweet Insipidness, and then I—I, old Vila Er lingson—while the pale ghost-fire of plays upon the dark summit my mound and the black sea booms dismal In the black night distance, go out upon that dear, shrouding turf and cast my¬ self upon my face, and tear my white hair, and mock the wild wind and waves with my still wilder grief. Copyright, by [THE tbe Authors' END. | Alliance. All rights reserved. W,E have noticed that when anyone in a crowd has a bit of scandal to re. late, it is not until the speaker is through talking, and all have had their curiosity appeased, that some¬ one says somethkig about gossiping being so improper. Employment, which Galen call9 “Nature’s physician,” is so essential to human happiness that indolence is Justly considered the mother of mis¬ ery. A RAGING TORRENT. The Beautiful Blue Danube Sweeping Everything In Its Mad Career. A telegram from Vienna says: Be ports from the flooded district show that the situation is even worse than at first expected. The greatest dam¬ age ha9 been done in Bohemia. At Trautenia thirty houses have been destroyed aud thirteen persons drowned. Corpses were to be seen floating down the streets with every kind of debris, even a cradle with a crying infant, which fortunately was rescued. At. the village of Freihet a house was swept away and its seven occu pants were drowned. Almost the whole town of Reichen berg was submerged, and there, too, owners in that district is estimated at millions of dollars. At Vienna the damage already done to public sewers, gas mains and bridges is estimated at 2,000,000 florins. The Danube is noV double its ordinary ««■"» ■«» ™»«- ««•“ reports from higher up the river, the waters are not likely to reach their highest point until tomorrow. At Gmunden, Ishal, Lshaeo and other health resorts, enormous dam¬ age was done. The people were com¬ pelled to flee for their lives. The emperor is personally inspect¬ ing the efforts of the troops to palliate the disasters, aud the government is preparing estimates as to the amount ot state aid required, Iu many places the troops have been entirely cut off, and in many places provisions have become scarce. Government Armor Plate Plant. Secretary Long has taken the pre limiuary steps towards the creation of a board of naval officers to ascertain the cost of a government armor plant. Two members of the board have been selected—Commodore Harwell, com muudnut at the League Island navy yard, and Capt. ilcComick, of the Norfork navy yard. Both of these officers are possessors of a great tech nical knowledge and n^ay be said to rank high as experts upon the subject of armor. The field of work of the board will be extensive; they must not only ascertain the cost of a modern armor plant, but must also take into aconnt the propriety or rather the necessity of establishing a new got ernment plant for tne production of steel ingots, a very large undertaking. The experts are of the opinion that it will be necessary to manulacture ar mor beginning with the ingot at the very instant it lias formed and before it has cooled. This is deemed the best practice and if it should be held to be absolutely necessary the gov ernment will be obliged to establish a steel plant alongside its plant , armor if it embarks in the business of armor makiug. The board is to report to congress at its next session. Vdlow Fever on Boird. 1 be surgeon general of the marine hospital service has been advised of the iurrival of the Norwegian bark Xore at Cape Charles with a suspicious case of yellow fever on board. He has also been informed that two cases of fever developed on the vessel at Kingston. Jamaica. The bark was sent to the quarantine station on Fisherman’s i>.an .1. SORN BEASTS. Warning Notea Calling the Wicked to Repentance. w HISKY takes some time to age, but it does m § not take long to age the man who drinks it. Wine “moreth it¬ Mr self aright,” but those who drink it never do. \ Many a man who does not be¬ lieve in a Trinity, VN. three in one, will have the world, the flesh and the devil in himself. Fear of offending enslaves ns to oth¬ ers’ evils. If we have faith, sooner or later God will test It The evils of our friends are more dan¬ gerous than those of our enemies. Some families have good home-made bread and bad home-made manners. The man who tries to be famous and religious will not be able to succeed at both. It is our business to do right, and God's business to see that we come out right. Justice and Lore are Siamese twins, ind we cannot have one without the other. When yon raise your arm for God, It Is connected with his shoulder and heart. Tbe fellow who is always straining to be great wears himself smaller and smaller. The man is a stranger to Christ who can see nothing but poetry ln the psalms. The Word of God, and rational thought from it, unlocks all the myster¬ ies of life. The man who truly follows Christ will never have to go where he will not fln /1 It a 1 or to era. INDIGNANT GOLD SEEKERS. They Don’t Like the Idea of Canucks Col¬ lecting Customs. There is a crowd of indignant gold seekers in Viotoria, B. C. Two hun¬ dred of them are from Seattle with their outfits to take the steamship Islander for Dyea. Arriving in Vic¬ toria they found that not a pound of goods would be aflowed to enter the Klondike district without paying the regular Canadian duty. Some of them decided upon payment of the duty, but others are going wilh the expecta¬ tion of evading the customs officers. This is hardly possible, as the customs -, rlPsfre^oing'iifiY>rr”uT accompanied by a force of constables, who will assist the mounted police now there to enforce the law. Rosa Buford Must Hang. -o c a Lawton, stands revealed, after tho criminal court investigation Monda}’, the star among criminals in the history of crime in these cities. When court opened an immense crowd filled the room. The testimony of the victim of the crime, which had proven im¬ pregnable to the cros^exatui nation of counsel in two previous cares of Thompson and Neville, was again re¬ hearsed in detail by Nellie Lawton to the court in which Buford, as her pro¬ tector in her father’s absence, had pre- 1 ared the way and assisted Thompson iu its perpetration. Solicitor Sawtelle and W. W. Callahan, for the state, brought out the facts of the crime with whieh the child’s testimony had connectod the woman, Rosa, in the m ost revolting features. Mr. Matthews gave up big bope i eBB fight for the wo man - s ]ife . xiie jury retired at the uoon bour and at 2 p . m. returned a verdict of guilty, affixing the death, eua jty. Judge Banks then sentenced x bomp80D) Neville and Rosa Buford to be baliged on September 7, next, Short of Cotton. A telegram from Fall River, Mass., 6avg; At a reccnt mee tiug of the directora of tbe Wanpamoag Cotton jt wa8 voted to close the mills for j wo W eeks during August. The Ste rens m -jj sbu f doH . n / or (i moD th and , he Riehard Borden mills will begin a curtai i ment this week. These faoto r j t8 employ about 1,800 hands and it j g uuders tood that they are short of en ly cot ton. ______ ,-po lave trimres Aram, "or Tieiimm, Wi ,^ beqne athed §20,000 for a public liDi-ai-w for the town, in memory of his daughter, and $20,000 for a home for B , lperaauua ted and indigent Me Aiodist min f sterSj ^ memory of his father and mother. He also gave $1,000 to each of the churches in town and if2,000 foi the improvement of the local cemetery. The best time to kill weeds is when they first appear above tile surface. It is easier to kill a thousand than one tough old one later in the season. Weeds are prolific seed producers— some producing as many as 50,000; it is therefore folly to allow them to .-each maturity and seed a crop foi next season.
