Newspaper Page Text
The Montgomery Monitor.
D. 0. STJT r ON, Editor and Prop'r,
DR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE MIDNIGHT BETEL.
ITrt'achvd at Monona, \V!s.)
Text: “In that night was Belshazzar, the
King of tins Chaldeans, slain.” Daniel v.,
at). ’
Feasting has been know n in all ages It
was one of the most oxcitiug times in Eng
lish history when Queen Elizabeth visited
Dord Leicester at Kenilworth Castle. The
moment of her arrival was considered so im
portant that all the clocks of the castle w ere
stopped, so that th > hands might point to
that one moment as being the most signifi
cant of all. .she was greeted to the gate
with float m ' islands and torches and the
thunder ol cannon and fireworks that set the
night abla.o, and a great burst of music that
lifted the whole scene into perfect enchant'
ment Thou she was introduced in a dining
liall, the luxuries of which astonished Uie
world: 100 servants waited upon the guests;
the entertainment cost #5,000 each day.
Lord Leicester made that great supper in
Kenilworth Castle.
Cardinal Wolsey entertained the French
ambassadors at Hampton Court. The best
cooks in all the land prepared for the ban
quet; purveyors went out and traveled all
the kingdom over to find spoils for the table.
r i he time came. The guests we:v kept during
the day hunting in the King's park, so that
their appetites might be keen; and then, in
th-' evening, to the sound of the trumpeters,
they were introduced into a hall hung with
siliv and cloth of gold, and there were tables
a glitter with imperial plate and laden with
the rarest of meats and a-blushwith the cost
liest of wiues; and when the second course
of the feast came it was found that the arti
cles of food bad boon fashioned into the
shape of men, birds and beasts, and groups
dan dug and jousting parties riding against
ea h other with laucos. Lords and I'rincos
and Ambassadors, out of cups tilled to
tho brim, drank the health, first of the
King of England and next to tho
King of France. Cardinal Wolsey pre
pare t that great supper in Hampton Court.
But my text takes us to a more oxcitiug
banquet. Night was about to come down
upon Babylon. Tho shadows of her gel I tow
ers began to lengthen. The Euphrates rolled
on, touched by tho fiery splendors of the set
ting sun; and gates of brass, burnished and
glittering, • opened and shut like doors of
name. The hanging gardens of Babylon, wet
w ith heavy dew, began to pour from starlit
flowers and drippiug leaf a fragrance for
man} miles Around. The streets and s |uares
were lighted for dance and frolic and prom
enade. The theatres and galleries of art in
vited the wealth, and pomp, and grandeur of
the city to rare entertainments Scenes of
riot ami was-ail wore mingled in every
street, and godless mirth ami outrageous ex
cess and splendid wickedness came to the
King’s palace to do their mightiest deeds of
darkness. . A royal feast to night at the
King’s ; alaee! Hushing up to tho gates
are chariots upholstered with pre
cious cloths from Dcdan and drawn
by fireeyed horses from Togarmah,
that rear and neigh in the grasp of the
charioteers, while a thousand Lords dismount,
and women dressed in all the splendor of
Syrian emerald. and the color blending of
agate, ami the chasteness of coral, aud tho
sombre glory of Tyrian purple, n»a prinooly
embroideries brought from afar by camels
across the-desort and by'ships of Tarshish
across tho sea. . Open wide the gates and let
the guests come in! Tho chamberlains and
cup-bearers are all ready. Hark to the rustle
of the silks and to tho carol of the music!
Foe the blaze of the jewels! Lift tho ban
ners! Fill the cups! Clap tho cymbals!
Blow the trumiets! let the night go l.y
with song and danco and ovation, and lot
that Babylonish tongno be palsied, that will
not say: “0 King Belshazzar, live for over!”
Ab, my friends! it was not any common
bauquet to which these - great people came.
A.ll parts of tho earth bad sent their richest
viands to that table. Brackets an 1 chande
liers flashed their light upon tankards of bur
nished goid. Fruits, ripe and luscious, in
baskets of silver, entwined with leaves,
pluckod from," royal conservatories. Vases
inlaid with emerald aDd ridged with exquis
ite traceries, tilled with nuts that were
thresh is 1 from forosts of distant lamis. Wine
brought from the royal vats, foaming in the
decanters an l bubbling in the chalices. Tufts
of cassia aud frankincense wafting their
sweetness from wall and table. Gorgeous
banners unfolding in the breeze that came
through the opened window, bewitched with
the perfume of hanging gardens. Fountains
rising up from inclosures of ivory in jets of
crystal, to fall in clattering rain of diamonds
and pearls. Statues of mighty men looking
down from niches in tho wall upon crowns
and shields brought from subdued empires.
Idols of wonderful work standing on
pedestals of precious stones. Embroid
eries drooping about the windows and
wrapping pillars of cedar, and drift
ing on floors inlaid with ivory aud agate.
Music, mingling the thrum of harps, and the
clash of cymbals,'aud the blast of trumpets
in one wave of transport that went rippling
along the wall and breathing among the gar
lands, and pouring down the co ridors, and
thrilling the sou's of a thousand banqueters.
The signal is given, and the lords and ladies,
the mighty men and women of the land,come
around the table. Hour out the wine! Let
foam and bubble kiss the rim! Hoist every
one his cup, and drink to the sentiment: “Oh,
King Belshazzar, live for ever!” Bestarred
headband and earcanet of royal beauty
gleam to the uplifted chalices, as again and
ngain and again they are emptied. Away
with care from the palace! Tear royal dig
nity to tatters! Pour out more wine! Give
Us more light, wilder music, sweeter perfume!
Lord shouts to lord, captain ogles to ca|>-
aiu, goblets clash, decanters rattle. There
omes in the obs ene song and the drunken
iecough and the slavering lip and the guffaw
of idiotic laughter bursting from the lips of
Princes, flushed, reeling, bloodshot; while
mingling with it all I hear: “Huzza, huzza,
for great Belshazzar!”
What is that on the plastering of the wall?
Is it a spirit! Is it a phantom? LsitGodi
The music stops. The goblets fall from the
nerveless grasp There is a thrill. There is
a start. There is a thousand-voiced shriek of
horror. Let Daniel be brought iu to read
that writing. He comes in. He reads it:
“Weighed in the balan 'os, and art found
wanting.” Meanwhile the Assyrians, who
for two years bail been laying a siege to that
city, took advantage of that carousal, and
came in. I hear the feet of the conquerors
on the palace stairs. Massacre rushes in
with a thomarid gleaming knives. Death
bursts upon the s ene: and I shut the door of
that banqueting hall, for I do not want to
look. There is nothing there but torn banners
aud broken vrr, aths, and the slush of upset
tankards, and th • blood of murdered women,
and the kk-ke land tumbled carcass of a deal
King. For in that night was Belshazzar
slain.
X. I iearn from this, that, when God writes
anything on the wall, a man had better read
it as it is. Daniel did not misinterpret or
modify the handwriting on the wall. It is
all foolishness to expect a minister of the gos
pel to preach always things that the people
like or the people choose. What shall I
preach to you t i-<lay ? Shall I tell you of the
dignity of human nature! Shall 1 tell you of
the wonders that our race has accomplished!
“Oh, no! ” you say, ‘‘tell me the message that
came from God." I will. If there is any
handwriting on the wall, it is this lesson:
“Repent, accept of Christ and be saved.” I
mignr tain ot a great many oilier things, but
that is the message, and so I declare it. Jesus
never flattened those to whom he preached.
He said to those who did xiroflg find who
were offensive in his sight: “Ye goueratioti
of \ ipci's! ye whited sepulchres! how can
ye escape the damnation of hell ?” Haul the
Ap. stlc preached before a man who was not
rea ly to hear him preach. What subject did
htttasof Did he day: "Oh, you are a good
in.in, a very tills mill), it Very noble man!’
No: be pled died iff righteousness, to a matt
who was unrighteous; of temperance, to a
man who w as the victmi/if bad appetites; of
the ju lgment to come, to a man who was
unfit lor it. So we must always declare the
message that happens to come "to us. Daniel
must read it as it is. A minister preached
before Junto s 1. of Eng.and. who w a..James
VI. of Scotland. What silbjectdld he takof
The King was noted ail over tho world lor
being unsettled aud wavering in bis ideas.
Wba did tho minister preach about to this
nnn wuo wa. James 1. of England and
James \ 1. of Bcotiaml.' *He took for bis text,
James i.. Us "He that wavoreth is liken
wave of the sen dri ,en with the wind and
tossed." Hugh Latimer otieuded the King
by a sermon lie preached, aiul the King said:
"Hugh 1 alii nor, come and apologize.” "1
will, said Hugh l.atitnor. So tho day was
appointed, and the King's chapel was
full of Lords and Dukes, and tho
mighty mai aud w omen ol tint country, tor
Hugh ; a timer was to apologize. He began
Ins sermon by saying: “Hugn Latimer, be
think thto! 1 hou art iu the pmeuce of thine
UiUillly King, who can destroy thy body!
But nothiuk thee, Hugh Latimer, teat thou
art in the presence of tho King of Heaven
and earth, who cau destroy both body mid
soul in hell tiro. Oh. King, cursed be thy
crimes!”
Another lesson that comes to us: Thero
is a great difference bet ween the opening of
the bauquet of siu and its close, Young man,
if you hud looked iu upon the bauquet m tho
first few hours, you would have wished
you had been invited there and could sit at
the feast. "Oh, the grandeur of Belshazzar’s
feast," you would have said; but you
look in ut tho close of the banquet
and your blood curdles with horror.
The king of Terrors lias there a ghastlier
banquet; human blood is tho wine and dying
groans arc the music. Bin has made itself a
King in the earth. It has crowned itself. It
lias spread a banquet It invites all tho
world to come to it! It has huug iu its ban
queting hall the spoils of all kingdoms aud
the banners of nil nations. It has strewn
from its wealth the tables and floors aud
arches. And yet how often is that banquet
broken up aud how horriblo is its eud! Ever
and auon there is a handwriting on the wall.
A King falls. A great culprit is arrested.
The knees of wickedness knock together.
God’s judgment, like an armed host, breaks
in upon the banquet, and that night is Bel
shazzar, the King of the Chaldeans, slain.
Horo is a young man whosays: ‘'lean
hot see why they make such a fuss about the
intoxicating cup. Why, it is exhilarating.
It makes mo feel well. I can talk better,
think better, foel better. I cannot sec why
p ioplo have such a prejudice against it. ” A
few years pass on and he wakes up and finds
himself in the clutches of an evil habit which
he tries to break, but cannot; and ho erios
out: “Oh Lord God, help met*' ltseomsas
though God would not hoar his prayer, and
In nn agony of body and soul he crios out;
“It biteth like a serpent and it stingeth like
an alder.” How bright it was at the start!
Hou’ 1 >l<•< ,lr if. vyilS fit. tlitt loot I
Hero is a man who liogius to read French
novels. “They are so charming,” he says; “I
will go out and soo for myself whether all
those things are so.” He opens the gate of a
sinful life. Ho goes in. A sinful sprite meets
him with hor wand. Bhe waves her wand,
and It is all enchantment. Why, it seems as
if the angels of God had poured out phials
of perfume in the atmosphere. As ho walks
on ho finds the hills becoming more raili
ant with foliage, and tho ravines more
resonant with the falling water. Oh, what
a charming landscape ho sees! But that
sinful sprite with hor wand moots him
again; and now sho reverses the wauil
and all the enchantment is gone. The cup
is full of poison. The fruit turns to ashes.
All the leaves of tho bower aro forked
tongues of hissing sorpents. Tho flowing
fountains fall back in a dead pool stenchful
with corruption. Tho luring songs become
curses and screams of demonia ■ laughter.
Lost spirits gather about him and feel for
his heart, and beckon him on with: “Hail,
brother! Hail, blasted spirit, hail!” He
tries to get out. Ho comes to the front door
where he entered and tries to push it back,
but the door turns against him; and in the
jar of that shutting door he heirs those
words; “This night is B lshazzar, tho King
of the Chaldeans, slain!” Bin may open
bright as tho morning; it closes dark as tho
night,
I learn further from this subject that
death sometimes breaks in upon a banquet.
Why did he not go down to the prisons in
Babylon! There were people there that
would like to have died. I suppose there
were men and women in torture in that city
who woul d have welcomed death. But ho
comes to tho palace, and just at the time
when the mirth is dashing bo tho tiptop
pitch, death breaks in at tho banquet Wo
have often seen the same thing illustrated.
Here is a young man just come from col
lege. Hers kind. He is loving. Ho is en
thusiastic. He is eloquent By one spring
he tiny bound to heights toward which many
men have been struggling for years. A pro
fession opens before him. Hois established
in the law. His friends cheer him. Eminent
men encourage him. After awhile you may
see him standing in the American Benate, or
moving a popular assemblage by his elo
quence. as trees are moved iu a whirlwind.
Borne night he retires early. A fever is on
him. Delirium, like a reckless charioteer,
seizes the reins of his intellect. Father and
mother stand by and see the tides of life
going out to the great ocean. The banquet
is coming to an end. The lights of thought
and mirth and eloquence are being extin
gui li d. The garlands are snatched from
tho brow. Tho vision is gone.
We saw tho same thing on a larger scale
illustrated at the last war in this country.
(tor whole nation had been sitting at a na
tional 1 anquet—North, South, East and
West. What grain was there but we grew
it on our hills! What invention was there
but our rivers mast turn the new wheel and
rattle the strange shuttle? What warm furs
but our trailers mast bring them from
the Arctic? What fish but that our
nets must sweep them for the inarketsi
IV hat music but it must sing in our
halls? What eloquence but it must
speak in our Senates? Ho! to |the national
banquet, reaching from mountain to moun
tain and from sea to sea! To prepare that
banquet the sheepfolds and the aviaries of
tho country sent their best treasures. The
orchards piled up on the table their sweetest
fruits. The presses burst out with new wines.
To sit at that table came the yeomanry of
New Hampshire, and the lumbermen of
Maine, and the tanned Carolinian from the
rice swamps, and the harvesters of Wisconsin,
and the Western emigrant from the pines of
Oregon; and we were all brothres— brothers
at a banquet. Suddenly the feast ended
What meant those mounds thrown up at
Chickahominy, Shiloh, Atlanta, Gettysburg,
Booth Mountain? What meant those golden
grain fields turned into a pasturing ground
for cavalry horses; What meant the corn
fields gullied with the wheels of the heavy
supply train? Why those rivers of tears,
those lakes of blood! God was angry. Jus
tice must come. A handwritingon the walll
The nation had been weighed aud found
wanting. Darkness! Darkness! Woe to
Ml’. VERNON. MONTGOMERY CO.. GA.. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER Hi. 18, si;.
the North! Woe to the South! Woo lo the
East! Woo to the West! Death at tbu ban
quet !
4. I have also to learn from tho subject
that the destruction of the vicious and of
thosC Who'despise God will bo very sudden.
The wave e’s mirth had dashed to tfte highest
point when ihitt Assyrian! army broke
through. It was aneXptr*»>d. Suddenly, al
most always, comes tho doom of those who
lies] i-e God and defy the laws of molt. HnW
was it at the Deluge. Do you suppose'it came
through a loug northwestern storm, so that
| people sos (lays before were sure it was com
ing! No; I slippt.se tlm morning was bright;
that calmness brooded OTt tho waters; that
beauty sat enthrone 1 on flic hilt?, "hell sud
denly tho heavens burst and the' mountains
sank like anchors into the sea, that dnsliexl
dour over the Andes and the Himalaya?
The Red Boa was divided. The Egyptians
tried to cross it. There could be no danger.
The Jordelites had jdst gone through; where
they had gStne, why not the Egyptians? Oh,
it was such a beautiful walking place! A
pavement of tinged shells and pearls, and on
either side a great wall of water, solid.
Thero can be no danger. Forward, great
host of the Egyptians! Clap tfio cymbals
ftnd blow the trumpets ot vuetory! After
them! We will catch them yet and they shall
be destroyed. Bat the walls of solidified
water begin to tremble. Thov rook. They
fall. Tho rushing waters! The shriek of
drowning men I The swimming of the war
horses in vain for the shore ! The strewing
of the groat host on tho bottom of the sen, or
pitched by the angry wave on tho beach—a
battered, bruised and loathsome wreck I Sud
denly destruction came. One half hour bo
fore they could not have believed it.
I am just setting forth a fact which you
have noticed as well as I. Ananias comes to
tho apostle. The apostle says: “Did you
sell the land fofso much?" Ho says: “Yes."
It was a lie. Dead! As quick ns that!
Snpphira, his wife, colors in. “Did you sell
the lan if or so much!” “Yes.” It was a lie,
and quick as that sho was dead! God’s judg
ments are upon those who despise and defy
Him. They come suddenly.
The destroying angel went through Egypt.
Do von suppose thnt any of the people knew
that he was coming? I>id they hear the flap
of his groat wings? No! No! Suddenly,
unexpectedly, he catno.
Skilled sportsmen do not like to shoot a
bird standing on a sprig noar by. If tlioy
aro skilled, they pride themselves on taking
it on tho wing, and they wait till it starts.
Death is au old sportsman, and he loves to
tako men flying under tho very huh . Ho
loves to fake them on tho wing.
Are there any hero who aro unprepared
for the eternal world? Aro there any horo
who have been living without God and with
out hope! Lot me say to you that you had bet
ter accept of (ho Lord Jesus Christ, lest sud
denly your last chance bo gone. The lungs
will cease to breathe, the heart will stop.
Tho timo will come wlion you shall go no
more to the office, or to the store, or to tho
shop. Nothing will l e left but death, and
judgment, ami eternity. Oil, flee to God this
1 hour I If there be one in this presence who
lias wandered fur nwny from Christ, though
lie may not have heard the call of the gospol
for many a year, I invite him now to come
and be saved. Flee from thy sin! Floo to
the stronghold of the gospel!
To-day I invite you to a grander banquet
than any I have mentioned. My Lord, the
King, is tho banqueter. Angels are tho cup
boar, rs. All tho redeemed are the guests.
The balls of eternal love, froscoed with light,
i and paved with joy. and curtained with un
| fading beauty, are the banqueting place. The
harmonies of eternity are tho music. The
chalices of heaven aro the plate; and 1 am
one of tho servants coming out with both
hands tilled with invitations, scattering them
everywhere; und of that, for yourselves, you
j might break the seal of tho invitation and
road the words written in rod ink of blood
by the tremulous hand of a dying Christ:
“Come now, for nil things are ready."
After this day has rolled by and tho night
has come, may you have rosy sleep guarded
by Him who never slumbers! May you
awake in the morning strong and well! But,
oh, art thou a dospiser of God? Is tho com
ing night tho lust, night on earth? Bhoulilest
thou be awakened in the night by some
thing, thou knowest not what,, and there lio
shadows flouting in tlio room, anil a hand
writing on the wall, arid you feel that your
last hour is come, aud there bo fainting ut
the heart, and a tremor iu the limb, and a
catching of tho breath —then thy doom
would be but nn echo of the words of my
text: “In that night was Belshazzar, tho
King of tho Chaldeans, slain.”
Throwing Host in Her Eyes.
“I was just now a witness to what was
almost a domestic tragedy,” icmurked a
young man as lie alighted from a street car
the otherday on his return from a visit to
a married friend, “llow did it happen?”
asked several together. "It all happened
on account of the tender love and sym
pathy a little girl possessed for her
mother,” was the response. “You see, 1
was up at ’h house, and we had
planned a nice little excursion to Keuka
to-morrow. lie had just gone into the
dining room to explain to his w'ifc how a
sudden business appointment hud called
him out of town over Sunday. He suc
ceeded admirably, and coming out re
marked in the hearing of his six-year-old
daughter that he had filled the old lady's
eyes with dust. She is a very sympa
thizing little girl, and before we caught
on she had a basin of water and a sponge
and had gone into the diningroom, as she
expressed it to her mother, ‘to w ash out
the dust papa said he had thrown iu
mamma’s eyes.’ It gave the whole thing
away, and we are not going to Keuka.”
“What did the wife do about it?' 1 asked
the only unmarried man in the party;
“did ” but his married auditors had
fled. — Elmira Gazette.
Site Knew.
Wishing to teach his young daughter
some home-made grammar, an Oakland
father, desirous of impressing upon the
child the difference between singular and
plural number, said :
“Wh it do we say of a young laly who
is not m irricd ?”
Instead of the expected answer, “that
she is sipg'.O,” the pert miss retorted:
“We say of her that she is going to bo
married,” and so ended the first lesson,
— San, ErancU o Alta.
Wrongly Nailed.
Boarder (doubtfully)—“What do you
say these are called:”
Landlady—“Them's breakfast gems,
sir.”
Boarder (emphatically)—“Gems! Why
don’t you call them dia nonds?”
Landlady—“ Why diamonds, sir?”
Boarder —“Because diamonds are sup
I posed to be the hardest thing ia tho
world”— Nation'll Weekly.
“SUB DEO FACIO FORTITER
Opportunity.
IT* who abuts his eyes ropining.
When a shmlow dims tho day;
May not the svmltgUf. shining
When the clouds luiVo pciasctl away.
Only when the clouds arc cloven,
By the toni|>esfr passing by—
Is the rain with sunshine woven,
Then the rainbow spans tho sky.
MontUln Advance.
NONA'S OBEDIENCE.
A lovely afternoon in the spring, when
the balmy air mni the fresh, bright toi
lets of tho ladies made a gala day even
on Broadway.
Philip Hays stood at his office door,
thoughtfully pulling on Ids neatly-fitting
gloves. 1 say “thoughtfully,” because
that word just, describes bis state of
mind, which was that of halting between
two opinions—whether to go for his
usual uptown stroll, have n comfortable
dinner at the Westminister, and a little
flirtation with Jessie Mabin afterward,
or to cross tho river and take a train for
his brother’s lovely place in Jersey, lie
told himself, as he was carefully button
ing his right hand glove, that the cher
ries were ripe, and that ho really needed
a little fresh air and country milk.
But he knew of a far better reason
yet, if he would have acknowledged it;
and what is more, other people know it too
Brother Will was wise enough to credit
his pretty sister-in-law with Philip's re
markable access of fraternal affection, and
little Nona Zabriska herself liad a shrewd
guess as to what kind of cherries Mr.
Philip Mays came to tho country to
taste.
Well, on this particular afternoon the
country proved to bo finally tho more
powerful attraction, and in an hour and
a half after the gloves had been fitted to
a nicety they were taken oil' again, that
the wearer might clasp tho hands of tho
dearest, sweetest, brightest litllo coun
try maiden that any man with the right
kind of heart or eyes could desire to sec.
What Philip said to Nona, and what
Nona said to Philip, the cherry-trees and
tho evening-star probably know; but it
wns very delightful, and so satisfying
that tho young people canto back to tho
house without any cherries at all, and
presently there was a great deal of hand
shaking and kissing, which ended in a
bottle of champagne and mutual good
wishes.
Well, after this, for a couple of weeks,
there was no hesitating at tho office door.
Philip said “strawberries” now when
his friends rallied him about his sudden
passion for tho country, and tho straw
berry excuse did just as well tut tho cher
ries.
But as tho weather grew hotter, tho
subject of summer resorts became upper
most. Philip’s mother and sister were
going to somo fashionable Virginian
springs, and ho greatly desired that his
little Nona should go with them.
To tell the truth, he did wish slie was
a little more stylish, and would put up
her curls, abandon aprons, and dress like
Jessie Mabin did. That would perfectly
satisfy him, ho thought. Yes, Nona Za
briska dresssed like Jessie Mabin would
leave him nothing to desire.
lie went about his plans with that
tact which young men who have sisters
easily acquire. A little present from
Tiffany’s, and a modest check “just for
spending-money,’ made his sister Cecelia
sufficiently interested in his project.
“Nona is a dear little girl, Cecelia,”
he said. “All she wants is a more state
ly manner and stylish dress.”
“If that is what you desire, Philip,
why do you not marry Jessie Mabin? I
thought you liked her well enough.”
“Because, Gecile, I want a heart inside
tho dress—a pure, fresh, loving heart.”
“It seems to mo—.” But here Cecilo
stopped. She was wise enough to know
she would be “throwing words away.”
The next difficulty was to make Nona
delicately understand his wishes, and in
duce her to accept the invitation sent her
by Ids mother and sister. He approach
ed the subject under the most favorable
circumstances; the moonlight did not
betray his confusion, and Ids encircling
arm held her so close to his heart that he
had no fear of not securing attention
if argument or explanation became neces
sary.
“I am so glad, Nona, that you are
going with Cecile. I am sure it will do
you good.” And then lie stopped and
kissed her for emphasis.
“I go to please you Philip. I arn
quite well, thank you."
ft Oh! but I don’t mean about your
health, Nona. You little witch! who
could have such bright eyes and red lips
and not be quite well! I mean about
dress and deportment, and those kind of
things.”
There was a little ominous silence, and
then a low, grieved voice: “I don’t
think I understand you, Philip.”
“No, dear; and upon the whole I am
glad you have never understood so far.
You s«', when we are married we shall
live in tho city, and wo must behave aud
dress as city people do. Cecilo will show
you all about it, darling, so don’t troublo
your pretty little head.”
“I thought you liked mo just as I am,
Philip. What is wrong in (be city that
is proper and pretty in the country, will
you tell me?”
“Certainly, Nona. Your loose flowing
hair and short dresses, and your frank,
familiar ways, all so perfectly charming
just here, would occasion remarks and
unpleasant criticisms in the city. 1 want
my little girl to bo as fashionable) and as
stylish as—ns well, as Jessie Mabin.”
"All 1 she is your ideal, is she?”
Much more to tho same purpose, min
gled with kisses and compliments, was
said, but nothing in it deceived tho
wounded woman’s heart. For Nona,
though not a fashionable woman, was a
truo woman, nevertheless, and under
stood not only what had been said, hut
also all that had been left to bo inferred.
It was not possible for him to leave his
business entirely, hut it had boon ar
ranged that once a lurtnth lie was to pay
a few day’s visit to the springs, and in
the intervals bo refreshed and comfortod
by regular and plentiful supplies of let
ters.
Tho supply wns pretty fair tho first
week, but fell off gradually afterward,
until several days passed without any
token of Nona’s faith and memory. Still
ho did not feel much troubled. Ho
thought he quite understood Nona’s rea
sons, and at any rato he relied with im
plicit confidence on tho effect which
Philip Hays ill his own proper person
could not fail to make.
This confidence did not ngreo with
events. He arrived at the springs and
found Nona out driving with Jack Chris
tie a young man whom he particularly
disliked for his pretentious manners, lie
was on the piazza when they returned,
and ho was certain Nona saw him, though
she kept her eyes on Jack’s face, and
pretended tho greatest interest in his
foolish conversation; for of two things
Philip was certain first, that her inter
est was pretended, and second, that Jack’s
conversation was foolish.
Then he felt unaccountably and, as ho
very well know, unreasonably chilled by
the greeting of tho splendidly dressed
Nona, wtio calmly and nonchalantly ex
tended tho tips of her gloved lingers to
him, drawling out tho while a pretty lit
tle assurance of being “so glad to see
Mr. Hays,” with the information that
"Cecilo hod been expecting him sinco
the early in riling train.”
“Cecile 1” he said, reproachfully.
“And you too, Nona?”
“Oh dear no, Mr. Hays. It is quite
too exhausting to expect anything. One
at a time is quite sufficient.”
Philip was shocked and silenced for
the time. For one distressing half hour
ho tried to assume his rights as her be
trothed, but slie kept Jack Christie per
sistently between them; and so, angry
and hurt, he. sought his sister Cceile.
“Cecile,” lie said, “what a change
there is in Nona! What is the cause?”
“A wonderful change! I never saw a
girl improve so rapidly. I suppose you
are the cause. Do you know that she is
really tl m bellel .Jack Christie and Ed.
Forsyth and half a dozen others are rav
ing about her. Positively they are,
Phil.”
“Very kind of them, but—”
“Well, so it is, you know. Very
first families, and all that kind of
thing, you know. Upon my
word, brother, 1 believe Nona will make
a sensation next winter. Mamma is
quite satisfied now."
But Philip was not. No, not at all.
Very far from it. That night at the hop
Nona looked lovely and grand enough
for a queen, her golden hair arranged in
some picturesque style, which Jack
Christie amiably declared to be “just
the thing,” yards of satin and lace mak
iag a track of glory behind her, and
gold and jewels flashing from her
head, her throat, and her wrists.
All in vain, however, Philip pleaded
for a dance. Nona had been engaged
for every set since breakfast, and she
reminded him rather maliciously of the
necessity of conforming to the usages of
society. Ho he had the satisfaction of
watching the social triumph of the fu
ture Mrs. Hays.
Three miserable days of continual
disappointment and then Philip deter
mined to go back to New York, and sec
Nona no more until she returned to her
country home.
He bade his mother and Cecilo good
by, and gave tho regulation kiss to
Nona, who received it with perfect,
placidity and many kind wishes for his
pleasant journey; for, as he was to leave
very early in the morning, the ladies did
not expect to sec him again before his
departure.
As they passed out of tho parlors Nona
YOU. I. NO. 28.
turned a inomerP, and a flash of tho fdd
tenderness matin her fare lieautiful, her
lips parted, and slit 1 hesitated a moment
ns if slit; would speak, but finally passed
on aud away.
Poor Philip! He took bis cigar and
sat down on the dark, silent balcony,
miserable enough; hut in about half an
hour a timid little figure stole through
the deserted room, and without warn
ing laid her band upon his shoulder.
He turned rapidly, all the great passion,
which bad grown to deep r intensity in
his buffering, bursting out in one im
ploring whisper of “Nona!”
“Philip 1”
Well, you know the end. Philip did
not like tho fashionable Nona at all; his
whole heart cried out for the sweet, nat
ural girl that lie luid never prized enough
till he believed her gone forever. Tho
tangled curls, the short dresses, even tho
little milled aprons, never .note looked
homely in his eyes.
Ever afterward he had the most whole
some fear of Nona turning fashionable;
and sho to this day, when Philip is in
the “opposition,” reminds him of his ono
experiment in managing women, and as
sures him that in tho long run lie would
not like his own way if ho got it, anil so
ho takes hers, which, after all, 1 have no
doubt,is tho most scnsihlo thing ho can
do.— llarper't Weekly. v
4
Ho Holds >lie Pence.
Several weeks ago a Detroiter pur
chased a piece of land in the west end of
tho county. After tho purchase had
been completed ho engaged a surveyor’s
services to see if ho had been cheated.
The discovery was made that alinc-fenco
was over on his land eight inches. When
ho went to tho owner of tho adjoining
property with the statement tho man re
plied :
“Stranger, the row about that fence
began twenty-eight years ago. It was
then five feet over tho line, and the two
men lit and fit tint 1 one was killed and
the other crippled. After a while it was
moved a foot, and then the other owners
fit and fit until the lawyers got tho two
farms. The fence was then moved an
other foot, and the two now owners spent
half tin; year in jawing each other and
tho other half in Inwing. One died and
the other got sold out on a mortgage, and
when I got this farm the fence was moved
over another foot. Then I fit and lit,
and two years ago was kicked in the ribs
and laid up fur three months. During
that time tho fence was moved to tho
present line. Ho it’s still on your land?”
“Vos.”
“Well, I s’posc the proper thing is a
row. if you’ll go out by the barn with
your revolver I’ll come out and hunt for
you with the shot-gun. If you git the
drop on me don’t let go, because I shall
shoot to kill.”
It took the Detroiter some time to con
vince the farmer that lie didn’t care for
eight inches of land.and that lie wouldn’t
have the fence moved for fifty dollar.),
mid when he had succeeded the old man
drew a long breath of relief and replied:
“That’s kind o’ you, and it leaves my
boys a chance to fit and fit after I’m
gone. I hope you aint cornin’ out here
to live alongside o’ me?”
“No.”
“Glad on’t. If you lease, git some
man who’ll want them other eight inch
es. The hoys and I is lonesome for ex
citement. ” Detroit Free Pre»».
A Feline’s Fright.
Last week in connection with a study
of the carnivora, says a Denver scientist,
1 obtained a cat from an acquaintance at
a dinner and carefully dissected it in a
room above our stable. When I had fin
ished tho cut was, as may ho supposed,
hardly recognized. I cleaned the scal
pels, placed them iu the case, and took
thorn to the house. No sooner had I put
them down than I observed our own cat
go and sniff all around the case with a
peculiar look of intense wonder. I took
the instruments away and thought no
more about it; but a short time after I
returned to the remains of :ho dissected
cat in order to prepare tho skeleton,
when I saw our cat standing at a distance
of about a foot from tho dissection, and
presenting an appearance of most help
less terror. She was trembling from head
to foot, and in such a condition of evi
dent horror that my presence had no ef
fect upon her. After some moments sho
noticed me, and then darted away with
a scared look such as I had never before
seen. Hire did not return to tho house
that day, a thing quite unusual, but on
the next day she returned and entered
the house witli a fearful caution, as
though realizing the probability that she
herself might become a victim to science,
and her whole conduct was changed.
This suggests that the country custom of
using dead birds, weasels,etc., as a scare
to the like is not entirely unreasonable,
and it would lie interesting to know
whether others have noticed similar ef
fects.