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FIFTY TO-DAY.
irlns; linfB written tor tte Parols
H orter,” Hie irorn toe pen of Mrs
,01 New Britain, Pa.]
tlow the years go by
hi careN and joys well strewn,
infant’s cry, the shout of a boy;
|d next, a man full growD.
^parents, v.’ho guide! our childhood's
feps,
long since been laid away ;
Fa e children still to brighten our home,
(we are the old lolts to-day.
joe years go swlltly and silently on;
• e lull ol sorrow and pain ;
j Bume, so fall ol hope and joy
|ey mate us young agt i f.
God Is G .)d to the sorrowing,
Jnigbtas well as by day,”
Jour tears snail be ailed forever
lien ne wipeth them all away.
1 f an other year we t ee
lill in the agei past,
there be no sad lepinings
Sr Joys that could not last;
[y there be no painful heart throbs
Jor the golden days misspent,
jase Ingratitude to God
hr any nuny sent.
hie getting along to the time of life
igu childish sports aud ways
|y memories < f lb*e past—
lly, happier days—
fgetting along where the rosy tints
i ate not so bright, •
ll.he ‘orb of day” hasturned to meet
|comiug hours of eight.
i hours of night will surely come;
oa will sink to rest,
ita'n with a new-born light,
Imountain and ocean crest,
itltul slgut when tue King ol day
fyhe sable mantle of night,
geous tho’, when at midday
Ipnarch is clothed with light;
ierlar when tue purple tints
the crlixn on hue,
le, tie cy c ou Is enhance the scene
loat aw ay in the blue.
Jh the lile that tas n_m,'y borne
|teu aud heat ol tfcteil.y,
n has grown purer and fairer to
ady has gone to decay.
! ours to resemble the sun
onward way;
^otir Ute be tt e bestof our life
Fe’ve bad a long bright day.
fitting the Brigands.
ou such a morning as we fcg-
ired islanders seldom witness at
is, that I stood upon the deck of
the good steamer Coumourd uurous,
ratohing the nearing shores of the
’irasus, which, as all the world knows
should know, ia the port of the
jaic city of Athens. The beautiful
jltude isky; the bright outline of
Fe sunbithed coa t; the air laden
nth the sceut of the di j tant Hymet-
tus; the far eminence with fhe grand
|Id Acropolis standing out white and
do d in the clear atmosphere ; and
.close at hand the molderine tomb of
’hemistccks—all combined to arouse
ft ch poetic fancies in my mind that I
forgot for tie moment t ie prossij
Dusines-i upon which 1 had comp. Tiie
^reaming engine < f the bt sy little
flway which carries the traveler
the Pii feus to Athens, soon re-
hied mo, however, that I was ac
credited with a mission from a Lec
tion Greek lirm to their Iriends in the
'Attic city ; ami I was soon whirling
|over theflacred ground
Where history g 1 fts te every rood a page!
} assed the monuments of those
jughty champions of the War of Jn-
oendence. K rdskakis and Miau
ind many oth* r ot j ^ct s of inter* s";
if ter a ride ( f three or four milts
[ud myself at my destinaiion.
Jfter a few days I certainly had a
Fy pleasant time of it, the few hours
[k each day acting or ly as a stimu-
ly varied pleasures ; and, hav
ing - gji^itLed the Acropolis and
inched by tnWB^^pi^ir of Jup'ttr,
>d myself in the ruins of the Pnyx
Fence Demosthenes declaimed
Pericles evolved his plans—I
ad around, like Alexander, for
fe woilds to conquer,
iheieupou consulted my genial but
fashed hort, Kyrie Antonio Perl-
Pappademttracopoulos—who, al-
)ugh Plato was to him a text-book
le sryings of Socrates as familiar
pe story of Tomu y and Harry to
laglish souooiboy, was always as
as a sweep—upon the propriety
Itaking myself to where
The mountains look ou Marathon,
And Maiatlion :o <ks on the sea.
?ne might as well go to Egypt
Tout visiting the Pyramids, or to
ie without entering 8t. Peter’s, ati
Jo” Greece and leave Marathon
unexplored. Aud when my host tried
to dissuade me by assuiriug me that a
Greek gentleman's ear bad been sent
a fortnight before by the brigands to
his obstinate relatives, to hurry the
negotiations for hia ransom, it so
roused my blocd that I vowed i would
go if I returned as close cropped as au
English terrier. So away we started—
myself aud Themistocies, the son of
mine host, a sallow, uushaven youth,
dirtier thau hla father—irymuted upon
Jtwo hlgh-apiri
vers well primed and our commissariat
well stocked.
ll Acloia Kyrieshouted my long
namsd host as we cantered off.
“Never fear,” I replied, waving my
revolver defiantly, and feeling that I
should be greatly disappointed it the
rascals did not show themselves.
Ou we went, enjoying the scene)y
and holding a hybrid conversation—
he in broken English and I in sadly
mutilated Greek—until in the excite
ment of the ride and the glorious pan
orama constant y unfolding itself to
our view I entirely forgo;; that there
were such beings as brigands in ex
istence.
“Now,” said I to Themistocies, after
a ride of some hours, during which
my appetite had become unpleasantly
sharpened, “let us look about for a
spot where we can bivouac in com
fort.”
We soon found a delightful plsce,
sheltered all round, save where
through a small opening we obtained
a view of a charming landscape. Dis
mounting and allowing our animals
to refresh themselves on the grass,
we soon made havoc of the good things
we had Brought. I was lying upon
my back smoking a cigarette after the
meal, gazing dreamily at the blue
firmament, and, being too hz/to rise,
had called on Themistocies to pass tho
bottle.
“Has the fellow gone to sleep?”
thought I, still indisposed to turn my
head. “Themistocies 1”
But Themistocies hear! me not;
and when 1 raise myself upon my el
bow I saw him standing, as if struck
dumb and motionless with fear, star
ing upon tho opening. Instinctively
I leaped up and clutched my revolver;
but before I took a step the cause of
Themistocies’ fear became apparent;
and thre? shaggy forms behind three
blunderbusses aimed direct at me
made me fully aware that I was in the
presence of those scourges of Greece,
the brigands ! But oh! what a meta
morphosis ! Where were the natty
green jackets with silver buttons, the
plumed hats and the tout ensemble
of the brigands of my youth of the
operas and the picture books? Three
ragged, disreputable-looking figures,
clad iu greasy sheepskins and dirfy
clothes, unkempt, unshaven, took the
place of those tinseled heroes, and
with stern gestures and muttered
threats ordered us to follow them.
My first thought was resistance, but
when I showed the slightest signs the
three bell-mouthed muskets were
bent toward me, and I felt that the
odds were too many, and, determined
to wait events, grimly submitted to
be led down the mountain by our
unsavory guides.
At last, after winding through ra
vines and hollows, across glen3 and
over mountain paths innumerable,
hia most unpleasant journey ended
by our guides calling a halt as we
gained tho summit of an eminence
surrounded by trees and tall rocks,
forming au extraordinary natural for
tress. Beneath our feet, in a deep ra>
vine,with seemingly butoneoutlet.and
excellently sheltered by overhanging
foil age, was the camp of the brigands
and here we found the rest of the
shaggy ruffians—with tne exception of
one who stood sentinel—enjoying#
their siesta with indolent content.
A shrill whistle soon brought the
rascals to their feet; and rushing up
to meet us, they displayed a dozen of
as unfavorable specimens of the hu
man race as could well be found
Seizing our asses by their bridles they
relieved our # captora and led us down
the ravine; and having roughly ae
sisted us to dismount, brought us into
the presence of the chief of the band
“ Bravo, lade! excellent!” he shout
ed, as his sparkling eyes bent upon us
in delight; and after a cursory exami
nation we were conducted, amid the
excited gesticulations of the brigands,
aud without undue ceremony, into a
dark cavern within the ravine.
“ Shiver my maintops!” exclaimed
a voice as I groped my way in ; “they
might give us searoom, the vagabonds,
and not land us in this lubberly creek ;
and ucw they are shoving more craft
In to anchor!”
“ Haul in, Jack, old chum,” answer
ed the other ; “ we must make the
best of a bad job, mate.”
To say that my heart leaped to my
mouth at hearing such unexpected
words and finding myself in the com-
pai y of my own countrymen would
no more than describe the cheering
sensation that thrilled through me.
“.What cheer, mates?” I cried in
the darkness. Answering exclama
tions of astonishment greeted my
words; aud in a few minutes our
stories were told, aud I learned that
uew-fojfliii friends were the Cap
a sbi
lying iu the port of the Piraeus, who,
seeking a like object, had mtt with a
similar fate to my own.
“ And now,” said Captain Jack
Jenkins, “ how sre we to get out of
this scrape? If I had Tim and Joe
aud Black Tom, each with a cutlass
and a barking-iron here, we’d soon
make a passage, I’d warrant!”
“ That’s all very well,” said Will
Johnson, the supercargo; “but we
haveu’t. If I’d but the opportunily
given me, I’d guarantee ’*
Whatever the supercargo was about
to say was cut short by the advent of
two shock-heads at the little opening
of our prison, and two harsh voices
calling us—as my guide Themistocies
informed us—to partake of a feast; for
we learned afterward that the chief,
in commemoration of having 'made
such a good haul, had decided to allow
us, his prisoners, to partake of the
general festivlly. But as a prelimi
nary, we had to undergo an examina
tion as to our capability of paying the
anticipated ransoms. First, we were
relieved of our watches and rings, the
Captain using language rather too
strong for translation to these lines, to
the great amusement of his tormen
tors, who, with similar gesticulations
to his, endeavored to imitate the sound
of the Captain’s words, which, of
course, only added to his w rath and
their hilarity.
“You uncombed, dlr<y faced vaga
bonds !” ho shouted, “if I had a few
of you aboard the Annie Martin I’d
twist your ugly head3 over the yard-
arm iu the twinkling of a jiffy !”
Of course, they only laughed the
louder at his impotent rage, and I
thought it quite as well that they did
not understand the language in which
he gave it vent.
The operation of stripping us of our
valuables gave me an opportuni ty to ob
serve the a ppsarauce.o f my compa nions
Captain Jenkins was the beau-ideal of
an English seaman. In age about 35,
of a large aud robust build, a face
broad, manly aud bearded, and limbs
such as would delight a sculptor to
copy. His height was nearly six feet,
and he had an air of command about
him which was doubtless bred of his
occupation. The supercargo, Will
Johnson, was perhaps ten years
younger; nearly as tall as his friend,
strong and active: and take us all to
gether—for I ant ofnoraem stature
myself—wo were three men who,
under any circumstances, would be no
disgrace to our country; and if any
opportunity should arise for au attempt
at an escape I felt certain that we
should give as good an account of our
selves as any scratch three, here or
there.
Having satisfied themselves of the
value of my late fathir's watch, which
I parted from with some emotion, aud
of Hie intrinsic worth of the Captain’s
gold chronometer, as well as the su
percargo’s watch and diamond ring,
we were interrogated, through Themi
stocies, as to our means. For myself,
the name of the firm I was traveling
for acted with alalismanic effect upon
them, and I was immediately assessed
—notwithstanding my protestations—
at three hundred pounds. At this
pri6e, too, the Captain’d freedom was
valued ; while the unfortunate super
cargo—whose business they persisted
in confounding with that of owner of
the cargo and ship—was unanimously
voted to be worth twice our ransom
Having arranged ibis matter to their
own satisfaction, if not to ours, we
were told to sit down and enjoy our
selves with what appetite we could
muster.
The smell of the roast lamb and the
freshly-baked meal-cakes, however,
soon aroused pleasanter sensations,
aud dimmed for a time the memory
cf our griefs; more especially so as,
under the apparent certainty of ob
taining his booty, the chief condes
cended to be quite patronizing toward
us, carv.ng the j oints himself for us,
and delicately handing on the point of
a dagger «>ur several portions. After
we bad satisfied our hunger with the
more solid viands we were regaled
with dried fruits as dessert, and a
large jar of a peculiar sherry colored,
but bad-tasting, wine of a resinous
Haver—which Themistocies described
as the common wine of the country—
was brought in and set down In the
midst of us. Tnis we toll them we
could not drink, and the chief very
generously ordered us a couple of bot
tles from his own particular store,
doubtless the proceeds of raid upon
some well-to-do householder.
Will Johuson after a time managed
ft> ingratiate himself in the favor of
our shaggy host aud his friends l y his
geuial happy iuauuer aud frank bear-
lug, favoring the company with many
remarks,^fcioh, translated by The
mistocies, evidently pie;
When, too, by sleigh t-of-han
which he was an adept—he performed
some simple tricks, and gave them a
music-hall song with a rollicking
chorus, and wound up with a horn
pipe accompanied by the CapUin
with a pocket-comb and a piece o
paper, tiie general enthusiasm knew
no bounds, and ihe beelle-browtd
vagabonds laughed till the tears rolled
down their cheeks.
Will now became ou such excellent
terms with them al' that he proceeded
to take some freedom with them;
and when he snatched the horn
from the cup-bearer, and installed
himself in that official’s place,
ladling the wine out of the wide
mouthed jar and handing it round,
to the company, his triumph was
complete.”
“For heaven’s sake!” said he, as he
passed us, “don’t take any of this
stuff, and don’t drink much of your
own.”
“Never fear,” said Jenkins, making
awry face; “one taste is sufficient.”
And so Will went round with the
cup, making a comic il remark to this
one, and a grimace at that, until the
chief-—evidently fearing from their
hilarity that they were taking too
much—ordered them, to desist from
drinking and return to their several
duties.
Meanwhile, we were sent back into
our dunget n, with a sentinel stationed
at tiie opening.
“Not a word,” whispered Will, as
we settled down in our prison.
“Here’s something, Captain,” he con
continued, “that belongs to you.”
“Why,” slid the Captain in reply,
as Will handed him the article men
tioned, “this is a stopper out of my
medicine chest.”
“To be sure it is, Jack,” returned
Will; “and I must apologiza for the
liberty of taking your iaudauum
phial; but my confounded back-tooth
was so painful on board the ship last
night that I got up and took it, and
luckily forgot to return it this morn
ing. You must debit me with the
bottle aud its contents, for I dropped
them both into the vagabonds’ win
jar!”
“What!” we all exclaimed in a
breath.
“Now, slop your clappers !” contin
ued the supercargo. “Jaoh, you know
I’m not bad at sleight-of-hand tricks.
Well, in the first place, having con
trived to secrete the bottle while the
blackguards were relieving me of my
valuables, and then having attained
the position of waiter, what wss easier
than to wriggle the bottle down my
sleeve, whip out the stopper, aud drop
the lot into their swipes ; giving the
bottle a crack and stirring the lauda
num up, every time I dipped the horn
into it!”
“Bravo, Will!” cried the Captain,
seizing his hand and giving it a hearty
shake. “If that’s the case, we’re safe;
for the black-faced rascals won’t wake
up for a dozen hours, I’ll he bound.
There ! our guard has dropped off al
ready !”
And sure enough, the drowsy ruf
fian had planted himself right across
the opening and was snoring louo ly.
“Now for it!” cried the impetuous
Jack Jenkins, rising.
“Hold hard!” said Will. “Let
them get well off.”
“So,settling ourselves down for half
an hour we talked the matter over.
At the end of this time we sent the
trembling Themistocies to see how
things were outside ; and after peep
ing over the prostrate, sentinel he
gave us to understand that they were
all sleeping except three, and they
were retiring to the further end of the
ravine, and would in a minute be out
of sight.
“Capital!” said Will, with suppress
ed excitement. “Now, each take a
pistol and a cutlass from the fellows
and foilbw me.”
Odb after another we fctepped ac roas
the sleeping brigand at the entrance,
Will relieving him of his pistol, dirk
and blunderbuss, while the captain
and I stood by ready to give him his
quietus at the slightest sigu of bis
waking. Then the four of us, ylidlng
like ghosts, assisted ourselves to
whatever weapons we could most
easily lay bauds upon; aud, as The
mistocies waa not of much use for
fighting,we gave him the bag contain
ing our valuables—which we fouud by
the side of the sleeping chief—as well
as several spare pistols to carry. Pick
lug our wav without speaking a word,
we advanoed toward the open end of
the ravlue, aud just as we turned
around a Jutting pieoe of rock we saw
the three sentinels, seemingly iu earn
est conversation.
It, ”j*hisuered Will.* ‘Now.
and each singling o{
clutching his. rifle
barrel^for wo avoided the n<
shooting—we sprang forward. )
moat simultaneouslv, and befoi
enemy had time to observe ua^
were upon them, and three rlfle-st
descended upon three Bfcock hi
with such force that two of the felloi
dropped like stones. The stock of
rifle glanced off the hard head of 1
antagonist and crashed against
rock. With a stifled cry he turni
but in an Instant my hand wa9 u)
his throat, and the sound died in
gullet, while with the strength of di
peration I dashed his head agaii
the wall-like rock, and after a sti
gle, In which he wounded me wit
his dagger, he fell from my grasp, ap
parently lifeless.
“Now,” said the captain, “wheraj
are the donkeys? Come, Greeky I’
ne cried to Themistocies; “bear
hand and, looking around, we
pied our four animals just as we lej
them, but with a brigand sitting
them. Here was an unlooked for rei
contre I He was fully a hundred yard]
off’, and to get at him we would have 1
to cross a small plateau.
“Leave him to me!” oriel Jenkins;
preparing to rush forward. But under
the advice of the supercargo he stop
ped. We could have picked him off
easily, but dared not for the noise o|
the rifles.
“Hing it!” impatiently muttei
Jenkins, "we shall ba trapped ags
after alland without further paj
the impetuous fellow atarted off,
ning on the tips of his toes w)
drawn cutlass in one hand and a,
in the other. Just as he was wii
few yards of the brigand the
turned round, and seeing how ms
ftood made for his rifle, which j
leaning against a tree a few y^rda
but a revolver hurled d fftly i
Johnson—for we had all
catching him directly m ti
effectually stopped his progi
he fell stunned to the ground.
“You persist in doing all the we
said Jenkins as we came up to^
“But quick, lads ; off we go!”
a moment w* were on our 1
and under the guidance
Greek companion, were making]
break neck speed for Athens,
hill, down dale, on we wei
couple of hours withou(
meeting a human being i
we were about to cross ti
mountain at which we,
harmless-looking peasjj
“good-day,” andj
“SMzd him(
“fit’s a scout.”’
So seize him
sake ; and as there
we tied his hands,
aud left him beg
there was no me
cially as TnemiiJ
there was such a
rious connection betJ
and villagers that it
unlikely—had we all
free —he would havl
est village and rouj
biigands about
Havii
as
for fat?
resting
animals,
until late at night
where, round the hi
our host, we soon forgo!
Chambers' Journal.
i
A Young Specula)
A bright-eyed and neatly)
lad, with Jewish features,
raigned before Justice Smith, I
Tombs Police Court, N. Y.)
charge of fighting in the street^
said his name was Henry LW
iteln, aged 15 years, of No. 64
topher street, and then startled
around him by saying that he waa
speculator. “Yes, Judge Smith,! kno
your name, because I used to lh
opposite you. I am a speculator, an
support my mother and sister. I bu
goods at pawnbrokers’ sales and the
pawn them again, usually with
largo profit. I make from $8 tojj
per week.” “Smart boy; you
go,” said the Judge^.