The constitution. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1884-1885, February 24, 1885, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextFAY£TTEV1L^«S GA IlMFmnklia THE CONSTITUTION. YOL. XVII. ATLANTA. GA.. TUESDAY MORNjlNG. FEBRUARY 24 1885. TWELVE PAGES. PRICE FIVE CENTS. PAWr-EB PETE. You know the Nex Peien, supple end allm, Blugsi'h of soul end ltnibvr of limb. Cruel of conscience and cold as ice— A light of one of 'em irlll mfllcc. Tip In the Yellantone, slick and neat. Jfrxt to the Geysers cwelt Pawnee Pete, Bis dam a squaw and his nire a Yank, Who passed ut them parts for half a crank. Now Pete was a chap of the Carson type, Little, determined, for tUntlng ripe. Who seldom traveled without his gun, And from white mau or red could never ruu And he kept a rifle i»>ides his tied. And a brace of pistols boueath his head. He skinned jack rabbits for food In spring; Yon bet, that chap was a imt'ral rough, Whose grit had mado him a Western tough, A 'bravo,' part scout, «ud part Injun buck, Well known to 'Prbco for craft aud pluck. Of dusky hostile* Jti deepd Of tho tomahawk and the scalping knife, And the dcadiy tricks of savage life. Yon see,’there drove through tho Ycllarstone A prnlrieshlp with it« load alone Ot two young girls and a lad and man. Who built their Are aud at work began. While snug at supper a glittering eye Was fixed upon ’em and hovered nigh To seo ’em drop In their wagon bed: But (ue on guard with a charge of lead . As close In tho cat The bucks were tl To stral like snakes on tho nntot camp. And kill and scalp by the firefly's lamp; A rifle cracked and a red man sank With their shooters out at the devils r 3TAnother shot, and another yet, Another still, till the flowers were wet With the crimson dew of that Ingun band, | Cut off In their primo by a vengeful hand. Aud that hand Pete's, which he next day gave To ono of the girls he hnd helped to save; Then he jumped a much down In Wyoming, Where now the voices of children ring. “No better or braver man is kuown Than l’awnco Pete of the Yellnrstono.” —Bill Y. Buttes, the Colorado Cowboy. Taoi, New Mexico, January 1, 1885. ‘ASH1P0F’49’ A Romance of California, in Three Parts. BY BRET HARTE. PART FIRST. I;*.d£ppjitgfit, IMS. by B-et narte. AU Right! Rw ..x^OBSfea ~ CHAPTER I. It bid rained so persistontly in San Fran- during the first week of January, 1851, that a efrfoin quagtflirw in the roadway of j Long Wharf bad become impassable, aud a ’ plank wa» thrown over its dangerous depth, indeed so treacherous was the spot that it was * alleged, on good authority, that a hastily c~* hiving traveller had once hopelessly lost •portmanteau, and was fain to dispoio of his «**- tiro interest in it for the sum of two dollar! and fifty cents to a speculative stranger on tho wharf. As the stranger*! search wst rewarded afterward only by I a casual Chinaman - cred to wickedly anticipate him. n feeling of commercial insecurity was added to the oth er fccctntricitiea of tho locality. The plank led to the door of a building that Was a.marvel even in the!chaotlo frontier ar- chitccturo of the street. The houses on either j ; aide—irregular frames of wood or corrugated . Iron—tore evidenco of having been quickly thrown together, to meet the requirements of ‘the goods and passengers who were once dis embarked on what was tho muddy beach of tho infant city. But the building in question ex hibited a certain elaboration of form and de sign utterly inconsistent with this idea. Tho structure obtruded a bowed front to tho street, with n curving line of small windows, sur mounted by elaborate carvings and scroll work of vim s and leaves, while below, in laded gilt letters, .appeared tho legend “Pontiac— Maritllle*/' Thecflect or this incongruity was startling. It is rotated that an inebriated miner, impeded by mud aud drink before Us door, was round gaxing at Its remarkable fa ced) with an expression of the deepest despon dency. “I hev lived a freo life pardner,” he explained thickly to the Samaritan who suo- . cored him, “and every time since I*ve been Afi this tlx weeks* jamboroe might have leal- * IfUsted it would come to this. Snakes I’vo aecn afore now, and rats I*m not unfamillisr with, Lut when it comes to tho starn of a ship - rilin’ up out of the street, I reckon Us timo to pass in uiy checks.” “It is a shin, you blas ted old soaker,** said the Samaritan curtly. It was indeed a ship. A ship run ashore and abandoned on the bench years betoro by her gohl-if eking crew, with tho debris of her scat tered stores and cargo, overtaken by tho wild growth of the strange city and the reclama tion of the muddy flat, wherein she lay hope lessly imbedded; her retreat cut off by wnsfvrs and quays and breakwater, jostled at first by sheds, aud then impacted in a block of solid warehouses and dwellings, her rudder, port, and counter boarded in, and now gazing hopelessly through her cabin windows upon the busy street before her. But still, a ship, despite her transformation. The faintest lino of contour yet left viaiblo spoke of the buoy ancy of another clement: the balustrade of her rrof Was unmistakably a Uffrail. The rain slipped from her swelling side with a cer tain lingering touch oi the set; the soil around Her was still treacherous with its sug gestions, and even the wind whistled neutral ly ©v*r her chimney. If, inthefary of some southwesterly gale, she bad one night slipped . * her strange moorings and left a shining track throrgb the lower town to the distant sea, no one vMild have been surprised. Least of all perhaps, h,er present owner and "* posterior, Mr. Abner Nott, For by the irony of circumstances Mr. Nott was a far Western * farmer who had never seen a ship boCire, n >* a Jarc< r stream of water than a tributary of the Miiiouri river. In a spirit half of fasei- Btito l , hall of speculation, he had bought her at the time of her abandonment, and had since (mortgaged his ranch at Petaluma, With his live stock to defray the experts of filling in „the land where •be stood and the improvements cl the vi cinity. He had transferred his household goods and bis cnly daughter to her cabin, and bad divided the apace “between decks” and her hold Into lodging rooms and lofts for the storage of goods. It could hsrdlv be said that tho investmont had been profitable. His ten ant* vaguely recognized that hit occupancy was a sentimental rather than a commercial •peculation, and often generously lent them- reives to the illusion by not paying their * rent. Oihm treated ihtir own tenancy aoo joke—a quaint recreation-bora of the child like ftxxulliahiy of frontier intercourse. A few had left, carelessly abandoning their un salable goods to their laudlord with great cheerfulness and a eenso of favor. Occasion ally Mr. Abner Nott, in a practical relapse, raged against the derelicts aud talked of dis- poaseieing'thcm, or oven dismantling his ten ement, but he was easily placated by a com pliment to tbo “dear old ship,” or an effort made by some tenant to idealize his apartment. A pho tographer who bad ingeniously utilized tho forecastle for*a gallery (accessible from the bows in tho next street), paid no further tribute than a portrait of the pretty face of Itosey Nott. Tho superstitious rever ence with which Abner Nott held hi* mon strous fancy was naturally enhanced by his purely bucolic exaggeration of its real junctions and its native element. “This yer keel tiros sailed, aud faded end sailed,” ho would explain with some incongruity of illustration, “m a bee line, nickin' tracks for dnysj ruuniu*. 1 reckon more storms and blizzards hex' tackled hrr then you can shake a stick at. She'* stampeded whales aforo now, and sloshed round with pirate* and freebooters in and ou^er tbo Spanish Main, and across lots from Marrcllcys wlicro she was rsred. And ycr she eiti peaceful-like, just ez if she'd never been outer a pertato natch, and hadn’t plough* cd the sea with fo’saus anil studdin' sail* and them thing* cavortin’ round her masts,** Abner Nott's enthusiasm was shared by his daughter, but with more imagination, aud ail intelligence stimulated by tho ecant literature ot her fatbcrVcmigrant wagon aud tho few hooka found on tbc cabin shelves. But, to her, tbo strange shell she inhabited suggested mere of tbc great world than the rude, cha otic civilization she saw from tho cabin win dows or met in tho persons of her father's lodgers. Shut up for days iu this quaint ten ement she had seen it change from the en chanted playground of her childish fancy to the theater of activo maidenhood, but without loosing her ideal romance in it. Sho lmd translated its history in her Jown way, read its quaint nautical hieroglyphs uftor her own fashion, and possessed herself of Us se crets. 6be had, in fancy made voyages in it to foreign lands, had hoard tho accents of a soltcr tongue on its decks, and on summer nights from tho roof ot tho quarter deck had sun mellower constellations take the place of the hard mctalic glitter ot the Califoraian skies. Sometimes in her isolation tho long cylindrical vault she inhabited seamed, like some vast sca-shell, to become musical with tho murmuring* of tho distant sea. So com pletely had it takcu the place of tho usual in stincts of femininino youth that she had for gotten she was pretty, or that her drew* wero old iu fashion and scant in quantity. Af ter the first surprise of ad miration her father’s iedgere ciaitd to follow the abstracted nymph except with their eyes—partly respecting hor spiritual shyness, partly respecting the jealous supervision ci tbo paternal Nott. Sho sel dom penetrated the crowded centre of tho g rowing city, her rare excursions were con ned to tho old ranch at Petaluma, whence she brought flowers and plants and even ex temporized a hanging garden on the quarter deck It waa still raining, and the wind, which bad increased to a gale, was dashing the drops against the slanting cabiu window* with r found like apray when Mr. Abner Nott sat be fore a table seriously engaged with 111* ac count*. For it was “steamer night”—as that momentous day of reckoning before tho sail ing of the regular mail steamer was briefly known to commercial Ban Francisco—and Mr. Nott was subject aft such times to savorety practical rejjflse*. A syiualng light scum^ lightly fitting apartment, with its toy-like utilities of space, aud made tho pretty oval face of Rosey Nott appear a ebarscteriatlc or nament. The sliding door of the cabin com municated with tho main dock, now roofed in and partitioned oil so as to form a small pas • sage that led to the open starboard gangway, where a narrow, enclosed staircase, built on the ship's side, took tho place of the shin's ladder under her counter, and opened in tbs street. A dash of rain against the window caused Posey to lift her eyes from her book. “It’s much nicer hero than aft tho ranch, father.” sho said conxingly, “even leaving alone its being a beautiful snip instead ot a sbnnty, the wind don’t whistio through the cracks and blow out tho candle when you're reading, or the rain spoil your things hung up again* tho wall. And you look more liko a f enticmau sitting in his own—ship—you now, looking over his bills and getting rea dy to givo his order.'* Vague ond general as Mias Rosey's compli ment was, it had its full effect upon her fath er, who was at times dimly conscious of his hopeless rusticity and its incongruity with his surroundings. “Yea,” bo said, awkwardly, with a slight rclnxion of his aggressive atti tude; “ycr, in course it’s more bang up stylo, but it don’t pay, Rosey, it don't pay. Yer's the Foutiac that oughtcr bo bringin* in, ex rents go, at least three hundred a month, don't mako her faxes. 1 bin thinkin' serious ly of cellin' her.” As Rosey knew her fstbor had experienced this serious contemplation on the first of every month for the list two years and chcorfhlly ignored it the next day, she only said: “I’m sure the vacant rooms and lofts are all rented, father.” “That's it,’* reterned Mr. Nott thoughtfully, plucking at his bushy whiskers with his fin gers and thumb as if no wero removing dead and saidetn encumbrances in its growth,”that’s just wnat it is—them’s ox in it themielves don'* the, then' Iron sugar trying to get mo to make another advance on 'em, cez he believes bo’ll have to sacrifice 'em to me alter all, and only begs I'd give him a chance of buying back tho half of'em ten yes rs frem now, at double what I advanced him. The chap that left them 500 cases of hair dye 'tween decks and then skipped out to Sacramento, met me the other day in the streets and adviced me to me a bottle ez an advcrtisenicbt, or try it on the stsrn of the Pontiac for fire-proof paint. That foolish- nets ez all he'* goed lor. And yet thar might be inthin* in the paint, if a filler bad nigger luck. Ther's that New York chap ez bought up them damaged boxes of plug torbaker for fifty dollars a thousand, and sold 'em for foundations for tkst new building in Bsnsome street at a thousand clear profit. It's all luck, Borey.” The girl'a ryes had wandered again to tho penes of her bock. Perhaps she was already familiar with the text oi her father's mono logue. Rut recognizing an additional queru- Ice»LCff in bis voice, she laid the book asido, and patient) v folded her hands in her lap. “Inet’e right— (nr I’ve suthio* t> tell ye. The fact if, Meight wants to buy tbo Puatiac rut end out, \nil cz sba sttuds, with the two fitly vara ljt* shcctends on.” ' .Sleight want* to buy her?8Icight?”echocd ftotty incredulously. You bet! filcigbt—the big fluaneior, the smartest man iu 'Frisco.'* What do*e he want to buy her for?” asked ... Iy, knitting her pretty brows. Tie apparently simple question hIhbIjt puzzled Mr. Noll. He glanced feebly at Ilia daughter's face, and frowned In vacant Irrita tion. “That's so,” be said, drawing a long breath, there’* futhin in that.” “What did he say?” continued the young girl impatiently. “Not much. 'You’ve got tho Pontiac, Nott,' tez be. 'You bet!’ at* I. 'What'll you take for her and tho lot sho stands on?' sax he short and sharp. Home feller, Rosey.” said Nott, with * " 't P»y, and them cx has left their goods— goods don't lay. The feller ez stored a* Iron sugar settles in the forehold, after he goes like a shot. He's awfully ahurp, “But if he is sharp, fathor, and he really* wanta to buy the ship,” returned Rosoy, thoughtfully, “It's only because ho know* U’a valuable property, ana not because he likes it ab we do. Ho can't take that value away oven it we don’t sell it to him, and all the while wo have the comfort of tho dear old Pontiac, dou’t you see?*’ This exhaustive commercial reasoning was so sympathetic to Mr. Nott's Instincts that ho occi pted it us conclusive. lie, however deem ed it wire to still preserve bis practical atti tude. “But that don't mako it pay by the month, Rosey. Buttlin' must bo done. I’m thinking I’ll clcau out that photographer.” “Not just after he’s taken such a pretty view of tho cabin front of the Pontiac from ua a copy, and put the other dow in Montgomery street.” op win- “That’s so/'said Mr. Nott musingly, “it's -io slouch of nn Advertisement. 'The Pontiac,' the property of A. Nott, Esq., of St, Jo., Mis souri. Send it on to your aunt Phwbe; sorter make the old folks open their eyes—eh? Well, seein* he's been to some expanse fittin' up an eniranee from the other street, we'll let him hlide. But as to that d——d old Frenchman Ferrers, in the nextlo/t, with his stuck- up sirs end highfalutin style we must get ouitof him; he’s regularly gouged mo in that *ere horse hair spckilation.” “llow can you aay that, father?” said Rosey with o slight increase of color. “It wns your c.wn offer. You know those bale* of curled' horsebnir wer left behind by the late tenant to pay hia rent. When Mr. do Ferrierei rented tho room afterward, you told him you’d throw them in in tho place of repairs and furniture. 11 waa your own ollor.” “Y’es, but l didn’t reckon ther’d ’“over bo a big price per jtound paid for the darned staff for sofya and cushions and aich.” “How do you know he knew it, father?” re sponded Roaey. “Then why did he look so silly at first, aud then put on airs when I joked him about it, eh?” “Perhaps ho didn’t understand your joking, father. He’s a foreigner, and shy aud proad, and not like the others. I don't think ho knew what you meant then, any more than ho believed ho was making sjjbsrgain before. Ue n:oy bo poor, but I think bo’s been—a—a—gen tleman. The young girl's animation penetrated evon Mr. Nott’a alow comprehension. Her novel opposition, and even the prettiueas It enhanced gave him a dull premonition of paiD. His small round eyes became abstracted, his mouth remained partly opened, even his fresh color slightly paled. “Y'ousreni to have been Inkin’ Stock of this ycr niiiii, Rosey,” ho said with a faint attempt nt archness, “if lie warn't ez old cx a crow, for nil his young fenthors, I'd think ho wai ma ilin’ up to you.” But the passing glow had faded from her young cheeks, mid hor eves wandered again to her book. “Ho pay* his rout regularly ev ery strum r nigh,” she said, quietly, as if dis missing an exhausted subject, “and ho'll be here in a moment I dare say.” Bho took up her book, and, leaning hor head on hor hand, ot.ee more became absorbed in its pagos. An uneasy cilcnco followed. The rain beat against tbo windows, the ticking of a clock became uudibm, but still Mr. Nott sat with vacant eyes fixed on his daughter's face, and the constrained amile on bis lips. He w»s con scious that he bod never soon nor look.** p**- ■ ty before, yet ho could n^wtell why Uii* wr. i n > wm the admiration ofoth*' era for hor as a matter 6r course, but for the first time ho became conscious that tho not on ly had an interest in othors, but apparently a •nperior Knowledge of them. How did she know these things about this man, aud why bad the only now accidentally spoken of them? Ho would have dono so. All this passed vaguely through bis unrcflcctivenilad that ho was unable to retain any decided Impression but the far-reaching one that his lodger hnd obtaincd.iomo occult influence over hor through tho exhibition of his baleful skill in the horse hair speculation. “Thom tricks is likoly to take a young girl’s fancy. I must look srtor her,” he said to h 1 niseil eeftly. A slow, regular step in the gangway Inter rupted his pntcrnal reflections. Hastily but toning across bia chest the pcsjacket which he usually wore at home as a single concession to his nautical surroundings, he drew himself np with something ol the assumption of a ship master, despite certain bucolic suggestions of his loot* and legs. The footsteps approached nearer, and a tall figure suddenly stood in the doerway. It waa a figure so extraordinary that even in the strange masquerade of that early civilisa tion it was remarkable; a figure with whom father and daughter were already familiar w itbout abatemen of wonder—the iignre of a rejuvenated old man, padded, powdered, dyed, atd pain cd to the vergo of caricature, but without a aingle suggestion of ludicrouaness or humor; n face so artificial that it seemed al most a mask, but, like a mask, more pathetic than amusing. He waa dressed in tho ex treme of fashion of a dozen years before; his ptarl gray trousers Rtrap|*d tightly over his varnished boots, his voluminous satin cravat and high collar embraced bis rouged cheeks and dyed whiskers, his closoly buttoned frock coat clinging to a waist that seomed uccoated by stayi. Ho advanced two itepa'foto the cabin with nn upright precision ol motion that might have hid tne infirmities of age, and said deliberate ly, with a forciegn accent: “You-r*r ao couinpt?” In the actual presence of the apparition Mr. Nott's dignified resistance wavered. But glancing uneasily at hia daughter, and seeing her calm eyes fixed on the speaker wit hout embarrassment, he folded his arms wittily, and with a lofty simulation of examfniuing tho ceiling, said: “Ahem! Rosey I The gentleman's account.” It was an infelicitous action; for the stranger, who evidently bad not noticed the presence of the young girl before, started, took a atop quickly forward, bent stiffly hut profoundly o.tr the little band that held theaocouat^aia- ed it to bfs lips, and with “a thousand par dons, mademoiselle,/ laid a small canvas bag containing the rent before the disorganized Mr. Nott, aud atitlly vanished. That night waa a troubled onetethesimple- minded proprietor of the good ship Pontiac* Unable to voice hia uneasiness by further dis cussion, bat feeling that his late discomposing interview with hia lodger demanded some marked protest, he absented himself on the pica of business during the rest of the evening —happily to his daughter's utter ob!iviouaneaa of the reason. Lights were burning brilliant ly in counting rooms and oiBcea, the fuveriih life of the mercantile city was at its height. With a vague idea of entering into Immediate negotiation* with Mr. Bieight for the sale of t t ship—as a direct way oot of bia present rurplexity—he bent his step* toward the IIn- ancur’s office, bat paused and inroad back be fore retching tbo door. He made bl« way to the wharf aud gazed abstractedly at the lights reflected in the dark, tremulous, jelly-like water. But wherever he went ho wa* accom panied by the absurd figure of his lodger—* figure lie bad hitherto laughed at nr half pit- tied, but which now, to his ^bewildered com prehension, teemed to have a fateful signifi cance. Hare a new Idra seized him, and he hurried back to the ship, sleekening hia pace only when he arrived at hil own doorway. Here he paused a moment andalowly asceod- ed the staircase. When be reached toe pM- •agr he couched slightly and paused again. Then he pushed open the door of the darkened cabin and railed softly: “Rcseyl” “YTbet it It, father?” aefd Iteeey'e vote* from Ue little stateroom on the right—P.oeey'a cwn bower. “Nothing!” aaid Air. Nott, with an affecta tion of languid calmucsa; “I only wanted to know If you wai oomfortable. It's au awful busy night in town.” “Yes, lather.” “I reckon thar'a tons o' gold goin' to the slates to-morrow.” “Net*, father.” “l*i etty comfortable, tl»?” ' Ye«\ lather.” “Well, I'll brows round a spell and turn in myrolf soon.” “Yea, father.” Air. Nott took'down a hanging lantern, lit it, aud passed out into the gangway. Another lamp hung from the companion hatch to light the tenants to the lower deck, whence he de scended. This deck was divided fore and aft by a partitioned passage—the lofta or apart went* being lighted from tho ports, and one or two by a door cut through the ship’s sido com municating with an alley on either sido. This wqs the caso with the loft occupied by ** Nott’a strange l.Kigcr, which beside* a do tho passage hod this independent communion- lion with the alley. Nott had neyer known him to make use ot tho latter door; on the con trary, it was hia regular habit to iasue.from his apailment at 3o’clock every afternoon, dressed as he haa been described, stride deliberately through the passage to the upper dtfck and thence into tne street, where hi* strange figure was a fsature of the prncipal promeuado for two or threo bourn, returning ns regularly at 8 o’clock to tho ship and tho soclasion of his loft. Air. Nott paused before the door, under the pretence of throwing the light before him into the shadows o! tbo forecastle; all was silent tg{th<n. He was turning back when ho was impressed by the regular recurrence of a peculiar rustling sound which no had at first rcfeiredto tho rubbing of tbo wires of the swinging lantern against his clothing. He sot down the light and listened. Tho sound was evidently oi. the otlior side of the partition; tbo scund of aomu prolonged, rustling, scraping movement, with regular intervals. Was it duo to another ol Mr. Nott'a unprofitable ten ants—the rate? No. A bright idea Hashed upcu Mr. Nott’s troubled mind. It was do Ferriexn firioriitfl Ho amilod grimly. “Wondbr IfRcaer'ii call him a gentleman if she beard that,” ho chuckled to himself as ho slowly mado his way back to tho cabin and thr small stateroom opposite to his daughter's. During tho res', of tho night ho dreamod of bo- ing compelled to give Roaey In morriago to his strange lodger, who added insult to tho out rage by snoring'audibly through tho morriago service. Afcautlme, In hor cradle-like neat in nautical bower, Mist Rosoy slumbered as lightly. Waking from a vivid dream of Venice—a cbila’a Voulco—soon from tho swelling deck of the proudly-riding Pontiac, sho was so impressed aa to riso and cross on tiptoe to the Hilloslanting porthole. Alorning waa already dawning over tho flat, straggling city, but from overv* counting house and magazine the votive tapers of tho feverish worahipnera of trade and mammon were still flaring fiercely, CHAPTER II. Tho day following “steamer night” was unlly stale and flat at Ban Francisco. The reaction from the feverish exaltation of the previous twenty-four hours waa aeon iu the Iistlcsa flees and lounging feet of promenader*. and was notable in tho deeertod offices and workhouses still rodolontoflaatnight’a^u.and strewn aihfv of laat night’s liras. /,iei o was a bridqjrvsc before tho basy Ufb (which ttvtts. ^Ju.5 ifvUJi -.“stMfHftJMWj’iRt f ictv'srtyiayjra* fr« more taken up, Iu t£at low speculator*! npj ln^ss- toff breathed freely, aom* critical situation waa relieved, or tome Impending catastrophe memfaterllyr averted. In particular, a singu lar stroke ol good fortune that morning tnaft befell Mr. Nott. He not only secured » now tenant, but, aa ho sagaciously behoved, intro* ducted into the Pontiac a counteracting influ ence to tbo subtlo fascinations of da Fcrrieros. Tho new tenant apparently possessed a combination of business shrewdness and biuiqtio frankness that strongly impressed hia landlord. “ You tee, Roeey.” said Nott,com placently describing the fntorviow to bn daughter, “when 1 sorter intimated in a keer- less kind o' way that sugar kettles and hair dyo was about played out ez securities, he just planked down the money for two months in advance. “There/ sex he, 'that’* your secu rity—now where's mine?” ‘I reckon. I don’t hitch on, psrdner/ sex I; 'security what for?' “Bpose you sell tho ship,'sex he, 'afore the two months is up. I've heard that old Sleight wants to buy her.' 'Then yon gets bank your money,'sex I.'And lose my room,' aex bo; 'net much old man. Yon signs paper that whoever buystheihln inside o'two months ho* to buy mesa a tenant with it; that’s on the square.' Bo I sign tho paper. It was mighty cute in the young feller, wasn’t it?” he laid, scanning hia daughter's pretty, puzzled face a little anxiously; “and don’t you see ex I ain't goin’ to sell the Pontiac, it’s just about ax onto in roe, eh? He’s a contractor aomewhoro orouud yer, and wants to be near bis work. Bo lie takes the room noxt to the Frenchman, that that ship captain quit f<>r tho mines, and succeeds nuterally to bis chest and things. He’s mighty peart looking, that young teller, ]{ 0 icy—Tong, black mustaches, all bis own color, Rosey-and he’* a regular high stepper, you let. 1 reckon he’s not only been a gentle man, but ex now. Some o' them contractor* are very high toned!” “I don't think we have any right to give him the Captain's cheat, father,” said Rosey; “there may bo some private things in it. Tbt ro were some lettqra and photographs in the hair dye man's trunk that you gave the pbotograpner,” “That’s just it, Rosoy,” returned Abner Nott with sublime unconsciousness, “photo graph* ami love letters you can't sell for cash, tad 1 don't mind givln* 'em away if they kin S3? ■■ make a teller creature happy.” “But, father, have we the right to give 'em away 7” “They're collateral security, Rosey,” said her father grimly. “Co-la-te-ral,” he contin ued, emphasising each syllable by tapping the fist erotie hand in tbo open palm of the other. “Co-Iwte-ral is the word the big business shares y*r about call 'em. You can’t gat round that.” Ha paused a moment, and then, as a new idea seemed to be painfully borne in his round eyes, continued cautiously: “Was that the reason why yon wouldn't touch any of them dresses from the trunks of thaftopery gal ex skedadJed to Sacramento? And yefc them trunks I regularly bought at auction, Rosey— at auction, on spec—and they didn’t realixt the cost of drayage." A slight color mounted to Rosey's face. “No,” she seid, hastily, “not that.” Hesitat ing a moment, she then draw softly to bia side, atd, (dating her arms around hi* naek,turned h:s broad, foolish face toward her own. “Father,” ehe began, “whan mother died would you bavo liked anybody to take her ttunka and paw round her things and wear them?” , , “When your yioftbcr died, justtms aide o Sweetwater, Roaey,” aaid Air. Nott, with beaming unconsciousness, “she hadn't any dunks. 1 reckon aha hadn’t even an extra gown hanging up in the waggin, 'cept the pot- fjccat ex ice Had wrapped arauud ycr. It was about ex much ex we could do to skirmish round with Injins, alklli and cold, and wo ic-rter forgot to drew for dinner. Bho never thought, lu>sey, that you and me would li?o to Lo FabsbUin' a naJtaa of a real ship. El she lr»d she would have died a proud woman.” U* turned bis small, loving, boar-liko eyes ujw,n her ee a peter naturally innocent ami trusting companion ol Ulyaaee might have re garding the irenaformiDg Circe. Rosey turned aweywith the tainted sigh. The hnbituel look of abstraction rate road to her eyas aa if she bad ante more token refuge In her own idiel world. Uufortenntety the change did toi escape either the sensitive ebeemtira < the fatuous misconcepiton of the sagacious pa rent. “Ye’ll be mountin' a few furbelow*and fixins. Rosey, I reckon only natural. Mobbee yo’ll have to prink up * little now that wo’ve got a gentleman contractor in the ship. I'll sc< * p *" * street.' ^ later in accomplishing with equal in/elicity his generous design. When she returned* from her household tasks she found on her bcrUH a purple velvet bonnet of extraordinary raav'?. and a pair ol white satin alippers. “They'll do for a start off, Rosoy,” ho explained, “and 1 got 'em at my Aggers.” “But 1 go out so soldom, father, and a bon net—” “That’* *o,” interrupted Air. Nott, compla cently, “it might ho jest cx well for a young gal like ycr to appear ex if sho did go out, or would go out if sho wanted to. So you kin bo Wcurin* that ar headstall kinder like this »veiling when tho contractor's here, ox if you’d just come in from a pasear.” Alisa Rosey did not, however, immediately avail hr riel t of her father’s purchase, but con tented herself with the usual scarlet ribbon that like n Miood confined her brown hair when sho returned to her tasks. The aiiaco between tho galley and the bulwarks bad been her favorite resort in summer, when not actunlly engaged in household work. It waa now lightly roofed over with boards and tar paulin against the winter rains, but still afforded her a verandah-liko space before the galley door, where she could read or sew, look ing over tbo bow ol the Poutiao to the testing hay hill Ililhcr Miff* Roeey brought the purple prod- ipy, partly to nleaso her father, pertly with a view of subjecting it to violent rmulcal changes. Rut after trying it on bofore the tiny mirror in the galley once or twice, her thoughts wandered awny, And ehe fell into ono of her habitual rar er let*, seated ou a little stool before tho galley door. Bbi and rattling or tho doors the deck, not a dozen yards from where she set. It had been evidently fastened from below during tho wet wcntlier; but, as ahe gazed, the heti7iing* were removed, tho doors wero sud denly lilted, end the head and shoulders of a vi unc muu emerged from the deck. Partly r father's description and partly from “ ^ * ' olio, Igor. She had timo to noto that ho was young and good-looking—graver, perhaps, than became his sudden pantomimic ap pearance—but. before sho could observe him closely, he hud turned, closed tho hatch with a certain familiar dexterity,and walked slowly toward the bows. Even in her alight bewild erment she observed that his step upon tho deck nccnied different to her fathor's or tho photographer's, and that he laid hia baud on various objects with a half caressing ease and habit. Presently he paused and turned book, end glancing at the galley door for tho first il hor wondoriug oyos. vident that she bod boon a curious spectator of bis abrupt eutraneo on deck that no was ut first disconoortod and con fused. But after a soeond glance at her he appeared to resume his composure, and ad vanced a lilllc defiantly toward tho galley. “1 suppose 1 frightened you, popping up tho fore hatch just now?” “Tbo what?” asked Rosey. “The fonfjfetcb,” ho repeated impatiently, indicating It with a gosturo. “And that's tbo fore hatch?” sho said nb- stragtedly«t'jfcYgu seem to * — ■ hired a room hejo,” ho added explanatorily. “I thought so/' oaid Itesoy, simply; “you're tho contractor?” “The contractor!-oh, yeti You setm to know It all.” ' “Father’* told me.” '•Ob, he's your lather—Nott? Certainlv. I ico now,” ho continued, looking a# hor with a half-repressed smile. “Mrtalnly. Mist Nott, good morning,” behalf added and walk ed toward the com nan Ion way. Something In the direction of his eyes as ho turned away mado Rosey lift her hands to her bead. She bad forgotten to remove her father’s baleful gift. Bho snatched it off and ran quickly to the ifnpsnionway. “Birl” sho rolled. Tho young man turned half way down the steps and looked up. There waa a faint color in her cheeks, and her pretty brown hair wae slightly dishevelled from tho bsaty removal of the bonnet. “Father’s very particular.about stranger* being on this deck, she said, a little sharply. "Ob—ab—I’m aorry I intruded.” “I—I—thought I'd tell you/' said Kosay, frightened by her boldness into a fosble anti climax. “Thank you.” Bhe can o back slowly (o the galley and picke 1 up the nn fori unaU$>onnct with asiif bt>an«s of remorse. Why should she feel angry with ber poor father’* unhappy offering? And what business hail this strange young man to u*o tho ship so familiarly? Y*.t sho was vaguely conscious that ehe and her father, with all their love and their domestic exper ience of it, lacked a certain Initinetive ease in It possession that the half indifferent stranger ad shown on first treading its deck. She walked to the hatchway and examined it with a new interest. Succeeding in lifting the batch, she gazed at the lower dock. As she already knew tho ladder had long since Uen removed to make room for one of the partitions, the only way the stranger could have reached it was hy leaping to ono of the rings. To make.sure offchU low. Bhe wss in the narrow passage her fa ther had penetrated the previous night. Be- fere her was the door leading to do Ferrlere's loft, always locked. It was silent within; It was the hoar when the old Frenchman made hi* habitual promenade in the city. But the light from the newly opened batch allowed her to sco more of the mysterious raotssse of the forward bulkhead than she had known be fore, and she wae startled by observing anoth er yawning hatchway aft her feel, from which the cloeely-fitting door had been lilted, and which the new lodger had evidently forgot- ten to dose again. The young girl stooped down and peered cautiously into the black abyss. Nothing was to be seen, nothing heard but the distant gurgle and click of water in some remoter depth. Bhe replaced the batch and returned by way of the passage to the Wben her father came home that night the briefly recounted the Interview with the new lodger, end her discovery of his curiosity. mt “ did this with a possible fne evening he awkwardly waylaid the new lo-lv^r before the cabin door, as that gentleman would have passod on to bis room. “I'm afraid,” said the young man, glancing at Bosey, “that I intruded upon your daughter to-day. I waa a little enrioua to see the old ship, and I didn’t know what part of It was private*” “There ein’t no private part to thisyer ship —(bates, 'cepting tho rooms and lofta,”said Air. Nott, authoritatively. Then subjecting the onxfous look of hfs daughter to hia usual faculty for misconception, bo added: “Thar ain't neploco whar you haven't as much right .to go cz any other man; thar ain't any man, ft,rrizicror Amerykan, young or old, dyed or utfctlycd, cx hev got a ay better rights. You hear me, young fellow. Air. Benshsw—my darter. My dorter—Mr. Ronshaw. R»oy, give tbo gentleman a chair. She's onlyjosft come in fr«*n a promeynade, and hex just ta ken off her Bonnet.” ho added, with an aroh look at Roaey, and n hurried look around tho cabin, aa if he hoped to see tho missing gift visible to tho general eye. “Bo toko a seat» minit, won't ye?” But Air. Ronshaw, after an observant glance aft the young girl'a abstracted face, brusquely excused himself. “I've got a letter to write/' he said, with a half bow to Rosey. “Good night.” IIo crested the passage to the room that had been assigned to nim, and elating tho door gave wuy to aorno irritability of temper in his efforts to light tho lamp and adjust his writing materials. For his excuse to Air. Nott was more truthful than most polite pretexts. Ho bad, indeed, a letter to write, and ono that, being yet young in duplicity, the near pres ence ot hi* host rendered difficult. For it ran as follows: “Dkab Hmciuht: Aa I fonnd 1 couldn't get a chauce to nmko an examination of tho »hipexcept aa occasion offered. 1 just went In to rent lodging* In tier from the God forsaken old as* whoowni her, aud here I am a tenant for two month*. I con tracted for that time in caso the old fool should aril out to some one clae before. Except that she’s rnt up a little hetwoen deck* by tho partitions for loft* that tbst like county Idiot has put Into her, sho lookabutllttlecbanged.and her forohold.a* far a* I can Judge, la Intact, liaeemi that Nott bought her just aa she atanda. with her cargo half oat, but ho wasn’t here when ahe broke cargo. It any body ehe had bought her but this cursed MUsou- rian. who hasn't got tho hayseed out of his hair, I might have found out something from him and raved myself; thla kind of fooling, which isn't lit my line. If I could got jpoMceslon of a loft on the main deck, well forward. Just over the forelmld, I could satUfy myiclf In a fow hours; but tba loft In rented by that emiy Frenchman who parades Montgomery street every afternoon, and, though old Pike comity wanta to turn him oat, I’m afraid I can't gel It for a week to come. "If anything should happen to me. Just yon waltx down here and corral my thing* at onoo. for thl* old frontier pirate haa a way of confiscating bis lodgers' trucks. Yours, Dick." I to na cowTinuan.1 WANT TO BE ACTOTS. tb,„M »4 .brtrartton. u4 •pp.rtnUr mort .. . July tb.D . ool]<xiul»l rwrnllon. But It pU.i.J Ur. Dolt >l.o to giT-lt more Dun hi. "In count, kiuJ.r awMpIn' round th. »»)Ur, •■><> .Hbrlb' «o ftteh jrou wood »od *»l«r, »bt” Ky.u wh«u lh« youu. *irl hw p:rk<d up b.r kook wUh tho uiwl r.lnl amilo I .ffcelion.t, tol.runr., and than drifted hi, n il. pagr* Ur. Noil ebueblad audibly. ‘I nckon old Franck, didn’t com. br when lb. young on. m bed.rlin’ ,ou than.” ••Whit, father?" uid Row,, lifting her ab- tlr.rlrd «jm to hi. face, At th. moment it ^ pomlbl* that any human inteUifMe. could bur. .u.pueteu dee.it or dnnlieit, in Rowy’u eluur pie. But Ur. Xett’t Intelligent# wuu .uperhu- "I true M,ln’tbut Mr. Furr.ru didn’t U., r n Id white lb. young teller wut "Vo, tether,”isiirrrtd Ron,, with ua uflort to fo’Jww him out of the pugm of her book. 5»ll?" But Ur. Volt did not reply. Liter in the The Colored People Preparing to Shout and Dance. From the New York ttorld. Thirty or forfty colored men, womon and children in costumes varying from the pieftur- esquo antique io the newly old, huddled about a warm steam-pipe on the singe of tho Third avenue theater yesterday. They all cano to be actore in quick responso to tho following advertisement In tho World of yesterday: W ANTED—Ono bundled colored people, men, woint-ti ABd.children- tliow from ltie m hiUi prefoued- for “UVlflf It,-n't CilM!!-'* Apply HHKotfoor, Third > vctpTtrTWmtcr, tlilidar V ^Th.re <vr-r 'i ? : T vnyng iimidon. jmt^ ii^ln •rm.yrt* :r^.: i ''ll ’’“'l I.of.vtt iflpuiita SlT’oiln f.ir«ho.W b.l'IJ. cd io lODg ago that thr, hnd forgotten all about It. There wero young buck* in rough >lc.ucb hot. end fringed Irouwr., ben with thin knick.rboekcd log. and adult foot, •nd ono tou utterly nlc. young man, with . paper collar, wulah and chain usd puiiibtd .hoc.. But hu did not mix vory readily with tbo common throng, and only eonwntnl to thaw out alter a protty brunette, with a red fealbor.in bar bat, mad. a plaeo br him brahta th. .team heater. Then h. carn ally remarked that all Ibwo my.Uri.1 ot leone, and die. and wing. wor. no now thing to him—not much; ho had boon on tho .laga bofore. All the othem were new hand, at tho buel- nr,,, and oaino ou the .toga with a abnmefaa. ed air and .boopleh in,|Uiry lor the nian“»hat wrote In the paper fur acton.” Knob now arrival waa eeverely oritlriwd by lha group already at tho boater, and when ho turnod to join them ho wa. graeted with “Hhoi yon aint gut do feet br acting," or "Dorn yon tl^iak you'ro Mary And.non?” A few minute. chaAliig and ho took hi* plaeo and In turn pitched Into th. new comon that ilraggleil iu. Mr. John P. Smith, who l« getting up rnlietlo plantation .roue, from da- ' ni of hi. own, put ..oh ono through a kind ciril wrvluo examination that w.ut aunt- thing like tlilai "Can you Mt?" "Yea, air,” very promptly. "Did you erer try?” "Nno,” doubtfully. "Then how do you know you can act)” "Well, anyhow, I can .Ing and dancai" and ho la put on trial. Mr, Smith, with a fur.lined ovorooat but toned down to hi. ankle., promenaded about Ilia elite getting hi. new recruit. Into ah.pa fur a kind of rehe.rial. Hi. plan 1. to pro- ■ent tb. pl»y of "Unel. Tom'. Cabin” In nn entirely new way and to have reel iceuea from fuulbarn life, Inataad of lha haeko.yeU thing, ueually prelented. Born and railed in the MUth lie hai made a ipeclal itudy of tha negro, and cluioii that hanlobro tha colored people have not been correctly roproeoatod on tha itage. Their* waa a jelly, curate*., happy-go-lucky lot and inti euch a picture h* I. enxiou. to put on lb* (tage, Evan tha hank cruelty of tho auction block i. toned down. The tret bu.ineu undertaken yeitorday ru drilling the reetleec mob in a kind of aiugiug. Everybody could .Ing something, and every body knew the eboruie. of th. tonga In tho • |o while th. me. young mau with th* li and chain beat time th. crowd .truck Th. Mug IU, "BwMt Ham Bona," and the company were inelinad to drag th* lut word*. Mr. Smith jumped In tbo brrerb with hi. little cane and ibowcdhow it ought to bt dune. "You muat chop it right on at met," h* mid, "and then kind oft.cktba’h.m bon.’oa at the and, (harp and quick. Now tr, her ■aid loan mid- that not a negro living could ling the long «nd keep hi. body .till. Sure enough, m the rhythmic cadenoe row the old fellow with tho overoout tted to gether with pie—■ of elothmlin. began .oltly to pat hi. bind., th. young girl, wiggled their •boulder., and th. young tellowa huppml up .*4 down on their bc.li, keeping tiau to the tr.uiie. Again Mr. Smith cum to the front with initrucllone, aad the company want over th* about until il ni pronounced all right. Then the good one* were lifted cut, given * nil ticket and told to com* again on Tknnday aad bring their rdtumci with them. "Cattoomee,” Inquired the odd fellow with Ik* collar lea* avarcuat and ragged .ho*., "wat coito©m«*? ,r “Th* vtry on* you bay* ou,” aaid Ur. Smith. "1 could work fur a jeer and *»l da vit*;., original and pictureiqa* dmign of a total wreck a. yon preient. Cam* Thnraday and bring yonr friemte." The red tickets wer* carefully tucked away, one lait embrace waited on tho itoam-pipoa and the hiitriunic crow drifted out of tha iug* intranc# ioto tho garith light of dey, molred Io a man Io b« promptly on hand at the next rehtarMl,

Georgia Historic Newspapers

The constitution. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1884-1885, February 24, 1885, Image 1