Dade County news. (Trenton, Ga.) 1888-1889, July 27, 1888, Image 7

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LILLIE IDLES; on, ABDUCTED BI THE BUSH WISIEI. A Story oi the War in ' the Southwest. BY ARVtDE 0. BALDWIN. CHAPTER IX. a. SAD EETUKN. A slight wound was across his breast Where he had come in contact with thet wire, but as it had given way under tho great strain of the two anim ds his injuries ' were slight. The tension of the wire when it parted threw the ends beyond the road. As he cast his eyes in the direction of the rascals who had got him into this terrible plight, he saw that they had stopped and were now return ing. He got his gun and crawled behind the dead horse. The carcass offered him pro tection and a rest for his gun. Brushing the dust from his eyes and face bo that his s : ght would be clear, he awaited the return of the marauders. They came Slowly a.ong, appearing to enjoy the dis comfiture of those who, they supposed. Were now at their mercy. When they arrived sufficiently near for our hero to make sure of his shot being effective, he ran the barrel of his gun out. raised his head, and his eye glanced along the barrel. In an instant more he pulled the trigger, and a bullet sped on its way to the foremost man s brea-t! He staggered in his seat and appeared dazed. Then he suddenly turned his horse’s head down the road and started off'. He was reeling like a drunken man, and it was easily seen that he was done for. After going a short distance he failed to recover, and over he tumbled. One foot hung in the stirrup as he fell, and the frightened animal continued on a run, dangling the lifeless body as he went. His companion quickly raised his gun, and a bullet struck the carcass near our hero. He then turned about to make his retreat, but before he got under full headway another phot from John’s unerring rifle rolled him to the ground a corpse. John secured his horse after he became positive that his last antagonist was beyond doing further harm, and leading him to where his comrade lay, limp and lifeless, he placed the body on the horse and slowly and sorrowfully wended his way home ward. John believed the two bushwhackers were dead, but that would not compensate him for the loss of hie friend, if that young man was verily dead. He war placed in a trying position. How could he break the news to the stricken family when he returned home with the lifeless clay? He knew that it would bo almost death to at least two of the women when they saw the body of the son and lover. He could not bear the thought of his b.eing the means of darkening the lives of those he loved so dearly. As he approached a dripping spring that fell from an overhaging rock by the road side he stopped and began to think. •‘lt may be possible he is not dead,” he thought, “aud if he is not, this water may revive him. At any rate, I’ll try.” And he gently took the body, aud carrying it close bv the dripping water deposited it on the leaves. He then wet his handkerchief and bathed the face and brow of his injured friend. He called to him and implored him to tell him he was not dead, but no reply came. Sick at heart, but not completely discour aged, he worked on, and when about ready to give up in despair he noticed the con traction of a muscle. “That must mean life!” he exclaimed, pnd redoubled his efforts. In a few piomt'Uts more the eyelids and mouth jnuscles began twitching, and John was overjoyed, for he knew then that his friend was not dead. The eyes were beginning to slowly open, and John was soon again looking into them with undisguised happiness. “Where am I, John?” were his first words. “Not far from home. How are you feel ing, Henry?” “Why, lam all right!” He tried to raise himself; but a groan escaped him and he sank back. “Not so fast, Henry. I’ll have to help you. You are hurt.” “How did it happen?” He asked. “1 will tell you after a little. Keep quiet now. ” The sound of a horse’s footsteps could be distinctly heard coming up the road. John seized his gun, and was prepared for the worst. He raised himself so that his head was above the bank, and not a hundred yards away saw a solitary horse man riding one and leading another ani mal. As quick as a flash John’s gun was raised, but it only remained there for a second, for he recognized in the person ap proaching the anxiously sought for Jeff. H e long rifle was on his shoulder, and he appealed as if the world was a pleasant one to him. “Halloo, Jeff!” Tlie muzzle of the old gun was immedi ately brought over for use. "Down with your gun, Jeff! None of that!* John commanded. Jeff looked undecided. “It is I, Jeff! John Eddies.” The arm dropped. A look of sheepish ness and gladness came into the negro’s face at this announcement, and he quickly dismounted. It was no time nor place for explanation, and no questions were asked. With Jeff's assistance John had but little difficulty in getting Henry into a saddle. The two men rode by his side supporting the limp, weak form. It was with far differ ent feelings that John rode along on his return to the mansion from those that he had when he left it so full of life and with his friend by his side, in the early morn ing. When they arrived at the mansion gate they found the household in an uproar. The negroes came running to them weeping and wringing their hands. Then the mother ■tottered to the porch quaking with anguish and unable to speak. Henry was tenderly taken in and placed on a couch, and soon was comparatively comfortable. John paid but little attention to the tu multuous crowd, for he supposed their wailings were caused from seeing young in such a terrible plight, and tried to quiet them by telling them that no limbs were brokan, and, unless he was injured internally he would soon be up again. “Lillie! Lillie!” was the cry, and he now, for the first time, noticed her absence. “Whither had she gone?” He looked inquiringly from one fo the other, but no answer to his appealing look wasjnade, •‘‘There is she—Lillie whore is she?’’ lie fiercely dem a ,ded. “Goao, gone. The robbers have come uid stole i er away,” was the answer. This new caa.uity Manned h m, aud ha sank into a chair with the weakness of a child. Calamity upon calamity came upon them now. but this one was the worst of all. When John began to reason he knew that it must be the work of that arch-villain, Wcodsley, for, now that the opportunity had come when his baser nature was unre strained by law, he soon developed the natural beut of that nature, and villainy predominated. John could hardly be restrained from starting immediately on the hunt for he stolen girl, but the old mother, with teats, pieaded with him not to be rash, but to wait until his judgment overcame his augei aud desire for revenge before ho should try to recover the stolen child. “O, John! If anything should happen and I should lose you both, I could not stand the blow. This is nearly killing me, and I surely cannot live if anything serious happens you. ” Henry arose at learning the sail news, and unless he had been held back would Lave tried to leave the bed and house in quest of her he loved. The afflictions came so often, and were so severe, that the old people feared they would go mad. It seemed that all the troubles of this wicked war were heaped upon the inuoceut. They were to bear the burdens and carry the grief. Gladly would those poor old mothers have parted with life rather than cariy their sorrows, that seemed too great to bear, but their love for their children, who were con tinually menaced by danger, was such that life was sufferable for their sake. When John was away from Henry's bed side he was restlessly pacing the floor. They were all pleased and greatly relieved when evening came to find Henry was much improved. He sat up and his appe tite was unimpaired. He fretted aud chafed to think that he was powerless to ilo any thing to help the unfortunata'girl who was now in the hands of the bushwhackers. It was observed that John was making preparations for a trip. He got arms ready and sufficient food for a long tramp. Jeff took a seat by ihe oid firplace and began to mold bullets. When he had finished his task he repaired to the kitchen and again presented the familiar “poke" for tilling. Syiva was not there to select for him the food she knew he liked best, but he Knew the reason, and so, when Nancy filled the sack, he appeared satisfied and thanked her. [TO BE CONTINUED.] Getting Justice. Lee Meriwether relates a very amus ing and yet annoying experience which he had in Switzerland in attempting to obtain justice. He says that, while he was taking a stroll early one morning, he stopped at one of the numerous small inns and ordered a glass of milk. “Cold, sweet milk,’’ he said twice to the waiter, as otherwise they bring, as a matter of course, either hot or sour milk—two favorite ways of taking milk among the Germans. To his surprise the waiter brought a pitcher of boiling hot milk. He continues the story as follows: I repeated my order for a glass of cold milk. The waiter said he had none. I arose to go. “What!” he exclaimed. “You will not pay?” and without waiting for a re ply lie snatched my hat from my head, and gave it to the proprietor, who at that moment entei'ed. I looked at them with a sort of ad miration. Never had I seen such pure assurance; never men with so free and easy a method of collecting payment for goods neither ordered nor used. Gazing some moments at the good natured host and his waiter, I took down his name and number, and repaired, bareheaded, to the police station. There I related my story. The officers consult ed, and finally decided the matter was not within their jurisdiction. “Go,” they said, “to the Friedens richter” (peace justice). The Friedensrichter was a grave, bald headed man. As I was about to state my case, the learned man raised his hand and bade me stop. “Do you not know,” he asked “that fee must first be paid ?” “But, sir, I have a charge of assault to make. Must I pay lor notifying an offioer of a breach of the peace?” “You must. The fee is two ana a half francs.” This was paid. I wanted light on the subject, and requested the address of a lawyer. The Friedensrichter gave me one. Half an hour later I knocked at the door of the man of law, only to learn that he was way serving his annual three weeks in the army. The maid, however, told me of another lawyer, and he, upon payment of a fee for legal services, told me the law was upon the milkman’s side, but that I could go to the “Gerichtpra sident” if I desired further informa tion. I went to the Gerichtprasident. He, too, said the law was with tbe hot-milk man. Then I went to the rascally land lord. “I pay you.” I said, handing him the money aud taking my hat, “I pay you, not for the milk I did not order and did not drink, but for information you have been the means of my acquiring.” “What information?” “That a strauger may be assau tod here without redress. ” The churl laughed scornfully; but I got even with him. My first act on reach ing Germany territory’ was to send the polite Swiss landlord a large package by express; the charges, about one dol lar and fifty cents, I did not prepay. There was nothing in the package ex cepting a lot of sawdust, and a sheet of paper with this single line ; “Zum Andenkeu an den Mann dessen Hut Sie gestohlen haben” (Souvenir of the man whose hat you stole). At Her Tongue’s End. lie—“Of course, you are interested in politics?” , Mie —“Intensely.” He —“Which side is going to win?” She —“Well, judging from what 1 heard papa say last night, Mr. Delegate has got a run on his ahead ticket, and Mr. Convention, of Illinois, if he can carry the Chairman of the gavel-box by a constituent, will ” He—“.lust Latch Gordon play ten nis I” Tiiies. The so-called civilized world spent years in trying to break into China. Now it is makiug strenuous efforts to keep the Chinese from breaking out. REV. DIi.JTAL.il AGE. THE BROOKLYN DIVINE’S SUN DAY SERMON. Subject: “In Good Humor With Onr Circumstances.” Text:—“Be content with such things as \je have." —Hebrewsxiii, 5. If I should ask some one: “Where is Brook lyn to-day:” he Would say, “At Brighton Beach, or East Hampton, or Shelter Island.” “Where is New York to-day?’’ “At Long Branch.” “Where Philadelphia?’ “At Cape May.” “Where is Boston?” “At Martha’s V ineyard.” “Where is Virginia?” “At the Sulphur Springs,” “Where the great multi tude from all parts of the land?” “At Sara toga,” tiie modern Bethesda, where the angel of health is ever stirring the waters. But, my friends, the largest multitude are at home, detained by business or circumstances. Among them all newspaper men, the hardest worked aud the least compensated; city rail road employes, and ferry masters, and the police, and the tens of thousands of oderks and merchants waiting for their turn of ab sence, and households with an invalid who cannot be moved, and others hindered by stringent oircumstances, and the great mul- * titude of well to do people who stay at home because they like home better than any other place, refusing to go away simply because it is the fashion to go. When the express wagon, with its mountain of trunks directed to the Catskills or Niagara, goes through the streets, we stand at our window envious and impatient, and wonder why we cannot go as well as others. Fools that we are, as though j one could not be as happy at home as any -1 where else. Onr grandfathers and grand mothers had as good a time as we have, long ; before the first spring was bored at Sara ; toga, or the first deer shot in the Adiron [ daeks. They made their wedding tour to j the next farmhouse, or, living in New York, : the celebrated they event by an extra walk on ! the Battery. Now, the genuine American is not happy until he is going somewhere, and the passion is so great that there are Christian people with their families detained in the city who come not to the house of God, trying to give people the idea that they are out of town; leaving the door plate unscoured for the same reason, and for two months keeping the front shutters closed while they sit iu the back part of the house, the thermometer at ninety! My friends, if it is better for us to go, let us go and be happy. If it he best for us to stay at home, let us stay at home and be happy. There is a great deal of good com mon sense in Paul’s advice to the Hebrews: “Be content with such things as ye have.” To be content is to be iu good humor with our circumstances, not picking a quarrel with our obscurity, or our poverty, or our ! social position. There are four or five grand i reasons why we should be content with such things as we have. : The first reason that I mention as leading to this spirit devised in the text, is the con sideration that the poorest of us have all that | is indispensable m life. Vl e make a great : ado about our hardships, but how little we ! talk of our blessings. Health and body, j which is given in largest quantity to those i who have never been petted,and fondled,and ! spoiled by fortune, we take as a matter of ! course. Rather have this luxury, and have it alone, than, without it, look out of a i palace window upon parks of deerstalking j between fountains and statuary. These peo ple sleep sounder on a straw mattress than fashionable invalids on a couch of ivory and eagles’ down. The dinner of herbs tßStes better to the appetite sharp ened on a woodman’s ax or a reaper’s scythe than wealthy indigestion experiences seated ! at a table covered with partridge, and veni ! son, and pineapple. The grandest luxury ; God ever gave a man is healta. He who ; trades that off for all the palaces of the earth i is infinitely cheated. We look back at the | glory of the last Napoleon, but who would | have taken his Versailles and his Tuileries if with them we had been obliged to take his gout? “Oh,” says some one, “it isn’t the grosser pleasure) 1 covet, but it is the gratifi cation oi an artistic and intellectual taste.” Why, my brother, you have the original from which these pictures are copied. What is a sunset on a wall compared with a sunset hung in loops of fire on the heavens? ; A\ hat is a cascade silent on a canvas com- I pared with a cascade that makes the moun ! tain tremble, its spray ascending like the ! departed spirit of the water slain on the rocks? Oh, there is a great deal of hollow affectation about a fondness for pictures on ; the part of those who never appreciate the i original from which the pictures are taken. I As though a parent should have no regard for his child, but go into ecstasies over its photograph. Bless the Lord to-day, oh, man! oh, woman! that though you may be shut out from the works of a Church, a Biers tad t, a Rubens and a Raphael, you still have free access to a gallery grander than the Louvre or the Luxemburg or the Vatican—the royal gallery of the noonday heavens, the King’s gallery of the midnight sky. Another consideration leading us to a spirit of contentment is the fact that our hap piness is not dependent upon outward cir cumstances. You see people happy and mis erable amid all circumstances. In a family where the last loaf is on the table, and the last stick of wood on the fire, you sometimes find a cheerful confidence in God, while in a very fine place you will see and hear discord sounding her war whoop, and liospitaliy. freezing to death in the cheerless parlor I stopped one day on Broadway at the head of Wall street, at the foot of Trinity church, tc see who seemed the happiest people passing. I judged from their looks the' happiest peo pie were pot those who went down into Wat street, for they had on their brow the anxie ty of the dollar they expected to make; noi the people who came out of Wall street, id they they had on their brow the anxiety of the dollar they had lost; nor the people who swept by in splendid equipage, for they j met a carriage that was finer than theirs. I The happiest person in all that crowd, judg ing from the countenance, was the woman i who sat at the apple stand knitting. I be lieve real happiness oftener looks out of the ; window of an humble home than through the opera glass of the gilded box of a theatre. I find Nero growling on the throne. 1 find | Paul singing in a dungeon. I find King Ahab i going to bed at noon through melancholy, j while near by is Naboth contented in the pos session of a vineyard. Hainan, Prime Minis . tor of Persia, frets himself almost to death ■ because a poor Jew will not tip his hat; and Ahithophel, one of the greatest lawyers of | Bible times, through fear of dying, hangs h mself. The wealthiest man, forty years ago, in New York, when congratulated over bis large estate, replied: “Ah! you don't know how much trouble I have in taking ; care of it.” Byron declared in his last I horn’s that he had never seen more than twelve happy days in all his life, Ido not believe he had seen twelve minutes of thorough sat isfaction. Napoleon I. said: “I turn with disgust from the cowardice and selfishness of men; I hold life a horror; death is repose. AVhat I have suffered the last twenty days is beyond human comprehension.” While, on the other hand, to show how one may be happy amid the most disadvantageous cir cumstances, just after the Ocean Monarch had been wrecked in the English channel, a ' steamer was cruising along in the darkness, j when the captain heard a song, a sweet song, coming over the water, and he bore down toward that voice, and found it was a Chris tian women on a plank of the wrecked steamer, singing to the tune of “St. Mar tin's:” Jesus, lover of my soul, bet rae to Thy bosom fly, While the billows near me roil. While the tempest still is high. The heart right toward God and man, we are happy. The heart wrong toward God and man, we are unhappy. Another reason why ve should come to this spirit inculcated iu the text is the fact that all the differences of earthly condition are transitory. The houses you build, the land you culture, the places in which you barter, are soon to go into other hands. However hard you may have it now, if you are a Christian the scene will soon end. Pain, trial, persecution never knock at the door of the grave. A coffin made out of pine boards is just as good a resting place as one made out of silver mounted mahogany or rosewood. Go down among the resting p aces of the dead, and you will find that though people there had a greater difference of worldly circumstances, now they are all alike unconscious The hand that greeted the Senator, and the President, and the King is still as the hand that hardened on the mechanic’s hammer or the manufacturer’s wheel. It does not make any difference now whether there is a plain stone above them from which the traveler pulls aside the weeds to read the name, or a tall shall springing into the heavens as though to tell their vir tues to the skies. In that silent land there are no titles for great men, and there are no rumblings of chariot wheels, and there is never heard the foot of the dance. The Egyptian guano which is thrown on the fields in the east for the enrichment of the soil is the dust raked out from the sepulchers of Icings and lords and mighty men. Oh the chagrin of those men if they had ever known that in the after ages of the world they would have been called Egyptian gu uio. Of how much worth now is the crown of Ca-sar! Who bids for it? Who cares now anything about the Amphictyonic council or the laws of Lycurgus? Who trembles now because Xerxes crossed the Hellespont on a bridge of boats? Who fears because Nebu chadnezzar thunders at the gates of Jerusa lem? Who cares now whether or not Cleopatra marries Antony? Who crouches before Fer dinand, or Boniface, or Alaric? Can Crom well dissolve the English parliament now? Is William, Prince of Orange, King of the Netherlands? No, no! However much Elizabeth may love the Russian crown, she must pass it to Peter, and Peter to Catherine, and Catherine to Paul, and Paul to Alex ander. and Alexander to Nicholas. Leopold puts the German scepter into the hand of Joseph, and Philip comes down off the Span ish throne to let Ferdinand go on. House of Aragon, house of Hapsburg, house of Stuart, house of Bourbon, quarreling about everything el~,e, but agreeing in this: “The fashion of this world passeth away.” But have all these dignita ries gone? Can they not be called back? I have been in assemblages where 1 have heard the roll called, and many distinguished men have answerer!. If I should cal! the roll to day of some of those mighty ones who have gone I wonder if they would not answer. I will call the roll. I will call the roll of the ( Kings first: Alfred the Great? William the Conqueror! Frederick II! Louis XVI! No answer. I wifi call the role of the poets: Robert Southey! Thomas Campbell! John Keats! George Crabbe! Robert Burns! No answer. I call the roll of artists: Michael Angelo! Paul Veronese! William Turner! Christopher Wren! No answer. Eyes closed. Ears deaf. Lips silent. Hands pal sied. Scepter, pencil, pen, sword, put down forever. Why should we struggle for such baubles? Another reason why we should culture this spirit of cheerfulness is the fact that God knows what is best for His creatures. You know what is best for your child. He thinks you are not as liberal with him as you ought to be. He cfiticis »s your discipline, but you look over the whole field, and you, loving that child, do what in your deliberate judg ment is best for him. Now, God is the best of fathers Sometimes his children think that he is hard on them, and that be is not as liberal with them as he might be. But chil dren do not know as much as a father. I can tell you why you are not largely affluent, and whv vou liave not been grandly success ful. It is because you cannot stand the temp tation. If your path had been smooth, you would have depended upon your own surefootedness; but God roughened that path, so you have to take hold of his hand. If the weather had been mild, you would have loitered along the water courses, but at the first howl of the storm you quickened your pace heavenward aud wrapped around you the wgrm robe of a Soviour’s righteousness. “What have I done?” says the whoatsheaf to the farmer; “what have I done that you beat me so hard with your flail?” The farmer makes no answer, but the rake takes off the straw, and the mill blows the chaff to the wind, and the golden grain falls down at the foot of windmill. After a while, tho straw looking down from the mow upon the golden grain banked up on either side the floor under stands why the farmer beat the wheatsheaf with the flail. Who are those before the throne? The swer came: are they who, out wP great tribulatDff, had their robes washed and made white in the blood ot the lamb.” Would God that we could understand that our trials are the very best thing for uS. If we had an appreciation of that truth, then we should know why it was that John Noyra, the martyr, in the very midst of the flame, reached down and picked up one of the fagots that was consuming him, and kissed it, and said: “Blessed be God for the time when 1 was born for this preferment.” They who suffer with Him on earth shall be glorified with Him in heaven. Be content, I then, with such things as you have. Another consideration leading us to the spirit of the text is the assurance that the j Lord will provide somehow. Will he who . holds the water in the hollow of his hand a low his children to die of thirst? Will he | who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and all the earth's luxuriance of grain and fruit, allow his children to starve? Go out to ! morrow morning at 5 o’clock in the woods j and hear the birds chant. They have had no breakfast, they know not where they will dine, they have no idea where they will sup; but hear the birds chant at 5 o’clock in the | morning. “Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor father into barns, yet your heavenly 'ather feedeth them. Are you not much better than they?” Seven thousand people, in Christ's time, went into the desert. They were the most improvident people I ever heard of. They deserved to starve. They might have taken food enough to last them until they got back. Nothing did they take. A lad, who had more wit than all of them put together, asked his mother that morning j for some loaves of bread and some fishes. They were put into his sa hel. He went out into the desert. From this provision the seven thousand were fed, and the more they ate thp larger the loaves grew until the pro vision that the boy brought in one sachel was multiplied so he could not have carried the fragments home iu six saehels. “O,” you say, “times have changed,and the day of miracles has gone.” 1 reply that, what God did then by miracle, He does now in some other way, and hy natural laws. “I have been young,” said David, “but now lam old; yet have I never seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread.” It is high time that you people who are fretting about worldly circumstances, and who are fearing you are coming to want, understood that the oath or the eternal God is involved in the fa,ct that you are to have enough to eat and to wear. Again: I remark that the religion of Jesus Christ is the grandest influence to make a man contented. Indemnity against all finan cial and spiritual harm! It calms the spirit, dwindles the earth into insignificance, and swallows up the soul with the thought of heaven. O ye who have been going about from place to place expecting to find in change of circum-dances something to give solace to the spirit, I commend you, this morning, to the warm-hearted,earnest, prac tical, common sense religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. “There is no peace, saith my God, for the wicked, ” and as long as you con tinue in your sin you will be miserable. Come to Christ. Make Him your portion, and start for leaven,and you wi'l be a happy man—you will be a happy woman. Yet, my friends, notwithstanding all th«B j inducements to a spirit of contentment, I have to tell you this morning the human race is divided into two classes—those who scold and those who get scolded. The car penter wants to be anything but a carpenter, and the mason anything but a mason, ana the banker anything but a banker, and the lawyer anything but a lawyer, and the min ister anything but a minister, and everybody would be happy if he were only somebody else. The anemone wants to be a sunflower, and the apple orchards throw down their blossoms because they are not tall cedars, and the scow wants to be a schooner, and the sloop would like to be a seventy-four pounder, and parents have the worst children that ever were, and everbody has the greatest mis fortune, and everything is upside down, or going to be. Ah! my friends, you nevei make any advance through such a spirit as that. You cannot fret yourself up; you may fret yourself down. Amid all this grat ing of tones I strike this string of the GosyOl harp: “Godliness with contentment is great gain. W r e brought nothing into the world and it is very certain we can carry nothing out; having food and raiment, let us there with be content.” . , Let us all remember, if wa are Christians, that we are going after a while, whatever be our circumstances now, to have a glorious vacation. As in summer we put off our gar ments and go down into the cool sea to bathe, so we will put off these garments of flesh, and step into the cool Jordan. W T e will look around for some place to lay down our weariness; and the trees will say: “Come and rest under our shadow;” and the earth will say; ■“Come and sleep in my bosom;” and the winds will say: “Hush! while I sing thee a cradle hymn;” and while six strong men carry us out to our last resting place, and ashes come to ashes and dust to dust, we will see two scarred feet standing amid the Droken soil, and a lacerated brow bending over the open grave, while a voice, tender with all affection and mighty with all omnipotence, will declare: “I am the resur rection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Comfort one another with these words. A THLRLOW WEED STORY. How lie got Around the Famous “Nephew of his Uncle.” It will be remembered that early iu the war Mr. Weed was despatched to Europe on a special diplomatic mission connected with the capture of Slidell and Mason, the fitting out in foreign waters of rebel cruisers, the blockade of South ern ports, &o. His first objective point was the French Court, and he landed at Havre. He remained in Paris some time in con sultation with our Minister and others. Then he crossed the channel, and while in London was the special guest of the great American banking firm of Pea body, Morgan & Co. One morning, while sitting in the private office of the firm, Mr. Morgan showed him a copy of what purported to be a circular letter, which was ob tained by Mr. Morgan at the Foreign Office. This letter which had been sur reptitiously sent from Paris, foreshadow ed the position which Louis Napoleon was to assume in his message to the Chamber upon Amorican affairs. Mr. Weed quietly pocketed the copy, packed his bag aud immediately left for Paris. Ho was well acquainted with one of the prominent bankers in Paris, whom he had known while the latter was a merchant in New York. The banker was a favorite at court, and on his arrival Mr. Weed proceeded to the banker’s chambers. He showed him the copy, which included this passage in the forthcoming message:—“The filling up of the harbor of Charleston, B. C., is an unparalleled instance of civiliz ed barbarity, and it is time tlie Europe an Powers sLould interfere/’ Ac., Ac. The banker read it carefully then paused. All at once he exclaimed.—“l have it! You know that tlie Emperor prides himself upon following directly in the steps of his illustrious uncle. Now in the great Napoleon’s reign pre cisely tlie same thing occcurred by order of the Emperor.” “But have you proof of this ?” asked Weed. “Here it is,” replied the banker, as he took down a book and opening to the page where the order was given by Napoleon to fill up the harbor of Cher bourg in order to prevent the approach of an English fleet. “Now,” continued the banker, “I will arrange for a meeting between you and the Emperor to-morrow at ten o’clock. You take this book with you and keep your finger on the page, but look out for Mornv.” _ -f—- — “M ill you not aocompany me?” asked Weed. “No, that would destroy the effect.” The next morning Mr. Weed present ed himself before the Emperor, who was surrounded with officials, whom he dis- I missed, saying; “I have special business i with a foreign Minister.” All retired but Morny. Louis Napoleon could talk English as well as French, and Weed at once plung ed into the matter by showing the Em -1 peror the copy he had brought with him I from London. Turning to Morny, the , Emperor said, “Wo have been betray ed.” It proved so, as an under secre tary had been paid the sum of 10,000 f. to furnish a copy to the English. Napoleon then proceeded to justify his proposed measure by saying that sinking stone barges in the harbor of Charleston, thus shutting out the port from the commerce of the world, was unprecedented in the history of civiliza tion. “No, Sire,” remarked Mr Weed. “Your illustrious uncle did the same thing.” s “When and where?” demanded Napo leon. Weed then opened the book and point ed out the paragraph. The Emperor was silenced. Weed saw his advantage and pursued it. “Sire, ” he said,“there are four cruisers fitting out in French waters to carry the rebel flag.” “Napoleon paused for a few moments; then, turning to Mr. Weed he remark ed: “Not one of them shall leave a French port.” Mr. Weed retired from the presence of his majesty, well satisfied with the result of his visit, and returned immedi ately to London. The obnoxious clause in the Emperor’s speech was stricken out and the would be rebel cruisers never left a French port. —Bouton Traced ler. Life In New York. Hired Guide—We must cross tho street here. Stranger—What for? “A square further up the wagons are so thick we can’t get across without losing a leg.” “Well, we are over now. What are you waiting for?” “I’m watching for a chance to walk in the gutter. This building is a tene ment house, and tenement house walls fall every’ once in a while.” “Whew! We got safely by that build ing. See here, what are you starting in that direction for?” “We must walk around this block; the Rtreet here is underlaid with steam heating pipes aud they are always ex ploding.” “Stop a moment; I’m tired out.” “Great Scott! Don't lean against that telegraph pole. Its got electric-light wires on it. You must have been brought up in the woods.”— Omaha World. TREED BY ALLIGATORS, A THRILLING HUNTING EXPERI ENCE IN THE EVERGLADES. A Carnplnar Party Seeks Safety in In the Tree tops—A Battle Amonf the Saurians. A party of hunters from St. Augus tine, Fla., recently had an experience at Cypress Lake which would never hav® been known had the colored boy who accompanied them been as reticent about the matter as the hunters them selves. The following is the story which the youth told a correspondent of the Chattanooga Times: The jfiirty had just stolen several young ’gators from a nest, and were on their way back to their campon the shore of the lake. As they hurried on they heard the loud grunts and roars of the saurians on each side of the island, but they were entirely unprepared for the sight that burst on their vision as they reached the shore. The beach shelved gently down to the water’s edge, and for several rods from land the water was shallow. Standing upon its fore paws beside its plundered nest was an immense female alligator, puffing and blowing, while right around and advancing in front of the water were over a score of others, all roaring and open ing and snapping their capacious jaws with an ominous sound, the strong smell emitted filling the air for yards around. As soon as the btutes saw the butchers approach in the dim light they advanced on them with every indication of the ut most anger and rage, seeming devoid ot fear. The boys fir d several shots, se verely wounding one or two, but tho sound and flash seemed only to arous® still further,the wrath of the reptiles, and the hunters fled back to the tent. The rest of the party, who had be m pre paring supper, etc., heard the uproar and came out, followed by Charley, the colored boy, who confessed that lie felt rather shaky, as he had never himself seen alligators so thoroughly enraged be fore. The re-enforcements came up, but on seeing the scores of ’gators crawling do they decided to retire. On going back to the tent they found it nearly surrounded by ’gators, who had crawled" up from the opposite side, aad the outlook was rather bad for the nerv ous persons. The deer that they had hung before the fire soon fell into the coals, and the smell of burning meat permeated the air and seemed to make the saurians still more savage. Soon the party saw a circle of fiery eyes ranged nearly around their tent, and the situa tion was indeed growing desperate. “This won’t do, boys,” called out Charley K., who aspired to be the leader, “we must make a break for it or those imps will make pie meat of Ho. at once and then go for those stubs over there,” said he, pointing to some half dozen dead lightwood trees and cypres® knees that rose up some ten. feet or so near by. The next moment the rifles rang out a volley, and the boys rushed forward through the lane their shots and sud len onslaught had made, and in less time than it takes to write it they were “shinning” up the trees of refuge. > Charley, the colored boy, got left in the' sudd.ee rysh and came near meeting his death, for as he sprang over a big ’gator it rose suddenly on its fore feet, tripping him up and throwing l\im directly in, front of an old saurian, who opened his' jaws wide at the tempting morsel so 'op portunely thrown in his way. But Charley was game, and diving under the one which had caused his fall, he leaped on the backs of the closely-packed rep tiles, and on reaching the shore jumped into tha ’ - Ao imriptus of his rush carrying it from shorg. As soon as the alligators from tlpj rush made against them they piuilged furiously forward, and in a few minutes the meat hanging on the spits and iu front of the tent was torn into hundreds cf pieces, the fierce animals fighting one another for the choice bits like so many hungry dogs. Their huge forms floundered around, and iu a second the tent was leveled and the space was occupied by a moving mass of the hide ous brutes, moving around in the semi darkness, blowing, puffing and roaring, the strpng, musky odor nearly stifling the hunters on their narrow and uncomfort able perches. If ever hunters were fair ly “treed” they were. They were all sitting astride of old dead limbs, on tbe 1 stubs, all in the compass of a few yards. Two of them had their rifles, but only a few rounds of cartridges. There they sat, and when the first fright had worn off they shouted out to each other to see if all were safe. After repeatedly call ing “Charley,” “Charley,” a faint hello was heard from off the water, and “Heah I am” came to their ears. They could do nothing, however, so sat still and endured the long hours as best they knew how. Meanwhile the scaly reptiles moved over the island in oountless numbers, jostling against one anotlier, and hissing at times like so many gigantic geese. Tho tent was leveled, the canvas was torn and trampled, the dishes, crockery, etc., broken, and pandemonium generally raised. About 2 o’clock in the morning, as the tired hunters were nearly falling down from sheer fatigue, a horrible din under neath startled them into a full sense of their still great danger. A fight began in the center of the mass between two huge specimens, and soon others joined in, till they thought from the horrible gnashing of teeth and the dull thumps of the flail like tails of the’gators that fully a half hundred were engaged in the deadly melee. Snarls, roars of pain and loud bellowing* filled the air, and the rushes of the immense bodies were dimly discernible, the whole forming a indescribable, terrible and sickening. As soon as the light of day appeared the reptiles retired and the hunters de scended from their wearisome roosts. And such a sight as greeted their eyes they say cannot be well described. Their camp had disappeared, everything being trampled into the ground or tom to pieces, while the scene of the combat looked as if a plowing contest had taken place there. Light alligators were left dead on the spot, while pieces of tails, paws and other signs of the conflict wera scattered about by scores. Charley was seen at a distance of half a mile from shore, and it was some time before he j could be induced to laud. The huntetj suffered te’-’dbly from mosquitoes, and , their face. 1 - presented a woful appear ance. Hastily securing all possible of their camp equipage, they left the scene of their peculiar adventure and pulled lustily for home. .