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VOL. I.
THIS QUEER OLD WORLD.
It Is queer bow things go by contraries here,
’Tis always toe cold or too hot,
And the prizes its miss, you know, always
To appear
be better than those that we’ve got;
It is always too wet, or too dusty and dry,
And the land is too rough or too fiat,
There’s nothing that’s perfect beneath the
blue sky,
—But—
It's a pretty good world for all that.
Some people are born but to dig in the soil,
And sweat for the bread that they eat.
While some never leara the hard meaning
of toil,
And live ou the things that are sweet :
A few are too rich and a lot are too poor*
Aud some are too lean or too fat—
Ah, the hardships are many that men must
endure,
—But—
It’s a pretty good world for all that.
The man wtio must think envies them that
must be •
a ig for men,
And the man •o would be happy
if he
Might play with the brush or the pen!
All things go by contrarios here upon earth,
Life is empty and sterile and flat;
Man begins to complain on the day of his
birth.
—But—
It’s a pretty good world for all that.
—(Cleveland Leader.
THE LAMBTON DIAMOND.
The famous Lambton diamond thre#
back the light from its many facets,
and strange, brilliant colors shot from
its depths. It was the finest stone I
had ever set in my life.
I was particularly pleased with my
design tor the setting. No other hand
had touched it, and I felt that the
frame,so to speak, was worthy of the
picture. . ,
The ring, now that it was finished,
was fit even to adorn the hand of Lady
Gwendolen Forrest, the beauty and
heiress of the season. But I did not
envy youugLord Lambton his fiancee;
in my own Nell I had a girl as good
and as pretty as any in the land.
I was about to take the z-iug to Mr.
Nugent when Nell herself ran in. She
was my employer’s daughter, and his
private house was upstairs over the
large showroom in Clifford street. It
was against all custom for Nell to
come down to my workshop, for her
father disapproved our engagement,
But today she had not been able to
resist the temptation of having a peep
at the Lambton diamond.
Just as she had slipped it on her
fmger,and was dancing about twisting
her hand, that the marvelous stone
might catch the light, the door opened
and Mr. Nugent entered. I prepared
to defend Nell from a harsh repri-
mand, but none came. Her father
appeared oddly preoccupied, merely
took the ring from her, examined it
earnestly, aud, snapping the lid of the
case down upon it, placed it in his
pocket and walked away.
Next day I was sitting at work,
when I saw a hansom drive up, and
Lord Lambton jump' out. He came
hastily into the room, which adjoined
the one where I wassittiDg and where
Mr. Nugent was.
“Scoundrel!” I heard him say, and
could scarcely believe my ears. “You
thought to fool me easily by a false
stone: but. I am as good a judge of
jewels as you are. You are a thief,
sir! What, have you done with the
diamond I intrusted to you?”
Mr. Nugent answered in a lower
voice. What lie said could not have
made any great impression upon Lord
Lambton, however, for he impatiently
interrupted, and at last an omin.ons
threat concerning the “police” reached
my ears.
I sat still. I understood very well
Lord Lambton" _ had deliberately
that
accused my employer of trying to
palm oft' upon him an imitation dia¬
mond, yet I kueAv that I had set the
true stone and delivered it to Mr.
Nugent ouly yesterday.
My employer himself was a skilled
workman, though not a go«d designer,
and iu the time that had elapsed be¬
tween my handing him the ring and
his transferring it to the owner he
could have removed the stone and re¬
placed it by another. But for such a
bold trick to succeed the imitation
must be magnificently made, and the
original diamond must have been care¬
fully measured.
I had never known that Mr. Nugent
kept any false gems about the place,
and besides Avas it likely that a man
in his position would care to run so
terrible a risk? Still, I could not help
remembering how haggard and irrita¬
ble lie-had been of late, and the keen
interest that he took in the racing in¬
telligence.
THE TRIBUNE
“Don’t Give Up tlio Ship."
BUCHANAN, GA„ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11. 1898.
As I thus speculated ou the ns-
tounding accusation, Mr. Nugent
himself opened the door of the work-
room. He looked keenly at me as if
wondering if it would he safe to trust
me.
“Did you hear anything of what
passed in the next room?” he ques¬
tioned.
I admitted that I had.
“Of course, I shall be triumphant-
ly acquitted,” he announced, clearing
ine throat huskily as he spoke. “Still,
Lord Lambton can make things dis-
agreeable. And look here, Wade, I
haven’t always been as friendly to you
as I might, but I can trust you. You’ll
be an important witness. Do what
you can for me, for the girl’s sake.”
The words sounded strange, but I
was given no time to answer, for at
that moment Lord Lambton returned
with two Scotland Yard men. My em-
ployer was given into custody and
taken to the police station to be
charged, the detectives remaining to
search the premises.
Mr. Nugent being a widower, with
only one child, the management of the
business practically devolved ou me,
and as the detectives ransacked the
place, they put many questions to me
as to where the stones were kept,
The safes were all pointed out to
them, but they seemed disappointed
with their operations.
Late in the evening they came to
me in the workroom, aud, holding out
the ring that I had made for Lord
Lambton, one of them said:
“This is your work, we understand.
Is that the stone you set?”
I glanced at it, but I only replied:
“I don’t call myself an expert in pre¬
cious stones, and all I can say is that
this one precisely resembles in size,
shape and appearance the one given
me to set.
While this statement was been practically
true, that one glance had enough
to show me that I was not looking at
the Lambton diamond.
The detectives left, saying that I
would have to tell all I knew in the
witness box, and then, just as I was
about to lock up the place for the
night, Nell came in. It Avas the first
time she had let me see her since her
father had been taken aAvay.
The face which I thought the SAveet-
est on earth was marble Avhite, and
there were dark shadows under the
lashes.
“There s something I must say to
you,” she panted, something Ive
been wild to. say all day, lest it should
Ee too laj;e, but I dared not let any-
one suspect. A month ago father
confided to me that he had lost a great
money and he showed me
Eow to open a secret drawer in his
Chippendale bureau. If e .'’ er an
thing happens to me, lie said, don t
l° se a moment, but look into this
drawer; throw away everything that
7 ou will find in the left-hand parti-
tion, ana keep what may bo in the
right. f 7t
II.
Together they ransacked the old
bureau, and at length Nell touched
the spring Avhich opened the secret
drawer. I dreAV in my breath sharply,
for the light of the caudle which I
held struck out a gleam from a pile of
exquisitely made false stones, which
lay in a partition ou the left hand,
Avhile on the right Avas the Lambton
diamond.
Involuntarily I Betrayed the dread¬
ful nature of the discovery "by an ex¬
clamation, for, left to herself, Nell
Avoutd not have understood. But she
Avas quick to comprehend, and realiz¬
ing the .worst SAvayed, staggering
backward.
“My poor father,” she moaned, as
I held her. “He is rniqed fore\-er—
and I, too. The 'daughter of a con¬
victed thief is no fit Avife for an honest
man.”
“My darling, you are a Avife for a
king, and as for your father, I swear
to you that I will save him yet.”
“You—you cannot.”
“I tell you that I can and will.”
For even as I spoke an idea had
flashed into my head which startled
me by its audacity. In a moment I
had thought ont every detail.
I made up the stones, Lambton dia¬
mond and all, into a pneket, carefully
closing the secret dr a Aver, and con¬
triving to get nAvay without being
seen, and went straight to my
brother’s house in Kent, managing to
avoid the service of a snbpoena. Thus
I Avas not present at the police court
proceedings, which Avould have meant
ruin for my plan.
Mr. Nugent was committed foe.trial,
aud meamvliile I stayed in the country
Avorking each night in a locked room,
Avith the tools I had brought with me,
until the gray dawn filtered tinder my
closed shutters.
When I saw my old employer in the
dock at the trial I was choked at the
change which had come over him.
The evidence at first went steadily
against him. Lord Lamb ton swore
that the stone in the ring was not his
diamond. One expert testified that
not only was the stone he now saw
not the Lambton diamond, but was
not a genuine jewel at all, but a mar¬
velous imitation. Another was not so
positive. He looked at the gem
through his glass, turning it this way
and that, declaring that in all his ex-
perience he had never seen a false
stone so cleverly executed as this,
Indeed, he was not prepared to swear
that it was false,
This was the first ray of doubt
which had been thrown by the evi-
deuce upon Mr. Nugent’s guilt; and
then I went into the box. I was very
oool now, for the game I had deter-
minded on had cost me many a qualm
of conscience. But I had no intention
of cheating Lord Lambton, swearing
falsely, or tarnishing my personal
honor.
The preliminary question of the pro¬
secutiug counsel brought out the fact
that I had designed the ring’s setting,
and done all the work upon it.
“What sort of stone was it your
employer gave you to set?” was the
next “An questidn. dia¬
extremely valuable white
mond,” “Do I replied.
you swear that you set the
genuine stone, and delivered the ring
when finished to the prisoner?”
“I do.”
“Do yon consider it possible that
that stone might have been tatfen out
and an imitation one substituted?”
“Certainly. But I could tell whether
the ring had been tampered with since
it left my hands. ”
“Take this, then, examine it, and a
hush fell upon the court. The kind
of lull which denotes that a vital point
in a case has been reached.
I put my hand in my waistcoat
pocket for my jeweler’s glass, and the
sharpest eye could not have seen that
I also drew forth a new ring, made- in
the secret hours of the night—an ex-
r.ct counterpart of the other, save
that it contained the real Lambton
diamond.
I pretended to examine the imita¬
tion Avith great care while all eyes
were fixed upon' me. At length I re¬
turned the glass to my pocket, and
with it the false stone. I could hear
my own heart beating, but, handing
the court usher the new ring, I said
firmly, in reply to the snappish
“Well?” of the prosecuting counsel:
“I swear unhesitatingly that the
setting of this ring his not been tam¬
pered with, aud that this is the
genuine diamond Avhich rvas given me
to set.”
A rustle -went round the court; the
doubting expert pricked up his ears,
the prosecuting counsel, with Lord
and the treasury solicitor,
were Avhisperitfg over the ring.
“M’lnd,” said the counsel, “I ask
permission to recall the expert.”
I stepped out of the box and the
expert stepped in. The neAv ring Avas
put into his hand, a friendly ray of
sunshine lighting up the jeAvel.
“This is very remarkable,” he said
at last. “It’s the first time I have
ever made a mistake. This stone is
genuine. I cannot doubt it.”
And so the prisoner Avas free; but
when the verdict of “Not guilty” Avas
pronounced a faint groan echoed it,
aud a dead man was taken from the
dock, A spasm of the heart had
proved fatal.
Six months later Nell and I were
married:* Ou our honeymoon avo were
walking in a lane near Ilfracombe,
when Ave came face to face with Lord
Lambton, uho Avas stopping Avith his
bride in a neighboring country house.’
“Ah, Mr. Wade!” he exclaimed, “I
haven’t seen you since that very mys¬
terious case of mine. Do you know
I have always since thought of you—
as—?a very—clever said man?” quietly. “Will
“Thank you,”I lord, present
you allow me, my to you
to my Avife —the only daughter of the
late Mr. Nugent.” hat,looked
Lord Lambton raised bis
keenly at pretty Nell, shook hands
with us both, and murmured:
“Ah, I understand!”
A Klondike Nugget.
A young man of Hamilton, Ont.,
who went mining to seek his fortune,
Avrote back to his father that he had
Avell, and added this P. S.: “I
Avill be at home Wednesday evening.
Meet me at dark, just out af toAvn, and
bring a blanket or a Avb’ole pair of
trousers with I have a hat.”
KANSAS M AN'S RO ~fAL KISS. *
Dave Leahy Say* (hat th« Kniprets of
Austria Touched HI* 1.1 pg.
Hon, Dave Leahy of Kansas was
once kissed by the Empress of Aus-
tria, who was assassinated at Geneva,
Mr. Leahy is 40 years old and the Em-
press Elizabeth was 61. Twenty-
eight years ago she was the most bril-
liaut aud beautiful woman in Europe
and the most accomplished aud dar-
ing horsewoman. At that time Leahy
was a handsome youth of 12 years,
his hair black and curly. The Em-
press did not dream there was such a
lad as young Dftve on the globe, but
lie was a hero’ worshipper and had
long admired her on her periodical
trips to Ireland, and had been thrilled
by hearing of her adventures in fol-
lowing the hounds over valley and
moor—the most venturesome rider in
the chase. ’
One dav young Dave was stretched
by the roadside ou his father’s farm in
Limerick county, Ireland, poring
over books, as was his custom, when
there was heard all at once a great
clattering of horses’ hoofs and the
baying of hounds. It was a fox hunt,
and the boy knew what that meant,
He tried hard to get out of the way,
but the party had rounded a sharp
curve and was upon; him before he
could reach a place of safety. In a
flash he caught sight of a woman,
wondrously beautiful, mounted on a
coal-black horse. Then he knew that
the horses’ hoofs had struck him, aud,
curiouslv enough, lie began to wonder
why the blow had not killed him.
Then he lost sight of things earthly.
The party halted, turned and came
back to where the lad was lying. The
lady, who was no less a personage
thau Elizabeth, Empress of Austria,
dismounted and helped to raise Leahy
from the ground. With her own deli-
cate lace handkerchief she wiped the
blood from his face aud coaxed him
back to consciousness. Then she
kissSd him and expressed profound
regret over the accident and hoped he
Avas not hurt badly. After being as-
sured that he. Avas not seriously
jured, the Empress pressed a piece of
money into his hand, mounted her
horse, and rode slowly away with the
party. All these years Lealiy has
kept the coin as a lucky talisman, and
one of the brightest of' his ch tithed
boyhood memories is that day n far-
off Ireland Avhen he was kissed by an
Empress.
Museum's Stable for XVheels.
This cycling age is making itself
felt in many unwonted directions.
The great London drapers aud the
houses Avhere Avorneu do most of their
afternoon shopping have long since
made provision for stabling cycles,
aud now the British Museum authori¬
ties are providing similar accommoda¬
tions for the machines ridden by the
readers who frequent the library and
the great reading room. It has been
evident to theBritish Museum officials
for some time past that accommoda¬
tion o£ this kind Avas needed, for dur¬
ing the last two years at any time of
fine weather, from ten to twenty bicy¬
cles may have been noticed at once,
left within the museum railings. This
Avasglone at OAvner’s risk, but Avhen
the neAv cycle stable under the portico
is fiuished this autumn, riders will be
able to leave their mounts there Avith
safety. As. many as six hundred peo¬
ple have been known to visit the rend¬
ing room in a day, and the average
number is five hundred and fifty. As
many as a hundred cycles have been
left in the museum grounds in a day.
—London News.
Harcourt’s Perfect Pun.
That famous country gentleman,the
late Sir. Rninald Knightley, Avho Avas
the living double of Dickens’ “Sir.
Leicester Dedlock,” had been expati¬
ating one da^ after dinner on the un¬
doubted glories of his famous pedi¬
gree. The company Avas growing a
little restive under the recitation when
Sir William Harcourt was heard to
say, iu an appreciative aside, “This
reminds me of Addison’s evening
hymn:
•‘Aud Knightley to tho listening earth
Repeats tho story of his birth.”
—London Mail.
Pitfall* of German Etiquette.
A German has been fined §25 for
addressing an official letter to the
“well-born Herr Hasenflug, Land
Counsellor,Strelno, Prussia,” whereas
he should have written to the “highly
Avell-born Land Counsellor Haseu-
flug.” The case has been carried be¬
fore two courts of appeal, and one of
them is still buoy.—Pall Mall Ga¬
zette.
NO. 50,
A PICTURE OF THE FILIPIND-
Treacherou*.XX'Mh a “Streak: or Yellow” In
Ill* Composition*
The Filipino,somewhere away back
iu< bis ancestry, has the drop of blood
which makes him cower ami shrink
when a bullet hita him. It is the dis-
play of what sporting men call the
“streak of yellow.
But so long as lie 7 is a winner, and
even for a longer time than in the
case with most dark races,after he has
begum to lose, the Filipino will fight
like a demon, and ho i» so immeaeur-
ably the superior of the Spaniard in
fighting ability,his “streak of yellww”
lies so much further below the surface
than the*don’s, that the odds are* in
his favor,, any way. That he has made
a good fight goes without saying. The
result of his justification,aacl although
I do not believe he •would ever have
achieved anything without the aid of
Dewey’s guns aud the more powerful
American dollar, writes the IJfanih*
correspondent of the New Orleans
Picayune, he lias in the past, and
would have iu the future had Spain’s
claim been put off, given the'
Castillians not a little trouble in the'
matter of the collection of. revenues.
The Filipino—he is just now most
enthusiastically in love with the
Americans.. Out in the country there
is nothing too good for the American,
I have lived with the native in his hut,
all( l 1 have hud the best the hut con-
tained put freely at my disposition,
tEe Eest to eat, the best split bamboo
floor, soft and springy, to sleep upon,
oven the best of bis weapons, the
pride of his heart, his loved machete,.
keen enough to shave with and heavy
enough to cleave a mau’s skull at a
blow, offeied to me ns a free gift,
Aod yet there has always been, in
my mind, a lurking distrust of my
host. There is something of a glint-
a suggestion of the soft browu eye,
recalling to mind those old stories of
dark men running amuck to kill and
kill and kill, until they have theni-
selves been shot in their tracks like
dogs* as they deserved,
I have recalled the fact that no wise
captain will ship a Manila man as one
of his crew, aud that native Filipino
have been taken, as childreu, into
Spanish families and tenderly reared
ou ^y>- the last, to put poison in the
food of the entire family,and to make
no excuse for the atrocious act other
than to say they had grown “hot iu
thft head.
Whether such people can ever be
trusted to govern themselves, as the
Filipinos clearly expect the Americans
, us ^ , fEem, is a question .. for , sta es-
men.
Thimbles for Pianist*.
Among the latest inventions are
thimbles for pianists and typists. The
of the fingers are nerve centres.
In fact, the most sensitive part of the
entire body is the end of the finger.
Consequently the finger nerves must
naturally receive many shocks in the
course of hours of playing upon the
piano. Musicians not infrequently
become nervous wrecks, and many
physicians assert that a typewriter
cannot retain vigor of nerve for longer
than five years. The new thimbles
are made of rubber and designed to
lessen the shock to the nerve centres.
They fit the ends of the fingers like
glove fingers. They are made in sets,
according to the size of the glove
worn, and can be ordered in that Avny.
They eome in sets, or singly. A
pneumatic ling cushion forms the end
of the thimble. In making a number
of carbon copies the amount of
strength is lessened by their use, and
it is said that the speed is also in¬
creased at least ten per cent. It is
certain that they save the ends of tho
fingers from becoming callous or
cracked, and save the nails from break¬
ing and- splitting.—Chicago Times
Herald.
'IStK'ieit at Midnight.
One of the most remarkable funer¬
als that has ever been reported
probably occurred at Brooksville,
Ky., the other Sunday night.
Mr. R. H. Ware, an undertaker of
that city, died Friday, and, in accord¬
ance with his Avishes, expressed in
the closing hours of his life, his re¬
mains Averfe interred at midnight Sun¬
day night. At the hour of 12 his
body Avas gently lowered into its last
resting place. “Nearer my God, to
Tliee,” Avas sung by Miss Staton, and
the impressive service closed with a
few remarks and a prayer by the
minister. When making the strange
TequestMr. Ware gave as a reason ,
that he had seen so much insincerity
and vain display at funerals that he
wanted his to be as quiet as possible.
w-Mayville (Ky.) Bulletin.