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VOL. IX.
THE MOCKINGBIRD.
List to that bird! His song—what poet
pons it?
Brigand of birds, he's stolen every note!
Prince, though, of thieves—hark! how the
rascal spends it!
Pours the whole forest from one tiny
throat!
—Ednah Proctor Hayes, in Home and
Flowers.
)Margery * Danvers; Fireman*
* *
* By Cauboli, Watson Rankin’.
* 0
Beyond a doubt the property had
been a marvelous bargain. The land
alone was worth more than the price
asked for the house and lot together,
with carpets and fixtures thrown in.
The former owner had had greater
business interests in another part of
the world, and having found himself
unable tri live in two places at once,
had wisely concluded to convert the
superfluous house into cash. Mr. Dan
vers had bought it for a ridiculously
small sum, and felt that he ought to be
congratulated.
But although good Mr. Danvers was
jubilant over the purchase, Mrs. Dan¬
vers, on her first inspection of the
new- house, sat down upon the thrown
in carpet and burst into tears.
The moment she beheld the parlor
wall paper she forgot ail else and gave
herself up to grief.
It was really enough to make one
oblivious of other things. Mrs. Dan
woman, who loved pink-and-white
rooms. The late occupant of the house
had been a big red-and-yellow man,
who liked redand-yellow rooms, and
his taste in wall paper was certainly
deplorable. There was only one thing
in the house worse than the paper, and
that wag the carpet.
the paper!
■exclaimed astonisheA artistic' Mr ,Danveis,
who was not "'Why, tTfa't s
splendid paper! It must have cost ?3
i roll. Pattern’s a trifle large, per¬
haps; but just think how it’ll wear!
It will last a lifetime!”
But, strange to say, this consoling
Information only made Mrs. Danvers
weep the more.
“There’s great stuff in that carpet,
too,” said Mr. Danvers, eyeing it ap¬
provingly. “It’ll wear like iron, in spite
of the children running over it. Those
big magenta roses stand out well,
don’t they?”
Mrs. Danvers shuddered. The car
pet was a calamity.
Reasonable as the price had been
it had taken all Mr. Danvers could
spare to make the purchase, so there
was no money to be foolishly wasted
in replacing the perfectly good paper
and carpet. Poor Mrs. Danvers, cover¬
ing as much of the ugliness as she
could with her pictures and furniture,
wisely made the best of it, but all her
day dreams for the next ten years cen
tered about the repapering of the Jis
figured jiarlor.
Her daughter Margery understood
and sympathized with her mother, and
together they would deplore the dura¬
bility of the obnoxious paper and car¬
pet.
“It would be such a pretty room,”
Mrs. Danvers would mourn, “if only
something would happen to that out¬
rageous carpet and that horrible pa¬
per!”
“Wouldn’t it be glorious,” Margery
would say, “if our chimney should get
struck by lightning as the Browns’
did? The paper was torn off the din¬
ing room wall, and soot from the chim¬
ney ruined the rugs. The Browns seem
to have all the good luck.”
The Browns selfishly retained their
monopoly of the lightning, and the
hated paper continued to bear a
charmed life. No warning voice was
ever raised when the little Danverses
approached the parlor wall with sticky
fingers; and although Mrs. Danvers
and Margery fairly courted disaster,
none ever came.
At last, when Margery was 17, both
paper and carpet showed unmistakable
signs of vrear.
“Do anything you like about it. It’s
your house,” said Mr. Danvers, gener¬
ously, when Mrs. Danvers pointed out
the defects. “Yes, get anything you
like; all paper looks alike to me. Hard¬
wood floors? Ye-es, I don’t mind. Still
I am a little disappointed in that
carpet. I thought it would last for¬
ever.”
“So did I,” said Mrs. Danvers; but
‘To thme own self be true,and it will follow, as night the day, thou cans’t not then be false to any man.”
LINCOLNTON, GA , THURSDAY, MAY 8. 1902.
if she felt any disappointment it was
well concealed.
Then came deligthful weeks, The
house was all torn up and turned over
to the carpenters and paper-hangers.
Mrs. .Danvers and Margery spent all
their days and part of their nights
studying samples of wall paper. Mr.
Danvers spent all his in trying to
dodge the pails of paste and varnish
that lurked in every corner.
At last, however, it was all finishel,
to the complete satisfaction of Mrs
Danvers and Margery, who ceased to
covet the Browns’ share of devastating
lightning. Indeed, the renovated par
lor became the object of Mrs. Danvers’
tenderest solicitude, and the little J^an
verses began to see imaginary “Keep
off the grass” signs on every side. And
then, when it was no longer wanted,
the disaster came.
Just a week after the departure of
(he last workman Mrs. Danvers went
with her husband to a concert, leav¬
ing the house and sleeping children in
Margery’s care.
Margery spent the first hour in the
kitchen, maxing peanut taffy. When
at last she returned to the front of
the house she was greeted by an odd
pungent order.
“I wonder, ' said she, “if I could
ha»e scorched my candy? No; the
smell seems to come from the front
hall. Perhaps sometUifig is burning
upstairs.” ’
Sue stopped appalled wfiBkshe had
reached the top step. Something, cer¬
tainly was burning. The upper h&Kl.
was full of thick, gray smoke.
ihe children!” gasped Margery,
earring through the smoke and into
the nursery.
Here the smoke was dense, and
through it, at the far end of the room,
wnere a closet door was standing open,
Margery could see a dull red glow,
“Quick! Quick!” she sobbed, drag¬
ging the heavy, half-stupefied children
out of their beds, out of the suffocating
room, through the hall and/down
Ttie house ps
’
all “There!”'said on fire!” '
she snatching a vase
of flowers from a table in the lower
hall, and dashing flowers, water and
all into the faces of the poor, aston¬
ished children, thereby producing two
indignant howls.
“There, your lungs are all right if
you can cry like that! Now go sit on
the carriage block, and don’t you dare
to come into this house again until
I call you, and don’t you tell a soul
that this house is afire. I'm going to
put it out myself.
“Oh, I must—I must Jo it!” cried
Margery, seizing the two heavy pails
of water which Mrs. Danvers kept
ready in her little conversatory for the
purpose of watering her plants. “The
fire is all in that one room, If I let
the firemen in they’ll ruin the new
floors with their muddy boots, and
they’ll flood the whole house with
water. Oh, I can’t let them spoil that
lovely pale-green paper and those love¬
ly floors! ”
So. never thinking that her mother
would rather lose a thousand beauti¬
ful parlors than one little loving
daughter, Margery rushed into the
dense smoke and burled the contents
of her pails straight at the scarlet
glow.
The smoke stung her throat and al¬
most blinded her, but she groped her
way from the room, felt her way
across the hall, ran down the stairs,
and refilled her pails at the kitchen
sink. The bath room was nearer, but
Margery remembered that the faucets
there were small, and knew she would
save time by going to the kitchen.
She drank a little cold water, filled
her lungs with fresh air at the open
door and tucked up her skirts. Then
up she went with her heavy burden,
not spilling a drop on the precious
floors. After the third journey Mar¬
gery noticed that the scarlet spot had
diminished in size, although the smoke
was quite as dense.
“I must he careful not to put on a
scrap more water than I need,” said
this model fireman, a3 she toiled up¬
ward with her heavy pails. “I mustn't
spoil the dining room ceiling. I be¬
lieve the fire is in the pillows and bed¬
ding stored in that closet. I'll open
the window and throw them all out, if
I can.”
And she did, but it was not a pleas¬
ant task, The smoldering quilts
burst into flames as she pulled them
apart, and the sparks burned her
wrists and hands. But with the win¬
dow open it was possible to breathe,
and when the reking pillows had been
added to the blazing heap on the lawn
helow, the atmosphere was decidedly
improved, although still by no means
clear.
As they discovered afterwards, the
fire started from afcew oiled rags used
in polishing the hardwood floors, and
tucked into the closet by a careless
maid. It had burned almost through
the base-board, and would in a few
moments have eaten its way into the
partitions, where it would have been
beyond control.
Margery had undoubtedly saved the
clay and a great many dollars although
she had, without realizing it, risked
something far more precious.
She had bathed her face and hands,
had opened all the windows to let out
the disagreeable odor of burned feath¬
ers, and was going down-stairs, well
satisfied with her evening’s work,
when her father and mother appeared
at the front door. Perched on the
newel post in the front hall, she told
them all about the catastrophe.
“Where are the children?” was Mrs.
Danvers’s first question.
“Goodness!” said Margery. “They
must be outdoors on the stepping
stone yet. I told them to stay there
until I called them, and I never gave
them a second thought!”
And there Mrs. Danvers found them,
sound asleep in their little white night
dresses, but none the worse for their
unusual experience, for the night was
warm.
Mr. Danvers opened his mouth and
closed it several times before he man¬
aged to find words to fit the occasion.
SWhen he finally succeeded all he said
was.;, /
dried MargeX}’,--.You herringT r ’'”B^~ ajmell v just like a little
->
But there was something besides
smoke in his eyes, and Margery kn?S
she was being thanked.—^Youths’ Com¬
panion.
' America Foe.
The European as A America a t a
g’Brr’felentn^.^ iOe,
fact That Europe has forced on Am«
ica these measures as a means cf
defence signifies nothing, says E
Adams in the Atlantic. The European
sees in America a competitor who,
while refusing to buy, throws her
wares cn every market, and who, while
she drives the peasant from his land.
reduces the profits of industry which
support the wage earners of the towq.
Most ominous of all, he marks a rap
idly growing powc-r, which, while it
undersells his mines, closes to hi{n
every region of the wide earth whefre
he might find minerals adapted to its
needs. Lying like a colossus across
the western continent, with her ports
on either ocean, with China opposite
and South America at her feet, the
United States bars European expan
sion. South America and China are
held to be the only accessible regions
which certainly contain the iron, coal
and copper which Europe sc- ka, and
the Unued States is determined that,
if she can prevent it, South America
and China shall not be used s bases
for hostile competition. ■ gardlng
South America her declarations are
explicit, and during the last 1 months
her actions in Asia have spoken more
emphatically than words.
He ’Got IS is Keeeiptr
It is not often that the carelessness
of an unbusinesslike man can be
brought home to him so -cleverly as
was done by a bright young Irishman
whose experience is described by the
Detroit News-Tribune:
He had run up a small bill at the
village store, and wont in to pay it,
first asking for a receipt. The pro¬
prietor grumbled and said it was too
much trouble to give receipts for such
small amounts. It was 'just as well to
cross the account off, and he drew a
diagonal pencil-line iff across the the book.
“Does that settle asked cue
tomer.
“Certainly.” I
“An’ ye’U never e asking for it
again?”
“Certainly not.” I
“Faith, thin.” s&id the Irishman,
coolly, “an’ I’ll kane me money in me
pocket, for I haven’t paid it yet.”
“Well,” was the/ retort, “I can rub
that out.” I persistent
“I thought so,’) said the
customer, dryly. “Maybe you’ll give
me a receipt nowb Here’s the money.”
The body practice has j^’f nicknaming examples in a legis¬ early
lative many
English parliamentary history. The
list includes tiie “lack-learning” par¬
liament, the “long,” which became the
“rump,” and /was followed by “bare
bone’s” parliaipnn'; among others.
He Was a Booster.
A frownsy looking individual enter¬
ed the yard surrounding an Avondale
residence one evening, just after dark
and softly tried the knob in the
kitchen door. The cook saw the knoh
turning slowly and screamed lustily.
The husky butler appeared on the
scene, grabbed the tramp, called the
patrol wagon and bumped him into
that vehicle.
At the Seventh District Station
Lieutenant Cassius Fisher interrogat¬
ed the fellow.
“What were you doing in that
yard?” he asked.
“Jest stepped in to look arottn’.”
“Why didn't you rap on that door
instead of trying the knob?”
“Well, I’ll tell you, officer,” re¬
sponded the tramp with a grin, “far
be it from me to knock-”
“What’s that?” roared the lieuten¬
ant. “Why didn’t you rap at that
door?”
“Far be it from me to knock!” an
swered the tramp.
The lieutenant, convinced that the
hobo was trying to kid him, slammed
; the nondescript in a cell, and the
next morning there was “rapping” ga¬
lore in police court, and the tramp re
| ceived quite a stretch on the stone
: pile.—Cincinnati Enquirer,
! BED HOT mum
*ss — m —
Ljeu, ' ' hr? si oots, Shoes &
mk^m .TfHSft
M 1
S J|gB§, ,
■
i
| yd Ba3@SSTiifd
“
' Shoes than ever
R. G. TARV-ER, Man: Before.
jar.
Our One Dollar Brogan is better. Our One Dollar and Twenty-five
Cents Brogan beats the world. ,
Our One Dollar and Fifty Cents Shoes are simplv . Our supei 1 i. .Dollar .
Our Two Dollar Vici Kid Shoes a big value. wo an
Fifty Cents Hand-sewed Shoes are the best on the market.
"\y e can ^ye y 0 u Ladies Shoes at 75c, but the Shoes we want to sell
ladies r0ll are 00 and f.' 1.25 Ladies every day Shoes and our $1 .a. 5 don and. $1.50
Dress Shoes. • They are EEJ) HOT BARGAINS and t you
forget it. Now our $2.00 Ladies Shoes are as good as anybody s $3.00
Shoes. and Babies and tins line of Shoes this
We never forget the Children
season is better than ever before.
HATS! HATS! HATS!
Ha fs 0 i»c, sa a
Felt Hats $1.00, and so on to the end. this .
We don’t expect any one to come within a mile of us season in
Price and Quality. When in the city be sure to Call and Examine and be
Convinced.
1
s Safi!
907 Broad Street, Augusta, Ga.
New Use for An Ice-breaker.
“The attempt to reach the north pole
with a Russian ice-breaking vessel has
been abandoned,” remarked Tenter
hook.
“I didn't know that such an attempt
had been made,” said Hammersmith.
“That’s because you don’t keep up.
1 This happened some time ago ,,
“'Then that’s the reason. I knew of
: doubtless but dismissed
it at the time,
| it from my mind . You see, Tentei
| Hook,” Hammersmith went on ‘my
I mind is not like yours, a receptacle for
) all sorts of unimportant information.
It’s you who'don't keep up, not I. For¬
get-a few things.”
“Much obliged, -I’m sure, for your
kind words. But it seems a pity that
a vessel of great crunching power
should fail to do the work expected of
it.”
‘Oh, that’s all right. The ship will
still be of use.”
“How?”
“In winter it can keep the ice in one
of the Russian harbors pounded up,
and in summr it can he used to break
off the final jagged syllable of Russian
proper names.”
If you write ten words a minute yotv
pen is traveling at the rate of 3°°
an Lour.
NO. -)>
Sale and Use of Feathers as Miiiinery.
The Humanitarian League have
drafted a bill the object <?f which is
to check the wholesale destruction
of birds for purposes of or nan ora¬
tion. The birds scheduled in t! hill
are those which appear to be m-w< es¬
pecially in danger of extermination
owing to the demand for them in the
feather market; and all of them are
British birds in the sense that they
are native in one or another part of
the empire. A .memorandum issued by
the league states, as a proof of the
extent of the destruction that at pres¬
ent goes on, that at a recent sale in
Mincing Lane, a single dealer offered
2,151 birds of paradise and 1,181 im
peyan pheasants, together with large
numbers of the other species. As a
precedent for legislation on this sub¬
ject the law that now obtains in the
State of New York is quoted by the
league. There no wild birds, other
than certain species named in the
act, and birds for which there is an
open season, can he taken or possess¬
ed at any time, dead or alive, except
under the authority of a certificate
and no part of the plumage, skin, or
body of any protected bird can be sold
or had in posession for sale.—London
Times.
ETHicS OF MARRIAGE.
No Reason Why a Woman Should Be at!
Beck and Call of Man. t
But though there can be no eman¬
cipation from marriage, this is not say¬
ing that there may not be emancipa-.
tion in marriage, says William M.
Salter in the January Atlantic. Mar¬
riage is not necessarily a one-sided
contract, in which the woman agrees
to obey or to serve, To consent to
make one’s self another's subject or
servant is unworthy of a human being,
even if done freely. In law we do not
allow one person to sell himself into
slavery to another; the contract is
null and void. There is no reason in
morals why a woman should put her¬
self at the beck and call of a man.
Any true marriage is a relation of
equals—it is a relation in which the
freedom of each is respected by the
other; it is a relation of mutual ser¬
vice, in which force is never used, in
which command is never heard. If the
wife is obliged to submit to her hus¬
band, that is barbarism, no matter
who, what rite, what Bible, what law,
sanctions it. Authority may be excus¬
ed over children, it may be justified
in the state, but to the extent it is ex¬
ercised between partners in the mar¬
riage relation, the beauty, the sacred
ness of the relation is gone. ^ ^