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ACROSS THE SNOW.
Across the snow and over the sand,
Where summer lingers with song and
bloom,
The festooned oaks of Florida stand
Enshrouded in odorous gloom; i
Over the mountains, across the snow.
The blue sky smileth and bendeth low.
Across the snow and over the sea,
Italy laughs, like a child at play;
And her rivers that sing incessantly
Are wooing the soul away!
Over the sea and across the snow
They are calling me, but I cannot go.
Across the sea and over the tears,
The wonder-world of our childhood lies,
And voices echo across the years
With whispered questions and low replies,
Over the graves and across the snow,
The children are calling who loved me so.
Across the snow and beyond the doubt,
There lieth a land so sweet and fair
That none who enter will turn about
To bring us tidings of loved ones there;
■Over the doubt and across the snow
The dear ones beckon and I shall go.
—Benjamin S. Parker.
v SERVED THEM RIGHT.”
BY CHARLES R. DODGE. 1
"Allh Aa? ^ a that i glitters, ,... „ runs
the nrnvprK '“''t Lang was a brilliant .
fellow in ii. P ® 3tlmat ! on of h s f wends.
He was f hri’iD m so many aider
thev ?” S ’ sonle who thought
In/Utti l-npw llm ,^ eii marveed that he had
wal tw.mtvl ^ 0 I !' 1 ?r ? n e ^ drc ress *ong ®^,^ before au ^^ css he ^y
and and i m n the best , taste, which was the
more remarkalfle when it is considered
Tiiat ne never twice patronized the same
tailor. He was brilliant in the ease with
which he made acquaintances amon« ? .“»
neonle in enr-inf- k’ and l eceivcd , mvita
Rnno lions to all n ii notable , society events.
ret, with all his brilliancy, Alfred
Lang was always without mouev always
people na, than consequently, he in debt to
more actually could re
member when he sometimes endeavored
to ascertain where he stood One thin*- 3
was in his favor. His father was
paratively well off, and was known as a
man o.f strictest integrity in the business
world, arc! the son was able to push his
way, alter his peculiar fashion, largely
M “.15,™ er 8 reputation.
Wily aon t you get married, Alf, and
settle down to business, respectably?”
said a chum one day, who knew him in
trn eUCe . , , lf . *• Gorge,” he replied
. ’
with warmth. “If a man ca n’t sup
poit bimse.f, how upon earth can he
support a wile, and particularly the sort
01 ?• *.* ie *° mar ry?”
Well, u his friend replied, “under
the circumstances perhaps ihere is but
one way open for you. Do as many
another let the wife young do man the supporting, has done before rather, you;
or
1 ''
i.-D Hut , every girl ■ in • town knows me,”
plausible Alfred Lang observed sagclv,
aud if sne dees not, her father does, so
you see it amounts to the same thing.”
les, 1 see,’ his companion observed
with h a a sigh. sigh “j pity y ou ."> Then after
P ad ®® added > “Why don’t you go to
wt ' rk *
Lang .. lit .
wnh derisive a laugh c garette, daintily, and
a blew several smoke
the rings heavenward, and abruptly turned
subject.
IIIT Humph, , , why , don , 11 to work?” he
mused ihe next morning, go
as he awoke at
9 o CiOck, after a delightful evening at
Mrs. La Mode’s german.. “Egad! I shall
have ,0 do something disagreeable if the
governor tuts down my allowance again.”
Then he dressed leisurely and sauntered
out to get up an appetite for breakfast.
When next he met George Devins,
some two weeks later, lie had quarreled
with the “governor, ” and was on his wav
to the railway station to take the train
* 01 ‘“7 •
he Oid man has given _ his _ check for
f-jCOC, to get rid of me,” he sa’d with
mock seriousness, “and I am going out
into the world to seek my fortune. Of
course simply you take approve, the advice George, for I shall
time and you I so shall kindly
gave me some ago, play
for my stakes. Lou will come to my
wedding, won’t you!’’
Witli the aid of his father’s name* and
a letter of introduction or two to men
of his own age, Alfred Lang was not
long without friends in his new sur
roundings. and With engaging manners
ficssing pleasant address, and, withal, pos
an unlimited fund of the very
refinement of cheek, he soon received
invitations to this or to that event; and
being reputed a man of means and the
son of a merchant whose credit was
“Al,”he made rapid progress in so¬
ciety.
Among his new acquaintances was the
son of a certain Dr. Delano, Charles by
name, and through him Lang soon made
the acquaintance of the daughter Kate,
a fascinating fortune, the young lady. 'Fortune or
no girl had impressed him
at the very first meeting as no woman
had impressed him before. Love tugged
at his heartstrings, but he hefd a tight
rein on his affections, resolved not" to
commit himself foolishly, until he had
first learned the precise market value of
the dainty bundle of merchandise
under consideration. Even a fool
can ask questions, and he soon
learned, that to his eminent satisfaction,
Dr. Delano had a fine practice, and
owned considerable real estate in various
parts of the city. Moreover, he was very
proud of his daughter; and it was whis¬
pered that the man who would be able to
win her heart, and capture the father’s
affections at the same time, might make
up his mind to settle down in life and
give himself no further anxiety about
the future.
Then Alfred Lang congratulated him¬
self upon falling in love so honestly, and
finding felt a fortune at a single stroke. He
that the girl was interested—a hun
dred little things assured him of it—and
when, after a somewhat better acquaint
anee, the genial doctor occasionally
called him Alfred to his face, he knew
that everything was progressing splen
didly. The flame of love was therefore
fanned as occasion presented itself,
A few weeks after this stage of the
affair, Lang wrote to George Devins as
follows:
“Dear Boy: I have metmy fate, in spite of
our little joke about going away to seek my
f° rtun0 ‘ Have just engaged myself to Miss
physician * he , here, ouly daugTlter of a Prominent
and a very , lovely girl in
every way. From remarks casually dropped
by the fellows about town I infer that her
father is quite wealthy; however, I will not
f l uarrel w,til him on that score, for Kate is
be resigned, had her father a dozen fortunes,
But do not think me"mercenary, for much as
* should hate love in a cottage, her sweet
an <* charming disposition would eer
Sable^’’ The anythmS but un -
engagement had hardly ceased to
be a matter of gossip when Alfred Lang
began to consider the expediency of an
early marriage. The doctor was not
averse to the suggestion—he had no wish
to stand in the way of his daughter’s
happiness; did and Kitty—well, Mrs. Delano
most of the urging with the girl, who
consented to a June wedding reluctantly
—arguing been of that short their engagement "Then had
so duration. came
those weeks of preparation which are
heart supposed to fill an expectant bride’s
with joy,and to deplete her father’s
pocketbook. and Spring budded, bloomed
day ripened into summer, and the happy
at length morning, arrived, three days
One two or after
the return from the wedding tour, Lang
lounged into the doctor’s office, and,
tendering himself his father-in-la < a cigar,threw
upon the windo - seat, Some
thing,evidently, was disturbing his usual
serenity of mind, for ho twisted his
moustache nervously between the thumb
and finger of his left hand, while he held
his cigar idly in the other. Dr. Delano,
too, appeared quite ill at ease during the
silence which neither, somehow, was
able to break.
“Is there anything you wish to say to
me, Alfred,” the elder asked at length,
turning his head slightly,
“Oh, nothing special; I’m notdisturb
ing you. I hope.”
“Not in the least. Have you seen the
paper this morning? 1 rarely look at
anything hut the stock market reports,”
the doctor returned, laughing faintly.
’
“I never look ________ at them. Fact ___ is I—I
never risk money in stocks, and therefore
have no interest in following the quot.a
tions. It's only fools and children who
play with fire, anyhow. No, sir, I never
speculated in my life.”
The doctor winced, coughed gently
once marks or with twice, and began making dollar
a stub pen on a prescription
blank. “But fortunes have been made
in speculation, Alfred,” the man of physic
replied in a moment. The young man
making no answer, the doctor went on
with his pen practice. “There •There is is money money
in in minins mining sttwlc, sttv.k. just iust now,” now.” lie he rc- re
marked at length. “And, by the
way, I was recently offered a
rare chance to go into a company at par,
whore it is possible to double the amount
invested in two years. As things are,
it would not pay me to make sacrifices
in one direction for the sake of invest-
ments in another; still, if I could find
the right sort of a person to go in with
me, I would not mind five or ten thou¬
sand.”
“You mean that the other fellow shall
putin five or ten thousand with you.”
“Yes, that is—of course”—
“Hah!” Lang ejaculated, “I will
think it over.” He stretched himself to
his full length, and then arose to his feet.
“It has just occured tome,” he ventured,
taking thought a step toward the door, “I have
never to ask liow Kate’s money
is invested. Probably not in Mexican
Mining stock.”
the “Well, no.” the doctor replied, giving
be man foolish, a quizzical glance."’ -‘It would
very with the little she has,
to go into that sort of an investment.”
Then the young man whistled softly a
few bars of an opera air, and awkwardly
left the room.
The honeymoon passed with nothing
unusual to disturb its sweetness and
serenity. Then came one morning the
awakening.
The conversation began with the usual
baby talk indulged in by married people
of tender experience, rapidly coming
down to adult English of unmistakable
directness. The young wife had hinted
at allowance of hand ome proportions,
and suggested the possible future con
tingency “That of an establishment.
would indeed he charming,
Kate,” the young man replied, biting
the ends of his moustache nervously,
“but I supposed that the doctor, your
good father, had already settled matters,
as is customary, when”— Somehow he
could not go on. He knew what he
wanted to say, but the words sounded
strangely when uttered; so he paused.
Mrs. Lang opened her eyes very wide¬
ly and looked at her husband. “Why,
Alfred Lang!” she exclaimed: “One
would think that you had married for
money.”
“Well,” he replied, with an attempt
at gaiety, “you will admit that money is
a good thing to have.”
“My father was speaking last night of
our future plans,” she went on, without
noticing her husband's reply. “Of
course we wish to live independently by
think ourselves, and the sooner we begin to
about it the better.”
his Lang crossed the room slowly, with
head bent, and returning, said with
a laugh which sounded very affected:
“My dear, I am very well satisfied where
I am, aren’t you?”
“Well, no,” she replied with a look of
scorn, disposed “decidedly not; and since you
are to treat the matter so lightly
I will ask you in as many words, what
are your ideas concerning the future?”
“Do you wish to know?” he returned.
“I do, most assuredly.”
“I have none,” he said, coolly, thrust¬
ing his hands into his pockets.
“Have none?” she repeated.
continued “Perhaps I’ve done wrong, Kitty,” he
with a change of manner.
“I had no wish to deceive yon—in fact,
knowing have that your father was so well
off, I thought little about it, but
the plain truth of the matter is, that
just at present, I am without a business,
and haven’t a dollar in the world beyond
what is in my pocket-book. Charming
state of affairs, truly!”
“Are you telling me the truth?” Mrs.
Lang gasped, as she attempted to rise to
her feet.
“I am.”
“But your father”—
“He disowned me several months ago,
after a quarrel over the question of an
allowance. But that is nothing,” he
said in a moment, for Mrs. Lang had
sunk hack into a corner of the sofa in
stupefied and silence. “I shall soon find a
business, meanwhile, your father”—
“My her father,” “shall she repeated, springing
to l'ect, I tell you the truth
about my father? As you have fooled
him so completely, you have in turn been
beautifully fooled yourself.”
“Fooled, Kate?” the young financier
repeated, “what do you mean?”
There was a look of wicked triumph
in her eyes as she replied: “I mean that
he has specul ited his fortune away, in¬
jured his practice by inattention to busi¬
ness, and is almost on the verge of bank¬
ruptcy. That’s why he conseutod so
willingly ing to affairs, an early marriage. Charm¬
state of is it not?”
tion Lang's reply was a tri- syllabic invoca¬
of his satanic majesty.
“Now, you see you will have to sup¬
port me, whether you wish to or not. Oh,
sir, this is perfectly fiendish.”
Then she buried her face in her hands
and gave vent to her feelings in a flood
of tears.
Mrs. Lang cried herself to sleep that
the night. Dr. Delano was quite cut up at
startling information which reached
his ears next morning, but as the biter
had been bitten, there was nothing to be
said on either side, It all worked for
the best, however, in the end, as the
sequel will show.
“Do you really love me, Alfred,” the
wife asked one evening, a month after
the cloud burst. “I sometimes fancy
that you do.”
“Love you, my dear girl, can you
doubt it?’,
“Then why do you not try harder to
get into business? I am dying to go to
housekeeping, cosily and I know we could live
on a small income, with good
managing. I am ready to do my part.”
“Do you mean that, Kitty?” he asked
eagerly.
“Every word cf it:”
“Then I’ve married a fortune after all.
I received a letter to-day from Dix &
Tromas offering a position as salesman
in their mercantile establishment. The
hours are long and the pay very small for
a man of my extravagant tastes, having
a wife whose tastes are equally extrava¬
gant. I have been looking for some¬
thing having better for weeks, as you know, but
address no and qualifications but a fair ad
some cheek to recommend
me, I fear I shall not be very successful.
Now. if you can swallow your pride,
here at your own home. I’ll try to swal¬
low mine and go to work; and, perhaps,
with careful managament, we may some
day be worth something.”
“What is the salary?” the wife ques¬
tioned.
“Only $1,400; but it is sure and
regular.
“And will you promise to let me be
your “Can bookkeeper I and Kitty?” banker?”
trust you,
She looked straight into his eyes as
she replied: “Can’t you trust me, Al¬
fred? I trusted you once, you know;
but—”
“Never mind that now, my dear girl;
leave the words unsaid. But I can and
will trust you, for wc have both learned
a lesson that will suffice for life, I hope.
I’ll take that position to-morrow, Kitty,
and we will begin life sensibly at the
bottom of the ladder.” Then he kissed
her fondiy.
i It is a year since Alfred Lang married,
and his wife has indeed brought him a
fortune; for his father, seeing that he
was in earnest, has forgiven him and
taken him into his business.— Wiees and
Daughters.
An Underground Forest.
discovered An underground forest was recently
in the metal mountains
in Saxony. These mountains are cov¬
ered with forests of pines and firs, in
which there are a large number of open
kept spaces serving them during as pastures for the cattle
on the summer. Many
of these forest pastures are inundated in
fall and remain under water until the
summer periodical following. inundations The result the of these
is formation
region of deep layers of peat, which supply the
with valuable heating material.
Along a piss through that forest region
a railroad is now building between the
cities of Annaberg and Schwarzeahurg.
In one of the peat pastures the navvies
have just laid open the stems of a prime¬
val forest in an advanced stage of the
process of petrifaction or carbonization.
The stems arc all of the fir family, from
fifteen to thirty inches’ circumference on
the average, and imbedded in peat soma
fifteen to twenty feet under the surface.
No reliable estimate of the. age of the
forest has yet been published.
A Poodle Dog for II lilting Purposes.
“A well sheared poodle,” said John
trained R. Thompson, field an old hunter, “can be
for work so that he will
excel the best Irish or Gordon fetter, in
pointing, flushing and retrieving. He
can, if his coat is kept close, go through
thicket and bramble without difficulty,
and as he is usually intelligent, lie can
he taught very readily. I have a poodle
that I have used on my own place down
in Maryland, where I lost at least half a
dozen good setters by accidentally shoot¬
ing them while they were flushing the
game. danger, Now and my how poodle seems to know
the to avoid it. He
will flush a covey of partridge without
the least danger to himself, and to the
complete satisfaction of the hunter. The
poodle is the field dog for me .”—Sew
Yon; Suit.
She Didn't Think So.
A young lady named Wiser was re¬
cently married in New York.
Wc haven’t much to say, of course.
Nor should she Fate have parried.
Yet Wiser she would surely be
If she had novel- married.
— Washington Critic.