Evening Star Newspaper, September 6, 1890, Page 7

NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBORS .The Adventures That Befell a City Man Whe Moved to the Country. —_e—_— WRITTEN FOR THE EVENING STAR BY JOHN HABBERTON. oe {Copyrighted} CHAPTER L ~< HEN Zenas Bortley moved from the A. city to a suburban village, in search of better air for the children and for his own asthmatic lungs, he told his wife that now she could have the pleasure of Knowing her next-door neighbors—an ex- perience she never had been granted in the city. Mrs, Bortley, born and reared in a thickly settled portion of the metropolis, be- tieved hor husband's statement, for had not Zenas always been a country boy until he came to New York to make his fortune? Had he not described to her, again and again, the ideal society of his native village of Grasshopper Falls, where everybody knew everybody else— where one man was as good as another so long as he earned his living. paid his bills and went to church on Sunday, and where every woman _ Wasalady if sho had a black silk dress, no matter how plain, in which to receive calls? Had not Zenas’ own mother, wife of the book- keeper of the local lumber company, been asked by the Congressman’s wife to help enter- tain some distinguished guests from another state? Andit had been so delightfnl when Mrs. Zenas had been ill or feeble, in ber little flat in the city, to hear her husband tell how in the country any man whose wife was feeling poorly could borrow a neighbor's carriage or sleigh and take the dear woman out for an air- ing. Mrs. Zenas never had an outing except in a horse car, for her husband, though strong in affection and self-sacrifice, had but a small salary, and the olive,branches, which were the family’s only riches, always needed something which cost about as much asa carriage for an ur or two, So the Bortleys went to the country, anda blessed change they found it, The children began to grow like weeds, their mother’s cheeks became fuller of roses than the garden, and Zenas himself, though he was obliged to break- fast early and sup late in order to make a full day at the store in which he was entry clerk, found his asthma disappearing with unexpected rapidity. His cottage cost less per month than acity flat; he had a little garden which, thanks to his boyhood’s experience, yielded many vegetables which tasted better than any he had ever bought from a grocer: the children had & swing under an old apple tree and rolled in the grass to their hearts’ content; the pastor of s ehureh called after seeing the heads of the family in his congregation. and Zenas was in- ¥ited to join the local club of his political arty and also to subscribe to a course of ectures to be delivered in the local academy of music during the following winter. "Yet Zenas was not happy. The neighborly affiliation which he had promised his wife did Rotcome about. He waited for it a few weeks, for he was a dignified liftie fellow and hadsome knowledge of the manners of good society; but when his wife reminded him that the summer had nearly passed and no one had called who had no€ some semi-business purpose, he in- formed himself, with a mighty pull at all his faculties, that something ought to be done, What most irritated him was that his next-door neighbor. a hand: e woman, whose husband, 80 the agent of Bortley cottage had said, would be obliged to be away from home for some time, hed never called. Mrs. Maytham, the lay in question, was distinguished looking as well as handsome; her house was a palace com- pared with the house which Zenas had hired, and she drove aimost daily behind a fine pair, of horses. She was a good woman, too, or Zonas was no judge of human nature she had no children the little man, wi not imagine that any one regarded bo! girls except with the ‘adoration which he be- stowed upon his darlings, was sure that if Mrs. Maytham could kuow his brood she would in her loneliness have an unfailing source of con- solation, As for Mrs, Bortley, Zenas’ loyal soul profoundly pitied any one and every one who did not know that estimable woman. Yet the two women did not become acquainted Mra Martham did not call and when Mrs, Dortiey felt hurt her Hitsband suggested that. * perhaps the older resident was from one of the Southern states in which calis must first be . made by newcomers upon the old families, Mrs. Bortiey acted npon this suggestion, but Was unfortunate to select an hour when her Reighbor was out. She made a supplementary effort when her husband explained that coun- try people usually became acquainted by bor- Towing small necessities from one another, but when Mre. Bortley bezged the loan of a cup of ground coffee one morning she saw only her neighbor's servant, and the same result at- tended tue parment of the loan. In vain, too, did she display her children, who really were pretty and well dressed, when her neighbor al one through the well-kept garden Which the Bortleys coveted for its rare display of flowers. -Mrs. Maytham seemed to ignore the very existence of the well-behaved chil- dren for whom an emperor might have been glad to exchange his crown. ’ Zenas. however, had no idea of giving up and the unexpected lack of new acquaintances —a peculiarity of suburban villages—added to his determination % know his nearest neigh- bor. While watering his late lettuce one Sat- urday afternoon and felicitating himself upon his succes ing hot weather with this succu- capricious vegetable he suddenly ed a tree and inspected his neighbor's kitchen garden. Just as he bad suspected, the only lettuce there had run to seed. In amo- ment Zenas was upon the ground again and pulling some finely blanched plants, which he took to his neighbor's kitchen door, saying to the cook: “GooD LETTUCE IS SCARCE.” “I hope I don’t intrude, but good lettuce is eat this time of the year, and as mine is fine I thought perhaps your mistress 1 enjoy som The servant took the crisp present without a word. After moving several steps toward home Zenas stopped suddenly to admire a bril- liant clump of tritomas. As he stood gazing he heard a window blind open and a voice calling in & low to: “Bridget?” “Me “Who was that “Misther Bortley, mem.” “The owner of that gang next door?* ‘es, mem. ‘Umph!” The last expression was empha- sized by so vigorous a closing of the window “Diind that the catch fastened with a sharp snap. 4 moment before Zenas had felt bent as well as fhort; & moment after the wound to his pride had straightened him until, he strode across the fence, he felt as tall as He hastened to the house to tell his wife, bi he checked himself; he adored that wife of be always was encompassing her with his lov: that might be shiclded from the slings and darts of an unappreciated world; she should not know that any one alluded to her and her Bestlings as a “gang.” Yet bis own beart grew sore@as it was chafed by the word which could not be forgotten. The « xpresion and the tone in which it was Uttred came to him unbidden in his dreams ‘and roused him from needed rest—came to him ashe read the morning paper while dashin by rail to the city. columns of figure to make some terrible biunders, though he “Gang!” aa a mild-mannered man and « member of the church beside. he came to re- ‘a bis next-door neighbor, woman, and dsome though she was, with deadly hatred. So intense did his dislike become that he sat in window one sultry moonlight night and glecfully beheld a stray cow enter the Maytham garden and do more damage than any florist could uado at that season. “Gang,” indeed!” In fact it was more with joy than sorrow that one day Zenas learned from @ chauce ac- _—- Et Sag train that — Ape special Feasons why Mr. Maytham wo! away from bome for some time, for the man was a de- and fieceing from The Bort- leys agreed that it was providential that the families had not become acquainted, for sithough Zenas, like a good man. tried to pity sinners while he hated sin he toid his wife & mero entry clerk with s family dependent ee crip = an jnaintance of a def e's family. very- ly seemed ‘down on” the Maythams, Peo- Se the house was in he wife’s name that Mrs. Maytham had a roof over her head; that the << had not lived Bay cae. and never had acquainted i—one of Mra. Maytham's class, es had been committed at Grass- hopper Falls, and wives of thieves and rowdies were too numerous, as occasional subscrip- tions for their relicf showed, but they were » shabby, forlorn, characterless set, just like their husbands, while here, in the v. next house to Zenas, was ‘iminal’s wife who was handsome, self-contained, proud, apparently rich, and even scornful of the honest. ee Zenas thought of Mrs. Maytham until he be- came almost fascinated by her. His eye sought her each day asheleft home and returned; finally when he got his customary summer vacation of a fortnight he spent hours of each day ina hammock under the trees looking slyly for Mrs. Maytham and following her w: bis eyes whenever she sauntered through her finely kept grounds. He was sorry for her; he could not understand why care to make new acquaintanc not see anything in her face that indi- cated complicity in her husband’s crime; he so pitied her in her loneliness and probable gloom that he prayed earnestly for her; but do what he would he could not forget the tone in which she bag called his adorable family a “gang.” CHAPTER IL As the dog days dragged on Zonas’ hammock under the trees became more and more at- tractive asa lounging place, until finally the little man, who had often slept out of doors in the woods when he was @ country boy, ven- tured to be young again and spend an occa- sional night in his hammock. ‘rhe first effort was quite successful, but during the second night he was roused by an awful dream of an anaconda gliding through the grass near him and causing arustle such as any meandering anaconda could be depended u} to make. Starting up in affright, beneath his low-hang- ing covert of boughs he saw what at first seemed really a huge serpent about to cross the fence and enter the Maytham estate. Through well-rabbed eyes, however, the mon- ster resolved itself into a ladder, evidently brought from & house in course of building not faraway. Ofcourse the ladder was not mov- ing of ite own volition—a man was under it. Zenas was at once as wide awake as if no such condition as sleep had ever existed; he also was in abject terror and was conscious of the outbreak of the cold sweat of which he often had heard but never before experienced. What should he do? What could he do? Pshaw! Perhaps the man was & carpenter, who had been after a bit of his own property, to have it ready for use somewhere else. But no, the clock of one of the village churches struck two just then: it was impossible that any honest mechanic could be going to work at that time of night, bright!y though the moon shone. Maybe the fellow was a fruit-tree lunderer. Zenas had been warned to gather ‘is own early pears if he did not wish the tree taba deuaeons aaaa moonlight night by un- bidden gatherers. Well, if the man were bent on stealing fruit from the Maytham place let him steal; it was a shame that such things should be, but Zenas was not one of the vil- lages’s three policemen, and as he would rather have his own single pear tree stripped than attack a midnight prowler. he could not be ex- pected to protect his neighbor's propert , the property of a neighbor who had called’ his family @ “gang.” But, horrors! The man was no fruit thief, for he bad taken the ladder the May- tham house—placed it in the shadow cast by the moon and stood motionless a moment, as if to rest. Evidently he was a burglar and knew his business, for it was town talk that the May- tham house was expensively furnished and con- tained much solid silver ware, besides a great deal of bric-a-brac worth its weight in gold. Probably the windows inside the blinds were wide open—all country windows were during the dog days, Let that ladder once be raised and the thief at its top and Zenas was sure that the frail blinds would prove no obstacie to the fellow's wicked designs. But, what could the unsuspected observer do? He could not move ‘d his own house witnin without being seen or heard; even were he in his deors he had no firearms, no elep! no burglar alarm. He might slip out through the shadows to his gate and thence to the local police station, nearly a mile away, but before an officer could come the robbery would be ac- complished. Worse still, the fellow, flushed by success, might move the ladder across the fence and enter the Bortley home. True, Zenas & owned no valuables except his wife and chil- dren, but the thought of a ruffien prowling about his sanctuary was not to be endured for an instant. Could he scare the fellow away by making a noise? Perhaps, but he had heard of burglars who ran right at @ noise instead of away from it.. Should the burglar attack him there would be nothing to do but give up the ghost at once, for his heart was was already in his throat and he felt unable to move hand or foot. And his life was insured for only a thousand dollars, Terror aud excitement had made him so wild that exhaustion speedily followed, with ite con- sequent apathy. Even his conscience followed the lead of his will and became utterly de- moralized. It was too bad on general princi- ples that house should be robbed, but that Particular house, probably furnished’ with the wages of Maytham's crime—well, the little man recalled without a bit of ehame, and to his great satisfaction, the infamous old saying that “the second thief is the best owner.” And really—-this as his conscience attempted to rally—might not;spoliation be a judgment upon the woman who had been so blind, insensate and brutal as tocall the Bortley family—the larger and better part of it—a “gang?” But why all this worry and terror? Probably the man was, after all, only a common fruit thief, Only a few feet from where the ladder had been dropped was a great tree of “straw- berry” apples, which the Bortley children had been eyeing wistfully for a fortnight, as the blush on the fruit had deepened to crimson. Such apples commanded a high price, as Bort- ley had learued to his sorrow. Well, if the tree were robbed his children would be deliv- ered from further temptation. Such trees were not safe when he wasa boy. He recalled, with a wicked chuckle which was almost audi- ble, how he once had braved bulldog and shot- gun to despoil just such a tree. Perhaps a tree of apples might not seem worth much to that proud woman. Just then the man began to raise the ladder, not to the apple tree, but against the side of the house, At the same instant Bortley’s heart and head began to throb as if they would burst. He fenred heart disease and apoplexy. He closed his eyes and tried to think of somethin, else. What was in his mind a moment before: tbat proud woman—woman—woman. instant the little fellow slipped out of the bammock, ) With jaws tightly set and nerves and muscles like bundles of steel wires, had bounded across the fence and toward his neighbor's house, Short though the distance was, he had time, as he ran, to realize that hi wits had never before been so clear since the night he proposed to the angelic girl who af- terward became his wife. The ladder had touched the wall, making considerable’ noise, but the burglar did not seem to mind this, for he already had foot on the lowest round when Zenas, springing in front of him, Rave the lad- der a push and 3! that threw it backward. The unknown man sprang off quickly, but in an instant Zenas had bh e throat, upon the im b: and, bearing him backward, aby Phe ground ’ a, little fellow devoted himself to dodging, and even some skill at this art did not entirely savo him. First he became conscious that he could not breathe through his nose; then he lost the sight of one and his chest ached dreadfully; but he availed himself of another youthfai trick, practiced by small boys who were at- tacked by bullies—he got behind his antagonist and secured a ht collar grip with both hands, brought wu knee sharply inst the burglar's back aod quickly had the fellow se- curely pinned to the an d. While the le had been going on Zenas heard window blinds open and a startled ex- clamation ins voice he remembered well—the voice that had uttered the word “gang.” Now, as he tried to breathe, eard a soft rustle, clad all in white and with handsome neighbor. gaxped, “this—this burglar— into—your house. I saw him—he tried to shoot me. His pistol is somewhere—in the grass. Find it, plense—fire it—fast—make an alarn.—bring help.” But the woman, instead of looking for the wea) i upon her knees, looked at as much of the man’s face as was visibled and moaned: “Oh, Arthur!” glar, man. Let him go—do you no burglar, I say. He is my hus- “Your husband!” gasped Zenas, relaxing his hold—a movement of which the prostrate man endeavored to take advantage. “Yes—yes! Hasn't a mana right to enter his own house any way he chooses, when he's not expected—has no key? Let him go. Don't you hear me say he is my husband?” “¥es, madam, and sorry I am to hear it, for I’ve heard of your husband’s——" “Agnes,” moaned the captive, “find my pistol—quick—and shoot the fellow. Put it close to hisarm and fire; then break the other in the same way—that will make tho devil loose his hold. I hear men running—they are coming this way.” “Help! Murder! Help!” roared Zanas, who also heard quick footsteps on a sidewalk not far away. Then he said quickly: ‘Madam, be- fore you can find that pistol I can kill this man with my hands at his throat. I've had to fight savage animals with my hands.” “God have mercy!” exclaimed the woman, again dropping on her knees beside the two men, “Listen to me, man! As God lives, my husband Js innocent of the charges against him—I know he is—I know all the facts. He's the victim of @ conspiracy that must be ex: d before long. He has risked everything onight for the sake of seeing his wife—his wife, do you hear Imagine yourself in his place—for your wife's sake—for the one person alive who trusts yon “It’s no use, Agnes,” groaned the man. “The fellow's a brute. Those men are almost hers I'm too weak to run far if I try—I'm gone.” “On, God!” the woman moaned; “has heaven no mercy for the innocent “HAS HEAVEN NO MERCY?” Zenas looked into the face before him—a upturned face, full of agony, the ing so full upon it that every line was visible, Then he said softly and quickly: “Yes, lam, heaven has mercy, as man will show you. He relaxed his hold and thrust a hand into his pocket, continuing to talk fast. “Mr. Maytham, you say you're too weak to run far; you won't be safe in your own house— hurry into mine—here’s the key to the back door—go upstairs as softly and as far as you can—there’s nobody on the top floor and there's light enough in tho halls for you to sce your way. Don’t make a noise or you'll rouse my family. Now's your chance—knock me aside and hurry across the fence—quick. Go softly—on your toes—keep in the shadow.” ‘Away sped Maytham, and Zenas continued as two men came hurrying into the garden gate: “Remember, madam—‘twas a burgiar—he ran across my back yard—he hurt me badly— you're trying to restore me—make them holp you—don't let them take me into my house till "m restored——"” Then, for the men were almost upon him, that good little man played hypocrite with con- summate ability. He begged the men not to leave him, bade them see how terribly injured he was, sent Mrs, Maytham into her house for water and stimulants and told the story of the attempted burglary at great length, until one of the men said: “Well, I spose 'tain’t no use to try to find the feller now—he's got too much start. It’s only by chance we followed him anyway. I thort I heerda ladder bein’ took froma house next me. ‘Thieves,’ says I to myself. I peeked out of winders one side an’ another, then I woke brother Jim an’ him an’ me went out kinder keerful like. Wecould see in the moonlight where the Indder had been dragged along in the dust of the road. Comin’ ‘round a bend we thort we heerd it hit somethin'—Iadders allus make @ noise when they bump a wooden house &n’ it’s a kind o’ noise you can hear a good way instill night like this, We began to run then an’ when we heerd the hollerin’ we knowd where to come.” “So good of you,” whispered Mrs. Maytham, “Ever so much obliged,” said Zenas. Then, realizing for the first time that Mrs, Maytham was not in daylight attire, he whispered some- thing to the men, who abruptly turned, said “good-night,” and went away. “Mr, Bortley,” said the woman, acizing hor neighbor's hands, “you are a noble man,” “Madam,” said the little man, who, in spite of a broken nose and closed eye, now felt him- self the equal of any one alive, “you are a true woman. ‘Try to feel easy about your husband. He will be sater in my house than in ne own, until we see how the authorities regard the burglar story. They can't suspect me—with this face. Then he turned quickly and entered his house. Softly ho went up the stairs and searched the top floor, light in hand, until he found the fugitive, to whom he whispered: “Take the room with the bed in it, Turn the key so none of my children happen in on you in the morning. I'll arrange for yoar wife to come in. I'll get my wife and the youngsters off some way after breakfast and we haven't any servants to poke around. Good-night.” ‘Then the little man proceeded to bury him- self in his own reflections and a wet towel with jump of ice in it. With aclearer head than he ever had taken to his desk in the city he nevertheless had many conflicting emotions. Within a single hour—a mere quarter of an hour, indeed—he had been guilty of cowardice, suspicion, heartlessness and several other un- rdonable sins; he also had indulged in vio- lence, dissimulation and a threat to commit murder, or at least manslaughter, He had imagined himself dying of fright; he had fought 4 larger man without the slightest sensation of fear. He, a member of the church, was cven now hiding a fugitive from Justice; he, a mar- ried mau, had stood some moments’ in the other man's wife who was in ning attire before he was conscious of the delicacy of the situation. He had sprung to the reseus because the intended victim—as be supposed—was a woman; yet that very same woman had called his incomparable family a “gang.” As he reviewed tho evening's oxperi- ences his mentality became clouded to such an extent that ho crept into bed to seek refuge in sleep. As he softly stretched himself his wife sighed, half raking: “I thought I—heard s noise—little while es, dear; I tumbled down, It’s all right to sleep.” ‘ go CHAPTER IIL, Amazement sat enthroned on the family visage in the morning when the disarranged countenance of the head of the family was ex- posed, but Zenas said it would all pass off dur- ing the day. All he needed, he said, was abso- lute quiet, and he absolutely ordered his wife to take all the children on a steamboat trip to New York and back, taking the earliest boat, and bi g him up a first-rate breakfast just before they started. His wife obeyed him, under and no sooner il were the family te than Zenas, in his pajamas, : i HF i i i i ‘pected, Mare, Maytham waskn ber and saw him. He beckoned in real country style and she was beside him in a moment, hich was diguifed 1s eplts of Ris aepects "%6 which was dignifie o conduct you to your burband.” He led the way upstairs, and soon husband and wife were in each other's arms, The host discreetly aes but stopped at the threshold and re- marked: “Don't feel the least bit uneasy; no one can ‘b you. I’ve sent away my—‘gang.’” slipped out his rear piazza. Ashe sus- garden “pip 1 DO ALL THAT?” He was ashamed of the shot as soon ashe had fired it, and still more ashamed when he dis- covered that it did not take effect. Then he remained on guard over both houses, enter- taining officers and all other curious people and forbidding that any one should even rin; Mrs, Maytham’s door bell—the pee dy’a nerves had been terribly shaken. ter in the = he watched carefully for the return of his a ny and warned Mra. Mavtham in time. ‘Oh, Zenas,” exclaimed Mrs, Bortley, husband met her at the gate. “The gri news! Iboughtan evening paper as w New York, and what do you think? Mr. tham isn’t a defaulter at all, The securities is said to have taken have been found and the real thieves have confessed, and” — “Give me oP .” interrupted Zenas, He glanced over the story and as he read his § wife exclaime “Now what do you think?” “I think,” sai nas, ‘that our neighbor will call on us tod: Then he dashed into the house, showed the newspaper to his hidden guest, hurried down stairs and over the fence, Tang the bell, and broke the news as gently as Possible to his posveritg neighbor, “You will excuse me, I trust, madam, if I present you to my wife when you come over? ae is the head of the family when sho is at ome, “I shall do myself the honor to tell Mrs, Bortley how loyal a neighbor, how brave a soul and how nobles man her husband is,” said ‘Mrs, Maytham, “and I shall beg her to let me be her husband's devoted friend—and hers— forever.” So the Bortleys caine to know their next- door neighbors after all. oe —______ THE DOCTOR HAD TO MOVE, He Stopped the Koosters, But Then Came the Parrots, From the Philadelphia Press. Next to a dog that amuses himself by bark- ing all night a rooster that persists in exercis- ing his voice is nature's own nuisance, especially when the rooster lives in town. A banker who used to live next door to a Dr. White, just be- yond the city line, owned two little bantam roosters that he had taught to crow for a grain ofcorn. He would take a double handful of corn out into his back porch, lift his hand and the chickens would crow. Then he gave a grain to each of them. This was continued until all the corn was exhausted and the roosters hoarse. This sort of thing annoyed Dr. White. One day a medical student dropped into his office about the time the sorenade be- gan. “T'd give $5 to shut off that noise,” said the doctor. Youcan do it for less than that,” said the student. “Why don’t you entice them into your back yard some time when old Rute is down town, catch them, and cut their vocal chords?” “By Jove! That's the thing. Come around tomorrow at 11 o'clock and assist me in the op- eration.” ‘The next day at the appointed hour the stu- dent was at the office on time; so were the roosters, Within two minutes one vocal chord of each chicken was cut, and then the birds were tossed over the fence to their home, At noon the owner came out on his porch for his daily amusement. White and the student watched him through acrack in the fence. He lifted his hand and tho little squallers reared back and went through the motions but did not utter a sound, ‘The banker lifted his hand again with the same result. He went out into the yard and walked around his pets, but he couldn't see anything wrong. Then he called his wife, and the two made a critical examination. He made them go through their pantomime for an hour and got disgusted. He tried it every day for a week and then killed the roosters and ate them, When he found out six months afterward what White had done, he bought two large dunkey-voiced parrots, tri them to say! ‘‘\—— Dr. White” and “White is an ass!” and bung their cages on his back porch, Then Dr. White moved. Moonshiner’s Wife Too Smart for Him. Birmingham Letter iu St. Louis Globe-Democrat. “Husting moonshjners is just as exciting sport as hunting tigers in the jungles of India,” said an old deputy United States marshal yes- terday, but it is not so dangerous, The wives and daughters of moonshiners,as rule, are smarter than the men and much more sus- Picious of @ stranger. I was over in Clay county on wraid once, and wasina locality whore almost every man owned a still. In such place it is hard to locate the still, and almost impossible to obtain evidence aguinst the owners unless they are caught in the act of making ‘mountain dew.’ I introduced myself asa land agent prospecting for mineral lands, and 1 was regarded with more or less suspicion. I was after a noted oonshiner named Newt Bledsoe, who was known to have been operating still in that locality for two years. I had trouble in finding a place where they would let me stay all night, but finally a native suggested that I try Deacon Bledsoe, ‘Ther Deakin’s sot on ‘ligion, the Bible and sich, an’ ’e allus takes in strangers,’ said the native. I was directed to the deacon’s house, two miles down the valicy, and arrived there an hour after dark. I did not once asso- ciate Deacon Bledsoe, who was ‘sot on the Bible,’ with Mooushiner Newt Bledsoe. In re- sponse to my helio @ tall, innocent-looking old countryman came out to the gate, and by the light of @ pine torch which he carried in his hand he looked me over, ‘Be you'uns the new Methodist circuit rider?’ he asked. I decided to play preacher for once, and answered in the ‘affirmative. “Light, arson; I'ma hardshell, but you're weloome. “I never lays it up agin » man "cause he don’t belong to my church,’ and the deacon received ine with true mountain hospitality. “At bedtime Bledsoe brought out a well-worn family bible and invited me to lead in prayer. I had not prayed since I was a boy at Sunday school, but was in for it, and reading a chapter in the Bible we all knelt down and I delivered some sort of a prayer. In my petitions I re- ferred to those sinners who defied the laws of God and man by making spirits, and prayed the Lord to turn them from their wicked Ways, To this Bledsoe responded with a loud “Amen!” “TI rose early the next morning, and finding that breakfast was not ready, 1 started for a short stroll in the woods back of the house. AsIleftthe yard I noticed Bledsoe’s wife watching me with evident suspicion. I walked on down to asimali branch which ran through the wooc, 300 yards back of the house, I saw smoke riving among the trees a little ways down the branch, and walking down way I found my host, Deacon Bledsoe, a fire under one of the largest moonshine stills I ever saw. He seemed as much surprised as I was, and in an instant it dawned on me that Deacon Bledsoe and Moonshiner Newton Bled- Soe were gue and the same person. Before he recovered from his surprise I had him covered with my revolver, and, telling him who I was, ordered him to surrender. “<Drap that thar wee I knowed you warn’t no parson,’ said a female voice bebind me at that moment, and turning I saw ‘a wife. She had the drop on me with a long rifle and dropped my pistol, Bledsoe picked up my revolver andIwas marched back to the ® prisone: “ *Thar’s your critter & bite to eat; now git,’ said she kept me with the her husband handed me back my pistol when I had BIG FISH AND SMALL FRY. Queer Sights and Exciting Fishing in the Bay of Fundy. ‘TRAPS FOR CATCHING THE AMERICAN SARDIXE— FACTORIES THAT START UP AT ANY HOUR—AD- VENTURES OF 4 FISHING PARTY—Aa MOTEL WHERE STRANGERS ARE NOT WELCOME. Correspondence of Taz Evawrro Stan. Passamaqvoppy Bar, New Bavxswice, Sept.1. HIS, I think, is the finest archipelago in America, Portland harbor boasts three hundred islands, and at the Thousand Mslands there are actually, as well as nom- inally, several times three hundred, and the green bosses of Lake Champlain are of varied loveliness, but those are serene islets in tranquil waters under smiling skies, while these are breathed on by all the winds of the earth and swept by fierce tides as high as a meeting house. Through Quoddy bay and the twin Cobscook bay and their estuaries a steamboat may wander for s month and never go twice among the same scenery. At Eastport twice » day when the tides go outandrush for the other side of the planet the ships are left high and dry upon their keels, Sometimes they are furnished with triple keels going down to a common level, 80 that when left by the refluent water they may have no trouble about standing up unaided by a wharf. Indeed, at St. John the farmers drive their wagons down under the ships and bait their horses at the very rudder while their produce uled up by @ tackle at the yard- arm. Isis queer sight, obtainable nowhere else on earth, I think. THE HERRING WEIRS, Allover and around Quoddy bay and the inlets and rivers tributary are hundreds of weirs where are captured the young herring which the Eastport factories cure and pack into boxes for sardines. These weirs are really traps of a rude sort where these midgeta are imprisoned at high tide and released (into boats) at low tide. Seen from a steamboat they appear mere bits of the ba: few acres in a place fenced in with bean poles that rise considerably out of water when the tide is out. The fence is built around three sider of this inclosure, the upright stakes being ho zontally wattled with willows and other lithe saplings and then filled in with brush so closely as tofurnish an obstruction to the herring infants which thoughtlessly drift into the open gate with the failing tide. Then, at the right time, boats go in armed with scines and take captive the bewildered shiners. A boat load will sometiines sell for 820 or $30, The eight-hour law is not enforced in East- Port because a sardine factory is liable to start up atany hour of the day or night and must keep going as long as there is anything to do, lest the tender catch should spoil. They are = to work more by night than by day, because the piscatorial small fry can be best taken at the daylight high tide. When the catch is washed and dressed, baked, oiled and boxed, then the hands go to bed and catch their forty winks, more or less, before they are summoned again to the loud-smelling factory. SIGNALING THEIR LUCK. When the boat comes back from its little cruise the skipper signals to the lookout at the factory the measure of his success and the hands are called from all parts of the town. To this end bells are rung and each factory has a different code, so that its employes know who lec) and pretty nearly what is expected of em, This dwarf herring is first cousin to the clupe which forms the sardine of France, It is not quite so hard and the cotton seed oil in which it is embalmed is not quite so savory as is the olive oil in which its aristocratic cousin of Con- carneau lies entombed. But he is as numerous and he is easier caught. When the French skipper of Concarneau desires to get a boat load of clupes he must first purchase a most seductive bait—the roe of cod—which costs about $20 barrel. This expensive luxury he must spread upon his net before he dips it in the sea and scatter it upon the waves atter- ward to entice the wary and insignificant fish- ling. But the Eastport skipper uses no bait and no auxiliary save the mighty tide which leads the diminut: wanderer within the sound and leaves him helpless there. The whole of the French coast, according to Henry Haynie, produces annually about sixty million boxes of sardines and Eastport, Me., produces about a third as many, So much for little fish; now for the big ones. CATCHING TRE BIG FISH. I never saw such fishing as there is here— never. The expert angler wouldn't like it. For the expert angler is never ha unless ‘the fish very difficult to catch. Prine ex- pert angler avoids those spots where fish are plenty. He likes to sit all day in the hot sun and get two reticent bites, and carry home ao three-story Sppetite and a nose that peels like an over-ripe banana, Set tho expert angler down where fish are plenty and s blushes, acknowledges that he has made a mistake, and at once moves off to some spot wher the game he seeks is more exclusive. There are shoals, flocks, swarms and herds of fish here— tremendous fellows, solid, sweet and tooth- some—cod, pollock, haddock, sword fish, hake, scrod, halibut and all the ‘long-shore fighters of the sea. The individuals of a school of fish here average about the size of the in- dividuals of aschool of children. Babes of five or six pull in fish bigger than themselves, Ihad listened to these yarns and had re- ceived them with bushels cf ‘allowance for the florid imagination of fishermen. I never knew anamateur fisherman who would lie, but I never knew one from whose hook fish did not occasionally escape that were twice as big as they ought to be. One day at Campobello Island I mustered a sail boat party for the fish- ing grounds—about 20 acres of a pollock para- dise out inthe briny just where Quoddy bay meets the Bay of Fundy. There were five of us, the party besides myself being four ladies, just about as ignorant of fishing as Twas, Ail of us had fished, but none of us hadever caught a fish if we could help it. I never could bear to see an angle worm wriggle and usually had my wife bait my hook. Thus weighted down at was naturally not expected that the boat would bring in a fish, But it did Listen to my tale. GETTING BITES. We shortly tacked across the track of a small boatand got some bait for 10 cents—a water pail full of ndressed minnows—sardines decollette, The two-inch hook is baited with a fresh sardine whole. It was deep sea fishing— 150 feet of stout line. One lady sat pensively under her parasol and looked on while the other four fished, keeping the skipper pretty busy baiting our hooks. To tell the melauchely truth, the fish got away with most of our bait. The painful silence in which we began the sqlemn exercise was broken by one of the ladies, who eagerly exclaimed: “I got’im! I got'im! I've got a fish! I feel'im bite! He pulls like everything! Per- haps it isa log. There! He keeps biting!” “Why don’t you pull up on your line?” sug- gested anothei “There! Hy bit again! Ob, isn't it fan! 7 ny- im we shouted in chorus, It took her about three minutes to pull in the line and then her hook was bare. “What made him get away?” she asked, look- ing distressed, “att ttin’ y'r bait,” said the skipper, tin’ on it and digestin’ it.I reckon he must have laughed an’ went off to consider wot to do next!” “I feel a bite!” said another. a bite! Ob, dear, he 8 ’m sure it's kee a-biting! There! See that! How he lls! There, he bites again! I shall just spoil this dress!” “Pull ‘im in!” was yelled again, ‘The skipper hurried across the boat, took the line in hand and hauled in and landed a good pollock weighing fifteen pounds, He eet on fresh bait and handed back the hne, 0] ing, ‘‘W'en you git a fish you must git'im. Fish enjoys conversation, but ’tain't good fer ’em.”” ‘The captured fish stopped our nonsense, We gradually settled down to business. There was little more gabbling or dallying. Whenone of the giris gota bite she tackied to the animal and hauled him in hand over b€nd. four were so big that not lift them over fan. got away from us on account of our ine: t- ness in taking them. But at the end of an hour we had got into the boat about 250 pounds of them- , cod and hake—and the largest one twenty-five a. There were twenty-two dead fish in We did not count — spit ny tear hcer aay while we were considering but I estimate i 4 i A TAVERNLESS PARADISE. This would be the paradise of summer loungers if there were a good hotel in the vi- cinity. But there is not I doubt if there isa single first-rate bed on Grand Menan. East- thad on!y small inns with plain accommo- tions, Campobelio ought to have a good hotel for tourists, but its singie house is owned by a few Bostonians who live there and make it their exclusive summer home. It is not meant for public use and travelers who pause there are regarded as intruders. One of tho stockholders said to me: ‘We live here. It is our bot weather retreat. Strangers are not in vited and are not welcome.” The result is that tourists pausing at Campobello are speedily given to understand that they are intruding on private property and they get amray as soon as le. oes ought to have a big summer Potel with wi preading baleonies and an air of hospitality where the independent traveler could tarry and feel that it belonged to him as much as toanybody. Ithasa superb climate and is the heart of a great summer rendezvous, and it cannot be possible that it will long be dominated by the narrow provincialism that repels the people of woalth and of taste who wish to come, W.AC. —»— HOME MATTERS. Seasonable Suggestions and Every-Day Hints to Practical Housekeepers. Oxe Tastespooxrut of liquid makes one- half ounce. Jziix Baos Sxovty Be Mave of flannel and pudding bags of linen. Do Nor Pur Soar ix tae Water with which you clean a mirror; it is almost impossible to polish the glass if soap is used. For Crovp Use Kenosrxe Or. Wet apiece of flannel and apply. It gives almost instant relief. Remove when the skin becomes very red, or it will blister, Wuew ir 18 Necessary To Take Cmancoat medicinally put it in a wide-mouthed bottle, pour it in an inch of water, cork it and shake it thoroughly. A few seconds will suffice to mix the charcoal and water. A Panaorara in THe New ENoraxp Fanuer Points out that @ tablespoonful of kerosene added to the soap and water with which floors are washed will greatly help in making them clean and will leave the paint fresh and bright. There will also be a considerable saving of soap. To Wasa Fancr Hosirny.—Diesolve some borax in the water. a teaspoonful to two quarts, soak the goods in this half an hour or more, then add soap to the water till good snd made. Rub out the hose, rinse in two waters AMERICAN PEARLS. Some Very Fine Specimens Taken From Rivers in the United States, From the Cincinnat! Times-Star. There is a current expression about pearts and swine which would seem to have a wider application in a certain sense than most people have suspected. The sense referred to is thist While pearls are to be found in the streams aud rivers all over our country few appreciate the fact. People, with the exception of those who are well informed on the subject, have a vague idea that all pearls come from the re= mote east, and do not suspect that some very, fine specimens have been found in American waters, ! It has even been stated by a gentleman cons nected with the Tiffany firm of New York thi the state of Ohio furnishes the handsomes® specimens of the American pearl, The same Gentieman says that his firm possesses several Wisconsin pearls valned at £900. The finding of American pearls began about thirty years ago, when one was found in Bound Brook, N.J. Tiffany gave $1,000 with » watch and chain to the discoverer for this gem, and finally, after passing through many hands, it came into the Possession of the Empress Eugenie. The discovery of this pearl created a great excitement, and the waters in the neighbors hood where it was found were carefully searched by many would-be pearl finders, Nothing was found as valuable as the first of although one was destroyed by being cool before it was noticed, which would bave been worth, it was estimated, $2,000. Since that time they have been found almost everywhere and just at present there is an exe citing search being prosecuted for them ina secluded pond up in Michigan. Already very valuable gems have been discovered im this locality—one of the last places where any one would have supposed them to exist. Although it i claimed by the above-men- tioned representative of the Tiffany firm that the best white pearls found in America come from the Big and Little Miami rivers of this state, the T/mes-Siar reporter found upon in- quiry among the jewelers that the Miami pearla were considered almost worthless here, One of these gentlemen said, when asked if he bad seen any: “Yes; ® man came in here not long ago with a handful of them. They are too ire regular in shape and too impure to suit our purposes.” ‘ “A friend of mine once spent his vacation upon the Miami gathering them with the ex- ectation of earning quite a sum in that way, Ee brought them to us, and we told him thi we could not give a dollar andahalf for the whole lot.” Yhere can the American pearls be found?” “Well, Michigan is the pl — now that is attracting the most a But nobody cam tell where they will be found next. Diamonds have been found unexpectedly in all kinds of out-of-the-way places, and itis just the same and dry. Fancy silk handkerchiefs and neck- ties may be washed in the same way. A Goop Recipg ron Virxxa Rorrs.—One Pint of flour, two tablespoonfals of butter, two teaspoonfuis of baking powder, a pinch of salt. Mix with water, as soft as possible to roll. Roll from you only and roll thin, cut and fold. Let stand one-half hour, then wet the top with milk and bake in a hot oven, Cantetovres SHoyip Nor Br Kept in a re- frigerator. They impart bad odors to an other- wise sweet compartment and tend to make milk and cream musty. The best way to give freshuess to the breakfast canteloupe is to hide it away on the grass plot over night. The dews which fall even in town seem to give to it re- markable freshness and crispness, To Remove Warre StatxsFrom Forsrrone.— Having dicovered a large white stain on a black walnut table I was greatly pl d to find that it could be removed by the application of spirits of camphor. This should be followed as soon as dry by a brisk rubbing with a flannel cloth on which there is a small quantity of good oil. Hasuep Brown Porators. —Chop cold boiled Potatoes rather fine. Put sufficient butter in a frying pan to well cover the bottom. As soon as this is very hot cover the bottom of the pan with the chopped potatoes to the depth of one inch, dust with salt and pepper and cook slowly without stirring for about ten minutes, then fold over as you would an omelet and turn them ont on a heated dish. Tomato To: Take three ripe tomatoes, cut away the stalks and any green part there may be. take out the seeds and cut the tomatoes into thick slices, Arrange these in a single layer ou a buttered ing tin, sprinkle over them some finely sifted bread crumbs seasoned. with salt and pepper, puta little piece of butter oneach slice aud bake in a brisk oven for fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve them on neatly cut pieces of hot buttered toast with the gravy that isin the dish with them poured over. A few drops of jemon juice is an im- provement. Porato Biscurr.—Make buscnit in the way you prefer—with buttermilk and soda, cream- tartar and soda, or baking powder, or without any of these, which is decidedly best, if thor- oughly beaten, and add one large cupful mashed potatoes (sweet or Irish), seasoned with butter, to each quart of flour. Mix well in the flour before putting in other ingredients, roll and cut, bake in a quick oven, and be sure to eat hot, Split with a fork, and spread with sweet butter, as you eat them, and they will almost melt in your mouth, if properly made. Corrxnas Dissorven tx WATER, a spoonful of the crystals to a pint, makes about the cheapest and best disinfectant and deodorizer for closet pans and chamber utensils. This is the most destructive poison, therefore never allow it to remain about so that ignorant persons or chil- dren can getat it. Inacellar that cannot be thoroughly ventilated. and has @ damp smell, set a few dishes of charcoal on the floor, shelves and ledges, It will make the air pure and sweet, and if a quantity is placed near where milk is kept there will be no danger of the milk becoming tainted. Beer Savap.—Cut fine, cold boiled beef and } toeach pint add a tablespoonful of chipped | onion, a teaspoonful of celery seed (or two | sticks of celery, cut fine), one hard-boiled egg cut up, a handful of light bread, broken small, | with skimmings from the pot in which the beef was boiled and enough of the liquor to make it soft—a cupful of beef gravy will do as well, or a tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour, with a half cupful of hot water. Add two or three cold potatoes, sliced fine, and, after mix- ing all thoroughly, put in a deep pan and bake fifteen minutes; serve hot with cold slaw. Tomatoxs Srurrep Warn Cxrss.—Peel nice ripe tomatoes and put them on the ice for two hours, then cut a slice from the stem end and carefully take out the seeds without breaking the tomato, and os them back on the ice until serving time. Wash the watercress and cut it quickly with a sharp knife or you will bruise it. Moisten it with a French salad dressing, add a teaspoonful of onion juice, and after carefully mixing put it gently in the tomatoes, stand each on a nice lettuce leaf and they are ready to serve. Giyozr Syars.—Mix a pinch of salt anda tablespoonful of ground ginger into a half pound of flour, and to this rub four ounces of butter and the freshly grated rind of a lemon. Mix it to a paste with about two oftnces of molasses and a few drops ot lemon juice. Flour the pastry board, roll out your pastry as thin as ible, and cut it into rounds with a tumbler, Bake in’a moderate oven and roll round your finger into a cone before it hardens, which it very soon does, 80 you must be quick about it, Keep the snaps in a closely shut tin or they will lose their crispness, Paerrr Nearty Every Parsicrax will advo- cate the daily use of fruit for most persons, It is claimed that owing to its palatableness it in- creases the flow of saliva and thus assists us in ing other food; that it is easily assim- igen by the system and keeps it free and in good working condition; that frcm its acids, salts and essential oils the blood is purified and disease germs destroyed, and that from its sac- charine matter the body is nourished and the animal heat is kept up. In warm weather iw acids temper and equalize the heat, while the sugars warm seasons. Chemists that sugar and acids are so well balanced in fruit, formed in the great laboratory of nature, that neither unduly or to the detriment of other. gether until light, Moisten two even table- Eg rf qa 5 i EF A i BB : i it i 3 fl afi a‘ i i t in the case of the pearl.” hat gives the pearl its value?” “The most valuable pearls are of pure white and perfectly round. This is the only gem which does not need tho lapidary's art to re- veal its beauty. Sometimes when the outer covering is spotted or otherwise imperfect it is eled off. Cndernesth will be found a spot- less surface and the gem will pass as one smaller but more valuable than the original «Few people understand about the making of this precious gem. A grain of sand or some other small and irritating particle gets lodged in an oyster or mussel she ‘The oyster can~ not remove it, but can get rid of 1te irritating effects. It deposits layer after layer of @ se- cretion of lime and hides the irritating graim in ‘mother of pearl.’ In China advantage is taken of this fact to obtain most delicate pearl figures. Small pellets of clay are moided into various shapes or metal images are madeg these are inserted between the shells of river mussels in the month of May and left there une til November, The mussel by that time bag deposited several layers of ‘nacre,’ or smothes of peuri,’ and a pearl image has been obtain which could not been cut out of « completely formed pearl. “It thus happens that when the exterior covering is imperfect it can be peeled off. A pearl is like an onion in that respect and con- sists of many concentric spherical layers. But no matter how far you may _ you rarely find the grain which caused the construction of the beautiful gem. “The perfectly rounded pearl, I have said, is the most valuable, other things being em | Next in order of value comes the pearl-shape: and last the egg-shaped. Some have the form of buttons, but these have to be cut into and when they are cut they do not possess the luster, which is @ quality that rondess » pearkh valable. “While the pure white is the most valued the colored pearl commands a high price, In Ine dia and China the low ranks first in value, The Michigan pearis are pink and those thad come from the Gulf of California black.” “Have you ever seen any large ones?” “Oh, yes; in New York I have seen one a bal inch in diameter. The size bas a great deal to do with the value set upon them. if you wish to see some just as they are taken out of the shelll have no doubt you can find some a8 Harff & Cramer's. They find « great many) upon opening their oysters and clams.” It is said that an expert can tell quickly. whether @ pearl comes from fresh water or now Such a pearl lacks the luster always charactere istic of the oriental or salt water pearl. American pearls are used principally for ping and brooches and are well known in Europe. They are prized for their oddity and prismatio colors, A great many were exhibited at the Paris exporition and ail were sold. The pearl ranks among the most beautifal gems, not for brilliance, but for luster and translucence. They have been long known to the world, and ancient writers refer to them as “angels” tears” and drops of “dew from heaven.”* Browning has suggested their value in a few lines: aThere are two moments in a diver's life— war be prepares to pluuse, rice he rises with bis pearl” The Way Jockeys Train, From Frank Leslie's Weekly I have been very much interested for some years in the methods of training adopted by men who are engaged in athletic sports and callings of various sorts, Many curious facts have come under my notice in a rambling way, but I doubt if anything is of more interest toa casuai man than the manner in which jockeys reduce their weight in order to ride at the number of pounds prescribed for them on tue race tracks, Any m&n who bas frequented the Russian baths of New York bas doubtless ob- served at times the small, attenuated and sometimes skinny figures that recline in the hottest corners of the Turkish room or soak with melancholy determination on the hottest slab of the steam room. They take no notice of their surroundings, but it is to be noted that the Lath attendants treat them with elaborate und almost absurd res] Once in a while « bather comes in who sits off at a distance and gazes with an almost idola~ trous affection at one of the skinny little mem or boys, This particular bather is in all proba= bility a racing man and he feels the keen ad- miration which all race-goers entertain for @ successful jockey. We pay the jockeys well enough in America to insure # better lot of oungsters than the turf boasts today. The Lage have not, anacule, a jest and proper en tion of what they owe to the public or to sporty and so much loose and criminal riding is tolere ated, particularly on what are known as tha winter tracks, that the boys have grown careq Jess in some instances and criminal in others, There is one quality, however, which I admire in all of them, and that is their tre reeverance and pluck. Ihave known @ Jockey to go intos oe wg the morn. after taking @ particul rigorous course ef medicine, usdengo the mest trying experts ence with the extreme heat of the establishe ment until be had lost four or five pounds by what is technically, and perhaps accurately, known in this system of training as “ sweating,” and then go out and put on thick flannels, a heavy cardigan et and overcoat, and walk and ran ten miles in blazing sun. ‘the medicine would have enough to weaken any ordinary man the pluck out of bim, but the jockey un. the whole of this exhausting and show up at the track to ride at o'clock in the afternoon weighing eight pounds less than in might be pallid and almost the saddle, but he had