Evening Star Newspaper, June 5, 1897, Page 19

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1897—28 PAGES. ¢ ~ (Copyright, 1897, UO WO NDC Chapter ViI—Continucd From Last Saturday's Star. For a moment Mrz. Horncastle was’ epecchless and vacillating. She had often noticed before that it was part of the irony of the creation of such a simple nature as Barker's that he was not only open to ée- ceit. but absolutely seemed to invite it. In- stead of making others franker, people were inclined to rebuke his credulity by re- straint and equivocation on their own part. But the evasion thus offered to her, al- though only temporary, was a temptation she could not resist. And it prolonged an interview that a ruthless revelation of the truth might have shortened. “She did not tell me why she was going there.” she replied, still evasively, “and, indeed,” she added, with a burst of candor still more dangerous, “I only learned it from the hotel clerk after she was gone. But I want to talk to you about her rela- tions to Van Loo,” she said, with a return of her former intensity of gaze. “and I thought we would be less subject to inter- ruption here than at the. hotel. Only I sup- Pose everybody knows this place, and any Ue FUTURA UUSUUNUARURINE THE THREE PARTNERS; The Big Strike on Heavy Tree Hill, Written for The Evening Star. BY BRET HARTE. of those flirting couples are likely to come here. Besides,” she added, with a littie by Bret Harte.) “Don’t mind me,” she murmured behi.id her handkerchief. “It's very foolish, I know _I was very nervous, worried, I sup- pose; I'll be better in a moment. Don't notice me, please.” But Barker had- drawn beside her and was trying, after the feshion of his sex, to take her handkerchief away in appar- ently the firm belief that this action would stop her tears. “But tell me what it is. Do, Mrs. Horncastle, please,” he pleaded in ‘his boyish fashion. “Is it anything I can do? Only say the word; only tell me something.” But he had succeeded in partially remov- ing the handkerchief, and so caught a glimpse of her wet eyes, in which a faint smile struggled out like sunshine through rain. But they clouded again, although she didn’t ery, and her breath came and went with the ‘action of a sob and her hands still remained against her flusked ‘face. “I was only going to talk to you of Kitty (sch), but I suppose I'm weak (sob) and sueh a fool (sob), and I got to thinking of myself and my own sorrows when I ought to be thinking only of you and Kitty.” “Never mind Kitty,” said Barker impul- sively. “Tell me about yourself—your own sorrows. I am a brute to have bothered you about her at such a moment; and now, till_you have told me whet is paining you so I shall not let you speak of her.” He was perfectly sincere- What were Kitty's BEFORE THE’ SPRING.” sterical laugh and a slight shiver, as she looked up at the high interlacing of the ve her head, “it's as public as | was ‘speaking out’ in meeting. Ien't there some other spot a little more cluded where we could sit down,” she poked her parasol into the powdery deposit of earth with the carpet of pine her feet, “and net get all know every stle,” he said, will follow me I'll take you to | © loveliest neoks you ever dreamed | old Indian spring now forgotten, | kK known only to me and the | han ten minutes from | das he caught bronze buckled nkle which Mrs. Horn- up of her dainty skirts t may be a lit- going to your feet.” stle pointed out that she ly irretrievably ruined her shoes kings in climbing up to him—al- Barker could really distinguish no ution of their freshness—and that she < well go on. Whereat they both own the long aisle of slope to a lit- tle hollow of manzanito, which again open- view of Black Spur, but left the len. That time did Kitty go?” began Barker, eagerly, when they were half down the lope. ln here Mrs. Horncastle’s foot slipped upon the gl pine needies, and not only stopped an answer, but obliged Barker to give all his attention to keep his com- Panion from falling again until they reach- ed the open. Then came the plunge through the manzanito thicket, then a cool wade through waist-deep ferns, and then they emerged, holding each othe hand, breath- less and panting before the spring. It did not belie his enthusiastic descrip- ticn. A triangular hollow, niched in a erelf of the mountain side, narrowed to a peint from which the overflow of the spring percolated through a fringe of alder, to fall in what seemed from the valley te be a green furrow down the whole length of the mountain side. above, Overhung by pines which met and mingled with the that everywhere fringed it, it made cooling shade in the whole basking of the mountain, and yet was pen- throughout by the intoxicating spice cf the heated pine Mowering reeds and lory lush grasses dréf a magic circle open bowl-like pol in the center that was always replenifped to the slow murmur of an unseen riv@let that trickled from a white quartz cavem in the moun- tain side like a vein opéed in its flank. Shadows of timid wings sed it, quick Tustlings disturbed the regis, but, nothing more. it was silent, but Breathing; it was hidden to everything but the sky and the illimitable distance. ‘They threaded thelr way around it, on the spongy carpet, covered by delicate lace- like vines thst seemed to caress rather than trammel their moving feet, until they reached an open space before the pool. It ‘was cushioned and matted with disintegra- ted pine bark, and here they sat down. Mrs. Horncastle furled her parasol and laid ft aside, raised both hands to the back of her head and took two hairpins out, which she placed in her smiling mouth, removed her hat, stuck the hairpins In it, and hand- ed it to Barker, who gently placed it on the top of a tall reed, where during the rest of that momentous meeting it swung and drooped like “a flower; removed her gle slowly. drank still sm'lingly and gratefully nearly a wineglass full of the water which Barker brought her in the green twisted chalice of a lily leaf, looked the picture of happiness, and then burst into tears. Barker was astounded, dismayed, even terror-stricken. Mrs. Horncastle crying! Mrs. Horncastle, the imperious, the col- ible and easy tears over the loss of er money to the unknown agony that cculd wrench a sob from a woman like this? “Dear Mi Horncastle,” he went on as breathlessly, “think of me now not as Kitty’s husband, but as your true friend. Yes, as your best and truest friend, and speak to me as you would speak to him.” “You will be my friend,” she said,suddenly and passionately, grasping his hand, “my best and truest friend? And if I tell you all —everything—you will not cast me from you and hate me?” =, Barker felt the same thrill from her warm hand slowly possess his whole being as it had the evening before, but this time he was prepared, and answered the gras} and her eyes together as he said, breath- lessly, “I will be—I am your friend.” e withdrew her hand and passed it over her eyes. After a moment she caugnt his hand again, and holding it tightly as if she feared he might fly from her, bit her lip, and then slowly, without looking at him, said, ‘I lied to you about myself and Kitty that night; I did not come with her. I came alone and secretly to Boomville to see—to see the man who is my husband.” “Your husband!" said Barker, in surpris>. He had believed, with the rest of the world, that there had been no communication be- tween them for years. Yet so intense was his interest in her that he did not notice that this revelation was leaving now no ex- cuse for his wife's presence at Boomville. Mrs. Horncastle went on, with dogged bit- ternes: Yes, my husband. I went to him to beg and bribe him to let me see my child. Yes, my child,” she said, frantically, tightening her hold upon his hand, “for I lied to you wken I once told you I had none. I had a child, and more than that, a child who at his birth I did not dare to openly claim.” She stopped breathlessly, stared at his face with her former intensity as if she would pluck the thought that followed from his brain. But he only moved closer to her, passed his arm over her shoulders with a movement so natural and protecting that it had a certain dignity in it, and, looking down on her bent head with eyes brimming with sympathy, whispered, “Poor, poor child!" Whereat Mrs. Horncastle again burst into tears. And then, with her head half drawn toward his shoulder, she told him all—all that had passed between her and her hus- band—even all that they had then but hint- ed at. It was as if she felt she could now, for the first time, voice all these terrible memories of the past which had come back to her last night when her husband had left her. She concealed nothing, she velled nothing; there were intervals when her tears no longer flowed, and a cruel hard- ness and return of her old imperiousness of vcice and manner took their place, as if she was doing a rigid penance and took a bitter satisfaction in laying bare her whole soul to him. “I never had a friend,” she whispered; “there were women who perse- cuted me with their jealous sneers; there were men who persecuted me with their selfish affections. When I first saw you, you seemed something so apart and diffe ent from all other men that, hough I scarcely knew you, I wanted to tell you, even then; all that I have told you now. £ wanted you to be my friend; something told me that you could—thaf you could sep- arate me from my past; that you could tell me what to do; that you could make me think as you thought, see life as you saw it, and trust always to some goodness in People as you did. And in this faith I thought that you would understand me ™cw, and even forgive me all.” She made a slight movement as If to dis- engage her arm, and possibly to look into his eyes, which she knew instinctively ‘were bent upon her downcast head. But he only held her the more tightly until her cheek was close against his breast. ‘What could I do?’ she murmured. “A man in sorrow and trouble may go to a woman for sympathy and support and the world lected, the coldly critical, the cynical, smil- ing woman of the world, actually crying! Other women might cry—Kitty had cried often—but Mrs. Horncastle! Yet, there she ‘was, sobbing; actually sobbing like a school- ae her beautiful shoulders rising and ling with her grief; crying unmistakably through her long, white fingers, through a Jace pocket handkerchief which she had hurriedly produced and shaken from be- Bind her like a conjurer’s trick; cry’ through her beautiful eyes, a thousai times more lustrous for the sparkling beads t brimmed her lashes and welled over the pool before her. not gainsay or misunderstand him. But a woman—weaker, .more hi ored: ignorant and craving for bt—must not, in her agony, go to a man ‘for succor and "UNVny shéuld she nott burat eat Bark ry sl e im passionately, is to gaze into ner eee face. Wher Jn bie. sttempt Not that,” she sald, slowly, but with — a ” . still a eyes, “but use the world say she loved him.” = =~ > * “And what should she care for the opin- jon of a world that gr agiooe fhe) she heed HH her suffer? Why wretched babble?” he went on in flashing ruse.” she said, faintly, lifting her intly, moist eyes and moist and aa eae ward him, “because it wi be i There was a silence so profound that even spring to withhold its mprmur as their eyes and lips met. When the spring recommenced its murmur, and they could hear the dronii of a bee them and the rustling of the I should risk everything to tell you what I have told you before I told you anything else? You will never hate me for it, George?” There was another silence still more pro- longed, and when he looked again into the flushed face and glistening eyes he was saying: “I have always loved you. I know now I loved you from the first, from the day when I leaned over you to take little ‘Sta’ from your lap and saw your tender- ness for him in your eyes. I could have kissed you then, dearest, as I do now.” “And,” she said, when she had gained her smiling breath again, “you will always remember, George, that you told ine this before I told you anything of her.” “Her? Of whom, dearest?” he asked, leaning over her tenderly. “Of Kitty, of your wife,” she said, imp tiently, as she drew. back shyly, ith her former intense gaze. He did not seem to grasp her meaning, but said gravely: “Let us not talk of her now. Later we shall have much to say of her. For,” he added, quietly, “you know I must tell her all.’”” The color faded from her cheek. “Tell her aif!” she repeated, vacantly; then sud- denly she turned upon him eagerly and said: “But what if she is gone?” 'Gone?” he repeated. “Yes, gone. What if she has run away ith Van Loo? What if she has disgraced you and her child?” “What do you mean?” he said, seizing both her hands and gazing at her fixedly. “I mean,” she said, with a half-fright- ened eagerness, ‘that she has already gone with Van Loo. George! George!” sne burst out suddenly and passionately, falling upon her knees before him, “do you think that I would have followed you here and told you what I did if I thought she had now the slightest claim upon your love or honor? Don’t you understand me? I came to tell you of her flight to Boomyille with that man; how,I accidentally intercepted them there; how I tried to save her from him, and even lied to you to try to save her from_your indignation; but how she de- ceived me as she has you, and even escaped and joined her lover while you were with me. I came to tell you that and nothing more,, George, I swear it. But when you were kind to me and pitied me, I was mad —wild! I wanted to win you first out of your own love. I wanted you to respond to mine before you knew your wife was faithless. Yet I would have saved her if I could. Listen, George. A moment more before you speak!” Then she hurriedly told him all; the whole story of his wife's dishonor, from her entrance into the sitting room with Van Loo, her later appeal for concealment from her husband’s unexpected presence, to the use she had made of that conceal- ment to fly with her lover. She spared no detail, and even repeated the insult Mrs. Barker had cast upon her, with the triumphant reproach that her husband would not believe her. “Perhaps,” she added, bitterly, “you may not believe me now. I could even stand that from you, George, if it could make you happier; but you would still have to believe it f-om oth- ers. The people at the Boomville hotel saw them leave it together.” “I do believe you,” be said slowly, but with downcast eyes, “and if I did not love you before you teld me this, I could love you now for the part you have taken; but——" He stopped. “You love her still,” she burst out, ‘and I might have known it. Perhaps,’ she went on, distractedly, ‘you love her the more that you have lost her. It is the way of men—and women.” “If I had loved her truly,”’ said Barker, lifting his frank eyes to hers, “I could not even have wished to—as I did three years ago—as I did last night. Then I feared it was my weakness, now I know it was my I have thought of it ever since, even while waiting my wife’s return here, know- ing that I did not and never could have But for that very reason I must e her for her own sake, if I can- not save her for mine, and if I fail, dear- est, it shall not be said that we climbed to happiness over her back bent with the bur- den of her shame. If I loved you and told you so, thinking her still guiltless and in- nocent, how could I profit now by her fault?” Mrs. Horncastle saw too late her mistake. “Then you would take her back?” she said frenziedly. “To my home—which ts hers—yes. To my heart—no. She never wa» there.” “And I,” said Mrs. Horncastle, with a quivering lip, “where do I go when you have settled this? Back to my past again? Beck to my husbandless, childless ilfe?" pne was turning away, but Barker caught her in his arms again. “No,” ae said, his whole face suddenly radiating with hope and youthful enthusiasm. “No! Kitty will help us; we will tell her all. You do not know her, dearest, as I do—how good and kind she is, in spite of all. We will appeal to her, che will devise some means by which, without the scandal of a divorce, she and I may be separated. She will take dear little ‘Sta’ with her—it is only right, poor girl; but she will let me come and see him. She will be a sister to us, dearest. iterical laugh came to Mrs. Horn- lips and then stopped. For as she looked up at him in his supreme hopeful- ness, his divine confidence in himself and ‘s—at his handsome face, beaming love and happin and his clear, gray eyes, glittering with an almost spirit- ual prescience—she, woman of the worid and bitter experience, and perfectly cogni- zant of her own and Kitty's possibilities, was, nevertheless, completely carried away “I Know It Ar by her lover’s optimism. For of all opti- mism that of love is the most convincing. Dear boy!—for ‘the was but a boy in experi- ence—only his love for her could work this magic. So she gave him kiss for kiss, largely believing, largely hoping that Mrs. Barker was in love with Van Loo and would not return. And in this hope an in- vineible belief in the folly of her own sex soothed and sustained her. “We must go now, dearest,” said Barker, pointing to the sun, already near the mcri- dian. Three hours ‘had fled, they knew not how. “I will bring you back to the hill again, but there we had better separate, you taking your way alone to the hotel as you came, and I will go a little way on the road to the ‘Divide’ and return leter. Keep your own counsel about Kitty for her sake and ours; perhaps no one else may know the truth yet.” With a farewell kiss they plunged again, ‘hand in hand, through the cool bracken gnd again through the -hot manzanito bushes, and 60 on the hilltop, as they had never parted before, leaving their whole world behind them. Barker walked slowly along the road un- der the flicker of wayside syca- more, his sensitive also alternating Bresertly ‘there crept foward ca out rily there or ting, deviat- the distance a halt bugsy, hausted, it ‘8 sole occu- monotonous at mito arse te cl with and at eae is alee fe the, bial of sunlit to ar it, he recoguised his above |- He went up to her. Shetavasidirty, she tear-swept eyes and was disheveled, she was she was a of dust- Gried Sec Ae " He though: e beauty,' frestmess and elegance of the her, and, tenderly lifting shame- stained garments from A hurriedly, “1 know it all, poor Hitty! You heard the news of Van "s ‘t, and Meh' you ran over to the ‘Divide’ ;to-try and save some of your money. Why. 't;you wait? Why didn’t you tell me?” 5 6 There was no mistaking the reality of his words, the genuine pity and: tenderness of his action, but the woman saw before her only the familiar dupe of her Jife, and felt an infinite relief, mingled with a certain contempt for his weakness and anger at her precious fear of him. “You might have driven over, then, your- self,” she said in a high, querulous voice, ‘if you knew it so well, and have spared me this horrid, dirty, filthy, hopeless ex- pedition, for I have nat saved anything— there! And I have had all this disgusting bother!” For an instant he was sorely tempted to Uft his eyes to her face, but he checked himself; then he gently took her dust coat from her shoulders and shook it out, wiped the dust from her face and eyes with his own handkerchief, held her hat and blew the dust from it with a vivid memory of performing the same service for Mrs. Horncastle only an hour before, while she arranged her -hair; and .then, lifting her again into the buggy, sald quietly, as he ook his seat beside her and grasped the reins: “I will drive you to the hotel by way of the stables, and you can go at once to your reom and change your clothes. You are tired, you are nervous and .worried, and want rest. Don’t tell me anything now until you feel quite yourself again.” He whipped up the horse, which, recog- nizing another hand at the reins, lunged forward in a final effort, and in a few min- utes they were at the hotel. As- Mrs. Horncastle sat at luncheon in the great dining room, a littlé pale and abstracted, she saw Mrs, Barker sweep confidently into the room, frésh, rosy and in a new and ravishing toilet. With a swift glance of conscious power toward the other guests, she walked toward’ Mrs. Horn- castle. ‘‘Ah, here you are, dear,” she said, in a voice that could easily®reach all ears; and you've arrived only.a little before me, after all! And I’ve had such an awful drive to the ‘Divide!’ And only think! poor George telegraphed to me at; Boomville not to worry, and his dispatch has only just come back here."” And with a glance of triumph she laid Barker's gentle and forgiving dispatch be- fore the astonished Mrs. Horncastle. Chapter VIU,", As the day advanced the excitement over the financial crisis increased: &t Hymettus until, in spite of its remote and peaceful isolation, {t seemed to throb through all its verandas and corridors with some pulsation from the outer world. Besiles the letters” and dispatches brought by Hurried mes- sengers and by coach from the “Divide,” there was a crowd of guests nd servants around the branch telegraph’ at the new Heavy Trce post office, whigh was con- stantly augmenting. Added: tg the natural anxiety of the deeply interested was the stimulated fever of the few Who wished to be “in the fashion.” It “rutitok rumored that a heavy operator, a gue&t of the hotel, who was also a director th'thé“telegraph company, had bought up the wires for his sole use, that the dispatches ‘were doctorcd in his interests’ as a bear,’ iq’ there was wild talk of “lynching” by “the? indignant mob. Passengers from Sai nto, San Francisco and Marysville Brought incred- ible news and the wildest deyfations. Firm after firm had failed in the gréat cities. 2 Old-established houses, that @ated back to the “spring of '49,"" and had“Wedthered the fires and inundations of their‘perilous Call- fornian infancy, collapsed betoré‘this mys- terfous, invisible, impalpable breath of panic. Companies rooted itt réSpectability and sneered at for old-fashioréd ways were | discovered to have shamelessty-speculated with trusts! An eminent ‘dotéofi ane pillar | cf the church was found dead in his room with a buaiet in his heartauml a damning confession on.the desk before him! Fereign bankers were sending their sold out of the | country; the government ‘would Be appealed to to open the vaults-of the #hint;'there! would be an embargo unzall bullion ship- ment! Nothing was too wild er preposter- ous to be repeated or credited., And with thjs fever of sordid passion the temperature had increased. For the las two weeks the thermometer had stood normally high during the day-long sun- shine: and the metallic dust in the roads over mincral ’ 1 the skin like red-hot needle woods the aromatic sap s felled logs and splintered tree shafts; even the moun- tain night breeze failed to cool these baked and heated fastnesses. There were omin- ous clouds of smoke by day that were pil- lars of fire by night along the distant val- leys. Some of the nearer crests were etch- ed against the midnight sky. by dull red creeping lines like a dying firework. The great hotel itself creaked and crackled and warped through all its painted, blistered und veneered expanse, and was filled with the stifling breath of desiccation. The stucco cracked and crum the cornices; there were y pe Tes ly fixed in their warped, and twisted sashes and added to the heat; there was a warm incense of pine sap in the dining room that flavored all the cuisine. And yet ; the babble of stocks and shares went on, and people pricked their ears over their soup to catch the gossip of the last arrival. Demorest, loathing it all in new-found | bitterness, was nevertheless impatient in his inaction and was eagerly awaiting a | telegram from Stacy; Barker had disap- | peared since luncheon. Suddenly there was a commotion on the veranda as a: carrta drove up with a handsome, gr: woman. In the buzzing of voices around him Demorest heard the name of Mrs. Van Loo. In further comments, made in more smothered accents, he heard that Van 1.00 had been stopped at Canon Station, but that no warrant had yet been issued against him; that it was generally believed that the bank dared not. hold him; that others openly averred that he had been used as a scapegoat to avert suspicion from higher guilt. And certainly Mrs. Van Loo’s calm, confident air seemed to corroborate these assertions. He was still wondering if the strange coincidence which had brought both mother and son irto his own life was not merely a fancy as far as she was concerned when @ walter brought a message from Mrs. Van Loo that she would be glad to see him for a few moments in. her room. Last night he could scarcely. haye restrained his eagerness to meet her and elucidate the mystery of the photograph; now he was conscicus of an equally strong .revul- sion of feeling*and a dull premonition of evil. However, it was no doubt possible that the man had told her of his previous inquiries, and she had merely acknowl- edged them by that message. Demorest found Mrs. Vian! Loo in the rivate sitting room of the precefling night, ie received him with unmistabje courtesy and even a certain dignity thdt might or might not have been a: if He had no difficulty in recognizingothe: son’s me- w_i $s _ politeness in the first, but at the Possession of these rooms for a couple of hours until I can pack my trunks and gather up a few: souvenirs that I almost always keep with me.” “Pray consider that your wishes are my own in respect to that, my dear madam,” returned Demorest gravely, “and jthat, indeed, I protested against even this tem- intrusion upon your apartments; but I confess that now that you have spoken of your souvenirs I have the great- est curiosity about one of them, and that even my object in seeking this interview was to gratify it. It is'in regard to a photograph which I saw on the chimney Piece of your bed room, which I think 1 recognized as that of some one w! i formerly knew.” There was a sudden look of sharp sus- picion and even hard aggressiveness that quite changed the lady’s face as he men- tioned the word “souvenir,” but it quickly changed to a smile as she put up her fan with a gesture of arch deprecation, and said: “Ah! I see. Of course, a lady’s photo- h.”? graph. The reply irritated Demorest. More than that, he felt a sudden sense of the abso- lute sentimentality of his request, and the consciousness that he was about to invite the familiar confidence of this strange woman—whose son had forged his name— in regard to her. “It was a Venetian pictire,” he began, and stopped, a singular disgust keeping him from voicing the name. But Mrs. Van Loo was less reticent. “Oh, you mean my dearest friend’s lovely pic- ture; and you know her? Why, yes, surely. You are the Mr. Demorest who—. Of course, that old love affair. Well, you @re a marvel! Five years ago, at least, and you have not forgotten! I really must write and téll -her.” “Write and tell her!” Then it was ail a lie about her death! He felt not only his faith, his hope, his future leaving him, but even his self-control. With an effort he said:* “I think you have already satisfied my curiosity. I was told five years ago that she was dead. It was becanse of the date of the photograph—two years later—that I ventured to intrude upon you. I was anx- ious only to know the truth.” “She certainly was very much living and of the world when I saw her last, two years ago,” said Mrs. Van Loo, with an easy smile. “I daresay that was a ruse of her rejatives—a very stupid one—to break off the affair, for I think they had other plans. But, dear me! now I remember, was there not some littie quarrel between you before? Some letter from you that was not very kind? My impression is that there was something of the sort, and that the young lady was indignant. But oniy for a tin you know. She very soon forgot it. I da’ say if you wrote something very charming to ber it might not be too late. We women are very forgiving, Mr. Demorest, and, al- though she is very much sought after, as are all young American girlg whose fathers can give them a comfortable dot, her par- ents might be persuaded to throw over a poor prince for a rich countryman in the end. Of course, you know, to you republi- cans there is always something fascinating in titles and blood, and our dear friend is like other girls. Still, it Is worth the risk. j And five years of waiting and devotioa reaily ought to tell. It’s quite a romance! Stall I write to her and tell her I have seen yeu, looking well and prosperous, nothing more? Do let me! I should be delighted. “I think it hardly worth while for you to give yourseif that trouble,” said Demorest, quietiy,~looking in Mrs. Van Loo’s smiling eyes, iow that I know the story of the young lady's death was a forgery. And I will not intrude further on your time. Pray give yourself no needless hurry over your packing. I may go to San Franciseo this | afternoon, and not even require the rooms tonight.”” “At east let me make you a present of the souvenir as an acknowledgment ot your coirtesy,” said Mrs. Van Loo, passing into her bed room and returning with the pho- i tosraph. “I feel that with your five years of constancy it is mere yours than mine.” As a gentleman, Demorest knew tha: cculd not refuse, and taking the phot graph from her with a low bow, with another final salutation he withdrew. (To be continued.) eee KY LITTLE PIGEON. PL Nansen Owns and Cherishes One of the Wonders of the World. From the New York Mail and Express, One day a wonderful bird tapped at the window of Mrs. Nansen’s home at Chris- tiania. Instantly the window was opened and the wife of the famous arctic explorer in another moment covered the little mes- senger with kisses and caresses. The car- rier pigegn had been away from the cot- tage thirty long months, but it ‘had not forgotten the way home. It brought a note from Nansen stating that all was going well with him and his expedition in the polar regions. Nansen had fastened a message to a car- rier pigeon and turned the bird loose. The frail courier darted out into the blizzardly It flew like an arrow over a thousand miles of frozen waste, and then sped for- ward over another thousand miles of ocean and vlains and forests, and one morning entered the window of the waiting mistress and delivered the message which she had been awaiting so anxiously. We boast of human pluck, sagacity and endurance, but this loving little carrier pigeon, in its homeward flight, after an absence of thirty months, accomplished a feat so wonderful that we can only give ourselves up to the amazement and admira- tien which must overwhelm every one when the marvelous story is told. Mrs. Nan- sen’s pigeon is one of the wonders of the world. eee es Fishing Time. When tulips bloom in City Squa Acd timid breaths of vernal air Go wandcring down the dusty tot Like children lost in Vanity Fatry When every long, unlovely row Of, westward houses stands aglow, And leads the cyes toward sunset skies Beyond the hills where green trees grow; When weary"secms the street parade, = eee, a) and weary trade; 'm only wishing to go a-fishing; For this the month of May ‘was iade. a guess the assy. willows pera re creeping out on every bougl Along the brook; and robins look For early worms behind the plough. Fhe thistle-birds have changed thelr dun yellow coats, to match the sun; And in the same array of flame ‘The Dandelion Show's ‘The flocks of young anemones Are da round the budding trees; ‘Who can wishing to go a-fishing renee of Joys as these? In days as —HENRY VAN DYKE. FA Georgetown. The debaters in the contest with the New York University Law School Debating Society left for New York city last night. ‘The debate will occur at Carnegie Lyceum at 8:15 this evening. The representatives of Georgetown are Messrs. John P. O’Brien, Jean F. P. des Garennes and Hampton H. Magruder. They have all worked very bard in preparation, and hope for success. Judge Martin J. Keogh of the supreme court of New York is one of the judges. Driscoll, the tennis champion of © Call- fornia and the south, has won the cham- Pionship of New England by defeating all the cracks at the New Haven tournament. Examinations are now in progress, and will continue until the 234 of the month. The work in Gaston Hall on the new galleries is progressing rapidly and satis- factorily. The commencement of the law school will occur on Monday at 7 o'clock, at the National Theater. The rector will deliver the opening address and confer the “\Phe commencement of the university will occur June 23 in Gaston Hall. A reunion of the graduates will occur on the date of the commencement and on the following day, when the banquet will be hh : a. thought that another match may be arranged between Colfelt and Wefers. At their match held early this week Wefers' leg was injured, and he was, consequently, defeated, but the time was not nearly 80 fast as the record, which Wefers holds. Howard. All the literary, scientific, social and re- lgious societies have held their final mect- ings and preparations for departure are manifest everywhere. Almost every day this week has been the cccasion of the commencement exercises of one or more of the departments of the university. Tuesday last, in Andrew Ran- kin Memorial Chapel, the commencement exercises of the Normal School were held; on Wednesday the preparatory school closed its session by appropriate graduat- ing ceremonies; the college commencement cecurred on Thursday evening. Prominent speakers addressed the graduates at each event, and fair numbers received diplomas in each of the departments. It is probable that several important im- provements willbe mace in the plan of in- struction at the-university next session. Catholic. Among those visiting the university thts week were Rev. Father Buquet of France and Rev. Father Wilson of Newcastle, Ergland. Very Rev. Dr..Conaty returned from Chi- cago Friday, May 28, and on Sunday last he preached at St. Paul’s Church on “The Lessons of Memorial Day.”” On Memorial day he attended the exercises at the Sol- diers’ Home, and made an address at that place. While west Dr. Conaty made two important addresses and visited Notre Dame University. Tomorow he will go to Ashley, Pa., and will preach at the dedica- tion of the church of Rt. Rev. M. J. Hobaa ccadjutor bishop of Scranton. The work of cxaminations is about com- pleted. Daring the week the public uni- versity examinations were held. The com- mcncement exercises will occur on the #h and Cardinal Gibbons, the chancellor, will confer the degrees. In the department of theology, fifteen clergymen will receive the degree of S. T. B., and eight bachelors will be honored with the degree of S. T. D. In the department of philosophy, the degree of Ph. D. will be conferred uvon one graduaie, and another will receive the degree of Ph. B. In the department of law, three ‘doctors, two masters and five bachelors will graduate. The exercises will begin promptly at 10 o'clock, and will ccnsist of an opening address by the rec- tor, Dr. Conaty, and presentation of can- didates for degrees by the dean of each faculty, followed by short addresses by the representatives of tne several class The exercises will close with an addres by the chancellor, after which the pro- cession will reform and proceed to the divinity chapel, where the Te Deum will be rendered and benediction of the blessed sacrament prorcunced. Sunday next, for the first time, special academic seryices will be held in the chapel,with the baccalaureate sermon. Rev. Father Fitzgerald, first president of the alumni associaticn, will deliver the ser- mon and the’professors and students of the university will attend in academic robes. Dr. Quinn, prcfessor of ancient languages at the university, has received a letier from Fatuer Mackey of Cincinnati, in which the latter says that he has added to the funds of the institutior $5,000 for a scholarship. He also makes a generous contribution for the purchase of books for use in the Greek library. It 1s. thought that the beneficiary of the fund will be chesen by competitive examination from Cincinnati, and the scholarship will prob- ably be designated the Cincinnati schoiar- sPip. Columbian, The pubjic disputation of theses of can- didates for the degree of doctor of phil- osophy was held in the hall of the univer- sity Wednesday at 10am. The candidates were Timothy William Stanton, B. S.,M. S.; Charles Arthur Hollick, Ph.B., and John Scott Jackson, B. S., A. M., and their sub- jects respectively as follows: “A Compara- tive Study of the Lower Cretaceous Forma- tions and Faunas of the United States,” “Palaeo Botany wf the Yellow Gravel at Bridgeton, New Jersey,” and “Influence of French Thought on the Formation of the Constitution of the United States.” Cless day exercises will occur June 8, and an appropriate program will be ren- dered. Examinations haye been in progress for most of the present week. Invitations and programs for the com- mercement exercises of the Corcoran Scien- tific Scheol are out. ‘The Columbian base ball team had a game scheduled with Georgetown for Wednes- day, but were unable to play. The debating society of the Columbian University Law School will hold its annual prize debate this evening at the university hall. It is considered a great honor among the law students to be chosen »s one of the speakers in this contest, and much interest is manifested in the event. The represen- tatives of the post-graduates will be Wise and Clay of Ohio and Kentucky, while Messrs. Warfield of New York and Dabney of Virginia will be their opponents from the junior class. Messrs. Hendrick of Tennes- see and Sullivan of Igaho have been chosen | seem ome eee LUNIVERSITY NOTES|LONG AT THE LEVER. RIGORS OF THE ROAD Break Down the Nervous System of a Well-Kaown Rallread Eagtnecr— What Datit Him Up Aga’ From the Gazette, Cuillicothe, Obio. Mr. Elbridge Waterman is a well-known rafl- road engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Southwest ern Railway, who has been a great sufferer from Bervous debility of an aggravated kind for the past ten years, The strain was telling on bis nerves terribly, and steady work was Aniprmaibles The following is his story: “For the past ten years,” be said, “I have suf- fered as few mev have, with nervousness, heart trouble and rheu.tism. I have Mved on the foot- board most of my life, and the constant jolting and nervous strain slowly but surely undermined ay constitution. I was forced to quit work, and there seemed to be little prospect of my gulng back to the throttle again. I tried every remedy that I sould find, but mone of them @id me any good. I consulted doctors all over the couatey, bat to mo avail. I would be better for a time, and then would come on an attack more severe than ever, and I would have to quit work. The Tovey 1 save spent during that time for doctors and medicine, none of which did me any permanent gc0d, would place ime new out of want, and im compafative affluence, if I had it. An idea of how Much time and money I lost may be gained when I tell you that during last summer aloue, I was totally unable to work four months on a stretch, end was much of the time confined to the house ond to the bed, sometimes unable to move, It nwkes me cold all over when 1 look back on what I have gone through, “But rheumatism was not the only thing J suffered from. My heart troubled me very much, and I was totally unable to sleep for days and weeks at a time. When I would drop of into @ deze, my beart would beat jtself almest out of my bosom, and would wake me up us :hongh I had been struck by a teip hammer. T bad twitehings in my arms and legs, and was altogether im such & condition that my wife and friends began to consider me beyond reach of medical assistance. “I was aimost of the sane opinion n.yeelf, gwhen I happened to see in the paper last June a letter from an old soldier in the west who had been cured of fheumatism by Dr. Williams’ Piuk Pills. ‘The testimonial was written in such a way that Iknew it was not a foked up one, and I determined to give this medicine a fair tyal. Lwas unable to Work s* the time, and almost in Gespair. So I | went to the drug store and bought six Loxes of them, in order to give them a thorongh test, and in a few days I began to feel the improvement they Were working in my system. In two weeks I was able to go to work,-and I have work ever since without a lay-off, which is something I bave vot done for years. “The first improvement I noticed was in my heart, which grew more and more wormal ta ite action, until at last it did not trouble we st all, and I was able to sleep as I had not been able fer ten years. ‘The heart trouble las never re- turned, and iny sleep for the past two months has been healthy and deep. Last night I went to bed early and sicpt soundly until eight o'clock this morning. And now, when I wake up, I feel in- vigorated and ready for the day's work, just as I used to feel when I was a boy. “The nervous twitchings wese also cured in @ short time, and have nev returned or bothered me in the least since. This has also been a great relief to me, as the twitchings were very annoy- ing, as well as an indication to every of the terrible condition In which iy tate of health was, And the greatest wonder of all is that the rheumatism seems to be cured also, and does not bother me in the least any mo: except when I expose myself unduly, and even then for a stort time. I consider myself a wel 2 now, and hope to continue so, I am still caking Pink Pills, for I want the cure to be a complete and Permanent one, 1 only wish I had known them saved myself large ax well as suffering for which no uk P's contain, in a condensed 1S neceksary to give new life They are an se8 as locomotor dance, sciatica, neuralgia, rhewmatisia, nerv- ous hendache, the after effect of la grippe, palpl- tation of the heart, pale and sallow complexions, all forms of weakness elt! in male or female, Pink Pills are sold by all dealers, or will be sent postpald on receipz of price, 50 ts a bex, or six bones for §2. (they ave nev or sold in Yolk or by the 100), by addressing Dr. Williazus’ Medicine Company, Schenectady, N. ¥. from the senior class. The judges are Jus- tice Peelle, Justice Shepard and Mr. R. C. De Graffenreid. Just prior to the debate the law students ® will present to the university the bust of Justice Harlan, and Justice Cox, the dean of the law department, will deliver the Presentation address on behalf of the don- ors, while President Whitman will accept. Doors will be opened at 7:30. ———__ How Thiers Won a Prize. From the Chautauquan, His great achievement at Aix was in winning a@ prize offered by the academy for an essay on Vauvenargues. The way in which this prize was secured was char- acteristic of Thiers. He wrote one essay, which would have been successful but for the fact that it was known to be his. The essays were sent anonymously, but Thiers had been unable to refrain from reading his to a literary society. The royalists on the committee, knowing its authorship, were unwilling to grant it the prize and postponed the decision. Thiers at once wrote another in a different style, which Mignet copied and sent in anonymously. This essay won the prize and the whole town laughed at the clever scheme. The money which he received enabled him to go to Paris. Se 5 Se Dr. James Martineau, who the other day celebrated his ninety-second birthday, is one of the very few living authors whose literary activity dates from the beginning of the Victorian reign. Dr. Martineau pub- lished his first book, “The Rationale of Re- ligious Inquiry,” in 1837. ANHEUSER-BUSCH BREWING ASS’N, THE LEADING BREWERY IN THE WORLD. . Brewers of the Most Wholesome and Popular © Beers. The Original Budweiser The Michelob The Muenchener Served on -all Pullman The Faust The Anheuser The Pale Lager Dining. anid Butfot Cars. Served on all Wagner Dining and Buffet Cars. Served on all Ocean and Lake Steamers. Served in all First Class Hotels. Served In the Best Families. 3 Served in all Fine Clubs. _ a Tenis, ‘‘Malt-Rutrine’* the - Food-driak, bs proper by