Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, April 29, 1894, Page 19

of the miraculous water, over at once and ha could walk without crutches, while the doctor sald to him ‘Your leg 15 like that of a new born child.’ Exactly. An entirely new leg.” No one spoke, but there wa of ecstatic looks. “And, ses,” continued M. Sabathier, “it like the story of Louis Bourrette, a carrier, one of tha first miracles a Lourde: Do you know about it? He had been wounded in an explosion in a mine. His right eye was en- tirely gone and he was threatened with the loss of the left. Well, one day his daughter got a bottle of the muddy water from the source, that hardly flowed. He then washed 1 and prayed ardently He then gave a loud ery. He saw, monsieur he saw as well as you or I. The doctor who took care of him had written a ofrcumst tial account of it end there is not the siig est chance of doubt’ “It fs wonderful,” saint, delighte: “Do you care fcr another case, monsieur? This one s celebrated; it is that of Francols Macary, the carpenter of Lavaur. For eigh- teen years he had suffered from a deep vari- cose ulcer on the inside of the left log, with considerable congestion of the tissues, and here one morning he shuts himself up with a bottle of the water from Lourdes. He took oft his bandages, washed his two legs and drank the rest of the bottle. Then he we to bed and to sleep, and when he awoke he felt, looked; nothing there! The varicose veins, the uicers had all disappeared The skin of the kue, monsieur, come as smooth, as fresh as it when he was 20.” This time there was an_explosion of sur- prise and admiration. The invalids and pilgrims were entering into the country of miracles, where the Improbable was re- alized at the turn of cvery path, where vie easily went from prodigy to prodigy. And each had his story to tell, burning to bring his proof, to lean his faith and hope on an example. Mme. Maze, the silent to he the first speaker “I have a friend who knew the widow Bizan, that lady whose cure was so much talked of. For twenty-four years her whole left side had been paralyzed. She threw up whatever she ate, she wus liks an inert mass that had to be turned in bed, and finally the sheets had rubbedl against her skin. One evening she was so low that the doctor sald she would die during the night. An hour later she came out of her torpor and asked in a feeble volce to have some one feteh her a glass of the Lourdes water from a neighbor’s, She_ could only get this water the next morning, and she cried:—'Oh, my daughter, I am drinking life. Rub my face, my arm, my leg, all my body.’ And as the child obe: her sho saw the swelling reduced, the paralyzed and tumefied members regain their supple- ness and natural aspect. That is not all. Mme. Bizan cried that she was cured, that she was hungry, that she wanted some bread and meat, she who had not eaten for twenty-four years. And she got up, dressed herself, while her daughter called out to the neighbors, ~who, secing her overcome, thought her mother must be dead. ‘No, no; mamma is not dead; she has been resus- citated,” " his eye with this m n t- murmured M. de Guer- had be< had been one, was moved Tears had come into the eves of Mme. Vinccnt. O, God! If she might see Rose thus eating with an etite and running ahout, Another case, that of a young girl that had been told to her in Paris and that had gone for a great deal in deciding her to come to Lourdes, came back to her memory. “I, to0, know Lucy Druon, a be the story of a paralytic rder in an orphanage, stili youiig, who could not even kneel, Iler mem- Ders were twisted round; the right leg, the shorter, had finally turncd entirely around the left, and when one of her comrades carried her one could see her legs, like dead hanging in space. Notice that she did not even go to Lourdes. She simply went into retreat for nine days, and her desire to be cured was so greal that she passed her nights in prayer. At last, on the ninth day, she drank a little of the water from Lourdes, and felt a violent commotion in her legs. She got up, fell down, got up again and walked! All her companions, aston- ished, almost alarmed, cried, ‘Lucy walks! Lucy walks!” and it was true. In a fow seconds her legs had again become straight, liealthy and strong. She crossed the court yard, was able to g0 up to tie chapel, where the entire community, transported by grati- tude, sang the Magnificat. Ah! the d cbild! she must have been very, very happy. The tears that had rolled down her checks fell on the pale face of her daughter, whom she kissed passionately. But still the interest increased, the ravish- ing Joy of these splendid tales, where heaven always triumphed over human frail- ties and exalted these child-like souls to that point that even the most Il sat up and found speech. And behind the reeital of each one there was the preoccupation of their own {ll, the belief that he wounld bo cured because some identical malady had been effaced like a bad dream by a di- vino breath. “‘Ah!" stammered Mme. Vetu, her mouth drawn by suffering, “there was another, An- toinette Thardivail, whose stomach was eaten like mine; one would think that dogs were devouring it, and it sometimes got & large as the head of child. Tumors grew therc as large as e , as well as that for elght months she vomited blood. She, too, was going to dle, her skin sticking to the bones, dying of hunger, when she drank some of the water from Lourdes and made them wash the pit of her stomach. Three minutes after her doctor, who had left her the day before in agony, not able to breathe, found her up, sitting in the corner by the fire and regaling herself with the wing of a chicken. She had no more tumors, her face looked youthful again. Ah! to eat again whatever one wants, to be young once more, to suffer no more ““And the curing of Sister Julienne,” sald La Grivotte, sitting up on her elbow, her eyes brilliant with fever. “She had been taken like me, with a bad cold, then she commenced to spit blood, Every six months she would get another and then she had to take to her bed. The last time, it was plain to be seen, she would have to stay there. They had tried every remedy in vain—iodine blisters, hot irons. She was finally pronounced a regular consumptive by six doctors. Well! then she comes to Lourdes, and God knows in what a state of sufering, for at Toulouse they thought she was dying. The sisters held her in their arms. At the pool the hospital ladies did not wish to bathe her. She seemed al- ready dead. Well, they undressed her, and plumped Ler In unconscious and all covered with sweat, and when they took her out she was o pale that they laid her on the ground, thinking it was all over this time. Suddenly her chocks became red, her eyes opened,” and she sighed deeply. She was cured, ~ She dressed herself agaln alone, made a great meal, after having gone into the grotto to thank the Virgin. No one can gainsay 1t, for it was a genuine consump- tive, and radically cured as it by hand.'" Then Brother Isadore wished to speak but he could not, so he was obliged to say feebly to his sister:— “Martha, relate the story of Sister Doro- thea that"the vicar of Saint Sandons told 0 us.'t Sister Dorothea,” the peasant commencod awkwardly, “awoke one morning with her leg asleep, and from that moment she lost the use of the limb, that became cold and as heavy as a stone. Besides this, she had a fearful pain in her back. The doctors could not understand it, She saw half @ dozen dif- feront ones, who ran needles Into her and burned her skin with lots of drugs. But it resulted in nothing, Sister Dorothea under- stood very well that only the Holy Virgin could find’ the remedy, and o she started for Lourdes, where she was put in the pool. It was 0 cold that she first thought she would die. Then the water became so soft that it soemed almost tepid and deliclous, like milk, She had never known anything o nice. All her velus scemed to open and the water ran 0. You understand that from the moment the Holy Virgin had touched it life flowed through her body. She no longer felt the least illnoss, Sho walked about, ate an en- tire plgeon that evening and slept happily all night. Glory be to the Holy Virgin! Eternal gratitude to the powerful Mother and to her Divine Sout"” Sister Hyacintho then told about Paul De- Jannoy, who was ataxie, who had been cau- terized, burned, swung up; who had been fifteon tmes in the hospitals of Paris, where Lls case had been diagnosed by twelve agre g physiclans, who, when the boly sacra- went wan carciod past, felt a strength that Utod him to follow with bealthy limbs Marie Loulse Delpon, 14 years old, whose logs were stiffened by paralysis, bor hands con- tracted, her mouth drawn to one side, saw her members gat straight, the contortion of Bor mouth disappear as though an invisible Ysud were cutting the horrible chains that His leg was made | an exchange | 18 | | held her. years nailed to her armchair by paraplegia, not only ran and raced upon coming out of the pool, but eould not even find a trace of the sores that had been caused by her long immobility. And Georges Hauguet, selzed with a softening of the spinal cord, who was absolutely insensible, passed without transi- tion from agony to perfect heaith. And confe Chartor, another sufferer from t spine, whose vertebrae protruded consider ably, felt her hump melt away as if by magie, while her logs strotehed out, quite new and vigorous Then followed accounts of all sorts of ills Iirst, cases of serofula, more wasted legs made strong agaln. Margaret Schier, il for twenty-seven years, her hip entirely gone, nchylos!s of the right knee, suddenly fall ing on her knees to thank the Holy Virgin for her miraculous cure. Philomena Limou- neau, the young girl from La Vendee, who left log v 1 by three horrible sores, in which might be seen a carles of the bone Iet fall her crutches, and the bone, the flesh and skin were made new. Then came drop- al cases, Mme. Ancelin, whose feet, hands and entire body were reduced without having any idea where all the water had gone. Mile. Montagnon, from whom they had taken at various times twenty-two quarts of water, and who, when again swollen, had emptied under the simple application of a compress soaked in the miraculous spring, without finding a_trace of it in the bed or on the floor. The same way, no trouble of the stomach could resist. Al disappearcd at tho first glass. It was Marie Souchet who vomited black stuff, wasted to a skeleton who was ravenous, and recovered her flesh in two days. It was Marie Jarland who had burned her stomach by drinking by mistaka a glass of sugar of lead, felt the tumor t came afterward melt away. Jn fact all tumors went the same wafl without leaving the slightest tra But what was still more marvelous were the ulcers, the cancers, all the horrible visi- ble sores, that were healed by a breath from above. A Jew, an actor whose hand was caten by an ulcer, only soaked it and was cured. A young stranger, immensely rich, whoso right wrist was afilicted by a wen as large as a hen’s egg, saw 1t dissolve. Rose Duval, who had a hole in her left cibow big enough to hold a nut, caused by a white tnmor, could traco the quick formation of the new flesh that covered the hole. The widow Fromond, whose lip was half eaten away by a cancer, only had to bathe it, and not even a red mark remained. Marie Moreau, when suffering fearfully from a cancer in her breast, went to sleep, after having ap- plied a cloth wet with water from Lourde and when she awoke two hours later the pain had the skin was clear and fresh as g nally Sister Iyacinthe recounted the im- rose. F mediate and radical cures of consumption, and that was the great triumph; that horrible disease that ravages humanity, and that the incredulous defied the Holy Virgin to cure, was, however, overcome, it was said, by a single motion of her little finger. A hundred cases, each more extraordinary than the other, cime up and were told off argueret Coupel, for three years a con- amptivo, the top of her lungs eaten by tubercles, got up and walked off, radiant with heaith. Mme. de la Riviere, who spat blood, and who was covered by a continual cold sweat, whose nalls were already clinche about to draw her last breath, had only to drink a small spoonful of water that was forced between her teeth; instantly the rattle censed, she sat up, responded in the litany and asked for a cup of soup. Julin Jadot had to take four spoonfuls, but she was no long-r able to hold up her head; her con- stitution was so delicate that the discasse scemed to have melted her away; in a few days she b me very stout. Anna Catry, a degree further advanced, her left lung half destroyed by a cavity, plunged five times into the cold water, contrary to all prudence, and she was cured, with a sound lung. Another, a voung girl who had a wealc chest, con- demned by fiteon doctors, asked for nothing, but knelt simply at the grotto, | and was subsequently most surpris thus been cured, she was passing, chance undoubtedly, at the time when Holy Virgin mercifully let fall from her invisible hands. More miracles and yet more miracles! They rained down like flowers in a dream from a soft and clear sky. Some were touch- ing, others were childish. There was an old woman with anchylosis of the hand, who had not moved it for thirty years, bathed hers-If and made the sign of the cross. Sister ophie, who barked like a dog, jumved into the pool and came out with a pure voice, singing a hymn. A Turk, Mustapha, in- voked the White Lady and rccovered the sight of his eye after putting & compress on it. An officer of Lurcos had been protected at Sedan; a cuirassier of Reisclioffen would have been killed by a ball if the ball that struck his note case had not stopped at a picture of our Lady of Lourdes. Then the children, the poor, suffering lit- tle ones, they also found favor. A little boy of 5, who was paralyzed, upon being un- dressed and held for five minutes under the fcy stream of (he fountain stood up and walked; another, 15 years old, who could only scream 1like an’ animal in his bed, rushed out of the pool crying he was cured: another, 2 years old, a little mite this one, d, remained in the cold by the the miracle 5, who had never walk: water for a quarter of an hour, then, merry and smiling, took his first steps like a lit- tle man. For all, big and little, while the miracle was in operation, the sullering was intense; for the work of reparation could only be accomplished by a violent shock to the entire human machinery. The healing bones, growing flesh and dispersed discase all passed away in a final convulsion. But afterward, what happiness! Doctors could not believe their eyes, their astonishment increased at every cure to see their patients running, jumping and eating with a ferocious appetite. ~ All these elect ones, these healed women, walked three kilometres, sat down before ‘a fowl, or slept soundly for twelve lours. In fact, there was no convalesence; it was a sudden jump from sickness to health, to renewed members, closed sores, organs restored to their former uses, flesh regained; all these came like a clap of thunder. ‘Sclence was baffied;they did not even take the simplest precaution, bathing women all during the month, plunging consump- tives into the icy water, leaving their sores of open pulrefaction without any use of antiseptics. Then, after each miracle, what songs of praise, what cries of grati- tude and love. The miraculously cured threw herself on her knees, every one wept conversions were made, Jews and Protest- ants embraced Catiiolicism, miracles of faith by which heaven triumphed. When the miraculously cured one returned to her vil- lage all the inhabitants went to groet her in"a crowd, while bells rang out their peals; and when she was seen to jump lightly from the carriage cries and sobs of joy were heard, and the “Magnifical” was intoned. Glory to the Holy Virgin! Eternal grati- tude and tenderness, What shone forth most in all these hopes realized. these burning actions of grace, was the gratitude of the very pooc and admirable Mother. She wos the great passion of all these souls, the alnighty Virgin, the merci ful Virgin, the Mirror of Justice, the Throno of Wisdom, All hands were stretched to- ward her, the Mystic Rose in the shadow of the chapels, the Tower of Ivory in the horizon of drcams, the Door of Heaven opening upon the Infinite. From daybreak she shone bright Star of the Morning, brilliant with young hope. \Was she not further the Health of the Infirm, the Refuge of Sinners, the Consolation of the Affficted? France had always been her best loved country, where she was adored In ardent worship, even the worship of womanhood und wifehood, in a burst of divine tenderness, and, above all, it was in France that she had b st to royeal herself to t She was 8o good to the little ones! busied herself con- tinually about them, and it was easy to pray to her, beceuse every one knew that she was the intermediary of love between earth and licaven, Every night she wept tears of gold at the feet of her Divine Son to ohtain merey from Him. And these were the miracles He pormitted her to perform; this lovely blos- soming fleld of miracles, sweet smelling as the roses of paradise, 80 prodigious in size and perfume, And the traln was rolling on—always roll- Ing on. They had just passed through Con- tras—it was 6 o'clock. And standing up Sister Hyacinthe clapped her hands, once more repeating: “The Angelus, my children!" Never were “Aves” wafted above In a more fervent faith or more inflamed by a desire to be heard by heaven. And then, snddenly, Plerre understood, had a clear ex- plication of these pilgrimages, of all thess tralns that were rolling all over the world, of these hurrying crowds; of Lourdes blazing in the distauce like the salvation of both body and soul. Ah! the pooor wretches that he bad secn ever since the morning, torn by suffering, dragglng their sad carcasses in the faligues of such & journey! They were THE DAILY OMAH Marle Vachreor, for sevonteen | all condemned, abandoned by selence, woaty physicians, of having tortures of ineffective remedios. could comprehend that burning wish still to live, unable as yet to emselves to an unjust and indiffer- ent nature, they dreamed of a superhuman power—an all powerful divinity—who might, perhaps, for their sakes, overturn established laws or change the course of the stars and come back to a new creation. Was not God left to them, even if earth had fafled? Reality was to thom too abominable; there rose in them a great longing for some illu- ne falsity. O, to belleve that thore somewhere a supreme judge, who \e apparent wrongs of persons and things; to believe that there is a redeemer a consoler who is master, who can make torrents return to their sources, give back youth o age, resurrect the dead. To when one is covered with sores, when one's members are crooked, the stomach swollen with tumors, the lungs gone, to say that makes no matter, that all can disappear and to be born again upon a sign from the Holy of having consulted tried the And one with th res's fon oxists rights Virgin, and that it is sufficient to pray, to touch her, in order to obtain from her the favor of being chosen. And then, what a celestial fountain of hope, when all these beautiful stories of the cures begin to flow forth in a prodigious wave; thess adorable fairy tales, that soothe and intoxicate the feverish imagination of the diseased and In- firm. Ever since Sophie Couteau, with her healed, white foot, had gotten into the rail- way carriage, the fllimitable sky of the di- vine and supernatural had opened, as if they understood the breath of resurrection that was passing by, raising the most hopeless little by little from their beds of misery, brightening the eyes of all, since life was possible for them, and perhaps they were about to begin it again. Yes, that was it. If this lamentable train was rolling along, always rolling; if this railway carriage was full; if the otlers were full; it France and the whole world was gridironed by similar trains; 1f the crowds of the 300,000 believers, carrying with them thousands of invalids, had been put in motion from one end of the year to the other, it was because thither the grotto flamed forth in its glory like a beacon light of hope and {ilusion, like the revolt and the triumph of the impossible over inexorable matter. Never was more passionate romance written to elevate souls above the rude conditions of existence. To dream this dream was in- effable bliss. If the Fathers of the As- sumption saw this year after year the in- creasing success of their pilgrimages it was because they sold to a people famish- ing for fllusions, for consolation, this delicious bread of hope, for which suffering humanity will always hunger and will never be appeased. And not only did the physical iils demand to be cured, but the whole moral and intellectual being expressed its misery in an insatiable desire for happiness. To be happy, to place the certainty of life in faith, to lean until death on that sole and solid staff—such was the longing that came from every breast, that caused all moral ills to drop on their knees, asking for a contin- uation of grace, the conversion of dear ones, the spiritual salvation of seif and those we love. This great cry was propagated, mounted, filled all space—to be happy for- ever, in life and in death. And Pierre had noticed that all, all the sufferers around him no longer were fecling Jolts of the wheels, were getting stronger each mile was covered that brought them nearer to the miracle, Mme. Maze herself became garrulous in the certainty that the Holy Virgin would give her back ler husband. Mme. Vincent, smiling, was gontly rocking little Rose, and found her vo children they into the fey water and who Subathier joked with M. de crsaint, and explained that in October, when he should have his legs, he would ke a trip to Rome, a_journey hie had put off for fiftcen years, Mme. Vetu, calmed, her stomach only twitching, thought she felt hungry, and asked Mme. de Jonquiere to let her oak littie pieces of bread in a glass of miik, whereas e Rouquet, for- getting her sore, was cating a bunch of grapes, with her face uncovered. And La much less il than those t had plunged M. CGrivotte, sitting on her bench, and Brother Isidore, who had stopped complaining, re- tained such a happy remembrance of all those lovely tales, that they inquired what time it was, being impatient for the cure. Above all the man for a moment revived. As er Hyacinthe once more wiped the cold sweat from his face he opened his eye- lids, while a smile lighted up his face for an instant. Once more he hoped. Marie had held Pierre’s hand in her little, warm hand. It was 7 o'clock; they were only duc at Bordeaux at 7:30, and as the train was late they went faster and faster in a mad hurry. The storm had passed over and an_infinitely pure calm fell from the great, clear sky. ““Oh, Pierre, how heautiful! how beautiful!" once more repeated Marle, pressing his hand with all her tenderness. And, leaning toward him, in an undertone, “Plerre, just now I saw the Holy Virgin, and I asked for and obtained your cure.” The priest, understanding her, was over- whelmed by the divine light in the eyes she fixed on his. She had forgotten self; she had asked for his couversion; and this act of faith. coming so candidly from this suffering and beloved creature, gave him back his leart. Why should he not some day believe? Ho himself was overcome by so many extra- ordinary tales. The oppressive heaf of the railway carriage had dazed him and the sight of the misery crowded in thers made his pitying heart bleed. And the contagion spread. He no longer knew where reality and possibility stopped, incapable in this mass of stupefying deeds to make a division, to explain some and to reject others. For a moment, as a hymn began again, carrying him on the headstrong thread of his obses- sion, he was no longer himself; he fancied that he would end by believing in the hallu- cination and vertigo of this hospital that was rolling along—always rolling with all speed. (To be Continued Next Sunday.) THE WORLD'S WORKS 0 Uncle Sam Issued 24,000 patents last year. Submarine cables stretch 150,000 miles. With the aid of platinum wire, a battery and an electric bell you can hear a plant grow. French railroads employ 23 Turkish railroad conductors month. Most of the telegraph operators in Sweden are women. Tho latest figures bearing on our domestic industry give the 1,0m power at about 9,000, The capital aggregated in the industry reaches the vast sum of $40,000,000, while 30,000 persons are employed who receive in’ wages yearly from the 173 mills employed in_carpet weaving, nearly $12,000,000. The value of the product figuring at the mills for $30,000,000. A German officer bas Invented a motor in which a fine stream of coal dust is util- ized to drive a piston by explosions in the same manuer as the gas in the gas engine, It has been estimated that at least one- half of the power expended in the operation of the average manufacturing establishment i3 wasted in overcoming the friction of lubri- cated surfaces of shafting and other ma- chinery. Canadian tailors are sending agents to the United States, aloug the border, to take measures of men and have their clothes made in the Dominion. When the suits have n finished the purchasers go to Can- ada and bring the articles home free of duty as personal effects, The Treasury depart- ment has decided that the practice is a fraud upon the revenue, and steps will be taken to stop it. The forthcoming report of the commis- sloner of labor for Michigan will show that out of 2,008 factories inspected between Sep- tember 1 and February 1, 1893, 1,117 were running full time, 572 part time, while 377 were idle. At the time of inspection there were employed 60,773 males and 10,637 fe- males, while, if running to full capacity, 48,762 more would be employed, The decrease in the number of children In factories and other employments in Eng- land has generally heen lald to factory luws. Yet, while outside of New England, our states are deficlent both In the existence anid enforcement of preventive legislation on this subjoct, the number of children em- ployed has diminished in tho last ten vears both absolutely and relatively. In 1880 thero were 133,607 children employed in all manu- facturing and mining industries; in 1890 only 121,194, In 1880 children were 3.4 per cent of the 2,537,112 persons employed in these industries: in 1890 children were 2.6 per cent 2,000 persons. get 327 a of the 4,711,832 persons cmployed. s 1s to bave 4 new underground eiec DeWitt's Litttle Early Risers. safe pills, best pills, Swall pllls, BE SUNDAY, APRIL 29 1 Wi 94 NTY PAGES LY 'HOME OF THE CANVASBACK | A Glorious Morning on Otter Island in Goose Lake, ONE OF KING REX'S ACQUEOUS EXPLOITS Getting Rendy for the Flight—The First ¥lock In—Among the Decoys—A Big KAl and Mr, 1 Mrs. Canad, OUNTING the wagon seat, as we halted on the shores of Goose lake on the morning re- ferred to in my ™ last article, Ham ilton pointed with his whip oft to- ward the cast sido of the big basin, and exclaimed: “There's your canvasback, Sandy, there they are by the hundred.” And sure enough there they were, an half-acre of them. It is doubtful, though, whether the lawyer and I would ever have discovered t the were canvasback had it not been for our host’s declaration. To us they resembled simply an immense flock of ducks, wit nothing about them to distinguish. their species, practiced eye. in the air, the most penctrating vision of any man in the world, he can tell you instantly what it is—canvasback, redhead, mallard, bluebill or But it was different to Hamilton's As far as he can see a bird and I honestly believe he has sprig. He never hesitates, and, more won- derful yet, never errs. When the birds are a long ‘way off—little more than a shadowy line against the background sky—it is ap- parently from their acrial position and man- ner of flight he distinguishes them. When closer it is their shape of form which ap- prises him of their identity, and when closer still, their plumage or cry. He has but to get a flash at a swiftly passing bird to know exactly to what class it belongs. ““Canvasback?" I interrogated half incredu- lous, but with the one desire of being reas- sured that no mistake had been made. “Canvasback! certainly. — Don't you see their white backs and breasts flashing in the sun? They are feeding and are under the water aboul half the time.” ‘fhat was sufficient. The Intermittent fever the lawyer and I had been affected with since leaving Omaha now returned with re- newed violence, and we appealed to 8d to get us into our blinds without further dela Accordingly it took us but a remarkably hort time to transfer our shooting para- phernalia to the fsland. As we puiled out from the shore the feeding birds in the offing arose in a great cloud, and after circling about in the air for several moments, sailed oft over the low sand hills to the south. Assured that they would come straggling back shortly, Hamilton, the lawyer and 1 lost no time in getting ready to rec-ive them. Our stool of decoys numbered somewhere in the neighborliood of one hundred. We were to shoot from holes on the st ern shore of the island and, wad- ing out some twenty yards, we scattered the decoys carelessly all around the point, arranged our shell hoxes and got into our biinds. Hamilton and I occupicd one, while the lawyer took possession of anotter but 4 few yards distant, and at Ed's command Rex coiled himself up out of sight in the tall brown grass that stood so luxuriantly all over the Island back of our hides. We were all ready. Squatting low In our blinds, which were surrounded by a fringe of broad-bladed marsh grass, we waited, Sim- eral and I impatient.and feverish, Hatnilton impertirbable, confident, watchful, On either side, across the watery expanse, was a broad sweep of barren plain and sand hills, swelling from the very shores of the lake. Here and there bunches of cactus, withered and dead, strewed their dull tints, hardly detectable anild the universal green- ish yellow. Heavy clouds, with bright edges, had’ crowded into the sky, and the whole scene was fitful wilth lights and darks. Sometimes a strugg)ing beam lighted sudden and startling on the $op of a shadowed sand- hill, overflowing it with splendor. A fresh shadow then darted”from the bate, peeling off the light until the whole mass frowned again in gloom. So with the uneasy lake. Now it showed one sullen hue; a gleam would break forth, widening until dazzling gems danced upon the surface, followed by a leaden tint, which closed like an enormous lid over its broad, sparkling face. A growl of thunder echoed around the scene, as if the frowning hills were giving vent to anger. “I don't like that!” exclaimed Hamilton. “I am afraid it means all kinds of weather. Mark!” The last sharp monosyllablo sent the blood coursing through our veins and, bending still lower behind our grassy barri- cade, we peered eagerly off across and up and down the lake. ‘There they come—canvasback—over the hills to the south," directed Ed, who had evidently noticed the anxious glances of the lawyer and I, Then we discovered them—a gray line— possibly twenty birds—against the whitish clouds, yet like meteors cleaving the alr our way. “Careful now—they will be onto us be- fore you know it,” continued Hamilton, Then he gave three or four sharp, crow-liks squawks on his caller and pushed his Lefever out before him. Billy and I, of course, were there before him. The flight of the canvasback duck Is some- thing to be marveled at always. No other bird that 1 know of cuts the trenchent air with half his lightning speed. He is surely the racer of the skies. On any mission ho goes through the air at a rate of anywhero from eighty to one hundred miles an hour. 1f he has business anywhere and has got to get there he puts at least two miles a minute behind him and does it easily, too. It you do not believe this just shoot at the leader of a string of canvasbacks who are on a business errand sometime and sec for your- self. Shot trayels pretty fast, especially out of one of Chamberlain’s champion shells, and if you are so lucky as to bring down one of the birds, see if it isn't about the tenth or eleventh one back of the drake or leader. A drake does not always lead, however, as the above remark might induce you to believe, but generally does if there is but one in the bunch, If there aro more they seldom pilot, but a wise old hen will be found in this ‘responsible position. If you wish to bring her to grass you must pull ahead ten or twelve feet at loast. and if she falls it will most likely be at a long distance off, say one hundred yards or more. Truly, as Hamilton had admonished us, the birds were onto us before we could realize it. On they came, straight as a string, and looked as though they must pass high over us. But our decoys and the seductive notes Hamilton had sounded on the alr, did their work effectually, When five hundred yards away the birds fairly dove down from their onward rush and came in over our decoys with a swish of wing that fairly took our breath. The lawyer and I were upon our feet to- gether and we gave them'four barrels be- fore EA had time for a word of caution, Seelng what we had done he shot, too, bring- ing down a big drake with his last barrel as the birds, with electyical velocity, were cut ting across the lake.. Billy and 1T, although we were a trifle premature, hadn’t done o bad, though, for two birds with their whito bollies uppermost were floating shoreward, while the third, a wing-tipped drake, was cut- ting through the white caps off toward the line of rushes to the northeast. “You were too quick. Don't shoot—he's too far out now. He'll dive In a moment, then Rex will tend to his case,” remarked Ed hurrledly, as he saw the lawyer about to pull on our wounded bird, The next instant the drake went down, and_motioning to Rex, who had kept his bright, sparkling brown eyes on the escaping duck, Hamiiton exclaime “Go get him, Rex." With a leap the dog was out of his grassy perdu and with an anxious whine plinged into the lake. Straight out, past the float- ing dead birds, and through the bobhing de coys, witth powerful strokes the royal spanici clove his way to the spot where the drake had disappeared. Here he halted,, looked about impatiently, then began paddling in a circle, suddenly raising himself high above the waves, he dashed away again, “There's your bird,” said E1, as the rufous hood of the drake broke the surface again, off about forty yards to the right of the dog. “Rex will get him, and I want you to watch close and see how he does it If the canvas dives, so will he. They can't fool Rex!" The dog was now rapidly overhauling the fleeing fowl, and we were expecting to seo him nail him any second, when suddenly up shot his pointed tail and into the deep he went like a flash. But you can partake of ‘ot surprise when I tell you that Rex did preofsely the same thing—went under after him, and with none the less agility at that. To prove this assertion and also that the wounded drake had miscalculated the distance, Rex's shapely head came thrust- ing itselt up through the water again, al- most instantly, and the drake was in his mouth! “Fotch him!" yelped Ed, as he proudly turned to the lawyer and I, Who were watch- ing this marvelous work spelibound, but in deepest admiration Again, 1 reiterate, as a retriever, Rex is second to no dog in the world. I Nave shot over many good dogs, but have yet to sce ono that could be mentioned in the same day with Hamilton's matehless champlon “There! knock that redhead down, Sandy! he's yours!" was the cry from Bd that brought the lawyer and I back to earth. A single bird had swung right into us, notwithstanding our upright positions. | gave it to him, both barrels, and so did Simeral, but he kept going until Hamilton's gun cracked, when he fell, just as if he had flown plump against a stone wall. “Don’t worry over that, you were not ready, you know, and I was, and that makes all the difference in the world in duck shoot- ing. Still, that was a pretly good long shot I made, eh?” and Bd looked quizzically at Bill and T, who felt as if a good Kicking would do us good. “You bet it was,” I replisd, “but blamed if 1 ever made a worse shot. Why, he was right on top of m “Of course he was,” got back the lawyer, acrimoniously, “and if you had kept that old cannon of yours down I could have killed him with a bow and arrow!” “Mark!" Hamilton's quick eyes had descried another flock of birds and, like the component parts of a piece of weil-oiled machinery, we all went down fnto our biinds together. Rex had brought in the wounded bird, and 124 had crushed his stout skull with his teeth, when he discovered the second gray line above the hills q “Now, don't be in a hurry this time—yes, they are canvas—they will come down like Helen Blazes, sweep past our decoys, but will circle and come back. They always do this, and if you will allow them they will light right among the decoys. Squawk! squawk! squawis!"” Here they come, just like the first flock, 50 many white and slate-colored racers, each one apparently striving to get in first, but s0 evenly are they matched that none are able to outstrip his fellows. It is a blood-tingling moment, a trying one on the nerves of the restive gunner. S-w-I-s-h-h-h! They skim along over our decoys with dizzying speed. Then they start off up into space again, as if bound to the clouds. But they are not. They have mis- taken our decoys for feeding relatives and intend to join in the banquet. They make a sweeping circle, then come back with that same wild rush of wing and gleaming red of iris. The lawyer and I hold our breath, for before we can fairly credit our sen fully two-thirds of them slide into the water, Just off our decoys, like so many feathered apparitions. The balance of the flock, as if by some strange intuition of danger, do not come back, but keep on their way south, and are soon lost to view boyond the hills. “Don’t be in a hurry,” whispered Hamil- ton, “they will not fly. Just watch and see what they do,” For a moment the birds sat perfectly still, then they began to move with tha almost imperceptible motion of a thistle down upon calm water, first to this side, then to that, inspecting their wooden counterfeits curl: ously, haif susplciously all the time. Finally, as there seemed to be no occaslon for alarm, the whole flock, and there must have been three dozen of them, converged slowly to- gether, then timidly began approaching the decoys. Now they would halt and glide off to ono side, then back again, as if yet afraid to approach too near. Suddenly, as they bunched well together again, and looked as it they might be off at any second, Hamilton said: “We might give it to them All together we stood ecrect, but instead of flying instantly as we expected, the birds sat still a moment on the water, craning their thick necks, until we could see the flash of their deep ced eyes, evidently more astonished than ever. They did not dally long, however, to satisfy any useless curios- ity, but with a loud splashing and a few spasmodic squeaks arose in a body, and we let them have it. It seemed as If there was a rain of dead and wounded canvasbacks, for no less than ten birds fell at the reports of our Lefevers, Think of that! Ten canvasback at one fell swoop, or six fell swoops, rather, for each well raise now, boys, and man let go both barrels. More canvasback than many a huntc Killed in this re- gion, anyway, in a half-dozen seasons. This may not be a very edifying or cred- itable confession, but I do not believe there Is a single spor(sman in the country, let it be President Cleveland, ex-President Harri- son, George A. Boyd of Philadelphia or even the veteran old president of the far-famed Cuvier club, Cincinnatl, and lifelong wild fowl hunter that he is, Len Harris, would have done ought eise than we did, under similar circumstances. This sentiment about the prescrvation of game birds is all right enough for discussion, but when it comes to practicing the same in the midst of a scurrying flight ot such Incomparable birds, why the man Isn’t there, that's all. After shooting over the ‘‘crips"—which must be done at the quickest possible mo- ment on canvasback, we all crouched down in our blinds again, for the alr off to the south now seemed full of birds, They seemed to be moving aimlessly in all direc- tlons and Hamlilton sald a storm was not far distant. There was no need of this warning, the damp, crispiness of the increasing winds, told us that a change was about to occur. The distant hills were looking darker and darker through the misty air, and gllmmer- ing more and more indfstinet, until they were entirely shaded in. Over the head of the lake ragged scuds were flitting, and afar to the north we could see that the rain was already falling. “Mark, boys! Geese!" again warned our vigilant ‘host, who had bLeen standing to better his view of the oncoming storm. “There are but two of them, but they are Canadas; don't you see 'em there to right low over the water? They are coming straight in and you and Simeral take them; if you fail, I'll be ready. Hardly had Hamilton delivered these words of advice when the geese, a pair of big Can- adas, came flopping nonchalantly in. The lawyer and I were onto our job, and when the great birds were close enough for us to the whites of thelr eyes, we arose here were two quick reports and both birds fell dead among our decoys. SANDY GRISWOLD. —_— Sweet breath, sweet stomach, sweet tem- per? Then use DeWitt's Little Barly Risers. EXACT SIZE PERFECTO! THE MERCANTILE IS THE FAVORITE TEN CENT CIGAR. For sale by all First Class Dealors. Manufactured by the F. R, RICE MERCANTILE CIGAR CO,, Factory No. 304, St. Louis, Mo, “There 1s, in fact, no publication which enters into serious rivalry with it.”—New York Tribune ry Grand Army man remembers very well exactly what position /e took in the bat- tles of the civil war; possibly even the posi- tion of his company, at most his regiment. G. A. 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