Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, November 18, 1894, Page 10

For é’qys and Grls. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1894. John Brown and the other being seated near the mallyposts-the query was shouted: “What's thetinewd?” Promptly came the retort: “Why, John Brown's dead.” Some one added, “Yotiishe still goes marching round.” 1110y Unlike a rolling stone, these ideas gathered = — THE LOST OPAL OF MYS0 E, OR THE SEORET OF THE GHANTS, By Willinm Murray Graydon, (Copyright, 1894, by Willlam Murray Graydon.) CHAPTER 111, | UNWELCOME VISITORS. The fugitives realized at that they | bad entered a part of the rajah's menagerie. The cell was really the den of some wild beast. Again the angry snarl was heard, blended with a queer, clanking nol “We must get out of thi Myles, In trembling tones. way, Jack. Move aside, quick!" “Stop, 1ad,” Pink sternly whisperel. “Don't open the door, the creature is chained. Our lives depend on silence.” Myles obeyed, and a few seconds of fearful | suspense slipped by. The dungeon was twelve feet long, and far up in the rear wall was a grating that probably opened on the back garden of the palace. Through the bars fil-| tered a dusky beam of light, showing the un- couth form of the beast squaited In the mid- dlo of the floor. Its eyes were two balls of fire. Nearer and nearer came the nolsy tread of the rajah’s soldiers. The animal snarled | incessantly, as though bent on betraying the intrudors. “If this keops up we are lost,”” muttered Jack. 1l fix 'im,” replied Pink. enough.” He stepped forward, and the beast sprang to the end of its chain to meet him. Then, by the dim light, Pink drove the spear deep into the tawny breast, and the animal rolled over In the throes of death. Before it could utter more than a wall or two Jack's tulwar nearly severed its head from its body. “Well struck, lad,” whispered Pink. “Ah! *ere thoy come. Not a sound for your lives. The danger had been averted just in time, Already the gleam of torches was flashing under the cell door. With bolsterous speech and tread the guards went by. The sound came from farther and farther away until it was only a dim echo. Now Is our chance,” ‘no_time to lose. “Walt a bit,”” said Pink, stepping toward the rear of the cell. “No, we can't get out by the grating,” he added. “It's too parrow. Say, this ‘un's the biggest leopard 1 ever saw. “It's a good thing it was chained,” replied Jack. “Come on, quick.” An instant later the fugitives were in the corridor, and moving through the darkness toward the staircase. For fear of missing the way they presently ventured to relight the lamp. “There's only a minute or so to spare,” warned Pink. “It won't take those ‘eathen rascals long to crawl over the rubbish into my cell and find it empty. Then won't they kick up a rumpus?"’ “Hark! they are pulling the stones down," whispered Jack. “Here's the stairway just ahead,” cheer- fully replied Myles. “If we can’t find the spring we'll kick the panel to splinters and dash through the—" His volce ended in a gasp of fright, for Just then the burly figure of Motee Mal stalked out of a cross corridor. The Hindoo instantly recognized the party, and the horror depicted on his face was something awful, Pink lifted his spear for a deadly thrust, but Paltu caught the weapon just in time, pare my father, sahib,” he implored, “Your father?” gasped Pink, seeing a gleam of hope In the discovery. “On my head be misfortune,” wailed Motee tossing up his arms in despair. ‘“Sahibs, you are all lost. Alas! that my first born should perish by the tulwar.” Plead with 'im, lad," Pink whispered to Myles. There's some chance if 'e don’t know this private affair of the rajah's; otherwise Il be torn apart before ’e'll let me escape. Quick, or I'll "ave to use the spear.' *“The tall sahib is the prisoner of his high- ness,” resumed the Hindoo. “Him I must selze, but the others I will ald if there be power—' “*Never,” exclaimed Jack, fiercely. all or none. *We won't escape without Pink.” “Help us, Motee Mal, for Paltu's sake, implored Myles. “Have you no fear of the resident? Be quick, or the guards will come,"” Paltu threw himself beseechingly at his parent's feet, and just then a burst of angry voloes was heard (n the distance. Moteo Mal tore his halr in a frenzy of re- morse. “Brahma, forglve me!" he cried. “I am accursed among men. Yet surely I must be faithful to my vow of gratitude, even at the risk of my head.” He glanced at Myles and Paltu, Indicating that the latter's rescue from the tank was in his mind. “Swear by the holy Ganges, sahibs,” he added, quickly, “that ye let no word of what 1 am about to do come to the rajah’s ears.” Without besitation the fugitives took the required oath. Motee Mal scanned each face, and was apparently satisfied of their sin- cerity. “This way,” he muttered, snatching the lamp from Piok and dashing iuto the side ocorridor from which he had come. He ran at such a pace and turned so many angles once, exclaimed | You're in the ““There's time whispered Myles, ‘“‘Save THE RAJAH DISCOVERED AN OLD DOCU- MENT. that it was dificult to stick at his heels. Far to the rear the clamor of the soldlery rose and fell and died away in silence. But Motee Mal did not lessen his speed. He pushed on through a maze of narrow corridors, where the walls were damp and slimy and the air was tainted with evil smells. _His knowledge of the labyrinth was un- prring, and finally he paused before a rusted Iron door. . He pressed a knob and the door spened slowly on creeking hinges. From the black darkness beyond a hoarse tumult was borne {n on a wave of fresh air. ‘Yonder lies the garden,” whispered Motee . ‘1 ecan ald you no further. If ye are quick ye can slip through the fortress @Ates before the alarm is given. Romember Jour oath, sahibs, and may Brahma guide The door grated shut and the fugitives were on the outer side amid a dense coppice of ahrubbery, Crawling through this they stood erect and found themselves near the lawer end of the tank. ‘The fire was under control, but two streams were still playlug on he smolder- ing ruins of the explosion. A nolsy crowd looked curlously on. “There goes an engine,” said Plnk. “Wo must slip out behind it. Come on, I must stand the chances of being recognized. In Another minute it may be too late.” hurried across the garden and over- took the eagine just as it was rolling thro | nook_atongside the w were out in the street, “Where, now?" asked Pink ‘‘Before we're five minutes older the rajah will ‘ave | *is sples 'unting the town for me.” | “This will let us into the rear garden of the residenc replied Myles holding up the | key. “Just the place” exclaimed Pink. *‘Move faster lads and don’t run against any one if you can 'elp it."" The latter precaution was difficult since many people were ir. Mowever the fugitives gained the English church without | attracting attention and a little later Ihl')’y entered the residency grounds and locked | the wicket gate behind them. | Pink made his companions sit down in a 1, screened by thick | shrubbery. He began by questioning Myles | about the affalr of the residency and quickly | learned that Pershad Jung was in charge during the absence of Colonel Teversham and his secretary “That makes this 'ere mission of mine a little easier,” hs declared. The night's young yet, so I'il 'avs time to spin the yarn if I make it short What would you My} if I told you a revolution was ready to hursl‘ on Mysore?” My and *‘Impossible!" leve it. You must be- eh?" interrupted Pink. and Jack fairly gasped for breath, altu opened eyes and mouth wide. cried Myles. “I can’t be- “But | “YONDER LIES ments. Then they'll gobble up some party to get the magic opal, and by ‘ave the mine all ready to fire. But shan't ‘ave the opal or the treasure, causo going to get them myselt.”” “You!” exclaimed Jack and Myles, credulously, Exactly, only sur asserted Pink. “That’s way to knock the plot on in an hour or two. rdly leave before morning. the guards are still 'unting for dungeons, sinca no one saw us us in come oyster."” The logie realized breath. them, and mission boys drew a long seemed flawless to that his perilous revoit reached the ation tions, How far away is the opal? same conclusion, deny that it's a stift task at the end. THE GARDEN."” I'm not, lad. truth and I'll prove it. In the first place, yow'll believe me when I say that a couple of tho rajah's ugly soldlers kidnaped me irom the cantonment gate the other night. You've 'ad evidence of that.”” Tho boys nodded. Already they were be- coming cgedulous. Well,” rtesumed Pink, “the rascals drugged me, and the next thing I knew I was in a magnificent room in the palace, and there was the rajah and a lot of Hindoo traitors, mostly officers of the Mysore regl- ment. The rajah talked to me In good Eng- lish. First ‘e begged my pardon for carry- ing me off. Then 'e said I was a brave fellow and ’e’d taken a shine to me because I saved 'is life. 'E asked me would I like to command 'is army and ‘ave lots of money and jewels. Well, I sort of let on I was willing, because I wanted to discover what ‘e was driving at. So pretty soon I ‘ooked 'lm, and the whole plot come out. I tell you I was scared. I ’‘ad ’ard work to keep cool—" “And what was the plot?” interrupted near as I can remember, it was like replied Pink. “It starts a couple of ‘undred years back. In those days the Hindoo rulers of Mysore—the ancestors of this 'ero rejah—'ad a big family jewel. They called it the magic opal, and as long as the rajah wore it on his turban no enemy could overthrow ‘im. In 1760 a Mahometan named Hyder Ali got hold of the opal some- how or othor and became the ruler of My- sore. 'Is son, Tippoo Sahib, came after 'im, and as the opal was no good for Mahome- tans Tippoo was knocked out by the Eng- in 1799.” o hat was the battle of Seringapatam,” said_Jack. n‘l'(}‘::n\ly," assented Pink, “and before the battle Tippo Sahib 'id the opal and & lot of treasure in some secret place. Tippoo was Killed, and the old Hindoo family went back to the throne under a British protectorate. Ever since the people of Mysore ’ave been looking for that opal, and ’oping it would como back to put an end to the British rule. Mind you, the English know nothing about it, and never did. But the tradition ’as béen ‘anded down among the natives to this day, and every man jack of them is ready for revolt as soon as they know the opal is in the rajah’s turban. The rajah would never ‘ave told me the secret if I 'adn’t fooled 'im into it. ‘B said that Mysore would ‘'ave mutinted in 1857 like the other native states it the opal 'ad been found then—'" “And you don't mean to say found now? cried Myles, excitedly. “As good as found,” declared Plnk. “A day or two ago the rajah discovered an old document under the patce, It was written by Tippoo Sahib, and tells the 'iding place of tho treasure and the opal stone. It's miles off, though, and they ‘aven't gone after it yet. But the rajah’s spies are spreading the hews among the people and telling them to be_ready.” The boys were by this time thoroughly convinced that Pink's story was true, and thelr horror and amazement can be better imagined than described. Even Paltu seemed impressed by the wonderful news. ““Do you know where the stone is hidden?" asked Jack, after a pause. “Wait a bit till I finish my story,” replled Pink. “You see there was a clause to this letter of Tippoo Sahib's saying that the opal must be dug up by an Englishman, or its power would be gone. To cut matters short, that's what the rajah wanted with me. I ought to 'ave parleyed with 'lm, but Instead of that I was fool enough to say no out- right. Just then Pershad Jung came into the room—at least that's what they called 'im— and ‘e flew into a terrible rage. 'E pitched into the rajah for blowing the plot, and th rajah got mad and pitched into 'im. Pers| Jung said I couldn’t be trusted, and I'd ‘ave to lose my ‘ead. - They talked in Hindustanee, and I took good care not to let them know I ‘ad picked up the lingo when I was stationed at Calcutta. By and by they cooled down, and let out where the opal was 'id and ‘ow to get it. 1 always 'ad a good memory, and you bet I made use of it. Then the guards ran me down fo the dungeon and told me my ‘ead was to be cut off at the second sunrise, meaning tomorrow morning. And its owing to you chaps that I'm out of that scrape.” Pink drew a long breath and wiped the perspiration from his face. “Something must be done at once’ ex- olalmed Myles excitedly. “We can tele- graph to the resident and alarm the can- ments—" Not a bit of it, lads,” Interrupted Pink, It our soldlers try to arrest the rajah and his minister now, there'll likely be a bloody massacre, The resident's absence s a downright streak of luck. You don't see it, eh? Well, 'ere's the situation in a nut- shell, Pershad Jung ‘'as the upper 'm being in charge of British interests, and and the rajah will trust to that to engineer thelr plot through in ‘spite of my escape. it's been the male gate, The semtries pald mo at- No doubt they'll keep shady until thelr place 'e could find, and—" “Then you need help,” broke in Myles. ‘Il go with you.” ‘So will 1" added Jack, and Paltu chimed in with a shrill “‘me, too, sahibs.” “I've been sort of counting on that,” ad- mitted mustache. Pink, tugging reflectively at stuff and can stand peril and You're better away from ‘ere, anyhow. dare leave any messages." “My father and Captain Dundas are both in Nellgherry hills and won't leave for a week,” replied Myles. “That's good,” said Pink, “we'll be back long before they wil, and as for Pershad Jung—why, the old rascal can think what And now about an outfit, lads. We need fast horses, arms and ammunition, blankets, provisions, a long rope and a couple ‘e pleases. of spades.” I can furnish them,'" eagerly volunteered “that is if we take proper precau- 1 know where the key is to Colonel Myles, tions. Teversham's arsenal room, as he calls it. “Good for you,” approved Pink, makes plain sailing. And now, my lad, I would suggest that you get what stuff you Pershad Jung is likely at the palace, but "e'll soon be want from the ‘ouse right away. back.” “All right,” Myles assented, Paltu along to help carry. about like a cat.” arn Just as the two boys rose to their feet an angry growl was heard not far away. “‘Lass: Lassa whisper, and instantly a mastiff bounded to the spot. master's command to ba silent. snift or two at Pink, who was the strange member of the party, contentedly down in the shrubbefy. “I forgot about the dog being loese,” said trouble, Hold him by the collar, Jack, or Myles. though. he'll follow me. “Stop,” interrupted Pink whisper. “I I'm atraid we've been tracked.” “And 1 forgot to lock the claimed Myles. “The key is outside. “Too late, lad,” whispered Pink. down for your lives. Ah, ‘ere they come. He won't give us any You then, Paltu— in a Myles dropped flat, and took a double grip r and long nose. he breathed softly, on the mastiff by his col “Be qulet, old fellow, “wao're in danger.” Lassa bristled like an angry porcupine, but made no sound. Creak! creak! into the garden. light that ck anxious watchers. (To be Continued.) THE SONG Soldlers Bega: Into » National War Song. BY JAMES BEALE, Late Twelfth fantry. (Copyright 1884 by McClure.) About forty years ago the Sumter Hose | commis- to write a “chantez” for their use on a proposed ex- open- company of Charleston, 8. C., sioned a Philadelphia musician cursion. They recelved a song, the | ing words of which were: “Say bummers, will you meet us Acting on John Wesley's maxim, you find him with one the the words, the new version being: “‘Say, brothers, will you meet us?" This became very popular as a camp meet- | ing and revival hymn, and by 1861 it was | II quite generally known. The firing on Sumter and harbor, known as the “Tigers."” They found fort in a very unfinished state—work on it stopped when Jefferson Davis was secretary of war—and as a natural re- sult ‘‘fatigue parties” Were very numerous. After the day's work was over a favorite amusement was singing, for there were some excellent voices {n the battalion, notably one James Jenkins, Newton J. Purnette, John Brown. The last—a Scotchman—was the subject owing to the similarity of Osawa- then recently executed. The and made them more constant. The story goes that one evening when two of this quartet were returning to the fort— Laving been quartet, Charles E. B. Edgerly, of many Jokes, his name to that of the tomie Brown, Scot rather resented these quiddities, this, of course, famous the the 1. 1t's about midnight now, and I'll start The rajah's party will As like as not the out except Motee Mal, and ‘eIl be mum as an Pink’'s they ‘would probably avert the' threatened bloodshed and Older and wiser heads might have for the situ- was indeed full of critical complica~ asked Myle ighty or ninety miles to the northwest answered Pink, “in the 'eart of the Ghants. I can get to the spot easy enough, but I'll not You This 'ere statement is gospel | see, old Tippoo Sahib chose the toughest What we went through tonight showed that you chaps are made of stern ‘ardships. It worry your friends, though, for you won't take He can creep called Myles in a loud huge Thibetan The intelli- gent animal seemed to understand his young After a only o crouched .sharp 'ear voices beyond the wall. The wicket gate slowly opened and two dusky figures crept through They advanced six feet and halted in a broad streak of silvery moon- rly revealed their faces to the JOHN BROWN'S BODY" it In a Joke and it Grow Massachusetts Volunteer In- “an ways steal a good tune from the devil when Methodists appropriated the tune, and with modification consequent rally to arms caused Fort Warren, Boston to be occupied by the Second bat- tallon of Massachusetts infantry, commonly dark the camp mceting tune had under- gono revision, for the “Tigers'" were chant- ing: 0 John Brown'sibody lles a-mouldering in the gray " But his soul Boep marching on. ONCE BEGUN THE SONG GREW. On May 26, 1861, the “Tigers” left Fort Warren, but, s ‘on May 7 the Twelfth Massachiusetts ¥oiunteers (Webster regiment) had reached fhe fobt, many of the “‘Tigers" enlisted In thi# régfment, Jenkins and Brown joining company® A, Purnette and Edgerly Joining company E—all four being sergeants. Of course they carrled their song with them, and as the regimental dress parades were In “heavy marching order'’—knapsacks and all accoutrements—it became the fashion after dress parade for the regiment to march around the parade ground, singing the second verse John Bro back, And we go marching on. Chaplains in those days styled the volun- teers “The Army of the Lord,” so the third verse: He's gone to be Lord, The regiment had the ‘““Webster's Cattle;” this the fourth ve His (Colonel Webster's) pet lambs will meet him (Sergeant Brown) on the way, which they used to do every evening while making the march around the parade ground The unfinished state in which Fort Warren had been found and the great amount of labor thereby entailed naturally caused some vindictiveness toward the author thereof, who, as president of the insurgent states, was then an object of universal attention. So in the fifth verse the ‘‘Websters' pro- posed to Hang Jeft Davis to the bough of a tree, which eventually became ‘‘a sour apple tree. HOW THE SCORE WAS WRITTEN The air was whistled to the bandmaster, Willlam J. Martland, the score written by Samuel C. Perkins, a member of the band, and very soon the tune was played on dress parade, as accompaniment to the 1,100 voices of the regiment. Copies of the score were given to Gilmore and the Germania band, then Ditson published it, and so the John Brown song became common property. The “‘Webster regiment” first sang it in Boston on July 18, 1861, when its colors were presented by Hon. Edward Everett; deaving Fort Warren on July 23, on the next day it electrified New York city with the weird chorus; Baltimore heard it on July 26, and on March 1, 1862, at Charleston, Va., on the spot where Osawatomie was hanged the “Websters” sang: John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the Eravi His soul ‘goes marching on. THE “WEBSTERS" CEASED TO SING IT. Regiment after regiment adopted the song, and so it ceased to be the special property of the “Websters,” who gradually disused it. Perhaps the fate of Sergeant Brown, who was accidentally drowned at Fort Royal June may have had a deterring influence. Some think the death of Colonel Webster (killed at Bull. Run August 1862) had much to do with it,.but whatever the cause the fact remains that the song was never more used by the “Websters.” In July, 1864, as # made its return march through Boston-eighty-fiye men in all, com- pany A being represented by three—an ef- fort was made by its colonel to revive the old chorus. It was promptly frowned down, and silently, bt ‘with solderly tread, the ““Webster regiment'; passed into history. The question of the oricin of the John Brown song was discussed at a regimental reunion some years ago. Two of the quar- tet, the bandmastersand some of the band were present, and the statements then made are embodied in this paper. There are many.versions of the origin of both words andi music, but none that I have seen give any reasonable explination of the rather singular. phraseology of the song. Purnctte and- Bdgerly declared they took the tune from the camp meeting hymm, and' that is known to have:bsen borfowed ‘fsom -the fireman’s’ chorus. 1o Sure it is that the John Brown song .was . most enthusiastically adopted by all who heard it, and that what was _originally a joke - became @ literal prophesy. THE JONISSARIES. Christinn Boys Who Were Madé to Fight a8 Moslem Soldlers. The mighty Ottoman empire which at one time threatened the civilized world, sprung trom a band of 400 wandering Turkman fami. lies in the central part of Asia. Led by the sultan, Othman, they swept down through the southwest, gathering power as they went, crossed into Europe, conquered Greece, and took the city of Constantinople, making it their capital. In the year 1360 the sultan Orcan, by the advice of the deryish, Black Halil, decreed that all the captive Christian boys under 14 years of age should be organ- ized into a band of ‘soldiers to support the government. From that time until the year 1826, where the tide of Ottoman battle raged most flercely, there, savage, dark, invincible stood the Jonissaries, boys suckled on Chris- tian breasts and signed with Christian bap- tism, now flinging away their lives for an alien cause and an alien creed, fighting with the irresistible courage of fanatieism against their birthright and their kindred. In order to recruit the ranks Shrall, Hun- gary, Servia, Bulgaria and all the countries under Ottoman sway 'had a most inhuman tax imposed on them. Every fifth year each family was required to yield up a victim, Only the stoutest and most beautiful boys were taken. Torn from their parents when mere children, they' were carried off to the palace of the sultan and put in charge of the Aga, a military offiver of supreme power. New names were glven them and they were daily instructed in the rights of Mahome- danism. Their physical development was pertect, they being required to exercise con- tinually in wrestling, boxing, running and the arts of war. The best teachers in Europe were engaged to inatruct them, and some of them became noted scholars. Those most conspicuous for birth, talents and beauty constituted the prince’s body guard and re- ceived enormous pay. Eventually imbued with the faith of Islam, they became greater favorites than the Turks themselves, Having no ties of friendship, family or faction, they were awarded the highest mili- tary, civil and ecclesiastic positions in the empire. Their barracks were separated from the rest of the city and they received a strict monastic training. Fach new band was consecrated by a_celebrated dervish, who, holding out his' handd, prayed as follows “Let thelr countdnangg' be ever bright, their hands victorious! theiX gword keen! may thelr spear always hang over the heads of their enemies and whegesogyer they go, may they | return with a white fag They were noted by their enemies on agcount of their silence, sobriety, patience, modesty and fmplicit obedi- ence. Owing te: the extreme youth and beauty, it is recorded that no such impressive scono was ever witnessed in the annals of war as that of 126,080 Jonissarles going to battle. They wers never known to surrender and were rarely dlefédted. In the course of several hundred years they became over- bearing, corrupt &l ‘formidable. We find a long list of empervrs, @eposed, appointed and murdered according' (8®heir whims, Finally, in 1826, ‘after two futile attempts to break their power!!the sultan, Mahomed , brought in a Fdign army and for three days poured grapd and ‘canister into the bar- racks of the Jonfssariés. Out of 20,000 not | even one was left to tell the tale. NEGRO HEAD DRESSES. The African puts ornaments in his hair as we more civilized mortals do, but his taste is different. For where we decorate with gold and silver pins and combs, he proudly uses lttle balls and discs of clay hanging to the end of his braided locks or long braided beard. Sometimes he plasters a great crescent shaped lump of clay on the back of his head, and one old prince, particu larly vain and loving of ornament, rolled his entire beard Into a ball and so plastered it with mud thaj it hung, a great clay ball, from his chin Just fancy how pleasant it must have been to wear @ five-pound welght wn's knapsack’s strapped upon his soldier in the army of the soubriquet of is referred to in his the = — — = | as the changss wdre sung on them, and by | tention, and a moment later the Vllxnlvul sples report that I'm not to be found, and that no alarm ‘as been given at the canton- Eng- lishman in my place and send 'im with a the time the stone could be brought back they'd they be- v on one's chin! © It would be a great dis- courager of conversation, for one certalnly would not wish to lift that welght any oftener than was absolutely necessary. Some of the women with long hair weave 1t over and over and around little reeds stuck in at right angles to the head, so that it finally looks like a great straw hat or basket all around their faces, much like the poke bonnets that our grandmothers used to wear. The ladies of the lower Congo, whose hair is much woolier than those of the other tribes, part their hair in threa great thick locks, one on each side of the face and one in front. These the grease and twist until they look like wire, then they curve them until they look like short cows’ horns stick ing out on both sides and in front, Tho natives of Rua braid thelr hair in two or three long braids right on top of the head. These they stiffen with clay until they stand upright exactiy like the funny little horns the unsociable snail sticks out as he saunters along with his house on his back. If the man of Rua happens to have short hair he braids in false hair until he gets it to what he considers a fashionable length that s, about twelve or fourteen inches. They likewlse share the fondness of so-called civiiized nations for changing the color of the halr, and are particularly addicted to the use of red clay, which makes their hair a brilliant red. They also use a preparation of henna for the sama purpose, and when they want to hide the gray hairs they mix henna and indigo, which makes a fine black, and unlike some European dyes, does not affect the brain, A CIRCUS SCHOOL. Did it ever oceur to you to wonder how the small boys and girls who go around with country circuses from one town to another learn to read and write? They don't stay long enough in any one place to go to school and their parents usually have no time nor inclination to teach, even if they knew how, which is very doubtful, A quick-witted Frenchwoman has solved tho difficulty by taking the school into the circus, and traveling around as part of the show. Whenever the show comes to a halt, there they put up, along with the big, round tents and booths, her school house, which is merely a piece of canvas drawn over a light wooden frame. A floor which can be taken to pleces at will is laid right on the ground Two long tables with holes for inkstands rest on trestles, and the benches beside them are equally primitive. Then there is a Kitchen cupboard where the books and slates are stored. and at one end of the tent hangs a blackboard with great white capitals painted on it. Not very luxurious is it, compared with the wall-fitted school rooms the most of us know? There are no rules in this school against looking out of the window, for there are no windows to look out of. The only light comes gentle, pervasive, through tho canvas, And when you wish to come in or go out you raise onc corner of the ocrtain, and have no door to slam. Hero the smali peanut vendor and embryo rope dancer learn to read and write and cipher. The school has been three years and parents of the mission From spring till autumn when the bad weather puts an end to traveling circuses the little school tent leads its nomad life. About November the t is folded away and through the winter “‘school keeps’ in an old disused caravan with a glass roof and a tiny stove. IMPROMPTU MAPS. The “cat” ard the “pig” books, designed to record people’s Impressions of those in- teresting animals (each person to draw his own without heing allowed a glimpse of any one else’s work), has an amusing companion in a geography sketch book. In this one's friends are to record, in a rapid off-hand drawing, their best recollec- tions of certain very familiar outlines, such as the coast of Massachusetts, or Italy, or England, or North America. To be even fairly torrect is difficult and rare, if one is long past daily geography lessons. The five great lakes of North America is one of the best tasks to set, this to be drawn in outiine with at least the larger bays and connections indicated, all to be done without seeing, first, any other sketch or map. A correct map should accompany the book for easy reference and comparison with the amateur work. The curiously vague, droll, mental maps that one's friends carry about with them, thus revealed, are funnier than even the sea serpent’s portraits in_the “sea serpent His Album.” I have known more than one person to stop short at a mere “round 0" for the first lake, which seemed to lead nowhere, the other four having neither shape nor sub- stance In the puzzled artist's vision. in existence about is partly paid for by the children and partly by a BLOWING UP A SHEEP, Among the gypsies of Bosnia there is a curious game called “the game of the sheej You know they skin a sheep or goat in the east by dragging the skin off whole over its head. This skin the Bosnians drip and grease most carefully. They then tie up the four legs and the neck and blow it full of air, so that it looks like a very greasy, badly ‘shaped sheep. This is thrown in the middle of the ring and each man in turn jumps on it with bare feet, until one suc- ceeds in bursting it. The lucky ome then gets a purse. Such a funny sight as it is to spe them jump and sprawl! for, of course, it they do not strike It at just the right angle they slip on the greasy surface as it It were a toboggan slide and go sprawl- ng. e — PRATTLE OF THE YOUNGSTERS. Auntie—What is it you are embroidering on the tidy for grandma? Little Nellie—The good die young. Maud—What s the trouble between Alice and Kate? Ethel—Why, you see, Alice asked Kate to tell her just what she thought of her. Maud—Yes? Ethel—Kate told her. Friend—What is your father doing now, Jimmy? Jimmy—Father? Doin'? Les see— this {8 Sadderdy—I s'pect he's tryin' to bor- rer & $5 bill about now. At Prayers: Minnie—(in loud whisper)— Jimmy, wot makes Uncle Eben shet 'is eyes wen he's prayin'? Jimmy—(in loud whisper) —Mebbe he's ‘shamed ter look the Lord in th' face. “You must go to bed, now, dear, You know the chickens all go to roost with the sun.” “Yes; but then thelr mamma always goes with them."” Teddy—I wish I hadn't licked Jimmy Brown this morning. Mamma—You see now how wrong it was, don't you dear? Teddy— Yes, ‘cause 1 didn’t know till noon (hat he was going to give a party. Phyllis—Little brother told papa that yonu kissed me over one hundred times last night. Alphonso—How did your little brother know? Phyllis—Why, it's the little things that count, you know. “I say, Jen," called little Tommy. “‘What?" veturned his sister. “Why, I was just think- i u've always had to wear ma's old ses made over and I've always been stuck with pa’s old clo'es—which of us d'you s'pose’ll have things made out o' ma’s bicycle bloomers when they get old?” “‘Suppose, Bobble, that another boy should strike your right cheek,” asked the Sunday school teacher, ‘“what' would you do?" “Give him the other cheek to strike,” said Robble. “That's right,”" said the teacher. “Yessum,” said Bobbie, “and if he struck that 1'd paralyze hin 1 efended Her ¢ lnlm News was received at Perry, Okl, of a duel between a woman and a man iu the upper part of the county, in which the man was shot three times by the woman, and the latest report is that he will die. Miss Agnes Jones, at the opening of the Cherokee strip, took a homestead twenty miles -north of Perry in the Perry land dis- trict, and built a home on the same. Some weeks ago Mas Jones went to Kansas to visit, and druing her absence Sam Bartell jumped the claim of Miss Jones and moved fnto her house. Yesterday Miss Jones ar- rived home and found Bartell living in ner house, and she gave orders for him to leave immediately, but Bartell did not go, whereupon M ss Jones pulled from wnder her apron a pistol and shot six times at Bartell three shots taking effect. Bartell shot at the woman, but missed her. Nelghbors came in, and Bartell asked to be carried from the claim. n Fashlon. [ THE PRAIRIE A SEA OF FLAN coived by the Oity of Lincoln, A BATTLE FOR LIFE AND The Invader's n De coref nt Tra ng Front Turn Cho Kiro's B formed lnto Vivid Groen. rato Trail first prairie fire, writes A. 8. Cody New York Independent. We lived very outskirts of the city of Lincoln which was very young in its maidenhood. The fact is, the city and I hac been born fn the same year to the southeast south, was a broad, level expanse in on Neb, also city of grassy into what looked like a mountain, but was ir rolling prairie. On the west, at some dis tance, was a small river or creek, skirted by trees and shrubs and bordered by a broad, fertile valley. There numerous trib. utary smaller creeks and the main Salt creek, wound around to the north, hold ing the city in its bend were Beyond the creek earth, rising and falling or breaking suddenly in an abrupt precipice where a small stre had cut its way through. But there were 1o rocks to speak of, and one could imagine that those great hills had been made by the washing of the glacier which in olden times passed over this plain, rather than by the upheaval of the earth from its interior. In the spring and autumn, especially the spring, after the snow and ice has all gone, and before the grass has begun agaln, one cannot go out of a clear, night without seeing long lines of fire on every horizon, and at lating hillside. the old, dry grass of the year before, so that the new will come up fresh and free, loose and having a romp over the plains. But one needs something for excitement. country that the breaks about their stacks of hay and homes and barns. stack a furrow further back still another furrow or two is turned up. Then the grass in A rod or so back from (h fire by a broad, arid belt, on which no fire can find fuel. But now and again, with the over your arid belt like a boy playing leap- frog, and then your hay n s a fine blaz 1 have scen many a hundred ton stack of hay, protected by a firebreak, too, serve the purpose of a lovely bonfire. At the time of the particular fire I going (o describe the warm south winds had been: blowing steadily for some weeks, the frost was quite out of the ground, the grass was as dry as tinder, and the soil was hard and parched. Rain 'was needed, and rain would come soon. As soon as the ground should be softened the garden would b ved, though now it was a forest of tall weeds. On that bright spring morning I, a child, played hide-and-seck delightedly among the weeds, little thinking that a few hours later the place where I sat on the ground would be hot as a smoking furnace At noon they said there was a fire coming Ono could smell the smoke in the air, and fly ing cinders floated overhead, borne on the strong, flerce wind that was blowing from the south. Away on the crest of the distant hill was a long line of smoke, with now and then a gleam of flame. It was miles away fifteen or twenty; but they said it was com- ing toward us, right on the city, faster than a horse could gallop. Over there was an old white farm house, and down in th& hollow yonder was a little board shanty and several fine stacks of hay. There were scant fire- breaks around them; but thelr owner had gone away, and his little shanty was locked We were protected by no firebreak, and the line of march for the fire right into the city was urbroken, In some way the fire must be stcped, and there was not too much time to do it. The alarm had gone forth. Over at the white farm house the old grandfather brought all his valuable papers in a tin trunk down on the piazza, hoping that in some way he might escape with his treasure; and the grandmother brought down several bundles of useless old magazines, which she thought ought to be saved if possible. The men brought out the horses and plows from every possible source, old, rusty plows, broken whippletrees, harness tied up with a string. and set the back fire, while the women in hysterics drew water from the well into tubs and barrels and pails, and the hook and ladder company, anxious to test their new apparatus in some way, came out from the city with all their paraphernalia to stop the prairie fire, and were much laughed at. In the meantime the air had been grow Ing hotter and was filled with smoke and light, black floating cinders of grass. The long ‘line of smoke over on the side of the great hill rose higher and higher, and tall flerce flames burst through the smoke more and more often, leaping for rods Into the alr. It seemed impossible that grass scarce a foot high could send flames rods into the air; but so it was; and the smoke curled up to_high heaven. The men worked and sweated, the women cried and rushed about, the hook and ladder company waited in dumb stlence for some- thing to do, and on came the fire, rushing, roaring, like a tornado, sending its sparks ahead on the strong south wind like avant- couriers, and so galloped over the prairie Now it was beyond the little creek, but in ten minutes it would be here, and our petty firebreak might not hold it. 1In five minutes it was on the edge of the hollow, und with a flendish laugh it roared and clasped in its embrace the little board shanty and the three great haystacks. What was a fire- break of two or three rods to such a fire as that? Simply nothing. It did not even stumble at the obstacle, but wrapped its arms quickly and completely about the un- fortunate fodder and ate it up. It made a beautiful blaze, however, sending broad sh of flame, red and glowing, up to the zenith, and crackled and roared and made a heat that scorched our faces a quarter of a mile away. But on the fire came toward us, and in a moment we would be in its rushing midst. Over the house we dashed the water by the barrel, until the shingles smoked from the steam’ that the heat made. On came the fire and jumped over our little break as If it were only a small boy stumbling at a furrow. The forest of tall weeds in the gar- den just before the house blazed magnifi- cently fifteen ar twenty feet high. But here it stumbled and fell. There were other breaks beyond, and an army of people with old coats and petticoats soaked In water, with mops and blankets and palls of water. The enemy was met with decislon and resolu- tion born of desperation. The fire stumbled and fell, leaped up, sighed, and went out. Here and there, under fences and in little tufts of grass by the wayside, it clung te- naclously still, till a wet rag whipped it out Over the black prairie it smoked an smoldered and leaped up now and then. Tall columns of smoke rose and were wafted over upon us, The stacks in the hollow were a glowing heap of fine embers that would smoke for days; and no doubt some of the hay at the bottom would remain unburned altogether, saved by the fire’s lack of air and oxygen, the flerce fire being smothered by its own flerceness. The little shanty was only a pile of well-charred rafters, but the white farm house, by some miracle, wi am " TRANCE GLAIRVOYANT s, with il age, vex and siagip roseope of Buture Life. b7, Gead trance medivi, peventis A<ughter norh with vel and won: ortyl g ond past, prese: nd future; full name of whem you will ‘advicg on businese, Arriage, Goa. [onsns, divorce. Tl friend, ot ness, wills, pensions, ete., ar Volkoown thronghous ke Wre tho oy rollavl eers, and thelr charis cause love, apecdy marriages and succosn in business. SECURE A CHARM AXD WEAR D!AMONDS Your Future Rovealed v ..u..m...,_.:-_.:;:fia'm—m speedy and veals o in & dead brance. happy mar- fi i) Ching L. Foui N E Reoollections of the Baptism of Fire Re- HOME I was very young when I experienced my the the | Our house stood Beyond us, to the east and prairie, which rose gradually in the distance fact only one of the glant undulations of a creek, were more hills, vast, seamed waves of solid to grow warm intervals down every undu- The farmers are burning oft and somehow the fire always has a way of getting | tho sure is the prairie fire to pass over the whole wise always provide fire- their is plowed, and several rods betwoen is burned off carefully, and so your haystack or your barn or your home is protected against help of a good wind, a lusty fire will jump They turned up a furrow or two T loft untouched, The fire had swi on one side, just as a tornado will .:lll'l:('hll take oft a corner of a house and leave the rost quite Intact. That night there was a great rain, The fire had brought a storm. On the plains of Nebraska it always rains on the Fourth of July, the atmosphere being stirted up the firecrackers, 1 suppos prairio fire has much the same effect The next morning we might see the black prairie looking as if a laid over ft, so sooty black left by the burnt grass. All the weeds in the garden were gone, ‘There wers the plowed furrows filled with ashes, and thes was the long line of burned fence, It was desolation But the warm south winds dried the black ashes that day, and blew them away, leaving brownness instead of blackness. In a week the grass was growing out of the soot in tender in a month the black mantle nged for a vivid green, agoend and yollow wild® peas and dandel N were all the fresher | for having the ola brown grass burned away. TOLD OUT OF COURT, 4 wore the ashes alnard exchange tells this story om Colby of Beatrice: The colonel wag E & man against the charge of mure dering his wife who died suddenly and myse terlously after a brief il The body of the woman was exhumed after it had been buried saveral weeks, the stomach removed, placed alcohol and brought into court. While the colonel was closing the argument for lis client he stepped forward, dipped up everal spoonfuls of the liguid and swallowed t. Everybody in the court room expeoted to_see the wilay lawyer topple over and fall to'the floor a corpse; but he didn't Instead, however, he continued his arg nt and caused the jury to “agreo (o disagree.” The stomach, in aleohol, was forwarded to Prof. Nicholson of the state university at Lincoln for a ysis, and it was found to contain a sufficient quantity of a drug to produce death, but as it was heavier than the alcohol it s d to the bottom and the little “nip™ the colonel took was harmless. Had he taken the trouble of stirring the mixture, however, he might now be singing songs of glory with the angels instead n Some time ago, at Barnett County, North Carolina, superior court, Judge Shipp pre- siding, the trial of a case had been protracted tll near midnight, relates the Atlanta Con- stitution: The jury was tired and sleepy and showed flagging attention. Willie Murchison, who was addressing Jury, ght to arouse them, so he sald “Gentlemen, I will tell you an anccdote.’ Instantly, the judge, the jury and the fow spectators pricked up their ears and were all attention, as Murchison was admirable in that line, had a fund of anccdotes, and no e could tell them better. But he s00n pro- cecded to tell one of the dullest, prosiest and most pointless jokes possible, Everybody looked disappointed ho juage, leaning over, sald, in an unmistakable tone of disap- pointment: “Mr. chison, I don't see the point of that joke Nor I, either,” replied the witty counsel. “But your honor told it to me on our way down b and, as I thought the lack of appreclation must be due to my obtuseness, I concluded to give the joke a trial by jury.” the peddler had called at yer's office, says the Detroit F sell him a book and the lawyer emptorily didn’t want any_book. The ped- dler insisted and the lawyer continued to decl At last the lawy rose in wrath, “Now, look here,” he said emphatically, @ t01d you T don’t want your book, and I meant what 1 said, Furthermore, my- ad- vice to you Is to out of this promptly, or LIl throw you out The peddler was about to make a remark. “And,” interrupted the lawyer, “let me also say that if you hesitate, I shall charge you for that advice, and levy on your books to satisty judgment. Now git,” and the sup= pressed peddler got. The book the law- » Press, to very per- Flint, the veteran Me., who died recently, was once fined by a country justice of the peace for contempt of court in telling the magistrata * (00 bluntly what he thought of one of his degisions. Mr. Flint was not taken back by the justice’s orders to his clerk. “All right,” he said, “I have got a note in my pocket against you which I have been trying to collect for the last ten years, and T'll endorsoe the fine on it. T never expected to get that much,” and, suiting the action to the words, he pulled out the note and made the indorsement. lawyer of Injured in the Accldent. Somerville Journal: Sufferer—I suppose we shall sue the railway company for about $3,000 damages. Lawyer—Three thousand dollars danages! Nonsense! Thirteen thousand ut fthe very lowest, man! Sufferer (Surprised)—Why, 1 think I should be quite content if I got $3,000 dam- ages. Lawyer—Yes, want at least $10,000 for m — - The Congregationalist says there 1s no truth in the report that Rev. Dr. J. H. Ecob, formerly of Albany, N. Y., has been called to a professorship in Andover seminary. probably you would; self. but I DR HUMPHREYS' NEW SEECIFIQ —FOR— GRIP “hreak up” w stubborn Cold that “hangs on. 77 will pellets—its your ton A of pleasant old by drugeists, 6 for 3. HUMPI Willlam and John Stre A NEW LINK GUFF —THB=———= RANGISCAN DROPS .::s. Prepared from the original fo muls pre erved in the Archives of the Holy Land, huw ag an suthentic history dating bac £ 800 years. A POSITIVE CURE for all Stomach, Kidney and Bowel troubles, especially CHRONIC CONSTIPATION, Price 5O cents, Sold by all druggiste, The Franciscan Remedy Co., 184 VA SURE.S 5T., CHICAGO, ILL. 3 for Otrcular 4 Hlustrated Calendasr For sale by Kubn & Co., 15th & Douglay