Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, November 26, 1894, Page 6

e e ~ CAPTAIN BILLYS THA NKSCIVING By Harriet Prescott Spofford, Author of “The Amber Gods,” “The Thief in the Night," Fte, (Copyright, 1504 “o, T'm fair, an’ story. George! to Dunstable! trip—howdydo. Take your ballast lights, Same old Same old story!” “Same old wife,”” said Lide archly, stand ing with him at the head of the little pie Kitty swinging back on one of her hands and the baby on her other making her cheeks roiy with (he slapping of his little hands, every now and then staying the exer cise to rub his wet mouth over the fleld of operation “Dear old wife!” all the same, wet dry st happens, Not so much luck as a Flying Dutchman—" “Oh, Billy!” said his wife reprovingly, look- ing at the handsome sea-tanned sailor with grave and loving eyes. “Oh, Billy, dear!" “Why, It'd be a dventure, Lide, ter stay ter home a trip! Jes' now, 100, an’ Thanksgivin' comin’.” And he looked half Indignantly at the Pretiy Poll nanging on her cables and waiting for his down bay. “I do'no ez I'd mind ef we straddled Norman's Woe this v'yage, fer the sake o suthin's happenin’t That Is, ef it twarat fer Thanksgivin' close here.” “Oh, ap'n Billy, dear!" said his taking the spray of red huckleberry from Kitty's hand and pioning it reefer. “How you talk! Ain't thankin' Proyidence fer jes' (his? Shan't we be thankin' Providence Thursday fortnit yow're back safe? [ guess ef you did f yourself on the ledge there, thought o Kitty an’ me an’ the baby, you'd gech wi 8. P'raps you du need stirrin® up a little. You go to Boston, now, an' take some o your freight money while the schooner's unloadin’ and go to (he theate an' see the ‘Country Circus.' " “Weat in the world do 1 “Country Circus' for?" said cap'n. e it every day o sir, w'en 1 go ter the theater 1 edged, lords an’' ladies, an' high life, an’ polson an’ all thet. Thin's 1 don't sec every day. “Then you can go an' hear the preacher I read you the sermon of last Sunday that was. Jes' think, Billy? Mis' Ruggles's ben an’ she ses the singin’s no diff ret cholr o' angels!” “Wal, ef there's angels In cholr, it's diffecent from ourn “An' she ses folks tears their gowns get tin' in t'hear him.” “I shan't, then,” said the cap'n, (hrowing down (he sassafras stick he had been biting. “I guess Bibbsy'll hev all the gospel words 1 want this run. u've got Bibbsy,” said Lide, laughing, a little anxiously withal. “T shouldn’t wonder if he give you all the stir- rin’ up you ne:d!” “I shouldn’t either. 1 would'n a’ shipped him ef 1 hadn't ben short, now you bet! Sho! I mustn't lose the tide. Nor the wind neither. Smells sweet these days, out'n the piny woods like ter stay an' smell it—blest ef it ain't good enough ter bottle! By gory, ef this wuz a trip ter the Wind'ard islands, an' I wuz goin’ ter bring ye home a tub o' tamarin’s an’ a keg o' Porto Rio rum—jes' fer sick news, ye know,” with a twinkle, “an’ one o' them long palm-boughs ter stand in the front room, an' a_coral fan ter put on th shelf! But jes' this one old song—fo an’ back an’ down the middle—wears a man to shos strings. Wal. Can't be helped. There comes the skiff fer me. Ef you wuz goin’ along, Lide'— Mot “Wal, T don't 'pose 0. Bul somehow [ never did feel so queer about leavin' before.” “Oh, Billy!” Lide answered, with paling face. “P'raps it's a sign. Praps suthin’ is goin' ter—but there—no—it couldn’t be!” No, no sech luck,” sald the cap'n rue- tully. Wal, you tek good care o' your- self. Mind—w'en you're a-takin' care o yourself, you're a-takin' care o' me! Good- by, Lide, girl. You're a good wife. An' mother ses you be, too. Some day I'll sct- tle down ter house an’ garding an’ stay to home, you tell mother. But not jes' yet Hev a blg turkey ready agin Thauksgivin'. Tl bring some fixin's from Boston way. Wal—80 long!” And as far as he could see it Cap'n Billy thought there uever was a_prettier piclure than Lide made with her children, standing on the pler head among the red rocks In the soft blue autumn weither. the wind fluttering her gown and hair. And although he stepped into the skift wilh a glad whistle, yet long after he was in deep water with all sail set Cap'n Billy felt Lide's lips warm on his, felt the dear baby's soft cheek and Kitty's little arms about liis neck arms that “By George, it took stren'th ter undo, sir’ “Tied in a trew lover's knot, I reckon,” said the mate, as he gave up the wheel. “You ain't got a wife, Matey,” the cap'n answered. “I'd recommend ye ter lay off long enough ter glt one. won't never be half a man (il ye do! And then re- membrance of Lide in'a lavender muslin, with a bunch of white lilacs in her hand, and her sweet face blushing out of a straw bonnet with a wreath of green leaves and white rib- bons, on their wedding day, filled him with such happiness that he came near letting the ship 1uft in the wind. 1t all went as Cap'n Billy had said it would —smooth water, clear sky, favoring winds, quick run; and he made his port and dis- charged his cargo, all as he had done before. Lven Bibbsy afforded no variety; for the cap'n took his little Jug and empticd it over- board as soon as everything was shipshape, paying no attention to Bibbsy's ejaculations which made the air blue about them—there being no respect of persons on board (he Pretty Poll, for even if Cap'n Billy was the owner, hadn't they all been at school together and given and taken many a thrashing, and hadn’t they cut cach other out fn the matter of girls, and made their first ventures In company, and wasn't_one man &s good as another down in Blackpool, and wasn't each one doing all he agreed to do here? But the.cap'n had heard Bibbsy's vitupera- tlons before; as they had never made a voy age together that this ceremony had not taken place. *Now, Bibbsy,” the cap'n would say, “bring on_your jug.' 'l be deedeed 1f 1 will!” Bibbsy would reply, with further ornamental flourish of the sort. “‘Bibbsy, ef you don’ Irons for mutiny- begin, And then out off, tide’s «aid flowin’ B 1 Board your Get your Home again the captain. “Wind Same blamed old 't tired carryin’ deals ip—goodby 2, freight Samo yoir money old old harbors sweet sald Captain “But nothin he storm m, ight o' sort o' mad wife, leaves on hi we ben want th my biuft lite, little Mis' Ruggle The blamed sinner want ter be.put in the cap'n would of a sulphurous eloud of words Bibbsy would be put in irons for murder first, he’d have the cap'n arrested Jor salt and battery if he touehed him, he'd have him up for a thief if he went'near that | Jug, he'd send the ship to the bottom quick | as sinking! But the jug gurgled over the side, notwithstanding; for Bibbsy's outcries wnd’ threats, wrapped in lively and varie- gated language, were so familiar as to give no one any concern. And through them all Cap'n Billy felt that Bibbsy had a tenderness for old days and certain’other passages, and & specles of faithfulness to himself, such as & dog has to his master. So, when everything was ready, the cap'n went to Boston for his freight money, and said to some one in the office there that after all he guessed he shouldn't slay to paint the town, there were plenty to do it for him; he would get back to the schooner, and home to Lids and the children; he was going to lay off a trip for Thanksgiving And he showed a pair of little red shoes that he had bought. And there he disappeared it d as completely as it he had thawed and dissolved Into a dew, and his freight money with him. ‘The Pretty Poll lay out in mid-stream below the Dunstable wharves and beyond the tide-rip, where the current used to plow with such tremendous velocity before the channel was widened; and the four men who manned her went and came and thought the cap'n was takin' bis time; but such were the cap'n’s habits that only Bibbey ac- counted for his absence by surmise of amy irregularity of behavior. The others were wure h to see the | N | want't gilt- from a | | where remember | had gone down (o see the Cape Cod | f m"“'ff" by MeClure) canal, or was looking up the command some big ship, for there was a general idea that Cap'n “Billy” was of the navigators, and If he had the chance could handie a navy as ecasily as he could the Pretty And only when a customs house officer, knowing that Cap'n “‘Billy” had taken out his papers the day he went o Boston, that might have no delays lis return, hap- pened to wonder what the ship was lingerir for, and made some inquiries, did it dawn on the slow minds of the mate and the men that something had gone wrong with the cap'n, and they telegraphed to the office he had received his freight money, reported to the police of Dunstable and the police of Boston. At the same time tha harbor authorities N er in hand, and the ship was searched, and the mate examined; and the local paper made all here was to make of the sensation; and a diver at work on the bridge went down and dragged the bottom round the ship though all soris of suspiclons went to and fro nothing was actually asserted except neither Cap'n Billy trace of him, to be found; and her the mate nor ¥ and to took r was n the | | | they be white or black with tidings of life of | great | he | And al- | e | that | bring it inter por E OMAHA DA Methu T ter come, ef she lives ez long as salem. An' she'll all ready in case he comes, anyway. her sort.” “Weat in thunder Thanksglvin's fc year, T'd like ter know," cried the mate, any other year. Allus hints o' trauble brings yer troubles up like ghosts. Gre she's got to koep Thanksgivin' fer watchin out fer the schooner!” They had never heard, these rough fellows of the old Greclan king and his eager outiock and rash sorrow. But no Aegeus, watchin from his rock for the sails of his son, shoul or death, had In him more tragic quality they found in Lide, looking for the flag their bare and fatal peak, with her baby her arms. “By ( 1" sald the mate, jrge, it's a shame his Knife again in a less squan dering of tobac “It hedn't orter be. swan 1 wisht we wuz a week's sail out, sted er close in shore. Make the light now less 'n a hour, I guess. It gives a man what's that?" “By the Lord!" roared Bibbsy No, no, I dido't! I swear it wasn't me! Oh, by rd God in heaven. he's dead, he's dead he's dead! It's Cap'n Billy's ghost! “Hullo, there! Heave us a lin ried a volce like the wildest, richest in their ears, And there, looking up from th strange boat under the weather board, the broad, brown face with the dimple in | and the flash of white teeth, the great eyes, the bright hair standing up like a bus, for his hat had blown off, intenance of Cap'n Billy “Is this ‘ere elek?" cried he. “I'l aim salvage, then!" on the high that's w'a called the mate In a loud anc n t music “ICs pira is, cap'n! AS HE CRIED, “POLL, AHOY men were detained, general feelir although there was a % that they ought to be, and lllm men were more or less aware of the fecl- | ing. And so, after a week of bewilderment and fear, the Pretty Poll shook out her salls and slipped down the Dunstable stream for home. “Who's goin' ter tell Cap'n Billy's wife—er widder—about this ‘ere? Pretty Thanksgiv- in’ she's a-goin’ ter hev!" sald the mate, as he came up for his watch with Bibbay, before the other men went below, for home. “I'll be goll-durned if I can.” “I've wrote to her,” said Bibbsy, his chin upon his breast. “You hev? By gosh ve wrote to her,” said Bibbsy, “that I guess Cap'n Billy's a-havin' the adventure he's been wantin’. 1 ses to her, ses I, ef she ken make it out that we wuz goin' fer fer bring the Poll home without him. But by good fortin’ he come aboard last gasp, we'd run up all the flags from stem ter stern, 50 't she'd know 'thout more words. An' e: we ain't azunnin’ up any flags there won't be no need o ' And Bibbay tellin’ her nothin’. gazed over the blue water with his big wan- dering bleary eyes that made him look like a fish out of his element, and drew a long breath like the melancholy and mysterious sigh of the porpoise. “1 kinder think the cap'n ‘Il turn up. ently, for the I don't ndredth time. sald the mate, opening and 0, shutting the blade of his jack knife with one | thumb. *“An’ I don’t see w'at in—wonder that little woman's goin' ter do. She's sol the hull durin’ world by the cap'n. I mind w'en she first come ter the Pool, an' I see her. I couldn’t think of anythin' but a wild rose a-blowin’ 'ith the dew on it, an' T ain't w'at ye might call a notional man ecither. 1 s'pose she's got your leiter, Bibbsy." “I 8'posa %0, grumbled Bibbsy. “1 do' no' who's goln' ter face sald the mate. “I can’t keep her on wind there." “1 wouldn't,” said Charley Woods, giving the wheel a turn, “I wouldn't for a farm. “An’ w'a's going to come of her?” said tho mate, “She can't sell the Poll till let- her,” the NEVER A PRETTIER PICTURE. the children's else she ters is took out, 'count o rights, an' ‘1 do' no' what Who's goin’ ter take care of her “1 suppose I shall have ter,' “Guess we'll all have ter chip in," said I ain't us folks,” sald Bibbsy. “Anyway, 1 shell. T writ it in the letter.” An' thet's only part of it. - She'll miss him. By criskey, I miss him myself.” Miss him like ——," sald Bibbsy. “It’s a dretfle thin',”” said the mate, shut- ting his knife with ‘a snap. “I kinder—I feel fer that little woman asittin’ out there an’ watchin' fer this here craft—ter see if she's a-comin' In bare top or all dressed out like a garding er flowers, 's may say. It's it's rough—it's a dretfle moment fer ber. Ef she's on the rocks down by the pler, 'ith her baby in her arms, or ef she's to home ‘ith the spyglass out'n the upper winder—I a0’ mo'—I do' mo' how—" “Oh—oh—1—1— ca'an't stand it!" blub bered Bibbsy, with an outright boohco. ‘I- shan't tech another glass o' sperits 's long 's 1 live on this created earth!" *1 s'pose,’ said the mate, “‘she'll drop right down's 'l she wuz shot—dead faint or suthin.' " “'She ain’t sech peterin’ stuff ez that. I know her,” said Bibbsy, “I knowed her ‘ter ever she come to the Pool. She'll jes shet her little mouth and go about her work. You can't nevy .mek her b'lieve ‘Billy' ain't comin’ back’ Wi A0’ she'll keep thin's taut fer Tecking' out fer him ef | Don’t you?" he sald pres- | got. | sald Bibbsy. | him; for just | 1 | rifts where the tide-streak But if Cap'n Billy lost his oar, he lost no of his He did | not know, of course, that Charley Woods was were If they had all been on deck, however, they would not have heard then a train was blowing its {long whistle as it thundered across the bridge, and another engine behind the town was an- was swinging | was Joyous voice. And without knowing it, tha moment, in the heart a religious service. *‘Wal, wal, wal mate. ‘‘Here's Thanksgivin’ afore ‘nor’s time for it!" When Cap'n Billy left the train that un. fortunate night, on returning from the gov: to the slip, where he thought it skift and one of the men might be waiting :nnl meeting a soul on his way, as it happened. n their last tack it being the hour of supper. not there, however. handy, and he took or Bert should tow it back. There was but but that was enough It was already very dark— the dark, although of that soft diffuse twi- it were a dim light shed from it, or the carth's own light itself, and by which one usually sees with more or less mystery, had deep- | ened into blackness, and Cap'n Billy thought could Pretty | we come in 'thout a Poll out there in the stream, although he ai- i But there she was, only waiting for him to come to hoist sail for home, the tide running out And Cap'n Billy thought to himself as he sculled along that it was all as it had been before, and as it would be again—the same old story, and one oar in the boat, to scull with, light that reflects over the water as if it not likely that but for her lights he see the shadowy hulk of the ways satd he Knew every line of her. fast and the land-breeze blowing. not a ripple to disturb it Something did disturb it, though moment. For when he turned his head again just as he cried, “Poll, ahoy!” he saw a lan- looking as big as a ball of St. Bmo's fire, waving around Bibbsy's head as he leaned across the rail, shedding a waxe of light full on himself, and illumin- ing Bibbsy's face, that shone with a malig- suddenly vanished re his eyes, as if they had never been. zed and aghast for an instant, his grasp | of the single oar loosened, giving the boat as into the tern with a reflector, nant and lantern a befo tipsy leer. nd ship's And then lights and all it did so a lurch that sent it out n like fire, time before he halloced at the top tremendous voice, again and again. ashore, and that the mate and Bert asleep in their bunks. swering it. And here away down the riffs, he stern first, head first and before he gathered his scattered sences there | was the Sarpedon, steamer, close upon him into harbor and up to her berth. had an oar he could on as the swell r was helple: H that he might possioly could do so the swell reached him and in the water out, “Oh, Lide, to the boat side, the great use, but of (he big swamped him, and the dark, Lide!” clinging and washing down the harbor and out to sea, the northwest wind helping the tide along fearfully, past can buoy, he thought, past the bar, past th bell buoy, he knew, and Into the open bay. and It was on the bar that he believed for a breakers | for an lines moment he wa were racing on instant there, gone. either between The grea side of him; those rushing of white fire, he lost the boat; then he fel it graze his shoulder, and blindly clutched it; it was right side up, by heavenly chance he nearly pulled it over trying to clamber i and then he was there, he knew not how and fallen breathless i1 the bottom boat, he swept on, he knew not where, When Cap'n Billy came to himsel{—for he his brief unconsciousness, and have been rocked adle of the deep for some time— must have sunk into deep sleep after in the the wa were still running on tide and before the wind, and tossed like a feather from one He was wet to the skin, the ebb- the boa over him constantly. he was not yet quite awake to his condi tion, but had a curious feeling of being an of sea-weed thrown along from billow to billow with no insensitive object, like a stem ill-intent and toward no harmful end. Then he had some vague recollection of sitting on the arm of his mother's rocking chair, and resting his head on her kind shoulder, and he rose a litde that passed, too. Presently on one elbow and looked about. *'Wal, said Cap'n Billy to the great vold dark and “I guess I've got my the the sea and the fishes. adventure, children an’ of it But I do'no’ how Lide an’ mother are goin' he added. He ter come ou was alone, out of sight of shore, night, with the wind singing a great he was afraid. His heart was trembling, to be sure, but it was at the thought tears in Lide's tender gray eyes, of the (nno. hev Thankegivin' dinner That's this Allgg | han will ye?" wos blue | the laughing | ! f all those men was " gaid the Boston and the freight office, he had hurried along likely his The skiff was that coal ploughing her way If he had ave kept the baat bows hed him, but as it was he tried to tear out a thwart | before he steamer he crying blindly of the to another. and chilled to the | marcow; and the flying spray, and now and then the comb of a drenching wave broke 1t was still dark, and in an open boat, without sall or car, at sea and in the depth of the BONE in his ears, but he could not have said that of MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1894. cent smile of Kitty, ALY BEE: of the baby's loving month. It T neybr see them again, you must take care of them!" he ecried out, whether to God pp Ahe great el:ments, or his own soul, Men a little while had | passed he contrived to finish loosening the thwart Lo, had halt torn out before, and, rikglog it ‘| the painter, andigetting It over the sterp | as a drag, and he lay down again, some thing out of the-sermon his wife had read k| on his last Sunday at home flashing on his ;| memory, and he gent'out a prayer from the 1| depth of his be!ng that he might be saved for Lide. ~And theny as a blow tingles again, he recalled that face with the lantern light )| glowing like a 8, ¥imo's fire full upon it, and for a seeond he felt faint with o | kind of horror, as if there were a_ hell and he had been very near ite devils! ' But look ing up, in this gk horror, as if to find escape somewhers, there were the clouds blowing to films, and out of them, just be- fore him, just above, was a star, a great | sweet star, as if it gleamed from some hait | velled angel's face. And then, as plainly as ever he hal seen anything In his life, he saw Lide kneeling at the window at home, | 1ocking at that gentle star and saying her prayers fcr him, And le said afterwa d that | he knew, as sure as the tides flowed and the winds blowed, that he should come out | this all right and be home with Lide e | Thanksgiving! . The morning crept up softly into the dark t | midnight blue, the bland mild Indian summer iorning, the star melting away in the ski | sea of light, the gray flowing into rose, the 2 changing to gold and the sun soaring ltke a burning bubble into the clear blue that 1| was like the paved work of a sapphire. He ot oft his wet clothes and dried them in the sun, bailing out the boat with an old gourd that was in the stern and giving himself as hard a rubbing as he could. It took him nearly all day; and when the soft windless night descended, faint and blistered and worn out, he feli asleep again with the uni- versal wash and whisper of the waves mur muring round him It was toward the close that he was picked up by an outwutd bound steamer, all but utterly exhausted and slightly wandering in his mind. But by the time the steamer reached Halifax, where h was bound, he was quite himself again; and without wasting five minutes in port he took the return passage on a.smaller boat, bound 10 the port nearest Blackpool. And standing on deck, searching the horizon with the captain’s glass, what should he see but something amazingly like the Pretty Poll An object of somewhat romantie interest, as ke was, the steamer ecasily went off it course a point or two; and then a boat was lowered for a mile of rowing, and when it went back it left Captain Billy on his own deck again “Wal, wal, wal,” ¢aid the mate, grinning like a gargoyle, and shaking Captain Billy's hand as if he would shake it off, and shaking again, and coming back and shaking it ce more. “Ef 'twarn't past the time o meracles I should say, Did you drop from the p'n? We—we're fes' ez glad ter see ve ez ef we sald so! By King, we're glad, Cap'n Billy “So be I, r N 1 n t | of the next day sald the cap'n. ter Kiss the hull four on ever 1 see in my life was the Pretty Poll In the skipper jes' now, creepin’ along, all safl s2t! "Twarn’t no meracle, boys '"Twas jes' Lide's prayers. That's w'at brought me round right side up with care Guess we'll make it afore dark, Mr. Mate Ye'd orter see the style on the furrin’ goin' craft! Hope Lide ain't been much worried —Telegraphed! Would, but they ain't no telegraph to home—her to drive over ‘ith old Nubbins’s horse. Thought 1I'd fetch it quickest. Cap'nof ihe Halifax said he'd Glad enough Finest thing hear to it. You'd a thought 1 was a man- fish, or some outlandish thin’, they made so much o' me—more champagne'n I'll ever drink agin ef I live till T die! Give me a hat an’ these eré close, an’ the women folks give me Dhankerchers. Lost that blame cheque for the freight money—soaked all ter pulp. Guess they'll give me another, though—ain’t no doubt of it. Lost them little' red shoes, too. - Don’t mind any o' that, long as 1'm bome fer Thanksgivin'— that’s tomorrow, ain't:it? Wall, tell me all about it. How'd ye feel? W'at happened? Wat was ye goin' ter do? Do ye s'pose Lide's been worried? 1'd be sorry ter hey her worried. I'd‘be sorry ef she was, an’ I'd be sorry ef she wasn't.” “Bibbsy wrote ta her, Cap'm Billy,” said the mate as s00n“& e could get the word. “An’ he told her we, wuz afear:d ye wuz los but we didn’t know nuthin’ for sartin. An’ he told her mot to worry, he'd take care on her and the babies to his dyin' day an’ never tech the little brown jug agin. An' we'd a' helped him out, you bet! Powerful glad ter see ye Cap'n! Powerful!” grasping his hand again. “An’ he told her ef you turned up we'd come into harbor ‘ith the schooner dressed out in all her flags, an' she'd know the wust there wuz ter know ef single streamer flyin’ '— 'em out!” -cried Cap'n Bllly. “Git ‘em out! Git ‘em up! Dress her out from truck to keelson! Mind how she looked the day we launched her—ez ef she wuz strung ‘ith posies? Lide thought I wuz sorter darnin’ the expense then. Wisht I'd hed twice as many now! Quick about it! Set avery inch o' buntin' there is aboard her—all the signals an’ the pennant, an’ the flag o our unfon! By George, my girl shall see the Pretty Poll look ez gay ez her best bu nit! She'll be down there at the pier, an’ she'll see the colors flyin’ in the sky 'fore ever she sces the schooner!” — And I am sure if you had told Cap'n Billy the im- mortal story of the King of Men and the herald fires from ‘Troy to Argos, it would have seemed to him an affair of far inferior moment to the tidings these flags would carry Lide, The other men had gone forward, a half hour after the flags had blossomed out and while the schooner was skimming along like a bird, when Bibbsy came up timidly behind the captaln. “Cap'n Billy,” said Bibbsy, “Cap'n Billy!" The captain turned on his heel quickly and looked at the downcast and woe-begone face before him and above him, for Bibbsy was a glant. “Cap'n Billy,”" sald Bibbsy, half whis- pering, half crying, “you know best. Tell me now. It secms sorter 's ef 1'd had a dream: and sorter 's ef I hedn't. 1 can't make out the rights uv it. I'd—1'd hed my jug filled, ye know. I—I can't seem ter sense it—but do ye make out ‘twuz me put out the ship's lights that night ye didn’t get aboard? The cap'n gave him a sound slap on the shoulder. “‘Wuz the ship's lights out?” said he. ‘“Twarn't nothin’ but my consarned carelessness hindered my gettin' aboard. Al- lus wuz so cock sure, ye know. Aboard now, though. Guess I don't want no more adven- tures! This un'll do me 'till Bub's a man.” etch it in about forty minutes, Cap'n Billy,” called the mate. “This wind wuz made a-purpose!” | “wisht there though,” sald the with his honest joy years when ye're sech But another boat lay that, intending Bibbsy Git wuz another jes' like it cap'n, his face beaming Forty minutes is forty waitin' ter see the color spring up yer wife's face ez bright ez that Ye ain't got a wife, matey. Better I've told ye before. Wal, you'll all take Thanksgivin' lunch with (0 i the | - | buntin’, get one. come round un’ us. Hope Lide ain't ben much worried t 1 WESTERN PENSION Veterans of the Late War Remembered by the ¢ eeal Government. | WASHINGTON, No¥, 2.—(Special.)—Pen- sions granted, issue.of November 14, were: Nebraska: OriginalrAnton Gerber, Hast- ings, Adams. Renewal—Henry Wright, Ne- braska City, Otoe./ rlu\.l(u Original-Henry L. Coolldge, Bona- sarte, Van Buren; Willlam J. = Gracey, Hturd, Madison; Mafthew Julyen, Tama, Tama: Harrison Baprish, Archer’ Grove, O'Brien; Carl Knodt,-Postyille, Allamakee. | Increase—Robert B. Randall, Lorena, Clay- ton: Barrett P. Oswall, Oswall, Jasper, Re- issu Benjamin F."Moulton, Cresco, How- ard; Moses Weaver, Strahan, Mills. Orig- {nal widows, etaicigelina Manart, Des Moines, Polk; Mary E. Smith, Walnut City, Appancose; Amanda C. lickett, Coralvilie, Johnson. South Dakata vant, Carthage, Miner. 0 0 | ete.—Ann Burger, Ganu Valley, v | Montana: Original— gene 8. Billings, Yellowstone, Colorado: Original—Daniel Buckley, Monte Vista, Rio Grande; Meliton Valdez, Hastings, Las Auimas: Juan Montano, Saii Luls, Costiila. = Original” widows, etc.—Klla Lyster, Denver, Arapahoe. i e LT Shirt Makers Strike settlod. NEW YORK, Nov. 2.—The strike of the shirt makers is practically over. The ac- tance by the shirt makess of the 10 per cent reduction as arranged by arbitrativ has resulted in the amicable adjustment or matters. Tomorrow nearly all of the strix- ers will return (o work. A IR Oregon Kidney Tea cures nervous head. aches. Trial size, 25 cents. All druggista. Original—Henry Sturte- iginal widows, Buffaio, Holmes, of | for | telegraph, but held ‘dohe so much 1 couldn’t | AUTUMN'S ENERGY IS ENDED | Flush of Speculation Engendered by Sum- mer Vacations Quickly Exhausted, Keduction in the Burlington Dividend, New 1ssue of Bonds and Discussion ot the Currency Question the Sen- sntions of the Street. W YORK, Nov Henry Clews, head | of the banking house of Henry CI writes of the situation in | Wall street [ As usual this perlod of the year, bus ness in Wall street is dull | The flush of speculative interest that gen- | erally appears the return of operators from summer recreation ha= exhausted itself and there is little disposition to new ventures on the near approach of the season of holiday and of annual settlements. The present is a good time for buying preparation for the usual New Year's r and therefore even the ‘bulls’ are not unwill- ing to see prices easy, “This temper of affairs has been aged by the reduction of the Chicago, Bur lington & Quincy dividend from 5 per cent to 4 per cent, the effect of which was a fall of fully two points in the stock and nearly n equal sympathetic decline in the other granger shares he surprise is that this oceurrence should have had such an effect upon prices. A reduction of dividends naturally to be expected under such a state of business as has prevailed for many months, and a fall in the market value of =t cks as already taken p in_anticipation of that probability. The market, however, i not In a sanguine m od at the moment, and therefore the ‘bears’ found it easy to use the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy's reduc- tion of dividend as a means of breaking prices. ABOUT THE NEW LOAN “Although the railroads are now doing iir business, yet some of them have to ta freight at loW rates, and, in the absence of any special 'bull’ factor 'there is a (isposi- | tion to let prices arift rather make ar epecial effort to advance them. The recep: tion given to the new government loan has not yet materfally helped other On the one hand, there is some diversity of opinion a8 to the necessity of contracting a new loan in such an awkward form to run for =0 long a period as ten years. On the ther hand, the requirement that the sub- cription sh 1in the form of gold has emphasized the discussion about money diserimination, which only increa the confusion on 'that question, and is giving to it an imaginary importance beyord what it really The effect of this sen- sitivene: s of money is, f emphasize the importance of th | getting more gold, and, next, to the difficulty of its getting it “It cannot be said that this sort of con- fusion produces any real apprehension, but it has created a certain uneasiness’ and keeps the attention of the patient on (he symptoms of his disease in_u way that is unfavorable to recovery. —Nor is the way out of this condition of &low financial fever as yet cntirely cpen and clear. The large subscriptions to the loan will help to quiet this unrest and restore confidence, but the political doctors are prescribing a ‘long and tedious course of treatment, to which the pa- tient 18 to be subjected as Soon as congress assembles. The administration is understood ave it in contemplation to recommend eme of nstruction of our system, its main points being the retirement of the government legal tender paper and jts substitution by a more elastic system of bank issues than that which now exists, There Is perhaps no great division of opinion about the importance of some judicious revision of cur monetary arrange- ments, and when it is all accomplished the results may prove very beneficial to the country at large. But this prospect induces another new element of change, and with change comes unsettlement and postpone- ments about matters that anxiously aw.it action and accomplishment, and not a_few take it grumblingly that, having got off the tarift gridiron, we should now be pitched upon the hot coals of currency reform. This new source of legislative uncertainty is one of the influences that is now acting un- favorably upon the stock market, and it must_be assigned as one of the causes of the weakness of prices during the past week. IT IS ONLY A PATCH. ““Then, again, some dissatisfaction is felt that, while there is no doubt about the loan being subscribed for abundantly in one form of money or ancther, yet there is no assurance that the $59,000,000 now being bor- rowed will suffice ‘either to maintain the reserve at the legal minimum or to provide for the deficiencies of revenue. The rent in the treasury finances is only patched, not repaired in”such a way as to hold good. When congress reassembles this whole mat- ter must come up, and with so many di- visive interests concerned in it there is no foreseeing by what means the public finances will' be relieved of their present sources of derangement. It js felt on all sides that the trouble is no longer one of real difficulty in the handling, and that the hand of a strong and resourceful financier could readily put affairs into normal shape and end the vague distrust that is now hold- ing every form of enterprise in arrest. But such a hand seems lacking “It seems impossible that timidity and hesitation of management can much longer keep affairs in their present uncer- tainty. ‘The immedfate problem is now to fill up the treasury gold reserve and at the same time secure for the government a gola form of income sufficient to keep the re- serve good under any contingencies. There could be no really serfous difficulties in the way of solving this question. The supply of gold in the country Is many times over what the problem calls for. It is within reach of availability for the purposes of the treas- ury, and it is within the power of the banks to make it available sufficiently for the purpose contemplated. The banks comd now afford to pay out a considerable amount of gold to importers for customs duties, and if the treasury would back them in so doing returning to them as much gold as pos- sible through the clearing house, the dead- lock would be broken and affairs would again run in normal grooves, The present indications are that matters are tending toward some such simple method of ad- justment, and on that account we hope to see an early end of the present derance- ments without much dependence on core gressional bungling. When that comes a matked and real recovery of confidence may be looked for, and ‘the times coming’ of the ‘bulls’ will be here Sonin and drooping on in this LONDON FINANCIAL REVIEW, Business at Stock Exchange During the Week Quite Active, LONDON, Nov. 2%.—Business at the Stock exchange during the week was tolerably active, though it was not up to the level of the previous fortnight. There was a dispo- siticn in the early part of the week to take profits and prices dropped a little, Later the upward movement was resumed, with every prospect that the advance would make further progres: The feature of the week was the comple- tion of the Baring liquidation so far as the Bank of England is concerned. The trans- fer of this money I8 thought to imply a further locking up of resources, but it is srobable that the bank will be forced to nvest some portion of its surplus, thus re turning it to the market. Assisted by cheap money, all first class securities have risen and a fresh boom is promised edged stocks. Second and third seriptions are bound to follow. C tinue at record prices, as do also corpor tion Issues, Two and one-half per cent Liverpool stock to the amount of {901,100 was offered at 97, The subscriptions amounted to two and one-fourth times the amount of the loan, which placed at an average of £50 16s 9d. stock has since sold at par. Another sign of the condition of improve- ment is the rush to obtain a share of the Ceylon loan of £500,000 at § per cent. Amer- ican raflway securities continued neglected, Apart from a rise of 13 per cent in Lake 8hore and Atchison gold bonds, prices were again lower all arcund. An important ad- verse influence was the reduction in the Burlington dividend, but it is nct unlikely that investors will have to turn to dividend- paying Americans in despair of finding se- curities elsewhere. The following declines were made: Atchi- son, 3% per cent; Denver preferred, llinois Cenitral, 1% per cent each, and Missourl Pacific, % per cent. Specilative husiness centered in the mining share market. Afri- cans were generally from % to 2 per cent higher. LONDON CEREAL MARKET, The ring the Past Week Has Been Seasonable. LONDON, Nov. 2%.—The weather during the past week has been more seasonable, Wheat was quieter at 34 to 6d down from the top prices. Good business was done in Russian parcels. Other wheats were qulet. The stocks belng drawn upon show a reduc- tion of supplies which are generally mod- erate. California wheat was quiet, at s Weathor I securities, | WALL STREET WORRYING AND WAITING | undertake | encour- MORE BARGAINS. WE ARE Stacks ot goods leave our wagons sky-high. It is goo erms that is doing it all. I doing the FURNITURE, CAR- PET and STOVE business of Omaha. warehouse daily loaded on d goods, low prices and easy f you have never dealt with us you should do so at once in justice to yourself, vs & Co., | GROGKERY .$8.65 4,15 2.65 4.95 1.90 35¢ worth #1750 worth $9.50 Dinner Sets. ... T S48 oov s Toilet Sets . . . .« Plano Lamps. ... Banquet Lamps. . . China Cuspidores. worth #5.00 worth $1.00 worth worth #10.00 worth 50 srth jeth .50 worth 1,00 Oak Center Tables. Wardrobes. ... . Hall Racks. ... Polding Beds. . . Mattresses. . . . . Springs ..... 98¢ .$4.90 8.25 14.50 2.50 98¢ WS §10 £25.00 €50 Take your choice. Yourtrade is equally appreciated whether you pay cash or on payments, $10 BOILED DOWN & SILVERWARE VLY RSN T Teaspoons.. . . 60c¢ Cake Baskets....$1,65 ‘g Castors 2.45 W& Berry Dishes.... 2.75 Knives and Forks.. 1,48 Sugar Shells..... 25¢ worth 87,50 worth $3.00 worth $1.00 Parlor Furniture RTINS TR Patlor Suits. ... $i4,75 W Bed Lounges.... 6.90 Wit Single Lounges.. 3.85 ‘et Divans 4,80 Piush Rockers... 3.00 Leather Couches.. 9.75 RE: worth of goods, $1.00 per week or £1,00 por worth of goods $1.50 per weok worth of goods, $2.00 per week worth of goods, $2.50 per week or $10,00 per )0.00 worth of goods, 00 ver week or $12,00 per 1,00 worth of goods, $4.00 per week or 815,00 per worth worth 220,00 ).00 month or $0.00 per month .00 or $8,00 per month month month month Formerly People’s Mammoth Installment House Open Monday and Saturday Evenings. 94. Red winter wheat, prompt dell quiet, at 21s 4d. Flour was firm and active. Ma was quiet and stendy. ~American maize was quiet and steady. American bar- ley was steady and in good demand. Oats was quiet a er. MANCHESTER TEXTILES. Was Fair for India Chi MANCHESTER, Nov. 25.—The market the past week was disappginted by the surprs- ing movement of cotton, in the face of the reiterated extreme cotton estimates. The cioth business was fair to India, China ana the minor eastern markets, but South Amer- ict hung back. Quotations were nominally harder, but any advance stopped business Yarns were firmer with a regular hand to mouth manufacturers’ business. Good brands were scarce. Common qu were abundant and difficult to mov advance on the week was about ¥ !\l'l' The spinners’ margin was decldedly worse than @ week ago. Of seventy-one compu- nies which ave taken stock since early in September, twelve show a profit of £70,500 and five ow losses aggregating £43,016, | cqual to £640 logs for each of these sevent one concerns. e Strentor dury inlled to Agree, MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 2.—The jury in the case of W. 8. Streator, formerly vice presi- dent of the Northwestern Guaranty Lo company, who has been on trial on an in- dictment' charged with stealing a_quarter of a million dollars of the funds of the com- pany, last night declared its inability to agré Cloth Busine and TR PERSONAL PARAGRAPHS. Nils Baur, Chino, Cal., is a Millard guest. W. T. Wattles of Neligh is at the Millard. J. B. Schallir, Deadwood, is a Paxton Buest. A T Dellon B. N. Paxton. F. E. McGinnis of Hastings, Neb., Is at the Barker. John 8. Hoover of Blue Hill s at the Mer- | chants. N. S. Harding of Nebraska City Is at the Paxton. A. L. Clark of Hastings was at the Millard | yesterday. G. W. Whitaker of Kearney Merchants. A. C. Hull of Hastings is registered at the | Merchants. | Mrs. E. McComb of Chicago is stopping at | the Barker. W. C. Barber of Luella is registered the Arcade. John Raeschman, Dellone guest. J. V. Sheridan of Indianola at the Paxton. D. Butterfield, Hamburg, Ta., was at the Paxton last evening. F. W. Monell, Newcastle, Wyo Mothersead of Wallace s at the White, Spokane, Wash., is at the is at the at Sheridan, Wyo., is a 1s registered is regis- | EASTBOUND | interests be properly conserved | per. | the_agreement in one week. WM. LOUDON, Commission Merchant Grain and Provisions, \l};‘l"fl"'fllu‘ wires lg Chlc.’xlgu and New York, A usiness orders ace ~abe, Toard of Trade, D Correspondence solicited, Office, room 4, New York Life Bull Omaha. Telephone 1308, g OUESTION OF COMMISSIONS Transcontinental Lines Troubled Over the 0ld Score Again, EUZINESS IS S:TTLED Now an Effort Will Be Made to Root Out Payments on Westbound Trafle— Some of the DiMcultles to Be Overcome. CHICAGO, Nov. 25.—The eastern lines, have ing disposed of the question of commissions on eastbound business, have determined to root out their payment on all westbound bus- iness, and have called a meeting for Deceniber 12, to be held in New York City, It Is exe pected that the Canadian Pacific will be rep- rosented at the meeting, and it is hoped by, the Central Traffic assoclation and the West= crn Passenger association lines that somes thing may result in the way of settling the trouble between the western roads and the Canadian Pacific. That line has refused to the payment of its commissions on westbound business, and, as the eastern lines are practically committed to the side of the western roads in the fight with the Canadian Pacific, it is thought that if these lines and the eastern roads come to an agreement to abolish the payment of commissions on west- bound traffic, that the difficulties of the wests ern lines will be smoothed in a material de- gree. B X proposition for the formation of a pase senger pool will be made at the meetings of the western lines tomorrow. The weaker lines believe that by this plan only can thelr A sustained agreement to maintain rates will take a large proportion of the business of the small lines and give It to the big fellows, and the small lines are not willing to take the chances of ir revenue slip vay (n that man- result would be the disruption of cease tered at the Paxton, H. C. Mathison of Baltimore, Md., is stop- | ping at the Barker. | §. 8. Warren, Blanchard, Ta., was & Mer- | chants guest yesterday. | D. A. Doyle of O'Neill and € Beatrice are at the Arcade. B. G. Spencer, Kansas City, Mo., stopped over Sunday at the Barker. J. M. Perrigo and J. G. Burrow of Geneva were at the Arcade yesterday, Richard Smith left Saturday for a days business trip in the east. General G. M. Dodge of New York regis- tered at the Millard last evening. | W. H. Franklin of Austin and J. A, Sheri- dan of Indianoa are Arcade guests, R. S. Hasson of Wakefield and John Carr | of Stafford took dinner at the Merchants yesterday. Frank Trumbull, receiver for the Denver & Guif road, is at the Millard, enroute to New York. | Members of the “Summer Blizzard" com- | pany are making the Barker their headquar- | ters for a week. Congressman Dave Mercer returned yes- terday from the south, accompanled by Mrs. Mercer, who left on the evening train for Minneapolis. Mr. Mercer starts for Wash- ington Wednesday. Registered at the Mercer: George F. Anderson, Chicago; W. C. Helmbucher, Bt Louls; V. T. Price, Rapid City, 8. D.; Max Herzig, Willlam E. Alexander, Walter Mc- Lucas, H. A. Briggs, G. W. Stoner and wife, Chicago; C. H. Breck, ir., Deadwood, 8. D.; J. H. Creger, Cremona; C. O. Carpenter, ‘Abllene, Kan.; 0. H. Beach, Salt Lake City; J. T. Hinshaw, J. D. Colt, New York; W. A. Mills of ten R. Vance, W. 8. Fisher, Seaton; J. W. | resentatives of the transc | oceanic It 1s not likely that the proposition to pool will meet with great favor, as some of the lines are stoutly opposed to It. Those who are down on the pooling arrangement are in favor of a plan for the distribution of the business, belleving that such an arrangement will be found to work in a more satisfactory manner than any other. Several of the rep= ntinental lines are already in the city in readiness for the meet- ing on Monday. 'The general opinion is that an agreement which will result in the forma- tion of a transcontinental association, with the territory of the Western Passenger asso- clation under the jurisdiction of one com= mittee, and that of the transcontinental terri= tory under another, and Chairman Caldwell of the Western Passenger assoclation being in charge of both committees, will be sat factory. Chaoges on Mexioan Koads, PUEBLA, Mex., Nov. 2.—E. A. While, formerly general passenger agent of the Mexican Central, has been appoiuted gen | pussenger agent of the Mexican Inte W. J. Parker, formerly agent of the Mexican Central road at San’ Francisco, has been appointed general frelght and pas senger agent of the Mexlcan Cuerna & Pacific road. J. H. Kain, formerly ¢ engineer of the Mexican Central road, been appointed chief engineer of the Mexs ican Interoceanic road, Southern Pacitic © SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 25. senger Agent Goodman of th cific has wired from Chicago that, come mencing Tuesday, November 21, & continus ous trip rate would be given from all coms mon Culifornia points via Ogden, Mojay Barstow, Deming and Kl Paso 6 Chicage Bouthern P Hewitt, Portland, for §64 first class, and M9.50 second clase Thiy Is & cut of 8 {rom the present rate.