1 1 ftfil ft. it M t
1 IfiT
$1.00 a Year, in Advance.
FOR GOP, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH."
SIngIa Copy, 5 Cents.
VOL. XIV.
PLYMOUTH, N. C. FRIDAY. MAY 1, 1903.
NO. 7.
V-
J,
i d OLD
T1M&
THE HAUNTED PALACE.
By EDGAR ALLAN I'OE.
In the greenest of our valleys
.By good angels tenanted.
Once a fair and stately palace
llad.ia.nt palace rears its head.
In the monarch thought's dominion, ,
It siood there;
Never seraph ppread a pinion
Over fabric half eo fail-.
Banners yellow, glorious, golden, V
On its roof did float and How r
(This all this was in the olden
Time long ago),
And every gentle air that dallied,
In that sweet clay,
Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,
A wing-ed odor went away.
:
Wanderers in that happy valley
Through two luminous. windows saw
Spirits moving musically.
To a lute's Avell-tun-ed law.
Round about a throne where, sitting-,
Porphyrogene,
In state his glory well befitting.
, The ruler of the realm was been.
r. The Longest-'Way Home,.
-.
DY NORAIAN
1M
66
T was ;i very narrow escape,"
said the doctor.
"Crossing the harbor?" I
exclaimed.
' "Yes," said he, with a laugh, then
gravely, "it was my narrowest escape."
"Tell me the story," said I, much in
iercsted. It was a quiet evening twilight
wiih the -harbor water unruffled, and
the colors of the afterglow fast fading
from the sky. We were sitting by the
surgery door, watching the Ushing
"boats come in from the sea, and our
talk had been of the common dangers
of that life.
"Do you see the little cottage on the
other side back of the church and to
the left?" said the doctor.
"Under the big rock?" said I. "With
the little garden in front and the lad
going up the path?"
"Aye," said the doctor. "Some years
igo, when that sturdy little lad was a
toddler in pinafores he was taken sud
denly ill. It was a warm day in the
spring of the year. The ice was still in
the harbor, locked in by the rocks at
the narrows, though the snow had all
moiled from the hills, and green things
Were shooting from the earth in the
gardens. The weather had been tine
for a week. Day by day the harbor
ace had grown more unsafe, until, when
Tonv.iry, the lad you saw on the path,
was taken ill, only the daring ventured
to cross upon it.
"Tommy's father came rushing into
the surgery in a pitiable state of grief
and fright. I knew when I first caught
sight of his face that the child was ill.
' 'Doctor,' said he. 'my little lad's
Wonderful sick. Come quick!'
" 'Can we cross by the ice?' I said.
"'I've come that way,' said he. "Tis
safe enough t' risk. Make haste, doc
tor, sir! Make haste!'
, " 'Lead the way!' said I.
t "lie led so cleverly that we crossed
Without once sounding the ice. It was
a zigzag way a long, winding course
and I knew the day after, though I
Was too intent, upon the matter in hand
to perceive it at the moment, that only
-Jus, experience and acquaintance with
the condition of the ice made the pas
sage possible. After midnight, when
my situation was one of extreme peril,
I realised that the way had been
neither safe for me. who followed, nor
easy for the man who led.
. 'My boy is dying, doctor!' said the
mother, when we entered the house.
Oh, save him!'
"My sympathy for the child and his
parents they loved that lad no less
than a certain professional interest
which takes hold of a young physician
5n such cases, kept me at Tommy's bed
f.ide until long, long after dark. I
need not have stayed so long ought
not to have stayed for the lad waff
afe and out of pain, but in this far
away place a man must bo both nurse
and doctor, rind there I found myself,
eit 11 o'clock of a dark night, worn out,
smd anxious only to reach my bed by
the shortest way.
t " 'I thinks, sir,' said Tommy's father,
when I made ready to go, 'that I
Wouldn't go back by the ice.'
" 'O, nonsense, said I. 'We came
over without any trouble., and I'll Cud
any way back, never fear
f
MTES
And all with pearl and ruby glowing
Was the fair palace door,
Through which came flowing, flowing, flow-
A v..g,
And sparkling evermore
A troop of echoes, whoe-e sweet duty ,
Was but to sing, ,
In voices of surpassing beauty.
The wit and wisdom of tlieir king. I ',
But evil things, in robes of sorrow. !
Assailed the monarch's high estate;
(Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow
Shall dawn upon him desolate!)
And round about his home the glory j 4
That blushed and bloomed.
Is but a dim-remembered story -
Of the old time entombed.
And travelers now within that valley
Through the rcd-litten windows see
.Vast forms that move fantastically
To a discordant melody;
While, like a ghastly rapid river,
Through the pale door
A hideous throng rush out forever,
And laugh but smile no more.
DUNCAN.
" 'I wisht you'd stay here the night,'
said the mother. Tf you'll bide, sir,
we'll make you comfortable.'
" 'No, no,' said I. 'I must get to my
own bed.'
" 'If you'll not go round by the shore,
sir,' said the man, 'leave me pilot you
across.' s
" 'Stay with your lad,' said I, some
what testily. 'I'll cross by the ice.'
" ' 'Twill be the longest way home
the night,' said he.
"When a man is sleepy and worn out
he can be strangely perverse. I would
have my own way, and, to my cost, I
was permitted to take it. Tommy's
father led me to the landing stage, put
a gaff in my hand and warned me to be
carefulwarned me particularly not
to take a step without sounding the ice
ahead with my gaff, and he brought
the little lesson to an end with a wist
ful, 'I wisht you wouldn't risk it.'
"The tone of his voice, the earnest
ness and warm feeling with which he
spoke, gave me pause. I hesitated,' but
the light in my surgery window, shin
ing so near at hand, gave me a vision
of clean and comfortable rest, and I
put the momentary indecision away
from me.
" 'It is a quarter of a mile to my sur
gery by the ice,' I said, 'and it is four
miles round the harbor by the road.
I'm going the shortest way.'
"You'll find it the longest, sir,' said
he.
"I repeated my directions as to the
treatment of Tommy, then gave the
man good night, and stepped out on the
ice, gaff in hand. The three hours fol
lowing were charged with more terror
and despair than, doubtless, any year
of my life to come shall know. 1 am
not morbidly afraid of death. It was
not that not the simple, natural fear
of death that made me suffer. It was
the manner of its comingin the night,
with the harbor folk, all ignorant of my
extremity, peacefully sleeping around
me the slow, cruel approach of it,
closing in upon every hand, lying all
about me, and hidden from me by the
tight."
The doctor paused. He looked over
the quiet water of the harbor.
"Yes," ho said, repeating the short,
nervous laugh, "it was a narrow es
cape. The sun of the afternoon it had
shone hot and bright had weakened
the ice, and a strong, gusty wind, such
a wind as breaks up the ice every
spring, was blowing down the harbor
to the sea. It had overcast the sky
with thick clouds. The night was dark.
Nothing more of the opposite shore
than the vaguest outline of the hills a
blacker shadow in a black sky was to
be seen.
"But I had the lamp in the surgery
window to guide me, and I pushed out
from the shore, resolute and hopeful.
I made constant use of my gaff to
sound" the ice. Without it ' I should
have been lost before I had goue twen
ty yards. From time to time, in rotten
places, it broke through the lee with
but slight pressure, then I had to tur
to right or left, as seemed best, keeping
to the general direction as .well as I
i ot.ld all the while.
"As I proceeded, treading lightly and
t cautiously, I was dismayed to find that
the condition of the ice was worse than
the v- orst I had feared.
"'AV thought I, with a wistful
glance toward the light in the window,
I'll bo glad enough to get there.',
"There were lakes of open water in
my path; there were flooded patches,
sheets of thin, rubbery ice, stretches of
rotten 'slob.' I was not even sure that
a solid path to my surgeiy wound
through' these dangers, and if path
there were it was a puzzling maze,
strewn with pitfalls, with death wait
ing upon a mis-step.
"Had it been broad day my situation
would have been serious enough. In
the night, with the treacherous places
all covered up and hidden it was des
perate. I determined to return, but I
was quite as unfamiliar with the lay
of the ice behind as with the path
ahead. A moment of thought persuad
ed me that the best plan was the bold
estto push on for the light in the win
dow. I should have, at least, a star to
guide me.
" T have not far to go, I thought. 'I
must proceed with confidence and a
common-sense sort of caution. Above
all, I must not lose my nerve.'
"It was easy to make the resolve; it
was hard to carry it out. When I was
searching for solid ice and my gaff
splashed water, when the ice offered
no more resistance to my gaff than a
similar mass of sea foam, when my
foothold bent and cracked beneath me,
when, upon cither side, lay open water
and a narrowing, uncertain path lay
ahead, my nerve was sorely tried.
"At times, overcome by the peril I
could not see, I stopped dead and trem
bled. I feared to strike my gaff, feared
to set my foot down, feared to quit the
square foot of solid ice upon which I
stood. Had it not been for the high
wind high mid fast rising to a gale I
should have sat down and waited for
the morning. But there were ominous
sounds abroad, and, ' although I knew
little about the Avays of ice, I felt that
the break-us would come before the
dawn. There was nothing for it but to
go on.
"And on I went, but at last the mis
chance was inevitable my step was
badly chosen. My foot broke through,
and I found myself of a sudden sink
ing. I threw myself forward and fell
with my arms spread out; thus I dis
tributed my weight over a wider area
of ice and was borne up.
"For a time I was incapable of mov
ing a muscle; the surprise, the rush of
terror, the shock of the fall, the sudden
relief of finding myself safe for the mo
ment had stunned me. So J lay stillr
hugging the ice, for how long I cannot
tell, but I know that when I recovered
my self-possession my first thought
was that the light was still burning in
the surgery window an immeasurable
distance away. I must reach that
light, I knew, but it was a long time
before I had the courage to move for
ward. "Then I managed to get the gaff un
der my chest, so that I could throw
some part of my weight upon it, and
began to crawl. The progress was inch
by inch slow ami toilsome, with no
moment of security to lighten it. I
was keenly aware of my danger; at
any moment, as I knew, the ice might
open and let me in.
"I had gained fifty yards or move,
and had come to a broad lake, which 1
must round, when the light in the win
dow went out.
" 'Elizabeth has given me up for the
night,' I thought in despair. 'She has
blown out the light and gone to bed.'
"There was now no point of light to
mark my goal. It was very dark, and
in a few minutes I was lost. I had the
wind to guide me. it is true, but I socn
mistrusted the wind. It -was veering,
it had veered. 1 thought; it was not
possible for me to trust it implicitly.
In whatever direction I set my face 1
fancied that the open sea lay that way.
"Again and again I started, but upon
each occasion I had no sooner begun to
crawl than I fancied that I had miseho
sen the way. Of course I cried for
help, but the wind swept my frantic
screams away, and no man heard them.
The moaning and swish of the gale, a?
it ran past the cottages, drowned my
cries. The sleepers were not alarmed.
"Meauwhile. that same wind was
breaking up the ice. I could hear the
cracking and grinding long before I
felt the motion of the pan upon which
I lay. But at last I did feel that mass
of ice turn aud gently heave, and then
I gave myself up for lost.
"'Doctor! Doctor!'
"The voice came from' far to wind
ward. The wind caught my answering
shout and carried it out to sea.
" 'They will not hear me,' I thought.
'They will not come to help me.'
"The light shone out from the surg
ery windoY again. Then lights ap
peared in the neighboring houses and
passed from room to room. There had
been an alarm. But my pan Was
breaking up! Would they find mc in
time? Would they find me at all?
"Lanterns were now gleaming on tha
rocks back of my wharf. Half a dozen
men were coming down on the run,
bounding from rock to rock of the
path. By the light of the lanterns I
saw them lauch a boat on the ice and
drag it out toward me. From the edge
of the shore ice- they let it slip into the
water, pushed off and came slowly
through the opening lanes of water,
calling my name at intervals.
"The ice was fast breaking and mov
ing out. When they caught my hail
they were not long about pushing the
boat to where I lay, Nor, you may bo
sure, was I long about getting aboard."
"Doctor," said I. "how did they know
that you were in distress?"
"Oh," said the doctor, "it was Tom
my's father. He was worried, and
walked around by the shore. When
he found that I was not home he
roused the neighbors.
"As the proverb runs," said I, "the
longest way round is sometimes the
shortest way iionie."
"Yes,'' said the doctor. "I chose the
longest way." Youth's Companion.
WHERE INDIANS TRADE.
members of the I.2pan Tribe Drive Close
Bargains With Lunslry Merchants.
Langtry, Texas, is one of the few
Indian trading places remaining in the
United States. By this Is meant the
genuine Indian trading such as ex
isted at many frontier points until the
red men were either exterminated or
brought under the influence of civili
zation. This has been an Indian trad
ing post for half a century and more.
A thriving business was done here
with the Indians long before the ad
vent of the Southern Facific Railroad.
In those days the little collection of
houses, situated on the bank of the Rio
Grande, midway between San Antonio
on the east and El Taso on the west,
about COO miles from cither place, was
known as Vinagaroon. When the rail
road was built the name was changed
to Langtry.
The Lipari Indians who occupy a
reservation in the Santa Rosa Moun
tains in Mexico, about 100 miles south
of here, have made Langtry their trad
ing point for many 5 ears. Only a few
days ago ten big, straplng Lipan bucks
crossed the Rio Grande with many
boats full of bear, deer, javeline and
panther hides. They also had a great
quantity of hides of smaller animals.
In their collection was also the hides
of three mountain sheep, which are
considered very valuable. There were
several beaver hides in the lot. but the
Indians said they had met with poor
luck this year in trapping beavers, al
though there r.re several large colonies
of the animal scattered along the
mountain streams and in the valley
of the Rio Grande above Langtry.
The Indians were close traders, as
they knew fairly well the value of the
different kinds of hides, and the local
merchants gave full value for them in
blankets, calicoes and foodstuffs,
principally in flour and canned goods.
It took the Indians all cne day to com
plete their trading, and they left for
their distant mountain home, a train
of burros awaiting lliem on the other
side of the Rio Grande to carry the
goods.
These trading visits are made at
frequent intervals during the winter
season. The Linaus are great hunters
and trappers and they make a good
living out of the business. They are
peaceable citizens, and it has boon
many years since they gave the Mexi
can authorities anv trouble. Their
reservation is remotely situated, and
the tribe has not beru disturbed by the
influences of civilization. New York
Times.
The English. Oyster.
It affords us pleasure amid the citi
cism recently directed against the Ger
man Emperor to find something in his
judgment and conduct to commend.
It is therefore with genuine .ioy that
we learn from a cable dispatch of his
order -banishing the English oyster
from the imperial table. Of all the
bitter, copperish, unpalatable products
of the sea the English oyster is entitled
to an odious pre-eminence. It Is small
and devoid of fatness. For an, oyster
it is tough and indigestible. To the
taste it suggests a diabolic compound
of quinine and corroded copper. It
has the appearance of a diseased mus
sel, turned blue by long abstinence
from healthy diet or by defective di
gestion. Louisville Cojirier-Journal.
Some people measure success by
what they can borrow! '
- ----- ----- if
UNCLE ABNER'S WHISTLE;
Unci Abner has a sure.
Nev3r-f ailing trouble-cure;
Makes no difference what it is.
'T can't withstand that tune of his.
He k-eps whistling day by day,
Smoothing all his cares away;
Making heavy burdens light,
And the shadowed places bright.
Trouble, seeking out the men
It' would bother, pauses when " .
It comes close enough to hear
Uncle Abner; leans its ear, '
Bistens, and remarks, "That tune
Surely makes him an immune;
No use trying to get at
Men who whistle tunes like that."
'Tisn't what most folks would call
'"A fine, classic tune at all;
'T just goes softly rambling on,
Like a robin's nest at dawn,
Till, somehow, you understand
That his head and heart and hand
Form a trio that must win
Sweet roward through thick and thin
I have watched him, rain and shine,
Tending plant and tree and vine; ,
Never knew him hot or cold
To forget himself and scold.
Still there comes to him his shara ,
Of the world's big load of tni'c;
Comt-s, ah. yes! but doesn't stay '
He just whistles it away.
Nixon Waterman, in the Woman's Homo
Companion. .
'Did you ever hear Miss Matnmerton
play the piano?" She "No; but I've
seen her work at it." Chicago News.
'Tis true, as every man must know,
(And every man regrets it),
Man wants but little here below,
And very seldom gets it.
Philadelphia Record.
"Daughter, I am surprised that you
would suffer a man to kiss you." Her.
Daughter "But, mamma, it wasn't
suffering." Detroit Journal.
"How does that razor feel?" inquired
the conventionally over-obliging bar
ber. "Why, I hardly knew you were
using a razor," answered the martyr ia
the chair. Punch Bowl.
"What a luxury a clear conscience
it," exclaimed the high-minded states
man. "Yes," answered Senator Sorg
hum, "it's a luxury. But it isn't a ne
cessity." Washington Star.
Philanthropic Visitor (at county
jail) "My friend, how came you
here?'" Embezzler "Well, I got so
straitened in my finances that I turned
crooked." Chicago Tribune.
The light of love shone in his eyes
v At sight of lovely Maude.
His face lit up with glad surprise,
,f For he was lantern-jawed.
Philadelphia Record.
Miss Cushy "Oh, Mr. Jones, won't
you take a chair? We're getting up a
raffle for an old lady who is as poor
" Mr. Slim (Interrupting) "Excuse
me, ladies, but I would prefer er
some rich young widow." Colorado
Jester.
Uncle John "I'm glad to hear 3rou
say you've got such a nice teacher."
Willie "Yes, she's the best ever."
Uncle John "That's right." Willie
"Yes, she gets sick every other week
or so, an' there ain't no school." Phila
delphia Press.
Herbert "Did you get what yon
wanted yesterday?" Horatio "Didn't
ojven get what I deserved." Herbert
"You'll hardly get that in this world,
you know. I should think you'd want
to stave it off as long as possible."
Boston Transcript.
Griggs "Don't you think you can
hear exceptionally well in the new lec
ture hall?" Biggs "It ought to have
some redeeming feature; you can't
sleep in a single scat without being
seen by the lecturer:" Harvard Lam
poon. At the request of the confirmed dys
peptic the operator was taking an
X-ray photograph of the seat of his
trouble. "This, I suppose," remarked
the sufferer, with a ghastly attempt to
be facetious, "is what might be called
taking light exercise on an empty
stomach." Chicago Tribune.
Cild Comfort.
"I was sitting here with the crea
tures of my brain for company," said
the budding poet and playwright to a
visitor who had found him before a
dying fire. 1
VYou poor thing!" said the visitor,
who was a practical person and a dis
tant relative. "I said to myself as I
opened the door, Tf he doesn't look:
lonesome, then I never saw a man tha
didl' "Youth's Companion.
It is seldom that yon can get a self
xnads nw11 to apologize.