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VOL. XIV.
PLYMOUTH. N. C FRIDAY.. MAY 22, 1903.
NO. 10.
DID IT GO?
WHERE
lij ty. C. GANNfcT.
Where did yesterday's sunset go,
When it faded down the hills so slow,
And the gold grew dim and the purple
light
Like can army with banners passed from
eight?
Will its flush go into the goldenrod,
Its thrill to the purple aster's nod,
Its crimson flock the maple bough,
And the autumn glory begin from now?
Deeper than flower fields sank the glow
Of the silent pageant passing slow.
J t flushed all night in many a dream,
It thulled in the folding hush of prayer,
It glided into a poet's song,
It is setting still in a picture rare;
It changed by the miracle none can sf'e
To the shifting lights of a symphony;
And in resurrecjtion of faith awl hope
Thi glory died on the shining slope.
For it left its light on the hills and seas
That rim a thousand memories.
traia!rff-'jii,'Eg:S5
A Love the Surgeon Cured.
By ALEX. RICKETTS.
what all. According to you ' this - is
about the finest anatomical museum
outside a duly licensed charnel house
ever Incorporated. You surely have
had a surfeit of bone?, but I knew
you'd wake up this time all straight.'
" 'But, see here, doctor, if this thing
that's gassing away is you,' I protested
earnestly, 'that's all I can see of you
now.'
"Whew!' whispered the skeleton to
itself.- 'Crazy as ever. Where's the
morphine?'
" 'Nonsense,' I cried hotly. 'I'm r.s
sane as you are. Saner, I reckon, be
cause I don't dream everybody is crazy
except myself. But I tell you, on my
word, 1hat all I see of you is your skel
eton; and what's move, I'll prove it.
See hero, you've had three ribs on the
right side broken some lime or other.'
" 'Yes, football, but how the deuce
LOiL HIS is the story the captain
f t told me as we sat in
2 r i
the
r . . . , . 1 ji.
a 11 h nn' wi i' 1 ,r 111:-
ft ,f VI Li IF l UlUUII v
M Js girls go by. It is true that
"tfOW the captain: has just re
turned 1'rom duty in the Philippines,
that lie bears a cruel scar between his
eyes, and that I would unhesitatingly
take his word for any amount you cave
to name; still-well, the captain can
gpoal: for himself.
"Our surprise was complete, and we
emptied our guns futilely. Then the
company scapegrace, with a shout of
warning, sprang suddenly in front of
me, just in time to get a spear through
liis tin-cat and plunge limply clown with
a choking cough. I blew in the face of
hi slayer with the last shot in ray re
volver, jammed its muzzle hard into
the stomach of another little brown
man who was slashing around reckless
ly with a bolo several sixes too big for
liini, got a tremendous smash across
the eyes hero, and everything went
biaek.
"The next I knew I found myself
lying on a cot in a dark room with a
kam'ago bound around my head, and a
headache that was the father of all
headaches. I struggled up into a sit
ting position, with my elbows on tiny
Icntcs and my chin in my hands and
studied the matter out. As nearly as I
could figure it out, we had either beat
en off the treacherous Filipinos who
had no cleverly ambushed my scouting
party, or we hadn't. If the first were
true, I was probably safe in a hospital,
r.nd if the second, I was a prisoner,
-with a very unpleasant future before
me. I couldn't very well decide which,
v.nder the circumstances, without out
side information, so I shouted at the
top of my voice. 'Hello! Hello there:
3etci mined to end the suspense at once.
"I heard the door open, and, turning
In tin; direction of the sound I saw
jmd I gripped the sides of my cot hard
with both Lands at the surprise and
terror 'of it I saw stalk into the room
n human skeleton. That was all. just
n rt a rk and hideous human skeleton,
surmounted by a grinning skull.
"There is nothing particularly delect
xiblo to the average man about a skele
ton -at any time, but when one. and not
a particularly well made one at that,
saunters carelessly up to your bedside,
grai.s your pulse in his fingers, and
ssks, in the familiar tones of the s;n"r
fi'i'cn you've been comrade with for sev
eral years, 'What are you making such
a vow about, old chap!' It is apt to
produce, in the ordinary invalid, a va
riety of sensations more or less confus
ing. " 'What's happened? Where am I?
"What is it? What are you? What's
the matter?' Pgasped rapidly.
" 'Oh. you're all right now, old chap,'
the doctor's voice assured me, while the
skull ' grinned more affably ' than ever
upon me. 'You got a little swipe
across the eyes from some murderous
minded Filipino's club, and it's laid you
up hero in the hospital talking lunacy
for a few days, that's all.'
" 'Exactly,' J. muttered, scanning his
Skeleton intently. 'That is all.'
" 'Funny thing,' went on the doctor's
voice placidly. 'You've been seeing all
kinds of ske'etons, and I don't know
did you know it? I never told you, I'm
sure, replied the skeleton thoughtfully.
" 'I tell you I can see your bones,' I
asservated excitedly. 'And what's
worse, it is all I can see of you, you
lantern-jawed, lop-sided, toggle-jointed,
poorly articulated, miserable specimen
of a human frame, you.'
" 'With a bandage over your eyes,
too,' sneered the doctor. I suppose my
minute appraisement of his only skele
ton nettled him into overlooking for the
minute ihe utter preposterousness of
my claim. 'And it's as good as yours,
anyway.'
" 'I don't care if I have a million
bandages on,' I insisted. 'Bandage or
no bandage, I swear I can see your
skeleton, or somebody's skeleton, stand
ing by the bed. I could see it the min
ute you opened the door and let in
some light, and that's all I can see of
you except yes, a ring is dangling
from your little finger, some coins are
susp?nded some way against your left
leg, and a bunch of keys and a kniieou
the right. I suppose they're in your
trousers pockets. Now, what's the mat
ter with me, doctor? Here, take this
cussed bandage off and let more light
into the room. Let's get at the bottom
of this.'
"Only partly persuaded that he did
not have a dangerous maniac on his
hands the doctor reluctantly did as I
asked, and I was promptly startled half
out cf what wits I had left.
"I seemed to be floating in space. I
could see with perfect case into the
rooms above, below and around the one
I was in. My vision was bounded ap
parently only by distance, and not by
material objects intervening; such im
material objects, as partitions intei
posed no obstacle of any consequence.
After a little, however, as I became
more accustomed to my strange afflic
tion, I found I could distinguish the
outlines of objects more or less distinct
ly according to the material out of
which they were made, but only metal
lic objects were very plain. As for the
doctor, in the stronger light I could
dimly make out a sort of transparent
gelatinous covering to his skeleton, but
not well enough to tell one feature
from another. The people in the other
rooms, those passing in the street, even
the animals which went by, were all
skeletons to me, and skeletons only.
Neither could I distinguish colors; the
world was all black, or rather drab,
and white to me.
"It was days before I could really
convince the doctor that this was so,
days filled with every conceivable test
his ingenuity could devise, days when
first I fretted and chafed continually
about my condition, days passed in
longing for the blessed night to come
and shut out in its friendly darkness
all the gruesome sights which torment
ed me from my eyes, but as the time
dragged on I became more and more
reconciled, as, I grew more accustomed
to the society of a skeleton-filled world.
And then came a day when a great
happiness was mine.
''Well, old chap,' said the doctor,
throwing himself disgustedly into a
chair at last, 'I must believe you; it's
beyond any man's comprehension, but
I must believe you. It's unnatural and
unscientific and absolutely idiotic, but
the only guess I can make at an expla
nation is that that swipe you got across
your eyes has in some mysterious way
altercd the retina or optic nerve so
that they, or one of them, is sensitive
to what are known as the X rays, to
the exclusion of the ordinary rays. We
know next to nothing about these X
rays, but all the tests I've been able
to make seem to support this theory.
You had better tot leave and pull out
for the States ns soon as you can, and
consult a specialist. I can't help you
any, and it must be a dreadful condi
tion to be in.'
" 'Oh, it's not so bad, after all,' I re
plied reassuriugly. 'You see, while
you've been testing and tinkering
around learning to believe what was
perfectly true all the time, I've been
getting used to things as they are, and
there are some consolations I find. I
can feel, and taste, and hoar, and
smell just as well as ever. My -eyesight
is the only thing abnormal about
me, and I've got used to skeletons by
now. They're not nearly as repulsive
as you might suppose; quite the con
trary in some cases. I've learned to
tell you and all the rest of the fellows
who drop in here apart by your bencs;
they're quite as individual as your
faces and a lot handsomer sometimes,
and I've learned to move around with
out falling over things with a little
cat, and and, as 1 was saying, some
skeletons have beauties of their own.
For instance, there's a dainty little
one comes in here every day to
straighten up the room that's that's
just delicious. I believe I'm head over
heels in love with it, though I've never
spoken a word to it. So that I don't
know that I'm so awfully keen to be
cured, after all.'
"'What?' yelled the doctor, begin
ning to grin. '
"T mean every word of it,' 1 said,
doggedly. 'Oh, doctor, you can't real
ize what a lovely, enchanting, tantaliz
ing little skeleton it is. All the bones
are simply ravishing in their perfec
tion, and every joint works with a
smoothness and ease that are really a
pcem. Why, compared with the great
coarse, clumsy bones you fellows
dump around with, all lumps and
twists and gnsrls of cartilage, hers,
for it surely is a woman, are like the
most delicate carving, an exquisite
etching, or the filmiest cobweb ossified.
If only you could sea it, doctor, could
only see the gentle sweep of the collar
bone, the sweet curve of the ribs, the
tender lines of the arm bones, the deli
cate, tracery of the leg hones, you
wouldn't sit tufrre grinning like a
Cheshire cat. I've lain here day after
day and watched that luscious little
skeleton move about the room with
such grace, so perfect in form, so rav
ishiiigly beautiful in its matchless sym
metryuntil I know those fragile liitie
finger bones have stolen int. my
breast and are forever -clinched around.
my heart. Who is she, doctor? Tell
me!'
"The doctor burst into a great
guffaw of hoarse laughter, recking
himself back and forth where he sa;.
" 'Tell mo who she is; doctor; tell me
who she is, for ihe love of Heaven:' I
implored.
"Again the doctor reared with laugh
ter, "My temper never was of the most
patient, and being treated in such an
important matter with such ill-timed
levity made it boil.
" 'There's nothing to laugh, at, you
hee-hawing ass,' I growled. 'If you
could only see those delightful bones,
if you could only realize that adorable
skull, if you could for a minute imagine
such a huggable, kissable, caressable
little skeleton you wouldn't roll around
there spluttering and spitting like a
gibbering ape.'
"Again the doctor shouted with
laughter, and my te"0" .v wav en
tirely. , .
"'Stop it. you grinning baboon!' I
shouted, springing on tutu, and winding
ray fingers about his throat with all my
fury in my grip. 'Stop it, I say! Tell
mo who she is, or, by Heaven, I'll tear
it from you!"
" 'Let go, you fool, you're choking
me!' gasped the doctor, vainly
struggling to unclasp my hands. 'You
won't? Well, take it, then!'
"As ho panted out these words lie
shoved me from him with all his
strength, and then, as I fiercely closed
upon him again, drove his fist with
all his might into rny face.
"When I unclosed my eyes a little
later I found the doctor bending ten
derly over me. 'Sorry, old chap, awful
sorry,' he said, regretfully, 'but you
had me nearly at the last gasp. What
on earth was the matter with you,
any way?'
".'What's the matter with me now?
I cried, staring wildly into his face.
'I can see you. doctor, you yourself.
I don't see a bone. I can see every
thing all right, even the red on your
nose.'
"'You can!' exclaimed the doctor.
'Are you sure you qan? Hooray! Hoo
ray" he went on, as I nodded my head
positively. 'You're cured, I hope. It
must have been the shock of my blow.
You've heard of such things, two
shocks balancing each other, one cre
ating an abnormal state of things, and
the other restoring "the normal, haven't
you?'
"As I was still trying to realize that
indeed I had returned to a world of
form and color there came shuffling
into the room the most withered, monkey-like,
hideous old Filipino hag a
man ever shuddered at.
"'Groat Scott, doctor, what's that!' I
gasped, glaring at the old witch, fasci
nated by her unspeakable ugliness.
"'That?' chuckled the doctor. 'Why.
that's your most adorable bag of bones,
the one you're crazy in love with.'
"And I actually felt, a pang at my
loss." New York Times.
MUSIC HYPNOTIZES HIM.
OKI Walter Drops Everything When Or.
chestr: l'lays Certain March..
In a certain fashionable restaurant
the other night the orchestra struck up
a certain popular march, :nid instantly
an aged colored waiter at the. other
end of the room set down a tray of
food that 'he had been about to serve.
"Oh, buily!" he murmured, and he
walked down to the little group of mu
sicians and took his station beside the
lender.'. There was a look of delight in
bis eyes. lie stood listening in absorp
tion to the melody till it ended.
Meanwhile the parry that he was
neglecting were craning this way and
that, looking for him.
"Where can the old. fellow be?" they
said. "There, on his tray, is our soup,
getting cold; but he has disappeared.
He must be ill."
i Just then they caught sight of the
waiter. The lively piece was now
over, and the aged serving man was
patting the leader en the back, chuck
ling and expressing his congratulations.
When he was through he relumed to his
patrons, and with an apology for his
delay, served the scup.
The head waiter a moment ' later
stopped at the table. "I lope," he said,
"that you will pardon that eld . man.
He is a good waiter, a faithful old soul,
but ne is a slave to that one piece or
;::usie. The orehcslra cannot strike' it
up but he drops everything, forgets
everytaing, and gets right in among
tlie music. There he siauds until the
piece is over. who:.', with a sigh, he
comes to. thanks am! congratulates tlm
leader and resumes his work. No other
music affects him in the least. lie
never seems to notice at other titv.es
that the orchestra, is playing. That
march seems to hv-;vtoti::o him, and he
can't vt'sist drinking it all in. As ii
gives him m much ;!oy we put up with
it. for lie is :t t;ood waiter, a faithful
old soul. having been conuecLcd with
the re.j'ai;; ant twenty years."
The Anatomical Tailor.
The tailor who cuts to lit his cus
tomer now studies anatomy, says the
London Express, with as much care as
he studies spring patterns in cloth.
Charts arc 'prepared for him. giving the
common name of each section of man
kind's anatomy, and thus, instead of
becoming acquainted with the "fovea
axillaris," he is merely shown the hol
low under the arm, while the "tibial
indentation" becomes the hollow under
the knee. Anatomical charts, showing
a skeleton in throe positions, are sold
by a West End firm n Loudon, and
are much in demand among tailors
who cut clothes on a scientific basis.
HIS BABY BROTHER.
Yes, I've got a little brother,
Never asked to have him, nuther,
But he's here.
They just went away and bought him,
And last week the doctor brought him
Weren't that queer?
Wlun I heard the news from Molly,
Why, I thought at first 'twas jolly,
'Cause, you see,
I s'posed I could go and get him
And then mamma, course, would let him
"P I n tr w i f Ii m ea
Bat when 1 had once looked at him
"Why," I says, "great snakes, is that him
Just that mite!"
Thev said "Yes," and "Ain't it cunnin'?"
He's . sight!
He's so small, it s just amazin',
And you'd think he was blazin'..
He's so red;
And his nose is like a berry,
And he' bald as Uncle Jerry
On hi head. ,
Why, he isn't, worth a brick,
All he doe3 is cry and kick,
lie can't stop.
Won't sit up, you can't arrange him
I don't see why pa don't change him
At the shop.
Now, we've got to dress and feed him.
And we really didn't need him
More'n a frog;;
Whv'd they buy a baby brother
Wlun they know I'd good deal ruther
Have a dog?
Kansas Farmer.
The Cynical Bachelor. .
The Cynical Bachelor rises to remark
that love at first sight may be merely a
blind. Philadelphia Kacord.
Algy "So you asked old Jones for his
daughter's hand? What did he say?"
Ferdy "He said, 'Take her, and let me
be happy.' ''Puck. , .
"De Gall is what you might caH
cheeky, eh?" "Cheeky! That fellow
has so much cheek that they charge
him double for a shave!" Judge.
Miff kins "My wife has been the
making of me." Biffkins ''Welf. 1
don't thiuk much of her ability ' as a
manufacturer. "-i-Chicago News. :f .
Mrs. Outtowir "I understand that
you have an old retainer." Mrs. Sub.
bub "Yes, indeed! Bridget has 'been
with us three weeks." Harper's Bazar.
This world is like a looking glas3
Wherein one oft beholds his. face; t .
It frowns on those who grimly pass," '
But answers smiles with jovial grace.
Washihgt6q$taf. '
Timid Lover "Your parents seenr't
have gotten over their dislike for me
"Yes. When we first niet they, were
afraid it might lead to something!"
Life. ' "
Johnny "Say, pa what is classical
music?" His Father "Classical, music,
my son. is 'music that you can't whis
tle, . and wouldn't if you coufd."
Brooklyn Life.
Dx-tor "How was it that you didn't
hear the cyclone coming?" Victim-?
"Why, you see my wife had a sewing,
meeting in the parlor at the time."--Chicago
News. " ''""
A woman's ways are very queer, -And
at'tei" a dispute . . ,
She's apt to mil her dog a dear,
Her husband jnst a brute. I: : ',
Philadelphia Ptecord.
"Oi'd loike a rifereuce, ma'am," said
the cook who had been requested to re
sign. " You mean," said Mrs. .Hiram
Offen, "you'd like a letter- in .which
there should hev no reference ' to any
thing." Philadelphia. Press. ' ''
"Our candidate has declared." sai4
the partisan, "that, his watchword. Js
'We can't be too careful ot the. public'
interests.' " "Which," replied the cy
nic, "freely translated, means we
won't be' if elected." Philadelphia
rrc?s.
"Ah! darling," said the Count do Spa
ghetti to the heiress whose prospect
had ,iust become deceased; "let me bear
your sorrows!" "Bear my sorrows?
Yes. yes. Count!" she exclaimed, ap-
never, never!" Baltimore News.
Mycr "In olden time it is said that it
was possible for a man t? render him
self invisible." Oyer "Pshaw! That's
not at all remarkable. Men' in this
country are doing it every day-',' Myer
"You don't tell me! -..How-do.-they
manage it?" Gyer-'By .marrying fa
mous women." Chicago News.
A French lo;r Story.
The Tetit Parisian tells a dog story,
which, it says, is perfectly true.
A lady named Mme. melie Ilongre
Went out for a walk in the Avenue, de
Clichy, taking with her, a toy terrier,
which she held by a string. While she
was looking into a shop window two
mischievous boys substituted a bone
for the dog.
A Great Dane then appeared on the
scene, and seeing the bone, made a dash
and swallowed it, string included. - Thfe
lady turned round, and in despair cried
out that the Great Dane had oaten her
pet.
The little dog, the story goes, was
found later on, much to the joy of his
mistress, who carried him off in a cab.