.) i
VOI.. 1.
GREENSBORO, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 27,1^76
NO 20
POETRY.
‘Are You a Mason?”
Rev. Ml-. Slagill, Rector of St. Paul’s Cltiirdi,
-IVru, Illinois, beiii"- a.sked the iibovo (iue,stioii
i)y a lady, rc.'poiuled as follows :
1 am of a band
Wliowill faithfully stand*
In tlie bonds of aiieci ion and love ;
I have knoeked at the door
Once wretched and poor,
And tliero for adoiission I stood.
B}’’ the help of a friend,
Who assistance did lend,
I succeeded an eutJ'unce to gain.
Was received in the West,
By command from the East.,
But not without feeling some pain.
Here my c.mcience was taught,
Witli a 111 >ral quite fraught;
With >catiments iioly and true;
Then onward I traveled
To have it unraveled.
What ilii'am intended to do.
Veiy soon to the East
1 made known 1113- request,
And "liglit” by command did attend;
When lo! 1 pieceived,
In due ionn revealed,
A Master, and B.other, and ITiend.
Thus fir I have stated.
And s'-iiiidy related
Wh.it happ -11 I W..C I was made free ;
But I’vg “pits^ed" since then,
And was‘‘rai-ed” np again
To a sublime and ancient degree.
Then onward Inia’-chcd,
That I migiit be “Arched,*’
Aii’:l lind out the treasures long lost;
When belioldl a bright ilame,
Erom the mi 1st of whicli came
A voice, which my ears did accost.
Through the ‘‘vails” 1 then went.
And succeeded at length
The “Sanctum Sanctorum” to find;
By the ‘‘Signet'’ I gaiuo 1,
And quickly obtained,
Employment which suited my mind.
In the depth I then wrought,
Aud most cheerfully sought
-For treasures long hidden theic;
And by labor and toil
I discovered rich spoil
Which arc kept I13' the craft with due care
Having thus fiu* arrived,
I further contrived
Aiuimg valiant Knights to appear;
And as PilgTim and knight,
I stood ready to light,
Xor Saracen foe did I fear.
For the "widow distressed
I’herc’s a cord in tlie breast
For the orphan aud hclplo.ss I f ■cl;
And my sword I could draw'
To maintain the pure hiw
Which the duly of Masons reveal.
The Quaker Detective.
We were five passengers in all; two
ladies on the back seat, a middle-aged
gentleman, a Quaker and myself on the
front. The two ladies might have been
mother and daughter, aunt and neioe,
governess aud charge, or might have sus
tained any other relationship which
makes it proper for two ladies to travel
together unattended.
The middle-aged gentleman was
sprightly and talkative, and soon struck
up an acquaintance with the two ladies,
toward whom, in his zeal to do the agree
able, he i-ather overdid it—bowing, smil
ing, and chattering in a most attentive
manner. He Was evidently a gay Loth
ario. The Quaker wore the usual garb
of his sect, and confined his speech,, as
.uany an M P. would save his credit by
doing, to simple “yeas’, and 'nays.” As
for my.self, I make it an invariable rule of
the road to be merely a looker-on and
listener.
Toward evening I was aroused from
one of those reveries into which a young
man, without either being a poet or a
lOver will sometimes fall, by the abrupt
query from the talkative gentleman:
“Are you armed, sir’f”
“I am not,” I replied, astonished, no
doubt, visibly, at the question.
“I am sorry lo hear it,” he said, “for
before i-eaching our stopping place it will
be nearly midnight, and we most pa.=s
over a portion ol the road on which more
than one robbery is reported to have
been committed.”
The ladies turned j-ale, but the stran
ger did his best to reassure them.
“Nor that I think there is the slightest
danger at present,” he resumed ; “only
when one is responsible for the safety of
laaies, you know, such a thing as a pistol
in one’s possession would materially add
to oiie's confidence. Your principles, my
friend," he said, addressing the Quaker,
“I presume, are as much opposed to car
rying as to using deadly weapons.”
“Yea,” was the response.
“Have the villians murdered any of
their victims?” inquired the elder ladv,
nervously.
“Or have they contented themselves
with—with plundering?” added the
younger, in a timorous voice.
“Decidedly the latter,” the amiable
gentleman hastened to give assurance;
“and as none of us are prepared to offer
resistance in case of attack, nothing worse
than robbery can befall us.”
Then, after blaming bis thoughtlessness
in having unnecessarily introduced a
disagreeable subject, the gentleman quite
excelled himself in his efforts to rai.se the
spirits of the company, and succeeded so
well by the time night set in, that all
had quite forgotten their fears, or only
remembered them to laugh at them
Our genial companion fairly talked
himself hoarse. Perceiving which, he
took from his pocket a package of newly-
invented “cough candy,’ and after pass
ing it first to the ladies, he helped him
self to the remainder, and tossed the pa
per out of the window.
He was in the midst of high encomiums
on the new nostrum, more than half the
efficacy of which, he insisted, depended
on its being taken by suction, when a
shrill whistle was heard, and immediately
the coach stopped, and two faces, hide
ously blackened, presented themselves,
one at each window.
“Sorry to trouble you,’’ said the man
on the right, acknowledging with a bow
two lady-like screams from the back seat;
■‘but ‘business is business," and ours will
soon be over if things go smoothly.”
“Of course, gentlemen, you will spare
as far as may be oensistent with your
disagreeable duty, the feelings of these
ladies?’ appealer] the polite passenger
in the blandest manner.
“Oh, certainly,” was the reply ; “they
shall be first attended to, and shall not
be i-equired to leave their'places or sub
mit to a search, unless their conduct ren
ders it necessary.”
“And now, ladies, continued the rob
ber, the barrel of his pistol gleaming in
the light of the coach-lamp, “be so good
as to pass out your purses, watches, and
such other trinkets as may be accessible
without mnch trouble.”
The ladies came down handsomely, and
were no further molested.
One by one the rest of us were compel
led to get out, the middle-aged gentle
man’s turn coming first. He submitted
with a winning grace, and was robbed
like a Chesterfield.
M l' own affair, like the sum I lost was
scarcely worth mentioning The Qua
ker's turn came next. He quietly hand
ed over bis pocket book and watch, and
when asked if he had any other valuables,
Said ‘Nay.”
A Quaker’s word is sood even among
thieves ; so, after a hasty “good night,”
the robber thrust his pistol into his pock
et, and, with his two comp.inions, one of
wiiom held the reins of the leaders, was
about to take his departure.
“Stop!” exclaimed the Quaker, in a
tone more of ..ommand than request.
“Stop! what for?" returned the other,
in evident suiprise.
"l-oi at least two good re.asons.” was
the repi'. i mphasized with a couple of
pistols cocked and presented.
“Help!" shouted the lobber.
“Stop !” again exclaimed the Quaker,
“and if one ot lliy sinlul companions ad
vances a step to thy relief, the spirit will
surely move me to blow thy brains out"
The robber at the opposite window and
the one at the leaders’ heads, thought it
a good time to leave.
“Now get in, friend,’' said the Quaker,
still covering his man, “aud take the mid
dle seat; out first deliver up thy pistol.”
The other, however, hesitated.
“Thee had better not delay,” said the
Quaker ; “I feel the spirit beginning to
move my right forefinger.’’
The robber did as he was directed, and
the Q.uaker then took his place by his
side, giving ihe new comer the middle of
of the seat.
The driver who was half frightened out
of his wits, now set forward at a rapid
rate. The lively gentleman soon recov
ered his vivacity and was especially fa-
cetiou.s on the Quaker’s prowess ; but the
Quaker relapsing into his usual monosyl
lables, the conversation soon flagged.
Time sped, and earlier than we expect
ed, the coach stopped where ive were to
have supper and a change oi horses. We
had deferred a redistr bution of our ef
fects until we should reach this place, as
the dim light of the coach lamp would
have rendered the process somewhat
difficult before. It was now neoessarj',
however, that it should be attended to at
once, as oni- jovial compahion had previ
ously announced his intention of leaving
us at this point. He proposed a post
ponement till after supper, which he of
fered to go and order.
“Nay,” urged the Quaker, with sud
den abruptness, and laying his hand on.
the other's arm, “ ‘business before pleas--
ore,’ and for business there is no time
like the present. Will thee be good
enough to seaich the prisoner?” he said
to me, still keeping his hand in a friendly
way on the passenger’s arm.
I did so, but not one of the stolen ar
ticles could be found,
‘‘He must have gotten rid of them in
the coach,” suggested the gay gentleman,
and immediately offered logo and search.
“Stop 1” thundered the Quaker, tight
ening his grasp.
The man turned pale, and struggled to
release his arm. In an instant one of the
pistols was leveled at his heart.
“Stir a hand or foot, and you are a
dead man !” said the Quaker, who must
have been awfully excited so to forget
both the language and principles of hi.s
pe.-suasion.
Placing the other pistol in my hand,
with directions to fire on the first of the
tivo men who made a suspicious move
ment, the Quaker went to work on Loth
ario, from wbo.se poc-ksts, in less time
than it takes to tell it, he produced ev
ery item ot the missing property, to the
utter amazement of the ladies, who had
begun in no measured terms to remon
strate against the shameful treatment the
gentleman was receiving.
The Quaker, I need scarcely add, was
no Quaker at all, but a shrewd detective,
who had been set on the track of a band
of desperadoes, of whom our middle-aged
friend—who didn’t look nearly so mid
dle-aged with bis wig off—was the chief.
The robbery had been adroitly pla:;ned.
The leader cl the band had taken posses
sion of a seat in the coach, and after
learning, as he supposed, our defenceles.s
condition, had given the signal to )iis
companions by throwing out the hit of
paper already mentioned After the un
expected capture of the first robber, ah
attempt was made to save the booty bv
secretly passing it to the accomplice, siill
believed to be unsuspected, who counted
on being able to make off with it at the
next stopping-place. The result was
that both for a season, “did the State
some service.”
What is tt-e difference between a girl
of sixteen, and an old maid of sixty ?
One is careless and happ-y, the othc.t
hairless and cap-py,