- 7
i.T JJO uHTi
r! ret r A Vy. ;j
7
i "jr. .-: s-;v .
v t-t fj4,-f iCiiwr
to ' t-t . ;
.. ill w
VOL IX.TTTTRD SERIES
SALISBTIEY, 17.. C.v:;IiaECHi 7 1070;
vf JL lit? LyaiOlMI
11 Jtll I i VI II -v I I I I II I I I I I Kill II
1
"Mrs. Thompson's WMte fare. .
(from T. 8. authurs MAGAZINE. ' i
Mrs. Thompson stood , by the kitchen
table paring potatoes for dinner. Some
thing was eritlentlj wrong with the little
lady, for there was an unmistakable air of
"epite" in the way she tossed the potatoes
into the pan of cool spring-water, waiting
there te receive them. It was sultry
weather ; and through the, open 'window
came the sound of mowers wheting their
scythes, blended with the call of the rob
in, and the faint notes of the cuckoo in
the shaded wood. But it only irritated
Mrs. Thompson indeed, everything irri
tated her that day. Looking out from the
back doormigbt be seen a lovely land
scape, with broad reaches of meadow-hind,
fringed with graceful belts of birch j and
Roftlv rounded mountains lifting their
. ' w
velvety foreheads to the white, fleecy
clouds, that went slowly sailing across
the exonisite ether, like huge drifts of
thistle-down. But this also irritated her;
everything could be beautiful save her life
and that was cold, and rude, and barren.
At least, Mrs. -Thompson, in the pleni-
tude of her present unsatisfactory mood j
waa telling Jierself that it was.
ToJtegin at the beginning. Jane Law
rence had been an unusually romantic
ffirl. and had cone for two years to a
boarding-school. She had always fancied
nhe would marry some famous artists or
scholar, who would take her to Rome and
Venice, where she might live in a perpet
ual dream of beauty. She so loved beau
tiful things! Perhaps all women do; and
that may be the reason so many are found
ready to barter love for gold.
But contrary to all her preconceived no
tions, she married Robert Thompson, a
plain, practical farmer ; and instead of
touring it in Italy, she went to live at the
old homestead, vfbichhad been the abode
of theThbmpsons for generations. Dreams
and reality are so very different, you see.
Robert Thompson wasa working farm
er as well as a practical man, and all his
people worked; His mother had worked
in her day, his sisters had worked, he ex
pected his wife to work. She took to it
gleefully : she hatLnot beeu brought up
with high notions, by any means ; a
first the work did not seem so much. But
every experienced lady knows bow the la
bor seems to accumulate in a plain farm
cr's household as the years after marriage
go on. There were plenty of men and
boys about, but only one woman servant
was kept; and Mrs. Robert Thompson
grew to find she helped at nearly every
thing, save, perhaps, the very roughest ot
the labor. In place of lounging in elegant
foreign studios, or gliding down famed
canals and streams in picturesque gondo
las, she had butter and cheese to make,
ud poultry to rear, and dinners to cook
in the long, low-ceiled kitchen, and the
thousand and one cares upon her shoul
ders that make up a busy household.
Quite a contrast ; as must be admitted.
With things little different, she'd not
have minded the work so much ; coult
she have had nice carpets, and tasfefii
furniture, and books, and a picture or two
and flowers. The home was so very hard
. and practical, and its surroundings were
getting so shabby. At first she had not no
ticed this, or cared for it ; but every year.
a the years went on, made matters look
dfngitr. Old Mr. Thompson hail not car
ed to be smart and nice ; Robert never
thought about it. And what though he
Jiad t it is only natural for men to as
sume that what had done for a mother
would do for a wife. In time Mrs. Robert
Thompson began to ask that some reno
vation should take place ; at which Rob
ert only stared ; the house that had done
without painting so long, could do yet ;
and the old things in it were good enough
for them. She didnot venture to urge
the point ; but she did press for some flow
ers. There was aT- strip ef-ground under
the south parlor windows where a shrub
.of sweetbrier grew, and pinks, sweet Wil
liams, and marigolds blossomed in their
season. But they were old-fashioned,
common flowers ; and she pined for the
rare and elegant plants she had seen in
conservatories and public gardens. But
Robert Thompson would as soon have
thought of buying the moon, as such use
less things as flowers. The garden, like
himself, was all practical, filled with cab
bages, onions, potatoes, and sweet herbs.
And so went on her unlovely existence;
in which dissatisfaction was becoming a
very nightmare. Xow and again, on
those somewhat rare occasions when she
went out to visit heriiiejghbors, and saw
hew pretty many of them had things, she
came home more than ever out of heart.
The worst was (or the best) there was no
real reason why a little money should not
he spent in making the home prettier and
Wpjef, for Robert. Thompson waa doing
wtlLand putting fairly by.- But under
standing had not come into the man ; and
his wife was too meek, perhaps too con
stitutionally timid, to make trouble over
it. - -
The matter to-day- which had put her
o very much out was this, a sewing
club had recently been established in the
neighborhood. There was much distress
amidst the. poor laborers' wives and fam
ilies and some ladies with time on their
hMdssrtnp a sewing-club, to make, i
few clothes for the nearly aked children,
farmers', wives had joined it: v,,
Thompson with others; they met at stat
ed intervals, taking the different bouses
in rotation : lining at home at twelve, as
sembling at one o'clock, and working
steadily for several hours. It was sur
prising how much work got done ; how
many little petticoats and frocks were
made in the long afternoons. In less than
month it would be Mrs.' Thompson's
turn to receive the company for the first
time and she naturally began to consid
er the ways and means. For they met
for an entertainment as well as for sewing:
tea in the afternoon, a grand meal late,
when the stitching was over.
What was Mrs Thompson to do t Their
stock of plates and dishes consisted of
few' odds and ends of cracked delf, that
had once been a kind of mulberry color.
She had long wanted f some new? white
ware : she wanted it more than ever now.
Grover, the keeper of the village crock
ery shop, had a lovely set for sale ; white,
with a delicate sprig of convolvuli and
fuchsias ; looking every bit as good as real
china. Mrs. Thompson had set her heart
on the set, and that morning had broach
ed the subject to her husband.
"What's the matter with the old onesf"
asked he. .
"Look at them,n she answered. "They
are frightfully old and shabby."
"I daresay the food will taste as well
off them as off G rover's set of white ware."
"But there's not half enough. We have
as good as none left."
"Mother had some best china. Where
isitr
1 "That's nearly all gone. We couldn't
put the two on the table, together."
"Why not r
"O Robert ! Look at this. It is the
shabbiest old lot ever seen."
"'T was good enough for mother."
Mrs. Robert Thompson disdained com
ment. "You'd not have thought of this but
for the sewing-circle having to come here.
If they can't come and eat from such dish
es as we've got, they are welcome to stay
away."
There were tears in Mrs. Thompson's
eyes. But she crowded them bravely
back. He took his hat to go out to his
mowing.
" We really" want the things, Robert.
Those at Grover's arc very cheap. I can
get all I want for a mere trifle : do give
me the money."
"Groverll have to keep 'em for ns ;
I've got no money to waste on fine china,"
returned the farmer. "By the way"
looking buck from the door "Jones and
Lee are -coming to give me a helping hand.
I want to get the sonth meadow down to
day if I can; it's a famous heavy crop : so
I shall bring them in to dinner. Oh l and
the Hubbards want six pounds- of butter
to-night: don't forget to have it ready."
With these words, .Mr. Robert Thomp
son had marched off, leaving his wife to
her leng, weary day's work, darkened and
made distasteful by her disappointment.
She was both grieved and angry. It was
a little thing, perhaps, but it is the little
things of life that delight or annoyt
Existence seemed very bare and home
ly to Jane Thompson that summer day.
With her love of ease, and beauty, and
symmetry, how rude, and coarse, and
hard looked all her surroundings. It was
only one long, monotonous round of home
ly toil, unrelieved, by any of the little
sweetnesses and graces that might make
even toil .pleasant. She did not often
think of it ; but she remembered that day,
with the faintest little air of regret, that
zhe might have-been far differently situat
ed ; and as she looked up to the pretty
French cottage on the hill, embowered in
a perfect forest ef blossoming vines, and
caught the cool gleam of urn and foun
tain, something very like a sigh trembled
on her lips. "Squire Burnham's wife
does not have to heq for a paltry bit of
money to set out her table decently," she
thought rebellously.
And theu, in her spirit of aggrievement,
she mentally went over the other things
she neeueu, ana mat uooert Knew were
needed. Wrhy was life to be all toil and
bare ugliness! Therewas no reason; he
had plenty of money. A new carpet for
the best parlor; paper for. the walls; so
stained with time; whitewash; paint;
some fresh chintz; she remembered it all,
as she toiled through he long, sultry
forenoon with an aching head and dis
couraged heart. It happened to be washing-day
; and on those days she, took all
the work, that Molly might not be dis
turbed in her help at the tubs.
What business had she to marry Robert
Thompson t she asked herself, her slen
der wrists beating away at the butter for
tho Hubbards. For in the grim and
gloomy light that Mrs. Robert Thompson
looked at things to-day, she quite forgot
the fact that she had fallen in love- with
the honest, steady, and 'good-looking
young farmer, choosing him in preference
to Joe Buruham, whom she 'might have
had. ' Joe had a patrimony of his own :
two hundred a years, at least, and s good
bit of land, which he rented, and was
called "Squire," as his father had been
before him. He wanted to marry Jane
Lawrence, and she would not : likes and
dislikes can not be controlled, and she cared
more for Robert Thompson's little finger
than for the whole of poor, under-sired
Joe. Squire Burnhara found another wife,
and Mrs. Thompson, this weary day, was
furiously envying her. Mrs. Buruham
would come amidst the rest of the sew
ing-club, too, and see the miserable shab-
blness of the mulberry-ware and the home
generally. The butter got beaten sav
agely at the thought.
Robert Thompson. was, not an nnkind
man : only thoughtless. He was a type
of a very large class, more especially farm
ers, who do not feel the need of life's rug
ged pathway being softened with flowers.
Absorbed in his stock, his crop's, his mon
ey-getting, he did not realize how monot
onous was his wife's life at home. He had
his recreations ; the weekly market ; gos
sip with his brother farmers ; politics: she
had nothing but work and care. He did
not realize the truth that the worn, shab
by home told upon her ; that she needed
some brightening to come to it as a yearn
ing want of life. And so; .as, the years had
gone on she grew dissatisfied at heart,
hardly understanding what she wished
for or what she did not wish : the intense
ly unlovely, prosy, dull life somewhat
souring her spirit. Now and again, when
she gave back a short or bitter retort,
Robert wondered : she who used to be so
sweet tempered.
All through the long forenoon, Mrs.
Thompson nursed her wrath. Robert was
selfish and unreasonable, and she did - not
care who knew it. She would not have
the sewing-club at the farm, come what
might. The potatoes got boiled ; the big
piece of beef was simmering on the fire.
Before' twelve o'clock had well struck,
she saw her husband and his two friends
coming through the orchard, with red and
hungry faces. ' Mr. Thompson always
wanted his diuner boiling hot : and she
hastened to lay the cloth in the cool room
off the kitchen. Frank and Charley, her
two boys, came rushing in from school,
each striving to claim her attention. She
felt tired, heated, and very cross.
"Why ! isn't dinner ready !" demanded
Mr. Thompson, and seeing it actually not
on the table when he entered. "I told
yon we had no time to waste to-day," he
added angrily, in his hurry and hunger.
"If I hadn't anything to do all the fore
noon but get dinner, I'd have it ready to
time, 1 know."
A bitter retort was springing to her lips;
but ere it could be spoken, Charley
clamorously interposed, pushing his new
copy-book before her eyes.
"Look, mother! I am going into sen
tences now like Frank. It's my first copy.
The master wrote it ; and he said I was to
get it by heart, too, and always remember
it. Do read it, mother."
Mrs. Thompson, her arms full of the
cracked old mulberry plates, paused a
moment to let her eye fali ou the new
copy,
'A soft .answer turneth away
wrath," was what she read. It was not
that the proverb was new : she had read it
scores of times; but there was something
in its anDroDriatness to the present mo-
J. A -
meat, that fell like a cool, sweet wind ou
her heated pulses.:
"I will have it ready iu a moment,
Robert," she said quietly.
Mr. Robert Thompsou looked up. Evi
dently he had not expected so pleasant a
reply. If the truth must be told, he had
thought a good bit that morning of his
wife's request about the white ware. Not
in the way of granting it; but that she
would probably be sulky over it when
they got in to dinner.
"It doe8nl feel here as it does iu that
blazing meadow," he remarked to his
friends, as they went into the cool north
room to dinuer. "Folks that can keep
indoors this weather have an easy time
of it : they don't know what heat is."
Mrs. Thompson wondered whether this
was a slap at her. Her face looked scarlet
enough for any amount of heat. As to
sitting down with them, she had enough
to do to wait on the party. It was wash-iug-day,
and Molly must not to be called.
"This butter must have been kept in
the kitchen : it's like oil," said Mr. Thomp
son. "I took it out of the cellar since you
came in; I will go down aud get some
more if you think I had better," waa the
reply, given pleasantly.
"Never mind. Well, I declare! do
you call this meat boiled V went on Mr.
Thompson, as he began to carve. "It's
harder than a rock. If meat has to be
cooked pretty fresh this weather, it needn't
be like this."
"I tried to have it nice, Robert," she
said, striving to choke down a rising sob
as well as an angry word.
MrThompson, aroused by a quiver in
the tone, looked at his wife : his friends
glanced at one another. She sat down at
length, but could not eat. Mr. Thomp
son fiuished his dinner iu silence.
He was watching his wife's face: there was
something in it he did not understand a
kind of patient, hopeless look, as if she
no longer cared to struggle onward. The
old mulberry ware did look dingy on the I
snowy-white table-cloth ; almost too bad
for these chums of his to sit dowu to : he
wondered he had neyer thonght so before.
Robert Thompson grew thoughtful.
He passed into the kitchen when they
were going out again how hot and stif
ling it felt with that big fire as bad as
the south meadow. His wife had been in it
co king: that must have made her face
scarlet. . Indoors was not so comfortable
! a place, after all, if you had' hot work to
do, was the idea that flitted through his
mind. And perhaps the work was over
much for his wife, who at best was a deli-
4 A t A
A fresh, cool breeze had prasg up fhntr
the south as he went out, walking slowly;
but the sun was burning hot still. Robert
Thompson waited to wipe ti5 row )od
in that moment the voices of Lit comrades
came toward him from the ether side of
the hedge, where they stood iq (the . little
shade it cast. !
"I never pitied a woman sa much in my
life," quoth one of them. "!) works like
a slave, and does not get revca4Hhaak ye'
for it from Thompson. He's ft good fellow,
but uncommon down upon the work;
Strong as a horse himself, he thinks, I
suppose, women must be the same."-
"Yes, Bob's a sterling goo4 fellow, but
Jane Lawrence made a mistake when the
said Tes to his asking? cried the other
'Uones, shit wasn't t jonVfu; larmert
wifeespecially one who keeps 1iis folks
to it like Thompson . does. She's ' over
sensitive delicate : any lady but hec
would have turned long ago and bid him
give her proper help. He won't make his
"money out of her many years if he don't
take better care of her : she'll run down
fasc. Awfully changed, she is. She looks
as fadded as the old house rooms and
they haven't seen a coat o' paint since
Grandfather Thompson's day."
"Ah ! she'd better have took Joe Burn
ham. The Lawrences used to have things
nice in their home, and she'd have got
'era so still, if she'd married Joe. His
wife's just gone out in her pony-chay.
say, Jones, I wonder whether Thompson's
wife's ever sorry T
Wast she T The unconscious comments
of these, his warm friends, came crushing
down on Robert Thompson's heart and
brain like a bolt of fire. That she reject
ed Burnham for him, he knew, then she
came home to the old homestead, and
took care of his invalid mother. Tender
lv had she done it, too. And could she
be wearing out her life in hard work for
him ; she, the mother of his, boys ; su
whom he loved well, for all his churlish-
ness f Robert Thompson stole away : he
could bear his thoughts uo longer: and he
felt that he could almost kill himself for
his blind heedlessness.
The afternoon wore on toward evening.
Mrs. Thompson had finished her indoor
work the washing up of the dinuer dish
es and the putting of the rooms straight
and nag going in with an armful of fine
things that she had taken from the clothes
lines, when the sound of wheels made
her look round.
"I've brought that white ware, Mrs.
Thompson," said the brisk voice of Grov
er, springing from his cart, and lifting
down carefully a large hamper.
"But I didn't order it, Mr. Grover," she
rejoined, in rather a frightened voice.
"The master did, though. Mr. Thomp
son came down this afternoon and said
the things was tit come up to you at once.
There's the dinner set you admired, and
a tea set as well. Where shall I put
em t"
"Bring them in, please," she answered
rather faintly. He did as he was bid, and
then drove off.
Mrs. Thompson sat down by the ham
per of crockery and cried as if her heart
would break. They were magical tears,
too, for they washed all the weariness and
despair from her face, and the shadow
from her eyes and heart. She forgot that
she was tired, or that the day was hot:
she only thought how kind Robert was,
and what a wicked woman she had been
for saying to herself in her temper that
she'd rather have had Squire Burnham.
Then she unpacked the treasures, pulling
them out from amid th hay, and singing
softly all the while. Oh ! it was beauti
ful, that ware ! with its clear, opaque
white, and here and there a delicate trac
ing of fuchsia or convolvulus.
Mr. Thompson came in and found her
in the midst. "What is it Jeuuy ?" he
asked the old, fond name he used to call
her.
"O Robert !" taking a step toward him.
He opened his arms and drew her close to
his heart, kissing her fondly and tenderly
as he had in the days of his courtship.
"I have been a brute, little wife," he
whispered huskily. Can you ever forgive
me ?"
"Forgive yon f O Robert ! I never was
so happy in my life ! I have leen to blame.
I have not been as patient and kind as I
might."
"Yes, you have. You've been an angel,
com Dared to me. I have made a slave of
vou. But all that is over now. I did not
think, Jenny; I did not indeed."
"But Robert "
"You shall have more help in the house,
another servant. We'll get her in, Jenny,
long before the sewing-club night comes
round."
"O Robert! how kind you are. I feel
as light as a bird."
"And you are almost," he answered,
smiling a little sadly as he looked into her
eager face,
leaf. Jane.
"We'll all turn over new
Heaven knows I did not mean
to be cruel." "
"Robert, you were never that."
"Welt we'll let it be: bygones shall be
bygones, if you will. Oh ! and I forgot to
say that I saw Leeds this afternoon. It s
a very dull time just now, the poor fellow
! says, without a job on haud, so I thonght
rd give him one. They'll be here to be
gin to-morrow morning."
"You are not going to hat e the house
donenpf she exclaimed, in wild sur
prise.
"Every square inch of it. And, once
the painting and that's finished, we'll see
what else w can do tn tnaka ft look a Wt I
: w I
WlWAl" Am 1" 4 I
She lord" believed its the: burst into 1
tears., "i ll fcaa been ao. wfekl ! I
she cried. Only to-day I had quite wick-1
ed thoughts, Cobert.1 Twas envying Mrs. I
w feung angry wun every,
r.t. .7 "".T: I
ISS. It was Lha. AliacnnrftfrMnent" h I
said qnjto humbly. . We will' do better I
lor the future, Janet HI try' another
VV?.: :::: i:rT . r . M
uaa superseaea tne uarjeness. k, , t
"And it has all arisen from, my trying I
to carry on t for a bit that blessed proverb
'A soft answer turneth away wrath 1" she
murmured, r "Jtobert did jan ever before
see such lovely white Ware 4 , , , ,
THE BAFFLED BROTHER, J J
ilngenviti fif m jjjfryiiik fk Trytper-Pla a to
Jrunwh spooney i mtor Jjtie Jqfortt
to Mortify a Sen timeutal SitterTwo
Souls with a Single Thought and with a
otngu Trap
IN. Y. Times' Funny Msn.J .
According to the best scientific author!
ties the small boy becomes a boy at the
age of lb. At that age he ought to put
away small boyish things, and to put on
the bashful awkwardness of semi-intelligent
boyhood. At all events, he ought to
know that his presence is not desired by
young men who come to see their sister.
We do not expect this amount of intelli
gence in the small boy, and it is often
necessary to bribe him with candy or to
persuade him with clubs before he will
consent to treat his sister with common
humanity; but the 16 year-old boy usual
ly perceives when an area of courting, ac
companied with gradually increasing pres
sure in the region of the waist and mark
ed depression of the parlor gas, is about
to set iu, aud thereupon distinctly, even
sueeringly, withdraws.
Master Heury T. Johnson, of Warrens-
burg, 111., is a boy who has just reached
the period of boyhood, and who is remark
ably clever in the invention of traps. If
you ere to ask him to make you an v
variety of trap, from a rat trap to a man
trap, he would satisfy your demand with
promptness aud skill. His father's prem
ises, both in doors aud out. is infested
with traps and there is no style of animal
nhabitiug Warrensburg that has not been
caught in one or another of these traps.
On one morning early in Jauuary, it is
confidently ascertained that no less than
two cats, a tramp, a small dog, six chickens
and three small boys were found in Mr.
jonnson s vara in tne Close embrace ot a
corresponding number of traps. The truth
is the boy has real mechanical genius, and
it is a great pity that he is totally lacking
in iuodcsty and a regard for the rights of
others.
Last rail a young man who had met
Master Johnson's sister at a picnic aud
escorted her home, was seized with a great
admiration of Master Johnson's traps and
evinced a great fondness for that ingenious
boy's society. In fact, he engaged the
oy to give him a series of lessons in trap
making, and seemed to throw his whole
soui into rat traps, uraunaiiy tuis pas
sion began to fade, and the young man
instead of studying traps in the back yard,
formed the habit of resting himself as he
called it iu the parlor with Master John
son's sister. The boy of course, could not
consent to hurt his friend's feelings by
abandoning him to the society of a mere
girl, and therefore, followed him into the
parlor, and monopolized the conversation.
After a time the youug man openly aban
doned traps, and only visited the house
in the evenings: but Master Johnson,
mindful of the laws of hospitality, always
spent the evening in the parlor, aud more
than once apologized to his friend for the
silence and general usefulness of his sis
ter. His astonishment, when on one
eventful evening the yeungman, with the
full approbation of his sister, deliberately
told him to "get oat," and informed him
him that if he had not sense enough to
know that he was a nuisance, he would
try to knock sense into hiai with a base
ball club, cannot be expressed in words.
Not only did he wonder at the unscientific
idea that sense can be impartea witu a
base ball club, but he could not compre
hend the young man's sudden dislike of
his once courted society. However, he
promptly withdrew and devoted him
self to schemes of swift and deadly ven
gence. ,
For the next week Master Johnson spent
a large part of bis time in the parlor with
the doors locked, alleging that he was
perfecting a new invention, and that his
intellect could not work except in quiet
and seclusion. Strange as it may appear
he told the truth. He was perfecting a
new kind of trap, intended for the benefit
of the rude young mau and of his unuatu
ral sister. The former was accustomed
to sit in a large easy chair and the. latter
in a small and fragile rockiug chair on the
opposite side of the room. To each of
these chairs the boy affixed a most inge
nious trap, which was concealed under
neatu tne seat, sua was so contnvea as
to be sprung by the weight of any person,
who might sit in the chair. If the young
man, for example, were to sit down in his
accustomed chair, he would be instantly
clasped around the waist by a pair of iron
arms, while two other iron clasps would
seize him by the ankles. A like result
would follow any attempt of the sister to
seat herself in the rocking chair, and it
was Master Johnson's intention, after hav
ing caught his game, to leave them for an
WJJ UAI VWCUi ouu few
read to thMn Wh,.n
- -rf
ew. .,-, .s , it,
Tbe Jpnog man was due on ths next
Saturday s evening and .Master Johnson
get his new, traps at precisely 7.37 p. m.
At 7 in rnnn man rrtvxwl mA f.
. v
ter Johnn, 9nM$Jy, marched out of
the front gate just as .the young man rang
the front door bell. , An hour passed and
"" t"41"4 , cjuug iv iow
Mjapf agony, On tp? contfarj, Jmj heard
what seemed, to him the outward exnress-
sions of much, jconjentent-o the part of
tne young wan and he thereupon enter
ed the room full of fear that, jiis , revenge
nail iiipnrno1 . ,
tU JouuOj JtnaT Jhe, trap- whte fces jiad
set for the rude young tnauj had .fulfilled
its mission, and that he was held in the
firm embrace of the iron bonds. ,To his
unute ruble surprise, his sister was also
caught, although her particular trap was
unsprung and her chair unoccupied. One
pair of iron arms clasped the victims, and
one male and one female ankle were held
in close confinement. As the astouisbed
boy entered, his sister faintly struggled,
but soon resigned herself with Christian
patience to her bonds, while the shameless
young man pleasantly remarked, "Thank
you, Johnny ! this trap is worth all the
others you ever made, and we , wouldn't
pe let ouc 01 cue trap ior more man six
million dollars." Master Johnny listened
to these taunting words; listened also to
a renewal of the sounds that he had ac
curately interpreted as evidence of con
teutment, and then angrily opening the
trap and smashing it to pieces, withdrew
to weep in solitude over the failure of his
revenge.
This shows that wickedness often over
reaches itself, and that to set two distinct
traps for one's sister and her private
young man is as useless as was the super
nuous hole winch Sir Isaac Newton cut
fot the kitten, lie haviug-pjeviously cut a
larger one for the cat.
UNWRITTEN HISTORY.
The correspondent of the Raleigh
Ob
has the
acrrer, writing from W asltington city
the following to say. in regard to
appended article, clipped from the
New
York Sun :
"The Republicans were guilty of the
bad manners of interfering in a family
quarrel by calling Hewitt out. They got
well paid for their ofiiciousness. Hewitt
acted his part well. He said in reply to
Mr. Aiken of South Carolina, in a doubt
ing half hesitating way : The gentleman
insinuated that somebody sold out the
Presidency. 'No Northern mau sold ont
the Presidency. The proposition to sell
the presidency was made to me, and I
contemptuously refused it.
An apparent reluctance to "go on" pro
voked tumultous cries of "name him,"
"go on" from the Republican side, while
a Democrat serving his first .term, had
the modesty to say in a subdued tone,
"Why dou't the d d f s stop their noise
and let him go ou." From other quar
ters were heard cries of "the regular or
der, Mr. Chairman." Altogether it was a
scene peculiar to the 45th Congress, and
one that is likely to be repeated at any
time.
Hewitt stepped across to Randolph
Tucker's seat and held a hurried conver
sation with that gentleman. Your cor
respondent was near enough to hear what
passed, and can set at rest the idle spec
ulation as to what was said. Hewitt sim
ply asked Mr. Tucker's recollection of a
name. That name was Pickett the Envoy
Plenipotentiary, seut by Madison Wells
President of the Louisiana Returning
Beard, to Hewitt and with a proposition
to sell Tilden the Electoral Vote of Lou
isiaua.
Hewitt hesitated. A deathly pallor
settled on his face. His voice trembled.
His great white eyes rolled restlessly in
their sockets. A crisis was at hand. It
was clever acting. The happy Repub
licans grew defiant and derisive and
taunted the apparently humiliated Hew
lttior a tacit 01 "backboue." All was
quiet. Hewitt said in a sepulchral tone
of voioe :
"It was a Southern mau who offered to
sell the Presidency. Painful pause? It
was J. Madison Wells, President of the
Louisiana Returning Board." The Re
publicans' lost all interest in what fol
lowed.
i lie recent occurrence in tne House o:
Representatives makes it necessary for
me to report one important fact which
has never been made public :
On Sunday, Doc. 3, 1370, Mr. Hewitt
had an interview with President Grant
daring which they talked over the politi
cal situation, and President Grant ex
pressed his views with great frankness.
He had doubts he said, as to the result in
Louisiana, and intimated that it was his
private judgment that the electoral vote
of that State should not be counted at all.
He was careful, however, to impress upon
Mr. Hewitt that the decision of this and
all kindred questions was wholly outside
the province of the Executive. It belong
ed exclusively to Congress. It would be
his duty, however, to see . that the deci
sion, whatever it might be,, was acquiesce
in. If necessary, he would enforce' it. He
stated also, that it was his conviction that
the constitution gave the President of the
Senate alone the power to count the votes
and declare the result vAYaoerar mU,,
be dedatfed Presidentelect by thdiPxeii-
dent of the Senate, he would see inangmr
rated and Insulted !4o3oswti '
Mr Hewitt's return famxihisintervieir.
at the White House wis awaited anxious-:;
ly by a number of prominent 1 Democrat,
who bad gathered at hii reoms u Amonjt
the number were those srrilknbwjsBoiithr
ern men, Kanaaii Lu liibson itsaooiixa
Tucker, and L. Q.C Lamar.; Mc&evttt
narrated 1n full J 14s, -eonveraatiou with
General Grant. JAftei- be hsdtohl hit story. J
Lamar, Gibson and Tucker held aonw?r
sation apart from the- others and . jabae ;
qhentlyv'on that saose evening MriGibvr
son told-Mr Hewitt that they, should- be 4
compelled to sastalu hateonatrucUon pfu,
the"Contitutlon which invested the Prcs:j
Ident of the Senate with t- tha power to , !
count the electoral votes and make the ,
declaration of the result.
On Wednesday last, when Mr. Hewitt
was accused by a Southern Democrat (Mc
Aikin of South Carolina) of having sold
the Presidency, and was baited by both
sides of the House with demands from,
every quarter to tell what he knew He
exclaimed t "I do not desire to delay the
public business, but if the House desires
that some portion of unwritten history
shall be told 9
Then there was a pause.. Members
from different parts of the House yelled
"That is what we want F There was in
describable confusion; and at the very in
instant that Mr. Hewitt indicated his
willingness to respond the cry, Let it all
come out !" Randolph Tucker sent a page
to Hewitt's seat. Hewitt left ; hhv seat,
came to the screen tothe right of the'
Speaker's desk, and there for several nin
utes Tucker, Gibson and others held a
hut ried but earnest conference with him.
Finally he went back to his seat and went
ou with his speech, but he did not tell
any portion of the unwritten history of
the electoral count.
LADY TEMPESTS ELOPEMENT.
Lady tempest, wife ofSir Charles Hen
ry tempest, Bart., having eloped with Mr
Henry Vane Forrester Holdich Hunger
ford, Sir Charles, sued for divorce. In
opening the case his lawyer said that
Sir Charles Tempest was a baronet of a
very old family, and was well connected -
in every respect. lie became a wwower
in 1855. his wife having had the .misfor
tune to be burned to death. He remain
ed a . widower uutil 1874, and down to
that time he hail lived a retired life, ow-
ng to the injuries he had received in en
deavoring to extinguish the names when
lis wife was burned. In theyearl874 lie met
Miss Gorden, who also belonged to a rich
amily. She was then only 16 years of
age, and Sir Charles temp test fell desper
ately in lovb with her. He proposed to
her, wasaccepted, aud they were mar
ried. He made her the allowance of
$1,500 a year pin money, and a jointure
of $5,000 a year. They lived together ex- .
ceedingly happy; she made -an excellent
mother to the two children of the first
marriage ; and it came like a thunderclap
to him when he heard, that on Jufy 4,
1877, she had eloped from his house with
the co-respondent, with whom she had
previously contracted an intimacy un
known to Sir Charles Tempest. Inquir
ies were set on foot, aud it was found that
at the Hotel Wagram, In the Rue Jlivoli,
Paris, they passed as man and wife under
an assumed name. ' From the Continent
they came together to America, and sub
sequently Lady Tempest returned to
England by herself, and since that time
had beeu living with-her family.
The jury found for the petitioner.
DIPHTHERIA.
W do ot like to meddle with Doctort
business any more than we like to eat
their truck, but a very intelligent corres
pondent, whose sympathies have been
aroused by the frequent notices in the
pa per 8 of distressing deaths from diph
theria calls our attention to a remedy
which is known to her by actual experi
ment to be eminently efficacious. The
remedy referred to may be found on page
357 of that excellent North Carolina book4
Mrs, Mason's Young Hosewifes Coun
sellor and Friend, aud is as follows r ;
"Dr. Reviilout, in a paper presented to
tho Freueh Academy of Medicine, asserts
that lemon-juice is one of the most effica
eious medicines tuat pan bt applied in
rdiptheria, and relates thai when he was p.
dresser iu the hospital, his own life was
saved by this timely application, ,! He got
three dozen leiuous and gargled his throat
with he juice, swallowing a lit tie, at. 4
time, in order to act ,n the more. deep
seated parts. Dr. XL has noted eleven
asses of complete sucees obtained- by
this method of treatment," Baleiyh 0fc
sorer. . . -. :' - . n
The English steamship Timor, whUhja
to carry sorgo of American Joco motive
to the port of Pillau' on the borders o
Russia and Prussia, arrived at Philadel
phia Sunday night. She is expected to
sail next week- with thirty locomotives ou
board. At th request of the . .Bn'ssutu
Government twenty engineers Bd '!,'rV
men are to Cfom the ocesu and ttjkc fbarv
othe rolliog'Stock for -several" . vyifks
after it is plat ed on the roadk.