Newspapers / The Weekly Raleigh Register … / Oct. 21, 1885, edition 1 / Page 1
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-'ftV it' ? By P. M. HALE. ADVERTISING BATES. OFFICE S Advertisements will be Inserted for One Dollar j.lV0,teville St., Second Floor Fisher Building. per square (one Inch) for the first and Fifty Cents for each subseqient publication 1 -' ' ' Contracts for advertising for any space or time RATES OK SUBSCRIPTION : may be made at the office of the . One copy year' mailed post-paid ."$2 00 ...inv six months, mailed post-paid. . .'. 1 00 RALEIGH REGISTER, jg- So name eutcred without payment, and J TTVT TT vuer sent after expiration of time paid for. V Vjldm A RALEIGH, N. C, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1885. NO. 86. r Becona rioor or jrianer uuuaing, ayenevuie Street, faextto Market House. n, paper i I I PHASE!) OF LIFE. Boston Courier. The Bank Official. ramble, the funds of the bank he drew, He robbert me wiuowi ami urpui, uw , With fifty thousand dollars he fled ; ' Another good man gone wrong," they said. To Th. The Pilferer. nicrbt was bitter, the, tramp was old,; He stole a coat to keep out the cold. Pursuit soon followed, the chase was brief, Ami the crowd exclaimed : "They have caught tbetbief." ' .1 Little Bit of Human. Nature. Ti,.,r Thompson approaching; it is I could swear ; And poverty-stricken he looks, I declare ; A picture, imieed, of the shabby genteel, With clothing threadbare and shoes down at the heel. He's met with financial reverses, they say ; 1 11 turn up this street and keep out of his way .jL Year Later. - Ha! who is this coming along f Let me see: That face I am certain's familiar to me. Bv Jove, it is Thompson ! How well he is 'dressed ; th, now he can hold up his head with the best, They say he's struck oil and is rich as a Jew : Win, Thompson, my dear fellow, how do you "do? A SociallCall. There goes the belli A visitor, I guess, And I'm a fright aud haven't time to dress. H'tn! Mrs. Gossip, from across the way . What put it in her head to call to-day T To see what she can see: that's all, no doubt ; That woman's nothing but a gad-about. I hate her, with her supercilious airs ; That horrid girl is bringing her upstairs Tis Mrs, Gossip, I declare! - Why this Is quite a pleasure, I am sure. A. kiss). So kind of you to call; 'tis quit a treat ; Let me remove your shawl; pray, take a seat. We're all upset this morning, it is true, But we can always find a seat for you; Pray don't apologize there is no need, I'm very glad you called, I am, indeed. At the Gate. She (riuBy). Allow you to kiss me good night ere you go? I could not permit such a freedom, oh, no. He respectfully). Excuse tne. Of course you know best what is right; But I meant no offence, I assure you- Good night! She (d'uappointedly). The fool: lie must certainly have a thick head, To think for a moment I meant what I said. A K IK TIES OF SOCTHKRN LIFE. Drifting Down Loit Creek. Miss Marfree.M PART II. Following the voice of the Lord, Cyn thia took her way along a sandy bridle path that penetrates the dense forests of Pine Mountain. The soft spring wind.flut tering in beneath her sun-bonnet, found the lirst wild-rose blooming on her thin chec k. A new liht shone like a steadfast star in her deep brown eyes. ' I hev took a-holt," she said resolutely, 44 an' I'll never gin it up. 'Twarn't his deed, an' I'll prove that, agin his own word. I dunno how but I'll prove it.' The woods seemed to open at last, for the brink of the ridge was close at hand. As the trees were marshalled down the steep declivity, she could see above their heads the wide and splendid mountain landscape, with the benediction of the spring upon it, with the lofty peace of the unclouded sky above it, with an impres sive silence pervading it that was, akin to a holy solemnity. . There was a rocky, barren slope to the left, and among the brambly ledges sheep were feeding. As the flock caught her at tention she experienced a certain satisfac tion. " They hed sheep in the Lord's life time,' she observed. 41 He gins a word bout'n them more'n enny, other critter." And she sat down on a rock, among the harmless creatures, and was less lonely and forlorn. A little log house surmounted the slope. It was quaintly awry, like most of the mountaineers' cabins, and the ridgepole, with its irregularly projecting clapboards serrating the sky behind it, described a negligently oblique line. Its clay chim nev had a leaning tendency, and was prop ped to its duty by a long pole. Theresas a lofty martin-house, whence the birds whirled fitfully. The rail fence inclosing the dooryard was only a few steps from the porch. There rested the genial after noon sunshine. It revealed the spinning wheel that stood near the wall ; the shelf close to the door, with a pail of water and a gourd for the incidentally thirsty; the idle churn, its dasher on anoincr sneu w dry ; a rooster strutting familiarly in at the open door; and a newly hatched brood . picking about among the legs 'of the splint bottomed chairs, under the guidance of a matronly old 4,Dominicky hen." In one of the chairs sat a man, emaciated, pallid, swathed in many gay colored quilts, and piping querulously in a higb.piercing key to u worn and weary woman, who came to the fence and looked down the hill as he feebly pointed. "Cynthy Cynthy Ware!" She called out, " air that you-uns?" Cynthia hesitated, then arose and went forward a few steps. ''It be me," she said, as if making an admission. " Kern up hyar. Jube's wantin' ter know why ye hain't been hyar ter inquire arter him"' The woman waited at the gate, anil onened it for her visitor. She looked hardly less worn and exhausted than the broken image - of a man in the chair. " Jube counts up every critter in the moun ting ez, kems ter inquire arter him," she adilcd, in a lower voice. "'Pears-like ter me cz it air about time fur worldly pride ' i iic-v loosed a-holt on him ; but Satan kin foster guile whar thar ain't enough life 'eft fur nuthin else, an' poor Jube hev never been so gin over ter the glory o' this 'rll ez now." ' " lie 'pears to be gettin' on some," said the jrirl, although she hardly recognized " the puny, pallid apparition among the "m tiling quilts the bluff and hale monntain (, r she had known. " Fust-rate!" weakly piped out the con Mabi,.; ' i Cat a haffen pone o' bread fur linner! " Then he turned querulously to hiswif,;; " Jane -"Qlmiry. ain't ye agoin' !' r Kit me that thar fraish aig ter whip np 111 whisky, like "the doctor said?" "Tain't time, yit, Jube," replied the patient wife. " The doctor 'lowed ez the aig must be spang fraish; an' cz old Top knot lays ter the minit every day, I'm a waitin' on her." The wasted limbs under tho quilts squirmed around vivaciously. 44 An' yan der's the darned critter," he cried spying old Topknot leisurely pecking about un der a lilac bush, 44 a feed in' around ez com- Elacent an' sati'fied czef I warn't a-settin' yar waitin' on her lazy bones I Cynthy, I'm jes' a-honing arter suthin' ter eat all the time, an' that's what makes me 'low ez I'm gettin' well: though Jane Elmiry" he glared fiercely at his meek wife hev somehows lost her knack at cookin' an' sometimes I cant eat my vittlcs when they are ietcnea ter me. ' He fell back in his chair, his tangled. overgrown hair hardly distinguishable from his tangled overgrown beard. His eyes roved restlessly about the quiet land scape. A mist was gathering over the eastern ranges; shot with the sunlight, it was but a silken and filmy suggestion of vapor. A line of vivid green in the valley marked the course of Lost Creek by the wil lows and herbage fringing its banks. A gilded bee, with a languorous drone, drift ed in and out of the little porch, and the shadow of the locust above it was begin ning to lengthen. ' The tree was in bloom, and Cynthia picked up a fallen spray as she sat down on the step. He glanced cas ually at her; then, with the egotism of an invalid, his mind reverted to himself. 44 Why hain't ye been hyar ter inquire arter me, Cynthy, you-uns, or yer dad, or yer mam, or somebody? I hain't been lef ter suffer, though, 'thout folkses axin' arter me, I tell ye ! The miller hev been hyar day arter day. Baker Teale, what keeps the store yander ter the Settlement, hev rid over reg'la. Tom Peters kerns ez sartin ez the sun. An' the jestice o' the peace" he winked weakly in triumph, " Squair Bates hev been hyar nigh on ter wunst a week. The sheriff or one o' the dep'ties hain't been scarce round hyar, nuther. An' some other folkses I name no names sends mc all the liquor I kin drink from a still ez they say grows in a hollow rock round hyar somewhar. They sends me all I kin drink, an' Jane Elmiry, too. I don't want but a little, but Jane Elmiry air a tremenjious toper, ye know ! " He laughed in a shrill falsetto at his joke, and his wife smiled, but faintly, for she re alized the invalid's pleasant mood was brief. 44 Ef I hed a-knowed how pop'lar 1 be, I'd hev run fur jestice o' the peace stiddier constable. But nex' time there'll be a differ ; that hain't the las' election this world will ever see, Cynthy." Then as his eyes fell upon her once more, he re membered his question. ""Why n't ye been hyar ter inquire arter me?" The girl was confused by his changed aspect, his eager, restless talk, his fierce girding at his patient wife, and lost what scanty tact she might have otherwise, claimed. " The folkses ez rid by hyartole us how ye be a-gittin' on. An' we-una 'lowed ez mebbe je wouldn't want ter sec us,bein' ez we war always scch friends with 'Yan der, an' " The woman stopped her by a hasty ges ture and a look of terror. They did not escape the invalid's notice. 44 What ails ye, Jane Elmiry ? " he cried, angrily. " Ye act like ye war detracted 1 " A sudden fit of coughing impeded his utterance, and gave his wife the opportu nity for a whupered aside. "He ain't spoke 'Vander's name sencc he war hurt. The doctor said ne warn i ter lam tuoui o' the anvil. I gripped with 'Lijah. I seen him plain. He hit me twict. I never los' my senses till the second lick. Then I drapped. What ails 'Vander, ter tell seeh a lie ? Ef I hed a-dicd, stiddier gittin well so powerful peart, they'd hev hung him, sure." 44 Mebbe he thought they'd hang 'Li jah 1" she gasped, appalled at the magnitude of the sacrifice. "'Li jah ain't 'sponsible ter the law," said Jubal Tynea, with his magisterial as pect, "bein ez he. air a ravin' crazy, ez, oughter be locked up." ' " I reckon 'Vander never knowed ez that war true," she rejoined, reflectively. " The 'tornev-erineral tole Pete Blenkins, when 'Vander war convicted of receivin' of stolen goods, ez how 'Vander war toler'ble ignorant, an' knowed powerful little 'bout the law o' the land. He done it, I reckon, ter pertect the id jit." Jubal Tynes made no rejoinder. He had fallen back in his chair, so frail, so ex hausted by the unwonted excitement, that she was alarmed anew, realizing how brief his time might be. "Jubal Tynea," she said, leaning for ward and looking up at him imploringly, " ef I war ter tell what ye hev tole me, no bodv would believe me. 'kase 'kaae 'Van der an' me hev kep' company some. Heda't ye better tell it ter the Squair ez how 'Van der never hit ye, but said he did ter git the blame shet o' the idjit 'Li jah, ez ain't 'sponsible, nohows ? Ain't thar no way ter make it safe fur 'Vander ? They 'lowed he wouldn't hev been convicted of receiv- "In ths Tkmkkssbb Mochtaims," by ' ''arks Egbert Craddock (Miss Murfree): ninth pillion: Boston: Houghton, Mifflin A Co.; ivt-rside Press. Cambridge. 1885. lomo. doth, ' '-. For sale by all booksellers, or mailed by ox- Publishers on receipt of the price. his a-gittin' hurt, an' the man ez done it. ft- Antnr 'inrmiM fpvfir him an X UC u vrv- i w v. . w . . ........ put him out'n his head, an' he must jes' think 'bout'n gittin' well all the time, an' sech." Jubal Tynes had recovered his voice and his temper. I hain't got no grudge agin 'Vander," he declared, in his old, bluff m-w-r 1 , " J il Ti way, "nur vanaer s menus, nuiucr. n air jes' that dadburned idjit, 'Lijah, ez I fespise. Jane Elmiry, ain't that old Top knot ez I hear a-cacklin'? Waal, waal, sir, dadburn that thar lazy, idle poultry! Air she a-stalkin' round the yard yit ? Go, Jane Elmiry, an' see whar she be. Ef she ain't got sense enough ter git on her nest an' lay a aig when desirable, she hain't got sense enough ter keep out'n a chicken pie." . " I mought skeer her off n her neat," his wife remonstrated. But the imperious invalid insisted. She rose reluctantly, and as she stepped off the porch she cast an imploring glance at Cynthia. The girl was trembling. The mere men tion of the deed to its victim had un nerved her. She felt it was perhaps a safe transition from the subject to talk about the idiot brother. "I hev hearn folks 'low ez 'Lijah oughter be locked up,but I dunno," she said. The man fixed a concentrated gaze upon her. "Waal, ain't he ?" "'Lijah ain't locked np," she faltered, bewildered . His face fell. Unaccountably enough, his pride seemed grievously cut down. " Waal, ujan ain i sponsiuie, x uuw, he reasoned; "but bein' ez he treated me this way, an' me a important off cer o' the law, '"pears like 'twould a-been more re spec'ful ef they hed committed him ter jail ez insane, or sent him ter the 'sylum fur they take some crazies at the State's expense." He paused thoughtfully. He was mortified, hurt. "But shucks!" he exclaimed presently, "let him treat haffen the county ez he done me, ef he wants ter. T "n't a-keerin'." Cynthia's head was awhirl. She could hardly credit her senses." " How war it that 'Lijah treated you uns ? " she gasped. In his turn he stared, amazed. " Cynthy, 'pears like ye hev los' yer mind ! How did 'Lijah treat me ? Waal, 'Lijah whacked me on the head with his brother's sledge, an' split my skull, an' the folks say some o' my brains oozed out. I hev got more of 'em now, though, than ye hev. Ye look plumb bereft. What ails " Air ye sure sure ez that war the hap pening of it 'kase 'Vander tells a differ. He 'lowed ez 'twar him ez hit ye with the sledge. An' nobody suspicioned 'Lijah." Jubal Tynes looked very near death now. Tfia nallid face was framed in long elf- locks; he thrust his head forward, till his emaciated throat and neck were dis tinctly visible; his lower jaw dropped in astonishment. " God A'mighty ! " he ejaculated, 44 why hev 'Vander tole sech a lie ? Sure! Why, I teen 'Lijah I 'Vander never teched the sledge. An' 'Vander never teched me." "Ye hev furgot, mebbe," she urged, feverishly. 44 Twar in the dark." "Listen at tne gai arguiyin wun met he exclaimed, angrily. 44 1 teen 'Lijah, I tell ye, in the light o' the forge fire. Twarn't more'n a few coals, bat ez 'Lijah swung his arm it fanned the fire, an' it lept up. I seen his face in the glow, an' the sledge in his hand. - 'Lijah war hid ahint the hood. "Vander war 'tother side in' of stolen goods 'ceptin' fur the way the jury thought he behaved "bout resistin' arrest an' hittin' ye with" the sledge." The sick man's eyes were aflame. " Ye 'low ez I'm goin' ter die, Cynthy Ware!" he cried, with sudden energy. 44 I'll gin ye ter onderstand ez I feel cz strong ez a oxl I won't do nuthin' fur 'Vander. Let him stand or fall by the lie he hev tole 1 I feel ez solid ez Pine Mounting I I won't do nuthin' ez ef I war a-goin' ter die like ez ef I war a chicken with the pip an' whar air that ole hen ez war nominated ter lay a aig, ter whip up in whisky, an' ain't done it?" A sudden wild cackling broke upon the air. The red rooster, standing by the gate. stretched up his long neck to listen, and lifted his voice in jubilant sympathy. Jubal Tynes looked around at Cynthia with a laugh. Then his brow darkened, and his mind reverted to his refusal. 44 Ye jes'. onderstand," he reiterated, 44 ez I won't do nuthin' like ez cf I war goin' ter die." She got home as best she could, weep ing and wringing her hands much of the way, feeling baffled and bruised, and aghast at the terrible perplexities that crowded about her. Jubal Tynes had a bad night. He was restless and fretful, aud sometimes, when he had been still for a while, and seemed about to sink into slumber, he would start up abruptly, declaring that be could not 44 git shet of studying "bout'n 'Vander, an' 'Liiah. an' the sledge," and violently wish ing that Cynthia Ware had died before she. came interrupting him about 'Vander, and 'Lijah, and the sledge. Toward morning exhaustion prevailed. He sank into a deep, dreamles sleep, from which he woke refreshed and interested in the matter of breakfast. That day a report went the excited rounds of the mountain that he bad made a sworn statement before Squire Bates, de nying that Evander Price had resisted ar rest, exonerating him of all connection with the injuries supposed to have been received at his hands, and inculpating only the idiot Elijah. This was supplemented by Dr. Patton's affidavit as to his patient's mental soundness and responsibility. It roused Cynthia's flagging spirit to an ecstacy of energy. Her strength was as fictitious as the strength of delirium, but it sufficed. Opposition could not baffle it. Obstacles but multiplied its expedients. She remembered that the trained and as tute attorney for the State had declared to Pete Blenkins. after the trial, that the servatively declared that the law of the land was a 44 mishtv tetchy contrivance,' and he diddn't feel called on to meddle j with it. 44 They mought jail the whole famblv. ez fur cz I know, an' then who -would work the gyarden-spot, ez air thriv in' now, an" the peas f uilin' up cornsider'- ble V Mrs. Price had 44 no call ter holp sot the law on 'Lijah agin 'Vander's word. I dunno what the folks would do ter 'Lijah ef Jube died, sence he hev swore ez he hev done afore Squair Bates. Some tole me cz 'Lijah air purtected by bein' a idjit, but I ain't sati'fied 'bout'n that. 'Lijah war. sane enough ter be toler'ble skeered when be hearn bout n it ail, an' aev tuk ter snet tin' hisself up in the shed-room when strangers kern about." And indeed Cyn thia had an unpleasant impression that the idiot was looking out suspiciously at her from a crack in the door, but he precipi tately slammed it when she turned her head to make sure. The old crone paused in her preparation for supper, that she might apply all her faculties to argument. 4 4 It don't 'pear ter reason how the gov'nor will pardon 'Vander fur receivin' of stolen goods jes' 'kase't warn't him ez bruk Jube Tynes's head," she declared. 44 'Vander war iailed fur reeeivin' stolen good. no body never keered nothin' fur Jube Tynes's head! I hev knowed the Tynes fambly time out'n mind," she continued, raising ber voice in shrill contempt. 44 1 knowed Jubal Tynes, an' his daddy afore him. An' now ter kem talkin' ter me 'bout the gov 'nor o' Tennessee keerin' fur Jube Tynes's nicked head. I don't keer nothin' 'bout Jube Tynes's nicked head ; an' let 'em tell the gov'nor that fur me, an' see what he will think then ! " Poor Cynthia! It had never occurred to her to account herself gifted beyond her fellows and her opportunities. The simple events of their primitive lives had never before elicited the contrast. It gave her no satisfaction. She only experienced a vague, miserable wonder that she should have perceptions beyond their range of vi sion, should be susceptible of emotions which they could never share. She real ized that she could get no material aid here, and she went away at last without asking for itr Her little all was indeed little, a few chickens, some 44 spun-truck," a sheep that she had nursed from an orphan lamb, a "cag" of apple-vinegar, and a bag of dried fruit, -but it had its value to the mountain lawyer; and when he realized that this was indeed 44 all," he drew the petition in consideration thereof, and ap pended the affidavits of Jubal Tynes and Dr. Patton. 4 4 She ain't got a red head on her for nothin'," he said to himself in admiration of her astuteness in insisting that, as a sudden resolution fairly frightened her. She cowered before it, as 'they drove along between the fields of yellowing corn, all in the garish sunshine, spreading so broadly over the broad plain. That night she lay awake thinking of it, while the cold drops started upon her brow. Before daybreak she was up and trudging long the road to Sparta. It was still early when she entered the little town of the moun tain bench, set in the flickering mists and chill, matutinal sunshine, and encompass ed on every hand by the mighty ranges. A flag floated from the roof of the court house, and there was an unusual stir in the streets. Excited groups were talkingfat every corner, and among a knot of men, standing near, one riveted her attention. He had been spoken of in her hearing as the governer of the State. Bold with the realization of the opportunity, she push ed through the staring crowd and thrust the much thumbed petition in his hand. He cast a surprised glance upon her, then looked at the paper. 44 All right: I'll ex amine it," he said hastily, ana folding it he turned away. In his political career he had studied man v faces: unconsciously an adept, he mav have deciphered those Bubtle hieroglyphics of character, and de spite her isrnorance. ber poverty, and the low criminal atmosphere of her mission, read in her eyes the dignity of her en deavor, the nobility of her nature, and the prosaic martyrdom of her toilsome expe rience. He turned suddenly back to reas sure her. 44 Rely on it," he said heartily, 44 I'll do what I can." Her pilgrimage was accomplished ; there was nothing more but to turn her face to the mountains. It seemed to her at times as if she should never reach them. They were weary hours before she came upon Lost Creek lolterinir down the sunlit vallev to vanish in the grewsome caverns beneath gin over sech doin's myself, 'kase we hed a The sumach leaves were crim-1 toler'ble chaplain yander in the valley, about Pine Mountain, unfamiliar with his aspect as a penitent and discounting his repentance. It was a long story ne naa to tell about himself, and he enjoyed posing as the central figure in the curious crowd that had gathered about him. . He seemed for the time less like a criminal tnanagreat traveler, so strange and full of interest to the simple mountaineers were his experi ences and the places he had ' seen. He stood leaning against the anvil, as he talk ed, looking out through the barn-like door upon the amplitude of the great landscape before him ; its mountains so dimly, deli cately blue in the distance, so deeply red and brown and yellow nearer at nana, ana still closer shaded off by the dark plumy boughs of the pines on either side of the ravine above which the forge was perched. Deep in the valley, between them all, Lost Creek hied along, veining the pur ple haze with lines of palpitating silver. It was only when tne material lor personal narration was quite exhausted that he en tered, though with less zest, on other themes. "Waal now, 'Vander Price; " he drawl ed, shifting his great cowhide boots one above another. " I war 'stomshed when l hearn ez 'Vander war in fur receivin' of stolen roods. Shucks 1" his little black eyes twinkled beneath the drooping brim of white wool hat, and his wiae, nat iace seemed wider and flatter for a contemptuous grin. 4 'I can't onderstand how a man kin git his own cornsent to go cornsortin' with them ez breaks inter stores an' dwellm's an' sech, an' hankerin' arter store-fixin's an' store-truck. Live-stock air a differ. The beastis air temptin', - partic'lar ef they air young an' hev toler'ble paces." Perhaps a change in the faces-' of his audience ad monished him. for he qualified: "The beastis air temptin' ter the vngodly. I hev 44 Pino Mount- It revealed (the one dark point in his prospects. The mountaineers were not so slow-witted asito overlook it, but Evander had come to be the sort of man whom one hardly likes td question. He bad a trav eling companion, however, who . hailed from the samp neighborhood, ana woo talked learnedly of coal measures, and prodded and digged and bought leagues Of land for a; song muca ot it aeany bought. He let fall a hint that in marry ing Evander had contrived to handicap himself. "He would do wonders but for that woman !"' His mountain auditors conld hardly grasp the finer pointsof the incompatibility ; they could but dimly appreciate that the kind ling scintilla of a discovery in mechanics, more delicately poised on practicability than a sunbeam on a cobweb, could have a tragic extinction in a woman's inopportune know ye of old, Tim'thy! ing hamt furgot ye yit I " 44 1 wouldn't gin eighty dojlars fur Tander Price, hide, horns, an' tallow 1 " declared Pete Blenkins, folding his big Arms over his leathern apron, and looking about with the air of a man who has placed his valuation at extremely liberal limits. 44 1 knowed ye wouldn't b'lieve that, but it air gospel -true," protested the ex-convict. 4 4 Thar is more money a-goin' in the valley 'n thar is in the mountings, an folks pays more fur work. Besides that, 'Vander hev got a patent, ez he calls it, fur his rivet contrivance, an' he 'lows ez it hev paid him some a'ready. It '11 sorter stiffen up the backbone o' that word ef I tell ye ez he 'lowed ez he hed jes' sent two hunderd dollars ter Squair Bates ter lift the mortgage off n old man Price's house an' land, an' two hunderd dollars more ter be gin ter his dad ez a present An' Squair peevishness or selfish exactions. 'Vander's word, in .Evanaer'Sr aannrauon oi xnowieage the range. toning along its banks. The scarlet-oak emblazoned the mountain side. Above the encompassing heights the sky was blue, and the mountain air tasted like wine. Never a crag or chasm so sombre but flaunted some swaying vine or long ten driled moss, gilded and gleaming yellow. Buckeves were falling, and the ashy 44 In dian pipes" silvered the roots of the trees. In every marshy spot glowed the scarlet car dinal-flower, and the golden rod had scep- tered the season. Now ana again the for est quiet was broken by the patter of acorns from the chestnut-oaks, and the mountain swine were abroad for the plen teous mast. Overhead she heard the faint, weird cry of wild geese winging south ward. The whole aspect of the scene was changed, save only Pine Mountain. There itstood. solemn, majestic, mysterious, masked by its impenetrable growth, and hung about with duskier shadows where- part of his services, he should furnish her ever a ravine indented the slope. The spir- with a list of the jury that convicted Evander Price. - 44 Pur every man of 'em hev got ter sot his name ter that thar petition," she averred. He even offered, when his energy and interest were aroused, to take the paper with him to Sparta when he next attended circuit court. There, he promised he would secure some influential signatures from the members of the bar and other prominent citizens. Whenshe was fairly gone he forgot his energy and interest. He kept the paper three months. He did not once offer it for a signature. And when she demand ed its return, it was mislaid, lost. Oratory is a legal requisite in that re gion. He might have taken some fine points from her unconscious eloquence, in spired by love and grief and despair, her scathing arraignment of his selfish neglect, her upbraidinga and alternate appeals. It overwhelmed him in some sort, and yet he was roused into activity unusual enough to revive the lost document. She went awaywith it, leaving him in rueful medi tation. 44 She hain't got a red head on her for nothin'," he said, remembering her pungent rhetoric. But as ne gianceu out oi tne aoor, auu prosecution had no case against Evander saw her trudging down the road, all her Price for receiving stolen goods, and must have failed but for the prejudice of the jury. It was proved to tbem by his own confession that he had resisted arrest and assaulted the officer of the law, and cir cumstantial evidence had a light task, with this auxiliary, to establish other charges. Now, she thought, if the jury that con victed him, the judge that sentenced him, and the Governor of the State were cogni zant of this stupendous self-sacrifice to fraternal affection, conld they, would they still take seven years ot his life from him ? At least, they should know of it she had resolved on that. She hardly appreciated the difficulty of the task before her. She was densely ignorant. She lived in a prim itive community. 8uch a paper as a peti tion for executive clemency had never been drawn within its experience. She could not have discovered that this proceeding was practicable, except for the pride of office and legal lore of Jubal Tynea. He joyed in displaying his learning; but be yond the fact that such a paper was possi ble, and sometimes successful, and that she had better see the lawyer at the Settlement about it, he suggested nothing of value. And so she tramped a matter of ten miles along the heavy, sandy road, through the dense and lonely woods; and weary, but flushed with joyous hope, she came upon the surprised lawyer ar the Settlement. This was a man who built the great struc ture of justice upon a foundation of fees. He listened to her, noted the poverty of her aspect, and recommended her to se cure the cooperation of the convict's im mediate relatives. And so, patiently back again, along the ' dank and darkening mountain road. The home of her lover was not an invit ing abode. When she had turned from the thoroughfare into a vagrant, irrespon-sible-lookirig path, winding about in the depths of the forest, it might have seemed that in a 'group which presently met her eyes, the animals were the more emotion al, alert,, and intelligent element. The hounds came huddling over the rickety fence, and bounded about her in tumultu ous recognition. An old sow, with a lit ter of shriir soprano pigs, startea up irom a clump of weeds, in maternal anxiety and doubt of the intruder's intentions. The calf peered between the rails in mild won der at this break in the monotony. An old man sat motionless on the fence, with as sober and business-like an aspect as if he did it for a salary. The porch was oc cupied by an indiscriminate collection of household effects cooking utensils, gar ments, broken chairs and an untidy, dis heveled woman. An old crone, visible. ghed. advising wun neroaugnter aiai ila had become in some thy air neither kith nor kin o"1 figure. Only Time can air safer an' likelier in the pen j picturesque advantage, nywhar else, 'kase it leaves he grace and pliant swaying languor lost in convulsive, awkward baste and a feeble, jerky gait, he laughed For poor uyntn: sort a grotesque nnu pmsftHpr to nicturesoj The man or woman with a great and noble purpose carries aoout wun uuuui ut ile personality that reflects none of its lustre. Cynthia's devotion, her courage, her endurance in righting this wrong, were not so readily apparent when, in the valley, she went tramping from one juror's house to another's, as were her travel- stained garments, her wild, eager eye, her incoherent, anxious speech, her bare, swol len feet, for sometimes she was fain to carry her coarse shoes in her hands for re lief in the long journeyings. Her father had refused to aid 4 4 sech a fool y errand," and locked up his mare In the barn. Without a qualm, he bad beheld Cynthia set out resolutely on foot. 44 She'll be back afore the cows kem home," he said, with a laughing nod at his wife. But they camo lowing home and clanking their mellow bells in many and many a red sun set before they again found Cynthia wait ing for them on the banks of Lost Creek. The descent to a lower level was a painful experience to the little mountaineer. She was 44sifflicated" by the denser atmosphere of the "vallev country," and exhausted by the heat ; but when she conld think only of her mission she was hopefal, elated, and joyously kept on her thorny way. Sometimes, however, the dogs barked at her, and the children hooted after her, and the men and women she met looked askance upon her, and made her humbly conscious of ber disheveled, dusty attire, her awk ward, hobbling gait, her lean, hungry, worn aspect. Occasionally they asked for her story and listened incredulously and with sarcastic comments. Once, as she started down the road, she heard her late interlocutor call out to some ne at the back of the house, "Becky, take them clothes in off n the line, an' take 'em in ouick!" And though her physical sufferings were great, she had some tears to shed for sor row's sake. Alwavs she got a night's lodging at the house of one or another of the twelve jury men, whose names were gradually affixed to the petition. But they too had ques tions that were hard to answer. "Are you kin of his? " they would ask, impressed by her hardships and her self-immolation. And when she would answer, 44 No," she would fancy that the shelter they gave was not in confidence, but for mere humanity. And she shrank sensitively from these sup- They were very poor it within it was chanting softly, soitiy For the moment she felt the supreme ex altation of the mountains. It lifted her heart. And when a sudden fluctuatin gred glare shot out over the murky shades, and the dull sighing of the bellows reached her ear from the forge on the mountain s brink, and the air waa Dresentlv vibrating with the clinking of the hand-hammer and the clanking of the sledge, and the crags clam ored with the old familiar echoes, she re alized that she had done all she had sought to do; that she had gone forth helpless but for her own brave spirit: that she had returned helDlul. and hopeful, and that here was her home, and she loved it. This enabled her to better endure the anger and reproaches of her relatives and the curiosity and covert suspicion of the whole countrv-side, Evander's people regarded the situation with grave misgivings. 44 1 hope ter the mercv-aeat."auavered old man Price, "ez Cvnthv Ware hain' gone an' actilly sot the gov nor o' Tennessee more'n ever agin mat pore critter; but I misdoubts" he shook his head piteously, as he perched on the fence 44 1 misdoubts." 44 An' the insurance o" that thar gal!" cried Mrs. Price. 44 She never had no call ter meddle with 'Vander." Cynthia's mother entertained this view, also, but for a different reason. 44 Twar no eonsarn o' Cvnthv's, nohow," she said, advising with ber daughter Maria. "Cyn- o " vanaer.wno pentiary 'n en- ywhar else, 'kase it leaves her no ch'ice but Jeemes Blake, er. she hed better take whilst he air in the mind fur it an' wuilst she kin git him." Jubal Tvnes wished he could have fore seen that she would meet the governor, for be could have told her exactly what to say and this he was confident would have secured the pardon. And it was clearly the opinion of the 44 mounting." expressed in the choice co teries assembled at the mill, the black smith's shop, the Settlement, and the still hraiu that a " toud? cral like Cvnthv ' had transcended all tie bounds of proprie ty in this 44 wild junketing after gov'nors n' seeh throughout all the valley coun try, whar she warn't known from a gate- ner aaa nuiner. chaplain yander (he alluded thus equivocally to his late abode), 41 an' I sot under the preachin' a good while. Bat store-truck! shucks! Waal, the gyarda 'lowed ez 'Vander war a tumble felier ter take keer on, wnen tney war a-fetchin' him down ter Nashvul. He jes' seemed desolated. One minit he'd fairlv crv ez ef everv sob would take his life; an' the nex' Jie'd be squarin' off ez savage, an' tryin' ter hit the gyards in the head. He war ironed hand an' foot" There was no murmur of sympathy. All listened with Btolid curiosity, except Cyn thia, who was leaning against the open door. The tears forced their way, ana si lently flowed.Junheeded, down her cheeks. She fixed her brown eyes upon tne man as he went on : But when they struck the railroad, an' the critter 6een the iron engine ez runs by steam, like I war a-tellin' ye about, he jes' stood rooted ter the spot in amaze; they could sca'cely git him budged away from thar. They Mowed they hea never seen sech joy ez when be war travelin' on the steam-kyars ahint it. When they went a skeetin' along ez fast an' ez steady ez a tur-r-key-buzzard kin fly, 'Vander would ies' look fust at one o' the gyards an' then at the t'other, a-smilin' an' tickled nearly out'n his senses. An wunst he said, 'Ef this ain't the glory o' God revealed in the work o' man what is? ' Tho gyards 'low ed he acted so cur'ous they would hev b' lieved he war a plumb idjit, ef it hed n't a-been fur what happened arterwards at the Pen." 44 Waal, what war it ez happened at the Pen?" demanded Pete Blenkins. His red face, suffused with the glow of the smouldering forge-fire, was a little wistful, as if he grudged his quondam striker these unique sensations. 44 They put him right inter the forge at the Pen, an' he tuk ter the work like a pig ter carrots." The ex-convict paused for a moment, and cast his eye disparagingly about the primitive smithy. 44 I hey do a power o' work thar, Pete.ez you-uns never d recant of." .... a J W 1 Shucks! " rejoinoa rete mcreauiousiy, yet a trifle ill at ease. " 7 Vander war a eooa oiacKsmnu iur the mountings, but they sot himterl'arn m' thar. They lowed, though, ez he war pearter'n the peartest. He got ter be pow erful pop'lar with the all gyards an' authori ties, an' sech. He war plumb welded ter his work he sets more store by metal than by grace. He 'lowed ter me ez he would n't hev missed bein' thar fur nuthin' 1 'Vander air a powerful cur ous critter: he 'lnwpii ter me ez one vear in the forge at the Pen war wuth a hundred years in the mountings ter him." Poor Cynthia I Her eyes, large, lumin ous, ana sweet, wua tue noiy rapture u listening saint, were hxca upon tne spean er's evil uncouth face. Evander had not then been so unhappy ! 44 But when they hired out tne convict labor ter some iron works' folks, 'Vander war glad ter go, 'kase he'd git ter Tarn more yit 'bout workin' in iron an' sech. An' he war powerful outea wnen ne oeu ter kem back, arter ten months, from them works. He hed tuck his stand in metal thar. too. An' he fixed some sort'n contri vance ter head rivets quicker cheaper'n it pov, v t mnanlli 1nnp n" hp -war afeard ter trv mere were, nowever, uuuuwn, nu 6iuv...., - - ------ -- A k whnlA iHnnt of the iour- ter mt n -paienieu ez e win iv, ic .;.,l.ul a vhiaiwr I h Iieved tne ren coma Claim It ei tuim had never been pre- disparaged ney as a fable, that the petition sented. This increased to open incredulity as tim wore on. to ridicule, to taunts, for no word came of the petition for pardon and no wora oi tne prisoner. The bleak winter wore away; spring hndded and bloomed into summer ; sum mer waa riocning into autumn, and every rtnv as the corn vellowed and thickly swathed ears hung far from the stalk, and the drone of the locust was "loud in the crriuc an II the deeo. slumberous glow of the sunshine suffused every open spot,. Cynthia, with the return of the season, was vividly reminaea oi ner weary piouuing, with bleeding feet and aching head, be tween such fields along the lengthening valley roads. And the physical anguisn she remembered seemed light seemed labor though some said not. Leastwise, he determinated ter hold on ter his idee till his term war out. But he war power ful interrupted in his mind fur fear some body else would think up the idee, too, an' patent it lust, ne war poweriui irked by the Pen arter he kem back from the iron works, tie lowea rer me en uo war fairly crazed ter git back ter 'em. He lowed ez he hed ruther see tnat mar Dig shed an' the red hot puddler's balls a trundlin' about, an' all the wheels a- whurlin' an' the big shears a-bitm' the metal ez nip, an' the tremenjious hammer a poundln' away, an' all the dark night around split wun lines o ure, man. w w the hills o' heaven 1 It 'pears to me mo' like hell 1 But jes' when 'Vander war honing arter them works ez ef it would kill him ter bid away from thar, his pardon kem. naught to the anguish of suspense which He fairly lept an' shouted fur joy! .K , . aa ru l. . Hi. nurdnnl1' cried Cvuthia. rsrrpn ner now. ouuickiuin one w - i - Ul! frit A rrv n a m lniaiiwAlv nfaMriniy 1 TiAfiititmua AUftniciona. WllUllI UV UWf, nno ivieuivij yywm 'gy 1 f " r T the evening meal. Cynthia's heart warmed men, mostly, but one of them stoppea tui airrht nf tha familiar nlaft. The his ntowing to lend her his horse tears started to her sympathetic eyes, 44 1 hev kem ter tell ye all 'bout'n 'Vander! " she cried, impulsively, when she was wel comed to a chair and a view of the weed grown 44 gyarden-spot." But the disclosure of her scheme did not waken responsive enthusiasm. The old man, still dutifully riding the fence, con- to the next house, and another gave her a lift of ten miles in his wagon, as it was on his way. He it was who told her, in rehears ing the country-Bide gossip, that the gov ernor was canvassing the State for reelec- tion, ana uaa maae an sppuuiuucut sneak at Snarta the following day. A new idea flashed into her mind. to Her pelled to a new endeavor. Then her strong common sense cnecaeu mc uwich mijiuuc. She had done all that could be done. She had planted the seed. She had worked and watched, and beheld it spring up and put forth and grow into fair proportions; onlv time might bring its lull fruition. The autumn was waning; cold rains set in, and veined the rocky chasms with alien nrMnt; the birds had all flown, when anddenlv the Indian summer, with its gold en haze and its great red sun, its purple distances and its languorous joy,- its bal samic nenuraes ana iv vwctbui, u- dreams, slipped down upon the gorgeous woods and filled them with its orlamour and its ooetrv. One of these days a perfect day a great sensation pervaded Pine Mountain. Word went the rounds that a certain noto rious horse thief, who had served out his term in the penitentiary, had stopped at the blacksmith shop on his way home, glad nnoucrh of the . prospect of being there nnn mare; 44an' ez mous in speech ez the rider, mighty nigh," said the dwellers 44 Air 'Vander pardoned fur true?" ex claimed a chorus of mountaineers. The ex-convict stared about him in sur- ...... , 1 0 prise. Aim you-uns kddwdu mat wurci . .. . . t- rt Vander hev been out'n tne jren a year. . A year ! A vague, chilly premonition thrilled through Cynthia. 44 Whar be he now?" she asked. 44 Yander ter them iron works. He ut out straight. I seen him las' week, when I war travelin' Irom my cousin jerrys house, whar I went ez soon ez I got out'n the Pen. The steam-kyars stopped at a station cz be nigh them iron works, an' I met np with 'Vander on the platform, mat s how I fund out all I hev been a-tellin' ye, 'kase we didn't hev no time ter talk whilst we war in the Pen;, they don't allow no chin-choppin' thar. When 'Vander war released, tne folks at tne iron wonts iu him ter work on wages, an' gin him eighty dollars a month." There was an outburst of incredulity. 44 Waal, sir!" "Tim'thy; ye kerry that mouth o' yourn too wide open, an' it leaks out all sorts o' lies!" " We-uns Bates acted 'cordin' ter an' lifted the mortgage, an' handed old man Price the balance. An' what do ye s'pose old man Price done with the money? He went right out an' buried it in the woods, fur fear he'd be pulled out'n his bed fur it, some dark night, by lawless ones. He'll never find it agin, I reckon. The idjit hed more sense. I seen 'Lijah diggin' fur it, ez I rid by thar ter-day." 44 Did 'Vander 'low when he air comin' back ter Pine Mounting?" asked Pete Blenkins. "He hev been gone two year an' a half now." 44 1 axed him that word. An' he said he mought kem back ter see his folks nex' year, mebbe, or the year arter that. But I misdoubts. He air so powerful tuk up with metal an' iron, an' sech, an' so keen 'bout his 'ventions, ez he calls 'em, ez he seemed mighty glad ter git shet o' the mountings. 'Vander 'lows ez you-uns dunno nothin' 'bout iron up hyar, Pete." It was too plain. Cynthia could not de ceive herself. He had forgotten her. His genius, once fairly evoked, possessed him, and faithfully his ambitions served it. His love, in comparison, was but a little thing, and he left it in the mountains the moun tains that he did not regret, that had barred him so long from all ne valued, that had freed him at last only through the prison doors. His love had been an una vowed love, and there was no duty broken. For the first time she wondered if he ever knew that she cared for him ll be never remembered. And then she was suddenly moved to ask, 44 Did he 'low. ter you-uns who got his pardon fur him ? " 44 1 axed that word when las' I seen him, an' the critter said he actially hed never tuk time ter think 'bout'n that. He 'lowed he war so tickled ter git away from the pen'tiary right straight ter the iron works an' the eonsarn be bed made ter head riv ets so peart, ez he never wondered 'bout'n it. He made sure' though, now he had kem ter study "bouf n it, ez his dad hed done it, or it mought hev been gin him fur good conduc an' seen." ' ' 'Twar Cynthy hyar ez done some of it," explained Pete Blenkins, 44 though Jubal Tynes stirred himself right smart As Cynthia walked slowly back to her home in the gorge, she did not feel that she had lavished a noble exaltation and a fine courage in vain; that the subtlest es sence of a most ethereal elation was ex pended as the motive power of a result that was at last fiat, and sordid, and most material. She did not murmur at the cru elty of fate that she should be grieving for his woes while he was so happy, so bntne 1 y busy. She did not regret her self-im molation. She did not grudge all that love had given him ; she rejoiced that it was so sufficient, so nobly ample. She grudged only the wasted feeling, and she was humbled when she thought ol it. The sun had pone down, but the light yet lingered. The evening star trembled above Pine Mountain. Massive and dark ling it' stood against the red west. How far, ah, how far, stretched that mellow crimson glow, all adown Lost Creek Val ley, and over the vast mountain solitudes on either hand! Even the eastern ranges were rich with this legacy of the, dead and gone day, and purple and splendid they lay beneath the rising moon. She looked at it with full and shining eyes, 44 1 dunno how he kin make out ter fur git the mountings," she said; and then she went on, hearing the crisp leaves rustling beneath her tread, and the sharp bark of a fox in the silence of the night-shadowed valley. Mrs. Ware had predicted bitter things of Cynthia's future, more, perhaps, in anger than with discreet foresight. Now, when her prophecy was in some sort veri fied, she shrank from it, as if with the word she had conjured up the fact And her pride was touched in that her daughter should have been given the 44 go-by," as she phrased it. All the mountain nay, all the valley would know of it " Law, Cynthy," she exclaimed, aghast, when the girl had rehearsed the news, 44 what be ye a-goin' ter do ? " 44 I'm a-goin' ter weavin'," said Cynthia. She already had the shuttle in her hand. It was a useful expression for a "broken heart as she was expert at the loom. She became so very skillful, with prac tice, that it was generally understood to be mere pastime when she would go to help a neighbor through the weaving of the cloth for the children's clothes.. She went about much on this mission ; for, al though there were children at home, the work was less than the industry, and she seemed 44 ter hev a craze fur stimn' about, an' war a toler'ble oneasy critter." She was said to nave " oroxen some sence 'Vander gin her the go-by, like he done," and was spoken of at tne age oi twenty one as a 44 settled single woman ; " for early marriages are the rule in the mountains. When first her father and then her mother died, she cared for all the household, and the world went on much the same. The monotony of her tragedy made it unobtru sive. Perhaps no one on Pine Mountain remembered aright how it had all come about, when, after an absence of ten years, Evander Price suddenly reappeared among them Old man Price had. in the course of na ture, ceased to sit upon the fence he could hardly be said to have lived. The fence itself was decrepit; the house was falling to decay. The money which Evander had sent from time to time, that it might be kept comfortable, had been safely buried in various localities and in separate instal ments, as the remittances had come. To this day the youth of Pine Mountain, when afflicted' with spasms of industry and, as unaccustomed, the lust for gold, dig for it in likely spots as unavailingly as the idiot once sought it. Evander took tne I amity with him to his valley home, and left the little hut for the owl and the gopher to hide within, for the red-berned vines to twine about the rotting logs, for the porch to fall in the wind, for silence to enter therein and make it a dwelling-place. 44 How will yer wife like ter put up with the idjit ? ' asked Pete Blenkins of his old striker, 44 She'll be olleeged ter like it I " retorted Jfivanaer, wun an angry nasn in uis evea, presaging contest, and all its infinite radiations, he had been attracted by a Woman far superior to him self in education and social position, al though not in this world's goods. She was the telegraph operator at the station near the iron works. She had felt that there was a touch of romance and self-abnegation in her fancy for him, and this titilla ted her more tutored imagination. His genius was held in high repute at the iron . . . : . . . . . , . works, ana sno naa oeuevea mm a rougu diamond. She did not realize how she could have appreciated polished facets and a brilliant lustre and a conventional setting until it was too late. Then she began to think this genius of hers uncouth, and she presently doubted if her jewel were genu ine. For although of refined instincts, he had been rudely reared, while she was in some sort inured to table manners ana toilet etiquette and English grammar. She could not be content with his intrinsic worth, but longed for him to prove his value to the world, that it might not think she had thrown herself away. In momenta of disappointment and depression his pris on record bore Shea vily upon her, and there was a breach when, in petulance, she had once asked, if he were indeed innocent in receiving the stolen goods, why had he not proved it ? Aid she urged him to much striving to be irich ; and she would fain travel the old beaten road to weaitn in tne iron business, and scorned experiments and new ideas and inventions, that took money out without the certainty of putting it in. And she had ! been taught, ana was an adept in specious argument. He could not answer her; he could only keep doggedly on his own way ; bat obstinacy is a poor substitute for ardor. Though he had done much, he had done less than he had ex pected far, fir less in financial results than she had (expected. His ambitions were still hot within him, but they wore worldly ambitions now. They scorched his more delicate sensibilities, and seared his freshest perceptions, and set his heart afire with sordid hopes. He was often harassed by a Ibrking'doubt of his powers ; he vaguely sought to measure them ; ana he began to fear that this in itself was a sign of the approach to their limits. He could still lift this eyes to great heights, but alas for the wings alas I He had changed greatly : he had become nervous, anxious, concentrated, yet not less affectionate. He said much about his wife to his old friends, and never a word ' but loyal praise. 44 Em'ly air school-l'arn-ed fur true, an' kin talk ekal ter the rider." The idiot 'lijab was welcome at his side, and the ancient yellow cur, that used to trot nimbly after him in the old days, rejoiced to limp feebly at bis heels. He came over, one morning, and sat on the rickety little iporch with Cynthia, and talked of her' father and mother; but he had forgotten tine mare, whose death she also mentioned, and the fact . that old Suke'8 third calf was traded to M'ria Ba- ker. His recollections were all vague al though at some reminiscence of hers he laughed jovialli.and 'lowed that 44 in them days, Cynthy, ye an' me hed a right smart -notion of keeping company tergether." He did not notice now pale she was, and that there was often a slight spasmodic contraction of ber features. She was busy with her spinning-wheel, as she placidly re plied, 4 4 Yes though l always lowea ez l counted on livin' single." It was only a fragmentary attention that he accorded to! her. He was full of his plans and anxious about rains, lest a rise n uaney orx. snouia uetain mm, in toe mountains; and he often turned and sur- , veyed the vast landscape with a bard, cal lous glance of worldly utility. He saw only weather signs. Tne language oi tne ' mountains had become dead language. Oh, how should he read the poem that the opalescent mist traced in an illdminated . . . . text aiong me aarK, giganuc gruwtiui ui Pine Mountain f At length he was gone, and forever, and Cynthia's heart adjusted itself anew. Sometimes, to pe sure, it seems to ner that the years of her life are like the float ing leaves drifting down Lost Creek value less and purposeless, and vaguely-vanish-ing in the mountains. Then she remembers ; that the sequesterea suDierraneao current is charged withits own inscrutable, imper ative mission, and she ceases to question and regret and bravely does the work nearest her hand, and has glimpses of its - influence in the, widening lives of others, ana nnas in mose a uiaciu cvuwuk TUK If 1KB OF DliMOSDS. Way tt la 44 the Curve of SeoUam4. fNew York Journal of Commerce. -The name is" more than 300 years old, - and there has been much dispute as to iU . origin. Some assert that it came from . the game of catps canea "rope Joan " in . which the nine of diamonds is called 'The Pope," and this to the Scotch reference -: was significant lot Anticnnsi. u inert trace it to the game of 44 Comettc," introduced. by Queen Mary; in which the nine of dia- monds is tne winning cara, ana tne game, was the curse oft Scotland because it was'1 ' the ruin of sa many families. -Among others is the suggestion that 44 curse" is a- corruption of cross, and-the spots are taus arranged; but so are the nine Of hearts; also that the Butcher Duke" wrote his cruel order after the battle of Cullodenon the back of this card (but the phrase was in use before that time 0 another that it re- -fers to the arfns of Dalrymple, Earl of S tair (or, on a sal tire aznre, nine lozenges' of the first) as he was held in abhorrence for the maasaere of Glencoe, '- Still an-i other refers itj to the arms at Colonel ' Packer, who Was on the scaffold when -King Charles Was beheaded. One or two ,: curious; writers) have interpreted ' the ex- '"; pression as a 'reference to some of -the ,: kings of Scotland. Diamonds they say ' j represent royalty, Qd every ninth king has been acume to that people. After 1 looking over the evidence we think that -the 'first explanation above given is the' true one. Tho farmers! are putting in very large crops of wheat; and oats. More clover Is being sowed than usual. Monroe Exprett. ' ' -
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 21, 1885, edition 1
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