CHARLOTTE MESSENGER.
VOL. I. NO. 48.
WAITING.
I wait,
Till from my veiled brow» shall fall
This baffling cloud, this wearying thrall,
Which holds me now fror knowing all;
Until my spirit sight shall sen
Into all Being’s mystery.
See what it really is to be I
I wait,
While robbing days in mockery fling
Such cruel loss athwart my spring,
And life flags on with broken wing;
Believing that a kindlier fate
The patient soul will compensate
For all it loses, ere too late.
I wait!
The summer of the soul is long.
The harvests yet shall round me throng,
Its perfect pomp of sun and song.
In stoi mless m urniugs, yet to be,
I'll pluck, from life’s full-fruited tree,
The joy to-day denied to me.
—Mary Clemmer,
LIKE A MAN.
There is something sublime in a
Niagara of trouble that roars and
ensiles through the world with a
heroic fuss th it one can brag about—
but this constant drizzle of jj.etty an
noyances, drip, drip, drip!
To begin with, 1 am a long, young
person, with big bones, and plenty of
them, and I don’t care a button if my
hair is red!
1 have good reason to know that X
am not considered beautiful; that my
nose, f r instance—but there’s really
no need for rucli distressing details.
My father, Pi ter Brown, the best
farmer in all Fairfax, be the dead one
who he may, is the unfortunate posses
sor of thirteen children, every single
one of them girls—and the married
ones, too, for that matter.
Os course, giris are all very well as
far as they go, but one gets too much
oi a good thing sometimes, and so when
poor pa takes a notion toupbrail Fate
because all his boys turned out girls, I
must say I rebei against ths decree
that condemns me to slavish frocks
and frizzes.
Most good folks sing out that they
want to carry harps and be angels, but
I—if only I were Peter Brown, junior,
and had a farm like pa!
I don’t blame ma, of course, but I
really do think the even dozen ought
to have contented her—and. what’s
more, I say so, when pa and I get be
yond the subduing influence of her eye
-for there’s nothing trifling about
mu's eye!
When pa and ma’s love was young,
ami their future a.rose-colored rose—
there ! I’ve heard pa say it a dozen
times, but when a girl happen’s to he
shackled with a memory like a hoy’s
pocket upside down, and the middle
nowhere, and gets that memory from
tier ma, I suppose there’s to be allow
ances—anyhow', the first giris got the
benefit of it all in the way of mugs,
and corals, and names as line as lidd.es;
t lien there came such a disastrous lull
in pa’s enthusiasm that 111a says, when
he panted up from the fields one hot
noon and found our dear old twins
waiting, in tead of his dinner, it set
him so frantic that lie threatened to
hunch the whole family together like
a string of fish and do a dark and
desperate deed.
But 111a just kept on having her own
way—which meant girls—until by the
time she wound up the home circle
with me—at your service—she had so
worn her intellect down at the heels
thinking up double-barreled names for
the other dozen, that she handed my
christening over to pa, and pa ever
lastingly uisgraced himself, in my es
timation, by heartlessly calling me
■mi—absolutely nothing but Sis.
I f I had been a boy this indignity,
at least—but there are some wrongs sj
great that the only tiling one can con
veniently do is forgive them.
Hut, though pa has l>een cheated of
his bishops and senators and things
(poar d ar, he never dreams that sons
of his might have turned out farmers
like himself, only not half so good)
the girls have certainly made up his
loss in husbands. Indeed, pa seems to
have more sons-in-law than he quite
knows what to do with—and as to
grandsons!
“If one could only feed them like
(thickens !" sighs poor 111a, plaintively.
“If one could only kill them like
chickens, you mean,” I retort, vindic
tively.
After that lit fie business talk pa and
l had liehind the barn. I’ve settled in
my mind that the Browns have got to
ec momiz-e—and I mean to start with
the grandchildren, byway of a noble
beginning.
“Now, look here, ma,” I say to ne
CHARLOTTE, MECKLENBURG CO., N. C., JUNE 2, 1883.
dear old soul who is already staring at
me with big, anxious eyes, like a hen
with her feathers ruffled, “this tiling
has gone on long enough, and I just
mean to hitch old Calico to the cart
and dump every scrap of grandchild
at his own lawful door—l do! It’s
downright mean in the girls to impose
on us in this everlasting way—as if
there wasn’t work tnough of our
own—”
“ There, there, sis,” int irrupts 111a,
pathetically, “ they only mean io please
pa-”
“ And a nice way they take to do it ! j
Pa’s an old man now', and after pinch
ing and slaving all his life for us army
of giris, what right have they to ke p
Ulll pinching and slaving to the last?
Oh, you needn’t look at me like that, 111a,
dear; children, like good manners,
ought to be found at home - -hi, you
Tom, Dick, Harry, etc., etc. and
when at last 1 have packed th *m in
the wheezy old cart, and we go laugh- i
ing, scratching and squalling down the |
road, I feel like the pied piper of Ilatn
-1 in, only there’3 no bill w ith wide,
greedy jaws waiting at the end of the
trip -more’s the pity !
When I have impartially divided
their howling household gods between
the eight sisters ’who live so uncom
fortably near, the sun is sinking be
hind tne trees in a blaze of glorious j
yellow. There is a long rial with
many leafy turning!, tl at Cali o
knows as well as I, and while she
dawdles along it with a languid ele
gance that suits us both, I sit, tailor
fashion. in the bottom of the cart,
thinking, thinking, heedless of whip
or rein.
I read a story once of a devil-fish
crawling over the roof of a pretty cot
tage by some southern sea. I don’t
suppose there was a word of truth in
it; hut, some way, ever since pa made
a clean breast of his troubles, I can’t
get that shiny black monster out of
my thoughts night and day. I should
say, indeed, that a mortgage like ours
was a trifie the worst of the two, be
cause there’s only one weapon to fight |
it, and where in the world is pa to get
the first red cent of that terrible
13,000.
Echo answers—where ?
If pa had only told me in time, per
haps I might have done something
heroic with my poultry—a flock* of
gray geese did grand things for his
tory once on a time —hut no, he kept
as dumb as Cheops, until I found it all
out for myself, and no thanks to any
body.
The way of it was ma started me
down to the meadow one evening last
week to see what pa meant by k eping
supper waiting, and when I found him i
leaning against the barn there as quiet |
and grav as the shadows, I think the .
Ona who doeth ail things well must !
have put it into my heart to wake
him up and tell me the matter.
There is no woman in all this b!g,
glorious world so weak as Sanson
with his head shaved, and so he told
me between sobs—l don’t ever want
to see my fat ler cry again—how the
big family had gobbled up the small
earnings, how at last there was noth
ing to do but to borrow money on the
dear, shabby, old place, and now a vil
lainous bill of some sort was coming
due.
“ Never mind, dad," I said, “ come
along to supper; I’ll get you out of
your fix.”
1 don’t think pa realized at the min
ute—and I am sure I did not—that I
had never seen so much as a hundred
dollars in all my life together, for he
followed me home co.iteutedly, put
his head aide.- the spout while I
pumped, add then, with his hand on
my shoulder, went into the house and
eat supper enough for two.
The'next day pa was out of his head
with a fever, and now to see him
prodding about the farm with a stick
in his hand and a pain in his back—
poor, dear pa! Qf course) the first
thing that suggested itself at his bed
side was blood, and plenty of it -and
I did saddle Calico and race off to
murder the mortgage man—but I
might have saved myself the trouble,
for the vile creature wasn't at home ;
then I turned the old mare's head
toward the family sons-in-law, but
there wasn’t a husband among them
who had the cash to spare—they don’t
seem to spare anything quite so con
veniently as children ! I even de ided
to—
“ Say, young woman !”
I am not a coward, but the creature
who has brought the cart ami my
thoughts to such a sudden halt looks
so like som) great famished wolf,
stand ng there at Calico's head, that I
shiver from head to foot, and hesees it.
“ You n-edn't be afeard." he gasps,
In a rasping sort of whisper. “I
haven’t the strength to harm you If
my will was good for murder—look at
this!”
His eyes turn toward his breast—
his right arm lies stiffly across it clotted
with something that must be blood,
and the fingers look like the flesh of n
dead man.
I think he unders’ands that I am
sorry for him. for before my heart can
jump back to it! right place again he
drops the reins and touches his mangey
cap.
“ I’ve been skulkin’ in these ’ere
woods, mis-, nigh onto ;r"WT;ek, and
what with starvin’ and the pain o’
this, I’m most about dead pi lyed out.”
“If you will cut across th- fields to
that house over there,” 1 say, kindly, I
am sure—for God knows I pity him
from the bottom of my heartt—“ I will
see that you get a good suppir.”
“ I couldn’t crawl there, much less
walk, and my time for suppers is over
for this world, I reckon.”
I am so sorry for the poor, misery
ridden creature standing there in the
summer twilight, with the fragrant
woods all around him, and the birds
chirping sleepily in the trees —so very
sorre, and I tell him so
He t tters as I say it, and I am just
making up my mind that Calico and I
have a disagreeable job before us when
he lays one miserable hand on the
wheel, and, drawing his face near
enough lor me to see the ghastly seams
that want lias seared there, cries im
ploringly:
“Theie’s them that's hunting me to
my death; for God’s sake, won’t you
help me?”
All my life I have wanted to be a
man, and now the time has come to
act 1 ke one. lam rubbing Calico down
in her stall—pa and I being the only
men—l mean pa being the only man
about the place, we do this sort of
thing ourselves—when the dear ol 1 fel
low h bbles down the pathway and
puts his head in the door.
“Sis,” he begins, with wide, excited
eyes, “ did you meet a big fellow down
the road—a dark chap with lots of
bumps and black, fritzled whiskers?”
I ha 1 not and I said so.
“ Well, he came by here hunting up
some scamp who robbed a bank in
Richmond and got down to these parts
with the money in his pocket and a
bullet in his flesh. I started him down
the ma n road. I wonder you didn’t
see him.”
“I drove round by the mill,” I an
swer. quietly enough, considering I
feel like a tornado: “but be won’t
catch his scamp to-night, dad.”
“Think not? Why?”
“ Because I’ve got him snug in the
barn!”
"Goodness, gracicus! then I’ll
just—”
He is making his way to warn jus
tice as fast as his weak legs will let
him, when I steady him against the
stable door and t ike away his cane.
“ Bad, ’ l cry, savagely, “ I adore
you, but if you take another step to
iiarm that man, why—you’ve only got
a dozen daughters to go through the
rest of your life.”
“ You !” gasps pa—and I wonder
the wisp of straw he has been chew
ing does not strangle him black on the
spot—" a child of mine help a thief—”
“Exactly! and slie means to make
you an accessory after the act. Now,
see here, pa, I don’t set up to be a
cherub, but when a fellow-creature,
starved and bleeding, asks me to help
him in the name of God, why I mean
tc help him if I break every law in
Virginia to atoms -so there 1”
l’a looks stunned a bit—as 1 Knew
he would -wavers a bit, and then lay
ing one big brown paw on my head, as
I likewise expected, knowing pa's
ways as-1 do, cries stoutly:
“Spoken like a man. Sis; and now
let’s have a look at your villain.”
When we stand at last before the
poor fellow, he looks so pitifully help
less stretched out there on the friendly
straw, that pa’s loving heart gets the
best of his la ,v-abiding principles, and
he bathes the hurt arm as tenderly as
if it had never been raised in crime.
When pa first notices the jug of
water I have brought from the spring
and the carriage-robe rolled up for a
pillow with the rough t ide in, be looks
at me wonderingly for a second, and
then ejaculates with most contented
n ss:
“Thank God, Sis, you are only a
woman after all!”
I suppose pa means well, but. it does
not sound encouraging considering!’ve
been trying to do my duty like a man.
Even fathers are human.
" It's no use,” moans the poor crea
ture, when pa has done his best with
the wound. “ I’m a goin' fast, boss,
but she said they should not—touch
me—” / ‘
" Don’t worry, my lad," cries pa.
cheerily. “Right or wrong, here you
stav until—”
“ It won’t be—long>—l feel it cornin’
fast—and hard —I would have died out
the re on the black roadside except fu
ller. God bless hers If you—don’t
mind”—and here he looks at me liko
some gaunt, fai liful dog, that I 1 an
over him by pa to catch his dying
words— ‘ if you don't mind—will you
take this bag from—around my neck *
It chokes me—it cliok s—”
“ There, th re,” says pa, t nlerly, ;
“ and now, my lad, before you go to j
—sleep, tell me,does this money belong j
to the bank?”
“ Yes, yes,” cries the dying man,
with an imploring glance at pa while
he tries to touch my hand with his own
poor, feeble fingers ; “take it back. 1
1 o s, and tell them—tell them —that
the—reward—belongs to—her—”
* * * * * *
Yes, that is the true and simple
story of my foitune, no matter what
the papers said. For a long time pa
would not let me touch a pmny of
that five thous nd dol'ars, but the
I e iple at the bans insisted that busi
ness was business, I had earned the
money and there it was.
Preparing Rice forth Market.
The following is an account of the
method of milling rice, or prep ;ring it
lor market: The rough grain isn t un
like a grain of wheat, with this excep
tion, that the husk is tough, fits more
closely, and is not detached by the
thrashing process. On it s arrival at
the mill it is “ backed in” by n igroes
and thrown into a hopper from which
it is elevated to one of the upper
stories and stowed away to await its
due e. urse of milling. When this'time
arrives the gran is fed on to the
ston°s. These consist of two horizon
tal stones, the upper one stationary,
the lower one be ng run with great ve
to ity, causing the grain to enl up,
when it is caught between the “ upper
and ne her millstones,” and the husk
split off. As can be easily seen the
setting of these stones is a matter
of great nice y, for if they are sit
too close the grain wi ul l be
crushed ; on the contrary, if too far
apart, the rough kernel would slip
through nnhulled. The chaff is then
blown off and the grain conveyed to
the mortars. These are iron pots, egg
slraped, through the bottom of which
the rod of the m rnnted pestle is oper
ated up and down. The friction of
the pestle, and of the rice on itself, in
a ew m nutes wears away the inner
skin, after w'hich it is screened in
order to cleanse it from the meal.
The grain then passes into the final
a t of dressing, to wit, through the
polisher. This is a round, horizontal
screen, ins de of which is a closily
fi.tiag drum covered with ball skint,
which is rapidly revolved and gives to
the grain the glossy polish peculiar to
Ameii -an rice. From this the grain
goes over the screen, which separa es
the broken kernels while the whole
comes forth bright and beautiful,
“pleasant to the eye and good for
food.” _____
Harried According to Shakespeare.
A Tennessee lawyer, in a law book
recently published in that State, recom
mends for solemnizing marriage the use
of the form to be found in Shake
speare’s “ The Tempest,” and declares
it to be perfectly legal. The lines
begin:
“ A contract of true lova we ce’ebra’e;
May yon find that ane will outstrip all praise,
And make it halt behind her; and may yon
B yond ail limit of all else in the world
Forever love, praise and honor her.
She, with a Iptart as willing
As bondageVer of freedom, gives her hand,
And yonr wife, in plain, holy innocence
So perfect and so peerless—shall not wish
Any companion in the world hut yon—
Nor in imagination for a shape
Besides yonrself to like of.”
After this follows the benediction
bestowed upon Miranda by Prospero.
Scaring the Wolves.
When Lieutenant Schwartka started
yn liis arctic exp ■dition he took a tot
of the Coston night signals of various
colors, such as are used by vessels on
our Northern lakes. One night, while
the men were sleeping in their snow
houses on the icy coast of Labrador, an
immense pack of wolvei surrounded
them and threatened to destroy the
whole party. Knowing the uselessness
of trying to kill them with the rifles,
they lit one of the lights and threw it
out. The glare was so blinding that
the wolves were dumbfounded. The
growl ng st ipped, and in less than two
minutes not oae of the pack was in
sight,.
“ I wouldn’t mind going up so high,”
sad ’.he hotel guest, “if the bill was
not node out in the same way.”
w. c. sum Pimiismr.
WILLOW.
Oh, slender willow, that beside
The meadow brooklet leanest here.
Sad, in this joy-time of the year,
Dost cast gold catkins on the tide,
As stripe the widowed Hindoo bride
Her jeweled arras, with grief austere—
Oh, slender willow?
Or makest fickle haste to hide
The pale yotrag sunshine's gifts, once
dear,
lie beam more splendid shall appear,
To olothe thee all in virdnroua pride—
Oh, slender willow?
— C. K. Sutton, in Atlantic Monthly,
HUMOR OF THE DAT.
Au early spring—Jumping out of
bed at 5:30 a. si.'— Sifwngs.
Should music be sold by the chord?
Drum music might be sold by the
pound.
Any raw recruit can write about
f» e by preparing an essay oa cheek.
—New York News.
From the way in which the bruisers
stick to their business, it is evident
that this is the muscle-age.— Yonkers
Gazette.
Pugilists are generally considered
plucky fel ows, but none of them get
through with a sparring match with
out feinting.— Boston Commercial.
Let those who fish with patent flies
The small boy’s bait of worms despise;
The chances are as tpn to one
Tne small boy has the greatest fun.
—Richmond Raton.
The mill owner who turnel the fire
liose upon one of his disorderly em
pli yes explained his conduct by say
ing that he was only washing his
hands.
Teacher: “Can you tell me which
is the olfactory organ?” Pupil
frankly answers: “No, sir.” Teacher:
“ Correct.” Pupil goes off in a brown
study.— Boston Transcript.
Mulcahy says the statement that
Roach's ship Ja the first iron vessel
launched in America is a mistake, as
Mrs. Muli hay frequently launches iron
vessels at him.— Boston Bulletin .
No matter how glad
Man may be, he is sad
And angry and mad
When tne bone of the shad
Makes him wish that he had
Ordered liver, bedad. —Pack. .
“What can a boy do?” asks an ex
change. We are just Yankee enough
to answer by asking anothtr: “ What
can’t a boy do ?” Parents who have
brought up male offspring will at once
see the force of the reply— Lowell l
Citizen.
A young lover in lowa paid S4O for,
a loiomot.ve to run him thirty-five
miles to see his girl, and when ha pot
there the family bulldog ran hifil
miles and didn’t charge liim a ce&r
Corporations have no souls.— Duluth
Tri j une.
Much of the trouble in married life
originates in disputing who shall carry
the poeketoook. A young Philadel
phia husband got around this trouble
by totting bis wife carry the pocket
, book while he kept the money.—
! Chroniclt-Htrald.
A young lawyer Appeared before a
Washington judge with his umbrella
under bis arm and his hit on, and in
his agitation he forgot to lay either
as ile when he begin speaking.
“Hadn’t you better raise your uni
brella?” the court kindly suggested.
Baltimore News.
“Bjornstjerne Bjornson, the Norwe
gian poit, is soon to visit London.”
Bjorn tjerne could have a good deal of
fun now if he only knew it. He could
! have his name printed on cards andcir.
culated through the streits of London.
The frightened inhabitants would think
it a Fenian cipher dispatch, and it|
would create a panic.— Puck.
“Father,” said Johnnie, “thispaper
says that ‘many prominent citizens,
are now ill with pneumonia and kin-;
dred diseases.' What is a kindred dis-i
ease, father?” “Why, my son," said'
fsmithly, "a kindrei disease is—is—
why—yes yes ! a kindred disease is
one that runs through an entire family'
—kindred, relatives, you know. Sur
prised jju didn't know that, Johnnie.”,
A Juvenile’s Query.
On a Boston street car the other day*
a half dozen happy fathers were match
ing babies. To the anecdotes of pnnf
childr.n a listener whose offspring had
| grown to the age of talka iveness cons
tributed an account of Ins boy’s ex*'
i p rience in peeling An orange with his
thumb. With great difficulty the rind
was taken off, but t > remove the inner
lining or film with nt breaking into the
pulp was still harder. Finally, In
vexation, the little fellow cried
out: “ Papa, what makes oranges wear
flannels r