North Carolina Newspapers

r VOL. II. hlNCOLNTON, N. C, Fill DAY, JAN. IS, 1880. NO. 36 A STRATAGEM- BY EMILY READ. "Aud it ih!" "My friend,! have a favor to ask."! " A secret as et. ' "I suppose it v uld be only po'itej "I beg 3ur pardon, I din not to say that I feel honored bv any lnH to be itquisitive," I sn, oK request you may mrike. Hut is j fended. politeness always rite tiuih r a; "Iltas put down jour knitting favor?"' land listen. I have an idea that 1 "Spare me a lecture in ethics," ! can lay this ugly devil; but I must Hugh said with an impatient shrug, j 1,0 ir-in ln-V owtl way, through what "I am in a difficulty. It tuny l-e v. I know German's stror get life lung trouble. I nee but one way! ft'elm: her gratitude. The favor I out of it; and you can help mei 'jwih 11 to 'lo " irt to go with you only will' j Germaine to Madame Tesso's." I was not enthusiastic : for I had j "Where the women play until heard a whimper of t his trouble, ly-Iilit ? If that in the favor, I wbioh, if a true oue, I did not see! mxMl H;l' ir-is immense one." that I could be of tine to him. o 1 1 l'Yet ou will go. You need not said: "I mak no promise : but )f IiP,ay 11 111 a' amuse you to look on." can hei 3 you, I will." "Certainly, 1 should not play; and "Perhaps you goeso that my wife 1 1 "lDi as you inter, too old to be has something to do with my diffi- j gossiped about. Yet I dontt my culties." i being amused.'" "At any rate I am not surprised, j "Yet voa wil1 You remember, when ou manied, j "I hftVt? not the least influence I remonstrated. A French girl's j jover Geimaine," I said, disliking to ide is of matrimony are o ilitl'erent refnsei but ,iot nore no than To fro'n ouis-" j promise to do as he wished. "Yes, I know," interrupted Hugh.! '',iut 1 (1 not wisu yu to influ "They fill in love with their hug-jce, All I ask is that you will go bands after they are married. '' j with Germaine to Madam Tesse's "If they are fortunate, they do.'- j lon." "It is not altogether a bad idea." ''You forget that by doing so I Hugh went on to nay. "And really j countenance a thing I disapprove it is charming to court your own01'' 1 began. wife. Far better than to yawn in ! ' T forget nothing but that you each other's face, and to spy outlliave always been kind; that i am the flaws in each other's disposition. Then oue has so much in one;s favor: oppotunity, propinquity, and But I did not come to bore you with a discourse on French marriages. I by no means regret i my own venture." "Yet you come for help in a diffi culty' J said drily. "Precisely; and knowing your goodness of heart I do not fear a refusal. To refuse to do a kindness is a pain to you.' "One I can very well bead; ao do not count too much upon my good nees of heart." "I may at least state my case." - "Certaiuly," for I was really cutis 0U to hear it. "It is, as you suggested, about Germaine; but much has been caused by my own carelessness. You know thai the child is not twenty, and I am more than double ber age." Apain I assend; and finding that there is a long story, I take up my knitting. i "It helps me to listen," I said; "to' be idle makes me nervous, and i therefore inattentive." j But I had broken the thread of ! h;s story, and it was a moment j before he said: There was no crowd; every one was "You believe that I have made ! cneelIU,. ami the conversation was Germaine happy; at least until now ! geutra. jf the witty thiugs bdid for I acknowledge that there if a j were well studied beforehaud, they cloud between u, as yet no bigger ; geeme,i delightfully unpremediated, thau a man's hand; but oue that j Tho mfst apt at repartoe was a cer threatens to overwhelm us." j tain M tk, Latour. ne had been "Hugh," 1 said dropping my knit-; abseut from parig a long t,me mv ting, "I am not treating'you well ;! next ueighbor remarked to me; and tor lam forcing you to say whatjals0 that he was equaiy biilliaut must be unpleasant to you. j know perfectly well that in the goodness of your heart you married a girl with whom you had not spoken a dozeu words, but whose father was your friend; and that she was pens liuess, since he had ruined himself by gambling. What I censure you for is that you did not take better care of one so ill prepared lor Paris society; and I was not surprised when Madam de Lisle hiuted to me last night that Germaine is " There was a look of such keen pain on my friend's face that I did not end my sentance; but took up my knitting again. "The oue thing you should have caught Germaine to avoid is cards, knowing as you did that all the men in her family were gamblers," I said preseutly. "But I never thought of a girl's inheriting such a taint; and one can go nowhere in Paris, in these days, where they do not play." "The women play more recklessly than the men." I said, drily. ''Your beat plan would have been to take your bride home to live." "Lock the stable after the horse is stolen. I could have managed far better, I admit. But unluckily my poor Germaine is alread be jwiti-hel by the fcaful demon, jchanc; him) I see. hut one way of 1 escape in great trouble; and that no one else can help me." After that, how conld I help say- jing I would do as he wished? The evening we were to go to Madame Teste's I dined at Hngh's. Germaine looked pretty; but I thought 1 detected an air of weari ness and eunui. The dinner was made perfect in its way and Hugh was in excel led t spirits showing a dozen little quiet attentions to his wife that would have done credit to a lover. Hut she seemed more like a guest than mistress of her own house; and it. was plainly to be seen that she had nothing more to do with the dinner than to eat it. No wonder the child was bored Hrought up in the country on very nnall means: and, like Cinderella of old, suddeuiy metamorphosed into a line society dame. I would have turned to ecarte myself under the circumstances. Hugh was not going with us. He had a business engagement, he said, Germaine ottered to stay at home ; ttit he would not hear of her doing so- Jr was my tht visit to Madame Tea8e.g rttloD? and I con less my im- j preions weretar from disagreeable. ! in conversation and at ecarte. It was eleven o'clock when, as if by some magnetic attraction, the guests moved to the card-table. To my surprise Germaine refused to play ; and. it was equally to tuy sur prise, no oue urged her. Presently she left her geat by me, and went to the table where M. de Latour was playing. In a few minutes she was evidently interested iu the game. A bright pink spot glowed at both her cheeks ; the baud that rested on the back of M. de Latour'S chair (trembled; her eyes gleamed with excitemeut. I did not see M. de Latour speak to her ; though more than once he attacked her attention to the card he was about to play. So the eveniDg wore on. The c'ocks ou tbe different mantel-pieces chimed out one. I grew tired, and was crossing the room to fiud Ger maiue and propose going bome.when I saw her take a seat just vacated, and began playing with M. de La tour. I forgot my weariness, and watched ber with interest. The piuk in her cheeks flamed into car mine, her eyes fairly blazed, and she played with haste, and I, im agined recklessly. Certainly a demon possessed her. There was uo tearing her away; and I had to wait until day damned. She must have lont frightlnl'y ; ut it the game, not gin, that possessed h r. I absolutely lelused to go wiih (lOfma'iie to M tdame T-sse's again; and I frankly tod Hugh that I con sidered it w't kul lo do so. But he was so Mite that he kuew whit he; was about ; that he was wiser than I ; that I at last relent d, though with by no means an ey con science. I was glad thit the third evening eiubd the tisits. Every evening Gerfoaii e had played wiih M. ile Latour, and lost heavily. The third time the huh was up hen we itft, Mad nwe Tes.-e.s ; and I had scarcely faiien as'eep when my maid woke me with it message fiom GtrmaiiiH. liather, it was a Je- wpaiiirig notn begging me to come to her at once. Hugh was away, audi she must see me before he returned, j Jeanne made roc a cup of coffee j whilst I dressed ; and I found thej carriage waiting for me. It was very much what I ex pected. M. de Latour had a sudden call upon him for money, and he had presented his little accouut in the shape of a most charming note. Hut the anviunt was anything but charming; for iu three nights Ger- j maine had lost no less than three; hundred thousand francs. She had j not brought Hugh a dof, as do most French girls ; and though he was a well off man, he was hy no means a miliiouaire. The position was a trying oue; but I could see nothing to be done but for Germaine to confess every thing to Hugh. I elt he had been much to blame in allowing her to go to Madame Tesse's ; and though he was rather heavily punished, he I ought to be lenieuf. But I did not feel inclined to forgive my Pelf fori the part I had plaved ; so I was more sympathetic than I might have been under other eireum stances. I was as much startled as Ger mame when we heard Hugh running up stairs, as a boy might do. I can not do justice to the scene. It was so dramatic, so intensely French, at least on Germaine's part. For before Hugh knew what she was about, she had thrown herself on her knees, and was sobbing out a most bewildering confession Hugh behaved admirably, placed her comfortably on the sofa, and did his best to reassure her. So, between us both, with a good measure of his own wit, the position of things was explaiued at last. L 1 bought Hugh took the loss very coolly, when one considered the amount. But he might have re fleeted that his own methods had brought much of the trouble on him, and that he should have in terdicted Madame Tesse's salon in stead of encouraging it. "What will you do?' I asked. "There is nothing to do but to pay the money." 'I am not sure that I would. It looks very much like a swindle. It is a large sum to loose iu three nights. It sounds to my ear much more like a story from the Arabian Nights than an event in this cen tury. Besides, Germaine must have been ignorant of the sums she was losing, and M. de Latour must have taken advautage of her simolicity." "There is no proof that ho won nnfaitly. But of course I will make due inquiries. For the rest," he added, with the air of a hero, "my wife's debts are my own." Germaine's sobs became more vehement, and Hugh vras alarmed. "Calm yourself, my child,'' he said with kindness. "We are not alto gether ruioed ; there is enough left to maintain us. Listen, Germaine. I have an estate, not a very large one, and I fear you will find it re mote, for it is in the mountains of Virginia'' (He might as well have said Kamtschatka, as far as Ger-i maine was coocerned) "There we can have comfort, but neither lux ury nor Paris." "Ab, but I detest Paris, and adore the country. I was never happier than when I had to gather the fruit, feed the poultry, and make the oinlet for dinner. No, I will not repine, unless it be when I think that I am your jailor, and that but ,htiv 3 oi pleas d."' I left them quite n-eon did T their altered fortune; and I r.tl approved of the j urney to the Yir ginia plantation. liu. nun iiNit'iiiMit ni o rne quiet way betook the l.i-- : for I have always consider! hhu a near, as the Seoteh sav, though he --. 1 1 i . . i :i. i . . . i . .i i spetif. ins money as a penriunan should, ami iio v h , Vf V V : thau li U .'."u ? miil',,ir I;0- 'T with more without ev We are of very small mr; r in the big world, lluyii s-nI i!h' ! nuiee were soreely irjis ;ed inj Paris, when like the At alts the I folded their tents and silently stole away. I never flt easy to the part I had played in the hrtl tlr4,ma a,u1 1 to,1 I,u"h v'he,! 1 bade him good-bye. "Come and ei us next, summer, himj see ic your- i .. i . i self whether you have done us au i'-jury,'' he said, cheei f u'ly. But it was manv snmujer before' I returned home . W hen I did, Hugh ws the fitst iiic.i.i iw . a .a.b Muua u.- : .. . .1.1: .. . u . . i: ..i mame annm cuarming mue postscript reminding me or my promise. I do not intend to describe Hugh's home, lonely as ir was.. I found the house smad, bat com fortable, and Hugh an authority ai a farmer in the county. Germaine too was as busy as a country house keeper, rive miles from a store, and with servants who seourted her methods, was bound to be. Her thrifty French ways left her no time to feel bored : and I noifoed the pink color and blight eyes when ever there was a new brood of chickens or swarm of bees to be looked after. Old I)inah held her house-keeping in contempt, 'dnd thought her cmelots aud pot-an-ten a poor substitute for ftiect thicken on bachelors; for Dinah had a negro's con temp for ecou n in .'on inii'hL 1 v. It' was a lovely morning, and i bosom does not know one. -germaine hrought tho basket of; Do not e so sure of vour fri-nd's peas she had just gathered, Hnd bliudness. At leat I had a suspje joined me as I sat on the bench iotl- I never could ninlerstund how Hugh had placed uuder the great.Lvou coul,i ,os ,nncU nnuiey with shade tree, because I faucied the nu,Cu equinimity. view from that point. I sat idly I on the contrary suffered horri watching Germaine as she adroitly j hl-v- H was an awful risk; but I opened the crisp. hulls, aud with a ' ' 1J0 othr way io rescue Ger-. little movement of her thumb s?ut i tua,"e- the small, green pea meinly roil- But I do not comprehend; who iug over each other m the bowl on j was tl,is (H Latour ? asked Ger her lap. Hugh joiued us, having j mame. riddeu tive miles for the mail : one i barest, von will forgive the de attention quite thrown away uijOU P'ioii for I did all tor our sak. If inn Hiiw.M I hd iioMrpr. Germ-.!;- ' 1 lJ,)t won t,,e money we would was equally indifferent, though ?e had a letter from Palis, which ihe declared she had no time to load. In fact, after she had persuaded Hugh to read it aloud, he mtei rupted him every few minutes iu her endeavors to frighten away the! venturesome chicken-, who vcete ! curiouaas to the content, oi the v.onid fancy to hear Hugh, tnat he i plv.videiicvbut ' if will cm bowl, evidently expecting .,ome ! '-vaS excising himself to Germaine j 0ut all right. I wash my hands thing more to their taste than pea'T ber ,roin snch an (of it, anyhow. If ba 'loess cums of I don't think thre was anylhing . Utti Poor Mrt(laiue Tessevs and j it (.body mu-t blame me. You all to ii.terestus in the letter : or rer-: lm not Ierm,ttil ber to ,0so a! remember that I was g-n it. ' haps the old life m Pails wa to, re- mote. But a few line written aciossi the face of it at laat aiiestet our1 attention. Madame Tese had the night before died very suddenly of appoplexy. In tact, she had dropped dead at the ecarte table; hei dath, the eftVct, it was believed, ot h run of bad luck and large losses. I eoufess the account brought vividly before 'ie the three nights I had spent at her salon. The iivhts. the people, the supper 'on the con- venient buffet,- Germaine with her bridiant eyes and the two red spot on her cheeks, and M. de Latour playing so successfully, yet so calm ly. I woudeied if Germaine also remembered, and, glauciug at her, I saw the two spots of carmine burning up iuto her cheeks. till. Dha oai.l 'ia it nnt hirrihh-J , . , V i , . . "um wuat 2W ",JL -1t-J Dinah would have bad cause of annoyance if I had not rescued the bowl of peas from the expectant chickens, for both Germaitie's bauds were clasped on Hugh's btoid shoulder 'And you never regret Paris, my child?' he aaked, I thought, with foolish auxiety, never -o till I appv MUD . 'In i-piie of poveity V 'We are not sutleitng,' she an-w-red with a smile. The pan was gloving warm, and 1 mnt. hecnre HO , ' n jta f eu fi hei. H t Hu'di llfefli(M lG Jls in:Ich hy A ,)ok bv OM .ijy tUr I i -I 1 1 1 .4 i M . t ' Iia 1 u L I -it iro w...v. ... '-- l m'' that 1 ,la1 l-h :;l:i0IleV j iaM M.deLatour, would iy n wUh to K ,,a' k to 1rtllf N ever,' she s tid. N..t if I could aff-ud to?' 'Xot f yon could buy all France ' Mbit why r 'I an. happy here; what more can , o:;e wish fo ?' Mint I have the money.' 'Yes?' lndiflferentlv. Jio you not wi-b io know how I T ... . . r(,,--intd it'" 'No I care nothing aout it,' she SHl'O, With decision. P,r T ' I Hni.l I ,,ul 1 '10' 1 a8'"- qluj.hi tell uie honestly, where lVui you urst know M. fle Lit0n,. r ; q have kDOWU h,m yer hj,Ce J : c .. ,ememb-r anything. 'Before you went abroad ; per hps when you were still in petti coats. I thought as mnch ; or at lest I have had my doubt-, par ticularly when I recalled how ex cellent you used to beat a masquer ade.' Mv de-u Germaine, your husband s an immense fraud, I hear. Huw can on say such thing, when you know lie is th? very soul of honor. Bar we do not always know him: at least there was a time when we fail ed to recognize him. Now that is what calls nonsense. Hugh, confess, I said sererelv, i Who was M. de Latoiu? Your humble servant, a pair rf ; spi-cac!es a little rotundity, a wig . aud co-metiof, and lo ! not only : ones best friend, but the wife of not have come here, might never have tiulv known each other mii'ht " 1 mil x iounu mere was no longer a grasp ou my dress; so I went to U,A" Ayi"an' n"u ur'I'1 ,u uri luc Uuvl nf eas" L,)ve,s ned OP s,u-,e a,e od,,! 1oh! OH ! !UIlu,, ai luuc' :E VEKE CASKS OF BLOOD POISON Thousands suff-T from bloo.J p-.afoUjWho v.ouid be cared if they gave B. iJ. B , 'o- ttini Uh,od Baimi a trial. Send to the Blood Balm Co., Atlanta, G., for book of I w-nderful cures, thht convince the most! kej iial. It is sent free. J.O Gibson. Meridian, Miss, writ's: "F r number of years I ?utfirei unt ii agonies from blood poion Several prom itier.t phyiticiaDs did me little if any good. I h yun to ure B. B. B. with very little ; Jdih, but, to iuy utter surprise it has mude 1 : a -veil and hearty person. I Z T. Hdliertcn, Macon Ga., write: 'I 'H-tiret ? n : I was e..Titrnctd blood poison. I first tried phy Jf ver made.'' -ician;, and then went to Hot Springs. II "Honest Iniun?" returned huuie a ruined man physically. J tl , , w t mother persuaded me to try U. B. B. To my uitrstUhment every ulcer quickly lie tied" ! Ben). Morris, Atlanta, Ga-, writes - a iiVrtid years froi syphilitic blood poUon whioii refused to be cured by all treatment, : piivsicinns pronounced it a hopeless cas ; I iiad jo appetite, I had pain in hip and i : .:m. Hr.(i lnv tidnevs were diseased. Mv ' threat w! ulcerated and my breast a ruaes ! c-t running sores. In this condition I com - j ' t'd a use of li B. B. It healed every ' u!ct r anJ are and Cured me o"ptetly j within two months." ' - jow ;a the time to take yourl county $1.50.paper, the Coukie. (JOIX'TO SKULK. liY M. gt n. One veiling, as I arrived at one of f e mount un hamlets, I found the inhabitants in a mate of whU might be alled "juond h&citement .v A istiic.f ch'o had bet-n opened that day, and roll-call had shown .1 .... tnii'een eiiiuiren present. A lew I'P'e weie diM.ustful i of , vsultN and one oid womancame ivervn.,n sticking her snutV stick into m eye as she flourished it around and said: "I never did snuggle tothisskule bizuess, nohow, I can't read nor vv,ite, hut if that' is anv woman in ml this county who 's a better woman than me let her step out! 1 kin shoot, a gun, handle a hoe or an ax, make the soft euro loin jciok a chicken or skin a b'ar, and jl d like to know what else a human f.ni-l nr' rotu.l t, t m ' i a I his speech floored the meeting f0r a Jew minuten, but at length a g u)J moantHineer n;piwI: "Hut we've got lo have eddica shun, iSallie. It takes eddicashun to Keep prst office and store. If the p )stinater d du't hev eddicashun how'd he know when a letter cum fov you? How'd the storekeeper finger up " "Oh, a sprinklin' might be eddi- ,eaU'd,"she graciously admitted "rhem as ain't of no earthly cood fur other work, but this eddieaiiio eveiy body is dangerous. Sain'l and I do believe it's agin tho Lord's wishes, F hjieashun makH ra-cals. jLook at Lon? Dtvis. If he hain't bien eddieat d would lie hev sot fire to that sawmil ? Look at Mor- g urs ga', Jenny: It she hadn't b en tdd'c ited would she hev tun off with tfiat ar' chap from Ken tuck .' "Thai's a help of sense in wh it the ole woman says," added one of the men, "hut I go in fur eddifa v'un mo' orbs-. We've got to hv it or wc can't do business If I'd a had eddicishun when I cot j the prre of a mewl's hide, w! ich them at' seven cords of wood for! nuknmv l;,j,,.t. LMdic-ud un Dod Havens at sixty cents a cord I oHats shot guns and t'ar trap all 1 wouldn't have benn fuled into tak-1 holler. It beats makin' moonshine in' a gallon o' lasses and a half ajwhjs(.v It teats plug terba ker pound of tea and wipm' out my j iaziness. I've dun goue and claims. Coii!arn his old pictur', ma,ie up ,ny ium( that we've got to but I'll keep a mewl fur him it be iiev si,,eH a(j gi our boys a don't even up! ' "What d'ye think, saugei?"' aske4l one oi the women of me. Education won't hurt your chil dren an , in i'rn." ' Won't it make Vin lazv or s f "I don't think s i." "Won't they tiy to hos the folks, and want broadcloth sas' M ad silL-sf" "They shouldn't ." "Well, I dunno I dun no. Seems o me like flyin1 in the face of j Alter supper,the mail who fiadeen responsible for all the excitement asked me to take a walk "with him. When we were half a 'nile from the i bamlet he filled his pipe, sat down, smoked for live minntes, without a word, aud then quietly asked: "Hev you ver bin to skule!'' "Yes." "Hurt je any?" "No," "Do ye good? ' "Yes." "Will it hurt any of us?- "No. It is the best move you "Yes, keep that school going if you have to live ou roots. No man I J f ha a chance in this world unless ! he has edacatiou.,' l ' t4Jist as I told em but they wouldn t listen. Will you coma to Pchool house totnrrei? "Yes." "Au ye won't go back on yer j opioiotif ' j "No. j "Put it tharl" he said a he j reached out his big, rough hand, -I kinder felt I was right all the time, but they was all agin me. Next forenoon I went over to fhe echoolhouse. It was a little room in the rear of a building which an -wered for a blacksmith and wagon and cooper shop. Everybody else alo went and when we all got in there was n i room for anybody to sit down. Tho teacher w a young woman who had never at tended a 113 thing higher than a dis trict school, and the outfit consisted of a black hoard, one spelling hook one old geography and a third reader. The teacher was libigt. ened half to death by the sudden at tack, hut my friend of the night befote sought to calm her fears by explaining: "Don't you go for to faint away or jump through the winder aud make fur the woods, fur we is on your sule. This ere gent is all the way from Michigan and not ouly snuggles to eddicashun, but he is actually been to school hissell! He'd goin' fur to sav right out what he believes. I was called upon for some re marks during which I asked bow Grover Cleveland could have been elected President had he not been au educated man. "That ere settles it! ' said the chairman as he rose up. It t':ar is ay critter yere as kin dodge them ere remarks let him step out!' "I confess I was oppoa n','- sa'd the o'd woinau who had been so obstinate the evening before, "t ut ! 1 h't gine to oppose 110 mo'. I I ver thought of Gov'uerg a'id Presidents and h eh. if our s n Mill ai gwino to he President he's got to hev eddicashun ami I difestj (confess) it. Thi settled the question that t'te j school was a good thing and should stay but their was one more speech to cine yet. A venerable old ujhn vho leaned heavily on a I o ue made cane, slowly arosMand sa'd: "I've tit Yank--, and I've fit b'ar and wildcats and I've lived hea'h en like all my . days. if 1 had hev glowed up to read and wii ami know smith n' I miut be wi nli chance, and if thar's any critter yeie who wantw to live1 on like a cannibal he'd better git outen yere right email !'' . i It whm all settled and m school j had been goinj a week, the people wanted the children eiamintd to see if they had "soaked in' any knowledge. A trial proved that j f,ir 0f them knew that the world ; was round, tive could name the two great oceans three could count up to twenty and tho remainder had a' most lear ned what an island wai. After we were, through the chair man suggested that I ask the teach er a few questions. I realized tho situation and determined to go light asking: How is the earth divided! Into land and water. Add twenty aud ten. Thirty, 1 reckon. Name three or four river-. The Mississippi, Ohio, Tennesae and Amazon. Name the continents, Europe, Asia, Germany aud France. I left her off on that, aud after we had adjourned to the st re the chairman reached out his hand and said: Put it thar mister! You'un is eddicated, and no mistske! DHn'c that at' gal jist rattle off them an swers though? I reckoned them big rivers would be too mnch for her to swallow and that she'd go ker Hunk tight afire the rneetii ' but fhe was ready with both heels at the word- Lordy, 8trauger, but what a strain oo man's mind! I in for eddicdhuu clear around the cornfield but bow a feder who knows a heap must suffer to carry it around with him! Sabscribe for the Lincoln Cou liiKE, $1 50 a year. Tbe merchants of Lincoluton bould aid their home paper by advertising more liberally.