THE LAST POSSESSION.
Hope has gone over, my coffers are bare;
Billed by gorrow the paths that I try;
Darkness and daylight are riddled with care,
Prying eyes peep at me; haughty eyes stare,
Phantoms reply.
How he draws near who was far from me
there
"Love, it is I."
All was for him who should seek me of old
All would be mine had you looked on me so ;
Dressed in the trappings of beauty and gold
Praises could humble and pleasures grow
cold " ,
Long was the show.
Fortune and fame are but heavy to hold.
Sweet to bestow.
Hope has gone over my coffers are bare;
Homeless, forsaken, unvalued am I;
Naked the heart you would win of despair '
Never the gift was so priceless. I swear
Sacred and shy !
All that is left me, my freedom is there;
Brother, good-bye."
Dora Bead Goodale.
LITTLE WASP.
m .an
1 M) I
11
up
co-
O yon think a coquette
can over be true?"
-A This remark was ad-
$ dressed to me by an
old school fellow with
whom I kept
friendship.
"Do I think a
quette can be true ! No ;
it Little Wasp can."
"But a greater flirt never lived I" cried
my companion. "She talks to all the
fellows about, and I dare say half of
them think she is in love with them,
just as I do," he said, dashing the ash
from his cigar against the rive-barred
gate over which we were both leaning.
"I don't think Little Wasp a coquette,
in the real and truesense," I observed.
"She talks to every fellow, I know, but
she behaves all the time as if uncon
scious that she's doing anything out of
the way. But then American girls are
not like -bnglish girls.
There again," said Jack, facing
round and looking at me as if I were his
bitterest enemy instead of the most for
bearing friend in the world, and indeed
I had proved myself this; for had I not
listened to his meandering talk about
Little Wasp for hours together, and
never pronounced myself bored ? " -
It will be judged from this that I was
not one of the lady's favored gentlemen;
and indeed I was not. I got none of
Her smiles, and a great many of those
sharp little answers which had gained
her her nickname; answers which, com
ing through less beautiful lips, might
have exasperated a man. But her inno
cent air and exquisite loveliness made
everything she did or said appear right
at the moment. It was afterwards,- upon
reflection, and when her face was not
there to bewitch one, that one called her
cruel and unfeeling, and all sorts of
other names one would have been
ashamed even to think in her presence.
But I am digressing.
I had spoken of her being American,
and Jack had turned upon me angrily
with: "There again ! she and her moth
er have come from no one knows where,
and are no one knows who; and here am
I, belonging to one of the oldest families
Here I interrupted him. I had no
particular, ancestors to trace my descent
from, and no coat of arms to brag about;
and. as I knew by heart all Jack's ances
tors as far back as Adam, I did not want
to hear any more of them; which Little
ousy. .
"All right, old fellow," said Jack. I'm
not going to give you the tree this time,
and you come of a better stock than I do
or you wouldn't be what you are."
I was considerably mollified by this
remark, and relaxing the severity of my
contenance, said: "You were about to
observe- "
4 "Yes," said Jack, was about to ob
serve that I am ready to die for that
girl."
"In which respect," I replied, "you
are not so distinguished from your fel
lows as by your tree."
"Very likely," he answered mourn
fully. "But after all, the question at
issue is, which of us is she ready to die
for?"
How I remembered that remark later
on, when I knew the end of the story !
"Little Wasp die !" I said, laughing.
"She'll live her summer-day life and
then just disappear, to make war and
anarchy in heaven once more, the little
witch ! One cannot think of little Wasp
dying."
"Well, then, which of us will she live
for ?" asked Jack, with some asperity.
"I wonder how many of the fellows
have asked her ?" I replied with great
calmness. "If you mean business, I
must say you're taking it uncommonly
cool. Somebody will be carrying her
off, sting and all, while you are thinkiag
about it. There was Captain Esher
round there to-night as" I passed the
gate."
"Look here," said Jack, "I'll qo
round there to-night, and the old one s
so anxious to marry the girl off her
hands that she won't deny me admis
sion; and it'll be a bit of a test when I
tell her I sail so soon for Melbourne.
By the way," he said, breaking off sud
denly, and looking at me with a whini-
fiireil TIT! 77lAmOTf Y Tit a faw T T
the old one won't want to be included in
the bargain."
"On that point I can set your heart at
. rest," I replied. "The old one has car
riedoff her own prize. Thomson told
me about it. She's going to be married
quietly."
"So much the better," said Jack;
"and if you'll excuse me, old fellow, I'm
"Always the way," I said to myself,
where the girls are concerned. Never
so much as asked how I was' going on;
never asked if I'd got the appointment
and be hanged if Til tell him without.
I'll just present myself to see them off
when they sail, as of course they will.
Little Wasp, for all her baby looks, will
know better than to throw over a man
of his property and position." And
truly I was trying as hard as I could to
think her mercenary, though I have
learned how desperately I must have
been endeavoring to quench something
so much warmer for her in my heart. I
would go and see them off, and then
when the man should call out, "All
visitors on land !" I should just stick
there, and let them find out I had taken
my passage.
I was disappointed at this piece of
diplomacy, for Jack came up to my
lodging very late in the evening, and he
looked so buoyant and happy that I
knew it was all settled; and why
shouldn't it be ? (this latter a little ad-,
monition delivered internally, to some
part of me that would sigh in thinking
of it).
"Yes, it!s all right, old boy," he said,
clapping me on the shoulder, which I a
little resented, for the weight of his fist
was not light; "and she has cared for me
all along and thought I was never going
to ask her."
"The deuce she has," I said, sticking
a knife into a loaf of bread in front of
me, for I had been eating my supper.
He looked a little surprised at my
expression, but he was too full of his
own happiness to notice me much, and
rattled on, seating himself upon the
table in a manner which would have
alarmed my landlady could she have
seen him, for that article of furniture
was none of the newest nor the most
modern. It was round, and stood upon
a centre pedestal and had a great ten
dency to lurch; and I had discovered
three different catalogue numbers of
sales upon it underneath. But I am
digressing.
"I want but one thing to complete my
happiness," Jack said; and the table
creaked under him, and caused the
cheese to run a race with the knife along
the dish. "If only you could get your
appointment and go with us."
Now was my time. I looked up with
an injured air. "I got the notice that I
was appointed this morning."
"Why in the name of all the gods
didn't you tell a fellow?"
"I should like to know what chance I
had," I replied. For the last six months
there has been only one subject of con
versation between us, and Little Wasp
has "
Here he interrupted me.
"Look here, old fellow," he said; we
must drop that absurd nickname. Her
real name is Ellen."
"Abserd !" I ejaculated. "Little Wasp
is Little Wasp and can be nothing else
to any of us who have known her. But
of course," I added with some dignity,
"she will have a new name to be called
by soon and I shall use that."
"Nonsense, old fellow," replied my
friend, "we are not going to make a stran
ger of you, and you are welcome to call
her Ellen like me."
I thanked liim with a little of a sneer
in tone, I am afraid, and respecfully de
clined. "As you like," said Jack, giving the
table a fearful wrench. In fact such was
the danger, 1 was compelled to remon
strate, and suggest that there were chairs
in the room, even if not of t the most de
sirable shape and softness.
"Ah, to be sure, I thought it was rick
ety," he said, descending from his perch
and seating himself next upon my camp
stool, which collapsed under him, result
ing in bursts of laughter from both of
us.
"It's only getting my hand in for the
Bay of Biscay; and hang it, if I care for
anything," he said, seating himself with
some care in my arm-chair, "now that
angel has linked her lot with mine."
"What are you calling her an angel
for ?" I said. Somehow I could not bear
to hear him run on. "I'll allow she's, a
very pretty little sinner."
"Sinner!" cried Jack, knocking down
my cigar-case from a cup-board near his
elbow with magnificent indifference. "I
like that ! She who is as stainless as
Here I interrupted him. "Don't go
l" I said, "I know the rest: and vou
know we've all been so used to talking of
her lightly" ("and thinking seriously,"
l aaaea mencauv;.
"Far too lightly," said Jack with
asperity, "and I won't hear any more" of
it. She'll be Mrs. Percival in a few
days' time; and if that captain shows his
nose near "
"Don't threaten," I said. "The land
lady is always listening at the door, and
when I open it she's always just going
to knock. . Besides, it would look like
distrust to be behaving in that manner,
and I don't think that's fair to her,
coquette though she has been."
"Well, it can't matter much, for we
are all going away," said Jack, rising
and lighting up.
The scene had changed; and I, who
on,
thought myself practical, and free of
sentiment, while others made love, or
fooled, as I termed it, around me, , was
now feeling as I leaned, not against a
five-barred gate this time, but against
the poop of a vessel with the raging Bay
of Biscay all surrounding us, that I had
a great deal of sentiment in me after all;
and indeed there is nothing like a great
storm to bring out the true woman in a
man, which is there sure enough if it
can only be roused: just as my poor
Little Wasp proved there was plenty of
the man or manly courage in a frail,
sweetly nature -painted little woman.
She was with her husband below now,
cheering and consoling him, I was sure;
for she who had on coming on board
shuddered only less black beetles might
be in the cabin, was now strong and firm
and even cheerful since the captain had
told us he feared we could never weather
the gale.
There were many passengers on board.
I don't know the number, for I could
never read the newspaper - accounts.
But Ellen Percival. in her blue serge,
was hither and thither, consoling
mothers, comforting children, and even
taking off little trinkets for them to play
with. And how those children played
on the verge of eternity! They were
not terrified, the majority of them; and
if they were, Little Wasp with her
gentle voice, which had no sting now
for any one, coaxed them into happiness,
and hid away in her own great tender
heart all she must have been feeling
then.
"Have you no fear?" I said to her, as
a lifeboat was launched and was seen
to go to pieces instantly in that terrible
sea.
She was standing with her husband's
arm about her as I spoke.
"Jack is here," was all her reply.
The battered crew of the lifeboat, res
cued all but one, persisted that they
would make no further attempt. They
resisted the captain's command to launch
the iron pinnace, which would hold fifty
souls. No, they would go down with the
old craft, they said doggedly.
And now, to make matters worse, half
the crew, who were Malays, refused to
do anything, and went to their berths,
and it became necessary for the passen -
gers to take their places. Jack and I
were strong, and we went to the pumps.
The storm continued with redoubled
fury. The water was rising rapidly in
the cabin, and there the stewardess
helped the parents to place their children
higher than the water, thus putting off
by so little the inevitable,
It was now resolved that the pinnace
should be lowered by means of the
davits. But only three of the passen
gers were "willing to enter it when
launched. They had been terrified by
the fate of the lifeboat. I was one of the
passengers, and I almost feel guilty in
writing it, seeing they were not the other
two.
Few will believe how great a sacrifice
I made for the old mother at home de
pending on me. To have died with her
as he did would have seemed bliss to
me. But my life belonged to my old
mother at home.
"There is little chance for you in the
boat,-" said the captain to the first mate;
"here there is none. You have done
your duty, God speed you. Do what
you can for the little craft," and the two
shook hands as for eternity.
The pumps had been abandoned, and
Jack with his arm around his wife stood
near and heard. "You will go, Tom,"
sai.d Jack, .'you have your mother.
We," he said, glancing with a kind of
rapture at the wistful little face leaning
against his pea-jacket "we will not be
separated." -
I still hoped, as I said "Good-by,"
that they would joint us; but the crew,
finding the passengers held back, had
come on to , the boat and taken their
places, at which the captain smiled
grimly. He smiled even more, as one
of the passengers went over the side of
the vessel with a black bag carefully
held, to think he should care for his
possessions at a moment like this. There
was no time to lose, for the good ship
was settling fast. We had some biscuits
and a compass, but no water.
"There is room for one more. Fetch
a lady," said the mate as we were about
to cut ourselves free of the ship.
I immediately regained the ship to
look for Ellen and her husband. "There
is room for one lady," I said hurriedly.
"Go both of yon and care for my mother
for me."
They shook their heads, both of them,
and Jack said, "I could never face your
mother with such a tale; but," he added
with a sudden heroism, "it is the mo
ment to tell the truth. Tom loves you,
Ellen, I have seen it all along. Take
her," he said to me, "marry her and
make her happy. It is so dreadful for
such a sweet young life to be broken
off."
can be true.- he said, and these were his
last words to me, , A
The moments were so precious, J. naa
only time to .fling myself over the side
and into the boat, for the ship was set
tling down so fast that the boat if not
cut away immediately would be sucked
down.
Ellen Percival I see now as I last saw
her, standing on the deck of that doom
ed vessel, cheerful and like herself even
in such an hour, sometime peering for
ward through the gloom to anxiously
watch our venture through the , dashing
foam and spray, sometime gazing at her
husband in a sweet, contented way; and
that I might see her more plainly, the
sun shone out for a brief moment amid
angrv banks of black cloud, and lit. her
face with a sort of chastened glory. It
may sound strange, but I never saw
more perfect happiness than was in the
face of both those two at that moment.
It was but a moment, 'for the bovr of the
ship rose right out of the sea, and the
sudden rush of air from below flung all
the passengers forward together. It was
all over now the once mighty craft sank
suddenly and completely, and around
us was the raging sea. '
It matters little to the reader how I
escaped, and the rest of us. We wero
picked up by a ship .after we had en
countered somo privations, and it was
long before I could reconcile myself to
life after that last adieu to Little Wasp.
JEANNIE G WYNNE BETTANY.
aioititoxmEE.
Death of aonce Famous Pirato who
Lived Alone on an Island.
I felt myself choking, but J needed
not to speak a word. She laid her soft
cheek against his, ' and clung to him so
desperately, with a -face so full of radi
ant love, it was answer enough.
Jack looked at me with a happiness I
can never describe. "You see a coquette
A vessel, just in from Honolulu,
brings the new3 of the death of a man
whose history is as thrilling as that of
any pirate king of yellow-covered liter
ature. Twenty-five years ago he was a
pirate king . as brave ind as wicked as
pirate kings always are. Since then he
has been a hermit. In the days of his
wickedneas and power he commanded a
vessel called the Red Cloud, stanch, un
usually fast and furnished with perfect
guns. Periodically ; this carmine red
craft disappeared from the sea, and in
her place would come another, all in
sombre black arid named the Black
Cloud. This piece of theatrical effect
.which cost nothing more than a little
paint, had its expected influence upon
the superstitious minds of the sailors
who were sometimes sent in pursuit of
the vessel. Most of them fully believed
that there was something uncanny about
the craft and that her captain had su
pernatural help. In those days he was
the terror of the South Pacific seas, and
the British Government set a big price
upon his head. Hundreds of attempts
were made to capture him by fair fight
and by traps, and by every means that
could be devised. But he eluded all
the traps, came out victorious in all the
fights, and in every case sailed away
with the traditional scornful laugh of
the pirate king. He had a Spanish
name which nobodv remembers now,
and he was supposed to belong to that
nationality, although he spoke Spanish,
English, French and German with equal
fluency. ,'
At last a young English nobleman,
loving adventure and desirous of the re
ward, untertook to capture him. After
cruising around in the Pacific for some
time he came, late one , afternoon, di
rectly upon the Red Cloud. The buc
caneer spoke to the Englishman, asking
where she was bound and what she had
on board. The reply was that they were
looking for the pirate, that they knew
they were talking to him and that he
had better give himself up at once.
In an instant bright lights appeared
all over the Red Cloud, and the captain
answered in good English, "I will see
you in Tophet first." Then a cannon
ball whizzed through the air, but it was
aimed too high and passed above the
vessel. "I will see you there," shouted
back the Englishman, and a broadside
from his guns, aimed low, sent the Red
Cloud to the bottom of the sea. But the
buccaneer escaped, and not long after
wards he and two of his crew appeared
in a rowboat on the barren Island of
Molokani, which is near the East Mani
Islands of the Hawaiian group. Jt is a
small, barren, rocky place, uninhabited.
There his two companions even left him,
and there he lived alone for twenty-five
years. Since his landing there he waa
called only Morrotinnee; the native
name for the island. A sailor who has
been going to and fro from the Sandwich
Islands for ten or twelve years learned
all he could about Morrotinnee, and
says that he was mnch liked alid feared
by the natives. They carried to him all
the delicacies to' be found in the king-
uuui auu euauieu nun uj ieaa a Jiie oi
ease and luxury. They said he was a
tall man, big and commanding, with a
voice like thunder so powerful that they
firmly believed that he caused the wind
to rise or the waters to subside. They
would not allow white men to go neax
the island if they could help it, because
they had been commanded by him, and
when he died they buried him near the
place where he had lived, with much
mourning over his departure.
. David WhetjetiEy. durinsr the bliz
zard, hitched his horse and crawled into
a hole in the ground which had been
used for a cellar and stayed there all
night. The place was only three feet
nigh, lo keep from freezing he white
tied pieces of pine board and burned
them. There being a wooden floor above
he had to keep the fire low, and, he was
alternately smothered and frozen until
the next morning. His horso was au
ngnt, and he reached home, oni was
completely exhausted, but only slightly
frozen. :
' The dog 'corps in the French army is
being carefully trained at Belfort.
Large dogs are chosen. Every day they
are shown soldiers in German uniforms
and taught to fly at them on sight.
How a Maine Lake of 300 1
tent Was Made Pro::? U
l.
From the Lewiatoa Jon.,,
Bangor people are not .u'
given to the cutting and rnaa r
of lumber and such branchesof
naturally follow these interest
cuts more hay than any city tn
plantation in Maine, and sorTS?
best of farmers and d; ! M
within ber limits. - Some of her
men, who have retired from tra,5?
much interest in farming navi
attention 'to hay colw SSW
fvincr Mfxssra S o-nA t 6
being Messrs. S. and J. Adani
for a period of nearlv tZ?
have' been developing for hiy
what was once known on the
Maine as Little SebomtU Ti?i
111 HiienL Jinn ma . -
acres in extent and thA
results mar he of inbrod v
of the Journal. . re
Little Seboosis Lata
atd in the Town of Holland, a u
uwiu uu y, n&vingiiyJ
ering of about three feet of bla.v
In the northwestern corner was C
running to the Piscataquis River, tuJ
when the snow melted in the Spr?
was an outlet, and in the summer fi
the lake became low, changing totajk
let, the water oozing from the rivet.
On the easterly side, running
and south, parallel with the lake, t
Seboosis stream, separated from the UW
by a horseback and distant onlj tTeth
rods. This stream was thirty feetbel
thejake, affording a splendid chance i
drain the larger body.
Messrs. Adams, owning all the
about the lake, cut a ditch throngli
horseback, and then had, had thevcW
en no utilize in, a nne water power, ta$
being a fall of thirty feet in a dL,
of twenty rods, and having also, besL2s
the 509 acre reservoir, the water xti
would flow in from Piscataquis.
But the operators wero after t b
held, and to obtain it, next dug a din
through the muck to carrv awarCi
water which was to flow in when &
summer came, and then sowed, on
snow, 175 bushels of Timothy, cota
$504. The idea was first to obteai
sward, and this succeeded, altboi
the grass grew in bunches and maci i
the sowing was lost.
ti i l : i i . .
waa uiuiu&b lixipussiuie iu get ti b
that did grow, but some was cuij ci
the next moye was to thorough; ti
the land, finally drawing off all fi
water. A fair crop was cut the w
year, and at this time a barn was ki
100x40. Such hay as was cut was of ia
best kind, and the process of gather
continued several years, a portion u
cut being burnt oyer.
On this latter land grew a sort of h
weed, which finally spread and hlk
out the grass. The only thing to it
now was to flood the land again, iia
was done, and this remained so toe m
years, when the water was asaindxM
off, and timothy again sowed, id a
other barn built.
Previous to the floodincr the had hi
cracked into blocks of about tre!w
inches souare. but after the se?
flooding the muck settled, andthelal
has since been in good shape.
Since the last operation the crop In
been steadily on the increase, and ll
is now cut, on 250 acres, about 300 to
of hay, which, in years past, has bs
sent to Boston, where it has been m
to the owners of trotters and other vi
able animals. ,
One year the crop was sold at the in
road, station, about ten miles away. TJ
was in 1881, and the price realized nj
$20 per ton, one man taking
worth. This year the Canadian PJ
people, who are operating near by, ti
the crop, paying S12 at the barns.
It required no attention and do or
ing to raise the crop, and the owners
clare the soil to be the finest grass g
inc land lrnn-wm. arA p-rnect intneE
future to get nearly, if not quite,
tons to the acre.
Had Been Doctored.
A wealthy old widower boarding
iasnionaDie nouse in ine tajj
he wishes to be loved bysomeyo
miss a third as old a3 himself, h
ly a well-dressed and fashionable t
lady engaged rooms at the same
ana Degan casting siy guu t
her parlors one evening, which W
nnoing nis youimui aamii -
net and gloves on, or as she erp
it: 'Just came in from the ban
was asked to make himself conu or
while she went to tea, leaving
book spread open upon the
Of course it was natural th
seeking a life companion shooM .
himself as to her ability 40 fS
suitable bridal trossean, and he
peeped into the bank
found a group of figures w 'rLp
finger. The old man f oif got fc u
gave a jump for joy. It h-PP1
intimate friend of the ex-ben
clerk in the bank where tb; &
kept her money, and t
the account at the wis
he discovered that onl;
deposited, and that th
her book were" fictiti
the attachment grew
centleman is still m
market Albany Jouru
the
rJ.
tie loobz&.i
x y ""ft T -l l teas3 j
wacrons containing the nui 4
rrrwssion of one of thd nuniero
est shows, "is the ni
but we find animals ri
living in the darkcages
pi eat e.) liorrintoicn
teenu
Where there is abu;
ix3 clamor, uecause it u
our smmners urofcen
than to perish amid
..fit
. there o-j
Utter
,bv tbe
e3 in our -