North Carolina Newspapers

v. T-rv . fmJ TJ7 Sl.OO a Year, in Advance. FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY AND FOR TRUTH. ' Slngla Copy 5 Cents, VOL: XV I. PLYMOUTH; N, C. FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1906. NO. 50. V UV THE Like a Tiy p'int of liplit picrcinpr through the dusky gloom Comes her little, laughing face through the shadows of my room. And my pen forjrets its way as it hears her patt'ring tread. While her prattling treble tones chase the throughts from out ray head- She is queen and I her slave one who loves her and obeys; For she rules her world of home with imperious baby ways. Iii she Uanees. calls me "Dear!" turns the pages of my book?; Throws herself upon my knee, takes my pen with laughing looks. Makes disorder reign supreme, turns my papers upside down; Draws me cabalistic signs, safe from fear of any frown. Crumbles all my verses up. pleased to hear the crackling sound; Makes them into balls and then flings them all upon the ground. Suddenly she flits away, leaving me alone again, AVith a warmth about my heart and a brighter, clearer brain. .. And altliouh the thoughts return that her coming drove away, The remembrance of her laugh lingers with me through the day. And as chances, as I write, I may take a crumpled sheet; On the which, God knoweth why! I read my fancies twice as sweet. Victor Hugo, HOPELESS .gxs.. By PAOLA tO&. O what purpose, Luigi. . Jj should we bind ourselves," O rP O said Annetta Lanza, "since X you leave here to-morrow )?OW with the owner of the'ship, who may trade from port to port for years without trying to re turn to Leghorn?" "Because I adore you, Annetta," re plied the young sailor, "and I could not sleep if I thought there was a chance of your accepting another man as a lover." "And suppose I promised to be your wife and' married some' one else, be cause you stayed away too long?" asked the girl. "If'you say you will let me become your "husband when this voyage is over, I will trust rn," he answered. " promise you, Luigi," she said. "Mind that you are as careful of this engagement as-1 shall be." Annetta was not the only girl in Leghorn whom Luigi might have ad dressed, in a .similar strain, with, the like result. The handsome, young sailor, with his piercing ."black eyes. aquiline nose and delicately drawn mouth, whose smile displayed two rows of perfect teeth, was the idol of the peasant girls of Leghorn, and many a fi-one gave Annetta an evil lortj'f ns-they 1 saw her affectionate parting f Kim Luigi the next day. But it was not an engagement for which Annetta needed to be much en vied. Trading from port to port, getr ting rid of one cargo to take in an other, and shaping his course accord ing to the information that he might glean as to probable markets, the skip per knew no better than his crew when his voyage would be ended, and his little vessel would anchor once more in Leghorn. Annetta would not be able to write to her lover while he was away, for the ship's course would depend upon circumstances which could be learned only when they arose. But she. had , made up her mind and was determined to abide by the consequences. So An netta gave, her farewell' kisses to Luigi and saw, the Santa Teresa sail away with him, trusting that in time God would bring him back to her. She -checked the tears which welled up to her eyes and went home to the little cottage rented by the old woman who had adopted her, for Annetta was an orphan, without a relative in all Italy. Iler life was a simple and easy one while her protectress lived, for the old lady had a small annuity, and in Italy h little money is enough to provide for two women. When it should please Itenven to take her second mother from her she would go back to Vol terra, which was her native place, and work at the modeling of Ike alabaster that is found in the caverns, which had been her occupation before old Marta had come across her and had brought her to Leghorn. But Annetta was not the girl to an ticipate trouble, so she thought notb ing.of how long old .Marta would live; besides, just then she had her mind full of Luigi and his indefinite return from bis uncertain cruising. . Grief. lHwever,if it' heed' hot be forestalled by anticipation, cannot be postponed by indifference. Sii months after Luigi had sailed Annetta found herself without a friend at Leghorn, and compelled to return to Volterra, to earn her living. . The little , that Marta had left behind her only sufficed for her funeral and for the cost of Annetta's journey to Volterra. "Giulia," she said to one of her girl acquaintances, "I am leaving Leghorn to-morrow, and I have no means of telling Luigi Filippo where he will find me when he comes back." "Ah, then Luigi is to marry. you after his voyage?" asked Giulia. "I have promised him," replied An netta. "Give him this letter; it will tell him that good Donna Marta is in Heaven, and that I have gone back to Volterra to get my living with the aia fcaster at roodelin." BABY, ANNETTA. IIONVANI. Then Annetta handed her letter to Giulia, who promised to give it to Luigi when he returned to Leghorn. ' Annetta had been back in Volterra two years, working at her old art, wait ing for Luigi to come to her and claim the performance of her promise. She waited and worked, but Luigi did not appear. Her earnings were not large, but she had aptitude for her work, and the dealer who exported the ala baster productions which were the staple of Volterra, gave her constant employment. Thus, with her Italian thrift and simple life, she was able to put away a lira or so every week, to help her lover when he should set up housekeeping. Time passed, but it did not bring Luigi to her. One Sunday the priest of the little church ' that she attended announced a pilgrimage to Pisa. All those whose prayers had not been answered were advised- to seek the intercession of the Madonna, whose seven-veiled portrait, styled Santa Maria sotto gll organi be cause it was originally placed on a pillar under the organ when it was hung in Pisa Cathedral, was an object of great reverence. Annetta thought of her long absent lover, and told her self that all would be well if she knelt before the Madonna's' portrait in, Flsa Cathedral and prayed for the return of Luigi; so, with her hoarded lire in her pocket, she betook herself, in company with two score other pilgrims, to the city of the leaning tower. In such expeditions faith is generally at fevet heat, and there was hardly a member of the little band who did not believe that the Madonna would answer the prayers made to her. It seemd as if she had shown her first favors to Annetta, for as she. with fervid thoughts, passed out through the cathedral doors, she came almost into the arms of Luigi Filippo. At least into one of the arms of the hand some young sailor; the other gave sup port to Annetta's former acquaintance, Giulia. "Annetta!"-ho exclaimed, "they told me that you were dead." "Who told you so?" she asked. "I have been working in ' Volterra for three years, and no one there could have told you that I had died." Giulia.'s cheeks betrayed more than her treachery; the glance which she gave IiUigi suggested the motive of it. Like most Italians of the lower classes, Annetta's nature was both pas sionate and deceptive, and it was when her anger was inopt strongly stirred that her duplicity enabled her to con trol and conceal it. "And if chance had not brought you you and Giulia to Pisa you might have continued to think me desd; that is, if you did not cease to remember me." She made no reference to the letter she had left with Giulia. But the latter had not been so false as Annetta supposed. -.A woman, also named Annetta, who' had been em ployed at some alabaster works at Vol terra, had died,. and. some one who bad known her spoke of her death' while he lounged about Leghorn, waiting for the steamer that should bear him thence. So, when Luigi returned from his long voyage, people told him that An netta was dead be was already mak ing love to Giulia, and the latter burned the letter of the supposed dead Nvoman, that it might not revive a love which was also dead, and 'check the passion which the young sailor was just then expressing for herself. Luigi had saved some money during his prolonged voyage, so when he found himself loving Giulia as he had former ly loved Annetta, he resolved to give up the sea and expend his little hoard upon a farm, cultivating the land as his father had taught him when he was a lad. Thus he had come to Pisa, I where his father had lived. Annetta learned where Luigi and bis wife were lodging, and then she bade them good-morning, and turned back into the cathedral to kneel once more before the picture of the Madonna' with its seven veils. But this time her prayer was not for love, but for hate. "Grant me," she implored, "grant me a vengeance for my wrongs. Let me punish this false woman who tells my lover that I am d".d, and who keeps back the letter that I had written to him." A month had passed, and Annftta had had no answer to her last prayers. Luigi had taken a little farm, and would have possession in the autumn, after the vintage, and doubtless he and his young wife would be as happy as Annetta was wretched. But early in August an epidemic raged in Tuscany, and Pisa had its share of the fever that attacked old and young, rich and poor, with grim equality. Not only was the disease virulent and deadly, but the want of nurses augmented the number of fatal cases. The doctors and priests alike appealed for help, and Annetta, whose little hoard was wasting during her life of Idleness, volunteered to nurse the sick. "With such a good work," she thought, "I am bound to have my prayer granted to me." She had no fear of catching the fever, for life was too bitter for her to give death any terrors. So she went from one patient to another, leaving them when they became convalescent, or when, alas! they died. One morning, when she went for her orders, she received directions to go to Giulia Filippo, who was down with the fever. Luigi had been previously taken to the hospital, which was too full to receive his wife. "Are my prayers to be answered?" thought Annetta. "Am I to see . the death of the woman who has betrayed my life's happiness?" , She nursed her patient conscientious ly, but every hour she was hoping to see signs of her dissolution. At last the crisis came and passed. The doctor paid his morning's visit, and repeated it later in the day, bring ing with him a bottle of medicine. "All depends upon the patient's sleep ing," he explained. "If she does not quiet down by S o'clock, give her a quarter of this opiate, and, if neces sary, repeat the dose six hours after ward. Be careful not to give her more- than the quantity I have named, or the effect will be fatal." Then he went away and Annetta was alone with the sick woman. "Then I have nursed her through her illness to restore her to Luigi," she thought. "The woman who has with held my letter to my lover that she might herself supplant mo in his heart." She turned her back upon the sick woman, for she knew that her eyes would betray her anger. Then she deliberately poured into a wineglass half the contents of the bot tle which the doctor had given to her. "Annetta," said the patient, "if I should die. will you forgive me for my unfaithfulness to you? Indeed, they said that you had died, and as Luigi seemed to have ceased to care for you, I destroyed your letter,--that it should not revive his love." "Ah, well, sleep, my dear, and all will be right," said Annetta, sooth ingly. Giulia hardly needed her nurse's in struction, for nature was bringing the rest that was to accomplish her re covery. Annetta looked at her patient as she sank to slumber. "She has acted as most girls would have done, perhaps as I should have acted in her place," she thought." "Luigi had forgotten me, and accepted willingly anyone's word that told him the welcome news that I was dead. It Is such a good solution of a trouble, to kill the object of a pas sion already expired. Giulia will live; why should I not die? Santa Maria pity me; pray for me." Tnen she swallowed the opiate which she had poured out for her patient, and sank upon the couch on which she was to pass from life to death. When the doctor made his early call the next morning, Annetta had gone to her long sleep. "We have lost a good nurse," he said; "it is fortunate that she lived long enough to preserve her patient." New York Weekly. Coon Hunt in the Ozrk Mountain. Possum and coon limits are of night ly. occurrence' in", this corner of ihe Ozarks, and all goes merrily as a vil lage "foot-shaking," unless the expedi tion chance to collide with an odorous circumstance, the other name of which is skunk, in which case there is hur rying to and fro (principally iroj and no Alphonse-Gaston foolishness as to who shall be first. The hunt, in this contingency, is usually followed by a few days' retirement for undisturbed meditation on the part of the chief participants", who, when they reappear in their accustomed haunts, are met with covert sniffs and sidelong glances of pained suspicion. But it i glorious iiport, and probably Newt Boies can ive you as many of the fine points in t'he cast as it would be possible to get without engaging in a personally con ducNpd expedition, of which he is every ready-r-suspiciously ready to take the leadership. Taney County (Mo.) lie- J publica a. For the Younger 1 X CjT Children.... 3 AS TO -BED CO HAL. 1 Where do your coral necklaces come from, girls? Those pretty red beads came from the sea, which, perhaps, you know. Perhaps you do not know that the little architects who so beau tifully fashioned the coral or polyps, and for so many years their work was thought to be a wonderful plant grow ing in the bottom of the sea. . The Greeks, who had pretty names for everything, called inecoral branches the daughters of the sea; but it re mained for a French student named Pysonnel to find out that coral was not a plant at all, but the work of countless living creatures the polyps. They are found in many places, but the best-known reefs are those of the Mediterranean Sea, says the Washing ton Star. Divers go down and fetch up the coral for trade. At Leghorn, in Italy, there are great factories and workshops, where the coral is. cut and polished, and afterwards made into toys and ornaments. What gives the coral its red color? The polyps conceal the red coloring matter w-hich, mixed with the chalk of the cells, gives the brilliant color. The reddest are known as blood-foam coral. CHIN-CHINNING. Great-grandfather Hlnkley, called by Johnny G. G. for short, to distin guish him from Johnny's father and grandfather, never tired of telling the little boy about the chin-chin dinner he had given hiui in China. "The beginning of it began early in the morning," he told him one day, "when the big man. Paunkiqua, came to see me, bringing written invitations for me and my friends which were carried by his servants to different houses with chin-chin compliments. In a few moments he and I called upon these friends of mine, to say we de pended upon their coming, and then wre were all rowed across the river to Paunklqua's home, where we walked about' his garden, the ladies of his family peepiug at us from behind screened doors." "Isn't there a boy in the. story?' asked Johnny. "Why, you can't have a story with out a boy," assured G. G.. "and this time his name was Ned. Well, he-got in behind the screen, for he was such a pretty boy the ladles wanted to see him, and, when he came back. Paun kiqua asked him: "Hab you seen my wives, my five piece daughters? Hab they make chin-chin and shake hands long you?" "I saw three old . ladies, and five daughters, and the old ladies shook hands," said Ned. Then how Paun kiqua laughed. "Ayah, MIsser Ned. dat old mudder lady, my. old wife, she more as forty year, and my live piece daughter, they my young wives. Ha, ha" But he could not finish his sen tence because he laughed so much, and because dinner was ready. "Well," continued G. G., "ve first chin-chinned with our glasses. Then we had soups and queer stewed messes in different sized bowls. But, when we tried to bait our soup, Chinese fashion, the spoons got caught in the loose sleeres of our jackets, and Mr. Paun kiqua had to let us take them off and give us English plates and spoons, so Ave could eat comfortably. For three hours we had twenty separate courses birds'-nests soups, cocks' combs, veg etables, pickles, but not a joint of solid meat nor even a whole bird. Between each course the table was cleared, and fresh flowers, pastry, cakes, fruits and sweetmeats brought in. We talked about our voyages, and Paunkiqua, who did not under stand about a compass, asked, "How can .we keep ship true and no see land?' So we told him. Then we did some more chin-chinning, and went home; and pretty soon the Chinaman and his friends came to see us and we danced a cotillon, a Scotch reel, and a fisher's hornpipe for them. Don't you think that was enough for one day?" "G. G.." asked Johnny, "what is chin-chinning?" "Why, it is' being extra polite, mak ing a great many bows, ;and saying how much you like people." "Now. tell us about the queen," ex claimed Johnny's lister Lucy. "I like that story best." "Oh, that was on my way Lome," answered G. G., "svhen our vessel stopped at Trieste in Austria, and Queen Murat, the sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, sent me an invitation to go to the opera in her palace. So I went early, and was thown into the garden; and the queen said she was glad to see me, because she had two sons and a brother in America. After the . opera we hud a supper, and the queen gave me some bonbons and candy, and asked me to dance with her. though she said she was a grandma. So I told her I was a grandpa. Then we stood up for the waltz, and every body made way for us because she was a queen. But I did not know much about waltzing, and then I am left- handed besides, so what did I do but J just turn her majesty round the wrong way. Still we kept on somehow, and went twice round the room, the people thinking I was a very queer American. Only the queen was very nice, so I did not mind, and told her I hoped, if she came to this country, she would come in a French packet, for that was the best kind of boat in those days. But she answered so sadly that she was not allowed to go into France, that I wished I had not been so stupid as to forget that, of course, she could not go there, for the Bourbon family had turned out the Bonaparte family." "But you danced with a real queen. I wish I could dance with the Presi dent!" sighed Lucy. "I guess you will some day," re plied G. G. And then she jumped down from his knee, where she had been sitting, and waltzed out of the room. Kate Gannett Wells, in Chris tian Register. TRICKS WITH COINS. On the edge of one face of a coin make a very small notch, so that a little point of metar projects. The notch must be very minute, bo as to be imperceptible to the eye. Now spin the coin, and if, as it be gins to settle down, the notched face is downward, it will fall rather sud denly, instead of gradually, as it will if the other face is downward. Thee will be, therefore, a difference in the sound made by the coin as it spins and fall;-, and a little practice will en able you to tell which side is down ward by that sound. . The suece. of all tricks, you know, depends on their secrecy, and it must not be known, therefore, that you have notched the coin. When you have learned to recognize the difference in sound in the fall of the coin, you are ready for your trick, which is to tell blindfolded which face is upward when the coin has been spun. Of course, you must remember which face has been notched; if the head, then, if the coin fall suddenly ,' the tall is upward. To rub one coin into two is another trick that may be easily performed. With a little wax attach a penny to the under part of. a table, near the edge; of course no one should see you do .this. Then ask some one to lend you a penny, and having laid it near the edge of the table, rub it swiftly along the edge with the ball of your thumb. This will bring your fingers underneath the table, and at any time you wish you can take the penny from under the table, and add it to the other one. Another neat little trick is done with the help of a goblet of water, nil the goblet to the brim, and ask the company to guess how many coins yon can drop Into the water without mak ing it run over the edge of- the goblet Not one of them, perhaps, will guess enougli.t and you will be surprised, yourself, at the number, if you drop them in very carefully, in a vertical position. Still another pretty trick is to make a coin appear under either of two cards, according to the desire of your audience. Prepare beforehand two coins, each slightly waxed on one side. Now ask some one for a similar coin, and without letting anybody see the waxed ones, exchange one of them for the borrowed one, and place it on the table, waxed f ide up. Take two cards at random from a pack and hold them in your hand with the other waxed coin so that it will stick to the under card. Now lay that card carefully on the table near the other colu. Place the second card over the first waxed coin so that every one sees you press it down slightly, and you will have a waxed coin stick ing to the under surface of each card. You can now make the coin appear under either card that your audience names by bending the card slightly upward in lifting it, for then the coin PERFOBMINO GOBtlT TRICK. will not stick. Otherwise it will, and your audience will think it is one coin that you make pass from under oh card to the other, at your pleasure. New. York Events Mail. SATISFACTION. To get just; what we ask for May sometimes make us sore, And we may kick ourselves because We didn't ask for more- DUPLICATES. She "Did your sister get any dupli cate wedding presents?" He "Yes; she married a -widower with two boys." Chicago Journal. WOMAN'S WAY. "Why don't Grace marry George?" "She thinks he's hardly good enough for her." "Then why not let him go?" "Well, she thinks he's a little to good for any other girl." A MINOR DETAIL. "Yes, it was a delightful wedding. All the Astorbilts and Vanderfellers and ltockergoulds were there." "And who were the contracting par ties?" "Really, do you know, I quite forgot to inquire." . " KNEW WOMAN NATURE.: ' "Jim," said the department store manager, "you know that lot of open work ladies' stockings leftover from last summer?" "Yes, sir." "Mark 'em up fifty per cent' and; la bel 'em 'Common Sense Winter. Ho siery ' "'".'' . V v' THE JOY OF SADNKCS. ,;- ' ' "A woman's tears are sure to find sympathy said the kind-hearted man. J ' ' :.' i . "Yes." answered the cold-blooded one. "And yet when you see a jwdmau crying you can't be sure whethere has trouble or has been cnjoyig bet self . at a matinee." Washington Star. ' ' '; r' ; ' ' IN 2005. . ' When approached bythe 200th ques tioner, the new arrival in " Hades showed his irritation. . " "Don't ask me again," cried he', "if they've finished that Panama 'eahah "I won't was the prompt ' reply. "All I wish to know is this: HaWihey. tarred it vet?" ' ' V " "But why do you permit your daugh ter, to sue me for breach of promise when you were so bitterly epposed to our engagement because I wasn't good enough, for her and would disgrace your family?" . "Ah, that was sentiment. This is business." Ally Sloper. : "' NOT ON THE INSIDE. "So Jimmy's isi't dat life" insurance company, hey?" "Yes; when de reform movement started in dey chopped his salary (rout five a week to one-fifty "An' he wouldn't stand fer it? "In course not. He said be dldn.'t git Bone of de loot." . - - ' AGGRAVATING FELLOW, "How it is possible for you to find fault with him?" "Why not?" "Why. he appears to be a man who is absolutely without fardts of: any' Borl." "Huh! that's his greatest fanlt." Philadelphia Press. FIRST PLACE HANDY. "Why are you ringing that bell?" tsked the neighbor of the pedler. "I want to sell the gentleman a patent trousers hanger," replied the man with the satchel. "No use. His wife is away and hv hangs his trousers on the gws jet or the first place handy.' Chicago News. THUS WAGS THE WORLD. There goes an example of a man getting down and out through, no fault of his own." "What's the sad tale?" "He was a bank cashier. His fool friends got to calling him 'Honest John The name stuck, and after that, nobody would give him a Job' FhUa THE DIFFERENCE. i J