NEWPORT. - - ARKANSAS.
THE LION CAGED.
Four hours, with furtive, forceful tread,
He paces slow, In sad disdain,
His limbs by formless longings led
That thrill their giant thews like pain.
Or. flinging full his shaggy length,
Fronting the bnrs, inert he lies;
The frenzies of his captive strength
Flame up, and darken, in his eyes.
What moves within his soul, who dwelt
Between the naked earth and sky?
Who with his strenuous pulses felt
The swinging sphere in harmony?
What anguish of his helpless state
Stills his vast hulk to sullen rest?
Till some blind impulse—flemtvriSTc—
Strikes like a sting thjfrfigh brain and
breast!
Bqme arrowy gleatsf of tropic suns,
Tfrat quickenedjJnce liis splendid might,
Threurgh all idsjfroubled being runs.
rJu/d flood's "46^vellow eyes with light.
The cold, sweet breath of forest streams,
Wind-blown between the vengeful bars;
The lusts of spring; the savage dreams;
The ranging hunt beneath the stars.
Btrange living memories, dumbly voiced,
They rend him as he lies forlorn—
The strong brute spirit, that rejoiced
in unveiled glories of the morn!
Bo with his leap the prison shakes:
And ns his mighty head he rears,
From his wild bosom hoarsely breaks
The passion of his wasted years.
Then, slowly, as the vision dies,
The narrow walls, with conquering stress,
Constrain him—and once more he lies,
Dull, helpless, stricken, passionless!
Yet who may flout him? Still he shows
A shape of power, as he were free;
And fear still guards him as he goes,
And crowns his ruined majesty.
•-Marion Couthouy Smith, in Youth's Com
panion. __
' FOR MARIGOLD.
r Iiv Fit A Mv H. SWEET.
' “Yissir, I's goin’ to git merried.
Idarigold an me hev been sot on hit
ten year. Most fo ks in Breshtown
would ’a’ been satisfied with jest a
shack to start with; but I nllers
'lowed that when we merried, Mari
gold would live like a lady an me
like a lord. That’s what roused me
to go west. Now we’s buy the
Hunter place an’ build a new house
with four rooms—four rooms,” low
ering his voice a little and looking
about the car. “Our fo ks never had
but two, an’ my brother Poke mer
ried an’ went to a shack that had
only one. The oh Hunter house hit
se’f ain’t but three, an’ hit’s fallin
down to one end with age. We’s have
four”—he dwelt on the four with a
contemplative ecstasy—“an 1 lot on
- giUijF a eow^Brft- some pigrwiv hens—
an’, yes, a'lvcrridge, a mule an’ ker
ridge.”
“But that will only take a very
*mall part of your money,” suggested
a drummer. “What w ill you do with
.the rest?”
“Put hit aside,” answered the man,
promptly. “None o’ my fambly
ever had any money put aside.”
| “You must have a pile.” remarked
8 portly man, glancing a little envi
ously at the bulky packages of his
neighbor, and at the same time com
|>aring his own comfortable need of
1 •!?... f ...M.
UlOUt'j ttllu i v/iuuuii ui Ji
this backwoodsman’s primitivoness.
“A pile? Yissir; that’s what .1
keep a savin' over to mysc'f. 1 reck
on tbar’ll be enough for all on us.
None o’ my fambly 'll ever need any
in o’.”
Presently the conductor came
“through and stopped beside, two
- - men who sat behind the returning
miner.
“I believe your tickets ran out at
the last station?” he said, inquiring
ly
“Yes, but we’ve changed our
minds,” one of them answered, eas
ily. “I’ve been talking over old
times with my friend here, and we’ve
decided to go back to our home in
Georgia for a visit. We’ll pay the
difference.”
“H’m,” said the conductor, cold
ly. “Where to?”
“Breshtown, Georgia.”
' The miner whirled round with his
mouth open and his eyes bulging
with eagerness. As the conductor
moved away he blurted out:
“Doggone hit, stranger, that’s my
__ place. Who mout ye be?”
“Smith and Robinson. My
name’s Bill.”
The miner’s face beamed with
pleased recognition.
“Why, I know heaps o’ Smiths an’
Robinsons,,” he cried, reaching out
and shaking hands with first one and
then the other. “I reckon you-all
are some o’ the fambly who went
west when they’s boys. Thar was
Tom, an’ Seth, an’ Ike, an’—”
“My friend here is named Ike,”
blandly.
“Ye don’t say,” cried the miner de
lightedly. “Then me’n him was ol’
friends when we s boys. He’s
changed, though,” looking the man
over curiously; “but then folks do
when they grow up. Wall, wall! I’a
jplurnb glad!”
There was no more reserve; and at
length the men brought out
cards and asked him to take a hand,
and when he drew back offered to
teach him the game. At this ho
laughed uproariously and declared
that he had “knowed” how to play
“high low Jack” before he was old
enough to wear breeches; only, and
here he looked defiantly embarrassed
as he made the confession, he had
promised Marigold when he went out
to the wicked west that he would
never play cards or drink whisky,
and he wa'n't goin' to. They coaxed
him and laughed at him and dared
him^ and though he looked embar
wfsscd and stammered and apolo
gized, he held firmly to his promise,
lie wa’n’t goin’ to do anything like
that while he was on his way home
to be merried, he declared, stoutly.
And so it went on, and the train
rushed on into another night and
another day, and into another night
and another day, and still they be
sieged and stormed the fort they
found impregnable. And then at
last one afternoon, as the shadows
began to gather in the car, the train
slowed up at a small, unpainted
building which a brakeman intro
duced to the passengers as “Brush
town.” ’
They helped him off with his bag
gage and then piloted him to a car
riage which they had telegraphed
ahead to have in readiness. He lived
six miles from the station, he had
told them, and had frankly added
1 o f flm wav 1 nr] ■ilimncrlv Wild A. 11(1
almost uninhabited forest. At this
their eyes had brightened hopefully
and they assured him that it would be
unnecessary for him to order a car
nage; theirs would be large enough
for all three, including his baggage,
uul they were going directly his way
to their old home. A negro boy was
m the seat holding the reins, and
him they ordered down; they would
drive themselves, they said.
The miner was hilariously exuber
ant. He laughed and sang and
cracked jokes that he remembered to
have been time-honored in the old
neighborhood; and they sang and
laughed with him, until they came to
a lonely place in the woods, and then
the carriage was turned quietly into
the bushes and he felt the cold muz
zles of two revolvers pressing against
lis temples.
“Now, turn over your money,” one
of the men ordered, calmly, “and be
quick about it!”
“Ain’t you my ol’ frien’, Ike?"
There was dazed wonder in the voice.
“Not much. Out west we’ve got
names that would make you shake
in your boots to hear. But that don't
matter. What we’ve come all this
way for is your money. Now pass it
over quick and no fuss.”
“1 won’t,” obstinately. “I got hit
to buy the Hunter place an’ to git
merricd with.”
“Oh, well, just as you like," said
the man, indifferently. “We’ll kill
you and then take the money. It’«
all the same to us. You can’t help
_1# '»
a *
The miner turned white and
glanced appealingly from one to the
other. They were calm, smiling,
but implacable. Slowlyheunbueklcd
the belt from his waist and passed it
to one of them. The man showed
his teeth a little, but nevertheless
opened it and counted the small wad
of bills and gold pieces which it con
tained.
"Six hundred and seventy-five dol
lars,” he said. Then he rolled the
belt and money into a ball and con
temptuously threw it into the hush
es. "Now we'll get right down to
business,” he went on, the words be
ginning to hiss as they came through
his closed teeth. “Give us your
money.”
"1 hev,” wailed the miner, almost
hysterically, "‘every blamed cent.”
"Once more, give us your money,”
the man hissed. "It is the last time
we ask. Killing comes next. Open
up your bundles."
“But there ain't no money in ’em."
eagerly. “See,” and he hurriedly cut
the cords from one of the packages
and displayed an assortment of
bright colored dress goods and rib
bons and laces. “I bought ’em for
Marigold. An’ this,” cutting the
cords from another bundle, “is full
o’ bead stuff an’ Injun lixin’s. I
’lowed Marigold would like ’em. An’
these other bundles”’ cutting the
strings from one after another as fast
as possible, "is full o’ pretty rooks
an’ shells an’ things.’ Long’s 1 had all
the money I wanted, I ’lowed Mari
gold would like ’em better ’n she
would mo’ gold.”
“And do you mean to say,” speak
ing the words slowly and menacing
ly, “that you brought all this stuff
from Alaska when you might have
brought gold/”
“Of co'se,” wondcringly. “I
didn’t need any mo’ gold. The
Hunter place can be had for two
hundred, an’ a fo’-room house raised
for two hundred mo’, an’ a mulean’
kerridge an’ cow, an’ all the res’,
bought for a hundred an’ fifty.
That’ll leave a hundred an’ fifty to
put aside. Plenty enough, land
knows. More’n any o’ my fambly
ever had afore.”
The rumble of a wagon could be
heard coming through the woods,
and a vindictive gleam came into the
men’s eyes. For a moment they
glared at him as though debating the
question of a quick and signal re
venge; then the rumble grew louder,
and they suddenly sprang to the
ground and disappeared in the
woods. When a wagon came noisily
around a bend in the road, the miner
was just emerging from the bushes
with his belt and money. The mon
ey he slipped into his pocket, the
belt he buckled around his waist.
“Howdy, Peke,” he called, cheer
ily, as the driver of the wagon ap
proached near enough for recogni
tion. “How air ye? How’s the fo’ks?”
“Hey! that you?” came in mild
surprise from the wagon. “When’d ye
come? Oh, l’s toler’ble, an’ the
fo’kses all well.”
“An’ Marigold?”
Peke grinned.
“Marigold’s well, tew. Ast ’bout
ye t’other day.”
The miner sprang into his carriage
and cracked his whip. “See ye ag’in,
Peke. Hain’t no time to fool now.
G'lang, thar, you ol’plug! G’lang!
g'lang!”
The two vehicles moved apart; the
foliage closed in between them, and
soon nothing could be heard but the
decreasing rumble of a wagon in one
direction, and the impatient, soften
ing cracks of a whip in the other.—
Farm and Gome.
WOMEN AS AUTHORS.
Feminine Traits Can Be Detected in
Literature.
The correspondence in our col
umns regarding women as authors
discloses a definite objection to dis
tinguishing them as such from men,
says the London Mail. It is argued
that since both men and women
write they should be judged as au
thors simply, without reference to
their sex. in the same way it is known
that strenuous opposition has been
raised on behalf of women to the em
ployment of the word “poetess.”
“We know what a poet is,” say the
complainants, “but what is a poet
ess?” Well, a poetess is certainly
not a pretty word, but its use is quite
defensible.
Nevertheless, it is quite certain
that women have from time to time
assumed men’s names in order to es
cape the condemnation or prejudice
which they imagined would attach
to their fran' declaration of sex.
Conspicuous examples are, of
course, George Eliot, George Sand,
the Brontes and in more modern days
sundry other Georges. Why is
George the favorite feminine alias?
At comA I imn tVir»<2n irrilnre
need not have been so foolish as to
imagine that the assumption of a
male pseudonym would conceal their
sex. As well might the ostrich con
ceive that he is disguised by burying
his head in the sand. The faet re
mains (and is beyond the region of
dispute) that feminine traits are un
mistakable and cannot be denied.
With all its strong barbaric quali
ties. who would take “Wuthering
Heights” for the work of a man? It
is on another footing, or a plan*1
wholly distinct, for “woman is not un
developed man. but diverse,” and
nothing can hide the faet.
One imagines, however, that few
women are really anxious to do so.
Even if it were true that no woman
had written a great novel, or painted
a great picture, or created anything
really great (which is a hard saying),
it is certainly true that women ac
complish certain forms of work
which men cannot adventure. The
impress of sex must abide on artis
tic work, particularly literary work.
And, after all, why not? And who
assumes feminine work asnecessarily
inferior?
Gypsies in Hungary.
Recently a band of traveling gyp
sies gave a performance in the town
of Prank, near Arad, Hungary. The
performance, in which trick monkeys
and trained bears took part, was
largely attended by children. After
the performance a lawyer named
Pick missed his eight-year-old son
and six-year-old daughter. Emerich
Xazy lost two sons, a government of
ficial named Hoffmann missed two
daughters and a sou. The distracted
parents have been looking for their
children in vain and no truce of th«
gypsies can be found.
Lesson in flnierkan Historu in Puzzle
RE-EMBARKING AFTER THE BATTLE OF BELMONT.
Find Gen Grant.
What was Gen. Grant’s first active field service in the civil war was at
the battle of Belmont. lie was then serving under Gen. McClernand, who
on November 7, 1S61, landed a force of about 3,000 men just above Bel
mont, which place was held by the confederate, Gen. Polk, as an observa
tion camp. The attack on Belmont was commanded by Grant, who cap
tured the place, but finding it untenable burned the CUnp and retreated
to the river. During this retreat a desperate struggle ejSlfid, the con
federates being heavily reenforced by troops sent across the
Columbus. A heavy fire from the federal gunboats helped to cover the
retreat, and the union forces were reembarked and escaped after a loss of
500 men. The confederate loss in the same battle is given at 600 men.
__i.___
BREVITIES OF FUN,
The Exception.—Attorney—“Ig
norance of the law excuses no one. ’
Client—“Except, of course, a law
yer.”—Town and Country.
A Cut.—Playwright—“What do
you think of my new drama? ’ Man
ager—“It has some merit.” Play
wright (eagerly) — “Yes — yes. ’
Manager—“It's shortness.” — De
troit Free Press.
Wisdom of Age.—Bess (sweet 16)
—“Did you notice what a knightly
air Mr. Dashing has?” Aunt May (of
more age)—“Yes—sort of an up-all
nightly air, as it were.”—Chicago
Daily News.
Lingering Sweetness.—“If there
is anything I enjoy,” said the detec
tive, “it is a deep and impenetrable
mystery.” “Y'es,” said the some
what sarcastic person; “but don t
you think it is rather selfish to pro
long the mystery indefinitely?’—
Washington Star.
Altogether Too Inquisitive.—
Burgess—“What a humbug Dolver
is! When I asked him if he had read
my article about ‘The Epochal Era
he said he had and that it was the
finest thing he had seen for years, but
when 1 came to question him I found
he didn’t know the first thing about
the article. What do you think of
that?” Yerrow—“I think it should
be a lesson to you to let well enough
alone next time.”—Boston Tran
script.
Biffler s Face.—“Biffler thinks he
has a Greek face."’ “How does he
reconcile that- with a Homan nose?
“He says it is falsely called Homan.
And he also asserts that some of the
most distinguished Greeks wore ’em
in that way.” “Does Biffler know
any Greeks?” “Yes he knows a
couple who run a curb store, peanut
and candy emporium.” “And do
they have Homan noses?” “I believe
not* But Biffler says they arc degen
erates.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer.
NOT SO PARTICULAR.
Railway Official Takes a Trip Over
His Own Line.
With every evidence of fear the
American railway official clung to
his seat. The Pullman train was
making about a mile a minute and
the road was rough.
“Conductor,” he said, at last, “is
it necessary to run as fast as this?”
“It’s according to your orders, sir,”
answered the conductor.
“My orders?”
“Yes, sir. It's a mighty rough
stretch of road, but the stations are
few and far between, and you have
frequently given us orders to make
up lost time here.”
“I have?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well,” returned the official,
thoughtfully, “on the occasions when
1 have given you those orders I was
seated in a comfortable chair in my
office, communicating with you by
wire, while now 1 am on the train.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And it makes a difference, con
ductor—a great difference. To-day
I’m not so particular about getting
this train in on time. I am a good
deal more interested in making sure
that our destination is not the pearly
gates.”—‘London Tit-Bite;
>
ARE THE STARS NUMBERLESS ?
No—They Are But a Finite Cluster
in Infinite Space.
It has often been suggested that
the stars are infinite in number and
that the stellar universe is therefore
infinite in extent, says the New York
Independent. As the telescope in
creased in efficiency it was found
that every increase of power greatly
increased the number of visible stars,
and this increase went on with ap
proximate equality of rate till the
largest modern telescopes were near
ly reached. But latterly increased
size and power has revealed new stars
in a smaller and smaller proportion,
indicating that we are approaching
the outer limit of the starry system.
This conclusion is further enforced
by the fact that the numerous dark
patches in the heavens where hardly
any stars are visible, a nd those
seen projected on intensely dark
background, as in the “coal sacks”
of the southern hemisphere and rifts
and channels in the Milky Way itself,
continue to present the same fea
tures in telescopes of the very high
est powers as they do in those of very
moderate size. This could not pos
sibly happen if the stars were in
finite in numbers, or even if they ex
tended in similar profusion intc
spaces very much greater than those
to which our telescopes can reach,
because in that case these dark back
grounds could be illuminated by the
light of millions of stars so distant a?
to be separately invisible, as in the
case of the Milkv Wav itself.
The only other explanation would
be that the star system is penetrated
in several directions by perfectly
straight tunnels of enormous lengtl
compared yvith their diameter in
which no stars exist, and this is con
sidered to be so improbable as to be
unworthy of consideration.
But perhaps the most striking
proof of the limited extent of the uni
verse of luminous stars is that de
pendent on the layvs of light. Thb
has been long known to astronomers,
and it has been very clearly and
briefly stated by Prof. Simon New
comb, one of the profoundeet of
mathematical astronomers, lie tells
us to imagine a series of concentric
spheres, each the same distance aparl
from the first, yvhich includes onl)
the stars visible to the naked eye
The space between each pair of these
spheres yvill be in extent proportion
al to the squares of the diameter ol
the sphere that limits it; and as flu
light we receive from each star is in
verscly proportional to its distance
from us, it folloyvs that if each regior
yvere equally streyvn yvith stars of the
same average brightness then wt
should receive the same amount ol
light from each region, the diminu
tion of light from each star being ox
actlv compensated by the vastly
greater numbers in each successively
larger sphere. Hence it follows that
if these concentric spheres yvere in
finite yve should receive an infinite
amount of light from them, and ever
if yve make an ample alloyvunce foi
stoppage of light by intent ningdark
bodies, or by cosmic dust, or by im
perfect transparency of the othei
we should at least receive quite a,
much light from them as the sun
gives us at noonday.
A LUCKY DOCTOR.
Got His Pay in Market “Tips” from
Russell Sage.
A former Baltimorean who was a_.
close friend of a Philadelphia physi- U
cian whose specialty was “kidney dis
eases, relates, according to the Bal
timore Sun, the following as the
method by which Russell Sage paid
the doctor a bill:
The physician was on a visit to a
friend in New York. Mr. Sage was
very ill at his home from a diseased
kidney. Hearing that, the Philadel
phia doctor was in Now York, Mr.
Sage requested him to call. The
doctor did so, and within ten days
Mr. Sage was a well man. A check, *
signed by Mr. Sage, with the amount
left blank, was handed to thedoctor,———
who declined it. stating that he could
not break his inviolable rule of con
lining his practice strictly to office,
work. When he visited people who
were too poor or physically unable to
get to his office he never accepted
pay for his services.
During his visits to Mr. Sage’s
home the doctor was accompanied
by his daughter, a winsome miss of "N—
ten years. About a month after the
occurrence the doctor’s little daugh
ter received a telegram from a Wall
street broker which read: “By order
of Mr. Russell Sage I have bought
for your account-shares of
stock.” As soon as the doctor read
the dispatch he hurried to a
Philadephia friend who was a
broker, and ordered him to buy
—— Shares of the -mop,- ■
tioned for his- (the doctor’s) ac
count. The stock fluctuated, and
when it was selling at a price which
would pay a good profit the broker
advised the doctor to sell, but the .
doctor did not take the advice.
Later a dispatch came from the New
York broker to the little girl. It
read: “Have sold for your account
-shares of-stock.” The doc
tor immediately unloaded his hold
ings. These transactions were re
peated several times, and not only
made the doctor a small fortune, but
won for him a reputation as a shrewd
financier. A final telegram came
from New York for the little girl:
“Have closed out your holdings and
mail you a check for - thou
sands.” The doctor unloaded and
dropped out of the stock market as
suddenly as he had entered ii.jH.uch-_
* |
to the mystification of his broker and
friends, who had heard of his suc
cesses, but never knew whether to at
tribute them to a “Henrietta” luck
or to careful study of the stock dealt
in.
A SIBERIAN MAMMOTH.
Discovered in Arctic Regions in Al
most Perfect Preservation.
Occasionally we hear of the body
of a mammoth, being discovered in
arctic region-, the flesh being pre
served by a kind of natural system
of cold storage. Such a discovery,
says Chambers’ Journal, took place
about 18 months back in Siberia,
and news of the find made its way/
to St. Petersburg, with the result
that with great labor the body of
the vast animal, divided into parts,
was taken to the Russian capital,
where it is now set up for exhibi
tion. It is the most perfect speci
men of the extinct mammal which
has yet been found, and it is com
puted to be more limn 8,000 years
old. The legs and feet of the ani
mal are like those of the elephant,
except that the former has five toesfc*—
and the latter only three. Unliked
the elephant, the body of the mam
moth is covered with a thick coat of
brownish-yellow hair, which must
have kept the animal warm under all '
conditions. The skin was found to /
be about an inch in thickness, and\
underneath it was a layer of fat. In
spite of great difficulties, the -> anf
ous portion® of the huge carcass
were conveyed, in a frozen state,
over hundreds of miles of country
where roads were nonexistent.
Artificial Pearls.
The artificial production of pearls
in largo quantities is a simple prob
lem, in the view of Dr. 11. Lyster
Jameson. One cause of pearl forma
tion proves to be a worm, which has
its origin in the cockle or “tapestry
shell'’ from which the larvae pass to
the mussel, and may be eaten with'
the latter by the cider or scoter,
reaching maturity in the intestines
of<these birds. If the larvae remain
in the mussel long enough pearls
are formed. With full knowledge of
the life histories of these parasites it
is believed that pearl oysters or pfcarl’ * *
mussels may be infected to any de
sired extent by placing them in in
fected company and the infected mol
luscs con then be left to themselves
in suitable beds until the pearl* W*
sufficiently developed.