Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-12-01

Il There is no unbelef.
j Whoever sees meath winters Held Of snow
I The silent harvest OF the future grow,
I GODS power must Know
4 There is no unbelieT,
Whoever liea down on his conch TO sleep
| Consents to lock each sense in slnmher dt ep
Knows God VIII Keep.
There Ii no unbeisf,
Whoever says "to-morrow, the unknown
The future, trusts that power alone
i lIedares not TO disown.
/ pew Err OF 0FSUPERSTETE0s.
! CALIFORNIA SKETCH.
I was fond OF the seience Of physi.
ognomy. From my youth mp, wai
noted for my procliyity for reading
/ the character of man from his face
land | finally became such an adept ii
the art that could occ asionsliy gues,
rho very thoughts OF the ipdiVidna
whose counter snee | vas aLrdNing
c-vsri-- yrTvr TIT g0fu Irvef broke GU
Il / cane to GaliiorDia; and here mus
Gonieaa. anong what else there ives Ia
! interest me. I had grand epportn-
1 nifty for exercising my sltill Upon alt
sorts of faces, aeen under all sorts ol
1 circumstance, from The higbcst tri.
umph of success to the deepess despair
OF tailuro. first tried my luck at
digging gold by myself, but soon tired
iof that, and believing ! could get
money faster and with leas labor,
opened a kind of grocery and provis-
| ion store, and went regnlarly into the
business of trade. buying moet of my
articles at Sacramento, getting them
|. hauled 10 ms quarters, and aisposing
/ of them st fair advance to tho
minera and others.
/ My store. rs dignIted my place of
trade, consisted of rude skeleton of
poles, with sufiiciency Of cheap
muslin drawn over them and pinned
down TO the earth, and was. stocked
only with the meat sslRble articles, of
which nonr, pork and whisky found
the most ready market, especially
whisky. In the dry season it wss
very dusty, and every body seemed to
DO dry with q thirst which mere water
could not queach. II a man man was
successful hG wanted whisky to bring
his body mp 10 the altitude Of his apir.
it's; IL unsuccessful, he wanted whisky
to bring his spirits mp to the altitude
of his body If II ehanced to he little
cool, he wantcd whisky TO warm him /;
| II il wss hot, he wanted whisky 10
cool him; he needed whisky In the
morning 10 make him bright and act.
ive he needed whisky at night to rec,
him, and make him sleep well be
wanted 1t when he bought and
when hc so!d when ho won and
when he lost; when he stood up
and WHEN be sat down: in short,
whisky was the great regulator Of all
human feeIiHgs--the genuine elirer
vitae consequently I did an i'm
meuse business in whisky.
Now this, though somewhat irFale-
want, brings me to my story.
Ny store being tho headquarters OF
that locality for whisky and provis-
ions. was brought in contact with
nearly every specimen OF the genus
homo that ventured in that region; ;
aud such another conglomerstion OF
white, black and rcd-sueh another
mixture OF gentlemen. laborers, noun
taineeFs, gamblers, thieves and ssaaa-
sins--.it would be hard TO find outside
the limils of California. or eourse
bad chance 10 study all sorts OF faces
to my hearts cnntcnt, bnt having, az
have said, become an adept in the art.
an ordinary cOuntenanre, or Elan
governed by ordinary passions,
whether gentle or hrudsh, did not In
roresl ne, | wanted 10 get hold of
what is termed charctcr, or one
I whose external wonld give no in
dication Of his internal 20 any but a
connoisseur or one that wouid really
puzzle yon 10 know what to think of
him.
Among the many, such at length
found. At first did not notice him =
diti not think of him. AT o casual
glance there was nothing to tli5,ing-
nish him from the herd. lie came in
quietly, unDhstrusiveiy, purchased a
quantity of flour, pork aud ten, paid
for the same ia gold dust, and went
ont about his business, lie repeated
his visits At different intervals, per-
haps some halt dozen different
times, before he attracted mg atten-
pesrance, and then should have been
at a loss TO Hay what ! saw more In him
ct least than at first.
Tic was apparently about twentN
iive years ei age, Of medium height,
aud slender figure, of a dark complex
ion, regular features, with dark,
straight hair, dark eyes, and beard
that covered the lower part OF his
tace--iu all of which there was
nothing remarkable 4 striking
He was quiet not talkativc; had
nothing TO say except about tho husi
nesa he came on, got what he wanted
when was disengaged, psid Tor what
. he got like a gentleman, and generally
retired with an ordinary qGood-day,'
or some similar civi!i;y. Aud yet, ae
have said, be began 10 attract my at
tcntion at last, aud began 10 wonder
why. Was IL hecapec he was so
onlet, reserved and gentlcmanly, and
did not purchase whisky like the rest
and occasionally GOT excited and bois
4 terous? At all events, he had begun
10 interest me In some way and the
very fac:, perhaps, that conld not
/ roll how or why, led me into closer
scrutiny, docp stndy ofthe man
After this prolonged his visits as
much as could without causing him
10 suspect did so Intentionally The
things he wanted | generally
had some trnuble In getting, and
filled mp the interval by re-
( marks abont the weather, the
country, the mines, the succesR ofeome
aud the failure of others--in n word,
any thing eonld think of to iudnce
conversation, watching him furtively
all the while. He answered easily and
readily, and yet with thst peculiar
bind OF reserve that was not sugges.
tive OF tending towards familiarity
His replies, however, evinced a man
OF mind and education, and / began
perhaps practical and selfish drea'
that taff Best cehFcsssaas ~ s term
I One day, scarcely knew how,
touched upon the general supers,itionE
Of mankind. and, to my surprise,
saw that he WAS Interested. His cyt
changed expression, and frightened
and emitted strange and peculiar
gicam and my attention being thu.
directed to bis eye. now hethonaht
me that had never seen Que exactly
like IT. one capable of being so sppar
entity open down to the aoul while
concoaling 40 much. II was OF III
guard now the door was really open
to the soul Of the man and looked
In at the door of that opening, ant
saW that The SoBl OF that man rms q
Edqrk one, A nameless fear came ovel
smc, like an electric shock; | felt ar
, electric shudder of dread. No wonder
I had not boen able 10 read him be
fore; the man had been wearing ri
i,npenetrsble mask.
had the key of tho mystery, and Il
him, and used it. lie was interest
ed in euperstitions he WAS supers,i
tious himself. Why? tsood mcr
may be superstitions bad mon al
ways are. because they carry a hell o
J wild fancies with them. Thus il wa,
with this man, ss could see his eye
and made his fancy work npon him
told him stories OF sorcory, witch
4 craft and magic, OF ghosts, hobgoblin
and devils till he became pale will
fear, broaihcd with compressed lips