The Lake County star., 1877-11-15


To view the scene with dimIning eyes,
think, rs Joy contests with pain, 'F
ONE who walks In Paradise. 80 ~ ~.
xhe Thought dear attraction hath,
The mowers NOW the aftermath.
-S = rF~ftofs HF Boston Advertiser.
- "a ,.e.- 10
THEsDEyIL'S RACE COURSE.
Frsn she Golden Rule.
Nne etwenty-dollar note Is not for
tune and / think nobody will contend
that it constitutes an adequate provi-
SION for agr0wing family. But IL was
literally all had, of money or moneys
worth. in the world, when L undertook
,t6canvass a considerable part of the
Stale OF Mississippi in the interest of u
life insurance company. l need not
? explain how it came about that was
OutsOf employment, and so nearly out
ofmoney, with q family on my hands.
its enough that 1t was SO, and that,
ferthe time being, nothing better than
life-fnsurssnce canvassing was open to
me. l knew myself unfit for the bust.
ness and the business wholly unfit for
me. \ had NO particular gifts AZ u bore
and no special aspirations In that di-
reetion. But the President was con-
yjnced that / could accomplish good
deal for the company, and something
f0r-myself, and the singleness OF my
bank mote impelling me thereto de-
termined to try the experiment. The
President wore rOse-tinted eyeglasses,
and assured me that / should make
what deemed q comfortable little for
tune the first year. / didn't believe
him of course, but l meant to make
enough, If possible, to pay my own and
ffyfamily's expenses
1 bought magnificent horse ION
credit of f.course)-a horse / knew and
trusted, .clean-limbed, active and
strong. Mounting him, / secured the
country in search of people not yet
insured, who were able to insure, and
not yet violently hostile to life insur-
ence and its advocates. / found one
such now and then, and by dint of
preaching the likelihood of death with
,Adegree of earnestness and persever-
sanee, which, properly directed, would
have, made "a grand revivalist of me, l
managed to write eight or ten applica-
.tions within month or two, and
received an encouraging letter from
the President as consequence.
;ss-I was working under general agent
who canvassed good deal on his own
account. On work done by us he
received a omission of five per cent. +,
:. we getting twenty. On policies taken
by himself he got both commissions,
and was not long in discovering that
Major N, my general agent, was
close following me in my work. In
one case had made an arrangement
/, with an elderly man to insure his own,
: his wife's and his two daughters lives
. for q considerable amount, as soon as
he could get some cotton he had to
market. 1 was peremptOrily forbid
den by Major N to give credit in
any case, and was requested to sign q
certificate with each application, stat
ing, upon my honor as gentleman,
that L believed, after due inquiry, that
= the applicant was able and ready to
take and pay for the policy "a 1t should
be issued. prepared the applications
> i'm this case, therefore. with the under
. standing that / should not forward
then until the old gentleman should
inform me of his ability to pay the
premiums.
Naturally was elated with my sue
cess, as these four policies would bring
me a sum larger than all my earnings
!. at the business had been up to that
: time, and meeting Major N, told
: him of my good luck, showing him
the applications. He told me In re-
turn. that he had plan on foot with
which, of course, 1 must feel myself in
!, some sense bound not to interfere.
= There was q portion Of the swamp
z country down on the YazOO, Talla-
hatchee and Yalabusha rivers, in which
nearly all the people were wealthy and
sv,f< I,t nfrxt Inc VOC
agent had ever yet penetrated. This
section of the country, as knew, was
: wholly cut off from the outside world
by impossible swamps, during nine OF
ten months Of the year. In July II
would be practicable to attempt a can.
vass tour there, and / had intended
going at that time, as the people living
there were chiefly old friends of my
Amily. though / had never met any OF
them. Major NJ cOolly warned me
Z of however, with the remark:
= Between gentlemen working to-
gether in the relation we bear to each
other, there must be no rivalry. We
must keep off each others ground, OF
I course.p
- / was depressed at this stroke of ill.
. fortune which cut me off from the
field which / had hoped to work SO
profitably-the more because there was
no other spot, large or small. within
my territory, which had not been can
vassed thoroughly by more than one
agent. There was no remedy, how
ever, and dismissed the matter from
nv mind.
Upon my return home that evening,
received q note from the old gentle
man nwhoseapplication had prepared,
Z telling me that Major NJ had call.
I'd, and agreed not only to forward
applications Immediately, but to de-
liver the policies when they should
come, and to await his convenience In
the matter of paying the premiums
In short, this honorable Major N,
after announcing the high-toned code
Of morals which should govern the
business operations Of gentlemen hold.
ing the relations that we did to each
2 other, had straightway gone to my best
client, and taken his business, with It's
profits, out of my hands by q shabby,
|. dirty trick.
j u Ny first impulse was to cowhide
way of getting even with him. It was
Z now June and 1 determined at ali
khazards to visit the swamp before he
. could. was free to do SO. of course
4fter learning what he had done, and
4 trusted my horses stamina and my
own hardihood for the accomplish
3inent Of my purpose.
sfi Setting of the next morning / rode
. toward Green wood, q little village or
the Yaz0o, at the entrance of tn,
. .gewamp. From my own home to tn,
centre Of the swamp, the distance wai
mot krcater than TWENTY-FIVE miles In
A.direct line, but knew that the road,
IN. that direction ended speedily In q
vast tract Of water, and the only posi-
ble route by which hoped to get t.
my destination lay through Green
wood, sixty miles away.
etwcdays y. on horseback brought me tt