davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
anne way, and ~. B." had his hands

same way, and 81. g." had his hands
full.
The neighbors came rushing in. The
whole community was excited. The
two women, mother and daughter, were
in raptures over the prodigal's return.
They had the best room in the house fit
ted up for him, and gave him of their
best.
But the neighbors, who remembered
their son, insisted that this man was not
Joe.
Don't you know you're not Joe
Brazil?" they Indignantly asked of him.
"What am l to do" he pleaded, eff
they insist that I am; and won't hear to
the contrary, whatsomedever?"
And so it went on, day after day, till
his vessel was ready for sea, when an
other scene took place. They chung
round him, and entreated him to stay.
They begged and prayed him not to
leave them again. But he had to go,
and was never heard of more.
Just one month after this, when the
mother and daughter were beginning to
recover from their disappointment, a
short, stout, g%ood-looking man, in navy
uniform, walked into their kitchen.
"Mother!!" cried the man, in q chok-
ing voice, finging his arms around the
old lady.
"Joe! my own, true Joe" she ex-
claimed.
Joe it was indeed; and how they could
have been so deceived by the other man
was a constant wonder.-Iouh'S Com
p0niOn.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
the pen of a Dante! Oh, for the de-
acr;nf;ve nowors of a RvrOn!

Jno pen VI u Dhutt: Ous AoA WIG N0
scriptive powers of a Byron!
Suddenly a shadow came across the
room, and the pretty girls disappeared
one by one. Even those upon the dias
withdrew. The Chinaman reappeared
and informed the writer that a terrible
storm was approaching, and that they
must return at ono Even as he spoke,
the distant mutterings could be heard,
and then the lightning flashes darted
across the room. 1t was q terrible storm.
The attendant tore the costly lace from
the writer's body, and at his command
a hundred or more hideous looking
creatures gathered around and aided
him in tormenting the writer. They
took off the top of his head with ham,
mers and chisels, and picked his brain
out piece by piece, grinning hideously
the while. Then they began to tear the
flesh from the bones, and one more
vicious than the rest grasped his
tongue and kept pulling it out inch by
inch, foot by foot, until he could feel
the very soles of his boots give way and
start on their upward journey through
his marrow. They then placed his head
between two large revolving stone CYL
inders, and he heard the skull being
crushed, as he was drawn into and be-
tween the grinding wheels that appeared
to be turning at the rate of n ~revolu-
ton in a million years. Each inch of
diaphragm was subjected to years and
years of this crushing process, and the
prayers to be put to instant death
brought forth maniacal laughter and
jeers from the %torturers. If the first
scene was paradise the second was
worse than Hades. Not for 1000
i worlds would the writer pass through
the horrors of that torture again. Then
came a noise like the bursting of an hun
dred thousand bombs.
sLook there!" said one of the mon
sters, pointing to a corner of the room.
The writer slowly opened his eyes,
looked in the direction pointed out, and
saw-the man with the cross country
grin and the banjo head features, sit
ting by the fire, sewing a button on his
trousers.
It was not until after the expiration
of nearly half an hour that the writer
could find tongue to speak, and then
the words came thick and husky.
Upon asking how long he had been
there, the man pointed to the clock. 1t
was twenty minutes past ten. When he
began smoking it was a few minutes
past eight. Rolling from the shelf, the
floor appeared to shelve upward, and
he became impressed with the idea that
he was in dan ger of being cut in twain
by the sharp corners of the room, which
whirled about him with a dizzying
speed. 1t was some minutes before he
trusted himself on his feet, and then his
head panied, and the very blood in his
veins seemed boiling. Bidding the pro-
prietor of the place good night, he left
the den, determined never again to par
ticipate in the luxuries of the BOWL
Cor. Detroit Free Press.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
Smoking Opium.

The boss-"Smokee, John?" (John
Is the Christian name of all pale faces.
SO far as the Chinaman is concerned
The writer-''Yes, if you'll give me a
moderate Dose"
The boss-"Evel smokee sometime al
ready?"
The writer-..Once. A long time
ago."
The boss-'.Allee lightee. Fixee
you"
The writer-.'Don't put more than a
pound and a half in"
The boss with a grin that looked as
If the side of the house was coming in)
-..Me fixee all lightee. Gettee up" =
The writer took possession of a pri-
vate stateroom, while the bias-eyed son
of the sun manipulated the gummy
mass and filled the pipe.
"Now, smokee," said he; 'blow
Though nosee."
The writer inhaled several-more or
~less-pufs, and then began to expert
ence a heavy, depressing sensation
across the chest.
1T this commencement the ears were
thrilled by softly weird strains of such
music as no mortal ever heard before,
and at the same time the writer was led
to a large gilded or golden platform,
which lowered aloft in the upper portion
OF the room, and was reached by stairs
that dazzled the eye at first, but after
ward soothed it and seemed to entrance
the visitor. Ascending, the summit was
reached, and, looking down to the floor
he had just left, a sight presented itself
which the writer must acknowledge
himself unable to portray. twas a hun
dred thousand fairy lands combined in
one vast picture of loneliness and SUI
preme beauty. Seated on a divan, and
surrounded by a bevy of Overwhelmingly
beautiful minxes, whose angelic voices
and merry laughter made the brain
whlrl, the writer prayed that he might
never again see the outside world, but
that ne might live to eternity amid those
scenes. His every wish was oratified
on the instant. A request was Scarcely
made but it was fulfilled. He hest
tating to give voice to his wishes lest
they might offend, his every thought
was interpreted even before it was ma
tured, and his desires were answered.
and the rare wine and costly Jewels
were brought him and laid before him
before he had dared ever hope for their
possession.
Below me was q scene of dazzling
beauty. Fountains of golden waters
g%laddened the eye at intervals about the
room, while the perfume of rare exotics
hlled the atmosphere and eneryated the
brain. Thousands upon thousands of
pretty girls in Oriental costumes fitted
here, there and everywhere, and came
and went at the writer's command. No
wish was ungratified, no desire un-
fulfilled. 1t was a paradise on earth.
There was no male present but himself.
The Chinaman had disappeared and the
writer was alone in his glory. Oh, for
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
A Supposed Counterfeiter in Paris.

In one of the large dry-goods shops
in Paris a woman, sixty years old, in
deep mourning, very respectable in
appearance, offered in payment of her
purchase a five-franc silver coin. The
cashier refused it as counterfeit. She
offered another. 1t too was refused for
the same reason. She was arrested.
She was SO embarrassed and her replies
were so incoherent, the police made
ure she was an habitual agent of coun-
terfeiters. The police were confirmed
in their opinion when the woman was
searched. There were found on her q
linen bag holding $24O in silver five
franc coins-this bag was in her pockets;
under her skirt, secured to a leather
belt which girdled her, were four other
bags holding $4,000 in government
securities to bearer, six bank notes of
5000 each; 5000 in gold; to the belt was
hung by wire a ring of thirty or
forty keys. Time taken by the search
had allowed the woman to regain self
possession, and she quietly told the po-
lice she owned several houses in Paris,
was accustomed to leave neither secu-
rites, nor money, O keys in her lodg-
ings, where she lived alone without a
servant. The suspicious silver she had
received from tradesmen, and was far
from thinking it counterfeit, and as she
was very particular in examining all
money received she was far from believ-
ing it was spurious. The police sent
the bag with the $24O to a money
changer to be examined. The latter de-
clared there was not a counterfeit coin
among them. She was at cnce dis.
charged. She put her bag and keys in
place again and went home.-Paals Cor.
N. O. Picavune.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
Friendly Advice by Brother Gardner.

"Am Judge Perfection Smith in de
hall dis %eavenin'P" asked the President
of the Lime Kiln Club, as he laid aside
his gavel and looked around him.
Eyes, sah," answered a voice full of
fishbones and %shingle-nails shaken up
together.
'.Please ambulate dis way"
The Judge ambulated. He came up
confident and smiling, expecting to re-
ceive a gold medal for inventing q
mosquito-bar, which also catches rats.
"Judge Smith," said the President,
in a solemn voice, ''dar' am a few little
things l desiah to spoke to you about.
You war at de pos offs de odder day
to rent a box at $3.50 per quarter. All
de mail dat you receive in six months
wouldn't light a kerosene lamp. Den
why dis attempt to frow on style an
heap on agony?"
"I-didn't rent one, sah,r replied
the culprit in a weak voice.
ga few days ago." continued the
President, I Overheard you trottin' out
a Presidential candidate for 1884. You
had your biggest voice, an you was
f1ingin your arms about, an one would
have thought you knowed all about it.
Judge Smith, you will have no mo- to
do wild de maxim of de mex President
of de United States dan one grain of
sand will have in maxim up de great
Sahara Desert"
"No, sah-dat's so, sah."
"Let dis be a warnin' to you, sab.
From dis time on you have no candidate,
doan' want one, an take no interes' in
polyticks beyond what can be 'spected
of cherry citizen. If any man axes you
to tell him who am to be de mex Presi-
dent doan' you do it. Keep dat infor.
nation locked tight in your busum.
An a day or two ago you denounced
yourself as an advocate of a tariff.
Judge Smith, do you know what a tariff
is?"S
"NInot zactly, sab, but I was gwine
Exactly; an perhaps you'd better
read up on how to keep your mouf shet
on what you doan' know an what doan'
affeck you! You am a purity lookin'
advocate, you am! While your wife
needs shoes an de chill'ren want clothes
you walk aroun' de market wild year
old white obercoat on to tell de world
dat you doan' believe in this or dat, OF
dat you am welded to dis theory OF
| opposed to dat oneH
"Ize sorry, sab. I'll drap de hull
bizness right Off"
"See dat you do. Theories am all
right onless a man am two months be-
hind on his rent. Doctrines am all
right when a family hain't shiberin' wild
cold. Individual opinions count fur
muffin when de individual can't raise
cash huff to get a patch on his boot.
Go an sot down, Judge Smith, an
doan' lose a mint in startin' Oh de roar
reform. "Detron Free Press.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
Remembering the Sermon.

Do tell me how I shall remember the
sermon? I go to church every Sabbath.
We have an excellent minister. Other
people remember his sermons and talk
about them. They can give an outline
of each discourse. AS for me, [ have
nothing to say. The words seem to go
in at one ear and out at the other.
Sometimes I remember the text. Some
sionally I a recall an interesting
illustration OF an apt expression; that
is, I can for q few hours, but to have a
clear idea of what the minister says
seems impossible. What shall 1 do?
Thus spoke a bright sweet girl as we
sat around the evening lamp last night,
after the rest of the folks had retired.
What 1 said to this dear child may be
of use to other young people who al
not remember the sermon"
This is, in substance, what I told her.
The first and most important aid to
your memory is attention. You must
listen. Are you sure you have learned
to do that? Did you not lose the text
last Sunday while noticing who came in
with the Smith girls? Did you not lose
n head of the discourse watching
Deacon Scales mods and another while
admiring his wife's new bonnet?
How many times during the hour did
you think of what Charley said in his
last letter and what you should say in
your reply?
How often did you say to yourself:
ooh dear, I wish he were through"
Were you not, after all, surprised
when the choir rose to sing that closing
anthem?
Were you "trying to remember
! then?
Did you really listen, after all?
Second, not only listen, but write
down what you hear. Take notes.
You can do it quietly. Your next
neighbor need hardly know it. A few
small slips of paper in your half closed
Bible, a short pencil, a word or two
here and there to help your memory
when you go home, and to fix your at
tention during the preaching. Taking
notes will help you listen until you can
attend and remember without. Do not
fear to do it. Write out these notes in
full after you have returned from
church. Set down everything you can
recall, while the subject is fresh in your
mind. Have a place for these notes.
Read them occasionally. Take a per-
sonal interest in the subjects. Study
things connected with them. Look up
doubtful questions, names, dates and
places.
Third, talk about the sermon during
the week. Tell your mother, your
sister, your friend, about it. Ask them
to hear your full account of the dis
course. Listen to theirs.
Lastly, carry the sermon into your
life. Resolve that it shall make you
better. Ask God to help you fulfill
this resolution. Try to practice what
your minister has preached.
Follow up these four good rules:
Listen. Write. Talk. Act.
You will soon "remember the SER
mon." Listening to it will be one of
your greatest pleasures. Your memory
will be more retentive, your heart will
be warmer, your life will surely be bet
ter and happier.
Will you not commence next Sab
bath?-Golden Rule.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
Cuckoo Legends,

It is a common belief that the cuckoo
is a transformed girl, calling her
brother. In Servia, the cuckoo, kuka-
v1za, was a girl who lamented her
brothers. death SO long that she was
turned into a cuckoo. This in itself is
not very circumstantial, but Albania
supplies a more complete story. There
were once two brothers and a sister.
The latter accidentally killed one of
them by getting up suddenly from her
heart with her scissors. She and the
surviving brother mourned so much
that they were turned into birds; he
cries out to the lost brother by night
Non, Oon, and she by day ku, ku, ku,
ku, which means, 'Where are you?"
The cuckoo, says the Bohemian le-
gend, once had a o. on her head,
till at a wedding among the birds, at
which the hoopoe was bridegroom, she
lent it and has never been able to get it
back. He is always crying out Kluku,
which means, .'You rascal" to which
the other replies, jdu, jdu, 81 come, I
come" but comes not.
The Bohemians also take the cuckoo
for an enchanted miller or baker. The
latter is the more interesting story, as
being either of post-C Christian origin or
else a Pagan memory transferred, as so
often happened, into a Christian dress.
Christ, passing one day a bakers shop,
sent one of his disciples in to ask for
some new bread. The baker refused to
| give it, but his wife and six daughters,
who were more compassionate, deliv-
cred some secretly to the disciple. In
reward they were placed among the
stars, as the Pleaides; but the baker
was turned into a cuckoo, and it con-
firms this story that his cry is heard as
long as those seven stars were visible in
the sky.
In Poland long ago it was a capital
crime to kill a cuckoo. The apparent
reason was that Zywiec, who in old
Slavonic mythology was the ruler of the
universe, used to change himself Gas
Zeus once did and Indra, too) into
a cuckoo, in order to to NOR
tails the number of years they had to
live; a belief so real that multitudes
used to flock every May to Zywiec's
temple on the mountain that was called
after his name, to pray for long life
and prosperous health. To this day it
is a common article of folklore belief
that so many years remain to a man of
life as he hears the cuckoo's voice for
the first time in the spring. And a
monkish historian has handed down for
the %edification of posterity the story Of
that worldly-minded brother who, tired
OF the m%onotony of convent life, re-
solved to ask Of the cuckoo the number
OF years yet allotted him to live. The
bird having said twenty-five, the monk
resolved to devote himself for a season
to the pleasures Of this world, and vet
have time before him to prepare for the
next; but, alas! the bird was a heathen-
lsh and therefore q false oracle to listen
to, and death surprised the recreant
monk in the twentieth year, still alb
sorbed in temporal enjoyments and van
ties.-CornAiW Magazine.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
Choice Selections.

-Forgetfulness is one of the bros
ways of sin. A ship can be lost
carelessness as well as by design. II
evils of life come mainly through ina
tention.
-Self-examination is a wise use
our time if we r honest in it, but it
the height of folly if we grow morbl
and blue, or if we be pulled up and e
allied by it. 1t must be merely as
safeguard, just as the General has y
fertilization examined to be certal
there arc no weak places. - Golden Ray
Does your manner grow cold al
forbidding as you grow older? Do Y
little children answer your questiol
with great timidity and avoid yourpr4
ence as far as possible? 1t is a y
sign. 1t is not well for them nor
you. Come out into the sunlight. Ma
your life SO bright that the little on
shall run with Joy to greet you. Lei
a merry, joyful, sunshiny life. And
other lives with all the happiness !!
can. 1t does not pay to be morose.
does pay immensely to be a brig
warm-hearted Christian.-Golden Rq
When we read about some perS
who has amassed a colossal fortune
means. which will not in the least b
the light of day, building a church:
endowing q college or q Theology
seminary, either in his life time OF
his will, we + disposed to inqu'Eel
the hope of purchasing the gift OF
had anything to do with the %larggess;
SO, ought we not to tell him that ~
T. some things which can be bols
such as human applause; but there
some things which can not be bous
such as the favor of God, the peace
purity of Heaven? Is this dispo,l.
confined to the outside of the emu
When the church needs spiritual :,
when it needs the influence and ps.
of the Spirit bestowed on the rising
lstry, is there not a tendency 10
these blessings through the gglvlna
money, forgetting that the gifts
be accompanied and made eiteclu~
prayer, by humility, by p%ersonalP D
by self-denial?-National Baptist
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
RELIGIOUS:
PRAYER OF AN INVALID.

Gently, Lord, unloose the ties
Which SO long have bound me here;
Softly ven my failing eyes,
Lest they yield to phantom fear.
Oft this pillow Thou hast blest,
Soothe it now with final peace,
Gather al the past to rest,
Rest in Christ:-then glad release.
If I've learned the lessons taught
BY the pain Of later years,
Lessons with deep meanings fraught,
Deeper far than earlier tears,
Let me whisper LIES adieu,
In a cadence low and sweet,
And the earth's dissolving view
Fit me fairer scenes to greet.
ALL not much is left to die;
Youthful y~ears-long since have He'd;
Cherished hopes in dust now lie,
Friends most dear sleep with the dead;
Yet within me lives a heart,
Clinging close unto its own;
With its all-how can 1t part,
Going NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
WhNherf Oil not long the way
To the realm that CLOVIS between
Shadow of earth's sinking day
AND yon world of bliss serene.
Oft that interlying sphere
Presses closer than the air;
When 1 feel Christ with MI here,
Then know l that Christ is there.
ID. a. LipscOmb. d. d., in N. 7. Independent.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12
The Judges Teapot

Aman who is so pulled up with con
colt as never to suspect his own wisdom
is on the straight road to blunder. Cir
cumstances become mischievous wher
they encounter such a mau, and take
| pleasure in tumbling him into some lu'
dicrous mistake. Several years ago ar
incident happened in New York City,
which illustrates the prankish nature 81
circumstances when they surround one
| OF those Observation-Disclosures
fellows.
Mr., Justice Mullen, of The Supreme
Court of New York, lived in the coun.
try, but occasionally visited the city on
judicial business. On one of these, visits
he brought with him a valuable teapot
which needed a little repair.
Shortly after he had registered his
name at the st. Nicholas, he started for
. walk down Broadway with the teapot
in his hand, intending to leave it at a
silversmith's; As he came out Of the
hotel door, he tucked the teapot under
his overcoat.
Just then a detective happened ID pass
by, who noticed the movement aid fol-
lowed the Judge, thinking him ID be a
hotel-thief. After going a few rods, the
detective thought he would arrest the
old man.
81 want you, SIR" he said, tipping
the Judge on the shoulder.
"For what, sir?"
"Oh,you know! Come along with me.
"Come along with you? What do
you mean?" exclaimed the Judge,
growing indignant.
"Oh, no use of trying thst on me; you
come quietly to the statiot-house, that's
all! That teapot under your coat
you understand"
"Why, that's my teapot" answered
the Judge, in a decided one.
ooh, certainly! By all means! OF
cours it's your teapot; 'twon't do,
though; that dodge is played out.
Come along, and dom bother"
"Sir," said the Judge, stopping and
speaking with judicial impressiveness,
II am Judge Mullen, of the Supreme
Court. I don't krow you nor what
you mean, and do not wish to be an
noyed."
"You Justice Mullen !" exclaimed the
conceited detective in a sneering tone.
ooh, certainly! No doubt about that
Of course you're Justice Mullen! JUS
tees Of the Supreme Court are always
going down Broadway with silver tea
pots under their coats! But that cock
won't fight ; so come along, or I'll make
short work with you"
"Look here, sir !" said the Judge,
pointing to the store in front of which
they stood, ''the proprietor of this estab-
lishment will at ono identify me and
stop this farce"
"All right! 60 inw
In they walked, but unfortunately the
proprietor was out. 'Do any of you
know this fellow" asked the detective
of the clerks. Not one of them recog.
nized the Judge.
''Let us return to the hotel" said his
honor, seeing the unpleasantness of the
situation; II am known there"
The detective, sure that he had
''nipped' an old offender, and thinking
It might be we'll to have the teapot
identified, accompanied the old gentle.
mar to the st. Nicholas.
When they both stood before the hotel
clerk, the detective wilted. He went
out a cheaper-looking, a cheaper-fecline
man than when he entered. :
The story was too good to keep, and
when, the next morning, his colleagues
saluted him as "Justice Mullen" he
realized the troubles of a detectives
life. Youths Companion.
Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-12

M. Lcfebure de Fourcy was exam
lnlng a student in physics once upon a
time, and the young man being nervous
failed utterly on the first question put
to nina very simple one. '.Brine
this gentleman a bundle OF hay for his
breakfast" remarked the disgusted ex-
aminer to of the attendants. '.Brino
two-the professor and l will breakfast
together!!' added the student, who thus
suddenly regained and asserted his SELF
possession.