Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-04-17

especial delectatlon. BY and by he
discovered that every two or three
days something of the household be-
longings disappeared. Then he knew
that the family were in sore straits,
and he asked the landlady for infor-
nation. She said that they were
refugees from Santa Domingo; their
father had owned an extensive coffee
plantation, but had lost his life in one
OF the many negro Instructions in
that distracted and unhappy island.
These young people escaped to the
UnlIed. States bringing with them such
portable Property as they could gather
up. The landlady said that they were
anxious to dispose of sorne of their
silver, and that if he were willinging
to buy it Of them at it's real value, it
would be a favor. By those means
Uncle John came into possession of
these Old Spanish spoons and forks.
Afterward the landlady told him that
the young Spaniard said he hoped the
American would keep the silver in his
family. He said that it was of great
antiquity and had been in his own
family for many years. One of his
ancestors belonged to the Spanish no.
bility and lived at Seville, in Spain.
The times were hard, with constant
wars and instructions on every hand.
The nobility were much richer in
aristocracy than ducats, and many of
them were tempted by the tales of the
wonderful gold mine. in the Spanish
possessions in Hayti, which yielded a
half million dollars annually to the
Spanish crown. to try their fortunes in
the New World"
''Do you know their names?" asked
Marion.
mo, do not; and that makes 1t
hard for me to tell the story. l will
call the New Orleans Spaniard, Don
Carlos, and that will help me little.
Don Carlos great grandfather, a
Spanish nobleman, was among the
earliest settlers of Santa Domingo
''Glve the g. S. a name! Gail him
Don Juan!" said Marion.
>"All right! Don Juan it isl
chow romantic the story is get
ting" said Marion with interest.
''Just imagine far away Spain, and
the Spanish yelled ladies' that we
read about. and the grave majestic
mem serenading their lady loves in
the balconies above.'
"And the bull fights! Probably old
Don Juan used to hip! hip! hurrah! in
Spanish when a bull gored some poor
Christian to death,' said Amy.
lat any rate, this is true" contin-
ued Milly. don Carlos told Uncle
John, that it was part Of history in
their family that their table ware was
made Of silver taken from the famous
mine on Guadai Canal, the one that
Pliny, the historian, tells about.
Hannibal opened it, and it yielded
him 300 pounds of silver ore daily.
What do you think of that for min
ing enterprise? 1t would make our
California and Colorado millionaires
green with envy, wouldn't it,"
Il don't wonder that King thinks
much of that fork" said Amy.
snow, see here; I'll count on my
fingers. The thumb can be Hanni-
balls silver mine; the first finger, Don
Juan, the nobleman, taking his wife
and spoons and going to Santa Domin.
60, to better his fortunes here's a
big jump in the story
"Oh, no. that's all right said
MilIy. awe don't need the whole
family history: The next link in the
chain is the grandson, the coffee
planter.
Call him 'Ferdinand.' That's a
Spanish name, isn't it?" suggested
Marion.
1.-The second finger, then, is Ferdi-
nand, who, together with his wife, lsa-
bella, lost his life In a negro insurrec-
ton in Santa Domingo. The third is
Don Carlos and family, fleeing to New
Orleans and carrying the precious sill
YER; the fourth is Mrs. Fitzgerald's
Uncle John, buying spoons, packing in
chest, and finally giving FORK to niece
going to boarding-school; the fifth is
Mary, the niece; calmly eating Nine
teenth Century dinners with an his
toric fork; then Mary, now Mrs. Fitz-
gerald, disposes of it as wedding
present to her son Harold. There you
have it; centuries of history in nut
she'll. ~
"Now then," said Mil]y, II, think
the story is worth quite as much as the
fork, and I'm going to ask Mrs. Fitz-
gerald to write it out; otherwise, all
the fine points of possession will not
be appreciated. -
"That's good idea," replied Amy,
''we have spent long time in history
and imagination, when we ought to
have been up and dong. Oh, King!
I'm glad you've come - was the next
exclamation, as the young man with
Adelaide entered the room.
"What transition from a dark
eyed Spanish grandee to fair-faced
Saxon King ~ said Amy.
"What do you mean?" asked King,
surprised.
ave have been reveling in antiquity
and discussing history, conjured into
existence by your Spanish fork" ex-
planned Marion.
''Yes-was I not right when I said
the history had no end? For here is
King waiting for his fate, looking
out: into the future with 'loye-l;t'
eyes" said Milly. 81,
q "Oh, Milly, you are entirely too
sentimental! exclaimed Adelaide.
= mo, my dear, she has the right of
it. Ii did not look into the future
with love lit eyes this world would
be dark, indeed. Love is all, is every
thing said King, so solemnly that
the girls were awed in spite of their
gayety, and Adelaide drew closer to
the manly form, who was soon to be
more to her than all the world beside.
How sober, we arern said Amy.
The fork! The fork! It has given US
history, and now it shall prophesy.
Listen! Long life, health. happiness.
with love ever increasing, until death
do YOU part!'' said Amy in a mock
heroic manner. Il. II. BE .y /.
You could NOT hare wished us