davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1897-07-21

ole ana turned WIN strange UnrllI
to the girl. But she had fallen, dis
guise and all, in fOrlorn heap On the
floor. Full of pity and grief l took
her tenderly in my arms, and made
my way into the next room as best
could, being of course totally ignorant
of my surroundings, and guided only
by the feeble light of the faring can
die AS L had expected, the room was
perfectly bare but hastily improvising
pillow of my coat, [ laid the dear
child gently down and took up my
lonely watch by her side.
1t was long before she regained her
consciousness, and then in crazed
sort of way and feeble and broken
voice she began at once her pitiful
story.
'There is not much to tell" she
sobbed, "but want you to know am
innocent. Oh, want you to believe
it!''
Indeed I dol" I cried, taking her
little cold hands in mine. ''Try not to
think of that; it is all overall your
terrible suffering-do you hear, my
dear little lady? Lie still now, and
rest until morning." And with awk>
ward hands [ smoothed her rude pill
low and tried to comfort her and dis
suade her from her purpose. In vain,
it seemed to be the one thing now nec-
essary to her complete relief-the
throwing off of this secret burden
that had been crushing down her
young life.
With an aching heart heard it all;
how, two years before she had been
left an orphan how her grandfather,
whom she had never seen, by specious
promises of comfortable home with
him, had inveigled her into coming to
D; her terror when, on her arrival
his treachery was revealed and her
doom sealed; his dire threats of pur-
suit and violence if she should at
tempt to escape, or in any way to dis
close her presence in the house her ut
ter despair when she remembered
that she knew nothing of the country
nor soul in it, even should she dare
to set his evil words at naught. All
this, with mingled sobs and tears, she
forced me to hear.
AS for the old man, he was of course
brought to trial and suffered due pun
ishment for his sins. His trickeries
were fully exposed; but [ am not 60
ing to despoil the story of what little
mystery now remains by letting you
into his secrets. Only should you ever
visit haunted chamber, look out for
paper so designed as not to disclose
small holes in the wall; for long
whispering tubes that give forth sep
ulchral tones when human lips are
working at the end remote from the
spectre-haunted chamber; and of
| locks that are merely buttons, and
though quite in keeping with the gen
eral rusty antiquity of the place, are
altogether too convenient when there
are ghosts sneaking around.
And Eilleen-for that is her name
YES she is now nv true and hOnOred
The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1897-07-21

er violently, and then, as IL OlOWn NY
invisible lips, was extinguished.
I had supposed myself proof against
anything like fear of such things; but
when 1 was thus suddenly and mys-
teriously engulfed in darkness so in
tense that it seemed palpable, l began
to feel decidedly uncomfortable. 1
had hardly time to recover myself
when 1 heard low, tremulous sounds,
that seemed to come from the further
end of the room, in the direction of
the closet.
Glow lights and low music"
mentally commented, quickly raising
myself to a sitting posture, and listen
ing intently.
The sounds continued, becoming
more and more definite, until I dis
tinctly heard voice that, vague and
far away as it seemed, was perfectly
audible.
Doomed! Doomed! Lo-s-t!"
Never in all my experience had 1
heard anything so fearful as that last
prolonged cry.
'Jove!'' l thought. "The old ghoul
gets up a first-class show, and that's
fact"
But in spite of this would-be brava-
do, l was beginning to believe in the
ghost. [ could feel the cold sweat of
terror stand out on my forehead. This
would not do. [ pulled myself TO-
gether with an effort, and fumbled for
the matches.
With trembling fingers L relighted
the ragged remains of the candle; but
before [ could look about me, it was
eXtinguished in the same mysterious
way as before. Now thoroughly arous-
ed, I sprang to my feet. At the same
time something had become visible In
the darkness by the closet door, dim,
outlined as yet, an unearthly pres
ence, it seemed, that swayed unstead-
lily and yet remained fixed to one spot.
Good Lord! It's the spook, sure
enough! Don't know that l care to
shake hands, though. Hope it won't
let out that unearthly cry again!"
1t didn't; but with a low moan that
seemed strangely human, it made one
swift movement toward me, and
grasping my arm with an intensity
quite unspiritual, whispered in my ear
in a voice hoarse with emotion,-
''Hush! Not a word! He is at the
door! He would rob you! Seize him,
for the love of Heaven, and rescue
mel"
1t was the work of an instant. Hard
ly had she reached the other end of
the room before | detected slight
sound, as of approaching footsteps. T.
was on the bed again in a fash, the
clothes over me. [ had securely lock-
ed the door leading to the hall, yet it
was being cautiously opened. This I
felt rather than saw, so intense was
the darkness. With crafty movements
the old man [ had seen below was
making straight for the bed. He had
reckoned on my being terrified by the
situa ton, but he had reckoned this
time without his ghost. [ caught
a Gil of nj
The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1897-07-21

Mrs. Isaacstein (engaging servan):
| hope you havn't a young man?
Bridget: Oh, no, mum, he's nearly
fifty.
The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1897-07-21
A Detective and a Ghost.


contemplated visit 10 the haunted
house. | was at that time a detective,
employed by the city of D. My
profession, if such it may be termed,
had brought me in contact with Grim
inals of all descriptions and OF every
degree of hardness; but l must con-
fess that had not myself become so
hardened as to be entirely unmoved
by the terrible scenes L was often call
ed upon to pass through, and never
before had | been entrusted with
ghost case.
The house which had won such an
unenviable reputation had for peri
cd been deserted. But two years be-
fore this story opens an old man had
laid claim to the property, and as
there was no one to dispute his de-
mands, he took possession Of the
place, alone, it was supposed, living in
the dilapidated remains of kitchen
in the low and rambling l.. Soon 1T
became known that for a reasonable
sum one might pass the night in the
now famed haunted chamber, there to
undergo the thrilling experiences in
cident upon ghostly visitations. And
many were the gruesome tales spread
abroad by those who were willing to
purchase an acquaintance with the
denizenS of the neither world
But of late there had been rumors
that some of these curious ones had
paid too dearly for their folly. There
had been foul play-force had been at
tempted-pockets were rifed-and
one man asserted that his life had
been threatened. Yet no one had as
yet carried the matter to law, being
somewhat loath, I suppose, to become
mixed up in case which, being in
the hands of spirits, was sure to be
losing one, for all stoutly asserted
and maintained their belief in the
ghost and it's awful manifestation.
So it was argued by the city author,
tiles that I should undertake the I'M
enviable job of exercising the turbu-
lent So nit, which, however, they were
unanimously of the opinion was of
tie earth, earthly.
The house was situated far from the
city, and had evidently once been a
fine country residence. It's approach
was by long, gloomy avenue of frs,
whose cold finger tips I felt from time
to time on my face and hands as we
drove through their swaying forms in
the gloom. There was a sickly moon
of dull, greenish hue, that now and
then showed it's face from behind the
ragged edges of the clouds. It was at
one of these moments that [ caught
my first glimpse of the house,
dusky pile, with towers and turrets,
like skeleton fingers, pointing omin-
ously skyward. It was surrounded by
gaunt, spectre-like pines and frs that
seemed about to engulf it in their sin
lister depths.
cat any rate" I thought, as
mounted the steps and the carriage
rolled away, mature has done her
part toward furnishing the proper ac>
cessories; let us hope that the ghost
will Oh 81
The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1897-07-21

apartment which might once have
been parlor, but shorn of all it's an
cestral splendor, now apparently serv-
ed as a reception-room, but in most
forlorn and dreary fashion.
MY grandfather was an intimate
friend of -er-ghost's father, l
explained, as L dropped the usual fee
into the knotted and trembling hand.
Il thought L would like to shake
hands with his ghostship on the
strength of this acquaintance" add
ed, with a feeble attempt at facetious--
ness.
''Ho! no! ho!" cackled the old cur
mudgeon, for some reason evidently
approaching my effort, and nervously
lingering the coin to determine it's
worth.
"Hope it'll be a good warm grasp
And look a'hear, sir, don't We go ter
squeezing of it's hand too hard, sir
cause We might make it squeak! He!
uc! -uC! NAOll w 81 AOA WI
make it squeak, will We now?"
He placed a candle in my hand, and
was giving me directions as to the To-
cation of the haunted room, when the
door of an adjoining apartment quick
ly and noiselessly opened, and a
young girl appeared on the thresh-
hold.
II thought I hear you call,
grandfather? 1 thought you were
alone" she explained in a scared way,
and with a shy glance at me.
He made some sort of answer-a
sound between a growl and snarl;
it seemed, however, to be Ineligible
to her, for with a glance like fright
ened animals, she turned tremblingly
and fed from the room. I could have
fallen upon the villain and throttled
him on the spot, but I was there for a
different purpose; so [ turned abrupt
ly and departed, leaving him g1aring
at the spot where his granddaughter
had disappeared. It was the face and
attitude of a tiger.
49," | thought, as I toiled up the
creal1ing stairs and along the narrow,
musty smelling corridors, "the little
girl has given away one of the old fell
lows secrets, has she? We shall see
very soon what part the poor thing
has to play"
By this time ] had reached the
haunted room. With only hasty
glance at my surroundings, I set the
glittering candle on a rough deal ia
BILE by the bed, locked the door and
sat down to reflect. But [ blush for
my reputation as detective when I
declare, that, try as [ would, I could
think of nothing but that sweet young
face with it's look of utter despair and
terror, pitiful to see. My brain was
all in a whirl at this unexpected turn
in affairs. Yet one thing was clear
to me-that come what might, must
rescue this poor duped innocent, for
so I had at once in my heart declared
her. And [ vowed then and there to
be as true and worthy a knight as
ever buckled on sword in the defence
of fair lady. With this noble deter
mination I flung myself on the bed
20
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03

they are to subsist on an income Of 6 "a
8 shillings per week they are vexing
problem to the east London philanthro-
pist and reformer.
Besides the barrel organs, there are
violins, accordions and any number OF
soloists unaccompanied by an instru-
ment. Blind women, old men and the
poor wrecks of this awful struggle for
existence here stand at the curbstone
and in weak, thin voices sing their songs.
The restless crowd moves on, save when
some one more curious or more kindly
than the rest stands near to look or lis
ten. A bent woman, whose thin shawl
was thrown over her shoulders, was
feebly singing some old song in the
midst Of the jostling throng around a
public house. / saw strong young girl
Of IA como kindly toward her, drop a
penny in the little box held by the feeble
hand and then hurry away out of sight.
Happy will the strong young lass be II
the swirl of the turbid stream of east
London life does not bring hsr some time
to the place Of the curbstone singer In
deed there is no place that I have ever
seen where mirth and pathos, vice and
virtue, meet and mingle as on these
streets in a night like this.
One sees very little begging. There is
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03
How to Learn Music.

Do not fail to take advantag, Of vhs
library. Begin course of good read
ing. Music is notorious for narrowing
ones mind, SO resolve to counterbalance
your practice with library work as well.
AS TO your practice, I would give you
this maxim, 1.-THE essential thing in
practice is to see exactly what is to be
done in all it's details, and then do it
again and again with the greatest clear
ness, precision and energy"
When you take up new piece, notice
the key, the harmonies. chords, scales,
lingering and general effects. One of
the first necessaries is concentration.
Develop self criticism. "The thing you
cannot do is the very thing you should
make yourself do"
In practice begin where you left off
the day before. Connect your days
work. Apply all your knowledge. Do
not try to do more than one thing at a
time. Spend a good deal of time every
day thinking about what you are doing
and what you will ldo.-Edward D. Hale.
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03
Queer Phenomena of Falling Bodies,

III Queer Phenomena Of Falling Bodies.
/ am unable to say who first noticed
the peculiar caprices Of stone or other
heavy body dropped from the top of q
high tower, but it is nevertheless a curl
ous fact that such objects invariably fall
slightly to the east. of the perpendicular
line. Persons of inquiring turn of mind
who ask why this is as it is may find an
answer in the following: All falling bod.
ies partake of the earth's eastward mo-
ton to a greater or lesser extent. There
fore during the time occupied by stone
mailing from the top Of high tower
OF other eminence the earth's rotary mo-
tion has carried it an appreciable dis
taaace to the east. The initial impetus
Of the stone has carried it to the east.
ward also, therefore it strikes the earth
to the east Of the perpendicular, vary.
ing in degree according to the height
from which it has fallen.
A curious article on this subject may
be found in the Leipsic Zeitung of May
9. 1880, page 8. The author of the al.
ticle, who has given it the title of THE
Nonperpendicularity Of High Towers" {"
claims that the tower on st. Peters ca
thedral at Rome leans IS inches to the
east St. Louis Rapxb1fc.
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03
London toiling thousands.

sA0oossAANcs
The people love music. Their inter
probation Of music is rather rough ard
loud. The bass drum of every band that
parades in labor demonstration of
Sunday gets terribly punished before the
day is over, but it commands u great fol-
lowing, and on Saturday night the street
musicians and singers easily gather their
crowds and reap an abundant harvest.
The barrel organ is found everywhere,
and wherever, it is rafting out the popu-
lar Daisy" or 1.-The Man Who Broke
the Bank at Monte Carlo" the sidewalks
will be crowded, while two or three
couples Of little girls dance on the flag
stones
Nearly every girl Of 8 can dance, many
Of them have already appeared in public
st the cheap concert halls, and as one
watches them, hatless, dirty. but with
faces beaming with delight, he does not
know whether to be glad of their joy or
to pity their hollow present and hopeless
future the more. Often part in these
street dances will be taken by the older
girls, factory girls, as they are all called
In east London. who are out in crowds
on Saturday night. They are an un-
tanned. fantastic lot. All wear enormous
hats, adorned with feathers, and train
their hair about the forehead by curling
It forward quite fiercely. They are In
tensely loyal to the customs and tradi-
tions Of their own ''set." and forced as
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03
THE STUDY or A WORD.

The Resources and Variety of Inform atios
It Is Likely to Furnish.
The great dictionaries are library in
themselves and furnish an exhaustless
source Of information. A study Of q
single word like cross in the Century
Dictionary shows the resources and va
riety of information that familiar
word may furnish. There are 151 col
nmns devoted to this word and its COM
binations. There are "a pictorial illus
trations. All in all there are 257 differ
ent words made out of cross which have
to be defined. In the great Oxford Die
tionary there are II pages given to this
word, or twice as much as in the Gen.
tury. In the Century the study is
highly fascinating. There are ID radical
ly different sets of definitions to the
word itself.
The fundamental idea is, of course,
the cross, the crux for crucifying, but i:
has come to have variety of meaning
as monument, crucifix, the atone
ment, the Christian religion itself, any
suffering for Christ's sake, anything that
thwarts or vexes, q mixing of breeds in
animal breeding, a term used in chang.
ing plants, joint in a pipe, the acci-
dental contact Of two electric wires, a
sportsman chrase for contest dishon-
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03

not much street begging anyway
there's no use begging; the people are
too poor. The mendicant fees Canning
town for the wealthier residential quar-
ters. Of course the children beset one.
The sidewalk artist Is sometimes found.
but the most common form of appeal n
from the ragged little fellows who turn
handsprings or stand on their heads for
you. They really do their athletics
very nicely, and there is something sc
appealing and "old mannish" in their
looks that it is hard to resist them.
was hurrying through the crowds in
Victoria docks one night about 10 when
. boy Of z came out and ran beside me.
relating some sort Of verse, thought.
Three repetitions made it clear:
Ha'p'ny won't wit yer.
Penny won't break yer.
Tu'p'nce won't send yer { the work us.
He was evidently working on q grad
uated scale Of benevolence adapted tc
tho abilities of the donor" believe by
the emphasis laid on the last item that
he estimated me from my gold bowed
spectacles at tu'pence. T..
The barrows of east London delicacies
abound in the streets where marketing
goes on. The woman who sells cold
picked pigs feet is in fair demand. The
man who retails shrimps at q penny 9
bag gets a good trade. but the couple
who preside at the barrow filed with
cookies and wrinkles have their hands
fnll The delectable mollusks are dis
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03

estly decided.
Then cross becomes an adjective, with
several meanings, as falling, athwart,
passing from one Of two positions, per-
verse, ETC., to the other, being opposed.
being peevish or fretful, ill tempered,
thoroughly contrary, in the breeders
vocabulary. Then it becomes an adverb.
meaning transversely or adversely. Then
it becomes q verb, with all kinds Of sig
nificance, from the running of line to
cross thing, to cancel by crossing, to
cross ones self in devotion, passing from
side to side Of man, to go over body
Of water, to obstruct, to cause to inter-
fere, to cross plants, to hoist from the
deck to its place on the mast any of the
lighter yards.
. Then there is the proposition, in riding
cross-country or walking cross-lots. Ali
this with the simple word itself, which
goes cavorting from the most sacred
thought in the world to the breeders
and the sportsman's language Of the
coop and ranch. <... a.
After this the mysteries begin. There
are crosses-anserated, arellane, bezan-
ty, bretesse, catoosed, commisse, ere.
nele, estoile. fitche, feury, gringole, lam.
beaux, moline, nowyed, nyle, quatre-
foil, saltier, sarele, resarceled. Then
there are the innumerable compounds OF
cross from cross-armed, cross-bated.
cross-biter, cross-bar and bun,
through cross-fucan, cross-ruff, cross.
sower and cross-spale to crossword.
Then there are . cross-grained set Of
crosses, such as crossarchinal, cross
archus, crossette. crossopinal, crossop
terygia, crossopterygian, crossopterygi-
dae, crossopterygii. crossopterygia. cross
opterygium, crossopus, crossorhined and
crossorhininae. 49,
It is incomprehensible that word so
simple should have gone rollicking all
over tho earth, into the bowels Of the
earth, into tho depths of the sea, among
the fowls Of the air, the horse upon the
turf, to card table, to the ships upon the
sea, to the fishes in their glee, to the
sharks in their ferocity. to the architect
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03
LONDON BY GASLIGHT
eATuRDAY NIGHT STREET SCENES IN
THE CITY OF THE DOckERS.

4 Break In the Fearful Drexriness That
Marks the Life Of tho Toiling Thousands
- the East Side Of the Great Metropolis.
Music. Songs and Dances.
The memory Of Saturday night in
the City Of the Dockers is like the recol.
lection Of troubled dream, for on this
hast night of the week the great, hot
streets are filled with the pentup life Of
100000 houses Zone cannot call them
homes), and all the varied phases Of this
hand to hand struggle for existence ap-
pear. The decker is prodigal of his few
shillings on Saturday night, the maxi
mum Of his iberality being shown
most often in the public house and on
the catch penny street conjurer, while
the minimum is apparent at the stalls Of
the grocer and butcher. But men, wom-
en- and children are out on the streets,
and, whatever else it be. Saturday night
Is something Of break in the fearful
dreariness that marks the life of the east
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03

played on little dishes as large as ''indi
vidual buffers" with bit of garnishing
Of parsley, and are eaten with vinegar on
the spot.
These barrows are found especially at
the entrance Of Victoria Docks road, &
great marketing place in Canning town
on Saturday night. Clothing (very cheap
and shoddy and called "slops'), little
tools for household use, cheap laces, FL
berts, 'red bandanna" handkerchiefs
and horn combs are some of the many
articles sold from barrows in the street,
outside the regular shops fer meat, fruit
and fish. On the whole, trade is carried
on with great briskness, but more qui-
etly than in market streets at home
The butchers are the most noisy. They
delight in wearing tall hats and scream
ing odd calls at the full of their lungs.
A penny is the standard unit here in
Canning town. The buyers are poor,
and everything that can be called at .
penny is. A common cry is:
A penny pun. a pun penny,
at the barrows, where a pound Of any
thing can be sold at this low rate
Hartford Courant.
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03
Single and Married.

!, A native of Ireland landing at Green
ock wanted to take the train to Glas-
gov. Never having been in a railway
station before. he did not know how to
get his ticket. Seeing lady, however,
going in. Pat thought he would follow
her, and he would soon know how to
get aboard. The lady, going to the
ticket box and putting down her money.
said, "Maryhill. single" Her ticket
was duly handed to her, and she walked
off. Pat. thinking it all right, planked
down his money and shouted, Patrick
Murphy. married. ."-Tit-Bits.
The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1897-04-03
Railway Headaches.

Those who suffer from headache and
feel the fatigue of a railway journey dis
agreeably should take with them two
leather or silk covered cushions-one for
the small of the back, another to rest the
neck and head. An eminent doctor once
stated that this was a capital antidote to
the evils arising from the jolting of tho
train, liable to cause slight congestion of
the head in very long journeys. He fur
thermore advised no reading in the train
to those subjected to headaches.-New
York Times.