davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14

and glaring down into their eyes was a
big china dog, monster OF green and
orange china, having all over It's body
ugly bunches of black stripes and black
lined curls, such as are never seen any
where save upon china dog. The great
animal was resting one paw upon a
china cushion, and Pearl. who told most
of the story, says his expression and
tone We're most horrible.
"Woof, woof. woof!" said the china
dog a second time. I'm gobble both OF
you up at mouthful IL you don't get
out Of my drawing room" Then the
kittens heard an awful clatter and fed
for their lives. They never stopped un-
Ill they reached the top of the house,
where the servants slept. and, darting
through an open door, crawled under a
bureau. and IL was there that Mary. the
housemaid. found them in the morning
when she got out OF bed at 8 o'clock.
EDITH LAWRENCE.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14

strange discovery was made BIZ the
| recent Mazama expedition To the summit
or mount st :.osss.s oregon. When the
vanguard of party arrived at the
top of tue mountain, they moved soma
OF the fragments of rock to get at the
box containing the record OF mountain
climbers who had reached the peak.
Their actions disturbed a mouse that
had his habtation in that desolate spot.
To escape from the men who were take
ing such unauthorized liberties with his
home he left the two or three square
yards OF bare rock and scampered out
over the snow that stretched in an un-
broken surface on all sides.
The little creature was easily caught,
and Charles II. Sholes carried IL back
10 Portland with him. The mouse took
kindly TO its new environments and is
alive and iourshing now. not having
suffered any appreciable discomfort by
the change in the altitude of his abid-
ing place. The top OF the mountain ID
nearly 10000 feet above the sea.
The rodent is described as rather
large for a wood mouse, having very
large ears and a very long tail, being
the usual mouse color above and white
underneath. He is active and silent,
but watchful. He is believed TO be Of
the same kind as the mouse found q
few years ago on the top of Mount
Hood. His description has been sent ia
Professor Merriam. who was TO have
been the biologist of the expeditions
but failed 90 make connections i'm time.
IL he shall find the little beast to be q
new mountain climber. a special exami-
nation will be made into his case, and
mousie may become famous and have
his portrait in the learned books of sci.
ence.
+. II. Gardner o. c. Yocum and Jons
athan Humphrey, who made the ascent
OF Mount Hood recently. reported that
they saw a pine squirrel on the top OF
the mountain, much TO their astonish-
ment The squirrel is said TO have been
on the mountain about two weeks and
seemed to be well fed and lively. though
what ne finds to live on there is a mys-
terry. The climate and scenery will suf-
flee for large degree OF satisfaction at
that solemn height. but stomachs. even
of mice and squirrels. are supposed to
require something more than a charms
ing aspect.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14
The Domestic Donkey.

Naturalists tell us that the donkey OF
today is the tanned descendant of the
African ass. The ordinary color is gray
but il varies almost to white in one di-
rection and TO dark brown i'm the other
Look carefully at an ass, and you will
observe a dark stripe running down the
back and another across the shoulders
There are also bars on the legs These
markings show some relationship exists
between the donkey and the zebra.
which, you know, is an animal with
many stripes.
The ass was known to the ancient
Egyptians long before the horse and
was indeed probably first domesticat-
ed in the valley OF the Nile, whence il
has spread over almost the whole of
the habitable regions of the globe
In Europe the largest and finest asses
are found in the more southern coun-
tries, such as Spain, Italy and Malta,
but there are others of still finer pro-
portions in the United States, where
they reach a height of Is or 16 hands.
In one district of equatorial Africa
large droves of these animals are kept
for the sake of their milk.
The ass has a great dislike to cross
ing the smallest stream of water. This
aversion is doubtless a direct inherit
ance from it's desert haunting wild an
cestors.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14

dered by degrees till at last only a de-
lusive show OF assets on paper fitted
! through the tangled figures. Nearly
S50,OOO i'm cash was missing. Twice a
year the books were supposed tn be
audited, but this must have been a
farce, for the false entries were allow
ed 10 pass. No one but the treasurer
could have fixed" the accounts, and
they were all in his handwriting-the
dishonest ones at least. Moreover. his
suicide was now explained and fell into
an everyday category, only redeemed
from the commonplace by the magni-
tude Of the interests involved. AS no
considerable sums were found i'm his
possession. il was probable that he had
lost IL all in unlucky speculations and
had taken the shortest way out. And
yet this man had been one of the most
trusted officials of the company and
had been appointed two years before on
the recommendation Of the president
himself
The panic on the market when the
great company's stock gradually slid
down 10 zero VIII not soon be forgotten.
No one ever counted the number of
small concerns that went down with IL.
They were as the sands OF the sea. Mr..
Pulkingham was one OF the largest
shareholders, besides being personally
responsible. and IL was clear that he
would be able To keep his feet only by
the utmost efforts. But the most stag
gering feature Of all has never yet been
published.
] was detailed TO write UP the case
Tor The Comet, and, among other in
vestigations. I tried TO find out where
the embezzled money had gone. could
not find a clew. There was no trace of
investments or speculations The dead
treasurer seemed To have lived a life
that was quiet and well regulated TO
the last degree. found IL necessary TO
suppose that he had actually saved up
his plunder and taken it away with
him. But where did IL go after his
death, ana why dId he feel ID necessary
to commit suicide
IL took me couple OF days TO evolve
my own theory OF murder and robbery.
aud even then u was bat The vaguest
hypothesis. But knew that N We
could substantiate IL. it would be the
biggest sensational SCOOP" that ever
was, and Charlie Macon agreed with
s1c. I left for Toronto on the 2oth. and
next day / was examining the little
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14

as they stole across the floor, was soft
as their own silky coats. The moon
beams that stole In through the delicate
lace curtains cast a ghostly light upon
the polished furniture. The big sutsu-
ma vase glttered i'm the bay window as
IL IL were coated with ice. Jet and
Pearl could not at first understand that
the odd appearance OF the vase was be-
cause IL stood directly in the strong
moonlight.
Pearl, it's the light" meowed Jet.
who. while less daring. was more OBJ
serving than her sister.
"Of course! l knew that" asserted
Pearl. II hope you don't think I meant
to back out"
"oh, no! And, see. there is the little
pink mouse."
The mouse stood out quite distinctly
on one side Of the vase and even seemed
TO be eying them with bright, apprehen-
sive eyes. But IL did not move. II
could not, for IL was only a little pink
mouse painted upon vase by some
slant eyed artist I'm faraway japan.
The little kittens did not know this. SO
they crept up very quietly close to the
vase and then sat down TO look at IL.
How their mouths watered. IL was
their first mousing expedition. but still
they had an instructive feeling that
mouse would taste good.
The mouse did not offer TO bulge. and
until IL did there seemed nothing for
the cats to do but sit and watch IL.
This grows monotonous, Jet" said
Pearl at last. I'm tired sitting here
waiting for that stupid mouse to move.
Let's finish IL up at once"
Meow, miaow! My idea exactlyl"
mildly assented Jet. So Pearl, who was
the leader in everything, began to creep
toward the vase. Pearl approached on
one side and Jet on the other i'm order
to head off the mouse. no matter in
which direction IT should make up it's
mind to run. Two little pink noses ap-
preached very close TO the vase. and
two pairs of little pink padded paws.
with sharp claws outstretched. were
reached out toward the unfortunate
china mouse. The kittens eyes were
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14
THE TRUE STORY
OF MOTHER GOOSE

Every one knows the Mother Goose
Nursery Rhymes" but there are prob
! ably but few people who know that
Mother Goose was a real person and
that her jingling rhymes were sung by
her to a real baby and have travelled all
ovef the world from this side of the At
lantic.
The Goose family were wealthy and
respectable. but not in any way dstin-
guished, and, though il is recorded that
they owned real estate in Boston as
early as the year 1859. meme OF them
achieved notoriety. except Mother
Goose, who. after all, was only a goose
by marriage. The name seems to have
been originally Vertigoose. afterward
called Vergoose.
Mother Goose was born, lived and
finally died at a ripe old age i'm Bos-
ton, the mother OF six children per-
haps more. but OF that one cannot be
quite sure. for registers of births were
not carefully kept in those days. AS her
husband had ten children when he mar
ried her, IL requires no great magma
ton TO make one suppose that she was
the original
Old woman who lived I'm a shoe
And had so many children she did not know
what 10 do.
IN f710 Elizabeth Vergoose became a
widow, and i'm 1315 her second daugh-
ter. who was also her namesake, mar
ried Thomas Fleet, a printer. from
Bristol. He established a printing
house in Pudding lane Boston, and
there he and his wife lived and their
little son was born.
To Mrs Vergoose this grandchild was
the greatest possible JOY. She devoted
herself entirely To IL, hardly tolerating
its mother in the nursery and spending
most of her time either there or walk
ing about the house grooming TO 1t tunes
which impressed her son-in-law so
greatly that he printed them in pam
phlet form with title page inscribed.
Mother Gooses Melodies"
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14

We followed him on board an up
! town car and got off with him at Forty
ninth street. He walked east, and we
kept 20 yards behind till he suddenly
entered little hotel near Third avenue
We hurried after him and from a dis
! tance beheld him i'm the act of regis
tering, after which he disappeared up
stairs. with bellboy 10 carry his grip.
We looked at the register. The ink was
scarcely dry on the signature Il. j. Ash,
lie, Boston" and the handwriting was
the same as that I'm the Toronto regis
ter. He was put down for room No. 81.
and Charlie and / at once registered
and got ourselves assigned TO No. 80,
next door.
His door was shut when we entered
No. 3S. and we sat down nervously upon
the bed, waiting and listening and
afraid TO speak. We could hear Goebei,
or Ashlie, moving about on the other
side of the partition. heard the click OF
his closing valise and then splashing
as If he were washing his hands, then
a long silence.
We waited for several minutes, and
Charlie was beginning to grumble i'm q
whisper when the next door opened
suddenly and we heard our man go
out. We hurried out into the corridor
and stopped i'm perplexity
The door OF No. 81 stood wide open,
and there was no one i'm the room.
Down the hall a man was walking rap
idly toward the stairway but it was
not the man we had shadowed This
was tall. slender individual, with
black hair showing under his hat brim.
Yet ! felt that / knew that dignifed
back and that erect figure, and in
stinctvely we both ran after the man,
overtaking him just as he set foot upon
the topmost stair. He turned squarely
and faced US, and | saw his cheeks turn
as pale as ashes. though he made no
sign of recognition.
| did not recognize him for a second
on account of the absence OF the point
ed beard. which he had shaved off, but
Charlie did and emitted an inarticulate
splutter. IL was Mr.. Pulkngham, our
owner without a doubt. We must have
turned as pale as he did. and for five
breaths we stood there i'm tableau like
trio Of detected criminals. What
Charlie thought of | DO not know. My
own meditations were too mixed to
write. Then the end came suddenly.
Mr.. Pulkingham turned and made a
blind step 20 descend. Hts foot slipped
or tripped, / don't know how, and i'm a
fash he plunged headlong forward. and
his forehead struck the edge OF a step
Il feet lower with CHASTITY crash.
The body toppled Imply down the rest
OF the light and lay motlonless.
Charlie and ! Identified him. and he
was gent home where be died next dav
without ever regaining consciousness
The brown bug was sent home with
him. unopened. but | am much mistak-
Ell " u dij not contain gray wig u
false white mustache and a good deal
OF padding. ~ any rate his executors
were considerably surprised to find In
a small safe az his house somewhat
more than ss000O0 I'm cold cash. which
went a considerable way toward re-
Loving the distress OF the Shareholders
Of the company.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14
THE KITTENS
AND THE
PINK MOUSE.

They We're two OF the cutest and
brightest kittens anywhere, Jet and
Pearl OF course Jet was black, with
not single white hair i'm her coat,
while Pearl was Immediately white
They lived in "a beautiful big house
with verandas and green lawns for
them TO run and play upon i'm the sum-
mer. Their mistress was a lovely lady
with blue eyes, soft yellow hair and
sweet voice that could almost-remem-
Der, almost. ! say--charm the two mad
cap kittens into good behavior when
they were at the height of their mad
dest pranks
Then there was a baby. OF course
that was why Jet and Pearl had been
brought TO the beautiful big house--to
be playfellows for the round, dimpled.
blue eyed little fellow that rolled about
the floor of the nursery while Jet and
Pearl frolicked over him. Sometimes
they sat quietly beside him and purred
stories of their adventures. for as every
enc knows, until they learn the hard
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14

anticipate that the man would be late
I'm coming. At 1915 we were I'm quiet
corner of the large office. and for a
hair hour We scanned the face Of every
'fian wirU rr1trrsd
The half hour slipped into an hour
before Vur man made his appearance.
recognized him at once from the
clerk descfiptiOn-the heavy hgure.
the bristling white mustsche ana the
White hair-snd there was something
inexpressibly familiar about his whole
appearance which ! could not define.
lie carried brown leather bag in his
hand. aud after receiving the packet at
The wicket he left the office without 30
much as glancing in our direction.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14
Postage stamps For Dinner.

Some animals have very queer tastes,
The ostrich prefers gold watches for a
steady diet. and the travelling shows
mans donkey has a reputation for con.
suming any clean linen that may be
handy, but goat has beaten these by
making meal off some valuable post
age stamps.
The stamp collector who owned this
goat placed on his office table some ju-
dicial stamps to the value of about 500.
While his attention was drawn to some>
thing else his pet goat was slowly but
surely making meal off the stamps.
This was not discovered until the goat
had swallowed some $50 worth of the
stamps.
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14

AS / entered the city editors room OF
The Daily Comet | met Charlie Macon,
the city editor, escorting Mr. Morton
Pulkingham very deferentially to the
outer door. Mr.. Pulkingham was the
owner Of The Comet. a rather tall. slen-
der, middle aged man of exceeding dig
nifty, with a grayish pointed beard and
a high forehead that crept up over the
top OF his skull. He was making a pay
ing thing out OF the paper though he
was hampered by conservative ideas in
journalism. He fought continual bat
Ties with Macon on the subject of scare
heads and sensations, which were
denominations unto him. and he was sus-
pected OF cherishing sentiments on the
moral influence of the press He was
also the president of the in starred
Marbehead Investment company, and
the sensational failure of that concern
had certainly affected him seriously so
that IL was a burning subject of specu-
lation i'm our office whether he would be
able 10 continue the publication of the
paper.
! happened TO be rather intimate with
Macon, SO when he returned / asked
him If there was anything new about
tne prospects OF the paper
mo" he replied. buckingham only
wanted me 10 write an editorial about
the Marblehead smash and the decay of
commercial morality. He said that /
wasn't to mind his being i'm Il at all.
He thinks that only long tested men
should-should be put--in-er-postions
OF responsibility" His voice died out
as he began TO slash through pile of
"free lance" copy on his desk.
The Marblehead Investment company
was supposed 10 be the safest and solid
est company In the United States, and
its capital figured as Sl5.5O0 900. ON Ju-
ly II the treasurer. Mr.. Millner. request
ed a weeks vacation and left. it was
understood. for the White mountains.
On the 18th came news Of peculiar
Suicide i'm hotel in Toronto. An hour
later New York was startled with the
discovery that the dead man was the
holidaylng treasurer
AZ once. but without ostentaton. the
books of the company We're oyorhauled
by All expert. with the most cstaciysmal
revelations imaginable. The company
was literally like squeezed lemon.
For two years the books had been sys-
tematically falslned with the most in
fernal ingenuity and the company plum
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14

words with which grown people tall
little children can understand the Ian
guage OF birds and butterflies and, In
fact, of all living creatures save man
to whom speech is given as much fol
| the purpose of concealing what ht
thinks and knows as for telling il.
1t was a long time ago that Pearl and
Jet told the story of the big blue dragon
| and the pink mouse upon the Sutsuma
vase, but / think, If try very hard, ]
can recall most OF it,.
Now, IL there was one part of the big
house that especially interested Jet and
Pearl Ii was (of course after the kitch-
en- and pantry, where there were things
to eap the drawing room. This was
because they were never allowed TO en-
ter that room. Once or twice they had
slipped i'm when Mary, the housemaid,
was busting the furniture. but they
were chased out so promptly that they
got but passing glimpse Of the curious
things il contained.
Once, Just as Pearl was being whisk-
cd by the big Japanese vase near the
bay window, she spied the pink mouse.
IL was balancing itself on a wisp OF
golden straw. the spears of a piece of
blue fieldgrass forming support for
its little pink body. A big red dragon
was curled up about the neck of the
vase, and Pearl, when she told Jet
about the mouse. said:
You should have seen how pertly the
little pink mouse menaced the red dra e.
on with it's straw. The idea, Scare a
red dragon. I'm sure we could frighten
that pink mouse out OF its five senses
with single meow. Jet, dear, ! won
der If pink mouse would taste good"
Jet washed her paws reAectively and
said she didn't know.
That night, when every one had gone
to bed and the kittens were supposed
TO be sweetly dreaming of balls of yarn
and saucers of cream in their snugly
lined baskets in the nursery, they wait
ed until they heard every one else re-
tire for the night and then slyly crept
down stairs. 1t happened that the
drawing room door stood ajar, and
Pearl, who was the more fearless
Of the two, went ahead and poked her
nose inside the room TO see If there was
still any one there. The room was va
cant, and Pearl signaled to Jet to come
ahead. The room was a very large one
and handsomely furnished. The carpet.
into which the feet of the kittens sank
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14
A Clever HedgehOC.

Mr.. and Mrs. Hedgehog lived In a
snug little corner in the wood. One day
there was nothing for dinner. so Mr..
Hedgehog had TO go and try to find
some food.
He roamed about for long time but
found nothing and at last he was
afraid he should have TO go back to
his wife and the little hedgehogs with
no dinner for them, but presently he
spied something on the ground
"Ho!" said he. Apples, The very
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14

An old school gentleman, the late SO
Rainald Knightley. who was the living
double of Dickens Sir Leicester Ded.
lock. used 10 expatiote after dinner %
the glOries OF his pedigree.
The company was getting a little rest-
i've. under the recitation when SIR Wil-
liam Harcourt was heard TO say In an
aside: This reminds me
OF Addison'S evening hymn:
And knightlcy 10 the listening carth
Repeats the story OF his b.gth."
The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-14
Shooting sfarn.

Aerolites, or shooting stars. are now
known to be fragments Of stone, gener-
ally of small size. attracted TO. our
earth in the journey through space.
Their immense speed causes them TO
take fire in passing through our atmos-
phere. Sometimes they explode with a
noise like thunder and leave a train of
light behind them like rockets.
One such meteor passed over south
-erft England on the night of Feb. II,
1850, and lighted up the country with
the brilliance of day. Probably no day
passes without great numbers falling
Most people call them shooting stars.