davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
JObSOn Reads History

hI PROPOSE" said Mr.. Jobson,
when he arrived home with a
bulky package under his arm the other
evening-'I propose to make the pres
ent year one of instruction and
mental cultivation in this household"
and he cut the twine that bound the
bundle, ripped off the paper and re-
vealed a stack of books of the same
color and pattern.
This thing" he went on, "of dod-
dering around the house for five or
six hours every night, until bedtime,
playing checkers, or saving on the vio-
lin, or listening to you pick out note
here and &, note there on the piano,
and watching you reading with rapt,
open-mouthed attention the narration
of the extraordinary adventures of
Birdie Juteworks,' or, The Hapless
Maiden of the MILL has got to come to
an end. It's slothful, Improbable,
idiotic, and miserable fashion of frit-
tering away the time"
Here Mr.. Jobson halted and gazed
solemnly at Mrs. Jobson, who won
dered what was coming next.
81 have here, Mrs. Jobson," he went
on, san immortal historical work,
which you may have heard of, and
which you may not have heard of. 1t
is called The Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire and it was written by
Gibbon."
"Quite true" said Mrs. Jobson, sweet
ly. Il read an abridgement of it when
1 was at school, and 4 have read the
complete work through twice since we
were married. You will remember
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
"BABoO" ELoOUENCE.
HIT ana Miss Pleading of an Indian Law.
yer Before an English
Judge.

People in this country frequently
express surprise at the high salaries
paid to members of the judicial bench
in India, says the London Chronicle.
When, however, these gentlemen have
perforce to hear with a grave face
such pleadings as the following, it is
not difficult to understand why the
government offers them handsome
rate OF remuneration. The case in
question was one of assault and bat
terry: my learned friend with more
wind from a teapot thinks to brow
beat me from my legs. But this is
mere guerrilla warfare. 1 stand un-
der the shoes of my client, and 7
only seek to place the bone of con-
tention clearly in your honor's eve.
Your honor will be pleased enough
to observe that my client is a poor
widow with one post-mortem son. A
widow of this country, your honor
will be pleased enough to observe,
is not like widow of your honor's
country-is not able to eat more than
one meal day or to wear dhoties or
w AOOAA oAOSA a uIdu. OO INV DOOr
client had not such physique or mind
as to assault the lusty combatant.
Yet she has been deprived of some
of her valuable leather-the leather
of her nose.
my learned friend has thrown only
an argument ad hominum upon my
teeth, that my clients witnesses are
all near relatives. But they are not
her near relatives. Their relation
ship is there homeopathic. So the
misty arguments of my learned friend
will not hold water-at least, they
will not hold good water. And I am
sorry to say that this witness is a
man of my own feathers, that there
are in my profession black sheep of
every description, and some of them
do not always speak gospel truth.
Until the witness therefore explains
how he has come across my clients
nose leather, he can not be believed.
He cannot be allowed to raise castle
in the air by beating upon bush" 2"
We are glad to observe that the de-
fendant who took a piece of the
widows valuable nose leather was
bound over to keep the "piece."
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

IT Murdock were coming he would
have to shut off the gas and ventilate
the room. What was he waiting for?
Come ini"
The words were Murdock's as he
turned away from the grating and
closed the sliding panel.
"An interruption which probably
means death to u.s." whispered Sturgis
to his companion; "take another
breath of fresh air, old fellow; we
must hold out little longer"
Sprague, however, lay motionless
and unresponsive. The reporter shook
him violently and turned him over
upon his back. The artists body was
limp and inert; his eyes half closed;
his face livid.
The reporter himself felt sick and
faint. But, with a mighty effort, he
succeeded in raising his friend in his
arms, and dragging him toward the
speaking tube There, of a sudden, his
strength failed him. His head swan;
his muscles relaxed; he felt Sprague's
limp form slip from his grasp, tottered,
reeled, threw his arms wildly about
him for support, and fell, as the last
elusive ray of consciousness was slip
ping away from him.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
COFFEE AND CAKES.
Coffee and cakes.

Coffee and cakes.
(And the bright eyes of Helen)
What joys are in store for us-Time has
the tellin'!
Coffee and cakes, and the bright eyes of
Helen,
The rustic of silvery curtains of lace
The light of her eyes and the light of her
face
Where the bright dimples racei
A blessing that day from Loves heart
was upwellin'-
Coffee and cakes, and the bright eyes of
Helen!
Who'd think that beggar who knelt in
the dust
And the darkness of life, and thanked
God for a crust,
Would e'er Ger banquet be granted the
grace
OF the light of those eyes and the joy OF
that face,
Where such rose-dimples race!
All, what is in store for us-Time has the
tellin'-
Coffee and cakes, and the bright eyes of
Helen!
Was ever such banquet? All, every
bright minute
Had silvery ripples of laughter wove in 1t!
All the joy of a lifetime seemed merged
in an hour
Of light and of joy, in an April-sweet
shower,
And that face like a 1oweri
Forever and ever Loves blessings up
wellin
For coffee and cakes, and the bright eyes
of Helen!
Frank L. Stanton, In Atlanta Constitu-
ton.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

that my Uncle John gave it to me for
a birthday present, in eight volumes.
1t is in the bookcase now, bound in
morocco, you'll remember"
Mr.. Jobson's countenance fell, but
he promptly recovered and looked in
credulous.
There's something queer about all
this, that's all I've got to say" he re-
marked, however. Il never knew of
these books being in the house, and
you must have been hiding them all
these years. I'll bet you the incest
poke bonnet that can be built for new
currency that those volumes have
never seen the inside of the bookcase.
anyhow-you've probably had them in
the bottom of one of the old trunks in
the storeroom all this time''
They've been in the bookcase ever
since l got them," put in Mrs. Jobson.
and Mr.. Jobson, perceiving that he was
cornered, cleared his throat ponderous-
ly and went on:
"We'll just let that little mystery
pass for the present" he said. eff l
had known that there was an edition
of this immortal work around my
house dye suppose that I'd have blown
in $2S for this 12-volume edition? How
ever, We'll let that pass as 1 say. The
fact remains that chapter of this
great historical work is going to be
read in this household every night
from now on, and I'm going to be the
reader We need to have our horizon
expanded. We live too much in the
trifiing and frivolous present We are
too much concerned with merely
dinky affairs. We need inspiration.
elevation, eXaltation. What better way
of gaining those things than by bark
ing back, through the medium of this
masterful worl to the glorious days
and the mighty happenings of i'm
perial Rome %. and Mr.. Jobson was be-
coming so eloquent that Mrs. Jobson
felt like Ginning in with Hear! Hear!'
but she didn't care to take the chance.
81 think" went on Mr.. Jobson, that
/ started TO read this book when l was
a young fellow, but I'm not sure, and
I'm not setting up any fictitious
claims like some people know. Wen
begin on these readings right after
dinner, and from this time on nothing
whatever is going to interfere with at
least ont chapter of Gibbon every
evening. You'll thank me for this later
on, although l can see by your looks
now that you are suffering the miser-
les of an anticipated martyrdon"
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
FREE AND EQUAL.
A New England Jehu Who Ruff1ed the
Dignity of a Formal Leave-Taking
In Samoa.

Mr.. Lloyd Osbourne, the author of
recent volume of delightful Samoan
stories, most of which are so little
fiction as to be merely picturesque
adaptations of truth, is better ac-
quainted with the characteristics of
Polynesian natives and Americans of
the Pacific coast than with those of
New Englanders. Nevertheless, he
knew in Samoa at least one "daown-
easter" who was a thorough-going
New England rustic type. He was a
jack of all trades, one of them being
that of driver, says Youths Com
panion.
On one occasion ball was given at
the German consulate which Mr.. Os-
bourne and his sister attended, being
driven over from Vailima. 1t was a
formal affair in honor of the officers
of a visiting German warship, and
they went in their best attire, pre-
pared to discard the unconventional
ity of island life for all the elegance
and correctness of demeanor they
could achieve.
When the time came to return, their
carriage was driven up to the door
and Miss Osbourne promptly took her
seat; but her brother, occupied in
bidding lively adieus to group of
pretty girls on the veranda, fingered
somewhat unduly. The horses were
restive and the free-and-equal, not to
say free-and-easy, citizen on the box
soon became impatient. He did not
lose his amiability, but he considered
that it was high time the inconsider-
ate young man was hurried up, and
he proceeded to hurry him.
Obvious of the grins of gorgeous
officers and the filters of gauzy dam
sells, he signaled violently with his
whip; then, failing to receive atten-
tion, he sang out in a tone of indul-
gently derisive banter:
oval, Lloyd, I guess ye nights well
be startin' along! It's gettin' late, an
them gals'll be tired of ye by this
time, sure!"
Mr.. Osbourne's exit was scarcely as
dignifed as he would have liked to
have it, but he obeyed the summons.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

come from the direction of the ex-
tension.
Miss Murdoch shifted the air.
isn't there a leak of gas?" she in
quired.
"Yes," replied Murdock; 81 have
just stopped a leak in the laboratory.
Won't you take a chair, Agnes?"
She felt his calm, searching glance
upon her; and, in spite of her prep
aration, she grew embarrassed, us
was her wont, in her fathers pres
ence.
''Did Mr.. Chatham wait to see you
this afternoon?" she asked, after a
momentary silence.
Murdoch observed her narrowly.
"Yes; Chatham has been here to-
day. L did not know that you had
seen him"
81 could not help seeing him; for
he forced his way into the parlor, III
spite of all the servants could do to
prevent him."
An almost imperceptible furrow ap-
peared between the chemists eyes.
HAS he been annoying you with
his attentions?''
The words were spoken in Muir
docks usual tones; but Agnes saw
something in her fathers eyes and
in the firm lines of his mouth which
sent cold shiver down her spine, and
caused her pity to go out to the un-
fortunate young man who had Offend
ed her
"Perhaps he is more to be pitied
than blamed" she suggested, gently.
"Mv interview with him was certain
ly not pleasant; but L bear him no
malice
"Tell me about it" said Murdock,
slowly.
Agnes gave her version of the visit,
in which, instinctively, she softened,
as much as possible, the passion ana
brutality displayed by the account
ant.
Murdock listened in silence until
she had quite finished. Then Agnes
noticed that his right hand was
clenched upon the arm OF his char
with q force which caused the mus
cles to stand out in hard knots. She
looked up into his face in sudden sur
prise.
His features gave no indication OF
what his feelings might be; and his
voice, as usual was steady and delIb-
crate.
81 am sorry all this should have
happened. Agnes. AS [ told you yes
terday, I hoped to save you from this
mans opportunities. 1t cannot be
helped now. But I think [ made 1T
clear to the gentleman that his atten-
tions are as distasteful to me as they
are to you. AS he seems to have told
you, he has been obliged to leave the
country-I understand that he has
done something or other which makes
it safer for him to undertake long
journey. At any rate, we are well rld
of him for some time to come. and
think you need have no fear of fur
ther molestation."
"What did he mean by saying that
he had had encoura cement from
you?" asked the young girl.
81 am sure I do not know. That
was of course lie out of whole cloth.
lie came to me with letters of recon-
mendation from good friends of mine,
and I therefore occasionally invited
him to the house; but that is all the
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

encouragement he ever got from ME.
We live in the United States ard at
the close of the nineteenth century
The selection of husband is no long
er performed by stern parent. but
is left entirely to the young girl her.
self. That is certainly my way CT
looking at the matter. When you
find the man of your choice, my only
function will be to give you advice,
if you seek it, and my best assistance
in any event."
The turn of the conversation thus
suddenly brought to the surface the
topic which occupied the young girls
mind, to the exclusion of all others;
and which, for that very reason, had
been kept severely in the background
up to that point.
"That reminds me-" said Agnes,
consciously, as charming flush suf-
fused her beautiful face, "that I have
not yet broached the principal object
of this interview"
Murdock observed her closely and
waited for her to proceed. But Agnes
was once more laboring under n
strange embarrassment and could not
find words in which to frame the con-
fdence she was so reluctant to offer.
Perhaps the chemist OWNED some
thing of the nature of what she was
struggling to find expression for. At
any rate, he noticed her embarrass-
ment and endeavored to come to her
s-4a
words, spoken with unusual gentle
ness. Agnes, engrossed with her own
thoughts, did not notice it; but there
was in his manner as near an ap-
proach to tender wistfulness as his
nature was capable of.
At last the young girl seemed to
gather courage, and she was about to
speak, when there was knock upon
the door,
'Plaze, sur; there do be two gin
tlemin in the hail."
"Who are they, Mary?"
''Shure, thin, sir, I dunno, barrin'
wan Nv 'em do be polacemun.
'Did they ask to see me?''
''They did not, sur; shure they asked
if Mr.. Chapman was in"
''Mr. Chatham?"
''Yis, sur. And 1 told 'em he wuz here
this afthernoon, and 1 wud see wuz
he here now, fur 1 amt seen him go
yit.''
swell, Mary, you see he has gone,
since he is no longer here" said Muir
dock quietly. ''Take the gentlemen
into the parlor, and tell them I shall
be with them in minute"
''All right, sur.'
After the maid had left the room,
the chemist rose from his chair and
walked toward the door leading to the
library.
eff you will excuse me for few
minutes, Agnes, 1 shall see what these
men want. Wait for me here, if you
will. l shall be back directly"
So saying, he noiselessly opened the
folding doors and passed into the Ii
brary, closing the doors carefully be-
hind him.
Freed from the presence of her ia
ther, Agnes almost instantly regained
her composure. She had not, how
ever, had much time to collect her
thoughts, when she was suddenly start
led by loud, shrill whistle, which
brought her to her feet in alarm.
'Well?"
She asked the question in anxious
tones, as if realizing that life and
death were in the balance. Then she
placed her ear to the mouthpiece.
At first she could not make out the
words spoken by her invisible in
terlocutor. Then, gradually, they fell
upon her ear with terrible distinct
ness; and she stood spellbound, as in
a horrible nightmare, with sudden ter
ror in her staring eyes, and with the
fearful sense of impotence in her trem-
bling limbs.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
CHAPTER XXI.
FATHER AND DAUGHTER.

After Sprague had left her, Agnes,
shaken by the conflicting emotions of
the day, had gone to her room to rest
and to prepare for the interview
which she meant to have with her
father on the subject of her lover
and of Chatham.
Having received word that Murdock
would remain in his study during the
rest of the afternoon, she had taken
time to reflect upon what she meant
to say, and how she meant to say it.
Her visit was not prompted by the
desire of a daughter to confide the
great happiness of her life to the low
ing sympathy of an affectionate par
ent; but Agnes was punctilious in the
performance of what she considered
to be her duties, great and small, and
she counted it among those duties to
obtain, or at any rate to seek, the pa
ternal sanction of her choice of q
husband
Her knock at the door of Murdock's
study was answered in the chemists
quiet voice:
Come in"
AS she opened the door, Murdock
advanced to meet her. He seemed to
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SPEAKING TUBE.

Nature has implanted in every one
of its living creatures, from the
top to the bottom of the scale,
the strongest of all instincts -
that of self-preservation. AS Sturgis
fell forward and clutched wildly at the
air, his hand struck the stone wall of
the square chamber. No conscious i'm
preston was made upon his brain by
the contact; but, automatically, his
fingers tightened as they slipped over
the smooth surface. His right hand
struck an obstacle and closed upon it,
in the convulsive grip of dying man.
Then sudden CLEAN of consciousness
swept across his sluggish brain.
1t was the speaking-tube!
He clung to it with the remnant of
his strength and eagerly placed his
lips to the mouthpiece. For few min
utes he drank in with avidity the re-
vivifying draughts of air which grad
ually brought him back from the brink
of death.
With returning consciousness, the
thought of his dying friend required to
him i'll all its vividness. He tried to
go to his assistance; but he was sick
and faint, and his limbs were powerless
to respond to his will. Then, at last,
he was seized with utter despair and
gave up the struggle.
lie had sunk dejectedly upon the
chair when a faint and indistinct muir
mur, as of distant voices, beat upon his
ears, whose natural acuity seemed eX-
traordlnarily increased by the long
nervous tension under which he had
been. The ruling passion is strong in
death; without knowing just why he
did so, Sturgis found himself again at
the spealing-tube, endeavoring to hear
the conversation, the sound of which
evidently came from Murdock's Office.
He could barely distinguish a word
here and there; but he recognized the
timber of one Of the voices. 1t was the
chemists, and his interlocutor was a
Woman-perhaps his daughter. If only
he could reach Agnes Murdock with
some word or signal.
In suspense, he held his ear to the
mouthpiece. occasionally taking
breath of fresh air to renew his
strength.
Should he take the chances and shout
IN the hope of catching the young
girls attention? If he whistled, Muir
dock would answer himself, and the
last chance would be lost. But would
she hear a shout And, if she did, woulu
not her father prevent her from render
ing any assistance? Yet what other
chance was there? Poor Sprague was
dying; perhaps already dead. There
was no time to lose.
ITO Be Continued
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
obe,n Rate. to California.

February 18th and each Tuesday there's
after, until and including April S0th, Speclal
Low Rate Colonist Tickets will be sold wa
and Sunset" Routes to all points in Califor-
MIA. The rate will be: From Chicago
$1,000, from st. Louis, Memphis and New
Orleans $3.50, from Omaha, Kansas City,
etc, $500. Corresponding low rates from
all other points east and north.
For particulars and detailed informatiou
pertaining to the Southern Pacific Com
panys Routes, and these special rates to CAL
ifornia, call upon or address
w; G. Neimyer, G. w. A, S. P. Co., 23s
Clark St., Chicago, Ill.
W. H. Connor, c. A, S. p Co., Chamber
OF Commerce Bldg, Cincinnati, Ohio
G. G; Herring, c. A, S. P. Co., I'll Park
Bldg, Pittsburg, Pa
- L. E. Townsley, c. A., S. P. Co., 42l Olive
g. c. Cary, G. A., S. P. Co., 2OS Sheidley
Bldg, Kansas City, Mo.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
SENTINELS ON DECK.
Adventure of Capt. SIOcum with Saw.
ages on His Long Voyage
Around the World.

A wise man will take the weapon at
his hand, even if it is not the conven-
tional one. So thought Capt. Slocum,
who, on his sloop, the Spray, made a
voyage alone around the world, and
met many good friends, and singular
enemies. This is his description of
one comic happening, which might have
ended in tragedy. He says:
1 discovered, as she sailed along
through a labyrinth of islands, that
she was in the Cockburn channel. which
leads into the Strait of Magellan at
point opposite Cape Froward, and
that she was passing Thieves bay, sug-
gestive by name. That night she lay
at anchor in a snug cove at the Turn.
| now became jaded and worn from
my previous battling with danger and
rough weather. and as drowsiness came
on, sprinkled the deck with tacks. for
1t is well known that one cannot step
on a tack without saying something
about it. A pretty good Christian will
whistle when he meets the commercial
end of carpet-tack; savage will howl
and claw the air. That was just what
happened that night, a t II clock, when
the savages thought they had nee, sloop
and all until they stepped on deck;
then they learned that | had them.
They howled like a pack Of HOUNDS,
and jumped pell-nsell, some into their
canoes. others into the sea to cool off.
| fired several guns when l came on
deck, to let the rascals to know that 1
was at home, and then | turned in
again, feeling sure l should not be dis
turbed by people who left in so great
hurry.
The Fuegians. being cruel, are nat
urally towards, and regard a rifle with
superstitious fear. The only danger
from their quarter would be in allow
ing them to surround enc within bow
shot, or to anchor within range. where
they might lie in ambush.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
COFFecffnn Him

81 will make you walk the chalk ex-
claimed the angry customer, as he led
the milkman through the stream of
spilled milk.-Baitimor American.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
Aerial TeIegraphy and the TeIephone.

The Russian inventor, Popoff, has
successfully applied a telephone re-
ceiver in transmitting telegraphic
messages without wires. BY means
OF radio-conductors, variations of re-
sistance of short duration are pro-
duced, and these can be directly OBJ
served in a telephone. Last winter
Russian cruiser, ashore on an island
in the Gulf of Finland, was able to
communicate Geographically, without
wires, with an island 90 miles distant.
where the ice-breaking steamer Err
max was stationed, and by the same
means the lives of 27 Russian fisher
men, carried by an ice foe in sight Of
the stranded cruiser, were sased.-
Science.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28
Try Grain-o, Try Grain-oI

age of 'GRAIN-O, the new food drink that.
takes the place of coffee. The children may
drink it without injury as well as the adult.
All who try it, like it. GRAIN-O has that
rich seal brown of Mocha or Java, but it is
made from pure grains, and the most delicate
stomach receives it without distress. the
price of coffee. l5c. and 25cts. per package.
Sold by all grocers.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

Sweat and fruit acids will not discoIor
goods dyed with PUTNAM FADELEss DYES.
Sold by all druggists.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

From labor, heath, from health content
ment springs .-Beatlie.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

There is no end to the rings a woman
wcars.-Chicago Daily News.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

You cannot be cheerful if you have dys-
pepsia. You won't have dyspepsia if you
chew Whites "Yucatan"
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

Our Fickle Climate.-'I got my cutter
down yesterday" "Did you? Ride?'
Mop. busted it and put it back. ."-Cleve-
land Plain Dealer.
The Winslow mail., 1901-03-28

Youth is manuscript without the blue
pencil marks-Puck.