davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03

graceful line of open Gothic arches which skirted
a covered walk for the brethren within. Two and
two in their black-and-white garb with slow step
and heads inclined, they paced round and round
Several of the studious had brought their
illuminating work from the scriptorium, and sat
in the warm sunshine with their little platters of
pigments and packets of gold-leaf before them,
their shoulders rounded and their faces sunk low
the white sheets of velum. There too was
the copper-worker with his BURN and graver
Learning and art not traditions with the Cster
clans with the parent Order of the Benedictines,
and yet the library of Waverley well filled both
with precious books and with pious students.
But the true glory of the Cistercian lay in his
outdoor work, and and anon there passed
through the cloister sun-burned monk soiled
mattock shovel in hand, with his gown 1ooped
to his knee, fresh from the fields the garden The
lush green water-meadows speckled with the heavy
heeced sheep the of cortland reclaimed from
heather and bracken, the vineyards the southern
slope of Crooksbury Hill, the rows of Hankley fish
ponds, the Frensham marshes drained and
with vegetables the spacious pgeoncotes, all circled
the great Abbey round with the visible abors of the
Order.
The Abbots full and ford face shone with
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03

quiet content as he looked out at his huge but we'll
ordered household. Like every head of prosperous
Abbey, Abbot John, the fourth of the name, was a
man of various accomplishment. Through his
chosen instruments he had to minister a great
estate and to keep order and decorum among
large body of living celibate life. He was
rigid discplinarian toward all beneath him. sup
pie diplomatist to all above. He held high debate
with neighboring abbots and lords, with bishops,
with papal legates, and even on occasion with the
Kings majesty himself. Many the subjects
with which he must be conversant. Questions of
doctrine, questions of building, points of forestry.
of agriculture of drainage, of feudal law, all came
to the Abbot for settlement. He held the scales
of Justice in all the Abbey banlieue which stretched
over many a mile of Hampshire and of Surrey.
To the monks his displeasure might fasting,
exile to some sterner community, i'm
prisonment in chains Over the 1ayman also he
could hold any punishment only corporal
DEATH instead of which he had in hand the far
more dreadful weapon of spiritual excommunica-
ton.
Such were the powers of the Abbot and it is no
wonder that there masterful lines in the ruddy
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03

have sold the wool to Master Baldwin of Winches-
ter shillings bale than it fetched last
year, for the murrain among the sheep has raised
the price
''You have done well, brother
Il have also to tell you that | have distrained
Wat the warrener from his cottage; for his Christ
mas rent is still unpaid, the hen-rents of last
year"
He has wife and four children brother" He
good, easy man, the Abbot, though liable to
be overborne by his sterner subordinate.
1t is true holy father but if l should pass him,
then how am l to ask the rent of the foresters of
Puttenham, or the kinds in the village? Such
thing spreads from house to house, and where then
is the wealth of Waverley?"
What else, Brother Samuel"
There is the matter of the fish-ponds"
The Abbots face frightened. 1t was a subject
upon which he authority. If the rule of his
Order had robbed him of the softer joys of life he
had the keener zest for those which remained
How have the char prospered, brother?"
"They have done WELL holy father; but ,he carp
have died in the Abbots pond"
Carp prosper only upon gravel bottom. They
must be put in also in their due proportion, three
milters to one spawner, brother sacrist, and the
spot must be free from wind, stony and sandy,
ell deep, with willows and grass upon the banks.
Mud for tench, brother, gravel for carp.
The sacrist leaned forward with the face of one
who bears tidings of woe There are pike in the
Abbots pond said he.
"Pike!" cried the Abbot in horror. AS well
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03

from the face of the land From that time the
Lorings, with estates sadly curtailed lived in
what had been the dower-house, with enough for
splendor.
And then came their lawsuit with Waverley
Abbey and the Cistercians laid claim to their
richest land, with peccary, turbary and feudal
rights the remainder 1t struggled on for
years. this great lawsuit and when it finished
the of the Church and the men of the Law had
divided all that was richest of the estate between
them. There was still left the old manor-house from
which with each generation there came soldier to
uphold the credit of the and to show the five
scarlet roses on the silver shield where it had always
been shown-in the There were twelve
bronzes in the little chapel where Mathew the priest
said mass every morning, all of men of the house of
Loring Two lay with their legs crossed, as being
from the Crusades Six others rested their feet upon
lions as having died in Four only lay with
the efigy of their hounds to show that they had
passed in peace.
OF this famous but impoverished family doubly
impoverished by law and by pestilence, two
members were living in the year of grace $40
Lady Ermyntrude Loring and her grandson Nigel.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03

choir, while down in the chapter.
house sounded the strident voice OF
Brother Peter, expounding the rule
of Saint Bernard to the novices.
Abbot John rose to stretch his
cramped limbs. He looked out at the
greensward of the cloister, and at the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03

features of Abbot John, or that the
brethren, glancing up, should put on an
even meeker carriage and more demurc
expression as they saw the watchful
face in the window above them.
A knock at the door of his study
recalled the Abbot to his immediate
duties, and he returned to his desk.
Already he had spoken with his cellarer
and prior, almoner, chaplain and
1ector, but now in the tall and gaunt
monk who obeyed his summons to
enter he recognized the most impor-
tant and also the most importunate
of his agents, Brother Samuel the
sacrist, whose office, corresponding to
that of the 1ayman's bai1iff, placed
the material interests of the monastery
and its dealings with the outer world
entirely under his control, subject only
to the check of the Abbot Brother
Samuel was gnarled and stringy
old monk whose stern and sharp
featured face reflected no light from
above but only that sordid workaday
world toward which it was forever
turned. A huge book of accounts was
tucked under one of his arms, while
great bunch of keys hung from the
other hand, badge of his office, and
also on occasion of impotence
weapon of offense, as many SCARED
head among rustics and lay brothers
could testify.
The Abbot sighed YEARLY, for he
suffered much at the hands of his
strenuous agent. Well, Brother Sam
uel, what is your wi1l?" he asked.
Holy father, have to report that
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03

Ine eLlSy Oh LllCll llOu1luo " oIIO" III
passed in peace.
Of this famous but impoverished fal
impoverished by law and by pes1
members were living in the year of g
Lady Ermyntrude Loring and her gra
Lady Ermyntrude's husband had fallen
before the Scottish spearsmen at Stir
ling, and her son Eustace, Nigels father,
had found glorious death nine years
before this chronicle opens upon the
poop of a Norman galley at the sea-
fight of Sluys. The lonely old woman,
fierce and brooding like the falcon
mewed in her chamber, was soft only
toward the lad whom she had brought
up. All the tenderness and love of her
nature, so hidden from others that they
could not imagine their existence, were
1avished upon him. She could not bear
him away from her, and he, with that
respect for authority which the age
demanded, would not go without her
blessing and consent.
So it came about that Nigel with his
lion heart and with the blood of
hundred soldiers thrilling in his veins
still at the age of two and twenty
wasted the weary days retaining his
hawks with leash and lure or training
the alans and spaniels who shared with
the family the big earthen-foored hall
of the manor-house.
Day by day the aged Lady Ermyn-
trude had seen him wax in strength and
in manhood, small of stature, it is true,
but with muscles of steel and soul
of fire. From all parts, from the
warden of Guildford Castle, from the
tilt-yard of Farnham, tales of his
proves were brought back to her, of
his daring as a rider, of his debonair
courage, of his skill with all weapons;
but still she, who had both hus-
band and son torn from her by
a bloody death, could not bear
that this, the last of the Lorings, :,
the final bud of so famous an
old tree, should share the same "
fate. With a weary heart, but 4
with a smiling face, he bore
with his uneventful days, while
she would ever put off the evil time unit
was better, until the monks of Waverley
up what they had taken, until his
die and leave money for his outfit, O.
excuse with which she could hold
side.
And indeed, there was need for maj
for the strife betwixt the Abbey and
house had never been aDTeacad and
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
New Story OF Lincoln.

Iincolns birthday brings out the
usual complement of Lincoln stories,
and most of them have been published
in enc form or another, but j. ID. Vel
yer Of New York tells one that he
says never appeared in print.
In the thick of the civil war, when
Lincoln was troubled almost beyond
what he could bear two men from a
western state applied 20 him for some
minor Offices. The president was dis
gusted at their opportunities, but
finally told them q story.
"One time a king went hunting. On
his way to the forest he met subject
riding donkey. Hello, king said the
subject. Hello subject said the king.
Where are you going, king? I'm go
ing hunting, subject Better not, it's
going to rain No, it isn't said the
king, my court astrologer said that it
would be fair weather. No, it's going
to rain persisted the subject, but the
king laughed at him and went hunting.
1t rained hard and the king returned
to his castle wet and bedraggled and
cut off. He sent for the subject who
had foretold rain and made him court
astrologer. But am no good at fore
casting, said the subject. But you told
me it was going TO rain, said the
king. L knew that because my jackass
hung his ears down, replied the sub
ject. Every time he does that it is
going to rain Then | will make your
jackass court astrologer,' said the king
and he did.
Lincoln stopped there and his visit
ors laughed a little, but limited that
they did not see much point in the
Ever since that time every jackass in
the kingdom has wanted a job"
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
Emerson on Lincoln.

The president impressed me more
favorably than | had hoped A frank
sincere, well-meaning man, with a
lawyer's habit of mind, good, clear
statement of his fact, correct enough,
not vulgar. as described; but with q
sort of boyish cheerfulness, or that
kind of sincerity and jolly good mean
ing that our class meetings on COM
mencement days show, in telling our
old stories over. When he has made
his remark, he looks up at you with
great satisfaction, and shows all his
white teeth. and laughs. He argued
Sumner the whole case of Gordon,
the slave trader, point by point and
added that he was not quite satisfied
yot. and meant to refresh his memory
ny looking again at the evidence. All
this showed q fidelity and consci-
antiousness very honorable TO him.
When | was introduced to him, he
said, ooh, Mr.. Emerson, | once heard
you say in lecture, that Kentuckian
seems to say by his air and manners,
Here am |; if you don't like me. the
worse for you Diary of r. w. EN-
erson in the Atlantic.
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
An lnfalliblc Timepiece.

When Joseph Jefferson was in New
York last he devoted the most Of his
outdoor time to shopping for fishing
tackle. One day he CHANGED to be in
Herald square just as the Herald
clock struck the hour.
That's a pretty good timepiece,"
said Mr.. Jefferson, "but l know a bet
ter. Age. 1t is clock that never
stops and never loses a second. The
most skilled jeweler can make no
watch that is so accurate as ones
age.
Nothing can exceed our early am
billions to escape from youth to man
hood and appear older than we are
except our subsequent anxiety to APP
pear younger than we are. The first
is natural, for Hope is before us, but
the second is q weakness, for none
can hope to reach that from which
he is fleeing. If we could put back
the great clock Of time there would
be an intelligent motive, but the time
piece of old Chronos never stops
New York Herald.
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
Can You Improve This?

1t is not very well known that in
the hall OF one of the great colleges
of England there hangs a frame in
closing a few sentences of which
Abraham Lincoln is the author. They
are considered the best English that
was ever written. You or | might
read them over and call them very
staple indeed. And they are so SIM
PIE that any child who reads at all
can read and understand them. That
is one thing that makes them great.
1t was his being simple and plain that
made Lincoln himself great.
Now, here is little paragraph by
Lincoln which he made a rule of his
conduct. Suppose you try to write it
over and see how much you can i'm
prove IL. See if each word is the right
one, and try to find better word for
the place. Notice how simple this is;
all but two are words of a single
syllable:
81 am not bound to win. but | am
bound to be true. am not bound to
succeed. but l am bound to live up to
the light I have. | must stand with
anybody that stands right, stand with
him while he is right. and part with
him when he goes wrong"
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
Faint Praise.

Senator Depew, at a recent conven-
ton of railroad men, had occasion to
introduce a well known speaker from
the West.
in making introductions." he be-
gan, "it is possible to say some very
pleasant and agreeable things. | am
always pleasant and agreeable when
| make an Introduction. | wouldn't,
if | could, hurt the feelings in any
way of the man whom | present. In
this respect | differ from a certain
Dakotan.
This Dakotan arose in a crowded
hall to introduce a lecturer from New
York. He staggered to the front of
the platform, put his hands in his
pockets, sneered, and said:
"Iadies and gents, l am called
on to interduce this here man to you,
but | can only say two things in his
favor. One is that he has never been
in Jail. The other is that l don't know
why he hasn't"
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25

A movement to erect a monument
to President Lincoln has recalled the
existence and' mysterious passing of
the National Lincoln Monument asso-
citation, chartered by act Of Congress,
March 80, 1867.
The plan was backed by the most
prominent men in the country at the
time, and 100000 was raised by popu-
lar subscription. The design for the
monument was executed by Clark
Mills, the sculptor, a site in front of
the Capitol was selected, and cap
tured Confederate cannon were turned
over to the association by the war de-
partment from which to cast the
bronze figures surmCunting the pedes-
tai
But the association and its organic
ers seem to have vanished into thin
air, work on the monument was never
even begun, and so far as can be
learned the money was never re-
turned.
From 1867 to 1882 the record of the
association is clear, but there is alb
solutely nothing to show what became
Of it after that date. The list of in
corporators submitted to Congress in
the former year with the application
for a Charter included such prominent
men as James Harlan, Alexander
Ramsey, Schuyler Colfax, Frederick
Douglass, Godlove S. Orth, Shelby NJ.
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
River Postman.

It is probable that London has the
distinction of being the only port
where the ships lying at anchor are
privileged to have their letters deliv-
cred to them by river postmen, it be-
ing customary at other ports for sail
ors to apply personally for their let
ters unless the ship is in dock. The
Thames is divided into two postal dis
tricts, each under the control of a
river postman, who delivers letters
and parcels every morning in a craft
which resembles a fisher boat more
than anything else. OF these districts
the first extends from the Custom
House to Limehouse and the second,
from Limehouse to Blackwell The
river pOstmen start on their rounds
punctually at o'clock every morning,
and, needless to say, there is only one,
delivery q day. The mail bag may
include as many as five hundred let,
ters, but this number is largely in
creased about Christmas tine AS he
glides from ship to ship, the postman
calls out, Alloy there!" and hands up
the letters attached to a boathook to
the waiting crew. It only takes from
four to five hours to deliver the mail,
so that the postman does not waste
much time. In foggy weather, how
ever, it takes considerably longer, ow-
ing to the difficulties of finding the
various ships, and Of steering between
the large vessels as they lie at an.
rhOr-New York Herald
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
NOT A RAIL SPLITTER.
Lincoln Said to Have Denied Widely
Prevalent Belief.

Prevalent BelIef.
The Boston Republic lately printed
some "reminiscences of the Hon.
John CONFESS, U. S. senator from
California from 1863 to 1869, and the
sole survivor of the eight pallbearers
at the funeral of Abraham Lincoln.
Mr.. CONFESS. who is now resident
of Boston, attacked one well-rooted
tradition. Lincoln was not rail
splitter" he said. "He once told me
he never split a rail in his life.
II recall distinctly the occasion on
which Lincoln told me about the rail-
splitting. was at the White House
one morning by appointment, discus
sing some official matter, and by de-
grees our conversation drifted into
other channels. John Hay then the
assistant secretary, came in for sec
ond with some papers, among which
were one Of the weeklies of the day
with some picture or statement refer
ring to the Illinois RailSplitter'
do you know, CONFESS said Mr..
Lincoln to me, there isn't a word of
truth in this rail-splitting business,
not word and yet what am | to Go
about it? The day after l was nom
mated I was standing on the front
porch Of my house, and the people
were coming UP to congratulate me,
and parading by, some of them actu-
ally carrying on their shoulders the
rails which | was supposed to have
split.
IL was much confused and trou-
bled, and did not know exactly what
| could DO about it. My impulse was
TO tell them. but then, / thought, here
were masses Of men taking their own
means of expressing their pleasure at
my nomination, and | asked myself
If | should dampen the ardor of my
supporters on the very threshold of
the campaign, or let it go on and treat
it as q means or incident in our
election.
""Then all of sudden there &C.
Cured to me a little story about an
old farmer who lived up near where
did when / was boy. He was an
old bachelor, and didn't have much
of farm, and was a peculiar chap.
Farm hands didn't like to work for
him, and he used to have a lot of
trouble getting them.
Finally he got one, good, hard
working fellow, who was a great help
to him, and who stayed longer than
any of the others. This fellow had
only one fault he used to love to sing.
He sang all the time about the house,
and when the was working in the
field.
by and by the old farmer got so
that the singing disturbed him con-
siderable. So he called up the man
and said Look here, John, you must
stop this singing. It's really more
than I can stand. Don't let me hear
you again."
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25

angular, the base of which and its
three groups representing slavery.
"The first presents the slave in his
most abject state, as when brought to
this country Here we behold him
nude, deprived of all which tends to
elevate the heart with any spirit of
pride or independence.
THE second represents a less abb
iect stage He is here partly Clad
more enlightened, and hence, realizing
his bondage, startles with a love Of
freedom.
The third is the ransomed slave.
redeemed from bondage by the blood
Of liberty, who, having struck off his
shackles, holds them triumphantly
aloft. The slave is pictured CRATE
fully bowling at her feet
Between these groups are three
has reliefs. The first represents fir
ing on Fort Sumter. The two others
represent the serate and house amend
ing the Constitution.
1.-THE second story, first group, rep
resents the members of the cabinet in
council. while Seward points toward
Europe. as though explaining the i'm
portance of the act. The second
group, officers Of the navy and prom
inert Union men who stood by the
president during the civil war.
Third, the fall of Richmond and
the surrender of Lee.
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
N25. AARMHYLIyGOLW

The browning figure is the presi-
dent in the act of signing the procla-
nation. At his feet are Liberty and
Justice, while behind sits Time, watch
ing the hour glass, missioned, as it
were, from heaven. At the base of
the steps leading from the center
structure are the equestrian statues
OF leading commanders of the army"
1t can easily be seen from the
above description just how preten-
tious was the monument proposed, and
it is evident from such of the rec
ords as exist that the members of
the association lost interest in their
task before sufficient money was col
lected to enable them to begin work
on the memorial. There are many
prominent men in Washington who
think that Lincoln should have such
a memorial, and they hope that the
awakened discussion of the matter
may lead to some definite result.
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25

he had Ii all. When the inspector fig-
ured out the amount that should be
there he went to Lincoln and told him
how much cash there should be in the
postoffice.
Well, guess have it, said Lin
coin, as he drew forth a bundle OF
money.
He counted it out and it tailed to
cent to the amount the inspector had
found due the government. Lincoln
had kept the governments money sep
aratI at all times. Although he car
ried it around with him. as the best
method Of caring for it, he had never
allowed it to become mixed up with
his own money. That incident was
characteristic of Lincoln. He was scru-
pulously honest. Washington Star.
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
~
e.s:sss;. III r. 3 fgsl!ssS 4 !. y
sss 81 q, u: G g
KEPT CASH IN HIS POCKET.
Lincoln Had No Confidence in Banks
When He Was Postmaster.

"The developments in the postoffice
department" said Senator Cullom. ere
mind me of the early times in Illinois
when Lincoln was the postmaster Of
the town of Salem.
THE cash drawer of the postofiice
there was Lincoln's vest pocket, but it
was a cash drawer that was sacred to
him. remember on one occasion
when postofiice inspector came
around and made careful survey of
everything in the postoffice. He took
account of stock and figured out just
how much Lincoln ought to have in
cash belonging TO the government.
Some of Lincoln's friends were afraid
that he might be a little short and
went to him with offers of money If he
needed 1t. He replied that he guessed
Charlevoix county herald., 1905-02-25
SnuXenirS.
Mt los noiCns d'n ntnno

Mais on sont les neiges d'antan?
Where is the glove that gave to him,
Perfumed and warm from my arm that
night?
Ard where is the rose that another stole
When the land was flooded with June
moonlight,
And the satin slipper I wore ?-Aiack
Some one had that-it was wrong, 1
fear,
Where are those souvenirs to-day?
But where are the SHOWS of ycster-
year?
The glove was burned at his next loves
prayer.
And the rose was lost in the mire OF
the street.
And the satin slipper he tossed away.
For his jealous bride had not fairy feet
Give what you will. but know. mesdames,
For n day alone are your favors dear
Re sure for the next fair woman's sake
They will go--like the SHOWS of yestcr-
year.
Anne Reeve Aldrich.