Year: 1871

her out about thirty or thirty.hve yards
ahead of the awfullest storm ever saw IN
my life, and IL chased us upwards Of
eighteen milesl II did, by the everlasting
hills And I'm telling you nothing but
the unvarnished truth when | say that not
one single drop of rain fell on me-not q
single drop, sir And swear to II But
my dog was Q swimming behind The wagon
all the wayp faa q .eisT ~


For week or two I stayed mostly
within DOORS for | seemed to meet this
person everywhere, and he had become
utterly hateful to me. But one evening
dropped in on Captain Perkins and
his friends, and we had sociable time.
About ten o'clock / chanced TO be
talking about merchant friend of
mine, and without really intending
II, the remark slipped out that he was o
little mean and parsimonious about pay
ing his workmen. Instantly, through the
steam of a hot wbiskey punch on the OPP
posite side of the room, a remembered
voice shot-and for moment trembled
on the imminent verge of profanityfF
Oh, my dear sir, really you,expose your
self when you parade that as surprising
circumstance. Bless your heart and hide,
| you are ignorant of the very A B @ of
meanness! ignorant as the unborn babe
| ignorant as unborn tsoinS You don't
know anything about It'll 1t is pitiable TO
see you, sir, a well-spoken and prepoesess-
ing stranger making such an enormous
pow-wow here about subject concerning
which your ignorance is perfectly CHASTITY
Look me in the eye, If you please; look
me in the eye. John James Godfrey was the
son of poor but honest parents in the
State of Mississippi-boyhood friend Of
mine-bosom comrade in later years.
Heaven rest his noble spirit, he
is gone from us now. John
James Godfrey was hired by The
Hayblossom Mining Company, in Califor-
MIA, to do some blasting for them-the
" Incorporated Company of Mean Men,"
the boys used to call it. Well, one day he
drilled hole about four feet deep and put
in an awful blast of powder, and was
standing over it ramming it down with an
iron crowbar about nine foot long, when
the cussed thing struck spark and fired
the powder, and scat away John Godfrey
whizzed like a sky-roket him and his
crowbari Well, sir, he kept on going up
in the air higher and higher, till he didn't
look any bigger than boy-and he kept
ON going up higher and higher, till he
didn't look any bigger than doll-and he
kept on going. up higher and higher, till
he didn't look any bigger than a little
small bee-and then he went out of sight
Presently he came in sight again, looking
like little small bee--and he came along
down further and further, till he looked as
big as a doll again-and down further and
further, till he was as big as boy again
and further, till he was full sized man
once more; and him and his crowbar came
wh-izzing down and lit right exactly in
the same old tracks and went to r-ram-
ming down, and r-ramming down, and
r-ramming down again, just the same as If
nothing had happened! Now don't you
know that poor cuss warn't gone only six
teen minutes, and yet that Incorporated
Company of Mean Men DocKED HIM FOR
THE LOST TIdE~


| said had the headache, and SO ex-
cused myself and went home. And on my
diary entered another night spoiled"
by this offensive loafer. And fervent
item company. And the very next day I
packed up, out of all patience, and left the
Islands.


! Almost from the very beginning, I re-
garded that man as liar.


49, \ So


The line of stars represents an interval
of years. At the end of which time the
opinion hazarded in that last sentence came
to be gratifyingly and remarkably indorsed,
and by wholly disinterested persons. The
man Markiss was found one morning hang
ing TO beam of his own bedroom (the
doors and windows securely fastened on
the inside) dead, and on his breast was
pinned paper in his own handwriting
begging his friends to suspect no innocent
person of having anything to do with his
death, for that it was the work
of his own hands entirely. Yet
the jury brought in the astounding
verdict that deceased came to his
death "by the hands of some person or
persons unknown" They explained that
the perfectly undertaking consistency of


Markiss's character for thirty years tow
cred aloft as colossal and 1ndestructible
testimony, that whatever statement he
chose to make was entitled to instant and
unquestionable acceptance as ISe And
they furthermore stated their belief that
he was not Dead and instanced the strong
circumstantial evidence of his own word
that he loas dead-and beseeched the cor
oner to delay the funeral as long as possi-
BILE, which was done. And so IN the trop-
ical Climate of Lahaina the coffin stood
open for seven days, and then the loyal
jury gave him up. But they sat on him
again, and changed their verdict to " sui
eide induced by mental alteration ;Tbe.
cause, said they, with penetration, che said
he was dead, and he aoGs dead; and would
he have told the truth if he had been In
his right mind? No, sir."-Mark 1ScaiSi,
in GG!dTy for Aprit.