Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
- the other passengers to
HAPPY DAYS
Simply because he could no more have
made the move than he could have flown
out the window,
Strange sensations had come over
boy, His head was whirling, his limbs tin
gled all over and in a moment his whole
body was in the same condition.
was just as if a thousand needles were
sticking into him and yet to save his life
he could not move nor could he speak, for
his tongue seemed suddenly to have be-
4 lo was to keep his eyes
fixed upon that “black veil and listen,
Th an was talking rapidly in a for-
eign language talkin ing ina oman’s voice
—and poor Dave’s head was buz:
Just two ideas were left in his “nuddled
brain,
One was the diamond.
The other was that he ‘had been poisoned’
by that supposed pin prick, and this was,
indeed, the truth.
Still the stage rattled on, still the strange
creature behind the veil kept talking, when
all at once, just as they reached Highth
street—Clinton place it was called. then—
Dave’s head suddenly fell over upon the
shoulder of the supposed woman and so he
lay while she screamed and called out to
top the stage,
-Which a Sympathetic gentleman opposite
immediately d
e is my nephew, gentlemen!” the
“yjomian” sai “My sister’s child. He is
auite insane wad subject to these attacks. I
an’t imagine how they came to let him go
out alone.’ L must call a cab and take him
right home.”
- - This is what she said, but it is not what
she did,
Dave stumbled out of the stage after her,
partly helped by the gentleman and parily
by the strong grip of the creature behind
the veil,
He was able to walk, though “he stag-
gered, and was able to stand when they
reached » the cup He knew what had
happened and w he was about, but to
save himself he « could ‘not hold his head up
nor utter a single word.
The disguised man threw a strong arm
about him and held him like a vise until
the stage was out of sight.
: uu try to escape I
“will kill you!” he hiss ed nDo as'I tell you
no harm shall come to you from this.”
Dave heard, understood and it gave him
hope. -
He tried to get his hand into his coat
pocket and clutch the diamond box, bnt it
hung limply by his side and he could not
raise it an inc
e could wally
stranger, and he did. .
They crossed Broadway and went along
Eighth street to Neilson place—now the
upper part of Greene street—here they
turned and went down a block or two,
when they suddenly paused before a green
gate set in a wall and knocked in a peculiar
supported by the
every moment Dave had been get-
ting better. He was suffering from a poison
which was extremely volatile and its ef-
fects were passing away,
This poison, we may as well state right
here, was contained in a ring which the
stranger wore.
By slightly pressing a spring which he
was able to do by pressing the ringed finger
against the next a sharp point shot out,
puncturing the palm of the hand which
he grasped and the mischief was done.
Footsteps were heard behind the gate,
“Take my hand. I'll help you,” whis-
pered the man, and he caught Dave's hand,
pressed the spring and drove a second dose
of the subtile fluid into the boy’s palm.
Whether Dave knew what had happened
or not is doubtful, but one instant later he
knew nothing, for all recollection suddenly
t he was conscious of
n an ele-
gantly furnished room, brilliantly lighted,
with two men standing near a table talk-
ing in loud, angry tones. _
One was a tall, stylish-looking gentle-
man, whom Dave instantly recognized as
.e man who had tried to sell Mr. Gompers.
the diamonds, while the other was a man
of most peculiar build and hideous face—
to remember and which now came back to
him like a dream.
Here was the disguised man disguis sed
no longer, His face was uglier than ever
now, for he was wild with rage.
“It’s a lie!” he shouted, “I’m as much
in the dark about the diamond as you are!
I say it's a lie!”
“Hold your noise!” hissed the other. “You
have the diamond! Give it to me or by
the Eternal you will never leave this room
wnat did he mean? What did they both
n?
there on the table lay the spool cotton
box, which Dave had tried so hard to pro-
tect, and there beside it lay a big glittering
thing which Dave certainly thought was
the iamond.
He began to wonder if this was all a
dre:
“T ell you,” retorted the man with the
big nose, “that I know nothing more than
T have already stated. Young Winstanley
fell in a fit. The dlamond was in the bo:
haps that man Gompers changed ‘it, but if
so, is it my fault?’
“You lie! You've got it!” shouted the
other. “You changed the Star of the West
for this fake thing. Hand it over, er, Pedro,
and an. more nonsense about it
Suddenly the man Pedro drew a revolver
ar
“great” heavens! I'm shot!” screamed
the other. He made a step forward as
though he would clench with his would-be
murderer and then fell face downward to
the floor, whereupon Pedro immediately
rushed from the room.
It was a terrible situation for Dave.
If he could have spoken or moved it
would not have been so .bad, but he was
again in the semi-paralyzed condition in
which he had found himself in the street.
‘or a moment the silence was broken
only by the groans of the unfortunate man,
then Dave saw him er to his feet.
Bracing himself against the table the man
tore oft his coat and vest, and, pulling out
away, the
bullet just grazed my side.
bleeding already. A close call, though, and
Pedro shall pay for it.”
e pulled on his coat and turned to the
Boy, , are you awake? Do you hear me?”
he ‘te manded, in low, hissing tones,
“Yes,” he whispered, faintly. “I—hear.”
ch to live? is the diamond? Tell me if you
wish
now! I—see—it—oi-the—
ot” exclaimed the man. “That
thing ‘on the table is not the Star of the
West—it is only a piece of glass, a fake, a
raud—where is the diamond? Tell me?
Tell me now?” .
pave choked and mumbled. “I do not
“the man bent over and looked hard in
his face,
“I believe you,” he said at last. “I be-
lieve you are an honest. boy and mean just
what you say.
mond on me and that’s all there is about
it. Oh, he shall suffer for this! He shall
suffer for this!
So fierce was his anger and so deeply
was his attention occupied that he never
noticed the smoke which was beginning to
‘fill the room,
Dave did, though.
It came to him all at once that the
bouse was on fire and he thought of what
Adele had said about trouble coming from
the diamond as he managed to gasp out:
“The smoke! The smoke!
The man saw it then. He had picked up
the bogus diamond and he now dashed it to
the floor with an exclamation of horror.
e has set fire to the house!” he yelled.
“Get off gnat ae and save yourself, boy!
Quick!
He rushed owar d the door and tried
to open it, but it resisted all bis efforts.
Thicker and more suffocating grew the
smoke as he stood there beating against
the door and kicking at the panels, shout-
ing:
Let me out, Rearot
"Dearo! Let me
ut!
Was he crazy?
Did he expect the man who had shot him
down and who perhaps had set the build-
ing on fire for the express purpose of con-
cealing his crime to come to his rescue
ow?
Daye did not know and he did not care,
With all the strength he could throw out
he was trying to break the awful power
which held him back and move off that
be
ed.
Useless effort, but strangely enough when
the boy could not move off the bed the bed
suddenly began to move off with the boy,
' “Oh, the wretch! . He’s going to save you
and let me burn!” yelled the man, turning
away from the “door and throwing up his
8. :
ands.
The bed was slowly sinking. “~
Wild-eyex
-gling to rise o:
moved, but he had not strength enough ‘to
throw himself over on the 1
Lower and lower the bed sank, carrying
Dave down with it and a dense black smoke
came pouring up through the opening in
the floor.
{To BE CONTINUED.)
Everybody is reading““Three Chums.”
Are you in the swim? .
Negro Boys Who Can Swim.
“In no land that I have ever visited, and
I have been pretty nearly around the world,
are there more expert swimmers in pro-
portion to the number of native inhabi-
tants than at Nassau in the Bahamas,” said
a traveler who represents a large manufac-
turing frm. “I have visited the Sandwich
Islands where the natives are all swim-
mers, but I saw nothing there to compare
with the exhibitions at Nassau. The har
bor has a coral bottom, and the water is so
and this boy put the box in the safe Per-/ clear that from a boat you may see plainly
the fish moving around at a depth of
twenty or thirty feet. The effect is weird
when one sees it for the first time, and
when your boatman tells you that you are
looking through that depth of water you
are likely to be skeptical. Sharks may be
seen at almost any time of the day, and
sometimes half a dozen or more are poking
heir ugly fins above the water. “Apparently
they don’t interfere in the least with the
sport of the colored b
“The regular passenger steamers don’t
put in at the Custom House dock as a rule.
‘they anchor out about a quarter of a mile,
and the transfer of passengers and baggage
is made on a small tender. Ten minutes
after I had landed and while I was waiting
for the Custom House officer to pass my
trunks, a small boy, very black, who wore
only a pair of trousers and apparently had
been delegated by a score of other small
boys to act as spokesman, sidled up to me
and said in a soft negro dialect:
“‘Befoh yo’ all go up-a-long won't yo’
please throw a penny.in for us?”
“ ‘Where shall I throw it?’ I said, ‘and
why?
“sRight in theah, sah,’ said the boy,
pointing to the water off the dock, ‘an’ we'll
‘or it.”
&
z
e@
“<But there is a shark out there,’ I re
plied, pointing to a wicked looking fin.
*‘Humph)
ively.
‘The r boys were waiting for the out-
e on our conversation, and thinking
that 1 would take them by surprise, I sud-
denly threw a sinall piece of silver fifty feet
out from the dock, Hardly had the coin
struck the water before there was a great
splash, and the boys had gone under simul-
taneously. - lt was a regular thing for the
Custom Mouse officer, and he kept on with
his work, All of the passengers, however,
crowded to the edge of the dock and gazed
with interest at the spectacle beneath the
surface of the water. ys made for
the coin like a school of fishes, and so clear
was the water that, notwithstanding the
iact that they were fifteen feet below the
surface, even their expressions could be dis-
cerned. It was a neck-and-neck race for
three of the lads and the first one who
grabbed the coin had to tussle with the
other. two before he could break away and
bring it to the surface. The other heads
bobbed up after his, and as each boy pulled
himself up on the dock he gave himself a
shake like a dog and, behold! he was dry.
¥or half an hour the boys were kept diving
for small coins, and their antics under the
water was amusing. They were as muc:
at home there as the fish, and they aidn’ t
seem to tire of the sport.
“On the morning When I left Nassau two
friends of mine decided that they would
come on the tender with me to my ship.
had been so much interested in the, swim-
ming of the natives, particularly the small
colored boys, that one of these friends said
hat he would arrange a farewell exhibition
‘or my benefit. When I reached the tender
I was surprised to see that the dock was
black with boys, whose ages might have
Tanged from about four years to
‘What on earth are you going to “do with
ail eee boys?”
“Wait until we get a hu ndred yrs
from chore and I'll show you,’
friend. ‘They have been engaged by me at
five cents a head for a little game of my
own.’
“Ag the tender pulled out tha-boys pesen
to grin in anticipation. They climbed wu
to the upper deck of ine small boat and
waited for the fun to begi -
“ ‘Now,’ said my friend, “there are just
three of us in this game, and the man who
loses stands a round of brandy and soda
when we get aboard. The object of the
game is to throw as large a number of boys
overboard as you can. The captain here
will keep count and the man who throws
the fewest loses. Just be sure you throw
the boys so they will ent the rail. Now
then, one, two, three, in!
“The sight that followed was ludicrous,
The boys were willing missiles, but as you
had te swing them back and forth once or
twice to make sure of their clearing the
lower deck, it became heavy work after the
third or fourth boy. For about three min-
utes the air seemed to be filled with colored
boys. They left the thrower’s hands in all
kinds of positions, but before they struck
the water each boy had managed to wriggle
himself around so that he went down either
head first or feet first. Their agility was
wonderful, and even the little kids four
and five years old acted like trained gym-
nasts. Every one of them yelled from the
time that he was picked up until his head
sank beneath the water, and the combina-
tion of noises was appalling. My friends
were experienced enough in the game to
pick out the smaller boys first and I lost.
When they were all overboard a line of
black heads marked our course from the
dock. Each urchin was putting in his best
strokes to hurry back to shore that he
might spend the five cents that he had
My friends told me that the col-
red boys seldom showed any fear of the
sharks in the harbor, and that they had
never heard that one of them had been
drowned. They are surely expert swim-
mers, and the spectacle of that row of black
heads bobbing up and down in the water
always comes up In my mind when I hear
Nassau mentioned.”
-
A Little Fun.
“My face is my fortune, sir,” she | said,
“But I prefer figures,” said “in: -
*Do you like fiction?” “Well, 1 generally
enjoy my basband’s letters, whether I be-
Neve them or
The Chiet—-any trolley victims to-day?
Reporter—Yes, a fellow on the crosstown
line got a plugged 50-cent piece.
“I'ye seen that young fellow scmewhere
“He draws soda water in a down-
town drug store.” “That's it. I recog-
nized his fizz.”
Hicks—I understand that that new cold
storage company is making a lot of money.
You are in it on the ground floor, aren't
you? pricks (mournfully )—No, they troze
e@ ou
“1 want to see Mrs. Smythe,” said the
mi
taken,” the man replied. “I'm her dentist
and I have her teeth here in this package.”
Mrs. Von Blumer—I had no idea Mrs.
did she do?
upon paying her car fare and she let me do
it.
Mr. Pokus—There’s the only woman in
this town whose affairs ain’t gossiped about
at the Sewin’ Circle meetin’s. Mr. Citiman
--How does she escape? Mr. Pokus—By
good management—she allers gita there
ahead of any of the rest of ’em.
Mother—l gave each of you boys an
orange. Charlie, you said you wouldn't
eat yours until after dinner. And you,
Jack, said the same. Have you deceived
me? Charlie—No, mother, we didn't eat
our own oranges. I ate Jack’s and he ate
mine,
Wyseman—I make it a rule never to ask
manage to get it? Wyseman—Oh, after I
wajt_a reasonable time, if he fails to pay
up I conclude that he is not a gentleman,
and then I ask him,
A very simple statement proved very un-
fortunate to a savings institution in the
rural district recently. An editor, in writ-
ing of the institution in his paper, sald:
“The president is a very tall man; the
cashier is short.” And in less than an
hour the excited depositors were asking,
“How much?—how much?
Interesting Items.
A daring raid by a body of Chinese pi-
tes on one of the Canton jails for th:
purpose of releasing one of their comrades
who was lying under sentence of death,
was made at the end of October, but the de
tails were suppressed by the local authori-
eighty pirates at-
der sentence of death, and fought their way
back to their boats, killing a number of the
city trained bands who were called out to
intercept them. g the running fight
‘wo of the pirates were killed, but the rest
got away. Empress-Dowager on re-
ceiving news of this exploit, though some of
the details were concealed from her an
from the Viceroy, cashiered the governor
of the jail and ordered an inquiry to as-
certain whether he was in collusion with
the pirates. She also ordered the trial of
the local magistrate who was responsible
for the security of the prison, and gave him
the usual period of three months within
which to recapture the liberated criminals
and the pirates who released them.
illuminated crosses may now be
seen at night in New York shining from as
many churehes, The oldest of these and
the most familiar is that surmounting the
spire of the chapel of St. Augustine, of
Trinity parish, in East Houston street, be-
tween the Bowery and Second avenue. This
cross is 206 feet above the sidewalk. The
it on the spire was originally
suggested by General John A. Dix; it was
lighted when the church was first com-
pleted and opened in 1877. At first it was
illuminated only on nights when there were
services in the church; more recently it has
been lighted nightly, and kept burning
through: the night. It cai
many points downtown, and from
and harbor. Another of the city’s illumi-
nated crosses is that which rises above the
lofty tower of the Memorial Baptist church
in South Washington square. This great
cross, originally gas-illuminated, like the
first one, and now electrically lighted, has
been in position for seven years, and it is
at night a familiar object about Washing:
ton square and the contiguous parts of the
city. It_is iNluminated nightly until 11
o'clock. The newest of the city’s illumi-
nated crosses is an clectrically lighted cross
that has recently been e:
tower of All Angels’ chureh, at West End
avenue and West Eighty-first street. This
cross is lighted nightly,