SUPPLEMENT TO THE AUCKLAND EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6

The Carmi Chums.

Tsb Carmi Chums was the name the? went by all along the river. Most other joustnbnnts had paoli a name of his own ; g0 had the Carmi Chnras, for that matter. ], u t the mf»n themselves were never men tioned individually—always collectively, jfo steamboat Captain who wanted only a gingle man ever attempted to hire half of the Carmi Chums at a time—as easy W ould it have been to have hired hslf of {he Siamese Twins. No steamboat mate v Jio knew them ever attempted to 'tell off' the Chums into different watches, and any mate who, not knowing them, committed this blunder, and adhered to it after explanation was made, was sure to te two men short immediately after leav ing the steamer's next landing. There seemed no possible way of separating them; they never fell out with each otb r in the natural course of events •. they i never fought when drunV, as ' other friendly roustabouts sometimes did for the Carmi Obums n- dYe r got drunk ; they never sprung iy p any coolness between them because of love for the same lady.for they did not seem to care at all for female so ciety, un lesstheyhapppned tomeetsomenld . ladyw'fiomonemightloveasamotherrather than as a sweetheart. Even professional b'asybodies, from whose presence rousta bouts are no freer than church-members, ' were unable to_ provoke the Carmi Chums even to suspicion, and those of them who attempted it too persistently were likely to have a difficulty with the slighter of the Chums. This man. who was called Black because of the colour of his hair, was apparently forty years of age, and of very ordinary appearance, except when an occasional furtive, frightened look came into his face and attracted attention. His companion, called Red, because his hair was of the hne of carrots, and because it was occasionally necessary to distinguish him from his friend, seemed of about the same age and degree of ordinariness as Black, but was rather stouter, more cheery, and to use the favourite rousta bout simile, held his head closer to the current. He seemed, when Black was absent-minded, (as he generally was when off duty), to be the leading spirit ofyhe couple, and to be tenderly alive to all of his partner's needs ; but observing roust abouts noticed that when freight was being moved, or wood taken on board, Black was always where he could keep an • eye on his chum, and where he could demand instant reparation from any wretch who trod upon Eed's toes, or who with a shoulder-load of wood grazed Eed's head, or touched Eed with box or barrel. Next to a neighbourly wonder as to the existence of the friendship between the Chums, roustabouts with whom the couple sailed concerned themselves most with the cause of the bond between them. Their searches after first causes were no more successful, however, than those of the naturalists who are endeavouring to as certain -who laid the coirii egg. They gave out they came from Carmi, so, once or twice, when Captains with whom the Chums were engagpd determined to seek a cargo up the Wabash, upon which river Carmi was locatpd. inquisitive roust abouts became light-headed. But. alas, for the vanity of human hopes! When the boat reached Carmi the Chums could not be found, nor could aDy inhabitant of Carmi identify them by the descriptions which were given by inquiring friends. At length they became known in their collective capacity, as one of the institu tions of the river. Captains knew them as well as they knew Natchez orPiankishaw Bend, and showed them to distinguished passengers as regularly as they showed Gen. Zach.Taylor's plantation, or the scene of the Grand Gulf' cave,' where a square mileof Louisianadroppedintothe river one night. Captains rather cultivated them, in fact, although it was a difficult bit of business, for roustabouts who wouldn't say 'thank you' for a glass of French brandy, or a genuine old-fashioned planta tion cigar,' seemed destitute of ordinary handles of which a steamboat Captain could take hold. Lady passengers took considerable notice of them, and were most successful than any one else at drawing them into conversation. The linguistic accomplishments of the Chums were not numerous, but it did one good to see Black lose his scared furtive look when a lady addressed him, and to seethe affectionate deference with which he ap pealed to Eed, until that worthy was taken into the ' conversation. When Black succeeded in this latter-named operation, he would by insensible stages draw himself away, and give himself up to enthusiastic admiration of bis partner, or, apparently, of bis conversational ability. ( The Spring of 1869 found the Chums m the crew of the Bennett, ' the peerless floating palace of the Mississippi,' as she Was called by those newspapers whose reporters had the freedom of the Bennett's bar; and the same season saw the Bennett staggering down, the Mississippi with so heaxy a load of sacked corn, that the gunwales amidships were fairly under water. The river was very low, so the Bennett kept carefully in the channel, but the channel of the great muddy ditch which drains half the Union is as fickle as disappointed lovers declare woman to be, and it has no more respect for great steamer loads of corn than Goliath had for David. A little Ohio river boat, bound upward, had reported the sudden disap pearance of a woodyard a little way above Milliken's Bend, where the channel hugged the shore, and with the woodyard there had disappeared an enormous sycamore tree, which had for years served as a tying-post for steamers. As live sycamores are about as disinclined to float as bars of lead are, the Captain and pilot of the Bennett were somewhat concerned, for the sake of the corn, to know the_ exact location of the tree. Half, a mile from the spot it became evident, even to the pnssengers clustered forward on the cabin deck, that the sycamore had remained quite near its old home, for a long, rough ripple was seen directly across' the line of the channel. Then arose the question as to how much water was on top of the tree, and whether any bar had had time to accumulate. The steamer was stoppeJ, the engines were reversed and worked by hand to keep the Bennett from drifting down stream, a boat was lowered and manned, the Chums forming part of the crew, and the second officer went down to take soundings, while the passengers, to whom even so small a cause for excitement was a god send, crowded the rail and stared.

Theboaif.hot rapidly down the stream, headed for the shore end of the ripple, bhe seemed almost into the boiling mud m tront of her when the passengers on '■he steamer heard the mate in the boat shout: ' Back, all p 1 . The motion of the oars, changed in an ustant, but a little too late, for a heavy root of the fallen giant, just covered by the water, caught the "little craft, and caused it to careen so violently that one man was thrown into the water. As she righted another man went in. 1 Confound it!' growled the Captain, who was leaning out of the pilot-house window. < I hope they can swim. Still, taint as bad as it would be if we had any more cargo to take aboard,' 'It's the Chums,' remarked the pilot, who had brought a glass to bear upon the

Thunder I' exclaimed the Captain, striking a bell. ' Below there ! Lower away another boat; lively!' Then, turning to the passengers, he explained : ' Nobody on the river'd forgive me if I lost the Chums, 'Twould be .as bad as Barnum losing his giraffe.' The occupants of the first boat were evidently of the Captain's own mind, for they^ were eagerly peering over her side, and into the water.

Suddenly the pilot dropped his glass, extemporised a trumpet with both hands, and shouted :

' Forrard ! forrard ! One of 'em's up !' Then he put his mouth to the speaking tube, and screamed to the engineer, ' Let her drop down a little, Billy !' The sounding party headed towards a black speck, apparently a hundred yards below them, and the great steamer slowly drifted down stream. The speck moved toward _ shore, and the boat, rapidly shortening the distance, seemed to scrape the bank with her port oars. ' Safe enough now, I guess !' exclaimed Judge Turner, of one of the Southern Illinois Circuits. . The Judge had been interrupted in telling a story when the accident occurred, and was in a hurry to resume. ' As I was saying,' said he, 'he hardly looked like a . professional horse-thief. He was little and quiet, and had always worked away steadily at his trade. I believed him when he said 'twas his first offence, and that he did it to raise money to bury his child ; and I was going to give him an easy sentence, and ask the Governor to pardon him. The laws have to be executed, you know, but there's no law against mercy being practiced after ward. Well, the -Sheriff was bringing him from jail to hear the verdict and the sentence, wn.cn a short man, with red hair, knocked the Sheriff down, and off gallopped that precious couple for the Wabash. I saw the entire —'

' The deuce!' interrupted the pilot again, dropping his glass.

The Jud^e glared angrily ; the passen gers saw across the shortened distance one of the Chums holding by a root to the bank, and trying to support the other, whose shirt hung in rags, and who seemed exhausted.

' Which one's hurt ?' asked the Captain ' Give me the glass.'

But the pilot had left the house and taken the glass with him.

The Judge continued: ' I saw the whole transaction through the window. I was so close that I saw the Sheriff's assailant's very eyes. I'd know that fellow's face if i saw it in Africa.'

' Why, they are both hurt!' exclaimed the Captain. ' They've thrown a coat over one, and they're crowdin' around the other. What's this ! They're comin' back without 'em; need whiskey to bring 'em to, 1 suppose, Why didn't I send whiskey down by the other boat ? There's an awful amount of time is being wasted here. ' What's the matter, Mr. Bell ?' shouted the Captain, as the boat ap proached the steamer. ' Both dead,' replied the officer.

'Both? Now, ladies and gentlemen,' exclaimed the Captain, turning toward the passengers, who were crowded for ward just below him ; ' I want to know if that isn't a streak of the meanest kind of luck? Both the Chums gone! Why, I won't be able to bold up my bead in New Orleans, How came it that just those two fellows were knocked out ?'

'Eed tumbled out, and Black jumped in after him,' replied the officer. 'Eed must have been caught in an eddy and tangled in the old tree's roots ; clothes torn almost off; head caved in. Black must have burst a blood-vessel; bis face looked like a copper pan when be reached shore, and he just groaned and dropped.'

The Captain was sorry, so sorry that he sent a waiter for brandy. But the Captain was human —business was hu man, the rain was falling, and a big lo* was across the boat's bow, so he shouted :

• Hurry up and bury 'em, then. You ought to have let the second boat's crew gone on with that, and you have gone back to your sounding. They was the Chums to be sure, but now they're only dead roustabouts. Below there! Pass out a couple of shovels !' 'Perhaps some ladies would go down ■with the boat, Captain—and a preacher, too, if there's one aboard remarked the mate, with an earnest but very myste rious expression. ' Why, what in thunder does the fellow mean ?' soliloquized the Captain, audibly, ' Women, and a preacher, for dead rousta bouts? What do you mean, Mr Bell?' 1 Eed is a woman,' briefly responded the mate. The passengers all started—the Captain brought his hands together with a tremen dous clap, and exclaimed: 1 Murder will out! But who d a thought I was to bs the man to find out the secret of the Carmi Chums ? - Guess I'll be the biggest man on the New Orleans levee after all. Yes, certainly—of course some ladies'll go—and a preacher, too, if there s such a man aboard. Hold up, though; we'll all go. Take your soundings, quick, and we,ll'drop the steamer just below the point and tie up. I wonder if there is a preacher aboard ?' No one responded for a moment ; then the Judge spoke. ' Before I went into the law I was the regularly settled pastor of a Presbyterian Church,' said he, 'I'm decidedly rusty now, but a little time will enable me to prepare myself properly. Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen.' The sounding-boat pulled away, and the Judge retired to his state-room. The ladies, with very pale faces, gathered in a i group and whispered earnestly with each other; then ensued visits to each other's state-rooms and the final regather

ing of the ladies with two or three bundles. | The soundings were taken, and, as the ! steamer dropped downstream, men were ] seen cutting a path down the rather steep clay bank. The Captain put his hands to his mouth and shouted :

* Dig only one grave. Make it wide enough for two.'

And all the passengers nodded assent and satisfaction.

Time had been short since the news reached the steamer, but the Bennett's carpenter,whowas himself a married man, had made two plain coffins by the time the grave was dug. The first one was put upon a long hand-barrow, over which the Captain had previously spread a table cloth, and, followed by the ladies, was deposited beside the body of Eed. Half an hour later, the men placed Black in the other coffin, removed both to the side of the grave, and signalled the boat.

' Now, ladies and gentlemen,' said the Captain.

The Judge appeared, with a very solemn face, his coat buttoned tight to his throat, and the party started. Colonel May. of Missouri, who read Voltaire, and aidn't believe in anything, maliciously took the Judge's arm, and remarked :

' You didn't finish your story, Judge.' The Judge, frowned reprovingly. . 'But really,' presisted the Colonel,'l don't want curiosity to divert my mind from the solemn services about to take place. Do tell me if they ever caught the rascals.'

' They never did,' replied the Judge. ' The Sheriff hunted and advertised but he could never hear a word of either of them. But I'd know either one of them at sight Sh —h—h—here we are at the grave.'

The passengers, officers and crew gathered about the grave. The Judge removed his hat, and as the Captain uncovered the faces of the dead, com menced : ' I am the resurrection and the life'—. Why, there's the horse-thief now, Colonel! I beg your pardon, ladies and gentlemen. { He that believeth in'—— Just then the Judge's eye fell upon the dead woman's face, and he screamed :

' And there's the Sheriff's assailant!'

The Vigilants' Raid.

A DETECTIVE'S EE3IINISCENCE,

On the night of December 22nd, 18C2, an attempt was made to burglarize the premises of E. H. Miller, Treasurer of Dearborn county, Indiana, and at that time a resident of Lawrenceburg. the most flourishing town in the county. The robber effected an entrance to the premises by mounting a shed adjoining the bouse in the rear, and lifting a window which had been carelessly left open. He did not tarry in the room he first entered, but passed through a hall-way and then into Mr. Miller's bed-room, the door of which was also unlocked. There was a lamp burning dimly upon the mantlepiece as the robber entered, and be at once turned the slide of his lantern and concealed its light. Then on tip-toe he advanced to the side of the bed containing Mr. Miller, his wife and an infant daughter. One look satisfied the burglar that they were asleep, and he then went quickly to work relieving Mr. Miller's wearing apparel of what valuables the pockets contained, and despoiling the bureau drawers of numerous portable articles of value.

He was not interrupted while thus engaged, but as he turned to leave the room, a startling cry from the child told him that he was discovered. Mr. Miller and his wile awoke immediately, and as they did so, the robber drew a revolver from a belt around his waist, and pointiug it toward them, swore a terrible oath that if he were not permitted to leave the house he would add murder to the robbery he had already committed. This threat had the effect of stilling a cry that was on he lips of Mrs. Miller, for there was a terrible meaning in the tone with which the menace was offered, and the appear ance of the masked villaiu, as he stood holding the revolver with a hand that did not falter, was well calculated to strike terror to the bravest heart. But Mr. Miller was a man of exceptional courage, and the peril of his loved ones nerved him to the performance of a desperate act. With one bound he sprang from the bed, and grappled with the intruder. At the same instant, the sharp crack of the revol ver resounded through the house, and Mrs. Miller gave a heartrending shriek, fol lowed by the exclamation : 'Oh, husband, I am shot!'

Infuriated to madness by this catastrophe, Mr. Miller seemed posses sed of giant's strength, and in a moment his adversary lay upon the floor at his mercy. His life would undoubt edly have paid the penalty of his crimes there and then, but for the appearance upon the scene of several near residents who had been admitted to the house by the frightened servant girl. When they entered the room they found the burglar lying at full length, with Mr. Miller's hands clasping his throat in a vice-like grip that brought his tongue from his mouth and contorted his face into a most hideous shape, presaging speedy dissolution. The spectators of this tableaux at once laid hands upon Miller, and after a severe struggle, broke his bold upon the burglar's throat. As soon as this was accomplished the man was hurried from the house under a citizen's escort, and taken to jail. The Sheriff Martin Gallagher, occupied a portion of the building in which the jail was situated as a dwelling-house. He was asleep when the crowd reached the jail, but the tumult awakened him, and he soon appeared with the keys in is hand. The. prisoner was then searched, and committed to the strongest cell in the prison. With the property stolen from Mr. Miller in bis possession, the Sheriff then accompanied the arresting party on their return to the scene of the tragedy. The terrible nature of the deed committed was now made known to all. Mrs Miller bad been shot through the heart, and had died almost instantly. The husband well-nigh crazy with grief, was found by the party kneeling by the bedside, clasp ing one of his dead wife's hands between it with his tears and kisses, as if by such manifestations of affection he could restore the life that bad flown for ever. The motherless baby had cried itself to sleep, and rested peacefully in the arms of

the servant, whose own tears were flowing almost as copiously as those of her employer. With gentle words the warm hearted neighbours of the afllicted man strove to comfort him, and withdraw his attention from the sad sight the dead body of his wife presented^ but all their efforts were in vain. He erer moved ■from the position in which they found him until broad daylight, when he was persuaded to taste of the refreshments sent to the house by neighbouring friends.

The story of the tragedy passed from mouth to mouth during the day. and the bitterest feeling toward the culprit was soon made manifest as being shared by the entire population. In this feeling the Sheriff seemed to share, although he seemed to anticipate a visit from .Judge Lynch, and openly expressed his determin ation to balk any attempt to hang the man before his trial if it cost him own life. He was not long in doubt as to the intention of the populace. The funeral of the murdered woman occurred two days after her death, and as the solemn cortege wound its way to the place of interment, crowds of people, among whom were visitors from the country, attended it. One spirit prevaded the mass : Universal sympathy for the bereaved husband was coupled with a stern determination to heal bis sorrow, if that were possible, in the murderer's blood.

During the early hours of the night the streets were crowded with people but gradually they wended their way to their homes, and by midnight quiet reigned in the town limits. But it was the quiet that precedes the storm. In a dwelling house on the outskirts of the town were gathered at midnight about thirty men. By one o'clock this number had been nearly doubled. All wore masks. But little conversation passed between them. All seemed to recognize a leader in a tall man of slender build, whose countenance was shielded from observation by a hid eously grotesque black mask, that was properly part of a masquerade suit. At precisely 1.30 a.m. the low command. ' Fall in !' was given by this man, and a gesture from the same personage was ac cepted by all present as the order to march In files of four men each, the gloomy cavalcade wended their way through the by-streets of the town until they came to the jail. Eifles and revolvers were plenti fully distributed among the gathering, and it was with the butt of his revolver that the leader hammered for admittance at the Sheriff's door. It was not heeded by those within until it had been thrice re peated. A window in the second story of the house was then opened and the Sheriff's head emerged into view, He demanded what was wanted, and was told to open the door. He refused, and in an instant it was broken open. The crowd swarmed through every apartment in the Sheriff's dwelling. He was seized and compelled to deliver the keys of the jail. They asked him in which cell the robber was confined, and he directed them to the third cell on the left hand side on the corridor running through the jail. Like wild beasts the crowd swarmed about the jail door, and seemed impatient at the slight delay incurred in opening it, that witheld their prey from them.

The occupant of the fatal cell seemed just awakening from a deep sleep as the leaders of the mob seized him, and he did not utter a word. He seemed unable to stand, a fact that the vigilants attributed to fear, and expressed their contempt for it by sneers and abusive language. Borne aloft on the heads of half a dozen stalwart men, the half-conscious victim was hurried to his doom. He was carried about half a mile beyond the city limits, and then the party halted in a clump of forest. Torches were made of the branches of small trees, and by their light the pre parations for the execution quickly advan ced. A rope, with a noose ready prepared at one end of it, was produced, and the cord soon galled the victim's neck. All this time he had said nothing, anp appeared to know nothing of what was going on around him. The pressure of the rope, however, as the noose tightened about bis neck, brought him to his senses, and he begged piteously for mercy. His pleadings were derided, and he was told to turn his attention to his spiritual welfare' during the three minutes that would be bis last on earth. He did not heed the advice, and while in the midst of a frenzied appeal for mercy, the tight ening oi the noose, as the rope was drawn over the branches of a tree, choked his his voice for ever. It was a death by strangulation, and after remaining for fifteen minutes on the ground the crowd dispersed, leaving the body suspended in the air, the loose end of the rope having been fastened to a tree some distance from that upon which the decree of Judge Lynch had been executed. On the following day the body was cut down by the Sheriff and buried at an early hour near the scene of the execution. The Sheriff said the man had told him that his name was Eichard Davis, and had confessed to a career of crime in various sections of the State, extending over a period of ten years. With this meagre information public curiosity was forced to remain satisfied. In a few days the Sheriff bad a new sensation to make public. Burt Ellwood, a horse thief who had been in the jail for several weeks awaiting trial on that charge was sup posed to have escaped, and if such was the case be must have made a very sure job of it, for he never was heard of afterward.

Months and years succeeded the events narrated, Sheriff Gallagher had died, and the memory of the lynching affair that had occurred during his term of office bad almost been forgotten* when attention was called to it by the publica tion of a county paper of a startling story that had been clipped from a paper published at La Grange, Missouri. The publication appeared in 1869, and was to the effect that a horse thief who had been shot near that town, confessed before his death, to a career of crime almost unparalelled. The most startling feature of the narrative of James Gallagher (for such was the horse thief's name) deeply concerned the people of Lawrenceburg. While the hand of death was weighing heavy upon him, and he knew what a short time he had to live, and be refused to pray, said be* could put his time to better use by relieving his mind of a dreadful secret, that over-burdened it. He was the brother of Sheriff Gallagher, of Dearborn County, Indiana. It was he who bad committed the burglary and murder at the Milier homestead, in, 1862,

ancl his brother, to shield him from the lynchers, had concealed him for two weeks following the event. The man whom the vigilants had ha?rged was Burt Ellwood, whom the Sheriff had stupefied with drugged liquor, and then confined in the cell that the murderer was known to have occupied. This intelligence created the greatest excitement in Southern Indiana, but as Ellwood had no friends or relatives to avenge his death, the murderers were left for punishment to tke stingings of their conscience.

The Reformation of Thieves.

Ntm Crinkle writes in the 'New STork "World' as follows:

It is the easiest thing in the world to hunt a man down when he is tryinsr to be honest with his own record against him. There is a case on record of a young man in a prominent dry-goods house in this city who, in a moment of temptation, forged a cheque on his employers, It was a peculiarly pain ful affair. The lad was well connected and when the detectives made the discovery it almost hroke his parents' heart. However, after some trouble the matter was compromised. The father paid the money, and some mitigation of sentence was effected. "With the etain upon him, he started out to redeem his character, if he could. After wandering about for some time he obtained a situation in 1 New Orleans, as entry clerk, and at the end of a year saw a fair prospect of achieving success. His employers had confidence in him, and he had made numerous reputable acquaint ances. One day, while on the sidewalk, superintending the shipment of some goods, one of these New York men came along. ' Halloo ! you here ?' 'Yes,' said this young man, with his heart in his mouth. ' What are you cfoing ?' ' Trying to earn an honest living!' It seems incredible, but it is true. The officer went straight into the store. One week later the young man was in Few York. ' God knows,' he said, ' I tried as hard as anybody could to be honest, but it's no use !' Of course a detective who had the slightest notion of his obligations as a man to society to say nothing of his duty as an officer, would not have made this mistake. Ancl that reminds me of another case which ought to teach even police officers that discretion and kindness are not without fruits even in their business. Everybody in the force remembers Johnny Maas. He was a pick-pocket and belonged to a mob that worked on the west side. How he got into the company of these people it would be hard to tell. But he was an adroit and rather amiable thief that scarcely ever caused the force any trouble. It was customary in the days of the Metropolitan police to lock up all the pick-pockets and ' guns ' when there was to be a great celebration or proces sion. They were merely ordered to the central office, and then kept until the city was restored to its usual quiet. Johnny Maas only needed to be told to go to headquarters to report himself there promptly. He was a young man, rather slight in build, and somewhat taciturn. To the surprise of the Superinten dent, he came to the office one after noon and inquired when all the special men would be in. He was told he could see them in the morning. When the morning came he was there. A fter the roll was called the Superintendent said,' Now, Johnny, the men are all here if you want to speak to them.' He got up from the corner in which he was sitting, and wringing out his cap with his two hands, proceeded to address them in a faltering and abashed manner:

' Well, yon see, I've concluded to square it. You've been pretty rough on me for some time, and I've got a sister that's got the heart disease and she's took it into her head that she'd live a bit longer if as how I'd do the right thing, and 'told her I'd make a try of it; and if you men gimme a hand why I don't mind making it a go. I don't want to get 'the cholera' no more, and if the gal'll live a bit longer on my account I am willinV A.ll the men went up and shook hands with- him, and it was agreed that he shouldn't have ' the cholera' unless he broke through his resolution.

About a year after that, in the dead of a severe winter, the Superintendent was coming through Crosby-street into Bleeker, and he met Johnny Maas. The fellow was dressed in a thin bom bazine coat. He was collarless, and his feet were oat, and he looked hungry, pinched aud wretched. •I'm glad you've kept your word, Johnny. But it's going pretty hard with you, I suppose, to be honest?' .'Awful hard, sir,' said Johnny^ 'but I told her I would, and I did.'

'That's right. Don't you go back of your word. Stick it out. You'll have better times by and by.' ' Don't you see that bank over there ?' said the young man, pointing to the marble building in Bleeker street. ' Well, there ain't money enough in that place to make me go back. I'd rather, go cold and hungry and not be hunted —so I would.' The next summer one of the hatel proprietors at Long Branch sent up to the Superintendent for a man to keep an eye oil the thieves that hang around

a watering-place. 'I can get you a man,' said the Superintendent, thinking of Johnny, ' but I'm bound to tell you he's been a thief.' . •

' Then I don't want him.'

Then the Superintendent told the story I have told, only he told it better. ' Send him down,' said the landlord, ' A chap that'll do that ought to be helped.' It was $25 a week to Johnny, and it made a man of him.

During that season there wasn't a robbery committed at the Branch. Johnny stationed himself at the rail road depot, and when he saw a former pal he wared him off. * It's no use/ he would say, 'I don't want topipe none o' you boys, and I ain't goin' to do it if you stay away. If you come here it will be awful rough on both of us.'

And to their credit it ought to be said that they always went back. If I had been in the sentimental or the moral way, there is one thing I should have done.

Do you know what that is ? I should like to have known that sister that had the heart disease.

One other thing. I'd like to give you the name of that Superintendent, but I'd have to ask him first, and that's impossible.

How the Ladies Fish.

There's generally about six of them in the bunch, with light dresses on, and they have three poles with as many hooks and lines among them. A s soon as they get up to Mosertown they look for a good place to get down on the rafts, and the most ventursome one sticks her boot heels in the bank and makes two careful steps down; then she suddenly finds herself at the bottom with both hands in the^ water and a feeling that everybody in this wide world is looking at her, and she never tells anybody how she got there. The other girls, profiting by her example, turn around and go down the bank on their hands and toes, backwards.

Then they scamper over the rafts until they find a shallow place where they can see the fish and shout-— ' Oh! I ace one.' < Where ?' ' There.' ' Oh ! my, so he is.' ' Let's catch him.' ' "Whose got them baits ?' 1 Somebody's got my hook.' ' You lazy thing you're setting on

my pole.' 'bhow me the wretch that stole ray worm.'

All these exclamations are got off in a tone that awakens every lazy echo within a mile around, and sends every fish within three acres square in gallop ping hysterics. Then the girls by superhnman exertions get a worm on the hook and ' throw in' with a splash like the launching of a wash-tub, and await the result. When a silver-fin comes along and nibbles the bait they pull up with a jerk that, had any unfortunate fish weighing less than fifteen pounds been on the hook, would have landed it in the neighbourhood of the new church on College Hill. After a while a feeble-minded sunfish contrives to get fastened on the hook of a timid fisherwbman and she gives tongue: 'Oh ! somethin's got my hook!'

'Pull up, you little idgzut!' shout five excited voices as poles and hooks are dropped and they rush to the rescue. The girl with the bite gives a spasmodic jerk, which sends that unhappy 'sunny' into the air the full length of forty feet of line, and he comes down on the nearest curly head with a damp flop, that sets the girl to clawing as though there were bumble-bees in her hair.

'Ouch! Murder ! take it away. Ugh, the nasty thing !' Ihen they hold up their skirts and gather about that fish as it skips over the logs, and all the time holding the line in both hands, with her foot on the pole, as though she had an evil-disposed goat at the other end, which she expected to butt her at any moment. Then they talk over it.

' How ever will we get it off!' • Ain't it pretty ?' ' Look how it pants.' •'Wonder if it ain't dry?' ' Poor little thing, let's put it tack.' ' How will we get the hook from it ?' 1 Pick it up,' says a gul who backs rapidly out of the circle. ' Good gracious, I'm afraid of it. There if s opening its mouth at me.' Just then the ' sunny' wriggles off the hook and disappears between two logs into the water, and the girls try for another bite. But the sun comes down and fries the backs of their necks, and they get no more bites but fly bites, and they get three headaches in the party and they get all cross and scold at the fish like so many magpies. If an unwary chub dares to show himself in the water they poke at him with their poles, much to his disgust. Finally they get mad all over and throw their poles away, hunt up the lunch basket, climb up into the woods, where they sit around on the grass and caterpillars and eat enough of dried beef and rusk and; hard boiled eggs to give a wood horse the night mare, after which they compare notes about. their beaux until sundown, when they go home and plant envy in the hearts of all their mouslindelaine friends by telling what 'just a splendid time' they had. — Easton Mree Press.

Poetry.

SYMPTOMS.

" He is sure possessed, madam." If, when yon hear a certain lady's name, Yon feel your pukes give a sudden start, Or blush, as if some secret sense of shame . Had stirred, just then, the currents of your heart? And If that name—to put it rather strong— In euphony seerU3 very much above All other names—l think I can't be wrOTg To venture the opinion, you're in love t If, when at last, by some auspicious chance, You meet the lidy at a ball or play. You shrink abashed before her modest glance, And quite forget the words you meant to say; And if. moreover, puzint; at her hand, You wish upon that hand you were a glove, It isn't, very hard to understand (See "Komeo and Juliet,") you're in love! If with two ladies, on a Summer's day, You sit Blnne, at luucheon or at tea, And think if one of them were but away 33 (A mile or so>, how happy you would be; And find your wits in such a giddy whirl, You scarcely speak to her you're thinking of, But prattle gaily wi,h the other girl— There's reason for supposing you're in love. If, all at ODCe. your amatory pen (Which ne'er before attempted lyric lines, Inrdta m/usa- bane of gods and men !) To fervid song and madrigal inclines. Wherein you rashly rhyme of "youth"and "truth" And '-all Tour subject "darlirg," "duck" or "dove" Or sadly b?gsome cruel lady's rnth— The symptom is unfailing—you're in love! If of her sex no other you can find One half so bright or beautiful as she ; If *o her failings tou are wholly blind (The faults. I mean, that other people see); If in her " put; " you see a " Grecian nose," And never doubt the ang-1 bands above Are silent when she s'nps—you may suppose, Beye&d the slightest question, you're in love! John G. Saxe, in Galaxy for September.

Varieties.

Cure Fob Scandal.—Take of good na ture one ounce; of sn herb commonly called by the Indian ' mind your own business/ one ounce ; mix this with a little' charity for others,' and two or three sprigs of 'keep your tongue belween your teeth,' Simmer them together in a vessel called 'circumspection ' for a time, and it will be fit for use. Application : —The symptoms are a violent itching on the tongue and roof of the mouth, which invariably takes place when you are with a female animal, called a " gossip.' When you feel an attack coming on, take a spoonful of the above, hold it in your mouth, and keep it shut till you get home, and you will find a complete cure. Keep a phial full about you ; and on feeling the slightest symptoms, repeat the dose.

An Englishman, describing to an Irish man in vivid language the multiform monsters who visited him during an attack of delirium tremens, devils of all shapes and sizes, and of sufficient number to justify the term ' delirium tremen(dou)s,' ' But' said he, in a consolatory key, 'it is all imagination you know.' cßy my sowl,' replied Paddy, evidently disconcer ted, \* I'm not sure of that. It is strange you never imagine you see angels flying at you at such times!'

A love-lorn writer says: ' I pressed her gentle form to me, and whispered in her ear, if, when I was far away she'd drop for me a tear? I paused for some cheering words, my throbbing heart to cool, and with, her frozen lips she said • Oh, Ike, you're sich a fool.'

Beauty in woman is like the flower in spring; but virtue is like the stars of hea\en.

Frequent Shaving.—An honest Dutch man on being asked how often he shaved said—' Dree dimes a week, every day but Soontay—den I shafe every day.'

Husband—'• Mary, my love, this apple dumpling is not quite done.' Wife— ' Well, finish it then, my dear ; I shall not want any more.'

Little Jennie said : ' Mother, is Tom a good cat ?' ' sTes.' ' "Well, he'll go to hea ven, won't he?' 'I don't know, but if you're not a better girl, you'll never get there.' 'Oh !' said Jennie, ' I'll hold on to Tom's tail.' .

The gun that went off has not yet re turned, neither has the candle that went out. • ■• . ' '

Once, while Curran was defending a case for treason in the rebellion of 1803, before Chief Justice Lord Viscount Carl ton, and going too far, in some things that he said, Lord Carlton had to call him to account in some such words as the following:—'Mr. Curran, it were well for you to be on your, better guard in what you say,.for if not, you may forfeit your gown.' Curran replied,' They may take the gown, my Lord, but they must leave the stuff behind.'

An Irishman, when he applied for a licence to sell whiskey,! was asked by a magistrate if lie was of a good moral character. Pat replied :. ' Faith, I dpn't see the necessity of a good moral charac ter to sell whiskey.' .

f My dear Murphy,' said an Irishman to a friend, 'why did you betray the secret that I told you,' 'Is it betraying you call it ? Sure when I found I wasn't able to keep it myself didn't .1 do well to tell it to somebody that could.'

Daniel O'Connell, in his address to the jury on his trial, in 1844, said: 'Ifl could get theHepeal of the Union I would make you a present of Emancipation.'

There is - a thoroughly Tennysonian milk-maid's song in the drama of * Queen Mary,' the refrain of which runs as follows:— . -...-.■■

" And you came and kissed me, milking the cow." It is to be observed that there were no introductory remarks on his. part; no mewling and mouthing over the- fence rail; no foolish backing and filling, but' he just stepped 'up and did his duty like a man, and it is clear she liked him all the better for it. It was a good deal more satisfactory than hinting around with a sprig of trailing arbutus.

, A Manchester firm which take's all its employe's for a day's trip to the sea-side during the summer, decided last year to visit Blackpool. It is the general custom of the workers to have a dip in the'sea before beginning the usual amusements, ' Eh, mon; how dirty ye are!' ;'said One hale Lancashire lad to his fellow bather. • Missed the trip last; year,' was the laconic rejoinder.

llf a lady wears a three-story hat to the theatre, is it etiquette for the gentleman who sits behind her to climb up and roost on the back of his seat ? Or must he boh his head frjom side to side to catch furtive glimpßes of the stage around her head'? Will some mod ern Chesterfield answer ? I r

;An affecting sight.—To see a young man swapping . kisses with a pretty girl. ■.... - ~.: ■: i , . ~; ;-•■ —> in . '