Halton Hills Newspapers

Flesherton Advance, 16 Apr 1896, p. 6

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.^.^im LORD KILLEEN'S REVENGE cott«d th»t* hymn forever, I take it. And a gotxl thing, too." "Is that the way you intend to braz- en it ouif" deiuaiiiioU sho. "Are you ,.aa I so lost to all si'nso of propriety thut ' you don't know when you are in fault* Garrett Barry. I'm a^ibamed of you!" Uor eyes tflo^vod; she stood erect. The dignily of her ai>i)earanoe auffored no diminution lx>cii.U4ie of the dab of flour Uj>on her Grecian nose. "It's very gootl of you to take so much trouble," said Barry, who was now growing indi^^uant in turn. "Faith, I didn't think you had ao Biii)(Jhre a re- ! gard for me." Mr. Roche, usually the mildesUnatur- ed inao, and meek as Moses with the cross old paupers, who were as imper- tinent M they were ungrateful now outi«g«ously angry with this well- U>-i}o pariaboner, and refuaed him ab- solution; in fact, he would hardly list- en to exousea. He strode up and down the tiny study, and worked out bis wrath with many words. "It was raacally conduct, sir," he ex- claimed, "unworthy of a Christian or a gentlemanâ€" to insult thoee two old i ~'^ii d<x»in't matter what I have. You ladies, and turn a sacred verse into I are the one in question. To think you ridiculel If such offenses were to !» should li»voao^ (iiBgruced yourself 1^' lighi ly oomdoned there would be no safe- ty anywhere. One would imagine that ja<<t at this critical time when our r-}untry is laid in the dust by the con- duct of those miscreants who pretend then?" demand- What liave I done, ed he. . "Uonel Is it nothing, do you thmk, to blow a tnunp<!t in a churchâ€" in the middle of the service, before â€" " "Why shouldn't I blow my own trum- pet?" interrupted he. He stopped short to represent their native hind in Par- and laughe^l angrily. "If I didn't blow Ibjuput, gentlemen would have the | it, I donl expect there is any one would good taste to refrain from even the ap- blow it for me." I should hope not, indeed," said Con- pearanos of evil; but you have put your- Btantia,"who w"a3 too wrathful to notice self in the mouths of cdl men to-tlay." , his n-a.1 meaning. "How could you con- "Nolxidy knows of it but you," said ceiveâ€" how had you the hardihood to Barry, mildly. He was looking the ! cf rrv out such a plot? One would . . _, . . , u think you lived m a savage land, in picture of remorse, and as he spoke he | ^^^^ country where the hiwe of society Bighe4. He was in rvality dgring with , do not obtain. One would think you laughter, but Mr. Roche only heard the i were determined to make your friends sigh and saw the repenUnt lac^ of the : '''"f*^ ^^ X««- , ""« ^°"'"J nl.^lS! •^ I that some umate sense oi kmalmess young man. "Who gave you that Iwgle?" he de- mn.ndcdt sternly; so sternly tlia.t Bar- ry felt be was yielding. "My great-jfrandfather," .safid he, pnmiptly, "at least it was his, and fell to my lot with the rest of the thingSk I wish now he'd disposed of it prior to his decease, for the vary look of it will lie poison to me for the rest of my days." "Who t>ut you up to that unwai- nmtable aci of impiety?" asked the rec- tor, regarding him fixedly. "Not a soul," said Barry; txit, as he said it.he thought of Constantia.andh is proiaijse to make an end of that hymn on the first opportunity. "I'm afraid, Mr. itochv," he said, witih his eyus on the ground, "that 1 have a hcajrt cap- able of much evill But I think you might forgive me now it's all over." "My forgiveness counts for noth- ing," said the rector, drumming his fin- would have held you back from iimult- ing thoBti two poor old women, who â€" " One, one, onel" cried he. "Whati one? You?" Constantla fell liack ujion an elo- quent silence, and, returning to the kitchen-table, once more Uxik up the threat! of her tart, and worked awiay at the p.istry with a will that bad some- thing of the force of venom in it. To him she vouchsafed no long«r either glance or word. Ho lx>rB this ignominious treatment for some time without protx»t; but presently be six>ke. "So you won't speak to me, Constan- tla?" he said, rcproachfally. "Certainly not. It you stood there forever I should not adtdi^ens one word to you," d<«larod she, with acorn con- ceut rated uix>n her lovely lips. That she was .speaking to him was a fact that had escaped her. "I may a.s well go, at that rate." said he. gl(x>mily. "Kar Iwttex," returned she, concisely. Barry took one step toward the door, and then looked bock. No relenting on the brow of his godd(:«sl Two steps; and Constantia was bending over the gers on the tatde. "You are a sad neglect*'.!! paste, l»ating it fimily into trial to m.fl, Barry, in many ways, and this alxxninable offense has worn away the last shred of my patience." Ub was very fond of Barry, and was, there- fore, specially angry with him. "If 1 pould do anything." hinted the miscreant slupa with the help of a truculent roller. Three steps. Surely, thought th<^ culprit, ao sweet a iniy can not harlx>r an adamantioa soul, and now she will relent. He looked at hr>r with all his h>-art in his eyes, and as he did ao she lifted her hea.d. Muli-ahy. where are you? Come here," ' oven voice, though be "I can't bear being out of she cried, in a perfectly your good graces, Mr. Roche, and that's looking through Bariy, ^ ,.,,»., ,_ ,, were not. to where m the scullery lie- the fact. A check, now, for your old j„,j Mulcahy might l». It grew plain wonuMi â€" " to him tliat she was <letermine<l to ip- "Tut.tut," said the rector, throrwlng" nore his very existence. She had, m out his hand.s, aa if to wanl off tempt a- fact, ceaned to see him. tioii. "You ran't buy your salvation/ This insult was mure than bti could my gooil lioy. You must go to Father exidui-e. with any show of resignation. Moroney" (the Itoinan Catholic clergy- It ennig»>,d htm, whilst reducing him man) "for that sort of thing." to desi>air. He undid the three steiis, "But still the old women!" persisted and found binuwlf once moi« I>e8ide her. Barry, who had seen the avaricious "Coustanliu," he breathed in a sep- light in the rector's eye. Oh, kindly ulchnil whisjx'r, "did you ever hoar of avarice, that longed, and desired, and the word suii^ide?" sought, for the halt, the maimtui, and "Frequently. 1 have also heard of the blind! "And you twe, as you have the word fixilt" returned she, with called me "your good l»y.' I can't )» cruel pointklilankti<«s. altogt'ther lost to grace; there must !» 'â-  "IV-ople lieforo this have cut their a gniin or two left in me." own Ihruals," went on Barry, darkly. I he rogui.sh smile crept over his face ,"*^"'','; *>' '^}^*',i '^^"^ '''"' y^"Â¥\TJ? that the rector knew and loved. ' " ' "Now, Barry, go liome; go home and reiKml ," he said, horriediy, not suf- fering hiuisulf to dwell upon the bribe, lest he should be unable to resist it. Yet when Barry sent him a hand- whom the word 'lool' was coinetl,." She was looking straight at him with re- moi:s<'iess eyes. Apparently she was not of the easily frightened sort, a discovery that delighted him. "Are you determined, then, to drive some check that evening, (or his "old ' me to it?" bo said, in a tone specially wonu'n," he accepted It, anil spent an tragic. hour full of th«) wildest excltiuuent tVe- ' "tio home!" exclaimed Conatantia,> eiiliiig u{>on the m<nt profiUalile way , with all the air of one who has lost of laying out, in blankets, coals, tea, her last grain of patience. "Go home; etc. and never presume to speak to me Though the rack W(Hild not have in- again on such abominable topics. Sui- dured the rector to lielray Birry's con- cide, indieed!" fe.Hsion, still a knowledge of the pro- | "Good-bye, then. I hope you will not fane one's name Ixviame protly ;;^ener- live to n^grct this day. ' aUv known. And Bufry, going u,> to I "I hoi>e from this ilay tJuit you will 'i'he Cottage on the following Wednes- , learn to al«tain from vioe, and that day, mot with an extivmely cool recBi>- you will put that Inigle or Irumiie* lion trom Constantia, who revered the or whatever it is, into the fire without n-etor Iwyond all liviug men, and was delaj." iiiiligiiant that Barry should not have > "\ou'rB a bitter Christian," said Ml. stMiud him at least, when one of his , Barry, with diwp reproach. "Is it be- wilil fits was on hiiu. ' rAUse I dote on you, and you know it, 8he was in the kilclien making a that you aie so hard on me? D'ye call jam-l;;rl for dinner, when he arrived^ that generous? As angry as Mr. Rorho ami Umy. who knew the liaok entran- I wasâ€" anil of course he had bigger cuiuib ce (US well aa the front one, having , than youâ€" ho for^jave mel 1 reel sure," seen her through a window, nearly up said Barry, playing his trtunp with a to her neck in flour, lioldly alntain- ed fn>m knocking, but matlla his way to the lower regions, via the kitchen- dix>r, without delay, lie luudtt also the dlsrovory that if ('onslantia in every- day attiTu was charming, Constantia, in a big white bib, with her sleevns tucked up, and her lovely arms expoH- ed to view, was adorable! Her eyes, however, aa they fell cm him. were implacable, and her whole bearing full of a fine contempt. CUAfTEB XVI. The kitchen was a remarkably love- ly bit of color. It was growing toward evening, and the dyint^ n,y^ ol the uun could not shine into il. It was, how- ever, brilliantly lit by a roaring lire, that soul, up a rod gUnv to the very roi>f, which was vaiuted. The (lames oaughl d.i the bright tins and brasses, •nil played fantastic tricks with the ohina lx>wls upon the dntsser. The Jack-touel shone white lioneath its f fiance, though early in the morning t was u distinct brown. Fn>m the vaulted roof hung strings of onions, round and golden, and here and there were hams, and giunnions, and tid;y little liags nMloUvnt of sage ^d thyme. The fire oust its hot glanu- 6b ii{K>n ail. ojid turned the warm tiles to a blood rml. II was a pretty, quaint picture, that might almost have been labeled as "a Duieh interior," wilh Constantia aa a brilliant figure in the for<>ground. She came a step <n° two forward oa Barry o.ime in, and, as has liuen said, her asiNict was unpromising. "So you've donu it at last." she said. "I luive," roturned Barry, throwing out bis chest, and trj^ing to look M- umpiiAAtâ€" « diurnal failure. "I've boy- regretful air," "that he would be shock- ed if he knew of your â- unforgiving spirit." "1 hoiMi (hat's true," said Constantia, regarding him with some suspicion. It her pattern saint bad been lenient ta the sinner, why should she withhold her [lardon? Perhaps, too, there waa something in the reproachful eyas ut the big liimerick man that ap|>ealed to her gentle heart; and that touch about the "unforgiving spirit" did a good deal for him. "It's as true as that I'm stuoidingi 'here," aaiil ho. Was there a d(>ubla me.an<ng in that artful speech? Waa a hint conveyed? "Yon can sit down If you like," aaUlr Constojitia, coldly. But the permission was a conc!'.ssion, and Mr. Biu'ry gladr, 1^ avaiUul himself of it by Seating nim- self upon the o<lgo of the kitchen- table. In this hup|iy poHitiun bo wa4 very near her, and couUl look Into her eyes. He oouIkI also decorate his ooat^ tails with flour free of charge, and was doing it lil>erally, though perhaps of this no was not aware. '"rhero is one thing ainut you," said Constantia, still se.veivly, tJtough theje was a visible melting of her bard mcod alnut the corners ot her lijis. "You don't seem in tjhe least son-y. No! K don't care about what you have said.) you cau gejieiuUy say a ^reat deal more than inest people; it is your ix- pression that I doubt." "If that's ajl," said Barry, "It Isn't of the least consequence. More than me are belied by their looks. There's you, nowl Any one to see you would .say, 'Tbere goes the sctftest angel on earth," and yet you are like a, stone to me." "Never mind me." She waived that inlAirealing thought to one side with a floury band. :"'What I wish to know is, are you really contrite?" "Contrite, i.s it? And with you loiik- ing cohlly on me? Wha-t d'ye take me lor? Faith, I'd be more th:in mortal If I cared this moment whether 1 were dead or alive; though, perhaps, after all, I wjx>ng inyaelf, and there is a lean- ing toward the sidi* of death." "I dou t seo what I have got to do with it," .s:iid Constantia, gravely. The gravity for the must part was due to the fact that the tart was now finish- ed, and that she was making little piit- terus on the edge of the paste with a fork and spoon. "What is really to be thought of is, that you vexed Mr. Itoche â€" ' vSUe slopp.xl abruptly and reddened, feeling that after all this v.as nut the faullr for which be should feel contrition. "That is, I mean," she went on rather lamely, "you should be sorry bccaust) â€" because â€" " Barry, iK'ing wLse in his generation took no notice of her slip. "Of course, I regret it all," be said, "One can see that." Then his sense of humor conquered all things, and his eyes brigbtenrA with a merry fire, and he leaned across the table ttjward bur. "Constantia," said be confidentially, breaking into an irrepressible laugh," "you were there; you could see. IIow did the two old tabbies take it?" Constantia atrug'gled with herself. She fought a desperate battle with her dignity, but in the end dignity sunk out of sight. She leaned her bands up- on the tal)le, lifted her pretty bead, and unfortunately allowe<l herself one glance at Barry. That settled it. She broke into laughter, low, but irresistible as his. I>ong and merry they la.ughed, un- til at last Constantia dried hex eyes in the l)ccomiug bih and spoke. "As you have gone so far, it was a pity you couldn't have seen it out." she said, still laughing.. ''Poor old ladled, ihuy thought it was the crack of doom. Never were two so terrified at the thought that their last hour bad come. Yet why? one wonders, con- siiloring bow soon it must come. They had to be taken home, and have been verj' hysterical J ever since. Don't call upon them, Garrett, for the next twelve months, if you wish to Veeff clear of assauic and l>att<>ry." "A word to the wise is sufficient? tliough 1 confess I Bbould not havu gone even hod you not spoken." "I waa sorry, howerver, aluut dear Mr. Roche," said Constantia, earnestly. "That ratb<\r cut me up, too. But bo was very guoil about it, and granted me alsolution rather sooner than I deserved." "I should have made yoai pay the piper, bad I been be." "As I told you Iwfore, bo is a bettor Christian than you are. However, I did pay the piper in part â€" I sent him a few ha'pence for his beloved poor â€" and I think be was pleated." "Pleosedl You could have given him no keener pleasure. It was gooii of you. said she, looking at him now with very kindly eyes, ft gave bun cour- age, lie edged closer to her. "I'm glad you're pl«^;!J«ld at all events," said be, "CousUuitlal" He trvvl to take her bind, but she put it delilierately behind her, and look- e<l at him with a little aauoy nod as much as to say, "Now, theni" "Well, you're a little flint," said be. "And yet â€" Constantia, say you like me." "Certainly, I like you." "That's all very wellâ€" but â€" who do you like better now?" "Why should I li'-.. any one better?" demnuilad she, being, it must be allow- ed, tant soil peu ciHiuotte. "If you meant that In earnest. I'd be the happiest man above ground to- day," «ud Barry. "Butâ€" and it isn't that I'd distrust you at all. Constan- tia only, 'I date yet dpubt, suupeot yet strtmgly love.' " It would be ImpoBible to describe the tragic fervor with which these words were rolln<l oat with a true Milesian richneisi ttiat addied consiilnraldy to the effect. It delighted Con-stautia. She burst into a ripptle of luinoutrollable mirth, and tucking her arm into bis, le<l him through the kitchen-door and toward the orchard. The warm June sunabiue smote on their faces. "You shall have some atrawlwrries," cried she, gayly. "We have them of our own now, though few and far l<e- tween, but you are worthy of them. You are the most amusing man I know^ th(( joy of roy life; what on earth should I do without you? All the oth- ers are flat, stale, and uuprufltable, when coinpa,red with you." She was In excolluut spirits. Featb- erston bad sent heir a charming l>unoh of Bijon rocies in the morning, and a pretty little mesBage. She treasured both; one In her own room, the other In her bcsum. As for Barry, she did not believe Hufficieutly in the dei>th txf his attachment to be any way depress- ed by It. "If you do not mean a little of what you say, you are a wicked girl," said Barry, regarding her nystfuUy. He was very honeutly In loV with her, and thought morning, noon and night of bla ch&noea for ivnd against he>r accept- ance of bun. "At all eveots, there is no doabt at aU about your being the joy of my lUe. And il it is true that you can't do without me, why â€" " "Them's Mr. Strongel" interrupted Constantia, with an exolamatiou of eager relief. "Here be is, coming up the walk. How d'ye do, Mr. Stronge? She lield out her band to Stronge, with such a lioaming smile, and such an un- reserved warmth of welcome, that she woke within his breast a joy batter left unknown. "What has brought yon to- day? How did you know I waa here? Mr. Barry and I have just come into the garden in a mad quest for stiaw- Iwrries. Will you join us?" He joined them. was thrown open and a servant an- notmiied Mrs. Bund^;: â-  lady \ urli-y Uiteil li-.-j head wit'i a suililen flush of amazed disple^asure that was, however, no sooner born than criLsh'd. Bill. Lunna saw it. Here! To have aâ€" a stranger shown into her fav- orite apirliajut was an act that plain- ly angered her. She conquered herself .it once, and moving fonvard, receiv- !â-  I Sfrs. Dunda.i wilh her customary gentleness. "They told me you were in here, with â€" liaby." said Donna, with a charming smile and the prettiest touch o£ litM- tating; ten!emi'3.s liefore, the worj "Ijaby/' "They would have taken ma to the draw.ug-r(X)m below, but X want- ed to .see her. May I?" She advanced toward the child, and looked ijuito enireatiiigly at Lady Var- ley. One might readily imagine her whole htsart to be in bar request. Lady V'arloy hesitated involuntarily but momentarily, then sighed, then smiled, and so the ti^ttle was won. The mother could not resist the woman who showed an Interest in her child. She drew Ijock the coverings, and let Donna look at the. baby's small, pinched face. Mrs. Dundas bent over it with quite an air ol hushed rapture. She did not a.<lmire it at all. It waa like a little rabbit when skinned, she told herself, aatd sh-j bloivied her stars that she was not the mother of such an one; Init she prod(te<i its thin little cheek with her linger, and cari'ssed the tiny hand, and did, indeed, all that could lie re- quired of her. She was studiously or- thodox; she omitted no conventional word of proJae; only she did nut kiss it. That, ahv said afterward, was more than any one could exftect. One should never kiss a baby imless one had a bath ready In the next room. Into which AN APPALLIN& EISiSTER. DEVASTATION CAUSED BY A GREAT EXPLOSION. Our Ilnndrprt and Firiy Thoniuind Pounds or Uynninlte KxpliMinl Near Johannes- bui'S, Suiilb .ifrli-ii, M.'lli IrigUlful Ko RUllK-FnII Parltealarn efthe 4nlamlty One of the most appalling disasters ol modern times, one fraught with death and the difitruction of valuable property, was that caused by the explosion ol al)out a hundred and fifty thousand pounds of dynamite in that part ol Johannesburg, South Africa, known aa Malay Location, which occurred a few minutes after three o'clock in the after- noon of Feb. 19 last. At that time a most violent explosion startled tb* citizens of the town, bouses shook am though an earthquake was taking plac« and windows everywhere were broken by the concussion. Affrighted clerks and business men rushed from their stores and offices into the streets. Soma people cried that the gas works bad blown up; others bad other theories, but it W'ls soon ascertained th.it some nine or ten trucks of dynamite consign- ed to Mr. E. Llppert, and lying at the Johannesburg station, had exploded. The dynamite bad arrived gn the pre- vious Sunday, but the removal of it bad not begem untU the following Friday. It was while it waa being removed that to plunge one's stvlf after the ordeal, ) the explosion took place. The effects of the disaster were frightful. On the spot where the cars stood all that re- malned were a few fragments of cars; around lay the horrible mutilated bodies of human beings, and a number ot slaughtered, disemboweled and dismem- bered mules. Where, but a moment b» fore waa a leved track, waa now A HUGH TRENCH, three himdred feet long, sixty-five feet wide and thirty feet deep, the eartb being banked up on both sides as regu- larly as though a dam were in oours* of construction. The railway aiding where the catastroDha occurred was surrounded by some hundreds of housas occupied by the poorer class of whites, natives and colored people. Scores of tbes» bouses were razed to the ground, burying their inmates benealb the fragments. In the Immediate vicinity of the railway very few of the residents escaped alive, and thuse who did were so terribly wounded as to make the re- covery of the majority doubtful. Far several bimdrod yaj-ds around the scene of the explosion the sight waa And then, such a babyl Of course, she saw it was hot doomed to live. She saw, too, that Lady Yax- ley did not believe this. She had cer- tain elcmoQtfi of good nature in her. or she would have laughed at this. She still bent over the baby, and madb pretty remarks about it in a low, trainante voice that fascinated most people. "How quietl" she said. "How goodi" "Yes, very quiet; such a good little angel!" said Lady V^arley, with fever- ish eagernesBi. Then, as if struck by some sudden horror, she stopped short, and Mrs. DundAS could see that her color flew and left bur livid. Love grog's superstitious, and now that word "angal" had driven a nail into her heart. By her own mouth iuui sho con- demned her little one, and driven it forth from the fond s]Mlt«r of the mother's arms to the luujurwn â€" the awful. In her anguish. the sweet- ness and rest of heuven was forgotten. "Ob, not altogether on angel. I as- sure you," she cried, in a strained tone. "Sometimes we cannot manage herâ€" nurse -. l ': but just now, and usually, she ia calmness Itself. A sign of health, I take it. At le>ast that is what Dar- gan, her nurse, saysâ€" a very experienc- ed woman. A-xI to be always quiet, surely betray a singular freedocn from pain or ache. You think so?" (To Be Continued.) CHAPTER XVII. The little child was 8lo^vly but surely fading from out her arms. It might linger for a day or two, a week, per- haps, but hope there waa none. So frail now was its hold on earth, that already â€" most blessed child â€" heaven was within its gra^pl It was dying, gently, calmly, painlessly, a veritable falling off of the bud, and the only one who could not see it was the mother. She was walking up and down her private drawing-room with it now, clasping it closely to her breast â€" not hushing it to sluml)er or soothing fiB(v< lious ('ri«!s (alas, how gladly she would have baile<l them!), ttecauss the little thing was marvellously still and miles- cent, and lay prone within the cling- ing arms without a moan, without a movemetnt. She bad sent the nurse away that sho might have it all to her- self. A bungi"y desire to share it with no one was full on her. She st^vrted perceptibly, therefore, when the door GLADSTONE'S FAMILY LIFE, â-  â- aide View of tkc Lire ef tbe Orcal Stairitnian. A large-hearted old man who loves children is sure, no matter how mas- terful ho may be, to bo ruled by some child. Mr. Gladstone is no exception. His sunny little granddaughter, Dor- othy Drew, rules her Illustrious grand- father as imperiously as he ruled his party in the days of his (nlitical lead- ership. Tilt grand old man finds pleas- ui-e in hm' cotuponiouship, and even when puMcd for a picture allows her to clasp his hand tightly, as if to fonse him to keep quiet. Says the New York Tribune: Never waa a family more truly unit- ed than that of the Gladstones. They constitute the most wholesome type of the English country-family, wholesome ia body, and no breath of dissension or scandal has ever disturbed the seren- ity of their mutual relations. Sons and daugbters.aa wall as those who have entered the family by mar- riage, all vie with one another in rev- erence and devotion for tiie one wbo has done ao much to render the name which they bear Ulustrious, a synon- ym for justice, piety and geaeroslty. But superior to them aU on that score is the "Grand Old Woman," as the ven- erable Mrs. Gladstone, the once fam- ous beauty, Catharine Glynn is affeo- tionately described throughout tt.s Unit- ed Kingdom. No wife ia mora watchful and de- voted than she, and Mi. Gladstone has made few political speeches in Parlia- ment when she has not sat in the gall- ery inspiring him with the knowledge of bur presence, and few public address- es outside the wialls of Westminster when she has not sat by hia side.whetb- er on the platfuirm or on the buntings. Indeed, on one occasion, when, about fifteen years ago, he waa called upon to apeak in the open air at Greenwich to an extremely hostile audience, she won the day for him by standing thro- ughout at his side, holding an umbrella to shield his silvered locks from the glare ot the aim. Instead of the hisses, tba howls, and even the missies that were anticipat- ed from the mob, there arose cheers for the "Grand Old Couple" and for their 'Grand Old Gamp." CO. D. A young lady n^Lked into a Mifflin- town store, and after selecting a piece of cloth asked what it was worth. Four kisses per yard, said the polite clerk. The young lady stood abaabsd for a moment, and replied that she would take four yards. The cloth was out off, nicely wrai)pe<l up, (-nd handed to the fair purohiiaer, who reoeived it with a smile and said: Send the bill around to my grand- mother; she wiU settle it. A GIRI, OP THE PERIOD. He â€" I'm afrakl I couldn't make you happy, <larling, on only |2,000 a ye^r. Sheâ€" Oh, it's plenty 1 With economy I can dress on fl.SOO a year, and just think, dea«, wo can have all the. rest for household expenses. gruesome in the extreme ; here and tbere lay a skull, a limb, entrails, a leglecB, armless trunk and fragments of human (lesb. innocent children and strong adults In the throes of death, scores of malned and wounded. Uer« and there a car-corupllng could be seen twisted out of shape. What yna ones a lively village was now min a»d deso- lation. The bouses were, for the most part, made of corriigated Iron, and con- ae<iuently were easily ilashed to pieces. At almost every ruined dwelling i^arps and others were busily engaged in tbs gruesome bunt for the dead. Iiuiuediately after the explosioo crowibi â€" Knglisb, Dutch, blacks and yel- low-atdxined peoole hurried to the seen* of the catastroime, and then were wit- nessed SCENES PITIFUL in the extreme. At every tbw yards circles of people crowded round some object ; old women sat among the ruins, their bonds to their wounded heads and their faces the picture ot despair. Fully a score of women had little children in their arms, babies and mothers bleeding from wounds. One man was found in a well ; in another well a horse was found. Dead horses, dogs, fowls and mules lay scattered around. A short distance trom the trench a Chinaman lay dying. In West Fotrdsburg six little white girls lay dead before the house in front of which they bad been standing when the af- fair Happened. Violent exhibitions ot grief were visible everywhere as men women and children searched here and there for ml^in^ relatives ; others sat brooding in a kind of fixed despadr en if to think, an effort of which they wen no longer capable. Willing bandjswent to work at once to search tba ditbris. lest any living being might be buried there ; the injured and dying were car- ried away to the hospital, the Wandsr- eirs or the Crown Reef Mine, and all the physicians in Johannesburg wars at work coring for them. Nurses vol- unteered their services and soon all that was posslbla waa being done far the victims of the disaster. The skat- ing rink ^vas converted into a mortu- ary. It will probably never be known bow many were kUled outright by the explosion, but the burials durlug thA ensuing saveral days numbered ABOUT A HUNDRED. What caused the axploeion wil< never lie known, but one man who knew the driver of the engine of the train said that the latter told him that he was shunting some empty trucks into a siding near where the dynamite ^yas standing and collided with the dyna- mite trucks. The next thing be rS' membered be was lying some distance from bis engine. The destruction of pro{>erty in and about Johannesburg was ^eat. Scarcely a i>ain ot glass renuiined Intact in the city, while all tlM plate glass was shivered. Among the buildings wrecked were the exten- sive works of the Rand Timber Com- pany, and the engine shed of the Neth- erland Railway. The former was two hundred yards from the scene of tbs explosion. In Fordsburg the Reform- ed Dutch ChUToh was unroofed, as was also the building ot the Rand steam biscuit taotoiry. Among interesting incidents of the explosion are the following : A bcspi- tal attendant found a white man pi<-k- ing the pockets ot a dying man and gave him a sound thrashing. Another man was badly beaten for trying to steal a clock from a wounded girl. Fragments ot iron, some very large, were burled to distances varying to over a mile. Ot several boys bathing in a dam near the aiding .)iiat befors the explosion, no trace was tound. A man on homeback %v!is blown from his horse and the chest oi the latter was blown open.

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