JJ i i iiii __ iii ii i
BEOINNING
When, sometimes, our feet grow weary•
On the rugged hills of life--
The path stretching long and dreary
With trial and labor rife--
We pause on the toilsome Journey,
Glancing backward in valley and glen•
And sigh with an infinite longing
To return and begin again.
For behind is the dew of the morning,
In all its freshness and light,
And before are doubts and shadows,
And the chill and gloom of the night.
We remember the sunny places
We passed so carelessly then,
And ask, with a passionate longllng,
To return and begin again.
Ah, vain• indeed, is the asking!
Life's duties press all of us on,
And who dare shrink from the labor,
Or sigh for the sunshine that's gone.
And, tt may be, not far on before us
Wait fairer places than then--
Life's paths may yet lead by stUl waters,
Though we may not begin again.
Forevermore upward and onward
Be our paths on the hills of life,
And soon will a radiant dawning
Transfigure the toil and the strife,
And our Father's hand will lead us
Tenderly upward then;
In the Joy and peace of a fairer world
He'll let us begin again.
.- J rl" /
Beside the Prickly Pear, 'Afrald to eat it in sight of us,,, the
first speaker said, laconically, •'that's
the way with all cowardly brutes.
BY FRANK H. SV~EET. They think somebody is trying to steal
ICopyright, 1901, by Daily Story Pub. Co.) from them. This cur will sneak off
The brakJe is a little cur of small into some solitary place and gorge
degree, a sneaking, skulking, yelping himself. Well, if be eats all that meat
outcast from his own kind, a poor sub- he will not be hungry again for a day
stitute for a dog only where no better or two."
may be had. Yet, the poor brakJe But apparently he was mistaken, for
sometimes rises so high _s to be ten minutes later the brakJe was
worthy of an honored place among again looking into their faces and
the St. Bernards and Newfoundlands. whining entreatingly. Several of the
One day during the dry season a men whistled under their breatlL
party of traders were crossing the "Throw him a chunk of meal Dick,"
hot, dust-yellow plain toward Kimber- one of them called, facetiously; "don't
ly. At noon they were near the sum- you see the brute is starving? Whewt
nit of a small hillock, and as this I've heard that a Kaffir Could eat his
offered as much air as there was stir- own weight in food; now if this cur
ring, they dismounted and made prep- devours another piece of meat I can
stations for the midday meal. at least testify that a brskJe is able
This hillock, like most of those they to dd so. Give him a good big chunk,
crossed• had a straggling coat of kar- Dick."
roe bushes, many of them but a few More meat was thrown to the dog,
inches high, and among the karroo and, as before, he seized it with a
was sn occasional milk bush, with strong grip and bbunded away into the
long, finger-like leaves; and here and karroo bushes. This, they supposed,
there was a tuft of grass or a clump would be the last of him, but,
of prickly pears with uplifted, thorny even in less time than before, he was
arms. back again, bounding from one to an-
Presently one of the party noticed a other, and looking up at them with
small animal making directly toward big, entreating eyes that almost seem-
thum through the karroo bushes, and ed to speak. What little fear and heel-
as .t came nearer he recognized the tation he had shown at first was now
intruder as a brakJe, wholly gone. He seemed to have read
"Throw something at the cur, Dick," them, and to have given them his full
]be called, irritably, to one of his cam- confidence.
panions, "we wouldn't mind feeding a "What a dog!" cried several, in ~on-
decent dog, but we don't want any of dering admiration; "what capacity,,"
these cowardly mongrels sku~king and one of them added: "Here, Dick.
about and maybe following us. Never throw him some more meat; we must
mind if you do break some of his fill him up, even if we have to kill a
bones." bullock to do it."
Dick caught up a stick and threw it A third piece of mea~~ was thrown
[~f//~ to him, but this time the dog merely
/ ' ~ smelled it wistfully, and then turned
~I~~ back to them, an urgent entreaty in
his whine and in his eyes and in every
"He wants to tell us somethlhg, I
do believe," exclaimed 'one of the men
suddenly.
~~,C~N-- ~ "But he's sttll hungry/' declared an-
other; "that is quite evident from the
~(.~ ~.~~ way he smelled the meat. There was
"~ ~'7C~)/~~~ ravenous longing in every motion."
, ~ Apparently the dog understood that
they were talking of him, for he gave
a quick yelp and bounded into the
~~ karroo bushes• then stopped and loOk-ed back at them.
He wants us to follow him," cried
the .man who had asked Dick to drive
the cur away. "Come on!"
He started after the brakJe, and the
others followed; end the dog, with a
Joyous, comprehending bark, rushed
I)lck Threw It With Skillful Aim. ahead.
With skillful aim, but instead of sll~k-Up through the karroo bushem to the
away, as they expected, the animal summit of the hillock they hurried,
dodged the missile and came nearer, and then the dog swerved off to the
Again Dick threw, and again the anl- right and bounded on for three or four
real bounded adroitly asfde, thla time rods, stopping at length near a clump
coming to within a few feet of where of prickly pears. When they came up
they were sitting, and beginning to panUng they found him licking the
.whine piteously, face of an emaciated Kaffir, who warn
"Hold on, Dick," another man called, apparently dead. But a brief examina~
suddenly; "I believe the brute is stare- tlon showed that the man was merely
ing. Toss him a chunk of meat---a big unconscious, evidently from loss of
ore." blood and from suffering. His body
Dick olmdlentiy selected a piece of was covered with wounds, already be-
meat, almost half as large as the al~ ginning to heal, and one of his legs
plicant, who sprang frantically into had been fearfully lacerated and crush-
the air to-meet it half way. But the ed. An effort at self-surge.ry had been
mfferinl was too large for the brakJe attempted, for the~ leg was rudely
~o grasp in mid-air, and both dog and bound with leaves and grasse~ now
meat fell rolling upon the ground, dry and withered under the hot glare
0nly for a moment, however, then the of the sun. They could see where he
Jbrak~ w~upon his feet, and eeising had dragged himself across tl~e mind,
~he prize with a firmer grip, he bougd- as though to reach the pitiful bit of
~t awaY into the karroo bushqm, shade which" the prickly pear a~ord~L
One of the men went back over the
trail which the dragging body had
made. When he returned his eyes
sought the Ka~r with an odd look of
questioning respect.
"I found the body of a ]ion down
there•" he said, gravely. "It must have
been killed a week or ten days, for the
flesh has been nearly removed by birds
and ants. There were evidences of a
hand-to-hand :~
fearful struggle, a
counter, I should say, for I faun
long knife in the head of the animal."
"You don't mean--" began one of
the listeners, incredulously.
"Yes, I do mean Just that. I believe
this man and the lion fought together,
and this man conquered and dragged
himself up here, in the condition you
see him. Furthermore, I believe that
the little mongrel has since acted as
assistant surgeon by licking the
wounds and as sole provider." Hs
nodded toward the dog, which~was still
licking the Kaffir's face. Near the ani-
mal, and within easy reach of the
man's arm were the two pieces of
meat, and scattered about them were
the cleanly-picked bones of small ani-
mals and birds and the broken shells
of birds' eggs. The men looked at
them, and then at each other. The one
who had asked Dick to drive the cur
away looked round with a sudden ten-
derness in his face.
"Yes, I see it all now," he said, slow-
ly. "The little brakJe caught animals
and birds in some manner which he
alone can explain, and brought them
to his master. He licked the wounds,
and kept off birds and other intruders
which might have been harmful. Of
course he could not bring water, and
the man's unconsciousness is very
likely due to thirst Probably he did
not lose his reason until some time
this forenoon, and then the dog hur-
ried off in quest of food, thinking that
the remedy needed. But when he
brought the pieces of meat, and his
master would not touch them, he must
have realized that the remedy was be-
yond his power to provide; then he
came and implored our assistance.
"Then there is another thing," his
voice becoming softer, "I believe the
dog has been starving himself in order
to provide for his master. See how
thin and emaciated he looks, and re-
member how he smelled that third
piece of meat in camp. I suppose he
felt that his moments were too pre-
cious Just then to be wasted in eating..
I doubt if he has even tasted food
since his master dragged himself up
here.••
They were all silent for some min-
utes, looking at the Kaffir and the dog;
then some one asked: "What shall we
do with them?"
"Take them along, of course,•. was
the prompt resp6nse. "'A man who
has been cared for as this one has
must be worthy of further looking
after. His wounds are apparently do-
ing well, and I think we shall have no
trouble to pull him through. We will
take him down to the camp, and then
carry him on to Kimberley. There I
will put him in the care of the best
surgeon I can find. We must save
him for the dog's sake."
And they did. Before the end of
three months the Kaffir was nearly as
strong as ever, and by that time they
had discovered that he was intelligent
above his class, and. that he was trust-
worthy and brave. When they offered
him the position of hunter for their
party, he accepted the place with a
This Man and the Lion Fought.
broad display of teeth. So the brakJe
became a fixture of the camp, and
though, of course, his first affection
was always for the Kaffir, he had
enough for all the men of the party,
giving perhaps the second place to the
one who had asked Dick to drive him
away.
]~iward Taken for • Ba~fa~
Appearances are often deceitful and
even monarchs may be mistaken for
paupers, relates a Lov~don, correspond-
ont. It is related that once, not long
since, when King Edward of ~ngland
was prince of Wale~ he was staying
with Leopold Rothschild near Leightov
Buzzard and followed the hunt o~o
day. About lunch time he found him-
self alone near Berkhamsted feeling
very hungry and without immediate
prospect of getting any food. Recol,
lecting, however, that the Smith-Por-
tions' place, Haresfoot, was somewhere
within easy reach, he rode over, found
the house, and rang the front door-
bell. A footman appeared: "Would you
kindly tell your master that the prince
of Wales is outside and would like
some lunch?" he said. "Walker!" an-
swered the man and banged the door
in his face.
Fewer people proportionately keep
their own carriages in Paris than in
I~ndon.
There is a vast coal Supply In Aug-
traits, whish is slmost unworked as
yet.
lilt It It I
IN LUCK.
~/~ll~liPtlt~l/~fi~dlb#(~lli~ d c k in mah hat s ea
Deacon Henllfter--Lawdy, it's lucky I had at hie en ' t d
HE EXPLAINED IT.
"Confound it, I wish your mother
wouldn't come here any longer!"
"Why, John, how dare-----"
"Th--th--tbat's all right, darling. I
meander--well she's five feet nine and
one-half now, you know, and--"
Now she is trying to figure out
whether that was what he meant.~
Denver Times.
EXCLUSIVENESS.
Mrs. Purseproud--I see where sev-
eral millionaires chartered a whole
steamboat in order to come across the
ocean.
Mr. Purseproud~Well, when we go
over we will lease the ocean for a week.
~Baltlmore American.
AS IT'S WROTE.
She calls herself Cathryn Mac,
And yet there are gossips who sac
Catherine Mary's her name,
They ynsyst she was chrystened that
wee.
ob mah pocket. ~I~hiladelphia Press.
lIE COULDN'T. HE WAS THE PACEMAKER.
"Oh, Mr. Spooneigh, pray rise. It is
not right that you should kneel at my
feet. Rise, ~ beg of you'" implored the
fair lady.
But he didn't rise. His Irish did, ,
though, and he replied, solemnly:
"I'm afraid ~ er -- Miss Grace -- I'm
afraid I'm kneeling on your---or--that
is, you dropped your chewing gum, and,
oh, Miss Grace, I'm stuck on you!"--
Denver Times.
LOOKED LIKE HER;
"Sir," said the gentleman, angrily, as
he burst into the photograph gallery,
"you have insulted my wife and I de-
mand satisfaction!"
"Believe me, sir," said the photog-
rapher, soothingly, "I am innocent of
any intended offense; what have I
done ?"
"You will have to fight, sir," went on
the man; "you took a picture of my
wife and it looks like her:'!'--Boston
Post.
Doctor Curem~But I don't see why ,~.
you will not pay my bill. You said I
had made a new man of you. Mr.
Gooph~That's just it, doctor. It was Woodby Booth--Who was the "leading man" in the ~pany you were
the old man who ordered the work with last season?
done, and he ought to pay for it. Knight Stands~The advance agent,
QUITE k STRETCd OR THE VISIT OF THE LOCUST, wHAT HE WOULD DO.
• . __ "My poor hungry man, if I were to
give you a nickel, what would you do
with it?" inquired the lady with the
angular smeller and the uncertain
spectacles.
'Tll tell yer, mum," replied the gen-
tleman with the straggling whiskers
and yearning bread pouch; "I'll git a
Turkish bath an' buy a ottymubble
wid th' change. Where's th' ton,
mum ?"--Denver Times.
THE PANG OF IT,
"Why, dear, what's the matter with
you? Bad news from your 'husband?"
"Oh, worse than that. He wrltes mo
that he is longing for me and kisses my
picture every day."
"That's no reason for crying."
"Yes, but I find I put my mother's
photograph in kis trunk by mistake for
mine."--Brooklyn Life.
We were speaking of Kansas.
"Whenever," the convivial tourist
now remarked, "I struck a town iu
Mr. Caterpillar~Why, how are you, Mr. Locust? I haven't see you for a Kansas in which there were no Joints,
long time. I always made up my mind that the
Mr. Locust--Yes, I haven't been here now--let me see---for seventeen years, people must be a lot of stiffs."
SHE WOULD BE POI~JLAB.
Mrs. Nexdore--"0ne of the keys of
my daughter's plang is out of order.
I wonder if there's any one in the
neighborhood who could fix it?"
Mrs. Pepprey--"I don't know, but if
she's still got one good key, why not
use that?"
Mrs. Nexdore--"What could she do
with one key?"
Mrs. Pepprey~"Lock the piano, of
course."~Philadelphia Press.
ALL SERVANTS ALIKE.
Towne--I could never understand
why p¢litlcal officeholders are called
"public servants."
Browne--Why not?
Towns--Because they're really our
bosses.
Br0wne--Well, I guess you never kept
house, did you?--Phtladelphia Press.
SNOWED UNDER.
"Is the state safe?:' gasped the anx-
ious inquirer at the political head°
quarters.
"Oh, yes, the state'S safe, but the
party's snowed under," replie(t the
man in charge.~Baltimore World.
In scaling a precipice a man is up
against a big bluff.
~ THE OLO MAN 60T AHEAD OF HIM.
/
Frank--I love you, Clara, and I want you to be my wife.
Clara--No; I can never be anything more to you than a mother.
Frank~Why--why not?
Clara--Your father spoke first.
ENTITLED TO IT.
Client--By what right are you keep-
ing that $5,000 damages you recovered
for me?
Lawyer--Didn't you tell me in the
first place that all you wanted was sat-
isfaction?--Ohio State Journal.
NO ~OOUBT ABOUT IT.
Citlzen~"Do you believe t-e consti-
I there yet"+-Choisea O~ette.
FROG 8HEWERS.
"A Cornell professor says that frog
spawn can be carried up in the atmos-
phere an4 ,hatched out in the clouds."
"By gum, you bet I'U carry an um-
brella the next time I go out."--Cleve-
land Plain Dealer.
THE BHII~T WAIST.
The women claim their feelings hurt;
They're kicking up a fuss,
Because we men adopt the shirt
That first they stole from us.
--JudKo.
OUT OF PLA~E.
Cholly--I got such frightful head-:
aches lately. Doctor thinks, perhaps,
there's some foreign substance in my
bwain.
Miss Pepprey~An idea, perhaps.-
Philadelphia Press.
THE PA~T HE TOOK.
The Don--"And what part dla you
take in this disgracefUl proceeding of
holding Mr. Waters under the pumpF.
Undergrad (mod~tly)--"His let~ 1~
lir."--Tlt'Blts.
