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Show Rising up in bis chair with the deepest gravity, he dpped his long white hand into the round, well buttered ball of mashed potatoes, and scooping up a large handful, laid them on Simkins plate, and sat down again amid a perfect per-fect st. mn of laughter and applause, from the dozen persons seated at the table. Simkins turned lairly livid with dumb helpless rage, and for a moment I expected ex-pected there would be serious trouble; lor 1 knew the violent nature of the man when aroused, although he was really one of the best men I ever knew. Then I witnessed a curious little byplay, by-play, a triumph of mind over matter of the mental over physical that I have been glad to recall many times since. "My I-ord" bore the honors of his victory very modestly, neither the vulgar loud voiced br.iggiug that Simkiiis had been guilty of nor vet the slow sardonic smile that is like a poisoned dagger to the heart. But his saxou eyes, clear and blue, blazed at the man opposite him, his Oxford trained muscles knitted themselves, and leaning lightly across the table towards his opponent he said: "If you w tut to light, just keep quiet until aftet uicakfast, and then step outside." "Aly Lord" never removed his eves from those glaring so savagly at him, until those eyes fell. mass with threads of light; the faintest breeze, blew htfully, stirrinf ever nd anon, the thick evergreens. The song he sang was typical Ol the people and limes, and in exquisite harmony har-mony with the hour and the scene. His voice was a rich baritone and the wiud occasionally, added a wired accompanyment. These are the words of the song, and I do not know who i the author, or really if there was an author or was just "evolved" from the spitil of the times. The mouotuous tune and the romantic surroundings made it seem like a chapter from the "Arabian Kuights Entertainment." AMANDA. By the tide of the snouwain arier. Amanda did, '. Was hard me owl1, hoc, ud th calamouat cry, And the howl ol the woll bom hi mourauia Jon "" And the crash ot the dead lord tre. as it ' In war lead a captive, unfriended, (or lorn, V. ah her leet batheu is biood and her farmeou all torn: She courted the vengeoce and wrath or her toe. And ughed iur the hour when her tuffcriaf antrum closa. At the hot of the hemlock their wild (ante was flung. Above. Iron its branches, their rude armor hung, Fiom battle and plunder the savage repoaeed from the loiU of the chue, till the evening should close. The watch-fire was kindled and faned by the brecxe The red ember shone on the evergreen tree. And nerrc were the looks of the plumed savage seen. As the light on their leatures of bronae dimly gleamed. The fire was constructed, the red embers glare, Amanda is bound with her white bosom oare. Before the Advent of Railroads. BY MRS. ELLEN JAKEMAN. Written for the Registkr. (CONTINUED,) From under the wagon came the deep, and not altogether pleasant voice of "My Lord's" teamster, with no uncertain un-certain sound. "My Lord," very solemnly, "You forget this is a Democratic country and we all cover ourselves. When you are in Rome you will have to do as Romans Simkins relapsed into silence, and although "My Lord," coaxed and threatened, and swore "by Joi," Sim-kins Sim-kins never moved or spoke, but seemed to be sleeping peacefully tlirouh it all. At last "My Lord," cold, and despair- Amanda is bound with her white bosoet uare. While around her stood waiting tnat merciless throng, Impatient to join a the war-4auce and song-Young song-Young Albin, the chief of those warriors, stood near. With an eye like an eagle, and a foot like a deer. And a soul that would scorn, from a foe-man to crave, One sigh for his sorrow or a tear for his grave. One moment he gated oti.thc charms of the fair. Her dark harel eyes were uplitted in prayer; Her soft raven hair in long ringlets did flow. Half hid from her gazers her boora of snow. Forbear! cried the chieftain, your torture forbear. Amanda shall lit I by my wampom I swear I This night if a victim must burn at the tree Young Albin your chieltain. Uiat victim will be. Then quick to the aid of Amanda he rushed; The revelry ceased and the was tumult hushed, And mute stood that circle of wairiors around. While Albin the cords of Amanda unbound. Early the next morning at the dawning of day A birch-bark canue was seen gliding away As swift as the wild duck that swam by its side. In silence they rode down the dark roiling tide. At the dusk of the evening a white cot was seen With the smoke curling blue 'round the willows so green. lhew:itst feature ol Simkins' defeat was that he had counted on having that story to tell for at least a dozen years, vaned by all the small matter that he could attach to it; but whenever he opened n is mouth, to tell of "The English Eng-lish Lord, and what a fool he was," some one knew the story of the mashed potatoes and told it on him. So agrava-ted agrava-ted did the case become that the accidental acci-dental mention of any branch of the English nobility, even in the most ignorant ignor-ant and innocent way, would send him straight out of any house or company where he chanced to be. The team was hitched up to start, and like an audacious and impulsive American Amer-ican woman, 1 went up to "My Lord," held out mv h.ind, and said: "tor once I am glad to see America in the person of One moment a parting they held on the shore Young Albin, their chieftain, she heard of v more. Silence deep lay over the little group around the camp fite, broken by the appearance ol Sam, as bloody as though he had been in a prize tight. He was pale, and we all rushed toward him exclaiming ex-claiming "What has happened?" To be continued. mg of getting his teamster to cover him, bounced out of bed, ran to the door of the stage station and beat and ham-meted ham-meted it until a surly voice asked him what he wanted. "I want to come in and warm,", said ''MyLuid" through his chaf.eriug teeth; for he had not taken the trouble to dte-is himsell. and the keen snovv laiden breath of the mountain breeze cut through his rufflsd and be-laced linen n ght goyvn, like a knife. "Go back to bed," said the unfeeling voice of the station muster, it isn't near morning yet. and I wouldn't get up and make a tire lor my grand-mother." So he had to go back to bed a great deal colder than when he crawled out, and lay there groaning and shivering until morning. I should have got up and covered him. I know, if I had been a man; as it was, I could not sleep another wink. "My Lord" looked rather the worse for wear the next morning when we all took our seats at the breakfast table. Simkins, who evidently thought he had good help to sustain his side of the argument, seemed determined to thrust the controversy upon his employer: Aristocracy vs Common Sense. But here "My Lord" was at home; and although 1 hate to admit it, Simkins the IJemocract and Comnun Sense, got badly u ed up. "Mv Lord" did not know much nbuut covering himself, riding "bronco" horses, pr baking the adotable "ilap-jack" by a Mge-brush fire, but he know as much about them as Simkins did ab jut conducting con-ducting an argument. "My Lord" reasoned deductively and inductively; and hit the nail of argument on the head with one clever argument after another, until I. Democrat that I am through and through, almost believed be-lieved that civilization depended on aristocracy, and the fabnc of society would go to pieces il a due regard were not paid to old customs, no matter how senseless. Simkins grew so angry that like a gambler who has lost all he can afford to, then begins to bet with miin cificent recklessness, he began to make assertions asser-tions that made me tremble for the little footing "My Lord's" arguments nad left our new and untried principles ol equality. "All such ceremony as is termed 'etiquette 'eti-quette and 'manners' is nonsense;" said Simkins flourishing the knife he was using to shovel his food into his mouth wiih, in an alarming manner. Of course I would not sit down at the table with an Indian or a Negro, but any man whom I would sit down with, I would just as soon he would pass me a biscuit in his hand, as to bow and scrape, and take a napkin, and daintily grasp the extieme edge of the pla'e, and, with many flourishes approach me and present pre-sent the plate. Why man, the biscuit would get cold btfoie he got to me! Prrf,-t miitcr-ncp! iifif,rl m ine.fMis.pll my Inend Simkins, whipped by hugland in vour person, 'My Lord.' " He grasped my hand wrung it so hard that I winced, and replied: "Thank you Madam, but if he'd insisted on stepping out after breaklast America would have been worse whipped than Poland was by the Russians;" and 1 ! believed hi;n. The road was shockingly bad, the I mud just siifl enough to ball up 011 the j wheels, and make the wagon pull as heavily as if loaded with pig iron. Our travel was necessatily slow, and the team were beginning to look iaded; and to need the whip so often that it was distressing to mv neives to ride behind them. In fact I don't see why I should shrink Irom telling it we walked most of the lime. At noon we stopped near a ranch to get dinner, and the owner came out, ins little daughter following him. He kept talking to the driver and my husband, made us welcome to enough wood to make our kettle boil, and told us cheerfully that the roads were worse every foot of the way as we advanced' 1 could not keep my eves off the child. Her little face was half covered by a gieat b'ue bruise, her eyes weie blood-shoten, blood-shoten, and she looked altogether like she had been stun k a savage blow. At last my curiosity got the better of regard for good manueis; and I asked the rancher what was the matter with the little.darliiig. "Well I'll tell you," he said drawing the little girl toward him and caressing the curly head. Tiiis is another case of "Alary had a little Lamb.' ' She lound a little lamb in the road out here one day, when a traveling herd had gone past, and nothing would do her but she must have it for a pet. She is the buss of her i ld "dad," for she sent him horse back twenty miles for a sucking battle, because the little ctitter didn't seem to know how to d 1 ink out of a basin Mary thought when it blalted it was call ing her "Ma," and that tickled her nearly to death. "The lambdiank mote new milk than his neck was worth every week, but," with a chuckle, "I guess Mary mide him work for his board. She dressed him in doll clothes and put him to bed, made him ride in her express wagon, used him for a wheelbarrow, and I don't know what all. But the lamb grew so big that it was a tussle between them to see who should be master; and at last he gave Mary a black eye. You see he took to butting, as is the nature of a he sheep of the masculine gender. I kept him shut up in pens, but he was always getting get-ting out and "knocking" someone or something. I wanted to sell or mutton the blamed thing, but Mary would just jump up and down and scream when it was mentioned; so 1 have dropped on a plan to make him quit butting. If you care to see what it is just step this way." Taking the litile eiil hv the hand, he led the wav and I followed, wondering it anything short of breaking the neck of a sheep such as he had described, would stop il from butting. There in a five acre pasture lot where a large swing had been erected, was the slieep in question. Dangling from one of the swing ropes was a huge stone tied up in a piece of sheep skin. The sheep was butting this object; and, as it swung ofi from the shock, he would walk backward, and as the stone reached the limit of the tether and stvung back, the sheep accepted it as a challenge to renew the contest, and chaiged lo meet it. Why I wouldn't lilt my hat offmv head and bow to the president of all these United Slates, unless he had been a better bet-ter boy to his mother than 1 had." "Yes you would," said his leadership in an agiavatingly tranquil tone. "You are only saving that by way of argument Now, in inductive argument, it is not considered the primer thing to use yourself as an illustration. Now, 131ack-stone 131ack-stone and Bacon " "I dont know anything about Illack-stone Illack-stone or Bacon, except that the "black j stone" ol these hills, and such bacon as this we are eating, and thr.y cm be strong arguments, but all the talk you can do from now til next Clnistmas, will never make me respect a custom that makes it possible for a great man like you to whine in the night for someone to 'get up and cover' " him; said Simkins a little maliciously. I believed yuu cr;ed when you could not get into the house and had to go back to bed." "My Lord" winced a little, and we were all so ashamed ol Simkins, that an uncomfortable silence succeeded, leaving Simkins master of the situation. After a few moments "Aly Lord" broke the silence, in a carefully modulated modu-lated voice he faid. "Now .that you have beat me in argument, and are entirely satisfied on the disputed question, if you will assure me that you have no respect for conventionalities, arbitrary rules and usages of civilization, civi-lization, I shall b; bound to believe yuu until you disavow it." "Well," drawled Simkins, with a self satisfied air, looking over ai "My Lord" with the manner of one who has captured a rare specimen by unequalled prowess, "I'd justas lief any man would hand me what I ask for in his hand as to pass the plate." "My Lord'' bowed acquiesance, and made no reply; and I was glad that the subject was likely to be dropped, for Simkins, like most unlearned people, was violent and personal in a d spme or argument, and expected all his friends to echo his opin ons, or else he considered them enemies. A desultory conversation was held for a few moments with regard to the route to betaken bv either pariv, the chances of a storm, etc., when Simkins asked for the potatoes to be passed to him. "My Lord's" opportunity had come, i and like a true Englishman he laid his paw on it and made the very utmost of it. 1 He was so exhausted that he reeled as he walked, and still the fight went on. "I guess if he lives through this he won't care lo butt again, at the little mother who rescued him from death and brought him up on a bottle " It was certainly the most re-dicnlous re-dicnlous thing I ever saw. Iam sorry I did not learn whether he was conquered, conquer-ed, or died game. That night we camped out, for the first time since leaving home. It was a lonely spot, the tiniest little vale, with a spring in it and cedar trees of a large size scattered about in picturesque pictur-esque groups. It was dark when we got there, and there were already two sets of campers there, and the ruddy light of the lire shone on us from afar. As we drove up some one called out cheerily: "You'd better stop and camp;" and we camped. Lureme hay had been brought from the lat place; but there seemed to be pretty good picking around, and as all the other horses were turned out, our teamster decided to turn our horses out also. We got supper, made our bed in the wagon and put the children to bed, divided up ourselves and the bed clothes remaining as best we could; and then look seals by the camp fire. About fifty yards away was another camp lite, and Sam, our teamster, decided to go over and see who they were. Of those led at our fire, each in turn contributed someting to the entertainment. Remi mscences, sketches of early days: and as we all began to get drowsy and the fire was only a mound of glowing embers, a huge limbed fellow began to sing. The night had closed in about us, a wall ol dark trees and shadows, some where here and there one stood near enough for the fire to net the dark green |