26 
NEW-YORKER. 
JAN. 8 
euoh things have happened belore, when people 
who have been reported dead have returned alter 
a time. For my part, 1 believe—something tells 
me—that Lawrence Car ewe 13 not dead.” 
Cecil shakes her head again mournfully, but a 
shade of color steals Into the pale lips as she lis¬ 
tens, and a gleam of hope Into her heart. 
“Can you be patient until Edgar comes? con¬ 
tinued Mr. Daton, gently. “You know he has 
considerable interest In the Foreign Office, and 
I am sure he will go there at ODce, and ascertain 
what ground there Is for this assertion, and 
whether they can give us any hope.” 
“ Uncle,” says Cecil, suddenly lifting her eyes to 
hie, “ what do you think yourself ? Ah! dear, do 
not try to deceive me. 1 can bear It better now 
than if I had Hope which turned out to be ground¬ 
less.” 
“ My child,”says Mr. Daton, fondly, “I do not 
seek to mislead you; 1 only tell you what 1 believe 
myself, and which I hope will prove true,” 
"Thank you,”says Cecil, gently, as she rose 
from her knees and went back to her seat, ghastly 
pale still, but calm. She even made a pretence of 
eating something, to reassure her uncle, who 
watched her most anxiously; it was but a 
poor pretence after all, and very soon the forced 
composure failed her, and she sprang up shudder¬ 
ing from head to foot, and utterJ ng a cry of agony 
which brought him to her side. 
*' Oh, unde, think she cried, wildly, “ Think 
what a terrible, awful death; lef L alone there, per¬ 
haps not dead at all! Perhaps after they were 
gone he awoke to consciousness and found himself 
alone there, beyond all appeal for help; all hope 
of assistance, powerless to drive away—oh, great 
Heaven! It is too terrible. 1 dare not think of It, 
or I Bball go mad! Oh! what a terrible, lonely 
death I perhaps he lingered for hours, who can 
tell ?” she went on In her anguish-stricken tones, 
"perhaps he died of starvation and thirst. Oh, 
Lawrence! oh, my darliDgl It it had been possi¬ 
ble, how gladly would I have died for thee!” 
And then, fortunately, tears come to her relief, 
and she clings convulsively to her uncle, tobblng 
passionate, hard sobs, which rend her slender 
frame and leave her exhausted to faintness. 
By-and-by Edgar comes, his handsome, pleasant 
face very grave, for he, too, has read the account 
In the train, and he guessed that Cecil would feel 
It; although he does not know how passionately 
she had loved blin, and loves him still. 
As soon as he enters, Cecil springs forward to 
greet him, her white, haggard face, flashing eyes 
and pat ched Ups striking him painfully as he takes 
the little ueuibllng hands In his. 
“ You will come with us,” she says, Imploringly. 
“Edgar, do you think It Is true?” 
“ Where do you want me to go, Cecil?” he asks. 
“To the Foreign Offloe,” she says, rapidly. 
"Uncle Henry thinks there Is still a chance. Ed¬ 
gar, you will go with us ? He cannot be dead!” 
she cries out, wringing her hands, passionately. 
“He was so strong—so strong! oh, Edgar, he 
was your friend—you loved mm. Tell me—have 
you any hope?” But Mr. Edgar turns away his 
head without replying. He dare not tell her that 
he has none, although he 1s quite willing to go to 
the Foreign Office and glean what Information he 
can there. 
When Cecil comes down ready, both men look at 
her anxiously, but she is quite calm, and during 
the drive her composure Is perfect. Neither of 
the two men will quickly forget that half-hour’s 
drive, nor the evident efforts which Cecil makes 
not to distress them by auy emotion. 
They will remember for many months how the 
while, quivering Ups try to force a smile, and how 
little broken sentences escape her now and then; 
remaj ks on anything they pass, or on the weather 
—little questions, the answer to which she does 
not hear nor heed. 
When they stop, both gentlemen get out, and 
Cecil Is lelt alone; but they have some minutes to 
wait before they can see Edgar’s friend, and her 
brother-ln-law cornea back to the carriage to ask 
Cecil If she will come In and wait. 
"ltiscoidior you, Cecil; you had better come 
In,” he says, persuasively, and Cecil obeys pas¬ 
sively. It seems as If she had not strength to re¬ 
sist; aud when the under-secretary comes into 
the room where they are walling to see him, he 
does not recognize Cecil Lester, whom he has 
danced with more than once. When he does so, 
the smiling, suave manner, so perfectly courteous, 
changes Into gravity, and he does not look at her 
again w hile Edgar tells him what they wish to 
know. 
“I will inquire,” he says, hesitatingly, and he 
leaves the room with a troubled face. 
“ lie knows there Is no hope,” says Cecil, weari¬ 
ly v “ lie has gone away because he does not like 
to tell us,” 
“Perhaps not, dear child,” Mr. Daton says, 
gently, and In a few moments the young man 
comes back. 
" 1 fear that the sad announcement Is but too 
well authenticated,” he says, hurriedly. “ There is 
no reason to doubt Its truth. It Is a very sad oc¬ 
currence. We all regretted It greatly, our chief 
especially, as he was acquainted with Dr. carewe. 
I am sorry, truly sorry,” he adds, earnestly, “ that 
I can give you no better news.” 
"Thank you,”she says, calmly, but her voice 
has a hollow, far-away sound, which Is strange 
and painful, and the embryo diplomatist Is by no 
means sorry when the carriage has driven away, 
although the beautiful, miserable face haunts him 
Still, 
“ Whoever thought Miss Lester had a heart ?” 
he muses, as he settles himself In hls comfortable 
elbow-scat and resumes the arduous (?) duties of 
an under secretary. "I should have as soon ex¬ 
pected the statue on the monument to shed tears. 
Poor girl! how awfully cut up sho looked! I sup¬ 
pose she cared for Carewe. Whatever made him 
go out there? it would surely have been much 
wiser to have stayed at home, looked after hls pro¬ 
fession, and married Cecil Lester—If she cared for 
him.”-—To be continued. 
THE RURAL 
THE EYE-OPENER. 
From several parts of the country come com¬ 
plaints of Hghtnlug-rod swindlers, who love most 
to play their "little games” on our Immigrant 
settlers who cannot understand English writing 
very well, but In the absence of these, the fellows 
“try their luck” with others also, In search of a 
green-horn. Their usual practice Is to get the 
owner of a house or barn to sign a contract nom¬ 
inally for a specified sum, but they either leave a 
blank which they fill In afterwards with a higher 
amount, or they so confuse the victim that he 
signs for a higher sum than he Intended; or in 
Borne cases they add forgery to their other ras¬ 
calities and change the figures of the contraot. In 
all cases they make over the note to some one 
else, generally a confederate, tor collection, so as 
to make it appear that It Is In the hands of an in¬ 
nocent party, if they can’t get the Intended 
dupe to sign for lightning rods, they are ever 
ready to swindle him in something else, by get¬ 
ting him to Bign a contract for anything from cur¬ 
ing a pig to loaning him money. WhtU they are 
after is hls signature, which they are sure to use 
to hls disadvantage. Moral, don’t sign anything 
which you don’t clearly understand, nor for any¬ 
body whose honesty you are not perfectly sure of; 
and never sign any note or contract for a gadabout 
Stranger. 
The post office 13 doing good work lu protecting 
people from swindlers by excluding from the mall 
all matter addressed to parties known or believed 
to be guilty of fraudulent practices. Below Is a 
list of names of parties In this city to whom the 
Department refuses to pay money orders or de¬ 
liver registered letters: 
Allen, II. D. S,; Ballard, P., 260 Greenwich St.; 
Baxter & Co., T & il Wall St.; Bell, Jas., 133 Di¬ 
vision St.; Benedict & Co.. Bain, John C., alias 
Excelsior MTgCo., or The Sheffield Fire-arms 
Agency; Brooks, Charles D„ 123 West St.; Burt- 
nett, H. A.; Cateley, Alfred, alias The Family 
Sewing Machine Co., The Combination Sewing 
Machine Co, and The Standard SewlDg Machine 
Co.; Clark, M.. 50 Delancey St.; Clark & Co , alias 
The Sliver Mining Co; Clemmens, M., 1CS1 First 
Avenue; Commerford, T. J.N.; Commonwealth 
Distribution Co. (This concern has a place In 
Louisville, Ky„ also ) Creighton, W. C. t alias B. 
H. Porter A Co.; Dayton, John, 1212 Broadway, 
alias R. Field & Co.; Dee, John, alias Arnould, 
Jas., 151 Eldrldge St.; Dun, J., & Co., 42 Nassau 
St.; Dullee, Maurice, alias Bell, C. St- Co., 1215 
Broadway; Ellas, Ellis, alias Russell & Co.; Em- 
merson, Jos., & Goss, 180 Broadway and 35 Fulton 
St.; Evans, Barnes & Co.; Frenks, A-, 161 Eldrldge 
8t., Foxwell, Chas, & Co.; George, Jas. W., & Co. 
We shall continue this list next week and every 
week thereafter, besides exposing frauds In other 
parts of the country also. Keep the lists and 
refer to them when you receive an alluring circu¬ 
lar or see a tempting advertisement, and keep your 
money at least until you see the end oj our list of 
swindlers. 
- ■ + ♦ ♦-- 
BRIC-A-BRAC. 
AS OLD BAT'S TALB. 
He was a rat and ahe was a rat. 
And down in one hole they did dwell 
And both were aa black as witch’s cat 
And they loved one an-oth-er well. 
He had a tail and she had a tali. 
Both long and curling and fine; 
And each said. “ Yours is the finest tail 
In the world, ex-cent-ing mine.” 
He smelt the cboese, and she smelt the cheese. 
And they both i>ro-nounoed it good; 
And both re-marked it would great-ly add 
To the charms of their dai-ly food. 
So he veu-tured out, and she ventured out, 
And I saw them go with pain; 
But what be-fell them I ne-ver can tell. 
For they Dev-er came back again. 
“ DFi CDPE1* TICKET.” 
old Uncle MoBe, ol Galveston, was not noticed 
near the polls on election day, consequently a 
colored striker was sent to hunt him up. He was 
found sitting by the fire, groaning dismally, in hla 
cabin. 
" Uncle Mose, has yer voted ylt?” asked the col¬ 
ored rounder. 
“ No, chile, I wouldn’t risk ketchin’ a cold In my 
lungs loah all de money in de world.” 
“ Here’s a dollar to pay for your time.” 
The old man secured the subsidy, remarking, 
" If you is cornin' de bulldoze on dls ole nlgguh, he 
weakens, flev you fetched a kerrldge for me ?” 
“ Hit's waiting at the doah, Uncle Mose.” 
" is yer gwlne to bring me back after lse 
voted ?” 
“ Bring you right back, Uncle Mose ; hurry up, 
now.” 
“ Gimme a dram foah I starts?” 
“Here It Is,” said the emmlssary, producing a 
flask. “ Take a pull ?” 
He pulled, and asked: 
“ Gwlne to gimme annudder pull when lse done 
voted ?” and then he pulled again. 
“ Yes, take annudder pull right now, don’t be 
aleared ob it. Dar's plenty moah whar It come 
from.” 
So the old man puUed again, and wanted to 
know: 
“ Uev yer got annudder dollar bill wld yer ?” 
“ Look heah, ole man, you mus’ 'low de cam¬ 
paign committee’s made ob money. Here’s yer 
udder dollar. Now jump. De polls Is gwlne to 
close,” 
“ Lor, chile, you making out you is a statesman, 
heah! heah! heah! I’se been foolin’ yer. I done 
voted de udder ticket only dls morning, heah ! 
heah! heah!’’ and the old Image settled down in 
front of the fire, and nearly chuckled hls head off. 
“ GIVE ME HAGGLES.” 
A well-known lady artist resident In Rome, 
relates that while standing one day near the 
statue of the ApoUo Belvldere, she suddenly be¬ 
came aware of the presence of a country-woman. 
The newcomer, a well-to-do looking American 
woman introduced herself as Mrs. Raggles, of 
—, Missouri, and then asked: 
“ Is this the Apollo Belvldere 7” 
Miss H. testified to the identity of the work, and 
the tourist then said : 
" Considered a great statue ?” 
The interrogated lady replied that it was gen¬ 
erally thought to be one of the masterpieces of 
the world, 
“ Manly beauty, and all that sort of thing ?’ 
said the lady from the land of the setting sun. 
" Yes,” responded the now amazed artist. “ It 
is said to be one of the noblest representations of 
the human frame.” 
“ Well,” exclaimed Mrs. Raggles, closing her 
Badeker, and with arms akimbo, taking a last and 
earnest look at the marble, "I’ve seen the Apollo 
Belvldere and I’ve seen Raggles, and give me 
Raggles.” 
Jfur (Momm. 
TED BY MISS RAY CLARK. 
KEEPING THE HOLIDAYS. 
lx is the children’s time o’ year; 
Their faces, radiant with delight, 
Fill even the poorest homes with cheer, 
And make the happiest still more bright; 
The irravest eyes put on a smile. 
To wateh their pranks and merry ways, 
And mark how triad the world ia, while 
With Kilts and laughter, souks aud plays, 
The children keep the holidays. 
But how shall we, whom years have tauKht 
The bitter truths of toil and care, 
Whose Boberer Ki’owu-up hearts are not 
Like theirs, aslight as Summer air,— 
We, who have learned that time beguiles, 
That youth departs, that Joy decays, 
That fortune’s frowns outlasts her smiles, 
'And life deceives and age betrays. 
How shall wo keep the holidays ? 
We cannot dance in cap and bells ; 
We cannot blind ourselves to truth— 
For lime, the oculist, diBpels 
The glamour from the eyes of youth; 
We know life's cheats and mockery, 
And hope’s sweet Ilea aud soft delays; 
And ghosts which children do not see 
Sit at our feasts aud haunt our ways, 
And help us keep our holidays. 
But selfish grief is vain aud weak; 
Those souls are ever happiest * 
Which, through this devious Journey, seek 
Their bliss iu making others blest, 
If we-but shed one helpful gleam 
Along the world's bewikleiinK ways, 
And make one Bad life brighter seem. 
More warmly shall our home-fires blase, 
Aud happier be our holidays. 
Ah! he whose tender thought gives heed 
To poverty and wretchedness. 
Who hears the cry of woe and need, 
The plaint of hunger and distress.— 
Whose heart with pure compassion burns 
For those who walk in thorny ways. 
Who dries the mourner's eyes, and turn* 
The orphans tears to songs of praise. 
Moat fitly keep the holidays. 
--4 » » 
BUSINESS FOR GIRLS. 
According to the recent census, It appears that 
there are nearly a third more females In our coun¬ 
try than males; so, of course, there are not hus¬ 
bands enough to supply the demand. Under this 
state of affairs there 18 nothing left tor the girls 
but to change their tactics; instead of spending 
their time and energies In fascinating the beaux, 
set themselves to work to earn their own liveli¬ 
hood, independent of the masculine gender. They 
can do It, too. Let them calmly and decidedly 
make up their minds that there Is an Independent 
work in llle for them to do, and that they do not 
propose to throw themselves aa martyrs Into the 
matrimonial market to be disposed ot to the high¬ 
est bl r. 
The tide of old maid is nothing terrible to bear; 
simply because now and then a single woman la 
meddllDg, tattling and fussy, It 1 b no reason why 
others should be the same. If any man had made 
the mistake of marrying her In her younger days, 
she could probably have shown the same disposi¬ 
tion as a wife that spoils her for a maid. Hun¬ 
dreds of women have lived happy, useful lives and 
died respected and deeply mourned by their circle 
of friends, who, for some reason, never married, 
and no one ever thought of ridiculing them be¬ 
cause they had not the handle of Mrs. prefixed to 
their names. 
It Is all nonsense to he afraid of living a single 
life. In nine cases out ot ten a woman Is far hap¬ 
pier single than It she had a wedding ring fitted 
on her finger Custom is an arbitrary ruler, and 
because it is the custom for girls to marry, it has 
come to be a universal conclusion that they must 
be yoked by the matrimonial fetters just as soon 
as they are fairly graduated from school. It Is not 
considered whether they are fitted to become 
wives, to assume the responsibilities of housekeep¬ 
ers ; it is just to get married. No wonder that so 
many sad mistakes occur ; not straDge that fami¬ 
lies are broken up, or that two-thlrdB of the mar¬ 
ried people get divorces, or wish they could. It Is 
the Inevitable result of injudicious matches. 
Let a young lady seriously consider all the Ins 
and outings of her coming life, and If she Is con¬ 
vinced that Bhe will be Just as happy, and as com¬ 
fortable, to rely upon herself, for future main¬ 
tenance; then let her choose some vocation that 
she can follow, aud carve out her own fortune. 
Many department# are now open for girls, and 
their services are recognized a3 equal to men; new 
paths of employment are continually open¬ 
ing, for hand and brain work ; Just such em¬ 
ployment as girls can do precisely as well as men 
and they ought to command equal pay. All girls 
cannot feel able to go out, and carve their way In 
the hustling world, hut for such there Is more gen¬ 
ial employment at borne. 
Small fruits will grow and yield as well under 
ladles care as If a man hoed and pruned them. 
They will bring In an equal remuneration. Gar¬ 
den vegetables, where one Is near market pay well 
for raising; and the work Is not laborious. The 
care of bees, is another occupation peculiarly 
adapted to engage the attention of ladles; and 
eince a new hive has been Invented that meets the 
necessities and comforts, of both the Industrious 
worker, and Apiarist, ladles can manage them aa 
well as a man. They can turn their labors Into a 
source of profit; receiving a healthy recreation, 
and securing an amount of pleasure that no other 
occupation could give. 
If girls have a good comfortable homo, It Is far 
better to abide there, if they can find anything to 
employ their time and energies, than It la to go 
amoDg strangers and fight their way. As long aa 
they have a mother, to love them; It Is well to 
keep by her, for In no place can purer happiness 
he found; after she la gone, there will be room 
enough to buffet the storms of llfo In the wide 
world. 
A girl can be Independent If she chooses, and 
earn a comfortable living In many ways, and It la 
not the worst fortune In life, to be born a girl; not 
halt as had as It Is to be married to a man that 
you can neither respect nor love, and who makes 
you a perfect slave, to pander to hls comfort, and 
humor hls caprices. Think well before you make 
your choice of business. Grandmother. 
- 4 - ♦ »- 
CONCERNING SCRAPS OF SILK AND VEL¬ 
VET.—HOW TO UTILIZE THEM. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
“I want you to send me pieces—mere scraps 
will do-of your silk frocks. I am making the 
lovllest Japanese silk quilt that ever you saw,’’ 
wrote Amelia to me a little less than a year ago. 
I Bent her the ** Scraps ” and ridiculed her for her 
folly in " piecing ” a Bilk quilt. It seemed such 
endless business as I thought of the numerous silk 
quilts 1 had begun, hardly ever one finished—with 
hundreds ot tiny pieces cut with great exactness 
laid smoothly together “ over and over.” Assur¬ 
edly, any woman who valued her time must be a 
fanatic to undertake a task like that. 
Not long afrer, who should make her appearance 
one fine morning, before breakfast, but Amelia, 
looking as bright, after a ride of fifteen hundred 
miles as the morning. One of the first things she 
did, after her trunk was carried to her room, was 
to bring me some blocks of her “ Japanese ” quilt, 
exclaiming confidently, aa she laid them out on the 
library table: “There 1 Isn’t that perfectly beau¬ 
tiful?” I looked, admired and speedily confessed 
that It was the only sensible method 1 had ever 
seen Tor using up scraps ot silk,ribbon and velvet. 
I was bo “taken ” with the work, that i very soon 
began a quilt myself; a long and rather narrow 
affair, to throw over one when lying on the sofa. I 
bethought me of a cast-off frock or checked silk 
that would be just the thing to line It. 
To begin a quilt of this sort, you must first decide 
upon the size of the block that will suit you to 
work upon, and of which a certain number will 
make a cover the size you require. It Is a good 
way to prepare the lining first, you can take its 
dimensions with a tape measure and arrange the 
size of the blocks. From soft, worn, muslin, cut 
as many squares or pieces the size of the blocks as 
you will want of blocks. Cover each block of mus¬ 
lin with one thickness of white, sheet cotton. The 
blocks are then ready for the silk. Now gather 
together from all parts of the house, every scrap 
ot silk and velvet that you do not need to use for 
other purposes; old ribbons, neckties, velvet from 
old vests, coats and bonnets; all these things will 
contain In some part a bit that la clean and bright 
and that will give color to tue qutlt. Smooth tvery 
piece out with a warm Iron aud put In a large box 
or basket. In arranging the pieces on the layer 
of colton, It will rarely be necessary to cut them, 
unless they are bo large as lo cover more than a 
quarter of a block. You can begin any where on 
the block to arrange your pieces; the corner is a 
good plaoe, as you often find a piece ot silk in your 
basket with a right-angled corner that will fit the 
corner of the block. 
But wherever you begin and whatever be the 
shape of the piece of silk or velvet that you first 
lay on the cotton, your next selection should be a 
piece that will fit along one side of It aud harmon¬ 
ize with It as to oolor. Contrast every positive 
color—red, blue, yellow, green, etc., aa well as 
white, with black, or some dark 6hade. The ar¬ 
rangement, as to color, so as to insure a bright 
effect in the block, however, must be your own, 
and your first block will probably not be your 
best one. The arrangement, of the silk pieces, of 
different sizes and shapes, may be aa “ pen mell ” 
as you please. The requisites are, to distribute 
your colors well and to have your pteces overlap 
each Oiber enough to admit of being turned under 
at the edge and sewed down on the adjoining 
piece. After you have your block covered 
with the arranged pieces, pin or baste the pieces 
to the block to hold them In place, You can pre¬ 
pare as many block3 as you like for the sewing, 
hut It Is better to finish two or three blocks at 
first, so as to see how they look, aud so as to cor¬ 
rect any mistakes In arrangement which you may 
have made. To hem, “fell” or embroider the 
pieces down to the hlook, sewing silk of various 
shades la requtred; a box ot waste silk suoh as 
the shop-keepers sell for twenty-five cents, and 
weighing an ounce, Is convenient to select from, 
as It ofte« contains six or eight shades of sewing 
silk. An ounce of embroidery silk In bright 
colors adds to the beauty of the quilt, f or where 
you have a large piece ot plain silk to put on the 
block, its sameness can ho brightened up by cross¬ 
ing it with the embroidery silk In herring bone, 
“oat ” Btltch, or any of the “KeLMngton” stitches. 
You o&n ornament It still further by embroidering 
