wished to fire at them, but Edward prevented them, saying, “Give them a little more time for repentance; Heaven will surely send punishment after them." Stephen and his companions escaped drowning with difficulty; but scarcely were they on land before hunger and thirst began to torment them fearfully, and it seemed to them that they would have done better to await the punishment they deserved. Wicked and degraded as they were, they now began to reproach each other, each accusing the other of being the ringleader and author of the plot, and in the heat of the quarrel the other two separated from Stephen, and penetrated into the interior of the country. After Stephen had in vain searched for water or food, and the ship had already vanished from sight, despair came over him; hunger, thirst, and heat, tortured him for several days, he could no longer stand on his feet. Insects of all kinds and dread of wild beasts increased the horrors of his situation. Now he had time to reflect; his conscience reminded him of his whole course of life and of all the cruelties which he had done against various harmless and defenceless dumb animals. The moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon. AN INDIAN RAID. After this incident Captain Edward sailed on for several miles, but then he cast anchor; he could not find it in his heart to leave these unhappy men to perish in the island. Guilty as they were he determined to implore pardon for them. He had the island searched, and on the While stationed in one of the Government third day he found Stephen's two companionsdead. Late on the fifth day Stephen was also forts at the West, news was brought that an discovered. Edward's exertions succeeded in emigrant train had been attacked by a band of bringing him to himself, but only that he might Indians within half a day's ride of our post, hear the confession of his sins and cruelties. that several persons had been killed and "It is quite true," he said, "what your father wounded, a number of horses, mules, and cattle often told me, that he who as a child torments driven off, and that two beautiful young ladies animals will as a man torture his fellow-crea- had been taken prisoners. tures, too, if he has the power. The hand of The intelligence in itself, ordinarily considGod lies heavy upon me. I feel in my conscience ered, was of an exciting character; but to me, the justice of my sentence. All-merciful God, from the very first, it possessed an interest so pardon me! pardon my unhappy father, too, intense that my frame trembled, and voice who so neglected my education, and who cer- quavered, as I put the question to the informant tainly never thought what a hard-hearted and who was himself one of the party that had forcruel man he was allowing me to grow up." tunately escaped and made his way direct to the Thus he died in great sufferings. After this sad event Edward, much moved and full of pity for these poor criminals, sailed homewards. His good parents received him with tears of joy, whilst Stephen's father, who had been completely ruined by rash and dishonest speculations, was obliged to confess that the chief blame of his son's misery lay at his own door, because he had laughed at and disregarded the excellent principle of Edward's father, "that cruelty is one of the greatest sources of all evil."-Chatterbox. fort "Do you know the names of the young ladies captured?" 66 Yes, Captain. One was Miss Mary Stanhope, and the other Miss Adina Somers." I reeled and clutched the nearest object for support. Adina Somers! Gracious Heaven! My Adina! the object of my fondest hopes and dreams! lost, lost! a prisoner among savages! I had heard incidentally, that her father, having failed in business, contemplated removing his family to Oregon, to try his fortune in the wilderness; but I only guessed he had started by the foreboding of my heart when I first re- northwest and the other northeast, but gave it ceived the general news of the disaster to an as their opinion that this had been done to unspecified emigrant train. I was young, strong, in the full flush of health, and had under me a band of brave, determined fellows, who would go through fire and water to serve me. divide and perplex their pursuers, and that at some given point on their homeward route the two parties would re-unite. In pursuing a party of Indians who have had some eight or ten hours the start there is no use I would instantly set off on the trail of the being in haste. It is impossible to overtake accursed savages, and follow them, like the them in one or two days, and if you attempt it shadow of death, till I should either rescue, or by hard riding, you will only use up your most terribly avenge, the only being on earth I animals and make the expedition an entire truly loved. failure. All this I already knew without the counsel of my experienced guides, and though ever so A few moments were thus given to thought and grief, and then came the exciting life of action. Hastily gathering the principal facts impatient to be like a blood-hound on their of the disaster, I ordered fifty picked men to horse, and in much less than an hour we were dashing over the plain in the direction of the scene of the contest. On our way thither we met the remnant of the party-some forty in number, including men, women and children-with three teams, the animals of which had not been stampeded. They were going to the fort, sad and dispirited, taking with them some of their lighter valuables, and the wounded and dead. Seven persons had been killed-including the father, mother, and brother of Adina-fifteen had been wounded, some seriously, and ten others were missing, two of whom were supposed to be prisoners. The attack had been made upon the camp of the emigrants just before daylight, by a band of more than a hundred savages, and so fierce, sudden, and overwhelming had been the assault, and so unprepared were the whites to receive it, most of the sentinels having fallen asleep at their posts, that the whole work of destruction had been accomplished in a few minutes, and the assailed-aroused by a horrid din of yells, shrieks, groans, and reports of fire arms-could make no effective resistance. The wonder was, not that the disaster had been so great, but that so many had escaped to tell the tale. I did not stop long with the afflicted party, but assuring them we were going to follow and punish their assailants, we again dashed on over the plain, never drawing rein till we came to the camp where the attack had been made. track, I was obliged to submit to a delay that was a perfect torture of mind. We rode a few miles further that day and encamped upon the bank of a small stream, whose bed was nearly dry, but which, winding through a parchedlooking prairie, left a line of greenish grass, a few wild flowers, and here and there some bushes and trees, to mark its devious course. One thing was in our favor. The moon was approaching its full, and the weather had the signs of being clear for several days to come, which would enable us to follow the trail in the night, by which means we should run less risk of being discovered on drawing near the foe. For the first two days nothing of importance occurred. Our third camp was at the junction of the two trails, which came together in the manner the scouts had conjectured. A little before sunset we were again in the saddle, and that night we did our utmost. When we halted again, the scouts gave it as their opinion that another night's ride would bring us upon our foes, and the very thought made me tremble with hope and fear. Should I find Adina living? and should I be able to rescue and save her? Oh, the torture of thinking, hoping, and fearing! This time it was thought best to wait for the rising of the moon, keep the scouts out in advance, and move with more caution than ever. The face of the country had changed, the land was more uneven and rolling, and there was a possibility of being seen from some swell or elevation by the look-outs of the enemy. It seemed to me as if the moon would never rise that night; and until I saw it slowly creeping above the horizon, and found myself once more in the saddle, I felt as if I were fairly stifling in an oppressive atmosphere. Here it was impossible to distinguish the retreating trail of the savages from among the multiplicity of horse and cattle tracks crossing each other in every direction and at every conceivable angle, but there being attached to my About midnight .we were stopped by two of corps some half-a-dozen experienced scouts and the scouts, who stated that we were close upon Indian hunters, I sent them out to scour the the Indians, who were encamped in a little valcountry round, and return as soon as possible. ley, about three miles distant. Their advice In the course of a couple of hours they all was that we should secure our horses in a neighcame in and reported two trails, one leading boring wood, creep round to the camp, divide our force into three parties, and make a sudden | been created solely for scientific purposes, still of the owl it is claimed, that they are more useattack on foot from three different quarters. It was perhaps three hours after midnight, ful than injurious to agriculture, on account of that, as most of the Indians lay asleep in their the great number of mammals of the order of camp, they were suddenly aroused by yells as rodentia which they destroy, or in other words terrific as their own: and as they sprung to they compete largely with cats in the mouse their feet, in the wildest confusion and alarm, business. three distinct rifle volleys poured death among them, creating for a moment a paralyzing con sternation. Ornithologists who have followed these strange birds about at night solemnly assert that they have seen them destroy large quantities of mice, but, is a stubborn fact also that it although they possess feline tastes and propensities as far as their relish for mice is concerned, they, nevertheless, do, as long as they can procure young or even old birds, exhibit a decided preference for that kind of diet. Owls are With renewed yells we rushed forward, closing in towards the centre, and firing our revolvers at every step till every barrel was discharged, by which time those of the savages who were not killed or severely wounded were bounding away in every direction, shrieking with terror. In less than five minutes from the opening blinded by broad day, and only see well in the fire we were masters of the field, with thirty twilight, or at night when it is not very dark, dead or dying savages around us, and not a single the time they choose for hunting; and as their silky feathers permit them to fly without noise, one of our party was injured. But where were the captives? In the very it is a very easy matter for them to catch the centre of the encampment, at the foot of a tree, poor sleeping little birds, upon which they sudstretched out on the earth, and so bound down denly pounce, and which, when caught, are that they could not rise to welcome their deliverers, we found the two maidens. They both burst into tears, and wept and sobbed for several minutes, unable to articulate a syllable. As for myself, I was as deeply affected, but in a different way. I did not weep, but I could not speak; and as I drew near and gazed upon them, for I had been powerless to assist in their release, it seemed as if I had suddenly turned to a statue. For a considerable time I stood thus, looking at the tearful face of Adina Somers by the pale light of the moon, when, in the incidental turning of her head, her eyes rested on me. "Gracious God! living or dead?" she murmured, with the look and tone of one who speaks while seeing a vision. "Living, Adina!" cried I, springing forward and clasping her in my arms. It was time-for she had fainted-and now rested, like a lifeless thing, upon my support. But she was saved, and there was a chance for the happiness of both in that great future I had so feared. And that happiness came, thank God-it continued-it is with us still, OWLS. greedily devoured. The little birds doubtless know that the owl is not their friend. We have while hunting watched with deep interest the courage of these little birds as they in large numbers would rally, attack, tease and insult an owl that was so blinded by the bright daylight, a fact which these little creatures seemed to be fully aware of, that a successful defence on the part of the bird was totally out of the question, and the poor thing would be compelled to beat a retreat and seek refuge in the top of some hollow tree. The head of the owl is large, which, in connection with its habitual pensiveness and tranquility, has secured for it the reputation for wisdom which the ancients ascribed to it. The horned owl's length, from the top of its head to the end of its tail, is from thirteen to fourteen inches, and its plumage is yellow with dark brown spots. Owls of the various species are great nuisances, especially to nervous and superstitious people, who dread the approach of night as it is then that it emerges from its hiding place and during the whole night utters sad and plaintive groans or hoots, and hence the name hooting owl has been ascribed it. While we write we are reminded of a story we once heard of an Irishman, who one evening for the first time in his life, saw perched upon a The new and attractive title page of the limb of a tree a large horned or hooting owl. Eclectic suggested the subject of this article. The big glassy eyes of the bird soon became You have doubtless noticed, little reader, at the steadfastly fixed upon Pat who wondered what top of the page the picture of an owl, with out- kind of a "beast," it could be. Not being able stretched wings; it is of this peculiar species of to form a correct idea of its proportions, Pat birds we purpose to give a brief account. Owls undertook to ascertain by walking around the like many other birds and animals seem to have tree, but to his surprise on every side that he appeared the face of the bird was in full view, red groundwork, with a white elephant worked with the same large eyes resting upon him and in the centre. This is the fort and palace of observing his every movement. Not being an the Prince Chou Fau, King of Siam, and one of adept at climbing and fearing that the "beast" the most extraordinary and intellectual men of would object to a closer examination, and noticing the East. Of him, however, we shall see and that the owl kept turning its head around with- hear more, after we have bundled our traps on out changing the position of its body, Pat con- shore, and taken a little rest. Now, be careful ceived the following original idea, which he how you step out of the boat into the balcony of attempted to execute, namely, to compel the owl the floating-house, for it will recede to the force to commit suicide by making it twist its own of your effort to mount; and if not aware of head off, Pat was not slow in putting his plans this, you lose your balance, and fall into the into execution, and proceeded to walk rapidly river. Now we are safely transhipped, for we around the tree, but after making some twenty can not as yet say landed; but we now form an or more circuits round it, and until he became item, though a very small one, of the vast popudizzy and almost breathless, concluded that lation of the city of Bankok. as the "beast didn't come down after so many twists its neck had received, it surely must be the Devil, and Pat retreated in great haste saying in his heart all the time, "bad luck to the ship that brought me over to America." A FLOATING CITY. We take a brief survey of our present apartments, and find everything, though inconveniently small, clean, and in other respects comfortable. First, we have a little balcony that overhangs the river, and is about twenty yards long, by one-and-a-half broad. Then we have an excellent sitting-room, which serves us for a parlor, dining-room, and all; then we have a little side-room, for books and writing; and beOne of the most wonderful cities in the world hind these, extending the length of the other is Bankok, the capital of Siam. Did you ever two, a bed room. Of course, we must bring or witness such a sight in your life? On either make our own furniture; for, though these side of the wide, majestic stream, moored in houses are pretty well off on this score, the regular streets and alleys, extending as far as Siamese have seldom anything besides their the eye can reach, are upward of seventy thou- bedding materials, a few pots and pans to cook sand neat little houses, each house floating on a with, a few jars of stores, and a fishing net or compact raft of bamboos, and the whole inter- two. Every house has a canoe attached to it, mediate space of the river presents to our aston- and no nation detests walking so much as the ished gaze one dense mass of ships, junks, and Siamese; at the same time they are all expert boats, of every conceivable shape, color, and swimmers, and both men and women begin to size. As we glide amongst these, we occasion- acquire this very necessary art at a very early ally encounter a stray house, broken loose from age. Without it, a man runs a momentary risk its moorings, and hurrying down the stream of being drowned, as, when a canoe upsets, with the tide, amidst the uproar and shouts of none of the passers by ever think it necessary the inhabitants and all the spectators. We also to lend any aid, supposing them fully adequate noticed that all the front row of houses are to the task of saving their own lives. Canoes neatly painted shops, in which various tempting are hourly being upset, owing to the vast concommodities are exposed for sale. Behind course of vessels and boats plying to and fro; these, again, at equal distances, rise the lofty, and owing to this negligence or carelessness in elegant porcelain towers of the various temples. rendering assistance, a Mr. Benham, an AmerOn our right hand side, as far away as we can see, are three stately pillars, erected to the memory of three defunct kings, celebrated for some acts of valor and justice; and a little beyond these, looming like a line of battle ship, amongst a lot of cockle-shells, rise the straggling and not very elegant palace of the King, where his Siamese Majesty, with ever so many wives and children, resides. Right ahead, where the city terminates, and the river, making a curve, flows behind the palace, is a neat looking fort, surmounted with a tope of mango trees, over which peep the roofs of two houses and a flagstaff, from which floats the royal pennant and Jack of Siam-a flag of ican missionary, lost his life, some twelve years ago, having upset his canoe when it was just getting dusk, and though surrounded by boats, no one deemed it necessary to stop and pick the poor man up. EXPERIENCE. He hazardeth much who depends for his learning on experience. An unhappy master, he that is only made wise by many shipwrecks; a miserable merchant, that is neither rich nor wise till he has been bankrupt. By experience we find out a short way by a long wandering-Ascham. |