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"I done it," repeated Otto, "I done it to make you take the boys back. I stole the cartridges and hid them in the mill once, and ayfter Mr. Dake came in I ran quick and lighted the fuse. I done it, all, myself. Jim and the boys never knowed. They aint to blame. I didnt mean to hurt Mr. Dake. The boys aint to blame."

He spoke in a dull weak voice, repeating his ideas a little, and his knees were shaking. His skin had gone a kind of gray-white like tree bark in winter. His eyes were glassy.

"How did you know about making a fuse?" said Dake.

Otto lifted his head with a strange, forlorn expression of pride. "Oh, I've known that a long time. I seen lots of bombs and things.'

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"His uncle!" cried Mr. Francis under his breath to Dake, "of course he knows. Dear, dear, dear, I'm afraid he aint lying."

"Bassett put him up to it,” said Dake doggedly.

"Otter," said the old woman solemnly, "did you do that thar wicked trick?"

"Yes, mum," said Otto.

*

"Boy fall down right-yere, an' bless the Lord. Ye war on the brink er a precept an' the Lord mussifully slewed ye off! Don't be too hard on the critter, Mist' Francis, twarnt his deed. Them thar owdacious, triflin' knights jes' tolled him on, pore, innercent chile."

"Nobody-nobody-but me," said Otto again, more faintly.

"Thar! jes' like the man in the book. He taken the fatil vow!” Aunt Betsey cried. "Oh, I wisht ye'd of read that thar book, you cud jedge proper, thenOtter! Otter!"

It was time to catch the swaying little figure in her strong arms, since Otto, making an ineffectual effort to say something about hanging and Bassett, had fainted.

Mr. Francis, like most planters in lonely regions, was a bit of a doctor; he hastily grasped Otto's wrist and felt his forehead; just as Marty Ann rushed in, hearing her mother's scream. Her eyes were swollen; even blind Dake could see that she had been crying.

* Mrs. Graham had precipice in her mind.

"He is in for a fit of sickness," said Mr. Francis.

"Then take him straight ter we all's,” said Aunt Betsey. "Law me, Mist' Francis, ye wunt let 'em take the pore chile t' the jail. Twarnt his deed."

Suddenly, she rose to the full significance of the moment. There was heard the crack of a whip and rattle of wheels, outside.

"Ef Otter done hit, an' not the sekrit soci'ty, fur w'y must Dake

go?" Dake looked at Marty Ann; he struck his lips together trying to speak and gasped.

Aunt Betsey remained mistress of the situation: " 'Marty Ann," said she, firmly, "tell him t' stay. Ye know ye ben cryin' fit ter kill kase he ben a goin'. Mist' Francis, holp me h'ist this yere chile; an' we'll tote him 'cross the road. You all kin foller when you ready. Guv me Dake's bag, he wunt want it."

Mr. Francis bit his lip and obeyed. Marty Ann and Dake were alone; Marty Ann recovered herself first and commanded Dake to sit down, he wasn't fit to stand.

"No," said Dake, "not till I know if I'm to go or to stay."

"I aint telling you to go," said Marty Ann; and blushed furiously and tossed up the corner of her apron with a pettish movement.

Dake was trembling exceedingly. "I can't believe what I want to," he cried. "Say, Miss Martha, did you see-did you see-Jim Bassett, that night you was lost?

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Marty Ann laughed out sweet and clear: "It was that was it you were studying 'bout and fretting over? Yes, I did, Mr. Dake-when I went to the Griffins', on the way. And I come back through the swamp so I wouldn't meet up with him again. And, if you want to know, he said he come to Portia to see me. So there!"

"Martha," said Dake, taking both her hands, "you know what I think 'bout you. You know I love you. Say, didn't you"

"No, I didn't," said Marty Ann, lifting her sweet eyes bravely to her lover's ; "I didn't care for him, but I wasn't sure but I did, 'cause he was so lively and handsome, but when-when I seen you

lying on the ground -I hate him!" cried Marty Ann.

"But you don't hate me," stammered Dake in a daze of bliss; "may be, then, you-you could—”

"I reckon," said Marty Ann, very low. About five minutes later, Dake looking out of Paradise, saw Otto's ragged hat. "Poor Otto," said he, "we must forgive him, dear lass."

They did forgive him. How can one bear malice to a boy whom one has nursed through a brain fever?

Mr. Francis was merciful; he kept Otto's secret. Perhaps his mercy was Otto's punishment. The lad winces, to this day, when the talk at the store drifts into the subject of the still mysterious explosion. To this day, the tongues of the plantation orators belabor the Knights of Labor, around the store stove.

Mr. Francis, who is not a friend of the order, only laughs and remarks philosophically to young Caroll, "Oh, well, those Knights have done so many mean things I reckon one more doesn't matter."

Dake's helper, strange to say, is Uncle Bruno. The widow Knipple is making a crop, just beyond the Grahams. Frau Bruno has an account at the store and money to her credit; but Uncle Bruno is not likely to have any such prosperous showing on the ledger; all his spare dollars go to needy comrades or to pay for those wild-looking German sheets which come to him through the mail.

Nevertheless he keeps on the best terms with Dake (whom the order has forgotten) and adores Mrs. Dake and Boo. Frau Bruno says: 'Ach, du lieber Himmel! you tink Bruno talk fierce? Jest haf you heard him wunce ven ve in St. Louis been! But nowpshutt, he is like de sheeps!"

Aunt Betsey, however, is still seeking (vicariously in the person of the unfortunate Mr. Francis) for the book which gave her such lucid ideas on the subject of secret societies. It had a purplish back and a right pretty picture of a skull and crossed daggers outside; and, no doubt, when Mr. Francis shall find it, she will convert Herr Knipple.

MIDSUMMER NIGHT.

By A. Lampman.

MOTHER of balms and soothings manifold,
Quiet-breathed night, whose brooding hours are seven,
To whom the voices of all rest are given,

And those few stars whose scattered names are told,
Far off beyond the westward hills outrolled,

Darker than thou, more still, more dreamy even,
The golden moon leans in the dusky heaven,
And under her one star, a point of gold;

And all go slowly lingering toward the West,
As we go down forgetfully to our rest,

Weary of daytime, tired of noise and light.
Ah it was time that thou shouldst come, for we
Were sore athirst and had great need of thee,

Thou sweet physician, balmy bosomed night.

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By M. N. Forney.

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an hour.

The picture reproduced herewith of a car drawn by horses was given with the above description of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The mutilated copy of the book from which the engraving and extract were copied does not give the date when it was written or published. It was probably some time between the years 1830 and 1835. That the car shown in the engraving was evolved from the Conestoga wagon is obvious from the illustrations.

MONG the thing like a stage, and then you will be drawn readers of along by two horses, at the rate of twelve miles SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE there will be some who have reached the summit of the "divide" which separates the spring and summer of life from its autumn and winter, and whose first information about railroads was received from Peter Parley's "First Book of History," which was used as a schoolbook forty or fifty years ago. In his chapter on Maryland, he says:

But the most curious thing at Baltimore is the railroad. I must tell you that there is a great trade between Baltimore and the States west of the Alleghany Mountains. The western people buy a great many goods at Baltimore, and send in return a great deal of western produce. There is, therefore, a vast deal of travelling back and forth, and hundreds of teams are constantly occupied in transporting goods and produce to and from market.*

Now, in order to carry on all this business more easily, the people are building what is called a railroad. This consists of iron bars laid along the ground, and made fast, so that carriages with small wheels may run along upon them with facility. In this way, one horse will be able to draw as much as ten horses on a common road.

A part of this railroad is already done, and if you choose to take a ride upon it, you can do so. You will mount a car some

An engraving of a team and of a "Conestoga" wagon -which was used in this traffic-taken from a photograph of one which has survived to the present day, is given on the opposite page.

This engraving and description, made for children, more than fifty years ago, will give some idea of the state of the art of railroading at that time; and it is a remarkable fact that the wonderful development and the improvements which have been made in railroads and their equipments in this country have been made during the lives of persons still living.

In the latter part of 1827, the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company put the Carbondale Railroad under construction. The road extends from the head of the Delaware & Hudson Canal at Honesdale, Pa., to the coal mines belonging to the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company at Carbondale, a distance of about sixteen miles. This line was opened, probably in 1829, and was operated partly by stationary engines, and partly by horses. The line is noted chiefly for being the one on which a locomotive was first used in this country. This was the "Stour

bridge Lion," which was built in England under the direction of Mr. Horatio Allen, who afterward was president of the Novelty Works in New York, and who is still living near New York at the ripe age of eighty-six. Before the road was opened, he had been a civil engineer on the Carbondale line. The engine was tried at Honesdale, Pa., on August 9, 1829. On its trial trip it was managed by Mr. Allen, to whom belongs the distinction of having run the first locomotive that was ever used in this country. In 1884 he wrote the following account of this trip:

When the time came, and the steam was of the right pressure, and all was ready, I took my position on the platform of the locomotive alone, and with my hand on the throttle-valve handle said: "If there is any danger in this ride it is not necessary that the life and limbs of more than one should be subjected to that danger."

The locomotive, having no train behind it, answered at once to the movement of the hand;

soon the straight line was run over, the curve was reached and passed before there was time to think as to its not being passed safely, and soon I was out of sight in the three miles' ride alone in the woods of Pennsylvania. I had never run a locomotive nor any other engine before; I have never run

one since.

The first railroad which was undertaken for the transportation of freight

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a long time an open question. The celebrated trial of locomotives on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in England, was made in 1829. Reports of these trials, and of the use of locomotive engines on the Stockton & Darlington line, were published in this country, and, as Mr. Charles Francis Adams says, 'the country, therefore, was not only ripe to accept the results of the Rainhill contest, but it was anticipating them with eager hope." In 1829 Mr. Horatio Allen, who had been in England the year before to learn all that could then

Conestoga Wagon and Team. (From a recent photograph.)

and passengers, in this country, on a comprehensive scale, was the Baltimore & Ohio. Its construction was begun in 1828. The laying of rails was commenced in 1829, and in May, 1830, the first section of fifteen miles from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills was opened. It was probably about this time that the animated sketch of the car given by Peter Parley was made. From 1830 to 1835 many lines were projected, and at

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be learned about steam locomotion, reported to the South Carolina Railway Company in favor of

steam in

stead of

horse power for that line. 66 was

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The basis of that report, he says, on the broad ground that in the future there was no reason to expect any material improvement in the breed of horses, while in my judgment, the man was not living who knew what the breed of locomotives was to place at command."

As early as 1829 and 1830, Peter Cooper experimented with a little locomotive on the Baltimore & Ohio Rail

*See "Railroads; their Origin & Problems."

road. At a meeting of the Master Mechanics' Association in New York, in 1875-at the Institute which bears his namehe related with great glee how on the trial trip he had beaten a gray horse, attached to another car.

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Peter Cooper's Locomotive, 1829.

The coincidence that one of Peter Parley's horses is a gray one might lead to the inference that it was the same horse that Peter Cooper beat, a deduction which perhaps has as sound a basis to rest on as many historical conclusions of more importance.

The undeveloped condition at that time of the art of machine construction is indicated by the fact that the flues of the boiler of this engine were made of gunbarrels, which were the only tubes that could then be obtained for the purpose. The boiler itself is described as about the size of a flour barrel. The whole machine was no larger than a hand-car of the present day.

passengers from Albany to Schenectady, August 9, 1831. This is the engine shown in the silhouette engraving of the "first* railroad train in America" which in recent years has been so widely distributed as an advertisement.

In 1831 the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company offered a premium of $4,000 "for the most approved engine which shall be delivered for trial upon the road on or before the 1st of June, 1831; and $3,500 for the engine which shall be adjudged the

next best." The requirements were as follows:

In the same year that Peter Cooper built his engine, the South Carolina Railway Company had a locomotive, called the "Best Friend," built at the West Point Foundry for its line. In 1831 this company had another engine, the "South Carolina," which was designed by Mr. Horatio Allen, built at the same shop. It was remarkable in having eight wheels, which were arranged in two trucks. One pair of driving-wheels, DD and D' D', and a pair of leadingwheels, L L and L' L', were attached to frames, c d e f and g hij, which were connected to the boiler by kingbolts, K K', about which the trucks could turn. Each truck had one cylinder, C and C'. These were in the middle of the engine and were connected to cranks on the axles A and B. The "De Witt Clinton," was built for the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, and was the third locomotive made by the West Point Foundry Association. The first excursion trip was made with

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