THE OLD APPLE TREE. To-day I crossed the meadows That lie beyond the town. And 'neath a gnarled old apple tre» To rest X laid me down. Its branches stirred above me, A breeze swept to and fro. And high among, the apple buds The bees were humming slow. A squirrel came to watch me, A bird sang from the hill. And all about the open fields The sun lay warm and still. I thought of how, In childhood. Like a dream it seemed to me, We two had told our childish love Beneath that apple tree. The apple buds seem much the same— As pure and sweet and cold. But time has' changed the apple tree, And it and I are old. My life is like the apple- tree, Grown harsh and much and strange, But love is like the bursting buds— They never seem to change. —Waldron \V. Anderson, in Good Lit erature. ♦THE STURGIS WAGER I! 9 A DETECTIVE STORY. t g 5| | J By EDGAR MORETTE. £ Copyright, 1899, by Frederick A. Co. ; -.Pi" CHAPTER XXIII.—CONTINUED. lie stood for awhile irresolute, and had just made up his mind to risk all on a bold move, when suddenly bur dock's voice became more distinct, as if he were passing near the mouth-piece of the speaking-tube at the other end. "I shall be back directly." lie was going then. Agnes, if it were she, would remain alone for at least an instant; nnd in that instant lay possible salvation. The reporter strained every nerve to catch some other word. None came. Hut presently he heard a door close. Murdoch had left the room. Now or never was the chance to act, With all his might he blew repeated ly into the tube. "Well?" The question came in the sweet tones of a woman's voice. "Mr. Sprague is in great danger. You alone can save his life, if you do at once as I say. Goto the door of the extension; press upward on the lower hinge; then turn the knob! Quick, before your father returns!" Sturgis evoked the image of Mur dock performing these operations be fore opening the door of the exten sion; and, with retrospective intui« tion, divined their purpose. There was no answer. Sturgis wait ed for none. In a bound he was at his friend's side and was struggling to drag him toward the foot of tho stairs. As lie reached this point, the door opened and revealed Agnes Mur doch. pale and frightened, on the landing at the top. The first rush of gas caused her to start back; but in another instant she had caught sight of her lover's inanimate form and had rushed to his assistance. Suddenly a shadow fell across tho threshold of the open door. Sturgis looked up in quick apprehension. It was Murdoch. He stood critically observing the scene, with all outward appearance of calmness. Agnes had not seen him. She was making desperate efforts to raise Sprague's limp form; but felt herself succumbing to the effects of the gas. "My darling! my poor darling!" she exclaimed and suddenly she stag gered and lurched forward. Sturgis made an instinctive effort to support her; but before he could reach her Murdoch was at her side and had her in his arms. He bora her gently up the stairs and into his study. Then, for- an instant, ho seemed to hesitate. The reporter ex pected to see him close the door. In stinctively his hand reached back to his hip pocket for his revolver. But, in another moment, Murdock had re turned to where he stood. "Come!" he said. At the same time he lifted the artist In his arms and carried him up the stairs. Sturgis followed unsteadily and reached the study, only to fall exhausted into a chair. Having deposited his burden upon the floor, Murdock closed the door of the death chamber; turned a valve which was near his desk; opened the windows wide, and revolved a crank which projected from the wall near the door of the extension. "He is shutting off the gas and opening the steel shutters of the sky» light," thought Sturgis. Then the chemist produced a flask and poured out a small quantity of brandy, which he forced his daughter to swallow. As soon as she was sufficiently re vived, she rushed to the side of her lover, whose head she gently raised to her lap. Murdock's eyes were fas tened upon her. She met his calm questioning gaze. "Yes, I love him," she said, simply. Then this strange man, without an other word, gently pushed his daugh ter to one side and, throwing off his coat, stooped over the prostrate form of the man whose life he had tried to take, and industriously worked over him, in an attempt to restore the fail ing respiration. Slowly and steadily he worked for what seemed an eternity to the anx ious girl. At length he rose, calm and collected as usual, and drew on his •coat again. "He is out of danger now," he said? "you can do the rest yourself." And he handed* his daughter the brandy flask. A faint tinge of color had returned to the artist's face; his breast heaved gently in an irregular respiration. Sturgis, still unable to stir from tho chair in which he had fallen, was vaguely conscious of Murdock's move ments. ne saw the chemist open the safe which stood near his table and take from it numerous bundles of banknotes, which he carefully packed into a valise; he saw him take from the same safe :v few richly bound notebooks, which he proceeded to do up in a neat bundle, securely tied and sealed. This done, the chemist put on his hat and coat, and was preparing to pass out into the hallway, when a knock sounded upon the door. Murdock opened slightly—enough to show himself, without revealing the presence of the other occupants of the room. It was one of the housemaids. "Plaze, sur," said the girl, in a frightened voice, "the polacemun says he can't wait 110 longer; he must see yer right away." "Are they in the parlor?" "Only the polacemun. sur; the other man said he would wait outside." Murdock took a minute for reflec tion. "Wait in the hall until T call you," he said, at lust. "If the policeman be comes impatient, tell him I shall not be long; that I am engaged on most important business." No sooner had the girl gone than Murdock, seizing the valise and the package, opened the door of the ex tension. Ilis eyes rested for awliilo upon his daughter, who, still absorbed in the tender care of her inanimate lover, was oblivious of all else. There was in them an unusual expression— almost a tender light; but the im passive face was otherwise emotion less. The chemist seemed to hesitate for a brief instant whether to speak; then, passing out into the extension, he softly closed the door behind him. Sturgis alone, weak and powerless, had seen him go. CHAPTER XXIV. CHECKMATE! The two detectives, after leaving Spragueand .Sturgis in the cellar of the Manhattan Chemical company, pro ceeded to search the premises from basement to roof. Then, somewhat discomfited, they returned to the cel lar, and were surprised to find that the reporter and his friend had disap peared. After questioning the man whom they had left on watch on the outside, and ascertaining that neither-Sprague nor Sturgis had yet left the house, the detectives called loudly to the missing men, and receiving no reply, at last became alarmed and sent word of the mysterious disappearance to headquarters. The chief's answer came at once: "Remain on watch where you are. We shall investigate from the other side." One of the detectives thereupon went up to the roof of the building, whence he could keep watch upon the back yards, while liis companion remained in the front hall. They had been waiting thus for some time, when the latter thought lie heard footsteps in the direction of the private office. He was on the alert in an in stant. The door was cautiously opened and a man stepped out into the hallway, lie carried a valise and a package. He blinked like a man coming suddenly from the darkness into the daylight. "Who are you?" asked the detective, brusquely. The man looked in the direction of the voice, and, as his eyes became ac customed to the light, returned the de tective's surprised stare with a calm and searching look. "Checkmate!" he muttered quietly to himself at last. Then, without seeming haste, he passed back into the private oflice, be fore the astonished detective could make any attempt to stop him. Recovering himself quickly, the de tective followed the sounds of the re treating footsteps to the cellar stairs. Then, fearful of an ambush, he fired liis revolver as a signal to his companion on the roof; and, after striking a match, he cautiously descended, reach ing the cellar just in time to see Mur dock disappear into the underground passage. He rushed to the spot; and, unable to find the door, he pounded with all his might upon the shelves, causing the bottles to dance and rattle. "Come,now," he stiouted, "the game's up! You may as well be reasonable. You can't possibly escape, for you're surrounded." No answer came from within. The man tried liis powerful strength upon the door without any perceptible effect. When the second detective arrived upon the scene he found the first one removing the bottles from the shelves by the light of a match held in his left hand. "Get a light and an ax, Jim. There's a secret door here which we'll have to break in; I can't find any way of open ing it." A few minutes later, the detectives, after dealing upon the shelves some telling blows with an ax, called upon Murdock to surrender. Receiving no answer to their sum mons, the men stood irresolute for a few seconds. Then, with grim deter mination, they attacked the door; raining the blows upon it fast and fu- and filling the air with a show er of splinters. At length a final stroke sent the weakened hinges from their fastenings, and the men rushed through the un derground passage into the murderer's laboratory, A hasty, startled glance told them that Murdock was not there. They started for the stairs and were met by a policeman who was just en tering Murdock's oflice. I "Have you got him?" asked the detee j tives In chorus. "No," replied the policeman, sur- I prised; "Mr. Sturgis says he went down ' here about 20 minutes ago." CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1900. "We chased him in from the other end not ten minutes ago." The policeman hurried down the stairs. Murdoch's valise and package stood conspicuous upon the long pine box. But of Murdock there was no sign. "Gone!" exclaimed one of the detec tives, deeply mortified at the thought that his quarry had slipped through bis fingers. "Gone! How? Where? He cannot have escaped. lie cannot — What is it, Mr. Sturgis?" lie had suddenly caught sight of the reporter, half way up the stairs. Weak and ill, Sturgis, with blanched face, clung unsteadily, with one hand, to the railing; while, with the other, lie pointed toward the lead-lined vat, whose dark viscous contents were bubbling like boiling oil. A pungent vapor rose in dense clouds from the surface of the liquid. Through it the fascinated ga/e of the horrified men vaguely discerned a nameless thing, tossed in weird and grotesque contortions in a seething vortex. Murdock had escaped the justice of men. CHAPTER XXV. THE MURDER SYNDICATE. "See here, Sturgis, this won't do. 1 forbade you to do a stroke of work to-day, or even to leave your bed; and here you are scribbling away just as though nothing had happened. I tell you when a mas has the narrow squeak you have, there has been a tremendous strain upon his heart, and it is posi tively dangerous—" "Don't scold, old man; I have never in my life been better than 1 feel to day. And, besides, this work could not be postponed—" "Oh, pshaw! That is what nine out of every ten patients say to tlieir physi cian. They are modestly convinced that the world must needs come to a standstill if they cannot accomplish their tiny mite of work." Dr. Thurston, who had assumed his frown of professional severity, pro ceeded to feel the reporter's pulse. "Well, you are in luck; better than you deserve. Almost any other man would have been laid up for a week by the experience you have been through. HB BORE HER GENTLY UP THE STAIItS. And here you have the face to recover without the assistance of the medical profession, and in spite of your insolent disregard of my express orders to leave work alone for the present. Now, there is Sprague —" "Ah, what of Sprague?" asked the reporter, anxiously. "Sprague has had a close call. But he is safe now. If tender and intelli gent nursing count for anything, he will probably be up in a day or two." "Miss Murdock—" "Yes. She has a professional nurse to help her; but she has insisted 011 taking charge of the case herself. And an excellent nurse she is, too, and a charming girl into the bargain—and what is more, a noble woman." "Does she know of her father's death?" "I broke the news as gently as possible. She took it much more calm ly than I supposed she would. There evidently was but little sympathy be tween her and her father." "On her side, at any rate." "Yes. Her first act on learning of her father's crimes was to send for a law 3'er. She refuses to touch a cent of his money, and has instructed her attorney to make such restitutions as may be possible and to turn the rest to char itable Institutions. This leaves her al-• most penniless; for the property she held in her own right from her moth* er's estate amounts to very little. For tunately, Sprague is rich enough for both. What are you doing there, if I may ask?" Dr. Thurston pointed to a bundle which lay upon the table. "That is Murdook's autobiography —• a legacy to me. The package was found near his valise in the death chamber. He had addressed it to me at the last minute." "Did it help you in your account of the Knickerbocker bank case for the Tempest ?" "A little; but naturally, Murdoch's account of that crime was not com plete. The entire journal, however, is of absorbing interest. It is a pity that it cannot be published." "Why cannot it be published?" "It would be dangerous to the wel fare of society. .\fu 1 dock was an ex traordinary genius in his line; there is marvelous originality and ingenu ity in his work. His crimes, num bered by the hundred, were all of capital importance in their result*; all deep-laid and skillfully executed. It is hardly likely that such another consummate artist in crime will ex ivt once a century. To publish the details of his schemes would be to put a formidable weapon in the liand.« of the vulgar herd of ordinary crim inals, who lack the imagination of thia brilliant villain. "I tell you, Thurston," continued Sturgis, with what seemed very like enthusiastic conviction, "this man was the originator of almost every unsolved mystery which has non plussed the police during the last 15 years. He had his agents in every im portant center throughout the colin try; agents working under potent in centives, and yet working in the dark, for few of them have ever known who held the mysterious power which di sected their every move. Murder has been done wholesale; and so quietly and mysteriously has the work been accomplished that, in all but this last case, the detectives have found no clue whatever which might lead 'n an explanation of he sudden and un accountable disappearance of wealthy men, whose bodies, shipped to the Manhattan Chemical company by Murdock's agents, were quietly and systematically made away with in the chemise's-laboratory." "He was the fiend incarnate!" ex claimed the physician. "Well," said Sturgis, after a mo ment of thoughtful silence, "at any rate, he was not wantonly cruel. lie was heartless; he was pitiless; but his cruelty was always a means to au end, however selfish and illegitimate that end might be. His cruelty i.i that, in a measure, of every human being destroying life that lie may live and trampling upon his fellow men that he may be comfortable. P,-- tween Murdock and the rest of us there was a difference of degree, certainly, but was there a difference of kind?" "There is one thing which I can not yet understand," said Thurston, "and that is, why Murdock should have pushed his audacity to the point of defying you to ferret out the mys tery of this crime, when he might perhaps have avoided all risk of de tection by holding his tongue." "No man is perfect," answered Sturgis, sententiously, "not even an accomplished villain like Murdock, fortunately for the rest of mankind. Every human being has his weak points. Murdock had two:—liis van ity and his love for his daughter. They were the only traits which con nected him with the human family. To them he owes his undoing." THE END. Frightened l>>- « Poodle. Perhaps Burns' famous line might be made to read:* "A dog's a dog for a' that." But of all dogs, thoroughbred or mongrel, a shaggy poodle would seem to be about the poorest kind of dog for defense. Yet a missionary, whose experience has been among the savages and cannibals of Africa, says that his little poodle, Sally, was one of his best protectors, says Youth's Com panion. One of her exploits consisted in putting to flight a band of hostile natives. The missionary was traveling some distance in advance of his cara van, accompanied only by his boy-serv ant and Sally. When he came to the top of a hill, a large body of Burungi warriors in full war-paint were sud denly seen raeing toward them. Call ing Sally to him, the missionary whis pered in her ear something about "go ing for them." Then was witnessed the scene of a small, shaggy dog with a very big bark, tail in the air, charging at a company of armed men. "It was a great sight." says the traveler, "worth going to Africa for,"to see those war like men running for their lives, with little Sally at their heels, barking as if she knew, brave little dog. that she was making a big bluff, and it all de pended 011 the noise she could make. Held Reformer to IIl« Word. When a beggar asked a Philadelphia stationer the other day for help, the latter offered him two lead pencils, say ing: "With half the effort required in begging you can easily sell these for live cents apiece." The beggar fjazed at the pencils scornfully. "Who'd give me five cents for them?" he demanded. "\\ hy, anybody," said the stationer. "Go out and try it." "Would you?" asked the beggar. "Why, certainly," was the reply. A smile of triumph spread over the grimy features of the mendicant. "Here you are, then," he said. "Gimme the ten cents. You can't go back on your own word." It took the stationer several minutes to recover his breath, but he finally en tered into the deal, nnd hereafter he will adopt other tactics.—Hartford Times. llow He Held It. "Yes," said the politician's wife, reading out of the paper, "it says you held the crowd spellbound." "Ah!" he exclaimed, rubbing his hands, "at last they acknowledge that I am an orator. I knew that I should make them recognize my eloquence sooner or—" "Wait,"his wife interrupted, "there's more to this sentence. It says: 'He held the crowd spellbound while he read several extracts from a speech that was delivered by Daniel Webster GO years ago.' " —Chicago Times-ller ald. Ilnd 1.1 veil Two High. "This is our last boot-leg!" whim pered the cook, as he served breakfast. "What?" cried the arctic explorer, paling. "It is scarcely the middle of August and the lecture season can't possibly open until after election this year!" Some one had blundered. It was with a heavy heart, indeed, that the explorer called a messenger •boy and sent word out- to the rescuing party that they might come and rescue him auy time now.—Detroit Journal. Oh, Love, Sireet Love! "You have not kissed me," she pout ed, "for 15 minutes!" "I know it,"he siJd. "I have a very sensitive tooth, which is liable to ache if I do." "What do you mean, sir?" "Why, you are so sweet, you know!" —N. Y. World. JAPS AEE POPULAR. Washington Society Is Pleased with the Mikado's Legation. Mm*. Takahira, Wife of the H«n Minister, I* Well Liked—She Is a lleauty, Eves from an Heel dental I'olnt of View. The Japanese legation is on . of tht most popular and best administered of the legations at Washington, yet it is one of the youngest. The #rst minis ter from Japan visited this govern ment only 40 years ago, and it ii scarcely 30 years since the famous embassy with Mr. Iwnkura at its head arrived. This embassy had as its ob ject the making of treaties with the United States and other civilized pow. ers, and started out to make a toui of the world, but so impressed was Ambassador Iwnkura with the advan tages to be gained from a long resi dence at the American capital that h« remained in Washington for sis months. In that time he gave 80 offi cial dinners and a banquet for I,GOC people which rivaled in elegance any thing ever seen in America, and pic turesque tales are still told of hi» princely entertaining. Diplomatic in tercourse between the United States and Japan was established by My. Iwakura'a visit, and since then it has never been interrupted. Japan has sent to this country the flower of her statesmen, and no nation with which the United States has diplomatic re lations has been represented by men of higher intelligence or greater ca pacity. Good taste and conservatism have invariably marked the adminis tration of the Japanese legation, and that it will hold the high place it has attained under the new minister is not to be doubted, for Mr. Takahira comes to us with a ripe experience, having already served here as consul general and represented his govern ment as minister to China and at sev eral of the European capitals. The new minister is accompanied by his wife. Mme. Takahira comes of a noble family, and vas educated at one of the best schools for women in Japan, established and conducted MME. TAKAHIRA. (Wife of the New Japanese Minister t< the United States.) after western models. She was mar ried to Mr. Takahira in 1887, shortly after her education was finished, and since then has been with him upon all of his diplomatic missions. This, therefore, is not Mme. Takahira's first visit to the United States, since her husband served as consul general in New York in 1891. From this posi tion Mr. Takahira was promoted to the ministership at The Hague, whith er Mme. Takahira accompanied him, and later on she went with him to Rome and to Vienna, at both of which capitals he represented his govern ment. These prolonged visits in for eign countries have enabled Mme. Takahira to become acquainted with their languages and their people, and the experience she has had at the Eu ropean courts will be of advantage to her even in this republican strong hold. Mme. Takahira, says the New York Tribune, is a fine looking woman, even from the occidental point of view, which differs so materially regarding the beauty of women from that of the orient. Her complexion has the tinge and softness for which Japanese wom en are famous, her eyes are large and expressive, and her wealth of glossy black hair is worn in the prevailing etyle, brushed back from a pretty brow. But the most att: active feature Mme. Takahira possesses is the viva cious expression and the quick respon siveness one notes in her face when she is conversing. Not since the days of Mr. Yoshida have the women of the Japanese le gation retained their native costume, which is rapidly going out of fashion in Japan among the higher classes, and, like her predecessors, the wife of the new minister has adopted Euro pean dress; but, unlike many of her sisters, her clothes are in exquisite taste and her jewels are beautiful. It is doubtful, indeed, u any woman in the diplomatic corps possesses more gorgeous gems. Mme. Takahira has three children, who are in Japan, and will not at present join their parents. Dnmejitlea In Australia. The relations existing between mis tress and maid in Australia are aptly illustrated ins recent issue of a Queensland paper, in which a girl ad vertises for a situation as carevakei of a laundry or dairy. She can cook and understands housekeeping, and adds: "None but a respectable mis tress, who wishes to leave her serv ant in uninterrupted discharge of hei | duties, need apply." Paternal Law In Japan. Japan has passed a bill to prohibit lad« under 20 years of age from smolfc I In«• Deafneia Cannot Be Cared i by loral applications, as they cannot reacbl the diseased portion of the ear. There i» only one way to cure deafness, and that is. by constitutional remedies. Deafness i» caused by an inflamed condition of the mu-i cons lining of the Eustachian Tube. When this tube (jets inflamed you have a rumbling Bound or imperfect hearing, and when it i* entirely closed deafness is the result, and unless the inflammation can he taken out l and this tube restored to its normal con-i dition, hearing will be destroyed forever;j nine cases of of ten are caused by catarrh, which is nothing but an inflamed condition* of the mucous surfaces. We will give One Hundred Dollars for any case of Deafness (caused by catarrh that cannot be cured by Hall's Catarrh Cure. Bend for circulars, free. F. J. Cheney & Co., Toledo, O. Sold bv Druggists, 75c. Hall's Family I'ills are the best. Evidence of Pruurfnn. "Are you still resolute in your idea of b&- fnt; a singer?" "I am, answered the young man. "Are you attracting any attention?" "Some. While I was practicing yester day two of the neighbors stopped at tho> door to ask me what was the matter with me, and to inquire if they could be of any assistance." —Stray Stories. To Cni"e a Cold In One Day Tako Laxative Bromo Quinine Tablets. All druggists refund money if itf ails tocure. 25c. IOVIARRH COLDS f2^3)GRIPPf coughsjA4J?«croup SOREHOARSE I | WRS. C?£^LOi\'OSTi?^r| I f| Says: "Besides being a If I a good tonic Peruna Is an et- » Il] fectlve cure tor catarrh. I ■ I % recommend your remedy, ft The real worth of W. MT 1.. 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