6 THE MAN BEHIND THE PICK. Ther* h*s t>cen all kinds of gush about the anari who is "behind"— Ac-i the man behind the cannon has been toasted, wined and dined; . TliTa's the man behind the-musket, and the man behind the fence; And the man behind his whiskers, and the snan behind his rents; dc-i the man behind the plow beam, and the man behind the hoe; Htui the man behind the ballot, and the ■nan behind the dough; nAod the man behind the counter, and the man behind the bill; A the man behind the pestle, and the man behind the pill. AaS the man behind the jimmy, ar.d the man behind the bars; ,An-.l the Johnny that goes snooping on the stage behind the "stars;" AcJ the man behind the kisser, and the man behind the fist; jLd the girl behind the man behind the (run is on the list; the man behind the bottle—and when they were short of men, Thi in nature's vast exchequer in her treas ure-house of ores. Hie applies a key dynamic, and the gates art: backward rolled, AtJ the ancient rocks are riven to their secret heart of gold. rt"r.gs of comfort ar.d of beauty and of usefulness are mined Sy this brave and quiet worker—he's a friend of humankind; Who. though trampled down ar.d under paid, toils on without a kick; &j I lift my hat In honor of the man behind the pick. —Colorado Springs Gazette. My Strangest Case BY GUY BOOTHBY. Author of "Dr. Klkola," "The Beautiful White Devii," "Pharos, The Egyptian," Etc. J [Copyrighted, 1901, by Ward, Lock & Co.] CHAPTER III.—CONTINUED. Fie had scarcely gone before one of «!jr clerks entered the room and i.tnded me a card. Chi it was printed ' J»c name of Mr. Edward Bayley, and ia the left-hand bottom corner was foe announcement that he was the •aiaanging director of the Santa Cruz Mining company of Forzodu in the Argentine Republic. "Show the gentleman in, Walters," I said. In a few minutes a tall, handsome man, irreproachably turned out, en tered the office. lie seated himself in a. chair the clerk placed for him, put his hat and umbrella 011 another, and then turned to me. "My card has made you familiar with my name, Mr. Fairfax," he be gan, "and doubtless, if you are at all familiar with mines and mining, you are; acquainted with the name of the company 1 have the honor to repre *en t. ?" *"I am very much afraid the min ing market does not possess very si»'.icli interest for me," I replied. "I Save to work so hard for my money, that when I have got it I prefer to Jeivest it in something a little more reliable. May I inquire the nature of your business with me?" "I have crime to see you, Mr. Fair fax," he said, speaking very impres sively, and regarding me deliberately as he did so, "on rather a delicate subject. Before I explain what it is, sr put it, it is necessary for us to ■fcrust very largely to the honesty of war employes on the other side of t&e. world. Of course we make all -sorts of inquiries about them prior engaging their services, and it is needless to say that we keep a sharp eye on them when they have entered our employ. Nevertheless.it is quite possible, all precautions not withstanding, for an unscrupulous man to take advantage of us. As a matter of fact, this is what has hap pened, and what has also brought me to you. For some considerable time past we have had our suspicions that our manager at the mines has laeeH in league with a notorious ras za! in New York. In proof of this, 112 might say that our returns have chown a decided falling off, while • our manager has, so we have lately discovered, within the past, year be eome rich enough lo purchase prop erty to a considerable extent in the United Stales. Unforlunately for us, owing to a lack of direct evidence, • vre are unable lo br'ng his defalea - 'ions home to him, though of course we are as certain of our : T aets as we can well lie of anything." "I think I understand,"' I said, uus/iucaa with tuc ta eJaceuv or to induce me togo out to the Argentine and make inquiries on your behalf with the idea of bring ing this man to book. Is that not so?" "That is my errand," he replied, gravely. "If you care to undertake the task, we, on our side—and I speak as the motrthpiece of the com pany—will be prepared to pay you very high terms for your services; in point of fact, almost what you may ask in reason. The matter, as you may suppose, is a most serious one for us, and every day's delay is add ing to it. May I ask what 3'our terms would be, and when would you be prepared to start?" "Your offer is a most liberal one," [ said. "Unfortunately, however, I fear there is a considerable difficulty in the way of my accepting it." "A difficulty!" he exclaimed, rais ing his eyebrows as if in astonish ment. "But surely that obstacle can be removed. Especially for an offer of such magnitude as we are pre pared to make you." "Excuse me," I said, somewhat tartly, "but, however great the in ducement may be, I never break faith with my clients. The fact of the matter is, only yesterday I prom ised to undertake another piece of business which, while not being so remunerative, perhaps, as that you are now putting before me, means a very great deal to those who are, for the time being, my employers." "Would it be impertinent 011 my part to ask at what time yesterday afternoon you arrived at this mo mentous decision?" "Shortly after four o'clock," I an swered, but not without a little won derment as to his reason for putting the question. For my own part I did not see what it had to do with the matter in hand. "Dear me, how very vexing, to be sure!" he observed. "This is certain ly another instance of the contrari ness of fate." "How so?" I asked. "Because it was my intention to have called upon you shortly after lunch yesterday on this matter," he answered. "Unfortunately I was pre vented at the last moment. Had I been able to get here, I might have forestalled your more successful client. Are you quite sure, Mr. Fair fax, that it is out of Ihe question for you to undertake what we want?" "If it is necessary for me togo at once, I fear it is," I answered. "But if it would be of any use to you, I could send you a most trustworthy subordinate; one who would be quite capable of undertaking the work, and who would give you every satis faction." "I fear that would not he the same thing," he said. "My firm have such implicit faith in you that they would not entertain the idea of anyone else going. Now think, Mr. Fairfax, for a moment. If you are prepared togo, I, in my turn, on behalf of my company, am prepared to offer you your expenses and a sum of £5,000. You. need not be away more than three months at longest, so that you see our offer is at 'the rate of £20,- 000 a year. It is princely remunera tion." I looked at him eioselj'. It was plain that he was in earnest—in deadly earnest, so it seemed. Even a defaulting manager would scarcely seem to warrant so much zeal. "I am very much flattered by your offer," I said; "and believe me, I most truly appreciate the generosity of your company; but, as I said be fore, if it is necessary for me togo at once, that is to say, before I have completed my present case, then I have no option but to most reluc tantly decline." "Perhaps you will think it over," he continued, "and let me know, say to-morrow?" "No amount of thinking it over will induce me to alter my decision," 1 replied. "You must see for your self that I have no right to accept a retainer from one party and then throw them over in order 1o favor another. That would not only be a dishonorable action on my part, but would be bad from a business point of view. No, Mr. Bayley, I am ex ceedingly sorry, but 1 have 110 option but to act as 1 am doing." "In that case I must wish you a very good morning," he remarked, and took up his hat and umbrella. I could see, however, that he was still reluctant to go. "Good morning," I answered. "I hope your affairs in the Argentine may brighten before very long." He shook his head gloomily, and then left the office without another word. When he had gone I answered some letters, gave some instructions (o my managing clerk, and then donned my hat and set off for the office of the shipping company that had brought Gideon llayle to England. Unfortunately it transpired that they were not in a position to do very much in the way of helping me. Mr. Bertranv had certainly traveled home in one of their steamers, so the manager informed me, a boat that as a rule did not carry passengers, lie had landed at the docks, and from that moment they had neither seen nor heard anything of him. I in quired for the steamer, only to learn that she was now somewhere 011 her way between Singapore and Hong- Kong. This was decidedly disap pointing, but as most of the cases in which 1 have been ultimately success ful have had unpromising beginnings, 1 did not take it too seriously to heart. Leaving the shipping office, I next turned my attention to llatton Garden, where I called upon Messrs. Jacob and Bulcnthall, one of the largest firms 111 the gem trade. We had had many dealings together in the past, and as I had hud the good fortune on one occasion to do them : a i.ci'vice, 1 knew thai CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, MAY 8, 1902. would now do all that they could for me in return. "Good day, Mr. Fairfax," said the chief partner, as I entered his snug little sanctum, which leads out of the main oftice. "What can I have the pleasure of doing for you?" "1 am in search of some Informa tion," I replied, "and I think you may be able to help me." "I will do all that is in my power to render you assistance," he re turned, as he wiped his glasses and placed them 011 his somewhat fleshy nose. "What is the information you require? Has there been another big robbery of stones, and you think it possible that some of them may have come into our hands?" "There certainly has been a rob bery," I replied, "and the stones may have been offered to you, but not in the way you mean. The fact of the matter is, I want to discover whether or not a large consignment of uncut rubies and sapphires of great value have been placed upon the market within the last two months." "Uncut rubies and sapphires are being continually placed upon the market," he observed, leaning back in his chair and rattling his keys. "But not such stones as those I am looking for," I said, and furnished him with the rough weights that had been supplied to me. "This is interesting—decidedly in teresting," he remarked. "Especial ly since it serves to offer an explana tion 011 a certain matter which we have been interested in for some lit tle time past. On the 16th of last month, a gentleman called upon us here, who stated that he had lately returned from the far east. He had had, so he-declared, the good fortune to discover a valuable mine, the lo cality of which he was most careful not to disclose. He thereupon showed my partner and myself ten stones, consisting of five rubies and five sapphires, each of which weighed between 55 and GO carats." "And you i>urchased them?" "We did, and for a very heavy sum. I can assure you the vendor was very well aware of their value, as we soon discovered, and he was also a good hand at a bargain. Would you care to see the stones? T shall be pleased to show them to you if you would." "I should like to see them im mensely," I replied. Thereupon he crossed the room to a safe in the corner, and, when he had unlocked it, took from it a wash leather bag. Presently ten superb gems were lvini* before me on the table. "There they are," he said, waving his hands towards them, "and, as you can see for yourself, they are worthy of being set in the crown of an em peror. Jt is not often that we are enthusiastic in such matters, but in this case we have very good reason to be. When they are properly cut, they will be well-nigh priceless." "Do you happen to know whether he sold any more of a similar kind in London?" I asked, as he returned them to their place in the safe. "I know that he Sold 15 smaller ones to Henderson & Soli, and three almost as large as those I have just shown you to a firm in Amsterdam." "If he is the man 1 want to get hold of, that accounts for 28," 1 said, making a note of the fact as I spoke. "Originally he had 93 in his posses sion." "Ninety-three?" the merchant re plied, as if he could scarcely believe TEN SUPERB GEMS WERE LYING BEFORE ME. liis ears. "Why, his mine must be a source of unlimited wealth. I wish I had known this before." "So do I," I said. "And now per haps you can go further and furnish me with a description of the man himself. 1 shall then be able to tell you whether my gentleman and your customer are one and the same per son." "I can describe him to you per fectly weW. He was tall, but some what sparely built, very sunburnt— which would be accounted for by his long residence in the east —his hair was streaked with gray, he had dark eyes, and a singularly sharp nose." "Did he wear a beard?" "No, only a mustache. The latter was carefully trimmed, and, 112 think, waxed. Of tjiis, however, I am not quite certain." "And his name?" "He would not tell us that. We pressed him to disclose it, but he ob stinately refused to do so. He said that if his name became known it might lead to the discovery of his mine, and that he was naturally anxious that such an event should not occur." "But what guarantee had you that the stones were not stolen?" "None whatever —but it is most unlikely. In the first place, they are uncut; in the second, we have had , Uieiu iu o-r #os>aessioa lor. some time, and you may be sure have matfa the closest inquiries. Besides, there are such few stones in Europe, and what there are are safely in the pos session of their owners. Surely you are not going to tell me that they were stolen?" In the man's voice there was a perceptible note of alarm. "I don't think you need be afraid," I said. "They were stolen by the man from his two partners, and all they want is to get hold of him in order to make him disgorge their share of what he got for them." "I am glad indeed to hear that," was the reply. "I was beginning to grow uneasy. And now is there any other way in which I can serve you? If so, 1 shall be only too pleased to do it." 1 informed him that if I had any thing else to ask him I would call upon him again, and then took my departure. While I was in a great measure satisfied with the informa tion, I had gained, I was not alto gether easy in my mind. The ques tion to be answered was, was the man I was after the same individual who had sold Jacob and Bulenthall the stones? The description given me varied in several particulars to that furnished me by Kitwater. My client declared him to possess black hair; the merchant had said gray; the one had declared that Hayle possessed a beard, the other that he had only a waxed mustache. The figure, how ever, was in both cases identically the same. Having satisfied myself that he had no more to tell me, I thanked him for his courtesy and left the office. A fresh idea had occurred to me which 1 thought might lead to some thing, and I resolved to put it into practice without any further waste of time. [To Be Continued ] DOCTORS HAVE TROUBLES. Some of Whlvh May He Avoided by a Judlcioux I mc of Dis cretion. As a rule you can never take a worn- j an at her word. A Louisville woman j and her husband went on east for re- j cuperation. It was their intention of J interviewing a leading physician before they came back in order to get his opinion of the wife's health. She had been far from well, and finally con cluded nothing would satisfy her but the verdict of this medical celebrity, relates the Louisville Times. Accordingly, husband and wife called by appointment upon this specialist. "Now, doctor," said the woman, "I want your honest opinion. I like can dor and don't wish to make the trip here to be told any falsehood about myself." This sounded very open and coura- | geous, so the expert went to work. He j looked at her well, asked questions, j made a minute examination of the case ! and finally inquired: "Did any doctor j ever tell you you had so and so?" "Only one, the horrid brute," was > the reply. "I have been to ten or [ twelve, and he was the only one who [ was so ignorant and rude as to tell me ! such a thing, and 1 discharged him at 1 once." "Discharged him!" exclaimed the j expert. "Why, madam, he was the only J one of the lot who told you the truth." I Speaking of Wet DlanUetn. When a miserable, selfish, unsocia- i ble person joins a party and puts a damper upon their spirits he is de- j scribed as a "wet blanket." Literally, i however, a wet blanket can do far more than put a stop to mirth. In the days of the old muskets the Indians of ' North America ust'd them to stop the flight of bullets. This is hardly to lie believed, but it is said that the Mexi cans were once defeated by this plan. Their general was trying to put down a rising of Yaquis. At first he was | amused to see the Indians advance un der cover of their blankets, held up like shields. Finding that their progress was not stopped by his men's fire, he ! was at last forced to retreat, but not j till the Yaquis, in their turn, had | poured into his ranks a terrible fire i at cfose quarters. The Indians, it was ! thought, had found out by accident that a wet blanket, when held up clear of the ground—allowed to hang, so to» speak, as on a cloJhes line—could not be pierced by a bullet. Dry blankets were useless, and of course wet blan kets would also be useless against the rifles and bullets of the present day.— Chicago Tribune. KiiiK Oscar Askn Stranger to I.tincli. A more simple and homely king than the king of Sweden it is impossible to find. M. Gaston Bonnier, the cele brated botanist, tells of how once, when he was botanizing near Stock holm, he met a stranger similarly oc cupied. The two botanists fraternized, and M. Bonnier suggested that they should lunch together at an inn. "No; come home.and lunch with me instead," said the stranger, leading the way to wards the palace gates. M. Bonnier was naturally astonished, but his new acquaintance was most apologetic. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I happen to be the king of this country, and this is the only pla«e I've got to entertain anybody in." So they went in and lunched, and talked botany together all the afternoon.—Chicago Tribune. To He Envied, Castleton —I envy you! Clubberly—What for? "Didn't you say you were obliged to attend a deep philosophical discussion lasting several hours?" "But I don't see that's anything to envy me for." "Well, I've got togo to a society function and talk about nothing."— Detroit Free Press. AnloiiUlilnK. It is astonishing the number of rela tives of a rich man bob up after his tleatli.—Washington (La.) Democrat. AN EXCELLENT DEVICE. For HniiKlni; I ■» Hon* the Contriv ance Here Described Una Hut Few Superior*. Erect a strong post about eight or nine feet high and attached to it four stationary arms, as shown in the cut. The post should extend about two feet above the arm and at its to]) an iron pin 1 % inches in di ameter should be driven in the post. The top piece that the pin goes through is a piece of scantling three by four with a pulley wheel at one end. This end should extend out four or five inches farther than the ' FOR HANGING UP HOGS. arms. The rope is fastened in the scantling back from the pulley wheel, j then passes through the movable ) pulley over the pulley wheel and | i drops to the ground, where it is ! j ready to lift with. The back end of [ | the scantling is fastened to the arm below by means of a rope tied just I the right length, which can be sliift i ed from one arm to another as need- J | ed. The hook on the movable pulley j : Is hooked on the gambrel when the ! hog is raised to the arm, nnd the J ' pulley is then turned to the next j arm, and so on as needed. A hog J weighing 450 pounds can easily be j raised by this method.—Meritte S. Atkins, in Agricultural Epitomist. FEEDING SCRUB CATTLE. It In lin wly a Speculation, nad One Tlmt Harely I'nyn n .Satisfac tory Profit, In an able article written by Mr. T. j F. 1?. Sotham, and published in the an- i nual report of the Kansas state board \ of agriculture, he says: "Highly satis factory results have been recorded j | from feeding the grades of all the beef j breeds. What a significant lesson is ! : taught by the preeminent fact that not ! i one single instance of a profit with ' ! scrubs is recorded. Men who feed ! scrubs do jiot care to advertise their I I methods; a profit from them savors j too much of sharp practices. Men who | claim to have made money feeding | scrubs are few, and they are sly in ; their operation. They buy anything ! cheap; bulls, which they castrate and j I dehorn; cock-liorned, stunted three- ' ! year-olds are dehorned, in the expec- ! tation of palming them off as year- J lings—anything to improve appear- j | ances. Yet the operations of these ' feeders, if carefully investigated, will show that they never get above innr ket price for their corn, and men who have borrowed money to buy this sort of cattle and fed purchased corn in variably lost money, while for every \ dollar pro'fit made on scrub feeding the same would have yielded fargreat er results if fed to good stock. If in isolated cases any real profit lias been made from feeding scrub cattle, it has been invariably by owners of large tracts of rich corn lands feeding their portion of corn, which is mainly raised by renters. In a majority of years it is safe to say they do not receive through their cattle the market price for this corn, and in profit-yielding years they have such large numbers that a small average profit realizes a large sum. In this these big feeders of cheap cattle are like the packers, who, killing thousands of cattle per day, are satisfied with so small a profit j that a small slaughterer cannot live in \ competition. Feeding scrub cattle is largely a speculation. Where feeder does not own the corn, debt free, he runs a dangerous financial risk. Scrub j cattle should be allowed to fill the tins, off of grass, and that grass must ] be cheap grass, in a country where it j is so plentiful and valueless that#attle \ can be kept the year round for a pit- i tance. In such a section they may be kept with only the loss of the profits j of "what might have been" had better stock been kept in their place. Distemper Anionic Morse*. Distemper is a disease common to [ horses that, as a rule, requires no j treatment, as it runs out and the ani- i mal gets well in about ten days. It is recognized by swellings under the jaw and sometimes below the ear, that j form abscesses containing pus, and if j not lanced will in time burst of them selves. The animals should not lie worked, but fed on good food, with plenty of fresh water, and if bowels i are constipated a quart of raw linseed I oil should be given carefully as a j drench by the mouth, never by the : nose, and if the kidneys are sluggish 1 give a teaspoon ful of powdered salt- j peter once a day for several days.— Midland Farmer. If tempted to let the cows' stable go without being cleaned out every day just because the cows are in a shorter time than in the winter, don't yield, but clean it out, more thoroughly than ' &v#.\ SURGICAL OPERATIONS How Mrs. Bruce, a Noted Opera Singer, Escaped an Operation. Proof That Many Operations for Ovarian Troubles are Un necessary. " DEAR MRS. I'IN Kir AM : —Travellings for years on the road, with irregular meals and sleep and damp beds, broka down my health so completely two years ago that the physician advised a complete rest, and when I had gained MRS. G. BRUCE, sufficient vitality, an operation for, ovarian troubles. Not a very cheerful' prospect, to be sure. I, however, was advised to try Liydia 10. I'iiikham's Vegetable Compound ami San ative Wash; I did so, fortunately for mo. Before a month had passed I felt that my general health had im proved ; in three months more I was cured, and I have been in perfect health since. I did not lose au engage ment or miss a meal. " Your Vegetable Compound is cer tainly wonderful, and well worthy the praise your admiring friends who have been cured are ready to give you. I always speak highly of it, and you will admit I have good reason to do so."— MRS. G. BRUCE, Lansing, Mich. SSOOO forfeit if about! testimonial is not genuine. The fullest counsel on this subject can be secured without cost by writing to 31 rs Pink ham, Lynn, Mass. Your letter will be entirely confidential. SLICKERS?! SKWSSw W&MC°ur«? I) • (1 THE STAMPARD BRAND OP |( I WATERPROOF Ij <* U| OILED CLOTHING | ra YOU HAVE ALWAYS BOUGHT I H Made in black or .yellow aL of the best materials and Bj&Ji sold with our warrant by ■M reliable dealers ever/where. A. J. T6WER CO.. BOSTON, MASS. ESTABLISHED IflSfi. a Buy your good# nt Wholesale Prices. I Our I.OdO-pape catalogue will be sent upon receipt of 15 ccn's. This amount does not even pay the postage, but it is sufficient to show us that you arc acting in good faith. Hotter send for it now. gicighbors trade with us why not 50 ? CHICAGO ic house that tells tho truth. mil, i iiTri-rnriMr'.T-^TiaTTwwfmiiiri Good enough for anybody! Havana Filler | "FLORODORA"BANDS are I of same value as tags from I "STAR: "HORSE SHOE: I "SPEARHEAD: STANDARD NAVY: | 'OLD PEACH & HONEY" J and J. T. Tobacco. HENRY C. BLAIR, Philadelphia, makes a TEETHING NECffLAGE which is a blessing to children. Price 60 cents.