6
THE LAST OF
HER. ROSES
i
By J. J. BCLL
(Author of "Wm M»cGreegor." )
(Copyright, IVU6, by Joaeph 1). BowlM)
On the doorstep of Lavender Cottage
Maj. Carruthers showed signs of un
aoidierly hesitation. Instead of pulling
the bell-handle he pulled his gray
snuntacfle and looked back undecidedly
at the garden gate through which he
had passed ere his courage failed him.
"This will never do," he said to him
self, and with an effort he laid his fin
gers on the bell-handle. A faint tin
kle, and presently he was asking a
maid, who glanced admiringly at his
broad shoulders and bronzed counten
ance, if Miss Nevile was at home.
Maj. Carruthers found himself in a
email drawing-room, the furniture of
which was old-fashioned yet arranged
without primness. A dainty touch was
everywhere evident, and, though the
season was late autumn, flowers
abounded. He noticed photographs of
people as he had met them 20 years be
fore, and he observed with a sigh that
his own likeness had no place among
them.
He singled out one on the mantel
piece. It was that of a brother officer
in his first campaign. "Poor old Jack!"
sighed the major; "she has forgotten
me, and she has remembered you,
though you've been in your grave a
score of years. I wonder if you were
really engaged to her before —"
He turned suddenly, for the door had
opened and Miss Nevile was coming
forward to greet him.
"Do you know me, Hilary?" he stam
mered.
"Know you? Of course, Jim!" was
her reply, as she held out a friendly
hand.
Maj. Carruthers was surprised and
relieved. He had anticipated an awk
ward meeting, and at best a polite rec
ognition of himself as an old acquaint
ance whose appearance was a sort of
resurrection, but here was Hilary
Nevile receiving him as though he had
parted from her only yesterday.
"It's awfully good of you!" he cried,
boyishly, and then laughed. He could
not help it.
"I should have known you by your
laugh, anyhow," she said, smiling, and
motioning him to a seat.
"And I should have known you by
your voice."
Then he became grave. "It's 21
years in December—2o years—since I
last saw you."
"Is it so much? I can hardly believe
It."
"Neither can I, when I look at you,
Hilary."
"You were always abroad any time
I happened to be home on leave."
"Yes. For years 1 had a desire to
travel. Now, I'm rather tired of it all,
and am quite content to vegetate at
Lavender Cottage. I suppose the con
tentment is a sign of age!" she said,
"Nonsense!" exclaimed her visitor.
He was forced to admit that time had
•changed her, but his heart cried out
that she was as sweet and desirable to
him as ever.
"I'm 39," she said, bluntly, thinking
to shock him.
"Not till January," he returned, sim
ply. "And I'm 50," he added, stoutly.
The maid entered with the tea tray,
and on her departure they dropped into
a conversation on the past—the past
as It had interested both of them. It
■was natural enough that they should
come to speak of Jack Cunningham;
hut the major was a little surprised
that his companion referred to her
dead lover without great sadness,
though with all gentleness. Her fin
gers did not tremble as she took the
photograph from the mantelpiece and
handed it to her visitor.
"Poor old Jack!' he said, softly. "I
remember the day he and I went to
gether to have our portraits taken.
This is a capital likeness." He won
dered what else he could say. After a
■moment he went on: "Jack was one
of those clever fellows who would have
•come to the top if he had lived. He
got ahead of me in everything, Hilary."
"I think you are underrating your
self, Jim," she said, kindly.
"No. It's the truth. Hut. only once
was I jealous of his success."
There was a silence, which was
broken at last by Miss Nevile. "Would
you like to see the companion photo
to Jack's?' she asked, with a faint
smile.
"Yes. I looked in vain for it on the
mantelpiece."
"Excuse me a moment, then, and I'll
get it.for you."
"Stay, Hilary," said the major, fol
lowing her to the door, "is it the same
aa this?" And he took a worn leather
case from his breast pocket. "Is it.the
same as this?" he asked, opening the
rase.
Miss Nevile stared for a moment
Her face flushed crimson and then
turned very pale. "Oh, no, no!" she
whispered, and lied,
"What have I done?" he muttered.
"Have I offended her.'" He looked
longingly at the faded photograph in
his hands how often. In many n far
land, he had gazed on the girlish face!
and returned It carefully in Its ca <>
to his pocket.
His hostess wt;s absent for several
minutes, utid when she returned sh<
brought no photograph.
I must let you see it another time,"
•;ho said, carelessly, almost coldly.
"I have sur. |y offended her," thought
the major, miserably. "I'll remind you,
Hilary," lie said aloud, trying to speak
heerfully. "Whit taken after the
one I showed you just now the on
AUiiu hum your tuotUur s ulbuni '
years ago?" he added, with a feeble
laugh.
"It —it Is quite a different photo
graph," she replied, turning away her
head.
"I suppose you never guessed that I
had one of your photos," he said,
slowly.
"I never thought you would hava
stolen it, Jim," she returned, with an
attempt at a smile.
"It used to torment me sometimes."
"So you weren't without a conscience
after all!"
"I meant that I —l ought to have let
my poor old chum Jack know that I
had it."
Miss Nevile started. "What had ho
to do with it?" she demanded.
"Oh, well—er—when a man's engaged
to a girl—er—"
"What are you talking about, Jim?"
"About Jack Cunningham and —and
you, Hilary."
"Well, then, you are talking non
sense!'
"You mean there was no engage
ment? Forgive me, forgive me. But
you see, Jack told me, just before we
were ordered to India, that he had an
understanding with you."
"Oh!"
"And later he told me he hoped soon
to be formally engaged. I was going
to write, congratulating you—l wanted
to be the first, you know—but he
begged me to delay a little. And then
came that night in the hills when we
wore attacked and nearly cut to pieces,
and Jack saved my life, and —and lost
his own." Maj. Carruthers stopped
speaking and walked over to the win
dow.
Miss Nevile hid her face in her
hands. Her heart was in a turmoil.
Could she tell her old friend—her old
—
i f HE TOOK IT.
! friend who might have been so much
| more to her —that the man who had
j saved his life had also deceived him—
that the hero had lied and stolen a
! double happiness? She could not tell
him, and she would not. Had it not
been for Jack Cunningham she would
not have lost Jim Carruthers for the
best years of her life and his—how she
hated the liar! Yet . . . had it not
been for Jack Cunningham she would
| have lost Jim Carruthers forever —how
i she blessed the hero! And now she
| must allow the man she loved to be
lieve that her heart had been his old
; chum's even as the latter had said.
The major came back from the win
dow and touched her gently on the
I shoulder.
"I shouldn't have spoken about it,
| Hilary. I'm sorry, very sorry, that I've
hurt you, and I've wished often that I
could have changed places with dear
old Jack. Now I'll go."
She rose and faced hint with tearless
eyes. If only he would understand a
little—not all—without being told.
And oh! if only he had been bold and
asked her a question 20 years ago!
She went with him to the door and
walked down the garden path towards
the gate. Their tongues seemed tied
until the major, halting abruptly,
pointed to a rosebush and said quiet
ly: "Will you give me that rose,
Hilary?"
' Yes, if you wish it. Dut perhaps I
can find you another more perfect."
She looked about her, and then shook
her head and sighed. "No. There are
no more. You must have this one. It
is the last of my roses Jim," she ob
served, with a thin smile.
She broke it from the stem and gave
it to him. He took it and her hand
with it. He looked at her face and
saw the lines that Time had begun to
trace, ami he loved her more for every
| one of them.
"It was good of you to give me your
last rose, Hilary," he said, gazing at
| her in a puzzled fashion,
i "Oh, Jim," she whispered, breaking
I down, "my first rose and all my rose 3
| were yours had you asked for them."
| "You mean, If I had come in spring,"
| he stammered.
j "If you had come in spring."
; The full meaning of her words did
not reach him—how could it? Yet he
I understood enough to make him glad;
|he understood that In some strange
| way she had kept a small place in her
lieiut for hint all these years, that
j somehow she had grown to care for
him In spile of Jack Cunningham's
! memory, and that she would have wel
comed him had he come to her a few
j months earlier.
| "Oh, Hilary," he cried, when they
were in the drawing-room again, "I
could never have hoped for this!"
"What? The last of my roses?" she
asked. "For it's nil I have to give you,
■tear Jim," she added, half rayly, hali
1 sadly.
i The major too!, her by the shoulders
and shook her tenderly. "The last of
your rose Is the i nt ~t mine, and O m|
; know how aw. ot it la," hi- cried, and
kissed her.
Flilt was It the I ).if of her n.s -s ' <W
Jiotir*" not! Y«>u can't help a woman
making a fo >IUh remark now aud thou
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1906
PAN-AMEPiCAN ROAD
ROUTE PROPOSED BETWEEN
ALASKA AND PATAGONIA.
The Dream of Charles M. Pepper,
United States and Pan-Amer
ican Railway Com
missioner.
Years ago, when Cecil Khoades was
in the height of his African successes
and was doing more than any other
man to develop the British interests
there, he startled the world by his pro
posal of a Cape to Cairo railroad, and,
in spite of the skepticism of most peo
ple, went steadily ahead with his plans,
and to-day what people then declared
was but a wild dream has come very
near being a reality.
In this country to-day we hear talk
of an Alaska to Patagonia railroad,
and we think of it as a bit of
romancing, but its projector is just as
much in earnest as was Rhoades in re
gard to his African continental road,
and he declares he expects to see his
plans realized some day.
The man who Is so daring as to sug
gest such a vast enterprise is Mr.
Charles M. Pepper. He is United
PERU SCENERY THROUGH WHICH
ROAD WILL, PASS.
States and Pan-American railway com
missioner, and he maintains that his
project, far from being impossible, is
already probable and the direct corol
lary to the Monroe doctrine. He
quotes the late Ceorge M. Pullman,
who, keen student of railway develop
ment fts he was, predicted that one
day there would be through sleepers
between Denver and Buenos Ayres.
Mr. Pepper has seen Pan-American
conditions both as a newspaper corre
spondent and as a delegate to the Pan-
American congress in 1901, and since
his appointment as railway commis
sioner he has made a costly survey
with a view of a Pan-American rail
road. Such a road as he proposes in
volves the cooperation of 15 of the
South American republican, and the
rail links necessary to complete such
a system would be 5,000 miles in
length and would cost $200,000,000.
To show that the plans for this gi
gantic system have passed beyond the
problematic stage, Mr. Pepper says:
"It may be said that in the begin
ning of 1906 every Central and every
South American country lias a definite
policy of aiding railway construction
as an integral part of the Pan-Ameri
can system, and some of them, as in
the case of Peru and Bolivia, have
enacted special legislation. All pf them
are sympathetic toward an interconti
nental trunk line, because it coincides
with their plans for internal develop
ment and external trade."
The project as it appears on the pro
file of the map of the survey made by
W. T. Shunk, as engineer-in-chief from
1592 to 1898, shows the general direc
tion of the road to be northwest and
southeast along the giant chains of the
Andes. The governing principle is a
long continental backbone with branch
ribs in every direction, taking into
consideration mineral, agricultural and
timber resources, without omitting cli
matic conditions.
Mr. Pepper has prepared a table
showing what parts of the proposed
system are already in operation and
what parts are under consideration.
The road from New York to Laredo,
Tex., 2,187 miles, is in operation, as is
also that from Laredo to Mexico City.
From Mexico City to the Guatemala
border there are 730 miles of road, of
which 680 are being operated. In Cen
tral America there are 351 miles in op
eration, 100 miles being built and 592
miles projected. In Panama 612 pro
jected. In Colombia, 20 miles in opera
tion and 815 miles projected. In Ecua
dor 126 miles in operation, 77 miles in
construction and 455 miles projected.
In Peru there are 277 miles in op
eration, 223 miles under con
struction and 1,285 projected.
In Bolivia 233 miles in operation, 128
miles under construction and 180 miles
projected. And in the Argentine re
public there ar<> 1,033 miles of road in
operation and 135 miles under con
struction.
In an imaginary trip over the future
system, Mr. Pepper grows enthusias
tic over the wonderful display of na
tural beauties along the line of the
road. When the twentieth-century
tourist takes the through railway jour
ney, "he will see the relation of sea
level plains, Inter-mountain plateaux,
profound valleys, shallow depressions,
rushing rivers, mighty gulches, tortu
ous canyons, sinuous passes, the spark
ling verdure and the brilliant foliages
of the tropics the treetess region; o
the Andes dc-ert, naked dlfr and Jut
ting precipices, fleece-hidden summits,
and the pinnaclt d peaks of the eternal
Miov open p.i In"from ibe rankest
wealth of nature to I» K most sterile and
MUdt-'inK sifts, almost as swiftly as the
Imagination can conceive the change."
Wlim She Bering.
n»cor At J'l-1 what nun don H
wiimitn In* -4111 lying about her a^e?
Egbert Ju«t in soon as you a»k lit
h-iiv o'd she is. Vonk«m Stat mum
THE CHOICE OF PAINT.
Fifty years ago a well-painted house
was a rare sight; to-day an unpalnted
bouse is rarer. If people know the
real value of paint a house in need
of paint would be "scarcer than hen's
teeth." Then was some excuse for
our forefathers. Many of them lived
in bouses hardly worth preserving;
they knew nothing about paint, ex
cept that it was pretty; and to get a
house painted was a serious and cost
ly job. The difference between their
case and ours is that when they want
ed paint it had to be made for them;
whereas when we need paint we can
goto the nearest good store and buy
it, in any color or quality ready for
use. We know, or ought to know by
this time, that to let a house stand
unpainted is most costly, while a good
coat of paint, applied in season, is the
best of investments. If we put off the
brief visit of the painter we shall in
due time have the carpenter coming
to pay us a long visit at our expense.
Lumber is constantly getting scarcer,
dearer and poorer, while prepared
paints are getting plentier, better and
less expensive. It is a shortsighted
plan to let the valuable lumber of our
houses goto pieces for the want of
paint.
For the man that needs paint there
are two forms from which to choose;
one is the old form, still favored by
certain unprogressive painters who
have not yet caught up with the times
—lead and oil; the other is the rcady
for-use paint found in every up-to-date
store. The first must be mixed with
oil, driers, turpentine and colors be
fore it is ready for use; the other
need only be stirred up in the can
and it is ready togo on. To buy
lead and oil, colors, etc., and mix
them into a paint by hand is, in this
twentieth century, about the same
as refusing to ride in a trolley car
because one's grandfather had to walk
or ride on horseback when he wanted
togo anywhere. Prepared paints have
been on the market less than fifty
years, but they have proved on the
whole so inexpensive, so convenient
and so good that the consumption to
day is something over sixty million
gallons a year and still growing. Un
less they had been in the main satis
factory, it stands to reason there
would have been no such steady
growth in their use.
Mixed paints are necessarily cheap
er than paint of the band-mixed kind,
because they are made in a large way
by machinery from materials bought
in large quantities by the manufac
turer. They are necessarily better
than paints mixed by hand, because
they are more finely ground and more
thoroughly mixed, and because there
is less chance of the raw materials in
them being adulterated. No painter,
however careful he may be, can ever
be sure that the materials he buys are
not adulterated, but the large paint
manufacturer does know in every
case, because everything he buys goes
through the chemist's hands before
he accepts it.
Of course there are poor paints on
the market (which are generally
cheap paints). So there is poor flour,
poor cloth, poor soap; but because of
that do we go back to the hand-mill,
the hand-loom and the soap-kettle of
the backwoods No, we use our com
mon sense in choosing goods. We find
out the reputation of the different
brands of flour, cloth and soap; we
take account, of the standing of the
dealer that handles them, we ask
our neighbors. So with paint; if the
manufacturer has a good reputation,
if the dealer is responsible, if our
neighbors have had satisfaction with
it, that ought to be pretty good evi
dence that the paint is all right.
"Many men of many kinds"—
Many paints of many kinds;
but while prepared paints may differ
considerably in composition, the bet
ter grades of them all agree pretty
closely in results. "All roads lead to
Rome," and the paint manufacturers,
starting by different paths, have all
the same object—to make the best
paint possible to sell for the least,
money, and so capture and keep the
trade.
There is scarcely any other article
of general use on the market to-day
that can be bought with anything like
the assurance of getting your money's
worth as the established brands of pre
pared paint. The paint you buy to
day may not be like a certain patent
medicine, "the same as you have al
ways bought," but if not, it will be
because the manufacturer has found
a way of giving you a better article
for your money, and so making more
sure of your next order.
P. G.
FACTS ABOUT STAMPS.
A specialist who colleete the
stamps of France and her colonics re
cently sold his collection for $ 11,000.
It takes a stamp collector to tell
where are Ancash, A ntolngasta, A purl
mac, Chiapa, Diego Suarez, Bamra,
Yea, Waihvhan, Goliad, Jhino, Ujong,
Faridkot, Nabba and Obock.
It requires more than 40 larco al
bums to house tie collection of I nited
States stamps owned by the earl of
Crawford. This collection of United
States stamps is thought to be thu
cm t compb te In existence.
The cr.';iit of originating allusive
Ft -nips Is generally given to James
CI aimer*, of ifltndee, Scotland, lie
I'.■ t advocated them In 1837, and In
a'-'"ordnncp with a legislative enact
nt-nt <f D*c.vnb r .'I. 1 >;•!». they were
Issued for publb- us - in Entiland May
C. is 10.
A 'vice r Uy Fol'owed,
"Speak ' k'er) to .ri»# one who
you l.now Is y. 11 r :uperior," tald Kd
ward - t Hale An emy duty. If
von wife l« n-if at home x:iy Hoice
-1.1.14 tot..« cguk.—Kaa a* City Jour
Getting It Down Fine.
The two hundred and fiftieth part of
an inch is a millimeter. The two mil
lionth part of a millimeter Is what Dr.
P. E. Shaw, of England, is measuring.
The unaided eye cannot perceive much
less than one-tenth of a millimeter.
With the help of a microscope the eye
can see as little as 1-5,000 millimeter.
The measuring medium used for en
gineering gauges will detect differences
of 1-8,000 millimeter. By using inter
ference bands of light we can perceive
movement of 1-100,000 millimeter. —
Scientific American.
Townsmen and Countrymen.
That the townsman is shorter lived
than the countryman is incontroverti
ble. Dr. Tatham calculated that in
the rural districts of England the av
erage expectation of life at birth is
51.48 years for males and 54.04 for
females, whereas in Manchester it is
only 28.78 for males and 32.67 for
females, which means that each male
has to sacrifice 10.48 years, or 39 per
cent, of his life, and each female 9.82
years, or 34 per cent, of her life for
the privilege of being born in an
urban area.—Popular Science Monthly.
Largest Electric Plant.
Chicago is to have the largest elec
tric light and power station in the
world. It will be a steam turbine
plant, and all the boilers are to be
equipped with automatic stokers, so
that 110 manual handling of the coal
will be necessary. There will be an
electrical kitchen where substantial
meals will be cooked by electricity for
the employes. There will be a refrig
erating apparatus, an ice plant, a num
ber of bedrooms, as well as locker
rooms, baths and other conveniences.
Giant Exhumed.
W T orkmen engaged on excavations
alongside an ancient Roman Catholic
chapel at Bristol, England, recently
unearthed in a deep trench the coffin
of Patrick O'Brien, a giant from Kin
sale, who died in Bristol 100 years ago.
His height was eight feet four inches.
Identity was established by the coffin
plate. The coffin and remains will be
reburied.
Planted in Cans.
"Mr. Gardner —Well, dear, how are
the tomatoes you planted?
Mrs. Gardner —Oh, John! I'm afraid
we'll have to buy what we need, this
year.
"Why how's that, Mary?"
"I recollected to-day that when I did
the planting I forgot to open the
cans!" —Puck.
Ho Right to"American."
The supreme court of San Joaquin
county, California, has decided that no
one can acquire exclusive right to the
word "American"in business. The de
cision was given in the suit of the
American Fish company, of Sacra
mento, against the American Fish
and Oyster company, of Stockton.
Dog-Shearing Motor.
On the banks of the Seine recently
considerable surprise was caused by ;;
perambulating motor for shearing dogs.
The engine is two and one-half horse
power and can shear six dogs an hour.
There is little doubt that before long
this means of clipping will be generally
adopted.
Girl's Invention.
A 15-year-old girl, of Brussels, has
invented a portable turn-table for re
versing the direction of motor cars.
The apparatus is fixed on the chassis,
which has a driving-wheel at each end
and is worked by an electric motor. It
has been patented.
Retort Courteous.
"Hold your tongue for a fool,"
growled Mr. Naggs, who was trying to
absorb some information from his
paper.
' Oh, very well," rejoined his better
half. "I didn't know you wanted to
talk."—Chicago Daily News.
Found a New One.
"I spent a delightful hour in the
park conservatory yesterday," Mrs.
Lapsling was saying. "Among their
potted plants they've got some of the
finest collections of bicuspids I evei
saw in my life." —Chicago Tribune.
G.SCHMIDT'S, 1 —
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