6 F HEARTS! AND MASKS By HAROLD NacGRATH J Author of"The Man on the Box."etc. With Drawings by Harrison Fisher r (Copyright, 1906, by BobbtuMerrUl Co.) CHAPTER ll.—Continued. I drew out my wallet. I had ar rived in town too late togo to the bank, and I was carrying an uncom fortably large sunt in gold-bills. As I opened the wallet to extract a small bill, I saw the stranger eying me quietly. Well, well, the dullest being brightens at the sight of money and •Its representatives. I drew out a Small bill and handed it to the pro prietor. He took it, together with the mask, and sidled over to the cash register. The bell gave forth a muf fled sound, not unlike that of a fire 'bell in a snowstorm. As he was in the act of wrapping up my pur chase, I observed the silent custom er's approach. When he reached my side, he stooped and picked up some thing from the floor. With a bow, he presented it to me. "I saw it drop from your pocket," ho said: and then when he saw what it was, his jaw fell, and he sent me a hot, penetrating glance. "The ten of hearts!" he exclaimed, in amazement. I laughed easily. "The ten of hearts!" he repeated. "Yes; four hearts on one side and four on the other, and two in the middle, which make ten in all," — raillery in my tones. What the deuce was the matter with everybody to night? "Marvelous card, isn't it?" "Very strange!" he murmured, pull ing at his lips. "And in what way is it strange?" I asked, rather curious to learn the cause of his agitation. "There are several reasons," —brief- ly. "Ah!" "I have seen a man's hand pinned to that card; therefore it is grew isome." "Some card sharper?" He nodded. "Then again, I lost a small fortune because of that card," — diffidently. "Poker?" ■"Yes. Why will a man try to fill a groyal flush? The man next to me •drew the ten or hearts, the very card I needed. The sight of it always un serves me. I beg your pardon." "Oh, that's all right," said 1. won 'dering how many more lies he hid up Ibis sleeve. '• * "And there's still another reason. I saw a man put six bullets into the two central spots, and an hour later •the seventh bullet snuffed the candle of a friend of mine. I am from the west." "I can sympathize with you," I re turned. "After all that trouble, the p'ght of the card must have given you shock." v Then I stowed away the fatal card •and took up my bundle and change. 1 ihave in my own time tried to fill royal lllushes, and the disappointment still lingers with a bitter taste. "The element of chance is the most fascinating thing there is," the stranger from the west volunteered. "So it is," I recalled', suddenly re calling that I was soon to put my trust in the hands of that very fickle god dess. He nodded and returned to his revol vers, while I went out of the shop, hailed a cab, and drove up town to my apartments in Riverside. It was eight, o'clock by my watch. I leaned back against the cushions, ruminating. There seemed to be something going on that night; the ten of hearts was acquiring a mystifying, not to say sin ister aspect. First it had c.larmed the girl iti Mouquin's, and now this stranger in the curio-shop. I was con fident that the latter had lied in re gard to his explanations. The card had startled him, but his reasons were altogether of transparent thinness. A man never likes to confess that he is unlucky at cards; there is a certain pride in lying about the enormous stakes you have won and the wonder ful draws you have made. I frowned. It was not possible for me to figure out what his interest in the card was. It he was a westerner, his buying a pistol in a pawnshop was at once dis robed of its mystery; but the incon sistent elegance of his evening clothes doubled my suspicions. Bah! What was the use of troubling myself with this stranger's affairs? He would never cross my path again. 'u reasonable time the cab drew up in front of my apartments. 1 dressed, donned my Capuoiiin's robe and took a look at myself in the pier glass. Then I unwrapped the package and put on the mask. The whole made a capital outfit and I was vastlyi pleased with tnySeif. This was going- to bo such an adventure as one reads about in the ancient numbers of Black wood's I slipped the robe and mask into my suitcase and lighted my pipe. During great moments like this, a man gathers courage and confidence from '■>. pipeful of tobacco. I dropped Into comfortable Morris, touched the pas loss, and fell Into a pleasant dream. It was not necessary for me to start for the Twenty-third street ferry till nine; so I had something like three-quarters of an hour to idle away. . . . What beautiful hair that Rirl had! It was like sunshine, the silk of corn, the yield of the har vest. And the marvelous abundance of it! It was true that she was an artist's model; it was equally true that she had committed a mild impro priety in addressing me as she had; but, for all I could see, she was a girl of delicate breeding, doubtless one of the many whose family fortunes, or misfortunes, forced them to earn a liv ing. And it is no disgrace these days to pose as an artist's model. The classic oils, nowadays, call only for ex quisite creations in gowns and hats; mythology was exhausted by the old masters. Home, Paris, London; pos sibly a bohemian existence in these cities accounted for her ease in strik ing up a conversation, harmless enough, with a total stranger. In Paris and Rome it was all very well; but it is a risky thing to do in unro mantic New York and London. How ever, her uncle had been with her; a veritable fortress, had I overstepped the bounds of politeness. The smoke wavered and rolled about me. I took out the ten of hearts and studied it musingly. After all, should I go? Would it be wise? I confess I saw goblins' heads peering from the spots, and old Poe stories re turned to me. Pshaw! It was only a frolic, no serious harm could possibly come of it. I would certainly go, now I had gone thus far. What fool idea the girl was bent on I hadn't the least idea; but 1 easily recognized the folly upon which I was about to set sail. Heigh-ho! What was a lonely young bachelor to do? At the most, they '] I ' ■ ' \y / Took a Look at Myself in the Glass. ■could only ask me to vacate the prem ises, should I he so unfortunate as to he discovered. In that event, Teddy Hamilton would come to my assist ance. . . . She was really beau tiful! And then I awoke to the alarm ing fact that the girl in Mouquin's was interesting me more than I liked to confess. Presently, through the haze of smoke, I saw a patch of white paper on the rug in front of the pier glass. 1 arose and picked it up. NAME_ ffaicthorne COSTUM* BL " E TI M E jr .ro P M. R ETC K N E D ADDRESS " rst s7 f t l Street FRIARD'S I stared at the bit of pasteboard, fascinated. How the deuce had this got into my apartments? A Blue Domino? Ha' I had it! Old Friard had accident! done up the ticket with my mask. A Lilue Domina; evi dently I wasn't the only person who was going to a masquerade. Without doubt this fair domoiselle was about to join the festivities of some shop girl's masquerade, where money and pedigree are inconsequent things, and where everybody is either a "loidy" or a "gent." Persons who went to my kind of masquerade did not rent their costumes; they laid out extravagant sums to the fashionable modiste and tailor, and had them made to order. A Blue Domino: humph! It was too late to take the ticket back to Frtard's; so I determined to mail it to him in the morning. It was now high time for me to be 01 1 I got into my coat and took down CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1907 my opera hat. Outside the storm w*< still active; but the snow had a prom ising softness, and there were patches of stars to be seen here and there in the sky. By midnight there would be a full moon I got to Jersey City without mishap; and when I took my seat in the smoker, I found I had ten minutes to spare. I bought a news paper and settled down to i.*«iad the day's news. It was fully half an hour between Jersey City and Blankshire; in that time 1 could begin and ilnisb the paper. There never was a newspaper those days that hadn't a war map in some one of its columns; and when I had digested the latest phases of the wai in the far east. 1 quite naturally turned to the sporting page to learn what was going on among the other professional fighters. (Have I men tioned to you the fact that I was all through the Spanish war, the mix-up in China, and that I had resigned my commission to acept the post of trav eling salesman for a famous motor car company? If I have not, pardon me. You will now readily accept my reck lessness of spirit as a matter of course.) I turned over another page; from this I learned that the fair sex was going back to puff-sleeves again. Many an old sleeve was going to be turned upside down. Fudge! The train was rattling through the yards. Another page crackled. Ha! Here was that un known gentleman-thief again, up to his old tricks. It is remarkable how difficult it is to catch a thief who has good looks and shrewd brains. I had already written him down as a quasi swell. For months the police had been finding clues, but they had never laid eyes on the rascal. The famous Haggerty of the New York detective force, —a man whom not a dozen New York policemen knew by sight and nc criminals save those behind liars, earthly and eternal. —was now giving his whole attention to the affair. Some gaily dressed lady at a ball would suddenly find she had lost some valuable gems; and that would be the end of the affair, for none ever re covered her gems. The gentleman-thief was still at large, and had gathered to his ac count a comfortable fortune; that is, if he were not already rich and simply a kleptomaniac. No doubt he owned one of my racing cars, and was clear of the delinquent lists at his clubs. I dismissed all thought of him, threw aside the paper, and mentally figured out my commissions 011 sales during the past month. It was a handsome figure, large enough for two. This pastime, too, soon failed to interest me. I gazed out of the window and watched the dark shapes as they sped past. I saw the girl's face from time to time. What a fool I had been not to ask her name! She could easily have refused, and yet as easily have grant ed the request. At any rate, I had permitted the chance to slip out of my reach, which was exceedingly careless on my part. Perhaps they— she and her uncle—frequently dined at Mouquin's; I determined to haunt the place and learn, it would be easy enough to address her the next time we met. Besides, she would be curious to know all about the ten of hearts and the desperate adventure upon which 1 told her I was about to embark. Many a fine friendship has grown out of smaller things. To bo Continued. Carry Much Freight. One of the largest lake steamships can carry about as much freight as four of the most powerful locomotives can pull in four trains, on a level rail road u£ the best constructioa> AILING WOMEN. Kfrsp the Kidneys Well and the Kid neys Will Keep You Well. Sick, suffering, languid women are learning the true cause of bad backs and how to cure Davis, of Groesbeck, aches hurt me so I and sick headaches were frequent and the action of the » kidneys was Irregu lar. Soon after I began taking Doan's Kidney Pills I passed several gravel stones. I got well and the trouble has not returned. My back is good and strong and my general health better." Sold by all dealers. 50 cents a box. Foster-Mllburn Co.. Buffalo. N. Y. Jews In Senate Chamber. Simon Guggenheim will be the sixth Jew to sit as a member in the United States senate. The first Jew chosen to that honor was David Yules, who rep resented Florida from March, 1840, to March, 1853. He was born in the West Indies and his name was David Levy, by which he was known when he was elected as a member of the house of representatives in 1841. The second Jew in the senate was Judah P. Ben jamin, who served from 1852 to 1857. He also was born in the West Indies. He represented Louisiana. Benjamin F. Jonas was born in Kentucky and represented Louisiana in the senate. Joseph Simon was a senator from Oregon from 1898 to 190:). Isidor Ray ner was chosen as a senator from Maryland in 1904. CHINESE HAD FIRST ZOO. Institution of Menageries Was Due to Two Incentives. The Chinese had the first zoo. Me nageries are thought to owe their origin partly to the cult of sacred animals and partly to the ambition of rulers to possess specimens of rare and valuable creatures from foreign lands or lavage beasts from their own. In the simplest forms zoological gar dens were one of the „arliest develop ments of culture, and were familiar to the Chinese, Indians, Greeks, Romans, and pre-Spanish Mexicans in ancient times. The oldest recorded menagerie is Chinese, dating from 1150 B. C. The den of lions kept by Darius, as de scribed in the book of Daniel, is an ex ample of one of those primitive me nageries, while the cult of sacred white horses by the ancient Greeks and Romans and that of so-called white elephants in Burma and Siam are instances of a second type. A live giraffe was received at the menagerie of Schonbrunn as early as IS2B. PROFSSOR HAD LAST LAUGH. Final Erasure Neatly Turned Joke on Students. President Hadley, of Yale was talk ing about his student days. "I remem ber a stately and venerable professor," he said, "upon whom some sophomores once tried to play a trick. "The professor, one morning, being unable to attend to his class on ac count of a cold, wrote on the black board : " 'Dr. Dash, through indisposition, is unable to attend to his classes to-day.' "The students erased one letter in this notice, making it read: " 'Dr. Dash, through indisposition, is unable to attend to his lasses to-day.' "But it happened a few minutes later that the professor returned for a box he had forgotten. Amid a roar of laughter he detected the change in his notice, and, approaching the black board calmly erased one letter in his turn. "Now the notice read: " 'Dr. Dash, through indisposition, is unable to attend to his asses to-day.'" MAY BE COhKEE That Causes all the Trouble. When the house is afire, it's like a body \vhen disease begins to show, it's no time to talk but time to act—delay is dangerous—remove the cause of the trouble at once. "For a number of years," says a Kansas lady, "I felt sure that coffee was hurting me, and yet, I was so fond of it, I could not give it up. I paltered with my appetite and of course yield ed to the temptation to drink more. At last I got so bad that I made up my mind I must either quit the use of cof fee or die. "Everything I ate distressed me, and I suffered severely almost all the time with palpitation of the heart. I fre quently woke tip in the night with the feeling that I was almost gone,—my heart seemed so smothered and weak in its action that I feared it would stop beating. My breath grew short and the least exertion set me to panting. I slept but little and suffered from rheu matism. "Two years ago I stopped using the old kind of coffee and began to use Postum Food Coffee, and from the very first 1 began to improve. It worked a miracle! Now I can eat any thing and digest it without trouble. I sleep like a baby, and my heart beats full, strong and easily. My breathing has become steady and normal, and my rheumatism has left me. I feel like another person, and it is all due to quitting coffee and using Postum Food Coffee, for I haven't used any medicine and none would have done any good as long as I kept drugging with coffer" /Name given by Postum Co., Battle Creek, Mich. "There's a Reason." Read the little book, "The Road to Wellville," in pkga. All grocers. "Soap Sense." The difference in cost between a poor toilet soap and a good toilet soap such us Buchan's soap, is a cent or two per week. The difference in results, though, cannot be measured in money. The cheap soap made from impure fat and powerful alkali, irri tates the skin and results in all kinds of skin trouble. Buchan's Antisep tic Soap, however, is not only abso lutely pure and a fine cleanser, but it contains Phenol Absolut, an ideal an tiseptic protecting the user against contamination. If your dealer does not keep it send his name and ad dress with 18 cents to Buchan's Soap Corporation, New York, and they will send you a full size cake. United States' Banking Power. The banking power of the United States, capital, surplus and circula tion, as revealed by Comptroller Ridgely's 1906 report, is $16,462,470,- 465. All foreign countries combined have a banking power of only $22,- 952,500,000, or only $6,490,029,535 more than that of the United States alone. In 16 years the United States has in creased its banking power by 219 per cent., against 102.6 per cent, increase in that of all foreign countries com bined. Caution. Imitations have been placed upon the market so closely resembling All cock's Plasters in general appearance as to be well calculated to deceive. It is, however, in general appearance only that they compare with Allcock's, for they are not only lacking in the best elements which have made All cock's so efficient, but are often harm ful in their effects. Remember that Allcock's are the original and only genuine porous plasters—the best ex ternal remedy known—and when pur chasing plasters the only safe way is to always insist upon having Allcock's. A man will remember the kiss he failed to get long after the others are forgotten. MOTHERHOOD^^^W The first requisite of a good (Qs>A <'• mother is good health, and the ex- frCff I L perienee of maternity should not be - ■* M approached without careful physical tfe ■■ preparation, as a woman who is in .n, t \ 4 1 good physical condition transmits to l.Jf Wi'WSl her children the blessings of a good ""V-J 9 Vr\ -W iK constitution. [ Preparation for healthy mater- '""JT L Si nity is accomplished by Lj'dia E. %. 4 * Pinkham's Vegetable Compound. %>' ' which is made from native roots and /JJRI \JfV herbs, more successfully than by any iffgoshL ' ¥ | s^' other medicine because it gives tone V>>>* — ' I • and strength to the entire feminine P "*■ o<? organism, curing displacements, ul- MRS JAMF<i rwF<:TrD ceration and inflammation, and the * UAIVJtb CHESTER result is less suffering and more children healthy at birth. For more than thirty years Lydia E. Pinkham'sVegetable Compound has been the standby of American mothers in preparing for childbirth. NotewhatMrs. JaraesChester,of437 W. 35th St., New York says in this letter:—Dear Mrs. Pinkham:-"I wish every expectant mother knew about Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound. A neighbor who had learned of its great value at this trying period of a woman's life urged me to try it and I did so, and I cannot say enough in regard to the good it did me. I recovered quickly and am in the best of health now." Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound is certainly a successful remedy for the peculiar weaknesses and ailments of women. It has cured almost every form of Female Complaints, Dragging Sensa tions, Weak Pack, Falling and Displacements, Inflammation, Ulcera tions and Organic Diseases of Women and is invaluable in preparing for Childbirth and during the Change of Life. Mrs. Pinkham's Standing Invitation to Women Women suffering from any form of female weakness are invited to write Mrs. Pinkham, at Lynn, Mass, Her advice is free. SICK HEADACHE ; —i Positively cmred by f*AQTFD O these tittle Pills. vMIl! L|\y They also relievo Dls np tress from Dyspepsia, In 7&j&)h |T"IE digestion and Too Hearty Hi I \J? K" E5 Eating. A perfect rem -B=3 I®L H» edy for Dizziness, Nausea, 1 PILLS. J Drowsiness, Bad Taste ■fl {Si In the Moutli, Coated > Tongue, Fain In tile Slilo, SSSSSSL*™! 1 TORPID LIVER. They regulato tho Bowels. Purely Vegetable. SMALL PILL, SMALL DOSE. SMALL PRICE. PADTPOCI Genuino Must Bear UAnl Lno Fac-Simile Signature |puP*. I REFUSE SUBSTITUTES* A P cu«L tive CATARRH Ely's Gream Balm Is quickly absorbed. Gives Relief at Once, X ~r,.--' ■ j heals and protects Bo* y*^|jS| branii. It cures Civ taiTh and drivosH^Ssr^S^^^^M away a Cold ia tho "*y Head quickly. lie-II Ay stores tho Senses of • I bTbU Taste and Smell. Full size 50cts., at Dru gists or by mail; Trial Size 10 cts. by maiL Ely Brothers, 50 Warren Street. New York. •t-rrnrnrt: victor "l! ■! i'ILL 'I c? r r Fl£ ld FENCE, High. Made of HAHD SPK'Xa STICIiSL CRIMPKI> WIRE, it IH ft fence that gives universal satisfaction. When erected yroperir. wi! l remain tight. Send forcata lOKUO free. OWIGGINS WIRE FEKCE COMPANY, Anderson. Ind. |j RF °' this paper d«- lIL/i7l/ L/IlvJ siring to buy any mmmmmt h I ng ad ve ri ised in II Its columns should insist upon having what they ask for, refusing all substi tutes or imitations. 9% WtiMR F. rujrmAH, Patent Attor eft Ipi jhj 8 Vney. Washington. !>.<s. Advu-o fl Ml I nil I %r ireo. Tenua low. Highest rel. Thorrpcon's Eye *?ater NERVOUS HEADACHES Or. Williams' Pink Pills Will Cur* Most Cases and Should Interest Every Sufferer. Nobody who has not endured th» suffering caused by nervous head ache can realize the awful agony of its victims. Worst of all, the ordin ary treatment cannot be relied upon to euro nor even to give relief. Some doctors 'will say that if a person ia subject to these headaches there is nothing that can be done to prevent their recurrence. Nervous headaches, as well as neu ralgia, are caused by lack of nutrition —'the nerves are starved. The only way to feed the nerves is through the blood and it is in this way that Dr. Williams' Pink Pills have accom plished so many remarkable cures. Mrs. Addie Merrill, of 39 Union Street, Auburn, Me., says:"For years I suffered from nervous head aches, which would come on me every five or six weeks and continue for several days. The pain was so severe that I would be obliged togo to bed for three or four days each time. It was particularly intense over my right eye. I tried medicines but got no re lief. I had no appetite and when the headache passed away I felt as if 1 haxi been sick for a month. My blood was thin and I was pale, ,weak and reduced in weight. "I read about Dr. Williams' Pink Pills in a paper and decided to try them. I first noticed that they be gan to give me an appetite and I commenced to gain in weight and color. My headaches stopped and have not returned and I have never felt so well as I do now." Dr. Williams' Pink Pills are sold by all druggists or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price, 50 cents per box, six boxes $2.50, by the Dr. Williams Medi. cine Company, Schenectady, N. Y. A. N. K.—C (1907—6) 2164. Fertile Farming LAMPS Cheap Easy Terms In the Best Section of the South Unexcelled for General Farming. Stock Raising, Berries, Fruit and Vegetables. Cantaloupes, Strawberries, Peaches, Apples, Grapes, etc., give handsome returns. Cattle need but little winter feed. HEALTHY CLIMATE. GOOD WATER. LONG GROWING SEASON. Address G. A. PARK, Gen. Im. & Ind'l Act. Louisville & Nashville R. R. Co. LOUISVILLE, KY. THE CANADIAN WEST IS THE BEST WEST Tbe testimony Of tboo- I builds <lu run: tbo past year Is that the Canadian #ll tlMylu jWeatistlie best W eet. ira£i Year by year the agri- w cultural returns have in creased In volume and in 1n value, and still the Cana » dian Government. offers 100 U(Ti-a I KKK to L mn every bona flde settlwr. Some of the Advantages The phenomenal Increase in railway milcairo— main lines and branches—has put altnoHtevery por tion of the country within easy reach of entireties, schools, markets, cheap fuel aud every modern convenience. The NINETY MILLION HI'SII EL W HKAT CROP of this year means IW, 000. UUU to the farmers of Western Canada, apart lrom the results of other grains and cattle. For advice and Information nddrens the SUPKH INTKNI)KNTOI«' IMMIGRATION, Ottawa, Canada, or any authorized Government Atfeni. H. M. WILLIAMS, Low Building, Toledo, Ohio. FffPAfl T AWTK Unexcelled lorgeneral farro ytlutti Willi)* inff. "took, (ialrylnif, fruits, truck, etc.; convenient to the very best iimrkctM and tianspor* titlnn facllltl""- w '"»' neMTitomre for Ike*ami pub lii-atlnmi. SI. V.KMiaril»,liainl an.l Imlu>.trlal Ai;<-nt, Booth—•> Dv. *n l Mobile Ohio H. K . Washington, D.O. C.J. We»(. A,.t .»«ChrUs!«*' I!UI_- «» i.outi.M®.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers