18
THE PITTSBURG- DISPATCH, SUNDAT, NOVEMBER 16, 1890.
.
those who looked s if they might give
him something to eat, and those who looked
otherwise. "I never knew what I had to
learn ahont the human face before," he
thought; and, as a reward lor his humility,
Providence caused a cab driTer at a Eausage
shop where Dick fed that night to leave half
eaten a great chunk of bread. Dick took it
would have fought all the world for its
possession and it cheered him.
The month dragged through at last, and,
lairly prancing with impatience, he went to
draw his money. Then he hastened to
Torpenhow's address and smelt the smelLof i
cooking meats all along me corridors 01 tne
chambers. Torpenhow was on the top floor,
and Dick burst into his room, to be received
with a hug which nearly cracked his ribs,
as Torpenhow dragged him to the light and
spoke of 20 different things- in the same
breath.
"But you're looking tucked op," he con
cluded. "Got anything to eat?" said Dick, his eye
roaming round the room.
"I shall be having breakfast in a minute.
"What do you say to sausages?"
"No, anything but sausages. Torp, I've
been starving on that accursed horse-flesh
for 30 days and 30 nights."
"Now what lunacy has been your latest?"
Dick spoke of the last few weeks with un
bridled speech. Then he opened his coat;
there was no waistcoat below. "I ran it
fine, awfully fine, but I've just scraped
tnroagh."
"You haven't much sense, but you've got
a. backbone, anyhow. Eat, and talk after
ward." Dick fell upon eggs and bacon and
gorged till he could gorge no more. Tor
penhow handed him a filled pipe, and he
smoked as men smoke wift lor three weeks
have been deprived of good tobacco.
"Ouf!" said he. "That's heavenly.
"Well?"
"Why in the world didn't you come to
me?"
"Couldn't; I owe you too much already,
old man. Besides, I had a sort of supersti
tion that this temporary starvation that's
what it was, and it hurt would bring me
more luck later. It's over and done with
now, and none of the syndicate know
how hard-up I was. Fire away. What's
the exact state of affairs as regards myself?"
"You had my wire? You've caught on
here. People like your work immensely.
I don't know why, but they do. They say
you have a fresh touch and a new way of
drawing thing'. And, because they're
chiefly home-bred English, they say you
have insight. You're wanted by half a
dozen papers; you're wanted to illustrate
books."
Dick grunted scornfully.
"You're wanted to work up your smaller
sketches and sell them to the dealers. They
seem to think the money sunk in you is a
rood investment. Good .Lord! who can
account for the fathomless folly of the
public?"
"They're a remarkably sensible people."
"They are subject to fits, if that's what
you mean; and you happen to be the object
of the latest fit among those who are inter
ested in what they call art. Just now vou're
s fashion, a phenomenon, or whatever you
please. I appeared to be the only person
who knew anything about you here, and I
hare been showing the most useful men a
few of the sketches you gave me from time
to time. Those coming after your work on
the Central Southern Syndicate appear to
have done vour business. You're in lues."
"Huhl call it luckl do call it lnck.
When a man has been kicking about the
world like a dog, waiting for it to come.
I'll luck 'em later on. I want a place to
work in first."
"Come here," said Torpenhow, crossing
the lauding. "This place is a big box
room really, but it will do for yon. Tnere's
your skylight, oryour north light, or what
ever window you call it, and plenty ot
room to slash about in, and a bedroom be
yond. "What more do you want?"
"Good enough," said Dick, looking
round the large room that took up a third of
a top story in the rickety chambers overlook
ing the Thames. A pale yellow sun shone
through the skylight and showed the much
dirt ol the place. Three steps led from the
door to the landing, and three more to Tor
penhow's room. The well ot the staircase
disappeared into darkness, pricked by tiny
gas jets, and there were sounds of men talk
ing and doors slamming seven flights below,
in the warm gloom.
"Do they give you a free hand here?"
said Dick, cautiously. He was Ishniael
enough to know the value of liberty.
"Anything you like; latch keys and
license unlimited. We are permanent ten
ants for the most pirt here. 'Tisn't a place
I would recommend for a young men's
Christian association, but it will serve. I
took these rooms lor you when I wired."
"You're a great deal too kind, old man."
"You didn't suppose you were going away
from me, did you?" Torpenhow put his
hand on Dick's shoulder, and the to walked
up and down the room, hencerorward to be
called thestudio, in sweet and silent com
munion. They heard rapping at Torpen
how's door. "That's some ruffian come up
lor a drink," said Torpenhow; and he raised
his voice cheerily. There entered no one
more ruffianly than a portly, middle-aged
gentleman in a satin-faced frock coat. His
lips were parted and pale, and there were
deep pouches under the eyes.
"Weak heart," said Dick to himself, and,
as he shook hands, "very weak heart. His
pulse is shaking his fingers."
The man introduced himself as the head
of the Central Southern Syndicate and "one
of the most ardent admirers of your work,
Mr. Heldar. I assure you, iu the name of
the syndicate, that we are immensely in
debted to you; and I trust, Mr. Heldar, you
won't lorget that we were largely instru
mental in bringing you before the public."
He panted because of the seven flights of
stairs.
Dick glanced at Torpenhow, whose left
eyelid lay for a moment dead on his cheek.
"I shan't forget," said Dick, every in
stinct of defense roused in him. '"You've
paid me so well that I couldn't, you know.
By the way, when I am settled in this place
I should like to send and get my sketches.
There must be nearly a hundred and fifty of
them with you."
"That is er is what I came to speak
tbout. I fear we can't allow it exactly, Mr.
Heldar. In the absence of any specified
agreement, the sketches are our property, of
course."
"Do you mean to say that you are going to
keep them?"
"Yes; and we hope to have your help, on
your own terms, Mr. Heldar, to assist us in
arranging a little exhibition which, hacked
by our name and the influence we naturally
command among the press, should be ot ma
terial service to you. Sketches such as
yours "
"Belong to me. You engaged me by wire,
you paid me the lowest rates you dared. You
can't mean to keep them! Good God alive,
man, they're all I've got in the worldl"
Torpenhow watched Dick's face and
whistled.
Dick walked up and down, thinking. He
saw the whole ot his little stock in trade,
the first weapon of his equipment, annexed
at the outset of his campaign by an elderly
gentleman whose name Dick had not caught
aright, who said that he represented a syn
dicate, which was a thing for which Dick
had not the least reverence. The injustice
of the proceedings did not much move him;
he had seen the strong hand prevail too
often in other places to be squeamish over
the moral aspects of right and wrong. But
he ardently desired the blood of the gentle
man in the frock-coat, and when he spoke
again it was with a strained sweetness that
Torpenhow knew well for the beginning of
trite.
"Forgive me, sir, but you have no no
younger man who can arrange this business
with me?"
"I speak for the syndicate, I see no
reason lor a third party to "
"You will in a minute. Be good enough
to give back my sketches."
The man stared blankly at Dick, and
then at Torpenhow, who was leaning
against the wall. He was not used to ex
employes who ordered him to be good
enough to do things.
"Yes, it is rather a cold-blooded ileal,"
said Torpenhow, critically, "but I'm afraid,
I am verymuch afraid, you've struck the
wrong man. Be careful, Dick. Bemember,
this isn't the Soudan."
"Considering what services the syndicate
have done you in putting your name before
the world "
This was not a fortunate remark: it re
minded Dick of certain vagrant years lived
out in loneliness and strife and'unsatisfied
desires. The memory did not contrast well
with the prosperous gentleman who pro
posed to enjoy the fruit of those vears.
"I don't know quite what "to do with
you," began Dick, meditatively. "Ot
course you're a thief, and you ought to be
half killed, but in your case you'd probably
die. I don't want you dead on this floor,
and, besides, it's unluckyjust as one's mov
ing in. won't nit, sir: you'll only excite
yourself." He put one hand on the man's
lorearm and ran the other down the plump
body beneath the coat "My goodnessl"
said he to Torpenhow, "and this grav oaf
dares to be a thief! I have seen an Esneh
camel-driver have the black hide taken off
his body in strips for stealing half a pound
of wet dates, and he was as tough as 'whip
cord. This thing's soit all over like a
woman."
There are few things more poignantly
humiliating than being handled by a man
who does not intend to strike. The head of
the syndicate began to breathe heavily.
Dick walked round him, pawing him, as a
cat paws a soft hearth ruij. Then he traced
with his forefinger the leaden pouches un
derneath the eyes and shook his head.
"You were going to steal my things mine,
mine, mine! you, who don't know when
you may die. Write a note to your office
you say you're the head of it and order
them to give Torpenhow my sketches
everyone ot them. AVait a minute; your
hand's shaking. Now!" H thrust a
pocketbook before him. The note was writ
ten. Torpenhow took it and departed with
out a word, while Dick walked round and
round the spell-bound captive, giving him
such advice as he conceived best for the
welfare of his soul. When Torpenhow re
turned with a gigantic portfolio, he heard
Dick say, almost soothingly, "Now, I hope
this will be a lesson to you; and if you worry
me when I have settled down to work with
any nonsense about actions for assault, be
lieve me, I'll catch you and manhandleyou,
and you'll die. You haven't very long to
live, anyhow. Go! Imshi, Vootsak get
out!" The man departed, staggering and
dazed. Dick drew a long breath; "Phew!
what a lawless lot these people are! The
first thing a poor orphan meets is gang rob
bery, organized burglary! Think of the
hideous blackness of that man's mind! Are
my sketches all right, Torp?"
"Yes; 147 of them. Well, I must say,
Dick, you've begun well."
"He was interfering with me. It only
meant a few pounds to him, but it was
everything to me. I don't think he'll
bring an action. I gave him some medical
advice gratis about the state of his body. It
was cheap at the little flurry it cost him.
Now let's look at my things."
Two minutes later Dick had thrown him
self down on the floor and was deep in the
portfolio, chuckling lovingly as he turned
the drawings over and thought of the price
at which they had been bought.
The afternoon was well advanced when
Torpenhow came to the door and saw Dick
dancing a wild saraband under the sky
light "I builded better than I knew, Torp," he
said, without stopping the dance. "They're
good ! They're damned good ! They'll go
like flame I I shall have an exhibition of
them on my own brazen hook. And that
man would "have cheated me out of it ! Do
you knocr that I'm sorry now that I didn't
actually hit him?"
"Go out," said Torpenhow, "go out and
pray to be delivered from the sin of arrog
ance, which you never will be. Bring your
things up from whatever place your're stay
ing in, and we'll try to make this barna
little more ship-shape."
"And then ob, then," said Dick, still
capering, "we will spoil the Egyptians!"
CHAPTER IV.
Tho wolf-cub at even lay hid In the corn.
When the smoke of the cooking hung gray;
He knew where the doe made a conch for her
fawn.
And he looked to his strength for his prey.
lint the moon swentthesmoke-wrearhs away.
Aud he turned from his meal in the villager's
close.
And he bayed to the moon as she rose.
In Seonee.
"Well, and how does success taste?" said
Torpenhow, some three months later. He
had just returned to chambers after a holi
day in the country.
"Good," said Dick, as he sat licking his
lips before the easel in the studio. "I want
more heaps more. The lean years have
passed, and I approve of these fat ones."
"Be careful, old man. That way lies bad
work."
Torpenhow was sprawling in a long chair
with a small fox-terrier asleep on his chest,
while Dick was preparing a canvas. A dais,
a background and a lay-figure were the only
fixed objects in the place. They rose from a
wreck ot oddments that began with felt
covered water bottles, belts and regimental
badges, and ended with a small bale of second-hand
uniforms and a stand of mixed
arms. The mark of muddy feet on the dais
showed that a military model had just gone
away. The watery autumn sunlight was
failing and shadows sat in the corners of
thestudio.
"Yes," said Dick, deliberately, "I like
the power; I like the fun; Hike the fnss;
and above all I like the money. I almost
like the people who make the fuss and pay
the money. Almost But they're a queer
gang an amazingly queer gang!"
"They have been good enough to you, at
any rate. Tnat tinpot exhibition of your
sketches must have paid. Did you see that
the papers called it the 'Wild Work Show?"'
"Never mind. I sold every shred of
canvas I wanted to; and, on my word, I be
lieve it was because they believe I was a
self-taught flagstone artist I should have
got better prices if I had worked my things
on wool or scratched them on camel bone
instead of using mere black and white and
color. Verily, they are a queer gang, these
people. Limited isn't the word to describe
'em. I met a fellow the other day who told
me that it was impossible that shadows ou
white sand should be blue ultramarine as
they are. I lonnd out later that that man
had been as far as Brighton beach; but he
knew all about art, confound him. He gave
me a lecture on it, and recommended me to
go to school to learn technique. I wonder
what old Kami would have said to that"
"When were you under Kami, man of
extraordinary beginnings ?"
"I studied with him for two years In
Paris. He taught by personal magnetism.
All he ever said was, 'Continuez, mes en
fant?,' and you had to make the best you
could of that. He had a divine touch, and
he knew something about color. Kami
used to dream color. I swear he could
never have seen the genuine article; but he
evolved it; and it was good."
"Recollect some of these views in the Sou
dan?" said Torpenhow, with a provoking
drawl.
Dick squirmed in his place. "Don't It
makes me want to get out there again.
What color that was! Opal and umber and
amber and claret and brick-red and sulphur
cockatoo-crest sulphur against brown,
with a nigger-black rock sticking up in the
middle of it all, and a decorative frieze of
camels festooning in front of a pure pale
turquoise sky." He began to walk up and
down. "And yet, you know, if you try to
give these people the thing as God gave it
keyed down to their comprehension and ac
cording to the powers He has given you "
"Modest man 1 Go on."
"Half a dozen epicene young pagans who
haven't even been to Algiers will tell you,
first, that you notion is borrowed, and, "sec
ondly, that it isn't art"
"This comes of my leaving town for a
month. Dickie, you've been promenading
among the toy shops and hearing people
talk."
"I.conldn't help it," said Dick, penitent
ly. "You weren't here, and it was lonely
these long evenings. A man can't work
forever."
"A man might have gone to a pub. and
got decently drunk."
"I wish I had; but I forgathered with
some men of sorts. They said they were
artists, and I knew some of them coul'd draw
but they wouldn't draw. They gave me
tea tea at 6 in the afternoon! and talked
abont art and the state of their souls. As if
their sonls mattered. I've heard more abont
art and seen leu of her in the last six
months than in the whole of'my life! Do
you remember Cassavetti, who worked for
some Continental syndicate, out with the
desertcolumn? He wasaregnlar Christmas
tree of contraptions, when he took the field
in full fig, w'ithWiis water bottle, lanyard,
revolver, writing case, housewife, gig-lamps,
and the Lord knows what all. He nsed to
fiddle about with 'em and show us how they
worked; hut he never seemed to do much
except fudge his reports from the Nilghai,
See?"
"Dear old Nilghai 1 He's in town, fatter
than ever. He ought to be up here this
evening. I see the comparison perfectly.
You should have kept clear of all that man
millinery. Serves you right; and I hope it
will unsettle your mind."
"It won't It has taught me what art
holy, sacred art means."
"You've learnt something while I've been
away. What is art?"
"Give 'era what they know, and when
you've done it once do it again." Dick
dragged forward a canvas laid face to the
wall. "Here's a sample of real art It's
going to be a fac simile production for a
weekly. I called it 'His Last Shot' It's
worked up from the little water color I
made outside EI Maghrib. Well, I lured
my model, a beautitul rifleman, up here
with drink, I drorcd him and I redrored
him and I tredrored him, and I made him a
flushed, disheveled, bedeviled scalawag,
with his helmet at the back of his head, and
the living fear of death in his eye, and the
blood oozing out of a cut ever his ankle
bone. He wasn't pretty, but he was all
soldier and very much man."
"Once more, modest child!"
Dick laughed. "Well, it's only to yon
I'm talking. I did him just as well as I
knew how, making allowance for the slack
ness of oils. Then the art manager of that
abandoned paper said that his subscribers
wouldn't like it It was brutal and coarse
and violent man being naturally gentle
when he's fighting for his life. They wanted
something more useful, with a little more'
color. I could have said a good deal, but
you might as well talk to a sheep as an art
manager. I took my VLiast bbot back.
Behold the result! I put him into a lovely
red coat without a speck on it That's art
I polished his boots observe the high light
on the toe. Tnat is art I cleaned his
rifle rifles are always clean on service
because that is art. 1 pipeclayed his helmet
pipeclay is always used on active service,
and is indispensable to art I shaved his
chin, I washed his hands, and gave him
an air of fatted peace. Besult, military
tailor's pattern-plate. Price, thank heaven,
twice as much as for the first sketch, which
was moderately decent."
"And do you suppose you're going to
give that thing out as vour work?"
"Why not? I did it Alone I did it, in
the interests of sacred, home-bred art and
Dickenson's Weekly."
Torpenhow smoked in silence for a while.
Then came the verdict, delivered from roll
ing clouds: "If you were only a mass of
blathering vanity, Dick, I wouldn't mind,
I'd let you go to the dence on your own
mahlstick; but when I consider what you
are to me, and when I find that to vanity
you add the twopenny-halfpenny pique of a
twelve-year-old girl, then I bestir myself in
your behalf. Thus!"
The canvas ripped as Torpenhow's booted
foot shot through it, and the terrier jnmped
down, thinking rats were about.
"If you have any bad language to use,
use it You have not I continue. You
are an idiot, because no man born of woman
is strong enough to take liberties with his
public, even though they be which they
ain't all you say they are."
"But they don't know any better. What
can you expect from creatures born and bred
in this light?" Dick pointed to the yellow
fog. "It they want furniture polish, let
them have furniture polish, so long as they
pay for it They are only men and women.
Yo'u talk as though they were gods."
'That sounds very fine, hut it has noth
ing to do with the case. They are the people
you have to work for, whether you like it or
not. They are your masters. Don't be de
ceived, Dickie. You aren't strong enough
to trifle with them or with yourself, which
is more important. Moreover, come back,
Binkie that red daub isn'tgoing anywhere;
unless you take precious good care, you will
fall under the damnation of the cheque
book, and that's worse than death. You
will get drunk you're half drunk already
on easily-acquired money. For that money
and your own infernal vanity you are will
ing "to deliberately turn out bad work.
You'll do quite enough bad work without
knowing it. And, Dickie, as I love you
and as I know you love me, I am not going
to let you cut off your nose to spite your
face for all the gold in England. That's
settled. Now swear."
"Don't know," said Dictc. "I've been
trying to make myself angry, but I can't,
you're so abominably reasonable. There
will be a row on Dickenson's Weekly, I
fancy."
"Why the Dickenson do yon want to
work on a weekly paper? It's slow bleed
ing of power."
"It brings in the very desirable dollars,"
said Dick, his hands in his pockets.
Torpenhow watched him with large con
tempt. "Why, I thought it was a maul"
said he. "It's n child."
"No, it isn't." said Dick, wheeling
quickly. "You've no notion what the cer
tainty of cash means to a man who has al
ways wanted it badly. Nothing will pay
me'forsomeof my life's joys; on that Chi
nese pig-boat, for instance, when we ate
bread and jam for every meal, because Ho
Wang wouldn't allow us anything better,
and it all tasted of pig Chinese pig. I've
worked for this, I've sweated and I've
starved for this, line on line and month alter
month. And now I've got it I am going to
make the most of it while itlasts. Let them
pay. They've no knowledge."
"What does YourMajesty please to want?
You can't smoke more than you do; you
won't drink; you're a gross feeder; and you
dress in the dark, by the look of you.
Tou wouldn't keep a horse the other day
when I suggested, because, you said, it
might fall lame, and whenever you cross
the street you take a hansom. Even vou
are not foolish enough to suppose that the
aters and all the live things you can buy
thereabouts mean Life. What earthly need
have you for money?"
"It's there, bless its eolden heart," said
Dick. "It's there all the time. Providence
has sent me nuts while I have teeth to crack
'em with. I haven't yet found the nut I
wish to crack, but I'm keeping the teeth
filed. Perhaps some day you and I will go
for a walk round the wide earth."
"With no work to do, nobody to worry
us, and nobody to compete with? You would
be unfit to speak in a week. Besides, I
shouldn't go. I don't care to profit by the
price of a man's soul for that's what it
would mean. Dick, it's no use arguing.
You're a fool."
"Don't see it When I was on that
Chinese pig-boat, our captain got enormous
credit for saving about 25,000 very sea-sick
little pigs, when our old tramp of a steamer
fell foul of a timber-junk. Now, taking
those pigs as a parallel "
"Oh, confound your parallels! When
ever I try to improve yonr soul, you always
drag in some irrelevant anecdote from your
very shady past. Pigs aren't the British
public. Credit on the high seas isn't credit
here, and self-respect is self-respect all the
world over. Go out fur a walk and try to,
catch some self-respect And, I say, if the
Nilghai comes up this evening can I show
him your diggings?"
"Surely. You'll be asking whether you
must knock at my door, next" And Dick
departed, to take counsel with himself in
the rapidly-gathering London fog.
Half an hour after he had left, the Nilghai
labored up the staircase. He was the
chiefest as he was the hugest of the war cor
respondents, and his experiences dated from
the birth of the needle-gun. Saving only
his ally, Kenue the Great War Eagle, there
was no man mightier in the craft than he,
and he always opened his conversation with,
the news that there would be trouble in the
Balkans in the spring. Torpenhow langhed
as he entered.
"Never mind the trouble in the Balkans.
Those little states are always screeching.
You've heard about Dick's luck?"
"Yes; he has been called up to notoriety,
hasn't he? I hope you keep him properly
humble. He wants suppressing from time
to time."
"He does. He's beginning to take liber
ties with what he thinks is his reputation."
"Already! By Jove, he has cheek! 1
don't know about his reputation, but he'll
come a cropper if he tries that Bort of
thing."
"So I told him. I don't think he be
believes it"
"They never do when they first start off.
What's that wreck on the ground here?"
"Specimen of his latest impertinence."
Torpenhow thrust the torn edges of the can
vass together and showed the well-groomed
picture to the Nilghai, who looked at it for
a moment and whistled.
"It's a chromo," said he "a chromo
litholeomargarine fake! What possessed
him to do it? And yet how thoroughly he
has caught the note that catches the public
who think with their boots and read with
their elbows! The cold-blooded insolence of
the work Almost saves it; but he mustn't go
on with this. Hasn't he been praised and
cockered up too much? You know these
people have no sense of proportion. They'll
call him a second Detaille and a third-hand
Meissonier while his fashion lasts. It's
windy.diet for a colt"
"I don't think it affects Dick much. Yon
might as well call a young wolf a lion and
expect him to take the compliment in ex
change for a shin bone. Dick's soul is in
the bank. He's working for cash."
"Now he has thrown up war-work, I sup
pose he doesn't see that the obligations of
the service are just the same, only the pro
prietors are changed."
"How should he know? He thinks he is
his own master."
"Does he? I ccald undeceive him for his
good if there's any virtue in print He
wants the whip-lash."
"Lay it on with science, then. I'd flay
him myself, but I like him too much."
"I've no scruples. He had the audacity
to try to cut me out with a woman a Cairo
once. I forgot that, but I remember now."
"Did he cut you out?"
"You'll see when I have dealt with him;
but, alter all, wha4's the good? Leave him
alone and he'll came home, if he has any
stuff in him, dragging or wagging his tail
behind him. There's more in a week of life
than in a lively weekly. None the less I'll
slate him. I'll slate him ponderously in the
Cataclysm."
"Good luck to you! but I fancy nothing
short of a crowbar wonld make Dick wince.
His soul seems to have been fired before we
came across him. He's intensely suspicious
and utterly lawless."
"Matter of temper," said the Nilghai.
"It's the same with horses. Some you wal
lop and they work, some you wallop and
they jib, and some you wallop and they go
out tor a walk with their hands in their
pockets."
"That's exactly what Dick has done,"
said Torpenhow." "Wait till he comes
back. In the meantime you can begin your
slating here. I'll show you some of his last
and worst work in his studio."
Dick had instinctively sought running
water for a comfort to nis mood of mind.
He was leaning over the embankment wall,
watching the rush of the Thames through the
arches of Westminster bridge. He began
by thinking of Torpenhow's advice, but, as
of custom, lost himself in the study of the
faces flocking by. Some had death written
on their features, and Dick marveled that
they could laugn. Others, clumsy and
coarse-built for the most part, were alight
with love; others vere merely drawn and
lined with work; bat there was something,
Dick knew, to be made out of them all. The
poor at least should suffer that he might
learn, and the rich should pay for the out
put of his learning. Thus his credit in the
world and his cash balance at the bank
would be increased. So much the better for
him. He had suffered, Now he would take
toll of the ills cf others.
The fog was driven apart for a moment,
and the sun shone, a blood-red wafer, on the
water. Dick watched the spot till he heard
the voice of the tide between the piers die
down like the wash of the sea at low tide. A
girl hard pressed by her lover shouted
shamelessly, "Ah, get away, you beastl"
and a shift of the same wind that had opened
the fog drove across Dick's face the black
smoke of a river steamer at her berth below
the wall. He was blinded for the moment,
then spun round and found himself face to
face with Maisie.
There was no mistaking. The years had
turned the child to a woman, but they had
not altered the dark-gray eyes, the thin
scarlet lips, or the firmly-modeled mouth
and chin; and, that all should be as it was
of old, she wore a closely-fitting gray dress.
Since the human loul is finite and not in
the least under its own command, Dick, ad
vancing, said, "Halloo!" after the manner
of school boys, and Maisie answered, "Oh,
Dick, is that you?" Then, against his will,
and before the brain newly released from
considerations of the cash balance had time
to dictate to the nerves, every pulse of Dick's
body throbbed furiously and his palate dried
in his.mouth. The log Bhut down again,
and Maisie's f3ce was pearl-white through
it No word was spoken, bnt Dick fell into
step at her side, and the two paced the em
bankment together, keeping the step as per
fectly as in their afternoon excursions to the
mudflats. Then Dick, a little hoarsely:
"What has happened to Amomma?"
"He died, Dick. Not cartridges; over
eating. He was always greedy. Isn't it
funny?"
"Yes. No. Do you mean Amomma?"
"Ye es. No. This. Where have you
come from?"
"Over there." Dick pointed eastward
through the fog. "And you?"
"Oh, I'm in the north the black north,
across all the Park I am very busy."
"What do you do?"
"I paint a great deal. That's all I have
to do."
"Why, what's happened? You had three
hundred a year."
"I have that still. I am painting, that's
all."
"Are yon alone, then?"
"There's a girl living with me. Don't
walk so fast, Dick: you're out of step."
"Then you noticed it, too?"
"Of course I did. You're always out of
step."
"So I am. I'm sorry. You went on with
the painting?"
"Ol course. I said I should. I was at
the Slade, then at Merton's in St John's
Wood, the big studio, then I pepper-potted
I mean I went to the National and now
I'm working under Kami."
"But Kami is in Paris, aurely7"
"No; be has his teaching studio at "Vitry-sur-Marne.
I work with him in the sum
mer, and I live in London in the winter.
I'm a householder.
"Do yon sell much?"
"Now and again, but not often. There is
my 'bus. I must take it or lose half an
hour. Good-by, Dick."
"Goodby, Maisie. Won't you tell where
you live? I must see you again; and per
haps I could help you. I paint a little my
self." "I maybe in the park to-morrow, if there
is no working light I walk from the
marble arch down and back again; that is
my little excursion. But of course I shall
see you again." She stepped into the om
nibus and was swallowed up by the fog.
"Well I am damnedl"said Dick, and
returned to the chambers.
Torpenhow and the Nilghai found him
sitting on the steps to the studio door, repeat
ing the phrase with awlul gravity.
"You'll be moredamned when I've done
with you," said the Nalghai, upheaving his
bulk from behind Torpenhow's shoulders
and waving a sheaf of half dry manuscript
"Dick, it is of common report that you are
suffering from swelled head."
"Helloo, Nilghai. Back again? How
are the Balkans and all the little Balkins?
One side of your face is out of drawing, as
usual."
"Never mind that I am commissioned to
smite you iu print Torpenhow refuses from
false delicacy. I've been overhauling the
pot-boilers in your studio. They are simply
disgraceful."
"Oho! that's it, is it? If you think you
can state me, you're wrong. You can only
describe, and you need as much room to turn
,in, on paper, as a P. & O. cargo boat But
continue, and be swift I'm going to bed."
"Hm! h'm! h'ml The first pirt only
deals with your pictures. Here's the
peroration: 'For work done without con
viction, for power wasted on trivialities, for
labor expended with levity for the deliber
ate purpose of winning the easy applause of
a fashion-driven publio "
"That's 'His Last Shot," second edition.
Go on."
" Public There remains but one end
the oblivion that is preceded by toleration
and renotaphed with contempt From that
fate Mr. Heldar has yet to prove himself
out of danger.' "
"Wow wow wow wow wowl said
Dick, profanely. "It's a clumsy ending
and vile journalese, but in quite true.
And yet," he sprang to his feet and
snatched at the manuscript, "you scarred,
debosbed, battered old gladiator! you're sent
out when a war begins, to minister to the
blind brutal British public's bestial thirst
for blood. They have no arenas now, bnt
they must have special- correspondents.
You're a fat gladiator who comes up through
a trap door and talks of what he's seen.
You stand on precisely the same level as an
energetic bishop, an affable actress, a devas
tating cyclone, or mine own street self.
And you presume to lecture me about my
work! Nilghai, if it were worth while I'd
caricature you in four papers!"
The Nilghai winced. He had not thought
of this.
"As it is, I shall take this stuff and tear
it small so!" The manuscript fluttered in
slips down the dark well ot the staircase. "Go
home, Nilghai," said Dick, "go home to
your lonely little bed, and leave me in
peace. I am about to turn in till to-morrow."
"Why, it isn't 7 yet!" said Torpenhow,
with amazement.
"It shall be 2 in the morning, if I choose,"
said Dick, backing to the studio door. "I
go to grapple with a serious crisis, and I
sbant want any dinner."
The door shut and was locked.
"What can you do with a man like that?"
said the Nilghai.
"Leave him alone. He's as mad as a
hatter."
At 11 there was kicking on the studio
door. "Is the Nilghai with you still?"
said a voice from within. "Then tell him
he might have condensed the whole of his
lumbering nonsense into an epigram: 'Only
the free are bond, and only the bond are
free.' Tell him he's an idioi, Torp, and tell
him I'm another."
"All right Come out and have supper.
You're smoking on an empty stomach."
There was no answer.
To be continued next week.
PLOWIHG THE WATEB.
An Old Russian Custom Still Observed In
Agricultural Districts.
Among people who follow agricultural
pursuits more than among others there are
many peculiar customs still in vogue in
Russia, which have their origin either in
ancient pagan ceremonies, or are deeply
rooted in superstition, pure and simple, or
fanatic beliefs. Russia, more than any
other country, retains many weird tradi
tions, and the strange usages for the ward
ing off and the conjuring of the pernicious
drought are particularly numerous. It fre
quently happens that each district has its
own peculiar ceremonies, and often every
individual inhabitant follows a line of con
duct in that regard peculiar unto himself.
In some of Western provinces of the Em
pire a strange ceremony is resorted to for
the cessation of the drought, in which the
"plow and the women" play a conspicuous
part. During long continued droughts the
magistrate convenes and a "plowing of
the water" is officially ordered. After an
early morning procession the women and
girls are drummed together in the afternoon
for the purpose of the act oi ' "water plow
ing." This consists in the tearing up of the
bottom of a-near-by strelm by means of a
plow pulled by half-oiad women and led
by the largest aud strongest dame of the
village. f
There is no doubt ihat this ceremony is of
pagan origin, but whatever its significance
was in olden timesJ history does not say; at
the same time the austom is pursued with
unerring regularity at the present day
thronghout the provinces mentioned.
TSADE ANOMALIE8.
An Explanation bf the ZIg-Zag Conrse Which
Book and Paper Sometimes Follow.
Here is a book that was published in New
York, but printed in St Louis, and the
funny thing about it is that the paper it was
printed on was made in the East and
shipped West, says a dealer in .the St Louis
Globe-Democrat. Hence freight was paid
on the white paper out here and on the
books back East. This is done constantly,
and the reason is singular.
You can buy book paper of various grades
20 to 25 per cent cheaper for the Western
than lor the Eastern market, owing to the
great competition. Hence, paper is deliv
ered in St. Louis cheaper than to a ware
house five miles from the mill. Printing
here is cheaper than in the East, and thrifty
publishers save thousands a year by their
patronage of our printing houses. St. Louis
has nothing to complain of in the matter,
but the long round trip of first tho paper
and then the books is remarkable, and shows
how competition affects and benefits trade.
TO CEACK IRISH SKULLS.
A South Sea Club Presented to Caddell With
an Ironical Inscription.
A present to Colonel Caddell. This is the
meaning of the accompanying sketch. The
little fancy article of which it gives a repre
sentation is the South Sea Islander's idea of
law and older in the con
crete. If you are to have
batoning in the cause of
civil order, you may just
as well do it with the
best weapons that can be
got, and it is clear that
in this respect the simple
Sonth Sea Islander is
miles ahead of the Irish
Executive. So thinks
the City Parliament (a
Phcenix society which
has arisen out of the
ashes of Cogers' Hall),
and the City Parliament
lias accordingly by for
mal vote presented this
redoutable weapon to
Colonel Caddell and his
minions. So Mr. O'Phe
lan, the president of the
Parliament, informs us,
and that is' why he ealhd
round to have its por
trait taken.
"But have you no To
ries in the City Parlia
ment?" "To be sure, we have;
bnt they are consist
mi
ent fellows, like the bold Balfour him
self. So they took up the challenge, and
voted for the presentation with the best Lib
erals' among us. A very good thing, they
say, that the forces of order in Ireland
should have such a bludgeon at their dis
posal. So here it is, and this very day off it
goes to Colonel Caddell at Tipperary."
The clnb is a real specimen brought home
by a traveler; it is about two feet and a half
long, of a reddish-colored wood, hard, light
and handy; and the handle is studded with
the proud marks which number cracked
skulls. None ot that "sticking plaster non
sense," which curls the lip of Mr. Balfour,
after a knock with this toy! On a German
silver plate runs the following inscription:
"Presented bvthe City Parliament, Salisbury
Court, Fleet street, through Colonel Caddell,
to the Irish civil police in Tipperary, for
future use to squelch all malcontents who
dare to hold publio meetings, and. thus bore
us with their famine and other grievances.
Floreat fortissimus Balfour."
Why He Indulged.
Boiton Herald. J
Temperance preacher (to confirmed in
ebriate) Tell me, now, why do you drink
rum?
Inebriate Became I can't eat it, sir.
NOTA SHALLOW PATE
The Prince of Wales is Much More of
a Man Than Americans Have
Been Taught to Believe.
HOW ME. DEPEW SIZED HIM UP.
The Busiest Man In ill England and Thor
oughly in Touch With Every
Class of Bis People.
IT PATS HIM TO BE A BP0ETSMA1T.
Shrewd Enough to Hik Ttiais With the tellers of An
the Political Futiet.
rCOBRESFOXDENCX Or THE DISPATCH.!
London, November 7. in writing
frankly and freely abont the coming King
of England, lest I should be suspected of
Anglomania, I will summon to the support
of my opinions that typical American,
Chauncey M. Depew, who saw much of the
Prince'oi "Wales while he was in London.
After he met him, it did not take Mr. De
pew an hour to discover that the Prince was
a very different kind of an individual from
what has been so often pictured in the
United States.
"Instead of finding a man devoted only to
the sports of the field, the frolics of the
board and the chase," he said to me, "I met
The Prince of Wales.
a thonghttnl dignitary, filling to the brim
the requirements of his exalted position in
fact, a practical as well as a theoretical stu
dent of the mighty forces which control the
government of all great countries and make
their best history."
The American was quick to discover that
consummate tact, of which the Prince
seems to be the master and which enables
him to harmonize all shades of opinion, no
matter hdw aggressive, provided they are in
position to be regarded as factors in polit
ical, professional and social life.
A DELIBERATE OPINION.
"This is a very important support to the
best hopes of royalty in this country," said
Mr. Depew, "of which the Prince "will one
day be King."
Certainly princely hospitality could not
have marred the judgment of a man like the
powerful railroad president, whose life is
one round of social attentions, whenever he
will consent to receive them, and who
always basks in the sunshine of intellect
wherevir it can be found, returning always
as much as he receives. But the eminent
lawyer went farther and discovered what
few other Americans have ascertained, that
the Prince of "Wales not only in action but
inthought, is the iron ballast which keeps
this monarchy on an even keel and makes
royalty more than popular with its subjects,
and he had the courage to say fo.
Yet, there are many points for friction be
tween these two thoroughbred gentlemen.but
the thoughtful, astute man from the new
country, who fills to the full both. the large
and small conditions of the big life which
The Princess of Wales.
surrounds him, commends the able man
next the throne in the old for standing
strong on his feet and meeting all the
weighty as well as lighter obligations that
are constantly crowded upon him.
ENGLAND LOVES A SPORTSMAN.
Mr. Depew does not run horses, follow
the hounds, shoot grouse, and take part in
the healthful out of doors sports of which
the Prince of Wales is fond, and which have
given him the reputation with ns of being
only a frivolous, fiolicking sprig of royalty,
yet'be says he saw in all this, only an endeav
or to meet the demands of his people. It did
not take half a dozen visits by this thought
ful observer to ascertain tbat this is a nation
of sportsmen, and that the very penchants
which hold .the Prince up to criticism in
America make him loved among his people,
who see in him the ideal of their best con
ditions. The wonderful stores of accumulated
wealth in England create a large leisure
class, and their easy way of living finds its
reflex to a greater or less extent in the very
humblest No nobleman or millionaire is
more exacting in his demands for pleasure
and holidav rights than the peasant and
artisan. From the prince to the street arab
every class studies all sorts of sports, and
takes an interest in them, if thev cannot
afford to take part in them, and they look
upon a winner in any game with more ad
miration than upon gold.
A VEET HAPPY PEOPLE.
Boyalty gets little more ont of this than
the workman, for all classes here will take
their share of pleasure, which is a large one,
and despite the talk we hear at home about
oppression, etc., there is no country on the
face of the earth that I have ever seen where
so much is done for the care, protection and
pleasure of the common people as in Great
Britain. Iu this the Prince of "Wales has
been a very prominent factor, as Mr. Depew
verv soon observed, and he also readily saw
that it is not the few in this country that
have all the chance, but the many also have
their share in the game of this lire. That is
why London is always deserted -from Satur
day until Monday, and you cannot get a
meal of victuals at any restaurant in town
until after 6 o'clock Sunday evening. The
big hotels make a bluff at feeding people,
but it is a poor attempt and only Americans
suffer by it.
Mr. Depew also uttered a very Important
truth when he said that "the Prince of
Wales was the busiest man in England."
Ever since he reached his majority he has
been the most careful in observing his pub
lio duties.
NEVER DISAPPOINTS THE PEOPLE.
If his presence is asked at a Sunday school
ff M9M,
picnic, a horse show, a race course or a cor
ner stone laying, he is always tnere. no mat
ter what the personal discomfort. In fact,
association with his subjects has made his
face more familiar to the people of England
than tbat ot the President in our land to us.
They are proud of him, and I haveyet to
hear one man or woman here speak who
would not be glad-to see him King, without
meaning any disrespect to his mother.
But be has grown closer into their lives
than any man of bis rank in the history of
tnis country. ie spends nls money every
where. He is charitable to a greet degree,
while the Queen is seldom seen in the large
centers of the United Kingdom, and spends
most of her time in the country. The people
of no nation are more fond of seeing their
sovereign than the English. His life in the
field, whether behind the hounds, on the
quarter stretch or with his guns and dogs on
the heather, is but a part of his common
purpose to represent in all his actions the
wishes of his people and their penchants.
"The Prince never disappoints."
AND TIIE PRINCESS, TOO.
In this desire to get and keep nearer the
people he has the support of his wife, and,
only yesterday an American lady gave me
an interesting example of that fact. She
was walking in Hyde Park, and there was
an unusual crowd of ladies along the path
way. She asked one of the number if any
thing was going on.
"Yes," was the polite reoly,"the Princess
rides to-day."
She waited some little time, hoping to see
her, andthe royal turnout did not appear.
Then, with true American impatience, she
approached the lady and suggested that per
haps she would riot come. The English
woman's manner changed. She turned and
in quite an indignant tone said: "You are
mistaken. The Princess never fails us."
On the quarter stretch of the Goodwood
races on Cup Day, the most famous event
in all England, not excepting the Derby, I
met the future King, with his field giass
swung over his shoulder, mingling among
the people, low as well as high, with far
more freedom than an ordinarily rich man
would have done in America under similar
circumstances.
TWO OF HIS FLYERS ENTERED.
Two horses from his stable were entered
in the races. Both of them ran second, and
there was hardly a person among the many
thousands on that track who was not sorry
to the heart that his horse did not win the
great cup event and they made the fact ap
parent in many ways.
THE PEOPLE FIRST, ALWAYS.
Yesterday I heard a very pleasant illustra
tion of the Prince's tact and character, while
yet a yonng man. The ladies of his set had
arranged some elaborate picnic affair, and
he was to be there as the star of the occasion.
His presence was demanded for the laying
of a corner stone for a town hall. He broke
the social engagement for tbe pnblic one.
Some time alter he met several ot the ladies
who were very much put out because he did
not come and they chaffed him about it.
"I was commanded to other duties," he
replied.
One of them more discreet than the others,
said:
"Oh, I guess your mamma would not let
you come?"
The Prince concluded the conversation by
replying:
"Be kind enough, madam, to remember
that my mother is your Queen, and has the
right to command us both."
Marlborough House, where the Prince
lives, is a curious old place, looking like
anything but the abode of royalty. It re
minds me more ot Independence Hall in
Philadelphia than any place I can recall,
except the one is of brick and the royal
house is of stone.
HOW nE SPENDS HIS DAYS.
The front building, before which the red
coated sentinel paces, is devoted to thn nse
of the minor officials, who transact the cler
ical business of the royal household. The
dwelling is in the rear, in a large yard sur
rounded by a high fence. The Prince arises
early in the morning, and at 10 o'clock is at
his desk. The routine of the day is disposed
of as soon as possible, and then the coming
king gives his attention to his pnvatejeor
respondence, which is something enormous.
The President of the United States does
not receive one-'ourth as large personal mail
as the Prince of Wales. "Very much of this
is of such a character that he feels com
pelled from ideas of etiquette prevailing
here to answer jt with his own hand. In
fact, no public functionary in the United
States pretends to pea one autograph letter
where an English official writes 20. Alter
25 years of association with the public char
acters with my own country, I was as
tounded to receive fonr communications
from one of the highest officials of this Gov
ernment all penned with his own hand. As
they were upon matters of a somewhat offi
cial character, my amazement was increased,
because an ordinary chief clerk could have
answered them by dictation.
WHAT MR. DEPEW DISCOVERED.
Mr. Depew discovered all these things
without a map and that was why he put his
legs under the mahogany of the Prince and
enjoyed his society. Mr. Depew was free,
after his hrst, second or third sitting with
tbe Prince to sav that he was very familiar
with American institutions and had a de
cided partiality for the country that spoke
the same tongue as his own. It is probable
tbat Mr. Depew was not a particle aston
ished to find that the Prince did not regard
our people as a nation of boors and rowdies,
although it is somewhat remarkable that he
did not, after the manner in which they
have talked anil written 'about him. But
the great lawyer has rubbed up against men
long enough to discover that no man wins
and keeps a big place in the world's affairs
without he has some elements of sterling
merit to entitle him to his holding.
The orator, statesman, financier and ex
ecutive officer of our country was both sur
prised and delighted to meet at the Prince's
table Sir Charles Russell, the most brilliant
advocate and lawyer in all England, but an
ardent Irish Home Kuler, and several other
gentlemen equally cross-grained, or cross
opinioned as to the present, pulicy of the
Government.
DOESN'T HAPPEN IN AMERICA.
In the heated condition of politics in this
country where party lines are so often, if
not so generally, marked by social animos
ities, it does seem a little strange to find
these incongrnons elements at the royal
table. But Mr. Depew very soon discov
ered, as he said, that the Prince of Wales
was shrewd in keeping in touch with these
elements of opposition and while being in
perfect harmony in social life, making his
position with them one of pleasure, and,
perhaps, of substantial profit to himself
Hereafter, when he may come to the head of
affairs, and broaden his sphere of useful
ness. A far less able man than the President of
the New York Central Kailroad would dis
cover in this the evidence that the Queen's
eldest son was something more than a
thoughtless sportsman, as we have been
taught to regard him, even if he had noother
evicdnce of his intellectual gifts.
If it were not difficult to approach an
Englishman for his opinion abont an Amer
ican, it would be interesting to know just
how Mr. Depew struck the people in his own
profession. But as one of them was heard
to 'remark not long after their meeting:
"What a royal chap that American is," it
is fair to assnme that they regard him as a
long way in their game.
Frank A. Burr.
A BLOITEB OF PABIS.
It Absorbs Ink and Works as Well as the
Ordinary Paper Affairs.
A down-town lawyer has a friend who
works in plaster of paris, and through him
has become possessed of a very serviceable
blotter and paper weight combined, says the
New York Times. It is simply a plaster
brick, i or 5 inches long, 3 inches wide and
i an inch thick. The plaster absorbs ink
readily, and does not blot. If, when the
brick is being made and is still soft, an or
dinary knob with a screw end is worked
into it, there is provided a neat handle by
which to lift it.
A bio bonanza for the druggists is Salva
tion OU, for they seU lota of it. Kills pain.
SECRET OF CIPHERS.
The Art of Writing b'o Outsiders Can
not Bead the Message.
OLD JEREMIAH HAD A SYSTEM.
Some of the Simpler Methods and Complex
Modifications.
TECHNICAL KETS USED 15 BUSINESS
The use of ciphers is almost as ancient ai
the use of letters. It ls certain that the
prophet Jeremiah had and used a system of
cipher which must have been known to
many of those for whose edification he wrote,
says tbe New York Press. Ibis cjpher was
one of the simplest form, and however suc
cessful its employment may have been at the
earlyperiod it would bealtogetherineffectual
in the present day, the plan adopted being
that of writing the alphabet from atoz in
one line and then repeating it in the reverse
order underneath, thus:
a b c d e f g etc.,
z y x w v u t etc.,
the required word or words being expressed
by the letters in the lower line corresponding
to the proper letters in the upper line,
"deaf," for instance, being represented by
wvzu. Jeremiah, of conrse, employed the
Hebrew alphabet, and in this way obtained
the word Sheshach, which occurs in tbe
twenty-sixth verse of the twenty-fifth chap
ter of his book, aud there otands for Babel.
During our Civil War the value of a good
cipher was amply proved, and in the
political history of the country ciphers have
more than once played an importont part, as
witness the famous "cipher dispatcnes" of
1876, when the rival parties were contending
for the election of Hayes or Tilden. Indeed,
it is pretty well known that all civilized
governments and almost all great political
organizations employ ciphers.
One of the simplest, and one fairly effect
ive, is to have several cipher alphabets ar
ranged on the historic plan of Julius
Caesar's. In this wav each successive line
or word, or given number of words, may de
mand a different key. Thus a series of
alphabets may be arranged:
a b c d e otc
t) c d e r etc
c d o I g etc
until a square has been formed containing
the whole alphabet in each line, but with
each line beginning with a different letter.
To write a message with this cipher the
first word or line would be written with
the cipher letters provided by the second
line, the second word or line with letters
from the third line, and so on. Thus, chang
ing the key with every word, the prase
Meet me here,
would read
nffu ogKhub.
The comparative ease or difficulty with
which such a message could be deciphered
would largely depend upon its length, and,
indeed, in all cases it may be taken as an
infallible maxim that the longer a cipher
message or document is the more easily it
can be read. To render the surreptitions
deciphermentof ciphers of this class more
difficult the division of words is sometimes
altered by carrying the last letter of each
word over to the next word, as
nff no gkhu h.
Or by adding initial letters to preceding
words, as
nffns gk hub.
All these expedients having failed to dis
comfit the cralty pirates of hidden knowl
edge, the aid of figures was invoked, and the
letters of the alphabet were expressed by pre
arranged groups of figures, thus:
m e t h r
21 14 58 71 18
42 33 83 13 23
11 63 31 95 41
In this way the phrase "meet me here"
would be rendered using one row of figures
only
21141436 2114 72141314.
Or using the three rows
211414G6 4233 96684463.
To add still further elements of mystery
and contusion, what Bacon terms "nulls and
insignificants" were inserted that is, cer
tain figures or groups of figures were em
ployed to fill the break between words, is 10.
B5, 29, etc. With these added the example
just given would read:
211414581042335596681468.
A more useful device was that of "repeat
ers," special numbers employed to denote
the repetition of a preceding letter. In the
best svstem of this kind two or more "re
peaters" are employed to indicaU the repe
tition of the letter the "repeater" immedi
ately follows, and two or more to indicate
the repetition of the letter preceding that.
Giving the same example once more in this
way we have:
2114S75610423355966S1177,
It will be seen 87 repeats the preceding
letter and 77 the letter belore the preceding
one.
An entirely different class of cypher is
that in which tho words of a message are
simply transposed, thus, the words
1 2 3 4 5 8
Send message captain not to come.
If read in the order of 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 6, wonld
make:
Captain not to send message. Come.
And will yield several other meanings, ac
cording to the order in which the words are
taken.
A similar method is to write the required
words in a magic square:
at King this
did use cipher
not all Charles
Here again several different readings can
be obtained, the correct one beine found br
the key:
8 I X I '
I S 7
4 I , I ,
With a 25 square the difficulty of discov
ering the key, and therefore of decipher
ment, would of conrse be immeasurably in
creased. Many other devices have been tried, and
are even now in use, but they almost all fol
low the same general plan, thongh some
times, as in the "Dictionary" cipher, they
are so enmbronsly worked out as to have
little resemblance to their originals. Almost
all can, however, be solyed by the same
methods, the great aid of the crystographist
being the careful observance ol the repeti
tion of letters or symbols for letters.
The ciphers used in business are usually
more or less technical. A single word is
used to represent a phrase. For instance,
"fleet" might stand for "barrels of flour,"
"door" for "boxes of matches," and so on.
The single words are arranged alphabet
ically, with the phrases which they represent
following each. The receiver of a cipher
message runs down the alphabetical list
until he finds the words in the cipher mes
sage and from them constructs the real
message the sender intended.
A Lunatic !
Chicago Interior.
When a loon sees anything bright a red
scarf or a looking glass or a lantern at night
he swims toward it and wants it. He
could not do anything with it If he had it,
only to spoil it but he wants it all tbe same.
The loon family exists in great variety
aquatic and terrestrial, literary and political
secular and religious. '