liiiiSi II S3 It' B. F. BOHWEIER, THE CONSTITUTION THE UNION AND THE ENFOBOEMENT OF THE LAWS. Bdlter amd VO L. XLIX MIFF! JNTOWIS. JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA.. WEDNESDAY. JULY 17. 1895. NO. 31. !!!; $ ' ! ' CHAPTEK VIII. (Continued.) I really thought Mr. Winton woulJ have been killed." said the oldest of thi rector's daughters. "How wonderfully hi rides! My brother says he is a grenl shekary,' in fact, he cares for nothing else but sport. You were frightened, too Miss IEstrange." -I have not been used to horses foi fears." stammered Xora. "You ought to ride now. I remembet you managing your little sheltie capital, ly, ago. 'Won't you come back tfl liitichcon at the rectory? Mother would be charmed to see you and Mrs. IEs trance. Mrs. (iarduer and her friendi ire coming." Mrs. L'Estrange preferred returninj rith her little daughter, but Nora wal glad to divert her thoughts by accepting the invitation, and was one of the woh( miniated of the party. She could not, however, be persuaded to stay till th pldcst son of the house, an oflieer on leav from his regiment, iu India, returned wit) l report of the run. "I suppose Mrs. Ruthven has hear nothing of her Jewels?" said Mrs. GarJ ler. as Xora was saying good-bye. "Nothing whatever. She seems to de pair of recovering them." "It was a frightful business altogether T -laiuied Mary Damer, the rector's see end daughter. "Do you remember a Cap tain Shirley who was at the ball. Yof danced with him several times, lie danc ed very well." Nora did remember. "tieorge says there were queer reports) Aluuit hitn in India. He was in snme regi ment as Mr. and Major Ruthven. People taid, too, that Mrs. Ruthven was well, t too particular.'' , "I only know she Is particularly nice," .-eturned Nora. "Do not believe half th Jl-natured things you hear." "I wish," said Miss JJamcr, "that Mr, Marsden had not been frightened away ."y the worry of this unlucky robbery, IIow nice it would be to have Evesleigh open once more." "Do tell me. Miss I. Estrange, cried the younger sister, "is the squire engaged to Mrs. Ruthven?" "Indeed, I do not know; but I am sur he would make a very pleasant mistress f"T the manor house. Now I must not stay, it will be dusk before I get back. "I think you are quite heartless, not to jtay and hear if poor Mr. Winton came alive out of the hunt, and he is such a great friend of yours." "Oh, he can take care of himself," said Nora, and with a few more words she escaped, her heart beating with annoy ance at the tone of Miss Darner's last remark. She would certainly persuade Helen to como lip to town next week, ot as soon as possible, and then she would take singing lessors, and amuse herself, and forget the folly and weakness into which she had fallen. "IIow ill-natured people are," she thought, "and ready to spread ill-natured stories. She did not believe that Captain Shirley ever did any- thing disgraceful, though she had not been favorably impressed by him, and was disposed, in an instinctive and un reasoning way, to dislike and distrust him. Large drops of rain made her hurry on to gain shelter before the threatened storm burst; but as she crossed the car riage drive of Evesleigh Manor, on her homeward way, she noticed fresh traces of wheels and horses' feet. The steward had no doubt been up at the house. She caught a glimpse of it before she passed through the gate leading Into the wood opposite her own home. IIow mournful It looked with its closed shutters, and the one thin thread of smoke rising from It wide stack of chimneys! She was quite glad to be safe at home, in her own rotnfortnble bedroom, changing her dress b.r her indoor garments. She had grown tupidly nervous of late. One folly brings on another, she thought. In the drawing room Bea was dressing her doll, while her mother read aloud some of Grimm's fairy tales. "IIow late you are, Nora; did you ref net?" "No; at least veFy little." "Had George Darner come back? How did the hunt go off? I should be glad te know if Mark Winton is safe." "I did not wait. I think the fox mnst have headed for Anehester downs. Da Wt me have a cup of tea! I feel so tired." No more was said; but when the time came for shutting up the house, Mrs. l.'Kstrange sent to nsk if Roberts had heard of any accident at the hunt. Rob erts reported that young Mr. Gardner had been thrown, and had broken his col lar bone, and that as he (Roberts) had been leaving Oldbridge that evening, where he had gone to fetch oats, he had Diet Mr. Winton and the rector's son, rid ing back, all covered with mud and "tired Ike." "I am really qufte relieved," snid Mrs L'Estrange. "I was rather uneasy." Nora did not reply and the rest of tht evening was spent in making their plana for a visit to London, and writing to an x-eook and housekeeper, who had taken i a lodging house in one of the streets on the Tybumlan side of Hyde Park, and to whom all Kvesh-igh folk applied whea they needed temporary quarters in th rreat city. The next morning broke bright and irlsp after a night of rain, and after their midday meal, Mrs. L'Estrange drove away in the pony carriage, with her little girl, to do various errands in the town. Nora, relieved by the absence of Winton, whose presence was of late always a re straint, put on thick boots and set forth to visit the blind woman whom she had rather neglected of late. She accused herself of selfishness, and many minor crimes and misdemeanors, as she douned( her walking attire, and bullied herself con siderably on the score of being better oft than Bhe deserved, and leading a self-indulgent life. Still, she did not see hov he could do otherwise. At any rate, shi would never sink into a weak, sentiment alist, a faded flower, pining under the weight of an unrequited attachment. No, In a month or two she would have thrown off this dead, aching, steady pain in her heart, and be able to smllejit it. witn this brave determination's start ed on her walk to the blind woman's cofc tage, seeing as she went. In spite of a her resolutions, the picture) of Winton contending with his horse, as It wae tamped on her mental retina the day be fore. Walking across the bridge which cot neeted her own little domain with Eves leigh, she turned sharply into the path leading to the moorland higher up, and uearly ran against the lord of the manol coming la an opposite direction, TWs is luck Scried Marsden. "In an ftther moment you would have passed, and I should have only found Mrs. L'Es trange." "Not Mrs. L'Estrange either," salt Ifora. returning his cordial greeting. "She is gone into Oldbridge for the after noon." "Then, If yon will allow me, I'll be you escort." "Oh, yes, do comer' returned Nora vl uls company. -t nen did you arrive, and where did you com from?" "I came last night, that is to say, las. arternoon, and I came from Paris." "Mrs. Ruthven, when she wrote, did no. seem to know what had become of you." Marsden turned, and walked beside her. "Oh, yes, to be sure. I woaraaar to a ' place near Kontainebleau, fo see an old chum of mine, De Meudon, who has been very ill, and so a letter or two of here miscarried; but I saw her the day before yesterday In town. She is in a fidget to complete the purchase of a damp Tilln at Twickenham, which she could not do without me; but I have settled everything to ner satisfaction. "And are you going to stay here?" i-X" ,, i - . . . ... yea, repiica -Mnrsaen. witn t Quick sigh, and he looked earnestly into her eyes, a curious wistful, strained ex pression in his own. "I am a rolling stone, you see, Nora I presume youi high mightiness will permit me to use your baptismal appellation and I am rather at a loss what to do with myself. I shall be hard tip for another year 01 two; but then the property will be pretty clear then I will settle in the halls of mj latners, and live cleanly and like a gen tlcman." . "I hope you will, squire," said Nora, kindly and seriously. "WnatI Do you think I hare been sucl a scamp?" asked Marsden, laughing. "You know I df'i not mean that," eh. returned, the color rising in her cheek "I hope you will live at Evesleigh." "And be your neighbor? Thank you sweet cousin." "Yes, it would be very nice to have yot. it the manor house. It looks ghostly hen shut up." . "Your kindness is killing. Do you an derstand why?" "No; there is something not quits likt yourself about you to-day. You are look ing white and thin. Have you been ill, Clifford?" "You darling. How graciously yo have granted my prayer, and brought out the name I want you to call me with Just the sweetest little hesitation iu th' world." He laughed as he spoke, carrying off th ardor of his words with a mocking air. "Nonsense"' returned Nora, a link piqued. "I did not hesitate at all. You seem to forget that I am not a child." "I am deeply conscious yon are a worn n; a " lie pulled himself up short, and added: "A most serious young worn n." "And I suppose there is no chance 01 finding the lost Jewels?" said Nora, to change the subject, for there was an in definable something in Marsden's tout which she neither liked nor understood. "I fear not. I thought I might hare tracked them to the den of an old Dutch receiver of stolen goods, and went myself to Amsterdam, to see what I could do nil in vain. Don't talk of them; you don't know what an infernal blow that unfor tunate business has been to me. That my guest should have been robbed almost un der my eyest It's a sort of blot on me and my house." "That Is quite a morbid Idea. Hon could any reasonable being blame you? I m sure Mrs. Rnthven " "Mrs. RuthTsn has behaved very well, tint she is desperately cut up, and I do not wonder at It," Interrupted Marsden. "She is Tery nice, and so pretty at tractive looking, rather." Marsden glanced sharply at her before ae answered. "Yes, she Is a piquant little devil, bu; she ought not to be so heavy with bet paint brush about the lips; that sort of art may be overdone." "Squire!" in a shocked tone, "how cat you be such a traitor? I thought you were fond of Mrs. Ruthven that you were he best friend." Marsden laughed. "So I am, but I am not, therefore, blind. All the world (except you) can see she paints her lips." I did not, and It Is not nice or loyal ol yon to tall me." "I am rebuked. Y ou are an awful piece of perfection, Nora." Do not be sarcastic. I know my own shortcomings well enough; but I am not false to my friends. I shall not confide my weakness to you. "Do you fancy I would betray you? You understand me. Why, you are my own he hesitated my own Kins woman. Nora shook her head, and they walked on silently for a few moments. Then she said: "Helen and I are thinking of going uj to town for a couple of months. It is rather melancholy and uncomfortable to be so far from one in the winter. Hclea bas been so nervous since that robbery." "You are quite right it is an excellent Idea," cried Marsden. with hearty appro bation. "Where do you think of staying -at the Langham?" "The Langham!" laughing. "Why. the Langham would swallow up all our money in ten days. No, no; we think of going to Mrs. May, if she can take us in. LV Ton remember Mrs. May?" "Well, yes, I seem to have heard the lime." "She was cook at Evesleigh when you were a boy, I believe. Oh! years ago." "Exactly; before I grew old and de crepit." "She has a house near Hyde Tark, and we shall take rooms there." "You'll be awfully uncomfortable, you'll get nothing to eat but scorched unit ton and watery rice-pudding, a-.d you'll never move without carrying off a knitted chair cover on your back, or hung to a button." "You are quite wrong! We stayed a week there, on our way back from Ger many, and it was Tery comfortable. I da not think there is a knitted antimacassar, if that is what you mean, in the house." Talking lightly, with occasional silence on Marsden's part, they reached the blind woman's cottage. "IIow long shall yon stay here?" 1 "I do cot know, but yon need not trou ble about me." "I f I choose to trouble, you cannot pre vent me. I am going to look for one of the gamekeepers about a mile further on, and I shall wait for you outside, when I vet urn." uo! prar danot mind, I" .1 2 "Do I bore you?" very jrravely. "IIow can you say so, Clifford?" "Would you rather not walk with me?' "Nonsense T "Very well, I will wait for you, and if you give me the slip, deep will be my wrath." "I have no such intention," and she vanished Into the cottage. Marsden walked on in deep thought, his brows knit, his handsome face firmly set, all the smiling softness of his ordi nary aspect gone and replaced by a stern haggard look, that made him seem year older. When Nora had read the better part of a newspaper to her old protege, and dis cussed some of its contents, she perceived the odor of tobacco wafted through the open window, and guessing that the squire wua waiting, she bade the blind womnr good-bye and went to join him. "Will you tell me," he said, throwing away his cigar, when they had gone a few paces, "what is the pleasure of going Into a stuffy cottage to read to a stupid old woman, who would probably prcier being left to sleep t "It is not a Tery great pleasure, cer tainly, but I assure you I like reading to old Uetsy. She is Tery shrewd, and, thongh I don't profess to be an angel, we ought to help each other sometimes. It is not much to do for a poor soul; think how lonely she must be. We should be rather worthless, if we did only what we like. "Hum! That has been the only rule I have ever followed. I "I do not believe yon. People would not 'like you so well, if you cared for nothing but self; you must have some heart. , "I begin to fear I have," said Marsden, as if to himself. "I assure you," he went on, "it is impossoble to me to do what I do not like, and equally impossible to re Jsist snatching at what I desire, ay! and 'getting It, too, by some means or other. "What a bad characterl" cried Nora. "If any one else spoke of you in that way. I should have been quite angry." "And would you have defended me?" "Yes, of course! you are my kinsman. and good friend." "And you are a Tery pearl of a cousin." They were silent till they reached (turn in the path, from which the dull red lowers of Oldbridge were visible; the sight of them perhaps prompted the abrupt question: "What has become of Winton? Is he here still?" "No; he Is gone to Devonshire, I think.' "Ha! and how hts he been prospering?' "Prospering? How? In what pray?" "With your step-mother. I exacted to Jienr that their engagement had been an nounced when I came back. hy has he let the grass grow under his feet Nora was too amazed to reply at once; but memory swiftly unrolled her picture of the past few months, and showed a hundred important nothings which cor- toborated Marsden s startling assertion. "I suppose I am Tery stupid," she ex- rlaimed, as soon as she could spenk, "but I never suspected this. Helen, too, is so frank, she would surely have told me. "I am not so sure of thnt! Pray, what do you think kept a man like Winton in such a dull hole as Oldbridge, and brought him day after day to Brookdale? Your self, eh? A very natural supposition Y'ou are sufficiently magnetic, sweet cou sin." "Indeed indeed." began Nora, eager ly, but Marsden went on smiling, and shaking bis finger at her. "It is soothiliu 10 so imperfect a fello n.f.utf t. find nut n little weakness I tingo of vanitv in such nn admirable 'hi . ...... 1 don't doubt thai liinii ua j rM - - , Winton, like many another, would have fallen to voiir spear; but, you see, he waj Mrs. L'Estrnnge's lover in bygone agei when they were boy ami girl, and aftel I know all aUiiit it. I fancy Wlntol when he first came home from Infin. wal not too anxious to take Helen Lnndell V.-..1. ,..;.!. I,;,,, I rompmlier her. a sad timid crenture. under the thum I should say thumb-screw of old Mis Webster. She -was a soft, taking inn tfrViintr then ! is a verv charming woma now und Winton is well off. It would b a comfortable settlement for her and hel little girl, for they are, I think, quite ae nmlint on vou." At the end of this long speech, during which M-ursden watched his companion's face, Nora wns quite prepared to reply, i "If they are foud of each other, I shalj be very pleased. Helen has been a real mother to me. and I like Mr. Winton im mensely. You don't know what a hard life Helen has bad. If Mr. Winton will be kind and make her happy and note you have opened my eyes, I think he il fond of her I shall be glad. But, as t her dependence on me, if I die before I am twenty-one, of course all I possess will go to Beatrice, and as soon as ever l an of age I will settle half my fortune ol f-l..n tn an tn lt-H after her." "But. Norn! you must not be quixoticj mnke some provision for your father"! widow, but not half of your fortune," cried Marsden, looking at her with sur prise. "Oh! if Helen is murried, well, I shall make the settlement on Bea only. I have always considered it an oversight on my father s part not providing tor ner, as oversight I am bound to mnke good." Her tone was perfectly easy and nat ural; nor did it express the slightest con sciousness of doing more than a simple act of justice. Marsden walked on in silence for a few paces. "Y'ou sre right, I think." said he. "It is a horrid nuisance to know that people belonging to you want for anything: but. at the snme time, you are acting with un usual liberality. When shall you be of age? if I dare ask such a question." "The fifteenth of February next, I lhall be twenty-one." "And suppose you marry some sting; fellow before that date?" Nora laughed merrily. "I do not fancy I shall run away witi any one between this and February, and if I marry soberly, conventionally, the lawyers can devise the means of carrying out my wishes, or, if the suitor likes my poor little money better than myself, why, he may go," she waved her hand with ar ozpressive gesture. I wonder what sort of a woman yon will develop into, Nora?" said Marsden, his eyes fixed upon hers as if brooding over some somber thought. "Am I not developed already, squire?" "You have heaps to learn! for one thing, your own power! but why do you go back to the patriarchal spallation) Promise to call me Clifford, always Clif ford." "I will try," returned Norn, smiling. "Now, Clifford, here we are at the bridge, and before we part, promise me first to consider all I have said a profound secret between us two; next not to tease Helen about Mr. Winton; she is a shy creature, and I do not think he has absolutely pro posed for her yet. so it would annoy her dreadfully if you said anything on the ssbject." "Trust me, I shall be most discreet! But, Nora, suppose this marriage takes place and tney win go to India. What shaU you do?" "Stay behind and educate Bea, or mar ry that stingy msn you seem to have found for ma." . Will you promise to marry the man I shall find for your cried Marsden eager- ly. "Yes! If he is pleasant and handsome, and rich, and accomplished, and ready to love, honor and obey me," returned Nora with mock solemnity. "It will take you a long time to find such a rara vls un dertake nothing rashly, so good-bye." "Are you going to dismiss me? What have I done?" "Helen is out and I I am going to be busy; but If yon will dine with us at seven, we will not oblige yon to eat scorch ed mutton." "Thanks, many thanks. It is," looking at his watch, "three-twenty. May I pre sent myself at half past six?" "Yes, certainly: Helen will be delighted to see yon." She bent her head with an arch smile and, turning away, walkec quickly toward the cottage. Marsden leaned his arms on the para pet of the bridge and looked after her so long as she was in sight, then he pursued his way home in profound thought. Nora went quietly to her own room, tc cogitate the wonderful information im parted by Marsden. She was glad, Tery glad, not only foi Helen, but for herself. This kuowledge would fortify her to resist her own folly, to uproot the ridiculous fancy which had mastered her. The man who was to be Helen's husband ought to be, could be,' nothing to her. Her enre was certain. But, oh! what a weak conceited fool she had been, to take for granted that she herself, and she only, was the attraction that drew Winton so constantly to Brook dale, to be so blind to the gentle charm of her step-mother's looks and voiis and manner. She saw it all How quietly tender winton ainys was in speaking to Helen, and how much more notice be took of her than of her step laughter. Y'et across this conviction would shoot puzzling gleams of memory, recalling significant looks and words which might have been interpreted as in dicative of a strong liking for herself; this no doubt was but the exaggeration of her own vain unhealthy Imagination. IIow she thanked heaven that none could rend ber thoughts. She was tolerably safe, no ne ae Airs. Kiitliven had ever nlnteO at any possible tenderness between hersell and Winton, ami that suspicion would soon be dispelled by the announcement f his engagement to Mrs. L'Estrange. At any rate, for the moment, Nora thought herself oulte cured. She made some changes In her dress and rearranged her hair so as to be ready for the evening. Then she descended to the drawing room, and set herself diligently to answer some long-negleetcd letters. Before she had finished Mrs. L'Kstranirt returned, and there were parcels to bj open id, purchases to be looked at and put away, and Bea's report of nil she nail seen and heard to be listened to. Mrs. L'Estrange was surprised an6 pleased to hear that Marsden was to be their guest. Ho was a great favorite with ner, and showed her much kindly consid eration. On this evening he conversed chiefli with her, but she was too observant, toe warmly interested in her step-daughter, not to perceive that he was aware ol Nora's every movement, even her slight est gesture. She had already suspected that the lord of Evesleigh had lost hie heart to bis young kinswoman, and she was not a little pnzzled by Nora's evi dent unconsciousness. She had very lit tle idea, however, of the overpowering Intensity of the passion Nora had inspired. From motives, which need not now be revealed, Marsden masked his batteries cleverly; until the right moment came to open bre, he was merely a pleasant, play ful, admiring relative. To-night, how ever, she was struck by some alight tnougn distinct Indications which escapee bis resolute self-control. Marsden had never denied himself any thing, nor thought any price too high for the pleasure of the moment. He had had endless love affairs, but none of any depth, and wneu be met his young cousin, he wae unaccountably fascinnted by her. Her delicate freshness, her simplicity and shrewdness, her quick spirit and keen self-respect, her moments of softness, suggestive of delicious possibilities, of re sponsive tenderness, which was not to be lightly won, made, to-him, an irresistible combination. Clifford Marsden was a man of Infinite :aste; taste so true, that it all but made him enamored of goodness, if only for Its harmony. Alas! what a chasm that "but" covered! He could be generous, too, though be was quite capable of sacrificing all and t .-erything to gratification of self, yet, at times, that self took an amiable form. At present he was determined Nora L'Estrange should be his wife. She was the first woman he had ever wished to marry, and nothing should stand be tween him and the accomplishment of his wishes. In such a passion there is a tinge ol jruelty. Marsden would rather kill her with his own hand, than give her up to another. Meantime, the wild animal within him (lumbered in the sunshine of its own lopes. Marsden talked well, Nora, who had more color than usual, was charming ly bright. inton was never mentioned. and all went merrily. CHAPTER IX. The' last week of October saw nearly all the personages in this true history as sembled in town. Nora L'Estrange was almost ashamed it the eager pleasure with which she hail ed their removal to London. The change of scene, the various objects of interest, the different occupations of town, con trasted with those of the country, roused nd diverted her. Beatrice and her attendant frauleix were left with Winton's aunt. Mrs. Ath- erley, who had Invited them to stay with her in Oldbridge, in order that the young lady might have music lessons from the organist of the cathedral, and be preserv ed from the disorganization of life in a London lodging, where she was to join her mother before Christmas. inton, as was expected, soon made hii appearance, and then Marsden: both be stowing a good deal of their spare time on tne ladies ot rfrookdale. So the days went speedily and pleasantly.with the help of galleries and concerts by day, and thea ters in the evening. Nora flattered herself that by the careful cultivation of more frank friendliness of manner toward Win ton, she was killing out warmer feelings in her heart, and at any rate successfully masking the true state of affairs in that weak citadel. Mrs. Ruthven, however, put in a claim or a good deal of her trustee's time and attention. She also found it expedient to take np her abode In the capital The police gave her little hope of recovering her lost property, but the preliminaries of ber new purchases made her presence requisite. "Have you seen Miss L'Estrange?" ask ed Mrs. Ruthven, one morning when Shir ley had been admitted before luncheon. "No, I thought of calling, but did not see what business I had to do so." "I wish yon would. Why should yon not?" "I do not know. Mrs. L'Estrange i rather stand off." "Pooh!" she returned with an expres sion of. cqntempL. ."Mrs. L.'Estrange is nojodyl They called here yesterday, but I was out. Shirley. I wish yon would make love to Nora! It would not be a bad marriage for yon, and yoa need not marry her if you do not like." "What is the real reason of your re gard for my interests?" "I want to see yon cut ont Winton." "I do not think there Is anything to In (erfere with in that direction. The run ning at present Is all on Marsden's side." Mrs. Ruthven stooped to pick np her pocket handkerchief before she replied "Well, cut Marsden out. Why should yoa not? Y'ou have been something of a fav orite with women, more experienced wom en than Nora L'Estrange, before this." "I am flattered," said Shirley with a elf-satlsfied smile. "Still I Imagine" . "Oh! I would give anything to see yot safely married to Nora L'Estrange," she interrupted, clasping her hands together with a fervent air. "What a denouement the whole thing would ber and she laugh ed a cruel, mocking laugh. "What whole thing?" Lsked Shirley, with an angry look. "My good friend, I am thinking of com plications which do not enter your mind." "I do not see how they can when 1 am In Ignorance." Here Mrs. Ruthven s courier enterec erlth a note, which she took and glanced at "Let him came up," she said, and snt i moment in silence, twisting it with her small pointed finger. "Am I in the way?' asked Shirley, with some stiffness. "No! no! you can stay," said Mrs. Ruthven, carelessly, and as she spoke the detective, Waite, was shown in. '"(! you are back again?" she said. "Have you anythig fresh?" "Something, I " he hesitated and glanced at Shirley. "Oh, you may speak. This gentleman. Captain Shirley," with a slight emphasis on the name, "was, you remember, at the ball when I was robbed, and knows all about it." Walte bowed gravely. "I have just come from Brussels," h nid. "A report I heard at. no matter where, induced me to visit a merchant there, who, it was said, had some fins rubies for" sale. They were -certainly Tery fine, and were, I find, bought from a respectable looking young man, of small stature and Tery dark complexion, who said he was a native of India. He spoke French very Imperfectly. He had, he said, inherited the stones frdm an uncle. He stated he was a native of Pondl cherry and had offered the gems in Paris, but could not get his price. This sur prised the Jeweler, as he asked less than their value, which the purchaser. Van dersluys. Rue de la Montague, gave him. After much trouble, I tracod this man back to Ostend, and ascertained that a passenger answering to his description embarked on board the Dover steamboat about three weeks ago, and there 1 lost all trace!" "But you must find It again," exclaimed Mrs. Ruthven, who had listened intently. "Y'ou know the reward I offered for the Jewels themselves. I will double It If yon enable me to pnnlsh the robber! Do yoa not think I am right?" she added with sudden startling vehemence to Shirley, who hesitated aa Instant and then re plied: "Certainly, Mrs. Ruthven, certainly. Such a miscreant deserves no mercy." "From Pondicherry, did be say? Did he give any name?" "Not I fancy the jeweler was too glai to get such a bargain, to make many in quiries." "Yon do not Intend to give up?" cried Mrs. Ruthven, eagery. "Certainly not, madame. These are the first tracks." He paused and gave a quick, questioning glance at Mrs. Ruth ven, who slightly bent ber head. "Yes," be went on, "the first tracks I have hit on, and I am determined not to give up till I have done all man can do to find the ras cal and his accomplices, if he has any." "I should imagine he had," said Shir ley, who had risen, and going over to the fire, stirred It into a blaze. "A man would hardly attempt so bold a stroke single-handed." "It would be a good deal safer alone." "Then what do you propose to do next ?" "I have not yet quite decided, sir," re plied the detective dryly. "Moreover, I never spenk of my plans. As there is no time to be lost in trying to find the trail. I shall wish you good morning, madanie. and keep you informed of my move ments. "A shrewd fellow," said Shirley, "but i fear bis chances are but scanty of truck ing this darky." "He will do it yet," returned Mrs. Ruth ven, with gloomy conviction, and fell into such persistent silence that, finding it Impossible to rouse her, Shirley, himself irritated and uneasy, bid her good morn "us- The next afternoon Marsden, who had been gratifying his lawyer by detailing the particulars of a successful speculation he had made on the Paris Bourse through the guidance of a friend, drove away to SouthWick street, having sent some flow ers to keep Mrs. Ruthven quiet. Somewhat to his discomfiture for he always suspected that Shirley was more or less a spy that gentleman wns iu the act of leaving his card as he went up the steps. The ladies were "out driving with Mr. Winton," said the highly respectable ex- butler, who opened the door. "When do you expect them in?" asked Marsden. "Can't say. sir. Not till Inte, anyway.' Marsden then left his card, and, turn ing, walked a few pares with Shirley. (To be continued.) A Novel Way to Collect a Bill. Quite il novel suseestinn In thh ar of blll-collec.f.lno- wa: m.-irlA t.hn other day through the mistaice of a mail ma lin? two letters in Mi is rit.v lie had bad considerable difficulty in persuading a young woman that his goods had not been sold to her for the mere treasure nf splfinrr nnrl dually she bad dismissed his mes. sender with the statement that she did not Want t.n h:ir from him airain. Nothing was left for the merchant to o nut to resort to the United Mates mails. He accordingly sat down and Wrote to the Vfiiinir wninan a let.tor which was chara teiized rather by terseness and vigor than by any terms of affection. Fortunatelr for bim, he had a social acquaintance with another vounir ladv in the sniua house, and while be had bis pen be thought he would write to her. too. personal letter. When he came to direct b's envelopes, though, be sent the dunning letter to bis personal friend and h's personal letter to bis debtor. It is needless to say that the mistake was corrected within a few moments after the rereint. nf t he letters, but tbe debtor's chagrin at the reveiat ou of ber position to an ather was so great that she paid her till immediately. WashingtouNew The man Wjo is alwava mid follow advireu is anra tn fnllnw et poorest kind that offers p. DR. tulpel The Brooklyn Divine's Sunday Sermon. Subject: 'Business Troubles." Tsit: "These were thy merchants In aU Sorts ot things." Ezekiel xxviL, 2t We are at the onening door of returning National prosperity. The coming crops, tha nMtuinmont oi puDiio commence ana, above all, the blessing of God will turn iu, upon all sections ot America the widest, greatest prosperity this country has ever seen. But that door of success is not yet fully open, and thousands of business men are yet suffering from the distressing times through which we have been passing. Home ot the best men In the land have faltered, men whose hearts are enlisted In everv irood work and whose hands have blessed every great charity. The church of God can afford to extend to them her sym- patnies ana pieaa Deiore nnavnn witn all availing prayer. The schools such men have established, the ehurches they have built, the asylums and beneficent institutions they nave iosterea win De tneir eulogy long alter their banking institutions are forgotten. Such men can never fail. They have their treasures in banks that never break and will be millionaires forever. But I thought it would be appropriate to-day and useful for me to talk about the trials and temptations of our business men and try to offer some curative prescriptions. In the first place, I have to remark that a great many of our business men feel ruinous trials and temptations coming to them from small and limited capital in business. It is everywhere understood that it now takes three or four timns as much to do business well than it once did. Once a few hundred dollars were turned into goods. The mer chant would be his own storekeeper, his own salesman, his own bookkee(ier. He would manage all the affairs himself, ami every thing would be net profit. Wonderful changes have come. Costly apparatus, ex tensive advertising, exorbitant store rents, heavy taxation, expensive agencies are only parts of tne demand made upon our com mercial men, and when they have found themselves in such circumstances with small capital they have sometimes been tempted to run against tbe rocks ol moral and financial destruction. This temptation of limited capital has ruined men in two ways. Some times they have shrunk down under the temptation. They have yielded the battle before the first shot was fired. At the first hard dun they surrendered. Their knees knocked together at the fall of the auction eer's hammer. They blanched at the finan cial peril. They did not understand that there is such a thing as heroism in merchan dise and that there ate Waterloos of the counter and that a man can fight no braver battle with the sword than he can with the yardstick. Their souls melted In them be cause sugars were up when they wanted to buy and down when they wanted to sell, and unsalable goods were on the shelf and bad debts in their ledger. The gloom ot their countenances overshadowed even their dry goods and groceries. Despondency, coming' from limited capital, blasted them. Others have felt It in a different way. They have said: "Here I have been trudging along. I have been trying to be honest all these years. I find it Is of no use. Now it is make or break." The small craft that could have stood the stream is put out be yond the lighthouse on the great sea of spec ulation. He borrows a few thousand dollars from friends who dare not refuse him, and he goes bartering on a large scale. He reasons In this way: Perhaps I may succeed, and It I don't I will be no worse off than I am now, for 1 100.000 taken from nothing, nothing re mains." Stocks are the dice with which he gam bles. He bought for a few dollars vast tracts of Western land. Some man at the East, liv ing on a fat homestead, meets this gambler of fortune and is persuaded to trade off his estate for lots in a Western city, with larg avenues, and costly palaces, and lake steam ers smoking at the wharves, and rail trail, s coming down with lightning speed fro u every direction. There it is all on paper! The city has never been built nor the rail roads constructed, but everything points that way. and the thing will be done as sure a? you live. Well, the man goes on, stopping at no fraud or outrage. In his SDlendid equipage he dashes past, while the honest laborer looks up and wipes tne sweat from his brow and says. "I wonder where that man got all his money?" After a while the bubble bursts. Creditors rush iu. The law clutches, but finds nothing in its grasp. The men who were swindled say, '4 don't know how I eould have ever been deeeived by that man." and the pictorials, in handsome wood cuts, set forth the hero who in ten years hod genius enougn to tail lor lau.ouu: And that is the process by which many have been tempted through limitation of capital to rush into labyrinths from which, they could not be extricated. I would not want to chain honest enterprise. I would not want to block up any of the avenues for honest accumulation that open before young men. On the contrary. I would like to cheer them on and rejoice when they reach the goal, but when there are such multitudes of men going to ruin for this life and the life that is to come through wrong notions of wnat are lawful spheres ot enterprise it is the duty of tbe Church of God, and the minis ters of religion, and the friends of all young nen, to utter a plain, emphatic, unmis zakable protest. These are the influences :hat drown men in destruction and pcr- ution. Again, a great many of our business men Sre tempted to overanxiety and care. You know that nearly all commercial businesses ire overdone in this day. Smitten with the love ot quick gain, our cities are crowded with men resolved to be rich at aU hazards. They do not care how money comes it it jnly comes. Our best merchants are thrown into competition with men of more means nd less conscience, and if an opportunity if accumulation be neglected one hour some one else picks it up. From January to December the struggle goes an. Night gives no quiet to limbs toss ing in restlessness nor to a brain that Will not stop thinking. Tbe drea-ns are harrowed by Imaginary loss and flashed with imaginary gains. fcven the Sab bath cannot dam back the tide of anxiety, for this wave of worldliness dashes clear ver the churches and leaves its foam, on Bibles and prayer books. Men who are living on salaries or by the cultivation of the loil cannot understand the wear and tear of ;he body and mind to which our merchants ire subjected when they do not know but mat their livelihood and their business lonor are dependent upon the uauertainties f the next hour. This excitement ot the irain, this corroding care ot the heart, this itrain ot effort that exhausts the spirit, ends a great many of our best men in mid dle life into the grave, their life dashed out tgainst money safes. They go with their store on their backs. They trudge like cam els, sweating, from Aleppo to Damascus. They make their life a crucifixion. Stand ing behind desks and counters, banished from tbe fresh air. weighed down by cark- Ing cares, they are so many suicides. Oh. I wish I could to-day rub ont some of these lines of care; that I could lift some ot the burdens from the heart; that I oould give relaxation to some ot these worn muscles. It is time for you to begin to take it a little easier. Do your best and then trust God for the rest. Do not fret. God manages all the affairs of your life, and He manages them for the best. Consider the lilies. They always have robes. Behold the fowls ot tbe air! They always have nests. Take a long breath. Bethink betimes that God did not make you for a pack horse. Dig yourselves out from among the hogsheads and the shelves, and In the ligntottne nolysaobatn aay resolve that you will give to the winds your fears, and your iretluloess, an I your distresses. Xou brought nothing-into the world, and It is very certain you can carry nothing out Having food and raiment be therewith con tent, o ne merchant came home irom tne store. There had been a great disaster there. He opene I the front door and said in the midst of his family circle: "I am ruined. Everything is gone. I am all ruined." His wife said. "I am left." and the little child threw up its hands and said, "Papa, I am here." The aged grandmother, seated In the room, said, "Then you have all the prom Ises of God beside, John." And he burst in to tears and said: "God forgive me. that I have been so ungrateful! I find I have a great many things left. God forgive mel" Attain, I remark that many of our business men are tempted to neglect their home duties. How often It Is that the store and home clash, but there ought not to be any collision. It is often the ease that the father isthe mere treasurer of the family, a sort of agent to see that they have dry goods and groceries. The work of family government he does not touch. Once or twice in a year he calls the children up on a Sabbath after noon, when he has a half hour he does not exactly know what to do with, and in that half hour be disciplines the children and chides them and corrects their faults and gives them a great deal of good advice, and then wonders all the rest of the year that his children do not do better when they have the wonderful advantage of that semi-annual castigation. The family table, which ought to be the place for pleasant discussion and cheerful ness, often becomes the pla-e of perilous expedition. If there be any blessing asked at all, it is cut off at both ends and with the band on the carving knife. He counts on his fingers, making estimates in the Inter stices of the repast. The work done, the hat goes to the head, and he starts down the street, and before the family have arisen from the table he has bound up another bundle of goods and says to the customer, "Anything more I can do for you to-day, sir?" A man has more responsibilities than those which are discharged by putting com petent instructors over his children and giv ing them a drawing master and a musie teacher. The physical culture of the child will not be attended to unless the father looks to it. He must some times lose his dignity. He must unlim ber his joints. He must sometimes lead - their sports and games. Tuo parent who cannot forget the severe duties of life sometimes, to fly thn kite and trundle the hoop and ehase the ball and jump the rope with his children, ouirht never to have been tempted out of a crusty and unredeem able solitariness. If you want to keep your children away from places of sin you can only do it by making your home attractive. You may preach sermons and ndvocate re forms ami denounce wickedness, and yet your children will be captivated by the glit tering saloon of sin uu less you can make your home a brighter place than any other place on earth to them. Oh. gather all charms, into your house. If you can afford it, bring books and pic tures and cheerful entertainments to the household. But above all teach those children, not by half an hour twice a year on the Sabbath day, but day after day and every day teach them that religion is a great gladness; that it throws chains of gold about the neck; that it takes no spring from the foot, no blitbeness from the heart, no Sparkle from the eye, no ring from the laugh ter, but that "her ways are ways of pleasant ness, and all her paths are peace." I sympa thize with the work being done in many ot our cities by which beautiful rooms are set apart by our Young Men's Christian Associa tions, and I pray God to prosor them in all things. Bi.t I tell you there is something back of that and before that. We need more Happy, consecrated, cheerful Christian homes everywhere. Again I remark that a great many of our business men are tempted to put the attain ment of money above the value ot the soul. It is a grand thing to have plenty of money. The more you get of it the better, if it come honesty ami go usefuliy. For the lack ot it sickness di- without medicine, and hunger fin-is it coffin in the empty bread tray, and nakedness shivers for lack of clothes and fire. When I r. jar a man in canting tirade against money a Christian man as though it had no possible use on earth and he had no in terest in it at all, I come almost to think (hat the heaven that would be appropriate for him would be an everlasting poorhouse. While, my friends, we do admit there is such a thing as the lawful use of money ; a profitable use of money let us rec ognize also the fact that money cannot satis fy a man's soul; that it cannot glitter in the dark valley; that it cannot pay our fare across the Jordan of death; that It cannot unlock the gate ot heaven. There are men in all occupations who seem to act as though they thought that a pack of bonds and mort gages coul 1 be traded off for a title to heaven and as though gold would be a law ful tender in that place where it is so com mon that they make pavemonts out of it. Salvation by Christ is the only salvation. Treasures in heaven are the only incorrupti ble treasures. Have you ever ciphered out in the rule ot loss and gain the sum, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soulr" However line your apparel, the windsof death will flutter it lik6 rags. Home spun and a threadbare coat have sometimes been the shadow of coming robes made white in the blood of the Lamb.; The pearl of great Iirice is worth more than any gem you can ring from tha ocean, than Australian or Brazilian mines strung in one carcanet. Seek after God, find Ilis righteousness, and all shall be well here all shall be well here after. Smw of you remembar the shipwreck o'. the Central America. That noble ship had, i inuiK. aojut ouu pa-isengers aooard. Hud deuly the storm came, and the surges tmtti n'4.1 thA drt.-lra nn-l Burnnw int.-. hi. hatches, aud there wont up a hundred voiced aeatn siiriex. lhe loam on the jaw of the wave. The pitching ot the steamer as though it were leaping a mountain. The dismal flare of the signal rockets. The long oougb of the steam pipes. The hiss of extinguished furnaces. The walking of God on the wave! The steamer went not down without a strug gle. As the passentrs stationed themselves in rows to bail out the vessel, hark to the thump pf the buckets, as men unused to toil, with bllstere I hamls and strained muscle, tug for their lives. There is a sail seen against the sky. The flash of the distress gun is noticed; its voiea heard not, for it is choked in the louder booming of the sea. A few passengers escaped, but the steamer gave one great lurch an I was gone! So there are so.ne ranu who will oa prosperously In life. All's well, all's well. But at last some financial disaster comes a euroslydon. D wn they go! The bottom of the commer cial sm is strewn with shattered hulks. Bat because your property goes do not let yout out go. Though all else perish, save that, fori have to tell you of a more stupendous shipwreck than that which I just mentioned. God launched this world 6009 years ago. It has been going o:i u a ler freight of moun tains and immort-ils, but on day it will tagger at the cry of fire. The timbers of rook will burn, the mountains flame like masts, an.l the clouds like sails in the judgment hurricane. Tliea God shall take the passengers off tlio dsek, and from the berths those who hav.s Ion-.; been asleep iu Jesus, and He will sot them far beyond the reach of storm and peril. But how many shall go down will never ba known until it shall be announced one day in heaven. The shipwreck ot a world! Sj many mllliont savedl So many millions drowned! Oh, nij dear hearers, whatever you lose, though your houses go, though your lands go, though all your earthly possessions perish, may God Almighty, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, save all your soulsl The Grasshopper Crop. Professor Otto Lugger. State Entomologist of Minnesota, called at tne Governor's office and made a report on the. grasshopper kill- i Ing In Chicago County with the hopper , dozers. They have over 400 of these ma- I chines at work and are gathering in 8000 bushels of grasshoppers daily. Thus far the hoppers have not invaded the irrain fields I The frequent rains have kept the grass green and tender, and they have contented them selves feeding on this. The oi.ly dyes imrcrvions to Hie bleaching power of tbe sun's rays are Prussian bine and cbrome vellow. Tbe Turkish government intends to establish an earthquake observatory at Constantinople. The Albatross has been known to follow a ship for two months witnout ever being seen to alight in th water : or take a moment's rest. It is believed to sleep oi tbe wing. ' A new rorgue for tbe reception ot bodies Ibat trust be kept for some ' time for purpose of identification is to be built in Paris during tbe coming ' year. i Experiment bas demonstrated that plants thrive much better under white glass than green. ' OPIUM A VALUABLE DRUG. Cos salsa I on Has Decided that Zt X Jeae Harmful titan Aleebol. Tbe opium commission, appointed tk. England to report on the use and effects f opium In India, has rendered Its de cision. It bad to determine whether opi um, when taken in moderation, was an Injurious article of diet; whether In lian opinion was opposed to Its use, ind whether prohibition wss a practi t&I policy. All three questions are an swered by a vote of 8 to 1 In the nega tive. Opium Is found to be an excel lent remedy in moderation all throngh life with practically no ill effect tipou the healthy constitution, and Its habit ual votaries, like the Sikhs and tbe Kuj poots, display exceptionally fine phys ique. Doctors know that the effect of opium differs with every constitution, and it is proved that the Indian con stitution tolerates It better than even that of the Chinese, who are not ptiro vegetarians. It no more lujures thmn than wine Injures Italians or beer the Bavarian peasantry. Ia India every body looks upon opium as allowable, dnd the practice of opium eatlDg Is al most universal. In fact, Its prohibition would be everywhere regarded as an unjustifiable Interference with a purely domestic comfort, just as In this coun try on cffectlre attempt to prevent a man taking a glass of beer with bis home dinner would be considered. There Is a disposition among thought Ml natives to look upon the use of tin Sniff as the alternative to the use oi eheap alcohol and to dread the resort to the latter. Religious feeling account Cor this I some measure, but It Is well known that, whilo Asiatics cau be moderato in the use of sedatives, they lose all restraint when they take to alcohol. So the commission b:is deeld id that opium is a reputable dru?, that It does Infinitely less barm In the world than alcohol and that Its effects In a large proportion of cases where It is ised are beneficent and desirable. This Jecislon would, of course, greatly sim plify the question of prohibition, but the commission frankly confesses that prohibition is simply impossible. There Is no means of preventing the manu facture of opium In the native states and throughout India, and no amount tf seal or expenditure or severity enn prevent the smuggling of a drug which ran be carried In a quill, w-hieli will prow anywhere on the continent of India, and which national opinion, even imong tbe officials and the police, en tirely approves. The commission nays: "We can, and do, restrict the use of opl im by taxing It enormously, but the prohibition of It Is entirely beyond our power. The moderate use of opium s, therefore, at last pronounced respec table. There are people on this side of ie world who have always looked upon t as a shining virtue compared with the loathsome habit, still tolerated by some cultured nations, of tobacco chewing in public places. St. Louis Globe-Demo. erat IIow Appetite BUI Won a Trlze. A jolly crowd of jokers were swap ping stories at Frank Sell's the other night when the conversation turned on appetites. Everv one bad something to tell about feats of gourmandizing. " Did you fellows ever hear how Ap petite Bill won a big pot of money ia a pie-eating contest?" spoke up Walter Davis. No one ever had. "Well, you all know that Bill is w sower when it comes to feed. When John Usher used to serve a boiled din ner on Mondays Bill thought nothing of assimilating three heads of cabbag9 and the appropriate accompaniment oi Ealt meat, while he helped digestion along with a peck of potatoes and a couple of loaves ot bread, Bill was great on boiled dinners, but when it tame to pie he was a marvel. "He wasn't so strong on the quantity of pies he could eat as ha was on tin number he could bite through when they were placed one on top of the other. He had a record of making his teeth meet through a layer of six pies, and sweet potato pies at thnt, but he wouldn't bet on more than five. "Of course a man who can hit through three pies oan make a fortune if ha only has a stake, so you can im agine how Bill would clean up the gilt of a new town when he would begin on three and then play progression. "Well, sirs, when Bill first struoL Ru.m Row and began pie biting he kept the boys broke, so it was concluded that a job should be put np on him. One day a fellow wanted to bot him that he couldn't bite through four lemon pies. Bill looked at him mourn fully and pulled out his roll. " 'Bring on your pies,' he said, n ae put up his stuff. The fellow went ont and pretty soon back he came with tbe pies. He had had 'em baked to order, and in one of 'em he had made the baker put a pie plate. Every body on the row knew ot the joke ex cept Bill and Usher's place was tilled. Men burned themselves with their cigars to keep from laughing as Bill picked np the pies. Ho opened his mouth aud inserted the edges of the pies. Then he bit. "When his teeth met against thepi plate the mott surprised look you ever saw in life spread over his face. Then he grew red behind the ears and he drew himself together. Ho jutt gave one mighty bite and then put down the pies while he spat out a lot of eras! and filling and took a semioiroulai piece jf tin plate out of his mouth. "The crowd nearly fainted as Bill gathered in the stakes and remarkod: "Boys, yoa orter hed put in a stove lid ; tin don't phase me.', Washington Nenm. The Pood Cnre" To cue many who abhor the taking ot jitter drags, the food cure opens an al luring prospect This Is positively the latest Idea, Introduced Into England by physicians of advanced Ideas. They claim that certain foods contain all the elements necessary to effect cures; that they have made up a list which em braces tonics, febrifuges, diuretics, and. In fact; every medicinal agent that is Acflned In the pbnrinacopla. These, foods are of the simplest character, but the English doctors do not disclose them, except to their patients. They say that In the course of ten y:irs there will not be one-third the medicine ua4 tfexUuaed to-dax. .'SI H J5- 1 i'Uf it i HI H 1 .r
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