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About Heppner gazette. (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1907)
THE IRON PIRATE A Tlain Tale Happenings By MAX -00- CnAPTER XX. It was later that Cnptain Black, Doctor Osbart and myself entered the 7 :30 train from Kamsgate ; leaving the screw tender, now disguised, with the man John and eight of the most turbulent among the crew of the nameless ship aboard her. We had come without hindrance through the crowded waters of the Channel; and, styl ins ourselves a Norwegian whaler in bal last, had gained the difficult harbor with out arousing suspicion. At the first Black had thought to leave me on the tteamer; but I gave him solemn word that I would not seek to quit him, that I would not in any way betray him while the true lasted, and that I would return, wherever I was, to the tender in the harbor at the end of a week. I will not pause to tell you my own thoughts when I set foot on shore again. I could not help but carry my memory to the last occasion when, with Roderick and Mary, I had come to London in the very hope of getting tidings of this man who now sat with me in a Kent Coast express Where were the others then the girl who had been as a sister to me, and the man as a brother: how far had the fear of my death made sad that childish face which had known such little sadness in its sixteen rears of life? It was odd to think that Mary might be then returned to Lon don, and that I, whom perchance she thought dead, was near to her, and yet, in a sense, more cut oil from her than in the grave itself. It was after 10 o'clock that the ride terminated, and, following Black and Os bart into a closed carriage, I was driven from the station. We drove for fifteen minutes, staying at last before a house in a narrow street, where we went up stairs to a suite of rooms reserved for us. After an excellent supper Osbart left us. but Black took me to a double-bedded room, saying that he could not let me out of h's sight. "Boy, if you make one attempt to play me false," said he, "I'll blow your brains out." On the next morning Black quitted the bouse at an early hour after breakfast, but he locked the door of the room upon Osbart and myself. "Not," as he said, "because I can't take your word, but be cause I don't want anyone fooling in here." He returned in the evening at 7 o'clock, and found me as he had left me. reading a novel. The following day was Thursday. I shall always remember it, for I regard It as one of the most memorable days in my life. Black went out as usual early In the morning; his object being, as on the preceding day, to find out, if he could, what the Admiralty were doing in view of the robbery of the Bellonic. We had been left thus about the space of an hour when there came a telegram for the doctor, who read it with a fierce exclamation. "The captain wants me urgently," said he. "and there's nothing to do but to leave you here. You must put up with the In dignity of being locked in. The man wno owns this house is one of us." When he was gone I sat in the great armchair, pulling it to the window, and taking up my book. I could hear the hum of town, the rumbling of buses, and the pubdued roar of London awake. I could even see people in the houses at the other side of the leads, and it occurred to me. What if I open that casement and call for help? I had given a pledge, it Is true: but should a pledge bind under such con ditions? I was in the very throes of a mental struggle when the strange event of the day happened. I chanced to look up from the book I had been trying to read, and I saw a remarkable object upon the leads outside my window. It was the figure of a man, looking into my room ; and pres ently, when he had given me innumerable nods and winks, he took a knife from his pocket, and oi-ned the catch, stepping into the chamber with the nimble foot of a goat upon a crag path. Then he drew a chair up to mine, slapped me upon the knee and said : "In the name of the law! I take you by surprise; but business, Mr. Mark Strong. In the first place I have wired to your friend, Mr. Roderick Stewart, and I expect him from Portsmouth in a couple of hours; in the second, your other friend, the doctor, is under lock and key, on the trifling charge of murder in the Midlands, to begin with. When we have Captain Black, the little party will be complete." I looked at him, voiceless from the sur prise of it, and he went on : "I needn't tell you who I am: but there's my card. We have Kix men in the street outaide, and another half dozen watching the leads here. You will be sensible enough to follow my instructions absolutely. Black, we know, leaves the country to-night in his steamer. The probability is that he will come to fetch jou at 7 o'clock I have frightened it all out of the people downstairs if he does, you will go with him. Otherwise, he's pretty sure to end someone for you, and, es you at the moment are our sole link be tween that unmitigated scoundrel and his arrest, I ask you to risk one step more, and return at any rate as far as the coast, that we may follow him for the last time." I looked at his card, whereon was the Inscription. "Detective Inspector King, Scotland Yard and I said at once : "I shall not only go to the coast, but to his tender, for I've given my word. What you may do in the meantime Is not tny affair. I suppose he's made a sensa tion?" "Sensation ! There Isn't another sub ject talked of In any house In Europe but, read that ; and it s ten tnousana in my pocket, any way !" Detective-Inspector King went as he had come, passing noiselessly over the leads : but he left me a newspaper, where in there was column after column con cerning the robbery of the Bellonic. At last, the police were on Ui trail ol Cap of Strange on the Sea PEMBERTON tain Black ; yet I saw at once that, lack ing my help, he would elude them. It was half past six when at last a man unlocked the door of my room and entered. He was one of Black's negroes. "Sar will come quick," said he, "and leave his luggage. The master waits." He gave me no time for any explana tions, but took me by the arm, and, pass ing from the house by a back door, he went some way down a narrow street. There a cab waited for us, and we drove away, but not before one, who stood on the pavement, had made a slight signal to me, and called another cab. In him I recognized Detective Inspector King, and I knew that we were followed. CHAPTER XXI. We drove rapidly and took a train for Tilbury. The journey was accomplished in something under an hour; and when we alighted and got upon the bank of the river, I saw a steam launch with the man John in the bows of her. I entered the launch and we started immediately, going at a great pace towards Sheerness ; and reached the Nore after some buffet with the seas in the open. At this point we sighted the tender, and went aboard her, when we made full speed towards the North foreland. Black had made a colossal mistake, from his point of view, in setting foot in England; but the crowning blunder of his life was that fatal act of folly by which he had sought to shield me from the men. Now the object of letting Black reach his vessel again was as clear as daylight ; it was not so much the man as his ship which they wished to take. But were we followed? I had seen nothing to lead me to that conclusion as I came down the Thames ; and now, fa vored by an intensely dark night, we promised, if nothing should intervene, to gain the Atlantic in two days, and to be aboard that strange citadel which was our stronghold against the nations. There was no sign of any warship pursuing ; no indication whatever that the tender, then steaming at thirteen knots towards Dover, was watched or observed by any living being. I was dead worn out and slept twelve hours at the least, for it was afternoon when I awoke. Black was not in the cabin, and I went above to him on the bridge. There was no land then to be een ; but the clear play of sparkling waves shone away to the .horizon over a tumbling sea, upon which were a few ships. Upon one of these he constantly turned his glass. By and by all the crew began to ob serve Black's anxiety and to crowd to the starboard side : but he told them noth- ng, although he never left the bridge. It was somewhat perplexing to me to ob serve that, while the great ship was un doubtedly following us, she did not gain a yard upon us. This strange pursuit lasted three days and into the third night ; when I was awakened from a snatch of sleep by the firing of a gun above my head. I got on deck, where my eyes were almost blinded by a great volume of light which spread over the sea from a point some two miles away on our starboard bow. We had been in the Atlantic then for twenty-four hours, and I did not doubt for a moment that we had reached the nameless ship. Had there been any uncertainty, the wild joy of the men would have banished it. I heard the voice of Black singing, "Hands, stand by to lower boats !" At that moment the cruiser showed her teeth. Suddenly there was a rush of flame from her bows, and a shell hissed above us the first sign of her attempt to stop us joining our own ship. We were no more than a quarter of a mile from safety, but the run was full of peril, and, as the launch stood out, the nameless ship of a sudden shut off her light, if possible to shield us in the dark. But the pursuer instantly flooded us with her own arc, and. following It with quick shots, she hit the jolly-boat at the third. Of the eight men there, only two rose when the hull had disappeared. "Fire away !" cried Black, shaking his fist, and mad with passion ; "and get your hands in ; you'li want all the bark you've got just now." But we had hauled the men aboard as he spoke, and. though two shells foamed in the sea and wetted us to the skin in the passage, we were at the ladder of the nameless ship without other harm, and with fierce shouts the men gained the decks. For thm it was a glorious moment. They had weathered the perils of a city, and stood where they couiu best face the crisis of the pursuit. It was a spectacle to move the most stolid apathy ; the sight of a couple of hundred demoniacal figures lighted by the great white wave of light from the enemy's ship, their faces up turned as they waited Black's orders, their hands flourishing knives and cut lasses, their hunger for the contest be trayed in every gesture. "Boys," cried Black, "yonder's a gov ernment ship. You know me, that I don't run after war scum every day, for that's not my business. But we're short of oil, and the cylinders are heating. Boys, it's swing or take that ship and the oil aboard her." "Look out aft the torpedo!" A tiny line of foam was just vis ibis for a second in the way of the light ; but, the moment the cruiser had shot it from her tube, she extinguished her arc, leav ing us to light the waters with our own. There was no difficulty whatever in fol lowing the line of the deadly message. "Full speed astern!" roared Black, and the nameless ship moved backwards, fast er and yet faster,. But the black death bearer followed her, as a shark follows a death ship ; we seemed even to have back ed into its course it came on as though to strike us full amidships, but the great ship swung round with a majestic sweep, and as we waited breathlessly, the torpedo passed right under our bow, missing the ram by a hair's breadth. We fired at the cruiser, hitting her right under the fuuuel, aud a second time near her fore guu. Nor did she answer our firing, but rolled to the swell appar ently out of action. "Skipper, are you going aboard her now?" asked the man "Roaring John." "Sho's done by her looks, aud you'll get no oil if ye delay. Karl, thoro, he ian't ... ,. . I.. 1,1- ,,! " as comtortaDie as u ne wer m u The little German engineer was very far from it. He was almost desperate when minute by minute his stock of oil grew less ; aud he ran from one to the othr ns thomrh we had grease in our pockets, and could give it to him. BWk took due notice, but did not lose his calm. "You're quite sure she's doue, John?" he asked, turning to the big man. "She's done, 1 guess, cr why don't she spit?" The words had scarce left his Hps when the cruiser's aft guns thundered out almost together, and one shell passed through the very center of our group. It cut the man John in half as he might have been cut by a sword, and his blood and flesh splashed us, while the other half ... . . . of him stood up like a bust upon the deck, and during one horrible moment his arms moved wildly, and there was a horrid quivering of the muscles of his face. The second shot struck the roof of the turret obliquely, and glanced from It into the sea. The destruction seemed to move Black as no more than a rain shower. He simply cried : "All hands to cover ; I'm going to give 'em a taste of the machine guns ;" and we re-entered the conning tower. Then, as we began to move again, I swept the horizon with our light; but this time, far away over the black waste of water, the signal was answered. "Number two !" said Black, quite calm ly, when I told him, "and this time a bat tleship. Well, boy, if we don't take that oil yonder in ten minutes you may say your prayers." CHAPTER XXII. The nameless ship bounded forward in to the night, and soon was not fifty yards away from her opponeat. Never have I known anything akin to the episode when bullets rang unon our decks in hundreds, and the dead and the living in the other ship lay huddled together, in a seething, struggling, moaning mass. We had open ed fire upon her before such of her men as could be spared had got below. "Let 'em digest that!" cried Black, as he watched the havoc. I, who had not ceased to watch that distant light which marked another war ship on the horizon, knew that a second light had shone out as a star away over the sea ; and now, when I looked again, I saw a third light. We were being sur- rounded. The searchlights of the distant snips were Clearer io my view .- portions of the town Or to the ment. Black saw them, and took a sight , . , .. . . from the glass. BUnurbB' or camped in the parks and "Boy," he said, "you should have told slept between the graves In the ceme me of this. I see three lights, and that terles. The beautiful walls of the church means a fleet." stood cracked by the earthquake and "Are you going to run for it?" I asked. ; blackened by the fire. "Run for it, with two engines, yes ; I jn time a temiwrary place of meeting but it's a poor business. And we'll have " found) aml R SuIldny 8ervlce was to fight. Jhild, a pathetic contrast to the over- I saw the foremost Ironclad but two ; " ' it . miles away from us, and the others were : frng services of the days before the sweeping round to cut us off if we at-,' disaster. The Sunday school was re tempted flight. We lay with but two en- organized on the same day. A pitiful gines working, and a speed of sixteen handful of children appeared, and the knots at the best. Nor did we know from minute to minute when another en?ine would break down. At that moment there I n knwiVjA anunil rvf trvatntr fln1 - tearing from the engine room, and it was succeeded by a moment of dead nad chill- ing silence. "The second engine's gone!" said a man above, quite calmly. We found the crew sullen and mutter ing, but Friedrich, the engineer's eldest son, sat at the top of the engine room lad- ,1 .. nnA m fa (Ifurn his fnpn TVia great ship still trembled under the shook I of the breakdown and was not showing- ten knots. The foremost ironclad crept, up minute by minute; and before we had realized the whole extent of the mishap, she was within gunshot of us; but her colleagues were some miles away, she out pacing them all through it. "She signals to us to let her come aboard," said "Four-Eyes." "Answer that we'll see in chips first," said Black, and he called for Karl and made signs to him. Those on the battleship made quite sure of us now. for they steamed on and came within three hundred yards of us. Black watched them as a beast watches the un suspecting prey. He stood, his face knit n savage lines, nis nana upon me oen. I looked from the glass, and saw that no man was visible upon our decks, that our engines naa ceasea 10 move. e were motionless. Then in a second the bells rang out. There was again that frightful grating and tearing in the engine room. The nameiesb ship came round to her helm with a mighty sweep; she foamed and plunged in the seas; sne turned her ,.ii,f oi iho nrhnr- nH rrrnin. l dill nil 'iiiii - ..... j r, as a great stricken wounded beast, she roared onward to the voyage of death. I knew then the fearful truth ; Black meant to sink the cruiser with his ram. I shall never forget that moment of terror, that grinding of heated steel that plunge into the seas. I waited for tne crash, and in Z .n. n,.r. seemed to x, I last there was anfrr the sea a mighty clap ' - . ' ' of submarine thunder. Dashed headlong from my post, I lay bruised and wounded upon the floor of steel. The roof above me rocked; the walls shook and were bent; my ears rang with the deafening roar in them; seas of foam mounted; shrieks and the sound of awful rending " ' . . , . . and tearing drowned other shouts of men going to their death. And througH all was the hysterical yelling of Black, his defiance, his elation. (To be continued.) Couldn't Fool Her. Miss DePlayne (proudly) A dozen men offered me their hands at the sea shore this summer. Miss WIserly Indeed ! I How long have you been a student of palmis try? Wanted Pmrtlenlara. "Have pity on me, darling." pleaded the poor but otherwise honest young man ; "I cannot live without ycu." "What's the matter,' homely heiress; "have Jobr queried the you lost your London cab drivers earn aa aggre gaU of over f 40,000 per day. "Toodles." He had another and a better name, 111 was entered In the Sunday school class 1 I.. .1 1.... It U.l,t- book ; but "Toodles" was the name he gave, and Toodles was the name by which he had' gone during the greater part of his life; and Toodles is the only name by which he shall be known to the readers of this article. "Where do you live?" asked the teacher. "Around the corner," was his reply. It was the only residence given for rec ord. But -what corner he lived around Is not yet known ; he lived mostly tl ,n ,1 .-. M .. 1 ..Ulrnil nn 11,111 u,lu n miscellaneous fund of Information there Toodles liked the Sunday school. To some of the boys with plenty of home privileges, Sunday school was a com monplace blessing, If a blessing at all; but Toodles counted It among the lux uries of his scant life. It Is cheering to the heart of a Sunday school teach er to have an appreciative pupil. It more than compensates for some uncon ventionalltles In the matter of apparel ai:d speech. There Is no place for the recording of the deficiencies of Toodles. Indeed, they are forgotten. His was a loyalty and enthusiasm that would have hid a multitude of infelicities, if there had been a multitude to hide. There were not many ; it Is hard now to believe that there were any. Toodles became a diligent propagan dist. He brought more boys Into the Sunday school than did any other mem ber. There was not even a teacher who , had so many to her credit And Too- dies' recruits, brought in from his own stratum of society, he regarded as un der his care, and they looked to him as their leader and representative. Then came the earthquake and the fire. The church of eight hundred -members seemed to have disappeared In a night. There was a hardly a member whose home was not burned and whose busi ness was not destroyed. Scores of them , ,eft tfae c,ty ftnd hundred8 mnoved to !que8tIon was what to do. Could the ' b oys and gIrls le foUnd? Could enou gh of them be assembled to make a Sun- 'day school In the heart of the burned , .district? Then entered Toodles. He had walked thirty-nine blocks to get there, and was late. But the school Informally re- solved Itself Into a session with Too dles. There was not a camp within or about the city which he had not vis- and he knew Just who were there, He was able to give lists from memory of more of the church families than even the minister knew. He knew where the boys were. The minister and the superintendent and the teachers got out their note books and sat at the feet of Toodles. Among the most encouraging facts In the reorganization of that Sunday school was the practical assistance given by this waif. And the minister said, "Brethren, It always pays to help a Iwy ; you never know how soon he will be able to help you. Who of us eupiosed when we took this little lad off the street, and gave him what we could in the Master's name, that goon we should find him one of so our best helpers? ' They thanked God for Toodles, and took courage. Youth's Companion. Christian Contentment. Poverty Is largely a matter of fancy. The real poverty is in the mind In the mind's attitude. There Is such a thing as being rich without money, That man Is rich who Is rlcn In integ- ritTi and wno has that best of all biw'sings a contented mind Christian contentment. This last great boon is . . , , . gained through making the most of our l"le enjoyments, through making the . . M 111.. . I 1. .. I. V. -1.1 . least or our nine im:s, uuuuku uuuig our best at our little duties through trusting In God and doing the right jQ be sure, we cannot all be money rlcb Some money-rtch people are very Rut we aI, millionaires ' . a . i oharacter and of faith, possessing OI t,ln,utlcl 14 that godliness which, with contentment, Is a great gain, the real gain, the high- est riches. G. B. . lianocK, u. u. Jwett Hour of Prayer. Christ la the only teacher of real prayer. ie xeacues uy triuuipie aim :r,rHiit. He prayed trustingly, con- stantly, In Intimate friendship with the u.. tto taachM ii a to nrav ns He r ii i ir i. " m did. Solitude, Isolation and retirement are essential to prayer. Get away from i, u-nrld somewhere, alone. Our leaseholds must be so arranged as to permit a quiet time alone each day, without Interruption or observation. In prayer there must ne aosoiuie concen- tr.tirm of the mind ueaa tne uime prayerfully. Here God talks to his children. Let the thought of earthly communion with the heavenly Fatner become habitual. -Practice the pre- ence of God." Look forward to the hour of prayer aH the most delightful season of the day. Keep the Quiet Hour. If you thus learn to pray lu secret, your public prayers will tako care of themselves. 1,1 fe a Discipline. Sooner or later we lind out that Ufa is not a holiday, but a discipline. Ear lier or later we will discover that the. world In not a playground. It Is qui to clear that God means It for a school. The moment we forgot that, the puzzle of life begins. We try to play In school. The Master does not mind that so much for its own sake, for He likes to see His children happy; but lu our play ing we neglect our lessons. We do not .see how much there Is to learn, and wo do not care. But our Master cares. He has a perfectly overpowering ami Inex plicable solicitude for our education; and because He loves us He wines Into the school sometimes and speaks to us. God's I)enltn. In our whole life-melody the music Is broken oft" here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, a time of sick ness and disappointed plans, and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voices must be silent and -our part miss ing In the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune and not be dismayed at the "rests." If we look up, God will beat the time for us. Ruskin. SPIES ON THE MACHINERY. Clock Arrangement Telia Automati cally When It Worku or Bents. The Introduction of modem detail cost accumulating methods, which have done much to systematize and cheapen manufacture, has led to the develop ment of an ingenious apparatus which Indicates at a distance when any ma chine is stojied and the output of any machine for a given period. Moreover, the device makes an automatic record of all these facts so that at the close of the day the manager, by acanning their graphic records, can tell the ex act output of any machine and the length of time It was In operation, thereby enabling him to form an accu rate Judgment of the reliability of dif ferent operators. The beauty of this device Is that the workman knows his every movement Is being reported In the manager's office and he Is helpless to misrepresent conditions. The recorder consists of a control ling clock, which revolves a series of time charts, one for each machine un der observation. The hours and divi sion of liours are printed vertically on the chart, In addition to which a series of pencils are rigidly fixed. The ad justment Is such that the machine can lie made to indicate every single revo lution or any multiple desired and each horizontal stroke of the pencil Indi cates one of these units, which Is made opposite the corresponding hour and minute. When there are no strokes It Indicates that the machine is stopped. By simple mechanical nrrangeimnt an air piston Is operated, which in turn establishes an electric connection, the impulse of which is transmitted to the recording machine controlling its mech anism. It Is suggested that his device could be used to great advantage in connection with the engines of tteam shlps, as a graphic record is made of speed and the exact moment when any order is carried out. Manufacturer. WALL PAPERS FROM CHINA. Dallr of Feklnar, Now In Its 1,200th Year, Printed on Silk. j We are apt to forget, writes Miss Kate Sanborn, in her new book, "Old- I Time Wall Papers," how much we owe to the Chinese nation the mariner's compass, gunpowder, paper, printing by movable tyjies (a dally paper has been published In Peking for 1,200 years printed, too, on silk). They had what we call the golden rule 500 years before Christ was born. With six times the population of the United States they are the only people In the world who have maintained a government for 3,000 years. The earliest papers we hear of any where were Imported from China and had Chinese or Indian patterns, coin ing first in small sheets, then In rolls. Some of the more elaborate kinds were printed by hand ; others were printed blocks. These papers, used for walls, for hangings and for screens, were called "pagoda papers" nnd were dec orated with flowers, symbolic animals and human figures. The Dutch were among the most en terprising. Importing painted hangings from China and the East about the middle of the sixteenth century. Per haps these originated In Persia; the word "chintz" Is of Persian origin and the French name for Its Imitations was "Perses." About 1745 the Vompagnle des Indes began to Import these papers directly. They were then also called "Indian papers." Aug. 21, 1874, we find an advertisement: "For sale 20 sheets of India paper, representing the cultiva tion of tea." Such a paper, with this theme was brought to America 150 years ago a hand-painted Chinese wall paier, which . has been on a house ever since and Is to-day In a good state of preservation. Proof Posit It. Maude Fred proposed last night, and he was awful rattled. Clara Well, I'm not surprised, I al- ways thought be bad a screw loose somewhere I A great deal of harm Is done by self drugging for the relief of various real or lmaglnery Ills. Thero Is nothing easier. The only ob jection to the plan Is that what Is good fcr the cough may bo bad for the cougher. So It Is with a headache. Almost any pain In the head not due to actual brain disease may bo moderated. If not relieved temporarily, by some form of "hendache powder"; but a frequent re course to this means of cure may fa tally weaken the heart When this stops beating the headaches cease to trouble, but the patient Is not In con dition to know or care. Every man, of course, believes him self a doctor, and often thinks he Is better able to attack a comih or a case of rheumatism or a headache, whether It be his own or another's, than those who make the cure of disease a special f.tudy. All he has to do Is to make up his mind what the trouble is and any one can tell a cough when he has it and then to take something that Is "good for a cough." Less serious, but not much so, Is the abuse of tonics. A true tonic Is any thing that promotes the nutrition of the body. This may be done by increas ing the anetlte and Improving diges tion, which Is the function of the bit ter tonics ; or by Improving the condi tion of the blood by adding to It the lior. It has lost; or by supplying the system with some needed substance, such as fat in cod liver oil ; or finally by stimulating the tissues to Increased absorption, an action which Is ascribed to arsenic, mercury and others of tho mineral topics. But these are not the "tonics" to which people are apt to resort when they run down. They take to stimu lants, alcohol usually, and think they are getting strong because they feel better after each dose. The alcohol In the "tonic" Is often disguised, nnd the user, perhaps a conscientious tee totaler, would be shocked to learn that what he was taking to give him strength had aiore alcohol In It than has the strongest whisky. If the system Is seriously run down, a physician should bo consulted, who will lie able to jrlve what Is needed, whether Iron, or lark, or gentian, or cod liver oil, to correct the underlying condition that causes tho debility. Youth's Compan ion. The Ulrd In Hand. Instead of getting nugry, Clarkson was rather amused at the actions of his pet waiter. For two years he had dined at the same restaurant almost dally and August knew his every wish and had always been liberally tipped. That day, however, Clarkson was shamefully neglected. He had to ask for butter, his napkin was damp and soggy, the particular sauce he liked so well was not on the table, and, In fact, August was the antithesis of a devoted servitor. All his attentions seemed concentrated upon a man at an adjoin In gtable. August hovered around him like a bee around a flower, anticipating every wish and bringing him sundry little extras. The customers was evidently a stran ger. Clarkson could not recall having seen him before, and from his long pat ronage of the place he had come to know all the regular customers by their faces at least. Ills curiosity got the better of him and as he was leav ing, after bestowing the customary tin, he asked : "Why Is It, August, that you have been so attentive to that man and so neglectful of me? Is he In the habit of giving extra large tips?" "Oh, no, m'sleu'," said August. "He Is a stranger. He has never been hero before." Then he added, niiologetlcul ly, "And I am sure of you, m'sleu'." The Other Side. "Don't you get homesick for those beautiful old Colonial mansions In the South?" they asked the Kentucklan on the night that the thermometer froze. "Not this weather," she answered. "I haven't forgotten yet how the wind used to blow through the cracks of tho windows and doors of those beautiful old Colonial mansions, and how we used to sit in rooms about the Rlze of ballrooms, huddled around a two-by-four grate, our faces scorching and the bitter blasts blowing through our back hair. "Oh, no; In such weather as this the steam heated luxury of the Chicago flat for me," she decided. Chicago Inter Ocean. Proof Positive. Bertha But, papa, what have yon against Charles? Wouldn't he make a good husband? Father lie's a fool, and besides he's only after your money. Bertha Oh, papa, I know he would marry me without a penny. Father You see? lie's even more of a fool than I thought! Le Pele Mele. We do not like to have any child coaxed to speak a piece for us or to ' give us a kiss. j j Trying to avoid work is often the hardest kind. t