nri i m i
A olUUY IN
BY A. CONAN DOYLE.
CHAPTER IV.
It was 1 o'clock when we left 3
Lauriston Gardens. Sherlock Holmes
led me to the nearest telegraph office,! 1U .
.hn t..,i, . in, .wr.m 'locality. The narrow passage led us
when he dispatched a long telegram.
He then hailed a cab and ordered the
driver to take ua to the address given
us by Lestrade.
'There's nothing like first hand evi
dence," he remarked ; "as a matter of
fact, my mind is entirely made up up
on the case, but still we may as well
learn all that is to be learned."
"You amate me, Holmes," said I.
oum juu ns DUi as Bure u jv
Jtend to be of all those particulars
which you gave."
"There is no room for mistake." he
answered. "The very first thing which
I observed on arriving there was that
a cab had made two ruts with Its
whAela lnAA tA thA mirh Knw tin to
last night we Aave had no rain for a
week, so that those wheels, which left
such a deep Impression, must have
been made there during the night
There were the marks of the horse's
hoofs, too, the ontline of one of which
was far more clearly cut than that of
the other three, showing that there
was a new shoe. Since the cab was
there after the rain began, and was
not there at any time during the morn
ing I have G reason's word for that
it follows that It must have been there
during the night and, therefore, that
it brought those two individuals to the
house."
"That seems simple enough," said I;
Tbut how about the other man's
height r
"Why, the height of a man. In nine
cases out of ten can be told from the
length of his stride. It Is a simple cal
culation enough, though there Is no
nse my boring yon with figures. I
this fellow's stride, both on the clay
outside and the dust within. Then I
had a way of checking my calcu'a-
tions. When man writes on a wall
his instinct leads him to write about
the level of his own eyes. . Now, that
writing was Just over six feet from
the ground. It was child's play.'
"And his ager I asked.
"Well, If a man can stride four and
. a half feet without the smallest effort,
he can't be quite In the sere and yel
low. That was the breadth of a pud
dle on the garden walk which he had
evidently walked across. Patent
leather boots had gone around and
square toes had hopped over. There
is no mystery about it at all. I am
simply appyllng to ordinary life a few
cf those precepts of observation and
deduction which I advocated In that
article. Is there anything else that
'ponies yon?"
"The finger nails and the Trlchinop-
oly," I suggested,
"The writing on the wall was done
with a man's forefinger dipped in
blood. My glass allowed me to ob
serve that the plaster was slightly
scratched In doing it which would not
have been the case If the man's nail
naa Deen trimmed. I gathered up
some scattered ash from the floor. It
was dark In color and flaky such .in
ash as is only made by a Trlchonopoly.
I have made a special study of cigar
ashes in fact I have written a mono
graph upon the subject I flatter my
self that I can distinguish at a glance
the ash of any known brand of cigar
or of tobacco. It is in Just such de
tails that the skilled detective differs
from the Gregson and Lestrade type,
"And the florid face?" I asked.
"Ah. that was a more daring shot
UIUUU 1 UBID UV UUUUl lUUl I WHS
right Tou must not ask me that at
, the present state of the affair."
I passed my hand over my brow.
. "My head is in a whirl," I remarked:
"the more one thinks of It the more
mysterious It grows. How came these
two men If there were two men in
to an empty house? What has become
of the cabman who drove them? How
could one man compel another to take
poison? Where did the blood come
from? What was the object of the
murderer, since robbery had no part
In it? How came the woman's ring
there? Above all, why should the sec
ond man write up the German word
Rache before decamping? I confess
that I cannot see any possible way of
reconciling all these facts.
My companion smiled approvingly.
"Viui Mim nn ft,tt 4IAinlM. U .
situation succinctly and well," he said
"There Is much that Is still obscure,
taough I have quite made up my mind
on the main facts. As to poor Le-
strade's dlsovery, it was simply a
blind Intended to put the police upon
a wrong track, by suggesting social
ism ana secret societies. It was
not done by a German. The A,
u you noticed, was printed some
what-after the German fashion
Now a real German invariably prints
In the Latin character, so that we may
safely say that this was not written by
one, but by a clumsy imitator, who
overdid his part It was simply a
ruse, to divert Inquiry Into a wrong
channel. I'm not going to tell vou
much more of the case, doctor. Tou
- know a conjurer gets no credit when
once he has explained his trick, and
if I show you too much of my method
of working you will come to the con
clusion that I am a very ordinary indi
vidual arter ail."
"I shall never do that," I answered;
"you have brought detection as near
an exact science as it ever will be
brought in this world.
My companion flushed up with pleas
ure at my words and the earnest way
In which I uttered them. I bad al
ready observed that he was as sensi
tive to flattery on the score of his nrt
as any girl could be of her beauty.
"I'll tell you one other thing," he
-said. . "Patent-leathers and Square
toes(came in the same cab and they
walked down the pathway together as
friendly as possible arm In arm. In
all probability. When they got Inside
they walked up and down the room
or rather, Patent-leathers stood still,
while Square-toes walked up and
down. I could read all that in the
dust; and I could read that, as he
walked, he grew more and more ex
cited. That is shown by the increased
length of his strides. He was talking
all the while, and working himself up,
no doubt. Into a fury. Then the trag
edy occurred. I've told you all J know
uyself, now for the rest is mere sur
mise and coniecture. We have a vnnA
working basis, however, on which to
start We must hury up, for I want
to go to Halle's concert to hear Nor
man Neruda this afternoon."
This conversation had occurred
while our cab had been threading its
way through a long succession of
dingy streets and dreary by-ways.
- In the dingiest and dreariest of them
our driver suddenly came to a stand.
"Ufa Audley Court In there," he
ii nni ni itp 13
olAKLl:..
J 5
, said pointing to a narrow silt In the
' line of dead-colored brick. "You'll
find m here when you come back."
into a quadrangle paved with Oagi and
lined by sordid dwellings.
We picked our way among groups of ,
dirty children and through lines of dla-'
colored linen until we came to No. 46.
the door of which was decorated with
a small slip of brass, on which the
name Ranee was engraved.
On Inquiry we found that the Con
stable was in bed, and we were shown
into a little front parlor to await hts
coming.
He appeared presently. looking a lit
tl Irritable at blng disturbed in his
slumbers,
''I made my report at the office,"
he said.
Holmes took a half sovereign from
his pocket and played with It pen
sively. "We thought that we should tike to
hear It all from your own lips," he
said.
"I shall be most happy to tell you
anything I can," the constable an
swered, with his eyes upon the little
golden disk,
"Just let us-hear It all In your own
way, as it occurred."
Ranee sat down on the horsehair
sofa and knitted his brows, as though
determined not to omit anything in
his narrative."
"I'll tell it ye from the beginning."
he said. "My time is from eight at
night to six in the morning. At eleven
there was a fight at the White Hart:
but bar that all was nnlet enough on
the beat At one o'clock it began to
tain, and I met Harry Murcher him
who has the Holland Grove beat and
we stood together at the corner of
Henrietta street a-talkin'.. Presently
maybe about two. or a little after I
thought I would take a look round and
see that all was right down the Brix
ton road. It was precious dirty and
lonely. Not a soul did I meet all
the way down though a cab or two
went past me. I was a-strollln' down,
thinkln" between ourselves how un
common handy a four of gin hot would
be. when suddenly a glint of lijht
caught my eye In the window of that
same house. Now. I knew that them
two houses In Lauriston Gardens was
empty on account of him that owns
them, who wont have the drains seed
to, though the very last tenant that
lived In one o them died o' typhoid
fever. I was knocked all in a heap,
therefore, at seeing a light in the win
dow, and I suspected as something
was wrong. When we got to the
door "
-"Tou stopped and then walked back
to the garden gate," my companion In
terrupted. "What did you do that
for?" :
Ranee gave a violent Jump and
stared at Sherlock Holmes with the ut
most amazement upon his features.
"Why. that's true, sir," he said,
"though how you come to know It,
Heaven only knows! Tou see, when I
got up to the door, it was so still and
so lonesome that I thought I'd be none
the worse for some one with me. I
ain't afeared of nothing on this side
o' the grave; but I thought maybe It
was him that died o' typhoid Inspect-
Ing the drains what killed him. The
thought gave me a kind o turn, and
I walked back to the gate to see if I
could see Murcher's lantern, but there
wasn't no sign of him nor any one
else?"
"There was no one In the street?" I
"Not a livln' soul, sir, nor as much
as a dog. Then I pulled myself to
gether and went back and pushed the
door open. AU was quiet Inside, so I
went Into the room where the light
was a-burnin'. There was a candle
fllckerin' on the mantel-piece a red
wax one and by Its light I saw "
Tes. I know all that you saw. ; Tou
then you walked through and tried the
kitchen door, and then "
John Ranee sprang to his feet with
a frightened face and suspicion in his
eyes.
"Where was you hid to see all
that?" he cried. 'It seems to me that
you know a deal more than you
should." -
Holmes laughed and threw his card
across the table to the constable.
"Don't get arresting me for the mur
der," he said, "I am one of the hounds,
and not the wolf; Mr. Gregson or Mr.
Lestrade will answer for that Go on,
though. What did you do next?"
Ranee resumed his . seat, without,
however, losing his mystified expres
sion. "I went back to the gate and sound-
ed my whistle. That brought Mur- W0UK wno composed m his monastery
cher and two more to the spot." ( n cation which European critics
"Was the street empty,' then?" . pronounce a masterpiece, has been
"Well, It was, so far as anybody that feted in Rome and St. Petersburg, and
could be of any good goes." i is now the lion of the hour at Vienna.
"What do you mean?" C r,
The constable's features broadened 1 Hlr beorKe w h,te, who would, in the
into a grin. ( ordinary course, have been retired from
I ve seen many a drunk chap In my
time," he said, "but never any one so
cryin' drunk as that cove. He was at
the gate when I came out, a-leanln' up
agin the railln's and a-slngin' at the
pitch of his lungs about Columbine's
New-fangled Banner, or some such
stuff. He couldn't stand, far less
help."
"What sort of a man was he?"
asked Sherlock Holmes.
John Ranee appeared to be some
what irritated at this digression.
"He was an uncommon drunk sort o'
wan," he said. "He's ha' found hlsself
In the station If we hadn't been so
took up."
"His face his dress didn't you no
tice them?" Holmes broke In. Impati
ently.
"I should think I did notice them.
seeing that I had to prop him up me
and Murcher between us. He was a
long chap with a red face, the lower
part muffled round " , ;
"That will do," cried Holmes." What
became of him?" .
We'd enough to do without lookln'
after hlra," the policeman said, in an
aggrieved voice. . "I'll wager be found
his way home all right."
How was he dressed?" ',
"A brown overcoat." '-
"Had he a whip In his hand?"
"A whip no."
"He must have left it behind." mut
tered my companion. ' "You didn't
happen to see or hear a cab after
that?"
"No." . -
"There's a half sovereign for you,"
my companion said, standing- up and
taking his hat. "I am afraid, Ranee,
that vou will nevBi- riu in th. fnr.
That head of yours should he for use'
as well as ornament. You might have
gained your sergeant's stripes last (
n'ght The man whom you held In
your hands Is the man who holds the
clew of this mystery, and whom we
are seeking. There is no use of argu
ing about it now; I toll you that It is
so. Come along, doctor."
We started off for the cab together,
leaving our Informant Incredulous, but
( obviously uncomfortable.
; "The blundering foot!" Holmes sMd
, bitterly, as we drove back to our lodg
. Ings. "Just to think of his having such
. an Incomparable bit of good luck, and
not taking advantage of it."
"I am rather In the dark still. It is
true that the description of this man
tallies with your Idea of the second
party in this mystery. But why should
ho come back to the house after leav
, Ing it? That it not the why of crimi
nals." The ring, man the ring That was
what he came back for. If we have no
other way of catching him we can al
ways bait our line with the ring. I
shall have him, doctor I'll lay you
two to one that I have him. I must
thank you for it all. I might not have
gone but for you, and so have missed
the finest study I ever came across; a
' Btudy in scarlet, eh? Why shouldn't
we use a little art Jargon? There's
the scarlet thread of murder running
through the colorless skein of life, and
our duty is to unravel it and Isolate it.
and expose every Inch of It And now
for lunch, and then for Norman Noruda.
Her attack and her bowing are splen
: did. What's that little thing of Chop
in's she plays so magnificently; Tra-la-lalira-llra-layr
Leaning back in the rah, this ama
teur bloodhound caroled away like a
Urk. while I meditated upon the
many- sidedness of the human mind.
STRANDED IN THE DESERT.
fully Equipped Stumer Butt en Studs Bar-
atring th Colorado Rivtr.
I There doe not seem" to be much use
for a ship in the desert country of Cal
ifornia, which borders on the Colorado
river, yet travelers in that region may
see there a veritable "ship ot the des
ert." Far from any body ot water ca
pable of floating even a mudscow.may be
found a big stern-wheel steamer, accus
tomed to ply up and down the river,
carrying passengers and freight. She
has been lying there since last Septem
ber, stranded high and dry ou the
sands a mile and a hall from the
stream's present coure.
This strange condition ot affairs has
come about simply because the Colo
rado, a mighty stream, but one of the
most tieacheroufi of rivers, chose to cut
a new channel for iUeli early in the fall
without notice or warning.
' One night last September the Alviso
tied up to the shore a couple of miles
above Needles, awaiting telegraphic
orders. She was loaded with passen
gers and supplies, and as travel is
sometimes leisurely pursued on the
Colorado, all hands turned in for a
good night's sleep. Between S and 4
o'clock, Captain Babson was aroused
, by Indians, who warned him that for
some reason the river as falling rap
idly, and advised him to pull out into
midstream as quickly as possible.
This the captain tried to do, but the
water had already gone down so low
that his prow stuck fast in the mud
1 when he got up steam and tried to
turn the paddle wheels and move out
into navigable water. And there he
has stuck ever since, becoming resigned
to his situation perforce and hopefully
awiaung the flood water that
water tbat comes
down at the times of the melting of the
Colorado and Wyoming snows,
Thing That May
Iniaremt You.
It is said that the flint that lorms
the substratnm of London is nothing
but petrified sponges. An examination
of the fossil sponge shows its structure.
Several Kruger Sovereigns, the last
issued by the ex-president of the Trans
vaal, and struck in his train near Ma
chadodorp in 1890, are now on view in
Lausanne.
wa ?, m"f' ImPf
, Edward. ' beautifully illuminated on
antique fashion and enclosed
in gold-mounted morocco case.
The statue of the late Governor Roe
well P. Flower is to be unveiled in
Watertown, N. Y., on Labor day, f-'ept.
1. The statute is the work of St. Gau
dens, one of the world's most famous
sculptors.
As many as 7,287 men have been
elected to the national house since the
American congress was organized. The
number does not include those who
have occupied seats and been thrown
out on contests. .
Father Hartman, the young Austrian
tbe British army this month, has been
given an extension, snd will retain the
governorship and commander-in-chief-ship
at Gibraltar nntil July 6, 1003
Jonathan Littlefield, of Biddelord,
Me., is one of the most persistent
souvenir hunters in the United Ktates.
When Prince Henry was here he
secured his autograph, which was
written directly under that of Presi
dent McKinley in his collect on, and
he has also splinters of the floor where
the president stood when he was shot.
The announcement that King Oscar
of Sweden is writing his memoirs
hardly comes as a surprise, for the
reason that he has so frequently and
so successfully ventured into literature
that he might reasonably lie expected
to try his band at state chronicles and
personal reminiscences,
William Blair of River Edge, Ne
Jersey, celebrated his ninetieth birth
day on July 4. : He was an intimate
friend of General Winfleld Bcott, for
whom he made a hammock' to be nped
on his trip to Mexico, and paid Com
modore Vanderbilt 25 cents to row him
across the Hudson when the latter was
a ferryman.
No one looking at Lord Charles
Beresford today would imagine that in
1880, when he first went to sea, he
j was a delicate lad and was in fact put
' on board the warship Marlborough for
s his health. When he first set foot on
board he heard a sailor say ''Poor little
ciiap, he ain't long for this world."
Lord "Charlie" has seen many livelv
t'0168 then and is still lively and
vigorous- . .
NATIONAL HMiSTERY,
GIGANTIC BUILDING IS NEARINQ
COMPLETION.
Wtlt Have a Floor Ppa.- ol Ovor Foar
tm Aero anil Nearly 4,000 hrHU
Will FlndKtaplo;mrat-IU7 I'rnm
Wilt B liuaaia '
The new government printing office
Is spproachlug completiou and will be
a gigantic affair, write Ken llavhe.
the well-kuowu Wasblugtou corre
spondent It will eoet Jakw,000, aud
will provide a total floor space ot over
fuurteeu acrea-more thau two and a
halt times the floor area available lu
the present eotabllshmeut. As yet the
building Is entirely covered with scaf
folding, but it Is substantially flutsued,
except for the interior woodwork aud
painting. It will be the greatest print
ing shop tu the world, employing the
services of nearly 4,tKW people. Accu
rately. speakUigt 3.SSU persons will toll
under Its mighty roof, nearly 1.U00 of
them being wouieu aud girl. Kacli
year It will expend the enormous sum
of 4.0O0,000, nearly three-fourths of It
for labor, and In Its main compelling
room &!4 printers will be engaged lu
sticking type. Klght hundred aud
eighty-five employes will be occupied
lu biuding the books aud documents
produced, aud au addltlounl Ot'A will
do nothing but fold the printed sheets.
Figures like these give a notiou of
the glgnntie scale ou which the shop
will be conducted. Kuch twelvemonth
It will consume for bindings the sklu
of 30,000 sheep, and 11,000 goals, lu ad
dition to 73,000 square reet of "Russia
leather," made from cowhide. It will
use up In a like period 8,000 tons of
white paper, 40,000 pounds of printing
Ink and 37.000 pounds of glue, together
with 7.000 pounds of thread for sewing
books aud pamphlets, aud 4,000 packs
of gold leaf for the title of volume
de luxe.
One hundred and twenty-seven
presses will be constantly In opera
tion In the great building, their total
output iu a working day of eight hours
being Just about 1,000,000 luipresslous.
These presses are of every conceivable
klud, one of theiu being capable of
printing cards on both sides from a
web of brUtol board at the rate of 05,
000 cards per hour, while four other
uiaehluea turn out 40,000 printed en
velopes every sixty minutes. The quan
tity of typo actually employed will be
approximately 1,500,000 pounds, or 1M
tons.
No other government seud any
thing like the amouut ot money ou
public printing tbat la squandered by
Uncle Sam.' Iu this particular Congress
Is always disposed to a reckless ex
travagance, aud hence the huge site
of tbe plant required. Public documents
are au Important perquisite of Sena
tors and Representatives, who scatter
them broadcast among their constitu
ents. One hundred tons of a single re
port now In press will be Issued aud
distributed lu this manner, and the
total number of voluiuts of various
kinds of literature turned out by the
olUce In a twelvemonth Is about 1.1XH,
OUO, representing a total cost of some
what more than (1,000,000.
Nowadays government b-ioks, like
other kiuds of publications, require Il
lustrations, and the cost of these ran
up to about $300,000 lust year. It Is
safe to say that ten years from now
Lnele Sam's printing shop will spend
pretty nearly hair a million dollars for
pictures. The most costly illumruiioiM I
are for the reports for the Department
of Agriculture and the bullet. lis of the
Bureau of Ethnology, many of these
being In colors. Kach bureau furnishes
Its own pictures, but the printing othVe
has theiu reproduced by linns in Bus
ton, New York sud elsewhere. These ,
firms print the lllustrntious and return
them to Washington, ready to be
bound with the text I
The most Important Job the big shop '
has to execute is the printing of the
Congressional Record. 'I his dally news
paper, which records nothing but the
doings of the National legislature. Is
written from beginning to end by the
official reporters of the House and Sen
ate, who take down lu shorthand every
word that Is said at either end of the
Capitol. They dictate from their notes
to typewriters, and the material thus
reduced to typescript Is sent over to
the printing otfices In batches by mes
sengers. The Record Is ready fur d s-
trlbution early next morning. One hun
dred compositors are employed exclu
sively In tbe business of setting type
lor it, one department of tbe printing
office being devoted exclusively to this
publication, which is "set up" and sent
to press Just like any newspaper, being
delivered every day to about 9,000 sub
scribers. Each representative lu Con
gress gets 22 copies dally, while a Sen
ator is entitled to 42. Anybody may
sunscnoe, uie price Deing II. SO a
month; but the paper Is not directly
profitable to Uncle Sam, Inasmuch as It
costs $123,000 a year.
Tbe printing of bills Is another Im
portant feature of tbe work of the es
tablishment Though only a few hun
dred of tbe measures submitted to Con
gress In a year become laws, millions
of copies of them have to be printed,
A bill must go through a great many
phases before It can become a law, and
during the process of Its evolution It
has to be printed again and again per
haps dozens of times. If finally psssed,
a single copy of it Is printed on the
finest parchment, 'and this goes to Pres
ident Roosevelt for his signature.
MAN WITH A BIG VOICE.
Member of th "Spellbinder' Trust"
Tell Btory on Hlmaslf.
Grouped in the lobby one warm day,
taking in the light southerly breeze,
were half a dozen of the House leaders.
Then and there the "Spellbinders'
trust" was formed. The coming cam
paign and the probable amount of
speaking that would be required were
discussed at length, aud then tbe mem
bers of the trust drifted Into anec
dotes of tbe stump.
Charles Littlefield, of Mnlne, led off.
"I'm going to tell one on myself," said
he, and soon he bad a large and In
creasing audience, Including pages and
doorkeepers, Mr. Llttlefield's voice, It
must be remembered. Is famous from
Seattle to Eastport, and his constitu
ents In Maine Insist that they can bear
CURIOUS SALT DEPOSITS.
MSaZZZ!Ll?MBSSHniM
One ot th unique sights of California Is the rvnsrkibl salt deposits at
Sslton, This region lies lu a deprt'naion win 800 feet below se Isvel, uJ is
thought at ou tltu to hsv been th bed ot an ancient sa or lake. Th tract
ot Und looks Ilk a viat snow Held.
The rock salt deposits cover about 1,000 acres, aod sr bow worked for com
mercial purp.MM. Th output from this plac Is about 2,000 tons ot salt annually,
valued at trout $(1 to $3 per toa. Th labor Is don chiefly by Intllaus, who sr
abl to withstand th lutein heat of th drt (running up to 130 degree la
June) better than th whit men.
Th method employed I ss follow: Th salt Is Drat collected by S peculiar
plough having four whla, la th renter of which sits as Indian to guid It.
Thia la run by a cabl from a diatant dummy tagla. This aiarhla ruts a broad
and shallow furrow lht feet wide and. tore feet long, throwing up th ride
ob both aide. I ml it a follow la the wait ef th plough with ho and pll us
th aalt In pyramid.
the rumbling when be speaks In th
House.
"It was up In Buffalo lu th DO cam-I-altfu,"
h continued. "A local lawyer
and I had been assigned to a big meet
ing over on tbe tough side of the city.
The local man, who was evidently mak
ing hi first rainpalgu appearance, waa
Introduced first, aud proceeded to draw
from his Inside pocket a manuscript
from which he started to read.
"It wss a pretty hard crowd, taken
all together, but at the same time they
were a bright lot and up-to-date. My
friend read on for some twenty min
utes under great difficulty, and then
the crowd began to cheer and shout In
derision. Nothing' like this, however,
could stop him. All kinds of quest lou
were fired at htm, hut he paid no atten
tion and continued to read off long Hats
of statistics. At last the chairman of
the meeting signaled the leader of the
band to start up. The band played
'Home, Sweet Home," as a gentle hint
but the speaker only waited until It
finished and then continued. At the
end of an hour of the worst rot I ever
heard, my ambitious friend closed In
what he thought was a blase of glory.
" 'Three cheers for the speaker for
finishing!" some one yelled.
"The cheers were given, and then I
was Introduced. It was a tough prop
osition, but I Jollied along with the
crowd for some fifteen minutes, and
then launched Into what I thought was
my best line of talk. I finished all
right, and the' chairman said t had
wade a hit.
"lu driving to the hotel after the
meeting the local speaker snld to me:
Mr. Uttletleld. If I only bad your
volcei with what I have to soy, I
would be a wonder.' "
Just then a roll call was announced
and the trust adjourned. Washington
correspondence New York Herald.
TOO MUCH PROVIDENCE.
Conclualon ot the Deacon Who Mcfn
! to 81! Ilia I-rait.
"Years ago, when I mis In th fruit
liiiMluesM," said s MlelilKiuiiler the other
day, "I used to take some long chuuees
on the apple aud peach crop. I mean
by that thut I would buy the yield or
an crcburd after counting up the tree
in blossom, nod, strangely enough. I
never met with a loss of any account
My nearest shave was with a good old
dene, u, who had ."iOO peach trees In Nt.
Joe county. 1 knew thu orchard well.
It always sent line pearlies to market,
nnd one season 1 determined to copper
the yield. I struck the place with
those fifio trees loaded down with blos
som and estimated that the yield
could not be less tlinii bushels. I
offered the rieaeou $l,0oo cunIi III hand,
but he shook his head. Then I went up
$-'.'. and finally made the figure $1,
f00. Tbat was $1 a bushel, aud the
picking and packing was to be ut my
expense.
'"No, I don't think I II do It.' replied
the deacou, after scratching his bend
for a while.
'"1 don't believe you'll get a better
offer. ,'
"'Mebbe not. but I think I'll trust
to Providence; I may get at least $2,000
for my peaches.'
"I didn't care to raise my figures."
snld the buyer, "and so the mutter was
off. I heard from the orchard Just as
tbe trees were covered wlth young
peaches, but about that time s drought
set In and things began to burn. There
wasn't a smell of rain for six weeks,
and there wasn't a peach that wasn't
baked and shriveled and dried until
yon couldn't tell what It was. The S00
trees didq't yield five eatable peaches.
Meeting tbe deacon along tbe 'last
week of August, I said:
" 'Well, deacon, I'm $1,500 In pocket'
" 'Yes,' be slowly replied,
" 'Going to trust to Providence an
other season 7
"'Not entirely not quite. I've fig
ured It out that If I accept 08 per cent
of a good thing and trust to Providence
about 2 per cent. I may be able to buy
me a pair of new boots next year,"
Detroit Free Press.
English Landlord' Way.
Tbe secretary of tbe Tenants' Pro
tective League sends us details of a pe
culiarly unjust and bard-hearted dis
traint on tbe part of a Peckham land
lord. Last December a widow took a house
In Peckham npon an Annual tenancy,
at a rental of 30, and was foolish
enough to sign au agreement containing
a clause which specified tbat the rent
was to be paid quarterly In advance.
She was allowed to enter without any
prepayment, and on tbe 25th of March
six months, 10, was demsnded, one
quarter due and one quarter IB advance.
This, of course, she was unable to pay,
and before March had run out her home
was stripped from kitchen to attic of
all Its furniture save and except what
was contained In one small bedroom,
where one of her daughters lay dying
of cancer.
On Saturday lust the broker paid a
second visit and made a second dls-
' 1 -s
trslnt, broke the lock and forced an
utrauce Into th sick room, and cleared
It of verythlug, even to th beef tea
standing by the bedside, and would
hare taken the bed upon which th dy
ing girl lay, but was prevented by th
accidental presence lu th room, when
th door was brutally forced, of a well
known Church ot Kuglaml clergyman,
who waa tendering to the girl dying of
cancer spiritual consolation. Ill de
termined protest saved the girl her bed.
The Tenant' Protection League will
tak the earliest opportunity of holding
a public meeting to protest against such
barbarous proceeding. They have ac
cordingly convened a meeting for 8
o'clock on Sunday afternoon on Peek
bain Rye, where the chairman will give
chapter and vera, name and detail
of th outrageous acts her described.
London Chronicle.
The ly Was Fine.
A ten-ton steam-hauimrr 1 not tb
proer Implement to employ In crush
ing peanut shells. Yet what Adrian II.
Jollue calls th "habit of Intellectual
domination" sometimes leads to a mis
use of uieutal force which suggests a
similar disproportion between the
work and tbe Instrument
Charles O'Connr, one of the last as
well as one of the finest of our digni
fied lawyers of the old school, waa a
man of kind heart, but was rendered
somewhat overbearing by tbe practice
of cross-questioning witnesses aud con
founding opposing counsel
"I have a vivid recollection of tb
great lawyer," ssys Mr. Jollne. "II
was a 'character!" lie bad a melan
choly, subservient slave In his office,
named Effingham. Really, that waa not
his name, but It will do. Poor old Kf.
DugliHlii would sometime greet bis
master of a morning with fawning po
liteness, rubbing his hand and saying,
'It's a fine day, Mr. O'Conor.'
"Wbereuimn the Jurist, fixing a cold
and glittering eye upou bis affsblo
clerk, would reply:
" 'Ktlliighani, I am In good health and
In full possession of my senses. 1 know
that It I a fine day, and I do not need
you to remind me of It!""
After such a snub gloom doubtless
a-ttlcd down for Effingham, however
bright the sunshine, until his crushed
spirit hud time to recover from iho
shock.
Lord Hpencer'a lUrgaln.
Uird 8Mneer of Althorp, one of th
'greatest of I took collectors, was at
homo only in his own Held. One day,
lu browsing obout Bond street, he went
Into the shop of a dealer lu brle a-bratf.
The dealer, who knew him by sight
snld, persuasively:
"Here I a tine bit of pottery which
your lordship really ought to have, nnd
you shall hove It very cheap only two
guineas. " -
I Ho Lord Spencer bouclit It and took
j It home, and set It In a high place. One
day a connoisseur of chins paid him a
visit, and I-ord Speucer showed bis
bnrgalu.
"What did you give for Itf" asked the
, connoisseur.
1 "Two guineas." answered Rnn.r
rntlier proudly, r i
1 "II mr sold the connoisseur. "At
that price tun murmalads should havo
been Included."
"What do you mean?"
1 "Why, that precious piece of yours
Is nothing more or less than a shilling
marmalade pot, with a green thistle
painted on It."
Anecdote or the Queen' Girlhood.
Mrs. Sarah Tooley, In her recently
published "Life of Queen Alexandra,"
toils some very Interesting anecdotes of
I hef majesty. As a child the Queen's
'surroundings were exceedingly simple.
"Mamma," said the little Prlucess one
j day, "why may not Dngruar and I wear
iniuslln dresses?" "Because," replied
ner momnr, -your rather Is not a rich
mnn, and muslin dresses cost so much
to get up." There were not many serv
ants at the Gule Palais, where thu
Queen's early lire was spent, and the
young Princesses were required to dust
their own rooms and to make them
selves useful at meal times. A gentle
man who was Invited one day to par
take of the Informal family luncheon
at the Palais recalls that the butter
dish chanced to need replenishing, and
the Princess Louise (of Denmark), In
stead of summoning a servant, turned
to her eldest daughter and said; "Al
exandra, will you fetch some more but
ter?" And tbt future Queen of Eng
land departed on the homely errand to
the larder.
The matter of kin settles whether a
wedding Is to be a home or church af
fair. Aristocratic kin who look well
on parade means a church wedding;
lots of poor kin mean a "cosy wedding
at home."
We wish that we could take care ot
future ambitions as a girl speaks of
getting married, and use "when" In
stead of "If."---'- -. r v
That which some people call repar
tee Is really back talk. I
DRESS COST 40,00X
Qewa Kahlbllcd In llileaso Mad for
til laariita, but H)itl.
The fatuous 10,000 cwronsllou robe
mnde ly the aiiibilloim Mine. Ilsruttl,
of Paris, for theViarlua of Itnssla a
placed on ehillllon In Chicago recent
ly. The rolm, which I the finest ever
shown In America, and one of the finest
over seen at suy time In the world
history, was viewed by thousands ot
people.
,The coatty gown I a wonderful ere-,
tlon of gold thread, ermine, white siitlu
and royal purple velvet Not a Jewel
ws ud ou It. but $10,000 worth of
gold thread sud $7.ootl worth of royal
ermine were fashioned Into th gown
during the two years It look Mm. Ils
ruttl to complete It.
The history of the royal rube I as
Interesting a Its folds sre luiurtou.
Royally never wor the gowu, although
It was made for the Cxiirlnn. but with
out her knowledge. When th old Car
ot Russia died; Mine. Unruttl an
nounced that she hud been commis
sioned to make th rolw for the Cxnrlua.
She hastened to carry out her plan.
After many mouths she begau showing
tho gowu to her creditor, who were
harassing her. for she owed more than
tl.ooo.ooo franca. Ambitious to heroin
lb royal drewunnker for all th house
of Europe and hoping thus to recoup
her luat fortune aud clear up her cretl
It, Mine. Rarutll convinced her trades
men her day was coining and secured
further credit from them.
The time arrived, however, when she
aw the robe would not grac the coro
nation, aud Mute. Unruttl went to the
room where the gown ws displayed
and killed herself. The gowu ami all
she owned were sold at auction, and
finally en me Into the possession of a
New York firm.
The great mantle, twenty-seven feet
long, 1 the main part of the gown. It
I of rya! purple velvet, trimmed with
white sattu ribbon nnd a wealth of
gold thread, nnd lined with 1,500 royal
ermine skin. The gowu proper' I
decollete, of double thlckhc of whlto
satin. The train extend list luche
from the waist, and Is Imrdered with a
gold fringe two Inches wide. Every do
tall of the wonderful rb I elslwrale
ly wrought The scattered gold decora
tions and scroll work, the rich lace and
heavy satin make It a modiste's dream.
Chicago Inter Ocean.
PROFESSIONAL PRAYER.
. . . 1 i . . . w
In Nw Orleans. , , .
"In one of th mor tuihii quarters
of New Orleans I have fouud ou of lb
most unique rharacter I ever w, in
an old uegro washerwoman," said a
man who bus lately taken up hi resi
dence In oue of the mow popular ave
nue of th city, "and sh seem tu tie
proceeding along original linn In the
main pnrpos of her I if. Washing
clothes seem to be a mere Incident lu
the general plan she carries out. She
Is an Interesting old rharacter, sud
ran quote copiously from I be Bible.
This seems to l a bobby with her. She
has some kind of const rnel Inn to put
on every line she quotes, loo. She can
tell you Just exactly what It means
from her way of looking at It. Hut
this I not the point 1 had In mind.
"Several dsys ago I got Into con
versation with the old woman, aud she
asked in a If I didn't have some family
washing to give her. I told her I did
not, but encouraged the conversation,
s I have a fondues for the negru of
the ante-bellum type, II ml Ing llieili al
ways very Interesting. She finally
threw a quotation from the lllhlo st
me, and It was followed by a tint her,
and still another, and so on. 'Say.
boss.' she snld after s while, Mor y0'
ever have anybody to do any praylu'
ro- yo T I told her I did not, and. be
coming more Interested lu the ol.l wom
an, I got her to unfold her whole
scheme to me. She did It without any
sort of hi'illotlon.
"She I a professional prayer, and
makes no small sum out of It from
what she told me. She told mo she
was praying once a week for the lady
next door, who had employed her to
pray for her husband to quit drink-
lug, although he Is a very light drink
er, to my own kiiowleilge. The old
woman seemed to be very proud of her
calling, and whatever oilier people may
sy oixiiii it sue is an enthusiastic be
liever In the etileney of her own pray-ers."-New
Orleans Times-Democrat
Taies Were Too Onerous.
I'rom Pottsvllle comes a stor nf .
old chap who Is initio to desi
self n the orlgluul uiill-expntislonlst.
noon arter the breaking out of hostili
ties with Spain and the passage of thu
war revetiue act by Congress he began
to orate against tho new taxes as an
exhibition of federal tyranny. Ha
would fulrly froth ut tho mouth na im
denounced the war tariff and
darkly hint nt the possibility of a lat
ter uuy rumen iienry and a new awak
ening of the pcuplu to a sense of the
Injustice. A severe cold laid blm low,
and bis doctor, II ml Ing htm asleep one
day and thinking a llttla blistering
would do hlui good, applied a fine large
mustard plaster to the old fellow's back.
The burning, stinging blto of the boated
mustard awoke the crusty patient, ho
rolled over lu agony for a minute or
two, clnppcd one hand behind lilm, felt
tho plaster, and, frantically tearing it
off, roared:
"Hns It come to this, that an old mnn
like tue can't even die peaceably In bis
bed without- having the government
come along and clap n revenue stamp
on him?" Philadelphia Times.
- ' He Ate "Innards."
An actor who was accustomed to
spend his summers In Wilton, Me.,
noted when, ns the custom was, a furm
er "killed a critter," the liver, sweet
breads, kidneys, etc, wore thrown
awsy. He offered to purchase these
delicacies, but, though he got the goods,
the "Bturdy farmer scorned his prof
fered gold." Not long after he observed
as bo walked through the village that
he was the cyuosure of all eyes, and
was followed by a wondering, If not
admiring, crowd, chiefly composed of
the young. "Ahnl" thought he, "I can
not escape my fame; my glory nl nn
actor has followed me even to this ob
icure bamldt." ' And he was mightily
puffed tip till he overheard one yokel
shout to another: "Bill, there goes ths
feller what eats Innnrdsl" Boston
Journal.