! I III HHtHHII tWtl I 1 1444 4 44 II
! MASTER OF THE MINE
t
By Robert Buchanan.
oCo
CIIAFTER I.
In a large woodcu building not far
from the seashore, a building attached as
school house to "MuiiMter's Boarding
Academy for Young Gentlemen," I,
Hugh Trelawney, then scarcely ten years
old, was moping alone. I had only ar
rived two days before from London,
where I had parted from my father, a
traveling lecturer in the cause of what
was then known as the New Moral
World. My mother had long been dead,
and I had led a somewhat neglected
life, sometimes accompanying my father
on his wanderings, more often being
ltft to the care, or carelessness, of
rtrangers. At last I had been sent to
Southampton to complete a very per
functory education.
It was afternoon, and a half-holiday;
my new school fellows were playing close
by. I was too used to loneliness to be
very miserable. I merely felt an outcnst
for the time being, and took no interest
whatever in my new associations.
As I sat thus, I must have fallen Into
a brown ftudy, from which a slight
sound startled me, and looking up, I met
the flash of two dark eyes which were
intently regarding me.
"Are you the new boy?" said a clear
voice.
I nodded, and stared at my interroga
tor, a eirl about my own aire, whose
black eyebrows were knitted curiously.
Her arms and neck were bare, and she
was fondling a kitten, whose lissome
movements denied to have something in
common with her own beauty.
"What is your name?" she continued,
in the same clear questioning tone, alto
gether with the manner of a superior
who was not to be trilled with.
"Hugh Trelawney."
She continued to regard me with the
same keen scrutiny, and then said, "Why
don't you go out and play with the other
boys?"
"I don't care about play. I am tired."
"Tired with what?" she questioned,
quickly.
I made no reply, I had meant to im
ply that I was low-spirited and dull. She
understood me, and troubled me with
no more questions.
Glad to direct her attention from my
Belf, for her bright eyes troubled me, I
stroked the kitten, which she had placed
upon the floor, and I began to question
in my turn.
"Are you the schoolmaster's daugh
ter. At this she laughed with such a good
humored sympathy with my blunder,
that my first Impression of her began to
Improve, and I saw that, besides being
a rather imperious, she was a very
pretty, young lady.
"I am a stranger here, like yourself,"
she said. "My people live far away in
South America, and are very rich. My
mother is dead, and I don't remember
her. My father has sent me here to be I
taught; but I shall soon go back to him.
He is a great man, and when he gave me
these earrings, ho told me my mother
had worn them before me, and ho kissed
them. We live far away from here, in
a brighter place. Don't you hate Eng
land?" This was rather a startling query, but
being in a state of mind bordering on
disgust for life in general, I readily as
sented. Her eyes gleamed.
"It is a dreary place," she cried; "dull
and miserable, and it rains nearly every
day. Hut it is different where I come
from. It Is always bright there, and
there aro flowers everywhere, and the
trees are full of fruit; and there are
bright insects and beautiful snakes
without stings, that can be taught to
twine round your neck, and feed out of
your hand."
It seemed that I was transported to
the land of which she spoke; her eyes
were so sparkling, her face so bright and
sunny, her form so foreign in its slender
beauty and her earrings glistened, and
her beautiful ivory teeth gleamed and
I r.aw her walking in that land, a won
der among all wonders there, with fruits
and flowers over her head, and brilliant
insects floating round her, and luminous
snakes gleaming harmless in her path,
and dusky slaves waiting upon her, for
for I had been a Btudious boy, fond of
reading wild books of travel and ad
venture, and of picturing in my mind the
wonders of foreign lands.
When she next spoke, her clear, Im
petuous tone was greatly changed and
softened, and a kinder light dwelt on
her face.
"If you will come with me," she said,
"I will show you the place. There is
not much to see but the garden."
I rose awkwardly, as if at a word of
command, and followed her. Ashamed,
yet pleased, to be chaperoned by a girl,
1 wondered what my school fellows
would think of it. They were playing
cricket. They paid no attention to me,
but looked at my companion with a curi
ous and not too friendly expression. She
passed along imperiously, without deign
ing to cast a single look in their direc
tion; and I noticed that her dark brows
were knitted with the former unpleasant
expression.
Our first visit was to the top of a high
knoll behind the house, whence we could
see the surrounding country, and, some
miles to the southward, the distant sea,
with a white frost of billows on tho edge
of sliver-colored sands. The girl looked
at the passing sails with much the same
peculiar expression she had worn on our
first encounter.
"Are your clever?" she asked, sudden
ly. "I mean, do you know much?"
I explained to her that my acquire
ments were very slender, and merely con
listed of the stray crumbs of knowledge
which I had betn enabled to pick up at
day schools. I could read and write, of
course, and knew arithmetic as far as
the rule of three, and had got through
the first four declensions in the Latin
grammar; but all was a chaos, and I had
no accomplishments.
"If you are not clever, and know so
little," observed the girl, thoughtfully,
"take care of the other boys. Why don't
you make friends with them? Why do
you like to sit alone, and be sullen? If
there were girls here, I should make
friends, I know. But boys are different;
they have cruel ways, and they hate each
other. The boys hate me," she pursued,
"because they think mo proud. I am not
proud, but I am quicker and cleverer
thnn they are, and I come from a better
place. I beat them in the class, and I
have helped the biggest of them some
times, when they were too stupid to un
derstand." We were soon wandering ride by side
in the quiet garden in the neighborhood
of the school house. Ever and anon, I
heard the shouts and cries of my play
mates; but they were wafted to me as
from some forsaken life.
A spell had been passed upon me, and
I was in a dream. As I write, the
dream surrounds me still. Years ebb
backward, clouds part, the old horizons
come nearer and nearer, and I am again
wandering in the quiet shade of trees
with the shining young face at my
side.
What I remember Inst is a sudden
sound dissolving a spell. A bell rung
loudly from the house, and my compan
ion uttered an exclamation
"That is tho bell for tea," she exclaim
ed. "You had better go."
And she ran before me up the path.
She was nearly out of sight among the
garden bushes when, urged by curiosity,
1 took courage, and called after her.
"What is your name?" I cried.
"Madeline," she replied. "Madeline
Graham." With that she was gone. For
a moment, I stood bewildered, and then,
with quite a new light in my eyes, I
made the best of my way into the house
and joined tho boys at the tea table.
CHAPTER II.
Munster was a feeble-looking but tal
ented little man, with a very high fore
head, which he was constantly mopping
with cold water, to subdue Inordinate
headaches; and Mrs. Munster was a kind
creature, with an enormous respect for
her lord, and quite a motherly interest
in us boys, she having no children of her
own.
The manner of these good people was
kind towards all; but their treatment of
Madeline Graham was blended with a
sense of restraint almost bordering on
fear. It was obvious that they had been
instructed to treat her, with more than
ordinary solicitude, and it was equally
obvious that they were liberally paid
for so doing.
W hen she broke from all restraint, as
was the case occasionally, their concern
for her personal welfare was not unmix
ed with a. fear lest open rupture might
rob them of the Installments derived
from their wealthiest pupil. Madeline,
on her side, was perfectly conscious of
this; but, in justice, it must be said that
she seldom took undue advantage of her
position.
The more I saw of Madeline Graham,
tne more tho thought of her possessed
me, and blended with my quietest
dreams. After that first interview, she
held somewhat aloof for many days, but
her eyes were constantly watching me in
school. She seemed desirous of keeping
mo at a distance. Gradually, however,
we came together again.
Madeline had not exaggerated when
sho boasted of excelling the other echol
ars in brightness and intelligence. Her
memory was extraordinary, and tasks
which taxed all the energies of boyhood
were easily mastered by her quick and
restless brain.
It so happened that I myself, although
In many things dull and indifferent, was
al.'io gifted with a memory of uncommon
tenacity. In all tasks which demanded
the exerclso of this function I took a
foremost place. Madeline was my most
formidable rival, and we began, quietly
at first, but afterwards with energy, to
fight for the mastery.
The competition, instead of severing,
brought us closer to each other. Made
line respected the spirit which sometimes
cubdued her, and I, for my part, loved
her the better for the humanizing touches
which my victory frequently awakened.
We had been friends six months, the
quiet round of school life had become
familiar and pleasant to me, when, one
day, at breakfast, I noticed that Mun
ster wore a very troubled expression,
as he broke open the largest of a num
ber of letters lying before hlra. Within
the letter was a smaller one, which he
handed to Madeline silently.
With Impetuous eagerness, she opened
and read It, It was very short. As she
glanced over It, her bosom rose and fell,
her eyes brightened and filled with tears.
To hldt her trouble, she rose and left
the room.
A whisper had passed round the
school "Madeline Graham Is going
away." Going away? Whither? To
that far-distant, that mysterious land
whence she had come, and whither I
might never follow her? Going away
forever! Passing westward, and taking
with her all that made my young life
beautiful and happy. Could this be?
I shall never forget the agony of that
day. I havt had blows since, but none
harder. I have felt desolation since, but
none deeper. After school, I hung round
the house, haunted every spot where she
might b expected to appear. I yearned
to hear ths truth from fcsr own lips. I
paced to and fro like a criminal awaiting
his sentence. I could not bear the sight
of the other boys, but kept to the secret
places, moody and distracted.
Quite late In the evening I wandered
into the garden a favorite resort of
ours. The sun had sunk, but his slowly
fading light was still tinting the quiet
place, and the shadows of trees and
bushes were still distinct upon the
rround.
I had not been here lone when I heard
the foot I knew, and turning, I beheld
my little friend hastening toward me.
She was pale, but otherwise composed,
and said at
. 1 A
Have you heard that I am Koine
away t l nave just got a letter from my
father. I am to go back home immedi
ately. See!"
So saying, she placed in my hand the
small inclosure which she had received
from Munster in the morning. I remem- '
ber every word of it now. It was writ
ten in a lartre. hnld hnnil nnri run na I
follows:
My Own Darling Little Madeline:
"You will hear from the good people
with whom you are living that you must
came home at once. Wish a kind good
bye to all -your friends in England; per
haps you may never see them again.
Come without delay to your loving fath
er. RODERICK GRAHAM."
Prepared as I had been for the blow.
it did not fall so heavily as it might
have done. I struggled with my feelings,
and choked down a violent tendency to
cry. She perceived my consternation,
and was herself moved. But there was a
quick, strange light in her eyes, as If she
were contemplating something far away.
I have prayed many a night that my
father would send for me," she Eaid,
thoughtfully; "and now he has done so,
I scarcely feel glad. Shall you be sorry,
Hugh, when I go?"
At this open question I broke down
utterly, and burst into a violent sob. She
put her hands in mine, and looked earn
estly into my face.
I thought you would be sorry. None
of them will miss me so much as you.
e have been great friends; I , never
thought I could be such friends with a
boy. I shall tell my father of you, and
he will like you, too. Will you kiss me,
Hugh, and say good bye?"
I could not answer for tears; but I
put my arms round her neck, and I did
kiss her a pure, true, loving boy's kiss,
worth a million of the kisses men buy
or steal in the broad world. My tears
moistened her cheek as I did so, but she
did not cry herself.
She was altogether calm and superior,
bowing down to my boyhood, compas
sionating and cherishing me. She was
nearer womanhood than I to manhood;
and she took my worship in gentle state.
A queen, kissed by a loyal subject, could
not offer her cheek more royally than
little Madeline offered her cheek to me.
"There is a ship to sail in two days,"
she said, "and I must go away to Liver
pool to-morrow, early in the morning."
As I write, recollection darkens, the
sun, sinks behind the little garden; the
little shape fades away, and it is dark
night. I have been in a very disturbed
sleep, and aon awakened by a harsh
sound in the distance. It is the sound
of carriage wheels.
I hear the hum of voices in the house
below. I creep to the window, and look
out. A traveling carriage stands at the
door, and a sleepy-eyed coachman yawns
on the box.
From the house porch comes Mrs.
Munster, and by her side the little figure
that I love.
The proud spirit is broken this morn
ing, and the little eyes look soft and
wet. Madeline clings to her protectress,
and nods adieu to- the servants. The
coachman cracks his Whip, the horses
break into a trot, the little one leans out,
and waves her handkerchief until the
carriage rounds the corner and is hid
from view.
Madeline! Little Madeline!
I have fallen upon my knees by my
bedside, nnd am passionately kissing
the lock of hair I begged from her last
night My heart seems breaking. All
the world has grown dark for me in a
moment.
(To be continued.)
Peking's Monasteries.
Of monasteries and lamaseries In
Pekln the number is endless. The
lamas and bonzes who dwell therein
can be counted by the thousands. They
are mostly Tibetans and Mongolians,
supposed to be studying Buddhism
under the direction of an authenticated
lineal descendant of Buddha himself.
Indeed, In one particular monastery
three lineal descendants are to be seen
for a consideration. They are regard
ed as semigods and treated aa such.
Of the three so favored, fed and flat
tered, one Is a youngster of twelve
years, a bright, lively Mongolian boy,
fully alive to his own Importance,
high dignity and destiny, yet not
averse to the filling of his baggy little
pockets with the dollars of such "for
eign devils" as afford him the oppor
tunity of so doing. The lamas and
bonzes are a greasy, grimy, dirt In
crusted lot The denser the dirt the
greater the reputation for sanctity and
close spiritual affinity with Buddha.
Their whole time seems to be passed In
eating, extracting dollars from strang
ers and sleeping.
SOCIETY WRECKED HER LIFE.
rSnlance Still on the Wrong Aide.
"Do you chaps know you lynched the
wrong man?"
"Well, you've got to make some al
lowance for the boys. Two or three
fellows we ought to have lynched got
away from us." Chicago Tribune
Her Instruction.
"Sister told me to entertain yon till
she comes down."
"Ohl She did. eh?"
"Yes and not to let myselt ft
pumped." Puck.
Tired, Nervous, Aching, Trembling;,
Sleepless, Bloodless.
IPe-ru-na Renovates, Regulates, Re
stores.
A Pretty New York Woman's Re
covery the Talk of Her
Numerous Friends.
In Society.
A woman in society is obliged to
keep late hours. She muEt attend re
ceptions and balls. She seldom allows
herself a quiet evening at home. Her
whole time is taken up in keeping en
gagements or entertaining in her own
home.
Her system becomes completely run
down as a consequence. She soon finds
herself in a condition known as sys
temic catarrh. This has also been
called catarrhal nervousness.
If every society woman could know
the value of Peruna at such a time,
if they could realize the invigorating,
strengthening effect that Peruna would
have, how much misery could be
avoided.
Letters from society women all over
the United States testify to the fact
that Peruna is the tonic for a run
down, depleted nervous system.
Mrs. J. E. Finn, 83 East High
street, Buffalo, N. Y., writes:
reuna Medicine Co., Columbus, Ohio.
Gentlemen: "A few years ago I had
to give up social life entirely, as my
health was completely broken down.
The doctor advised a comp'ete rest for
a year. As this was out of the ques
tion for a time, I began to look for
some other means of restoring my
health.
"I had often heard of Peruna as an ex
' cellent tonic, so I bought a bottle to
see what it would do for me, and it
certainly took hold of my system and
rejuvinated me, and in lees than two
months I was in perfect health, and
now when I feel worn out or tired a
dose or two of Peruna is all that I
need." Mrs. J. E. Finn.
Mrs. J. W. Reynolds, Elkton. Ohio,
writes:
"I owe my health and life to Peruna.
W rarely call in a physician, in fact
it has been years since I have taken
any other medicine than yours. I am
afraid of drugs, and although I have
been sick many times I have taken only
your medicines. They are wonderful
indeed. We have a very large house
and entertain a great deal and I do all
my own work, thanks to Peruna."
Mrs. J. W. Reynolds.
Free Treatment for Women.
Any woman wishing to be placed on
the list of Dr. Hartman's patients for
free home treatment and advice should
immediately send name and symptoms,
duration of disease and treatment al
ready tiied. Directions for the first
month's treatment will be promptly
mailed free of charge. No free medi
cine will be supplied by the doctor, but
all necessary directions will be fur
nished. Bead what the above ladies have to
say of Preuna as a cure for these cases.
Address Dr. Hartman, President of
The Hartman Sanitarium, Columbus,
Ohio.
Turkish women eat rose leaves with
butter to secure plumpness.
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