ILDEAD rAST
By MRS. LOVETT
CHAPTER XYL
Felicia, whea ah drov away from
Mr. Talbot' door, had been quite cer
tain that, la iplte of her warning, Boy
would field to the temptation of going
to call upon Mrs. Desmond.
Felicia had learned a good many lea
ton of life line the month of. Septem
ber, whea ibe and Mrs. Talbot had kill
ed time and puraued health together at
the Yorkshire aeaalde Tillage. She had
con through her experience and they
bad not been pleaaant one to undergo,
bat, at the lima time, they had been
beneficial to her, In that ahe had by now
completely got over her fancy for the
"wicked man" with whom ahe had Im
agined herself to be deeply In lore.
Lord Augustus Wray had not come
well out of hi lore affair with Miss
Grantley. After an Infinite amount of
trouble, Felicia had persuaded her fath
er to give a reluctant consent to her en
gagement with this penniless scion of a
needy aristocratic house. Ha had con
tented provisionally, that is to say, if the
young people would wait two years, and
were in the same mind at the end of that
period of probation, then, Mr. Gregory
Grantley agreed that he would give them
hi blessing, with something substantial
added thereto. Felicia was overjoyed;
this concession upon her father's part
seemed to her to surpass her wildest
hopes. Two year to a young and enthu
siastic girl who loves seems but a small
thing to secure the whole happiness of
her future life. She embraced her fath
er joyfully, and waa overwhelmed with
gratitude at his goodness."
Not so Lord Gus. The state of his
finances was such that he could in no
way afford to wait two year for the
realization of hi dreams. HI debt
pressed upon him dally; duns pestered
and pursued him from morning till night,
he had raised the last shilling he could
realize; he waa, to use his own words,
"stone broke." To request such a one
to wait for two years for the fortune
which was to come to him with the lady
of his affection was like asking a starv
ing man to do without food for another
month, and promising him a good dinner
at the end of It. '
Lord Gus kissed his Intended very af
fectionately, wruuk hi future father-in-law'
hand, and professed himself deeply
Impressed with his kindness. Then, hav
ing got in the good city of Bath a second
string to his bow, he put himself Into a
train and betook himself to that ancient
town.
"I should have preferred Felicia, of
course," said Lord Gus, to himself. "She
I young and she suit me; but I can't
wait two year, not two month In
fact, for any woman; and there la al
ways Mrs. Cogger I don't much like
the Idea but two years! Oh, no, I
couldn't do It at any price not good
enough P
So, a week later, Felicia received a
letter from her lover,, with the Bath
postmark upon it He was afraid she
would think him a great brute, he wrote,
but then, he had never been good enough
for; she was sure to meet with some one
far more worthy. A for himself he
had thought It wisest and best to offer
his hand to a lady whom he had known
for many years, and who was good
enough to take him as he was in all his
unworthiness. Mrs. Cogger had consent
ed to become his wife, and they were to
be united early in the following month.
H ended by piously praying that heaven
would watch over his dearest Felicia,
and make up to her for all the sorrow
he felt constrained to bring upon her.
That was Felicia' lesson. She suf
fered very keenly at first, but she got
over It, being chiefly assisted by the
facta concerning her rival that came to
htr ear. Mrs. Cogger was 60; In stat
or she waa short and Inelegant; In fea
ture, plain and uninteresting; her man'
ners were said to be vulgar, and her tem
per violent and excessively jealous. Mrs.
Cogger, however, was undoubtedly rich;
he was the widow of a Bristol merchant
who had left to her an income of six
thousand a year. Having purchased
Lord Gus, she proceeded to pay her
money down for the doubtful acquisition
In a truly liberal fashion. She paid his
debts, and she made handsome settle
ment upon him, so that he derived some
substantial consolations from his mar
riage in exchange for the lack of those
personal charms that a man 1 apt to
think desirable in the wife of hi bosom,
Perhaps the one soft spot in her heart
was the feeling that she had for Boy
Roy, who had never wished to marry
her, and whose heart was still constant
to the love of his boyhood. She felt
that she would do a good deal to save
him from pain, and yet she feared that a
certain amount of suffering must Inevit
ably be in store for him.
"Perhaps it will be better that he
should see her and realize that she has
forgotten him and I happy In her new
life; It may be the best cure for htm in
the end," she said to herself, and at this
moment her brougham drew up at the
door of her father club In Pall Mall.
A it did so a gentleman was coming
slowly down the steps of the club. He
glanced at the lady In the brougham,
once quite Idly, and then again more at
tentively. Felicia, too, looked keenly a
him. Where had ahe seen that face with
the pleasant gray eyes and the refined.
regular features? Suddenly there came
back to her mind the breezy hill slopes
above Eepplngton Hall, the flickering
sunshine through the branches of the
beech trees, the blue distance In the val-
ley below, and the great stone house
CAMERON
46
sleeping In Its solitude near by; and then
the stranger who came (trolling up the
hill to address them, and whose persist
ent attentions to Gertrude had somewhat
mortified and annoyed her.
She half put out her hand and smiled.
The gentleman (topped at once and took
off his hat
"Surely I can't be mistaken; It la Mr.
Ralkea, 1 It notr
Edgar Ralkea loked down at her oddly
for a moment; he drew himself a little
away from the brougham door. She ask
ed him whether he had been at Kepplng
ton lately.
"Oh,' yes, I am always there," and
then he looked away for a minute, and
added rather quickly, "I am a 'poor re
lation' of Brian Desmond's, Miss Grant-
ley, an out-at-elbows younger son of a
cousin of his mother's, whom he has
taken pity on. I am his bailiff or agent,
or whatever you choose to call it, at Kep
plngton. I am only In town now to see
him on business. I suppose I ought to
have told you that before but, one has
a sort ol raise shame.
"I don't see anything in it to be
ashamed of," said Felicia heartily. "A
man need never mind working for his
living If it Is in an honest way," and
she felt ahe liked him all the better for
hi little confession.
"I don't know much about work," he
answered, with a smile. "I am afraid
I am rather lazy up there there Isn't
much to do, you know. It's a very Idle
life, I fear."
"Still, whatever there Is to be done,
I am quite aure that you do It, Mr. Raikes,
Ah I her Is my father. Papa, this is
Mr. Raikes, a gentleman I met In York
shire last summer."
"Oh I Ah I Well, my dear, you had
better ask Mr. Raikes to dinner. If you
are doing nothing to-night we shall be
delighted to see you at 8 o'clock sharp.
Edgar Raikes was upon the point of
pleading another engagement, but a cer
tain wistful glance Into Felicia's dark
eyes made him change his mind, and he
murmured nis acceptance ana manna
Mr. Grantley stepped Into his daughter'
bronugham.
"This man, at all events, Is honest,"
Felicia ald to herself, and then she re
membered that ahe had liked him when
they had met him at Kepplngton, and
afterward, too, when he Lad called upon
them at the hotel, only that his attention
seemed to have been absorbed by Mrs,
Talbot She recollected how foolishly
piqued and anoyed she had been that
this had been the case, and how angry
with herself she had felt afterward, be
cause she, Felicia, whose heart was at
that time presumably In the possession
of Lord Augustus Wray, should have
been so lost to self-respect as to have
felt jealous yes, commonly jealous, be
cause a goou-iookmg young man, who
was a perfect stranger to her, should
have taken no notice of her, and should
have seemed to find pleasure In the so
ciety of her friend.
CHAPTER XVII.
I have brought a friend of mine to
pay his respects to you, Mrs. Desmond,"
said Mrs. Talbot that afternoon, as she
eutered Kitten s pretty drawing room in
Lowndes Square.
Kitten herself had just come In from
her solitary drive. She stood In the cen
ter of the room pulling off her long
gloves; she looked just a little bit sad
and weary, but her whole face bright
ened when, glancing past Gertrude, her
eyes lighted upon the young man who
entered the room In her wake.
"Roy!" she cried Joyfully, running for
ward with outstretched hands to meet
him.
"Kitten!"
"Oh, how glad I am to see yon! Do
you know, that I thought you had for
gotten me, and that you were never
coming to aee me!"
So you two are great friends al
ready!" said Mrs. Talbot, In a voice of
disappointment "And I thought that
was going to introduce you to a new
beauty, Sir Roy!"
"Mr. Desmond and I have known
each other since we were children," ex
plained Roy, and then he thought no
more about her, but sat down on the
sofa by Kitten's side. How glad ah
seemed to see him again; ahe who used
to snub him and laugh at him, and turn
her back upon him In the old days; how
delightful It was to be welcomed like
this by her.
"You are very much changed," he
said, almost Involuntarily.
"Yes I I suppose I am. A woman does
change, no doubt, after her marriage.
and I have been to so many places, and
have seen so many new things and
many people abroad. I think I was
very Ignorant little person, Roy, when
my dear old daddy was alive. You see,
I waa always a child to him, and now I
am a woman. I seem to have Jumped
from one to the other, to have had no
girlhood!" and she half alghed.
He bent down and looked anxiously at
her. "Kitten, are you happy 7"
"A happy as a woman can be who
has married a man she loves with her
whole heart she snswered proudly and
a little defiantly.
When he came back an hour later to
ber house to dine with her, as she had
asked him to do, he found her standing
dressed in her ball dress under the light
of a swinging lamp upon the landing out
Ide the drawing room door. . As he en me
no the staircase she seemed to him
surpassingly fair vision of youth and
beauty In her soft, clouded raiment of
wait lace, with the glitter of diamond
upon her neck and arms.
Punctual to a minute," she cried ear
ly, a ah preceded him into the drawing
room. "Ah, how I do love people who
com punctually to dinner! How do you
like my dress. Boy?"
"It Is perfect" he said gravely, look
ing not at her dress, but at her.
I dare say I shall not dance much,"
she went on in a sort of hurried manner
that puzzled him, "only with you and
with Brian." Then, after a little pause,
she added In rather a strained voice:
By the way, after all, you will have
to put up with only me for dinner, Roy;
have had a note from my husband. In
which he states he will be unable to get
back to dinner, being detained by busi
ness. I hope you will not find it dull
alone with me. Shall we go down?"
He offered his arm In grave ailvnce
and they went downstairs- to dinner.
"How odd it seems to be sitting down
to dinner alone with you like this!" she
cried, with a brave effort to seem gay
and happy. "Do you remember our
luncheons by the river and the sand
wiches ana cherry pies I used to coax
old Keziah Into making, so that I might
bring them out to you In the corner of
the meadow under the willow trees?"
How nice It was! the softened lamp
ligttt, the fruit and the flowers, the dim
background of pictures and old oak in
the empty room for the servants had
left them and Kitten, in her white
dress, with the light shining upon her
corn-gold head, sitting opposite to him
while they capped each other's reminis
cences of those happy days long ago
In which Brian Desmond had had no ex
istence! ,
"Brian will be here very soon now,"
he said, glancing at the clock. "How
I wish he would come back; let us go
upstairs and wait for him in the drawing
room.
There was a sound of wheels at the
door, and the bell rang. For one mo
ment Kiten's face was radiant; if It had
not been for very shame she would have
flown downstairs to greet her returning
prodigal, but the consciousness of her
matronly honors prevented her from do
ing anything so very undignified.
There eeemed to be a little delay
downstairs; no manly feet, conscious of
outrageous lateness, came tearing up thi
stairs two at a time instead, there was
a measured tread of heavy steps followed
quickly by the swish of a woman's silken
skirts against the banisters; the foot
man threw open the door, and there en
tered Gertrude Talbot in amber satin
and black lace, with a huge bouquet In
her hand.
'Ah, my dear little woman!" she said,
affectionately and gushingly, "here i am
again, you see! how too too lovely and
delicious you look in that perfect dress!
How well it suits you. I have Just come
from Felicia's dinner party I thought I
would drive round by your door, and car
ry you off with me to Lady Hunter;
your brougham, I aee, is waiting for you,
dear, so I can dismiss mine -and we can
go together, and you must follow us in
a hansom, Sir Roy.
"But you are very kind, Mrs. Tal
bot: but I cannot go with you; my hus
band will be coming back," stammered
Kitten, confusedly.
Gertrude smiled more than ever, show
ing all her gleaming toeth, and flinging
up her black gloved hands with an ex
pressive gesture,
"Oh, my dear child, how delincloosly
young and fresh you are! Don't you set
that that naughty husband of yours
had no more notion of going to Lady
Hunter's to-nieht than your footman
had?"
"What can you mean have you seen
him?" faltered Kitten,
Ah, I understand men better than
you do, child; they are all alike, every
one of ' them dear creatures, and we
can't do without them, the more' .the
pity, but unreliable all of them! Seen
him, my dear, of course I have; I passed
him a few minutes ago, walking with a
very good-looking woman it was hit
sister, no doubt," she added, looking a
little away from her victim.
"Yes. It was his sister," answerea fat
ten, very calmly, half turning to Royi
"It was stupid of me to forget it, nut
of course. I remember now. Brian told
me that he was dining with her to-night."
"Then had we not better go on to the
ball?" said Gertrude, considerably taken
aback; Brian Desmond had no sister, and
she knew it, but the young wife's cool
ness and courage struck her dumb.
"Yes; we will go together to the ball,"
assented Kitten, and she went
"Do you want to break her heart?"
whispered Roy, angrily to Mrs. Talbot
as they went downstair. .
'Ph, dear, no! only to open her eyes,
ahe answered, with a carelpss shrug of
her beautiful white shoulders.
(To be eontlnuml.i
Where It I Uaeful.
Patient What do you think of this
faith cure business, doctor?
Doctor Oh, it's all right in some
cases.
Patient For example?
Doctor Well, say when a person
Imagines something alls hdm and then
Imagines he Is cured of it. Cincinnati
Enquirer.
A Other See Us.
Green Do you believe there is real
ly such a person as the fool-klller?
Brown Er by the way, how old
are you? r '
Green Forty-five.
Brown Well, if there Is, he must
have retired from business.
Professional Advice.
The new doctor had been called In
to see a lady with a swollen Jaw.
"Does it hurt you to talk?" asked
the pill dispenser.
"Yes," she replied.
"Then don't" said the M. D. "Two
dollars, please."
'1 h lrinH V.. llaiTJ. A lnrAvra
ture of Cbas. II. Fletcher, and has been made under his
personal supervision for over 30 years. Allow no one
to deceive you in this. Counterfeits, Imitations and
Just-as-good" are but Experiments, and endanger the
health of Children Experience against Experiment.
What is CASTORIA
Castoria Is a harmless substitute for Castor Oil, Pare,
goric, Drops and Soothing: Syrups. It is Pleasant. I
contains neither Opium, Morphine nor other Narcotic
substance. Its age is its guarantee. It .destroys Worms
and allays Feverisbness. It cures Diarrhoea and Wind
Colic. It relieves Teething Troubles, cures Constipation
and Flatulency. It assimilates the Food, regulates the
Stomach and Bowels, giving healthy and natural sleep.
The Children's Panacea The Mother's Friend.
The KM. You toe Always Bought
Bears the
M
In Use For Over 30 Years.
TMC eCMTMJH OOMPAMV. TV UIUT THKCT. MCW TOUK OITV.
Lincoln the Farmer.
Matter .soon reached a crisis which
drove the junior partner out into the
fields again, where he undertook all
sort of rough farm labor, from split
ting rail to plowing. Aa a man-of-all-work,
however, Lincoln did not prove
altogether satisfactory to his employers.
tie was too fond of mounting stumps
in the field and "practicing polemics"
on the other farm hands, and there was
something uncomfortable about a plow
man who read as he followed the team,
no matter how straight his furrows ran.
Such practices were irritating, if not
presumptuous, and there Is a well
known story about a farmer who found
the hired man" lying in a field be
side the road, dressed in his not too
immaculate farm clothes, with a book
instead of a pitchfork in his hand.
"What are you reading?" inquired
the old gentleman.
"I m not reading; I'm studying,"
answered Lincoln his wonderful eyes
still on the pages of his book.
"Studying what?"
"Law sir."
The old man stared at the speaker
for a moment in utter amazement.
"Great God Almighty 1" he mut
tered as he passed on shaking his head.
From Frederick Trevor Hill's "Lin
coln the Lawyer" in the January Cen
tury. Aa Early Reformer.
"I am looking," said Diogenes, "for
an honest man."
"And when you find him, what are
you going to do?"
"S-ahl I'm not going to find him.
That would spoil the joke." Washing
ton Star.
RHEUMATISM
BODY RACKED WITH PAIN
No other bodily suffering is equal to that produced by the pain of Rbeot
matism. When the poisons and acids, which cause this disease, become in
trenched in the blood there is hardly any part of the body that is not af
fected. The muscles become sore and drawn, the nerves twitch and sting,
the joints inflame and swell, the bones ache, every movement is one ol
agony, and the entire body is racked with pain. Rheumatism is brought on
by indigestion, Btomach troubles, torpid Liver, weak Kidneys and a general
inactive state of the system. The refuse matter instead of passing off
through nature's avenues is left to sour and form uric acid, and other acrid
poisons which are absorbed into the blood. Rheumatism does not affect
ail auice. in some cases it taites a
wandering form ; it may be in the
arms or legs one day and in the
shoulders, feet, hands, back or other
parts of the body the next. Others
6uffer more seriously, and are never
free from pain. The uric acid and
bther irritating substances find lodge-,
ment in the muscles and joints and
as these deposits increase the mus
cles become 6tiff and the joints
locked and immovable. It matters
hot in what form the disease may be
the cause is always the same a sour,
acid condition of the blood. This
vital stream has lost its purity and
freshness, and instead of nourish
ing and feeding the different parts
with health-giving properties, it fills them with the acids and salts of this
painful and f ar-raaching disease. The cold and dampness of Winter always
intensify the pains of Rheumatism, and the sufferer to get relief from the
agony, rubs the affected parts with liniments, oils, lotions, etc., or uses
lasters and other home remedies, t hese are desirable because they give
emporary ease and comfort but have no effect on the real trouble which is in
tne biooa ana beyona tne reaca 01 eucn
PIIRFIY VFRETARLP UP the 8tomach. digestion and every
r unc.LT vLaciftDLc. other ?art of the 8ystem( 800thea th
excited nerves, reduces the Inflammation, dissolves the deposits in the joints,
relieves all pain and completely cures this distressing disease. S. S. S. is a
certain cure for Rheumatism in any form j Muscular, Inflammatory, Articu.
lar nr fiiatlv Snerial book on the disease anil unc mpdiral aA-wri
i w. i j nuv.vw, niuiuui
charge, to all who write. fllE SWIFT SPECIFIC CO.. ATLANTA. GA
1 r
- 1. . J. 1 1
Signature of
Faaf Reaaaeltatloa.
In the day of the first settlers in the
Chickasaw country, when Davy Crock
ett still frequented the Big Hatchle,
"Old Man Giddins" was a prosperous
citizen of the Forked Deer settlement
One day he started on a trip to Ar
kansas, and thenceforth for several
years Forked Deer knew him no mora.
As travel In Arkansas was danger
ous, and as nothing was heard of Old
dins, he was officially declared dead
by the court, and his estate divided
among his heirs. A year or so later,
however, he turned up, and tried to
get possession of hi property again.
He was promptly seized and taken Into
court
"What do you mean by coming
round here, trying to take this proper
ty?" roared the court at him.
"It's my property," asserted Old
dins. "Everybody knows it's mine."
"Not at all!" replied the Judge. "I'll
admit your case seems a hard one, but
It can't be helped now. This court
has decided that you are extinctus de
functus, which Is Latin for dead. Tbla
court cannot err. Dead you are. If
you want any property round here yon
must take another name and set to
work to earn it Mr. Sheriff, adjourn
this court, and we will all go and see
that wrestling match you spoke of."
Sfaek Mora to the Point.
. "Ef yer real interested," said Deacoa
Skinner, "I'll tell ye what I want for
thet horse."
"Oh, I wouldn't be Interested In know
in' thet" replied Farmer Shrude, "but
I wouldn't mind knowin' what ye'd
take." Philadelphia Ledger.
About fifteen year ago I had a sever
attaok of Rheumatism and could not
work with any satisfaction. My less
ware badly swollen and drawn ao I
oonld scarcely walk. I triad many rem.
edie but could get no relief. I waa fin.
ally recommended to try S. S. S. and it
oon cured me aonnd and wall. I am
now 74 years -old and have never had
any return of the trouble,
JOSEPH PROMB HiWLBT,
Box 104. Aurora, lit
Sometime ag-o X had Rheumatism and
had to quit work. Tha pains in my back;
and between my shoulder wa so in
tense I could not rest or sleep. I tried
everything- but nothing did me any good
till I heard of and took S. S. S. Thi
medicine eared me sound and well. It
purified my blood and made me feel lika
a new man.
CONRAD LOUR,
Anderson, Ind. 123 E. 19th St.
treatment. S. S. S. is the best rem
edy for Rheumatism, It goes into the
blood and attacks the disease at its head.
and by neutralizing and driving out the
acids and building up the thin, sour
blood it cures the disease permanently.
While cleansing the blood S. S. S. tones.