e-"-ee-e4
BY MISADVENTURE
:BY
FRANK BARRETT
CHAPTER XIV.
The young man bent his head and look
ed on the ground. He couldn't stand
chaff; but he had to make the best of it
now perhaps consoling himself with the
reflection that be would not stand it
after their marriage. I can Imagine him
promising himself to break her in and
bring her to meek submission in the fu
ture. Pity those poor souls who marry
a bully they have teased beforehand !
"I think this is scarcely a time for
badinage," said he, after a pause, still
looking upon the ground and tracing the
pattern of the carpet with the lash of his
whip. "1 know I am not perfect; but
you must admit that allowances should
be made for a fellow under the influence
of of emotion."
"I am willing to admit that a man
under that condition is not responsible
for his actions is that enough?"
"If you admit that, what am I to un
derstand by your present attitude? You
seem to forget what took place before I
went away."
"But I do not. Tou made me as offer
of marriage ; but am I .wrong in thinking
that you made that under the .influence
of emotion? I absolve you from respon
sibility for action under that condit.on.
May I not suppose that you were beside
yourself when you made that proposal,
and overlook the mistake aa readily as
that you have committed since?"
"It was not a mistake, Gertrude 1
loved you then as I love you now ; I have
oome here this afternoon to ask you again
if you will have me, faulty as I am yet
an honest fellow and be my wife."
Nurse Gertrude was not greatly moved
with this speech, which had very little
appearance of depth and sincerity Is it,
despite the quavering of that manly voice.
"May I ask why you have thought it
necessary to ask me a second timer' she
asked, trying to fix his shifty eyes, and
learn the truth from them.
"Well, your manner seems to imply
that you consider the engagement broken
off."
"I did think It broken off. Had I not
reason to think so?"
"Oh, yes ; the way I epoke to you and
little La ure was unpardonable."
He paused and looked down again to
escape from her fathoming eyes. He had
probably thought that there would be lit
tle difficulty in bis way, and that he could
just reconcile Gertrude,, if she should re
sent his silence, with a few words or a
kiss or two, and without going into any
mora vexatious explanation than a mere
avowal of manly weakness under trying
circumstances. Dr. Awdrey had told him
to confess the truth, and conceal nothing,
adding that a woman would forgive the
man she loves anything except duplicity.
But Lynn, In his own conceited, pig
headed way, had fully relied on his own
cleverness ; his contempt for women In
general disposed him to tell them no more
than was necessary. He would rather
have avoided an explanation which,
though it presented a certain attraction
in being untruthful, would require a good
deal of bolstering up to support his as
sumption of honesty and generosity. How
ever, he had bungled so disastrously In
his own attempt, that he saw no escape
from his dilemma but by acting now on
Awdrey's suggestion.
"The fact is," said he, changing his
tone with a slash at his leg, "I was pur
posely brutal to little Laure and you.
I wished you to take offense and relieve
me from the engagement."
"That is what I thought it was the
only construction I could put upon your
behavior," said she.
"I dare say you wonder what my rea
son was. I will tell you. I can't conceal
the truth, and I know well enough that
there's nothing a loving woman will not
forgive, except duplicity."
A new warmth glowed in Gertrude's
heart. She liked those words; they were
good and true it never struck her that
they might be Dr. Awdrey's.
"I knew that through Keene's delay I
was ruined that I had nothing whatever
to expect from my uncle's will. I knew
that I must no longer cherish the thought
of making you my wife, in debt and pen
niless as I was, and but there, you can
Imagine the rest."
"You wanted to give me the opportu
nity of breaking the engagement, before it
might appear that pur separation was due
to mercenary considerations on my part.
Oh, that was generous !" exclaimed Nurse
Gertrude, carried away by her own impul
sive and generous recognition of an un
selfish nay, a chivalrous motive on his
part. All my warning was forgotten in
an instant.
"I did not want to tell you this," he
aid, In a tone that seemed to disclaim
any merit to gratitude.
"But you wronged me, Lynn," she said
gently "you wronged me, to think I
might wish to break the engagement be
cause you were less rich than you ex
pected to be when you made me an offer."
She held out her hand to him frankly,
and he took it. If he had been wise
enough to tell her all that had passed be
tween him and Awdrey, she would have
been his without doubt. In return for an
open avowal, she would have swept aside
my warning and all prudential con
siderations, put the best construction on
his motives, and scorned to, entertain any
suspicion of mercenary motives which
might be suggested by his conduct. Now
was the time for him to spring up and
xut his aims around her; but he hung
back, the dolt. With that perverse idea
of a girl's mental inferiority, he thought
he had told her enough. Possibly he was
annoyed in being forced to abandon his
own way of winning her, and act upon
Awdrey's more generous and manly ad
vice. Perhaps, believing that she was
anxious to get him, he thought he might
treat her with a little indifference as a
kind of punishment for her previous cool
ness. There is no knowing the extent of
pitiful meanness a heartless man is not
capable of. Anyhow, he sat there In, al
ienee, waiting for her to make a further
advance. And that, giving her time for
reflection, saved her.
"Are you greatly in debt, Lynn?" she
asked after a little consideration.
"Oh, not a great deal," he replied care
lessly; "a few hundreds."
"And how do you propose to pay your
debts?" she asked. .
"That will be all right. The fellows
won't press for payment. They know
their only chance is to wait till I get a
bit straight"
"How do you mean to get straight, as
you call it?" she asked, smiling.
"Rang it all, Gertie !" he exclaimed pet
ulantly, "let's drop this subject. I came
to make love to you, not to talk about
money."
"Yes; but the two subjects seem to
have become so Involved that we can
hardly mention one without talking about
the o'-'T. The best way is to detach the
plensr from the unpleasant subject, and
that would be most readily done by set
tling the money question at once, don't
you think so?"
"Oh, well, if we must talk about that
sort if thing, I should ask you to let me
have a little money to square my ac
counts, while I look about for something
that would enable me, in time, to pay you
back though I don't think there ought to
be any debt and credit account between
man and wife."
"Nor I," replied she gravely. "If I
marry you, all that I have will be yours,
and I should be very unhappy If I thought
it necessary to question how you disposed
of it."
"That's all right. Of course, whatever
I do with the money will be for our com
mon good. So that settles the thing,"
he said, rising from his chair. "Eight,
ten months will be soon enough to settle
my creditors' little bills. I'll manage
them !"
"But In ten months I may be as far
as ever from being able to let you have
the sum you need; in the meantime, you
must be incurring fresh debts unless you
have some definite means of earning
money."
"But Awdrey told me that he Intended
settling the whole of the Interest on the
money left by Flexmore on you for tak
ing the care of the child off his hands,
and quite right that he should."
"I know nothing at all about that. Mr.
Keene proposed a salary that I thought
reasonable; rf he had proposed more, I
think I should have declined to accept
it"
"I must have an explanation with Aw
drey at once. There seems to be a little
shuffling here. I must know th facts
of the case.
"Mr. Keene Is in the next room," sug
gested Miss Dalrymple.
Lynn replied with an expression In re
gard to me which it Is unnecessary ot
repeat for I think I have shown enough
to prove that he was a blackguard, and
quitted the room to "go and have It out
with Awdrey," in a manner so devoid of
feeling, or even comomn courtesy, that it
must at once have destroyed any faith in
his sincerity that poor Gertrude eherlnhed.
Poor Gertrude! it was some time after
the door closed upon Mr. Lynn Teamed
before she came from the room where he
left her. and then, despite the cheerful
air she assumed, I perceived that she had
been crying.
Here, again, I have wondered what
she cried for. Had she not every reason
to be pleased that she had found out the
man's real character before marriage rath
er than after it? Was not scorn of such
a base fellow enough to dry in its source
the regretful tears that would have
sprung in losing a lover? I should have
thought so. But nothing puts on so many
unlooked for aspects as human nature.
One cannot reason upon the movement of
human hearts as If they were made of
wheels, mathematically arranged, to pro
duce from a given impulse a certain and
undeviating result. So I say again, poor
Gertrude! for she was weak as well a
strong.
Had she really loved Lynn? or was
she ouly interested in him from a belief
that her influence had ennobled him? I
cannot say ; all I know is that she wept
in realizing that he was neither noble
not lovable.
CHAPTER XV.
Ths morning after my last visit to
Flexmore House I heard the crunching
of wheels In the Ice of the gutter, and,
glancing through the blind, I caught
sight of Dr. Awdrey. The old gig had
been mended, and he had bought a new
nag of the same sober sort as the last
"Ha, ha I" thought I; "he's come to set
tie about the two thousand a year that
Nurse Gertrude is to receive."
It must be remembered that the par
ticulars of .the Interview between Lynn
Yeames and Miss Dalrymple which I have
set down in the last chapter, had not then
come to my knowledge.
Dr. Awdrey camo In clapnlnc hi. hsad.
for, I remember, it was bitterly cold;
and, pulling off one of his knitted gloves,
be gave me his hand. 11 ii nose was red,
but his fine, kindly eyes sparkled bright
ly ; and he bad In his face that expres
sion of virile energy, and vigor, and tri
umph, which one may see on a man when
be has broken the ice to take his morning
plunge. But there are difficulties to over
come in carrying out a healthy moral
principle, that call for just as much nerve
and courage as diving through half an
inch of Ice; and it has often struck me
that if one braved aa much personal In
convenience and discomfort In the ser
vice of humanity as he will endure for
the mere sake of self-gloriflcatlon, it
would be infinitely better for oneself and
one's fellow creatures. It was a moral
plunge of this kind that animated and
beautified the doctor's face that morn
ing, I felt sure. He sat down before the
fire warming his hands and talking about
the weather for some minutes ; then, after
a pause, he said :
"Are there any farms to let about here,
Keene, do you know?"
"Yes," said I; "you may take your
pick of them for ten miles round. Land
was never so cheap before. Rents have
gone down fifty per cent."
"Then why don't farming pay?"
"I'll tell you," said I; "it's because
your farmer is too genteel to work, and
has to pay another for doing what he
ought to do himself that's one reason."
"If a man were not too genteel to
work, if he put his heart and soul Into it,
if he went into jt as a man goes into bat
tle, setting his heart and soul on win
ning, how Chen?"
"He would make It pay I'd stake mj
reputation on it," I exclaimed. "You
know nothing about farming, doctor; but
with your dogged perseverance and a cer
tain amount of intelligence that you
would bring to bear on it, even you might
make It pay ; and I'll guarantee that you
would make more by it than by your med
ical practice."
"I am very glad to hear you think so,"
said he, cheerfully.
"Why? Do you think of taking a
farm?" I asked hopefully.
He nodded. I was never better pleased
In my life, and I told him so.
"Now, there's Thlbald's farm." said I.
"You could get that at fifteen shillings an
acre, I know."
"Too far off. How about Captain Ran
ger's farm do you think he wants to give
up?1
"I know he does. He must. Can't go
on losing eight hundred a year.'
"Eight hundred a year? That's a good
deal to lose," . he saidr. drawing a long
faoe
"Why does he lose it? Because he
never goes out of the house except to
bunt or shoot ; because he's lounging
about his billiard room instead of look'
Ing after his accounts when he's at home ;
because his wife keeps four servants;
because he pays Evans three hundred a
year for robbing him ; and- because he's
no more a farmer than you are a lawyer,
It's famous land the best in the county,
I'll get the place, house and all, for a
pound an acre. You're bound to make it
pay ; It's the very thing for you."
"Well," said he, rising, "I shall go
over and look at the farm this afternoon.
perhaps. Do you know if Captain Rangef
Is at home?"
"He is, and he will be only too glad to
see you. I'll send a note up to him this
morning. Leave all the negotiations to
me. I shall manage that better than
you could."
W shook hands and parted, but aa
soon as he was gone a misgiving seized
me. That misgiving was verified when
I caught sight of him in the afternoon
jogging along in the gig towards Captain
Ranger's, with Lynn Yeames on the seat
beside him.
(To be continued.)
The Huntsman Kalirr.
Among the many trials that Presl
dent Roosevelt has bad to bear Is the
accusation that he resembles the Em
peror of Germany. The fondness of
both for hunting lias been pointed out
as nn example of the likemindediiess of
the President and the Kaiser. Statis
tics have recently been published
which east light upon the hunting
achievements of Wllllnm II. They
make Theodore Roosevelt's occasional
excursions In search of well-deserved
rest and a few grizzly bears seem Sun
day school picnics in comparison. They
put the strenuous occupant of the
White House forever In the class of
-milksops and mollycoddles.
The official statistician to the hunts
man Kaiser reports that bis majesty
has bagged a total of 47.514 pieces of
game In a period of thirty yenrs. Over
eighteen thousand pheasants were as
saslnated. and seventeen thousand
bares were cut off In their prime. One
can go on down the list of boars, rab
bits, stags, etc., until there seems to
be scarcely a variety of bird or beast
that has escaped the' imperial bullet.
The emperor even Invaded the realms
of Neptune, for we are told that one
lone, solitary whale perished In su
preme honor and agony. On one short
winter's dny the Kaiser, unaided, shot
1,058 pheasants.
This Is not the annual report of a
Chicago meat-packing establishment,
but a record of Imperial achievement
In support of It, the London Magazine
reproduces photographs of the royal
nlmrod picturesquely surrounded by
deceased animals. We are shown boars
about to dep-irt this life, and stas
which are prostrate In the Imperial
presence. "A cat may look at a l:lng,"
but the wise German feline will stay
tinder thu lloheuzoilem b;i"n. .ueoesn
Magazine,
. LANDSCAPE QA.RDEN1NQ.
Stbject Ever Hm Lover Should
Give Attention.
Br J. R. Phlnn. Profewor of HortJenltnra, Uah
experiment station. Moscow.
Moat of the West is new oonntnr.
therefore It is not surprising that com
paratively few dwellings and farmsteads
within ber boundaries are surrounded
by attractively arranged plantings of
trees, flowers and shrubs. Naturally,
the attention of most cititena of this
great commonwealth has been oon fined
to the one Idea of money-making; per
haps the place has been mortgaged and
every effort has been bent to relieve
this condition; or, some may have set
a certain standard of money accumula
tion and have devoted their energies to
wording toward this goal. The result
of these conditions has been that of set
ting aside the real beautifying of home
grounds as a secondary consideration.
Anotner very prevalent reason why peo
ple neglect this all-Important matter,
is found in the fact that scarcely one
person in a thousand steps aside and
givei the matter adequate thought.
Although one may appreciate the at
tractive places of others, still' the idea
of making his own place equally attractive-
is far from the imagination. A
third class of people are those who
really love the touch which nature
gives the home surroundings, but from
lack of forethought and systematic
planning their efforts fall far short of
success. All of these classes of home
makers can profitably devote some at
tention to this subject, commonly
known as "landscape gardening," and
its application to homes of out oonntry.
The ultimate aim of all landscape
gardening, whether conducted on a
small or on a large scale, should be to
present a pleasing picture. In other
words, landscape gardening may be de
fined as the art of arranging and group
ing trees, shrubs and flowers in such a
manner that a picture of undeniable
beauty prevails from season to season.
It is not enough that the material
chosen for the plantings should give an
attiactive display for a single season,
such aa the painter places upon his
canvas, but the selection should go
farther, presenting material tbst will
give increasing variety and alluring
beauty for each day, each week and
each month.
From this statement of tha subject
it is quite evident that the landscape
gardener who wields the tools which
nature places at his disposal occupies a
position on equal footing with the artist
who wields the brush in transferring
these pictures to the canvas. Yet it is
quite possible for most of us to play the
part ot the former, even though it be
in a very limited manner. As many
painters are imitators to a great degree,
if one should imitate the works of
others in the arranging of plants, he
would be committing no unpardonable
sin. In fact, this latter method of
procedure is likely to prove the most
fruitful means for the average person to
employ ; at any rate, it will serve ad
mirably for the purpose of giving an
idea of the kinds of plants to select and
the grouping methods most pleasing to
the eye.
On the other hand, it is necessary
that the person who is to become the
amateur landscape gardener should un
derstand some of the prime essentials
and common sense rules of this art.
Where shall the flowers be placed?
Shall the trees and shrubs come In the
middle of the lawn or shall they find a
more appropriate location in some
other point? Is it good taste to make
walks and roads in curves? These and
many other questions naturally arise
in the minds of those who axe carefully
prospecting in this subject. It there
fore behooves us to get some working
idea of these various topics. Every
home-lover should give ample attention
to this subject.
Of Interest to Farmers,
The following publications of interest
to farmers and others have been issued
by the Agricultural department of the
Federal government and will be furn
ished free, so long as they are availa
ble, except where otherwise noted, up
on application to the Superintendent
of Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington, D. C:
Bulletin No. 145. Preparing Land
for Irrigation and Methods of Applying
Water. Prepared by the agents of irri
gation investigation. Pp. 84, pis. 7,
figs. 33. Price 15 cents. This bulletin
gives descriptions of methods of remov
ing sagebrush, of smoothng land, of
laying out fields for different systems
of applying water, and of the different
systems of applying water. The vari
ous methods are compared as to cost
ajd efficiency.
Bulleltn No. 146. Current Wheels:
Their Use in Lifting Water for Irriga
tion. Prepared in the office of experi
ment stations, irrigation investigations.
Pp. 88. pis. 4, figs. 21. .Price 10 cents.
Drawings and photographs ol a large
number of wheels used for rasing water
from streams are given, accompanied
bv descriptions, statements of cost, and
discussions of efficiency. A general dis
cussion of the theory of current wheels
is also given.
Had One of Hf Own.
Mrs. Lottakids, who had been invitid
to attend ths opening seision of ths moth
ers' congress, was sending her regrets
over the telephone.
"It's awfully kind of you te ask me,
Mrs. Ondego," shs said, "but I can't come.
I'm toe busy looking aftsr the children."
SLAVES DT MASSACHUSETTS.
noose In Which They Wera, Sold
Hello of Town of Ilanovrr.
A relic of slavery days In New Kng
land iu the middle of the eighteenth
century, the old Tllden house on Win
ter street, West Hanover, the only
house In that town where slaves were
kept for market, is now being demol
ished, says the Boston Herald.
The house Is one of the best-known
landmnrks In riymouth County and
has stood for nearly 200 years. It was
used as a tavern In Its early days and
later for a residence. Of recent yearn
It has been abandoned to the elements
and has rapidly fallen Into decay.
No one knows the exact date of the
building of the house, but historians
agree that It was long before the in
corporation of the town of Hanover
In 1727.
Jedediah Dwelley, of North nanover,
who has spent much time in gathering
facta concerning the early history of
the town, says : "While there was more
or lees buying and selling of slaves
(as In the middle of the eighteenth
century nearly all the wealthy families
owned one or more) this probably was
the only . place where the traffic was
carried on for revenue. I have seen
two bills of slaves sold from this house.
One was from Job Tllden to a Mr.
Bailey, of Sclruate, a negro child
named Morrow, ft years of age, of good
bodily health and a kind disposition."
. One of Mr. Tllden's slaves named
Cuffee served as a soldier In the Revo
lutionary Wnr; nd according to n
old pay roll he was stationed at Hull,
March 1, 1777. He was with Col.
Bailey and died at Valley Forge. He
was known as Cuffee Tllden and was
so Inscribed on the printed rolls.
The books of the First Congregation
al Church of Hanover record the mar
riage by the Rev. Benjamin Bass on
Feb. 8, 1751, of Jack and Blllah, ser
vants owned by Job Tllden, and also
the death of a negro boy owned by Job
Tllden, Feb. 12, 1760.
There are many other brief records
of slaves kept In different families In
Hanover.
Blood Poisoning;.
By the term blood-poisoning Is meant
the presence In the blood of the germs
of putrefaction or suppuration, or of
the poisonous products of these germs.
It Is necessary to define the expression
at the beginning, for strictly speaking
every form of poisoning, Including alco
holic Intoxication, Is blood-poisoning.
There are three distinct forms of
blood-poisoning. In one the germs of
putrefaction are circulating In the blood
and manufacturing their poison, upon
which the symptoms of the disease de
pend ; In the second the blood-contained
germs are those which cnui.a pus-formation,
and they also manufacture a poi
son which produces the disease ; In tho
third form the bacteria, either of pu:
trefaetlon or of suppuration, are not iu
the blood but on the surface of the
body, and the symptoms are due to the
absorption of the poison elaborated by
them.
Tho toxin, as this bacteria-produced
poison is called, Is In this last Instance
Imported, while In the first two cases
mentioned It Is, as It were, of domestic
manufacture therefore obtained more
easily and In greater quantity.
Those three forms are called In med
ical language, septemla, pyemia and sa-
premla, respectively, meaning septic
germs In the blood, pus In the blood,
and the products of putrefaction In the
blood.
The pyemic form Is characterized by
Irregular chills, fever and sweating,
and the formation of abscesses In vari
ous parts of the body. It la very com
monly fatal. Septemla resembles pye
mia In Its symptoms, except that the
fever Is more continuous, not being In
terrupted by chills as It Is In pyemia,
and there Is no formation of abscesses.
The severer forms of septemla are al
most always fatal, but the disease oc
curs ofte In milder type, In which the
chief symptoms are high fever, head
ache, and depression of the Vital forces.
Sapromla resembles septemla In Its
symptoms, as It naturally should, since
both these forms of blood-poisoning are
caused by the same poison, In one case
formed outside of the body and absorb
ed by the tissues, In the other produced
hy the bacteria In the blood and tissues.
Sapromla may terminate fatally, but It
yields more readily to treatment. This
consists In management of the wound,
opening It up to the air, cutting away
the festering parts, cleansing the mir--fnce
thoroughly, and treating It with
antiseptics.
Here is a stefeoytped remark you
hear frequently from cronkers; "Did
you ever see so much sickness?"