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About Corvallis gazette. (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909 | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1904)
'J- Second Cousin arah BY TUB AUTHOR Or AIUIB JUDGE. SPINSTER," "LITTLE KATE MIRBT." . ETC.. ETC. ' , CHAPTER XXII. It is time that we follow the fortunes of Second-cousin Sarah, whom we left with her shabby sister-in-law in the grounds of Sedge HilL Taken off her guard by Mrs. Thomas Eastbell's sudden appearance, disturbed by the events of the night, and ever conscious of the dan ger which the presence of the two in truders in her aunt's house foreshadowed, she followed the woman . in good faith some distance along the garden paths and in the direction of the high road. "We will go no farther," she said; "tell me what I have to fear from your hus band and Peterson, and I will reward you handsomely." "Listen then as well .as you can. I ain't a-going to speak loud for anybody." "I am listening." Sarah Eastbell inclined her head more closely to the woman, who began whis pering about her husband in a rambling fashion that was difficult to follow, un til she went suddenly back three steps, to Sarah's surprise, and stood gazing at her, or at something near her. - "What is it?" exclaimed Sarah; "what There was no opportunity to say more, to scream, or to struggle. Two strong arms closed round her, and a cloth, wet and sickly with drugs, was pressed to her mouth and nostrils by a merciless hand, that seemed to snatch her at once from active life to oblivion. When she came back to consciousness it was to a life apart from Sedge Hill, and those who loved her there. She was lying on a bed, with Sophy Eastbell doz ing by the side of a scantily furnished fire. There was a narrow window in the side of the room, with some boards nail ed across it to keep the light of one splut tering candle from betraying itself to the night. Suddenly Sophy woke up, and gave a nervous jump in her chair at finding her sister-in-law' crouched upon the bed, with her great dark eyes glaring at her. "Where have you brought me? Why am I in this dreadful place?" Sarah ask ed in an eager voice. "You've come round, have you?" said Sophy. "Well, I am glad of that. Blest if I didn't think they'd overdone it with their klory-what's-its-name, and sent you bang off afore they meant it." Sarah Eastbell was sitting at the edge of the bed now, regarding her jailer with eager attention. She was scarcely back from dreamland yet. "Why have I been brought here?" she asked less' patiently. "You'll know in good time, gal. There's no 'casion for a hurry, or a flurry. Take it cool. You're safe enuf." Sarah Eastbell was standing at the door of the room when she had recovered herself. It was locked, as she had sus pected. "It's no use your thinking of getting out, Sally," said Tom's wife; "don't build on that, or harm will happen to you. That's certain." "Do you think I am the weak girl whom you remember last?" said Sarah, walking from the door to the woman's side, and clutching her tightly by the waist, "or that I am to be frightened by this trick of yours, and of the wretches who have assisted you? Do you know in what peril you have put yourself?" t "Oh, yes, we all know; it's all been thought, on," said thewoman ironically. "We're of the don't care sort, and have chanced it. You can't say it wasn't well done, Sally." "Give me the key of the door, or you will find me the stronger woman of the two!" cried Sarah. "Don't ketch hold of my wrist like that," cried her sister-in-law, "or you'll be sorry if I go away, or if any one downstairs comes up instead of me, be cause you are too wiolent for my com pany. You can't behave like a lady, for all your fine flash silk. I have only to Bhreek out, and there are three men be low who don't stand nonsense sich as yourn." "Sarah Eastbell released her hold. Yes. she was iu danger, and must be cau tious. They who brought her to this den had risked a great deal in entrapping her, and' would risk more rather than allow her to escape. She must be pru dent and on her guard, not defiant and aggressive. "I ain't got no key, if you must know," aid Sophy, as she returned to her chair and sat down; "this is my room, and we're both locked in together. I'm to take charge of you, that's all, my gal, and think yourself lucky it's me." "What place is it?" Sarah asked again. "A place of bis'ness," was the enigmat ic answer. "Coiners the old gang from Potter's Court the Petersons," cried Sarah. Mrs. Eastbell did not answer. She warmed her thin hands at the fire, and a convenient cough prevented all possibil ity of reply. She was a prudent woman, and not likely to commit herself and her friends by responding to leading Ques tions of this character. The spiriting away of a young lady from home without her consent, and with out leaving a clue wherewith to trace her, is no light feat in the nineteenth cen tury, and Mrs. Thomas Eastbell had shown a natural pride in the neatness of the achievement. True, the house was five or six miles from a quiet city, and was desolate enough at all times, the hour was late, the circumstances were opportune, and how to profit by the riches of old Mrs. Eastbell and her granddaugh ter had been the study of six months, but still Mrs. Thomas Eastbell had some thing to take credit for. It was a bold stroke carried out by desperate men, and tt had succeeded where a more timid line of policy would have assuredly fail ed. It was the boldest bit of business that the Peterson gang had ever been engag ed in, and the Petersons had been en gaged, under various aliases, in innumer able shady transactions. They had come to "fresh fields and pastures new" by adopting the fair county of. Worcester as a sphere for their operations; they had rented a tumble-down old edifice in a wild part of the country, and put on the door the name of Jackson, button maker; they had even made a few acquaintances In distant villages, and bore a respecta ble name among honest, unsuspicious folk who believed in them and their buttons. No one visited them certainly it was an out-of-the-way place, to which nobody Si' m was invited, and where only button mak ing was the order of the day. . , No one confounded the name of Jack son with Peterson and it was possibly good policy in the Captain adopting his own name when he went with Thomas Eastbell to Sedge HilL It kept matters clear and distinct, though he had not bar gained for Sarah Eastbell's good mem ory, or imagined that he was .known to her by sight. It was he who unlocked the door of Sarah's extempore cell at seven in the morning, and stood before her, the avow ed agent of her captivity. ' "I have come to apologize for my friends' rough treatment of last night," he said, reclining languidly against the wall, and crossing his gloved hands, one with a very glossy hat in it, "and to ex press a hope that you have suffered no inconvenience from your temporary with drawal from a home which you are ac customed to adorn. I, for one," he add ed with a low bow, "should regret very much to hear one word of complaint." "This is your work then," said Sarah bitterly; "it is as I suspected. Tell me what my brother wants?" "I would say a fair redress for the injury which you have done him. Your grandmother is rich, and will leave yon all her money. And your only brother, a man of many admirable qualities will be left to drag on his life in indi gence, and to die in utter abjectness of spirit, without you assist him as fairly and liberally as a fond sister should do. Thomas, who is in difficulties, wants fif teen thousand, pounds!" Sarah drew a sudden and deep breath, but did not reply. The thin face of the woman stooping over the fire peered round at her, horrible in its eagerness and greed. "Fifteen thousand pounds only from that immense fortune which must come to you when old Mrs. Eastbell dies, the simple conditions being that tho sum must be paid at once, as your brother is very poor, and there is a balance of six teen thousand three hundred and twenty eight pounds lodged at your banker's, in your name, for the convenience of a cur rent account." . - . "How do you know what money is lodged in my name at the bank?" "Thomas tells me that is all. He sent me here with your check book he found that in your desk, too, he tells rne. You have only to draw a draft for the amount, and you are free, Miss Eastbell. I promised a friend of yours that you should be at Sedge Hill this - evening. Miss Holland will tell you everything to night," he said as he drew the check book from his pocket and pitched it care lessly upon the deal table that was there. "I have left everything for that young lady to explain. It is a story apart from yours, .and suits not my style of narra-tive."- "This money is held in trust for an other," she said; "it belongs neither to me nor to my grandmother." "If to Mr. Culwick, we I should say. your brother Thomas objects to the title." "Liet him!" cried Sarah with a sudden outburst of anger. "Am I to understand then " "That I will not sign one of those checks. Yes, understand that for your friend. You may kill me," she cried, "but you shall not touch a penny of Reu ben Culwick's money." CHAPTER XXIII. Captain Peterson, merchant service, re ceived the ultimatum of Miss Sarah East bell with his customary sang froid. He was a man whom it took a great deal to disturb, or who concealed his annoyance by an enviable semblance of imperturba bility. "After that, I need not trespass further on your time," he said. "I will communi cate with Thomas at once." He unlocked the door and went to the landing place beyond, closing and locking the door behind him. Finally he went down the rickety stairs, which were crumbling to pieces with the house, halt ed at the bottom of the next flight, and listened at the right-hand door, as though there were another prisoner close at hand. The door was not locked, and he opened it softly, and put his head into the room beyond, withdrawing it in si lence, as if contented with what had met his gaze; and proceeding down another flight of stairs, to a room on the ground floor, where three tall men, in shirt sleeves, were cowering before a fire. If these men were Petersons, Captain Ed ward had taken the good looks of the family to himself. "You've done your parts well, boys," he said in a quick, sharp voice, "but there may be more to do." "How's that?" inquired scoundrel num ber one; "we've done enough now to get ourselves lagged for ten years." "It's not easy," said Peterson, "but it must be gone on with at any risk. Failure means Worcester jail, success means ten thousand pounds between us all." He had mentioned fifteen thousand pounds upstairs, but he and Thomas Eastbell were keeping an extra five thou sand to themselves. Edward Peterson did not tell his brothers everything when money was in question. "What more is to be done?" asked the first scoundrel, who was the worst-tempered and most disputatious member of the gang. "You will know when it'a necessary," was the short answer; "at present the young lady is refractory." "Will the girl sign the check before the day is out? that's the question," asked number one, "for we can't go on like this." "I have said that it's her money or her life, and I mean it! She will be back to night at Sedge Hill, or she will never re turn again. Mark that. Do yon think any woman would prefer to be found in the Severn, to paying away money that she can afford to part with?" "We don't want to hear anything about the Severn," said the first scoundrel; "yon know what's safe better than we do, but we'll have no hand in it. Dennis and I and- Mike have talked it over, and won't go further than we've done already there!" "You fools, have I asked you?" shout ed Peterson, springing to his eet; "you've done the work I've set you to do, and I will pay yon for it and be rid of you. The money's safe, and I'll keep my word as I always do, and always wilL I don't wont your helpyou are in the way, and must go." . "Go!" echoed the men. ' " " "This house will be unsafe after to night, and we must vanish before it's spotted. I will be in London to-morrow evening, at the old place, with- your money." One by one these, men drifted away from home, without a thought of Sarah Eastbell's safety, and with an immense amount of consideration for . their own.' It was not murder - that troubled their mind so acutely as complicity with it, de tection, and sentence. If Ned would take all the risk, he might mnrder half Worcester for what they cared; but it was out of their line, and they would pre fer to return to London as quickly as possible, and wait for the money that had been promised them, or the bad news they half expected instead. It was two o'clock in the afternoon before the last of the three men passed out of the house, and went away down the narrow lane which led from the high road. Captain Peterson stood at the front door. He was in excellent spirits, and he waved his hand to the disputations Barney, who was the last to leave, by way of friendly salutation at parting. "They're gone," he muttered, "and they're better gone, whichever way this affair is likely to turn out." He lingered at the door meditating on the great scheme of his life. . The sky was overcast, and he looked up at it and prophesied to himself that it would rain before the morning. He walked round to the opposite side of the house and gazed moodily at the water flowing twenty paces from him, and at a boat lying on the long grass above the river bank. One glance at the darkened window in the top most story where his fortune lay, he thought, and ; then he returned to the house meditating on the difficulties in his way, and of his genius to surmount them. He went into the house, and up stairs to the first floor room, wherein we have seen him gaze with interest at an early hour of the morning. "Bess," he said in a sharp voice, and at the summons a small thin-faced child, in a hat and cloak, appeared at the door. "You have come back then, father." "Yes." . Edward Peterson went downstairs, fol lowed by the little girl. At the front door he said: ."You were wise to keep to your room to-day, little woman, for they have been very cross, and Mrs. Eastbell has been worse than ever. You must find your way to Worcester to-night, all by your self. Two miles from here is a railway station you know it, , where the red and green lights shine out like big eyes after dark. You have run about here a good deal, and know your way well, and yon can find the station. . Now, take care of that money.". He placed some money in her hands, and she wrapped it up in a corner of a dirty white handkerchief, and tucked it down the bosom of her dress, wrapping her cloak round her afterward with all the carefulness and confidence of a woman. "At the railway station ask for a third class ticket for Worcester. When the train comes up to the platform, get in. When they call out 'Worcester,' get out. At Worcester a lady, very pretty, and with hands full of toys, will be waiting for you at the postofflce. Ask the way to the postofflce like a woman as you are, and when you see the lady under the clock, Say, 'Pa keeps his word I'm Bes sie.'" "All right," said the child again, with a rare amount of confidence in her own comprehension of the details, which, however, he asked her to repeat, listen ing attentively to the recital. She needed no second bidding to be off it had not been so happy a home that she should grieve for it or him, and there had been a promise of a glorious change for her, and a bright child-world. ?he ran off quickly toward the narrow lane, already full of shadow that murky after noon. (To be continued.) LAWYERS AT CHEAP RATES. Thirty-nine Cents la the Coat of Male ins; One In the Old Dominion. A local business man who was once the representative of one of the big mercantile agencies tells a story of how he became a member of the bar in the State of Virginia a number of years ago. He had occasion to go to one of the inland counties of the State to make an examination of the county records in order to ascertain the stand ing in the county of a number of coun try merchants. Upon reaching the railroad station he found it necessary, to drive a distance of ten miles or more over a road which was a mere apolog for a highway. Reaching the county, seat, he went to the clerk's office in the courthouse and proceeded to look ove the records as he had done in many other places without any objection be ing offered. While he was still on his first book he was asked by one of the clerks if he was a member of the bar. "Not In Virginia," he answered in a tone indicating that he was a member of the bar elsewhere. ."I'm- sorry," said the' young man, "but in this county it is against the rules for anybody other than a lawyer to handle the books." It was explained to the clerk that the legal talent in the firm's employ could not be found, and as the lawyer lived more than two miles away he would not have time to get him unless he missed the next train. "There will be no trouble in arrang ing the matter," the clerk Informed the Washingtonian. Entering a private room, the oath subscribed to by attorneys was ad ministered and a certificate 6howing the stranger was a full-fledged lawyer was handed over to him. "What shall I do now?" the clerk was asked. "Pay the fee," he answered. "What is the amount?" "Thirty-nine cents," was the clerk's prompt response. The money was paid and the man from Washington returned home and told how he became a lawyer for the small sum of 39 cents. Washington Star. Kaiser Wllhelm takes great interest In the work of the Y. M. a A. In ZSurops TYPES OF JAPANESE WARSHIPS. I - -'.v- FUJI. ASHAL GREAT SEA WALL OF GALYESTON. Ever since the city of Galveston, Texas, was nearly destroyed by a tidal wave, the officials there have been perfecting their safeguards against such calamities In the future. The principal one of these is a gigan tic sea wall, thicker and firmer than any structure of the sort ever con structed. Not only is the wall considered Im pregnable, even in the face of the sea's onslaughts, but It Is also orna mental. As far as her waterfront Is concerned, the city is to look like a vast fortress. The wall Is to be 3 miles long 16 feet high, with a base 16 feet thick and a top 5 feet across, NEW SEA WALL AT GALVESTOK. the riprap of the front measuring 27 feet. Four thousand feet of the work are already completed. Before July, it is estimated, the whole job will be finished. The wall is built of crushed granite, sand and cement, resting on a foundation of piles driven to a depth of forty feet. The cost, for which pro vision was made by a bond issue, will be $1,500,000. To complete the work of protection It was also necessary to raise the grade of the city, and a contract has been let with a Holland firm to per form the task for $2,000,000. The time allowed Is three years, but the contrac tors think they can finish it in two. It Involves the cutting of a canal through the city 150 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Galveston expects not only to out live the effects of her disaster, but to become even a greater city than ever. Her present importance as a shipping point is exemplified by the fact that her cotton receipts for the season ag gregate abotit 2,100,000 bales, or 450, 000 more than were handled In New Orleans for the same time. Since Sep tember the grain receipts make a total of 14,000,000 bushels. There is also a heavy export trade with South Af rica. FIRE EXTINGUISHER. It Contains a Powerful Fire-Fighting Powder. It is not at all difficult to extinguish a fire if it. can be detected in its in cipiency, but if it has had an oppor tunity to burn for a short time it is a task requiring a company of fire men and a deluge of water. Were it possible to find a blaze at its be ginning there would be no need to maintain paid fire departments powdeb globe. in all the large cities, and Insurance companies would go out of business for lack of patron age. But many fires begin when no one is near and are not discovered until the headway is too great for one man to fight. Consequently, It Is cus tomary to equip buildings liable to fires with automatic sprinklers.rovid ing an arrangement which, will empty the contents of a large tank of water through a series of pipes to drench the vicinity of the blaze. The water Is turned on by the fusing of a' soft metal plug under the action of the beat from the blaze, or by means of a thermostat, which works automatic ally when the temperature rises to a predetermined degree, regardless of proximity to the blaze itself. The invention shown In the drawing is operated by the proximity, of heat YASHIMA. MIKASA. to the automatic release, but it has a different method of extinguishing a fire than that used by the water sprin kler. The extinguishing agent is con tained In a fragile globe, which is sus pended near the place where a fire is liable to occur. As soon as the beat causes its release and the globe falls to the floor a sliding hammer in the interior explodes the sphere and scat ters the fire-extinguishing powder broadcast, at the same time making noise enough to alarm anyone within the building. The extinguisher can be suspended at any point, without con nection with any other apparatus. : ON THE PARIS 'CHANGE, A Place Among the Seventy Costs About Three Million. Franca. It may be said that a seat among the Seventy (they call it a charge) costs about three million francs ($600, 000) or sometimes two million and a half, and a charge earns from 5 to 15 per cent (net) a year, so that the an nual profits are from $30,000 to $90,000, or more in exceptional years. But these are usually divided among sev eral associates, - for it rarely happens that an agent Is the sole owner of his seat. More often he has paid for only half of it, or a third of it, and has three or four silent partners who own the rest and who may again have sub partners, so that you will hear of a person owning an eighth or a sixteenth of a seat,' or even a- irty-second, these being simple Investments that carry no rights or privileges on the Bourse. As to procuring a charge, the thing has none of the Stock Exchange sim plicity, where the main requirement for getting a seat is to be able to pay for it Here a candidate must be a Frenchman and at least 25 years old. He must have served four years in cer tain forms of business. He must be personally acceptable to the . agent from whom he would purchase the seat, and often to his family, includ ing the ladies. He must be passed upon by the Seventy with formal vot ing, as if he were joining some select club, which he is. There must be no stain on his business record, and no slur on his personal character. A can didate was rejected recently for bad habits, and another for no fault of his own, but because his brother had been concerned in questionable transactions. With all this favorably settled, there Is still needed the approval of the Minister of Finances and the sanction of the President This makes it clear enough why many of the ablest deal ers on the Bourse have not been mem bers of the parquet but of the cou lisse. They could not get into the par quet Century. Obliging Tradesmen. "Maurice Barrymore sometimes used to perpetrate harmless practical jokes of the Theodore Hook type," said Wil ton Lackaye. "One afternoon "Barry,' while walking down Sixth avenue with a friend, halted abruptly, and disap peared into a ready-made clothing store. The friend followed and found him addressing the storekeeper: " 'Will you please take that suit of clothes out of the window?' he asked. "The clothier, thinking he was to have a sale, quickly complied. " 'Thank you,' -said Barrymore, turn ing on his heel. " 'But don't you want to look at it " blurted the merchant "'No, no, replied 'Barry.' 'No, no. I merely read your polite sign, "Any suit taken out of this window by re quest" Much obliged.' "New. York Times. - " . Out of a Job. An old Scotch lady was much dis tressed, says M. A. P., on reading that gas was being introduced to take the place of whale-oil. "O dear! O dear!" she exclaimed. "Whatever's to become of the pulr whales now?" If a woman loves a horse she is apt to love her husband or anything sOm she can drive. Wers Impure blood always shows somewhere. If the skin, then boils, pimples, rashes. If the nerves, then neuralgia, nerv ousness, depression. If the Sarsaparilla stomach, then dyspepsia, biliousness, loss of appetite. Your doctor knows the remedy, used for 60 years. " Returnlnr from th Cuban r, I u a perfect wreck. My blood was bail, and my health was gone. But a few bottles of Ayer'a Saraapafilla completely cured me." 11. c. Dobbucb. Scran ton. Fa. 1 00 a bottle. All rimggisU. J. O. ITER CO., TAwell. Mas. for Impure Blood Aid the Sarsaparilla by keeping the bowels regular with Ayer's Pills. An Obituary Mixed. Edward L. Adams, representing the United States as Consul General at Stockholm, Sweden, was for several years editor of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. . While occupying that position he wrote an obituary notice of a neighbor's child, whose trousers had caught fire during a Fourth of July cel ebration, burning the little fellow so badly that he ,died in consequence. Mr. Adams ended his article with the states ment that the sympathies of friends would go out to the bereaved parents. His shock next day may possibly be imagined when the types made him say that "the sympathies of a large circle of friends will go out to the burned pants." Por His Encouragement. Notwithstanding the disparity in numbers, Charles XIII., of Sweden marched bravely with his 8,000 men against Peter the Great and his 80,000 Russians. "What is your object, your majes ty," remonstrated one of his trusted generals, "in taking such a frightful risk?" "I want to show the Mikado of Japan," replied the king, "that a Czar isn't the whole cheese.". Shortly afterward the demonstration was complete. Chicago Tribune.. It takes two to make a quarrel until you have one of your own, and then it is always the other one who makes it. Success. Some people think success means simply to get rich. " Others think it means merely to keep out of jail. One of these definitions is about' as near correct as the other, says a philoso nhor. Eyes That Act Independently. Many animals possess more than two eyes which do not act together. A leech, for example, has ten eyes on the top of its head, which do not work in concert, and a kind of marine worm has two eyes on the head and a row down each side of the body. Some liz erds have an extra eye on the top of the head which does not act with the other two. A bee or wasp has two large compound eyes which possibly help each other and are used for near vision, and also three little simple eyes on the top of the head which are em ployed for seeing things a long way off. Sometimes we may learn more from a man's errors than from his virtues. Longfellow. Indians and negroes, as a rule, aro possessed of keener hearing than whits people: The 'population of Japan is twelve times as densa as that of the United States. ABSOLUTE SECURITY. Genuine Carter's Little Liver Pills. Must Bear Signature of See Fac-Slmlle Wrapper Below. Texy Maall and mm T to take ma ragaz. UAKI LliO FOR DIZZINESS. ITllTTLE FDR BILIOUSNESS. I I I V FR H T0nD LIYER I I dm i ft F0R constipation; J I rt FOR SALLOW SKIN. I 1 I FOR THE COMPLEXION . . - . (HOnznoi nuaramwaiawATuat. tfcSa Purely Vegetle.sVixz&C CURE SICK HEADACHE. Beat Conch Syrup. Taatea Good. Uaa in tune, nom or aragguw.