A Political
By
WELDON
chapter vi.
Gideon Hope had said h hnd two ob
jects to attain: to roach thp man controll
ing the patents on "the Kano-Itinier
metal process," to revolutionize a -political
situation.
There was a third motive lie had in
view, but he did not state it to Michael
Delehanty, or to th? Amalgamated nies
senger : the crowning desire of his life
was to secure some positive proof that
Percy Kane was the murderer of his
brother.
He had profound faith in the exist
ence, somewhere, somehow, of an incrim
inating clew. Sometime it would come to
light. Rut if there was no such evidence,
no witness, Hope determined to resort to
any means to finally urge the millionaire
schemer to a confession.
His Hope's was the task to reduce
this man to poverty, to subvert every am
bition and joy of his life.
lint to follow that other trail, to bring
nctuallv home to Kane his crime that
had been left for the deft hand of a wom
an Claire Treniaine.
Two days after the peculiar error
which hail'"ili;uiseil" Gideon Hope most
effect nail. v. a beautiful young girl sat at
a richly carved desk in the private office
of the new iron magnate of the Kanawha
district.
It was a luxurious apartment, supplied
vith every model modern accessory known
to progressive business. Handsome deco
rations covered the walls, soft velve:
hiss were scattered about the polished
hardwood floors. The ornate in leather,
oak and bronze supplied each corner and
niche, and rich electric light chandeliers
supplied the place with constant illumina
tion. Claire Tremaine had been in the em
ploy of the company for three mouths.
T'nder Gideon Hope's tutelage she had
been trained, steeled, for the part she was
to play. Kane had never seen her during
his dealings with her father, for the
motherless girl had been away at school
over three years, spending her vacation
at the home of an aunt in Maryland,
where her father went to visit her.
So she had few acquaintances when
he came home finally to reign as queen
of the fair palace her father had erected
for what he believed would In? a rare,
happy future. Here at Stanton there
seemed no probability of ever meeting
any old seminary friend. Still she had
considerably altered her appearance. Rut
this had not detracted from her beauty;
the assumption of the character of a
poor young girl compelled to earn her
daily bread it had rather heightened
graces and loveliness that had at once
won her a position as copy clerk, a pro
motion to the stenographer desk, and
finally that of especial private secretary
to Percy Kane himself.
Claire was alone in the private office.
Her eyes were sadly fixed upon the busy
scene of labor without. In memory she
went back over the past few weeks. Her
lip trembled, her bosom rose and fell with
varied stirring emotions.
Then a sudden determination nerved
tier, and she drove from soul and face
the flitting tenderer sentiments that had
intruded.
She drew a letter from a drawer to
irhich she alone had the key. She open
ed and read it over.
"Dear Mr. Hope: I have for you the
information you desired of the metal pro
cess patentee.
"Of the other information I have found
nothing. If he has in his possession any
document or record incriminating him, or
even linking him with the Consolidated
Silver Company, he carefully conceals the
tame in some place elsewhere.
"I am nt my post. I serve, I wait, as
you desire, but I must see you. The or
deal is too severe! Something has hap
Iened. He but I will not write what
I must tell you.
"You must take me away from here
something has happened, as I tell you,
and I must see you !"
She arose quickly, bestowing the letter
It her belt. A man entered the room
massive, overfed, overdressed one of the
"big four" who had engineered the deal
that made a rascally quartette censors of
the metal markets of the world.
He had the grace to remove from his
mouth the cigar he was smoking as he
asked :
"Kane in?"
"No, sir."
She shivered at the leering, sensuous
glance of this man, a figure-head at the
champagne supper directors' meeting, a
being who would have been a fixture in
some tannery or digging sewers but for
bis usefulness to Kane.
lie passed out. She caught his chuck
ling remark to the clerk in the next room
as he went out of sight:
"If it wasn't for Kane, I'd take some
jiains'to cultivate Miss Ilockford my
self!" Claire stood erect, flushing, smarting
to the soul contact with these men sul
lied every womanly instinct.
"I can not endure it!" she said. Just
then the telephone bell in an adjoining
closet rang. She went to the instru
ment. Claire forgot everything except the
business of the moment as she received
he message coming over the wires.
It was a long-distance announcement
from I'ittsburg. and it told of the con
summation of one of the largest foreign
contracts ever awarded an American
firm, but consequent upon the immediate
presence of Mr. Kane in New York.
It was so important that Claire knew
she must lose no time in getting her
employer to the 'phone to answer in per
son. She hastened into the outer office and
addressed the inquiry clerk :
"Where is Mr. Kane?"
"He has just gone over with the super
intendent beyond the casting shed, to see
lout the erection of a new hoisting
crane," was the response.
Claire glanced about the offic. She
V endetta
J. COBB
i
was conscientious to the point that,
though here for an ulterior purpose, she
was loyal to the exigencies of the business
regime of the institution.
One or two of the mill messenger boys
were in sight, but they might dally; Mr.
Kane might not understand from them
how imperative was the necessity of the
moment.
"I will go and tell him myself," decid
ed Claire,
She ran back to the 'phone, ordered the
wire held, and passed quickly out of the
quarters into the open air.
She had to pass down a cindered road
between two long shops, round the cast
ing shop, and thus reach the sKt where
she knew her employ or to be. It was
over a quarter of a mile away by this
route, so she hurried along the deserted
roair so rapidly that she did not notice a
lieu re steal from a shelter shed and pur
sue her path.
This was Gideon Hope, awaiting an
opportunity for a brief necessary word
with her.
Since his whole facial presentment had
been changed by that dip in the acid
trough, be had ventured more boldly in
and out among shops and workmen.
Claire sped on. full of her mission. As
she reached the middle of the long casting
shop, she fancied she descried a way of
encompassing her purpose with due econ
omy of time and distance.
Rroad doors cut the exact center of the
structure on two sides. She could look
across and through the width of the place.
Ry covering three hundred feet, cross
ing the gutters and troughs in soft black
molding sand, the set "pig iron" beds,
she could come speedily to the other side,
and at once discover Kane.
Her dainty feet disturbed the even,
numerous rows of indentations sunk to
receive the molten iron, but not sufficient
ly to destroy their utility, and she hur
ried along in the semi-gloom of the cov
ered shed until about half way across the
structure.
Then a grewsome, a hurried, sound
checked her : then a flare, sudden, blind
ing, shot across both far ends of the
building.
It seemed as if the jargon, the foul
some blaze of hell itself had let loose!
Claire stood appalled. The overwhelm
ing, the terrible, the soul-curdling had
happened all in a moment!
This had occurred :
At either end, on a signal, because the
time had come for the usual operation, the
two immense blast furnaces had been
openened up.
Instantly their gushed forth tons of
molten metal, cascades, a torrent of it!
Quick as lightning, swift, lurid steam,
it splotched into the central gutter, and
spread.
Out, in filling a score of feeder arter
ies, distributing veins, channels, in one
throbbing, setient minute the long,
speeding rivulets of red hot metal dash
ed down, along, across.
Claire was environed shut in !
Only now, in the vivid illumination, did
the workers on the end platforms discover
the human victim penned in.
Rut now no hand could stay the de
stroying stream; cow no saving arm
could reach her.
"She's lost!"
"It's reached her !'
"No, not yet, but "
A roar of many voices went up a
groan of hope It was, half cheer of hope.
Clftlre had sunk to her knees. She
thought her doom had come, and was
praying.
With closed eyes she felt the hot.
scorching breath fly nearer, closer.
The spell-lwund workers were glaring
at one sudden, heroic figure.
A man had abruptly appeared at the
side doorway Claire had recently entered.
It was Gideon Hope.
In an Instant he saw the frightful peril
of the woman whose life had become so
strongly bound up with his own.
A spring, and he was on the planking
spanning the upper arches of the grimy
structure.
A keen run and he was nearly over
her head.
There was a rattle. He had sprung to
the side of a derrick, released its gearing.
Its booked chain dropped, tangled, di
rectly over the head of the fire-environed
Claire.
It rattled, swung, vibrated. Those peer
ing through spitting sparke of flame and
foamy fits of steam witnessed him slide
the chain like some apt sailor.
"Cling to me !"
Hoarsely, breathlessly, Hope shouted
the word, lifting Claire as he spoke.
Her dress had caught ablaze. He dash
ed out the flaming cloth.
Her eyes opened in wild hope in wild
er surprise.
"You !" she cried in a love of joy, and
unhesitatingly clasped her arms about his
neck for to cling there was her only
safety.
A Btrange, weird emotion played across
Gideon Hope's strong soul.
"You know me !" he ufctered.
"Anywhere !"
He lifted hand over hand they got
safe above the blistering heat, the spite
ful sparks of fire, shooting up like disap
pointed serpents.
He was forced to rest the weight, the
tension was horrible. Their eyes met. A
startling, thrilling rapture filled him.
Almost could he wish to cling there a
moment thus, with that sweet face so
near to his own, and drop deliriously to
the lurking death beneath obliteration
of a broken life after one rapture-laden
moment of ecstasy !
Rut he struggled anew. They reached
the platform safe.
She still clung to him. lie had saved
her life. A shout aroused both.
A white-faced man, followed by others,
was dashing down the planking towards
them. It was Percy Kane.
"H is coming!" said Claire, "I must
tell vol something."
"Tcsr
He was unnerved, in strange emetion
nnd trusted not to words.
"That man! lie he has asked "
Her gaze dropped. Then she continued
faintly :
"He has nuked me to be his wife."
Gideon Hope started as though stung.
Then the old sternnes came to, his hard,
iron face.
"You have found no clews no papers?
Nothing of his past?"
"Nothing," she said, weakly,
A void of agony was in the man's heart.
Rut Kane was nearing them,
He thought of his purpose, of his mur
dered brother. His soul grew sick within
him, his face was ashen, but justice urged,
As though pronouncing bis own doom,
in a harsh, hollow tone, Gideon Hop
said decisively :
"You must marry this man !"
CI I APT Kit VII.
White as marble, the president of the
greatest iron and steel combine on earth,
staggered back from the ticker standing
in one corner of bis private office, .and
gasped a wild, frantic word "Incredible !"
Around him was the busy hum of in
dustry, the air clouded with constant
steam and smoke, the jar of giant ham
mers, the whirr and whistle of wheel and
valve.
At one corner of this vast industrial
city was his own nest of luxury, one of
a suite of offices magnificent enough for
a prince; there he stood. A man sud
denly transfixed, the white paper strip
playing out from the ticker dropped from
his grasp, a queer rattle sounded in his
throat, and then he felt something give
way, and the plate glass windows danced
dazzled, and he fell in a senseless heap
across the rich velvet tufted rug.
It was two months after the thrilling
events that bed culminated in the strange
peril of beautiful Claire Tremaine in her
stranger rescue by the man who was at
once her master and her minion.
Little had the powerful confederation
of millenaries, who directed and misdi
rected the doings of the great metal trust,
recked of the insidious power that, in
visible but potent, was slowly undermin
ing the bold, strong work of years they
knew not. for the feared not.
And now a blow nad fallen one ! And
they dreamed not its source, not even its
import.
For some minutes the great magnate
lay stretched, a lump of clay. Then the
door opened. Jauntily smoking n cigar,
Percy Kane entered the apartment.
His eye was bright, his step firm. There
was joy in his face a new emotion that
somewhat toned down the hard, sordid
lines of his selfishness and avarice. He
checked himself in surprise and then in
dismay, and, rooted, stood staring blank
ly at the prostrate form at his feet.
"Worthington, man ! what is this?" he
exclaimed.
A cold sneer began to play over his lip
as the natural thought came to him that
the president had tarried too long at the
elegant private buffet in the interior re
ception room. Just now, however, the
figure stirred. There was a moan, then a
weird, convulsive shudder.
The sufferer sat up, his hand voidly,
confusedly brushing bts brow.
"Something snapped !" he maundered.
"Snapped?" chalh nged Kane, with ir
ritation. "Yes !"
"Where?"
"In my head ! I was I was "
Laboriously the president struggled to
his feet. He fa!tced toward the nearest
(hair. Then ns he sank into it his white
fae grew still whiter. A sharp cry es
caped his lii3, and ae pointed a trembling
finger at tli5 snake-like strip of ribbon,
unwinding unwinding, from the ticker,
remorseless as some ghoul of fate telling
off the fortunes madew unmade, at the
stroke of the pendulum on the stock ex
change of New York City, five hundred
miles away.
"Look !" he shivered "and read !"
"Oh! you mean " began Kane cool
ly, passing toward the telegraph instru
ment then a sudden excitement made
him go quicker, for he began to estimate
the source of his confrere's emotion.
He snatched up the snake-like coil
deft, practiced finger and eve ran along
the narrow strip indented with harsh-dots
and dashes.
"The deuce !" he muttered, and his fine
white teeth clenched and met through the
Havana.
"Destruction!" he almost shouted after
a second lightning-like scan of the rib
bon, and the cigar dropped from between
his lips, and a gray color began to creep
from the brow downward over his star
tled, bis appalled face.
(To be continued.)
nolilan Indiana.
The Indian women of Roll via are
usually superior to their lords in actual
intelligence; also in age, as a rule.
They earn the larger Kim re of their
mutual "living" and take the lead in
most thing.
As recognized betid of the bouse the
Bolivian Indian wife is much more
likely to thrash her comparatively timid
spouse than lie is to ill use her.
In the markets, when produce lias to
be disposed of, she can drive a far bet
ter bargain than be could; she can car
ry as heavy burdens, endure as much
privation and physical toil, labor, chew
as much cocoa and drink as much
strong drink.
Little or no money passes among the
Bolivian Indians, their mediums of ex
change being whatever they may raise
or the labor of their hands. They will
eat when not hungry, drink when not
thirsty, sleep when not sleepy, any
where and any time when opportunity
offers, "against the time of need," ns
they say. The majority are in a state
of semi intoxication from babyhood to
the grave, alcohol being used on every
pretext, freely as their means will al
low, on occasions of births, deaths and
feast days the last named being re
markably frequent. Boston Globe.
He Ilaa to nay.
"You know," said the soulful youth,
"music Is the food of love "
"Nonsense!" replied the practical
fellow, "my love prefers lobster salad,
terrapin and other expensive fodder."
Philadelphia Presa
SULTAN'S FIRST APPEARANCE IN PUBLIC.
ViVvYVN H M &eVf 7 j , - I
i- - v"v ,
iihi'ftva&s
,y......g.......-.V. T. .
ABDUL 1IAMID, SULTAN OF TUB KEY.
Perhaps the most astonishing recent change in Turkey Is that which la
represented by the spectacle of the Sultan taking a drive. Until the threat
ened advance of two army corps uixm Stamboul forced Abdul Ilamld to revive
the constitution of 1ST0 the commander of the faithful never had dared to
show himself outside the precincts of Ylldiz kiosk, except for the Friday
drive to the Selamtk in the Ilamldleh mosque, which is practically within the
grounds of the palace. Ry thus showing himself freely to his people Abdul
Ilamld has done a good stroke of business for himself, because the Turk is
a patient beast of burden, absolutely loyal to his padlshah, and only asking
not to be. ridden to death by corrupt pashas and palace favorites. Hence the
public appearances of the Sultan have been the occasion of a series of out
bursts of perfectly sincere loyalty.
jvention
Ry a recently patented movable mold,
a well organized force of laborers can
lay 2 feet of cement sidewalk per min
ute. A practically permanent paint, a
rich brown In color, is made by grind
ing the bones of mummies with bitu
men. Although iron ore is found in almost
every State and territory in the Union,
it is mined profitably in only twenty
nine. A Pittsburg firm Is making a special
ty of glass grave "stones," which show
portraits of the deceased blown in the
front.
Contracts have been awarded for al
most 10,000 tons of dynamite for use
on the Panama canal within the next
twelve months.
The Island of Formosa exported
4.121,500 pounds of camphor last year,
of which 1,033,300 pounds came to the
United States.
A patent has been granted to an at
tachment to a rocking chair to operate
a fan to cool the occupant while sway
ing to and fro.
The United States produced 5,004
long tons of manganese last year, worth
$24,7(53, more than any previous year
except 1002 and 1900.
Over $225,000 has been subscribed to
the Koch endowment to be applied to a
crusade against tuberculosis, under the
direction of Dr. Koch.
A company is being formed at St.
Louis with $2,000,000 capital to oper
ate a line of steel barges between that
city and New Orleans. ,
A Philadelphia foundry makes a spe
cialty of breaking up old steel cannon
and remeltlng the metal for more than
half a hundred purposes.
A compressed air buffer lias been
patented for locomotives which, it Is
claimed, will prevent a serious wreck
in the event of a colllslon:
Wax obtained by boiling crude ozo
cerite, obtained from the bituminous
shales of central Toland and Hungary,
is used for candles by the peasants.
The result of observations of double
stars made from 183!) to 1907 at the
observatory at Cambridge, England,
soon will be published in book form.
More than 100,000,000 lobsters were
propagated and set free by the fish
commission last year, with the result
that the price was cut almost in half.
A Russian Inventor has brought to
the United States a motor boat which
he claims will make a speed of thirty
one miles an hour with a 12 horse power
engine.
More rapid changes In animal and
rogetable life, says Science, are taking
place In New Zealand than almost any
where else in the world. The native
Polynesian race is disappearing before
the European; the native wild animals
amount to little in contest with Im
Iorted species, many of which now run
wild; the Btreams are full of. Ameri
can and European trout, whl"h attain
an enormous size; and even tjie forests
are to be replaced by planting foreign
J
trees as the native ones disappear.
Eleven million larches, oaks, spruces,
Douglas flrs and eucalypts have already
been planted, and vast numbers of seed
lings are coming In all the time. The
reason for replacing the native trees
with species from the United States,
Europe and Australia Is that those of
New Zealand are too slow of growth
although some of them produce excel
lent timber. The Implantations thrive
everywhere.
The older countries having beeL
stripped of their forests. In many cases
to the danger-point, search Is now be
ing made for valuable woods in newer
lands. Among these is Brazil, which
Is known to possess enormous wealth
of this kind. Already the great Bra
zilian forests are beginning to feed the
sawmills which are rapidly being erect
ed. It has been remarked that not
withstanding the vast Increase in the
use of metal all over the world, the
demand for wood is still growing. Many
of the forests of Brazil are yet so far
from the railroads that they remain
In comparative safety, but others are
feeling the ax. An increasing quantity
of timber finds its way from the In
terior to Kio de Janeiro, where It Is
used for packing-boxes, match manu
facture, and many other purposes, and
a note of alarm Is sounded by those
who have learned what it mentis to
strip a country of Its forest resources
without providing for their renewal.
POINTING THE BONE.
Queer Snperat ttlon of (he Native
Iilnck of Analrnlln.
The native blacks of Australia an.
steeped in superstition. A black fellow
will on no account go near the spot
where another black has been burled.
He has a deep rooted aversion to one
particular bird the wagtail because,
lie says, "him all day talk, talk along
a white feller, tellum all about black
feller," and no opportunity is lost of
killing these little birds.
Many tribes "bury" their dead b
sticking them up into the forks of trees
and there leaving them till the flesh
has either dropped or been taken, leav
ing the bones clean. These bones are
then taken down, the larger ones hurled
and the smallest handed round as keep
sakes to those nearly related to the de
ceased. Should one black fellow wish
the death of a rival or enemy he points
the bone at him. This means that he
takes one of his late relation's bones
from his dllly bag and points it, in the
presence of witnesses, at the man he
wishes to get rid of, all the time pour
ing forth threats and curses.
Strange as it may seem, the one
pointed at will often languish and even
tually die, perhaps In a month, perhaps
in a year, for no sooner is the bone
pointed than he makes up his mind to
die, and there is no saving him. Lon
don Standard.
Different Opinion.
"I Bee a man intends to let a rattle
snake bite him and depend on prayer
for a cure. I call that faith."
"I call it cruelty to animals unless
somebody's going to pray for the snake
after It's bitten such a fool as that"
Philadelphia Ledger.
If women are talking machines, men
who sow wlkl oats should be classed at
ewlng mauhlnea.
TRUMPET CALLS.
itam'a Horn Bound n Warning Not
to. t lie Unredeemed.
There Is no to
morrow in God's
calendar.
The worst of all
failures Is to suc
ceed hi doing
wrong.
In killing snakes
It Is belter to cut
off an Inch of head
than a foot of tall.
Covet ousnoss is the moth, r of many
sins.
Even (he devil will behave himself .
when chained.
God honors the man who is not
afraid of a hard place.
Putting ball bearings on the church
doors is a poor way to 1)11 the pews.
Denouncing sin with a club In (he
hand Is not the way Jesus did It.
The man God calls, has to make n
move of some kind. He can't stand
still.
A boy generally gets his best from
his mother and his worst from his
father.
The book of Jonah wits written to
show that God is In favor of foreign
missions,'
The man who leads a prayer-meeting
should neither exhaust his subject nor
his congregation.
The preacher who does not get much
out of the Bible for himself will get
less for his people.
There Is something about a real man
that makes him shun a way that is
carpeted with velvet.
HOW ABOUT YOUR DOG?
JJj 5 " rV J8VJ
Some facts which every lover of dogs
should know are printed in Our Four-
footed Friends. The writer of the ar
ticle U'lleves that nine dogs out of ten
which their owners have to get rid of
ire simply the victims of careless or
unkind treatment. Overfeeding and
lack of exercise are the cause of ills
In the canine race as well as among
human beings.
Nothing is so certain to make a dog
sullen or cross as chaining him up.
He suffers so much from confinement
that it inevitably changes his disposi
tion. It is not only a wrong and a
cruel way to treat a dog, but it Is fool
ish, for a chained dog can be of no
service to his owner excepting to bark.
A tramp or burglar knows the dog
cannot reach him to harm him.
A chained dog Is likely to bark at
a friend as well as at a foe, or at a
dog running by or a passing team. The
family gets used to his barking, and
no one is likely to get up In the night
and Investigate every time the chained
dog barks;
A dog that Is well treated and has
his freedom stays about the place and
guards it. Of course there are excep
tions "tramp dogs," we call them; but
the family wanting a watch dog can
find one that will discriminate between
friend and foe, and strike terror to
the heart of evil-doers by the very fact
that he is loose.
I have heard it said, and I believe It
to be true, that burglars dread a little
house dog Inside the house more than
a dog outside the house, as they havo
ways of quieting the latter. A dog
that sleeps Inside the barn is a greater
safeguard to the barn than one out
side and chained up.
If a dog is kept outside to guard
place he should not be chained, but
should have a goodsi.ed, comfortablu
dog house, facing south, raised at least
six inches from the ground, ns other
wise the floor will be cold and damp.
and cause rheumatism. There should
le a bed of loose straw or excelsior,
hanged frequently enough lo keep it
lean and dry, and always a dish full
of fresh, clean water.
A .dog is a living, sensitive creature.
not a machine, yet ho frequently gets
less careful attention than the machi
nery men use. It is seldom a boy or
even a man will take as good care of
his dog as he does of his bicycle or his
lutomoblle.
A chained dog is wretched, and n&
one has a right to cause any creature
constant suffering, even to serve whit
one may call a useful purpose.
lieu inning lOnrlj.
Papa," said little Hollo, whose fath
er was sharing himself, "didn't you tell
me once that a man was a benefactor
who made two blades of grass grow
'(here only one grew In-fore 't"
Yes, my son."
Then a man who makes safety
razors is a iK'iiefactor, Isn't he?"
"Why so?" asked his father.
"Because he makes ten blades grovr
where there wasn't any In-fore," an
swered little Bollo.
Alvlra," groaned the sad father.
that lKy is going to 1k a humorist."
nitterlf Dlanppolnled.
Inquisitive If, as you say, you knew
diis man to be a rake, why did you In
vite him to your house?
I Ion pock Heavens, man, I never
dreamed he would elope with my
daughter; I thought lie would carry off
my wife. La Hire.
No, Indeed.
"Jinx Is going to Honduras to en
list In the army of that gorernmenL'
"He's a soldier of fortune, eh?"
"No, he's a soldier of no fortune!
If he had a fortune he would stay
ere." Houston Tost