4 ' The RedMirage A Story of the French Legion I in Algiers By I. A. R.WYLIE (All riihu reserved. The CHAPTER XXIII Continued. 22 Goetz von Bcrllchlngen lifted him self ou bis elbow. The hard-lined face was shrunken with suffering. "If I might speak to you alone my general?" "Iiy all means." He bent lower. The staff, watching Impatiently, saw him start and then slip bis arm beneath the dying bead. "It shall be as you wish." General Meunlcr unclasped the cross from his own uniform and laid It gently on the shattered breast. "The Legion Is proud of you comrade." Go'etz von Berllchlngcn frowned. The fast-glazing eyes lit up for one Instant with a flash of the old arrogance. He thrust the order Impatiently aside. "It was for the Englishman my friend" He fell back. His face became a mask. But about the mouth there hov ered a smile of an inscrutable peace. CHAPTER XXIV. The Oasis. He had said good-by. He stood now at the door and looked at her with the sad reluctance of a man who is about to turn his back forever on a well loved picture. "I shall not trouble you again, Gab rlelle," he said gently. "Our ways lie in different worlds. I have not de served much comfort of you. I spoiled. my own life and I did my best to spoil yours. There Is only one consolation that I can take with me the knowl edge that I failed." "Yes you failed." She sat by the rickety hotel writing table, her chin resting on her hand, her eyes fixed ab sently on the half-finished letter before her. "You are not to worry about that, Stephen. Lives are not so easily ruined." "I should like to think that you could 8ha Heard the Door Close Softly. Had Gone. He forget me that the Bhadow had passed away and left no trace. I should like to know you happy. "I am happy." Still he waited, watching her with hungry wistful lntentness. "You will go back to England." "Yes, I think so." "Farauhar is worthy of you. You will begin a new life. If I could 1 would pray for your happiness to gether. "I thank you, Stephen." She heard the door close softly. He had gone. She felt as though with his passing the curtain had dropped upon the first great act of her life. And now a new act was to begin a lonelier one. He had taken with him his own dream of it; she knew that he would cling to her phantom happiness as to a last comfort, and she had had no heart to tear it from blm. All happl- ness is mirage. But to the dreamer the dream Is reality. He would sleep in peace. She went on writing. It was very quiet In the little room. The drowsy hush of midday seemed to creep in through the half-open shutters on rays of sunshine which shifted slowly till they rested on the sheet of closely-written paper. She covered her face with her hands as though dazzled. In the peaceful silence there was aound like a smothered cry of pain. The door leading into the Inner room opened and closed. She lifted her head and went on writing. Her hand shook, but when Farquhar stood beside her- she looked up, and her face was white and tearless. "It is nearly finished," be said al most beneath his breath. "She is try ing to ask for you." "I will come at once." "Wait one moment. I wanted to leave them alone together for a little. Too understand r IftP Bobbi-Monill Co.) "Y-es, of course." Both were silent. She studied blm wistfully. Without the ragged beard and In these clothes he seemed once more the man as she had known hi m in the London days the reckless, bead strong soldier, without restraint, with out fear. Only as she looked closer she saw the grave ennobling lines which men gather on the road through suffering. Suddenly he lifted his eye!! to hers. They puzzled, almost fright ened her In their dogmatic composure. "Sly father goes south tonight with the troops," he said. "He will suppress the risings and make treaties, and the work on bis great road will be finished. That is his own wish. We have spoken together and I have understood, as I know you will. We have each to work out our own salvation In our own way. Out there In the desert be may And peace." "And you?" "My pardon and release were con firmed nn hour ago. It was bis own request, and they could not refuse. In a few weeks I Bhall go back to Eng land. My father has given me the rough memoranda of his plans. I shall work them out In detail if possible to perfection. They will be offered in due course to the government. I hope that even now I may serve my coun try." "I know you will." The old fire flashed into her voice, but she did not look at him. She felt the piercing eyes on her face; they seemed to reach the Innermost thought in her. They silenced an empty phrase that she was forcing to her lips. "Perhaps I am disturbing you," he said abruptly. "You are writing let ters?" "Yes." "To whom?" She looked up with a touch of fierce defiance. "Have you a right to ask?" "I don't know I am afraid " "Of whom of what?" "Of you of my happiness." She was silent an instant, battling with weakness. "The letter is to you, Richard." "May I read it?" "Not now." He took it from her, and she did not resist. The roughness in his voice and manner shook her as no gentleness, no pleading could have done. This man was Indeed afraid, and this fear, linked with that great strength of purpose, was at once terrible and pathetic. She did not move, and he read the letter to the end in silence. Then he tore It de liberately across and across, and the pieces fluttered to the ground. "I know all that I guessed It," he said brutally. "Yet out there on the plateau you told me that you loved me." She rose and faced him. "I do love you," she said firmly. "I am not ashamed to tell you so even now, for love like mine cannot hurt you. But in those days it was all dif ferent I believed that we were equals that we were two outcasts who had erred, not meanly or wickedly, but recklessly, and that we were fighting our way back to the thing we had lost You were my comrade in exile, and I was yours. That was what I believed, But it was not true. You had lost nothing and now your exile is over. "And so you meant to desert me? Had fate not brought me back here, I should have had to hunt the world over for you." "I thought that you would under standthat it was just." "What? That when I was dying, hunted and friendless, a veritable worthless scamp, as you believed, you condescended to love me, to go forward shoulder to shoulder with me and make life worth living. Now that I have come into my own, that I appear more worthy of happiness, I am to be left to march the desert alone. Is that Jus tice?" "Rlchar.d!" "Haven't I had enough of the desert haven't you bad enough? If you leave me now " His voice steadied. He smiled wryly. "I'm not threatening, dear. By this time I have learned your lesson; there shan't be any more throw ing down cf weapons. Whatever hap pens whether you stand by me or not I sball go on. But it will be a hard going on and it might have been a glory." She turned to him with a gesture of helpless pain. "Richard my dear don't you un derstand? It is fear of dimming that glory that drives me away from you. What am I? What should I be to you? A drag a heavy burden. Even if I would I cannot go back into the old life. The world has passed judgment on the woman I was the doors are shut against ber. Only insignificant little Gabrlelle Smith can go her way in peace." "I care nothing for the world's Judg ment" he interrupted quietly. "Nor do you. If there Is anything behind those c'osed doors worth having which I doubt we shall batter them in. And it is not to the woman who was that I am speaking. I do not ask her to go back anywhere. I ask her to go on with the life which we began to gether two years ago when she helped a desperate, intoxicated boy up Mrs. Forrlor's stairs Incidentally back to re:Ron and self-respect. From that night we have been comrades." ' The grltn laughter In bis eyes faded. He held out his band as though to take hers, then lot It drop, leaving her free. "And from that night I have loved Gubrlolle Smith." bo wont on gently. "That was something you did not quite realize when you meant to leave me. Under one shape or another I have loved you all my life. Only when you first enme I did not recognize you. You bid behind the little gray shadow of yourself and I followed the mirage over the desert. And I suffered badly until 1 found you, the reality of all I believed in the oasis, Do you think I am going to let you turn me out Into the loneliness and desolation? You know that I shall not, Gabrlelle." He paused an Instant, watching her, He saw the light dawn behind the mist of pain, aud then he took her hands and held them with a Joyful strength. "You saved my life twice," he said. "And you saved something greater than my life my faith. That is a bond be tween us no one not even you can break. We belong to each other as a man and womnn belong to each other perhaps once in a generation. You dare not deny a union so glorious, so sanctified." She looked at him with steady radi ant eyes. "Do you believe that?" "As you do." "I have not dared to believe until now." And now?" "You have given me courage to be lieve my own heart Richard." He did not kiss her or, for a mo ment, speak. Yet what then passed be tween them wai beyond words, above all tenderness. He led her at last to ward the Inner room. "Come with me now, Gabrlelle." Within the hush had deepened. All life, all feeling seemed to draw to gether an awed expectancy about the little figure lying quietly In the midst of the great bed. Even the wig, still awry, could not take from the peace ful dignity of the small tired face be neath. A hand, heavily Jeweled, rest ed on the shoulder of a man who knelt beside her. Her eyes had been closed as Gabrlelle and Farquhar entered. They opened now and passed from one to the other. In that moment they looked very blue almost young. She tried to speak and Instead smiled faint ly, apologetically, with a touch of wry self-mockery that passed, leaving only the quiet happiness. As though grown suddenly weary, the Jeweled hand slipped from the man's shoulder, and he took It and bowed his head upon It "In a little while, my wife a little while." Her eyes closed in peaceful assent They did not open again. To those watching it seemed thaf'the room had grown darker. A little half-drawn sigh hovered on the silence and then drifted out on a ray of sunshine Into the full daylight ENVOY. Close by the barracks of the Foreign Legion there Is a little garden and be yond the garden a kind of chapel. Within are many relics of a glorious past On the walls are the pictures of the great dead. It is the Legion's Holy Ground. Colonel Destinn entered for the last time. Outside, beyond the garden, he could hear the tramp of feet and the gay call of a bugle. Here everything was peace. Deep shadows hid the watching portraits, but In the midst, on either hand of the raised coffin, two great candles threw their light Into the darkness and on the two men who, with drawn swords and sightless eyes, kept guard. They wore dark uniforms which the little chapel bad never seen, and the coffin was hidden by a stranger's flag. Colonel Destinn drew Boftly nearer to where a woman heavily veiled, knelt In prayer. Before her were two wreaths. One bore an Imperial crown, the other a simple inscription "To Our Comrader-Goetz von Ber llchingen." As Destinn approached the veiled woman looked up. He stood quietly be side ber. "Your highness, he died bravely. He was worthy of his race." "I thank you, colonel." He left her. He went out again Into the evening sunshine. An orderly held bis borse in readiness and four hun dred men marked time to the strong rhythm of the Legion's war song. He swung himself into the saddle. "In column forward marchl" They swung out of the gates out Into the road. Half Sidi-bel-Abbes ran at their heels. On the outskirts the general with his suite waited to give them Godspeed. "Return In honor, my chlldrenl" The band crashed out a triumphant answer. Colonel Destlnn's sword sank in farewell. "Toujours, ma foi, le sac au dos " Singing, they left the glitter of lights and the sound of the town's joyous hubbub behind them. Colonel Destinn rode on alone. No man spoke to him. There was on his face a grave and peaceful knowledge. And before him lay the desert and the night shadows, which were but a promise of another day. THE END. Parcel Pott Carries Live Han. On the rural free delivery 'route In Harwinton, Conn., a woman sent a live hen by parcel post to a neighbor living about a mile away. The car rier weighed the hen and canceled tht stamps to the amount of 8 cents and took the hen to Its destination. Tht hen laid an egg In tht mall bag tn route. f' KNEW HOW IT WAS 80N UNDERSTOOD WHAT MEM ORIES MEANT TO MOTHER. Lesson In This Story to the Young Who Fall to Realize What Asso ciations Represent to Thott Who Are Aging. The time had come for the family to be broken up. One by one the chil dren had married and moved away. Mother had bidden them good-by with tears. She had taken care of thorn all for so long! She had been the big factor in all their lives. Yet she knew that it could not last forever. The boy, the "baby" of the household, was the last to go. The daughter who was to live with mother had been getting along well in the world and had seen no reason for having a man help her manage her affairs, aud as she vowed that this state would last forover she decided that mother had best go with her. Daughter decided that nil the old furniture must be sold and that they must move Into a new house with all new furniture. It was pathetic to see how mother watched each old piece of furniture, as she dusted It on her dally rounds, The old walnut bedstead, the cherry dresser, the old-fashioned cane-bot tomed walnut chairs that had been In her room so long were old friends, She protested feebly against hav ing to have a new brass bed In the new home. As the day for moving drew nearer mother became more and more depressed. The business daugh ter, engrossed in her own affairs, did not know the heart pangs it was tak ing for mother to reconcile herself to the parting with the old furniture. It was mother's link to the post A day before moving into the new place, the son from the far city came home. He had an understanding heart. He saw In a minute what the dnuehter had failed to see. Mother Just could not part with the old furni ture. The daughter Insisted that she must not have any old-fashioned Btuff cluttering up the new house. The son argued for a room for mother with all the old furniture. But the daughter was not sentimental. A bed was to be slept Jn. That was the extent of Its value. How mother could cling to those relics was more than she could understand. Sis ter had always remembered her broth er as too sentimental for his own good. She had wondered how It was he had escaped marriage thus far. But the son understood his mother. He could see how she was aging, for he had not been with her every day for years. He understood her as her daughter did not. Life without the old associations would be mere existence. He found mother rubbing the looking-glass on the old dresser. There were tears in her eyes. Then he could stand it no longer. "Mother, I Just came home to tell you that I have come back to the old town to accept a new position, and I am sick and tired of hotels. Why can't I move my trunk home here, fix up father's old room for my desk and papers and live like I used to? "Everything in this old house will stay Just as it is. Only I have to get some of those old rag carpets for the bedrooms like we had years and years ago. You are going to be boss of the ranch. I'll be the hired hand, and we'll make the old house be glad it's still standing." Mother did not say a word. She be gan to cry. And because the son un derstood women and especially moth ers he was glad to hear her cry, for he knew It was for joy. Indianapolis News. Irrigation In Egypt. The Egyptian ministry of public works, which has been experimenting in cotton raising during the past ten years in the Gezla region in the Sudan, has Issued an optimistic report to the effect that It will be possible to do better than double the yield of cotton In the Nile Delta by means of a sys tem of dams for Irrigation in connec tion with the White Nile and the Blue Nile. Vast quantities of water have been stored already, and during the past 80 years nearly a million acres of en tirely new land have been added to the taxable soil of the country. It Is estimated that In this newly explored region about 2,500,000 acres of land could be made enpable of growing cot ton. This, as a matter of fact, would give more land than is now planted with cotton In Egypt. Irrigation works are now being constructed, and a plot of 150,000 acres is being treated. Industrious Knitter. "I never saw a more Industrious woman than that Mrs. Cruni," the teacher remarked, before the Ken tucky mountain boys and girls gath ered at the school dinner table. "Why, even when I meet her on the road she pulls her yarn and needles out of her pockets and goes to knitting 1" Teacher's manifestation of surprise brought forth a volley of ejaculations from the children, each of whom had mother, aunt or cousin who was equally ardent at wool-working. "Ob," exclaimed one little fellow, reaching the climax of the discussion, "I had a grandmother who was the knittlest woman I ever knowed. She used to take her knitting to bed with her, and every few mlnntes she woked up and throwed out a pair o' ocks." Harper's Magazine, WHITE RUSSIAN PUREST SLAV Hit Racial Habitation It tht Most Backward Region of tht Empire of tht Czar, A sketch of white Russia, the first part of old Russian soil to feel the power of the invader, Is given In a statement issued by the National Ge ographic society. "White Russia comprises four Rus sian governments, Vitebsk, Smolensk, MoghlleS and Minsk. It Is said that the name Is derived from the predomi nant color of the peasant dress. This division of Russia Is bounded by the Pripet river basin on the south and by the Duna, or southern Dvina, on the north. It supports a population ot about seven and one-half million, two- third of which Is white Russian and the rest Lithuanian, Jewish and Pol ish. Here, likely, is to be found the purest Slav type, almost unblended. This region, blanketed by swamps and marshes, and Bmothered In forests, Is one of the poorest, most backward re gions in European l.ussia. 'Finns dwelt here before history be gan for Europe. They were expelled by Lithuania, who In turn gave way before migrating Slavonic tribes. The country finally passed back tO the Lithuanians, then to Poland, and was won piecemeal by Great Rus sia. Polish oppression and religious persecution worked a wholesale deso lation here, and thousands of peasants fled Into Russia, while those who re mained Intrigued for Russia's coming, The whole of the region was not an nexed by the Great Russians until the end of the eighteenth century. Starva tion has swept this land again and again with as terrible effects as those experienced by India in the grip ot famine. 'The White Russian Is not of so sturdy a build aB the Great Russian, nor so comely as the Little Russian, He is less aggressive than his north ern neighbor, and more heavy than his southern neighbor. His hair and eyes are light, and his face is generally drawn. The garment peculiar to him Is his white overcoat which he wears on all special occasions as proudly in sweltering July as in the winter. His villages are small, Iso lated and badly kept. His homes are primitive. His fight for existence Is a bitter one. From his ranks are recruited the workmen for the hard est, least-paying tasks of the empire." Paclfio Kelp. In a recent article In the Journal ol Agricultural Research, Mr. Guy R, Stewart of the University of California agricultural experiment Btatlon dis cusses the kelps of the Pacific coast as a Bource ot nitrogen. As 'a result ot extensive experiments, the author finds that the readiness with which the nitrogen in dried and ground kelp used as fertilizer la changed to am monia and nitrates In fresh field soil varies with the species and with the way it is prepared. Nereocystis luet- keana gives up its nitrogen with rela tive quickness, but It Is ot minor com mercial Importance. Macrocystis purl fera changes slowly In the soil, but the availability of its nitrogen Is increased If it is used fresh, or at least only partly dried. Unfortunately, macrocys tis must be dried until crisp in order to grind readily. The drying should not be continued longer than Is neces sary, and the kelp should not be scorched or overheated. In the same journal another California chemist, Mr. D. R. Hoagland, gives a detailed account of the "Organic Constituents of Pacific Coast Kelps." Incidentally, he deals with certain interesting eco nomic questions in regard to kelp namely, the possible feeding value of kelp for man or animals, the utiliza tion of its organic by-products, and th destructive distillation of It for com mercial uses. For all three purposes Its usefulness appears to be slight, All for Fifteen Shillings. Recently there appeared in a Lon don newspaper an advertisement for an experienced Insurance clerk, wages 15 shillings a week. The advertiser got a lot of sarcastic lettors, like the following, and he deserved them: "Dear Sir I would respectfully op- nly for the position you offer. I am an expert in. insurance in all branches. In addition, I converse flu ently In Gum Arabic, Gorgonzola, Zo la and Billingsgate, I write shorthand, long band, left hand and right hand, I can supply my own typewriter, necessary, and I may mention that typewrite half an hour in ten minutes the record for Great Britain. I would be willing also to let you have the services, gratis, ot my large family of boys, and, if agreeable to you, my wife would be pleased to clean your office regularly without extra charge, The cost of postage for your answer to this application can be deducted from my salary. Please note that you have a back yard I would make bricks in my spare time." Science and Nature. One great feature of the nineteenth century, from 1850 onwards, was the extraordinary progress of science and the interpretation of nature. Everywhere it was discovered that by keeping close to the sphere of re ality, by seeking to understand nature, we were able to make large progress, not only in knowledge, but also in the practical conveniences and utilities of life. It science won successes In the In tellectual sphere, they were rapidly adapted to the uses of mankind, and the conquest over nature meant not only definite mental acquisition but a larger material comfort Thus the keynote ot the time was naturalism In thought and utilitarian lam in morals and social lite. WG DUTY EASY HOUSEWIFE'S SCHEME DECIDED- LY WORTH CONSIDERATION. Much Less a Task When One Can Contrlvt to Turn Necessary Work Into Something That May Ba Ttrmed Amusing. "Dear, wlil you see to Horace? I think he's hungry," remarked the host ess to her huHbund. "Who is Horace?" asked the week end guest. The hostess laughed. Why, It's the furnace," she ad mitted. "You see, we have got In to the merry way of pluying a game 1th our housekeeping, and naming everything In the house. It Isn't nearly as much ot a task to tend the furnace hen it Is named Horace and Is, In a ay, a helpful, active member of the family, as when It Is regarded merely as a nuisance. A furnace Isn't a nuis ance, you know. It Is a big, comfort able friend only, like most friends, It has to be liked and appreciated and visited with in order to do Its best ork. So, instead of going down to put coal In a cold, forbidding, ugly stove, my husband goes down to feed Horace, and make him feel better for having his cinders shuken down, to pat him metaphorically with the poker, and thank him for keeping the water in the bathroom warm. Silly, Isn't It? But It brings such a nice glow of fun Into an ordinary job. "My kitchen range Is named Aunt Susan. Into her ample lap I put my cooking utensils, knowing that she will help me make everything appetizing nd savory, aid me In getting my din ner ready on time, and hum gently to herself when I leave her alone with the teakettle. She is like a wise, ex perienced old aunt to a young house keeper like me. "We have a battered old roadster that Is lovingly termed Old Dobbin, Blnce the accession of the smart little cur which we call Jumes as If It were chauffeur, footman and butler rolled Into one. Dobbin drives the children to school, runs all. the village errands, and takes us on all the family outings, while with James, I go call ing, we drive to church, and altogether keep up the family 'tone.' " The host ess, a simple woman of simple tastes, smiled at this as at a huge Joke, for she and the host were their own chauf feurs and footmen, and were as free from pretension as well could be. "It Is Just one way of making friends of the familiar objects we have about us every day," she explained. "One takes a special Interest then, In even the commonplace, uninteresting, even unattractive, things one may have to deal with. For example, I don't bo much mind scouring my big iron skillet now that I call It Old Black Joe. And the children do not mind washing and wiping dishes when they name the dif ferent kinds of china and glass by families Mr. and Mrs. Wlllowware be ing the two large platters, and the plutes and other dishes being their children, nephews and nieces. It Is just one of the jolly little games that may make over the prosaic program of everyday duties Into fun." Brightening the Shave. Atl Englishman, weary of blood shed, has bethought him of a means of enlightening the gloomy and oth erwise dungcrous ritual of the shave, says Popular Science Monthly. He has Invented a miniature electric lamp provided with an adjustable clip and flexible cord which may be at tached to the ruzor and light the path of the blade through the tough bris tles of the human face. With his lump attachment one may plunge fearlessly Into the blackest depths of a three days' growth ot beard and emerge from the ordeal un scathed. The lamp is attached to a conventional type of razor by a sim ple clip. It travels with the blade or with the motion of the hand. By look ing Into the mirror the man shaving himself can determine just what pro gress he Is making and whether or not he is going to come through the operation with his two ears intact Siberia Picking Up. A number of new commercial enter prises have recently been undertaken In northeast Siberia. Muny Iodine works have been established In the neighborhood of Vladivostok, on the shore of the Japanese sea, the Iodine being made from seaweed found there In abundance. An Interesting distill ery for ether hus been opened, the bulk of the ingredients being violets and Iris blossoms from the Ussurl countryside. A good deal of amber Is being collected from the beach along the coast of I'remorsk and many new salt workings have been opened in the government of Irkutsk and in the Lena hinterland In the vicinity of Vllulsk. Chicago Journal. People In Books. There is no possession people are so unwilling to let one have as an imagi nation. In private friends will tear a book to shreds to discover some por trait they can recognize; and In the case of authors famous enough to bo dead, critics rake the ground wher ever they have trod In an effort to prove that the folk of their fancy were drawn from the earth rather than the air. There seems no means of con vincing a reader that In a writer's head are constantly a thousand faces he has never seen or heard of, all subtle with story, and all so real that they often make his dally waking seem a dream. Winifred Klrkland In the Atlantic Monthly..