I
There was nothing to hinder him
from Investigating for himself. The
girl would prohuhly sleep another hour
or two.
lie went forthwith, dulling the keen
edge o f hls exasperation with a rapid
tramp of liulf a mile or so over the
uneven uplands.
The screaming whs well-nigh deafen­
ing by the time he stood upon the
verge of the bluff; beneath him gulls
clouded the air like bees swarming.
“ I— I"
“ You; and I shall tell you. . . . And yet he experienced no difficulty M*on4uot«><! I*y National <‘tumuli of Hi« M«y
Ht'uuta of Amori« u >
ltut not now; there’s too much to tell, In locating the cause of their excite­
to expluln and make understandable; ment.
and I’m too terribly tired. To-morrow,
Below, a slow tide crawled, slaver­
perhnpa—or when we esenps from this ing, up over (he bowlder-strewn sands.
weird place, when I’ve had time to In a wavk-scooped depression between
« Dadlratad to Tt;«op No. 41, Detroit.)
Whene'er I see « troop of scouts, lirlglil-
think things out—”
■ynl and rl«ur o f skin.
"A t your pleasure." he assented
Whene'er I hear their healthy shouts,
gently.
“ Only—don’t let anything
somehow <1oep down within
worry you."
The aoul o f me I feel u thrill o f honest
joy and pride,
Impulsively she caught both hls
For these urn Itoyd that w ill be men ere
hands In a clasp at once soft and
many years have died.
strong, wholly straightforward and
friendly.
There lif the making are the men on
whom the land must lean.
“ Do you know,” she suld In a laugh­
And they shall come unto their work with
ing voice, her head thrown back, soft
wnll-trnlned hands and rloun.
shadows darkening her mystical eyes,
And they shall eland at Duty’a post,
the lamplight caressing her hulr until
heads up and shoulders square.
Prepared for all Ihe day's commands and
it was us If her head were framed In
self-reliant there.
n halo o f pure gold, bright ugalnst the
somber background of that mean, bare
They shall have learned Ihe ways o f Ilfs.
room— “ Do you know, dear man. thut
Ihe fields and running brooks,
And have a knowledge o f Ihe trees that
you are quite blind?”
wasn't gained from booka;
t “ I thluk," he suld with hls twisted
They ehall know honor aa a real, sub­
smile, “ It would be well for me If 1
stantial gem to pride.
were physically blind ut this Instant!*
And com « to manhood and Its ears*
equipped and qualified.
She shook her head In light reproof
“ Blind, quite blind I’ she repeated.
When I behold a troop o f scouts I fancy
“ And yet— I’m giud It’s so with you.
I can see
How strong through them the years to
1 wouldn’t huve you otherwise for
come safeguarded well shall be.
worlds.”
There will be lees of selfishness and more
She withdrew her hand, took up the
o f kindness when
lamp, moved a little uway from him,
The troop la mustered Into life and alt the
scouts
ars men
and paused, holding hls eye«.
—K D Q A R A. OttEHT
“ For I.ove, too. is blind," she said
softly, with a quaint little nod o f af-
SCOUTS FEEDINQ BIRDS.
tlrmution. “ Good night.”
He started forwurd. eyes atlume;
took a single pace after her; paused
us If aguiust uu unseen barrier. Hls
hands dropped by his sides; hls chin
to bis chest; the light died out of hls
fuce and left It gray and deeply lined.
“ Secretive and mysterious? But I
have no right to your confidence; your
affairs ure yours. Inviolable, unless
you choose to discuss them.”
“ You would think that way—o f
course I" Suddenly she showed him
tier face Illuminated with Its frnnk,
shadowy smile, her sweet eyes, kind
and as fearless as the eyes of a child.
“ Other men would not, I know. Aud
you have every right to know."
•BOY-
SCOUTS
THE BOY SCOUT OF AMERICA
CHAPTER X IV — Continued.
—17—
There was no lack o f fodder for
the flames. By dint of several wheel-
harrow trips between the knoll and the
farmyard, he had presently construc­
ted a pyre o f Impressive proportions;
and by that time It was quite dark
—so dark. Indeed, that he had been
forced to hunt up a yard lantern,
canning the which the girl had ac­
companied him on bis two Anal trips.
“ Here,” he said clumsily, when all
was ready, offering her matches. “ You
light It, please— for luck.”
Their fingers touched as she took
the matches. Something thumped In
his breast, and a door opened In the
chambers of his understanding, letting
In light.
Kneeling at the base of the pyre,
she struck a match and applied it to
a quantity of tlnder-dry excelsior.
The stuff caught Instantly, puffing into
a brilliant patch o f blare; she rose
and s^ood back, en silhouette, delicate­
ly poised at attention, waiting to see
that her work was well done.
He
could not take his gaze from her.
So what he had trifled and toyed
with, fought with and prayed against,
doubted and questioned, laughed at
and cried down, was sober, painful
fact. Truth, heart-rending to behold
’ n her stark, shining beauty, had been
revealed to him In that moment of
brushing finger-tips, and he had looked
in her face and known his unworthi­
ness; and he trembled and was afraid
and ashamed. . . .
The girl retreated to his side, re­
turning the matches.
A tongue o f flame shot up from
the peak o f the pyre, and a column of
smoke surpassed It, swinging off to
leeward In great, red-bosomed volutes
and whorls picked out with flying regi­
ments o f sparks.
They seated themselves with their
backs to the fire and at a respectful
distance from it, where they could
watch the Jetting blades o f light that
ringed the far-off headland. Whitaker
reclined on an elbow, relapsing Into
moody contemplation. The girl stirred
uneasily, turning her head to' look at
Whitaker.
“ You know,” she said with a con­
fused attempt to laugh; “ this Is really
so canny, this place. Or else I’m
balmy. I’m seeing things— shapes that
stir against the blackness, off there be­
yond the light, moving, halting,, star­
ing, hating us for butchering their age-
old peace and quiet. Maybe I’ll for­
get to see them. If you’ll talk to me
a little.”
“ I can’t talk to you,” he said, un­
gracious In his distress.
“ You can’t? It’s the first time It’s
been noticeable, then. What’s respon­
sible for this all-of-a-sudden change
of heart?”
“ That’s what’s responsible.” The
words spoke themselves almost against
his will.
,
"You’re very obscure. Am I to un­
derstand that you’ ve taken a sudden
dislike to me, so that you can’t treat
me with decent civility?”
“ I ’ve always understood women
knew what men meant before the men
did, themselves.” His voice broke a
little. “ Oh, can’t you see how It Is
with me? Can’t you see?” he cried.
“ God forgive m e! I never meant to
Inflict this on you, at such a tim e!
I don’t know why I have , . .”
“ You mean,” she stammered In a
voice of amaze— “ you mean— love?”
"Can you doubt It?”
“ No . .
not after what’s hap­
pened, I presume. You wouldn’t have
followed—you wouldn’t have fought so
to save me from drowning— I suppose
— If you hadn’t—cared. . . . But I
didn’t know.”
“ Then you’re not—ofTended?” he
Bsked, sitting up.
“ Why should I be?” The firelight
momentarily ontllned the smiling half
wistful countenance she turned to him.
“ What woman would be who received
ns great and honorable a compliment
— from you, Hugh? Only” — again the
whlm sicanittle laugh that merged Into
a smothered sigh— " I wish I knew l”
“ Wish you knew what?”
“ What’s going on Inside that extra­
ordinary head of yours; what’s In the
mind behind the eyes that I so often
find staring at me so curiously."
He bowed that head between hands
that compressed cruelly hls temples.
"I wish I knew l" he groaned In pro­
test. “ Since you called me to supper,
while ago. by name— I don't know
why—your voice, as you used It then,
has run through my head and through,
teasing my memory like a strain of
music from some hulf-remembered
song. It half-iuaddens me; I feel so
strongly that everything would be so
straight and plain and clear between
us, if I could only fasten upon that
fugitive. Indefinable something thut'a
always fluttering Just beyond my
grasp!"
“ You mean all that—honestly?" she
demanded In an oddly startled voice.
“ Most honestly.” He looked up in
excitement. “ You don’t mean you've
felt anything of the sort?”
“ No, I” — her voice broke as If wltH
weariness— “ I don’t mean that, pre­
cisely, I mean . . . Probably I don’t
know what I do mean. I’m really
very tired, too tired to go on. Just
now— to sit here with you. badgering
our poor wits with esoteric subtleties.
I think— do you mind?— I’d better go
In."
She rose quickly, without waiting for
hi- hand. Whltuker straightened out
hls long body with more deliberation,
standing finally at full height, hls
grave and moody countenance strongly
relieved in the ruddy glow, while her
face was all in shadow.-
“One moment," he begged humbly—
“before we go In. I . . I’ve some­
thing else to say to you. If I may.”
She waited, seriously attentive.
“ I haven't played fair. I’m afraid,”
he said, lowering hls head to escape
her steadfast gaze.
“ I’ ve Just told
you that I love you, but . . .”
“ Well?” she demanded In an odd.
ringing voice. “ Isn’t It true?”
“True?” He luughed unnaturally.
“ It’s so true I— wish I had died before
I told you P
“ Plen.se explain, she urged a truce
wearily.
“ I.” he stammered— “ I am already
married.”
She gave q little, stifled cry—
whether o f pain or horror or of Indig­
nation he could not tell.
“ I’m sorry— I— ” he begnn.
“ Don't you think you might have
thought o f this before?”
“ I . . . you don’t understand— "
“ So It would seem.” she put In
cruelly.
“ Please hear me!
It was several
years ago I mnrried a girl I’d ne\er
seen before, to help her out of a des­
perate scrape she'd got into.
We
never lived together, never even saw
one nnother after that hour. She
had every reason to think me dead—
as I should have been, by rights. But
now she knows that I ’m alive— Is about
to site for a divorce."
After a long pause, during which
neither stirred, she told him. in a faint
voice: “Thank you.”
She moved toward the house.
“ I f you will forgive me— ”
“ Oh, I forgive you, Mr. Whitaker.
My heart Is really not quite so fragile
as ail this implies.
I think I'll go
to bed. I’m very, very tired, in spite
of my sleep on the sunds. That didn’t
rest me. really.”
They returned to the kitchen.
In silence, while Whltnker fidgeted
about the room, awkward and un­
happy. the girl removed a glass lamp
from the shelf above the sink, as­
sured herself that It was filled, and
lighted It. Then over her shoulder:
“ I hope you don’t mean to stay up
all night.”
“ I— well. I’m renlly not sleepy.”
“ As soon as you feel the least need
o f sleep, you’ll go to bed?’
“ I promise.”
“ Very well, then."
The insistent note faded from her
tones. She moved toward the table,
put the lamp down, and hesitated In
one o f her strange, unpresaged moods
of diffidence, looking down at the
finger-tips with which she traced a
meaningless pattern on the oil-cloth.
“ You are kind.” she said abruptly,
her bead bowed, her face hidden from
him.
“ K in d !” he echoed, dumfounded.
“ You are kind and sweet and gen­
erous to me,” she Insisted In a level
voice.
“ You have shown me your
heart— the heart of a gentleman— with­
out reserve; but o f me you have
asked nothing.”
“ I don’t understand— ”
“ I mean, you haven’t once referred
to what happened last night You’ve
been content to let me preserve my
confidence, to remain secretive and
mysterious In your sight. . . . That
is how I seem to you—Isn’t Itl"
CHAPTER XV.
Discovery.
He was up and out In the cool of
dawn, before sunrise, delaying to listen
for some minutes ut the foot of the
stairway. But lie heard no sound in
that still house, and there was no
longer the night to nffrlght the woman
with hinted threats of nameless hor­
rors lurking beneath Its Impenetrable
cloak.
He felt no longer bound to
stand sentinel on the threshold of her
apprehensions. He went out.
The day would be clear.
In the
white magic of air like crystal trans­
lucent arid motionless, the world
seemed more close-knitted and sane.
What yesterday's veiling of linze had
concealed was now bold and near. In
the north the lighthouse stood like a
horn on the brow of the heudlund, the
lamp continuing to flash even though
its light was darkened, if« beams out-
A Tongue of Flame Shot Up.
stripped by the radiant forerunners
of tlie sun. On the nearer land hu­
man life was quickening; here and
ihere pule streamers of smoke swung
up from hidden chimneys on its wood­
ed rises.
Whitaker eyed them with longing.
But they were distant from attain­
ment by at the least three miles of
tideway through which strong waters
raced. He wagged a doubtful bead,
and scowled; no sign In any quarter
of a boat heading for the Island, no
telling when they'd be taken off tha
cursed placet
In hls mutinous Irritation, the
screaming of the gulls, over In the
west, seemed to add the final touch
of annoyance, a superfluous addition
to the sum of hla trials. What was
the matter with the addle patad things,
anyway?
In the Pool Lay the Body of a Man.
two of the large bowlders, the reced
Ing waters had left a little, limpid
pool. In the pool lay the body ol
a man. face downwnrd, limbs fright­
fully sprawling. Gulls fought fot
place upon hls back.
The discovery brought with It n<
«hock of surprise to the man on th»
bluff; horror alone.
He seemed tc
have known nil along that such would
he the cause. But he shrank shuilder
Ing from the thought o f the work
that In.v to his hand— work thnt must
tie accomplished at once and com
pletely; for she must know nnthlnf
of It. She hud suffered enough, at
It was.
(TO BE C O N T IN U E D .)
HELICGRAPH USED IN AFRICA
Wireless Telegraphy Has Not Entlrel)
Supplanted Sunlight Sig­
naling.
The heliograph, although Inrgely su
perseded by wireless telegraphy, still
is used on Ihe frontiers of Indln and tc
South Africa, where Ihe air Is cleat
and signals can he seen over long dis­
tances.
Botha's men are using It, nnd sc
are hls opponents, though perlisps they
seldom think tills method of signaling
Suet, Grain and Bread Crumbs Are
by means o f flashing reflections of th»
Placed In the Box and on the
sun’s rays Is more than 2.001) years old
Limbs.
being Invented by Tacitus. The shleldi
of soldiers, grouped In a prearranged
MESSAGE TO TH E 8C0UT8.
mariner, were used, but, of course, th*
system was very primitive aud trnns-
How many boy scouts huve looked
mission slow, only the simplest ex
up the meaning o f the word “ scout?”
presslons being possible.
Under favorable conditions a hell ► Probably but few know that a bidden
graph signal can be read for very long meaning Is the one most appropriate
distances, 770 miles being not st all to the organlzutlfin.
The word 1» not a newly coined one.
uncommon, while »3 years ago Mujoi
Home, on the staff of Generul French In the old French, It was “ escouter or
mnnaged to send messages for Di escolter” and was used only In the
military sense o f the spy.
miles, for long a record.
Recently this bus been outdone, nnd
The Portuguese, Spanish and Italian
the same officer was nhle to rend quit* forms are somewhat similar to the old
clearly signals which were flashed French, both In form and meaning, but
from a distance of l.'IO miles. CaptMla the Latin “ nuscultnru” Is used In the
Sadler of the Carnbinlers, using a ,V broader sense— “ to hear with atten­
liich heliograph from Compass Beg tion, to listen to.”
talked to Major Home on the Cocke
In present-day English, the military
combe mountain, near Ultenliuge, a meaning “ to reconnolter” Is thnt most
record which remains unbeaten.
often upplled, yet the broader menn-
Ing which has come down from the
Lutin Is the ono underlying the con­
The Country Weeker.
Dr. Horace Leavenworth Hull, the structive principles o f the great bo -.
pioneer of the children's country clety o f boys.
week movement In the West, suld
the other day In Denver:
8C 0U T8 RESPOND IN HURRY.
“The examples o f slum children's Ig­
norance are us Incredible us they ure
At 8:20 o’clock In the afternoon si
Innumerable.
,
blasts o f the fire ulnriu at Foxbon
“ A farmer’s wife pointed out to a Mass., sounded. This 1 b the mohlllzi
slum urchin a flock o f birds wing­ tlon call In Foxboro for the hoy scouti
ing their way across the evening
The scouts were widely scattere
sky.
ubout town at the time. They were 1
“ ’Oh, look at the pretty birds I' she ignorance as to the Cause of the emei
said.
gency cull, hut knew it wus their dut
“ ‘Poor things!’ said the urchin. to make all speed for home, don thel
‘Poor little things! They haven’t got scout uniform and report at headquai
no cages, have they 7* ”
ters.
In about 20 minutes 40 member
No Trouble at All.
were ready for duty. A t the Scot;
Friend— I suppose if people would hall tho boys were asked to innke
do Jost what you tell them yon would hou«- to-house canvass for funds tc
have a great deal leaa trouble. .
the Halifax sufferers.
The boy
Doctor— Yea, Indeed! I would tall worked from 4 to 8 p. mn and th
aome o f them to settle their accounts. amount o f their collections was 1123.41