By H. S. NERRIMAN
■^V rirv*.
CHAPTER XXV.
Matthew Mark Kaatno arrived in St.
Petersburg by train from Libait, and took
a Jroaky to th« llotal de France, for
which be paid seventy copeck*. Ilia paaa-
port was in perfect order.
although
ameared moat lamentably by the clerk of
the Russian consulate who vised It In
1 .on don.
A fter breakfast he wandered forth,
guidebook in hand, having refused the
service« of a polyglot individual who pro­
fessed to be the brother-in-law of the hall
porter. The landlord himself directed
Maaton to the Newakt a*roapect, which,
however, was not considered Interesting
until the afternoon.
Nevertheless, he
went that way. and Anally found himself
on the English quay. He crossed the
Neva, still in the name tourist gait, and
lost himself among the smaller commercial
streets of the Vasili Ostrolf. Presently
by the merest accident he found himself
opposite a small warehouse bearing the
name " I * Ogroff” in painted letters above
the blind windows o f what had once
been a shop. He pushed open the curtain­
ed door and. addressing himself to a
pleasant looking girl who was seated at
a counter adding up the columns of a
ledger, he mentioned the name “ Loris
Ogroff.’’
“ Yea.” answered the girl, in perfect
English, “ he is in. Who are youY’
“ Matthew Mark Easton.”
> “ A h ! Come in.”
She led the way Into an Inner room
whUA was lined with shelves containing
long wooden boxen like miniature coffin*.
There/Were upon the table some rolls of
common cloth.
“ Mr. Ogrofr Is apparently a tailor,”
hazarded Easton in a
conversational
way.
“ Yea,” she answered, with a short
laugh, “ a very cheap one.”
“ He is upstairs in the cutting-out
room,” she continued, with a twinkle in
her childish eyes. “ I aha 11 tell him.”
Easton stood looking at the curtained
door after she had closed it. Then he
picked up a piece of rough cloth and ex­
amined its texture critically.
“ I am half inclined.” he reflected
aloud, “ to become a nihilist. There are
alleviations even in the lot of a tailor’s
assistant of the establishment Ogroff.”
In a few moments the door opened
again, and a stout man entered with a
bow. He shook hands without speaking,
and pointed to a chair.
W e last saw this man in Easton's
rooms , in London. Ilis name was not
mentioned then, because there was not
much in a name for him. It was not
Ogroff then. He was not minutely de­
scribed. because a written description is
not always of great value. For instance,
be was in London a dark, grizzled man
with a beard: in hia shop in the Vasili
Oatroff, St. Petersburg, he was a fair,
hairless man.
“ Well?” be said,
asthmatically, at
length.
“ Not a word,” replied Easton; “ and
you?"
The man shrugged his heavy shoulders.
“ Not a word. I have written to you
all that I heard. I wrote on the fifth of
M a y ; have you destroyed the letter 7”
“ Yea— burned it.”
“ W e ll!” ejaculated the Russian, mis­
using the word. “ I heard,” he continued
— “ never mind how— that they all got
away, in good health, at the proper time
— that is, in the early summer of the
year before last. They were followed,
but they destroyed all the horses and
boats gs they went, snd the pursuit was
naremarily given up.”
“ Since that,” inquired Easton; “ not
a word?”
“ Not a word.”
“ There has been no semi-official ac­
count o f tbe matter in the newspapers?"
“ N o ! it has been hushed up. The of­
ficial report is that certain exiles and
prisoners escaped: that they were pur­
sued by Cossacks, and that the chase
was only given up when their death by
starvation was a moral certainty.”
“ And.” said Easton, "are they struck
out of the list?”
“ Yea; they are struck out.”
" I am going to look for them,” an­
nounced Easton, after a pause.
The Russian raised his flaxen eye­
brows.
“ A h ! I understood that you were con­
demned— by the doctors.”
“ No, not condemned ; they merely said.
‘ I f you go, it will kill you.’ ”
“ And still,” said tbe Russian, aalmly.
“ you go.”
“ Rome one must. You cannot— you are
too fat. I am going by land,” continued
the American. “ I leave Petersburg to­
morrow morning.”
Ogroff rose from his chair.
“ You must go now,” he said. “ You
have been here long enough; we are
watched, yon know. Here In Petersburg
we all watch each other.”
The Ruasian held out a fat white hand.
“ Good-by, yon brave American,” he
•aid.
“ G’b y !” returned Easton, with a laugh.
C H A P T E R X X V I.
“ Well, at all events, we have tried i t !”
These words were spoken by tbe mere
.emnant of a man to a solitary compan­
ion while both looked out— peered through
the twilight— on death. He who spoke
crouched in a singular way on the hard
snow, supporting himself on one fur-clml
srm. He could not stand, for be had
but one teg. The other had been cut off
fust above the knee— a recent amputation,
rudely tied with rope, was stained a deep,
suggestive color. His face was a horrid
sight to look upon, for here and there
in the pasty yellow flesh were deep in­
dentations of half-healed sores, the re­
sult of frost bite. One eye was quite
dosed by a swelling which deformed the
feature* and drew them all up. He spoke
In a mumbling way, as if hia tongue were
swollen or diseased, and tbe language was
most dramatic of all tongues— Russian.
Ilia companion, a abort, thick-set man,
stood beside him : but he stood weakly,
and the terribly sunken lines of hia cheek*
told a story only sHghtly lea* horrible
than that depicted by tbe face and form
• f the cripple.
Both faces alika bore
that strange dry look which tells unerr­
ingly of starvation.
W ithin * few yards o f th# two
at their hacks, stood a* rude, ill-ahapen
hut, built clumsily and ignorantly of snow.
Its low doorway faced the north, and
amid the gloom o f its interior there were
discernible s number of heaps, apparently
formed of old and tattered fur clothing.
These were dead men; the women of
Rergiua Pavloaki'a party had not lived to
see the Arctic Oooan.
The man who stood gave a short heart­
rending laugh as he looked out over the
froaen sen.
^ .
“ Yea,” he said, “ we have tried It."
There was a pause, and then the crip­
ple— Sergius Pavloaki— spoke again :
“ O f course,” he said, almost unintel­
ligibly. “ we have failed; but still our
failure may teach others, and we hare
kept it aecret. Those who want to know
will never know. They will always b#
in uncertainty as to whether we have
escaped and are living hidden in America,
in Europe, perhaps in Russia. We ahall
be more terrible, doctor, dead thaa alive.”
“ I hope so.”
“ I, at ail events, shall be, for you say
that I could not live a week in a warm
climate. This leg of mine is leas painful
to-day; perhaps it is healing.”
“ No, Pavloaki; I have told you a doz­
en times it is not healed, it i* only froaen.
It can never heal- The moment it thaw*
you will die.”
A sickly smile passed across hia un­
sightly features, and there was silence
for a time— the deathly expectant silence
of the far North.
At length Pavloaki
raised his mittened hand and extended I:
outward like the needle of a compass.
“ I wonder,” he mumbled, “ if Tyars la
out there.”
“ I wonder,” said the doctor, “ why you
intrusted this to an Englishman.”
“ I f I had the whole world to choose
from, I should not have selected another
man," said Pavloaki; “ but there was no
choice in the matter.”
“ I suppose,” said the doctor, with an
ill-concealed sneer, “ that he has turned
beck.”
“ I will swear by St. Paul that he has
not done that!”
“ Then where is he?”
u
“ Dead!” was the answer. “ I f Claud
Tyara bad been alive, he - would have
come. He is not here, therefore he ia
dead! Ough!”
He stopped and fell back fainting with
pain. In his excitement he had moved,
and allowed some of his weight to rest
upon tbe raw stump of his leg. In a sec­
ond the doctor was kneeling on the snow
beside him. raising his head, touching his
lips with snow. It was a poor restora­
tive. but there was nothing else at hand.
One cannot offer to a dying man even the
tenderest piece of an old sealskin mitten.
Without waiting for consciousness to
return, he attempted to lift the cripple,
intending to carry him within the little
snow hut, but the movement brought back
Pavloski’a failing senses, and be shook
his head in token that be wished to be
left where he lay.
"N o ,” he said, after gasping twice for
breath: “ I would rather die out here.”
The doctor’s bare hand crept within the
tattered sleeve toward the pulse. He said
nothing. There was nothing to say.
“ I do not want.” continued Pavloaki
brokenly, “ to see their faces. I — brought
them here. It la my fanlt. I suppose—
the good God—'w ill know how to revenge
ail this.
I f they— the Romanoffs— the
Caar— had twenty live#, and we could
take— them all— we might pay— the debt;
but they have— only one life— to taka;
that would be too short— a punishment.
God will know how to do It— will He not,
dpetot?”
"Yes,” said the sweet, deep voice of
the doctor, “ God will know how to do
it.”
“ Pray,” said the dying man, “ pray to
Him to do it— w e ll!”
Then bis head fell back and
he
breathed regularly and softly. But this
was not the end. Presently tbe blackened
lips began to move, and he spoke in quite
a different voice— so different as to startle
his listener. It was soft and even, as if
recounting a dream not long dispelled.
“ It is not yet a year ago,” he said.
“ There were seven of us— four Russians,
two Englishmen, and an American. Four
Russians, two Englishmen and an Ameri­
can— what a strong combination ! The
Russians to go into action on land, the
Englishmen on the sea, and the sharp-
witted American to watch and plot and
scheme. I remember the last time we met
was at Easton's house. Tw o of us are
dead, and I am nearly— dead. Tyars and
Grace— where can they be? They are
ont there, doctor, in front of us— to the
north. I — I shall go and— meet them.”
The lipa closed with a sadden snap, and
the doctor leaned eagerly forward. Ser­
gius Pavloski was dead. The survivor
rose to his feet. It had begun to snow
gently and in large flakes— a snow that
would cover the ground to the depth of
twelve inches in half that number of
hours. As it fell it gradually covered the
dead man, even to bis face and eyes,
which were already cold.
Presently the doctor moved a little, and.
turning slowly round, scanned the near
horizon. He could not see tbe pack ice
now, for the snow was blowing In from
tbe north, wreathing snd curling as it
came.
Then this lone man moved toward the
snow hut, and entered it on his hands
and knees.
He took no notice of the
dead— one soon gets accustomed to them
— but fumbled about among tbe -baggage
piled up in one corner.
In a dull, stupid way he realised the
responsibilities of his position. He drag­
ged two of the sledges out of the hut, and
with a hatchet broke them up. Then he
took tbe two strongest pieces of each—
the cross-bars— and bound them securely
together, thus forming a rough pole. Thfa
be erected on a little mound where tha
snow was thin, building it npNrith such
debris as he could lay hands upon. It
stood up gauntly, almost the only object
within sight that was not white. It was
a mere pole, the thickness of a man’s
wrist, and yet It was probably visible ten
mile* off against its gleaming surround­
ings.
“ It would be good,” ha mumbled, “ to
be warm once more— Just once.”
Aad be plied up the wood in a little
heap. H* crawled Into th* but an l pres­
ently returned bearing a good sized tin
*
1
EARTHQUAKES
IN C A R I B B E E 8 .
Pkesoauaa
A lw a y s
A ttesd cd
D read B o rd c rls z o a T e r ra ».
by
.
T o us the lauds and countries about
the Caribbean Sea are o f tbe greatest
interest and Importance. Our people
w ill be locating there with more aud
Increasing frequency, and all the while
the ties o f International co-operation
w ill become stronger, says Francis C.
Nicholas In the Review o f Reviews.
That eruptive and seismic disasters
have afflicted places In those regions
w ill not deter us very much, fo r one
has abundant faith that It Is not going
to happen to him, and a good many o f
our people are locating directly In
range o f the volcanoes, happy and pros­
itering along with tbe natives.
Th e region Is not very fa r away. A
few days on the steamer and one is In
tbe tropics. Th at bit o f yellow seaweed
picked up at tbe shore last summer be­
cause It was different from tbe others
was probably brought by tbe
gu lf
stream from tbe Caribbean regions and
carried to our shores by a southerly
wlud. Surely it Is not a far-aw ay coun­
try that we are considering, and It Is
very beautiful— sunshine and flowers,
green savannas and towering moun­
tains, torrential rivers, clear, splashing
brooks and deep blue seas.
W hy should one think o f
earth­
quakes? My own experiences w ith them
have happily been free from scenes o f
d ea th ; yet the coining o f an earthquake
is so sudden, so w ildly terrible, that tbe
stoutest hearts must quail. E vsd w ild
animals shrink with fear, and one is
alw ays filled w ith dread bordering on
terror. It is all so sudden. A sense
o f some unknown fea r pervades all na­
ture, as i f the spirit o f the world bad
caught its breath and held all life an
instant In suspense, w hile sounds seem
to beset one’s nerves rather than to
assault tbe ears. Then comes a reel­
ing, sickening, staggering motion, and
fear, and human crying out, and then
quivering silence for tbe space o f a
breath, follow ed perhaps by crushing
destruction, or, it may be, by a sound
like a great sighing and the earth set­
tles back, that tbe pulsations o f na­
ture may begin again in harmony. Then
excited people find their voices, be­
wildered faces gleam with intelligence
and every one is talking, comparing ex­
periences, wondering what it was,
where it had come from end how it
had gone away. Rucli have been my
experiences with earthquakes In tbe
Caribbean regions.
S t a lk ln ir
W ild
G eeae.
In a number o f counties lying on l>oth
sides o f the Sacramento River, in the
^central portion o f California, the farm ­
ers are greatly harassed every winter
by the depredations o f countless (locks
o f w ild geese, which swarm over the
broad grain fields
and destroy the
young, sprouting grain stalks. Indeed,
so serious has this annual invasion be­
come that nearly all tbe large farms
have employes who regularly patrol the
fields, and do nothing else but keep tbe
feathered pests on the wing.
One o f the most novel blinds or stalk­
ers ever used in that section, or any
other, fo r the purjiose o f destroying tbe
geese, is that o f a Colusa fan ner who
lives on the bank o f the Racramento.
H e has a big red steer which he has
trained to stalk geese. Th e steer walks
round a flock o f geese in an ever de­
creasing circle, his master, armed with
a repeating shotgun, walking beside
him, but on tbe farther side from the
flock.
Th e geese have become so Used to
seeing animals grazing near that they
pay no attention to them ; so the farm­
er Is enabled to get within shotgun dis­
tance and pour a broadside into tbe
flock w hile It Is feeding on the ground,
and tw o more shots before the birds
are out o f range when they rise.
This dumb hunter is held In great es­
teem by Its owner and his fam ily. It Is
needless to state, and receives the beat
o f everything.
D a a s«r*n
C lo S
M ask er,
L tv e le r
aa4
D im « .
This clod mo»ucr, leveler and drag
can also be used fo r mashing -down
cornstalks and weeds. Cut off a log
about tw elve lnchee In diameter that
w ill split straight through the middle
nicely, take off tbe bark from both
pieces, that w ill leave one flat aide and
one rounding side to each piece; get
some old half-inch rod Irons, alx pieces
about fifteen Inches long, have taps on
one end and book about two inches
long, bent on tbe other e n d ; bore two
au ger'holes In each piece a foot from
each end; put the hooka with
taps
through holes. Get two pieces o f old
log cbsiDs, w ith three links each, which
w ill fasten the two pieces o f timber to­
gether. Bore two more holes In one o f
the pieces about two feet from each
end, and take one long trace chain and
fasten to doubletree. Letter A shows
shape o f the rods. I f you want to
make it heavier, drop a pole on the
chains between the logs:
This w ill
make as fine a drag, clod crusher, land
leveler, atalk and weed knocker aa you
would wish to use.
Con
Peat.
Th e cornstalk borer has Infested va­
rious parts o f the county fo r many
years, but has not done great damage
in most parts o f tbe corn b elt It has
begun to appear In Iow a and Kansas In
the last two or three years.
I t Is a large, whiter brown-spotted
caterpillar which bores Into a stalk o f
young corn. When fu lly grown It bur­
rows down Into the tap-root and In
the spring transforms to a pnpa, from
which tbe adult soon emerges and lays
Its eggs on the young corn near tbe ax­
ils.
Tbe young larvae hatching from them
bore Into the stalk and upward through
the pith. When fu lly grown they bore
outwards to the surface, making a hole,
from which the moth escapes and trans­
forms to pupa in tbe burrow. This In­
sect Is two-brooded, tbe second brood
feeding on the old stalks, generally be­
tween tbe second join t and the ground,
and becoming full grow n a'»out harvest
time, when they go into winter quar­
ters.
When corn w as seriously Infested
last year and the atalks left standing
a second infestation may be expected
this year unless tbe farm er has raked
and burned, a method which w e have
alw ays suggested when tbe cornstalks
w ere known to harbor any kind o f in­
sect pests. Corn ia too good to be with­
out Is full supply o f enemies, which at­
tack It from the very tim e it ia planted
In tbe ground until It Is In the full
ear.
C hase r e a l A leoh a l.
Denaturlzed alcohol w ill probably be­
come another great product o f the
southern states. It Is claimed that cot­
tonseed oil machinery Is perfectly
adapted to making Industrial alcohol
from the potato. I f this Is successfully
proven, the many cottonseed oil mills
o f the south, which are idle each sum­
mer season fo r lade o f material, w ill be
able to operate all tbe time and keep
their employes together. Furthermore,
being already equipped with tbe ma­
chinery, they w ill, no doubt, be able to
mahufaefure tbe alcohol very cheaply.
Fanners would also be benefited by the
Immense demand for potatoes that
would result. In Cuba alcohol Is pro­
duced and sold from tw elve to fifteen
cents a gallon, and it la said to make
an excellent fuel- for running engines.
I t produces no soot or disagreeable
odors. When the law recently passed
by congress to denaturlze alcohol In
the United States becomes operative It
is expected greatly to Increase tbe use
o f the article both fo r fuel and other
purposes.
It la a distressing thought that many
o f the physical Ills In the world might
have been prevented bad tbe sufferers
only known bow. Much o f tbe blind­
ness found In asylums la due to a de­
structive Inflammation o f tbe eyes oc­
curring soon after birth, which can al­
most always bo averted by proper
treatment.
Very many cases o f deafness are also
preventable if treatment la begun early
enough and persisted In long enough.
Sometimes loss o f boaring Is duo to
disease o f tha auditory nerve# In the
Inner e a r; that la usually unavoidable
and Irremediable. But lu the'great ma­
jo rity o f cases tbe trouble Is in the mid­
dle ear. snd Is prim arily o f a catarrhal
nature. It does not originate In the ear
ordinarily, bat extends to It fropi the
throat, and so It happens that treat­
ment o f catarrhal conditions o f tbs
noss and throat Is tbs bast preventive
o f deafness.
Tbs most frequent cause o f deafness
In children Is the presence o f adenolnda,
or the throat tonsil. This obstruct# tbs
paasags o f air from tbs nose, and so
compels tbe child to breathe through
tbe mouth. Th e mucous membrane o f
the throat was never Intended to re­
ceive the Impact o f tbe unflltered and
unwarmed air, which In health Is both
warmed and filtered o f much o f Its
floating dost daring Its passage through
the nos*. -Th e Irritation caused h j
tbe dust and the cold results In a low
grado o f Inflammation with Increassd
secretions, and that we call catarrh.
This Inflammation is apt to spread
outward from tbe center, passing from
on# point to another and op through
tbe connecting air tubes from
tbe
throat to the middle ear. This exten-
ifi on o f tbe Inflammation Is often helped
along by tbe bad habit o f blowing tho
nose violently when It Is stopped up.
fo r thus a little o f the secretion Is
forced Into the tube, and sometimes
even Into the drum cavity o f tfie ear.
From what baa been said o f tbs
cause o f catarrhal deafness, the means
o f prevention can be readily under­
stood. Any child who breathes through
its mouth should have the throat ex ­
amined, and If adenoids are found they
should be removed. Any chronic ca­
tarrhal condition o f the throat and
noss should receive proper treatment,
and any one w ith -a tendency to taka
cold on small provocation should con­
sult hia physician, who may find some
local trouble In the nose which a sim­
ple operation may remove, or may And
that tbe sufferer la not living hyglenl-
cally. or that the throat needs some
remedial applications to relieve a state
o f Irritability.— Youth’s Companion.
O r a d la f C r c t a .
Th e establishment o f creameries has
done much to put the dairy business
on a stable and profitable basis, a « well
as to provide consumers with a uni­
form quality o f good butter. T b e in­
troduction o f tbe band separator, by
enabling tbe farm er to feed skim-milk
in prime condition
and minimising
transportation expensd, has also done
much for tbs business. This has not
been without a drawback, however, in
A rra a sla s L a rs* K *n i*.
that tbe separated cream Is not always
This illustration gives a plan to sat
kept under proper conditions, snd that
-A Give-Away.
delivered to the creameries differ* up s kettle In butchering time which It
greatly in quality. When all are paid much better than tbs old w ay with
tbe same rate fo r butter fa t there Is posts and pole. Take one snd one-half-
no incentive to careful preservation o f
the cream. A t the experiment station,
A' -
Manhattan, Kan., a system o f grading
cream was adopted about tw o years
ago, the prices paid varying with the
quality o f the cream. This has resulted
In great improvement In the cream de­
livered and enables the butter maker
“ W ith the aid o f my mesmeric Influ­
to do his part better. Bulletin No. 185,
ence I put tbe subject Into a bypuotlo
“ Grading Cream,” treat* o f this sub­
sleep, causing him to remain in a posi­
ject, and can be obtained by addressing
tion Impossible In tbe normal subject.
the station as above.
HOW TO SET TH E KETTLE.
Th* W av
<• M a k e H a a s
M o u lt .
One o f the achievemefits o f modern
poultry keeping is that o f forcing a hen
to doff her old coat, and grow a new
one before the time when she would
do so naturally. Many hens abed their
feathers so late In the season, natural­
ly, that cold weather overtakes them
before they get new suits, consequently
they seldom begin laying before spring.
I f the moult can be hastened so that
a new coat o f feathers Is grown and
the laying can be started before cold
weather, the prospect Is good for a
supply o f eggs during fall and winter.
T b e result Is usually accomplished
by cutting o ff all meat and mash foods,
putting tbe hens on short rations o f
grain for a week or so to stop tbe lay­
ing. then allow more lib erty and feed a
full ration high in protein. This loosens
tbe old feathers, which drop off quickly
and starts a rapid growth o f tbs new.
A liberal allowance o f beef scrap Is
essential, and linseed meal is an advan­
tage.
Sunflower seeds are also good
during tbe m ou lt
T s »o Worm la Torker*.
Th e presence o f the tapeworm may
be recognized through the Indolent
drowsy spirits o f turkeys Infested by
i t ; a careful examination o f voldlnga
w ill rveal Its presence, as those In­
fested w ill pass small portions o f tbe
worm. Powdered male fern Is an e f­
fective remedy, and may be adminis­
tered1 In doses o f from thirty grains
to one dram o f tbe pow der; or o f the
liquid extract, fifteen to thirty drops.
Th is should be administered morning
and evening before feeding; tbe mini­
mum dose to tbe younger. Increasing
tbe does as they grow older. Oil o f
S h o rt.
turpentine Is an excellent
remedy
“ I bear some scientists are going to
against worms o f all kinds which In­
try to make the north pole with an air habit tbe digestive organs o f poultry.
•hip. Do they Intend to stay long?”
A common remedy fo r tbe removal o f
“ Oh, no. Th ey're only going to maks
worms from fowla Is one drop o f kero­
a flying trip.” — Detroit Free Press.
sene oil night and morning.
This
should not he administered to tbe very
Trouble is about tbs only thing that young, but may be used with Impuni­
you can borrow that Is not wanted ty a fter they are a few weeks old.
Inch old wagou tire to the blacksmith
shop and get a ring made tbe size ol
your kettle, with three legs welded to
I t and you can move your kettle an;
place where wanted, and nothing Is Ic
your way to go around i t
C a ttle «
A ip »r * * m
S t a lk s .
The right way In cutting asparagut
stalks, says an expert In answer to a
question, Is to cut everything clean up
to tbe end o f tbe asparagus season, oi
up to about the time that green peat
are fit to gather. A fte r that we let all
the stalks grow, but If we were to cut
any, we would remove the little ones
rather than the big ones. This clean
cutting Is also tbe best remedy for the
asparagus beetle, which gives us some
trouble here. As long as all the stalkt
are cut, the Insect Is given no chance to
breed, and later on, when we stop cut­
ting. we can spray tbe plants with the
Bordeaux mixture and arsenate o f lead
combination which makes an end to the
beetle attacks for a while, and also
checks tbe rust If that gives trouble.
For ridding the atalk s,of slugs alone,
dnatlng with freshly slaked lime while
tbe plants are still wet with dew w ill
answer.
V e la «
of
D olrr
-
Prisoners and Captives
bottle labeled "Spiritua.” n e poured th*
contents over the wood and struck a match.
In a moment the blue flames leaped up
and the wood crackled. He crouched dowu
to the leeward aide, so close that his
clothes were singed and gave forth a
sharp, acrid smell.
He withdrew hi*
mittena and held his bare, scarred bands
right into the flames.
“ A h !” he murmured In t
gurgling
voice, “ that is good!"
But It did not last long. The wood
was light and very dry, and in five min­
utes there was nothing left but a few
smoldering ashes.
The doctor rose to hia feet and looked
long and ateadily out to the north over
the broken ice. Hia eyes lingered over
each whits mound and hillock— not loving­
ly, for it was horribly dismal, almost too
dismal to he part of this world at all.
Strange to say, hia eyes finished their
Inspection by looking up to heaven. The
great snow-clouds were rolling south,
bearing in their huge, rounded bosoms the
white pall to cover a continent for many
months to come. But this man aeemtd
to be looking beyond the clouds, seeking
to penetrate the dim ether. He was not
looking at the sky, but into heaven. At
last he gave a contemptuous little shrug
of the shoulders, full of a terrible mean­
ing. The next moment he sought for
something In the inner pocket of hia fur
tunic. There was a gleam of dull, rusted
metal, and he raised his hand toward hia
open mouth. At the same instant a sharp
report broke upon that echoleas silence,
and a little puff of white smoke was bar
southward on the breeze.
(T o be continued.)
P r o fa c ta .
‘T h u s !"
A
P s l k e t le
F la re r*.
Some time when you are walking In
the Rue de Rlvoll, nays a w riter In
The Munsey, pause fo r a moment and
glance up at tbe balcony o f the Hotel
Continental.
You may see a little,
weazened old woman there, dressed In
rusty black, with w idow's weeds. O f
her Paris talked m ightily once upon a
tim e ; fo r that old lady Is the Empress
Eugenie.
She stands looking ont on
the gardens o f tbe Tullerles. where
once her palace was— where once she
reigned In greater splendor than any
queen o f them a ll; a dreary, pathetic
figure; a text for a sermon on fallen
greatness.
P e * * ln a f* t le .
“ Good n ew s!” cried the lawyer, w av­
ing a paper above hia bead. “ I ’ve se­
cured a reprieve fo r you.”
“A reprieve?" replied the convicted
murderer. Indifferently.
Why, yee; don’t you see, you ought
to be happy— "
' A h !” replied tbe prisoner, gloomily,
“ that »Imply means a delay, and I ’ ve
always been taught that delays are dan­
gerous."— Catholic Standard and T im e «
There were 12,147,804,550 pounds o f
milk and 588,186,471 pounds o f create
used in 1904 In the manufacture o f
551,278,141 pounds o f butter, 813,685,-
290 pounds o f cheese and 808,485,182
pounds o f condensed milk. These fig­
ures are part o f tbe census o f manufac­
tures fo r 1906. Tbe total coat o f tbe
m aterial« used in tbe Industry was
C s t la T a lc s k o a e R a le * .
$142,920,277, w hile tbe value o f tbe pro­
T o meet the telephone competition it
ducts was $168,182,789, an Increase o f Is proposed In England to reduce the
the form er o f 81.8 per cent, and o f tbe cost o f a six-word telegram, including
latter o f 28.6 per cen t The number the address, to 6 cents.
o f establishments dropped from 9,242
A woman can put this and that to­
to 84128, w hile the capital Increased 80
per cent to $ 47 , 258 , 666 . There were gether and tell everything her husband
8,607 salaried officials and clerks and la doing. But a woman can fool her
174167 engaged In tbe manufacture o f husband whenever abe wants to- For­
these articles. Tbsss received s a la ries! tunately, woman do not often ca r« to
amounting to S9w78Q.0ML
| fool their husbands.