Wand of Sleep
999
—
r.= OR ========================
The Devil-Stick
hr ito Awksv al
"The Myswry at « Haeawn Cab." Eia.
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UHAPTER III.—(Continued I
On the day after the Mnjor'i dinner
party, laabella was elttlng In the ver
anda with a book open on her lap and
D1do aiandln» travel/ near her
Mr«
I>allaa In the cool depth« of the draw-
Ini room, wa« Indulging In an after-
luncheon elect*
The «untight poured
Itaelf over the velvet lawn«, drew f< rth
the perfume* from the Hower bed« and
made the earth languorous with heat.
In the veranda all wa« cool and reel-
ful and pleasingly alien!
leabella. In
her while dreaa. looked beautiful and
penalve; while Dido. Ln reddish-hued
rote, with a crlmeon kerchief twleted
round her «lately head, gleamed In the
■emt gloom like aome gorgeous tropi
cal bird ■■tray In our northern cllmea
lloth mt«treea and maid were «(lent
It wa« I>ldo who «poke flrat.
Hh«
noticed that th« eye« of her mletreaa
eonatantly strayed In the direction of
"Aahantee," and with the Jealouay be
gotten of deep affection, «he gus«a«-t
that the girl'« tho-.igxH« were Heed up
on Maurice. At once «he «poke re
proachfully. and In the groleaque ne
gro dialect, which, however, coming
from Dido's mouth, Inapered no one
with merriment
"Aha. mlaey." «aid ehe. In deep gut
tural tone«, "you link ob dat yalier-
ha'r man!"
"Maurice!
Tea, I'm thinking about
him, and you know why."
Dido's fierce black eyea flashed out
a gleam of rage, and ehe curved Mau
rice audibly In aome barbaric tongue
which laal>ella eeerned to understand.
At all eventa ahe Interrupted the wom
an e epee- h t»lth an Imperluua geelura
"No more of that. Dido. Tou know
that I love Maurice, 1 wlah to marry
him.
Why are you oo bitter agalnal
him""
"He take you from me."
"Well. If I marry anyone the aame
thing will happen.” responded la<>hol
la. lightly; “end surely, Dido, you do
not want me to remain a spinster all
rn> life"
"No, mlaey, no! Tou marry, an’ ols
Dido am berry pleased
But dat jai
ler he r man. I no Ilka hint."
"We are engaged."
"Your mudder, «he aay no!"
"Noneenoe* Hhe like* Maurice her-
•elf." replied leabella. uneasily. "Mau
rice war.te our engagement kept quiet
for the preeont, but whan I do tell Ma
jor Jen and my mother. I am auro nei
ther of them will object.”
"H'm we aee. mlesy. we «ee," «aid
Dido, darkly.
"Hut why you marry
dla man I no like?”
"Becauae I marry to plea«« myeelf,
not you.” Mid l«al>ella. sharply. "Oh. I
know your thought«. Dido, you would
like me to marry IWvId Harby. Th«
Idea' aa If he can compare with Mau
rice'~
"W rong. mlaey
I no wlah dat man."
"Then
Dr.
Et weld -that
horrid,
gloomy creature!"
Him great man!" aald Dido, sol
emnly
"Him berry berry great!"
"I don't think any" retorted laabella.
rising
"Of courae. I know that ho la
clever, but aa to l>elng great, he Isn't
known beyond thl« place~ Hhe walked
Io the end of the veranda, and Stood
for a moment In the glare of the aun-
ahlne
Suddenly an Idea ercm«d to
«trike her, and «he turned toward« the
negroes.
"Dido, you wouldn't like to eee me
the wife of Dr. Etwald!"
"Yea. mlaay.
Him berry big great
man!
lie lub you. lie told old Dido
•o "
"lie acema to have been very confl-
dent lai." «aid IMbella. scornfully, "and
from what I have aoen, Dido, ho haa
aome Influence over you."
"No," aald the negreaa But while her
longue uttered the denial, her eyea
rolled uneasily round the lawn, aa
though dreading some Invlalblo preap-
ence
"No, mlaay
IMdo a great one.
you know. Rhe no 'frald ob dat doc
tor; but him big man. mlaay; you mar
ry him'"
"I love Maurice!"
"You nebber marry him. mlaay Neb
ber. nebber! I make de spell. I know
De spell say dat doctor he marry youl"
"Well. Dido., we will are
And now
Rhe never flniahrd what «he was
about to My. for at that homent Dido
stretched out one arm Aero«« the lawn
there crept a wlaen, grey-haired little
man. with a cringing manner. He was
white, but darkish In the «kin. and
there was something negroid about hl«
face. This dwarfish little creature was
a tramp, who had become a pensioner
of iMbella'g. He had attached himself
Io her like some faithful dog, and rare
ly failed to present himself at leaat
once a day.
What his real name was
nobody
knew, but he Mid that he wa« called
Batters*. He wa« cringing, dirty, and
altogether an unpleaMnt
object
to
look upon, but iMl-ella was sorry for
the creature, and aided him with food
and a trifle of money. It may ba here
mentioned that Hatteraea. although ho
knew nothing of Ohl.
was terribly
afraid of Dido. Perhaps soma Instinct
in the negro bl ■<» 1 for ha undoubtedly
had »• methlng African tn hla veins—
-nade him fear this unknown prteote««
of fetleh- wi rahlp
"Well.
Battersea."
said
tsal>ella.
kindly, "how are you to-day?"
"Very well. lady, very well. Indeed I
met Mr Aylmer, and ho gave mo a
dollar "
"That was generous of him!
But.
why?"
"Becpueo I said that a oertaln lady
was----- "
"Now. now." laughed Isat-olta. "no
more of that nonsense. Battersea" Rhe
I turned and ran along the veranda Into
the houae The tramp and the negrM«
wore alona.
"What do doctor say?" said Dido, tn
a low-voiced whisper.
’Two word«
The devil-«tick."
The negree« started, and threw up
her hand« In «urprloa.
CHAPTER nr.
Evidently there was an understand
ing between these two strange crea
ture«. and thersby an occult connec
tion with th« 1d«a« and doings of Dr
Etwald
What th« trio were plotting
against Isabella and h«r lover remains
to be Men i but It can bo guaeoed Ma
liy that th« maaMge of th« devil «tick
carried by IlalterMa to IMdo was of
e<>me «Ignlflcanca.
Batter««« himself knew nothing of
It« oaotarie meaning, but to the na-
gr««s the mention of the emblem con-
vejed a dlatlnct understanding
Rhe
1st hay arms fall listlessly by her side.
• nd. with an unseeing gn>« ahe stared
al th« green trees lathed In hot «un-
■hlne After a moment or so. ehe mut
tered to herself In negro jargon, and
clenched her hands.
"Baal' the wnnd of sleep' the brtng-
er of death'”
"What are you wring. Dido"” asked
Baller sc a. hl« fMble Intellect scared
by the flerc« gestures and the unknown
tongue
"I say deep thtngs which you no un-
de.sian*. Ixxik at ol« Dido, you white
man."
«
Battersea whimpered, and. rubbing
one dirty hand over the other, did as
he was requ“«ted with manifest unwil
lingness
With an Intensity of gasa.
Dido glared at him steadily, and swept
her hands twice or thrice serose hla
face.
In a moment or so the tramp
was In a state of catalepsy, and aha
made use of hl« spellbound Intelli
gence to gain knowledge. There was
■cm«thing terrible In her powers being
thus exercised In the full sunlight.
"De dabble-stick
Whar 1« It?"
"In the house of Major /«n
In a
llttl« room, on th« wall, with sword«
and axes.”
A« hs Mid thl« In a monotonous ton«.
Dido looked acroM th« tree tops to
where the red roof« of ~A«hantee"
showed themselves against a blue July
sky. Hhe shook h«r flit at the distant
house, and again addressed herself Im
periously to naltersea. commanding
"Tell ole Dido ob de debble-atlck."
"it Is green, with a handle of gold,
and blue stones set Into the gold.”
Dido bent forward, and touched the
tramp on hla temples
"H«e wtdln dat »tick." «he muttered,
eagerly. "I wish to see."
"There la a bag tn the handle." re-
pealed Battersea, with an effort. "Un
der ths bag a long needle." then, after
a pause, "the needle 1« hollow "
”1« d«r poison In de bag. In da hol
low ob de needle?"
"No'" said Battersea, again.
"The
poison Is dried up!"
At this moment a noise In ths house
disturbed Dido, and with a pass or two
she released Battersea from the hyp
notic spell
Ho started, rubbed
his
eyes, and looked drowsily at the tall
negreM. who had resumed her Impas
sive attitude.
"What have you been doing. DldoF*
h« asked, stupidly.
"Obi?” was the brief reply.
"Tou
hab told old Dido what she wish about
de debble-atlck."
'Ths
devll-atlck."
repeated
the
tramp. In wide-eyed surprlM. "1 don't
know anything of It. Dr Etwald mot
me, and see ho. 'Ton go to Mies Dal
las,' and I see. 1 does;’ and he see.
‘You’ll see Dido.* and I sea. I will;* and
he sea. Ray to her "Dsvll-etlck." an* I
sm . 'Right y’are. sir.* But «a to know
ing-------"
"Dat nuflln!" Mid Dido, with a lord
ly wave of her hand. "1 black; you
hab de black blood In joum also.
I
mek you do Dbt. Um!"
"What** Obi?
What'e you torkln*
of?" asked Battersea, rather nervous
ly. "An* *ow docs you know I hev
black blood""
"Obi say dat to ma
Tour mudder
black?"
"Tab!" cried Battersea, derisively
You’re out of It. My mother white,
but my father." here he hesitated, and
then resumed—"Tea, you’rs right. Di
do; my father was a negro* A Reedoe
boy who was flreman on a liner."
*1 hab eeen dal." replied Dido, nod
ding her head
"Black blood In you««.
• a* 1 can du Obi on you. I send your |
spirit to da house or M ssm Jen! Tou
toll m« ob d« debbl« «tick. Rut I take
eare ob you
Now git to d« kitchen;
dor« am food for you."
Ths old man’s « jm brightened In sa
lt el pat Ion of a feast, and be shuffled
off round the corner ss quickly aa hl«
age would allow him
Dido looked
after him for a moment, considering
the meaMgs ho had brought from Dr
Etwald. and then began to think of
ths devil-otlck
Hh« knew very well what It was
for her grandmother bad bon carried
off
a «lav« fr-,m th« west e ast ol
Africa, and knew ail about Ashsntee
•orrery and fetish rites
These ah«
had repeated to h«r granddaughter. IH
do. with the result that Dido, cherish
ing th««e recollections, knew exactly
how Io use the wand of sleep Rhe had
Spoken about It to Dr. Etwald. quit*
Ignorant that Jen kept one aa a curios
ity. and now Etwald had intimated
through Battersea that ho wished hot
to d<> something In • nneetlon with th*
stick. What that something might ba
Dido, at the present moment, could not
gueas.
Hhe had exerted h«r magnetlo and
hypnotic Influence over Battersea, not
that «ho wished for a detailed deocrlp-
Bon of the wand, for already oho knew
Ila appMranc* but becauM It might
happen that It would bo nooesMry t(
um the tramp for Mrtala
purpose*
connected with the discovery of m -
ereta
Dido exorcised a strong Influ
ence over this weak old crMtura
Ilattarsea was supp-wed to
be
s
Christian; but th« barbarlo fluid In hl*
veins inclined him lo the terrible gro-
teaquenM« of African witchcraft, and
Dido and her words stirred some dlrs
Instinct In hla mind
Tho negreM mw
that accident had placed In b«r way »
helpleas crMtura. who might be of us*
In her neeromantls busln«««. there
for* by hypnotising him once or twice
■ ho rontrlved to keep him within hot
power
Ail of which fantasy
would
have been denied by tho average now«
paper rMd«r. who cannot tmegl«« such
things taking plac« tn whal he Mils
euphoniously a ChrlstJan land.
But
this happened, notwithstanding
Having dismissed Battersea, the ne
groes turned to seek leebella She wa*
so devoted to ber nursling that sh*
could hardly b«ar to be away from
her; and since her Infancy iMbella had
scarcely been absent an hour from hot
• Iran»« attendant. The girl had g-u>*
Into tho drawing-room, where
Mrs
Italluo was still sleeping, snd there,
relieved for the moment from tha pry
ing eyes of the negreM. she took a
letter out of her pocket. Il was from
Maurice, stating that he was coming
to mo her that afternoon at Z o’clock,
as he had Something particular to My
It was now c I om upon the hour, and
I m I «Ila was wondering how aha could
get rid of Dido, whom »h« did not
wt»h to be present at the coming inter
view.
The Inborn jMlousy
of
th*
w.-rnan. and her advocacy of Dr Et-
wald’« ault. made her an unpleaMnt
third at ouch a mwllng;
moveover
Maurice Instinctively disliked thio Sul
len crMtura, and was never quite may
In her presence.
Finally, Isabella decided
to
slip
round back of ths house and
meet
Maurice at tho gate.
Rhe put on a
straw hat. and ran lightly away to m *
her lover
Hhe paaaed out by a Bid«
door, danced like a fairy across th*
Intervening Space of lawn, and slipped
laughingly Into the narrow path which
wound through the wood to tho ave
nue nsar the gates
Juel as she emerged Into the open
she hMrd a sharp click.
and
mw
Maurice approaching
Ho was dress
ed In his flannals, and looked part leu
larly handsome, ah« thought, th« mor*
•o when »he Leheld his face lighting
up at h*r unexpected appearance. The
magnetism of love drew them IrrMlstl-
bly together.
"My own dear love." ho murmured,
softly.
"How good of you to meet
me!"
"I camo down here to escape Dido."
explained iMbella. slipping her hand
within his. "You don't like her to t»e
with us!"
"I don't like her In any case, my dar
ling.
Hhe la Ilk« a black shadow of
evil always at your heels I must get
your mother to forbid her IrsapaMlng
upon our meetings."
"My dmr Mauries, how can you pos
sibly do that, when you refuse IS tell
my mother of our engagement?"
"*<>h. I bad a reason for keeping our
engagement secret, but It Is no longer
necessary, and I sm going straight to
ask your mother to give me this dear
hand In marriage
If ahe concent* we
will soon get rid of Dido."
"But my mother may not consent."
•aid iMl.ella, a trifle nervoualy.
"Why not? 1 have a prof«Mlon and
a small property. We love one anoth
er dMrly. so I don’t eee what ground
•he has for refuMl. I wish to tell your
mother of our engagement; for I must
rescue you from the Influence of that
dark Jexet>el. Hhe is dangerous"
"I know she Is. but she hates you!"
*1 don't eare for her hate," replied
Maurice, carelessly.
"It Is
a
poor
thing, and cannot pnasthly harm me
Hurely Mrs linllaa will not let herself
bo guided In so Important a business
l>y th« will and feelings of that black
wench."
(Ta be continued.)
THE AMERICA» WORIM AJI
III« I oaSIHen a« I emparwd •• •
ll«b sad UwesaM laxbwreee.
J. I! lit rest, slatlstlcAn for the Brit
ish department of cotnmercs and la
bar. who has been InvMtlgatlng com
parstlvs conditions of working psopls
throughout
Oermany.
the United
Slates and England, aays that ths
American workingman II« m higher.
■ or I ls leaser hours snd has a belter
time all around than either hla Ger
man or English brethren.
*! And that tha skilled man In tha
United Statoo has a better and mors
varied diet than In any other country
I have InvMtlgatsd." ho Mid. "Ths
English workman baa as much meat,
but bo hasn't ths variety of vegetables
and swMta. His ibm I s lack imagine
lion."
Ths German mechanic Mr. St rest
Beds to be In the worst condition of
all. HU trade« unions are the most
complete and beet organised of the
thrM countr I m considered, and yet be
works more hours, gets I« m pay. Mtx
lews, and Is worse housed than any of
thorn They gst JS per cent I ms pay
than Englishmen.” Mid Mr. Street
They work 10 hours a day aa against
nine In England and eight in the
United SlatM. and their coot of living
Is II psr cent higher"
Tho poor districts of American
ci tie* failed to horrify Mr. Street. He
Mid they bad worM at boms
"Tvs been through your poorest see
tloa." Mid be. "It Is much the Mins
as one finds In all the large cltlea of
tho world The difference hero Is that
there I* an appearance of energy and
bopofulneM la moot of your poor poo
pls. The reason la. I tako It, that they
bad enough entorprtM and thrift to
•tart with to get themselves over here
with tils intention of bettering tkslr
csndittoa ~
FASHION HINTS
«fatare of
1«.
*A hotel keeper has an occupation
which Inclines him to amiability."
"How wT
"Beca um to all Inquiries about
rooms, no matter how put. hs likes ts
give a suits answer." — llaltlmors
American
American capitalists are trying to
form a merger of every acro of timber
producing land tn Novta Scotia, tarsos-
Ing
Sarsaparilla
Leads all other medicines in
th*? cure of all spring ailments
humors, loss of appetite, that
tired feeling, paleness and
nervousness. Take it.
Get It today in usual liquid form °r
tablets called Hursat-iba. 100 Doses IL
IllUa'r
Mean
I teat.
“Those," Mid th« lectursr. Indicating
them with his pointer, ’ar« th« mov«-
hl« bath houw«
Thmrsanda of p«o|>ls
consr• gal«» bar« during th« «umrn-
«•■son
Over h*r« on th« Isft Is th«
hotel at which I stopped, and an sx-
e««dlng homelike placs It 1«
1 shall
gl\• you a nearer vt«w of It presently
Although I was ther« a w««k or two.
and « uld gl^.lty hav« remained lunger
If 1 could hav« «pared th« tlm«. 1 dl<l
not taka any batha. for ths reason-------"
(Ixrud and prolongvd laughter >
"1 meant, ladle« and a«utl«men." h*
resumed after th* m«rrtm*nt had sub-
I take anv baths
down *t the beach
This audience Is
altogether too «mart." -Chicago Trib
un«.
__________________
III«
I.Kile Sehea««.
"Great Caesar, old man'" oxclalmef
tb* gunner a* h* spewed ths door an<
found hla frisnd's kouM brilliantly lliu
mloatod at noonday "What does this
mean? Why ars al! theM blankets
ovsr tha windows, aad why ts tbs gai
burning tn ths daytime?”
"Sb!" whlapored Guysr, cautiously
"(ft a «cherne of mlns”
"What kind of a seberns?"
"Why. my wife Is sn a visit to hs,
mother, and I tsll hsr I romaln hotni
•very night aad r*»i 1’vs got to gs<
rid ot sows gas somsbow so It wlU
go on ths bill at ths end of ths month '
— Atlanta ConsthiiHojJ____
With Seme Kaeoptloa«.
"Grandma, do you think birds go t«
heaven?"
”1 see no reason to doubt It. dear
1
sometimes think, though, that parrots
go to ths other placs."
Kaewledgs.
Seeklas
It had been raining all day and fln
ally llttl* Ix>la asked
"Mamma, whss
God gets all ths julcs squeezed out ol
a cloud what doos t>* do with ItT'—
Chlcaso Naw*
Th« longeat tslogrsph lln* In
the
world. al>ov* ground, and without a
break, haa I-een completed In Australia.
Its total leugth Is som*thlng ovsr
•0« mil**
TO GET
ITS BENEFICIAL EFFECTS
ALWAYS BUV THE GENUINE
S yrup -F igs
E uxi H enna
“
AND "
MANUFACTURED BY THE
Foulardi ar* coming in luch lovely
•hades and patterns, that It s no wonder
ih*y are io t>* mor« than ever popular
this season
On* of wistaria, hgured
o> er with irregular dashes ol while, is
shown here. It is designed for general
wear. A llttl* hand snibroid*ry on the
vest adds to its attractivM***
l h«'' ki-
mona" or “ peasant '* typ* of shoulder-
and-alerve-in-on*, is again fashionable
C alifornia faSYRUP (o
SOLO BV ALL LEADING
_
p
0RUG6ISTS, M
O ne S ize
only . so * a B ottle
Fl«h % •►••• Beef.
When tha Beef Truat put* th* price
of steak up to St a pound wa can go to
eating more flah
Grating land di
minishes svsry ysnr. so It Is only a
quMtlon of tlm* until l««f get* up
eomewhar* near canvas back duck In
price. Old ocean will always ba In
bualn«M at tha old stand and with th*
soma undltnlnlshed conflnaa, unless wa
run afoul of a wildcat comet or planet
and ar* wiped out; then It won't maha
any dUIarsnc*. So long aa fish |* *
trifling Incident of our diet Its pries
will somewhat follow up tho prtoa of
bwf, for lack of general supply. WTiea
It becomes a chief article of food anor
moua flah InduatrlM will ba Mtabliahed
everywhere, and tha supply will keep
ap with the stMdy demand
Thar*
can’t b* a monopoly of th* ocean;
there can't aven ba such a monopoly
tn th* handling of flah aa In th* slaugh
tering. pssktog and celd atoragtng of
boat
A
The
Hood’s
Rilsi.«
REDUCE
YOUR COST OF
LIVING
Take Advantage of Our Cat P t I cm
on Kverytktnr You Buy and
SAVE 2S% to SO*.
Specials for April
«« Akwvha . Xe
iMstaa aJfaitiB fle
e<
-
K
Mike. I<
Lawyer.
An eminent lawyer was one* eroae-
sxamtntng a vary clever woman,
mother of th* plaintiff la a brMch of
prom I m action and was completely
worsted In ths sneountsr of wits. At
tha close, however, he turned te th*
jury and exclaimed:
"You saw, gen
tlemen. that even I was but a child In
her hand* What must my client have
been*" By thia adroit stroke ef ad-
vocacy ba turned bl* failure late a
succsea.
Begin to aare now—write today
for Catalog lfo.60— it’a Free
THERE IS ONLY ONE»
Jones Cash Store n
newt as* Oak eta-
I
POWTtA». ORB.
11