I
t
- —>
Here Jen stopped and lookod
blankly at ths wall.
Th« stick!" gasped Jen. pointing a
shaking hand at tbs wall. Tit death
wand!"
Maurioe looked the devil stick was
gone!
•fix Wand of Sleep
OR ~
;r
The Devil-Stick
Br IM Author W
"Th« Mr»«r it • H«r*m Cob." *•«■
X______ ________________________________
CHAITKR VI.
Mauri«« roturn« >1 home afl«r a e--m«-
• bat stormy Interview with Mr* Dal-
laa
For <>nra th« mother of laala-ll«
was roused out of her habitual Indif
ference. and ah« r«-fos««l ib«-'liit«ly to
accept Aylmer «• h«r son In-law
■'ll la because that black woman dis
trusts ma that you objeet." h« aald
"I wonder that an educated
person
should !•« dominated l>y that uncivil
ised rreatura.
"Dido haa nothin« to do with my
refusal!" a«Id tha widow, oddly, "and
although I take her advlc« In some
thlnga. I do not In thia
I don't wlah
Isabella to marry you. and 1 request
you to leave my house"
"As a gentleman I must accept your
dismissal, but I decline to give up Isa
bella "
"And I." cried th« girl, "swear to re
main true tu Maurice!"
"You'll do nothing of the sort.- said
her mother, violently.
"I forbid you
«van to think of that young man. You
shall marry whom I chooa«l"
"Dr Kt weld. I suppose T"
"No! Mr Herby."
"David!" ejaculated Mauri««. In an
astonished toll«
You wish Isabella
to marry him'"
"Yes'
Ha loves Isabella much mor«
than you do. and he asked permission
—which you didn't to pay his ad-
dress*-« tn her. t eons«n|c<L and so."
Mrs I «alias raised her vole«, "he shall
marry her "
"I refuse to marry Mr Harby," sold
Isabella, vehemently. "I hate him'"
"That Is no matter!" replied
her
mother, coldly
"You
must
marry
him"'
"Must1"
reto-ated
Maurice,
with
great Indignation
'Yea, .Mr. Aylmer'
Must!
Must'
Must!
If you want an «-»planation of
that you can ask Major Jen'"
"The Major!
My guardian!" cried
Aylm«r, quite thunderstruck,
"la I»«-
a« «Inst me?"
"Ask him' I want no further speech-
es from you. Do to your room, lea
belle "
Iteslgnlng himself to the Inevitable
Muurlc« gave one «lane« at lsat>ella.
and went outside with a heavy heart
Dido was standing upon the veranda,
with her •>'•• glowing Ilk« two coals
Yet there was an III-concealed espr<-s
Sion of triumph In her gas«
which
Maurice. In his then disturbed and an
gered state of mind, could III brook
He paused abruptly as he paaa««l by
•her. and asked a direct question
"Why do you hate me. Dido?"
"Voodoo!" said she In a harsh voice
"llah! you black parrot!" muttered
Maurice, scornfully, and turned upon
his heel
As he vanished down the
walk Dido clapped her hands together
with great satisfaction, and began to
sing tn low tones
ll«r song was bar
baric In words, and strange beyond all
telling In the music. It rose and fell,
and moaned and drawled In a curious
ly painful manner
In th« drawing
room Mrs Dallas had risen to her feet
st the first d«-ep contralto note, and
now stood rocking herself to and fro
with an eipD-salon of alarm on her
face.
Isabella was terrified In
her
turn. Rhe shrieked and ran out of th«
room
Then Dido, still singing, ap
pear «<1 at the window, and looked at
Mrs. Ds I l*s with an
expression
of
triumph.
"Why do you sing the death song?"
asked Mrs. Dallas. opening her eyes
"■Because de master hab doomed dat
yaller-h'ar!" said Did», and continued
hsr song
In the meantime, Maurice walked
glowly homeward, puasllng out his own
tnlnd. as to what could be th« m«*anlng
of these strange things
He could not
understand why Mrs Dallas objected
to him as a aon-ln-law, nor could h«
surmise th« meaning of the mysterious
word "Voodoo," pronounced so signifi
cantly by Dido.
However, h« saw
plainly that the negn-ss was the dis
turbing element In the Dallas house
hold. and by a half-hypnotic control
over the weak will of her mistress, she
could act as she pleased.
Maurice, simple and upright In con
duct and character, was no match for
the unscrupulous machinations of Dt-
gw.
«he hated the young man. and
was determined that he ahould not
marry her nursling
But whether she
had. like Mrs. Dallas, a preference for
David over Dr. Ktwald. Maurice could
not determine. The more he thought
over affairs, the more Incoherent and
complicated did they become; so Ayl
mer gave up the task In despair Then
It occur?«! to him that Mrs I «alias had
referred him 1« Major Jen; *•» to hie
guardian Maurice went the moment he
arrived at the big house
"Major gone out. sir,"
explained
Jsggnrd. to whom Maurice applied for
Information. 'He got a message from
Dr. Ktwald. and went to see him. lie
back to dinner, air. I b'lleve."
"Where la Mr, Rarby?"
'“Gone over to Branch Hall, air"
"Ho, ho’" thought Maurice, as he
Swrned away. "Mo David had gon« to
,
------- ----
see M-g
Now If he la tn levs with
Isabella, and Mrs Dallas favors his
suit. I wonder why ha sets In that
way."
The question ho could not answer, so
dismissing It from his memory, ho re
tired to the smoking-room with a nov
el. When Jen and David returned he
Intended to question both. and. la pos
sible get m the l-ottom of lh«s« sick
ening mysteries.
"Hang It'" soliloquised Maurice over
hla boob; "sines yesterday everything
«««ma to have gone wrong. That no-
grass and l«r Ktwald ere al the bot
tom of affairs
But I can't •«« their
reasons for mixing up things so."
Then ho laid aside hie book to think,
and stared Idly at the opposite wall.
It chanced to bo that upon which the
t-arl-arlc weapons before alluded
to
wore arranged, and conspicuous among
them the golden handle of the devil-
stick, llccalfing th« mention of Voo
doo, and Kt weld’s reference to African
witchcraft, Maurice connected In hie
own mind the d«vll-stick with those
I»art>ar1sma. and un the Impute« of the
moment ho r«ls« to examine the magic
wand.
Handling It carefully— tor ho
dr«-ad«d the poison, although it wae
said to t>e dried up he wondered tf
Dido could make use of It were II In
her possession.
"I heard Mrs Dallas say that XMdo's
people camo fr»m Ashanlee." eolllo-
'lulled Maurice, "so I have no doubt
she can work the Infernal thing. Per
haps she knows enough to fill the bag
with frosh poison
If she did so. I
wouldn't trust myself near her.
Hhe
would bo sure to experiment on mo."
Al this moment Major Jen. looking
•lightly worried, entered the room, and
seeing the drvll-sllck In the hand of
Maurice, he stopped short with an
ejaculation of surprise
You are looking at that thing. Mau
rice*" said he. wonderlngly.
"Now
that Is strange I have just t«e«n talk
ing al-out It with Dr. Ktwald."
"Oh!" said Maurice, hla
thoughts
flying back to the mystsrioua Influence
which ho had seen Ktwald exercise
over Dido. "And what was the doctor
saying?"
A great deal.
He naw the devil-
slick the other night, and to-day he
sent a note, asking If I would ride
over and see him this afternoon
I
did so, then he explained that he wish
ed to buy that thing!"
The devil-stick?
Why?"
"I can't oar. Ho explained that he
had been In the llart>adiH-s, and that
ho took a great Interest In the subject
of African fetish-worship
He
had
h«>ard of these wands of sleep.' as they
ar* called, and greatly wished to ob
tain one, but ho was unable to do so
Mince seeing mine he haa been seised
with a desire to possess It.*
"Why?" said Maurice, again.
"As a curiosity. I suppoas. Tvs told
you all he told me. But I refused to
•ell It to him. atid he seemed greatly
vexed, a display of Irritation which In
Ila turn vexed ma I was quite an
noyed when I loft him."
"Why don't you wish to sell It. Un
cle JsnT*
' Because It la a dangerous thing to
handle Although ths poison Is dried
up. yet there may be enough In It to
kill a man.
If I parted with It and
anyone was Injured by It. 1 should
never forgive myself. Pray put It up.
Mauries; I dislike to see you touch It
To-night, after dinner. I shall lock it
up in a safe place. I«avld la right; It
ahould not b* on th« wall there"
"David has gone over to ses Meg."
"Yes
I don't think he will be hack
until after dinner." aald Jen. rising.
"No you and I had better alt down aa
soon as »« are drvssed.
! am very
hungry."
"Uncle Jen. I want to aak you some
thing. Du you wish David to marry
Isabella Dallas*''
"I really can't say That Is a matter
which Iles In the hands of the girl her
self. If she likes you bolter than Da
vid------ "
"Hhe does'"
"What!
Have you ep<>k«n to her?"
"I have, and to Mrs Dallas who de
clines to sanction our engagement Hhe
wants laatwlla to marry Itavld. and
•aid------ "
"1 can guess what she said," Inter
ru ppi ed Jen. hastily. "No more of thia
till after dinner, my dear lad. Then
I'll explain all!"
"Explain what?"
"Why Mrs. Dallas wants Isabella to
marry
David." Not another word
would the Major aay on the sub
ject at that moment, so Maurice waa
forced to seek hla room tn a very un-
satisfied frame of mind. However, aa
he thought, here was one mystery
al-out to l*e explained, and that was s
comfort.
Aa Jen prophesied.
I»avl<1
did not return to dinner, snd Maurice
had a tete-a-tete with his guardian.
But they talked of Indifferent things,
and It was not until they were once
more In the smoking-room that the
Major c««neented to speak on the sub
ject of Mrs Dallas' strange conduct.
"Now. my boy. I'm ready to «ail
,
,
!
|
I
chapter
vn.
For som« moments the two
m«n
looked at one another; and then Ma-
Jor Jen, seeing
ths
necessity
for
prompt action, rang the bell
Jsggard
entered with military awtftneas. and
stared blankly al his master, who »•«
pointing at the wait
"W her« Is the devll-stlck?" dernand-
1 ed Jen. whsihfully.
Jsggard advanced to the trophy of
. weapons, and examined them
with
i e»m« delit'cratlon. after which hs
I turned Io face the trats Major.
It's K'-ne, sure enough, str. but I
. don't know where."
"Find out If any of the servants have
taken IL"
Jsggard saluted and vanish««!. while
his master walked up and down ths
room. fuming at ths I >•■ of tha curi
osity. In a few minutes Jsggard re
lumed with ths news that nons of the
servants had t-een In the smoking-
room that evening
Who lights«! ihs lamp?" demanded
Jen. sharply.
•
"We found the window open when
ws came In," seld Maurice "Did you
open It?"
"Tea. sir. The Major told me to al-
wa>s air the room during dinner."
"Do you think that someone has sto
len ths stick. Maurice V said ths Ma
jor
"Romeone from oulaldo, I mean "
'1 am surq of It," replied Alymer.
with decision. "Jaggsrd. did you no
tice that negrese of Mre Delias' about
the grounds, since I o'cl«»ck?*
"Why, no. Mr. Mauries^ I can't say
aa I did."
'The tramp, then; Battersea!"
"No. str.
Haven't set syee on him
for a week "
'Very good. Jaggsrd." broke tn the
Major, "you can go
Maurice!" he
turned to the young man when lag
gard had lert ths room, "what do you
mean by all the*« questions and ex
aminations? Do you suspect anyone?"
"Yea," replied Maurice, deliberate
ly. "I suspect IHdo, the negroes."
"Why?" asked Jen. with
military
brevity.
"It's a long story." returned Mau
rice
"Ixu'k here. Uncle Jen. I wont to
dress at half past six; you did also
When we left the stick waa In ths
room on the wall. Now we are here
again al half pest eight; It la gone
In these two hours Dido haa had tlm«
to cross thrlaxn yonder and steal It "
"But why do you suspect Dido? Rhe
waa never In thte room*
"No, but Dr. Ktwetd waa"
"Dr. Ktwald!
Do you think h« has
anything to do with It?" queried Jen.
perplexed, and a Irlfls startled
"1 am certain nt tt." replied Mau
rice.
"He employed Dido to steal It
from you. as you refused to sell It
l.laten. unci«, and I'll give you my
reasons for thia belief." and then Mau
rice told succinctly all that had taken
place at 'The Wigwam" during the
afternoon.
TURNS DOWN
METHODISTS.
Roosevelt Deplores Tumult
by Vatican Incident.
Caused
Rome, April 6. The chief material
development in the R««>*cvelt Vatican
incident today waa Mr. Rooervelt's re-
pwiiation of an attempt of the Metho
dist oncanixation here to interpret his
action as an indorsement of it* work.
This repudiation took the form of
calling off a reception to the member*
of the American colony, which was to
have been held tomorrow night at the
embassy, and it resulted directly from
the issuance of a statement yesterday
by R«v. B. M. Tipple, juutor of the
American Methodiat church, in which
he aeverely arraigned th«' Roman Cath
olic church.
Mr. R<«wevelt continue* to deprreate
in th«- mogt vigorous fashion, the Acree
religious tumult caused by tiw inci
dent, which be reganls as personal to
himwlf, and continues entirely conA-
dent that his countrymen. Catholic as
well as Protestant, when the fart* in
the case are clearly and dispassionately
examined, will sustain his position.
When the Vatican's statement, liken
ing the situation to what might occur
in Germany if he visited the Polish
Separatist* after seeing the emperor,
wa* called to Mr. Roosevelt's atten
tion. be said:
"If the German emperor would place
aa a condition to an audience that I
should not see the Pole*. I should
make a similar reply. Upon that con
dition I shall be com pc I led to forego
U m - pleasure of sn audience."
A phase of the situation attracting
more and more attention here i* the
open disapproval of the Vatican's ac
tion by numerous Catholic*.
This is
not confined to laymen, but extends to
Die hierarchy ami even to the sacred
college itself. Some of the cardinal*
have privately expreamd dissent from
the setion that pise«* the church in a
|K«ition in any way hostile to Mr.
Roosevelt.
CaUvolic* dwell on the many evi
dent a* of hi* friendship while he was
the occupant of the White House and
deciare emphatically that the church is
being placed in a false position toward
Ute ex-president and toward America.
CARMEN'S STRIKE DIES.
nL
11 11
♦
Philadelphia Company Will Take Back
Old Men When Needed.
Philadelphia. April 8.
Declaring
that it had in its employ more than S,-
000 of the 7,000 men tH-ede«! for the
operation of it* cars, the Philadelphia
Rapid Transit compaany announced to
day that so far M it waa concerned the
strike of its former employe* was at
an end. The company added that for
the vacancies still existing in the oper
ating force* the strikers if they ap
plied for work, would be given prefer
ence over other applicants.
The leaders of the strike, on the
other hand, maintain the strike haa
Major Jen listened quietly, and watt setUed into a struggle of endurance and
ed until Maurice ended hla story be the company in the end will be forced
fore he spoka The Information about to grant concessions and take back all
Mrs Dallas and her reference to him the striker*.
The company today posted rule* gov
self did not surprise him so much as
Aylmer expected It would do. In fact, erning the employment of its men.
he only made one brief remark upon The rule* are practically the same a*
thia polnL
contained in the proposition made to
"I am sorry Mrs Dallas said that." the strikers through Mayer Rcybum
ha remarked, when Maurice paused In two week* ago. except no mention is
hla narrative.
made of several concession* the com
"But what does she mean by tt. pany had been witling to grant the
Uncle Jsn?
Didn't you wleh ms to striker*.
marry Isabella?"
All employes are free to join any la
"I am neither for nor against." re bor organisation. The workday shall
plied Jen. enigmatically.
"As I eald be not h-a* than nine nor mon- than ten
twfora. let the girl marry whom she hours in any one day, the full day's
loves best."
work to be cemplcted within 12 hour*
"Hhe loves me beat!*
aa nearly a* po*sible.
Major J«n wriggled uneaelly tn hts
In an altercation between Harold
seat. He disliked telling what appear Lafne, a striking conductor, and Hod
ed to him to be a silly story, but as Alexander, a diviaion superintendent
such story bore strongly upon
the
of the Rapid Transit company, today.
present position of things, and aa Mau- |
Alexander was shot in the head. Lafne
rice was Impatiently watting to be en
lightened. Jen waa forced to put hla w »s arri-et<d arwl Alexander wiu re
moved to a hospital.
Hi* condition is
scruples on one eld« and speak out
"If what I relate appear* lmp«>aalbl« critical.
don't blame me," he eald
abruptly. '
Capacity Reception Planned.
and 1 feel certain that you will laugh
when I tell you about Voodoo!"
New York, April 6.
To determine
'That nor«! again'" crl«-d Maurice. just whst is the limit of Theodore
In a pussled voice "Dido used It when R« mmv velt’s strenuoaity in the way of a
we met Ktwald; she repeated It to m- ' welcome home is the question occupy
l>efore I left. Voodoo! Voodoo! What ing the committee named by Mayor
does It mean. Uncle Jen?"
Gaynor to arrange the reception in
"African witchcraft!
Obit
Fetish
honor of the ex-ppn-aident. The plan
worship!
The adoration of the bad
is to give him juat a* big a reception
spirit who catches mortals by the hair
Moat of the mem
Any one of these things explains the a* he can stand.
bera believe he can stand a great deal,
meaning of th« term."
"H'm!" aald Maurice. "It la a devil- i and the program will l>e arrange«! with
thia idea in view.
More than 200
worship pure and simple."
"Yeo, and Mrs I Milas knows more members of the committee met this
about It than Is good for her. My boy," afternoon.
Jen laid hla hand upon the arm -of the
young man. "when you reach my age
Freight Rate* to B« Incrsatad.
you will fln«l that there Is no limit to
Minneapolis, April 6.—"The rail
the credulity and folly of human be roads must and will incrcaae their
ing*
When I wae stationed In the freight rate*." aay the railroad men of
Barbadoee many years sgo I met Mrs
thia city. "On one aide the state* and
Dallas"
Federal government are dictating to us
"Oh! so she Is an old
friend of
and on the other aide are the uniorw,
your*!"
"Ye*. I knew her tn the West In practically dictating their wage*. The
dies shortly before Isabella was bom only reciiurse the railroad* have is an
The m<m- outgo the
It xm through knowing me." explain increase in rate*.
ed the Major, "that she came to this ; more the income must be."
nvlghtq>rh<>od and rented Th« Wig
Bank Raided; Two Slain.
wam
You see. Mauri«-«, I was one of I
the few people she knew here, snd she |
Pittsburg, April 6. Samuel Fried
remained near me for company's Saks man, genera) manages of the Victor
and because she waa afraid of !>•*- Banking company at McKeea Rock*,
•e'f "
was killed by bank robber* tonight.
”1 don't quite understand."
Friedman's assistant, Isaac Schwarts,
<Ye be rent In ned.)
wa* wourxied by the robber* ami died
1 in a hospial later. Robert King, a by
America* plows, thresher* and reap , slander, wa* dangerously
wounded.
er« corer the Aside of Argswtlas
nw Haaiam Calat*
Th!* rather surprising questlo* ta
raised by Dr Gustav Ls Bon. a veil
known s lent 1st. who calls u;»m th*
friend* of selrn«-* to contribute S 10,000,
th« sum which he * mates a* prob
ably necessary to cuver ths cost of
experiment* to prove whether radium
really exists
Ills own Idea Is that
thers I* no such m»tal. and that tha
phen-rrirna from which Its cilt'.n «*
haa been Inferred ar* due to unknown
combinations analogous to those which
Impart lhe property of phosphorrarm e
to certain sulphide*.
He calls atten
tion io lbs fact that what *• usually
call radium is simply the chloride ot
bromtd«- of an unknoan subatan««
A
pure chloride, be says, is never, pho*-
pheresent.
but
become*
so
when
mixed with trace* of certain other sub
stance*
He predicts that the result of
the research that be propose* would b*
to derive from the so called chlor Mt^of
radium nothin* mors than the All
known metal barium, and holds that
ths observed
radio-activity
results
simply from
certain now unknuwn
chemical combinations
"No. Gerald." she said, shaking her
lovely head "I positively will not mar
ry you beforo next June."
"But your father and mother both,"
urged ths young man. "think—"
"Iv>n’l quo!« papa and mamma; they
are thinking only of their plane for the
summer If you change my determina
tion. Gerald, you will have to bring
mnre p.reeaure to bear than that."
Gerald, being a resourceful
your*
man. promptly brought th« pressure to
bear—Chicago Trlhun«
• trtet
Wo«««ea
wn«a
l.ovo.
Ths strictest women are at lime* th*
most loving When this happens their
attachment Ls as strong ax death, their
fidelity as resisting aa th« diamond.
They ar* hungry for devotion and
athirst for sacrllc*. Their love is a
piety, their tenderness a religion. an<|
they triple the energy of love by en
shrining It as a duty.—Henri Frodorle
Amid.
___________________
ny l ea parlaoa.
"I notice some of lbs old newspapo»
Jokes bars got on the stage."
"So?"
"Yes; and they really seem quite
freeh In musical comedy."—Loulxvlll*
Courier Journal
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No other is sc
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price if not as claimed. Pamphlet free.
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MUCH IN IJTTL*.
I-ongevlty Is most fr*qusnt tn coun
tries of low birth rate.
Penny posts*« Is proposed between
Great Britain and Turkey.
A bushel of grain will make tour
and onehalf gallons of spirits or twen-
ty seven gallons of beer,
The worlds soil ma tad steam power
tn use t»day 1* 11,000,000 horse power.
The German Iron and steel Industry
la apparently aa busy and prosperous
as tha Americana
The City Council of Chicago haa
killed ths proposed ordinance prohibit
ing peddlers and newsboys from crying
'heir ware*.
American capitalists ar* trying to
form a merger of every acre of timber
producing land tn Novta Beotia. Invest
ing |6 «00.000.
A tack hammer, tha h«ad of whleh
fold* Into a raceas In tha stick, for
conveniences tn carrying, haa been pat-
**t*d by a Penney I van lan.
Rpyro Matsouk* of Athens, Gr**ce,
poet and lecturer, who haa been tour
ing America for six month*, la serious
ly !U at the Presbyterian Hospital, In
w
Mw Ra w *« VeBfMHl««.
n don't speak to th* somas aero**
W* street aay mor*."
"What’s th* matter n*wF
•She's for Peary." — Birmingham
Age-Herald.