s
Alabaster
Lamps
8
By
Margaret Turnbull
OuiTrllht, 1131, by Marsaret Turnbull.
WNU Service
STORY FROM THE START
Claud Melnotte Pebba, re
turning from New York to hie
grocery etore In Too Valley,
Pa., brlnsra with him a etranaer, '
Ned Carter, whom ha Introducea
to hla housekeeper, Aunt Lyddy.
as a chance acquaintance. Nod
telle that ha hae broken with hla
folka because of their paclflstlc
leantnse. Visiting In Clover Hol
low, the two men almost run
over a doc belonging to a Ctrl
whom Ned recognizee Later
Ned deliver! a grocery order, and
In hla aheence the girl, Dorothy
Selden. tel'.a Pahbs that Neds
name la Rantteley and that ha
la tha aon of the famoua banker.
Next mornlnr Ned, atartlnK to
work aa a delivery boy, takea
an order marked "Johnston" to
tha "White House," where he
meeta Mary Johnston. She telta
him the aervants have left, leav
Inn her alone with her mothor.
Ned promisee to -et new serv
anta. Meeting Dorothy, who la
hie former fiancee, Ned evadea
explaining: hla presence In Peace
Valley. He arranges with Ettte
Pulalfer to begin work with the
Johnstone, but aha le unable to
start at once. Ned returns to
tell Mary about hiring Ettle, and
In explaining thla matter to the
mother le astonished at her emo
tion when Dabba' name la men
tioned. The cook arrives, and
Mary and Ned atart to town for
groceries. They are seen by Dor
othy Selden. Worried over finan
cial difficulties, Mrs. Johnston la
bothered by Dorothy, who warns
her there le something suspicious
about Ned.
CHAPTER V Continued
Dick Ilanna win still holding forth:
"Teh, but thnt Selden girl ain't In tt
with the new one that hat corn to
the White house. I mean that Mix
Johnston. Toil Mtw her driving with
Ned Carter. Wlsh't I had hla chance.
I'd be driving with one hand all right
And even ahe ain't In It with her
mother. Gollleal I wouldn't believe
It waa her mother."
"Stepma, mebbe, bat they don't art
like It. They're awful cluee and fond
of each other, them two. The moth
er's a thundering fine flgger of wom
an. She's wldder with money, I be
lieve. She kin have me for her sec
ond whenever she names the day!"
Laughter filled the shop. Claude de
cided to go. Dick Hanna always made
him feel around for a handy club.
"An' while you was achlpptng
around moles, Ike, I called to mind
that one of hers," Dick Continued.
"It's right on the tip of her ear, brown
and flat and lays against It like one
of them drop earrings. Say, I'd
like "
The door banged so loudly they all
looked up.
"Ouess Claude's remembered he's
forgot somebody's orders."
Claude Duhhs put the orders Into
the truck mechanically. His mind,
which Ned had catalogued as calm and
philosophical, was In the state which
Claude himself had long ago diag
nosed as "that d d excitable temjer
of mine."
Claude argued with hlmaelf that
there was no earthly reason, after all
these yeurs of nothing happening, to
get heated up because he'd heard of
a red-headed woman with a mole on
her eur. Of course there waa the
name "Johnston," but It was com
mon enough name. Anyway, It would
be her husband's name. There It was;
he must be at that "dungerous age"
everybody was writing about. If he
got so excited about some Johnston's
wllow and daughter.
That was another thing a daugh
ter! If the woman he was thinking
of was at the While house, where
would a daughter come In? It was
not, he assured himself, worth think
ing ubout V
tsetse
To Claude's astonishment and pleas
ure, Ned seamed content and happy In
helping him almut tin- store, or run
ning l he car to and fro between Clov
er Hollow und Peace Valley.
Ned, Claude observed, never spoke
voluntarily of Dorothy Selden and
made no effort to meet her. The
vexed question of his real name
slipped Into the background of
Claude' mind, save for those mo
ments when he looked upon him with
a fatherly eye and wondered what
I.oren llnngelcy was thinking of.
Gradually It ciitne to pass that Ned
delivered all the (.'lover Hollow orders.
Claude never crossed the White house
kitchen steps, nor did he see anything
of the Johnstons, save an occasional
glimpse of Mary going through the
village In the car, with Ned at the
wheel. Mrs. Johnston never came to
peuee Valley. When Claude was hon
est with himself he admitted that this
fact was relief. If by any chance
she was the woman he feared, what
would he say to her when he saw hert
Vntll he was sure of that he would
make no move.
Ned, obeying nothing philosophical
or studied, drifted along, caught, as he
put It to himself, In the maelstrom of
Peace Valley. He was Indifferent to
the danger of discovery which Dorothy
Seldeu represented. He was sure that
IVirothy was "too good a scout" to
give him away, and he was equally
sure that she wanted to forget him as
much as he wanted to forget her,
It never occurred to Ned that Doro
thy was simply biding her own time,
determined that when she struck at
him the lovely Mary Johnston should
feel the blow. As a matter of fact,
Ned was doing very little thinking. He
was creating fool's paradise which
one sentence from Dorothy would de
stroy; dreaming of a place In this
peaceful little world, whose chief In
habitant was Mary. To be received
or rejected on his own merits as
Claude Dnhhs' nephew, and not I.oren
Hungeley's pampered and ellglMo son ;
surely thnt would be a triumph worth
wliile. He sought diligently to make
hlmaelf popular In the store and the
village and Indispensable at the White
house.
Ned had the field practically to him
self. Save for the Saturday to Mon
day week-ends, when men appeared
at the hospitable Mannheim's, there
were no available swains.
It was a time when a cautious or
ambitious mother might well have
taken alarm, for Mary was Indisput
ably Intrigued. She had never before
seen so much of a youth In Ned's posi
tion. This young man had thoughts.
Ideas nnd habits that too closely ap
proached her own to admit of only a
country store as background.
However, being human, Mary did
not tell her mother everything. For
Instnm-e, she simply could not tell her
mother that this grocer's clerk gave
her the feeling that she, Mary, was
utterly rigtit and charming, no matter
what she said or did. It was some
thing to treasure up, and remember
when she was alone.
Mrs. Johnston, like a cornered ani
mal, was wholly taken up with one
great nnd pressing problem how to
get out of her corner. Other and
lesser problems simply did not exist
for her. She disliked Inaction and
hated the policy of "waiting to see how
the cat Jumped," yet there was noth
ing for her to do but wait Always
before this, when things became In
any way Impossible, Mrs. Johnston
bad simply turned her back and run
away from them. Now, without money
to ran with, she must stay here In this
quiet country place which, like a false
prophet 'kept breathing "peace,
peace" when there was no peace for
her.
This morning, In the hope of dis
tracting her mother, Mary was urging
a ride to Hillsborough, not only at a
chance to see the country, but because
Mr. Carter said there was an Inn there
where the food was good.
Mrs. Johnston did not look en
thusiastic, but Intimated to Mary that
she did not mind trying.
While Mrs. Johnston put on her ha.
Mary found Ned In the kitchen, deep
In an argument heated on Mrs. Pul
slfer'a side as to some new potatoes
for the use of ber own family, which
she had expected Ned to bring with
him.
Mary'a entrance hushed the storro,
but unfortunately, owing to the clamor
that had greeted her, she used her
employer's manner. Ned waa annoyed.
He received his Instructions moodily
and went outside to look at hla en
gine. Mary found her mother looking out
of the window at Ned.
"Mary, It might be as well not to
go, becaus "
Mary Indignantly Interrupted. "Why
not?"
I'.elng somewhat of a diplomat In her
relations with her daughter, Mrs.
Johnston wisely contented herself with
saying: "Dorothy Selden seemed con
cerned to see you riding with the
grocer boy."
Then she laughed. Mary's head
went up.
"Maybe It would be diplomatic not
to use this young man so often," Mrs.
Johnston suggested. "Let him go buck
to the shop today. Tomorrow we will
go with one of the other men as
driver."
"And let that Interfering little cat
think we take her seriously?" asked
Mary. "Indeed not I I'm going to
Hillsborough, and with that young
man! If you do not cure to come
why, I'll go alone."
What could her mother do but laugh,
und go along, though she thought to
herself: "I.l'.'.le fox! What la she
up to now."
He fore they reached the car she
paused to any: "He very sure I will
take a good look at this young man!
If I like him, we will continue to chum
plon him nnd his driving. If I do not
he's dropped !"
"We can't drop him far," Mary re
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX4XX'XX
French Rural Life
In the Prance that I know the work-,
nianshlp of handicrafts and gardens
and woodlands und Inn kitchens and
wine cellnrs and vineyards; the fru
galities, the feies, the austerities, the
reluxlngs, all these things overwhelm
ingly continue. -
Mme. Aubuln still sits beside the
white wainscoting, looking through the
windows at the life of the street; Fell
cite Is still at work from the kitchen
to grenler; notalra, small banker;
peasant-proprietor, physicians, shep
herd, housewife, market stall, town
drummer, abbe, hotel keeper, mur
chant! de vln, blacksmith, haute hour
geolse, local movenne and pet lies
bourgeoises, locul watchmaker, chair
cauer, bellows mender, woodcutter, lo
cal barons and marquises, even, are
joined, "lie's got to bring the gro
ceries, you know."
for one appreciable second, Ned
forgot the chauffeur maimer he had
Intended to try out on Mary. U
stared Mrs. Johnston was hla ex
cuse, This was the tlrst day she had
consented to ride with them, Ned
found hlmse'f looking Into two sleepy
brown eyes thnt saw morn than one
guessed, and tit one of the handsomest
women he had seen In many a day.
The color of that hair nloue, he ad
mitted to himself, waa enough to make
anyone look twice. Her "mouth was
oddly disconcerting. It looked capa
ble of sneering. Then, quite suddenly,
she smiled.
"If Mother were my sister," Mary
thought, watching her with that odd
pride In her mother's beauty that
made her depreciate her own, "no one
would ever look at me!"
Mary paused before she followed
her mother Into the car. "Oh, Moth
er, Just a moment. This Is Mr. Carter,
Mr. Dalibs' nephew, who has been ao
kind In driving me about."
Following the Introduction, Ned
helped Mary In very carefully. This
was the moment for which he had
waited, and Mury had stood the test.
She had not "Cartered" him to her
mother.
Neither Mary nor her mother knew
Hillsborough. Nod had visited It sev
eral times with Claude Duhhs, nnd
suggested the Iron Hand Inn as their
destination. The Idea was acceptable
to Mrs. Johnston, who merely stip
ulated, "Anywhere, except Peace Vul-
ley."
Mrs. Johnston was conscious that
she was one person too many. It was
curious. Not a word or a look thnt
she might object to, yet the feeling
was strong. Mrs. Johnston was Ir
ritated. She had much to worry her.
Surely It was Impossible thnt her pre
cious, level headed Mary could be
about to further Involve them. Mrs.
Johnston, who was really tired, tried
an experiment. She closed her eyes.
complaining that the air made her
sleepy. Contrary to her Intention, It
really had that effect. When she
opened them, some fifteen minutes
later, Mury was on the front scut with
Ned.
"Oh, Mother, I didn't want to dis
turb you. Mr. Carter's been telling
me such Interesting things about the
country."
Mury Joined her mother at once, but
Mrs. Johnston was not pleased with
the result of her experiment
When they had crossed the cobble
stone psrklng space to the entrance,
both Mary and Ned waited. Things
were In Mrs. Johnston's hands. She
knew It She could not treat this
young man as a paid driver.
"Mr. Carter," she began little
hesitantly, "since we've so freely ac
cepted your uncle's car and kindness,
won't you accept my Invitation to
luncheon?"
It was very grsclou ily put. but Ned
knew how little Mrs. Johnston want-e-1
him, even If she was thoroughbred
enough to ask him. He thanked her,
vowing that he had an errand to do
for his uncle but would take them In
and Introduce them to The Iron Hand.
He strolled along a quiet residen
tial street which terminated In an old
graveyard. He sat down on a flat
tombstone, and thought about life and
Mary.
"Hey, Ned, for one minute I
thought you were monument !"
Claude Dnhhs was smiling at him
over the fence.
Ned mse snd went to him.
"Thank Heaven I saw you first."
Ned snld. "I told the Johnstons I
had to do an errand for you. Come
back with me."
Claude, however, was too hny to
do more than stop at a lunch counter
near the courthouse, where he had
to look up several property reconis.
As they ate he listened absently, Ned
thought, to l description of the morn
ing's drive. When they had finished,
Claude said he would walk with Ned
to the door of the Inn.
As they reached the Inn, the door
opened to admit large party of
cheerful farmers' wives and children.
Through the door, which the last
lumpy child left wide open, Ned
caught a glimpse of Mrs. Johnston.
Mury and the proprietor. They were
examining a print, hung rather high
above the hall wainscoting. Mrs.
Johnston's glorious hair and strongly
modeled head were thrown Into relief
against the wall,
"Quick, C. M. Look! That'- Mrs,
Johnston."
Just how much does Clauds
Mslnotte Dabba know about Mr.
Johnston? You've big turprlss
coming!
(TO UK CONTINL'KD.)
Sees Little Change
still all In the pluces where they have
been for half a thousand yeurs. From
"A Mirror to France," by Ford Mudox
rord.
Wrap Your Par celt
To "curry your package home" In
Jupun It the matter-of-course thing to
do.
If It la a "lady of high degree" she
will produce from the capacious
depths of her klinona sleeve a lovely
time-softened old silken length that
may have come direct from the Heven
Thousands (iods of Japan or from
Honorable Ancestors. It Is considered
Ill-bred and common to a degree to
carry burs package through tb
streets.
Scraps
of &
a. r
THE TEMPTATION
"Whatever Induced you to marry
mo, anyway, 1' I'm so distasteful to
you?" he asked fie.-vc-ly.
"I think It was the mis," the re
plied. "The what ?"
VThe advertisements. The house
hold bargains, you know, 1 thought
It would be so lovely to go to the
department stores and buy Ice picks
for only 0 cents and 'J.Vcent egg heat
ers marked down to 1.1, and so on. Of
course 1 hud no use for that sort
of stuff us long us I remained
single."
HOPELESSLY LOST
"Wouid you believe III That girl
follows all the beauty hints she
reads."
"Well, she certainly It a long way
behind them."
No Great Chang
The mummy, 'mid adornment treat.
To murmur did contrive:
"I am aa useful In thla stale
As when I waa alive."
Salvage Work
in the middle of the channel wlm
the ftilr contestant suddenly dropped
below the surface. When she finally
reappeared her manager was frantic.
"Great heavens, girl!" he cried, "I
thought you were drowned! Why
did you dive there?"
There't a rock down there I
parked my gum on last year," an
swered the swimmer calmly. Path
finder. Athletic Attainment
"How has your Josh been doing at
school J"
"First rule," answered Farmer
Comtossvl "I kind o' think he'll
make his way In congress. One of
the professors speaks mighty well of
him."
"Which oner
"The professor of boxing." Wash
ington Star.
WOULDN'T J1BL
m n
He Wonder how we'd get along In
double harness? '
Hhe What I A deer and a Jackass?
Help in Need
I have no use for lawyera.
That I have I won't pretend;
I admit, though, one comes handy.
When a felon naeda a friend.
Juit Thrown Away
Discouraged Jim Mother, I will not
try again for the conduct prize. Some
other fellow always gets It
Mother Don't give up; try, try
again.
Jim I'm through, mom; It's a clean
waste of goodness to go on.
That't Something
First Spinner -la It true that you're
going to be married, Miss Antique?
Second Old Maid No, but I'm
thankful for the rumor.
Wor$e Still
He I made so awful mistake Just
now. I told the man I thought the
host must be a stingy old blighter, and
It happened to he the host that I spoke
to.
She Oh, yon mean my husband.
The Pretent Day
Jim Whut did the Jury do to the
thief of the precious Hommerbllt neck
lace? Ned Found him not guilty, but ad
vised him to return the nockluce.
MIL
mm I
IWJSil
i ft&ill I li i"l I l I 16V
it 1
Mt .to sm
A Ctudiout
tTrorsred by ths NntlonRl 0.erftti!e
Muclaty, WBlnaton t I' 1
TO CiKT a menial picture of
Tokyo one must hold clearly In
mind that Japau'l capital Is
not really a city but a collec
tion of towns and villages, grown to
gether. These settlements preserve
their entity In the, 13 "wards" fre
quently mentioned In dUpiitches ro
tating events In the city.
Tokyo has a peculiar sentimental
tie with our own tiullomil cupllal,
cause the Japanese cherry blossom
trees In Potomac park, In Washing
ton, constituted a gift to us, which
was recognised by sending to Tokyo
a consignment of American dogwood
trees. There they fi-rm an annual
magnet for thousands of Japanese res
ident at the time of their blooming.
When one sails up the bay of
Tokyo to Yokohama, and buys a rail
road ticket to Tokyo, he senses the
distinctive group form of Japan's
capital. For the ticket reads "Shlna
guwa or "Shliihiishl," not "Tokyo."
The ImM-rll palace Is In the aristo
cratic ward, or "Ku," known as Ko
Jlmoehl Ku. In this palace, originated
by Ota iKikwnn In 1 l.'A formerly lived
the Tokuguwa Shoguns. This palace
lienrt witness to the frequent casual
ties of Tokyo; It often was burned,
the Inst time In 1N73. It Is not ac
cessible to the public. A Japanese
guide-book naively says, "Ordinary
people are allowed to approach only
as far as tlie end of the first brldgo
outside the outer gate." The palace
grounds are surrounded by two monta ;
the perimeter of the outer one Is
about five miles. In this wsrd alsi It
the central railway station, with
buildings occupying two acres. One of
fir entrances Is reserved for the ue
of the Imperial futility.
The Latin quarter of Tokyo lies In
Hands Ku. Here Is the Tokyo Higher
Commercial School, the first school of
that kind established by the govern
ment when It launched upon a ixHIcy
of adopting western business methods,
t'pon the grounds of this school grow
pine trees which art! survivors of the
grove standing there when the school
tract wns part of the Shogun's pleas
ure park. This ward also Is famous
for a willow-tree thoroughfare, Its
secondhand clothes stores, and a
Shinto shrine which dales to the
Klgbth century.
It Is an "Official" City.
White each ward retains distinctive
characteristics of the time when It
was a separate town, and rm h has It
own business section, Tokyo as a
whole has a distinctive Individuality.
It Is an "ofilclaP city, and frankly so.
Official hours, nflldal guides, ollli'tal
guide books and official seasons for
various sights and scenes oro oinclnlly
proclaimed. You come away with a
sense of having been officially con
ducted through a fairyland of cherry
blossoms, of noisy lotus flower that
bloom wlih a detonation, of doll's
festivals, of (iclsha girl dances.
The old survives nlongsldn the new.
The Celsha girl continues to perform
though the cafeteria hss made Us ad
vent In Tokyo, The fielsha girl la an
Institution hard for the western mind
to comprehend. Her most comparable
functionary In the western world was
the court Jester long slneo passed
away. She Is a modern prototype of
the private entertainers of wealthy
medieval nobles, She Is of a class dif
ferent from the women of Japan who
cling to their semlsecluslon amid the
Inroads of modernism; hut she It not
of the typo which westerner class
us the demimonde.
Itesliiiirant and tea houses In
Tokyo still have their (lelshu girls.
The Japanese business man, student
olllclal, or visiting farmer are the
patrons. More often It Is a party of
men friends whom the Oelsha girl en
tertain with song, dance and mono
logue, and for whom she nets at a
tort of hostess.
Custom docs not fill these restau
rants with husbands and wives, men
and their fiancees, or friends of op
posite sexes, as In America. Hut the
wish to have members of the other
sex present Is Just as strong In Japan
a elsewhere. Hence the (Jelsha girl.
Outside the pervading sense of olfl-
rial regulation there Is Infinite variety
In Tokyo. Exclusive Kiijliuuchl It very
fib
Tokyo Newsboy,
different from boiirKeol-.e Kr,u',:n
Piisy, bustling Mlliomhushl. Willi III
"Itrondway" und "Pilling (gate" Is u
far cry from Slilbu, vlllnge of the
tower gale mid giant hill, mithe rc
tauraiits und til .tliM lhu t!...vi.
Easy To Find Your Viy Arounf. !
For the humlile lmoler by tlm
tram, It Is exceedingly diltkult to t
lost In Tokyo. i:ach car boars tl:
number of Us route and Inside, at tU
place where, In America, one would
see hosiery ami washing powder ad
vertisements, there Is a romprchcii.
site map of the city crlsacrossisl und
circled by lines of tunny colors cof
responding to thn miiiihcrvd mines,
A knowledge of the language Is super
fluous. From the guide lxok map, or
better from the free map furnished by
the Japan Tourist bureau, which
seeks lt make Jupnuese trsvel de
lightful, one lis-ates the platt be seeks
and the place where he stands. Then
It is a mere mutter of matching Hum
ber and colors to any smi within the
circular railway which forms the rim
of the transHirtilon wheel.
This Met of placing a map of the
city In th cars themselves lustesd
of on some sequestered wull around
the atutlon mny rob the traveler of
the cultural advantages of tempting
pictures of butter and motor cars, but
It make It easy to wander from vll
lnge to village within the city limits
with the minimum of delay and algu
Inngnage, I
Nihombashl Is a principal business
qunrter of the city, although each ol
the wartls la more lndeM-nlent, coin
merHnlly, than the various sections n
most cities. The center of Nihom
bashl and of Tokyo, I the bridge
which In olden times wss a measuring
point for distance to place through
out the empire. Formerly It wat
wood; It was rebuilt In 1DII of gran
ite. It Is the thoroughfare from each
end of this bridge which popularly ti
known as "Itroadwny."
In Nihombashl Is the Pank of Japan,
occupying a building especially de
signed to he earthquake proof. One
part of the building hat three stories
underground for strong boxes, and
this pnrt run he flooded as protection
n nil list lire. In this same section of
modern banks and office buildings Is a
Shinto shrine where charms are dis
pensed which are supp-aw-d In he ef
ficacious In such diverse esiertenclet
as shipwreck, child delivery and being
the victim of a llnr. i
"Newspaper How" Is In Kyotuishl
Ku. Here are practically all the prin
cipal Journals. Shlha-Ko contains thn
mortuary templet of the Tokugawa
Shoguns. A concession to foreign vlfr
Itors Is Indicated by the announce
ment, "Iliads need not be taken off, as
covers are provhh d to slip over
them." J
In Ar.ahu-Kil Is a rtuddhlst temple)
memento of the years he fere Shinto
Ism look firm hold. Shlntolsm ha
been kept alive In Japan from thn
dawn of the empire. Tokyo, ts Japan'
capital, became a stronghold of Shln
tolsm because ohVlaldom of Japan'
support It ardently. I
Three Dangers to the City, I
The Introduction of western build
ings greatly enhanced the danger front
earthquakes In Tokyo. The fraglla
house might be burned nnd often
were, but could not malm their occu
pant under pile of mortar nnd
stone. Fireproof warehouses wern
provided for groups of such buildings'
and when the alarm of fire wns sound
ed tho oiviipntits carried off their val
uables to these storage places.
Tokyo hn had three particular
furies of her own to harry her over'
and over again: pestilence, fire and
earthquake. From Hie close of the
Sixteenth century when the old fish
ing village of Yedii blossomed Into a
city at the order of the ruling Hhogun,
these three have from time to time;
taken heavy toll of llfo, and the latter
two, of properly.
Perhaps the most terrible of the
many fires that have destroyed great
block of the Inllummnhlo houses of
Tokyo occurred In 10,17 when 107,000
persona nre snld to have hist their
Uvea In the flames. The number of
palaces destroyed r placed at BOO
and the residences of oilier nobles at
more than 7(H), while between 300 and
400 templet were burned, ,