Alabaster Lamps
caO
CHAPTER VI Continued
11
"How about me?" the young Claude
hnd asked, and renllr.ed as he said It
thut It was a fool's question.
And the girl hnd laughed.
"Oh, after tonight you won't count."
She had dured to any It, Actually
dared to look hi in In the eye and
any It
"Is that so?" the boy bad snapped,
and he had never boon angrier In his
life. Rebellion seethed within him.
And yet, he remembered, he had not
hated her.
"After tonight, eh? Well, the night'
attll young."
Something In the way he snld that,
truck through her laughing guard.
Her expression changed. She begun
to look ever so little what wa It
frightened? "It't getting late. I think you'd
better go."
"It's my last night," he had an
awered, without moving. "Why cut It
ahortr
Then she had moved to the door,
wlftly, and held It open. lie rose
to Ills feet somehow and moved with
her. He could not hae told exactly
Why, but there was dangerous feel
ing growing up Inside hi in. Tet, now
that he understood his younger aelf,
Caude Dubhs felt If the girl had not
looked so soared, the feeling would
not have grown as fast, nor been ao
dangerous. If she had laughed at
Mm, he would have been ashamed.
If she had trusted him he would have
been compelled to be worthy of her
trust But she saw, and feared, the
flood tide of feelings she had delib
erately evoked and something In her
must have answered his passion. She
was deadly afraid of (hat as well as
of him.
"I want yon to go now," she had
aaM, hard, cold and staring. "If you
duTt I'll call down to the office."
He hrd faced her and shut the door,
and now he was sure he hated her.
"Go on," he had said grimly. "Call
'em np at the office. What ynn going
to tell 'era? That I'm not your hus
band?" She shook her head. He could see
her face, pur.zled, bewildered, fright
ened. That I am your husband, and you
don't care about having me 'round?"
She still stared at him, her mouth
open lb an odd, hnbyish way that
angry as he whs, he remembered he
bad thought pretty.
"It'll make your stay In this house
hort. If" you stnrt a row like that
She sprung to the door, hut Claude
waa there before her. Their hands
met on the handle, and somehow, at
Ms touch, she had given up, and
swayed against lilra. Claude felt a
little shiver run through his strong
body now at the remembrance of how
It had "finished" him, too, but not In
the way either of them dreamed.
He was beyond reasoning or thought
then. He was entirely given up to
feeling. He put bis arm about her
waist and held her closely to him as
be turned the key In the door.
' "Von can have the key," he had
whispered. In a queer, husky voice,
"when you call down to the office and
sny that the man In your room Isn't
your husband, and JC'U want to get rid
of him."
She bad looked at him, given a
queer tittle sound, and hidden her face
gainst his shoulders.
Claude Dahbs stBred before him, his
lips moving. After awhile he lit his
cigar, crossed one leg over the other,
and began to talk. In an even voice,
quite as though he was continuing his
nurrntlve to Ned from the point he
bad left oft.
"Next morning I went out for a
troll before breakfast and to settle
In my mind a plan I meant to carry
through quickly, before I'oliy made up
ber own nnnd. We'd talked lots about
everything, but nothing was settled.
"Nobody'll ever know how wonder
ful It was to me to have I'oliy to talk
to. It changed everything. There
wasn't girl in I'eace Vulley could
talk as she did, none I knew, unyway ;
nd the short while I'd been at Itut
gers I budn't met any girls, except
Holly. She made me realise that we'd
been fond of each other for Jong
time, though It had tuken this to
bring us together."
Claude looked up at Ned, who with
lunguid movement of his hand re
moved tne cigarette from between his
lips. Claude noted Idly thut It was
not lit He glanced at the wall above
)'ed's desk. A small photograph In an
old-fushloned frame bung above It
It was that of lovely young country
girl, with character behind the young
loveliness. She was Claude's mother.
"Yon see, Ned, I'd always been
queer about girls. I liked 'em, hut
expected good deal of "em. Not
very girl pleased me. Rounds con
ceited, but I don't mean It that way.
It wasn't that it was Mom."
Ills eyes turned again to the photo
glyph. "It's one of those things you
can't find words for. It's feeling.
Anyway, Mom gave It to me about
girls, and 1'olly was the first. I
meant she should be the last I felt
that If w were careful enough about
cxplulnlng our marriage to Mom she
. would understand and be pleased. But
he never knew.
"Nobody'll ever know how wonder
ful life was to me thnt morning. I
badn't forgotten I'op, but since I'd
told I'oliy Just how I felt about til in,
and she'd tried to comfort me, I could
bear It easier, becuuse I'oliy under
stood. I forgot ull about her money.
U never entered my bead. I ouly
By
Margaret TurnbuII
Copyrliht, MSI. ty Msrsnrst TurnbuII.
WNU Ssrvtes
thought of Polly. When I waa going
out, she kissed me and said:
" "Claude Melnotte, la your home lit
by aliihuster lamps?
"I thought she was Just fooling about
my silly name. She'd rend the play,
you see. I hadn't, tjien. 1 just told
her they were Rochester lamps. When
1 thought about It as I turned back
toward the hotel, I wondered If there
waa more to her question than Just
lamps something behind It. I
thought she might have been turning
over In her mind whether she'd live
with Mom, or Insist on having a sepa
rate house for Just us two, I didn't
care. She could have her own way
about that and most everything else,
too. Hut I've read the play since, and
I'm pretty sure that there was a cutch
In It Her question, I mean. It's the
part where he's blowing about the
house he's gouna tuke her to. All
Ileal
"She wasn't down In the dining
room when I came back from the
walk, but she'd told me to give ber
He Turned Out the Lamp and Left
the Room.
plenty of time to pack, so I went np
to ber room. She wasn't there, and
her trunks were gone. I went to In
quire at the desk. They said the bill
had been paid and Tolly had gone,
bag and baggage, to the station, balf
an hour after I left"
Claude paused, knocked the ashes
from his cigar, and without looking
up, went ou hurriedly: "I'm not ask
ing for syniputhy. The girl served me
right and I know It as well as you do.
I've told you this, Ned and you're
the only one I have told because I
want you to know the worst of me.
"Polly knew blame well t couldn't
follow her, seeing she had money and
I bad none. Her lawyer, all these
yeurs, has refused to give me any
cttie. But she's never divorced me.
I'nless I'm much mistaken, the Mrs.
Johnston who Is up at the White house
Is I'oliy, and what I want to know Is
who la Miss Johnston?"
A little sound, like a sigh, came
from Ned and be turned gently on his
pillow, and then silence.
Claude Jumped to bis feet nd
went noiselessly over to the bed. Ned
was sleeping quietly as a child.
Claude took the cold, unllghted ciga
rette from between Ned's fingers and
looked at him with affertlon.
"Forty-seven years old, and I don't
have sense enough to know or remem
ber thut other people's love stories
are as big a bore as other people's
dreams!"
He turned out the lamp and left
the room.
In the morning, when he could get
Dubbs alone, Ned's apologies were sin
cere. ISut though Ned Insisted that
he had only dropped oft at the end,
Clnude hod a shrewd Idea from the
lame wny In which Ned fished for In
formation, that slumber bad over
taken lil in In the middle of the tale.
They were In the garage where Ned
had tracked hi in down, and he only
laughed as he put his hand on Ned's
arm.
"My boy, I was an ass to Insist on
telling you my old trouble. Dolled
down, without any of the frill I put
on lo thut you would get my aide of
the case, the fuels are that I slipped
up on my promise, broke my word to
Tolly, and she ran away. And Peace
Valley thinks me an old bachelor."
lie bad made up bli mind that It
XXXX'XXX'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXI-XXX
Gay Colors Put Away
One of the densest Jungles on earth
today lies along the Motago river In
Guatemala. Should nature, by the
process of the coal age, transform thnt
Jungle Into a coal seam, It would be
only a few Inches thick. What a for
est of tree life It must have been to
produce the seams of coal which we
mine today. One of the thickest on
record Is 00 feet. While nature was
storing away the sun heat captured by
the prehistoric Jungles, nature also
put away the color of that tropic
world. Within the last 130 years chem
ists have discovered rata of every
Imuglnnhle color concealed In gummy
black coal tar. Modern styles for wom
en's clothing quickly took possession
wasn't the thing to tell Ned his sus
picions until he hnd corroborated
them, or dropped them. It would be
awkward for the boy, since be wua
seeing the Johnstons dully,
CHAPTER VII
Mrs. Johnston, huvlng something
rather disagreeable to tell Mury, kept
putting off tlio evil day and hour.
Sooner or mter It must be told, but
Tolly Johnston, though by no means
a fool, waa of a singularly sanguine
temperament She still hoped that
kind fortune might Intervene In some
miraculous manner and save her the
trouble and necessity of telling. If
not K would have to be done, but not
this day, If she could help It Having
come to that decision, It behooved ber
to keep away from Mury.
She could refuse to go out, pleading
a headache, thus removing herself
from Mary's presence and scrutiny.
When the girl presented herself,
fresh, smiling, and ready for motor
ing, she found her mother lying down.
She did not see the novel that ber
mother had poked under her pillow
when she heard Mary coming. Ex
planations were made, received, and
then came silence.
Mrs. Johnston wriggled herself Into
a more comfortable position, and the
novel fell on the floor. Mary restored
It to the couch. Mother never read
when she had a rent headache. The
situation became tense. '
"Come, Mother," coaxed Mury,
"what's up? You've been grouching
sweetly for several days, you know.
I've got to know sooner or later, so
let It be now."
Mrs. Johnston sighed, made a swift
mental calculation thnt she had bet
ter tell the most obvious first and be
gun: "I can't keep It from you forever,
but I did want to keep It Just a little
longer. However, here It Is, Mary.
I haven't any money. Not a cent.
And the dividends on the stock, pay
able this month. Just aren't going to
be paid."
Mary gave a little gasp of astonish
ment and sat down on the floor by the
couch. "Do yon mean. Mother, that
we haven't any money at all, or that
we're Just fuced with a period of de
pressed finances and will have to tide
over things until the first of next
month, when you'll get something
from somewhere? Tell me the whole
thing. The very worst."
Mrs. Johnston saw Instantly how
useless H was to keep anything back
from Mary. "It means the very worst
you can think. I drew the Inst money
I had In the bank to come down here.
I expected, of course, to have Colonel
Itlttenhnuser send me enough money
to carry me along for another three
months.
"Well, my dear, he's been speculat
ing with all available money and se
curities. He lost mine along with
those belonging to other people, and
he's in Jail.
"The rest of my money Is tied np
In stock that Isn't paying dividends
that Is, all except money Invested by
my nncde In Itusslun securities,
which are now worth nothing. There's
some land here. In this country, but
I can't raise money on It at a mo
ment's notice."
"Poor old mother! Have you any
cash at alir
Mrs. Johnston Inughert "About
thirty dollars left. I said I'd Kent for
servants, but I hoven't However, 1
have Interviewed Mrs. Pulslfer on the
subject of coming here 'and closing
up this house for me In case I have to
go to New York suddenly, so that's
that, I think I'll have to go there
soon. It'll be a lot harder for you,
Mary, than for me. Just now you
ought to have everything."
"Tooh 1" sold Mary. "Walt till you
see me suffer. Honestly, Mother, I
cant renllxe It We've never bad to
penk of money like this before. Why,
we've always had It."
"You always have," Mrs. Johnston
answered, "but there was a time when
I had none."
Mary was amazed. "Yon never
told me thnt You must, but not now.
We'll Just have to be practical, Moth
er. What can we sell, and how shall
we go about ItT She considered for
long moment while her mother
watched her. "Ilrlng out your Jewel
ry, Mother, and I'll bring out mine.
Kent must be paid, you know. We
can do without servants."
Mrs. Johnston put her hand on her
daughter's arm as Mary rose from
the floor. "Don't dear. I can go to
New York and borrow money on the
lund, I'm sure. I was making up my
mind to that when you came In."
(TO II JC CONTINUED.)
in Nature' Storeroom
of these color "miners," so our are
nues are brtlllnnt with th i,m.
ol
luxuriant herbage which we may Im
aglne beautified our earth, millions
and millions of years go. National
Geographic Society Magnxlne. ;
Early Church Bell,
The Irish name for bell Is "clog
and In the Trench It Is "clocliei"
which some assert Is derived from
the Irish, whose missionaries In the
early centuries carried with them not
alone thtlr books, but their bells also,
to ancient Gaul to be used "more
Hrotorum" (nftur the manner of the
Irish) In the service ot religion.
ANO"
sjsaw i rut hi liaaf
SOUNDING HIM OUT
They were trying thought-reading.
"What did 1 Just think olT" asked
Mux of hi friend Arthur,
"Yov. thought Max, that IT I were to
ask you now for the loan ot IV) till
the first of next month you would say
you couldn't do It Was that right T
"No, that's wrong."
"Really? Then you can let me have
the money."
GREAT DISCOVERY
"I've nude a greut discovery, Mom."
"Well, what Is Itr
"I've found out that the hr-vy and
of a match Is the light end."
UhHuh
Oh, wo Is ma If I annul
The woofus or the s1ckrM;
TIs marvalou. tsdaad, thf erase
Ot him wko always sks pass.
A 11 in One Spot
Friend Well, bow do you like bo
lug married? Yon were always la
menting when you were a bachelor.
Newly Married Friend-Ob, If
much better, thanks, Before I was
miserable at borne and miserable
when I went out and new I am
only miserable at borne. lVr Govts.
Vienna.
TirribU Scandal
Neighbor Don't tell a soul abont It
but did yon know Mr. and Mrs. Smith
parted yesterday t
Village Gossip Do tell No, 1
never dreamed of such a terrible
thing. How did It come about?
Neighbor Why, yon aee she went
to her sewing club and he attended
the stock show. Capper'a Weekly
Power ol the Prtu
"Do you slnnd bark of every state
ment yon mnke In your newspaper?"
asked the timid man.
"Why-er-yea," answered the country
editor.
"Tbvn," snld the Utile man, hold
ing up a notice of his death, "I wish
yon would help me collect my Ufa
Insurance."
SKINNING THE BOOBS
Lynx How cnurb did you lose oa
the llare-Tortolse race?
Kox Not a reed. I had Inside In
formation that the race was fixed ao
I kept off It
Photomania
Ths world la full of picture books,
A dsstltd panll blinks,
Intrnt on how a parson looks
Inataad of what h thinks.
How Stupid Peoph Arc!
Patient Is the doctor In?
Office Boy No, be Just stepped out
for lunch.
P. Will he be In after lunch?
O. B. Why no, that'a what he went
out after. Boston Transcript
Ho It That Way
Betty Tom said he started life
by running away with a cirrus.
Mertle I don't doubt It He'd ran
away with anything that' not nailed
down.
No Etcapo
"I hear that your divorced wife has
made up her mind to marry a strag
gling young lawyer,"
"Well, If Margaret ha made np ber
pdnd he might well cease strug
gling." A Sura Thing
"Why are yon so willing to bet all
you've got that the jury will dis
agree?" "Because," replied Henry Peek,
"Henrietta la on the Jury,"
- - -
lliilt
A Maya of Today Bseld
(Prpar4 a th Nallaaal Qaoaraphl
fc.i.m. sukiunn, u. c i
FEW civilisations of the past In
any part ot the world bave been
so worthy as that disclosed by
the ruined cilice of the Maya In
Central America, I'roin about OK) B.
C until sometime between 471 and
530 A. D. the Mayas lived In the re
gion now Included In the state of
Tabasco and Chlupa In Mexico, th
department ot I'eten In Uuatemula,
and Just along the western frontier of
Honduras.
There a magnificent civilisation bad
been develoied. This region, now
overgrown with a dense tropical for
est, had been cleared and put under
Intensive cultivation. Great citlee
flourished on every side. Lofty pyramid-temples
and splendid palace of
cut stone, spacious plums and courts
filled with elaborately carved monu
ments of strange yet Imposing dlgnlt?,
market places, terraces, causeways,
were to be counted, not by tens and
scores but by hundreds and thousands.
Indeed, It Is not Improbable lluit this
was one of the most densely populat
ed areas of Its site In the world during
the first Ave centuries of the Christian
era, the seat of a mighty American
empire.
Nor did other art and science lag
behind architecture and sculpture In
the Mayan cultural precession. Metal,
It I true, the Maya of th Old Kin
plre did not bave, but the lock of It
did not prevent them from carving
such a hard substance as Jade, which
they made Into beautiful pectoral
plaques sometimes six Inches square,
showing their principal deities and
ruler In act of adoration or sacri
fice. Necklaces, anklets, wristlets,
earrings, nw ornaments, beads, and
pendants were fashioned from the
same refractory material.
Kiqulslle wood carvings, delicate
modeling In stucco ceramics, painting,
weaving and gorgeoua mosaics made
of brilliantly colored feathers were
some of the other art In which, so
fur as th native ran- of the New
World are concerned, the Old Kmplre
Maya acknowledged few equals and,
with the possible exception of the Inra
In the art of weaving, no suerlor.
And when one come to a knowledge
of the abstract sciences, such a arith
metic, chronology and astronomy, they
had few peers among their cotileiupo
rarlea, even In the Old World.
Crest Mayan Esodua.
But the Msyun Iark Ages were ap
proaching. Art architecture and
learning were soon to surfer a tem
porary eclipse one, Indeed, from
which the first never again fully re
covered. The Maya during the Sev
enth century were forced to abandon
the Old Kmplre region, where they
hud wrought ao laboriously and hnd
achieved so splendidly, and to seek
new home elsewhere.
The cause, or perhaps better, cause
of till great Mayan exodus are a yet
obscure. Climatic changes rendering
the region unfit for further hnbllnilon,
Internecine strife, foreign Invasions,
Intellectual and social exhaustion fol
lowing hard uon such rapid esthetic
development, devastating epidemics of
yellow fever, even such a modern mon
I festal Ion as the high cost of living,
have been suggested to account for
this great historic event
Thl last explanation seems a likely
one. The agricultural practlcea In
vogue among the ancient Maya were
uch as gradually to exhaust the pro
ductivity of the land available for cul
tivation. Planting eventually became
Impossible, a the repeated burnings
which alone served to clear the
ground In the absence of tool and
work animals, permitted such a thick
sod to grow that no cereal could force
It way up through It
The people, It aeems, were literally
starved Into searching for new home.
No lesser calamity than this, appar
ently, could have driven a whole na
tion to such a drastic step a the com
plete abandonment of a region where
in they hnd expended such tremen
dous effort
Whatever may have been respon
sible for this migration, the fact Itself
I sufficiently clear that Yucatan was
discovered as early as the latter half
of the Fifth century, by advance par
ties of Old Kmplre Maya pushing
northward along the then, and even
still, unexplored forests of southern
Yucatan, looking for a new and more
promising land In which to live.
.'JtrWWSiMHf' i
mm i
frt-ii t;
a Carving of His Anesstora.
Yucatan must have held not a few
disappointment for these early ad
venturing Americana. It I at best but
a parched and waterless land. There
la no surface water, and there are no
river or streams and only on or two
lake. The country I of limestone
forms i Ion, with only a subterranean
water supply and relatively few place
where thl may be got at naturally.
And these first Mayan explorers bad
neither time nor means fr drilling
wells.
Cities by Water Mole. '
Here and there about the country a
few natural opening or wells have
been formed, great hole In the
ground, sometime several hundred
feet In diameter, place where the
limestone crust has become under
mined and haa fallen through, expos
ing luhlrrranenn water. These the
Maya called ccnotea, and wherever
they etlsted, there, by very force of
clrrumatnnre. Important centers of
population were established and flour
ished. The plure where Chlchcn llxa, the
great city of the New Kmplre. was
later to be founded, was peculiarly fa
vored In this rwx-ct for her the
waterless plain of Yucatan la pierced
by two of these great natural well
within half a aille of each other. Un
der primitive condition, thl fact
alone determined thut an Important
city would one day grow up around
them.
In the late New Kmplre five centu
ries and more after the cities of lb
Old Kmplre bad been abandoned and
lay In desolation, burled beneath a
vast tropical forest, Cblrhen Itza had
grown to lie the largvst city of her
dny Indeed, more the holiest city of
ber times, th Mecca of the Mayan
world.
In 11)01 A. I), the three largest city
states 4'blchen llra, I'xmal and May
apan formed a triple alliance, under
the name of the league of Mayupan,
by which the government of the pen
insula waa divided equally among .
them.
Thl I the period of the true Mayan
Renaissance, t'nder the peaceful con
ditions and general prosMrlty brought
bout by the league, art and architec
ture revived.
But not yet bad Chlchcn' Itsa
reached her greatest development, her
crowning glory a the holy city of the
Mayas. In 1.1)1 A. D. the ruler of
Mayapan made tuccessful war on
Chlchcn llxa, and from thl time until
It final abandonment. In HIS, the
clly wa held In thrall by foreign rul
ers, the Toltec-Axtec allies of Hunnue
Ceel.
This foreign Influence from th dis
tant Vule of Anahuac gave to the cliy
not only new rulers, but also new cus
toms, new esthetic Inspirations, a new
architecture, even a new religion, all
of whlcb reacted powerfully upon the
Its people and raised their capital
to a position of honor and sanctity
neve; enjoyed by It or any other
Mayan clly before or since.
Great Building Boom,
The conqueror brought with them
Iho worship of the fulr gohlen luilred
god, Qiiolxnleoatl. the "Feathered Ber.
pent." Removed to Chlchen Ittn, thl
Toltec Zeu became Kukulcan. a direct
Mayan translation of guetxnlcoatl ; and
presently all over the northern part ot
the city, which dates principally from
this last period, templet and sanctu
aries were rising to the new god, all
adorned with highly realistic repre
sentation of th Feathered Berpent
In column, balustrades, cornices and
bas reliefs until his sinuous troll wa
to be seen on every side.
In two and a half centuries, iLtll-14-18
A. DH more buildings went up
In the city than had been built since
II foundation, close to six centuries
earlier,
A considerable part of Chlchen Itza
has boen brought to light by the exca
vations of the Carnegie Institution of
Washington, begun In 11124. One of
the principal structure found, which
ha been named th Court of the Col
umns, covers Ave acre.
After Chlchen Itxa was abandoned,
In the middle of the Flftuenth century,
and the Itxa hnd withdrawn from Yu
catan back towurd the eouth, whenct
they had originally come, It I highly
probable that a few atraggler lin
gered on In the diverted city and hel
tercd themselves here and there la lit
empty temnlns and pnliices,