Sylvia
CHAPTER I
17 did not know whether to be
more amused or Irritated at her te
merity, not to say Impudence, In keep
ing him waiting- He glanced at his
wrist watch. Ten nilnutea past the
time for their rendezvous and he had
been here five minutes ahead of tlmo.
Waiting fifteen minutes for a com
mon Utile Pennsylvania Dutch glrll
Really, she must be taught better, lie
would have to give her a lesson.
Hitherto It had been be who had
kept her waiting here at their tryst
Ing place. Deliberately. To keep her
In her place. Lest she get It Into her
head that he wanted to marry her I
Any girl might expect anything these
days all social barriers falling, no
lines drawn
She was not, as yet spoiled. She
had never presumed to resent his
keeping her waiting. Regarded him
with awe. Demure little thing she
was
He considered how he should Im
press upon her the seriousness of the
fact that she had displeased him. Go
home and not be here when she did
Anally get here after walking three
miles to meet him! No, he couldn't
be quite so ruthless as that. Anyway,
she would Just think he had failed to
keep their rendezvous and would not
know he had been here and had gone
way again.
Leave a note pinned to the tree?
Not safe. Even If he did not sign his
name. Commit yourself to writing
and you're apt to have a lawsuit for
damages or "heart balm" on your
hands. Above all things he must
void scandal Just now especially
on the eve of becoming engaged
Well, one thing was certain, she
must not know he had been to eager
as te have gotten here ages ahead of
her and so forbearing as to have wait
ed all this time. He'd hide and not
ppear until after she arrived.
Ticking his way to avoid mud. he
descended the hill on the slope oppo
site the one she would ascend.
He found himself surprised that he
should be taking all this trouble for a
little country girl. Unprecedented In
hla experience. Never, even for one
of bis own class, had he put himself
out and he was nothing If not a stick
ler for "class" In these days of fall
lng barriers. First time In his life
he had ever been so lured by a girl
of low breeding. A Pennsylvania
Dutch farmer's daughter who talked
the lingo heavens! How on earth
wss It that he, usually too pernickety
Dice, he admitted It. found the vulgar
little thing so Irresistible?
An, but the fact was she wasnt vul
gar, really; only unsophisticated. If
he were Inherently vulgar, the gum
chewing type, he would not be here.
Ko, not for all the seduction of that
white throat so tantallzlngly exposed
when she bent bark her head and
laughed: and that unutterable sweet
Bess of her lips; and the dazzling
whiteness and evenness of her teeth;
and that musical little gurgle when
anything amused her. (And such un
expected things did amuse her. like
hit correcting ber English and ber
manners.)
She puzzled him a little; had from
the first; he did not "get" her exactly;
something there was about her It
could not be subtlety, she was too
simple. Rut he vaguely sensed that
he was not quite so simple at she
eemed; vaguely distrusted her; she
did, sometimes, with an Innocence that
wat almost suspiciously stupid, say
such pointed things; things that did
prick beneath the skin a little.
Youthfully priding himself upon his
extreme modernism, and upon being t
disciple of French decadent critics
of art and life, be believed that be.
In common with all the new genera
tion who did any thinking, had reject
ed all religion. But the truth was that
In the face of the wreckage of faiths
all over the landscape, he did most
tenaciously and devoutly cling to the
faith of his fathers their deeply re
ligious faith In the respectability of
the Crelghton family and Itt divine
right to special prerogatives the pre
rogatives naturally Inherent In own
era of anthracite coal mines.
St. Croix Crelghton was glad that
he looked much more like a man of
letters than a man of business. He
cultivated that "literary" look be
thought he bad; and he did have a
food deal to go nn clear-cut features,
cold, thoughtful eyes, a rather Ryronlc
head.
Had he not been so well placed In
life as always to command considera
tion, he would hardly have "got by"
o smoothly as 'he did with his Utile
assumptions of superiority and his
little affectations. Ilut as no one of
Ms world had ever had the temerity
to consider him ridiculous, he did not
know he was. To he sure, there was
Ms elder brother, Marvin, who some
times waxed sarcastic at hla expense
but Marvin, In the Judgment of his
own class, was not a person to be
fciken seriously, for the obvious rea
son thnf he did not take himself nor
Ms grent position In the world nor yet
the Crelghton family Itself seriously.
All this Is, however, digressing
we have left our young gentleman
standing uncomfortably and perilously
on the muddy slope of a hill, taking In
the view.
Ills gaze sought out In the distance
the red brick farmhouse set dowi In
the midst of Sam Schwonckton't pros
porous acres the home of the girl for
Whom he waited; Its ugliness softened
by distance. Did she, he wondered,
feel Its ugliness? lie had tried once
to rouse her to some enthusiasm over
this wonderful view from the hilltop
of the Minute
By
HELEN R. MARTIN
Copyright br DodA. lletd Ca.
WNU ferric
and all he had been able to elicit
from her had been, "The vee-you?
Ves, It's nice." A "nice" view I So of
course, fur from feeling the ugliness
of her father's farmhouse, she was
probably proud of Its fresh paint and
generally well-to-do aspect..
From where he stood St. Croix
could plainly see, Ave miles to the right
of the Schwencktons' farm, his own
home, rising from a hilltop, overlook
ing a wide area; the Imposing estate,
"Reechlands," that for two generations
had been the home of the powerful
Crelghton family, visible from all
points of the ronipnss for many miles.
And In the valley at the foot of their
hill clustered the monotonous rows ot
ugly little houses In which the men
and children lived who worked In the
Crelghton coal mines, creating the
wealth which maintained the mansion
St Croix CrtlgMon Was Glad That
He Look.d Much More a Man of
Letters Than a Man of Business.
on the hilltop, and at the same time,
under a wise and beneficent Providence.
earning their own subsistence, how
ever bare and Joyless such was Na
ture's divinely ordained plan, the
Crelghtons had alwaya reverently and
devoutly believed, and no religious
believers hsd ever lived up to a creed
more faithfully and consistently.
Our young heir to the great Crelgh
ton estate, as he started on his way
back to the appointed meeting place.
decided that If Steely (that was ber
silly name "Meely") were not there
this time he would certainly go borne.
"And." he told himself as he lit a
cigarette and began hla second ascent
of the hill, "If I do go home without
seeing her, she'll surely pay the piper I
If I don't decide to drop ber alto
gether !"
He had an uneasy suspicion that
this latter course would not hurt her
nearly so much as It would fret him
though It had been she that had made
the first advances In their Intimacy;
at a barn dance In the neighborhood
of his home; outraging the rural con
ventions In her determination to at
tract his attention by boldly execut
ing a dance solo down the length of
the barn, stopping before him with a
deep curtsey and holding out her
lovely arms In Invitation after which
he had danced with no one else during
the remainder of the evening.
She had tried that evening to pin
him down to a date for their next
meeting, but though he bad fully In
tended to meet ber again, he had kept
her In suspense ; not only for that eve
ning, but for two weeks following.
Uncertainty that was the weapon for
winning and holding a girl.
He bad confidently expected her to
try to seek hlu out Ilut when a whole
week had passed without a sign from
her, he had begun to grow restless.
Each succeeding day and night that
he waited grew longer, Intolerably
longer, and he had finally realized,
with an Ironical amusement at his
own expense, that all the "uncer
tainty" he had meant to Indict upon
her, he himself was enduring with a
poignancy that astonished and an
"Star-Spangled Banner"
The last lines ot The Star-Spangled
Runner" were written In row
bout by Francis Scott Key and were
not penned In the bold of a prison
ship as the old school books taught
Legendary history was that Key
was a prisoner of war while watching
the Rrltlsh bombardment of Rultlmore
and Fort McIIenry during the war of
1812. The correct story has been
brought to light by the Woman's
Home Companion, which shows thut
Key was permitted to go to the Brit
ish flugshlp undig a truce signal to
obtain the release of friend who had
been taken prisoner, and arrived Just
at the enemy was ready to oien fire.
The young poet developed his verses
during the anxiety of the night, but
It was while returulng to shore la a
mm
gered Mia. A little hussy like that,
peasant girl, play fust and loos
with hi in, causing him sleepless nights,
hungry yearnings to see her again and
hold her, fresh and fragrant young
beauty that she was, In hla arms
again, as he had ecstatically done at
the barn dunce I
- nut the trouble had been that ha
did not know where she lived nor even
her name. So sure had he been that
he would hear from her In a day or
two that he had not taken the trouble
to ascertain tV.se unimportant facts
about her.
It hud been only when, quite benten
he had been about to give In and trj
to discover her that he had receive
from her a funny, crude little note.
What sport he had at his club show
ing It around for the enjoyment of hie
fellow cluh members!
"Since you are the only (lentleman
Frend 1 got that'a a purfect (lentle
man In whom I feel 1 know well
enought to ask for such a fuvur, dear,
I am asking you, now, to keep com
pany with me and be my Steady Date."
That was a month ago and he had
been seeing her several times a week,
furtively, ever since; his "ridiculous
Infntuntlon." as he scornfully called
It to himself, growing more Irresist
ible with each meeting.
As he reached the top of the hill
he was greatly relieved (and thrilled)
to see ber sitting there under the tree
which wat their appointed meeting
place.
At sight of him she threw away the
apple she had been eating with greedy
abandon, drew the back of her hand
across her mouth and hastily rose.
Ills peculiar sort of egotism derived
an almost sensual pleasure from this
girl's worshipful bearing toward him,
from her timid admiration of every
thing about hlra, which she SO help
lessly betrayed of his modish clothes,
his finely shaped white hands, his cul
tivated speech, even his faintly super
cilious and autocratic attitude toward
herself.
She came toward him. Just now,
shyly, rubbing her soiled right band
on ber blp before offering It to him.
Rut he waved It off, and resisting,
with a strong self restraint the ten
derness it well as the desire to whlrb
she powerfully moved him, be looked
down upon her severely is she stood
before him.
"Go and sit down again."
She obeyed him like a child, her
soft brown eyes fixed upon his face
with a doglike anxious uncertainty
that acted on his passion for domi
nance like a titillating stimulant
She wore a cheap, dressy frock of
blue voile trimmed with tawdry white
lace, a bunch of artificial flower on
one shoulder, streamers of flimsy blue
ribbon at the waist
He frowned at the slovenly way she
sat and ahe quickly straightened up,
pulled her skirt over her kneea and
tried to look prim.
Spreading his handkerchief on a
flat rock a few feet In front of her.
he sat down, clasped his shapely
hands about bis knees and silently,
dlsnpprovlngly. Inspected her. She
became uneasy, making a timid, tenta
tive movement to come closer to him,
evidently as eager as he was (though
lest controlled) to begin their "pet
ting party," at she most vulgarly
raited It Rut again he waved ber on
"Not yet" he said curtly. He al
waya held her off In suspense like
this for a little while, partly to tin
press her with a proper sense of hei
Inferiority, partly to prolong the stim
ulating contemplation of her cdanns
snd of her subservience, so that when
he did presently permit her to come
to him, the nearness of ber beauty
would be all the more thrilling.
She relaxed against the tree, her
pretty head drooping, an adorably
childish pout on her red lips. "I'm
ture I don't know what I done I" the
suld In in Injured tone, on the verge
of tears.
"Lid. Say did."
"What I've did," the meekly re
peated. "Oh!" he sighed, "you hopeless
child I Didn't they teach you any Eng
lish grammar at the district school
down there?" with an Inclination of
his head toward the valley.
"Well, yon see, till I was twelf
years old a'ready, Top he wouldn't do
It to leave me go to school no more.
So I nln't Just to good educated that
way, like you, Mr. Crelghton. You're
got an awful nice education ain't yon
have? And," she added, drawing
deep breath, "yon become your clo'e
sol Achl" 8he was given to lumping
unrelated facts In this way,
(TO 01 CONTINUtD.)
Finished in Rowboat
small boat the following morning that
he wrote exultantly "TIs the Star
Spangled Banner. Oh I long may It
wave o'er the land of the free and the
home of the brave."
Cot Through, All Right
Recently there visited In this clti
a genlune old Georgia "cracker" from
the outlying plney woods lection of
thut Hate. While here he attondud
for the first time In his life an Kphv
copnl church service. Later he re
marked to a friend:
"It was all as Interest In' at "pos
aum hunt I never did know much o'
what all the folks about me witt ado-
In', but I Jest kept my wits altout me
en' full an rlz wltb ein every ttuie,"
Roston Uloba,
Ike KITCHEN
CABINET
& lull, Wasisra Nwti.Dr Union.
Thar rt so many things, best
thinns, lint can only comt whan
youth la past, that It may wall hap
pen lo many of ua to nnd our
aalvaa hannlar snd happier to the
last Elliot
HERI ARE SOME COOKIES
We all like to (III the cooky Jur
Ilere are a few to try :
Sand Cookies. Ileal
two eggs until light
without separating; adc
cupful of .augur inn
continue bent lug. Aihi
four tablespoon fills ot
softened butter, one ano
three-fourths cupfuli ol
(lour sirted with twi
tenspooufuls of hakln
powder. 1 1 n nil le an(
roll with at little floui
Iloll very thin and cut
aa possible.
with a doughnut cutter. Roll In a
little sugar and sprinkle each cook)
with a bit of cinnamon and decorate
with halves of blanched nlmoniU
using three on each cooky points all
to the center, l'.nke In a quick oven
Molasses Cookies. Put two qunru
of flour Into a bowl, rub Into It one
half cupful of butter. Dissolve om
tcaspoonful of soda In two tablespoon
nils of warm water; add this to a
plot of molasses and then add the
mixture gradually to the flour. When
the flour Is moist roll out quickly
cut Into round cakes and bake In s
moderate oven until golden brown.
Coffse Cookies. Rest two eggs with
one cupful of sugar until light. Adil
four tahlespoonfuls of soft butter ano
beut again. Add on cupful of stroni
warm coffee and ttlr In quickly three
cupfuls pf flour with two teaspoonfuls
of baking powder, adding more flour
as needed to roll. Roll quickly, ru'
with a large round cutter and bake In
a quick oven until a golden brown
Roll them not too thin. They thouic
be soft when well made.
Oomlnoss. Heat the yolks of two
eggs, a cupful and a half of tugar
one-fourth pound of soft butter to
gether, until very light Add one cup
ful of tepid water. Sift three cupful
of flour wltb four level teaapoonfuls
of baking powder, add this to the
first mixture, beat thoroughly and
bake In a shallow, greased pan. Thr
batter must not be over a quarter ol
an Inch thick. When done cool. Ice
and dot with melted chocolate, using a
skewer or toothpick.
Loaf and Layer Cakta.
This It the season of the yeur when
dainty cakes aud cookies appeul li
the appetite. It la also
time to make the frul'
cakes and those which
will keep for months
growing better. Here
are some that coim
highly recommended f
Six -Months Cake.
Cream one-half cupful
of butter and lard, ado
one cupful of sugar
two well beaten egg
and one-half cupful of molasses. Ml
and lift two and one-half cupfuli ol
flour, one teaspoonful of c renin ol
tartar, one-half teaspoonful of soda
one teasiioonful of cinnamon, one
fourth teaspoonful of cloves snd one
fourth tensHsmful of mace. Add at
temately wltb one-half cupful of milk
to the first mixture and beat well ;
then add one cupful of ratslna cut Inti
small pieces and dredge wltb flour
using two tutilespoonfuls. Turn lulu
bread psns snd bake minutes.
Fruit Sponao Drops. Rest Hire
eggs and one cupful of sugar thorough
ly, add one-third of cupful of water
one cupful of flour, two (enspoonfuU
of baking powder, one teaspoonful ol
vanilla and nine- of aalt Rake In
patty tins. Scoop out the centers
nd Oil with iweetened whipped
cream, or pearhet or peurt cut fine
and rover with whipped cream when
serving. If one I Ikes, Instead of the
cream, roll the cuket In frosting and
then In coconut
Ginger Snaps. Itub half a cupful oi
butter Into two quarts of flour. Adc
two teaspoonful! of ground ginger, s
dash of red pepper snd sufficient New
Orleani molnsset to make hard
dough. Knead the dough, roll at thin
aa a wafer, cut Into smull cakei and
hake until crisp. These cookies will
keep for several months If kept In
tin, tightly covered.
Chocolate Lsyer Cake. Take on
cupful of brown sugar, one-fourth cup
ful of butter, one-fourth cupful ot
sour milk, one half teaspoonful ol
odd, one (easpoonful of vanilla, one
egg, one and one-fourth cupfuli ol
flour, two, square of chocolate dls
solved In one-half cupful of hot witei
added at the Inst, Mix at usual anil
bake In twn layers.
Do not serve heavy hearty des
sert nfter a hearty dinner; follow such
meal with a light dessert of fruit
or some such dish as tapioca pudding
The water In which most vegetables
are cooked should be laved nnd used
In gravies or tome tort of sauce to
aerve with the dinner. Valuable nil n
erul salts and vltamlnes. which should
be used to build tip and fortify the
body are dully poured down the
kitchen sink.
Shredded cablings dressed with
Iff
sweet cream, suit nnd sugar to taste
then add a little cider vlncgiir, Is an
other well-liked salad.
1ujjU TvWvvticl
i AV; vl- :" I
A Patriarch of
l'i.lr..l h, Ida National Uaoirauhls
SiH-lely. Waahlnaloa. U t'.l
FIIANCK and Great Rrltnln have a
strange partnership In the admin
1st rat Ion of the New Hebrides
Islands, which He In the Paclilc
wen II about a thoiisaud miles rust of
Australia. For a long time the Islands
were not formally under the control
of any European country. Rut both
Rrltlsh and French commercial activi
ties wore growing, especially the lat
ter, owing to the proximity of
France's territory, New Caledonia.
Neither power could ohtnln the
agreement of Ilia other to the annex
ation of the New Hebrides, so the
problem was solved st least tempo
rarily In 1H78 by the Joint declaration
of France and Great Rrltaln that the
territory should be neutral, This
agreement did nut work very well,
and In ItNiO a protocol was entered Into
stating that the Islands should be
come "a region of Joint Influence" by
Great Rrltaln and France, with sepa
rate administrations for the nationals
of each, and Joint administration
toward the native, people of all oth
er nationalities must choose or "opt"
whether they are to be under Rrltlsh
or French Jurisdiction.
So today the Islands have a queer
"scrambled" government not very sat
isfactory to either the French or Rrlt
Ish trading companies, the plantation
owners, the missionaries, or the na
lives. There Is a Rrltlsh high com
missioner and a French high commis
sioner In the Islands; separate Rrltlsh
and French police forces; nnd a Joint
court presided over by Rrlton, a
Frenchman, and I third Judge select
ed by the king of Spain.
Roth languages are oRlclul, but
neither Is very useful In dealing with
the natives. For Hie New Hebrides
natives are still savages. They believe
In witchcraft and all sorts of signs
and omens, particularly In the spirits
of their departed ancestors snd In
gods which are thought to lie Incorpo
rated In certain stones or animals.
Every village has Its dancing ground
Ilere the natives meet on moonlight
nights and perforrq wild and fantastic
antlci to the booming of their deep
drums, some of which, six feet or more
In height and carved from the trunks
of trees, are capable of making ter
rible noises.
What the Nstlss Are Like.
For yetrt the nntlves of the Islands
were the prey of the "Rlscktilrders,"
or labor pirates, because they are gen
eratly considered more Industrious
snd sturdier of build than the average
Kanaka. They ara reputed to have
cannibalistic tendencies, to be tresrh
erous and of uncertain temper, facta
probably due In some measure to the
treatment to which they were sub
jected by these traders. They are
ateluneslun stock, below the medium
In stature, and accentuate the ugli
ness In their broad, black faces snd
receding foreheads by sticking coco
nut fiber In their hair ard adorning
their ears and flat noses with rings.
They pride themselves upon their
weapons siiears, clubs, hows, snd
poisoned arrows some of which are
beautiful In design and elaborate pat
tern. The women In general hold a de
graded position. The wives of the
more Import snt men Increase the
number of (he skirts which they wear
at one time ai an Indication of their
rank. The "poohbah's" wife wears
at many as 40. The "better hair of
a man la sometimes hurled stive wltb
her husband upon his daath.
Qulros, the Portuguese navigator
In 100(1, was the first while man to
see the rugged outline of the coast of
the Islands, which rise abruptly out
of the deep set In the hurricane tone
of the tropica. Relieving he had dis
covered the great southern continent
which wal at thai time the dream of
navigators, Qulroa mny ha compared
to Columbus, who thonght he had
found route to India when he sight
ed the palm-fringed shores of the
West Indies.
lie called his discovery Australia
del fOsplrltn Santo, which has been
shortened by traders to Santo and Is
applied to the largest Island of the
group. Some of the nther large
mountains and partly volcanic Islands
are Ambrym, Annatnm, Aurora, A pi,
New Habrldaa.
Pentecost, Erotnatign, Malllcollo nn(
Taniia, the borne of the "greet light
bouse of the southern llos," Tuniia
volcano, which bursts forth brilliantly
every three or four minutes.
Santo a Fertile Itlsnd.
Countless streams cut Simlu. which
Is 0-1 inllca long and 8'.' miles wide.
Into broad, fertile valleys. from Its
shores and thi.se of the neighboring
Islands tons of copra are sent In Syd
ney, Australia, and to New Caledonia
and shipped from there to soap
makers the world over. Coffee, cocoi
and vanilla, is well as tropical fruits,
grow In abundance. Omngcs are said
lo grow so large that both a man's
hands ran scarcely span one of Ibrin,
and the pineapples of the Islands
sometimes weigh SO pounds. Ho rich
Is the soil and luxuriant the vegeta
tion that In many places f.lS sheep
can be kept ou I.orn) acres of land.
Vila harbor or Vila, which Is art
between mountain peaks and gemmed
wltb Islands. Is the most Important
commercially among the many com
modious and strategic harbor which
the lalnnds afford. The scattered lit
tle village which dose under the
shelter of Its palm tree has hulll no
pier to encourage Its shipping. The
cargoes must be loaded by' the na
thes In small boats. Though the prog
ress of conquering nations has left Its
mark In the Catholic and Presbyterian
churches, (he large wireless stalloa
and certain administrative buildings,
the town Is essentially native In char
acter with Its thatch-roofed house
set amid th colorful hibiscus blos
soms, and sometimes fortified with
stone wall.
One of the oddest custom among
the New llebrldenns Is the molding of
their heads Into a pointed, sugsr loaf.
Ilk sbii. The process must begin
In Infancy, and not all heads are so
treated. Rut the possession of
pointed head I looked upon as a great
asset among the native. A woman
with such a nilsshnied bead ran
marry a chief, where her rm r oat
orally shaped alster must be content
with commoner for husband.
The pointed shape Is brought about
by winding strong fiber cord about
the bends of bable. From time to
time these cords sre drawn lighter.
The bahle so I omul seem continually
restless and In pain.
What the future of the Islands Is t
be Is a problem. Rrltlsh residents In
the South seas. Including the Australi
ans and New Zcalandcra, sre anxious
Lto have France's governmental Inter
est taken over by Great Rrltaln or by
one of (he southern dominions acting
for her, Ml of the Rrltlsh nstlon.
als In the Islands are Australians or
New 7.ealnndera, The Rrltlsh plant
er are not permitted to bring In
coolie labor from India or elsewhere;
hut there It no such restriction on
the French, who have Introduced lev
ernl thousand Tonklnes coolies.
Jspsnsse Crowding In,
Then there ll the problem ot Japa
nese Immigration, They have come
In large numbers, snd the Rrltlsh are
growing up a parallel situation lo dial
In New Caledonia where (here ar
more (ban fl.ono Japanese, and where
(hey have a strong hold on the busi
ness activities of the Islands, Includ
ing Die famous nickel mines there.
The Australians fear that If (he New
Hebrides should pas entirely uudef
French control, they might Inter full
Into Japanese hand.
The French themselves greatly out
number the Rrltlsh, snd there are pen
hnps ten French trading shl busy In
the Islands to one Rrlllsh. In Vila,
the capital, the French population
outnumbers the Rrltlsh eight to one.
There have been a number of con
ference between France and Great
Rrltaln at which an effort hat been
made to place the New Hebrides un
der a single Jurisdiction. Represents,
tlvet of Australia and New Zealand
proposed either that flreat Rrltaln
take a mandate over the Islands, thnt
the French debt lo Rrltnln he can
celled In exchange for France's Inter,
esti, or that Rrltlsh African territory
be traded to France for the New Heb
rides. Rul France nol unnaturally
proposed Hint the Rrltlsh lower their
flag and leave the French In posse
sloo.