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About Lexington wheatfield. (Lexington, Or.) 1905-19?? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1906)
i: 1 4 I r r r r H W KM' 'I' r CHAPTER XXIV. It was Sir Geoffrey's first dinner par ty, and Ethel felt just a little nervous as she received the guests. Captaiu I'elling was watching her in the pauses of his chat with Bertha Collins. He caught her eye presently and smiled at her reassuringly, for she had confided to him her dread of the awful occasion. "You are an old friend of theirs, are you not?" Bertha was saying to the captain. "We all think Miss Mailing quite charming. I took to her from the first; but, do you know, she is not easy to get on with. Of course she is all one could wish as a hostess; but it is impos sible to gush with her. She has a way of sifting all one says and showing up anything that Is absurd without certainly In the least intending to give offense. You would hardly believe it, I dare say, but I have adopted the habit of trying to talk seriously when she is listening." "I think that is the greatest compli ment you could pay her. Will you adopt the same practice with me?" "I should not dare," she replied, with mock gravity. "If I were to get a repu tation for seriousness I should probably die an old maid. Men always prefer frivolous talkers fur their wives. There is the dinner bell. Are you to take me down?" Later in the evening Miss Collins drop ped into a quiet comer and discussed the things with the utmost freedom with an intimate friend whom she had not seen since the end of the season. She was describing the breaking up of the party when Pauline's intended marriage had been discovered. "Now tell me could there be anything more ridiculous than her running away from her own house and marrying, or trying to marry, a man secretly, when there was no one to prevent her doing it openly? My dear, you should have seen our faces when Mrs. Sefton read us the note she had left behind, as we dropped in, one after another, to lunch eon! At first everybody looked very sur prised, and then the absurdity of the whole proceeding struck us. Why could she not have been married properly? No one could have oujected to her marry ing that good-looking artist if she chose to do so." "Was she very much 'gone' on him?" "Awfully! It must have been a terri ble blow to her when her husband turn ed up." "Rather! Isn't It odd, his being here?" "I don't think so. He was very good to Sir Geoffrey when he was in less affluent circumstances, I believe." "Things seem a bit mixed. From what I could make out, he had believed him self a widower, just as she had thought herself a widow, until they met In the church. Don't you think It probable that, while he was under the Impression that his wife was dead, he may have had a liking for Miss Mailing?" "I believe you are right," Bertha re plied, energetically, "for I saw him look ing at her before dinner with his heart In his eyes." "It Is certainly very strange that he should have fallen in love with the girl who was being kept out of her right position by his own wife! It looks like the finger of Fate, doesn't it thoug which way the finger is pointing I can't ee." As the guests, one after another, took their departure, Ethel felt her burden lightening. Her first party had been an unqualified success, but she was none the less glad to have It over. Lord Sum mers stayed behind, talking earnestly with Sir Geoffrey. "I admit I was disappointed when I heard that she had taken the family Jewels with her," he said, in allusion to Pauline. "I'm afraid she has inher ited some of her father's want of prin ciple. The Luftons were never particu larly distinguished for honesty. What do you mean to do about it, Geoffrey?" , "Nothing openly. I am lu communica tion with her waiting maid, who had promised to let me know If there is any Idea on Pauline's part of selling them, and I shall, unknown to her, become the purchaser." ( "An excellent idea and a very gener ous one. By the bye, as things have turned out, how fortunate it Is that the engagement between our charming Ethel and young Dornton was " He stopped suddeuly as Ethel and Pelling came back from blddimr fr.wll to Miss Collins. They both caught the drift of his words, and Ethel glanoed at Felling's face; but It was calmly un conscious. Thinking this a good opening to talk of Jack, he said: "If you are not too tired, I want to how you a delightful style of title page that I came across this nmmintr r thought you might elaborate the IHph tnr for your 'Central Africa.' It is on this table somewhere. "I am afraid my share of 'Central Africa' will not be anything to be proud or," lie replied with a smile. "That Is nonsense, and von knnv it Captain Pelling! I have made up my mind that your sketches are to ha tha principal attraction of the book. It la realty unsiuo. 01 you 10 make light of your worn a tier au our interest In it!' "That is iust It." he returned, lnmrh Ingly. "I have become so accustomed to working in compuuy mat i una etn't move a steo by myself." "You would not be offended at any thing I should ay lor your good J" The ife's Secret, OR A BITTER RECKONING By CHARLOTTE At. BRAE MB HrHr "Go- on," he said, and waited with knitted brows for what she had to say. Ethel, in her short life, had often had unpleasant tasks to perform, but never one so unpleasant as this. "Out Of your own mouth shall you be judged," she began, smiling at him to hide the trembling of her Hps. "You say you have become so used to working In company that you cannot move a step by yourself; but I say you must take the one needful step by yourself that will se cure you good company to work In for the rest ot your life. Go to Paris at once, seek out your, wife, and give her the protection of your presence. She will yield. You must not judge her by her words when you last met. You had her at a cruel disadvantage. Think what an awful shock your sudden appearance must have been to her! It is very, very hard for me to say this to you, after all your kindness to us in the past; but you will not misjudge my motive. I am speaking for your good. By and by, when you are quite happy with each other, you will be thankful to me for sending you away in this abrupt manner." "You wish me to go at once?" he asked. "That is a very cruel way to put It," she answered, gently. "You know I do not wish you to go at all. True friends are not so plentiful that one can af ford to play battledore and shuttlecock with them for one's own pleasure. For your own good, Captain Pelling, I advise your going 'at once." "You are one of the best women that ever lived," he exclaimed, "and I am proud to have had you for a friend! I ought to have known my presence would give you pain, and refused Sir Geoffrey's invitation. Don't speak until I've fin ished," he. went on, hurriedly, holding up his hand to check any Interrption. "I shall follow your advice to the letter. I will thrust aside my own inclinations, and run over to Paris and see what Mrs. Pelling is doing, spend Christmas among the Frenchmen, and perhaps in the New Year Captain and Mrs. Pelling may have the honor of receiving Sir Geoffrey and Miss Mailing at the Wigwam." For once Ethel looked at him with her eyes brimming with tears; but she did not dare make an attempt to speak. He took her hand in his, and held it close as he finished. "You must make some plausible ex cuse to Sir Geoffrey for my abrupt de parture in the morning; or, better still, I will wire from town. I shall write to you from Paris, if I may. And' now, before I say good-night, I must give you this letter. I received it two days ago from Dornton. I know it will please you. He and I correspond regularly; so I shall keep you posted up in his move ments. Good-by, my true, honest little friend." She sat, as he left her, holding Jack's letter In her hand, hearing his voice very faintly in the distance as he excused himself with the plea of fatigue to her father, and wondering how it had hap pened that this interview, which she had brought about for the sole purpose of hearing news of Jack, had ended in so sudden a determination on the captain's part to seek his wife. She knew his re solve was the result of her advice, and she hoped devoutly that good might come of it. And Pelling mounted the wide stairs very slowly, deep In thought as he went. She Is quite right, as she is always. It is the only thing to do; and I never saw it myself. My place Is undoubtedly by my wife's side." CHAPTER XXV. 'I tell you your presence here is an unwarrantable intrusion! If you do not leave my apartment ofr your own free will, I shall be compelled to have you ejected!" It was the third day since Pelling left Ethel, and this was his wife's greeting! He had had a long battle with himself; but duty had been triumphant, and his mind once made up he was not to be dis couraged by a few bitter words. "That is not necessary. Of course I will leave you; but you will not refuse to answer me one or two questions first?" "Ask your questions then, and, If I choose to answer them, I will. If I don't choose, I will not. But, for heaven's sake, get over them quickly! "Will you tell me something of our child, Pauline?" he asked. She sprung up with a look of desper ate fright on her face. "How dare you come here to brow- beat me like this?" she exclaimed, ve hemently; and then she sank back on the couch again. But, after a pause, she said quietly enough: "You. have touched my one weak point. Of course you have to hear what there Is to tell. My baby was born a weakly little thlifg. I had hard work to keep body and soul together In those first days after my father's death.' I knew from the first she could not live long. She died when she was three months old. "I wish she had lived." "Why do you wish such a mad thing as that?" "Because, if It had not been for see ing her grave, I should have gone ou searching for you until I found you." "Ah! And If you had, found me then, If you had come to Malllugford quietly and said, Pauline, you are my wife come with me;' do you know what I would have done? I would have killed yout I would kill you even now, If your death would undo any of the harm you nave woricea me! But it is all over, and the next thing you will hear Is that I have killed myself!" Why do you hate me so bitterly, Pauline?" he asked: and he studied her attentively while she answered: Because you have been by evil genius ever since I became your wife. U 1 had not murrled vou. my life might have been as happy and pleasant as other women's lives are. No sooner did I know that I was my uucle's heiress than my happiness was destroyed by hearing that I was to inherit only on the condi tion that I did not marry without my guardian's consent. Thanks to you, this condition was already broken; and my six years of possession have bean em bittered by the certainty in my own mind that you were alive somewhere and would surely find me some day, and deprive me of all that I had risked so much to obtain." Pelling sighed heavily and took up his hat. "You will let me come and see you again?" "Why? You do not care for me In the least. Why should you take so much trouble to, be civil to me?" "You are my wife. No amount of dis like or shortcomings on your part alters that fact. We have been very unfortu nate in the past. I can see you are un happy; and, In an Indirect way, I am the cause of your unhapplnesa. I would give a great deal to make things brighter for you, if you would let me." She was touched by the earnestness of his manner and tone. "You are very good," she said; "and I am sorry I behaved so badly to you." She stood silent for a few moments, Pelling watching her quietly; while they so stood the clock on the mantelpiece struck 12. "You must go now," she told him hurriedly. "I have au appointment to ride with some friends. Come again at this time to-morrow." He did not attempt any outward dis play of affection, but passed down the stairs. He met Babette half way down. "With whom does your mistress ride to-day?", he asked. With the Baroness de Belette a woman well known for the pertinacity with which she had clung to the extreme edge of respectable society for the last five years. "They have a wager as to who will ride the greatest distance on a horse belonging to Monsieur Crevln which has always refused to carry a lady." Pelling went on with a little unac knowledged anxiety in his heart. He would go back and try to dissuade Pau line from this mad freak, but that he knew It would be useless; and any show of authority on his part just now might perhaps undo the little good he believed he had accomplished. He drove straight back to the hotel, and sat with- his chin resting on his hands at the little table in the window of his room. He was In a strange state of mingled hope and dread. He did not know what he wished; he only knew that he meant to do what he conceived to be his duty; the rest he must leave in higher hands. ' While thus musing over the past, he was brought back to the present by the sight of his wife cantering by in com pany with several others; and, following them, he noticed a fidgety chestnut horse, with a side-saddle on, which was being led by a groom. Pauline looked up and bowed gravely; he returned the greeting. How handsome she looked! How well she sat her horse! How proud he might have been of her if she had never allow ed the love of riches to crowd the worn anUness out of her heart! He leaned forward and watched her as tar as ne could see from the window. An hour later Telling was stooping over his wife's poor crushed body in one of the little chatlets in the Bois de Bou logne. She had been thrown and tram pled on. and was dying of internal hem orrhage. Her voice was very low, and her words came slowly, with many pauses. :it is heaven's justice! After you had gont this morning I made up my mind to do as you wished. I thought I would try to love you you were so good and we should be happy togeth er. I had no right to be happy after my wickedness, and heaven has settled it!" "My poor mistaken girl!" "Yes, that is true. I've been mis taken all my life. No one ever tried to make me good. I was always left to servants when J was a child. Heaven Is just, and the great Judge win re member my great temptations. Will you kiss me just once, Alec? Say you forgive me it will make my mind easier." In spite of his efforts not to disturb her last moments by any show of feel ing, a large tear dropped upon her face. She looked at him wonderingly, and put up her finger to his cheek. "For me," she said very softly you cry for me. I do not deserve to have one mourner at my death bed. I have done evil to everv one but Jack. Give him ray No I will not leave mes sages; they might bring a curse." Another spasm seized her; and, when It had passed, the hue of death was creeping over her face. It was all fin ished now, and the strong young life that had been so misused had come to an end. Pelling took out a card and left it with the people of the house, and then went straightway to , see that all the necessary arrangements were made for the Interment of her who had once been very dear to him. He wrote a short let ter to Sir Geoffrey that night. It ran: "Dear Sir Geoffrey Your niece, my wife, was killed by a fall from her horse to-day. We were reconciled at the1 last, Tell your daughter I can never express my gratitude to her for sending me here; It will always hfr a source of thankful- uess in my heart The family jewels are Intact, iBabette tell me, and they will be aeut by special courier. When the funeral li ovor, I think I shall join Dornton lu Italy, and toward the spring we may work our way homeward lu company. Ask Miss Ethel to keep ui ever green in her memory. I've set my heart on seeing our young friend Jack a Royal Acadeuilclau before many years. With his talent, he wants only a little judicious pushing, and I mean to devote my time to pushing him. "Always your sincere friend, "ALEXANDER PELLING." Ethel was greutly affected by this let ter, and she went about with a very sober face for some weeks, until the preparations for Christmas absorbed her, and left her no time for thinking of handsome young artists or anything else. But, eveu lu the midst of the excitement of ChrlHtmastlde, there was always a craving lu her heart, a dreary sense of emptiness, which grew and grew until she was compelled, with many blushes, to admit Its preseuee, aud to acknowl edge to herself that only one persou lu all the world could fill the void. t'l'o be continued.) LONELIEST SPOT IN BRITAIN. How Time Is Bpent in the Bkerryvore Lighthouse la Spell ef His Weeks. The Skerryvore lighthouse Is one of the loneliest places in the British Isl ands. It Is the chief rock of a reef which Ilea ten miles southwest of Tlree and tweuty-four miles west of lonu. Previous to 1844 a ship was lost there annually for forty years. The light house was begun lu 1 838 and took six years to complete, the cost being 80,077. It will alwuys be Interesting. If only for the fact that It was erected by Robert Louis Stevenson s uncle, Alan, who followed the method adopt ed by bis father, Robert, lu the Bel) lighthouse. The Skerryvore lighthouse U 138V4 feet high; it is 42 feet In diam eter at the base aud lfJ feet at the top. The light, which Is a revolving one, can be seen at a distance of 18'.j nauti cal miles. The tower is built ou a rock which is about" 15 feet above high-water mark. This is the largest rock above water of the whole chain and is about 00 yards long by 40 yards broad, but Is so intersected by channels cut through it by the action of the sea and Is so uneven that walk ing is difficult. To kill the time on the rock when not officially engaged the keepers try various kinds of handicraft work. "Just now," writes the principal keep er, "I am finishing .in inlaid table that has taken up my spare time these last three winders. It consists of over 8,000 pieces of wood and of fifteen diff erent kinds, and la all band done. I also do a little photography lu the summer time." As It would be almost impossible for human beings to reside continuously on a place like this, the keepers are supposed to be on duty for six weeks, when they get a fortnight ashore. The shore station, where their families re side, Is In Earrald, on the southwest of Mull, twenty-five miles away. Life Is niontonons, even at the shore sta tion, as the lighthouse families are the only Inhabitants. Explains Confusion at Babel. "Among ignorant persons," said Frank E. Wallls, secretary of the Architectural League of New York, "there is a belief that architects are useless that a builder Is enough of an architect for all practical purposes. I attended a session of court not long ago when an architectural caHe was being heard. A young architect was put on the stand, and, after be had given his testimony, the lawyer for the opposition began to cross-examine him. The questions ran like this: " 'You are a builder, I believe?' " 'No, an architect' "Builder or architect, architect or builder, it is much the same thing, isn't it?' " 'No, not at all.' "'What is the difference?' "The young map explained what the difference was, and the lawyer, with a sneer, said: '"Oh, very well. That will do. And now, after your very Ingenious dis tinction without a difference, perhaps you can inform the court who was the architect of the Tower of Babel? " 'There was none,' he answered, 'and hence the confusion.' " Proverb Cornea Out. Miles You remember Saplelgh, who went west a couple of years ago and married an heiress, don t you 7 Giles Yes. What of him? Miles I understand his wife got a divorce from him recently. Giles I'm not surprised to hear It. Miles Why? Glle8Because a fool and his money are soon parted, you know. Unlucky Thirteenth. Mrs. Biggs Mrs. Divorcee tells me she lias Just declined an offer of mar riage. Mrs. Dlggs Indeed! She has al ready had twelve husbands. I wonder why she declined another. Mrs. Biggs I think she's supersti tious. Trouble Afoot.. The Two-Step They are all after my scalp. The Waltz Well, you're the fellow who crowded me out Cleveland Plain Dealet FALL8 CLAIMED BY CANADA. Greater Part of IInriiehoo Mnwnra Mar Melon to Dominion. It has always been supposed by the people of the United States that they owned ono-lmlf of the llorsesiioo full of Nlagura, but grave danger menace their claim to such a title. The Inter national dispute, If such It may bo termed, has crept in since the mem bers of the International Waterways Commission were at Niagara. These n studied the conditions as they found them and reviewed maps out lining various features. Shortly after this Prof. Laflanimo, of Quebec, an eminent Canndlan ge ologist, arrived at Niagara to make a survey and Inspection of the falls. Sus picion was aroused that the Canadian, members believed they had discovered something that was overlooked In the ublle mind, aud it was intimated that the Dominion government would ulti mately lay claim to noarly the entire Horseshoe fall. Such claims, if well founded, would leave the Canadian commissioners representing more for the preservation of Niagara than the United States commissioners. The Importance of even a sugges tion that the Canadians own more than half of the greut Horseshoe fall Is of great moment. This can be under stood when the magnitude of ttio power development at Niagara Is con sidered. By far the greater volume of water passes over the Horseshoe fall, and this quantity of water means ad ditional horse power. In fact, It would not be a difficult matter to divert the water of the upper river so that all of it would plunge over the Horseshoe. Nature has several times developed conditions whereby the American fall was nearly dry. With the Domlulon of Canada own ing nearly all of the Horseshoe, It Is clear that she would own and control the same percentage of the electric tower that might be developed by a utilization of the full flow of Niagara. To-day over 400,000 electrical horse power Is being developed on the Cana dian side of the falls, while the New York side has only about 150,000 de veloped horse power. Should a great demand for electric power arise through new possibilities of application or permission the United States might be dependent upon Can ada for much of its power supply from the falls of Niagara, and It would be an easy matter for the Canadians to place an export duty on power. "GHOST" IN MANOR HOUSE. Occupier Telia a St ran are Story ot "the Open Door." A curious ghost story Is told by the occupier of the Manor House, Knares- borough, a charming old mansion, parts of which date back to the early days of the thirteenth century. The occupier, A. W. Howes, recently re stored the building, and during the al terations the skeleton of a woman was found under one of the stair cases, and it is this discovery that has led Mr. Howes to tell bis story. He says there is something about the building that cannot be explained. Formerly he and his wife occupied the blue room, in which stands an old oak bedstead, on which Oliver Cromwell once Blept. This room, like the others, Is splendidly paneled and has a cup board, which was formerly a priest's hole, or hiding place, concealed by a spring door. During the night sounds of foot steps are heard on the landing, and Mr. Howes says it is impossible to keep the door of this room closed. "We have locked it and put a chair against It, and in the morning we have found ' it open. There are no draughts to, account for the opening of the door. Since we have moved out of this room footsteps have still been heard, and on one occasion they were accompanied by a loud bump ou the door of our present room." Mr. Howes Is Jocular on the subject of the ghost and says that neither he nor his family are alarmed, or indeed believe In the supernatural, but after fifteen years' experience of the house they are still at a loss to account for the souuds. "We used to say it was Oliver's ghost," he remarks, "but now we say it is the woman whose skele ton we found." Chaucer is supposed to have visited the house, and here learned some of the Yorkshire dialect which appears in his story, "Reeve's Tale." It is be lieved to be the only house in England In which stands an original roof tree. In this, case an old oak of the forest with Its roots still Intact, rises through the kitchen up to a bedroom, where it Is cut short -being no longer necessary for the support of the roof and Is used as a small table for the occu pant's candlestick. London Ohronlcle.- Bird Broka Pan of Glaaa. The momentum of a swiftly-flying -bird is considerable. A partridge flew against a window of the gymnasium at Williams College the other day, crashing through the glass and fall ing to the floor dead. The force the blow may be Judged from the fact that the glass was "triplethlck" and not more than 20x12 In aUtw