V
Prisoners and Captives
By H. S.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Three years are an Important' period,
but in the middle of existence their weight
la less perceptible. They seemed to have
passed very lightly over the small phase
of existence working itself out unheeded
by the world in the drawing room where
we last sa w Agnes Winter, and where
we now find her again.
The room as unchanged, and the Agnes
Winter dwelling therein was the same
woman. The same strong, finished grace
attended her movements, but her eyes
lacked repose. They were the eyes of
one who has waited and waited in vain.
None need search very far afield to find
such eyes as now looked up nervously to
ward the door at the sound of' the large,
old-fashioned bell pealing in the basement.
"Who is that?" sa id Agnes Winter to
herself. "Who can that be?"- ' V
She rose and set one or, two things in
order about the room, and .after glancing
at the clock, stood' motiqirfess with her
tired eyes fixed on lh door, listening in
tently. While she stood ; tfcerf 'the; dofcr
was opened, and the maid announced V,
"Mr. Easton." -frxi Xir-'
Matthew Mark Easton,. came into the
room immediately afterwtfrd. He 'shook
hands rather awkwardly,; as one sees a
man go through the, ceremony whose fin
gers are injured. - , i . ' ? ' ;
"How do you do, Miss. Winter?" :iie
said, gravely. '" .--
"Well," she said in a sharp, unsteady
voice, ignoring his question, '.'what new
have you?" " ""'
"I have no news of the ship, Miss Win
ter," he replied. 1
'Tell me," she said, "what you have
done." ' V
"I have," he said, "explored every yard
of the coast from the North Cape to the
Yana river." . '..'
"And why did you stop at the Yana
river?" asked the lady, with an air of
knowing her ground. '.
"I will tell you afterward," he said:
"when Miss Grace is with you if if
she does not object to my presence." -
She drew writing materials toward her
and wrote: "Mr. Easton is here: come at
once." She read it aloud, and, ringing
the bell, dispatched the note.
"I presume," said Easton, slowly, "that
the admiral is still with us?"
"Yes ; he is alive and well. Helen is
yVu will find her a little changed."
He raised his eyes to her face. His
glance was as quick as ever, but his eyes
did not twinkle now ; they were grave,
and the rapidity of their movement, be
ing deprived of brightness, was almost
furtive. Then ..they sat waiting, ullril
the silence became oppressive. Suddenly
Easton spoke with a return of the quaint,
narrative manner which she remember
ed as characteristic.
"One evening," he said, "as we were
steaming down the Baltic last week a
dull warm evening, Tuesday, I guess I
was standing at the stern rail with my
arms beneath my chin,,, when something
fell upon my sleeve. I looked at it curi
ously, for I had not seen such a thing for
years. It was a tear most singular ! 1
feel like eryingnow, Miss Winter; I
should like to sit down on that low chair
in the corner there and cry. There are
some disappointments that come like the
disappointments of 'childhood when it
rained on one's birthday and put a stop
to the picnic". ...
Miss Winter said nothing. She merely
at in her gracious, attentive attitude and
looked at him with sympathetic eyes.
"It shows," he continued, presently,
"how entirely one . may be mistaken in
one's own destiny. I never should have
considered myself to be the sort of per
son into whose life a catastrophe was in
tended to break."
She still allowed him to continue, and
after a pause he took advantage of her
silence.
"Some men," he went on, "expect to
have other lives uion their consciences
but their own lives are more or less at
equal stake, and the risk is allowed for
In their salary, or is supposed to be1. I
have thirty lives set down on the debt
side of my account, and some of those
lives are chips off my own."
"Thirty?" questioned Miss Winter.
"There were only eighteen men on board
all told." .
"Yes'; but there were others. I shall
tell you 'when Miss Grace comes. It is
not a story that one "cares to relate more
often than necessary."
In a few moments they heard the sound
of the front door bell. Easton rose from
his seat. He did not go toward the door,
but stood in the middle of the room, look
ing rather breathlessly toward Miss Win
ter. She it was who 'inoved to the door,
going out to the head of the stairs to
meet Helen.
"Dear," he heard her say, and her voice
was smooth and sweet, "Mr. Easton is
here ; he has come back."
There was no answer, and a moment
later Helen Grace stood before him. As
he took the hand she stretched out to
dim with an air almost of bravado, be
saw at once the difference hinted at by
Miss Winter. It lay in the expression
of her face, It hovered In her eyes. It is
to be seen In most ball rooms, and I ho
faces carrying it are usually beautiful.
The striking characteristic of such wom
en is their impregnability.
"I am glad, Miss Grace," Easton said,
"that you have done me the honor of com
ing." And she smiled exactly as he expected
the hard, inscrutable "society" smile,
which never betrays and Is never infec
tious. She did not, however, trust her
self so far as "to speak. There was si
lence for a moment such a silence and
such a moment as leave their mark upon
MERRIMAN
:he entire life. Easton breathed hard.
He had no doubt at that time that he
was bringing to each of these women
news of the man she loved.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
"It Is a long story," he said. "Will
you sit down?"
Both obeyed him so mechanically and
so rapidly that he had no time to prepare
his words, and he hesitated.
"I have fy tell you," he said, "that
there is no news of the ship. Slie sailed
from London three years and seven
months ago. She was sighted by the
whaler Martin on the third of May, three
years ago, in the Greenland Sea, since
when there is no word of her. It is the
opinion of all the experts whom I have
consulted that the vessel was crushed by
ice. Her crew and her officers have per
ished." I A
"You give us," said Miss Winter, "the
opinion of others. What is your own?"
"Mine?" he said, after a pause. "Mine
Is . the same. There is no reason to supposed-there
is no hope whatever."
"But I have something else to tell you
-something which is not 'a . matter of
conjecture. But first I must ask you to
'assure me that it goes no further.' It
must be a secret sacred to ourselves, for
it is the secret of two men who well,
who know more than we do now."
"Of course,'.' said Miss Winter.
"Of course," echoed Helen.
He went on at once, as if anxious to
show his perfect reliance in their discre
tion. "This expedition," he said, "was not
dispatched ts discover the northeast pas
sage. It had quite another" purpose.
There is a political side to the question.
At present the history of this generation
is not yet dry it is like a freshly written
page, and one cannot yet determine what
will stand out upon it when all the writ
ing is equally developed. But there is a
huge blot, which will come out very black
ly in the hereafter. When this century
is history, all the world will wonder why
Europe was so blind to the internal con
dition of its greatest. I mean Russia. I
have given more than half my life to
this question, ( and Tyars he knew a lot
about it. Together we worked out a
scheme for aiding the escape of a num
ber of the most gifted nihilists men and
women who had been exiled to Siberi-i,
who were dragging out a miserable felon's
existence at the mines for no other crime
than the love of their own country. Our
intention was not political; ' it . was' hu
mane. Tyars and I clubbed together and
supplied the funds. I was debarred from
going forbidden by the doctors-please
never forget that. But Tyars was the
best man for the purpose to be found
anywhere, and his subordinate officer; Os"
win Grace, was even better than Tyars 'n
his position. A rendezvous was fixed at
the mouth of the Yana river, and a date
was named. Three Russians were -dispatched
from Ldndon to aid in the es
cape. Uhey did their share. - The party
arrived at the spot fixed, but the ship
the Argo never reached them. I hare
been there. 1 have seen the dead bodies
of nine men one of whom, Sergius Pav-
loski, I knew lying there, . They seemed
to be waiting for the greal Assize when
judgment shall be given."
He stopped somewhat suddenly, with
a jerk, as a man stops in the .narration
of something which has left an inefface
able pain in his life. After a little pause
he returned to the table and slowly folded
the rugged maps. The manner in which
he did so betrayed an intimate knowledge
of each frayed corner ; but the movements
of his fingers were stiff and awkward.
Helen was watching him.
"And yon," she inquired gently; "you
have endured great hardships?"
He folded the maps and placed them
in the breast pocket of his coat.
"Yes," he answered, without meeting
her eyes, "J have. ..bed a bad time of it,"
They waited, but he said nothing more.
That was the' history of the last two
years. Presently Helen Grace rose to go.
She appeared singularly careless of de
tails. Part of the news she had learned
was old, the remainder was too fresh to
comment upon. She kissed Miss Winter,
shook hands with Matthew Mark Easton,
and quickly left the room.
"I always felt," said Miss Winter mus
ingly, "that something was being conceal
ed from us."
"At one time I thought you knew all
about it. You once warned us against
the Russian minister."
She thought for some moments, recall
ing the Incident. '
"Yes," she said at length, "I remember.
It was the merest accident. I suspected
nothing."
"Concealment," pleaded the American,
"was absolutely necessary. It made no
difference to the expedition, neither add
ed to the danger nor detracted from !t.
But I did not want Miss Grace and your
self to think that these two men had
thrown away their lives in attempting
such a futile achievement as the northeast
passage. They were better men than
that." 1
She smiled a little wearily.
"No one will ever suspect," she said ;
"for even now that you have told me the
story I can scarcely realize that It Is
true. It sounds like some tale of by-gone
days ; and yet we have a living proof that
it is all true that it has all happened."
"Helen Grace " he suggested.
"Of course you knew. And did you
know about him?"
He did not reply at once, but glanced
at her keenly.
"I knew that he loved her," was the
answer
"Are you going to atay in England?"
she asked, '
,' "No)" and he offered her his hand,' "I
I'm going back to America for sonutyenrs,
at all events." . " ,
"When you come hack to England," she
said, in rather a faint voice, "will you
come and see me?"
"Do you mean that, Miss Winter?"
"Yes.'? ,
His quick, dancing glance was flitting
over her whole person.
"If I come," he said, with a sudden
relapse into Americanism, "I surmise It
will be to tell you something else some
thing I thought I never should tell you."
She stood quite still, a dignified, self
possessed, woman, but never raised, her
eyes. ,...'.:
"Do you' still mean it?" '
. She gave a little nod. The door handle
rattled in his grasp, as if his hand wero
unsteady, . ,
"I thought," he snld slowly,' "that" It
was Oswin Grace."; . ; r
"No."
"Never?" he inquired, sharply.' 1 :
"Never."
. 'Then I stay." i. ' ' '
And he closed the door again.
(The end.) , . .
TRAVELS 23 YEARS.
Marriage Propoanl In Letter that
Went Astray In 1882.
The rapidity with which mall Is de
livered In the I'nl ted States caused much
comment at the postal conferences held
abroad Inst year, but the record non
delivery of a. letter came to the atten
tion tf the postal officials some weeks
ago when a letter was received In the
dead letter oflice after having traveled
for twenty-three yeitrs.
It was mailed In New Orleans May
11, 1882, and was received ut Vera
Cruz the following day. From then un
til July 10, 15)05, when the letter was
brought to light in the Mexican iost
offlee, nothing was heard from either
the writer or the person to whom the
letter was directed, and, thinking of
nothing better to do, the Mexicans sent
the letter to Washington, where It was
opened.
The 111 fate of the letter must have
been a cause of dlsapiiolntment to the
seuder, for the purport of this missive
was a proposal of marriage, couched in.
the tenderest and most endearing
terms and asking for a speedy re
sponse. It is not unusual for the clerks In
the opening division to come uikmi $50
and $100 bills with no other clew or
their return to the sender than "From
your darling Jack" or perhaps "Your
devoted hubby." In ah Instance like
this an effort Is made to locate the
gender thrqugh the iwstotliee where the
letter was mailed, but If no name can
lie obtained, after exhausting all possi
ble, sources of information, the money
Is' turned , over to Jthe United. States
treasury and a complete history Is kept
of the conditions surrounding the re
ceipt or the letter. ' - V
Last year the total Amount of cash
turned into the treasury from the open
ing.; division 4 was $50,101.10 uud the
amount of chwks, drafts and -money
orders taken In was $1,003,187. TB. The
greater part of this was Returned to
the senders. If this amount should be
Confiscated . by the Postofllce Depart
ment, the dead letter office could be
operated for five yars on one year's
receipts.
) '- '"'''"' '
ChineNe Wax Farms.
White Chinese wax, affords an In
come to hundreds of farmers In the
Chlen Chang valley, where the insects
'flourish which coat their eggs and co
coons with the pure white wax. .
They feed upon the leaves of a plant
which grows only in that valley, but
if left to remain in their birthplace die
before It is time to deposit their eggs.
For that reason a wax farm consists
of plots of ground some distance apart,
the insects being transported from the
valley to the outside farms by porters,
who carry thousands at one time upon
their backs.
The Industry is almost as profitable
as the raising of the silk worm and
requires even more care, but the pains
taking farmer looks as carefully after
his minute charges as the American
farmer does after his cattle.
Button Ilehlnd. f
"Yes," admitted the Human Snake,
as she put on her company gown after
the performance, "I do have some ad
vantages over my nonprofessional sis
ters." Thereupon she bent double, tied her
self Into a knot and buttoned her bod
Ice with easy grace Philadelphia
Ledger.
An Eailer Job.
The chief of police had handed In his
resignation.
"No use," he said to the mayor ; "you
told me to put the lid on the town and
I can't do It. Anyhow, I've an easier
Job in sight."
"What's that?"
"Putting a lid on Vesuvius." Phila
delphia Ledger.
Nut Improbable.
"What do you think of Belmont's pay
ing $125,000 for a horse?"
The one addressed pondered for 'a
moment.
"I think," he replied, "there Is a
strong probability that Belmont wanted
th horse." Philadelphia Ledger.
'improving- I.lve Stock.
The best families of horses, whether
thoroughbred runners or trotters, were
produced from a few' selected ancestors,
Inbreeding being, largely practiced.
Breeding close to the Messenger blood,
through' Hambletonlan, has certainly
Increased the speed of our trotters, and,
admitting that the Instinct of trotting
lias been more firmly Impressed, yet
there Is a much larger proportion of
failures, compared with the success at
tained, If the fact Is considered that
the number of the whole Is many times
greater than that of half a eontuey
ago.: The form of the trotter, as well
as that of the thoroughbred, shows
plainly the work of Inbreeding, for
while the spirit and will force have
been Increased, it has required an oc
casional Infusion of new blood (not,
however, altogether foreign) to retain
the stamina so essential to roadsters.
The thoroughbred runner of to-day Is
largely Indebted to 1 Homed, Sir Archy,
Gleueoe and Lexington for Improve
ment in endurance and sliced,
The mutton breeds of Bheep are now
capable of producing specimens exceed
ing 400 pounds live, weight, with also
an increase fn length of wool and
weight of fleece, while the best meri
nos can shear over thirty pounds.
Every decade has witnessed the
breaking of "records" among all classes
of animals, which is the best evidence
that Improvement is rapid, much of
the success being due to Inbreeding, a
system that Is unsafe unless practiced
by one who fully understands the se
lection of the choicest Individuals, their
adaptation to circumstances ami the ob
jects sought to be accomplished.
Handy Salt Box.
This handy salt box can lie put up
against the shed, and fhthn can get
salt at will. The saltWill be out of
the weather, and there will be no troti
b'.i' of salting the cattle every few days.
The box should lie made 1S Inehss wide,
21 inches long, 12 inches deep In front
and 1(5 inches in the Imck, so that the
lid will have enough fall to shut itself
w hen released. The lid should extend
four Inches over the box for a cow to
get hold on. A notch should be nut
four Inches deep (n f ropt of the box
(a), so that when a cow smells the
box she will smell salt and stick her
tongue in the notch (a) and lick It. By
pushing a little harder the lid will
raise up and she can get enough salt,
and the box will close. Farm Prog
ress. Million of Froeen Carcae. -
According to Sir E. Montague Nelson,
says the Engineer of London, there are
sixty large meat-freezing establish
ments in the colonies and Argentina;
the carrying trade Is represented by
174 refrigerated steamers, with a ca
pacity calculated at no less than 10,
1)00,000 carcasses ; and In England there
are 28 refrigerated stores In London
and 100 In provincial towns for the
storage of meat on arrival. These dis
tribute dally on the average over 20,
000 sheep and lambs and 4,000 quarters
beef. The total Importation of frozen
meats Into Great Britain during 1005
consisted of 8,277,731 carcasses mutton
nnd lamb and 1,271,353 quarters beef.
Brief Farm Topic.
The farmer who broke his hoe han
dle leaning on It was leaning on the
Wrong thing. ,
One way to tell a good cow Is to
watch those that the dairyman does
not want to sell.
A cow which will not make more
than 125 pounds of butter In a year
has no place In a dairy herd kept on
$50 land. She belongs to the range
herd, where it may pay to let her raise
a calf.
Two very good ways to market farm
crops may be found in the pig skin and
In the milk can.
It Is not so much the number of
stalks to the hill as it Is the number
of ears of corn one Is able to gather
in the fall. Two good-sized ears to
each hill means sixty bushels of corn
per acre. Do you expect it?
An authority on such matters (jlaims
that one-fourth of the hay crop comes
from wild grass. It is a notable fact
that of the .wild grasses used for hay
In the United States not one variety
has been brought Into cultivation.
'-" ," HANDY SALT BOX. .
t
F. 0. Hartlett, of Socorro County, N.'
M recently sold 12,000 pounds of
scoured wool, tho last year's clip of
his own flocks. Ho claims to have made
$1,200 off his woo).
To combat the fraud of selling sheep
skin for real kid a demonstration wan
recently made In Wilmington, Del.,
with a view to educating purchasers to
buy nothing but tho real article.
As a rule It requires quite a change
of ,the program to Induce a man to
leavo the cornfield fo engage In other
pursuits when there are so many weeds
that need killing, but It Is all right
to stop to haul off a lot of hogs that
have been finished for the market when
prices are right.
Slacking- A rraiiwemvnti
The two pole stacking arrangement
here shown can be readily constructed.
The poles are leaning against the two
taut1 guy wires so the fork hangs di
rectly over the load. As the horse pulls
on the rope w.lth pulley attached a
short distance from the ground the load
of hay on tho fork Is drawn up to tho
pulley and the pulling draws the poles
, CONVENIENT STACKING DEVICE.
over as shown. In the dotted lines so
the fork hangs over the stack when
the strip Is thrown and the load dis
charged on the stack.
Ineeta on Ora.
Numerous Inquiries have come into
the office of the Hhode Island Experi
ment Station regarding the cause of
the frothy masses on grass and other
herbaceous plants nnd on shrubs and
trees. Popularly this has been ascrib
ed to frogs and snakes and named ei
ther frog or snake spittle, as the case
might be. In fact, It Is due to a small
Insect belonging to the llemlptera or
true bugs, which live Inside the frothy
mass. Commonly these insects are call
ed spittle Insects for obvious reasons,
and also frog hoppers, becaue of their
connection with the frothy muss which
was formerly known as frog spittle, or
because in their broad, squatty ap
pearance when mature, they resemble
frogs to sumo extent. It Is not known
exactly how the frothy mass Is pro
duced,, but It Is supposed tlmt the in
sect pumps the sap out of the plants,
and In passing it through the alimen
tary canal mixes air with it to form
small air bubbles. There are quite a
number of species found at the present
time, some living on grass, others on
shrubs, and also on trees, both ever
green and deciduous. . Most of the spe
cies have their early or nymph stage
entirely within the protection of the
frothy mass. When adult, however,
they are found outside In, the open air.
Feeillntr Gluten Meal.
' Gluten feed Is very valuable In the
dairy ; rich In protein and something of
which the stock ure very fond, It can
be profitably used If handled rightly;
on the other hand there Is opportunity
to feed . Jt extravagantly as well as
to feed so much of it that the cows
will be injured. - It should be invaria
bly fed with some other grain, and if
other concentrated foods are used it
is better not to feed the gluten dally.
If, however, bran is used to a consld-,
erable extent the gluten feed may he
safely made a part of the dally ration.
While gluten meal Is frequently fed
with ground corn and cob meal, and
fed inexpensively in this way, we pre
fer to use it with cornmeal and bran,
about three pounds of gluten meal to
two pounds each of the bran and corn
meal, giving, of course, a liberal quan
tity of roughage. As gluten produces
considerable body heat, and more when
fed In conjunction with corniral, It
is essentially a valuable winter feed,
but is best cut out of the summer ra
tion. Bog-n Clover Seed.
The clover seed business Is being
closely watched by agents of the De
partment of xrlculture. Of 521 sam
ples of red clover obtained In the open
market 116 samples were found to con
tain seed of the dodder, five samples
were adulterated with seed of yellow
trlfoil, a worthless plant, of which the
seed resembles the clover. In fact,
cattle have been made sick by eating
clover mixed with the trlfoil plant,
while the dodder plant Is a still more
serious pest.
Fornne and Soiling Crop.
Of the crops grown during the three
years at the Pennsylvania Station sor
ghum and cowpeas produced the larg
est yield of green substance per acre
and alfalfa the greatest weight of air
dry substance. Both crops are 'consid
ered very satisfactory as green forage.
Com grown as a single erop'ranked
second In the production of air-dry
matter. Field peas and oats are also
considered very satisfactory field crops.
Flat peas and rape are not recommend
ed. Cowpeas are considered preferable
to soy beans.