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About Lexington wheatfield. (Lexington, Or.) 1905-19?? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1906)
b Between Two fires By ANTHONY HOPE "A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." Francis Bacon. CHAPTER VI. (Continued.) "Hullo, Johnny! Why not at the House?" said 1 to him. "You'll want ev ery vote to-night. Re off and help the ministry, and take Donna Autonia with you. They're eating up the minister of finance." "All right ! I'm going as soon as I've had another muffin," said Johnny. "But what's the row about?" "Well, they want their money," I re plied; "and Don Antonio wou't give it them. Hence bad feeling." "Tell you what it is," said Johnny ; "he hasn't got a " Here Donna Antonia struck in, rather suddenly, I thought, "Do stop the gentlemen talking poli tics, Madame Devarges. They'll spoil our tea party." "Your word is law," I said; "but I should like to know what Don Antonio hasn't got." "Now do be quiet," she rejoined; isn't it quite enough that he has got a charm ing daughter?" "And a moat valuable one," I replied with a bow, for I saw that for some rea son or other Donna Antonia did not mean to let me pump Johnny Carr, and I want ed to pump him. "Don't say another word, Mr. Carr," she said, with a laugh. "You know you don't know anything." Meanwhile Madame Devarges was giv ing me a cup of tea. As she handed it to me, she said in a low voice : "If I were his friend I should take care Johnny didn't know anything, Mr. Martin." "If I were his friend I should take care he told me what he knew, Madame De varges," I replied. "Perhaps that's what the Colonel thinks," she said. "Johnny has just been telling us how very attentive he has be come. And the Signorina, too, I hear." "You don't mean that?" I exclaimed, "But. after all, pure kindness, no doubt !" "Yon have received many attentions from those quarters," she said. "No doubt you are a good judge of the motives." "Don't, now, don't be disagreeable," baid 1. "I came here for peace." 'Poor young man ! Have you lost all your money? Is it possible that you, like Don Antonio, haven't got a ?" "What is going to happen?" I asked, for Madame Devarges often had infor mat ion. "I don't know," she said. "But if I owned national bonds, I should sell." "Pardon me, madame; you would offer to sell." I did not see any need to enlighten her further. So I passed on to Donna An tonia, who had sat somewhat sulkily since her outburst. I sat down by her and said: "Surely I haven't offended you?" "You know you wouldn't care if you had," she said, with a reproachful, but not unkind glance. "You will not let your real friends save you, Mr. Martin You know you want help. Why don't you consider the state of your affairs?" "In that, at least, my friends in Whit- tingham are very ready to help me," answered, with some annoyance. "If you take it in that way," she re plied sadly, "I can do nothing." I was rather touched. Clearly she wished to be of some use to me, and for a moment I thought I might do better to tear myself free from my chains, and turn to the refuge opened to me. But I could not do this; and, thinking it would be rather mean to take advantage of her interest in me only to use it for my own purposes, I yielded to conscience and said "Donna Antonia, I will be stralghtfor ward with you. You can only help me if I accept your guidance? I can't do that, I am too deep in." "Yes, you are deep In, and eager to be deeper," she said. "Well, so be it. If that is so I cannot help you." "Thank you for your kind attempt," said I. "I shall very likely be sorry some day that I repulse It. I shall always be glad to remember that you made it." She looked at me a moment, and said "We have ruined you amongst us." "Mind, body and estate?" She made no reply, and 1 saw my re turn to flippancy wounded her. So I rose and took my leave. Johnny Carr went with me. "Things look queer, eh, old man?" said he. "But the President will pull through In spite of the Colonel and his Signor ina." "Johnny," said I, "you hurt my feel lngs; but still I will give you a piece of advice. Marry Donna Antonia. She a good girl and a clever girl." "That's not a bad idea," said he. "Why don't you do It yourself?" "Because I'm like you, Johnny- Idiot," I replied, and left him wondering whv. If he was an Idiot, and I was an Idiot, one idiot should marry Donna An tonia, and not both or neither. As I went along I bought the Gazette, the government organ, and read therein "At a Cabinet council this afternoon, nreslded over by his excellency, we un derstand that the arrangements connected with the national debt formed the sub teet of discussion. The resolutions arriv ed at are at present strictly confidential, but wo have the best authority for stat Ins that the measures' to be adopted will have the effect of materially alleviating the present tension, and will afford un mixed satisfaction to the immense ma jority of the citizens of Aureataland. The President will once again be hailed as thu savior of his country." "I wonder if the Immense majority will include me?" said I. "I think I will go and see his excellency." CHAPTER VII. The next morning I took my way to the Golden House, where I learned that the President was at the ministry of finance, Arriving there, I sent in my card, writing thereon an humble request for a private interview. I was ushered into Don An tonio's room, where I found the minister himself, the President and Johnny Carr. As I entered and the servant, on a sign from his excellency, placed a chair for me, the latter said rather stiffly: As I presume this' is a business visit, Mr. Martin, it is more regular that I should receive you in the presence of one of my constitutional advisers. Mr. Carr is acting as my secretary, and you can speak freely before him." I was, annoyed at failing in my at tempt to see the President alone, but not wishing to show it, I merely bowed ana said : 'I venture to intrude on your excellen in consequence of a letter from my cy ireetors. They inform me that, to use their words, 'disquieting rumors are float on the exchanges in regard to the Aureataland loan, and they direct me to submit to your excellency he expediency of giving some public notification rela tive to the payment of the interest falling due next month. It appears from their communication that it is' apprehended that some difficulty may occur in the mat ter." Would not this application, if neces sary at all, have been more properly made to the ministry of finance in the first instance?" said the President. "These details hardly fall within my province." "I can only follow ray instructions, your excellency," I replied. "Have you any objection, Mr. Martin, said the President, "to allowing myself and my advisers to see this letter?" "I am empowered to submit it only to your excellency's own eye." 'Oh, only to my eye," said he, with an amused expression. "That was why the interview was to be private? Exactly, sir," I replied. "I intend no disrespect to the minister of finance or to your secretary, sir, but I am bound by my orders." "You are an exemplary servant, Mr. Martin. But I don't think I need trou ble you about it further. Is it a cable?" He smiled so wickedly at this question that I saw he had penetrated my little fiction. However, I only said : "A letter, sir." "Well, gentlemen," said he to the oth ers. "I think we may reassure Mr. Mar tin. Tell your directors this, Mr. Mar tin. The government does not see any need of a public notification, and none will be made. I think we agree, gentle men, that to acknowledge the necessity of any such action would be highly deroga tory. But assure them that the President has stated to you, Mr. Martin, personally, with the concurrence of his advisers, that he anticipates no difficulties in your be ing in a position to remit the full amount of interest to them on the proper day." "I may assure them, sir, that the inter est will be punctually paid?" "Surely I expressed myself in a manner you could understand," said he, with the slightest emphasrfs on the "you. "Au reataland will meet her obligations. You will receive all your due, Mr. Martin. That Is so, gentlemen?" Don Antonio acquiesced at once. John ny Uarr, 1 noticed, said nothing and fidgeted rather uneasily in his chair, knew what the President meant. He meant, "If we don't pay, pay it out of your reserve fund. Alas, the reserve fund was considerably diminished ; I had enough, and just enough left, to pay the next Installment If I paid none of my own debts. I felt very vicious as I saw his excellency taking keen pleasure in the consciousness of my difficulties, but of course I could say nothing. So I rose and bowed myself out, feeling I had gain ed nothing, except a very clear convic tion that I should not see the color of the President's money on the next interest day. True, I could just pay myself. But what would happen next time? And he wouldn't pay, and I couldn't pay, the game would be up. As to the original loan, It is true I had no responsibility but then, if no Interest were paid, the fact that I had applied a second loan, my loan, In a manner different from that which my instructions authorized and my own reports represented, would be Inevit ably discovered. And my acceptance of the bonus, my dealings with the reserve fund, all this would, I knew, look rather queer to people who didn t know the cir cumstances. When I went back to the bank, revolv ing these things in my mind, I found Jones employed In arranging the corre spondence. It was part of his duty to see to the preservation and filing of all letters arriving from Europe, and, strange to say, he delighted In the task. It was part of my duty to see he did this; so I sat down and began to turn over the pile of letters and messages which he had put on my desk ; they dated back two years ; this sur prised me, and I said: "Bather Dehinunnnd, aren t you Jones?" "Yes, sir, rather. Fact Is, I've done 'cm before, but as you've never initiate 'em, I . thought I ought to bring 'em to your notice." "Quite right very neglectful of me. suppose they're all right?" "Yes. sir, all right." "Then I won't trouble to go through them." "They're all there, sir, except, of course, the cable about the second loan, sir." "Except what?" I said. "The cable about the second loan," he repeated. I was glad to be reminded of this, for of course I wished to remove that docu ment before the bundle finally took its place among the archives. Indeed, I thought I had. done so. But why had Jones' removed It? Surely Jones was not as skeptical as that? "Ah, and where have you put that?" "Why, sir, his excellency took that." "What!" I cried. "Yes, sir. Didn't I mention It? Why, the day after you and the President were here tha night, his excellency came down in the afternoon, when you d gone out to the Tiazza, and said he wanted it. He said. sir. that vou'd said it was to co to the ministry of finance. He was very af- fable, sir, and told me that It was neces- sary the original should be submitted to the minister for his inspection; and as he was passing by he'd take it up himself, Hasn't he given it back to you, sir? He said he would." "Slipped his memory, no doubt. All right, Jones." "May I go now, sir?" said Jones. "Mrs. Jones wanted me to go with her." I saw all now stolen the cable. That old villain had words came back to my memory, "I make thfi ttmstt nf mv nrmntt-nnit-ii! " nn i ttwtj vrrt I vii'it iun t nil i The nerr u-n hn. nno for me. I spent it in scraping together every bit of cash I could lay my hands on. If I could get together enough to pay the in terest on the $300,000 supposed to be in vested in approved securities really dis posed of in a manner only known to his excellency I should have six months to look about ine. Now remaining out of my "bonus" was nil, out of my "reserve fund" $10,000. This was enough. But, alas, how happened it that this sum was in my hands? Because I had borrowed $5,000 from the bank ! If they wouldn't let their own manager overdraw, whom would they? So I overdrew. But if this money wasn't back before the monthly balancing, Jones would know! And I dared not rely on being able to stop his mouth again. When I said Johnny Carr was the only honest man in Aureataland forgot Jones. Jones also was honest, nd Jones would consider it his duty to let the directors know of my overdraft. If once they knew, I was lost, for an over raft effected privately from the safe by the manager is, I do not deny it, decidedly irregular. Unless I could add $."),000 to my $10,000 before the end of the month should have to default ! This melancholy conclusion was re-en forced and rendered demonstrable by a letter which arrived, to crown my woes, from my respected father, informing me that he had unhappily become indebted to our chairman in the sum of $10,000, the result of a tdeal between them, that he had seen the chairman, that the chairman was urgent for payment, that he used most violent language against our family in general, ending by declaring his in tention of stopping my salary to pay the parental debt. "If he doesn't like it he may go, and small loss." This was a most unjustifiable proceeding, but I was hardly In a position to take up a high moral attitude toward the chairman, and in the result I saw myself confronted with the certainty of beggary and the probability of jail. But for this unto ward reverse of fortune I might have tak en courage and made a clean breast of my misdoings, relying on the chairman's ob ligations to my father to pull me through, But now, where was I? I was, as Donna Antonia put it, very deep in indeed. So overwhelmed was I by my position, and so occupied by my frantic efforts to im prove it, that I did not even find time to go and see the Signorina, much as I need ed comfort; and, as the dys went on, I fell into such despair that I went no where, but sat dismally in my own rooms, looking at my portmanteau, and wonder ing how soon I must pack and fiy, if not for life, at least for liberty, At last the crash came.' I was sitting in my office one morning, engaged ln the difficult task of. trying to make ten into imeen, wiiea l near uuie ciaiter oi nouis. A moment later the door was opened, and Jones ushered in Colonel McGregor. I nodded to the Colonel, who came in with his usual leisurely step, sat himself down, and took off his gloves. I roused myself to say : "What can I do for you, Colonel?" He waited till the door closed behind Jones, and then said : "I've got to the bottom of It at last, Martin. That old scamp's villainy," said he, jerking his thumb toward the Piazaa and the statue of the Liberator. "He's very cute, but he's made a mistake at last." "Do come to the point, Colonel. What's it all about?" "Would vou be surprised to hear," said the Colonel, adopting a famous mode of speech, "that the interest on the debt would not be paid on the 31st? No, I shouldn t, said I, resignedly. "Would you be surprised to hear that no more Interest would ever be paid? "What do you mean, man?" I cried, leaping up. "The President," said he, calmly, "will, ! on the 31st instant, repudiate the national debt !" (To be continued.) She Knew Her Daainesa. He had been sweet on her for some time mid one evening he dropped In on his way home from the ofllce. "I hope you will excuse me for call ing In my business suit," he said, "but " "Oh, that's all right," Interrupted the fair maid, "that Is, If you mean busi ness." And the next day a downtown Jew eler separated him from a month's sal ary In exchange for the ring. I.lver n lid llucon I'le. Take mi equal, number of pieces of liver ami of fat bacon, free the latter from rlinl, etc., and place the bacon lu a clean nan. Fry till cooked. men' dlsh ou a ll()t ,,lte ,, reMrve. AflJ , u f t mimlnln! ; , , , , ln tllL '" 1111 woU'a 1,11,1 of "Ice golden-brown hue. Take out and add to the bacon. Tliieuen ine rat wmi n .Httle Hour and water and a tiny bit 0( butter mixed together, mid stir till n..U(. mniliv nll.i of ,, .w. brown color. Place the liver and bacon !n a deep pie dish In layers. Add salt and pepper, if thought necessary. Fill up the chinks with forcemeat balls, pour the gravy over the whole. Cover with n plain crust. Brush the top with beaten egg, (Uui Dnke ; moderately hot oven until nit'Illlll 11 Hi i iiiui uiL' tuu ivru uu mi: iuw .in... , , , ,. , j- i i .. . ii. . pepper IUHI llllir 11 leaspomil ill oi mill. , place In a steamer In a kettle that will keep It as near the water as possible, cover and steam an hour ajid a half; when done, keep hot while dressing a prepared; then cut up, arrange on the platter and serve with the dressing over them. The dressing Is made as follows: Boll one pint of gravy from the kettle without the fat, add cayenne pepper and half a teuspoonfnl of salt; stlr a tablespoonful of flour Into quarter of a pint of cream until smooth, and add to the gravy. Corn starch may be used Instead of the (lour, and some cooks add nutmeg or celery salt. The Art of DuUlnvt The housekeeper who knows how to regulate the heat of her oven and also its peculiarities will save much dls comfort to her family. If when baking a cake It browns too quickly on the top, wr n ip,.e f strong brown paper with t , , lt om. tlie c.llUe. quick oven will burn a gingerbread In a very short time and Is sometimes the cause of heavy pastry, and will often cause a hollow In a very light cake. When baking any kind of food the best attention should be given to looking nft(?r tie nl.e ul)tn tiiP wort s done. It does not pay to be careless lu this mat ter. nice I'uiiiiinyr. Wash a tcacupful of rice and boll it In two teacupfuls of water; then add, while the rice is hot, three tablespoon fuls of butter, five tablespoonfuls sugar, 5 well-beaten eggs, one tablespoon of powdered nutmeg, a little salt, one fourth pound of raisins (stoned and cut In halves), one-fourth pound of Zante currants, one-fourth pound of citron, cut in slips, and one quart of cream; mix well, pour Into a buttered dish and bake au hour lu a moderate oven. Cnstard. Steamed custards are delicious, but must be steamed slowly and carefully, Adding cold water will undoubtedly cause a steamed pudding to fall. A very hot oven will scorce any pudding In which whipped white of egg Is spread on the top, while the Inner part will be quite uncooked. When boiling a pudding such as rolypoly, or a suet dumpling, lt often sticks at the bottom nf the saucenan when dropped in. A iate u tiie ,mn will prevent this, Mince Toaxt Mince any cold meat at hand (If there is a variety so much the better) season highly with pepper, salt and chutney or herbs, and moisten the meat with gravy or cream. Make all thor oughly hot In a stewpan, but do not let It reach boiling point. Have ready some squares of buttered toast, place the mince on these, and garnish with parsley. Serve very hot Apple Crenra, Boll twelve apples In water till soft, take off the peel nud press the pulp through a hair sieve upon one-halt pound sugar; whip the whites of two eggs, add them to the apples, and heat nn together lt becomes very stiff and nnlt .vl,ttp. Serve it heaped upon a glass dish. Wnnhlng'ton rutltlliiK. Beat one-third cup of butter and one cup of sugar together until light, and one and a half cups of flour, sifted with two and a half teaspoons of bak Ing powder. Bake ln two large layer tins and spread while warm with jelly or jam and serve with a hot liquid pudding sauce. Makes lce Dessert. A very nice dessert for this time of year Is to scoop out cantaloupes, fill with ice cream, and over the top place slices of peaches. Or the melons may be tilled with whipped cream In which pieces of peaches have been stirred, the cream flavored with bitter almond. 1 T7 oes lour Heart Beat Yes. 100,000 times each day. Does it send out good blood or bad blood? You know, for good blood is good health; bad blood, bad health. And you know precisely what to take for bad blood Ayer's Sarsaparilla. Doctors have endorsed it for 60 years. One frequent fmh of bud blood ll a lnrRlah llvur. Thin prolines! colimlpiitlon. I'ouonou! Buli-ttalico urn tlifli llbnorhud into tho 1)1 1, limtuail of boli'K ri'inovml from the body uulljr an nutiim IntiMiilrd. Knun the boweln npeu with Ayer'i Villi, liver pills. All vegetable. Uide by J. O. Ayor Co., Lowell, auo xueuuiitoiurore oi HAIR VIOCR. CUKR. CI1ERRY PECTORAL. Doubled the Number. In criticizing some proposed chances ln a bill before the Seuate, changes which seemed to him to be alterations in phrasing rather than ln meaning, Senator Tillman told a story which the Milwaukee Sentinel reports, of a lady who was looking at a house for rent. "The lionise units 1110 very well," she said to the landlord, "but there Is one thing I object to." "Well, madam, any reasonable altera tion,", the landlord murmured, suavely, "would, provided you took a three years' lease " "I'd take a three years' lease," she said. "If the house had more closets." "The number of closets shall be dou bled." said the landlord. "Very well," said tho woman, and she signed the lease. After she had gone the landlord said to his clerk, "John, take a carpenter over to number thirty-seven and have him divide each of the closets In two." A random Sentinel. It was the small brother of pretty Margaret who opened the front door In response to Mr. Ooodyear's ring, and his face took on a singularly alert ex pression as he surveyed the caller. "No, she isn't in," said Margaret's brother. "Are are you Mr. Hamlin?" No," said the young man, "I am Mr. Goodyear. Does that make any differ ence about her being at home?" and he looked searchlngly at the boy. Course not !" said Bobby, indignant "I don I tell stories, nor Margaret doesn't. But if you'd been Mr. Ilamllu, was to tell something about her coni ng home, and get ten cents If I did it ight and didn't tell the wrong one. I need that money, and so, you see, I didn't want to make any mistake. Good by !" A Late Edition. Julius Kahn, representative from San Francisco, was In Washington when the earthquake came and was nearly fran tic, because his wife and children, in cluding a baby a few days old, were di rectly ln the path of the Are. Kahn spent two days trying to tele graph and then took a trnln and went out, and finding his family safe, stayed a week or so In the ruined city. On his return he found a letter from a constituent, written eight days after the shock, which began : "Dear Julius; "No doubt you will be surprised to learn from me that we have had a terrible earthquake out here." Saturday Evening Tost Justified. First Ranchman Whnt'd they do t' Broncho Bill f'r shootiu' up thet ther tenderfoot? Second Ranchman The Jedge let him go. First Ranchman How's that? 'Second Ranchman Ut seems th' ten derfoot says: 'Bill, what's th differ ence between a cowpuncher an' a sail or' an' Bill &ez: 'I d'no,' an' th' tender foot sez: One ships th' steers an' th' other steers th' ships.' Jedge sez ut ua justyflble, er sunipin' like that." To ledo Blade. Jast What He Wanted. "These eggs aren't fresh, are they?" queried the stranger. "Well," replied the grocer, cautiously, "these eggs will make a ham " "Oh, I don't want 'em for ham omelet or any kind of eating. I've been In at that show at the opera house, and what I want" "As I was saying, sir, these eggs will make a ham actor feel like' a last year'i bird's nest." Philadelphia Press. Nature's Endowment. Caller Miss Millicent plays wonder fully on the piano. Grandfather Greevius Yes; it sort o' runs in the fam'ly. By jucks, you'd ort to 'ave heerd me play "Ole Dan Tucker" an' "Ole Bob Ridley" on a jewsharp when I was a boy! Giving- It Away. The Young Man Dicky, you think a good deal of your sister, don't you? Dicky (entertaining him) You bet I So does ma and pa. She's been ln tht fam'ly mighty near forty years. D A A