TH
CHAPTER I.
The train moved slowly over the sandy
mursh which lies between Calais and Bou
logne. Roderick was asleep, and Mary's
pretty head had fallen against the cushion.
As I reclined at greater length on the
cu.hions of the stuffy compartment, I
thought how strange a company we were
then being carried over the dull, drear
pasture land of France, to the lights, the
music and the life of the great capital.
Roderick and I had been at Calus Col
legt, Cambridge, together, friends drawn
the closer in affection because our condi
tions in kith and kin, in possession and
in purpose, in ambition and in idleness,
were so very like. Roderick was an or
phan 24 years of age, young, rich, desir
ing to know life, caring for no man, not
vital enough to realize danger, a good
fellow, a gentleman. His sister was his
only care. lie gave to her the strength of
an undivided love.
For myself, I was 25 when the strange
things of Which I am about to write hap
pened to me. 5Iy father had left me
50,000, whidh I drew upon when I was
a Li 1. .V,nf T all mi M IVTliftt
01 age; uul, Btuitiuc tufc
it, I had spent more than 40,000 in four
years, and my schooner, the Celsis, with
eome few thousand pounds, alone remain
ed to me. Of what was my future to be,
I knew not. In the senseless purpose of
mv life. I said only, "It will come, the
irl in mv BiTair3 which taken at the
flood should lead on to fortune." And in
this supreme folly I lived the days, now
in the Mediterranean, now cruising round
the coast of England, now flying of a sud
den to Paris. A journey fraught with
folly, th child of folly, to end in folly,
so might it have been said; but who can
foretell the supreme moments of our lives,
wlhen unknowinely we stand on the
. threshold of action? ; And who should ex
pect me to foresee that the man who was
to touch the spring of my life s action sat
before me mocked of me, dubbed the Per
fect Bool over whose dead body I was to
tread Che paths of danger and the intri
cate ways of strange adventure
But I would not weary you with more
of these facts than are absolutely neces
sary for the understanding of this story,
surpassing strange. Mary and Roderick
slept, while the Perfect Fool and I faced
each other, sick to weariness with reflec
tions upon the probability of being late
t arriving before time. At last he spoke,
and, speaking, seemed to be the Perfect
Fool no longer.
"They're .'both asleep, aren't they?" he
asked suddenly. "Would you mind mak
ing sure, for I have a favor to ask.'v
He was looking at me with a fitful
pleading look unlike anything he had
shown previously. I assured him at once
that he might speak his mind ; that, even
if Roderick should overhear us, I would
pledge my word for his good faith.
"I wanted to, speak to you some days
" he said 'earnestly and quickly; as
his hands continued to play with a paper.
"It must seem curious in your eyes that
I, who am quite a stranger to you, should
have been In your company for some
weeks, and should not have told you more
than my name, Martin Hall. As the thing
stands, you have been kind enough to
. make no Inquiries ; if I am an impostor,
.you do not care to know it ; if I am a
rascal hunted by the law, you have not
t.een willing to help the law ; you do not
know if I have money or no money, a
home or no home, people or no people,
yet 'you have made me shall I say, a
friend?"
He asked bh question with such a gen
tle Inflexion or the voice that I felt a
softer chord 'was touched, and in response
I shook hands with him. After that he
continued to speak.
"I am very grateful for all your trust,
believe me, for I am a man that has
known few friends in life. You have
given me your friendship unasked, and
' it is the more prized. What I wanted to
say Is this, If I should die before three
days have passed, will you open this
packet of papers I have prepared and
ealed for you, and carry out what Is writ
ten there as well as you are able? As for
the dangers, they are big enough, but you
are the man to overcome them as I hope
to overcome them if I live !
The sun fell over the lifeless scene with
out as Martin Hall ceased to speak. I
had thought the man a fool and witless,
flighty in purpose and shallow in thought,
and yet be seemed to speak of great mys
teries and of death. In one moment the
jester's cloak fell from him, and I saw
the mail beneath.
"Tell me, are you quite certain that you
are not talking nonsense?" I asked. "If
you are not playing the fool, Hall, you
must be more explicit. In the first place,
how did you get this absurd notion that
you are going to die Into your head? sec
ondly, what is the nature of the obligation
you wish to put upon me? Why should
you, who are going to Paris, as far as I
know, simply as a common sightseer, have
any reason to fear some mysterious ca
lamlty In a city where you don't know a
soul?"
"Why am I going to Paris without aim,
do you ay? Without aim I, who have
waited rears for the work I believe that I
ball accomplish to-night ! I will tell you.
I am going to Paris to meet one who, be
fore another year has gone, will oe want
ed by erery government in Europe; who,
If I do not put my hand upon his throat
la th raftst of his foul work, will make
man singing and walking at the same
time. !
When the noise stopped at last, there
was silence, complete and unbroken. Hall
stood motionlesw, After that we heard
a great yell from the same voice, with
the words, "Ahoy, Splinters, shift along
the gir, will you?" A mumbled dis
cussion seemed to tread on the heels of
the hullabaloo, when, apparently having
arranged the "gear" to satisfaction, the
man stalked to the door,
"Hullo the little Jew and his kick
shaws ; why, matey, so early in the morn
lug?" The exclamation came as he saw us,
putting his head round the door, and
Showing one arm swathed all up In dirty
red flannel. He was no sort of a man
to look at. for his head was a mass of
graves as thick as pines in the wood there dirty yellow hair, and his face did not
kufVu-a ,,, anrwtW month: one who seem to have known an ablution for a
E IRON PIRATE
A Plain Tale of Strange
Happenings on ih Sea
By MAX PEMBSRT0N
is mad and who Is sane, one who, If he
knew my purpose, would crush me as I
crush this paper ; one who has everything
that life can give and seeks more, a man
who has set his face against humanity,
and who will make war on the nations,
who has money and men, who can com
mand and be obeyed in ten cities, against
wihom the police might as well hope to
fight as against the white wall of the
South Sea ; a man of purpose so deadly
that the wisest in crime would not think
of it a man, in short, who Is the product
of culminating vice hira I .am going to
meet in this Paris where I go without
aim without aim, ha !"
"And you mean to run him down?" I
asked. "What interest have you in him?"
"At the moment none ; but in a month
the interest of money. As sure as you
and I talk of it now, there will be fifty
thousand pounds offered for knowledge of
him before December comes upon us !"
I looked at him as at one who dreams
dreams, but he did not flinch.
"To-night I shall be with him ; within
three days I win all or lose all; for his
secret will be mine. If I fall, it is for
you to follow up the thread which I have
unravelled by three years' hard work.
Dare you risk coming with me I meet
him at eight o'clock?"
"Dare I risk! poor, there can't be
much danger."
"There is every danger! but, so, the
girl is waking!"
It was true ; Mary looked up suddenly
as we thundered past the fortifications of
Paris. Roderick shook himself like a
great bear; the Perfect Fool began his
banter, and roared for a cab as the lights
of the station twinkled in the semi-darkness.
I could scarce believe, as I watched
his antics, that he was the man who had
spoken to me of great mysteries ten min
utes before. Still less could I convince
myself that he had not many days to live.
So are the fateful things ot lite niauen
from us. ,
CHAPTER II,
The lights of Paris were very bright
as we drove down the Boulevard des Ca
puclnes, and drew up at length at the
Hotel Scribe, which is by the opera house.
Mary uttered a hundred exclamations of
joy as we passed through the city of
lights; and Roderick, who loved Paris,
condescended to keep' awake!
"I'll tell you what," he exclaimed, "the
beauty of this place is that no one thinks
here, except about cooking. Suppose, we
plan a nice little dinner for four?"
"For two, my dear fellow, If you
please," said Hall, with mock of state
he was quite the Perfect Fool again. "Mr.
Mark Strong condescends to dine with
me don't you, Mr. Mark?"
"The fact is, Roderick," I explained,
"that I made a promise to meet one of
Mr; Hall's friends to-night, so "you and
Mary must dine alone."
Hall and I mounted the stairs of the
cozy little hotel, whose windows overlook
the core of the great throbbing heart of
Paris, and so until we were alone In my
room, whither he had followed me.
"Quick's the word," he said, as he shut
the door, and took several articles from
his bat box. "One pair of spectacles, one
wig, one set of curiosities to sell do I
look like a second-hand dealer In odd
lots, Mr. Mark Strong?"
I had never seen such an utter change
in any man made with such little show,
The Perfect Fool was no longer before
me ; there was in his place a lounging,
shady-looking, greed-haunted Hebrew. The
haunching of the shoulders was perfect J
the stoop, the walk, were triumphs.
"It's five minutes from here," he said,
"and the docks are going eight you are
right as you are, for you are a cipher
in the affair yet."
He passed down the stairs and I fol
lowed him. So good was his disguise and
make-pretense that the others, who were
in the narrow hall drew back to let him
go, not recognizing him, and spoke to me,
asking what I had done with him. Then
I pointed to the new Perfect Fool, and
without another word of explanation went
on Into the street.
We walked In silence for some little
distance. Finally he turned, crossing a
busy thoroughfare and stopped quite sud
denly at last in a narrow street. He had
something to say to me.
"This Is the place," he said. You carry
this box of metal" he meant the case of
curiosities "and don't open your mouth,
Keep a hold on your eyes, whatever you
see or whatever you hear. Do I look all
right?"
"Perfectly but Just a word ; if we are
going into some den where we may have
a difficulty in getting out again, wouldn't
it be as well to go armed?"
"Armed! pish!" and he looked un
utterahle contempt, treading the passage
with long strides, and entering a house
at the far end of it.
Thither I followed him and found my-
self at last on the third floor, before a
door of thick oak. Our first knocking
upon this had no effect. Then I heard
a great rolling voice which seemed to echo
on the stairway, end so leapt from flight
to flight, almost like the rattle of a can
non shot with ks many reverberations.
For the moment indistinct, I then be
came a war that the voice was that of a
week. But there was an ugly jocular look
about hU rabblt-llk eyes, and a great
mark cut clean into the side of his tacs,
which were a At decoration for the red
burnt, pitted, and horribly repulsive coun
tenance he betrayed. I looked at him
and drew back repelled. This he saw,
and with a flush and a display of one
great stump of a tootJh which protruded
on his left lip, he turned, on me.
"And who may you be, matey, that you
don't go for to shake bands with Roaring
John? Dip me in brine, If you was my
son I'd dress you down with a two-foot
bar. Why dont you teach the little He
brew manners, old Josfos ; but there," and
this he said as he opened 'the door wider,
"so long as our skipper will have to do
with shiners to still and land barnacles,
what can you look for? walk right along
here."
The man who called himself "Roaring
John" entered the apartment before . us,
bawling at the top of his voice, "Josfos,
the Jew, and his pardner come aboard I"
and then I found myself In the strangest
company and the strangest place I have
ever set eyes on. So soon as I could
see things clearly through the hanging at
mosphere of tobacco smoke and heavy
vapor, i. made out the forms or sii or
eight men, not sitting as men usually do
in a place where they est, but squatting
on their haunches by a series of low nar
row tables, laid round the four sides of
the apartment. Each man lolled back
on his own pile of dirty pillows and
dirtier blankets; each had before him a
great metal drinking cup, a coarse knlfo,
long rolls of plug tobacco, And a small
red bundle, which I doubt not was his
portable property. Each, too, was dress
ed exactly as his fellow, In a coarse red
shirt, seaman's trousers of ample blue
serge, a belt, and each had some bauble of
a bracelet on his arm, and some strange
rings upon his fingers. They were men
marked by time as with long service on
the sea ; men scarred, burnt, some with
traces of great cuts and slashes received
on the open face; men fierce-looking as
painted demons, with teeth, with none,
with four fingers to the hand, with three ;
men whose .laugh was a. horrid growl,
whose threats chilled the heart to hear,
whose very words seemed to poison the
air, who made the great room like a cage
of beasts, ravenous and ill-seeking.
Martin Hall put himself at his ease the
moment we entered. He made his way
to the top of the room and stood before
one who forced from me Individual no
tice, so strange-looking was he, and so
deep did the respect which all paid him
appear to be. He sat at the head of the
rude table, but not as the others sat, for
there was a pile of rich-looking skins
bear, tiger, and white wolf beneath him,
end he alone of all the company wore
bleck clothes and a white shirt. He was
a short man, black-bearded and smooth
skinned, with a big nose, almost an In
tellectual forehead, small, white-looking
hands, all ablaze with diamonds, about
whose fine quality there could not be two
opinions; and, what was even more re
markable, there hung as a pendant to hi
watch chain a great uncut ruby which
must have been worth five thousand
poupds. One trademark of the sea alone
did he possess, In the dark, curly ringlets
which fell to his shoulders, matted there
as long uncombed, but typical In all of
the man. This then was the fellow upon
whose -every word that company of ruf
fians appeared to hang, who obeyed him,
as I observed presently, when he did so
much as lift his hand the man of whom
Martin Hall had painted such a fantastic
picture, who was, as I had been told, soon
to be wanted by every government In Eu
rope. Hall was the first to speak, and It was
evident to me that he cloakeo tils own
voice, putting on the nasal twang and the
manner of an East-end Jew dealer.
"I have come, Mr. Black," he said, "as
you was good enough to wish, with a few
little things beautiful things which cost
me moosh money "
"Ho, ho!" sang out Captain Black,
"here Is a Jew who paid much money
for a- few little things ! Look at him,
boys ! the Jew with much money ! Turn
out his pockets, boys ! the Jew with
much money ! Ho, ho !"
Ills merriment set all the company
roaring to his mood. For a moment their
play was far from Innocent, for one light
ed a great sheet of paper and burnt It
under the nose of my friend. I remem
bered Hall's words, and held still, giving
banter for banter. In what sort of a
company was I, where mere seamen wore
diamond rings. Hall gathered up his trin
kets and proceeded to lay them out with
the well-simulated cuning of the trader.
(To be continued.)
INTELLECTUAL NEV YORK.
More Heading Done There Thau la
Any Other City.
Boston my claim the palm for Intel
lectuality .and real blue-blooded "baked
lu the bean" cleverness, but there are
few persons who dwell more upon let
ters or reud mora lu a lifetime than ttve
average New Yorker, ways the New
York I'reR.
The New Yorker never stops read
lng, from the moment he shuts his flat
door behind him in the morning until
he comes back and shuts It behind him
again at night The moment he gets
downstairs the bellboy hands him his
mall or he takes it out of his own
letter box as the case may be. It may
not contain a personal letter, but there
is never a day that he does not receive
from one to three or four advertise
ments, booklets, pamphlets or clrculur.
Ho always glances over these at least
once, and by the time he has finished
he has reached the corner and is buying
bis morning newspaper. 1
As there Is a newspaper Issued about
every hour of the day in New York
City and many men try to devour them
all the New Yorker spends a good many
hours over his pink, yellow or burnt
orautfe sheet If he happens to finish
one of these while on a street car or
elevated train he cannot glance up with
out seeing a dozen advertisements along
the Hue above the windows waiting to
be read. These glare at him so stead
fastly and furiously that he cannot fall
to read them sooner or later. But 1'
one's eyes are tired and he shuts them
to the street car ads, or turns them to
ward the street, the spell Is still upon
him. Signs, big and little ; quick-lunch
signs, hotel signs, tailor shop signs;
bootblacks, barbers, theaters all have
their signs; millions of them, like mi
crobes. '
Then there are the names of the
streets on the lamp posts as he flashes
by. There Is an almost uncontrollable
desire to read them as well as the num
bers on the automobiles which glare at
you and the newsstand signs teeming
with vari -colored ads and the billboards
and the rubber-neck coaches and the
sandwich men. By the time the New
Yorker reaches his office and begins to
open his mall his eyes and brain are
tired ; but he goes on all day long, read
ing, reading, reading about baby pow
der and fancy preserves and canned
soups end health foods and cold cream
and hair renewers, etc., and then the
Bostonian sneers because we have no
time or inclination left for reading mere
books.
BIG MONEY
For you In
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Write Today, PORTLAND, OREGON
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OREGON NURSERY COMPANY
Salem, Orcgen.
broken
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Third ana Couch Streets, Portland, Oregon.
QUEER WAY OF SMOKING.
Waal
Indiana Pat Lighted End ot
CI war tn Mouth.
Visitors to the West Indies and the
Spanish main have often noticed the na
tive negro carrying a thin, dark object,
like a very long cigarette or slender ci
gar, In his mouth, and if tawe visitor
look lcuig enough they would see smoke
Issuing occasionally from between the
full, red Hps of a buxom matron or a
drled-up granny, says the New York
Herald. But even the most observant
co,uld see no light on the end of the cl-'
gar smoked by the natives of the troj
lea.
That Is not to be wondered at, how
ever, for the reason that it Is the cus
tom of the natives in that part of the
country to smoke with the lighted end
Inside the mouth. That Is curious, of
course, but not as remarkatlle as it
sounds. Most of the women, who are
all great smokers, work very bard.
They coal ships, load bananas and do
the kind of work usually done by men.
When on the docks, where they make
hundreds of trips a day from the ship
to the coal yard or fruit cars, there Is
generally a strong breeze blowing and
It would be" almost Impossible to keep a
cigar lighted In the teeth of a stiff
trade wind. Besides, these hard toll
ers, who earn a few pence or a shilling
a day, according to the amount of cofifl
or fruit they carry, could not afford to
take the time to keep their tobacco
lighted, so they hit upon the scheme of
protecting the light by keeping It in
the mouth and thus enjoying a smoke
without trouble or loss of time. They
have been doing this for so many years
that the older ones are experts and
never burn their tongues or the inside
of their mouths and the younger wom
en soon get the hang of it
The cigars they smoke are usually
made of native tobacco and fashioned
very rudely. They are about the size
of a lead pencil.
Pnaaled.
"I don't know whether to be offend
ed at Miss Smythers or not!" declared
Stax, seriously.
"What's the matter?" asked his
friend.
"About 11 o'clock last night when I
was calling on her," he continued,
"she said in the sweetest kind of way,
'Mr. Stax, what In the world does that
funny word "skldoo" mean?'" Detroit
Frte Press.
Tho Brase Knocker.
An editor looked up from his dog
eared copy of "Lorna Doone."
"I've read this book about eight
times." he said. "What first attracted
me to it was a remark of the Arch
bishop of Canterbury. In England,
some years ago, I saw the archbishop
distribute some prize books to school
boys. One of the books was 'Lorna
Doone,' and as he handed It out the
archbishop said :
"'I went to school with the writer
of this book. As he was a little young-
er than me, when he misbehaved
used to knock him on the head with a
brass hammer.' "Washington Star,
The act of forgiving doesn't always
take away the power of memory.
Importsnt to Timber Owners
We are purchasltifc agents for lame
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country. These men are investing- in
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It will pay you to write us Immediately,
Klring legal description! and net prices
on your timber lands In these states.
Address Timber Department,
Northwestern Guarantee & Trust Co.
Lumhsr Exchange Ml Second Floor
S. E, Cor. 2ni and Stark Sts., PORTLAND, OREGON
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This wonderful Chi
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1 hat are entirely un
known to medl'-al sil
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the action 0' over S00 different remedu s, whou
he uses succi sslu ly In dlffere n d seahe-i. ile
miaran ees tocirecatarth, asthma, luuif, throat
rheumatism, nerr ois ess, stomach, liver, kltl
nevs, etc.j has hunrtre is of testimonials.
Charges moderate. Call and see him. l'a lents
om of the cliy write fur blanks and olrt u ars.
Bend stamp.' CONSULTATION UtaE.
' ' , ! Address
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, 1 62V$ Tirst St., S. E. Cor. Morrison
Mention paper Portland, Oregon
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blng House Is the most
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Sendor Catalog
SHOES FOB EVEBYBODY AT ALL IBICES.
Men's Shoes, fc.S to $1.60. Boys' Shoes, $3
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Missus' at Children's Shoes, $2.20 to (1.00.
Try VT. L, Douglas Women's, Misses and
Children's shoes; for style, fit and wear
they excel other makes.
If I could take you Into my large
factories at Brockton, Mass., and show
you how carefully VV.L. Douglas shoes
are made, you would then understand
why they hold their shape, fit better,
wear longer, and are of greater value
than any other make.
Wherever you live, you cad obtain W. L.
Douglas shoes. His name and price Is stamped
on the bottom, which protects you against high
prices and Inferior shoes. Takm no tubitlt
tute. Aok yourdealer for W. L. Douglas shoes
and Insist upon having them.
Fast Color Eyelets used; they will not wear brassy.
Write for Illustrated Catalog of Pall Styles.
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CLASSIF1EDADVERTISING
Portland Trade Directory
Names and Addresses In Portland of Repre
tentative Business Firms.
IKK AM tsKPAH A TORS We (tuarant.ee ths U.ti,
Separator to be the best. Writs lor tree catalog,
iluiel wood Co.. Fllib and Oalc.
P. N. U.
No. 50-08
WHEN writing to advertisers please
mention this paper.