Ikley plodded down the main | Silas was seated on a high chair behind
■lanced guiltily back over the | the counter regaling himself with the
Es where straight rows of to- latest postal card news that had come in.
lca.1 their broad leaves ripe for “Howdy, Wes’,” he greeted, reluctant­
■There was deeper guilt in his ly placing the cards in their respective
p, when he thought of the pro- pigeon holes as the visitor came behind
n which he was bent.
Never the counter, “Air ye through cuttin’?”
ad he done anything that he
"Well, I-I ain’t clean through,” was
■ve been ashamed to tell out the embarrassed answer—“but 1 lef off
keeting at the little cross roads for a little spell, as I got a matter I
pc re he was one of the younger want fixed up, an’ I thought this would
[The tall, gawky shadow he be the bes’ time of day to ketch you—”
■ the white road seemed a sort
“Well, ef it’s that little loan, I
initory figure of that better self reck’n—”
lid follow him the rest of his
“No, I ain’t after pesterin’ you ’bout
in accusing angel. And it was that, Si,” Wesley interrupted, to the
fount of a woman; not that she other’s relief, and tattooing awkwardly
[me. except for the fact that she on the desk, he blurted out;
[white skin and fair hair, and
“Si, I’ve come down here to git you
It of -feet that made his own to do sump’n I can’t do myself, an’ that’s
pstrous, and the daintiest little to write a letter fer mel”
¡e kind that a big muscular fel-
“Oh, that’s it, is it ?” Silas asked, with
Wesley yearns to hold in his a grin, noticing the other’s embarrass­
ment. “Well, I reck’n I kin ’commodate
By had never been a ladies’ man you,” he added, taking his pen from be­
|e school teacher came into the hind his ear. “Who’s the lady?” eye­
■hood but he had been captured ing Wesley suspiciously.
le evening he drove to the sta­ “I reck’n you know,” was the answer,
id she had sat beside him in the with a responsive grin to hide his em­
Bing wagon during the five miles barrassed flush.
id to go in the September twi-
Then as Silas began to drawl the
|Thc scent of her gauzy handker- school teacher’s name, writing it at the
pved about his senses for a week same time with many flourishes at the
frd; it was different from any top of the sheet he had spread before
I that had entered his nostrils, him, Wesley grinned broader, and con­
lacccustomed to the odors of fessed with more blushes that that was
fcasil," marjoram, and a gen- the young lady in question.
prinkling of musk in the closely “Now about the beginning?” was Si's
little chapel of Sunday mornings. next question with his most professional
Equity, that strong promoter of air, making ready to start. “You kin
>der passions, sealed his doom, make it a little stronger by adding some
I school teacher boarded in his words on the next line."
Silas indi­
Fuse and came to bear upon him cated with his pen the line below the one
and wonderful charms of upon which the lady’s name was in­
scribed, for the benefit of the uninitiated
himself the most highly fav- Wesley—"but that's accordin’ to your in­
in the universe to be able to tentions to the young lady.” He paused
the same roof with her, and for Wesley to intimate.
the little box behind the sheet-
“Then you might make it a little
filled with wood sawed and stronger,” the other suggested sheepishly
a nicety, to handle a refractory after a pause.
the school house as an ex-
“To the young lady that has my
all others who should dare to heart, how is that?” Silas poised his pen
teacher’s authority, and a hun- inquiringly.
offices that a big, strong man
Wesley nodded approvingly. “That’s
for a young and fragile it,” he said, and as Silas waited for
household, that brought further instructions he squirmed awk­
wardly in his seat and began to wipe the
joy.
however, from believing these perspiration off his face.
“It’s kinder hard to know what to say
Raining for him the desired
Wesley would have dispensed when you ain’t exactly certain ’bout the
look her in the face, but began to walk
at her side, forgetting to offer to take
her books as usual, until they had gone
some distance and he made an awkward
attempt to relieve her, dropping half
of them on the ground tn his confusion.
As he stopped to gather them up the
fateful letter rolled out from between
the pages of one of the books, and
there was nothing for him to do but to
pick it up and hand it to her. A
shamed, side-long glance at her face
told him that his doom was to be set­
tled. He walked along, waiting for the
verdict like a hero.
“Did you tell Jack Crawford to put
that letter on my desk?” the school
teacher asked, at last.
“Yes, Miss Elmira,” was all he could
say.
“Then I presume that you want my
answer?” was the next question deliv­
ered in a suppressed tone.
“I-I—come here to git it,” Wesley
stammered.
“Then I'll give it to you now, and
it’s just no!” she said bluntly, not
slackening her pace and looking straight
ahead of her.
It came like a thunderbolt, even though
he was in a measure prepared.
“Miss Elmira, I’m sorry, but—”
“I hate Silas Mansur, and he lia>d no
business writing that letter,” she in­
terrupted.
Wesley hung his head, his face
flushed to the roots of his hair.
“I didn’t know you’d be able to tell
by the writin’, ’deed I didn't; I reck’n
it wam’t actin’ square, but Silas kin
write an—”
“I don’t care if he can write,” she in­
terrupted again. “Do you suppose I’m
going to marry a man just because he
can write; and after all, I’d rather mar­
ry the man I loved if he couldn’t write
his own f'me than one I don’t care a
straw about, even if you are so anxious
to make the match for Silas Mansur,
and I thought you’d be the last one to—”
She broke off with a sob, turning to
dash away the tears that sprang to her
eyes.
Wesley felt the earth slipping under
his feet, the sky seemed a dazzling,
crimson vortex whirling above him
through the dark tree tops.
“Miss Elmira!” he cried at last, “did
you think that was Silas’s own letter?
¿or it wam’t, ’deed it warn’t!” he pant­
ed. “It was my letter, Miss Elmira,
every word of it, only I got Silas to
write it fer me, ’cause—’cause,—well, I
ain’t shamed fer you to know now, I
can’t write my own name.”
Wild Geese Killed in Flight.
SUCCESSFUL
WOMAN BUILDER.
Mrs. Theodos a Heacham,of Michigan
tnterprising Railroad contractor.
There are few fields of endeavor In
which woman has not acquired a foot­
hold. She Is conspicuous in the arts,
sciences and professions and she makes
her presence felt in trade. Yet it Is
believed that one of the few of her
sex to essay and succeed in railroad
contracting and construction Is a Mich­
igan woman—Mrs. Theodosia Beacham.
She is not notable for home-staying or
house-keeping qualities, for her busi­
ness calls for her presence in many
parts of the United States and she has
to deal with vast engineering prob­
lems—felling forests, tunneling moun­
tains, bridging gorges, cutting through
BIC FUR SCARF, BEAUTIFUL RING & HAND BAG rn r r
All 3 PREMIUMS ISilmWaag I I1LL
You should take advantage of this
ffraiul chance, other firms give only
one premium, we give ) -u three.
BIO FI'R M A KF, made of Baltic heal, rich.
__
dark, durable fur; thick and soft, and shape
fvMBW VO V full . ti inmu-d at the ends Willi SIX full tails ,
fastens with hook and chain.
uolii > goi . d -1 ixiMiri»
i XT in a
* * MONI) RING. To behold it on one’s finger ■
istoexperienccanoverwhelmingdesiretoowmt. I
1 ADIES' HANDSOME B AG. Verystvlish; I
___
___
J fineirnported leather; nickel-silver frame, ■
furnished with Smelling Bottle and Mirror.
|
DCMIIMRrD I We Kivo V•”»
1 Premiums I
'•
3 nuinUinDtn . for m -K. i g -• 1
-clling arti- I
cles. You can earn them in one dav. AVe trust I
y°”« Co8t nothing to try. We take back all I
jwiiw
,iot 8°W« S«*»»d address, and we send you the
k E w
EM
articles postpaid ; when sold, send us money R|
VWw
W
you get, and we will send the Fur Scarf, Ring f
Vjf
Wf
and Bag free. Get busy. Write^to-day. Address I
W▼
j
x*»
!■■«■■■■■'irTf
T rue B lue C o ., Dent. 450, B oston , M ass . I
“A CLOSE SHAVE”
with
The Star Safety Razor
PRICE, |1.50
Outfits, $2.95 to |18.00
A Revelation of speed and efficiency combined
with comfort ana ABSOLUTE SECURITY
NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY
SAVE TIME AND MONEY
FREE
OFFER
$200 in prizes for the best written story
Subject! “A Close Shave**
For further instructions, catalogue and other
I
information, address
KAHPFE BROTHERS
i Manufacturers of
STAR SAFETY RAZORS AND SUPPLIES
8 READE STREET, NEW YORK CITY
MRS. THEODOSIA BEACHAM.
A Manager of Men.
BOOKS—BOOKS
as unruffled as if, instead of hear­
hills, filling gulches, setting and tamp- move
'
his doom, he had received a sum­
ing ties and laying rails. The work ing
1
We have published some good ones spec­
to dinner. And when John Fred­
demands that she be a skillful man- mons
1
Elector of Saxony, heard over ially suited for farmers. Books that will help
ager of men. She knows man as few erick,
1
chessboard the news that he had every farmer to make more out of his farm
women do—she directs their energies, the
1
condemned to death, he _ complet­ Write for our catalogue.
gets out of them the most work pos- been
1
sible, pays their wages, employs or dis- ed
1 his move and was again immersed * WEBB PUBLISHING COb» b
charges them.
Men, mules, steam in the game before the messenger had
St. Paul Minn.
time to withdraw.
shovels and dynamite are her obedient had
1
agents. Necessarily she is a financier,
New Chinese Methods.
talks and figures in the hundred thou­
sands and the millions as readily as
Chan Chun Man, head of a Canton
most men talk of dollars. In the par­ firm employing over ten thousand hands,
lance of the street she long ago made has been studying American industries.
her stake and today is accounted the In Philadelphia, apropos of the Chinese
TO ___
_
________
richest woman in Michigan and one of awakening, he said: “China has for
Write ua today sending your
the very rich women of the world.
thousands of years been highly enough
name and address and we
She has made estimates and carried civilized to despise war. Her new-born
will hold one of these
out contracts on some of the longest respect for war is not an unmixed good.
fine guns for you and
bought
and heaviest pieces of railroad con­ There is, perhaps, a little of degenera­
tall you hsw you mk
a
number
struction in the country. Though her tion, of barbarism, in it But at least of these
gat one FRED
occupation is strenuous it would do China will no longer be the laughing gunsaud are
Don’t dolayl
giving
them
Mrs. Beacham rank injustice to say stock of nations more warlike than her­ away. We guar­
that it has roughened her. There is self. It will no longer be possible to say
antee you can earn
In a day easily*
a certain set of determination and firm­ of her, as a Chinese general once ex­ one
Many have earned one
ness about her features, but her man­ plained a defeat with the following re­ In an hour. No cheap
pictures or jewelry to
ner is feminine, and so are her tastes. port: ‘The ignorant enemy, unaware
sell. Our plan does all
She is such a good judge of men that that guns could not be fired against an the
work. Simply say
she rarely has any trouble with them object behind them, came upon us from you want a gun and you
be surprised how
and it is not often that an employer the rear and thus rendered all our can­ will
simple our offer Is and how
is so genuinely popular with employees non useless.’ ”
easy it Is to get the gun. Do
not delay or somebody will
as Mrs. Beacham.
get ahead of you. Write
Mrs. Beacham has been making and'
today. We refer you to any
She Bested the Emperor.
bank In Des Moines. We are
executing railroad contracts for twen­
The great opera singer, Mme. Grisi, a responsible firm and do as
ty years. She has two sons Claud and
we agree. Never will yon
who
was
married
to
Signor
Mario,
the
have another chanoe so
Erwin and her husband, though living
tenor, was singing in St. Petersburg. don’t delay. Write at onoe.
is an invalid.
DESCRiPTION.-Single barrel, Uks-
The
emperor,
the
father
of
the
present
dowapattern: ehoke-burrd.fnsurlngsu­
Much of this remarkable woman’s
perior shooting qualities; autowatle
Czar
gave
Mme.
Grisi
permission
to
work has been done in the southern
■hellqlMtori case hardened fnune.top
action, rebounding lock, walnut
states where railroad building has gone walk in his private park. One morning snap
stock, hard rubber butt, relnforeod
12-guage, 28 or 30 In. barrel.
forward with Titantic strides in the the emperor met Mme. Grisi, accompan­ breech,
Will
«hoot
«hell made Winchester,
last two decades and where a vast ied by two little girls. The emperor U.M. O.. etc. any Every
detail perfect. Can be
saluted
her
and
said:
“
Are
these
two
taken down instantly Into two pieces.
amount of building is now under way.
Write for book telllag whet Gout« of
______
On one contract with the Tennessee Grisettes?” “No, your majesty,” replied nea aed beyaaay of thia $«*• Write today.
Central railroad, Mrs. Beacham’s profit Mme. Grisi, “these are two Marion­
Successful
F>nnin^
t
was $80,000, and it is calculated that ettes.
her average annual earnings are about
$50,000. The contract which she is
now engaged tn executing is the con
structlon of five miles of railroad from
Kirby Station. Virginia, westward. It
is part of a contract for one hundred
miles of the coal mine to sea rail
and uses the N. P. C. C. Photographic
road which was secured by Sands and
Preparations only.
We do the
Oliver of Richmond. These contrac­
tors sublet a short stretch of the work
weighing and you add the water
to Mrs. Beacham.
At present she is employing only
MET0L-HY0R0 DEVELOPER
iabout one hundred and fifty men but
N. P. C. C.
The old standby, as cents for six
the proper control of this force and
DEVELOPER
tubes, making up the same amount of
the purchase of the necessary supplies
Non-poiaonous and will not stain the developer.
calls for the exercise of no little ex­
ecutive ability.
fingers. 35 cents for six tubes, sufficient
N. P. C. C. SEPIA TONER
The southern migration of wild fowl
this winter was unusually late and re­
sulted in many disasters. The wild
geese are reported from the northwest
to have been especially severe sufferers.
The large black-headed goose is a
strong, hardy bird, generally remaining
on its own native water until the ice
forms firmly. In the South it is only
a visitor for the winder months. Bom
on some lake beyond the northern wa­
tershed, or perhaps on some inlet in
Hudson Bay or the Arctic Ocean, its
heart is ever loyal to the land of its
birth.
Sometimes, when the cold weather
sets in late up North, as in all proba­
bility it has this year, the wild geese
suffer from their devotion to their na­
tive place. They may at this late season
fly right into a streak of real winter,
with driving snow to blind their vision
and bitter frost to halt their flight.
If there is storm, their way leads
right through it, until the leader’s eyes
are closed by the freezing of the snow
about Its head or its feathers become
too heavy weighted. When the sight
has gone and the birds are wearied, it
is easy to see how misleading is much
of the talk about the leadings of an
extra sense. Like a ship without a
rudder, the V-shaped flock will make
for any low places.
Once a flock came tumbling into the
street of an Eastern township’s village,
where the half-blinded things became
the easy prey of the boys and the dogs.
In another place a farmer chanced
one spring to find the frozen carcasses
of more than thirty fine geese in a drift
in one of the fence corners. The birds
had evidently come to earth in some
blinding storm, and, imagining they
Royal Quarrels Over Chess.
were nearing water, found instead the
hard, snow-covered ground.
King Edward, we are told, is devel­
There are several instances recorded oping an enthusiasm for chess. In that
of flocks of geese in a storm running case, according to a writer in Tid-Bits.
full tilt into the ends or sides of farm he is only following in the steps of
buildings. A large brood flew at full many of his predecessors on the throne,
speed against the rigging of the whal­ including his namesake, the first Ed­
ing steamer Dart this month off the ward. Says the writer:
Newfoundland coast. A damp, snow­
Whether or not players were more
laden wind was blowing at the time, irascible in those old days than now, it
and eleven dead or dying geese flut­ is a curious fact that chess was often
tered on to the deck, the others alight-1 more stimulating to the royal tempers
ing in a half-dead condition upon the than is golf in these latter days, and
“MARRY A MAM JUST BECAUSE HE CAN WHITE”?
waves.
many a game peacefully begun ended
A more pleasing story is of domestic in broken heads. When Prince Henry
■Hth half of his muscular power to re- young lady’s feelin’s,” he stammered,
Mace a deficiency that he feared would “but I like that beginnin’ an’ I reck’n geese in a large, well-appointed farm­ —afterward Henry I.—once paid a vis­
Be an unsurmountable barrier between you kin put it more fancy like; but I yard hailing with their hearty honks, it to the court of France, "he wan so
want .von to be sure to say I’m waitin’ a short time ago, a passing drove of much at chesse of Louis, the king’s
Em and the young school marm.
[ It was a common enough failing in for her answer very patient, an ef she'll twenty-two black bills. The strangers eldest sonne, as he, growing into chol-
Ee neighborhood in which Wesley lived, say yes. I'll be tin» nappies’man in came down and followed their tame re­ ler, called him (a naughty name) and
Bid six months before, the fact that he Chinkapin Hundred, an’ ef she says no, lations into the stable, where they have threw the chesse in his face. Henry
takes up the chcsseboard, and strake
Botild not write his own name, would it'll drive me to do what it will hurt her since stayed.
Louis with that force as drew blood,
hot have embarrassed him a great deal. Tell her I'm able to take kere of her,
that
I'm
workin
’
the
place
on
sheers
and had killed him had not his brother
Since the school teacher had come into
Re-Using Old Shoes.
this
year,
but
pa,
he
’
s
promised
to
deed
Robert come in the meantime and in­
■is life, however, it had become a real
me
a
strip
of
lan
’
down
by
the
fur
gate,
terposed
himsclfe, whereupon they sud­
Janitors collect the shoes cast away
thorn in the flesh. Vainly he struggled
an
’
ef
she
ain
’
t
a
mind
to
live
with
the
denly
took horse and gat away."
by tenants and send them to auction
frith the little imps of the alphabet in
King John in his younger days had a
his room by candle light when all the old folks I’ll, build her a house on my rooms, where they are sorted into piles
other members of the household were own lan’, an’ say I’ll make her a sober, marked “Men,” “Women,” “Children.” similar experience; for a game of chess
In a recent sale in one of the big in which, his opponent was one Fulk
hrrapped in slumber; but the goal of his industrious husband, an’ ’ll treat her
ambition measured a distance that was like the apple of my eye, which she is, cities, says the "Shoe Retailer,” several Warine ended in a royal row, during
beyond the feverish impatience that pos­ an’ ever will be, even if she don't recip- poor people made fair bids, but the which Fulk gave the prince “so griev­
ercate my affections, an’ then you kin auctioneer did not seem eager to sell. ous a biowe as almost to slaic him on
sessed him.
Wesley had 5een trembling on the win’ up, Si,” he finished, taking the first Finally, a red-faced man pushed his the spot.” John never forgot the blow
verge of a proposal many times and breath, "only as I’m partic’lar ’bout way through the crowd and offered to nor forgave bls Iraclble opponent, and
would have committed himself long ago folks signin’ other folk’s name, suppose cents apiece for the whole lot. His bid punished him, when later he came to
the throne, by withholding his heri­
but for this barrier. For the idea of you jes say good-bye, my angel, till I i was successful.
“I was killing time with talk waiting tage—Whittington castle—from him.
addressing the school teacher in writing hear from you, an’ that’ll do.”
It
seemed
an
age
before
Wesley
had
William the Conqueror more than
for that fellow,” said the auctioneer
seemed to have fixed itself in his mind
as being the only method of procedure converted all this in a sure enough let- ■ afterward. "He always pays ffigh for once lost his tempe» over the game,
through which he could hope for a re­ ter, even taking into consideration the these shoes and he does not want them and on at least one occasion with ser­
He was playing
ciprocation. So it was an overwhelming beautiful flourishes with which it was for wearing, either. He wants to beat ious consequences.
desire to settle his fate, coupled with a embellished, and he had it in his coat them out for the leather in them. He with the son of the king of France
hopelessness of attaining the educational pocket on his way to deliver into the | gets what material there is, puts it when a dispute led to hot words, and
of the school teacher. Then . it through a process and makes stamped culminated in William bringing down
qualification of being able to pen his hands
own epistle, that led him to procure the seemed another age after he had in­ frames, bags, pocketbooks, penknife the board so heavily on his opponent’s
agency of another party, upon which trusted it to the care of one of the holders, and even chair backs and seats. |i<-nd as to render him unconscious.
children and watched through the He finds a ready sale for these novel­
Louis XIII. of France was so infatu­
errand he was bound this afternoon, w school
open window to be sure it was laid on ties and gets a good price for them.”
ated with the game that wherever he
The party he had decided to utilize the
desk, before school was let
went he was accompanied by his chess­
was one Silas Mansur, postmaster and out, teacher's
though at last when he saw the
board and men and invariably played it
general groceryman combined; and as children
There 1« a cherry atone at the Salem, in his coach when he took drives
pouring
out
the
door,
the
pret
­
Silas was under obligation to him for
Charles I. found it so fascin­
a small loan, Wesley thought he might ty school marm bringing up the rear, a Massachusetts, Museum wbicu con­ abroad.
tains the fac similes of one dozen sil­ ating that he almost literally played it
be glad to have it canceled in this way. real stage fright possessed him.
the foot of the scaffold; and when
He had chosen a time of the day when The idea of flight presented itself, but ■ ver spoons. They are so small that i to
once his game was interrupted by news
he would run the least chance of en­ he dismissed it with a manly determina­ tbelr shape and finish can only be di*- | that
the Scots had decMed to sell him to
countering loungers about the store, and tion to stand his ground. When the tlngulsbed by the microscope.
the parliament he proceeded with his
sure enough the coast was clear and teacher came up by him he could not
STEVENSmiSHOTGUNl
BOYS!
H b Has Thrown Away His Bottles and Scales
for 24 ounces de veloper for Velox, Cyko,
Rotox and other developing papers, or
60 ounces plate or film developer.
Black and white prints on developed
paper may be re-developed at any time
to a perfect sepia, as cents for six tubes.
NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICAL COMPANY
llth Street and Pa. Ave.
Washington, D. C.
SUCCESS
MAGAZINE
The Great Home Magazine of America
makes thia unequaled offer for a limited time onlys
EVER before in all our wide experience hnvo we been In a position to make a book offer of such excep­
tional value. The Continental Encyclopedia lias been edited, illustrated, printed and bound with
the view of Alling a long-felt want In the «ouïe and office.
It is comprehensive in scope
In arrangement, and exceedin
eet weighs nearly eight poun
Inches high, and occupies a »1
Encyclopedlns have become
junct to business and most essential to home
Questions are constantly coming lip which
require defliuts and authoritative answers.
N
Our
Limited
Offer
Magazine
Our Price
poly
One Year
Continental (
Encyclopedia) fw
Express Prepaid
*tn
/
EightV Is., Strongly and Richly Bound In Red Vellum de Luxe cloth.
Bailee kr csisiu lsosikojitiwast , b . a .
Of 0» llaf of tlu Bncyrloprdia A mrrvana, iMrrnalitmal SncaclatKiUa,
biographical IhctwnarVa
Over sixty-five thousand important subjects Are treated at length. The latest
occurrences of international interest, such as the R umo - Japanese Dispute and
SUCCESS
War Panamas Ind endeisce—Radium—Wire leas Telegraphy, and the
Alaskan Boundary Decision—all have their places in this most modern
COMPANY
work. In short, there is much later and better information in this set than
Wubl.flM S,.«r,
in many a muc h more pretentious work. The business man, the teacher,
the farmer, the professional man. the student, will all find it the ideal
NEW YORK
reference work of modern times, where concise, accurate, up-to-date
Herewith
find 92 .96 for
information can be had on every subject without wasting words on
which send m«, eipreii
non-essentials.
charges prepaid. The Conti
Dental Encyclopedia, « vol».,
WE GUARANTEE SATISFACTION
and success Magaetne for one
We will send fie eight volumes to you. neatly packed, ea-
year with tl* unde, »landing tliat if
charges prepaid, upon receipt of your remittance of
. am not satlafled I may return them
without oust to —
, and if you are not thoroughly pleased, send them
at our expense and we will relund the amount
paid by you.
fill out t hl a coupon and send In M
TO-DAY.
This offer la limited to Feb. lot.. 1906.