MY HALF SISTER
By EL/TON M/\RRIS XXX
CHAPTER I.
1 " 11 is not like going home at all , "
fcald Molllc L'Kstrango disconsolately ,
looking round at the open trunks , the
wearing apparel spread upon every
available chair or bed in the-school
dormitory. "And I had no idea that
1 possessed so many things. "
"You hef been these four years
here , " said the German governess
kindly , "and you spend much money ,
lwd child ! But they will be pleased
to see you home o h , yes1 !
"I don't know who will be pleased ,
1 am sure , " returned Mollie , with a
aigh , "for there is only my half-sister
Kate. "
"Ach hiramel ! Well , she is no doubt
looking forward to your return. She
is older than you wiser ? "
"She is ten years old , " interrupted
the girl , sitting down on the edge of
the bed , and regarding the well mean
ing Fraulein gloomily. "When I last
saw her she was about six , and my
stepfather spoilt her shamefully. "
"What ? With whom will you lif
then , mine Mollie ? . . With the step
father ? "
"Oh , no ; he died twelve months ago.
I shall live at Chalfont House , the
property of my half-sister , Kate , with
her , and her aunt. Madame Debols. "
If "Ach , a French lady ! "
Ij "No , but she married a Frenchman.
She Is now a widow with one son ,
and after my mother's death she went
to keep house for her brother , Mr.
I Barlowe. "
"Thy stepfather ? "
"I never called him that. " And a
strange look of scorn and bitterness
Hwept over the girl's pretty , glowing
face. "It is wrong to hate any one
jj but I hated him living , and I find it
' ' hard not to hate him dead. "
"So , so , the Bible teils us to hate
no man , " reproved the governess , with
a. placid shake of her head , as she be
gan to fold up some of her favorite
pupil's clothes.
"And I try not to do so ; I pray ev
ery night to forgive him , " burst forth
Mollie in a shaking voice , "but ho
separated me from my mother ; he did
not make her happy "
She paused abruptly , conscious how
impossible it was to make the solid
Fraulein understand that the wrongs
that were rankling in her mind had
grown with her growth , and become
lart of her life ; and , as a rosy-cheeked
German maid entered at the same mo
ment and announced that she had
been sent to assist Fraulein L'Es-
trange to pack , nothing more was
said.
said.For
For four years Mollie L'Estrange
liad been left at Frau Seckendorf's
school in Hanover , without once re
turning to England , without any one
coming to see her. But she had been
very happy , for she had naturally a
merry , buoyant disposition , and was
the pet and favorite of the school es
tablishment , from the grave , kindly
Frau herself downwards.
Then she was liberally supplied with
pocket money by her father's trustees ,
generously paid for in every way ,
while Frau Seckcndorf had carte
blanche to do everything for her
amusement in the holidays , and the
time 'had gone so fast that Mollie
could hardly believe she was nearly
nineteen , and that a few days would
see her once more in her native land.
Ah , that dear native land ! How often
in her dreams had she seen it as it
svioiild be looking now , with the first
faint breath of spring rustling through
the bare , brown branches , the leaves
sprouting in the heugerows , the violets
lets peeping forth from some sheltered
nook ! Yes , though there was no one
now in the house where she was born
to welcome her home with affection ,
it would be something to be in Eng
land in the sweet spring time , to gath
er 'violets and primroses in the well
remembered woods and fields around
Reverton.
The packing was accomplished at
last , more by the Fraulein's and Liza's
exertions than her own , for the girl
was restless and excited , torn by con
flicting feelings , sorry to bid farewell
to quaint old Hanover , and all those
who had been so kind to her since
she came there , a pale , motherless
child of fourteen yet anxious to rush
into the future , to see what it held in
store for her.
So when the trunks were shut and
Liza had departed with her arms full
of the gifts she had bestowed upon
her , Mollie made her way with un
usual sedateness to Frau Seckendorf's
private apartments. Since the girls
of her own age had left one by one ,
and she had outgrown the class rooms ,
she had been promoted to the use of
these salons , and taken out to con
certs , theaters , and coffee parties by
the good Frau , who was secretly im
mensely proud of the pretty , well-
dressed English heiress confided to
her care , and watched over her with
a vigilant eye ; and Mollie looked
round them with a friendly glance ,
and a sigh at the thought that after
tomorrow she should see them no
more.
The dusk was falling fast ; it was
difficult to see the houses across
foe wide street , and as she stood by
tJic porcelain stove , wa'rming her cold
little fingers , her thoughts went back
to her childhood days as they had not
done for a long time , and scene after
scene seemed to rise before her.
Mollie could not remember her fa
ther at all , for he had died when she
was but a few months old , but her
pretty young mother had been her
playfellow , and until her sixth year ,
her constant companion. Then came
the days when a tall , dark man was
always with her mother , and that
dearly loved parent was somehow not
the same to her , while the dark man
used _ lo bring her sweets , and smile
grimly when she put .her hands be
hind her back , and refused to accept
them.
Yes , from the very first Mollie had
disliked and distrusted Leonard Bar
lowe , and he had cordially returned
the feeling. With her mother's second
end marriage all her troubles began ,
and the child would often sob herself
to sleep at night , feeling neglected and
forlorn , missing the tender voice , the
lullaby ever since she could remem
ber.
Afterwards Mollie grew to know
that her mother had not forgotten her ,
but that her stepfather , jealous and
morose , resented even the affection
she bestowed to her own child , and
timid and clinging by nature , she had
not the strength of character to oppose
him in any way. Mollie was sent
to school soon after the birth of her
half-sister , Kate , and though she spent
the holidays at home , Chalfont House
was never the same place again.
Looking at the past through the
softening vista of time , Mollie knew
that her woes had not been imaginary.
She would have been fond enough
of the little usurper , who seemed to
have pushed her out of her place , had
she been allowed , for she was neither
jealous nor revengeful ; but Mr. Bar
lowe , while spoiling Kate until she
was-unbearable , resented the least at
tention shown to Mollie , and the
holidays had been misery , school a
refuge. She gradually grew to know
that her mother was miserable , that
she only dare caress her in prlvate.and
that she feared her handsome dark
husband more than she loved him.
How well she remembered the last
time she had any talk with her
mother ! It was the night before her
return to school , and her mother came
into her room as she was preparing
for bed , and , closing the door , took
her into her arms as if she were a
baby again , kissed and cried over her
in a passionate , heart-broken way ,
saying that whatever happened to the
future , she must never doubt her poor
mother's love , that save her dead fa
ther , no one was so precious to her ,
no one ; and that her last thought and
prayer would be for her own Mollie.
It was not until her death a few
months later that Mollie understood
what she meant , Chalfont and a good
income had been Mrs. Barlowe's pri
vate property , and she left them to
her husband for his lifetime , and then
to her daughter Kate , no mention be
ing made of her elder child , save that ,
failing them , she would be her heiress.
This had not been her mother's
wish Mollie knew as well as if she
had been told and the fierce anger
burned in her heart , not for the loss
of the property , but for what Mr.
Barlowe had made her mother suffer.
Oh , how she hated him as she saw his
fine eyes roving with an air of pro
prietorship round her mother's room !
In her childish heart she felt that he
had got what he had schemed for , and
it mattered little to him that he had
ruined her mother's and her life to
obtain it.
They lived at open warfare during
the months before she was , sent to
Hanover ; and it was an additional
blow to find that he had constituted
himself her guardian in her mother's
place. His motive was not far to seek.
Mollie was her father's heiress , and
though he could not touch the princi
pal , a handsome allowance was made
for the care of Colonel L'Estrange's
daughter.
And now he , too , was dead , and she
was going back to live at Chalfont
House with her little half-sister and
Madam Dubois ! Were brighter times
coming , she wondered , as , in company
with the English governess , she once
more set foot on her native land , or
was Madame Dubois but a repetition
of Leonard Barlowe ?
It was a bleak March day when the
governess put her charge into a first
class carriage at one of the great Lon
don stations , and reluctantly bade her
farewell , after carefully seertaining
that two elderly ladies in the further
corner were going the same journey ,
and Reverton would be reached in lit
tle over an hour , where Madame Du
bois was sure to be at the station.
So she kissed the pet and pride of
Frau Seckendorf's school with tearful
eyes , and hurried away to catch her
own train , while Mollie sank back in
the corner of her carriage , sorry to
part with her last friend , yet excited
at the prospect before her.
For a little while she occupied her
self in watching one familiar object
after another appear , as the express
left the chimneys behind and rushed
I through the green country , ft oven
amused her to sen the cr&Tst open fires
in the waiting rooms once more as
they flashed through the stations.
Then she suddenly became aware that
the two ladies were talking very hard ,
and she heard her own name.
"You will find Reverton looking
much the same , Louise , " the elder was
saying. "The people alter , but not
the place. Why , you have not been
here since the year poor Mrs. L'Es
trange married Mr. Barlowe , have
you ? "
"No ; how pretty she was ! I know no
one liked him ; you thought him an
adventurer. What has he done since
her death ? "
"Oh , he feathered his nest well
got the whole of her property for him
self and his wretched little girl , to the
exclusion of the elder child ! Every
one know that his poor wife was horribly
ribly afraid of him , and he had it all
his own way. Well , I must not say
more , for he was hurried to his ac
count with all his sins upon his head ,
and no time to repent him of his
wickedness. "
"What do you mean ? "
"Did you not see it in the papers ?
It was the talk of Revorton ! He was
found murdered in his study nearly
twelve months ago. Yes. I remember ,
it was on Easter Sunday. ' '
"Murdered ? " ecaoed the other
blankly. "That handsome man ? Who
did it ? "
"It has never been found out. "
CHAPTER II.
Murdered ! Could this awful word ,
so full of terrible meaning , apply to
her stepfather , who she had last seen
standing at the door of Chalfont
House , full of life and health , holding
the fretful Kate by the hand ? Mollie
sat up and turned hastily to the two
ladies , the color fading from her face.
"My name is L'Estrange , " she stam
mered nervously , looking from one to
the other. "I am Mrs. B.rlowe's eld
est daughter. I thought I ought to
tell you. I 1 did not know that
he died like that ; no one told me.
Are you sure ? "
Mollie could see the ladies were gaz-
marks ; but she was too eager to learn
the truth to mind that , or anything
else. Why had she been allowed to
come home In ignorance of the trag
edy that hung undiscovered over Chal
font House ? In the pause before any
one spoke she was not conscious of
feeling any sorrow for her dead step
father , nor had these ladies expressed
any ; but she did feel a thrill of horror
at the thought of the crime that had
been committed in the house where
she was born her mother's house
and could not repress a shudder. Then ,
the first lady got up , and , coming over ,
sat down heavily in the seat opposite
to her.
"I am heartily sorry you have heard
me , my dear , ' she said kindly. "It is
a lesson to me not to talk of my
neighbors in the train. But are you
really Amy Barlowe's child ? Yes ,
looking at you , I can see your dear
father. Your parents were my dearest
friends. You do not remember me ,
but surely you have not forgotten
Reggie and Joyce ? "
Mollie started , and , leaning forward ,
turned her beautiful , miserable grey
eyes on the speaker with dawning rec
ognition.
"Yes yes , I do now , " she cried.
"You are Mrs. Anstruther ; you live in
that pretty white house near the
church. Oh , Mrs. Austruther , about
this dreadful thing about Mr. Bar
lowe. Madame Dubois wrote that lie
died suddenly , and she was now my
guardian ; but how did it happen ?
Why was I not told ? " And she glanc
ed imploringly at the pleasant mother
ly face now regarding her with a
troubled frown.
( To be continued. )
CRUELTY IN TONE.
Cross Words Kill a lilril in Its Cage.
A bird which receives a scolding is
made as miserable and unhappy there
by as a child would be. To illustrate
Our Dumb Animals tells the following
story : A Massachusetts woman had , a
few years ago , a beautiful canary bird
which she dearly loved , and to which
she had never spoken an unkind word
in her life. One Sunday the church
organist was away , and she stopped
after church to play the organ for the
Sunday school. In consequence of this
the dinner had to be put off an hour ,
and when she got home nor good hus
band was vpry hungry , and he spoke
to her unkindly. The things were put
on and they sat down in silence at the
table , and presently the bird began to
chirp at her as it always had to attract
her attention. To shame her husband
for having spoken so , she turned to
the bird , and for the first time in her
life spoke to it in a most violent and
angry tone. In less than five minutes
there was a fluttering in the cage. She
sprang to the cags the bird was dead.
Mrs. Hendricks , the wife of the late
vice-president of the United States ,
says that she once killed a mocking
bird in the same way. It annoyed her
by loud singing. To stop it she spoke
in a violent tone , and pretended to
throw something at it , and within five
minutes it was dead.
A Hoy's
The present German emperor , then a
small boy , attended the wedding of the
prince and princess of Wales. He was
under the charge of his two uncles , the
duke of Edinburgh and the duke of
Connaught. As may be expectedyoung
William fidgeted sadly , and consequently
quently received an occasional warn
ing tap the shoulder. But how he
did revenge himself ! His uncles were
in Highland dress , and the future em
peror slyly knelt down and bit into
their bare legs with great earnestness.
Boston Journal.
TAKJffG THE
FO'RTS AT TAKV
One of the thrilling incidents of the
bombardment and reduction of the
Talui forts occurred after the north-
vreat fort had been taken under the
fire of the British gunboat Algerine.
That ship then moved down the river
and proceeded to reduce the north fort.
Owing to its position the British gun
ners had some difficulty in getting
their range , and it became imperative
that the exact position of the guns be
discovered. In this situation the Ger
man gunboat lltis steamed along ,
passed inside of the Algerine and drew
don Graphic by Dr. Peacock , the chief
engineer of the British warship Alac
rity.
rity.Toward
Toward the beginning of the action
the Fame and Whiting had attacked
and captured the four Chinese torpedo
boat destroyers lying off of the dock
yard , meeting with Very little opposi
tion. The last of the forts was taken
about 7 A. AI. , the action thus lasting
a little over six hours. The British
loss was slight , being only one man
killed and nine wounded. The Rus
sians and Germans suffered much more
the Chinese fire. It was a brave act
for the Iltis is a small ship and her
armament was not sufficient to answer
( .he big batteries of the forts. Hoi-
after funnel was riddled and her bridge
was shattered by a shell which wound
ed her commander severely and de
stroyed two Maxim guns. The crew
of the Algerine cheered the Iltis fran
tically and succeeded in silencing the
fort , thanks to the work done by the
Germans. The picture printed here
was made by a British naval officer
on a gunboat lying near the Algerine ,
and shows the Iltis just beginning to
work into the line of fire.
The other picture , showing the gen
eral operations during the lively little
engagement , was drawn for the Lon-
At Ichang there was until lately sad
trouble about the visitation of the ser
vants of darkness. The city is built on
the north bank of the Yang-tse just
below the entrance to the grand suc
cession of gorges , and opposite to it
are a range of hills , called the Pyra
mids , on account of their curiously
pyramidal formation. It was found by
the local professors of the great science
of Feng-shui , or knowledge of light and
air , that the evil spirits sailing down
the river rebounded from the hill , can
noned off the Great Pyramid on to the
city and brought bad luck with them.
This was an intolerable grievance , and
resulted in the sacrifice of a Christian
church and many worshipers. The
prejudices and superstitions of the
Chinaman have had uninterrupted
growth of at least 4,000 years , so to
speak , in a ring fence. Small wonder
they excel even those of rural Europe.
Except in the rich province of Szech-
uan , the peasants and 5'eomen dwell in
small villages , modeled in every par
ticular of their squalid narrowness
upon the plan of a regular city , without
its encircling walls. Mutual suspicion ,
if not actual conflict , is the habit of
life , and to live in quick-set village
eommunitifis is to carry out the obvious
and convenient principle. Chinese so
ciety rests upon a basis of mutual guar-
severely , the Iltis alone having eight
killed and nine wounded , while the
Russians had five officers and twenty-
eight men killed and over sixty wound
ed. The only gunboat disabled was a
Russian , which sank in a shallow part
of the river. The British landing party
was composed of men from the Alac-
antce through family and neighbor
hood , and to lead an isolated existence
is to run counter to the main current
of national instinct. From the mean
and tortuous alleys that fringe the
riverside men and women pour out at
daybreak to the labors of the field , and ,
save in time of flood , allow themselves
little time to rest their weary limbs.
When the flood comes , their ramshac
kle habitations , run up of mud and
reeds , are either swept away or utterly
waterlogged for the season. That is
as nothing to Chinese equanimity. The
house is put together again , and th&
mishap is set down to the inevitable
malignity of the river god , who has
not been sufficiently fed and pampered
at the shrine hard by.
The late Duke of Edinburg gave it
as his opinion .that Shanghai was the
wickedest and fastest city east of Suez.
Certainly there is in Shanghai more
glaring disregard of all the laws of God
and man than can readily be found in
other parts even of the Celestial em
pire.
pire.As
As one approaches it along the
Hwang-poo , or Wusung river , the
stream becomes crowded with anchored
vessels , and shipyard hammering and
the noises of industry fill the air with
a deafening din. Factories , and mills ,
MASSACRE IN A CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT ICHANG.
rity , Barfleur , Centurion ; Orlando ,
Aurora and Endymion , In command of
Commander C. Cradock of the Alacrity.
Small unarmored gunboats were pit
ted against the strength of eight very
powerful modern forts and batteries ,
armed with the latest guns and sup
plied with all the improvements for
facilitating rapid ( ire which make mod
ern war such a grim business. The
capture of Taku under these conditions
Is an achievement of which each nation
concerned may justly be proud. The
forts did not show much damage from
the outside , but on entering one a vivid
idea was gained as to the effect of mod
ern shell fire. The place was wrecked ,
and mutilated men and horses were
thickly strewn over the blood-stained
ground.
When one of tlio batteries on the
north side of the river had been
stormed and carried by a British , Ital
ian and Japanese landing party the
guns in it were immediately turned on
to the forts on the south side of the
river. At G A. M. a shell from this
battery entered the magazine of th'i
south fort , causing a terrific explosion ,
the shock being strongly felt by the
ships which were lying thirteen miles
off , outside the river. The explosion
decided the fortunes of the day in favor
of the allies , and only desultory firing
followed at lengthening intervals , until
all the forts were captured by 7 A. M.
and works of various kinds line the
shore , and the hum and roar of mod
ern activity dull the ear until it is dif
ficult to realize that this rushing
hustling , feverishly busy place is
Asiatic at all. But the heavy , nauseous
scent of China-bean oil , plus Incense ,
Plus 4,000 years of accumulated and
concentrated essence of abominations
are so unmistakably Oriental that they
soon reassure one.
Heard the Corn Grotu ln .
L. K. Hilliard of Iowa , who has just
arrived in Washington , declares , in all
solemnity that he had "
, "heard the corn
grow" out in the Iowa fields. He says
further : "They have corn fields in
Iowa that it is half a day's journey
for a man to walk across. Iowa corn
stalks are noted for their prodigious
height and size , as well as for the size
of the ear. An
ear of corn fifteen or
eighteen inches in length is not by
any means a curiosity , and the stalk
frequently attains the
thirkness of a
man's arm. Farmers are often com
pelled to split their corn stalks as
they would split a log into rai's ' be
fore they are able to feed them as'fod
der to their cattle. "
Oar Student Population.
The entire number of pupils in all
schools , public and
private , last year
m this country was 16,687,643 , out of
an estimated population of 72737100
There are 101,058
young men and wom
en in the universities and colleges 54 -
231 in schools of law , medicine'and
theology , 67,538 in normal schools 70 -
9oO in business schools , 23,501 in re
form schools and 07,737 in kindergar
tens.
An aid de camp of King Humbert
says he never saw the king angry but
once The aid was then at a dinner
m the role of the officer whom the
queen always kept at hand to make a
fourteenth at the table if necessary
and arose to prevent the
sitting of thir
teen when a lady was
obliged to leave
.
that the aid
keep his seat
, as the
superstition -
stition was all nonsense.
actress
they are very proud. Mm-
Orlav , m spite of her
being 95 -
95ears Of
age , recently appeared on the stage "n
a performance
specially given in
At ' the trial of Powers for complicity
<
was at one time an actor butte
IS StagG Career in ° * * ence
to the desire of his relatives.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Major Lothaire , the Belgian officer
who executed the Englishman
named
Stokes in the Congo Free State has
been dismisned from his poJXon
manager of the Congo Free
State Trad.
that