7 h W fc 1 1 V V r V K 8 B R A kV T N V The Diamond Bracelet By MRS HENRY WOOD Author of Erxst Lynne Etc CHAPTER III Alice left her sister standing in the room and went upstairs But she was more than ono minute away she was three or four for she could not at first lay Tier hand upon the letter When ahe returned her sster advanced to her from the back drawing room the fold ing doors between the two rooms be ing as before wide open What a flno collection of bracelets Alice she exclaimed as she tcok the letter Are they spread out for show No laughed Alice Lady Sarah Is going to the opera and will be in a hurry when she comes up irom dinner She asked me to bring them all down as she had not decided which to wear I Hke to dress before dinner on my opera nights Oh so of course does Lady Sarah returned Alice as her sister descend ed the stairs but she said it was too hot to dine in bracelets It Is fearfully hot Good by Alice Dont ring I will let myself out Alice returned to the front room and looked from the window wonder ing whether her sister had come In her carriage No A trifl ng evening breeze was arising and beginning to move the curtains about Gentle as it was it was grateful and Alice sat down In It In a very few minutes the ladies came up from dinner Have you the bracelets Alice Oh I see Lady Sarah went to the back room as she spoke and stood before the table looking at the bracelets Alice rose to fellow her when Lady Prances Chenevix caught her by the arm and began to speak In a covert whisper Who was that at the door just now It was a visitors knock Do you know Alice every hour since we came to town I have fancied Gsrard might be calling In the country he could not get to us but here Was it Gerard r It it was my sister carelessly an swered Alice It was not a true an swer for her sister had not knocked hut it was the readiest that rose to her lips and she wished to escape the questioning Only your sister sighed Frances turning to the window with a gesture of disappointment Which have you put on inquired Alice going toward Lady Sarah These loose fancy things they are the coolest I really am so hot the soup was that favorite soup ot the iiels all capsicums and cayenne and the wine was hot there had been some mistake about the ice Hill trusted the new man and he did not understand it it was all hot together What the house will be- tonight I dread to think of Lady Sarah whilst she spoke had been putting the bracelets into the jewel box with very little care I had better put them straight re marked Alice when she reached the table Do not trouble returned Lady Sarah shutting down the lid You are looking flushed and feverish Alice you were wrong to walk so far today Hughes will set them to rights tomor row morning they will do till then Lock them up and take possession of the key Alice did as she was bid She locked the case and put the key into her pocket Here is the carriage exclaimed Lady Frances Are we to wait for coffee Coffee In this heat retorted Lady Sarah it would be adding fuel to fire We will have some tea when we return Alice you must make tea for the colonel he will not come out without it He thinks this weather just what it ought to be rather cold If anything Alice had taken the bracelet box in her hands as Lady Sarah spoke and when they departed carried it upstairs to its place in Lady Sarahs fcsdroom The colonel speedily rose from the table for his wife had laid her com mands on him to join them early Alice helped him to his tea and as soon as he was gone she went up stairs to bed To bed but not to sleep Tired as she was and exhausted in frame sleep would jaot come to her She was living over again her interview with Gerard Hope She could not in her conscious heart affect to misunder stand his implied meaning that she had been the cause of his rejecting the union proposed to him It diffused a strange rapture within her and though she had not perhaps been wholly blind and unconscious during the period of Gerards stay with them ehe now kept repeating the words Can it be can it be It certainly was so Love plays strange pranks Thus was Gerard Hope heir to fabulous wealth con sciously proud of his handsome per son his herculean strength his tow ering form called home and planted down by the1 side of a pretty and noble lady on purpose that he might fall in love with her Lady Frances Chenevix And yet the well laid project failed failed because there happened to be another at that young ladys side a sad quiet feeble framed girl whose very weakness may have seemed to place her beyond the pale of mans love But love thrives by contrasts and it was the feeble girl who won the love of the strong man Yes the knowledge diffused a strange rapture wlthn her as one lay there at night and she may be ex cused if for a brief period she gave range to the sweet fantasies It con- Jured up For a brief period only too soon the depressing consciousness returned to her that these thoughts of earthly happiness must be subdued for she with her confirmed ailments and conspicuous weakness must nev er hope to marry as did other women She had long known her mother had prepared her for it that one so af flicted and frail as she whose tenure of existence was likely to be short oughtnot to become a wife and It had been her earnest hope to pass through life unloving and unloved She had striven to arm herself against the dan ger against being thrown into the perils of temptation Alas it had come insidiously upon her all her care had been set at naught and she knew that she loved Gerard Hope with a deep and fervent love It is but an other cross she sighed another burden to surmount and subdue and I will set myself from this night to the task I have been a coward shrinking from self examination but now that Gerard has spoken out I can deceive myself no longer I wish he had spoken more freely that I might have told him it was useless CHAPTER IV It was only towards morning that Alice dropped asleep the consequence was that long after her usual hour for rising she was still sleeping The opening of her door by some one awoke her it was Lady Sarahs maid Why miss are you not up Well I never I wanted the key of the jewel box but Id have waited if I had known What do you say you want re turned Alice whose ideas were con fused as is often the case on being suddenly awakened The key of the bracelet box if you please The key repeated Alice Oh I remember she added her recollec tion returning to her Be at the trou ble will you Hughes to take it out of my pocket it is on that chair under my clothes The servant came to the pocket and speedily found the key Are you worse than usual miss this morn ing asked she or have you over slept yourself I have overslept myself Is it late Between nine and ten My lady is up and at breakfast with master and Lady Frances Alice rose the instant the maid had left the room arid made haste to dress vexed with herself for sleeping so long She was nearly ready when Hughes came in again If ever I saw such a confusion as that jewel box was in cried she in as pert and grumbling a tone as she dared to use The bracelets were thrown together without law or order just as if they had been so much glass and tinsel from the Lowther Arcade It was Lady Sarah did it replied Alice I would have put them straight but she said leave it for you I thought she might prefer that you should do it so did not press it Of course her ladyship is aware theres nobody but myself knows how they are placed in it returned Hughes consequently I could go to that or to the other jewel box in the dark and take out any one thing my lady wanted without disturbing the rest I have observed that you have a gift of order remarked Alice with a smile It is very useful to those who possess It and saves them from trouble and confusion So it do miss said Hughes But I came to ask you for the diamond bracelet The diamond bracelet echoed Alice What diamond bracelet What do you mean It is not in the box miss The diamond bracelets are both in the box rejoined Alice The old one is there not the new one I thought- you might have taken it out to show some One or to look at yourself miss for Im sure its a sight for pleasant eyes I can assure you it is in the case said Alice All are there except what Lady Sarah had on You must have overlooked it I must be a great donkey if I have grumbled the girl It must be at the very bottom amongst the cot ton she soliloquized as she returned to Lady Sarahs apartments and I have just got to take every individual article out to get at it This comes of giving up ones keys to other fols Alive hastened down begging par don for her late appearance It was readily accorded Alices office in the house was nearly a sinecure when she had first entered upon it Lady Sarah was ill and required some one to sit with and read to her but now that she was well again Alice had lit tle to do Breakfapt was scarcely over when Alice was called into the room Hughes stood outside Miss said she with a long face the diamond braceletis not in the box I thought I could not be mis taken But it must be in the box said Alice But it is NOT persisted Hughes emphasizing the negative cant you believe mo mles Whats gone Tith It Alice Beaton looked at Hughes with a puzzled look She was thinking matters over It sooned cleared again Then Lady Sarah must have kept it out when she put In the rest It was shewho returned themto the case I did not Perhaps she wore It last night No miss that she didnt She wore only those two I saw what she had on Interrupt ed Alice But she might also have put on the other without my noticing Then she must have kept it out for -some purpose I will ask her Walt here an Instant Hughes for of course you will like to be at a cer tainty Thats cool thought Hughes as Alice went into the breakfast room and the colonel came out of it with the newspaper I should have said it was somebody else who would like to be at a certainty instead of me Thank goodness it wasnt in my charge last night if anything dread ful has came to pass JMy lady dont keep out her bracelets for sport Miss Seaton has left the key about thats what she has done and its hard to say who hasnt been at it I knew the box had been ransacked over Lady Sarah said Alice did you wear your new diamond bracelet last night No Then did you put it into the box with the others No languidly repeated Ladj Sarah attaching no importance to the question After you had chosen the bracelets you wished to wear you put the oth ers into the box yourself exclaimed Alice Did you put in the new one the diamond or keep it out The diamond was not there Alice stood confounded It was on the table at the back of all Lady Sarah she presently said next the window I tell you Alice it was not there I dont know that I should have worn it if it had been but I certainly looked for it Not seeing it I supposed you had not put it out and did not care sufficiently to ask for it Alice felt in a mesh of perplexity curious thoughts- and very unpleas ing ones were beginning to come over her But Lady Sarah the bracelet was indeed there when you went to the table she urged I put it there I can assure you that you labor under a mistake as to its being there when I came up from dinner anr swered Lady Sarah Why do you ask Hughes has come to say it is not in the case She is outside waiting Outside now Hughes called out her ladyship and Hughes came in Whats this about my bracelet I dont know my lady The brace 1 let is not in its place so I asked Miss Seaton She thought your ladyship might have kept it out yesterday even ing I have neither touched it nor sees it said Lady Sarah Then we have had thieves at work It must be in the box Hughes spoke up Alice I laid it out on the table and it is impossible that thieves as you phrase it could have come there Oh yes it is in the box no doubt said her ladyship somewhat crossly for she disliked to be troubled espe cially in hot weather You have not searched properly Hughes My lady answered Hughes I can trust my hands and I can trust my eyes and they have all four been into every hole and crevice of the box Lady Frances Chenevix laid down the Moi ning Post and advanced Is the bracelet really -lost To be continued NAPLES BREAKFAST VENDORS They Slake tho Morning Air Vocal -with Their CaUs The air of Naples becomes vocal with the characteristic calls of the breakfast vendors Hot hot and big as apples shout the sellers of peeled chestnuts These are boiled in huge caldrons in a reddish broth of their own making which Is further sea soned with laurel leaves and caraway seed A cents worth of the steaming kernels each of which is as big as a large English walnut is a nourishing diet that warms the fingers and com forts the stomach of troops of children on their way to school or rather to the co operative creches or nurseries where one poor woman for a cent a day each takes care of the babies of a score of others who must leave them behind to earn the days living Meantime dignified cows pass by with measured tread and slow shak ing their heavy bells and followed by their beguiled offspring whose busi ness it is to make them give down their milk at the opportune moment and to let the milkman take it Noth ing can be funnier than this struggle between the legitimate owner the calf and the wily subtracter of the lacteal treasure Although tied to his mothers horns with a rope long enough to reach and even lick her hag but not to get satisfaction out of it his bovine wit is often sharp enough to give the slip to the noose and elude the vigilance of the keep er occupied perhaps for the moment in quarreling with some saucy maid servant over the quantity of milk to be paid for The scene which ensues is worthy of the cinematograph As a sequel calfys tail is nearly pulled off but he has spoiled the oppressors game for one day anyhow The Cen tury Call a man a donkey and he 5s apt to kick DELIBERATE ACTION PRESIDENT NOT DISPOSED TO RUSH RECIPROCITY Practical Detail nnd Results to Bo Carefully Considered lleforo Any of the Kaason Treaties Aro Resubmitted to tho Senate for Ratification Free Trade and other newspapers which so glibly misinterpret the late presidents attitude with regard to for eign trade extension and who so con Jidently count upon President Roose velt to make good their misinterpreta tion would do well to pattern after the Intelligent reasonableness of the fol lowing statement by the Washington correspondent of the New York Times There will be no precipitate action L by the president on the subject of reci procity The agitation on this subject in some of the newspapers with asser tions bolstered up by quotations from Mr Roosevelts public assurances whether intended to help tho cause of reciprocity or to prejudice it -has no warrant further than that Intended in the promise of tho president to adhere to the policies of McKinley The sub ject is a large and complica ed one and not even Mr McKinley after years of experience was prepared to say just what the details of a reciprocity treaty with a foreign country should be A reciprocity policy cannot be defined in any but the most general terms by the executive and with the legislative branch must rest the task of providing the details It is well and truly said that the sub ject of reciprocity i3 a large and com plicated one so large and so compli cated that not even President McKin ley with his wealth of practical knowledge in tariff matters could or did claim to have mastered it Unlike that rather numerous brood of quick thinkers who imagine they have solved the intricate problem after having given It a cursory glance and who dont trouble themselves about the working details Mr McKinley consid ered it to be his duty to go into the reciprocity question deeply and thor oughly He had previously turned the matter over to hands and heads which he supposed were competent only to find out that they were bunglers and botchers So in the last few months of his life he had devoted himself studiously to the examination of reci procity alike on general principles and in detailed workings The result of his painstaking investigation was the Buffalo speech in which he de clared for the enlargement of our for eign trade through a scheme of re ciprocal concessions such as should not curtail domestic production In his judgment reciprocity that should increase the imports- of articles which we ourselves produce was not reci procity at all it was free trade in dis guise It was this deep seated conviction which animated the statement by President McKinley to a close and con fidential friend in Washington on the afternoon of June 6 1901 to the effect that he the president favored only that plan of reciprocity sanctioned by the Republican national platform of 1900 namely reciprocity in articles which we do not ourselves produce and that he was opposed to any scheme of trade extension that would take from a single American workman his job There is precisely where William McKinley stood at the end of the first week in June at a time when the quick thinkers had him all thought out as ready to abandon protection and that is where he stood when at Buffalo in the first week of September he made his last great speech Hence we say the over night theo rists would do well to think again once or twice before they attribute to the dead president and to his successor in office views and purposes regarding reciprocity not entertained by either Mr McKinley or Mr Roosevelt The policy of McKinley is to be continued absolutely unbroken by Roosevelt The country has this pledge recorded as it were over McKinleys coffin Of its conscientious fulfillment by President Roosevelt there is no possible doubt There will be as the Times Wash ington correspondent states no pre cipitate action by the president on the subject of reciprocity That is the foolish treaties negotiated by Commis sioner Kasson will not again be laid before the senate for ratification Other treaties there may be but if so they will be treaties framed in accord with the spirit of American prosperity and progress and not free trade folly un der the mask of so called reciprocity WAGES AND LIVING Foreign Work People Cannot Live More Cheaply Than Americans The old stock argument of the free traders used to be when in spite of their squirming they were brought face to face with the fact that wages were higher in this country than abroad that although wages were higher the cost of living was higher too and that therefore workmen in this country were at no advantage and that free trade while it would lower wages would at the same time lower the cost of living This argument has fallen somewhat into innocuous deseutude of late yet occasionally it stalks abroad like Banquos ghost It is interesting therefore to note that Mr Jacob Weidmann a prominent silk dyer of Paterson N X states that while the wages of the workmen em ployed in hs mill at Paterson are from two to four times as large as the wages paid to similar labor in Switzerland which is Mr Weidmanns native coun try the cost or living is less In zcrland a good silk dyer Is paid 4 a wek in this country the poorest dyers get 9 per week The best dyers In Switzerland are paid from 35 to 8 per week while in this country tho best dyers earn from 515 to 30 per week The3e are actual figures given by a man who knows- There is no guess work about them neither is there any guesswork about Mr Weldmanns statement concerning the comparative cost of living for as he states some of the men employed in hlff mills who have come to this country from abroad have kept records and have found that they can live more cheaply In this country When free trade is forced to meet facts it always gets the worst of things GERMANYS TARIFF EXPERIMENT A high German official said to the correspondent of tho Associated Press in Berlin that foreign newspapers need not get oxcited over the new tar iff the text of which has just been published since nothing has been de cided the bill is only a basis for dis cussion It has been eminently suc cessful in provoking discussion at any rate In this country the press com ment has been temperate enough the verdict being that the tariff seems dis advantageous to tne Interests of indus trial Germany But in Russia and Aus tria against which the new tariff operates more severely than against the United States strong resentment is shown by all newspapers It will be remembered that a few weeks ago there was talk of a great European combination against the United States The first aggressive movement made by Germany hits her neighbors harder than it does America and furnishes an instructive commentary on the futility of the suggestion of a European anti American Zollverein Buffalo Com mercial A VERY BAD CHILD A QUESTION OF SUGAR The consumption of sugar last year in the United States averaged about 57 pounds for each inhabitant which at 5Y cents a pound would cost 342 apiece or 1610 for a family of five persons If the duty were removed and the Sugar Trust allowed tne people to get the benefit thereof the saving would be 114 for each person or 570 for a family of five for a whole year There is neither certainty nor probability that the saving would be as great as that but there is almost a certainty that whatever reduction should be allowed would be made for the purpose of breaking down the domestic beet su gar industry which is now the source oi wages and income to 1600000 per sons Would the saving secured by remov ing the duty on raw sugar pay for en dangering the life of so important an American industry and one which in a few years promises to supply all the sugar needed and at lower prices than ever before known What intelligent man would consent to be bribed with 570 to bring about a possible disaster to so useful and beneficial a business Mischief for Idle Hands When men or women have plenty of serious work to do they dont potter with trifles It is the idle who make mountains of molehills If the Demo cratic party had any great or true aim for the real good of the country it would not bother itself and harass the voters over such a petty and utterly useless issue as the repeal of duties which it claims are outgrown and therefore inoperative Its patron saint for such enterprises is Don Quixote The party can only make itself re spectable by tackling the main ques tion and fighting protection squarely on its merits In doing so it may ex pose its blindness to a thousand obvi ous facts nnd its obtuseness to sound reason but it does thereby escape con tempt The German Tariff All the commercial barriers that could be raised against other lands would not enable Germany to raise all her breadstuff s During the year end ing June 30 1899 Germany imported from the United States 290710196 pounds of hog products alone much greater than we sold to any other na tion except the United Kingdom It is a safe assumption therefore that the tariff law that is now before the fed eral council and which will be passed for the agrarians- Is not the same schedule of impost duties that will go go into effect on January 1 1904 Chi cago Record Herald Producers and Consumers Like other theorists free traders have ever tried to separate producer and consumers into distinct classes with contrary interests How futile In our day and country the producers are the consumers and the more thej produce the more they consume TONT MBH II I S A VIOLATOR Being So Declared hj Secretary Boym of the State Banking Board - NEEDS LICENSE f OR ITS BUSINESS Lav Require thut Same He Secured Prom State Banking Hoard A roar of Inspection of Irrigation Other Ne braska AIntter LINCOLN Oct 30 Secretary Royso of the state banking board has notified the state representative of the Tontine Loan and Security company of St Louis that he has violated the Nebras ka building and loan association Jaw by conducting an investment business In this state without the necessary license from the banking board Mr Royses attention was called to the operations of this company and an in vestigation brought this result He ruled that the company by the nature of the business It seeks to transact comes under the jurisdiction of his de partment to be governed according to the provisions of the building and loan association law This law requires companies to procure licenses from the state banking board No license hav ing been issued to the St Louis Ton tine company it therefore has no legal right to do business in this state The Nebraska manager for tho com pany Is A C Maskedal of this city and his assistants arc F E Beeman of Omaha and I W Withrow of Lincoln The prospectus details the plan of in vestment as follows Under our plan you can -arrange to borrow from 100 to 10000 the agent taking your application for any amount you desire to borrow from 100 to 10000 Dy paying at the rate of 50 cents per 100 loan value all monthly installments to be paid before the 20th of each month After twelve consecu tive payments of 50 cents per 100 you are legible to a loan In cash equal to the face of our certificate as soon as there is sufficient money paid Intotho trust fund to make the loan and from the date the loan Is made you are re quired to pay not less than 80 cents per month which includes Interest on each 100 borrowed until all the money has been repaid to the company at the rate of 3 per cent simple interest for average time or 1 for all the time Inspect Irrigation Works LINCOLN Neb Oct 30 State En gineer Dobson and Assistant Forbes left for Lexington where they will begin a tour of inspection of irriga tion works along the Platte river Be tween Lexington and the states west ern border line there arc numerous irrigation canals in course of con struction and Mr Dobson and his as sistant will visit many of them before returning to Lincoln An examina tion of the five miles pipe line of the Culbertson Irrigation and Water Pow er company which extends into Hitchcock county was inspected last week and found to be in good condi tion Plans for Chinese Reform WASHINGTON D C Oct 29 The State department has received from Minister Conger at Pekin a translation of a series of preliminary regulations adopted by the recently organized Chi nese board of national administration charged with the reorganization ot that government on modern and effi cient lines The sentiments expressed are conservative says Mr Conger and it is made plain that there is no in tention to imitate the too brisk place set by the reformers of 1898 but in sated to study western methods Youth Killed by JUlghtntae LINCOLN Neb Oct 30 William Stiegelmann 18 years of age was struck by lightning and instantly kill ed while attending to the stock in his fathers barn at Princeton this county during a sharp thunder show er The young man was found shortly after the bolt descended lying beside a horse which had also been killed by the same shock Washington Countys Two Victories BLAIR Neb Oct 30 This county has won a victory in each of the two cases before the supreme court at St Louis one being an equity case and the other a law case both growing out of the Washington county bond case Bank Vault Too Strong JACKSON Neb Oct 30 Burglars entered the Bank of Dakota County by breaking a window but could not open the steel vault The damage was small There was 5 in the stamp drawer ahd it was taken Record Breaker on Sheep SOUTH OMAHA Neb Oct 30 The largest sheep receipts since the establishment of the stock yards in this city were registered yesterday There were seventy three cars con taining 19865 head of sheep Tho best previous record was October 10 1900 when 17628 head of sheep were received in a single day The most important feature of this record break ing event however was the extraor dinary demand H i i t m