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The Tribune
F M KIMMELL Publisher
MCOOK
NEBRASKA
HEARTS
AND
MASKS
By
HAROLD MacGRATH
AuthorofTheManon the Box etc
With Drawings by Harrison Fisher
Copyright 1XS ly Bobb Merrlll Co
CHAPTER II Continued
I drew out my wallet I had ar
rived in town too late to go to the
bank and I was carrying an uncom
fortably large sum in gold bills As
I opened the wallet to extract a wall
bill I saw the stranger eying me
quietly Well well the dullest being
brightens at the sight of money and
its representatives I drew out a
small bill and handed it to the pro
prietor He took it together with
the mask and sidled over to the cash
register The bell gave forth a muf
fled sound not unlike that of a lire
bell in a snowstorm As he was
in the net of wrapping up my pur
chase I observed the silent custom
ers approach When he reached my
side he stooped and picked up some
thing from the floor With a bow
he presented it to me
I saw it drop from your pocket
he said and then when he saw what
it was bis jaw fell and he sent me
a hot penetrating glance
The ten of hearts he exclaimed
in amazement
I laughed easily
The ten of hearts he repeated
Yes four hearts on one side and
four on the other and two in the
middle which make ten in all
raillery in my tones What the deuce
was the matter with everybody to
night Marvelous card isnt it
Very strange he murmured pull
ing at his lips
And in what way is Jt strange I
asked rather curious to learn the
cause of his agitation
There are several reasons brief
ly
Ah
I have seen a mans hand pinned
to that card therefore it is grew
some
Some card sharper
He nodded Then again I lost a
small fortune because of that card
diffidently
Poker
Yes Why will a man try to fill a
royal flush The man next to me
drew the ten or hearts the very card
I needed The sight of it always un
nerves me I beg your pardon
Oh thats all right said I won
dering how many more lies he had up
his sleeve
And theres still another reason I
saw a man put six bullets into the
two central spots and an hour later
the seventh bullet snuffed the candle
of a friend of mine I am from the
west
I can sympathize with you I re
turned After all that trouble the
sight of the card must have given you
a shock
Then I stowed away the fatal card
and took up my bundle and change I
have in my own time tried to fill royal
flushes and the disappointment still
lingers with a bitter taste
The element of chance is the most
fascinating thing there is the
stranger from the west volunteered
So it is I recalled suddenly re
calling that I was soon to put my trust
in the hands of that very fickle god
dess
He nodded and returned to his revol
vers while I went out of the shop
hailed a cab and drove up town to
my apartments in Riverside It was
eight oclock by my watch I leaned
back against the cushions ruminating
There seemed to be something going
on that night the ten of hearts was
acquiring a mystifying not to say sin
ister aspect First it had alarmed the
girl in Mouquins and now this
stranger in the curio shop I was con
fident that the latter had lied in re
gard to his explanations The card
had startled him but his reasons were
altogether of transparent thinness A
man never likes to confess that he is
unlucky at cards there is a certain
pride in lying about the enormous
stakes you have won and the wonder
ful draws you have made I frowned
It was not possible for me to figure
out what his interest in the card was
If he was a westerner his buying a
pistol in a pawnshop was at once dis
robed of its mystery but the incon
sistent elegance of his evening clothes
doubled my suspicions Bah What
was the use of troubling myself with
this strangers affairs He would never
cross my path again
In reasonable time the cab drew up
in front of my apartments I dressed
donned my Capuchins robe and took
a look at myself in the pier glass
Then I unwrapped the package and
put on the mask The whole made a
capital outfit and I was vastly pleased
with myself This was going to be
such an adventure as one reads about
in the ancient numbers of Black
woods I slipped the robe and mask
into my suitcase and lighted my pipe
During great moments like this a
man gathers courage and confidence
from a pipeful of tobacco I dropped
into a comfortable Morris touched the
gas logs and fell into a pleasant
dream It was not necessary for me
to start for the Twenty third street
ferry till nine so I had something
liko three quarters of an hour to idle
away What beautiful hair
that elrl had It was like sunshine
7 tho silk of corn the yield of the har
vest And the marvelous abundance
of it It was true that she was an
artists model it was equally true
that she had committed a mild Impro
priety in addressing me as she had
but for all I could see she was a girl
of delicate breeding doubtless one of
the many whose family fortunes or
misfortunes forced them to earn a liv
ing And it is no disgrace these days
to pose as an artists model The
classic oils nowadays call only for ex
quisite creations in gowns and hats
mythology was exhausted by the old
my opera hat Outside the storm was
still active but the snow had a pronn
ising softness and there were patches
of stars to be seen here and there in
the sky By midnight there would
be a full moon I got to Jersey City
without mishap and when I took my
seat in the smoker I found I had ten
minutes to spare I bought a news-
paper and settled down to read the
days news It was fully half an hour
between Jersey City and Blankshire
in that time I could begin and finish
the paper
There never was a newspaper those
days that hadnt a war map in some
one of its columns and when I had
digested the latest phases of the war
in the far east I quite naturally
turned to the sporting page to learn
what was going on among the other
professional fighters Have I men-
masters Rome Paris London pos- j tioned to you the fact that I was all
isibly a bohemian existence in these
cities accounted for her ease in strik
ing up a conversation harmless
enough with a total stranger In
Paris and Rome it was all very well
but it is a risky thing to do in unro
mantic New York and London How
ever her uncle had been with her
a veritable fortress had 1 overstepped
the bounds of politeness
The smoke wavered and rolled
about me I took out the ten of hearts
and studied it musingly After all
should I go Would it be wise I
confess I saw goblins heads peering
Lfrom the spots and old Poe stories re
turned to me Pshaw It was only a
frolic no serious harm could possibly
come of it I would certainly go now
I had gone thus far What fool idea
the girl was bent on I hadnt the least
idea but I easily recognized the folly
upon which I was about to set sail
Heigh ho What was a lonely young
bachelor to do xt the most they
through the Spanish war the mix up
in China and that I had resigned mj
commission to acept the post of trav
eling salesman for a famous motor cat
company If I have not pardon me
You will now readily accept my reck
lessness of spirit as a matter ol
course I turned over another page
from this I learned that the fair sexj
was going back to puff sleeves again
Many an old sleeve was going to be
turned upside down
Fudge The train was rattling
through the yards Another page
crackled Ha Here was that un
known gentleman thief again up to
his old tricks It is remarkable how
difficult it is to catch a thief who has
good looks and shrewd brains I had
already written him down as a quasi
swell For months the police had
been finding clues but they had never
laid eyes on the rascal The famous
llaggerty of the New York detective
force a man whom not a dozen New
Took a Look at Myself in the Glass
y -
Carry Much Freight
One of the largest lake steamships
can carry about as much freight as
four of the most powerful locomotives
can pull in four trains on a level rail
road of the best construction
MENACETO ALL
Giant Mail Order Concerns
Are Sapping Country of
Its Wealth
SMALLER TOWNS CRUSHED
By Assisting in the Centralization
of Wealth Patrons of These In
stitutions Contribute to Their
Own Injury
Copyright 1905 by Alfred C Clark
Every year millions upon millions of
dollars find their way from the towns
villages and rural districts of the coun
try to the coffers of the mail order
houses in the cities and go to the up
building of enormous institutions in
the centers of population Naturally
jthe sources from which the contribu
tions are made suffer accordingly
i Figures ever tell a better story than
words Here are figures which tell
a story so stupendous that its full sig
nificance cannot be grasped in a mo
ment but the mere sight of which are
awe inspiring
In the year 1903 two mail order
houses located in Chicago did a busi
ness amounting in round numbers to
80000000 In ehe year 1904 these
same concerns did a business of about
G2000000 a gain of 18000000 or
nearly 30 per cent in a single year be
ing thus exhibited
These figures represent the sale last
year of one dollars worth of merchan
dise for every man woman and child
in the country by two catalogue houses
alone and those operating from the
same central point Dozens more of
varying size and importance are oper
ating all over the country from coast
The Man Behind the Plow last year
number of millions which found
to coast and from border to border
A fact not generally known is that
hundreds of concerns throughout the
country which now are doing business
through the regular trade channels are
awaiting only a parcels post law to
unloose literature already prepared
in many instances which would pro
ject them into the mail order field and
this does not take into account the
hundreds and perhaps thousands of
entirely new mail order concerns
could only ask me to vacate the J York policemen knew by sight and no wkjcn inevitably would spring into ex
ises should criminals behind bars
I be so unfortunate as to
be discovered In that event Teddy
Hamilton would come to my assist
ance She was really beau
tiful And then I awoke to the alarm
ing fact that the girl in Mouquins
was interesting me more than I liked
to confess
Presently through the haze of
smoke I saw a patch of white paper
on the rug in front of the pier glass
I arose and picked it up
Wamh Hawthorne -
rnsTnMT Slue Domino
Time j q P M
Returned
FRIARDS
I stared at the bit of pasteboard
fascinated How the deuce had this
got into my apartments A Blue
Domino Ha I had it Old Friard
had accidentally done up the ticket
with my mask A Blue Domino evi
dently I wasnt the only person who
was going to a masquerade Without
doubt this fair domoiselle was about
to join the festivities of some shop
girls masquerade where money and
pedigree are inconsequent things and
where everybody is either a loidy or
a gent Persons who went to my
kind of masquerade did not rent their
costumes they laid out extravagant
sums to the fashionable modiste and
tailor and had them made to order
A Blue Domino humph
It was too late to take the ticket
back to Friards so I determined to
mail it to him in the morning
It was now high time for me to be
off I got into my coat and took down
save those
earthly and eternal was now giving
his whole attention to the affair
Some gaily dressed lady at a ball
would suddenly find she had lost some
valuable gems and that would be the
end of the affair for none ever re
covered her gems
The gentleman thief was still at
large and had gathered to his ac
count a comfortable fortune that is I
if he were not already rich and simply
a kleptomaniac No doubt he owned
one of my racing cars and was clear
of the delinquent lists at his clubs I
dismissed all thought of him threw
aside the paper and mentally figured
out my commissions on sales during
the past month It was a handsome
figure large enough for two This
pastime too soon failed to interest
me I gazed out of the window and
watched the dark shapes as they sped
past
I saw the girls face from time td
time What a fool I had been not to
ask her name She could easily have
refused and yet as easily have grant
ed the request At any rate I had
permitted the chance to slip out of
my reach which was exceedingly
careless on my part Perhaps they
she and her uncle frequently dined
at Mouquins I determined to haunt
the place and learn It would be
easy enough to address her the next
time we met Besides she would be
curious to know all about the ten of
hearts and the desperate adventure
upon which I told her I was about to
embark Many a fine friendship has
grown out of smaller things
To be Continued
istence under such friendly auspices
I The two Chicago institutions re
ferred to already occupying immense
buildings found themselves cramped
or room One of them expended not
less than 1000000 and probably more
for a new home The other lately has
secured a new location and also will
expend at least 1000000 for an im
mense new building
Anyone who will reflect even casual
ly on the subject must become im
pressed that the influence of the mail
order business is toward the central
ization of wealth and how enormous
a part it is playing in this direction
will be understood from a second
pie as a whole snail bo prosperous
Such general prosperity as may oxist
cannot be rotained if the institutions
of tho already larger and wealthier
communities are to continue to bo
built up by contributions that should
be spent at homo from the thousands
of smaller communities
The need of tho country a desper
ate need upon which the welfare of
the individual depends is for the
upbuilding and continued progress of
the smaller communities so that the
wealth of the country may be distrib
uted over the entire country and not
congested and controlled in largo
amounts in a comparative few centers
of population
Therefore the man who sends away
from his own community money which
he might have spent at homo and per
mitted a fair profit to the home mer
chant to be retained there for the
benefit of the community is injuring
his community and thereby the pros
pects for his own future prosperity
In a large number of instances he is
doing more than this Unwittingly or
unthinkingly perhaps he is violating
his own principles of right and justice
for at the expense of his own com
munlty he is needlessly contributing
profits to the capitalistic combinations
which he continuously cries out are
menacing the country
The mail order giants direct theii
energies particularly toward the peo
ple of the smaller towns and the agri
cultural districts In hundreds of
thousands of the homes of these the
catalogue of the mail order house is as
regularly received as the home paper
The man on the farm last year sent a
very large portion of eighty millions
of dollars to two of these institutions
in one community alone
In all sincerity we ask Admitting
purely for the sake of the argument
that the farmer or the resident of the
small community can save a few dol
lars on some of his purchases or even
moW St f
contributed a large portion of the vase
their way into the coffers of the mail
order houses The smaller comm unities to which it belonged and which
were thus deprived of it suffered accordingly
that he could do so on all of them can
he afford to continue to impoverish
his own community upon which his
own prosperity the very value of his
lane1 iepends
If he will ask himself this question
and consider it soberly and fairly iD
all of its phases including the manj
which cannot be touched upon withic
the limits of a single article we think
his answer must be that he cannot
The wonderful productivity of this
country has been sufficient to over
come the various adverse economic in
fluences which have existed during the
period of years in which the mail or
der business has accomplished its
greatest growth Everyone has been
getting along pretty well While the
increasing flow of golden millions from
their source in the land of the coun
try to the already great centers ol
money and population has held back
the growth of the smaller communi
ties it has not yet occasioned a great
disaster The test will come with the
first pinch of hard times a condi
tion which no country ever has been
able to escape at recurring intervals
When this time arrives those corn-
glance at the figures which have been munities will best stand the test which
rii Tirveo i have best conserved and husbanded
It is due to himself that every patron
of the mail order house should inquire
honestly of himself what the final out
come is to be if the mail order busi
ness shall continue to make the great
strides which have marked its prog
ress during the last half decade
It Is useless to repeat the well worn
argument of the mail order concerns
that they are selling goods enough
more cheaply than the merchants in
the regular channels of trade to leave
their customers more money than
ever to devote to home enterprises
and Institutions The fallacy of this
statement has been proved over and
over again by actual and minute com
parisons of goods as to their quality
and prices Te refute it finally and
indisputably by a simpler and more
direct method it Is necessary only to
ask the reliable business men of any
of the smaller communities to show
the evidence from their books and ac
counts of the harm the mail order
habit is doing their communities
It is a truth as old as the hills and
as certain as the rising and setting of
the sun that no country or section of
Z country can prosper unless the
their resources
JOHN S POTTS
The Puzzle Solved
Some time ago a merchant in Mar
blehead Mass was discovered in his
store at a very late hour and in reply
ing to inquiries he said
My confidential clery is missing
And what of it
Why Im looking over tho books
but they seem to be all right
Have you coimted your cash
Yes and it is correct to a dollar
Looked over your bank book
I have and it is satisfactory
Thats the puzzle you see He3
skipped and I cant make out what
for
Been home since noon
No
Perhaps hes eloped with your
wife
He hurried home and found this to
be the case
BALM OF SCRIPTURE
HEALING PROPERTIES OF PINE
KNOWN TO ANCIENTS
Oil of the Vhlte Pine Tree Used Suc
cessfully by Physicians in Treat
ing Consumptive Patients
Tho Oil of the Pine Tree is sup
posed to be the balm of Scripture It
contains great medicinal properties
and was regarded with the utmost
esteem by the ancients and to the
present day is peculiarly prized by
the people of the East
A noted authority on diseases of the
throat and lungs who established a
camp for consumptives In the Pine
Woods of Maine says that his entire
treatment consisted of fresh air
nourishing food and the Pure Virgin
Oil of the White Pine Trees mixed
with Whisky and Glycerine in the fol
lowing proportions
Virgin Oil of Pine Pure oz
Glycerine 2
Good Whisky S
Used in teaspoonfnl doses every four
hours
It is claimed the above mixture will
heal and strengthen the lungs break
up a cold in twenty four hours and
cure any cough that is curable
The ingredients can be secured
from any good prescription druggist
at small cost and can be easily mixed
in your own home
Virgin Oil of Pine Pure is put up
only in half ounce vials for dispensing
Each vial is securely sealed in a
round Avooden case with engraved
wrapper with the name Virgin Oil
of Pine Pure prepared only by
Leach Chemical Co Cincinnati O
plainly printed thereon There are
many rank imitations of Virgin Oil
of Pine Pure which are put out
under various names such as Con
centrated Oil of Pine Pine Bal
sam etc Never accept these as a
substitute for the Pure Virgin Oil of
Pine as they will invariably produce
nausea and never effect the desired
result
People who are fond of music usu
ally draw the line at amateur con
certs
Lewis Single Binder straight 5c cigar
Made of extra quality tobacco Your
dealer or Lewis Factory Peoria III
Some day a long suffering genius
will invent a safety razor with a pho
nograph attachment then it will bs
good by for the garrulous barber
TO CUIEK A IN ONKBAT
Tato JjAXATIVK UIlOMOQisinrm Tablet
Clsw refund mone if it to cure
GltOVlb bici nireis or carb bux iSc
Si W
Choose always the way that seeraa
the best however rough it may be
custom will soon render it easy and
agreeable Pythagoras
Scrupulous Senator
Senator Spooner of Wisconsin sur
prised some members of congress with
whom he was chatting the other day
by announcing that he has never taken
part in a congressional junket of any
kind I never shall undertake such a
journey at government expense he
said There is something very objec
tionable to me in members of congress
going on such expeditions For tho
same reason that made him sidestep
a congressional junket Senator
Spooner said he had never been
shaved in the senate barber shop
which is maintained at Uncle Sanas
expense
AWFUL EFFECT OF ECZEMA
Covered vith Yellow Sores Grew
Worse Parents Discouraged Cu
ticura Drove Sores Away
Our little girl one year anil a
half old was taken with eczema or
that was what the doctor called it
We called in the family doctor and
he gave some tablets and said she
would be all right in a few days
The eczema grew worse and wo
called in doctor No 2 He said she
was teething as soon as the teeth
were through she -would be all right
But she still grew worse Doctor
No 3 said it was eczema By this
time sho was nothing but a yellow
greenish sore Well he said he could
help her so we let him try it about
a week One morning we discovered
a little yellow pimple on one of
her eyes Of course we phoned for
doctor No 3 He came over and
looked her over and said that he
could not do anything more for
her that we had better take her
to some eye specialist since it was
an ulcer So we went to Oswego to
doctor No 4 and he said the eye
sight was gone but that he could
help it We thought we would try
doctor No 5 Well that proved the
same only he charged 10 more than
doctor No 4 We were nearly dis
couraged I saw one of the Cuti
cura advertisements in the paper and
thought we would try the Cuticura
Treatment so I went and purchased
a set of Cuticura Remedies which
cost me 1 and in three days our
daughter who had been sick about
eight months showed great improve
ment and in one week all sores had
disappeared Of course it could not
restore the eyesight but if we had
used Cuticura in time I am confident
that it would have saved the eye- We
think there is no remedy so good for
any skin trouble or impurity of the
blood as Cuticura Mr and Mrs Frank
Abbott R F D No 9 Fulton Os
wego C N Y August 17 lSOS
wise uavia Guard within vourself that treasure
Wife Why do you always sit at J kinness Know how to give without
the piano David You know you hesitation how to lose without regret
cant play a note David Neither how to acquire without meannes3
can anyone else while I am here J George Sand
I
k
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