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9
SYNOPSIS.
Profwwor Dramnnd of the I'onk olMrrvu
tory crumb a Brent mnMlloti tliroiiKhout
llio country by HnnotincliiK tlmt wlmt up
Iiearfl to bo a xntelllte If HpproiichlMK t
torrlflc spcul. Uentnictlon or tlm onrtli Ih
feared. Patilr provnlln oVerywhore TIip
Kntolllto barely iiiImdoh the earth. The ut
noci)lierlo llnturbanco hnoclta people un
connclnuo, but does no tlnmaBo. A leaf
bearing a cnlmllHtlc dfulKM lluttrr down
nraotiK tho Biiot at u lawn party. It Is
Identical In defllun with i curloim orna
ment worn by Oorln riiltnn. A hideous
man-like bfllriff with Iiiiku wlnK dcBcends
In tho midst of the Kucata H notlcos
Doris' ornament nnd starts toward her.
Tho men fear lio Intends some harm to
Doris and a fierce battle ensues. In which
Tolllver and Mnrch. suitors of Doris, and
Professor Dennmnd aro Injured. Tho lly
Ins man Is wounded by a Bitot from Tol
llver. hut excnpcB by (lylitK away. A far
mor reports thnt the llylnK man carried
on Ids yoittiK daughter. People ovory
where nre terror-stricken at tho possi
bilities for evil possessed by tho tnon
Mer. The Rovernor offers a reward of
$000,000 for his capture, dead or alive. Put
nam Is the first of tho aviators to re
spond. After a thrilling cltojte In the air
he Is thrown from ills inacltlno by tho
Ilylntf man and killed. North and acore
of other aviators arrive. Tho To
ward Is Increased to a million. Tho nvla
tors And themselves outdistanced and out
maneuvered by tho flylnc man. Artillery
proves futile.
CHAPTER IX. Continued.
"You pup," gritted North from his
chair. All undisturbed, Mprch con
tinued maliciously:
"Yes, ho Id greatly taken. Says you
remind him of tho girl ho is engaged
to nnd wants to tell you about her."
Ah!" breathed tho girl In evident
relief. "I shall be moro than pleased
to listen. Also, I want to hear about
tho caBO from him. You must bring
hint up." '
"I will do so with all tho resigna
tion and misgivings of which I nm
capable. lie Is going back to the field
right now and r have decided to ac
company him and show him your
houEo. Ho says he will stop In for
a few moments on his way with your
permission."
'Liar," hissed the listener. "Dut 1
will, Just to spite you. You can't bluff
mo that way."
Doris Rccmod genuinely pleased at
tho announcement. "Dy all moans
come both of you. And If you hurry
you will bo Just In time for lunch
light' and cold, you know Just a few
mouthfuls and n cup of tea. 1 am
going to ring off now before you havo
u chance to decline. Ooodby." The
rccolver clicked In tho hook and sho
was gone. March turned to his friend
with a grin.
"Wo aro elected to go at onco and
have a fow bites of lunch before you
pass on to your machlno. She hung
up the receiver on mo boforo I got n
chanco to consult you about It. So 1
eupposo wo might as well bo on our
way." Ho bunged down hia desk, put
on his hat and left tho ofllcc,
DorlB mot them at tho door frankly
pleased to boo them, wondorfully
tempting In her soft morning gown
that floated about hor light as a sum
mer cloud. Exceedingly dainty and
prqtty sho wns, but Ainu was quick
to notlco tho faint, dark half circlos
that underBcored her eyes and which
bespoko another night of HI rest She
led them directly to tho light dining
roohi with Us plain, solid oak furni
ture and scntcd them at tho tabla at
once. "I wns afraid that Mr. North
might bo Impatient to got back to his
mnohtno, so I thought wo would have
our luncheon first and chat after
wards that ho might not feel that 1
was delaying matters. I realize that
ho feola that ho should bo prepared
to leavo upon a minute's notlco at all
times. Anyway we can talk moro or
leas as wo nibble. Do you know"
nho turned the tea with a wrist bo
rounded and altogether fasclnntlnc
that they watched It as If Bpollbound
"that I imagine I feel somowhat as
tho southern women did during our
Civil war when tholr men folks wdro
marching away todefond tholr homos?
All houses woro opon to tho soldiers
then, and while you gentlomen of the
air aro hero risking your lives lor our
protection, wc women should bo hap
py to do ovorythlng In our power to
make your Btay as pleasant uh pob
hlblo. I want you to como strnlght
(re whenever you feel inclined and
jrlng any friends you may wish to
with you. Now toll mo about the
ohaso." North laughed bollttllngly
"Thore iBn't nnything In particular to
toll oxcojit that the crouturo wo wore
nftqr and myself sut It out togother
nil night." Ho attacked hlH Bandwlcb
remlniscently.
"And what happened?" breathed the
girl.
"1 suppose I might as well toll tho
ntory nt once and no through with It.
You saw tho llrat part of tho cIiueo
when ho led uh around that big loop
to boo what kind of Bluff waH In us,
uo I need not go Into that. It was
Just tho Bumo thing all the way
arpund, anyway. Of courno when that
mortar sent him plnwheullug through
tho air wo felt considerably uncour
tiged; but ho wasn't hurt a bit and
fcopt on avs fast as before, keeping his
distn.nco nhoail of us almost to a rod
and leaving us as much In doubt uh
over uh to whothor ho was doing his
bqst or Just (lining with uh. Just m,
wo got over tho mountains soma of
iliu boys got discouraged and opened
lire on him you Hhould havo heard
thoBo peak echoes como back at ub.
Ho was ho far ah end that it was
merely wasting ammunition to shoot,
yet tlioro was a bare chanco of land
ing him uo tho rest of us cut looso
In order If pomehody happened to drop
him we could nil havo n claim on the
roward, Blnco nobody would bo ablo
to swear which bullet did tho work.
Of course we did not get him, so wo
kept on with the chase. It got dunk
protty soon nfter that, and for a while
wo had a hard tlmo keeping him In
night, but presently tho moon nroBO
and that gavo ub light oncugh for all
practlcnl purposes. It certainly wns
an eorio sight to seo that old bat
wlngcd party ahead scudding through
the moonlight llko one of tlioso funny
things you sometimes dream about
after a raroblt. For tho first tlmo
in my Hfo tho creops came along my
back felt llko frozen footed caterpil
lars woro crawling up and down mo.
PreHently I looked around nnd Baw
that tho rest of the fellows had
turned back, but I thought I would
go on for u little whlla longer Just on
a bnro chuuec. So I did."
"It was altogethor too rocklesB and
I hope you will not tnko such n chanco
again," broke out tho girl Impatiently.
North seized tho opportunity to fin
ish his sandwich,
"Well, perhaps so, but I certainly
do need a good sllco of that million.
And I figured It that thoy having aban
doned tho chaso for tho night nnd
turned him over to me, If I happened
to be lucky enough to land him tho
larger portion if not all of the reword
would bo mine. So I kopt on. The
moon kopt gotting brighter as It grow
darker and for naif nu hour more I
coaxed tho Dragon along by every
trick I knew. It certainly was somo
Bight when I looked down upon those
mountain tops that wo were skimming
over. Novor saw audi grotesque
shapes and shadows as tlioso Jumbled
rock piles mado caVes and grottoes
and goblin palaces whllo as for tho
canyons and valleys well, Borne of
them wero moonlight bathed and 1
was willing to swear that I saw
witches riding about on their broom
sticks nnd gnomes dancing, although
I Bupposo, of courso, thoy were noth
ing but Hying BhndowB. Others were
as black as the mouth of the Pit Itself,
whllo ahead of mo and always keeping
his distance with Infernal endurance
was tho most uncanny phantom of
them nil tho vory Bplrlt of tho night."
He stopped speaking to sip at his tea
and tho girl shivered.
"Think of It!" alio murmured In
an awed volco. "Tho recklessness of
It tho foolhnrdlness. You had no
right to do It." Ho acquiesced.
"I will admit that for onco I pushed
dlBcrotion to tho limit, nnd nfter I
had loft tho others twonty-llvo or
thirty miles behind I began to soo it
in that light. 'Well, my engine wnB
beginning to act up a little by reason
He Roosted on the Edge of a Rock
About a Quarter of a Mile Away,
of gotting a heated bearing, and I snw
that 1 would have to come down, willy
nllly. Hut it was no Joko of u trick
in that uncurtain shimmer with tlioso
Hharp rocks stabbing up nil around,
and l confous I was a llttlo anxious.
Hut presently 1 rtmchod u valley that
Boomed to havo u pretty level lloor lu
plaeeH and I dovo for it and managed
to alight after qulto a shake up. Then
1 looked up. 'lho Flying Man had
swung about, too, and wna now cir
cling back ovor mo and thlngH begun
promising to bo ronl interesting. I
did not llko iho lay of lho hind whero
I wna particularly wall, Bo I backud
up against n rook, pullod my rovolvor,
firmly placed one foot before and
yelled;
" 'Come one, come all. Thla rock shall
Hy
From It's firm base as Boon na I'.
"I guesa that scared him, for ho
screeched back, took a Bklm over me,
saw that ho coujd not get at mo ex
cept from In front and then Hupped
across tho valley and roosted on tho
edge of a rock about a quarter of a
mllo away whero ho could watch mo.
I was pretty tired and Bat down, but
of course I did not dare go to sleep.
What I was most afraid of was that
he would drop rocks on my machine
nnd smash it, but for some reason he
didn't. Muybo ho did not hnppen to
think of it just then, nnd maybe ho
was too tired to go carting boulders
around nnd concluded to wait until
morning when he was rested. Any
way, he certainly must have been
protty well played out, for I could seo
his hend sink until it rested on his
chest. He mado mo think of a condor
roosting. I did not Bleep a wink all
night, but I guess ho waB snoozing
most of tho tlmo; anyway when tho
Bun came up I could tell that ho was
In p. sound doze. I got my machine
ready na quietly as I could and then
took another look nt him. Ho had
not moved and I decided to risk a
shot. Of course ho was so far away
that It was a thousand to ono that I
would mlsB, but It wuh a chanco all
tho same, so I Bteadiod myself against
a boulder and let drive. I did not
hit him, but I mado somo shot ut that,
for I could seo a chip of rock fly up
from between his very feet. You
ought to havo seen him jump straight
up in the air, and his wings out aB
quick ua you could snap a fan open.
Then I stnrtcd up the machine and
mannged to got nlloat. Ho started In
to try tho rock game now and got hold
of ono as big as my head and com
menced trying to get above me, but
I gained on him' bo fast that he had
to let drop and light out. I had barely
enough gnBollno left to carry me back,
bo there was 'nothing for mo to do but
glvo It up for that time. I mado
pretty fair time and arrived hero
about an hour after sun up. Ho did
not follow mo. Tho last I saw of him
he was nothing but n speck In the
southwest nnd still going. That 1b
nbout all."
Tho luncheon had been finished for
some little tlmo nnd now North be
gan to evidence signs of uneasiness.
"Sorry to leavo you so soon, but you
will understand how necessary It la
that I stick close to my machlno. Most
of ub aro going to roll up in our
blankets and sleep beside our pianos
they have furnlBhed us with mat
tresses and we will bo qulto comfort-
nblo in tho open. A'nd now I had hot
ter bo getting back to tho field so
as to bo on hand in case ho shows up
again unexpectedly, as ho seems to
havo a habit of doing. Thanks ex
ceedingly for tho luncheon, and I'll
toll you about Claro Bomo other time.
Sho 1b a wonder. March, passing
down tho hall with him and tho girl,
was hoping that Doris by some sign
might signify that ho should remain,
but at tho door sho bade them both
goodby with no sign given, so thcro
was nothing for him to do but bid
her good afternoon also. Somewhat
disappointed, he strode away by tho
aide of tho actlvoly moving hero of
tho lono moonlight chaso.
Tho week which followed waB ono
of fruitless activity. From tho mo
ment when North had caught his last
fleeting gllmpBO of tho Flying Man dis
appearing into tho southwest in the
rays of tho early morning Bun, noth
ing hnd been heard or Boon of him.
Day hy day tho bcoutlng tflr fleets
ranged tho mountain tops, whirled
past preclpltotiB cliffs, swooped down
Into valleys and gulches, alighted
upon points of vnntngo that they
might scan other heights with tholr
powerful glassoB, but all tholr efforts
remained unrewarded. Either ho waB
in cIobo hiding somewhere nmongat
tho rccessea of those vast fastnesses,
hnd mot with aomo diaaster remote
from the abodo of man or had taken
himself far nflold to haunts whero his
Hfo was In lean jeopardy than so close
to the HWlft air crafts of hla relontlosB
hunters. Day by day the Impatience
of the eager avlatora grow moro and
moro chafing, nnd nothing but tho co
lossal size of the reward provonted
many ftom returning to Ileitis which
offered moro certain If lesa dazzling
prizes. Hut tho Immensity of the for
tune mat dangled uoforo their eyos
Btlll hold them nnd thoy remained to
bcour tho country tiny after day in
wide flights that each tlmo grow
moro and moro perfunctory. Then ono
morning, when eomo of them woro
actually propating to loavo for good,
news came that causod them to prick
up their ours a bit and dccldo to loi
ter a whllo longor. for from Quartz
vlllo, two hundred mllea 'awuy, came
tho report that a citizen had soon
roosting upon a far distant crag a
strango, winged llgure, lnilf manlike,
half blrdllko, but whether it was tho
Flying Man or not tho observer was
uo ablo to positively testify because
of tho groat distance, although he was
strongly inclined to the bollof tltat
it was no bird. Then from Lode City,
not far ftom Quartzvllle, there- also
caiio a rumor. An old man awakened
nt night by the squealing of his pig
had lighted a lantern nnd, gun In hand,
hastened to tho pen with tho thought
that some wild creature of the moun
tains had descended In search of fresh
meat, only to find tho sty empty and
no trace of the missing porker, yet
a momont Inter he was sure ho heard
a faint squeal from far up In tho air
From another place camo tho news
that a boluted traveler had heard a
raucouB cry from above and In a
great fright threw himself behind n
rock, from which, a moment after
wards, he heard through the dark
noss tho whistle of powerful wings.
Dut ao unsatisfactory wero the differ
ent rumors, so vague, and emanating
from so many different quarters that
tho awaiting ones soon began to ac
cord them but little credence, a little
later ccaBlng to place any confidence
In them whatever. Then after several
of the aviators had actually departed
In disgust there came a seething mes
sage from Dentonvllle, two hundred
miles to tho westward, so full of hor
rible details that none who read oven
the expurgated report of tho papers
could doubt but that tho Flying Man
hnd again bcon located and had once
moro shed human blood, this time
with a flendlshness of which he had
heretofore been only suspected as be
ing capable. The victim this tlmo waB
a middle-aged negro woman wljo lived
with her husband In a lonely place
two miles beyond tho town, the prin
cipal narrator being tho negro him
self, a rathor slmplo minded nnd
peaceablo man of good repute, 'who
mado his living by doing odd jobs in
his vicinity. His report of the occur
rence as taken In shorthand by u
newspaper reporter and after having
been expurgated, read as followB:
"I done lef do house early In do
mawnin' fo to done some wuk fo'
Mlatah Lewla, who am bulldln' a
fence ovnh on his place erbout two
mllo away, I done got finish' at foah
erclock and starts fo home. When
I gets up clus to do house I dono no
tlco dar's something dat ain' jes'
right, fo' dar ain't no nolso Inside.
Allers when I comes homo befo' I
can heah dat woman o' mine er meek
In' er racket, a slngln' or whlatlln' er
slammln' dem dishes erbout lak she
woro gwine bust 'em up, but dis time
It am so still I could heah my haht
er beatln' lak a" drum. I stan's dar
for er mlnnlt a-wonderln' what am
do trubbll, an' den I trloa do do'. It
am locked. Don I tries do back do'
un' dat am fasten' too. I trtea to
peek In do windows, but de curtains
am down an' I begins to get suspi
cious, tho' I ain't nevah seen no
tracks of any other man aroun' ma'
place alnce wo been married. Dut I
la gottln' mad nil ovah an' I poun's
on do do' and' I aaya, 'Woman, yo'
open dat do' or I'so gwine bust It In
wlf a rock.' At dat I hoahs a little
soun' Inside an I picks up a big stone
an" smashed do lock an' don I stepa
Inside quick. Oh, Gord, what or sight!
Dere a-settln' on do kitchin' tabla
all hump up, war de dobbll hlssclf
wlf his wlnga foldon ovnh his hald
an' his chin a-hangln' down nn' a
wlnkln' an' bllnkin' at mo wlf eyes
aB big as ma' fls', nn' dar on de flo'
Lnwd, folks, I can't tolo yo' what 1
boob. I Jes' screech out a screech
an' fllea to de barn an' locks myself
InBldo an grabs do pltchfawk an'
peeps out er crack. Well, pretty soon
out comes dat ole dobbll, Btlll a-bllnk-In'
an' looks oroun', but he doan' Bee
nufiln nn' bo ho flaps 1i1b wlnga lak
or rooster an' tries to fly. Hut ho
can't get often de groun', an' bimoby
ho climbs up on do fence an' meks
a llttlo hop an' dls tlmo off ho goes
poundln' up In de air slow an' heavy
lak a tu'koy buzzard I waits until
ho nm mos' out or Bight an' den I
goes a-Bhoutln' fo' help. So help mo
Lawd, diB am de truf of I dono get
hanged fo' tellln' It."
Tho corroboration of his story by
tho whites who had hurried to thu
scene In rosponso to his stuttered
story had convinced all of the entlro
truthfulnosa of tho narrative, and tho
wires had immediately spread the
growBome iiowb far nnd wide. Extra
editions of tho local press wero upon
tho streets almost before tho tele
graph key had ceased clicking, nmM
again a nameless horror and unspeak
able rage filled the hearts of all who
read. For although tho papers sup-
proBBed tho most grewsomo of the
dotnlls, enough remnlnod to make
ovon tho Btoutestfhenrted of thoso
who read tho Htory through shudder.
Upon tho Held tho aviators were riv
ing tholr machines a lust test with
norvous hnste, working silently, fierce
ly, horror and hatred stamped dooply
upon tholr faces. Doris, rushing
bareheaded across the block which
Bopuruted the Fulton homo fiom tho
llttlo park whero tho ainthlpa rosted,
thruat a small package Into North's
hand Just as ho mounted his sent.
"I Just heard the awful news and
know you would start Immediately
and without waiting for anything. So
I Juat picked up tho first things I
could lay my hands on and hurried
here," sho panted. "Pleaso take them
onn can novor tell when such things
will bo nueded. It Is almost nothing
just a couple of sandwiches and a
small flask of brandy. Now go, and
the blessings of humanity go with
you." He accepted tho package thank
fully, smiling upon her with u grave
nesB uncommon with him.
"I thank you sincerely. Miaa Ful
ton. And you may rest assured that we
will try as wo never havo 'before to
rid the earth of this monater. Look
at tho faces of tho boyB! They havo
forgotten the reward now nnd have
become soldiers to duty a duty they
owo to all mankind as well as their
country. And you may depend upon
their laying down their lives in this
causo If self-sacrifice will accomplish
tho common good. For thla fiend we
seek
" ' Is neither man nor woman,
Ho is neither bruto nor human ' '
Tho rush of a piano close by her
caused her to shrink closer to North's
machine, and as Bho did soho bent
closo to her. "Her name Is Claro
Manton and here is a letter addressed
to her. Send It for me If I do not re
turn." Ho straightened himself up In
his seat and with a parting smllo
threw on the power. Swiftly tho ma
chine darted forward, leaped, and ho
went speeding into tho distance In hot
pursuit of the ono who led him. From
all sldeB tho others arose In hurtling
flight, skimming like swallows through
the bluo air, growing small and small
er u'htll they vanished behind the cha
otic masses that had been upheaved
in tho Titanic convulsions which at
tend the birth of a world.
Slow of foot and heavy of spirit
Doris turned her face homeward, turn
ing tho letter over and over In her
hands.
CHAPTER X.
The Surprise.
News came back of tho safo arrival
of the aeroplanes at Dentonvllle, then
ensued an exasperating dearth of In
formation other than that they were
dally scouring tho country for miles
around, but had been able to come
across no signs of the murderer. Fears
wero entertained that ho had again
changed his place of abodo and that
ho was already hundreds of miles
away plotting somo new flondlshne3s
In some unsuspected quarter. His
almost unlimited capacity for mlochlef
became moro and moro Impressed up
on tho minds of the people aa they
grow to appreciate hl3 wonderful fly
ing powers, his ability to seo In the
dark, his fox cunning and his wolf
sangulneouaness. So long as ho did
not recklessly expose himself, as he
had dono upon the two occasions In
the past when he was trying out tho
flying machines, thcro seemed little
prospect of putting a quietus upon him
except by some lucky accident, since
de Barn, and
self Inolde."
Locks
he could work by night altogethor if
he ao chose and since tho fleetest
planea could not catclj him by day
light even when they hail him In full
view. His ability to change his base
of operations with such rapidity ron
tlored troops, horses and artillery prac
tically useless, and unless ho could be
induced to alight at a certain point
traps and snares would he equally in
effective. Also, in a country whoro
food, both animal and vegetable, waa
bo plentiful that he could help him
self to whntever ho chose by merely
taking the troublo of bearing It away,
poison could not bo rolled upon to
bring about his downfall. And as a
mattor of Interest It is perhaps worth
mentioning at this point thnt at tho
moro suggestion of using poison thore
nroso a howl of horror from BBntl1
montaHata- all ovor tho country, who
raved at the mere though of Buch an
My-
atrocity being perpetrated. Shoot him,
stab him, blow him to flinders, choke
him,, drown him, but poison him to a
painless death horrors! They wept
copiously at the Idea. Better by far
let him continue his career of murder
and child stealing. And in their cabl
nets and offices statesmen, milltnry
men, scientists and inventors gathered
together and held long discussions
upon means whoreby ho might bo
rendered harmless as various intricate
schemes were proposed, all eventually
to bo discarded aa impracticable. Tho
morq they schemed and talked, th
moro evident it becamo that tho gun
and tho aeroplane wero the only woap
ons which promised any effectiveness
against him.
In the common belief that the pest
had at last desorted them for good,
the people of the city of his first ap
pearance onco moro gradually resumed
their normal lives. Ono could not go
about forovor with hla eyes up In tho
air without falling Into the holes that
lay beneath his leot. In fact, the or
dinary dangers of Hfo tfiat beset one
on every side were manifold, whereas
thero was but one Flying Man, and
after somo score of sky gazers had
fallen into coal holes people began
to pay more attention to the ground
once more. Of courso tho air prowler
might now and then swoop down and
destroy someone, but so did the light
nings for that matter, yet no ono
thought it worth while to go about
carrying a lightning rod. In other
words, the people1 were growing used
to him and many commenced to uao
his name as a pet bugaboo thought
less" mothers to frighten their children
into good behavior, nnd silly youths
to senro their girl companions Into
scurrying amidst screams for shelter.
Of course should he over begin a worl
of general destruction by explosives
or the firebrand it would become a
very different matter and then they
would arise up in their might, but un
til he showed a disposition so to do
thero was no necessity of becoming
so unduly alarmed. So argued tho
moro philosophic people of tho place,
and they even sometimes smiled a lit
tle after tho supercilious manner of
the experienced when they rend tho
hysterical reports from other places
that imagined because somebody had
mysteriously lost a chicken that tho
Flying Man was hovering over them.
But it will be borne in mind that tho
pest was supposed to be far away from
them at this time of smiling.
Doris, who had been virtually a pris
oner In her homo since the night of
tho first appearance of the visitor from
space, began to resent the confinement
and fret almost constantly. An en
thusiastic out of doors girl, an ardent
golf player and splendid horsewoman,
she had prior to tho night of tho pass
ing of tho unknown body almoat daily
taken her exerclso upon tho links or in
long rides throughout the surrounding
district. Often upon these latter jour
neys she had gone nlono, but usually
upon Sundays when they were free
from tho duties of their offices either
Clay or Alan, and not Infrequently
both of them, had ridden with her.
Now Bho was consumed by a desire to
ride again, and after resisting for a
day or two alio decided to do so. The
Flying Man had not been heard of for
a week, ho was undoubtedly hundreds
of miles away, and besides she would
tako an escort with her who would
bo well armed against anything which
might attempt to molest them. Clay
had called her up the day before
she had written him her answer aa
sho had promised and Informed her
that ho expected to leave the city at
any moment, and as sho had not heard
from him since Bho assumed that ho
had gone. Alan sho had not heard from
for several days, so she now decided
to call up his number. He answered
tho rlrig in person. This was Satur
day. (TO nE CONTINUED.)
Russian Superstitions.
Tho number of Russian superstitions
Is legion, but some of them are not
without symbolic beauty. A man's
wedding ring Is of gold, but Is made to
fit tho wifo'a flngor. A woman's wed
ding ring is of sllvor nnd ia mado to
fit tho huaband'a finger. The signifi
cance of thla peculiar custom is as fol
lows: Tho gold ring should signify to tho
wifo thnt Ivan Ivanovltch ia tho sun
of hor futuro homo. Hers Is a silver
ring because, llko the moon, she is
supposed to receive her brilliancy
from tho husbnnd the sun.
At the wedding ceremony the rings
aro exchanged, tho woman receiving
tho gold ring, the husband thu silver
one, to signify complete accord of hua.
band nnd wife.
Going Down.
"ThlH high coat of living problem la
getting to be something torrlblo," ob
served Mrs. Nutloy. "Everything ia
getting higher." "Oh, I don't know."
rcpllod hor husband, soothingly.
"Thero'B your opinion of me, for In
fltanco, and my opinion of you, and our
mutual opinion of our neighbor and
tho neighbors' opinion of both of us."