THE NEBRASKA ADVERTISER
XV, XV. HANDKKS, Piihllnhnr.
NEMAHA, - - - NEMTIASKA.
-
THE OLD HOUSE.
Mid a set-lie or ilt'snliitlnn
HImiklv a lioncu of Mjinbcr :rny,
.Ami licnciith lis roof, for (-belter
From the storm, I (stood one day.
Every durkext nook mihI ci tinny
Spiders claimed for dim lelrunt.
On the Hour a velvet carpet
Turin (I to (hhl liencuOi my feet
lJrolun windows parity hoarded
Iklpid mo KrildKlllKly to fed'
.All (In- print of Tlini'Aflriii fingers
WorkliiK here o ccuHclcBkly.
"Wilder roue the storm each moment;
Hwlftly fell the summer shower.
Ere I knew it plumber hound mo
J it Hint lonely place and hour.
.As I nl(pl the old house wakened
From Its da a in of death and mold,
And through every hice-hiiim window
Sunshine altered, an of old.
(jone the diihk from web-hum? corners,
All thi! threads were brushed away,
And the air wan sweet with laiiBhtt?
Of the children at their piny.
I could hc them all: The father,
Willi a wee one on ench knee,
While tin mother bent In beauty
O'er her darling tenderly:
Out iiinoiiK the summer splendor
St rcilli (1 a lad and lassie, fair.
Willi a wrc.ith of crimson ro.ies
He has decked her curling hair.
Eyes of brown and blue are meetltitf
In an ecstasy of bliss;
Tender hearts and lips together
Seal their troth In that lit Kt kiss.
, 'Slowly (hen the shadows deepened
Hound the stair step where I lay.
As I wakened from my slumber,
Blorm and dream had passed away.
Farm Hiid Homo.
r
My Strangest Case
BY GUY BOOTH BY.
Author of "Dr. Klkola," "The Henutlfiil
White Devil," "IMmros, The
Ccyptlan." Utc.
V
1CuiiJi;IiUhI, 1W1, hy Wnl, Luck A Co.
CIIAPTEIt II. COKTINUKII.
i
"Our iui.se is ns follows," lie began. "As
I have told you, we hnvc been in Uliina
for several years, and during' that
time wo. have had the good fortune to
enroll not a few well-known names
among our eonverts. To make a long
etory sUiirt, we were so successful its
i-a bo able lo persuade even the innn-
clariu of the province to listen to our
message. lie was an enormously rich
man, one, of (he richest, perhaps, In
China, and was so impressed by the
good news we brought to him that, on
his death-bed, he left to us for tJie
benellt of the mission all Ms-wealth, in
gold, sliver and precious stones. It
wis a princely legacy, and one that
would have enabled us to carry on our
mission with such success as we had
never dreamed of."
"Hut if you were so lucky and so
much in love with your profession, how
does it conio about that you are in
England now?" I inquired.
"I will tell you why," he answered,
leaning toward ine and tapping with
liis fingers upon the edge of the writing-table.
"It is a sad story, and the
mere telling of it causes me more pain
hnn you would believe. You must un
derstand that at the time of the man
darin's death nn English traveler, who
had been passing through the west
ern provinces, reached our city and
look up his abode with us. Needless
to nay, we were overwhelmed with
grief at the loss of our patron.. The
treasure he had presented us with we
took to tho mission and .deposited it
in u safe place. We had no suspicion
of. any sort of treachery. 1 fear my
companion and I are not men of the
world, that is to say we do not go
about, suspecting evil of our neigh
bors." "I think T understand," 1 said. "You
brought 1he treasure home, put it
in what you considered a safe place,
and one day awoke to find your es
timable guest missing and the treas
ure gone with him. Have 1 guessed cor
rectly?" ' "You have hit. the mark exactly,"
'KUwater replied. "We woke one day
not only to ilnd the trensuru gone, but
. also ourselves and our mission bcrious
ly compromised. The relations of tho
dead man not only accused us of hav
ing alienated him from the faith of his
forefathers, but also of having robbed
him of his ancestral treasure. Wo
could not but admit that we had been
presented with the wealth in question,
-and when it wns demanded of us we
could only explain that we had lost it
in our turn. You can Imagine the po
sition for yourself. At the best of
times the foreigner is not popular in
China, and our situation was particu
larly unpleasant. Situated as we were
in one of the wildest portions of the
empire, and accused of the basest sac
rilege, that. Is to say of violating tho
home of a dead man, we could hope for
but small mercy. The man who had
robbed us hud entirely disappeared,
and no trace of him could be discov
ered. To attempt to offer any expla
nation, or to incriminate him, was out
of the question. We could only suffer
in silence."
He paused and heaved a heavy sigh,
"And what form did your punish
ment take?" 1 inquired, for I was be
ginning io be interested in their story.
"Cnn you not see for yourself?" the
man nnswered. "Can you not see thut
I am blind, while my companion is
dumb? Thnt was what they con
demned us to. By that man's villainy I
nni destined never to look upon God's
earth tlgain, while my companion will
never be able to converse with his
fellow-men, except by signs. We arc
in the world, yet out of it."
1 looked at them both in amazement.
Their tale seemed too terrible to be
true. And yet 1 had the best of evi
dence to show thnt it was correct.
"And why have you come to me?
What do you want me to do? 1 cannot
give you back your sight, nor your
friend ills power of speech."
"But you can help us to llnd the man
who brought this misery upon us,"
KUwater replied. "That is what we
have come to ask of you. lie must not
be permitted to enjoy the wealth he
fctolc from us. It is sacred to a spe
cial duty, and that duty it must per
form. We are not overburdened with
riches, in fact, we are dependent upon
the bounty of another, but if you can
help us to recover the sum that was
stolen from us, we will gladly pay
whatever you may ask! We cannot
say more than that."
"Hut this is a most unhenrd-of re
quest," 1 snid. "How do you know
where the man may be at this mo
ment?" "We do not know, or we should
scarcely have asked your assistance,"
KUwater replied, with some show of
reason. "It is because we hlive heard
of your wonderful powers in tracing
people that we have come to you. Our
only cause for attending the triul at
which you saw us was to hear the evi
dence you gave and to draw our own
conclusions from it. That those con
clusions were complimentary to you,
our presence here is evidence of. We
kuow that we could not put our cave
in better hands, and we will leave it
with you to say whether or not you will
help us. As 1 said just now, my com
panion is dumb, while I am blind; we
cannot do much ourselves. Will you
not tnke pity upon us and help us to
find the man who betrayed and ruined
us?"
"But he may be at the other end of
the world at this moment?" 1 said.
"That does not matter," he returned.
"We know that, wherever he mny be,
you will ilnd him. All we ask you to do
is to bring us face to face with him.
We will manage the rest. It will be
strange then if we are not able to get
him to a proper way of thinking."
This was the most unusual case I
had had to do with, and for the mo
ment 1 scarcely knew what to say. I
turned to the blind man once more.
"Have you any idea where the man
went after he robbed you?"
"He crossed the province of Yunnan
into Burmali," he replied. "After thnt
he made his way through Rangoon, ond
shipped on board the steamer Jema
dar for London."
"When did the Jemadar reach Lon
don?" "On the 23d of June," he nnswered.
"We have made inquiries upon that
point."
1 made a note of this, and then con
tinued my Inquiries.
"One other quest ion," I said. "While
we are on the subject, what do you
Huppose would be the total value of
the treasure of which lie robbed you?"
"That is very diJllcult to say," Kit
water replied, and then turned to his
companion and held out his hand. The
other took it and taliped upon the palm
with the tips of his fingers in a sort of
dot-anil-leli'graph fashion that I hnd
never seen used before.
"My friend says that there were 93
stones, nil rubles and sapphires; they
were of exquisite luster and extraor
dinary size. Possibly they might have
been worth anything from 170,000
to .C 250,000."
I opened my eyes on henring this.
Were the men telling me the truth, I
nRked myself, or were they trying to
interest me in the ense by exaggerat
ing the value of the treasure?
"What you say is almost incompre
hensible," I continued. "I trust you
will forgive me, but can you substan
tiate what you say?"
"When we say that we arc willing to
pay your expenses in advance if you
will try to find the man, 1 think we are
giving you very good proof of our
bona fides," he remarked. "I am
afraid we cannot give you any other,
seeing, ns I have said, that we are both
poor men. 1 f you are prepared to take
up our case, we shall be under a life
long gratitude to you, but if you can
not, we must endeavor to ilnd some one
else who will undertake the task."
"It is impossible, for ine to decide
now whether 1 can take it up or not,"
I said, leaning back in my chair and
looking at them both ns 1 spoke. "I
must have time to think it over; there
are a hundred and one things to be
considered before I can give you a di
rect reply."
there was silence for a few mo
ments, nnd then KUwater, who had
been holding his usual mysterious
communications with his friend, snid:
"When do you think you will be able
to let us have an answer?"
"That depends upon a variety of
circumstnnecs," l replied. "It is n
matter diilloultto average. Tn the ilrst
place there is no knowing where the
man is at present; he may be In Lon
don; he may be in America; he maybe
in any other portion of tho globe. It
might cost 500 to find him, it might
cost fl,000. You must sec for your
selves how uncertain it all is."
"In that case we should be prepared
to give security for tho first-named
amount, or pay you half in advance,"
Kltwuter replied. "I hope you do not
think, Mr. Fairfax, that we are endeav
oring to play you false? You can see
for yourself that our injuries are per
manent, and, as far ns they go, are at
least evidence concerning the truth of
our story. You can also sec for your
self how this man has behaved to
wards uh. He has robbed us of all wo
hold valuable, and to his act of treach
ery we owe the mutilations we have
Buffered. Can you wonder that wc are
anxious to find him?"
"I do not wonder nt that at all," I
said. "My only feeling is that I must
regard it as an entirely business mut
ter." "We cannot blame you," Kitwater
replied. "Yet you must surely under
stand our anxiety for a definite and
immediate answer. The man has had a
considerable start of us already, and
he has doubtless disposed of the jew
els ere this. At whatever price lie sold
them, he must now be in possession of
a considerable fortune, which rightly
belongs to us. We are not vindictive
men; all we ask is for our own."
"I quite agree with you there," I re
plied. "The only question in my mind
is, who shall get it for you? Let me
explain matters n little more clearly.
In the first place 1 have no desire to of
fend you, but how am I to know that
the story you tell mc is a true one?"
"I have already told you that you
will have to take our word for that,"
he said. "It will be a great disappoint
ment to us if you cannot take the mat
ter up, but wc must benr it as we have
borne our other misfortunes. When
wc realized the way you managed
those bank people we said to each
other: 'That's the man for us! If any
one can catch Haylc he's that person.'
It naturally comes to us as a disap
pointment to find that you arc not
willing to tnke up the case."
"I have not said that I nm not will
ing," 1 answered; "1 only said that I
am not going to commit myself until
1 have given the matter due considera
tion. If you will call here ut four
o'clock to-morrow afternoon, I shall
be able to give you a definite answer."
"1 suppose we must be content with
that,"sniil KUwater, lugubriously.
They thereupon thanked me and
rose to go.
"By the way," I said, "does this man
Hayle know that you are in England?"
The blind man shook his head.
"He thinks we are lying dead in tho
jungle," he said, "and it is not his
fault that we are not. Did he suspect
for a moment that we were alive and
in the same country ns himself, he'd
bo out of it like a rat driven by a fer
ret from his hole. But if you will give
us your assistance, sir, we will make
him aware of our presence before very
long."
Though he tried to speak unconcern
edly, there was an expression upon the
man's face that startled mc. I felt
1U1
"GOOD MOHNING, MISS KITWATER."
I SAID. "THIS IS AN UNEXPECTED
VISIT; WON'T YOU SIT DOWN?"
that, blind though he was, I should not
enro to be In Mr. Hnyle's place when
the j' should meet.
After they had left me I lit a cigar
and began to think the matter over.
I had had a number of strange enses
presented to me in my time, but never
one that had opened in such a fashion
ns this. A man robs his friends in the
center of China; the latter are tor
tured and maimed for life, and cCme to
me in London to seek out their be
trayer for them, in whatever part of
the globe hc might be. The whole
thing seemed so preposterous as to be
scarcely worth consideration, and yet,
try how 1 would to put it out of my
mind, I found myself thinking of it
continually. The recollection of the
blind man's face and that of his dumb
companion haunted mc awake and
asleep. More than once 1 determined
to have nothing to do with them, only
later to change my mind, and vow that
I would see the matter through at any
cost to myself.
Next morning, however, saner coun
sels prevailed. An exceedingly re
munerative offer wns made me by a
prominent trust company, which at
any other time I should hnve had no
hesitation in immediately accepting.
Fate, however, which is generally
more responsible for these matters
than most folk imagine, had still a
card to play upon Messrs. Kit water
and Codd's behalf, and it was destined
to overthrow all my scruples, uud what
1
was more to ultimately revolutionize
the conduct of my whole life.
CHAPTER III.
Towards the middle of the morning
I was sitting in my oilicc, awuiting the
coming of a prominent New Y'ork de
tective, with whom I hnd an appoint
ment, when my clerk entered to in
form me that a lady was in the outer
ofllce, and desired to see me if 1 could
spare her ti few minutes.
"Who is she?" 1 inquired. "Find out
that, and also her business."
"Her name is Kitwater," the man
replied, when he returned after a mo
ment's absence, "but slie declines to
state her business to anyone but your
self, sir."
"KUwater?" I said. "Then she is a
relation, 1 suppose, of the blind man
who was here yesterday. What on
earth can she have lo say to mc? Well,
Lawson won't be here for another ten
minutes, so you may as well show her
in." Then to myself 1 added: "This is
a development of the case which I did
not expect. I wonder who she is
wife, sister, daughter, or what, of the
blind man?"
I wns not to be left long in doubt,
for presently the door opened and tho
young lady herself entered the room.
1 say "young lady," because her age
could not at most have been more than
one or two-and-twenty. She was tall
and the possessor of a graceful figure,
while one glance was sulliclent to
show mc that her face was un exceed
ingly pretty one. (Afterwards I dis
covered thnt her eyes were dark
brown.) I rose and offered her a chair.
"Good morning, Miss Kitwater," I
said. "This is an unexpected visit.
Won't you sit down?"
When she had done so I resumed my
sent at the tuble.
"Mr. Fairfax," she began, "you are
the great detective, I believe?"
1 admitted the soft impeachment
with us much modesty as I could as
sume at so short a notice. She cer
tainly was a very pretty girl.
"I have come to talk to you about
my uncle."
She stopped ns if she did not quite
know how to proceed.
"Then the gentleman who called
upon me yesterday, and who has the
misfortune to be blind, is your uncle?"
1 said.
"Yes! He was my father's younger
and only brother," she answered. "I
have often heard my father speak of
him, but I had never seen him myself
until he arrived in England a month
ago with his companion, Mr. Codd. Mr.
Fairfax, they have suffered terribly.
I have never heard anything so awful
as their experiences."
"lean quite believe that," I answered.
"Your uncle told me something of
their great trouble yesterday. . It
seems wonderful to me that they
should have survived to tell the tale."
"Then hc must have told you of
Hayle, their supposed friend" (she
spoke with superb scorn), "the man
who betrayed them and robbed them
of what was given them?"
"It was for that purpose that they
called upon me," I nnswered. "They
were anxious that 1 should undertake
the search for this man."
To Bo Continued.
WANTED MONEY, NOT MORALS
Story of (be CynlclMii of the I.ntc 1.1
Hunt CIiiuik: Tolil Uy a. Well-
Knotru l'romoter.
The late Eugene Stanislas Kostzka
de Mitkiewicz used to tell a story of the
cynicism of Li Hung Chang, says the
New York Times. Mitkeiwicz, a pro
fessional "promoter," spent some of
the best years of his life in an unsuc
cessful attempt to engineer the estab
lishment of a great Chino-American
bank. Millions were involved, nnd it
was necessary to secure the favor of
Earl Li. Mitkiewicz obtained an inter
view with him, and explained his
scheme. The Chinaman listened grave-
ly.
"It is a philanthropic plan, is it not?"
he said at length. "You desire by
means of this bank to bring about
moral and social reforms in my coun
try, I suppose. You wisli to civilize
us, to save our souls."
"We wish to do nothing of the kind,"
answered the adventurer. "This is
simply and solely a commercial enter,
prise. We don't care a rnp for your
morals, and I may say for myself, per
sonally, that it is a matter of supreme
Indifference to me whether any of your
souls are saved or not."
Li's almond eyes twinkled.
"Ah," he said, "you are not like other
Europeans who come to China. They
are all interested in our moral well
being. You say you want merely tc
make money. It is strange. I havt
heard of such men before, but till now
1 have never met a European who had
not the spiritual good of China al
heart."
How He Felt,
A certain chief justice of the su
preme court in one of the westerr
states was noted for his disinclination
to admit thnt he was ill, as well ai
for his roundabout method of expres
sion.
One dny hc was approached by tin
state librarian, who courteously askeo
after his health.
"William," said the judge, cautious
ly, "I am not well, but I am bettei
than I was when I was worse than 1
now am." Detroit Free Press.
MUNICIPAL SCANDALS.
Blnyor Anion, of Mlnnonpnll, Droliltta to '
itunlcii uud Alio to Get III Hrotlicr
to Do tho Hntiio.
Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 1. Mayor
A. A. Ames, now at West Baden, Ind.,
lias decided to resign his ofllce, tho
resignation to take effect September
G. Tho letter will be read to tho
common council at its next meeting.
The mayor postpones his nominal
retirement to savo tho city tho ex
pense of a special election which
would have to bo held if the resigna
tion took effect earlier. Tho mayor
has also agreed to secure tho resig
nation of his brother, Col. Fred W.
Ames, superintendent of police. Ho
was brought to these terms by tho
visit to West Baden Wednesday even
ing of I'olieo Capts. Charles R. Hill,
who will bo acting superintendent,
nnd John Fitchette. Ho docs not
have the power while out of tho city
to perform the functions of mayor,
but ho wired Acting Mayor Fred M.
Powers to secure the removal of tho
chief ond wired tho chief himself ad
vising resignation. Alderman Pow
ers lias agreed to carry out the
wishes of tho mayor.
This is the climax of tho police
corruption scandals which havo
agitated tho community and occu
pied the grand jury and tho courts
for two months. Mayor Ames is in
failing health and may not return
to Minneapolis at all, unless forced
to do so by tho courts.
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP PARTY.
They Ilolit n 8tate Convention tit St. Loot
unit Blake Nomination A Long
J'lntform Adopted.
St. Louis, Aug. 1. The state con
vention of the public ownership
party, held hero yesterday, referred
the nomination of candidates for tho
supreme court to tho executive com
mittee of the party, with instruc
tions to name the three judicial can
didates of the republican party as
the choice of tho convention, pro
vided such action would not jeopar
dize the legal status of the party
for future elections. The convention
unanimously nominated L. P. Cald
well, of Kansas City, for rahroatl
commissioner for the long term; T.
W. Hackett, of St. Joseph, for tho
ofllce of railroad commissioner for
the short term, nnd Alfred S. Green,
of St. Louis, for state superintendent
of public schools. A long and sweep
ing platform was adopted.
A FOREIGN MINE HORROR.
An Explosion Cannes a Heavy tom or I,lr
at Woltoneoni;, N. .. V. Twenty-Seven
JtodiuH Itocovered.
Sydney, N. S. W., Aug. 1. An ex- .
plosion resulting in heavy loss of
life has occurred at the Mount Kim
bla colliery at Wollongong, n port 40
miles from here. Twenty-seven
bodies have been recovered. The
buildings at the mouth of tho pit
were wrecked. One hundred nnd
forty-nine miners were rescued, but
100 are still entombed. It is feared
their release is hopeless. A por
tion of tho colliery Is on fire.
Tho Ilonclora Located Again.
Topeka, Kan., Aug. 1. Tho notori
ous Bender family has been located
ngain. This time it is in Montana.
Sheriff Edwards, of Labette county,
received a letter from a former resi
dent of that county, now Hing in
Montunn, stating that tho Benders
live in his community and can be ap
prehended ensily if the Kansas au
thorities want them. He says he is
positivo that tho people are the
Benders, as he used to know them
when ho lived in Labette county.
Sheriff Edwards will investigate tho
matter.
A Family Tragedy.
Kansas City, Kan., Aug. 1. Fred
Folkinburg, a former employe of tho
Argentine smelter, shot to death his
wile, Addie, who was sleeping on a
mattress on tho floor of their home,
217 South Eleventh street, Argentine.
Then the husband went into tho back
yard, turned the still smoking re
volver to his own head and fired two
shots. The woman died almost in
stantly and Folkinburg was taken
to St. Margaret's hospital, where ho
is hovering between lifo nnd death.
Jealousy was said to be the cause.
Ititport Crops Good.
Chicago, Aug. 1. The monthly
crop icport of the Chicago, Burling
ton & Quiney Rnilroad company
shown that in Iowa, Nebraska and
northern Kansas tho corn is rank
and green, but a little lato for tho
season. "It will almost certainly bo
the largest crop ever grown in tho
west." Wheat in the same territory
is very heavy and will yield not less
than 30 bushels per aero average.
Oats are a good crop. Tho heavy
ruins have done little damage.
CmiKlit In the Knlven of a Iteiiper.
Clare, In., Aug. 1. William Kiehm
and his daughter Viola were fatally
injured by being caught in the knives
of n reaper. Kiehm was repairing tho
machine when tho horses beenmo
frightened and ran nwny, catching
the father and daughter in th
knives.
X
4
'I
k
4