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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1901)
The Diamond Bracelet By MRS. HENRY WOOD. Author of East Lynne, Etc. CHAPTER III. Alice left her sister standing in the room and went upstairs. But she was more than one minute away; she was three or four, for she could not at first lay her hand upon the letter. When she returned her sister advanced to her from the back drawing room, the fold ing doors between the two rooms be ing as before, wide open. "What a fine collection of bracelets, Alice?” she exclaimed, as she took 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 from dinner. She asked me to bring them all down, as she had not decided which to wear.” "I like 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. Don’t 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 follow her, when Lady Frances 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 visitor's 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?” "It—it was my sister,” carelessly an swered Alice. It was not a true an swer, for her sister had not knocked, but it was the readiest that rose to her lips, and she wished to escape the questioning. only your sister, signed 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 colo nel’s, 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 the 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 Sarah’s fc-droom. The colonel speedily rose tiom 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 Deu, Dut nor 10 sleep. nreu as she was, and exhausted in frame, sleep would not 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 Gerard's stay with them, she now kept repeating the words: “Can it be? can it be?" It certainly was so. Love plays 51 range prank3. ThU3 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 the side of a pretty and noble lady, on purpose that he might fall in love with her—Lady Francis Ch^nevix. And yet the well-laid project failed; failed because there happened to be another at that young lady's side, a sad, quiet feeble-framed girl, whose very weakness may have seemed to place her beyond the pale of man's 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 wl:h:n her as she 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, ought not 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 Sarah’s maid. “Why, miss! are you not up? Well, I never! I wanted the key of the jewel box, but I’d 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. th«s 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, and 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 there's 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 I’m sure it’s 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 Sarah’s apartments, “and I have just got to take every individual article out to get at it. This comes of giving up one's keys to other folfts.’' Alive hastened down, b gging par don for her late appearance. It was readily accorded. Alice’s 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. Breakfast 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; “can’t you believe me, miss? What’s gone with it?” Alice Seaton 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 she who returned them to the case; I did not. Perhaps she wore it last night.” "No. miss, that she didn’t. 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.” “That’s cool,” thought Hughes, as Alice went into the breakfast room, and the colonel came out of it with tho newspaper. "I should have said it was somebody else who would like to be at a certainty instead of me. Thank goodness it wasn’t in my charge last night, if anything dread ful has came to pass. My lady don’t keep out her bracelets for sport. Miss Seaton has left the key about, that's what she has done, and it’s hard to say who hasn't 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 Lady 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 or the table at the back of all, Lady Sarah,” she presently said; “next the window.” “I tell you, Alice, it was not there. I don’t 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,” an 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. “What’s this about my bracelet?” "I don’t know, my lady. The brace 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 see# 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 X can trust my eyeB, and they have all four been into every hole and crevice of the box.” I,ady Frances Chenevix laid down the Morning Post and advanced. “Is the bracelet really lost?” (To be continued.) NAPLES BREAKFAST VENDORS. They Make the Morning Air Vocal with Their Call*. 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 cent’s 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 day’s 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, aud the wily subtracter of the lacteal treasure. Although tied to his mother's horns with a rope long enough to reach, and even lick her bag, 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 calfy's tail is nearly pulled off, but he has spoiled the oppressor's game for one day, anyhow.—The Cen tury. Call a man a donkey and he Is apt to kick. DELIBERATE ACTION. PRESIDENT NOT DISPOSED TO RUSH RECIPROCITY. Practical Detail* and K«*ulU to Its Carefully Considered Before Any of the Kasflon Treatle* Are Resubmitted lo the Seunte for Ratification. Free Trade and other newspapers which so glibly misinterpret the late president's attitude with regard to for eign trade extension, and who so con lidently 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 by the president on the subject of reci procity. The aglati-n on this subject in some of the newspapers, with asser tions bolstered up by quotations from Mr. Roosevelt's public assurances, whether intended to help the cause of reciprocity or to prejudice it, has no warrant further than that Intended in the promise of the president to adhere to the polie'es cf McK n ey. The sub ject s a large and coup ica ed one, and not even Mr. McKln ey, after years of experience, was prepared to say Just what the details of a reciprocity treaty wdth a foreign country sirould be. A reciprocity policy cannot be defined in any but the most general teims by the executive, and with the legislative branch must rest the task of providing the details." it is well and truly said tnat tnc suu Ject of rec'p.ocity Is “a laige anil com plicated one”—so la ge 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 don’t 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 anil heads which he supposed were competent, only to find out that they were bunglers and botchers. So, in the last few months of liis 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, 190S, 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 McKinley’s 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 treat.es negot ated 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 tire 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 Thau American**. 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 Banquo’s ghost. It is Interesting, therefore, to note that Mr. Jacob Weldmann, a prominent silk dyer of Paterson, N. J., states that while the wages of the workmen em ployed In h's mill at Paterson are from two to four times as large as the wages paid to similar labor in Switzerland, which is Mr. Weidmann’s native coun try, the cost of living i3 less. In Swlt ! zerland a good silk dyer is paid $4 & we:k; In this country the poorest dyers get $9 per week. The best dyers in Switzerland a’.e paid from *5 to ?8 per week, while in this country the best dyers earn from $15 to |30 per week. These are actual figures, given by a man who knows. There is no guess work about them, n:Uhcr is there any guesswork about Mr. Weidmann’s statement concerning the comparative cost of living, for, as he stateB, some of the men employed in his 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 get3 the worst of things. GERMANY’S TARIFF EXPERIMENT. A high German official said to the correspondent of the Associated Press In Berlin that “foreign newspapers need not get excited 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 Zollvereln.—Buffalo Com mercial. A VERY BAD CHILD. A QUESTION OF • SUGAR.” The consumption ot sugar last year in the United States averaged about 57 pounds for each inhabitant, which at 5% cents a pound would cost $3.42 apiece, or $16.10 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 $1.14 for each person, or $5.70 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 ot wages and income to 1,600,000 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 $5.70 to bring about a possible disaster to so useful and beneficial a business? JVfUchlef for Idle Hands. When men or women have plenty of serious work to do they don’t 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 U 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 and 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 breadstuffs. During the year end ing June 30, 1899, Germany Imported from the United States 290,710,196 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. Producer* and Coniainen, Dike other theorists free traders have ever tried to separate producers and consumers into distinct classes with contrary interests. How futile! in our day and country the producers are the consumer^ and the more tbej produce the more they consume. Things to Remember. The aim should be to produce from 150 to 200 pound pigs at six to seven months old for the greatest profit, says the Jersey Hustler. Keep on friendly terms with your herd, culti vate quiet dispositions. Have the hogs so that you can handle them with ease. Quietness and patience will aid in do ing this. As 60on as your hogs are ready, sell them, you have no further profitable use for them on the farm. The man who keeps his hogs after they are ready to go expecting to get more per pound will be very apt to lose money; while the one who sells when the hogs are ready, generally hits it. Every farmer has to accommodate himself to his environments, so far as food is concerned. It is his endeavor to use that which he can produce best. It, therefore, requires every farmer to rely in a measure upon himself. He must think over his business, and de cide after careful thought which are his best methods to pursue. Give the hogs a large range of pasture. When we say pasture we do not mean a large lot that hogs have run in for years containing not a spear of grass, but a nice grassy pasture. Think of yourself sitting down to a table without any thing on it to eat and you being ex pected to make a square meal. And again, the hogs need exercise, sun shine and corn mixed with the grass, just the same as we enjoy and require a variety of food. The man with the good stuff and who is not overstocked, reaps the greatest reward, while the one who is overstocked, of course, underfeeds and falls to get out of his business what he should. A breeder who will accom plish anything by permitting bis ani mals to lose in growth, has the expense and no work done. The fault with the young breeder is in keeping more stock than he can properly care for. There should be no difficulty in seeing which is the right road to pur sue. Exeretalnf Horae*. An English army officer, writing on the care of horses, says; Regularity of exercise is an Impor tant element in the development of the highest powers of the horse. The horse in regular work will suffer less in his legs than another, for he be comes gradually and thoroughly ac customed to what is required of him. The whole living machine accommo dates Itself to the regular demands on it, the body becomes active and well conditioned without superfluous fat, and the muscles and tendons gradually develop. Horses in regular work are also nearly exempt from the many ac cidents which arise from over-fresh ness. As a proof of the value of reg ular exercise we need only refer to the stage-coach horses of former days. Many of these animals, though by no means of the best physical frame, would trot with a heavy load behind them for eight hours at the rate of ten miles an hour without turning a hair, and this work they would con tinue to do for years without ever be ing sick or sorry. Few gentlemen can say as much for their carriage horses. No horses, in fact, were in harder con dition. On the other hand, if exercise be neglected, even for a few days in a horse in high condition, he will put on fat. He has been making dally the large amount of material needed to sustain the consumption caused by his work. If that work cease suddenly. Nature will, notwithstanding, continue to supply the new material; and fat, followed by plethora and frequently by disease, will be tho speedy conse quence. ——— j j WmIm of th. Bern, The mineral matter of the food eat en is not entirely assimilated by the body. And the composition of hen manure, given below, proves that this is likewise true of the nutrients. COMPOSITION OF HEN MANURE. Water .66.00 _ Organic matter .25.50 Nitrogen . 1.60 Phosphoric acid . 1.76 Potash .85 Lime . 2.26 Magnesia .75 Insoluble residue, etc. 11.30 — Total .100.00 The unassimilated fat and carbo-hy drates are included in the “organio matter,” and the undigested portion the “nitrogen." Utilizing Cow Ppm. A poultryman reports that an acre of cow peas was left uncut near his poultry yard, and during the winter his hens attended to the harvesting of the peas. He was surprised to receive almost double the usual amount of eggs during that season, and asked if the peas had anything to do with it. Cow peas are rich in protein, therefore should assist in forming eggs. The exercise in securing the peas is an other factor which recommends this practice to the poultryman in search of winter eggs. It would be a good plan to give cow peas a trial.—Golden I Egg. Fowl Cholera Germ. Dr. N. W. Sanborn says: The cause of fowl cholera is a minute germ which, under the microscope, presents either a circular or oval outline. It Is one of the bacteria, and has been i called by some a micrococcus, and by others a bacillus. It Is about one-flfty thousandth of an Inch broad, and two or three times as long. It grows best at from 86 degrees to 125 degrees F. It has no power of movement, does not form spores, and is easily des troyed by drying, by the ordinary dis infectants, and by a temperature of 132 degrees F. for 15 minutes. The double or triple skirt looks de cidedly smart on slight figures.