IThe Master Man
By Ruby M. Ayres
p ! ii .m ■ i ii . ~ " 1
*.xuW u.ii >011 know slit; had
come home?” she asked him.
“Mr. Rolf told you! Oh, Mr.
Rolf told you!”
There was a little note of sad
ness in her voice. Patricia had
only told her very briefly of that
last interview with Michael, but
she had guessed a great deal.
“You will let me see her?”
Chesney asked, eagerly. “Just
for a moment. I won’t worry
her.”
“Just for a moment, then, and
Mr. Chesney, you know that she
is my daughter?”
AT , 11 1.1
j uuiig luua iii;i uauu
aiul raised it to his lips.
“I am glad that you are her
mother,” he said gently.
The tears filled her eyes. She
knew quite well what had
brought him here in such haste,
and why he looked so happy.
She caught his hand, holding him
hack when he would impatient
ly have passed her.
“Don’t hope too much, my
dear,” she said, gently.
“I’m hoping everything,” he
answered, doggedly, and went
on into the room where Patricia
waited, shutting the door behind
him.
It seemed a long time before
lie came out again.
Patricia's sister heard his un
certain step in the hall and came
to say good-bye. She knew in
stinctively that it was good-bye.
He did not seem to hear her
till she spoke his name. Then
he turned and looked at her, his
face was so white and haggard
that she gave a little sorrowful
cry and caught at his hand.
,L “It’s my own fault,” he said,
trying to* smije. “I had my
chance once—wTecks ago, and
threw it away. It’s my own
fault.” Then he saw the tears
in her eye? that were so like Pa
tricia’s, and he gave the kind lit
tle hand that held his a hard
• squeeze.
“Don’t be sorry for me,” he
said, huskily.
“It’s all right.” She followed
him to the door, and as he was
goiug she asked a faltering ques
tion.
“And shan’t I see you again
-—ever!” ;
He loolcod haek at her, a lit
tle ghost of Patricia she was in
the subdued light of the hall,
and for a moment his sore heart
warmed as he beent and kissed
her fingers. „
“If I ever come back it will be
for you,” he said, and the next
moment he was gone.
Mi\hael spent another sleep
less night.
The faithful Jenkins, tip-toe
ing more than once to his mas
ter ’a door, h card him tossing
and turning and groaning.
Once he ventured in, hut Mich
ael snapped at hinrso, lie did not
dare to repeat the experiment.
Jfenkins put it all down to the
sprain-^-he had had one himself
andLfhought he knew.
lie would have been incredu
lous" had he known that the ache
of the sprain was as nothing
compared with the ache at Mich
ael’s heart.
lie had sent Patricia away,
and he had sent Chesney after
her, and lie believed that, out of
pique, if for no other reason, Pa
tricia would at last consent to
marry him.
First thing in the morning he
rang Chesney up. He was in
and answered the ’phone him
irdf.
that you, Bernard! Mich
ael Rolf speaking.”
A pause. Michael counted the-*
seconds by bis thudding heart
beats. Then, he said again:
“Look here old chap, cafi you
come around for half ap hour!
This counfounded foot ties me
to the houje. What! You can’t
— going away! Where- are you
going!” _ *
‘ To the dev0!” said Chesney,
savagely, and rang off.
Michael dragged himself back
to his chair, lie felt chocked by
the enormity of his relief. Pa
tricia had refused Bernard. He
knew it as surely as she herself
had told him.
After a moment he recovered
sufficiently to shout for Jenkins.
‘‘Send for a taxi—l’iu going
put.”
Jenkins stared.
‘‘But your foot, sir! The doc
tor said—”
‘*l’m going out anyway! Are
you going to help me get down
stairs. or have I got to slide
down the banisters!”
Jenkins capitulated, lie went
the whole way to Kensington
wjftk his master and landed him
Ju
safely at Mrs. Smith’s house.
“Would you like me to wait,
sir?” he asked deprec.otingly, *
when Patricia’s sister opened
the door.
Michael laughed nervously.
“No, I should not,” he said
decidedly. He looked at the
girl.
“Patricia?” he said, and could
say no more.
She looked towards the clos;d
door of the room where Michael
had first interviewed Mrs.
Smith, and took a step forward.
“I’ll tell her.”
Michael stopped her.
“I’ll tell her myself,” he sard.
He held her head back so that
he could see into her eyes. “Am
I your master?” he asked.
Her eyes closed.
“I think you always have
been,” she whispered. “Even
that first day when Mr. Rolf
died and you bullied me so.”
“You hated me then, Patri
cia.”
‘Did I? I am not so sure.’*
“And last night?” he said
presently
Why did you come to me last
night? No, it’s no use hiding
your face; I want to see your
eyes when you answer me.”
The lovely colour flushed her
cheeks, but she answered steadi
ly:
“Because I knew that I loved
you—because I knew that. I
could never be happy—any
where—without you.”
“ I was a brute to you, Patri
cia.”
“I deserved it all,” she ans
wered. “Oh, Michael, but it was
like dying when you sent me
away.”
“You ran aw’ay from me twice
before,” lie reminded her.
“That was because ~I loved
you,” she answered.
He laughed softly.
“A queer way to show love,
sweetheart.”
There was a little silence.
“Why did you go to the
Shackles for dinner that night?”
she asked suddenly. “Why did
you make such a point of it in
your letter to me?”
‘4 Because I hoped yon would
hate it. I wanted you to hate
it.”
’• 8he gave a little quick sigh.
“Oh, I hated it right enough.
Michael?” ~ »
“Yes, my queen.”
“Bernard Chesney came here
yesterday.”
His arms tightened around
her. *
“I know. What did he say to
you?”
“He said what you haven’t
said yet: ‘I love you.' ”
“There’s no need for me to
say it,” he answered. “I’ve been
saying it in deeds ever since I
first knew you.”
“You didn’t lovo me when
you shook me last night.
“I did—I adored you.”
She laughed, Waning her cheek
against his coat.
“I don’t ahvays want to be
adored that way, please.”
“You shall be adored in all
ways—in every way; and, Pa
tricia—”
“Yes.”
“Yes—what?” Michael de
manded.
A little gleam of mischief
swept across Patricia’s face.
“Yes, my lord and master,”
she said softly.
THE END
Iowa was among the states represent
ed at a birth giontrot conference held
In Chicago recently. Social control of
population in the interest of world wel
fare and conservatism in education to
ward that end were urged.
“Wild BUI," is dead. Some of hls
former associates murdered him. He
was found on hls mother’s birthday,
one shoe on and one shoe off, at the
end of a whisky debauch. There were
10 bullets in him. . Three he got
some years ago, four he got In a
fight last January. Three were shot
into him by the men that ended his
life. Hls wife, who changed a $60
bill to pay for a taxicab, said:
"At that, 1 think Bill would have
recovered if they hadn't smashed in
hls head."
Who can say what "Wild BUI"
might have been and done If he had
had hls chance to be useful as a-child,
instead of merely having hls chance
to kill the enemy and win the Dis
tinguished Service Cross, which came
too late to reform him?
Duguesolin or Bayard, bjprn and
•treated as was this dead gunman,*
might have ended as he did.
Dr. Wilbur, president of the Ameri
can Medical Association and of Le
land Stanford University, says medi
cal aid should be supplied to all the
people. If doctors could apply all
they know to all the peoplfe life would
be prolonged, human happiness in
J creased, the whole outlook and order
of life altered.
Marriage statistics in England show
that there is a marked decrease of cere
monies where widows figure as brides
XRK&ffi
1 Desert Dust
By Edwin £. Sabin J
Author of “ftow Are You Feeling?” etc.
JT^;ii(HfliiiBa»W[!>liiH!!!niiiiiimntn;ii!iii.iiii)i!ii‘iiii:n[i!ii;i.iiimitii!imi^i:'ni:;[i!:!in.i!ii;imi'iiiiiiiiiiiii.ri;i);!tii!iiiiiam)iWwiiiiii!i;iiii,ii:i:;ii[:nii'iiii'ir"'nn'ffiiiiiwiBt!iiimmiiiBi
As seemed to me, the ticket
agent would have detained her,
in defiance of the waiting line;
but she finished her business
shortly, with shorter replies to
bis idle remarks; and I turned
away under pretense of examin
ing some placards upon the wall
advertising “Platte Valley
lands” for sale. I had curiosi
ty to see which way she wended.
Then as she tripped for the
door, casting eyes neither
right nor left, and still fumb
ling at her reticule, a /join slip
ped from her fingers and rolled,
by good fortune, across the
floor.
TT a . • . •
x was alter it instantly;
taught it, and with best bow
presented it.
“Permit me, madam.”
She took it.
“Thank you, sir.”
Yor a moment she paused to
restore it to its company; and I
grasped the occasion.
“I beg your pardon. You are
going to Benton, of Wyoming
Territory?”
Her eyes met mine so com
pletely as well-nigh to daze me
with their glory. There was a
quizzical uplift of her frank,
arch smile.
“1 am, sir. To Benton City,
of Wyoming Territory.”
“You are aquainted there?”
I ventured.
“Yess, sir. I am acquainted
there. And you are from Ben
ton?”.
“Oh, no,” I assured. “I am
from New York State.” As if
anybody might not have known.
‘'But I have just purchased
my ticket to Benton, and—” I
stammered, “I have made bold
to wonder if you would not have
the goodness to tell me some
thing of the place—as to ac
commodations, and all that.
You don’t by any ehance hap- !
pen to live there, do you?”
“And why not, sir, may I
ask?” She challenged.
I floundered behind her query
direct, and her bewildering eyes
and lips—all tantalizing.
“I don’t know—I had an idea
—Wyoming Territory has been
mentioned In the newspapers as
largely Indian country—”
“At Benton we are only six
days behind New York fash
ions,” shq smiled. “You havv
not been out over the railroad,
then, I suspect. Not to N >rth
Platte? Nor to Cheyenne?”*
“I have ngVer been west, of
Cincinnati before.”
“You have surely been read
ing of the railroad? The Paci
fic Railway between the East
and California?”
4,Yes, indeed. In ^ct, a
friend of mine, named Stephen
Clark, nephew of the honorable
Thurlow Weed formerly of Al
bany, was killed a year ago by
your Indians while surveying
west of the Black Hills. And of
course there have been accounts
in the New York papers. ”
“You are not on survey ser
vice? Or possibly, yes?”
“No, madam.”
“A pleasure trip to end of
track?”
She evidently was curious,
but I was getting accustomed to
questions into private matters.
That was the universal license,
out here.
‘ ‘ The pleasure of finding •
health," 1 laughed. “I have
been advised to seek a location
high and dry."
“Oh!" She dimpled adorably.
“I congratulate you on your
choice. You will^make no mis
take, then, in trying Benton. I
can promise you that it is high
and reasonably dry. And as
for accommodations—so far as
I have ever heard anybody is ac
commodated there with what
ever he may wish," She dart
ed a glance at me; stepped
aside as if to l£ave.
“I am to understand that it
is a city!" I pleaded.
“Benton!” Why, certainly.
All the world is flowing to Ben
ton. We gaiped three thousand
people in two weeks—much to
the sorrow of poor old Chgyenne
and Laramie. No doubt there
are five thousand people there
now, and all busy. Yes, a young
man will find his opportunities
in Benton. I think your choice
will please you. Money is
plentiful, and so are the chances
to spend it.” She bestowed
upon me another sparkling
glance. “And since we are
both going to Benton I will say
‘Au revoir,’ sir.” She left me
quivering.
“You do live there!" I be
sought, after; and received a
z
nod of the goldgn head as she
entered the sacred Ladies’ Wait
ing Room.
Until the train should be
made up I might only stroll,
restless and strangely buoyed,
with the vision of an entranc
ing fellow traveler filling my
eyes. Summoned in due time
by the clamor “Passengers for
the Pacific Railway! All
aboard, going west on the U
nion Pacific!” here amidst the
platform hurlyburly of men,
women, children and bundles I
had the satisfaction to sight ths
black-clad figure of My Lady of i
the Blue Eyes; hastening, lik<}
the rest, but not unattended—
for a brakeman bore her valise
and the conductor her parasol.
The scurring crowd gallantly
parted before her. It was
promptly closed upon her wake;
try as I might I was utterly un
able to keep in her course.
Obviously, the train was to be
well occupied. Carried on wil
ly-nilly I mounted the first steps
at hand; elbowed on down the
aisle until I managed to squirm
aside into a vacant seat. The
remaining half was at once ef
fectually filled by a large, stout,
red-faced woman who formed
the base of a pyramid of boxes
and parcels.
My neighbor, who blocked all
egress, was going to North
Platte, three hundred miles
Westward, I speedily f->und out.
And she almost as speedily
learned that I was going to Be*
ton.
She stared, round-eyed.
“I reckon you’re a gambler,
young man," she accused.
“No, madam. Do I look like
a gambler?"
“You can’t tell by looks,
young man," she asserted, still
suspicious. “Maybe you’re on
spec,’ then, in some other way.”
“I am seeking health in the
West, is nil, where the climate
is high and dry.”
“My Gawd!" she blurted.
“High and dry!” You’re goin’
to the right'place. For all I
hear tell, Benton is high enough
and dry enough. Are your eye
teeth peeled, young man?”
“MV eye-teeth?" I repeated.
I hope * so, madam. Are eye
teeth necessary in BcutonJ"
“Peeled, and witjj hair on
’em, young man," she assured.
I guess you’re a pilgrim, ain’t
you? I see a leetle green in
your eye. No, you ain’ti a tin
horn. You’re some mother’s
boy, jest geetin’ away from the
trough. My sakes! Sick, tqo,
eh? Weak lungs, ain’t it? Now
you tell me: Why you goin’ to
Benton?”
There was an inviting kind
ness in her query. Plainly she
had a good heart, large in pro
portion with her other bulk.
Vlt’s the fartherst point west
that I can reach by railroad,
and everybody I have .talked
with has recommended it as
high and dry.” \
“So it is," she nodded; and
chuckled fatly. “But law
sakes, you don’t need to go that
fur. You can as well stop off at
North Platte, or Sidney or Chey
enne. They’ll sculp you sure at
Benton, unless you watch out
mighty sharp.”
“How so, may I ask?”
(Continued next week.)
Without,questioning the sincerity
of Wizard Evans, it might be ap
propriate to suggest careful analysis
and proof, as, for Instance, when he
says “to Catholics the presidency at
Washington Is subordinate to the
priesthood »at Rome.”
What makes the United States
prosperous? High wages. Cytroen,
the greatest French manufacturer of
automobiles, says everybody in
France ought to have his own
automobile. The trouble is "in Ameri
ca the workman, saving one day’s
pay a week, can buy an automobile
with the money at the end of the
year. In France it would take a
Frenchman’s ENTIRE SALARY for
two years."
If you want a good crop, put
water and fertilizer,on the land. If
you want a prosperous country, put
good wages in the pockets of those
that work.
It all comes back to Che big people
$10 for one.
“Wild Bill” Lovett was born in the
slums. When he was a little boy
policemen chased him, bigger boy*
hit him. When he grew up. he chas
ed, but killed. When war came he
went in, was disabled, won the Dis
tinguished Service Cross for bravery.
Then he “reformed” decided to be
a hero, since the newspapers sug
gested it. But, as David Warfield
said many years ago, “a hero is not
a business.”
——— f
That millions should die unneces
sarliy is a crime against civilization
and common sense. The agricultural
department advises free of charge the
ownet of a young pig, an old horse
or a sick cow. There ought to be
some department equally interested
| In tbe health of human beings.
Get it in
the new
large size
carton
“I’m Hi town. Honey!’”
You*ll like the new carton of Aunt Jemima Pancake
Flour. It holds nearly three times as much as the
regular package; more economical. Much more
convenient than a sack; no spilling; protects the
flour. Ask your grocer; if he doesn’t have it he
can get it for you.
Aunt Jemima
__Pancake Flour
USE RADIO IN RESCUE WORK
Series of Experiments Are Being Car
ried on at Colliery in
England.
In the near future radio telephony
will probably play an Important part
In the work of colliery rescue parties.
As the rescuers carry out their duties,
constant communication will be kept
up with those directing operations
from a base. That is the object un
derlying a series of experiments being
conducted at Ashlngton colliery in
England. A considerable measure of
success has already attended their
efforts, and quite recently speech and
music were successfully received un
derground. A party equipped with a
three-tube receiving set descended the
shaft of the Carl pit and fixed a 20
foot aerial on the bulks supporting
the roof. Only one head phone was
used, but so clear was the reception
that the five men composing the party
all heard distinctly. Experiments
have already been carried out to
depths of 300 yards, and it Is expected
to test reception at depths of 1,000
yards.—Scientific American.^
Record Mountain Climbing.
A record of climbing 36 mountains
at the rate of one every day has been
made by <a California schoolmaster.
On a carhping trip in Glacier National
park, Norman Clyde of Weaverville,
Cal., set out to reach the tops of as
many peaks as possible in the short
est space of time, and, according to
the bureau of national parks, his total
of 36 Is unique. The .last peak
climbed by Clyde was Mount Wilbur,
the summit of which is almost 10.000
feet. Clyde, who is thirty-eight, has
had long experience in mountain
climbing as a member of 'the Sierra
club of San Francisco. He claims
that evidence shows him to have been
the first to attain the summit of eleven
mountains.
Hie Mind on Baseball.
Music Teacher—Why don’t you stop?
Those marks mean rest.
Johnny—What’s the use of restin’
> —let’s get through with it.—Boston
Evening Transcript.
While you many know a spinster like
a book, It isn’t nice to remind her of
the fnct that she is on the shelf.
j
RICH IN WITCHCRAFT LORE1
__
Library at the University of Cornell i
Has Complete Collection in
This Line.
The library of Cornell university Is
said to contain the most complete col-j
lection of witch and witchcraft literal
ture extant. Taking his text largely
from this collection Hendrick Van!
Loon toils many interesting facts
about this superstition which was re
sponsible for the loss of so many thou
sands of innocent lives, in the persecu
tion of whom, for once, both Prot-[
estant and Itomnnist co-operated, and
j it is difficult to say which was the
more energetic.
The mention of Salem, Mass., is al
most sure to bring thonghts of witches.
Indeed, this quaint New England vil
lage offers almost the only instance in
this country where witches were tor
I tured for their supposed witchery.
Compared with the activities of other
j countries, however, Salem’s record was
small, amounting to but about 20 vic
tims over a period of 100 years, while
in Europe, about the same time, one
judge alone is credited with sentencing
15,000 persons to death by torture on
charges of witchery.—£>etroit News.
ODD SEA MONSTER IS FOUND
It Is Eight Feet Long and Resembles
an Eleohant Without a Trunk
and a Whale.
There has been exhibited in Buenos
Aires what South American scientists!
believe to be a hitherto unknown seal
monster, captured some twenty-five;
miles from the coast near Mar deli
Plata, It was at first supposed to-be ai *
slid less sea turtle, but expert examl-j
nation shows this is not the case. i ~
It resembles rather an elephant with- j
out a Irunk, or, more properly, an;
.enormous elephant’s head with ears al
most perfectly identical with those of!
that animal. It also has some features!
simllaf to those of a whale. Its color
is brown, the mouth Is large and
spherical. i
It is nearly eighty feet long and ap
proximately* four and a half feet la ^
diameter. It has two vertical fins be
hind, one above and one below, remote
ly suggesting the screws of a propel
ler. The flesh is almost as elastic as
1 rubber.—Living Age.
Test This Out
for Yourself— i
MANY people who drink coffee regularly are I.
troubled with insomnia; or they fed nervous,
“headachy,” or suffer from indigestion. j
It may be hard for such men and women to believe sJ
that coffee is responsible for the way they feel. Be- -
cause they have always drunk coffee, it hardly seems
possible that this old habit could cause trouble.
But therels one sure way to find out whether cof
fee is harming you. Just stop its use for a week or so,
and drink Postum. j
Postum is a pure cereal beverage—absolutdy free
from caffeine, the drug in coffee, which disturbs the
health and comfort of many.- ,■ -
After a week or two on Postum, you will sleep j
better and feel better; then your 6wn good judgment
should decide whether you go back to coffee or con
tinue on the Road to Wellville with Postum.
> . •» . : „ " *> V I
Sold by grocers everywhereI j
Postum
■ I
R
, h'oetum in two forma:
want roetum [in tins] prepared in
stantly in the cup by the addition of
boiling water. Pcstum Cereal [in pack
agss] lor those who prefer the flavor
brought out by bailing fully 20 minutes.
The cost of either form is about one-half
cant a cup,
% 3'nMHPi 8 ", , -v
I ■ i ■ .in i , „ a
• ' ™ * '•
