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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1899)
That Mysterious Major... ...BY... ETHEL A. SOUTDAM i. CHAPTER VI. “It is very awkward, but then it is mat exactly what one might have sup posed would happen.” Lady Howard -.poke in a strangely perturbed tone. For the past few' minutes she had been occupied in reading the I/Ondon pa per. but the remark, which was ac companied by a faint sigh, was evi dently the outcome of a previous con versation. “If one ha.i a particular antipathy for a certain individual, one may be quite sure that, as ill-luck will have it, one will be brought in con tact with that very individual at every turn and corner; and it has just been so with Major Ilrown, During the past four or live days we must have had oc casion to speak to him at least a dozen times. What with lending us iis umbrella on the day we were caught in that thunder shower, helping in the search for Hambo when you lost him the other morning, and to crown all, rescuing you almost from under the hoofs of that tiresome horse upon the shore yesterday, we seem to have pass ed our time in saying nothing but thank you,’ to him. Realiy every thing has happened as awkwardly as it could. Of course accidents are con stantly occurring; still I cannot imag ine how you managed to get under the hoofs of that horse.” "Well, yes—it was troublesome of me. It would have been almost bet ter if it hud killed me outright.” was Evelyn’s answer from the deep em brasure of the window, where she was sitting before a small writing table busily scribbling off several notes. "But, anyhow, we were under an ob ligation to him for getting wet through on our account the other night, when in that pouring rain he found us a cab after the theater. After that, we were obliged to be polite to him.” “Yes—polite of course,” agreed her ladyship, twisting her rings somewhat thoughtfully round and round upon her fingers; "but you have to be more than # ‘‘No—I do not say that there is; but I dislike making promiscuous ac quaintances. Mr. Falkland was talk ing about him only thi3 morning, and be seems thoroughly to understand my feelings upon the subject.” ‘‘Yet a month ago Mr. Falkland was quite as promlBcouous an acquaintance himself. It was only by chance we got to know him; and in his cuse he had not oven done anything for wnich we were under any obligation to him,” was Evelyn’s prompt reply. "My dear child, what are you talk ing about?” Lady Howard’s tones were slightly impatient. “Mr. Falkland’s was quite a different case. We made his acquaintance by chance; but I should have been Just as reluctant to have anything to say to him as 1 am about this other man if we had l ot discovered in him an old friend of both my husband and your father. At the same time I must say I never met anybody before in whom I could place such complete confidence, lie is so different from the general run of young men, who can talk of nothing hut their shooting, their horses, and their dogs.” “Oh, yes—he is very nice, of course; hut”—Miss Luttrell paused for a mo ment—"he is not exactly a young man!” "Possibly not." The touch of Impa tience In her ladyship's tones was su perseded by one of distinct annoyance. "Neither," she added, "Is this myste rious individual with whom you have struck up such a warm friendship. I should imagine there are only a very few years difference in their ages." "Now, Aunt Lydia, do not talk non sense! Major Brown may be us old as Methuselah for all I care! And, as for saying that I have struck up a friendship with him—well, that, is really mean of you!” Evelyn pushed lack her chair, advanced to the mid dl-j of the room, and with her hands clasped behind her, gazed serenely at her aunt. "You surely know that you THRUSTING IT INTO HER WRI TING CASE. LOCKED THE KEY. irdlnarlly polite to a man who has raved your life.” “Yea—that is It,” said Evelyn lugu briously. "It is very annoying—the whole af ’air has been so unfortunate.” pro ceeded Lady Howard with emphasis. ‘If it were absolutely necessary that »ou should be rescued by somebody, all well ami good, but there is not an ither person in the hotel whom I would not have chosen to undertake he task in preference to that man.” Evelyn received the information In illence. leaning her elbows on the nlge of the table, she let her chin link slowly into her two palms and ;a*ed out reflectively through the •l»en window, “gttll there Is nothing really against lltu.” she suggested at length, with •light though percept I tile diffidence * lie—he Is very nice to talk to. The inly objection is that nobody knows who he is, and that hla name Is Brown' —plain common 'Brown' with tut even an V to add a little elegance ,u it. And of course one generally •oiutidrrs that an officer is at least I gentleman " "An officer * Nonaen*a. rblltT He Miiaa lie calls himself Major Itrown. fo you eitpposa Ihsl Is any criterion of its position In society?" lauly How »r«1 s|M>he .llsiialnfully "Its may m> an officer, certain!) he has the sp it amnea of a soltliar Ixtl It la far nor* likely, since nobody ran Jisur •r what regiment ha Is In ami lhara a no so-h nama In lh# retlr*»l Army Ut—that ha la maraly a maps of ml mlaars In an .iharwra country town •otluwiua a vulgar hut house! trade M eoop hollar or euaar rebner " Ma may ba. of u.<ir»» I'lfr I ba java, may «r.” raiuraea Kmlyn ail* yllag (ba ami of bar pea with a par tariff Sinwrluwl a»pr*aab*n Hoi theca la bathing sngg* *<!•• of allbar or »>i#ai about Major liman •’Id more towards making that ac quaintance in the ten minutes when you talked to him last evening and overwhelmed him with thanks for res cuing me than I could have done in a whole year! Why. if l had not known to the contrary, I should have thought he was the one person in the hotel for whom you had the greatest respect!" “Yet, what else could 1 do, when, but for his timely uld, you might at this very moment he lying lamed for life or even dead?" returned Lady Howard, with a little shudder. “Oh, no! You did quite right, of course!" said Evelyn thoughtfully, l*i rhaps nobody realised more fully than herself how much she had to he thankful for. "But do not say it is my fault if he—well. If for the future he does not merely take off his hat and pass »n with a distant bow when he chances to meet you!"—laughing lightly. Nu; th# ilUtattt Imiw «ai finite a thing of the limit. their n.|.i.iim,iru'> •an on a totally "Hrrmi footing non • mat* of affair* to whUb Major llniwn hlm-olf wraa thoroughly alive when, half an hour Inter, he rhan.nl to meet Mian I mitre 11 in the garden Me «et«o|m..<| her naroily. peraimed in •honing her aome iww plan* for n ptojerted golf tourae. and naa alii) walking b> her aide when a turn In the path brought them fare to far* with (itlherl JalkUnd 'lb* there y«ni are. Mia* K»ef* he began by gray of greeting utterly Ig norlag her rooipaaioM *1 naa Juat wondering where the bird had Itonn The word* were *|>oken llghtl* In the urn* familial half patrontalng •train nkl> h Mr Katbiand morally ; adopted toward* the daughter of kU old friend Klve miautaa ago. when I waa paaaiag along the verandah I mined that the window of your alt nag rung »*• wi.la upen that lb< apartment Maelf waa empty, and lhai I % check book was lying on tho ta fc!o.” "A check book?” Evelyn nodded. “Ah, 1 dare say it was mine.” "So I suspected,” observed Falkland calmly. “Are you aware, though, that it is a most dangerous practice leav ing your check hook about like that?” "Dangerous!” Evelyn laughed. "Well, yes; I suppose that it would be con sidered dangerous by some people who go on the principle of locking up ev erything, from the wine cellar Itself down to such trifles as penny stamps aud halfpenny post cards.” “Yet check books, I should Imag ine, scarcely come under that cate gory,” remarked Falkland with quiet sarcasm. “But perhaps you have for gotten our conversation of a week ago?” he supplemented, with a signi ficant glance from Evelyn to Major Brown, who was standing silently pass ing his stick along the edge of the gravel path, an edifled listener to tho discussion. At his words tho hot color rose quickly to Evelyn’s cheeks, mounting to her forehead and spreading over throat and ears. Like lightning her thoughts had gone back to that morn ing when her first encounter with Ma jor Brown had taken place; and, as she realized to what Mr. Falkland was alluding, a fee'lng of the utmost annoyance took possession of her. Hut worst of all was the knowledge that Major Hrown had raised his head and was wonderingly surveying the crimson hue of her cheeks, and prob ully even divining the cause of her confusion. This last thought was too much for her. Without another word, and giving Gilbert Falkland only one flash of her angry Ayes, she suddenly turned away and walked oft indignant ly towards the house. “The wretch!’’ I hate him!” she mur mured a moment later, hu she stepped through the open window of Lady How ard’s sitting room and threw herself Into a low chair. One contemptuous glance she gave at her check book as It lay open on the table by her side, and then, as though annoyed by the very sight of It, sho took It up, and, thrusting It Into her writing case, locked the key an grily upon It. CHAPTER VH. It was two days later—a soaking wet afternoon. Ever since early morn ing the rain had been descending In a steady persistent downpour, beating upon the scorched grass, dashing to pieces the rows of stately calceolarias anti geraniums, and converting every path and flight of steps Into as many miniature streams aud turbulent cas cades of seething waters. Major Brown, driven almost to des pair by the depressing prospects of tho day, wandered aimlessly from billiard room to smoking room, from smoking room to library, and at last sat down before one of the writing tables and hastily dashed off one or two unimportant letters. Ills corre spondence completed, he directed and sealed the envelopes, and was leisure ly affixing the stamps, when his at tention became suddenly arrested by something on the sheet of blotting pa per before him. What was It? With the exception of a number of indescribable hierogly phics and the impression of a line of more boldly written characters, which had evidently been hastily blotted, the surface of the pink sheet was perfect ly blank. Putting up his eye glass, he scanned them for at least a couple of minutes in absolute silence, and then, giving a cautious glance round the room, as though a sudden thought •had struck him, he advanced, blotting book In hand, towards a fantastically framed mirror which stood above the marble mantel. This further scrutiny was, to all appearance, even more suc cessful, for, as Major Brown held up the strangely Interesting sheet close to the glass, a smile of satisfactior Immediately lit up his face. (To be continued.) Two lluppy Thought*. From far-away Ceylon cornea a funny little story. A tea planter who had a glass eye was desirous of going away for a day's shooting with a friend, but he knew that as soon as the natives who were at work on the plan tation heard that he was going they woulu not do a stroke of work. How was he to get off? That was the ques tion. After much thought an idea struck him. Going up to the men, he addressed them thus: “Although I ray self will lie absent, yet I shall leave one of my eyes to see that you do your work.'' And, much to the surprise and bewilderment of the natives, he took out the glass eye and placed It on the stump of a tree and left. For hi*, time the tnen worked Industrious ly, but at last one of them, selling his tin in which he carried his food, ap proached the tree and gently placed It over the eye, Thla done, they all lay down and slept sweetly until sunset,—* Waverly Magaitne. Slrnsf ••Uuw Ur. Mtubb Can iUlh see good I through her new glasses* Mr*, btuhb Ye* John, hut ihs sacs they exag gerate Mr Mtutih Kxasgerate, Ma ria* Mrs Mtubb Yes outrageously* fhe other night she declared tbs muon had a gulden it to and the n -he found ii *aa her glasses that had I gulden rim t.,.*«sd* ('•* i». M'lina l wore on* i f ■ to*' her collars to save laundry but*. IX Font* YY aa It a so *»» * Yjuinn Mu, I bad to throw It itti K««iy uaa I met yelled Mobhern*«b * sywlos SssSst awUmts. I lb all dyatn there are only lib) eblldreu m the bunder a*hoot* JOHN AND PHILIPPA. In the middle of the fourteenth cen tury John of Gaunt, duke of Lancas ter, the famous son of King Edward III. of England, married the Infanta Blanche, heir to the throne of Castlie. Unfortunately the lady hud been sup planted by her cousin, who had seized and held the throne. Twenty-five years after this mar riage war broke out between Portugal and Castile. England was the ally of Portugal. The duke of Lancaster headed the English forces. He fought with a will. Victory meant that his wife, the duchess, would be queen of Castile. The king of Portugal, too, Interested him. He was a fine young man of 26. He was tall and handsome and had wavy black hair and large dark eyes. Ho was a brave soldier and a good horseman. In some ways he was unlike most kings. He cared nothing for the drunken bouts and course pleasures in which his companions indulged. He was noted for the remarkable purity of his life. His people called film Johu tlie Perfect. They were devoted to him. In one thing only he failed to pleuse his subjects. He would not marry. They could not understand his reluc tance. Yet he had a reason, though he kept it secret. Three years before an English knight, on a visit to the king of Por tugal, had died suddenly. At the last moment he placed In the hand of the Icing a miniature painting. He attempt ed to say something in explanation. It was too late. The picture was of a beautiful, but unknown, maiden. Kippling fair hair shaded her round .pink chwks. Her blue eyes gazed steadily Into the king's dark ones. Her lips were curved In a half smile as if she were amused at the mystery he faced. Days, weeks, months passed, and the king still studied the miniature. He was enthralled by the fair unknown. "Had I but learned her nnme before my good friend died!” he sighed a thousand times. “Who can she be?" he wondered. There was no response. Several years passed. At length he felt that he must put sentiment aside and yield to the wishes of his people and marry. After Philippa had rested from the fatigues of the journey, she prepared to give audience to the king in the great drawing-room of the castle. She was attired in a magnificent robe of white satin embroidered with gold. It had a court train of royal purple velvet bordered with pearls. Her gold en hair was dressed high and in its coils was set a tiara of amethysts. Her ladles withdrew that the young people might have no witness to their meeting. She was alone. From a winjlow the girl watched the approach of the king. She noted how handsome he was In a suit of fine green velvet with silver satin trimmings. Yet she was nngry with herself that she admired him. “Nothing does he care for me!" she thought, bitterly. She drew herself up with great dig nity as he entered the room. He bowed low before her and commenced some formal speech. Then the words died upon his lips. The shock of a great surprise kept him silent. Before him stood Hie lady of the miniature. H1b Joy may be imagined. He told the story to Philippa. She In turn confessed her love. The marriage next day was no formal affair of state, but a union of two fondly loving hearts. And all his life long the people wondered how the king who hod been so cold a suitor had been transformed Into such a loving husband.— Lydia Kingsmill Command er in New York Evening Journal. DRESS IN BAD TASTE. Dngllnli Women Wear Costly Kalirlca at Mlseellaneona Fulillc llatlierliiRa. Ida Hus ted Harper, one of the Amer ican delegates to the international woman’s congress recently held in London, left the British metropolis with a very poor opinion of her Eng lish sisters’ taste in dress. “Before leaving for Ixjndon," she wrote the other day, "we were told by persons who wanted us to be a credit to our country that, we must be careful not to dress too gayly over here, that ‘nice, genteel tailor-made suits’ were the proper thing. So we bankrupted our selves on ‘tailor-mades' of various weights and colors—and we have scarcly seen an Englishwoman wearing one since we arrived. Even in the morning at public meetings the most delicate fabrics are worn, with long SURPRISE KEPT HIM 81 LENT. To cement bis alliance with the Eng lish people he proposed to the duke of Lancaster that he give him one of his daughters. The duke was pleased. It would advance hts plans. *'I have two daughters.” he said— "Philippa, who Is JO, and Catherine, who is 17. Your majesty can have which you choose.” "In these affairs of state it mutters I little." said the king, sadly. "Let i» be j the older, to more nearly match ny own age." The duke returned at once to K ijt- ; land to prepare his daughter for this royal marriage He carried with Mm portraits of the king, and described in i glowing terms his graces and virtues There was no choice for Philippa Fortunately, tin fair English maid was pleased with the dark beauty of the king. She a ordered If he would admire her. She had heard of hia in difference to women, and knew that he had not even asked for her pi 1*11 re "At least he shall hot know ikul I rare at all for him," she thought fur , she was a high spirited girt. The marriage was by prosy This ; was not uncommon In royal fa Mil** I,mu ago. The dignity of the king for- 1 bade him lo go from hie owu land lo aeek hia hrlde Yet the Lady I'h'llppa of Iwiio aster was granddaughter <1 the king id England She must be wsrrled In her own toon try The htng sent as his prosy P great I gn hbishop He traveled la rove stat ♦. 1 attended by many noble* After the cefi-aaony Phlllpt** as gueen of Portugal weal. In r*re »f the arc Md»h .p and all hls irsiu to the husband whom In her heart ska luted, and whom ahe knew cared not fur har | tin har arrival In Portugal she w*a j taken i« a grand • aatle, whara th* mar ! ring* •ftrastt waa to ha pet formed «>n the Mbiutng dav with lha b* >g In at as 4 ef hia prosy trains, elaborately trimmed anil often with thin kid slippers or white shoes. They are dragged about with utter dis regard on the dirty floors of halls, theaters and the courtyurds. which everywhere abound. When we saw chiffon dresses trailing through the parks we said to our escort: 'Those women must he hardly respect aide.' 'The very first ladle* In the elty,' he answered. After becoming acquainted I talked with some of the (English women on (he subject and they said: 'We do not wear tailor-made suits In "the season," that Is. in May. June und July, but the other nine months of the year we live In them ' So we put ours in the ttotlom of our trunks and packed the steamer rugs on top of them. We have been fortunate enouah to see the 'smalt set' over here at a number of functions, and It has been interesting to compare their dressing with that of the fashionable women on similar oceasion* in mir own enoatry, My opinion is that in the Pt. quality and style of gowns, thorn* in America are quite equal to IkiMs in KngUnd, If not superior; hut in laeea and jewel* the Kngllsh women are ahead I think we do not have any gathering* where a* many women have magniA cent lace* and jewels as one see* here, The reason Is not herd to And It take* lime to cotier t these thing* even where one Has money Here they m Ih* lahetiiaa- e rf many generations, each adding n few rare piece* lo the utlecikun and In lamdon mure uf these old and wealth* families cungre gate than in anv >»* * Ity In the new world *Mt lews* a ttwOe Kvety kuy In Uernvany, from ih«* frown l*rm*e Is Ih» »**»•• sohyet, l* oblige I in U n sis> u»«'ul trade. THE EAST MAN. Fatca'Tliat Mhjt 0*«rtaka the Survivor of the Human Hare. Astronomers tell us that the day must come when the earth will, like the moon, wheel through the heav ens a dead and barren ball of matter, airless, waterless, lifeless. Hut long, long before that time man will be ex tinct, and will have disappeared so ut terly that not so much as the bleached skeleton of a human being will be visi ble on all the millions of square miles of the surface of this planet. Unless by some huge and universal cataclysm the whole race is swept at once into eternity, it is but reasonable to sup pose that man, like any other race of animals, will disappear slowly and that eventually there will be but a single human being left some old, old man, gray headed and bearded, and left to wander alone in a solitude that may be imagined but not described. How will he die, this last relic of the teeming millions that once transformed the globe and ruled undisputed master of every other living thing? There are many fates that may befall him. He may go mad with the horror of loneli ness and himself enil his miserable ex istence, He may be eaten by the vast reptiles or giant Insects which will then probably Infest the solitudes. But ills fate may be far weirder and more dreadful. Scientists say that as we burn the coal,and tlmlier we are still so richly supplied with we let loose into the atmosphere an ever-increasing volume of carbonic acid gas. Much of this is taken up by plants, but not all. W It. must increase and eventually poison the breathable air, filling the. valleys and mountains slowly to the hilltops, where the last remains of animal life are striving for existence. The last man will climb higher and higher, but eventually the suffocating, Invisible fluid will reach and drown him. EASY CORRESPONDENCE. How u Clover Now Orleans Couple Manage It. One of the houses on my route Is the home of a traveling man who spends about half his time out of town, said a New Orleans letter-car rier to a Times-Democrat reporter. When he goes on a trip he and his wife exchange a postal card every day, reg ular as the clock. The lady always gives me her cards to mall, and 1 couldn't help noticing that both they and the ones she received were always perfectly blank. All they ever con tained wag the address, and those that came to the wife had even that printed instead of written. I confess the thing made me curious, and I thought up all kinds of theories—sympathetic ink, se cret marks on the edges and a lot of other nonsense for which I never dis covered any evidence. I happened to know the drummer pretty well, and. meeting him one day, I couldn't resist asking him about the blank cards. “So y you’ve been trying to read ’em, have you?’’ he said, laughing. I expected that, and took it good-naturedly. Then he explained. “My wife and I are nat urally poor letter writers,’’ he said. “but we want to hear from each other every day, so as to know that nothing has gone wrong. We used to write like other folks, but It was a hard job. and one evening we got to looking over some of our old letters, and they seemed so stupid and forced that we were really ashamed of ourselves. Then we thought of this blank card scheme, and it has worked like a charm. It means simply that all is welt. Before I go on the road each o.f us knows the other's programme and the receipt of the cards means that nothing has hap pened to change our plana. The sav ing of ink and imbecility has been enormous.” Cheap Water In Ulasguw. In Glasgow a $75 householder ob talES for $1.42 per annum a continuous, never falling, unrestricted stream of the purest water In the world delivered right into his kitchen, wash-house and bath-room. It is calculated that 3M) gallons of pure water are delivered to the citizens of Glasgow for every penny paid. And it U water of such peculiar softness that the householders of Glasgow can pay their water rate out of what they save on soap. Ixx-h Kutrine water Is not only soft—it is remurkably bright, dear and free from vegetable matter because of the bare and precipitous character of the hills which drain Into the loch. It is uni form in color, temperature and qual ity, Is absolutely free from pollution, and must remain so because the corpo ration have now bought up the build ing rights of the whole drainage area; | it needs no nitration and la practically 1 unaffected by the change of aruaons. • , Knglneer Magazine. M«i ^imIIIIihI l« Jutlf*. Itene<ll«t I have about i|e<Me<J to go to hleitco for the aomnier. liohelor - Why, that'a the hottrat pla.*« on tho ta<r of thr faith Iteuadlft ~ Ktfuao mr, but you're not marrlati Huh. m<>u4 IMnpnteh. • *•••'» tMIMr, l-ady Traveler Allow utr to ifetaU you our moment. »U I have her* a treat »»«l prrtty llttlr letter-opener- - ! vary handy tirut tInterrupting) tto have I at h>tm« I in a married man. )OU aaa' -« •'■■•I ■■■in —<WMMw aewawawrap Mat Worth Holm Mir lung ItahaUur tire prtnre mipto tar to the king of Napaul has a hat 'note of diamond# worth over §} kan turn mu pervh#4 on tup ta a ongta ruby of tt al-uia'ile value Maa |« ab I nltatlva rraaturn and ah"***# la hun>a' iaad* i\a barvl | *> htllar