MY HALF SISTER AAA By ELTON HARRIS XXX CHAPTER V.-^(Continued.) “Oh, 1 know you think U9 the dirt beneath your feet!” he sneered, his face Uvld, as he twirled his little black moustache and glared at her with unwilling admiration. “We are noth ing, no no; but it is those who w^ laugh, oh, yes! J snap my fingers at Reverton, for which 're are not good enough, but they shall accept us, though they did not my amiable uncle, whom, 1 allow, you had no cause to love.” “I ri-all certainly lot all Reverton know if I am made unhappy here," she answered, with a sudden flash of comprehension, under which Henri winced. “For Mr. Barlowe. I had lit tle cause to like him, but he is dead! he came to a terrible end! Have yon any chance of discovering who killed him, or why?” So Intent had they been in their conversation that they had been oo llvlous to the clang of the garden gate and the sound of wheels. As Mollia turned quickly to sse Madame Dubois driving up, the hor3es lathered by j their reckless speed, but well in hand, ; she did not notice that Henri’s face . had gone a sickly yellow, that the An gers holding a cigarette suddenly crushed it as in a vice. Madame looked from Moliie's flushed face, to her son's sullen, dark one, as she drew up, and her lips tightened; but the girl en tered the house before her, and, once out of sight, dashed to her own room. What was she to do? she thought, as with clenched hands she paced her room. What could she do but keep her eyes open, and bear it? She was sur prised to find that she was neither frightened nor dismayed; indeed, won dering more what Reggie would think If he knew—Reggie, whose blue eyes had given a sudden flash as that ”Mol lee” had caught his ear. Yet It was a matter of relief when madame ap peared as usual at dinner, even mak ing a little show of affection for her, though looking pale and distraught, while Henri was effusively polite. A hasty rattling at the r mother's baby, the lllt'e sister she had tri°d to love. Shut ting the door, she carried her to the window, pausing to wrap a rug round her, for she was In her small night gown, Just as she had Jumped out of bed, and shivering violently. "Yes, yes, you shall stay with me,” she said soothingly, In her round, soft voice. "But what is the matter? Where are Jane and Harriet?" "Jane has gone; she said she was not going to stay in this house to night for anything we could offer her. She Just got the gardener’s boy to take her box after dark, and went. 1 don't know what Aunt Clare will say, and harriet will not sleep In my room without her." "What! they both slept there?” "Yes, because of the strange noises and—and things. 1 woke up and called out, and when I got up and felt Har riet was not there, and her blankets were gone, my heart seemed to stop beating—I could not breathe. All I thought of was you; I should be safe If I could get to you. Something passed me In the passage; I felt It brushing against me. It was a ghost, wasn't It?" And she cowered down into Mol lie’s arms, a pitiable object indeed. Kate was almost beside herself, and it was long ere Mollie could calm her agitation. Inwardly the sister’s heart burned with wrath against the two maids, who in their own Ignorant fear had left this highly-strung child alone at such a time, after the shock of the preceding year. Seriously alarmed, she rubbed the Icy little hands and feet, talking cheerfully the while, and then rocked to and fro until the breathing grew quieter, and the flaxen head lay still on her shoulder, while she h.immed the old lullaby which had sounded in her own drowsy ears when she was a little child. "Mother sang that,” Kate 3aid, sud denly looking up with a faint smile. "When I found I was alone, I said all I could remember of my prayers—‘Our Father' over and over again.” * “I am glad of that," replied Mollie simply. "I feared you did not, Kate." "1 am a Freethinker In the daytime; but at night in the dark, when I am frightened, I always say all I can think of," said the child, with quaint innocence, all the self-importance knocked out of her Tor the moment by terror. But nothing could prevent the even ing being dreary and constrained, and as early a3 she could, she bade mother and sou good night. At the far end of the large square hall was the hand some oak door of Mr. Barlowe’s study, and she paused at the foot of the stairs to regard it with a felling akin to awe. What scene had that closed door wit nessed 12 months ago that very night? What was the secret of Leonard Bar iowe’s tragic death’ Well Indeed it was for Mollle that the future is hid den from us; that she could not fore see the manner in which the truth would be revealed! As she went slowly up stairs the drawing room door opened suddenly and madame came out and walked swiftly across to the closed door, her usually stately step faltering ami un even, her face wild and haggard; but ere she had gone many yards Henri had slipped after her, caught her by the arm, and pulled her roughly back "Let me go!” she cried excitedly. "Have you not tormented me enough? —you, for whom I have borne every thing; you, whom I have shielded?" "There, don’t make a fuss and roxse 1 the place!” he said hoarsely. "For ! heaven's sake come back and calm j yourself. What is the use of getting In a frenzy because an unfortunate event has happened in the house, and the servants say it is haunted? Come back, I say!” And the drawing room door closed again on their angry voices without either having perceived Mol- , lie's presence on the stairs above. She went on to her room down the dimly-lighted corridors, for madame was economical in lights in some in stances. There was a feeling of un rest and mystery abroad in the house tonight, more to he felt than described, i which unconsciously Influenced her. She wished she were not so young How long It seemed since she hid let' her peaceful Herman life beh.nd. and I»cen plunged into a sea of diffbultles, yet she would not have gone back t'nbldden ruse the thought tkat th re aas no Iteggie In Hanover. She listened very quietly when Mot ile tried to show her that this was wrong, and then her thoughts went back to the last Easter eve, and she spoke of her father. ‘ It was very cold—oh, very!” she said reflectively. “He took me out in the dogcart, and I cried with the cold, so he was cross. I did not know he was going to die, you see, or I would have tried not to.” “But you loved him, Kate?” ‘ Pretty well," she responded truth fully, for she had not words to ex press whut she was sharp enough to know that her father had cared for her for what she had represented to him. "When 1 went to the study to say good night to him, he called out he was busy, sfi I went away. Next morning when I awoke the snow was thick, and I luard screams and shrieks, j so I Jumped out of bed and ran to the top of the stairs and looked down and all the servants were there at Hie study door, looking in and wring ing their hands, and crying, and Aunt f’lare. with her hair streaming about, calling out that thev muss get a doc tor and send for Henri. 1 went fur ther down the stairs and asked what was the matter, and they shrieked more, and said 'Take the child away'* Hut I would not go until nurse caucd me, and she told me my fa ther was dead I asked what made him die and she sal I Want of breath.' And then heaps of people cane, and there was a bequest." “Inquest " corrected Motile With a shiver, the little girl's wor ts bringing the whole scene before her with start ling vividness, then a« she felt that Kate was again shuddering In her arm*, she a*l lei I ' But we will Bit think of I* a tty inure '* She took her Bible and read a chap ter. trying to It* h«*r thought* on ih Hunter that would soon dawn, th« day our Lord roaa from the dead The warm old dreaalng gown in which »he waa wrapped accentuated the bright new* of he* hulr and he- lovely fa. e »howrd *weet and thimghiful in the gaa light, but aa the elneed the booh It waa with a algh that the put he* elbow* on the i diet table and droppa ' her white chin Into th ru All the evening her thought * had been ba.k with her mo* h-r re mem beetng her eorrowa an t Buff. nn*« and >»t there ke^t imvi n, in t er mo d aim the word* the had ft*' real “lane >our «n»mle* Ah* how In p* wail hie It **-*»»■ 1 to h<<<* null) to** than poo- little M dlle ha* It appeared Um hard a p-m.pt 11 tut low * Hit a he et naggted foe it aahtag help fr on above to forgive |e*i*ltil Iturhiwe ant endeavor to Ilea in pea * with her re *' <*a. retnrning gwvd for ttii I •*■»'( h*!g It* ah* m***i>#4. tr#*»htliig M *«•*>• king Id kla*fc kaa «li4#4 Mg *i*>l ok at the beautiful world God has given us to live In! And if we are good He will certainly take care of us; we need fear noth ing. Why, evpn a little sparrow can not fall to the ground but what H > sees It; and we are His children, whom the Lord Christ came to save.” Kate drank in her words with a look of old Intelligence that made her seem as if she had never been a child But as Mollio put her into bed. two slight arms were suddenly flung round the soft white throat, and she whisp ered with passionate fervor: ‘‘Oh. I am glad—I am awfuMy glad that God has given me you for a sis ter, Mollie.” But long after the little one had fallen asleep. Mollie sat by her, think ing, thinking—what did it all mean? CHAPTER VI. Who had killed l^eonard Barlowe? For days Mollie ponderpd over thi» question, and another one that wouM keep coming back to her—had the Du bois any private know>dged that had not been published to the world? They must have known more of Mr. Bar low*, his past life and enemies, than any outsider could possibly do. Henri had hated his uncle, she knew, yet surely he had had no hand in sending him out of the world; that could not be the meaning of madame’s wild words! That he was cold-blooded and cynical to a degree about every thing save himself was clear; but It was Incredible that he could have com mitted such a crime undetected; be sides, Kate said that he had been In London at the time. She thrust the thought from her, and determined to try and think no evil—a good resolution put to a very hard test when she discovered that her freedom was gone, and that mad ame was always making slighting re marks upon the Anstruthers, implying that Mrs. Anstruther was a worldly mother, who had engaged her daugh ter to a rich man, and was now seek ing an heiress for her son. About this latter, indeed, she shook her head ominously; she had heard tales of him —he was a terrible flirt, or worse. It was in vain Mollie protested hot ly that the young naval officer to whom Joyce was engaged was far from rich; that she had never heard a word against Reggie, that Mrs. Anstruther was kindness itself and had loved her mother. Madame nodded her hand some dark head mysteriously, and said her dear Mollie was very young and innocent, and all young men were not like Henri, so good and wise and trust worthy. Certainly she had plenty of opportunity of discovering these vir tues in Henri, had they existed for he spent ths greater part of his time banging about her, and she grew heartily tired of him and the tales of his gay Parisian life. Why did he not return to it? she thought wearily. Why did he stay on here, rolling his black eyes at her sentimentally, and pretending that Reverton was now more to him than Paris? “It is because I am an heiress,’’ she thought wrathfully, when he had ac companied her to the Anstruthers, and kept so close to her that she had been unable to have the good grumble to Joyce that would have relieved her pent-up feelings. “Oh. this hateful money! My mothers’ life was ruined for it, and they would ruin mine. But I am not so gentle as she; and madame will find that I have a will of my own. I think she suspects it, for sometimes I see her eyes fixed on me with such a strange expression. God forgive me if I wrong them; but somehow I mis trust them utterly.’’ (To be continued.) Made Some Queer Wager*. Gen. Francis V. Greene's story of the queer bet made by officers at Get tysburg recalls other strange wagers. Harmon, at the Stanwix hotel, In De trolt. several years ago. bet he could hold his head submerged In a bathtuh for 125 seconds without taking air. He won. In Philadelphia some years ago a gentleman made a wager of J100 that he could jump Into water eight feet deep and undress himself complete. Any one who has ever made the at tempt to remove his clothing after be ing thoroughly drenched to the skin, even when standing on terra flrnta, with plenty of room to “hop around on one leg," will at once realise the difficulty of accomplishing the feat while In the water. However, It was done In the Instance noted. A chap named Curtis Iti Berkshire county. Massachusetts, for a wager of a horse, ran five miles In forty-one minutes, and wound up the race with a Jump of eleven feet six tn< bea. An Kngllsh man named Head won t'l.ooo by walk Ing 4oo miles In ten days, but the ex ertion so used hint up that he never walked much afterward, wither on wagers or oihsrwtee.— New York Tel# graph. T«» MimiiiI i'httlt* «M» (« «|1 vtuj'itit |»hotf»» «m |I(|m prtM #** 1 as follows M >ak four ounces of g#u tin# in cold water for half an hour then place in a glass jar, adding six teen own*eg of water, put the jar In a large dish of warm water and dissolve the gelatine \Yti*n dissolved pour into g shallow tray (law your prints rolled m i roller albumen aide out1 tike the prtal hy the corner# and pa s rapidly through the g.iatm*, taking great I t<> a. I atr bub <■* listig up with < tipa to dry. and when dry eque.se * arefully on to the t sts The better th* q > silty of the glass the ln*l the eS#at I SEEKING NEW FIELDS DR. TALMAGE DRAWS LESSONS FROM PAUL’S ACTIVITY. Point* Oat Places of ('hpIiiIiiph Not Yet 1‘Mlly the* off' la this awful bat tie uf sib lb>t Sorrow Where lo l l.« have fallen an millions, d>< not let <<• speed all nit time tn taking care of a law y» (i|. an I * w- a ’to com meed cornea, "Go into the world,” say prac tically, "No. I cannot go; I have her# a few choice cases, and I am busy keeping off the flies.” There are mul titudes today who have never had any Christian worker look them in the eye and with earnestness in the accentu- j ation say "Come," or they would long ) ago have been in the kingdom. My I friends, religion is either a sham or a j great reality. If it be a sham, let us ' disband our church°s and Christian | associations. If it be a realtiy, then j great populations are on thp way to | the bar of God unfitted for the ordeal. ! And what are we doing? Denting nltlt Skeptic*. Comparatively tittle effort as jet ! lias been made to save that large class ] of persons In our midst called skeptics, ; and he who goes to work here will not i be building upon another man’s I foundation. There is a large number of them. They are afraid of us and our churches for th" reason we do not | know how to treat them. One of this | class met Christ. And hear with whut | tenderness and pathos and beauty and j success Christ dealt with him: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy Ood with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. This Is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto It—namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There Is none other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him "Well, master, thou hast said the truth, for there is one Ood. and to love hint with all the heart and all the understanding and all the soul and all the strength is more than whole burnt’ offerings and sacrifices.” And when .Jesus saw that he answered dis creetly he said unto him, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of Ood.” You would not be so rough on that man if you knew how he lost his faith in Christianity. I have known men skeptical from the fact that they grew up in houses where religion was over done. Sunday was the most awful day in the week. They had religion driv en into them with a trip hammer. They were surfeited with prayer meet ings. They were stuffed and choked with catechisms. They were often told that they were the worst boys the parents ever knew, because they liked to ride down hill better than to read Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress.’’ Whenever father and mother talked of religion, they drew down the corners of their mouth and rolled up their eyes. If any one thing will send a boy or girl to ruin sooner than an other, that is it. If I had such a fa ther and mother I fear I should have been an lnfldel. Unfaithful Christian*. Others were tripped up to skepti cism from being grievously wronged by some man who professed to be a Christian. They had a partner In business who turned out to be a first class scoundrel, though a professed Christian. Many years ago they lost all faith by what happened in an oil company which was formed amid tho petroleum excitement. The company owned no land, or if they did there was no sign of oil produced; but the president of the company was a Pres byterian elder, and the treasurer was an Episcopalian vestryman, and one director was a Methodist class leader and the other directors prominent members of Baptist and Congregation al churches. Circulars were gotten out telling what fabulous prospects opened before this company. Innocent men and women who had a little money to invest, and that little their all, said, "I do not know anything about this company, but so many good men are at the head of it that it must be ex cellent. and taking stock in it must be almost as good as joining the church." So they bought the stock and perhaps received one dividend so as to keep them still, but after a while they found that the company had reorganized and had a different president and different treasurer and different directors. Other engagements or ill health had caused the former of ficers of the company, with many re- ! grets, to resign. And al! that the subscribers of that stock had to show for their investment was a beautifully ornamented certificate. Sometimes that man, looking over his old papers, comes across tiiat certificate, and it is so suggestive that he vows he wants none of the religion that the president and trustees and directors of that oil company professed. Nnm« II«»ud« for Kxlstlng. Remember, skepticism always has some reason, good or bad. for existing Goethe's irreligion started when the news came to Germany of the earth- j quake at Lisbon. Nov i. 1775. That j fiO.ouO people should have perished in that earthquake and In the after ris ing of the Tagus river so stirred his sympathies that he threw up hla be lief In the goodness of God Others have gone Into skepticisms from a natural persistent.- lu asking the reason why. They have been fear- i fully stabbed of the fatal tnterroga- . tion point There are so many thin,-* they cann it get explained They can not understand the Trinity or how Goo can be sovereign and yet man a free agent Neither can I They say, I don't understand why a good God should let ain mm* Into the world ' Neither do I You «ay "Why was that chtiil started In life with such dlaaJ vantages while others have all physi cal and mental equipment *" I cannot tvll They go out of --hitr- h on Raster morning and say, ' That dot trine of th* resurrection e»>nfi*nndeu me. * go i It ta to me a mystery beyond unravel n-eni I understand alt the pnare—■■ by Which men get Into the dark I know them all I havw traveled wttk burning fee' that bitntered way Yhe I first word that children learn to utter l« generally papa “f mamma I think : the grst word I ever uttered ear 'Why’" I know what It Is to have a hundred midnights pour their dam ness into one hour. A*»kfn!nj Tender Momorle*. If I address such men and women today, I throw out no scoff I Implead them by the memory of the good old days when at their mother's knee they said, “Now I lay me dowa to sleep" and by those days and nights of scar let fever in which she watched you, giving you the medicine in Just the right time and turning your pillow when it was hot and with hands that many years ago turned to dust soothed away your pain and with voice that you will never hear again, unless you join her in the better country, told you to never mind, for you would feel bet ter by and by, and by that dying couch where she looked so pale and talked so slowly, catching her breath between the words, and you felt au awful loneliness coming over your soul. By all that I beg you to come back and take the sajne religion. It was good enough for her. It is good enough for you. Nay, I have a better plea than that. I plead by all the wounds and tears and blood and groans and agonies and death throes of the Son of God, who approaches you this moment with torn brow and lacer ated hands and whipped back and saying, “Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Ttlft C'lmrcl* •« <» I.lfclxmh The churches of Go.i ought to be so many life saving stations, not so much to help those who are in smooth wa ters, but those who have been ship wrecked. Come, let us run out the lifeboats! And who will man them? We do not preach enough to such men; we have not enough faith In their release, Alas, If when they come to hear us we are laboriously trying to show the difference between sublap sarianlsm and siipralapsarianism, while they have a hundred vipers of remorse and despair coiling around and biting their Immortal spirits. The church Is not chiefly for goodlsh sort of men, whose proclivities are all right and who could get to heaven praying and singing In their own homes. It Is on the beach to help the drowning. Those bad cases are the cases that God likes to take hold of. He can save a big sinner as well as a small sinner, and when a man calls earnestly to God for help he will go out to deliver such a one. If it were necessary, God would come down from the sky, followed by all the ar tillery of heaven and a million angels with drawn swords. Get one hundred such reedemed men in your churches and nothing could stand before them, for such men are generally warm hearted and enthusiastic. No formal prayers then. No heartless singing then. No cold conventionalisms then. The Prussian cavalry mount by put ting their right foot into the stirrup, while the American cavalry mount by putting their left foot into the stirrup, i do not care how you mount your war charger If you only get into this battle for God and get there soon, right stirrup or left stirrup or no stir rup at all. The unoccupied fields are all around us, and why should we build on another man's foundation? I have heard of what was called the "thundering legion." It was In 179, a part of the Koman army to which some Christians belonged, and their prayers, it was said, were answered by thunder and lightning and hall and tempest, which overthrew an invading army and saved the empire. And I would to God that our churches might be so mighty In prayer and work that they would become a thundering legion before which the forces of sin might be routed and the gates of hell might tremble. Launch the gospel ship for another voyage. Heave away now. lads! Shake out the reefs In the fore topsail! Come, O heavenly wind, and All the canvas! Jesus abroad will as sure our safety. Jesus on the sea will beckon us forward. Jesus on the shore will welcome us Into harbor. ANGLO-SAXON CITY. Shanghai tinder Control of ItrltUh and American lioeernments. Shanghai, the Chinese seaport con trolled by Great Britain. Is the busiest and wickedest city In the flowery king dom, if not in the world. It is the largest foreign settlement in the far east, with 2,002 British, 381 French. 357 American, and 2 052 of other whfte nationalities. In the British settle ment, on the river front, are magnifi cent public gardens, and adjoining them Is a great park lu which stands the line British consulate. The British and American concessions, lying side by side, are now one international set tlement,under the municipal control of a hoard Of foreign consuls; but the French colony, with its 381 Inhabi tants. will have none of the hated An glo-Saxon. and has its rues and its quals. and at Its street corners the welt known features of a street corner In the tjuartier Latin Yet Its streets are throngc 1 by a motley crowd of Chinese, * I nc« It dire, tly adjoins the Chinese quarter All three fore gn concession* were orig nally Intended (or exclusive foreign residence hut the Chinese who fled there during the Tat plug riots discovered the advantage of foreign rule aud have now Invaded every p»rt uf the settlement to the no Oilier of .*»'■ 0"8 They appreciated the immunity from man larin extor tion ami also bring amenable to a tolled cm*ft l»l their off. asm Hot ttl« tics.- It) )!>■ * ll h)« • ll i ll IIItag*' of civilisation *k» not appeal to them, and as one charming authoress to apt ly pula H. they swarm and htva in Him house*, overdue I he heirs and windows, and are Chinese to th* last word'* Shanghai la the refuge and headquarter* tor all the Chinese pr>» |fff MtlM 4II 4 ref risers