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Is h a a far Tl* t«« ft** {. ft t . *»• apr *-»ta •- -1 ;.nd Msrt-a sod '* -- • dauctnor .4 Af>-f (Tori*. • - -a. *»- •' H»-.! \< »■-. -j-» *■ ■ r p a S'f-- Hz- t! ta :» » —1 ■ > » p a* 1*1 ar.xsd * ■ t:.r M«r es. ** k . i-** tstaa to tosvo l S* Isdaad. * K -TO f t- -*.T.t ran »»»» 1 **r ft—a dtrsos w* ■» ct* is ds>**o«d !■ totr r I - To tints (Tl- - ralltlf tl.mA Itr ..V t' r t-Tia H'st - - st JPiT—wr Is d’l TOI I. zread S*3 *r» dasraodiOA i« ti* to ott. /CHAPTER VIII.—Cent -ued.) T'ra-g—the king*" cried the old •an rlstcfatsg the knot of bit cane atth both hands. "She has gone!" “Cot- eacla-swd Nathaniel. For •a instant bi* heart bounded with de ls. • Manat was on her way to tie try-**! He sprang hark to the door. -When* When did »L* gor The tcatt had come forward, her bands trembling, ter bps quivering Struetbiag »n the terror of her face •eat the hot loud from Nathaniels Cheeks They amt for her aa boar ago." •be said The king wet Obadiah Frier tor ter* O. my God!" she •hr.-bed suddenly, clutching at her breast Tell me—what are they doing •Sth Mar.ua—' -chert up!" snarled the old man "Tnafs is Strang's business. She ha* gone to Wrung" With aa effort be straight* ia-4 himself until his tower tag form roue bail a bead above Na than.- 1 "She has gone to the king." be repeated. "Tell Strahg that she will wive tin tonight, as abe has promised'" la spate at tls effort to control him a*-JS a tern! w cry trim from Na than.*-!'* !lpa He Sung open the door and Mead for as instant with bis white (ace turned back. "She went to the castle—an hour ago”" he crW. ‘Tea. to (he castle—with Obadiah The ias* word* followed him as be sped oat Into the night As swiftly as s watt he rsnd across the rtearing to the trail that led dow n to Si James Sown fMag teemed to hare hurst la Ms ‘*ralfc. something that was not blood, hat are. seemed to burn it bis veins—« mod desire to reach «tr=ng to grip him by the throat, to mete out to ta the vengeance of a Bend ia stead of that of a man He was too tale to save Kim*' His brala reeled w stlt the thought T»i late—too late— too late He panted the words. They came with every gasp for breath Too late! Too late! His heart pumped I S* t-t, os he sprained to keep «p bis speed He passed s njo and a boy hurrying with their riSet to St James and made no answer to t!e*r shoot; a galloping hors* forged ahead of him and he tiled to keep up with H. and then, at the top of the kmc hill that sloped down to the mrunghold of the Mormon kingdom .ag seemed to sweep his l<-g* from ceder him. and he fell pu'ing on the ground. Far a few moments he lay there looking down upon the rtty Tt» great bell at the temple was now silent. He saw huge fires burs isg for a mile along the coast, hundreds of lights were twinkling is the harbor, theta cam* up to him aofUy. subdued by distance, the sound <: rnssoiMS and excitement far be low His eye* mated on the beacon above th> prophet's home, burairg tike a ball , of fire over the black canopy of tree lops Marlon was there! lie suae U> hia fact again and west as reason and t; . gn.en. returning to him—telling him that he was about to play against {odds; that his work was to be one • f strength and g neralsbip and not of madness. As he picked his way ' n.cr r low ly arid cautiously down the slope a new hope flashed upon him. Was it possible that the discovery of the ij'i roach of the uiainlardors had •erred to save Marion? ia the ex 'eri.er.t that follow-d the calling of the Mormons to arms and the prep are'u :.s for the defense would h'trang the master of the kingdom, the bul wark of his people, waste priceless time in carrying out the purpose for which he had seat for Marion? Hardly did hope burn anew in his breast w hen there came another thought to tpuer h It. Why had the king scut for Marion on this particular night and at this late hour? Why. unless at 'he approach of bis enemies he had feared tLat he m.gtit lose his beauti ful victim, and in bis overmastering passion tad called her to him even as Lis p*-..ple assembled in defense of ; his kingdom. There was desperate coolness in Xa approach now. Whatever had Lapj^ened he m .Id do what Neil had threatened to do—kill Strung. And whatever had happened he would take Marion away with him if it was only her dead body that he carried in his anus To do these things he needed strength He advanced more slowly and drew deeper and deeper drafts of air into his exhausted lungs. At the edj- of the grove surrounding the castle he paused to listen. For the first time it occurred to Nathaniel tnat the prophet might have assem bled some ot his lighters to the de fense of his harem, which he knew would be one of the first places to 1 le<-l the vengeance of the outraged j m*-n of the mainland. IJut he heard no voices ahead of him. There were \ no fires to betray the approach of the enemy. Not even the barking of a d i »-ad It disclosed the narrow malls of a hall and an ppen door lead ing into another Voom. The match sputtered and went out and he lighted another. On a little table ju3t outside the < <>or was a half burned candle and he r< placed his match with this. Then I he w ent in. At a glance he knew that he had <-ntt red a woman's rocen. redolent with the perfume of flowers. On one | t ie mas a bed and close beside it a cradle with a child's toys scattered j about it. The tumbled coverlets showed that both had been recently j Ml About the room were thrown ar u<-i.» of wearing apparel; a trunk had b*-en dragged from a closet and was 'half packed; everywhere was the dis order >f hurried flight For a few feiotnents the depth of his despair held f Thaaiel motionless. The castle was d« rt* d—Marion was gonel He ran btek into the gr»at room, no longer Irving to still the sound of his foot s’. -ps. and opened a second door. The same silence greeted him. the same I disorder, the same evidence that the wives and children of the Mormon king had fled. He went into a third room—and then a fourth. For an instant he paused at the threshold of this fourth chamber. A light was burning in the room at the end of the hall. The door was closed with the exception of an inch or two. “Marion!" he called soUly, and lia tened intently. He went on when there was no re ply. and pushed open the door. A candle was burning on a stand in front of a mirror. The room was as empty as the others. Hut there was no disorder here. The bed was un used, the garments in the open closet had not been disarranged. On the floor beside the bed was a pair of shoes and as Nathaniel saw them hia heart seemed to leap to his throat and stifled the cry that was on his lips. He took one of them in his hand. his whole being throbbing with excitment. It was Marion's shoe— incrusted with mud and torn as he had seen it in the forest. With hei name falling from his lips in a plead ing cry he now searched the room anc on the stand in front of the mirroi he found a lilac colored ribbon, soiled and crumpled. It was Marion’s rib bon—the one he had seen last in her hair, and he crushed It to his lips as he ran back into the great room, call ing out her name again and again in the torture of helplessness that now possessed him. Mechanically, rather than with rea son, he went to the fifth and last door. His candle had become extinguished in his haste and after he had opened the door he stopped at the threshold of the black hall to light it again. There was a moment's pause as he searched his pockets for a match, a silence in which he listened as he searched, and suddenly as he was about to strike the sulphur "tipped splint there came to his ears a sound that held him chained to the spot It was the sobbing of a woman; or was it . child? In a moment he knew that it was a woman; and then the sobbing ceased. There was nothing but darkness ahead of him; no ray of light shone under the door; the chamber itsell was in utter gloom. As quietly as possible he relighted his candle. A glance assured him that this hall was different from the others; it was deeper, and there were two doors at the end instead of one. Through which of these doors had come the sound o! sobbing he had heard? He approached and listened. Each moment added to his excitement, his fears, his hopes, but at last he opened the door on the left. The room was empty; there was the same disorder as before; the same signs of hurried flight. It was the room on the right! His heart almost stopped its beating as he placed his hand on the latch, lifted it, and pulled the door in. Kneeling beside the bed he saw a woman. She had turned toward the light and in the dim il lumination of the room Nathaniel rec ogr.iz^d the beautiful face he had seen at the king's castle the preceding day —the face of the woman who had sent him to find the prophet, who had placed her gentle hand on Marion's head as he had looked through tht window. There was no fear in het eyes as she saw Nathaniel. Some thing more terrible than that shone in their glorious depths as she rose to her feet and stood before him, het face lined with grief, her mouth twitching in agony. She stood with clenched hands, her bosom rising and failing in the passion of the storm within her; and she sobbed even as Nathaniel paused there, unmanned in this sudden presence of a distress greater than his own; sobbed in a choking, tearless way, waiting for him to speak. "Forgive me," he spoke gently. "1 have come—for—Marion.” He felt that he had no reason to lie to this woman. His face betrayed his own anguish as he came nearer to her "I want Marion," he repeated. "Mj God, won't you tell me—?” She struggled to calm herself as ht spoke the girl's name. "Marion is not here," she said. She crushed his hands against her bosom and a softer look came into her eyes; her voice was low and sweet, as it had been the morning he asked foi Strang. As she saw the despair deep ening iu the man’s face a great pity swept over her and she stretched out her arms to him with an aching cry, “Marion is gone—gone—gone," she moaned, “and you must go, too! O, I know you love her—she told me that yon loved her, as I love Strang, my king! We have both lost—lost— and you must go—as—I—shall—go!” She turned away from him with a cry so heart-breaking in its pain that Na thaniel felt himself trembling to the soul. In another instant she had faced him again, fighting back a strange calm into her face. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Do Birds Return to Old Nests? Whether birds, especially migratory ones, return to the same nests year after year is a question of much in terest to the naturalist. Swallows that summer In England do not winter north of Africa, but an observer at High Halden, Kent, England, has re corded that one returned on April 12 to a nest it occupied last year. It was recognized by a ring that had been placed on its leg. To gain a better knowledge of bird habits, more than 2.000 British birds were last year marked with inscribed aluminum rings, and twice as many more will be similarly tagged this year. — Canada Needs Rat-Traps. According to Consul General Jones at Winnipeg, Canada is in great need of rat traps. Farmers in the grain belt are becoming anxious over the invasion of rodents and are willing and able to pay a good price for a trap thlkt will combine durability and efficiency. Logical. Green Purchaser (in automobile ware rooms)—My friend sent me here to get a rheumatic tire. Clerk—Rheumatic? You mean pneu matic, don't you? Green Purchaser—Perhaps It is pneumatic. I thought it was called rheum atlo because it’s swelled. GUN PRACTICE AT ONE OF OUR COAST DEFENSES \Y\^\H