1 1 ? - , 1 . TIIE BED CLOTJD CHIEF. V'fi . i I ' A Brave Coward. By Robert Louis Stevenson. CHAPTER IX.-(Contlnued.) And with that he was gone nmoug the thicket. I made a fire, for I had no feo of the Italians, who had even spared all the little possessions left In ray encampment; and, broken as she was by the excitement and the hideous catastrophe of the evening, I managed to bring her back to some composure of mind and strength of body. Day had already come, when a Bharp "Hist?" sounded from tho thicket. I started from the ground, but the voice of Northmour was heard adding, In the most tranquil tones: "Como here, Cassllls, and alone; I want to show you jomethlng." I consulted Clara with my eyes, and, receiving her tuclt permission, left her alono and clambered out of the den. At some distance off I saw Northmour leaning against nn alder, and, as soon as he perceived mo, he began walking seaward. I had almost overtaken him as ho reached the outskirts of the wood. "Look." said he, pausing. A couple of ateps moro brought me out of the foliage. The light of tho morning lay cold and clear over that well-known scene. The pavilion was but a blackened wreck. Close by the Islet a schooner yacht Jay to, and a well-manned boat was pulling vigorously for tho shore. "The Red Earl!" I cried. "The Red Earl twelve hours too late!" "Keel In your pocket, Frank. Are you armed?" asked Northmour. I obeyed him, and I think I must have become deadly pale. My revolver had been taken from me. "You eco J have you In my power," ho continued. "I disarmed you last night while you were nursing Clnra; but this morning hero take your pistol. No thanka!" he cried, holding up his hand. "I do not like them; that Is tho only way you can nnnoy me now." He began to walk backward across tho links to meet the boat, and I fol lowed a step or two behind. In front of tho pavilion I paused to see where Mr. Huddlestone had fallen; but there was no sign of him, nor so much as n trace of blood. "Craden Floe," said Northmour. He continuod to advance till we had :omo to the head of the beach. "No farther, please," said he. "Would you like to take her to Graden House?" "Thank you," replied I; "I ahull try to get her to tho minister's at Gra den Wester." The prow of tho boat hero grated on the beach, and a sailor jumped ashore with n line in his hand. "Walt a minute, lads!" cried North mour; and then lower and to my pri vate ean "You had better say nothing of this to her," ho added. "On tho contrary!" I broke out, "she shall know everything that I can toll." "You do not understand," he re turned, with an nlr of great dignity. "It will bo nothing to her; she ex pects It of me. Good-bye!" he added, with a nod. I offered him my hand. "Excuso mo." said he. "It's small, 1 lenow; but I can't push things quite so far as that. I don't wish any sentimen tal business, to sit by your hearth a whlte-hairpd wanderer, and all that. Quite tho contrary: I hope to God I shall never again clap eyes on cither one of you." "Well, God bless you, Northmour!" I said heartily. "Oh, yes," ho returned. He walked down tho beach, and the man who was ashore gave him an arm on board, and then shoved off and leaped Into the hows himself. North mour took tho tiller. They wero not yet hnlf way to the Red Earl, and I was still watching their progress when the sun roso out of the soa. One word moro and my story Is done. Years after Northmour was killed lighting under the colors of Garibaldi for the liberation of Tyron. THE END. Carrie The Telegraph Girl a: A" a- A ROMANCE OF THE CHEROKEE STRIP. X X X By Captain Jack Crawford "THE POET SCOUT." I had not met Carrie Uankin. I did not know if sfie was long or short, blonde or brunette, sweet sixteen or crabbled forty, plump as a mountain quail or thin and angular as a Kansas female suffragJBt; yet we had become the best of friends, nnd dally chatted with each other on terms of marked sociability. I confess that, as the days sped by and I listened to her witty expressions and bright conversation, I found mysolf falling In lovo with her, yet I had not tho least tangible idea of hor poisonal appearance, and know not whether her voice was soft and musical, or pitched In a high key that was harsli and disagreeable to the ear, J know she was good-nntured and poj essed of a keen sense of humor, for 'he would laugh heartily at my re marks, and respond with Oio moat bril liant repartee when my humorous darts wore leveled at herself. This may all seem enigmatical to the reader, but will assume an nspect of entire plnuslbllity In tho light of tho fuct that she and I wero telegraph op erators ut widely-separated stations on a western railway. Sho know as little of tho young man with whom she dal ly chatted as 1 did of herself. We had each drawn an Ideal picture of tho per sonal appearance of the other, and In our frequent conversations over tho wire, each had In mind a face and fig ure to whom tho remarks wore nd dressed. I had pictured her as n bright-eyed, laughing, Jolly little crea ture, with golden curls nnd silvery voice. I often wondered whnt sort of a mortal picture she had drawn of my self. Red Rock, where I was located, was a station on the Santa Fe railway, In tho Cherokeen strip of Oklahoma, be fore that now famous stretch of land was purchased by tho government from the Indians and thrown open for set tlement. The population of the town (?) consisted of a burly Bcctlon fore man, of Milesian extraction; his wife, a red-fnedd, red-armed womnn, who had no aspirations outnldc tho limits of her not over-clean kitchen; four section laborers, nnd myself, the agent and operator for tho railway company. The country was, nt the time of which I write, a wild one, Inhabited only by Indians, a few cattlemen who leased grazing lands from tho aboriginal own ers, the cowboys who looked after tho scattered herds, nnd roving bands of desperadoes under the leadership of the Dalton brothers, tho most famous of whom, Bill Dalton, was punctured by a well-directed bullet from tho rifle of a deputy United States marshal but a fow days ago, and who died with pistol In hand cursing the shot which hnd laid him low. MIhb Rankin was my predecessor In tho position of agent and operator at Red Rock. Sho learnt tho art of tel egraphy In the train dispatcher's ofllco at Arkansas City, where her widowed mother resided, and when competent to assume charge of a small station, had uaked for and been given n posi tion nt Red Rock. Sho tired, of a while, of tho lonely monotony of that obscure station, nnd asked to bo sent to one less isolnted from mankind; and when one day the operator at Ed mond, further down tho line, reported that hlB fingers had been "pinched" while endeavoring to couple two cars together, and thnt he must hasten to Arkansas City for Burgical attention, the Red Rock agent wns telegraphed Instructions to lock up her dopot, leave tho key In tho care of the section fore man, and proceed on a train then al most due to Edraond, and assume charge until tho Injured ngent should return. I was at tho tlmo an "cxtrji operator" on a Kansas division, and on tho afternoon of tho day on which Miss Rankin left Red Rock, I found myself sitting In her recently vncated chair for an indefinite stay at tho lone ly station. My first train report had scarce an nounced my presence to tho operators up nnd down the line, ero Edmond called mo up. Sho expressed regret that she had been denied tho privi lege of extending to mo a personal wel come to my new homo, said sho hoped I would ilnd tho station a pleasant one, and asked me if I would not kindly collect a number of femlnlno trifles which she had overlooked In packing her trunk, and then send them down to her. She would bo ever bo much obliged, and should nn opportunity pre sent Itself, would certainly reciprocate my kindness. That was my first "mooting" with a lady who was soon destined to play a heroic part In a thrilling advonturo In which I was a prominent figure. Llttlo by little Miss Rankin and my self became acquainted over tho wire. We wero soon holding dally conversa tions, then seml-dally, and then our chats became so frequent that at times jealous operators at other stations would break In on our conversation with hints that some one wns "mash ed" on some one else, and that wo had better give the suffering wire a rest and do our spooning by mall. To these ungontlemanly Interruptions we paid but little attention, but continued our long-distance Intercourse I, as I be fore remarked, falling more hopelessly In lovo with my now friend as the days sped by, and often wondering If a recl- procatory feeling was not growing in warmth at tho other end of the wire. 1 was a young man of but 20, ery susceptible to female charms, and as I was then denied even a look at a pretty face, aside from fleeting glimps es of female passongors on passing trains, I enmo to regard Miss Rankin as "my best girl," nnd hor personal telegraphic Rlgnal, "Cr," becamo the sweetest sound my Instrument clicked Into my cars. Modesty, coupled with a fear of be ing "guyed," had prevented me from questioning tho train men regarding the personal nppearance of my inamor ata, but one day when I had orders to hold a north-bound frolght until a delated south-bound passonger hud ar rived, an8 the freight conductor, Tom Armstrong, came Into ray ofllco and sat down for a chat, 1 determined to sound him and learn u llttlo something of the .Idol of my dreams. 4 , "What sort of a looking girl Is that now holding down Edmond station?" I asked. Ho looked nt mo a moment In n, half-quizzical, half-mlschlevous man ner, nnd replied: "Sny, Fred, 1'vo heard some of tho boys on the line suy you was dead gono on thnt piece, nnd I hnve an Idea sho Is on your trail, too, for sho mado mo toll her all nbout you while my train was lying there this morning waiting for No. 7. Did you never see her?" "No. I never hail tho pleasuro ot meeting Miss Rankin," "Miss Rankin? You mean Mrs. Ran kin." "Menu whn-u-a-ut?" "Mrs. Rankin. 1 thought you know she was a widow with two kids nt hor mother'H, up In Arkansas City. I guosn sho's square enough port of woman, but when you see her, old man, I've an idea you won't want u second look. She's no spring chicken! Forty If she's a day, and sho doesn't need n better protector than that face of hers. And temper! Gee-whlz! My hlnd brakemnn asked her the other dny If that face didn't pain her, and she grabbed up a coupllng-pln nnd let It go at him. Ho'd have been a dead brakey If he hadn't been a good dodger. Ho never sticks his head out of the cn booso window now while we are nt that station, for she's got It In for him." The passenger whistled, nnd ho hast ened to his train to pull out as soon as the track was clour. How cruelly my Idol was shattered. After the trains had gone, I Bat as If dazed; In fact, I wns so absorbed In digesting the startling information 1 had gleaned from Armstrong that I neglected to report their departure, and tho "Jncking-up" I received from the train-dispatcher for my Inattention to duty served to still further Increase tho ill tempor Into which the conductor's story had thrown me. The snnppy clicks of tho Instruments hnd scarcely ceased to convey to my cars the mer ited reproof, concluding with tho ster eotyped chestnut which dispatchers al ways crack In Biich cases, "Don't let It occur again," ero I heard a call from Edmond. Heretofore I had fairly sprung to the table to respond to that call, but now 1 felt no desire to enter a conversation with the ogro who pre sided at the key at that distant stntlon. It was with no gentle touch that I an swered her call. "Say, Sd" (my personal signal), "It's too bad, but u shld 'tend to biz. Ha! ha! ha! Was u sleep or reading lotr fm ur girl?" Thus camo hor consolatory message In tho abbreviated conventional stylo of tho telegrapher, and It serveU to fan the flames of my angor Into a flcrco heat. Had It been tho nlco little mai den of my dreams who had slung such chaff at me over tho wires I would have" smiled and thought It real cute, but that fright! Dah! "I dt no as ft Interests u wt I was doing. I'm 2 busy to talk nw." I snapped tho words off with spite ful sharpness and closed my key with a thump that ulmost sprung tho cir cuit breaker. "Well u needn't bite my noso off coz Dr (tho dispatcher) turned you over. Call me up when u get In gd humor. I've something to sa to u." My gentlemanly Instincts slinrply re proved mo for treating her In such nn ungentlemanly manner. Had sho ovor led mo to believe she was young nnd handlome? Was sho to be blnmed be cause she was a widow, wore a cnrlca turo In lieu ot a face and was the mother ot two children, no doubt as ugly as hcrrfclf? I felt a tinge of shamo for having spoken so crossly to her, nnd with Bofter touch of tho key replied: "I beg pardon, madam. I've got bad hedake today, and feel cross as bear. Forgot I was talking to lady. Wt u wnnt to m to me?" , "O, I'm real sorry ur not well, for I've been 'tlclpatlng pleasant visit with u. Tho agent horo Is on No. G, and I'm ordered to Ark. City, and I thought if twould bo greeable to u I'd go up on freight trn and stop over t'r for pass enger ts eveng. I want to c tho old statn again." (To bo continued.) T!io HoTolutlonary Tories. James K. Hosmer in tho Atlantic: It Georgo III. nnd his ministers were em barrassed by opposition at home, says James K. Hosmer in the July Atlantic, tho American patriots wero no less em barrassed. An energetic minority, It has been satd, brought to pass tho rev olution, which proceeding, especially from Now England, was carried through In spite of a majority in the colonics a majority in great part quite apathetic, but to somo oxtent actively resisting. Tho emigration of forces, when the day was at last won, was rel atively as great bb that of tho Hugue nots from France after tho revocation or tho Edict ot Nnntes. Tho total num ber is estimated to havo been at least one hundred thousand, In this multi tude were comprised only such, with their families, as had been nctlvo for tho king. Tho Indifferent, who hnd lent no helping hand to the patriots, must havo been a multlttidb much larger; these remained behind, Inertly submitting to tho now order of things as thoy had swayed Inertly this way or that, following tho power and direc tion of tho blast of war. Itrrnly with the Teit. From the BoBton Transcript: The Maid What are you doing with the Dl. bio, Freddy? Freddy Picking out a text for today's sermon. When I como homo front church I always hnvo to toll pa what tho text was. Tho Maid Dut how can you know the text until you hear ft? Freddy Any text will do. Pa won't know the difference Tho Maid Hut your grandmother" Is going with you. Freddy Ilut grandma will bo fast asleep loug before thoy get to the text. 3,MWv'wvtvwtvvmvmvwwivwvMvvvuwvi Officers of Our Navy Who Arc Distinguished Inventors 25 iwwwwwwwwww-vw ww-w-w wvw wwww w w w w v w ww wm WW1 4 A. A AAA AAA AA i A AAA A AAAAA.AAAAA AAAAAAAAAAA.AAAAAAAAAAAI. The American navy has supplied hundreds of the inventions which have played important patts In the doolop ment of the modem nuvy. The 111 at essential step, the Introduction of the Ironclad and tho monitor, was Ameri can born. Another Initial advance quite as Important In Its way wan tho construction of thp modem high-power rifles, requiring In their design a high order of mathematical ability and an Intlmnte knowledge of the characteris tics ot modern steel. All guns In the navy have been designed by Professor Philip R. Alger, u former graduate of Aunupolls, who has since been trans ferred to the corps of the professors of mathematics In the navy, and who ts the highest authority on oullnauce matters in this country, If not in the world. Profossof Algor received n dl ploinu from the World's Fulr Commis sion for his Hysteni of gun construction, now In uso In tho navy. In order to make these guns cfllclcnt, methods had to be devised for handling them on board ship; opening and clos ing the breach for loading, mounting them on carrlugea for sighting nnd training, protecting them with .'rmor. supplying them with powder and shell, developing smokeless powder for their line, designing primers, fuses, telescopic sights nnd a hundred little accessories used In connection with their services. It was iiIbo essential to provide the necessary appliances for using tho mod ern automobile torpedoes to be thcil from our ships and torpedo boats; ap paratus for signaling orders from the conning tower to tho gunu and to ev ery part of the ship, for measuring tho distance of the enemy, for counter mining harbors and clearing channelii and many other devices more or less di rectly connected with tho ships as a fighting machine. To perfect these devices In forolgn navies tho government havo hnd to pay millions of dollars, for Improvements and inventions that tended to make their guns and ships moro powerful In their keen competition for supre macy. In this country, the homo of tho Inventor, our government had paid OFFICERS WHO ARE little or nothing. Nearly overy Im provement has been Invented by Its naval ofllcers. Ono Instance ot a naval officer who received compensation for nn Invention was that ot Chief Con Btructor Wilson, now retired, to whom tho Navy Department paid $10,000 for nn ulr port-hinge. But most of the work of naval officers' brain have been given tto the government free. How much tho Inventive faculty of Its keen-minded officers has meant to tho Navy Department Is Illustrated In tho caso of Lieutenant Frank F. Fletcher, now on duty In tho ordinance bureau. It was Bald at a hearing be fore a Committee of tho Senate last winter, on a bill to give naval Inven tor's compensation, that a gun-mount of Mr. Fletcher's had saved the gov ernment moro than JjOO.000. All rap-Id-flre guns arc now placed on this gun-mount and tho World's Fair Com missioners awarded It a diploma. Brief ly described and without technical terms, this rin-mount Is tho applica tion of ball-bearings to the upper car riage of tho gun, with a hydraulic check to take up tho recoil after firing, and n spiral spring to return it to its plncc. Thero Is also elevating and training gear of a complicated charac ter. Mr. Fletcher n t,he Investor of sev eral nthrr dv(res. Ono "of thoso Is n breech mocha' 'urn for heavy zitus This mechanism Is used for handling uw uic ncavy urcccn piugs, weieuint i. fiom r00 pounds to half a Ion, of our S-lnch, 10-Inch, 12-Inch and 13-lneh guns. The army has also recently adopted It. These plugs were formerly handled by hydraulic machinery, but Fletcher's dovlce enabled this to b." done by hand power by one man. So micecssful was the device thut one man, with his left hand turning a crank, can unlock from tho breech of the gun Its plug, weighing 1,160 pounds, with draw It to tho i car and swing It clear In seven seconds, Flnully Mr. Fletcher Is the Inventor of a rapid-lire gun which Is now the standard of the navy. Ills device 1 1 being used on nil the a-lneh, 4-Inch, 5 lnch and (Much guns In the service. Just before the war with Spalu bf gan Secretary Long recommended to Congress an appropriation to build u big powder factory for making .inioke Ichh powder. At the muuo tlmo he an nounced that a satisfactory smokeless powder had been made utter many years of experiment, and thut this powdtr was superior to the Binokelesa uowdcrs made abroad. "Lieutenant J. II. Hcrnudou showed spoclul aptitude for this work and capacity tor the solu tion of tho problems Involved In the prosecution of tho experimental work of this nature," said the report of the Innpcctor In chnige of tho torpedo sta tion at Newport. This Lieutenant Uor nadou Is now nt Key West recovering from woundH recalled while In com mnnd of the WIIbIow ut Curdeur.s. It wns In fiM't Lieutenant Heruudou nnd Commander G. A. Montgomery who Invented the. smokeless powder just adopted by the Navy Department. Tho nuvy Is particularly proud of this achievement. Foreign governments possessu a smokeless powder, but It contulns nltro-glycerlne, which makos It unrellnblo and dangerous, and besides develops u high heat which soon ruins a gun. All countries huve been working for the, Ideal BiunkolesH powder containing no nltro-glycorlne, and we are the first to got It. As In many other matters, our Navy Department stayed behind Europe In the adoption of a smoke- FAMOUS INVENTORS. less powder until wo hnd ono that wns perfect. Lloutenont B. A. Flske, prolific In ventor In electrical devlcas, mado somo years ago a range finder for automat ically finding distances at sea. It Is ono of tho most useful contrivances on shipboard, and is worth an immense sum to the navy. Another of Lieut. Flsko'a inventions was the Btadlmeter very clover modification of tho sex tant, by which It is possible to measure the distance of n Bhlp from tho height of Its mnst or smoke stack. Still anoth er was a range Indicator an electrical device for signaling from the conning tower to the gun captain the direc tion nnd distance of the enemy. This Is fitted on nearly all our ships. Captain Slgabeo of the St. Paul, Is an Inventor, The navy now uses a deep sea sounding apparatus nnd parallel rulers for navigation ot his Invention, Lieutenant Dashlell Invented n breech machanlsm which was a great Improvement on all that had preceded It. It was adopted by tho navy depart ment in 1892, and was Introduced on many rapid-fire guns. This device en abled tho man ut tho breech of the guu to do with ono motion what had always taken two. In the breech mechanism the plug had to bo turned with ono motion until It unlocked, nnd then withdrawn with another motion. Hut by an arrangement of cogs Lleutennnt Daeblull made tho pull ot a levor turn the plug mitt It wan unlocked n then withdraw It. Tho roverso mo tion of tho lover drovo tho plug homo nnd then turned It until It locked. The Dnahk'll mnchanlsm has been supplant ed by the Fletcher mechanism, but It Is still to be font d on some rnpld-Wro xuns. Lieutenant W. H. Drlggs and I.leu tenunt Seaton Schrocder nro tho Inven tors of a rnptd-flre mechanism, which Is of the samo class nn tho well-known Hotchklss gun. It Is npplled to one pounder and slx-pounder guns. This Invention Is owned by n prlvato cor poration, unlike most of tho navy In ventions, which belong to the govern ment. Commodore John A. Howell Is tho In ventor of tho automobile torpedo, which beam his name. Its mechnnlkti. consisted chiefly of a heavy cog wlicl made to l evolve nt n high rate of speed ' eforo the torpedo Is put In tho water. Commodote Howell sold this Invention to the Holchktns company, nnd for n time drew a royalty on It. 0' Into It has been supplanted by tho White head torpedo. Lieutenant Jnncph Strnusn Is the In ventor of Improvements in mounting tut ret guns. Ho conceived tho Iden ot the double turret, having an elght-lnrti turret pluced on top of a thlrteou-lnch turret, ns used on tho battleships Keursarge nnd Kentucky, which were launched not long ago at Nowpuit News. Chief Constructor Philip Hlchborn In vented the Franklin life buoy, nnd Bold It to a concern In Until, Me. It Ih a self lighting buoy. Two small tin rases nt tached to It contain, phosphide of cal cium.' Stoppers to these cases nro. at tached to the ship, so that when tho buoy Is thrown Into tho water tho stop pers are withdrawn, nnd when tho buoy strikes the water tho combination of the chemlcnl with tho water makes a bright flame. Lieutenant Very, late of the navy, devised n set of signals which urn now In use, not only In our navies, but In all tho navies ot tho world, Lieuten ant Herbert O, Dunn Invented a. stock less anchor, which is now In uso on some navnl vessels, Lieutenants Vnn l)uzer and Mason wero the Invontorn of nn ingenious electric steering gear. Lieutenant Flskn nnd Lieutenant Lu cIlmi Voting nro the joint Inventors ot n bout detaching apparatus. Chief Engi neer Hnrry Webster Invontcd a clino meter, used to dctcrmlno the angle roll of u ship. Chief Engineer Nathan P. Towno is tho Inventor of an Improved boiler. Lieutenants Dichl and Glbeon arc InvontorH of n "compensating bin nude," deuigncd to neutralize tho mag iiettsm ot u steel ship's hull. Pnsscri Assistant Engineer Tobln Is tho in ventor of the famous Tobln bronze. much used for hulls of racing yachts and for the shells ot torpedoes, and Prof. E. C. Mitnroo, of tho navy, la the Inventor of tho high exploslvo "Jovltc." These are only samples of the many contributions to Inventions which navul ofllcers hnve made. Tholr Inventive talont and thelt skill In designing havo made the ships of tho United States navy superior In overy convenience and efficiency to thoso of Europe. In fnct, many foreign governments pay tribute to tho nttperlorlty ot American Ideas In royalties on tho inventions ot Amer. lean naval ofllcers. DEACON FIRES IN CHINA. The payment last month of tho great wur Indemnity from China to Japan has ngntn aroused the question why so little patriotism was shown by tho Chi nese during their Into war. It is not generally kriown thnt a vast secret so ciety flourishes In that country to op Pobo tho present ompcror, and that a majority ot tho Chinese nrmy Is said to belong to this society. One reason for this opposition Is that tho present emperor is not strictly n Chinaman, but belongs to a Tartar dynasty. In China, such beacon fires as spread tho alarm of tho Spanish Armada through England, still call to war. Somo years ngo, tho" story goes, tho emperor sat with' a beautiful woman, looking toward thn beacon hills. Sho wpuld like to see those waiting piles lighted, und upon her insisting the thing was done. The greatest excite ment prevailed throughout the prov inces, nnd troops came hurrying from all sides. When the leaders learned that no danger menaced, that the fires wore lighted to satisfy tho whim of a woman, their wrath fed on tholr lost confidence, and with tho actual call to arms tho response was slow arid un cnthuslastlc. It waa a repetition of the old story In Webster's spelling-book. "Wolf" had been cried too often. "You may roughly divide nations n tho living and the dying," Lord Salis bury declared in a recent address be fore the Primrose league. China bo longs to tho second class; but sho will not havo existed in vain it her ex ample teaches living nations thnt faith In their rulers and tho patriotism of tho pcoplo arc tho suro defence of no tlons. An Ideal Wotau. According to tho Academy, 3uder inunn U "a muscular giant, beared and bluo-eyed," resembling "tho Ideal Wotan of Wagnerian drama." Ho is u natlvo of eastern Prussia, A (Ircat Hellenic. Browne "Whut Is your obJeU in vta Itlng Spain nt this time?" Towno "X want to bo on tho ground early so ? can have first cholco ot castlos." Niw York Journal. Astronomers tell us that In our solar system there a(o aufcast 17,000.000 coaeto oi an sizes. awtm ' M nil L?'l 41 ( M j ."I I V