J -V r r IK b The Diamond Bracelet By MRS HENRY WOOD Author of East Lynn Etc CHAPTER I The afternoon of a hot June day was drawing towards evening and the groat world of London for it was the height of the season was beginning to think of dinner In a well furnished dressing room the windows being open for air the blinds drawn down to stooda ladywhoso maid was giving the touch to her rich attire It was Lady Sarah Hope What bracelets my lady asked the maid taking a small bunch of keys from her pocket None now it is so very hot Alice added Lady Sarah turning to a young lady who was leaning back on the sofa have them ready displayed for mo when I come up and I will decide then I have them ready Lady Sarah returned MIeb Seaton If you will be so kind Hughes give the key to Miss Seaton Lady Sarah left the room and then the maid Hughes began taking one of the small keys off the ring I have got leave to go out miss she explain ed and am gojng directly My moth er is not well and wants to see me This is the key miss As Miss Seaton took It Lady Sarah reappeared at the door Alice you may as well bring the jewel box down to the back drawing room I shall not care to come up here after dinner we shall bo late as it is Whats that about a jewel box in quired a pretty looking girl who had come from another apartment Lady Sarah wishes me to bring her bracelets down to the drawing room that she may choose which to put on It was too hot to dine In them Are you not coming in to dinner to day Alice No I walked out and it has tired me aB usual I have had some tea in stead I would not be you for all the world Alice To possess so little capa bility for enjoying life No not even for you Alice Yet if you were as I am weak in health and strength your lot would have been so smoothed to you that you would not repine at or regret it Ycu mean I should be content laughed the young lady Well there is nothing like contentment the sages tell us One of my detestable school room copies used to be Contentment is happiness I can hear the dinner being taken in said Alice you will be late in the dining room As Lady Francis Chenevix turned away to fly down the stairs her light rounded form her elastic step all tell ing of health and enjoyment presented a marked contrast to that of Alice Sea ton Alices face was indeed strangely beautiful almost too refined and deli cate for the wear and tear of common life but her figure was weak and stooping and her gait feeble Cf ex ceedingly good family she had sud denly been thrown from her natural position of wealth and comfort to com parative poverty and had found refuge as companion to Lady Sarah Hope Colonel Hope was a thin spare man with sharp brown eyes and sharp fea tures looking so shrunk and short that he must have been smuggled into the army under weightunJess he had since been growing do ds No stranger could have tf eved him at ease in his circumstances any more than they could have believed him a colonel who had seen hard service in India for his clothes were frequently threadbare A black ribbon supplied the place of gold chain as guard to his watch and a blue tin looking thing of a galvanized ring did duty for an other ring on his finger Yet he was rich of fabulous riches people said but he was of a close disposition es pecially as regarded his personal out lay In his home and to his wife he was liberal They had been married several years but had no children and his large property was not entailed it was believed that his nephew Ger ard Hope would inherit it but some dispute had recently occurred and Gerard had been turned from the house Lady Francis Chenevix the sister of Lady Sarah but considerably younger had been paying them an eight months visit in the couatry and had now come up to town with them Alice Seaton lay on the sofa for half an hou and thenv taking the bracelet box in her hands descended to the drawing rooms It was intensely hot a sultry breathless heat and Alice threw open the back windows which in truth made it hotter for the sun gleamed right thwart the leads which stretched themselves beyond the- win dow over the out buildings at the back of the row of houses She sat down near the back window and began to put out some of the bracelets on the table before it They were rare and rich of plain gold of silver of pearl of precious stones One of them was of gold links studded with diamonds It was very valuable and had been the present of Colonel Hope to his wife on her recent birth day Another diamond bracelet was there but it was not so beautiful or so costly as this When her task was done Miss Seaton passed into the front drawing room and threw up one of its large windows Still there was no air in the room As she stood at it a handsome young man tall and powerful who was walking on the op posite side of the street caught her eye He nodded hesitated and then crossed the street as if to enter It Is Gerard uttered Alice under her breath Can he be coming here She -walked away from the window hastily and sat down by the bedecked table in the other room Just as I supposed exclaimed Gerard Hope -entering randvadvanclng to Alice with stealthy steps When I saw you at the window the thought struck me that you were alone here and they at dinner Thomas happened to be airing himself at the door so I crossed and asked him and came up How are you Alice Have you come to dinner inquir ed Alice speaking at random and angry at her own agitation I come to dinner repeated Mr Hope Why you know theyd as soon sit down with the hangman Indeed I know nothing about it I was in hopes you and the Colonel might be reconciled Why did you come in Thomas will tell No he wont I told him not Alice the idea of your never coming up till June Some whim of Lady Sarahs I suppose- Two or three times a week for the last month have I been march ing past this house wondering when it was going to show signs of life Is Francis here still Oh yes she is going to remain here some time To make up for Alice was it not a shame to turn me out I was extremely sorry for what happened Mr Hope but I knew noth ing of the details Lady Sarah said you had displeased the Colonel and after that she never mentioned your name What a show of smart things you have got here Alice Are you going to set up a bazaar They are Lady Sarahs bracelets So they are I see This is a gem added Mr Hope taking up the fine diamond bracelet already mentioned I dont remember this one1 It is new The Colonel has just given it to her What did it cost Do you think I am likely to know I question if Lady Sarah heard it her self It never cost a farthing less than 200 guineas mused Mr Hope turning the bracelet in various directions that its rich diamonds might give out their gleaming light I wish it was mine What should you do with It laughed Alice Spout it I do not understand returned Alice She really did not I beg your pardon Alice I was thinking of the colloquial lingo famil iarly applied to such transactions in stead of to whom I was talking I meant to raise money upon it Oh Mr Hope Alice thats twice you have called me Mr Hope I thought I was Ger ard to you before I went away Time has elapsed since and you seem like a stranger again returned Alice a flush rising to her sensitive face But you spoke of raising money I hope you are not in tempo rary embarrassment A jolly good thing for me if it turns out only temporary he rejoin ed Look at my position Debts hanging over my head for you may be sure Alice all young men with a limited allowance and large expecta tions contract them and thrust out of my uncles home with the loose cash I had in my pockets and my clothes sent after met Has the Colonel stopped your alj lowance CHAPTER II Mr Hope laid down the bracelet from whence he had taken it before he replied He stopped it then and I have not had a shilling since except from my own resources I first went upon tick then I disposed of my watch and chain and all my other little matters of value and now I am upon tick again Upon what uttered Aliee You dont understand these free terms Alice he said looking fondly at her and I hope you may never have occasion Frances would she has lived in their atmosphere Yes I know what an embarrassed man the Earl is if you allude to that But I anf grleved to hearabout your self Is the ColoneF Implacable What was the cause of the quarrel You know I was to be his heir Even if children had come to Jhlm ho had undertaken amply to provide for me Last Christmas he suddenly sent for me and told me it was his pleasure and Lady Sarahs that I should take up my abode with them So I did glad to get into such good quarters and stopped there like an innocent unsuspicious lamb till when was it Alice April Then the plot came out They had fixed upon a wife for me and I was to hold myself in readi ness to marry her at any given mo ment Who was it inquired Alice in a low tone as she bent her head over the bracelets Never mind said Mr Hope ii wasnt you I said I would not have her and they both he and Lady Sa rah pulled me and my taste to pieces and assured me I was a monster of in gratitude It provoked me into con fessing thatI liked somebody else bet ter and the Colonel turned me out Alice looked her sorrow but sho did not express it And since then I have been having a fight with my creditors putting them off with fair words and promises But they have grown incredulous and it has come to dodging In favor with my uncle and his acknowledged heir they would have given me unlimited time and credit but the breach is known and it makes all the difference With tho value of that at my disposal nodding at the bracelet I should stop some pressing trifles and go on again for awhile So you see Alice a diamond bracelet may be of use even to a gentleman should some genial fortune drop such into his hands I sympathize with you very much said Alice and I wish I had it in my power- to aid you Thank you for your kind wishes I know they are genuine When my uncle sees the name of Gerard Hope figuring in the insolvent list or among the outlays he Hark can they be coming up from dinner Scarcely yet said Alice starting up simultaneously with himself and listening But they will not sit long today because they are going to the opera Gerard they must not find you here And get you turned out as well as myself No not if I can help it Alice suddenly laying his hands upon her shoulders and gazing down into her eyes do you know who it was I had learned to love instead of of the other She gasped for breath and her color went and came No no do not tell me Gerard Why no I had better not under present circumstances but when the good time comes for all their high roped indignation must and will blow over then I will and heres the pledge of it He bent his head took one long earnest kls from her lips and was gone Agitated almost to sickness tremb ling and confused Alice stole to look after him terrified lest he might not escape unseen She crept partly down stairs so as to obtain sight of the hall door and make sure that he got out in safety As he drew it open there stood a lady just about to knock She said something to him and he waved his hand toward the staircase Alice saw that the visitor was her sis ter a lady well married and moving in the fashionable world She met her and took her into the front drawing room I cannot stay to sit down Alice I must make haste back to dress for I am engaged to three or four places to night Neither do I wish to horrify Lady Sarah with a visit at this unto ward hour I had a request to make to you and thought to catch you be fore you went in to dinner They are alone and are dining earlier than usual I was too tired to appear What can I do for you In one word I am in pressing need for a little money Can you lend it me I wish I could returned Alice I am so very sorry I sent all I had to poor mamma the day before we came to town It was only 25 That would have been of no use to me I want more I thought if you had been misering up your salary you might have had a hundred pounds or so by you Alice shook her head I should be a long while saving Tip a hundred pounds even if dear mam ma had no wants But I send to her what I can spare Do not be in such a hurry continued Alice as her sis ter was moving to the door At least wait one minute till I fetch you a let ter I received from mamma this morn ing in answer to mine You will like to read it for it is full of news about the old place You can take it home with you To be continued TRIMMED HAT FOR MERIKY America Too Big for an English Woman and Sho Returned One day a stout person penetrated from the laundry to the drawing room door hastily pulling down the sleeves over her scarlet muscular arms If you please Missus she said doosta think th young lady as is so clever at FREE TBADE SPIBIT DESPICABLE FALSEHOODS RESORTED TO BY COBDEN1TES Tkelr Industrious Effort to Mako It Appear That President MoKlnloy Had Deoldod to Abandon thn Policy of Protection On the day that President McKinley was shot the Toledo O Bee published the following in reference to the Presi dents speech at Buffalo The down right falsehoods of it are well matched by the detestably mean spirit of it To advocate reciprocity is to admit everything that was ever claimed for free trade It simply means an appli cation of the principle on the install ment plan And we are glad to see this deathbed repentance of the man who played his way to the Presidency on one string and that sting Protec tion He can no longer make intelli gent people believe that we can build a stone wall around this country and live isolated from the remainder of the world Besides that his patrons the trusts need the foreign as well as the domestic market now and McKinley must hedge Reciprocity is not free trade by in stallments unless reciprocity is to de part from what the Republican party has officially described it to be and what has been wrought into treaties during the last dozen years The Blaine McKinley and Dlngley recip rocity as expressed in the acts of 1890 and 1897 indorsed by Republican na tional conventions and confirmed by Republican senates does not remove duties from articles on which Protec tion is needed The duties given up are those previously levied on non competitive products and not re quired for revenue The term free trade as generally used does not mean the absence of all duties on imports but the absence of protection Reciprocity is not hostile to Protection but is as the Iowa Re publicans recently put it the com plement to Protection In advocating reciprocity therefore the President was not pulishlng a deathbed repent ance as the Bee so delicately puts it but was enforcing a method which was incorporated in the law of 1890 which bears his name The effort of the Bee was to de grade and besmirch the President by making it appear that he had changed his politics and that he had done so because he could no longer deceive the people -with protection ideas Some what similar is the strain piped forth in many other Democratic or anti-protection papers in respect to the speech though none other so far noted is so vulgar in its misrepresentation It is such lying and coarse vituperation of men bearing the great burdens of the state that nerve the arm of ignorance to the point of assassination PROTECTION AND PRICES Fifty years ago 90 per cent of all the carpets consumed in this country were imported from abroad Today accord ing to Mr George McNeir secretary for W J Sloane 90 per cent of the car pets consumed in this country are made in the United States The amount of capital invested in the car pet industry has increased from 4 000000 in 1850 to 50000000 in 1901 and the yearly output of carpets has increased from 5000000 to 75000000 Some 45000 persons are now employed in the carpet mills According to Mr McNeir too the wonderful growth in this industry is due more largely to the protection afforded by tariff legis lation than to all other causes com bined The growth of the industry furthermore has been accompanied by a material reduction in prices Twenty-five years ago Wilton carpets sold for 325 per yard now they sell for less than two thirds of that amount Twenty five years ago Moquette car pets sold for 2 per yard now they sell for less than half of that amount The history of the carpet industry affords a very good illustration of what the protective tariff policy has done for this country Through it both produc er and consumer have been benefited Capital has found opportunity for in vestment with good returns labor has trimmin thats ad be so kind as to found employment at good wages and trim me OOP one A ardly like to of fhA enmo mf fhfi rnnMimpr Imb ask but hoos that kind a thowt ad try The young lady a visitor in the house was greatly taken with the Idea and the dolly tub was left to it self for a time while Eliza expounded her views which were definite as to choice among the prevailing fashions When the work of art was completed she expressed high satisfaction A wanted to luik well wen a goes over I there to my son and is family dyo see Over where Eliza Why over at Merlky Missus am going to see un jUBt now A meant to las year but a couldna save quite enough for th passage money now wi yo washin all winter thats a right so am goin over in th Teutonic week after next to ave a look round at them aw Theres my sisters usband out too since last Barnaby and my as well While works been slack in town folks thowt theyd try th other side So Eliza tried the other side too but not finding it to her liking returned to Milltown and reap peared at the washtub with as little in the way of travelers tales as any one who ever left her native land Nine teenth Century Reforms in Old Mexico President Diaz is said to be consid ering plans to check the trusts in Mex ico One of the greatest of these is the great Mexican lottery with draw ings once a month in the City of Mex ico Does Diaz contemplate any inter ference with that St Louis Star had the advantage of decreased cost of production and a consequent lower ing of prices UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA There Is every indication officially and unofficially that Russia is not seeking a commercial war with the United States and that so far from combining with Germany or other Eu ropean governments in a itariff war against us she wishes to beon terms of the best commercial amity with us i We know this has been her policy for three quarters of a century and there i ia no reason that a trifling sugar tariff - question should disturb it There is no hostility either on the part of the Russian government or the Russian people against tne American govern ment or people Gen F D Grant just home from a trip through Russia provides some facts that will probably astonish many whose opinions have been carelessly formed and will serve to confirm the more conscientious judgment of others So far from finding in the czars do main any sentiment favorable to Euro pean commercial combination against the United States General Grant found a distinctly friendly feeling among the upper and middle classes and a sense of genuine regret that any tariff dis pute with its possibility of damaging consequences should have arisen be tween the two countries He reports also the visible evidences of remark- able material and social program thero since his last visit to Russia in 1872 Chicago 111 Journal BARLEY AS AN ILLUSTRATION A free trade organ says General Grosvenor Is still talking aboutbarley if there were no tariff to exclude this grain our barley growers he says would starve to death That is a fair specimen of freo trade argument General Grosvenor never said a word about our barley growers starving to death under any circumstances But he did say that bafore the pas SOMETHING DOING Something doing becomes more than a mere slang phrase under Ding ley law conditions There is some thing doing for the hundreds of thou sands of workmen who have continu ous employment in place of idleness something doing for the manufactur ers who see a balance on the right side of the ledger something doing for the railroads and the employes of the railroads in the handling of many more tons of freight daily than ever before in their history something doing for the farmers in performing the task of feeding the mil lions of prosperous happy clamorous Industrial workers In short there is not only something doing in con trast to tJe nothing doing in Wilson law days but there Is more than some thing there is a very great deal doing all along the industrial line FEELING QUITE COMFORTABLE e l pg- lffBSlRtTTI WHY HE WORRIES NOW The position of secretary of the treasury is no sinecure Under Demo cratic free trade the secretary isnt able to sleep nights for thinking about the deficit which In those circum stances is sure to grow bigger and big ger as the months go by Under Re publican protection the secretary has his worries too for he has to worry about the increasing surplus which the protection policy always piles up In the national treasury That is what Is said to be troubling Secretary Gage now There is a choice between the two situations though and whenever Secretary Gage feels more than ordi narily troubled about the sucplus which is accumulating he has only to think of the days of Cleveland free trade and the condition of the treasury under the Wilson law and it will make him thankful for his mercies Do You Want It In the campaign of 1892 one of the Democratic wails was that some Amer ican manufacturers soldi goods cheaper In Europe than at home Then the Democrats got in How did they cure the discrimination referred to By re ducing the tariff so that foreign man ufacturers could undersell our own in this market Then American factories closed and hundreds of thousands of men -went without work The Demo crats make the same wail now and want to repeat the remedy What do the workers say to it TVhy Not It the country were suffering today for lack of work and money the anti tariff men would hold the Dingley act responsible for it wouldnt they As the opposite is the case why not give the Dingley act some of the credit for it Be fair about it Conundrum How much better off would a work man be if he could save 570 a year by the removal of the duty on raw sugar and by similar changes in his own business find himself obliged to work for 175 a day instead of 250 TARANTULAS BIG JUMP Pierce Battle Waged by Hag e Spider Against Dog There are strange sights to bo seen In Porto Rico said a young civil en gineer whose swarthy skin was sooak ing evidence of the year ho had spent In Uncle Sams newest possession Tarantulas are one of them he con lnued and you should see a taran tula jump One of them went thtough i marvelous performance with myself and a dog for spectators The dogs barking awoke me early one morning and I slipped into my shoes and ran sage of the McKinley bill in 1890 over out Spot thatB tho dogs name was 11000000 bushels of barley worth makine frantic nlunees at an enormous nearly 7000000 were imported from Canada in one year while in recont years the imports have not exceeded 200000 bushels As the price of bar ley has been lower since the exclusion of the Canadian product no one was harmed by the tariff on barley If the tariff were removed the Imports from Canada would be much larger now than before owing to greater area available for cultivation General Grosvenor says that it would be su preme folly to remove the tariff and put millions of dollars in the pockets of Canadian farmers at the expense of our farmers and any sensible man who understands the question will agree with him Gen Grosvenor merely used the bar ley question to illustrate the beneficent effects of the protective tariff As we exported in the fiscal year 1900 barley to the extent of 23661662 bushels and Representative Babcock advocates the removal of the tariff on all articles ex ported under his proposition barley would go on the free list solely to the benefit of the Canadians Gen Gros venor pointed out the extreme folly of such a course and his argument to that effect is sound and unimpeach able Philadelphia Press tarantula as big as my palm and Its legs covering as much ground as a soup plate Its wicked black eyes made me creep All of a sudden the thing shrank up like a sponge and jumped for the dog I give you my word it jumped fifteen feet if it was an inch Twice the dog ran under the spiders jump fact Others were watching by this time and they all saw it Usually though he just side stepped a bit I broke up little pieces of a branch of a tree and hurled them at tho tarantula My aim was just good enough to stir him up at first ho kept jumping away from us but Spot always herded him back again then he jumped straight for us At last a lucky shot keeled him over and a few strokes with a convenient club finished him Drinking water would have been a puzzle to us had It not been for the cocoanuts When near the coast wo gathered these ourselves or sent peons after them but inland we bought them of carriers who would sell you cocoanut for one cent would chop off the ends with their machete and bore a hole like a ten cent piece for you Then you drink the cocoa water as they call it and throw the nut away The natives are many of them a queer lot The Spanish census mado the population 85 per cent white and 15 per cent negro I rather think the American figures will just trans pose those figures Cleveland Plain Dealer WHERE THE OOIN WAS MADE Location of the Stint Can Be Deter mined by Certain Murks Coins and coons look alike to most men but it Is easy to tell where any coin of twenty five cents or over was made There are four places of coin age in the country Philadelphia San Francisco New Orleans and Carson City The first mint was established at Philadelphia and as the founding of other places of coinage was then unforeseen there was no necessity of putting a mark on coins which came from that city But as the country grew In territory population and wealth and as the mines in the west were developed more and more each year It became necessary to establish other mints whereby the government could keep track of the output from each place and if an error should occur in the coinage could at once lo cate the mint from which the defective coin had come All coins are supposed to weigh exactly the same as others of the same denomination Silver coin age may be pretty well worn before It is liable to rejection but that is not the case with gold pieces and a slight decrease in weight necessitates recoin age It was for thesa reasons that marks are put on coins made elEewhere than in the Quaker City These marks are placed below the eagle or the bunch of arrows If there be a letter In the place designated it will be either a small s o or the two double letters cc Those bearing the letter s are from the mint at San Francisco Others having the letter o are from New Or leans while those bearing the letters cc are from Carson City If you do not find any letter on the coin at all it is an indication that the coin came from Philadelphia Chicago Chron icle English Farmers Maxim There has been much written about the indifference of the harvest through England this year It is true enough that in many parts the crops are thin and the straw extraordinarily short but there are exceptions Anyone who has visited the fen country must be astonished at the luxuriance of the crops There has not been such a har vest of wheat and barley for many years and the crops of rpots are enor mous Whether or no this is alto gether to the financial good of the farmer is another question for in re spect at any rate of potatoes In Ireland America and the continent the crops are equally plentiful and prices will be low There is a proverb among fen farmers that a bad year is better than a good and a good worse than a bad London Globe Making Water Build Dams Many readers who do not follow the literature of engineering will be inter ested in the statement that one of the methods employed by American en gineers in forming reservoir dams is to call in the services of a powerful jet of water as in hydraulic mining By directing such a jet against the upper slopes of a valley the sand soil and gravel scoured from the hill sides can be carried by the force of the stream to the site of the dam in the lower part of the valley By suit able management the water not only conveys the materials but consolidates them in position dropping the larger stones at the sides and carrying the finer material to the center of the dam Brown eyes well together and a brown dress go it 1 1 3 if Srt