k V J ft 1 x J I I lis id lift By JOHN R MUSIC5C Author of Myetertotis Mr Howard Tba Dark Stranger Charlie Allendale Doable etc Copyright 1897 by Bobkbt Bowk Son All rlffbta reaerred CHAPTER IX Continued Why have you Uvea bo long to Alaska I could not get away -was the answer Yours is the only faco I have seen since I left my friends the -Indians save those who held me captive And you have escaped Yes Then come with us to the camp on the Klondyke Klondyke Ive heard of it they often talk about it when they think me asleep but I do not always sleep when I seem to Paul was filled with delight for liere was a chance to unravel the mystery in which he was involved Another silence fell on the group Iroken by Paul asking Do you know a miner named Glum Glum Glum no Glum Ralston The old man again shook his head declaring he had never Known such a jperson Paul waa disappointed From what Glum Ralston had told him he was confident that this mysterious hermit of the woods was the long lost captain who had followed the Indians to the place where they said Sold in great quantities was found But when the mysterious hermit disclaimed any knowledge of him at all he was quite as far away from the solution of the problem as he had been before Next morning the party resumed their march guided by the sun which shone a portion of the day Paul and the hermit were constantly to gether and hourly grew more and more friendly until as the noble nature of the hermit unfolded itself Paul came to love him He was known to the hermit by his sobriquet of Crack lash for he had been called by no other name since his arrival in Alaska Paul was hourly entwining him self about the rugged heart of the old man One night when they had halted and the Indians were building a fire for the night the hermit said Crack lash you impress me strangely I dont know why but I lave grown to love you as if you were my nearest relative When my own dear boy grows up to manhood I could only wish that he would make as noble a man Paul deeply impressed with the old mans sad story expressed a hope that he would soon be able to leave Alaska and reach his home and that ills wife and child might yet be alive to welcome him Their stock of provisions were run ning short One day the Indians eame on the trail of a moose and were anxious to start on its trail Paul gave them permission to go while he and the hermit kindled the fire and prepared to mako themselves comfortable for the night The prisoner as usual sat in sullen silence with his back against a tree and his eyes fixed on the fire Paul and the hermit sat engaged in earn est conversation The former -was talking in a low tone telling how he lad been robbed by the prisoner and three others and followed them into tee forest He was in the midst of lis narrative when two objects sud denly appeared before them each -with a Winchester rifle and said Surrender or you are dead men Resistance was useless they were prisoners almost before they knew it CHAPTER X Paul Learns That Laura Is In Alaska He he he chuckled Ned Padgett rubbing his hands gleefully at seeing the tables turned You hove in sight mates in good time Must a lad fair winds Paul had no difficulty in making out the two men companions of the third whom he had met on other oc casions As these were the men who lad robbed him and whom he and old Glum had chased in the forest there was little mercy to expect from them With thongs of seal skin Paul and the hermit were quickly tied hard and fast and told they must move on before the Indians returned As it was dark and the snow falling rapidly there was little danger of even the Indians following on their trail shrewd as they were in such experiences The night was dark and the snow falling so It was difficult traveling A strip of walrus hide was tied about the arms of each above their elbows and fastened about their backs They were heavily loaded and threatened with the knotted stick which Ned car ried in his hand when they staggered under tleir heavy loads On on and on they staggered through the darkness and over the uneven ground At last Paul utterly exhausted sank down at the root of a tree Get up Go on cried one Hi their captors I cannot Ye lie cried Padgett and raised lis club But one of his companions quickly interposed with Hold on Ned Dont be a fool now and throw away every chance we have What ye goin t do asked Ned Were too far away for the Met lakahtlans to overtake us so we will go into camp and wait till mornin A roaring fire was built against the kJC side of a great stone which reared Its snow capped head a hundred feet into the air Pauls pack was removed from his back and he laid on a blanket in front of tie flro witn the hermit by his side The rascal named Morris came to the old mans side and said You said you could not give op that secret If you wished I did What -do you mean 1 It is lost Morris stared at him for a moment with wide open eyes and gasped I dont understand you Cap you are talkin In riddles I care very little whether you un derstand ma or not the old man de fiantly answered The secret is lost It was written in cipher on a walrus hide and the walrus hide is lost It was some time before the idea could get through the thick skulls of the ex sailors but when they came to fully comprehend the loss they roared like madmen Ned seized his knotted stick and swore he would brain them both but his mora cool companion interfered saying It may all be a trick After all it may be only a trick to throw us off the trail If we decide for the old cuss to pass hi his checks let it be done deliberately and give him time to reflect So Padgett decided to let them live and trust to some chance to reveal the hiding place of the money Paul had heard the above conversation be tween their captors and waiting for an opportunity to speak with the her mit when he would not be overheard by them whispered Is the walrus hide you referred to the one left in tho cavern where you took me Yes I took it You There was an expression on the old mans face almost fierce as he asked the question Yes I took it What did you do with it Gave it to the miner who waB with me before I fell from the precipice and whom I found after leaving the cav ern He said he had seen it before Where The Indians who had enticed his captain away in search of gold had some such hide only there had been painting added to it since The hermit turned and fixing his great earnest eyes on him in aston ishment asked His captain had he been a sail or Yes sir In what seas Almost all over the world but his last voyage was in a sealing schooner to St Paul Island Alaska and this coast- What was this sailors name He is called old Glum No other name I believe Glum Ralston Is his name but after all lis real name I dont think is known In this coun try nearly everybody goes by some nickname and I fancy that Glum Ral ston wa3 only a nickname Might have been Jack Ralston Well since you mention it I be lieve I once heard him say his real name was Jack Ralston however I will not be sure The hermit was very calm Paul waited a long time for him to answer but the old man was silent as the grave Then two of their captors came near where they were sitting and they dared not talk anymore Their journey was very painful and difficult Grown desperate Paul had determined to escape from their cap tors even if he had to kill them One day they reached a great gloomy cavern which extended to an unfathomable depth in tho earth Their captors had pine knots on the wall about the cavern and lighting two of these went back to where there were piles of dead grass and a table of stone on which lay a pack of greasy cards Here they took up their abode Several days passed and then Mor ris and Padgett left the cavern in charge of Tom Ambrose who tied the prisoners every night established a deadline in the cavern in daytime and swore he would shoot the first one who attempted to cross it Two or three weeks had elapsed for in that dungeon night and day were one when the two men came back and with them another whom Morris seemed to have known He Intro duced the newcomer to Tom Ambrose as a friend fresh from San Francisco Padgett took Paul to where the stranger sat on a musk ox hide and the latter asked Is your name Paul Miller It is Are you from Fresno California I am Do you know Laura Kean I do what of her His whole frame was trembling with anxiety and emotion She is in Alaska Just landed a few days ago at Juneau in company with Mr Theodore Lackland It is a lie a lie roared Paul be side himself with rage and mortifica tion Its a lie and I will crowd it down your throat Before anyone knew what he in tended he had his informant by the throat and hurled him to the ground The guards came to the relief of their companion Paul was quickly torn away from him and his lands bound He lay upon the dead grass piled in the cavern His mind was in a whirl and he kept saying to him self Can it be possible No no It is not possible The whole world may be false but Laura is not Come to Alaska In company with that man no it is not true A thousand tumultuous emotions were stirring his breast as he lay on the dried grass striving to per suade himself that after all this was somo horrible dream Tho man whom ho had assaulted in company with Padgett and Morris approached him Morris handed Paul a letter in the well known handwriting of Laura Kean It was dated at Juneau and addressed to Paul3 mother in Fresno The letter was brief saying Bhe had Just arrived and would rest a day or two before proceeding farther Isnt that evidence asked Morris Yes but she did not come with him Oh no he came on another ship Then hie lied when he said they came together Morris laughed a cold sardonic laugh and in a voice that seemed to have all the evil of a demon In it answered Though they came on different ships from America there Is but one train going to the Klondyke and both will be in that train The chances are she knows no one but him and you know Lacklands feelings towards the girl When he starts to win he wins hes got millions to work with and if its necessary to buy the entire pack train off he can do it Paul Miller groaned aloud but made no answer He realized how great her danger and how uterly hope less he was to aid her Now you san save her said Mor ris Save her My Heaven how What other infernal scheme have you on hand You were overheard talking with the old man about a walrus hide From what you said it was understood you knew something about it If you will give us information that will lead to finding it you shall be given your lib erty and be taken to this young lady Laura Kean I cannot groaned Paul Why I dont know where It is What did you do with it asked Morris his face expressing the deep est concern I gave it to another Where he is or what he has done with it I do not know A look of disappointment swept over the faces of the captors at this announcement They retired to near the entrance of the cavern and there held a consultation Its all a pack of lies cried Pad gett Weve been twenty years in these woods waitln t grab that pile an no nearer to it now than before Knock out their brains an go away is what I say Tom Ambrose though equally as much a villain as his companion urged moderation During all the years the unprincipled rascals had struggled to get possession of tleir captives secret Tom had acted as a brake to fiery Neds temper We have a hold on the old man one of the plotters at last declared He can be made to tell where the gold is cached But he dont know He does know He must know Well what goodH that do Haint we been the last eighteen or twenty years tryin to open the hatches o the old capen whos as close mouthed as a clam Weve threatened t hang him done everything any one kin but its all no use We got a stronger pull now than ever What is it Come here His companions gathered about him and he spread his arms around their shoulders and began to reveal the plan which emanated from his won derful brain a plan that was diabol ical but promised success To be continued RACIAL FEUDS IN EUROPE Antagonism Engendered Between Prussians and Poles Hardly a day passes but the news papers contain striking evidence of the antagonistic spirit which is being engendered between the Poles and the Prussians Last week It came tc the ears of the publishers of a Polish paper circulating in Westphalia that one of their compositors was about to marry a German girl They con sidered that this stamped him as a traitor to Poland and although he had served them faithfully for many years they dismised him on the spot A large number of Poles work in the Westphalia coal mines and in order to further the amalgamation of the races the authorities have Issued regulations to the effect that no per son shall be employed underground who Is not proficient in the German language The Poles obstinately re fuse to know a word of German when they happen to be called up to make statements in public A few days ago a Polish miner had to give evidence in a Westphalia police court He was of course as Innocent as a newly born babe of any knowledge of German until the magis trate threatened to report the case to his employers who would have been compelled to dismiss him Thereupon his German came back and he replied fluently to all the questions put to him His wife had been present during the hearing of the case and was waiting for him in the passage just outside the court room door As soon as he appeared she bitterly reproached him for hav ing given way and to render her arguments more forcible soundly boxed his ears She then kicked him with such vigor that he had to race dowp the corridor into the street tc escape the attentions of his pairi otic better half London Leader Novels Read by Statesmen The yearly bill for novels supplied to the library of the French Chambei of Deputies is usually between 4G00 and 4500 TASK IS A HARD ONE CONTROL OF CORPORATIONS DIFFICULT MATTER President Roosevelt Realizes the Gravity of the Situation Amend ment to the Constitution Neciasnry to Effect Desired Results The president says I believe firmly that In the end there will have to be an amendment to the constitu tion of the nation conferring addi tional power upon the federal govern ment to deal with corporations To get that will be a matter of difficulty and a matter of time The last sentence shows that the president is aware of the fact that to amend the constitution even to reach an end desired by a considerable majority of the people is no light task It will be necessary for the ad vocates of tho amendment the presi dent believes necessary to overcome the resistance of corporate Interests which prefer state to federal rule to overcome the state pride which will bid the states retain jurisdiction over the corporations which are their own creatures and to reconcile conserva tive slow moving elements in the community to a new departure to a greater centralization of the powers of government John AdamB said of the national constitution that it was extorted from the grinding necessi ties of a reluctant people It may require a similar pressure to extort an amendment giving to the general government the control over corpora tions it is proposed to bestow upon it If congress were this year through a sudden impulse to submit to the states an amendment transferring from them to the federal govern ment the jurisdiction over corpora tions the amendment would fall far short of the necessary three fourths vote There are states where no trust has a home and where trusts are most unpopular which influenced by the habits of thought of a century would refuse to give additional power to the general government There are states whose legislatures are so far subject to corporate influences that they would refuse ratification peremptorily It would take some thing in the nature of a revolution to get the assent of states like New York New Jersey and Pennsylvania The general reason assigned for nonconcurrence in the amendment at this moment would be that the reme dies which congress can administer with the constitution as it is have not been given a sufficient trial This is a reason which will appeal strong ly to many In all human probability no amendment can be adopted until all other measures have been tried faithfully and their failure is beyond dispute The president does not exaggerate when he says it will be a matter of difficulty and a matter of time to get the constitutional amendment he de sires Many difficulties will be en countered and much time will be needed Federal control of corpora tions is not a thing of the immediate future Probably that Is the view President Roosevelt takes of the mat ter Chicago Tribune The West and the Tariff Frank M Eddy a Republican con gressman for the seventh Minnesota district confirms what the Record Herald has said as to the sentiment of western Republicans on the tariff He testifies that in his section of the country there is a very strong feeling In favor of revision and he describes the western idea of a protective tariff as follows It should not afford protection to monopoly that is to an industry ab solutely controlled by an individual a partnership a corporation or a trust nor to those industries that reduce their employes to the conditions they are protected against but all inde pendent industries should receive suf ficient protection to enable them to compete on more than even terms with similar ones in foreign countries Where our present tariff law fails in any of these particulars and it does in many it should be altered or amended The idea it will be observed is In no sense destructive of the protective system and the congressman adds that what the western Republicans want is not a general revision but a readjustment of those schedules which give a premium over and above a reasonable protection This we believe Is commonly desired among them and the desire has found ex pression as Mr Eddy notes in the declaration of their state conventions Construing his just analysis of the tariff situation with his very san guine predictions of Republican suc cess next fall there Is this to be said Success If it is attained will be due in no small degree to the platform utterances to which he refers They have been the only effective answer to the Democratic demand for revis ion and they are everywhere treated as a party pledge that the tariff will actually be revised by its friends for the correction of its abuses while the principle of protection is kept invio late The Republican congressmen who are elected on this pledge will take their seats a year from next Decem ber It would be excellent policy for the present congress to anticipate revision but if it does not a year of grace is pretty certain to be the limit of indulgence which the Republican party will enjoy For the promises now made are seriously interrupted and the revision sentiment is grow ing so steadily that the people are likely to become thoroughly impatient and to revolt if they are disappointed To prevent a secession to the enemies of protection Us friends must give tho one convincing proof of their sincerity that la required by changing tho now unreasonable schedules of tho Dlngley law Chicago Record Herald Foreign and Domestic Prices Volume XIIL of the report of tho Industrial commission tabulates 416 replies received by the commission bearing on the question of foreign and domestic prices The report says The great majority of tho answers Indicated that prloou are no Iotw abroad thaa they are for domes tie consumers and a considerable number indicate that foreign prices are higher A few however state that they sell a portion of their goods abroad lower than at home and the reasons are as follows Cash payments and largo pur chases in the foreign trade whereas the domestic trade is based on credits and small purchases The drawback or rebate of the tariff on imported raw material of goods manufactured for export To overcome the tariff of other countries To secure new markets To hold a market against now competitors To clear out surplus stock or to prevent a shut down and increased cost of production by keeping mills running and men employed To get rid of samples and outof date goods Because the expense of selling and advertising is less abroad than at home These are the reasons attributed by manufacturers of all countries for sometimes selling a part of their stock at a lower price abroad than at home It causes no injury to the domestic consumers and gives added employment and wages to laborers besides keeping the homo market firm and stable and preventing ruin ous competition in cutting prices Thero is another reason why some American manufacturers sometimes sell a portion of their goods at a low er price abroad and perhaps the chief reason Most of our machinery or articles produced by machinery are covered by patents which are exclu sively controlled and operated in this country For example take agricul tural implements It can be shown that where such articles are sold more cheaply abroad than at home It is because oS patents If not covered by foreign patents It is obviously the policy to sell in foreign countries at a price that will discourage production in those countries And yet of the manufacturers of agricultural Implements reporting to the Industrial commission all with only one exception stated that prices to foreign purchasers are either high er or no lower than those for domes tic purchasers Not one per cent of our output is sold at a lower price abroad and only for some special rea son connected with that particular consignment The Butchers and the Tariff A few days ago the butchers in convention assembled declared in favor of abolishing the tariff on cattlo and meat to the end that this sup posed shelter for the alleged meat trust might be removed but I am dis posed to think the good farmers of my state would vote unanimously against such an experiment By the trend of the speeches made at the butchers convention I discover a sentiment well nigh universally ex pressed there that meat is being monopolized by the great packers But I happen to have a tenant out in Iowa who has a fine bunch of cattle on which no packer holds a lien of any kind and he writes me that he is willing to sell them to butchers if they will pay as much as the pack ers offer I am quite sure the people would as soon buy this meat of the butchers as of the packers Thus there is afforded a splendid oppor tunity for any one to make all kinds of money if he will but give the farmer as much money for his beeves and give the people as much beef for their money Secretary Shaw at Morrisville Vt Aug 19 1902 Trouble with the Democrats On the 29th of July talking at Bar Harbor to a New York World man William C Whitney for many years one of the most conspicuous members of the Democratic party declared his Intention of staying out of politics forever and added The trouble is that the Democrats have no Issue and no man That is the exact situation of the Democratic party to day simply and solely because of the five years of un equaled prosperity that have followed the restoration of the Republican party to the control of national af fairs No man knows this better than does President Clevelands sec retary of the navy Few men have better reason for knowing it for few indeed have profited more sumptuously than Wil liam C Whitney has in these five years of protection prosperity It is because of the splendid issue Pros perityupon which the Republicans stand before the country that Mr Whitney says the Democrats have no issue A Better Reason Needed There ought to be some more tangible reason for such a dangerous expedient than the existence of a sentiment in certain localities now as always that demands a reduction of the tariff on articles there consum ed and not produced while It stands ready to fight to a finish any reduc tion on the things there produced Secretary Shaw at Morrisville Vt Aug 19 1902 SAFE FOR HIM TO APPEAR Mark Twain Escapod the Bible Read ing and Family Prayers Whon Mark Twain was in tho West many years ago his humor was aa droll aa it is to day While- thoro ho made the acqualntanco of Senator Stewart of Nevada who tolls this story of tha humorlct vouching for its truth The incident occurred In Carson City At that time said Senator Stewart tho humorist had not at tained to the philoBopMe calm which comes with college degrees Ho waa a journalist and an unterrified ono In Carson City he boarded at tho homo of his brother who was a model citi zen and a Christian One morning I was a guest of this brother at breakfast Wo had just seated ourselves at tho table when a voice drawled from tho stairway above Have you read tho scripture les son this morning Yes was tho roply Had family prayers continued the voice from above Yes Sam said the host smiling at me Thero was a pause and then In tho now well known drawl came the fur ther quostion Said grace Yes responded tho patient head of the household All right then came the cheer ful comment from tho stairway Ill be right down And presently the ir reverent youth who in a few years was to promote tho gayety of nations joined us at the breakfast table WHAT CHICKEN WAS LIKE Effect of Prenatal Influences On a Young Rooster The following story was published recently It was attributed to Rep resentative Flanagan of New Jersey a millionaire from Morristown Ho told the story at a picnic of Patrons of Husbandry at Tuttlos Grovo near Morristown I was riding from Baltimore to Washington on a fast train ono day said Mr Flanagan The car window was open As wo passed another ex press train going in the opposite di dection a hen caught in tho vortex be tween the two trains was lifted in tho air and slammed against the side of our car As it struck an egg was cast In at the open window and fell in my lap Of course it didnt break said a cynic among the listeners It did not break went on the rep resentative Because of its prema ture appearance tho shell was not hard but tough and leathery instead I took It home and put it in an incu bator and In time hatched out a fino chicken Did you observe In the eggs off spring any evidence of prenatal Influ ences asked the schoolmaster shov ing his glasses up on his forehead Only this said the representa tive the chicken was a rooster and whenever it tried to crow it whistled like a locomotive New York World Horrors in Haiti F J Raskin who recently visited Haiti says In the Washington Post Haiti is the degenerate of the West Indies It has had Independence for nearly 90 years and yot Is it still grop ing in the darkness of barbaric night African savagery is as rife as if it were on the Congo Everything bends to the power of brute force The lives of men are taken as coolly as if they were so many flies When the voodoo drum beats Haiti bends the knee Voodooism lifts its hideous head and there is none powerful enough to strike it down There are occurrences in Haiti which are hor rible enough to disgust the devil In the sacrifice of tho goat without horns a voodoo priest surrounded by worshipers dances to the low throbbing of a drum and a crooning chant until in the height of fanatic frenzy with eyes upturned and lips frothing a child is seized and stabbed its blood sucked and its body after wards boiled and eaten The govern ment is powerless to prevent Makes a Living by Clapping There is a blind man in the west end of London who earns his living in a very novel manner An Ameri can was passing down a street quite recently and heard a curious sound suggesting rythmic applause Half a dozen people stood between him and the place whence the sound came but ne was curious enough to pass them and he saw an old blind man with his hands close to his mouth producing some faint suggestion of a popular air by clapping his liands together Some little attention was required to find out the tune hemeant to express but 33 everything chosen was very popu lar the effort was easy to follow Tho blind mans companion explained the work and collected tribute and from what could be seen there is a living in the business A Disastrous Joke Thinking to play a practical Joke on his father a Berlin schoolboy filled a table peppermill with gunpowder His father who was very near sighted looked closely into his plate as he turned the handle There was an ex plosion and the uoor man was tem porarily blinded while the tip of his nose was blown off The delinquent who was sitting close by received some of the gun powder in his eyes and was so aghast at the result of his trick that he fainted and 13 now dangerously ill with high fever The father will lose the sight of one eye but the piece blown from his nose han been put on again by a clever young surgeon London MaiL l t HI