u I t V f I J i i A i lit is id MA By JOHN R MUSICK Author Tof Mysterlou Mr Howard ThM Dark Stranger Charlie Allendales Doable Etc Ccpjrlgbt 1897 by Bobbbt Bokkeh Sosb AU rlzbU marred CHAPTER X Continued Course ye might hang him up by Ihe neck until he was dead an he wouldnt tell What would a man care for beln killed himself Its when you begin an attack on his flesh an blood he trembles Well dye reckon thats certain aBked Padgett rubbing his bullet head to get the idea through Know it Why didnt we light on that afore Because the youngster goes under - a nickname Hes Crack lash here an Paul Miller in Fresno Thats the whole long and short o it Well sail in on the capen an see what ye kin do with him growled 2Jed seating himself on a stone and twirling his stick in his hand I leave it all t you take It an see how yell come out Then followed another long con sultation among the other three It was not until late that night they proceeded to carry out their plan The old hermit whom they called the cap tain was taken apart from his fel low prisoner and seated on a stone Ben Allen then proceeded to Interro gate him You are Captain Joseph Miller of the schooner Eleanor aint ye ho asked Those two rogues told you that They know it and its no use to deny it You left a wife at home a wife and child Yes Your wife was named Mollle and your boy babys name Paul I dont admit or deny After you sailed away so many years your wife gave you up for dead and with her child removed to Fresno Where she lives now She never told her son the sad uncertain fate of his father fearing when he grew up he would start in search of him and she always had a superstitious dread o the forests o Alaska The sea captain sat unmoved throughout the narrative Ben went on But when Paul Miller grew to be a man he heard of the fabulous riches in Alaska and came to find it He had amassed quite a fortune when he was robbed followed the robbers to the woods and was captured by them Now the young man yonder is Paul Miller your son The stern old captain was unmoved save a slight twitching at the cor ners of his mouth but he made no answer Ben continued Though ycu may have lost the walrus hide on which the map to the buried treasure is yet you know the spot and can take us there You shall do it or I swear that your son shall die before your face Again Ben Allen was disappointed The old man was wholly unmoved as if he had been talking to stone The captors waited about him with half suppressed breathing hoping that something would occur to break his imperturbability but they were dis appointed The threat of Morris had only been to intimidate the prisoner He was willing to make any sort of threats but not being the hardened criminal Ned Padgett was he called a halt at the line of murder Boys continued Morris I havent given up all hope yet We may be able to do somethin with him Lets keep up the scare Agreed We can even get a rope and go through pretense o hangin the youngster Thats it go through anything to make the old rascal tell us where it is With this resolution more firmly fixed in their minds they once more returned to where the old captain sat as unmoved as when they left him Well Captain Miller have you de cided to tell us where you cached the treasure asked Ben Allen No was the immediate answer Do you want to see your son hang before your eyes I have no son Dont you know that young man Is your son The prisoner fixed his great blue orbs on the speaker and in a firm un moved tone answered He is not my son I may have a son living I once did but he is not my son I like the young man for he Is noble brave and honest but he is no relation to me They were wholly unprepared for this answer The sincerity with which It was given took everyone aback and for several moments they stood aghast and silent The ex sea captain after a brief silence continued Even if I had the walrus hide I would not give it to you Even if I could now go and unearth that buried treasure I would not do it Why 1 For two reasons F 5t I will not compromise with crime Second even If I did decide to do so and turn over the treasure to you it would be the signal for our own destruction You would never dare let us go after what you have done Bob Allen and Morris and the sail ors were abashed They fell back before the piercing glance of the offi cer against whom they had mutined The baffled rascals swore like troop ers and Ned Padgett made an appeal lor his knotted stick but was over ruled and after some more delibera tion it was decided to try the effect of the rope on the young prisoner I tell you ho Is the son of the old man watch him closely when we go to hang him up and see if his eye does not grow moist They had a rope made of seal hide and cutting a pole with their hand nxbs stretched it across the narrow end of the cavern and placed a rope about Pauls neck Now old man confess that you have lied and swear that you will take us to the gold or this young follow will die Paul who had not heard the conversation between the hermit and his captors was unable to explain their conduct to his own satisfaction He believed his last hour had come and determined to meet his fate like a hero When told to prepare for death he rose made no resistance and his arms were tied behind his back The noos was adjusted about his neck and he took his position under the cross bar and closing his eyes murmured a short prayer All eyes were on the other captive but he sat with face averted and said not a word There was no change in his expression no more Indication of grief than might have been expected at the death of a stranger When the miserable farce was over Paul had been released and the four rascals retired again to confer with each each other Tom Ambrose said Well its my opinion that weve lost our last chance of ever getting his burled millions At this Padgett again proposed his knotted stick and swore he would brain both with it but he was pre vented by Morris and Allen who de clared there should be no real vio lence The two prisoners were given a meagre supper of dried beef and a little meal gruel and driven to the far end of the cavern for the night When they were apart from the guard Paul asked What was meant by their extraor dinary course to day They labor under the mistaken idea that we are related and both have some knowledge of the buried treasure As they are mistaken they will succeed in getting nothing from us I have been mystified at their strange conduct all along said Paul and I would not be surprised at any time at their taking our lives His companion shook his grizzled head and answered No no they wont harm us so long as we have the secret in our own breasts if we should tell them and they should find the treasure then we would be killed in short order Paul shuddered was silent for a while and asked Then you dont believe we have any hope of mercy at their hands The sea captain answered No Captain lets make our escape Sh Speak lower you may be heard I will but I am in earnest So am I but we must be cunning as the fox to escape from those ras cals I am willing to trust you implic itly Then say nothing Though night and day were the same in that dungeon the captors had their sleeping and waking hours Paul and his companion threw themselves on their miserable pallet of straw but not to sleep They lay so they could watch their captors At last one after another they be gan to grow drowsy One rose and went toward the pile of straw and stretching himself upon it was soon snoring A short quarrel followed on the subject of guarding the prisoners Padgett was the man selected and he swore he had done more than his share at that business and he wouldnt do any more of it but Morris who seemed the person in command de clared he must take his turn of two hours and left him on duty while the others went to bed The whole matter could not have been better planned for Paul for Pad gett was careless and yawned sleep ily before his companions had closed their eyes For a long time he made a fight against the wiles of Morpheus but at last his head dropped forward on his chest Paul raised his own head and shoulders from his pallet of straw and surveyed the entire cavern at a sweeping glance There was a fire burning in the center which threw out a dull ruddy glow dimly lighting the scene Where the fire had been built the cavern was wide and from the lofty ceiling ages ago great fragments of stone had been torn loose and lay in a heap on the floor a little to one side of the fire leaving a dark path in the shadow Paul could also see that their captors had placed their rifles in a corner farthest from them The three men sleeping on the straw were between the prisoners and the rifles which were on the right of the sleeping sentry All the advantages and disadvantages of the position were taken into consideration at a glance Pauls companion arose and gave their surroundings a quick sur vey and then they exchanged glances The look was sufficient They under stood each other as well as if they had spoken volumes Paul was to look after the guard and the captain to seize the rifles The young man nodded assent to the request ex pressed by the captains eyes and be gan to act They rolled yp the blank ets and left them on the straw with their caps stuck over them giving them in the uncertain light the ap pearance of two sleeping men Paul went first on hfnds and knees creep ing around the little mound of stone and earth and over the loose stones with all the caution possible He rrr was closely followed by the hermit who seemed to possess the wonderful faculty of moving without noise The sentry stirred in his Bleep when Paul was within ten or fifteen pace3 of him The determined youth seized a stone and leaped toward him Ned Padgett suddenly started up with a yell and had half raised his rifle when the stone hurled with great pre cision and force struck him on the shoulder Down he went under the blow dropping the rifle at Pauls feet To seize the gun and turn at bay on the others was the work of an in stant They were starting up from their sleep and Ben Allen shouted The prisoners They are making their escape i CHAPTER XI T The Dog Courier Paul Miller drew his rifle to his shoulder and let drive two or three shots in quick succession sending their late captors flying helter skelter to the rear of the cavern Whether any of them were wounded by his bullets or not he did not stop to learn He then seized the rifles blankets and caps and the two men hastened away from the cavern tak ing the precaution to secure not only the rifles but three pistols and all the belts of cartridges they could find Both of them had filled their capa cious pockets with dried moose meat until they stuck out like stuffed tur keys They broke two of the rifles because they could not carry them and strapped the others on their backs Long they traveled in a western di rection guided by the stars They had given up all hope of finding their Metlakahlan friends who no doubt supposing them lost had returned to their home on the island After wan dering three or four hours into the forest and being completely ex hausted the two fugitives rolled themselves in their blankets and slept They dared not build a fire for it might attract the attention of their pursuers When day dawned they made a breakfast on some of the dried moose they had brought with them and pre pared to resume their journey They discovered that they were gradually ascending a mountain side On all sides of them were forests of scraggy spruce the trees seldom being over five or six inches in diameter and ferns and other forms of plant life were occasionally noted At last they came to a great cleft between gigantic snow robed moun tains The first night after they began their ascent they camped on the mountain side near a spring and spread their blankets under the lee of a large bowlder Hope had been revived in the breast of Paul Miller but his companion who had been deceived and cheated so often by outrageous fortune evinced little or none of his spirits We are a long way from civiliza tion yet he said to one of Pauls remarks about their being safe So often my friend have I had my hopes raised only to be blighted that I al low myself to believe nothing good can come to me A terrible fate seems to have taken possession of my being I seem doomed The old gray head was bent on his hands and he was silent while darkness came over the scene The next days travel over this un known region was but a repetition of the experiences of the day before Higher they climbed up up and up approaching on the mountain side the line of eternal snow A few hundred yards more of climbing brought them to the summit of the divide where there was a pile of stones which seemed to have been placed there by human hands No life of any kind was visible unless that white speck on the distant ledge be a dog or a goat v To be continued BIBLICAL TALE OF POWER Jezebel by Miss Lafayette Mc- Laws Has Won Favor Miss Lafayette McLaws When the Land Was Young instantly sprang into popular favor and for a first book was a pronounced suc cess The promise in her first book has been more than realized in Jez ebel a work of singular power and insight It is a Biblical tale of the days when Omri and Ahab were kings of Israel and Elijah was a prophet of Jehovah Ahab the Is raelite takes to wife Jezebel the worshiper of Baal When Ahab comes to the throne and Jezebel sets up the worship of Baal the prophets and believers of Israel are incensed against the queen and Jezebel be gins a fierce persecution of her ene mies This contest Is the chief mo tive of the story Miss McLaws has endeavored to throw new light upon the character of Jezebel and while she does nolJ depart from the Biblical account she surely presents this strong willed beautiful queen in a somewhat novel and striking manner We get glimpses of Jezebel the woman as well as Jezebel the queen and it is1 as a woman with warm passions and jealous instincts that Jezebel is most and best portrayed The book is replete with dramatic situations the action is rapid and stirring and the denoument is orig inal and startllng Altogether it Is one of the books of the day and a distinct contribution to the novel literature of Biblical days Keenness of Elephants Scent An elephants sense of smell is so delicate that the animal can scent a human being at a distance of 1000 yards rAMFE IS THE ISSUE PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT BE LIEVED TO FAVOR REVISION The Iowa Idea Has Many Supporters in the Industrial Centers of the East Subject Is One That Cannot Be Ignored According to interesting and inher ently probable reports President Roosevelt will sound the keynote of tariff revision in his western speeches His sympathies there can be no doubt are with the reformers with the au thors of the Iowa idea and the courageous and progressive minority Tariff revision is spoken of as a western issue but there is consider able evidence that the Iowa idea is quite popular in the industrial centers of the East Even Rhode Island and Connecticut have been infected or af fected by it and the proposition to lower the tariff on goods controlled by powerful combinations is meeting with favor among the wageworkers of the very citadel of high protection The timid and time serving politicians have been advising the president to taboo the tariff issue but the com ments of the press upon his trust pro gram must have convinced him that the subject could not be Ignored How refreshing and inspiring a presidential utterance in favor of the Iowa Idea as honestly and intelligently interpreted by Gov Cummins would be and what a marvelous impetus it would impart to the movement for freer trade and a modern commercial policy Mr Roosevelt has been criticised in Democratic and independent papers for his silence on the tariff question especially in its relation to the trust evils he had been so vigorously con demning Of course in so far as these strictures implied doubt as to Mr Roosevelts courage and sincerity ref utation of them would be a work of supererogation The whole course of the administration belies and disposes of such insinuations The president believes in determining what is right in a given case and then going ahead and defending the right against all opponents The tariff question is a complex one but the conclusions Mr Roosevelt will finally reach may con fidently be indicated in advance He will eventually be found on the Buf falo platform and in full accord with the best and soundest thought of the Republican party To a program of tariff revision there will be no such opposition as his trust proposals have provoked Chicago Tribune Plea for Tariff Reductions There are mossback Republicans as well as mossback Democrats and Con gressmen Hopkins and Mann showed that they belonged to that category in their recent speeches In contrast to those purely conventional partisan harangues is the address which was made at Jamaica Plain by Eugene N Foss Republican candidate for Con gress from the Eleventh Massachu setts district and it is vastly more interesting and significant While Mr Foss is a Republican not only by profession but by tho faith that is revealed in much of his reason ing he realizes that the idea of the inviolability of the Dingley bill or any other tariff law is absurd and he is practical enough not only to recog nize current facts but to understand their true bearing upon government policies His general plea is that New Eng land needs free raw material That may be a sectional plea but there is no doubt that he makes it strong of its kind and just now there will be a pretty widespread sympathy for the New England demand for untaxed coal from Nova Scotia Though there is no tariff on anthracite and this fuel is bituminous it is of a quality to relieve the market when the importation of anthracite is out of the question A tariff on it is unquestionably a tax on New Englands industries and a direct encouragement to American coal trusts which do not need protection And Mr Foss urges with good rea son that the question of necessity is the prime question to be considered when section is pitted against section in the game of protection Does any one mean to say he asks that the steel trust needs the same degree of protection as when the iron and steel business of the country was an infant industry Manifestly the purpose now when this concern is underbid ding foreign competitors everywhere is not to protect but to mulct the people Such glaring facts cannot be ignored and the wise Republicans are those who like Mr Foss and Gov Cummins keep their heads above the sand and the rest of their anatomy in a proper relation thereto For Curbing the Trusts The bill for the control of trusts which will be introduced in congress by Representative Littlefield and which it is said will be put forward as an administrative measure em bodies provisions which will strength en the popular belief in the sincere purpose of the president and his ad visers to secure legislation that will be effective in checking monopoly and in curbing the operations of the Uusts It is now generally acknowledged that the cheapening of the cost of production and distribution through the formation of industrial combines may if properly managed redound to the benefit of the public Whether the consumer gets a share of the benefits accruing from the combinft or not depends upon the managers of the combine If they appropriate all the benefits for themselves and ukp their power to raise prices destroy bodies competition and create monopoly the combino becomes an evil that should bo corrected or wiped out by the power of the federal government It Is to prevent Industrial com bines from becoming monopolies that the LIttlefleld measure is proposed Under this bill the man who sues a trust and has the facts to prove that ho has suffered damage from the operations of the combine is entitled First To receive three times tho actual amount of damago suffered Second To have all his lawyers fees paid by the trust Third To have tho trust pay all other expenses of the suit including the court costs If a middleman retail dealer manu facturer or other person can show that he has suffered damage from tho restraint of interstate trade brought about by a monopoly he may collect three times tho actual damage suffer ed and the trust will be required to pay all the expenses of tho suit Moreover under this bill if enacted into law the presidents managers and directors of the alleged monopo lies may be compelled to appear In court and tell every detail of their business and to produce all books papers and accounts that may be nec essary to throw light on the opera tions of these combines The question of constitutionality of such a law will of course provoke wide discussion among the lawyers If it can be made to stick it gives promise of a measure that will check monopolistic tendencies of the trusts The Life Saver fill II i 1 vfipW mjj The Next Congress When congress adjourned the sen ate stood Republicans 55 Demo crats and other opposition 33 Mary land and Kentucky have already in creased the opposition to 35 Mr Newlands Democrat seems likely to succeed Mr Jones Republican from Nevada The Democrats also hope to gain the North Carolina seal now held by Mr Pritchard though their success is by no means con ceded On the other hand the Republicans consider well nigh certain their chances of gaining the seats of Har ris Democrat Populist of Kansas and of Turner Fusionist of Wash ington In the remaining states no change sufficient to alter their repre sentation in the senate is really ex pected by either party Balancing these hopes of gains on either side and passing over the Dela ware vacancies as an insoluble puz zle it may safely be predicted that the senate in the fifty eighth congress will stand about 34 opposition to about 54 Republican The probable division of the next house is much more difficult to esti mate The reapportionments made necessary by its increase of member ship from 357 to 386 have disturbed old political affiliations in many states and compelled reconstruction of local machinery These changes are likely to alter the representation of a num ber of districts but as they affect both parties do not seem likely to have much effect on the general re sult When congress adjourned the house stood Republicans 199 Demo crats and other opposition 152 ya cancies 6 Experience has shown that in off years the opposition has a slightly better chance to gain con trol of the house The Democrats will doubtless gain districts there So will the Republicans The question is which will make the larger gains and whether the Democratic gains will be enough to give a majority in the house There is really no reason why the Democrats should control the next house That party has been able to find no issue and no leader that seems likely to change the opinions of any great numbers of voters Or to remove public distrust of the Democ racy The Real Reason I have taken occasion to look this matter up since reading of these reso lutions and I think I can find reason for the recent price of meat other than the protective tariff I find that there were received at the stock yards in Chicago in the one month of July 1902 65000 less beeves and 170 000 less hogs than in the same month one year ago That means 7000 less animals per day The Q road alone during the entire month brought from the southwest where the corn crop was a failure last year 1000 less fat steers per day this year than last Secretary Shaw at Morrisville Vt Aug 19 1902 Oldest Legislative Bodies With the exception of the British Parliament the Swedish Riksdag Is the oldest of existing Ieerislflrfvp rvLlt I iitiiiinnniim n iwaammrfTl FINEST WARSHIPS EVER BUILT Louisiana and Connecticut to Be Real Terrors of the 8ea It la tho opinion of compotont judges that In tho nowly designed ships tho Louisiana and tho Connec ticut tho United States will have two of the greatest warships over built Togothor with tho British ships tho Edward VII tho Commonwealth and tho Dominion they will comprlso tho five largest warships in tho world Tho Oregon and Its Bister shipB had batteries of four thirteen Inch and eight eight Inch guns but tho Connec ticut and Louisiana will mount a bat tery which is so heavy as to placo these vessels practically In a cla3d by themselves Each carries four twelve Inch eight eight Inch twelve seven inch and twenty three inch guns The next most powerfully arm ed vessel Is probably the Edward VII She also carries four twelve inch but instead of tho eight eight inch sho Is armed with four 92 inch guns This of course is a much more poworful weapon than the eight eight Inch that is to say will be so much greater that there will be far more likelihood of getting in an effective blow It is the broadside battery of twelve seven Inch guns however that is believed to render tho Connecticut so much more powerful than tho Ed ward VII which carries only ten six Inch against tho greater number of seven inch An Increase of an inch in caliber when you get to tho sizq of a six inch means a great increase in power Furthermore tho Connect cut will carry twenty of tho three inch guns as against ten or twelve of the same caliber carried by the latest Briti3h battleship ORIGIN OF A FAMOUS SONG How World Famous Tune Came to Be Written Bizet the composer of the world famous opera Carmen and Halevy his librettist once occupied apart ments whose outer doors opened on the same landing As soon as he had finished an air Bizet would hasten to submit it to his neighbor who sub jected it to the most severe criticism From morning to night the piano re sounded in the composers apart ments One night Bizet finished a dramatic bit in which ho flattered himself he had successfully sketched the pride of a triumphant toreador after a successful bull fight But Hal evy listened In silence and showed but a moderate enthusiasm Bizet somewhat piqued asked the cause of this coldness Its good I admit said Halevy In fact its too good It lacks move ment it lacks snap in short its not popular enough Not popular shouted the piqued composer Do you want me to write for the slums He went out in a huff but soon relented and in an hour returned with another air Lis ten to this said he here Is my toreador idea written down to your popular level It was Indeed the song of the toreador and the only one which on the first night received an encore and seemed to move tho first night audience from its torpor In the Dining Car With a complacent smile she drag ged her small son into a seat in tho dining car and made a ferocious grab for the engraved bill of fare Her clothes and her manner suggested rural districts but the arrogant gazo that she leveled at the inoffensive bill of fare was intended to denote high breeding Then the black waiter bent obsequiously over her shoulder Bring us two helpings of chicken she ordered The black man took up the bill of fare and with furrowed brow read over each word Sorry maam he replied at last but we aint got chicken that way We has em fried and roasted and I guess the cook might broil em and No no No cried the woman I mean plates of chicken prepared any way you have it Oh bowed the waiter you mean pohtions New York Press A David Harum Trade There is a citizen in New York who decided to treat himself to a horse and runabout In every case he in sisted upon knowing the attitude ofl the prospective purchase in relation to automobiles I dont want mjj neck broken daily he would say There was a horse that suited himl I can warrant him on the automobile question said the Jersey farmer who owned him I will guarantee that he will pass a dozen an hour all day long and never look at one of them Will you give me a written state ment to that effect I will The sale was made For once a Jersey man had told the truth in horse trade The horse was blind Ought to Take Warning Fond mother Now look here George I want you to break off with that girl She is very pretty and all that but I know her too well to want you to risk your life and happiness by marrying her Why she knows no more about housekeeping than I do about Greek not a bit George Perhaps not but she can learn Mother After marriage is rather late for that George George But you said yourself that you did not know a thing about house keeping until after you were married Mother Very true George and your poor father died of dyspepsia twenty years ago Stray Stories Tae s catchers labors should bo curtailed