X, r-rt - i -s-1- l w 'r-aS..1 'PV5 "4 "-Xi'S!" luU . ' r i. . I I'J I J I - Is- f BrdMTW&fmtsrvESEr r CHAPTER XVI. Continued. The suite allotted me was at the end. of a gloomy corridor. I threw open one of the narrow windows. The noisy stream below, beating futilely against the walls, almost deafened the voice of the servant as he asked if he could be of assistance to me. I looked out. There was a sheer drop of some 50 feet That fact vaguely disconcerted me. The words of Dr.Starva were a jarring note that sobered my excitement. When I had dressed I was almost pre pared to find the massive door of my chamber locked or barred. I had en tered the spider's web audaciously enough. To escape might be less simple. The dinner was simply but well served in a small dining-room. Had my situation been less serious I might have felt some humor at the elaborate deference shown me by my compan ions for the benefit of the two servants who waited on us. Even Dr. Starva followed the lead of Madame de Var nier in solemn if cynical obedience. But did Madame de Varnier believe me so complaisant a fool, that, like another Hottom. I was expected in this modern Midsummer Night's Dream to accept this deference without ques tion? I became more and more con vinced that he did not. Once she even referred to the events of the night before in such a manner that 1 believed her not ignorant of my true condition. If she were persuaded that I had been acting a part then, that would account for her confidence in expecting me to continue acting that part. It would give her encourage ment that I was the willing tool she looked for. And suppose that she really believed that, did she think that I expected no reward? She had hinted that in serv ing her ends I was to serve myself as well. But Madame de Varnier was not the kind of woman to believe that a man would be allured by a promise so vague. Then the reward? She had protested that she had not expected me to fall in love with her. She had protested that, but in the same breath she had confessed a half resolve to bring me to her feet. Now as she exerted every charm of coquet ry she was giving the lie to her own words. Oh. the reward was obvious enough, if I chose to take it "We will smoke our cigarettes in my favorite music room. You must hear Dr. Starva play on the 'cello. You have had the liiano carefully tuned, Jacques?" "All is in readiness." replied the servant, as he preceded us with can dles. Dr. Starva had pushed back his chair eagerly. For the first time since I had met him his face lost something of its heavy sullen expression. "My fingers have not the practice," he said modestly, "but to play with Madame de Varnier ah, that is worth while." We were in the music room that Madame de Varnier had described to .me so enthusiastically the day before. Dimly lighted with wax candles, pan eled in dark oak to the ceiling, the floor waxed and polished to a dazzling luster, it was a room almost bare, but it had its melancholy charm. There was little furniture. At one end of the room was a row of carved seats built into the wall. There were no pictures or" tapestries. The one touch of color was the vivid flame of blaz ing logs. "The strife of the world, its lies and its shams, I leave behind when I eater here." said Madame de Varnier sentimentally. "Look. I throw open this casement. The noisy Aare drawns my voice. Beyond, you see the moon light on the valleys, and still bexond, the mountains. This is your seat. Once this was a chapel; in these carved seats the monks chanted ves pers; In the seat of honor which you occupy drowsed the father superior. When you hear the enchanting melo dies of Dr. Starva you will not have lived in vain." This hour at least was innocent. Perhaps it was the lull before the storm, but why should I look for clouds when the heavens were clear? The long, darkly paneled room, its shining floor seeming to rise and fall mysteriously in the flickering fire light, the noisy murmur of the stream below, the white moonlight that strug - gled feebly through the casement win dows all had its charm. And these two adventurers, unscrupulous and conscienceless, had abandoned them selves for the moment to the joy of their music. I looked over toward Madame de Varnier. The shaded light of the can dles fell rja her white shoulders. The splendo of her beauty had never seeme more seductive. I ajsed myself incredulously if this dreading woman was the desperate adventuress whom Locke had warned me sinst. S:jiy she looked where I sat; I seeded to draw her eyes toward me. She smiled vaguely, a smile that was adorable yes, I could almost persuade myself that it was the smile of an innocent girl. For a moment I was content to forget the unpleasant task that was before me; to invest even the monster by her side in the garb of humanity. The servant who had shown me to my rooms appeared at the door, let ters on his salver. I held up my hand warningly to him that he should not disturb them, and motioned that he bring the letters to me. He did so without either of the musicians notic ing bis entrance. The sonata of Beethovea swept to " Its glorious climax.? I 'started td"my feet to take the letters to Madame de Varaier. But without a pause Dr. Starva be GopyiaGBT.Mxx. bpDjjpfZETzrtcmagjviO gan a tender romance. The woman sat at the piano, her bands falling idly to her lap. Again she smiled across the room at me. But now it was no longer spontaneous. The lips held something of that indefinable cruelty of that woman of the Renaissance made fa mous by Da Vinci. I frowned; I re fused to meet that smile. Then, as I looked down deliberately, I felt myself turn pale. A shudder convulsed me. I was gazing in horror at an en velope that bore the interdicted stamp of Bulgaria, the death-mask. Did she know the ghastly signifi cance of that double stamp? Was she lone of the desperate band that had doomed Ferdinand? I resolved to play a hazardous expe riment I would thrust that stamp un der her eyes without warning. Con summate actress though she was, she would find it difficult to repress a tremor if she were guilty. Dr. Starva's head was still bent lov ingly over his 'cello. I reached the piano without disturbing him. I placed the letters in front of Madame de Varnier, the envelope that bore the death-mask on the top of the little pile. I watched her closely. She took the letters carelessly in her hands. The stamp at once ar rested her attention. She regarded it with a frank curiosity. She even called my attention to it "It is one of the new Issue," she whispered, so as not to disturb Dr. Starva; and continued to sort her let ters. I was almost convinced of her inno- ' j ,, His Hairy Hand Closed Over the Letter. cence, but not quite. I had yet my experiment to play. She had opened one of the letters and was engrossed in its contents. As for Dr. Starva, he was lost to the world. I took the envelope that bore the mysterious symbol, and placing it in such a manner that the death-mask could be most easily seen by the wom an, I began to trace the likeness of Prince Ferdinand, meanwhile watch ing her intently. Her letter was short. Its meaning had excited her strangely. For some time she was regardless of my action. But presently she followed the mo tions of my pencil as I traced the eyes closed in death, the drooping niouth, and the gaping wound. Still my pencil moved slowly but carefully over the features of the doomed prince. I began to think I must be more explicit after all. And then her hands fell lifeless on the keys. The crash echoed discord antly in the empty room. Dr. Starva looked up in angry surprise. Madame de Varnier had fainted. Dr. Starva shuffled rapidly to her side; he shook her shoulder. "Sophie! Sophie!" he cried, end then he saw the letter and its stamp. His fcvee was suddenly distorted. His ha&y hand closed over the letter. She liiid it rigid even in her uncon sciousness. He unbent her jeweled fingers with cruel strength. Xow he looked at me with the suspicion and hate of a savage beast brought to bay. How much do you know?'.' his bias ing eyes asked. "And if I do know?" mine answered. Slowly Madame de Varnier opened her eyes. Equally anxious, Starva and myself watched her recover conscious ness. I was quite' convinced now that she had not been aware of the significance' of that stamp'. The horror that had deprived 'her of her reason for the time being proved that The fierce haste with." which Dr. Starva bad snatched the letter from her lifeless hand and had concealed it, bore out my coavictioa. Then if my surmises were correct, would she communicate to Dr. Starva her newly acquired knowledge? "It was the beat I think, and the fatigue of the journey," were the first words she spoke. I heard them with relief. Beyond question she wished to conceal from Starva that she had seen the death-mask. v Whether he was satisfied with her reasons ''was' less certain. He paced the length of the room, his head bent in thought; his intertwined fingers, moving agitatedly, betrayed, his con cern. Madame de Varnier carefully avoided my gaze and played idly. But I noticed that if Dr. Starva had been enraged that she had seen the letter with its death-mask, Madame de Var nier was anxious that he' should not know of the existence pi the letter that had excited her. It had fallen to the floor. When his back was turned she had stooped swiftly and placed it in the bosom of her dress. Was the letter she was so careful to hide from him merely personal? Or was its message of moment? If so, if it.-were concerned with the strange game these two were playing, it meant that either mistrusted the other. I welcomed such a possibility. That fact might simplify my own action. At least it showed that Madame de Varnier was not abjectly the creature of this infamous scoundrel. The strained situation was happily relieved by the entrance of the serv ant who had brought in the letters. Instinctively the three of 'us assumed a certain unconcern, as is the manner of the world before servants. He brought a card to Madame de Varnier. She took It from the salver quietly, but her hand trembled as she read the name engraved on it. We had all three heard that name before. Its crisp, Anglo-Saxon nomen clature gave one the impression of a strong, dogged personality that pur sued, and yet pursued. J" "Captain Reginald Forbes!" That was the name she read in a low voice. CHAPTER XVII. Captain Forbes Intrudes. There was a silence lasting several seconds. Panic was written on both their faces. Evidently they had looked ; for no such intrusion as this above all for no visitor so inconvenient as the king's messenger. They had con fidently counted on a clear field for the execution of their plans. That they should have been traced to the chateau so easily and so quickly threw them into consternation. Dr. Starva was the first to recover his presence of mind. "Whom does he wish to see this time?" he demanded harshly. "He asks for his Excellency, the English ambassador," replied the serv ant, looking at me askance. "But if he is engaged, or not well, he is anx ious to speak with madam." At first I was surprised that the man had not brought the card direct ly to myself. It was strange that he V Watches for the Blind Simple Invention That Is Great Boon to Sightless Mortals. The blind, like other mortals, wish to know, the time exactly, and as very few of them are in a position to se cure a good repeating watch, whose cost is always great, they have to be content with ordinary watches, and taking the crystal out of the face they ascertain the time by the angles and position of the hands, which frequent ly causes disarrangement of the tirea piece. In view of these difficulties a for eign firm has constructed a watch for the blind;- which represents the figures in allegorical manner, anl ap parently is very convenient The signs in relief are the following: One o'clock, one dot; two o'clock, two dots-three o'clock, a triangle; four o'clock, a square; five o'clock, a ave pointed star; six o'clock,' an elipse. These same signs are repeated in bas-relief representing the hours from six to 12. The number ot signs is should ignore me if he had been given' to understand that I was Sir Mortimer. But if he were in the confidence of Madame de Varnier he would do pre cisely that Frankly, the coming of Captain Forbes at this time was a surprise scarcely less disagreeable for me than for them. To-morrow, ' or the day after, he would have been perhaps only too welcome. But now the intru sion was premature. It interfered with my own plans as well as theirs. More than that, I could have wished myself in a position to forewarn him, to explain my tactics. It looked as' If I were again in danger of being caught red-handed in a criminal deception. More than ever would Captain Forbes be convinced that I was one of the conspirators if he discovered at this moment that I was not Sir Mortime The man and woman conversed to gether excitedly in a barbaric tongue. Dr. Starva, it was evident, was vehe mently advocating some plan; Madame de Varnier opposing It. But the shock to which she had been subjected pre vious to the coming of Captain Forbes had left her unstrung, almost apa thetic. Hitherto the man had been sulkily subservient to the woman; now his animal strength fought for the ascendency. He was brushing away her agitated protests. It was he who commanded the servant: "Show this Captain Forbes to the armory. I shall see him myself." Again he spoke fiercely to Madame de Varnier. She listened to him in silence, her eyes cast down. He strode to the door, stood there a mo ment hesitating, then left the room, shutting the door behind him. Madame de Varnier remained where he had left her, trembling violently, her hands covering her face. This was my opportunity to appeal to the woman, and not the adventuress. I took her unresisting hand and led her to one of the carved seats. "Madame de Varnier, it is a desper ate game you are playing." I said, sternly yet gently. "I don't know what the stakes are, but you are not going to win them." A white hand clung to my coat sleeve. "Why do you say that?" she cried, staring at me with affrighted eyes. I pointed silently to the card she still held in her hand. "There is one factor to be reckoned with." She tossed her head in defiance. "Dr. Starva has reckoned with him al ready, my friend. Perhaps not in the best way, but effectually at least. And the other?" "Well, there is myself." She smiled on me .vanly. "If you were an enemy that might be more se rious, I admit. But I have reckoned with you. You are to be my friend. You are to help me." "That remains to be seen. But the third and most serious factor is treach ery," I added quietly. "My God! Treachery!" "Do you trust Dr. Starva absolute ly? Dare you tell me that the death mask had as little meaning for him as for you. until I showed you that sig nificance?" "But yon understood its meaning as well as he. Who are you that you should have this knowledge?" "I know, perhaps, more than you think, Madame de Varnier." "It is incredible," she cried passion ately, "that I, the Countess Saraholt. should be in the dark, while an Amer ican tourist " The name hadlipped out in her an ger; she bit her lips. "Oh, you need feel no consternation. I might have called you by that name several hours ago." 'Since you know so much," she said in bitter disgust, "perhaps you know the service I expect to ask 04 you." "I might make a shrewd guess at even that." She sank back, her fingers inter locked supporting her head. She re mained some time in gloomy thought Suddenly a door slammed. I heard a faint shout; a tramping of feet. Then there was quiet again. I glanced at my companion. She was listening intently, her hands clutching the carved arms of the seat. "Bah, I think I am a hysterica: schoolgirl." She shrugged her shoul- ,lnn. !.. cnirjinnfomnt "SSflT" tTiat Vlll' UCiO 111 Otll-VUHWiUipi. wJ ,.. .-w know everything, monsieur, so much the better. It will save the trouble of explaining on the morrow. For I shall go on with my plan. There is danger, yes; but I have expected danger. It is too late to retreat -I have risked all on a single throw. I shall win. Say that there is treachery I shall know how to deal with it. He is not indis pensable. Yes, my friend, I have a plan that cannot fail." "You are mistaken," I said obstinate ly. "Your plan will fail because, if Dt, Starva is not necessary to its success, I am. And I" "You will perform the service I shall ask of you. I hope, I trust, that you will do this service gladly. Not for myself, perhaps, but that you may bring happiness and peace to a down trodden people." (TO BE CONTINUED.) therefore limited to six, and it' is veir easy to ascertain, from them the tiro. of day. The hands are very strong and the watch has been used with good results. Another watch for the blind has been invented by M. Pierre Tissot Berse., by which the blind can tell not only the hour, but also the minute. The -iours are represented by figures of ttn Braille system. Cause for Regret A Scot who had been a long time in th-? colonies, paid a visit to his "na tive glen," and meeting an old schoot fellrw the two sat down to chat abov old Ums and acquaintances. In the course of the conversatiea the stranger happened to ask about certain Gordie McKay. "He's dead long ago," said pis t3end, "and I'll never cease regnpjBa' W m as long as I live." i "Dear me! Had you such respect for him as that?" "Na. na! It wasn't only reajec I had for himself, but I martlet bis widow." 2SEL- WdDMeini WQdcd) : Mteiatt f All ifre Cbam)!i7& &$ is the Only The passing, of Mrs. William Mc Kinley appreciably depleted the list of surviving White House ladies, to the point that they have become almost as few as living ex-presidents and of this latter there is only one. While Mrs. McKinley, by reason of the con tinuing illness which had for many years beset her, could scarcely be looked upon as an active figure in social life at the executive mansion, her Influence on the American nation, through the thoroughly sympathetic relations she enjoyed with her hus band, was not slight There have, in the course of our comparatively very brief history,xbeen gay White Houses and quiet White Houses. To the latter class belong -the administrations of William Mc- Martha Washington. Kinley and Theodore Roosevelt and of some earlier executives. Of the for mer, Dolly Madison is generally looked upon as the most notable ex ample, with the period of Grover Cleveland's occupancy of the throne as a close second by reason of the great public interest which attended his marriage with Miss Frances Fol som. The Roosevelt Regime. Certainly, of recent years, the Cleveland regime must stand out as the most socially important in any consideration of the activities of the ladies of the White House. Mrs. Mc Kinley, practically an invalid, had not the strength necessary to the prosecu tion of a vigorous social campaign. Mrs. Roosevelt has- not the inclination. She has been ever a retiring woman, content with her family and her home life, caring nothing at all for the pomp and circumstance that go with high office. Whatever gaiety of the sort Wash ington expects from the executive family has been, in the main, due to Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, formerly Alice Roosevelt That young woman enjoyed a national popularity which few ladies of the White House have ever exceeded. An Everyday Heroine. Lucretia Rudolph Garfield was es sentially a homebody. She had been a school teacher In Ohio before she and James A. Garfield were married. She took no highfalutln notions to Washington, when she went there as the first lady in the land. She was a farmer's daughter, and her ways were plain. The Hon. A. M. Pratt, of Bayou, O., telling of the lives and loves of the Garfields some years ago, said: "Mrs Garfield sought and taught scholars in painting and drawing in my, then very insignificant, village. She did not get very large classes and lived in my house, the guest and friend of my then wife. The future president was frequently entertained at my table; he a young, strong, great hearted, large-headed youth, but two years from college, hopeful, full of life and push; she graceful, sweet, ami able, retiring, with a disposition as lovely as a star-lit sky both poor. Their fortune was their youth, health, hearts, intellects, hope and, glad am I to say, love." Mrs. Garfield before her elevation, was very often compelled to do much of her own housework. Ten years be fore she went into the White House she wrote her husband, from their farm home, a letter which shows the lines of her character, and which, in part, is as follows: "I am glad to tell that out of all the toil-and disappointments of the 'sum mer just ended I have risen up to a victory; that silence of thought since you have been away has won for my spirit a triumph. I read something 'mmmmwWwwxwmwmmwx THE ADVANCE OF JAPAN. Its Recent History Recalls the Feats of Cyrus the Great The rapidity of Japan's ascension from obscurity to the front rank of world powers may well seem marvel ous to contemporary onlookers, but it is by no means without a precedent in the history of Asia, which from time immemorial has been the cradle of quickly developing empires, says the New York Sun. .Considerably less than half -a cen tury elapsed, for instance, between the date when Cyrus the Great emerged from bis highland principal ity of Persia proper, and the death of his son Cambyses; yet in that interval was created a monarchy which was destined to endure for upward of two centuries and which spread from Sa markand to Smyrna and from the Cas pian to. the Second .Cataract. ot the Nile. Less than 60 years was needed to erect upon the ruins of the Hellen istic kingdoms founded by Alexander's successors the Immense Parthian realm which stretched from the Eu- eBBBBBBBlsBBBBBBB''J!BBBBSvO' VZSBBBSPsBBBB'jBBSoX. ,BBBBBBBXggSBBJHI4iti3nX y&jBBBvKBBBar iiwBaeBBuk IT.BBBBTBBBBBBy S SS& BBBBbI lyBBSSBBBj -r BnesS 1TnffvlenNValflBLEssLfliLLLli v I Hot aiptaH ifaisly iisiressej of . Orover (ikv$ian4 like this the other day: There Is no healthy thought without labor, and thought, mikes the laborer happy. Perhaps this is the way I have been able to climb up higher. It came to me one morning when I was making bread. I said to myself, 'Here I am, compelled by an inevitable necessity to make our bread this summer. Why not consider it a pleasant occupation and make it so by trying to see what perfect bread I can maker "It seemed like an Inspiration, and, the whole of life grew brighter. The very sunshine seemed flowing down through my spirit into the white loaves, and now I believe my table is furnished with better bread than ever before; and this truth, old as creation, seems just now to have become wholly mine that I need not be the shrink ing slave of toil, but its regal mis tress, making whatever I do yield me its best fruits. You have been king of your work so long that maybe you laugh at me for having lived so long without my crown, but I am too glad to have found it at all to be entirely discontented, even by your merri ment" Mary Lincoln's Ambitions. Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of the other American president to meet death by .assassination, held from early youth the ambition to. marry a man who should rule the nation. She picked out as her choice Abra ham Lincoln, and this at a time when her selection seemed to have little of recommendation in it She refused the offer of marriage of Stephen A. Douglas, and wedded the man she was sure was to go to Wash ington as the chief of America. She realized her ambition and went to the capital, holding her first reception 0W0WMW March 9, 1$61. This is how an old timer recalls that occasion: "Mrs. Lincoln stood a few paces from her husband, assisted by her sisters, Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Ba ker, together with two of her nieces, and was attired in a rich pink moire antique, pearl ornaments and flowers in her hair and hands. She is. a pleasant looking, elegantly appearing lady of perhaps 40, somewhat inclined to stoutness, but. withal, fine looking and self-possessed." It was the proudest day of Mrs. Lincoln's life. Laura C. Holloway, in speaking of the influence of Mrs. Lin coin of official America, is inclined to the belief that much of unfortunate effect was due to Mrs. Lincoln's lack of tact. Plucky Dolly Madison. Of a happier tone was the White House experience of Dorothy Payne Madison, wife of the president of that name. Her family came from Virginia, and she, herself, despite the fact of her North Carolina birth, al ways took pride in referring to her self as a daughter of the Old Do minion. When her family removed to Philadelphia and joined the Quaker sect, Mistress Dorothy was brought up in that severe doctrine. She mar ried, very young, John Todd, a Phila delphia lawyer, and was a widow at 22. Her second marriage to the then Congressman Madison took place less than a year after the death of Mr. Todd. Mrs. Madison's disposition was of the sunniest She proved an inval uable ally when her husband was elected president and moved to Wash ington. At that early day of our his tory, Washington was little less than a wilderness. Steamboats were just coming in, railroads were unknown. Five hundred mile trips on horse back were frequently taken, even by women. The times were rough. Mrs. Madison, however, with the softening influences which were hers from birth, made of the president's home jwi.n phrates to the Indus, and which in historical fact as well as in the ima ginative picture drawn by Milton in "Paradise Regained" remained for centuries the unconquerable counter poise of the Roman world. Within less than seven decades after the death of Mohammed the sway of the Caliphs reached from the Hindu Koosh to the Pyrennees, and in less than two generations the enormous dominion evolved by Genghis Kahn and his descendants extended from the neighborhood of the Vistula to the Chinasea. That Japan would beat China to the ground in the war of 1S94-95 might have been taken for granted from the moment that the former power adopt ed the military and naval methods and the perfected weapons of the west But that the island empire of the Pacific, which as lately as 1867 had no war fleet and whose warriors were .still limited for weapons of of fense to the sword and the bow, should have been able In the war of 1904-05 to defeat on land and sea the most colossal of European powers was undoubtedly aa achievemeat which r9kBnSaBBBBafzBBBBBBBBBBBBBal I J I V-aM fan VBBBBaaau vam-aV Ibbbe.!bbeS.1 &itu1Xr9BBBBEXs y Hbbh Bp? r SSHMHbbHGKbkSY v & Dolly Madison. a court of politeness, fashloa charm. She made for her husband friends by the hundred and was never happier than when presiding at the parlor cabinet That was her history for awhile the mainspring in the scheme of happiness. Then came the darker' side of things, wars and rumors of wars, the .bayonets of the British gleaming in the Washington sunshine and American oflldals lm danger of sudden death. Just how the volatile lady bore herself under . Lthese changed conditions Is weu shown in a letter she wrote to her sister at Mount "Vernon: "Tuesday, August 23, 1814. "Dear Sister My husband left me yesterday morning to Join Gen. Winder. He Inquired anxiously whether I had coarage or Imnese to ' remain In the president's hoase until his return on the morrow or. succeeding day, and on my assur ance that I had no fear but for him. and the success of our army, he left me, beseeching me to take care of myself, and of the cabinet papers, public and private. I have since re ceived two dispatches from him, writ ten with pencil; the last is alarming, because he desires that I should be ready at a moment's warning to ea ter my carriage and leave the city; that the enemy seemed stronger than had been reported, and that it might happen they would reach the city, with intention to destroy it "I am accordingly ready; I have pressed as many cabinet papers Into trunks as to fill one carriage; pur private property must be sacrificed, as it is impossible to secure wagons for its transportation. I am deter mined not to go myself until I see Mr. Madison safe and he can accom pany me as I hear of much hostility towards him. Disaffection stalks around us. My friends and acquaint ances are all gone, even Col. C, with, his hundred men, who were stationed as a guard In this inclosure. French John (a faithful domestic) with his ', usual activity and resolution, ofers to spike the cannon at the gate and lay a train of .powder which would blow up the British should they enter the house. To the last proposition I positively bject, without being able, however, to make him understand why tfill advantages in war may not be taken." Rachel Jackson's Sad History. A very sad history was that of Rachel, wife of President Andrew Jackson. Early in life she had con tracted a marriage which had result ed unfortunately and, on a divorce being granted or, as was thought at the time, granted she married An drew Jackson. The repetition of the report that this marriage took place before a divorce had positively separ ated the woman from her first hus band, Robards, so worked upon Mrs. Jackson as to aggravate a heart affec tion which had given her much trouble. The fact that a second ceremony positively united Jackson and , the daughter of Col. John Donelson, was ignored in the gossip attendant upon the lives of the parties, and in the campaign for the presidency made by WWWWWXWWWWWWMWMWMWMWMWWWMWMII Rachel Jackson. WMWWMMWWWWWWWWMMAMMMAMAMMAMMAMfBS Jackson, his enemies made much capital of the situation. Just as she was preparing to leave for Washing ton to rule as mistress of the execu tive mansion, Mrs. Jackson overheard a gathering of women in a room ad joining hers in a hotel discussing her with a freedom and malice that re sulted in her complete prostration, and subsequent death. Other Ladies of thcWhite House. Other women who have graced the White House, have, each, their places in history. Martha Washington, Lucy Webb Hayes, Julia Dent Grant, Mar tha Patterson, who aided her father. President Johnson; Mrs. Andrew Johnson, Harriet Lane, the beloved niece of President Buchanan, Abigail Fillmore, Mrs. James K. Polk, Letitia Christian Tyler, Angelica Van Buren. Mrs. Martin Van Buren. Louisa Cath erine Adams and Martha Jefferson. Their impression on their country's future has been scarcely less defined than was the mark made by the dis tinguished men whose names they bore. For the social influence is every bit as important as the political influ ence, and its victories, though unofl cial, just as pronounced. ms 0j0m000mi under all the circumstances must be pronounced unparalleled in the his tory of, the western world. Even be fore the outcome of her contest with Russia bad justified Japan's claim to a place in the first rank of nations the demonstration of military and naval efficiency made by her in the war with China had led the western powers to relieve her from the odious regime of exterritoriality by which China and Turkey are still humiliated. Not until August 1. 1905, however, had any Christian state entered into an agree ment based on the assumption that Japan would have quite as much to give an ally as she could receive. The Anglo-Japanese treaty, signed on the date just named, was based on that assumption, When the signatures' have been at- tached to these negotiations we shall witness the amazing spectacle of a nation, which 40 years ago was cen turies behind Europe or the United States In the arts of offensive and de fensive warfare, linked by treaties not merely commercial, but political, te some of the most enlightened aa mighty states oa earth. " z9bPbbbbbbW r BBH ..JTsMBBBWS? & -"rafaBBBBi -f.-?VISBSSBBS BBBBBBcSw . .'i13MaBB9'9BBBBZl vbbbtbb9i .OBBssaVc: '' WiBBBslsiBBBBBBBBmi1 ':SQbbbbV.bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbV b1xbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbV9IP "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbMKF '-'bbbbbbbbbbWP59 wm firms n . ' t .v". . S. 'V S. Tvr3rfL j . .