University of South Carolina Libraries
1 l. m. grist'8 sons,Publishers.} % <Jfantilg J^furs^s^er: (Jfor th* Jromotion of fh$ political, ?oi(ial ^gr^ultuiial and Commqcial Interests of th$ jpeojl^. {TEswa^'^piiK^VANCK I ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKYILLE, 8. C., FBIDAY, JULY 2, 19Q9. NO. 53. r The Cam BY OPIE READ A Copyrighted by Laird & Lee, Pi By Permission i CHAPTER I. The American Czar. At the close of the Civil War It had not been proved to the world that this government was more than an exper iment. A great rebellion naa Deen crushed but victory lay red upon a devastated land. Throughout the South force was law. It seemed that the very principle of democracy had been shrouded in a tent-cloth. Society sighed out its breath in despair. For the aged there was no hope and youth had been taught Iconoclasm. Then was begun the slow work of reconstruction. Each day was a whimsical Joke. Politics was a comic opera and statesmanship a farce. From the North there came a horde of political gamblers whom the Southerners contemptuously called "Carpetbaggers." Many of them were men of marked ability; nearly all were "characters;" k but few indeed had held positions of trust at home. They enacted the mockery of re-establishing civil law. While some scrambled for places on the bench, the boldest managed to In stall themselves In the chairs once | held by sedate old governors. These offices were not meted out by fitness. It Is not known that they were not won with dice. Prominent among these adventurers was Melville Crance, Governor of Mississippi. He was a tall, rather gaunt man of fifty, with a serious , face and the Yankee light of humor t in his eye. In Chicago he had been an auctioneer and at the beginning of the war had joined a cavalry regiment. It was said that he served with distinction. No one could doubt his nerve. No one had cause to suspect that he ever entertained an honest thought. He was not well educated but was far from ignorant. On one occasion he was heard to remark: "Oh, whenever I find that a man has more education than I have, I skip his learning and hit his commonsense." As the alien governor of a proud, old state, humbled Into the dust, he was, of course, most enthusiastically hated. Socially he was ostracized. Women turned up their noses at him In the street. His dally mall consisted largely of threatening letters. One morning while going to his office he overheard a man say: "Bet you ten dollars that fellow won't > live a month." And then came the reply: "You want a sure thing when you bet." Such was the atmosphere In which he lived; and yet, within his jurisdiction, he was supreme, an absolute monarch In a republic, an American czar. The president of the nation never would have dared to usurp such authority. His word was arrest, fine, imprisonment. He and his friends owned the legislature. A rebellious member who veniurea 10 oppose a bill was promptly brought before a committee, "investigated" and expelled from the House on the pretext of ballot-box trickery at the time of his election. It was a huge Joke but the recalcitrant had to go. A ring of lobbyists was the nearest approach to a gubernatorial board of advisers. The Governor, with his shrewdness, could not shut his eyes to the greed and lawlessness of those fellows; but why shoud they carc? He was there not to detect thievery but to make it profitable to himself, f His sense of humor was his conscience; and humor, which is always half a rascal, ever stands ready to pardon a frailty. Chief among these lobbyists was a i man named Willetts. Before the war ) he had been a gambler on the Mis 1.1 ha sissippi river, it was saiu mm once had bet two negro boys a "four flush." An opponent "raised" him with two men and he "lay down." ^ This was a river lie of course, but It Illustrated his character. When the war "broke out," he broke out, too? went to Canada, remained till peace was nominally established and then hurried South with the Carpetbag >?. gers. His sole recommendation was his coolness, and It was a good one, for at that time Mississippi was not an appropriate place for a hot-headed man. "Yes, I'm cool enough." he remarked one day to the Governor, "but I'm not as cool as you are. I understand that you've sent for your daughter." oKo'o Hrert nf school thOUght ICS, OIIV O V.t vU __ I'd give her a vacation." "Vacation? In such a place as this!" Willetts exclaimed. The Governor looked at him with a dry smile. "Why not? I live in the finest mansion in the city of Jackson. And it's a most exclusive place. The neighbors never bother me; no backdoor callers. No one ever borrows a te'a-cup of vinegar from me. I'm left f alone to the repose of my library, where I can muse over the bills introduced into the legislature She'll like it and why shouldn't I have at least one congenial visitor?" "But some one shot at you one night, not long ago." "A bullet did come through the ^ window and bore into 'The Life and Character of S. S. Prentiss,' but that's all. The window was up at the time and the glass wasn't broken. Yes, Nellie wanted to come down here, and I told her to come on. Things t are gradually getting better. Some of the preachers have advocated forgiveness, and the lawyers are hammering away In the courts. Oh, it will all come around in time." "Yes." said Willetts, "and I think we ought to make the most of it?in time. As soon as they hear the facts at Washington?why, we'll be bun (lied out of here, that's all. For a year or more they may believe that rlt's simply the usual howl of the spiteful, but sooner or later the truth?" "What's that?" The Governor looked up with a twinkle. "The truth? I'm a plain-spoken man, and I don't believe In the Introduction of I such strange figures of speech. I'm busy. As you go out tell Lummers to come here." ^ 'ETB AGGER m ND FRANK PIXLEY iblishers?All Rights Reserved, the Publishers This talk had taken place In the Governor's private office, off from the executive chamber. It was mainly noted for a large demijohn which stood on a shelf. The old man took a certain number of drinks a day. What that number was no one ever discovered; but no one could say that he was ever under the influence of whisky. He smacked his mouth over his liquor, and that sort of drinker is not often found among the drunkards. Lummers came into the room. The Governor had given him the post of private secretary, not because he was bright, but because he was not. He was faithful enough to be useful, dull ortnn<rh nnt tr? investigate motive, and that was a virtue under the administration of Melville Crance. "Lummers, do you remember a piece of paper with 48 and a star marked on it?" "Yes, sir." "Do you know where It Is?" "Yes, sir, I can bring it to you." "Well, that's exactly what I don't want. I want it to disappear. Understand?" "I think I do, sir." "But I don't want you to think. You understand?" "A committee from the house may call for that paper. The rascals are getting a trifle too independent. It was stolen, Lummers." "Yes, sir." "And I think that we can prove, if necessary, that it was stolen by a man named Simpson. He's the chairman of an investigating committee." "We can prove it, sir." "If necessary. It may not be." "Yes, sir." "That's all. Go on." Lummers went back to his desk in the executive chamber. Yes, he was dull; but under the tutelage of Mr. Willetts he was beginning to brighten ?not sufficiently to betray himself with shining, but enough, perhaps, to serve the purpose of the gambler. CHAPTER II. The Girl From the North. Within an hour after her arrival at the gubernatorial mansion, Nellie Crance was completely mistress of the place. She romped along the wide halls, ran up and down the stairs three steps at a time, burst unan- \ nounced into the library and put to flight a legislative committee in conference with the governor. She waited for no introduction. Why should j she? Was she not the daughter of j the greatest man in Mississippi, and, t in her estimation, the greatest in the i world ? j For the first time Jim, the govern or's body servant, found his exclusive ? prerogatives questioned. "She's a tulip," he soliloquized, as he watched f her flitting about the house. "E? she ^ aint I don' know er flower w'en I sees it." "Who lives over there?" she inquired, pointing toward a big stone house half hidden among the trees beyond the garden. "Mis' Fairburn," replied the negro, leaning against one of the tall Corin- . thian pillars of the broad veranda. "Miss Fairburn," echoed Nellie, regarding the neighboring residence with evident curiosity. "Yassum," continued Jim, "de Widder Fairburn." "Oh! And so she's a widow. Is she nice?" "Oh, yassum, she's powerful nice." "Goody! I'm going to run over and see her." The old negro shook his head. "I wouldn't. Miss," he said, "ef I wuz in yo' fix." "Why, what's the matter with me?" she cried, glancing at her pretty frock. "Don't I look all right?" "Oh, yassum; but dat aint it. Yo' ' know dar aint much visitin' gwlne on * twixt de Gub an' dese yere folks. 1 Dey's monstrous high-headed. Dat lady ober dar wouldn't walk on de groun, at all if dar wuz any whar else t' walk. She wouldn't foh a fac.' Sometimes she jest don' tech de groun' 'cept in de high places." "The stuck-up thing!" "Yassum." "Well, she needn't put on any airs, I guess. Pa is the biggest man in this state and he used to be the best auctioneer in Chicago, too." "Is dat so? I nebber heered him say: but he's no man to boast and brag 'bout hisself, anyway." As they re-entered the house it was clear that she had given her father a new claim to greatness in the eyes of the negro. "Well, how do you like It?" asked the Governor, with a comprehensive sweep of the arm. "It's just perfectly elegant," was Nellie's ecstatic reply, an expression which among boarding-school girls the world over is accepted as the ' highest possible form of praise. "Make yourself at home," he added. "Jim and I've got to go down to the state house now for a while. If you get lonesome you'll find plenty of books in the library." "But I don't care for books," she exclaimed, petulantly. "I had enough of that at school. I'm going with you." "No: not to-day," said the Governor, laying his hand upon her bronze head. "I've got some very important < business to attend to and must be "It can't be so very important," she i protested, "if you can do it alone. I've ? heard so much about state houses ail I my life and I've never seen one. Are i they bigger than hoarding-schools? ! Why not let me go?" "Not to-day," he repeated, kindly, i "You shall go down with me In a day or two, when I get my affairs in a lit- l tie better shape, and then I'll show i you everything and you may take possession." She followed him down the hall, clinging to his arm. "Where did you get that big black nan?" she asked, confidentially point- I ng to Jim. "Aren't you afraid of lim?" i "Afraid? Nonsense!" he said. "Jim s my friend. The best one I have," ' le added, with a serious note in his < folce. "I'm not afraid of any man ] vhose blackness is only skin deep. It's he white man who is black inside | hat makes me lie awake nights." f Standing at the garden gate she | .vaved farewell with a dainty hand- 1 terchlef until the governor and hlslj companion disappeared down the I itreet and then returned to the house. < For an hour or two she was kept busy nvestigatlng new mysteries about the ] )lg mansion; but at last she grew tlr- ] >d of exploration and settled down for < est upon the veranda. The great ] itone house on the other side of the garden wall furnished an abundant < heme for speculation and she fell to < vondering what its owner looked like. | iVas she old? Did she dress in black? i iVas she cross and crabbed or proud t md haughty? Curiosity rising dom- ( nant she asked herself if it might be \ jossible to catch a glimpse of the un- t cnown neighbor. At any rate there ;ould be no harm in seeing the house ] it closer quarters, so she strolled < lown through the garden In that dl- ] ectlon until she found further process stopped by a high stone wall , vhich completely shut out all view of ] he adjoining grounds. Walking along j his barrier ana seeiung in vain iur a j rate or a rift In the masonry she sud- j ienly was startled by a Blight commo- < Ion among the branches of a cherry j ree which grew close to the wall, j ipon the other side, and, glancing up, ] law a boy In the tree top. And cher- | ies?red cherries?among the green < eaves! . ? "Hello!" she cried excitedly. "Are hey ripe?" The commotion among he branches ceased and a boyish face j ooked down at her In surprise. < "Some of 'em are," he said. "I was ( rylng to pick a few." , "Why, up In Chicago the cherry rees are In blossom yet." "There'll be plenty of 'em next , veek," said the youngster, clamber- , ng down and swinging easily to the op of the wall. "They're pretty green t low. Do you live in Chicago?" "Ah, ha," replied Nellie, nodding ? ler head affirmatively. "When I'm at j lome. I'm down here now visiting ?a. You live over there, I s'pose," ? >he added, indicating the big stone louse whose roof was discernible ( imong the trees. "Is your mother the ligh-headed woman?" "She's high-headed with some < oiks," said the boy with significant imphasls. "You are the governor's j laughter, are you?" ? "Ah, ha. Come on down." t "Mother wouldn't like It." { "Why not?" "She doesn't let me go over there." "What are you 'frald of? I won't j mrt you." T "We don't know your folka." "Well, you'd better." There was a minute of silence durng which the cherry-picker evidenty was debating some weighty que?- . ion with himself. "Say," he sudden- . y remarked. "Can your father get . ne a commission in the army?" "You bet he can," was the ready c inswer. "My father can get anything." The boy dropped lightly upon a . lower bed in the governor's yard. I von't go into the house, he said. CHAPTER III. < A Railroad Mostly Swamp. The Carpetbag government had berun to totter?there could be no doubt , >f that fact. The corruptionists who ] lad long overridden law and order ( vere fast overreaching themselves ( ind a keen nostril already could scent ( he coming of danger. The old party, t ;rushed to the ground, was beginning :o lift its head. It had begun to pa- t ade the streets, beneath the folds of ' he conqueror's flag. It had begun to t shout for equal rights and to call on , he Constitution. In this there surely j vas no treason, but it was dangerous , 'or the dominant power. The writing i >n the wall was growing plainer every j lay. Wlllett9 saw it and was at no ? oss to interpret the unwelcome waning. I "One of these days the streets out i here will be so hot I can't walk on hem," he said, as he calmly surveyed i he situation, "but it's always cool 1 rnough In Canada and I know the t vay here." 1 With the connivance of a few crolies in the legislature he had planned f i last desperate assault upon the j reasury of the plundered state. A ( Jill had been drawn up providing for , i grant of 200,000 acres of state lands j ;o a fictitious railway corporation, ex- y sting only on paper. Included in this i rrant were some of the most valuable { uineral deposits of the state. It was i gigantic steal and Willetts hoped to j nake its consummation the signal for , tils second flight from the South. ( Only one point gave him serious un- ( easiness?the bill must be signed by y 3overnor Crance. While he had no ? loubt that the Governor's signature j jould easily be obtained, his knowledge of that official caused him to fear 5 that the cost would be prohibitive. He ? felt the need of a friend at court, not 'or Influence, but for Information, and ( turned to Lummers. "He's a twospot." said the gambler, "but he may | save the trick for us." As for Lum- | mers he was greatly elated by the new -elation and deeply gratified that he i ivas of sufficient Importance to attract < the friendly consideration of Mr. Wiltetts. ] One morning as he was sitting at ] tiis desk examining letters, Jim enter- < ?d. Lummers looked up at him, glanced about the room and said: "If | Mr. Willetts calls, show him in at i ance." ' "Yas, sah," Jim replied, bowing. j "Wait a moment," Lummers added, j is Jim turned to go. "If Mr. Willetts 1 iloesn't come till after the Governor pets here, leave him in the reception 1 room and bring in his card. Under- j stand ?" "Yas, sah." Jim replied, turning iway. But before reaching the door i he halted, studied a moment in a negro's heavy way and then turned a Rain to Lummers. "Mr. Lummcrs, 'bout how long you reckon dis yere 1 job gwine t' last?" 1 Lummers looked up In surprise. < "What are you talking about?" s "I'se talkin' 'bout dls yere 'ministration Job, sah. I yere 'em say dat?' "You hear them say what?" Lummers broke In Irritably. Jim pondered and then replied: "W'y, I yere 'em say dat dls whut Jey calls de kyarpetbag guberment kain't last much longer." "Well, you don't want to hear anything like that," said Lummers, shutting the letters, "and you don't want to be talking It, either. Do you hear?" tie added looking straight at the ne?ro. Jim ducked his head. "Yas, sah. 3' cose I likes dis place all right nough?you knows dat?but you also ' mn a' IfAAn K. 1UWS (JELL U SCIIBIU1C man utuo ??wr ti s eyes open In de lookout fur anudJ ir place In case one slips from under h'm." He paused, scratching his head. ' /as, suh. An* ef de arthquake should iome an' fling dls yere guberment In le a'r, you and de Gub'nor would light on yo' feet all right like a eat, jut whar'd I be?" He grunted and ihlfted his weight from one leg to the Jther. "Huh! I'd hit de groun' an' flatten out like I had been flung off'n i house." Lummers handed him a number of c-tters and with an air of assumed carelessness said: "Stop your cackling. Drop the.se in the box." Jim took the letters and slowly .valked out, moodily shaking his head. Lummers lighted a cigar. "It's In the ilr," he mused. "Even that negro sees it. Well, we'll have to hurry thlngB, md when It comes we'll try to land op >ur feet. I've been here going on two rears now, and I'm getting enough or t." He got up and walked about the oom. "If Willetts and I can pull th$s :hlng through, the North will be good rnough for me. I don't like the* Southerners anyway?always poking round, looking for somebody to insult em. .And if the Governor lets then} lave too much swing they'll carry an slectlon against him and?well, re:onstruction's all right enough, but ve don't want to reconstruct too fast, \h! Come in." Jim had shown Willett^ into the oom, .and was standing at the door vith a grin on his face. "Good morning," said Willetts. "Has he old man got down yet?" "No, but I think he'll be here prelently. It's time for him now," he ad-j led, glancing at the clock. "Send the coon away," said Willetts,, ipeaking in a low tone. Lummers motioned toward the re:eption room and Jim disappeared. 'How is it going?" "Oh, fairly," Willetts answered. 'Have you sounded the old man?" Lummers shook his head. "I've been hinking it over since I saw you," he iaid, "and I've come to the conclusion hat you'd better open this deal your;ol t" "What's the matter? Knees weak?" "No," said Lummers, "but the fact s, I'm too close to him. He knows ne too well. You set the ball rolling ind I'll try to keep It going." A "Um," Wllletts grunted. "You are lead sure about this, are you? I've vorked with him a good deal, you tnow, but on nothing very heavy. If [ could get him Into a poker game I'd enow his character better. He doesn't tlways seem to be the same. Are you sure he won't shy at the cars?" "Not if there's anything in the cars le wants," Lummers replied. "How much do you think it will :ake to fix this end of it?" "Well," said Lummers, "the Governor isn't down here for his health. I've never known a case where he didI't want all he thought he could get." This threw Wllletts into a state of eflection. "That's Just the trouble," le said. "And If the old man gets a glimpse of our hands he'll blow us out )f the pot. And, say, not a word about he ore deposits. Let him believe, with he rest, that it's nearly all swamp." "Yes," said Lummers, "it's all right o let him believe anything he? rhere's the Governor," he broke off, is a door in the private office siamned. "You'd better not be found iere," he added, "come in after a vhile. It will look less suspicious. \.nd remember when you do get at iim, no sparring?straight from the ihoulder." Willetts vanished and Lummers re:urned to his desk and was busy wiin japers when the Governor entered. "Good morning, good morning," vas the old 'man's brisk greeting, as le took his accustomed seat at a flat op desk almost in the center of the oom. "Good morning, Governor," responded Lummers, striving to give an nnocent Inflection to his voice. He placed a number of letters and docunents upon the Governor's desk and eturned to the place where he was von!t to sit in dull obscurity, Ignored jy politicians and overlooked by the iverage lobbyist. The Governor sat for a time, musng. From the walls there looked Jown upon him the portraits of Anlrew Jackson, Henry Clay, the fiery Calhoun and the old Missourian who vrote "Thirty years in the American Jonnto Delicious nerfumes floated n from the neighboring gardens. He took up a letter. "Ah?urn," he said, "was old man Francis here to see about that pardon for his son?" "Yes, sir," Lummers replied, "he called yesterday after you left." "Weil," added the Governor, readng a letter, "how much did he say they'd scraped together?" "He thought he could raise about twenty-two hundred," Lummers answered. "Twenty-two, eh?" echoed the Carpetbagger. shaking his head. "Well, [ don't see how that boy can be innocent for less than five thousand." At that moment a card was brought In. It bore the name of James Hill, ind In pencil were written the words: 'Don't know you, but must see you Tor your own good." The man was admitted. He was dressed In a long t)lack coat, shining with wear. "Sit down," said the Governor. 'Now," he added, "come to the point as soon as you can." "Yes, sir. I nm of a type of men?" "I know your type all right. Go ahead." "I beg your pardon." "Granted, go on." "Rut I must get at it in my own way, sir. I am of a type which bobs jp on certain occasions and then bobs aut of sight forever. You may never see me uK<im. SCENES IN COETJB D'ALENE IN] Judge James W. Witten, who has be Indian lands In the Flathead, Coeur d'i plans for the handling of what he bel that Uncle Sam Is going to hold anothe and where the prizes are 160 acres of le Chicago alone 5,000 people are expectec greater. Never before has the governi 000 acres In the three reservations, lot to big and prosperous cities and adjoin c Cesses. They are in the most plcturesc The Governor's eyes began to twinkle. "You alarm me," he said. "It Is sad to chop off a pleasant acquaintance so abruptly. But your busi,.jss?" "Yes, sir. In my nature there Is an abhorrence of bloodshed." "You surprise me," said the Governor. "How did that happen?" "Born that way. I have called to warn you." "Against what?" "An assassin, who would take your life." "Did you bring him with you?" "I am serious, sir. I heard this man swear that he was going to have your blood." "Not all of It, I hope." "He Is going to shoot you on sight. Bull down your curtain. Don't exDose yourself at night. That's all." "Much obliged to you," said the Governor. "Not at all. And now, I have a favor to ask." The Governor's eyes began to twinkle again. "Go ahead." "I understand that a member has been expelled from the house. I want his place." "Hm! What qualifications do you possess?" "Intelligence and devotion to duty. I would serve you well. I am an honorable man." "So I see. You want me to put you In the house?to order a special election from an out-of-the-way county and declare you elected. Is that it?" "Well, yes, sir; that Is about It." "My friend," said the Governor, "I am about as well acquainted with rascality as the majority of men. I like the average rascal. But I am afraid you are a little over-drawn. Get out of here?just as quick as you can." "If I go out, sir, I shall leave you to your fate." "Well, do It. Who Is It, Jim?" "Mr. Wllletts, sah." As Mr. Hill passed out Wllletts stared at him. "Governor," began the lobbyist, "there are times?" "Yes, I know that; but what Is It?" I "There are times when a man ought to be particular. This Is one of them. T T ~ manotrn fn frp t In X1UW UIU I Hell 1CI1UH Iimuu0v, here? He's the worst man In the community. He was a deserter from both sides during the war and was convicted for stealing cotton." "Since the war?" "Yes." "What a thief! Of course it's another matter if he stole it during the war. "What's up?" "Governor," said Willetts, "I am interested in a house bill introduced the other day. It provides?" "Ah, ha!" the Governor exclaimed, reading from a letter he had just opened. " 'Unless you abdicate that office and leave the state within a week I will shoot the top of your head off.' The top of my head. Not the side or the bottom?just the top. That's generous." He crumpled the letter, threw it into a waste-paper basket and nodding at his visitor said: "Go ahead." "Willetts sighed, glanced over at Lummers and continued: "The bill provides for a right of way and land grant of about two-hundred thousand acres?um, mostly swamp?to the land railway company?" "The old man glanced up quickly. "What's that?" he said. "What railroad?" "Well, the corporation. Governor, as yet has not been completely organized." "Um?that's mostly swamp, too, is it?" Willetts hesitated. The Governor continued to read his letters. "Well, go ahead," he commanded, and then, addressed himself to a letter: " 'Will shoot you on sight.' Signed 'John Pardue.'" He turned to Lummers. "Who's John Pardue? Didn't we get a letter from him some time ago?" "I think we did, sir," Lummers answered. "Well, if John can't shoot any better than he writes he couldn't hit a prairie set up on edge." Then, turning to Willetts, he added: "Go on. sir; go on." Willetts again essayed to explain the scope of the bill, though now in rath- i er a disappointed way. "This road," he proceeded, "will build up towns and serve as a commercial highway for a 1 very rich section of country?" ' '' atA" ^ JkmI vSr??i Ifll 1 Mi r" iTnMi ?&3H? -*?/?< 13 * *TlS-JTW BE* WvJCTWiMV 1&wmsfffij-uSffH )IAN RESERVATION, SOON TO BE ien appointed by President Taft as supe Uene and Spokane reservations on July leves will be the greatest land lottery tl >r old fasHoned "flsh pond" party, when ind, worth thousands of dollars, has aro I to go west to participate in the drawin, nent thrown open to settlement more de ated in Montana, Idaho and Washingto listricts where farmers and fruit grower jue porticns of the northwest, where cllr "Mostly swamp?" the Governor Interrupted, looking up, with droll humbr. The lobbyist wavered. He felt the cold gray eyes of the Governor boring through him and knew that equivocation was hopeless. But he made a bold rally. "Well, ye3," he said, "on the left Is pretty much swamp. But over here," he added with a motion of his hand, "you see, It cuts off two hundred miles of unnecessary river transportation? and, well?" "I see," said the Governor. "In fact," continued Willetts, with forced Impresslveness, "It will be a mighty good thing?for all of us." The Governor glanced at him. "Who's W?" *"Well, all of us, you know." "Yes, I know," the Governor admitted,~"but what part of the 'Us* am 17" This staggered the lobbyist for a moment but he rallied his faculties. "Financially, Governor," he said, confidentially, "that word shall bo spelled with a capital YOU." "Spread your scheme," said the Governor, turning again to his letters. " 'Has left this county for the capital,* " he proceeded, reading aloud, " 'and I have cause to believe that he means bodily harm to you.' Lummers, who is Nat Robey? Ever hear of him?" "I've heard that he is a desperate character, sir," said Lummers, turning his chair. "Hm!" remarked the Governor. "The Sheriff of Dixon county says that Mr. Robey is on his way down her3. By the way, isn't he the fellow that Jim disarmed out there the other day? Jim!" he called. "Yas, sah," Jim answered, stepping into the room. "You took a gun from a man out there the other day. Wasn't his name Robey?" "Who, dat generman wid de yaller ha'r? Naw, sah, his name was Mr. Crane." "I thought the yellow-haired fellow was Rutherford." "Naw, sah," said T,m, tightening with the self compliment of his own recollection, "Mr. Rutherford wuz de generman whut come wid a thing wid a fuse in It an' tried ter set it afire in de house." "Ail right," said the Governor, waving him back to his post. "Governor," cautioned Lummers, '"you ought to be more careful." "You ought not to take such chances, Governor," Willetts spoke i\p. "Go ahead with your land grant," said the Governor, taking up another letter. Willetts again proceeded: "The bill, as I said, has been introduced, and after the first reading has been referred to a committee. I think it will be reported favorably, but it may require a little?attention?on our part." "Um-yes," said the Governor. "Astonishing, isn't it, how much hard work is sometimes required to accomplish a?praiseworthy?object?" Willetts sighed. "I could wish," said he, "that you seemed a little more interested." "Interested!" the Governor exclaimed. "Why, I am tickled to death with it. Go ahead." Jim stepped Into the room and holding out a telegram toward Lummers said: "Annudder one deze yaller letters, sah." Lummers handed the telegram to the Governor, who tore it open and read aloud: "Jasper, Milliard County, April sixth: Newly appointed sheriff assassinated last night by Ku Klux." "Lummers," he said, "order two rompanles of militia quartered in the town." Then he addressed Willctts: "If I understand you this land is for a railroad?a road, in fact, much needed by our people." "Yes, sir," said Willetts brightening. "one that will greatly benefit the state." "Urn," the chief executive grunted, "yos. Has it occurred to you that on occasions of this sort I sometimes am tho state?" "Well," Wllletts drawled, "not exactly in that light, but, perhaps?" The Governor broke in upon him: j "How much will the state be benefit- i ed? In that light?how much?" i "Willetts reflected. "Would the 1 I Mc r I c c y II b I:tH VHBHnS 'S 13SS&& a HciaHS JnLX&? jIMH f jSfeS - \ flffljK r t: EMM ii PM^'fcM t h a sBn v 8^mE 11 g & ^ffcf BS*8 K ^gm*. it c ^jaSBR^B ii i, OPENED FOR SETTLEMENT. c rlntendent of the opening and sale of 15. is making careful and elaborate le country has ever 9een. The fact e everybody who wnnta to can draw used a country wide Interest From c ga, and this number may be even f sirnble lands. There are about 750,- li n, of virgin soil. These lands lie close l a are already making remarkable sue- n nntic conditions are unexcelled. f d state regard thirty thousand dollars as " sufficient benefit?" he asked. The Governor turned to Lummers. ^ -Issue an order for the arrest of James Strickland, of Marionville, and have him brought to this city." Proceed- ^ ing to read another letter he remarked for the benefit of Wllletts: "When ^ the state Is very busy it can scarcely ^ afford to divert its mind into other channels for so small a sum. To give ^ ?er?conscientious attention, the state ^ must be better paid." Willetts leaned towards him. "Say ? fifty thousand." "Ah," exclaimed the executive. "The c state's ear is a little warmer toward that proposition. Say fifty?when the ^ bill is signed. What's been done? Any ^ opposition?" "Well, yes, of course there's a little, j. Representative Felton says?" "Felton, eh? He has been trying c to get an appointment for his son-in- h law. Leave Felton to me." c "The only real element of strength j, brought against us," added Willetts, g "Is Wiley Jones?yes, of Spencer n county." ^ "Well," said Willetts, "he lives j( down the river a short distance from ^ here, but he represents Spencer coun- ^ ty" c "I understand," the old man replied. "Let's see, wasn't his election contest- e ed? I sided in his favor?before all ^ the facts were known, you under- tl stand," he said with a wink. "Addi- h tional evidence might render it ne- tl cessary to reopen Mr. Jones' case. T You go to him?yourself?and tell o him. I want to see him here right tl away." h To be Continued. n 1 DENATURED ALCOHOL. 1( d A Dream That Won't Come True For a the Farmer For a While Yet. Omaha, Neb., June 26.?The plan of 8i using denatured alcohol from waste tl products as a cheap fuel to furnish 0' power on the farm?one of the objects y of the law permitting Its manufacture a, ?Is pronounced a failure by the chemists of the department of agriculture h after experiments covering almost a lc year. Prof. Harris L. Sawyer, chief 8( of the bureau of chemistry, says It Is w impossible because of the fuel cost to operate the still, to say nothing about tl the original cost of the plant. n "Mountaineers make moonshine whisky in small stills and realize a a good profit until they get caught," bi says the chief of the bureau; "but g while moonshine whisky, which costs s) 50 cents a gallon to manufacture, Is g, cheap for whisky, alcohol at 50 cents C) a gallon would never compete with 8, gasolene. So far in a good sized still ?p It has been Impossible to produce al- a| cohol at as low a price as gasolene Is produced." b( As a commercial product denatured alcohol may some day compete with tj gasolene; but as for each farmer's C{ having a small still and making a fuel with which he can secure power to g, thresh, shell corn, grind feed, churn or light his farm, the day Is not in sight. a] Yet this was the dream of congress- a, men and some enthusiasts in the agrl- 0] cultural schools when the bill was before congress permitting the manu- tj. facture of the great "civilizing drug, 01 denatured alcohol." re Greeley, Col., Is thought to be the greatest potato market In the country, situated as It is In the centre of a w great irrigated potato region. Greeley proposes to put In an alcohol still and 0j make the denatured product from cull- p! ed potatoes. The chemists of the de- tc partment of agriculture are hopeful y) for this enterprise. It may save the m consumers of the alcohol the amount ta of the freight rate on gasolene, but If it saves anything now the margin will m be small. n In good faith the department of b< agriculture secured an appropriation b, of $10,000 to demonstrate the process ol for making denatured alcohol. A flrol.olnoo tttlll f\f Qmfl 11 PH nnoft V WflA secured and placed in the government pxhihlt at the national corn exposition held in Omaha last December. gi ITncle Sam's traveling alcohol plant In proved a good attraction and some fa 100.000 farmers saw It In operation; m but with material from which to make nlcohol almost free and little or no fuel cost the alcohol cost almost as much us it costs to make moonshine whisky, dl The lowest cost at which It has been lit traduced In the still with which the lepartment has experimented has been ibout 17 cents a gallon, and a gallon >f alcohol will scarcely produce more torse-power than a gallon of gasolene. It was when the National Corn exiodltlon took up the question of havng the still placed on exhibition at )maha next December, when the third orn show will be held, that Dr. Sawer of the bureau of chemistry said dndly but firmly: "We do not beleve It is a good thing to exhibit again. )ur experiments now convince us that he hope of farmers making the alco10I economically to be used for fuel Is iseless. Glad to let you have the still f you pay the expense of installing Our ar?r*mnrln_tInn .re exhausted." Accordingly the department of agriculture la planning a lew and entirely different display for he 1909 corn show. The traveling still is now In Washngton. A still similar to it is at empting to make alcohol from cactus .t El Paso, Tex., while another Is rorklng near Hattlesburg, Mlsa, where t Is making alcohol from sawdust The approximate cost of a still to do :ood work is $10,000. If farmers ever :et the benefit of denatured alcohol I will be by organising a co-ope raIve company in regions where coal an be secured with small cost While these conditions exist regardng the use of alcohol for power the lae of alcohol for commercial purposes 9 Increasing, and the law permitting he "poisoning" of pure grain alcohol 9 making a big saving in cost to manifacturers using it JATTLE TICK8 AND TEXA8 FEVER low tho Disease Can bo Stamped Out and tho Quarantino Removed. The microscopic parasite which auses the disease known as Texas ever or tick fever of cattle la found n the blood of affected animals and s transferred from one to another by leans of the fever tick. A remarkable eature of this transaction Is that the isease producing parasites are transiltted through the eggs of the tick hat draws the blood, and not directly y the old tick, as an engorged tick afer dropping from the host (cow) dies rlthout ever attaching itself to anther animal. But Its offspring, prouced by the eggs laid after It drops ff and before it dies, carry the inectlon and Inoculate the first cow hey get on. The length of time elapsing between he exposure of susceptible cattle to ifectlon by ticks and the appearance f Texas fever among them is dependnt upon the climate and the developlent of the ticks. Thus, If northern attle are placed on pastures, highrays, or In pens, cars, etc? in summer nmediately after the premises have een infested with ticks from southra cattle, Texas fever may occur In rom thirty to- sixty days, as the feiaJe ticks which drop from southern attle must lay eggs and these must atch before the northern animal beomes infested with ticks and thereby loculated with the disease. After the eed ticks become attached to the anllal the disease will appear in about an days In summer or a somewhat >nger period In winter. In fact, the lsease may occur before the ticks are irge enough to be seen without a very areful search. One objection that has been advancd against the fact that the cattle tick > a carrier of Texas fever is that c&tle are sometimes found to be sufferig with the disease without showing tie presence of ticks on their bodies, 'his condition in the case of southern attle may be explained by the fact tiat the animal already had its blood ifected with the parasites and under ormal conditions was resistant to exas fever; however, as a result of iwered vitality caused by some other lsease, or by exposure, privation, lniry, rough handling, etc., this resistnee has been reduced and Anally vercome, and the parasites at last ticceed in producing the disease. On le other hand, when this disease is bserved in northern animals, the oung seed ticks may be so small and ) few in number as to be unobserved. Under certain conditions, as when ving on horses, mules, etc., the ticks >se their Infectiousness, and when Duthern cattle not previously infested ith any but these noninfectious ticks )me In contact with Infectious ticks ley are Just as susceptible as cattle dsed on tick-free pastures. Many cattle appear perfectly healthy nd yet are Infested with ticks and ave the fever parasite in their blood, ometlmes the owners can not underhand why such animals should be rearded as dangerous to others, and msider it unjust that they should be lbjected to quarantine restrictions, he fact is that such cattle have usully contracted the disease in a very did form at an early age and have scome Immune to further attacks, allough still carrying the parasites in ieir blood. They are dangerous beluse the fever parasites In their blood lay be transmitted at any time to lsceptlble cattle by ticks. While the disease may be produced "tlflcally by inoculating a susceptible tiimal with the blood of an Infected ie, it Is spread naturally only by the cks. By exterminating the ticks, lerefore, the disease can be stamped it, and the quarantine can then be imoved. The discovery of the part played by ?e tick in the spread of Texas fever as made by the bureau of animal injstry of the United States department r agriculture in 1891, and the same rinclple has since been found to apply > the transmission of malaria and illow fever from man to man by osqultoes, and to the spread of cerln other diseases. Publications containing: full Inforatlon about the ticks and giving dlsctions for getting rid of them may i obtained free, on application to the jreau of animal industry, department agriculture, Washington, D. C. Heard Something.?One summer renlng a miller was leaning over his irden gate, facing the road, enjoyg tils pipe, when a conceited young irmer happened to be passing. The illler, In a friendly tone, said: "Good evening, George." "I didn't speak," said George, gruffly. "Oh," said the miller, "I thought you d; but it must have been your ears ipplng."?Chattanooga Times. )