VOli V4rrNjGK,?5*^ CAMDEN, S. C., THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1909. Sl.OOPer Year ???. ? ? ; ? ?' A. FALLEN IDOL Br FMOCIUC AN8TEY. CHAPTER XL 11 Continued. " I "Don't yba hope she'll ask for her flgvrt?" whispered Mrs. Venham^ Honlton; hut Mrs. Pontlfex was wo fortunate as to be able to remember pothlng, and the Chela appealed to the company generally, who, from a mean dread of being compromised as witnesses, avoldod his eye with sin gular unanimity. At last an elaborately disheveled lady, with ft sad smile and a low tralnante voice, said: **When I was quite a child I had a possession I dearly, dearly loved?a poor old doll with no legs and arms and no fea tures?just an ordinary nlnepln It was, b'ut It was almost the only thing I cared for in the world! Do you know, I have so often wished I could see its poor old round head and lonj , ? ncck once more! * There was a touch of pathos a)out this that touched all with any tend ency to sentiment. The Chela him self was charmed by the simplicity and poetry of the request, which he readily undertook to gratify. For Bon\e minutes he stood with folded arris, absorbed and silent, with his .eyes bent on one of the open windows. At length he came out of his reverie with a start: "If you look inside the chair upon which you are sitting, there will your long lost nlnepln be,** tie s!ald. The lady started up with a cry of rapture. "How can 1 thank youj" and then she gave a pretty little - moan of dismay. "But?Inside the chair! Oh, Mtb. S^anlland, may I? may 1 have it cut open? I'm a fool ish Wratch, 1 know; but 1 should liko ' to scto 'ifty poor old plaything once more J."., .'"Oh,.my dear," said Mrs. Stanl ' land, "how can you wait to ask? Cut ,It open by all means." It was. a. large armchair, very lux uriously padded, and when the cro rvtonne xove?l^g was removed It re pealed a. richly brocaded Btuff, Imi tated from an old pattern; this was ?lltup.wlth as little damage as pos sible,'and a white lining appeared uhderMath, which was aisc cut open; the condition of cach covering prov ing conclusively that It could not have been tampered with,- for tho stitches were strong and the mater ial still unfrayed. TJm? excitement reached a climax; tho floor was gradually strewn with horsehai.r, and fleck from tho disem boweled dhalr, which began to pre te&t a limp and emaciated appear* ance; I.ut nowhere in its recesses was the interesting ninepin. 'T am Very sorry." the Chela con fessed, vMth his first approach to con fusion, "but hler among so many in different or opposing individuals, I ganr.ot gonceutrato my will power upon-a gpmmon ninepin. If I gontln pe till Sisom^ig light I shall do nod ' |ng; nevkre, nevare. And the broder , out on tho balgony is gone away!H This statement was . received In chilling silence, broken by a few dry coughs: Mrs. Honlton.,-who had just refurnished t her drawing-room, de cided that |t was nat expedient to have the Chela at het*own house, and Mrs. Btanlland already regretted that i phe had allowed hers to be the sceno V of such a fiasco. ^Perhaps," suggested Baboock, "your Mahatma might do something tor you it you ask Him?" Tho Chela seemed struck by an Idea. "Now, listen,M he said half Aloud.- "My Mahatma Is far away In Thibet; don't you think that If I write to him and get a ledder back hler In this room, thoso peoplo will belcaf?" "Not a doubt of It,".said Babcock, 'Capital notion! How will It come?" "It wljjl fludder from the celling ! down," sajld tho Chela. "I want you nil to have still pa tience,* be paid, addressing the as sembly. "I am going to write to my Mrfhatma It) Thibet, and you shall 'seb tho answer .when Jt arrives, and h^r also what ae has to say." Babcock conducted him to a small ' wifltlng cabinet, where the Chola hns I tlly scribbled a few lines. . Mi nball next place It on a magnetic gurrent, and Jt will instnntly to Thibet trans ported be." ho explained, as he attpped out upon tho balcony and . stood there, holding out his mystic ^ billet In the warm starlit stillness. ' \ In spite or themselves, the majori ty were imyrfased by tho sight of tho taM, strangely attired flguru standing slletit there, and thoro was a murmur ?f approbation when ho re-entered, Y sayif$ quietly, "It is gone, and now, until ^he ledder arrive, berhapa some ? :laty Will.a llddle song sign." . Son^jone sang "Oood-by," and after flitt applause had subsided, the V Ch'fela said oacltedly: "Tho ledder will be soot! tiler, In anoder minute." ''Bhar'p work to and from Thibet In ten ngtnutos," said Babcock. , ' Thin is no time and no ?(;*<:? for tho tu3F Adept," answered Nebolsen; #nbut thalwixlously awaited letter un Accounjnnly declined to deliver It Self. Mlf somebody would again upon ^fca^blano blay," tho Chela suggosted ? at Hit; feeliqg himself very much in tho Minatlon of the priests whom Baal s4 ungratefully loft In tho sa v eerdotal lurob. But at latft* when tho general at itlOlK was tfstMtringly directed tc ? performer who was just sitting 4o*n at tho piano, a sadden excla MMW iroa ItHMk aUrtiod tt* J room, and all eyqs perceived a pink, cocked bat note tflowly sailing down ?from the calling and drifting toward the Chela's feet. In the reaction which followed, all gathered eagerly sround him, while, with flushed face and triumphant smile, he picked up the mysterious missive. "I tolt youj~ he said, proud ly, "the Mahatma has vindicated the cause by sending to you this greet lng," and hp reverently unfolded the cocked hat and begin to read tho eon tents to hlms?lf. Many who had remained skeptical and unmoved thrnneh nil the preced ing marvels began to waver now, and on all sides th?re was a consuming anxiety to hear what the Mahatma had to say. - It was not gratified. Nebelsen, after studying the note with a confused and angry face, crushed it in his hand and thrust it into his sash. "But mayn't wo look?" cried Mm. Honiton. "I should so love to cee what an occult note looks like!" " "I am not able to communicate the gontents," said the Chela. "Too tremendous for our weak minds to gn?p?" Inquired Babcock. "Quite right," was the answer; "to read it aloud would not be of advan tage, and after this I do not think I shall succeed In obtaining any more results this evening." . Tho announcement brought back tho former frost in Increased sever ity; eyebrows were significantly lift ed, and smiles of private incredulity freely indulged In. Nobody had a good word to say for a faith which was not even able to entertain them for a single evening. Mrs. Stanilaad began to send peo ple downstairs,,' where a light supper had been provided. "You never touch supper, I know, Herr Nebelsen," she pa4d>.'a8 she passed him. "To-night, yes," he replied. "Oh, then, perhaps' you will take fome one down by and by," she said, with a marked contrast to the dis tinction she had shown him earlier In the evening* and left him standing, humbled, but patient, in tho empty ing room,'where ho aroused Sybil's compassion. "I mustn't?-till l'vo seen every body elso go," sho said to Babcock, who was hoping to secure her as his companion. "Nobody has asked that pretty Miss Chatterton; como with me and, be Introduced." When she had got rid of ihlm thus, and only a few scattered couples were left, she went up to Nebelsen, "Will you be very good and take me down for some sup per?" she said, "Not now, It's crowd ed, and it will bo plcasanter out on the balcony." She stepped outside, and ho fol? lowed with reverential submission. When they were both seated, Sybil made some ordinary remark; but he was so long silent that she began to foe! uncomfortable, At last he spoke. "I haf eeddled in my mind to renounce my Mahat* ma," he said, glancing at her to see how she took this tremendous piece of Information.' "ITavo yifju?" said Byybil, feeling, Jn sptlo of her sympathy, a very Btrong Inolfnatlon to laugh. "Why?" "Because," said Nobelson, vehe mently, 'he la so Imbollte, ho does not know how to behafe. In Thibet tlfdy are?well, not schendlemen, and a Ibng tlmo I haf borne It batlent'.y, But to-night It is too muoh. I drusted all to him?and he leaf me quide alone! Other Chela* of less standing are assisted to make manifestations, but for me there is noding done. 80 from to-night I will no longer a Chela bo?I chuck up." "I'm so glad," said Sybil. "I think it's so sensible of you." "You do? And you are glad that I renounce? Ah, you do not know how happy you make me when you cay that!" "And don't you believe In theoso pHy ahy more?" "I belcnf the name as over?yes. That to-ni;;ht I obtained only a few phenomena make* noding?It Is not uncommon that tho wlll-bowcr and magnetic currents will not work; thero will bo accidents and break downs?shiist ns on a railway line. And. you paw, there did arrive the . loddor from niy Mahatma." "Tint, you wouldn't show it to us, yon know." * j'T^nt Is whoro my Mahatma was so Inconsiderate. ?' Ho writes mo a Icdder, but ho take care that 1 should bo unable to show It. or read it. I will tell you, so that you will see how Insulting lie can mako himself. When I open the note I see In Greek characters. and forglf me that I re peat suc.i worts to you at all,but I see writteu' .thero: 'Do not a dam fool bo!' " Sybil was obliged to caress her Hps somowhat asslduouuly with tho feath ery head of her fan before she could express her indignation with becom ing gravity....,, "After that, you know, thore must bo and end forth. And so to-night 1 shall wrldd Mjhij a formal resignation, lie .has novor taken any pains when I xonsult him. 8ometlines ho never a!l nwpra one* wort; sometimes the an swer when it comes is?well, It Is not moCh. I will tell you one instance. Thore is a young frlent of mine, a bainter?but you know him, he made that bad pictur* of iyou in the gal lerli sfci |> haso*4 u atid i?jbir.iiuaaMi7 mh* OM. "Well tor M(ml wMki he la mj unlocky?altogether. as yon say, off his golora. Ha loaa hla name, hta frlents, and hla money and hla work; he la 111. he worrlea, and he cannot tell why; and al) the time he never sueeaed till I tolt him that It waa all caused by one leedle ogly Idol." "And when you told him," aald Sybil, "did he believe It?" "At llret?no; bat In the end?yea, as moch almoet aa 1. And thia will show yoj* what my M?batma Is like? I write to aak him What la the best thine '09 Mr. Campion to do, and he reblles that the only way la to send the Idol back to the giver! and that Is sbust the one thins which Mr. Cam pion will not do." , "Why?" asked Sybil, shocked that Ronald oould put any faith in such an extravagant explanation, and hop ing to find he was less credulous than Nebelsen seemed to believe. "Because he says it would be cow ardly and selfish, and I gonfess he is quite right, and the Mahatma has made a grand moral mlstsko to git advice at all. No matter, now, onee more. I shall be able myself to help 'Mr. Campion!" "Herr Nebelsen." said Sybil earn estly, "I don't think you ought to en courage him in these morbid fancies ?I beg your pardon, but how can I speak of them as anything else? You can't seriously believe yourself that an idol can have auy sort of power!" \ "Exactly the same aa Mr. Campion ?ay at first. But let mo tell you how he was convinced," and he gavo her an account of the experiment with tho red paint, and Its sequel. "And he is afraid now?" "When I see him last he was derri ly afrait, and I cannot help thinking that unless something is soon done that idol will do a moch worse act. Till now he plays the Poltergeist, but thst cannot always continue." Sybil gave a llttlo shiver. "J wish you hadn't told me all this," she said. "And now lot us go in." CHAPTER XII. / For Old Suke's Sake. ' As Sybil thought over Nebelsen's revelations she found it difficult wholly to resist tho impression they made upon her. They had aroused the superstititon. which, in spite of education, is more or less latent in so many of us. She had only to insist upon taking the idol back, and when ho saw that nothing alarming happened to her. he would be cured of his morbid fancies. Perhaps Nebelsen's Mahat nm. whoever he might be, was right in this at least. Impulsive Sybil no sooner con ceived this resolve than she was im patient to carry it out. Sho mutt ?ave Ronald, and if?well, if there was anything dreadful about the idol, as to which she could not reason away all her terrors?it was only Just that she should bear tho brunt of its Inexplicable malice. The following day was Sunday, and as the afternoon drew on, Miss Sybil, who was accustomed to restrict her devotions to the morning service, as tonished her aunt by announcing that she was going to church again that evening. Mrs. Stanlland, as Sybil had antici pated, did not propose to accompany her, but sent one of the housemaids, who attended in the worst of tem pers, having made other plans for spending the evening. Romanoff Road looked more Arca dian than ever in the warm Sabbath stillness, and under a sky which was Just beginning to melt from throb bing blue to a luminous green. There, was no one to be seen except a pair of lovers parting at a corner, and the lamp lighter beginning his rounds at the end of a turning. And now Sybil was ot the studio door, and it seemod to her that some one was within. Ronald often sat ?nd smoked there, she know, in the evenings. She had Louisa as chaperon, or rather duenna, but sho began to wish she had not come, and to hesitate. Suppose Ronald's man or a model were to come to tho door, what should she say? Her hand was already on the bell, when from within a peal of laughter rang out on tho silence, and she shrunk back, terrified. For it was laughter that conveyed an Insult, full of coar3o triflmph and cynical mockery, and yet?it was like Ronald's laughter, ns It might be come after some sad deterioration. She turned to tho maid with a white faco and startled eyes. "I I don't think I will In Just now after nil, lyOuisH. Mr. Campion seems en?? gaged." ? 4 "Just as you think best, miss, I'm sure." said Louisa, primly; and they went back to Sussot place. On his return to hla lodgings, which were In a qulot street in Pad dlngton, Nebelsen set nbout the busi ness of repudiating hla Mahatma. It took him some hours to cotnposo a document which should strike a poig nant remorso in his guru's unsympa thetic bosom, but ho finished It at last. "I will not send it by Babu Chowkydaree Loll," he reflected, "becauso ho will want to talk and to argue, and Induce me to retract. I will dispatch it to tho Mahatma my self by occult means. He will got it quite as soon." And then his pupllago wns over; the vision of transcendent knowledge and powor faded; ho could no longer flatter himself with tho secret con sciousness of superiority to tho rost of mankind; ho had deliberately re duced himself to thetr level. To be Continued. fUampa 0T> ^ Ihe dWSflllnatlon 01 flOO hAve been Issued by the fovtro nut * V??%oria, A??tr*U* _ MM REMEMBERED , * * .. Wl Erect Monument to Sailors Who Went Down With Her SIGSBEE DESCRIBES DISASTER Admiral Who Wu in Command of the m-Fated Battlsship at the Time of Its Destruction Delivers Illus trated Lestore For tlM Ber.oflt of the Maine Memorial Arsociation. Washington, Special.'?For the ben efit of the recently organized llaine Memorial Association, whoso purporo ia to erect in the national capital a ?uituble monument to the American sailors who met their death in the sinking of the battleship Maine in llavana harbor cn February 15. 1893, Bear Admiral Charles P. Sigsbco, who was in command of the fated vessel at the time of her destruction, |'Saturday gave by request an illus trated lectiurc here before a large audience, describing the disaster. 'In many ways it is made obvious that public sentiment regarding the Maine lias continued beyond ordinary bounds," said Admiral . Sigsbcw?. 'Many disasters have occurred be fore and sine*., yet nouej in recent times has held public interest like that of the Maine. .Her destruction was a turning point in our own his tory and in the history of Spain?a' turning point for the better in both eases, let us hope. "The mission of the Maine was en tirely friendly," he explained. "It had no further import than to re assure our citizens in Cuba and to proteet them and give them assistance in case of necessity." Admiral Sigshee narrated in detail the events sniH-eeding the Maine's departure from Key West for Havana on January 2.'>. 100S. Arriving at ris:\a>.u, (lie Maine wns taken by tlu pilot to one if the bouvs commonly reserved for war vessels. "It wa* widely supposed in tho United States that the Maine was afterward shifted by the Spanish rut horilies to another buoy, but this was 111 error,"lie said. He also denied that the Maine enter ed Havana harbor militantly. Continuing, Admiral Sij/sbtv said it was important that he should know that stale of -popular fueling in Havana Vega riling the Maine and a|> parently'the brat., way to learn this was to attend a bull fitfht.' "I have been made anathema for this by cer tain pious people. Hull fiphts were given only on Sunday but my object was not pleasure. It has boon decid ed that my ship's company was doomed beeausc of attendance at the the bull fight on Sunday, yet none who went to tho bull fight wore in jured in the loss of tho Maine." Admiral Sigshee graphically de scribed the scene on tho Maine on the night of the explosion. To bear out the contention of the court of 1 inquiry that the Maine was 9nnk bv j a submarine mine, be called attention to the parallel in the destruction by contact with u mine of the Russian j battleship Petropavlovsk during tho Russo-Japanese wnr. Regarding tho policy of raising the Maine I havo nothing to say," he Raid. "It might be better to usk 'why is not the Maine removed?' " He predicted that sfco probably would be blown up in detail as the only practical solution of tho prob lem. Seaboard Loses by Fire. Portsmouth, Va., Special.^-Firo of unknown origin, accompanied by an exploaion, destroyed the general warehouce of the Seaboard Air Line Railway at the railroad terminals here enrly Sunday entailing a loss of from $100,000 to $150,00Q, and in sulting in the injury of four men, one being seriously hurt. The Injured are: Fireman AValter Bissott, Night Yardmaster Matheson, Tom Sellers, colored, unknown white man. Sultan'o Wcmen Driven From Palace, Conetantinople, By Cable.?Eighty woir-en from Abdul Ilamid's harem, richly dressed and veiled, were driven in carriages Sunday under the escort of four eunuchs and a troop of cavalry from I ho Yildiz to the ancient Seraglio pnlrt'rf,' Which hris been un oecupiod since' about 1824s ? -Curious bystanders were driven away- from the exit of jlie. .Yildiz palace by a guard of soldiers. Tlie Confederate Reunion. Memphis, Tenn., Special.?An nouncement is made by t lie general executivo committee that nil will bo in readiness foi the Confederate re utiion, which will moot in Memphis on June .8, 9 and 10 and nil indica tions point to ono of the most suc cessful pathcrifi,000 vis itors at once while at New Orleans. | R. IT. Sweet, his wife and four j children, and Ocorge Hall, were | drowned by the capsizing of their gasoline boat in the Chippewa river, j Wis., last Saturday night. Three brothers nnd- one sister who ^.were making a bare living in Ireland, have hoi red $100,000 from a bateh | el or brother, who died recently in I hiladelphia. J James Patton, the wheat king, has promised to quit gambling Mrs. Helen Boyle was convicted last Saturday of complicity in |he I kidnaping of Willie Whitla. She (rets 2.% years in the penitentiary. Her husband pot a life sentence. Six fishinp steamers at Norfolk. Va? last Saturday made a haul of 400.000 pounds of deep sea trout, equal to 2.000 barrels. Mrs. Augusta J. Evans Wilson, the Southern author, died at her home at Mobile, Ala., laBt Sunday. Ths day before was her 70th birthday. Schuyler Hollcv, at Logansport, Ind9, fixed n pistol to fire on an ex peeted chicken thief last Saturday night. The thief didn't come and Ilolley forgetting to detach tho con nection, opened the door Sunday morning nnd was instantly killed. * Washington Affairs. Thomas II. Netherlands, who was sn expert penman and was on at tache of the A\ hitc House until a month opo, when ho resigned, suffer ed so from overwork and nervous breakdown that ho committed sui cide last Tuesday night. The Porto Ricans tako President Taft s message verv unfavorably. They think they could govern them selves. President Taft sent a message to Congress Monday, asking for new legislation for Porto Rico, practical ly declaring too much power had been given the islander* beforo thay were prepared. Representative IIollirgRWorth stood practically alone in opposing the Davis engraving on the Mississippi silver service. Judge Wm, L. Penfleld, former solicitor for Department of Stale, and authority on international law, died Inst Sunday. The evidence in the Brownsville colored soldiers affair makes 0,000 pa Res. ? Judge IIe?iry O. Connor, of Wilson. N. C., a Democrat, was appointed Mondny to the Federal bench bv President Taft, succeeding Judge Purnell. Torelgn News Note*. Tbo-jicw government nt Constanti nople .has hanged another hatch of 24 oautinccr*. This makes 38 such executions since the change. Edgar Thompson loft Alhion, III., 25 years ago, motive adventure. lie landed on orial erected by the women of Pails-i bury, North Carolina, to tho ("onfed erate foldlern of that State, unveiled Monday. Still Inter ho was H?lectod to de*ipn the monument to bo erect ed to tho women of South Carolina, for which a sum ha? been appropriat ed by the State, the bnlaneo to bo raised by the men of the State. Has Passed the Century Mark. Blacksburp, Special.?The Now* and Courier correspondent, topcther with the Kev. Mr. Kirby, pastor of the Methodist church here, recently hud the opportunity of soeinp the oldest living woman probnbly in the State. Her name is I'eppy Clark. She was born not over five miles from where she now lives in ISO'.;, on the 23rd day of February. She was 107 years old on February 23 of this year. Injured Youth Doing Well. Oaffney, Special.?Younp Oeorpe Stephenson, who was so badly hurt Friday nipht by beinp run over by the enpine on the dummy line is doinp finely, and his physicians r.ny that if he continues to improve that there will be no necessity of amputating his foot. Those who saw the accident ex prosed themselves as beinR astonish ed that his injuries were no inoro se rious than they nre, as he was drap ped several feet under the enpine af ter lie fell between the wheels. Aiken Riflcu Go to Charleston. Aik^n, Special.?The* AiIcon IJiflrg Company, Xntionn! (Jur.rd of South Cnrolina, is delighted because thev have boon transferred from the .'!rd regiment to another f< r the encamp ment. By thi* irv'nn* 11:o Aiken boys will tret away fiom home for the cn eamp.ui nt. Tl:ey will be assigned to a reiriiwnt eir.-ampinir at Charleston. Stockman Begins Scntenco. I/'xinirton, Special.?Deputy Slier iff Miller cirri oil" S. \Y. Stockman to the State Penitentiary Thursdav morning, where he will begin t?? servo his seven-year sentence for having kill. (I his son-in-law, Hampton J. Hartley, during Christnih*, 1!)0."?. An wns stated in this crtrrespondenco Wednesday, Stockman preferred serv ing liis time on tho county chain gang, but Scperintendont l>augfor