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MAD MRLMIE; ? OR. The Heiress of LawL rence Park. 1 STORY OF ABSORBING INTEREST. BY MRS. ?. B. COIXDfg. CHAPTER XYHL lost! The old peddler was soon seated in the great cheery kitchen, surrounded by a group of servants, all gazing with admiring eyes at the contents of the open pack. Strings of beads; coarse laces, scent bottles, fans, sashes, and similar fancy articles were spread out before their eager gaze. "Here is somedings shust beau-tiful !n exclaimed the old peddler, holding tip for. inspection a gaudy silk . handkerchief, striped in blue and yellow, "and it becomes yon, my lady," he m added, depositing it in the ample lap * of the cook?a jolly, red-faced, rcundw eyed female, looking like nothing so much as a mold of jelly. A decidedly simple-minded lady, she proved not at all impervious to flattery. # "Will de fair lady be pleased to egseptdeshraall token of admiration?" he added, slyly. Cook's face was like a mirror, so bright did it grow, and her round eyes twinkled with delight. "Shure, an' it's kind ye are, sir," she ^ cried, in her strong Hibernian voice, "and it's the rale gintleman ye are, sir. Hiven rist your sowl! Shure an' it's t ilegant," she went on, her fat fingers smoothing the soft folds of the handkerchief with tender touch. "Why, if there ain't a comb exactly like-Maggie's," intervened a pert-looking maid, turning over in her hand the identical comb which Arthur Wynne had found in that locked room up stairs. "I declare it is Maggie's comb," went on the girl, eagerly, "for it's marked. You remember, cook, how Maggie put her initials on the inside, to know it from mine t .look I" She turned the articles over. There, tiporf the reverse side, scratched upon the fantastic carving in rude letters, were the initials "M. W." ' "She bought mine after she lost hers!" the girl added, slowly. "Say, old man, where did you get this comb i" i she demanded, sharply. The peddler shook his gray head. "I shust pought a lot o' goods from auctions," he replied, "some o' dem second-hand. Mebbe de comb was, too, I don't know. Here, young lady, I gives you somedings too." 1 And a huge bottle labeled ean de Cologne was transferred from the pack to the housemaid's eager hand. "I alius gives somedings to de pretty ladies," he added, with a smirk. "I jravs second-hand goods," he went on. "Got anydings to sell, ladies? Old pall tresses, ribbons, flowers. I;shnst makes dem over so petter as new, and sellB dem agin." ! The girl looked thoughtful. "I've got a pair o' white satin shoes "as used to be Miss Ruby's," she an/ nounced. "If you want 'em, you be l iwelcome to 'em, I'm sure," andshehur^" ied away, returning a little later with a pair of tiny white satin slippers, with L dainty rosettea and high French heels. The peddler gazed on them with a long, steady stare from behind the spectacles. Then rolling the slippers up in tissue paper, he slipped them in his pocket, after which a small exchange of goods was effected with the housemaid, and then he arose to go. "I gees now, but I comes again after a whiles," he said, laconically, and amid a shower of good-bvs he took his departure. "That's a perfect gentleman, 11 t ever there was one!" exclaimed the housemaid, emphatically. "Such pres1 ents; and he ain't never been here bet fve" In the meantime the old peddler, having left Lawrence Park behind him, / hurried into the woods near by, away . from prying eyes, and seated himself I beneath a tree. He drew the satin 1 Blippers from his pocket and pressed i them to his lips. "My poor little darling," he murmured. "You skill be found, or avenged." Ho drew forth something else?a drawing of a shoe, a woman's shoe, i small, graceful, shapely. He removed one of the slippers from its wrapping, and placed it upon the drawing before him. The slippers were much smaller than the drawing. He uttered an exclamation of approval. "I knew it!" he panted swiftly. "This drawing I made from the imprint outside the library window here ajfc Lawrence Park. "After the murder was committed I J carefully examined the ground below the window, and found there several iootpriats embedded in the soft soil. ( "I took the impression of the plainest, and this is it. It is not Ruby Lawrence's foot; then whose is it? woman has been concerned ot ?0^^^y||^[^i^bert Lawrence's death 3L Cyr Lawrence ana ^^^^^Hughtcr. \ ^ KavIv but surenTI will gather up H^Mmireads of evidence in this strange nffln and I will yet show the world how misjudge. H| Heaven errant that my poor Ruby ^Kssfetill alive to triumph over her eneGod forbid that it should be too SI? / In his excitement, his spectacles Hy Iiad fallen to iho ground at his feet, the gray wig was awry, he was so exW cited over the prospect of vindicating the woman ho loved that ho had forgotten his disguise?forgotten everything. j "I will find Ruby Lawrence 1" he f 'panted, starting to his feet. "I will ' / clear hor before the world, and it shall yet bend its knee liumbly before this I woman!" < Ho turned sharply and saw?gazing topon him with a pale, stern face and Vild, dilated eyes, Adele St. Cyr. "lam lost!" he muttered, hoarsely; ''Heaven help me?nil is lost!" CHAPTER XIX. THE LETTER "L." "All is lost 1" muttered the disguised i detective, hoarsely. "Yet I will not j viald without a struggle." /Jfie stooped as though to rearrange f Ms pack, and, at the same time, with a ' awift, dexterous movement, set his gray Wig straight upon his head, and replaced his spectacles. i. JChen he lifted his head, and turned ' with a movement of surprise, as though i he had just observed the young lady, removing his broad-brimmed hat with an awkward bow. "Would de pretty lady please look at define dings?" (with a suggestive gesture toward the open pack at his side). t Adele's eyes were upon him with a suspicious look. She shook her head haughtily. "No, no; of course not!"sho cried. "As if I would buy such trumpery! Keep your goods for"servants and such common people. I never deal with strolling peddlers." The detective gave a long, eagei look from behind his glasses. He took from his pocket the paper which contained the white satin slippers, and opening the paper, held them, up to view. "Pretty dings?eh?" he suggested. "Wouldn't de young lady like to buy dem? Shus as goot as new." She had grown as pale as death, hei eyes blazing with angor. "How dare you insult me ?" she demanded, harshly. A n shft snoke" her eves fell upon a ! glittering heap of bangles lying in the open pack before her. I The peddler's gaze followed hers, ( and he held up to view a white tulle skirt, covered with silver spangltfl"Dis for de lady to dance in at de teater," he cried, triumphantly. Pale, and panting for breath, Adele leaned against the nearest tree for support, her eyes wild and dilated with horror. "Take it away!" she gasped, feebly; "leave this place. Out of my sight, old man, at once! Do you hear?" The old man closed his pack. "Dis place de public road, miss, if you please," he observed, tersely. "But I goes. Goot morning?eh, vat you calls it??La Belle!" And, shouldering his pack, he trudged away, leaving Adele upon the ground in a dead swoon. She opened her eyes at last, and the strange oppression at her heart told her what had happened. And she knew t}iat, in spite of all, in spite of her mother's scheming and plotting, she had beea found out?had been recognized by a common strolling peddler. Good heavens! all was lost 1 "Let me go home to mamma," she moaned, as she arose slowly to het feet. "Oh, it was a bad mistake for me to come out here. But I believed myself free to go any place without danger of discovery. In heaven's name, how did that man find out? How could he have recognized me ? "Does any one else suspect? And lb XO TCiJ DUOii^uj Jk vvv?*M ? . , sworn that when I first saw the old peddler here in the woods he looked like a young man. "He had taken off his spectacles, and I thought I saw?I Ah, I have it. His gray hair was only a wig. "The man was in disguise?he is a detective, without doubt. Then we are suspected; we are under surveillance. There is no hope for us?none!" Slowly, falteringly, like an old woman, she made her way back to the house, and burst in upon her mother, lounging in the depths of a violel velvet easy ohair in her own luxurious chamber, a French novel in her hand. She glanced up with a startled exEression. at sight, of Adole's white, orrified face. "Adele, my child. Good heavens! What has happened?" Adele sank upon a velvet ottoman al her mothers feet, and, between tears and groans, sobbed out the whole story. "We are suspected, mamma," she panted. "We are suspected?aye, discovered?and soon all will be known to the public!" The book fell from Gabrielle's hand, and she arose to her feet. In her trailing robe of rich mauve silk, fastened at the throat with a single diamond glittering in the rich lace clustered there, she looked like ? beautiful queen. One white hand was lifted with" an imperious cresture. her lips parted, one word broke tlie terror-filled silence: "Discovered!" she panted, madly. "] will kill the wretch who dare to hint that I am not what I seem! Be quiet, Adele; this is only a suspicion on the part of that fellow, and can not be sus' tained. "It will come to nothing. No doubl the man was a detective in disguise, but he was merely trying a ruse to'find out if he was on the right track. "How could he know that Adele St. Cyr did not die ? That the coffin which was buried in the cemetery in the city yonder, held only a log of wood?" "He might have hail the grave opened," suggested Adele. Gabrielle looked troubled. "True," she returned in a low tone. "And" (in a thoughtful voice), "we will prove it, Adele." An hour later the Lawrence carriage drove away from Lawrence Park, with the two women inside, in the direction of the cemetery. Bidding the carriage await their re turn in a certain place which would not | suggest their destination to the driver, Gabrielle and Adele made their way to the burying ground. Sacred spot, which they had already desecrated! God's acre where so mauy seeds are sown, to await the coming ol the resurrection morn. "I shall know at once if the grave ha3 been disturbed," Gabrielle muttered, sharply, as they turned the corner of a long avenue of graves, and paused at last beside the mound where the world believed that Adele St. Cyr, the famous danseuse, was sleeping hex Loner, last sleet). The long, slim mound had been heaped high with floral tributes, and the mourning mother had requested the sexton to allow them to fade and die, untouched, undisturbed?to perish and to pass away unmolested. They paused beside the grave, and Gabrielle uttered a loud crv: "The flowers hc.ve been disturbed," she panted, hoarsely. "See, Adele, I left them in certain positions -which the wind could not disarrange. I placed them thus," rapidly illustrating, "and they have been altered. And?and " She stopped short, with a groan of horror and surprise. Embedded in the damp earth, beneath the dead flowers, j as though it had fallen there unnoticed, lay a white carnelian watch charm, a masonic keystone, and upon the golden chain which had nerved to fasten it to the watcn cnain a letter was engraved?the letter L. "Good heavens!" panted Gabrielle. "I have seen that keystone before. Would you know where I have seen it, Adele? Listen ! --! saw that very charm, or one possibly like it, attached to the watch chain of Ludlow, Chief of Police." "Mamma I Oh, what shall we do ?" "Brave it out to the bitter end!" cried Gabrielel, passionately, her eyes . i ' M scintillating. "I shall talce a bold stand now! We can but fail! And. after all, there "will be only circumstantial evidence against us! Adele, listen! I am going to make a bold move and defy the world! "We will lay aside our mourning at once, and throw open the houee, and launch ourselves into fashionable society! They dare not ostracize us at the very first, we are too rich! Once in the full tide of success, I fancy that it will not be an easy matter for a common police officer to bring charges against the beautiful, wealthy, courtad leader of fashion, Mrs. Robert Lawrence, of Lawrence Park!" CHAPTER XX. HAUNTEn, Gabrielle kept her word. The very next day a paragraph appeared in the society column of a fashionable paper, to the eflect that the beautiful Mrs. Lawre nce, of Lawrence Park, would open the hospitable doors of her elegant mansion on Thursday night to her "dear five hundred friends." There were sundry nints as to tne grandeui of the proposed reception, and the elegant affairs of the kind to be expected in the near future from the j mistress of Lawrence Park. Of course old society was horrified at the announcement of a fashionable re' ception within a lew months after the late tragical event, but, after all, Gilbert Lawrence had not been a kind husband and father; in short, his treatment of his wronged wife and child had been so outrageous and unfeeling, that no one could blame the fair widow for the step that she was about to take. Besides that, everybody was anxious to see what sovt of a hostess this woman would make, this parvenu, who had so suddenly been elevated to great wealth and high social position. Consequently, there-were few regreta sent in, and when Thurdav night came, the drawing-rooms of Lawrence Park were filled with the elite of the city. Gabrielle, in a severely plain but elegant costume of rich black velvet Suu black lace, with diamonds, was a lovely hostess; while Adele, in a floating robe of filmy-white lace frosted with seed pearls, and with pearls all about her, was at once acknowledged the belle oi the evening. Never, in all her life, had Adele St. Uyr areamea 01 sucn inumpus. ?1 was like a tale from the "Arabian Nights"?the homage which she receive! from the gilded youth of the city, every one of whom would have shrank in horror from asking a balletdancer to become his wife. The music surged in' sweet, wild strains, and the dance went on. Adela was dancing the Manola, dancing with such light, airy grace, such verve and abandon, that the aristocratic noses of the aristocratic society ladies began to elevate themselves in scorn; and comments, not loud but deep, went around the rooms, as to the impropriety of Gilbert Lawrence's daughter dancing so soon after her father's death! Probably, had Adele's dancing been less perfect, society would have forgotten to make such comments! The waltz was over, and, leaning upon ?he arm of her late partner, Adele was led to a seat upon a satin divan. "Miss Lawrence I" said a voice at her side. She turned, to see standing near her a lady all in black, some rich material, without ornaments, a strange, forced smile upon her handsome face?Mrs. Chillingworth! wiien uaoneue naa sent me luviuution to Ruby's late chaperon she did not believe' for a moment that Mrs. Chillingworth would accept. Society itself marveled greatly; yet there she was, within the room where she had passed so many happy hours with poor forgotten Ruby, pmiline, Diand as thougn tlie tragedy wad never occurred. No wonder society was astonished and turned a cold shoulder upon Mrs. Chillingworth; but that lady seemed in no wise disturbed. "Miss Lawrence," she repeated, slowly, "pardon me, but I am about to take my leave. My health does not permit me to devote much time to society" (she had been there exactly half an hour), "and?and?" she was gazing into Adele's lovely fase with eager, searching eyes?"I have a friend?a gentleman friend?with me, who has begged so ardently to be presented to you, that I venture to ask your permission. "He is a foreigner?a friend of my late husband?an English lord, of immense wealth. My dear Miss Lawrence, have I your permission ?" Adele bowed, her eyes flashing with delight at the flattery. An English lord! Her heart leaped. "Mia. Chillingworth's friends are always welcome at Lawrence Park!" she cooed. "He is a stranger here," went on Mrs. Chilling;worth, "and when I received your mother's card for to-night I ventured to include him in the invitation. "Quite right!" said Adele, cordially. Under her breath she was repeating, easerlv: "A lord! a real, live English lord! And immemsely wealthy!" There could be no mistake about his wealth and title, since Mrs. Chillingsworth was his friend. f~ A little later a tall stranger was bowing lowly before her while Mrs. Chillingworth was saying: "Miss Adele Lawrence, my lord. Miss Lawrence, allow me to present Sir Arthur Stanley, of Sussex, England." A pale, cadaverous 'ace, utterly unlike the usual English comeliness; deep, dark eyes, disfigured by the inevitable eye-glasses, and hair as red as hair can possibly be. Mrs. Chillingworth withdrew and there was a strange, exultant look in her eyes, while low under her breath she muttered: "My poor Ruby, you shall be avenged! I must get out of this house at once or I shall die! The very atmosphere is laden with treachery!" And as she drove away from Lawrence Park, Sir Arthur Stanley was? just leading Adele out to join the dance. faYou dance divinely, Miss reuce," the young nobleman observed, I as they floated away to the sweet, sensuous music of the Strauss waltzes. "Your dancing is, to use a hackneyed phrase, the poetry of motion. I have never witnessed such perfect dancing since I saw La Belle, the famous danseuse, upon the stage in London, two years ago. "And?pardon me for the comparison ?but she was wonderfully like you in features, figure, and?good heavens! Miss ijawrence, you are ill I" She w&3 clinging to his arm, pale and trembling, her eyes dilated with horror, her breath coming and going in fitful gaspst ' I -rl ~ His eyes rested upon her "with a strange, intent look, which made her heart throb so painfully that for a moment the guilty girl believed that she would die. Everything grew dark before her? the music sounded far off in the distance?yet through it all she was conscious of that stern, unwavering gaze fixed upon her, filled with horror, as though gazing upon an unclean thing. She was not fainting?she knew it? but there was something awful in the fascination of that gaze fixed upon her ?something strangely familiar, too. "I am tired," she murmured, feebly. "Take me to a seat, my lord." ' He obeyed her without a "word; found her a comfortable place in a deserted alcove, and seated himself at her ! side, with an air of proprietorship. Adele had begun to hate the English nobleman as she had never hated any ' one before?as she would hate any living creature whom Bhe feared might possibly'hold a clew to the bad history of her past life. Hated, yet feared him, as he held her transfixed, like the Ancient Mariner, with his glittering eyes, while be spoke?still of the dead, not forgotten dancer; of her wondrous grace and beauty, and (oh, horrors!)! that strange resemblance to herself! She listened, growing cold and faintlistened with madly beating heart and half-murmured replies; but she could not lead the conversation into a safei oa oKn rm'rrVif Tf oqqtyinrl UUUUUC1) l/AJ uo ouu AW UWV4UVW to hold a strange fascination for my lord. And still he talked on, his theme always the lovely young danseuse, whc had gone to her grave. It seemed to Adele as she sat there, forced to listen, that she was suffering the torments of the lost souls in hades. And still he talked on?and on?evei in the same strain, until at last Adele's self-control gave way, and overwrought, and her nerves unstrung, she started to her feet. "My lord," she panted, wildly, "can you find no other topic of conversation than the life and death of a miserable theater actress? I?I have neard enough; I am ill!" She sprang through the open French window at her side, out into the moonlit grounds, and dashed away out oi 8K*V It was early springtime. The snow had melted long ago, and the broad white walks lay smooth and dry under the pale light of a full moon, which cast an unearthly radiance over all things. Half wild with a vague horror, a certainty that their miserable secret was discovered, or at least suspected, Adele flew on like a maniac, out of sight of the brilliantly lighted mansion, down to a retired and lonely corner of the grounds. 1 She came to a sudden halt, a wild cry issuing from her pale lips, her hands clasped convulsively, her dark eyes staring straight before her, with wordless horror in their depths. Bight before her, in the pearly moonlight, peering from behind a thick hedge of osage orange, a -white face stared into her own, with wide-open, glassy eyes?the eyes of a dead man, and the face was the face of Arthur Wynne I [to be continued.] The plan of organizing town societies, which shall have for their object the improvement and adornment of the places in which they are formed, is a movement which deserves to be encouraged. The proverb, what is everybody's business is nobody's businesn, is strikingly applicable to a great many classes of public work; but a town society formed of intelligent, disinterested, and public-spirited citizens, supplies a medium for creating public sentiment, and for wisely directing it when created. It is not a shifting body, as a board of selectmen is apt to be, but having prepared a policy foi public improvement it can continuously work toward its development. Such an organization is also useful from the force of criticism it can bring to bear upon public officials who are not satisfactorily performing their duty. It isneedless to say that artown improvement society ought to be made up of those whc do not hold and who are not seeking public office. j^duak r. ujnuoln, oi xopeKa, Kan., has taken out more patents dur- , ing the last two years than any man in the country. His inventions cover all fields ana he has patented almost everything, from an improved electric light to a celluloid toothpick. Like a great many inventors, he finds it difficult to make money out of his cleverness. Other men reap the profit of his brain effort. His last design is a toboggan brake. It enables: a toboggan to stop in the middle of the steepest incline instantly if any obstruction suddenly appears on the chute. The most famous bandit in Spam, Ferdinand Guzman, is a dwarf, who at one time kept a small store in Granada. He became enraged at some action taken by the authorities, and took to the mountains. He is hideously ugly in appearance and utterly unscrupulous. The romantic chivalry attributed to Spanish bandits does not apply to him at all. He has gathered about him a crew of the worst cutthroats in Europe, and over them he reigns supreme. The Spanish Government has determined to arresft him and his followers. It is said that Charles Dudley "Warner is rather annoyed at always being considered a humorous writer. He much prefers a reputation as a high authority on criticism or philanthropic topics than as a "funny man." Recently, in a conversation with him, he told a friend that he was much annoyed at time.* by being introduced as the author of "My Summer in the Garden.'1 He much preferred a reference (if one must be made) to his efforts in bringing about prison reform. The electric street cars of Cambridge, Mass., have been furnished with a plough. It isn't a snow plough, but its efficacy was shown the other day when a newsboy, who had (alien on the track ahead of a car, was shoveled to one side speedily and without ht hroVan honaa. THE SEAL FISHERS. HOW THE ALASKA. SEAL IS HUNTED AND KILLED; The Bight to Catch Seals?The Breedin# Grounds?The Time for Killing Seals?Value of the Skins. Great Britain is quite as much interested in the preservation of the 9eal fisheries of Alaska as is the United States. Russia's interest is equal to that of either of them. All thiree of these nations derive a handsome revenue from the catch of the seal, that of the United States and Russia lying in a tax on the catch itself, while England gets hers through the preparation of the skins for market. The Pribylov Ie,lands belonging to the United States and the Commander Islands belonging to Russia are practically the only seal fisheries in the world. They are ail under the control of an American company, and supply more than ninety-five per cent, of the annual seal catch. All of these skins, the onlv valu ABOUT SEALS. A. Ten-year-old Bull. B. Full grown Cow. C. Three-year-old "Bachelor." D. A Pup. able part of the seal, are shipped to London, where a very large percentage of them, virtually indeed the entire product, are first sold in the raw state and then dyed. This dyeing of seal skins is purely an English industry, and England's government always protects England's industries. She realizes only too clearly that seal poaching can never become a source of profit to more than a handful of her citizens, and will therefore interpose no objections to its suppression. The animal about whose preservation so much has recently been said is properly more widely and at the same time less intimately known than any other of nature's creatures. Every woman who j. i wears a seauKiu uoat wiuwa w <1 eral way that the skins of which it is made are scarce and hard to procure. Her husband or father knows in a specific way that they are expensive. But how many of them know just why they are scarce and expensive? How many of them know, for instance, that there are two kinds of seal, the hair seal and the fur seal? That the skin of the hair seal is absolutely worthless when compared with that of the fur seal, and is never made into cloaks. It is coarse and rough, ani is generally tanned and used' for the manufacture of pocket-books, satchels, hand-bags, gloves and coachman's capes. The hair seal is found everywhere, while the fur seal are prac-. tically confined to tho Behring Sea. Hundreds of thousands of hair seals are captured every year in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, while so far as is known the fur seal has never been seen there. There was a time, however, when the fur seal waa found almost everywhere else. Seals formerly abounded in the Southern seas. Ships were laden to the water's edge with the skins only to bring nominal prices in the glutted markets of the world, but for all that the butchery never stopped until the victims were virtually extermiuated, so far as the Southern seas are concerned. Whether those persecuted, helpless creatures were all killed off, or whether they took refuge in ?Jenring Sea, is not known. Certain it is, however, that Vitus Behring and his venturesome crew, having been shipwrecked in 1741 on the then unknown Commander Islands, found there millions upon millions of seals. DRIVING SEALS TO THE KILLING GROUNDS. _ 1 Company after company was organized in Russia for the purpose of hunting over these new grounds as soon as the | discovery was made known. No restriction was placed upon their slaughter, with the result that in less than twenty years the seal was well nigh exterminated from the Commander Islands. In 1786 the Pribylov Islands were discovered. Their discoverer, Gehrman Pribylov, was the commander of a small sloop named the j St. George, in which he had searched for"] these islands for three weary years. He named one of them St. George, after his vessel, and the other St- Paul, after his patron saint. Here he found the great breeding place of the seal. The slaugnter went on tor nearly a century until, in 1868, the Pribylov Islands became. part of the United States 1 ? - e ~ r\f Aloab-u frnm Dy VirtUC OI LllU |;uima.3u \/i Russia. During this period there had been spasmodic attempts a'c restriction both at the Commander and at the Pribylov Islands, but it was not until the Alaska Commercial Company was formed in 1870, that a system was adopted which seems to have proved successful for the protection of the seal during breeding time. It is to protect this system that the United States maintains that Behriug Sea is a closed sea. In 1870 Congress passed a law for the I protection of the seal, and in accordance with ifs provisions placed the islands under the control of the Alaska Commercial Company, the highest bidder for the privilege. By the provisions of the law the Alaska Commercial Company are forbidden to kill more than 100,000 seals annually. These must be killed in June. July and September. For this privilege the Alaska Company pays a tax of $2.62^ on each skin, and an additional $50,000 .per annum as rental. Their leases was for twenty years and will expire in May, i 1890. I :/ ;^vv : ; \ ' . By a recent act of Congress the new lease must be made at the rate of $3.50 per skin, the annual rental to be fixed by competition among the 'bidders for the leasts The present arrangements has been a profitable one for both the Government and the lessees. The Government has received during the period covered by the lease over $7,000,000 in taxes and rentals, while the Alaska Company has made fortunes for all of its members. The effect on the seal has been beneficial in the extreme, there being three or four times as many on the Pribylov Islands now as there were then. The natives, too, have profited by it. There are less than 400 people on both islands, their only means of support being the fisheries. They are paid forty cents for each skin and their average wage is about $500 per annum, not bad when it is remembered that they are idle nine months in the year. The Alaska Commercial Company has also bought from the Russian Government the sole right to kill seals in the Commander Islands. From this source they gather about 45,000 skins annually. Add to this number the 100,000 killed in the Pribylov group and you have practically the whole number of skins collected each year. It must not be supposed that the seals are at the Pribylov Islands during the entire year. They only come during the breeding season, which lasts from early in Mav until late in September. Where they come from no man knows. The first to make their appearance on the breeding grounds arc the bulls, who come both singly and in droves from about May 1 until the end of the season. They land with perfect confidence and without a show of fear. Upon their arrival the bulls, which are then as fat as butter, take up their position as near the water's edge as possible. If they prove strong enough to withstand the attacks of those of their fellows who come after them, they stay where they are; if not they must move back?'take a back seat as it were. / A SKINNED BACHELOR. With the advent of the cows is presented a strong contrast between the males and females, not only in size and shape, but in disposition. The cow is as dovelike and amiable as the bull is saturnine and ferocious. The cow seal is much smaller and much more shapely in its proportions than is the bull. They are not more than one-fourth as large nor do they show any of that teirible emancia tion in tne latter part 01 ine season displayed by the bulls. The reason for this lies in their going to sea every few dajj, leaving their young to take care of themselves while they are gone for several days at a time in search of food. Their coat is much more beautiful than that of the bull, being of a rich steel and maltese gray luster on the back of the head and neck and along the spine, blending into almost a snow white on the chest and abdomen. The head and eye of the female arc exceedingly beautiful. Her expression is really attractive, gentle and intelligent, and as she perches upon a rock she is the pcrfect picture of benignity and satisfaction. The seal pup, when bora is a little mite of a thing, but within a few minutes after its birth finds that it has a powerful voice which it uses in giving vent to a most pathetic and never ending bleat. They receive but little attention from the mother seal, who only approaches her offspring at twenty-four hour intervals. She cares but little for it allowing it to be removed or even killed under her very nose without a protest. The pups, left to themselves, get together like a great swarm of bees and spread out on the ground, in what the sealers call "pods," keeping well away from the water at first, ior a pup can twuu uv better than can a bar of lead. The killing completed, the task of skinning begins. The labor here involved is very severe demanding long practice before the muscles of the back are so developed as to permit a man to bend down to and linish well a fair day's work. The | body of the seal preparatory to skinning is rolled over and balanced squarely on its back. The native then makes a single swift cut from the lower jaw to the root of the tail. A circular incision is then made around the flippers. Seizing a flap of the skin on one side of the abdomen the -workman cuts the skin free from the body, lifting it as he goes, rolling the body out of the ai% on the sand as the operation proceeas. A good hand can strip a seal in less than a minute, jtfo skin is left on the carcass save a small patch at the muzzleand tail. The skins all gathered, they are taken from the field to the salt house, <jierc they are laid out one upon the other "hair to fat," with salt profusely spread upon the fleshy sides. Thus they lie for two or three weeks, when they become pickled and are ready for shipment. This, however, does not usually begin until the last week of the season, when the skins are cordcd into packages of two each with the hair outside. These packages arc in turn packed into hogsI heads containing twenty to forty skins, I in which shape they are sent to London | to be dyed. CILLIXG AND SKINNING GANGS AT "WORK. Thero is u popular but very erroneous idea that the skin of the seal has mucn the same appearance upon the back of its rightful owner that it has upon that of the fair creature who eventually wears it. Nothing can be further from the truth. Few skins are less attractive than is the seal skin when first taken from the seal, i The fur is not visible, but is concealed entirely by a coat of stiff overhair, dull gray brown and grizzled. The process of dyeing tnem is tedtous^H^HH|BBj^^^^fl quiring a great amount perience. The dye, too, a secret which is possessed nlmo^l I by English houses, although the^|^H9|H two or three American concerns who^^E^^^Bj splendid work. Their output, howerei^BHH is so insignificant, that London may* hflL^QgB said to have a virtual monopoly of ttnf^, trade. All sales of raw skins are nowj made in that city, which fact may have! . a great deal to do with LondonVmonop-: .: oly. The average price of a raw skin inj H Loudon is $10. After they are dressed! they will readily bring $25 each.?Jfatfl and Exprtst. . ' * '? V'S An American Beauty Weds an Eng-' llshman. V "I, Miss Jennie 8. Chamberlain, second daughter of Mr. Chamberlain, of Oleve-1 land, Ohio, was married recently in St.j George's Church, London, to^ Captain! Herbert Naylor Leland". The bride worel white satin, with silver and pearl orna-j mentjo TTop aistor .Tnunhina nraa hriHpjU maid. The presents included a brooch inl the shape of a horseshoe studded with! diamonds and pearls, to the bride, and at i: diamond ruby pin* to the groom from the Prince of Wales. Mrs. Leyland was born in Cleveland) and is .twenty-four years of age. Heri J father is of English descent, but Iiisi father and grandfather were' born inl Brattleboro, Vt. The bride is described1 as marvelously handsome, and it lias been frequently asserted that her pictures] do not give an adequate idea of her. beauty, much of which consists in her splendid complexion and wonderful) eyes. The cut which heads this article / is from a splendid photograph, by Mendelseohn, of-London. The bride's friends.' s say that even this picture did not reflect J the charms of color or the animated ex- I _ i _1_ J I pression 01 countenance wmcu wuiiuerfully enhance her attractiveness. Her complexion has been ecstatically described to be a translucent blending of pink and white. Her eyes are liquid blue, shaded by dark lashes, dreamy in repose, sparkling in conversation, j Her hair is lighter than brown, with a decided suggestion of gold in the wealth of tresses, which forms a contrast with the eyes and delicately marked eyebrows. Her features are of classic* Greciaii cast. In stature she is above the medium height, and connoisseurs have said that her figure is faultless, neither spare nor stout, but symmetrically rounded. . The bride inherits her good looks and ' gentle manners from a father who is a man of culture, and a mother of handsome countenance, which is. stamped with tokens of amiable disposition and intellectual force. The Chamberlains have* resided off and on in England for nearly; a dozen years. The American beauty, aa Miss Chamberlain was well known, and; her people have been frequent guests at , Sandringham, the home of the heir to the English throne. Her portrait has been hung in the Grosvenor Gallery, and an. exquisite bust in marble by the sculptor DTEpigny has been exhibited in Rome as a companion piece to the bust of the Empress of Russia. "Taken From the German." J ? y I Photographic Accessories. | Helps for photographers, patented at the Patent Office in Washington, are almost without number. One has a stripj of grain attached to the bottom of thej 4 instrument and the person who stands) before it appears to be browsing in the) midst of a rich field of rye. Another ac-{ cessory enables one to fire the head of the sitter upon a classic frame. A curtain conceals all but the head and neck. Just in front is placed the frame to which it is proposed the head shall appear at( tached in the picture.?New York iVas^ j What He Missed. ^ . A Boston man came to New York, Of the Hub's great attractions to talk; On the very next train He went right home again, He missed so the beans and the pork. ?Harper's Young People. . Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt's steam yacht Alva, which is easily the handsomest and most perfectly appointed pleasure > boat in the world, cost $600,000, and y/ I the expense of running her is said to bo^X ' about 1150,000 &JML _ ., 4 M