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SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER XIV. Almost, But Not Quite. Dal had been acting strangely all ?day. Once, early In the evening, when 2 had doubled no trump, he led me ja. club without apology, and later on, during his dummy, I saw him writini; bur names on the back of an envelope, and putting numbers after them. At xny earliest opportunity I went to Max. "There is something the matter with Dal, Max," I volunteered. "He has been acting strangely all day, and Just now he was making out a Hst sames and numbers." "You're to blame for that. Kit," Max said seriously. "You put washing soda instead of baking soda in those bis cuits today, and he thinks he is a Itteaan laundry. Those are laundry lists he's making out He asked me a Httle while ago if I wanted a do mestic finish. Yes, I had put washing soda in the biscuits. The book said soda, and bow ls one to know which is meant? "I do not O?nfc you are calculated tor a domestic flnish.'T said, coldly, as 1 turned away. "In any case I dis claim any such responsibility. Eut ?here is something on Dal's mind." Max came after me. "Don't be ?ross. Kit You haven't said a nice \ 3rd* to me today, and you go around cdstUng with your chin up and two T d spots on your cheeks-like what < ?yher-name-was with the snakes in ti ?ad of hair. I don't know why I'm James hilson or Jimmy as he is called *y his friends. Jimmy was rotund alfi looked shorter than he really was. His ambition In life was to be taken seriously but people steadily refused to do so. his art is considered a huge Joke, except himself, if he asked people to dinner ev eryone expected a froUc. Jimmy marries Bella Knowles; they live together a year and are divorced. Jimmy's friends ar range to celebrate the first anniversary .of his divorce. The party is In full swing .when Jimmy receives a telegram from hts Aunt Selina, who will arrive in four hou to visit him and his wife. He neglects tell her of his divorce. Jimmy takes Kit into his confidence. He suggests that Kit play the hostess for one night, be Mrs wilson pro tem: Aunt Selina arrives and the deception works out as planned J.m's Jap servant is taken ill. Bella Jimmy's divorced wife, enters the house and asks Kit who is being taken awav i the ambulance? Belle insists it is Jim ivlt tells her Jim ls well and is in the house. Harbison steps out on the porch and discovers a man tackln? a card o the door. Ho demands an explanation 'Tho man points to the placard and Har ?bison sees the word "Smallpox" printed on it. He tells him tho guests cannot leave the house until the quarantine ls lifted. After the lifting of the quarantin several letters are found in the mail box undelivered, one is addressed .to Henry Llewelyn. Iqulque. Chile, which was written by Harbison. He describes mi nutely of their Incarceration, also of his Infatuation for Mrs. Wilson. Aunt Selina ls caken III with la srippe. Betty acts as nui?e- Harbison finds Kit sulking on the roof She tells him that Jim has been treating her outrageously. Kit starts downstairs, when suddenly she is grasped 'he arms of a man who kisses her sev t8-. ?he believes that Harbison lt and ls humiliated. Aunt Selina relis Jimmy that her cameo breastpin and other articles of jewelry have been stolen. She accuses Betty of the theft. Jimmy tells Aunt Selina all about the strange happenings, but she persists in suspecting w?,of ?he th,eft of her valuables Harbison demands an explanation from ES to her induct towards "him. she .els him of the incident on the roof, he toes not deny nor confirm her accusation. CHAPTER XML-Continued. "I think you are very rude." I said at last. "You fell over there and I thought you were killed. The nerv ous shock I experienced is just as bad as if you had gone-all the way." He put down the hammer and came over to me without speaking. Then, when he was quite close, he said: "I am very sorry if I startled you. I did not flatter myself that you would fceprofoundly affected, in any event." "Oh, as to that." I said lightly, "it makes me ill for days if my car runs over a dog." He looked at me in si lence. "You are not going to get up .on that parapet again?" "Mrs. Wilson," he said, without pay -ing the, slightest attention to my ques tion, "will you tell me wh&t I have doner' "Done?" "Or have not done? I have racked xny brains-stayed awake all of last night At first 1, hoped it was imper sonal, that, womanlike, you were mere ly renting general, disfavor on one I raised my eyebrows, coldly lnter -jogative. "Perhaps," h* went on, 'calmly ^perhaps I was a fool here on^ the, roof -the night befofe last. If I said any thing that I should not, I ask your pardon. If it ls not that, I think you ought to ask'mine!" I was angry enough then. "There can be only one opinion -.bout your conduct," I retorted, warm ly. "It was worse than brutal. , Jt-: ii was unspeakable. I have no words Cor it-except that I loathe it-and you." He was very grim by this time. "I ??ave heard you say something like that before-only I was not the un fortunate in that case." "Oh!" I was choking. "Under different circumstances I should be the last person to recall i-jjything so-person?l. But the cir cumstances are unusual." He took an angry step toward me. "Will you ?ell me what I have done? Or shall * go down and ask the others?" "You wouldn't dare," I cried, "or I ^dll tell them what you did! How ?ou waylaid me on those stairs there, md forced your caresses, your kisses, on me! Oh, I could die with shame!" The silence that followed wa3 as unexpected as it was ominous. I ?mew he was staring at me, and I was furious to find myself so emotional, so much more excited of the two. Final ly, I looked up. "You cannot deny it," I said, in a ?tort of anti-climax. "No." He was very quifet, very ..jrim, quite composed. "No," he re heated. Judicially. "1 do not deny it" He did not? He would not? Which? =?. uuuu Nl-=sUI_l?~>_JLAA Li -. {CULAR ?TAlRCA?Er so crazy about you; I always meant to love a girl with a nice disposition." I left him then. Dal had gone into the reception room and closed fie doors. And because he had been act I lng so strangely, and partly to escape from Max, whose eyes looked threat ening, I followed him. Just as I opened the door quietly and looked in, Dallas switched off the lights, and I could hear him groping his way across the room. Then somebody-not Dal -spoke from the corner, cautiously. "Is that you. Mr. Brown, sir?" It was Flannigan. |T*s. T8 everything here?" "All but the powder, sir. Don't step too close. They're spread all over the place." "Have you taken the curtains down?" "Yes, sir." "Matches?" - "Here, sir." "Light one, will you,?Flannigan? ll want to see the time." The flare showed Dallas and Flan Digan bent over the timepiece. And lt showed something else. The rug had been turned back from the win lows which opened on the street, arid :he curtains had been removed. On :he bare hardwood floor Just beneath The Mercer Girls Kissed Da ie windows was an aray of pans of ?trlous sizes, dish pans, cake tins, ad a metal foot tub. The pans were used from the floor on bricks, and ?emed to be full of paper. All the Hairs and tables were pushed back ?ainst the wall, and the bric-a-brac as-stacked on the mantel. \ "Half an hour yet," Dal said, clos lg his watch. "Plenty of time, and ^member the signal, four short and ?vo long." "Four short and two long-all right, lr." "And-Flannigan, here's something MT you, on account." "Thank you, sir." Dal turned to go out, tripped over he rug, said something, and passed ae. without an idea of my presence, i moment later Flannigan went out, .nd I was left, huddled against the rall, and alone. It was puzzling enough. "Four ong and two short!" "All but the )owder!" Not that I believed for. a noment what Max had said, and any low Flannigan was the sanest person [ ever saw in my life.' But it all seemed a part of the mystery that had seen hanging over us for severed lays. I felt my way across the room md knelt by the pans. Yes, they were there, full of paper and mounted on bricks. It had not been a delusion. And then I straightened on my knees suddenly, for an automobile sassing under the window had sounded four short honks and two long ones. The signal was followed instantly hy a crash. The foot bath had fallen from its supports, and lay, quivering and vibrating with horrid noises at my feet. The next moment Mr. Harri son had thrown open the door and leaped into the room. "Who's there?" he demanded. Against the light I could see him reaching for his hip pocket, and the rest crowding up around him. "It's only me," 1 quavered, "that is, L The dish pan upset." "Dish pan!" Bella said from back in the crowd. "Kit, of course!" Jim forced his way through then and turned on the lights. I have no doubt I looked very strange, kneeling there on the bare floor, with a row of pans mounted on bricks behind me, and the furniture all piled on itself in a back corner. "Kit! What in the world-" Jim be gan, and stopped. He stared from mo to the pans, to the windows, to the bric-a-brac on the mantel, and back to me. I sat stonily silent Why should I explain? Whenever I got Into a fool ish position, and tried to explain, and tell how it happened, and who was really to blame, they always brought It back to me somehow. So I sat there on the floor and let them stare. And finally Loll!? Mercer got her breath and said: "How perfectly lovely; it's a charade!" And Anne guessed "kitchen" at once. "Kit. you know, and the pans and-all that," she said, vaguely. At j that they all took to guessing! And j I sat still, until Mr. Harbison saw the storm in my eyes and came over to me. "Have you hurt your ankle?" he said in an undertone. "Let me help you up." "I am not hurt," I said, coldly, "and even if I were, it would be un necessary to trouble you." "I cannot help being troubled," ho returned, just as evenly. "You see, 'it makes me ill for days if my car runs over a dog.' " Luckily, at that moment Dal came in. He pushed his way through the crowd without a word, shut off the lights, crashed through the pans and slammed the shatters close. Then he turned and addressed the rest. "Of all the lunatics-!" he began, only there was more to it than that. "A fellow goes to all kinds of trouble to put an end to this miserable situa tion, and the entire household turns out and sets to work to frustrate the whole scheme. You like to stay here, don't you, like chickens in a coop? Where's Flannigan?" Nobody understood Dal's wrath then, but it seems he meant to arrange the plot himself, and when it was ripe, and the hour nearly come, he intend ed to wager that he could break the quarantine, and to take any odds he could get that he would free the en tire party in half an hour. As for the plan Itself, it was idiotically simple; we were perfectly delighted when we heard it. It was so simple and yet so comprehensive. We didn't see how it could fail. Both the Mercer girls kissed Dal on the strength of it, and Anne was furious. Jim was so much pleased, for some reason or other, and I and Anne Was Furious. Jr. Harbison looked thoughtful rather han merry. Aunt Selina had gone to , ted. The idea, of course, was to start an unbryo ?re just inside the windows, n the pans, to feed it with the orange ire powder that is used on the Fourth )f Ju'v, and when we had thrown men the windows and yelled "fire" ind all the guards and reporters had .ushed to the front of the house, to ;scap- quietly by a rear door from :he basement kitchen, get' into ma chines Dal had in walting, and lose ourselves as quickly as we could. You can see how simple it was. Everyone ruphed madly for motor coats and veils, and Dal shuffled the numbers so the people going the same direction would have tat same ma chine. We called to each other as w? dressed about Marmaroneck or Lake wood or wherever we happened to have relatives. Everybody knew everybody else, and his friends. The Mercer girls were going to cruise un til the trouble blew over, the Browns were going to Pinehurst, and Jim was going to Africa to hunt, If he could get out of the harbor. Only the Harbison man seemed to have no plans ; quite suddenly with the world so near again, the world of coun try houses and steam yachts and all the rest of it, he ceased to be one of us. It was not his world at all. He stood back and watched the kaleido scope of our coats and veils, half-qulz zically, but with something In his face that I had not seen there before. If he bad not been so self-reliant and big, I would have said he was lonely. Not that he was pathetic in any sense of the word. Of course, he avoided me, which was natural and exactly what I wished. Belle never was far from him, and at the last she loaded him with her jewel case and a muff and traveling bag and asked him to her cousins' on Long Island. I felt sure he was going to decline, when he glanced across at me. "Do go," I said, very politely. "They are charming people." And he accept ed at once! (TO BE CONTINUED.) The Overamused Children. Don't make your children blase by giving them too many treats. Young children do not need amusements; the more simply and quietly they live the more chance ls there that they will grow up strong and healthy. Over amused children are never happy; thej are always craving for more excite ment, and, consequently, are dlacon tented. A Discovery. "In tho light of modern Invention, I know now what the mermaids sal on a rock combing out their long gold cn tresses for." "What were they waiting for?" "For a Marcel wave to com* along." For M C RAPE which ls an exquisite fabric we almost wish might be used ?or other than mourning wear But (it has become so thor oughly established at the bead of the list of thosi fabrics suited to mourn ing apparel that it will never be dis lodged Craje is, In fact, in our civ ilization tbe-insignia of mourning and ls used In towns and wraps as well is in millinjry. Its weave and body make possil le very beautiful effects n workmanship and mourning hats .arely are improved by decorations )ther than those made of crape. For first mourning, hats of crape >r crape and plain silk should be me llum in size and carefully made silks j ire manufactured especially for nourning wear and are used in con unction with crape in with fine effect. >hapes for mourning millinery should ie conservative in every way. No xtremes of size, no noticeable ec entriclties are good form. The four hats shown here aro ex mpleB of mourning of the highest or er of excellence. The round hat, ol lack grenadine and crape, shows the rape used afc a border or finish with This is lite simple and might be nade in len and embroidery, or mshmere d foulard. The ski ls plain to about the inees, tbehas a deep band of trim ming taketo foot The bod? has the upper part ot trimming, e material being used for the lower .rt, which is taken up to Deck at ?ter of back and front, where a dar of the same finishes the neck; e cuffs and sleeve bands are also o?ls. Hat of t silk or tulle, drawn up with a rim. Material required: 2 yards 44 Inches wk 3ft yards trimming, 20 inches wid Picture Gown. On everjde one sees the revival of picture 'Cks that are most suit able for ye; girls and even for cer tain types' older women. That quaint oidor known as forget-me not blue igain in fashion and is used for si gowns as well as floral taffeta, wh has scattered bouquets over the sxe or single flowers. One gowiade of the former fab ric had a 't skirt, was high-waist ed and wiraped with eyelet em broidered :ste in a strong ivory tone. Yarf fringed ruchlng mads of the taffwas used as trimming, and the <ery of the top of the tunic wasd in at the left side of the waist! a bunch of forget-me nots madiblue velvet. To then Suede Shoes. It is a i plan to include a piece of emery r la the household shoe cleaning <. When the suede shoes have beeit and the nap has be come madown a gentle rubbing with the ? paper will raise lt and restore tllvetlike softness of fin ish. ?urning the body of the hat in grenadine. In this and all the other hats the trim ming is made up of the fabrics. A tongue made entirely of crape has the coronet covered with narrow folds and a large buckle covered In the same way. The crown of the shape ls covered with the crape draped gracefully and apparently fastened to place by the buckle. A turban shape, made entirely of rounded folds, is trimmed with a pair of wings made In the same way and mounted by means of a buckle of dull jet. The ioids are cut in such a way that the rib runs across them on the straight, instead of diagonally. One should test crape when huylng it, to see that it has been properly waterproofed. Since some manufac turers have so improved this fabric that rain and moisture, or even im mersing in water, do not hurt it, it has become one of the most durable of materials. A small piece dipped in a glass of water will not "run" or discolor the water nor be affected by it, if it is of the durable kind and worth having. JULIA BOTTOMLEY. wash textures that might be used for frocks, a word regarding the doctor ing of black and white with color is in order. The shops are using edges of plain red or blue or green lawn, together with a line of plain black, on black and white wash frocks of all sorts, so, of course, the unmade materials are provided for private making. With a little coarse lace for the yoke and undersleeve edges, these lawn bands put on the bottom of the skirt and in some manner on the Dodice transform a cheap goods into something that seems expensive. So ;reat the lawns in this manner, and it the same time try and keep the rock as long as possible without vashing. For although accounted tub :olors, there are many summer dyes hat respond with bad grace to soap ind water. A Houseplant Item. Houseplants of any kind that seem o need more life and energy will hrlve by submitting it to a course of mmonia water applications, that is, tie soil. Ammonia, when diluted in tie proportions t^iat one makes lt to rash windows is a fertilizer. Soap 'ater is quite as good and a comblna on of soapy water and ammonia ls till better. Give the poor house lants a drink that is also food to lem when you are about to throw ito drain a material which they actu lly require to appear at their best Mending a Mackintosh. G.cen by accident a mackintosh may ? damaged to the extent of a slight mt. While the rent impairs its use ilness, the garment may still be too )od to throw away. To mend lt indpaper the edges to keep them ee from grit. Then get a solution gutta percha, spread it thinly along e seam, stroke down the other seam i it and leave a heavy weight on it r some hours. Fall Lines of Children's Coats. Buyers are well pleased with the ll lines of children's coats. The iw materials brought out this season e so rich in themselves that lt re lires very little trimming to make e garments attractive, says the Dry )ods Economist. Rich Scotch mix res, fancy cheviots and double ced materials are among the sea n's novelties which promise to meet th great success. In the double-face bries the reverse side is frequently ed for the trimming, and ls either in plaid or striped effect or in a COD icting color. Would Show Her. Little Johnny was found In the ll* iry, busily snipping away at the en dictionary. 'Johnnie," the father asked, "what the world are you doing?" 'You see, father," answered the ght. shining light of tho household, >day at school the teacher said there s no such word as 'fail,' and so I'm ting lt out of the dictionary." ige. DICTOGRAPH AS A DETECTIVE Recently Invented Instrument Plays an Important Part in the Ohio Bribery Trial. Columbus, O.-In the irfnl of Rodney J. Diegle, ser^-nt-at-arms of the Ohio state senate, convicted of aiding and abetting the alleged bribing of a state senator, the state relied on a me chanical device, the dictograph, a high ly sensitized telephone, for its strong est evidence. The dictograph transmitter was se? created in a detective's room in a ho tel and a court stenographer in anoth er room, reported the conversation ia which it was alleged bribes were ot tered and accepted. For the first time in the history of detective work this curious machine was used. A dictograph consists of a series of sensitive metal plates set in a hard rubbtr cylinder. In its elements it is l telephone transmitter magnified. Used in a business way it enables a man to sit at his desk in his private office alone and talk off his correspond ence without the stenographer being !--?-1 Operating the Dictograph. present. The rtenographer may be In the next r^oom or the other side of the building, but she hears the words as listinctly as though she were at his ;lbow and sets them down. The detectives got some of the sus pecte*, men, separately and together, in a hotel room, a dictograph was inder the sota. A court reporter was it the other end. Word for word his lim ble Angers recorded every word hat was uttered. None but he and j he detectives knew. Nothing escaped the transmitter lot even the opening cr closing of the ioor-and the stenographer trans :ribed everything which the little in ?trument reported to him. This re tort was admitted as evidence by the udge who presided at the trial. The inventor of the instrument ls C M. Turner. In order to entrap the legislators i-ho were suspected of receiving ?rlbr-, Detective Smiley acted as iriber on the occasion when the dic ograph was used and he and O. 0. Valcott, the stenographer, were prin :lpal witnesses for the prosecution. 3l.ai.ca gcuiu&ii.ai sunt;, WUI'King in injunction with the surveyors of the itate of Missouri, have been establish ng the levels in this state and plac ng tablets or "bench marks" in many ilaces. These markers show the leight of that point above the sea eveL These bench marks are of two orms. One is a circular bronze or .luminum table three and one-half aches in diameter and one-fourth och thick, having a 3-inch stem which 3 cemented in a drill hole in solid ock in the wall of some public bulld og, bridge abutment or other sub tantial masonry structure or in tue olid rock. The second form to be set In the round where there is no rock or ma mry. consists of a hollow wrought' on post four feet long. A bronze or luminum table ls riveted over the top Tablet or Marker. the post and it is sunk into the ound so that the top protrudes out six inches. The tablets are stamped with the )rds: "U. S. Geological Survey. Issourl." The elevation In feet above a level is marked on the tablet and 9 words: "Two hundred and Af ty liars Ane for disturbing this mark." :EN MISSING THREE YEARS ;h Texan Who Wandered Away From Home and "Woke Up" In Ireland. Jan Antonio, Tex.-James McFar e, who owns 5,800 acres of farm d in Edwards county, Texas, and o has been mourned as dead for ee years, has been heard from in native County Cork, Ireland. How reached there he knows not, and memo; 7 ?s a blank from the day left his home in Edwards county, ?re ho toas a wife and two sons. [cFs^fche had suffered from insan fpu'f years ago and was placed in ?y-**ce sanitarium in Dallas, where .-?covered. One afternoon in Cl, 1908, he left home on *wseback ook after some land "J-*** tnat was last seen or heard %.* 'sim until weeks ago, wh&i $ cablegram received from h%?.JJ5ilowed by a er received later. Till? suffering loss of identity he idered about the earth and finally led up in his native land. Hia Ith has been restored and he has ted hom*!. By Rev. S. M. Dick Pastor Wesley H. E. Church. HizanytSa .Qi TEXT-There is neither Jew nor G lhere ls neither bond nor free, there neither male nor female; for ye ar? one in Christ Jesus.-Gal. 11:23. Twenty-two years ago the Epw< League of the Methodist En church was organized. We celel ita twenty-first anniversary, growth has been marvelous, ita work! significant It is not my purpose tm review Its hisfory, but tc call your s*4 tentlon to Its opportunity for service. Service ls the keynote in the sym phony of thia century's activities. Four distinct phases of ethical devel opment mark the four quarters of th?! last century. These four ethical prin ciples are a fouLdatlon for the super-; structure of the service to be rendered} to humanity in the name of Jesus' Christ during this century. In the first quarter of the last cen tury the fundamental principles werej laid for the breaking down of races prejudices. Nearly all Europe was ln? war. One hundred and seventy mil lion people were Involved, 4,000,000 men were drawn from the activities, of economic production and were ex pending their energies in wasting each, other's states, burning their cities, rob bing their fields, destroying their homes and taking their lives. No ex cuse other than an other nationality and plunder was necessary* to go to war. But In the midst of this mighty conflict of destruction other forces were at work. Great ideas were ta king form in the minds of men who loved peace rather than war. Tba idea of the steamboat, the railroad, the telegraph was budding and blos soming to bring forth a little later its harvest of better feeling between na tions, larger conceptions of fraternity and a keener sense of brotherhood and justice. It was the initiation ot that great movement which is now re sulting in that world-wide feeling, 'there ls neither Jew nor Greek,' but a man's a man for a' that. The second quarter of a century was marked by abolition of slavery. The agitation in the British parliament succeded in emancipating all British slaves in 1834. Hungary had 9,000,000 slaves. Nearly all the peasants of Austria and Prussia were slaves. It was in this quarter of the century that the principles that were to bring free dom to the multitudes were agitated and the people began to see a great light The same was true of the Unit ed States. While the emancipation a store or serving the public in any Industrial way outside of the home, ivas an almost unheard-of thing. But From 1850 to 1875 was the period ot :heir emancipation. Public schools, ffere opened to them not only to at-, tend but they became dominant fae-; tors In the teaching force. Colleges/ for coeducation were established ln: large numbers and women showed, themselves the equals of their broth ers in educational attainments. Be? ore the close of the century 80 perj ?ent of the teachers in the public ichools of the country were women, 'ractlcally all avenues of business vere open to them and all professions welcomed them. Verily there waa teither male nor female. The last quarter of a century we ?egan to realize, 'Ye are all one tn" Christ Jesus." It was the quarter cc irotherhood. Trade, travel, educa* lon and religion began to bring men 0 see things from the same angle Ve began to know each other, we earned we were brethren. We had ne common interest We served tc ne common end. Christianity makes io distinction between races. Its lm and purpose Is to lift humanity! p to better things. These great movements have be ueathed to the young life of this entury a rich heritage. In all depart* lents of life we are asking the qoes* on: "Is the product worth while?"' fe ask of the public school, ls the, roduct worth while? Does It pay the oat of its production? Of the ed ge and university we are asking the ime question. The same is being sked of the saloon and of the great idustrial organizations; the same of te church of Jesus Christ The sams 1 the Sunday school and of the Elh? orth League and of every other so ety of young people organized for' kristian work. This is the opportunity of the, jes. Are we meeting it? Manhood, oroanhood, Integrity In business? ?nesty in trade, sincerity in service, crillee in relation to others, these e things the age is calling for. Willi B measure up to our part in the use our inheritance which the last cen ry has handed down to us and lich this century demands we usa the glory of God and to the edifica m of man. No Substitute. Interest in art, letters and architec re, success in business politics and' cial life, loyalty to clubs, creeds and uals will not satisfy the soul's na e thirst for God. There are no anb tutes for God.-Rev. A. Petty, Cos* egationallst, Springfield, Mass. i Need of Ideals, [f men did not have ideals what mid they think about and what' lld they live by?-Rev. C. K. Car* ater, Methodist Episcopalian, Chi* pa. n my opinion there is only one way serving humanity either at home or *oad-that ls to endeavor to kill flshness.-Sir William Hartley.