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ISSUED SEKI-WEEXL^^ L m GRIST'S sous, Pnbii?her?. ! % Utaspgcr: 4or the gromofion af the golilical, Social, Sgricultural, and Commercial Interests of the jjjeogie. { tek^8in"o?e Lp * nvJ c^fllcg' ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKVILLE, g. O., FRIDAY, MARCH 1.1, 1904. N~Q. 21. I &he Ge I; From It Ji:; By Bi ! ? i *] | Copyright. 1899. by VoubUday ? Copyright. 1902 4 ! * ? * ! ?111 & ! '! ! ! ! 1 *?-H CHAPTER VI. X HEY walked slowly back along the pike toward the brick SSSl house. He was stooping very iuucb as they walked. He wanted to be told tbat be could look at ber for a thousand years. The small face was rarely and exquisitely modeled. but perhaps just now the salient characteristic of ber beauty (for the salient characteristic seemed to be a different thing at different times) was the coloring, a delicate glow under the white skin, a glow that bewitched him in its seeming to reflect the rich benediction of the noonday sun that blazed overhead. Once he had thought the way to the Briscoe homestead rather a long walk, but now the distance sped malignantly. Strolled they never so slow, it was less than a "young bird's flutter from a wood." With her acquiescence he rolled a cigarette, and she began to hum lightly the air of a song, a song of ineffably gentle, slow movement. That, and a reference of the morning ?nH npphnns the smell of his tobacco mingling with the fragrance of her roses, awoke again the old reminiscence of the night before. A clearly outlined picture rose before him?the high green slopes and cool cliff walls of the coast of Maine and the sharp little estuary waves he lazily watched through half closed lids while the pale smoke of his cigarette blew out under the rail of a waxen deck where he lay cushioned. And again a woman pelted his face with handfuls of rose petals and cried: "Up. lad, and at 'em! Yonder is Winter Harbor!" Again he sat in the oak raftered casino, breathless with pleasure, and heard a young girl sing the "Angel's Serenade," a young girl who looked so bravely unconscious of the big. hushed crowd that listened, looked so pure and bright and gentle and good, that he bad spoken of her as "Sir Galahad's little sister." He had been much taken with this child, but he had not thought of her from that time to this, he supposed. He had almost forgotten her. No! Her face suddenly stood out to his view as though he saw her with bis physical eye. a sweet and vivacious child's face, with light brown hair and gray eyes and a short upper lip like a curled rose leaf. And the voiceHe stopped short "You are Tom Meredith's little cousin." "The great Harkless," she answered and stretched out her hand to him. "I remember you." "Isn't it time?" "Ah, but I never forgot you!" he cried. "I thought I had. I didn't know who it was I was remembering. I thought it was fancy, and it was memory. I never forgot your voice, singing. and I remembered your face, too, thorn?h I thoueht I didn't." He drew a deep breath. "That was why"? "Tom has not forgotten you," she said ns he paused. "Would you mind shaking hands once more?" he asked. She gave him her hand again. "With all my heart. Why?" "I'm making a record of It; thafs all. Thank you." "They called me 'Sir Galahad's little sister' all one summer because the great John Ilarkless called me that You danced with me in the evening." "Did I?" "Ah." she said, shaking her head, "you were too busy being In love with pretty Mrs. Van Skuyt to remember a waltz with only me! I was allowed to meet you as a reward for singing my very best, and you?you bowed with the Indulgence of a grandfather and asked me to dance." "Like a grandfather! How young I was then! How time changes us!" "I'm afraid my conversation did not make a great impression upon you," she continued. "But it did. I am remembering very lasi. 11 you win wan u uuuirui ? telJ you some of the things you said." The girl laughed merrily. Whenever she laughed he realized that It was be-' coming terribly difficult not to tell her how adorable she was. "I wouldn't risk it if I were you." she warned him. "because I didn't speak to you at all. I shut my lips tight and trembled all over every bit of the time 1 was dancing with you. I did not sleep that night, and I was unhappy, wondering what the great llarkless would think of me. I knew lie thought tue unutterably stupid because I couldn't talk to him. I wanted to send liim word that I knew I had bored him. I couldn't endure that lie shouldn't know that I knew I had. Itut lie was not thinking of me in any way. lie had gone to sea nguin in his white boat, the ungrateful pirate, cruising with Mrs. Van Skuyt." "How time does change us!" said John. "You are wrong, though. I did thiuk of you. I have al"? "Yes," she interrupted, tossing her head in airy travesty of the stage coquette, "you think so?I mean, you say so?now. Away with you and your blarneying!" And so they went through the warm noontide, and little he cared for the heat that wilted the fat mullein leaves and made the barefoot boy who passed by skip gingerly through the burning dust with anguished mouth and watery eye. Little he knew of the katydid that suddenly whirred its mills of shrillness in the maple tree and sounded so hot, ** ! *?? ??! > 1 !' !' 1 !' * I ? * <> : 'H'l'I' ^ 'I"t- < { <* -f "H1 "H" < ' ntleman il *, ? ? xdiana pi! <> ? OOTH TA *RK.iffG TOff - SSI MeClmro Co., > !) !. by MeCtaro. Vhlttlpj S3L Co. * |*? | ? <> U^.4- ah fKof Afhoi* fhot PfllloH of tllP country quiet from the dim, cool shade around the brick house, or even the rain crow that sat on the fence and swore to them in the face of a sunny sky that they should see rdn ere the day were done. Little the young man recked of what he ate at Judge Briscoe's good noon dinner?chicken wing and young rons'n ear, hot rolls as light as the fluff of a summer cloudlet, and honey and milk and apple butter flavored like spices of Arabia and fragrant, flaky cherry pie and cool, rich, yellow cream. Lige Willetts was a lover, yet he said he asked no better than to Just go on eating that cherry pie till a sweet death overtook him: but railroad sandwiches and restaurant chops might have bnen set before Harkless for all the difference it would have made to him. At no other time is a man's feeling of companionship with a woman so strong as when he sits at table with her, not at a "decorated" and becatered and bewaitered table, but at a homely, appe tizing. wholesome, home table like old Judge Briscoe's. The very essence of the thing is domesticity, and the implication is utter confidence and liking. There are few greater dangers for a bachelor. An insinuating imp perches on his shoulder and. softly tickling the bachelor's ear with the feathers of an arrow shaft, whispers: "Pretty gay, isn't it. eh? Bather pleasant to have that girl sitting there, don't you think? Enjoy having her notice your butter plate was empty? Think it exhilarating to hand her those rolls? Looks nice, doesn't she? Says 'Thank you' rather prettily? Makes your lonely breakfast seem mighty dull, doesn't It? How would you like to have her pour your coffee for you tomorrow, my boy? How would it seem to have such pleasant company all the rest of your life? Pretty cheerful, eh? It's my conviction that your one need in life is to pick her up in your arms and run away with her. not anywhere In particular, but just run and run and run away!" After dinner they went out to the veranda, and the gentlemen smoked. T ie judge set his chair down on the g ound. tilted back In It with his feet on l lie steps ;iuu uicn u whvcij, uuuied city up In the nlr. lie called It solid comfort. He liked to sit out from under the porch roof, he said. He wanted to see more of the sky. The others moved their chairs down to Join In the celestial vision. A feathery thin cloud or two had been fanned across It. but save for these there was nothing but glorious and tender brilliant blue. It seemed so clear and close one marveled the little church spire In the distance did not pierce It. Yet at the same time the eye ascended miles and miles Into warm, shimmering ether. Far away two buzzards swung slowly at anchor halfway to the sun. "O bright, translucent, cerulean hue. Let my wide wings drift on In you." Harkless quoted, pointing them out to Helen. "You seem to get a good deal of fun out of this kind of weather," observed Lige as he wiped his brow and shifted his chair into the shade. "I expect you don't get such skies as this up in Itouen," said the judge, looking at the girl from between hia lazily half closed eyelids. "It's the same Indiana sky. I think," she answered. "I guess maybe In the city you don't see as much of it or think as much about it. then. Yes. they're the Indiana skies." the old man went on. "Skies as blue As the eyes of children when they str.il? at you. "There aren't any others anywhere that ever seemed much like them to me. They've been company for me all my life. I don't tbink there are any others half as beautiful, and I know there aren't any as sociable. They were always so." He sighed gently. 1 ?V! Ml J * Utr. anu .miss cwerwuuu tuuucu ma r?u.c must have found the Indiana skies as lovely as he had in the days of Ions ago. "Seems to me they are the softest and bluest and kindest in the world." "I think they are." said Helen, "and they are more beautiful than the Italian skies, though I doubt if many of us Iloosiers realize it. and certainly no one else does." The old man leaned over and patted her hand. Ilarkless gasped. " 'Us Eloosiers!' " chuckled the judge. "You're t great Hoosior, young lady! How much of your life have you spent in the state? "Us Iloosiers!' " "Hut I'm going to be a good one." she answered gayly, "and if I'm good enough when 1 grow up maybe I'll bp a great one." The buckboard had been brought around, and the four young people climbed in, Ilarkless driving. Before they started the judge, standing on tde horse bluek in front of the gate, leaned over and patted .Miss Sherwood's hand ugain. Ilarkless gathered up the reins. "You'll make a great Iloosier, all right." said the old tuan, beaming upon the girl. "You ueedn't worry about that, 1 guess, my dear." When he said "my dear," Ilarkless spoke to the horses. "Wait," said the judge, still holding the little bund. "You'll make a great Hoosier some day; don't fret You're already a very beautiful one." Then he bent his white head and kissed her gallantly. "Good afternoon, Judge," said John. The whip cracked, and the buckboard dashed off in a cloud of dust. "Every once In awhile, Harkless," the old fellow called after them, "you must remember to look at the team." The enormous white tent was filled with a hazy, yellow light, the wurm, dusty, mellow light that thrills the rejoicing heart because It is found nowhere else in the world except In the tents of a circus, the canvas filtered sunshine and sawduBt atmosphere of show day. Here swayed a myriad of palm leaf fans; here paraded blushing youth and rosy maiden more relentlessly arm in arm than ever; here crept the octogenarian, Mr. Bodeffer, shaking on cane and the shoulder of posterity; here waddled Mr. Snoddy, who had hurried through the animal tent for fear of meeting the elephant; here marched sturdy yeomen and stout wives; here came William Todd and his true love, the good William hushed with the embarrassments of love, but looking out warily with the white of his eye for Mr. Martin and determined not to sit within a hundred yards of bim; here rolled in the orbit of habit the town bacchanal, Mr. Wllkerson, who politely answered in kind all the uncouth roarings and guttural ejaculations of jungle and fen that came from the animal tent?in brief, here came with lightest heart the population of Carlow and part of Amo. Helen had found a true word; it was a big family. Jim Bardlock, broadly smiling and rejuvenated, shorn of depression, paused in front of the "reserve" seats, with Mrs. Bardlock on ?.i- n.m an/1 <.oiioH inn/llr to n frentle UlO ttiui| auu vuiivu .v"v.v ? o man on a tier about the level of Jim's head: "How are ye? I reckon we were a leetle too smart fer 'em this morning, huh?" Five or six hundred people, every one within hearing, turned to look at Jim. but the gentleman addressed was enguged in conversation with a lady and did not notice. . "Hi! Hi, there! Say! Mr. Harkless!" bellowed Jim Informally. The people turned to look at Harkless. His attention was arrested, and his cheek grew red. "What Is It?" he asked, a little confused and a good deal annoyed. "I don't hear what ye say," shouted Jim, putting bis band to bis ear. "What Is It?" repeated the young man. "I'll kill that fellow tonight," he added to Llge Willetts. "Some one ought to have done it long ago." "What?" "I said, What Is it?" "I jest wanted to say me and you certainly did fool these here Hoosiers this morning. Hustled them two fellers through the courthouse, and nobody thought to slip round to the other door and head us off. Ha, ha! We were jest a leetle too many fer 'em, huh?" From an upper tier of seats the rusty length of Mr. Martin erected Itself joint by joint, like an extension ladder, and he peered down over the gaping faces at the town marshal. "Excuse me," he said sadly to those behind him, but his dry voice penetrated everywhere. "I got up to hear Jim say 'we' again." Mr. Bardlock joined In the laugh against himself and proceeded with his wife to some seats forty or fifty feet distant. When he had settled himself comfortably he shouted over cheerfully to the unhappy editor, "Them shell men got It In fer you, Mr. Harkless!" "Hain't that fool shet up yit?" snarled the aged Mr. Bodeffer indignantly. He wus sitting near the young couple, and the expression of his sympathy was distinctly audible to them and many others. "Got no more regards than a brazing calf?dlsturbin' a feller with his sweetheart!" "The both of 'em says they're going to do fer ye." bleated Mr. Bardlock; "swears they'll ketch their evens with ye." Mr. Martin rose again. "Don't git scared and leave town, Mr. Harkless!" he called out. "Jim '11 protect you." Vastly to the young man's relief the band began to play and the equestrians and equestriennes capered out from the dressing tent for the "grand entrance," and the performance commenced. Through the long summer afternoon It went on?wonders of horsemanship and of horsewomanshlp, hair raising exploits on wires tight and slack, giddy tricks on the high trapeze, feats of leaping and tumbling in the rings, while the tireless musicians blatted inspiringly through It all. only pausing long enough to allow that riotous Jester, the clown, to ask the ringmaster what he would do if a young lady came up and kissed Lalui on the street, and to explode his witticisms during short intervals or rest for the athletes. When it was over, John and Helen found themselves in the midst of a densely packed crowd and separated from Miss Briscoe and T.ige. People were pushing and shoving, and he saw her face grow pale. He realized with a pang of sympathy how helpless he would feel if he were us small as she and at his utmost height could only see big. suffocating backs und huge shoulders pressing down from above. He was keeping them from crowding heavily upon her with all his strength, and a royal feeling of protectiveness came over him. She was so little. And yet, without the remotest hint of hardness, she gave him such a distinct impression of poise and equilibrium. She seemed so able to meet anything that might come, to understand it?even to laugh at it?so Americanly capable and sure of the event that, in spite of her pale cheek, he could not feel quite so protective as he wished to feel. He managed to get her to one of the tent poles and placed her with her back to it. Then he set one of his own hands against it. over her head, braced himself and stood keeping a little space about her and ruggedly letting Ike crowd surge against him as it would. No one should touch her In rough carelessness. 9 "Please don't do that," he answered. "Thank"you. It was rather trying in there," she said and looked up into his eyes with a divine gratitude. "Please don't do that," he answered In a low voice. "Do what?" "Look like that" She not only looked like that but more so. "Young man, young man," she said, "I fear you're wishful of turning a girl's head." The throng was thick around them, garrulous and noisy, but they two Were more richly aloue together, to his appreciation, than if they stood on some far satellite of Mars. He was not to forget that moment, and he kept the pic1 -m 1 ? " ~ Iaama/1 n f?n Inof fVlfl rure OI LILT, US sue icuucu ugaiuoi mc big blue leut pole tbere, in bis heart; the clear, gruy eyes lifted to his, the piquant face with the delicate flush stealing back to her cheeks and the brave little figure that had run so straight to him out of the night shadows. There was something about her and in the moment that suddenly touched him with a saddening sweetness too keen to be borne. The forgetme-not finger of the flying hour that could uot come again was laid on his soul, and he felt the tears start from his heart on their Journey to his eyes. He knew that he should always remember that moment. She knew it too. She put her hand to her cheek and turned away from him a little tremulously. Both were silent They hod been together since early morning. Plattville was proud of him. Many a friendly glance from the folk who jostled about them favored his suit and wished both of them well, and many lips, opening to speak to Harkless In passing, closed when their owners, more tactful than Mr. Bardlock, looked a second time. Old Tom Martin, still perched alone on his high seat, saw them standing by the tent pole and watched them from ' under his dusty hat brim. "I reckon ifs be'n three or four thousand years sence I was young," he sighed to him- ' self. Then, pushing his hat still farther down over his eyes, "I don't believe I'd ort to rightly look on at that" He ' sighed again as he rose and gently 1 spoke the name of his dead wife: "Mar- ' Jle, I reckon you're mighty tired wait- ! in' for me. It's be'n lonesome some- ; "Do you see that tall old man up there?" said Helen, nodding her head toward Martin. "I think I should like to know him. I'm sure I like him." "That Is old Tom Martin." "I know." "I was sorry and ashamed about all that conspieuousness and shouting. It must have been very unpleasant for you. It must have been so for a stranger. Please try to forgive me for letting you in for it." "But I liked It. It was 'all in the family,' and it was so Jolly and good natured. and that dear old man was so bright. Do you know," she went on in n low voiee. "1 don't believe I'm so much a stranger?I think I love all these people a great deal?in spite of having known them only two days." At that a wild exhilaration possessed hint. He wanted to shake hands with every soul in the tent, to tell them all that he loved them with his whole heart; but, what was vastly more important. she loved them a great dealin spite of having known them only two days. He made the horses prance on the homeward drive, and once, when she told him that she had read a good many of his political columns in the Herald, he ran them into a fence. After this it occurred to him that they were Hearing their destination and had come at a perversely sharp gait, so he held the roans down to a snail's pace (If it be true that a snail's natural gait is not a 1 trot) for the rest of the way. and they 1 lalked of Tom Meredith and books and music, and discovered that they differed widely about Ibsen. They found Mr. Fisbee In the yard, talking to Judge Briscoe. As they drove up and before the horses had quite stopped Helen leaped to the ground and ran to the old scholar with both her hands outstretched to him. He looked timidly at her and took the hands she gave him; then he produced from his pocket a yellow telegraph envelope, watching her anxiously as she received It. However, she seemed to attach no particular importance to It and instead of opening it leaned toward him, still holding one of his bands. "These awful old men!" Hnrkless groaned Inwardly as he handed the horses over to the judge. "1 dare say he'll kiss her too." But when the editor and Mr. Willetts had gone It was Helen who kissed Fisbee. "They're coming out to spend the * evening, aren't they?" asked Briscoe, i nodding to the young men as they set * off down the road. i "Lige has to come whether he wants i to or not," Minnie laughed rather con- 1 sciously. "It's his turn tonight to look t after Mr. Harkless." s "I guess he won't mind coming." said the Judge. "Well," returned his daughter, glancing at Helen, who stood apart reading the telegram to Flsbee, "I know if he follows Mr. Harkless he'll get here pretty soon after supper?as soon as the moon comes up. anyway." The editor of the Herald was late to his evening meal that night. It was dusk when he reached the hotel, and for the first time In history a gentleman sat down to meat in that house of entertainment In evening dress. There was no one In the dining room when he went in?the other boarders had finished, and it was Cyutbiu's "evening out"?but the landlord. Columbus Landis, came and attended to his wants himself and chatted with him while he ate. "There's a picture of Henry Clay," remarked Landis In obvious relevancy to his companion's attire?"there's a picture of Henry Clay somewheres about the house In a swallow tall. Governor Ray spoke here In one, Bodeffer says; always wore one. except It was higher built up 'n yourn about the collar and had brass buttons. I think. Ole man VVimby was here again tonight." the landlord continued, changing the subject. "He waited around fer ye a good while, but last he had to go. He's be'n mighty wrought up sence the trouble this morning an' wanted to see ye bad. I don't know if you seen It. but that feller't knocked your hat off with a club got mighty near tore to pieces in the crowd before he got away. Seems some of the boys re-cog-nlzed him as one of the Crossroads Skillets and sicked the dogs on him. and he had a pretty mean time of It. Wltnby says the Crossroads folks '11 be worse 'n ever, and. says he. 'Tell him to stick close to town.' says be. 'They'll do anything to git him now.' says he. 'and resk anything.' I told him you wouldn't take no stock In what any one says. and I knowed well enougn you a iaugu that a-way. But. see here, we don't put nothin' too mean for them folks. I tell ye. Mr. Harkless. all of us are scared for ye." The good fellow was so earnest that when the editor's supper was finished and he would have departed, Landis detained him almost by force until the arrival of Mr. Wllletts. who. the landlord knew, was his allotted escort for the evening. When Llge came (wearing a new tie. a pink one be bad hastened to buy as soon as his engagements had given opportunity) the landlord hissed a savage word of reproach for his tardiness in his ear and whlsperlngly bade him not let the other out of reach that night. Mr. Wllletts replied with a nod implying his trustworthiness, and the young men went out Into the darkness. TO BE CONTINUED. LINCOLN'S ADVICE. \ Prescription That Might Be Used With Advantage Today. There is a story still current In 1111lols which says that an old farmer 'riend of President Lincoln, who used :o correspond with him, complained on ine occasion of his poor health. He ecelved the following reply, which Is juoted In Illinois as "Lincoln's prescription:" "Do not worry. Eat three square meals a day. Say your prayers, rhink of your wife. Be courteous to our creditors. Keep your digestion jood. Steer clear of biliousness. Exjrcise. Go slow and go easy. Maybe :here are other things that your especial case requires to make you happy; but. my dear friend, these, I reck>n, will give you a good lift." This advice Is doubtless applicable In ,ts entirety to many Americans in ;very state in the Union today. There ire parts of it which apply to us gen;rally?as a nation. "Do not worry. Keep your digestion good. Go slow ind easy." It would be difficult to find in American who has not something :o amend on these points. Worry and iyspepsia have assumed the propor:ions of national evils, and they are toth more or less the result of undue taste. There is no .surer way to pronote dyspepsia than to be in a constant state of hurry, and nothing will so surely give one the "blues" or incline >ne to worry and fretting as dyspepsia. 3ur native institution?the "quick unch" restaurant?is responsible for a arge proportion of the physical ills of tusiness people in large cities. Eating tastily?"bolting" one's food, as it is topularly expressed?Is enough to ruin he digestive organs of an ostrich. A nan would better eat half as much as .usual at the midday meal, which is .usually the most hurried, and take ime to masticate properly what he loes put into his stomach. Better still IP V. a umiilrl crkro himsplf imple time to relax and eat a light uneh without allowing any thought of justness to intrude on this necessary jeriod of relaxation.?Success. itrV in the ethnographic museum of Rotterdam may now be seen a beautiful carpet which the shah of Persia ecently presented to Queen Wilhel- i nina as a souvenir of his visit to Hoi- i and some time ago. Woven into the i arpet is the following inscription in i Persian: "Presented by His Majesty i riozaffer ed Din, Emperor of Persia, to i Her Majesty Wilheimina, Queen of Holland. In the Year of the Hejira i 1320." The carpet measures thlrtyiix square yards, and in each square i ,'ard there are 350,000 stitches. vt;V In order that he may devote his vhole time to his work as secretary' of ' he Presbyterian board of home mis- i dons, Rev. Charles Steizle. pastoi of Vfurkham church, Lc. Louis, has re- < signed his charge. During his pastor- < ite of Markham church Mr. Steizle has ntroduced sewing schools, cooking i schools, free lectures, free concerts, i ree dispensary and summer tent ' neetings for the benefit of the mem)ers. The Sunday school is believed 1 :o be the largest west of the Missis- i sippi river. I ittiscrlliuuous fading. Dn'CH IN THE DESERT. Great Care Needed to Navigate the Suez Canal. Every vessel passing through the Suez canal is compelled to take a pilot, because the skippers of ordinary vessels cannot be trusted to navigate the narrow channel, for the slightest deviation may cause damage that will cost 'housands of dollars to repair. Each year, however, navigation Is rendered easier by the widening of the channel and by the excavation of additional sidings or basins where vessels can pass. From the moment the pilot goes on the bridge he takes charge of the movements of the ship and is responsible for whatever may happen, regulating the speed according to tonnage and draught. Vessels cannot pass in motion. When they meet the one which arrives first at the signal station is compelled to stop and tie up in a basin until the other goes by. These basins are found at intervals of a few miles, and at every basin is a "gare" or station in charge of a signal officer, who corresponds to a train dispatcher on one of our railroads, and the block system is used to regulate the movements of vessels. Formerly no traffic was allowed at night, but it is now carried on without interruption by the aid of electric lights on the shore and searchlights on the vessels. A Ditch Through the Desert. The canal looks exactly what it is? a big ditch through a desert on which 1 foxes, iackals. hvenas and nroaslnnnllv lions are seen by the watchmen In the 1 signal towers. At some places the I banks of earth on either side are so high that passengers on the steamer cannot see over them, but for the most of the journey you have a beautiful view of the mountains that rise from the desert, and at a certain point for a mile or two Mount Sinai is visible 37 miles to the southeast, and is pointed out to you by the captain or the deck steward. Naked Arab boys run along the banks crying for baksheesh and easily keep abreast of the creeping vessel, grabbing at the pennies which passengers throw them from the deck. Half the coins roll down into the water, which is exasperating to the youngsters. They do not like to stop and dive for them while there is a chance of getting more, but I imagine they mark the spots and come back to recover lost baksheesh when they have left the vessel. There are only two towns of any account on the canal. One Is Ismalla, a half-way point, with a population of of 4,000. It is the only monument in honor of the Khedive Ismail, who did the most and spent the most to carry out the enterprise and lost his throne thereby. It is a rather pretty town, abundantly irrigated, and hence has lovely gardens and groves of palms and other trees. Here reside most of the engineers and other officers of the canal, because it is preferable to Port Said. There are hospitals for sick employees, a club for the benefit of the officers and several good houses, including one erected especially for the entertainment of M. de Leaseps, when ! he should be pleased to use It. Be- 1 yond Ismalia, as before, are occasional i oases In the desert?gTOves of palms < and luxuriant gardens surrounding the < stations of the canal officials?for i wherever you can turn water upon that < lonely desert everything will grow with luxuriance. It seems as If the earth ( suddenly released germinating power ] that had been accumulating during , centuries of suppression. < Where the Caravans Cross. 1 The chief Interest Is found In the < town of Suez, because It Is the crossing < place of the great caravans of camels 1 that furnish transportation between the two continents of Asia and Africa, 1 and travel regularly between Cairo, ' Damascus and Bagdad; also because ( Biblical historians believe that here the waters of the Red sea opened 3,500 1 years ago and allowed 3,000,000 of the 1 children of Israel to cross over upon < a dry bottom. . < On the other side of the Red sea, 1 which, by the way. Is not red, but blue J ?as blue as the sky in June? ( you can see the purple peaks of the Slniatic range, and a few 1 miles from the shore, which you , can reach in three hours by donkey, i one of those remarked oases that are 1 frequently found In the desert. This ; particular one is called the Wells of Moses. There is a comfortless notei, kept by an Arab, where beds and re- freshments can be obtained, but it is s better to start early in the morning, so as to get back the same day, and take a luncheon in a basket from Suez. The trip can be easily made while the vessel is coaling. The children of Israel, according to 'he Bible, wandered three days in the Wilderness of Shur and found no water, and when they came to Marah they could not drink the waters, for they were bitter, and the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" and he cried unto the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree which he cast into the waters and the waters were made sweet. And they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water, and three score and ten palm trees, and they encamped there by the waters. And Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. That beautiful scene, one of the most dramatic in the whole Bible, is believed to have taken place here, for these wells are the wells of Elim, and three score and ten palm trees still shelter a. collection of a dozen or more springs. The village is peopled with naked Arabs, sinewy, springy, enduring fellows, whose flesh shines like polished mahogany, and who must resemble the young men of Israel when they started on the Journey that was not finished for forty years. It is difficult to understand why and how they happened to be wandering about so long down here. If you will look at the map you will see that Suez is almost on a line with Cairo, and it was the most natural rendezvous for the tribes, who were scattered all along the Nile from Memphis, which is Just above Cairo, to Thebes, which is Just below Luxor. The Red sea is 1,400 miles long, and its greatest width is 200 miles. It Is about the shape of a sausage, and tapers at both ends. On one side is Arabia, the most mysterious and primitive of all countries, and on the other side are Egypt, Nubia and the Soudan. At the north end what is known as the Sinlatic peninsula projects southward and divides the sea into two arms, and near the point of the peninsula is Tor, the landing place for Sinai. Opposite Tor is Jebel Ez-Zeit, which means "the mountain of oil," where petroleum was discovered some years ago and created great excitement. Hun1reds of thousands of dollars have been expended in sinking wells and building docks, ware houses and refineries; but they have all been abandoned, because, for some reason, the manufacturers could not compete with he Standard Oil company or the Russian factories on the Black and Casian seas. No Incentive to Industry. People think that there is a good eal more wealth in Arabia than we 'enow of. It was once of greater importance than now, and in ancient 'ays produced considerable gold and o*her metals, but now it ships little but 'ates, wool and coffee, and that is gradually falling off. Mocha coffee is produced at the extreme end of the Arabian peninsula in a province called Y"emen and derives its name from the little port it is shipped from. But the oeoDle have no enterorise. the coffee prchards have been injured by lnsecta ind blight, and the trees have not been renewed. This is accounted for by bad government. As everywhere else in the dominions of the sultan of Turkey?for Arabia is nominally a part t>f the Otoman empire?the officials revive no salaries and live oft blackrail. Hence whenever a citizen gets i little ahead, when he shows signs of prosperity, he immediately becomes an jbject of plunder and persecution by the tax gatherer and every other rep esentative of the government There Is no incentive for the coffee growers to extend their orchards or to increase their product One does not realize, until he comes race to face with the fact that Arabia Is nearly half as large as the United States. Its area is almost as great as that of India and is nearly equal to that of our states east of the Mississippi river. The population is unknown, because there has never been a census, but it is supposed to be between seven and twelve millions. The distance from north to south is more :han a thousand miles, and from east :o west It varies from 500 to 800. Yet In this enormous territory there is no :entralized authority. The interior is governed by petty sheiks, each being absolute over the members of his own tribe. Along a coast line of nearly J,500 miles are only six ports, where :he sultan of Turkey maintains Pasha governors and garrisons to protect the collectors of customs, who are required to pay him a certain amount of tribute every year, and they wring it out uf the people in any way they can. The relationship between the government at Constantinople and the Bedouins, of Arabia is very slender ind is due solely to the cohesive power )f the Mohammedan religion. There Is no law in Arabia but the Koran; :here are no courts but the priests; there are no malls, no postofflces, no postage stamps, and a person who wants to communicate with a disant friend must send his letter by a messenger, which is expensive, or by caravan, which is the common way. There is no telegraph line, no newspaper, no railroad, and, strange to say, not a river In all that vast area, except a few shallow, rocky beds, which luring the spring season bring down water from the melting snow on the mountain tops to the sea, but for nine months In the year are as dry as a crematory. The captain tells me that they produce a curious phenomenon. The coast of the Red Sea is lined with coril banks, built by those mysterious litle masons, who, like some men I know, late fresh water, and wherever the pring Hoods fall into the sea there is ilways a wide break in the coral reef. Capable of Cultivation. The mountains of Arabia reach an Utitude of over 10,000 feet, and in (pots where borings have been made he sand is more than 600 feet deep, t Is the prevailing impression that Ara(?= ? vast nanse of desert, but hat is a mistake. There are wide strips of barren sand, which are irreilaimable for cultivation only because hey cannot be reached by water, but wo-thirds of the country is capable >f cultivation, and, lying at an altitude >f 3,000 feet above the sea, might proluce cotton, sugar and other semiropicai staples in unlimited quantities. Although there are no streams, plenty if water can be had for irrigation pur>oses by digging twenty or thirty eet, and the introduction of windnllls would simplify the pumping probem. On the coast it is intensely hot, ind the humidity of the atmosphere luring the summer season makes life ilmost unendurable, but in the interior, lpon the table lands along the mounain slopes, and in the valleys, the nercury seldom rises above 85 degrees, iven in midsummer. While the direct ays of the sun are intense, it is cool n the shade, and at night the mercury iften falls below 50. More than two-thirds of the popuiaion are Bedouin nomads, without pernanent places of abode, who live in ents made of camel's hair, just like he partriarchs of old. They have mormous flocks of sheep and goats, ind herds of cattle and camels. They ollow the grass and move from place o place with all their possessions. There are. however, several prosperous :ities of considerable population and 'ommerce. Trade is conducted by amel caravans, which cross the desert egularly, and transport enormous luantities of dates, wool and other nerchandise.?William E. Curtis, in he Chicago Record Herald.