Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SBKI-WEEKL^ l. m grist s sons, Pabu.her., j" $ ^ainilj! fletrspaper: #or the (Promotion of the political. Social Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the (people^ { TK^.t0f/c'!,^tK.^c^AfCE established 1855. yorkville, s. c., fr]ida.y, march 18, 1910. >^0. "22. riion r King J Copyright, 1909. by George / Berr McCutcheon 11 Copyright, 1909, by Dodd, 11 Mead ?. Company Synopsis of Preceding Chapters. k Chapter I?Truxton King arrives in V Edelweiss, capital of Graustark, and meets the beautiful niece of Spantz, a gunniaker. II?King does a favor for Prince Robin, the young ruler of the country, whose guardian Is John Tullis, an American. Ill?Baron Dangloss, minister of police, interviews King and warns him against Olga, the gunmaker's niece. IV?King invades the royal park, meets the prince and is presented to the lad's fascinating Aunt Loraine. V?The committee of ten, conspirators against the prince, meets in an underground chamber, where the girl Olga Is disclosed as one who is to kill Prince Robin with a bomb. VI?John Tullis calls on the beautiful Countess Ingomede, who warns him that her hated and notorious old husband. Count Marlanx, is conspiring against the prince. VII. VII. IX and X?King visits the " house of the witch of Ganlook gap and meets the royal houhehold there. He sees an eye gleaming through a crack in a door, and while searching for the t_ ^ I 1 -J per* >n ne is oveipuwcieu aiiu uia^gru into a loft. He is confronted by Count Marlanx and then taken to the underj ground den of the committee of ten. XI?Olga defends King before the committee of anarchists. XII?Loraine is brought to the den and thrown into the same room with King. XIII?King fells a Jailer, dons his clotning and. disguised, carries Loraine into a os.ot at night in which several of the anarchists are about to depart. CHAPTER XIV. On the River. No word was spoken during this cautlou^. extraordinary voyage underground. The pseudo Julius supported his charge in the stern of the boat. Peter Brutus sat in the bow, a revolver in his hand, his gaze bent upon the opaqueness ahead. ? At last the boat crept out into the rainy, starless night. He drew the skirts of his own mackintosh over her shoulders and head. The night was so inky black that one could not see his hand before his face. At least two of the occupants opened up their throats and lungs and gulped jn the wet, fresh air. It was now that he began to wonder, to calculate against the plans of their sil?i?t escort. Whither were they bound? The occasional creak of an <iar, a whispered oath of dismay, the heavy breathing of toilers, the soft blowing of tne mist?that was all; no other sound on the broad, still liver. Truxton b? gan to chafe under the strain. His uneasiness was increased by the certain conviction that before long they would be beyond the city, the walls of which were gradually slipping past. He considered their chances if he were to overturn the frail boat and strike out for shore in the darkness. This project he gave up at once. He did not know the waters or the banks between which they glided. They were past the walls now and rowing less stealthily. Before long they would be in a position to speak aloud. It would be awkward for him. Suddenly the boat turned to the right and shot toward the unseen bank. They were perhaps half a mile above the city wall. Truxton's mind was working like a triphammer. He was recalling a certain nomad settlement north of the city, the quarters of fishermen, poachers and horse traders. "These people, he was not slow to surmise. were undoubtedly hand in glove with Marlanx, if not so surely connected with the misguided committee of Jten. He had little time to speculate on the attitude of the denizens of this unwholesome place. The prow of the boat grated on the pebbly bank, and I'.-ter Brutus leaped over the edge into the shallow water. "Come on Julius?hand her over to me!" he cried. As he leaned over the side to seize the glri in his arms. Truxton King brought the butt of the heavy revolver down upon his skull. Brutus dropped across the gunwale with a groan, dead to all that was to happen in the next half hour or more. Leaning forward, he had the two amazed oarsmen covered with the weapon. "Hands up? Quick!" in- cried. Two pairs of hands went up. together with strange oaths. Truxton's eyes had grown used to the darkness; he could see the men quite plainly. "What are you doing?" he demanded of Loraine, who, behind him, was fumbling in the garments of the unconscious Brutus. "Getting his revolver," she replied. witn a quaver in uci ?oive. "Good!" he said exultantly. "Let's think a minute." he went on. "We lon't dare turn these fellows loose, even if we disarm them. They'll have ji crowd after us in two minutes." "We'll keep the boat. There! Now push off. Newport." For King had recognized his guard in the witch's hovel In the person of one of the oarsmen. "What the devil"? began Newport, but Kinp silenced him. The boat slowly drifted out into the current. "Now row!" he commanded. With his free hand he reached back and dragged tiie limp Mrutus into the boat. "Gad. I believe lie's dead!" he muttered. "Can y<>u swim : (icmunuen imok"Not a stroke," gasped Newport. 'Good Lord, pal. you're not going to dump us overboard! It's ten feet deep along here." "Pull on your left. hard. That's right. I'm going to land you on the opposite shore." Two minutes later they ran up under the western bank of the stream, which at this point was fully 300 yards wide. I'nder cover of the deadly revolver the two men dropped into the water, which was above their waists. The limp form of Peter Brutus was pulled out and transferred to the .shoulders of his companions. "flood night." called out Truxton rj T T ^ A S*tory of GraustarK, By GEORGE BARR M'CUTCHEON <$4w q King cheerily. He had grasped the oars. "I'll row over to the east side," announced King to the girl, "but I don't like to get too close to the walls. Some one may nave heard the shouts of our friends back there." Not another word passed between them for ten or twelve minutes. She peered anxiously ahead, looking for signs of the barge dock, which lay somewhere along this section of the city wall. At last the sound of rapidly work- v ing rowlocks came to the girl's ears. "They're after us," grated Truxton in desperation. "They've got word to ??"??? v\t xiViext- Uf Tntro li inuia wiu* ui auuuivi. uv.v, I'm nearly fagged too! I can't pull much farther. Hello! What's this?" The side of the boat caromed off a solid object in the water, almost spilling them into the wind blown river. "The docks!" she whispered. "We struck a small scow, I think. Can you find your way in among the coal barges?" He paddled along slowly, feeling his way, scraping alongside the big barges which delivered coal from the distant mines. At last he found an opening and pushed through. A moment later they were riding under the stern of a broad cargoless barge, plumb up against the water lapped piles of the dock. Standing in the bow of the boat, he managed to pull himself up over the slippery edge. It was the work of a second to draw her up after him. He gave the boat a mighty shove, sending it out into the stream once more. In a few minutes loud curses came from the river, proclaiming the fact that the pursuers had found the empty hon* A fforu-orrl thov U'Oro tn lpfl m that Newport's shouts had brought a boat load of men from the opposite bank, headed by the innkeeper, in whose place Loraine was to have encountered Marlanx later on, if plans had not miscarried. By this time King had located the open space which undoubtedly afforded room for the transfer of cargoes from the dock to the company's yards inside the walls. Without hesitation he drew her after him up this wide, sinister roadway. The* pursuers were trying for a landing, noisily, even boisterously. it struck Truxton as queer that these men were not afraid of alarming the watchmen on the docks or the man at the gate above. Suddenly it came to him that there would be no one there to oppose the landing of the miscreants. No doubt hundreds of men already had stolen through these gates during the night, secreting themselves in the fastnesses of the city, ready for the morrow's fray. They rushed up the narrow railway chutes and through one of the numerous gateways that opened upon the barge docks. No one opposed them. No one was standing guard. From behind came the sound of rushing footsteps. Lightning (lashed in the sky, and the rumble of thunder broke over the desolate night. "They'll see us by the lightning," gasped Truxton, almost ready to drop from faintness and exhaustion. Following a vivid flash of lightning, two shots were fired by the men who were now plunging up through the gates, a hundred yards or more away. Th>' same flash of lightning showed to King the narrow, muddy street that stretched ahead of them. Instead of doing the obvious thing he turned sharply to the left, between the lines of freight cars. Their progress was slow. At last they came to the end of their rope. They were literally up against the great city wall. A car door stood open in front of them. He waited for a second flash of lightning to reveal to him the nature of its interior. It was quite empty. Without hesitation he clambered in and pulled her up after him. They fell over on the floor, completely fagged. A few minutes later the storm broke. He managed to close the door against the driving torrents. "We've fooled them," he managed to whisper close to her ear. "They won't look here. You're safe. Loraine. Gad, I'd like to see any one get you away from me now!" Slit- pressed his arm. Then she was fast asleep. He sat with his back against the side of the car, a pistol in one hand, the other lying tenderly upon the drenched hair of the girl whose head rested upon his leg. She had slipped down front his shoulder. He did not have the desire or the energy to prevent it. Manfully as he had fought against the impelling desire to sleep, lie could not beat it off. His last waking thought was of 4he effort he must make to reach Dangloss with the warning. Something stirred in the far end of tile car?a still small noise as of something alive that moved with the utmost wariness. A heavy, breathing body crept stealthily across the intervening space, so quietly that a mouse could have made hut little less noise. An instant later the bluish flume of a sulphur match struggled for life, growing stronger and brighter in the hand of a man who stood above the sleepers. CHAPTER XV. The Girl In the Red Cloak, Inside of an hour after the return of the frightened, quivering groom who had escaped from the brigands in the hills. Jack Tullis was granted permission by the war department to take a hundred picked men with him in the effort to overtake and capture the abductors of his sister. The dazed groom's story hardly had been told to the horrified brother before he was engaged in telephoning to General Braze and Baron Dangloss. A hurried consultation followed. Baron Dangloss was sadly upset. Three prominent persons had been stolen from beneath his nose, so to speak. He was beside himself with rage and dismay. This last outrage was the climax. The old man adored the sister of Jack Tullls. He was heartbroken and crushed by the news of the catastrophe. Captain Haas of the dragoon? was : put in charge of the relief party. The i party was armed and equipped for a t bitter chase. Word had been sent to < Serros, the capita) of Dawsbergen, < asking the assistance of Prince Dan- 1 tan in the effort to overtake the abductors. A detachment, it was announced in reply, was to start from j Serros during the afternoon bound for f the eastern passes. t Baron Dangloss rode to the southern , gate with the white faced, suffering s Tullis. "We will undoubtedly receive i a communication from the rascals this f afternoon or tomorrow," he said gloomily. "They will not be slow to make a ( formal demand for ransom, knowing { that you and your sister are possessed j of unlimited wealth. Hello! Who's this?" A man who had ridden up to the gates, his horse covered with foam, was demanding admission. The warders halted him unceremoniously as Dangloss rode forward. They found that he was one of the foremen in the employ of the railway construction company. He brought the disquieting news that another strike had been declared. that the men were ugly and determined to tear up the track already laid unless their demands were considered and, furthermore, that there had been severe fighting between the two factions engaged on the work. He urgently implored Dangloss to send troops out to hold the rioters In check. "What is your name?" demanded the harassed minister of police. "Poison," replied the foreman. He lied, for he was no other than John Cromer, the unsavory husband of Anna rvnmor nf thp rnnimittee of ten. "Come with me," said Dangloss. "We will go to General Braze. Goodby and good luck, Tullis." At that very moment Loraine Tullis was comparing notes with Truxton King in the room beneath the armorer's shop. Count Marlanx was hiding in the trader's inn outside the northern gates. The abductors themselves were scattered about the city, laughing trl- t umphantly over the success of the ruse 1 that had drawn the well feared Amer- \ ican away on a wild goose chase to the c distant passes of Dawsbergen. More t than that, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon a second detachment of soldiers left ( the city for the scene of the riots in i the construction camp, twenty miles t away. ? Surely the well laid plans of the Iron i Count were being skillfully carried out! t All afternoon and evening men strag- s ?l?>d in fmm the hills and surrounding country, apparently loath to miss the ( early excitement attending the cere- ' monies on the following day. Sullen * strikers from the camps came down, ' cursing the company, but drinking x noisy toasts to the railroad and its fu- ' ture. The city by night swarmed with 1 reveling thousands. The bands were s playing, the crowds were singing and 8 mobs were drinking and carousing in 8 the lower end. c At 3 o'clock in the morning word r flew from brothel to brothel, from lodging house to lodging house, in all t parts of the slumbering city. A thou- s sand men crept out into the streets i after tlie storm, all animated by one impulse, all obeying a single fierce in- c junction. t They were to find and kill a tall ' American! They were to keep him or s his companion from getting in touch 1 with the police authorities or with the * royal castle, no matter what the cost! At 5 o'clock a stealthy whisper went ? the rounds, reaching the ear of every 1 vagabond and cutthroat engaged in the f untiling vigil. Like smoke they faded 1 TI.O ellon* uotnh M'fiK nvor The word had sped to every corner * of the town that Jt was no longer necessary to maintain the watch for ' Truxton King. He was no longer in ' a ]><>?iu<>ii m Knf nit-Hi ui'uuiu ->i mieasiness. The 26th dawned bright and cool after the savage storm from the north. "I don't like the looks of things," said Ha run Dangloss time and again. His nan were never so alert as today and never so deceived. "There can't be trouble of any sort," mused Colonel Quinnox. "These fellows are ugly, 'tis true, but they are not prepared for a demonstration." "Colonel, we'll yet see the day when Graustark regrets the economy that has cut our little army to almost nothing. What have we now all told? Three hundred men in the royal guard, fewer than 600 in the fortress. I have a nundred policemen. There you are. Today there are nearly 200 soldiers off in the mountains on nasty business of one sort or another. Gad. if these ruffians from the railroad possessed no more than pistols they could give us a merry tight. There must be a thousand of them. I don't like it. We'll have trouble before the day's over." My 11 o'clock the streets in the neighborhood of the plaza were packed with people. At 12 the castle gates were to be thrown open for the brilii...,i i.ti,.it w:is to oass be tween t hese cheering rows of people. < Shortly after half past 11 o'clock cer- : tain groups of men usurped the posi- i tioiis in final .if eertain buildings on I the south side of the square, a score here, a half score then-, others below | them. They favored the shops op- i elated by the friends of the commit- I tee of ten; they were tile men who ; were to take possession of the rifles that lay hidden behind counters and i walls. From tiie distant castle came the ; sounds of shouts, crawling up the long line of spectators for the full length i of the avenue to the eager throng in Ib gengetz circus, swelling and grow-1 ing louder as the news came that the|| prince had ridden forth from the pates. | Jlad voices cried out tidings to those , in the background. The prince was i e< ming! i Ronn.v. adorable Prince Robin! i i ?n came the splendid phalanx of I guardsmen, followed by lipid infantrylien in measured tread. The great < eoaeli of gold, with its half score of , horses, rolled somberly beneath nature's canopy of green, surrounded on W ill sides by proud members of the royal guard. Two carriages from thp hi royal stables preceded the prince's sh roach. In the Hrst were the Duke of Perse and three fellow members of the op rablnet. The second contained Baron fel Dan gloss and General Braze. The curtains in a house at the cor- be ler of the square parted gently. A T1 lawk faced old man peered out upon sh hp joyous crowd. His black eyes swept the scene. A grim smile crept ge nto his face. He dropped the curtains and walked away from the win- cli low. tossing a cigarette into a grate ca m the opposite side of the room. Then ru le looked at his watch. w< bit The man who stood in the middle of :iie freight car looking down in wonder en it the fugitives was a tall vagabond of e(* he most picturesque type. No raganuffln was ever so tattered and torn #r is this rakish individual. His clothes larely hung together on his lank Pa rame. Long, thin lips curled Into a smile of 'n; lelicious regard. His sides shook with lie quiet chuckle of understanding. ^1" -le was thinking of other days and ev Ph 2S~) an * v- - J ini THKY SLEPT. HOW TIBED THEY WERE! "V lights and of many maids in far off ba ands and of countless journeys in Oh vhich he, too, had had fair and gentle ou lompany?short journeys, yes, but not o be forgotten. to He lighted the stub of a tallow canHe. Ah, how envied this great, sleep- ly. ng wayfarer! How beautiful his misress! How fortunate the lover! They sti dept. How tired they were! Whence W lad they come? ge Why should he stay here to spoil heir waking hour? No. He would ed turrender his apartment to them. H< Softly he tiptoed to his own corner up >f the car. He gathered up his be- wt onglngs?an ancient violin case, a Ar stout walking stick, a goodly sized wt lack done up in gaudy cloth, a well vorn pair of sandals with long, frayed 1 acings. As gently he stole back to foi he door. He tossed a kiss to the fai sleeping girl, his dark gypsy face gl< iglow with admiration and mischief, tnd was about to blow out the light W( ?f his candle. Then he changed his slt nind. it With a determined shake of his head ind a new flash of the eye, he calmly tic seated himself and began to open his agged pack. yo At last his small store of food lay xposed. Without hesitation he divid- N< (d the pieces of smoked venison, glv ng one part to himself, two to the ^ ileepers, then the miller's bread and p). he cheese and the bag of dates he had t,.f Knight the day before. Again he blew a kiss to the prettiest ;irl he had even seen. Snuffing his at andle, he dropped to the ground and wJ dosed the door against all spying, univil e.ves. an Daybreak found hint at the wharf fa] tates. a? Coming to an empty llat car direct pa 'mm the quarries, he resolutely seated (jn llmself upon its edge and, with amla>le resignation, set about devouring lis early meal, all the while casting onglng, almost appealing, glances to- y( .vard the next car but one. Busy lit- (je le switch engines began chugging so ibout the yards. The railroad at Inst UJ. vas exhibiting some signs of life. so Down through the maze of side- jjU racks whisked the little train, out upon by he main line with a thin shriek of ^ greeting, past the fr? ight houses. It vas then that Sir Vagabond sat up w. >ery straight, a look of mild Interest n his eyes. Interest gave way to per- j dexity, perplexity to concern. What's , his?leaving the city? He wasted no . (*1ntr?hln sr It I ^ hplHn(rln/<< to his ...... ? ..... - j)1( Hde. be vaulted from one hand, nimjly landing safely <m his feet at the W{ oadside. He thought of the luckless pair in yo :he empty "box." 1 Suddenly he stopped, his chin up, hli lis hands to his sides. A hearty peal mt >f laughter soared from his lips. The |oke was on them. It was rich. The Co nore he thought of their astonishment |a? in awakening the more he laughed. Tl His immense levity attracted atten- nn tion. Four or five men approached sei lit in from the shadows of the freight liouses. ugly, unsmiling fellows. They p., leinanded of him the cause of his un- un seemly mirth. With tears in his merry black eyes he related the plight of f.p the pretty slumbers. They plied him with questions. He described the cou- th; pie. even glowingly. Then the sinis- ,titer fellows smiled. More than that, jnj they clapped each other on the hack md swore splendidly. it And so it was that the news spread ,|j, over town at "> o'clock that Truxton King was where lie could do no harm, vvi It was well known that the train would make forty miles an hour down ft the steep grade into the lower valley, When Truxton King first awoke to (,f tlie fact that they were no longer ly- va log motionless in the dreary yards ne eh leaped to his feet with a startled th shout <>f alarm. With frantic energy lit* pulled open the door. For a min- Ti ate he started at the scudding walls of done so close at hand, uncomprehend- -7 Ingly. Then the truth burst upon him or with the force of a mighty blow. He L.'torrtri.vorl Iio/ib liie ^o n- /I ? /*??? ?i r? cr fl I Q 1 l* eyes plarinpr. "Great God, Loraine! We're going! e're moving!" he cried hoarsely. She shot to her feet and lurched to s side. "Don't fall out!" she almost rieked. Suddenly the train shot out into the ien. farm spattered valley. Truxton II back dumfounded. "The country!" he exclaimed. "We've en carried away. God in heaven! le prince?he is lost!" He was be1e nimself, raging like a madman. He had shouted to her that lie must t hark to the ritw "You would be killed!" she cried, .itching his arm fiercely. "You never n jump, Truxton. See how we are nning. If you jump I shall follow. I in't go on alone. I am as much to a me as you." A small station flew by. "Ronn, sevkilometers to Edelweiss." He lookat her In despair. "We're going faster and faster." he a ted. Just then his gaze alighted on the thetic breakfast. He stared as if pnotlzed. Was he going mad? An stant later he was on his hands and iee.s examining the mysterious feast. ie Joined him at once. No two faces er before were so puzzled and perexed. "Ry heaven," he exclaimed, "I see it ! We've been deliberately shangJed! We've been bottled up here d shipped out of town. Don't touch at stuff. It's probably full of poln. Great Scott, what a clever gang ey are!" Whereupon he proceeded to kick the loffendlng breakfast out of the car or. To their dying day they were believe that the food had been put ere by agents of the great consplra"Hello!" said he. "We're slowing " Ho lnolrod nut and ahead "There's bridge down the road a bit?yes, ere's our same old river! They're nning slow for the bridge. We can ring off, Loraine. Now's our chance!" The train was barely creeping up to e bridge. He clasped her in the -ong crook of his left arm. slid down a sitting position and boldly pushed mself clear of the car, landing on his st. Staggering forward with the lmtus he had received, he would have lien except for a mighty effort. A arp groan escaped his lips as he lowed Loraine to the ground. She looked xiously Into his face and saw noth? there but relief. "Come along," said the man briefly, t'e must try to reach that station ck there. There I can telegraph in. i!" His drst attempt to walk brought t a groan of pain. He had turned his ankle In the leap the ground. "Lean on me!" she cried despairing-1 "Nonsense!" he said, with grim nbbornness. "I don't mind the pain, e'll not atop, my dear?not till we t word to Dangloss." At a wagon road crossing they pausto rest, having covered two miles. *r little cry of joy caused him to look i from the swollen ankle, which he is regarding with dubious concern. 1 ox cart was approaching from the st. A ride!" she cried joyously. They stopped the cart and bargained r a ride to Ronn. The man was a rmer, slow and suspicious. He hag?d. "The country's full of evil men and >men these days," he demurred. "Beles, I have a heavy enough load as is for my poor beasts." Miss Tullis conducted the negotia>ns. 'We are bound for Edelweiss. Can u get us there in two hours?" "With these beasts, poor things? iver!" "It will be worth your while. A indred gavvos if you carry us to a ice where we can secure quicker) insportatlon." in time she won him over. He) reed to carry them along the way his best sneed until they came up th better beasts or reached the city tes. They climbed up to the seat, d the tortuous journey began. The rmer trotted beside the wheel nearly of the way, descanting warmly in inful English on the present condiin of things in the hills. "The rascals have made way with e beautiful Miss Tullis. She is the nerlcan lady stopping at the castle. iu should see her, sir. Excepting our ar Princess Yetive?God rest her! ul? she is the most beautiful create Graustark has ever seen?not quite grand as the Countess Ingomede, t fairer, believe me. She Is beloved every one. She is to be married to e Count Vos Engo, a line lad, sir, .? un?. i? run*. I don't know what he II do. Suicide mayhap." "Do you know the great Count Marix?" demanded King, possessed oZ sudden thought. The man faced him the mention of the name, a sus:ious gleam In his eyes. "Count Marlanx!" he snorted. There is no mistaking the angry scowl, re you friends of that snake? If u are, get out of my cart." "He's all right!" cried Truxton. "Tell n who we are, Loraine, and why we jst get to the city." Five minutes later the farmer, overme by the stupendous news, was diing his oxen with might and main. ie astonished beasts tore down the ad to Ronn so bravely that there emed some prospect of getting a telrani through in time. At Ronn they lined that the operator had been able to call Edelweiss since 7 o'clock. In time the city gates came in sight, r up tin- straight, narrow road. It seemed to the quivering Americans at the gates were mocking them by awing farther away instead of com 4 m ain. Near the gates. which were still open, occurred to him in a single Mash of smay that he and Loraine would be cognized and intercepted by Marlanx itchers. It was she who had the solution, ley might succeed in passing the tes if they hid themselves in the bed the cart, underneath the thick cans covering. Tile farmer lifted the th. and they crawled down among e melons. "To the tower!" cried the anxious 'uxton. "Impossible!" shouted the farmer, "lie streets ale roped off. and the r?wds are too great." "Then let us out as near the tower possible!" cried the other. "Here we are!" cried the driver a| few minuted later, pulling up his half H dead oxen and leaping to the ground. I Off through an alley they hurried. They came to the crowded square a C few minutes later. The clock In the cathedral pointed to 12 o'clock and after! The catastrophe had not yet taken place. They were' in time. Every where they heard glad voices crying out that the prince was coming. "Great God!" cried Truxton, stop- y ping suddenly and pointing with trembling hand to a spot across the street. "There she is! At the corner! Stop her!" He had caught sight of Olga Platanova. 1 The first row of dragoons was al- f ready passing in front of her. Less > than 200 feet away rolled the royal r coach of gold. ( "An anarchist!" shouted King \ hoarsely. He looked like one himself. i ne Domn: me Domo: mop me prince!" Colonel Quinnox recognized this bearded, uncouth figure and the Hying, terrified girl at his heels. King was dragging her along by the hand. Quinnox alone prevented the dragoons from cutting down the pallid madman who stumbled blindly toward the coaches beyond. "Stop the coach!" cried King. Panic seized the crowd. Olga-Platanova stood alone, her eyes wide and glassy, staring as if petrified at the face of Truxton King. He saw the object in her wavering hand. A plain, white faced farmer In a smock of blue was crossing the street with mighty bounds, his eyes glued upon the arm of the frail, terrified anarchist. If he could only arrest that palsied, uncertain arm! But she hurled the bomb, her hands going to her eyes as she fell upon her knees. To be Continued. WATCHING LEGISLATION. # n Representatives of Farmers' Union Keep Close Tab on Congress. r Any lingering cioudi as to tne wonderful national power of the Farmers' ^ Union, says a Washington dispatch to ^ the Atlanta Georgian, has been dramatlcally dissipated. In shoals and bat- e tallons, from representatives and sen- t ators, Republicans, Democrats and In- r surgents, letters In reply to the con- ^ gresslonal poll instituted by President j. Barrett of the Farmers' Union are roll- ? ing In. His secretaries and assistants here are literally swamped by the Inundatlon. Old politicians, veteran campaigners, ^ do not remember anything In recent j history approaching the significance of o the spectacle which represents the con- j. gross of the United States eagerly anx- f lous to get on the band wagon of an t agricultural organization boasting In j the neighborhood of 3,000,000 members. Today President Barrett sent out to Farmers' Union papers 100 letters from every shade of congressmen, including j reactionaries and progressives. Ac- t companylng these copies Is an intro- f duction, in which he states that this j Is merely the first installment and that .. others are to follow until every congressman has either been heard from in public, or definitely located as refus- ^ ing to commit himself. It will be remembered that President t Barrett's original letter put six leading a questions to congress, inquiring its at- t titude toward the following issues: 1. Abolishing gambling In farm pro- ^ ducts. 2. Securing, without delay, a parcels post. 1 3. Securing, without delay, postal II savings banks. p 4. Securing, without delay, more ^ stringent legislation along the line of restricting foreign immigration. r 5. Securing the defeat of the propos- k ed central bank. ? 6. More liberality in national appropriations toward agricultural projects. Manifestly, it is impossible to quote E the letters going out today to the Far- o mers' Union papers. President Barrett, c however, estimates that 90 per cent favor abolishing gambling in farm products; that 95 per cent favor a parcels C post, the preference being that such a p system should be first confined to rural free delivery routes; that an over- y whelming majority favor postal sav- a ings banks in some form, provided pro- t vision is made to keep the deposits in s the home localities; that practically all congressmen heard from favor rigid re- a striction of foreign immigration; that s 85 per cent are opposed to a central f bank; that virtually all favor greater . liberality in congressional appropriations toward the farmer. In the statement preceding the copies t of the congressional letters, President r Barrett, while encouraged by the splendid showing made thus far, "re- 1 trains from celebrating" the passage of o these measures, because of the possi- x bility that all of these promising congressmen are not in earnest, and because of the ability of "a few powerful s men controlling the house and senate" to "emasculate" or "entirely annihilate" _ legislation at will. President Barrett concludes by announcing that at the end of the session v the entire proceedings of the watch upon congress, including the individual . records of the members, will be published in a sort of "Doomsday Book" form, and supply not only every mem- j ber of the Farmers' Union, but as well ^ every farmer in America, declaring that millions of American farmers not ' formally affiliated with the organiza- t tion are in sympathy with its purposes n and campaigns. u King of All Fish. One time at San Clemente we sight- q ed a feeding school of tuna, an exhilar- t ating sight. A dying fish weighing a s pound and a half or more would start p from the water and soar an extraor- r dlnary distance, nearly out of sight, f but every inch of that dight I knew >, was covered by a big tuna keeping his ,, place just beneath the dyer and ready c to seize it the moment it fell into the $ water. This rarely failed. The moment p the fish began to drop, the tuna would 0 spring at it like u tiger, turning and p tossing the spume into the air with a t splendid and electrifying rush, a man- j oeuvre that was repeated all over the a blue channel. f This sensational charge meant that a school of tunas had discovered a v school of its natural prey, flying fishes; 0 at once the lust for blood and food was p on and carnage was the result. 0 I have observed some curious scenes t at sea, but never have I seen fear so p forcibly expressed as by a school of a flying fishes, exhausted and at the mer- .? cy of the voracious tunas. I have had H them gather about my boat and cling f, to its keel as closely as they could, a while the air was full of leaping tunas j| and soaring flying fish. At such times when a school of sardines is rounded t up the fishes are so terrified that men p have rowed up to them and scooped g them in bv the pailful.?Outing. j, rHE BIBLE AS LITERATURE. furpasses All Books In Power and Knowledge. icu; cLDunm nu ni n nin cunicrT ilif tiLninun uh ulij, ulu juuului. \blo and Eloquent Exposition of Living Truths That will Be Found to Be Full of Interest, Pleasure and Profit to All Who Will Read. Following Is the sermon that Rev. J. L. Oates, pastor of the Associate Re'ormed Presybterlan church of Yorkille delivered at the annual meeting >f the York County Bible society In the Church of the Good Shepherd, Yorkrlllo last Sunday night. "Give attendance to reading."?I timothy lv, 13. This is ail age of exploration and of nlssionary activity. Men like Livingtone and Stanley have sought out the larkest corners of Africa, and tropic evers and densest Jungles and wildest nen have not deterred them. The rivrs, lakes and mountains of the Celeslal Kingdom, have been viewed by the nen of the Occident, and Lassa, the orbldden city of impenetrable Thibet las been visited by the white man. Cven the Arctic regions have been pentrated, and 'midst the everlasting nows, the pole itself has been discovred. This is an age of missionary acIvity. Godly men and women, living n enlightened lands, have given freely ?f their means; and other godly ones lave waved farewells to their native ands, and gone forth to teach all naions, until the Hindoos are singing the tedeemer's songs, and the isles of every ea are clapping their hands. But with ill this, there Is a vast continent to the louth of us, about which we know so ittle, that geographers find 11 difficult o give us a full and accurate map, and nany of its people are in spiritual larkness. We call It South America, the neglected continent." This is a literary age. "Of making nany books there Is no end." Every ear thousands of books, tens of thouands of magazines, and hundreds of knneonrlo r\f uroal/hr on/1 /1o lilt no rvnfu uuuoaiiuo vi nwnjj utiu uuttj j/upv>w re being produced and scattered over he world. They are not produced in ain, for this is a reading age. Everyiody has some books; many have their wn private libraries, and in addition o these, we have our Sabbath school ibraries, our school libraries, and our lublio libraries. But with all this, we lave in our homes a Book which is cad so seldom, and about which we mow so little, that we may well call it The Neglected Bible." In urging you o "give attendance to reading" this look, I might tell you that in it is the nly full and clear revelation of the haracter of God. or that in it 3 given the only way by which }od can be just and yet Justify he ungodly; but I prefer to give ou a poorer reason than this, and to ppeal to a lower motive; and with his object in view, have selected as a ubject for this sermon, "The Bible s Literature," with the hope that ome who may be induced to read it or its literary excellencies, may be led o find in it their Lord and their God. Men who make a study of such things, ell us that the words and writings of nen are divided into two classes: literature of knowledge, and literature f power. Let us make a study of this Vord of God this evening with our houghts devoted to these two diviions. I. The Bible as literature of knowldge. All communications, or speakings, or writings, which have the imparting of :no\vledge, pure and simple, the enightening of the mind, or the broa nng of the understanding as their obect are rightly known as literature of ;nowledge. In considering the Bible rom this standpoint, we shall be able o arrive at a more correct idea of its tierits, by taking up some of the great iroblems of knowledge, which confront is. and comparing it in these problems rith the literature produced by men. )ne of these questions which confront hinking men, is the otigin of the solar ystem. We see our own central sun lurning in all his fiery splendor, and uling as veritable king of day. We eel our own earth beneath us. and joking off into space, we see the plants in all their grandeur. The question an but arise in our minds, "From what ource comes that sun and all its atendant planets?" Some of the mighiest intellects of the world have at empted to answer that question. More nan one has been led to say. "<> God, think thy thoughts after Thee;" but fter all their study and all their eforts, they present to us the spectacle f two opposing catnps, each affirming ,hat the other denies, and neither ne of thetn claims to present us anyhing at last, except a theory. Tired f such fruitless researches as these. I urn to the Bible and then I read on ts first page. "God created the heavens nd the earth." And I feel that when it ays that "the earth was without form nd void, and darkness was upon the ..t .1,.. .1 ,.-o hn I'fl tiff ?U nil- 1IIIU VII*!*- ?? *_ truth that scientists have lone sought i vain. Another fact for which we seek in his world, is the origin ((f life. We see Ife all about us. The insect on Its auzv wing. the eagle cleaving the uper air. the abounding life. surging through our own veins; life In the waving tree, and life In the lovely flowers. We have called to the wise ones for an answer as to where this life began, and by what means It came. They have faithfully tried to answer. We wade through a volume on the "Origin of Species," and find many facts which lead to no certain conclusion. We peruse the "Descent of Man," and fall to be convinced by logic, based partly on truths and partly on error. We stand beside the great geologists of the world, as they delve into the secrets of the earth, and strive by all their power to read the wonderous history God has written In stone. But when man has exhausted Intellect and run reason mad, and when all is done that can be done, and all Is said that can be said, what have we for result? Theory and only theory; suppositions. but never facts. "The eerm of all life floating' In a sac on a boundless ocean," marks the utmost limits of even their fancy. Laying my hand on this Bock, I read that God created man, and at His Almighty flat the grass and tree and tender flowers; the birds of the air, the beasts of the field and the fishes of the sea came into being, and without Him was not anything made? from the mightiest monarch of the forest to the tlnlect algae that floats In n stagnant pond?without Him was not anything made that was made. The question about a man's soul is another thing on which we seek enlightenment. Has man a eoul, or is he like a beast? When his body goes back to earth from whence it was, is that the last of his existence? If he has a soul, where does it live, and how long does it live, and what is its condition in the great beyond? I appeal to the recorded wisdom of man to answer, and the first thing placed before me, is the Egyptian Book of The Dead, I find here that the priests of that long dead land, believed that man really had a soul; that his body died, but that his soul could not die. But all they could tell me about it, was their belief that when this soul was separated from the body, by what we call death, it was carried into the sacred halls of Isis, then weighed on delicately balanced scales, and adjudged to good or evil; but all beyond was darkness to their minds. I pick up an Assyrian tablet, digged from beneath the dust of many ages, and read from that tablet all that the Assyrians knew, or thought they knew about the soul, and that all is contained in a picture of the soul of a departed king, descending Into the region of the shades, while the ghosts of his long departed subjects met him with Jeers saying, "Ah, ha; hast thou, too, come to this place of the dead?" Or I come down to that nation of mighty thinkers, the Grepks, and ask Socrates, one of thielr greatest and best, what he knew about this question. He teils me that he is convinced through the cold channels of reason that man is not like a beast, but that he has a soul that shall live on, and must live after his body has turned to dust. But beyond this, the intellect of even this mighty man halts and his lips become dumb. Thus, failing to find among all the writings of men, any definite and final answers to this question, I turn to this Word of God and read there that even old Job was able to say, "I know that my Redeemer llveth and that though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." Or the records of Christ's sayings are unfolded, and I read, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and he that llveth and believeth on Me, shall never die." Or a few weeks later, I see Him, as with arms of infinite might. He bursts the bands of death, and arises again from the dead, alive again forevermore?the first fruits of them that slept. Again, what is man's duty toward God, or how shall a man live, so as to be pleasing to His maker? Here also we may seek among the records of man s wisaom. i ne pniiusupneiD m the past have brought to us the stores of their wisdom. One school says we should live as Stoics, suppressing self and despising pain. Another school says we should eat, drink and be merry, rejoicing while we n.ay. We turn to the men of a heroic age and ask them, and they say that it Is pleasing to God for us to live in strife and die In strife, for then shall beauteous Valkyrie carry us to the halls of Valhalla, where we shall drink red wine out of the skulls of the slain. The great prophet Mahomet hands us the Koran and bids us seek our answers there. Its great message Is, to take the sclmlter in one hand and the Koran In the other and force that faith over the world. And the gentle son of India opens his Vedas, and reads to us that we ought to spend our lives In contemplations, so that at last we may be ab" ~ ~ J r?n*?oAnolltu A# Prohm 9UIUCU IIIIU UIC |/CIQViiaiuj u? Leaving these, I point you to this word of God as it gives the answer to the whole question in the one word, "Obey;" while the gray haired prophet Samuel cries to erring Saul, "Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken, than the fat of rams." With this, comes another question. What Is man's duty to man? Groir s of men gather on the street corners and in the corridors of hotels, and discuss the social and business relations of mankind. Other men, after much thought, produce writings on sociology. Still others, guided by the opinions of of their constituents, assemble in some particular place and fix their various opinions into those guides of action, which we call law, and through these recorded laws strive to give us rules for guiding us in our conduct toward our fellowmen. But the imperfection of man made laws has become a proverb. while this Bible sums all this guidance into the one perfect sentence, "Whatsoever you would that man snouia ao unio you, uo you even unto them, for this Is the law and the prophets." So that whether we inquire as to the origin of the things that are, or as to the mysteries of life, or the deeper things of the soul: whether we think of man's duty toward man, or man's duty toward God. we tind ourselves directed again and again to this word by this message from our Maker, "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God." II. The other form in literature is that which is known as the literature of power. In this, the speaker or writer strives to produce such thought and so to arrange his words as to move the [Continued on Page Six.]