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t. m. grist's sons, Publisher..} 4 ^amilj Jleirspaper: ^or the promotion of the political. Social. Agricultural and (Commercial Interests of the people. {S,i"TOci5?f"f1 BifrABUSHED iSosT : ~ " YORKVILliM, 8. C., TUESDAY, MA HC'II -2d, li)10. . iNT0. 23." Truxton f King / Copyright, 1909, by George /1 Barr McCutcheon II Copyright, 1909, by Dodd, / Meed Company Synopsis of Preceding Chapters. Chapter I?Truxton King arrives in P Edelweiss, capital of Graustark, and meets the beautiful niece of Spantz, a gunmaker. 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 k 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 person he is overpowered and dragged into a loft. He is confronted by Count Marlanx and then taken to the underm 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 clotnnig and. disguised, carries Loraine into a oj.ot at night in which several of the anarchists are about to depart. XIV? King manages to get Loraine, whom he loves, ashore, and they hide in a freight car. XV?Olga waits on a street corner with a bomb to kill Prince f Robin as he passes in a parade. King and Loraine are carried off into the country in the car. They start back in an ox cart and warn the prince when almost in front of the girl Olga. CHAPTER XVI. ^ The Throwing of the Bomb. The scene that followed beggars all description. A score of men and horses lay writhing in the street: others crept away screaming with pain; human Ilesh and that of animals lay in the path of the frenzied, panic stricken holiday crowd; blood mingled with the soft mud of Rcgengetz circus, slimy, slippery, ugly! Olga Platanova?there was nothing left of her! We draw a veil across tne picture of Olga Platanova after the bomb left her hand. No one may look upon the quivering, shattered thing that was once a living, beautiful woman. Down in an alley below the tower a trembling, worn team of oxen stood for a day and night, awaiting the return of a master who was never to come back to them. God rest his simple soul! Truxton King picked himself up from the street, dazed, bewildered, but unhurt. The revolutionists had begun the assault on the paralyzed minions of the government. P He looked back toward the gory entrance to the circus. There was Marlanx, mounted and swinging a saber on high. Ahead was a mass of carriages, filled with the white faced, pal- I *110 nnitrf r\f nrinictnrlf From somewhere near the spot where Olga Platanova fell cane a harsh, penetrating command: "Cut them off! Cut them off from the castle!" It was his cue. He dashed into the street and ran toward the carriages, shouting with all his strength: "Turn back! It is Marlanx! To the i castle!" Then it was that he saw the prince. The boy was standing on a seat or the royal coach of state, holding out his eager little hands to some one in the thick of the crowd that surged about him. He was calling some one's name, but no one could have heard him. Truxton's straining eyes caught sight of the figure in gray that struggled forward in response to the cries and the extended hand. "Aunt Loraine! Aunt Loraine!" He now heard the name the boy cried with all his little heart. I Two officers struck at the uncouth, desperate American as he lifted the girl from the ground and deliberately tossed her into the coach. "Turn back!" he shouted. A horseman rode him down. He looked up as Il>" TilnntriniT nnim:il's hoofs clattered about his head. Vos Engo, with drawn sword, was crowding up to the carriage door, shouting words of rejoicing at sight of tlie girl he loved. He caught a glimpse of her, holding the prince in her arms, her white, agonized face turned toward the mob. 9 Distinctly he heard her cry: "Save him! Save Truxton King!" From the sidewalks swarmed well armed hordes of desperadoes, firing wildly into the ranks of devoted guardsmen. Truxton tied from the ' danger zone as fast as his strained ankle would permit him. Hullcts were striking all about him. Some one was shouting iiis name behind in the scurrying crowd. He turned for i single glance backward. I.ittle Mr. Hobbs. pale as a ghost, his cap gone, his clothing torn, was pant in-t at his elbow. Soldiers came riding up from behind. turning to lire from their saddles into the throng of cutthroats, led by the grim old man with the bloody saber. In the center of the troop there was a flying carriage. The Duke of Perse was lvimr back in the seat, his face like that of a dead man. "Ph.- prince is safe!" shouted King joyously. "They'll make it! Thank God!" Colonel Quinnox turned in his saddle and searched out the owner of that stirring voice. "Come!" he called. Kven as King rushed out into the roadway a horseman galloped up from the direction of the castle. He pulled his horse to his haunches almost as he was riding over the dodging American. "Here!" shouted the ' newcomer, scowling down upon the young man. "Swing up here! Quick, you fool!" It was Vos Hugo, his face black with fury. Quinnox had seized the hand cJ A Story of Graustar/t By GEORGE BARR M'CUTCHEOIM Q of Mr. Hobbs on seeing help for King and was pulling him up before him. There was nothing for Truxton to do but to accept the timely help of his rival. An instant later he was up behind him and they were off aftei* the last of the dragoons. "If you don't mind, count, I'll try my luck," grated the American. Holding on with one arm, he turned and fired repeatedly in the direction of the howling crowd of rascals. "Ride to the barracks gates, Vos Kngo!" commanded Colonel Quinnox. "Be prepared to admit none but the royal reserves, who are under standing orders to report there in time of need." Over his shoulder Vos Engo hissed to his companion: "It was not idle heroics, my friend, nor philanthropy on my part. I was commanded to come and fetch you. She would never have spoken to me again if I had refused." "She! Ah, yes, I see! She did not forget me!" cried Truxton. "Understand, it is not for you that I risk my life." T " mtirnini'Ofl Tl'livton a wry smile on his pale lips. "You THE DESPERATE AMERICAN TOSSED HER INTO THE COACH. mean, she is going to pay you in some way for picking me up, eh? Well, I'll put an end to that. I'll drop again. Then you can ride on and tell her?I wouldn't be a party to the game. Do you catch my meaning?" "Vim would, eh?" said the count an grily. "I'd like to see you drop off while we're going at this"? "I've got my pistol in the middle of your back," grated Truxton. "Slow up a bit or I'll scatter your vertebrae all over your system. Pull up!" "As you like," cried Vos Engo. "I've done my part. Colonel Quinnox will bear witness." He began pulling his horse down. "Now you are guite free to drop off." Less than a hundred yards behind loped a riderless horse. The dragoon who had sat in the saddle was lvlng far back in the avenue, a bullet in his head. Hobbling to the middle of the read, the American threw up his hands and shouted briskly to the bewildered animal. Five seconds later King was in the saddle and tearing along in the wake of the retreating guard. "We need sucii men as King!" cried Colonel Quinnox as he waited inside the gates for the wild rider. General Braze, with a few of his men. bloody and heartsick, was the last of the little army to reach safety in the castle grounds. The fortress, with all guns, stores and ammunition, was in the hands of the Iron Count and iiis cohorts. Baron Dangloss had been taken prisoner with a whole platoon of fighting constables. This was the last appalling bit of news to reach the horrified, disorganized forces in the castle grounds. A wise as wen as a 11 un man ??o Marlnnx. He lost no time in issuing a manifesto to the stunned, demoralized citizens of Edelweiss. Scores of criers went through the streets during the long, wretched afternoon, announcing to the populace that Count Marlanx had established himself as dictator and military governor of the principality pending the abdication of the prince and the begnining of a new and substantial regime. All citizens were commanded to recognize the authority of the dictator. Toward evening, after many consul tat ions and countless reports, Marlatix removed his headquarters to the tower. He had fondly hoped to be in the castle long before this. The cells and dungeons in the great old tower were now occupied by bruised, defeated officers of the law. itamn Jasto Dangloss. crushed in spirit and broken of body, paced the blackest and narrowest cell of them all. At S o'clock on Sunday morning a small group of people gathered in the square. A meeting was s.?>n in progress. A goods box stood over against tiie very spot on which < >lga Plata nova An ??1?1 man began haranguing 11?? constantly growing crowd. In tile group might have been seen most members of the committee of ten. In the midst of his harangue the hand of William Spantz was arrested in one of its most emphatic gestures. Peter Brutus was approaching at the head of a group of aliens, all armed. "One moment!" called out Peter Brutus, lifting his hand Imperatively. The speaker ceased his mouthings. "Count Marlanx desires the immediate presence of the following citizens at his office in the tower. I snail call off the names." He began with William Spantz. The name of each of his associates in the committee of ten followed. Ten minutes later every member of the committee of ten, except Peter Brutus, was behind lock and bar, together with their shivering associates, all of them dumbly muttering to themselves the awful sentence that Marlanx had passed upon them. iou are 10 uie ar sunsei. uiaustark still knows how to punish assassins. There is no room in Oraustark for anarchy. I shall wipe it out today." "Sir, your promise!" gasped William Spantz. "We are your friends?the true party of"? "Enough! Do not speak again! Captain Brutus, you will send criers abroad to notify the citizens that I, Count Marlanx, have ordered the execution of the ringleaders In the plot to dynamite the prince, at sunset in the square. Away with the carrion!" Then it was, and not till then, that the committee of ten found him rut! Then it was that they came to know Peter Brutus! The unrecognizable corpse of Olga Platanova had been buried in quicklime outside the city walls. There was something distinctly grewsome In the fact that half a dozen deep graves were dug alongside her hours before death came to the wretches who were to ocupy them. At 3 o'clock the Iron Count coolly sent messengers to the homes of the leading merchants and bankers of the city. They, with the priests, the doctors, the municipal officers and the manufacturers were commanded to appear before him at 5 o'clock for the purpose of discussing the welfare of and city and its people. Marlanx stated his position clearly. He left no room for doubt in their minds. The strings were in his hands. Without hesitation he Informed the leading men of the city that he was to be the Prince of Graustark. "I will rule Graustark or destroy her. Those of you who do not expect or desire to live under my rule, which, I promise you, shall be a wise one, may leave the city for other lands," he said calmly, "just as soon as my deputies have completed the formal transfer of all your belongings to the crown treasury?all, I say. even to the minutest trifle. Permit me to add in that connection, gentlemen, the transfer will not be a prolonged affair." They glared back at him and subsided into bitter silence. "I am well aware that you love little Prince Robin. Now, respecting young master Robin, I have no great desire to kill him." Vie waited to see the effect Of this brutal announcement. His hearers stiffened, and?yes, they held their breath. "lie has one alternative?he and his lords. I trust that you, as sensible gentlemen, will find the means to convey to him your advice that he seize the opportunity I shall offer him to escape with his life. Let me interrupt myself to call to your attention the fact that I am punishing the anarchists at sunset. To resume, the boy may return to America, where he belongs. I will give him free and safe escort to the United Stat?s. If he chooses to accept my kindly terms, all well and good; if not. gentlemen, I shall starve him out or blow the castle down. It may interest you to hear that I expect to establish a new nobility in GrauCTlJlh sO' C| "YOU ARK TO DIE AT SUNSKT " stark. I trust I may now be addressing at hast a few of the future noble lords of Graustark. Good day, gentlemen." At the castle the deepest gloom prevailed. It was like a nightmare to the beleaguered household, a dream from which there seemed to be no awakening. Colonel Quinnox as commander of the royal guard ruled supreme. General Braze tore off his own epaulets and presented himself to Quinnox as a soldier of the file. l'rince Robin, -quite recovered from his flight, donned the uniform of a colonel of the royal dragoons, buckled on his jeweled sword and, with boyish zeal, demanded at a council of war, Colonel Quinnox's reasons for not going forth to slay tile rioters. "Your highness," said the colonel bitterly, "the real army is outside the walls, not inside. We are a pitiful * ir..i i....... QAfl ij.rt .>11 im mil 111. ir.^n nuui . <??? m< (l u vim, counting tin- wounded. Count Marians heads an army of several thousand. He"? "He wants to pel in here so's he can kill me. Is that so. Colonel Qiunnox'.'" The prince was very pale, but quite calm. "Oh, I wouldn't put it just that way, your"? "Oh, I know! You can't fool me! I've always know that he wants to kill me. Rut how can he? Nobody can. He oupht to know that. He must lie awful stupid." "We must pet word to Tullls!" cried veral in a breath. A dozen men volunteered to risk their lives in the attempt to find the American In the hills. Two men were chosen?by lot. They were to venture forth that very night. "My lords." said the prince as the council was on the point of dissolvlnp, "is it all right for me to ask a question now?" "Certainly, Robin," said the prime minister. "Well, I'd like to know where Mr. King: Is." "He's safe, your highness," said Quinnox. "Well, you run In and tell Aunt Loralne this minute that Mr. King sends his love to her and begs her to rest easy. See if It doesn't cheer her up a bit." At night two attempts were made by Haddan and another subaltern to leave the castle to reach Tullis, but both sorties proved failures. A day later Marlanx sent two men under a flag of truce to offer his infamous ultimatum. His offer of a safe conduct of the prince to America was refused, for the Inmates of the castle knew full well the count would doom the lad to instant death if he should get him in his possession. A single distant volley at sunset had puzzled the men on guard at the castle. They had no means of knowing i that the committee of ten and its wretched friends had been shot down like dogs in the public square. Peter Brutus was in charge of the squad of executioners. CHAPTER XVII. Truxton Exacts a Promise. Truxton King had been in a resentful frame of mind for nearly fortyeight hours. In the ilrst place, he had not had so much as a single glimpse of the girl he now worshiped with all his heart. In the second place, he had learned, with unpleasant promptness, that Count Vos Engo was the officer in command of the house guard, a position as gravely responsible as it was honorable. He had, of course, proffered his services to Colonel Qulnnox. The colonel, who admired the Americans, gravely informed him that there was no regular duty to which he could be assigned, but that he would expect him to hold himself ready for any emergency. In case of an assault he was to report to Count Vos Engo. But he was not satisfied. Lnraine had not come forward with a word of greeting or relief?in fact, she had not appeared outside the castle doors. Toward duslt on Monday, long after the arrival of the refugees, he sat In gloomy contemplation of his own unhapplness, darkly glowering upon the unfriendly portals from a distant stone bench. A brisk guardsman separated himself from the knot of men at the castle doors and crossed the plaza toward him. j Judge the dismay and anger when the soldier, a bit shamefaced himself, briefly announced that Count Vos | Engo had issued an order against loitering in close proximity to the castle. Truxton's cheek burned. He saw in an instant that the order was meant for him and for no one else, he being the only outsider likely to come under the head of "loiterer." Truxton turned to him with a frank smile. "Please tell Count Vos Engo that I am the last person in the world to disregard discipline at a time like this." His glance swept the balcony, sud denly becoming fixed on a couple near the third column. Count Vos Engo and Loraine Tullis were standing there together, unmistakably watching his humiliating departure. The next morning he ' encountered Vos Engo near the grotto. Catching sight of Vos Engo, he hastened across the avenue and caught up to him. "Good morning," said Truxton. Vos Engo did not smile as he eyed the tall American. "I haven't had a chance to thank you for coming back for me last Saturday. Allow me to say that it was a very brave thing to do." "I do not like your words, Mr. King, nor the way in which you glare at me." "I'm making it easier to tell you the agreeable news, Count Vos Engo; that's all. Take your hand off your sword, please?some other time perhaps, but not in these days, when we need men, not cripples. I'll tell you what i have discovered, and then we'll drop the matter until some other time. Frankly, count. I have made the gratifying discovery that you are a miserable cur." Count Vos Engo went very white. "As you say, there is another and a better time. We need dogs as well as men in these days." Truxton strolled off to the stables, picking up Mr. Hobbs on the way. "Hobbs," he said, "we've got to find John Tullls; that's all there Is to It." "I dare say. sir," said Mr. Hobbs, with spr ightly decisiveness. "He's very much needed." "I'm going to need him before long as my second." Later on much of Truxton's good humor was restored and his vanity pleased by a polite request from Count Halfont to attend an important council in 4\ *r "THAT TOU LOVE MB AND ME ONLY, LORA1NB." the "room of wrangles" that evening at ! . Very boldly he advanced upon the castle a few minutes before the appointed hour. He caine upon Loralne Tullis at the edge of the terrace. She was walking slowly in the soft shadows beyond the row of lights on the lower gallery. He knew her at a glance, this slim girl in spotless white. "Loralne;" he whispered, reaching her side in two bounds. She put out her hands, and he claspe ] them. Plainly she was confused. "I ve been dying for a glimpse of you. Do you think you've treated me"? "Don't Truxton!" she pleaded, suddenly serious. "You must not come here. I saw?well, you know. I was so ashamed; I was so sorry." He still held her hands. "Yes, they ordered me to move on. as if I were a common loafer," he said, with a soft chuckle. "But where have you kept yourself?" "I have been 111, Truxton?truly, I have," she said quickly, uneasily. "You told Vos Engo to ride back and pick me up," he persisted. "He told me In so many words. Now, I want a plain answer, Loralne. Did you prom Ise to reward him if he?well, if he saved me- from the mob?" "No," she said in a low voice. "What was it, then? I must know, Loraine." "I am very, oh, so very unhappy, Truxton," she murmured. "I came near spoiling everything just now," he whispered hoarsely. "What?" "I almost kissed you, Loraine. I swear it was hard to keep from It. That would have spoiled everything." "Yes, it would," she agreed quickly. "I'm not going to kiss you until you have told me you love Vos Engo." "I?I don't understand!" she cried, drawing back and looking up into his face with bewildered eyes. "Because then I'll be sure that you love me." "Be sensible, Truxton." "I'll know that you promised to love him if he'd save me. "It's as clear as day to me. You did tell him you'd marry him if he got me to a place of safety." "No. I refused to marry him if he did not save you. Oh, Truxton, I am so miserable! What is to become of all of us? What is to become of John and Bobby and you?" "I?I think I'll kiss you now, Loraine," he whispered almost tremulously. "God, how I love you, little darling! You must make me a promise." "Oh, Truxton, don't ask me to say that I'll be your"? She stopped painfully embarrasr jd. "That will come later," he said consolingly. "I want you to promise, on your sacred word of honor, that you'll kiss no man until you've kissed me." "Oh," she murmured, "I?I cannot promise that! I am not sure that I'll Kive battle to him with our own people carrying the guns. Lieutenant Haddan has told us quite lately of a remark you made which he happened to overhear. If I quote him correctly, you said to the Englishman Hobbs that you could get away with it, meaning, us I take it, that you could succeed in reaching John Tuliis. May I not implore you to tell us how you would go about It?" Truxton had turned a brick red. Shame and mortification suige j within him. He was cruelly conscious of an undercurrent of irony In the premier's courteous request. For an instant he was sorely crushed. A low laugh from the opposite side of the room sent a shaft to his soul. He looked up. Vos Engo was still smiling. In an instant the American's blood boiled. "I did say I could get to John Tullis. I'll start tonight." His words created a profound impression. they came so abruptly. "Send for Mr. Hobbs, please," said' ever?ever kiss anybody. What id it you really want me to say?" she asked, looking up with sudden shyness in her starry eyes. "That you love me?and me only, Loraine," he whispered. "I will not say it!" she cried, breaking away from him. "But," as she ran to the steps, a delicious tremor in her voice, "I will consider the other thing you ask." King was ushered into a large, sedately furnished room. A score of men were there before him?sitting or standing in attitudes of attention, listening to the words of General Braze. King's entrance was the signal for an Immediate transfer of interest. The general bowed most politely and at once turned to Count Halfont v. Ith the remark that he had quite finished his suggestions. The prime minister ca,me forward to greet the momentarily shy American. "The council has been extolling you, Mr. King," said the prime minister, leading him to a seat near his own. Truxton blushed. Involuntarily he glanced at Vos Engo. That gentleman started, a curious light leaping Into his eyes. "Here's the situation in a nutshell," went on the prime minister. "We are doomed unless succor reaches us from the outside. We seem unable to warn John Tullls, who, If given time, might succeed in collecting a sufficient force of loyal countrymen to harass and eventually overthrow the dictator. I am loath to speak of another alternative that has been discussed at length by the ministers and their friends. The Duke of Perse, from a bed of pain and anguish, has counseled us to take steps In the direction I am about to speak of. "We can appeal to Russia in this hour of stress, but we will have to make an unpleasant sacrifice. Russia is eager to take over our new issue of railway bonds. Hitherto we have voted against disposing of the bonds in that country, the reason being obvious. St. Petersburg wants a new connecting line with her possessions in Afghanistan. Our line will provide a most direct route?a cutoff, I believe they call it. Last year the Grand Duke Paulus volunteered to provide the money for the construction of the line from Edelweiss north to Balak on condition that Russia be given the right to use the line in connection with her own roads to the orient. You may see the advantage in this to Russia. Mr. King, if I send word to the Grand Duke Paulus, agreeing to his terms, which still remain open to us, signing away a most valuable right in what we had hoped would be our own individual property, we have every reason to believe that he will send armed forces to our relief on the pretext that Russia is defending properties of her own. That is one way in which we may oust Count Marlanx. The other li..u i I. Iho llhllitv of John Tullis to I Truxton. "There should be three of us." addressing the men about him. "One of us is sure to get away." "There is not a man here?or in the service?who will not gladly accompany you, Mr. King," cried General Braze ? quickly. "Count Vos Engo is the man L would choose, if I may be permitted the honor of naming my companion," said & Truxton, grinning Inwardly with a P malicious Joy. Vos Engo turned a yel- w lowish green. His eyes bulged. * "I?I am in command of the person of his royal highness," he stammered, h suddenly going very red. 8 "I had forgotten your present occupation," said Truxton quietly. "Pray rj pardon the embarrassment I may have 1{ caused you. After all, I think Hobbs will do. He knows the country like a 8 book." Mr. Hobbs came. That is to say, he n was produced. It is doubtful if Mr. h Hobbs ever fully recovered from the ti malady commonly known as stage fright. He had never been called Mr. 0 Hobbs by a prime minister before, nor 8 had he ever been asked in person by ^ a minister of war if he had a family at w home. After Truxton King was obliged b to tell him that he had unwaveringly w volunteered to accompany him on the l? perilous trip to the hills. Be sure of it, Mr. Hobbs was not in a mental con- ri dition for many hours to even remote- w ly comprehend what had taken place. n But Mr. Hobbs was not the kind to w falter once he had given his word. "We'll be off at midnight, Hobbs," d said Truxton. P "As you say, Mr. King, Just as you " say," said Hobbs, with fine indiffer- a ence. As Truxton was leaving the castle k ten minutes later a brisk, eager faced P young attendant hurried up to him. z "I bear a message from his royal highness," said the attendant, detain- '' ing him. "Prince Robin has asked for P you, sir." I 'Til see him," said King promptly, w as if he were granting the audience. tl To be Continued. n - ti STRANGE HAPPENING. d s Story From Texas That Outthrills Any Melodrama. g| "Truth is stranger than Action," runs ? the old adage. This was perhaps true e In the days of the old-fashioned novel1st and playwright. But fiction has grown stranger with the passing years. ^ Writers of the modern "thrillers" of literature and the stage seem to write t| with a determination to go beyond the h utmost possibilities of truth. The g( f?r\iii?-n_r*lno flnHAn In nlava unH rn. AIWW1VSI* II* J| mances today may be stranger than n truth. j, But a story comes out of Texas which ^ proves that truth is still in the race, g and that, if it is no longer stranger M than Action it is, once in a while, equal- a ly as strange. t( The dramatic sequence of the tale is n remarkable. A master dramatist could e, not have marshaled the incidents in Q more effective order. The episode is u one of life's made-to-order dramas t] which falls naturally into Ave acts in this way: p Act I.?Bernard Carter and Rexer c Williams are cowboys on the Texas a ranges. While following a cattle trail t] they quarrel. Williams stabs Carter. p Believing his unconscious victim dead, y Williams rolls the body into the Pecos i< river. Act II.?Carter regains his senses e and crawls to the bank. He is found ii and sent to a hospital in EI Paso. u When he recovers he leaves the coun- e try. Williams, believing himself a s murderer, Aees. Weeks after the stab- t< blng a decomposed body Is found in h the river. It is identified as that of o Carter. Williams is caught. He is tl tried and sentenced to forty years for ii murder. u Act III.?Carter remains in ignorance n of his supposed death and of the fate c that has befallen Williams. He drifts p to Central America. Be grows rich. e He settles in Seattle ten years ago. In h the meantime for twenty years Wll- n Hams is a convict in the Texas penl- b tentiary. He believes his sentence a a Just one. He does not know Carter is alive. k Act IV.?There Is a prison investlga- p tlon In Texas. The exposure of cruel- t ties is telegraphed to newspapers all c over the country. Carter, the wealthy i citizen of Seattle, notes the name of a Rexer Williams in the list of convicts h who testified. It is an unusual name. 0 He never heard of but one man of that a name in his life. He writes a letter of h Inquiry to the warden of the prison in t< wnicn vviniams is cuiiiineu. ne i? a.- o tonlshed to learn that Williams is u serving forty years for the murder of tl Bernard Carter. ti Act V.?Carter hurries to Texas. He jproves that the report of his death has {j been "greatly exaggerated." He ob- 0 tains a pardon for Williams. He takes d him to Seattle. He establishes the ti former convict in his own comfortable home for the remainder of his life. w (Curtain.) p Is there anything in the plot dreams ti of Louis Tracy, Gaston Leroux, Anna n Katherine Green or George Barr Mc- g] Cutcheon stranger than this? Has Au- a gustus Thomas William Gillette or b Lincoln J. Carter ever staged a more j( thrilling melodrama than this strange, a true story from life??Chicago Inter- tl Ocean. w r< WHEN COMPANY COMES. a When the pies are in the pantry, a And the chicken's in the pot, ti And the house is neat and tidy, Then the company comes not. si But wtu-n pantry sneives arc empty, ? And a picked-up dinner waits, w While the baby has the colic, Then they enter at your gates. n n When the tablecloth is dirty, h Stained with gravy and with squash, The lace curtains at the laundry. And the bedspreads in the wash; ti When you're doing the fall cleaning, u Rugs and carpets on the line, Then your husband's dear relations tf Come to visit or to dine. a S> they_eat the picked-up dinner. And decide they cannot stay: They "must do a little shopping," vv And they quickly haste away. g d Then they tell all the relations How their visit was a call: That "Jane Is no wife for Reuben: w She's no housekeeper at all." p When they're gone you tell the baby, While you wipe your misty eyes, %v "Baby, when we make a visit, o' We'll not take them by surprise." ?Annie E. Smiley. . gl "'i- Hawks fly at the rate of one hundied and fifty miles an hour. miscellaneous ilrading. SAVED BY A PANTHER. lr>'d Hunter Tells How Wildcat Rescued Him. "I wonder if there are any grizzly ears left In these mountains," said the assenger rrom xvew York aa tne train - as climbing the crest of the Sierra levadaa. "Probably not," responded the redeaded man In the corner. '"Tney eem to be pretty well cleared out of his part of the country, and they're ather hard to find now anywhere be>w the Canadian line." "It's a pity, too, from the naturalist's tandpoint," observed the professor. The Ursus horribills Is one of the lost interesting of animals, and really as a better claim than the Hon to the Itle of king of beasts. He Is absoltely without fear, will attack a man n tne slightest provocation and can tand as much lead as a rhinoceros, 'here's no animal In this part of the rorld that dares to attack him, and I elleve he'd more than hold his own dth the biggest and fiercest of other inds." "I don't know about tnat, professor," emarked the tourist from Boston. "I as reading the chapter on bears in ly natural history not long ago and -I as surprised at the statement made lere that the grizzly has a wholesome read of the panther. It said that the anther's activity made it sometimes lore than a match for the big bear, nd that Indians say they nave found fie bodies of grizzlies that had been illed by panthers but never bodies of anthoru thut hnri hppn Ullh'H hv crriz Ilea." "I don't take much stock in book arnin' when it comes to wild animals," ut in the passenger from Frisco, "but happen to know that the feller who rrit that wasn't so far ofT as you might hink. If it hadn't been for a little ilxup between u grizzly and a mounEiin lion, or panther, as you call it, I on't reckon I'd be sittin' here now mokin' cigars." "That sounds like direct evidence," aid the red-headed man In the corner, and we'd like mighty well to have you xplain the encounter to which we owe He pleasure of your company." "I'm a leetle suspicious about that ind o* talk" responded the Frisco pasenger, "but, howsomever, I'll tell you 1 the fall of '83. Me and a feller ow it was an' how I came to be mtxd up in the jamboree. It was along 1 the fall of $83. Me and a feller amed Martin was prospecting down i the Inyo country, which in them ays was about as wild a piece of uptandin' earth as you could find anywhere, and, for that matter, it ain't exctly tame yet. We'd knocked around jgether about-six months without runin' across anything worth while, and arly in September, we'd made a sort f permanent camp in a little draw high p in the mountains and laid close for he next two or three months, the Igns lookln' good. We was well suplied with flour and bacon, and the flnntrv lira a nhnr?lr full iV ffflmp. hlflT nd little, so we wasn't in any danger to starvin*. There was grizzlies and anthers down there In them days, but re wasn't huntin' 'em any. We was )okln' for gold. "I started out one day all by myself, till wasn't feelin' very well that morni' and said he'd stay in camp an' rest, p. He was considerable of a rester, till was, but when it come to the cratch he was always right there. I aok along my rifle, my prospectln' amir.er and a little grub, an' struck ut across the range, intendin' to put In he day. About 4 o'clock in the eveni' I was strollin' along with my head p in the air looking for signs an' not otlcln' where I was steppin', when I aught my foot in a vine an' tripped, t so happened that I was just on the dge of a deep gully, and I went down ead over heels a full twenty feet an' t on the rocks with my right leg douled up under me?broken, I found out fterward, a little above the knee. "Well, I was in a nice mess, and I new it, I was seven or eight miles rom camp, with some high ground beween, and there was mighty little hance that BUI could hear a shot. But fired off my *un two or three times n' then I guess I flopped over. Anyow; I didn't know any more unjil I pened my eyes an' found it was night n' the moon was shinin'. My leg was urtin' somethln' fierce, but I managed a twist myself around until I got my ack against the rocks so I could sit p fairly comfortable, an' then I filled tie magazine of my rifle with carridges an' waited. I had an idea that d have trouble before mornin', and : wouldn't do to have any more faints r go to sleep. Lucky for me, I had a mall bottle in my pocket that helped i brace me up. "I reckon It was close to midnight 'hen I first heard the sound I was exectln'. It was a long, mournful howl, tie howl of the gray wolf of the lountains, an' though I was already hiverin' with cold, that howl felt like n icicle stuck up through my backone. The wolfs a cowardly beast, but t a bunch of 'em catch a man down fter dark and they'll give him some 11(1 IU UlIIllV UUDUi. Ill u 111111 u ic CMV.V as another howl off in a different dlaction; then another somewhere else, , n' 'fore long I knew they was all round me an' closin' In. I was fixed so ley coudn't get at me from behind, ^n' hile the other side o* the ravine was lopin', it was kind o' steep, an' they asn't likely to come at me from that ay, either. It was up an* down the ivine on both sides that they'd be j lost sure to approach, an' I kept my ead twistln' pretty fast, with my gun , :*ady to pot the first one that come in , Ight. If I could have got hold o' some mber I'd have made a fire, but there asn't none in reach an' I just had i depend on my gun. "It was a couple o' mighty long hours fter the first howl before they located le an' got up enough nerve to come Ithln range, an' I was pretty glad to et a chance to get busy when they Id. After the fun started, though, I ad all the work I could look after. It as something' like the battle In the oetry I read once?wolves to the right me, wolves to the left o* me, an' olves peekin' over the bank in front me. An' I was shootln" In all three Irections until my rifle barrel got so ot It burned, but I had to keep on (lootin'. "Well, to make a long story short. the wolves didn't get me. I kept 'em off until daylight, an' then they slunk away; but if the light had been half an hour longer in comln' they'd 'a' had their own way, for I was out of ammunition. By that time, too, I was feelin' pretty sick. Fever was comln' up, and I knew if I didn't get out o' that hole some way I'd be done for, sure as shootin*. So I commenced draggln' myself along until I found a place I could dumb up the bank on the same side I'd fallen. It was a tough tussle, I want to tell you, with a broken leg, but I made It, and then I worked along my trail an Inch at a time, fairly sweatln' blood, It hurt so bad. "I don't reckon I'd covered more'n a couple o' hundred yards that way, and yet the sun was startin' on the down grade, when Mr. Grizzly showed up. I was setttn' with my back to a big tree takln' a rest an' wonderin' If I'd ever see Bill again. I was weak as a cat. i*iy ui iit*hi i wu? vJiiui iiiii away unc one o' them tugboats at Frisco an' my head was roarin' like a house afire. So I wasn't right sure at first whether It wrs a real bear or whether I was Just crazy. He was about twenty rods off when I first saw him. It was a fairly level stretch right along there, and while there was a sprlnklin' o* big trees there wasn't any underbrush. That's how It was that I could see a considerable ways. He was comln' toward me, but the wind beln' In my direction he hadn't seen me yet But In a minute he stopped an' commenced lookln' my way. Then I knew he spied me, an' all of a sudden It seemed like my head cleared an' I begun to understand that I was up agin a proposition that was tougher than wolves. And I didn't have a single cartridge left. "Mr. Grizzly stood a lookln' at me for ten minutes, I reckon, tryln' to make up his mind about me. Then he turned around an' started off, but all bears have a lot o' curiosity an' I guess his was too much for him. Anyhow, he turned again and come waggin' toward me slow an' careful, like he expected something to bust loose any minute, I was so weak I could hardly hold my head up an' I don't guess I could 'a' raised my gun If I'd a had a bushel o' cartridges. Didn't seem like I had power enough to holler, an' I Just sat there like a bird watchin' a snake. I reckon if I could 'a' yelled or had made any kind of disturbance what happened then wouldn't 'a' happened. A feller never knows when he's luckiest. "Somethln' seemed to draw my eyes up. It was a yellow spot In one o' the big trees an' I begun to watch it instead o* the bear. For It was a whoppin' mountain lion. He must 'a' been takin' a snooze up there when the scent o' the bear struck him, the wind bein' from that quarter, as I said, instead of from my side. Anyhow, if he'r seen me he wasn't payin' any attention to me, but was peerln' down at the grizzly. The big bear kept shuffiln In' on toward me like he was comln' to a funeral an' wasn't right sure whose it was, an' I was so weak that I wasn't carln' much what happened, though I was wishln' he'd hurry up an' have It over with. "Still I kept one eye on the lion. Mr. Orlzzly was right under the tree when I saw the lion wiggle his hindquarters. Then a yellow streak shot down, hit the bear square on the back, an' such a scrimmage as there was then mighty few men ever looked at before, or since either, for that matter. The panther was on top the grizzly clawln' and chawin' at his neck. The grizzly tried to throw him oir, hut ne couldn't do It. Over and over he rolled, but the cat was too fast for him, and he couldn't get his claws on her yellow hide, while every time he turned the cat was gougln' at his back. An' all the time the bear was growlin' an' roarin' and' the panther was snarlln' and screamin' like the very devil. It plum braced me up, and I was enjoyln* the scrap, though I felt pretty certain that which ever one whipped would be after me next. Then all of a sudden there was a crack from behind me and the panther fell over, beating the air with Its claws. There was another crack an' the grizzly, all covered with blood, started on a run toward me. I didn't know any more until I found Bill leanln' over me an' pourln' whisky down my throat. Not over ten feet away was Mr. Bear, stone dead, and the panther was lyln' where Bill's first shot hit him."?St. Louis Times-Democrat. ROACH KILLED BIG COBRA. Monster Reptile Meets Death In a Moat Unusual Way. R?*x, the king cobra at the Bronx Park, the largest reptile in captivity and the deadliest snake on earth, la dead. He was murdered while he slept, in the most cowardly and atrocious manner?by a little black roach. The king of all snakes had suffered indignities for some weeks, and the ignoble way his earthly career was ended was the climax. Last Sunday a week ago, Raymond L. Ditmars, the curator of reptiles at the Zoo, who had been noticing the irritability of Rex for more than a week, tempted him with a choice water snake, the prize dainty for a cobra. While Rex was swallowing this morsel he was held and a tumor cut from the left side of his jaw. If he nad not been taken advantage of in this fashion he couldn't have been overcome. He got well from the operation. Rex ate only on Sundays, and this time of the year he slept most of the time between meals. Last Sunday he had a square meal, and, snake-like, went to sleep. He did not stir after this meal. The other morning Keeper Charles Snyder, whose special pet Rex was, noticed that the snake was lying particularly still. When he poked him with a stick the snake didn't move and Snyder investigated. Rex was dead. He hadn't been sick and bore no marks of violence. This puzzled the keeper. Dr. W. Reid Blair, the veterinarian, was cancu m iw pcumiu an uuiv/j/o,. It was thought something the snake had eaten had disagreed with him, but the autopsy proved this theory unsound. Upon further cutting up it was found that the cause of Rex's death lay In his head. The head was cut open, and inside the brain was found a little black roach, still alive. This roach had bored into the cobra's cranium. This Is the first case of the kind on record.? New York World. <-? Calico derives its name from Calicut, a town in India.