l. m. grist's sons, PubUiher.. [ % 4amilB J9?cspap?:: J> ">? promotion of the political, Social, Agricultural and (Tommerciat interests of the people. ]
~ ESTABLISHED ~185S. YORKVILLE, 9. C., FRIDAY, MAY S, 1011. XO. 80.
The
Social ?
fiy pre der \
Copyright 1910, by tho Bobb?-f
Till III Ml ill Ml Ml Ml ?l ' '
CHAPTER XXIII.
A Warning.
But Bruce had not calculated on a
few disagreeable after-moments more
trying: than any he had heretofore undergone.
Buttoning his coat, about
an hour later, he started to walk to
his rooms. The concert, a special,
out-of-the-season affair, had terminated
early, to give people time to flit
back to their summer places. The
I gaiety of Fifth avenue was not that of
the metropolis at its best: nearly all
of the dwelings were closed; a monotonous
array of windows with curtains
drawn looked out upon the park.
At length, the young man's brisk
) pace brought him to the big building
on a comparatively quiet street where
his rooms were located. At one side
of the marble entrance hall was a little
waiting-room for visitors. Passing
it to reach the elevator. Bruce noticed
the draperies move. Then he saw
some one, and stopped, as if stunned.
Recovering himself with a great ef,
fort, he stepped in.
For the first time that day composure
seemed to leave him; his face
had gone pale. Assurance and he
were surely strangers; he looked at
her as one might stare at a ghost.
"Miss Wood!" he said.
Her eyes were brilliant. Beneath
her composure, could be felt a great
perturbation; she looked at him
strangely.
"I don't quite know why I came, unless?"
She paused, her hands tightly
clasped. It was easy to see she was
not herself. She stood there as if beneath
a spell.
His face was troubled. "Never
mind!" he said, in a low tone.
"Did he not know?did she herself
not know what had brought her there?
"I?I found the key near Mr. Goldberg's,"
she said, with an uplift of
the dark lashes.
"Indeed?" he answered. No more.
Why did he not say something else?
She waited.
"I came because I thought you
must be in great danger?terrible
trouble." The words faltered.
"No danger!" he exclaimed, almost
bruskly. And then, with less severity,
he added. "It was rather foolish of
you."
k "No danger!" she repeated, as if not
hearing his last words. "But I overheard
Sir Archibald and his valet?"
A flush dyed her face. "I "aught
words, I do not know just what?terrible
words?or what seemed beneath
them?his tone. And you had gone?"
"Believe me," he said gravely, "all
is well with me as it ever can be.
Your father knows you are here?" abruptly.
"I?I believe I said something about
the subscription concert."
He looked at his watch. "You have
just time for the last express." As
he spoke, he held back the curtain;
she walked out and followed him to
, the front door. A taxi was passing.
Bruce nodded to the man; he drew
up to the curb. The girl now was
very pale.
"1?1?don't understand," she said;
^ "I wish I did."
He looked at her. "Perhaps, it is
as well not," he said slowly.
"You mean we shall never meet
again?" she said.
"Yes." His face, too, was pale.
"Then I shall never know more
than now?always he in the dark, the
terrible dark?"
"Walt!" He considered. "Will you
_ see me once more, Just once, so that,
' perhaps, you may understand just a
little better?"
"I remember," she said, "you were
brave for me, and," with a trembling
smile, "I liked you for it. When one
k makes a friend?"
The words died away. A cold draft
from the half-open door of the hall
swept out upon them; she shivered
slightly.
"Why," he said, "if you will so honor
me, we shall meet then once more.
Perhaps I can explain better?such little
explanation," bitterly, "as there
may be, to make!"
"When?" said the girl, with clearer,
more steadfast eyes.
"The night of the Japanese play?at
your house, if you will."
"Yes, yes!" she said. "Somehow, I
believe in you. I can't understand; I
| don't. Anything you may say, to
make me know, to?" She hesitated.
"To clear up the horrible doubts?"
he suggested.
A mist sprang to her eyes. She
moved toward the curb and stepped
into the waiting vehicle.
"Grand Central station," he said to
the driver.
"Aren't you?" She looked at the
place by her side.
a radiant lleht came to his face. She
did not understand; she was full of
doubts; but she did not altogether disbelieve
in him. He bent his head as
to a princess, peerless, unattainable,
beautiful. Her hair was a dark cloud;
the mist in her eyes like rain, momentarily
dimming the blue.
Thank you; but if you don't need
me?"
She sark back and said no further
word. "He is not in danger; what a
mad, foolish trip!?a horrible dream!"
Thus she may have thought. The taxi
moved away. Bruce stood with his
bat in his hand, even after it had disappeared.
"I slipped your mail under your
door, sir." The voice was that of
Stebbins, the janitor.
Bruce moved automatically back into
the hall, and took the elevator to
his rooms.
His mail was large and comprised
many invitations. Hunting, fishing,
yachting, golfing and polo-playing
constituted a few of the inducements
held forth to summon him here and
there, away from the noisy metropolis,
lie set them aside, to be answered
punctiliously, with conventional regrets.
He had not realized how popul
lar he was until he surveyed the bulg?
ing pile of snow-white envelopes.
1
______________ 1
w*w IIP
8
lucaneer
; r
! t
i c J s h a m t
i C
Merrill Company. 1 y
Popular? He looked at his statue of 8
Kwan-on; that astute young woman, v
In silver, seemed to smile sardonically 8
at him. What humor, what irony
lurked in the corners of her lips; she ^
had never appeared less gracious, his ?
lady of mercy! v
He returned to his mail. A letter 1
from China fell from the next envel- w
ope he opened?news of business, good w
business. He had almost forgotten
there was such a business. He read c
to the end of the polite communication ?
indifferently; with no second thought.
laid it down. But the next missive
held his attention longer. His brows w
drew together. Near his elbow in the c
one vase he permitted himself, a dried p
rose, with every semblance of its roseate
life gone, hung feebly over the >'
cold porcelain rim.
Bruce, regarding the paper before <1
him. read again; looked more closely
at the signature.
"Ting! Urgent need!"
A new, more pressing and dangerous
complication had unexpectedly
arisen. Bruce got up. Leaving the
room hastily, he carefully locked his e<
door, descended to the street and made
his way to a near-by station of the
Elevated. For what seemed to him an y
interminable time, the train whirled 11
him on. At length, however, he got w
out and walked some distance. Night a
was falling; the lights of the squalid "
neighborhood in which he found him- v
self seemed battling with the shadows. t(
As he made his way quickly up this P
street and down that, he became for
the first time aware of two slouching
figures he remembered having noticed
in the train. They moved after him, hi
keeping him ever in sight. They were
rough, unpleasant-looking fellows. He
did not know them, but that signified n
nothing; they had merely superseded "
James. Sir Archibald was by no h
means yet beaten; he confessed only h1
to a temporary rebuff. Bruce had reason
now to entertain an even greater *1
respect for this leader among his ad- P
versaries. With singular swiftness ai
had Sir Archibald shifted his tactics;
concentrated with adroitness and skill 01
his forces into a channel which would h
lead whither? Bruce feared he knew tr
only too well. "
A little farther, and he stopped ^
abruptly, on pretense of looking in a
miserable shop window. The fellows j.
following almost rubbed elbows with
him; nevertheless, he seemed not to ,
b<
notice.
u. ?
Near ny, nis aieri scus?-n iuiikiu ?.
faint tinkling, made hy tiny bits of
glass that, hanging pendant and sway- ^
ed by the wind, gave forth a crystalline
murmur. An odd, half-tlmorous ^
little sound, that seemed to shrink
from mingling with the multisonous
intonation of the great metropolis, to
whisper apart, as if, indeed, according
to certain affirmation, the more or ^
less honorable spirits of the dead babbled
their messages through this dulcet
medium.
A moment Bruce stood; then he f
wheeled suddenlv and crossed a threshold.
He found himself in one of the t)
tea-houses and restaurants, frequented
mostly by Orientals. Seemingly not p
a large place. It was really a net-work
of rooms of sufficient size to accommodate
many guests, transient and
otherwise. At a far end of one of the
front apartments, a little girl with that (]
Raphael face and expression encoun- K
tered so often in the Orient, picked <j
from a musical instrument the stray S|
single notes of what was intended to Sj
be a melody. b
Bruce took his place at a small ta- v
hie and an Oriental brought him a pot h
of white, steaming liquor. The young tl
man toyed with the egg-shell-like cup T
into which it was poured while he h
glanced around. The two fellows he a
had observed on the Elevated and af- g
terward had remained without, near w
the front entrance, presumably. From it
the next room came the low murmur t!
of voices. t<
The young man listened. A native 3
banquet was evidently in progress, for e
a waiter went by with the steaming p
towels the guests were wont frequently
to mop their faces with. Bruce o
stopped his own waiter; paid, and tl
spoke to him. The latter nodded, in- h
dicated with his hand and the young c
man followed him to the back s
of the place through a side hall. Here
were several winding ways and a p
number of doors. One of these the n
young man opened, then crossed a a
narrow court and found himself not tl
long afterward in another little pas- t<
sage which led into a small room. n
The one he had stepped into that
night when Sir Archibald, his secre- o
tary and Miss Wood had interrupted v
a certain visit on his part at Tings: c
He had hardly known her then; much b
had transpired since. It was only the s
night before he had danced with her. v
Could so much history be compressed
In a day? He stood in darkness S
now, thinking of her. But twenty- ti
four hours before had been movement
?joy?dazzling lights! Now his hands n
reaching out touched but that emptl- "
ness, his future portion. Another s
would woo her and win her?this n
strong aggressive Englishman, with
his titles and landed interests; she t
would rule in the stately and superb v
home of the Kamfords. The romance
for Bruce had been very brief; the t
awakening had come with stunning n
abruptness. Dreams, dreams! That's a
what one got for dreaming. An hour f
of wonderful glamour; and afterward p
?how he could laugh at himself there p
in the black night! d
He threw back his head abruptly; it P
was no time for such thoughts. The f
need for action pressed on him: he P
had use for his wits now, truly. Caglioni
had hit upon a definite trail at i<
last. He held the thread delicately but b
surely: the- net was out. and the sec- n
retar.v, masterhand in that oriental a
environment, was drawing it in?with n
what delight, what feverish zest! '
< >r. came the chilling possibility,
perhaps it had already been drawn in! n
Bruce held his head to the door com- b
nunicating with the inner room.
Tom it came no sound; an ominous
itilluess reigned. His lingers pressed
inmewhero on the framework. The
loor opened; he stepped in.
The room, dimly lighted with wax
andles, was empty; a faint aromatic
ulor filled the air; on its scarlet string,
he bit of jade was the only thing that
noved. Bruce stood still, in the cener
of that strange apartment; grocsque
trifles 011 shelves melted into
hadows; a crimson cloak in a dim
orner looked like a sanguinary pool,
le held his head somewhat high; his
yes gleamed. The last stand! Well,
o be It! His gaze caressed a small
ial he took from his pocket, tnen
uddenly sharpened, shifted.
A soft patter?patter without caught
is attention. They had come. The
ther way was guarded, the more delous
way out through the restaurant,
'hey had set the snare and he had
,-alked into it. And yet he could not
ell have done otherwise.
But stay! The hand busy at the
omplicated Chinese lock was a quiet
ne; now one bolt shot back softly,
hen another. Bruce waited; a breathes
moment and the door suddenly
as flung noiselessly open; as quickly
loBed again and relocked; Ting,
anting, agitated, with consternation,
?ar in his eyes, stood before the
oung man.
"They are following?" Bruce spoke
uickly.
"Yes."
"How many?"
"One; but there will be more."
"What is he like?"
"Yellow, with a black beard."
"Caglloni!" murmured Bruce. "Of
nurse. You wrote me from where?"
"The messenger office."
The other looked down. "And he let
ou do it?" half to himself. "Why?"
; was not difficult to surmise; now
ere they, two, there together, they,
nd the? "But how," said the young
lan, In a tense, clear, though low
olce, "did it happen that he chanced
> catch sight of you In the first
lace?"
"He is cunning as the fox. He
arned what ship sailed today for
le Orient, and saw Ting as he would
ave gone aboard."
"And so you dodged back?" The
oung man laughed recklessly. Cuning,
truly, was Caglioni, as Ting said.
\nd swift!" the young man added In
is own thoughts. While he, Bruce,
ad been listening to modern musical
liosyncrasies, with dolt-like absorpon,
the secretary had called for a
aper, looked, at the steamship list
nd acted accordingly.
From consideration of what James
light have said about some one
umpiug Into Bruce at the station,
? this searching the press for news of
le first outward-bound steamer for
le Mediterranean and the Red Sea,
ad constituted a logical and quick
lental process on the part of Cagoni.
"Perhaps you get rid of him. It may
p, he did not follow you here?" ob rved
Bruce with sudden hope in his
nice.
Ting's answer dispelled any possile
optimism on the subject; he gazed
nt through a narrow aperture In the
eavy blinds into the street. "He is
lere," he said, "and another?a big
tan."
* - ' " DM.iao
>'ir a rem Dam, iiiunuun-u omv<,
gain lie looked at the tin)* vial, a
alnt.v, beautiful curio in its minute
ay, and once more put it back.
Piens!" he laughed. "Not yet!"
"They are coming this way!" said
ing.
"Well, let them! As the gods, or
le immortal spirits will!" A precipiite
light shone from his eyes. "We'll
lay out the game."
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Snare.
The thoroughfare was narrow and
ark in places, but at that point the
learn of a street lamp not many yards
istant cast an uncertain glimmer on
tirrounding objects. Through a fine
lanting rain, almost a mist, that had
egun to fall, the wavering light reealed
for an instant two figures who
ad now stopped in a doorway across
tie street and a little aside from
'ing's modest establishment. Then,
aving lent grudging visibility to them
nd the immediate environment, the
low suddenly sputtered and nearly
rent out, but seeming to reconsider
;s threatening intention of plunging
tiat section of the thoroughfare into
atal gloom, flared up once more and
bowed another person, roughly dressd,
coming around a corner and aproaching
at a quick, shambling gait.
This third man paused at the sight
f the two men in the semi-shelter of
he doorway; one of the latter who
eld a cigar that gfowed like a tiny
oal, spoke to the new-comer with
harp, imperative inquiry.
"He's gone into the restaurant," relied
the third person, "and he's there
ow. unless?" He broke off. "There's
hack entrance from that place into
liis shop," he added abruptly, nodding
ward Ting's door. "And maybe he's
made use of it and is In there."
Sir Archibald replied with a brief
rder; the man at once turned and
alked hastily back the wav he had
ome. Caglioni's eyes followed him, a
lack shadow on the faintly shining
tones, then returned watchfully iOrard
Ting's house.
"No mistake, this time!" observed
;ir Archibald in curt, short tones,
urning up the collar of his coat.
"None," said Caglioni, without removing
his bright gaze from the door.
I didn't want to take chances and so
ummoned you and told you to communicate
with the others."
"You are unite sure of your man?
hat you've followed the right one
rho got the peurls at that station?"
"Not only did he answer the descripioii
James gave of him, hut I recogized
in the fellow, a dealer in curios
nd artificial pearls we nan met nenre.
You remember, surely, this very
late; he had iu his show-eases the
earl Huddhas made by the process
iseovered by Ye-jin-yang in the thireenth
century. (th, there's no room
nr error now!" Caglioni's voice virated.
"I would stake my life on it."
"I wonder," said Sir Archibald cyn ally,
and a little curiously, "why you
ring so much of that l<atin tempera nent
of yours into this matter?on
cursed damp night, too?as if there
night be something almost personal
etween you and?this Bruce!"
"Personal!" Caglioni shrugged. "I do
iot forget last night near the rjolderg
house."
"Only that?"
The secretary's eyes burned Into th<
night; he did not answer. Sir Archibald,
too, remained silent a few moments.
Perhaps he was just thet
thinking of something "personal," himself,
between him and this fellow. Hh
wooing had, somehow, come to an abrupt
standstill. Hut after tomorrow
when she would know, when he couk
speak nnd tell all?when all the work
would know, for that matter?ah
then! Delectable consummation!
And Sir Archibald's look, fastened or
the doorway opposite, seemed at thai
instant as grimly eloquent as the glinl
of a bayonet, bent on the business ol
the empire.
"Time Boiger was nere, ne onserved
abruptly In harsh accents, puffin?
harder at his cigar.
"There he comes now!" Caglloni't
voice was full of eager malice. "And
he has his men with him!"
"Of course! In a raid of this kind
there must he no slipping through th
meshes."
Both men looked down the street,
at the distant, dimly seen forms,
drawing nearer. At the same moment
the arc lamp began once more to
sputter. Red, sullen sparks fell from
it; leaping shadows danced this way
and that. The wind set a street sign
to creaking dolorously. Another sound
mingled with It, that of a door hurriedly
swung out and back again, as
some one?an Oriental, by his dressslipped
from Ting's place and started
swiftly down the street.
"The Chinaman! He's discarded
his European clothes!" exclaimed Caglioni.
"Quick! After him! He must not
escape. I'll see that Bruce doesn't get
away. It may only be a ruse to draw
us from the door."
The secretary waited no longer, hut
sped at once after the fleeing figure,
In the momentary darkness it seemed
to elude him, to fade from view. Then,
by the aid of another street lamp, less
? - f U* -Uki TlnoJc
capricious, nc rttu^in. oikiu ui i 1115 ?a
form once more. But the rain coming
down faster, aided the fugitive; it had
sent people indoors. The block ahead
was deserted, as seemed the little alley
into which the frightened Chinaman
next turned.
Caglloni began to breathe low maledictions;
it was not difficult to divine
the cause of the Oriental's sudden,
desperate flight. He had learned there
were men in front of the restaurant
and guessed the next move of the aggressors.
Returning the pearls, no
doubt, to Bruce, Ting had trusted to
his legs and the darkness to extricate
him, once and for all, from the affair,
On the morrow, he would not be
found; his shop would be deserted,
and no trace of him would ever again
'be discovered by those of the Occidental
race. Did not Caglioni know,
had he not had experience with Ting
and his kind, who can .slip out of the
narrowest places, and disappear as
completely as if they had faded into
thin air.
The secretary set his teeth. This
yellow devil was pursuing his tactics
of earlier in the day; but he would
get him now. He was a necessary
link in the chain of evidence to rid
himself of one whom he had such excellent
reason to fear?Chatfleld Bruce,
a constant menace to Caglioni's own
peace of mind, his safety, his life,
even. The secretary ran faster; he
saw with gratification the distance
between him and the other lessening.
Ting, at first, had given evidence of
unusual Heetness, greater even than
Caglioni himself could boast; obviously,
however, the Chinaman's "staying
power" was not now all it might have
been. He appeared to slacken and
weaken rimitine like a man who could
go but little farther. They were now
a couple of blocks from the scene of
the proposed raid. Caglioni did not
doubt his ability soon to return there
with his man. He did not imagine the
other would resist; the Chinaman, by
nature, is essentially a man of peace
and will yield, without striking back,
when pushed into a corner.
Near the street Ting went on yet
more slowly. There would be, however,
no convenient cab for him to
slip Into when he reached that thoroughfare.
Caglioni felt fairly assured
of this; the other would not now escape
the secretary's longing fingers.
Peremptorily Caglloni's voice rose
above the patter of the rain. The fellow
heard; he had no choice apparently
but to obey the stern command.
He paused, seemingly out of breath,
his hand pressed to his side. But the
secretary took precautions not to be
deceived by a ruse; he understood the
Oriental's inborn cunning, and, as he
stepped briskly forward, was prepared
for any artifice or emergency.
"Lift a finger to resist, and?" His
voice conveyed a sibilant menace; the
gleaming weapon in his hand lent it
emphasis.
Ting's response was immediate,
piteous, scarcely distinguishable fot
\iunl ni' lirpath! Pidirin-Knfirlish and
Chinese dialect mingled confusedly in
his imploring tones. He hoped, trusted,
the honorable one would not take
the most unworthy Ting hack; he
would pay, reward handsomely the
honorable one; he who was more exalted
than the moon and the stars.
The secretary contemptuously Interrupted
him: there was no mistaking
the genuineness of Ting's apprehensions.
expressed in that strange
jargon.
"Come!" said Caglioni scornfully,
laying a rough hand on the other's
shoulder. "You'll pay and no mistake,
hut not me. March!"
The fellow obeyed; but his shoulder
seemed to shrink at that touch and
his implorings to become more earnest.
"Most honorable and illustrious?I
implore?me, miserable one, lowly as
the dust"?
He was trembling now, or?a shaft
of light, between walls, suddenly fell
on his lace as they went forward. He
was laughing! Caglioni started back.
"You!" lie stammered, in amazement.
consternation.
i?rop it: saici uruce smilingly.
"Don't lilt that arm, please; and just
let thai little plaything fall from your
lingers. You will not hesitate, I trust"
?the weapon in his own hand was
against Caglioni's side?"to grant this
slight request. Relieve me, as a
friend, I advise you not to."
The secretary did not hesitate; it
was he, now who appeared unmanned.
The alley was lonely, deserted, the
very spot for a darksome deed. Bruce
liont suddenly forward and whispered
a name into the secretary's ear. His
low voice was at once gay and thrillb
ing, very mocking, too. CaKlionI trem
hied and leaned hack against the wall
- as if for support; he had not heard
1 that name for many years.
"Hush! Not here in this nelghhors
hood of all in New York!" Afar,
- through the storm, came the faint
, twing-twang of a Chinese musical in1
strument.
i uime: saui nrini' uii.tuiiu.hi.
, "Our littje walk?shall we not take It?
And our little talk?we must not miss
i that. I regret the weather is not more
1 favorable for a charming heart-tot
heart conversation and stroll."
f "How long have you known?" the
secretary managed to say. All the
antagonism had left him now; he
f glanced over his shoulder into the
darkness as a man might turn for a
i moment to look back Into a black
I past.
"I think," said Bruce easily, "I half1
placed you when first I saw you, als
though you have changed much and
have a beard. It was your eyes that
. gave me the first inkling of the truth;
, I never forget eyes."
They walked on, out Into the street,
i on and on, away from Ting's place,
i "You thought I might recognize you,
' sometime," murmured Bruce, very
i close to the other, a hand In his pockI
et, holding now the something hard
that just touched, made itself felt to
i his companion. "And so, at Comscot,
as I passed the back of Mr. Wood's
I place, you sought to make me a slight
present, but only succeeded In notchI
ing my new straw hat."
"Would you believe me If I denied
It?"
"You?" murmured Bruce in mild
: surprise. "Who have made lying a
profession? Beside whom, Catellne,
1 aiarlllo rla Tftrtnoo anri oil thP other
menteurs a triple etage of history, appear
models of candor and veracity!
i You! My dear friend!" An accent of
> pained reproof manifested itself In his
I tones.
' "I wish the 'slight present,' as you
* call it, had done more <than notch a
I new hat," muttered Caglioni.
I Bruce gave a care-free laugh. "How
charming! To see you recovering
your spirits, my, good fellow!" He
stopped. "But alas! soon now must
we part. And never more do I expect
1 to see you. Never more," he repeated
> ?"mournful words!"
' Caglloni waited; looked at him. "I
suppose that's not all, is it?" he asked.
"Almost." Bruce regarded him up
1 and down. '"I've arranged that if any1
thing happens to me tonight your se1
cret will not he kept. There's a bit of
paper In my strong-box with a little
1 writing on it that will become the
, property of others, in case? You understand?"
The secretary' swallowed.
"The Nlne-tlmes-Nlne numbers only
a few million members, more or less.
; I neither condemn nor approve of
i them; but they exist, I accept th m
i merely as a fact. They never forget,
' nor forgive?if they know," he added
significantly, "where to ppt their
i hands on whom they seek, the traitor,
i he who betrayed them.
"L<et us go back.. You belonged to
them; you sold their secrets. You
even managed to capture, for the reword
.ifr(.re11 a certain henevolent nl
rate, when? Well, I, as you know,
with a small band, hurriedly organized
from the 'children of the plain,' interfered.
We freed Ting's father, the pirate,
for good and sufficient reasons.
It was great sport." Caglioni bestowed
upon him a malicious look.
"You did not find It so? You managed
to escape, disguised, made your
way by devious routes, as a priest, into
upper India, where you fell in with our
good, but rather stupid friend, Sir
Archibald?the secretary's teeth made
a sound?"who was engaged by his
government in the vain task of eliminating
the Nlne-times-Nlne in India
?eliminating by substitution, a la Anglo-Saxon:
giving them something
better! Unfortunately for you, wherever
Buddhism reigns your life would
have been forfeited If it became known
who you were. Chance brought you
here. You knew me?a possible menace
to your own safety and probably
represented to Sir Archibald I was a
member of the Nine-tlmes-Nlne?a
mistake, though they forced on me this
symbol or power among- mem, oui ui
gratitude for having saved one of the
number?a better man than you!"
Bruce showed a ring with a design,
the "Dawn," a circle above a straight
line, the sun rising above the earth.
"Very eloquent, these Chinese characters!
Don't you think so?"
"I have no opinion." said the secretary
sourly.
"And yet you should have; you who
are part Chinese. Your Mother was
a Manchu girl. Are you ashamed of
her?"
"Come to the point!" said Caglioni
hoarsely. Rage, terror, humiliation
burned in his eyes.
"Oh, most filial son!" murmured
Bruce softly; then his voice suddenly
changed. "You," he went on crisply,
"are thought to be dead; it was cleverly
arranged, on your part. Lo, you
are found to be living! Is there a
spot in this world where you would
l>e safe from death? Worse! From
Va? Hoaa npnnlp"
tonui c ; II1U niiun
Oaglioni's expression showed that
he did. "What do you want?" he said.
Bruce's eye lighted approvingly. "I
see you appreciate the point?fully!"
he observed, with merry accent on the
last word. "Too had we did not understand
each other better before, eh,
mon ami? Since last night you have
been to me slightly irritating, like a
disagreeable insect. But I forgive you; I
between us in the future exist only
halcyon thoughts."
"Anything more?" observed the secretary.
His face wore an odd pallor; i
the rain dripped from him.
"You will leave New York tonight,"
said Bruce in the same gentle tones.
"Make what excuses you please to Sir
Archibald. You," waving his hand
airily, "have ceased to he a factor in
the New World, to all intents and purposes,
have never been here or heard
of such vain baubles as the Goldberg
pearls; they have passed from your
mind, as if they had never existed.
An'd all the small array of mortals,
more or less interesting; or vivacious,
that fluttered around them! They,
too, have passed like the figment of a
dream. You have entered into another
metamorphosis; only no Ovid will
ever sing of your new transmutation."
A moment he stood, a bizarre figure,
in saturated silken garments, his face)
clear, finely chiseled, outlined against
a slant of rain. Then the long, white
hand made another gesture, half-play-1
M Hi
ful, though the light of his eyes ha<
never been brighter, more compelling
! Caglioni turned; moved softly, silentlj
away.
Bruce looked after him, as more am
more indistinct became the secretary'!
figure. At last it vanished, and onlj
the fine drops of rain, making countless
oblique lines against the yellowish,
sodden-appearing background, me
the observer's gaze.
(To be Continued.)
HOMES IN ATHENS.
As a Rule They Are Clean, But Bar<
I and Comfortless.
Home life in Greece, particularly ir
Atnens, is peculiar, n nn^m tumusi
be said that there Is no such thing:
In Mr. Duckett Ferrlman's book or
"Greece and the Greeks" the manneri
and customs of the picturesque Hellenes,
which are little known to the
average English reader, are described
at length. Mr. Ferrlman states thai
the Greeks do not know anything
about the art of making: a home.
"One may meet with exquisite cleanliness,"
he writes, "with beautiful
embroidered bed linen scented with
rosemary, but never with what we
mean by cozlness. The Greeks are far
less In their houses than we are, and
when they are at home they appear to
spend most of their time In looking
out of the window. They are not given
to Inviting their friends to their
houses. It Is not that they are niggardly,
for they will gladly entertain
you at a restaurant at far greater cos!
to themselves. But It does not enter
Into their Ideas to ask y6u home to
dinner, even after an acquaintance ol
many years.
"They do not ask each other, so It
can hardly be expected that they
should make an exception in the case
of foreigners. The cafe is a second
home to them. There they meet
friends and gossip. Tnai is one reason
perhaps why they dislike country life,
"It offers no alternative to the home;
there the hearth is the social center,
while In town It is the cafe. In Athens
those who do not own the house
they dwell in seldom rer.aln long In
the same abode. Two or three years
Is quite a long tenure. Many people
make a point of moving every year.
"The imposing facades of Athenian
houses conceal, for the most part, a
bare and comfortless interior, and a
well kept garden is rare. A garden
Is not made In a year, and a person
who changes his residence every
twelve months does not want to be
troubled with much furniture, nor is
he particular as to Its arrangement,
seeing that it will be carted away in
a few months.
"Home life has no resources for the
Greeks, as it has for us. It affords
them little occupation and no amusement.
They like to eat and drink in
crowds, where there is noise and
movement. Their instincts are too
gregarious to allow them to appreciate
the domestic intimacy which we prize,
"The day chosen for marriage in
Greece is usually Sunday, but the day
of all days In the year is the Sunday
preceding the Christmas feast. It is
not fashionable now to be married in
church. In Athens the ceremony takes
place in the house of the bride's parents.
A temporary altar is set up In
the middle of the room.
"At the conclusion of the ceremony
the priest and the couple join hands
and walk three times round the altar,
the guests pelting them with eomfits.
The most important part of the ceremony
is the crowning of the bride
and bridegroom with wreaths of orange
blossom; hence a wedding is
popularly called 'the crowning.'
"Love marriages are rare exceptions.
The match is made by the parents
and relatives rather than by the parses
principally concerned There art.
certain established usages which,
though not legally binding, are not to
be contravened with Impunity.
"Then It is considered wrong for
brothers to marry until their sisters
have been wed. Again, girls must
marry in order of seniority. It would
not be right for a girl to be married
while she had an elder sister who remained
single. The men of a family
are thus naturally anxious to see their
sisters settled, and as a dowry is indispensable
its provision is often a
matter of serious anxiety and the
fruit of great self denial on the part
of the brothers if the parents are
dead.
"There are cases in which brothers
have remained unmarried for years
and have devoted all their hard earned
savings to the dowries of their sisters.
Among the poorer classes emigration
is resorted to, not infrequently
solely with this object, and many a
dowry comes to a Greek maiden from
across the Atlantic."
A Lake of Solid Soda.
Many wonderful stories have been
told regarding the vast soda deposit
at Lake Magadi In East Africa. A
British expedition has recently ascertained
the facts regarding the lake,
which, according to "The Chemical
News," are as follows: What, in the
case of an ordinary lake, would be
water consists at Magadi of a solid deposit
of soda, with a hard surface
looking like pink marDie. uunug mc
wet season?which In this region Is
very short?the surface is covered
with a few inches of water. Immediately
after the cessation of the rains
the whole of the surface becomes dry
with the exception of a margin about
thirty yards wide. Even during the
wet season the amount of weter on
the surface in no way renders Impracticable
the working of the deposit.
The area of this remarkable deposit
is about thirty square miles. The deposit
Is divided into several distinct
layers, the top layer being about ten
inches thick. When a block of soda
is removed the "'mother liquid" rises
to the surface level and immediately
begins to form a fresh crust. The Indians
say that the crystalline mass is
reformed so rapidly that they work
the same spots year after year.
There are good reasons for assuming
that the deposit extends in a solid
mass to the full depth of the valley
containing the so-called "lake." A
bore-hole sunk to a depth of nine feet
?the greatest depth possible with the
appliances available at the moment?
passed through a continuous mass of
crystalline soda. Assuming only a
uniform depth of nine feet all through
the deposit, it is estimated that this
would represent about 200.000,000
tons.
' sMiscfllaneous grading.
j ARMY LIFE ON BORDER.
9 Very Different as Compared With a
Few Years Back.
There are few "old-timers" In the
army now as "old-timers" were con1
sidered a few years ago. There are
very few enlisted men In the army now
who were there before the SpanishAmerican
war, and a man with a sergeant's
stripes who has been in the
service ten years or more is a raruy
these days, whereas a few years ago
( few men wore the stripes of a corporal
^ with a length of service under five or
six years. The "old-timers" have gone
J out; many of them have retired on
1 two-thirds pay, many have gone Into
civilian positions in the Philippines,
} some of the best of them have been
j made officers in the Philippine con,
stabulary, a number have received
\ commissions in the regular army, and
in many other ways they have disappeared
from the ranks of the fighting
I force. The army of today is made up
| of new men, but the discipline is good,
( and the personnel is undoubtedly
, higher than it ever was. Clean-cut
I young men, athletic looking and intelligent,
make up the majority of the
fighting strength of the army. "The
' grizzled sergeant'* is a misnomer; the
sergeant of today is a young man?In
the majority of cases?and he comes
nearer emulating the type of men who
wear the shoulder straps than the
[ type that formerly wore the chevrons
and had to have a company clerk make
, out his papers. The old sergeant held
his position, as Elbert Hubbard says,
"because he could whip any man in
[ the company," the new sergeant be
cause of capacity as a commander.
The services these border guardians
are performing are harder than they
would be called upon to perform in
case of actual warfare, for in a war a
great body of men moves at one time,
equipped with held hospitals, great
' trains of quartermaster and commissary
supplies, batteries of held bake
ovens and other* conveniences. The
( troops have these at the concentration
camps?Galveston, San Antonio, and
Diego?but the men who are guarding
the border have none of them; they
have every hardship, yet are accepting
it all without a grumble. A trip along
the border from tent to tent reveals
the soldiers clad in their khaki trousers,
duck leggings, woolen olive drab
shirts, and campaign hats, lounging
' about in the sand, caressing a stray
Mexican cur, cleaning a rihe, burnishing
a bayonet, reading a paper, or digging
the sand out of a roll of blankets
preparatory to a short rest, with resigned
smiles on their faces and never
a frown?not even for the doctor
who visits them as often as he can get
around and advises them about how
to keep well, and is sometimes finicky
about the sanitation or rather the lack
! of it. With no fairer view than of a
broad expanse of sagebrush or cacti,
with the glistening white sand between
the low tuffs of browned vegetation;
or the back yard of a Mexican
home with live dogs, a goat, and a cow
in the forefront and half a dozen dirty
urchins playing about a woman
lazily drying her hair in the sun, the
soldiers put in their time. They have
already been at it several weeks.
Their eyes sparkle and the blood runs
quicker when the firing is heard across
the line and a squadron of funny Mexican
soldiers gallop past in quest of
insurrectos or comes hurrying back to
the nearest town to be locked up in
barracks for the night after a brush
with a band of rebels In the foothills,
for all the time there Is a chance of
"real war," and that is what the soldier
has enlisted for.?El Paso Herald.
WAS LAW WEST OF THE PECOS.
Unique Character Everything From
Saloon Keeper to Judge.
If old Judge Roy Bean should come
back to Langtry In the flesh he would
not know the clean, modern little city
as the same town in which he gave
vent to the eccentricities that won him
wide renown and placed Langtry on
, the map.
Much that was pure Action has been
written of Judge Roy Bean, but when
all this has been sifted out enough remains
to stamp the judge as one of
the most picturesque characters the
great southwest has ever produced.
Roy Bean was a Kentucklan. When
he was about 15 years of age he embarked
on a Mississippi river steamboat
for New Orleans, but becoming
involved in a tight on the boat he decided
to go to Texas, at that time a
wild, free land. So he went to San
Antonio and conducted a dairy for
some time. When the gold rush of
1849 and 1850 was attracting the venturesome
to California Bean went with
a party from Texas.
While in California Bean fell in with
a Mexican who was preparing to elope
with a girl. Bean decided that this
elopement was not of the girl's wish,
so he stole her himself. After keeping
her several days Bean returned her
to her family, hut for his trouble became
involved in a quarrel with a
Mexican army officer and finally challenged
him to fight a duel. The officer
accepted the challenge, and, aa the
challenged party named lances as the
weapons, Bean, who knew nothing of
lances, refused to fight, whereupon
they decided on pistols. This was
Bean's weapon, as he showed by killing
his man.
The Mexican authorities seized Bean
for killing the man and sentenced him
to be hanged, and to this day insist
that they hanged him. Friends are
said to have cut him down and revived
him, hiding him until he was able to
travel, when he returned to Texas.
The truth as to this hanging cannot
be vouched for, as the judge would
never talk about it. Certain it is that
there was a livid scar around his neck
and he carried his head in a peculiar
manner as a result of u permanently
stiff neck.
During; the civil war ne was a confederate
blockade runner. At the close
of the war he beKan carrying freight
by wagon train from San Antonio to
Ft. Stockton. With the beginning of
construction of the G. H. and S. A.
railway west from San Antonio, Bean
fitted up a tent saloon and moved with
the construction camps. When the
Pecos river rvas reached a permanent
camp was established at the mouth of
the Pecos, where it empties into the
Rio Grande. This town became the
Vinaegaron of border history. Vlnea.
guron Is the Mexican name of a venomous
insect.
It was at Vinaegaron that Bean acquired
the title of Judge, he being ap'
pointed justice of the peace. Here it
was that he handed down his famous
1 decision affecting the Chinese. An
American had shot and killed a Chl1
naman. He was haled before the
judge for trial and the courtroom was
crowded with his friends, for he was
popular. The judge after attending to
the preliminaries announced: "Gents,
I have looked carefully through my
Rlaekstone. and throuah tha ntatntaa
of the state of Texas, and I find no law
against killing a Chinaman. The defendant
is therefore acquitted."
Another case that brought the judge
a great deal of notoriety was this: "A
man with too much liquor aboard fell
from a bridge and was killed. The
judge, as coroner, viewed and searched
the body and found a 'six-shooter* and
about $40 In money. As coroner he
found that the man came to his death
by falling from the bridge. As judge
he announced: 'I And this man is
carrying a concealed weapon against
the statutes in such cases provided and
against the peace and dignity of the
state of Texas, and I therefore fine
him 126 and costs.' Needless to say
the fine and costs 'killed' that $40."
"Uncle" Dick Freeman, now a merchant
at Juno, Texas, was the deputy
and received the six-shooter as his fee.
He next moved his saloon and court
to what is now Langtry, Texas. Here
he established his "Jersey LJly" saloon
and constituted himself "Law West of
the Pecos," and at that time his was
the only law between the Pecos and
Ei Paso.
An amusing case, showing Judge
Bean's willingness to do what's right,
as well ax reap what he considered his
just dues, came about In this wise:
Two Mexican couples came to him to
be married. The following Is the
Judge's ceremony for the first couple:
"Qregorlo, you want to marry this
woman ?"
"SI, senor."
"Juanita, you want to marry Qregorlo?"
"SI, senor."
"All right, according to the power in
me vested by the state of Texas, I pronounce
you man and wife. Five dollars
apiece, please."
So they were married. But a few
days later the same two couples came
back and announced that they were
convinced they had made a mistake as
each man desired the other's wife, and
they wanted the Judge to fix them up.
He could for $10. This they were able
to produce. So after asking the women
if the exchange was agreeable to
them, he said:
"Very well, you are divorced."
Then followed a repetition of the
first wedding ceremony, not omitting
the Judge's usual fee in such cases.
Some of the signs the Judge had
posted on his buildings were unique.
These were so posted as to catch the
eye of passengers on the tralfis. AS
all train stopped at Langtry for water,
it allowed time for a brief visit to
Bean's, and many a thirsty pilgrim has
quenched his thirst in the old "Jersey
Lily." For even though court was in
session in the barroom it would al
ways postpone action until a customer
was waited on.
One sign read: "Judge Roy Bean,
Notary Public," another "Justice of
the Peace, Law West of the Pecos;"
another "The Jersey Lily Saloon, Billiard
Hall, Ice Cold Beer." The Judge,
when a customer complained that the
beer had evidently not been on the ice,
remarked, "Whoever heard tell of ice
in the summer time." On another
building was this: "Roy Bean's Opera
House, Town Hall and Seat of Justice,"
and below it, "Judge Roy Bean,
Justice of the Peace, Notary Public,
Marries Couples, etc."
The judge died In bed, attended by
one or two friends and several pets?
an eagle, mountain Hon and bearMarch,
1902 aged 71 years.
A few years after Judge Bean's
death Lillian Langtry passed through
the town on one of her farewell tours.
The train was held to allow her to visit
the Judge's place.. She evinced much
interest, and took a few poker chips
and cards as mementos, as well as an
old six-shooter that had belonged to
Judge Bean. Before leaving she presented
the Langtry school with $50, to
be used to repair tne Duuaing.
Langtry now boasts a modern school
building, good homes with flower gardens,
a tennis club and a mothers'
club, and above all law and order, so
that the judge would not recognize his
old town were he to return, except for
his old building, which still stands and
still bears some of the old signs.?
Langtry, Texas, special to New York
Sun.
OLDEST CITY IN ARIZONA.
Mining Engineers Find Relics on Tableland
Near Phoenix.
Still another "oldest city in the
world" has been discovered. When T.
Hewitt Myring found cases in Peru in
ruins which were said to be 7,000 years
old it was imagined that the remains
of early civilization had been pushed as
far into antiquity as they would ever
go, says the Chicago Tribune. But A.
Lafave, a mining engineer, has found
the relics of a town In an Arizona tableland
near Phoenix, which he Insists
are at least 10,000 years old. The
buildings are on a level stretch of
country where neither silt nor wash
was possible and yet the ruins were
covered with ten feet of prairie rust
which the discoverer claims requires
ages to accumulate.
The buildings of sandstone show
great architectural skill and in the
walls were found a box of cotton bolls
and a seajed Jar of corn, both well preserved.
The Arizona climate does not
permit the growth of cotton in the
Dresent age. so Mr. Lafave assumes
that sufficient time must have elapsed
since the cotton which he found was
grown to have wrought a complete
change in the character of the country.
This period he also gauges as
something like 10,000 years.
He is satisfied that the ruins are
older than those of Nineveh or Babylon.
He believes that the race which
built this town was possessed of a
high civilization from the abundance
of artistically wrought pottery and
that it subsequently was proven up by
internal dissension and possibly degenerated
into the cliff-dwelling peoples.