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RUPERT HUGHES i /ICW1KED rCOM THE gomedv <* hie ?m /Wg. T T Y > IUVS1XATED FROM WtOKXijeAPHflK^OF t m. play Art fj&awcxp* EJ?nr W. WAGE;, 9Y*0 *U*.y izi?Z: H*rrj u*?**r'im i 4*4#r*t bv %k* H* **4 H*r- ? > wr*r J(*i NM* A* vft* 'Vfii ?fryp#?- #*w? wv #?r4c U/ViA ?^y A***-,* 4m 0k* +mp u ?jm? >/?te ^TlAfTM li - MM 6? fart^y <M? IMMMPf fc*? * ftafe ttm* wSfA **. ??*??# m** ?<4 I#* > * f??<M fecv*6t*a* M4? CHATTCII HI, In OasVjtt* rii i i I ill ; TIM irr/nr. wr??*M4 UjVifc uvrru* eioag tU <U<4^iJ ? (Mk of Ukw faw* tM?r CK' ' ea?*, M ata pert of tt ??? *? their Cbta?g* a tWf tefU4 * pede?*rU*, to m* w%*f*F (te jMwart ?jr?t ?/ ttM jftlgfct fee, **4 wbltfe** fc ?lg*.i r*?. lu kftiYtfH ? <m? ' f?t u k? **?/' ! F?rUH> k? thoegfet iWr <i?lt?i ; tt*re*y ? f/v*pad ? totrotf action to ft **ft*b*gg?*g In CM?f9 ftt night mm kaowe, "A* m f ua auk? out wfi? t? . taM, Ma^y/rle," Ut? tteotiMoajtt pod* 4?red akrsd, "we wftlk atraight pti**A \ till ?? eo?ft to l.'rr.ptywiop atreet, I a/?d we flod a ftasar* ear tut > wtfl take oa to tfloptybiop ftveftoe I ? WrT<rf iU^M (rf any l?<t <1W i fouT* ahft panted, a* *be )of- ? (rMM alongalde bU wlHUrr ? "L-rt'a take the ftrat /,-ftr we meet, and ? {^lTi{fl tU conductor eaft pot Oft off ; at the atreef wb*re lb# rain later j ttVft?" "Perhftp*," T here wjh got much j tn that * p^rhap*," When they r?a^ the atreet-cftrred ?treef, they found two t racks, but r>otiifr>it occupying them, a* far aa they eocM ^ ?Ub?r way. A arnail ahopkeeper in ft tiny abop proved to be a dmt dkftAt no busily gelling foreign terror* to aliens, tbat they learned ttoUHtf ftW blm. At length, In lb# far-away, they ina4? out a headlight, and Iwwd the : grind and atyueal K a car. LteuUnant Mallory waited for ft, watch In hand, i lie boosted MSTjorUm elbow al>oard and bombftrdfed tb<u cooduotor with q*f*M 'Xiftup.. But Itwi cooduetAr ha4 no tnofft heard of their #tr??t than tbey had of bJ* Their agitation did not dtatrirb bin atol'. *'.n\\n, but he tnrited them to coiiffe along to th? next croaa InK. whtre tb*y could find another car and more J earned conductornj or, what proiwlJWfd p^rbapti a cab. fie threw . Marjorlft Into a panic by. ordering her to Jcrtiieon HUoo/Jcumii, a rn ^ 1 1 price, aTid ovcrJoolfed the fact that be did net r\nr, up their rareM. The young coupl*- ?iueexe*i Into a peat and Ulkcl am loudly In ubarp whlspent. ?^Voaldn't It be terrible, Harry, ir, Juut uh 'a?) v/> t to the Ujtt\iaU;r'H, n*s Mh'Mild ilnd papa tn#re ahead of un, waiting to forbid the bandM, or what ever It l?? Wouldn't It be Jufct ter rible?" "Yen, It would, honey, but It doean't nccm probable. There are thou?ST;djj of mlnlntcnt In Chicago. He could never Ilnd our*. Fact la, 1 doTibt ff we Hitd l?l"? ouraelvua." Her clutch tightened till ho would have winced, if he had not' been a ftoldler. "What do you mean, Harry?" "Well, In th p. f I r h t place, honey, look what time It Ik. Hardly more than time to get the train, to way nothing of huntliiK for that pretuher and Mtandlng up through a long rigma role'^ ?hy, Harry Mftllory, are you got lug ready to Jilt ino?" "Indeed I'm not ? not for worldn, honey, hut I've got to get that train, haven't. I?" "Couldn't you wait over one train? Junt one tiny little train?" "My own, own honey love, you know I L'h lrnpo*Klbl?! You muat re member that I've already waited over three traltyx while you trlwl to make up your mind." "And you rauHt remember, darling, that I t'n no pany matter Tor a glrJ to decide to nneak itway from home and ' be married necretly. and ko all tha way out to that hld<-oufl Manila with no troiiHfloau and no woddlng prea? enta and no anything." "I know It iHnt, and I waited pa tiently while you got up th? courage. But now there aro no more trnlnw. 1 ahuddor to think of thla train being late. We're not due In Han Fran claco till Tburadfty evening, and my tranaport aalla at aunrlae Friday morn the Oh. Lord, what If 1 ahould mlaa that tranaport! What If I ahould P "What if we ahould mlaa the rain* latarr "It beglna to look a great deal like "But; Harry, you wouldn't deaert ma now? abandon me to my fate?" "Wall, it lan't exactly Ilka abandon* noent, aeelng that yoo oould go bona to your father and mother la a taxi ''at. (Ur?d M him la horror. you Ml want ma tot roar i ifTtS: ? ':;y>v,. , . . "?'?so. j - i - r??? rtifH MM! Y??r* tfcretf ? CWy a* I fewr U|XW/ **4 r?Tw *fc ?f jot. fce/gftto: Tui'rt MyllM H? ???? *14 ?? *<J*r kUHf, I wi Mftfafatc *ft?e 0? OCTf*, IM I'M ft! widter, otiit, * Mmmn tJU r??rtw *my, ?M I'm Ufa# tA tbe |?*?lMfcett !'*? W|X FtMt. U4 (Mr vttt ?ii> rM^Mtate/ est* U I A4, w?ra etftrre. ^Tbey rMlfMOo*, tot UM>f4 to ?ttdf (o ??ttaifflil ?# Mi ll<WiH (MrlTfM*; tk Mok* li dlecrace Tht? r< vMiito't ??m to muuif mm >?< f alv/sMt't l?f* my ?*y of y?* U yum did, f eat y know ^ trade, mmd that'* "Dom't call It ft t rmdm, Uknmd, Wm the Bobtext profeemkm tm all tbe worid, ft?d you're ifc? nobW*t soldier UW ever wft?, *ad to ft ftmH or two you'll be tbe M?Mt fCMnl to the arsey," H? eoeld sot iflortf to shatter MKfe m derovt itoutUm of quench tin WM of faltb to those belated and loving eyes tie tacitly mdm Itted hie ability to U promoted cwnnftBdef'ixbUf to ft year or two, Me allowed Uiat glit tering possibility to remain, used it m a basis for argument. ~Tben, dearest, yon must belp m? to do tor duty." gbe clapped bto upper arm aft It It were an altar and a be an ipblgenla about to be sacrificed to aftre tbe army. And she murmured wltb utter heroism : V * m, "I will! Do wbftt you like wltb ibe!" Ho squeezed ber band between bla biceps and bla ribs and accepted tbe offering In m look drenched with grat itude. Then be said, matter-offac*!/: "We'll aee bow much time we hare when we get to ? whatever the nemo of that atreet la." The car jolted and wailed ?? i*a ,.;way like an old drifting rocking 1 chair. Tbe motorman was In no bur ry. Tbe passengers seemed to bave no occasion for baate. Homebody got r on or got off at aimoat every corner, ! and paused for convocation while I tbe car waited patiently. Hut eventu i ally the condu ctor put bis bead in and t drawled: "Hay! Here'a where you get. off at." Th#-y hastened to debark and found themselves In a narrow, gaudily light ed region where they Raw a lordly transfer-distributor, a profound scbol ar in Chicago utreeta. He Informed them that ? the minister'* wtreet lay fur back along , the path they had come; they should have taken a ear In the opposite direction, transferred at Home remote center, descended at *orne unheard-of Htreet, walked three blocks one way and four another, and there they would bave been. Mallory looked at his watch, and Marjorle's hopes dropped like a wrecked aeroplane, gor he grimly asked bow long It would take them to reach the railroad station. "Well, you'd ought to make It In forty mlnntcH," the transfer agent said ? and added, cynically, "if tbe car mnfcru schedule/' "Good Ix>rd. tbe train starts In twenty minute*!" "Well, I tell you ? take this here green car to Wexford avenoo ? there's usually a taxlcab or two standln there." "Thank you. Hop on, Marjorle." Marjorie hopped on, and tbey sat down. Mallory with and thoughts on nothing but the watch he kept In bis hand During this tense Journey the girl pfcifected her soul with graceful martyrdom. "I ll go to the train with you, Hai> ry, and then you can ?end me home In a taxlcah." Her nether lip trembled and her eyes were filmed, but they were brave, and her voice wan so tender that it wooed bin mind from his watch. He gazed at her, and found hef so dear, ho demoted and so pitifully exquisite, that he was alino*t overcome by an impulse to gather her Into his arm? there and then, indlfforent to the im mediate passengers or to his far-off military superiors. An hour ago they wero young lovers in all the lilt and thrill of elopement. She had clung to him In the gloaming of their taxlcab, as It sped like a genie ftt their whim to tho place where tho ^ minister would unite their hsndft and ralee hlft own in blessing. Thenco the new husband would hare carried tbe new wife away, bto raty own, jool and_ body, duty and beauty. Than,' ah# then in their minds the future wa? an 'unwanlng honeymoon, the Journey across the continent, a ? troll along a lover's lane, the Pidflo oo'ofttt a |WS den lake, ?nd the Philippines 'A chftln of Fortunate Islee decreed dtpectolUr for their Eden. And then the tftXl cftb encountered ft lamppotf. Tbey thought they bed merely wrecked a motor car? and lo, tbey lu* wrecked a Pftredlse. ~lt'a * m?mn oM world. taTt HT* ~Awf?i!~ A&4 then tlicr MMt |fl* o?t Into tk* atrMt mis so lost fen worn ttut tier 414 not kaov bow tkcr vere train pled or ?Oov(4< Marjories <i< ?pairwufptooptdc that ttfaftlyt^ instinct Sko forgot ftworiniw! A thoughtful p? iitnir raa oet and! towtd the b*?iwt into MaUorrt tm* even as the ear moved oC. FortflM reiwttd a mooxat and they found a tajricab watting where they bad expected to find it- ^pcc? more they were coey In the iBying twilight, but their grief wan their only t&gg^ge, and the claap of their hands talked all the talk there was. Ansl etr within anxiety tormeatea them and they feared snofhar wreck . But as they swooped dm s|?R th? station, a kind-faced tower dock beamed the reassurance that they bad three minutes to sf?re. The taxlcab drew up and halted, bnt they did not get oat. They were kissing good-byes, fervidly md nu merously, while a grinning atatlcwv porter winked at the winking cfeanr fear. ~MarJorle simply eould not bare done with farewell*. - ?'? " "I'll go to the gate with yon," she said. " :v' lie told the chauffeur to wait and take the young lady home. The" lieu tenant looked so honest and the -Ctrl so sad that the chauffeur simply touched bis cap, tbougb It was not bin custom to allow strange fares to vanish Into crowded stations, leaving behind nothing more negotiable than Inntructlons to wait. CHAPTER IV. A Mouse and a Mountain, . ? All -the *WI? the foiled eloperrf were eloping, the San Francisco sleeper wan filling up. It had been the receptacle of assorted lots of hu ( rnanity tumbling Into It from all dl i rectlons, with all sorts of souls, bodies 1 and destinations. The porter received each with that j expert eye of his. His car was bis laboratory. A railroad^ Journey is a sort of test-tubi?f&f character; strange elements meet under strange condK lions and make strange combination*. The porter could never foresee tbe Ingredients of any trip, nor their ao^-j tions and reactions. lie had no sooner established Mr,. Wedgewood of London and Mr. Ira Lathrop of Chicago, In comparative repOfce, than his car was Invaded by a woman who flung herself into the first seat. She was flushed with run ning, and breathing bard, but she managed one gasp of relief: j "Thank goodness, T made It in time." The mere sound of a woman's voloe In tbe seat back of him was enough to disperse Ira Latbrop. With not 00 much as a glance backward to see what manner of woman It might be, ho jammed his contract into his pock' et. seized his newspapers and retreatr ed to tbe farthest end of the caiy bouncing down into berth number onet like a sullen snapping turtle. Miss Anne Gattle's modest and homely v&llse had been brought aboard by a leisurely station usher, who set It down and waited with ft speaking palm outstretched. She had ber tickets In her hand, but trans ferred them to her teeth while she searched for money In a handbag old fashioned enough to be called a ret* cule. The nsher closed his flat on the pit tance she dropped into It and depart ed without comment. The porter ad vanced on her with a demand for 'Tickets, please." She began to ransack her retlcuW with flurried haste, taking out of it Jr email purse, opening th at, closing It* putting ft back, taking it out, search in# the reticule through, turning out a handkerchief, a few hairpins, a fslh trunk keys, a , baggage cheek, a baK tie 0 1 salts, a card or two and nu merous other maidenly articles, storing them 10 placet looking in parte agsin* restoring that, the reticule, setting It down, out a book M!m aim GMt^ wttH prts tMlttj. *Xo, ttelfc 7??- I totaMl to ?U Bp till ererjrtedr ?iw kM nUrtC* TW porter rtdrW. XJhs Gtttk took ??t ? bit of or In* ? nfiii fajwr siitfUaf u4 Mt to pork ttk? >toU?f Dortfeft. Her Maxtor Itl Ml (tired In ad wrgtd mv tfirw be fore tW ?u fcoMfin ttiput ??ip on of 4ff?M against A roddee jb?> Btt tlat tfcrreteaed to crwfli b?r. A nfse mad tec*, base and red a* a rittee moo?. dawned before ber Mr?, Jlmmie Wellington. eye# and from it came an uncertain j voice: "feHscuzhe me, mad'm, no 'fensh in tended." The words and the breath that car ried them gave the startled spinster an instant proof that her vis-a-vis did not share her prohibition principles or practices. Sh*> regarded the ele phant with mouse-like terror, and the elephant regarded the mouse with elephantine fright, then he removed himself from her landscape as quick ly as he could and lurched along the aisle, calling out merrily to the por ter: r "Chauffeur! chauffeur; don't go so fasht 'round these corners." He collided with a small train-boy singing his nasal lay, but it was the behemoth and not the train-boy that collapsed into a seat, sprawling as helplessly as a mammoth oyster on a< table-cloth. The porter rushed to his aid and hoisted him to hi* feet with an un easy sense of Impending trouble. He felt as If someone had left a mon strous baby on his doorstep, but all he said was: "Tickets, please." J There ensued a long search, fat, flabby hands flopping and fumbling from pocket to pocket. Once more the porter was the discoverer. "I flee It. Don't look no mo'. Here It is ? up In yo' hatband." He lirted It out and chuckled. "Had It right next his brains and couldn't remem ba!" He took up the appropriately huge luggage of the bibulous wan derer and led him to the other end of the aisle. - "Nudiba two Is yours, sah. Right heah ? all nice and cosy, and already made up." The biff man looked through the curtains into the -cabined confinement, and groaned: "That! Haven't you got a man's SUa berth?" "6orr?. ?S|L- That's as big a bunk as they is <m I S* train." ~ "Have I got to be looked up in thdt pigeon-hole for?tor how many days is it to RenoT" "Reno r The porter ffreet*0 that Meaningful name with a smile. "We*ra doo is R*n6 the ? the ? mawnln' of the fo\'b "IT. fab. Yassah." He put the baggage down and started away* but the fat idu atlitd bis with !?c 1" w"C?ri Wl w ?*? m M WW D*y to tWHte ? ' BH It cmW MX ri? Ilur vtet ?? ty wpm* mmd hi voaM tow ??m< ?C <o 4m?. if tototf boi U?a ?hrm lr * hirttor fok* vttfdl (to pprt?r to4 tacfcMy ; . / *Pi?ik! rwrnh! Cut yoa rate* tM? or nttor on't jam tonr It? Ftvuli! TU? Mflt to oo Ift U*9*Oj 4to l cat nM.* * To tto emcttduMa't lifiwriMii Mat Mi call Imifct to kin oot tto j>ofMr, tot * rtoac bom vttfli tto ( ?'pWCoaBi 4PMM7" "Wteat ? ttl *f? lifbt, vto? tto UsM of foot Ufo tos com ootr* -I bee Tow ptrtotr Without further mvttadoa. Om moumU on tte Mft't territory . Tb a ivoktn^Miitd bW, Mr. ? Mr.? I didn't get four mum." "Br ? All ? I djure ?ay." -Thanks, I will stt Iowa." He lift ed a great carry-all tod airily toaeed It teto the aiale, set the Gladstone am the lay of the Infuriated Knglisb qka, and squeezed Into the aeat op posite, making a fad mlx-up of knee*. **My name's Wellington. Kref hear <tf 111 Jlmmle Wellington! That's ma." "Any relation to the Duke?" "Nagh!w - He no longer Interested Mr. Wedge wood. But Mr. Wellington was not aware that be waa being snubbed. He want right on getting acquainted: "Are you married, Mr- ? Mr. ? f ? "Nor . j- ? i "My heartfelt coograahlatlpn*. Hang on to your luck, my boy. Don't let any female take it away from you." He slapped the- Engllabman on the elbow amiably, and his prisoner was too stilled with wrath to emit mora than one feeWe "Pawtah!" Mr. Wellington muaed on aloud: "Ob, If 1 bad only remained single. But she was so beautiful and she swore to lore, honor and obey- Mrs. Wellington Is a queen among women, mind you, and I bare nothing to say against ber except that ahe has the temper of a tarantula." He italicised | the word with a ligfet fillip of bis left hand along the back of* the seat. He did not notice that he filliped the angry head of Mr. Ira'l^athrop in the next seati He went on with his por trait of his . wife. "Bhe has the 'stravaganza of a sultana" ? another fillip for Mr. Lathrop ? "the zhealousy of a cobra, the flirtatiousness of a humming bird." Mr. Iiafhrop was glar ing round like a man-eating tiger, but Wellington talked on. "She drinks, swears and smoke* cigars, otherwise she's fine ? a queen among women." Neither this amazing vision of wom ankind, nor this beautiful example of longing for confession and sympathy awakened a response in the English' man's frozen bosom. His only action was another violent effort to disengage his cramped knees from the knees of bis tormentor; his only comment a vaifi~ and -weakening, cry for help, "Pawtah! Pawtah!" Wellington's bleary, teary eyeB were lighted with triumph. "Finally I Baw I couldn't stand it any longer so I bought' a tio-hic-et to Reno. I 'stab1 llsh a reaidensh in six monfths ? get a divorce ? no shcandal. Even m'own wife won't know anything about it." The Englishman was almost attract ed by this astounding picture of the divorce laws in America. It sounded sa barbarically quaint that he leaned forward to hear more, but Mr. Welling ton's hand, like a mischievous run away, had wandered back into the shaggy looks atop of Mr. Lathtop. His right hand did not let his left know what it was doing, but proceeded quite independently to grip as much of Lathrop's hair as It would hold. Then as Mr. Wellington shook with Joy at the prospect of "Dear old. Reno!" he began unconsciously to draw Ira Lathrop's head after his hair across the seat. The pain of it shot the tears Into Lathrop's eyes, and as l)e writhed and twisted he was too full of profanity to get any one word out When lie managed to wrench his skull free, he was ready to murder his tormentor. But as soon as he con* fronted the doddering and blinking tope{, he was helplesa. Drunken men hav? always been treated with great tenderness In America, and when Weir llngton, seeing Lathroyt white hair, exclaimed with rapture: "Why, hello. Pop! here's Pop!" the most that Lath rop could db wa* to tear loose those fat, groping hands, slap them H)te a school teacher, and posh the man *Bnt that dn* shot* np^ firTW* llngton And sent him toppling down upon the pit of the Englishman's stom For Wedgewood, It W?s suddenly as If all the air had been removed from tha world. Jfe gulped Ilk* a fish drowning for lack of He was a Ion* while getting breath enough tor . ry^JlLSU!!1* _wofms i we*f Tit naeflr ?asa* o?t with ? snap. He QM to echo it, T** "I tatW that Tferop. t|i kind of a ieidc> ???, isn't hr log the newspaper still interred tween him and Wo prey, he < .tore R down the Middle u4 | through it like a moon coming Q t cloud. "B it a men cant dp name by marrying, can he? :'i of a hesrtlias cobr? <H eepellsfra an'i form wearing my fair mi? j wearing it oat. Mr. Le-throp, $4 j ever pot year trust in a ftitri^r woman V VHH "Nerer pot my tract in sayfcdj "Didn't you ?w lore a voenf "Ko!" "Well, .then, didn't you ever suir womanr ] "Hot one. r*e had the messiest the mumpe, bat Pre never hid m mony." ''vJaS "Oh , tacky man," beamed Vl ton . "Hang on to your luck." "I intend to/* aaid Lathrop, 1 1 born single and I tike It." "Oh, how I envy you! Yoa i Mrs. Wellington ? she's a queeaaj women,, mind you ? a qqeen m women, but die baa the 'strstRjg of a?'* Lathrop bad endured all h* oo endure, even from a privileged dm ter like little Jimmy Wellington, rose io take refuge in the atgi room. But the very vigor of this parture only served to help Wefl ton to his feet, for be seised lathn coat ' and hung on. throughthe* down the little corridor, ataiij plaining: "Mrs. Wellington ig^a queen aa women, mifad you, but I cant ah her temper any longer." He had hardly squeeaed into smoking-room when the porter aai usher almost invisible under the! gage they carried brought in * l passenger. Her first question vai "Oh, porter, did a box of flowed candy, or anything, come for mef "What name would they he / miss?" "Mrs. Wellington ? Mrs. James 1 liogton." (TO . BE CONTINUED) We have just install in our shop one of j largest and .finest lad ever brought to Cami and are now prepaitq do any kind o( {fl work on engines angl chiriery of all kinds. I V^. O. Hay, who has I years of experience i toi land ofjwork, is] with and he will be glad have his friends to call him. ? ?: ? WM