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?? ?l , loui5 Joseph Vance MOVELIZATION OF THE MOTIOr NAME. PPGOUCEDTOR THE INTERI liWDLR THE D;RfCT/OW?Of WHARTON,^ If" I THE CAST. J I | MRS. VERNON CJASTLE as I J Patria Channing. | MILTON SILLS as Donald Parr. f WARNER OLAND as Baron 1 J Huroki. jOOROTHY GREEN Jtt Fanny Adair. J SS 5 Z SYNOPSIS. Anticipating the threatened JapaneseMexican invasion of the Southwestern States. 'Patria Charming, an American Girl of great wealth, with the assistant c of her fiance, ('apt. Ponald Parr -.late U. S. A.), converts her vast border ranchlands into what is virtually an armed camp. Baron Huroki, commanding .-the allied Japanese-Mexican forces, learim of Patrhfs preparations, ; ml thinking vo nip them in the bud. orders his troops in attack in force. FIFTEENTH EPISODE The Sling of Victory. DARK HOURS. It wns shortly after sunrise when the first shots signaled the attempt of I'utria <'h:mninjr'? little handful of patriotic advent upci/k to stem the invasion of America*) soil by the allied force of Mexicans and Japanese commanded by Baron Wurolci. Baffin's first move. then. was to dis patch tclog; Mills to t.V>j Clearest post of 1he United States anwy as well as to "Washington, giving notice .of the invasion and asking for help. Within an hour. .Tapun<v*e fn?ld butteries, shelling with shrapnel tin* advanced trenehes which connua&ded the international boundary lino, had render?td them untenable and Japanese infantry had swarmed over thorn ju pursuit </f the retreating defenders. At the same time Huron 1 luroki and his staff, taking possession of 1'atria's hacienda, had convertetf it into field headquarters. From its patio I luroki directed the efforts of his troops to overcome the resistance of the defenders. The latter had nuanw Idle occupied their main intrenehne nts, a far stronger petition ftirro'vjnf; iiio yif ge of a range ??f low hi'.ls lying bcl' of the lfuejendn ami -..metiiincr slightly Jes> tliTTTi a inilo icrth ,,f tp,. border line, t Hero thev took root st ubbornly. D ?- v, ?? i> spite the disparity between their naml"1 rs and those < t the invaders, they throw back charge after .Tnnaoese awl IW-mYmu iiiMiicv with < ring and I?l: s;!in: with iho m:?chine-gun fjro . Id h JTjnilyn\ the terndn v illi <i- us Ii :i? a garden hosi sprays si lev.n villi life: while theii batteries. cunninmy sei-n i* ? 1 let k u tlm lulls and <?ir*M*t??*] in masterly fsish inn. kept tli" guns >>f the invajdors p > busily <?n the moCe to permit their lio ins: much damage to the Ir- ii' lu-s. Hut if the defon?lors fotighi with un sTmkahle determine *??11 nini fearb'ss ness. they toughi villi de>pair in tin is hesirts. Fur their commanding elevsi tion permitted !' -m to overlook at the land hetvei in and the hound nry, and they cot: d hardly help heir.: nppillled hy the flood of allied troop which was sweeping across the hinder and arraying against them. Agsdn urgent prayers for aid wcr .dispatelied to the authorities. As before, t'vv gamed no ncknowl edgmcnt of any sort. Failing to take the main iin trenches hy .assault, lluroki ordere l?ls forces to fall hack and dig their ^0 * *; _ _ I \ W' , < ^ M <- ""***?-** '- " Donald Was Wounded. eelvos in?which they did with tralr expedition and oflloioncy, throwing h line of littrenchinentR roughly jj ullcling those on the hlllcrest. And their batteries, presently find shelter, mined shells upon the Am cans to keep down their fire, until tria's guns again searched them o when the battle passed Into a ten rary phase of hip; gun dueling, and ilnfantry had a Ifttle time to breu and take account of Its losses. These last proved nstonlshli i slight, hut none the less terrible in ! tria's understanding. Already the 1 hospital accommodations which hud provided were overcrowded the atufT of surgeons with their ["he Great Romance o| Preparedness -i picture: play of tmf.same; 1AT1QNAL FILM 5FRVICF. INC, ^^2. COPVRIOHT. 5TAR COMNfcOY sistnnts mul nurses overworked. And (lie day was still young. ltonald Parr attempted to i com fort her wltli the .assurance that ?tlu>ir positions were so strong they could hold out another ?4 hours. If required ?hy which time help must surely have come to them from the regulur army and the National Guard which had he**u mobilized for border duty. AtrjiiiiKi tins argument more remained the uwpu^ti enable fact that repeated telegrams evoked no response from any qtuurtor. And ro-enforoomowts at any time would arrive too lute to prevent hhleoiis mortality in the ranks of the defenders. Toward mid-morning1 a second series of most violent assaults was launehcd a gainst the niHiti-linr trenches, and thoiurh each in turn was thrown hack severely punished. each took its toll of American lives and hy so much lessen<d the ahility to present impregnable esistaneo. Hut hy noon Huroki seems to have made up his mind that further efforts to take the treiuloss hy storm were futile. There f? 11 a lull Ux the -i'.ury of the cotuhat between in'antry ferees, while a thinking movetis? lit on the part of tt.e Mexican cavalry was met and confronted hy a < loud of rough-riding plainsmen under i.lte leadership of Itodinnn I'ilishuvy. Ttn-w again the artillery duel was restmu?.{ ; lap there was in this sonicthing strangely perfunctory, as far at least the work of the allied gunners were concerned. The suspicion was warranted. and by subsequent vents was. borne out, that Illtroki was sparring for lime. lie was awaiting the arrival of heavier artillery: whatever tlmse eircwm-tanees were which delayed its oomvitli effective ranee till dusk of evening. they alone saved I'atria's forces from annihilation?though mueli credit is dee to the scouts of ('atria's living corps for t he willingness and skill with which they engaged t!ie Japanese aviators and drove them from the sky above the American positions, preventing their locating the hidden batteries. The last traces of light were dying from the sky when Harold's heaviest tnetal came Into action. ' Simultaneously new and extraordinarily vicious assaults were made upoit the trenches. v M... . -A- ^# .' And suil no word from WashingI ton or from any other quarter to which appt a'.s had been telegraphed 1 1; was not till midnight that a 1 se, tiling party dispatched by l>onald " I'arr brought In an explanation of this o>|"ii - m]e P:djffei'eia e on the part of * th air Imrit-es to the fate of I'atria's ' leV?{. d lift!.' band. "o 'l!i .i b appeared that the wires had ' V.ecii cut by Japanese spies, w ho had - pee- j\"d?and suppressed?all mes ( aces <n-patched by I'airiti's held liead* .p'oiiiers. iii such manner as complete* ]\ t ? deceive her telegraph operators. 1, j?. short. it transpired that not one of (hose many frantic erics for help ' ' had hen heard hut by enemy ears. Throughout a tiieht of hopeless hor. I MM' ' *1%*^)' ; ror the battle raged. From the mo1 men! when Huroki's great 'guns en'* | fcred into the contest there was scarcei lv a single perceptible break in the " I succession of assaults upon the 1 poles 'in d:?.wn brnl-n upon (hull . ' -ft/ ?W' ? 1 (!'. sp.; uu-i.v thinned ranks, And with tho dawn canto the final l* | effort, a chanro In force lhat taxed t< i 1111 lit imo?i the eourntre, resource ant j IntCMUiUy of the Americans. Thai it hroke and was swept hack can In c.united as nothing short of miracti ' Ions. I As It did so. r>onahl Parr fill, hi ! shoulder shattered by shrapnel. When lie recovered convcinuyhcs In her arms, and she knew tin t hi * I hurt was not mortal, Pat via took tut | her own hands The command wine , she had resigned to his. (.'onferrin hv telephone \n person with her stnf i 1 slie ordered the effort of the last r< ** ! {sort. the forlorn bono which had bee |j I reserved for that moment when tli ft day seemed lost and sacrifice <d' se b ; alone might stem the tide of defeat, ra j All defensive tactics wore nhandone wi 1 'The men were ordered from tl H trenches, to advance, to charge ai keep on charging till the last man fc To give them heart a fleet of "tanks"armored caterpillar tractors carry 11 machine-gun crews?were loosed up< the enemy. led Looming through the gray, formk up light of the new-born day like m< iar- strous armadllloes vomiting fire a death, they crossed their own trend] ? A 1 1 1 .. I.,. injr | HLtU IIM'I Mild IM MUt* U 1:11111 Kt' 01 .MI| (>ri* I nese and Mexican infantry, scatter! I'u- it like chaff. iut; As the enemy turned and fled th? ipo- terrors the Americans forsook 1 the shelter of their trenehes and pursu ithe At the same time masked hat lor came out of hiding and moved forwi iRly positions in the open. Pa* A daring raid of cavalry capture* field 42-centimeter howitzer and turned she Upon its own people, and Where the tanks were not, there * us- hand-to-hand fighting characterized L? - the rrftnevt ta^terTrihrtiftem on Imih > sides. Rut wlh'imr the tanks i moved?and nothing Nm*?d.;to swerve ! I one of those fratu whatever course It i chose to take?like ranks of the -enemy melted into disorderly rablde-of puniest rlokon fugitives. A shell from the howitzer found the I ('banning liaeiejKhi and 'told it in llatiling, smoking ruins about Che ears of liurokl and his eta IT. Thirty minutes after the (tanks had , inaugurated the ofTousive, Ohe invn- j sion had been turned Into a rout. The < roads beyond the border were .choked with fugitives. H-arokl and Jhis por- , i sonal aides foreed Their -armored motorear through the milling mob upon the i bridge at the border and regained Mexican soil a hare iroinute befotve nnotlior howitzer shell! destroyed itlie bridge utterly, uud wdtSi It hundreds of ' fleeing Mexicans and .lapanese. Till* Inst iK'Unti flu. ?"*? "T* ? x * aj? ? .vun i?n 1 i iv *1 ifv .1111 engagement between American rough riders and Mexican cavalry, in which the latter, attempting to iw-wer the nair j of the defeated unity, wene vanquished, dissipated, sent seuVrying into ' t:l?e south in disorder as great us that of i their comrades and allies whom they had sought to save. Hut in this engagement Hodman | IMIIsbury fell, killed instantly in action. Ordering her batteries up to the .boundary line. 1'atria instructed them to shell the fugitives mercilessly. Further than this line she would not permit them to move. Nor would she permit one of her decimated little army to carry the war into .Mexico. In defending her own property against aggression she had acted within her rights as a private citizen. If reprisals were to be visited upon the aggressors, that was the prerogative of the ifiwvernnionf of her countrv?not lier prerogative. Thus iko invading army of Karon Huroki and his dupes and allies incited away into those sun-baked plains and arid hills of Mexico, and was# no more?like the army of a dream. SAMURAI. In the heat of that breathless afternoon thi? armored motorcar, a grim gray unit of mechanism rendered only the more grim and gray by its heavy coating of dust and the evidences of hard usage it wore, hinged heavily around the wide curves of the mir'ary road penetrating .lie secret heart of those Mexican mountains, de- 1 bouched on a downgrade with the swiftness of an angel of death into the great valley devoted to the allied encampment, and drew up sharply, as if eheeked by some invisible but immovable barrier, before the adobe building dedicated to the uses of the commander in cldef and his staff. Half a dozen men. worn, haggard, silent, in uniforms stiff with sweat and dust. alighted from the car and wearily threw themselves, rather than walked, up the steps to the veranda io friitit of Hu? liojidniiMrtoi-s hnildiiLi/. Deepest diseonsolation was (ho keynote of their common demeanor. . J?1 (kojiims that furrowed their dustnmsked fares, hi those red-rlmmed eyes which stared out of them, despair was written plainly-?the despair of ramblers who lutve ?t_eked all on a single throw and have lost. l*v?vM,no--t in their numher was Ihiron ir?roki. that areli-coiispirator. that rambler ineurabl ?a presence of eomtttandin^ distinction even in the shadow of def< at, dis^raeo. and deatii. At his heels moved his shadow, that (me who-e devotion and loyalty to his master passed even that devotion anu loyalty which was the due of his emperor?Hurokl's aid de camp of today, his hody servtint of yesterday. his familiar spirit of all (lavs, that Japanese who answered to the name of Kato. T^lr f011 r companions wore officers of nigh lank, subordinate only to tlie commander in chief of the army which Japan had thrown Into Mexico to eo' operate with the native troops in that "great drive" designed to split the baited States asunder by invading the ; Mississippi valley via the Southwest' era states, leaving the I'aelflc slope de1 fenseless ngaiimt invasion hy way of ' Lower California and tlie sea. As ITtiroki moved toward the door of the adobe building, a Japanese orderly ' came out, paused, saluted stiffly, with a Countenance expressionless, and s proffered a folded paper. Iluroki recognized the form on s which incoming telegraphic dispatches s were I ranserihed. lie could have ? l hazarded a shrewd guess at the iutlure of this eoinmunication ? if put ^ to it. could have foretold it almost b word for word. None the less he extended a stead? n ii/fmit If 1111 , I, I, ,< i ftn> nil Pier I Itfl I I < I 1 " ^ ? |H II, \IM? | r K - - 10 1 read it without pt?rmi11intf the slight '' est phase of liis emotions to ho re fleeted in liis faro, and deliberately re '1. folded it. u' ; At ;?::';vr before the doorway, h< id rounded smartly on Ids heels and com H., on nd M }> ; vns ^ The Caterpillar ?m tided the wandering hrtfwt ?f Uta I tagged stuff with a single glance, hri? pose gesture less. With a single impulse t)H>y stiffened to attention. After a moment lie ml<lre*Ko<l them In a level and toneless voice, with ' tlte muiiiier of one imimrting infocma- j tion concerning a person of particular , unimportance. *Ntieiitleuien.** said Huron lluivki, ""It 1 becomes my duty to Imiwrt to you cer- i tain advices. I have here a message ' from his majesty, the emperor." He paused to make olieisance to the ettigy symbolized by that name. "I need hardly remind you that, upon the untimely death, day before yesterday, of the late commander in chief, Count Nogi, 1. acting ou authority vested du me by his imperial majesty, assumed the functions of commander In chief, :itnd in my supreme discretion initiated :that invasion of the United States Which was the ultimate purpose of our presence in Mexico. For this action tl assumed, professed, and accept full responsibility. ttrpiw.? ..... ....... in .. .1..! ,.?,1 I. i iiiti uij :iu uuii n lid iii-uuyimti beside the imixbut. I alone was, ami mil, liable for it* consequences. The onus of failure rests upon a single head, my own. "Ily my lackMaf sound judgment, my liatste and rashness, 1 have brought down defeat upon our forces, 1 have needlessly sacritlce.il unnumbered l'el- j low servants of his majesty, the emperor. 1 have wrought confusion with his imperial designs, 1 have set at naught his ends. "So be it. 1 explain without attempt to extenuate the consequences of my madness, I accept without protest the penalty of failure. "The command of our scattered and shattered forces 1 resign to your capable hands. You are Instructed to reorganize them as quickly as possible and withdraw from this part of Mexico, inarching westwards to etfeet a junction with the army en* < 11011x1 <i I At n 1*1111 >o it llov Tills: von will do not only with nil possible expedition. but with all feasible secrecy. "I hnve one request to make of your pity; if it be within your power, 1 would like my dishonored body to he conveyed to Nippon for burial. "(Sentleinen, I tfo to Join my forefathers. in full confidence that the honorable fashion of my death will secure for me the freedom of their company." Iluroki ceased to speak, drew himself up. and saluted his staff. That salute returned, he executed tin aboutface and strode into the adobe buildin tf. After him went Kato. For tin hour he sat in the office of the commander in chief, industriously, methodically putting in order ml his affairs, ollicial as well as personal. When there was no more to do, he rose without hesitation, and strode into the adjoining room, which had been his sleeping quarters. Hero Kato was await im: him?Kato translated from the trim and soldieny mm- 111 111!" 111-111 IKllll'l III HI I I It- .Jiljlilnese anny into a ligure that might have been conjured from some .Japaii's-e print, a servile, fawning, obse(}uioii> figure in the robes of his race ami liumhle caste. Upon the plain canvas cot which had been liuroki's bed were laid out the iii.'iirniii'j' inly embroider: d robes of a ?S;?muruL ? ' ~ I'eside the <-c?t stood I he steel trunk v.'hirh had contained these robes, and which for many years had formed an e senii I adjunct to Harold's traveli ?. ; i. g gi ar. ?' Assisted deftly by Kato. Huron lluroki divested him- ''' **'' Ids soldier's cloihinjr. bathed ; . e..<. sed In the robes of his nobility. Throughout neitln r uttered a single word. ' And In silence IfuroUi turned and entered the room beyond, leaving his footwear at the threshold. The door closed behind him. On Its other side Kato, the imperturbable, knelt and ground his forehead into the dust of the floor. In one stride Baron ITurokl had ; passed from Mexico to Nippon. Paper screens masked the earthen walls and 1 he thatched roof of the room. The floor was covered with a clean white cloth. In the middle of It rested n umall rug of glowing, sanguinary scar let. At the edge of this small ruj was a low stand on which rested t i jeweled dagger in a jeweled sheath. Kneeling on tin* rug, Baron HuroU swiftly denuded his body to the waist Than taking up tin* driver and draw , lug it from its slioath he tested it edge and point upon the thumbnail. Satisfied, be held the damper bf fore him on bis two hands, <?ntst retell ed. open palms uppermost ; ami in tld posture remained motionless for man minutes, his grave, intelligent eye fixed in meditation upon a point, e r, scene, or memory, thousands of mile removed beyond the narrow confine * I N |l>. > Tank Wins the Day. ctf -that little Tmvi Hi rtic mlobf HlMd* ?iuK in the mountain* of Mexico. There was neither liesitiitlon nor mutiny in hi* tcaqtrr. hut only repining that his efforts in the service of iliis eutperor hud been so ill lated. He would have 5 ecu glud of a lor <ir life if that pejnuiTNcd him to ropa the errors of which he had been jxuilty. Hut he had liad his chance, ami had infled. What must be, must. With a Kiuhleu, *wift turn of hi* hand this unhappy gentleman of .Japan -reversed the point of the dujr^er and (drove it in toward his diaphragm. THE COST. When Pntria appeared in the doorway the nurse rose and with a friindly and reassuring smile slipped out of the return. Donald J'nrr lay moveless on his cot, .asleep. The girl sat down -on the chair by ills side mid gently dropped her hand upon oao of his (hat lay outside th* sheet, a dark, strong hand tliat seemed. in her sight, to dwarf and render altogether puny and insignificant the slender white grace of her own. Still Donald did not slir. She was content with that. Sleep was what la4 needed, the best of all medicines for his hurts. She asked for herself no more than this, that she l>e permitted to rest a little hy his side, to touch Ids hand, to know that, though his wounds wore grievous, he would live, and in a day to come he whole and sound once more?and hers. She was very weary. The need to rest oppressed her like a heavy lairden. Yet she il <! not dream of closing her eyes in sleep. She hud too much to think about, the victory of the day to contemplate, its cost to reckon. Her brain seemed to burn with thoughts, doubts, fears, regrets. 1 I 11 > I i 11 11' i i i e t ln-k e/*o#k<it\ o #' t o '? "5 . ..i ...? .. > iikm , i 111 n ni i?i j i vimi'II i? ? tleetod in (Mullens succession flashing scenes from the splendid, nwftil pageant of that day and night of fi^rli t i n^r. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. The last shot at the routed and tiering armies of invasion had been tired hours ago. The last fugitive had long since disappeared. The last stricken horse had hern killed, the last wounded man had been found and cared for, the last dead man buried. Remained only the stricken field, bloodied and defiled and trampled and furrowed almost beyond recognition; the consciousness that the day was won, the invader disastrously defeated, the country saved in spite of itself; the bitterness of victory. Sitting there in that close little roem that reeked of iodoform, with her hands touching the hand of her beloved, the girl abandoned herself to reverie, her dark eyes fathoming Immeasurable depths of thought. Uiironsejotisiy site began to eon the toll of victory; lmnahl wounded nh.'h unto death. Rodman l'illsluiry an 1 Ibid Morgan (had?and tlmse hut the beginni.ig. names that hcadei^ ihe hundreds upon the 1 i -is of casualties merely hernuse they were most intimate to l'afria; the haeiemia wrecked neyonu repair, iik> tair eount rysuit? that surrounded i; turned into n stinkii;shambles, a en . \ irea^ure ? \,? !?? 1 ed it; ammunition arid tin- bushes of v a r. Aral ail to what end? Shy foresaw unite clearly what Touchy People. I't'Wiii'o of touchy peopl"! Tie re uri' always some about. ready to ] >ter you In some way. Hurry on past, so you cannot hear them, and aliove all, refuse to deny what tln-y say. .lust Keep sweet and pi ahead, and let lldr unkind words swelter in the jiloa'.ninp 1 low mil' h time and nation are wast ' . i ~ \ ,i .t . i. n ?. < I til) I?'IM I lt\ JM-I IJIM-. ; \ i M .< ? ? ...... people think tl.ey sire the ssilt ??1 '.lie * i"111 and everybody else <iirly water. It is a mil wickedness t?> 1m* touchy, It is sis bad us lyin^r and chcsiliim. It doo.s t!u' world as much harm. It spoils mora religion than swearing. It you find si touchy person in yout church, turn hill) out sis soon sis possible; if not, lie will infect the whoh brotherhood and sisterhood with hi? ! sin. We knew a touchy person om ) time whose touchiness struck in ot i him sind he died. We hope all our ta n i tie renders will escape so sorry a late - ?Ohio i>tate Journal. % 1 The Kind of Floors He Wanted. j "Would you like the floors in mosti ' ic?" asked the sirehileet. The Sprlnjdlcld lima looked dubious "Would you like the floor in iuosai a patterns?" i "I don't know so much Jibcmt thsit, ; he finally said. "I ain't K<d ntiy prejti l" dice about Moses sis a msin, and mayb H he knew a lot about the Isiw. As rc v ysirds laying floors though, I kimie s think I'd rather have them unscctai 11 Jan."?Harper's Weekly. H Ambition. "T'n, what Is ambition?" "Ambition, my hoy, is that spir which prompt* a young man to wor hard so tlutt lie can some day ate working hard." \ Natural Process. j "What do you think of having ' woman on the floor in congress?" | "Why, naturally, I regard it as 1 sweeping change." A Strategic Retreat. 1 ? - ? * ? ?>*t 4 "John, wnm is at i?iimmiii.<i? , I "Mary, my dear, I am nstonlftha t you should ask we such a question ai I before the children, too 1" I Increase in Friends. 5 "I thought a five passenger c 1! ! would easily hold all my friends." ; "Well?" "Until I got a five passenger car." would happen within tV next few day* mix! weeks; the storm of popular indignation; the massing ?f troops dong the heritor; the interexchange oin'omat'r amenities; Japan's stuiiinisiv polite disavowal of Hurokt ::i.?1 all his alleged works; Mexico's disavowal of the part its troops had A played in the conspiracy and the at- / ^ tempt ed Invasion; the administration's grudging acceptance of both; demands for measures of "preparedness" voiced in congress; the shrill ll J v if. \ A \ ' ' v f <v~ -> fr^"'V?, , / ^ I * f L? : ? Huroki Prepares to Die. clamor r?f the pacilixts, contending lit once that to prepare to resist agreNsion was to invite agression mid that tln? defeated invasion hud been nierely a minor skirmish between cowpunchers and Mexican raiders, an 11 ffair e\at';.'eT*at? <1 heyond reason; tho sltmm rin^r d*>w n of popular interest; the return of the eouuuon apathy; the renewed reign of lethargic indiffwrenee to the need for "preparedness !'* And so she began to understand that the vietor.v of that day was hut ^ a liarren one; that she had fought and * ...lur< i| and sacrificed lives and happiness and treasure to no end wh.iti \i r. hut only to he a beginning; that lie battle, the battle of her country, the battle of eointaon sense patiiotisi.i, w; s no'rely beginning; that he v. ho uld siivc his country in spite of it so! t utidert: l:es a labor as unending a.s it i< t hai.kb- s. >Vv* rtheless, to this plough she had #v set li r hand* ; and there could he no j turning back. 1 She must light on and on and on, J should* r to 1 >pnn!d's shoulder, Ins hand in hers. | Kending forward Patrin tenderly set I her lips to the lips of Inmald l'arr, I dedieal ing anew her lile and his, that 1 wiij Imrs to do with as she willed, to | the s'Tvice of their country, that It might l>e saved. 1 (Tin-: i:xd.) I At the Wedding Fcart. Tn suiiM- pa rt s of ilio eountry it Is tin- custom to s< 11< 1 eomrrat ulatory telegrams to fri? mis iif m distnnee who lire being married. Th:tt is, the message is timed to arrive just after the ceremony. and during the feast wliich usuaily follows, i Now. a certain man, ti large farmer, I kpvus about to he married, and shortly before the time he heard that one of his cattle had strayiil. it being a valuable animal, he toid his bailiff to let him know at once when it was found. The bailiff, being an ecimotnhal mall, eomhimd the two ifujhiirs, and the happy bridegroom received tlio jj following message just as they ail sat '! down to dinner: I <!i "Congratulations. The beast Is | '1 caught !" 1 It is fair to conclude that the tele- h * gram afforded at least as much grati- Jfl fication to the assembled miosis as to Hie actual recipient himself.?Tit-Bits. Proverbs. Proverbs luive not always boon an unmixed benefit to the world. There ' are several very mean and malignant h c proverbs embodying the wit of one man and the ill-nature, not the wis- ^ dnin, of many men. One of the'-tfcorst of these proverbs Is, "There Is no <- smoke without tire"?a proverb which has lent its aid to thousands of gross ^ r calumnies. Perhaps we might venr* ture to adopt a counteracting proverb which has at least as much truth, I physically and metaphysically, as the foregoing one. It Is: "The (ess fire rJ the greater the smoke."?Sir Arthur It Helps. k >P Correctly Defined. , The women were discussing their marital troubles, when one asked: "By . the way, what is your hushuiul doing ft now ?" "Oh," snld the other, "he's n-settln* i a 'round tellin' what's goln' to happen ;l next election." "Then he's a prophet?" "No, he ain't. So fur as this t^finHy Is concerned, tie's a doud loss." Ml ad Resented Insult. The Judge?You say that through- j, out this affair you acted like a per* t feet lady? ?t Mrs. Casey?Sure, your honor; when t he tips his hat to me an' me not J knowln' him, I ups with a rock au* caves in his face.?l'uck. ..... . * i