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DAI -A1 CHAPTER I. The House of Mystery. A high and narrow gate of carefully joined boards, standing ajar in a fence of the same construction! What is -there in this to rouse a whole neigh borhood and collect before it a group 4 ~ 'of eager, anxious, hesitating people? This is Judge Ostrander's place, and -anyone who knows Shelby or the gos sip of its suburbs knows that this house of his has not opened its doors to any outsider, man or woman, for over a dozen years; nor have his gates been seen in all that time to gape at -anyone's instance or to stand unclosed to public intrusion. The seclusion sought was absolute. The men and women who passed and repassed this -corner many times a day were as igno rant as the townspeople in general of what lay behind the gray, monotonous exterior of the weatherbeaten boards they so frequently brushed against. The house was there, of course-they .all knew the house, or did once-but there were rumors of another fence, a second barrier, standing a few feet in side the first and similar to it in all respects, even to the gates which cor responded exactly with these outer -and visible ones and probably were .just an fully provided with bolts and bars. 4. And now! in the freshness of this -summer morning, without warning or -any seeming reason for the change, the strict habit of years has been broken into and this gate of gates is not only standing unlocked before their eyes, but a woman-a stranger to the town as her very act showe has been seen to enter there!-to en ter. but pot come out; which means ,that she must still be inside, and pos. -eibly in the very presence of the judge. Where is Bela? Why does he allow his errands--Dut it was Bela, or so they have been told, who left this gate ajar . . . he, the awe and terror of the town, the enormous, re doubtable, close-mouthed negro, trust ed as man is seldom trusted, and faithful to his trust, yes, up to this very hour, as all must acknowledge. in spite of every temptation (and they had been many and alluring) to dis close the secret of this home of which he was not the least interesting fac tor.- What has made him thus sud denly careless, he who has never been careless before? Money? A bribe from the woman who had entered there? What else was there to believe? TLtmre stood the gate with the pebble holding it away from the post; and here stood half the neighborhood, in a rascination which had for- its motif the( knowledge that they, themselves If they had courage enough, might go 'in, just as this woman had gone in, and see-why, what ehe is seeing now-the unknowvn, unguessed reason for all these mysterles--the hidden treasure or the hIdden sorrow which would explain why lie, their fir-st citi zen, the respected, even revered judge of their highest eourt, should make use of such precautions and show such un varying determination to bar out all comers from the place he called his home. It had not always been so. Within the memory of many there it had been an abode of cheer and good fellowship. Not a few of the men and women now hesitating before its portals could boast of meals taken at the judge's ample board, and of evenings spent In animated conversation In the great room where he kept his books and did his wvriting. But that was beforo his son left him in so unaccountable a manner; be fore-yes, all wvere agreed on this point-before that other hitter ordeal of his middle age, the trial andl con demnation of the man who had way laid and murdlered his best friend. Though the effect of these combined sorr-ows hadl not seemed to be immedi ate (one month had seen both); though a half-year had elapsed before amli socIability was lost ini extreme self absorptio~n, and a full one before he ? took dowvn the picket fence which had hitherto been considered a sufficient protection to his simple grounds, and put up those boards which had so com pletely isolated him from the rest of -the world, it was evident enough to the friends who recalled his look and step as he walked the streets with Al gernon Etheridge on one side and his brilliant, ever-successful son on the other, that the change now observable in him was due to thie violent sunder ing 'of t hese two ties, Grief slowly settled into confirmed melancholy, and - melancholy into eccentricities, Judge Ostrander' was a recluse of the most uncompromising type; but he was such for only half his time, F'rom ten in the morning till five in the after noon, he came and went like any other citizen, fulfilling his judicial duties with the same scrupulous care as for nerly and with more affability. In deed, he showed at times, and often when it was least expectedl, a mellow anos of temper quite foreign to him in - is early days. The admiration / wakened by his fine appearance on the bench was never marred now by those quick and raspittg tones of an KE By ANNA KATH (Copyright, 1914, by Di easily disturbed temper which had given edge to his invective when he stood as pleader in the very court where he now presided as judge. But away from the bench, once quit of the courthouse and the town, the man who attempted to accost him on his way to his carriage or sought to waylay him at his owii gate had need of all his courage to sustain the rebuff his pre sumption incurred. The son, a man of great ability who was making his way as a journalist in another city, had no explanation to give of his father's peculiarities. Though he never came to Shelby-the rupture between the two. if rupture it were, seeming to be complete there were many who had visited him in his own place of business and put such questions concerning the judge and his eccentric manner of living as must have provoked response had the young man had any response to give. But he appeared to have none. Either he was as ignorant as themselves of the causes which had led to his fa ther's habit of extreme isolation, or he showed powers of dissimulation hardly in accordance with the other traits of his admirable character. All of which closed inquiry in this direction, but left the maw of curt osity unsatisfied. And unsatisfied it had remained up to this hour, when through accident or was it treachery-the barrier to knowledge was down and the question of years seemed at last upon the point of being answered. Meantime a fussy, talkative msan was endeavoring to impress the rapidly col lecting crowd with the advisability of their entering all together and ap proaching the judge in a body. "We can say that we felt it to be our dooty to follow this woman in," he argued. "Didn't you say she had a child with her, Miss Weeks?" "Yes, and-" "Tell us the whole story, Miss Weeks. Some of us haven't heard it. 'T'hen if it seems our duty as his neighbors and well wishers to go in, we'll just go in." The little woman towards whom this appeal was directed immediately be gan her ingenuous tale. She was sit ting in her front window sewing lEv erybody knew that this window faced ~The B rstTruhN h eon ae theen o te an i Qwic theywer the end ohe leye intiaewe Bela, prompt to the mnhutec as lhe al ways was, issuled forth on his morning walk to town for the (lay's supplies Always exact, always in a hurry knowing as ho (lid that the judge wouldl not leave for court till his re turn--he had never, in all the eight years she had been sitting in that window making buttonholes, shown any hesitation in his methodical re locking of the gate and subsequent quick departure. But this morning he had lingered in the gateway peering to right and left in a way so unlike himself that the mo ment he was out of sight she could not help running down the lane to see If her suspicions were correct. And they were. Not only had he left the gate unlocked, but he had done so -pur posely. She had about decided that it was only proper for her to enter and make mure that all was right with the judge when she saw a woman looking at her from the road--a woman all in purple even to the veil which hid her fea tures. A little child was with her, and the two must have stepped into the road from behind some of the bushes, as neither of them wvere anywhere in sight when she herself came running dlown from the corner. It was enough to startle anyone, es pecially as the woman did not speak. but just stood silent and watching her through a veil the like of which was not to be found in Shelby, andt which LOLT ARINE GREEN idd, Mead & Conpany) in itself was enough to rouse a decen1 woman's suspicions. She was so amazed at this that shi stepped back and attempted to addres the stranger. But before she had gol much further than a timid and hest tating "Madam," the wonany rouse( into action possibly by her interior ence, made a quick gesture suggestive of impatience if not rebuke, and mov ing resolutely towards the gate Miss Weeks had so indiscreetly left un guarded, pushed it open and disap peared within, dragging the little chilc after her. "And she's in there still?" "I haven't seen her come out." "Then what's the matter with you?' called a burly, high-otrung woman stepping hastily from the group and laying her hand upon the gate stil standing temptingly ajar. "It's nc time for nonsense," she announced, at she pushed it open and stepped promptly in, followed by the motley group of men and women who, if they lacked courage to lead, certainly showed willingness to follow. One glance and they felt their cour age rewarded. Rumor, which so often deceives proved itself correct in this case. A second gate confronted them exactly like the first, even to the point oi being held open by a pebble placed against the post. And a second fence also! built upon the same pattern aE the one they had just passed through; the two forming a double barrier as mysterious to contemplate in fact a it had ever been in fancy. In gazing at these fences and the eanyonlikr walk stretching between them the band of curious invaders forgot ther prime errand for a moment. But whatever the mysteries of the place, a greater one awaited them be yond, and presently realizing this, they burst with one accord through the sec end gate Into the mass of greenery which, either from neglect or inten tion, masked this side of the Ostrander homestead. Never before had they beheld so law less a growth or a house so completelr lost amid vines and shrubbery. Two solemn fir trees, which were all tha remained of an old-time and famou group, DIept guard over the untendlt lawn, adding their suggestion of ag and brooding melancholy to the al of desolation infesting the whole piace One might be approaching a tomb, fo all token that appeared of human pret ence. Even sound was lacking. I was like a painted scene-a dream o human extinction. Instinctively the women faltered ant the men drew back; then the ver: silence caused a sudden reaction, an with one simultaneous rush they mad< for the only entrance they sa1w an< burst without further ceremony intu the house. A common hall and common fur nishings confronted them. More the) could not gather; for llocked ae thi doorway was by their crowding fig ures, the little light which sifted ir over their heads was not enough tt show up details. Halting with one ac cord in what seemed to be the middk1 of the uncarpeted floor, they waitec for some indication of a clear passage way to the great room where the judgc would undoubtedly be found In conver sation with his strange guest. The woman of the hard voice and self-satisfied demeanor who had 'start ed them upon this adventure was still ahead; but even she quatled wheni shc found herself face to race with heavy curtain instead uf a yie'ding door. "Look at this!" she whispered, push lng the curtain inward with a quiet mo veminent. Sunshine! A stream of it, dlazzling thenm almost to blindness and sending them, one and all, pell melt back u pon each other! Hlowever dismal the ap p~roach, here all was in brilliant lighi with every evidence before them of busy life. Th~e rcoom was not only fillied, butl crammed, with furniture. This was the first thing they noticed; then, ne their blinking eyes became accus tomedh to the glare and to the unex. pected confusion of tables and chairs and screens and standing recepta'lel for books and pamphlets and bo~xes labeled and padlocked, they beheld something else. The judge was there, but in what a con di tion. Firom the end of the forty-foot roonm his seated figure confronted them, at lent, staring and unmoving. With clenched fingers gripping the arms of his greet chair and head held forward, he looked like one frozen at the me. ment of doom, such the expression of features usually so noble, and now almost unrecognizable were it not for A he snow white of his locks and blar nm istakab)le brow. Frozen! Not an eyelash quivered, nor was there any perceptible move ment in his sturdy chest. Ils eyes were on their eyes, but he saw no one; and down upon his head and over hie whole form tihe sunshine ploured fromt a large window let into tihe ceiling dl rectly abovo :lim, lighting up the strained and unnatural aspect of his remarkable countenance and bringing into sharp nrominanna the com.o 0ow, O place objects cluttering the table at his elbow. Inarticulate murmurs swelled and ebbed, now louder, now more faintly as the crowd surged forward or drew back, appalled by that moveless, breathless, awe-compelling figure. A breathless moment; then the hor rifled murmur rose here, there and everywhere: "I-i's dead! lie's dead!" when quietly and convincingly a bluff masculine voice spoke from the door way behind them: "You needn't be frightened. In an hour or a half-hour he will be the same as ever. My aunt' has such at tacks. They call it catalepsy." Imperceptibly the crowd dwindled; the most discreet among them quite content to leave the house; a few, and these the most thoughtful, devoted all their energies to a serious quest for the woman and child whom they con tinued to believe to be in hiding some where inside the walls she had so au daciously entered. The small party decided to start their search by a hasty inspection of the front hall, ' when a shout and scramble in the passages beyond cut short their intent and held them pant ing and eager, each to his place. Frightened, they drew their gaze from the rigid figure in the chair, and, with bated breaths and rapidly paling cheeks, listened to the distant mur mur on the far-off road. What was it? They could not guess. and it was with unbounded relief they pressed forward to greet the shadowy form of a young girl hurrying toward them from the rear, with news in heat face. She spoke quickly. "The woman is gone. Harry Doane saw her sliding out behind us just after we came In. She was hiding in some of the corners here and slipped out by the kitchen way when we were not looking. lie has gone to see-" Breathlessly Mis Weeks cut the gvzl's story short; breathlessly she - rushed to the nearest window, and. helped by willing hands,- succeeded in forcing it up and tearing a hole in the - vines, through which they one and all looked out in eager excitement. t A motley throng of people were crowding in through the double gate. :1 way. Some one was in their grasp. e It was Bela! Bela, the giant! Bela, r the terror of the town, no longer a . terror but a struggling. half-fainting r figure, fighting to free himself and get - in advance, despite some awful hurt t which blanched his coal-black features f and made his great limbs falter, while still keeping his own and making his way, by sheer force of will, up the path and the two steps of entrance his body alter-ntel- y sinuking hack or p1ltnging. foriwarid as those in the i-ear or there In fron t g:>t the u Ipper hanad Wha'c Sought Liberty. 'Thr-ills ar-e by3 no mneamt out of dlat~e in the New Zealand of today, and tz, few weeks back thle wvorkers in a sa wmdil at Wha ngaparaleara were giv en an exlhit ion of the vigor that lies ini a thwarted whale. One of these monsters of the deep, many of wvhomn are seen about the coasts of the D)o minion. where whaling was once a ver-y profitable industry, recently found its way- up one of the small harbors, andl finally got inside the booms where the logs are kept for the saw mills. It seemed happy enough there for a while, till it sud denlly discovered itself in enclosed water, and then the fight began. It lashed round and round in blind1( fury, sending lhugo bauri logs tumbling about like walking sticks, and then clearedl a passage andi made off full speed ahead for the open sea. Uinfor tunately for itself, it drove head on against a pile0, and the blo0w stunne'd It so that it was stranded on the beach. Worth, the Dressmaker. The noted Parisian dr2essmnaker, Worth, owed his ear-ly success to the patronage of that famous Ipersonaige of the third eimpir-e, Princess Pauline (10 Metternich. the wife of thle Austi an ambassador to France. Biy her wit and( nuiinrous vagaries of dress and manner she created a sensation at the court of Napoleon Ill and Eugenic. Therefore it was easy for Worth to become the most sought of the world's dresmakers when the princess ap provedl his styles. Charles Worth, while so long the creator of French fashion. was an Englishman, born in lourne, Engiandl, in 1825i, and died in Pais in 1895.-Blaltimore Star. Carbon From Gas. Engineers have long been trying to discover an economicai w~ay of produc ing carbon from natural gas Unader the methods now in use there Is such an enormous waste of gas that the process is too expensive. Harry lt('a com of Wilsonburg, Harrison County, WV. Va., has been studying thi.; mnatter scienitifically and experimentally for miany years, and now lie anoil nce1sl~O that lie has found a method wherebey he plroduces a black without any ash and far superior to that made uinder the older pr-ocesses, and whereby the waste of gas t9 elmost entirely eimzA aated. Acceptable Toys for the Children. Doll's House of Cardboard A hat box of strong cardboard and some red, white and green water-color paints are required to make this doll's house. A view of it :s given in the picture above, also a picture of the roof and of the front and one side. The roof and chimneys are to be made separately. Two large, square openings are cut out at the front and above them an oblong is cut on three sides. Bent outward this forms an awning that is painted in red and white stripes. A door is cut in the side and panels and door knobs painted on it. Openings are cut in the roof to hold the chim neys and it is painted in green squares to simulate shingles ' The house and chimneys are paint ed red lined with white to simulate bricks. White paper pasted over the windows will look like a shade. After the parts are made they are fas tened together with paper fasteners. Easily Made Animal Toys Animals, that please the little ones, are nmade ot caniton flannel or plush. and stuled with sawdturt. Pmus with biackc n.Oris, beatis, or regu lat10ni a rti licial eyes arec used, and bits of lamb's wool or fur p~rovidhe the re quir-ed nair. A dog and ponty arec pic tured here, mlade of white cainton flan nel, also outlines or patternas for c-ut ting tnemn. F0achi animal is miade of three pieces: the two sides a:A a piece to be seweal undernieath. This iast has a slit in it for tur-nmng the figure right side out after- the pieces arec macine stitched together. A fter it is stutiedl this openlinig is sewed up. Almost any animal may be made in this way. Bungalow Made of Cardboard Hungalows and other toy houses are miade ot heavy cardibeard boxes The nicture shows the roof, chimney, tront md one side of the bungalow before they are put togetbler, aiso the tin tshed house. The windows are cut out and plain white writing paper pasted over the openings on the inside, The window panes and sashes are painted oln this. Doors are cut on three sides and paneis and knobs pamnted on them. Doorsteps, window boxes and flowers, shinigies, etc., are all painted on the tiat surface, ismd i'hie chimney smaeseparately, onind red, an l ined wmt wt.. Christmas Gifts for A Group of Baby Belongings 'S The baby inspires the greatest num ber of dainty gifts at Christmas time, nearly all of them the handwork of those who welcome him. A book in which the inportant af fairs of the new arrival are to be put on record, a hanger for safety pins of several sizes, a pair of arm lets, and some brightly colored toys suspended by gay ribbons, are pi tured above in the group of baby be longings. The record book is made by cover ing cardboard with white moire silk. A stork Is painted on the front cover, and plain heavy white paper provides tne leaves. Satin ribbon in light blue or pink is sewed to each cover to fas ten them together. Pink satin ribbon and white cellu loid rings, in three sizes, are used for the safety-pin hangers One long and three short ends hang from a pretty bow, each terminating in a ring. The pins are fastened over the rings. Narrow satin ribbon shirred over fiat elastic cord forms the armlets. 10ach is finished with a full rosette. Bootees and a Coat Hanger Th'le warm looking and dainty bootees shiown in i the p~ictur e will be easy to make by those0 who under standl crocheting. They are crocheted of white zep~hyr and shaped to ft over the knees. A beading is worked in near the top) and narrow pink satin ribbon run through it makes it pos 811b10 to tie the boots so that they will net slip down A novel and very pretty touch is given these bootees by the tiny pink rose buds that are embroidered on them with silk floss. tittle wooden hangers are covered with cotton for a padding and over this light satin ribbon is shirred. The hook Is wound with the ribbon and the hanger finmshed with a pretty bow. Topsy Doll Made of a Stocking The rag baby has the reputation of being the best beloved of its 4ittle owner's possessions. Here is a Topsy doll madle ot a black stocking with mouth and nose outlined with yarn and glass beads for eyes. By raveling an oid knitted mitten or any knitted article, its head of kinky hair Is as sured. Trho figure is cut out in two Dieces, whicn are machine-stitched together, with an openin~g left at one side for turning it right Bide out. It Is etuffed with cotton. Rompers and a cap of gayly striped gingham add to the taw cination of this Topnn,