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jr^GATE T A STORY or tWTCRY.uHVOLVINO STARTLING I CWtrHJCATtONS tV ADVCNTURI U Anna Katwrinc green ?- _ author, or WW laSVeHWOmiM CAMt, ttmind clOSCI CHAPTER XIX. la Mr. Deo's Room. PREY to fresh agitation, be ?topped beck to Anltra's side. 8vely the must un anratend that tt wee and not herself about whom see most anxious to hear. But ehe not aeeea to. The smile with ehe greeted him suggested of the peat. It apoae only of ties) fat are. 1 win learn to be like sister," the ?gojalsl i slj cried out, rising and beam Mat brightly upon him. "1 win forget 'Che old gipsy ways and try to be nice egget pretty like my sister. And you sjknll learn me to reed and write. Then K| eteall know what you think; now I dsjfey know how yon feel." his head, a little sadly, There were people who her theee arts, but not be. the ability, the cour? ser the patience. one shall learn me.* ? lewdly Insisted, her cheek flushing at her eye showing an angry spark. Vttl not be ignorant always; I will at 1 wtD not- And turning, she nosnfbty speedy appearance on oene of Georgian's so-called did net detract from his dlnV He felt helpless without the left of Mr. Harper's presence. At occurred the event of been forewarned. .A drove up to the hotel and It stepped two travelers; one of I a etranger. the other the man tea twisted Jew. Mr. Ransom ad to meet the latter. He was ? to listen to bis first inouirles poaansU. ho the person to an successful in this. Mr. no gnflsjsx new aim than he ao uim without ceremony. Ml skia I hear and read about i her so-called twin?" hs ?'Nothing that I can believe. I yon to know. Georgian may bowood herself. That Is credl Bat that the girl we read km the papers and whom ehe evi Midnood to come to this place er ehould he the dead girl called -why. that la all' bosh?a tale Ive the public, and possibly pet not one to deceive me. The see Is much too Improbable." 1 'There are stranger things in hear and earth"*?quoted Ransom ; but wee already in conversation i the group of hotel Idlers who crowded up at sound of his loud Alter a careful look which had tak a in all of their faces, he had ap one young fellow, covering lower part of hie face as he did I Yates." ho called out e* T bat la this I hear shout Georgian and her so-called twin?" 11 *Xoot you remember the day we tied (wo chickens together, leg to leg. and samt them tumbling down the hill back of old Wylie's barn?" ?Alf Hasen!" shouted the fellow, thus accented. "Why. I thought you--" "Dead, eh? Of course you did. So Cm everybody else. But I've come to Bfe. you see. With sad marks of bat? tle on me." he continued, dropping his hand. "You all recognize me?" "Yen, yes." rose in one acrlalm from a dozen or more throats alter a moment of awkward uncertainty. "*1 know the eyes," vigorously assert? ed OTie. "And tbe voice." chimed In another. -How did It hnppcn. Vlf? What ten* off your Jaw?" TH tell you about that later," he replied, after silence had In a measure haen res^orod. "What I want to say now Is this. Is It believable that simultaneously with my own return from the grave another member of my family should reappear before you fr?n an older and much more certain eurylr.g? I tell you no. The riddle is one that rails for quite another solu? tion and I have come to assist you In aw>*teej it." w.vu he cast a sinister glance at ^9 ^B^^fl ^\ Ransom. ? The latter met the implied accusa- ; tion with singular calmness. "Any assistance will be welcome," ?aid be, "which will enable ut to solve this very serious problem." '1 will explain myself to you," said Hasen, "but not to this crowd. And not to you till I am sure of the facts which as yet have reached me only through the newspapers. Let me hear a full account of what has transpired here since you all came to town." "Follow me," was the quiet reply. "There is a room on this vary floor where we can talk undisturbed." Hazen stepped after Ransom Into the small room where the latter had held his first memorable conversation with the lawyer. "Now," said he as the door swung to behind them, "plain language) and not too much of it I have no time to waste, but the truth about Georgian I must know." Ransom settled himself. He felt bound to comply with the other's re? quest but he wished to make sure of not saying too much, or too little. Hasan's attack had startled him. It revealed one of two things. Either this man of mystery had essumed the offensive to hide his own connection with this tragedy, or his antagonism was en honest one, springing from an utter disbelief in the circumstances reported to him by the press and such gossips as he had encountered on his way to Sttford. v With the first possibility 1m felt himself unable to cope without the aid of Mr. Harper; the second might he met with candor. He decided upon candor at all costs. It suited his ma? ture beet and It also suited nhe strenge and doubtful situation. Meet? ing the letter's eye frankly, he re? marked: "I have no wish to keep anything back from you. I am as much struck as yon are by the mystery of this whole occurrence. I was as hard to convince." I Then he told his story without sub terfuge or suppression. One th'ng, and only one thing, caused a move? ment In the set figure before him. When he mentioned the will which Georgian had made a few hours prior to her disappearance Hazen's band slipped aside from the wound It had sought to cover, and Ransom cai~ht sight of the sudden throb which deep? ened Its hve. It was the one Infalli? ble sign that the man was not wholly without feeling, and it had sprung tx life at an intimation Involving uioiioy. When his tale was quite finished, he rose. So did Hazen. "Let us see this girl," suggested the latter. It was the fast word he had tpoken since Ransom began his story. "She is up-stalrs. I will go see?" "No, we will go see. 1 particularly desire to take her unawares." Ransom offered no objection. Per? haps he felt interested in the experi? ment himself. Together they left the room, together they went upstairs. A turmoil of questions followed them from the throng of men and boys gathered in the halls, but they re? turned no answer and curiosity re? mained unsatisfied. I Once in the hall above, RansofQ stopped a moment to deliberate. He could not enter Anitra's room unan? nounced, and he could not make her hear by knocking. He must tind the landlady. m He knew Mrs. Deo's room. He ha/ had more than one occasion to visit It during the last two days. With a word of explanation to Hazen, he ? passed down the hall and tapped on ! the last door at the extreme left. No | one ansr.cred, but the door Stand.ug , ajar,-ho pushed it quietly open, being i anxious to make sure that Mrs. Deo j wr.s not the**. The next moment he was beckc.i-. ing to Hazen. "Look!" said he, holding the door J open with one hand and pointing with the other to a young girl sitting on a low stool by the window, mending, or trying to mond, a rent in her skirt. "Why, thM's Georgian!" exciaii; cd Hasen, and hastily entering he I > proached the anxious figure laborh;:!y pushing her needle In and out of the torn goods, and pricking herself mo: e than once In the attempt. "Georgian!" he cried again and yet more emphatically, as he stepped up in front of her. The young girl failed to no ire. Awkwardly drawing her thread out to its extreme length, she prepared <o insert her needle again, when her eye naught sight of his figure bending over j her. and she looked up quietly and with an air of displeasure, Which pleased Ransom.?he could hardly tell why. This was before her eyes reach? ed his face when they had. it was touching to see how she tried to hide the shock caused by its deformity, as she said with a slight gesture of dis? missal : "I'm quite deaf. I cannot hear what you s^y. If it is the landlady you want, she has gone down-stairs for a minute; perhaps, to the kitrnen." Hazen did not retreat; if anything he approached nearer, and llaffsora was surprised to observe the force and persuasive power of his expres? sion as he repeated: "No nonsense, Georgian," opening and shuttlna his hands as he dpoke. _____-, in curious gesticulations which her eye mechanically followed but which seemed to convey no meaning to her, though he evidently expected them to and looked surprised (Ransom almost thought baffled) when she shook her head and In a sweet, impassive way reiterated: "I cannot hear and I do not under? stand the deaf and dumb alphabet. I'm sorry, but you'll have to go to some one else. I'm very unfortunate. I have to mend this dress and I don't know how." Hazen, who could hardly tear his eyes from her face, fell slowly back as she painfully and conscientiously re? turned to her task. "Good God!" he murmured, as his eye sought Ran? som's. "What a likeness!" Then he uttered two or three quick sentences which Ransom could not catch. His persistence, or the near ap? proach of his face to hers, angered her. Rising quickly to her feet, she vehemently cried out: "Go away from here! It Is not right to keep on talking to a deaf girl after she has told you she cannot hear you." Then catching sight of Ransom, who had advanced a step in his sympathy for her, she gave a little sigh of relief and added querulously: "Make this man go away. This ii the landlady's room. I don't like to have strangers talk to me. Besides?" here her voice fell, but not so low as to be inaudible to the subject of her remark, "he's not pretty. I've seen enough men and women who are?" At this point Ransom drew Hazen out into the hall. "What do you think now?" he de? manded. Hazen did not reply. The room they had Just left seemed to possess a strange fascination for him. He con? tinued to look back at It as he pre? ceded Ransom down the hall. Ran? som did not press his questions, but when they were on the point of sepa? rating at the head of the stairs, he held Hazen back with the words: "Let us come to some understand? ing. Neither of us can desire te waste strength in wrong conclusions. Can that woman be other than your own sister?" "No." The denial was absolute. "She Is my sister." "Anltra?" emphasised Ransom. The smile which he received in re? ply was strangely mirthless. "I never rush to' conclusions," was Hazen'8 remark after a moment of possibly mutual heart-beat and unset? tling suspense. "Ask me that same question to-morrow. Perhaps by then I shall be able to answer you." ? CHAPTER XX. Between the Berry Bushes. TWY l0,n word came from INI I Ransom. He had reached the end of his patience and was determined to have It onfewith this man on the spot. ^Come into my room," said he. "II you doubt her, you doubt me; and in the present stress of my affairs this demands an immediate explanation." "I have no time to enter your room, and 1 cunnot linger here any longer talking on ua subject which at the present moment is not clear to cither of us," was the resolute if not quite affable reply. "Later, when my con? clusions are maue, 1 will see you again. Now I am going to eat aud refresh myself. Don't follow me; it will do you no good." He turned to descend. Ransom had an impulse to seize him by his twisted throat and drag from him the secret which hi3 impassive features refused to give up. But Ransom was no fool and, stepping buck out of the way of temptation, ae allowed him to escape without further parley. Then he went to his room. But, after an hour or two spent with his own thoughts, his restlessness became so great that he sov.ght the gossips below tor relief. He found them all clustered about liazen, \v..c was reel? ing off stories by the mile. This was unendurable lo him and he was strid? ing o.'f, when Hazen burst away from his listeners and, Joining Hansom, whispered in his ear: "I s;..\ her go by the window just now on her way up-street. What can |h? .".nd there to interest her? Where is she gol::g?" "I don't know. She doesn't consult me as to her movements. Probably she has gone for a walk. She looks as if she needs it." "So Co you," was the unexpected retort given by Hazen, as he stepped back to rejoin his associates. Ransom paused, watching him askance in doubt of the suggestion, in doubt of the man. in doubt of himself. Then he yielded to an Impulse strong? er than any doubt and slipped out into the highway, where '.e turned, as she hid turned, up-stieet. But not without a struggle. He hated himself for his puppet-like ac? ceptance of the hint given him by a man be both distrusted and disliked. He felt his dignity Impaired and his self-confidence shaken, yet he went on. following the high road eagerly and watching with wary eye for the first glimpse ol the slight figure which wan beginning to n.^.ic every scols alive to him. It was the cemetery road, and odd as the fancy was, he felt that he should overtake her at the old e, behind which lay so many of tier name. Here he had seen her name before its erasetnent from the family monument, and here he should see could he say Anltra If he found her bending over those graves; the wom? an who could not hear, who could not read, whose childish memory, if she had any in connection with tins spot, COUld not be distinct enough or sulfl eiently intelligent to guide her to this one plot? No! Human credulity can go far, but not so far as that. He knew that all his old doubts would return if. on entering the cemetery, he found her under the brown snart carved with the name cf Hazen. The test was one he had not sought and did not welcome. Yet he felt bound, now that he recognized it as such, to see it through and accept its teach? ing for what it surely would be worth. Only he began to move with more pre? caution and studied more to hide his approach than to give; any warning of it. The close ranks of the elderberry bushes lining the fences on the final hill-top lent themselves to the con? cealment he now sought. As soon as he was sure of her l aving left the road he drew up close to these bushes and walked under them till he was al? most at the gate. Then he allowed himself to peer through their close branches and received an unexpected shock at seeing her figure standing very near him, posed in an uncertainty which, for some reason, he had not expected, but which restored him to himself, though why he had not the courage, the time, nor the inclination to ask. She was babbling in a low tone to herself, an open sesame to her mind, which Ransom hailed with a sense of awe. If only he might distinguish the words! But this was difficult not only was her head turned partly away, but she spoke in a murmur which was far from distinct. Yet?yes, that one sen? tence was plain enough. She had mut? tered musingly, anxiously, and with a searching look among the graves: "It was on this aide I know it was on this side." Watching her closely lest some chance glance of hers should stray his way, he listened still more Intently and was presently rewarded by catch? ing another sentence. "A single grave all by itself. I fell over it and my motier scolded me, saying it was my father's. There was a> bush near it A bush with white flowers on it. I tried to pick some." Ransom's heart was growing lighter and lighter. She did not even know that there had been placed over that grave a monument with her name on it and that of the mother who had scolded her for tripping over her fath? er's sod. Only Anitra could be so Ig? norant or expect to find a grave by means of a bush blooming with flow? ers fifteen years ago. As she went wandering on, peering to right and left, he thought of Hazen and his doubts, and wished that he were here beside him to mark her perplexity. When quite satisfied that she would never find what she sought without help. Ransom stepped from hfe hiding place and joined her among the grassy hillocks. The start of pleasure she gave and her almost childish look of relief warmed his heart, and it was with a smile hp waited for her to speak. "My father's grave!" she explained. "T was looking for my father's grave, T remember my mother taking rr\e to it when I was little. There was a, buoh clocc by it?ch! I see what you think. The btt?h would be big now? I forgot tnL.. bo...eihiug else! You are th_g s.j.ueiui?g eise. Oh, I know, i ..ujv.-. i.e woa.un't be lying f.lo^e Jky .. o. e. -My mother must have lc, <j.* e^.er would have taken me to be:*. 7"..c:o ought 10 be two graven" He nodiled, aid talcing her by the hand led her to the family monument. She gazed at it for a moment, amazed, then laid her linger on one of the in? scriptions. - "ftiy father's name?" she asked. "My father's no.u.e?" she asked. He nodded, She hung her heuu thoughtfully for a moment then ?.. <?. .hg to tbo other si.'e of .the sloua laid her hand on aroll or. "My mother's?*1 ? Again he signified yes. "And thisY is this sister's name? No, BheS not buried yet. I had a hi other I- it his?" RaiUQin bowed. How tell her that It was a lal.e Inscription ami that the r. an whose death it commemorated was not only alive but had o::ly a Ut? ile while before spoken to ber, ??J oidn't ? <? i! y brother, ile was v o\ i ? I '? .. u> hurt ?.eop.o. Im Kan; or drew her away. Her frank? ness was that of a child, but it pro? duced an uncomfortable feeling. Ko didn't like this brother either, md in this thoughtless estimate of hers he seemed to rend a warning to which bis own nature intuitively responded. "Come!" ha motioned, leading the way out She followed with a smile, and to? gether they entered the highway. As they did so. Ransom caughl Bight of a man speeding down the hill before them on u bicycle. h?' bad not come from the upper road, or they would have --eon him as ha flew past the gateway. Where had he come from, then? From the peep-hole where Ran bom himself had btuod a few minutes before. No oiner conclusion was pos? sible, and Ransom felt both angry and anxious till nc could find out who the man was. This he did not succeed in doing till he reached the hotel. There a bicycle leaning against a tree gave point to his questions, and he learned that it belonged to a clerk in one ci the small stores near by, but that the man who had just ridden it up and down the road on a trial of speed was the stranger who had just come to town with Mr. Hazen. CHAPTER XXI. On the Cars. [HIS episode, which to Ran? som's mind would bear but j one interpretation, gave him ample food for thought. He? decided to be more circumspect in the future, and to keep an eye out for in? quisitive strangers. That Hazen was antagonistic to him he had always known but that he was regarded by him with suspicion he had not realized till now. It was now five o'clock and he vas sitting in his room awaiting the usual report from the river, when a quick tap at his door was followed by the entrance of the very man he was thinking about. He rose eagerly to receive him. determined, however, to allow no inconsiderate impulse to drive him into unnecessary speech. Taking the seat proffered him Haz? en opened the conversation as fol? lows: "Mr. Ransom, 1 have been doing you an injustice. I do not consider it necessary to tell you just how I have found this out, but I am now convinced that you are as much in the dark as myself in regard to this un? fortunate affair, and are as willing as I am to take all justifiable means to enlighten yourself. I own that at first I thought it more than probable you were in collusion with the girl here to deceive me. That I wouldn't stand. I'm glad to find you as truly a victim of this mystery as myself." Ransom straightened himself. "If this is an apology," he returned, "I am willing to accept it in the spirit In which it is proffered. But 1 should like something more ti in an apology from you. Candor for candor;?your whole story in return for mine." "I'm afraid it would be a trifle tedi? ous?my whole story," smiled Hazen. "If you mean such part of it as con cerns Georgian's peculiar actions and the complications with which we are at this moment struggling, I can only repeat what I have already told you both at the St. Denis in New York and lere. I a^i Georgian's returned brother, saved from the jaws of hell to rce my own country again. I ar? rived in New York on the tenth. Nat orally, after securing a room at the hotel. I took up the papers. The> were full of tbte appioacning marriage of Miss Hazen.' I recognized my sis? ter's name, though not her splendor, for we were the sole survivors of a poor country family and I knew noth? ing of the legacy I am now told she received. Anxious to see her, I at? tended the ceremony. Sue recognized me. I had not expected this, and feel? ing old affections revive, I followed her friends to the house and was pre? sented to them and to yoa. What I whispered to her on this occasion were my assumed name and the place where I was to be found. My changed countenance called for explanations for which a bridal reception offered j no opportunity. 'Besides, as I have j already said, I stood in sore need of a j definite amount of money. 1 meant her to come and see me, but I did not expect her to play a trick on you in order to do so. This had its birth in the to me unaccountable mystery em? bodied in the girl you call Anitra, but 1 whom I'm not ready yet to name. For ; when I do, action must follow convic tlon and that without mercy or delay." ' "Action?" repeated Ransom, with quick suspicion and a confused rush of contradictory visions in his mind. "What do you mean by that?" Hazen covered his chin with his hand. 41 will try ?and explain," he replied, "if I am abrupt In my Language, it is owing to tue exigencies oi the caze. j I have no time to waste and no dis? position 'o whitewash a rough pic^e of work. To Bpeak to the point, i have an intense iiuc.e. t in my sistor GcG.?.iJL I Lave little or no~e la lay Ei^'.c. ??.nitre. Cico.s.^n's ln^eiii&<?~. good-wiil, and command of money WOuld be ti ino&Ui~?.ti.O L.:a..?. iJ me. Anitra, on the contrary, ? ouid be nothing but a burden, uuieaa? r.e.e he cast a very sharp glance at Ran? som?"unless Georgian should have been sufficiently considerate to leave her a good share of her fortune in the will you say she made just before her disappearance and supposed death." "That I can say nothing about," re-1 joined Ransom in answer to this feel- j er. "The will is in the hands of her lawyer, but if it will help your argu ment any we will suppose that she left her sister to the care of her friends without any especial provision ! for her in the way of money." The steady -.imors clutching the scarred neck loosed their grip to wave ! this supposition a ide. "A hard!*/ suppodable case*" was the cold comment with which he supple? mented this die laimer; "but one which would make the girl B burden indeed; a burden which for many rea? sons I could not assume." Here he struck himself sharply on the neck, with the Brst display of passion he had shown. "My advantag are not such as to make it easy for me to bu] ? o f a y "f. It would be simply . . osa bio for mo to undertake the ( ire of any girl, least of all of one with a manifest infirmity." (To Be Continued.) Summer i<>v< and winter matri? mony in?' no mor< alike than cham? pagne i.nd iee tea. STOMAOII TROUBLE. Hud it For Year* I ntil He Heard of Ml-o-na?J. F. W. Delx>rme s? ?1 it. If you suffer from indigestion, belching of gas, lump of lead on stomach, billiousness, dizr'ness, fou breath nervousness, constipation, or^ headache, give J. F. W, DeLorme St enta to-day for a box of Mi-o-na, the celebrated stomach prescription, and if it doesn't cure you J. F. W. De? Lorme will give you your money back. It relieves painful stomach distress in five minutes. Read the following: "I had stomach trouble for years. After eating I would be troubled for an hour or so with indigestion. I bought one box of Mi-o-na tablets from Gaffney Drug Co., which com? pletely cured me. That was 12 months ago and to this day I have not been troubled again." J. B. Has key. Gaffney, B. C., April 20, 1909. Vi-o-na is the best prescription for stomach trouble ever written; not on ly does it give quick relief, but it cures permanently because it thor? oughly cleanses, renovates, builds up and puts elasticity into the stomach and bowels. Mi-ona is put up in tablet form and is small and easy to swal? low. Sold by leading druggists everywhere and In Sumter by J. F. W. DeLorme who rigidly guarantees them. Test sample free. Address Booth's Mi-o-na, Buffalo, N. Y. 9-16-25-10-7. .W-10-8. "Your cough annoys you. Keep on hacking and tearing the delicate membranes of your throat if you want to be annoyed. But if you want re? lief, want to be cured, take Chamber? lain's Cough Remedy. Sold by W. YV. Sibert. The fiy that seeks the sticky fly? paper is a wise and intelligent being besides a man who makes love sim? ultaneously to two girl chums. ?If people with symptoms of kid? ney or bladder trouble could realize th Ir ?acger they would without loss of time commence taking Foley's Kidney Remedy. This great remedy -tops the pain and the irregularities, itr Rathens and builds up these cr ;ans and there is no danger of Blight's dlseeea or other serious dis? order. Do net disregard the early symptoms, Sibert's Drug Store. WHICH SHALL IT BE? Having tried all other remedies. Will you continue to suffer through false pride? DON'T BK FOOLISH. Repeated Eye Headaches sap one's vitality and bring about a general nervous break-.down. Let Cs Relieve Your Headache by Removing the Cause. Save your Eyes uud nerxou-. energy. i have a graduate Optician in charge of my Optical Farlor and all work is guaranteed. W. A. THOMPSON, Jeweler and Optician. 6 S. Main St. Phone 333. TAX NOTICE. The County Treasurer's office in Court House Building, will be open for the collection of takes without penalty, from the 15th day of Oc? tober to the 31st dey of December 1909. The levy is as follow s: For State | 1-4 Mills. For County Ordinary 2 3-4 Mills. For Sinking Fund Loan of lf07 1 Mill. For Constitutional School 3 HI at. Poll si.oo. Capitation Dog t.ix 50 cents. Also Special School lows: School District So. 1. School iDstrici No. 2. School Dtstrh I So. 3, School Dieti Id So. 4. School District No. S. School District No. 11. School District No. 12. Sth???d District No. T3. School District No. 14. School District No. 16. School District BCo. it. Fchopl District No. is. :> 4-10 mils. A penalty of 1 per cent, added f r month of January 1909. Additional penalty of 1 per com. for month at February 1909. Additional penalty of r> per cent until lIth day of Man n Ittt, when the t:t\ books will clone for the collection Of taxes for the fiscal year 190t. The ofBee ertO be closed on the first three days af Jen? uary, Pebrauary, uud March, tot the purpose of adding peneltlee. and making abstrat is. and no taxes srlll 1??' recived after the L&th day of March, except under execution. B. C. WALLACF. County Treasurer, Basaler County. 10-l-lt-w-Mar. IS, 10. Tax as Col" 2 Mills. 2 Mills. 2 Mills 2 Mills. 1 urn 2 MiKs. 3 Mills, 3 MIllS. 3 MilS. 2 Milte. I MUSS.