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The Sable Lorcha BT Horace Mazeltine i it* to to Tbst which ensued was coincident. As though the step had been prear? ranged, the three actors moved in con? cert. The hand which held the weap? on advanced a dosen inches or more, flyachronously my foot, lifted with all the accuracy and power of my under? graduate football days, met the intrud? ing revolver and sent it spinning against the vehicle's upholstered top Simultaneously. Evelyn screamed. And wren aa ber voice ra. g out, high and shrill; even aa that isthal object of chill hardened steel apun upward, the light waa switched suddenly off and we were In grumous darkness. It waa she who, pressinlg the button at her side, had dropped over us this mantle of invisibility no lesa obscur? ing than the fabled Hel Kepleln; and It waa she, too, who now opened the other door of the brougham, and with a murmured: "Come! Hurry!" drew me after ber Into the 0*ead uncertain? ty of an environment oT ?hl h we knew nothing. , The gloom without was scarcely less thick than that within. Of my five senses, therefore, all keenly alert, that or sight told me nothing; but my ears aad nostrils, aided and abetted by my perception of sodden planking be? neath my feet, informed me that we had alighted In a stable. The sound of pounding hoofs echoed from near? by stalle and unmistakable equine odors were strongly pervasive. Upon my hearing there fell, too, as we fled, the high-pitched nasal cackle an excited and perplexed celestials, ?rboee eyes. dazzled by the brougham's lasupa, failed to follow ua Into that ob- i ecurlty which lay in the wake of the conveyance, and through which, hand In hand. Evelyn and I crept crouch Ingly toward the street, our hearts Kammering but our breathing smoth? ered lest It betray our whereabouts and precipitate pursuit. If In our fond fancy we expected stn unim?C?i*d way, however, our ex pectatlons were not realized. Where the darkness was densest there rose an obstruction. From out of the black a pslr of arms encircled me?a pair of arms, long sine? * snd muscular, which tightened about me with a sud? den vlae-llkke pre"sue. holding me pow- , erlese. My held of Evelyn's hand was thus abruptly sundered, and though Sue could not see, she sensed the en* counter. Once more she screamed. High and shrill ber young voice rose abo>o the noise of the stamping horses aad the quaintly strident chatter of the confused Mongolians. It waa not ao much a mere cry of affright as it was aa appeal for help. And it met i With surprisingly prompt response. I Before Its echo hnd died, the double ' eliding doors which separated our stable dungeon from the sidewalk antra swept swiftly apart, admitting the revealing gleam from a street ' lamp across the way, and admitting, too. the husky, commanding figure of a man with raised revolver, followed by a mob of neighborhood denizens attracted by the unusual and excited by the girl's penetrating vociferation. Quickly as I had been seized, even 1 more quickly was I released. The en? circling srms fell away Instantly, and the giant who had held me turned with an osth of defiance and confront? ed the Invaders. la both oath and at* tltude there was a reminder of some beard and seen before; and idlng upon the heels of reminder tame recognition. It war Phlletus Murphy, red and burly, who now tow* ared menacingly above our armed aavior. It wss Phlletus Murphy who, swinging viciously for his adversary's jaw, staggered back the same Instant, bis srm dropping and a bullet in his shoulder. For a moment following the shot there was dead slb-nce. Then came pandemonium. Tl g mob. already aug? mented fr? ! i a . < ?-? *o a hundred, surged Into the Btablt as a Bp ring llcod surges over broken darr. i. With Eve lyn In a corner behind me I fought off the, crowding, hallowing throng, while Murphy lay groaning at our feet, and his assailant, who, Whei once his face met the licht, i sHacoverecl eras O'Hara, my own detective, smashed heads right and Ml w!?h the butt of his revolver, and hoars* !y commanded room for his falbm enemy. What might I gag hapaaaM d. erbat fatalities might have ensued, had it not been for th?' fortuitous arrival of three vinlfoi | ( ?1 members of the met? ropolitan BOMce force I jhall not at? tempt to conjecture. Their rltibs, I know, did fjaad lervtcei and g shot or two fired over the beade of tho riotlsg crowd had a wonderfully pat 1 tying ??ffc, t. Poor Kvelyn, in <plfe of an heroical? ly stubborn Insistence to he coureV geous. waa aa thoroughly frlghteaed as I sav-? ever seen her. \\ h? n, at length, th" stable clear* d. tnd lamps were lighted, she wag still pal lid BS marble, aAd her Up quivered vita In 8 tlaacy that no restraining teeth nor Mdlng hand could disguise. "Ohl Wasn't it exciting!" she ex clnhntd with nn effort at nonchalance thai was almost pathetic. T wouldn't have missed this experience for any? thing in the world." And theu, discov? ering a little trickle of blood op my ch<H.k. which a diligently plied hand? kerchief had not fully IdCO* dtd in keeping out of sight, she was at onCC all solicitude. "Oh, Philip!" she cried, with wide eyes, swimming. "You're hurt! It was awful. It was heathen ish! I with WC had never dared?who did it? Do you know? Was it a kni.'e cut ? Was it?" And so Jhe rattled on, her own ills swallowed up at length in her anxiety over my in? significant Injury. Murphy, meanwhile, had sunk into insensibility through loss of blood, and lay now, breathing stertorously. One of the officers had already telephoned for an ambulance and the other two were making a diligent search of the stable. As for the Chinamen, they had fled at the first alarm, and it looked very much as if every one in any way connected with the outrage, save only Murphy, had gone with them. O'Hara, who had been put, nominal? ly, under arrest, and who was now i awaiting the pleasure of his captors, availed himself of the first moment of Evelyn's slierce to address me. "It's been a long chase," ho said? and there was something of pride in his tone?"but you see I got him dead to rights at last. He's mixed un with the roost lawless gang of highbinders New York has known for years. I haven't got down to all his history yet. but I've been handed a good stack of it, and it won't be hard to put the screws on him now 'for killing that Chink that used to work for him up to Cos Cob. I didn t know it III you he was after tonight, but I do know that he bad a hand In the plot that fixed another Chink this very evening?a young fellow named Ling Fo, who was pumped full of lead just as he was turning from the Bowery into Pell street." It was from O'Hara that I learned our present whereabouts. The stable was not more than a half dozen blocks from the Intersection of the two ? streets he had just named. The fate of our driver we could only conjecture. Before the policeman I laid the facts and they promised me i that he should be found. And tin n, after half an hour's waiting, a suhsti tuto driver was secured from a neigh* boring gurage, and Kvelyn and I were permitted to continue our interrupted Journey homeward. Ai the Cameron house, as though our cup of excitement were not al? ready filled to brimming, a fresh ex? perience awaited us?an experience of such vital significance as to over? turn entertained conclusions and shed i a wholly new light upon our darktdt perplexities. I CHAPTER XXII. The Scuttled Ship. Cheekabeedy met us in the hall?an unusually agitated Cheekabeedy, with his full-jowled, rubicund face ruddy beyond the common, and his tiny gray eyes twinkling like twin star sapphit i Our adventure, thrilling as it 1 ad been, was subjugated, if not ind< d for the moment forgotten, in the pre* j ence of this unwonted suscitation. P r the butler's aplomb was a sort of fsi ily fixture which nothing short of M I most extraordinary happening a I either unsettle or upheave. To And i him In such case, therefore, argu d either cognizance of exceptional ds velopments or possession ci men ( strously important tiding*-.; and at , sight of him w? Doth paused in mute expectancy. "There is a person, sir," he hegan, j making vain effort to control his soli I to dlspasslon, "a foreign person?v t Is called a Chinee, I think, sir?in the reception room. If I understand him, sir, he is a consul or something 11'..e that. And be has brought with 1 ;n a tall, thin, elderly man, as yellow , himself, sir. I was in doubt about i 1- ^ lowing them to wait, but they told n.e , they must see you, sir, tonight with* , out fall; that it was a matter to y r interest, sir. Thoy have been hi ? over an hour, now, and I have novel taken my eye off the reeeption-r cm door. Seeing as how those flnysterfc ous things happened at Oragholi, Kir, 1 was fearful lest something more of tho same sort might be eontcmplat? d. And poor Mr. Cameron lying up 104 re with that nurre, Bryan, who, between you and we, * ir, 1 don't trust, nohow." Kvelyn was geareely to be blamed for a trepidation equaling, If not iur passiiii-, Checi.aljeedy'H. "Don't Mi them, Philip," she hit d ' with nervous vehemence. MP1< p ? don't see them! K Is some trick, i foe! it is. Cheekabeedy win get th< m out of the bottse at onco. Won't y* u, Chockab edj ?" Hut I was in far different mood >f lato matters had been shaping ll nv ?ehren, apparently, towards a clll ??. In a qui. t way, AYOldlng the spec! i larly aggressive, and tided n I I by chance, we had drawn nearer ? d nearer to the veil which hid the truth. if there bad come to me now the portunity for another step, it mu I t be disregarded* My whole incllnut Wal to welcome It. Therefore I smiled, reataniingly, at Kvelyn, as l said "Ke.-.llv, my dear ^irl, you are un necessarily alarmed. There is not cannot I*-, in fact ? the slightest sihility of ?langer. On the contrary their visit, whoever they may be, Ii in all Hkellhood pacific. Dn1 if it would make yoa any leas uneasy, Mr. Ch< cha beady Shall waif near the open dour, ard yog yourself shall st<u. l ire in the h ill. where you can practically see and bs ir all that go^s on " Thai aha yielded promptly to my t argument, pretsndad, at least, to put aside her fears, and returning me Bmile for smile, confessed to a con? suming curiosity which she had mere? ly endeavored to disguise, was an epi? sode aa characteristic of her as any that I can remember. On entering the reception-room?a somewhat formally furnished, square room, which Jutted from t?;e hall, on the left?I was mildly surprised to dis? cover that one of my visitors was none other than the Chinese merchant, Yup Sing. At sight of me he rose and came a step forward, the same tall, ?pere, dignified Asiatic I had met in the Mott street warehouse, save that he DO longer wore the dress of his country, but a dark, well-cut suit of American clothes. ?'Permit me, Mr. Clyde," he said, in that chill leisurely tone 1 so well re? membered, "to present to you the vice consul of China at New York, Mr. Chen Mok." And then I saw that his companion, a much shorter man than he and younger, had risen too, and was holding out a hand In tentative greeting. My first impulse WSl to ignore the proffer, for of late I had come to abhor the race he represented, but on second thought 1 acceded to the most formal of hand clasps. "We are here," Yup Sing continued, "because we believe we have secured for you, Mr. Clyde, the explanation which you recently did me the honor to request of me. And because we are In hope that, through you, some agree? ment may be reached which will put an end to the present deplorable out? break amongst certain of our people In this city." Vice Consul Chen bowed gravely, and I, in my turn, gestured my visitors to resume their seats. So far I had not spoken, but mentally I had been busy. Frankly, I distrusted Yup Sing, and I questioned how much of his ex? planation, whatever it might be, I could afford to aceept. Fortunately, however, I now had some basis for Judgment. I felt that, so far as it went, the letter from Miss Clement could be relied upon absolutely, if the merchant's story coincided, then it would perhaps be safe to assume the correctness of added details. If it did not coincide, I was in possession of valuable material for cross-examina? tion. "I am an advocate of the policy of reciprocity, Mr. Yup," I said at length. "If, in return for your service, I can render a service to you, you have only to command me." I chose a chair between them and the door, and sitting down assumed an attitude of attention. "What I tell you," began the mer? chant, his body erect, his shoulders squared, his chin lifted, "Mr. Chen will verify." And once more Mr. Chen en? dorsed his friend's assertion by a grave forward sweep of his head. "When you came to me, Mr. Clyde, with the story of your friend Mr. Cam eron'i annoyance and subsequent ab- ' duction, I was inclined to the view that you were, yourself, in some way deceived. What 1 have learned since, corroborates that impression. As you say here in America, your friend, Mr. Cameron, did not play fair with you." Under ordinary circumstances I might pessibly have permitted this as? sertion to go unchallenged. I am not 1 as a rule truculent; more often than not I hid it advisable to ignore pre? liminary Inaccuracies of narration, the quicker to reach tlio vitals of the nar? rative. Hut on this night I was con trarily disposed. The inscrutable coun? tenance and the superior, almost pat- , rOBlsJng manner of the speaker chafed and irritated me to the verge of en- ! durance; and so, without hesitation, I Interrupted him with a contradiction. 1 "If all that you have learned is no , more reliable than this corroboration," j I declared, warmly, "we might as well j end the interview here and now. Of Mr. Cameron's fairness at all times gad under all circumstances there can be no question. V.o is my friend, tried and trusted, end Incapable of deceit, i On that I would stake everything I hold most dear; and wa may as well i have it clearly understood at the out? set." j A white man would either have in? sisted or apologired. But the yellow man has a way of his own. Yup Sin^ remained silent until I had finished, j Hut whether or not he heard me was manifested neither by word nor sign. Without change of facial expr? Bslon or i alteration of tone, he placidly proceed? ed, choosing his phrases with Infinite i care and rounding his periods with a faculty that for an Asiatic was little short of marvelous. Had he been any one else in the world I should 1 have admired him. As it was, his clev? erness only added to my aversion. "There is a i tory." lie went on, "a true story familiar to all Chinamen; to some Chinamen especially it is a very hitter, a Very pathetic story, bo i Quse it has to do with the passing of their kinsmen?their fathers, th'lr brothers, and their sons. Death some* 1 times is glorious, as we all know. To die for one's country, or for one's hon? or, is to be privileged, To die of pes? tilence or famine- is deplorable. Hut to die by treachery is to leave a poor legacy to those who follow?a legacy of unrest until vengeance has been wrought." n< paused for Just a moment and I moved Impatiently. But If I thought i to disconcert him by my action I was not rewarded. "It is possible, Mr. Clyde," he con? tinued, "that you are familiar with the history of the trade In coolies be* i tween your country and mine?" I nodded. "Yes," I answered, "pass? ably familiar. I kn OW that at one tinn* it was black with outrages. I kn >w that in 1882 a Chinese exclusion act I was passed and thai In 1892 the Geary law follow*; tf " I ' H'tt von <i;d not 1 noa, perhaps, ! b-it in spih of your laws, the Btnug | r.\ ug of ( binamen of < 'hint se labor* ers?Into this country, ha? L- on al? most continuously practiced?" "It Is quite possible, I dare say. I do not know the facts, however." "The facts in a general way are not matt rial," Yup Sing assured me. "But I shall inform you of a single specific case. Sixteen years ago there ap? peared in Canton a white man, sup pi scdly a Scotchman, calling himself Donald Mc>'lsh, and representing, ac? cording to his own statement, certain large American interests. Through a native ag< nt it became known that McNish was in search of coolies. Very soon, circulars appeared throughout the district, worded somewhat after this faahicn: 'To the countrymen of Ah ?!. o. Laborers are wanted in the land of California. Great works to be done there, good houses, i>lenty food. You will get $20 a month and good treatment. Passage money required, $45. I will lend the money on good security, but I cannot take your wife and child in pay. Como to Canton, and I will care for you until the ship sails. The ship is good.' Ti e circular was signed by Ah Shoo, the agent. In response to it, exactly ninety-seven of my countrymen, having left good se? curity for tho required passage money, were led stealthily aboard a sn:all coasting vessel cne night, and tho ves? sel slipped quietly down the Chu-Kiang to the open sea, with McNish himself at the helm, and a Eurasian named John Woo, in the galley." The Vice Consul was now consult? ing a slip of paper bearing, as I could see, certain Chinese characters. "If I am In error," said Yup Sing, addressing his companion, "I pray you to correct me." Whereat Mr. Chen Biok smikd reassuringly. "You are in all particulars accu? rate," he announced; and the Mott street merchant, thus encouraged, pro? ceeded. "The vessel, you understand, Mr. Clyde, was what is known in those wa? ters as a lorcha. It was not so largo as a junk and it differed in other re? spects as well. It?" "I think I have seen a rude, but more or less effective representation of it," I interrupted. "I know to what you refer," was the speaker's rejoinder. "But that was more or less conventional. As I told you, every child draws boats like that. However, the lorcha was to be used merely to convey the passengers to McNish's steamship, which had al? ready cleared from Hong Kong, and which waited off the coast well out of sight of prying cruisers. Such, at least, was the explanation. Whether McNish ever had a steamship is a matter for conjecture. Whether a United States cruiser of the Pacific Squadron, having received a hint as to his purpose, bore down upon him. as has been said, is likewise open to question. But of the truth of the inci? dents which followed there can be no dispute." lie hesitated long enough for the Vice Consul to echo: "No dispute, whatever, Mr. Clyde," and continued: "On the second morning after leav? ing Canton, an hour after dawn, when he at least pretended to see the cruiser in full chase, he ordered his passen? gers below, declaring that their safe? ty depended upon th?ir keeping out of sight. No sooner, however, were they below decks than ho battened down the hatches, and imprisoned the cook in his galley. A white fog prevailed and the sea was very calm, both of which were conditions favorable to McNish's purpose. Lowering the lorcha's two boats he cut one adrift, and entering the other, which he had previously stocked with stores, he made his way in it along the lorcha's . side to her prow." At this juncture, Yup Sing slowly rose to his fret. "And now," he said, "I want you to picture what followed. Standing up, axe in hand, Donald McNish began his diabolic work. With strong arm he ?wung, and close to the water line the blade bit deep into the timbers of I the lorcha's bow. He swung again; j and again tho blade bit deep. Once more, and still once more the axe rose and fell. Frantically, with fiendish purpose he plied his weapon, until . there opened a gaping hole through which, upon those ninety-seven trapp- d souls, rushed the bitter waters of dca:h." It was a very dramatic recital. Un? accompanied though it was by a sin? gle gesture, the shaker's voice lent it belf most effectively to the tragedy. And though I disliked and distrusted him, I was c-rtainly more or less im? pressed by the set ne he painted. "McNish escaped, I presume?" I asked the question more to r< Heve the tensity of the silonee which ensued, than because of any doubt on this point. "McNish escaped." he e hoed. "And no one else?" "The Eurasian cook escaped, too. I!o 1 ?'' s out of his galley. Hat tily be patched together a raft and reached land a week later, more dead than alive." "And nil the re^t?those nir ;y-sev en deluded, tricked countrymen of yours?perished?" "To a man." "Then the graphic description you have Just given me, came?how? Prom whom? Certainly not from the cook, v.ho v.as locked In the galley ?" "Parti] from the COok, yes," lie an? swered, unmoved. "And partly from one to whom McNish, himself, de> scribed his ow n crime." The Vice Consul h< :c added a word. "Moreover." hi> s :ifl, and his accent was in marked contrast with the mer? chant's perfect Rngllsh, "we have cor* rnboratlve evidence. It hi ppened that the lorcha i ai k In what you call shoal water. Sis months later, she was declared a numace to shipping. 1'i'drr ordinary conditions she would have been dynamited where she was, rju< because of the tragedy, ihe w.?s raised, and examined; and the hol*? In her bow proved the truth of what we had heard." In spite of the seriously impressive manner of ruy informants I was far from credulous. Such a crime might have been perpetrated, but 1 ques? tioned that the perpetrator, for his skin's sake, if for no other reason, would ever have admitted the deed, much less have truthfully detailed the manner of us commission. But, even admitting that there was neither invention nor misrepresenta? tion in the narrative, I was now more than ever convinced that Robert Cam? eron had no part in it, and that in placing even the slightest blame upon him an egregious error had been ccni mitted. ' What you tell me," T said, at length, "is very interesting, but I do not seo just how it applies to my tortured and now missing friend." The Vice Consul in an unguarded moment forgot himself. "You no can see?" he queried, laps? ing for the nonce into the vernacular. "I certainly can not." Mr. Yup Sing indulged In the sha low of an icy smile. "Your friend, Mr. Clyde," he said, with a brief impressive pause between tu"h word, "and Donald McNish are one and the same mau." Up to this point I had maintained my poise. I bad listened with feigned respect and denied myself the satisfac? tion of interruptions. Hut at this pre? posterous claim, I could contain my? self no longer. Before the slowly spoken sentence was complete I had sprung up, restless with impatient in? dignation, my blood throbbing in my temples, my hands itching to throttle an honest man's traducers. "That," I orio'l, hoarse with exas? peration, "Is a damnable lie!" If I expected retaliation I was disap? pointed. Yup Sing's seamed yellow face continued an immobile mask for whatever emotion he may have felt, and Chen Mok placidly consulted his memoranda. "Robert Cameron," I went on, my passion whetted by their indifference, "has been a gentleman of leisure and fortune always. Of all men in the world he is the last to be accused of such a crime as this. A seafaring man! A smuggler of coolies! It is too pre? posterous even for discussion. And I want to tell you now, Mr. Yup, and you, too, Mr. Chen, that I shall leave no stone unturned to bring to justice those who are guilty of having >made this unthinkable mistake. Hitherto I have been unable to get a clew. But what you have said tonight does away with that difficulty. Both of you shall answer, now, to the authorities." As I spoke I edged toward an elec? tric push-butto i, at the side of the chimney-piece, and at the last word, I pressed it. That Checkabeedy, following my in? structions, had remained within close call was demonstrated by his prompt appearance. "Telephone the police station," 1 commanded, "to send two officers here at once." (TO BE CONTINUED) Mr. J. E. White who has for sev? eral years held a position aa sales? man with Bultman Broe., has severed his c nnection with that Arm and will in the future be found at the Sumter Shoe Store, as manager of this new organization. Accepts the Rebuke. A reel ! >nt of an English city has made hi .. el! a marked man by in? sisting on saying "nought" instead of O" when he Cl 11a a telephone num? ber having ciphers In it. The tele pone operator usually corrects him when he says "three double naught" by saying "Three double O." The Oth< r nighl he called up central and said. "He?lo,' and the girl replied: "Hell-naught." He accepted meekly the "quiet rebuke.*'?Springneid Re? public?.!1. New England Romance, From Boston comes the story of a wOUChing phonograph romance. The manager of a store became Infatuated with the voice of a young woman whose singing ho heard reproduced frequently in the machlnea, wrote to .ler for her pictures, and the acquaint* tnce speedily ripened into marriage. The bride, by the way, was intending to study In Paris for grand opera, but has decided to settle down In \'ew England.?San Francisco Arge:::aut. FNeati i in Clothing Loud ...... ench Indue* try v ' r.frn . ?; ss It is tliat of t'.; t>t.o\ peur The word refers tc the art ? ? ling clothes. In Paris the "?topi ur" la well and favorably known Supposing u gentleman tears hi- coat or burns a hole with his cigar* ette i.i Ma rousers, ih< garment is conveyed to the 'atoppeur," who in mysterious was reconstructs the material, hi .; ime way thej seem to weave In th ? stuff Joining up threads >f a bit of cloth cut fr. another oai t What We Are Made Of. The av ragt man contains the in gredients to make fat for seven bars of soap, iron for u tu ilium-sized nail. BUg; :? t<- till a small 1 ..v. 1. salt to All !i shaker, lime to whitewash a chicki n coop, phosphorus to make 2,200 match tips, magnesium for a dose of magnesia, sodium to neutralize a pint and a half of water, potassium to ex? plode a t<<\ cannon, sulphur to rid a log of (leas and albuminoids 1 > make ii case of eg| n VmerK Wim? Press ?rim: w vter" to fishes. Two Cart founds of Liquor Ponred Out TucMUt) Afternoon a; Dump i ? round. The City < t Sumter la poorer, ? ?t richer, Wednesday morning than it. was Tuesday morning by th? loss i>l two can loads of "perfectly good li cjuor," for Tuesday afternoon iust that amount of "tire water" packed ?way In bottles, jugs and casks, was taken out to the city dump ground near the brick yard and deliberately wasted, whi r .t might run down into < ne of the holes and Intoxicate the Rebes which tasted u. For many months, possibly years, all liquor which has been seised by the police has been pack, d away in the guard house as soon as the case against the liquor owner has be< n heard end the stuff has been grad? ually accumulating during that time, until of lute the amount of it was of such propotioii that it began serious? ly to be In the way. especially as all had to be destroyed at some time sooner or later. A few days ago Chief of Polic-- J. R. Sumter asked Council for per? mission to eh stroy the liejuor and he was instructed to do away with all i f it according tu law. So Tuesday { fterne>on all of the stuff, not wanted as evidence in < sees now up in court. Which had been seised more than thirty clays ago was placed on the city dump earts and taken out to the dump ground. Here two negro men with axes despatched the bottles, casks and jugs < f whiskey, gin and rum ami other Intoxicating bever? ages, once purchased by various blind tigers. Chief Sumter and Police Of? ficers McKagen and Ward saw that the ceremonies over the "old sol? diers'' were- fittingly carried out with proper diligence. 356.0? I BALES or LINTERS. Obtained from Reginning Cotton Seed ol i!>^ Crop. Washington, Jan. 28.?Linters ob? tained by the reginning of cotton seed from the crop Ol prior to Jan? uary I, 1913. amounted to 356,074 bales, the C nsus bureau announced today. The number of establishments engaged in crushing cotton seed during that time was s 4 .*> and the quantity e>f seed crushed amounted to 2.7?il. 39 4 tons. Negro Molests Ladles. It was reported Monday and Tues? day afternoon, late, two ladies were molested by s negro as they were returning home In the southwestern part of the city. The laelics had stopped in a little store and the ne gTO approached them from the rear s> on afu r they left the store. He came up close behind one e>f the la? dies, reaching out his hand and catching her arm. Both of the young ladies screamed and the negro at once took to his heels. It is supposed that tbat negro wanted to rob the young lady of a purse which she was 1 arrying In her hands at the time and which, it is understood, she had open? ed while in the store. The negro ha* not be en arrested. Mr. Asa Moneyham Head. Blshopvllle, Jan. J 7.?Mr. ASS Moneyham. of Wisaeky, this coun'.y. died Friday night after being con? fined to his bed for several weeks. He leaves B Wife and eight small children, the oldest of which is onl) about 1 L' years. Mr. A. s. Harhy, for sonu time past the popular and efficient stenogra? pher in the offices of Kelly a Hinds, Esq. left Klngstree yesterday for Sumter, where he has taken s posi? tion In the office of L. D. Jennings. ISsq. We are sorry to loss th's proi Ising young gentlemen, but are i <?:, soled with the belief thai Klngstree'* loss will be Sumter's gain. Itr. P. x Becton, of North Carolina, succeeded Mr Harhy in the offices of Meeen Kelley \ Hinds and comes to them with the highest n i ommendations. We welcome Mr. Itecton and trust that he will lind his position and our town entirely t-> h:s satisfaction ? Kingstr? ? lb cord. One of th lire department hors is at Marion died ver> suddenly Satur? day, after having been out on a run to a lire, The horse was. perhaps, the ^t atest Are hors< In the State and was one which the Sumter boys feared most In tournaments. Thej tre extremely sorry to hear, how? ever, uf th.< loss sustained by theii neighboring city's lire department. Mr <'?. ,| Bn i ley, on< of the s? n< lor's in the high s< h< ? ' is ona of th? corn club boys to itend the Kations l 'orn Fxposit ion at Colui i R< ?