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$r ruLUE mxwi rivis fllTSTRATtT) LAUrEN 5TOUT The hoi had originally held, two pletole He shuddered an ho stooped to pick up the weapon, and with the crawling repugnance ?nlnglel a pang ing anger and humiliation. From his very babyhood It bad always been so ?that unconquerable aversion to the touch of firearm. There had been mo? menta In bis youth when this unrea? soning nhrlnktna bad fllh'd him with a blind fury, had driven him to strange ?elf-tests of courage He had never beea able to overcome It. Analyza tlon bad told him that his peculiar abhorrence was no mere outgrowth of this. It lay far deeper. He had rare? ly, ef rec??nt years, met the ?est. Now. as he stood in these unaccustomed surroundings, with the cold touch of the metal the old shuddering held him. and the sweat broke in beads on his forehead. Setting his teeth hard, be crossed tbe room, slipped the box with its pistol between the vol? umes of tbe bookcase, and returned to hie seat. The bulldog, aroused from a nap. thrust a warm muzzle between his knees. "It's uncanny. Chum!" he said, as his band caressed the velvety bead. "Why should the touch of that fool thing chill my spine and make my flesh tiptoe over my bones? Why should 1 hate a pistol? Do you sup? pose I wss hot in one of my previous existences* " For s long while he sat there, his pipe dead, his eyes on the moon? lighted out-of-doors. Tbe eery feel? ing tost hod gripped him had gone ssj quickly as It had come. At last he rose, stretching himself with a great boyish yawn, put out all save one of the caddies snd taking a bath robe, sandals and a huge fuzay towel from the steamer-trunk, stripped leisurely. He donned the bath robe and sandals snd went out through tbe window to the garden and down to where lay the! little take ruffling sllverly under the I moon On Its brink he stopped, and toeslng beck bis bead, tried to Imi? tate one of the bird-calls but was un? successful With a rueful laugh he threw off tbe bath-robe and stood an Instant glistening, poised In the moon? light like a marble faun, before ho dove, strslght down out of sight. Five minutes later he pulled him* ?self up over the edge, his flesh tin? gling with the chill of tbe water, and threw the robe about his cool white shoulders. Then he thrust his feet Into bis ssndsls snd sped quickly back. He rubbed himself to a glow, and blowing out the remaining can? dle, stretched himself luxuriously be? tween the warm blankets on the couch. The dog sniffed Inquiringly at bis hand, then leaped up and snug? gled down close to his feet John Valiant a thoughts had fled a thousand miles away, to the tall girl who sll his life had seemed to stand out from his world, sloof snd unsur? passed?Katharine Fargo. He trl?d to picture her. a perfect chatelaine, grace? ful aod gracious as a tall, white, splen? did Illy. In this dead house that seemed still to throb with living pas? sions. But tbe picture suh'ly eluded him and he stirred uneas ly under the blanket After a time his hsnds stretched out to the reading stand and drew the glass with Its vivid blossom nearer, till, in his nostrils. Its musky odor mingled with the dew-wet scent of the honeysuckle from the gurden. At Isst his eyes closed. "Every man car? ries his fate ? ? ? ou a riband about his neck, he muttered drowsily, and then. Roses ? ? ? red roses e O e And so he fell asleep. CHAPTER X. Tbe Hunt. He awoke to a musical twittering and chirping, to find tbe sun pouring Into the dusty room in a very glory. Ho rolled from the blanket and stood spright. filling his lungs with a long deep breath of satisfaction He felt singularly light hearted and alive The bulldog com? bounding through the window, dirty from the weeds, and flung himself upon his master In a csnloe rapture. Oet out!" quoth the latter, laugh 1ng Stop licking my feet! How tho dickens do you suppose I in to get into my elothoe with your ridiculous antics going on ' Down. I ssy? Hark'" He broke off and listened Who's that singing?'' The sound drew nearer?a lugu? brious chant, with the weirdest minor reflections, faintly suggestlvo of tho rag time ditties of the music-halls, yet with a plaintive cadence. "Oood morning, I'ncle Jefferson." The singer broke off, set down tho twig-broom tha? he had fcttl S/leldlng and ?JM toward him. "Mawnln", suh M iwmn he said "Hopes yo all ?Icp' good Ah reck'n dem er bird? woko yo' up; deys m?kln' seh er 'mlrsf Ion " Thank you. N*ver slept better In nir life Am I laboring: und"r a d' .u I n wh??n I imagine I gejel| ?os7eO?M Just th'?n there Sjftgsej a voles fr< ? the open door of Us) ki'< * i Calla yose'f sr man, yo triflln' recOn> ?'rue ted nlggah' Wen mar.*, tab gwine u r git he brekfus' wid' yo ramshat k Itn' eroun' wid dat dawg all hla tiawd I bleMsld munn u. ? Qej (otch some mo' flan wood dis minute. Vo' heah? ' A turbaned head pokert itself through the door, with a good-natured leaf-brown face beneath it, which broadened into a wide smile as its owner bobbed energetically at Va- i Hanfs greeting. "Fo' de Lawd!" she i exclaimed, wiping floury hands on aj gingham apron. "Yo' sho' is up early, but Ah got yo' brekfus' ready, sun." "All right, Aunt Daphne. I'll bo i back directly." He sped down to the lake to plunge his head Into the cool water and there? by sharpen the edge of an appetite that needed no honing He came up the trail again to find the reading stand transferred to the porch and laid with a white cloth on which was set a steaming coffee-pot, with fresh creani, saltless butter and crisp hot biscuit; and as he sat down, with a sigh of pure delight, in his dressing-gown ? a crepy Japanese thing redeemed from womanishness by the bold green bamboo of its de? sign?Uncle Jefferson planted before him a generous platter of bacon, eggs and potatoes. These he attacked with a surprising keenness. As he buttered his fifth biscuit he looked at the dog, rolling on his back in morning ecsta? sy, with a look of humorous surprise. "Chum," he said, "what do you think of that? All my life a single roll and a cup of coffee have been the most I could ever negotiate for breakfast, and then It was apt to taste like chips and whet-stones. And now ' look at this plate!" The dog ceased wlunewing his ear with a hind foot and looked back at his master With much the same expression. Clearly bis own needs bad not been forgot* ten. "Reck'n Ah bettah go ter git dat ar machine thing," said Uncle Jefferson behind him. "01' 'ooraan, heah, she 'low ter fix up de kitchen dis ruawn In' en we begin on de house dis eve-. nln\H "Rlght-o." said Valiant. "It's all up? hill, so the motor won't run away with you. Aunt Daphne, can you get some help with the cleaning?" "He'p?" that worthy responded with fine scorn. "No, sun. Moughty few, in de town 'cep'n low-down yaller new issue trash det sin' wu'f killln'! Ah gwlneter go fo' dat bouse mahse'f 'fo' long, hsmmah en tongs, en git it fix' up!" "Splendid! My destiny is In your hands. You might take the dog with you, Uncle Jefferson; the run will do him good." When the latter had disappeared and truculent sounds from the kitchen indicated that the era of strenuous cleaning had begun, he reentered the library, changed the water in the rose glass and set it on the edge of the shady front porch, where its flaunting blossom made a dash of bright crim? son against the grayed weather-beaten brick. This dc.ie, he opened the one large room on tho ground-floor that he had not visited. It was double the size of the library, \ parlor hung in striped yellow silk vaguely and tenderly faded, with a tall plate mirror set over a marble topped console at either side. In one comer stood a grand piano of Circas? sian walnut with keys of tinted nother-of-pearl and a slender music rack inlaid with morning-glories in tho same material. From the center of the celling, above an oval table, de? pended a great chandelier hung with glass prisms. The chairs and sofas were covered with dusty slip-covers of muslin. He lifted one of these. The tarnished gold furniture was I.ouis XV. the upholstery of yellow brocade, with a pattern of pink roses. Two Japanese hawthorn vases sat on teak wood stands and a corner held a glass cabinet containing a collection of small ivories and faience. He went thoughtfully back to tho great hall, where sat the big chest on which lay IBS volume of "Lucile." He pushed down the antique wrought ? Iron hatn all threw up the lid. It was filled to the brim with textures: heavy portieres of rose-damask, table covers of faded soft-toned tapestry, window hangings of dull green?all with tobacco-leaves laid between the folds and sifted thickly over with the sparkling white ponder. At the bot? tom, rolled in tarry smelling paper, he found a half-dozen thin, Persian pray ay rugs. Phew'" he whistled "1 certainly ought to be grateful to that law firm that inspected' the place. Think of the things lying here all these years! And that powder everywhere! It's done the work, too, for there's not. a ? ign of moth. If I'm not careful, I'll ?tumble oref the family plate- It I tegM to be about tho only thing want? ing Me thought a moment, then went quickly Into tho library and began to ransack the trunk. At length he found a small box containing keepsakes of various kinds He poured the medley on to the table?an uncut moonstone, mi amethyst-topped pencil that one of his tutors hud given him as a boy, a I Iget 'S Claw, a Compass and what not. tmong them was a man's seal ring with a great cut la a cornelian. Ha looked at it closely. It vsas the samu device. i The ring had been hi? father'*. | Just when1 or how it had come into I hi? possession he could never remem? ber. It had lain among these keep? sakes so many years that ho had al? most forgotten its existence. He had never worn a ling, but now, as he went, hack to tho hall, he ?lipped it on his linger. The motto below the crest was worn away, hut it showed clear in the marble of tho hall-mantle: 1 clinge. His eyes turned from tho carven words and strayed to the pleasant sun? ny foliage outside. An arrogant boast, perhaps, yet in the event well justi? fied. Valiants had held that selfsame slope when the encircling forests had rung with war-whoop and blazed with torture-tiro. They had held on through Revolution and Civil War. Good and bad, abiding and lawless, every gener? ation had cleaved stubbornly to its acres. I clinge. His father had clung through absence that seemed to have beer almost exile, and now he, the last Valiant, has come to make good the boast. H s gaze wavered. The tail of his eye had caught through the window a spurt of something dashing and vivid, that grazed the corner of a far-off field He craned his neck, but it had passed the line of his vision. The next moment, however, there came trailing on the satiny stillness the high-keyed ululation of a horn, and an lnstf nt later a long-drawn hallo-o-o! mixed with a pattering chorus ?ot yelp.j. Ho went close, and leaning from the sill, shaded his eyes with his hand. 1 The noise swelled and rounded in vol? ume, it was nearing rapidly. As ho looked the hunt dashed into full view between the tree-boles?a galloping melee of khaki and scarlet, swarming across the fresh green of a wheat- ' field, behind a spotted swirl of hounds. "Confound it!" said John Valiant belligerently; "they're on my land!" They were near enough now for him to hear the voices of the men, calling encouragement to the dogs, and to see the white ribbons of foam across the flanks of the laboring horses. One scarlet-coated feminine rider, detached from the bunch, had spurred in ad? vance and was leading by a clean hun? dred yards, bareheaded, her hat fallen back to the limit of its ribbon knotted under her chin, and her waving hairj gleaming like tarnished gold. "How she rides!" muttered the soli? tary watcher. "Cross-saddle, of course, ?tho sensible little sport! She'll never in the world do that wall!?Yes, by George!" John Valiant's admira? tion turned to delight. "Why," he said, "it s the Lady-of-the-Roses!" He put his hands on the sill and vaulted to the porch. CHAPTER XK Sanctuary. The tawny scudding streak that led that long chase had shot into tbe yard, turning for a last desperate double. It saw the man in the foreground and its bounding, agonized little wild heart that so prayed for life gave way. With a final effort, it gained the porch and crouched down in Us corner, an abject, sweated, hunted morsel, at > hopeless bay. Like a flash, Valiant stooped, caught the shivering thing by the scruff, aud as its snapping jaws grazed his thumb, dropped it through the open window behind him: "Sanctuary!" quoth he, and banged the shutter to. At the same instant, as the place overflowed with a pandemonium of nosing leaping hounds, he saw tbe golden chestnut reined sharply down among the ragged box-rows, with a shamefaced though brazen knowledge that the girl who rode it bad seen. She sat moveless, her head high, one hand on the hunter's foam-flecked neck, and their glances met like crossed swords. The look stirred something vague and deep within him. For an unforgettable instant their eyes held each other, in a gaze rigid, challenging, almost defiant; then it broke and she turned to the rest of the party spurring in a galloping zig? zag: a genial faced man of middle age tn khaki who sat his horse like a cavalryman, a younger one with a reekless dark face and straight black hair, and following these a half-dozen youthful rulers of both Hexen, one of the lads heavily plastered with mud from a wet cropper, and the girls chiefly gasps and giggles. Tho elder of the two men pulled up beside tho leader, his astonished oyoa sweeping tho houHe-front, with its open blinds, the wisp of snioko curling from the kitchen chimney, lie said something to her, and she nodded. Tho younger man, meanwhile, had flung himself from his horse, a wild eyed roan, and with his arm thrusr. through iis bridle, strode forward among t tie waiter or Bounds, wnere they scurried at fault, hither and thither, yelping and eager. "What rotten luck!" he exclaimed. "Gone to ground after twelve miles! After him, Tawny! You mongrels! Do you Imagine he's up a tree? After him, Bulger! Bring him here!" He glanced up, and for the first time saw the figure in tweeds looking on. Valiant was attracted by his face, its dash and generosity overlying its in? herent profligacy and weaknesB. Dark as the girl was light, his features had 1 the same delicate chiseling, the in-1 breeding, nobility and indulgence of generations. He stared a moment, and the somewhat supercilious look traveled over the gazer, from dusty boots to waving brown hair. "Oh!" he said. His view slowly took in the evidences of occupation. "The house is open, I see. Going to get it fit for occupancy, I pre. ume?" "Yes." The other turned. "Well, Tudge Chalmers, what do you think of that? The unexpected has happened at last." He looked at the porch. "Who's to occupy it?" "The owner." "Wonders will never cease!" said the young man easily, shrugging. "Well, our quarry is here somewhere. From the way the dogs act I should say he's bolted into the house. With your permission lil take one of them in and see." He stooped and snapped a leash on a dog-collar. "I'm really very sorry," said Valiant, "but I'm living in it at present." The edge of a. smile lifted the care? fully trained mustache over the other's white teeth. It had the per? fectly courteous air of saying, "Of course, if you aay so. But?" Valiant turned, with a gesture that Included all. "!)' you care to dismount and rest," he said, "I shall be honored, though I'm afraid I can't offer you such hospitality as 1 should wish." The judge rained his broad soft hat "Thank you, sir," he said, with a soft accent that delightfully disdained the letter "r." "But we mustn't Intrude any further. As you know, of course, the place has been uninhabited for any number of years, and we had no idea it was to acquire a tenant. You will overlook our riding through, I hope. I'm afraid the neighborhood has got used to considering this a sort of no-man's land. It's a pleasure to know that the Court is to be re? claimed, sir. C me along, Chilly," he, added. "Our fox has a burrow under the house, I reckon?hang the cunning little devil!" He waved his hat at the porch and turned his borso down the path, side by side with the golden chestnut.' After them trooped the others, horses walking wearily, riders talking in low voices, the girls turning often to send swift bird-like glances behind them to where the straight masculine figure still stood with tho yellow sunshine on his face. They did not leap the wall this time, but filed decorously through the swinging gate to the Red Road. Then, as they passed from view be? hind the hedges, John Valiant heard the younger voices break out together like the sound of a bomb thrown into a poultry-yard. John Valiant stood watching till the last rider was out of sight. There was a warm flush of color in his face. Ac length he turned with a ghost of a sigh, opened the hall door wide and stalking a hundred yards away, sat down on tho shady grass and be? gan to whistle, with hie eyes on the door. Presently he was rewarded. On a sudden, around the edge of the sill peered a sharp, suspicious little muz? zle. Then, like a flash of tawny light, the fox broke sanctuary and shot for the thicket. ? ?????? * j The brown ivied house in the vll- I l?ge was big and square and faced the sleepy street. A one-storied wing con talned a small door with a doctor's brass plate on the clapboarding be? side it. Doctor Southall was one of Mrs. Merrywcather Mason's paying guests?for she would have deemed the word boarder a gratuitous insult, no less to them than to her. Another was the major, who for a decade had occupied the big old-fashioned cor? ner-room on the second floor, com? panioned by a monstrous gray cat and waited on by an ancient negro named Jereboam, who had been a slave of his father's. The doctor was a sallow taciturn j man with a saturnine face, eyebrows like frosted thistles, a mouth as if j made with one quick knife-slash and a he/id nearly bald, set on a neck that would not have disqualified a year? ling ox. (To be Continued.) ST 111 KM IN XKW YORK. < lottilng Makers Demand More Paj nud Shorter Hours. New York. March 17.?Five thous? and women and nirls, employed in the Children and infants Clothing in? dustry struck today tor more pay and shorter hours. (>ne hundred ?hops are affected. Various Usch of Honey. Aside from its iis?- iu an unchanged state us a direct aceompainment of bread <u- biscuit, honey is used by bakers In manufacturing some of their choices! wares. An advantage m using honey for an\ thing In the line of <-:ti<o is its keeping qualities. [?vcn it the cake should become dry, el ose it up In a bread can for a time und its freshness will return. Hone) is used In medicines, and is the base of mam of the cough eures und salves. For candy, honey is far more wholesome than eano sugar. MA vi:svii,jj: mays BTJDGET. Farmers' Hank and Trust Company to lie Reorganized as Independent Institution?Interest in Approach? ing Marriage?Town Nomination Convention on March 2ttlh. Mayesville, March ?The local branch of the Partners' Rank and Trust Co., of Bumter will soon he re? organised as an independent home bank. Plans are being worked out now and an announcement will he made within the next few days. All of the stock for the rvew bank has been subscribed, it is probable that the present set of officers will act and that the name will not he Changed, although this has not been yet decided upon. This change should be ?>f groat benefit to this bank and will tend to give it a much greater local patronage. An event of much interest here is the approaching marriage of Miss Minnie Drayton Chandler and Mr. John Walter Thames, which will take place on the evening Of April 8, In the Mayesville Presbyterian church. The bride-elect is the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs, William 8. Chandler and Is one of the most popular young1 ladies of Che town. Mr. Thames is at present the mayor of Mayesville ami is one of the most prominent business men here, being engaged in the cotton and insurance business, lie is originally from Man? ning. The Tuesday Afternoon Rook Club held a most delightful meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Mrs. F. J. Bass. Delicious refreshments were served and an interesting contest en? gaged In. Mrs. J C. Parnell won the prize. The nominating convention to name the ticket in the town election to be held on April 6 will be held on Thurday night. March 26. The books Of registration are now open at the office of M. C. Mayes and will close on March 31. The election will prob? ably be a quiet one as there are no! issues involved. Mayor Thames, It] is understood, will stand for re-elec? tion. Dr. J. A. Mayes of Savannah la here on a visit to relatives. Miss llattie Mayes has returned home after an extended visit to rela? tives in F%rence. MATTER PASSED OVER. So Action Yet on Two District Bill. Washington, March 16.?The senate committee on judiciary today failed to take action on the Tillman bill cre? ating another federal district for South Carolina. It was announced last week that favorable action might be e> ected at today's meeting, but the matter was passed over until some later date. SCHOOL IM)YS GO OX STRIKE. Were Refused Permission to Join St. Patrick's Day Parade. Savannah. (;.t., March 17.? Recause they were no! permitted to march in the St. Rat rick s Day parade, and partly because Prof. John H. Hud? son, teacher of mathematics, who, it is alleged, recently had trouble with Prof. R. F. Rickett. the principal, had not been reinstated this morning, fol ' lowing the meeting of the board of ? education last night, when definite ac | tion was taken, about 100 pupils of (the high school, with some underclass pupils, went on a strike this morn j ing. Superintendent Otis Ashmore gn? I nounced he would discipline the boys Ias the rules of the school directed. HOPF FOR SHIP ABANDONED. So Word From Schooner Devi s. An? drews Since 3d. Savannah, Ga., March 17.?All hoj>e 'of the schooner Levi S. Andrews, 1 Capt. Slocum, from Norfolk, with coal 1 for the Vulcan Fuel Company, of Sa? vannah, was practically abandoned t this morning when tjo word came I from her with the marine reports. Xo ship reported having sighted the un i lucky craft and there was no re ' port that she had put Into any port j disabled. The schooner has not been heard I from since March 3, after getting out 'of Norfolk, following a severe blow. The I^evi S. Andrews was manned by a captain and six seamen. Sidney Ohio, March 19.?A fire which started in the Beck depart? ment store today destroyed four large business buildings. The loss is $400, 000. a BRIDGE TEETH By this work the den* tist id able to fix per? manently between the teeth left to yo? artific? ial ones that are perfect in appearance and use? fulness. See Dr. Court? ney. He makes this work his specialty. Have an inspection. Get his opinion. Sumter Dental Parlors, Dr. C. H. Courtney. Prop Over Shaw & McCollum. Desire and Ability While it's only righteousness that exalteth a nation. It's the desire and ability to protect and please its pa? trons that makes a bank. We have both. The Farmers' Bank and Trust Co. Resources Today Between S*vea Handrad Thousand and On* Million Dollar*. in>!!>?nnu??intttMMt;i;tiMuti?niiuHi??t?H??tnMniintiuuuuinuuimtt1 RELIABLE WORTHY OF BELIEF OR DEPENDENCE. You may depend upon the reliability of a National Bank as the best place to deposit part or your weekly income. The interest rate is safe; your money Is payabe on demand, and Independence conies to the thrifty wage earner. Open your account here, NOW. j Fir^t National Bank U. S. DEPOSITORY j ??tHIMHIl t*M? ?MMH MM MM >>?????????<???????? Perhaps You Haven't Started h bunk account, bSSUMMie your iMtstaSBNS is eel a l*rg* one. , j No one has u business so large or so small that n Checking Ac- , count will not bo helpful to it?theo, there's the SAlV.TY for your hinds to be considered. This bunk Invites your account, large er small. The Bank of Sumter