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$T AALLIE mWll KIVT5 ) aU75TKATID^ L?UFEN STOUT On this particular morning neither the major nor the doctor was in evi? dence, the former having gone out early, and the latter being at the mo? ment in his office, as the brassy buzi of a telephone from time to time an? nounced Two of the green wicker rocking chairs on the porch, however, were in agitant commotion. Mrs Ma? son was receiving a caller in the per? son of Mrs. Napoleon Glfford. 'Aftur all these years!" the visitor was saying in her customary 1 .alles. (The broad "a" which lent a dulcet softness to the speech of her hostess wss scorned by Mrs Poly, her owa "as" being as narrow an the rcedls through which the rich man reaches heaven.) "We came here from Rich? mond when I was a bride -that's twenty-one years ago?and Deroory Court was forsaken then. And think what a condition the house must be In sow! Cered for by an agent who vomes every other season from New York. Trust a man to do work like isll" 1 m glad a Valiant is to occupy It," remarked Mrs. Mason in her tiweet flute like voice. "It would be sad to MWith Your Permission I'll Tske One of Them la and See." tea any one else there. For after all, the Valiants were gentlemen." Mrs. Glfford sniffed. "Would you have called Devil-John Valiant a gen? tleman? Why, he earned the name by the dreadful things he did. My grandfather used to say that when his wife lay sick?he hated her, you know ?he would gallop his horse wilt all his bounds full-cry after him under her windows. Then tint ghastly story of the slave he pressed to death in the hogshead of tobacco." "I know." acquiesced Mrs. Mason. "He was a cruel man and wicked, too. Y??t of course he was a gentleman. In the South the test of a gentleman has never been what he does, but who ha is Hut his grandson. Heauty Valiint, who lived at Damory Court thirty years ago, wasn't his type at all. Ha was only twenty-five when the duel occurred.' "He must have been brU'lant." raid the visitor, to have fcunded that great corporation. It's a pity the son didn t take after him. Have you ssen the papers hvHy? !t seems thst though he was to blarae for the wreck? ing of the concern ihey can't do any? thing to him. Some technicality i.i the law, 1 suppose. Hut if a man Is only rich enough they can't convict hfm of anything. Why ho should sud? denly make up his mind to come down h re I can't see. With that old af? fair of his father's behind him, I should think b" <1 prefer l'a'agonia." "1 take it, they, mad am.' Doctor Sou thai Is forbidding voice rose from the doorway, "thst you are familiar with the circumstances of that old af? fair, as you I* ? It P The holv bridled, lb -r passages at arms ?Ith the doctor did not invaria? bly tend to sweeten her disposition. Im sure I only know what people say." she said. ' People',, ?? snorted the doctor Iras? cibly. " lust another name for a com? munity that's a perfect sink of mean? ness and malice. If ono believed all h?? h? ard her?? h??'d quit speaking to his own grandmother." 'You ?III admit. I suppose," said Mrs. Clifford with some. spirit, that the nsme Valiant tau t ?hat It sjaod to bo in this neighborhood ' ' "I will, madam." responded the doe tor When Vsliant left this place la mark of good taste, I've always 0OBSl4< ered It) he left it the S/Sjflt, if possi? ble, for hb departure. Your remuik. however. Mild seem to Imply de writ on his part Was he the on'y nein who ever happened to be at the luekv end ??f | dueling ground?" Thun It bnt true that Valiant sj ?s a dead shot ard ??aiSjOv Intoxicate*-. ?" Mr.dam, j i? ?? doctor. I h ?fi no wish to discuss the details of thit unhappy Incident ?Ith you or anybody ? ; <?> I was on" of rhoHo present, but the) clrcuinstances you Mmtkn have never been doerunfrd upon hv me " "I see by the paper*/1 said ..irs. tJ'f ford. *imi an air of resignedly charg? ing the subject, 'they ve bOSS mVSttl* gtting the failure of the Valiant i or peratlon The son seems to h<- gel? ting the sharp end of the stick r haps he's coming down hero because they've inado it so hot for him in Now York. Well, I'm afraid he ll find this county disappointing." "lie. will that!" agreed tho doctor savaxely. "No doubt he imagines he's coming to a kindly countryside of gr.n tie-born people with bouIb and imagi nationa; hell find he's lit in a section that's entirely too ready to hack at his fathers name and prepared in ad? vance to call him Northern scum and turn up its nose at his accent?a com? munity so full of dyed in-the-wool snobbery that it would make Hoaton look like a poor-white barbecue. I'm sorry for him!" Mm ' Jupt ihen from the rear of the houss cam* a atridcut voice: "Yo, Kaph'el! Take yo' han'c outer dsn cherries! Don' yo' know ef yo' swallah.8 dem ar pits, yo' gwineter hab pendegeetua en lump up en die?" The sound of a slap and shrill yelp followed, and around the porch dashed an Infantile darkey, as nude as a black Tuck, with his hands full of cherries, who camo to a sudden demoralized stop in the embarrassing foreground. "Ralph!" thundered the doctor. "Didu't I tell you to go back to that kitchen?" ' Yea, suh," responded tho Imp. "But yo' didn' tell me tor stay dar!" ' If I ace you out here again." roared the doctor, I'll tie your eara back? and grease you?and SWALLOW you!" At which grialy threat, the apparition, with a shrill shriek, <"med and ran desperately for the corner of the houae. < "I hear," said the doctor, resuming, "that the young man who came to fix the place up has hired Uncle Jeffer? son and his wife to help him. Who's responsible for that interesting infor- < ruatiou?" "Rickey Snyc'.er," said Mrs. Mason. "She's got a spy-glass rigged up in a sugar-tree at Mias Mattie Sue'* end she saw them pottering around there this morning." Little limb!" exclaimed Mrs. Clif? ford, w ith emphasis. "She's aa cheeky as a town-hog. I can't Imagine what Shirley Dandrldge was thinking of when she brought that low-born child out of her sphere." Something like a growl came from tho doctor as ho struck op*?n the screen door. "'Limb!' I'll bet ten dollars she's an angel In a cedar tre* at a church fair compared with some better-born young ones I know of who are only fit to livo when they ve got the scarlet-fever and who ought to be in the reformatory long ago. And as for Shirley Dendridge, it's my opinion she and her mother and a few others like her have got about the only dropa of the milk of human kindneaa in this whole aban? doned community!" "Dreadful man!" said Mrs. Gifford, sotto voce, as the door banged vicious? ly. "To think of his being born a 8outhall! Sometimes I can't believe it!" Mrs. Mason shook her head and smiled. "Ah, but that isn't the real Doctor Southall," she said. "That's1 only his st ell." 'Teg heard that he has another side," responded the other with guarded grimness, "but If he has, I wish he'd manage to show it some? times." Mrs. Maaon took off her glasses and wiped them carefully. "I saw it when my husband died." sho Bald softly. ' That was beforo you came. They were old Mandl, you know. He was ?Ick almost a year, and the doctor Ui*ed to carry him out here on the porch every day in his arms, like a child, And then, when the typhus t gQM thai summer anieng tho negroes, he fpiarantlned himself with them- the only white man there?and treated and nursed them and buried the dead with his own hands, till it was stampel out. That's the real Doctor football." Tho rockera vibrated In silence for a moment. Then Mrs. Clifford said: "I o ver knew before that he had any? thing to do With that duel. Waa he one of Valiant a seconds?" ' Yes," naid Mrs. Mason; "and tho major was tho other. 1 waa a little girl v hen it hOOPOOOd. 1 can barely n tnambai It, but It made a big sensa? tion." "And OVtT a lov< affair!" exclaimed Mrs. Clifford l9 'I'" tone Of one to whom romaneo was daily bread. "I suppose it was " Kor a timo the conversation lan? guished. Then Mrs Qlfford asked sud? denly: ' Who do you suppose* ahn cools' have been??-the girl behind that Old Valiant affair." Mi* MoiOfl ihOOk her head. "No one knowg for certain?unless, of ? du i ?. the ma |oi or I hi doctor, tnd i wouldn't question either of thorn for worldi Tog see, people had stopped g( llplng ghOUi it before I * a* out of i hool i h< rs i Major Bristow at the Kate r e>< And the doctor's just com? ing out ggata." The Bia Of wor?> a golt of whlto linen, with i broad-brimmed itraw hat, and a pink was in his battOB* holo, but lo Ihe observing, his step might haft mod lo loch an accus* ii:;, d launtinesa As hi camo up tho path 'ho doctor opened his oflloo, II . do jou fool this BOrolOg) Ma Jor." ' Feel?" rumbled the major; "the way any gentleman ought to feel this time of the morning, sah. l^ike hell, sah." Th? doctor bent his gaze on th? hilarious blossom in the other's lapel, 'if 1 were you, BrlStOW," he said scathingly, "I reckon I'd quit galivant ing around to bridge-tights with uer fumery on my handkerchief every evening. It's the devil of an example to the young." The rocking-chairs behind the screening vines became motionless, and the ladies exchanged surreptitious smiles. If the two gentlemen were aware of each other's sterling quali? ties, their mutual appreciation was in inverse ratio to Its expression, and, as the Elucinian mysteries, cloaked before the world. In public the doctor was wont to remark that the major talked like a Caesar, looked like a ; piano-tuner and was the only man he had ever seen who could strut sit ' ting down. Never were his gibes so barbed as when launched against the i major s white-waistcoated and patri ' clan calm, and conversely, never did th? major's bland suavity ?o nearly approach an undignified irritation as when receiving the envenomed darts of that accomplished cynic. The major settled his black tlo. *A little wholesome exercise wouldn't be a bad thing for you. Doctor," he said succinctly. "You're looking a shad? pasty today." "Exercise!" snapped the other viciously, as h? pounded down the steps. "Ha, ha! I suppose you exer? cise?Itiylng out to the Dandridges once a week for a julep, and the rest of the time wearing out good cane-bot tOflM and palm-leaf fans and cussing j at the heat. You'll go off with apo? plexy one of these days." "I shall if they're scared enough to call you," the major shot after him, nettled. Hut the doctor did not pause. He went on down the street without turning his head. Th* major lifted his hat gallantly to the ladies, whose presence he had j Just observed. ' "Do sit down, Major," said Mrs. Glf? ford. "There's a question I'm Just dying to ask you. We've had such an interesting conversation. You've, heard the news, of course, that young Mr. Valiant is coming to Damory Court?" The major sat down heavily. In the bright light his face seemed suddenly pale and old. "No?" the lady's tone wss arch. "Have all the rest of us really got ahead of you for once? Yes, it's true. There's some one there getting it to rights Now here's the question. There was a woman, of course, at the bottom of the Valiant duel. I'd never ? dream of asking you who she was. But which was it she loved, Valiant or Sassoon?" CHAPTER XII. ? The Echo. When the major entered his room, Jereboam, his ancient body-servant, was dawdling about putting things to rights, his seamed visage under his white wool suggesting a charred stump beneath a crisp powdering of snow. "Jedge Chalmahs done telly foam ter ax yo' ovah ter Glahden Hall tsr suppah tor-night, suh," he said. "Tell him not tonight, Jerry," ssid th? other wearily. "Some other time." The old darky ruminated as he plodded down to the doctor's tele? phone. "Whut de mattah now? He got dat ar way-off-yondah look ergon.'' He shook his head forebodingly. The major had, indeed, a far-away i look as he sat the***, a heavy lonely figure, that bright morning. It had slipped to his face with the news of "There's Major 3,-lstow at the Gate Now." the arrival at Damory Court. He told himself that ho felt queer. Suddenly he seemed to hear ellin voices close to his ear: "Which was it sho loved? Valiant or Sassoon?" It was so distinct, that he started, vexed and disturbed. Really, It was gbsurd. Ho would bo seeing things next! "Southall may be right about that exercise," he muttered; "i ll walk mors.*1 He began the projected re? form without delay, striding up and down the room. Hut the little voices presently Hounded again, shouting like gnomes Inside a hill: "Which was it'.' Valiant or Sas loon?" I wish to God I knew!" said (he major roughly, standing still. It *i lenced them, but the sound of his own Voice, ns though it had been a pre concerted signal, drew together a bun dred Inchoate Images of other days. There was the well-ordered garden o Damory Court?It rose up, gloomy with night shadows, across his great clothes-press against tho wall?with himself sitting on a rustic-bench smoking and behind him the candlo lighted library window with Beauty Valiant pacing up and down, waiting for daylight. There was a sun lighted stretch between two hemlocks, with Southall and he measuring the ground--the grass all dewy sparkles and an early robin teetering on a thorn-bush. Eight ? nine ? ten ? he caught himself counting the paces. He wiped his forehead. Between the hemlocks now were two figures facing each other, one twitching un? certainly, the other palely rigid; and at cue side, held screen-wise, a raised umbrella. In some ghostly way he could see right through the latter? see the doctor's hand gripping the handle, his own, outstretched beyond its edge, holding a handkerchief ready to flutter down. A silly subterfuge those umbrellas, but there must be no actual witnesses to the final act of a "gentlemen's meeting"! A silly code the whole of it, now happily out? grown! The scene blurred into a sin? gle figure huddling down?huddling down? "Which did sho love?" The major shook his head helplessly. It was. after all, only the echo, become all at once audible on s shallow woman's lips, of a question that had always haunted him. It had first come to him on the heels of that duel, when he had stood, somewhat later that hate? ful morning, holding a saddled horse before the big pillared porch. It had whispered itself then from every mov? ing leaf. "Sassoo* or Valiant V If ' she had loved Bassoon, of what use the letter Valiant was so long penning in the library? But?if it were Valiant she loved? The msn who, having sworn not to lift his hand against the other, had broken his sacred word to her! Wrho had stained the unwritten code by facing an opponent maddeued with liquor! Yet, what was there a woman might not condone in the one man? Would she read, forgive and send for him? The major laughed out suddenly, harshly, in the quiet room, and looked down as if be expected to see that letter still lying In his hand. But the laugh could not still a regular pnlsing sound that was In his ears?elfin like the voices, but as distinct?the sound of a horse s hoofs going from Damory Court. He had heard those boof-beats echo in his brain for thirty years! Till the sun was high John Valiant lay on his back in the fragrant grass, meditatively watching a bucaneering chicken-hawk draw widening circles against the blue and listening to the vibrant tattoo of a "pecker-wood" on a far-away tree, and the timorous wet whistle of a bob-white. The whole place was very quiet now. For Just one thrilling moment it had burgeoned Into sound and movement: when the sweaty horses had stood snorting and stamping in the yard with the hounds scampering between their legB and the riding-coats winking like rubies in the early sunshine! ; Had she recognized him as the smudged tinkerer of the stalled car? "She saw me drop that wretched brute through the window," he chuckled. "I could take oath to that. But she didn't give me away, true little sport that she was. And she won't. I can't think of any reason, but I know. Was she angry? I wonder!" At length he rose and went back to the house. With a bunch of keys he had found he went to the stables, I after some difficulty gained access, and propped the crazy doors and win? dows open to the sun. The building was airy and well-lighted and con? tained a dozen roomy box-stalls, a spacious loft and a carriage-house. The straw bedding had been unre ! moved* mice-gnawed sacking and rotted hay lay in the mangers, and the warped harness, hanging on its pegs, was a smelly mass of mildew and decay. He found a stick, mowed avay the festooning cobwebs, and moved tho debris piece-meal. "There!" he said with satisfaction, i "There's a place for the motor?If Uncle Jefferson ever gets it here." I It was noon when he returned, after a wash-up in the lake, to the meal ] with which Aunt Daphne, in a costumo dimly suggestive of a bran-meal poul? tice with a gingham apron on, regaled him. Fried chicken, corn-bread so soft and fluffy that it had to be lifted from the pan with a spoon, browned . potatoes, and to his surprise, fresh I milk. "Ah done druv ouah ol' cow ovah, suh," explained Aunt Daphne. " 'Case she gotter bo milked, er she , run dry ez de Red Sea fo' de chillon ob Izril." (To be Continued.) Dons sk.n BRYAN TREATY, Washington, March 21.?Secretary Bryan and Henor Riuno, the Spanish ambassador, siyneti today the final ratification of the general arbitration treaty between the two countries agreed to recently by tin- senate. The exchange todaj merelj was the for? mal acknowledgement of acceptance li> Spain and tie- l.'nlted States. Ill \Tu\ WAs STABBED. Washlngtor, Muren 2:i.?William Bcnton, tin British subject who was killed in Mexico bj Gen. Villa's or? der, was stabbed t" death, according lo tin official repot! of Hritlsh Con? sul Perceval, who Investigated tho euso. Ilenton was killed in a dispute over cattle. No otherd details will be made public until tie* report roaches Ihe foreign ofllce in London. BEGIN WORK IN THIRTY DAYS. Liberty Street Paving Musi lie Com* pletrU by First or July. Thursday morning ihr t'ity Man? ager and the contractor t.? whom the paving on Liberty street v*as let were busy getting up the necessary con? tract between the city and the con trac tor and it was put In shape and signed during the day. Tiie contract calls for the work to begin within thirty days and to be completed by the Aral <>f July, al? lowing ti e contractor ample time in which to complete the work, a at the first of July the contract is not completed a penalty will be attaeh ed for every day the work con? tinues, There are 5,250 square yards In the1 two blocks to be paved and at the contract price of $2.49 a cubic yard this will cost slightly 'over $1:5,000. It is estimated that the approximate cost of the completed work will be around $14,000. The paving will be the same as that on Main street, the same brick being contracted for, ex-; cept that the concrete foundation will be four Inches Instead Of three. ; as ?>u Main siret. There will be a two-inch cushion of sand between the concrete and the brick. In the contract a clause reserves' 'for the city the right to purchase any other kind of brick, it may deem best, i i it there is a desire later on for a change in the brick, and the work is then to be done for $1.16 a square yard With the city furnishing its own brick. There seems, however, lit? tle probability Of a change being made from the Bessemer paver. Liberty street has long needed bet? ter paving than that it has had in the , j pasi and there is a general feeling of gratification among those having business establishments on the street that this street is at last to be paved. - JAP. PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED. Scandal in Navy COPSCO Deadlock on1 Appropriation Dill?Emperor Takes' a Hand. 1 Tokio, March 23.?Because of the deadlock aver the naval appropria? tion bill. the emperor today pro? rogued the Japanese parliament. It is believed the cabinet will resign. ri.XANs THREATEN TROt'BLK. Preparing to Make Raid in Mexico to Recover stolon Ilorses. Washington, Marth 21.?Secretary "i War Harrison took sharp action to? day to ( urb llery Texana who threat? en to embroil the I'nited States and Mexico in wiar. He was notified that a band ?>f Texana is preparing to cross tin- border to recover stolen horses. Secretary Garrison instructed Brig. Gen. Bliss to prevent the raid. The border patrols are beinj; increased. f-^ BRIDGE TEETH ! By this work the den? tist is able to fix per? manently between the teeth left to you 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. A nrnne sending a sketch and deseripUon may quickly ascertain our opinion free whether an invention is probably patsn table. Communica? tions strictly confidential. HANDBOOK on Patents sent free. Oldest agency for securing patents. 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