Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 31, Number 269, 26 October 1906 — Page 7

The Richmond Palladium, Friday, October 26, 1906.

Page Seven.

Y

By KATHERINE CECIL THURSTON, Author of "The Circle." Etc.

Copyright. 1004. by As he turned the handle or his own floor some one stirred iside the sitting room. Still under the Influence of the Ktones and trees that he had Just left, he moved directly towad tbej sound and. without waiting for 'pVniission, entered the room. After the darkness of the passage it seemed well alight, for, besides the lamp with its green Fhade, a large fire burned in the grate and helped to dispel the shadows. As he entered the room Chileote rose and came forward, his figure thrown Into strong relief by the double light. He was dressed in a shabby tweed suit; his face looked pale and set with a slightly nervous tension. But, besides the look and a certain added restlessness of glance, there was no visible change. Reaching Ixnler, he held out his hand. "Well?" be said quickly. The other looked at him questlonIngly. -We!l? Well? How has it gone?" The scheme? Oh, excellently!" Coder's manner was abrupt. Turning from the restless curiosity in Chilcote's j eyes, he moved a little way across the room and began to draw off his coat. Then, as If struck by the Incivility of the action, he looked back again. "The ! Fcheme has gone extraordinarily." he j Bald. "I could almost say absurdly. There are some things, Chileote, that fairly bowl a man over." I A great relief tinged Chilcote's face. "Good!" he exclaimed. "Tell me all j about it. I But Loder was reticent. The moj ment was not propitious. Tt was as If ' i a hungry man had dreamed a great I banquet and had awakened to his starration. He was chary of Imparting his ! visions. j "There's nothing to tell," he said j shortly. "All that you'll want to know Is here In black and white. I don't f think you'll find I have slipped any- ; thing. It's a clear business record." j From an Inner pocket he drew out a I Lnlky notebook and, recrossing the ! room, laid It open on the table. It was j a correct, even a minute, record of ev- ! ery action that had been accomplished j In Chilcote's name. "I don't think t you'll find any loose ends," he said as j he turned back the pages. "I had you I and your position in my mind all I through. He paused and glanced up j from the book. "You have a position j that absolutely insists upon attention," ! he added In a different voice. At the new tone Chileote looked up i as well. "No moral lectures!" he said, with a nervous laugh. "I was anxious to know If you had imlled it off and you have reassured me. That's enough. I was In a funk this afternoon to know how things were going one of those pudden, unreasonable funks. But now " that I see you" he cut himself short and laughed once more "now that I pee you. I'm hanged if I don't want to prolong your engagement." ;. Loder glanced at him, then glanced : away. He felt a quick shame at the ; eagerness that rose at the words a surprised contempt at his own readi1 ness to anticipate the man's weakness. But almost as speedily as he had turn- - ed away he looked back again. "Tush, man!" he said, with his old Intolerant manner. "You're dreaming. J You've had your holiday, and school's begun again. You must remember you ; are dining with the Charringtons toI bight. Young Charrington's coming of j age quite a big business. Come along. II want my clothes." He laughed and, i moving closer to Chileote, slapped him I on the shoulder. Chileote started; then, suddenly becoming imbued with the other's manner, he echoed the laugh. "By Jove," he said, "you're right! You're quite right. A mau must keep his feet in their own groove." Raising : his hand, he began to fumble with his tie. But Loder kept the same position. I ''You'll find the check book in its usual drawer," he said. "I've made one i entry of 1100, pay for the first week. ; The rest can stand over until" lie I paused abruptly. Chileote shifted his position. "Don't talk about that. It upsets me to antic- , .pate. I can make out a check tol morrow payable to John Loder." "No. That can wait. The name of Xoder is better out of the book. We ; ran't be too careful." Loder spoke ; with unusual impetuosity. Already a ' flight, unreasonable jealousy was col- ' oring bis thoughts. Already be grudged the idea of Chileote with his unstable ) plance and restless fingers opening the j drawers and sorting the papers that . for one stupendous fortnight had been Ids without question. Turning aside, ( he changed the subject brusquely.. "Come into the bedroom," he said. Tfs half past 7 if it's a minute, and i Ihe Charrington's show is at 9." With- : Put waiting for a reply, he walked across the room and held the door - Pn. ,' wAv - There was no silence while they ex-t-banged clothes. Loder talked continuously. sometimes in short, curt sen- j . tences. sometimes with Ironic touches , of humor; he talked until Chileote, strangely affected by contact with anl other personality after his weeks of i solitude, fell under his influence, his : excitement rising, his imagination stirI ring'at the novelty of change. At last, . parbed once more In the clothes of his ; own world, -he passed from the bedroom back Into the sitting room and i there halted, waiting for his com- ; panion. Almost directly Loder followed. He i came into the room quietly and, movIng at once to the table, picked up the f notebook. ! "I'm not going to preach," he began, "so you needn't shut me up. But I'll pay just one thing a thing that will get said. Try to keep your hold! Remember your responsibilities . and keep your hold!" He spoke energetically, looking earnestly Into Chilcote's ryes. He did not realize It. but he was pleading for his own career.

THE

Harper i Brothers Chileote paled a little, as he always did la face of a reality. Then be extended his hand. "My dear fellow," he said, with a touch of hauteur, "a man can generally be trusted to look after his own life." Extricating his hand almost immediately, he turned toward the door and without a word of farewell passed into the little ball, leaving Loder alone in the sitting room. CHAPTER XII. N the night of Chilcote's return to his own Loder tasted the lees of life poignantly for the first time. Before their 0 curious compact had been entered upon he had been, if not content, at least apathetic; but with action the apathy had been dispersed, never again to re gain its old position. He realized with bitter certainty that his was no real home coming. On entering Chilcote's house he had ex perienced none of the unfarniliaritj', none of the unsettled awkwardness, that assailed him now. There he had almost seemed the exile returning aft er many hardships; here, in the atmosphere made common by 3-ears, he felt an alien. It wa3 illustrative of the man's character that sentimentalities found no place in his nature. Sentiments were not lacking, though they lay out of sight, but sentimentalities he altogether denied. Left alone In the sitting room after Chilcote's departure, his first sensation was one of physical discomfort and unfamiliarity. His own clothes, with their worn looseness, brought no sense of friendliness such as some men find in an old garment. Lounging and the clothes that suggested lounging had no appeal for him. In his eyes the garb that implies responsibility was symbolic and even inspiring. And as with clothes so with his actual surroundings. Each detail of his room was familiar, but not one had "You would not desert met" ever become intimately close. He had used the place for years, but he had used It as he might use a hotel, and whatever of his household gods had come with him remained, like himself, on sufferance. His entrance into Chilcote's surroundings had been altogether different. Unknown to himself, he had been in the position of a young artist who, having roughly modeled in clay, Is brought into the studio of a sculptor. To his outward vision everything Is new, but his inner sight leaps to instant understanding. Amid all the strangeness he recognizes the one essential the workshop, the atmosphere, the home. On this first night of return Loder comprehended something of his position, and, comprehending, he faced the problem and fought with it. lie had made his bargain and must pay his share. Weighing this, he had looked about his room with a quiet gaze. Then at last, as if finding the object really sought for, his eyes had come round to the mantelpiece and rested on the pipe rack. The pipes stood precisely as he had left them. He had looked at them for a long time, then an ironic expression that was almost a smile had touched his lips, and, crossing the room, he had taken the oldest and blackest from its place and slowly filled it with tobacco. With the first indrawn breath of smoke his attitude had unbent. Without conscious determination he had chosen the one factor capable of easing his mood. A cigarette is for the trivial moments of life; a cigar for its fulfillments, its pleasant, comfortable retrospections; but in real distress in the solving of question, the fighting of difficulty a pipe is man's eternal solace. So he bad passed the first night of his return to the actualities of life. Next day his mind was somewhat settled, and outward aid was not so essential; but, though facts faced him more solidly, they were nevertheless very drab in shade. The necessity for work, that blessed antidote to ennui, no longer forced him to endeavor. He was no longer penniless, but the money he possessed brought with it no desires. When a man has lived from hand to mouth for years and suddenly finds himself with 100 in his pocket the result is sometimes curious. He finds with a vague sense of surprise that he has forgotten how to spend. That extravagance, like other artificial passions, requires cultivation. This he realized even more fully on the days that followed the night of his first return, and with it was born a new bitterness. The man who has friends and no money may find life difficult, but the man who has money and no friend to raJales- la his-fortuno

or uenent oy his gc-nerosity 13 aioor indeed. With the leaven of Incredulity that works in all strong natures. Loder distrusted the professional beggar; therefore the charity that bestows easily and promiscuously was denied him, and of other channels of generosity he was too self contained to have learned the secret.

When depression falls upon a man of usually even temperament it de scends with a double weight. The mercurial nature has a hundred counterbalancing devices to rid itself of gloom a sudden lifting of spirit, a memory of other moods lived through, other blacknesses dispersed by time, but the man of level nature has none of these. Depression when it comes is Indeed depression; no phase of mind to be superseded by another phase, but a slackening of all the chords of life. It was through such a depression as this that he labored during three weeks, while no summons and no hint of remembrance came from Chileote. His position was peculiarly difficult. He found no action In the present, and toward the future he dared not trust himself to look. He had slipped the old moorings that familiarity had ren dered endurable, but, having slipped them, he had found no substitute, Such was his case on the last night of the three weeks and such his frame of mind as he crossed Fleet street from Clifford's inn to Middle Temple lane It was scarcely 7 o'clock, but al ready the dusk was falling. The great er press of vehicles had ceased, and the light of the street lamps gleamed back from the spaces of dry and polish ed roadway, worn smooth as a mirror by wheels and hoofs. Something of the soliture of night that sits so ill on the strenuous city street was making itself felt, though the throngs of people on the pathway still streamed eastward and westward, and the taverns made a busy trade, Having crossed the roadway, Loder paused for a moment to survey the scene. But humanity in the abstract made small appeal to him, and his glance wandered from the passersby to the buildings massed like clouds against the dark sky. As his gaze moved slowly from one to the other s clock near at hand struck 7, and an in stant later the chorus was taken up by a dozen clamorous tongues. Usually he scarcely heard and never heeded these innumerable chimes, but this evening their effect was strange. Com ing out of the darkness, they seemed to possess a personal note, a human declaration. The Impression was fan tastic, but it was strong. With species of revolt against life and his own personality, he turned slowly and moved forward in the direction of Lud gate hill. For a space he continued his course, then, reaching Bouverie street, he turn ed sharply to the right and made his way down the slight incline that leads to the embankment. There he paused and drew a long breath. The sense of space and darkness soothed him. Pulling his cap over his eyes, he crossed to the river and walked on in the direc tion of Westminster bridge. As he walked the great mass of water by his side looked dense and smooth as oil with its sweeping width and network of reflected light. On its farther bank rose the tall buildings, the chimneys, the flaring lights that suggest another and an alien London. Close at hand stretched the solid stone parapet, giving assurance of protection. All these things he saw with his mental eyes, but with his mental eyes only, for his physical gaze was fixed ahead where the houses of parliament loomed out of the dusk. From the great build ings his eyes never wavered until the embankment was traversed and Westminster bridge reached. Then he paused, resting his arms on the coping of the bridge. In the tense quietude of the dark" 2S3 the place looked vast and inspiring. The shadowy terrace, the silent river, the rows of lighted windows, each was significant. Slowly and comprehensively his glance passed from one to the other. He was no sentimentalist and no dreamer. His act was simply the act of a man whose interests, robbed of their natural outlet, turn instinctively toward the forms and symbols of the work that is denied them. His scrutiny was steady even cold. He was raised to no exaltation by the vastness of the building, nor was he chilled by any dwarfing of himself. lie looked at it long and thoughtfully; then, again moving slowly, he turned and retraced his steps. Ills mind was full as he walked back still oblivious of! the stone parapet of the embankment, the bare trees and the flaring lights of the advertisements across the water. Turning to the left, he regained Fleet street and made for his own habitation with the quiet ac curacy that some men exhibit in mo ments of absorption He crossed Clifford's inn with the same slow, almost listless, step; then as his own doorway came ln.to view, he stopped. Some one was standing in its recess. For a moment he wondered if his fancy were playing him a trick. Then his reason sprang to certainty with so fierce a leap that for an Instant his mind recoiled. For we more often stand aghast at the strength of our own feelings than before the enormity of our neighbor's actions. Is that you, Chileote?" he said below his breath. At the sound of his voice the other wheeled round. "Hello!" he said. "I thought you were the ghost of some old inhabitant. I suppose I am very unexpected?" Loder took the hand that he extended and pressed the fingers unconsciously. The sight of this man was like the finding of an oasis at the point where the desert is sandiest, deadliest, most unbearable. "Yes, you are unexpected," he answered. Chileote looked at him, then looked out into the court. "I'm done up," he said. "I'm right at the end of the tether." He laughed as he said it. but in the dim light of the hall Loder thought his face looked ill and harassed despite the flush that the excitement of the meeting had brought to it. Taking his arm, he drew him toward the 6tairs. "So the rope has run out, eh?" he said, In imitation of the other's tone. But under the quiet of his manner his own nerves were throbbing with the peculiar alertness of anticipation, a sudden sense of mastery over life that lifted him above surroundings and

aoove persons a sense or . statur?. mental and physical, from which he surveyed the world. He felt as if fate in the moment of utter darkness had given him a sign. As they crossed the hall Chileote had drawn away and was already mounting the stairs. And as Loder followed it came sharply to his mind that here, in the slipshod freedom of a

- j door that was always open and stairs that were Innocent of covering, lay his companion's real niche unrecognized In outward avowal, but acknowledged by the inward, keener sense that manifests the individual. In silence they mounted the stairs, but on the first landing Chileote paused and looked back, surveying Loder from the superior height of two steps. "I did very well at first." he said. T did very well. I almost followed your example for a week or so. I found myself on a sort of pinnacle, and I clung on. But in the last ten days I've I've rather lapsed." "Why?" Loder avoided looking at his face. He kept his eyes fixed determinedly on the spot where his own hand gripped the banister. "Why?" Chileote repeated. "Oh. the prehistoric tale weakness stronger than strength. "I'm I'm sorry to come down on you like this, but It's the social side that bowls me over. It's the social side I can't stick." "The social side? But I thought" "Don't think. I never think; it en tails such a constant upsetting of prin ciples and theories. We did arrange for business only, but one can't set up barriers. Society pushes Itself every where nowadays, into business most of all. I don't want you for theater parties or dinners. But a big reception with a political flavor is different, man has to be seen at these things. He needn't say anything or do anything, but it's bad form if he fails to show up." Loder raised his head. "You must explain," he said abruptly. Chileote started slightly at the sud den demand. "I I suppose I'm rather irrelevant. he said quickly. "Fact is, there's a re ception at the Bramfells tonight. You know Blanche Bramfell Viscountess Bramfell, sister to Lillian Astrupp His words conveyed nothing to Loder, but he did not consider that. All ex plauatlons were irksome to him and he invariably chafed to be done with them. "And you've got to put in an appear ancefor party reasons?" Loder broke In". Chileote showed relief. "Yes. Old Fraide makes rather a point of it so does Eve." He said the last words carelessly; then, as if their sound re called something, his expression changed. A touch of satirical amusement touched his lips and he laughed. "liy tne way, Joaer, he said, "my wile was actually tolerant of me for nine or ten days after my return. I thought your representation was to be quite impersonal? I'm not jealous. he laughed. "I'm not jealous, I assure you, but the burned child shouldn't grow absentminded." At his tone and his laugh Loder's blood stirred. With a sudden, unex pected impulse his hand tightened on the banister, aud, looking up, he caught sight of the face above him his own faee it seemed, alighted with malicious interest. At the sight a strange sensation seized him, his grip on the banis ter loosened, and, pushing past Chil eote, he hurriedly mounted the stairs. Outside his own door the other over took him. "Loder!" he said. "Loder! I meant no harm. A man must have a laugh sometimes." , But Loder was facing the door and did not turn round. A sudden fear shook Chileote. "Lo der!" he exclaimed again. "You would not desert me? I can't go back to night. I can't go back." Still Loder remained immovable. Alarmed by his silence, Chileote step ped closer to him. "Loder! Loder, you won't desert me.'" lie caught hastily at his arm. With a quick repulsion Loder shook him off, then almost as quickly he turned round. What fools we all are!" he said abruptly. "We only differ in degree. Come in and let us change our clothes." CHAPTER XIIi. n"E best moments of a man's life are the moments when, strong id himself, he feels that the world lies before him. Gratifies ambition may be the summer, but anticipation is the ardent springtime of a man's career. As Loder drove that night from Fleet street to Grosvenor square he realized this, though scarcely with any degree of consciousness, for he was no accomplished self analyst. But in a wave of feeling too vigorous to be denied he recognized his regained foothold the step that lifted him at once from the pit to the pinnacle. In that moment of realization he look ed neither backward nor forward. The present was all sufficing. Difficulties might loom ahead, but difficulties had but one object the testing and sharpening of a man's strength. In the first deep surge of egotistical feeling he al most rejoiced in Chilcote's weakness. The more Chileote tangled the threads of his life the stronger must be the fingers that unraveled them. He was possessed by a great impatience. The joy of action was stirring in his blood. Leaving the cab, he walked confidently to the door of Chilcote's house and inserted the latchkey. Even In this small act there was a grain of Individual satisfaction. Then very quietly he opened the door and crossed the hall. As he entered, a footman was arranging the fire that burned In the big grate. Seeing the man, he halted. "Where is your mistress?" he asked in unconscious repetition of his first question in the same house. The man looked up. "She has just finished dinner, sir. She dined alone In her own room." He glanced at Loder in the quick, uncertain way that was noticeable in all the servants of the hausehold when they addressed their master.- Loder saw the look and wondered what depth of curiosity it betrayed, how much of insight into the domestic life that he must always be content to skim. For an Instant the old resentment against Chileote tinged his exaltation, but he swept it angrily aside. Without further remark he began to isount the .stairs

LD

Gaining the landing, he did not turn, as usual, to the door that shut off Chilcote's rooms, but moved onward down the corridor toward Eve's private sitting room. He moved slowly till the door was reached. Then he paused and lifted his hand. There was a moment's wait while his fingers rested on the handle; then a sensation he could not explain, a reticence, a reluctance to Intrude upoa this one precinct, caused his fingers to relax. With a slightly embarrassed gesture he drew back slowly and retraced his steps. Once in Chilcote's bedroom, he walked to the nearest bell and pressed it. Reajvick responded. and at sight of him Loder's feelings warmed with the same sense of fitness and familiarity that the great bed and somber furni

ture of the room had inspired. But the man did not come forward as he had expected. He remained close to the door with a hesitation that was unusual in a trained servant. It struck Loder that possibly his stolidity had exasperated Chileote and that possibly Chileote had been at no pains to con ceal the exasperation. The idea caused him to smile involuntarily. "Come into the room. Renwick," he said. "It's uncomfortable to see you standing there. I want to know if Mrs. Chileote has sent me any message about tonight." Renwick studied him furtively as he came forward. "Y'es, sir," he said. "Mrs. Chilcote's maid said that the carriage was ordered for 10:15, and she hoped that would suit you." He spoke reluctantly, as If expecting a rebuke. At the opening sentence Loder had turned aside, but now, as the man finished, he wheeled round again and looked at him closely with his keen, observant eyes. "Look here," he said. "I can't have you speak to me like that. I may come down on you rather sharply when my my nerves are bad, but when I'm myself I treat you well, I treat you decently at any rate. You'll have to learn to discriminate. Look at me now!" A thrill of risk and of rulership passed through him as he spoke. "Look at me now! Do I look as I looked this morningor j-esterday?" The man eyed him half stupidly, half timidly. "Well?" Loder insisted. "Well, sir," Renwick responded, with some slowness, "you look the same and you look different a healthier color, perhaps, sir, and the eye clearer." He grew more confident under Loder's half humorous, half Insistent gaze. "Now that I look closer, sir" Loder laughed. "That's it!" he said. "Now that you look closer. You'll have to grow observant. Observation is an excellent quality in a servant. When you come Into a room in future, look first of all to me and take you cue from that. Remember that serving a man with nerves Is like serving two masters. Now you can go, and tell Mrs. Chilcote's maid that I shall be quite ready at a quarter past 10." "Yes, sir. And after that?" "Nothing further. I shan't want you again tonight." He turned away as he spoke and moved toward the great fire that was always kept alight in Chilcote's room. But as the man moved toward the door he wheeled back again. "Oh, one thing more, Renwick! Bring me some sandwiches and a whisky." He remembered for the first time that he had eaten nothing since early afternoon. A few minutes after 10 Loder left Chilcote's room, resolutely descended the stairs and took up his position in the hall. Resolution is a strong word to apply to such a proceeding, but something In his bearing, in the attitude of his shoulders and head, Instinctively suggested It. Five or six minutes passed, but ho waited without Impatience. Then at last the sound of a carriage stopping before the house caused him to lift his head, and at the same instant Eve ap peared at the head of the staircase. She stood there for a second, looking down on him, her maid a pace or two behind "holding her cloak. The picture she made struck upon his mind with something of a revelation. On bis first sight of her she had ap pealed to him as a strange blending of youth and self possession a girl with a woman's "clearer perception of life. Later he had been drawn to study her in other respects as a possible comrade and friend. Now for the first time he saw her as a power in her own world a woman to whom no man could deny consideration. She looked taller for the distance between them, and the distinction of her carriage added to the effect. Her black gown was exquisite ly soft as soft as her black hair, Above her forehead was a cluster of splendid diamonds shaped like a coro net, and a band of the same stones en circiea ner neck, ixxier realized in a glance that only the most distinguished of -women could wear such ornaments and not have her beauty eclipsed. With a touch of the old awkwardness that had before assailed him in her pres ence, he came slowly forward as she descended the stairs. "Can I help you with your cloak?' he asked, and as he asked it something like surprise at his own timidity cross ed his mind. For a second Eve's glance rested on his face.' Her expression was quite im passive, but as she lowered her lashes a faint gleam flickered across her eyes. Nevertheless, her answer, when It came, was studiously courteous. "Thank you," she said, "but Marie will do all I want." Loder looked at her for a moment, then turned aside. He was not hurt by his rebuff. Rather, by an interesting sequence of impressions, he was stirred by it. The pride that had refused Chilcote's help, and the self control that had refused it graciously, moved him to admiration. He understood and appreciated both by the light of personal experience. "The carriage Is waiting, sir, Crapham's voice broke In. Loder nodded, and Eve turned to her maid. "That will do, Marie," she said. "I shall want a cup of chocolate when I get back, probably at 1 o'clock." She drew her cloak about her shoulders and moved toward the door. Then she paused and looked back. "Shall we start?" she asked quietly. Loder, still watching her, came forward at once. "Certainly, he said, with unusual gentleness. He followed her as she crossed the footpath, but made no further, off er of help, and when the moment came he auletly took his place beside her in the

carnage. His last impression as tu horses wheeled round was of the open hall door Crapham in his somber livery and the maid in her black dress, both silhouetted against the dark background of the hall; then as the carriage moved forward smoothly and rapidly he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. During the first few moments of the drive there was silence. To Loder there was a strange, new sensation in this companionship, so close and yet so distant. He was so near to Eve that the slight fragrant scent from her clothes might almost have belonged to his own. The impression was confusing, yet vaguely delightful. It was years since he had been so close to a woman of his own class, his own caste. He acknowledged the thought with a curious sense of pleasure. Involuntarily be turned and looked at her. She was sitting very straight, her fine profile cut clear against the carriage window, her diamonds quivering in the light that flashed by them from the street. For a space the sense of unreality that had pervaded his first entrance into Chilcote's life touched him again; then another and more potent feeling rose to quell it. Almost involuntarily as he looked at her his lips parted. "May I say something?" he asked. Eve remained motionless. She did not turn her head, as most women would have done. "Say anything you like," she said gravely. "Anything?" He bent a little nearer, filled again by the Inordinate wish to dominate. "Of course." It seemed to him that her voice sounded forced and a little tired. For a moment he looked through the window at the passing lights; then slowly

his gaze returned to her face. "You look very beautiful tonight," he said. His voice was low and his man ner unemotional, but his words had the effect he desired. She turned her head, and her eyes met his In a glance of curiosity and surprise. 'Slight as the triumph was, it thrilled him. The small scene with Chilcote's valet came back to him; his own personality moved him again to a reckless determination to make his own voice heard. Leaning forward, he laid his hand lightly on her arm. "Eve," he said quickly "Eve, do you remember" Then he paused and vithdrew his hand. The horses had slackened speed, then stopped altogether as the carriage fell into lino outside Bramfell House. CHAPTER XIV. ODER entered Lady Bramfell'l feeling far more like an aetor in a drama than an ordinary man in a peculiar situation. It L was the first time he had played Chileote to a purely social audience and the first time for many years that ho had rubbed shoulders with a well dressed crowd ostensibly brought together for amusement. As he followed Eve along the corridor that led to t!ae reception rooms he questioned the reality of the position acrain and ntrnlnr thten abruptly, at the moment when the sensation of familiarity was strongest. a cheery voice hailed him, and, turning, he saw the square shoulders, light eyes and pointed mustache of Lakeley, the owner of the St. George's Gazette. At the sight of the man and the sound of his greeting his doubts and speculations vanished. The essentials of life rose again to the position they

HOSTS OF GOOD PEOPLE All Over This Blessed Land Rise Up and Praise Dr. Pierce's Family Medicines. Common Gratitude l-.-ompts This Sentiment In Favor of 1 Dr. Pierce's Medicines. These people, so ready and anxious to recommend Dr. Pierce's Medicines': have themselves been cured, or some friend or loved one has been cured, by these-. medicines.. Naturally, a sense of gratitude prompts such persons -to recorfiiViend Dr. Pierce's medicines to other afflicted ones. Notwithstanding that these .medicines have been on general pale, in drug and medicine sttes, for more than two decades, yet their sale continues to grow as it could notwere they nvt merlicines of more than ordinary merit M

1 base attacks have sometimes been made upon Dr. Pierce'p medi-

Cine6which temporarily injured their false, sfaftdeious and libelous article

Journal orYluIadelphia, yet their sale is greater to-day tbsn ever. Tie poblishers of thVl paper were brought to account and judgment obtaifd against them in consbuence of their malicious article concerning Dr. Piercs Favorite Prescription. The falsity of its etstements were nmvpn in onen eoit jnd judgment wn nhtn.rpi fl.;r rsl Jlr Vhlnp"' f"r fi fftArtantUI m?!7nT3 Thereupon Dr. Pierce decided to take a bold step and publls) . to the whole world a full list of the ingredients entering into his medicinesyind this completely confounded his malicious traducers and vindicated bothiie Doctor and his medicines. In consequence, his medicines have enjoyed popularity and increase in sale of late, amounting almost to a boom, and it isjelieved that this greatly increased demand is due largely to the fact of Dr. PiZce's open, honest way of treating his patrons and patients by reposing confjence in those ho trust in him and his medicines. He has no secrets to Ythhold from them. He publishes the composition of his medicine nnpnl v and above hoard. r that

all who use them may know exactly placed in a class all by themselves and

patent medicines, for they are tn fact neither.

WHAT THEV CURE. People often ask "vnat do Dr. Fierce' two leading medicines 'Golden Medical Discovery' and i avoma rrescripttofr cure ? " that "Golden te ier. I pecia 111 y favorably i a curative ra.V a all LIif murom :ii2 st!ff5rr-!? as rif he nasal passages' itt real. oroi;( inal tui R. stomach, bowels arge percentage of ar.d bludder curing id catarrhal cases whei fects the nasal na r the disease af:iges, the throat. larynx, bronchia, stq lach (as catarrhal mucous diarrhea). dyspepsia), bowels (0 Madder, uterus or o' ier pelvic organs. tven in the chronic of these aTections, it ful in afTecting cures. Medical Discovery " I ulcerative stages generally succes 1 fact the( Jold Ithout doubt. most successful consti tional rem For all forms of catarrhal lseases knwh to modern medical sciflssce. In 'ronic.Nasal Catarrh Dr. SasdCatarrhxTemedv fluid should be used tor wajJrmg and cleansing out the nasal wtasages while taking the "Discovery" for its blood cleansing and specific, healing effects upon the mucous lining membranes. Thii combined local and sreneral treatment will cure a very large percentage of the worst cases of chronic nasal catarrh, no matter 01 how many years standing they may be. ji in rie -1-avorite. Frpwnminn - it i ayiwTfr.r fprg of one class of dis eases On I Yl hno WPlL nwJ. Aar. njj2 menu ana irregularities peculiar to women. It is a powerfnl. yet gently act Ing, invigorating tonic and nervine. For weak, worn-out, over-worked women no matter what has caused the break-down. "Favorite Prescription" will be found most effective in building op the strength, regulating the womanly functions, subduing pain and bringing about a healthy, strong, vigorous condition of the whole system. Dr. Pierce believes that our American forests abound in most valuable medicinal roots for the cure of most of our obstinate and most fatal diseases, if we would properly investigate them: and. in confirmation of this firm conviction, he points with pride to the almost marvelous cures effected by his "Golden Medical Discovery." which has proven itself to be the most efficient stomach tonic, liver invigorator, heart tonic and regulator, and blood cleanser known to medical science. Hot less marvelous, in the unparalleled cures it is constantly makmg of woman's many peculiar affec

urleny. the enswe! Is

Medical Discovery 1 1 a

rative. or l.kxKl-nii he

nviyorirtor, and act"! Hpei

BABY 'STORMING SKIN HUMOR

Ears Looked as if They Would Drop Off Body Entirely Covered - Face Mass of Sores Three Doctors Could Not Cure Child Grew Worse Face and Body Now Clear CURED BY CUTICURA IN TWO WEEKS FOR 70C. Mrs. George J. Stecsc, of 701 oburn St.. Akron. Ohio, tells in the owing letter of another of those re irkablo cures of rturing. disligurin kin humors d: mado Soap, by Cuti assistec Ointn Cutieun t, after phys rsici is, and all failed: "I duty to paother poor else h feel it rents Buffe lg babies to tell CUT; Fu what Cutihas done for mv ttlo daughter. She broke out all over er body with a humor, ant we used mended, bit without ry thing reeomsuits. I called in three doctors, the, U claimed they could help ,her, but continued to grow worse; Her b sores, and iher litt v was a nia-ss of faco was being eaten awayt her ea looked as if they " wouia aron u. hbors advised mi to get Cuticxira Soafand Ointment, and before I ha us lalf of the cake of Soap and bo itment the (sores had all healed, an little one's face and body were as c as a new-born babe's. 1 would not without it again if if cost five dollars, instead of seventy-fiva cents, which is all it cost us to cure our baby, after spending many dollars on doctors and medicines without any benefit whatever." Comolt External and Internal Trratmrat for ararv Humor, from Fiinplra to Scrofula, from Infancy to in, conitinc of Cutkrura fcoap, JHc., Olntnwnt, ., Ktanlvcot, Oo. ( in form of Charvlata OMMd I11U. HA, per rial ot 60), may br had of all lruglt. A ainftl often rvraa tha moat dhnmalnr raw, wlm all other wnrdira, ajid rrea tha brt phl( Ian. tall, hotter I)ruf Ova. Corp., fcolr Prop.. Iioaton, Mh. rop... iKwgn, man. ' Mailed irea, All About Iha Skin, Scaip, tad Hail." had occupied three weess ago, in tu short but strenuous period when his dormant activities had been stirred and he had recognized his true self. He lifted his head unconsciously, the shade of misgiving that had crossed his confidence passing from him as ho smiled at Lakeley with a keen, alert pleasure that altered his whole face. - (To Be Continued.) Three Cases Dismissed. Three cases were dismissed by tha Wayne Circuit Court yesterday at tho morning session and the costs paid by the defendants. The cases wero those of Wm. Bradbury, trustee, va Samuel Lashley for foreclosure tt mortgage; Henry Q-Iorgan vs SamueJ and John Lashley on claim of 475, and Henry Morgan vs Samuel Lash ley demanding $75. sale, as in the rntie of the maLMnnalv." Yiuhli.hfri in inru in th I Hi' linn. what they are talUng. Thus they are cannot be considered as either secret or tions, weaknesfB and distressing derangements, Is Dr. llerce'sFavorlte Prescription, as is arnply attested by thousands of unsolicited testimonials contributed by grateful pajffc-nts who have been cured bj . it of leucorjnea, painful periods. Irregularities, prohfpsus and other displacements, ulcerati'ja of uterus and kindred affections, ojjr-n after many other advertised medicijps had failed. Iiotjrthese world-famed medicines ar whoUj made up from the glyceric extraofs of native, medicinal roots, fonnd in jpir American forests. The processes evfployed in their manufacture wers tginal with Dr. Pierce, and they are rned on by skilled chemists and tharacists with the aid of anDaratns and appliances specially designed and built lor this purpose, jiotn medicines ar entirely free from alcohol and all otbr harmful, habit-forming drugs. A full list of their Ingredients Is printed on each of their wrappers. They are both made of such native medicinal roots as have received the strongest endorsement and praise for their curative virtues from the most prominent writers on Materia Medica in this country. What is said ol their power to euro the several diseases for which they aro advised may be easily learned by sendlnir your name -and address to Dr. R. V. Pierce, Euffalo, 2f. Y.. for a little booklet which he has compiled, containing copious extracts from numerous standard medical books, which are consulted as authorities by physicians of the several schools of practice for their guidance in prescribing. It is free to all. A postal card request will bring It. You don't have to rely solely upon the manufacturer's say-so as to the power of Dr. Pierce's medicines to cure, as with other medicines sold through druggists. You have the dixinteresteil testimony of a host of the leading medical writers and teachers. Send for this copious testimony. It can be relied upon to be truthful " because it i entirely disinterested. Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets care con stipation. Constipation Is the cause of many diseases. Cure the cause and vou cure the disease. One "Pellet" is a gentle laxative, and two a mild cathartic, Drusreists sell them, and nothing is "just as good." They are the orininnl lAiue. L.iver Pills first nut nn hv rM Dr. Pierce over 40 years ago. Much imitated, but never eoualed. ThT m tiny sugar-coated rranules easy to talc mm caady.

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