Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 118, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 September 1903 — Page 2

A DOCTOR’S MISSION

CHAPTER IX. —(Continued.) “I am very glad to hear it,” exclaimed Baric, kindly, “it seems like a pleasant ■pot, and I think this pure, fresh air vO benefit your health and spirit*. I also bare settled here, having bought a practice.” “Shall are go to Sir Reginald now?” ■Horned she, at the end of their animated conversation. “I presume he is •wake by this time.” “Yes! at once, and I hope I shall find Mm more easy than he was this mornDr. Elfenstein made quite a long call, aa he had much to do to make the baroact comfortable for the night, and as* Ethel raw him handle the injured man mo partly, and soothe him with kind, enseauaging words, she felt that he muat possess a heart of ahnost womanly feelfeg, and her interest and admiration After Earle Elfenstein withdrew, ■ Erte dinner was announced, and in the dining room Lady Constance presented to Ethel her nephew, Robert Glendenning, and niece. Belle, his sister, the former greeting her with rather an insolent look of admiration, the latter with • bow expressive of haughty contempt. from that moment Ethel saw that ■either of these young people would promote her happiness while she remained —dn this roof,„ Mr. Giendenning did converse with Mr, but it was with such an evident air «f conudescension that her replies were fcief and cold, while his sister remained adlent during the whole meal, with the exception of answering one or two questfm asked by Lady Constance, which ■aaawers were given in a cold, mechanical way, that told of a mind preoccupied and

Tb« truth was, this young lady was surprised, and not at all pleased, with *e introduction of such a rarely beautiful girl into the home over which she M sway. She was intensely proud and selfish, and felt that here might be an influence wserted upon her few admirers that ■night interfere with her prospects. The prospects particularly in view at present were the winning of the heart tad hand of the new- physician lately settled in the place. She had been introduced to him at the ■one of a friend, and had admired his olegant bearing, handsome face and quiet ■Banners, and Instantly bad resolved to fcy siege to his heart. After leaving the table, the ladies repaired to the piazza, fallowed by Mr. fMendenning. As Belle paused to pluck from one of the vines a few flowers for Bar neck. Lady Constance turned to Abel and remarked: “I suppose you have no friends in this vicinity, having but just arrived.” Stbel hesitated, while a faint blush Mffnacd brow and cheek as she replied: “I have found one here very unexpect«dly. Dr. Elfenstein. We crossed the Atlantic on the same vessel, and as my aont was taken very lil during the voyage be attended her, and consequently, Weanie well acquainted.” Instantly Belle’s attention \yas riveted •jr these remarks, and with a sneer she exclaimed: “I presume, then, you waylaid him Okie afternoon in order to renew the acquaint acre. ” “Pardon me!" replied Ethel, with dignity. “I waylaid no one! We met casnatlj on this piazza as he was about entering to see Sir Reginald, and convened for a few moments." “It seems to me for the future, when any and*’* physician visits him, it would he well for you to remember that you ■•w occupy the position of a subordinate, end therefore should not put on the aim es an equal to attract his attention!” was the rude and unladylike reply. “Belle,” interposed Lady Constance, wfc* with all her faults, was naturally kind-hearted and just, “you forget that Mina Nevergail in coming to us does not tease to be a gentlewoman.” “Or, a gentlewoman's poor relation!” was the cutting answer. “A remarkably beautiful one, however," said the brother. “Say, Belle.” he added, teasingly, “yon must take care er abe will carry off some of your beaux!” The indignant girl gave him a glance mt withering scorn, but merely said, with an angry toss of her head: .. .. “Let her beware how she interferes with me in any way! A-word to the wise h sortieient." Ethel could scarcely control her ■ant feelings, as she listened to there insulting remarks issuing from the lovely kps of the girlish speaker, but after an effort the did control them, and without a word turned away and again sou-at She aide of the invalid. Bat ahe found him irritable,' and hard he please, and the moment passed in his ■aaas became intolerably long, and she for the time to come when she eenld retire to her own apartment, even fheagh she knew a strange and annoykSg duty would follow her there. finally the baronet told her 1! she was weary to go, adding harshly: “I am Shed already of gazing at your pale hare," then more kindly, as he saw she wan startled by his rough way of speaklag: “1 hope 1 shall feel better iu the aanaiag; if so, I shall like to have you aaad to me, or, as you understand music, srp listoa to a song.” CHAPTER X. Aa aa elegant clock, with old cathedral struck the hour of ten, Ethel, wffff a pale face and trembling hand. a candle, poaseeaed herself of the strange looking knife, then opening the (fftwtsobe, and drawing back the bolt, ■lapped into the passage and from thence ffkesagb the small door in the opposite At found herself in a long, straight, msrit corridor, that led directly to what MrßaffinaM assured tier waa the Haunt *4 Ihew. At the end Ahere she stood, ffs waver, on the left hand aide, waa a Asa fastened with aa old fashioned ,i ■ v *

Author of “ Roy Russell’s Rulf.,” "Glwkov," “The Fashionable Mother,” Etc. *y

iron hook. This led to the ruin, and with a beating heart she opened it. Close by the door she found a small Covered basket that she knew must contain what Fhe sought. Grasping it quickly, she again fastened the door, as Sir Reginald had inetructed her to do, and passed down the corridor. There she found the entrance to the tower, and resolving to take some brightsunshiny day to visit this spot, she turned, as she had been directed, to count out the number of panels on the left hand wall, and immediately discovered the faint crack, that she knew must be what she sought. Inserting the point of the knife, she turned three times, when the panels parted and there lay the shelves. Opening then the basket, she found food in small pieces, consisting of broken biscuits, bits of chicken, potatoes, and quite a quantity of meat, cut in mouthfuls. This she placed on the shelves upon the wooden plate on which It was heaped. Then gently shoving the shelves, they slowly whirled around, and when the same side returned to her, the plate stood uj>on o it empty, ready to be plneed again in the basket. “That ape must have been trained,” she thought, “to empty the plate and return it!" ~7 She listened for a moment, but all was still. Shoving to the panels, she found thnt they relocked themselves, so taking up candlestick, knife and basket, she' placed the latter again outside the door, fastened it securely, and reached her own room in safety. The task required of her had been a singularly unpleasant one. She was a brnve ypung girl, and had endured but few feelings of fear, but she had trembled, because the thing required so much secrecy. She disliked mysteries of all kinds, and her- honest, open natufie revolted from the whole work. On* thing she decided to do, she should take some morning hour to explore the ruins, and thnt Haunted Tower, so that she might become accustomed to all the dangers and peculiarities of the place before other offices were required at her hands. With this resolution still in her mind, she sought the luxurious bed that awaited her, and there fell at once into a pleasant sleep, from which she never aroused until the bright rays of another morning sun stole into her room. Springing up, she dressed ns eoon ns possible, and opening her door, found by questioning a maid, thnt the family did not rise until late, as their breakfast hour was from ten to eleven. All being quiet in the room of the invalid, she returned to her own apartment, and fastening the door securely, resolved at once to start upon her exploring expedition, as she felt that she would be for at least an hour and a half unobserved, and mistress of her own time and motions. With a little of the trembling nervousness of the night before, the brave girl opened the intervening doors and stepped into the corridor. All was folded in the same solemn stillnesaHhat made the place oppressive on the previous night. She revived to explore the ruined parts before she sought the tower, therefore unhooked the door, and stepped out. As she did so, she noticed that the covered basket was still there. The door opened directly into a small rickety hall that led into several large rooms, all dusty, mouldy and more or less dilapidated. Broken windows, torn Wall papers, bare rafters, seen through immense places where ceilings had fallen, were everywhere visible. Some rooms were filled with brokeu furniture, pieces of old china and fragments of time-worn, castoff clothing. Ethel looked at these dilapidated objects, and found herself wondering why Sir Reginald had not had the whole pulled dowu and removed? Its destruction certainly would heighten the value of the property, while its presence only spoke of neglect aud untidiness. One thing she observed in her ramble there was an easy inode of egress and ingress to this part into the hall, and marks of recent footsteps on the floor told that this formed the entrance place to the person who prepared and brought the food she was nightly to place on the iron shelves.

Another thing fstruc-k her; in all the premises there was not the slightest appearance of the concealed nsom. Only a bare, blank wall appeared upon the side where she knew :t must be:

Retracing her steps after all had beeif examined, she refastened the door, and thn sought the Haunted Tower. The door leading to this was closed, but not bolted, so she opened it, and crossing quite a large square place, she began ascending a long flight of stairs. The steps were steep, and not at all easy, and she became very tired before she reached the top, but pressing on, she did reach it, but not before she paused to rest upon a broad flat landing; paused, too, with horror, at pn unexpected sight that there presented itself. It was the stuffed > image .of a man, fixed upon wires, that worked upon the same principle as the jumping jacks often bought to amuse children. This, however, was nearly as large as life: its head was hollow, wkh red glass in plaea where the eyes would be, so that a lighted glass lamp, placed within, would give a flaming appearance to those eyes.

From each fide horns projected, and she could easily imagine what the whole terrific effect must be to an outside beholder. This figure ahe saw could be elevated and put in motion by winding up a crank to which it was attached. Arrangements for different colored lights were also on every band. After carefully examining all the machinery, until, ahe perfectly understood iu workings and tke wkele wicked plan to give supernatural appearance to the tower, Btfcel paaaed upward until abe could gaze without hindrance from the tall windows es this lofty place.

BY EMILY THORNTON

Then exclamations of delight escaped her, for there she could catch an unobstructed view of the grand panorama that stretched for miles and' milec away on every side. But she did qot linger, fearing she would be. seen by some of the villagers, and her presence reported to Sir. Reginald. This visit she knew would be displeasing to him,' if he wished it to be a place that should fill every heart with fear, in order to keep from it visitors by day as well as by night. ■ » CHAPTER XL Day after *day passed, during whiejj Ethel became quite accustomed to her routine of work, and quietly persevered in her duties. Nothing difficult to accomplish was required at her hands; nothing beyond spending a couple of hours each morning in her own room writing letters, of which an abstract was taken from Sir Reginald’s own lips; then an hour or two reading the daily papers for his amusement. Very often would he find a chance to whisper the questions “Do you perform your evening tasks regularly and well? Does all go on as safely as I could wish?” Then when the answer, came, “All goes well,” he would seem so satisfied and relieved that site felt almost happy in giving the information. About a ruonMi after her arrival «t Glendenning Hall she had been reading one afternoon a work in which he was particularly interested, when she was interrupted by the entrance of Dr. Elfenstein. As the baronet motioned to ber to remain where she was during the interview, the regular nurse being absent/ and as the d'x-tor might need iome things from her hand, she became interested in the conversation that ensued. Dr. Elfenstein was rather a small talker, and this natural reserve tended to make his professional interviews at thj hall brief, ahd usually confined closely to his medical work. But this morning he seemed to linger, and conver s'd quite freely upon many of the topics of the day. Filially he commenced giving an account of the severe storm that had swept over the country the night before the baronet’s accident, and ended by relating his own adventures, and what he had seen in the tower. • —— -• . “Sir Reginald, I thought I would tell you this, and ask if you can explain the meaning of the spectacle then manifested?” “I cannot,” was the reply Ethel watched for with anxiety. “I am told by people far and near of strange appearances in that tower, but I have never seen a thing of the kind there myself, therefore, put no faith in the story.” "But you may believe me, sir, when. I assure you such things are really to be seen there. Now, in order to satisfy my mind, and perhaps enable me to explain the mystery to the frightened inhabitants, I crave your kind permission to visit the premises. Have I that permission?” “It is impossible for me to grant it. When these things were first whispered about twenty-five years ago, we, as a family, were exceedingly annoyed by constant visitors to the spot, and the thing became so much of a nuisance that it was closed forever from all inspection. No, you must not ask this, doctor, as I cannot consent to the place being entered, “after being ro long sealed. As it is, take any word for it,ana be satisfied, it is merely a vagary of the brain, an optical delusion, something better to be forgotten.” Dr. Elfenstein said no more, but inwardly resolved to pay a surreptitious visit there, if not a permitted one, as this mystery he determined should be unraveled. As ho rose to leave, he happened to glance towards jthe young girl opposite to him, and caw her head bent low over the book she held, while a sad and pained expression had floated over her speaking face. After the reading had concluded, the baronet said he would excuse her further attendance upon him, therefore she started out for a ramble over the grounds. She had n6t gone far,-before she regretted having done so, as she was joined a short distance from the house by Robert Glendenning, a person she instinctively disliked. This young man was a great admirer of a pretty face, and from the first look into Ethel’s speaking eyes, and upon her rare beauty, he had acknowledged that he had never seen a person that so exactly met the standard of the beautiful he had raised in his soul. But her proud bearing in his presence, her shrinking from his approach gave s'uch evidence of her dislike that he felt irritated, and consequently determined to annoy her in every way possible during her stay at the hall. (To be continued.)

Lessening the Risk.

A certain woman, says the New York Times, had been using the malls for fraudulent purposes. After the ease had been rendered, the rostmasterGeneral issued an order barring her letters from the mnils. Then she sept him a pathetic letter, asking for a private hearing, that she might lay her case before him. “i feel sure,” she wrote, “that if I could get a chance to look straight into your beautiful brown eyes, you would hear my story.’* The Postmaster-General, after thinking the letter over for a few moments, indorsed it: “Respectfully referred to the Secretary' of War for advice," and sent it the War Department.

In due course of time It came back with this indorsement: t * ” “Risk one eye.—Elihu Root.”

Auto-Cracked.

Alderman Timothy P. Sullivnn waa standing with a party of friends at the entrance of the aldermanic chamber last Wednesday discussing the political situation and other kindred subjects, when some one remarked: “I tell you that the American citizen Is an autocrat.” “Well,” replied the alderman, “ho may be l>orn an autocrat, but from all present signs he is liable to die an auto-cracked.”—New York Times. *

Capitalists in Paris.

Not more than 2,500 persons In Paris have a capital of as much and nearly one-third of those are foreigners. ", *

FARMS AND FARMERS

Water at the Bara. If one has a pump located in or near the barn there is, of course, no difficulty in obtaining ail the water needed for all purposes in the barns. If, however, it is necessary to can 'j water for the stock, then some plan should be put in operation whereby water may be obtained for other purposes, such as wagon washing and the cleaning of harnesses, without carrying it any great distance. The rainfall may be utilized by placing a barrel which Is water-tight on a box or other platform and, by the use of a simple and cheap V-trough, carrying the water to the barrel from the eaves of the barn roof. A faucet should be placed in ihe bar-

TO SAVE RAIN WATER.

rel, as so that the water liiay be drawn off readily when wanted. Over the top of the barrel is placed a frame, covered with the finest mesh wire obtainable. This will keep out vermin and small animals, and yet permit sufficient air to circulate over the water to prevent It from becoming siagnant. The illustration shows the plan, which is an excellent one and very inexpensive.

Loading Small Animals.

When one raises stock of any kind and is obliged to cart them to market there should be some device for load |ng the animals Into the wagon without the exercise of too great labor. The loading crate shown- In the illustration Is one of the best appliances of the kind one can have. It should be made Strong, yet light so that it can be easily handled. A frame Is made of two by four material and the floor made of inch lumber with cleats nailed on eight inches apart. The upper end should be well braced and the Incline should not be too sharp. With a load-

A LOADING DEVICE.

ing rack of this kind little trouble will be had in handling sheep, swine or calves.

Salt Kills Weeds.

For the destruction of ehickweed raking the lawns or sowing them with salt, or both methods combined, were found effective at the Vermont station. The application of two quarts of salt to the square rod, followed by thorough raking of the ehickweed and a liberal sowing of grass seed, was completely successful iu exterminating ehickweed and In securing a full stand of grass. It Is suggested that wjiere salt fs used on a lawn it should lltr done cautiously on a small scale, as the effects will vary In different soils and seasons. For the eradication of the crab grass the authors of a recent bulletin suggest care In selection of seed to avoid the Introduction of this plant, which is art annual; the use of grass seed, fertilizer and water freely so as to keep the grass In vigorous growth; and .the hand weeding of the crab grass If it should appear.—American Cultivator. A Land of Small Farmers. From n recent report on agriculture in Germany, It appears that of the total agricultural area of 125,000,000 acres in Germany three-fourths are actually under tUe plow or In cultivation as meadows, pastures and hop gardens, and less than 1,000,000 acres are cultivated for market garden and vineyard produce. The area Is divided Into 5,500,000 holdings, and is principally In the hands of small peasants and farmers. These peasant holdings of from two and a half to five acres form the backbone of German agriculture. Plochlm; Berry Bashes. The Ideal treatment for raspberries and blackberries is to pinch them back at intervals during the summer and thus secure strong, sturdy bushes three and one-half to four feet high, with laterals from one to one and one-half fest long, rather than to practice the severe heading back after the plants have become long and ‘‘leggy." If, however, as la frequently the case In the best managed gardens, the f)ggfets are at tbta s.*os n making vlgofooa growth which may not mature, they

should at be cut back to the desired height and the cants will harden before cold weather. Many prefer to cut tack the bushes In the spring. Thinning the canes, which should always be practiced, may bgjlone at any time during the season. In general, oue-lialf or more of the young canes which appear should be cut cut. Blackberry and raspberry bushes may be transplanted in the fall, but better results are usually obtained from spring planting*.—Maine Expeiiment Station. The Wonders of Modern Farming. All the great crops are flow planted, and all except cotton are gathered by machinery. Let us follow a erop throughout a season’s work and see the changes that have come in its treatment. The plowman no longer trudges slowly and wearily back and forth across his field. He rides a sulky plow with a spring seat. There are special plows for every need—tprf plows, sttfbble plows, subsoil plows, plows for heavy work, plows for. light work, and gang plows turning three furrows at once. So simple are many of them that a boy may drive one. Plowing by steam la

not commonly practiced In the Middle West, but out on the great wheat ranches of the Pacific coast It js cpmmon. On the tule lands of California a sixty-horse-power traction engine drawing twenty-one feet of disk plows will break the ground to a depth of ten inches at the rate of forty-five to sixty acres a day. With mold-board plows designed especially for this work a strip twenty-eight feet wide can be broken. This means that a man and a pair of horses with a single mold-board plow would have to cross a field twenty-eight times to do tj|e same work that the traction engine does by one trip of its plows. A farmer in the Central West who uses a small traction engine and a gang of four fourteen-inch plows says that It costs him from 50 to 62 cents per acre to break his ground. He considers steam economical.

The land made' ready for the reception of the seed, machinery still does the work that muscle used to do. The sower goes forth to sow, but not as he once did, dropping his seed Into the soil, trudging backward and forward from dawn ufttil twilight. His grass or his grain is broadcasted or drilled ia with mechanical evenness, and the machine automatically registers the acreage sown. In like manner his corn is drilled in, listed or planted In hills, his potatoes are planted, and even his cabbage, his cauliflower and his tobacco plants from the seed beds are set out by machinery, and the wdfcji is done better than it could possibly be by hand—this, besides the saving of time and toil. Even in the vegetable garden seeders for all kinds of seeds are now extensively used. The machines are pushed in front of the operator, and they automatically drop and cover the seeds at the desired distances and depth, and at the same time mark off the next row.—W. B. Thom ton, in World’s Work.

Farm Notes. Corn may not be the whole thing, but It is the principal ration for fattening hogs. The man or woman who does not know how to keep up a rotation in the garden crops Is not up to present day privileges. If there Is anything that Is better than another on a liot day it is water from a jug. One never knowß when to let go. The feeling is that one would like to “freeze to it,” and enjoy it forever. > Don’t kick the bogs for rushing around you for their meals. It Is your own fault. If you would feed them as you should, you would not be in such a. hurry. If you must kick, give yourself a good big jolt for not feeding •* 4 It is a very good plan to keep all grqin sacks and similar property marked or branded. It Is not a matter of proving dishonesty, but a matter of ft convenience to have them so marked. There are times when they will accidentally get lost. The conAnercial fertilizer used annually \ln the United States amounts to between $40,000,000 and $50,000,000. Most! of the States have provided for official inspection of fertilizer to protect the farmer from fraud. The heaviest applications are made In the .Southern States. In some of the prairie States hardly any commercial fertilizers are sold. * Tbt finest and softest wool Is always on the shoulders of sheep. An expert In judging sheep always looks at the wool on the shoulders first. Assuming that the wool to be inspected is really fine, the shoulders are first examined as a part where the finest wool Is to be found, which is taken as a standard, and is compared to the wool from the ribs, the thigh, the rump and the shoulder parts, aud the nearer the wool from the various portions of the animal approaches the standard the better, ’ If a strip of light burlap is fastened around a milk cow’s body loosely to keep the flies off Iu fly time she will give more milk, says an Indiana farmer, who adds: “I have noticed how cows stand and fight flies apd eat little, but when thus protected they put In their time at eating. I milk with much mots comfort since adopting this plan, which easts luUa"

THE WEEKLY HISTORIAN

one hundred teaks ago. Persons traveling between the Tennessee river and Natchez, Miss., were so harassed by Indians that President John Adams ordered the War Department to establish block houses along the route. Twenty stand of small arnw and fifty pieces of artillery were started for New Orleans, La., where the Spanish intendant Was making trouble. The British House of Commons appropriated £20,000 for the construction of a ship canal across Scotland. The King of England, through Lord Hawkesbury, ordered a blockade of Havre do Grace apd other ports of the Seine.

FEVENTY-FIVK tears ago. American free traders protested because the duties on 100 bales of wool imported at Boston amounted to $2,450, while the original coot in Smyrna was only $2,430. The Jewish race was estimated by tbs London Quarterly Review to number 6,000,000 persons. President John Quincy Adams’ efforts to preserve the government forests resulted in the seizure at St. Marks, Fla., of a ship loaded with live oak timber cut on government land. Gen. Chilly Mclntoeh reported the killing of twenty-seven buffaloes in Arkansas territory, out of a herd of over 600. FIFTY TEARS AGO. Table rock fell into the Niagara river. George Poindexter, second Governor of Mississippi, died. A religious liberty bill was adopted by the upper house of the Dutch parliament. FORTY TEARS AGO. Oil City (Pa.) newspapers reportedsmall boys of that village making $1 to $5 daily after each hard rain by dipping crude oil from ponds and creeks in the neighborhood. Fort Wagner, in Charleston harbor, was abandoned by the rebels just as Gen. Gillmore’s troops were preparing to assault the works. Two hundred Union soldiers of Gen. Gillmore’s command were killed, wounded or taken prisoners by the rebel garrison at Fort Sumter, which they had tried to surprise while asleep. The rebel brigade under Gen. Fraser was surrounded in Cumberland gap by Union troops under Burnside, Shackelford and De Courcey. Charleston, S. C., was placed at ths mercy of Union artillery through ths ' evacuation of Fort Wagner by the rebels and Its occupation by federala.

thirty years ago. Fifteen million dollars was paid by Great Britain to the United States, under the Geneva award, for damages to American shipping by the rebel cruisea Alabama. John Bigelow, who orlglrfhted the centennial celebration of 1878, protested against the Philadelphia exposition aa commemorating that event, because of > its commercial character. - Paris police refused to allow the display of the American flag by American citizens in celebration of the proclaiming of the French republic. Nelson Dingley, afterwards Congressman and Republican leader of the House, was elected Governor of Maine. A bad slump in the New York stock market was blamed to the shipment of funds for moving the crops and to Jay Gould. TWENTY YEARS AGO. Frank James was acquitted at Gallatin, Mo., of the Winston train robbery. Jay Gould forced Rufus Hatch and his friends to stop their litigation with the Western Union Telegraph Company by driving Louisville and Nashville Railroad stock, on whloh they were “long,” down to 40. Lord Chief Justice Coleridge of England was banqueted in Boston, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Gov. Benjamin Butler and Nathan Appleton being among the guests. The Northwestern States were visited by a heavy frost, the mercury falling to 40 degrees at Bloomington, 111., and corn being killed outright in many localities. Jay Gonld testified before the United States Senate committee on labor and capital, and wept as be described how, when a poor surveyor, he had gone hungry and bad knelt and prayed by ths roadside. ✓ John Jacob Astor deeded his entire fortune to his son, William Waldorf Aa»tor, then United States minister a.t Rome, retaining a pension of SIOO,OOO yearly for himself. The last spike in the Northern Pacific Railroad was driven near Helena, Moot., ninety-one years after President Thomas Jefferson had suggested a highway to the Northwest. TEN YEARS AGO. The Brazilian fleet blockaded the bar- , bor of Rio de Janeiro and demanded President Peixoto’s resignation. Senator Peffer Df Kansas introduced at Washington a bill appropriating SBOO,000 ia “aluminum coin” for the endowment of a “scientific college" in the District of Columbia. Gov. Horae* Holm of lows, in a campaign address, declared both the Den» cratie and Republican partto solemnly bound not to d&cnhtßifcte between gold and silver as money standard* * f.