Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 17, Number 14, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 25 September 1886 — Page 3

CHAPTER IX.

Broener remained with mo several months before making another trip to Ban Francisco. He taught me "panning out" and the use of the rocker. I agonized for days before getting 'he knack of that instrument. It is to bo rocked with tin left honsl, while water is poured by the right on the dirt iu the tap sieve, and my right and left arms seemed continually trying to do each other's work, the right the shaking end tha left the pouring—at least, they'd make efforts to that effect—and often was I so irritated by the seeming contrariness, both of my arms and the machine, that I was tempted to kick it to pieces.

Broener would laugh, saying: "Take it reisier. Sit down and let your Blind rest. There's where the trouble lies. Your mind is trying to educate yo.ir body to' the unaccustomed movement, and it's bard work at flrit for both Ua~her and scholar. Don't get angry. Rc ollo .-t how many times you fell down when you were trying to walk

In a few days I mastered the i-ocker. Before leaving Browner thus advised me: "I will leave you twenty ounces of river dust Use it when you trade at Rankin's. I've 'salted' tho claim here beside. You don't know what that meam? Scattered Stanislaus river gold du3t broadcast in it, so it's bound to yield four or five dollar* a day with easy work That'll keep up the reputation of the claim. We must seem to be making something here. If I salted it with Tuolmune river dust or dust from the dry diggings, the trader would detect it. That would excite their curiosity, and that's what we want of ail things to ward off." "I want to make quick work as possible," he continued, "of the 'Bank' up tho mountain. I don't think it's a vein that'll hold out loug. It's not tho right formation. Tho ledge is the same on both si do —gra ni to—and that's not a good holding ledge for gold. A quartz vein to hold out should lie between two different kinds of rock—say, granite and slate. How this gold-bearing quartz gets joured in botwoen thrjm, as it is apt to lie, the Lord only knows. I think ours is a shortlived deposit—mighty rich so long as it lasts, but when it gives out it will peter all at once —like some people's goodness when the temptation becomes too strong."

It was about tho first of March when Broener made this trip to San FrancLjco. On leaving, ho wild to me: "YVatch tho 'Bank' very carefully, butdon't touch it. 1 want to do sill tho work on it myself. Go to it every day, and keep an eye on all stragglers, prospector.* and strangers, and the moro ragged and 'no account' a man looks, the more you want to look out for him."

I was left alone. But •irlonths had elapsed since I left Enstporf. I had now time and solitude to think things and myself over. 1 Koemed to have lived ton years in as many 'weeks. Eastport and my Eastport wit seemed of Mme reffnote ppriod. I was part an parcel of a now life, »mid now sur'rouudingtt and new men—not a mere lookeron- but a watcher vitally,interested in every nuMMiiont about*me, becauseit might deeply aiffSHHy orn fortunes.

Above anl boyoni all in my reflections etoo.1 out jhit man Broener. In one sense, I was his follower, absorbed by him, led by him, He wo,* eutiivj master of the situation. I looked up to him and admired his keenness of judgment, bin enae and ndaplabiii ./ to men aud circumstances, his outside appearance of recklessness, which seemed but a cloak for the caution underneath

Yet I did not feel wholly to like Broener. One reason was, he repelled anything like a warm expression of friendship. "Don't try to thank mo for what you say I've done for you," ho remarked one evening, when in certain sot and to some extent pre-vlously-coniosed phraseology, I attempted to do so. "You owe mo nothiug. You are as useful to mo as I am to you. We suit and fit hi to c»"h othor for tho time being. Somo power fashioned us to do so. Thank that, whatever it Is, not ma. When thins* shape themselves for us to part, wo ut—according to the same law—for our mutual advantage. We may jart friends. jwrhaps ouemie We can't tell whut wo sh vll grow iuto or what may grow into as that'll inak friendly, Indifferent or hostile to each other. That's mv doctrine. In plaiu, old-fashioned words, its ever)' man for himself in reality and the Old Scratch tak« tho hindmost. You don't liko it, I You believe in friendship to the hut and cJiuging to whatever you like until it's iu the last stage of decay ami killing you with ite poisou. You lxliove in Imaging on to a friend while ho, maybe, out of pure ignorance or selfishness, is, through his weaku««8, dragging you to nun along with him. 1 don't I hko strong people, so long as they are strong. I pitv them if they become weak, 1 cut from a eripplo when he leans on m® too heavily." "And how with w«menP I asked. "That's somewhat auother affair. I am as to women a tyrant in this way. I, or rather the nattm? incite of m«, exacts of a woman who fcfcUwt my admiration—or compels it, rnther—thai she shall contiuna to do sa If she d«*wet, I cut, the sam? as with men. To nsauuu 'tnie.' as it called, is for me to remain hypocrite aud pretend a sentiment which is not felt"

Broener seeoiwl to me an iceberg, glitteriu£ in the ttinlifht and reflecting that light from a thmisaM pinnacles, but cold to the to.ich full ot power, too, but unpleasant to *n«w approach jtfoaiing only so long one maintained the proper distance.

Yet socially, be was ever to me most fasehsaiin?. and when h» chos» could make one forgot hits as tho iceberg. An e*n ated man, bat not a pedant*, book lean •', but not bookish or book talkative alive to the pas*, bat as much if cot more full' to the prtweat, an I especially keen la seeing and wore in mai'ns others see tho '"points'8 in the vari»l array af human nature on Bull Ti »c.

It is tm© n.ueh of his conversation wa.% terlarded with the slang and common phraseok#y of the day. "Hike," be uU, "the luxury »t times at talking en doshabllle. ItV hard work to fed obliged continually to ©xpr«w ooee?lf in a dinner dm* of muxas, verbs and pre|w***tfons jarevloasly arranged for yew by old j**lant Why foukint there tie a oomprcr mai between book Kr ^di rH. errr Enii' -ht Twottkimafc 5» jr. Th-.vi good deal of slang, too, born at

'WhiC.ll CA:tm'4 :vn- .-rv PeopJ* must have their ev«y day xrxtr&x as thejr far.-. tiw -l«y •-.* *T.

In a Lim huau It -\.u uiBifttty mentioned that Blanche Sefton had left portandi .» li* tl beT' in 2«ew York. 8U mA it wa: cuui.'d, mow mysterious Uiao enr, and had quite arn4srnd herielf from Eaartporl people. F£gp

BLANCHE SEFTON

A Story of Early Days in California.

•J

BY PRENTICE MULFORD.

[CO!TniOIITKD BY THE AUTHOB. AIL RIOHTS RESERVED.]

Blanche herscflf I heard nothing. T)oe of her remarks on the evening we parted TO?

that

she would "writ® if sha had anything to write," and would liko me to do the same. She disliked, she said, to hive letters expected of her at regular intervals by any one. It was too much liko correspondence by machinery.

About a fortnight after Broener left, a stranger ccmc sauntering along the bank an 1 stopped at tha hole from which I was taking and washing graveL I was sooi what exeifcecf that day from having coma on a deposit of hard, heavy gravel lying on tiw ledge and in a doep crevice, it was yielding richly and without aid of any of Broerers "salting." When a man knows that every bucket he dumps into his "hi-ad seive" is to wash out fifteen or I wenty do'lars, work becomes more like play. Occasionally I would pick a bit of "shot" or coarse gold from th3 dirt, and dirt must 'OJ very rich to fhcr.v goM on the surface. Usually that metal is about the last thin to be sezu, so marked is ita tendency to .sink underneath the lighter graveL

Tho stranger watched ma forne minutes in silenee. lie was am of middb age, paaked in feature, and without further describing his appearand I will bay only that ho made ma feel disagreeable, 'ilia air felt meddlesome about him. I felt from the moment his look was fixed on me a danger—and no small one.

My apprehensions were increased on seeing that he carried a hammer—a mineralogist's hammer, shaped expres ly for breaking up small pieces of rock. I knew by this ho was one of the "new men" Broener had feared, who would so soon come here to huut quartz. "How's't pay in'

F' asked tho stranger, mi

"Middling," I replied, curtly. "Been here long/" -r "No," I said. "Any ground open here to new comersF "I don't know." "Ground claimed next to your "You must try for yourself. Taite up a claim, and if anybody holds it they'll be around quick enough."

The stranger camo close to the edge of tho hole, peered into it, aud then, without further ceremony, jumped therein as' I was on my way to the rocker. I heard the clatter ho made in so doing, and immediately came back without putting my bucket of dirt through tha rocker. He wac kneeling down, looking very clowly at the face of tho gravel, near the ledge, and had just pulled therofrom a bit of quartz about as large as one's (1st. Holding it up to the light he exclaimed: "Quartz gold, by thunder!" It was a "specimen," and I could see gold on its sides. "And you will please let the gold and everything else in this claim alone!" I said, jumping down and snatching the rock from his lmnds. "Oh, don't be alarmed, young man. I don't want your gold. I s'pose a mau can look at it, can't lief" faid ha "He can look where ho has a right to," was my reply. "But you have no more business on my ground here than in my house, and you ought to know it."

Ho clambered out of tho hole, taking all my jjcoce of mind with him as he wont. In his discovery of tlrat bit of white rock, flocked with tho yellow metal, I saw no end of future trouble. It was giving the hound the true scant, ami I felt that this man would never cea^o his efforts till ho had run the game to earth.

All this came to mo in a moment. The brightness of tho day had gone. Befora, I had been singing in a jolly fashion to my.wit' and living in bits of air castles, as fancy built thvm—among Avhich my speedy return to Eastport, as a comparative nabob, was not tho smallest or least glittering.

Bad came to worse. That very afternoon Mr. Jcdediah Pratt located a thirty-threw feet claim adjoining our3 and commenced the building of his cabin on it That his principal object was to hunt quartz in tho neighborhood I was certain. That he had, without knowing it, placed himself in the best position for spyiug our movements was also certain.

Next day came more causa for apprehen sion. Pratt was joined by a partner, a thickset, black-boarded, coarse-looking man. Hera were two near neighbors, and Iw enemies. War was fully declared betwec "rus, though no high words passsd. It wa. the silent, secret war of intent on one side to find, on tho other to conceal.

Of cours.% Pratt aud hU companion would remark my frequent absenco from my claim. They would lie hunting quart* up and down the mountain, and would be certain to intercept me in my dally trips to and from the "Bank" Then I remembered with dismay that the mountain side was strewn with bite of quart*, its milky whiteness bringing it out in strong contrast with the red soil, and that, in small

and large fragments, it was especially

thick near the claim. Now, these before unconsidered masses of rock seemed to me as so many finger posts pointing out to all our treasure, I ]asod the whole night in a fever, and suffered a dozen realities in imagination concerning my coming troubles with Pratt & Co.

I wrote immediately to Broener, informing him of the trouble. But in those days communication by mail with San Francisco was slow. A week at least would elapse before Broener could get my letter and return.

CHAPTER X: DKATHl

Within three days Pratt and his partner, Hillywtr, had completed their cabin. Pratt I saw starting out one iing with horn and hammer. I Vmw by tLuo tools he was after quarts. Hiii.v.mr remained behind to work tiie bank sear "them, probably to make ©xp. r.Ta. .r.-ts prospectors used to carry a bit of cow's horn, so cut as to form an clii^s-al s*i bowl. It was better for puivciu qftii'Li than the lv.\j -r p-M pan.

Pratt took a roa.v thr-,i,:h tb cbm ^ral near tit- of mountain «-«n the *rh whetts lay ear' *V I a of hours la a moveable gtx' -ot mind and :lr abrt.^k r.n to tJtu "V-iab* ktrvmag :•. r»tosCsiy dayaal .-"*! it b. im* 1 naifon 'I l' -a* ^jvasly tW» fltmtin? over the rkdk ««h! I composed the wonis in which ^fir?* addiVHS him. I framed fctea&S" and toward me. I pio tared our ndiml wi ktog up lo actual bosWif r.' U*SJ—I Stopped in a rioogh of tod-

TJhhi were dayv when all disputes, e»fwe regarding property, had, in w*"" r. «f teo, but one mode of settlemost. Ihnt by knife or pistol. This was the un* ritten law of the land and rtxv-—sr far than the written, which wa gm -Uy a mocked at and diragarded f«v mahty,

ImriWt a fighter. I dreaded the "lag* peepr*.* I despowd myaetf as a phyafcal cow-

ard. I longed for something in my composition which would make me face a pistol or go into a row with as much apparent zest to "take the chances" as I had known some men to da I admired such men for this quality (whether a real absence of fear or insensibility to results I know not) and deprecated, aye, loathed myself, because I did not have it. I saw in imagination everything tending to such termination between myself and Pratt. Whether he would fight or not I never asked. I put him up unconsciously as a man who was "on the shoot" a desperate character.

True, I had struck Pell, the second officer of the Ann Mary Ann, and quite surprised and even gratified I was to find I could-strike on occasions. But that was done on the "spur of the moment." Had I gone down to the ship expecting such an affair, revolving it, living it over in mind, I would not like to have had much wagered on me as to whether I fhould have gained the to me longed-for mood of physical combativeness.

I arrived at the "Bank." All was silent and undisturbed. I remained there several hours, hearing in every sound the new prospector's approaching footsteps. He did not come. I wished at times he would, and end the waiting and suspense. I wondorei wh?re he might be. Finally, my anxiety becoming unendurable, I resolved to try and find out Softly I let myself down the mountain sida through the chapparal toward the river.

full on a level with the first He washed it, and shook his head. I presumed he did not get the "color." He dug another horn about-knew not ii rpu- /.Vkrtn. nntri

two hundred feet nearer the first The chapparal was more open where he forked, and I could plainly see him from my place of concealment. Evidently this prospect did not satisfv him. The next taken within one hundred feet of the last, seemed to yield something. The afternoon was now far advanced. Pratt ceased work and took, his, way home. So did I. 3

It was some satisfaction for me to find ffiStL_ Pratt had not "lit" directly on the "Bank,"| Pondering over tho matter that night after l| had retired, I chwr.for a time some comfort* in tho hope that he Might drift in his work away from it This gave me gome mental rest until a fiend dropped into my head—a^, new and most alarming theory, based on hi«motions as seen that day. Pratt's little prospect holes, I noticed, were dug oyer an area broad at the base of' tho mountain, but narrowing more and moro as he went.up. What did that mean? In a flash I saw what, and jumped out of my blankets with the shock of the discovery. He was horning gold which haxl washed down from the "Bank." The 'Bank" did not cover much ground. Probably the colors washed from it by the elemental wear and tear of centuries would not be found at the base of tho mountain mu«h beyond a line four or five hundred feet in ength. Outside of this, at either end, the soil would be barren of gold. Inside of that number of feet it would yield the color, and this color-yielding ground would narrow as it went up the mountain until it reached the lead it had rolled from—the fountain head, the "Bank." Roll a bag of shot down ah inclined plane and you have the idea. The farther the shot .roll tho morS will tbfigfcj spread. So with gold rolled froA any quartz vein on a mountain side as the top of the vein rock has rotted away and left the metal "free." Pratt was on the true scent Day by day, narrowing as he went up, was he tracking tho game to its den! I had, then, to stay by the olaim and -watch the enemy's gradual approach.

Next morning I reloaded my sir-shooter, previously firing the old charges, which I feared might be damp. A few minutes after I heard Pratt banging away, obviously similarly occupied. I prepared my weapon for coming possibilities with a very faint heart I did so, only because it was the thing to do— the custom of the country. I lelt the whole moral influence of "tho time (or immoral, if you please,) forcing me thus to prepare for war, while I was sick of war and all that appertained to it

By ten o'clock I was on guard again, watching Pratt The enemy was gradually advancing and converging on our works. He was already one hundred feet higher up and so much nearer the "Bank." His prospect holes now Covered only an area of three hundred feet

By noon he had left off the drudging ascents and descents of the mountain to the river to wash his prospects. He was occupied entirely with the "float quartz," here thickly scattered about as it bad rolled from the vein, knocking the fragments to pieces. He had found gold. Uttering a joyous "Whoopeel" he put a chunk of the quartz in his bag, and then another and another. His feelings and mine at that time were certainly in strong contrast to each other.

He crawled up gradually toward the shelf on which lay the "Bank." It inclined somewhat toward the river and then jumped off abruptly, making a perpendicular face four or five feet in height Pratt could now see that the quarts had rolled from this shelf, and that the vein must be somewhere at or near its top. "It's up there I heard him matter, "and mighty rich, too!"

I heard him scrambling up the wall of rock, assisting himself by roots and bushes growing in tho crevices. I heard him pant All beside was still—the stillness of the California summer noon day—nothing of life in sight save a black buzzard wheeling above, his •hadow floating along the ground.

Pratt had gained the top of the shelf. He made his way directly toward the face of the precipice. He burst through the chapparal, and I was disclosed to him, seated on a rock, about ten feet from the vein. "Holloa was his involuntary exclamation "you here?" "Yes, rm here," I replied. "Well, wellf He was evidently at aloes what next to my or da "It's a hot day, isn't itf "Pretty hct,*' I remarked. I thought it wu» or would be sooa in ever? sense, oral the shadow of a laugh came over me as I thought of "talking weather" at such a juactcuf.

Mr. Pratt bed himself also down upon a rock, drew a rusty red bandana, mopped with it his face and partly bald head, and said "Whow Then he poked the ground before him with the end of his hammer, and poked Mother Earth before me with a, stick

It was dear to me that Mr. Pratt infieeded t? stay here and wait for my going. It was ck*r to ioe that I should remain—thcttgh I did not so to da The situatioB waa somewhat akin to that in which two gentlemen csllin3 on the same lady sometiuMs find themselves—and of aO work sitting yoor ma* out ranks among the hardest Both of as recognised silence as the factor most efficacious for the removal of his adversary— only while Mr. Pratt hoped that the dullness of his company migh^ranoreji*, I had

TERRE HAUTE SATURDAY EVENING- MATL.

no hope that my taciturnity would remove Mr. R*att from tha vicinity of the golden mistress ho knew was near.

So we sat one full hour, and tha longest hour of my life. Pratt made the first move. He commenced examining the rock near toe solid mountain formation. Nearer he advanced toward the place where Broener had screened tho worked portion of the vein with a layer of cut brush. He was in the act of removing this when I called out: "Doiit touch that brush, please!'' "Why not?" said Pratt, looking back. "Never mind why not Don touch it," I said, advancing toward him. feeling as if on my way to the scaffold "Well, young man, do you own this moantain?" he said. "I own that brush, that's all," was my reply.

The brush was ranged against the white streak of rock for not more than ten or twelve feet Pratt passed it His eye fell on one end of the vein—untouched there by the pick He commenced chipping it with his hammer. "You must let that rock alone,". I said, going toward him.

I HAH gone down about three hundred feet and heard near by the sound of a pick. Creeping through the brush I saw it wa»| Pratt He dug to the ledge, here but & inches from the surface, filled his horn withy the rod dirt and trudged dowfc to the river to wash it I crept 6oftly after him. Washing,. the dirt, with what results I could not tell, from his manner, he struck up the motmtnia again and dug another horn full, about one hundred feet to the north of .the first The result of this washing seemed, judging from, his manner, more satisfactory. He then^ traveled a thousand feet further upstream,|E "Where's ascended the mountain again, dug a hornM Tools left on a claim were regarded as

Pratt was now up and doing. The war had commenced. "Oh, come!" he exclaimed, "don't you fool around mo any mora You must be off your head. This mountain's as much mine as yours." "That's my claim," I said. "Let it alone."

Momentary wonder showed itself in Pratt's Jpjres that any one else should know of gold un 11^3 fprm.

Ytfov^cLaim," said he, "up here! What •prtrt o" diggings do you call these anyway?" CSpu know as well as I. But that's my claitn by right of diacov erj "Where's your notice??"

The writteai notice on the groun 1 was then IndispChsable to hold a claim. We had none. Broener had put none up, knowing it would attract attention. '"Where's your tools?" he continued.

tmoet important proofs of possession. Broener had hidden away those he used—where I

No notices, no tools and no work done, and you call tiifa a claim said Pratt, derisively.

Clearly as to the mining rights of the pe-. riocl Pratt had the best of ma I felt the moral weaknes3 of the situation. Pratt seemed also to know his own strength and my weakness in this respect. Meantime he ^had taken out his six-shooter and cocked it "He stood facing me, and had the "drop" on me. I was powerless. "Now, jbung man," said he, "I give you while I count ten to get off this ground, and if y^ don't I'll put a ball through you. D'ye heal'? Get! Vamos!

One—two—three—'' Ashe spoke he made a itep backward. It was all a, jumble of rocks & if :v: v"-j'-

Ashe spoke, he made a step backward, and fallen bowlders about Ho missed hi3 footing, stumbled over behind a huge bowlder, his right arm, with finger on tho trigger, involuntarily jerked upward, and the pistol was discharged.

I stood in the same spot how many minutes I know not,expecting, half hoping, to see Pratt reappear. All was silent. Full of dread I approached the spot where he had fallen. I stood on the rock anil looked over it. There lay Pratt, the pistol dropped from his hand, and the blood oozing from a wound in the right temple.

N TO BE OONTINVKD NEXT WKEK.

:.r Steer Ins by »'i Alarm Clock. fef?. A yachting party in tho sloop William Henry met with a "a.ight mishap down the river a fow days ago. Tho leading spirits of tho day's cruise were Bob Williamson and Mike Sommers. Thomas B. Bourne catered for the party and had placed on board a keg of beer, five dozen deviled crabs, as many sandwiches and other refreshments. As nono of the crowd was an expert sailor, it was decided to borrow or hire a compass and chart to steer by. Failing to procure the compass, Ned O'Mahoney kindly loaned them a tinframed alarm clock, which ho said would do just as well. Everything went along nicely until they started back. Soon after heading for Baltimore the clock somehow didn't point out tho right way and the yacht struck an Anno Aruniol cat boat and bad her mast knocked out The keg of beer rolled overboard and the party were left in a sad plight After drifting about for an hour they hailed a tug and were towed up. They have concluded that an alarm clock is not cxactly the thing to steer a«boat by, and on the next cruise they will have a sailing master. Baltimore Herald.

A Sufficient Can«o for Anxiety. "Manxuia, you read the other day that a tiger died of eating sawdust 1" "Yes, dear. Ho swallowed it with his food. 3awdust was thrown into his cage to keep it clean." "Mamma is there any likelihood of my doll dying? She's and eaten herself chuck full of sawdust ''—Philadelphia CalL

The VarnUh of the Butt*reap. The petals of Che buttercup have, as well known, a peculiar varnish -like Imter. Tha can*e ot this ba* been investigated by Dr. Mobius, who attribute* it to a highly refractive yel ow oil existing in the epidermal o-lts, increased by the fact that the layer of calls of tea mesopbyl is densely filled with minute March grains. —Scientific American. •Wh*t a Witty Woman Sajrw.

A witty woman of Paris says that it is mora difficult for a woman to make excuse# for her beauty among other women, when she ii ready beautiful, than for a plain woman to find favor among the men.

A. poplar tree in Wilkes county, Georgia, measures twenty-seven fast in dreumfer-

Stop that coughing If you do not, it may kill you. A bottle of Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup only costs you '.S cents, and Its timely use may save your life.

I had always been much annoyed by neuralgia and headache. At length I determined to try Salvation Oil. I am glad to recommend it, as it made a perfect cure fn mv cue. MARKS NEW, 62 Aisquith SU, Baltimore, Md.

^DIETETIC DELIRIUM.

Yon may talk about your groves Where yon wander with your loves You may talk about your moonlit waves that fall and flow Something fairer far than these I can show you if you please: 'Tis the charming little cupboard where the jam pots grow— Where tho jam pots grow, Where the jam pots grow, WLere the jelly jolly, jelly jolly jam pots grow! 7 On tlie land or on the sea# Is the charming little cu$ Aiards where the jam pots grow.

There the golden peaches shine, In their syrup clear and fine: And the raspberries are blu3hing with a dusky glow Anl the cherry and the pi urn Seem to beckon me to come To the charming little cupboard whare the jam pot? grow. There the sprightly pickles stand, With the catsup close at hand, And the marmalades and jellios in a goodly row

Sf,,

And the quince's ruddy Cret^i Would an anchorite inspire To seek the little cupboard where the jam pots grow.

Never tell me of your bowers Taat are full of bugs and fowers! Never tell me of your meadowj where the breezes blow! But sing me, if yon will, Of the house beneath the hill, And the darling little cupboard w|iere the jam pots grow—

4

Where the jam pots grow, -v Wnere the jam pots grow, Where the jelly jolly, jelly jolly jam pois growl

vf

'Tis the dearest spot to me On the land or on the sea, Is the charming little cupboard where "the jam pots grow. &>#?$-g

A STARTLING COINCIDENCE.

It was a fine ai tnmonn in .June the city of Dresden \s full of summer tourists. With many of Un*se tlie Gros^i Garden, with its cliarinin.i? opon-air concerts, was a favorite resort and it was pirtieularly tho cas today, since the programme was announced as KO'.iu'thiu unusually fiiu». At one of the sum I woo.tbn tables under the trees two young men were sitting listening to the music.

One of the, men, evidently English from his line ruddy skin, trim mutton-chop whiskers, and a certain air about the lit of his wellmade morning costume, was enjoying serenely ai\ excellent cigar while the other, a p:tl-lid-f&'Cd Genu in, sat moodily tracing indefinite hieroglyphics upon tho ground at his feet. Two glasses of foaming beer partially emptied stood beside them, ateo an earthen plate covered with crackers and crisp, salty pretzels.

The latter glanced suddenly up from this occupation, aud, for tho second time within a very lew moments,, encountered a singularly searching look from his companion. His own eyes wavered for an instant with a slight effort lie strove to steady them, and a faint pink color suffused his cheeks. .j-'tJ'

The two men gazed steadfastly atone another through the soft- clouds of smoke which rose slowly between them, and then the German asked a little querulously, in good English— "Why do you stare at me so to-day, VaughanV lie averted his eyes immediately alter speak in?, as if afraid of the answer. "Sdt'i you have noticed anything unusual/ Hubert,'' the. Englishman answered courteously. "1 have not intended to bo rude. 1 know of no special reason why 1 should 'stare' at you as you call it, save that you seem changed greatly these days, and that" —he paused abruptly and puffed fiercely away at his cigar.

The German prodded the ^rotuid nervously with his stick, and waited with evident eagerness'for the conclusion of the sentence. "The fact is. Hubert, old fellow*- I have had a most curious dream about you after each one of our last three meetings, and this afternoon I have been unable to get rid of the idea that I shall be pursued with the same again to-night"

The German's face became more pallid than before. "What, was your dream, Vaughan?"' It was evident that the indifference with which this was said cost him an effort. "Oh, }t's not worth mentioning. 'Twas a deuced unpleasant dream, I know that! 1 have tried to account for It on the score of certain midnight suppers I have been indulging in of late, but the reappearance of the same identical dream tin s: three times lias certainly struck me as singular, arid can be explained by no such hypothesis. You know I am something of a mind-reader, Hubert"— the German started violently—"and I hive been wondering "Wondering what?" the other interrogated, with a piercing look. "Wondering," Vaughan went on, gazing thoughtfully at his companion, "whether you have been writing any sensational articles for any one of the police chronicles lately, and if so, whether my mind has not involuntarily dropped into your own channel of thought. Have you, now? Come, is it a fair question?" "Oh certainly," the other replied, laughing nervously, and without looking up, "but no, I cannot say that I have done any writing of any kind whatsoever recently. But suppose you tell your dream. Truly, you have greatly aroused my curiosity."

No little urging was required before the young Englishman could be Induced to relate his thrice-repeated vision of the night but his friend was argent, and finally yielding to his solicitations, Yaughan began his story. "Thus far, Hubert, my boy, there has been a strange uniformity in almost every particular. I see j*ou first ascending the Baste! in company with a party of tourists. You are at toe bridJe-reln of a young girl, and appear very solutions for her safety.

The German sat motionless. Perhaps he heard only the orchestra which was playing a dm.niy movement of Schubert's. Vaughan continued after a short pause. "You reach the castle of Kcenigstein, walk about its lofty wails, and gaze at the wonders below. Yon are token to the marvelous well, and look into flic little minor which reflects light in such manner as to show to your eye where the water, poured by the little old soldier, splashes far down at the bottom. You two. the girl and yourself, ate always toeether.*' "Yea, yes," mararared the Germa», "always tos^thcr,"

The iki rnsptloH was unheeded. "I never seem to sec you leave the casUe and descend to the valley again, but presently rou are in a boat drifting down the river. She is there again, bqt noKrtlier. The sun shines down on the water, 4he sky is full of soft violet clouds tipped with silver. You are rowing slowly now and again (die is dipping her hrng slender fingers into the water, and bringing up bunches of tender grasses and water-weeds soon you lay down your oars, and move nearer the girl."

The band ceased playing, and a kellner,

8

napkin In hand, came bustling up to replenish their S la&«!S. "Zwei lager?*' he asks.

Zwei lager." is the grave reply, and the German turned and drained his at a draught "There is nothing odd in your dream thus far, Vaughan," he said. "I have done all this, but have many others." "You seem fond of the river, Hubert. You are on it a second and a third time. At each interview your talk grows more earnest. At last I see yon on the promenade, you two. She is pale and wan you seem to reproach her for something "No. not reproach!" murmured the German, with his eyes on the bandmaster. "Your talk grows agit it.nl,the crowd begin to notice you, and so you leave it and wlier next I see you, it is in one of the shady, sequestered walks of the Zoological Gardens."

The German started perceptibly. "Hem you are urgent You take the girl's hand, finally grasp her arm, arrest her steps, and seem to cause her pain by the tightness of your clasp." "Finger-marks on her arm," muttered the German, gazing affrightodly into the aiiy'lmt I did not.mean it oh, I did not mean it!" He wiped his brow and listened again. "I next see you in a railway carriage"—the German-sprang to his feet, but immediately sat down again as Vaughan passed on to— "and then in a boat on the Khine. At Nenweid you leave the boat" "Gott in llimmel!" said the German, hoarsely, but his friend proceeded without remark. "At Nenweid there is trouble. One of you is in distress, and there seems to be a thirdit Is evidently a man. but I never see him. At the strange old Moravian graveyard you all meet, and the result of the meeting seems to be great agitation. Just here I do not. seo e'early. it is always dark the girl's faco is covered, and yours, when I catch occasional glimpses of it, is white and drawn with passion. Again you are on the boat, you and she, but you do not speak together. She sits weeping while you are smoking, always smoking."

The German had grown more agitated at every moment great drops of perspiration stood upon his brow, and his hands clutched nervously at the edge of the table. Vauglmn was watching him quietly, and presently went on. "In the railway carriage your face is set and determined you draw the girl's head down upon your shoulder there is no ono there but you two, yet she seems to shrink from your touch—yet you Insist." "For God's sake stop?" cried the German, starting up in agony. "Sit down, Hubert," said Vaughan, imperatively, laying his hand heavily upon the other's arm. "Remember, 1 am relating a dr am, and you!—you are attracting attention

The young German dropped into Ills seat, and covered his face with his hands. The veins stood out upon his forehead, his throat was purple. The Engllsnman went on in low. restrained voice. 'You seem to watch the filfi closely at last she sleeps. You draw fortp slowly and stealthily along hat-pin, sii(^,{yLXVti^n use, and almost immediately the ^fll makes a sudden convulsive movement'* .. ,0

The German groaned aloud. J' "You put back the long pin as quietly as you drew it forth, and the girl sleeps on more profoundly than before. The long stops at stations, the bustle of alighting passengers, the rushing about of hurrying officials, ami tho crashing of the baggage, fall to awaken her at Dresden, j/,ti leave the train ahmc!"

The German has uncovered Ills face, and with terrible eyes is looking full at his companion as If under some fearful spell. "My dear boy, that girl's face no haunted me—although only a dream-face—that I concluded to visit the Morgue and view the body of that girl found so mysteriously murdered in the midnight mail a week ago!" 'And you saw—wiiat?: whispered tlip perman, breathlessly.

v/

"Hubert, the face wiis^Ihc satnel" The German glanced wildly over his shoulder at his elbow stood an of justice with handcuffs In his hand jPwlld piercing shriek rang out, above tho strains of the orchestra, and Hubert, lay upon the ground in fearful convulsions.

The young Englishman turned to the officer, pale and disturbed: "Do you think there could be any mistake?" ho asked, removing his hat and passing a handkerchief over his brow. 'None whatever, sir," the man replied, motioning to two men in the background to come forward and secure the prisoner. "Your aid has been Invaluable and, by the way, the hat-pin found in tho carriage has been examined—the point was charged with a deadly poison—it corresponds to the tiny spot in the left arm of the body. But lor you it would never have been noticed. Good afternoon,"sir we will meet again."

The disturbance was over, the crowd dispersed. and the music went on without interruption.

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BEWARK OF IMITATIONS.