The Syracuse Journal, Volume 3, Number 28, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 10 November 1910 — Page 7

1/3 STORY p" I The Courage of Captain Plum il—j ■— i JAMES 1 OLIVER CURWOOD i■ ‘ ; LJ ====== I— Illustration* by Magnus G. Kettner I (Copyright by Bobbs-Merrill Co.) • SYNOPSIS. Captain Nathaniel Plum of the sloop Typhoon, lands secretly on Beaver island, V ise Michigan, stronghold of the More. f Obadiah Price, an eccentric >ld I //.. Mnd councilor of the Mormons, R'h, .st>*)een spying on him, suddenly confronts him and tells him he is expected. Plum insists he has got the wrong man. CHAPTER I—Continued. “Be seated, Captain Plum; right aver there —opposite me. So!” He continued for a moment to smooth out the creases in the letter and then proceeded to read it with as much assurance as though its owner were a thousand miles away instead of within arm’s reach of him. Captain Plum was dumbfounded. He felt the hot blood rushing to his face and his first impulse was to recover the crumpled paper and demand something more than an explanation. In the next instant it occurred to him that this action would probably spoil whatever possibilities his night’s adventure might have for him. So he held his peace. The old man was so Intent in his perusal of the letter that the end of his hooked nose almost scraped the table. He went over the dim, partly obliterated words line by line, chuckling now and then, and apparently utterly oblivious of the other’s presence. When he had come to the end he looked up, his eyes glittering with unbounded satisfaction, carefully folded the letter, and handed it to Captain Plum. “That’s the best introduction in the world, Captain Plum —the very best! Ho, ho!—it couldn’t be better. I’m glad I found it.” He chuckled gleefully, and rested his ogreish head in the palms of his skeleton-like hands, his j elbows on the table. “So you’re going back home —soon?” “I haven’t made up my mind yet, dad,” responded Captain Plum, pulling out his pipe and tobacco. “You’ve read the letter pretty carefully, I guess. What would you do?” “Vermont?” questioned the old man shortly. “That’s it.” “Well, I’d go, and very soon, Captain Plum, very soon, indeed. Yes, I’d hurry!” The old man jumped up with the quickness of a cat. So sudden was his movement that it startled Captain Plum, and he dropped his tobacco pouch. By the time he had recovered this article his strange companion was back in his seat again holding a leather bag in his hand. Quickly he untied the knot at its top and poured a torrent of glittering gold pieces out upon the table. "Business-business and gold,” 1. gurgled happily, rubbing his thin hands and twisting his fingers until they cracked. “A pretty sight, eh, Captain Plum? Now, to our account! A hundred carbines, eh? And a thousand of powder and a ton of balls. Or is it in lead? It doesn’t make any difference —not a bit. It’s three thousand, that’s the account, eh?” He fell to counting rapidly. For a full minute Captain Plum remained in stupefied bewilderment, silenced by the sudden and unexpected turn his adventure had taken. Fascinated, he watched the skeleton fingers as they clinked the gold pieces. What was the mysterious plot Into which he had allowed himself to be drawn? Why were a hundred guns and a ton and a half of powder and balls wanted by the Mormons of Beaver island? Instinctively he reached out and closed his hand over the counting fingers of the old man. Their eyes met. And there was a shrewd, half-understand-ing gleam in the black orbs that fixed Captain Plum in an unflinching challenge. For a little space there was silence. It was Captain Plum who broke it. “Dad,. I’m going to tell you for the third and last time that you’ve made a mistake. I’ve got eight of the best rifles in America aboard my sloop out there. But there’s a man for every gun. And I’ve got something hidden away underdeck that would blow up St; James in half an hour. And there is powder and ball for the whole outfit. But that’s all. I’ll sell you what I’ve got—for a good price. Beyond that you’ve got the wrong man!” He settled back and blew a volume of smoke from his pipe. For another half minute the old man continued to look at him, his eyes twinkling, and then he fell to counting again. j Captain Plum was not given over to the habit of cursing. But now he jumped to his feet with an oath that jarred the table. The old man chuckled. The gold pieces clinked between his fingers. Coolly he shoved two

glittering piles alongside the candle stick, tumbled the rest back into the leather bag, deliberately tied the end, and smiled up into the face of the exasperated captain. “To be sure you’re not the man,” he said, nodding his head until his elflocks danced around his face. “Os course you’re not the man. I know it —ho, ho! you can wager that I know it! A little ruse of mine, Captain Plum. Pardonable —excusable, eh? I wanted to know if you were a liar*. I wanted to see if you were honest.” With a gasp of astonishment Captain Plum sank back into his chair. His jaw dropped and his pipe was held fireless in his hand. “The devil you say!” “Oh, certainly, certainly, if you wish it,” chuckled- the little man, in high humor., “I would have visited your sloop today, Captain Plum, if you hadn’t come ashore so opportunely this morning. Ho, ho, ho! a good joke, eh? A mighty good joke!” Captain Plum regained his composure by relighting his pipe. He heard the chink of gold pieces and when he looked again the two piles of money were close to the edge of his side of the table. ” “That’s for you, Captain Plum. There’s a just ?1,000 in those two piles.” There was tense earnestness now in the old man’s face and voice. “I’ve imposed on you,” he continued, speaking as one who had suddenly thrown off a disguise. “If it had been any other man it would have been the same. I want help. I want an honest man. I want a man whom I can trust. I will give you a thousand dollars if you will take a package back to your vessel with you and will promise to deliver it as quickly as you can.” . “I’ll do it!” cried Captain Plum. He jumped to his feet and held out his hand. But the old man slipped from his chair and darted swiftly out into the blackness of the )adjoining room. As he came back Captain Plum could hear his insane chuckling. “Business — business — business —” he gurgled. “Eh, Captain Plum? Did you ever take an oath?” He tossed a book on the table. It was the Bible. Captain Plum understood. He reached for the book and held it under his left hand. His right he lifted above his head, while a smile played about his lips. “I suppose you want to place me under oath to deliver that package,” he Said. The old man nodded. His eyes gleamed with a feverish glare. A sudden hectic flush had gathered in his death-like cheeks. He trembled. His voice rose barely above a whisper. “Repeat,” he commanded. “I, Captain Nathaniel Plum, do solemnly swear before God —” A thrilling inspiration shot into Captain Plum’s brain. “Hold!” lie cried. He lowered his hand. With something that was almost a snarl the old man sprang back, | his hands clenched. “I will take this oath upon one other consideration,” continued Captain Plum. “I came to Beaver Island to see something of the life and something of the people of St.pJames. If you, in turn, will swear to show me as much as you can tonight I will take the oath.” The old (pan was beside the table again in an instant; “I will show it to you—all—all—” he exclaimed excitedly. ‘I will show h Jig 6 Hl “That’s for You, Captain Plum.’* it to you—yes, and swear to it upon the body of Christ!” Captain Plum lifted his hand again and word by word repeated the oath. When it was done the other took his place. “Your name?” asked Captain Plum. A change scarcely perceptible swept over the old man’s face. “Obadiah Price.” “But you are a Mormon. You have the Bible there?” Again the old man disappeared into the adjoining room. When he returned he placed two books side by side and stood them on edge so that he might clasp both between his bony : "gers. One was the Bible, the other ■e Book of the Mormons. In bracked, excited voice he repeated the strenuous oath improvised by Captain Plum. “Now,” said Captain Plum, distributing the gold pieces among his pockets, “I’ll take that package.” This time the oid man was gone for several minutes. When he returned fie placed a small package tightly bound and sealed into his companion’s hand. “More precious than your life, more priceless than gold,” he whispered tensely, “yet worthless to all but the one to whom it is to be delivered.” There were no marks .on the packgo. “And who Is that?” asked Captain 1 Plum. The old man came so close that his ; breath fell hot upon the young man’s

cheek. -He lifted a hand as though to ward sound from the very walls that closed them in. “Franklin Pierce, president of the United States of America!” I | CHAPTER IL The Seven Wives. Hardly had the words fallen from the lips of Obadiah Price than the old man straightened himself and stood as rigid as a gargoyle, his gaze penetrating into the darkness of the room beyond Captain Plum, his head inclined slightly, every nerve in him strained to a tension of expectancy. His corfipanion involuntarily gripped the butt of his pistol and faced the narrow ;entrance through which they had come. In the moment of absolute silence that followed there came to him, faintly, a sound, unintelligible at first, but growing in volume until he knew tljiat it was the last echo of a tolling bell. There was no movement, no sourid- of breath or whisper from the old j man at his back. But when it came again, floating to him as if from a vast distance, he turned quickly to find Obadiah Price with his face lifted, his thin arms flung wide above his head and his lips moving as if in praytfr. i His eyes burned with a dull glow as though he had been suddenly thrown (into a trance. He seemed not to breathe, no vibration of life stirred him except in the movement of his lips. With the third toll of the distant j bell he spoke, and to Captain Plum it was as if the passion and fire in his voice came from another being. “Our-Christ, Master of hosts, we call upon thy chosen people the three blessings of the universe—peace, prosperity and plenty, and upon Strang, priest, king and prophet, the bounty of thy power!” Three times more the distant bell tolled forth its mysterious message and when the last echoes had died away the old man’s arms dropped beside him and he turned again to Captain Plum. “Franklin Pierce, president of the United States of America,” he repeated, as though there had been no interruption since his companion’s question. “The package is to be delivered ;to him. Now you must excuse me. An important matter calls me out for a short time. But I will be back soon —oh, yes, very soon. And you will wait for me. You will wait for me here, and then I will take you to St. James.” He was gone In a quick hopping way, like a cricket, and the last that Captain Plum saw of him was his ghostly face turned back for an instant in the darkness of the next room, find after that the soft patter of his feet and the strange chuckle in his threat traveled to the outer door and died away as he passed out into the night. Nathaniel Plum was not a man to be easily startled, but there was something so unusual about the proceedings in which he was as yet playing a blind part that he forgot to smoke, which was saying much. Who was the old man? Was he mad? His eyes scanned the little room and an exclamation of astonishment fell from his lips when he saw the leather bag, partly filled with gold, lying where his mysterious acquaintance had dropped it. Surely this was madness or else another ruse to test his honesty. The discovery thrilled him. It was Wonderfully quiet out in that next room and very dark. Were hidden eyes guarding that bag? Well, if so, he would give their owner to understand that he was not a thief. He rose from his chair and moved toward) the bag, lifted it in his hand, and tossed it back again so that the gold in it chinked loudly. Then he went io the narrow aperture and blocked it with his body and listened until fie knew that if there had been human life in the room he would have eard [lt. The outer door was opened and through it there came to him the soft breath of the night air and the sweetness of balsam and wild flowers. It 1 struck him that it would be pleasanter 1 waiting outside than in, and it would < undoubtedly make no difference to Obadiah Price. In front of the cabin | he found the stump of a log and seat- ' ing himself on it where the clear j light of the stars fell full upon him he once more began his interrupted smoke. It seemed to him that he : had waited a long time when he heard ' the sound of footsteps. They came rapidly as if the person was half running. Hardly had he located the di- ! rectlon of the sound when a figure appeared in the opening and hurried toward the door of the cabin. A dozen yards from him it paused for a moment and turned partly about, as if inspecting the path over which it had come. With a greeting whistle Captain Plum jumped to his feet. He heard a little throat note, which was not the chuckling of Obadiah Price, I and the figure ran almost into his arms. A sudden knowledge of having made a mistake drew Captain Pluni a j pace backward. For scarcely more than five seconds he found himself raring into the white terrified e jf a girl Eyes wide and glowing with sudddn fright met his own. Instinctively he lifted his hand to his hat, but before he could speak the girl sprang back with a low cry and ran swiftly down the path that led into the gloom of the woods. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Good Advice. “And now, son,” said the old rabbit, “here’s a bit of advice. Always keep on the good side of a dog.” “But, pop,” queried the youngster, who was about to go forth into the big world, “which is the good side of a dog?” “The outside, son,” answered the o. r., as he bit off another hunk of cabbage.

HANDUNG INDUSTRIAL STRIKES IN BERLIN QQL *.>. » - - ' . " ' .LUU * fl WWw s ''itiwHk ■ will ■’ r ■ 1 . “““!Al' 1 n JvW kJ ” . ‘A ■ ■ / - __ 1 THE- fC. WHILE the French authorities are given credit for firmness and good judgment in handling the railway workers’ strike, despite the numerous instances of violence, the police of Berlin, it is generally acknowledged, take care of these affairs more effectually. During the recent strike of coal drivers which threatened to cause a fuel famine in the German capital the mounted police succeeded very well in curbing the riotous activities of the mobs and gave efficient protection to the strike-breakers who took the places of the strikers.

ODD HATS IN JAPAN

Home of Most Picturesque Headgear Ever Worn. Remarkable Collection of Oriental Covering Brought to This Country by New Yorker —Some Old Specimens. New York. —In a recent trip around the world Colonel Edward M. Knox of this city collected some rare specimens worn by the people of many nations at different periods in their civilization and is now exhibiting to his triends what he jocularly calls the trophies of his long journey. Although Colonel Knox discovered many fertile fields in which to gather material for his collection, he found ais most prolific territory was Japan, whose people probably have worn at one time or another perhaps the most picturesque headgear ever worn outside of the American tribes of Inflians. There is not only picturesqueness but classification in the headwear of the Japanese, according to Colonel Knox, so that the specimens of hats be gathered in the land of the chrys- I mthemum are not only representative of certain periods in the long 1 j• _ .

SAND CURE FOR DYSPEPSIA Wealthy Boston Man Says Spoonful of Sterilized Product Three Times a Day ‘is Sy re Remedy. \ Boston, Mass.V-“Common sand, sterilized properly, is a better remedy for flyspepsia and indigestion troubles than any medicine. It is the means of digestion of mapy animals, so why not a man also?” says William A Graustein, a wealthy milk dealer of Boston. “Many years ago I used to sit at my desk, incapable oif work, dopy and Sull. A physician Suggested that I ! swallow a spoonful \of sand thj-ee 1 times a day until my \attacks passed ! sway. I tried the experiment, and it worked. Within two I was cured. Today, within ten minutes ! ifter eating a spoonful, T am capable jof any work, and I think I work harder than any man in the United States. j “I have passed on the suggestion to any number of friends and the remedy has been infallible. If you suffer from Inability to digest food, sterilize 1 handful of building sand, take a teaspoonful three times daily; and within two weeks you will be a new man.” . . - — — f I ' X-Rays Find Old Bullet Fredericks, Del. —Carrying a bullet In his head for thirteen years, Captain D. L. Seacord of this town has lust had it located and will have it removed. Thirteen years ago, while pinning, Captain Seacord was accidentally shot by a. friend. The sur- ! geons probed for the bit of lead, but, not finding it, supposed it had slipped nut. Since then the captain has suffered with recurring pains in the head, and never suspected the cause until lie went to a Baltimore hospital, where K-rays were used and the bullet located.

Humorous Telephone Mix-Up. A New York merchant, wishing to jspeak to his home, called oh the telephone: “Give me X —3sl, piease.” Presently he heard: “There’s your party.” “Is that you, Minnie?” “Yes.” “Doesn’t sound like your voice. Whose house is this?” “This is Mr. Shepard’s.” “That’s the house I want Is this X—3sl?” “No, this is X—531.” “And is your name Minnie?” “Sure!” .“Well, ring off. My name is Shepard —there’s a Minnie at my house, too, >ut my number is X —351,” and the

¥ lifetime of the country, but of the various ranks of all times as well. Some of the hats obtained are marvels in design and construction, and some of them are extremely rare specimens. In some cases Colonel Knox had to buy his specimens out • of museum collections and they cost a great deal when obtained in that way. He had set out to make as complete a collection as was obtainable, how’ever, and where a hat was needed to fill in a gap in time or to represent progression in the art of making hats, he did not stop to consider the price. Another difficulty he had to overcome was the territory covered in obtaining the hats, for certain sections of the country had their distinctive styles, and he found it necessary occasionally to send a special agent to some point to get the coveted specimen. Most of the hats in the collection have a finish of lacquer, some in solid and some in variegated colors, and many of them bear the crests of royalty, the crest being a feature of the headwear of men of high social and political rank and of men who won recognition from the government I in time of war for bravery or at-other times for high diplomatic service. 1 One specimen, bearing a design of

UNHEARD OF RACE.

Horned Men Once Lived on Pacific Coast. ' Topango Canon Yields Remains Showing Existence of Ancient Weird Tribe—Scientists Interested in Find. San Francisco.—The horned men of . Topango have been discovered —that is, they were almost horned and of a physiognomy so strange that the scientists who unearthed them are almost persuaded that the existence in the long ago of a hitherto undreamedof race of aborigines has been demonstrated. Prof. J. R. Pendleton of the geology department of Stanford university is the explorer who has found this new field of anthropological conjecture. With a party of Stanford students he has just returned from a two months’ stay in the mountains whose slopes rise from the ocean shore near Santa Monica, in Southern California. In Topango canon, which is in the heart.of a district long known to have been the home of Indian tribes now extinct, the excavators found one mound containing the bones of 34 aborigines. Although the bones were disintegrated and broken by the centuries of erosion and geologic change that have taken place since the Indians inhabited the spot, the scientists were able to piece together something of the story of their past. From flint arrowheads found imbedded in the skulls and from the crushed skull bones that bore every evidence of having been beaten in by war clubs, Professor Pendleton says it is plain that the ancients died in battle.

man reported to the telephone company that two men with the same name, wives of the same name, on the same “central,” by a strange colnct dence had the same number, trane posed. What a chance for a humor ous situation! Had the Old Man There. Father —“Politeness costs nothing sir.” Son—"l don’t know, dad. Try put ting Tour obedient servant* on tX bottom of a telegram.*

waves in the lacquer, dates back tc 1714. It was worn by the Daiti Usakl, lord of the provinces in that year Another, made in 1721, bears the cres| of the Lord of Daimayo, the crest be; ing worked out in Infinite detail and with much elaboration of color. Another specimen is representative of the Lord of Kumamoto, who raised an army against the Shogun in 1869. Lord Okrudaira is represented in the ' collection by a lacquered hat which bears a crest dating back many hundred years. Perhaps the specimen cherished most by Colonel Knox, both for its association and workmanship, is that of Lord Hikone. He is considered to have made one of the greatest moves in the advancement of the nation in its history, single acts considered, for it was he who first opened up the country to the peoples of Europe and thus led the way in the first step to intercommunication and interchange of trade. This hat bears the design of a dragon in black lacquer, with waves of gold lacquer over the black. It was conferred on Lord Hikone when he signed the peace treaty with the United States in 1860, before which .he was hailed by all of the Japanese nation as its foremost worker for civilization. Colonel Knox will keep the collection intact for a time, after which it is possible that he will give it to one of the Nevr York city museums. ’

¥ But of more scientific interest is the amazing countenance conjured by the skulls as found by the scientist. The brow is almost totally lacking, rising from the line of the eyebrows but three-quarters of an inch, and the top of the head being almost flat. Strang er still, the nose, instead of descending in a graceful Roman or Grecian line at an angle to the forehead, projects horizontally, hornlike, and with no resemblance to the human nose. A spirit level laid from the top of the head to the tip of the nose would show but a slight Inclination. These queer tribesmen had bulging heads in the rear and unusually heavy jaw bones, due probably to their diet of clams and other shell fish, the shells of which they crushed between their teeth. In the mound of bones were discovered signs that, although they subsisted mainly on sea food, they were also hunters, the bones of deer and bear being found in the vicinity. Professor Pendleton declares th a* the tribe, the site of whose village in the mouth of the Topango canon he has unearthed, was probably descended from Asiatics who had crossed the Bering straits and drifted to the south ern coast. He believes they were extremely primitive in type, the utensils found in the moued being of the crudest sort. One indication that the tribes ol Topango were allied with the Indians who inhabited the channel’s Islands was found in the large stones cut ii the form of /pinning tops, which be fore this have been unearthed on San Clements and Santa Catalina islands It is believed these tops were spur and cast ifto the sea to charm the fish to their doc&x for the tribesmen’s liirder. Percentage of Profit. When you can tab* a EO-cent hen and make her pay $1 above cert of feed yoa have a pretty good percentage Gs profit. and thia is being done right along, au<l many do much better. • lite Locale. f'l heard you went down town last night and joined m the Terpslchorean Did you dance on an Impulse?" "No; I dancer, on the Plaza."

NATURE’S SIGNALS. The first indication of kidney di» order is often backache. Then comee pain tn the hips and sides, lameness,

sorehess and urinary troubles. These are the warnings—nature’s signals for help. Doan’s Kidney Pills should be used at the first sign. Ira Clark, North Main St, Savanna, 111., says: “I was confined to bed with kidney trouble and nev«

I . KrtyArtorjl | Stayfl

er expected to be up again. A doctor said I had acute Inflammation of the bladder, but he could not help me, How grateful was I for the prompt relief Doan’s Kidney Pills gave me! Continued use removed every sign ol kidney trouble.” Remember the name—Doan’s. For sale by all dealers. 50 cents s « box. Foster-Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y. One of the Best Rest Curaa. Is a good story. To many women it is as good as < trip away from home. When you are tired out and yous nerves are. on edge, try going off by yourself and losing yourself in some good story. You will, in nine cases * out of ten,, come back rested and 1» vigorated. One woman who has passed serenely through many years of hard work and worry that go with the managing of a house and bringing up of a large family of children, said that she considered it the duty of every busy housekeeper to read a certain amount of “trash,” light Action, for the rest and change to the mind that it would give. Try it, you who lead a strenuous life, and who sometimes grow exceed, ingly weary of the same. T > r/T 7 CfJTTT BS-. 7 Church Unity. Richard, aged five, was being inte* viewed in regard to his school work. “And where do you go to Sunday school?” was next asked. > “To the Episcopal," he replied. "What have you learned there?” “‘Honor thy father and thy moth-, er,”’ he said. “And, do you know, J went down to the Methodist church the other day and they were teaching the same thing there!" —Lippincott's Magazine. His Point of View. "John, dear,” queried the young wife, glancing up from the physical culture magazine she was perusing, “what is your idea of a perfect figure?" "Well," replied her husband, “|IOO,000 may not be perfection, but it’s near enough to satisfy a man of my simple tastes.” THE FIRST TASTE Learned to Drink Coffee When a Baby. If parents realized the fact that coffee contains a drug— caffeine —which is especially harmful to children, they would doubtless hesitate before giving the babies coffee to drink. “When I was a child in my mother’s arms and first began to nibble things at the table, mother used to give me sips of coffee. As my parents used coffee exclusively at meals I never knew there was anything to drink but coffee and water. "And so I contracted the coffee habit early. I remember when quite the continual use of coffee so affected my parents that they tried roasting wheat and barley, then ground it in the coffee-mill, as a substitute for coffee. “But it did not taste right and they went back to coffee again. That was long before Postujn was ever heard of. I continued to use coffee until I was 27, and when I got into office work, I began to have nervous spells. Especially after breakfast I was so nervous I could scarcely attend to my correspondence. “At night, after having coffee for ■upper, I could hardly sleep, and on rising in the morning would feel weak and nervous. i “A friend persuaded me to try Postum. My wife and I did not -like It at firzt, but later when boiled good and strong it was fine. Now we would not give up Postum for Qie best coffee we ever tasted. “1 can now get good sleep, am free from nervousness and headaches. I recommend Postum to all coffee drinkers.” Read "The Road to Wellvflle,” tn pkgs. “There’s a Reason.” Ever read the above letters A iaew •ae appears from time to They are aenulne, true, and full of hums* Interest.