Pittston Gazette

              ♦ K% r C « »• | «• n„ (Ml. a* f •Hilesi f'ewsuauet id the WvoniiDg Valie\ PITT ST ON. LUZKRNK CO., PA.. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY lit, 1892. A Weedy Local and Family Journal. ] '*7/" * lier old lover had appeared to her; he was so wan and wasted, so utterly changed. Aaron had dropped hints abont Michael's marriage, which was generally thought to be an unhappy one; but Olive had refused to listen. "Tell me nothing," she had said, firmly. There was no need for her to be told anything; Michael Chase's story was written on his altered features. A Mr. Chase. Moreo* er. he did not want to have any talk with old I* en lake about his son. »*.e courthouse, and that was the old way, atvoss the farmyard and through the white gate. They went out, past the meek cows and clucking hens, and found themselves in the lane by the churchyard. The day's work was ended, laborers trudged homeward, exchanging a word with the farmer as they passed, and looking inquisitively at his companion. Not one of them recognized him, although he remembered many of their faces well enough. Perhaps prosperity changes people more than poverty does, perhaps the successful city life is harder than the rough country life. Anyhow no one suspected that this pinched and emaciated stranger was the bright-looking lad who had lived amongst them a few years ago. that self-assurance which had helped him to overcome many obstacles. He was shaken and worn, his nerves were out of order, and ho found himself longing foolishly for some tender voice to soothe him in his loneliness to-night. NYE OX WATCHES. faeason is over anil buy out our diamond '"What would we do without her, Charlie? What would we do without her? She is all we have. I could not go home again without her and leave her here. What would we do, Charlie? What would we do?" ffef* ***■  \\ fla * l*3P**« counter." And then he remeiobered the Belthorpos, father and b(®. who lived in the old courthouse. They were wellto-do farmers, and young Belthorpe had noticed Michael's cleverness and taken a liking to him in the past days. Young Belthorpe had married and was master of the old house now. Michael thought that he would write and ask if he 'might be his guest. Everybody who goes to Mr. Tiffany gets good treatment. H*- is above hopping on a watch that he did nut sell. It is so with great men in every line. TfD HIS BRAND NEW MEMORIAL TIME PIECE BOUGHT BY HIMSFLF. The crowned head, more fiendish than ever by candlelight, attracted his eyes: he almost fancied that it smiled, a Seth says—meaning Mr. Thomas, of course—that in winding a watch one should hold it in one liand and wind it with the other. This Will strike home to thousands of careless people who have been for years holding the watch in the teeth and winding it by means of the toes. I began to feel uncomfortable. I could not bear to hear this Rort of talk. I cannot stand such things. I smoked a large brunette pipeful of the ablest tobacco I could get hold of and walked the floor. It was terrible. I could not read. I could not write. When the dry, quick cough, and the sigh, and the woman's sob came I got so I started and turned pale, and if it had not been too late at night I would have left the room altogether.Not Every Man Has the Nerve to Get wicked smile of subtle meaning, and II iC Wateli Repaired, but William successful man he miff fit be. but never a happy one. turned away from it with disgust. There seemed to be no chance for rest for him lie was miserably wakeful, and yet aching with weariness from hearl to foot. There was no help for it, he must take a sleeping draught, although he knew that it was not a wise thing to do. He had had recourse to these draughts often of late. Tried It— A Pathetic Moral with a Dqudney Tail fo It The girl whom he had so cruelly wronged glided past hiui into the gloaming; her face pale, her lips pressed tightly together. For a moment she had felt a sharp pain: pity for herself, a still deeper pity for him, took possession of her and she walked on, seeing nothing and hearing nothing, although the streets were crowded as usual. But the peace that she had gained was not of the kind that can lDe easily snatched away; it had taken » deep root in her heart and its sweetness prevailed over that transient bit- He wrote, and speedily received a reply. It was Belthorpe's cousin who wanted to buy Chase's old cottage and garden, and the farmer was willing enough to renew his acquaintance with a man who had risen in the world. Michael was sure of comfortable quarters and a hearty welcome. (Copyright, UJSB, by Eiluar W. Nye.) TiiomaSTON, Conn., February.—This is where the Set h Thomas clocks are made. It is a citv of 4.000 Deonle. most of whom Utui«£ "If the watch runs too fast, turn the regulator toward S, which means slow: if too slow, turn toward F, which means fast." It is better, however, if you do not know how to read, to take it to the watchmaker, who will move the regulator at $2 per move. (OONTIKDID.) CHAPTER XVL mit any new affections. It was this morbid faithfulness that had made him cling to.Michael and had made Michael almost hate him. _Lk After he hud swallowed the opiate he went to the window and threw it open. The air was sweet and cold and seemed to revive him. He let it blow in upon his hot face and then threw himself, half undressed, on the bed. He meant to lie there thinking for a few minutes before he closed the window and put out the light. Even now he was uot sure of getting any sleep; the draughts had failed sometimes to produ -e the desired effect And to-niglit he was so restless and wide-awake that it seemed as if nothing on earth could lull him into oblivion. "You must give her the medicine now. It is 11 o'clock, and she had it before at 10. Be brave, dear heart. Have courage. Others have passed through even deeper sorrow. Clara," came the deep, earnest, comforting voice of the husband. "Life and death are not in our hands. We can only do our best and be ready for the worst." OLD LOVES. Once, as they passed the open door of a cottage. Michael felt a strange thrill of self reproach. A pleasant-faced woman, between sixty and seventy, sat sewing in a wooden arm-chair, with a crutch on each side. She looked up and nodded to Belthorpe. Winter days have come at last: the in the old churchyard of the Savoy was stripped of leaves, the ash showed only a lattice-work of bare boughs; but the grass was freshly green, and the ivy spread its beautiful tapestry over the bank that sloped sharply down to tho chapel v*«fls ,.Th» gray tower stood up against a grayeiskv, but the sunshine of a contented mind lav warm on Olive's life. His face had softened when Olive The history of Eastmeon is a lost history. The antiquary comes to visit tha church, which contains the quaintest of fonts (unequaled even by the one in Winchester cathedral), and seldom leaves the place without paying a visit to the old courthouse and inspecting all its chambers. Many of these rooms are falling into decay: many are never used at all. but everywhere there are distinct traces of monastic building1. Michael remembered the place very well. lie had never been romantic, but he had wondered sometimes whether anv tragedies had ever been enacted witliin those massive walls, and under those old arehcs, springing from crowned and mitred head.s. It was a surprise to him to fliid that the house had changed but little since his boyhood.Never drive fence posts or kill insects with the watch. It injures it. Never expose the works while in a state of intoxication.laughed. Both faces seemed to grow younger as they bent over the sheet of note-paper; hers had recaptured the sunny playfulness that sorrow had driven away, his had regained the old boyish look of sober amjisement. While the sunshine of the moment lingered about him he began to write, and so the letter was finished and folded and stamped, and actually dropped into a letter-box. terness. Have a regular time for winding the watrh and do not go over that time. Do not wind the watch during the sermon at church if it be a Waterbury Wtch, for y'wi might lose the nub of fiie sermon. did not know then that she h%£ seen her old sweetheart for the last time on earth. Long afterwards she was glad that she had seen him; glad that she had linked his name with her prayers that night, and asked that the blessing he had despised might be graated to him at her petition. "IIow are the pains this evening, Mrs. Crake?" he asked, kindly. "\yell, not much better, thank ye, but no worse," she answered, in a cheerful voice. "And how's all the little ones, Mr. Belthorpe?" I could not endure this. I am of too sympathetic a nature. I rang the bell, to order my room changed, but gotjji&hamed of myself before the boy came and told him to have me called at 7:30 in the morning, and he went away with a bright new shilling which I had once owned. It seemed to be the most natural thing in the world for Seaward Aylstone to join her as they came out of ehapol on Sundays. They always talked to each other in a friendly fashion; yet on her side there was a little Seth says yon should have yonr watch cleaned once a year. 1 am sorry if his watches require cleaning once a year. It is not a good plan, he says, to pnt the watch under the pillow. Possibly it should be put out of the window on a clotheslipe. "If worn in the vest," Seth says, "you can hang up the garment at night." So also you can hang up the watch too. I have done that. That letter came to Eastmoen in the gray of a winter morning1, when Jane Challock. having given her father his breakfast, was standing at the cottage door. A robin had broken the chill silence with its clear song, unconsciously cheering Jane's heart as she looked out across the bare garden. The well-known step of the postman sounded on the road, but Jane had left off looking for letters from Aaron, and was trying to live on unsnstained by the old hope. Yet she started and felt her heart throbbing very fast when the man "They're bright enough. You'll see them to-morrow; their mother has got a parcel to send you." As he lay there, gazing out at the star-sown night, ho felt that lie would have given much to have seen the faces of his old friends looking kindly on him again. He had gained so many desirable things that it was alisurd to lie here pining for a little friendliness from common people. Only there are moments, even in successful lives, when nothing seems so precious as those jx tor treasures that we laughed at and threw CIJAPTER XVII.' THE CROWNED HEAD "Mrs. Belthorpe don't forget the poor," said the woman, gratefully. "She is awake now, Charlie, and she knows me. See! Yes, indeed she does. She recognizes our voices, Charlie. But she is weaker; oh, so mnch weaker! She can hardly torn over or lift her head any more. Oh, my poor, poor darling! What t an I do for you? What can I do?" reserve, on his a great deal of deference. Olive was not a girl who wore her heart upon her sleeve. It was a very faithful heart, its deep wounds were even now scarcely healed, and she carried it securely locked up in her own DDosom. As to Seaward, he had always been rather a grave young man, who had chosen to live his own life and work hard at his profession. But it had never been a selfish life, and the fame that he had won had not been gained at the cost of better things. Once more the primroses had unrolled their soft crinkled leaves and opened their yellow stars in the hedge-banks of Eastmeon. Once more the spring scents rose from the earth, and April sprinkled the velvet mosses with sunbeams and glittering tears. The trees were budding in the old S§voy churchyard; the grass and ivy, newly washed with gentle showers, had put on the freshest green and Olive thought of quiet country places far away, (rood news came to her from the little village among the downs. Jane and Aaron were to be married in June, and both were wonderfully happy and well contented with their lot. The free air of his old home had driven Aaron'sclouds away; a grave and quiet man he would always be; but a great deal of his awkward shyness was gone. He was prospering; old Bartlett relied upon •him as a son. People had learned to respect him and have confidence in his judgment. Michael had been born for the city; but Aaron was a man who needed the simple influences of rural life. They walked on in silence for a few paces and then Michael asked what had changed Ann Crake from a strong woman into a cripple. The farmer and his wife received him cordially. It was still early in the evening when he arrived, and the old rooms were cheerful with sunshine. But he was tired,the short railway jour- "Itlieumatic fever," Belthorpe replied. "She is a good creature and frets sorely over her us'elessness." "WHERE DI1D YOU GET THIS WATCH?" are engaged in making the above clocks and the Seth Thomas watches. They are an industrious, painstaking people, one of whom remarked as he came out of the theater after our unrivaled aggregation had just closed. "That is a  of a show!"' This shows that the people of Thoiuaston are not only keenly discriminating in a literary and dramaticway, hut have a terse and virile command of language which indicates the eager and untiring student of profanity. Should your watch stop, do not shake it violently or pry the wheels with a car starter, but take it to a watchmaker, who will look into it and tell you to leave it with him a year or two. Then I could hear her mingled sobs and kisses. The husband paced the floor. Michael remembered that Ann Crake had befriended a certain motherless boy an. mended his tattered clothes when his drunken father neglected him. The hoy had grown up and got on well in the world, but it had never occurred to him to wonder how Ann was faring. The man who forgets God forgets everything else...that is worth remembering. lie was sorry now that he had never done anything for this friend of old times. It was the first sign of softening, the first touch of humanity that he had known in all these hurrying years. away lonCr ago. How happy that pair had looked, as they stood, side by side, watching the flow of the water! Yet it was only a very common kind of joy that they were feeling, and it might have been Michael's too. He had held it in his grasp and tossed it from him; it was gone forever, and he had only just begun to realize its true, value. What had he gained in exchange? Shreds of interest, given sparingly by a woman who had never loved nor liecn loved, barren glittering days, whose monotony was only broken by Mrs. Chase's frantic efforts to get into society! I could not bear this any more. I arose and dressed. It was no sorrow that I conld relieve. 1 might ae well go away from it. I folded and put away the rich nightrobe in my bag and dressed myself automatically. Then I went down stairs with my luggage, the little hollow cough still ringing in my ears. I said at the office that I would pay my bill and go. I could not bear the grief even of those whose faces I had never seen. It might be foolish, bnt 1 could not help it. paused at the gate ney had wearied him. and even tl mile drive from I'etersfield seer lie five The watch has in the past centuries grown from the clepsydra, or water clock, up to its present perfection. Look at your watch and see what a luxury you have. She ran out to receive the letter. Perhaps it was for Mrs. Hooper or Mrs. Challopk. Olive wrote regularly to them both. But no, this letter was addressed to Jane herself in Aaron's wellremembered handwriting. The warm blood rushed to her cheeks, and she was rosy and gay in spite of the bleak morn- . ing. 1 ted t Their talk about Lucy had brought them nearer together than anything else could have done. Her portrait was hanging now on the wall of Olive's little room, and its presence there gave her a sense of quiet companionship. A good watch contains at least 150 pieces outside of the chain. Some of the small screws look like steel filings, I I (ought a new watch just before going to Thomas ton, and so I was interested in the works of the watch generally. I bought my watch in New York, but left it to be engraved. 1 had an inscription put on it stating that it was from admirers of mine who desired thereby to express their generous appreciation of what I had done for my race. (K. B.—It is a stop watch.) All was quiet in Olive's life now— thoughts, friendships, hopes, were all of the most tranquil kind. The calm that had first fallen ou her spirit within the chapel walls had never passed away, the chaplain's voice still led her "forth beside the waters of comfort;" and day after day she proved that it was: She carried her treasure into Mrs. Hooper's cottage that she might enjoy it in peace: for Peggy Challock, her sister, had a habit of tarnishing the luster of pew joys by a few chilly words. Peggy had never had any lovers of her own, and always steadily refused to believe in other people's sweethearts until "Do not go, Mr.-Nye," the night clerk said. "We will give you 32, on the parlor floor. It is a much better room, with steam heat in it. Here, Front! Show Mr. Nye to 32 and tell 89 that they will have to leave in the morning. You are the third man they have driven out with their wild grief and their croupy dog!" Turning a comer of the road they came In sight ot the old inn, and Michael's memory woke up again. He saw the motherless boy' led in through that dark door by another boy of his own age, and recalled the little room with the low ceiling, where a bright fire eracklcd merrily on winter davs and a As lie thought of those frantic efforts, he laughed with sudden scorn of her and of hiinseif. He was beginning to know something alDout them now— those disappointed women who have climbed a little way up the social ladder and then stuck fast. He had seen their frenzy when some other woman, poorer, but more attractive, had glided gracefully past them, and taken up her position above their heads. How pitiable this small ambition seemed to hitVi at this moment, when he was weak and lonely! The simple wifely love, the clinging hands of little children, the sacred sweetness of a home, were blessings that the successful man was never to know. 1 buy all my testimonials now. They are cheaper, because I know where to get them at 40 off and avoid having cake and ice cream trodden of men into the carpet. I am getting together my tin wedding presents this winter, and you would be surprised to see how low I am getting them. Testimonials really come higher than anything else unless von buv them yourself. "Better to have a quiet grief than a hurrying di-Hf'ht; Michael's father, the drunken blacksmith, had possessed a battered cottage and a piece of ground in Eastmeon. The cottage was a meie ruin, and the bit of garden was so small and unproductive that when the blacksmith died it was difficult to find another tenant. Michacl could not afford to repair the dwelling, and was glad to let it to the first person who was willing to live in it, a man well stricken in years and very poor. Busy with his own grand schemes young Chase seldom bestowed a thought on his sorry little property at Eastnieon; but one day there came a letter from a lawyer, saying that' a client of his desired to buy the land aud build a house on it. When this letter came to Michael it afforded him a faint gleam of satisfaction. If we only knew more sometimes we would grieve less. Better the twillsht of the dawn than the noonday burning bright" comfortable meal awaited the hungry lad, whose homo larder wastoooft-n empty. A few weeks ago he wonld have lDoen ashamed of those humble recollections, but illness and weariness had surely made him more tenderhearted, and again he felt a pang. After all it would have been well if he had kept Aaron at the works and spared a few minutes sometimes to talk of old days. l!ut no; it was best that Aaron should lie sent away. It would have been impossible to retain the old friendship and give np the old love. One day Aaron Fen lake came to see her again. Ho had found work to do, but the wages were small, and he looked sadly wan and wasted. There was no need to tell her that Michael was married: she had seen the announcement of bis marriage in the paper, and no further tidings of him had ever reached her ears. But Aaron had watched opportunities, and had even hung about old Mr. Battersby's great house at Ilampstead to find out how things went on. THE CROWN F.D LIE A D " Looking Into It."" have done him small good, although 1 ( nee received a lovely gold headed cane from a man who loved me as a brother. I am now engaged ia {laying a joint note for him. and there is verdigris on the cane, - Dr LUNG ™ROAT sptti, the air was fresh and sweet. iaustJ His hostess conducted liim to his room with apologies, but he scarcely heard what she was saying. (Soma necessary repairs had been going on in the upper part of the house; the "guestchamber" wa. unlit for use, and a smaller room had been got ready hastily for Mr. Chase. Sleep came upon him unawares; long sought, it kept far from him, but, when he had given up all hope of rest, a deep slumber fell upon his senses; and he lay still and unconscious with the night air blowing on his face. The. wind was rising, but he felt it not. Then a stronger puff caught the muslin window curtain and floated it perilously near the flame of the candle, which was still burning on the toilet table. But he did not wake. We should learn from this to say, "No, thank yon; I have one," when people approach us with gifts. Gifts should be exchanged only between old friends, say 70 to 170 years of age, or members of one's family. wai.ki.no the floor. "Why are you anxious to know?" 0!i»e asked. "I think it is best to be in ignorance. Let him alone; we have nothing more to do with bim, Aaron." lie had chosen the short cut to fortune, ant) it had led him through mire and thorns, as short cuts generally do. As for Olive, he would not think of her this evening. His head was too tired to bear this load of memcr.Mes. The past was gone. He would something for Ann Crake, and look up Mine of the poorest villagers before he left the place, but "lover and friend" must be put far from him for ever. and yet they are complete in thread, head and slit. The slit on the head Is two one-thousandths of an inch in length. It takes ;D08.000 of. these screws to weigh a pound. A pound of them is worth $1,300. I state this so that those who may wish to order a few pounds of these screws for household purposes will know what they are worth. There was nothing t D complain of in the room save ittD nmull siz \ Jt  furnished with a quaint old bedstead, daintily drcp-d with fresh white dimity hangings, and everything else was old-fashioned and pretty in its way. The window looked out over the village and its enf ;kling downs, softly gilded now with tiic first glorv of sunset. There was no ordinary ceiling: overhead rose a roof like a church-roof, the arches springing from corbels, supported by those carved heads which were to be fouud in most of the upper apartmentsof the courthousd. "I want to see whether the wicked will always flourish like the green bay tree," he answered grimly. "I .am waiting for the time when fte frill* be withered up, root and branch. Hasn't he spoiled your life and mine?" Mrs. Michael Chase, after waiting many a day, had married beneath her rattyr.thaii remain single. Michael was a :"5*hig man; he was extremely useful to her brother; he had a shrewd head and knew how to take c-are of money. Moreover, he was good-looking- and had the art of adapting himself to the society into which fortune had thrown him. His vulgarity was of that subtle kind which only betrays itself on rare occasions; he had no coarse tastes; no lore of vice. On the whole, he was a wonderfully presentable specimen of the young man who had made his own way: and Miss Battersby was not unwilling to follow her brother's advice and accept him as a husband. When I got my watch from the dealer 1 did not know how to set it. 1 had never sat a watch of that kind before. It was a Walt ham watch with a Crescent street move on it: nickel, with fifteen ruby jewels in gold settings; ball bearings, compensation balance to side couple, adjusted to temperature, Isochronism and position, patent regulator, mud valve, with platinum dewtiicker for the whing whang to rest on, Bregnet hair medicated hairspring, fine glass enamel and double sunk dial, with open Dr. Talmage face and dimpled hands. Iff MBS. HOOPEB'S DTCHEIf. —Truth. they became husbands. Michael Chase had proved himself utterly false; Aaron Fenlake had forgotten old attachments; men were all alike, and sensible girls ought not to allow themselves to be taken in. As no one had ever attempted to take Peggy in, she had never been exposed to any danger; but she went on dinning her warnings into Jane's ears until the girl was tired of hearing them. 'So Jane read her letter in the friendly shelter of Mrs. Ilooper's kitchen, and the old woman and the young one rejoiced together. They rejoiced all the more because old Bartlett, the well-todo miller, was looking about for a steady young man to help him in his business and be the prop of his old age. And who could be steadier than Aaron? No, he did not wake, but his dreams were terrible. He had wronged Aaron Fenlake, it was true, but surely Aaron had taken a cruel way to avenge his wrongs. And Jane and Olive too: they harl ever been soft and merciful in tha old days, but now they were helping Aaron to hold him fast on the bridge. And it was not the Meon that was running along at their feet, but a river of burning lava, red and horrible. He was choking with its dense fumes: he could feel its fearful heat: but yet they would not let him go. There was 110 escape: they were bent 011 his destruction. and he could not even find voice to utter a faint try. One more Struggle. a wild start, and he awoke at last. The hairspring is twenty-seven tenthousandths inches thick, and the process of tempering these delicate little things is only known by a few very eminent people. Liberal to a Fault. "So," she said; "it is our own fault if our lives are spoiled, not his. We are fools, Aaron, if we will not build a new house because the old palace is a ruin. Are we to waste our time in sitting among the fragments of shattered hopes and mourning over them?" Bjenkins—Isn't Bjones a very liberal man? The clear evening sky smiled overhead. the little Meon gurgled along? under the very walls of the old inn. there was the same moss-grown bridge, with small ferns feathering out of the brickwork, and a man and a girl were standing together,looking down into the swift water. They raised their heads as Michael and the farmer approached. Bjohnson—Yes; I don't know how many times I have heard him give himself away.—Somerville Journal. A ton of gold is worth $602,799.21. A ton of steel made up into hairsprings is worth #7,507,000, so you see that a man who will invent a restorative that will grow hairsprings—but let us pass on. All Gone. "That is just what I am doing every day," replied Aaron. He talked about divinity and pondered on in- finity. "And that is just what you must not do. --Aaron, why can't you leave oft brooding over your wrongs? Is your heart so full of hate that there is no room for love in it?" For a few seconds Michael stood at (.lie n|wn window and let the cool air breathe upon his worn face. The scent of violets floated up from the old garden; the bell began to ring for evening praj-er, and 'sleeping memories awoke with the perfume and chime. How sweet and familiar all this had been once! He thought he had forgotten the past, but here it was within him, fresh and living still. It was a good watch, with a snap to it that will wake up a lectnre audience like the shrill cry of lire in h hotel where foxy old gentlemen do not register. But i could not s«*t it. and 1 hated to wait till the planets got around to the time it indicated when 1 got it. Andspoke of base humanity as animalcule. He studied up astronomy, the science of autonomy.The girl gazed at Michael for a second or two, then started, and turned sharply away with Hushed cheeks. The It is estimated that a balance wheel makes about 196,850,000 revolutions per year, but that is neither here nor there. And wondered if insanity was commos t« the Ilea. But it is an ill thing when the wife holds the money-bag and the husband carries an empty pocket. Mrs. Michael had a temper, and felt that there was no need to control it. She did not deny herself tho pleasure of reminding Michael of her geneFositv in keeping him well supplied with cash. (She set her foot upon his neck every day of her life. The pivot on which the balance wheel works is twice the size of a human hair —so I am told. The bearings are delicate jewels, made of ruby or sapphire, and are worth $44.8oC) per pound. Lie was silent, and she went on. \:.. mim I WDi *" 3 '- --£*' **■ -m i\ fr n He plunged into zootomy and wandered through phlebotomy. And read for weeks on history from Adam down to date. He lectured on theogony and dwelt upon cosmogony.And sounded deep the mystery attending., human fate. "Have you forgotten Jane? I hear that Robert Steel is expected home in the spring. Aaron, the most faithful heart cannot wait and trust for ever if no sign is giyen." My former wuti h—the one I owned before I received this testimonial—was set by throwing It out of gear and then prying the hands into position by means of a lio.se coupler. Ho 1 took the new watch to a large jeweler on Broadway. He immersed his eye in a long rubber thing and looked a long time at the price mark, which was still on the watch. Then he looked np at me with this keen, searching rubber thing and through his clinched teeth he hissed) The two women breakfasted together, and then set off through the lanes to old Bartlett, just as the slow day had struggled into light. The stars in their courses seemed to be fighting for Jane at last. The miller had known Aaron from a boy and had great faith in his sober, silent ways. Aaron, he said, was welcome to come to him as soon as he liked; the sooner the better. The room was full of smoke. The little ehamber had become as hot as an oven, and now and then a flame darted out of the thick cloud- Faint, and still bewildered by the opiate, he was sl(TW in realizing his danger; but he made n strong effort, and groped his way to the door, gasping for breath. Some time ago 1 went to a big music box establishment on Broadway, New York, to get some music box oil, because the Swiss gentleman who made my instrument—the only one 1 play—said that it should have, once a year, a drop of music Ixix oil on each beariug. His gloomy face flushed, and a sudden light gleamed in his eyes. The little shaft had sped home at last. As lie turned from the window his eye fell on a sculptured head, just then illuminated by the evening light. It was crowned in kingly fashion, and the royal circlet rose above a massive brow, and a cruel, clever face. The nose was straight and delicate; a mustache hunjj over the mouth, but did not hide the firm outlines of the thin lips that were curved into a faint but mocking smile. The sharp contour of the cheek and the sunken temples told of wasting mental toil. A man with such a face might have been versed in all the wiles pf statecraft; he would have worked with his scheming brain but never witl) his hands. He might have raised armies, and directed their advance upon the foe, but he would never had led tlieiu on to battle with his own sword. It was a face that could have looked on unmoved while men and women were tortured, and even the soft western light that shone upon it with a pentle glow could bring out no sign of tenderness or nobilitv. He showed supreme anxiety for late and early piety. "Instead of waiting to see Michael withered up root and branch—a thing which never will come to pass, I hope— why not make sure of one good thing while it may Ft ill be liad? Why not go back to the C5id village and revive the old love? f wish, Aaron, that you could get some work to dp in the country." To do him justice Michael bore all with exemplary patience. In giving up Olive he had given up the best thing in his life. The chance offered him by the Batters! Dys had been too splendid to be thrown away, and so he had parted with his pearl of price without hesitation. Olive had developed absurd fancies; she was disposed to undervalue him; it was best to bid Her good-by. Nevertheless, he had not bceij wholly unconscious of her worth. And spoke with great felicity of higher states than this. He lectured quite dramatically to show how systematically The force of electricity was centered in a lie had locked the door, and the lock was a very old one. Wildly he turned the key round and round, but the door remained fast closed, and the room was growing hotter every moment. lie would try to escape by the window. Only, it was impossible to breathe much longer in this dreadful atmosphere, and when he tried to call for help his voice failed, and died away in a whisper. The music box store on Broadway was very sorry, but 1 did not buy my mnsic box there—I bought it in Chicago—so it would be eternally thrown into bankruptcy before it would sell me any music box oil. kiss. But while with such intensity he spouted oa immensity. His wife wilh sweet devexity was cutting quite a dash; And with such ingenuity she monkeyed his annnity. He found to his perplexity she'd dressed away his cash. —Tom Masson in Cloak Review. And so it came to pass that Aaron's steps turned homeward. He went to see Olive, and told her that he was going back to Jane and Eastmeon. She brightened at the. news. '«?wji i!bS5x' 'Where did yon get this watch':" Soine men would have had presence of mind and told him it was none of his one thing or another business, bnt I did not. When Providence was making presence of mind my name was not called out. So 1 said I got it of Mr. Soand-so,"I have never thought of trying," he said, struck by the idea. It is sad to be sat dC Dwn on that way by a mnsic box house. Ft took me two days to get haughty again. Then a friend said that all I wanted was watch oil. It was the same tiling. So I went to a big dealer where 1 had bought a watih once for my wife and 1 got a little phial of watch oil—no charge. But nay, fellow citizens, did you ever put a little watch ®il on your handkerchief by mistake and then go to church and get put out? "It would tDe gofcxl for you to get out of London. Promise me, Aaron, that "Olive." he said, looking at her wistfully, "I wish you too were going back to the old place. A great deal is said about beginning a new life; but I think that with some of us a new life means a return to the olu." you will write to your old acquaintances in Peters field. There may be some- Sometimes when Mrs. Michael , had been a little more exasperating than usual he world call up a vision of his old love, with her soft eyes, her gent's voice and her tender hands, all ready to do his bidding. Once in his life he had It was a cruel fate to perish in this way, friendless and alone. There was no more strength left in him now, deaih was coming fast, and now that it was really near he knew that he wanted to go on living. A little while ago, life liad not seemed a very desirable thing, but now it was precious and sweet, full of new possibilities and hopes. I'erhaps if it had not been for this awful Everything Warranted. Bulfinch—Have you any indelible ink? Clerk—Oh. yes. thing for you to do." THE MAN CAVE I1I.M ONE STEADY, DARK "Well, yon will have to get another in a few weeks. Here's the watch yon ought to have if you don't want to look like a jay." "I will thiul; of it. Olive," he replied, i "So. don't think of it-Clo it. Some- j how your thinking always ends in a I.OOK Bulfinch—W arranted delible? absolutely in- "Yes, with "some of us," she an- swered. "Your old life was the true life, Aaron, and your old love is the true love." man gave him one steady dark look and turned also- And then lleltliorpe suddenly re mem'** red that Michael had once been Olive Winfield's promised husband. It was no wonder that Jane Challoek and Aaron l enlake should dislike the sight of him. Clerk—I can guarantee it absolutely. Anything more today? Bulfinch—No. When ths lawyer's letter came to him .sarly in the spring he held up his head snd talked loftily of his little property down in Eastmeon. Mrs. Chase was surprised and treated him with a slight increase of respect. He decided that he would go and look at "the property" himself. In truth he needed change of air and scene, and the thought of returning to the old village thrilled him with a painful kind of pleasure. Only a little while ago he had bated to hear the place mentioned, but now that his ambitious desires had been granted he could afford to revive old memories. The sight of familiar scenes and the -scent of the fields would be pleasant to a jaded man. The wear and tear of an eager life had told upon him of late. He had consulted a doctor and had been gravely cautioned against worry and overwork; but this is a worrying and overworking age, and he did not suppose that he was feeling any worse than most of the men lie meteverv day. be«n loved arnl be could not foriret it. Then 1 took my poor little timepiece from.his hand and stole out to another place, a larger place, and hung around there timidly till 1 noticed the diamond detective pointing me out to the sapphire detective. ■ I j ii — ■-It %xm^l '-J |p(Vf • li l\v_ ~yrt  lie turned away from her with a •igh. The gentle patience in her face was almost more than he could bear; and his old bitter feeling against Michael returned in full force. Was it Just that a man who had done so rnueh wrong should go unpunished? Watch oil comes from the jaw of the porpoise. It is prepared by a special process, and men who are deaf do the work so that they cannot hear it think. Clerk—Wouldn't you like an eraser? Here's a very fine ink eraser that I can guarantee will erase Indelible ink in a second.—Boston Courier. Yet somewhere, whether lately or in the far past he could not tell, Michael had seen a face that resembled this. There was something familiar in the chiseling of the features and the upright line between the brows. He stood and gazed at it with a curious feeling of repulsion and strange dread, lie was afraid of the facc; absurd as it seems, he felt that it was mocking liiin, and defying him to find that other face that was like if. Shall we go back now?" the farmer 1 now decided to ask the owner about my watch. He looked quickly at a printed list of valuable watches that have been recently stolen in New York city and then ho compared tho numbers with mine. asked. Yon do not need much of it. A quart will lubricate 58,800,000 journals. Think of that, and then remember how much fat it will take to lubricate the journals of New York city alone next fall. At the D*or. "I should like to stand face to face with him for a minute or two," he muttered between his teeth. Ilis companion assented, and they began to retrace their steps, Michael silently making up his mind to shorten his stay in Kr.stineon. Ilo had not thought of seeing Aaron here. But 1 have drifted into statistics and incidentally into polities. "If you ever meet him face to face, Aaron. 1 hope your heart will be softened," Olive said quietly. "Until we can forgive, we can never be healed. The prayer for those who have despitefully used us" is the balm for our own wounds. When you refuse to pardon Michael, you reject a blessing." "Where did yon get this watch?" he Baid coldly, shaking it as if to make it go. Instejul of saying that I received it from friends as a testimonial, I forgot and told him where 1 got it, for I feared he thought 1 had got it dishonestly. "I fancied that young l-'enlake was in London?" he said after a pause. "lie has como here to manage old Ilartlctt's mill," lJclthorpe replied. "And ho is to be married to Jane Challoc!C in the sunimer, I am told." Some sad stories indeed might 1mD told of the ravages of the grip in New York if we could know them all and tell them to the world. Then, with a sudden impulse, h* talked to tho glass, and looked at himself. There was no mistaking the likeness now, that crowned human fiend had features like his own. In that carven stone he saw all that was evil in his own visage deepened and intensified. A few more years of selfish scheming and of deliberate scorn of all holy things, and then his mouth would take that pitiless curve, and that Satanic smile might be stamped upon it until it turned to dust. No more was said about the IVn'.aket or the Challoeks that evening, and it seemed to Itelthorpe that hip guest did not care to hear much of old friends and neighbors. They talked polities and discussed business matters until it was time to retire for the night. And then Michael, with some slight awkwardness, remarked that he must return to town to-morrow. "Well, you had better take it back there and get them to {five yon a few lessons in how to run a watch. This is no kindergarten here, especially for owners of that class of watch. Here's the watch you want if yon don't want to depend on the 12 o'clock whistle every day." "I will try not to think about liim." Aaron answered. a stu 1 cau tDay yet. There's little good in making believe to forgive when you can't. Goodbv, Olive; 1 hope we shall see you at Eastmeon again by and by." One evening I had rooms—it was reallv a room—one of those oortable rooms which is attached to a snite and nsed then as a cloakroom, but let separately sometimes to jayish travelers and furnished with a flexible trundle bed— but I refer to it as rooms because 1 do not cave very much how I live if I can make the public believe that I loll in the lap of luxury till it causes adverse criticism. - IIE LOOKED IURESOLUTE. kind of melancholy dreaming'. .Write to Jam- and t-11 her thrvt vou want to "Yes. Aaron." Her face brightened again. "I will come and see you and Jane when you have made a home of Love's keen eye would have detected serious symptoms, but love did not cross Michael's path nowadays. Onco or twice Edward Battersby had carelessly remarked that he was "looking seedy," but no one entreated him to take care of himself, nor saw that he was often unfit for the commonest duties. He had never realized his own delicacy of constitution — never once suspected that his fragile body could not meet the demands made upon it by Just as he was reading the inscription 1 snatched my watch away from him and went out. com* He 1 Doked i :Dack to thC? C Sjhe sprang up SUNK DOWN UPON THE FI.OOIV and -ot pen, ink ■solute id paper. your own." fate, he might have begun to live a new life, brightened with charities and better purposes. He might have "redeemed the time," if time had been granted him. Hut it would be all over soon. "TherC id, dipping the pen in He went his way, and when the door had closed behind him Olive sat thinking for a little while. He shuddered and passed his hand across his eyes. Had he been led here to receive a mute warning? Weakened by long-neglected illness, weary with incessant toil, he could not shake ofit this idea as lie would have done once. It would haunt him sleeping and waking with a fear that he had never known till now. "1 thought we should keep you here a week at least," said the farmer, in a surprised tone. "I will go up to Mr. Tiffany's place." I said. "He knows me. 1 buy all my jewelry there. Ho will not insult me. "Oh, by the way, which liand do you drive with?" "The left, of course." ♦'Then 1 sit on- the nglit hand side, don'tI'r"—Philadelphia Times. the ink. nnd putting it into his hund. ' "I will staixl over you resolutely till the letter is written." I could hear the conversation in the next room. In fact, I could not avoid it. I cannot wear cotton in my ears all the time, as high as cotton is now, and so 1 was obliged to hear the pathetic words that came to me over the transom and through the walls. "A week? No, no, Belthorpe, I can t allow myself such a long holiday. Mrs. Chase is nervous about my health, and I must go back to-morrow." "Mr. Tiffany," I said, as I went in and handed him my wet umbrella while I unbuttoned my coat and got out my watch, "do yon mind looking at a watch that I did not buy of yon? 1 will be honest with you. it was one that 1 bought with the money that my wife earned teaching school this winter, and I have had an inscription put on it stating that it is from admiring friends, but as a matter of fact 1 have no admiring friends. Most of them are onto me. And she taught d—a soft, merry laugh that seemed to come ringing back from the pa'st. Aaron was poing back, as she had said, to that old love which was the true love; but for her there was nothing to go back to. There in Eastmeon, here in London, she was alone; and her solitude was of that invisible kind of which He had sunk down upon the floor, and lay there, helpless and scarcely conscious, when a loud voice suddenly made its way to his dulled ears. Then there was a great crashing of glass, and a figure leaped into the room. W lien 1 Ult Droned. "Well. Chase, you really do look as if you had been neglecting yourself. My wife would be nervous enough if I looked as you do," Uelthorpe said kindly "Perhaps you can persuade Mrs. Chase to come with you into the country."I'm only des' a 'ittle boy. He had .never heard her laugh since she had come to London, and the sound recalled their early days as nothingelse There was a little, dry, hard cough and a sigh of pain after it; then a woman's broken voice: Not ntor'n «bout free years old; Am sometimes when I'm naughty, zen the chaplain had spoken. And then other words of his came back also. "The life of earnest duty and simple devotion—of patient endurance and loving communion"—was she not striving to live it? And had she not felt in her soul that sweet sense of spiritual companionship which Christ imparts? This was not a fecliner to be talked of; Even after the doctor had spoken he steadily put his ailments out of his mind. Surely they a strong imperiou My mamma she 'ill stold; Bui 1 dess I'll do ze U-stest sings ha'l ever done. Once more he was a ■hv lad. roamm? through old meadows vitih wo bappy nirls. ()ncD more he eeemed to breathe that fresh, free nir that has a wild poetry in it, end srngs to the heart like a sweet song. The scent of the fields, the keen breath of morning, the perfume of honeysuckle on the w;_rin evening breeze, all this came back to him again. And was it, after all. merely a morbid fancy? So great are the possibilities of good and evil within us that every one may carry about in his soul the future angel or the future fiend. The man who by his own will has been "left to himself" may well be startled if he gets a glimpse of that which self may become. That God does sometimes vouchsafe these glimpses of the possible we cannot doubt. "There, but for His grace, goes John Hradford," cried the old l*uritan preacher when he saw the criminal led to execution. Out of the burning room into the windy night and the clear starlight he was carried by firm arms. There was just enough intelligence left in him to make him cling to his deliverer, and vaguely that he must hold fr.rt while they went down a ladder. Somehow the descent was accomplished iri safety, and iIku Michael found himself on a heap of straw in the farmyard, and heard a great clamor and shautiiitr around him. Anybody ever knowed, v. For I'm iloiu to be ze doodest man. When I Dit not worth "Her congh is tighter tonight, Charlie. It is dryer and her temperature is greater, dear. Oh, what shall we do? What shall we do?—poor darling!" many thoughts. A breath of country air and a walk in the fields would set hitn up coinplet Dly. lie resolved to spend at leu.fDt two or three days at Eastmeon. "We shall go to the seaside later on Druwed Michael answered with a preoccupied oir, "I have lDeen thinking about Ann Crake," he added, putting his hand in hi"5 pocket. "Will you give her this from me, Uelthorpe? Aud tell her that 1 shall not forget her in the fu- "Will von. ns a friend, do me the honor t D look into my poor little timepiece and t"ll me what to do to itr" Somehow 1 thought CDf my own home and wondered if the little folks there were well tonight, so many cold, weary miles away in the old north state. My drate bid sister's dot a bean. Who tomes here all tse time; An when 1 do intor.e room. He des' dives me a dime, A n says 1 look so s'eepy zat He cless it's time I doed. But I'm doin to totart some dlrl myse'f When I II" 1.,n 1 rof 1 of Aar return if you described it in everyday language you lost something of its sacredness. Olive always felt that in an argument with a clever materialist, she would assuredly get the worst of it. to the village, lie had thought it probable that Aaron or Samuel Wa1-e won' I have come to heap reproaches on his head, but Olive's champions were silent. Nor had Olive even deigned to writ? nn answer to his cruel letter; he had received a packet containing the trifling presents that he had given her, and that was all. lie took up his litlle screwdriver as a society laly picks up au oyster fork when she has a solitaire on her little finger that she wants to exhibit to the throng, then he adju.-icd the do-good to his eve, which gave him a choked look on one side, and said, as he filled his lap fnll of cogwheels: Then the man's voice said in deep rich tones: Olive was right. Among the old mi;jht find his true self again and be a mail than he could ever have been m Loudon. mm are always rustics at heart—they lose al 1 sense of freedom in cities, and constant tfrtereonrse with many people drives them back into the grim fortress of self. Aaron had ne ;er thriven on London soil: the fresh hill breeze had often whispered to him in the crowded streets and brought tears to his eyes. He was passionately in love with his old home, and his heart refused to ad- He laid a five-pound note on the table and went quickly out of the room. ture "1 think it i • the crisis with her, dear." Then the liliie cough once more and a patient little moan that died away in a sigh. "If she can get through the night we may hope for an improvement tomorrow, Clara. See. she is going to sleep now." [TC- Bfr CONTINUED J The next d.;y was Saturday, nnd the flower shop closed early. She had been out in the afternoon on an errand of Mrs. Wake's, and was coming back into the first shadows of the dusk, when she saw a face that she knew. It was Michael himself, who passed her in the falling twilight. He did not see her; lijp eyes looked straight before him, but she had a glimpse of his worn, haggard face. It was ae if the ghost of "I will go out of doors," thought Michael, as he left the room. "A walk through the old village will calm my nerves, and insure a quiet night." That sudden encounter with Aaron had set him quivering with annoyance and pain. He had come here for peace, and the flash in Aaron's eyes had expressed wrath aud bitter contempt. If he had been the man he once was Michael would have given only a scornful thought to his old companion; but he had changed greatly, and all his coolness was gone. Ill-health and Mrs. Chase's temper had deorived him of Tuu Couldn't Do It Touraelf There, Drowed Photographer— Now look pleasant please. Cnstomer— It is quite impossible, sir Tin a ticket agent in a railroad oflice.— Yonkera Statesman. My auntie's dot a baby boy. No bidder 'an a doll. He's dot ze funniest 'ittle eyes An mos' no nose a-tall; But his papa says ze baby Is A tunnin 'ittle toad. An I'm doln to buv one des' like him, When I Dit Drowed. —L. P. Hills in Atlanta Constitution, ■"Why. there's nothing the matter with this watch. When yon want to set it yon just pull the stem out an eighth of an inch and turn the hands, that's all. Twenty minutes to 10 now; there you are. Good watch; splendid watch. No charge. Not at ail; you're quit# welcom#. . Com* again aft«r voor He decided that he wonld not stay in an inn if he could find other accommodation. There were two inns in Eastmeon, one new and the other old. Of ithe new one he knew little, and the old 'one was kept by Aaron Fenlake's fathi«r and was far too humble an abode for CHAPTER XVIII. THROUGH SMOKE AND FLAME Then there was a long hush, but afterward came the cough—that cough that harts a parent's heart worse than it could the child, it seems. Then a little whimper of pain and then the voice of the almost Bobbins' woman;  The farmer gladly assented to his guest's proposal that they should take a breath of fresh air before dinner. There was but one way of approaching When the electric light has been deprived of its heat ray, it is shown to have a powerful btiuiulatiug effect upon the muscles of the body