Pittston Gazette

              $ I I i :&£r kst \itt.iwi!Ki» i sr.o. i Vol. x U] 1. so. i Oldest Newspaper in the Wyoming Valley. PiTTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, MAY 4, 1804. A Weekly local and Family Journal. THE OUD MIUU MYSTERY. "You can't f*o, my lass, till this t.iuplo lias 1h*cp cleared," he Raid, quietly. "You don't seem to sen that this is a serious lm.sine.s8." .levil can trust a woman's tmvnie? growled Jae.U Dilworth. "I'm for Jus Ilanier's plan. There's only one sort ;Df silence yon can Clepeml on; and I like something' more to trust to than a lass' tongue."' li timiwl Of*' ami groping to spare," cried Mary, turning to him, her heart Kinking. "If you don't want us hoth to be lulled where we are. "Why are you glad? Do you like him?" asked Savannah, quickly, looking keenly and searcliingly at Mary. "Like hiiu? What has that to do with the strike? 1 am glad, because if he had not won the strike would have had to go on indefinitely. Ho would never have given in." AT PAPA S REQUEST. our untutored way can Bnt*Dp uip. it, biteth like a serpent and stingeth like a spider." about in the direction in which the sound seemed to come, her hand came against a small, squarely-made box. Wondering what it was she picked it up, and found that the ticking came from within it. you must got away at once." O- "If you force me, of course I can't resist seven men." She said this in a tone that roused him again, ami with a violent effort he struggled to his feet, and, leaning heavily on the girl, and stumbling and dragging at every step, ho crawled slowly out into the night. BILL NYE GIVES A LETTER FROM A MEMBER OF THE SINGED CAT CO. So I held the jewels for her in my own hair till we were once more safe, and I also told her to lean on me, as the groom did not come with her on the wedding tour, harvesting having come on a week earlier than usual in Iowa that year. So there was no one else upon whom she could lean. I can still recall tho incident distinctly. "No, you're you can't; and so you'd better not try. We're none of us in a mood to txi played the fool with," lie added, meaningly. By Arthur W. Marchmont, B. A. "So do I," answered another of them; "hut I don't see how you're going to get it in this ease, Heside, I don't see tha£ she can do much harm even if she does loose her tongue." Suddenly, with a fearful rush of blood to the heart that almost choked the valves and stopped ihe blood flow, the truth Hashed upon her. It was the infernal machine with which the man had intended to wreck the mill. "Ugh! Sometimes I hate him!" cried Savannah, flashing out into suddcu In Which She I).-sires to Set the labile night—William Tells of the Doing* of a "What do you mean'to do, then?" asked Mary. "Quick, quick!" cried Mary. "Every step may mean the difference between life and death. For God's sake, make an e/Tort." race. 'He's a devil!" Was Twice Held Up. Cream Colored IIor and Relates How He AUTUOK CK "MHKR Hoadi.ky'S SKrmcT," "Madauns POWKR," "BY WIIOSK "That's just what wo haven't settled yet," lie replied. "You!d best inside anCl wait, while we talk this tiling out." And there was that in his voice and manner which urped Mary to do what he said. "Then you're .1 fool, that's all,'' broke in the man Ilamer. "In the first place she could get the whole lot of us prosecuted, and if you don't know what the cursed judges think of a eon to wreck and destroy a mill, I io. You'd think the infernal works wer6 built of human lives when these ■levils on the bench come to sentencing a man for touching 'em. I kuew what the business meant when I began with it, and I was ready to risk it. I'm ready to risk it now and take the Silencing of that wench yondoi 011 my own shoulders as well. I tell you this," he said fiercely, with a voluble oath, "I'm not going to gaol to save a lass like that from a squeeze 011 the throat or a knock on the si.nil. You can do what you like; but I nv.an what 1 say.'* "Savannah!" exclaimed Mary, in astonishment at the other's quick vehemence. "Why, what has he done to make you say that?" Hash." "Isa," &c., &c In a moment she saw why she had been ordered not to move for a certain time. They had planned to kill her by blowing the shed to fragments, and hail managed to gain time to get clear En Route in Northern D Kentucky, Shuno op 1894. \ The charming soubrette. Miss Matie Bollock, who does the soubretting and doubles on brass and stands on the door for tho Singed Cat Opera company, wishes me to insert tho following letter to set her right with the public regarding a domestic rumor: [Copyright, 1894, by Edgar W. Nye.l Soon the train began to back up. Whether the road agents were doing it or the engineer, vi et armis, I could not tell, and I hated to stick my head ont, fearing that it would be shot into and disfigured for life. We backed for about seven miles at a low rate of speed and stopped at a little coaling station, tho name of which I have forgotten, for that happened 17 years ago. iC'epyriglit, isa.', by the Author 1 * Thus urged by the girl's words, (Jibeon I'rawle made an attempt to quicken his steps, and as the air hail hastened his recovery of consciousness he was able to make better progress. "I hate him!" cried the girl again, the anger flashing out of the depths of her dark blue eyes while her faco crimsoned with passion. '"I hate hi»l If I had a chance I'd kill him!" one comes in the way," saiCl CHbecHL "You've ffot the key that you want. She walked to the hack of the shed anil waitoCl while the men talked together with hushed and anxious eager- MAIiV ASilWOHTH'8 PURIT. CHAPTER IX away Great heavens! The machine might explode :it any moment, and hurry her companion and herself into eternity Yet he was still unconscious; and she "What docs it all mean, Mary?" he asked, in a puzzled, confused, way. "1 don't understand it, lass." Mary Ashworth was a girl with plenty of courage, but she was nervous and ' frightened enough as slio ' Tom? "Savannah, what is it? What has he done to you to mako you like this to him?" said Mary, gently laying her hand on the other's. "What, on me?" answered Tom Carter. "Not me. Tain't very likely as I'm going to walk ahout with such an .ugly hit of evidence as that in my fwx'ket. What do you take me for? Hut it's all rurht." ness. It was not until that moment that she realized fully the real char actor and danger of the situation. "Don't try to think—don't try to do anything—but get as far away from that shed as possible," answered Mary "What has happened is this: You were struck by Joseph ilamer and knocked insensible, and then bound." shrank hack in her corner, whilst tl:C men clustered in the opening of th. Mr. Nyo Cincinnati, April 7. Pretty soon I nerved myself up sufficiently to look out and see what our fate was to be. We had also run out of everything to talk about, so I lifted the sunny head from my breast, where it had broken the stem of my pipe, which was in that pocket, and setting the fair one again upright in the seat I went cautiously outside. Hut she reflected then that the men had placed themselves in her power. She knew nothing of the criminal law . but sin1 could not but lDc aware thai what they had been plotting to do amounted to a terrible crime. Thus she felt that probably she held their liberty in her hands. At first she had thought of nothing except thai was hound so tightly that she couldn't st ir either foot. "What has ho done? Why, he— Ilut what is it to you?" she cried, snatching her hand from Mary's, and turning tin her with quick impetuous fury. "What do you come sneaking and trying to catch me tripping for, and saying that which you think will give you a hold over me, with your fawning touch and your false softness? . You are all false. Yon aro all against me. You are all devils together. But you don't catch mo tripping—not till I had my way and won my purpose. So don't you think it;" and with a loud, mocking laugh sho hnrrried out of the room, leaving Mary full of wonderment and fear at her strango words and stranger manner.Sir—*could yon be so kind as to use your Influence to give some Facks to the american People as regards a Scrap betwixt mo and mo Parents. .lied, talking together in low tones. ■She held the diabolical machine in her harm 11 lie one «la/.«M—atrairt to throw it away, afraid even to set it Jown again. afraid to move, lest it sin mil explode. At first she was too alarmed even to attempt to listen to what was said. She tried to think what would Ik- the best course for her to take—whether to make known her presence at once Where is it, then?" "Why, here, to be sure; along with Jos' t-viJs. Hut it isn't pood enough to wunv ouiiut with things like them, is it?" "Ah, yes, I remember. The devil wanted to kill you just because you had overheard our plans. Hut where are they all?" the Thing has been greatly Ki,'gsagu#rated in a I'eace I read in a dramatic Paper and does me Father Injustice tor It Goes on to say that he done mc*iip withe a stove led at home and then Jumped on me but h»lC the Kindest hearted man that ever Gladdened a heart and I love at evening to fool around tho old man and fondle his whiskers when the lire burns low. All she could do was to try and calm herself with a ha.- til." uttered prayer to Sod for help. and trust to the men letting her "AIT I only meant to make sun- that everything was in order. It'* t«o early to start yet. You're Mire you can do what has to be done in the time you say, Jos?" "Sure, I am. I'm a fool?" As otie determined and resolute mat taking a decided course will generally "They left yon and me there. Yon were insensible, and they liound me hands and feet, and then told me they were trying me to see whether I was to be trusted, and then—" without trouble, or simply to rely upon the chance of their not noticing her. #he would be able possibly to prevent them carrying out their plan—mid thi;- sho had determined to Clo at any risit I found that, as we stopped there an hour before on our way down, the fireman had forgotten his shovel accidentally, and now wo had returned  miles to get it. and to v- carry others with him, so St was now CTl.MTKR XI. TUf. KX PLOSION. I write this at his urgent Beqneast, for ho is a man \yliich will Brook no Wrong by tho press done to him or his'n. It was a ditlleult positio chances of their letting her go The This decisive tone influenced tin waverers. As Ihe thought of her peril forced -elf upon Mary with increasingplainDo you think to herself; but her chief pleasure had been that she would certainly be able to save Tom from the suspicion of haling hail any share in the work. "What do yon propose to do, then?' asked (Jibeon I'rawle, his voice s.Dtn-." what hoarse with nervousness at the other's manner, and ;*t the desperate Course which he knew underlay it. At that moment a terrific report raug out on the night air, seeming tc split the very heavens with a deafening crash. The earth seemed to shake and totter under their feet, and they were both thrown on the ground with great violence. Four years ago Father did come home from a clam bake with a cozy Jag on and he so far forgot himself as to kick mother in the stomach but on tho following day when he was onco more my own dear Father and Remorss trouble, supposing she declared her presence, were very small. On tlie other hand, the shed was too dark for her to be discovered, and if she kept quiet an opportunity might offer for her to creep out of the place without being jiess her natural resourcefulness anil coil rage began to assert themselves. If she was to save her life and that of her companion it was evident that she inn-I lose no time in malting the at tempt. "What are you going to do?" asked Jack Dilworth, in a surly voice. Quite different from this was the stopping of tho train years before on the main line and on tho Green River division. Whether Bill Allen was the engineer or Wilkins or Dannie Breeze or Fatty Harris, I'll never tell, but ae twilight was deepening intp evening the long train swayed slowly on a side track 40 miles from anywhere on earth and gently came to a standstill, with the squeak of brakes, the hiss of extra steam and that quiver and moan peculiar to a long train stopping on the wide plains in the teeth of a screaming blast. Now, however, the exceeding gravity and danger of her position flashed upon her. Her peril would be greai indeed if these desperate men, wlir had put themselves in her power, believed she had played the spy in CDrd. t to betray tliem. "Never you mind. What I'm going to do won't take no lives and won't break nolimbs. And if Tom Carter hero manages the job properly, so as I can get in and out again without leaving any traces, and if you chaps keep a sharp look out, and save us from any awkward little interruptions, we shall )xD all snug away home and in bed before anything happens. And when it do happen—well," he added, with a sniff and a short dry laugh of self satisfaction, "the whole blooming machinery won't be worth an old mule frame. That's all." Thus the hope of escaping un- "Why, give tho girl a tap oil the skull anil leave her here alone with the fuse. There won't lw much left to tell tales, I warrant yon," and the man I.:u;r'ied a short, callous, brutal l.inrli Rut Mary In tho days of her illness had a greater trouble than Savannah's eccentricity. Tom came only very seldom to tho cottage to ask after hen; and in all tho week that she lay in bed she did not once see him. Peen noti 1, coupled with the fear of consequences nhotiM she make lierself How was she to do it? Clearly, then* was but one way.. Ity some means or other the t wo must get away from the sheil before the explosion could take Mary was tho first to recover her self-possession, and rose from the ground with afeelingof intense thankfulness to God for the escape which she bad hail from death. Gibeon l*rawle was unable to rise for some time; but Mary, when once she had sat isfled herself that ho was unhurt, felt that she need not stay longer with him. lillO docldcd her it into a cnmpr of thitHhod It was a relief when at last tlie_\ turned to her and ltegan tn putqnes "Vim mean to liiurd said Gibeon; and more it, i!o I Jut how? " to her was a heap of hay, anCl she Iv.-l tu got hehinCl this, so that if a 1 i;rht. was to In; hrouf'ht lie woiihl less likely; tions. Hairier was spokesman, and hii manner was stern, hard and sharp. men shrank at the word Ciheon I'rawlo lay in a state of un Mlsness, bound hand and foot- She saw Reuben Gorringo before she saw Tom. Ho had called at the cottage every day when ho had learnt of her illness, and had brought her fruit and flowers and delicacies. by cl "I don't mean going to gaol for ! You can call it wiiat \DDu like," into the pi "Who sent you hero to spy on us?" he said, bluntly an«l suddenly, turning to Mary. "If you tell us all, we may let you go." D\\ • 'curely she could only guess— hile she hersejf llaCl her feet fastened to 1 svvered llamer. "Well, I'm not f. it," said ClilDeo:i. I'lease yourself. :sg to l*D a party to I don't like it, and together so firmly that she could not move them oven In the slightest de- "You can get home now, Gibeon, can't you?" she asked. Everybody jumped up and looked at everybody else. The sleeping car porter admitted that it was not a stopping place there for passenger trains, and that a* everything was on time something else must bo the matter. 1 anxiously, watching1 motion of the group of "You have been ill, indeed," he said, taking her hand, and looking into her eyes with a look of gravo concern on his dark face. mi'n, and when she found they all joined in talking or laughing, their attention. being thus absorbed, she moved an inch or two at a time. Thus the "No one," answered the girl, readily. "I was not sent here by anyone, anCl did not como here to spy." I'm not going to do it." gie« "Yes," ho replied somewhat faintly. "Are you going?" "Well, yon needn't be so blessed secret about it. Only take care your time fuse don't set the place on fire, else yon may do thepaffer just as good a turn as you want to do him a bad one—through the insurance money, f don't like your dynamite; it's pesky stuff to handle." "Then take your hook nut of t'ii and leave more room for men win haven't got white livers and chicker nouns! cut it, growieu i lamer Her hands were free. She turned, therefore, and, choosing the spot within her reach which seemed tlio best "How came you to know we wen point? to meet here? Don't lie," ho said roughly and warningly. "Yes, I want to get homo. Mother will wonder where I am, aud this explosion will frighten her." "And you have been winning battles over tho men," alio said, and smiled, not very brightly, although the man's sympathy touched her. noise they m;ule prevented them liearing her movements. In this way little by little she managed to crawl behind the heap of fodder and crouch down. suited to her purpose, she laid down the deadly little machine as lightly and carefully as possible. ■Finally six or seven young chaps dared each other to go forward and find oul what was wrong. They found the engineer standing proudly by his machine, and to inquiring passengers he replied haughtily by pointing over his shouldei down the road ahead, apparently four 01 five miles, to where the line of the horizon seemed to be bisected by the iron track of the railroad, and at that point evidently booming right toward us, as though we had no rights, was a blazing, twinkling headlight. I fiercely "Mary," he called to her, as sho was moving away, "are you going to say anything about what you heard tonight; or will you leave it to mo?" "I did not know you were going to meet. I came here by chance—quite by chance." "No, I'm not going away, either." answered (Jibeon, sullenly and yet half "Yes, wo havo won. But it is as much your victory as mine," he said. frightened. "Or, if I go and anything happens, I shall make a clean breast of it." Moments were growing preoious. Every second seemed an hour, and she trembled and shook as she tried to estimate how long it would probably be before the explosion might bo expected. Death or escape could only be a matter After a time the girl began to listen eagerly to what was said. "It won't set it on fire, lad, nevef fear; and it ain't dj*nnmito that I'm going to use. lint it's something that'll do the job all right, don't yon fret. ( know what I'm after," said the man who had been addressed as Jos. "Hut you were here when we entered. How was that! How came you to be near the shed at all?" "Those men tried to take my life," exclaimed tho girl, shuddering. "I had done them no harm, and should havo done nothing. Hut now I shall make no promises." "Why? What do you mean?" with a quick look. This "What timo was Gibeon to bo here? It's past it now, ain't it?" asked one of the men. "You sneaking houndl" cried Ilainer. and before any of them could interfere he rushed at Gibeon, struck hint to the ground, and bound him hand and foot. "That you took tho same side as I. If you had gono against mo I should not havo attempted to fight You are all In all to me still, Mary." "I tell you it was all by chance. I was walking on the footpath outside, and was going back to the village when I heard your voices. I didn't know who you were, and had no faiuD} to be met by anyone, so I turned bach and came in here to wait while you passed. Then you came in, and 1 couldn't get out." of moments. "Not later than nine o'clock," replied another, "lie ought to bo hero by She began with quick, trembling fingers to feel the knots of the cord which bound her feet. In her, agitation she began to pray for strength; but in tho midst of the prayers she stopped as a new thought occurred to her. "Don't bring me into It, lass," whined tho man. "Let trie bo a witness to bear out what you say. I know all the details. I could fix it on the others there." came upon him like a Great dark Wave and there was no Hair of tho same dog in the house to Cure the bite, oh, it was tough to see mo father put his head in Maw's Lap and weep over what he had done the day before In his Eggszube ranee. THE BRIDE. now." "Well, I'm hanged if I see what we're wanted for at all," growled Jack Dilwortli. The girl's rather pale faco flushed under tho look which accompanied these words. "He's always late," growled a third. "You shall stop now, and have a share of the treat you didn't expect," ho said, as ho rose to his feet. "Look here, mates, we're in this business together, .sink or swim one with another. You understand that?" he said, pausing and looking from one to tho other. "Ah, and he takes precious good care to be out of the way when the fun begins, too," said one, whom Mary recognized as Jack Dilwortli, the man who "Don't you? Well, do you think I'm going to work the thing all myself for you to benefit? Not me. We stand in this little matter all together, sink or swim. If you're afraid, you'd better say so, and 1h; quick about it." "Mr. Gorringe"—she began. Passengers began to breathe more freely and to murmur: "What an escape!" "How in the midst of life we are in debt," etc., and I started a purse for the engineer. My coolness and sang froid never desert me when there is a hat to be passed around. I collected as  and was meeting with good success when an elderly man from Connecticut, with red throat whiskers and two pairs of spectacles, came along and asked what was the row. The girl's lip curved in licr 6Corn at the man's cowardice. "Stay. I forgot myself, Mary. I am orry. I won't offend again. I know •vhat 3*ou would say. But the look of i'ou so pale and weak and feeble made ne forget myself and my promise— •verything but my feelings. I am a elfish brute. But there, it's past. Forfive me." And he. held out his hand. No father was more kind hearted and once he did a clog on the same bill with Edwin Booth and Marsh Wilder for the Actors* Fund of New York, but once ho got shot in the calf of tho leg by an Enraged man who took me futhor for a burglar and now his qoul Joy is in acting as my Shapperono when I am on the road. He often tells mo that I am of good lineage and that my strango beauty does not really como through the Bullocks but through a great Lord who visited America over a Sentry ago and wronged «omo of our folks after which ho skipped back to his castle and married well. had attacked Tom. "lie kept out of the way t'other night when we tried to square accounts with that young blackleg, Tom Roylanco." "So you stopped and l' 4pned to all that passed? Did you hear all that way said?" Why not attempt to uscapo filone? If she left Gibeon sho would probably be able to crawl away to a sufficiently safe distance. "I havo saved your lifo for you; for the rest, you must tako your clianca with tho others." "Who said I was afraid?" answered ! Dilworth, hotly. "If no one was more I afraid than me, it would be all right." "Yes," they said, cowed by his mail ner and his violence, though not relish lug the position at all. " lrff* van c^apulfl, Jack," said another, laughing at £h« reference to the other's injury. "Ah!" cried several of the men "1 heard a great deal." All that he had done to harm Tom, and ail that(iilDeon had threatened to ilo, occurred to her mind to justify her in leaving him. But she reflected how ho had endeavored to save her from the fate which she believed the other men h:ul planned, and it was for making that attempt he hail been left to share with her the fate. "Sparo me, Mary; for God's sale* don't bring me into it," ho called to her as sho walked away, and when she did not answer ho fell back on the ground and almost wept in his alarm and anxiety. "Why didn't you go when you found we were talking about matters thai didn't concern you?" j "That's all right," said Oilieon i Prawle, quickly, Interposinp to make : peace. "There's no need to talk alxmt anyone lDeing afraid, Jos, nor of anyi body standing out. The boss has done ' us all a bad turn, and we owe him a grudge for it, and mean to pay him. Now, what about that clew to show | Tom liovlanoe's hand in this?" "Then you agree to stand by me and do what i say?" She gave him hers for a moment, and then . withdrew it. She could not be angry with him. "Aye, curse the younp devil," growled the man, angrily and fiercely. In reply. "I'll make him sorry he ever met me that night. See If I don't." "Yes," said the men again. "Side tracked for an east bound. train," said I, collecting as I spoke and rapidly changing a $10 bill so as to get |5 out of it. "I had a reason," said the girl. "Ah! hear that!" cried some of the others again, this time angrily. "What reason?" asked her qnfl* tioner The whole conversation, except ®n« or two of tho fiercer Heuveatf** bet ween (iibeon and 11 timer, had taken place in tones too low to reach Mary's ears, although the little she had heard had been enough to frighten her exceed- The girl's nerves had been sorely shaken by tho events of tho night, and she was anxious toget homo. The I»ath lay near the scene of tho explosion, and as sho passed she met numbers of people of all classes rushing out from tho village to learn the cause of the commotion. "Now tell me,are yon really stronger? I want to know that particularly; I have reasons.-" Will you give this fact to the publlo sir, and say tliat I am yet with tho Singed Cat Specialty and Opera company though offered a perfect pudding to go with tho primes' Billygoat Attraction or to jlo specialties in a Ripper-toro company for a summer snap. "Shut up. Jack; what do you want making such a devil of a row  We've pot something more to talk "Side tracked for your mother's aunt's cat on your father's side!" he ejaculated. "I teach school in Yale college by time and get $200 for teachin as- "Yes, I am quite strong." about than a tC»uC- t 1 of tlu: calf of your log." •'I nhaH not say." "You'd better. It won't pay to trifle This decided her. Sho could not play tho traitor in such a way. " "What caused your illness?" Mo Father sends lovo and says if you want a good man on the door for your show he can do tlio work well and knows about it fully, having been "in the Door" for eleven years. Ho is Youmorous sometimes and would bo full of spirits if ho had money. Ho killed 8 niggers in Now Orleans once and since that he has been moro sad. It weighs on him. lie offered $100 once to any man who would jerk the Sad out of his Llfo for him and not givo him pain. It is when thin great sadness comes over him that ho kicks mother aginst tho rales. "I'd like that for my part of the business," cried Dilworth. with US." ingly Sho stooped toward liim and shook him as violently as sho could. Sho pulled his hair, pinched him and rolled his head sharply from side to side, her efforts growing more and more violent In her agitation, as she thought of the precious moments that were passing. I Jut she could make no impression upon "I—I scarcely know. A chill, most likely. Caught on the night when that strange explosion took place. Did you ever lind out what that was?" asked Mary, shuddering involuntarily at tho recollection of the time. "II—kIi!" cried a man,  who was standing outside. "I can hear Some one coming. II—Bh!" "I shall not Kay," repeated Mary, firmly. She was determined not to bring Tom's name in if she could help it Hamer now turned to her. "It'll bo done all right, lad, don't you fear." said Gibeon. "There are some of us who don't hive him a bit more than you do. We're just going to see that something belonging to him is found by the watchman to-night iu a way tliat shows he must have been hanging round the place." "It'll take a clever bit of spinning to make much of a yarn out of a bit of short staple stuff like that," said one of the men. "How are we to know that, yon don't mean to speak of what you've seen and •■card to-night?" he asked roughly. For a moment sho stood amongst them, listening to tho expressions of alarm and wonder that were freely indulged in on all hands as tho people clustered round tho site of tho explo- There was silence among them in an instant; and Mary heard some one go ivast, whistling as he went It seemed to her that he was hurrying. "Ah, I thought we hhould come to lomu secret reason directly.* I suppose you were told to say that by those who sent you." "Those who know me know that I keep iny word," answered the girl. "Never. But I have my suspicions." "What are they?" She deliberated a moment whether she slioald call for help; but consideration showed her that such a course would 1m? foolish. "I daresay they do." he replied, gruffly, "hut then I'm not one of those who do know you. 1 want proof—that's what I want." sion "I believe an attempt was intended to bo mado upon tho mill and that in some way, how 1 know not, it was frustrated." "I was not sent," said Mary. "I have told you the truth." him. Presently, to her astonishment, Mary recognized Ilamer. He was moving actively about, searching everywhere among the debris, indulging in loud exclamations of astonishment and curiosity as to what had happened. After awhile, Mary observed two more of tho men, whose manner and looks were in striking contrast to the easy indifference of Hamer. They were pale, and it struck the girl that they were searching for what they feared to find. They stood for a moment ill conference, and the girl judged from Darner's gestures that he was endeavoring to reassure the other two. But you can say that as for mo, me father hasn't dono me up for over two years now Cuz I got mo eyo on him and if you ask him how he lost them 8 front teeth you'll notice that ho will flush up a little aud walk off. "Are you going to tell the whole truth?" asked the man. There was no time, however, for anything hut action, and she tried to think of a fresh course. Probably the man had a knife in his pockets which would euablo her to cut tho cords which hound her. Hastily sho felt in his pockets, and to her Intense relief found in one of them a large clasp knife. She drew it out, and after some little difilculty cut the cords which had bound her feet, and tried to "I can't give you more than iniword," said Mary. Marv was silent. The next minute she was more than glad she had kept silent "Yes, to those questions which I choose to answer." "But there is another matter I want to speak of. As tho bother with tho people is now over, there'll be no need to take such caro where tho hands lodge. You have dono well to keep Savannah Morbyn here so long, but now sho can look for some other nlace " "Are you going to keep her on at the mill?" asked Mary. I could give a good musical and clog number between your readings If you liko and Cheer people up after your youmeroua remarks if you Chows to do so. "Here comes Gibeon," cried the man "That's as it may be," answered Oib"l)ut when tilings are in the ,tate of Hurry ami excitement that'll come after this business, folks ain't piling to be too dainty about their suspi ions. Hut now time wo were thinking of moving. We'd better not D out altogether. You four, who have rot to act as scouts, had better go off, two together. 1 shall follow you, and .' •sand Torn will coine on when we made certain that the coast is clear. Have you got the tools?" "They're in the corner there, just buried a bit out of sight," answered Jos. "Dvcii, men, wnat aio jou mean M do if wo hadn't caught you before we left the abed?" "CDh yes. you can; and that's just what you'll have to do." who was look i ng' out. "Are you there, lads?" eon "How can I?" asked the girl. asked the "I'll show you. You can give us proof that you can be trusted by just stopping here and making no effort tC. go away for a certain time. I)o you understand? You've nothing to do but just to keep where you are ami make no noise. 1 f you do that for a quarter of an hour, you shall go free. Itut if you stir hand or foot, or try to call out so that either of us hear you, well, you'll bring down punishment on your own head. You've got to watch tliie skunk." ho said, kicking Gilieon I'rawle, "till we come back to fetch Please send mo 0 papers and oblige, Matib Bullock, ncwC\i)ii.-r. "I)ul you mm; hiui?" "Who?" cried one or two toother. "Why, that knobstick, Tom KfDylanco. That was him just went by. I've been doppinfr him." "Why the devil didn't you knock him in the head?" burst from Jack lDil'or call mo to Clo it, if you "I meant to try and stop yon from carrying out your plot to destroy the machinery of the mill," answered Mary, boldly. Soubretto Singed Cat Oix;ra Co.—on route. We came through tho town of Grand Rivers, Ky., tho other day. Wo only stopped a moment for a largo strawberry blond shote to back up against a hot box and warm his person. "You nioant to betray us, did you?" asked the man, and his voice was harder and his manner harsher than before. cry of fear and pain she fell to the ground immediately. The rush of released blood when the cords had Ihvii loosened seemed to numb her, giving her much pain and robbing her of the use of her limbs. Tho feeling passed, however, in » short time, and then she cut the cords with which Gibeon I'rawle had lieen bound. She tried once more to rouse him; but all to no purpose. She could not restore biin to consciousness. Sho was at her wits' end what to do. The time was Hying so fast. Both their lives were set, on the cast of a few moments; and a horrible death must overtake them both unless he could be roused. jump up. "\ou would not have me turn away those who stood by me in the time of troublo, would you?" he asked, not quite at his ease. "But there is no reason why she should not get lodgings elsewhere." tronomy tew. Tenderfoot and pilgrim as I am and not conversant with the wild and crumby west, you'll excuse me for puttin in my oar, but that North American headlight on the horizon is not a part of the rollin stock of this road, and you've side tracked us here for two hours waitin for the planet Venus to go by." And he was right about it too. I was so mortified that I got on the wrong car with $85 in my hat. How wondrous is the starry vault of heaven, and how strange that after centuries of reverberating thunder in the celestial dome tho milky way has never soured I BILL NYE. SIDE TRACKED FOR VENUS. wi irth "I meant to save the mill and my means of earning my living." The town was once for a few weeks thronged with people, all quarreling over lots and struggling to bo the first on the ground. Now this old yellow hog, with white eye winkers, owns the place. The massive hotel rose to the second story and stopped there. Tho school building, untrodden by little feet, stands with its hand behind its ear apparently listening for the echoes of childish laughter which nover, never come. were afraid." When they separated, Mary moved to a point where she could intercept them, and then sho approached them unob- "IlooftUHc t.!iorc's a worse business in store for hlin than a cracked skull. Jack; art you yourself .'11 Bee, before this j ib's answered Uibeon Prawle "Ah, you're one of the knobsticks, aren't you? And you meant to betray us to the man who has been robbing us in this .strike, so that you might scrupe a little dirty favor at his hands?" served. "I don't wish to turn her out," Faid Mary. "Mother and I are used to having her now in tho house, though at first I was a little scared at her goings on at times. She's a bit queer." over,* with oatll Just as she reached them sho overheard Hamer say to the others: "Can yon manage without striking light? There might be somebody him." What's tliat?" asked other "Why can't I go now? I won't say a word to anyone. Indeed 1 won't." "Nonsense, men. Go away and sink your fears in a pot of ale, and find some Dutch courage if you can't manage any of your own. How thodevil can either of them have escaped? Tho girl hadn't a notion of tho plant, and she was bound hand and foot, even if she had; while that white-livered coward, Prawle, couldn't have got back his few silly wits in time to tell her anything. What chance do you suppose you would have had if you'd been nursing that machine? Why, there wouldn't have been as much of you left clinging together as would cover a shilling. Hah! I've no patience with skunks. Dead tongues can't clatter, that's the long and the short of it." "What do you say if we put the whole job on to iiis shoulders?** eagerly lllK.llt." "I meant to try and save yon from the commission of a crime," said Marv, again speaking confidently and bravely. "Eh? How do you mean a bit queer? What docs she do?" "Yes; I can do all right, I think," ho said. "1 know where to put my hand oti them." f "No, I don't think you will," said Ilamer, significantly, "but you've got to give us a little proof of it, that's all. Put out your hands. 'Safe hind, safe find,' my girl, is my motto," and the miscreant laughed as ho seized the girl's hands and bound them tightly together. "Now for your pretty little feet; just something to keep your ankles warm," and ho chuckled coarsely as he fastened her feet, making her sit down on a heap of hay. "That 'ud lDe a good un," cried one or two with a lanwJi. "Hut you couldn't do it, could you?" "Oh, sho doesn't do anything," answered Mary, with a feeble laugh. "Hut she says curious things." The Herald office didn't even have time to get out an equestrian bill, and it is too clean to show activity. The editor hardly had time to utter the words "Dinna ye hear the slogan?" before the town had taken wings and fled. His rusty slogan, with $10 express charges on it, still stands behind the door. As he spoke, Mary, whose eyes had ?rown accustomed to the darknesH.saw liiin turn in her direction, and her heart sank *vtthi" 1 — '•-hen she heard bun moving straight towaril tlie corner where she was hiding. "That's very good of you," answered the man, with a sneer. "Having accidentally overheard 11s, you wanted to turn the information to our moral good. You're a nice lass, yon are." "Then the sooner she is out of the house tho bettor," said Gorringe, and Mary was astonished at the earnestness of his tone. "Couldn't IV Well, wait a bit and »sec. lint now, what alDout things? In the first place, I've got news for you, ind nioe news it is, too." There seemed to 1ms nothing to do except to try and carry the deadly machine to a distance suflioieutly great from the shed to render its explosion comparatively harmless. She tried to nerve herself to do this; and wished she had done it tho moment she had lHDen able" to get free from the cords that had bound her. How far must she try to carry it? How far dared she carry it? It was indeed a ••ase of daring. It might explode while sho was carrying it; and she shuddered as this thought struck her. It was not a bright night, and she might trip; she might let tho horrible thing fall; or a hundred things might happen to prevent her carrying it far away in safety. The Mesmc rint's I n happy Assistant. What is the hardest calling known to mankind? Without hesitation we award the palm to the vocation of mesmerist's assistant. This unhappy being appears to get all the kicks, but mighty few of the halfpence. Such, at all events, was the experience of one Bernard McGnire, who appeared before the Wigan magistrates one day on a charge of being drunk. He admitted the soft impeachment, but pleaded that his life was not worth living unless teiu|Dered by an occasional bout of intoxication. Employed by a mesmerist to demonstrate the truth of the "science," Bernard had to affect perfect unconcern when pins and needles were thrust into his tender flesh. But sometimes skeptics refused to accept this immunity from pain as a proof, basely attributing it to an abnormally thick skin. For their conversion, therefore, Mr. MeGuire had to drink a fearful beverage composed of castor oil, neatsfoot and paraffin in equal parts. He gave a short, bitter, angry laugh, which some of the others echoed. Gorringe rose directly afterwards to GO. Q "What is it?" cried some one when he stopped. Sin; held her breath, and her heart beat so loud and so fast that she was afraid it might In-tray her as it throbbed and thumped against her ribs. She kept as motionless as death, in ttie hope that the man might bo able to get whaf lis wanted without noticing her presence. "Why, that a lot of cowards mean going back to work in a day or two, and that they've licen to Oorfinge and sold us. It s all through those hands who wouldn't, come out when they ought to have done, and that Itoylancc Is at the bottom of ' all." "One more question. What do you mean to do when you getaway—if you get away at all, that is?" "By the way, will you tell Tom cat the new mule frames will be in catly to-morrow, and that the earlier he can get at them the better?" He did not even have time to call a Lalt before the booni burst and broke all tho window glass in town. I presume there are 150 houses, large and small, at Grand Rivers, but no geraniums grow in tho windows. No wheelbarrows to fall over stand by the open gate. No baby carriages scare the horses on the street. No honest Waterbury watchdog comes out to gnaw the ear of the sandy shote or bark at the train. As we pause there to fulfill our time card provisions, Hie thin, cream colored hog eats a little axle grease from tho cars, warms his person against a hot box and goes back to his melancholy exile, rooting up surveyors' stakes aud eating the angleworms that grow where once the livery stable was at. "Now, you understand, and don't you play any nonsense with me," he added in his fiercest and most savage manner. "If you nuike the least sound it'll bring me back, and I shan't stop then at tying your wrists together. Next time tho noose'll go round your "What do you mean?" "What do I mean? Why, how are you going- to use the information you've got by accident, as you call it? You say you're not a spy?" "I will if I sec"him," answered Mary, not meeting the other's eyes. "No, j'ou'ro right, Jos Ilamer. Dead tongues can't clatter. But you're not a murderer yet, for all your effort." lie groped along, muttering something a Im Dut the darkness, and feeling his way by the side of the shed. When he was within a few inches of her he stopped, and she heard him, and almost felt him, stoop down and begin to clear away the hay from thegrouud, not a foot from where she crouched. "Won't he be in, then, to-night?" "Curfie him." saiii one or two, suiting the action to the word. "I'm no spy," answered Mary. "ltut you overheard this plan of "I don't know," sho said, with a little hesitation. "If it's important you'd better leave word at his cottage." neck As Mary said this, sho moved close to the three men and looked steadily at them. Tho two looked round as if wishing to run away. But Ilamer returned her gazo sturdily, steadily anil defiantly. "Don't be in a hurry to send him to hell," said Gibcon, with an ugly laugh; "there'll bo a little bit of liother weirth keeping him on earth for a bit longer ours?" "Now, mates, you'd better go," he said, turning to the others, and speaking in a whisper. "I'm going to give the fuse about eight minutes, so that we can get to the other end of tho village; bear a light. Carter." and lie bent down, and, putting a key into a small square case which he took from the ground, he turned it once or twice. Then he grjwled out some fresh words of menacing caution, while he put it down close by tho girl and went out Into the darkness. As soon as he was outside, he made off at the top of his speed after the other men who had already vanished. "Oh!" was all tho reply that Reuben Gorringo made; but Mary seemed to read in It plenty of hidden meaning. Sho blushed, and then, woman-like, began to make excuses for Tom. "Yes." "If you'd pot away unseen you meant to make use of the information by trying to balk the plan?" yet. I know a thing- or two. You leave him, anil if he don't pet more than paid out in full, my name's not She could hear him breathe. Then he bepan to move a little of. the earth flooring of the shed, and Borne of It actually lav upon her dress. He rose for a moment/and Mary felt him standing close to her. Then she was conscious that he was stoopinp over her with his hands stretched out anil down, and the next instant she felt his fingers touch first her hair and then her shoulders. "Yes." Still, it had to be done; there was no other course, except that of running away and leaving Cibeon Prawle to his fate. She went to tho 6pot where she had placed the infernal machine, picked it up as gently as possible, and prepared to hurry away from the shed. "What do you mean? Who are you calling murderer? Who are you? What do vou want bothering me?" "He has been so busy at the mill lately that he has not had much time to be here," she said. Gibeon." "Well, then, if you pet away now you've been seen, how are you poing touse the information you've pot?" "Serve the hound ripht," said the "That indifference may do with others, but not with me," answered tho girl, firmly. Then as a thought struck her, sho added: "All I say Gibcon I'rawle is ready to confirm." This trying test was applied to show that when a person is mesmerized he loses all sense of taste. But poor Bernard never got into that happy condition. The full flavor of the hideous mixture dominated his palate every time he went tfcrougli the torture. But it did not end even there. Tha mesmerist, foreseeing that no human interior could stand such cruel treatment, oaused his assistant to take an emetic after each performance. No wonder that the uuhappy man became so low spirited that he had to seek solace in drink of a more cheerful kind. And what remuneration did he get for thus sacrificing himself on the altar of "science?" Only a sovereign a week, with 2 shillings extra for each consumption of "the mixture as before."— Dublin Irish News. others. "I didn't say I was poinp to use it at "Nay, not at tho mill," answered Gorringe, his heart beating high at the knowledge that Tom seemed to be neglecting her. "I have not kept him late once. He must have some other reason; some work at home, perhaps," he said. "Uut now, to business," said Gibeon. "Are we still all of the same mind and determined to deal out justice to the man who has treated us in this way?" all." You remember how everybody gets panicky when the train stops out on the plains if you have been there during the road agent season and how there is always some one raised up on tho Mexican spur of the moment, as it were, to tell everybody else what tho matter is. He does not really need to know what the matter is. Just something to tell the people is all he needs. It attracts attention and gives the passengers something to talk about till the truth is ascertained. "Don't chop your words with me, pirl," said the man, fiercely. "Answer As she (lid so a sound carac from her sompanion. IIo sighed and moved and muttered some inarticulate sound, Despite the fearsome burden she held in her hand, Mary stopped and bent over to him. Then she called to him, and was pi ad when he muttered some sort of reply. the. question: Do you mean to po and tell anyone what you've heard, or don't you? Out with the truth." "ine nounar muttereu mo man. Then, sullenly: "What do you want?" "Yes, of course we are, mate," said one of the men, impatiently. "What elnc are we here for?" Knowinp she was discovered, slio spranp up to make a rush from the place, while the man cried out: Mary now thought how best she could serve her lover, and framed her conditions in that view. But she understood the look he pave her when shaking hands, and she felt humiliated at finding herself in such a position. "That depends," answered lookinp him boldly in the face- Mary, The first feeling of the girl was one of intense relief that they had gone. She had feared violence of some kind, and now that she thought the dread of violence had passed her spirits rose. She ■ determined that she would not move until they came back, and thus show them she was to lie trusted, and she leaned back on the heap of hay and waited silently and with a lighter heart than she had known for some hours. * "Good," Raid Gibeon. "Ilavn you thonpht any more about how you mean to do what's wanted to be done, .los?" he asked, turning to one of the men, whose name was Jos I lamer. At this reply some of the others made threateninp gestures and rapped out an oath or two in their excitement. "Depends on what?" asked the man. "J shall say nothing if by to-morrow evening till the men who were In the shed last night have left the village, never to return. Those who stop will find themselves In the hands of the police." "By God, lads, look out; there's some one in the shed." When her mother came into the room sho found Mary lost in her The next moment the girt felt herself caupht by the arm, a light was kindled, and Gibeon Prawle, holding it over his head, glared into her face, while the other men pathcred round her with surprise, fear ayd wrath stamped upon their faccs. Next, sho ran quickly from the shed, and placing the deadly machine on the ground some little distance away, ran back at once to recommence her efforts to rouse him and get him away from the place. When she got back ho was sitting up, dazed and giddy, and perplexed at his condition and surroundings.dreams. "Aye, that'll be all ripht. v Yon pivc mc ten minutes, or at the outside fifteen, in the engine room, and I'll bet my last tanner that there won't bo no work inside the place for a month — or six months, for that matter. All you've pot to do is get me inside, and then leave me to do the rest." "On whether you intend to try and carry out the plan. If nothing's done. "Why don't you marry him, Mary?" she asked, after awhile, when sho heard that Gorringo had been In. "Why don't you marry him?" Onco I was riding south from Cheyenne to Denver on one of Egbert's passes to participate as the honored guest iu a largo banquet presided over by Gene Field, when the train stopped suddenly iu the middlo of a big prairie dog metropolis, and an eastern man just across the aisle from me turned pale as he ejaculated through a real camel's hair mustache:I shall say nothing; if anythinp happens, f shall say what I have heard and seen to-nlpht." •TIIRY SAT THAT TOM KOTI.ANCK IS A THIEF." CHAPTER XII. Monte Carlo Roulette. On the following day Mary was unable to go to the mill. The strain and the excitement of the previous night had made lifer ill, and she had to keep her bed. In the evening she was worse, and for some days she suffered from a species of low fever. On the third day Savannah told her that the strike was over and that several of the more prominent strikers had left the "Why should I prefer him to Tom, mother?" was her reply. "If you think Reuben Gorringo is the better man, you're the only body in Walkden llridge that thinks so." Professor Karl Pearson, a mathematician of European repute, writes in The Fortnightly Review a curious article on the well known theme of the probability of ohances, taking roulette at Monte Carlo as the practical example. By means of applied mathematics he finds out exactly what are the odds for or against certain events hapenlng at roulette, and having attested tables showing what are the actual facts at Monte Carlo he found deviations from the fixed laws of probabilities. That led him to tho conclusion that Motto Carlo roulette is, from the standpoint of exact science, "the most prodigious swindle of the nineteenth century." "The devil you will!" cried the man fiercely. "Then we'll have to take steps to prevent you, that's all;" and with that he went awajr, and. drawing CH AITEIt X. TACto TO FACB WITH CRItTAIN DKATTT. Then it suddenly occurred to her tD doubt whether this was so, and whether the men had really gone to the mill how In order to carry out their horrible plan while she lay bound in the shed. "Gibeon, Gibeon!" sho called, "we •nustget away from here at once." "Who's that? Who aro you?" murmured the man. "Mary Ashworthl" "We'll manage that. Young lien Drnce was to have watched to-nipht; but he's ofT; and so old lien takes his place, and you know what sort he is for his liecr, tie's Ixjen puz/.linp all the afternoon, with Tom Carter here, and he's tight now, isn't he, Tom?" The exclamation burst from several of the men simultaneously, and for a "imo the fear which held the pirl made cr unable to speak. - the others round him, recommended the private consultation. fro BE rONTIhTED.] It was now evident to her that the mail who had been questioninp her was trying to impress some opinion or plan njxm the rest. One or two others were seeminply reluctant to accept the counsel he offered, and expostulated with him. Amonp these was Gibeon I'rawle. The nrpuinent increased in strength as the vehemence of the "Me Gawd, we are held up!" "I'm Mary pwerod the girl. -Mary Ashworth," an- Thu IHIThtmicc, We could see nothing wrong, but something was wrong, else we would not have paused in a shoreless sea of bunch grsiss 600 miles from hard timber enough to make an ax helve. "What were you doing here, you spying hussy?" said Jack Dilworth, pushing in frontof the rest and thrusthis lean lonp features into hers. "Mow came you here?" At this sho sat up and thought foi the first time of Gibeon I'rawle, like her, bound hand and foot, though, uu like her, unconscious. She strained her eyes in his direction and thoT. called to him: "What's happened? Where am I?" ho said, passing his hand across his eyes. Cliolly (couching)—It'sdoosid English, you know, to smoke these pipes. But why cawn't we inhale the smoke like we do fwum clgawetts? village, "Aye, lad, that he is," said the man addressed, with a ,lauph at his own cunning. "lie's more'n tipht — he's downripht boozed, and as muddleheaded as a fool." "Your life is In danger; and if you don't make hasto and get away from hero, you'll bo blown to pieces!" cried the girl, choosing what she thought the best appeal, that to his "lias (Jibeon Prawle gone with the rest.?" she asked. "No," answered Savannah. "I hear that he's been round to Gorringo to beg to bo taken back again. But, of course, ho isn't to be." ' Dolly (surprised)—Why, deali boy I You ah smoking tobacco now.—Puck. A bride in from Keokuk put her jewels in her hair swiftly, and her little lizard skin purse and ticket went down tho biick of her neck mighty cheerful, I thought. "1 wish to po," said Mary, as firmly as she could. Hut it was a dillicult task even to seem collected. GHDeon." A of IIIh Ilare. "Ho has joined a suicide club, lias he?" "Ho has," "You can pet Jos inside, can't you, Tom, without his being seen by old "I daresay you do, my lass; but you're not poinp any more for that," cried Dilworth, with a brutal lauph. "Anyways not yet. Wo didn't expect the pleasure of your company, you know; but now you're hero you'll have to stop." speakers prew. She conld not catch any reply, but listened intently. As sho listened thm she heard a faint ticking sound. It1 was like the quick tick, tick, tick of her alarm clock, but sounded as if mullled. What could it be? fears. Two armed men entered a Chicago slub and captured $400 from 10 poker players on Wednesday morning. Thia is a case where a pair boats a full house. —New York World, Reversing the Rule. Then Gibeon Prawle broke away from the others, went to the pirl and spoke to her. It liad the effect sno intended, aim in a moment ho was 011 his feet. "Coino with me, instantly," said Mary, leading tho way. "I should think not," cried Mary, "after having been tho cause of all the trouble." To open a conversation with her I said: "Madam, excuse tho bluntness of a penniless frontiersman in cavalry trousers faced and reseated with buckskin, but if it should turn out to be Indian? instead of banditti t'»C*y would get all those priceless gems anil moss agates of yours at the aatno time they took your beautiful scalp, and they would swap tho whole thing at Antelope station or Evans, Colo., for a liquid which we i§ Hen?" dI am not surprised. I have always said I10 was willing to do his utmost for the welfare of his fellow  New York Press. "Ilen wouldn't see an army to-night," replied the man. "I'll pet him in right ipnough, and go and talk to lien all tho time he's there. Stand him another pint, maybe. Start him on the boozo and he's like a train going down grade [with tho brake busted." "Then our part will be to keep a out all round to see that no "Mary, will you promise never to breathe a word of what has passed tonipht, if, as you say, tho whole plan is dropped?" "Gorringo is in high spirits at having beaten the men," said Savannah, "lie thinks he's done it alL That's always the way with your masterful men." The man staggered a few steps after her, and then tried to clutch at the posts of tile shed; he missed them and fell witli a heavy thud to the ground. She bent down her head, and stooping forward liecame aware that the cord with which her hands had been hastily bound had slipped. With a quick jerk or two sho loosened it a little more, and then succeeded in crettintr her hands freo. The girl's answer to this was simply to break away from the group and rush to tho entrance of the shed. "Yes, I promise you," said Mary promise on my honor." "I'm glad he's won," said Mary, Off »nCl Awful Rather Slow. Brown—How is your son CQtniqg on? Robinson—He is the laziest boy in Ham lem. He gets np at 5  ing so I19 can have all tnoiuvro tiino to loaf.—Texas Sittings,'*'* " j "It's no use, lass," I10 murmured, with a half groan. "I'm all muddled and queer; I can't walk." She had noticed a change in Savannah's manner towards her daring the days she had been shut up by her illness and it had made Iter t.bdiurhtftil "Is your quarrel off with the colonel?" "Oh, yes. lie acknowledged tho corn." "Quite appropriate that, as a kernel, he should."—Toledo Blade. "You hear that, mates?" he asked, turning to them. Hut Jos Ilamer put himself in her wav. "Lean 011 me; there's not a moment "Oh. av.e: wo hear it. I»ut who tho