Pittston Gazette

              K rtablUhed 1850. ( TOL. t No. 7 | Oldest Newspaper in the Wvomine Vallev P1TTST0N, LUZERNE COUNTY, PA., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1899 A Weekly Local and Family Journal. C•1.00 a Year ; Id AdTUN. THE FORAY OF THE tS«3S!5ttrBr/ II ffl -• i89»i - (KNAgr EUVA^.I FM-SATHEJ (mB HHB0)/. H umtfi b WiiHiD. rvuil me bux;u§uj ua despair—the despair that poises all on one last throw—he flung him forward almost Into the jaws of the clamoring, fighting throng. best in England. Was it 600 or 050 brace we got when Lowndes was with me? Naturally 1 took the hint." And the speaker giggled remlniscently. far." he said stiffly. "We don't 111 treat them as a rule, even in the public wards." ujt wishing to excite suspicion by bursting too much treasure on the community all at once, but the scepter—for that's what it undoubtedly was, by his description—he cut up Into little bits and took home. He sold it lump by lump to a money lender, and this old fool let the cat out of the bag. pity. "You always were~an~entnu8ias-" tlcally dogged ass, Hilly," he began, "and 1 s'pose you always will be till you get a good fall. Yes, I'm coming, but if you think"— Russ hasn't a tiniest chance of sticking . _ . , . up to them. But why don't you con der Swedish colors and, as they drew suit Jones and one or two of the crew? the GotUand coast a country Of course Pladja will want to go on all £°a two" ™,e eariy dar,k just the more. He'll see chances of endless begla,nln« to fal1 as they s,ghted two gore and revenge upon the oppressor. T i ' °*? But our men ought to have a say In than/he other and on to toe Swedish the matter." °°?" . , The amateur commanding officer As they drew near the first one the flamed out in Desmond In a moment yacllt«howed English colors. In an"Nonsense!" he snapped. "It's an end 8Yer ® 8tars aI? stripes crept up the of discipline if you cry to your ® n f halyards', and 10 the naval wet nurse every time you want «? , ' _ to make a decision. I have It. We'll „ ifm ™a, of *eW Londoa- Bremen toss for It." He produced a florin ®t?ckho,I°- gunboat astern, from the depths of his trousers pocket war is declared with England. "You call," he said tersely to W* Jave T ™ ?? , „  Jones slapped his leg and snorted triumphantly, "That is the trouble I spoke of, sir." "Well, Mr. Jones," snapped the exasperated Desmond, "what if it is? D'yoa think I'm to be stopped by a twopenny Jialfpenny Russian gunboat? If war la declared, I shall stop and take her." Desmond chuckled Joyously. "There, there, my son, don't be shirty. Yon forget I know the secrets of the slaughter house as well as you. I know he's had the best of everything, but he hasn't had the quiet he needs, or, rather, that I shall need, for I'm coming to see him every day. Next week he sails with yon and me for Uleaborg, and very likoly for one or two other places that yo'tfve never heard of. So don't you be a hedgehog, but do as I tell you." "Run. son of a dog, run!" he roared. "Curses be thick on you! Make into the forest!" "Well?" queried Barr breathlessly, "What's that got to do with"— Desmond caught him by the elbow and twisted him out of his chair. "There, Arthur, that's quite enough. That'll suffice to relieve your conscience. Come along with me to the club, and then we'll see what sport the town affords. If you preached till doomsday, you wouldn't turn me, so drop it." "Shut up. Naturally I asked him If he'd look me up In October. Delighted. Booked 15th to 22d then and there. Then I said how run down you looked. He quite agreed. 1 suggested sea voyage. He thought it just the thing. Should mention It to the board. Might tell my friend. So pleased to have met me. Au revoir." With a yell that rang and shrlllai unearthlly above the baying of the pack the madman smote flaillike upon the closed ranks of eager famine, bursting the serried line by mere force of impact and surprise. Out into the drift swept avenues he leaped, and with hot teeth agleam and howls as from the pit the torrent of wolves swirled together and swept upon his track. » "So it came to the brother-in-law's ears that his sister's husband had got something worth selling. He came down like a cartload of brick. He demanded his share, and our friend very naturally told him to go to the devil. Then this stupendous villain began his tricks." He readied his hand over to a peg, lifted down a hat and dumped It on the other's head. Thrusting him and his expostulations before him, he drove him from the room. The sound of the wordy warfare grew thinner down the passages. The great doors of the hos pital swung to. Their altercations finally lost themselves in the swirl of the London traffic. Thus was the foraj conceived and begun. Barr leaped to his feet and fairly yelled. "What! I'm to have a month without having to go. Did he promise? Billy, if It's so, you're a cherub." Ban- stared at him In deepest astonishment. "Good Lord!" he burst out "You're going to take this Yiddlsher on your yacht! Heavens above! Billy, you're as demented as he is." r-r- —-— ~ A PRAESCRlPT. The wild, aimless hands still mowed the pebbles unh«Adlngly, and the blurred eyes roved vacantly across the waste of waters. A flake or two of snow began to fall from the massed clouds. "It's 'All Baba and the Forty Thieves,' Billy," said Barr stolidly. "You can't get away from it" Out of the gray emptiness of the Baltic the slow, sullen waves were rolling, thudding on the sands of the little rock ringed bay .with monotonous, rhythmic fall. The horizon was an uncertain merge of sea and sky, unbroken by a single salL The swish of the lagging breakers made a never ending drone, swallowing all lesser sounds into a stillness. From out of the deep the mighty swellings marched upon the strand, moving site*** of resistless power. But for the sea birds that perked and preened their white bosoms upon tin dark rocks the place seemed void, lifeless, desolate. A short 50 yards he held his advantage. Then with a snap the fangs if the leader met in his fleshless thigh. "Two months," quoth Billy stolidly. "Told him there was no gcod In half measures. He thought the same. Fane's to take It on." "Now, my good Arthur," answerad Desmond solemnly, "don't you think I may know my own business as well as you do? Get this man comfortably Into a private ward, and then, but not before, you shall hear all there Is to bear. What's the good of arguing about things you don't understand in the leastV" Barr shrugged his shoulders and dropped further discussion. In silence he touched the belL Back came the two attendants and received their further orders. Desmond added a guttural word or two to the,patient, all three retired stalrward. Fin% continued to wave bis hand exStedly toward his benefactor as ne withdrew upward, an™the flow of his grateful words died slowly into the emptiness of the passages. A door shut in the distance. The last echoes of his chattering were still. "Humbug! This was the way of It: The fellow in charge of the Skelligen estates was apparently just such another brute. He was a relation of the former owner, as far as 1 can make out As he was by no means a persona Screaming, he turned and with maniac strength seized in each hand a white toothed jaw and rent and split them one from each other. Barr smote his friend upon the shoulder and danced to the window and back to the fireplace In three skips. Impatiently the sergeant kicked at the huddled limbs, cursing with a fierce oath their listless, inhuman swaylngs. As he cast away the torn and bloody mask, like a crested wave the pack flung itself upon him, bellowing for slaughter, snarling, tangled, biting with imseeing fury each other's twisted limbs. The tossing, ungoverned hands staid themselves into rigid surprise beneath the stroke of the heavy boot. Then with a yell of furious pain the man animal sprang upon hiB aggressor, tearing and worrying with blind, bestial ferocity at his flesh. A crimson stain followed quick upon the leopardlike spring, smearing the coarse uniform. The two men fell together to earth, their strivings beating the pebbly strand as a pestle beats within a mortar. They lost themselves In an indistinguishable whirl of striving, oath spitting rage. "Billy," he bawled, "you're the original Samaritan reincarnated. In another month I verily believe I should have fallen by the wayside. And now, now!" The speaker found no words to explain his rapture. Chapter iii. CONTRABAND OF WAR. "Excuse me, sir," said the skipper, with dignity. "You hold no commission to levy war. Neither I nor the men signed as combatants." It is impossible to say what reply Mr. Jones' pusillanimity would have evolved. Desmond's mouth was agape with winged words, which In another mo- #lji A glassy sheen lay upon the face of the waters, dimmed and shivered now and again by little catspaws off the land. The white wings of the Hendrik Hudson were spread, but as often as not flapped idly against the mast wher the breeze died, rose and died again. Over the narrows of the sound lay a haze, simmering In the April sun. The white cottages of Vaedbek and other longshore villages nestled into the green of the beech woods, showing spotlessly against the glare. It was a perfect day in a perfect Scandinavian spring. Above the wretch's head a pine branch ran out, bent with the gales of scores of winters, frost shrunk, but gnarled to a sapless strength. Bleeding, desperate, shrieking, he raised and linked his tormented arms about It and, strong with his furious agony, swung himself up out of the wild hurtle of teeth and flying fur. "That's all right old man, that's all right" said the stout benefactor. "Within a couple of weeks you'll be deathly sick and cursing me. But It'll do you a power of good. The sickness. I mean, not the cursing. Now, just walk me round the old charnel house again, for old sake's sake. 1 should like to sniff the carbolic once more." ment would have been flitting suiphurously round the skipper's head. At that moment a rending crash pealed across the waters from the other ship. He wheeled about and looked toward her and saw that disaster had befallen. Her deck was littered with splinters, cordage and flapping canvas. Her fore topmast bad given under the .press of sail. She lay a prey to the Russian as easily as a shot wild duck ..to a retriever.Yet behind one of the smooth, tide worn bowlders something moved— something that picked and snatched at the pebbles with white, nerveless fingers, clawing at them aimlessly. Beneath the shadow of the rock crouched a man, bearded, long haired, in filthy rags, swart with the dust of road and field, animal, savage, huddling to the stone like a laired jackal. A score of disappointed raveners leaped at their escaping quarry and scored and stripped the skin from him with straining teeth. Still shrieking, he dragged himself forward and crawled horribly toward the trunk. The dark blood fell In gcuits upon the snow, and the panting brutes below licked and sniffed at it with quarrellngs.They wandered up the broad stairway together and Into the long wards, the sights and sounds and smells sinking into the soul of Barfs companion with a familiarity that rolled back as a curtain the last .two magnificent years. He was no longer the county magnate, the yacht owner, the proprietor of a string of Newmarket cracks. He was just plain Billy Desmond again, and the white faces that stared from above the edges of the blue check coverlets roused In him a professional Instinct and—believe it as you may—a professional pity that left no room for other and more prosperous emotions. "Is war an absolute certaintyV' The suddenness of the fray at first left the others motionless with amazement. Then with a shout they fell upon the twined furies of the fight and tore their leader from the throttling hands of his assailant. It took the the coin twinkled high into the air. It fell on the spotless decks and rolled In slow circles toward the scrappers. The fate of the foray hung upon a single word. Then Barr turned again to his friend. "Now perhaps," said he, "you'll be kind enough to explain yourself. What has this hopeless imbecile been stuffing you with?" Barr rolled, stretched himself and then sauk luxuriously back Into his lair among the cushions. His face expressed a beatitude of content His cigar smoke encircled him like a luscious halo. His yawn concentrated Into its expansiveness the languorous delights of seven days of uninterrupted idleness. He blinked upon the Danish shores with a placid sense of proprietorship in their beauties as by right of discovery. He was soaked and surfeited in a warm bath of sea breeze and sunshine. His blood ran within him as wine. At his feet lay a cup. a tall, richly chased, double banded beaker, gleaming yellow with the sheen of gold unalloyed. Ringed round it on the sand lay a necklet of amber beads, each pellet large as a cherry and locked to Its neighbor by thick strands of virgin metal. Desmond swore aloud. "Well, my line fellow, you've got to fight now. Bring us alongside and let* s bear the rights of the case." Jones spread out his hands and began to stammer. "I must protest"— Desmond rounded on him like a flash. "May I remind you that I have a board of trade certificate and am master of this vessel? By gum, if you don't bring us alongside in two shakes of a dog's tail, I'll have you in irons for mutiny, you lily livered cook!" They slid up to within threescore fathoms of the other vessel. Mr. Jones' expressions were varied and peculiar and his elances astern numerous. But Desmond was a very vivid actuality of unpleasantness beside him, while the Russian only loomed distantly astern. He gave in with a bad grace, it must be owned, but with a well considered weighing of the chances of immediate discomfort "Can we help?" bawled Desmond as they bobbed about "Shall I send aboard?" A red bearded, blue eyed skipper came to the side and shouted back with melancholy gratitude: "Thanks many, mister. Too late, I'm afraid. She'll be on us in quarter of an hour. She sailed fathom for fathom with us before. We can't get repaired in time. But don't you get mixed up in our dust Cut your lucky and show your heels." "Heads!" called Barr, and they both sprang from their chairs and rushed to where the small silver disk glittered in the sun. The graven similitude of England's queen stared up at them. Then as Desmond slapped It home again into his pocket, for some reason Of Instinct rather than of intention, the two men grasped each other's hand. They were no longer merely the pals of a jachting expedition, but captain and lieutenant respectively of a buccaneering foray. At least, so went the trend of their inmost souls. three of them to restrain the madman's writhlngs. It was not till they had shackled him with the straps of their bandoliers that they had him under any control. With linked hands and ankles he rolled upon the sand, shrieking his unintelligible mouthings In a frenzy of fighting lust The other looked at him with an air of compassion. He nipped the end of his cigar and spat a shred of leaf into the grate before he answered, settling himself comfortably Into the recesses of his armchair. Above their torn victim climbed and moved among the pine needles to a higher shelter. As the friendly boughs closed about him, wrapping him in their warm, welcome shelter, veiling him from the yelling horde below, some tension snapped within him like the sudden parting of a fiddle string. A cry, gasping, Inhuman, kin to the scream of the speared otter, rang out above the wild clamor of the pack. Limply he fell forward Into the thicknesses of the knitted twigs and lay motionless. His body hung derelict like the wind drift of a storm. "It't 'A It Baba and the Forty Thieves,' Billy," said Barr stolidly. grata to the Intelligent peasantry, he had a lieutenant and a couple of dozen soldiers to look after him. These two beauties went to the officer and trumped up some sort of charge against the unfortunate Lars and got him shoved into jail. What they did to him there Lord only knows, but some utter devil- Ishness, for there seems no doubt it was there he went off his head." The lean fingers toyed and twisted the circle of beads into a hundred shapes and coronals, and as the human beast lifted up its voice now and again a mirthless laugh cleft the unending beat of the surges. The harsh rasp of it cut the echoes horribly, and circling In their poised squadrons overhead the terns wailed an answering plaint From far Inland out of the gathering dusk came a long drawn, throaty call, the howl of the wolf leading the famished pack afield. There were other wolves astir than those gaunt scavengers of the night Behind the ring of rocks that ridged landward behind the bay another man cowered and watched hungrily the ragged waif upon the sand. His eyes gleamed tigerishly, his bands grasped with knotted muscles the tags of seaweed beside him; half leaning, half squattiug, his loins heaved with the violence of his pulses, swaying his body uncertainly. Now and again he left his strict espial into the cove and swept his gaze impatiently inland. Down upon the pebbles the restless vagrant churned the sand and wreathed the necklet ceaselessly, and his vain, joyless laugh rang in Idle repetition across the rocks. "What an old, fat headed, narrow minded customer yoo are, Arthur," he began cheerfully. "Ever been out of England yet? No; now I come to think of it, you never have. Well, we'll right all that presently. However, here goes for the romance, if you like to think It so. I swear to you it's gospel truth. I feel It in my bones. The chap couldn't have possibly Imagined the thing. Besides, I've heard myself—but that's neither here nor there." The blasphemies of the sergeant rose from a cloud as he laved his torn limbs In the sea water. He stopped and looked curiously at a diet card or two and patted a child's this hand that was picking Idly at the bed cover. "The accursed brute's a maniac!'' be shouted. "Wither and blast him! Why in the name of St Paul and all saints did you let me handle the bog, you son of perdition 7* he asked fiercely, turning on the spy. To him entered Desmond from the companionway. A businesslike air and the importance of command lay thick upon him. He bawled his orders with no uncertain sound, and the whir of the wheel spokes followed swift upon his words. Before a sudden gust the prow crept round to starboard. The yacht lDegan to nose inland to where Copenhagen showed dim in the mantle of the heat liaze, girt with the forest of her shipping. Barr broke the silence. "Well, that* s a weight off my mind," said he. "Oh, I was in a horrid funk. It would be against us. My stars, bow ripping and mediaeval I feel! Where's our skull and crossbones? Why wasn't I christened Drake or at least Hawkins T To singe the emperor of Russia's beard,' don't you know, or words to that effect. See the headlines In the papers, old boy: 'First Blood to Britain. Daring Raid by Private Yacht The Sea Dogs of England Loom Again!' Eh, old man? Does that make your sluggish pulses stir7" "Anything out of the common, old chap?" he queried. "Humph!" said Barr unbelievingly. "The question Is, Was he ever on it?" "N-no," said Barr cautiously. "Rather curious tracheotomy that Child here for common fracture of the leg. She was playing with a tin soldier the mother bought and it. We had to pierce the trachea In a hurry to prevent choking. That's a strange case over In the corner too. Ifs a beggar picked up insensible Wapping way. When he came to, he C%uld only say one word, or rather make one sound. Sir William made It out to be a form of aphasia—splinter pressing on the brain. He operated. Quite right, splinter was there. He makes any amount of sounds now, but the worst of It Is we can't understand one of 'em." "One of the noble birth," pleaded the other. "He shams. As there is a God in heaffeiPhe makes pretense of this delirium tCJ conceal his evil doings. Give meCJjut leave to question him with fear, akd he shall tell all—all, as "Do yojn devilmost" quoth the ser- a coarse oath as he turned again to the washing of his wound, aad Into the eyes of the man stoat rose a light of unholy, hideous desire. stretched the kicking, writhing wretch upon the shore and piled rocks upon him, crushing his breath from him to the bare limits of existence. Between his bound fingers they burned matches; beneath his nails they thrust splinters; after each torture they piled him with one question—a single, monotonous query. Naught did they get save yells that might have sprung from the ninth circle of the lost In hftf disappointment and lust for cruelty the unsuccessful torturer suggested unprintable atrocities. The soldiers, already sickened Into half a mutiny, cursed him Into silence. Finally at a word from the leader they heaved their chattering victim to his feet unbound his lower limbs and between them forced him across the rocks forestward. They faded down the trail among the pines as the evening closed upon them, and the snow began to fall in earnest at last. "He can't give any detailed account of the matter. All he remembers is that his wife was mixed up in it It was on seeing her in their hands that something cracked inside him—as be describes it—and he was endowed with the strength of ten. Somehow or other he must have hewed his way out, for the next thing he remembers he and his wife were outside in the forest. After a bit his wife couldn't move any more. He realizes now that she must have died then, but he says he didn't at the time. Directly after that he was alone and tearing through the forest He must have visited and unearthed his buried treasure in some sort of instinctive way, Just as a dog scratches up its bones, for when be was on the ship he found the necklet round his neck." Beneath the living corpse the wolves swung round to seek Tor quicker meat Back from the ruddy, trampled patch of snow they charged, filled with the fury that has Tasted blood, In thick, resistless column that staid not for knife or gun. Barr shoved forward the other easy chair and reached for a clgaret'". "Well, I'll hear you," he tml, "but draw It mild if it's particularly sensational. The practice of medicine doesn't Induce a high level of receptivity for the marvelous. Trot out your lie. I'll reserv e Judgment till afterward." Barr raised his eyebrows. "Going In, old man?" he queried. Three shots rang out and, with howls of a thousand men, they smote upon their prey. For 30 frightful seconds four swaying tangles of rending teeth and claws fought and churned the snow, while out of them burst oaths, shrieks and the spurting blood of men. Then came quiet but for the snarls of jealous raiders and the crunch of human bones. Desmond nodded, for an hour." "Yes; going to call "You said you shouldn't stop short of Uleaborg. Why this waywardness?" CHAPTER II. Desmond had recovered his everlasting smile, but he grunted deprecatlngly before he replied. "TJmph!" said he. "It's much more likely to be: 'Destruction of Private Yacht In the Baltic. Capture of the Crew. All the Prisoners Sent to the Salt Mines.' However, we've decided; so that's the end of it We aren't at all necessarily going to encounter a A STRANGE TALK OUT O* THE IfOBTH. Desmond shrugged his shoulders. "There were all these rumors of war before we came out Best to hear what's happened. If I can. I couldn't make out what those men meant that we hailed just now. Something about Iiussia. If we're goifag to shove our heads into the bear's jaws, we may as well know how we stand." Desmond looked at his friend for a moment without speaking, pnfflng great clouds of smoke as he sought a clothing of suitable words for his revelation. Then as the marvels of It swelled In his memory be dashed Into it Incontinent, forbearing oratory. They were standing opposite a cot in which a white faced, bearded man thrashed wearily at the blankets and chattered to himself in a torrent of hoarse, guttural words. He gazed eagerly at the pair as they approached, and the storm of soliloqtjy rose higher. He sat up and addressed them, gesticulating violently. One by one the glutted scavengers sought their lairs. The white light of the rising moon showed only scarlet trampllngs and shreds of gray uniform where three rifles had fallen abroad. Amnnir ttuD nice needles an Inert bodr still lay without sign of life, like soma high tossed jetsam of the forest "Let me take you off," suggested Desmond. The other flushed a One color and "By gum, Arthur, It Is a great game! The fellow's name's Lara—Lars Plad- Ja. What d'you think of that? Picturesque antf pretty original to East London, eh? He comes from Skelllgen, a village in the district—hanged If I remember the district but Ifs somewhere in northwest Finland and on the seaboard. There'll be time enough to find out the geographical details. Shortly, his story is this: At the sound the spy shook with angry tension, and his body arched as If to spring. So might a coward wolf have crouched behind a slow dying bullock. Barr groaned loudly. "If that  my luck exactly! Here am I on my ffrst real -holiday Tor two yoart,' and then the blighted emperor of Russia must step in to spoil the whole show. I should have thought my little egg basket might have been spiled without plunging the nations into war. But no; my luck is the kind that impresses Itself upon you with stupendous and carefully thought out cataclysms. With any ordinary folk it would have been measles, or a broken arm, or, at most a shipwreck. With me ifs either drop the whole business or a probable five years of a Russian fortress, or, mayhap, a bullet. Well, well, man's born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. I'm sorry my eternal destiny has dragged you into Its baneful orbit Billy." Russian man-of-war. inside Cronstadt if tl "Query: Is It the same necklet?" quoth Barr. "Where Is It my most credulous young friend?" per of our fleet coming no Turkish vessels up Desmond thrust his hand Into his pocket and flung a string of amber beads upon the table. "There you are, my unbelieving Thomas. Now let me go on." And be resumed his tale as Barr examined the gold linked circlet wo can't be mixed up In any business till war is actually declared. Ifs when we get north that there may be trouble. That we'll leave considering till we meet it" way, Suddenly across a glade of the haggard pine forest behind him three distant figures showed in black, moving dots. In one of his swift peerings across the tumble of bowlders they caught his eye. Suddenly Desmond staid himself and stopped short at the bed foot signaler. Let her board and chance It We've got 40 cases rifles and 30 tons powder, so I shall let for her. We've a couple of passengers, though"—he scratched his head—"but that's no good either. They'd see them and chase yon and come back to us. I reckon they want them as much as the other. I'm going to let for her, but don't you get into trouble." Desmond squealed fof Joy. "If you're going in to win, I'll be entirely blighted if 1 don't stand by. I've got a signaler. Let me put six pounds of lead into her forefoot and surprise her weak nerves. She'll throw up the game If she sees we mean business." "Great heavens!" he declared, chap's talking Finnish!" "The CHAPTER L A HOSPITAL PATIENT. "It's good to see you again, old man," said Barr, the house surgeon. "The fat of prosperity's thlcn upon you. Heavena, what a skinny fellow you used to be, and now—good Lord!" "Finnish!" quoth Barr with an indulgent smile. "What on earth d'you know of Finnish, Billy?" "He thinks there were a lot of wolves In the forest and that he played with them and laughed to them from the tree tops, but that may well be a bit of imagination, as you suggest. But that doesn't matter as far as the rest of the story's concerned." "It'll all depend if war's declared when we get to Skelligen," began Barr. "Of course, if It is and we're discovered, that*s the end of it We can't very well"— For a second be hesitated; then with a last look at the wretch, who still thrashed and crooned upon the pebbles, he turned and ran, bending almost to bis belly, among the tangle of granite slabs between the foreshore and the forest. "Not much, old man. But I've been up the Baltic for three months out of each year for the last two, so I know something. As far as I can make out he's jawing infernal nonsense, but that it's the nonsense of Finland I'm prepared to bet my hat." "He's a woodman, or rather was when he was at home. He was employed on the estate of a magnate of sorts. I've forgotten his name, too, but it doesn't signify. At any rate, bis employer got Into some mess with the government and doesn't Inhabit his ancestral halls. The government runs the concern on confiscation principles in the old chap's absence. The other smiled richly. The mellow March sunshfne glinted through the open window and enveloped him with a wealthy halo. His waistcoat was creased with complacent folds. He blew a long cloud of smoke and beamed upon his companion. "Can't! Can't!" exploded Desmond. "D'you suppose I'm a perfect fool? There are shotguns and rifles aboard enough to arm the crew. I'd like to see a rabble of Finland serfs stick between our men and what they want if we mean business. I mean going through with this, I can tell you." The great feathery flakes thickened and swirled in the air, carpeting the ground in swiftly piling layers. They fell upon the pines and spruces of the forest till each to the topmost bough was laden and drooping with the clinging weight. They covered and wiped out the dark trail as a schoolboy sponges his slate. The woods were putting on their winter clothing—thick, woolly, as the bears that lived  them. They would not doff it till the spHng. Night and snow wrapped them as by curtains that ran upon a single rod. "Hang it, Billy," remonstrated Barr, "don't gag at a wolf or two after swallowing a buried board! Let's bare tbe wolves by all means. Most effective touch." It was with the slinking travel of a stoat rather than the gait of a man He turned to the bed and said a few hesitating words. "It is good," he assented briefly. Then as the happy retrospect loosened his tongue he became suddenly garrulous. "By Jove, Arthur, to think that It was only in '52 that I was a weary wound dresser like you and this Is only '54, two years! It seems a lifetime, old boy." A light leaped to the hopeless, weary eyes, and the lips left their aimless motion, gaping wide in astonishment Then a yell resounded through the quiet of the ward. The patient sprang incontinently from ills bed and flung his arms round Desmond's neck. Before the latter could repel this outrageous assault two bearded lips had pressed a passionate salute upon bis forehead. Then with triumphant gesticulation the Btorm of words roared ou. "This man 1'ladja spends his time in the forests. Goes for days together among the pines and doesn't see a soul. How he's got to England he has only the ghostliest notion of. Thinks when he was imbecile"— Desmond laughed and filled his pipe. "All's experience, my boy, even the inside of a Russian urison. Not that I think it'll come to that. We needn't make our moan till we hear more certainly. Curl yourself up again and snore peacefully. I'll waken you when we clear for action." "All right Grin If you like. You won't put me off It Now he's In the ■wildest sort of state at finding I understand him, and he's begged me by all I hold sacred to take him back to bis home and give him a chance to see his desire upon his enemies. I told him be was a fool for bis pains to wander back to a place where, as sure as eggs are eggs, he'll only be clapped in prison again, and probably a worse thing than before come upon him. But it's no use. It wasn't at first by any means that he let on about this—only as a means of bribing me to take him along. He'd spent himself first in explaining his tale of woe without any allusion to this treasure trove. Now, seriously, what d'you think?" "You ain't got a letter of marque, you see," said the merchant skipper, scratching his head for tne second time, "and you don't know for certain that war's declared. You'll have to let "But, good Lord, Billy, you can't stand up to a regiment! Supposing there are soldiers about?" "Time enough to suppose that when we get there. Now let's drop raising the ghost of every unpleasant eventuality that could happen and enjoy ourselves while we may." And as Desmond gave vent to this very proper and inspiring sentiment Menzies, the Scotch steward, announced luncheon. Leaving, therefore, forebodings for the practicalities of victual, they descended saloon ward with app«tites in no degree Impaired by the momentous issues they had been called on to decide. "*Oli, he knows he's been dotty, Mien?" interrupted Barr. "That's a fairly healthy sign at least" her start and then you can defend. But don't come no privateering tricks." And he returned to urging on his crew to their exertions with the deck, litter, using a wealth of most pointed invective.Barr smiled back, but a little drearily. "It seems more than two years to me, but—for other reasons." They drifted slowly along, the two knot zephyr fanning irregularly upon their canvas, and passed Into the channel that runs between the island and the blunt spit of land upon which the Danish capital stands. As the chain rattled in the hawse pipe the dingey took the water and was set ashore. Barr returned happily to his slumbers. The men tumbled along wearily, thrusting their prisoner before them. They cursed Impartially tbe weather and their quest, nor forgot to spare an execration or two for their guide, who slunk abea'd, wiping now and again the drifted snow from a pine trunk to se»k the vellow blaze upon it As the darkness deepened he Clld this with increasing difficulty, scrabbling at the flake wrapped bolls with the nervous energy of despair. At every halt the sergeant swore with growing fervor, and tbe wretched craven shook with dismal affright. "He knowB right enough, but he's as sane as you or I now. Well, he thinks when he was in that state that he wandered on board some ship in Uleaborg, stowed away and got fired out in the port of London. He has some sort of misty reminiscence of being knocked about by a cross eyed scoundrel on board, but can't remember much. He's got here somehow, that's the main point" "Poor old chap," sympathized Desmond. "You've been tied to this old Desmond massed his men aft and, quelling intervention on the part of Jones with a fiery glance, he addressed them in patriot wise. He put the case before them with bluntness. Here was a good civilized American ship at the mercy of a score of half tamed Tartars. Were they to leave her to be taken and her crew to rot in Russian prisons? Were they to become the talk of every dockside from the Tyne to the Liffey as the white hearted lot who saw fiends being pounded and sneaked out of the row? No! Perish the thought! He'd arms aboard, and all would do their duty as English seamen. Mr. Menzies would supply applicants with-a glass of grog all round. Then they'd stand by to whip any and all the interfering Russians ever whelped. The ward was morally and physically paralyzed. Doctor, nurses and patients stared upon this astounding rupture of the decorum of the room entirely unable to voice their emotions. The mouthed babblings of tbe Finn smote upon a silence born of stupefaction.if  Two hours later be was awakened by the sound of his friend's voice and by the din of the anchor coming home. He was aware as he blinkingly surveyed his surroundings that the yacht was under weigh again and was creeping out of harbor. She was beading for the Swedish coast. Desmond had returned to his chair and to his eternal pipe, which he was methodically stuffing with birdseye. The grin that usually lurked on his Ingenious countenance was lacking. He seemed to be considering something with absolute seriousness anif concern. This phenomenon was so entirely foreign to his temperament and customs that Bansat up to regard him with anxiety. When they got on deck an hour later, the wind had freshened. The waves were tipped with white, and the yacht was no longer sidling slowly before the breeze, but flying nine knots an hour past the iDoint of Falsterbo. Her prow at last was heading north into the wide expanse of the Baltic. "That certainly seems the main point up to now," agreed Barr. "I think very seriously indeed," answered Barr, "for I perceive that you and he are lunatics who differ only In degree. Probably in some of his sailor wanderings be picked up this old necklace somehow—perhaps honestly, perhaps not—and evolved the remainder out of a whisky or vodkl heated imagination. But I know you well enough to be perfectly aware that what you call your mind is already made up and that you mean sailing up to Skeleton— or whatever the outlandish place may bo—to dust after this fantastic phantom of a lunatic's brain. So be It It'll be a jaunt anyway. I shall perhaps prevent your getting Into the most disastrous kind of scrape, so I'll come. But O Lor', the blatant absurdity of the business!" "Well, old chap, how's that? Bring him somewhere for me to talk to him comfortably. He's simply wild with excitement and delight at finding a Johnny who understands him. It Desmond laughed gleefully. "Don't interrupt Now enters the villain of the piece. It seems he married his wife face of strong opposition from her people—levanted with her, in fact Her brother, who seems to have been a particularly atrocious Bort of scoundrel, never forgave him. The young w$kan was fair to look upon, and this m-adly brute bad hoped to make a bit by offering her to the highest bidder." The lean lingers twisted, the circle of bcadt Into a hundred shapes and coronals. that be sped Into the twilight of tbe pines, twisting his way among the dark trunks. It was with a stoat's sudden, silent uprising that he emerged into tbe path and stood before three gray coated soldiers. Faintly down the aisles of pine came a moaning, drift borne cry. Low, deep and full It began, then swelled and shrilled to ravening discords of hunger and desire. The single, first heard note lost Itself in a tossing chorus of yells. Leaping, echoing, they smote apart the thick silences of the snspr bound forest With gathering, swift growing suddenness they filled the night From every thicket they rose ftut of seeming emptiness. The roof of naked boughs east them back ttt earth as they rolled pealing down the arched avenues of trees. They United themselves to the hiss and swirl of tbe gale. As the day died down into the sunset the gale freshened, and night found them steering up into the great sea gulf under nearly bare poles, the surges thundering astern and sweeping them along a good 15 miles an hour. won't do for me to collogue with him here. It would upset the ward." m "If you're quite sure that he's not a dangerous lunatic," began Barr. "That's right enough," interrupted Desmond, turning toward tbe door. "You send bim along to me, and I'll find out all about him. He's as sane as you or me uow. Send him along." Tbe leader, with the chevrons of a sergeant on bis sleeve, looked at him as a terrier might at the ferret who thrusts out tbe rat Into his Jaws. His face was a concentrated sneer as be found bis voice in a single word. So on through the night they fled and staid not. With the coming of dawn the wind began to drop, though still fresh, and they considered their dead reckoning, for they had held far to eastward for sea room and land was entirely out of sight. "There seems sound commercial tact in that" quoth Barr, "but I speak as a fool oh feminine subjects." A wild cheer rose as he concluded, and a simultaneous rush was made to the steward's quarters, where toasts of victory received full acknowledgmentBarr shrugged his shoulders and made no further opposition. At his order two attendants came forward and helped tbe man Into the regulation slop suit of the convalescent. Supporting him, they followed Desmond down to the house surgeon's private room. There they left him pouring out words and yet more words at his new found friend. One of the attendants thrust his tongue into his cheek as he retired into the passage. He winked toward his companion and tapped his forehead significantly. "You do. Dry up. Our friend queered this pitch entirely, and his poisonous snake of a brother-in-law never forgave him. Nothing happened for a time, but the other was on the watch. Now we Insert the blue lights for the seraimiraculous touch. "How now, Billy?" he questioned. "For goodness' sake, what's up?" "Well 7* be queried. Desmond blew a cloud at him. "Nothing at present Everything, probably, in the near future. Victoria, queen of Great Britain, and Napoleon, emperor of the French, have conjointly espoused the cause of Turkey. They have notified Nicholas, the Russian, that he is to quit pounding the sons of Islam. Most unjustiliably and unaccountably they have failed to consult me. A rumpus must needs ensue. The question is, What about us and our little game?" Then the little brass 6 pounder tbat bad hitherto acted aa ornament alone, save on foggy nights, was uncovered, sponged out and loaded. Rifles and shotguns were handed round and below the deadlights screwed in. With an air of impudent unconcern the little yacht bobbed about within 100 yards of her consort, waiting what should "All is well, little father. I have tracked him. Some of the spoil lies beside Mm openly." Jones calculated their position to be about 40 miles south of the island of Gottlnnd. They had to decide whether to pass it east or west. East was no doubt shorter and in tempestuous weather safer. On the other hand. It brought them nearer the Russian coast and within reach of Russian cruisers. The four and their prisoner were stumbling below a barrier of rocks that edged the forest Black clefts and crannies broke its overhanging face. The fearsome echoes beat upon it and were flung back as from a sounding board, Dark, iithfi, snow patched form were about' their path. The blase of hot, devouring eyes glinted from countless lairs among the bowlders and bushes that fringed the crag foot A thousand fangs were bared upon them—yellow, snarling, whetted for slaughter, lusting for blood- "Well, there you're talking wild, old man," said Desmond, getting up and straddling across the hearth rug. "This Isn't the first time by many that I've beard of viking treasure being buried up north. If you come to think of It and consider how those old customers were always raiding south, it's a wonder that more of the stuff hasn't come down the centuries. In my opinion, there's more of It burled than has ever been found." He sat up and addrtucd them, getticulatiny violently. In the excitement of his reply be drew up to the soldier, and his eyes gleamed Into the other's repugnant face. His hands worked one within another calmly. "One day Pladja was eating his grub beside a forest brook—or rather channel, for it was a drought summer— when in one of tbe pools be sees a metal rod sticking up among the pebbles and sand." place all tbat time, while I— Look here, Arthur, come with mej You've never tasted freedom yet. Come with me, old man. I'll show you. The sea, my boy, the boundless sea- Hackneyed phrase that, but, my, It*■ so!" Barr shrugged his .Tones, the sailing master, thought fit to put in a judicious word. "In case of trouble, sir, inside Gottland would be most convenientllke." The sergeant fell back with a gesture of disgust. "Ugh!" be grunted. "Lead on, sleuthhound."Barr stretched out bis legs and guffawed. "Bless your heart, Billy, the beggar's stolen It out of the 'Arabian Nights.' Bow much for this priceless Information?" "n', shoulders. Awfly good "You're right," said the other. "Both of 'em, I should say." Then they passed back to routine grinning. "Is war an absolute certainty?" ' For a single Instant a malicious spasm crossed the eager face—the white teeth shone with a snarl. Then the bent shoulders dropped back into their grovel of deference, and the human stoat began to wind among the tumbled rocks again as he had come. The sergeant and his two apathetic companions followed, their military uprightness sadly broken by the yawning clefts. "Thanks many, old man. "Nothing's a certainty, my boy, but the odds are a thousand to one on. Nicholas is not the man to take that sort of thing sitting down." That decided it. Desmond rounded on him with all the exasperation born of good and unwelcome advice. "Is It?" queried the other. "That's where you make your mistake. The old Hendrik's in dock now, refit and so forth, but next week I go out again upon the waters. Come, Arthur. Come with me and be my love. You shall live—live the life of the blameless salt. You shall smell the sweet sea smell Instead of filthy antiseptics, learn the Inside clinch or the fisherman's bend instead of the eternal bandage, roll and bandage. You'll sleep the dreamless sleep of the surge rocked mariner—poetry that—instead of 'Please, sir, No. 52*s a-choklng and a-coughing 'orrid.'" of you, but Impossible," Barr went on through the wards, and an hour had gone by before he finished his rounds. When he returned to his room again, the patient was still talking, talking, but the first passionate outburst had subsided into a slow, ceaseless stream of monologue. Desmond. his elbows leant upon the table, was staring across at him. His eyes were alight with an Interest that his usual stout complacency utterly failed to conceal. "That, I should think. Is exclusively probable," said Barr dryly, "so why go paddling after it In a mountain torrent? Much better form a syndicate of exploration and discovery and send other fools. The Russian government will let you have a concession of all Finland probably for a couple of fivers. What on earth should bring scepters and necklets into the bed of a stream?" "Nothing, you ass. Besides, the beggar can't read. Shut up and let me finish. He sees, as I say, a metal rod and pulls at It." "In case of trouble, Mr. Jones! Great heavens! What trouble?" The soldiers backed upon the rocks and with rifles at the ready peered out into the night Groveling behind them, thrusting at the sheer wall as If be would seek refuge in its pitiless breast, moaning, abject, huddled and scarce human, crouched the guide. Straddling across him, gibbering, calling, laughing aloud his gleeless mirth, churning the snow with shoeless feet, beating with bound -hands upon the stones, stood the captive and spurned the cowering wretch with bis tramping*.Barr shrugged his shoulders. "How can I say, old man? I risk nothing but my very Inconsiderable self. You risk your ship aud crew. Certainly it's for you to decide." "Well, sir, they say" "Man is naturally a prehensile animal," explained Barr. "His Instincts would not permit him to do less." "Well, sir, it was hinted by a man on the quayside at Copenhagen to Murphy, the cockswain there, that war was imminent." "Who say? * And what?" "They seem to think our fleet's coming up here, too," mused Desmond. "It would be ripping to see the turn ifp. Besides, why should an absurd rumor put us from our purpose? Auyway, we've got to decide within ten mluutes. When we're opposite Malmo, we must either swing port for home or 6tarlDoard for the Baltic. Now, which is it to be?" "Pulls at it," continued Desmond, paying no attention to this sarcasm, "and up it comes. He finds ifs soft metal and of a dull color, but in pulling at It the bends and cracks upon It showed bright. In point of fact It's gold." Down upon the sands the outcast still smote childishly at his sheltering mass of granite and looped his amber beads. Nor did be alter his position as the four advanced upon him. Only the nasal shrilling of bis laupfcter brayed out rather more upon the silence and prolonged itself into the echoes of the shore. "War imminent!" stormed Desmond. "War's going on! We're not a Turkish gunboat, but an English yacht." "That's the convincing thing about It," said Desmond. "If the beggar had only come with a tale of burled treasure, I might have thought with you. But, my boy, It isn't likely he would Imagine the stream Incident, It's a trifle too Improbable unless you consider other testimony. It's just here that history backs him up. It's well known that the old vikings used to bury their special chiefs by turning aside the course of a stream, putting the corpse In a bole In the Ijed of It apd thpn turning on the tap again. What they did for their chiefs you may bet a very considerable part of your Income they did for their worldly goods. Gold's more valuable than even heroic carrion. Anyway, I'm going to have a look, see? And you're coming along to call fair. I'lace the Domini, or must X use force?" "My goodness. Arthur!" he called as Barr entered. "Come here and pinch me, old chap. Either I'm dreaming the worst sort of nightmare or else we've got a chance before us that doesn't happen to a man twice in a lifetime. Such things as I've heard!" "No, sir, but they say that England and France"— '/rhank you, Mr. Jones. If we're to ton this cruise according to the fat headed imaginations of every dockside loafer who alra his secondhand opinions, I'll let you know. At present when I want advice I'll ask for it Outside passage, please, Mr. Jones, and stand well out to eastward," delivering which command, with great show of imperious discipline, Desmond returned along the deck to his companion. He had a good deal of the air of a Cochin China who has his feathers ruffled by an absurd disagreement with a bantam. "What else?" queried Barr softly. "I could have sworn it." i, Ministers, and P*opU.  A score of paces away the gray wolves ringed them in and licked their lean Jaws. Thrusting and Jostling one upon another, they gaped upon their prey ravenously, lashing themselves by slow degrees to the desperation of attack. "Yes, they generally choose about 3 a. m. to wake up and choke," be answered, with a twinkle. "It would be scrumptious to get away for awhile, but—but It's no good thinking of it I daren't, old man. I should get the boot. I can't afford that." Barr chuckled. "At this," went on Desmond excitedly, "he paddled Into the water and began to dig and delve for all be WW "I'm yours to command In peace or war," said Barr. "I don't mind owning that, from a strictly personal point of view, I'm for continuing. The Joy and mystery of the quest were Just lDeginuing to filter into my vitals. But, as I said before, I have no responsibility to brake my opinion. It ruus unweighted. Do just what you think best." He scooped a handful of orange sagd into bis goblet and raised It to his month, pledging the newcomers In fantastic show. Then again his yelling travesty of mirth broke across the rush and backflow of the tide. Barr sniffed. "You must recollect, Billy, that the beggar's only half witted at present. Aphasia's a rummy thing. Probably he's just remembering something that he's dreamed or what not, aud thinks it's a reality. What's lie l»een trying to tell you ?" vortn. in a minute or two up came a L-up a lid a llttie latw a necklace. Then, hm luck would hare It, a cloudburst and thunderstorm came on, down came a deluge, aud Ik*fore he knew what was what the torreut was roaring away teu feet deep." The sergeant was muttering and cursing, fingering with nervous hands at the lock of his rifle. ACTIVE «■ where The other gurgled gleefully, licking the butt of a new cigar. "Fact is, old chap," he said, half apologetically, "I've arranged It Met Sir William on the stairs. Deuced civil, he was. Mentioned old days when I dressed for him. Congratulated me on the splendid position to which I'd succeeded. Had known Uncle Silas well. Heard kit Norfolk shooting was among the by Marat Hal eminent M O partment. 1 camps at San Merritt, in th Kong, in the. commissioned by the Gov . Historian to the War De oook was written in army idsoo, on the Pacific with Gen. ospitals at Honolula, in Hons lerican trenches at Manila, in -ne Insnrtrtnt camps with Aguinaldo, on the deck of tne Olympia with Dewey, and in tha roar of battle at the fall of Manila. Bonanza for agents Brintful of original pictures ten by gOTernn est photographers on the -rot. Large book. )xD»* prices. Big profits. Freight paid! Credit jfiTW». Drop alL trashy unofficial war books. On tilt free. Address, F T. Bar bar, 8*0*71 Star Insurance Building, Chicago. One of the waiting soldiers thrust his band into bis breast and touched the elkon that hung from bis swarthy throat. He called softly the good saint'* name to protect him from all devilries. He turned and with a kick and fierce oath quieted the whlnings of the guide. At the same moment his glance rested on the prisoner. A peculiar expression passed his face. As one who acts on sudden impulse, be drew from his belt bis sheathed knife and cut savagehr at the lanbln** thai tunw) tu "You shall hear afterward, old man. For the present get this beggar into a private ward and the best of attendance. I'll stand the shot. I want him to buck up and get well—and as quick as possible too." "The laws of nature are imperious," said Barr. "Water must find its level." Desmond puckered his brows. "I'm hanged if I know what to do. I want to go on, of course, aud so do you. But the question is, Are we justified In risking crew and ship?" Tlius again was the fate of the foray decided by a triviality, this time simply the offlciousness of a well meaning and perfectly well advised old seaman. The sergeant laid his hand roughly upon the ragged shoulder. "No more fooling," said ha tersely. "Uet up. "Well, that didn't put him out at all, because he knew that he could return when the storm was over aud scoop in the remainder, tie buried the cug and mm;-, Barr dia not look enthusiastic. "He's been vetting everything he wants so Barr yawned aggressively and looktiUaaMOftiKfencL with contemptuous "If our fleet's to come up here, these waters will be as safe for us in a week CuD two m tha (TUuiUftb cbannaL. The All that day they swung along, meetto? only a couole of merchantnw* "»• -v-;. ■ mk&h