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SMERIAL - STORY Chronicles Addington Peace By B. Ftch.er Robliman Co.Asihor with A. Conan Dorlt of (t~opuvris.t. 1i1:, by WV. 0. Chapman) MR CORAN'S ELECTION (Continued.) "My brother refuses the movement his support," she said in a loud, firm vooie. "My reply to him is torturer, inquisitor. What are your views on the subject?" "The same, my dear madam, as your m.n," said the disgraceful 'little hypo alte. "How does the cause progress in Brendon?" "I trust that in a few weeks our local blanch will have been placed on such * basis as to be a model to the whole sostety." "Aunt is rather a crank on anti. 'vivsection," whispered Miss Emily In my ear. "Do be careful, If she tackles aou about it." I laughed, and the subject changed :betwen us. After the ladies left, Coran began a gloomy autobiography. His family, he said, had beem living in the north of ýnglend at the time of the London es apade. No account of the afair, which appeared in only one paper, .ad reached them. He had left for 'mmeld shortly afterwards, and it ws not until ten years later that the dIsath of his father had given him a wssple of thousand pounds, with which he bought a share in his pre sit bsness, whis had greatly pros. Coaeerniag Thomas Appleton, the polng man whom he suspected, he gpoke most bitterly. He was, indeed, l the mddle of his denunelations SPeace slipped from his chair rad moved sofly to the window. With a swift Jerk he drew the blind miMe and stared out. From where i tM I eoald see an empty stretch of uswa wtth shrubs beyond showing darly in the summer twilight "A lovely evening," he said over his bshoulder. We both watched him in surprise as he dropped the blind and walked back to his seat, stopping on hls way to pat the terrier that lay on a mat by the window. "Is there anything the matter?' asked Coran. "If we are to keep our business here Sasecret you must not talk too loud that is all." "I don't understand you." "One of your household was listen ing at the window." "Do you mean to tell me that I am spied upon by my own people?' cried Coran, angrily. "What gave you such an idear' "The dog there." "Absurd!" "Not at all, Mr. Coran. From where he lay he could look under the lower edge of the blind, which was not drawn completely down. He raised his ears; some one approached; he wagged his stall, it was a friend with whom he was well acquainted. If It had been a stranger he would have man barking to the window. It is .m. ple enough, surely." "Did you see who it was?" asked ou host, with a sudden change of manner. "No," said the little man. "But 1 think this conversation unwise. Shall we Join the ladies in the drawing room?" Peace was in his most entertaining mood that night. Poor Emily, who was sitting by the French windows, staring sadly out into the gathering shadows, was led to the piano, where dse recalled her forbidden lover in sentimental ditties. He engaged Mis Rebecca in an argument on the local control of licensed premises, which gave that worthy old lady an oppor tunity for genuine oratory. Even our melaneholy host was drawn out of his miserles by a reference to the water supply. When ten o'clock came, and the ladies were led away under Miss ie. becca's wing-they keep early hours in Brenden-I shook the inspector by the hand in sincere admiration. It had been a really smart performance, and I told him so. The little man did not respond. In1 stead, he drew us together in a corner and issued his orders with sharp pre elston. "Mr. Coran, at fifteen minutes to eleven you will leave the house by the drawing room windows and place the invelope you have prepared in the locker of the summer house. When yeou return do not fasten the catdh, for I may wish to enter during the night. Walk upstairs to your bed and get to sleep If you can. Mr. Phillips, you will go to your room and stay there. The window overlooks the garden. It you want to keep watch-for I do not eappose you can resist that temptation -see that your head is well out of ight When Mr. Coran leaves the house, ten at youar door. I yowu hear anyone moving, go and find out who it may be. You understand?" "Yes," I answered. "But what are you going to do?" "Discover a suitable place from which I can keep an eye on the sum mer house. Good-night to you." When I reached my room, I took off my coat, placed a chair some six feet back from the open window, so that the rising moon should not show my face to any watchers in the laurels, and so waited events. It was a soft summer night, such as only temperate England knows. There was not a breath of wind; a perfume of lowers crept in from the garden; every leaf stood black and still in the silvery light. I heard the clock chime three.quarters of an hour in some room beneath me. The last stroke had barely shivered Idto silence when I saw Coran appear upon the lawn, walking towards the summer house, the outlines of which I could distin guish amongst the heavier shadows of the trees by which it was surrounded. I remembered my orders, and crept softly to the door, which I had left ajar. The minutes slipped by without a sound, and presently I began to won der why Coran had not returned. His room was not far from mine. I must have heard his foot upon the stairs. He had disobeyed his orders, that was evident. However, it was not my af fair, and I crept back to my point of observation. Twelve! I heard the clock tap out the news from the room below. I was nodding in my chair, barely awake. After all, it was a trivial matter, this trumpery blackmail. Half an hour more, thought I, pulling out my watch, and I will get to bed. The affair was becoming extremely monotonous. I dared not light a cig arette, for I felt certain that Peace would notice the glow from outside, and that I should hear of It in the morning. Ten minutes, a quarter of an hour-what was that moving under the trees by the edge of the drive? It was a man-two men. I crouched for ward with every nerve In me suddenly awakened. They were a good thirty yards apart, the one following the other with stealthy strides-not the sort of walk with which honest men go about hon et business. When the leader came to the path which led towards the summer house be turned down it, leaving the drive to his right. He avoided the gravel, keeptng to the silent turf 'which fringed it. His companion followed him step by step. It was a curious spectacle, these slow-moving shadows that drifted for ward through the night, now almost obscured beneath the branches, now showing in black silhouette against a pateh of moonlight As the first man melted amongst the tee about the summer hone, the other moved forward swiftly for a sow. of steps and then halted for a moment, crouching behind a clump of laurel Suddenly he sprang up again and ran straight forward, cutting a corner aross the lower edge of the lawn. There was no shouting, but I could hear the faint tramping of a scuffle and the thud of falling bodies. Then all was still again. Peace had told me to remain in the house. But Peace had never expected two men; I was sure of that. I crept down the stairs, out through the French windows of the drawing room, and so across the lawn to the trees about the summer house. As I passed through them I saw a little group standing in whispered con versation. They turned sharply upon me. One was a stranger, but his com panions were Peace and, to my vast surprise, old Coran himself. "Well, Mr. Phillips," said the detec tive, "and what do you want?" "I thought-" I began. "Oh, you've been thinking, too, have you," he snapped. "Here is a young man who was thinking he would like to look at this extremely commonplace summer house; here is Mr. Coran who was thinking he might help me by lurking about his garden instead of going to bed; and here are you with heaven knows what ideas in your head. Perhaps you and Mr. Coran will do what you are told another time." "I saw two men," I explained hum. bly. "I was afraid they might get the better of you. How was I to know that it was Mr. Coran who had diGse beyed orders?" "You are both pleased to be humor ous," said our host, and I could see he was trembling with rage. "But the fact remains that I caught this young man entering the summer house for a purpose we can well imagine. In spector Addington Peace, I charge this person, Thomas Appleton, with blackmail." "Can you explain your presence, aMr. Appleton?" asked the detective, kindly. He did not look a criminal, for he stood very straight and square, re. p, KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT IT Hubby's Confession Did Him Honor, but Really Was Not Much of a Surprise to Wife. "Marie," said Mr. Valesburg to his wife. "Yes, John." "I have something on my mind that I must tell you before I ean ever be happy." "I shad be glad to hear anything you have to say, John." "It is hard to tell you, but I ean't hide the truth any lonrge. Maies, I married you under tlse pretnseS". "You did!" garad the three of us with 8a amused smile. "Of course, I had no right to be here," he said. "Though why 1 should find a detective waiting to arrest me for blackmail, or why Mr. Coran should spring upon my back and' roe me over, I cannot imagine." "This is much as 1 expected," snarled his accuser. "Effrontery and impudence are ever the associates of crime. Inspector, you will oblige me by producing the handcuffs." "I should like a word in private, Mr. Coran." They walked off together, leaving me alone with Mr. Thomas Appleton, who offered a cigarette. "Has there been an epidemic of lunacy in the neighborhood?" he in quired politely. "No," I said, laughing in spite of myself. "But how, in heaven's name, do you explain your visit to the sum mer house at this hour of the night?' "I am afraid I must decline to an swer you," he said. and quietly turned the subject. Coran returned, with a face of vin dictive indecision. Under his veil of' austerity there had smouldered a dan gerous temper, which was close upon bursting into flame. But, after all, he had excuse enough Heaven alone knew what baulked ambition, what treacherous insults he had come to associate with this young man. The same passions actuate humanity, whether they view the world from one end of the telescope or the other. "I have decided to waive your a," rest for the present," he growled. "It would certainly create a great scandal in Brendon." said Appleton, firmly. "You count on that, do you?" cried the, elder man. "You think you have a hold upon me, that I am afraid of you. Take care, sir, take care." "You choose to be mysterious, Mr. Coran. I have no hold on you. But I should think twice if I were you be fore arresting an innocent man." "Innocent! What were you doing here?" "That is my business." Coran turned away, wringing his hands together in his odd manner when greatly excited. "Go," he snarled over his shoulder. "Go, before I strangle you." As I dropped off to sleep half an hour later I was still wondering why Peace had refused a bed, remaining for the night in the garden. Could he expect more visits to the summer house? Why had young Appleton come sneaking up at so late an hour if he were not guilty? The problem that had seemed so simple was chang ed into a maze of strange complica tions. I was too sleepy to trace them further. I was awakened by a touch on my shoulder. It was Coran who stood by my bedside. "We breakfast in half an hour," he said uneasily. "I will be punctual." "Porgive my importunity, Mr. Phil lips; but promise me that you will be careful before Miss Rebecca. She is so very acute. I never knew a woman with a keener instinct for scandal And, as a father, I cannot forget the future of my poor girls. If she knew the truth she would not leave them a penny; also, her heart is affected." "1 am sorry to near it. "Thank you. It is very necessary that you should be discreet." He stalked out of the room and left me wondering at him with an amused cynicism. I started for London with my host by the 9:05. To avoid suspicion, Peace accompanied us to the station; but there he left us. He had, he said, work to do in the town. Coran was cheerful with the limited cheerfulness that nature allowed him. Doubtless he felt that he had his en emy in his power. He was very talk ative concerning the final address which he was advertised to deliver that evening at eight o'clock. It was to be the completion, the coping stone to his campaign, and was cal culated to ensure his election next day. I expressed regret that I should not be. privileged to hear it. I lunched at my club, and, shortly after three, returned to my rooms. There, in my easiest chair, reading an evening paper, who should I dis cover but Inspector Peace. "Hello," I said. "I didn't expect you back so soon." "This is a very comfortable chair of yours, Mr. Phillips," he smiled. "I was glad of a rest." "And how goes Brendon?" "So well that I am going to take you down there by the 4:10 train." I tried to draw his discoveries out of him, but he would tell me nothing. Something was going to happen which might interest me if I came along that was the beginning and end of his news. It was sufficient to make me promise to join him, however, as he very well knew. (CHRONICLES TO BE CONTINUED.) "Do you remember what it was that brought us together?" "Can I ever forget it, John? We were at the bathing beach, I was drowning, and you saved me after I had given myself up for lost." "And afterward, in gratitude, you married me." "Yes, I felt that I owed my life to you." "Marie, I deluded you about that reseue business. Where you believed yourself drowning the water was only waist deep. You were never in dan. 'Sr." "I h.ew it, John," she answered. "I had on foot on the bottom all the titbww VACUUM EXPERIMENT IS 001 Candle Burns Oxygen In Glass an Blotting Paper Contracts, Mak. Ing an Air-Tight Joint. A very interesting experiment maj be performed with two drinkini glasses, a small candle end and a piece Of blotting paper, says the Pathfinder The glasses must be the same si-z and of the thin-glass kind. The can die end is lighted and set in one glass; the blotting paper is well dampened and placed on top of the glass, and the other glass inverted and its rim placed exactly over the lower one and pressed down tightly. The candle will burn up all the oxygen in the glass and go out. The air in the glass being heated will expand and some of it will be forced out from under the moist papeq Vacuum Experiment. and then, as the portion remaining cools, it will contract and draw the up. per glass on the paper and make an airtight joint. The upper glass ean then be taken up and the lower one will cling to it. HOW TO MAKE A BOOMERANG Amusing Little Toy May Be Made by Cutting Plce of Cardboard as Shown In Illustration. Cut out in cardboard a boomerang as nearly as possible of the size and pattern given here. Place it fiat on the back of the first three ingers of the left hand, sloping A Toy Boomerang. them Upward; then eick it smartly with the second finger of the right band. It will Sy off and return to yeour lap. Try t. Walnut Shell Boats. Materials requied-A walnut shell. Ssmall piece of cardboard, a match, a piece of white paper, and some seal lng was. 80coop out any remaining fragments of nut and skin from the interior of the shell and cover the opening with cardboard, which must be, first of all cut the exact size. Thrust a match through the middle of the cardboard and fasten it securely to the bottom of the boat with sealing wax. The card board can also be fastened on to the shell in the same way. A sail can then be cut from white paper and fastened to the match by means of two holes. Electricity In Rubber. An ordinary india rubber band stretched and allowed to spring back by virtue of its own elasticity devel ops a negative charge of electricity, which is retained for a considerable time. The result does not appear to be influenced by the quality of the india rubber, and the same effect Is produced by a length of tube sufi ciently thin walled to be fairly elas tic. An essential condition, however, Is that the material be allowed to contract suddenly. If pulled out slow. ly and gradually allowed to resume Its original dimensions, no electrifsa tion will be produced. RIDDLES Why are doctors always bad charao. ters? Because the worse people are the more they are with them. Why is a camel a most Irascible ani mal? Because he always has his back up. Why are weary people like carriage wheels? klecause they are tired. What is that which every one can divide, but no one can see where it has been divided? Water. What is majesty deprived of its ex ternals? A jest-m-ajest-y. Is there a word in the English lan guage that contains all the vowels? Yes, unquestionably. Why does a miller wear a white hat? To keep his. head warm. Why didn'* the dog want to go into the ark? Because he had a bark of his own. What makes the cost of tea so high? kHecause we, must pay a steep price. Why would a tanner make a good chemist? Because he understamds ox(h)ides. 03 [ME was, and not so long ago, that Berlin, as capital of the kingdom of Prussia, was mere ly a second rate continental city that the average tourist passed by as unworthy of extended stay. But now, as the capital of im perial Germany and the chief jewel of the Hohenzollerns, Berlin can fling down the glove of defiance in the face of Paris, London or St. Petersburg and claim distinction as a national cap. ital of the first class, with an atmo sphere purely her own and embellish. ments that make her well worthy of attention. Late this month the tourist season will be in full swing in Berlin, says the New York Evening Post. The spring review of the guards is the sig nal for the swing of tourist traffic in the direction of the German capital. Besides affording the visitor a wonder fully colored dramatic spectacle, this occasion provides first rate opportunl. ties for studying the German soldier and the military system which is the foundation of the German state. The review is held on the Tempelhofer field, and is attended by the emperor and all his staff. Trappings of the German Soldier. The German soldier togged out for dress parade need give the wall to no man. His American brother is hope lessly outclassed. He has unlimited gold braid; his patent leather boots are speckless and shining; his uni form is gaudy; his plumes are rich; his helmet gleams with brass. Seen in the great blocks and squares of battalions, troops. and batteries, he outshines the most tastefully garbed musical comedy chorus. Each regi ment has something distinctive about Its uniform to distinguish it from ev ery other, and many of the uniforms are individualistic to a degree. The foot regiments still wear the miter 4 hat of Frederick the Great's time that the British grenadiers wore in the eighteenth century, without which no revolutionary novel or drama would be complete. The emperor goes to the review in a carriage, but after he has arrived he 4 u;; ' r to .4 +UN . ... DU mounts his horse and at the conclu sion of the march past he rides back into town at the head of his troops, bands blaring "The Watch on the Rhine," chargers prancing, batteries rumbling and the streets echoing the tramp of the gooeestep, while every German who has not been out to the Tempelhofer field lines the Belle-Alli ance-strasse and yells "Hock der KaiE. er" until he is black In the face. The Germans are fond of saying that Berlin is as gay as Paris nowa days, and while French ancestry or associations may compel you to decry this boast the fact remains that there is a great deal of truth in the asser tion of gayety. Berlin of today is em inently modern. It has been built up since the war of 1870-71 clinched the Germanic union and laid the foundsr tion of its greatness. Geographically speaking the situation of the city is not imposing, but the mathematical Germans have made the best of things, and certainly can claim to have built up a city clean and sightly and regu larly planned. It lies on a fiat, sandy plain midway between the Oder and the Elbe, with which it is connected by a web of wa terways, and it is intersected by the Spree, a tame stream with Lot half the energy or charm of Munich's Isar. The oldest part of the city, the Alt-Kolin, built along the arms of the Spree, to gether with that portion lying-immedi-. ately west, is the center of business activity. The westend and the south west wards are the residence dis tricts, while the northwest is occua pled by the academic, scientific and military institutions. The north is the seat of the machinery manufactories and the northeast of the woolen mills. Widest Avenue in Europe. The social and official life of the capital centers around Unter den Li. den, which runs from the royal palace to the Brandenburger Tor. This sweet. ne of the widest in Euiope, nearly a. mile in length, forms a double avenue, divided by a favorite promenade planted with lime trees. Here one may see Berlin life in all its aspects. South of this street lies the Friederichatadt, with its parallel streets, the Behrenstrasse (street of finance), the busy Liepzigerstrasse, and the Wilhelmstrasse, with the pal ace of the imperial chancellor and the British embassy upon it. Among the most important public squares are the Opernplatz, around or near which stand the opera house, the royal library and the university, the Gendar menmarkt, with the royal theater in its center and the old and new museums bordering upon it; the Par iserpltsz, with the French embassy at the Brandenburg gate; the Konigs. plats, with the column of vit.cory; the Reichstagsgebaude and the Bismarck and Moltke monuments, and the circu lar Belle-Allianceplats, with the monu ment commemorating the battle of Waterloo. Close at hand are all the principal hotels ,among them the luxurious Kaiserhof, the Eden, the Alden and many others, all noted for their serv ice and modern conveniences. The German hotel proprietor uses the American hostelry for a model. Of the numerous bridges, perhaps the most remarkable is the Schlosse brucke, built after designs by Schin kel, with eight colossal figures of marble, representing ideal stages in the life of a warrior, the works of Drake, Wolff and other eminent sculp tors. The Kurfursten or Langebrucke, was built in 1691-1695, and restored in 1895. It has an equestrian statue of the Great Elector. These bridges span the Spree. Crossing the Land wehr canal are the Potsdamer-Vik toriabruckle, which carries the trams trom two converging streets into the Duter Potsdamerstrasse and the Her Iulesbrucke, connecting the Lutsow plats with the Tiergarten. The buildings of the Royal museum are divided into the old and new museum. The former is an imposing edifiee situated on the northeast side Af the Lustgarten. facing the royal palace. It was built in the reign of Frederick William III. from designs by Schinkel. Its portico, supported by eighteen immense Ionic columns, is reached by a wide flight of steps. The back and sic!e walls of the portico, are covered with frescoes represent ing the world's progress from chaos to developed and organized life. En trance is through bronze doors, after, designs by Stuler, weighing seven and one-half tons. On the wall of the grand marble staircase, which rises to the full height of the building, Kaul bach's cyclus of stereochromic pie tures is painted, representing the six great epochs of human progress from the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel and dispersion of nations to) the Reformation. The National gallery, which lies be. tween the museums and the 8preei contaim a number of modern German paintings. The pictures from the old and new museums, as well as the statuary of the Christian epoch and the numismatte collection, have been placed in the Kaiser Friedrich museum, and edifiee in the Italian baroque style, surrounded by a dome. From Berlin the traveler can easily visit Hamburg, the most important commercial city in the world, after London and New York. Its collee tions of modern art are noteworthy. Close by is Bremen, which ranks next to Hamburg as a German seaport, and is only forty miles distant. This city retains more of its historical stamp than Hamburg. Both of them were famous seaports in the days of the Hansbatio league. There is almost no limit to the poe, sibilities for sightseeing for the auto. mobilist or even the humble pedes. trian. North Germany abounds in pioe turesque towns and storied castles and with Berlin for a center one eoa make dosens of interesting exeouraons through the country from the Balbb to the Rhlne