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Krazy Kat fCopjTlgtit, 1913, International Newt Service) Among the Stars Tomorrow: All My Eye CHOSE THE LESSER EVIL A gentleman from the north was enjoying the excitement of a bear bunt down in Mississippi. The bear ■/as surrounded in a small cane thicket and the head of the hunt called to one of the negroes: " Sam, go in there and get the bear •ut." The negro plunged Into the cane. After the hunt the visitor said to the negro: "Were you not afraid to fro into that thicket with that bear?" "Cap'n," replied the negro, ,; it was lus' dis way; I nebber had met dat bar, but I was pussonally 'quainted ■/Id de ol' boss, so I jus" naturally took that bar." . _ The Dingbat Family Polly and Her Pals Us Boys THE KING OF DIAMONDS! *%%%%%%%%%%%- ' Continued from Yesterday Both of them glanced askance at the quantity Mason consumed, but they passed no comment. He tried to smoke, and sat so that the light should not fall on his face. And then he said to them: "Tell me all you know about Philip Anson. It Interests me." HIS TORTIHE Snap! The hard composition of his pipe was broken in two. "What a pity!" cried Willie. "Shall I run and buy you a new one?" "No, my boy, no. I can manage. Don't mind me. I can't talk, but I will listen. May the Lord have mercy on me, I will listen!" He suffered that night as few man have suffered. Many a murderer has had to endure the torments of a hunted conscience, but few can have been harrowed by hearing their own sons lauding to the sky the victim's benefactions to themselves and to their dead mother. He was master of his emotions suf ficiently to control hlB voice. He punctuated their recital by occasional comments that showed he appreciated every point. He examined with inter est specimens of their work, for they understood both the stitching and stamping of leather, and once he found himself dully speculating as to what career he would have carved out for himself were he given ln boy hood the opportunities they rejoiced in. But throughout there was ln his surcharged brain a current of cun ning purpose. First, there was Grenier, away ln the north, robbing a dead man and plotting desolation to some girl. He must be dealt with. Then he, the slayer, must be slain, and by his own hand. He would spare his sons as much pain as might be within his power. He would not merely disappear, leaving them dubious and distressed. No. They must know he was dead, not by suicide, but by accident. They would mourn his wretched memory. Better that than alive with the abid ing grief of the knowledge that he was Philip Anson's murderer. He was quite Sure now that the dead would arise and call for venge > ance IX he dared to cootinua tq exist. THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL AND POST, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1913 LOUIS TRACY Yes, that was it—a life for a life—a prayer that his deeds might not bear fruit In his children—and then death, speedy, certain death. Some reference to the future made by Willie, the younger, who favored his mother more than the outspoken John, gave Mason an opportunity to pave the way for the coming separa tion. "1 don't want you two lads to make any great changes on my account," he said, slowly. "It Is far from my in tention to settle down here, and let all your friends become aware that you are supporting a ticket of leave father. Yes, I know. You are good boys, and It won't be any more pleas ant for me to—to live away from you than it would be for you—under— other conditions—to be separated from m<». But —I am ln earnest In this matter. I will stop hefe tonight Just to feel that I am under the same roof as you. It is your roof, not mine. Long ago I lost the right to provide you with a shelter. Tomorrow I go away. I have some work to do —a lot of work. It must be attended to at once. Of course, you will see me often. We can meet in the evening— go out together—but live here—with you—l can't" His sons never knew the effort that his speech cost him. He spoke with such manifest hesitation that Willie, who quickly interpreted the less pro nounced signs of a man's thoughts, winked a warning at his brother. He said with an optic signal: A HORRIBLE DREAM "Not a word now. John. Just leave things as they are." Under any ordinary conditions he would be right. He could never guess the nature of the chains that encir cled his father, delivering him fet tered to the torture, bound hand and foot, body and soul. At last they all retired to their rooms, the boys to whisper kindly plans for keeping their father a pris oner again in their hands; Mason to lie, open eyed, dry eyed, through the night, mourning for that which might not be. The rising- sun dispelled the dark phantoms that flitted before bis vißion. Ho fell into a fitful slumber, dis turbed by vivid dreams. Once he was on a storm swept sea at night, on a sinking ship, a ship with a crew of dead men, and a dead captain at the helm. Driving onward through the raging 1 waves, he could feel the vessel set tling more surely, as she rushed into each yawning caldron. Suddenly, through the wreck of flying spindrift, he saw a smooth harbor, a sheltered basin, ln which vessels rode ln safety. There were houses beyond, with cheerful lights, and men and women were watching the doomed craft from the firm security of the land. But, strain his eyes as he would, he could see no entrance to that har bor; naught save furious seas break ing over relentless walls of granite. Even in his dream he was not afraid. He aaked the captain, with an oath: "Is there no way In"" And the captain turned corpselike eyes toward .him. It was Philip An son. The dreamer uttered a wild beast's howl, and shrank away. Then he awoke to find Willie stand ing by his bedside with soothing words. "It is all right, father. You were disturbed ln your sleep. Don't get up yet. It Is only 5 o'clock." At that hour a policeman left his cottage in a village on the Yorkshire coast and walked leisurely toward the Orange house. He traversed four miles of rough country, and the sun was hot, so he did not hurry. About 6:30 he reached the farm. There were no signs of ac tivity such as he expected in the country at that hour. He examined three sides of the building carefully—the sea front was Inaccessible—and waited many min utes before he knocked at the door. There was no answer. He knocked again more loudly. The third time his summons would have aroused the Seven Sleepers, but none came. He tried the door, and rattled It; peered in at the windows; stood back in the garden, and looked up at the bedrooms. THE RE SCI B "A queer business," he muttered, as he turned unwillingly to leave the place. "Ay, a very queer business." he said again. "I must go on to Scarsdale, and make Inquiries aboot this Woctor Williams afore I report t' super," When Philip's almost lifeless body waa flung; over the cliff it rushed Skinny's Life Is Ju£ One Thing After Another f (Kertitered United States Patent Offlce) , down through the summer air feet foremost. Then, in obedience to the law of gravity, it spun around until, at the moment of impact with the water, the head and shoulders plunged first Into the waves. At that point the depth of the sea was 60 feet at the very base of the rock. At each half tide, and espe cially ln stormy weather, an irresist ible current swept away all sand de posit, and sheered off projecting masses of stone so effectually that, in the course of time, the overhanging cliff must be undermined and fall into the sea. High tide or low, there was always sufficient water to float a battleship, and the place was noted as a favorite nook for salmon, at that season pre paring for their annual visit to the sylvan streams of the moorland val leys. The lordly salmon Is peculiar in his habits. Delighting, at one period of the year, to roam through the ooean wilds, at another he seeks shallow rivers, ln whose murmuring fords he scarce finds room to >urn his portly frame. And the law protects him most Jeal. , ously. In the river he Is guarded like a king, and when lie clusters at Its mouth, lazily making up his mind to try a change of water, as a monarch might visit Homburg for a change of air, he can only be caught under cer tain sever restrictions. He must not be netted within so many yards of the seaward limit of the estuary; he may not be caught wholesale; the nets must have a max imum length of 400 feet; they must not be set between 7 p. m. on a Fri day ana 7 a. tn. on a Monday. Viewed in every aspect, the salmon Is given exceptional chances of long evity. His price is high as has cull nary feputatlon, and the obvious se quel to all these precautions Is that certain nefarious persons known as poachers try every artifice to defeat the law and capture him. A favorite dodge Is to run out a large quantity of nets in Just such a tideway as the foot of the cliff crowned by Grange house. None can spy the operations from the land, while a close watch seaward gives many chances of escape from enter prising water bailiffs, who, moreover, can sometimes' be made conveniently drunk. When Philip hurtled into the placid sea his naked body shone white, like the plumage of some gigantic bird. Indeed, a man who was leisurely pulling the cable in a zigzag course —while two others paid out a net so that Its sweeping; curves might em Oh, Yes, Sell It, Sell It, Or Give It Away* (CopjT'fat. 1813. International News Services barrass any wandering salmon who found himself within its meshes — marked the falling body in its in stantaneous passage, and thought at first that some huge sea fowl had dived after its prey. But the loud splash startled the three men. Not so did a cormorant or a white winged solan plunge to secure an unwary haddock. SAVED! The net attendants straightened their backs; the oarsmen stood up. The disturbance was so near, so un expected, that it alarmed them. They looked aloft, thinking that a rock had fallen; they looked to the small eddy caused by Philip's disappearance to see if any sign would be given ex planatory of an unusual occurrence. Were Philip thrown from such a height when in full possession Of his senses, in all likelihood such breath as was ln his lungs at the moment of his fall would have been expelled by the time he reached the water. He must have resisted the rush of I All the cheering refreshment that tea I I ever brought to womankind I I • . is blended in I L ffapoqys %a J It Makes Quite a Difference (Copyright. 3813. International Kewa Serrlea) air, uttered involuntary cries, strug gled wildly with his limbs. But, as lt chanced. Mason's rough handling in carrying him to the bal cony made active the vital forces that were restoring him to conscious ness. He was on the very threshold of re newed life when he fell, and the downward flight helped rather than retarded the process. Indeed, the rush of air was grateful. He drank In the vigorous draught and Inflated his lungs readily. His sensations were those of a man immersed in a warm bath, and the shock of his concussion with the surface of the sea in nowise retarded the recuperative effect of the dive. Of course he was fortunate, after falling from such a height, in striking the water with his right shoulder. No portion of the human body is so fitted to bear a heavy blow as the shoulder and upper part of the back. Had he dropped vertically on his head or his feet he might have sustained serious injury. As it was, after s> tremendous dive, and a curve of many yards beneath the sea, he bobbed up Inside the salmon net within a few feet of the boat. Instantly the fishermen saw that it was a man, an absolutely naked man, who had thus dropped from the sky. They were amazed, very frightened indeed, but they readily hauled at the dragging net and brought Philip nearer the boat. E%-en at this final stage of his adventure he incurred a terrible risk. Unable to help himself in the least degree, and swallowing salt water rapidly now, he rolled away inertly, as the net rose under the energetic efforts of his rescuers. They was grave danger that he should drop back into the depths, and then he must sink like a stone. _ Continued Tomorrow A medical expert contends that out of 1.000 girls studying the piano be fore the age of 12, about 600 are af flicted with nervous troubles in later life.