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* SERIAL^ ( STORY j IS MERCURY Eleanor M. Ingram Author of "The Game and the Candle" Illustration* By RJY WALTERS (Copyright, 1010,1 v Dobbs-Harrlll Co.) _ f BYNOPSIS. The story opens on Long Island, near New York city, where Miss Emily Ffrench, a relative of Ethan Ffrench. manufacturer of the celebrated "Mer cury" automobile, loses her way. The car has stopped and her cousin, Dick Ffrench, is too muddled with drink to direct It aright. They meet another car which is run by a professional racer named Lestrange. The latter fixes up the Ffrench car and directs .Miss Ffrench how to proceed homeward. Ethan Ffrenoh has disinherited his son, who has disappeared. He informs Emily plainly that he would like to have her marry Dick, who is a good-natured but irresponsible fellow. It appears that a partner of Ethan Ffrench wanting an ex pert to race with the "Mercury" at auto •vents, has engaged Lestrange, and at the Ffrench factory Emily encounters the young man. They refer pleasantly to their meeting when Dick comes along and recognizes the young racer. Dick likes the way Lestrange ignores their first meeting when he appeared to a disad vantage. Lestrange tells Emily that he will try to educate her indifferent cousin as an automobile expert. Dick under takes his business schooling under the tutelage of Lestrange. Dick is sheer grit, and In making a test race meets with an accident. Lestrange meets Emily in the moonlit garden of the Ffrench home. Under an impulse he cannot control he kisses her and she leaves him, confessing In her own heart that she returns his love. CHAPTER Vll.—(Continued). "I thought there was to be no more trouble," she faltered, distressed. Lestrange looked down at her stead ily, his gray eyes darkening to an ex pression she had never seen. "Have I no right?" was his question. "Is there no canceling of a claim, is there no subsequent freedom? Is it all no use, Emily?" Vaguely awed and frightened, her fingers tightened on his arm In a panic of surrender. "I will come to you, I will come! You know best what is right—l trust you to tell me. Forgive me, dear, I wanted to—" He silenced her, all the light flash ing back to his face. "A promise; hush! Oh, I shall win tonight with that singing in my ears. I have more to say to you, but not now. I must Bee Bailey, somehow, be fore I go." "He is at the house; let me send him here to you." "If you come back with him." They laughed together. "I will— Do you know/ her color deepened rosily, "they call you 'Darling;' I have never heard your own name." "My name is David," Lestrange said quietly, and kissed her for farewell. The earth danced under Emily's feet as she ran across the lawns, the sun glowed warm, the brook tinkled over the cascades in a very madness of mirth. At the head of the veranda steps she turned to look once more at the roof of the white pavilion among the locust trees. "Uncle will like you when he knows you," she laughed in her heart. "Any one must like you." The servant she met in the hall said that Mr. Bailey had gone out, and Mr. Ffrench, also, but separately, the former having taken the short route across toward the factory. That way Emily went In pursuit, Intending to overtake him with her pony cart. But upon reaching the stables, past which the path ran, she found Bailey himself engaged in an inspection of the limousine in company with the chauffeur. "You'll have to look Into her differ ential, Anderson," he was pronounc ing, when the young girl came beside him. "Come, please," she urged breath lessly. " - * "Come?" repeated Bailey, wheeling, with his slow, benevolent smile. "Sure, Miss Emily; where?" She shook her head, not replying un til they were safely outside; then: "To Mr. Lestrange; he Is In the pa vilion. He wants to see "you." "To Lestrange!" he almost shouted, halting. Lestrange here?" "Yes. There is time; he says there is time. He is going back as soon as he sees you." "But what's he doing here? What does he mean by risking bis neck without any practice." "He came to see me," she whis pered, and stood confessed. "God!" said Bailey, quite reverently, after a moment of speechless stupe faction. "You, and him!" She lifted confiding eyes to him, moving nearer. 'It is a secret, but I wanted you to know because you like us both. Dick said you loved Mr. Leetrange." "Tea," Fas the dazed assent. "Well, then— But come, he is waiting." She was sufficiently unlike the usual Mils Ffrench to bewilder any one. Bailey dumbly followed her across 1 the park, carrying hit ;: bat in his band. : ■■ -I' •"'■ -■- - A short distance, from the pavilion Emily stopped abruptly, turning a startled face to her companion. "Some one .is \ there," she said. "Some one is speaking. I forgot that Uncle Ethan had gone out." She heard Bailey catch his breath oddly. Her own pulses began to beat with heavy irregularity, as a few steps farther brought the two opposite the open arcade. There they halted, frozen. . , .. , .:-.., . ', In the place Emily had left, where all her feminine toys still lay, Mr. Ffrench was seated as one exhausted by the force of overmastering emo tion; his hands clenched on the arms of the chair; his face drawn with pas sion. Opposite him stood Lestrange, colorless and still as Emily had never conceived him, listening in absolute silence to the bitter address pouring from the other's lips with a low-toned violence indescribable. "I told you then, never again to come here," first fell upon Emily's conscious hearing. "I supposed you were at least Ffrench enough to take a dismissal. What do you want here, money? I warned you to live upon the allowance sent every month to your bankers, for I would pay no more even to escape the intolerable dis grace of your presence here. Did you imagine me so deserted that I would accept even you as a successor? Wrong; you are not missed. ; My nephew Richard takes your place, and is fit to take it. Go back to Europe and your low-born wife; there is no lack in my household." The voice broke in an excess of sav age triumph, and Lestrange took the pause without movement or gesture. "I am going, sir, and I shall never come back," he answered, never more quietly. "I can take a dismissal, yes. If ever I have wished peace or hoped for an accord that never existed be tween us, I go cured of such folly. Tint Vi/->or» +Vi»a munli clnno T Dm nr. "I am going, sir, and I shall never come back," he answered, never more quietly. "I can take a dismissal, yes. If ever I have wished peace or hoped for an accord that never existed be tween us, I go cured of such folly. But hear this much, since I am ar raigned at your bar: I have never yet disgraced your name or mine un less by the boy's mischief which sent me from college. The money you speak of, I have never used; ask Bailey of it, if you will." He hesitat ed, and in the empty moment there came across the mile of June air the roaring noon whistle of the fac tory. Involuntarily he turned his head toward the call, but as instantly re covered himself from the self-betray al. "There is another matter to be arranged, but there is no time now. Nor even in concluding it will I ever come here again, sir." There was that in his bearing, In the dignified carefulness of courtesy with which he saluted the other before turning to go, that checked even Eth an Ffrench. But as Lestrange crossed the threshold of the little building, Emily ran from the thicket to meet him, her eyes a dark splendor in her white face, her hands outstretched. "Not like this!" she panted. "Not without seeing me! Oh, I might have guessed—" His vivid color and animation re .turned as he caught her to him, heed less of witnesses. "You dare? My dear, my dear, not even a question? There is no one< "Well, Then—But Come, He la Waiting." like you. Say, shall I take you now, or send Dick for you after the race?" Mr. Ffrench exclaimed some inartic ulate words, but neither heard him. "Send Dick," Emily answered, her eyes on the gray eyes above her. "Send Diek —I understand, I will come." He kissed her once, then she drew hack and he went down, the terraces toward the gates. As Emily sank down on the bench by the pavilion door, Bailey brushed past her, running after the straight, lithe figure that went steadily on out of sight among the huge trees planted and tended by five generations of 'Ffreaches. When the vistas of the park^ere empty, Emily slowly turned to, face her uncle. ■• "You love David Ffrench?" he asked, his voice thin and harsh. . "Yeß," she answered. She had no need to ask if Lestrange were meant. "He is married to seme woman of the music halls." "No." "How do you know 7 He has told you?" She lifted to him the superby confi dence of her glance, although nervous tremors shook her in. wavellke suc cession. "If he had been married, he would not haVe made me care for him. He has asked me to be his wife." They were equally strange to each other In these new characters, and equally spent by emotion. ' Neither moving, they sat oposlte each other in silence. 80 Bailey found them when he came back later, to take bis massive stand in the doorway, his hands in his pockets and his strong Jaw set "I think that things are kind of mixed up here, Mr. Ffrench," he stated grimly. "I guess I'm the one to straighten them out a bit; I've loved Mr. David from the time he was a kid and never saw him get a square deal yet. You asked him what he was do ing here—l'll tell you; he is Le strange." There is a degree of amazement which precludes speech; Mr. Ffrench looked back at his partner, mute. "He is Lestrange. He never meant you to know; he'd have left without your ever knowing, but for Miss Em ily. I guess I don't need to remind you of what he's done; if It hadn't been for him we might have closed our doors some day. He understands the business as none of us back-num ber, old-fashioned ones do; he took hold and shook some life Into it We can make cars, but he can make peo ple* buy them. Advertising! Why, just that fool picture he drew on the back of a pad, one day, of a row of thermometers up to one hundred forty, with the sign 'Mercuries are at the top,' made more people notice." Bailey cleared his throat "He was always making people notice, and laughing while he did it He's risked his neck on every course going, to bring our cars hi first, he's lent his fame as a racing driver to help us along. And now everything is fixed the way we want, he's thrown out. What did he do it for? He thought he needed to square accounts with you, for being born, I suppose; so when he heard how things were going with us he came to me and offered his help. At least, that's what he said. I believe he came because he couldn't bear to see the old place go under." There was a skein of blue silk swinging over the edge of the table. Mr. Ffrench picked it up and replaced it in Emily's work basket before re plying. "If this remarkable story is true," he began, accurately precise in ac cent. "You don't need me to tell you it is," retorted Bailey. "You know what my new manager's been doing; why, you disliked him without seeing him, but you had to admit his good work. And I heard you talking about his allowance, Mr. Ffrench. He never touched it, not from the first; it piled up for six years. Last April, when we needed cash in a hurry, he drew it out and gave It to me to buy aluminum. When he left here first he drove a taxicab in New York city un til he got into racing work and made Darling Lestrange famous all over the continent. I guess it went pretty hard for a while; if he'd been the things you called him, he'd have gone to the devil alone In New York. But he didn't." An oriole darted in one arcade and out again with a musical whir of wings. The clink of glass and silver sounded from the house windows with a pleasant cheeriness and suggestion of comfort and plenty. "He made good," Bailey concluded, .thoughtfully. "But it sounded queer to me to hear you tell him you didn't want him around because Mr. Dick took his place. I know, and Miss Em ily knows, that Dick Ffrench was no use on earth for any place until Mr. David took him in hand and made him fit to live. That's all, I guess, that I had to say; I'll get back to work." He turned, but paused to glance around. "It's going to be pretty dull at the factory for me. And between us we've sent Lestrange to the track with a nice set of nerves." His retreating footsteps died away to leave the noon hush unbroken. As before, uncle and niece were left op posite each other, the crumpled news paper where Lestrange's name showed in heavy type lying on the floor be tween them. The effect of Bailey's final sentence had been to leave Emily dizzied by apprehension. But when Mr. Ffrench rose and passed out, she aroused to look up at him eagerly. "Uncle," she faltered. Disregarding or unseeing her out stretched hand, he went on and left her there alone. And. then Emily dared rescue the newspaper. "A substitute," she whispered. "A substitute," and laid her wet cheek against the. pictured driver. No one lunched at the Ffrench home that day, except the servants. Near three o'clock In the afternoon Mr. Ffrench came back to the pavilion where Emily still sat. "Go change your gown/ he com manded. In his usual tone. "We will start now. I have sent for Bailey and ordered Anderson to bring the auto mobile." "Start?" she wondered, bewildered. He met her gaze with a stately re pellence of comment "For the Beach. I understand this race lasts twenty-four hours. Have you any objection?" Objection to being near David! Em ily sprang to her feet. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Wholesale Burning of Books. The French should win Edmund Gosse's commendation for the whole sale manner In which they have de stroyed books. They have even gone to the extent of coining a special word, "bibliolytie," to donate "la de struction volontalre dcs Uvres." The greatest date in the annals of biblio lytie is 1790, when church property was confiscated by the revolutionary government During that year, in Paris alone, 808,120 volumes taken from monasteries and convents were burned, and throughout the whole country the total destroyed Is said to bare amounted to 4.194.400. RENO FAR_BEHIHB Chicago Judges in Two Hours Try 100 Divorce Cases. All Trials Are Uncontested, and In Mo.t Cases Court Has No Alterna. tive but to Issue Decree— Chil dren Are the Sufferers. Chicago.—Between the hours of 10 4 matd noon the other day judges j sitting in the courts of Chicago heard 100 divorce cases. Not one of the B uits was contested. In nearly every case the judges have no alternative but to grant decrees. H. Most of the litigants have children. When the decrees are entered cm tago will have at least 100 new di vorce orphans." The "divorce orphan Is the most miserable orphan in the I world. Between the child and one of ' Its parents the law has placed a bar rier. Too often the other parent "doesn't care." Recent dispatches announce that the Nevada legislature is about to put the "easy divorce mill" at Reno out of business. It really daes not matter. Compared with Chicago Reno Is an Infinitesimal dot on the map as a di vorce center. Figures compiled from the census returns show in spite of the fact it Is the best advertised "divorce mill" town in the world and that persons go there from all over the country for the express purpose of obtaining legal separation. Reno judges during the. j period from 1887 to 1906 granted only 327 decrees. In the same period Chicago courts ground out 33,906 divorced couples. As an "easy" divorce town there Is little choice between Chicago and Reno. This is not because of the lax ! Ity of Illinois' divorce laws. It is due. to the fact that the flood of divorce litigants in the Cook county courts Is 30 overwhelming the judges find it a physical impossibility to give every case the consideration it ought to have. The record of fifty divorces an hour made the other day repeats itself day after day. There is no time for in quiry, little opportunity for reconcilia tion, multitudinous chances for fraud. j The court hears the story of the plain tiff and the corroboration of one or I possibly two other witnesses. A | prima facie case is made out The. evidence is "written up." It comes back to the judge in due course of time and he has no choice under the law but to enter the judgment which the bill of complaint asked for. The divorce courts make more or phans in Chicago than death. Judge Kavanagh said that an average of 175 persons die in Cook county every 1 week. The divorce decrees granted In the same weekljt period quarduples that number. "Divorce orphanage is much more pitiful than the orphanage of death," the judge added, "because of the dis grace and shame that follows- these children throughout their lives. The sanctity of the marriage tie seems to be becoming less and less regarded. Year by year more and more persons come to our courts to be relieved of wife or husband. "Another shameful feature is the number of men called before the courts because they neglect to pay ali mony after separation from their wives and families. Many seem to think their whole responsibility ends when the divorce decree is signed in the courts. "It is a fact there are many in stances in which the same man has three broods of children by three dif ferent wives. "One of the alarming features of our divorce evil is the fact that it pervades practically one strata of so ciety here and that the largest body of our citizenship. It obtains especial ly among the ordinarily well-to-do peo ple—the middle class. We have com paratively few divorce cases among the wealthy class. "We find almost no divorce cases among the poor." JAPAN COAL SITE IN HAWAII That Is the Rumor Reproduced in Report by American Officials U. S. Is Watching. Washington.—Rumors that the Japanese steamship line, the -Toyo Kisen. Kaisha, is obtaining options on land in Honolulu for the erection of a modern coaling plant, are repro duced in a government report here, without comment, by government oftl' cials. The Lodge resolution, passed by the last congress, declared against the acquisition of any coaling stations in America by corporations controlled by foreign powers, but no definition was made as to whether it applied to outlying possessions of the United States. It is understood the state department is watching the Honolulu situation. ASKED TO GIVE $267,000,000 Widow of the Late Edward H. Kar riman Gets 6,000 Begging Let ters in Two Years. New York. —In 1910 and 1911 Mrs. Edward H. Harriman received 6,000 "begging letters." She was asked by persons of whom she had never heard to give away the sum of $267,000,000. and invariably she was told that she "would never miss" sums of money which in the aggregate amount to something like four times her entire I fortune. -, 1 RED HAIR ALWAYS DISLIKED With the Exception of the Romans, Ancient People. Had Strong Aversion to It. Red Is the fashionable color of wom an's hair just now, but in many pe riods and countries to have red hair meant to test the depths of misfor tune even of death. Prejudice against red hair runs back even to Egyptian times, for in that land of decided opinions and strong prejudices it was the custom to burn: alive some unfortunate individual cursed with red hair, so it was decid edly uncomfortable to have red hair in Egypt, as no one knew whose turn would come next. That the Chinese shared this preju dice against red hair is proved by their epithet for the English, whom they called "red-haired barbarians" or "red-haired devils." The great exception to this rule among ancient nations is the Romans, for since the time of Nero they have praised red hair in the highest terms. They preferred a dark red, almost brown, such as we term auburn, and modern Romans share this liking. It is said that among the patrician families of Rome and Florence there is an ab normally large number of red-haired women. Modern Greeks share this pre dilection with the Romans and the} highten the reddish effect of*the hair by wearing dull gold ornaments. One of the most frequent causes oi the prejudice against red hair in Chris tian countries undoubtedly goes bach to the tradition that Judas, the be trayer of Jesus, had red hair, and most of the artists paint him thus. Shakes peare refers to this in "As You Yike it," when Rosalind says of Orlando "His very hair is of the dissembling color," and Celia answers: "Some thing browner than Judas." The Brahmins were forbidden tc marry red-haired women and, as has been said: "The populace of most countries, confounding moral with es thetic impressions, accuse red-haired people of various shortcomings." Besides the old tradition of Judas having been red-haired aiding to cre ate the prejudice existing in many lands the fact of the feeling against red hair in England is set down to the red-haired Danes, who could not be regarded save as invaders and bar barians. That Furrowed Brow. It seems almost as if we modern folk studied deliberately to appear ill tempered in the eyes of our fellow-be ings, fearing lest a relaxation from our habitual frown should lower us in the esteem of those we meet. Yet surely the opposite should be the case. The sour expression is that of the beaten woman, the failure. The well to-do, the successful, should, of all peo ple, be the happier. There is nothing undignified In a smile; one should not be ashamed of a light heart'and a clear conscience. But the world has created a tradition that the cares of responsibility must be marked by a furrowed brow. It finds the women with a merry laugh, in business hours certainly, a woman to be treated with caution. "Thia woman laughs," says the world, in ef fect; "she cannot be a sound woman; she is too frivolous." Dull, dour and unbending, the world, our world, plods on its way, hoarding its smiles for fear of its dignity, un til at last it forgets to smile alto gether. Generations of scowling faces have taught us to usspect the smiling ones. We fear their owners are endeavoring to Ingratiate them selves with us for no good purpose. To regard things cheerfully is to be tray a lack of solidarity and worth. Wife Couldn't See the Idea. That few men know how to make the most of their time was the asser tion of Governor Deneen. To prove his point the governor told of friends of his who were moving. The wife conceived the. notion that she might save time by wearing on each trip to the new home one of her. numerous coats and leaving it. It would be easier than packing them. She was surprised, however, to find, on the occasion of one visit to the fu ture dwelling, her husband removing his clothes. "Why, John, what on earth are you doing? Are you going to bed?" "Of course I'm going to bed/ said John. "I'm going to get my clothes over here like you are yours. Now, then, you see, I will just go over to the house and get on another suit." Needless to say his wife soon settled that. Caddy's Mean Suggestion. Mrs. R. H. Barlow, the eastern cham pion, said at the Cape May Golf club, nodding toward a certain man: "Yes, he is a very poor player. Even his caddy/for all' his liberal tips, scorns him. -, \ "One afternoon he made a wretched foozle and tore up a sod. Lifting this sod in his hand —it was about a foot square—he said to his caddy rue fully: " 'What on earth am I td do with this, John?' '"If I was you,' the boy answered. 'I'd take it up to the hotel to practice. on, sir.'"—New Orleans Daily States. His Car. "And what is that little building aver there?" asked the visitor to Tompy's place. "That? Oh, my wife calls that the garage," said Tompy. "Oh'— what la your car?" asked the visitor. "Oh, that*s a mirage," said Tompy. •-Harper's Weekfr. ; ; Had Kept Her Bargain. An Ingenious trick was recently played on some women of Maulkjan], Madras, India. They handed sums of money to a woman who said that she possessed the power of doubling the contents. The victims - had their 1 packets returned to them after seven ! days, when the silver coins they had contained were found ; to ' have been changed: into copper ones. . It Cures While You Walk. :t^^ w-» - Allen's Foot-Ease -it * a certain cure for hot sweating, callus, and swollen, aching feet SoM by all Druggists. Price 26c. < Don't accent an, robstitute^Trial *• package PREB^SdSJ Allen a. Olmsted,Le*oy, 8. Y. v .£?^J^***m ' Accomplishing. It is very important that the young man select his life work early and bend every energy toward accom plishing something. i One of the most common ; causes' of [t allure in this life lies in the fact that men do not see the importance of being thorough un til It is too late. —Florence Vidette. ;: English Stump Speech. ' A correspondent, f. "Old ; Brlney," sends :us X the 't olio wing specimen ol frenzied stump oratory: "Feller blokes! s Thanks ter th' guv'ment, yei got d'minishin' wage, and yer lit tie\ loaf, ! an' all * that. Wotcher got ter do now is ter go fer devil-ootion and local anatomy, an' go it - blind!" (Loud. cheers.) —London Globe. ■Be thrifty on little things like bluing. Don't ac eept water for bluing:. *-* Ask for -Red Cross Ball Blue, the extra good value blue. .'*•"■ ..'■ '■•-■"--■_._ - ..^ ... .. •. - -.'■ * '~k ■'■': By Installments. The "epoch-making advice" of a bookmaker to a colleague in distress Is ! related :in Vanity Fair. The col league V had been paid « 25 on a bet by a certain captain, who, in a fit of absent-mindedness; paid him the same amount again next day. "What shall I do about It?" asked the bookmaker of his \ friend; and : prompt came the answer: < "A** him for llt again." Steel Stays Stopped Bullet. : Steel stays have saved many a wom an's life.: Not long ago Mary Henessy was taken to Bellevue hospital with a ■ flesh wound in the side, and Dr. Drury discovered that had it not been for a steel stay which deflected the bullet the wound would have been fatal, for the slug had been traveling toward a vital h**i*t Clogged Sewing Machine. When ; a sewing machine will not work, stand it near the fire so that the oil may melt, and then clean with pure paraffin, putting it ■; Into every oil hole. Work the machine well, and then wipe every part with a clean cloth. ; When V perfectly clean, lubri cate with machine oil. y As a Man Thinks. :. Jennie —"He must have a soft spot in his heart for me." Wennie —"Why so?" Jennie—-"He^ says he is always thinking of me." Wennie —"But, you know, a man doesn't \ think with his heart. The soft place must be in his head." —London Telegraph. Mothers will find Mrs. Window's Sootnlng Byrup the best remedy to use for their children during .rie teething period. . - Happiest Home. But the happiest home is built when the twain together meet the trials and catastrophes that come from the outside world with the good health, the common sense, the humor, the patience and courage that will rout them. It should not be necessary for these- qualities to be used by the one to combat the faults of the other. —Barbara Boyd. Learning by Love Letter. "Love letters between young men and women are an excellent method of teaching literature," says Dr. Ar thur Holmes. But it must be done tactfully. We have known a young lady who broke off an engagement because her fiance returned her love letters with the spelling errors neatly corrected in red ink. TO CURE A COLD IN ONE DAT j^Tafce LAXATTVE BROMO I Quinine TWblete ?SJ?^^ refund money if it fails to cure. E. W, aROVE'S signature is on each box. 26c Not Inconvenienced. "Did the dissolution of your gigantlo corporation cause you inconvenience?" Not the slightest," replied Mr. Duetln Stax. "I needed an enlarged and Im proved system of branch offices, any* how." !trX'.:* Xv^^j^j.* £ ; Wanted to Live ilift History. i Some ; men's idea lof fame is cer tainly a distorted one. A murderer in South Carolina pleaded for the privilege of belnir the first man to be electrocuted: that new mode of execution was introduced- -into the .. ■ '': .- ." ■"■'« , * No Use for Boys Any More. . Somebody" has invented an electric device that will ?. split kindling wood. Gradually we are getting it so ar ranged ; that the world will - have ab solutely no use for small ; boys. •. Mt^t^l^B B^HPl^ ■-■ '"*■■ 8888 ' BBBBVi^BBBBB^^^BT JBB^^^*^^^^^BBl * .^BBBBBBBBBBBBBBbV bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb^/^M^b^bbbbbbbbbl ' |j| Bt C«Mh ■yrap. TmU» O»o<L V- fe| BBwOTBJBJBBB^BJBJBJBBBjBJBBas^BBBBBBBBBBBjMBa^CII '•