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{ STORY A
Fc FLYING
MERCURY
By*
Eleanor M. Ingram
Author of
"The Game and the Candle"
Illustrations By
RJIY WALTERS
(Copyright. 1610. by Bobb»-M«rrlU Co.)
12 BYNOPSIS.
The story opens on Long Island, near
New York city, where Miss Emily
Kfrench a relative of Ethan Ffrench,
manufacturer of the celebrated ' Mer
cury" automobile, loses her way. The
car has stopped anil 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 Mis; Ffrench
how to proce.d homeward. Ethan
Ffrench 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 rare with the "Mercury" at auto
events, has engaged Lestrange, and at
the Ffrench factory Emily encounters the
young man. They refer pleasantly to
their meeting when Dick comes along and
recoKniz-s 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. The uncle of Emily, learning of
her attachment to Leatrange, Informs her
that the man Is his disbarred son, whom
she has never seen before being adopted
by him. He claims that his son ran away
with a dissolute actress, refuses to ac
knowledge him, and orders Emily to
think of Dick as her future husband. A
big race is on in the south and Ethan
French takes Emily to see It. The fame
of the "Mercury" Is involved in the suc
cess of Lestrange and Dick running the
race.
CHAPTER IX.—(Continued).
The hourß passed. One more car
went out of the race under the grind-
Ing test; there were the usual Inci
dents of blown-out tires and tempo
rary withdrawals for repairs. Twice
Mr. Ffrench sent his partner and Em
ily to the restaurant below, tolerating
his seat. Perfectly composed, his ex
pression perfectly self-contained, he
watched his son.
The day grew unbearably hot to
ward afternoon, a heat rather of July
than June. After a visit to his camp
Lestrange reappeared without the suf
focating mask and cap, driving bare
headed, with only the narrow goggles
crossing his face. The change left
visible the drawn pallor of exhaus
tion under stains of dust and oil, his
rolled-back sleeves disclosed the crim
son badge on his right arm and the
fact that his left wrist was tightly
■wound with linen where swollen and
strained muscles rebelled at the long
trial.
"He's been driving for nineteen
hours," said Dick, climbing up to his
party through the excited crowd. "Two
hours more to six o'clock. Listen to
the mob when he passes!"
The injunction was unnecessary. As
the sun slanted low the enthusiasm
«rew to fever. This was a crowd of
connoisseurs—motorists, chauffeurs,
automobile lovers and drivers —they
knew what was being done before
them. The word passed that Le
strange was in his twentieth hour;
people climbed on seats to cheer him
as he passed by. When one of his
tires blew out, in the opening of the
first hour of his driving and the twen
ty-fourth of the race, the great shout
of sympathy and encouragement that
went up Bhook the grand-stand to its
cement foundations.
Neither Lestrange nor Rupert left
his s»at while that tire was changed.
"If we did I ain't sure we'd get
back.* Rupert explained to Dick, who
hovered around them agitatedly. "If
I'd thought Darling's mechanician
would get in for this, I'd have taken
in sewing for a living. How much
longer?"
"Half an hour."
"Well, watch us finish."
A renewed burst of applause greet
ed the Mercury car's return to the
track. Men were standing watch In
hand to count the last moments, their
«yes on the bulletin board where the
reeled-off miles were being registered
Two of the other machines were fight
ing desperately for second place, hope
less of rivaling Lestrange, and after
them pped the rest.
"The finish!" some one suddenly
called. "The last lap!"
Pick was hanging over the paddock
fence when the car shot by amidst
brr.yins;. l.laxons, motor horns, cheers,
and tie clashing music of the bind
Frantic, the people bailed Lestrange
as the black acd white checked flag
dropped Vefore him in proclamation
of hir vr.ory and the ended race.
Rv n raised his arms above his
bend in the signal of acknowledg
ment, v? they new across the line and
swept on to complete the circle to
their camp. Lestrange slackened
speed to take the dangerous, deeply
furrowed turn for the last time, his
ear »poissd for the curving flight an-
der his guidance —then the watching
hundreds saw the driver's hands slip
from the steering-wheel as he reached
for the brake. Straight across the
track the machine dashed, instead of
following the bend, crashed through
the barrier, and rolled over on its side
in the green meadow grass.
"The steering-knuckle!" Bailey
groaned, as the place burst Into up
roar around them. "The wheel—l saw
it turn uselessly in his hands!"
"They're up!" cried a dozen voices.
"No one's up and one's under."
"Who's caught in the wreck—Le
strange or his man?"
But before the people who surged
over the track, breaking all restraint,
before the electric ambulance, Dick
Ffrench reached the marred thing
that had been the Mercury car. It
was Lestrange who had painfully
struggled to one knee beside the ma
chine, fighting hard for breath to
speak.
"Take the car off Rupert," he pant
ed, at Dick's cry of relief on seeing
him. "I'm all right—take the car off
Rupert."
The next instant they were sur
rounded, overwhelmed with eager aid
The ambulance came up and a sur
geon precipitated himself toward Le
strange.
"Stand back," the surgeon com
manded generally. "Are you trying
to smother him? Stand back."
But it was he who halted before a
gesture from Lestrange, who leaned
on Dick and a comrade from the
camp.
"Go over there, to Rupert."
"You first—"
"No."
There was nothing to do except
yield. Shrugging his shoulders, the
surgeon paused the necessary mo
ment. A moment only; there was a
no protests, but he himself never left
scattering of the hushed workers, a
metallic crash.
From the space the car had cov
ered a small figure uncoiled, lizard
like, and itaggered unsteadily erect.
"Where's Darling Lestrange?" was
hurled viciously across the silence.
"Gee, you're a slow bunch of work
ers! Where's Lestrange?'.'
The tumult that broke loose swept
all to confusion. And after all It was
Lestrange who was put in the sur
geon's care, while Rupert rode back
to the camp on the driver's seat of
the ambulance.
"Tell Emily I'll come over to her as
soon as I'm fit to look at," was the
message Lestrange gave Dick. "And
when you go back to the factory,
have your steering-knuckles strength
ened."
Dick exceeded his commission by
transmitting the speech entire; re
peating the first part to Emily with
all affectionate solicitude, and flinging
the second cuttingly at I.ls uncle and
Bailey.
"The doctors say he ought to be In
Reappeared Without the Suffocating
Mask and Cap.
bed, but he won't go," he concluded
"No, you can't see him until they get
through patching him up at the hos
pital tent; they put every one out ex
cept Rupert. He hasn't a scratch, aft
er having a ninety Mercury on top of
him. You're to come over to our
camp. Emily, and wait for Lestrange
I suppose everybody had better
come."
It was a curious and an elevating
thing to see Dickie assume command
of his family, but no one demurred
An official, recognizing in him Le
strange's manager, cleared a way for
the party through the noisy press of
departing people and automobiles
The sunset had long faded, night
had settled over the motordrome and
the electric lamps had been lit in the
tents, before there came a stir and
murmur in tbe Mercury camp.
• "Don't skid, the ground's wet," cau
tloned ■ a voice outside the dcor
"Steady!" i '..-:.'': ~ >;■-_, ' '■■-■■'■'■'*£.'%
. Effiil]^; started up. Dick sprang to
open,ths canvas, and Lestrange cross
ed the. threshold: Lestrange. color
less, his right .arm in a sling, his left
wound with linen from wrist to elbow
and bearing a heavy ' purple bruise
above, his temple, but with the bright
ness of victory -flashing above all
weariness like a dancing -flame. "
"Sweetheart!"; he laughed, as
Emily ran vto meet him, heedless jof
£11-thiEg3 except that he stood within
touch once more: J "My dear, .1 told
Item net *to " frighten you. Why,
Emily—" t i '**. f • ■-• t*'
For as he put his one available arm
about":her.! she hid her wet eyes on
Lis shoulder. - ".. - •-, _'
"I am so : happy," she explained
breathlessly..; 'It is only that."
"You should not have been here:at
all,; my dear.« -, But ;it is ; good »to see
you. Who brought you? Bailey?"
catching sight of the man beside Dick.
"Good, I wanted soita on« to help me;
Rupert ana i n»rts got to nnd a hotel
and ire're not very active."
Emily would have slipped away
from \&e clasp, scarlet with returning
recoil *ctlon, but Lestrange detained
her tt/ meet his shining eyes.
"Tli« race Is over," he reminded,
for h*jr ears alone. "I'm going to
keep you, If you'll stay."
He turned to take a limping step,
offering his hand cordially to the
speechless Bailey, and faced for the
first time the other man present.
"I think," said Ethan Ffrench, "that
there need be no question of hotels.
We have not understood each other,
but you have the right to Ffrench
wood's hospitality. If you can travel,
we will go there."
"No," answered David Ffrench, as
quietly. "Never. You owe me noth
ing, sir. If I have worked in your
factory, I took the workman's wages
for it; if I have won honors for your
car, I also won the prize-money given
to the driver. I never meant so to
establish any claim upon Ffrench
wood or you. I believe we stand even.
Dick has taken my place, happily;
Emily and I will go on our own road."
They looked at each other, the like-
"I Am So Happy."
ness between them most apparent, In
the similar determination of mood
which wiped laughter and warmth
from the younger man's face. How
ever coldly phrased and dictatorially
spoken, it was an apology which Mr.
Ffrench had offered and which had
been declined. But —he had watched
Lestrange all day; he did not lift the
gauntlet.
"You are perfectly free," he con
ceded, "which gives you the opportun
ity of being generous."
His son moved, flushing through
his pallor.
"I wish you would not put it that
way, sir," he objected.
"There is no other way. I have
been wrong and I have no control
over you; will you come home?"
There was no other argument but
that that could have succeeded, and
the three who knew Lestrange knew
that could not fail.
"You want me because I am a
Ffrench," David rebelled In the final
protest. "You have a substitute."
"Perhaps I want you otherwise. And
we will not speak in passion; there
can be no substitute for you."
"Ffrench and Ffrench," murmured
Dick coaxingly. "We can run that
factory, Lestrange!"
"There's more than steering
knuckles needing your eye on them.
And you love the place, Mr. David,"
said Bailey from his corner.
From one to the other David's
glance went, to rest on Emily's deli
cate, earnest face in its setting of
yellow-bronze curls. Full and straight
her dark eyes answered his, the con
vent-bred Emily's answer to his pride
and old resentment and new reluc
tance to yield his liberty.
"After all. you were born a
Ffrench," she reminded, her soft ac
cents Just audible. "If that is your
work?"
Very slowly David turned to his
father.
"I never learned to do things by
halves," he said. "If you want me,
sir—"
And Ethan Ffrench understood, and
first offered his hand.
Rupert was discovered asleep in a
camp-chair outside the tent, a few
minutes later, when Dick went in
search of him.
"The limousine's waiting," his
awakener informed him. "You don't
feel bad, do you?"
The mechanician rose cautiously,
wincing.
"Well, if every Joint in my chassis
wasn't sore, I'd feel better," he ad
mitted grimly. "But I'm still running
What did you kiss me awake fcr,
when I need my sleeps?"
"Did you suppose we could get Le
strange home without you. Jack Ru
pert?"
"I ain't supposing you could. I'm
ready."
The re?t of the party were already
in the big car, with one exception.
"Take a last look. Rupert," bade
| David, as ne stood in the dark pad
dock. "We're retired; come help me
Set used to it."
Rupert passed a glance over the do
serted\ track. : - ';; •. ;:.;".';t;>Viy;t: -v.v:
. » "I guess my sentiment-tank has giv
en. out," he sweetly acknowledged?
"The; Mercury factory sounds pretty
good jto I me.-. Darling. i And v I guess we
can make a joy ride out of living, on
any track, if we 'enter for it." '■>^'-- ;'
"I guess we can," laughed David
Ffrench. "Get ;in • opposite 5 > Emily.
We're going home to try." •-,. .■',; ;
. 'f' ■ -' THE END./; ""'- ; '': J';
■ *, i :::? Fitted. » ■ .;
"Miss Pinkie : Pry has ' such an ; elas
tic step." "Yes, and a disposition to
match." "What do you mean?" "Shi
rubbers." _^ _
1 .-* -., .-•■.:■■•, By.' >;/ i. i. 1: v .'/. v-: v }■-• \i ■' :■ 'I
WHEN CZAR. GOE3 TTWLUNG
THINGS that were wont to
figure as bugbears in the old
day travel of Russia are now
but memories. The ways of
the bureaucracy have become
more liberal and less rigid, so that
traveling to-lay in that country is as
pleasant and comfortable as in most
countries, and a good deal less ex
pensive than in many. Besides no
other country in Europe "can offer
more beautiful scenery, more objects
of new interests, or pleasanter con
ditions of life and climate" than some
parts of Russia that are quite acces
sible to the tourist.
The only difficulty a journey in Rus
sia occasionally presents, in places
off the beaten track, is that of the
language.
Railway travel in Russia leaves
much to be desired, however. For
example, accommodation on one
much-traveled road last summer the
demand for first-class space was so
pressing that travelers were some
times compelled to wait their turn for
a week, while the demands of officials
for "tea-money" increased with the
competition. This train has neither
restaurant nor sleepers.
Nothing Really Matters.
Russia is the land of "Nichevo,"
the country where nothing really mat
ters, even as Spain Is the land of the
tomorrow that never comes. Let the
traveler realize this at once and for
all; let him recognize the fact that
he has left behind him, at the Ger
man frontier, businesslike habits,
punctuality, scrupulous accuracy of
statement and all such commercial
virtues. Let him in their place ac
cept and enjoy the easy-going and
tolerant attitude of a people which
faces life and all its problems with a
certain leisurely and speculative
stoicism, an attitude which, after all,
has much philosophy and a good deal
of religion in its favor. Let him adapt
himself to his Slav environment and
he will speedily find himself enjoy
ing the human comedy from a new
and instructive point of view—the
point of view of a race of "thinking
children," for whom the world of
ideas is more than all the cold facts
and figures of trade.
The man who must needs carry
with him on a journey his own coun
try and all his fxed habits had bet
ter remain at home, for the science
and fine art of traveling consists in
reducing our material necessities and
local- fads to a minimum. For all
that, those whose pleasure it is to
Journey with "all the comforts of a
home" can do so today on all the
main lines of travel in Russia —from
Riga to St. Petersburg, Moscow,
Nizhni, Rostov-on-the-Don, and Odes
sa. International wagon-lits, polyglot
porters, electric lifts, and meals
served to the wailing of Hungarian
music, all are there, combining the
creature comforts of a trip to Paris
with a rapid impression of the land
scapes and people of Russia. But for
the man who can doff on occasion his
garments of custom, to whom the
cities of men offer something more
than museums and meals, the byways
of desultory travel in Russia open up
a new and inspiring field of recrea
tion and knowledge. Especially won
derful are the unfrequented beauties
of the Caucasus and the Armenian
highlands, all that fertile and historic
land which lies between the Black
Sea and the Caspian; and the jour
ney thence, from Tifiis by railway and
steamer, to Tashkend and Fergana,
Bokhara and Samarkland. Here, in a
summer vacation's wanderings, one
may see Europe and Asia overlap
ping and dovetailing, their conflict of
ethics and economics acting and re
acting at a thousand points of absorb
ing interest: and all in comfort quite
sufficient for any sensible man.
Buying Railway Tickets.
In buying tickets at a Russian rail
way station, one soon learns also
that it is wiser to book them in ad
vance, for the drawbacks of the
"Nichevo" system of philosophy are
nowhere so conspicuous as at a
crowded ticket office. To the writer
it has happened on nearly every rail
way in Russia, including the Trans-
Siberian at Moscow, and at Kharbin,
that, after being informed at the tick
et office that no sleeping-car accom
modation was available, a coupe has
been forthcoming on the train as the
result of largesse to the conductor
and other douceurs. On one occa
sion, boarding the Revel-Petersburg
express at Weimarn station at 4 a. m.,
I was informed by the conductor that
there was no room except In the oor-
ridor, only to discover that every de
partment was occupied by a single
passenger with a single ticket, each
of whom had paid the conductor for
undisturbed privacy. Incidents of this
kind are contrary to the Anglo-
Saxon's ideas of the fitness of things,
but they can usually be adjusted by
invoking the intervention of any dis
interested member of the staff, say,
the next station master. The patience
with which the average Russian,
suckled in the "Nichevo" creed, en
dures these things, is at first a source
of constant surprise to the foreigner;
not only a race that has borne for
centuries with bureaucratic ineffi
ciency could thus accept them as part
of the established order of things im
mutable.
I remember, one hot afternoon last
July, watching the sale of tickets to
passengers by a Black Sea steamer at
Novorossisk. There- was a surging
crowd and but one ticket office, with
a tiny window, some four feet high,
at which each suppliant squirmed In
turn, and inside it sat a weary clerk,
apparently utterly indifferent to time
and tide and all the things that strug
gled under an unkind heaven. In the
intervals of his toil, after writing out
an officer's special ticket in duplicate
with a reluctant pen, he would light
a cigarette, sighing heavily, and sip
his lemonade tea, oblivious of the per
spiring crowd. And again, when he
had issued to an ordinary passenger
his passage ticket and his berth tick
et, his wife's tickets, and a special
ticket for the baby, and had care
fully blotted all the endorsements
thereon, the change out of a ten
rouble note had to be laboriously cal
culated, and then checked on an
abacus in the corner.
WOMAN RULES INDIAN STATE
Begam of Bhopal Has Governed Coun
try Wisely and Well for Eleven
Years.
There have been a few opportuni
ties to know something of that inter
esting and unusual woman, the Begam
of Bhopal, who has for the last eleven
years been ruler of her country, the
small state of Bhopal, in the middle
of Central India.
The Begam was born in 1858, and
the free, independent spirit of her
family is shown by the fact that
though a girl her advent was not un
welcome.
When she was seven years old ar
rangements were made for her mar
riage, and the boy selected for her
husband was brought to the court and
shared her studies. When the Begam
was fifteen they were married, and
strangely enough, the marriage was a
happy one. The Begam found In her
husband a faithful friend, and it is
said that she mourned his death very
deeply.
In 1888 the Begam's eldest daugh
ter died. She would have been her
heir, the first born, irrespective of
sex, being in Bhopal the heir ap
parent.
In 1901 she became ruler owing to
the death of her mother and at once
set about improvements and reforms
in p,ll the various state departments.
One of the Begam's chief interests
was education, particularity, too, the
education of girls. She decided, there
fore, to open and patronize person
ally a girls' school. The education of
girls in Bhopal was chiefly limited to
a study of the Koran and the rudi
ments of the Urdu language, with
here and there some slight knowledge
of writing learned from fathers and
brothers. But their attendance at
schools and their advancement in gen
eral knowledge was looked upon as a
dangerous innovation.
Montenegrins Fatalist*.
It is only in recent years that Mon
tenegrins have begun to appreciate
the services of the hospital. Hulme
Beauaan, after visiting the country in
1889, wrote that the people "take very
little care of their children, and only
the sound and the strong grow up.
In after life, too, they are extremely
averse to sanitary precautions or
medical treatment, and a sick Mon
tenegrin is almost synonymous with
a dead man. At least, he at once
gives himself up, and if he recovers
looks upon it as a curious freak in
nature's laws. • • • The few who
reluctantly submit to losing an arm
or a leg invariably refuse anaesthetics
and converse with their friends, smok
ing a cigarette while the knife and
saw are at work."
AGAIN, "TO WHAT BASE USE*
Here Is Story That Will Shock Adrrdj
ers of Two Recognized Men I
, of Genius.\ ■
The ladies at a watering place til
, Bohemia recently organized a dreg*!
making exhibition. A certain prtnH
cess agreed to open it. At the la«l
moment some one noticed that tJnl
most important models, two very gor.fl
geous lace blouses, were not displays J
to proper advantage. The caretaker!
was called and instructed to beg. bo-H
row or steal two dressmaker's dual
mies and' to . drape the blouses upc;l
them before the princess arrived. ■
, After I the opening ceremony it wail
L noticed that the exhibits were excifl
. ing a great deal more attention thatl
, the committee had counted on as«
. the princess insisted on seeing the I
two objects which were the center o! ■
' attraction. Her surprise was very I
. great when she caught sight of t*ol
llfesize busts of Schiller and Goethe, I
| both decked out in lace blouses. ■
The caretaker, not being able to se-l
. cure dummies, had borrowed the fig-1
i ures of the poets from the reading ■
room, and as they were • somewhat I
• flat chested had carefully stuffed them I
. with dual■ ' fr> flll °"f lp blouses. I
■ Red Cross Ball Blue, all blue, best bluing: vain I
. in the whole world, makes the •laundress smile. I
Much Like Human Life. I
A tree does not die of old age. It I
' accumulates infirmities with the years I
1 and has many diseases. It may starve I
' or die of thirst; caterpillars may eat I
its foliage, scale bugs suck its juices,!
' beetles tunnel under the bark, scab, I
rust, molds, rot, , blight, may prey I
upon it. The wind is also an enemy. I
Peeling the bark of the birch does not I
kill it The lumbering season is over I
when the sap begins to stream up
ward, as wood cut "in the sap" is lia
ble to decay. A sugar maple in three
weeks yields of its life's blood to the
extent of 26 gallons (70 drops falling
every minute), which boils down to it
little, less than five pounds of sugar.
The trees are not injured if properly
treated, nor exhausted by being bored
too much or at the wrong time.
Velvet From the Arabs.
In the middle ages Venice and
Genoa learned the art of velvet-mak
ing from the Arabs. Toward the year
1516 Lyon inherited the . business.
Europe, notably France, followed the
lead of the courtiers of Frances 1.,
Louis XIV. and La Pompadour. The
courts of the world wore silk, satin
and velvet stiff with gold and silver
embroidery. Velvet was used by the
rich for hangings and for furnituri
cover. In Lyon, in 1900. 20,000 loomi
were weaving -w«i»-«* —Harper's Week-
Fitted for the Part.
When a new member of the Irish
house of commons made his first
speech, Sir William Osborne asked
who he was, and, being told, he re
plied: "Well, I think he will do. H
the opposition have enlisted him the;
are perfectly in the right, for he seems
to have the finest face for a griev
ance of any man I ever beheld."—
tional Month lv.
What's In a Name?
"Ere, the eldest, was called Ev« ■
on purpose that she might feel human, j
and not compelled to wear a halo, like
the people | called Marie." —Eve, by
Maarten Maartens.
I 75 YEARS
OF PUBLIC APPROVAL
FOR CONSTIPATION^
* And a.!I forms of
I DIGESTIVE DISORDERS]
'WthiirtaS
is what they all say .
' Painless
I ' Methods of
SH i . Extracting
Teeth.
f^^^B^K^^'JsS .Out-of-town peo-
HBHJb T^MBttl p'e can have th 'J
5 p!ate and bridß*
I work finished in on'
ril^W E I * day if nee. v. . ■
Ld^H£: &lP^ - : An absolute jfo»r;
HH^HKi^Ol& nSSfI "- an tee, backed by •
M.W.A.WUE.PUamTusMmtu years in Portland
Wise Dental Co.
'• t *** Of ICE HOURS: \.u r > '■' ,
BA.M.toBP.M. ;v, ": Sundays 9to 1
Phones: A 2029; Main 2029.
railing Bide., Third and Washington. Portia"*
iHMBaUKIiKfIIISM&SiJk^IVCr
i)-:k R|B— tCcxtghijTup. T«t«t Good. Cm |jl| r :
W^KTs&l'f to tim«. -Sold by Prnciriati. .., XL
