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HIGHLAND RECORDER - vol. xxiv. MONTEREY, HIGHLAND COUNTY, VA.. AUGUST 8.190:'. NO. 31 THE-MYSTERY- of THE j HfefejB^^_i^l&a_H_l)RE 'FiorencVXC^rdcnV*' i j-(foumor of_?Thc Mouse, on JtUc Aurari," ercj I Copyright, 1896, by ebert Bonner's Bona.] ' CHAPTER XIII. Y~ - -' Continued. "But didn't you hear what the doctor paid? Didn't you wait to hear it?" per? sisted Nell. "I waited to hear it, but I didn't suc? ceed," said the colonel, lu an offended tone. The fact was that he and s number of other nobodies, who on one account or other considered themselves persons of great importance in the neighbor? hood, had been cruelly snubbed by the two medical men who had made an examination of the body when it had been brought into the town. For, after making their examination, they had both passed out of the building and through the throng which awaited them as quickly as possible, and had both declined at that stage to give a definite opinion as to the cause of death. So oil the little-great men felt grossly insulted, and departed to their respective homes at a white heat of indignation. "For all I know, they may bring it In 'Murder* against this fellow, King," said the colonel, irritably, not with any feeling of animosity against the per? son in question, but in order to get Nell to sympathize with his own griev? ance. . But the effect of his words upon the ^.irl was electrical. "Murder! Against Clifford!" cried she, springing to the door and gasping for breath. "Oh, you don't mean that! You can't!" She burst into a violent fit of weep? ing, which made the colonel rather ashamed of himself. He tried to calm her, assuring her that nobody but the doctors, vho were pompous asses without an idea how to treat men of powers and position vastly superior to their own, would ever entertain such n monstrous opinion. But she could not find enough comfort in his words; and nt last, in spite of his and his daughter's efforts to detain her, she set off to walk to the Blue Lion, that she might at least have the assurance she longed for that nobody there shared the colonel's rashly expressed opinion. "Mind, Nell, you are to come back here to sleep," commanded Miss Bos? tal, who objected to the girl's remain? ing In the vicinity of her highly unde? sirable lover. But Nell would give no promise. She was deeply anxious, not only to hear how Clifford was and what people thought of Jem Stickels's death, but, also, to know how soon she would be able to speak to Clifford, whose ad? vice had become more necessary than ever. Refusing, therefore, a rather per? functory offer on the colonel's part to escort her along the lonely road, she bade her friends good-by and started on her way to the Blue Lion. But she got little reward for her pains. The house was shut up when she reached it; and >.eg, who let her in, started at the sight of her, and hurried her up to her roora, with scant information. Of course, the servant had heard of the finding of Jem Stick? els's body; but she either would not or could not offer any opinions, either her own or anybody else's, as to the manner in which it caine about; and Nell, fearing to rouse suspicion, was fain to go to bed unsatisfied. Only one piece of comfort was given her: Mr. King, who had a professional nurse in attendance on him, was get? ting on as well as they could hope. On the following morning, George Claris, who looked worried and anxious, told his niece, as soon as breakfast was over, to pack her trunk fer her journey to London. Nell did not dare to make any protest, nor even to ask any questions of her uncle, whose mood was clearly one to be re? spected. She had to content herself with Meg's report, obtained from the nurse, that Clifford had passed a good night. Before ten o'clock Nell and her un? cle were driving toward Stroan in the dog-cart, with her trunk behind them. They had not gone far when they noticed that something unusual was going on along the road. A party of men, among whom were two or three of the Stroan police, were busily en? gaged in examining the road itself and the ditch on either side. Nell with feminine quickness of perception, guessed that this search was in some way connected with the discovery of Jem Stickels's body on the previous evening; but her uncle, being less acute, pulled up his horse, and made inquiries. "Hallo, what's up?" said he, ad? dressing the nearest policeman. "Oh, nothing in particular," replied the man, with a glance at Nell. "Nothing as would interest you," added another of the searchers, and he, too, looked in an odd manner at the young girl who sat with pale face and silent lips beside George. Claris. "Well, you might give a civil answer to a civil question, I should think!" said the innkeeper, angrily. His niece, more by gestures and coaxing little touches of his sleeve than by words, tried to induce him to drive on. But he was obstinate. Aa an old inhabitant, and one. moreover, who had always been on good terms with every one, he thought he had a right to the Information he had inno? cently asked for. ... ^ Come now. he persisted, leaning out of the dog-cart, and speaking in a confidential tone: "If it's a secret, you know as I can keep it. I've kept se? crets enough before, haven't I?" But to his great indignation, he saw on some of the faces of the men at work what he took for a pitying smile. He lost his temper. "Now then, out with it!" said he, lo a sullen tone. The policeman to whom he had first spoken repressed the smile on his own face, and answered seriously enough: "We're not at liberty to say any more at present. But you'll. kno\?_as much as we do very soon?this after noon, most likely." "Uncle George, we shall lose thc train," said Nell, in a quavering voice. Then the policeman glanced from George Claris to the trunk behind; and, as the dog-cart drove off, he whispered some words to the man nearest to him, which sent him run ning at a good pace in the direction of Stroan. Uncle and niece had scarcely got on the platform of the little station when the local police superintendent dashed through the doorway after them. ?"Ah. Mr. Claris. I'm just in time, I see,"" he sang out cheerily, as ne touched his hat r/olitely to Nell. "Going up to London for a holiday?" "Not me. Can't afford holidays," re? plied Claris, rather surlily. "I'm see? ing my niece off, that's all." "Well, I'm sorry to have to stop the lady's trip, but we shall want her as a witness nt the inquest that's to be held this afternoon. Very sorry, Miss," he went on to Nell, "but it's only put ting off the pleasure for a few days.' But Nell looked as much over? whelmed as if the summons had been a death warrant. She made no an swer. but stood silently, tearless but terror-struck, in front of the two men staring at the approaching train, with her lips parted and a wild look in her eyes. Her uncle roused her with a rough shake of the arm. "What's come to the girl? Don't look like that!" said he in her ear. "Folks'll think that you had a hand in it yourself if you go into court with that face!" To his surprise and chagrin she took him at his word. "Will they say that, uncle? Will they dare to say that?" she asked, with such breathless earnestness that he stepped back with a frown on his hon? est red facfl. "Bless the girl! You give me quite a turn with your whisperings and your scared face," said he, testily. "Come along back home, and for goodness' sake don't let them think as you want? ed to get away. Tho Lord only knows what people say at these times if you don't keep your wits about you, and answer questions like a reasonable creature." Nell said nothing. But the Innkeep? er's heart sank within him as he drove her home, and perceived that bis once light-hearted and merry little niece was trembling like a leaf the whole way. CHAPTER XIV. The inquest was held in the little town-hall in the market-place, and the Ogly whispers which* were afloat con? cerning Jem Stickels's death brought together such a gathering that the meagre accommodation provided by the old building was taxed to the ut? most. It was evident from the "outset that this was no ordinary case of a drunk? en man found dead lu a ditch, with nothing about him to tell how he came by his death. From the very first moment when the doors were opened, and the crowd rushed in and filled in a moment the space allotted to the pub? lic, there were murmurs and whispers flying from mouth to moutth, indica? tive of the general belief that some person or persons of a higher social position than the dead fisherman, and more generally interesting than he, would be implicated in the course of the proceedings. The questions: "Where's the young lady?" And "Won't the gentleman bc well enough to come?" were often but never satis? factorily answered. The witnesses in the case were in the magistrate's room, so rumor said, and were to be brought out one by one as they were wanted. That Dart of the court usually occu? pied by "the" officials alone held on this accasion a good many curious ones irawn thither by the open secret of he romantic interest attached to the ?ase. A few portly wives of looa) radesmen, sandwiched in among the nembers of the sterner sex, lent their iresence to the scene. There was a mm and a buzz from end to end of the lghtly-packed court as the jurymen lied in, and taking their places on the iaken seats, black with age, which vere already old when Charles the i*irst was king, were sworn one by ne, duly charged by the coroner. After the lull in the court caused by hese proceedings, there was a loud iuzz of talk when the jury filed out gain to view the body. The police _en, little used to such a scene of ex itement in their quiet, little town, oared themselves hoarse in their en ieavor to maintain silence on the part f everybody but themselves. When the jurymen returned the in? teresting part of the proceedings be? gan. The first witness called was the boy. Charles Wallett, who had found the body. His evidence did not take many minutes, and consisted merely of the information he had given at the Bell Inn the evening before. He had teen the body lying by the roadside, had called to the mau, had touched him; and being unable to detect a movement or to obtain an answer, had run with all speed to give information of his discovery. The second witness was the detec? tive, Hemming. He admitted the open secret that he was a private inquiry agent, and that he was staying at Stroan on business. He had been the first to reach the body after Wallett's discovery of it, and he bad been one of those to Identify the deceased as Jem Stickels, the fisherman. The man was quite dead when he found bim, but the body was still quite warm. "At what time was it that you first saw the body?"' asked tho coroner. "I heard it chUpe the half-past eight by St. Martin's Church clock when I was about halfway between Stroan bridgie and the place where we dis .covered the body..'.*-.-. ... - "Was there anything about Hie posi? tion in which the body lay. c: anything else, in fact, to enable you to form an opinion as to the cause of death?" "Nothing whatever, sir," answered Hemming, who gave his evidence in the clear voice and confident manner of the old policeman, who feels that the court ls his own theatre, where he is bound to get a hearing and deserves it. "Was thc body lying face downward, in such a position that the man may have been too drunk to rise, and have been suffocated in the grass and mud?" "He was lying face downward, as I have said, sir. But his mouth was not close to the ground. I don't think it possible that he could have been suf? focated. His clothes were quite loose about his neck also." "Then you formed no opinion as to the cause of death?" "Well, sir, I had heard something; and it made me jump to a eonclusioa as I should not otherwise have done. With your permission, sir, I would rather not say at the present stage what that conclusion was. It wa. formed from nothing I saw about the body." There were whispers in the com*. The people in the crowd looked at ont another, and intimated that there wai not much worth knowing that the Lon lion chap didn't know. They all felt kindly toward Hemming for speaking out so that they could hear him. an accomplishment In which the non-pro fessional witness is so lamentably de? ficient. This was the gist of Hemming's evi? dence, the few further queslions which he was asked producing unim? portant answers. Each witness had to put up with a trivial question or two from the members of the jury, who all wished to make the evidence given bear more weight .than the giver in? tended. The third witness called was Lucas Maun, in whose house the deceased man had been a lodger at the time of his death. Mann deposed that Stickels was brought home by two men at a time which he fixed as between a quarter and half-past six. Stickels, who was in a naif-dazed condition when he arrived, came to himself entirely with? in a few minutes and told him a story as to how he came to be stunned. Stickels had then seemed quite wei), had had a cup of tea by the fire, and had expressed his intention of walking to Stroan that night. Then there had been a knock at the door. Stickels himself had opened it, and after a con? versation with two ladies who had come to see him, he had gone out by (he back door abruptly. The next tiling Mann had heard of him was that he had been found dead on Ibo road. The next two witnesses were the men who had picked Jem Stickels up from the ground, at the back of the Blue Lion, after his encounter willi Clifford. These both deposed that the maa was unconscious when they picked him up, that he began to re? cover almost immediately, and that they did not have to carry him to thc cottage where he lodged, but ot.ly to support bim a little, as he complained of feeling "a blt giddy-like." They said that he seemed to be quire Limself before they left him at the cottage. There was a buzz of excitement in court when Miss Bostal was called. With the feminine witnesses,began the real Interest of thc case. Enough hao leaked out by this time for every gos? sip In Stroan to be aware that the quarrel between thc gentleman, Clif? ford King, and the fisherman. Jem Stickels, had been on Nell Claris'* ac? count; and everybody knew, also, that Miss Bostal had espoused the cause of Jem Stickels, and so had brought her? self prominently forward into the. ro? mantic story. Although Jem Stickela had not borne the best of characters, it was natural that after his sudden and mysterious death there should b? a strong revulsion ot popular feeling in his favor. "Poor chap!" they said to one an? other. "It was clear he was awful fond of the girl, and. to be sure, she must have given him some encourage? ment for him to have made bold to g* for her fine gentleman love;'." To be Continued. ra in il hi nt > Breeds Contempt. "There's one thing I am sure cannot be denied," remarked the Observer of Events and Things; "an! that is no golfer is a hero to his caddie."?Yonk? ers Statesman. The Chinese never wear wool?not even in the depth of winter, and, gen? erally speaking, the entire population clothe themselves in cotton all tho year round. UNCLE SAM HAS HALF BILLION OF HOLD Keeps Right on Hoarding the Yellow Metal Up. BAROMETER OF BUSINESS CONDITIONS. The Fund Now Held ls Said to Re the Second Largest of the Kind Ever Contained In Any Government's Treasury at One Time?Thc Qovernmept of Russia Holds the Record of Having Had Th: Largest. Washington, D. C. (Special).?Of? ficials of the Treasury Department lay j great stress upon the importance of the fact that the gold ^und in the Govern? ment coffers is of gigantic proportions. United States Treasurer Ellis H. Rob? erts says that it indicates a wonderful degree of prosperity throughout thc land, and this assertion is repeated on all sides. Department officials say that the gold fund is a barometer of thc business conditions; that when it is fow business is bad and when high business is good. Therefore they assert that thc general condition of the country was never better than now. The gold fund at the close of busi? ness Saturday amounted to $563,142, 523. It has been hovering about this figure for months, and on July 29 it reached the highest point in the history of thc Government, when it was $566, 000,000. The fund, as made up in? cludes $!50,ooo,oco of gold reserve, $357-488.089 of gold certificates. $44, 327,800 of which arc covered into the Treasury, and $55-654.434 gold coin and bullion. The fund held on July 29 is said to be the second largest of the kind ever contained in any Government's treasury at one time. The Government of Rus? sia holds the record of having had the largest gold reserve fund. About three years ago, when that nation returned to the gold-standard system of finance, she had in her national purse the sum of $598,000,000 as a gold reserve fund. This is the largest in the history of na? tions. At the present time, however, she does not hold any such sum. The latest figures available from foreign na? tions concerning their gold reserve funds were obtained last June, lt appears that France at that date held the largest amount. The figures in round numbers of the four principar nations are: France .$5i4,ooo,coo Russia . 362,755.000 Germany . 276,434.000 England. 188,884.880 TEXAS GUESSING AT LOSSES. Total Damage From Floods Expected to Reach $1,000,000. Dallas. Texas (Special).?The only rays of hope which penetrate the gloom of the flood situation come from the weather reports, which predict fair skies, the fact that the Brazos river at Waco is again falling. Railways are tied up worse than ever before in the history of the State. The only railroad which has so far estimat .d its damage is the International and Great Northern. General Passenger Agent Frice, of that road, says the ac? tual damage to thc International road? bed will reach $100,000, and that the road is now a worse sufferer. An accurate estimate of the losses, in .luding thc damage to railroads, the drowning of live stock, the washi iway of bridges, residences and busi? ness houses, in addition to the damage :o cotton and other crops, is impossible it present, but it is safe to say that $r, >oo,ooo is conservative. PREPARING FOR CORONATION. Decorators at Work in London and Seats Be. lng Sold. London (By Cable).?Optimism re? garding the coronation is slowly reviv? ing under the stimulative effects of the surgeons' bulletins and thc confident forecasts of the medical journals. Whether the King's will is imperious, or his medical advisers consider it nec? essary to humor him, there is a deter? mined effort to subject the patient, who is nearly able to make one or two turns on the deck of the yacht, to thc fatigue and excitement of the coronation cere? monial. Motives of state prevail, ?.'. though there is general agreement among medical men that an ordinary patient would not be fit for so hazard ous an experiment a few weeks after a most serious operation. The business of selling seats is look? ing up now that the programmes of the procession and the ritual are reappear? ing, and the decorators here and there are touching up the faded glories of the June preparation. ADMITTED TAKING $I20~000. .oe Used Money of one Concern to Operate Another. Boston (Special.)?Henry F. Coe, ex creasurcr of the Bowker Fertilizer Com? pany and the Dudley Hosiery Mills, of Newton, who was arrested for thc al 'eged embezzlement of $120,000, was held for the grand jury in $10,000 bail, which was furnished. Specifically he was accused of thc lar? ceny of a note for $25,000 payable on de? mand from the Bowker Company on June 3. Mr. Coe waived examination. In a statement issued by the Bowker Company the his'.ory of thc affair is given, together with a confession sign? ed by Mr. Coe, in which he said that he had used the notes of the Bowker Com? pany in carrying on the business of the Dudley Hosiery Mills, at New London, for io years, and that he had used $120, 000. itxperts. it is said, have found the amount stated to be exactly correct. Alahama is Badly Parched. Montgomery, Ala. (Special).?Re? ports received here indicate a serious condition of drcuth in Alabama. Less rain has fallen in the State during thc las; three months than in any similar period since 1839. Crops in many sec ti< ns have been almost destroyed. In thc middle western counties, which are large producers of cotton, the ground hat not been thoroughly wet since April. Corn has been damaged beyond recovery, and the prospect is that the food crops will give a light yield. SUMMARY OF THE LATEST NEWS. Domestic. The investigation into the Craven lynching has brought out the names of several men alleged to be implicated. Negroes testified freely before the cor? oner's jury. J. C. McCaslin shot and killed Lottie Russell, seriously wounded F. Max Peters, and then committed suicide at the Salt Palace Grounds, at Salt Lake City. Mrs. John Edwards, wife of the fore? man in charge of double-tracking work on the New York Central near Wil liamsport. held a gang of mutinous Ital? ians at hay. Congressman Pugsley has gone abroad to investigate thc methods of European bankers. He is a member of the Bank? ing and Currency Committee of the House. Whitelaw Reid, United States ambas? sador to the coronation of King Ed? ward, has returned to this country. George Gould has purchased the ma? jority of the stock of the Union Rail? way Company of Memphis. Light earthquake shocks are still be? ing felt in Los Alamos Valley. All the property of thc Norfolk Heat, Light and Power Company, together with all franchises, power and privileges granted to that company by thc Legis? lature of Virginia and the Councils of Norfolk, passed into the hands of the Norflok, Portsmouth and Newport News Company. 1 lie Imperial Tobacco Company, oi Great Britain and Ireland, will enlarge their operations in Richmond, Va., and immediately begin the construction of a mammoth plant. The company has I recently completed the purchase of a site upon which the factory will be built. Elizabeth Barstow Stoddard, the wife of Richard Henry Stoddard, the writer and poet, died at her home, in New York, at the age of 80. Mrs. Stoddard was herself a writer of some promi? nence. Willard C. Von Derlip, a Boston law? yer, has been arrested on the i' arge of embezzlement. Ile had charge of sev? eral estates. He says his shortage is about $100,000. On Wolfe Creek, W. Va., Joseph Hardcsty was killed and his four sons were injured by the explosion of thc boiler in his saw mill. Governor Cummins, of Iowa, will in? vestigate the right of thc Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway to reorgan? ize in that State. A California geo'ogist says that the recent earthquakes in t'-iat State are not due to volcanic activ'ty, but to local causes. Flora Lucier, 17 years old, cloped from White Valley, Mass., with Harry Moore, a Barre farmer. Fifteen hundred boilermakers and shipbuilders and their helpers in Chi? cago are on a strike. At Decatur, 111.. Charles Kerney, a deaf mute, killed himself because of ill health. PostofAces at Niles, Ohio, and at Bloomiugsburg, N. Y., were robbed. A strike of rug weavers in Philadel? phia has been settled. Charles Craven, the slayer of Wm. H. Wilson, a farmer, who lived near Hern don, Va., and who has been pursued by over 100 people and by bloodhounds, was captured on a farm near Ashburn, Va. He was asleep in a hayrick and was seized by three of his pursuers? Ernest Norman, John Higgins and Henry Bryant?before he had time to offer resistance. He was lynched at Leesburg. Miss Susie Costerbadcr, who was re? cently assaulted by John Lomax in the woods near her home at Potomac Mills, Westmoreland county Va., died from burns received while kindling a fire. Thc New York Mail and Express is authority for the statement that a mer? ger of Southern Railroads is-projected. Foreign. Before a meeting of the British Med? ical Association Surgeon General Bul? ler charged that Sir Redvers II. Buller in 1881 used Red Cross wagons for tak? ing ammunition to the front. Former President Steyn, of thc Or? ange Free State, arrived at Southamp :on with his family. He was too ill to bear the journey to London. The. story published by La Prcsse in Paris, to the effect that a shot had been fired at President Loubet, was found to be without foundation. The mission of the King of Italy to Berlin is to secure the Emperor's assent Lo his project for a reduction of Euro? pean armaments. Canada is to have a steamship service between one of its ports and South Af? rica. J. B. Pioda, Swiss minister to the United States, was appointed minister to Italy. Dr. C. D. Bourcart, who was appointed to succeed Mr. Pioda at Washington, declined the appointment. A severe engagement was reported between the revolutionary forces under General Herrera and the government troops at Ague Dulce. Col. Arthur Lynch, the Nationalist member of thc British Parliament, was committed for court on the charge of high treason. President Loubet signed thc decree for closing the unauthorized religious establishments in Paris. The strong tide defeated the attempt of Holbein to swim across the English Channel. Thc will of Lord Pauncefote, late am? bassador, was probated in London. Upon her arrival in London May f Yohe declared Captain Strong's state? ment to thc effect that she got the money raised on the pawned jewelry, to be a fabrication. Elihu Root, United States Secretary of War, was greeted upon his arrival at Havre by General Pistor as the official representative of the French Minister af War. _ Financial. The New York Cotton Exchange will close August 9, coronation day. Baltimore's exports for the fiscal year 1002 were $80,500,000, a decrease of $25, 350,000. Standard Oil denies that it is to be? come a greater monopoly than it is at j present. St. Paul's net earnings for June in? creased $29,161 and Union Pacific's in? creased $731. Union Traction books will close on August 27 for the annual meeting of September 18. Mexican wi" road'ly ororonme 1x083 of Hair, ?. I . . . diseased Hoofs and Scratches in hor iUUStang Liniment ees mules and cattle. Farmers try it. A toad under a harrow suffers no moro than tho faithful horse that is tortured with Spavin?, Swinney, Harness Sores, Sprains, etc. Most horse owners know this and apply tho kind of eympathy that heals, knowu far aud wide as Mexican Mustang* Liniment' Never fails?nntevon in tho roost aggravated mw. Cures caked udder in cows quicker than any known remedy. Hardly a disease peculiar to muscle, skin or joints that cannot Le cured by it. Mexican b the bett remedy on tho market for __ i ? ? _, Wind Galls, .Sprainsnnd Skin I.umps. iVlUStang Liniment Itkeepshorsesandmulesincondition. NEW-YORK TRIBUNE FARMER. A NEW OLD PAPER. For sixty years the NEW-YOHK WEEKLY TRIB UNE hus beeu a nntionnl weeklv newspaper, read al? most entirely by farmers, and has enjoyed the confi? dence and support of thu American people to a degne never attained by any s'imil_r publication. THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE FARMER is made Rbsolutely for farmers and their families. The first number was issued November 7th. 1901. Every department of adrien itu ml industry is covered bv special contributors who are leaders in this respective lines, aud the TKIMUNE FA1.M..K will be tu every pen??, a high crass, up to date, live, enterprising paper, pro fusely Illustrated with pictures of live stock, model build Ines and homes, agricultural machinery, etc. Farmers' wives, sons aud daughters will find special pages for their entertainment. Regular price, 11.00 per year, >'ut you eau buy lt with your favorite hotoo weekly newspnper, The Highland Recorder, on. year for $1.60. Send your subscriptions and mout-y to THE RECORDER, Monterey, Va. Send your nam* and HddreM to tho NEW TOKK TH I. lit'NE FARMER, Now York City, nnd a free sample copy will bc malled lo you._ ? Depravity of the Young ^ ? of the Human Race ^ A fond father says that nowhere is mere to be found as well-developed a brand of natural depravity as that which animates a 6-months-old infant, md he tells this story in confirmation ot his opinion: The other evening he was left alone with his tiny son and heir. The young? ster's mother went to the theater. His aunt went out also, and so did his nurse, and the man was left in full pos? session of the field. About 7 o'clock, with sublime disre rard for modern rules, which say babes Quat be put upon a bed and left io go to sleep by themselves, the father be? ljan to rock his child to sleep. And le rocked and crooned and walked .teadily from that time until 9. Then, the infant having finally suc :nmbed to "nature's sweet restorer," de arose, and, as if walking on eggs, carried his burden steadily to the bed? room, put it down as gently as pos? sible, and withdrew. Alas! however, In closing the door it squeaked a bit, and Mr. Baby was as wide awake as ever, and he remained as chirpy as a 17-year locust until his mother carno home at ll. Next evening?and here's where tho depravity comes in?mother was homo and aunty and all the rest of the fam? ily; so Mr. Baby went off to sleep at il o'clock as usual. At 8 he iell out ot bed with a dull thud that went to the maternal heart like a dagger. But he didn't even stir. Hi6 fond parent picked him up and carried him to tho light, fearing all sorts of things, and then, and not until then, did the young? ster open his eyes and smile a cherubic smile into the anxious faces bending over him. Then he went off to Sieep again, none the worse for his acci? dent. "But why," asked the bewildered man, "why will a baby who is aroused by the slightest creaking of a door one night, when his mother isn't home fail to even wake when he falls out of bed the next?" And it ls a problem, now, Isn't lt??? Baltimore News. Traveling and Wandering 0 Jones was in peculiarly expansive humor the other evening. He was packed up for the summer, and was starting off in the morning on a cheap racket walking trip. To traverse the country districts of New England was his program, and an unfailing friend? liness his method of getting about cheaply and well. "I have no use for traveling," he be? gan. "That, of course, ls why you are starting off on the morrow?" I asked. "That, dear friend, is not traveling. It ls wandering, and I recommend the world in general to get back to lt, as the Ideal manner of getting about. Traveling ls a distinctly modern in? vention. It alms at two things? speed and the attainment of a definite locality. It ls done for a purpose, and the means are always sacrificed to the end. The scenery through which the victims of the system may steam, ls blurred. Cards and papers are found necessary to slay the time, and when th? travelers dismount from the deck or platform they breathe out a thankful 'Here at last,' as If that were the point. The ancients got about in a different spirit. They wan? dered where 'sweet adventure called them.' They merely roamed, setting themselves no goal. They were not whirled in hot compartments from point to point. Under the wide and starry sky they tented; these fine old tramps, Arabs, gypsies and all no? mads of the Ulysses type. The peri? patetic hoboes should organize a great league to prove that scenery is better than speed, and that every foot of the open road ls as good as the place named on the guide post, toward which the wanderer's face ls set. "And no epitaph ls more appropriate for the mundane wanderer than this: " 'Under the wide and open sky, Where he loved to live, there let rdm lio; Home ls the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter ls home from the hill.'