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THE FATAL REQUEST OR F O UN D O U T By A. L.THarrU Author of "Mine Own TamtlUr Friend." tc Copyright, till, by Caoitll Pu l 1 1 1 M g Company. Copyright, 1 0 t, hyBtrott Smith. . CHAPTER XX Continued "To-day is Tuesday. There is a lit tle slfabby prayer book somewhnre among my belongings. I will put it once and for all out of my power to procrastinate further by fixing upon a certain date and swearing to carry out on that, and no other, the purpose which has been in my mind so long. "To-day, as I have said, is Tuesday, on Friday, then, without further de lay, I will insert my duplicate key in the lock of that door first of all as certaining that it will fit and make, what Dr. Jeremiah would describe as a felonious entry. "Meanwhile, I have to consider Per kins. - " "She has not shown me so much open animosity since my return; but it will not do to count upon this. She may be only as she would, no doubt tierself express it, 'biding her time." 'You don't deceive me,' she said, when I crept down stairs like a thief in the right and was nearly discovered through her instrumentality. "What was the threat she employed toward me on that memorable occa sion? 'I'll find out what you are up to, as sure as name's Maria Ann Per kins!' And she Is a woman who looks as though she would not mind to what pains she put herself, or what time elapsed, so that she could avenge herself for her fancied wrongs. "Since writing the above lines some ctmrs ago, I have made another dis covery. My master has remained eliut up in his private room for the greater part of this time and I, in ac cordance with my position as spy, have bung about the door on the chance of bearing some sound, how ever slight, or catching sight of bis face as he left the room. "I have often wondered as to the manner in which he employs himself on these occasions, when be remains locked in this chamber for hours. "To-day there has been no room for doubt. He has been writing on and on, ceaselessly. Evidently he uses a quill and writes a heavy hand, for I could plainly hear the sound the pen made in traveling over the paper. "Let me relieve "Here Is another subject for consid eration. "He has made his will, and now he Is writing. Writing what? "Apparently something of Import ance. "Once, too, I heard the unmistak able sund of the tearing of paper. ' Was he dissatisfied with what he had written and tearing it up? Did he find the composition of the document difficult, and, if so, for whose eye was H Intended, that so much time and trouble were lavished upon it? "If he is now occupied in writing letters of an undoubtedly private na ture, shall I be Intrusted with the task of carrying them to the post when completed? Or, if the work upon which he has been engaged is of some other description, what will become of it when finished, and what will he do . with the pieces of paper which he has torn up? Will they be committed to the flames, or simply to the waste paper basket?" "Which," said the cook at dinner the next day, "dltchwater is the honly word as will eggspress the presint company, no offense beln' meant and not hinslnyaUn' nothlnk agin nobody, feelin'a beln' things as Is not to be kin trolled by the best of us, and better be low in your mind than in your hldears Is my motter, but when it comes to not a word being1 spoke for five mln nlts by the kltching clock, makln' allowance for Its being twenty-two mlnnits fast by railway time, it do seem as someone oughter blnterfere In a friendly sort o' way." How much longer she would have rambled on in the same key It is im possible to say, bad not another note been struck by the parlor maid, who remarked that. "Miss Agnes hadn't seemed partlcler cheerful the last day or so." The young man, Edwards, seemed as though his attention was arrested by this trivial remark and glanced across the table Inquiringly. , "Yes," added the parlor maid, ad dressing herself to him, as she per ceived that what she had said had, somehow or other, interested him, "I've caught her sighing to herself more than once lately, as though she'd something on her mind. P'r'aps" with a sudden inspiration "p'r'aps he's la love folks generally sighs a I deal, when they're in love" and the directed what ought to have been a killing glance at the good looking young man opposite her and breathed a sigh on her own account. It apparently missed its aim, but something in this last remark seemed to excite great derision in the breast of Perkins, the housemaid. "In love!" she exclaimed. "Ha, ha! I like that," and she, too, sen a glance, which might, in a sense have been described as killing if looks could kill across the table. "In love, indeed!" with withering contempt "Who with, I should like to know? You forget there's never been slch a thing as a young man as she'd look at, or touch with the tips of her fingers" (there was a strong malicious em phasis on this) "Inside the door once since they've been living hero." "Ah!" said the parlor maid, still showing an inclination to hold her own, "p'r'aps not. But how about be fore that?" "Well," replied the housemaid, suddenly showing an inclination to go over to the enemy and side with her rival and invariable opponent, to the latter's vast astonishment, "I don't say as you mayn't be right. Anyhow, whether she's In love or whether she Isn't, it's no good if he ain't her equal. For you may be sure her pa'll never hear of her marrying beneath her." "And quite right, too," put In the cook, who thought it was nigh time she introduced another of her experi ences. "Unekal marriages Is most al ways a failure, as 'as bin proved over and over again. But for all that" with a startling and instantaneous change of the subject "I should like to know why that there will, as I 'elped to drore up, should be called a Testament'? which I thought there was but two, the Hold and the New?" "Lor", cook!" cried the housemaid, with a sniff, "how your mind do run on that will! Anyone would think as it was the only one as ever was, and nobody never signed their names to nothing before." "Wills there may "ave bin," answer ed cook, majestically, "but seldom one as the cook were sent for, all of a you of those things." 'urry, with 'ardly time to rinse the flour hoff 'er 'ands, to put 'er name to, which It's all very well for some peo ple to try and run down wills," she added darkly and defiantly, "and per tends to think small beer of witnesses, but Time's a pleesman as Is halways a-movin' of us on, and we should make our harrangements haccordln'." Just at this point the parlor maid pushed back her chair and said, "Well, she mustn't sit there gossiping any longer, as she'd got her work to do, which was to dust the master's room, where he kept his papers and books, which you don't dare to lay a finger on, though, for the matter of that, everything's always put under lock and key before anyone's allowed to take dust pan and broom to it." At this ordinary enough remark, the young man who had been sitting there very quietly while the discussion just recorded was raging roumi him, seem ed galvanized into sudden action and extraordinary civility. "Could he might he be allowed to be of any assistance in lifting any thing to heavy for her-such as er emptying the waste paper basket, or anything?" The parlor maid looked at him In surprise mingled with gratification. "Well, I never did," she giggled. "If you aren't just polite all of a sudden! But master, he's that partlc'ler about that old room of his, and I never know but what he's got bis eye on me, p'r'aps he wouldn't like it" The young man seemed inclined to press his request, but noticing Per kins regarding him in evident per plexity, as though not knowing wbat to make of this move, he checked himself and. said no more on the subject. ' But when the parlor maid's work was nearly completed and she came out of the room with the dustpan and brush 'In her hand, she found him waiting patiently outside the door. "'Let me let me relieve you of those things," he said, with an eager ness which, notwltLstandlng ber com plete confidence In her own charms, she found as puzzling as it was de lightful. You would have thought by the eager expression on the young man's face and the haste with which he re lieved her of her very slight burton, win1 WirHF IJ"M-JI i w that the du3t which it contained u3t have bean gold dust at the very least At any rate, he had his way, and hur ried off with the articles as though he were half afraid that she might change her mind. But, when he an rived at the basement, there was noth ing but dust and flue left in the dust pan. The pieces of paper nad disap peared! That same night, in the seclusion of his own room, he occupied him self In the seemingly vain and useless task of separating, sorting and past ing together some morsels of writing paper, which had been torn into the minutest fragments. "I was right when I guessed it to be no ordinary letter he was writing," he muttered. "This Is only the head ing of the document that he had been engaged in drawing up; but It is suf ficient to enable me to arrive at the purport of its contents." "The true narrative and confession of me, James Ferrers, of the strange tragedy of the 25 th of Ap " "Ah, James Ferrers, you were guilty of worse than a crime a blunder- when you contented yourself with tearing up that sheet of paper into particles, which you thought were too minute ever to be deciphered, Instead of burning them on the spot! "But why has be made this con fession? Is It merely to relieve his own conscience, or has he some other object in view which I cannot at present discern? "Whatever (t may be, that docu ment, that confession of his guilt, of which I needed no further confirma tion, cannot have left this house. It Is, no doubt, concealed In some secret drawer or hiding place in that room of which I possess the means of entry in the duplicate key. Next Friday may settle that question as well as others." CHAPTER XXI. A Robbery and a Recognition. The next day, being Thursday, was not destined to pass uneventfully. "To-morrow!" said tne young man who, for prudential reasons, chose to go by the name of Edwards, as he rose that morning; forgetting to take nto consideration the proceedings of to-day and their probable influence on tue affairs of to-morrow. It was not very long before he awoke to a sense of mischlei brooding In the air. Perhaps it was the sight of that pale, narrow face opposite to him as he ate his breakfast a face which, on this occasion, was wreathed with a false smile and characterized by a general air of great complacency. Evidently Perkins was in a high state of good humor, so much so that it struck the young man with a vague presentiment of impending disaster. However, he consoled himself with the reflection that there was only one more day to elapse before he hoped to be in a position to set everyone at defiance," and, surely, In that short time, she would be unable to meet with an opportunity for wreaking her spite upon him. "After to-morrow, the Deluge," be thought, paraphrasing the words of the French monarch. Meanwhile, there was to-day to be considered; if, he had only been aware of the fact, the chances of to-morrow were already in danger of being seriously jeopardized by the events of the more immediate present. "Whatever's come to Marlarann?" asked the cook, who was also struck by the change. "I've never knowed 'er took that way afore. Hackshully offered to darn a pair of stockings for me which, what with the preservln' and other things, my 'ands Is full and my toes is hout. Which 'Make 'ay while the sun shines, as there's no knowln' 'ow long the weather'll 'old up,' Is my motter, but let's 'ope it'll last." "And she's been and called me 'dear to my very face," said the parlor maid, taking up the parable; "which you might have knocked me down with a duster, I was that took aback, and hardly knew whether I was awake or dreaming. I wonder what it means? (To be continued.) LIZARDS THAT LIKE MUSIC. Tuataras of New Zealand Very Fond of Rollicking Choruses. A curious fact has lately been learn ed about the tuatara, the large native lizard of New Zealand. It is a great fat, sleepy thing,- from a foot upward In length, with a meas urement around It of about twelve inches. It is kept tamed, about rocks. Wild specimens are growing rare, though one Island off the coast still swarms with them. These harmless things come out as a rule only for food., But some one in Christ church has discovered a way of bringing them out at any time. This Is by singing to them. They have preferences In music, too. They evince much more satisfaction at a rollicking chorus than at a solo. One day a song sung by a girl brought some out. but only their heads were visible, their sleepy eyes open Ing every few minutes. Then the charmer tried "Soldiers of the Queen and when all joined In the chorus there was no doubt about the effect on the tuataras. They wriggled about on the rocks, almost dancing in their excitement and Joy, until the repertoire of the singers was exhausted, when the Hz ards sneaked back again to their home among the rocks. New Zealand Is the only place In the world where these great lizards are found, and they are said by biolo gists to be out of their place in this stage of the world's history. They be long to the coal period, and like the moa, ought, by natural laws, to have become extinct long ago. New York 811a, An Illinois Peach Orchard. (Farmers' Review.) As I have a little leisure, I think I will give the readers of the Farm ers' Review a sketch of cur peach orchard of thirteen acres. Not that peaches pay very largely except to improve our health by keeping us out of doors. But when we do get a crop, oh, my, how we do enjoy them! How we do long to fill up our Jars, cans and crocks with the lus cious fruit, to be used In the years to come. Crawford peaches do not do well with us, as they are shy bearers. However, the trees generally bear a few each year. Some of them are large and fine, but the rest are medi um to small and are one-sided. The Elberta Is also a shy bearer here, but forty miles away is said to bear well. The tree seems more hardy than any other kind, and the fruit needs no thinning. The fruit, when fully de veloped, Is beautiful, being long and yellow. But ours were of a different yellow than those shipped from the south, and we purchased our stock from three different nurserymen, showing that climate makes the dif ference in color. Possibly if we had got our stock from the same locality in the south where light colored El bertas are being grown, the trees would bear light and bright-colored yellow peaches here. Our Triumph peaches did well and the people that bought them said they were good enough for them, but the trees have fruited for only two years. I see that some people say they do no. do eiu-ily well every year, but are some times very disappointing. The yean that our trees bore, the fruit was very large and fine and bright reddish yellow in color. The young trees were just as full as they need be and the fruit bad to be thinned. They do not rot easily after being picked. They may also be left banging on the trees for several days after being ripe and still will hold their texture. When fully ripe people like them very much for canning, as they do not ad here to the pit. Alexander peaches do well with us, but they rot easily and must be picked as soon as ripe. As tbey are cllugs, they are not so good to can as are the freestones, though the clings are ahead of almost any other kind, as to quality. In canning, the Alexanders seem to lose some of their richness In cooking. But they are very rich and choice and are best eaten out of band. When ripe we think they are even ahead of the beautiful Greensboro, which ripens at about the same time. The latter will delight anyone that Is an enthusiast over peaches. But the birds like tbe Greensboro peaches so much that they have to be picked as soOn as ripe, or tbe birds will mutilate them. After a bird baa picked a peach, tbe bees get at it and make a large hola in a short time. The Champion is our Ideal for a white peach, as it Is very rich and luscious. It is perhaps not so at tractive to the eye as some, because not so highly colored. But our Cham pion peaches are not all alike. On some of the trees the peaches will all be large, with red cheeks, while on other trees the peaches are only of medium size. On the old trees the Champion peaches are the smallest of all. Our Champion trees come from different nurserymen, which, I think, Is tbe cause of their not being alike. Budding from the best Is wbat we are now doing, since our first orchard was destroyed. We think every orchardlst should learn how to bud his own'trees, If be wants the best We mark our best while they are in fruiting, and when "budding time comes, take our buds from them. The Champion Is a very floe peach for canning. The Juice Is very thick and rich, and tbe peach does not fall to pieces as much as some others. The Crosby is a fine peach when han dled aright, but it needs much thin ning or It will be small. But It bears when any other tree bears, and on that account Is a tree that should be largely planted. Tbe Crosbys are not all alike and differ very much In tbe quality of their fruit. Birds never work on Crosby peaches because they are so woolly, and also because the fruit Is late, ripening about tbe middle of September. ' As peaches often fall, we should try to grow only tbe ones that gen erally succeed In our locality, and this takes a good many years to find out. In our first orchard only about one half of the 1,600 trees bore enough to pay. Some of the peaches were little and scattering; others were large but few on a tree. Others ripened up all at once and could hardly be gotten from tbe tree be fore half rotten; others fell from tbe tree almost as soon as ripe. These would usually rot so quickly that tbey could hardly be marketed before being rotten, especially in a rainy time. To make peaches pay, we find It quite essential to make a study of them, and also of their culture. Our first orchard was very much both ered with borers, but since tbe hrd freeze that killed so many trees we iave seen nothing of the borers, and are wondering If tbe freeze did not kill the borers, too We find the best way to deal with borers Is to mound op the trees in spring, and also once or twice each spring and fall go to each tree and look for borers, which tray quickly be found by tne lumps of wax at tbe bases of the trees. These are filled with little dark toot the size of the head of a pU or raiiV er. Dig them out with a sharp-point ed pocket knife. Most of the borers are found at the collar of the tree just below the ground. Generally they eat their' way under the bark and go to one side or down the tree, which trench we must dig open to find the borer. The forks and sides of the tree need also to be looked over, and the borers dug out If much wax la ex uding, as a borer In the forks will destroy the bark and cause the tree to split down. The wounds made by the borers and by digging them out should be healed over by a wax made or rosin and old beeswax. m ' -t ... . r r ... 1 i 1 , warren wo., in. Airs. u. j. aiuhi. The Spraying of Plants. Less than forty years ago the spraying of plants with insecticides or fungicides was unknown, and, If even thought of, were not seriously contemplated as being a part of good husbandry, says Professor F. M. Web ster. A spraying machine in those days would have excited almost as much curiosity as would a telephone or a modern typewriter. There was, indeed, less need for such a machine west of the Allegheny Mountains at least. The need of Insecticides and fungicides, and the machinery neces sary for their application, has come to us with the advance of civilization and followed the destruction of tne forests, the prairie flora, the wild an imals and the dusky aborigine. They are the outcome, either direct or In direct, of our more Intense civiliza tion and must not only be adopted by the successful fruit grower or farmer, as a part of bis business, but he must Improve upon them, precisely as he Improves upon the varieties of bis fruits and the breeds of bis do mestic animals, and for the same rea sons. He must produce, continually, more perfect fruit, more desirable vegetables, more tender and Juicy beef, and better horses, else he can not dispose of tbem profitably to his fellow man, who needs them and is able to pay for whatever he needs. The Composition of Wood. Wood is made up chle-y of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. When perfect ly dry, about half its weight is car bon, and bait oxygen and hydrogen, in almost the same proportion as in water. It contains also about I pari in 100, by weight, of earthy constltu ents, and nitrogen to tha same amount When wood is burned, all these mate rials disappear into the air except the earthy constituents. Now, the nitro gen and water taken up by tbe rooti were orlglnaHy in the air before thej reached the ground. It is true, there fore, that when wood is burned those parts of It which came from the all go back Into It In the form of gas while those which came from the soil remain behind in tbe form of ashes. Glfford Plnehot. The Silo Profitable. Last week one of the suhscrlberi of the Farmers' Review, Mr. C. I. Casey of Lake county, Illinois, brought Into the office a sample of excellent silage. It was nolther too acldy nor too dry, and showed that It had been cut at Just the right time. Tbli shows the difference between the silo now and fifteen years ago. Then, the man that built a silo knew so lit tle about the time when tbe silage corn should be cut that he generally made a mistake the first time and cut too early or two late. His too-early cut corn made a very sour silage, and bis corn cut too late resulted in tbe silage that heated. It generally took him worn j years to learn Just when to cut his corn to gut good silage. Before learning how, by experience, a good many men got discouraged and gave up the silo. But that condition exists no longer. The agricultural world Is now full of knowledge of bow to uulld silos and fill them. The Leglnner can thoroughly inform him self as to time when the corn should be cut, and make no mistake. He need dot tborefure experiment for years before being able to get a good quality of silage. ' The silo referred to above was built this last fall and was completed Just In time to save the corn crop, which bad been caught by tbe frost. The silo is of the stave varloty, 16 feet In diameter, 22 feet high and will hold about 100 tons of silage. Mr. Casey tells us that his silo Is set 15 Inches in the ground and has a cement foundation and floor. The cost was about as follows: lumber, $80; hoops, $24.50, cement, $5; labor, $10; total $119.50. Farmers' Review. Cattle Feeding In Tennessee. Prof. Andrew M. Boule, director ol the Tennessee Experiment 8tatlon, says: The feeding of cattle has not been engaged In as extensively In the middle south as the natural conditions would warrant owing to the frequent though Ill-founded belief that the win ter feeding of cattle could not be made a profitable Industry because of the limited supply of corn available for feeding purposes. There is no reason why much more corn should not be grown without Increasing the present area by improving the culture now given the land, though if the present corn crop were properly supplemented by the Judicious use of cotton seed meal, it would already suffice to feed many thousand bead of cattle that are now shipped out as store cattle. Tbe soli and climate of tbe state are pe culiarly well adapted to the production of winter cereals, such as barley, oats, wheat and rye. Nests should be made so that tbey can be taken out and cleansed In any way. The litter in tbem should be frequently renewed. The busioess of poultry raising Is a verr larae one. and the annual aggre gate production of eggs and pouivy meat la enormous. rtalla.i Chestnuts Best The Italian peasants take as great care of their thestnut tree a Amer ican farmers do of their apple trees. This is supposed to account for tbe fact that the Italian nuts are five times as big as the American. One View of Deputations. Gladstone when in office did not eare. particularly for the visits of- self-appointed committees of citizens. His definition of a deputation was "a noun signifying many, but not algal- tying much." New Chemical Compound. A Russian chemist has discovered a new alumlno-thermlc compound and named it thermite. When fired by the application of a bit of magnesium tape this compound burns fiercely, generating a heat equivalent to that of the electric arc. The fused com bination is hot enough to burn a hole with clean edges through an iron plate of any thickness, according to the amount of thermite burned, with out heating the plate, except at the point of perforation. Moslem Cemeteries. When once filled in a Moslem grave Is never reopened on any account To remove the faintest chance of its thus being defiled a cypress tree la planted after every Interment, so that the cemeteries resemble forests more than anything else. Varying Heart Beats. The heart of a vegetarian beats on an average fifty-eight to the minute; that of the meat-eater seventy-five. This represents a difference of 24,000 beats in twenty-tour hours. Low Price for Steamer. A contract for building a steamer of 6,000 tons was recently made by a great English shipbuilder at the rate of $26.75 per ton. This is probably the lowest price that has ever been quoted or accepted for a properly equipped cargo steamer, and is but very little more than half wbat would have been asked for such a vessel two) years ago. Pardons for Duel lets. Four Hungarian doputles, Including the present prime minister, Count Tisza, who have been sentenced to various short terms of imprisonment tor dueling, have Just been pardoned by Imperial decree. Wages In Italy. Wages In Northorn Italy are: La borers, 40 to CO cents; bricklayers, 89 cents to $1; stone cutters and car penters, 60 to 70 cents; painters an fresroers, 40 to 50 cents; experts, 6i to 75 cents a day. , ' Camels In Somallland. For the first time in Somallland camels are now being usod as draught animals, and the results are stated to be fclghlv satisfactory. . " . ' No Need to Be Thirsty. The Belgian city of Liege, with a population of 150,000, maintains 10 000 drink sellers. 'Phones In Scotland Yard. Scotland Yard, London, Is at last to be provided with the telephone for police purposes EUPARILLA ST1MVL-ANT ALTERATIVE APERIENT .ANT1-L1TH1C DIVRETIC tmnm tm DYSHTSIA, CATAH3 MIUHAT1JM thc surma wu e. THI TONIC OF ALL TONICS . THI GREAT BLOOD PURIFIER THE STRENGTH BUILDER THE NERVE TONER THE HEALTH GIVER THE LIFE SAVER II It Harmltst It Is Safi It It Pltaiant It It Sun at voua DRuadirra TONIC