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THE MILAN EXCHANGE. MILAN, - - TEX$$$EjM Tlipy wore partlnir nt the irato Man itnd nm.ii Ftill he turrlccl. althowrh Into, lnirtBif miK h to hear lili ruto, . .i) el to ask it, buU afraid. ' If I only knew " salil he- "Only kni"W. y i ' ,' 4 It me Ktv1vii," mid ho, " Make a contldiint of nm; 1 cun be of help to you." " Ah ! I know that," answered ho, With u Ugh. Tow I fin-M It a'l!" Cried nhoj ! Voti'is In lv, I ilrtlnly IM e. t ' X K JAud afraid to toll bor-flr ; , , " You're a wlteh to guess so woil," Answered ho. , I would like to hnve you toll , , , How to make n Pick heart well: Kindly now preset ile for me." " Every heart will cure a heart," ' I,ow laughed Khe; " Tou nuiM niwl another heart, llien your own will lose lis smart Try this olden remedy." " Let me hnve your heart," ho plead. " Nny !" said nhe; T have none." "No henrtl" bo said; . ""Then T n uneomforted Mine 4 broken heart must be." " It Is voursl" and she laughed low; " Don't you ai-er -f I prescribed It lonir airo, Bcotn that yon sultorei go. ' I What so blind us men can bo?", , i . ' 'y " Had I only known boforo,' '-' WhlsperoU he, ' - --' " What cure you had In storol" ... " Ypu'd have aulfared all the moref i Men are fooiish things," said fthc. HER MPIT&SECRET. ,B-JBNNI DAVIS BTJBTOPT. Author nf. ".Vfrnncrei Hid," "TVi IWnniiret Mwteri)," fVte Madlert Mania it Kyr " ' Hat? "CcC(r 8ecre,"uA Her- ca F,,",u.,,tu. , Y f r CHAPTER IX.jWTiWVKiy' 1 , She went, still Indulging Be dreftm of delight, and midway upon a Chestnut-street crossing, found herself in a tanglo of vehicles, with, a shrill cry of "Look out, lady I" coming from driv ers on a'l sides of her, as carriages and cabs bore threatening. down. ' In utter consternation Lex stoppnl stock-still. At the same instant a hand grasped her arm, she was urged forward and landed in safety upon the opposite sidewalk. She gave a little gasp of thankfulness, and turned to make her -acknowledgments, then put out both hands. "Oh, Mr. Verrenden!" ; It was the original of the portrait, and this was the name which the artist had given l.er. A gleam of sudden pleas ure, as if he sarid to himself rapturous-' ( ly: "She knows m d'f life up his face. ' m nothing,-M;tj-Braxtoni I -am glad I was at haod-'V fMf'fl A ? f "Hut but jou 111 cull 'inii it my uncle thank you'aflkedLex.'-as he was lifting his hat and turning aw-iy. "You know my uncle, do you not Mr. Power Ol.phatit?" ? i -ir -. ,f "Idoknow Mr, Olipnant, .and 1". hcSiijjltlngljj j"vfo!d be happy to call if I wyubuj-toFbeiugweluorae. I f'iih-joa will 'be," asserted Lex, con fidently. " So modest of him, sijoli an advent ure, so romantic, and all ' that I" she wound up her story to Dana, half an hour later. "And so lucky, that he knew UmJ OTrphanV of I could hardly have asked him here," quite Ignoring the order in which her invitation had been given. ,t.i i "Do we know a Mr. Verrenden, mamma?" asked Dana, doubtfully. " Your father maj'." Luncheon was over, and Miss Braxton was putting the last touches to an elab orate toilet when the . door-bell .rang. Dana was alone in the 'drawing-room, idly wondering if (this, were Alexia visitor biting aduaittod,1 when a voice she knew asking for her caused the blood to recede in a sudden rush upon her beart-JiThe next moment , the vjsiror stood nefore h.r holding her band and looking into' her eye . Five minutes fterward Lex. rustled down, and on the drawing-room thresh old, stopped, transfixed. , .".What is it,. Ale xta?". her! aunt asked, finding her there with her hand on the door which she had drawn noise lessly fchut. " A most : ridiculous mistake, aunt Rose. Mr. Schoenbtrgcr'a Gerroaa ac cent mislad me, I suppose. The man is Mr. Farrington, ana I am afraid it is Dana he is in love with, not me." ' . Mrs. Oliphant's face was habitually pale, but it turned to a deadly . pallor, before hhe quietly put her niece aside and went into the room. A 8TAHTIJNQ STATEMENT. Mach can be said in five minutes when Loth lips and eyes speak. ' r ' Dana had looked up to see Launt Farrington before her, grown thin and worn since she had seen him last; Launt had looked d wn t' see th" color well radiantly back iuto he'r pensive face not pusivo now. ? , v "You are not sorry to ee me, Miss (M'piiantP'l h asked. - " 1 supposed you had gone South, be fore this." ' ". .: . " I coukln't-go until I had seen you agniui J):uia,"with a ud leu burst, MI h:u! to come, whether my coming be agreeable or 'otherwise; "I love, yoii, and I want your love," , " You hive it, Launt'." ; . . , ; , I She knew her own heart too well to hesitato one instant in replying. " Aud may I huvu you witu it, dear, .soon, as my wife?" " If you want me if papa and mam ,ma can be prevailed upon to say yes." "Ah, my darling, that k the trouble- somn part. They Ao not lik me; they woidd not let mo eeo job when I called baf.Mf.", j 'i i j H, If Ifid you calf bwr "flsked Dana, in astonishment. .,.,., ., . I l"fTvro forts aS'iTlwwarpy'hihi point of going out together and I did not detain them. I naked for" you, but Mrs." Olipnant lold fti "yoilWere n-' gaged and could not be, teen. They were so cold to me, Dana, that' 1 lost my courage, and went away heaTT hearted, never expecting to come back again." - - -" - "Oh, Mr. Farrington Launt, I man!" It was this exclamation that Alexia heard, as she stood for an instant in the open doorway. In that instant sho realized the mistake site had made, and retreating softly, closed the door after her. Dana was looking up into her lover's face wit It shining eyes. "But you came," she said, softly. " I did not really go. I found a letter from my grandmother awaiting mo at the hotel, which had been forwarded from New York. It gave me a reprieve, and I lingered, not bold enough to put my fate to the touch by going directly to your father before I had the assur ance I now have from you. I wish you knew how happy you have made me, Dana. I have been wretched and jeal ous. 1 watched you often when you did not dream of it." " From across the street, and at Mr. Schoenberger's studio?" asked Dana, with a mischievous gleam, though thinking at .the lame time how much brighter she Would have been had site known it then. t ' . "Good littlo Schoenbcrger! " ? said Latint, with a laugh. "I wonder if he inspected that I only went there because I picked up a word about you? If he were not a married man with arising family, I should think him madly iu. love W.th your cousin, he sang heft praises so perslHtently.' i if' ; v , f Poor LexlV and Dana, echoed ,the laugh. ' She imagined Lex's chagrin when sho should learn the truth, not 'tmspslctingftfeat Lex had arrived at it already. The riexl moment the door opened and Mrs. TJliphant entered. One glance was enough to tell her how far matters had gone; if it had not, Launt was ready enough, , now that he knew Dana's mind. ' ' 'tAnd With your permission, dear Mrs. Oliphant," he finished his appeal to her, "I will go to your husband at once. I want to sot myself right iu your sight and hisj I hope to prove that I am not altogether unworthy of your daughter." ' ' '"' "If it has come to that, will go to him," said Mrs.' Oliphant, slowly. "Dana,' you will make no promise's; Mr. Farrington, you will bind her to none, until her f-ith'cr and I talk this matter over. I ask it." , ' ,4Ah, Mrs.' Oliphant, "it Is 'too late fir that. Promise or , no promise, we are pledged " to-? ach "Othtr,J',imid " Launt,' eeeldngT hjs tOtnliroiatlon in Dana's eye r I, . V'.-l i. f, A istrnngpr Vas leaving" the library as Mrs. Oliphant entered it, a man of the "shabby genteel" order, who bowed and held open the door, darting a ktwn, searching look into the lady's fact as she passed. 11 Ml i i v"VVbo was that, TWurP'1 she Jutea. " "Only ilfirm m tJneity-Alexia's Mr. Quest, you know, Ko I m'ght call h:m mine,; now,! as aptly. He is a very tolerable lawyer,' ami has been making himself useful in these real-estate nego tiations of raino, . He's the. cleverest of fellows ' ut' i getting , told ! off secret points." Kose did not give the lawyer a second thought. W '. . ' "l'ower," she said, "I may as well tell you at once, the time we have dreaded has come." "That time was bound to come sooner or later," Mr. Oliphant n marked, when lie hail heard all nho had to tell. "And really, dear, I don't share your an tipathy to that young man, I am in no hurry to lose otif girl, and I did what I could to di"ouragehim and felt guilty every time I looked into the child's drooping fat-e.; If Dana likes him, and they have made it up together, you and I must put awayour scruples and stand aside.' v. s r - ( ,' ' " If It were any one else," cried Rose, pass onatclv. " If it were Gordon M.ir juis I coulo, trust himy J5ut that man! Power, I Jeel that ho las only wou her from u to bresk her heart:" , i i . '. Mr. Oliphant took li s wife's hand in a loving clasp. , These two were fond lovers in the r middle' age: t " I understand yi ar preiudice against his Southern origin, and that .is his chief objection in my eyes. 1 He will be wanting to take Dana away from us, but I can never consent id that. : We must make it a coml tion that, he shall settle here. For the rest, the secret will be as . safe wheq Dona marries as it is now. 'The one 'fact that he need ever kn w that she is an adopted child will not have a feather's weight with h.m if he is the true stud'." "If ho is the true stufl!" repeated Mrs. Oliphant to herself, almost with a groan. And he is. in the way Power means.' He would marry her if she were a beggar's daughter. Hut how would it bo if he knew whose child she Is?" :i '-' , It was Mrs. Oliphant who carried the result of their conference to Dana, and Launt was summoned to the library be fore he departed, to give a fuU. account of hinwelf, his family, and his pro pecta, to the father of his love. It wa a sat isfactory account in the maiu, though the element which would have weighed with many fathers, money, had little part in it, . Put the Farrintons, once a wealthy family, were, influential stm Launt hiniselt held the lease of a sugar plantation, which, under his judicious management rendered an assured in-i-oiiio sufficient to the wants of a young pair vho were not ambitious of a great display, lie was not presumptuous, then, in aspiring to the; hand--of Dana Oliphant, i lii)sioctive iboinsSlth6ugli shetnighiU. lUlViU i iXi. J r " You may .consider the Inequality as eitififl 'tjie other side," said the old t man,' not without a slight tremor. YrH romp T fie-nld cirotv. utofcTv, who haye' tlrtIf pride "tT'tlrtVh.Stfong as any aristocracy on earth. Dear a she is to me, she is not really my daughter, but a nameless waif adopted in her Ear liest infancy. Doe that fact make any difference with Tmir" - " None, not the slightest." Tride of birth was cert.dnly not Launt Farrmg ton's weakness. , w ).. "Then," saiil Mr. Oliphant, more warmly, "I shall not throw any Insur mountable obstacles in the way of your suit." ' There were sundry conditions to to imposed, nevertheless, first amongthem that no formal engagement .should be. entered into just yet. " That is your decree, mamma," cried Dana, when she heard it. ' It is you who havo been opposed to Launt throughout. Papa liked him at first, likes him still. Why are you so set against him?" . : It was a question which Mrs. Oliphant parried. "You hardly know him yet, my child," she said, tenderly. "I only ask you to take time before binding yourself irrevocably; this fancy may Wear itself out if you will but wait and contrast him with others." v It will never wear out until I die," said Dana, not passionately, not re bel'iously, but with a fixed belief in the truth of what she said. " Do you know, mamma,' I believe I must come of some loyal race poor and obscure, perhaps but loyal to death. If fate were so unkind as to part me from Launt, I could never love another, in that way, until I died. . , . .. i . An inscrutable change went over the face of tho older woman. . ' , "You don,'t know, you don't know,", she said, sadly, as if siie might have thought as Dana did, one day. ' ' There was no absolute engagement, therefore, but Launt was admitted as a daily visitor to the house, happiness enough in itself for the lovers, j ' . "And happiness brightens my cousin up wonderfully, don't you think so, Mr. Marquis?" Alexia inquired. ' "' ' ' It was two or three evenings later, a dull and rainy evening, and the family party had. deserted the drawing-room to assemble in the library. Launt was there as one having the right; and Gor don Marquis, eohspicnoni bv his ab sence since tho day of his rivals appear ance had dropped in quite in his old informal way. . , .r.: . He looked across at Dana with unmis takable regret in lm cyes. "Is it the luipp'ness.5" he asked. thought it was in my imagination, as blessings brighten when they take their flight.'" ' , I I i, ii.-l "You lvnow all about it, then?" "Mrs. Oliphant had the kindness to tell me, ,to spare me, from, future. mis takes. She had the goodness to sav I m (an. to bo sorry for me," suddenly enecKmj? nimseir. " To say that she would prefer it if you were the fiance-elect," Lex supplied the break. "There's no mistaking Aunt Rose's preference no mistaking her dislike pf Vhe1 favored mau. You have ehWiVed iW r suppose. i winder why s1i$dtslikes Mr. Farrington so much?" Before he could make any reply, the door ojened und a servant announced Mr. Quest. "You, Harmon?" said Mr. Oliphant. in soino surprise. "Como in. . Have you news for me?" Mr. Quest gave a slight bow to tho assembled company, a deeper bow to his questioner, and addressed himself to the latter. "News which chiefly concern myself. I am going on a journey soon which will interfere with the small services I have been able to render you, sir." "Going far?" asked the gentleman, leaving his sofa to approach the desk. 'I'm afraid all these calls on your time must interfere sadly with that literary venture of yours." ,:: : .? "They do," said Mr. Qnest,: tf but I think of abandoning that enterprise for another.which promises belter private inquiry line, half way between lawyer and detect've and requiring the quali ties of both of them. It's a case of that kind which staking me now. Thanks!" as Mr. Oliphant scribbled someth ng upon a slip of paper and passed it to him. This something he knew to be a chei-k for the services he had rendered, and put It into his pocket without look ing at the amount. "Tho job I have before me," he continued, "is to hunt up an heir to a snug sura of money which has gone begging for an owner these last eighteen years." , " A long time for money to be un claimed, surely." "But, you see, there aro some pe culiar circumstances about tho case which rather take away from the pleasure of the inheritance. The pre vious owner, onco the member of a backing firm at a littlo place in New York. was hung for the murder of his partner Ho left a wife, and pre sumably a child; but they disappeared without laying claim to what he left. I'm starting out on an eighteen-year-old track to hunt them up, and if I don't find Rodney France's wife and heir or heiress, as lire case may be it will be bec.hise they are no longer on the fact' of the earth." , There was a gleam in the eves of the speaker as they swept his audience. At the words "llodney France's wife and heir," Launt Farrington turned, mabju Lf hu would, huvu spokeu, then sank back inln his seat, and put up his hand before his changing face, lie was not the ot.ly (.tie con frt.oni tuoy seemed to exert a magical effect. '' ' Mr. Oliphant wheehd. "KosePht cried. She had risen, wild terror in her wide open eycS. ' She stood for one in land wavering and ghastly, and thm,' as her husband reached her, sank un conscious in his arms. CHAPTER XI. ,. DROrrtKO a Hint. " You ore going to marry that girl!" It was Mr. Killuth who said it, Mr. Kiihilh who lay back In his chair, and looked across the breakfast table at hU morning visitor with keen, cold, disap proving eyes. The visitor was Launt Farrington, of course. He had come by a late train to New York the previous evening, had gone to his hotel for the night, and, at the earliest permissible hour next morning, dropped in upon this old friend, who might ba excused for" wondering what had become of his late compagnon du voyage-tor Launt had left precipitately f,r the other city with only the briefest of brief notes to explain his absence: " Draw K.: Goin out of town for a day or two. Will see you before I g-o Bouth." The day or two had lengthened Its in definite term into tw.ee as many weeks before ho returned returned with this news at his tongue's end, for the condi tions attached to the proposed alliance sat easily upon Launt s conscience. . Jt mattered very little that the pere and mere had said ho was not to bind their daughter just yet with a betrothal r ng; they were not denying him one privi lege of an accepted lover; they did not damp his hopes of a speedy consent to a speedy marriage, when their, uncon cealed reluctance should at last g ve j way. ' ' ' " '-' : You aro going to marry that girl!" j repeated Mr. Killuth, as much aghast as if he had said: "You are going to murder that girlP "Good Heavens, Launt! I had put that fear quite out of my mind. I thought you gave me reason to think that they did not en courage yOU. V ! '!-, i "li'il ! ' , " They discouraged me by all possi ble means while they could," explained Launt. " "They only tolerate roe as a suitor on probation now; all tho same I am going to marry my darling, soon.; Mrs. Oliphant it is Mrs. Oliphant who opposes me, by-the-by-has girea'.nie that grain of comfort. ' Surely, you can afford to ' be patient now,' she said. When our consent is once given, you shall have your own way,' " . (. j V What does she object to," mused, rather than asked, Mr. Killuth. " Your poverty? Three or four thousand-, year in poverty, I suppose, to one reared in the lap of luxury us Rose Sangerford was." ..; 'Ml : , . i I "I don't think, iit is that.. She; was willing to take up that' artist, no better oti' than myself. Sho doubts and mis trusts nie, ,as it is natural a mother should more than is natural, I believe. Sho credits me with being fickle, un stable ready to fallout of love as readi ly as I fell, in. It isn t a flattering ap preciation, or a true one." "It may be truer than you think. Look here, Launt, I was youri fathers friend, as I am yours, and he was as madly infatuated, twice in his short life, as you are to-day.. He left your mother for La June's siven tmiles, How are you to tell that you arc better than he?" A dark red flush went swiftly over the young man's face. All his life ho had resented the wrong done to his .mother, and laid it, along with his fath er's last reckless act, to the score of the siren, whom Madamo Farrington had tauglit him to hate. , '-VVe will not bring my father's name into discussion," he said, coldly. Then, in a changed tone: "Killuth, you told me onco that that woman was dead. Do you know it beyond doubt?" " As well as I know anything from mere report. Sho died of yellow fever, in Cuba, I believe." "What became of her child?" ' "Her what?" Latint told him of that incident of the library, and Mr. Quest's proposed search. , "Is it not strange that it should have happened before me?" he askeiL "I had it on my tongue to tell him of her death, but I found myself crowing s ck and faint with the- recollections which that namo brought, up. Mrs. Oliphant fa;nted outright a moment after, and I can't divest myself of the iuea that something in the association had its ef fect upon her," " Littlo wonder little wonder," said Killuth, in what was for him a pitying tone. , "You don't seem to know, Launt, that it was Rose Sangerford whom Roduey France jilted for that creature La June. She consoled her self for her disappointment, but tho old love lingers in her memory yet, it would seem. And apropos of the pusslon, what does Madame Farr'ngton say to this proposed alliance of yours?" " What any fond female relative is apt to say in such a case," smiled Launt. "Has her fears for me, her doubts if any match to be made bo good enough for her boy, is doubly indignant thut they aie not all ready to say 'yes, sir, and thank you,' the moment I pro pose. What is more to the point, she is seriously thinking of coming North for the summer. I stay, iu any event. I doubt very much if I go home at all until I go on my wedding-tour." There arc in London ninety-three recognized clubs having over nineteen thousand members, who, on the aver age, pay-an ' annual subscr'ptim ot tairty-live d dlirs. The total income of these clubs is estimated to reach $!), 000,000 a year. , , .. , , It 1- estimate 1 that the pawnbrokers of New York City, collectively, have fully SO.'HMOOO ol pledges' in their pos-Bc&s.on. FACTS AST) FIGURES. The Kothsrhild hold 400.000.'XX of our bonds. A'. 1". Hun. fIt Ih. estimated that 2.44.1148 acre of school lands in Nebraska, if sold now. wouia realize abwit 40,000,000. , Juhn-Jacob Atnr lina Iwinrrlit & strip of ground eight Tnches whe on fine strtfetii ssvw York,. for ifo.OOO. That is at the rate of 7..r)(0 per foot, or f S-'.'i.OOO for a thirty-foot front. Last year over 25.1,000 pounds of ostrich feathers were sent to England from Cape Town, Africa, tho value of the feathers being .r,400,OfiO. It is said that the total is seven-fold what the total was ten years ago. , When, Washington was inaujniratetl as President In 189 there were but seven post-offices In the State of New York. Now the State contains consid erably over 3,000, or about 600 for one of ninety-three years ago. Troy (N. I.) Ttnics. Bismarck'i bid of $1,000,000 casli for the territorial capital of Dakota was accompanied by a guarantee of respon sible cititens that 160 acres of the tract would sell for $8,000,000, making tho bid practically $4,000,000 and 1G0 acre of land. VMeaqn Ilemld. Minneapolis is reported to shin an nually, Leyond her local consumption, 1,650.850 barrels of flour, equal to 495,-2-25,000 loaves of bread, and the barrels, if piled in a pyramid, would make a square pyramid", with a base 800 feet square and nearly 1,000 feet high. Burdett-Coutts holds'$21,000.000 of our 4 bonds, the Duke of , Sutherland and Sir Thomas Brassey $5,000,000 each. Mrs: A. T. Stewart has $30,000, 000 of our 4 pnr cents Jay Gould $13,- 000,000. Vanderbilt onco held $50,000, 000, but last, winter he called a plumber to repair a nan-inon spin in the waste pipe of his bath-tub, and was obliged to sell $13,000,000 of the securities, so he only retains $37,000,000. Detroit Poif. 'The1 Youno; Worawn's-' Christian Temperance Union, of Provldenee, has obtained statistics showing that the clergy costs the' country annually $6, 000,000; erlminals, $1,900,000; tobacco, $40,000,01)0, and, rum. $100,000,000. New York C tv snends c lai'v $10,000 for cigars and $8,600 for bread. A man chewing two inches of a plug of tobacco daily will in fifty years consume more than half a mile of tobacco one Inch thick and two wide and costing $2,000. rrovxaence iu ,u Journal t . ., The fashionable New. York stores employ from a hundred to five hundred clerks, to whom are addod d essmakers and other attaches, which add threefold to the number. Siu-h employment can not bo considered healthy, since the air is often close and unwholesome, out there is always a pressure to -obtain it, and at present there are a hundred ap plicants for eaeh vac:iny. Salesmen receive from seven to twelve dollars a week, while "heads of stock" fas they are termed) ' rate from .eighteen to twenty dollars. .These "howls" . have charge of some specialty, and aro re sponsible for its management. N. Y. Uerald.' '-' . WIT AND WISDOM. . The' plumber's motto Pay the pi per. Ar. Y. World. ' The hen w:th a single chick makes the most cackling, and the fewer ideas a man has the more noise he makes. lioston Transcript. ' Did you ever notice how many v's the Welsh use in their words? Anil did it strike you that it takes a y's man to read one of their newspapers. Chicago Times. Those who have tho power and whose duty it is to suppress illeg-il and vicious practices and do not do so, are as culpablo as those engaged in such practices. Indianapolis' Journal. " I don't object to codlish as an oc casional luxury," remarked Mr. Old boarder at breakfast, '.'but for a steady feed It's saltogethcr too briny for my blood." But the landlord told him he was too fresh. Burlington Hawkeye. "My dear," said Rattler, at the tea-table, looking up from his evening paper, "this French-China trouble looks) serious." Yes," answered Mrs. K., "Bridget broke the handle off the sugar-bowl to-day but I didn't think you would notice it so soon. Boston Vost. It is related of Sydney Smith that on entering a draw'ng-room in a West End mansion he found it lined with mirrors on all sides. Finding himself rotlected In every direction, he said that h6 "supposed he was at a meeting of the clergy, and there seemed to be a very respectable attendance." Chicago Tribune. "Ugh," exclaimedAdolphus, "this butter is beastly salt, d'ye know ? I can taste it on my mustache, 'pon hon or." "My boy," replied Fogg, "let mo congratulate yon; you'll be a rich man una of these days; I'm glad to know that you've begun to salt down so curly in lite." Cincinnati Times. "Mino frendt, dot's besser you look pooly well oud. Dot gun vos load ed, und ven he goes ott' he gicks like der tuyfel." The gentleman thinking to have sonie fun w th the German, re plied: !'A gun cau't kick; it has no legs." "Vat," said the store-keeper, "he ' don't can gick? Yoost wait.' I dell you somedmgs, und I gif you a lecdle inflammations. I vas in der p'6h ness, und I knows somed ng. A gun don't sick mit its legs; it gicks mil iu breeches. A7. Y. News. John Br'ght, "alleged inventor of celebrated Uiscase of uie kniueys,' is the way an Omaha paper speaks of tlil English Quaker statesman.