1 ■ v K. I>. Blackmore.)
SYNOPSIS.
a \oung Londoner, is in
rutlier of his
..mily is not willing
-v ™ account
>' ' Tty. lit* gams a
. n. and joius a party
on ,a all. who make
iutvo previously b-en
. nature. Every man
,■ laps, if he we: ? *>:
.n<l ascertain
! 1<* would pay for work
F i mall force like ours could
ir do anything in the way of
•rini?" . w? eh might be fol
ucoiittg d It. and
* >nld be made)
rise, -tuddi-1 with b'u-k
we dl r utmost to 1
r must have
*h. b ' t n-n h« came
' an»I >o r• his pr r sh ’re of
a< . buret into a loud a ugh at >
that suggestion, and described his sub
i«*< ts. male and female, in language) which
I ill not repeat. however it might gratify
tin- present public tilSttf.
Wo understood him very well by this
ti n. : a’ l when taken altogether he was
ii..t so bad as the "culture." that is al
w ys talk ; g of itself without knowing
wh.t it means, would make of him. At
u".\ rate, lie wished to s ivo our lues, and
a fair chance was before him of making
f. tr times . s mu. h of our li\. s as ou.
,! iths would ■ .•ing him. We trusted him,
therefore, to k« ep us alive.
f.ut anoth r member of our company
V s shot, at the very same time of the
’ • .ing, and \iith all his wits about him
n the hv< l, st \ y: annul who was a total
plt» do) t it no man cun fail into the
rme of I’luto with >ut a blow from
■ •ohus: a you... man o the new and
most ■ xemp ,ry ii e, which despises all
t \ t i re ! tl e - 1 U V.. s not
tr hearts to n.: him a- »e had missed
rd alt ho . W. ;u opted h S fate
- Swi . truiy ' m do i even more
py, luir home to us yet more
i'h.-te only nv. of us u rt. vu* s.uu,
l to-morow thera may be only tour.
1 • w. s not i bad fellow, except for his
, i7.. : i- ; t! .. ii they say he has a very
So there was anorto r cross to make with
“O. It.” carved upon it; for this was our
lov r of the ..reen. our man who found
• > vi .• kingdom 1 itter by a hun
dr. -fold t! n the animal uid who am I
tn or >• t! it he w.u> right'.' 'Ur Charley
lie- V o had been at Kew, and could do
n ire cood n >nvt the mighty mount ins
th iti any venesector or anatomist thereof.
Af' r wo had burled Charley Reid at the
s do of poor Kit Croueher, and Vowlcr,
t Corn.i. (who v*as always pious,
i rebuk'd us '"or every ight word wo
c ivo way to). i r* ad the burial s« rvice
f. r him dho a hin • If a Nonconformist,
! t:t unable, as he owed, to better it—and
.ft» r wo had wreathed his cold sad cross
v h the Juvt !y flowers ho h. 1 lov^d so
n ell, to the gr it surpt :s« o: the r< «t or us.
\ il Parker, the Cambridge man, fell down
on his knees—though the crave was a pilo
sii.irp granite- tr.d threw his arms
r and the ere-; and kissed it, and said
• nit y: ‘*Tl 1 >r.l 1 • me here by this
n n's sid-', un!< s l ivengo his murderer.”
It may have been a nv in suspicion only,
w eking out it own r< ult. but we had al
v vs far iod t it Vi l Parker h Id him
f a little aloof from us, nd lo<>k« 1 down
if on us in a stupid way. which is—or used
• > be—to > common v. ith University men.
v on id-.-; brought into contact with the
s cf commerec. But those who h ive
«, yed the benefit of communion with
• ' • rr.it -if old ap|" ar to me to
live from them a warmer appreciation
the f r bodies of the present. That
• ory may b© unsound:; but still it came
t Val had
h • n smltt- a by the eh 1 ns of the Kew
tr.an'B pretty sister.
CHAPTER IV.
AND ANOTHER.
"hose Sumerians have a enrol.or of
-*■ IP oral attributes which—in the
nt abolition of every solid prin
wp should i- 1 too proud to
\. In many points they stand
t as an example to the no.dost of
ir race; but unhappily, for more then
i ' '• ■> \ <*, no one can set at them,
i ither can th y tret at anyl ody. being
■suable by two passes mainly, both
f which strike work and stand like
aw giants, smoking their pipes of
\ ;u»r for seven r mtlis holiday out of
twelve. \nd during the active five
p nth’s when a man can walk or slide
•• iimble out < f or into this exclusive
Ed n. the di re of the rest of the world
should get bt k ai ain.
The original foil: who dwell inside,
exert th- ir hospitality in the active
rather tha in th passive sen-e. For
in.stance. ith little or r-> fuss they
r< the border into Eadscha or Hak
sanla. and, after living well upon their
■ .-ighlH r’s ert ps, r< turn with the other
men's ca’tie and wiv. -t or daughters in
to th“ir own land, whi her i' is unwise
to follow them. For if they are an
noyed in that way. they set out again
with larger force, and burn any village
that has grieved them. For they pride
h.-niselveB much unon tlie*:r independ
ence; ami th eRussians. who once im
jh . a house tax upon them, for the
sake of their officials remitted it.
But we, bring under tho protection
f ill.sir prim . and behaving most lib
erally toward them, could not perceive
in the nature of things any reason why
th, \* should murder ns. Their lan
guage was quite hevond our km wl
bu we iiad encased :tn old tlcor
ginn called Kel i to act as interpreter
in all our dealings with them, and ! y
his advice called a meeting of all the
chief inhabitants around, and asked
t> , TI> whetb* ' we hud done anything
expo •> its to the enmity t»f the neigh
borhood. We fed them well, which
should always be done firsthand after
wards. too. ui>ou such occasions and
: !though there was little more grati
’ le among them than civilized i>eople
• ' • rish. th- harangue delivered by Boh
■ .|,s ♦hroueh the n dinm of Kehi.
v : well received and rewarded with
_ . ;s of favorable import. A
:: ">t respectable man (whose skin was
■)u.t<* out of sight from his vamst to lus
kn cst replied with real el. mence—
' nr; i language is a proof ■ f that
sur’n«* >s that we were as good to
him as the sun on the necks of the
r umtains when the year begins to
grow again, or the moon that
ernes among the maize, bring
ing pght to those who guard
it from the bears. Also several
. i"r swinging their arms am’
h - - with ’ »: and shaking their
' itered skirt- or gowns, (which were
uf the build of the Roman toga, when
the frame was visible among the
shredsi presenting a rude idea of an
1’nglish at lier.ee. well primed for “lie's
a lolly good fellow.'’ It was a most
successful meeting: and we large
hearted Britons tame to a momentary
faith almost that we had wronged a
noble lot of natives, and that those two
fatal shots had been a pure mistake of
somebody's, ivrhaps some roving
Tartar, filled with bitterness against
all the world, had lurked in a rocky
, !.\ice to discharge his hatred of the
human race and bring discredit upon
c ,l0 savages. Phipps. Jack Wood
t,.-;,!ge and myself agreed in that opin
ion " but Vowler, tba Cornishman.
-.hook h;p head, while Parker would
Ro» trust hit - df to speak, or to listen
even Not that he was by nature more
suspicious than the rest of us, but that
lie felt his grievances most, having
promised, as 1 heard afterward, to keep
a special eye upon poor Charles Reid,
and bring him home safe for his sis
ter’s sake.
That evening I had a little talk with
Leila, whose grandfather, Prince Bor
bal- for every one seems bound to be
•■olier a prince or a peasant in those
rts—had taken refuge in a great
square tower, some three miles south
of the Ingur stream. The Russians—
so far as we came across them—ap
peared to take things very easily as
yet, in these remote parts of the moun
tain chain. When they catch an ene
my they are rather sharp upon him;
but if he escapes and seems unlikely
tu trouble them any more, they seldom
exert themselves mueh to capture him.
This old chief had been the leader of
a hopeless revolt in Northern Georgia
from fifteen to twenty years ago; and
when all the rest of his family had been
either slain or sent to Siberia, he made
his escape with a few retainers to this
unholy sanctuary. The small detach
ment of Cossacks quartered for the
summer near our village, had caused
him at first some uneasiness, which
had brought him perhaps through the
woods that day. The soldiers, how
ever, as I soon discovered, had never
even heard of him, and were here on
a totally different errand, though of
evil import as it proved to us.
Leila hail promised to he my bride,
thought how that was to come to pass,
ihe moon alone, (that gentle witness
of so many sighs and vows, which she
does but seldom lead to honey, even
for one of her own short lives.)—she
alone could shed any light upon the
taugied prospect. But it was not in
our young life, whereof the moon
knows nothing, being such a cold dead
wanderer, to let cobwebs of human
weft, or even iron bars of fate divide
us hand from hand und heart from
heart. Although, with her glorious
power of love, it was enough for that
noble Leila that 1 was 1, and me was
me, by every law of social life and site
had the right to know my name; and
finding •fox" though used so often
in sweet harmony with “swain"—less
romantic than might be wished, and
perhaps a little rugged in Georgian,
she had more delight in my Christian
name, which she whispered most de
liciously in the softer form of "Yas
per."
"Yasper, go not to those heighths.
What is gold compared to thee? Evil
men. barbarian wretches, lurk in those
black corners, when the light of day is
fading and the cruel spirits of the.
mountain wander across the snow and
among the raves. Let the other Fran
ghese imperil their lives, as the man
ner of tiie nation is; but Leila cannot
live without her Yasper.”
1 tried to make her see that without
goid. even love cannot go smoothly
through the course of life that is spread
before us. among people who insist
upon it at almost every turn. And
she show, il her common sense by say
ing that from all she had heard it must
he so. but the peril should justly fall
on those who had only gold to care
about. 1 promised her. as was only
right, to wait until my turn should
come for the fatal watch upon the
mountain; and then we were obliged
to part in haste, for the creak of the
ladder reached our ears, which meant
that the prince, her grandfather, had
finished his nap of the afternoon, and
was coming from his loop-hole in the
lower to exert his sharp eyes upon the
world below.
It was Parker s week to take tne
nightly outlook in the rocky gorge,
which offered the only access to our
diggings from the savage tribe. Be
ginning already to draw together, (as
nu n do in the face of death, like cows
before a bulldog,) we implored Val
Parker to stop with us, where we kept
our kettle boiling, with a kid or a roe
buck, or whatever it might he, accord
ing as the luck of hungry men, or of
those they delight on in their stomachs,
might prevail. But he was in a hard
and w.sty mood, like the burr-knots
which are found in these cold forests,
and turned into beautiful veneer in
Paris; and having no masterful mind
among us whence came the ruin of
the entire enterprise we could not
withstand him for he was the biggest
of us. and 1 was clad that he had never
seen Leila.
“Have you ever known me brag?”
be asked; and we were thrown upon
our memories, but could not say
although it must be owned that
there is. in British manner, something
of a sc If-eonu nted silence which does
not. express ini* riority. “Very well.
Then you can see what I am. I swore
on Charley's grave v.hat 1 would do.
You know that it must be done. 1 am
a r-as nalde man. Let nobody say an
other word to me.”
He was loading his double-barreled
rifle very - arefully while he spoke, and
rht‘U he said "Good-by,” and hoped
that he had offended none of ous. Wo
had no right to stop him, and 1 am
not at all sure that he would not have
tired at the first who tried It. “Let no
man follow me.” were his last words;
••or l might shoot him by mistake.
Have no fear for me. 1 know what I
am doing: and I will stop this devilish
villainy.”
Perhaps a young man who has found
tin* jov of loving something better than
himself, and exalting the human sky.
bv virtue of one perfect being beneath
it. becomes a little small as well as
large, through the quickening of the
air around him. At any rate, I felt
myself more chary of my body at the
vt-rv season when my mind was lifted
upward most, and in every way most
reckless.
When T was setting off to look for
Pella the only sight worth seeing now
—Vowler. the Cornish miner stood in
the path and faced mo steadfastly.
“Ha, ha. ha!” he said.
Am! I answered, “What the devil
does Tom Vowler want?”
“Wrong end forward,” he cried. "It
is the devil that is prowling for Tom
Vowler- and small account the others
bo: but now he calleth—Tom, Tom,
Tom! ”
This was beyond ray tinners luuuiug.
Tint 1 went back again with him. and
then he spoke more plainly. He said
that his mind was quite made up to
»et to the bottom of this shooting ti#.ck;
f„r he hau searched the Scriptures with
a flat cross key, and it came to the
.same thing either way. “Quit ye. like
men " was the voice one time; and "I
-ay unto you—watch,” was at the heel.
He had meant to do it. without a word
to anv one, until it came into his head
that i was soft, and he would like his
wife to know the meaning ot it.
The reproach was more than I could
stand, for this man had a helpless fam
ily at home, who must go to the work
house without him.
■ Where you go. I go. I answered
once for ail: “only leave it until to
morrow night, because —because of
some good reason. ,
He agreed to this, and I took my
wav across the roaring Ingur, for one
more sight of the Georgian maid,
whose like I shall never behold again.
Xow I need only say that the very
la-ir thing in the world I meant to do,
Jr thought it possible for me to do.
was to let my darling know or guess
the peril I was about to meet. But if
and old Benedick cannot close his lips
to cars that are now hung round with
silver instead of gold unspeakable
where is the padlock proof against
even the finger of young love? Leila
was not born for tricks. Leila had
no tricks at all. But she loved me,
and knew that I loved her; and she
took me to be ever so much braver tuan
1 ever was, or shall be.
"Vasper, 1 have watched for this.
Yasper, 1 know no not how long this
has been the one gap iu my heart."
(The word 1 have rendered "gap" has
no equivalent iu English. It means a
needle-eye for outlook on the crest of
some commanding pass.) “Love of
my life what have I done, that thou
shouldest fling me into the hole of
death?"
bhe put forth her hands, ior me .10
take them, because she was not cer
tain of herself; and then, as we stood
breast to breast, she asked for one hand
to wipe her eyes, and then put it back
finger for finger, and looked at. me, as
if we should never look again into one
another’s nature thus.
“Thou lovest me, as I love thee!”
She spoke with sweet content, as if
there was nothing that could make
much difference now. And then she
sighed, as if she felt some pity that she
must not tell; and she cut it short with
a merry little laugh which sparkled hi
her eyes, so that 1 laughed too.
"That the greatest nation of all the
world should be stopped from advanc
ing any further by the skin of a dead
bear!”
“What means my Leila?”
I thought for a moment that the
weather, which had been oppressive in
the valley, must have clouded her clear
mind.
“Is not the nation of my love, the
Iuglese—not the Franghese, as the
common people call them -the great
est, the noblest and the most magnan
I imous, ever created by the God who
lives in heaven?”
“There can be no question about
that,” 1 answered, not from any nar
row patriotic spirit, but to make her
long more to be an Englishwoman.
“Hut the Lord has not made them
the cleverest also. To give the world
some chance against them, He has not
taught the magnanimous Inglese to
know a live bear from a dead one.”
“What! Is it possible that you knew
this, and could hide it from me, Leila?”
I11 the wrath of the moment 1 drew
away, as the blackness of the trick lay
bare to me: and my fury was increas
ed. no doubt, by the sense of our own
gross stupidity. “Leila is guilty of
three murders! I will never speak
again to Leila!”
We know thut he was a very clever fel
low, as well as a first elas- ride shot, and
we all agreed over our pannikins that wo
had act'd for the best. Phipps, Wood
hridge, Vowler and myself were present,
having h t't our village quarters in charge
of Prin<- Mulach’s forester, thoroughly
resolved as w- w< re now to hold our own
and see the end of it.
Toward midnight I found myself very
uneasy and in such a slate of anxiety that
—whatever might happen—1 could not stay
there, liven with our sentry at the en
tranee now. we did not think it safe that
all si .."id sleep, and 1 was on guard out
side tlie tent, while the thive others were
at rest within. I tried to content myself
with walking up and down, and smok
ing my short pipe, and thinking about
Leila, and wondering wliat my mother
(who was wonderfully good, hut not well
off) would think of my settling so early’
in life, with only a few shillings to bless
us. Hut interesting as this subject was, it
kept on coming into my head that wo had
not acted a manly part In allowing Val
Parker, headstrong as lie was, to ex
pose himself alone to some murderous
sneak. “Was it like English nen?" I kept
on asking, “after losing two comrades in
1 hat mysterious way, to go to sleep snug
ly. while yet another might tie walking
into the very jaws of d< nth?'' Heavy bul
let through the heart that had been the
late of Kit and Charley did wo mean that
Val should have the same?
At last I eotild stand it no longer, but
leaving those three to their slumbers,
which would bo no le s secure—fpr any ono
a'eetiding the gorge must encounter me—I
set «.ff in quest of Park' r. waving a white
handkerchief lest he might take me for
the murderer and 1< t tly at me altogether
in the wrong direction. For it is not safe
to expert a matt to lie too particular when
' a gleam of light or hr ith of wind may
bring a bullet into him.
Nothin?; could have been Grander than
the way tin* world stood around me. such
as wo cannot have at home; and perhaps
It is all the hotter for us not to have our
minds distracted. However, in spite of all
the grandeur round me, I felt myself an
honest friprlit. and would have longed—
< xcept for Leila—to be on my Crippbgato
~tf>ol once more, with the smudgy reflector
casting in the measly tint of London.
tVhat did I hear, as I broke from a jag
of bla' k shade into the moonlight? The
roar of a gun—no rifle crack, bat a soon I
that rang liko thunder among the hundred
peaks and crags, and rumbled along the
forest-verge in the opposite slope, and re
peated itself in the distant bays of the
mountains. Then I saw a pair of long
arms thrown up. and a body falling back
ward—and I knew that Val Park*-r would
don no more the light blue rosette nor
whisper into the golden curls of Fanny
Reid. It is an exaggeration to say that
my 1 .dr, which w s very thick ami bushy,
lifted my Lochaber cap and 1 quivered like
a wind struck reed: but 1 just had sense
enough t6 gaze all round, and there was
no curl of smoke on the face of the steep;
only the old bear, who came sometimes to
feed, had taken the alarm, and was shuf
fling away, with his gaunt shadow sham
bling In the moonlight.
CHAPTER V.
• shut up!” s iid Phipps, when wo had
burk'd Parker as close as possible to Char
ley Reid: "wo have done our best and
stuck to it like ltritons. Croesus pot his
gold hero, according to tradition; hut ho
came with an army, which is quite a dif
ferent thing. Some old bluffer talks of
griffins that watched the blessed gold by
day and night, and we have got among
them, and no mistake. Only four of us
1, ft, and there won't he one if we are fools
enough to stop another week. Ret us take
what we have got, and it won't be very
much, when wo have given old Muhu:h
half. Pack up! is the word. What do you
say. Square-tons'.’"
"Seem’th as if the hand of the Lord wore
again' us,” the Oornishman answered,
with a heavy sigh: "but goeth to my heart
to leave all that dirt behind. Put it to tho
vote, Captain, put It to the vote."
This was done at once, and the votes
were equal. Phipps and Woodbridge were
for throwing up the job; Yowler and mv
s,.lf_for Leila's sake—were in favor of
sticking to it, under new conditions. And
so we stayed on yet awhile. This fatal
Watch must be abandoned, and our prop
erty concealed or carried home at night:
though the distance made that Inst meas
ure almost Impossible, with our force so
diminished by those murders. The Cos
sacks were gone by this time, and our
host. Prince Mulaeh. assured us that it
would have been a fatal stop to apply to
them, even if they would have helped us—
which was not very likely.
Put 1 looked at her once, and that was
enough. At my fierce reproach she fetch
cd one long sob and bowed her gentle face
and gazed at mo through,the quivering
shower of her hair with a power of piteous
wonder and despair, cruel to see and im
possible t£ resist. I opened my arms, and
she hung back for a moment, and then
sprang into them, and wept, and coaxed
me., and gave me the light of her eyes
sometimes, as if it all belonged to me, and
then turned the wet glisten of her cheeks
away, for me to bring it back and make
more of it.
‘ Is then Leila such a dreadful thing,
because she has valued her life for your
sake—only for your sake, Yasper? What
were the others of your company to me?
Hut even to them I was not guilty, for I
knew it not when it first began. But when
it is your life against mine. I give it all
for you. You se** that mountain far above
the trees; the great white* mountain my
names comes from—“Tau Leila”—as pure
as the heavens with snow, and rich with
perfect crystals, not yet discovered by
your race. Alas! I have thought in iny
little head, that the Ingl.se are too noble
to allow their minds to wander after any
thing that they cannot see. Honor is not
to be seen by the eye, nor justice, nor
kindness, and least of all love; which has
led you astray from the road of gold.
Life of mine, I could have shown you
jewels which would have brought you
gold—the solid gold, the gold that is your
right and wrong—in the days when time
grows old with men, and they know no
more what love is; but the eloquence of
tho tongue is spent inside the lips and
the heart is sucked into the stomach.
Then would I have snid, ‘Old Yasper'—for
you know that you would be old then, my
love—‘behold, thou thinkest less of Leila,
because time has stolen her bright eyes;
but 1 will show thee what thou lovest
best, and, perhaps, thou wilt ’ove her
again for it.' And then Old Yasper would
have thrown his arms around the wrin
kled Leila; and we should have bowed
our heads together and thanked the great
God, who has made money for the joy of
mankind when their hearts grow cold. O
Yasper, why shall it never be so?”
“Scorn upon the money and the days of
calculation!” I cried with till 1 knew of
Georgian, wherein love had made me a
wondrous pupil. "It is theo alone, Leila,
sweetest Leila! What are diamonds to
thy dear eyes, or gold to this true heart of
thine? Confound that old fellow! There
he is again.”
The worshipful prince had risen from
his nap, and was peering suspiciously
from his gray loop-hole at the top of the
ladder which I meant to chop down when
I ran away with ins granddaughter.
Leila said something not reverential (for
the old man made a. slave of her), and led
me into a darker place, and threw both
arms around my neck and kissed mo
sweetly, three good times.
“It is for the last time, my own love.”
she said without a fear, but looking from
th > depth of her dark eyes into mine.
“When you come again you will know how
your Leila loved you!”
Before I could answer sho was crone; and
the darkness of a lonely world began to
gather round me as 1 hastened through
the forest shadows, startled by the silent
swoop of the great Caucasian owl some
times, and saddened by the vain repent
ance of the prisoned Ingttr.
The four of us who were still unmur
dered took a lofty view, by this time, of
the social duties. Wc felt the value of a
friendly heart, and an eye possessing
large outlook, and a hand of quick pressure
on the trigger. In a word, we made a
point of keeping very close toget tier— for
tints alone could one be sure of the safety
i f the others. As regards our mountain
work, I mean; for here in the valley none
would harm us while wo were Prince
Mulaeh’s guests, his tribesmen having,
like other savages, their own peculiar codo
of honor. Of that I will not say too much,
but acquit His Highness once for all—al
though he was too indolent to take our
j,;,rt— of any share In the treachery
against us.
That night T had a long talk with Tom
Vowler. knowing him to be a very pious
Christian ns well as a downright plucky
fellow. If I felt ary doubt about the com
bination of those two elements in him. or
fear that they might neutralize each oth
er. a very few words scattered it. “The
Sermon of the Mount don't hold good here
any more than it did among the herd of
swine,” lie pronoun red, with genuine con
viction. ” ‘Again 1 say unto thee, watch.'
What meaneth that, wi* out a goon?
They that take the sword shall perish by
the sword. Who hath taken it tirst, young
man?”
CHAPTER VI.
HER LIFE FOR MINE.
Tli*' t old from the snow fields of Elbruz,
Tungozum, and Tau Totonal. crept along
the mountain heights. wreaths and skeins
of silver tissue, quivering with the sparkle
oi the. stars: while glorious Uschba stood
in front, the grandest mountain in the
world, a citadel impregnable, a twin cas
tle of the heavens. Hut what concerned
us most just now was a piece of shale and
sward and rocks, where the moon threw
bars and jars of light upon the steep brow
of a hill, beneath a btdt of forest. Here
the old bear was wont to ramble along the
grooves of shadow, in quest of currants,
or wild pears, or berries unknown to Eng
lish lips. And the two who were come to
spr* d his supper were Vowler the ('ornish
ntan, and myself.
We knew what a formidable foe we had,
one who never missed his prey, and so we
had a little device of our own to whet
friend Michael’s appetite. We had taken
poor I’arker’s suit of clothes, and stuffed
them with straw and other light material,
turning his waistcoat Inside out, that the
dummy might not be too exact. The Fan
tab had been a "considerable swell”—as
behooved a fine young fellow—even in his
mining garb; and his figure was good in
the moonlight now, as we danced it on a
rope between us. Our plan was not chiv
alrous, I admit; but, the Lord have mercy
on the human nice, and be always look
ing after them.,unless he forgiveth them
for seeing one another in the color of tiie
lights they come with.
Vowler, who had boon in many dangers,
was as tranquil us the moonlight: but I
having never shot a fellow-flesh before
only at a running man made of iron—could
not get away from a frightful sense of
doing something most unholy. It was too
late now to dwell on that. Body and mind
1 put myself under the orders of the Cor
nishman.
"When you see my nano go up. snoot,
| and shako not," were Ills words.
| We kept our bodies low behind a parapet
! of boulders. In the scoop of the gorge be
tween tho cliffs, where the only entrance
to our dippings was afforded. Vowler
knelt with his rifle ready, about twenty
yards to the ripht of me, and in the morn
dangerous t>osltion: and so without a word
we watched the opi>osite slope, from which
the shots of death had come. How long
wo waited I know not, for my heart beat
so heavily that time was nowhere. At
last I bepan to think that there would be
no demand for any act of ours to-nipht,
and in spite of all craving for revenge, I
felt much happier without it.
Hut a «pilck little hiss through Vowler's
teeth set all mv nerves a-tinplinp. Be
1 hold, there was a Wotch Upon the wrink
led silver of the brow before us. as if a
beetle or a cockroach crawled upon a
bevelled mirror.
No sound of steps nor pant of breath
ing broke the silence of the solemn roc^s;
but the black thing, whatever it might be.
kept gliding, or sometimes with a little
jerk stopped awhile and then wambled on
its way again. My teeth began to chatter
with cold fright, and I was raising my
rifle far a wild and random shot, when
luckily I saw Vowlcr's hand spread toward
me with it motion which meant “Down!
Down!” Upon this I crouched again, and
watched him for the signal.
To my surprise, he made no other sign,
but began to indulge in a careless whistle
of some common English tune— "VIIll
kins and his Dinah” I think it was—while
he kept below his parapet of rock and with
a jerk seconded by a pull of rope from me,
hoisted the ettigy of poor Val Parker in
the narrow gap between us. Crack came
a bullet through the waistcoat of tho
dummy, and with one accord we let it fall,
while the roar of a gun rang up the gorge.
Then the great bear rose on his crooked
hind legs, with a chuckle such as no bear
has ever yet accomplished.
"Steady aim. both!” cried Vowler to me,
and the crack of our rifles was but one,
and down fell tho bear with his logs
against the sky. dead liefore tho.echo of
ills chuckle had died out. g
Vowler was for letting him lie so. a les
son to ail other bears, that they must not
shoot mankind. It might have been wiser
to be thus content: but my curiosity was
on the rush. Whether he would go or not,
I must, and I scarcely gave him time to
load again, for his was a very old fashion
ed tool. When we came to the animal I
struck a light, without stopping to think
of the danger; and there with the bear s
nose hanging limp upon It and the ears
standing up like the horns of an owl. was
the. corpse of the headman of the village,
the old Starchina who had made us that
gushing oration a few days ago.
■' ‘Swan’ indeed! 'Swine’ is the name for
them,” suid the Cornishman, who never
could make out their vowels; ‘'some of
j them go on all fours throughout their
lives. It has pleased the Almighty that
they should have no souls.”
Tlila was an exaggeration perhaps. At
1 any rate they had some care for one an
other's bodies. When wo cumo In the
morning to bury the old villain, who had
served under Schamyl, and so learned that
trick, there was no corpse of man, neither
any skin of bear; nothing but a little scum
of gore turned purple, like the garbage
I of a bad life sanitated by the sun.
j “Off with usl Kvery blessed beggar of a
Briton!” cried Bob Phipps, too limp with
terror even to jerk his elbows. “Over the
j border, anyhow; or wo are all dead men.
To tho devil with the nuggets .and tho
golden fleeces, and the sack of specimens.
[ and everything but our guns. We have
1 set up the ldood-feud. This old villain
has seven sons, and something like sev
1 only grandsons. Not another night for us
in Suanetia.”
Not one of us would have lived to tell
the tale, unless, by some Providence that
loves adventurous Britons, Prince Mu
lach had happened to come down that day.
It was worth a good sackful of gold to him
to find that we had settled an old score of
his by disposing of tin* village headman;
and he swore with his hands on the knees
1 of several very formidable Images that lie
wold see us safe through the Leila chain
| and beyond the pursuit of his savages, j
l But lie said that tho sooner wo went the ,
bettor it would be—and we agreed with
him.
Toward evening of the second day after
v. • had slain the hear, wo were on our re
treat with twelve old trusty foresters to
help us. There was no time to go round
, by I.apur; we must make a short cut
through the Leila chain, where no road is,
and get beyond the mountains, tho ram
parts of this savage world. When I know
that we were within a mile of the old
tower in the forest. I put it to tho rest, j
whether they would wait for me or go j
1 on without me. Happen what might, r |
I could not leave the love of my life, my
l Leila, without seeing her once more and '
trying to take her, if she would come with
me.
[ Times there are (not many, hut some) in
I tho life of almost every man when he feels
that there are “greater things even to him,
by the will of God, than his own short
gift of human br.-ath. Such a power was
on me now, and the web of forest spread
I above me like tho weaving of my fate.
So I came with my young heart beating as
it never will beat again to tho fair aleovo
of ferns and flowers, fairer than any fairy
dream, where my darling was wont at
this sweet hour to quicken their beauty j
| with her bright eyes.
But she was not t hero. The lovely bower
was flushed with the glow of the setting
sun, and plumed with the verdure of ferns,
ami embroidered with the tint of flowers.
But where was tin* love? What good is
Jove tli.it cannot touch and answer us?
Gazing round I saw a slip of paper in a red
lily-pod. and read: "1 dare not come.
Some one is seeking to slay me.
oh. that site had kept to this! I would
have waited through the snows for her.
But my love had espied me from some
loop-hole, and her sweet faith brought her
death. 1 saw her light form gliding swift
ly down the forest alley toward me. and
j her white arms spread with Joy, and the
| lustre of her hair tOMed bark, to show
the glory of ie-r laughing eyes- then prone
on her face, and in the grass he quivered,
while the roar of a gun came uj> the glade.
In a moment I held her upon my breast
and sobbed, and whlspere 1, and craved
one word, and lifted her limp neck, and
! pressed her to me, as If 1 could staunch
the ebb of life. But I saw the light fad
ing. and tie- dim cloud fluttering, and the
wan shadow falling, while she tried to
speak: “It was for you, Yas:« r; it was ,
for you."
H«*r lovo was* content Hint I skouhi Know ,
how great it was: th< n six* «11 oi.
What became of nn* after this, T knew
not; and it was long hc^ie I eared to
ask. The others ram** ®l carried me
away, 1 think. being guld d by the roan
of that gnat gun. th<* very one, no loiibt,
which had done to death our comrades.
I havo visited Suanetla many a time
since then, without earing to search for
the golden fleece. There is no grander
scenery In the world; but neither do I go
for that. T go for the sake of a quiet lit
tle grave, where the roar of the lngur Is
a faint sad murmur, homo upon the winds
like the memory of lov : and high above
the darkness of the forest I can s«the
everlasting purity and p* aco of lc av< n
resting on the forehead of Caucasian Leila.
[The End.]
-DROrriNG THE SUBJECT."
Cab Discourses Very Interestingly
on Presentments.
REFLEX ACTION OF A SFPERIOR
WILL—CASTI.ES IN THE AIR AND
THEIR INFLUENCE ON OUR NA
TURES- THE FAITH OF MAKING
BELIEVE PHILOSOPHY IN
“ALICE IN WONDERLAND'* —
WHERE KINDNESS AND CURL
PAPERS EFFECT A IIAPPY COM
BINATION NO NEED OF FRILLS
ON A CLASSIC PACE THE BOT
TICELLI COIFFURE- A WOMAN’S
DUTY TO HER NEIGHBOR THE
VISIT TO YOUR CHILDHOOD
HOME — EVOLUTION OF THE
BREAD JELLIES.
(From Our i:. gulur Corresp -nd- nt.)
New Yorl • ui
who is drink! her tea it < no . it a
fashionable restaurant, or in one of
the new tea rooms. p> indu cing just
now in the dis issiun of thought eon
tres. She grows enthusiastic about
waves of thought: she dilates upon tho
mysterious "son:- thing that pi -duo- a
thought, and she is l lil> ai-n:, its re
ilex action. Honest: •, 1 confess that
I don't understand that. With equal
honesty, I am i<*m;>'e l to ! sieve that
she don't under land it all herself; hut
it sounds very nice and it convinces
the people at the n< xt table of her lack
of interest in g >s , On thing 1 >
understand about tl thought com en
tration. You, who are a great thinker,
can. if you try v< ry hard, so entirely
bring your thought pn.\. ; bear upon
me, who happened to ■ a bit weaker,
that I am impelled - e: - r to come to
you as quickly as l can. or to commun
icate with you in some manner, pref
erably by letter. Tins is tne way tho
woman who knows . i out
THE WAN ' IS OF TI !<.)!< HIT
explains it. You ami I who are less
highly cultured being .-imply say,
“Oh, it’s the old sniry, -peak of angels,
and you hear Jhe rustling of their
wings!” It is all true this last how
many times hav* yt i ehaiieied all al«
ternoou about a 11 •• t. I an: tin next
morning a letter We < < >me h.' a In •,
in which she wmiM , “rioae i" w l
felt impelled thi :• t:• . ton to write to
you.” What inipe I her.' How
many tinn g It at
our needlework, wished to .a some
body we loved, talk' 1 a good hit about
her, and lo! and b'-hu! !! '.vhe.i i. b ,1
rang, the sepitlHu ii sniinuii.g vt.ieo,
questioning through 'he tube. id -, liv
ers that the friend talk* I of is at tho
street end of the wire. Tht u when
site appears v> all say how funny it
was that she e.nm jimt win a we w. id
wishing for li• . I he . v< ra> ■■ woman
thinks so many ; - are l«tns.tn
piy becaus h cannot explain t hem.
Then the lady who knows til! ubout
concentration of thought -ays, i! . if
we manage our "think tank pr<> rly
we need never be unhappy. ' 11 we
had not been Jit that when w ■ v.. o
children! A
trine!
As if the i- • *! er, the \viv• ■ n:--wior,
did not say t > h* i* daughter. When
everything Is : its worst have faith
and In pe
doctrines in ii*1 world cnnnoi cl liiu
that as a sotn-thiug evolv< 1 to-day.
But. whether it is just being nmdo
much of to-day, or whether !s !'lft
truth It ha i been taught for cei tries,
it is still a beautiful faith. It might
bo called
THE FAITH OF M A KINO BELIEVE.
Really and truly, when we are par
ticularly unhappy. or partit uiai I y
poor, or particularly Hi, the • is a cer*
tain happiness '1 I < <IBM f we can
draw on the bank of imagination ami
cash checks that huy us for tie linm
being the b« t Wt
happy at all; that we are a lute y
healthy and that we are w
rich. A g". l imagination is a g at
blessing. Of course, like all great
blessings, it mu t be properly used, but.
when it is only utilised to make ona
better satisfied and more hopeful, to
find beauty it vhat < eras n*ei«1 Or
dinary, tlen a vivid imagination i.- a
source of gr- .it and never-ending hap
piness. With it you can make the pen
pie around you s-'-ni better than tin y
are; with it. \<-u - an mal •• your \1
ronments >< m i- : si. ibby than they
are; and w it h H you can make alj vo r
life really richer than it is. Without
it how poor lit- went Id w ihoni an
imagination' 11«-i■ v !|ld •* -itop
ped. and there w1 ail-l be* not hi tig '• - -• t It
living for, for your t 'It, even in the
fairies, would is* ill- d.
KINDNESS AND <’l HI- IV'.f’hUS.
IJv the 1 speakim Du* fairies. T
picked up tii;i: ill• <• * d 111-'111f111 of im
aginative hook;. " Mi"' in Wondei
land,” tix ither da ind i
little kindi • -- ii<I putting 1m r hair iii
curl papet would do wonders for her.
And 1 laughed ov. t! ■ funny quota
tion, until it dawn*-: -m tne how niu-ii
kindness and curl | ;' ' r<n 11y 'VM,|ld
do for some pcop|> Not ‘D** veritable
curl papers such • v-La Languish
and her friends us* i P;1P*'! mad®
of Old love lette for nowadays any
thing that suggt ts friz g is co
excessively had 1- t:i •’ wond-oml
what an art i tii t ':,n do
this season for tin ■ e who i. "iso
enough to submit 1 uead *o him.
She who has a low 1 ■ m ai Imr
hair in the .fi i di roll that h* -c
pleased .Mari- \nr- inett.-: and with
this coiffure > lie < -u .i.'-.-'Uine a bodi-o
that, in design and ' i‘‘ 1 ’ make. S,I::*
gests those ladies o milk' d the<<»".4
and made the butt- and play with
THE LA MB! IT IT TRI \NON.
The girl who ha a < lassie face that
wonderful face < er whi« h artists ia\
and which is mm h more general among
American won u than is suppo
mav part her lia r, draw it down m !y
and smoothly, aim simply twi t it m
a knot at the bm There n- d he no
wave and in -tic; ' a- °l a *
the elassie lead requires onl. hi*,
kindness be shown to it. for it wou'd
be ruined by • irl pap-' s.
The woman " o ennot roll h t - r
from ofr her fa- win -• f-a".. :'re
not classb al, -lr.I*' r hair ;i
manner of thtri trench 4
she parts it slightly at one Ide u d
then has it la -1 in rows of rlose gloss/
waves, drawi
or twisted in th" manner b* ' t"‘ '
to her gen
and her number 1 feu ha t
parted in ’I centre, a tiny i
in the bat the hal J
and pinned to th ■ head. If "" '
know Just ' • - : ' '
dressing
Maurier e first
tian,” when th-Jady a; in-' (i ' 1
amour d'enfantI *
SMART ENGLISH GIRLS
are adopting the Botim- i - ■’
which forces them to pat1 their 1--h
iu the centre, wave them, draw them