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HEZEKIAH PROLOGUE. Did you ever read a story in which humor of the finest and most delicious sort played the leading part? Did you ever tackle a tale which made you gasp by the originality of its ideas? Did you ever meet some utterly impossible persons who never lived and never could have lived and whom you might meet any day of your life? They're here, right here in this story. They have the most im possible adventures and get into the most impossible situations, Just as you or 1 might any day if the stage were set just right for us. Furthermore, they are very entertaining people, and they hold the interest from first word to finis. CHAPTER V. The Strange Behavior of a Chimney. HERE was no reason in the world why Hartley Wiggins should not call upon two la dles living in Westchester county, and I must say that he ap peared to advantage in Miss Hollister's library. He had got into his evening clothes somewhere, perhaps at a neighboring inn or maybe at the house of a friend, for lit- could not possibly have motored •own and back since his interview with Cecilia In the highway. He had impressed the clerk at the Hare and Tortoise with the idea that he had left New York for a long absence, and he had apparently camped at the gates of Hopefield to be near Cecilia. When he had paid his compliments to the ladies he turned to me with an almost imperceptible lifting of the brows, but he was cordial enough. If he was surprised or disappointed at see ing me his manner did not betray the feeling. "Glad to see yon. Ames. Rather nice weather this." "Even Dakota couldn't do better," I affirmed with a grin, but he ignored the fling. Cecilia stirred restlessly, and 1 felt decidedly ill at ease. Miss Hollister crossed to the fireplace and poked the logs. Just what part Hezekiah Hollister played in the situation was beyond me. If I had not witnessed Wiggins' clan destine meeting with Cecilia matters would have been clearer to my com prehension, but bis appearance at the house after the colloquy I had over heard from the brier patch was in it self inexplicable. Miss Hollister's sin gular references to Hezekiah—a person about whom my curiosity was now a good deal aroused—added to the mys tery that infolded the library. Responsive to Miss Hollister's ener getic prodding, the flames in the fire place leaped into the great throat of the chimney with a roar. She turned, her back to the blaze, and looked upon her guests benignantly. "If all your flues draw like that one they are not seriously in need of doc toring," I remarked. "Flues are nothing if not erratic," re plied Miss Hollister. The subject did not appear to interest her, nor had she, by the remotest suggestion, refer red to the object of my coming. I had sniffed vainly in the halls above and below for any trace of the stale smoke which usually greeted me at once on my arrival at the house of a client "The house was built, you may not know, for a manufacturer of umbrel las, who died before he had occupied it in circumstances I may later dis close to you, which accounts, Mr. Ames, for that figure of Cupid under a pink parasol on the drawing room ceiling. At the first opportunity I shall remove it as baby Cupids are ir reconcilable with the militant love making 1 admire. I consider umbrel las detestable and never carry one when I can command a mackintosh." "When I'm on the ranch 1 wear a slicker," said Wiggins. "It's bullet proof, and that I have found at times a decided advantage." We discussed mackintoshes for at least ten minutes with far more spriglitliness than I bad imagined the subject could evoke. Then Miss Hol lister, after a turn up and down the irooiu. paused beside me. "Mr. Ames." she said, "would vou The Siege of the Seven Suitors By MEREDITH NICHOLSON Copyright. 1910. by Meredith Nicholson care to join me in game of billiards? I'm not in my best form, but I think we might profitably knock the balls for half an hour." I acquiesced with alacrity. I assum ed it to be Miss Hollister's purpose to leave Cecilia and Wiggins alone. I should be rendering Wiggins and Ce cilia a service by withdrawing, and I was glad of a chance to escape. To my infinite surprise they both pro tested, not in mere polite murmurs, but with considerable vehemence. "It's quite cool tonight, and I don't believe you ought to use the billiard lli ft I Seized the Tongs and Poker and Be gan Adjusting the Logs. room until the plumber has fixed the radiator," said Cecilia. "And if you knew Mr. Ames' game I'm sure you wouldn't care to waste time on him," piped Wiggins, whom I had frequently vanquished in billiard bouts at the Hare and Tortoise, where, I may say modestly, I had long been considered one of the most formidable of the club's players. Both he and Cecilia had risen, and we stood. I remember, just before the hearth during this exchange. At this moment a singular thing happened. The fire that had been sweeping in a broad wavelike curve into the chim ney was cheeked suddenly. 1 had re peatedly remarked the admirable draft, the facile grace of the flame as it rose and vanished. The cessation of the draft was unmarked by any of those vioiiitory symptoms by which a fire •'i.-'My irives warning of evil inten- TIIH upward current of air had ceased utterly and without apparent cause. We were all aware of a choking, a gasping in the deep flue, which could not be accounted for by any natural stoppage incident to chimneys—the dislodging of masonry or a packing of soot. The former was hardly possible and the house was not old enough to make the latter theory plausible. From my survey of the flue on my arrival in the afternoon I judged that this par ticular chimney had been little used. The smoke now rolled out in billows and drove us back from the hearth. I seized the tongs and poker and began readjusting the logs, without, how ever, any hope of correcting a difficulty that lay patently in the upper regions of the flue itself. The smoke, after a courageous effort to rise, encountered an obstruction of some sort and ebbed back upon the hearth and out into the room. My efforts to stop the trouble by shifting the logs were futile, as I expected them to be, and I retreated quickly, making, 1 fear, no very gal lant appearance as I mopped my face and eyes. "Well," exclaimed Miss Hollister, who had rnng for a servant to open the doors and windows, "this is cer tainly most extraordinary. What so lution do you offer, Mr. Ames?" "The matter requires Investigation. I can't venture an opinion until I have made a thorough investigation. The night is perfectly quiet, and the wind Is hardly responsible. I think we had better abandon the room until I can solve this riddle in the morning." The prompt opening of the windows and doors caused the slow dispersion of the smoke, but the lights iu the room still shone dimly as through a fog. "It's beastly!" ejaculated Wiggins, coughing. "I didn't supposo Pepper ton would put a flue like that into a house. He ought to be shot!" "It is fortunate," said Miss Hollis ter, "that Mr. Ames is on the ground. He now has a case that will test his most acute powers of diagnosis." The logs that had burned so brightly before the chimney choked still held their flames stubbornly, and I had ad vised against pouring water upon them, fearing to crack the brick and stone work. We were about to adjourn to the drawing room. Miss Hollister and the others had in fact reached the door, leaving me alone before the hearth. Then, as I stood half blinded watching the smoke pour out into the room and more puzzled than I had ever been before in any of my em ployments, the chimney, with a deep intake of breath, began drawing the smoke upward again. Theflamescaught and spread with renewed ardor, and when the trio still loitering in the hall returned in answer to my exclamation of surprise, the flue had recovered its composure and was behaving in a sane and normal manner. "A swallow undoubtedly fell into the chimneypot and then got itself out again," suggested Cecilia. "The logs must have been wet. The sap hadn't dried out yet," proposed Wiggins. "The wood was as dry as tinder." averred Miss Hollister, not without irritation. "And one swallow does not make a summer or a chimney smoke. It must have been a changing current of air. I was reading a book on bal looning the other day, and it is re markable how the air currents change." "That is quite possible, as the air cools rapidly after sunset at this sea son, and that is bound to have an ef fect on the quality and resistance of the atmosphere." I replied sagely. "Perhaps." suggested Miss Hollister, with one of those flashes of animation that were so delightful in her, "it was a ghost The presence of a ghost in this house would give me the greatest pleasure. I should look upon a ghost's appearance at Hopefield Manor as a great compliment. If any reputable, decent ghost should by any chance take up his residence in this house I. should give him every encouragement" Miss Hollister seemed to have for gotten the proposed game of billiards. The chimney's lawless demonstration had, In fact given a new turn to the evening. We discussed ghosts for half an hour, and then, without having en joyed any opportunity for a single pri vate word with Cecilia, Wiggins rose to leave. He shook hands all around and bowed from the door. It was in my mind to follow, making a pretext of walking with him to the station or of helping him find his car, but noth ing in his good night to me encouraged such attentions, and as I pondered the outer door closed upon my irresolu tion. At the stroke of 10 Miss Hollister rose and excused herself. "We break fast at 8, Mr. Ames. I trust the hour does not conflict with your habits." 1 assured her that the hour was wholly agreeable, and she gave me her hand with great dignity. When I turned toward Cecilia she had moved to a seat close by the hearth and was gazing dreamily into the fire, now a bed of glowing coals. "It was odd," I remarked. "You mean the chimney?" "Yes. It was quite unaccountable. I confess that I never knew a chim ney's mood to change so abruptly." She sat silent for several minutes and then she lifted her head and her eyes met mine. "Pardon me, Mr. Ames, but did my aunt ask you here to examine the chimneys? I didn't quite understand. We have been here only a week the weather has been warm, and I believe this fire had not been lighted before today. You will pardon my frankness, but I can't quite understand why my aunt invited you here If you came pro fessionally I thought when you ap peared this afternoon that you were a guest—nothing more—or less." "You had heard nothing of any trou ble with the fireplaces? Then I am in the dark as much as you. As I under stood it, I was called here to examine the flues but. now that 1 think of it she did not say explicitly that her chimneys were behaving badly, though that was, of course, implied. I natu rally assumed that she summoned me here in my professional capacity. I was a stranger to your aunt she would hardly have invited me otherwise. I imagine, however, that your aunt acts a good deal on impulse. Her asking me here may have been only a whim." "Please don't imagine that your com ing has not been agreeable to me," Ce cilia protested. "My aunt is quite capable of inviting a, stranger to fhe house. She met you. I believe, at the Asolando. I hope you understand that it is only because I am in deep trou ble, Mr. Ames, trouble of the gravest nature, that I have ventured to speak to you in this way of my aunt, for whom I have all respect and affec tion." She had never, I was sure, been lovelier than at this moment Her eyes filled, but she lifted her head proudly. Whatever the trouble might be I was sorry for it on her own ac count, and if it involved Hartley Wig gins my sympathy went out to him also. On an impulse I spoke of him. "I was surprised to meet Hartley Wiggins here. He's a dear friend of mine, you know. I thought he had gone to his ranch. He left the Hare and Tortoise very abruptly a few nights ago just after we had dined together. He must be stopping somewhere in the neighborhood." "It's quite possible. And there's an inn, you know. I fancy he drove over from there." "I hadn't thought of that—the Pres cott Arms I suppose you mean." She nodded, but she was clearly not interested in me, and when 1 fouud myself falling dismally to divert her tnouguts to clieerfuler channel* 1 roue THE COURIER-DEMOCRAT, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1913. jrotroaae ner gooa mgnc. The servant who had previously at tended me appeared promptly when I reached my room, bearing a tray, with biscuits and a bottle of ale. He gave me an envelope addressed in a hand I already knew as Miss Octavia's, and I opened and read: The following I either detest or distrust, so kindly refrain from mentioning: them while you are a guest of Hopefield Manor: Automobiles. Mashed potatoes. Whiskers. Chopin's Concerto In E minor (op. 11). Bishop's Coadjutor. Limericks. Cats. OCTAVIA HOLLISTER. Before I slept I threw up my window and stepped out upon a narrow bal cony that afforded a capita! view of the fields and woods to the east. The night was fine, with the sky bright with stars and moon. As my eyes dropped from the horizon to the near landscape I saw a man perched on a knoll in the midst of a cornfield. He stood us rigid as a sentry on duty, or like a forlorn commander counting the spears of his tattered battalions. 1 was not sure that he saw ine, for the balcony was slightly shadowed, but. at any rate, he was sharply outlined to my vision.' His derby 'hat and overcoat gave him an odd appearance as he stood brooding above the corn. Then he vanished sud denly, though as lie retired toward the highway I followed him for some time by the shaking and jerking of the corn stalks. I determined to make every ef fort to see Wiggins the next day and learn the exact status of his affair with Cecilia Hollister. [TO BE CONTINUED.] A SOCIAL EPISODE By REGINALD D. HAVEN A young Englishman visiting Ameri ca appeared at that club which is the exponent of New York's Four Hun dred and presented an introduction card from Legrand Pulsifer, one whose position had been at the apex of the so cial Manhattan pyramid for several generations. The name on the card was Ralph Maltravers, and he who bore it was a good looking youug man with the Anglo-Saxon light hair, blue eyes and rosy complexion. Having got through with the formalities, he lit a pipe and sat down to a newspaper. Half a dozen men, smelling the odor of pipe tobacco, lifted up their heads, made wry faces and scowled. A few minutes later one of the club's lackeys informed the gentleman that only ci gars or cigarettes were permitted in the club. The stranger immediately put out his pipe and apologized on the ground that he was unaware of the rule. Had it not been for this infringement the stranger might have been suffered to remain unnoticed but, having thus attracted attention, the members pres ent began to ask who had introduced a man who didn't know any more than to smoke a pipe in the club. Pulsifer came in and. seeing the Englishman sitting alone, sat down with him, and they had a long chat. When Pulsifer left his friend several men gathered round him and asked who had intro duced that cad to the club. Pulsifer admitted that he had done so himself and explained that he had met Mal travers in England and found him rath er a good fellow in his way. He had therefore chosen to show him some at tention. This being a faint backing, the protesters thereafter took pains to sit with their backs to the newcomer whenever they happened to he in the same room with him. A New York club is no place to make acquaintances, and Mr. Maltravers would uot have been welcome even had he not followed the universal Lon don custom of pipe smoking. But it so happened that several of the gen tlemen present when the Englishman had appeared at the club afterward met him at a social gathering given by a Mrs. Ten Eyck, a sister of Legrand Pulsifer, and there found it easier to show their disapproval of him. Not that they were by any means impolite. Far from it. They were ex cessively polite, while to each other they were extremely unceremonious. 1 other words, they indicated as only a swell can indicate that the stranger was not and could not be one of them. "Who is the fellow. Legrand, any way?" asked one of them. Pulsifer shrugged his shoulders and said: "My dear boy, he did me a favor when I was iu London. What would you have me do when he comes to America? However. 1 wish to say frankly in justice to Mr. Maltravers that he has no desire to be socially re ceived. What I have done for him in that way has not been at his request" All agreed that because a man had done another a favor it was no reason why the recipient should inflict the donor on his friends. There were oth er ways of paying obligations than so cially, and some surprise was express ed that Pulsifer, who was himself a barrier to applicants for admission into the charmed circle should have intro duced this man socially. His putting the Englishman up at his club was quite enough. But Pulsifer said that all he had done in the matter was to admit the stranger to his club and be responsible for him at his sister's. The women, though they showed an icy front to Mr. Maltravers, admired him. One of them to whom he was introduced said that he was one of the most interesting men, considering that he seldom opened his mouth, she had ever met But she was very proud of her conversational powers, and noth ing pleased her better than to llnd a JULIUS THON. LAM6D0N, good" listener. Even the men wtio con sidered Maltravers inadniissable de clared that he never said anything stupid, for lie never said anything at all. One evening when Pulsifer went into the Four Hundred club half a dozen men ran toward him from as many different directions and opened fire on him. "What did you mean by introducing Lord Pennington incog?" "I didn't." "Yes. you did. You introduced him as Ralph Maltravers." "That's his name." "That's pretty thin. You had no business to introduce him as a nobody when you knew very well that any of us would have been glad to show him the attention his position calls for. It's putting New York society in a bad light." "What I did was at his own especial request He came here to look over America. If it had been known that he was a marquis and heir to a duke dom and one of the biggest landed estates in England he would have seen New York society instead of what he did see. our institutions. Besides, he's got the idea that we fellows over here are an aristocracy of wealth, anyway, and wasn't enthusiastic over us. But before he left he expressed great ad miration for the American people. As to his being present at my sister's function, he couldn't very well decline an Invitation there, though I couldn't Induce him to drop the incog." "That man Pulsifer," said one of the disappointed parties, "thinks that be cause his family has always been in society he can do anything." Plucky Birds. Compared with mammals, parental love is stronger in birds. In protecting their nests and young, birds often show courage and strategy, more or less of which is doubtless inherited. Even the so called dangerous mam mals. the hears, mountain lions, wild cats and other mammals that are best able to protect themselves, seldom make a stand against domestic intru sion. Rarely do they attempt to en tice an enemy from their home by strategic means, but at the first warn ing of danger they either hide or watch the intruder from a safe distance. But there are very few species of birds that do not attempt to defend their homes in some way, and even the most timid evince more intelligence than most mammals.—Collier's. In Up to His Ears. A small negro boy stood by the side of the road near a river, standing on one foot, holding his head on one side and pounding the top of it with his hand. "What's the matter?" inquired the traveler. "Watah in mah eah," grinned the boy. "Well, well. I declare!" said the trav eling man. "To think I'd forgotten! I've done the selfsame thing many a time when I've been in swimming and got water in my ears." "I ain't been er swimmin'," the boy denied. "How'd yon get water in your ear, then':" "Ah been eatin' water mil lions." was the reply—Louisville Times. Profanity and Thought. Just us soon ns a man starts to swearing he stops thinking. Didn't you ever notice it? Well, just notice and see. We don't endeavor to explain it, but It is so. There must be some psychological explanation for it—as, for instance, just at that moment the devil gets into the brain and scrambles it up so it cannot think. It is just likej him to do it, for his greatest hold in this world is murky and disheveled thinking.—Ohio State Journal. Where a Trunk Is a Box. Don't look for the ticket agent at an English railway station, so that you can buy a ticket to your destinatiou. Look for the "booking agent" and "book" to the point and. keeping in mind that what you really want is the baggage car, hunt up the "luggage ran," and. having found it remember that if your trunk is in it it is in it as a "box," not as a trunk.—New York Post Putting it to Good Use. "I s'pose you've been very careful about th' books you let your children have." "Oh, yes, indeed! There's our Jim— we Intend him for a statesman. Jim was raised on the Congressional Rec ord." "The Congressional Record! Well, well!" "Yes we let him sit on it for years so he'd be raised enough to eat from the table."—Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Song Bird. They say the birds are timid. Great heavens, to be so small and lovely in a world of hawks and snares and yet dare to sing as if the gods were good! In all the wide creation there ia noth ing braver than the heart of a 1108406 hire General Blacksmith and Expert Machinist. Engine and Boiler Work a Specialty Carry i^ull Line of Thresher Supplies, Belting, Etc. Threshermen Should See Me Before Buying an Outfit. I Have the Best Horseshoer in the State. PAGE SEAEN N. DAKOTA Civic Education by Leaflets. An excellent plan of arousing interest In civic matters among the member ship of commercial organizations and throughout the community generally has been inaugurated by the Bangor chamber of commerce of Bangor, Me. This consists in the issuing of occa sional leaflets of a size that will fit in an ordinary small envelope and distrib uting these through the mails and oth erwise. For regular action of the bowels easy natural movement, relief of constipation try Doan's Regulets. 25c at all drug stores. Idiot Brains. Tiie brain of an idiot contains much less phosphorus than that of a person of average mental power. Impure blood runs you down—makes you an easy victim for disease. For pure blood and sound digestion—Bur dock Blood Bitters. At all drug stores. ine Anemone. Anemone means "wind flower." The anemone is so delicately poised that it trembles iu the slightest breeze. "Doan's Ointment cured me of eczema that had annoyed me for a long time. The result was lasting."—Hon. S. W. Matthews, Commissioner, Labor Statis tics, Augusta, Me. Sarcastic. Wife—Any fashions in that paper.. Jack? Jack (who has just settled dressmaker's bill)—Yes, but they*re«aol tise to you, dear. It's yesterday's pa per.—London Opinion. Don't You Believe It. Some say that chronic constipation cannot be cured. Don't you believe it. Chamberlain's Tablets have cured others —why not you? Give them a trial. They cost only a quarter. For sale by all dealers. The Poor Girl. "The woman I marry," he said, "must be glad to take me with all my faults." "Oh, she will be," the girl replied. "She'll be so desperate that fanlts won't cut any figure with her." Methodist Minister Recommends Chamber lain's Cough Remedy Rev James A. Lewis, Milaca, Minn., writes: "Chamberlain's Cough Remedy has been a needed and welcome guest in our home for a number of years. I high ly recommend it to my fellows as being a medicine worthy of trial in casesjof colds, coughs and croup." Give Cham berlain's Cough Remedy a trial and we are confident you will find it very effectu al and continue to use it as occasion re quires for years to come, as many others have done. For sale by all !i-alei.. Opportunity. 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It has been de signed after lon» study to overcomo the cause of falling hair as discovered by Prof. Unna, Dr. Sabouraud and other scalp and hair specialists, and we believe it will do more than any thing else can to remove dandruff and stop falling hair and if any human agency can promote a new growth of hair it will do that, too. We want you to make us prove it. W« will pay for a month's treatment of Rexall "93" Hair Tonio used dur ing a trial, if you will use it ac cording to directions, and are not thoroughly satisfied. When we will do this, you surely should not hesitate to at least try it. Start the treatment today. You* mere request will get your money back if you want it. Two sizes: 50o and $1.00. You can luy Rexall "93" Hair Tonio In this community only at our store: H. E. CLOSE & CO. l.anKil'in The Tfaxo&E Store IUUII North Dakota There is a Rexall Store in nearly every town and city in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. 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