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OR, THE HOUSE IN THE RUE BARBETTE CHAPTER 11.--(Cont'd) "Did your brother call there as usual on Monday afternoon' said Brett. . "Yes ; he came straight here from _ © .Albert Gate, and had tea with uncle and myself. He sat in the very chair and in' the very position ou now occupy. 1 can remember im saying: 'By Jove! the hen's egg' --that is what he used to call the big diamond--'is turning out in fine style." He even discussed the possibility of bringing us to see the collection when it was. finished and before it left this country." "Did your brother say why the diamonds were brought to this country in the first instance 1' "Yes the Sultan and his advis- ers seemed to think the work of cutting them could be performed more safely and expeditiously here than anywhere else. Fven the Turk has a high regard for the manner in which law and order are main- tained in Britain. Yet the sequel has shown, that the diamonds and their guardians were perhaps ia greater danger there than they would have been in Constanti- nople."' "Was that the only reason?' said Brett, who had apparently made up his mind with the refer- ence to the pattern of the carpet and was now gazing into the bright fire which danced merrily in the grate, for the day though fine was chilly. The girl wrinkled her brows in thought before she answered: 'I think I do remember Jack saying that he believed there was some State business mixed up in the af- fair, but I am quite sure he did not kuow the exact facts himself." "Can you recollect any of the special precautions taken to pro- tect the gems? Your brother may have mentioned some details in conversation, you know." "Oh, TI think I know all about them. In the first instance, the house at Albert Gate had previous- ly been tenanted by a rich banker, and it was well defended by all or- dinary means against the attacks of ordinary burglars. But, in addi- tion to this, before the diamonds left the safe at the Bank of Eng- land, the building was practically torn to pieces inside by workmen acting under the direction of the Commissioner of Police. It was absolutely impossible for any one to enter except through the front door, unless they flew out of the second story window. Servants and workmen, like everybody else, had to use this door alone, as the windows and doors in the basement had all been bricked up. Inside the entrance hall there were always twelve policemen, and an inspector in charge. "Every one who left the house was searched by the inspector on duty, and Jack used to say that he was very glad he invariably iu- sisted upon this examination, al- though the police were at first dis- inclined to meet his wishes in the matter, he being, so to speak, their direct superior for the time. Be- neath the entrance-hall were rooms occupied by several Turkish and other servants. Mehemet Ali him- self, in the presence of his secre- taries, used to open the door lead- ing to the suite of apartments in which the diamond cutters worked and two of the Turkish gentlemen would remain there all day until the men left in the evening. The Envoy and both secretaries used to meet Jack when he visited the lace, and for the last three weeks ¢ had nothing to do but see the diamonds, count them, .drink an excellent cup of coffee, and smoke a wonderful cigarette, made of some special Turkish tobacco, cul- tivated and prepared only for the Imperial household." ""Ah!" sighed Brett, with a note of almost unconscious envy in his voice.. He knew exactly what that coffee and those cigarettes would be like. "I beg your pardon." he went on, perceiving that Miss Tal- bot did not understand his excla- _ mation. "Will you tell me as near- ly as you can the occurrences of | Monday evening?" loon "They were simple enough," said irl. brother dined at "Did your broth house immediately?' ask '"That instant. stairs, put on his overcoat and hat, and got into a cab with the messen-' ger who brought the note." . © "Do you know who this messen- ger was?' FA ""One of the policemen on duty in the holisé itself." z A slight pause ensued, 'and Brett was about to take his departure, having no further questions to ask at the moment, when some one was heard hastily ascending the stairs, talking to a companion as he ad- vanced, "This is my uncle," exclaimed Miss Talbot, rising to go to the door. Before she could reach it an elderly gentleman entered, bear- ing upon him all those distinguished tokens that stamp a man as a re- tired major general. He exclaim- ed impetuously-- "I have brought a gentleman from Scotland Yard, my dear." Then he caught sight of Brett. "Who is this?" Edith was about to explain, when another man entered--a strongly- built, bullet-headed man, with keen eyes and firm mouth, and a curious suggestion in his appear- ance of having combined pugilism with process-serving as a profes- sional means of existence. His face extended into a smile when -his eyes fell upon the barrister. "Ah, Mr. Brett," he cried. "Now we have something to do that is up to your mark. You are on the spot first, as usual, but this time I can honestly say that I am glad to see you." } Sir Hubert Fitzjames glanced in astonishment from his niece to phe barrister. He could find nothing better to say than-- 'This, my dear, is Mr. Winter, of Scotland Yard." CHAPTER III. Brett promptly cleared the situa- tion by explaining to Sir Hubert, in a few words, the reason for his unexpected presence, and when the Major-General learnt the name of the distinguished personage who had sent Lord Fairholme to the bar- rister he expressed a ready acqui- escence in the desire to utilize lis srvices. Nor was the effect of such || a notable introduction lost on Mr. Winter, whose earlier knowledge of the barrister"s remarkanle achievements in unravelliag the tangle skein of cfiminal investiga- tion was now supplemecated by a certain amount of awe for a man who commanded the :onfidence .f his Majesty's Government. "Well," said Sir Habert Titz- james, with the brisk apimation of one accustomed to utter commands that must be instantly vbeyed, "we will now proceed to business." For a moment no one spoke. The Scotland Yard detective evideatly wished his distinguished colleagne to take the lead. No sooner Jid Brett perceive this than he rose, bowed politely to Miss Talbet and her uncle, and said-- : 'The first thing to do is to trace the whereabouts of Mr. Talbot and this should be a comparatively easy task. The other featires of this strange occurrence impress me as highly complex, but it is far too early a stage in the investigation to permit any definite opinion being expressed at this moment."' Every one seemed to be surpris- ed by Brett's attitude. ' '"Where are you going te, sir?' asked Mr. Winter. "That depends largely upon you," was the smiling reply. "If you come with me we will go direct to Albert Gate, but if you decide to 'prosecute further inquiries here, I will await your arrival at my flat." 'That is as much as saying that there are no facts worth inquiring into to be learnt here?' "Exactly so. Miss Talbot has told me all that is material to our purpose. Her brother was unex- pectedly sent for-after dinner on Monday night, and left the house hurriedly." without affording = any clue to his subsequent proceedings heyond that contained in a brief as sent to him: by Mehemet Ali Pasha. Indeed, it was impossible for him to afford any explanation, as he himself was quite unprepared, for the summons, Meanwhi He went down- Plies astonished the professional twinkle might have warned the other of a poseible pitfall. the detective. I silly about my theory of the crime, I should -like to know?" are much older. a little while, I beg you. be right, aud I may be quite wrong, but I think there is much beneath the surface in the investigations we are now pursuing. My advice to you is to drop all preconceived theories, stance, however remote it may ap- pear in its bearing upon events, and in any case not to act precipi tately. Whatever you do don't ar- rest anybody." mollified by Brett's 'half a dozen people may be ar- rested at any moment." canna. A' my spare shullin's T gie tae my auld mither." yer mither onything, a a Tr the conv in his ive, whilst it care sage of hope to the o perienced a strong sen dence in this re ed-looking man.' ped for-pr ward eagerly and held 'out his) hand, 'saying-- [ s He step p "Then we will not detain you, Mr. 'Brett. Act as yeu think fit in all things, but do let us have all possible information at the earli- est moment." Brett and Mr. Winter quitted the house; they hailed a hansom and drove rapidly towards Albert Gate. "Do you know,"". said the man from Scotland Yard, breaking in on his companion's reverie, "when- ever I happen to meet you, Mr. Brett, in the course of an inquiry, I always start by being vefy angry with you." There was an amused ' 'Why Ii ' eyes, which in Brett's 'Because you treat me as if I were a precocious youth. You listen to my theories with a sort of pity- ing indulgence, yet I have the re- putation of¢ being one of the best men in Scotland Yard, or I should not have been put on this job. And I am older than you, too." "I may sureh_ pity you," said Brett, "even if I too much." on't indulg: you "There you go again,'"' snapped 'Now, what is there "You shall know, and hefore you Bear with me for You may to note every circum- "'But,"' said the other, somewhat earnestness, "Pray tell me how' . "Descriptions of the stolen dia- monds and of the suspected persons are in every police office in Great. Britain and in most Continental centres by this time. by all steamers are most carefully scrutinized. and diamond merchant country is on the lookout, and, gen- erally speaking, it will be odd if somebody does mot drop into the net before many hours have pass- Passengers Every pawnbroker in the ' 14 will, indeed," murmured Brett; "and no doubt the somebody in question will experience a cer- tain amount of inconvenience be- fore he proves to you that he had nothing whatever to do with the matter. Winter, but ponder seriously -oyer this question: Do you really think that the intelligence which planned and successfully carried through an operation will be trapped by plain clothes constables watching the gangways of steamships, or broker who has ever lent half the value of a pledge?' Now, don't answer me, of such magnitude by any pawn- Almost impatiently the barrister waived the subject out of the han- som, and the detective had sense enough to leave him alone during the Yew remaining minutes before the vehicle pulled up near the Al- bert Gate mansion. (To be continued.) FA, SCOTCH LOGIC. Donald (who is seeing his: more drink ye a safe jouraey, Wullie (feigning regret)--Man, Donald--That's strange. Becaus told me ye never gie he Waullie--Weel, auld wither on chance dag ye thi b prosperous cousin off by the train: --Ye micht like tae leave me a bob or two tae Waullie. alt d : Calgary, Avg: 27th, 1911 My Dear Dad:-- = Since I wrote you from Winnipeg I haye left the prairies behind me, To- day, about forty-five miles before resch- ing Calgary, I had my first sight of the Rocky Mountains, They lay low along the Western horizon; like clouds,. The only way you could tell they were not clouds was because they "did tet change their shape. On the prairies I saw In- dians, looking very civilized with their Bain waggons, cowboys, and mounted | policemen, but I must tell everything in its turn. Before I'go any further, I want to ask you to be sure to send me the newspaper from home. I feel "just like Bill Dodson, whom I met in Winnipeg. He was telling me that whenever he got ing an old friend, because it told him all about the folks he knew. His father gave him a subscription for a year as a Christmas present, and he said he couldn't have had anything that would] have pleased him more. If I decide to stay out here, and anybody at home should want to give me something for Christmas, they might think about this. Don't wait till Christmas to send me the paper, though, please. : 8ay, Dad, if you saw the threshing machines that were round the railroad sidings at Winnipeg waiting to be ship- ped to the prairies you wouldn't" wonder that people in the west boom their coun- try. These machines, loaded on Rat cars, or standing like batteries of guns wait. ing to be shipped, reminded me. of, the South African war pictures bf shipping guns and ammunition to 'the front. There is just as much hustlg Bore; -At the sta: tion,..all along the line, are more ma- chines waiting to be unloaded. and empty box dars are being collected on -the id ings to move the crop' out; ' Everybody says that it is to be a bumper orop this year, and bigger than ever before. What you can see from the traii. ogrtainly looks good. They have got cutting well under way now. ¥ ' It's funny the way the towns ott west advertise. You frequently come to towns where sign boards have been. erected at the stations, telling of the advantages the towns have 'to 'dffer settlers. Back at Port Arthur they had an attractive little one-story brick building, what is called' a kiosk, which is a bureau of in- formation, At Fort William there was a big sign: "Fort William the Pulse of the Dominion: the bulk of East and West traffic passes through this town." There is another big sign there, but there is 80 much crowded on it, and the print was so small that I could not .read it from the train. Indian Head is another place that advertises in this way. On one side of the track is the sign: '""In- dian Head, Saskatchewan's Beauty Spot. Good land $20 to $50 per acre." Across the track on the other side is a sign which reads. "Dominion" Government forest nursery, 480 acres, one mile from town: Distributed annually, 3,000,000 trees free to settlers. Visitors can inspect at any time." You would think that if these towns wanted to advertise they would do it in: Ontario papers. Of course, thousands of people read the signs by the railroad track, but by the time they see them they have tickets to their des- tination and are not likely to stop off. Out from Winnipeg the country is 'as straight as the edge of a. ruler. Tt sur. prised me to find out that between Winni- peg and Portage La Prairie, which is fifty-six miles west, there is 'a rise cf 100 feet. Portage has a population of 7,000, and is quite a town, and one of Manitoba's principal 'grain' markets. There are elevators there, of course, and from there west for a long way "there are elevators at all the stations. There wil at ea a paper from home, it was just like meets |. flat as a table, and the horizon is as 1 in ! goin; By-bye for the present. Your loving son, THE TREASULY. : rad} It wag tHe House they loved to call The Terle of the Living God. Fish Buf on 'that day they little knew fat He who owned the house © was there: 'Of Him they. did' not seek a view : 'To Him they breathed no word of prayer, i Against the treasury pat He Who is of heaven and carth the _ King: - : His all-discerning eye could see All those who came their gifts to bring. - And He whose - hand the <eil up- lifts. That He may hidden things un- } -, 0 ; - . Perceived amongst their varied |! , gifts ~~ The worthless dross and purest gold. _ RA While some brought gifts. with boastful air, As if they gloried in their rights, A widow, 'with a silent prayer, Brought all 'she had--two single nites. . Then to His own said Christ the Lord, ' "Their gifts which seem so great are small; They gave what they could well af- ford; ~ But this poor all." widow gave her Beside the treasury to-day There sits the Lond of earth and heaven; ~ To those who do His word obey The riches of His grace is given. He honors those who for His sake Unto each urgent call attend : He knows the sacrifice those make Who seek His kingdom to extend. May love enrich the gifts we give And cleanse our gold from sordid dross: . | The life of service may;we live And always glory in the cross. . T. WATSON. Iona Station, Ont., 1911. --_---- ee WHEN BRITANNIA RULED. An Episode on Board' a Steamer Bound for South Africa. Adancy-dress ball in celebration of "crossing the line," given on board a steamer bound for South Africa, is described by Lady Elizabeth But- er in. her book, 'From Sketch: Book and Diary." On this occasion the passengers of the second-class cabin were invited to join those of the first on the gaily decérated promenade-deck,- Before quoting directly from her diary 'the account of the Satastcblie, * the author in- sérts some words of explanation, - . scarlet crest, then & gide in hand with Shall. I ever now ¥ 'bulwarks and lose myse 8 enjoyed life. | bad effects from the indulgence, but in course of time fond that various troubles were coming upon me. and began to use Postum. days I found myself greatly improv- ed, my nerves steady, my head clear, my kidneys wor ing better and better, my heart's action rap- idly improving, my appetite im- proved and the ability to eat a hearty. meal without subsequent suffering restored to me. condition remains. % 'Leaving off coffee and using Postum did this, 'with no help from, drugs. as I abandoned the use medicines when I began to use th food drink," Name given hy Pos- tum Co., Battle Creek, Mich. was sitting with L others Fhe Seto Ro Fi enjoying the sight of all kinds of extempore co pearing on the deck from be mustering prior" to, set to; '| band playing a spirited there slowly saloon stdirway, as r the waves she rules--Britannia emerged fr. rom. if rising "First a high brass hielmet, with nt n the other, and the: of the union jack draping her commandin| form. She step ; ed on deck. '" 'I say, said a voice, 'this is the success of the evening. 'Who it it '" 'Who is it ¥' you heard on every b i! y cook,' I faintly answer 'The last speaker knew hoy Africa, and all the possibili the future might have spok face, to judge by the choking] ter that caused h precipitate withdrawal. Each time she ventu ed back within sight of face, the fitseized her again her ny smiléle @ "Later on I saw Britann ng in a small set of Lancers the Marchieness ) get her harnessed "I went back to hang over the among the tars." ' ; -------- FOUND RIGHT -PATH. After a False Start.. "In 1880 I began to drink coffee. "At that time I was healthy and, At first I noticed no "Palpitation of the heart took. unto itself sick and nervous head- aches, kidney troubles followed and eventually my stomach -became so deranged that even a light' meal caused me serious distress. "Our physician's = prescriptions failed to help me and then I dosed myself with patent medicines till T was thoroughly disgusted and hope: lees. "Finally I began to suspect that coffee was the cause of my troubles. 1 experimented by leaving it off, . except for one small cup at break This helped some, but did not altogether relieve my distress It satisfied me, however, that T war r) on the right track. © ; "So I gave up coffee" alto ther n ten And this oF "There's a reason," and i plained in the little book Road to Wel t 1% Ever read the {Here I must interpolate the state- | 32pc%