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THE MYSTEBIODS KEY on, PLANNING FOR THE FUrUKE. OHAPTEll XIX. Why Adam Brewater had neglect- ed to carrjr out his purpose to de- stroy this diary, or how it came to be hidden in that secret vault, will never be known ; but as Gerald ekxsed the book he gave a long b'reath of thaukfulnesa that it had not ben destroyed, for it proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, all that he wiehed to know, and alao cleared the man wlionj ho had rev- erenced as an employer from th« suspicion of all dishonor in connec- tion with his young wife, and made him proud to claim him as father. He passed the diary to Mr- Lyt- tleton, and desired him to read it. ' The man devoured it eagerly, and -turned triumphantly to Gerald the jnoment he finished it, observing : "I felt aure enough of the case 'before, but this just clinches every- "thing. No one will now presume -to question the tuct of your being , Adam Brewster's s-an and legitimate beir, and that rogue is surely doom- ed to a felon's cell for the next twenty years." "I think you are right, but " 'â- But what?" "I am really sorry for those poor dupes of his." "Well, they should have known better than to become aocomplices in crime, espe<^ially the old one," said Mr. Lyttleton shortly. "But according to Ellen Carson's story, thoy were terribly poor, and it was but natural that they should jump at a chance to better their condition. I cannot bear to fight against women," Gerald concluded, looking greatly disturbed. "Nor I," said his friend; "and â€"well, we wi." see if we can man- age to let them off comparatively easy." Meanwhile, John Hubbard was straining every nerve to meet the coming trial with a bold front. He had employed an e-tpert criminal lawyer to asuist him in preparing !or his defense. He fondly believ- ed that it would be a difficult task io prove the charge of forgery against him, for he was confident that he was the only one living who knew that Adam Brewster had been married previous to his un- loa with Miss Porter. He had dis- covered the fact by chance while looking over the records in Now Haven when he was working up an- lothor case, and then, observing how easily the name .Man Brown, whose widow wa.s his tenant, could be changed to Adam Brewster, and this latter to Adam Bronstern, he had conceived the cunning plot which has already been explained. It had never once occurred to bim that Miriam Harris might have had a child. Of course, he was wholly in the dark regarding her history ; but Adam Brewster never having referred to the fact of a previous raarriagCj and having had ro children of his own, he took it for granted that no such ob- stacle would ever rise up to con- front him. Thus he had not the slightest su-'picion of the crushing developments awaiting him, and was even hopeful at times of com- ing out victorious in the end- Lady Bromley and .Mlison re- turned to New York during the third week in January. Twice pre- vious to this Gerald had been ou to Boston to spend Sunday with his betrothed, each time finding her greatly improved. Her cheeks had taken on a healthful hue, while, as to manner and temperatment, she was the bright, breezy Allison of old, greatly to the delight of all her friends. During one of these visits, Alli- son had brought forth the mysteri- ous box which contained the proofs that she was not the child of Mr. and Mrs. Brewster, and Gerald had ©xatuined them with a great deal of interest. "I wish I might be so fortunate in discovering my origin as you Lavs been, tJorald," she remark- ed during this investigation, with a wistful look at the little note which she believed her own mother had written. "I wish you might, dear," he tenderly responded. "I would Jive a great deal to have that mys- ery solved. But you were very fortunate not to have lost these relics dunag the railroad acci- dent," ne added, with sudden thought. "How were they preserv- ed i" "That was a very simple mat- ter," Allison replied. "My check was in my purse, and when Mr. Lyman decided to bring me here be simply gave it up and secured my portmanteau, which was in the baggage-car, it being one of the coaches that was uninjured. But even if this box and its content.s had been destroyed, T still have a key a peculiar ornamevit â€" by which I niight be identified, it there is inybody living to whom I belong." As-.tho concliidcd she unclasped a I'hniu fro..i her neck and laid it in her lover's hand. To it was at- tached the golden key which has been previiiusly described- Gerald regarded it curiously. "It is a very peculiar ornament," he said. "I wonder if ii, was made to unlock anythi.ig.'" "I wish it would unlock the mys- tery of my bjrth," sighed the girl wearily. "My darling, we will not allow it to mar our future in the least," said her companion, as he refasten- ed tlie chain about her neck; "and we will start with no mystery in our lives. Everj-thing shall be open and above-board in connection with our marriage, and perfect confi- dence in each other shall be our motto. I think it will be best never to speak of this secret, even be- tween ourselves ; it makes you rest- leas and unhappy to refer to it, and so the fewer who know it the better. It is, of course, known in a general way that you are not Mr. Brewster's own daughter ; and there we will let the matter rest. Have Mr. and Mrs. Lyman seen these things J' Gerald inquired, glancing at the contents of the box. "No, I think not. The box was l-ocked and the key was in my purse and Mrs. Lyman has never refer- red to it in any way. I sometimes wonder if she did not examine it with the hope of discovering my identity, but presume she thought i It held only girlish finery, which I ' did not need and she would not disturb." "W'"ll, put it away, dear, and we will not think of it any more- I do not like to see this shadow on your face," and bending, he soft- ly touched his lips to her forehead aa he closed and relocktd the box and put it one side- The subject was not referred to again during his visit, nor when sh i rejoined him in New York, after I which the time slipped quickly by ! until the dawn of the fifth of Feb- I ruary, which was the day set for the second hearing of the Brew- ster case. CHAPTER XX. John Hubbard, the arch -plotter and forger, was destined to receive a number of shocks during the few da* 8 which it took to conduct the trial of the groat case of Brewster vs. Brewster. The first resulted from the call ing of the case in that form. When the sonorous voice of the crier rang through the court-room with that announcement, the man gave a great start, and looked around at Mr. Lyttleton amazed. Allison was dead, he believed, and even had she been living, she had no real claim to the name of Brewster. Who, then, was this new claimant of whom he had never beard until this moment? A few whispered sentences between him- self and hie counsel resulted in the rising of the latter to inquire the meaning of that proclamation. "It is all correct, your honor." quietly replied Mr. Lyttleton. "I am conducting this casA on behalf of the nearest of kin, who is by name, as well as by birth, a Brew- ster." "Prottuce the plaintiff, then," sententiously demanded the coun- sel for the defense. "Certainly, your honor," rcturn- e<' Mr. Lyttleton, with contrasting courtesy, "and I take great plea- sure in introducing my client, Mr. Gerald Winchester Brewster, who is the son and heir of the late .Ad- am Brewster." He motiocsd to Qcrahl who arose and calmly confronted his old en- emy â€" the man who had once sworn that he would crush him as he had crushed the delicate rosebud. John Hubbard sprang to his feet, white as a sheet. "It is a lie!" he shouted. "The boy is the rankest impostor ! I've known him for years. He is only a beggar whom the late banker res- cued from the gutter!" "Order! Silence!" was the au- thoritative cry which here inter- rupted the excited man and re- j minded him that he was liable to punishment for contempt of court; whereupon, trembling with escitc- ment and passion, he sank back up- on his seat, but glaring bitterest hatred at his youthful rival. "We will proceed to prove our position," Mr. Lyttleton, who was still standing, observed, "and will submit these papers to the court for examination after I shall have read them alov.d." He then read, for the benefit of his hearers, the certificate proving the marriage of .\dam Brewster to Miriam Harris, also the baptism.al certificate of Gerald Winchester Brewster, who was the only child of the above-mentioned couple. "It will be fo«nd latar on." he continued, as he surrendered thee two importanr bits of paper for ex- amination, "that the date upon the T marriage certificate is identical with I that of a similar document which once before figured in court to prove the mythical marriage of the said Adam Brewster to one Louisa Simpson." John Hubbard was now pale aa death. A long wrangle and much evi- dence followed these statements, but with the two certificates. Miss Winchester's letter, the relation of the facts regarding the erection of the monument over the grave of Miriam Harris Brewster, together with extracts from the diary which had recently been exhumed from the secret vaalt in the bank, it was VI ry clearly shown that Gerald's claim to the Brewster name aid for- tune was a very strong one. There was a sharp cont;'-t over the admission of these documents as evidence, John Hubbard's counsel claiming that his client had been arraigned upon the charge of for- gerv, while the evidence thus far submitted had no bearing whatever upon that imputation. "It has everything to do with it, your honor," Mr. Lyttleton assert- ed, "for the very authenticity of these documents proves beyond question the forgery of those which the prisoner produced in a previous court in order to gain, for the pre- tended Mrs. Adam Brewster, fraud- ulent possession of the banker's es- tate." This view of the matter was de- cided to be reasonable, and the do- cuments were accordingly atliuitted. Mr. Lyttleton then observed that even had the court seen fit to dis- card them, there yet remai.ned abundant proof of the charge pre- ferred, and which he would now produce, whereupon Mr. Thomas Plum, the chirographic expert, was called as a witness. John Hubbard gritted his teeth savagely aa the funny little man trotted smartly up to the witness- stano, for he had dreaded his ap- pearance more than that of any other person. Mr. Plum had provided ihimsclf with a blackboard for the purpose of giving an object-lesson along with his testimony. He was duly sworn, and upon being asked if he regarded the record of the marri- age of Adam Brewster to Louis'a Simpson a forgf ry, replied emphati- cally : "I do, and believe that I can prove it so to the satisfaction of the jury." Ho then wrote upjn his black- board the record of two events which had been copied from the New Haven register of marriages, both having been entered under the saine date in the year 13 â€" . ' 'The first of th'jse reads : 'Alden Bronstern to Miriam Harris,' '' he said, writing the name as he talked. "Now, the first name, if it had nev- er been tampered with, should read 'Adam Brewster.' Observe, as I have written the 'Adam' there is a little space between the capital and the first small letter, the clerk who was in office at that time having had a habit of so separating all his capitals, as can be seen by any one who chooses to examine the regis- ter. Now, between the 'A' and 'd' and 'l' was inserted, so ; the 'a' was deftly changed to an 'e,' the last curve of the 'ra' very care- fully erased, thus producing the narre 'Alden.' The name 'Brew- ster" was cleverly manipulated in the same way. The 'e' was made into an 'o,' the 'w' into 'n.' and another 'n' added after the 'r.' Thus you have 'Bronstern.' In the second record the name of the gen- tleman should read 'Alan .Brown.' In this case the base of the letter 'd' was very easily inserted between the 'A' and 'I.' an extra curve ad- ded to the 'u,' thus making a very perfect 'Adam.' The 'o' in 'Brown' was changed to 'e,' tho two curves of the 'n' made to represent 's' and 't,' thus: 'e' was alfi.xed to these, and we have 'Brewster' complete. It was all very cleverly done, your honor, and by an expert at such work. Thus not one in a thousand looking at these names would be able to detect the fraud. 1 have shown you on this board how it was done, but the record-book is here, a powerful glass also, and I can easily point out certain unmistak- able signs to prove wlmt I have as- sertetl. Adam Brewster married a woman by the name of Miriam Har- ris. Louise Simpson married a man by the name of .Man Brown, and if she will produce the ori- ginal ccrtiticatc of her marriage, I will guarantee that I can show you the same changes upon that which I have already explained in connection with the records.' "We will have that shown later, if you please, Mr. Plum," Mr. Lyt- tleton interposed. "Just now I would like you to tell the court what you have discovered in con- coction with this document'' As he concluded he passed a leg- al-looking ins-truireiit up to the gen- tleman. "This," <il)servpd Mr. Plum, as he tot^k and began to unfold it, "is what has been claimed to be the last will and testament of the late .Ad- am Brewster. It was dated, signed, and witnessed on the fourth of .Vpril 18â€". more than eleven years ago." The witness was here interrupted by the tibjection that the will of the late banker couUl ha\e no possible tiearing upon I !ii' charge au;ainst the defendant. "It has juat tlii^ bearing upon the charge, ;.<onr honor." Gerald's counsel cal'i.'- < Kscrved. I'The McKendry's Fall and Winter Style Book •^ . . FREE The daintiest hats you ever saw, the very latest styles, and at prices which cannot be equalled anywhere in Canada. At great expense lliij book has been prepared for our out-of-town ciu- tomers. It contains lovely hall-toie drawings of the most approved Hats to be worn during the faQ and winter season, suitable for any age from tot to matron. Thousand* of ladies in every part of Canada have proven tiie excellence of cur work, and at llic same time have made a most sub- stantial saving in price. The list of customers is growing each season. You should be on the 11^ McKendrys "The Home of the Hat Beautiful" Write to-day as the demand for our Dooli" is very great. 'Style â- /' M*^Kendry*s Limited 226 - 223 Yonge Street Toronto, Ont plaintifiE asserts that the same hand which forged the changes in the cer- tificate already considered also forged a portion of tho document now in the hands of the witness." A vigorous squabble, legally speaking, ensued, but all protests were finally o>-eiruled, and Mr. Plum was allowed to proceed. 'This document, as I have already stated, was signed, and witnessed on the fou '^h of April, 13 â€" ," he repeated impressively ; "but I claim that the whole of the first page of the instrument was written at a much later date â€" just how long af- terward I am unable to say. Nei- ther have I any means of knowing what the original subject-matter of this portion of the will may have been â€" the present reading may be an exact copy of what was writ- ten at Mr. Brewster's dictation over eleven years ago. The proof of what 1 have stated lies in the ink, which shows traces of au ingredient which was never employtid in any ink until 18 â€" , or some «!i.x years after this will was signed and witnessed. The ingredient is called eosin. It is usually employed in the making of red inks, and I have never before detected its presence in any black ink. I recognize it by a faint tinge of bronze which appears in the writ- ing upon this page, and to me it proves one of two theories â€" first, that the writer sometimes used red ink containing eoaiu in his fountain- pen, or that at the time of this writing he kept his black ink in a bottle that had once contained red ink, and was not cleansed previ- ous tr being used for the former. I will add that this same bronze tinge appears in certain letters of the names Alden Bronstern and Adam Brewster on the New Haven register. It can also be shown in certain books which belonged to the late banker, where variouii figures were changed to represent others, and by means of which an attempt was made about a year ago to niin the character of the present plain- tiff." The pretended Mrs. Brewster was then commanded to produce the cer- tificate of hor marriage, also the old letters which she claimed had been written to her by Adam Brewster previous to their union. They were reluctantly submitted to tlic expert who easily detected the changes up- i on the former, and then asserted that the date of the year had been changed upon every letter, to maks i it api>ear that they had written | much earlier than was the tact. Mr. j Plum said ho firmly believed that tho letters had been written to the second Mrs. Brewster, and that John Hubbard, having unearthed them during his examination of Mr. Brewster's effects, had cunningly employed them as evidence for his client during the previous trial. (To be continued.) 2,895 miles. Before the close of the year 248 additional miles were com- pleted and utilized â€" a total of 3,- 143 miles. The Caiadian Northern Ontario Kailway owns a line â€" Toronto to Sudbury â€" which, with extensions and branches, totals 310 miles. The Canadian Northern Quebec Rail- way â€" an amalgamation of several 1 smaller roads in the Province of ; Quebec â€" has a total mileage of 350. Other railroad companies are own- c-a in the Provinces of New Bruns- wick and Nova Scotia. To the fig- ures mentioned, will be added, this year, the length of the various ex- tensions and branches of 1909 con- struction. How have these men been able to construct a big railway system, and that without issuing any stock to the public ( In the first place they havo shown great shrewdness ia choosing locations, and it is their boast, that all their lines have paid from the start. In the second place, chiefly through the shrewd and economical | borrowing, have Mackenzie and \ Mann been able to construct this | Lig railway system. Both tho Do minion Government and Provinci- al Government of Manitoba ha^e { lent their aid to the Bail way by i guaranteeing the bonds. In tno later days the Province of Outa.-io has similarly treated lines with'n ; its boundaries, as have also ihe Provinces of SaskaU-hew;ui an 1 Alberta. Mo.st of tho financing has b!»eD done in Great Britain, that ceatre to which all the world turns for fin- ancial aid ; but Canadians have done much for this and other Cana- dian enterprises. The Canadian Northern Railway consolidated mortgage bonds, guaranteed by tji« Province of Manitoba, are found among the assets of many Insur- ance Companies and other finauc: a' institutions. Of the $1(),000,(jOi) Canadian Northern Equipment ob ligations which iiave been issued. Canadians have taken tho large proportion and tho United States investors have been generous in their assistance towards the finaa • ing of these loans. Tho credit <•* the tan-'idian Northern Railway in the world's market, stands iiigii ♦• 4 : Aiiouf t!i8 Farm i THE C.VN.VDIAN NOltTHERN. Bid3 Fair to Shortly Become a rranscoutiucntal Line. One of the most interesting of the romances in Canadian develop- ment is the story of the modest be- ginning and rapid growth of the Canadian Northern Railway. In 1&S« Messrs. Mackenzie and Mann formed a partnership as railway contractors and nine years later they took their first steps towards tho Canadian Northern. Starting in the heart of Mani- toba, with i,ts wheat bearing lines radiating from the City of Winni- peg, the Canadian Northern has grown to a railroad with over 3.000 miles of track in the territory to the West of the Great Lakes, and there are other integral parts already constructed and operating in On- tario and the Provinces of the East. Viewing a map of the road with Ibe lines already constructed, with the extensions under the contrac- tors' hands, and with the proposed : new lines, the Canadian Northern bids fair to shortly become a trans- continental line sending its traffic from tidewater to tidewater. Many can recall when thero was no Canadian Northern Railway â€" when the name of Mackenzie and Maon had no grea* import. xVn analysis therefore of the railroad properties, of these two men can- not but be of interest to all Cana- dians. The Canadian Northern Ontario proper (from last annual r(V">-f. JuD«, 1908) operated in the W' . V.lLUEOt' BARNYARD MANURE In the efforts to iraintain the fer- tility of the soil oil farms in tho ! eastern provinces l);unyard mamire plays an important part. K.\[>eri- ments carried on f^u- twenty years in succession with all the more im- portant farm crops, have demon- strated the value of barnyard ma- nure and have shown that a given weight of manure taken fresh from the barnyard is equal iu tiop-pro ducing power to tho same weight of rotted manure, while the fresh ma- nure loses during the process of rotting from .00 to (iO per cent of its weight. Economy in the use of barn- i yard manure is of the utmost im- portance ia connection with success- ful farming in this country, and the fact that it is estimated that the solid and liquid excreta of aniuials in Canada amounts to about 100,- 000,000 tons per annum indicates v.hat enormous losses must result from a wasteful handling of such a large quantity of valuable fertiliz- ing material. The results obtained from experiments with artificial fer- tilizers have not been so satisfac- tory as from those with barnyard manure. They have been carried on for a long j-'-.iod of years so that the c.->nchi':i<';: i drawn from them may be said to bo very safe. The best results obtained from artifi- cial manures have been had when they have been associated with barnyard manure- One reason why artificial manures used alone do not produce the effect on crops vvhicn might ^e expected from the large proportion of valuable plant food they convey to the soil is that they contain no humus and the pro- portion of \egetable matter in the soil ha> ing been reduced by frequent topT>i% »t» capacity for nold- "â- j 1; I.; ,h!-t» is lexvoncd and thus its crop-producing power is reduc- ed. Tho ploughing under of clover' has also been most effective in in- cre>asing the store of plant food in the soil. The beneficial effect of this treatment has been manifesfc by increased crops. A clover .sod supplies the soil with a large swl- dition of humus whereby the land IS mad© more retentive of moisture, and the soil deepened and mellow-, ed. In the preparation of laud for crop in the eastern provinces fall ploughing is now generally follow- ed, as the seed can thus be sowa earlier in the spring. In the north- west it has been found an advant- age to summer fallow a portion of 'the land under cultivation each year. This practice conserves the moisture, destroys weeds and brings the farmer larger crops. Mora attention is paid now than former- ly to the sy.stematic rotation of crops. This method economizes the use of the plant food in the soil ; since different crops take the ele- ments of fei;{;iiity in different pro- portions, the rotation helps to maintain a balance. A four years' rotation is perhaps thp most fol- lowed. This is begun with a hoed crop, which is well manured ; clo- ver and timothy are sown with the grain the second year, a crop of hay is taken off the third year and tho fourth year the field is used a« pasture and during the following winter manure is spread on the sod and this ia turned under in tho spring in time to begin the course again with a hoed crop. â€" Dr. Saun- ders, Dominion E.xpcrimental Farm, Ottawa. FARM NOTES. The mcrchaut and manufacturer plan ahead, but the successful farm- er must both plan and plant ahe^d. Any tree or slirub planted on tho piemises tlsat adds to our comfort, also adds to the money value of the place. Whatever will make a place worth more to us, will also to others who might like to possess it. This is a consideration thai should stimulate activity in provid- ing the place with trees and vinos. One of the advantages of white- wash is that it renders the poultry- house liglil and cheerful, wliich in- duces the hens Ui stay indoors on stormy d.iys. .Mthougli whitewash is lil)erally used during the sum- r.ier to guard against lice, yet it is equally a.s serviceable iu winter in rendering tlie ((uarlers comfor- table and in partially serving as a disinfectant, but for winter w,afth niore glue should be used iu the mixture. One proof of unbusinesslike hab- it? was that a large per cent. of| farmers kept no accounts. They do' Dot cliargp the merchant with pro-, duce sold him, or even carry a pass- b<.«ik, but depend on the merchant's books entirely, letting the account run a full year, and often d'l not know within a hundred dollars the amount <«f the account. To a still greater extent they do not keep ai' acoiiunt of their own business, and while the manufacturer knowsi to a penny what it costs him to pro-, duce the article he offers to the pub- lic, and the tncrcbant can strike a balance and tell just what he has madeâ€" iM- lostâ€" dining the year, with the farmer it is mostly guess- work. NOT HIS TURN. .\ miner took his boots for re- pairs, but was not in a hurry to pay for them. Alter a few weeks had elapsed the shoemaker called t(. ask for the money. The miner's wife answered the^ door, and on being told by tho shoemaker that he had called for, the money for the boots, she shout- f<' into tho house, and told her good man what was required. "What!'' exclaimed the miner. "He wants paying for repairing the boots! Tell him it's not his turn. \V by, the man that made thom hasn't got paid yet!" I. A BUSINESS FORMULA. "I must say he was very business^ lika with his proposal." ' "As to how. my dear?" "Told mo to consider luysalf ca^ gaged." A fool and bis boat are sooa rock« ed apart.