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is. CLOSE JJARTERS ; OR, THE HOUSE IN THE RUE BARBETTE CHAF'i; R. XII.-- (Cont'd) Beaucaire on me a step nearer Clearly I -. did not recall the bar Meter's \ -. "i* knew well tha his daug .i ;, attainments were not such to oomraand the eage search of i.ondon theatrical mana gers, yet h,-- was assured that th< individual who now .'iddressed him was not an ordinary music-hal agent, huntii g up fees. "I regret," he said, "that made moiselle is not professionally en gaged at ohis moment. Indeed, sh< has not appeared in public for som months. May I ask how monsieur came to h ar of her namef "It is tje easiest matter in th world," said Br?(,t with his ready smile, producing his note-book an< rapidly tiM-ning over the leaves. "'. have here the naoneu and aciJreas es of a \.\rgr- r-umb^r of artists whom I wis re< !>. 'inded to visit le. s ij (> was given to I . ;ml most en- of her skill pa," he went on, me among ati.er? at the Cirque tl'Hiver, wht e .ouraging a--c You see, nior "tha-t in Kn. :<l die public are nol acquainted vi. \ u,ny other langu- ajr 1 -; 'iian their jwn and when Con- tinental .'. r ; &*,s are engaged we prefer tho j e whose performance consists chiefly of acrobatic or other feats in which dialogue is unneces- sary." The barrister's ready explana- tion was sufficient. Nevertheless Beaucaire was puzzled. But oven the most vulgar or brutal French- man is endowed with a- certain amount of politeness, and in this instance Gros Jean felt that his visitor should be treated deferenti- ally. "I am most sorry," he cried, "to be unable to assist monsieur any further. If. however, you leave me your address I will communi- cate with you after I have heard from my daughter. I have no d.'ii that she will readily come to terms." "I think you said that mademoi- selle was in the South of France 1 )" observed Brett casually. Instantly Beaucaire became suspicious again. "No," he replied shortly; "I do not think I said so." "Of course not," laughed Brett. "How foolish of me ! It was I who (tnen't,ioned the South of France, was it not? You see that French is a foreign language to ILC, and 1 do n )t express myself verv easily." Beaucaire grinned politely again : "Permit me to congratulate mon- sieur upon both his pronunciation and vacility. Not many English- men sjieak French as he does." The barrister was determined not to allow the conversation to end too rapidly. He wished to note more carefully the details of this interesting household. Pulling out his cigar-case, he offered it t > Gros ,T''an with the remark. "Your small 'yench tables seem curious to mj -eyes' after long acquaintance with English billiards. Are any of these gentlemen here skilled play- after him to direct him as to the right way he rapidly surveyed the passage. The plaster walls were smooth and unbroken on their in- ner side, affording no doorway exit. Apologizing to Andre with a laugh, he then sauntered towards the front cafe, where he pxirchased another drink at the counter. He assured himself that he had not been mistaken. The only private door out of the bar led into the passage, so that the room beyond could only be reached by a stair- case or through a trap-door. "I have any rate, learned some-thing, at he murmured he passed out into the Boulevard, "and I imagine that my knowledge is not shared by the Paris police. Mademoiselle would have acted more wisely had she not yielded to impulse, and reserved her shoot- ing display for a,- more dramatic occasion." Brett kept his appointment with the commissary next morning. That worthy official set himself to the congenial task of examining a pri- soner with the air of one who said : "Now you will" see what manner of I am on my na- bulky volumes, ers i' 1 your fashion?' "Oh, yes," said the innkeeper. "Andre there, for instance, can make big breaks. I have seen him make forty consecutive coups. WiU you not take a seat for a little while and observe the play?" "With pleasure." And Brett confirmed the favorable opinion formed of him by ordering refresh- ments for Beaucaire and himself. Be apparently took a keen interest In the game, and applauded the manner in which the Frenchman cored a series of difficult cannons. Meanwhile he noted that between the private passage from the bar and the public one that led from th* cafe was a room into which the light of day could not possibly pene- trate. He was certain that no door communicated with it from the pub- lic passage, and he could not re- member having passed one that first afternoon when La Belle Chasseusc brought him and Fair- holme into the billiard-room to dis- play her prowess as a marks-wo- rjoa.'i. Probably the Cafe Noir had no cellars. The place might serve as e store room. This natural hy- pothesis was upset by the appear- ance of the waiter, who passed through the billiard -room and open- en another door at the further end. through which he soon emerged carrying a fresh supply of bottles. "It k obvious," said Brett to himself, "that If there is no door communicating with the private passage, then the only way in whioh that room can be reached is by a ladder from the top. Now I won- der why that should be necessary 1" He remained in the billiard-room ome twenty minutes. When Gros Jean was called on sorao- momen- tary errand to the front of the house he took his departure, purposely making the mistake of auitting tho room bv the wrong exit. At the 3.11110 instant he struck a match - > relight his cigar, and whil the ;port billiard player, Andre, ran man I am. Here tive heath." He consulted made notes, fussily called up vari- ous subordinates, both in person and by speaking-tube, and general- ly conducted himself with a busi- ness-like air that much amused the barrister, who, however, for his own purposes took care to appear greatly impressed. At last all was ready, and the captive of the Hue Barbette was ntroduced. This precocious personage had re- covered his self-possession and na- tural impudence during the night. By the commissary's instructions, had been well supplied with eatables, and the restrictions as /o persons under detention were relaxed, to permit him to enjoy a supply of his much-loved cigar- ittes. Consequently, the little thief was restored to his usual state of jaunty cheekiness. The first part of the interroga- ion, which promptly ensued, waa not strange to him. Your name?" said the commis- sary. "Charles Petit." "Abode?" "Changeable. Of late I have dwelt in thcv Cabaret Noir Boule- vard de Montmartre." "You are generally known as 'The Worm?' " "That is so." "You have served periods of im- prisonment, and have paid over "Oh ! come- now," said the com- missary, with a knowing smile, "tha*' will not do, Petit. You are far too old a hand to convey such a childish message as that. What reason can you have for seeking to shield these men who treated you in a DATD&FOtU wa.y .i/..i left you to die a cruel death?" "On my honor " began the thief melodramatically, but Brett here interrupted the conversa- tion. "Will you allow me," he said to the commissary, "Jx> put a few questions to this man ?" "Certain- ly," was the answer. "Now listen," said Brett, stern- ly gazing at the truculent little ras- cal with those searching eyes of his which seemed to reach to the very spine. "It is useless for you .to attempt any further prevarication. We know exactly who are your con- federates. You are acquainted with a large number of the gang that frequents the Cafe Noir. Do not forget that I was present when you tried to palm off on Huaseiu- ul-Mulk the false diamonds, which your confederates hoped he would accept. For you to attempt now to escape from the law ia hopeless. The sole chance you have of remit- ting a punishment which may even lead you beneath the gullotine is to confess fully and freely all that you know concerning the outrage which has been committed. "No, don't interrupt me,'' he On the Farm continued with phasis. when even greater Le Ver" tried 400 francs in fines ?' "I have not kept suppose it is all count, but I written down there." And he jerked his thumb towards the conviction book uu the commissary's desk. "You are a noted thief, and you obtained your nickname by reason of your dexterity in picking locks and climbing through scullery win- dows?" "If you say so, monsieur, your words cannot be disputed." "Very well." The commissary scratched a few lines on a memor- andum tablet. Then he suddenly raised his quick eyes and fastened them on the prisoner with the di- rect question "How came you to be detained in such au extraordinary manner in the house, No. 11, Rue Barbette, yesterday?" A vacant and stolid expression intended to convey an idea of ut- ter innocence came over "The Worm's" face. "Believe me, monsieur," he said, "I cannot give you the slightest explanation of that extraordinary incident." "Indeed! You surprise me. I suppose you wish me to understand that you casually strolled in out of the street and were set upon by three Turks, who gagged you and break in. "You will tell me xhat you merely acted as the agent uf others, and that you yourself are not conscious of the nature of any crime that has been committed. I know that to be so. Y<JU have been made a mere tool. You are the cat, simply employed by tho monkey to pull the chestnuts out of the fire, and you have only succeeded in getting your own paws burnt. Your sole chance of safety now is to in- form the commissary and me cx- ectly how you came to be mixed up with this affair." "I assure you, gentlemen," he cried, "that with respect to the Turks I have uo knowledge what- ever of their pursuits or motives. I was present when this English gentleman here was debating with them, and I understood that they even went so far as to use threats against him. My mission was to give to the leader:; of tho Turks a package which I did not even know contained diamonds, either genuine or false. No one could be more surprised than myself when the Turkish gentleman produced them." "Who sent you there with the diamonds?" said Brett. "Even that I cannot tell you," said Petit. "It was a mere chance affair. I was seated in a cafe oip- ping some absinthe when a man asked me if I would execute a small commission for him. He explained that it was to deliver a. parcel at a house and- not five minutes distant, HOW TO USE A DRAG. The successful operation of a rrad drag involves two principles, wni^h, when thoroughly understood and intelligently applied, make road working with this implement very simple. The first corcerns vhe length and position of the uti-ch, while the second deals with the pos'iaon f the driver on the drag. Each influences the other to a large extent, and successful manipula- tion of the drug is dependent rpm an understanding of both of tV:ru, writes Mr. D. W. King. For ordinary purposes the s'.itch link or clevis should be fastened far enough toward the blade O-K! of the chain to force the unloaJed drag to follow the team at an a^igki of 45 degrees. This will cause the earth to move along t-he f *eo <ii the drag smoothly antf will g.vc c..n- paratively light draft to the tp.-int, provided the driver rides in the line of draft. Sometimes, however, conditions are met which require special treatment, and in a rolling country such conditions are not infrequent. Often a flat place sev- eral rods in length or a seepy spot needs special attention. The distance from the drag at which the team is hitched affects the depth of the cutting. Shorten- ing the chain tends to lift the front slab from tho ground ; a longer hitch causes the blade to cut more deeply. The length of hitch may be regulated by lengthening and There is nothing like a "Tea Pot" test at your own table to prove its sterling worth! -nd ieo TEA "Always and Easily the BLACK, GREEN, or MIXED. Sealed Airtight Packag favors to nobody and always recordsl Careful accounts of reven facts from all the facts. The poor j expenditure were kept an' , cows stand no chance against it. i show that investments in loan., ;tnd If we allow buyers to come into ! the purchase of land and other i ro- our herds and pick out tne best ! <Si ~ ul - cows how can we ever expect to build up a profitable dairy '/ We knew a farmer who always cured his calves of scours by break- ing raw eggs into their mouths. A better way. however, is dried blood fed in moderate quantities at the start. No matter at what price you sell dealings were a regula*- part of the fiscal activities of tho, priestly establishments. Perhaps the most interesting -of all the buried record which lia-v s conic to hht are the contract tab- lets kept by a firm of bankers a':d money lenders known as "the sons of Egibi," established at B.tltylon; __. , before the time of Sennacherib,' the poor cows it is generally safe probably as early as 1000 B.C., ancV to say you get all they ate worth and a little more, particularly if she is to be classed as a dairv ani- mal. Never milk the cow with wet hands. No more filthv habit is in- dulged in than that of milking on the hand in order fo wtrip the teat. Milking should alwavs be done with a full, dry hand. 15 ANCIENT BABYLON. which existed for several centuries.. Thes "brick books," as they ha\e. been called, constitute the chif*. source of our acknowledge of lifei in ancient Babylon. The firm of Egibi possessed -rior- mous wealth asd influence am 1 'iave> been designated the "Uotht. .iil<-- of the ancient world." They car- ried on every sort of financial transaction. They made loans to the State, as well as to private persons, and tho finances of the court were entrusted to them for several generations. They col- lected the land taxes, tithes and dues for the use of public roads and paid them into the royal treasury They also undertook what wr ~..~.. ~.. v . W...H ^....j. -fci.-^, ----- ......... ^--- ( should now describe ;i.s "agencies'* drag will now move nearly ditch [ '"rations, show that "Business is for private individuals, and in ad- end foremost, and the driver buslness a a rule of life is as old dition to their vast money lend- should stand with one foot on tho ; * S A j^V 6ays t ' le Accountant. j ing 'transactions must also have extreme end of the front slab. This; A 3 far back as 2000 years before engaged in what we now term will swing tho drag back to the Lil " st the Babylonians had made "banker's" business, for we know proper angle and will cause the uc " Progress in commercial apti-'that documents existed in those blade to plow. j , e t ' lat special laws had to be early days corresponding to mod- The drag docs the best work ' ame<J * eal with those gentle- ; ern checks and bills of exchange. shortening the chain at the and How and By Wktrn tho Banking Wnuvtl run* t.h runn-li tli Vinli i r, +ka lll t> which runs through the hole in the blade end of the drag. If small weeds are to be cut the double tree Biudneaa Was Carried on. Recent discoveries of the wonders should be attached rather closer to "' Babylonian civilization. , the ditch end of the dr.^. The rned . ">' the fruits of earlier when the soil is moist, but not sticky. The earth then moves free-. ly along the faces of the slabs. If the roadway is very badlv rutted * . realized in gard to th< son and th and full of holes, it may be well to ^ use the drag once when the ground j B f' r ,.' is slushy. Thin treatment is P nr- !p ro fe* ticularly applicable before wild -pho spell in winter when it is possible to have a roadway freeze smooth. A smooth road surface is secured bv this method. Clay, when mixed J 'c s "I see," interrupted Brett, with the cynical smile which so often dis- concerted glib liars like Petit. "It is hopeless to expect you to tell the truth. However, I think 1 know a way to clear your wits. You must be brought face to fact- with La Belle Chasseuse. Perhaps when you are confronted with that lady in the room between the cafe and billiard saloon of the Carbaret Noir "The Worm" gasped out broken- ly- "Pardon, monsieur! I will tell you everything 1" The man's face had absolutely become livid as he listened to the barrister's words. bound you leaving you with leather thongs, to starve quietly Ix death if you had not been rescued by reason of a chance visit paid to the place by myself and others?" "I assure you, monsieur, that, strange as it .nay seem, you have almost related the facts. I went to the place in question with a very or- dinary message from a Turkish gen- tleman with whom I acquaintance. The have a slight other Turks listened to me with the gravity pe- culiar to their nation, and then, before I could offer a word of re- monstrance, treated rue exactly as you saw." "And what tim< did you go there?" "'It must have been nearly three o'clock, the day before yesterday," was the answer. "And what message did you bring?" "I was told to ask the Turkish gentlemen to be good enough to cross the Pont Neuf exactly at h.-Uf- pa.st nix, when they would meet a friend who desired to give some in- formation to- them." "It was Dubois." "What?" prised at the turn taken by the conversation. Ho could not guess what dec]) significance lay behi:id tho Englishman's threat, and, to tell the truth, Brett himself was considerably astonished at the ef- fect of his vague insinuations, but ho lost not a moment in following up the advantage thus* gained. "Well," he said, "tell us now who it was that sent you to the Turks with the diamonds?" Le Jongleur, Henri cried the commissary, staring violently. "Henri Dubois! the most expert thief in France ! A scoundrel against whom the police have vainly tried for years to se- cure evidence." (To be continued.) SLEEPY TOWN. A former resident of Marshall, Mo., was asking about the old town. "I understand they have a cur- few law out th?r now," he said. "No," his informant answered, "they did have one, but they've abandoned it." "What was the matter? 1 ' "Well, the bell rang at 9 o'clock, and almost everybody complained that it woke- them up." HABITS OF GIKLS. "When should a girl change her name ?'' "Well, she usually changes her first name when she goes to high school, and her iaat name when- ever she can." with water and thoroughly workexl, becomes remarkably tough and im- pervious to water. If compacted in this condition it becomes ex- tremely hard. Another valuable result of drag- ging is the reduction of dusr, for the particles of clay cohere so te- naciously that there is but little who tried shortcuts to wealth. ! The various transactions of the i young man with expectations firm were noted down on clay tab- 'hoso days with less re- lets, which were stored in great sacreonese of the per- ' earthf ware jars for safety, and right to live, borrow- earthenware jars for safety, anc modern prototype not there they remained until they does to-dav. from the .few years ago. All bear the names of the con- - trading parties and witnesses, his brick and most of them arc dated. The exchange, Egibi firm were not the only great law stepped in. oven an it trading firm in ancient Babylonia., -day, to preserve inviolate as during the excavations at >uf-. . mcrc lant wear when the surface is smooth. I which either as gifts to the temples the rights of property. So keen for there were discovered the re- wero the business instincts of Uit cords of another firm, known as people that even the priests were Murasu. which rose to a position not above a deal in offerings and ,,f great wealth and important** in real estate. Indeed a- great part during the fifth century B.C. of the commerce of Babylonia wo* concentrated in the temples. The vast, quantities of metals, cereals and other commodities SMMs Cure Du.tn an ro,rl i. <!. to' oS.nng, to Z^M^S^ VSSS'-^SSSSiSS'JSA the breaking up under traffic of tho daily were sold by the prics.ts, who frayed and upturned edges of ruts ; did not neglect to get their full and hoof prints. If tho surface is i margin of profit. Business ability Hardup "You see this half-dol- unoothed after each rain nnd the indeed seems to have been an im- lar?" "Yes. Why? Is there any- road Jries hard and even, so rxlges ( portant qualification for admission thing extraordinary about it?" are exposed to crushing and i,he i to the priesthood, only dust which forms is that *"l'ic | to actual wear of the road surface. Certain sections of the roadway will require more attention than others because of steep grades, seepages, exposure to hillside wash. etc. The best guide in meeting these conditions is the knowledge and experience- gained while .drag- ging the roadway. There is one condition, however, in which special treatment should I Hardup "Kather ! It's mine!" The commissary was vastly enrobe given to a road. Clay hills un der persistent dragging fn>i|iieitiy become too high in the center. To correct this it is best to drn<r the earth toward the center of the road twice and away from it once. The fire of geihin is often to make the pot boil. ^ NOTES OF THE SHEEPFOLD. All pure bred sires are not Wo would rather have a iar.<e, well formed, vigorous, veriie :-c t- ub rain than a puny, ill-formed, puic- blood. In buying rams it i.i just as necessary to study 'aaiv'duaiity . as it is to have pure blooJ We have seen mighty poor specimens of men v.do a-msted of their high lineage, and we have seen some extrem?ly (.'oor speci- mens of sheep Jiat bad j cdigvee", as long as your am A flock will go through a winter in good shape in an open sheil pro- vided it has a dry roof, but no !l TK will ever thrive on wet foot.i ig. Sheep arc nervous animals -ind of rather delicate constitutions and suffer more from bad ventilation and overcrowding than any other animal on the farm ; it is a mist-ike. therefore, to confine sheep during the winter in close quarters. If kept dry their fleeces will keep thorn warm. Who ever heard of sheep freezing to death ? The rams should never be fed fattening food, but should bo given the kind of food that will add strength and stamina. They must never be allowed to run with the ewes it will, but should be separ- ated from them. IN AND AROUND THE DAIRY. 57 YEARS EXPERIENCE EXTRA GRANULATED SUGAR IS ABSOLUTELY PURE. The first and great essential of a food product, ia Purity ; tho Purity and Quality of our Extra Granulated have never been questioned. Once make a comparison with other Sugars and you will not be satisfied with any but Rcdpath. Dainty Tea Tables are always ,-erved with PARIS LUMPS to be had in RED SEAL dust proof cartons, and by the pound. The Canada Sugar Refining Co., MONTREAL, CANADA. Limited Etbllhd In 1854 by John Rtdp.th ED. * Every dairyman must, if he will succeed, employ a detective in his dairy barn a Babcock tester. This -11 detective is absolutely honest, shows wo. 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