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; 3543‘s {3}” Mint-flay .~ vs; at 311:: â€"â€" gaseoceeoeeeoeoeocveoe v 0 <0) <9 0 0 0 <9 § ‘ é W9©9®9©6©6W©§©9©9® I. , Captain James Richmond was ushâ€" eredinto the room in silence, and the door closed after him. It was not the first time by a good many that he had crossed the threshold, but he had not before had any dealâ€" ing with the present home secretary. -“Captain Richmond?” the secre- tary queried with a quick scrutiny of the face of his visitor, who re- turned the look as he inclined his head. "Sit down, sir. I am pleasâ€" ed to meet you. I understand that you were commissioned by my preâ€" decessor to inquire into the abuses In connection with the control of Blackenham prison, and that your inquiry was entirely successful. I beâ€" gigve” â€" with a, smile â€" “that you nvere sentenced to {our years, and were liberated on a ticketâ€"ofâ€"leave by order of my predecessor, gftér eight. months" incarceration? Have you since reported yourself to the police, as you are bound to by the condi- tions of the ticket to do?” “No,” Captain Richmond replied, “I have not reported myself." “Good,” returned the secretary, "that will facilitate matters. I wish you, if you are at liberty, and not disinclined to return to prison life, to enter Shashnal prison, 'and see if you can get to the root of the mysâ€" tery there. .If you care to take up the matter, and are successful, you will. not find this office ungrateful. When will you be ready for arrest?" “The day after toâ€"morrow, if that will suit.” ‘ “Very well. Be in Candos street betwoen 3 and 4 o’clock on Wednes- day-morning, with a chisel and a few other burglar’s tools in your pockets. Sergeant Crame will be there to arrest you, as before. I will , arrange that you serve your sentence at Shashnal . ’ ’ "How shall I communicate with you?" “One of the visiting justices will make a point of seeing you privateâ€" ly whenever he visits Shashnal,” the secretary replied. “You will say ~pnly as little as necessary to the justice; whatever you tell him I shall know the same day, so that you will be able to see me with very little delay. Have I made my wishes clear?" “Perfectly so, sir.” “Is there anything I can do for you?” “Nothing, unless you can expedite my arrival at Shashnal. I am itch- ing to get there.” “‘You are interested, eh? Well, I cannot do much to expedite your sentence, but what can be done judi- ciously shall, I promise you. The preliminaries must, of course, be ex- tremely annoying. _I may add,” the secretary said, holding out his hand, "if you carry this matter through successfully you may rely upon any influence I may have in the matter of a queen’s messengership, for which I see your name has been down some considerable time." "I'll get to the root of the mat- ter,” Captain Richmond muttered, as he Walked tOWard the Strand, “if ' it has a root?” * * * “Thirtyâ€"nine! Do you call that the way to roll your bed?” “What’s the matter with it?” “No back questions,' please!" shouted the warden, “or, as sure as your name's 'Arris I’ll dock your grub! Roll that bed, now, orâ€" reâ€" port! Next time, mind, report!” He slammed the door to and went down the corridor. Thirtyâ€"nine smiled blandly him. . "When I get out. of this and that man is dismissedâ€"and I’ll take good care he isâ€"I’ll waylay him and give him one of the soundest hidings he ever had. The question is, when shall I get out of here? Five days of the five years gone, and I don’t see anything queer. Still there’s a decent balance left for discoveries." The cell door swung open and anâ€" other warden looked in. "Thirty-nine, talking! my ladâ€"won’t do!” “Saying my prayers, tyâ€"ninc. "Say ’cm to yourself, my lad!” And the door slammed to again. Early in the evening of the same day the head war-den looked into cell thirtyâ€"nine. after Won’ t do, I) replied thirâ€" “All right?” he inquired genially, as he looked Thirtyâ€"nine carefully over. “Yes, thank you," the convict rc- sponded with some surprise. “Feel yourself as comfortable as at Blackcnham? ’Orrid 'ole. Blackenâ€" ham! Nearly as bad for the offiâ€" cers as for the prisoners. Was there four years myself.” ’l‘hirtyonine pricked nervously. “My name’s Williams,” the warden continued with increasing affability. "Remember me? No? Well, p’r’aps not. Can't say I remember you. But we see so, many new faces while you don’t, so I thought you might remember me. Stop, though. Weren’t you in for coining at Black- cnhum? ’Ouscbreakin’, eh? Well, well. every man to ’is trade. But I seemed to coL‘iect your face with a prisoner W's ’ad for coinin' on a large sca'câ€"quite a small mint 'e'd been. Sure you never tried your ’and at coinin’? No? Well, well, it must ’ave been my fancy, then. Some- up his ears body something like you, I suppose. Nightl" .... ....._.. .- ._..,-..m wuw. a..." '. "v"V"“WW:---'4:-.vi-zcwwrmmww..mm.u« “uszm‘ mama-s..- -->.-. x ‘ manua- flu-mam» 'MK‘mmzfim "What did he come for?" Thirtyâ€" nine asked himself. “Clearly he had some definite object. I must culti- vate my friend Williams.” But Williams did not show himâ€" self again for some days, and then adopted an entirely different manâ€" nor. a. Thirty-nine had been in Shashnal prison about three weeks, when the justices paid their usual visit. He had not long to wait for his own call. A tall, thin, lawyerâ€"like man cnâ€"' tcred the cell, dismissed Williams with a gesture, and turned to the convict. He drew Thirtyâ€"nine to the further end of the. cell. “1 am directed by the home officel to carry any communications you have to make," he said, in a whisâ€" per. "I have pen and paper, if you want to write. But be prompt." Thirty-nine took the sheet of note paper' and the fountain pen, and wrote a few hurried lines: | l Richmond, as the train moved out of the station. Arrived at the metropolitan term- inus, exâ€"Thirty-nine got into a han- som and drove away to his cham- bers. An hour later, attired in a smart morning suit, he was shaking hands with the home secretary. “You were in a hurry to get out,” the secretary said, with a deprecatâ€" ing smile. "I don't think I could have learnt more had I remained," Richmond re- sponded. “I liaveidrawn some sur- prising conclusions, and the test! must be made from outside. I have only to wait now for the reports concerning the movements of coinâ€" ers who. have passed through ShaSh~ nal.” “Here are the records of three cases. I can get others for you, if necessary. 'v‘hy you pick upon coin» ers I don’t understand." ’ “On the other hand, these rec- ords," Richmond returned. a slight color mounting to his face. “appear to confirm my suspicions. Does it “I Want a complete list of convicâ€" not strike you as being strange, sir, tions now here; also any other facts bear- ing upon the nature of their crimes. Sooner, the better. Convey through chaplain, who is honest.” Be dried the note on the slip of blotting paper between the leaves and handed it to the justice. A moment later he was alone in his cell again. “It sounds a, wild notion, I must admit,” he thought, “a very wild notion. Perhaps I am wrong. But it is queer that 24 and 78 are nev- er at 13129;; and that they alone are never taken near the governor’s house. There may be a dozen reaâ€" sons for it, and it may have no pos- sible connection with Williams’ first visit to me, but there is something ’radically wron and I see no - other peg on which go hang iffy suspicion than the privileges of these two men and what Williams said to me. He has never given me or anyone in my hearing a civil word or look since." Thirty-nine had to wait until the next visit from the justices for his answer fronrthe home oflice, and in the meantime he had discovered lit- tle that supported his suspicions. But the letter the justice brought him gave him the utmost satisfac- tion. It gave a list of conv1ctions against the two prisoners whom Thirty-nine had inquired about. Starting as a boy, with petty lar- ceny, Seventyâ€"eight had turned to burglary, purse snatching, long-firm frauds and coining. Twenty-four, a. younger man, was the son of the notorious “Jim Crow.” His first conviction was for stealing lead-piping from an empty house. He was known to have as- sisted his father in extensive coun- terfeit-coining schemes and, upon the death of "‘Jim Crow” inherited £2,â€" 000 or £3,000, with which he startâ€" ed himself as a bookmaker". He lost his money. and was mobbed for “welshing” at the Liverpool meetâ€" ing in 18â€". Next he was arrested for attunpting to pass bad money in Nottingham, where a large quantity of base Coin had been circulating for a period which corresponded with the length of time he had been in the town. Later he was sentenced to four years for passing base coins. “Any message to take back? You had better not keep this paper," said the justice. “No. Will you return it to the office? I will write a ‘message back.” He took a pencil from his visitor, and wrote: “Endeavor to trace movements of every coiner who has passed through hereâ€"movements since they left. Want my discharge, for time being." Three days later a warden entered the cell of Thirtyâ€"nine and threw down upon the pallet a, bundle of clothes. They were those in which Thirtyâ€"nine had entered the prison. “You’ve got to change an’ come to the governor’s," he said. Thirtyâ€"nine changed and followed the warden down the corridor, across the central hall, into the gov- ernor’s office. The governor sat at his table, and two men in ordinary clothes stood- by. ' “You're transferred to Portland, Thirtyâ€"nine, under an order from the home office,” said the governor. “These oilicers are here to fetch you. If you give me your word not to molest them you shall not be handcuffed." “I won’t get up to any game, sir, and thank you," Thirtyâ€"nine replied. He was struck by the fact that his escort wore in plain clothes. occurred to him that prisoners were not then conveyed from prison to prison in their convict dress, as had been the rule, and it was therefore only consistent that wardens should lnot be in their uniform, or the spirâ€" it of the reform would be lost. His custodian ushered him into a l was appointed as a stopâ€"gap. fly that was waiting in the prison yard, and, as they took their seats facing him, the elder man .smiled, and said quietly: “I expect you this, sir?” “I think so," Thirty-nine replied. “We shall take you to the station, if you’ve no objection, or the driv- er may smell a rat. There is firstâ€"class to London, and two sovâ€" ereigns I was instructed to hand you for your return expenses." They alighted at the station and passed through the booking lobby. "That is your train waiting, sir,” said the second officer, "so we'll wish you a respectful good morning. We’-rc not returning till a later train.” can see through or attempt to escapeI a'bad I 0 against prisoners 78 and 24, Itllat each of these men left the counâ€" try almost immediately upou being released from Shashnal'? I note one Went to Australia, where he bought a small farm, which he has since successfully cultivated; another went to America, where he quickly ran through a sum of money which was considerable for a man of his posâ€" ition, and then turned his attention to forgery; the last went, out to Dur- ban, bought the good will of a small public house. and drank himâ€" self to death. In this taste for emi- gration, which seems to have been in- culcated at Shashnal to one convicted for coining, I seem to see a great deal to support my ,conclusions." “Which are?" interrogated the secretary. "That there Shashnal.” "Prepostcrousl" the minister ejac- ulated. “A mint in one of her maj- esty’s prisons? Dear. dear! You must think of something more like- lyâ€"more possible!” “Pardon me: but I cannot think of anything more possible to a man in the governor's position. who had the instincts of an enterprising criminal. He has every facilit}.'â€"-innnunity from raids, unlimited strong cells, which could readily be turned into workshops. a pretty regular succesâ€" sion of skilled coiners. whose assistâ€" ance could be bought for leniency and. a little money to start them on their release from prison. and whose secrecy could be absolutely relied upon.” “Looked at like that. it appears possible; but it is rather risky to base conclusions upon more possibili- ties,” the secretary replied, with quiet cynicism. “[ don'tâ€"at least. not entirely. Warden Williams attempted to dis- cover whether I had done. any coin- ing. He was remarkably genial un- til he learned that i. had not. when he became surly almost to brutality. He was remarkably genial to Sevenâ€" tyâ€"eighf and Twentyâ€"four. who were the oly men in Shashnal who did any coining. - These two men were never in the labor yard. Why? They always looked pictures of health. Time after time I saw them enter er leave the entrance of the basement cells, at the side of the governor’s house, which were condemned three years ago as unhealthy.” "‘Ah! we have something tangible is a secret mint at in the use of the condemned base- ment cells.” the secretary said thoughtfully. "That matter shall be inquired into at once. The best thing you can do is to send in your report, Captain Richmond, and then we can duly consider the matter." He rose, blandly, and held out his hand. Next day Captain Richmond re- ceived a check for his services. He fore it up in disgust, and then wish~ cd he had not. He was still debatâ€" ing in his mind whether he could ask for another check when he received an official document appointing him a queen’s messenger. For a time he was puzzled to know why he. had been appointed. But he was not kept long in the dark, for he was called to the home office, where the secretary graciously apolo- gized for having scouted the coin- ing theory. Two prison commis- sioners had visited Shashnal to inâ€" quire why the basement cells were being used. It was denied that such was the case. The commissioners demanded to look over the baseâ€" ment. No one knew where the keys were. Other obstacles were put in the commissioners’ 'path. but every- thing was overruled and the base- But it-ment opened by force. "Discoveries were made which left 1no doubt that your conclusion was cnly too accurately drawn,” said the secretary, hovering between con- fidence and reticence. “’l'he gover- nor rcsigned before the commission- ers left, and the deputy-governor The same evening a raid was made upon a pawnbroker's shop in Mile End, kept by Warden Williams' brother, and between £400 and £500 of base coin was found there. Strange to. say, the police have been interested in that shop for some time, owing 1120 the frequent complaints of sail- .ors, who largely frequent it, that money had been there foisted upon them. The business was an ex- cellent medium for passing the coins. We are inquiring what other methods were also adopted. Con- .siderable changes will be made at Shashnal, but it is undesirable that the matter should become public knowledge.” the secretary concluded. “The profits appear to have been very considcrxblc, and the Cui'm'. are “Good morning,” replied Sepia/in really masterpieces of their kind." “I'm afraid you cannotI have discovered much in the time.”| THE GLEAM OF GOLD. HUNTING THE PRECIOUS MET- AL IN AUSTRALIA. â€" Means by Which It Is Won-â€" Countless Dead on the Track. Australia is a land of gold, in a literal sense. In hel‘ mountains are mighty reefs of the precious metal, her rich flats are specked with it, and her mountain rivers wash- it with them to the sea. Millions of money have been spent on it, and many thousands of tons have been won from her hid-den treasure chamâ€" bers, by what toil, bywh'at bitter privation, by what dogged persistâ€" ence and undying courage, only her swift flowing strcanls and her mountain gullies and spurs can tell. It has been won by stratagem, by guile, or by robbery, evcn.by per- sonal violence and by bloody murâ€" der, by those who pegged out their lonely claims beyond the furthest reach of the law; it has been won by straightforward manly toil, by the sweat and pluck and endurance of hardy pioneers of fortune, and by~ the fevered stroke of brownâ€"handed breadâ€"winners, fighting for their famâ€" ilies and their homes. In the track of it are the count- less dead, the men who have died hard, with their hands ~to the pick and the drill, in sight of the golden goal for which they have perillcd and lost their lives; and those others, who, far as ever from their dim desire, have followed the gleam of it, hungry and footsore, but hopeful yet, to lie down in some lone gully, unburied and unknown, to mark by their white bones anâ€" other milesntone on tube grim road to the latest rush. NEARLY E ’ERY MONTH in the gold districts comes the Word of a rush to Sound-So, to the hill north of a Suchâ€"aâ€"Place, or the gully west of Somebody's and off goes the district on its mad chase, to follow the gleam of the gold. Workingmcn throw down their axes, farmers leave their plows in tne halfâ€"turned furrows, men in good positions throw them up to follow the crowd, only, in most cases, to return in a week or a month and findâ€"like Othelloâ€"their occupation gone. Claims are pegged out in feverish haste, in many cases of lateâ€" comcrs so far from the original find that they are quite valueless, even if the field turns out to be a good one. ‘ 1n the central districts of New South Wales, from which good gold was taken thirty and forty years ago. the ground is turned up in huge mounds, showing where the human moles have toiled and toiled in the deep, dark shafts, sending up bucket after bucket of mullock, perâ€" haps with no result, perhaps with a harvest of golden spoil. In such .places as these is to be found the fossicker,- as much a type by himself as is the sundowner; old and bent and grey, it may be, but with dim eyes not too dim to see the beckoning of the gleam of the gold; he spends the 16mg summer days, digging over the heaps of brown earth, or simply walking eyes cast down over the shallow holes which mark some surface rush, lookâ€" ingâ€"alas ! too often vainlyâ€"for the tiny speck which his trained eye so quickly discovers, or washing at some muddy pool a dish of earth, turning it this way and that, rolling it over and over, and peering closeâ€" ly at the last few grains to catch, if possible, the glint of “color” that is to tell him he is on the right road at last. IT IS AN ALLURING GAME, this chasing of the gleam, and to an old digger the only game worth playir r: he may work for a while in the winth with a farmer on the plains, or with a stplitter in the ranges, but with the first gold on the wattleâ€"tree he is oil“ with shovel and dish to the old diggings to try his luck again; sometimes he will make just enough to keep himself in "tucker" by selling the few grains he gets from time to time to the local storekccper, who weighs it over for him and pays him the current price of the virgin gold. Gold-mining in Australia nowa- days has‘ resolved itself more .or less, like everything else, into a tireless struggle between the capital- ists of the world; the great West Australian mines are flinging a chal- lenge to time and a gauntlet to the grave. But in the old daysâ€"the lawless, wild, wayward daysâ€"when a man pegged out his claim and defended it as best he could, taking his chance against every breed of man under the sun, and keeping his hardâ€"won gold only by right of his manhood~then there was romance. and enough. Those were the days when the gold was brought up in the rough mining camps from the miners and sent down to Sydney and Bat/burst by coach and escort ; when the bush-rangers, wellâ€"informed of the day and the hour, reined their bloodâ€"horsesâ€"the one-time pride of some squatter-’5 stableâ€"in the shadow of timber-clump or rock, bailed up the drivers ON THE OPEN ROAD. The writer has seen and pasSed on many occasions the bluff of rock on the Orange-Engowra- road where the escort was stuck up by bushâ€" rangers and the coach to Bathurst lightened of its weight of gold. The bushrangers, arriving some hours before the coach was expected, stuck up two bullock drivers taking their waggons south for stores, and compelled them to stand their team across the road, and thus block th highway, the rock bluff at thl shoulder of the mountain preventing any detour. This done, they await ed the arrival of the coach. $001 after the appointed time the four inâ€"hand dashed up, the driwcr slow ing his team, as he saw the bulloci waggons stopping the road. In slantly from their cover of rock t-lr bushrangcrs stood out and shot 1 leader dead, at the same time put ting a bullet- through the driver". hat. The escort, taken by surprise wheeled and fled, and the gold wa handed over to the bushr-angers, anl afterwards, so it is said, hidden b: one of them on one of the rock; spurs of the Weddin Mountain, clos to the scene of the robbery, whor- it is supposed to remain to thi day. But, if the romance is gone, th greed remains, and still the silk batted financier and the ruuty fos sicker follow the gleam of the gold , 0__ CAVE DWELLERS IN BRITAIN Troglodytes Not Yet Extinct ‘ the United Kingdom. Although there is nothing inhcl ently improbable in the circuums‘tana it is not generally known that th race of the troglodytes is not ya extinct, and that there are at th present time quite a number a cave dwellers in modern Britain The inhabitants are by no mean halfâ€"savages. At Kinver Edge, ncal Birmingham, are two rows of mod ern villa residences, formed mainll out of the "immemorial caves hol lowed out of the hill,” with stonl front projections. These dwelling: are said to be “far more comfort able and luxurious than the les original residences to be found if more pretentious neighborhoods.’ The rooms are “spacious and rain proof,” and the people of Enville. we read, “as the village formed bi these houses is called, are justlj proud of their quaint homes, an: speak with patriotic affection 0; Holy Ans-tin Rock, the stone iron which their dwellings are hewn." There are several remarkable cam dwellings at Knares-borough, ii Yorkshire, the "proprietor" of om of which has adorned the various levels of his hillside cave home with battlements, and calls it Fort Mon- tague. At Areley Kings, in Worces- tershire; Seaton, near Exeter; Sea; ham, on the Durham coast; Stour- ton Castle, Castle Hill, Dudley, and elsewhere are other homes of modern troglodytes, and at Lodaig, near Chan, is a cave fitted up and for a long time used as a place of wor- ship. The writer of this interesting article avers that “it is no exag~ geration or perversion of the truth to say that there are many caves in the United Kingdom which are much better fitted for human habita- tion, and would be far healthier and roomier for a family (assuredly “roomier”) than are some of the modern jcrry-built erections that our crowded towns and villages are so familiar with at the beginning of the twentieth century. ..-â€"â€"+â€"â€"â€"â€".V. JACK SHEPPARD’S HOUSE.~ Recently Destroyed on Historical Thoroughfare. Wych Street, .‘a quaint olf thor- oughfare at the city and of the Strand, has now finally passed out of existence," says the Londor Daily Mail. It Was in the area of the Strand- I-Iolborn improvements, and its do srtruction had for some time been decided on. In a few months’ time gigantic buildings of the most mod- ern type will take the place of the quaint old houses, rich in hiStOl‘if memories, that made it one of the points of interest in London. On Wednesday Jack Sheppard’z house in this street was finally clos ed and handed over to the house- breakers. Jack Sheppard lived then when serving an apprenticeship as a carpenter. His name was carved b5 himself on a beam in the kitchen, where it remained until a few days ago. The beam is now being trans ferred to the Museum of Londo: Antiquities and Curiosities being gathered by the London County Council. Wych street had many other asso- ciations besides this. The Shake speare Head, 31, at one time had its landlord Mark Lemon, the fa- mous humorist, who in after years became editor of Punch. At thi ‘Glolze Theatre many chapters of modern theatrical history occurred. The Globe is best known to modern theatreâ€"goers as the scene of Mr. Penley’s triumphs, and'as the birth- place of Mr. I’incro’s “Gay Lord Quex.” Almost opposite the Globe was the gigantic Olympic Theatre, a house noted for having perhaps more runs. of bad luck than any other London theatre. Its great size and its un~ fortunate position gave it little chance. In recent years it was rare ly occupied. Charles Dickens waLl associated with many revels .around this street. A more tragic memory flies in the fact that Bishop Hooper was taken from the Angel Inn, then at the bottom, to his death at Gloucester. Wych Street, a quaint old thor< Drury Lane, of which it was a con- tinuation. In old times the lam was known as the Via do Aldwyc-h. Among other houses of amusemeni which in the past have centered there was Astley's Amphitheatre. O The Pope has 35 secretaries t( answer his daily average of 23,00( letters. ..‘~D,‘;~‘. J :- ,......,.,_..._.. -._-_. N, .. A . x.»- '-..g.'- _ “xi:~ :.- .W"; 5â€"» «u. at.“ i < .zrv‘mn