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m "comma ‘ . STRG QQQQQORQQ’QQQ A RANSOMED LIFE |< ..... 7. .».... . .., a ...- r . ._ I CHAPTER II. Vivian Ardel was am of pity. but mingled with his pity there was something of impatience, even of anger, at this tale of misery, SO easily averted. "What wanton waste,” he mused, “of the happy days due to her gold- en Youthlnâ€"days never to be recalled or replaced. How may I best reâ€" deem from that I have saved from death?” He paced the spacious room rapid- 1y, as was his wont when in deep thought, pausing now and again abruptly to stare out with vacant eyes upon the shining river. “What can I do?" The question repeated itself insistently again and again in his thoughts, finding no answer. “More comfort is easily managed. I can get her to a good school, of course, for a year or two. 'But, poor child, she has been so lonely! Her nature longs for love amd sympathy, and she will droop and pine for lack of them." “What can I do?" The question began again. Suddenly an answer came to him, and his face brightened in a mo- ment. - “Yes,” he said, "perfect for both. Eva, I know, will gladly consent. But -what will John think or say? He must be asked first, of course. But then he is away “on circuit at Liverpool. The delay is unfortunate; I will write to him at once.”- He sat down at a writingâ€"table, and his pen flew over the paper, but the writing was like copper-plate. One, two, three sheets Were rapidly filled in as many minutes, and the letter closed. He had written the name on the envelope, “John Trevor,” and was adding the address when a knock came to the door. “Come in!” he cried impatiently, glancing back over his shoulder; then suddenly, with a cry of pleasure, he leaped from his seat. A wellâ€"built man of about forty- five years of age, with strong, honâ€" est face, cleanâ€"shaven, firm mouth, and shrewd, grey eyes, stood at the door. . ‘ “You come upon a wish, Trevor,” Ardel said, heartily Welcoming him. "How curiously those things happen! I was just writing to you; I hadn’t fisnished the address on the enveâ€" lope." I “May I read it?” Trevor asked gravely. “May! You must read it at once. It’s something I am anxious about.” There was a look of appeal in Ardel’s face as the shrewd eyes, well used to documents, ran rapidly over the letter, missing no word. Then the frank, grey eyes wore raised to the anxious dark ones with a look of kindly admiration. _ “Of course,” said Trevor heartily. “I think I can answer for Eva. as well as for myself. She wants just such a girl as you describe to help her .with the little onesâ€"a girl who would be a companion to her now that I am so much away, a friend, a younger sister; some one she could love. It’s Eva’s nature to love, as you know. But are you quite sure of this girl's story, Ardel?” "Quite sure.” “You learned it fromâ€"â€"â€"’ "The girl herself." “I don’t understand. You here she is still unconscious.” “Don't mind understanding then; best believe. Can’t you trust. me?” “Of course I can, and do; but I must say, for a sceptic, Ardel, you sometimes manifest a most generous faith." ' ' "You know my creed and practice: be as happy as you can; make others ! write E vacated Kidney Buffered Greatly From Baokache, Sleeplessness and Headacheâ€" New Enthusiastic in Praising One feature of kidney disease ‘is the gradual loss of flesh' and wasting sway of the tissues of the body. Slowly and surely the victim feels strength and vigor ebbing away and realizes his awful condition. The following letter suggests a remedy which has brought back health and happiness to thousands of sufferers from kidney disease. Mr. William E. I-Iulditch, Port Robinson, Ont., states:â€" "I was for several years a great sufferer from kidney trouble from which dread disâ€" ease I am now happily free. I had all the usual symptoms in an aggra- vated degree and at times was comâ€" letely incapacitated with pains in hé back, biliousness and headache. I had little or no appetite, insomnia esulted' and my condition was realâ€" wreichc-d. I became emaciated ,md grew despondent and hopeless of relief as I had taken treatment from doctors N no avail. I u “Finally 3n the advice of a friend, misery this young lifel pendent on you to save or lose! This DH _ y i as happy as you can: for youth and life go by quickly, and never come back. But there is no credit for faith here, Trevor. I believe in the girl because I know.” “And I take your word for her most willingly; so that’s settled.” "I hope Eva will be pleased.” “I know she will be delighted. Now it’s my turn; I have a request to make too." i “I consent beforehand, whatever it. is, said Ardel. smiling. “A re- quest from you is a rarity.” “Mind, I hold you to your word. You dine with Eva and myself at Lavella to-morrow. Have you forâ€" lgotten that toâ€"morrow is your birth- day?” Vivian Ardel’s face darkened, om- inously. ‘ “I have not forgotten it,” he said; “I wish I could. I hate the thought.” His earnestness startled his friend. “You, of all men, Ardel!” he cried; “whose life is and sunshine. and memories than pleasant ones can birthdays have for you?” r road is so 1: “It is because the pleasant, Trevor, that I hate the milestones. It’s because life is so happy that it hurts me to be remind- ed how much I have already spent-â€" how little is left to spencl.' But don’t mind me; it’s a relief to break out like that sometimes. There, the fit is over now. .I should be delightâ€" ed, of course, to spend the day with you and Eva. But my girlâ€"â€"â€"” "Eva will come to town for her 'early.” . “That would be perfect. Eva’s face and voice will win her heart at once. But are come?” “Certain. She was coming in any case for London shopping, and to carry you off by force, if my diploâ€" macy failed.” _ ' Ardel kept his friend for the even- ing, and they dined luxuriously on a dinner of the host’s designing. Tre- vor enjoyed himself as the ordinary man enjoys good wine and food; but he lacked the keen, appreciative pleasure of the other, whose every sense ministered to his delight. After dinner they sat smoking at the window, looking out on the moonlit river, on whose dim waters the boats moved hither and thither, phantom-like, trailing black shadows. They smoked for a while in silenceâ€" the pleasant, restful silence of close comradeship. Ardel broke it first. "How did you get back so soon?” he asked. “The Over.” you sure she can assizes are not "No; but I had to leave. You re- member I am engaged to defend the young swell Wickham, who is chargâ€" ed with murdering his sweetheart. It’s to be tried here in London, but the day is not yet fixed. I came back for that. They gave me an enormous fee in the case, but no fee pays for the worry of mind." “I should think not; a life in your hands! a man’s life, the one priceless, unpurchasable treasure, deâ€" Wickhain, I hear, is young, rich, and handsome, with all the enjoymenis of the world before himzâ€"or the grave. It’s a vor. horrible responsibility, Treâ€" Can you get him off? “I cannot say. The evidence is circumstantial merely. But I never knew a chain so close and strongâ€"â€" each link welded to the next.” “Is he innocent?” “I cannot tell you that, either. I But I always believe innocent while I’m de- fending them. I couldo’t put my whole heart into the defence if I didn‘t. But in this case the general think he is. my clients Dr. Chases Kidneyulluer Pills. I began using Dr. Chase’s Kidney- Liver Pills, and, after using a few boxes I was again enjoying health and vigor as the worst symptoms had entirely passed away. When I think of my present good health in comparison with my miserable conâ€" dition of three years ago I would not go back to my former state for any amount of money. I may be. considered enthusiastic over Dr. Chase’s Kidneyâ€"Liver Pills, but, con- sidering the benefit derived from them, I have every reason to be!” Acting, as they do, directly on the liver, kidneys and bowels, .Dr. Chase’s Kidneyâ€"Liver Pills inayre purity of the blood, good circulation and perfect condition of the diges- tive organs. One pill a. dose, 9i cents a. box, at all dealers,» or Ed- nianson, Dates 6:. 00., Toronto. To protect you against imit Hons. flu, portrait and " stuns 0 Dr. A. W. Cir-gee, the fa“ bug (at:th My! mgr, are on wary box of his rm dlC': I”; ' current of opinion I l . - his reason. so full of ha .anSS What other 13.13% You loathe murder; so do I. I l is strongly the other way.” , "Well, I hope sincerely that he will escape.” ‘ “If he is innocent, you mean?” "Innocent or guilty, I hope he’ll get off.” Trevor looked at him in surprise, for he spoke very earnestly.- “I cannot understand you at all, Ardel,” he said, at last. “I thought, of all men living, you valuâ€" ed human life highest and most ab- horred murder.’ ’ “So I do; I hate all murders. But I believe I hate judicial murder most of all, as the most deliberate and the most revolting. We cannot get back the life that is lost. Why deâ€" stroy another, with all its wonders, all its possibilities, for the sake of a mere senseless vengeance?_ It is such blind savagory, such disgusting ‘ presumption, in man to ruin what he is so helpless to restore.” “I feel just like that myself when I see the prisoner in the dock, his face ashen grey and his eyes wild with the agony of fear. Then I would give my own right hand to save him, innocent or guilty. But in cooler moments my reason tells me it is Well the murderer should die.” "Don’t listen to then,” said Ardel vehemently, "for it is wrong. If a man’s heart and brain are sound and work together, his feelings are a better guide than They are his own real your reason, But that does not justify the murder of the murdererâ€"the cruel, remorse- less quenching of that wonderful It revolts me even to think of it. ()h, it is a mercy we can but dimly realize what death means. Our life, vigorous in heart and brain, rich in thought and memâ€" ' and keen, conscious enjoyment, recoils at thé horrible glimpses it catches now and again of oblivion. If we could but manage to prolong or renew our lives in this beautiful world of ours, we need not envy the myths they call angels.” “Yet you were quite ready to risk this precious life of yours no later than this smiling at friend. “There was no risk; not the very least. I took every precaution against even the passing trouble of a chill. But I’ll be quite frank with you, Trevor. I believe even if there wore a risk I would have done the same. Didn’t I say just now our feelings, our impulses should govern us, and not our reason? It was an overmastering, unreasoning impulse that sent me into the water without thought of danger. I’m glad it is so. Life itself would not be worth having if one lived in constant ter- ror of losing it. It is a delight to me to think that I have given back to this girl her life and youth, with all its possibilities, with all its cer- tainties of enjoyment in this best of all possible worlds. A Godâ€"if there were a Godâ€"could do no more for her.” “Steady there, Trevor, gravely. work under God. If it gives happiâ€" ness to help others,” he went on, with deep feeling in his voice, “you should be the happiest man on God’s earth toâ€"day." “I am, ’l‘revor, no man happier. All my life things have gone well with me. I have health, wealth and thing, life. cry, and hope, said Trevor, rhapsody of his morning,” this Ardel,” interposed "Be content to success. Better still, I have that keen relish for all forms of enjoy- ment alikeâ€"the simplest and the highestâ€"which makes mere living to me a continual delight. But now and again, and more often of late, the thought grips my heart that -I must die and lose all. This hand”â€" he laid a strong, shapely hand on the tableâ€"“must turn into foul clay. This body of mine be crawled over by worms. Iyâ€"Vivian Ardelâ€"I that now speak to you with all my sen- ses, thoughts, hopes, with my all- abounding consciousness of life, will be no more than a few spadefuls of dull earth. The thing seems horrible, incredible; yet I know it must come.” “Why trouble with such thoughts? You are still young in years; you are younger than your years. A long and happy life stretches out beâ€" fore you.” "Why trouble? Because I cannot help troubling. The thought of death begins to force itself upon me. The best half of my life is gone. I will be thirty toâ€"morrow. I have twenty years more. After fifty the wine of life is gone and only the lees remain. You see, I have made careful calculation of my treasure." "Don’t frighten a fellow, Ardel. Remember I’m not so far oil? from fifty myself. Surely a. man can make himself comfortable after fifâ€" ty?” “Comfortable, yes; py, after a fashion." “I mean to be as happy as I can I assure you, while I live, if I should, as I hope, live to a bunâ€" drec.” "But the shadow of the approachâ€" ing doom will grow daily heavier as it draws nearer and nearer. As it is, I feel I have climbed the hill, and my thoughts, in spite of me, run on before to the bottom, where death waits, inevitable. Those few pleas- ant hours you and I have spent to- gether have brought us nearer to it." “You don’t believe in another and better life, Ardel, worse luck for you. I am not what you call a re- ligious man myself, but that hope is and eve hap- .firm in me.” «"No, I don’t believe in a better life. I don’t want a. better life. I can conceive none better. To live this life in this world for all time _â€"_â€"â€"_â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"- is the utmost limit of my desire.” "Have you forgotten your Swift and his immortal, decrepit, miser- able struldbrugs‘?” “Swift was a very clever fellow, but the argument he embodied in his struldbrug was no more than an in- genious sophistry. Immortals couldn’t grow old. Eternal decrepiâ€" tude is absurd. Immortal youth is the only immortality that is con- ceivable. To stop the wear and tear of. the body in youth, or renew its forces, is the. only way to live for ever.” r "You surely don’t believe in the elixir of life?” broke in Trevor, laughingly. ' “No; I had some notions of that kind when I was a boy of fifteen. I even went through the old books and tried all the old experiments and some new ones. But'I quickly grew 'out of that folly, of cou‘rse. The thing is utter folly. That so many clever men believed in it and spent their life~in pursuit of it is only a proof how intense and overmastering was the wish that mastered their reason anti compelled belief. , “The very best of those human clocks which we call our bodies is made to go for a hundred years or so. It runs down in the end, and we cannot wind it up again. The machinery is worn out. we can make it last a little longer by care, or a great deal shorter by carelessness. But we cannot alter the works or re.- new, them: ’Wc can prevent the maâ€" chine breaking down, but we cannot stop it from wearing out. I myself haVC found effective remedies. for most of the diseases our flesh is heir to. It is possible, I believe, to_find' remedies‘for them all. But for old age there is no cure.” “Then there 'is‘ no way out of it?” Trevor had been gradually captivatâ€" ed, in spite of himself, by his friend’s earnestness and by the eternal inter- est of the subject. "We must onâ€" dure what we cannot cure.” “I am not so sure of that,” anâ€" swered Vivian, with a strange look in his dark eyes. “We may perhaps borrow what we cannot make. But that is only a vague dream that haunts me at odd-times; born, I dare say, of the intense longing for life. “How the time has gone by!" he broke off abruptly; "in another hour I will be thirty years of ageâ€"an- other year of life gone. You train. Eva will be anxious.” do it in twenty minutes. glad you spoke. How time flies!” ed in a moment. vor,” he said bade his friend good-night in courtyard, Eva here at two o'clock.” "Two o’clock, we shan’t fail,” SHAKY smiles. Sufferers from Nervous Troubles" Are In a State of Continuomp Tortureâ€"Suggestions as to How the Trouble Can be Overcome. When your nerves are shaky you!‘ Selfâ€"control is shatteredâ€"your will power is broken. Sudden sounds startle you; your temper is irritable: your ness in your knees; your skin is pale and parched; you are restless at. night and tired when you wake. If. all com-es from nervous cxhaustion,. perhaps due to OVCl'Wol‘k and worry, late hours, hot days, and want ot‘ blood. Dr. Willians’ Pink Pills i: the only cure. They make new, rich blood. They brace up jangled nerves and strengthen tired backs. They give health and energy to (lull, Weary, despondent men and women, Strong proof is offered in the case of Mrs. Wm. Westcottu, of Seaforth, Ont.. who suys:â€"â€"“For a long time my health was in a bad state. '1 was subject to headaches, dizziness and nervous exhaustion. My appew tite was poor, and I was so badly. run down 1 could not stand the least} exertion. I ‘tried several. medicines and consulted different doctors, but they did not help me any} One. of my neighbors strongly urged me to try Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills, and be- fore the second box was finished the turning point for the better had been reached, and by the time I had used a half’ dozen boxes, to the surprise of my friends and neighbors I was again enjoying good health, and have since been strong and well. I do not know anything to equal Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills when the sys- tem is run down.” What the pills have done for oth- ers they will do for you, if you will give them a fair trial. Sold by all medicine dealers, or sent post paid at 50‘ cents a box or six boxes for $2.50. by addressing the Dr. Williy, ams Medicine 00.. Broclwille, Ont. â€"lâ€"_+â€"...__._ SOME FAMOUS BUT CHERS . ___.__ Many Great Men Where Connected With the Trade. It may be consoling to butchers must to know, as an interesting historical 100k Sharp. Trevor. ‘50 catCh your fact that their trade has perhaps giv- en birth to greater men than any oth- “I have half an hour yet, and Can or occupation in life. In ancient times But I am we find that in Athens, Lysicles, one of the greatest politicians in that “How time flies!” echoed his com- great city, was a butcher and cattle panion gloomily. But the cloud lift- dealen Caius Terentius Varro, the "Remember, Trcâ€" Roman Consul,.,a man of extraordinâ€" With a smile, as he ary eloquence and ability, wire was the unanimously elected by the Romans "1‘ shall expect you and to command an army of 120,000 men to fight Hannibal, but who was defeated by him at Carina in 117 Trevor cried. as he leaped into his 13.0., was the son of a butcher. When hansom, and was through the noise and glare of crowded streets. -(To be continued.) naive. chases ‘ ‘ GATllfiliH suns Is 52:1: direct to the diseased parts by the Improved Blower. Heals the ulcers, clears the alt passages, stops droppin s in the throat and permanent y cures Catarrh and Hay Fever. Blower free. All dealers. or Dr. A. W. Chase . Medicine Co.. Toronto and Buffalo: _________â€"__. lYIl’Y HE CELEBRA‘TED. An old Britisher _ who had been in which he resided. had lived years, his dislike and contempt the land of the Stars and Stripes, its people and its Government, public property. He lost no opporâ€" tunity, in fact, of s‘showing his C'Olllâ€" tempt. '(lq'eat sun-prise, therefore, was felt annong the citizens when, on the morning of the fourth of July, the 110ch of the Britislhor was seen to be dressed in flags from roof to basicaupnt. A brass banild played nip- an illJe balcony and a dozen seilvants Were firing off crackers. A huge crowd gathered, amid thinking the Englishman bald repented of his dis- like to America and was joining in wiiih Almeria-aims in honoring the day on which they became independent of Britain}, they cheered him vociferous!- ly. Finally, a newspaper mam rushed forward and exelaimdd, . “Whll, . ma~ jor, so you’ve come to think well of the Stars and Stripes, eh?” “Na'ry bit of it,” was the retort; “this little show of mine is got up to celebrate the day on which the old country got rid of you!" â€"‘ . P'IG SKIN CYCLE TIRES. Mr. John Muir, of Leitih, Scot- lalnld, announces that he has invent- ed a process whereby tanned pigâ€" slk-ins are moxie available as a Slu'b- stilliute for rubber for tires. The pig- skin-s so treated are sltlated to Wear longer than rubber. anal Mr. 'Mluir is said ’00 halve sdld fihe Aimericaln rights of his process'for $5,000,000. .___._+._.__,_ VERY PRECIOUS. The German Emperor has sent to the'H'O'he'nzollern Museum at Berlin a small piece .of bark, which, as is announced by the label attached to it, was used by His Majesty to bin the Empress' arm in the absenbe of medical aid when Her Mlajesty met with an accident-in Gruenwalid on March 27th last; from her horse. Although Whirled away the celebrated White Ship went down tho with the future King of England, in 1120, one man alone, Berol-d, a butcher of Rouen, was saved. Cardinal Wolsey, Lord High Chan- cellor of England and Papal Legate to Henry VIII., was the son of an Ipswich butcher. The sons of the greatest noblemen in the land were his servants. and he ruled England for twenty years. The immortal Shakespeare, the greatest poet the World ever knew, was likewise the son of a butcher and draper, and 'was even, when young, apprenticed to the trade forl a while. Daniel Defoe. author of "Robinson I an Officer in our “Willy was a “"011â€" Crusoc,” was a butcher’s son; so too known character in the lllC-S'telln City was Mark Akenside, M.D.. author of . g} . _ . he “Pleasures of Imagination.” Father m “0 Uty I01 t‘“01}'ly Hrolilbtur, whose miracles are widely 01 known in Austria, and who was a particular friend of the Emperor, were was a butcher in early life. Dick Turpin, the [noted highway- man, Arthur Orton, the Tichborne claimant, and Dick Short. the noted Cork Fenian, were all butchers. as was also Legendre. the famous Paris patriot of the Revolution. _._‘L__+â€"_._â€"~ SICKLY BABIES. â€". Weak, sickly babies are a great; trial to mothers. They need con~ itant care both night and day and soon Wear the mother out. Baby’s little stomach is the cause of most of the trouble; it is very weak, and in consequence ‘ very easily upset. Baby’s Own Tablets will cure all baby troubles. They are. mildly laxatiVe and give prompt relief. Con- cerning them Mrs. R. J. Balfour, Omemee, Ont., says: “I have used Baby’s Own Tablets for stomach troubles and constipation from which my little girl suffered and they en- tww falling I tirely cured her. They produced sound, refreshing sleep, and I regard them as indispensible in any where there are little ones." Mothers from all parts of Canada. write in favor of Baby’s Own Tab~ lets, proving the claim that they are the very best medicine for all the minor ills of infants and young chilâ€" dren. Guaranteed to 'contain no opiate. Price 25 cents a box at all druggists or direct from The Dr. W‘illiams’ Medicine 00., Brockville, Ont. __.â€"+ INSULT TO INJURY. has just an‘rive’d |A postcard Vienna which took nearly six year! . to t-ralvel from Lembdrg, a distance of about 500 miles. The postal rates on inland cards 'liiav'ing in thi meantime been raised, the Posltofl'l'a actual-1y fined the receiver don-bi: this deficiency in the postings. hands tremble; there is weak~ - home . ‘ "(Wynéw‘v-e ,I’“ . « n»- ‘h - 9- urlvvzrfi‘.‘ â€"~. o. .(-,.,_ _. «AAT‘flZCsYJW‘: who : 'JAWfihthJ'rf-r‘ : 5“ vmҤ{.;rW~ . 9,4 : 6% 3.4.11. p. 553% ~§ 4, - w 1" 2 liv‘ _ u... ,._.. Ya .; .tu;.,~,..~..ra- 42" «.d , 1,, ,h, 1‘s... _..~_..,1». J. . “0!. I H»... ’. r. 7 ii ’3: \ i A ~'-\-. .~ .. 1, . as.“ . 1 w).- ‘ «5:35. 1.4â€"; -‘x,