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l l x l l Vaniaâ€"um -hmm Cl'IAPTER .XV. Six months have gone by leWIY. sadly, yet not without solace for the bitter pain of their first great sorrow. The last days of golden September saw Ardel and Judge Tre- Vor, Lucy and Leannette all assemblâ€" ed in Ardel’s beautiful country place of SilV‘erlake, in Woldshire. Harry Trevor was the last to ar- rive at the rendezvous, having spent the summer in Northern Canada. Hel Was surprised to see Colonel Wick- ham at breakfast next morning; surâ€" prised, not pleased. “I thought there Were to be strangers. Vivian?” he said. “But Wickham is not a stranger, you know. He is one of ourselves, in a way. Don’t you like him, Har- ry?” “Do you?” “Oh, yes; in a kind of a way. I think no fellow could help liking him; he is so bright and pleasant. The only fault I have to find with him is that he is so infernally grateâ€" no 'ful. He fancies I saved his life, you know. That is, of course, beforeâ€"” He stopped confused, with the sha- dow of pain and perplexity on his face, that always showed whenever he stumbled on any allusion to the former life that lay hidden far beâ€" hind the black wall of oblivion. . It passed in a moment as he glancâ€" ed again to where Colonel Wickham sat beside Lucy. “They’ll make a handsome couple, won’t they, Harry?" he whispered. “It’s as good as settled, I believe. He has been spooning on Lucy this dozen years or more. When he ask- ed straight out for an invitation I couldn’t, under the circumstances, re- fuse him; now could I?" 'l-larry Trevor made no answer to this appeal. If he had any opinion on the subject he kept it to himâ€" self. Ardel's attention was turned away by some saucy question of Jean- nette’s, and he did not notice the sudden chill that had fallen on his friend’s cheerfulness. After breakfast he carried him off to view the house and grounds. It was a Wonderful placeâ€"a perâ€" fect place. One of those spacious, stately English mansionâ€"houses, Which make the pleasantest homes in the world. , Dr. Ardel, a quarter of a century before, had purchased the place from its noble owner, who had already dissipated a huge fortune in the low- est form of dissipation, and who in two years squandered the quarter of a million he got for Silverlake in the congenial company of horse jock- eys, boxers, and curtesans, and shot himself when the money ran out. During what may be called Ardel’s second minority, the place had been carefully looked after for him by Judge Trevor, and about a year ago he had chosen it for his home. The library and the billiardâ€"room Wore as citadcls against the attacks of bad weather or boredom. Many a cosy hour he had dreamed aWay in the library on the cosy couch between the oriel windows with Shakespeare, Scott, 01‘- Thack~ eray, or Dickens, who had come to him, one. after the other, as revelaâ€" tions. v But. if the plain truth be told, Ar- del's favorite room was the great gymnasium, constructed and arranged under his own directions, where he loved to tempt his friends to speedy discomfiture. In some curious. undefi‘n able way ~ rr r‘ Tr vor betra 'ed ev r and Haul e . 3.. ,. 0 1., of the scene, again a curious familiallty With ‘5 lsmoothly by in this beautiful place, while to Ardel house and grounds, {they had the delightful novelty of young proprietorship. “I have kept this II‘Iarry,” Ardel said, as he threw op- 'en the door of the great gymnasium; “it is all of my own devising." Ardel touched an electric button, :and swinging trapezes came down 'from great crossbcams in the ceil~ ing, automatically coiling themselves back again at a second touch of the for the last, livery knob. I "Ingenious, isn’t I . with a boy’s delight in the contriv- it?” he asked, once. . Harry Trevor professed himself. de- lighted with all he saw, but declined smilineg an alluring invitation to have just one turn with the feds or the gloves before lunch. For an uneventful week life wont and its placid surface gave no sign of the troubled passions that .were stirring in its depths, for H} all hearts but one there ached at times vague hopes and unsatisfied longing. That Ardel Was frankly in love with bright-eyed, frolicsome Jean- nette was plain to everyone, not ex- cepting the gay little beauty herself; though he flattered himself he 1nd his feelings with consummate diplomacy. It were hard to say what prec1seâ€" ly were Jeanneatte's feelings toâ€" wards her middleâ€"aged adorer, W1th whom she was on terms of easy faâ€" miliarity, or towards her young playâ€" mate, Harry Trevor, of whom she was, in her secret soul, slightly afraid. ’ “1 think I like Dr. Ardel best with my eyes shut, and Harry best With my eyes open; the one is so charm- ing and the other so handsome,” she once innocently confessed to Lucy. But in Harry Trevor’s heart the strain of conflicting passion was fiercest of all, though his strong will kept them under, showing no Sign. The 1st of October always an eventful date at Silverlak, proved one of those rare and lovely autumn days which spring, at its best, can- not rival. . For three days before Ardel, who had of late grown restless and excit- ed, and no longer found a quiet, whole-hearted contentment in his sports, was wild at the approaching prospect of the pheasantâ€"shooting. Even John Trevor, whom Ardel had, with difficulty, persuaded to be of the party, felt a faint return of youthful eagerness in the still, keen morning air. Colonel Wickham vainâ€" ly strove to hide the strange, stealâ€" tliy excitement that possessed him. The youngest of the party of four Was the quietest. As for Ardel, his eagerness knew no bounds. He could not wait for the pheasants, but blazed away right and left, at every wild thing of the woods that came in sight. Stepping out, at last, on a high, clear upland, they came to the real work of the morning. Around them, on all sides, wooded slope and val- ley; island, isthmus, and promontory of dark green, touched with gold and purple, shone glorious in the risen sun. . But there was little thought of Nature's beauty in the gamekeeper’s business-like question, “Now, gentle- men, whero do you please to plant you rselves? ’ ’ The question was asked in that conscious pride of superior knowledge for the man knew that none of the party had shot the covers before. But Harry Trevor, who alone had been wholly absorbed in the beauty answered hastily, flhyâ€"éfiore That Not Heal. Any Ulceration, Eruption or Irritation of the Skin is Gurable by Means of Dr. Chase’s Ointment. no guesswork about the Dr. Chase’s There is results obtainable from Ointment. With all medicines taken internal- ly there is more or less uncertainty as to the effect, because the condition may not be exactly as indicated by the symptoms, but if you have a sore or wound and apply Dr. Chase’s Ointment and heal it you can see with your own eyes the definite re- sults. It is because of the certain results accompanying the use of Dr. Chase’s Ointment that this great preparation has come to be standard the world over. If a dealer offers you any other ointment, does he do so on its merits, or does he not rather try to [nuke a sale by saying “This is just Bates 8:, as good as Dr. Chase's?" As a. matter of fact, Dr. Chase’s Ointment is now so universally used that few dealers mything else when a cure is sought for eczema, salt rheum, old sores or piles. There is scarcely a town, vil- lage or side line in this whole land but can point to some case in which Dr. Chase's Ointment has made a: remarkable cure. ' While this ointment is best knowu on account of its extraordinary suc- cess in curing the most torturing skin diseases and the most distress- ing forms of piles, it is also useful Iin scores of ways in every home for the cure of scalds, burns, wounds, old sores, chafing, skin irritation, sore feet, pimples, rough skin and everything for which an_antiseptic, soothing treatment is needed. Dr. Chase's Ointment, 60 'cents a box, at all dealers, or Edmanson, I Company, Toronto. To protect you against imitations the portrait and signature of Dr. A. W. Chase, the famous receipt book au- think of offering thor, are on every box of his reme- dies. nox, if you don’t mind." The gamekeeper turned on him a quicklook of surprise. “The Butâ€" cher‘s Shop" was the name given by Ardel, in grim jest, after a big and bloody battue more than twenty years ago, to a certain specially hot corner; and the name still stuck But how did this .beardless b‘o‘y, fresh from Eton, come to know of it?, Ardel himself was bewildered. “ ‘The Butcher's Shop,‘ ” he cried; “what the deuce do you mean by ‘The Butcher’s. Shop,’ Harry?" “The young gent is right, sir, the gamekeeper interposed; “ ’e knows what ’e’s about. It's as hot a corâ€" nor as there is. Not but I can put you in a better one,” he whispered aside to Ardel, with an expert's de- sire to give the best stand to the best shot. Presently, the four sportsmen were at their stands, each with their hammerless breechâ€"loaders ready for use and an under-keeper to load and hand them as required. Then the “sport” began, and the stillness of the morning woods was desecratch with discordant clamour. Trevor stood where the wood ran to a sharp angle, with his gun poised ready and finger on the triggerâ€" guard, ears strained, and eyes glanc- ing to the right and left. Far away, he heard the clamouring of the woods, still softened by the distance. Then his quick ear caught, close at hand, a faint rustle in a long, thick tongue of halfâ€"withered ferns, that stretched from the wood's edge in front of him. A frightened bit‘d, creeping silently and swiftly from the clamour of the woods, had reached the limit of the shelter. The ready gun was at the sportsâ€" man's shoulder, his keen eye glanced betwoen the barrels, the harsh re- port burst loud upon the still air instantly, and the beautiful, gorge- ous, live creature struck earth, with a dull thud~a tumbled heap of torn flesh and rumpled feathers. “Mark cock to the right!" a beat- er's voice sang out, and Trevor saw a pheasant gliding high over the lustrous Woodland, with quickâ€"beat- ing wings and long tail pendant. Then, all at once, the full flight be- gun. The frightened pheasants flutâ€" tered and flew right and left, from the woods, thickly as a flight of startlings, crossing and reâ€"crossing in bewildered and bewildering con- fusion. 7: Bang! bang! bang! The guns rang out incessantly, as quick as keeper could load or sportsman fire, till all the ground was cumbered with slaughtered birds, fluttering or dead. Then came a brief lull in the tuâ€" mult, while the boaters crossed on steppingâ€"stones a broad, shallow riv- ulet, that went gurgling through the wood. I-Ieretofore Trevor had been drunk with the keen excitement of the sportsman. This last exploit sober- ed him suddenly. All at once he realized what it all meant. “What brutes we are!” Harry Tre- vor murmured to himself; “what a brute I am! The wild beasts we call savage are gentle in comparison with us.” “I’ve done my murdering for day,” Trevor said, and he handed the keeper the gun. “You are not going to knock off like that, sir,” he remonstrated, "and you done so well. One miss shouldn't put you out of heartâ€"a long shot too, and you gave him his share of it, what’s more. He'll never get up again, I’ll swear. Why, we were bound to,have the best bag of the party, if you kept on as you began. except the master, maybe, who never misses a shot, good or bad." But Trevor was proof against reâ€" monstrance or encouragement. The keeper looked after him disconsolato- ly as he tramped off rapidly through the woods. Even the sovereign that came to him with the gun could not console him for the sudden break- down of the sport. . Trevor was startled, as though his warm thoughts had found an embodi- ment, when, breaking through the wood's edge out on one of the love- liest walks that traversed the deâ€" mesne, he came suddenly face to face with Lucy R’ay, not twenty paces away, walking quietly towards him. At sight of him she started, ' but in a moment she put her sadness off, and lips and eyes smiled a greeting that was too elder-sisterly in its placid kindliness. “You startled me, Harry. I thought you were with the shooting party.” “I sickened of the slaughter, Lucy, and came away.” “I don't wonder. I never could understand men. Call killing amuseâ€" ment! Surely there is enough of death in the worldâ€"death and trouâ€" ble.” “Of trouble, Lucy? It is not like you to talk so or look so,” for her eyes were misty with tears and her lips quivering. “Tell me what the trouble is. Perhaps I can help you.” “You would not understand in the least, Harry." “Let me try." There was power as well as feeling in his voice, which made her forget his age for a moment. Besides she was frightened a little and longing for sympathy and counsel. “Indeed you cannot help me, Har- ry,” she said hesitatingly. “There is no one I can talk to of this. I could not bear to Worry your father with my troubles. Jeannette is only the a baby, and you-â€"" ‘ “You know at-least I am a friend. ’ Give inc a chance. you if I can.” I'll help The compelling earnestness in his voice conquered. “It is Colonel Wickham," she falâ€" almost before she, know. “No, no,” she added hastily, frightâ€" ened by the angry flush that came to the face of her companion. “You must not think ill of him. Harry: inâ€" deed you must not. lie is pressing me to be his wifeâ€"that is all. I should not speak of this at all, but I must finish now that I have begun. He asked me fifteen years ago, and I told him then, as I tell him now, it could never be. But he would take no denial; he will take no denial. It pains me to hurt him, and I can see it does hurt him to be refused. He has never slackened in his suit, mak- ing his determination plain even when he refrained from speaking. He grows more and more. pressing as the years go by. Yesterday he al- most frightencd me.” “Frightened you, Lucy?" “He urged me so hard that I drop- ped some word about Dr. Ardel. I hardly know what, .but he took it up at once, all wrong. He blazed out with sudden anger. I had never seen him so before. ‘So you love Ardel!’ he hissed out. ‘I thought ’as much; the old fool who has come to his second childhood, and who dotes like a moon calf on that little black-eye. minx Jeannette. He is my rivalâ€"is he? Let him look to himself then. I will let no man living stand beâ€" tween you and my love.’ Then he saw how frightened I was, and in one moment he cooled down to his own self, all courtesy and gentle tered out, ness.” “ ‘Forgive me Miss Ray,” he pleaded, ‘and forget what I have said. Indeed I hardly know myself what I have said. The thought of losing you, the thought of yielding you up to another, drives me mad.’ You see I tell you his folly as he spoke it, Harry. But he was ever so kind about Dr. Ardel afterwards. ‘You know he saved my life,’ he said, ‘saved me from the most ter- rible of all deaths. I would be a brute beast if I were not grateful. 'If indeed there were no hope for me, Ardel is the one man living to whom I could wish success.’ He spoke so gently and so sadly that I could not help pitying him for this folly that has spoiled his life." “What did you say to him about Ardel that set him flaming?” young Trevor asked with eager irrelevancy. “I tell you I hardly knowâ€"that the only touch of love I had ever known was for Dr. Ardel; nearly twenty years ago I meantâ€"â€"" But Trevor would not let her fin- ish. He seemed curiously elated to hear his rival thus spoken of. “It was the. old Dr. Ardel tnen that you loved?” he broke in impatiently. “If it were possible thatâ€"â€"” A shot rang sharply out... a hunâ€" dred yards behind them, followed .by a cry of surprise and dismay. Turning sharply round they saw Dr. Ardel and Colonel Wickhamâ€" their guns in their handsâ€"break from the woods on either hand and meet in the centre of the path. The two spoke for a moment together, and then Ardel’s cheery laugh was hear-d. “A lucky escape, Wickham," he cried out, “a miss is as good as a mile.” “What has happened?” Harry Tre- vor asked as he and Lucy hurried back together., He noticed that Wickham looked shameâ€"faced, and Ardel excited. $2: E E and every form of itching, blocdingand protruding pile», the manufacturers have guaranteed it. see te‘s timonials in the daily press and ask your neigh- bom whatthey think oflt. You can use it and get your money back if not cured. We a box. all all dealers or EDHANSON,DATES 55 0-0., Toronto. EiriChase’s @intment To prove to you she'd Dr. Chase's Ointment is a certalr and absolute cure for each “Hallo! where did you two drop from?” Ardel answered. “Oh! no- thing happened; something was near happening; that’s all. Don't look so down in the mouth about it, old man,”â€"-this to Wickhamâ€""accidents will happen in the best regulated family. This was the way of it, Harry: Wickham was a .bit riled that I beat him at the pheasants. He laid me a wager if we walked home without the heaters, each on his own side of the wood, he would get more on the journeyâ€"fur or feaâ€" thersâ€"than I would. I took him up, of course. Mind I’ve won the bet, Wickham,’ he cried out inter- rupting himself, “the cap don’t count, you know. Well, it was poor shooting enough, Harry. I picked up only a couple of birds, and Wickâ€" ham never got a shot until a few moments ago. Then he got a chance p at a pheasant I didn't see. .I was in a beastly ’ thick cover, but the shotscame closer than was com- forta-l).L-, clipping the twigs all around me. So I sang out, and stuck my cap on the top of my gun to let him know where I was. He mistook the cap for a bird, by Jove, and let drive straight at it andâ€"" He held up the capâ€"a brilliant Tamâ€"o’Shanter tartan. There was a jagged hole on one side where the charge entered; the other was torn to pieces by the scattering shot. “Lucky my head was not at home for that visitor," laughed Ardel, as if it were quite an every-day occur- rence to miss death by a hair’s breadth. Wickham, on the contrary, looked pale and terror-stricken, and Lucy's deep sympathy went out to him. "‘lton't call it chance," she said lCo., llrockville, Ont. Wm “ ‘The Butcher's Shop’ for me, Len-g Lucy. _ .. ._ ._. ._. "ha-.m- wmzw- “nun” nun .»M . » mv‘uwsumm munwv‘ p...... . . .' «kw-r .c A CURE FOR RHEUMATISM. ‘ Even the Most Stubborn Cases of this Painful Malady Can be Cured. Rheumatism is caused by acid in the blood. That. is an undisputed medical truth Liniments, outward applications can never cure what is rooted in the blood. A blood dis- ease like rheumatism must be cured through the blood. That is why rheumatism always yields like magic to Dr. .Williams' l’ink Pillsâ€"they actually make new, rich, red blood This new blood conquers the painful. poison, sweeps out the aching acid, soothes the nerves, loosens the mus- cles and'banishes rheumatism from the system. Proof of this is found in the case of Mr. Charles Leather- dale, a popular young dr'uggist's as- sistant of Tilbury, Ont. He says: “I know from personal experience that Dr. Williams? Pink Pills cure rheumatism, because they cured me of a severe attack that for months caused me many sleepless nights and painful days. I had tried a numâ€" ber of other niedicines,‘but they failed. Then I decided to give the pills a trial. Before I had finished the second box the pains began to leave me, and by the time I had taken two more boxes the pains were all gone, and I felt like a new man. That is more than six months ago and I have not had a twinge of rheu- matism since. It is my belief that a fair course of Dr. .Williams' Pink Pills will drive the most stubborn case of rheumatism out of the sysâ€" tem and as a result of my own ex- perience I cheerfully recommend them for this trouble." The pills cure all blood and nerve troubles such as rheumatism, sciati- ca, par'tial paralysis, St. Vitus' dance, anaemia, neuralgia, indiges- tion, headaches, backaches, kidney troubles, and the ailments that make the lives of so many women a source of almost constant misery. Imitations and substitutes are some- times ofi'ered, and the buyer should see that the fall name, “Dr. Williams Pink Pills for Pale People,” is printed on the wrapper around every box. If in doubt send direct to the Dr. .Williams' Medicine 00., Brocl- ville, Ont, and the pills will be mailed at 50 cents a box or six boxes for $2.50. reproachfully, when Ardel ended the story with a laughing triumph in his “luck.” "Don’t call it chance; it was the providence of God.” And Harry Trevor, who had listen- ed with impassive face, in his heart assented to her words, “Yes, it was the providence of God.” (To be conti -ued __._.+_,_,_._. S EN TEN C E L3 'fiLIL‘MO . Lies never walk alone. Toil is a foil against. temptation Service is the secret of smereign- tv. Heaven draws more than hell can drive. Sin is like seed, to cover it is to cultivate it. You cannot from its hook. The cross of Christ does not make the cross Christian. A mans work is the only thing separate s-in‘s bait that makes him of worth. The pigheadcd man is most likely to run with the herd. The devil is not losing any sleep over watch charm piety. The love of all can be. learned only from the Lord of all. It is‘hard to fight the tempter if you are feeding at his table. It is better to keep the Sabbath bright. than to keep it rusty. . Business depends more on keeping faith than on keeping books. I-i‘e who was without beginning of sin is without end of sympathy. The saint has the bible in his heart; the humbug wears it in his hat. The points of a sermon are little good unless they prick the conscience. You cannot preserve your piety by preserving it in a vinegar disposi‘ tion. ' You cannot escape the duties of character by talking about the diffi- culties of creed. ,thn a man makes friends only to use them, he makes them only to lose them. You cannot tell anything about the good a man is doing by the way he groans over it. -â€"â€"â€"-+-â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"- BABY’S FIRST TOOTIâ€"I. Every mother knows how much baby suffers while cutting teeth. Swollen, fender gums cause a fever-- ish., fi‘ctful condition som‘tinies seri- ously affecting baby’s health. This can be overcome, and the teething the use of Proof of this . process made easy by Baby's Own Tablets. is given by Mrs. J. Peckover, New Liskeard, Ont, who says: “I am the mother of six children and I can truthfully say that Baby's Own Tablets is better than any other medicine I have cx'er used for the ills of little ones. I can especially to commend them for teething children, and would advise all mothers to use them.” The Tablets cure all the minor ills from which infants and young child. ren suffer, and are guaranteed to contain no opiate or harmful drug. Sold by all medicine dealers or by "3 cents a box by writing mail at 1..- V . direct to the Dr, Williams" Me‘dicim