The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

1W -MWWW n. ..-.sr:<mm i it +o+o¢oso4~o¢o+o+o¢o+o+o +2 . . E : Outwmmg a = g t . ' A 3 : MODSICIH Arnmtc z, ‘2 «3 itovico‘tceoeoeoooeoeoc “Then I say that you are a liar," said Jules Arnotte. The Speaker was seated in a cafe in a certain toxvn somewhere near the Sahara. The settlement was situat- ed in a. district, by name Auteran, over which the French Government claims overseen-ship, and was under the local supervision of Jules Arâ€" notte, a gentleman of Portuguesse- .. cumâ€"French extraction. The Consul, for such was the title Arnotte enjoyed, was a crafty gen- tleman, who would stoop to any depth to gain his; ends. At this particular moment his company in the cafe consisted of two Englishmen and a number of other men whose nationality it would have been hard to discover; suflice it to say they were not British. The two Englishmen, Harry Fos- ter and Dick Ainslie, had arrived one day in Auteran, just as Englishmen do turn up in every corner of the earth. They had been in town for nearly a month, and in that time had become intimate with most of the townspeople. It, was to Harry Foster that the Consul, during a political argument, had addressed his unflattering re-' mark, and after a. moment's pause he repeated it again. ' Crack! Jules Arnotte was lying on the floor with Harry Foster standing over him and inviting him to insult him again. ‘ At length Arnotte stood to his feet, his face pale as death, save where a livid mark showed where Foster’s fist had been. “You shall pay for this, you ras- cal Englishman,” he hissed, and then he rushed from the cafe. The other customers sat round in silence. Inwardly they approved of Foster’s action, for Arnotte was genâ€" erally' disliked; but it was best to keep in with the Consul. so nobody applauded. - “I’m sorry I rlid that," murmured Foster; “I was too hasty.” “Yes; I should think we’d better clear out of this as quickly as posâ€" sible,” said Ainslie. “What say you?” “I’m agreeable,’ rejoined Foster. The two chums soon get their beâ€" longings together and made prepara- tions to start from the town. They decided to work through the forest to the westward and make their way to the coast. They left the town at nightfall, so that their departure occasioned no comment, for the good reason that there were no witnesses to it. The night was spent in a but about twelVe miles away. .By about midday on the marrow they were crossing the rocky plateau which marks the extreme western boundary of Autergn. Here they rested for a while and nartook of 7 ‘ their dinner. The ground about them was of a peculiar formation; many tiny cracks and fissures ran hither and thither. As Foster took out his pipe, it acâ€" cidentally fell from his grasp into one of the little crevices. It was too deep down for him to reach with his fingers, and, in consequence, he took out his clasp-knife and cut away the earth. While in the act of doing this a startled exclamation left his lips, which brought Ainslie to his side. ' " Together they peered at the earth which Foster’s knife had cut away, and then they stared at each other with wide-open eyes. “It's gold," muttered Ainslie, hoarsely. “Simply thick with it." Then, actuated by a common imâ€" pulse, both men began to dig up the earth all around them. Everywhere it was the sameâ€"gold, gold, and gold again. "Man, there's millions here," cried Foster, excitedly, “and it's ours, too, by all that’s lucky.” “One moment," said Ainslie; “how is it ours?" “Why, we have discovered it.” I “Yes, but discovery does not give possession. This land presumably belongs to the Government of France as represented here by Jules Ar- notte.” “Well, we can buy it," returned Foster, impatiently. “And give the game away at once,” rejoined Ainslie. “No one in their senses wiuld buy a piece of ground like this, all thesemilves from civilization,” unless there was some very good reason. You may depend upon it, were we to approach Ar- notte upon the subject of the pur- chase of it, the Wily fox would pre- tend to treat with us whilst he sent a messenger to find out why we wanted it, and then he would regret his inability to enter into an agree- ment with us. Six months afterâ€" wards he would resign his enviable post and go to Paris and live in the .lap of luxury. No, Harry; we’ve got to think of a plan to circumvent Monsieur Arnotte.” The day was drawing to a close! when Ainslie suggested they should turn in and think over matters. The turningâ€"in consisted of wrapping themselves up in rugsâ€"one to sleep acquainted him with the success and the other to keep watch. turn and turn about. roused his companion. Foster sat for a few moments rubbing his eyes, then he turned excitedly to Ainslie. “I’ve got it,” he cried. "What do you think of this?” He forthwith briefly unfolded a plan, which he had concocted during his watch on the previous evening. "It’s a bit low down. don’t 'you think?” said Ainslie, when his chum had finished speaking. “I mean, I think it makes us look like a couple of swindlers.” "Only in Arnotte’s eyes, and that only for a short time,” cried Foster. “You see, as soon as he tries to make it public it will be at once dis- proved. and no one will believe him." ’ Eventually the plan was agreed up- I on, and the two friends retraced their steps back to the town, which they reached during the evening. Their return did not cause any surprise, for, as yet, no one had given much thought to their ab- sence. it being quite usual for townsâ€" ;men to be absent for a few days on lsome mysterious expedition into the interior; then they were usually Wealthy for a day or two, and there lwas mourning in some far-oil native village. It was part of the plan that negoâ€" tiations should be opened up with Arnotte, and for obvious reasons it was considered desirable that Ainslie, and not Foster, should conduct these The offices of the Government from [which the law was dispensed in Auâ€" [teran consisted of two villas, built -on raised iron foundations and con- nected by a glass-roofed passage. The office was the dargest building in ilhe town, and above it flew the Tri- color. ' At eleven o’clock the Consul en- tered his private office to transact his daily business, but Ainslie was before him and. was waiting. The Englishman sat cooling his heels unâ€" til halfâ€"past twelve, when the Consul signified his readiness to see him. “Good morning, Mr. Ainslie," said Arnotte, through the smoke of his cigarette. "What can I do for you?” “Give me the favor of a private interview with yon." I l Arnotte looked suspiciously for a (moment at his visitor, and in a seemingly thoughtless manner toyed with a revolver on his desk. He watched Ainslie as though he would divine his intentions, but the Eng- lishman’s face was like a mask. “Now, then, Mr. Ainslie, what is it you want?” “I want to enter into a little com- pact with you. You have doubtless heard that there is a good deal to be made out of mining: you know, company promoting and that sort of thing. Somebody finds a mine out in some unknown land, a company is formed, and the mine is sold to them; of course, there is a. lot of gold in the mine." Ainslie paused and solemnly winked at the Consul. "Ah!" said Monsieur Arnotte, whilst his heady eyes glittered. “We have discovered a wonderful mine," said Ainslie, and he once more winked at the Consul. The Consul winked at Ainslie. “Of course,” continued Ainslie, “if we could get a lease of the ground we would not mind paying the Gov- ernment a good price for it.” Here both men smiled, for Ainslie had ac- cented the word “Government.” “And,” he continued, “say 10 per cent. for yourself on the price we realize on the mine.” “Well, I see no oflicial reason why such a lease should not be granted,” said Arnotte. after a little consider- ation. “Where is your mine?" "On Thakre Plateau." “Ah!” said the some way in the interior; it will be awkward getting machinery there.” Once more he winked. "Shall we have an agreement drawn up, then?” asked Ainslie, Whilst- he smiled broadly. A map was produced, and an area, the bearings of which had been roughly taken by Foster and Ainslie the day before, was marked off by Ainslie in an apparently careless manner. A deed was then made out by which the land was secured to Ainslie for all time at the payment of £5 per acre; the land in question had an area of about. forty acres, but land was worthless at a distance of more than four of five miles from the town. Ainslie suggested a clause being put in the agreement to the effect that Arnotte was entitled to 10.per cent. ,of the amount realized on the sale of the property, but to this the wily Consul objected, not wishing.r his name to be on paper in such a manner. "No," he said. “I will rely on your honesty. Has it not been said that all Englishmen are honest even to a fault?" Thn agreement was signediby both the muzzle of a revolver held in Ainâ€" ers spd'en well of, praised. or c-un-l and she's hand. parties and duly witnessed stamped. handed over to the Consul, in the shape of a draft on n London bank- Ql‘ Arnotte. “I must congratulate you on your fortunate diseovery.” “Yes, I am indeed lucky," returned Ainslie. A sum of £200 was then' Consul. “It’s ' "Now the next thing to 'do," said Foster, “is to get Matthews out here. We had better telegraph for him." Matthews was a mining expert of considerable repute in London. He was very friendly with both Foster and Ainslie, and 'had told them, prior to their departure on the nomad tour, to let him know by cable if they discovered anything in his line. He added that he would be only too glad of a chance to join them, and, as he was empowered to treat for his firm (one of the largest mining syn- rllcates existing), they decided to send the cable as quickly as pos- sible. -This meant a two days' journey to the coast, which was accomplished by river one day and by train dur- ing the other. This brought them into English territory, from where they were able to send the telegram. The reply came on the following day to say that Matthews would leave by the first boat, which was due on the coast in about three weeks. The two Englishmen retraced their steps to Auteran, for they deemed it necessary to keep a watchful eye on Arnotte’s movements. The time seemed to go by on lead- en wings whilst Ainslie and Foster waited the coming of Matthews. Only once did they make any reference to the mine to Arnotte, and then Ainslie said that a mining engineer was on his way to inspect the mine; at the same time he winked vigorously and the Consul smiled. but inwardly that worthy gentleman rejoiCed in the fact that his time for revenge was draw- ing nigh, as he was still smarting under indignity of the blow from Harry Foster. Matthews arrived, and the trio proceeded at once to Auteran, and then on to the Thakre Plateau. In a few moments he was congratulatâ€" ing Foster and Ain'slie on their luck, pronouncing the find to be an imâ€" remained there for some time in close conversation with Arnotte. On the following day the Consul, accompanied by his visitors and a file of soldiers from the Legion, pro- ceeded to Thakre. Here they found a number of Kroo- men at work on the ground, whilst others were busy with the house, which was springing up with mar- vellous celerity. The threelhlnglishmen could be seen walking about and directing opera- tions. At the sight of them Arnott’s face darkened. and he turned to his visitors. “There are the men,” he said, “and this is the land that I sooke to you about." The civilians surveyed the ground with critical eyes; but Arnotte would not let them hesitate, and made all haste towards the spot where the three Englishmen were standing. “Halloa!” muttered Ainslie, “here's Arnotte with a crowd. What does lhe want, I wonder?” “Nothing of any good to us, I’ll be bound," replied Foster. At that. moment their visitors came face to face with them. “This is an unexpected pleasure. Monsieur Arnotte,” said Ainslie, with ironical courtesy. “So I anticipated," returned the Consul, a triumphant smile illumin- ing his face. “Permit me to intro- duce Monsieur de Stanton and Monâ€" sieur Lessac." . There was considerable bowing, and then the Consul continued speaking, the malicious triumph in his voice being visibly apparent. “These gentlemen are mining exâ€" perts sent down by the Government,” he said, whilst he watched the Eng- lishmen narrowly, expecting to see them cowod, but to his disappoint- ment his words had no effect on them. “They will proceed to make an examination of your so-called goldâ€"field. Meanwhile, you will con- sider yourselves under arrest.” He mensely I‘iCh "p00ket fieldL" AS the motioned to the sergeant, who stepâ€" g01d was all near the surface, WOI‘k" ped forward with his men and rang- a 'THE USE OF _l_i_[lllD Ul‘FIUES GREAT NATIONS AS PEACE MAKERS. But Mediation Sometimes Leads to Hostilities Between Powers. Although most. nations are 'sup- 'posed to be perpetually engaged in making mischief between other iStates, they are generally sorry !when it comes to a case of actual lwar. Our Government appears to ihave done its best to prevent ~'.the [war between Japan and Russia, and. lthe great ..Lendship that. has sudden- ly Sprung up between England . and France is partly due to their desire It!) become peacemakers as soon as ,the opportune moment arrives. ! International law recognizes , sev- jeral kinds of interference in the .conâ€" l-llicts of nations. The first stage is the offer of “good offices.” The Unit- ;ed States was anxious to use its Egood offices to stop the Boer War. :but Lord Salisbury politely declined them. . I Mediation is the second degree; but lbeforc it can come into p1ay,~both combatants must be willing to ac- cept it. Obviously, so long as ei- ther combatant sees a reasonable prospect. of victory, he does not want :mediation. Only when both are exâ€" hausted, have lost many men;.and are on the verge of national bank- Iruptcy, is mediation welcomed.' There is a third form of peace- making called ."intervention”-â€"â€"that is, by the use of force, or the threat to use it. And with regard to this {a great writer on international law says that "intervention to secure peace has frequently been the cause of THE BLOODIEST WARS." History contains innumerable ex- amples 'of the use of good offices. mediation, and intervention. But in 1823 there was a case of real ing would be comparatively cheap. “But what are you going to doâ€" hang on to it, sell the place, or what? By the way, how long does your option hold good?” “The land is ours for ever,” cried Ainslie; and then he told the enginâ€" cer of the manner in which he had obtained the ground. “That’s rather smart, but 10 per- cent. is a heavy lump for this Conâ€" sul friend of yours." “Oh, that’s all right,” said Ain~ slie, with a laugh. "I’m going to sell the mine to Harry, here, for tw0 hundred and fifty pounds; I shall then present Mr. Arnotte with twenty-five pounds." “Well, at any rate, your fortunes are made, whatever you do, whether you sell or work the mine. But I should like to make a more minute inspection.” Matthews went very carefully over the ground, and as soon as possible sent a long cable in code to his firm in London. days messages hummed backwards and forwards over the wires, with the result that Matthews was emâ€" powered to olTer Foster and Ainslie £200.000 and 20,000 shares in a company to be formed," in return for the deed they held. The partners asked time to consider the matter, and in the meantime they returned to Auteran. Their first business was to visit the Consul to whose private office they were speedily admitted. “Good morning, gentlemen,” said Arnotte, his smile making his evil face look even uglier than usual. “What can I do for you?" “You will remember granting me a lease for a portion of Thakre Pla- teau?" began Ainslie. “Ahâ€"yes," murmured the Consul. his evil smile growing still more evil. "I am glad to say that I have suc- ceeded in disposing of the property," continued Ainslie. “Permit me to congratulate you,” beamed the Consul. "Mr. Foster purchased the pro- perty off me for the sum of two hunâ€" dred and fifty pounds." As Ainslie said these words the Consnl’s face assumed a most maleâ€" volent expression, although he tried to mask it with a smile. “And,” continued Ainslie, “I have much pleasure in handing you a draft for twenty-five pounds. I have also taken the trouble to prepare a receipt, which I shall be glad if you will sign.” “All, you did not realize much on your' property,” said Arnotte, re- straining himself with diflicultv. “No, I did not; but Will you please Sign this reCeipt?” “Sacre!” hissed the Consul. "No, ed themselves alongside the English- lg00d Offices. When England “19d ‘30 men. “What do you mean?" cried Ain- slie. “What is the meaning of this outrage?” The Consul paid no heed to his remarks. but began to converse with the mining experts, who commenced to examine the ground. “Look here, my friend,” said Matâ€" thews. “What charge do you make against me?" “The charge is only against these two,” replied the Consul. as he in- dicated Foster and Ainslie. “You can go where you like aod do what you like.” "My friend," cried Ainslie, “if yon don’t shift your toy soldiers there’ll be trouble. What are we under ar- rest for?" "What for?" returned the Consul, with a triumphant laugh. “Why, for ’salting’ this ground with intention to defraud.” His reply was a hearty peal of certed him. Shortly afterwards the two experts, who had been joined by Matthews, came along. “One of the finest fields I have ev- er seen,” said Monsieur Lessac. “Yes,” assented De Stanton; “I really do not know why Monsieur the Consul brought us down here.” Jules Arnotte was staring at the men, his countenance livid with rage. “What!” he screamed. "Do you mean to say there is gold here?” “Why, the place is simply full of it,” replied De Stanton. “Merciful heavens!" cried the Con- sul. “And I have given it away.” “Pardon me, you received two. hunâ€" dred and twonty-five pounds for it,” remarked Ainslie. “Now, kindly or- der your men away." In a state of stupefaction the Con- :sul did as he was bid. “Just to think!" he gasped. “And it mightqhave been mine.” 1 He turned and, mounting his horse, rode away. Before he was ten paces distant he turned in his saddle and shook his list at the. Englishmen. “Wait,” he shouted. “I shall win yet.” . “You’ll have tovget up very early in ti. morning,” was Foster’s vre- tortâ€"London Titâ€"Bits. W BEWARE OF THESE PEOPLE. Beware of people who are con- stantly belittling others. ‘finding flaws and defects in their characters, or slily insinuating that they are not. quite what they ought to be. 'Such persons are dangerous, and not to be trusted. A disparaging mind is a limited, unhealthy mind. i It can nei- ther see nor acknowledge good in others. It is a jealous mind; it is lmediate between France and Spain. [This was not backed by force, and 'so it failed. Greece appealed to England in 1826 to obtain their reconciliation with the Ottoman Porte.” England talked the matter over with Russia, 'and both Powers agreed to propose to the Porte certain terms of set- tlement if, as the official document politely says,‘ “that Government should accept the proffered media- tion.” But the mediation was ac- companied by such threats that the Sultan, although he gave in, must have regarded it as an example of anything but good offices. As showing how mediation some- times leads, to hostilities we have the case of the 'civil war in Portuggl in 1847. England and Spain tried to mediate, and induced the Queen' to offer very good terms to the revolu- tionists. ‘But latter rejected them, and then l‘lngland and Spain, with During the next few laughter, which considerably discon- France, helped the Queen with naval and military forces. In 1876, when the Servians and Montenegrins rose against Turkey, England was anxious to make peace. Lord Derby therefore hinted to King Milan that if he made an application for the good offices of the Powers it Would be favorably received by Eng- land. Servia made the application, and England induced the Powers to gintervene. But they were all very soon | AT SIXES AND SEVENS. l . , I First, Turkey was asked for an ar- mistic of not less than a month. She refused this, but agreed to suspend hostilities for a week. Servia would not accept anything less than a month’s armistice, and went on fight- ing» Russia then proposed that it Turkey would not agree Bulgaria and . Bosnia should be occupied, and the fleets of the Powers should enter the Bosphorus. 'England would not agree tothis. , A little later Turkey proposed ,a six months' armistice. England and France agreed, but Russia. and Italy thought six months too long, and Germany proposed six' weeks instead. Turkey agreed to this, and then there was a conference of the Pow- ers, which made recommendations to Turkey. Turkey Would not carry them out. Servia,_ after making peace on her own account, started fighting again, and in April, 1877, Russia declared war. Then Turkey appealed to the Powers to mediate. England reproached Russia with breaking the Treaty of Paris, and finally the Powers avoided a general set-to only by the skin of their lteeth. ____.__¢.___.._.. I'llâ€"~" he paused, whilst he studied positively painful to it to hear c-thâ€"l NEW TYPE OF MOTOR_BQAT_ He signed the receipt. When his visitors had gone. out, Arnotte shook his clenched fist after them, speechless with fury. When I'Well, good day. Mr. Ainslie," said at length he found his tongue, he filled the air with against the Englishmen. “You think you have foiled Jules maledictions Arnotte. (10 YO“? wait and SOB. my friendsâ€"unless you can help him to; Once more both men winked, and sharp friends; wait and see.” then the Englishman withdrew. Left alone, the softly and rubbed his hands. In the meantime a wobden house Consul laughed was in course of erection at Thakre Plateau, and on the following day "Ah, my fine English friends, I've Arnotte rode out to see how matters got you this time, and I’ll pay a were progressing. He watched thel lmended for any virtue or good point. IIf it cannot deny the existence of lthe alleged good, it will seek to minimize it by a malicious “if” or “but,” or try in some other way to throw a doubt on the character of the person praised. Whenever you {hear a person trying to belittle an- lother. discard him from your list of ,remedy his fault. iyourself that those who tell you of illie failings of other people, and .will not treat you in the same wav ,when an opportunity presents itself. little of what I owe you. By Heavâ€" workmen for a while, a sinster smile 'such‘ hoopla are incapable of true In en, you shall suffer now Outside, Ainslie met Foster and his interview, and together they .laughed over the precious document The sun was well up ere Ainslieiwhich had been obtained so easily. playing over his dark features. “It is almost time,” he murmured. of “They will be here in a few days." } Two days afterwards two civilians came into the town and proceeded diâ€" rect to the Consul’s oflice. friendship, for true friendship helpsl instead of hinders. The vast majority of the Japanese have never heard of Japan. They Do not flatter. criticize and hold them up to ridicule . | Some experiments made on the ‘Seine with a remarkable automobile boat of a new type haw: yielded sur- prising results. The boat is describf ed as a. “slider,” from the fact that lit really glides upon the surface, cleaving no wash whatever, and not 1through the water. With a motor of 14-h.p., the extraordinary rate of speed of eighteen miles an hour was ireached 'on a measured kilometre. [Along the keel are live inclined lplanes. the pressure upon which when lthe motor begins to act lifts 1ho 'liottom of the boat to the surface. fi’Count C. de Lambert is the invenâ€" ;tor. ..__’_.. l o ' The business man who knows how )to write business advertising W'lu Hind satisfactory returns come from ltlie announcements developed with They call their country Nihon, o-r Nippon. nbusiness judgment. / xrun , ‘ .