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"‘1"\"‘./ 2r “,"./“9’ xiv w OR, A MIDNIGHT CALL CHAPTER XIX. The blinds were all down at Long- dean Grange, a new desolation seem- ed to be added to the gloom of the place. Out in the village it had by some means become known that there was somebody dead in the house. either madam herself or one of those beautiful young ladies whom nobody had ever seen. Children loitering about the great lodgeâ€"gates regarded Williams with respectful awe and Dr. Walker with curiosity. The doctor was the link connecting the Grange with the outside world. To add to the gloom of it all the bell over the stables clanged mourn- fully. The noise made Walker quite nervous as he walked up the drive by Williams’s side. Not for a penâ€" sion would he have dared approach the house alone. Williams, in the seediest and most dilapidated . rusty black, had a face of deepest melanâ€" choly. “But why that confoundâ€" Why do they ring that bell?" Walker ask- ed, iri'itably. “Madam ordered it, sir,” Williams replied. I . “She’s queerer than ever, is mistress. She don't say much, but Miss Christiana’s death is a great Shoch to her. She ordered the. bell to be tolled, and she carried on; awful when Miss Enid tried to stop it.” Walker murmured thing doubtless pathy. “And my other patient, Williams?" he asked. “How is he getting along? Really, you ought to keep these dogs under better control. It’s a dreadful business altogether. Fancy" a man of Mr. Hensmi’s high charae-Q ter and gentle disposition being atâ€" tacked by a savage dog in the very house! I hope the hound is securely kennelled.” "Well, he iSn’t, sir," Williams said, .with just the glint Of a grin on his dry features. “And it wasn't altoâ€" gether Rollo's fault. That dog was so devoted to Miss Christiana as you never see. And he got to know as the poor young lady was dying. So ‘ he creeps into the house and lies 'beâ€"t vaguely representing someâ€" sym- fore her bedroom door, and when Mr. Henson comes along the dog takes it in his ’ea'd as he wants to go in there. And now Rollo's got inside, and nobody except Miss Enid dare go near. I pity that there underâ€" taker when he comes." Walker shuddered slightly. Long- dean Grange was a fearful place for the nerves. Nothing of the routine or the decorous ever happened there. The fees wore high and the remunera- tion prompt. or Walker would have handed over his patient cheerfully to Not for a moment did he imagine that Williams was laughing at him. Well, he need not see the body, which was a comfort. With a perfectly easy conscience he could give a certificate of death. And if only somebody would stop that hideous bell! Someone was singing quietly in the drawingâ€"room, and the music seemed to be strangely bizarre and out of place. Inside it seemed like a veritable house of the deadâ€"the shadow of tragedy loomed everywhere. The dustl rose in clouds from the floor as the servants passed to and fro. They: were all clad in black, and shuffled uneasily, as if conseious that their clothes did not belong to them. Enid came out into the hall to meet the doctor. Her face seemed terribly white and drawn; there was someâ€" thing in her eyes that suggested an~ xiety more than grief. “I suppose you have comeprin’ciâ€" pally to see Mr. Henson?” sue said. "But my sister-â€"â€"" “No occasion 'to intrude upon your grief for a moment, Miss Henson," Walker said, quietly. “As I have somebody else. told you before, there was very little! hope for your sister from the fii'st-..ed her in .Lâ€"i. â€"â€"‘L llll'l'lll'll'llIlâ€"Il .rlrl'rr'l 111'! lTlli'l'Iu'lflll'pl over her shoulders; there was a vaâ€" cant stare in her eyes. The intru- deis might have been statues for all the heed she took of them. Presentâ€" ly the discordant music ceased and she began to pace noiselessly up and down the room. “Another one gene," she murmur- ed; “the best-beloved. It is always the best-beloved that dies, and the one we hate that is left. Take all those coaches away, send the guests back home. Why do they come chattering and feasting here? She shall be drawn by four black horses to Churchfield in the dead of the night, and there laid in the family vault." “Mm. Henson's residence," Enid explained, in a whisper. “It is some fifteen miles away. She has made up her mind that my sister shall be taken away as she saysâ€"toâ€"morrow night. Is this paper all that is neâ€" cessary for theâ€"you understand? I have telephoned to the undertaker in Brighton." Walker hastened to assure the girl that what little further formality was required he would see to him- self. All he desired now was to visit Henson and get out of the house as soon as possible. As he hurried from the drawing-room he heard Mrs. Henson crooning and muttering, he saw the vacant glare in her eyes, and vaguely wondered how soon he should have another pa- tient here. Reginald Henson sat propped up in his bed, white and exhausted. Beâ€" yond doubt he had had a terrible shock and fright, and the droop of his eyelids told of shattered nerves. There was a thick white bandage round his throat, his left shoulder was Strapped tightly. He spoke with difficulty. “.Do we feel any better this ing?" Walker asked, cheerfully. “No, we don't.” said Henson, with a total absence of his usual graciousâ€" ness of manner. “We feel confound- edlvlwcak, and sick, and dizzy. Every time I drop off to sleep I wake with a start and a feeling that that in- fernal dog is smothering me. Has the brute been shot yet?" “I don’t fancy so; in fact, he is still at his post upstairs, and thereâ€" forcâ€"â€"-" “Therefore you have not seen the body of my poor dear cousin?" “Otherwise I- could have given noz certificate," Walker said, with digni-l ty. “if I have satisfied myself, sir, and the requirements of the law. why, then, everybody is satisfied. I have seen the body." ‘ Technically the little doctor spoke the truth. I-Icnson muttered something that sounded like an apo- logy, Walker smiled graciously and suggested that rest and a plain diet were all that his patient needed. Rest was the great thing. The banâ€" dages need not be removed for a day or two, at the expiration of which time he would look in again. Once the road was reached in safety Walk~ or took off his hat and wiped the beads from his forehead. “What a house," he muttered. “What a life to lead. Thank good- ness I need not go there again be- fore Saturday. ll anybody were to offer me a small glass of brandy with a little soda now, I should feel temp- ted to break through my rule and drink it." Meanwhile the long terror of the day dragged on inside the house. The servants crept about the place on tiploc. the hideous bcll clanng out, Mrs. Henson paced wearin no and down the drawingâ€"room, singing and muttering to herself, until Enid was fain to fly or break down and yell hysterically. It was one of Margar- et Henson’s worst days. The death of Christiana seemed to affect her terribly. Enid had watch- . terror. More than once mornâ€" It was a melflnChOIY. Satismcuon ‘0 she was fearful that the frail thread me to find in every detail by so eminent an auâ€" thority as Dr. I-Iatherly Bell. I will give you a certificate with pleasure â€"at once.” “You would like to see my sister?" Enid suggested. The quivering anxiety was in her eyes again, the strained look on her face. Walker was discreetly silent as to what he had hear-:1 about that bloodhound, but he had by no means forgotton it. “Not the least occasion, I aSSure you," he said, fervently. “Your sis- ter had practically passed away when I last saw her. There are times whenâ€"erâ€"you seeâ€"but really there is no necessity.". “Mr. Henson is terribly fastidious about these things.” "Then he shall be satisfied. I shall tell him that 1 haveâ€"erâ€"seen the body. And I have, you know. In these matters a medical man cannot be too careful. If you will provide 11)! with pen and inkâ€"” ' “Thank you very much. come this way, please?" Walker followed into the drawing- room. Mrs. Henson, wearing sonicâ€" "thing faded and 'dishevellcd‘iu the Way of a mourning dress, ing some dirgc at the piano. while hall“ was streaming Will you Her loosely my (“1123110519 C(lnlll‘med would snapâ€"the last faint glimmer of reaSon go out for ever. And yet it would be madness to tell Margarâ€" et Henson-the truth. In the first place she would not have understood and on the other hand she might have comprehended enough to betray to Reginald l’i'enson. As it was, her grief was obvious and Sincere enough. The whole thing was refinedly cruel, but really there was no help for it. And things had gone on splendidly. Henson was powerless to interfere and the doctor was satisfied. Once she had put her hand to the plough Enid's quick brain saw her through. But she would have been hard put to it to deceive Henson under his very nose without the help of the bloodâ€" hound. Now she could sec her way still further. She waited nervously for a ring from the lodgeâ€"gates to the house, and about four o'clock it came. The Undertaker. was at the gates waiting for an escort to the Grange. Enid passed her tongue over a pair of dry lips. The critical moâ€" ment was at hand. If she could get through the next hour she was safe. If notâ€"but there must be no “if not," she told herself. The under- l ,. . was“ (“FOOD-l taker came. sauve, qua-t, respectful, vbut he dropped room door as 11(- saw two gleaming amber eyes regarding him menacing- l “The dog loved my sister," Enid explained, quietly. “But he has found his way to her room, and he refuses to move. He fancies that we have done something with her. Oh, no, I couldn't poison hiinl And it would be a dreadful thing if there were to be anything like a struggle here. Come, Rollo." Evidently the dog had learned his lesson well. He wagged his great tail. but refused to move. The un- dertaker took a couple of steps for- ward and Rollo’s crest rose. There was a flash of white teeth and a growl. At the end of half an hour no progress had been made. “There's only one thing for it,” Williams suggested, in is rusty voice. “We can get the dog away for ten minutes at midnight. He likes a run then, and I’ll bring the other dogs to fetch him, like.” “My time is very valuable just now,” the undertaker suggested, humbly. “Then you had better measure me," said Enid, turning a face absolutely flaming red and deadly while to the speaker. “It is a dreadful, ghastly business altogether, but I cannot possibly think of any other way. The idea of anything like a struggle here is abhorrent. And the dog’s fidelity is so touching. My sister and I were exactly alike, except that she was fairer then me.” The undertaker was understood to demur slightly on professional. grounds. It was very irregular and not in the least likely to give satis- faction. ' “What does it matter?" Enid cried, passionately. She was acting none the less magnificently because her nerves were QUivering like harp- strings. “When I am dead you can fling me in a ditch, for all I care. We are a strange family and do strange things. The question of satâ€" isfaction need not bother you. Take my measure and send the coffin home toâ€"morrow, and we will manage to do the rest. Then toâ€"inorrow night you will have a fourâ€"horse hearse here at seven o'clock and drive the coflin to Churchfield Church, where you will be expected. After that your work will be finisher ." g The bewildered young man respond- ed that things should be exactly as the lady required. He had seen many strange and wild things in his time. but none so strange and weird as this. It was all utterly irregular of course, but people after all had a right to demand what they paid for. Enid watched the demure young man in black down the corridor, and then everything seemed to be envel- oped in a dense purple mist, the world was spinning under her feet, there was a great noise like the rush of mighty waters in her brain. With a great effort she threw all the weakâ€" ness and came to herself trembling from head to foot. "Courage." she murmured, “courâ€" age. This life has told on me more than I thought. With 'Chris’s ex- ample before me I must not' break down now." g ' (To be Continued.) I I . BITS OF WISDOM. Only the heartless are hopeless. There is no short cut to happiness. A little silence may save a. lot of sorrow. When love labors it needs no foreâ€" man. Too many men reckon time by payâ€" days. . Repentance cannot tear up roots of the past. There is no joy gained except where joy is given. The opportunity is always ripe for the man who is ready. A man’s success depends on he does with his failures. Judge a man’s success by the me- thods he used in succeeding. Extravagant speeches are very economical with the truth. No man reaches the stage of triumph by the steps of trial. ‘ It would be lovely if others esti- mated us as we estimate ourselves. Nobody makes any particular proâ€" gress by patting himself on the back. ' A man often thinks the fellow who does not agree with him a fool. Always think before you speak‘. Before ydl‘write,’ think a long time. i If you cannot please younsvelf you will never be able to please anyone else. It is a pity that when people reach the age of discretion they do not stay there. So many people waste time! Do you do it? Do you talk, and talk about nothing? A man who talks so loudly himself is often like thunder. noise, no damage. No matter how silly a woman may be, she can always find a man who will let her make a fool of him. ‘ Sorrow makes friends of people that never would be friends with the light of happiness shining around them for evor. the what often about Big The. girls who are chasing a man should see the warning in the face of a woman who has caught one. Howwve all dislike the child that. has its own way and is impudent! All of us need a great deal of train- ing. The man who is always hoping for the host may never reach it, but he has a happy time whistling on the way. We are not always on the bright side of life, but we really need the darkness sometimesâ€"for resting pur poses. It is a blessing for the happy home i i that husbands and wives do not al- back from the bedâ€" ways know exactly what each thinks of the other. ALUNG A Ill]; UF LIGHT ABRIDEYETJUTA an â€"-.. o WIRELESS TELEPHONE IS NOW UNUSUAL INCIDENT AT A MAR- A REALITY. ~â€" RIAGE CEREMONY. ~â€" A- Wonderful System That Out- Irish Woman Changed Her Mind shines Marconi’s Great Discovery. Telephoning along a ray of light! and Would Not Sign the Register. It is recognized as a Woman's privi- It seems incredible, but it has been huge 10 change her mind, and perhaps flcfmlnlmSth- v _ the most remarkable instance on re- SCience has harnessed to this old cord comes {1-0111 a \vmage in County world many helping steeds, but none Dem-y, Ireland, where, a girl has gone more .xvonderful than this, delight- through the marriage ceremony and fully sunple though it appears to'be. men refused to Sign me register or You can stand beside a telephone to consider herself bound in [my way transmitter, “ring up" a neighbor or to the discongulatc bridegroom}. . a distant friend With 011 OICC-U‘ic The couple became engaged some flash, and swiftly comes to you along time ago, and apparently were pm. “ snmhu'uswczfl‘: or light his Wm.“ fectly happy. When, however, the Marconi s triumph is . hardly more engagement was announced and pm} marvellous. He has dispensed With pal‘atlolls were made for the wedding Wires “1 temgl'aPth the Selcnl-lsts the young woman began to show who have been experimenting with signs of ficklencss. Difficulties were photophony, or radiophony, as the Placed in the way of fixing a day, transmissmn of sound by means or and the utmost endeavors of parents light 15 sometimes- called, have been and friends had to be added to the equally Successmlv and have added persuasions of her lover to induce another to the. great discoveries of her to conseht to be marriecp But the. nineteenth and twentieth C91" eventually the marriage morning ar- tm‘msh rived, and the wedding party, with a HOW is it done? It 3-11 hinges uPOn large number of friends, went to the the peculiar property of selenium of ch'urch'. a,tering its resistance in the light A plain mirror is arranged to reflect a beam of light upon a selenium cell in circuit with an ordinary telephone man” for hm. husband. receiver at the receiving end. USE 01“ THE llIIRROR. The mirror, which. serves as a teleâ€" phone diaphragm, is placed in front of a resonating chamber and mouthpiece, so that the slightest sound makes it vibrate, and thus alter the intensity of the beam light. Inst-cad, looked confused, while a buzz of ex- The ceremony proceeded without hitch until the bride was asked in the usual form if she would take “this The clergy- elicited no response. man's question woman fidgeted and the citcmen-t ran through the congregaâ€" 3 tion. SEPARATED IN THE CHURCH. In the Irish Presbyterian Church or there is no set form of reply to this question. Any method of signifying Those Changes in we 1303‘“ or light assent is accepted, and the minister, affect the selenium and so the message through space. finds its discovery is due. the “photophone,” and experimenters all acknOWIOdge indebtedness to him. The Government granted a substantial subsequent their in the receiver who “mug-lit that the bride was Incre- way 1y . . . gently. It is to 13011 that the credit? 0f the clination of the head, which he In 1880 ’he devised for an affirmative. however, subsequently declared that it was German negative shake. nervous, repeated his question This time there was an in- took Others present, immediately followed by a. Be this as it may, the clergyman saw sum 0f money to a young Berlin 591‘ only the affirmative nod and the cere- entist, Ernst Ruhmer, who had ready carried out ments, proving varying atmospheric conditions. transmit articulate sound across waâ€" ter over distances ranging from mile to nine and a third miles, al‘ mony proceeded. successfully experl- upon the bride’s his ability» under thing proceeded without unusual inci- to dent to the end. The ring Was place-d finger, and everyâ€" But when the register had to he a signed the bride absolutely refused. the She declared that she Was not mar- messages being satisfactorily received fled, that Sin-,0 Had nevm. promised to and understood. in transmitting sound. for the brief- est distances. ltuhmer had his on a system which mercial value. take the man for her husband. Earlier experimenters had succeeded th-at She could not and would sign the register. Husband, relatives eye and clergymen failed to induce would be 0f com' to relent, and eventually, after some hours of fruitless attempts at He discovered that selenium is senâ€" suasiony and not her perâ€" the party broke up, the Slave, to Other than red and yellow bride’s section going in one direction I‘a-VS'JLO bmev "101013, and "‘ltm'vmlct- land the groom and his friends in an- or invisible raysâ€"otherwise it Would have been impossible to use the apâ€" paratus when the sun was shining. He also found that the distance over which the message could be transmit- ted jdepen'ded largely on the size of the mirror used. A receiving station was erected on: the Kaiser Wilhelm Tower in Grunâ€"l Wald. and tests were made on a dull and foggy evening between the transâ€" mitter on a'small launch and the station. a distance _of four and a third miles. Though the mirror was small undiathe light imperfect, the message was distinctly understood. With a larger mirror much larger distances wore successfully “bridged.” WONDERFUL SYSTEM. , The reader may Wonder what are the advantages of this system of wireless telephony over the ordinary system. There are three, at any rate. Messages can be sent more rapidly than at present; replies to messages received can be sent inâ€"' slantaneously, and perfect secrecy is assured. The disadvantage of the system is that the distance to which messages can be transmitted is limit-- ed. Sanguine investigators assert, hOWever, that it will be effective for a distance of a hundred and fifty miles;- - ‘ The. installation of wireless phones on the ships of our would, one Would think, be greatest value, .especially at Absolute secrecy would be insured, and that, in conjunction with the rapidity with which messages can be sent. ought to render them especially useful. The admiral could give his orders quickly to the ships of his fleet and without fear of their being read by any hostile or passing vessel. And on land the cost of a wireâ€" less telephone is small enough to war- rant its introduction and popular use for short distances. Undoubtedly this gift of science is a valuable one. and before the World is much older we may see flashing across‘our cities and over the sen shafts of light bearing our messages and enquiries. _____.+â€"-â€"-.__. SWALLOWS AND MICROBES. Swallows and other migratory birds invariably shun those places which are in the slightest degree 'in- fected by noxious microbes. Thus they are never to be found in disâ€" tricts when cholera, yellow fever, the plague. and other epidemic diseases prevail. The districts which they select as their temporary homes are in all respects the most healthy that can be found. It is evident from tel câ€" navy of the night. in a peculiar position. of the Church the marriage ceremony other. . A NICE LEGAL DILEMNA. The clergyman then found himself In the eyes had been completed and the couple were man and wife. Legally, how- ever, the contract was incomplete. He could not decide whether the woman was maid or wife, and accordingly sought the aidloi the 'llegistrarâ€"Genâ€" oral to decide. the point. He suggested that the marriage certificate might be made out with the endorsement, “Mrs. -â€"-â€"â€"â€" refuses to sign the register.” The ’Dublin officials found the point too fine for them. and instructed the minister to do as he suggested, substituting the word "female" for “Mrs. ." Thus the highest officials are unable to decide whether the young woman is married or single. She herself, how- ever, has no doubt upon the question and persists that she was never marâ€" ried. ___.$.___._. OLD GREEK CALENDAR. Ancient timekeeping has received new light from two remarkable stones lately unearthed by the lerman ex- plorers on the site of the Old lonic port of‘Miletus. These stones are the remains of calendars. of which one is shown to date from 109A.T). The year was divided into twelve zoâ€" diacal signs, and against each month the motion of the remaining signs was given, with a note predicting the weather. On the left side wore thirâ€" ty holes. a wooden peg being moved forward one hole each day, thus giv- ing the astronomical date. The, new find has made clear the meaning of parapegma, or peg calendar. a name by which other stones have been raâ€" ther mysteriously known. â€"â€"â€"â€"+ CHINESE SLAVERY. China is the great slave country of the world. . ()f a population of 400.- 000,000 there are slaves to the numâ€" ber of 10,000,000. Every family of means keeps its girl slaves. and a man's position is usually gauged by the number he keeps. At any age from three to fifteen girls are sold, seven or eight being the age at which most change hands. .The girls are purchased to do housmvork, it, being cheaper to buy than to hire. Slaves vary in price; $10 is about the aver- age. but much depends on the girl‘s appearance. A goodâ€"looking girl will I't-lrh' $20, or even SiO. __.__.. .___+_â€"___. SNA KES IN IND] :\. About 400,000 snakes are killed every year in 'lritish lndia. The fees this that persons who are afraid of paid as rewards annually for the ile- catching cholera. diseases ought not to live in places which are snunned by these birds. or Olhcl‘ infeclimls :struclion of beasts of prey and ven- omous snakes by the “(prominent of Illndia amount to about $100,900. «v .21: 8 1:5“; l" " ‘1:- . v. , -. >57-‘3’y'1" .. :2. 3‘!) .1. e M». ,. I i l 1A,! A ~â€" ’8“)