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CHAPTER XXIX. (Contd). ' During. the first few days which the , or what remained of it, Tao-fu, Lao was treated by the lamas with all the deference his him tunity to perfect a plan of seizing 'both the ring and the diamond. Masquerading as one. of the inter- preters was a young fellow who was a skilled earver in ivory--none cther Squirrel in a corn-crib, an' sm than the present old man I had en- countered at the bazaar--who was set to manufacturing a number of repli- cas of the reliquary in which the ring was kept. When the plot was perfect- ed one of these replicas was given to|then opened negotiations with a Cing- "each of five different messengers; Lao' alese diamond merchant at Singapere seized both ring and diamond, and the five messengers were sent out of the country over as many different routes, their purpose being to keep the pursuit on a false trail as long as possible, It was, in very truth, a des- parate Lao W preme out handful of men. ate ind suaded undertaking, but at this stage ing Fu's authority was su- and unquestioned by the worn- The unfortun- ividuals thus chosen were pers to accept their charges only because their one chance of escape was thus afforded. To refuse meant certain dened 1 who, in death at the hands of the mad- amas and the savage hillmen, a sense, were their vassals, "Because my box had the diamond in it," "looked Strang whimsically observed, like poor pay for trying to get out o' that hornets' nest with a footy little ivory box. But, by heck, I did it all told reasons names ! Three o the five got through, . There were mighty good why we never wanted our to appear as survivors; but o' course it got to be known in time." Meanwhile Lao was having his hands full persuading the lamas that he was blameless for the despoiling of the lamasery of its sacred relics-- though by comparison the loss of the diamond was of such minor import- ance th cover it, all efforts being aimed to- ¥ at no attempt was made to re- ward regaining the ring. Thus it was that every member of the party, ex-} good humor with himself at the sur- cept Lao and three of the five he con-! prise he was about to spring, which trived to save by sending away with the boxes, were slain by the frenzied priests and their savage followers and their bodies brutally mutilated. The scene is to terrible to dwell upon.: It was true that Major Sylvester|sole heiress to a tidy fortune in Eng-! whom he looked as a sacred charge, | prs entrusted his daughter to 'Lao Wing Fu--just as one in an extreme emer- gency will leap at the only chance,|©' crystal that's worth around twenty however hopeless, of a way out But|thousand pounds." Lao proved to be the party's savior more than once. At a word or sign| from him the most threatening oppo- sition would melt away; labor a as- sistance of any sort would appear as if by magic when sorest needed, and always the fatal the way was smoothed until moment when he himself brought down destruction upon their heads. Jame s Strang shall be allowed to tell in his own languagé the most im- portant "You get a glimpse o' the queer|tinctured with a new and potent in- workings o' the Oriental mind. Where fluence that subordinated the import- any white man would have been as! ance of the disclosures in which, until helpless as. the baby that had been| now, we had been so absorbed. Both thrust on him, what does this darn! grew restive and ill at ease, and the Chink do but deliberately try to get recital proceeded swiftly, if dispirit- back to civilization with his burden!! edly, to its conclusion by a series of Yes, siree! Believe it or not, he un-| shortcuts. dertook couple o' Jyade women to abandon Struber and Strang left us alone to- their own babies, an' with only half-' gether comes back to me now like the dozen yaks to carry supplies, he an' flittering, disclosure of all. that very thing. He forced a : the two women and the baby started east in the hope o' making Ching-too able to set down the details only as in the Sze Chuen country. "Nearly three years went by before + I even learned that Lao Wing Fu had illet an' odd times attending the Uni! versity. A number 'o' things happen- ed about this time, an' Peter B. an' I hq. were led astray by what we took for| granted an' by failing to tanding as a Tao-fu leader .entitied (account the fact that Lao Wing Fu g Thus he had ample oppor-|never had had cause to mi istrust Steve. You can bet it wasn't Steve's fault. Steve was my) hrgther, he was as much at home the f might be interes language, customs and habits as a fount be Int r art 8s ing his heir. - Steve Lao was, Steve got around him to with the stolen diam some extent--how fa 1 aide learn mirably with Lao's p till just lately. Keep m 's, Steve while T tell you what followed' | Cidenially, With. Steve's. hor not averse to getting "We sent word to Lao at Pekin, to. retaliate by placing Srvonere iat beyond the what he looked upon as another rich prize, especially when Lao was willing ; ¢ to defray all expenses of his and 'for the y child's transportation 'to America, War of $ which included a nurse for little M short peace ian, who was now nearly three 'years ar. Has wa old, i mpire an' sound, but the diamond was miss-| Then followed Lao's own political Tacked. ing. So was Steve. I never Nave difficulties and his hurried flight" to fo caustic seen Steve since then--but once. I America, : oC a never 'saw the diamond again until, "Your father believed Lao knew Hocade a few weeks ago, f more about the diamond's disappears mains, 3 "While we were pretty certain Steve ance than enybody else," Strang add-| gained from war, was implicated in the stone's loss, we Peace brings ed. by way of explanation, 'so he; always half-way believed Lao was at seized every serap o hispersonalbe- perity means the bottom of it. = An" him--he longings he could lay his two hands luxuries, easy | 2; ar thought we two 'white foreign devils' 3 and the exit' of virtue. on. Among them were two ivory ; A ® had cheated him out o' his share. Yor boxes, one containing the ring, which ways are te, heralds of a nation's years he held it against us. ecadence, a ! Peter B. Kept; I got the other, which tion : "So it came about" that through all was empty. The diamond later was Look at France. 'B afore the. trib. the years since the diamond was lost, mailed to you in it. "| ulations of the Franco-German War, Lao Wing Fu has kept his mouth shut Several 'years elapsed before Lao' what was her state. Outwardly pros- about Marian Sylvester." { Wing .Fu was able to begin a- search' perous, but inwardly rotten. She All at once, for no cause at all ap-'for 'Marian, and in the meantime, lost lives, treasure, provinces; but the' parently, I was hanging onto my many obstacles had arisen that made! effect of the war has been that chair-arms as if my very existence the prosecution of such a search ex- y rance rejuvenated, and Edy depended upon not letting them get tremely difficult, Steve's crime and: erent om oar to hor. away from me. A tingle and thrill misdemeanors had landed him in geif Bp ant ap taken bon ran through me, as if those same prison for life, and no 'directing in=| purged by. War. : chair-arms were the" electrodes of a formation could be obtained from him;| Russia was a barbaric Empire at galvanic battery. I turned like an Lao was unable to discover any trace| the time of the Crimea. That war automation and started at Lois. She of Lois Willets, Steve's and Sam's stirred Russia, and the Japanese War was regarding me with a wide-eyed, sister, who, of course, was now Mrs.| Woke her up completely. She has "frightened 100k, her béaring and ex- James Fox and no longer living in made vast strides since thery And now pression accurately--and comically, San Francisco. But wit 'it would seem that, under the stress unflagging when viewed now in retrospect--re-| patience and persistency, Lao never 15 to be banished. flecting my own overwhelming emo- ceased his efforts to find his erst-| The gain in Germany will be some- while charge. And then, by and by, thing that only a German can appre- his influence began to grow and ex-|eiate. e German citizen 'and the | pand, even as it had in China, and German peasant will be entitled to a with it came increasing opportunities | place on the pavement! Militarism, to 'pursue his quest. : with its arrogance and tyranny, is lowed him to keep back no longer. James Strang, in recalling this por-| the Jost i on ovary Gorman ring re "Yes, Mr. Ferris," he was saying,'tion of the past, held to a deep-seated ony ra War. i Ny raje, mean "That's the young lady herself--Miss conviction that the Chinaman was sin- ; 8 not: all loss,-- Marian Sylvester, of Yalung, Tibet-- cerely attached to the child, upon London Aw a ; x NT HELP TO THE NAVY. ~--Chap I knew. No use going into that, though. Your father an' start- ed for Singapore from Hongkong with the diamond. He an' 1 arrived safe drunkennes: ons. : y * I heard Strang chuckling in high the exigencies of his narrative al- land, that's been piling up interest| regarding her welfare as an obliga- for more'n twenty years, not saying tion not to be lightly fulfilled. (To be Continued). " POTE British Mine Sweepers Prevent Many Ctastrophies. pn A racy account of the part the trawlermen have played in the war was given in London at His Majesty's Theatré by Mr. Tom Wing, M.P., who formerly represented Grimsby. Lord | Selborne, president of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, who presided, told of one young trawler skipper who had had two boats blown up under him while trawling for mines, and was now in: the hospital for the second time re-! covering from His injuries. "And his one great hope," added the Minister, "4s to get on to the third and even How long we: thus contemplated each other I don't know; but after a while the high tension of the moment subsided, and I found words to say to hers: "My dear, this is not so much a re- velationf as a confirmation. You see, now, how I have been justified." She 'did not respond in words, but the tender, affectionate light in her gray eyes was eloquent enough. Both Struber and Strang were con- scious that the situation was become mised him when he gets well again." | |" %A most potent auxiliary to the " |navy.," Lord Selborne described the trawling fleet.: It was almost entirely '1 due to the trawlers that the ileet and thé merchant ships were able to pass to and fro on our seas with so few And what followed up to the time { disordered, consequential ictures of an old dream, and'I am 'many mines the Germans had placed but he was prepared to risk the state- ment that there were very many thou- sands. ) i "Mr. Wing said that if at the last Lord Robert Cecil, "Minister of Blockade." Lord Robert Cecil, who until re- I subsequently got them sorted out. Accordingly, therefore, before start- ing from Tao-fu, Lao Wing Fu tat- « an empire's dissolu- of the present war, Russia's curse, f i better boat which he has had pro- © catastrophies. He did not know how | strictly grain making it possible to finish fall plow- 1 ing sooner and to seed the land down the heaviest and ; to grass or winter grain, Silage saves a large proportion of . At a conservative estimate two grain needed in fattening srimals. It cows can be kept by feeding silage Saves the need of any grain while at the cost of one cow from the same Cattle are growing. = Silage-fed cattle ; ain faster, finish more quickly, and 3 He 4 gi acreage: fed on hay or other rough- the met Io 1 a Convenience in feeding and econom: | The silage system helps maintain of storage room, as ten tons of silage Soil fertility. al ET can be stored in the same space on| silage for cattle one ton of hay.' . : and sheep is universally recognized When fed with the proper rations, by all farmers who have given this silage is a greater milk producer and f00d 8 fair trial. ~ = © . |. Cattle show great eagerness for sis, fattener than any known feed. a : Se succulent character makes. it Ensil ge-fod stock, as a rule, are in a healthier state than when other E J 1 eeds are used. i very comparable with grass or other : Ee east of milk Js prodicai The choicest of milk is produe in crop." 'herds fed silage. * : bs The acreage needed for pasture is! A silo adds to the appearance of reduced, farm. i To ARR ~ By the use of silo the fodder is ¢ greatly. and consequently. more land can be brought under cul- § } ned very much as 'a fruit, preserves and tivation. « v BY Troviding 'a succulent forage; Tyih Prterven sud, y duce so large an amoun winter * dairying is" made profitable, and mo reduction of stock is caused oi ; -. (from an acre of land corn and allie the same The palatability of 'When properly taken cdre of there absolutely no, waste of any part of by a dry season. valiant. Td - It is the cheapest food that can be produced as well as the best, It is a certain supply, notwithstand- ing the drought, the flood or' the Snows, : The silo is the cheapest method 'of handling the crop, or storing it, and the best method of saving and realiz- ing the fullest value of the crop as Sy. The succulent silage is the best pos- sible substitute for June pastures, It is relished by cows at all seasons of the year, : In winter; cows can be fed a palat- able balanced ration that will" them up to summer flow, = i. Every winter we see a shortage! in the dairy line. This can be ov come by introducing silos," With a silo. you can keep more stock, Or keep the "same stock on 'les acres and will leave more Jund for! other crops. 2h - Ensilage bas a higher feeding value than roots. WERE a ; .Ensilage increases the milk flow. 5 #Your creamery cheque grows larger by its use.--Canadian-Farm. nat More stock can be kept on a certain area of land when silage is fed than is otherwise the case. Silage feeding does away with all aggravating corn stalk in the manure and prevents their waste as well.' It excels dry feed for the cheap production "of fat beef. It keeps your stock thrifty and growing all winter, and enables the uce milk and butter more Bee SEN : Still Unforgiven. a A month ago she said she's never Its we leasons fhe labor required to care for a her t is convenient- | ¢ And attached to the bam. © |nibnufn An row Lhear I the spring pasture' to get]. Ye ried he ? «It enables preservation of food| which matures at a rainy time of the| year when drying would be almost im- possible. = © ug It does away with the system of! A farming, where few of | black when you won through, an' it was my scamp|tooed the symbol upon little Marian's of a brother who brought me the news| throat, his purpose being to place her at Hongkong, He'd learned about the| under the protection of a seal that diamond from Lao, an' say, the ques-| would render her safe against all mo- tions he asked me about it would 've|lestation during the long journey given. a lawyer points. Your father|back to wherever or whatever-circum- an' I had just got back from Amster-| stances might designate as their ul- dam with it, where it had been cut|timate destination. Then with a para- and polished an' where we were told|doxical premeditation that was the by diamond sharps that it was casily| acme of cunning, the ring in its ivory worth twenty thousand pounds, sterl-| reliquary was kept constantly con- 2 ! cealed upon the innocent baby's person "Remained now to find Lao Wing| until the little party was well within Fu, market the stone, an' divide thea zone of safety. . proceeds among three instead o' four,| How far he was justified in adopting poof Sylvester being out o' our caleu-| this strategem can be evidenced only y ; by the facts: the wonderful white "Lao was at Pekin, Steve told me,| babe that bore miraculously upon its down some sort 0' government | throat the dread sign, coming out of oop pigxstio a Be tela snd 8 io to great naval review at Spithead there igestive had been, say, 2,000 Srawlers, Jeusle 9 pointed "Blockade Minister" in = the | Would have complained that it was British Cabinet. He will be charged {making the spectacle ridiculous. If with the administration regulating {at the last army manoeuyres there the blockade as well as with the gen-|had been a quarter of million min. eral responsibility for the policy and rs; people would have said, 'Well, it| practice of the Government with re. |doesn't add color, Yet fishermen and spect to trade passing into and from |miners had proved" as essential as neutral countries. Lord Cecil is a |#0y in the in which Unionist and thus increases the forces A : of that party already in the Cabinet by one. He is a lawyer of wide ex- perience and has held many high and responsiblé offices in the Govern- ment's service, ET ; cently held the post of Under-Secre- tary for Foreign Affairs, has been ap- edge