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Bet ween 3 Cousins; OR, A DECLARATION OF WAR. [CHAPTER XXVI--(Cont'd.) y's revelation was as unex- as it was mo ing. ut, | the tears of spite actually d to her eyes, they were re- ely crushed between her eye- Common-sense had alread. out that to betray this mo: cation would be mot .only perilous, but 3 ewise foolish, since the minis~| 's daughter was no longer to be feared. In a flash she -saw her chance. For what was it that at this moment Ronald most urgently required? A confidante and sym- Yathy, He should have both. Be- ore he had done stammering out his story she had recovered her self-con- trol and chosen her part." His last words found her hand stealing into his, in the shelter of the feather-fan. "Poor Ronnie! Now I understand. I really had not before appreciated the depth of your sentiment. You must forgive me for those stupid bat a bad time you've had But you're not the man to ¢ out your eyes for the moon, are you And she's quite as unattainable to you as the moon, you know; though it's rather a reversal of the positions real- ly. Just fancy preferring a great, hulking quarryman to you!" The glance which went to illustrate the words carried a balm equally ap- plicable to a wounded heart as to wounded vanity, and laid it on pretty thick too, for this was not a _case which called for any far-fetched subtlety of treatment, as her intimate knowledge of the patient told her. "Thank you, Ma he pressed the fingers within his with a vigor which made the smile she sent him seem heroic even to herself. "It's good to have Jou on my side. I may talk to you about it sometimes, mayn't 17" "As much as you like. A song? Delighted, Lady Anne, I'm sure!"-- e last sentence being pitched con- giderably higher, and addressed to the hostess, who, across the room, had been pleading for some music. _A minute later Mabel sat at the piano, with her cousin turning over the pages for her; and an hour after that, having dismissed her maid, her dressing-gown Jrapoed about her, her place was at her bedroom fire--that spot, and that attire, and likewise that hour which witnesses' so many self- communings, "Six months," she mused, as she poked the coals. "I'll give him that; ~--I think six months will do it. But, all the same, it's just as well that Duncan M'Donnell is not lying at the ' bottom of the'loch." She smiled into the embers--a smile of trust in the future. Things would, after all, work out to that so satis- factory arrangement which she had had in her eye all along. For those who knew Mabel best knew that, for all her random chatter and reckless bearing, she had a most excellent bus- iness head upon her shoulders--a far better business head than, for "in- stance, the stately ex-governess. - It was not from the casual daughter, it was far more likely from the precise mother that any act of sentimental folly might be looked for. And yet there was something ten- der too about that smile of trust and triumph, After all, it was not only because he had a fine estate of his own, and because he would make an excellent and useful master for Bal- ' ladrochit, and a most comfortable, submissive husband, that she meant to marry Ronald, it was also a lit- tle because he was just himself. CHAPTER XXVII To Maggie Maclish the reappear- ance in the flesh of Duncan M'Don- nell, had been as annoying as it had been gratifying ot Lame Liz. Had she not all along maintained that Maggie's corpse lights were a fraud? But presently the triumph was temp- "ered by Adam's demise, which, taking thank you!" And! lace within the fortnight, seemed to Pastity Maggie in her declaration that she had mentioned no names, and that | the "lights" would do for the father! quite as well as for the son. Her, occult reputation, though having sus- tained a narrow shave, still survived; and at the $hought that the omen had not been wasted, all Ardloch breathed more freely. It was on a still, white day with the air full of noiseless snowflakes, be- hind whose moving curtain the hills had vanished away as though th had never been, that Adam set sail for the Island. Among those who waiting upon the little slate- 'stone pier beside the old ferry-house round whose black tongue every boat in the place had been gathered, there were full-grown men who could not yentember such a snowfall as this. As: 'they kicked the snow from their boots, pending the val of the funeral 2 n from the glen, the elder 'ones dug precedents from their mem- | ories, while the pessimists foretold great things in floods. Yet the gen- "impression on the 'public was nu even exciting. = These irli masses, this un- 30 whiteness on a]l sides, was a lit- awe- map! Ing, to be sure, hecause o unfamiliar; yet, virtue of this t; e as well as ing. 2h : ul, bridal veil? likeness held oithem way. Yet, among the nore est, mourners, "were some to whom, despite sorrowful' ? this ite appeared to smile rather than le' fleet of boats full of which the 08 were best to paint te--at o coffin laden: in which : looked almost as the wh 1 and the black birds, the gulls and the crows, r screaming into, the air from the snow- laden trees. "It's real wonderful how the minis- ter keeps up, and him loving him same: as a brother," whispe: on He : . a "to the wait' that Colonel J. 8; iis. Re i red SE Sl ge followed; for theitide was at i est, and to hoist a. coffin conta a man of Adam's size up a face rock eight feet high, muscle and ingenuity. By rounding the nearest point, where the shore dipped abruptly, a much easier landing was to be effected; but, chilly work though it was to sit still in a boat with the snowflakes creeping down the back of your neck, and stick~ ing in your eyelashes, the idea of such an expedient did not so much as enter into the heads of the most shivery of the mourners. Had not this in- hospitable rock been the M'Donnell landing-place for generations past? ' merely To have made use of the Robson or: the Stuarts' equally time-honored stages would have so gravely offend- ed Ardloch tradition as to endanger the repose of Adam in his grave, Such a breach of Island etiquette could not even be contemplated. Ardloch, used to these little tussles with the fortress of Death, waited paticndy, in a silence broken only by the shouts of the men hauling at the ropes, and the grinding of the boats against each other. The bank straight opposite lay there barely visible, and as still as the Island itself; for all hands had turned out in honor of the dead com- rade. | That familiar "chip, chip" which seéemed like the voice of the place, was to-day hushed under the deserted sheds. Presently, muscle having triumph- ed, the dusky procession wound away among the white billows, scarcely re- cognisable as the usually so familiar} mounds--the perfect carpet of snow trampled to tatters beneath the many feet. It was a new place to them all to-day, dimly seen through the cease. less snow-dance. The raised horizontal slabs had become more than ever like tables, by virtue of the white cloths spread upon them; or, with snowy cushions piled ,and thickening every moment, seemed to be inviting to a chilly repose. Even the upright stones bore rims of white, which soon would trickle over the worn names of the dead in showers of cold tears. Among all this whiteness the new- dug grave alone yawned dark. Beside it stood John M'Donnell, with the flakes flying about his white un- covered head, his narrow figure up- right amid the restless whirl. e speaker of a few minutes back had not been the only one who had felt a vague astonishment at the minister's bearing. One and all, they knew of the affection which had united these two men since boyhood; one and all-- Christian resignation mnotwithstand- ing,--they had expected to see him eeply bowed under this loss--for they knew him to be of tender heart. Some had wondered whether he would have the strength to conduct the ceremony. + All had expected to hear his voice falter, and to see his head droop over the heavy task. And now that the moment was come, that white head seemed poised a little higher than usual; and his brown eyes were to-day not those eyes of the dove which they knew so well, but those of the eagle, which also they knew, for having, at rare moments, trembled beneath this glance, and shining from them a light which they did not&now. Nor was it the voice of a broken man which spoke the words of the Burial Service. That something sustained him while he stood upright on the edge of the open grave, they all indistinctly felt, without suspecting the real nature of the invisible prop. And when--the last words spoken--the minister stooped suddenly, and, gathering up a handful of earth, threw .rather than dropped it on to the lowered coffin, there was not one man present who came near to guessing at what the act meant to the doer of its" % That evening Albert sought out his elder sister. It was his last, chance of a private conversation, since his box was packed, and in order to meet the boat at Bonnet Ferry he would have to be gone next morning 'before the house was well astir. With the conclusion of his own particular job at the loch-end he had succeeded in obtainin employment in Glasgow, and thither he' was hastening without the loss of a single day, thankful to shake the dust of ungrateful Ardloch fiom his feet. What work remained for him here? As little'as at the loch-end. ; A When he had found Julia alone, and having made the usual remarks about being called in the morning and touch- ing an early breakfast, into momen! , silence, with sudden decision just touched with embarrassment: : (To be continued.) oh J No Gentleman. It was their honeymoon trip, and the first time they Bad ever been out of their own .coun Fl : As they waited on the platform at their destination" for the guard to bundle their boxes out of the van, the young bride and bridegroom were manifestly embarrassed. -- Then a portér came up and asked: "Can I look after yer baggage for yer, mister?" : "| "~The red blood mounted to the young i I%pide's cheeks, and, turning to her hubby, she demanded: : "Well, well, well! If ye' ain't i sh for refairin® to o man, George!" | e relapsed, then said, RE EL fe Sl ro se 208 non t the usu hirg and flutter overhead,! ' I. Wor the week endiak nd t for the week ending March 2nd the Mis- in Three Months. British and Canadian' Recruiting Mi sion diepatched to Canada 1;089 volun- teers for the British and Canadian armies, During the absence of Briga- dier-General W. A. White, CM.G., f the Canadian the program in the United . States. = Brigadier-General White is 'making a tour through the South in an effort to stimulate interest in re- { cruiting. | The pictures, accompanying this | article illustrate the ¢ampaign that is | being carried on in New York by the | Mission. Brigadier-General White and Colonel Dennis have 'started a whirl. wind campaign for recruiting British- ers and Canadians in the United States covering the next two months. Their ambition is to secure 20,000 men from the United States, if possible, before the terms of the draft conven- | den between the United States and Great Britain become effective. Dur !ing the eight months the Mission has | been at work in the United States it has secured 22,000 volunteers for the ! British and Canadian armies, and has examined about 16,000 more. in command of | Brigadi eral White has made the point that if a. Britisher or Cana- dian desires to aid the Allies hé can do so by promptly: volunteering, be- cause the machinery of the British and Canadian armies for training men has been so well developed by three and a half years of experience that it can train a man, put him in the firing line, and have him invalided home in six months. This has actually been done in quite a number of cases. On the other hand, the United States Government, -starting much. later, has had its hands full in training the first contingent of the draft numbering about 700,000 men, and the second draft will follow close upon the heels of the first. : y to fly apart. 3 _ Another interesting experiment is to whittle a thin, slender splinter, pointed at one end somewhat like a boat. Place a tiny bit of gum ag the gum oy so that there will be rear, there is a pull not balanced by one in the ; tiny boat will run forward as rapidly as the camphor can dissolve the film in the rear. Some interesting little "magic tricks might be developed from these 'experiments which would surprise and instruct friends. of the soil. nure can be ploughed under. ---- Food Control Corner Those who are crying to* the Gov- ernment to provide feed for hogs, and bitterly criticising officials for failure to supply sufficient bran and shorts, should take a look at the facts. Canads does not produce sufficient bran and shorts to feed hogs in nor- mal times and recourse to other feeds has always been necessary. In the effort, however, to aid farmers, an export embargo was placed on mill offal and the price of bran and shorts was fixed in fair proportion to the price of wheat and several dollars a ton lower than in the United States. This, of course, was satisfactory as far as it went but the trouble was that it could not possibly go far en- ough. Not enoughi'bran and shorts are produced in Cénada to go around. Canadian mills from September 1st, 1915 to February 1st, 1918, ground at the rate of 18,000,000. bushels of wheat a month, which was a' very high proportion as- compared to normal. From this amount of wheat, however, under the new standard flour regulations, about two per cent. more of, the wheat berry is retained in the flour. Only 120,- 000,000 bushels of feed can be pro- duced in a month, or 21,000,000 pounds a day. - There are 17,822,000 odd horses, milch cows, cattle. sheep and swine in Canada, not taking poultry into consideration at ali. The bran and shorts produced in Canada would thus give-each animal one meal in two or three weeks. A cow would con- sume five pounds a day; a hog, accord- ing to -its age, from one-half pound to three pounds--though little shorts, of course, is fed to the more mature hogs. 8,619,328 hogs in Canada last year, go that out of every five or six hogs, only one would be able to get a full three-pound ration of shorts per day or, if the shorts was divided equally among all the hogs, less than two- thirds of a pound would be the maxi- mum allowance. - : Nor ig this all there is to the prob- lem. The question of distributing this feed to the farmers throughout Canada arises. It has been suggest- ed that farmers be allowed car-load lots. ere are 714,646 farms in Canada. Giving each one its share "would mean that each farm would get a car-load once in twenty-four years. A yardead contains fouty-ive tons and there are about eighty-four car- s bran load a a Fro TE fa 100 less, and co oftencr than once: Neverthe de 1 y WEST There were, approximately,| to produce more hogs. The European sitiation depends on it. The difficul- ties will have to be overcome. Farm- Food In a time needing food economy many people are not getting all the nourish- ment they might from their food. Nii It is not how much you eat, but how much you assim- ilate, that does you good. The addition of a small: teaspoonful of Bovril to the diet as a to, © . before meals leads to ers will have to grow: the coarser grains and depend less upon mill offal. , American corn will be coming more | freely into Canada as the fine weather develops and transportation difficul- | ties lessen. Every farmer should realise that we "are at war, that Allied Europe is hard pressed, and determine to do the best he can, under hig own circumstances. more thorgufh digest- ion and assimilation and thus saves food, for you need less. ---- ------ an Manure should be thoroughly incor-|= porated with the fine ploughed section | E The more porous and = better drained the soil the deeper ma- |B E 2 ouch B Walker House 8 Itisahome for you while in the = Scarcely anything pleases a woman § more to come to the city to = are so many big stores endless variety and choice of everything. EB Still there is just that little draw- back about where to stay. The 3 solves that problem. § city, and you can have all chases gent direct ther Ul your where 2 there are special facilities for look- : ing after your parcels. . Come to the city to shop and stay at The Walker House The House of Plenty : TORONTO, ONT. § P.S.--Specilal attention given to E E ladies and children trav withe out gentlemen escorts. Send it to Parker' -. Y OU will be astonished at the results we get by our modern system of dyeing and cleaning. that are shabby, dirty or spotted are made like Fabrics new. We can restore the most delicate articles. Send one article or a parcel of goods by post or express. We will pay carriage charges are most reasonable. one way, and our ' When you think of CLEANING AND DYEING, think of PARKER'S Let us mafl you our booklet of household helps we can rende: PARKER'S DY I. E WORKS, LIMITED CLEANERS AND DYERS 791 Yonge Street - N - Toronto 'Maturing | obtainab ES like maturity Government. Denominations: $50, $100, $500, % & An Investment Free from the Dominion Income Tax. 'Dominion of Canada 5%% Gold Bonds st December, 1922, 1927 or 1937. Now at 98% and interest. VVill be accepted at 100 and interest, in the event of future issues of , or longer made in Canada by the 1 hard B Rebitost F upon 2 KING STREE T EAST 4 ,TORONTO $1,000. 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