"i" * ' * ' , ' • if uw SYNOPSIS. i>Y i r» 'jouoh author, or the KWimPH bubble IlUwmATIONJ' hy TfAfimiJT o.icettner, corvr?tGf -T ia©«j j&y 9omnft"MiFnntxKt, COKPAK7-" km™ i STIRRED BY SPRING Senator John Calhoun la Invited to be come secretary of state In Tyler's cab inet. He declares that if he accepts Texas and Oregon must be added to the L>nion. He sends his secretary, Nicholas Trtet. to ask the Baroness von Ritz, spy of British ambassador, Pakenham. to call at his apartments. While searching for the baroness' home, a carriage drives up and Nicholas is invited to enter. The occupant is the baroness, and she asks Nicholas to assist in evading pursuers. Nicholas that the baroness has lost a slipper, sne gives him the remaining slipper as a pledge that she will tell Calhoun what he wants to know regarding Kngland s In tentions toward Mexico. As security Nicholas gives her & trinket he intended for his sweetheart, Elizabeth Churchill. Calhoun becomes secretary of state, rie orders Nicholas to Montreal on state business, and th« latter plans to be ried that night. The baroness says she will try to prevent the marriage. A drunken congressman whom Nicholas asks to assist in the wedding arrange ments sends the baroness' slipper to Klizabeth. by mistake, and the wedding is declared off. Nicholas finds the baron ess in Montreal, she having succeeded, where he failed, In discovering England's intentions regarding Oregon. She tells him that the slipper he had in his pos session contained a note from the attache •of Texas to the British ambassador, say ing that if the United States did not an nex Texas within 30 days, she would lose both Texas and Oregon. Nicholas meets a naturalist. Von Rittenhofen. who gives him information about Oregon. The baroness and a British warship disappear from Montreal simultaneously. Calhoun orders Nicholas to head a party of set tlers bound for Oregon. Calhoun excites the jealousy of Senora Vturrio and there by secures the signature of the Texas at tache to a treaty of annexation. Nicholas starts for Oregon. He wins the race over the British party. A British warship ar rives with the baroness as a passenger. She tells Nicholas that she placed a note in the slipper which caused the breaking off of his marriage, and that Bhe intends to return to Washington to repair the damage she has done. CHAPTER XXVII--Continued. "If I do not find her worthy of you, theu but CiiuIiGt liavo yuu, Wfiui on Helena von Ritz. "But, madam, you forget one thing. She Is worthy of me, or of any other man!" "I shall be Judge of that. If she Is what you think, you shall have her-- and Oregon!" "But as to myself, madam? The bar gain?" "1 arrive, monsieur! If she falls you, then 1 ask only time." "I begin to see, madam," said 1, "how Large these stakes may run." "In case 1 lose, be sure at least I shall pay. 1 shall make my atone ment," she said. "1 doubt not that, madam, with all your heart and mind and soul." "And body!" she whispered. The old horror came again upon her face. She shuddered, 1 did not know why. She stood now as one in devotions for a time, and I would no more have spoken than had she been at her pray- &-s, as, indeed, I think she was At last she made some faint movement of her hands. I do not know whether it was the sign of the cross. She rose now, tall, white-clad, shim mering, a vision of beauty such as that part of the world certainly could not then offer. Her hair was loosened now in its masses and drooped more wide ly over her temples, above her brow. Her eyes were very large and dark, and I saw the faint blue shadows coming again beneath them. Her hands were clasped, her chin raised just a trifle, and her gaze was rapt as that of some longing soul. 1 could not guess of these things, being but a man, and, 1 fear, clumsy alike of body and wit "What are my stakes? How may I pay?" "There is one thing, madam. whl<~b we have omitted," said I at la>t. She swayed a little on her feet, *s though she were weak. "I wanl," said she, "I wish--I wish--" The old childlike look of pathos came again. I have never seen so sad a face. She was a lady, white aid delicately clad; 1, a rude frontiers man in camp-grimed leather. But I stepped to her now and took her iu my arms, and held her close, aMd pushed back the damp waves of her hair. And because a man's tears were in my eyes, 1 have no doubt of absolution when I say I had been a cad and a coward had I not kissed her own tears away. I no longer made' pretense of ignorance, but ah! how 1 wished that 1 were ignorant of what it was not my right to know. . . . I led her to the edge of the little bed of husks and found her kerchief. Ah, she was of breeding and courage! Presently, her voice rose steady and clear as ever. "Threlka!" she called. "Please!" When Threlka came, 6he looked closely at her lady's face, and what she read seemed, after all, to content her. "Threlka," said my lady in French, i want the little one." I ^turned to her with query in my eyes. "Tiens!" sfte said. "Wait- I have a little surprise." "You have nothing at any time save surprises, madam." "Two things 1 have," said she, sigh ing; "a little dog from China, Chow by name. He sleeps now, and I must i not disturb him, else I would show J you how lovely a dog is Chow. Also ! here I have found a little Indian child running about the post. Dr. McLaugh lin was rejoiced when I adopted her." "Well, then, madam, what next?" "Yes, with the promise to him that I would care for that little child. 1 want something for my own. See now. Come Natoka!" The old servant paused at the door. There slid across the floor with the silent feet of the savage the tiny fig ure of a little child, perhaps four 7ear8 of age, with coal-black hair and beady eyes, cIM in all the bequilled finery that a trading post could fur nish--a little orphan child, as i learned later, whose parents had both b«»en lost in a canoe accident at the Dalles. She was an infant, wild, un trained. unloved, unable to speak a nord of the language t,hat she heard, fehe stood now hesitating, but that was only by reason of her sight of m*. j ily made announcement of the arrival As I stepped aside, the little one J of a party of travelers. Being on the walked steadily but with quickening 1 lookout for these, 1 soon discovered steps to my satin-clad lady on hrr j them to be my late friends of the couch of husks. She took up the chiftl 1 Hudson bay post. in her arms. . . . Now, there munt j One old brown woman, unhappily be some speech between woman ai4 j astride a native pony, I took to be child. I do not know, except that tT«e , Threlka, my lady's servant, but she Baroness von Ritz spoke and that tile j rode with her class, at the rear I child put out a hand to her cheek, j locked agaiu, until I found the bar- Then, as I stood awkward as a cloven i oness, clad in buckskins and blue myself and not knowing what to do. I ( cloth, brave as any in finery of the saw tears rain again from the eyes of ! frontier Dr. McLaughlin saw fit to Helena von Rita, so that i turned i present us formally, or rather care- awav, even as I saw her cheek la'd j lessly, it not seeming to him that two to that of the child while she claspvd j so different would meet often in the it tight. | and of course there being no "See, then," she said; "here !s my j dream even in his shrewd mind that companion across the mountains." | we 'la<* ever met in the past. This "The distance is tne same, and toe method is the same." I ceased to argue, seeing that she would not be persuaded. "At least, madam," said 1, "1 have done what lit tle 1 could in securing you a party You are to have eight mules, two v'arts, six horses, and two men, besides old Joe Meek, the best guide now in Oregon. He would not go to save hia life. He goes to save yours." "You are good special pleader," goj(j oho • "Knt you do not shake eq6 Id my purpose, and 1 hold to my terms It does not rest with you andjne, but with another. As 1 told you--as we have both agreed--" "Then let us not speak her aapae," FEMININE FANCY GETS BUSY ON SUBJECT OF CLOTHES. Again I began to expostulate, but i supposition fitted our plans, even ' said 1. now she tapped her foot impatiently ] thou8h it kept us apart. 1 was but a ' in her old way. "You have heard me common emigrant farmer, camping say i t . Very wel l . Fol low if you l ike, j l i k e m> k i nd She, being of dis t inc- Listen also if you like. In a day or so Dr. McLaughlin plans a party for us all far up the Columbia to the mis sions at Wailatpu. That is In the valley of the Walla Walla, they tell me, just at this edge of the Blue mountains, where the wagon trains come down into this part of Oregon." "They may not see the wagon trains so soon," 1 ventured. "They would scarcely arrive before October, and now it is but summer." "At least these British officers would see a part of this country, do you not comprehend? We start within three days at least. I wish only to say that perhaps--" "Ah, I will be there surety, madam!" "If you come independently. I have t ion, dwelt with the Hudson bay par ty in the mission bui ldings. CHAPTER XXIX. In Exchange. Gr>.tt women belong to history and to sclf-sai-rilice. --I.eigh Hunt. For sufficient reasorts or my own, which have been explained. 1 did not care to mingle more than was neces sary with the party of the Hudson bay folk who made their headquarters with the missionary families. I kept close to my own camp when not busy with my inquiries in the neighbor hood, where I now began to see what could be done in the preparation of a proper outfit for the baroness. Her- Again her eyes looked into mine, straight, large and dark. Again the spell of her beauty rose all around me, envoloped me as I hafi felt it do before. "You cannot have Oregon, ex cept throvrgh me," she said at last. You cannot have -- her -- except through me!" it is the truth," I answered "In God's name, then, play the game fnlr % % U III II erstr 'What Are My Stakes? How May I Pay?" heard, however, that one of the mis sionary women wishes to go back to the states. I have thought that per haps it might be better did we go to gether. Also Natoka. Also Chow." "Does Dr. McLaughlin know of your plans?" "1 am not under his orders, mon sieur. I only thought that, since you were used to this western travel, you could, perhaps, be of aid in*getting me proper guides and vehicles. 1 should rely upon your judgment very much, monsieur." "You are asking me to aid you in your own folly," said I discontentedly, "but I will be there; and be sure also you can not prevent me from follow ing--if you persist in this absolute folly. A woman--to cross the Rock ies !" I rose now, and she was gracious enough to follow me part way toward the door. We hesitated there, awk wardly enough. But once more our hands met in some sort of fellowship. "Forget!'" I heard her whisper. And I could think of no reply better than that same word. self I did not see for the next two days; but one evening I met her on the narrow log gallery of one of the mission houses. Without much speech we sat and looked over the pleasant prospect of the wide flats, the fringe of willow trees, the loom of the moun tains off toward the east. "Continually you surprise me, mad am," I began at last. "Can we not persuade you to abandon this foolish plan of your going east?" "I can see no reason for abandon ing it," said she. "There are some thousands of your people, men, women and children, who have crossed that trail. Why should not 1?" "But they come in large parties: they come well prepared. Kach helps his neighboi." CHAPTER XXX. Counter Currents. Woman is like, the reed that bends u> every breeze, but breaks not in the tem pest--Bishop Richard Whately. The Oregon immigration for 1845 numbered, according to some ac counts, not less thp.n 3,000 souls. Our people still rolled westward in a mighty wave. The history of that great west-bound movement is well known. The story of a yet more de cisive journey of that same year never has been written--that of Helena von Ritz, from Oregon to the east. The price of that journey was an empire; its cost--ah, let me not yet speak of that. , Although Meek ard I agreed that he should push east at the best possible speed, it was well enough understood that I should give him no more than a day or so start. I did not purpose to allow so risky a journey as this to he undertaken by any woman in so small a party, and made no doubt that I would overtake them at least at Fort Hall, perhaps 500 miles east of the missions, or at farthest at Fort Brid ger, some 700 miles from the starting point in Oregon. The young wife of one of the mis sionaries was glad enough to take passage thus for the east; and there was the silent Threlka. Those two could offer company, even did not the little Indian maid, adopted by the baroness, serve to interest her. Their equipment and supplies were as good as any purchasable. What could be done, we now had done. Yet, after all, Helena von Ritz had her own way. I did not see her again after we parted that evening at the mission. I was absent for a couple of days with a hunting party, and on my return discovered that she was gone, with no more than brief farewell to those left behind! Meek was anxious as herself to be off; but he left wort1 for me to follow on at once. It may be supposed that I mysell now hurried in my plans. I was able to make up a small party of four metj, about half the number Meek took with him; and 1 threw together such equipment as I could find remaining, not wholly to my liking, but good enough, I f-- • ied. to overtake a party headed by a woman. But one thing after another cost us time, and we did not average 20 miles a day. I felt half desperate, as 1 reflected on what that might mean. As early fall was approaching, I could expect, in view of my own lost time, to encounter the annual wagon train 200 or 300 miles farther westward than the object of mv pursuit naturally would have done As a matter of fact, my party met the wagons at a point well to the west of Fort Hall. It was early in the morning we met them coming west--that long, weary, dust-covered, creeping caravan, a mile long, slow serpent, crawling westward across the desert. In time I came up to tlie head of the tremendous wagon train of 1845, and its leader and my self thew up our hands in the saluta tion of the wilderness. <TO BK CONTINUED ) Hats for Early Spring Wear Are Mod erate In Size--Flexible Headwear la Feature of Season--Flow ers Are Popular. Jbst as soon as a reward is out for the first robin the feminine fancy be gins to wander in the direction of spring clothes. January is a great month for summer sewing; February sees the milliners rushing to market after the alluring things that have been prepared for them. It is a short month and before you know it March is here and it is spring. April brings Easter, when all is completed. And, although the snow may still be flying, spring millinery is all ready for that great festival. The hats shown for early wear are moderate in 6ize with plenty of big graceful shapes for later on. They are mostly of braid, sewed into shape with or without a wire frame. The flexible hat is a feature of the season and soft crowns are much admired. Flowers, fine velvets and ribbons are everywhere in evidence in the trim ming. Brims are not so droopy as heretofore, and little eccentric dents and turnings characterize many of them. Beads and especially coral beads in pink or red or white match every display of model hats, and beads of other varieties play their parts, those of jet and pearl and those In turquoise blue make up some very handsome bands. Braids are unusually beautiful. The Rannie braids are shown in all colors with an Iridescent play of color in troduced in thefh like the colors In a HOME MADE BROOM HOLDER Convenient Affair for Holding Uten sils Used in Cleaning the Floor. In all well regulated households there Is usually found a place for the broom, duster, dustpan and carpet beater. As these four articles have to do with the cleaning of the floors and furniture they should be kept In one place as convenient as possible. The accompanying sketch shows a holder that will provide a place for each one IS EPILEPSY CONQUERED? New York Physicians Have Matt/' Cures to Thsfr Credit. New York, April 4.--Advices from every direction fully confirm previous reports that the remarkable treatment for epilepsy being administered by ths consulting physicians of the Dr. "Water man Institute is achieving wonderful results. Old and stubborn cases hav® been greatly benefited and many par tlents claim to have been entirely cured. persons Buffering from epilepsy should write at once to Dr. Waterman Institute, 122 East 25th st., Branch 63, New York, for a supply of the remedy, which is being distributed gratuitously. Wi«;V,V:Ulliil!ll!!8WI? -- , n i.;r,iiMi shell or soap bubble. The silk fibre | braids are soft and pliable and all are I light as air. ! French plumes are favorites on fine hats and trimming effects are simple. I In fact simplicity in millinery gains | headway in the popular taste, but the ' demand makes no lowering of price j because every one wants better and | better qualities of merchandise all the time. JULIA BOTTOMLEY. S j Molssant's Comparison. "The late John B. Moissant was a 1 genial as well as a skillful airman," said a Chicago editor. "1 remember well a visit he one* made me, with drawings of an aero plane of his own invention under his arm. I joked him a little about the machine--it certainly had a"* heavy, awkward look. But he said with a laugh: " 'Oh, don't judge even an aeroplane by Its outside. What if the man who discovered the oyster hadn't stopped to pry open the shell?'" A Sign, wife still treating you Holder for the Cleaning Utensils. of these articles and keep them where they may be found when wanted. The holder is made from a board one inch thick, about three Inches wide and fourteen inches long. The ends are cut down so as to make them Gu6 Inch square, leaving the center full width of the board with a notch cut in it to receive the broom handle. Two shoulder hooks are screwed into the outside edge of the wood, one at each end to make places to hang the duster and carpet beater. A plate hook turned Into the underside of the wood and behind the broom handle makes a place for the dustpan. The wood is fastened to the wall with two nails or wood screws. T PIN IS LATEST NOVELTY New Pouch Bags. Pouch bags are cut with an oval bottom, covered with black velvet on one side and a bright-colored satin on the other. The top, which is Joined to the bottom without fullness, is fin ished on top with black satin ribbon. It is lined with the satin. The top has a draw string of satin ribbon through a casing, long enough to hang over arm. The lining may be In coral, green, burnt orange or royal purple. .. N\.\^ CHAPTER XXVIII. When a Woman Would. The two pleas&ntest days of a woman are her marriage day and the day of her funeral,--Hippona*. My garden at the Willamette might languish if It like, and my little dabin might stand in uncut wheat. For me, there were j.her matters of more im portance now. I took leave of hos pitable Dr. McLaughlin at Fort Van couver with proper expressions of the obligation due for his hospitality; but I said nothing to him. of course, of having met the mysterious baroness, nor did 1 mention definitely that I in tended to meet them both again at no distant date. None the less, I pre pared to set out at once up the Co lumbia river trail. From Fort Vancouver to the mis sions at Wailatpu was a distance by trail of more than 200 miles. This I covered horseback, rapidly, and ar rived two or three days in advance of the English. Nothing disturbed the quiet until, before noon ol one day, we heard the gun fire and the shout ings which in that country customar- Lightnlng. . Blissful Ignorance. Although there is a hidden law un- I The opera was Just darling, Mrs. derneath. each lightning flash is as Smith." declared Mrs. James Orphlng- treakish and capricious as cynics say of women. Some of the incredible actions of lightning read like mys terious dreams of Poe. Superstitious savants still seem to endow it with a kind of intelligence, an intelligence that eems mid vay between the rough, lumpish intelligence of the universe and the discriminating in telligence of animals. Keen, capri- ton Rex, as she felt of her diamond t ai rings to make sure if they were at the proper angle. "1 know I would have enjoyed It," answered Mrs. Smith. "You would have had fits over it, Mrs. Smith. Calf was bo cute and they all sang in Latin." A sneeze saved a snicker, after which Mrs. Smith asked "What opera 8lipper Buckles. For slippers the buckle seems to be the favorite shape. Some of the dull silver and gunmetal ones are giv en a touch of color by means of semi precious stones with which they are set, or by designs wrought in en amel Many Little Annoyances Are Avoided by Use of This New In vention. A novelty In pins is the T pin, which in place of the age-long fa miliar little knob at the top has at the head end of the shaft and set at right angles with it a short crossbar, making it a T pin. Often it Is difficult to thrust an old stylo pin through a number of folds of paper or through rabricB or other ma terials; and the bead of the pin sinks into the finger tip and hurts that; and when the pin has finally been Bet into place the material pinned is liable to work up around Its head. All these things are avoided by the use of the T pin, which with its cross bar head gives a surface upon which greater pressure can more easily be exerted, making the pin easier to use; while when It has been set In place the material cannot work up over it- T pins are made in various sises, and finished In various colors, for all sorts of domestic uses; and there Is also made a T pin that Is called the wryneck, this for bank and offloe use. The whyneck T pin has at the top, the head end of the shaft, a little curve, the crossbar being at the purve's end. A pin with this little curve in it can be thrust through a bunch of papers to lie flat In them, horizontal with them, while the cross head does not stick up above the top paper, but lies close and flat upon It, across the opening where the pin was thrust through. It might have seemed that the age long familiar pin was JuBt a pin and that so it would always remain, in the future as it had been in the past, al ways Just the same; that nobody would ever think of such a thing as trying to invent a new pin, but here now in the T pin is a novelty in pins. cfous, malicious or stupid, farseeing did you hear, Mrs. Rex?" or blind, behold it squirming, writh- I -j have it written down on a card Ing, twisting out into space, harm- !u-re in my bag. I wanted to get it iessly flickering among man and just right. You see, the name was trees, or loaded up to the clouds with j un die curtain and I copied it from instant death and destruction. An Adherent. By mistake a farmer had got aboard a car reserved for a party of college graduates who were returning to that. It was 'Asbestos.' "--Judge. "Fundamental." Of the many lawful English words that are misused in Wall street, none their alma mater for some special i is more strained than the word "funda- event. , There was a large quantity ; mental." One man says the funda- of refreshments on the car. and the ! mentals are all right, and he cares farmer was allowed to join the otheu , about nothing else; another retorts Finally some one asked him: "Art f that the fundamentals are all wrong, you »n alumnus?" "No," said the ; and neither knows what the other farmer earnestly; "but I believj in , means. Neither knows exactly wh*t It."--LlppiQcott's. j he means himself. Hair Bandeaus. Bandeaus for the liair are now be ing made of the embroidered and bro caded ribbons, which are to be had in a great variety of colors and de signs. A blue brocaded ribbon exact ly of the shade which was used many years ago when these scalloped and brocaded ribbons were fashionable has been revived, and is most popular for the hair bandeaux. The ribbons, if narrow, are sewed together to make the wide band, which is now in great- i est favor. every night and your eyes will iait sink back into your head. Look in the mirror every morning and think: "How well I am looking!" This is the "beauty thought." IJBe almond meal Instead of soap for washing the face and give your face an ironing out with ice occasionally. Give your skin regular meals like you have yourself--skin food of cold cream or something similar---and keep away wrinkles. Don't wear corsets. Use from three to six eggs for wash ing the hair. Dry meals are the only hope of fat women for reducing. Close your mouth when you sleep and a\oid having hollows behind your ears. Put cold cream on your scrawny elbows and they will soon get fat and rosy. Sleep on your back, and do not use a pillow. Sleeping on the side causes puffs under the eyes. Pinch the upper eyelid gently to ward the nose and back again twice Aigrettes and Quills. Neapolitan is much favored for the plainer hats on which no flowers are used. A walking hat that is particu larly smart is of whi& Neapolitan with a turned-up brim of black velvet. The only trimming is a swirl of the straw at the side, from which, riss four of the new slender aigrettts which are absolutely without fluffiness and resemble the antennae of a but terfly. On another white ^walking hat the trimming is a pair of stifT blacl j quills which stand up perfectlj , straight and have In front of them i 1 pair of the narrowest clipped whit* j quills. "la your coldly?" 'Is she? Gave me ice pudding for dinner," in mms *rk»\ Made Safe by Lydfa E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound. Graniteville, Yt --"I was passing through the Chancre of Life and suffered i, 3 r o m nervousness land other annoyinj symptoms, ana I can truly say that; Lydia E. Piukham"® Vegetable Com- .pound has proved ill worth mountains of •old to me, as it 'restored my health land strength. I never forget to tell [my friends what 'Lydia E. Pinkham'» Vegetable Compound has done for m* during this trying period. Complet®. restoration to health means so much to me that for the sake of other suffee. ing women I am willing to make m» trouble public so you may publish this letter."--MRS. Ciui. BAKOLAt; K.F.D., Graniteville, Yt. No other medicine for woman's illfl has received such wide-spread and un qualified endorsement. X>> other med icine we know of has such a record of cures as has Lydia £. Pinkhkm'i" Vegetable Compound. For more than 30 years it has been curing woman's ills such as inflamma tion. ulceration, fibroid tumors, irreff* clarities, periodic pains and nervouf prostration, and it is unequalled for carrying women safely through thft period of change of lire. Mrs. Pinkham, at Lynn, Hms ̂ Invites all sick women to writs- her for iulvie«». iier advice Is frec^, Kucl always helpful. The Aimy||H| ConstipaJjpfif r. 1« Growing: CARTER'S Lint*. LIVER FILLS we : KtpauiUt--d»y toot ©aly gsv® reiki- care €etwiitjM» lira. Mil Haas u» tlieKH i«-' Sick SaKbw Skit SMALL PILL, SHALL DOSE, SMALL PB1CS Genuine muttw Signature :Y mJT VtTTLC IVti II y 11 Don't BUY a Common Refrigerator It willtooa uncBnft disease br««dii9C thine. Our frt|r booklet t ells wh}. A*k be it. Buy the Leonard Ckmiabi# Lined with Kit I ixKceUn wuuw 8 sheet ttttil. all oiu- pi*. *- Nflfc. a crack or for gertas t| hide. You can 'l break, seme is < mar it. easily d«auaerf w m < " " dish, nine waRt (o sa»ekv; < "less, sanitary and Jjrable. in the end. We seJidirevl '. we have no (teller. Write todays for catalog, booklet and trMtioA plea of the ptifcelaiu iiaiag. GRAND RAPIDS REFRIGERATOR CO. 153 Clyde Park Avenue Grand Uv l «*' ; dsn#,,.. l:.W;iT¥ MLmBfilSM AS A C8MM3M MUSS Of WScASI. is the diK in No. 1 of the Abater PatbuiockftJl Laboratory. The Bulled a is Ire*oa re«iue*£ azU will ias^r- eating to CFWymtc ia Pam foer Health Address: John F. SHtter. If- 0. 457 Perm Ave.. Pittsbar*. Ps. i ii.i> i u* io : oucv a w w!U pnv tin* yt-AT aiul t to ^ mgr»