THE WrHRNRY Pl.ATNDEAI.FR. MfHENRY, IIX. •. r*' " •• j •• ^ I J I „• " •'• '• "'"" ' " •' '# W» • * V.'. .ts wW# ,:i • »9N»- • A Story That Combines the Thrill of Modern Detective Fiction With the Romance of Arabian Nights Tales fJ'A, v;;' ;vV.-: CHAPTER XVI I--Continued. • - t,.| --11-- 1 ifernlng looks down Into Khirijnn hoars after the sun has risen, because the precipices shut it out. But the peaks on every side are very beacons of the range at the earliest peep of dawn. In silence they watched day's herald touch the peaks with rosy jew eled fingers--she waiting as if she ex pected the marvel of it all to make King speak. it was cold. She came and snug gled close to hint, and It was so they watched the sparkle of dawn's Jewels die and the peaks grow gray again, she with an arm on his shoulder and etrandk of her golden hair blown past his face. "Of what are you thinking?" she asked him at last. "Of India, princess." "What of India ?". "She lies helpless." "Ah! You love India?" "Yes." "Yoti shall love me better! You shall love me better than your life! Then, for love of me, you shall own the India you think you love! This letter shall go!" She tapped her bosom. "It is best to cut you off from India first, lou shall lose that you may win!" She got up and stood in the gap. smiling mockingly, framed in-the durk- ness of the cave behind. "I understand!" she said. "You think you are my enemy. Love and hate never lived side by side. You shall see!" Heir hands slipped into his. soft and warm; her eyes fastened on. his and held them. And as they did so King sank, like a sack half-empty and top pled over sidewise on the floor asleep. He neither dreamed nor was con scious of anything, but slept like a dead man, having fought against her esmerlsm harder than he knew. Statesmen, generals, outlaws, all ke their big mistakes and manage recover. Very nearly always it is apparently little mistake that does lost damage in the end, something nnotlceable at the time, that grows geometrical proportion, minus in stead of plus. Yasmini made her little mistake that minute in believing King was utterly mesmerized at last and utterly in her power. Whereas'In truth he was only weary. It may be that she gave hi in orders in his sleep, after the accepted manner of mesmerists; but if she did, they never reached him; he was far too fast asleep. He slept so deep and long that he was not conscious of men's voices, nor of being carried, nor of time, nor of anxiety, nor of anything. CHAPTER XVIII. When King awoke he lay on a com fortable bed in a cave he had never yet seen, but there was no trace of Yas mini, nor of the men who must have carried him to It. He had no idea how long he had slept. It did not matter. !He had probed Khinjan caves, and knew the whole purpose for which the lawless thousands had been gathering kind were gathering still. Remained, to thwart that purpose. He began at the beginning, where he stood. * Behind him in a corner at the back of the cave was a narrow fissure, hung with a leather curtain, that was doubt less the door Into Khinjan's heart; but the only way to the outer air was along a lodge above a dizzying precipice, so high that the huge waterfall looked like a little stream below. He was In a very eagle's aerie; the upper rim of Khinjan's gorge seemed not more than e quarter of a mile above him. Round the corner, tefi feet from the entrance, stood a guard, armed to the teeth, with *a rifle, a sword, two pistols and a long curved Khyber knife stuck handy in Ms girdle. As he looked, a little procession of women, led by a man. came up the ledge. The man was armed, but the women were burdened with his own belongings--the. medicine i chest--his saddle and bridle--his un- [rifled mule-pack. They came past the rr.ar, *r,aru and laid them all ting's feet just inside the cave, ^smiled, with that genial, face- Jng smile of his that has *o ed a road for him through Js. But the man in charge fu did not grin. He wa» |e growled at the women, ^t away like obedient ani- lalf-way down the ledge fther orders. He himself follow them, and the guard did not pay ranch let women and man pass stepping one pace forward Ige to make more room. Is last entirely voluntary irld. Idenness that disarmed all |he other humped himself wall and bucked. Into the dumb man's back, sending him. weapons and all, hurtling over the precipice to the caverns into which the water tumbled thousands of feet away. The other ruffian spat after him. and theft walked back to where King tMf "Now heal me my boils!" he *id, grinning at last, doubtless from pleas ure i t the" prospect. He was the same man who had stood on guard at the "guest-cave" when Ismail led King out tp see the Cavern of Earth's Drink. The temptation was to fling the ite after his victim. The tempta- >n always Is to do the wrong thing- wrath with wrath. Injustice with igeance. Thut way wars begin and never ended. King beckoned hi in ^the cave, and bent over the chest ileal supplies. Then, finding the Iter for his purpose at the en- called the man back and Jt dojyn on the box. <s of lancing boils is not ylng In Itself; but that l»r operutlon probably »t lor man with the bolls would never have stood two turns on guard hand run ning and let the relief sleep on; so he would not have been on duty when the message came to carry King's belong ings to his new cave of residence. There would have been no object in killing the dtimb man, and so there would have been an expert wit^i a load ed rifle to keep Muhammud Anim luH; ing down the trail. Muhammad 'Antra- came---like the devil, to scotch King's iaith." He had followed the women with the loads. He stood, now, like a big bear on a mountain track, swaying his head from side to side six feet away. King jumped, nearly driving the lance into a new place in his patient's neck, "Let him go!'1 growled Muhammad Anim. "Go, thou! Stand guard over the women until I come !" The mullah turned a rifle this way and that in his paws, like a great bear dancing. The very Orakzai Pathan who hud sat next King in the Cavern of Earth's Drink, was creeping up be hind the women and already had his title leveled at the man with bolls. "Aye!" said the mullah, watchln:; King's eyes. "He has done well, and the road is clear!" The man with bolls offered no fight. He dropped his rifle and threw hi* hands up, ItL_a..mcunent-.ihe-OcakawI Pathan was in command of two rifles, holding King from among the women, whom he seemed to regard as his plun der too. The women appeared su premely indifferent in any event. King nodded hack to him. A friend is a friend In the "Hills," and rare is the man who spares his enemy. "None comes to earn a living In the 'Hills,'" growled the mullah, swaying his head slowly and devouring King with cruel calculating eyes. "Why art thou here?" 'I slew a man." said King. "Thou Uest! It was my men who g< the head that« let thee. Jn 1 Speak Why art thou here?" But King did not answer. The mul lah resumed. "He who brought me the message yesterday says he has it from another who had It from a third, that thou art here because she plans a simultaneous rising in India, and thou art from the Punjab where the Sikhs all wait to rise. Is that true?" "Thy man said It." answered King. "Then hear me!' said the mullah. "Listen, thou." But he did not begin to speak yet. He tried to see past King Into the cave and to peer about Into the shadows. "Where Is she?" he asked. "Her man Rewa Gunga went yesterday, with three men and a letter to carry down the Khyber. But where Is she?". So he had slept the clock round! King did not answer. He blocked the way, into the cave and looked past the mullah. The Orakzai Pathan crouched among the women, and the women grinned. The mullah stared Into King's face, with the scrutiny of a trader appraising loot. Fire leaped up behind his calculating eyes. And with out a word passing between them, King knew that this man as well as Yas mini was In possession of the secret of the Sleeper. Perhaps he knew It first; perhaps she snatched the keep ing of the secret from him. At all events he knew It and recognized King's likeness to the Sleeper, for his eyes betrayed him. He began to stroke his beard monotonously with one hand. The rifle, that he pretended to be hold ing really leaned against his back and with the free hand he was making sig nals. King knew well he was making slg- nftls. But he knew too that In Yas- minl's power, her prisoner, he had no chance at all of interfering with her plans. Having grounded on the bot tom of impotence, so to speak, any tide that would take him off must be a good 3 "Thou Liestl ~tfWM My Men Who Got the Head That "Let* Tfeea Inl Else Why Are Thou Here?" 4 ^ tide. He pretended to be aware o^ nothing, and to be particularly un aware that the Pathan. with a rifle in each hand, was pretending to come casually up the path. In a minute he was covered by a rifle. In another minute the mullah had lashed his hands. In five minutes more the women were loaded again with his belongings and they were all half-way down the track in single flle, the mullah bringing up the rear, de scending backward with rifle ready against surprise, us If he expected Yas mini and her men to pounce out any minute to the rescue. They entered a tunnel and wound along It, stepping at short Intervals over the bodies of three stabbed sen tries. The Pathan spumed thtw with his heel as he passed. In the glare at the tunnel's mouth King tripped over the body of a fourth man and fell with his chin beyond the edge of a sheer precipice. They were on a ledge above the wa terfall ngftln, having come through a projection on the cliff's side, for Khin jan is all rat-rum's and projections, like a sponge or a, hornet's nest on a titanic scale. They soon reached another cave, at which the mullah stopped. It was 9 dark ill-smelling hole, but he ordered King Into it and the Pathan after him on guard, after first seeing the women pile all their ^loads inside. Then he took the women »way and went off muttering to himself, swaggering, swinging his right arm as he strode. In a way few natives do. . . y "Let us hope he has forgotten these!" the Pathan grinned, touching the pile of rifles. "Weight for weight In silver they will bring me a fine price! He may forget. He dreams. JVAlTbei VALCACi>/wt' "What la Under Thy Shirt?" King Asked. For a mullah he cares less for meat and money than any I ever saw. He is mad, 1 think. It is uiy opinion Allah touched him." * "What is that; under thy shift?" King asked. The Pathan grinned, and undid the button. There was a second shirt un derneath. and to that on the left breast were pinned two British medals. "Oh. yes!" he laughed. "I served the raj! I was in the army eleven years." "Why*did you leave it?" King asked, remembering that this man loved to hear his own voice. "Oh, I had furlough. I knifed a man this side of the border. It was no af fair of the British. But I was seen, and I entered this place. It is a devil of a place." ^ Now the art of ruling India consists not In treading barefooted on scorpions --not in virtuous indignation at men who know no better--but in seeking for and making much of the gold thnt lies ever amid the dross. There Is gold In the character of any man who once passed the grilling tests before enlistment in a British-Indian regi ment. It may need experience to lay a finger on it. but It is surely there.., "I heard." said King, "as I came to ward the Khyber In great haste (for the police were at m.v heels)--" "Ah, the police!" the Pathan grinned pleasantly. The inference was that at some time or other he had left his trfark on the police. "I heard," said King, "that the slrkar has offered pardons to all deserters who return." "Hah! But thou art a hakim, not a soldier!" "True!" said King. "In India I earned my salt. I obeyed the law. There is no law here in the 'Hills.' I am minded to go back and geek that pardon! It woulilfeel good w> stand In the ranks again, with a stiff-backed sahib out In front of me. and the thunder of the gun-wheels go ing by. The salt was good 1 Come thou with me!" "The pardon Is for deserters." King Objected, "not for political offenders." "Haugh!" said tne Pathan. bringing down his flat hand hard on the hakim s thigh. "I will attend to that for thee. I will obtain my pardon first. Then will I lead thee by the hand to the k^rnal sahib and lie to him and say. "This Is the one who persuaded me against my will to come back to the regiment!'" "Thou art a dreamer!" said Ktng. "Untie my hands; the thong cuts me." The Pathon obeyed. - "Dreamer, am I? It is good to dream such dreams. By Alluh, I've a mind to see that dreain come true! I never slew a mun on Indian soil, only In these •Hills.' I will go to them and say, 'Here I am! I am v deserter, i ,$eek that pardon!* Truly 1 will go! Co?TJ®,thou w*th me« little hakim!" 'Vswid King. "I have another ho were seen to slay ,10 am a political offend er, do not wjift iwdons «> easily as that. They wo»d hang us tmless we came bearing glf|s-" v "Gifts? Has {Allah touched hee? What gifts shotihk we bring? A db-.en stolen rifles? . A bV* of silver? And I am the dreamer. nl> "Nay." said King.\ "1 um the dream •r. There are otherpf 'n these 'Hills'-- Others In Khinjan medals?" The Pathan no< Men fight first on om other, being true to M)li^u,"u Willi 1 "NnyX-gflid Kl thought. YotNwl a man. and I vaKto Ol* n*A+ «irl n* 1 fho wear British „<!. "Hundreds, le, then on the ier side while the contract lasts. In aliV^**® must ha r.a&sk;- the makings of many regiment^ among the •Hills.'" King nodded. He himself had seen 1 he chieftains come to parley after the' Tirnh war. Most of them had worn British medals and had worn them proudly. "H we two," he said, speaking slow ly, "could cpeak with some of those men and *>.ir the spirit In them and persuade them to feel as thou dost, mentioning the pardon for deserters and the probability of bonuses to the time-expired for re-enlistment; if we could march down the Khyber with-a hundred such, or even with fifty or with twenty five or with a dozen men-- we would receive our pardon fdr the sake of service rendered." - "Good!" The Patl"in thumped him on the back so hard that his eyes watered.' "We would have to us.? much cau tion," King advised him, when he was able to speak again. "Aye! If Bull-with-n-beard got wind of It he would have us crucified. And if stie heard of It--" lie was silent. Apparently there were no words in his tongue that "could compass his dread of her revenge. He was silent for ten minutes, and Klug' sat still beside him, letting memory of other days do its work--memory of the Jong, clean regl mental lines, and of order and decency and of justice hand ed out to all and sundry by gentlemen who did not think themselves too good to wear a native regiment's uniform. "In two days I could do the drill again as well as ever," he said at last. Then there was silence again for fif teen minutes more. "I could always shoot," he murmured; "I could always shoot." When Muhammad Anim came back they had both forgotten to replace the lashing on King's wrists, but the mul lah seemed not to notice It. "Come!" he ordered, with a sidewise jerk of his great ugly head, and then stood muttering :mpatlently while they obeyed. , They marched downward through Interminable tunnels and along ledges poised between earth and heaven, uu- tll they came at last to the tunnel lead ing to the one entrance Into Khinjan caves. Just before they entered it two more of the mullah's men came up with them, leading horses. One horse was for the mullah, and they helped King mount the other, Showing him more respect than is usually shown a prisoner in the "IIllls." Then the mullah led the way Into the tunnel, and he seemed In deadly fear. The echo of the hoof-beats Irritated him. He eyed each hole In the roof as if Yasmini might be expected to shoot down at him or drench him with boil ing oil and hurried pas: each of them at a trot, only to draw rein immediate ly afterward because the noise was too great. It became evident that his men had been at work here too, for at intervals along the passage lay dead bodies. Yas mini must have posted the men there, but where was she? Each of them lay dead with a knife wound in his back, and the mullah's men possessed them selves of rifles and knives arid car tridges. wiping off blood that had scarcely cooled yet. - When they came to the end of the tunnel it was to find the door Into the mosque open in front of them, and twenty more of Muhammad Antra's men standing guard over the eyelash- less mullah. They had bound and gagged him. At a word from Muham mad Aniin they loosed him; and at a threat the hairless one gave a signal that brought the great stone door slid ing forward on its oiled bronze grooves. Then, with a dozen jests thrown to the hairless one for consolation, and an litter Indifference to the sacredness of the mosque floor, they sought outer air. and Muhammad Anim led theiu up the Street of the Dwellings toward Khinjan's outer ramparts. They reached the outer gate without inci dent and hurried Into the great dry valley beyond It. As they rode across the valley the mullah thumbed a long string of beads. Unlike Yasnilnl, he was praying to one god; but he seemed to have many prayers. His back was a picture of determined treachery--the hacks of his men were expressions of the creed that "he shall keep who can!" King rode all hut laft now and had a good view of their unconsciously vaunted blackguardism. There was not a hint of honor or tenderness among the lot, man. woman or mullah. Yet his heart sang within him as If he were riding to his own mnrrtage feast! Last of f(ll. close behind him, marched his friend, the Orakzai Pa than, and as they picked their way among the bowlders across ?he mile- wide moat the two contrived to fall a little to the rear. The Pathan hegnn speaking In a whisper and King, riding with lowered head as If he were study ing the dangerous track, listened. "She sent her man Rewa Gunga to ward the Khyber with a message." he whispered. "He took a few men with him. and he Is to send thera with the message when they reach the Khyber. hut he Is to come back. All he went for Is to make sure the message is not intercepted, for Bull-with-a-heard Is growing reckless these days. He knew what was doing and said at once that she Is treating with the British, but there were few who believed that There are more who wonder where she hides while the message is on Its way. None has seen her. Men have swarmed Into the Cavern of Earth's Drink and howled for her. but she did not come, ""hen the mullah went to look for his aiiWiunltton that he stored and sealed In a wive. And It was gone. It was all gone. And there was no proof of who had taken it I "Hakim, \here be some who say--and Bull-with-a-board Is one of them--that khe is afraid aqd hides. > "His man sajtv he la desperate. HI* <' -./r-W-' own are losing faith In him. He snatched thee to be a bait for her, hav ing it In mind thut a man whom she hides In her private part of Khinjan must be of great value to her. He has sworn to have thee skinned alive on a hot rock should she fall to come to terms!" jmm ITY OF GUAY.EMA MAP--MANY FALLING 125,000 ARE MADE H CHAPTER XIX. The march went on In single file un til the sun died down In splendid fury. Then there began to be a wind that they had to lean against, but the wom en were allowed no rest. At last at a place where the trail be gan to widen, the mullah beckoned King to ride- beside him. It was not that he wished to be communicative, but there were things King knew that he did not know, and he had his own way of asking questions. "D---- hakim!" he growled, "Pill- man ! Poultlcer! That Is a sweeper's trade of thine! Thou shalt apply It at my camp! I have some wounded and some sick." King did not answer, but buttoned his coat closer against the keen wind. The mullah mistook the shudder for one of another kind. "Did she choose thee only for -thy face?" he asked, "Did she not con- shier thy courage? Does she love thee well enough to ransom thee?" Again King did not answer, but he watched the mullah's face keenly In the dark and missed nothing of its ex pression. He decided the man was in doubt--even racked by indecision. "Should she not ransom thee, hakim, thou shalt have a chance to show my iren how a man out of India can die! By and by I will lend thee a messenger to send to her. Better make the mes sage clear and urgent! Thou shalt state my terms to her and plead thine own cause in the same letter. My camp lies yonder." He motioned with one sweep of his arm toward a valley that lay in shadow far below them. As they approached It the rock clove In two and became two great pillars, with a man on each. And between the pillars they looked down Into a valley lit by fires that burned before a thousand hide tents, with shadows by the hrndrtd flitting back and forth between them. A dull roar, like the voice of an army, rose out of the gorge. "More than four thousand men!" said the mullah proudly. "What are four thousand for a raid into India?" sneered King, greatly daring. "Walt and see!" growled the mullah; but he seemed depress^. He led the way downward, getting off his horse and giving the reins to a man. King4 copied him, and partway sliding, part stumbling down they found their way along the dry bed of a water-course between two spurs of a hillside, until they stood at last In the midst of a cluster of a dozen sentries, close to a tamarisk to which a man's body hung spiked. That the man had been spiked to it alive was suggested by the body's attitude. • Without a word to the sentries the mullah led on down a lane through the midst of the camp, toward a great open cave at the far side, in which a bonfire cast fitful light and shadow. Watchers sitting by the thousand tents yawned at them, but took no particular notice. The mouth 6f the cave was like a lion's, fringed with teeth. There were men In It, ten or eleven of them, all armed, squatting round the tire. "Get out!" growled the mullah. But they did not obey. They sat and stared at him. "Have ye tents?" the mullah asked. In a voice like thunder. "Aye!" But they did not go yet. One of the men, he nearest the mul lah. got on his feet, but lie had to step back a pace, for the uSulIah would not give ground and their breath was In each other's faces. "Where are the bombs? And the rifles? And the many cartridges?" he "So Thou Art to Ape the Sleeper In His Bronze Mall, Ehl" demanded. "We have waited long, Mu- hatnmnd Antra. Where are they now?" The others got up, to lend the first man encouragement. They leaned on rifles and surrounded the mullah, so thnt King could only get a glimpse of him between them. They seemed In no mood to be treated cavalierly--In no mood to be argued with. And the mul lah did not argue. "Ye dogs!" he growled at them, and he strode through them to the fire and chose himself a good, thick burning brand. "Ye sons of nameless mothers!" Then 1m charged tl "m suddenly. beating them over head and face ahd shoulders, driving them in front of him, utterly reckless of their rifles. His own rifle lay on the ground behind him, and King kicked its stock clear of the flre. "Oh, I thall pray for you this night !** Muhammad Anim snarled. "What a curse I shall beg for you! Oh, what a burning of the bowels ye shall have! What a sickness! What running of the eyes! What sores! What boils! What sleepless nights and faithless women shall be yours! What a prayer I will pray to Allah!" They scattered into outer gloom be fore his rage, and then came back to kneel to him and beg him withdraw his curse. He kicked them as they knelt and drove them away again. Then, silhouetted In the cave mouth, with the glow of the flre before him, he stood with folded arms and dared them sLoot. After five minutes of angry contem plation of the camp he turned on a contemptuous heel and came back to the flre, throwing on more fuel from a great pile in a corner. There was an iron pot in the embers. He seized a stick and stirred the contents furious ly, then set the pot between his knees and ate like an animal. He passed the pot to King when he had finished, but fingers had passed too many times through what was left In it and the very thought of eating the mess made his gorge rise; so King thanked him and set the pot aside. Then, "That is thy place!" Muham mad Anim growled, pointing over his shoulder to a ledge of i*ockt like a shelf in the far wall. But though he was al lowed to climb up and lie down, he was not allowed to sleep--nor did he want to sleep--for more than an hour to come. The mullah came over from the flre again and stood beside him, glaring like a great animal and grumbling in his beard. "Does she surely love thee?" he asked at last, and King nodded, be cause he knew he was on the trail of Information. ' "So thou art to ape the Sleeper in his hronze mail, eh? Thou urt to corae to life, as she was said to come to life, and the two of you are to plunder India? Is thnt It?" (TO BE CONTINUED.) HAD TO FIGHT DUEL OR WED Young Man Surprised to Receive Chal* lenge, But More Surprised to Find Foe a Woman. William Kenrlck, a Berkshire gentle man of a hundred years ago, left his property, which was considerable, to an only daughter. This young lady had a mind of^her own and. finding none of her suitors to her liking, sim ply determined to wait until the right gentleman should come along. It so happened that one day she at tended, a wedding at Reading, an ex change relates, where she met a young gentleman named Benjamin Child. He was a poor attorney. With this hand some young man the younger lady fell violently In love, but still she was cau tious. She reasoned'with herself for several days, trying to shake herself free of the sudden passion, but all in vain. Then, feeling that something must be done, but unable, from confu sion of mind, to devise a proper course, she took the extraordinary step of sending the young man a letter de manding satisfaction, for alleged in juries. She appointed a time and place for the hostile meeting. Mr. Child was much surprised, and quite at a loss to conceive who the challenger could he. By the advice of a friend, he decided to go to the dueling place. Here he was met by the young woman, who, much to his surprise, told hinf he would have to fight her or marry her. He naturally chose the latter, arid, as the saying goes, they lived happily ever afterwaM. The Thlrt "People. Overeating Is a common cause of emaciation, paradoxical as this state ment may seem. Many of our thin nest neighbors are the biggest eatera of the community, Physical Culture Magazine says. It is an old-fashioned saying that these people "eat so much that It makes them thin to carry It around." In any case. It Is not a ques tion of the amount of food one swal lows, but a question of how much is digested and assimilated. Many per sons will gain In weight upon discon tinuing the three-meal plan and adopt ing the plun of two meals per day. The stomach is then no longer overbur dened or overworked, and the diges tion is so much more perfect and the health so improved that a gain in weight results naturally. Dogs Saved Boy From Bear. Two small pet dogs saved the life of their thirteen-year-old master, Bruno Westerman of St. Paul, when Teddy, a pet black bear, attacked the boy. As the bear seized the boy the dogs gave battle and Teddy dropped the child and soijght refuge in a near-by tree. Carl, the sixteen-year-old brother, finally killed the bear with ten shots from a shotgun and a fusillade from a .22-caliber revolver. The brother re treated to the house to protect the mother, and from an upper window opehed fire on Teddy, who had taken to a tree after he wounded Bruno and tha dpg* gave him battle. Her Desire. Alice--It's quite a secret, but I waa murried last week to Dick Gny. Jane--Indeed! I should have thought yoa'd be the last person In the world to marry him.* Alice--Well, I hope l am I--Pear son's Weekly, '-M Message Raeelved by^^avy Depart* ment at Washlng^w Saya Bad Shock SaturcJ*y Night Com pleted Work of Destruction. Washington, Jan. 2.--Guatemala \ City, the capital of Guatemala, has been wiped off the map by earthquake and r_T),(XX) persons--the entire pop ulation--are homeless in the streets. News of the destruction of the ci reached Washington In a cablegr from Guatemala City received by . i( navy department through its ra system. Orders have been issued by navy depfiirtim'nt tp all of its vefe in the vicinity of the Gulf of H duras and . the Pacific coast of Gua mala to give all the ^assistance pos*>< hie to the stricken'populace. The message received by the tiavy department stated that there had been another had earthquake shock Satur day und that this had completed the work of destruction started by the • earlier shocks. The department's mes sage read: v "Bad earthquake Saturday finished the work of others. Everything In ruins and beyond description as a re sult of the last shock. One hundred and twenty-five thosand people are in the streets. Parts of the country are very cold and windy. Tents are needed badly. Quite a number killed by falling walls." The American eonsulate--was. "*•_ V strftyed in the quakes that occurred \ between December 25 and 28. The American legation building waff standing on the 28th, but was filled with ^refugees. It also, has gone down*, accord ing to the latest report. Our charge d'affaires was instructed by Secretary Lansing to inform Presi dent Cabrera that this country desired to be of every possible assistance to the sister republic. AGREE TO FREE PRISONERS Liberation of Captives and Resump tion of Commercial Relations Decided Upon. Brest-Litovsk, Jan. 2.--Provisir agreement on a series of' points, including liberation of war t oners and resumption of comqyrcia. relations was reached by the delegates of Russia and the central powers in discussion of Issues which, in the event of a general peace, would have to be settled among the nations represented in the negotiations here. This provisional discussion was ter minated on Friday, the basis of an agreement adopted being reached un der the reservation that It was to be examined by the governments repre sented by the delegates. Speedy resumption of diplomatic and consular relations is embraced In the understanding. It is set forth that there shall he Immediate stoppage of economic warfare, establishment of commercial Intercourse and the organ ized exchange of commodities. A substantial understanding was ar rived at on which the basis of econom ic relations shall be settled perman- nently. CREW BLAMED FOR WRECK Eight Persons Killed in Head-on Col lision Near North Vernon, Ind.-- Order Disregarded. Cincinnati, O., Jan. 2.--C. W Gal loway, general manager of the Balti more & Ohio railroad, gave out a state ment here in which he said dis obedience of orders was responsible for the collision of passenger trains No. 2, hound from St. liouls to New York, and No. 23, from Cineinnati to St. Louis, near North Vernon. Ind. North Vernon. Ind., Jan. 2.--Eight persons were killed anil 20 Injured as the result of a head-on collision be tween Baltimore & Ohio trains a mile east of here Saturday night. GERMANS TO REGISTER FEB. 4 Half Million Unnaturalized Teutons in United States Affected by Presi dent's Order. Washington, Jan. 2--The week of February 4 was set aside by the de partment of justice for registration of the half a million unnaturalized Ger mans in the continental United States by police and post musters, in pursu ance of President Wilson's alien enemy proclamation directing this action as a means of minimizing the danger from enemy sympathizers In the United States. George Castle, Vaudeville Chief, Dies. Chicago, Jan. 2.--George Castle, six- ty-seven years old, and pioneer vaude ville manager in Chicago, died, at his winter home in Miami, Fla. Heart failure caused by asthma is believed to have been the cause of death. Two Die In Powder Blast. Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 2.--Two men were killed outright and a third is "expected, to die as the result of an explosion which occurred at the Bac chus plant of the Hercules Powder company, 18 miles from here. $348,500,000 to Allies. Washington, Jan. 2.--The January schedule of loans to foreign govern ments, carrying a total of $348,500,000, is as follows; England, $185,000.00;)^ France, $155,000,000; Serh^ 000, and Belgium, $7,500,00) Yankee Slain by Brownsville, Tex.. .Tj Parma lee was killej Oreenslade, paymasi derland. Sugar col- wounded when thef fired upon by Mexij