"Ry MF CN. Willlainson, Author of "A Get of the People." 7 le . +The man whom he had_seen at 'the theater, in the very a of doing, Y gonal injury ton er ployee of his, could mot have been more than six or, seven and twenty; thereford 'his relationship* with F. HB. Z. could hardly have been that of a lover, unless she' had by some} agical power carried 'the charms of er youth through the chill shadows <# middle age. Macaire's marred eyes gtudied the clear-cut face for trac @ likeness. He hac-not seen what Bs | Sought; still, the fapoy Had "lurked, Ja is mind that the man for whose sake v..Z. spoken after all 'these years might have beem,mear and dea) to her through 'ties Of a He had "not: wishéd Anderson to dc anything for the fellow...There hed been a grim joy in thwarting a request wf the woman he had loved and lost, feeling that through time and distance he could stand in the way of her desire... But he hark mot Mmeant,to lose Yaight er" the young man, and he had regarded it as not impossible that he might 'pat- ronize him in the future. *Onty, what» ever was done he intended should * done'. > himself and in, hls own way. * An¢ erson had unintentionally thwart- ed his last design by forgetting to en- quire the address of Hope Newcome (an assumed name, no doubt); and In the quickly following events, which concerned Winifred Gray, Macaire had! neglected to follow up a clue that * might once have been easily "obtatitea. Rather curiously, he cherished no personal grudge against Hope New- come for the fight with the man on the ox-seat of Winifred's cab outside thé gtage-door on a certain night. full of excitement. If a fool made a mess of his work he desérved to be ignored by his employer and punished by a stran @er. Lionel Macaire had no use fw fools, and was merciless to those wh: failed. But, maimed and physicails handicapped himself' in almost ever) 'way, he secretly adored-and respecte« strength and courage above all othe attributes of men. He was jealous of them, too, becaus: of rather than in spite of his admira- tion, and nothing on earth afforded | him more subtle amusement than to make servants of strong men -- grea! giants who could have crushed him with a blow of their fists, yet were forced to become the slaves of hi money and the position which that money had won for him. He did not hate Hope Newcome fo: thwarting him; but if all his soul had not been absorbed in the pursuit otf Winifred he would have desired to have the young man asa pawn' on his chess- board, to be used, taken up, a thrown down as whim or occasion sug- gested. Macaire regretted to-day, as , hi thought of F. E. Z:,'and the man 'she had sent to her old friend, that he hac allowed the latter to slip out vr mgm: Not that it mattered much. Still, the feeling In his mind was like the an- noyance of having 'carelessly Jet th« reins drop when they should have bee: firmly held. As he walked on, noticed and re- cognized by many of the passers-by the sound of music came to his ears. A woman was singing to the aoccmpan! ment of a banjo, cleverly played. Macaire lifted his head and saw couple of masked minstrels; a gir poorly dressed, with long, curly rec hair falling from under her hat ove: her shoulders, her face completely con cealed by a miask; a*tall man, with hi face also hidden, and in his hands ° banjo, The couple played and sang bette: taan the majority of seasfde "buskers,' and thelr masks gave them a certain Piquancy; yet Macaire threw them bub one glance, and pushed "his way er through the small crowd which had } collected for the music. He had na' gone far, however, when a suddea cry of fear or pain fn a woman's volce caused him to turn his head. The group surrounding the maskec minstrels had been partly made up of several swaggering young cockney: from the lower middle class, who had probably come to Brighton for a Sat- urday to Monday "lark" on their bi- cycles. One of their number, perhaps dared by his fellows, attempting to pull offgthe red-halre' singer's mask as Macaire turned,. and it was her protest he had heard What he stopped to see was the nea' way in which her- companion, despit- the hampering banjo, sent the aggres- sor sprawling. "Well done!" Macaire gald to him- self, hoping for more fun, as he dearly loved a fight, and was an enthusiastic patron of the ring. He was not to be cheated of the,de- sired sport, for the other members of the fallen man's party rallied round him thirsting for. revenge? Liickily for the millionaire's amusement, not @-po- liceman was in . 'Thesvarious nursemalds and their little changes who had been listening to the music scat- tered Hike frightened reabbits,,and the | town men seémea- likely ito Have it al their own way for 2 moment-or two with the masked minstrels Macaire st6od at a distance faintly grinning, a 'twinkle in his paleyeyes "That fellow's got his work cut out for him," he thought. Mes shope to goodness no one will interfere Some of thé pi intingstés "WER prokedesh wherdi was in the act o! ; "pommelied: each other's bodiéw ana 'faces into a blood-stained jelly in the sane place to win un enormous purse and afford gecret midnight amusement to a few cholice spigits--these intimates of his would have understood the ex- pression on hig. face now), and the? ugly, glint fm his yellow eyes, @ was near enough to hear the' masked man say to his oom aaey it + "Ruh, as: fast &s you can go!" eran. Sid ell dorine and try, tq,abey, can wW thei springithatone/6f the cads pak to do what his prostrate okum had failed) in"toing--tear' off her mask Up went t irl's han to defeno -- but th Werapice ee not need- ed. smashing! voor With "the banjo; hie brought the taut. parchment. | down on the cockney's pver a reg, crushed. his, vege face, finishéd him, as-a-.comb retired with a bleeding nose 'to' assist his, fallen ~comrad e,-whiie the three othérs,stfll in fehilae trim, attacked the minstrel, who now = in front' of the red-haired. girl... Two of the men seemed have some technical knowledge of boxing, as Ma- caire's* trained eye was quick to. note, and the third; whilé his friends' ured their fists, rafsed a stick over the tall minstrél's head to 'avenge the late at- tack 'with thé banjo, But the masked man was nok to be taken unawares.' Keeping off.the tyvo boxers, who" were: sparring upits. him, he sprang suddenly to one side, caught the thiok stick which threatened him, broke it In two pieces as if it had been a reed, threw it' in. the owner's face, and turned his attention again to the principal attack, all without 'allowing the boxing ¢ontingent a chance worth having. "By Joye, what a fellow!" thought | Macaire. onder what he plays the | banjo for when he might be cojiiing | money with his fists? Id Itke fo match | him against-Joey the Kid." ' At this instant a big policeman, in- formed of-wWhat was going on by one of the fleeing nurse-maids, appeared upon the scene. The man who had gone down first | was up now, and, seeing the policeman, gave the alarm to his companions, Before the policeman could get near them they. had turned tall and darted away round the first corner and out of sight, the masked minst~el not deign- ing to follow. He stsod his ground, merely 'stooping to pick up the broken banjo, which hé had flung aside for the fight, after smashing the frame too severely for 'the instrument still to be | practicable as @ weapon. ij "t If Macaire had had eyes for anyone | so instgnifiteant he might have seen | that in the 'melee somehow the. little masked, red-haired girl had contrived. | to sip away. 'Bat he was watching the | man, and. ,approachingly slowly jthat he might, ff necessary, win the young athlete's gratitude by bearing witness | in his defence, | ----) CHAPTER XVII. | | : A Discovery. Macaire was just In time, as it hap- | pened, to be of yeoman service, for the | policeman, irritated that the other of- fencaae had escaped, and not too kind- ly disposed, towards a "busking" vaga- | bond with a mask, had opened the vials | of his 'wrath | sauntered up. | "Look here, bobby," said he in tne harsh voice which .fer som@ curious, | occult reason seemed to have great power over the lower classes, "my ' name is Liédtie!. Macifre. Parhaps you know it,.and/I. give,yeu-myword that | the young man if in po way to blame: for whit has happened. I saw the af- when the millionaire { tair* from' Wogifhing, though ur- fortunately 'was unable to interfere. 1 One af these rufflans {usulted a girl | who was with him, singing, and thir | man Gefended her. Then all the other {| set upoh him--five te @ne. «He is 2 brave fellow, and eugkt to be praisec instead of reprimanded. ' | The policoman was a reader of news- papers, and had kaown for years that | the name of Licne] Maeaire was finan- cially one to conjure wheh. The mil- lionaire had been pointed out to him | alse since the sensalional affair at the 'Thesplan Tester, and once having | seen that frightful face it would be impossible to mistake it for another's | Why a miliionaire's word should be accepted more readily than a pauper's | ought to be havd to explain; but such {4g human nature--even among police- if you say it's all ' this member, of "I must | men, i "All right, sir; | right I euppoge it is,' | the force responded promptly. } do my duty, sir," that's. all."" | "Welly you nave. done it, and now it's over," sald At the same time ' he. produced from Yh! s sovereign pooket ' two gold pleces; and though the mfan tn | blue honestly scorns bribes--in silver-- | he was not'pble fo resist an offer of } more tha a"week's salary, Yall in:ene | go," a erely fer taking # sgehtleman's wor | "Tt a ee téken trist I appre- | Clate youn.dommen gens ie and modera- went'? on "thé mfltonaire;* and | then the two soverelgns changed '|vhahde. - T%e-politeman at that iristant opportunely spying a.motor-tar which 4 thought-miight begoing.too fast, had' e best of excuses for bestowing his it was: more' needed; i " | gyhad once hed | a beaincaiin yt' wires De 'shouts ee 4 ° i eee aan saan | "You ! have oe me tio 1g = were English his accent sug- he had lived for, years out native country. the er in his' most ingratiating. mann exhibition of dash and ekill as I've, seen for some time. You can imagine I gagge 'refer entirely to your mu+' t po ugh they were aopnng do ut tc i judge of music. donot ut a Judge of most in the beg in, 'and if you'll when effectively s your cr and your fists." - young man in the Faealk laughed oth and glenced down at his ned banjo. "I did better work with ihe to-day than usy ips," he' 'igaid. "But {t looks as if it had played its last-tuné. "As Sone agg! opie nga good enough to. think I air, I've tried to make use of Shem 'since 1. oame to Sngland/ but ihe' market for muscles ts apparantly bverstockeds:in+ deed, I tried several things before I n making a professional | use of iy panto: ut I can't.afford to despise' it's heen the best friend) 'in the : pace line I've tela in this " "All the worse for the country, then," responded' the,..millionaire. "I hope, though, you're not.so discouraged .ag to want to leave it and go back to your own--wherever that may be. ' "TI shan't leave it till I've done what I came to do," haps clo&ked' a deepér feeling. "Not if. it takes: me ten: years." : "Oh, so you came to England with an Opject, eh?" enquired Macaire, in the good-natured way' he coord affect when he hada motive. His; motive ;now was te get this young athlete. under his patronage, and match him against a certain cham- pion who'ha@ gone about in swagger- ing déefianee 'of tivals Tong enough. It was something to have ,his thoughts taken off his galling failure with Wini- fred Gray, and he was pleased to find himself feeling so Keen an aEEEROSS in an alien, subject. "Don't most men travel. with an ob- jeet?" retorted the man with the mask. "There'd be: no incentive to a lazy fel- low, else; And for fear I go back toa condition. of laziness I must be off, sir --thanking you again for what you did for me," 'Stop a bit," ejaculated Macatre. "T've something to suggest to you. As you say, few men--that is, few men of 'brains like yours and mine--do things without an object. Now, I had an ob- our friend in Dlue. selfish one, perhaps, so, I admit, and I should like to have a talk with you about it if you're so in- clined. It might turn out to be for our mutual advantage." Again the young man laughed. "You een guess that I'm open to offers, sir, if it amything of that sort you mean." It wasn't entirely a announced the millionaire. "Look here, it's 'getting on towards one's dinner hour. Come with me. I'll get a pri- vate room, and we'll have a chop and a dottla of Wiirgiindy together if you can i the tinre." 'Tve got niore time than anything else just now," responded the masked minstrel, lightly. "And I'm very much ,at your service." They walked to the nearest good res- taurant, forming a strange contrast; the tall young man with the black mask covering his face,-the broken banjo in his hand; the stooped figure of the millionaire, with his hobbling limp and his scarred features. There could hardly have been a more inoongruous pair, and people they met turned to look after them. But Ma- caire either did not notice the attention he and his companion aroused, or was too independent of public opinion to care for it. * He was wondering whether masked minstrel knew the have Heard spoken when he had men- tioned $t to the policeman a few mo- mentp'ago. He wondered whethér the fellowrwas adware that he was walk- ing beside one of the richest men in Englend--a man so rich that he could afford to do, say, look and wear exact- ly what he pleased. Mac¢aire. Loped that Know all this, although, the other did as.he had ap- pareatly not long aso land, he might be in Igt companion's importa: awkward to call d tention to it. especially as the millionaire was on his best behavior, enteayorinr to appea) a jolly, modest fellow, not tco proud despite his wealth and pogition, to hob- nob with a nobody to whom Ie had happened to take a fancy. Wishing to impress the minstrel Ir some quiet and unobtrusive way he took the best private room he could have, and, though"™it was too early ir the day for him to work up an appetit for dinner, insteatl of the cl th of Burgundy he h ordered an elaborate f of champagne of brand, "Now," he reymar d'oeuvres ennaited.. when you'must cease under' a bu 1d throw off the mask--that is, you merely ,in- tend tp lool'on while [eat my d 'To: a! man-whkhd hasn't "dined, but only eaten food, for sume would Oe tOo cruel kn' aggravation," returned: thezminstrel.; "It is. nothing . More Mer less than mepnbid _self-con: sclousness--vanity, if'*you will, 'sir-- 'that ace we to pick'my banjo from come to mng- 10@ence of his It would be ed, when tHe hor 'now is the time to hide your light Dehinds & "I.don't inteéfd to sive catheoadinte: eee 4 :| eine ntrary," returned the a manner, "it : is €or me to thank you for as pretty ~ , the, young, man an-, swerefi, with a nonchalance which per- -!- ject in interfering In your intérest with ' though 'partially . at's precisely what I do mean," | anything of ; him besides the name which he must | tinte, that. i "vine 8 nat i 9 sane Sas ya Died ST ae BS is ae et toe bass ashamed ano anyhow ioe goes the mas It had been tied behind his head' and as he talked he aad been fumbling Swhwardly --as men's unaccustomec 'fingers do fumble--with the knot. But 'the strings yielded = last and the Mask suddenly fell, to show) @\ dark ' handsome, clear-cut phe with lp parted in a rather, shy, boyish smile pike Be row of strong, perfect. whit: Fs ' The minstrel's laughing brown eye: met those of the millionaire; and Lion- el Macaire's 'boasted' self-control 'oaror into play as he restrained: a pers, of ,) surprise, "Haven't I seen "you somewhere. be "fore?" te asked) hiding a emstioni/: As well as he knew his own strange antecedents did'he Know when and where he had seen that dark face be- ings ty ie *"Yes,". the young man answe ouf an instant's hesitation, .." I have Seed you; Mr, (ahd°T re 'it the' m mt you came up to me this yatterncon, pre I didn't suppose you' + notited még Sheet cy oth- er time."* « " have some reason for recalling it," lpeptiea: Hope Newsome. "I had a big disappointment that night. .J'd ,been at the Duke of Clarence's Theater with an introduction' from--an old friend o! Mr. Andersati's, to him.)' I wanted ' short engagement till I could get spme- thing else to do--merely as Charles the 'Wrestler in the production of 'As You Like It) which was coming on. But, though I'm nearly six feet, Mr. Ander son hag an inch or two the edvantage, of me, and thought it wouldn"t,do, (J saw you coming out of the theater with "him afterwards." "Oh, yes!" exclaimed Macatre, though suddenly . enlightened.' '"Of course. How stupid of me. You were engaged--ha, ha!-- in much the same occupation as I found you at to-day. A queer coincidence."' e as CHAPTER IR XIX. Macaire's Proposition. "You'll think me a very pugnacious person, sir," Hope Newton said, flusn- ing slightly under the clear, sunburnt olive of his skin--that kind of sunburn which does not wear away with'years, unless in mortal tilness. He did not use thé word "sir" in addressing the millionaire as if he were kowtowing to a superior, but as though ,he, a young man, adopted It out of respect to one many years his senior. Though he had been seen fighting at stage- doors, and playing the banjo on Brigh- ton beach, he had the air of simply-- unconsclously almost--taking it for granted that he was Macaire's equal. And Macaire saw this, and was grimly amused by it, considering certain dif- ferences between therm. "The shortest road to my regard, as far as that's concerned," responded ' Macaire, "is by being a 'pugnacious } person,' as you call it. If I hadn't ! thought you one through our acquaint- ; ance to-day we shouldn't be dining to- ' gether now.!And svhat I've just learnt only raises you in my estimation, I believe now that I even heard you speak to my friend Anderson that nigbt, and I am usually rather quick to recognize voices, -But yours sounded differently when you spoke through your mask. By the way, as it happens, that was rather an eventful night for ame, too." He could not have told why he should volunteer the admission; but he let it come becarse 'ke did not see that acting upon impulse could in this tn- i ' | | stance do any harm. And somehow ke found himself oddly drawn towards the young fellow. There was a certain fascination about his streng, virlle per- sonality, which was augmented by the knowledge that'this was he whom F. E. Z. had known, perhaps loved. Yet | Macaire was far from sure whether the magnetic attraction, he experienced i; was nearer to hate or affection. He only knew that he felt it, and desired } to-have a master hand over this young man's fate, "T didn't know who you were that night, sir," Mope Newcome said. "But I remembered your fate." The corners of Macaire's mouth went d-wn in a bitter sneer. _ "That's because of my fatal beauty," he retorted, harshly, "I seldom find myself forgotten--even by a pretty wo- man. But I have more important things to talk of than personalities, and my ideas concerning you are in no way changed -by the fact that we have met before. You tell me you wanted to play the wrestler on the stage. It has occurred to me that you might Uke to do so in good carnest, since that is your forte. Surely you haven't wasted those muscles of yours all your life? And as surely you've had training?" "Oh, yes, I trained both as a wrest- ler and boxer," Newcome answered; "but I never intended to use the arts professionally. It was at Western aniversity {fn America where I me. we- gan-to take a great interest ! I was in rather 2 sporting set, and I took the fancy of an old prize-fighter rest- ing on his laureis, who lived in the town. He and a pal of his taught me 'everything I know, and they seemed to think me a decent sort of pupil. "Then, a' year before I fin ' shed my coHege course, family affairs: took me away from home. I lived a very dif- ferent sort of life after that, but I didn't forget what I'd learnt from Foxy . O'Sullivan -and® hig' mute," IT had \ change .at @ wrestling match' with big man among the amateurs--chan.- ; plon he was then, and J got. the belt' from him. Two or three matches I had Revi nl but I'kept the belt." é you.any 'good -with the gloves, tr 'don't you go in for anything but BLE 'Macaire, a mort in sport. his eyes welling with a queer, jealous, grtug- ing admiration on the other's splendid shoulders, arms, his wrists--visible sha macike: 'too short for oie strong brown hands that doné damage to-day. "Oh, wrestling's been my specialty, but 'I 'believe: I'm not a bad boxer," Newcome answered, with modest rage : k co teurs, thongs I'm a bit out of train- ing." "How ould you like to go into training again, if you stood to make your fortune, ' wee eine dark eyes flashed. "I'd 'do anything that would keep' me in came a igo0d many; thousand miles to do. And as for a fortune--well, I've 'got of thore than ond 'use for money 'just now. As fie 'fifilshea hls face changed. | No i it became ee haye been exceedingly outspoken, pg } cob ential,' about his past and his ent circumStances, after all he had Hileaa practlealiy nothing: and despite his "boyish frankn ti ® ogked like a. man sho could keep 'his 'awh 'cbunsel; a. ian) 'Who "would be strong enough, gr recent enough to die for the keeping of & secret if geet at mcg ros § Macaireghowever, dia! not nowsitiyke : "thése* reflections regarding His 'com- ° panion's character. He thought of him as a connecting link with the past, through F. E. Z. (concerning whom he meant..cautiouely. to put, questions in time to.come), and ag 'a magnificent, young animal tobe trained for, his* uses, rather than as a thinking, feel- ing'man with ambitions and hopes of hisjown. The millionaire was accus- tomed to mdke puppets of others who were handicapped in life's race by the Iack of what he possessed in abund- 'ance; and one of his most extrava- gantly eccentric ideas was taking form in his brain for the future of mY pres- ent companion. By this time dinner was weft under . way. Hereand there they had paused 'in their conversation for one course to go and another to come, lest the sub- ject should prove too interesting for a waiter's ears; and they had now passed by' oysters,.soup, and filleted sole. (To be continued.) Among the publicatipbns) that to our exchange desk {his week that littlé annual messe Almanac, published by The Dodd's Medicine Co., Limited. This is its eighth annual appearance, and its growth, in the estimation of the pub- lic is attested by the fact that in the eight years of its life its circula- tion has grown from thousands to many millions, and that-it is now printed in many languages and is found in almost every English-speak- ing home as well as in nearly every quarter of the civilized world. Dodd's Almanac difiers somewhat from other publications of the' kind in that it is filled from cover to ¢ov- er with useful information. The data, weather indications, etc., are prepar- ed by expert scientists and have es- tablished a reputation for accuracy, while the *antiquated joke tht has made the ordinary alnidnac'a bye- word is banished' from its coulmns, which .are filled instead with simple straightforward talks on the rules of health ,and interesting accounts of some of the various cures that have been accomplished by Dodd's Kidney Pills and Dodd's Dyspepsia Tablets. And it might be remarked here that people who are prone to over- look such reading simply because the cures are the work of what they call a proprietary medicine, devote much of their time to gorging their minds With less interesting,t¢ss wonderful and far less truthful matter. This is simply another exemplification of the general tendency to dodge that which is useful in the way of reading mat- ter er, But aside from its Talne as a book of reference to the healthy and sick alike,Dodd's Almanac is a wonderful evidence of how an enterprise will flourish when it' is founded on merit. As the circulation of Dodd's Alman- ac has grown from thousands to mil- lions, so has the domain of Dodd's Kidney Pills extended. Eleven' years ago they were placed on the market in Toronto, after years spent in the investigation of Kidney Disease --and its cure had led to their discovery. They had their own way to make, and they made it. As one man or woman was benefited=. them he or she told another. Tutir fame has spread till it covers one continent and has made inroads into every ciy- ilized country in the world, and The Dodds Medicine Company has grown into one of the sargest concerns of its kind, and we might even say one of the Jargest influences for. good on the ican continent. And all this immense structure has been built by the hands' of those whom. Dodd's Kidney Pills have raised from beds of sickness and 'suffering. Each one told others. That is the secret of it adl. But it is not the intention here to-go into the. theories on which the Dodé's 'Remedies work hor men- tion any, of-the wonderful cures they have accomplisheds Those are' now almost common knowledge, for, like Dodd's Almanac, Dodd's. Kidney Pills jand Dodd's Dyspepsia Tablets, have found their way, into every commun- ty and into almost every home: The intention is to simply welcome Dodd's Almanae: for 1903 'and to commend it to the consideration of the public Amer