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I Madame nodded assent. and the clerk took his seat at the table, and brought forth his writing materials from the green bas. "First,"‘ said Rachel, when she bad been informed that they were "I am glad to see you, sir," said madame. © The recommendation of Mr. Halford is a sufficient introducâ€" tion to my good opinion.‘" 34 "I can only hope,""‘ returned the clerk, bowing very low, "that my own merits may sustain that opinâ€" ion." "If you serve me well and truly," rodded Rachel, "you will find my good opinion not entirely void of worth." Ere long Lora presented herself i2 the drawingâ€"room, and desired the gentleman to tollow her to her mistress‘s apartment. Hugo arose, and took a green bag from the table and went with the servant. In a pleasant chamber, overlooking a garden of roses, he found the lawâ€" ier and with him the lady of the ouse. Casper Hugo passed the thresâ€" hold, and stopped. He stopped to look at the woman who sat in the great stuffed chair between the table and the bed. Was he thinkâ€" ing how grandly she looked in her venerable age, or was he calculatâ€" ing how much longer a person so olg and so shattered could survive ? "Madame St. Clair,‘‘ said the lawyer, arising as he spoke, "this is the young man I told you of â€" Casper Hugo. Casper, this is my honored client, Madame Rachel St. Clair." Hugo bowed again, this time with his hard upon his bosom, after which the lawyer suggested that shey should proceed to business. As the man sat there by the drawâ€" ingâ€"room table, he twisted a piece of paper in his fingersâ€"twisted it until he had twisted it in two ; then he twisted the two pieces together =â€"twisted until they broke agaimn ; then another twist, until the mass kad been formed into a bullet, afâ€" ter which he threw it upon the carâ€" pet and rolled it under his feet. Hugo was a man of eightâ€"andâ€" twentyâ€"we take him at his own word, â€" given to his employer, though he looked older than thatâ€" and he had the appearance of a Fentleman of refinement and polâ€" sh. As he sat alone in the drawâ€" ingâ€"room, with his features left to their natural play, an opportunity was afforded for a fair study of his face ; and Christine, who chancâ€" ed upon the piazza, looked in at the open window Bd <ay im She stood by the thickly clustering trail of honeyâ€"suckle that climbed over the trellis of the porch, and gazed through the intersecies upon that strange face. She saw a face colâ€" orless like marble, or more like clay; a broad under paw, with a regeding chin ; a mouth rather largâ€" er than the average of mouths, with an under lip which partly from the receding of the chin, and partly from its own bulk, drooped heayâ€" ily, but this drooping was only at intervals of repose; there. were strong muscles all over the jaw which could tighten the lips like the jaws of a vise upon occasion. The nose was marked and prominâ€" ept, broad at the base, and formâ€" ing, in profile, a sharp angle. That nose, with a good brain above it, might indicate the worker of great deeds ; it was like the cutwater of » ship, made to cleave its way way against tough and boisterous <pposition ; or, like the hardened point of the plowshare, forcing its way beneath the toughest sod for the purpose of breaking up and ovâ€" eérturning. The brow was a counâ€" terpart of the chin, heavy over the eves, and thence receding beneath the dark, glossy hair; hair parted | in the centre, and brushed away until each separate fibre seemed to have its place from which it could pot move., The eyes were dark and leaming, and like the oriental carâ€" Euncle in colorâ€"of that deep, fiery garnet hue, which may look black in the shade, and gleam like a Conâ€" go‘s eyes in the strong light. The only hair upon his face was a neatâ€" ly trimmed moustache, the ends of which were evidently waxed ; and this moustache, to the casual obâ€" server, had much to do with passing the face as comely, as it exhibited the pearly teeth to advantage, and served as counterbalance to the heavy nether lip. It was afternoon when the lawâ€" yer came, and with him came his confidential clerk, Caspar Hugo; and while the former went in to see his client, the latter took a seat in the small drawingâ€"room. ‘‘And,"‘ said Rachel, "tell him that I shall have important writing for him to do." Lora â€" was â€" summonedâ€"now a strong woman of. fiveâ€"andâ€"fortyâ€" and to her was intrusted the duty of calling the lawyer. Near to the Dregs ; CHAPTER XV.â€"(Cont‘d) OR, SAVED BY THE LOVE OF A wWOMAN. _ It was very near night when Mr. Halford and his clerk alighted from the streetâ€"car at Scollay‘s Building and proceeded to their office on Court street. The office was on the second filoor of a block since torn away to make room for a barnâ€"like structure, but easy of access, and in the centre of much business. The lawyer unlocked an iron door upon the face of the rear wall, and hayâ€" ing swung it open, another door, also of iron, was revealed ; and this was the entrance to a fireâ€"proof safe, where valuable and important cdocuments were kept. When the newly made will and accompanying papers had been deposited in an. oaken drawer upon which was pastâ€" â€"The clerk _ was lost thoughts, and made no mark. "Miss Christine is quite an heirâ€" ess,"‘ remarked Caspar Hugo, as they stepped out from the piazza. "‘The richest of any I know,"‘ reâ€" sponded Halford.. ‘"And she is worthy, too,""‘ ha added, with emâ€" phasis. "You will take the will," said Rachel, "and make an attested copy and, until L call for it, you may place it with my other papers.‘"" _ _ When the business had been finâ€" ished, the attorney and his clerk withdrew. Madams Rachel was notional upâ€" on this point. She did not care that her neighbors should know her busiâ€" ness. She proposed first that John Downrey and his wife should come in and be witnesses, but Halford suggested that as they were interâ€" ested as legatees, it would hardly be proper ; so two men who were at work under Downey‘s charge were called in, and with Caspar Hugo, three disinterested witnesses were obtained. These two men were Eben Sanders and Seth Davis, both Hampshire men, who had worked in the gardens and upon the lawns of the Brookside for two or threo years. Rachel St. Clair wrote her own name against the blue seal, and the witnesses then subscribed their names, after which the lawyer gave the legal finish. Madame Rachel dictated the chief points; Mr. Halford suggested the proper legal phraseology, and Casâ€" per Hugo wrote it down upon the white, parchmentâ€"like paper. When this had been doue, the will was ready for signing and witnessing. [ And now came the making of a new willâ€"the work for which the lawyer had been summoned. The work was simple. Of debts, there were none to pay. A legaey of two thousand dollars was set down for John Downey, the faithful gardenâ€" er, and a legacy of one thousand dollars for Johanna, his wife. Then ten thousand . dollars _ were set down as a bequest to her faithful friend and attorrey, Adam Halford. A few minor legacies were noted, and then the great bulk of property, of all kinds and descriptions, was given to "My adopted and wellâ€"beâ€" loved child, called Christine St. Clair." And said Christine was charged that the servants of the kousehold were to be her sacred charge while they lived. \ t ‘‘Would it not be well, sir, to have a witness to this deed !"‘ The lawyer turned and looked upâ€" on his clerk. E "You and I,‘"‘ pursued Hugo, "as attorney and clerk, have a certain legal interest in this matter:~ Our venerable and respected client may not, when the time of need shall come, be with us to declare that she ordered the destruction of these important instruments. I might summon the: woman who brought me hither." "©Before proceeding â€" further,"‘ pursued mademe, "I would have those wills destroyed. I thiak that would be proper.‘‘ ‘Entirely proper.‘" ‘"‘Then you may burn them." There had been a fire in the marâ€" bleâ€"framed fireâ€"place, as Rachel had felt chilly, and eimbers were still alive upon the hearth. Halford had arisen, and was proceeding toward the fireâ€"placo with the papers when his clerk touched him upon the arm. Mr. Halford drew from his breastâ€" pocket a large envelops, and took therefrom the two wills in quesâ€" tion. ready for business, "you have two wills of mineâ€"wills which were made many years ago!‘"‘ A DTMB R VII in his own further reâ€" An imperial triumphâ€"an entry of the Caesars into â€" Romeâ€"could searcely have excited more proporâ€" tionate attention than that ofâ€" the arrival of "La Macclona"‘ at the farm. ‘The farm had becn â€"«dluly arâ€" ranged and prepared. Its inhabitâ€" ants had a sense that the dignity and importance oi events about to Bringing on the Machines on an Italian Estate. It is probably true that the sun never sets on the threshingâ€"machine, for that device has penetrated alâ€" most every laad where wheat is grown and bread made and caten. In ‘"‘Days Spent on a Doge‘s Farm,‘"‘ Margaret Symonds describes the reaping and gleaning on a typical Italian estate, which there, as elseâ€" where, is followed soon by the threshing. The bringing on or the machines were a ceremony. It was dusk when the lawyer and bis clerk had completed their busiâ€" ness for the day, and they came out from the office together. A brief conference at the lower door upon a particular item in the morrow‘s routine, and then they separated, Mr. Halford going toward Washâ€" ington street, as his dwelling was at the South End. And among them all there was rot a suspicion that Caspar Hugo bad an interest in opposition to the interests of his employer, or to those of his clients ; and so the beâ€" lief was general that old Adam Halâ€" ford had secured the services of a most excellent and trustworthy clerk. "To trust him then would be to sleep upon a mine to which the match had been applied !" ‘"‘That man, if he had an end to accomplish, would admit no o â€" stacle which he had power to overâ€" ecme. It his end were a great one I should deem my life as a fleeting shadow it it stood in his way." "But would you trust him!?‘ a neighbor had once asked. And the professor had replied : "With his interest secured, I would trust him to the uttermost Lbounds." . "But with his interest in oppoâ€" sition to you?" ae _ As Adam Halford regarded his clerk, he beheld a man in appearâ€" ance little less than a saint. _ So Adam Halford himself thought. You may say, perhaps, that Adam Halâ€" ford was not a student of human natureâ€"that he could not read physiognomy. Allow me to say that ia an adjoining office was a profesâ€" sor who had made physiognomy a study, and who had often been called into court to testify as an exâ€" pert upon the character of handâ€" writing. The professor. had markâ€" ed Hugo well, and had studied him carefully, and he had said of him : "I think we understand one anâ€" other,""‘ said Halford, with a comâ€" mendatory smile. "Of course, peoâ€" ple have seen us go to Madame St. Clzsiz s house;, and it is generally know= that she is failing. The curiâ€" cus will be inclined to ask quesâ€" tions, and those who are not curiâ€" ous are very few." "I understand perfectly,""‘ returnâ€" ea Caspar. ‘‘That which is locked i2 your safe is to be as a sacred mystery."" 3 "Be your choice of location what it will,"" he said, "you will surely succeed. And yet I could wish that you might consent to‘remain with ‘me. But we will let that pass, since you shake your head again. I was remarking to you concerning our clientâ€"Madame : St. Clair. _ She has her peculiarities, as you may have observed ; and you are aware that the first study of an attorney should be to accommodate himsolf to the idiosyncrasies of those whom be would truly serve. Madame St. Clair is anxious that her private affairs should not be known. She shrinks from being made the theme of gossip, as she shrinks from pubâ€" lic, gaze. You will bear this in mind and keep your knowledgo to yourself. There is one safe rule to followâ€"I have followed it all my life, ard you can adopt it with proâ€" ft: When you have‘taken a client, consider that the details of said client‘s business are locked in your inmost bosom, and that your cliâ€" ents alone has the key." * ‘"‘Aud,""‘ he added, "be sure that T hold the privacy of your business, to which I am necessarily admitâ€" ted, as something sacred and inâ€" violate."" _ Hugo intimated that he had alâ€" ready resolved upon such a course. "Hugo,"‘ he said, ‘‘you will unâ€" derstand that this eltent is one of the most valuable on my list. _ I think I may say the most valuable. I shall not live forever, and who knows but that you may succeed me in business=â€"‘ The clerk interrupted his emâ€" ployer by a shake of the head. ‘‘No, no, Mr. Halford. _ I shall noft settle in Boston. And let us hope you may be spared for many a long year to come. You are still hearty and strong, and your temâ€" perate life gives promise of increasâ€" ing usefulness and honors.‘"‘ The old lawyer was not insonsible to such flattery and he regzardea his clerk with a benign appreciâ€" ation. } ega a slip of paper bearing the writâ€" ten name ‘"St Clair,"‘ and the doors had been reâ€"closed and reâ€"locked Halford turned to his clerk. ENTER THE THRESHER. (To be continued.) And so it ever is when the hopes ef a nation, often delayed and disâ€" appointed, are at last rewarded by the coming of an heir to the throne. It was markedly so that _ Outside tle Palace a dense, exâ€" cited crowd read the bulletin postâ€" ed at the gate, which announced that "‘The Queen was safely delivâ€" ered of a Prince this morning at fortyâ€"eight _ minutes past _ ten o‘clock. Her Majesty and the inâ€" fant Prince are perfectly well." Joyâ€"bells clashed from a thousand steeples ; cannon thundered at the Tower and in the Park; and all London (and soon all Britain) was in a frenzy of delight such as no other event could excite. It was under such cirecumstances that King Edward made his entry on this world‘s stage sixtyâ€"seven years ago, little dreaming what a thrill of rejoicing his coming would send throughout the British Isles. In a few moments a score of mesâ€" sengers were racing in every direcâ€" tion with the gocd tidings that an heir had been born to the throne ol England: the news was being flashed over the wires to every corâ€" ner of our lands; and a special train and steamer were speeding a Queen‘s Messenger with the news to Ireland, says London Titâ€"Bits. In an inner chamber the little Kingâ€"toâ€"be had just opened his eyes to the world in the presence of Dr. Locock and Mrs. Lilly, the nurse; just outside the door were the reâ€" maining doctors and the surgeon, whose signatures were soon to be appended to the bulletin which proâ€" claimed the glad event to the world ; and in an adjoining state apartâ€" ment the great officials, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Lyndhurst, all in full dress, had been awaiting the issue, with the Bishop of London, who had ofâ€" fered up prayers for Her Majesty. "‘Thank God, it is a boy !"‘ the Duke of Wellington exclaimed when the nurse proudly presented to him the little bundlo of humanity who, as Edward VII., was one day to rule the British Empire. ‘‘Excuse me, your Grace,"‘ answered the lady, with a toss of her head, "he is a Prince." ‘‘So he is, of course," was the laughing answer; "I beg his Royal Highness‘s pardon, and yours also, madam." AT THE BIRTH OF THE KING The procession moved into the property, and the next morning at daybreak the work of threshing beâ€" gan. Great Rejoicing in the British Isles When King Edward Made His Debut. wWHEN BABIES ARE BORN IN ROYAL PALACES. The scene was impressive. We took our stand at the gates of the Pioppa. After some waiting, a rumâ€" bling noise as of distant thunder announced the leviathan. _ Our beautifull white friends, the oxen, then appegred in the lane, waving the red tassels from off their spreadâ€" ing horns. Behind them trundled pompously the unwieldly monster which was to swallow up the fruits of all the months of labor. _ The oxen knew exactly what they were about, and how dignified and superâ€" ior they looked, and how it was their beautiful big eyes that fascinâ€" ated us, and not the smoky funnel which they dragged. A PRINGE OR A PRINGESS ? We drove out late one evening to witness the arrival of the threshingâ€" machine at the Pioppa, which was the first farm where it was to work. For many weeks there had been a stir and a clash of iron and shuffiâ€" ing of tarpaulin under the barâ€" chesse. On June 30th the machines were to see the light. I formed their acquaintance and found their converastion delightful. The beartiful Venetian first lifted me to a seat on his charge and then exposed to me all the details of the mechanism, stroking the machine‘s iron flanks as if was some beast of breeding great beauty. Each machine has its keeper and groom. It were impossible to overâ€" estimate the importance of theso gentlemen who appear upon the scenes of one week out of the fiftyâ€" two, and during that period boss the entire show. The keepers are men of education and intellect, and one of themâ€"a Venetianâ€"adds to these other charms beauty and a great conceit.. It is their office to see that their machines are in good working order, and well greased by their grooms. Beyond this they are careful to perform no work of any sort. There are two machines on the doge‘s farm. The one of the latest date in the admiration and envy of the whdle Gromboolian universe, and tae great black monster is unâ€" deniably an impressive sight. He ?geds at least twelve oxen to draw him. be performed on its premises were such that they must put on their best clothes and display their finest copper. The threshingâ€"floor was weeded, scraped and rescraped ; the sacks laid out in order ; lions remâ€" pant and ducal coronets put to the front. : HOLLAND‘S â€"QUEEN Beforse money wa people were happy. He forged his fortune link by Withal, he was no fakir : He forged his fortune link by He was a sausagse maker. more doubt. It was the great event. In a few moments the streets of the city were black with breathless thousands, each countâ€" ing, and fearful to _ lose a single volley of all that meant so much to Russia. Sixty, seventy, seventyâ€" oneâ€" sevent~â€"t~>! _ No, the guns had cerâ€"odâ€"all was silent. And a deep sigh of disappointment sobâ€" bed through the city. It was a Princess, and St. Petersburs‘s hopes were dashed to the ground At last the fateful moment came, just after eleven o‘clock on the night of November 15th. The guns began to boom through the darkâ€" nessâ€"one, two, three, four. As the volleys thundered out â€" ten, fifteen, twentyâ€"there could be no SEVENTYâ€"ONE FOR A PRINâ€" CESS. All Russia still recalls those anxiâ€" ous days in November, 1895, which heralded the birth of the first child of its Czar. The Neva was in flood at the time, and threatening to overflow its banks, with disastrous results; and whenever the guns boomed at night to announce that the waters were still rising, thouâ€" sands flung open their windows or rushed excitedly into the streets to count the volleys, for if they were more than a few it meant that the longâ€"expected heir had arrived. They knew that seventyâ€"one volleys would proclaim the birth of a Prinâ€" cess, and a hundred and one volâ€" leys that of a Prince; and how eagâ€" erly they all hoped for the latter!‘ Portugal abandoned itself to a mad | revel of festivities and arrayed it«( self in its gayest gala costume, while in his honor the King gave‘ a series of â€" banquets of prodigall splendor, at which the farâ€"famed‘ service of gold was used. â€"â€"The birth of the late illâ€"fated Crown Prince of Portugal was acâ€" companied by similar rejoicing. All blaze of jewels, orders and gorgeâ€" ous uniforms. The Mistress of the Robes held the infant King in her arms, the Papal Nuncio was chief sponsor, and the Cardinal Archâ€" bishop of _ Toledo performed the ceremony. Every_ child_ born throughout Spain on the same day, May l7ith, received a gift of money ; and to them all, 1,500 of them, the infant monarch himself stood as codfath er. A few days later he was carried through the crowded corridors to his christening in the Royal Chapâ€" el, packed to the doors with all the greatest and fairest in Spain â€" a before taking possession of the magâ€" nificent suite of apartments that had been provided for His Majesty, with their guard_ of soldiers by night and day. Scarcely had news of the happy event thrilled through the crowded salons when the baby King himself made his appearance, carried on a golden tray by the Great Chamberâ€" lain, to receive the homage of the It was much the same when King Alfonso made his debut, too late ky months to know his father, but happily in time to save the Spanâ€" ish Throne. His advent was herâ€" alded by the same tense, universal excitement, for weeks before silent, anxious crowds stood for hours beâ€" fore the Palaceâ€" windows eagerly awaiting the good news ; and as the hour grew near the Palace was crowded with all the greatest nobles and ladies of Spain, while outside the Royal chamber waited the chief officials of the Court. Thousands wept for joy ; strangers flung themselves on each other‘s necks in the streets ; cannon boomâ€" ed and church bells sent their jubiâ€" lant peals aâ€"fAying, and the very heavens seemed to quiver under the thunders of cheers for "the litile Prinsesje.‘‘ For months before the event all Holland was feverishly debating the probabilityâ€"would the baby be a boy or a girll Costly presents poured into the Hague Palace from far and near, until the old King declared, in _ mock despair, that there would soon be no room left for him. And when at last the suâ€" spence was ended all Holland went ofi its head ; it was frankly madâ€" King William had already two sons, but one of them was driakâ€" ing himself to desath in the lowest cabarets of Paris, the other was doomed to an early death ; and on the little infant all the hopes of the House of Orange and of the Netherlanads were painfully focusâ€" ed. If the child should be a girl, Luxemburgâ€"which could only have a male rulerâ€"would certainly be lost, but the Dutch throne at least would be saved from a German Sovereign. August day in the year 1880 when Queen Wilhelmina came at last to throw Holland into a delirium of delight. Seldom, if _ ever, has a Royal infant been so anxiously awaited or so. regally welcomed. HUNDREDS OF COURTIIERS, GODFATHER TO 1,500 CHILâ€" DREN. GRINDING ALONG MAD WITH DELIGHT n on 11 1” |G Hltmin Optimism is the firstâ€"bora of hope, the mother of confidence, the exeâ€" cutioner of adversity, and the unâ€" dertaker of pessimism, s Optimism and â€" pessimism have fousht many battles; if optimisim had not been a victor to date, hope would have died years ago. A hopeful optimism and sterling konesty are the ball bearings of business negotiation. The may who can sculpture a stumblingâ€"block infto _ a â€" teppiigâ€" stoge has done mors than most Shake hands as though you meant it, and smile. 1 Nobody can compute the value of, a smile; a frown has lost a kingâ€" dom. Nobody can really harm you but vourself. Opti fougsht bad nc would A h {n darkness, in light, in sorrow, in blight, Be an optimist _ever and things will come right. The man who never makes any mistakes never makes anything else. There are more people dying for the lack of a kind word, a pat on the back, and a little encourageâ€" ment than there are from disoase. A smile is potential. magnetic, and dispels trouble. Most of the financing has bsen done in Great Britain, that centro to which all the world turns for finâ€" ancial aid; but Canadians have done much for this and other Canaâ€" dian enterprises. _ The Canadian Northern _ Railway _ consolidated mortgage bonds, guaranteed by the Province of Manitoba, are found among the assets of many Insurâ€" ance Companies and other financ:â€" al institutions. Of the $16,000,000 Canadian Northern Equipment ob ligations which have been issued, Canadians have taken the large proportion and the United States investors have been generous in their assistance towards the finan ing of these loans. The credit cf the Canadian Northern Railway ir the world‘s market, stands high . In the second place, chiefly through the shrewd and economical borrowing, have Mackenzie and Mann been able to construct this kig railway system. Both the Doâ€" minion Government and Provineiâ€" a‘ Government of Manitoba have lent their aid toâ€"theâ€"Railway â€"by. guaranteeing the bonrds. In the later days the Province of Ontaric has stnmoilarly treated lines with‘in its boundaries, as have also the Provinces of. Saskatchewan. an l Alberta. How have these men been able to construct a big railway system, and that without issuing any stock to the public? In the first place they have shown great shrewdness in choosing locations, and it is their boast that all their lines have paid from the start. The Caiadian Northern Ontario Railway owns a lineâ€"Toronto to Sudburyâ€"which, with extensions and branches, totals 310 miles. The Canadian Northern Quebec Railâ€" wayâ€"an amalgamation of several smaller roads in the Province of Quebecâ€"has a total mileage of 350. Other rallroad companies are ownâ€" ea in the Provinces of New Brunsâ€" wick and Nova Scotia. To the figâ€", ures mentioned, will be added, this yeatr, the length of the various exâ€" tensions and branches of 1909 conâ€" struction. The Canadian Northern Ontario proper (from last annual report, June, 1908) operated in the West 2,895 miles. Before the close of the year 248 additional miles were comâ€" pleted and utilizedâ€"a total of 3,â€" 143 miles. Many can recall when there was no Canadian Northern Railway â€" when the name of Mackenzie and Mann had no great import. â€" An analysis therefore of the railroad properties of these two mon canâ€" rot but be of interest to all Canaâ€" dians. Starting in the heart of Maniâ€" toba, with its wheat bearing lines radiating from the City of Winniâ€" peg, the Canadian Northern has grown to a railroad with over 3,000 miles of track in the territory to the West of the Great Lakes, and there are other integral parts already constructed and operating in Onâ€" tario and the Provinces of the Kast. Viewing a map of the road with tbhe lines already constructed, with the extensions under the contracâ€" tors‘ hands, and with the proposed new lines, the Canadian Northor®_ bids fair to shortly become a transâ€" continental line sending its traffic from tidewater to tidewater. Bids Fair to Shortly Become a Transcontineatal Line. One of the most interesting of the romances in Canadian developâ€" ment is the story of the modest beâ€" ginning and rapid growth of the Canadian Northern Railway. _ In 1886 Messrs. Mackenzio and Manu formed a partnership as railway contractors and nine years later they took their first steps towards the Canadian Northern. IT THE CANADIAN NORTHERN. OPTIMISTIC SAYINGS 181 10pC t] nothi: U d S ie m with an U DL m 1 n MEA wh sh nadl and a )( U3