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"I am the living woman," she asâ€" sured him bitterly. "But it is not your fault that I am not dead. â€" You joined with them in trying to secure my death. My God, how could you do it? Iâ€"had never wronged you, and yet you joined with themâ€"with your brother and Randolph Dareâ€"in wreckâ€" ing my life, and seeking my death. You believed the lies they told you. Conâ€" spiracy? Yes, there, was indeed, a conspiracy; a conspiracy against me because your family considered that I, poor, and insignificant, and friendâ€" less, had not been worthy to become your wife.. So they plotted how best they should undo what they considered to be your terrible mistake. They did not scruple to injure me. I was of no account in your eyes. Worse than all, I had found out some of the rasâ€" calities of your brother, Lord Yoxford, and he, therefore, had urgent cause to desire that I should be silencedâ€" for ever, either by death or by immureâ€" ment within walls which could be safely trusted to keep in all sounds, whether. of. prayerâ€" and despairful weep, or of indignant protest against cruelty.â€" So he told you lies, and you believed them; helped by Randolph Dare, he forged a paper embodying my . written consent to be put away in a home for dipsomaniacsâ€"the writâ€" ten consent that the law demandsâ€" and you accepted that, too. And then, during your absence, they took me away, trusting and, in fact, arranging that I should never come forth from that misnamed home again except through the gates of death. You were away on foreign service; you could not help me. A few months later they reâ€" ported to you that the child was dead, safeguarding themselves from too close investigation by stating that he had died while travelling with your brother. That was a lie like the rest. They would have liked the child to be dead, no doubt, but they did not dare to do too much evil all at once, lest retribution should come; so they had only put him away in such a manâ€" ner that his identity might be lost. So he is living stillâ€"â€"â€"â€"‘ "Yes, he is living.. But before we. speak further of him, let me tell you the rest. Your brother and Ranwdo-l-ph‘ Dare plotted my death in complicity‘ with Salter, the keeper of the home. [ kave overwhelming evidence to prove this. Here is one document which is enough in itself." She drew forth from semewhere among the folds of her glittering gown a paper, which she handed to the. consternationâ€"stricken man before her. "Be careful with it,". she recommended. "There is a signet riag fastened to it. Look closely at. that ring; it is your brother‘s. It is appended in attestation of the sinâ€" cerity of the bargain written down in. this document; and that bargain isi an undertaking on the part of your. brother to a pay a certain large sum of money to the man Salter as a reâ€" ward for the news of my death, whenâ€". ever that news should come. It was, of course, incredibly foolish on Lord Yoxford‘s part to risk the setting down in black and. white of so terrible an undertaking; but the matter was made a little more safe by the cirâ€" cumstance that the other party to the iInfamous and criminal bargain gave to the earl a similar paper, with his own signet ring similarly appended. to It ‘The arrangement made was that when the deed should have been acâ€" complished, and I should be safely silenced for ever, these two rings should be reâ€"exchanged on payment of the reward to Salter, and both the incriminating papers should be burnt in presence of the parties. But Provâ€" idence defeated that purpose. Amid the terrors of that night when the Rome was burnt down, I possessed myself of this document from among Salter‘s private papers. The fellow to it, with Salter‘s ring, is in the posâ€" session of your brother. I set one of my agents to steal it, and he almost succeeded in doing so, but was foiled at the last moment; still, he â€"read it, and can swear to the contents of it, and that will go a long way. Yoxâ€" ford would give his soul to get rid of It, be he dares not do it until he can get sure evidence that his own underâ€" taking, given to Salterâ€"this paper that you hold nowâ€"has been destroyâ€" ed. He does not, of course, suspect that I have it. At the time of the burning of the home there was a rumor that Salter was included among the victims, and in that case,â€" of course, Yoxford will think that ‘the dreaded document was destroyed also. But the rumor was never confirmed, and Salter‘s relatives believe him to be still living. That is my, own belief. He is still living, but he dares not apâ€" pear 4n this country because he has a conviction that I, Lady Bernard Gauntlet, am living too, though he does not know where, nor underâ€" what name. And Yoxford canot destroy the black and white agreement until the counterâ€"agreement is in his hands, for the reason that if he should do so it would be in Salter‘s powerâ€"should Salter one day come backâ€"to blackâ€" nmiail him to the extent of every farthâ€" ing he possesses. Now, will you give me back that paper?" "He is living? Can this be true?" he cried agitatedly. The woman conâ€" fronting him nodded quickly. The great general, who was yet a father, interrupted her.with a sharp exclamation. CHAPTER XXX. â€"â€" T "Was it conspiracy?" Lord Bernard Gauntlet repeated breathlessly, "or is it you who are cheating me into the belief that you are my â€" living wifeâ€" or her who was my wifeâ€"when she is not living at all, but dead, as I have believed her to be all these years." The stately woman before him slow ly shook her head. Lord Bernard surrendered it at once. Then he sank down upon a chair and buried his face in his hands. The Darkest Hour:; Or, The Hope That Still Lived, "There is more yet to . tell,". she said. And then, still standing like a sombre statue, she poured forth all the long story of her life since she had seen him last; of her life, of the |cha.ngve which hadâ€" come over her |heart, and character, and soul; of how, ‘by sheer force of agonized resolution, |she had hardened her whole nature |into such iron pitilessness, as, perâ€" Jhaps, no woman and few men had | ever sunk to before. She told how ishe had paused at nothing. in the }businless of achieving her grent vengeâ€" |ance against those who had wronged \her; of how, by a crime, she had obâ€" tained the name and the wealth of a ! brother of her fellowâ€"sufferer in the home, Sarah Crookenden; of how she \bad made and worked her plans, usâ€" ‘ing the wonderful business ability | which had been latent in her, and, \helped surely by the powers of evil, ‘had multiplied this fortune so darkly |and criminalsly gained until it had igrown to proportions remarkable in ‘the history of the world‘s finance. iOn and on flowed the magical tale unâ€" | til the man who heard her understood 1clearly at last how it was that this richest woman of the civilized globe, | whose financial schemes had been adâ€" }mired' by him for years past, was the | wife who had been torn from him in the ripening bloom of her youth. ]Amazed, stricken at once with overâ€" | whelming wonder and with anguish, ihe watched and listened to her, inâ€" Iterrupting her only with a few occaâ€" sional faltering words of selfâ€"defence, ‘or with sharp, shuddering exclamaâ€" ‘tions when she told the story of her (vengeance. The Dares had all been | punishedâ€"every ‘one; Yoxford was in ]her power, and his final ruin, as well |as that of Sir Randolph Dare personâ€" [ally, would shortly follow. She would |show no mercy. even now, unless, perâ€" | haps, to Christine Dare. "I am glad, Philippaâ€"yes, a thousâ€" and times gladâ€"as Heaven is my witâ€" ness." "Philippa!" She repeated her own name with a little, odd laugh. She hardly heard that name spoken for a third of a lifetime, and it had soundâ€" ed oddly strange to her. The man who had approached her came closer still, and held out his arms to her. "Yes, Philippa againâ€"my Philippa again. Will you let me woo you a secâ€" ond time ?" She bent her head. "Only God knows how I have yearned for the clasp of your arms through all these years, Bernard," she said. "And now we can be happy again. But it will only be until toâ€"morrow." "Bernard, tell me thisâ€"are you glad or sorry that I have risen up, as it were from the grave; to stand between you and the new bride that was to have been yours?" He rose and went towards her, holding out his hand. He looked at her in wonder.. "Why only until toâ€"morrow?" She met his gaze unflinchingly. "Because toâ€"morrow will be the black day of my life. Toâ€"day I _ am still what I have been now for three yearsâ€"the richest and, in so farâ€" as lies in that, the most important huâ€" man creature in the civilized world. But toâ€"morrow I shall undo all this; toâ€"morrow I shall with my own hand knock down the whole edifice of my success. Toâ€"day people are proud to be noticed by me, but toâ€"morrow they will all turn from me. And this will be on account of our son. No, do not interrupt me. Listen! I have found my son and yours toâ€"dayâ€"only toâ€"day; and I have found himâ€"God help me! â€"in the person of a young man whom I have led into. evil. He is to be charged toâ€"morrow with attempting to steal. He was acting as my secret agent, and under my instructions broke open Yoxford‘s private cabinet, and was caught in the act of taking the fellow to this paper, with the sigâ€" net ring accompanying it. Under orâ€" dinary conditions this would not have mattered to me; he would~ not have mentioned my name, and I should haveâ€"left him to take whatever punishment they may give him. But now that Lâ€"know that this young felâ€" low is our son, I see what I must do. "Neither were you to be spared," she told her husband. "I had planâ€" ned to leave you alone until your wedding day, when the truth about you was to be told in public in the church, and your marchioness would have had to go home again unwedded. But now I believe that you did not conspire with them that sought my ruin; and soâ€"â€"â€"" "God knows I did not," Lord Berâ€" nard broke in agitatedly. "God knows I did not." She fixed her heavy, dark eyes upon his face. The millionaire woman who once had been his wife, and who sill bore his name, came a few steps nearer to him. "God forgive me!" he breathed "God forgive us all." ; Iâ€"must go down to the Court at Guildâ€" fordâ€"that is where he will be chargâ€" edâ€"and show myself up as having inâ€" cited him to commit the theft. One thing will lead to another, and by the time I have said all that I shall have to say, my position in the eyes of the public will be lost for ever. You canâ€" not prevent it, nor help me. No one can help me now." "How did things end?" Timothy Nobbs said, repeating the question asked by the exâ€"French maid Louise, who had called at The Uplands to tell him that the police had raided her supposed fish shop in Camden Town, and that, ieverything having gone wrong with her, she intended to look out for a situation as lady‘s maid again. ‘"How did things end? Well, they‘ve CHAPTER XXXI "Yes; it must have been good to be there." all ended queerlyâ€"very queerly. I ‘aven‘t got over the shock of all the queerness even yet, and I shouldn‘t be surprised if I never got over it. First, there was the business at the Petty Sessions, when Mrs. Crookenâ€" den, as we thought her to be, came into Court and dumfounded everybody by confessing all ‘er sinsâ€"or what seemed like all ‘er sins, though I shouldn‘t be much took aback if there was not a lot more behind. What a story she told! She was Lady Berâ€" nard Gauntlet, indeed, wife of the great general that was going to be married in a month‘s time to the Marâ€" chioness of ‘Ighmoor. Oh, it was a fine show up The Marchioness took to her bed that afternoon, and they say she ‘aven‘t got up again since. Regular shock to the nerves, and I don‘t wonder; nat‘rally it would upâ€" set a lady a good deal to find that she‘d been on the brink of marrying a man who was married already." A footman in the service of the Duchess of Sutcliffe told me as society â€" was staggered by it. And then the real Lady Bernard, that was known to us all as Mrs. Crookenden, went off into a long account of the life of this young manâ€"the prisoner in the dock â€"who ‘ad turned out to be ‘er missing son. She said as Lord Yoxford ‘ad torn ‘im away from ‘ér when he was five, and ‘ad given ‘im over to be took care of under a different name by an old woman in the country, who was given a lump of money with ‘im, and told to bring ‘im up as a laborer. I tell you, Louise, it was all as queer as a fairy tale. And you should ‘ave seen the faces of all the people in the court while she was aâ€"talking." Depressed though she was, Louise laughed appreciatively. Panama route was that, on account of the prevailing calms on the Paciâ€" fic side, it would be disadvantagâ€" eous for sailing ships. The Canal Record now says that in spite of the calms sailing vessels will find using the canal cheaper than going round Cape Horn. Even figuring in the calms, a sailing vessel can go from New York to San Francisco in 60 days, including one day in the canal, through which it would be hauled by a canal tug. It can reâ€" turn in the winter in 57 days, and in the summer in 62. It would take the same ship 140 days to go from New York to San Francisco round As_vessels are few andâ€"freight rates high, the sailing ship has reâ€" appeared in the ocean trade. Can such a ship profitably use the Panâ€" ama Canal!? Twenty years ago, when the relative merits of the Panama and the Nicaragua routes were being sharply discussed, one of the stock arguments against the Cape Horn, and from 110 to 115 days to return. To run a vessel of 2,000 tons‘ net at sea costs $75 a day ; the canal toll on such a vessel! would be about $2,700. If using the canal shortened the voyage from New York to San Francisco by 36 days, the saving in _expense would pay the tolls; but as a matâ€" ter of fact, the vessel would shorten its voyage on the average by 80 days. Why He is Disliked. "I know why nobody loves a â€" fat man." {Why is it?" "Because when anything goes wrong with the car he can‘t crawl under to fix it." Heard on the Train. ‘"‘What book is that you are reading, Jim?‘ "©‘The Sorrows of Satan.‘" ‘"Well, ‘ll say this for you, Jim ; you always do take an interest in the troubles of your friends." A very chicâ€"looking toque is this skull cap of straw by Cora Marsan of Paris. Shadow checked taffieta runs through vertical bands of straw, and surmounting the brim are two horse hair brushes set in ornate cups. P Sailing Through the Canal. Skull Cap with Horse Hair Brushesâ€"Latest from Paris. (To be continued.) Mr. Colmer states that the folâ€" lowing articles or money to provide them are specially needed : Tobacâ€" co, pipes, cigarettes, matches, soap, cocoa, cake, toilet paper, writing paper, bootlaces, bachelor buttons, insect powder, _ games, boxing gloves, football, and baseball outâ€" fits, magazines, books, newspapers. In the course of his letter Mr. Colmer says :â€"‘‘The arrangements of the War Office for the supply of clothing and food to the troops are excellent, and the men are able to get what they require as and when it is needed from the official stores. This information comes from the Government, and it is confirmed by our communications from the front, both by letter and in person. There is no doubt, however, that large and regular supplies of socks and colored handkerchiefs will be welâ€" comed in addition to the Governâ€" ment supplies, for relasons that are obvious, and also other extra comâ€" forts which cannot /‘ be obtained from the Government stores, and it is just such articles that we are sending to them.‘"‘ "While we shall no doubt receive regular supplies of socks from Canâ€" ada through the good offices of the National Service ,Committee and others,""‘ continues Mr. Colmer, "money will also be very useful to use for the purchase of the other articles that have been specified and enable requirements of the kind to be supplied promptly and regularly. Toronto, June 1.â€"The following official announcement has been made by the National Service Comâ€" muibtee :=â€" In this connection, an interesting letter has been received by Mrs. Plumptre, Secretary of the Nationâ€" al Service Committee, from Mr. J. Canadian soldiers at the front need comforts over and above the supplies provided for them by the Government. â€" Letters from the front are full of appreciation of the soldiers in the Canadian Continâ€" gent for comforts sent to them through the Canadian War Continâ€" gent Association, of which the Naâ€" tional Service Committee is a reâ€" presentative in Canada. What Our Boys at the Front Most Need. G. Colmer, Hon. Secretary of the C.W.C.A. RED CROSS WORK. sX And many a of giving good of earning his A graphic description of the terâ€" rible conditions existing in Serbia at the present time is given by Captain. E. N. Bennett, commisâ€" sioner in Serbia for the British Red Cross Society and St. John‘s Amâ€" bulance Association. Those who read what Captain Bennett says about the terrible ravages of tyâ€" phus and other diseases in the cities and towns of Serbia cannot fail to realize that urgent assisâ€" tance must be given if the lives of the civilians as well as the soldiers are to be saved, and if the infection is not to spread all over the world. The following is a description of an Austrian prisoners‘ camp, where 750 Austrians have been collected : ‘"‘Disease has fallen like a blight upon the camp. At an earlier date one doctor was in charge of this camp, but he is now struck down with typhus and various forms of infectious malady are raging unâ€" checked. Typhus, dysentery, smallâ€" pox, diphtheria, have swept over the place with devastating effects. Last week only 20 men out of 750 could stand on their feet. The silence of the camp is broken only by sighs and groans, but when a stranger comes in sight the sick raise themselves if they can and ery pitifully, ‘‘For the love of God give us water, give us bread.‘"‘ Since the commencement of the war 63 Serbian doctors have died in the course of their unequal strugâ€" gle with disease. One young man of 23, a medical student, died reâ€" cently. . Another Serbian doctor recently died of typhus, and as he was being buried his young wife died at ‘home of the same dread malady. This heartâ€"rending description of conditions existing in one of our allies‘ countries cannot fail to touch the generous hearts of the Canaâ€" dian people. Surgical supplies and comforts of all kinds are sorely needed, and these may be sent to 7i King Street East, Toronto, whence they will be forwarded to Lady Boyle, who is in charge of the Serbian Red Cross Society in the absence of Madame Grouitch in the United States. Donations for the Serbian Relief Fund may be sent to Sir Edward Boyle, Bart.. 63 Queen‘s Gate, London, S.W., Eng: land. There they lie in utter wretchedâ€" ness. â€" Here and there one finds a mattress, here and there a little straw, but the bulk of the sick men are istretched out on the muddy ground.. Their clothes are foul and alive with the vermin which spread the deadly typhus. The Serbs are kind to these prisoners, but when the grip of typhus or enteric has fastened upon him the Austrian takes his chance with the rest, and this chance is sometimes a Sorty one. "I may tell you that we are in daily commumication with the offtâ€" cers commanding the _ different units. They let us know regularly what articles they would like to have, and we sent out consignâ€" ments several times a week, and will continue to do so as far as our resources will permit. Everything we send out to France is addressed to the officers commanding, and is distributed (by the Quartermaster or some other officer to the men as the cases or bales are received. We are receiving,""‘ concludes Mr. Colmer, ‘"the most cordial coâ€" operation from the muilitary. forâ€" warding officers, both on this side and in France, and considering everything, the transporation serâ€" vice is being performed. splendidly. There is some delay of course in the conveyance an«l in the delivery of our consignments, but it is a marvel to all of us that it is done so well, and our ishipments appear, to be arriving with fair regularity at their destination.‘"‘ SPOHN MEDICAL man who is capable advice isn‘t capable salt. Sure~cure and positive preventive, no matter how hor,’ at any age are infected or "exposed." Liquid, given on th tongue, acts on the Blood and Glands, expels the poisonous germs from the body. Cures Distemmer in Dogs and Sheep, and Cholera in Poultry. Largest selling live stock remedy Cures La Grippe among human beings and is a fine kidney’ remedy. Cut this out. Keep it. Show it to your druggist, who will get it for you. Free Booklet, ‘Distemper, Causes and Cures." FOR DISTRIBUTORSâ€"ALL WHOLESALE DREUGCGISTS. CO., Chemists and Bacterlologists, Gozhen, Ind., U.S.A. DISTEMPER But how do microbes turn. the milk sour? you ask.â€" Welly theysare very fond of sugar and delight in gratifying their liking by turning the sugar in milk into an ~acid which sours the mulk. "Tek . Warm milk is particularly invit ing to the microbe and favorable to its operations. â€"The microbe does not get along well under chillâ€" ing conditions, and that is why the sweetness of the milk can be preserved if it is keptâ€"cold. ‘ Boiling milk changes the sugatr in such a way that the microbe In the dough from which bread is made there is a lot of sugar, which contains carbon,: hydrogen and oxygen. It is necessary to fer ment this sugar to make. bread edible, and yeast is used because it has the power to.do this. f Why is yeast used in bread? This question may sound foolish to mo, housewives, but let them try ‘ answer it scientifically before pass~ ing judgment. a It is made from the plant having this quality. Fermenting sugar is equivalent to burning it, and there are two results. One is the formaâ€" tion of earbonic gas. A great deal of this gas is caught in the dough in the form of large or small bubâ€" bles, and some of it escapes. into the air. The part that cannot esâ€" capse causes the dough to rise and make bread light. â€" Boiling milk cha in such a way tha cannog feed upon it The holes in the bread are t‘ little pocokets which held the caf bontc acid gas. The effect of the buwbibles is to lift the body of dough so that the heat ean penetrabe readily and bake it properly. If it were possible to keep milk from the air‘ it would not turn sour. But the mischievous microbe, say those who study its ways and ravages, is constantly im the air, alive, though invisible, and ready to drop into the milk when it can. BENSON‘S How Microbes Sour Milk. l(\j{ore tha? é;al{ a entury of Quality is behind every package of Why Yeast Is Needed. PINK EYR, EPIZOOTIC, SHIPFPING FEVEE and CATARREHAL FEVE