Evening Star Newspaper, November 6, 1897, Page 19

THE MISSING PRINCE ADVENTURE OF AN AMATEUR DE- TEOTIVE. BY MAJOR ARTHUE GRIFFITHS. —_.__—_ (Copyright, 1897, SS. McClure Co.) Written for fhe Evening Str. The firm of Black & Brightsmith was gcod enough to express its great and grate- ful appreciation of my help in the case of the Escondida mine. It promised me other work of the same kind, plenty, if 1 cared to take it up, and soon sent to ask whether I could undertake a confidential mission to Algeria It was to convey a considerable sum of money in specie to the remote town of Biskra, a health resort of growing popular- sted in the far-off desert, almost on the great Sahara. money is to be paid over in ex- fcr a certain compromising dec- me that closely affects the honor acter of a great family. Will you id Harry Brign he essed my reaciness, but asked why um could not be paid by check. is for gold. In any to secure the papers in full “ est—can only—be hané of a thoroughly trust- agent, some one who wiil, if and take at one and the es of casi worthy sary, give at inquired, catching i doubt implied hav absolute certaint. , that © umped up for the This is a r the =. no there foul you will eternal lichness as well as a han 2ur. a Let me S ee ates b They in gre his the world to ducation, with a Cook ticket, ss islas is said to be a lively youth, fond of horses, sport, amuseme the fair sex—all that makes life. able a -two. He has cost h ness a gocd d2al ¢f me at times, but his father has paid without a murmur— until row. The present demand—that cn which we seek ycur co-operation, Mac— is for the liquidaticn of a gambling debt Har—indeed, as it is circumstances. The prince has been accused of a fla- incurred eged, young grant attempt to correct fortune.” “Tn pl m English, of cheating at car less. And on the surface the tly clear. The charge | orted by his own cx But first read a it.” Hotel des Zibaus- s follows: mful task to brin iberately ur son, "Prince Stan- been caught cheat- act, t in the fla- "to which t n account: anty character. ques- t Up to; t point he had lost stea but now | luck turned. It became phenomenal. ike prince won; he cleared te an hour this lasted, ion in the minds No was not well. h the prince. I en to stand behind him, moment, a signal being and hold his hanés. and immediately pack of of several at a given to se 1 so, card: concealed somewhere thin his paletot, fell to the ground. It was a pack made up chiefly of ‘threes’ and ‘sixes.’ If your hig is acquainted with the game rat the capital importance of will need no explanation. was stopped and two of us were thes deputed to draw up a proces-verbal de- scribing the occurrence. “Of cour: the prince's gains were de- clared null and void, and he was called upon te make restitution, also to pay his previous losses and the advance made b: the ‘These amounted in all to 7. francs, and. as he had no funds, I dis- arged the debt, taking his acknowledg- prepared for your son's signa- ession of his misconduct, a ied by a notary, ¥ inclos » original will be sur- | lto your Ss on or to any person you dition, that you hand a sum of 25.000 francs, r the relief of the poor your highness will see meeting fairiy and diy be your wi . the direct heir to i future holder of the that may it is only out highness that we ignominy he so richly neeiving that your highness would to avoid all publicity, we consent to moneys claimed in gold. If ntative will meet ovember at rengo, near the the exchange can seat himself on the main en- h, or !y with the conditions te fixed, will cause the ab- selute rupture of all negotiations, and the the confession, with full be published in the press pital of Europe. with profound respect of our dee abidin . your highne and the s sym- full and ex- prince’s signature, the at- witnesses thereto, and the the tion of the ’ that have turned up pretty regularly—at least, untid six weeks had no idea of ‘his wheréabouts. We rather thifik he distrusts his son, or, at least, is so furious- ly angry at the scandal that he will not look at the case calmly.” “What is he- like, this young prince? Good sort? Bad lot? Which?” “Frankly, I am on his side. Black here” (Black was a tall, solemn chap, preternat- urally and prematurely grave, with slow voice and drooping eyelids) “has been rather against him. “No. no; not quite that,” protested Black; “but I have thought doubt,” I said. “It seems bighly improba- ble that a young prince just out of his teens is a professional Greek, skilled in dirty tricks arith the cards. That, on the face of it, first. Then the fact that Prince Casimir has heard nothing direct from his son—no appeal, no apology. no attempted exculpation. This rather tells in the lad’s favor, I think. If I am asked, I should say, Don't pay—not, at least, till the story is verified.” “His highness will not run that risk. He [cost ae tease co eer ie See ee ee ace 6 his 7 une Wit & striking personage in Bi er valuable time. If this young prince has-— whose father I knew in Vienna, and his mother, she was a Princess de Gauffre- mont—if Prince Stanislas has really been here, and if he has fallen among thiev>s in the way you ge me I fear the thing has gene too far. He is probably beyond insists upon the money being sent out, and | our help.” every stipulation fulfilled to the letter. It drives him wild, the idea of a Medea posted as a cheat through Europe,” answered Brightsmith. “I don’t say refuse. But, at jeast, be cer- tain that the case is clear. There should be time to settle that question between “Killed? Murdered?” I asked bluntly. He shrugged his shoulders. “It is a poor confession to make, but out here, in thece wilds, such things have been. Strange things. The strengest 1s, perhaps, this story. Frankly, monsieur, I hardly credit it. It fails at the very beginning. IT WAS PRINCE STANISLAS DE MEDEA. now and November 23. I should like to look into it, on the spot, at once.” “At Biskra?”" “Certainly. There is time, I believe, for me to pay a visit to Biskra, to make in- quiries, hear all about this De Fivas and Mirabel and the rest. Above all, to see the yeung prince and hear ‘his own version.” e has given it here,” said old Black, ‘ing the confession with his knuckles as it lay upon the table. “He is said to have given it there. That may be a forgery. The signature, the official stamp of the notary, both might have been obtained by some nefarious dodge. The young prince may be under ecercion.” “My dear Major Macnaghten-Innes,” broke in_Black, impatiently for one so se- date and stolid, “in my experience, ounce of fact is worth a shipload of con- jecture. I think that the safest course is to nd the moeney—exchange it for the confe Let us carry out the con- tract. That, moreover, in fact, is what lent wishes—silent compliance and no Brightsmith, having fuller confidence in kill, took my view, and after much debate it was decided that Prince Casimir sheuld be consulted. He came up to iresham street, a rather limp old gentle- man, to whom this was a crowning bit- s in a life of disappointment, and d some difficulty in persuading him to the bolder course. It was the money that settled it. He was not rich, and would have been glad to save the $1,200 blackmail. Having arranged that the sum in ques- tion should await my orders at Cook’s bank in Algiers, I left London for Biskra on November 2, and, taking the most ex- peditious route, that via Marseilles and Philipville, reached the desert town on the evening cf the third day, November 5. Al- lowing three clear days for the return journey to Algiers, where, if my inquiry failed, I must be on the evening of No- vember 22, I had just sixteen days before * piskra owns several hotels, but I chose that which had been named in the letter from MM. de Fivas and Mirabel, believing I should be safest in the heart of the en- emy’s country. As I had my guns with me, and proposed to call upon both the French commandant and the kaid, or Arai governor, ds an English sportsman, eager to hunt all kinds of game, I hoped to es- cape importunate curiosity. In support of this charactet I rode out twice with the kaid’s falcons and nt a night in the $ mountains. At the same time I prosecuted my in- quiries with the utmost caution. If it got wind that an agent from Prince Casi- mir was in Biskra my mission might fail at the very outset, and the worst would happen. I was sa d the first day to welk through the Place de la Sahai where I did actually find the brass plate of “La Ramie, Notary,” at the door of his office er etude. 1 ascertained, too, that a club called the “Cercie el Saiahin,” ex- nd that it was not difficult to gain on to it. yet I could hear of no “De Fivas,” lirabel.” There were no such per- iding at the Hotel des Zibaus, the very place from which they wrote making the demands! Of course, people might, and do, make use of an address that is berrowed or fictitious, yet there was com- fort in the thought that these high-toned gentlemen were not persons very well known. Again, I could not find that any pri certainly no Prince Stanislas de Medea, had recently sojourned in Biskra. This was also satisfactory, so far as it went: yet I could not set much store by it, for princes of ail pategories have a fondness for incognito nd there might be good reasons why Prince Stanislas should pass under a smali- er and assumed name. I had his photo- graph with me, reputed a good likeness, and I always carried it about with me, hoping that I might run up against the original in seme odd corner. But not only did 1 never meet him, but I could hear of no one an- swering to his description at any of the hotels. My first substantial move was mad I was admitted as a member of the El Balt hin Club. I at once examined the list, but locked in vain for the names “De Fivas’’ and “Mirabel.” They were not members of the club, that was clear. This, to my mind, knocked the bottom out of the whole story. If a gambling scan. dal had occurred in the club, it would sure- ly have been dealt with by members. not cutsiders: certainly not by such outsiders, shadowy, obscure personig>s,of whom, after five days’ inquiry, I could hear nothing in Biskra. But there was still stronger reason to doubt the story. Now that I was a mem- ber I was in a position to ask, cautiously, about the case. No one had heafd of it at all. It was pure invention: there had been no cheat- ing. no Prince Stanislas in the club. This conclusion relieved me of all anxiety with respect to the negotiations. The blackmailers were not to be greatly dread- ed; their plot was thin and commonplace: their threats might be disregarded, and the money must assuredly rot be paid. But I found myself in the presence of a much more serious question. It was per- fectly clear to me that something had hap- pened to the young prir.ce. No plot of this kind could have been set on foot without his being actively or passively concerned We do not even know that Prince Stanis- las has ever been in Biskra. I question that, even. “Would you have known?” “As a matter of course I think he would have come to me; I think he would have allowed me to show him some attention. In any case, the hotel registers—you know cur French system?—would certainly have told me. No Prince de Medea has been recorded among the arrivals at Biskra, be- eve me; I should have heard.” ‘But if he was incognito, for reasons of his own?" “We will have the registers. Let us see if there is any one like him on the lists. But you tell me you have yourself inquired at the hotels. { fear this will lead us ro further.” ‘The lists were breught, but, as the baron prophesied, they told us ‘nothing. “No,” he said, “I see only one spot of firm ground anywhere, a point from which possibly we may travel in the right direc- tion. “The notary public?” “Exactly, M. La Ramie is a real, tangible fact—the only notary public in Biskra. 1 know him personally a little, by reputation still better, as an honorabie, straightfor- ward functionary, who would hardly lend himse:f to anything underhand. frer.ch rotaries, as a rule, bear a deservediy high character. We had better see M. La Ramie. He can, at least, tell you the truth about the conféssion. A record of the copy, made and attested, will be kept in his office, if it ever was made, which I doubt.” We walked down without. delay to the Place de la Sahara, and were shown in at once. All doors opened before the com- mandant of the garrison. M. La Ramie, an aged man, who wes in slippers and wore a black skull cap, was most courteous and obliging, pre- pared to give us any information in his power. But he knew nothing of a con- fession made by Prince Stanislas de Medea. Nothing of the sort had been brought to his etude; he had never heard of De Fivas or Mirabel. Then I laid the copy before him, asking if that was not his office seal, his signa- ture. “The seal, yes. The signature, no. The first has been stolen, I know by whom; the second forged—undoubtedly forged, by the same coquin, voleur, escroc, sacripant, faineant.” The staid old notary grew pur- ple with raze as he rolled out abusive epithets, then paled sudderly with another emotion, alarm and misgiving. “He will ruin me yet, disgrace ne utterly, for who shall say where his abstractions, his mis- use of my confidence will cease?” “Was he one of your clerks?” asked the colonel. “My first clerk, Picpus, whom I drove cut of my etude some two months back for flagrant misconduct. Liar, rogue, thief, gambler, Greek, he wasted his substance and mine in every low kell, at the roulette tables in the market place, in the dancing dens of the Ouled Nail.” “What became of him?” “I heard that he had gone down to the ceast, to Algiers or to Constantine, and again that he was lurking somewhere near. He was seen at Sidi Okba, drunk in ihe bazaar, and covered with flies. Another said he had gone on to Touggourt, und meant to go over to the—” “I do not believe myself that he has left Biskra—neither he nor his fast friend and bcon companion, the croupter of the Cercle el Salahin.” “Della Croce?” quickly asked Baron d@'Hautrive, and I also pricked up my ears at the mention of the club. We had struck another clue. “This Della Croce,” my frierd the col- onel told me as we walked away from the notary’s, “is probably at the bottom of this business. He was once in a good position, had money, and, I believe, rank —Deila Croce is not his real name—but he Icst it all at play. When he was bank- 1upt in cash, and almost in character, he was brought out here this last season to act as croupter at the Casino, just to keep lim from starvation. I heard of him, I never saw him, fcr, as you will under- stand, I do not frequent those places; heard of him as a man with a history, a man who had been in gcod, in the best society, knew men and cities, but had sunk into a mere adventurer, a vaurien and chevalier q@'industrie. It is possible that he knew the prince by sight, had met him or heard of him in Europe, and when he came up here —if_he ever came—” “Which is as good as proved,” I put in. “Not to my Satisfaction, You stick to your point, however; it is like you English. But will you explain why no one, none of us at any rate, has met him or heard of him? Biskra is a small place. Why ure there no traces of him?” “That is the darkest part of the business, to my mind.” “You shall not say, monsieur, that we have not tried our best to clear up that. There shall be no imputation of foul play ‘€hey may be got to hve done with the prince—at least, whén in custody they can- not carry out thel¥ prégram. They will not be silenced by the payments they demand, y, well communicate This ‘news in #@‘meisure ended my mis- sion, which did not extend beyond laying bare and neutralizing a clever attempt at extortion. But I ‘could not rest satisfied with that—I had still to fulfill a duty to my employer. I must unravel the more serious mystery of the prince's disappearance. So { prepared to return without delay to Algiers and assist, so far as I might be permitted, in the examination of the con- spirators. Then luck interposed in my favor, and in no profession does the action of blind chance go further than in that of the de- tective. The strange fact has been proven again and again, and might be illustrated by many curious examples. The very day before that fixed for my departure I was wandering aimlessly through the little town of Biskra, when chance—the detective’s good fortune, rather -—took me into an Arab caravanserai on the outskirts near where the road comes in from Touggourt and Bl Wayla, the farthest confines of the French territory. It was of the same character as those I had seen in the far east, a great square inclosure, the center filled with refuse and garbage, among which stood the camels, horses and other animals, while on the four sides were low doors opening upon the trayelers’ rooms. A little on one side was a new arrival— one of those old-fashioned hooded vans seldom seen out of France, and only there in out-of-the-way districts remote from railways and large towns. They are used by quack doctors, cheap jacks, wandering photographers, and the like. The proprie- tors of this van seemed to combine all these callings with that of horse dealer, for a number of promising-looking colts stood around tethered by their fetlocks, and an old man in blue blouse and sabots was giv- ing them water. Suddenly I saw him look toward the back of the van, give a low, shrill whistle, and whisper: eae La patronne. Et patiti—et pa- titar” Following the direction of his signal I saw two young people flying apart with a haste that showed they were doing wrong. It was the old, old story; love was not running smoothly, and the chief obstacle was, no doubt, this stalwart female in the man’s red beret who had just entered the caravanserai. I drew near, amused, as I saw the youth snatch up a water bucket, the girl hur- riedly resume her task of shredding cab-, bages in the pot-a-feu, while the woman— mistress or mother, probably both—called one an idle vagabond and the other a shameless minx. Then I caught the lad’s face and was held instantly spellbound. It was undoubtedly Prince Stanislas de Medea. For all his ragged, dusty clothes, his ill- kempt Iccks and grimy face, I recognized him beyond all question as the original of the photograph I now held in my hand. “Surely, it is time, prince,” I said, ac- costing him at once in. English—“time that this masquerade ‘shoulé end? I come from your father; he fears‘that you are dead; he almost wishes It, for by some mad folly you have nearly brought an indelible stain upon an ancient name” Me had meant, T saw clearly, to deny his identit but as I’went on his eyes filled with tears, and he stammered out: “I do not understand: I have done noth- ing very wrong. I love her to distraction—” Then I led him' straight out of the in- closure, and, much to! the surprise of all who met us thus ‘arm-in-arm, took the princely stable boy to my hotel, and heard all he had to tell. There was nothing very new in his story. He had been wandering up from the coast incognito, meaning ‘to seek adventure in the farthest limits, when he had fallen in with thesé vagabond truders and had been attracted by the ‘pretty Yvette, who had laughed him to scorn, then dragged him at her tail, a hopeless “and’ love-sick youth, prepared to ‘play any part, accept any rough and ignoble work, only to be near her and press his still unrequited suit. Della Croce must have seen him when passing through Biskra. Prince Stanislas remembered the man, had met him one day in the bazaar, and had some difficulty in shaking him off. Out of this the whole plot had grown. It originated, no doubt, with Della Croce; but it must have been aided and developed by the notary’s clerk. But my task was not quite ended yet. I had extreme difficulty in weaning Prince Stanislas from the inamorata. He refused at first point blank to leave the van. It was not until I took these good folk—true Bohemians, yet in their way honorable, fair-dealing Biscayans—into my confidence that I succeeded in getting him away. The mother, with her strong, harsh voice, clinched the matter at once. ‘He could not marry her. That would not be suitable. Anything else—merci, mon- sieur; trop d°honneur!” I believe Yvette eventually married a founler (pay sergeant) in the Zouaves, and was handsomely dowered by Prince Cas- mir. As for Prince Stanislas, he went down Uke a lamb to Algiers, where I left him to bear witness against the rogues who had tried to ruin him, and I returned home. a Machine Loading on Docks, From the Engineering Magazine. In the matter of cost of operating wharf plants it is not to be understood that the same degree of economy which can be reached in. the handling of a particular commodity in large bulk, such as coal, or grain, or ore, can be attained with miscel- laneous cargoes; the difference in cost per ton may be enormous. For instance, there are plants in successful operation at Charleston and other places, for unloading sulphur, oarytes and other bulk stuff, at a cost of less than 2 cents per ton, including the entire movement from the vessel's hold to the storage bins, several hundred feet away from the wharf, and thence through chutes to the hold and wharf. It is in the methods of dealing with general cargoes that the greatest field for improvement exists, this is not a stevedore’s, but an engineer's prob- tem, and it embraces things other than the actual placing of the goods; it involves their sorting and distribution, and must be adaptable to all sorts and conditions of freight. Coal can be handled very cheaply; under certain conditions hard coal can be put in- to a vessel for less than one cent per ton; tut the best performance in New York harbor in coaling a ship at the wharf used for miscellaneous*traffie costs from 20 to 25 cents per ton. A fo¥tune awaits the in- ventor who can devise @ practical and eco- nomical mechaniéal’ fieans of loading steamer coal. in tke céndition in which it ccmes to market migture of large lumps and fine dast and! oa intermediate sizes and shapes. a6 From Life. THE WONDERS OF PALMISTRY. ; hf Plantsphere of the Heavers—showinz the Positions of the Principal Stars which are above the Horizon Novem ber 6, at 9 P NOVEMBER: HEAVENS} Hints for Those Who Like to Study the Stars, STORY OF THE LOST PLEIAD The Annual Recurrence of the Me- teoric Shower. they stil’ in that primitive condition which, on Prof. Lockyer’s “Meteorite Theory,” marks the incipient stage of sun life—are they simply condensing shoals of white- hot meteors? Again, it would be inierest- ing to know hew far away these sta that we might form some idea of the and of the actual dimensions of the s which they form. From rather uncert data it has been estimated that the dis- tance of the Pleiades from us is not less than 20 “light years,” or about twenty five times that of Sirius. Assuming this to be the case-though really the estimate is little better than a random guess—the naked-eye stars of the cluster must be vastly superior in size to the sun, which at that distance would dwindle to a star of about the tenth magnitude. It would require a good three-inch telescope at the least to discover it. Aleyone must surpass it in ac- tual splendor a thousand times. Figuring on the same basis, we can calculate that the and powders, not knowing that all the while F the trouble is not in the skin, itself, but in the sys- tem. It is sometimes ab- to use outward applica- for if the skin alone is cleared, the likely to attack some internal organ of the body, where it may prove fatal to life itself. In the majority of cases these unsightly skin diseases are due to two things, weak- ness and disorders of the distinctly femi- nine organism, and impurities of the blood caused by them. The woman who suffers from disease in a womanly way will soon suffer in her general health. Her stomach, liver and other organs will fail to perform their proper functions, with the result that ‘blood becomes impure. Left to her. = she will probably resort to cosmetics and ointments. If she consults a physician he will tell her that the stomach or liver fault. Her distinctly womanly is really the first and only cause. she should resort at once to Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription. It acts di rectly and only on the delicate and important organs concerned. It makes them strong and well. Then a course of Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical Discov will purify and enrich the blood, and make her a new wo- man. Medicine dealers sell both remedies. “I cannot say too much for Dr. Pierce's Fa- vorite Prescription,” writes Miss Ciara Baird. of Bridgeport, Montgomery Co., Penna., “for the did me. Tiany one doubts this give them my name and address.” Sure, safe and simple ways to cure all manner of skin diseases told in Dr. Pierce's Medical Adviser, For a paper -covered copy send 21 one-cent stamps, to cover mailing only, to Dr. R. V. Pierce, Buffalo, N. Y.; cloth binding, 31 stamps, tions, real disease ole amount. to the cashier. the w The next day I wen here,’ T said, ‘what do és hemmed 4 he told me y wife had com ae size of the cluster. which is roughly glob- | ind told him my mveat fad was hen tao Z NETS | ular, is such that light requires seven years Dut ‘the hacill om mom TO LOCATE THE PLA to speed across it from side to side. Were and how he thought he was pleasing me its central star in the place of the sun, the | "J Giant say a eard to : Written for The Evening Star. IGHT STARS OF the first magnitude will be above the aorizon at 9 o'clock this evening. In the northeast may be seen Capella, the Goat, the principal star in Auriga, now from its favorable position the brightest star visible; some- what lower, in the east, is Aldebaran, the Bull's Eye, a reddish star, at one corner of the V-shaped cluster of the Hyades; below this and barely above the horizon is Betelgeuse (pro- nounced Bet-el-feu-ze), in the right shoulder of Orion, a star closely resembling Aldebaran both in color and magnitude; at about the same altitude, between east and southeast, is Rigel (Ree-jel), in the left foot of Orion, a brilliant white or “Sirian” star; a little west of south and at a rather low altitude is Fomalhaut, in the Southern Fish, conspicuous from its loneliness; at about the same altitude in the west is Al- tair, in the Eagle, and somewhat higher, in the northwest, is Vega, a Sirian star, the rival of Capella in briltiancy. The principal constellations now in good positions for observing are: Cetus, the Whale, which occupies the lower half of the southeastern quadrant of the heavens— not particularly striking as a constella- tion, and interesting chiefly for its variable star Mira; Pegasus, the Winged Horse, marked by the great square, which at 9 o'clock has just crossed the meridian and is nearly overhead; the Swan (Cygnus), or Northern Cross, in mid-heavens in the northwest, easily recognized from the crosslike arrangement of its five or six brighter stars; Cassiopeia, now seated in her most commanding position, directly above the Pole Star; Perseus, in mid-heav- ens in the northeast, containing two stars of the second magnitude, one of which is the variable star Algol, in the Head of Me- dusa, carried by Perseus in his left hand; Andromeda, marked by three stars of the second magnitude, which, together with the star in the breast of'Perseus, form the handle of a large dipper-shaped figure, of which the Square of Pegasus ts the bowl, the star in the Maiden’s Head forming one corner of the Square; and Aries, Taurus and Auriga, which together fill a good portion of the eastern quadrant of the heavens. The Lost Pleind. One of the most interesting of the ob- jects which we have before us as we face the east is the sparkling little cluster of the Pleiades. In Grecian fable the Pletades were the daughters of Atlas and the ocean nymph, Pleione, whom Jupiter, to rescue them from Orion, changed into pigeons and placed among the stars. The conceit of the “Lost Pleiad”—who, some said, had wasted away with weeping over the fall of Troy, or, according to another account, had with- drawn her light from shame ‘at having married a mortal—was in explanation of the fact that only six stars could be counted in the cluster, while there were seven daughters, and the earlier poets and astronomers had reckoned seven stars. ‘What became of the Lost Pleiad is still an unanswered question. At the present time but six stars can be seen in the clus- ter by eyes of only ordinary keenness. Yet just below the limit of ordinary vision there are several which have been seen by persons of extraordinary eyesight. Maecst- lin, the tutor of Kepler, counted fourteen Pleiads, and mapped eleven, before the in- vention of the telescope, and Miss Airy also saw fourteen and mapped twelve. The brightest Pleiad now is Alcyone, of the third magnitude. But there are rea- sons for thinking that this was not the brightest star in the cluster in the time of Ptolemy, and it is not imprebable that others of these stars have changed in bril- Mancy in the course of time, and that the loss of the Plelad was an actual case of diminution in splendor. Prof. E. C. Pick- ering has picked out the star now known as Pleione—for both Atlas and Pieione have been placed by astronomers in the cluster by the side of their daughters—as very likely to be the star in question. The star has a peculiar spectrum—one which indi- cates that the star is largely gaseous, and therefore very likely to be subject to varta- tion in brightness. A Numerous Cluster. This little cluster, which so much en- gaged the attention of ancient star gazers, has proved to be the object of especial in- terest for modern astronomers. Photog- raphy has shown not only that it contains upward of 3,000 stars—some of the latest photographs are said to show, within lim- its which are properly to be assigned to outermost sters of the globular portion of the cluster would be found nearly at the distance of Alpha Centauri, the sun’s near- est stellar neighbor, while its outlying streamers would extend far beyond. Meteors. On the nights of the 13th, 14th and 15th of the month we may look for the annual recurrence of the November meteors—the Leonids, so called from the circumstance shower there is apt to be an unus' fine display, though the locality in wh h it only to be disappointed. The disp! is always the finest in the morning hours, at which time the radiant is “above the horizon. Unfortunately this year a bright moon will be shining on the meteor nights, and since these me- teors are apt to be small many of them may be missed. Watchers last year were not equally favored. Some saw no me- Probably the luck of all will be better this year, but nothing certain can be predicted. Mira and Algol. Cloudy weather has prevented any very recent observation of Mira by the writer. The star will doubtless be easily visible to the naked eye by the time that this is in print, end if true to its record it should increase in brilliancy until it reaches a maximum, some time in Decem- ber. The peculiarity of this “wonderful” star was described last month, and di- rections for finding it were also give: Note that it lies neariy mid y betwee Aldebaran and Fomalhaut, and at a dis- tance from Menkar, to the right, about half as great as that of Menkar from Aldebaran. dish color. A minimum of Algol convenient for ob- serving will occur at 11 p.m. on the and another at 9 p.m. on the 12th. With the aid of the planisphere this star should be found easily. The Plancts. All of the planets except Venus, Jupiter and Neptune are too near the sun to be of interest to naked-eye observers. Mer- cury will be in conjunction with the sun (superior) on the 7th. Uranus on the 2ist and Saturn on the 25th. Venus is still a morning star, about an hour and 2 half west of the sun, but her brilliancy is now less than one-tenth as great as in June last. Jupiter is a brilliant morning _ star, about one nour and a. quarter west of Venus. Neptune, invisible to the naked eye, is in Taurus, at the point indicated on the pianisphere. The star is of a decidedly red- Mth, a NEW COINS. A Rash Promise and a Wife's Little Schem From the St. Louls Glohé-Dencerat. He was standing on the rear platform of a suburban car when the conductor handéd him two new dimes in change for a quarter, having subtracted the fare. The passenger gazed at them in a meditative manner. “Every time I see a new coin,” be said, “it makes me think of the first year I was married. It wasn’t so long ago, either,” he said, reflectively. ‘But, you know, my wife said I spent too much for drinks and cigars, and one day when she was with me and a clerk gave me a couple of new pieces in change, an idea came to her. “Say, dear,’ she said to me, ‘give me all the new coins you get, will you, dear? It will eye UP what you spend for your c And so I agreed. I promised faithfully to keep all rew coins and give them to her. I reckoned I wou:dn’t get many, and I knew it would please her. It did. But it nearly made me a bankrupt. The first few days it was all right, but inside of-a week I was afraid to offer any one anything bigger than a dime, for fear every coin I got back would be fresh from the mint. The druggist—I buy my cigars of him-would throw out two new quarters every time I bought half a dozerf cigars and gave him a dollar. The grocer had such a marvelous lot of new pieces I made up my mini ne was running a subtreasury, and even the milkman would continue to give me a dol- lar’s worth every time I paid Aim. I be- gan to get suspicious, especially when I | pnt around to she had told 1 gave away about $1 them I hated new m< thereafter 1 alwa I the t nem the same th wortn of cigars, told mey, and all that, and got the worst, most battered lot of cha: ’ She don't know yet, ut ialx to Myre about Woman not being a financier—y . if 1 was Pres’ epied y ct . I'd make my w the Treasury —_—ce-______ that the point from the direction of which] Vacations for Horses and Others. they seem to shoot their “radiant” is in| From Leslie's Weekly. the constellation Leo. In 1899, according to] It was in Bosto: that the idea the calculation of astronomers, a “shower” ed, whi iu practical of these meteors is due—one of those | operation there " e 5 grand and terrifying displays which this | (Peron ‘here during the past summet meteor system gives at intervals of thi Thee re ereee OF She palhon three years, and experience has shown | department a regular annual vacation, the that in the year or two preceding the as the Pastures © bee ed in the > horses are se wh tor’ periods ot will be seen, whether in the eastern or western hemisphere, cannot be SS paced thietedice. r. They are nor the hours at which it will occur, | U2shod, turned Ic in good pasturage, This is true also of the hower.” Wheth- | well statied at night, and receive their er we in America will witness it or it will ] ws ages—a measure of grat the same as | be best seen in Europe ts uncertain. Wel wien working. ‘th. can only watch and anticipate, perhaps a3 is. ‘The animals enjoy them: selves immensely, and sults are imm takably apparent. This is a praiseworthy every point of view, erally euraged. the beneficial re- movement, from und ought to be gen- If work- ‘ses have their vacaticns the system may be extended to take ia Various classes of human toilers who kave not hitherto known the mean- ing of green fields and pastures new. It teors at all, some saw a few, and two] would be simply an ideal condition of or three observers reported fairly fine] things if vacations, long and frequent, displays on the morning of the 15th. | could be made compulsory for certain self. advertising novelists, sensational preacher: nd masterly politicians, whem the publi kuow, and would willingly permit to take a rest. aes ee iE English and American Universities, From the New York ‘Tribune. It is certainly something of a to American educational institutions and scholars that when, some years ago, a graduate of Harvard went to Oxford and applied for admittance there to make a special stady of Shakespeare for a year, he was told: “Gc back to Harvard and Pro- fessor Child. They can teach you far more there than we can here.” eve tribute before, even at a time when Harvard and American colleges had not nearly attained their present standard, for the elder Bd- ward Everett, in a letter dated as far back s “I have as , writing from Oxford: been over two months in England, now visiting Oxford, having passe in Cambri4 There is more teaching and more learning in our American Camb than there is in both the English univers- ties together, though between them they have four times our number of student: Going to Klondike? Better stay at home and get OLD took a check into the bank one day and the cashier says: “Well, I suppose you wouldn't mind ‘some silver!” “* ‘Not at all,’ I said. “He gave me two rolls, eack marked $10. the cluster, over 6,000 stars—but also that ae is involved in an extensive nebula, which is especially condensed about the stars Alcyone, Merope, Electra and a filmy in ft. He was a party to it, whether as a victim or tool or yrime mover. For a mo- ment I wondered whether it was the last. Had this young scapegrace sought thus to mae a father not too liberal with his sup- rlies PEnaES “The Scal, Yes. The Signature, No! words “copie corfprme,” with the seal and signature of the notary public, “La Ramie (@aub, Place de la Sahara, Biskra. “Do you betieve in ail this?” I at once asked the partners, Black and Bright- sm: “It = rather false,” said Harry. “But the facts are precise. and Prince Casimir. who is our client, takes the very gloomie: view of the situation. He has heard noth- ing from his son for some weeks—months, and except for the letters of credit No, I could not bring myself to believe this quite. It was so much more likely that he had fallen a prey to some artful villains who by some means or other had recog- nized him in B'skra. penetrated his incognito and turned their knowledge to serve their own nefarious ends. This implied fout play of the worst kind. ‘They might even have made away with him in this far-off semi-barbarous land: at least, they could hold him sequestrated somewhere. a close prisoner, until they had achieved thelr purpose—the extortion of hush money for a social offense that only existed in their own evil minds. I saw now that it was my bounden duty to apply to the authorities The police at Biskra were semi-rcilitary in character, and a under the orders of the comi ealonel of Spahis, Baron 4’! a | When I got home nmiy wife opened them, and every one looked as new as if I'd made it myself. Of course, my wife confiscated