Evening Star Newspaper, October 1, 1898, Page 18

La THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1898-24 PAGES. an open carriage, and that leaning back in “In the name of God, what is it?’ he cried, his face Hghted with wildly inquisi- a the carriage was a Woman. WOOO DDO NOONE WOO WENO NONE s v v M Wh PW VAI TY \ WN 7: tive scrutiny. eS oh Assets) (ek seh se! Ts ees if CHAPTER XX Macie Acts. As early as 4 o'clock, after a brief sleep, ansittart was awake and up. Thencefor- ward as the hours passed, he wes all anxie- ty, awaiting two things: First. news from the front of movements on the German side preparatory to the anticipated attack; and, nd, the return of the chasseurs from Clermont. the lock cam) AtZ having night. a hours of passed—6 —and nothing happened. arms of Armand, r part of the took her to the was in the Marie exclamation was this: Armand—is she here? Have you got her ‘Mrs. Vansittart?” ss We have “And where “At a vineyard ne nt “How do you know? Yes, Marie, I have “Poor thing! She is awfully ill One saw it already weeks ago. Does she bear it well? Is she well, Armand “To me her face seemed almost like the face of a dying woman, Marie.’ eked Marie, bury d with pity. “How g she is! And to be treated so It's hard on p ‘ansittart, certainly.’ I pity her. is it, really, who has ave found out where she ts, but we t he not & is ra place called Cler- ™ You have not seen een her.” ng her face, le, how good Wilhelm, no doubt.” I can’t, hink that!’ she frowning with thought. Why not, birdie?” ald any gentleman do such a thing but then he is not a gentleman.” aren't all kings gentlemen?” manner of m ans.”” t understand it. act, an m? with his s heart and 0 this w with his m only Armand— knows not one word arm ing with his eye, which is rea n that deep, inner ¢ which is ‘The wisest man is foo in comy n with a woman who sees with hy soul. Suppose,” she said after a silnece, “that you went to him and told him the whole tru ‘That who went to whom?” “That you went to Withelm.” All right, 1 ¢: ns me and g hang you, ther ¥ to In an hour's time v f chasseurs to fetch ittart here. sit- hasseurs of Montsaic blackened ley vad a a as aperture ry ration 1 in it, w ex Most nd surroundi ed and two ki rmont idea of } S the t had wonder, t distant egres: r with them, of Jefeat and disaster He had come lertaking the bitter punishment for his yn had v vanished b no hor ad and was mouth ed back w very defeat the wild fluttering ‘rt with which sh d set out Her will ¢ aled within her. i kisses of the s h fear, but with e grew bolder. our and crosse: ard gate, (ead of the which she had i traveled fifteen int now le and very late in the afternoon. Her ; them the wistfulness of the pilgrim Her obje: t was to speak personall with the emperor of t yw she stop) bigr of the « 4 the difficulties she halt "e when she turt: and this was an emper- had ran with the footmen and 3 Wearled her, how could she tend with horses? To her immense surprise and joy destiny #0 ordered it that she found not the least Gificulty In speaking with Wilhelm. She had asked the way to the Hotel de Ville, and as she came to it there was Wilhelm Just descending the marble stairway out- side the entrance portal, surrounded by officers. A moment and Marie's heart gave one transcendent bound; the next she had darted agilely up the steps, pressed through en- to speak con- SNe K. be THE LOST PROVINCES. How Vansittart Came Back to France WRITTEN FOR THE EVENING STAR BY LOUIS TRACY. (Copyright, 1808, by Loufs Tracy.) | | | | } | | | RAR) KI) eK 22) Ge) (sel se) j Senius of Armand Dupres. Pad Bere erar Laue, rel is Ge. the throng of men and, hardly recognizing her own voice, was speaking: “I wish to speak to your majesty. Pray! pra She fell on her knees before Wilhelm. At once a favorable omen came from the emperor—he answered her in French. “Weil, now, what is all this, mam’selle he said. “1 want to speak to you, sir!” “Well, you have invaded my presence, willy-nilly. Speak on, mam'selle.” “Your majesty! Mrs. Vansittart is dy- ing! She is very ill! Wilhelm turned as white as a corpse. Then, flushing into scarlet wrath: “Here, drag this wench from my pres- *, you men! How dare you let her como to annoy me? Marie sprang upright. Several ught at her shoulders, pulling her back- ard. will speak!” she cried. me—Mrs. Vansittart—" 3e silent, you!" exclaimed Wilhelm. am not going to be!” shrilled Marte, at the same time throwing herself bodily: down on the steps like an obstinate child. “I thought you did not know about it. I took you for a gentleman—and I came to tell you that it was your man—a man calied Ritterburg, M. Foliiet says—who car- tied her off—Oh, oh, let me go—will you? Now it was out—Wilhelm had heard it-- chapter and verse. He had been able to guard his ears from an army, but not from the shrillness of a woman's tongue. His right hand dropped with a gesture of «tandonment. “Unhand her!" he cried out. wench alone with me. your full.” Marie, speaking in sobs from behind her dkerchief, began to pour out her tale. ught—your majestey didn’t know- =. MEME IE “Oh, it is a “Leave the Now, woman, speak ause my husband says no gentleman would—have done it. And I thought—I'd come and tell you—it was a man called Ritterburg—so M. Folliet, the detecti says. And she is dying! She is y And she is my good—and « And I—don’t think judge from your . Vansittart sent to t nig! aN been blown up—and there isn’t any hope at ali—and Mrs. Vansitiart will die-except your mujest p She stopped, stood, t¢ y knows, to choked with sobs: and Wil- king at her, and said noth- » next day, for certain, there > a battle; if on! f Vansittart to y tor that day the mind could have been kept in a he fool of a girl should a day— not qu Withelm wos ut it was not n what he was fe “Where are you from “From Gravelotte “Then you had bi lotte as quickly as “And will y: ir, ter get back to Grave- you can.” our majesty——" silent! Here, some of you sce this Woman taken safely through the on the road to Gravelotte. You, hiegel, find out at onee where 1 man named Ritterburg is xy sundown.” now, and let me know CHAPTER XXVI. “In the Emperor's Carriage.” Not a word did Marie speak of her expe- cition at Gravelotte; on her arrival there he fell a-faint into her husband’s arms, but he thought her overcome by the ill- fate of Evelyn, as before. Only, late at night. she wept out the facts to him. “Ah, I thought there was something up,” “These expeditions of yours, Ma- ‘I did {t for the best, Armand.” = bi But the ¥Y worst come from it. As it is, nothing a come. I told you the man was a ruftian. & 4 Marie, know “though it v not ind to me. At first he broke axe. But afterward— nd, aw him give such a sidelong to my eyes, and then at my Kips; it me blush. He ev now who it is you i to, “I told him m id no gentle- man would have done {t; so that was one for him to swall “But the rut Didn't he say any- thing? Didn't b ven attempt to excuse himself in any way? Make any sort of promise?” “No. Net a word. When I was going to k him he said, “Be silent! with euch a He can frown, I can tell you. And ache, with hard tags at the not a mustache, it is a weapon.” together, they at last fell Marie's Jast murmur was: Vansittart!”’ intention of Armand to take her out of the neighborhood by early morn- ing: for th was no doubt that either at dawn or sunrise some hostile movements would begin, and that long before midday the whole locality would be rolled in war, But he had an intense curiosity to see at least the beginning of actual fighting, and | hung on in Gravelotte till the sun was high and the clocks pointed to 8 At that late hour there was still, however, no sign of anything In the way of blo Vansittart was riding slowly about half am ut of Gravelotte in company with some eight or ten persons. His eyes were hollow, and his careworn face all faded, but with a certain toughness, characteristic of him, he had stuck to his guns. Jn his heart. however, as he rode, there was noth- ing else than black and blank despair. He was merely doing his duty. His life was In ruins about him. Armand, wandering and loitering here e, saw and with Marte before their departu: hed him. said approd “What!” woeful bitte nd Mistre: und smoke Vansitt rt, assuming a good-bye, then? running from the = . 000 voyage! And uks. thanks, endless thank: your . here. Are you off to E going to join M. Folliet at Cler- Armand. , hed Vansittart, and turned his point they heard an unexpected nd them, a trundiing sound, and king round, they saw near to them com- ing from the direction of Gravelotte a gun carriage drawn by two horses, but without any gun on it. Instead, there was a mas- cubical box—a strange object to the consery of the old campaigners, “Stay!” said Vansittart, “is not this— it is—your engt of flame. I ordered one to be sent for experimental use. By night. r, all Europe will know that of this day was due to the si victory He said ft with a visible touch of enthusi- asm, and even Armand’s eye brightened. “It at does its work, Mr. Vansittart——* t will do its work, monsfeur. n tested, and I have telegrams of its ab- efficiency from the manufacturing firms and the war office. If I have not dis cussed the matter with you since you hav been here—if { have seemed ungrateful— you must put it down to my—my. His voice broke, and he added: not fit for anything.” “Wir heissen euch hoffen!” said Armand. “So says the German poet. “Well, then, { will ‘hope’"-if I can. But— what fs that?” He pointed across the field. “That” was a body of horsemen, some thirty, Germans, coming toward him frore the direction of Metz. Uplifted in tha midst there fluttered on the morning breeze a white flag of truce. They were escorted by a French officer. They came forward at a rather slow pace, for the reason that one of their num- ber—a short, squat man, with a fat neck— was on foot. He was in front of all, and his dress was peculiar. It was a black robe reaching to his feet, and on his head Was a skull cap. Then after a minute’s breathless sur- prise Vansittart, rising in his stirrup, could see that In the midst of the horsemen was h ls Tt has solute hands | His heart was thumping against his ribs as though he should die. The troop approached, approached in a silence which was absolute. A minute— twol Vansittart’s fleld glass wag at his eyes. Suddenly, with a cty, he dropped it to the gtound, and at the same Instant had leaped to the gtotnd. As though the avenger of blood was after him he flew to meet the advancing body. In another min- ute Evelyn was sobbing on his shouldef: Her new hiding place on the German side of the Moselle was knowt to some men high in the Germah counsels. During the night Wilhelm had discovered it, and sent a messenger ordering her Immediate conveyance to ets. The whole perty, Marie holding Evelyn's thin hand in the éarriage, proceeded to the Cheval d'Or, The carriage was blazoned with the royal arms of Hehengollern. It was Wilhelm’s own private landaw. The man dressed in the long black robe was Carl Gottlieb Ritterburg. When Van- sittart had come near him he had seen that around the man’s neck was a rope, and on the black skull cap, which was of the shape worn by condemned criminals in Saxony, had been fastened a band of white paper bearing these words in red ink: “To Mr. Vansittart, with the Emperor Wilhelm's compliments.” An hour later, after Wilhelm’s mesasen- gers had been feasted, they returned. They took with them Ritterburg, and a letter from Vanslttart—and a specimen of Ar- mand’s engine of fire. Vansittart, in the letter, declined to hang Ritterburg, though he admitted that he should be glad to hear that he had been shot by the proper Ger- ran military authorities. Whilst these courtesies were belng In- dulged in by the leaders, General Kreuz- nack was leading a host of 200,000 men from Dicdenhofen across the Moselle. With- in three hours the left flank of the French army was turned, and men were murmur- ing that Vansittart had betrayed France in order to secure the release of his wife. CHAPTER XXVII. A Reverse. When, late at night, Jerome awoke to find Evelyn bending over him, ft was with difficulty he realized his surroundings. He thought at first they were back in their summer home im the Adriondacks, and gazed with wonder at the queer old-fash- ioned furniture of this village public house. But Evelyn’s sweet voice restored his wandering senses, and he sprang up to clasp her in his arms with an alertness that showed the efficacy of nature's only restorer. Though pale end attenuated from the strain of recent events, his mind had regained its normal balance. Could the French troops have seen him at that moment they would have shouted “Vive lempereur!” with all the old vigor. As it was, they believed him to be broken down and half demented. They were for- getting the wonders of the past in the de- lays, the uncertainties, the weaknesses of a few doubtful hour: And, whilst the army of France swayed in its allegiance to the one man leading it to victory, the kaiser wi fy preparing the most terrible and effective blow yet struck in fair fight during the mpaign. Of both these elements of dis- ter Jerome was happily unconscious. He only knew that Evelyn, whom he thought jent- dead, was alive, nay, more, tremulous with Joy in his arms. Mme. Vansittart and Marie had long been superintend on of a meal, to which Jerome rmand were now ready to do full ju: A message had arrived from Daubis: lt read: “As announced at 3 p.m. surrounded Kreuznach’s sat Li pelle. At this hour, 9 p.m., a complet don is established, whilst the 7th, Sth, 13th and 17th divisions will march forthwith to cor- take up positions for an early assault. “I have made full arrangements, and these cannot be altered in any way, but L Will keep you informed of events, so that you may understand movements of troops Which might otherwise seem inexplicable to you.” Jerome read the second paragraph twice and smiled contemptuously. It was his first conscious intimation of the new aspect of affairs. 2 “Daubisson speaks of a German force surrounded at La Chapelle,” he said to Ar- mand. “How comes it that the Germans are established in that village, the very heart of our left flank?” “Exactly because they desired to get there. Daubisson thinks they have lodged themselves there to enable him to smash them with ease at daybreak. That is just what Daubisson would think, and what they know he would think. Phen this successful attack by Kreuz- nach is simply a prelude to a larger effort elsewhere?" Phat is how I regard it.” Jerome started to his feet. “It must some direct from Metz. Where are these corps stationed that Daubi moving tonight? Surely not at the He hastily searched among his the daily parade state of the army. The last supplied to him was three days old. L:velyn watched her nusbund, saw his lips tighten and his brows kni “What is it, dear?” she him. “Only this, my ront?” papers for ried, coming to sweet, that the worst curs are those most ready to bite the hand that feeds them. I am going to teach them the art of fawning tonight.” “But what has happened? Simply this: That a few neglect on my part has made my staff forget their duty. By heayen, it will not occur again. Strange things happened at that period. Jerome, after regaining his sens had lost his temper. He went outside. In the next building, where his personal staff were wont to : cine there was a forgotten sentry on duty: The man v a chasseur of the 18th, our old friend Pierre Laronde, whose promised promotion had been forgotten in the rush events since the memorable ride of the Five Thousand. He presented arms when he recognized sittart in the gloom. “Where are all the officers cf the staff, soldier?” said the millionaire. ‘Gone off to the picnic at La Chapelle, your excellency Have they all gone?” “Well, your excellency, Gen. le Breton was here until half an hour ago. I re- minded of my promised commission, and he went, too.” “Why was your commission promised?” “Because I cut the wires that night at Longuyn.”” Is your name Plerre Laronde?” It is, your excellency.” “I remember now. He dashed into the house and hastily scribbled imperative commands to the re- spective brigadiers. When these were dispatched he bethought himself of Daubisso:, and ne wrote the following not Headquarters, Gravelotte, 10 p.m. Delighted to hear of your success, but have good reason to believe that Kreuz- nach’s march is a feint. The emperor will probably actack our front in force tonight. Come to me here with whole staff at once, but first send out orders for immediate con- centration of all available troops on Mars. La Tour. Leave corps of observation only to look after Kreuznach. Guns and cav- must be massed in rear of infantry, to move with daybreak. I have ly dealt with brigades mentioned in your second dispatch. I look to you for implicit obedience, irrespegtive of any con- ditions that may have arisen since your Jast communication with me. JEROME kK VANSITTART. “Laronde,” he said, “here is your first mission as captain of my staff. “See that it is well performed.” Pierre Laronde required no second pbid- ding. Daubisson was six miles away, with difficult country intervening, but within thirty minutes he was in possession of Vansittart’s message. Shortly before midnight Daubisson ar- rived. His unfeigned joy at Vansittart’s reapp2arance on the active list dispelled the last shade of resentment in Jerome's mind at the apparent neglect shown to him by his associates, Daubisson eagerly detailed the steps he had tak2n to fulfill Vansittart’s orders, and concluded by saying: “Perhaps we may have to attack Kreuz- nach tomorrow, after all. Before the other could answer, a sudden roar of musketry came through the still night air from the direction of Metz. It was sharp and continuous, betokening a very lively affray at the Prench outposts. Even as they listened the fighting area widened, until the crackle of small arms zuread through an extended section of the rent. . Daubisson was as impulsive as he was brave. Tears cam? to his eyes as he real- ized the frightful nature of the error in which he nearly involved the whole of the magnificent army under his command. He came near to Jerome and said, in a veica deep with emotion: “Monsieur, if you retain my services I on speaks of | spall perhaps learn something of general- ip by the close of the war.” General,” cried Vansittart, “one cannot have all the virtues. Belisve me, I depend wholly upon your splendid co-operation.” But 1f Daubisson’s mistake had been seen in time, it sttiGrequifed to be rectified. At several points the French front was rapidly driven gin fore reinforcements could arrive. Le Brefon’s brigade, strength- ened by two others hurried up from the rear, Was abl» to hold back the assault delivered from Metz ak the main road. But it was a flerce (ahd tncertain combat, in which small knots of men sought out their enemies in the darkness, and fought with equal ferocity and determination. Three-quarte: it ott mile further north, where the Fréhch fine was weaker, the German advance was rapid and unchecked. Th watcherssin velotte wera able to discarn the progress of this attack by tho gradual approach of the sounds of com- bat. ANhough several staff officers had been sent flying to) bring up regiments from the rear, there was no appreciable pause in the enemy's advance. Matt:rs began to look serious about 1 o'clock. At this moment Pierre Laronde growled to himself: “I must back my snubbed: He came to Vansittart and said: “I think, sir, I could lead a couple of squadrons of chasseurs across country and take the Germans in flank If you will per- mit it.” “Very well. Try it, captain.” “Major, sir, if you please. Gen. Daub- isson gave me a step for bringing your dispatch.” “pid he? I agree with him. If you dis- pel that column you return a colonel.” Montsaloy found the troops for Laronde, and they clanked off along a lane. But they soon quitted ths high road and made for w tree-crowned hill beyond which the conflict raged. Laronde knew quite well that with 200 sabers he could do little against a com- pact German division of 8,000 or 10,000 In- fantry. He counted wholly upon surpris- ing the enzmy and creating a panic, sthus giving the French infantry a chance to rush the Germans at the point of the bayonet. Pierre's lucky star was certainly in the ascendant that night. He and his com- rades came upon the second German bri- gade at the moment it was deploying to Support the fighting line. Some farm bulld- ings gave the chasseurs splendid cover un- til they were right in the midst of the Prussian regiment, and in a few seconds the orderly and compact mass became a torrent of disorganized humanity, fleeing in abject terror before the furious charge made by the chasseurs. Fighting by night is an eerle and ticklish business at the best. The awesome effect of the mounted arm is magnified tenfold when maddened horses thunder from out the darkness. Nor had Laronde forgotten to send a trooper to the commander of the French infantry to inform him of the ex- pected charge, so that he might take ad- vantage of it if successful. In fifteen minutes one at least of the Ger- man columns was shattered into atoms, its officers and men urged in hopeless rout, its leaders stampeded by their own troops, and its fragments rushing wildly to Metz for safety. So Pierre got his colonelcy with compara- tive ease, though none marveled at his good fortune more than he did himself. The struggle went on through the night with no very certain results. hree of the eight columns launched by the kaiser made good their lodgment on the left bank of the Moselle—those operating on the north, where they were supported by Kreuznach’ rong corps. When day broke the French left ter had been swung back, with the result that the French line now formed a crescent, of which the left rested near Verdon on the Meuse, the center lay at Gravelotte, and the right touched the Moselle six miles south of Metz. Clanking to and fro over the stone floor of a room in the Hotel de Ville at Metz, the Emperor of Germ listened attenti to the statemetits made to him by various members of his staff. The dogged persistence of Kreuznach’s di- vision in reaching and holding La Chapelle, followed by the rapl@ march of the German columns to the new front on the Meuse, constituted the first’ real German success of the war. Suddenly an ald-de-camp entered. “A man without, your majesty, who says his name is Hans Schwartz, asks audience of your majesty. He says he 1s in posses- sion of most important intelligence affect- ing your majesty’s interests vitally.” The emperor paused in his walk. him in,” he said. In a moment, Hans Schwartz, pallid, un- kempt. but confident as ever in demeanor, entered. luck, even if I get nd cen- “Show pu rascal, what is it?” The em- one was such that few men would ared to face him boldly. But Hans uriz, what between the pain of his sd wrist and the collapse of his ts, was in desperate plight. have news for your majesty’s ear alone,” he said, glancing defiantly around at the officers scatter: through the apart- ment. ‘Of what nature?” ‘ “I am Hans Schwartz, who helped Rit- terburg to capture Mme. Vansittart. o “You villain! Seize him, some one, and him shot at daybreak with his ‘asso- I al officers sprang forward, but Schwartz stood his ground. “I tell you," he shouted, “that I can en- able you to conquer France fairly in the open field within aw ou not Hi-ten to me? You can elways have me shot at you ure.” The man’s determined attitude, his con- tempt for danger and the earnestness of his tone impressed the kaiser if they did not convince him. “Quite true,” he sald, with a sarcastic smile. “Leave me with this fellow, gen- tlemen, and have a guard in readiness to merch him off.” Gen. Von Gossler protested. There might be danger to the imperial person. Though the emperor laughed at the idea, the chief of the staff carefully searched Schwartz for concealed weapons before he was sat- isfied. Then he left the two alone. “I have kept up communication with Paris by means of my pigeons,” said Schwartz, “and even when the French po- lice seized the house where some German friends were established, they did not di: cover that my birds were trained in two sections, to fly to and from two places in Paris to my house near Gravelotte.” “Yes,” growled the emperor. “I was wounded in the scuffla at this house, captured, held prisoner for some days ‘and escaped during the excitement following Mme. Vansittart’s arrival at Gravelotie and the attack by your mafes- ty’s troops. I hid all night and today in the wood on my farm, and tonight visited my forgotten birds. One of them had just arrived home from Paris and bore a mes- sage written in a cipher which I alone un- derstand.” “Ha!” Wilhelm was obviously interested. “It contains news which all the world will know in three days, but which may be worth much more than I have asked to your majesty at this moment.” Let us have it, then.” “An absolutely overwhelming communist movement has been organized. Within three days, perhaps sooner, there will be a general rising; the city will be sacked, the king and queen driven from Paris, if not Killed, and a republican government proclaimed, with leaders anxious and ready to Make peace with You on very favorable terms.” “Can you prove this?” “Beyond a shadow of doubt. cipher. I will éxplain it to yo Schwartz produced a scrap of flimsy pa- per and read a message, of which his ex- planation to the emperor was an accurate summary. “But how am I to know that this is re- Mable? Who are your authorities for the statements made? = They are almost {n- credible without substantiation.” “Tam faint,” satd Schwartz, sinking in- to a chair. “Give’me some wine ana morsel of food, and I will tell yon evcry- thing. My wound has weakened me, and the difficulty ef crossing the French lines has quite exhausted me.” So within a few minutes of ordering kim to be shot, the emperor was waiting on Schwartz, and telpmg him to such eatables as were in the room. While the spy ate and frank he talked, and the emperor listened. Half an hour did the wondering staff re- main in the anteroom be-ure the kaiser called them, and there wes an engerness in his manner, a settled purpose in his words, that bad long been absent from the imperial methods and utterances. “With our present troops between here and Verdon we can keep the French fast in their new position,” he said to Von Gossler. “Oh, yes, 1 am sure of that.” “Good. We have 150,000 reservists gather. ing at Diedenhofen?” “Yes.” “They are now all mobilized, and com- pletely equipped for the field?’ “Fully. They are under orders to march tomorrow at Gaybreak.” “Then send additional instructions that ere is the ‘girl by the light of the full moon, only an S 4 bd they ought to have insisted that they should only eat between battles.” they are to take the shortest Paris.” “To Paris, your majesty?” “Yes, I said Paris—not Berlin.” “Who Wiil lead them?” “I, myself. I will issue a proclamation from the French capital within a fortnight, as my march will be positively unopposed. But ‘above all cise, you and Kreuznach must hold Vansittart fast on this bank of the Meuse. If he retreats, attack him. Do not leave him night or y. It is matter- less what happens so iong as he is unable to bring a large body of troops to Paris before f do."* Wilhelm had got his opportunity, and he Was not slow to take it. (To be continued.) —— eee DEMAND FOR AFRICAN HIDES. Skins of Many Anim Used for V rious Purposes. From the London Spectator. In Mashonaland and central Africa the trade in skins still flourishes, though only the poorest of the Boers follow it, and they have to trek north of the Limpopo. The hides of the larger bucks, such as the sable antelope, the road antelope, the hartebeest or any of the zebras, are worth § silllings or #shiilings each, and there is row something to be made by selling heads and horns as curiosities. Leather made from the skins of these big antelopes is still in common use in high-class bootmaking. No one knows exactly what animal may have sup- plied the uppers or soles of his footgear, and the. possibilities range from the por- poise and the arctic hair seal to the bles- bok and the koedoo. Three other African animals’ skins are in commercial demand for curiously different purposes. The giraffes, as every one knows, are kill- ed so that their skins may be made into sandals for natives and sjambak whips for colonists. In the Soudan ihey are also kill- ed for the sake of their hides, which made into shields. Many of the Dervish shields captured during their attempt to invade Egypt under the Emir Njumi were made of this material. The elephant and rhinoceros skins go to Shetield. are used to face the wheeis ing steel cutlery. No othe> materici is equally satisfactory and it wouil be mosi aifiicuit to find a substitute. The rhinoceros skin used was formerly that of the white rhinoceros. Now that this species is extinct, the black rhinoceros of central Africa is killed for the purpose. Much cf this immensely thick skin, which is not tanned, but used in the raw state, never leaves Africa. It is in yreat demand for making the round shields used by the Arabs aud Abyssinians. A black rhinoceros hide yields eight large squares, of which will make a round shield two feet in diameter, and each of these squares, even in the Soudan, is worth $2. The skin when scraped and polished is semi-trans- parent, like hard gelatine, and takes a high Polish. Giraffe skin is even more valued a3 material for shields, as it is equally hard and lighter. Thus, while the south African giraffes are killed off to supply whips, those of north central Africa ar ros vide the mahdi’s Arabs a1 ——— +e POKER-PLAYING WARRIOR: A Former Poi Captain Some Experiences, From t w York Herald. Former Police Captain Thomas an inveterate poker player, and, io his antagonisis in the many games in which he played a smail hand, he was a particularly good one, too. ¢ pt. Reilly tell many amusing stories of the poker games in which he has been a participant, and dwells particularly upon the natural bent of the rank and file of the Unitea Slates army to “dally with the cards” whe finances will permit. Capt. Reilly was a ve eran of the war, having been in the regu- lar army for many years. He served aint the Indians on the western frontier, and when the north and south began their little unpleasantness he went with his regi- ment to the south and fought through the war. Talking with a party of friends the other evening, the conversation drifted around to poker and poker players, and Capt. Reilly surprised his auditors by the many stories he told about his experiences when in the army. “The main pastime in the army,” he said, “was poker playing, and so long as t money lasted so long was the game con- Unued. I have seen an army paid off and immediately thereafter form groups of six and seven and start playing poker. The men who were only drawing $12 a month but they had no expenses, and were p fectly satisfied, after providing themsel\ with tobacco, to devote the balance to woo- ing the fickle god Jess, “These men would play, every few min- vtes one or two ‘going broke’ and stepping down and out, until finally only one or two men in each group would have any mone: Then they would move over to some oth game where the circle was incomplete. and would Join in, and finally the entire pay of the regiment would be in the hands of fiv or six successful players, who would | betting thousands on a hand. In the end two or three men would have the enti mount paid to the regiment, and they would hold the money until they neared some city, where, with leave for a few hours, they would venture away from eamp and in nine cases out of ten leave ti money in the city against faro, roulette or keno. left the regiment ence on a furlough to come north and carried a great portion of the monthly payroll in a belt under my uniform, but I was lucky. Our greatest difficulty was to secure playing cards, and I have sat and played for hours, half of e deck being torn or marked, but tt w as fair for one as for the other, and as they were the only ones we could get nobody objected. It Was strange, however, to sit next to the dealer and want a diamond to fill a flush and see the marked jack spades on the top of the deck. These wer great days for poker playing and T hav never seen anything since to compare with it, although I have played in some pretty stiff games myself. Ss Enchanted Grove of Bees. From the Galveston News. Away back in the fifties there was a Shawnee Indian village on the South Ca- nadian rij about eighty-five miles west of South McAlester, but the old viliage has leng since disappeared. On the spor wh the young Shawnee buck sang his kiowala to his dusky maiden and courted his best occasional rock hearth and a few graves are left to indicate the former hunting grounds of the red man. Near the old village site now lives a white man. Just on the berder of this man’s farm a spot whicn seems to have been the kest settled part of the Shawnee vil- lage, and here is a grove of black oak trees. In this grove are two very large postoak trees, one in the south and one in the north end of the grove. In the grove can be heard most any day the buzzing of a swarm of bees so plainly that the noise has tooled many old bee hunters, but all their search has never reveaied a single bee. New omes the most peculiar part of this most peculiar tale. The large postoak tree standing at the north end of the grove is the curiosity of the bunch, for ret long ago a young man hearing of the bees went to the spot and proceed to look carefully up each tree in the grove until he came to the north tree. He was within two feet of this tree looking up when he heard a noise just like a carpenter at work nailing on board: and the noise seemed to come from the tree. He went around it several times trying to locate the hammering, but it still seemed to come from the tree. The hammering con- tinued until he happened to touch the tree with his hand, when it suddenly stopped. The man then went away amazed. A day or so afterward this man had occasion to again pass that way. He slipped up to the tree and listened for the hammering, and, sure enough, it was as plain as ever. He touched the tree with the end of his finger, and, us before, the noise stopped at once. This man and several others haye tried touching the tree several times since, with the same result. They say that the humming of bees and the curious hammering can be heard any day, but no one has been able to explain the mysteries of this enchanted grove. The Right W From the Indianapolis Journal. “J don't think our officers went at it right to get the support of the insurgents in Cu- be” “Why not?” “Why, when they found how opposed the Cubans were to fighting between meals ™«] ARISTOCRATIC TITLES |: to a Imited number of great arisio. houses. The petite noblease wax left |, and immense sums due then by misappropriation. Then -- ame the “democratic revolution” of IS) aimed ostensibly at the encroachments of Any One in Franoe May Now Take a | tic bisner prisiiccet almoceate * PLilippe's government had scarce ito office when it sought to strike them a Noble Name. decisive blow. Almost Its first act was ts a s ess what re ined of the credit of See $29,000,000 and to dectee, not the suppres REPUBLICANS WANT T0 CALL A HALT But Home-Made Nobi is as Good as Other Kinds. ae AND THE PEOPLE LOVE THEM! sion of stocratic who ca titles, but their free us It was supposed that down of all barriers we ty to Them | upon the aristocrats served to show the love a noble name. Those who had tung yearning after a title, but one, either from the empi saw thelr opportunity mpi These had at least an ayy ad not r or the rest First, the » were rev rarance of Se macy. Many a purchaser of an old chateau she Seee = adopted its name without ceremony, and Special Correspondence of The FPrcning eg others bought chateaux to imitate th PARIS, September 5. 1808 | neighbors. Nam: landed properties lages and towns were assumed, so that TIS A thing | less than eighteen years the numbe as the pre ble names in France tne eed from he Frenc! a to 100,000. Yet Louis Philippe conferred the French republic | no titles during his reign, while under Na being more than a | poleon nearly all the titles conferred were quarter of a century | PeTsonal, and not hereditary. They wer old, the consciences | #fterward made hereditary by the holders themselves. Their so: even multi- of Frenchmen should | piied the countshipr and baronies. ‘The be again distarbod— | baron dies, and ail his sons are barons. the wrong With the revolution of IS48 titles ce a ee re | to be recognl L was even prope > ae do away w ion of Honor a = “toy of va but as its end was ac- to bear aristocratic on of Napoleon U1 the aristocratic titles. Yet this is ex- | flower began to bloom again as beautifully ceduiienteeDycradg MY CoS ee ee pening. A lawsuit at Marseilles has re- | banks Nii: aba Secbk a opened the ancient controversy, its Pict ae ieabarana iis ia ahs throwing common and arist sebib chine Wobibeb ohne ane ke alike into confusion. As its Immedi: | as fh mgady Y - sult theres: to be especial feature M0000) re scion end apod 5 " b to the coming census, with a parliamentary | forget to introduce appa nates inquiry to follow. Later on there promises | registers, where obliing suff ha to be a curious raking up. of family 1 orded fanciful nam e's torles. Meanwhile any honest citizon m only in imagination 1 tt y continue to take a title of nobility, | Hes im Spelled eel acaariad and the ublic wl protect him in it. Mak bch Scek raion ‘ Ss, afte Ars ol commune A h ts ago, re came a gentler n from “ir indifferen ene kn exactly where; but as he p This tr ot » off “ chased a fine property and responded to Salinas on neighborly courtesies with solid hospital eaused by thr the landed proprietors, without m m una tancy, soon came to accept him as the 1 omprom : s ea rror spread among the Comte de R——, a native of Brittany, | Concemen tree ee ast A whese health required him to seek a mild | Qwest came con 2 climate. He was a widower, with a young | The government daughter; and as the years went round the | people who girl grew up into the social life around ker | {ts advent. and chose, and handsome father most inoppor: Count Not of 3 be en Baron G— “regular,” went mertiage contract set aside. tonished every one. lawyers proved it, t Was not of noble amaased his fortune as a manufactu: Rouen, and small " prc hat h rty in took his name and title. from many suitors, Baron ¢ undoubtedly have married her h the who young | voul not tunely died a bankrupt zeal road to ¢ cir: refused, and wishing into court to have thé His plea as- He asserted, and his hat the Comte de R-— family, that he hal whence girl was The wi ing to let her unwerthy suitor go; t dle names in France she felt she 5 sther time within a almed her grief and lis hot « yers, who hould shige them ply for a postponement, they 1 in and again during the last tw tLey could make the Baron years there have been decisions analog, his urchivalrous conduct. And they that giv t Marse 3. It is very sig it. At the next hearing of the case th icant, therefore, that the present proved the Baron — himself to J cause so great a controversy ho more right to his title than she nad to | en the theory of the republic p Her father ha The baron’s grandf: his! Both stood on came, a few weeks later, the judge: Comte de R— and Baron G the right to take a ay be baron, coun desires to decorate of the republic is just as good as a bive-blooded familles of sim: Nobility’s Rights Curtailed. Such is the decisi and reasonable, fram the republican point of view. It means Iie only looks on tit such home-made 4 appropriated his title. } at of the government of Louis Philippe ather had appropriated | make light of titles by permitting ans the same footing. Then izen to take them up at will Is t the decision of | theory now to be proved in the wre with a third surprise. 7! e institutions in danger, and are the grandfather of ] » of France again craving for a ti the judges said, had equally | : STERLING HEILIG tle. Any Frenchma’ nt or marquis, if he so | his name. In the ee AK’S NEWSPA nebility direct descent from the the ancient re- Yourists Make Way With the Ty pr for Souvenirs, From the Boston Transcript. Unique among the newspaper offices of the United States, and probably the highest in the world, is that on Pike's Peak. paper was an experiment last season, this year is a fi dged su ion, at Once humorous that the French repub- les as So many names, nd will not go out of its way to take | being published twice a day out among the charge of them. Should any of the old no- that are very scanty up at timber bility be injured by the usurpation of a The publisher is T. B. Wilson. valid title, they may always go into the began in 1830, when Louis Philippe was made the democratic citizen-king of the For several ye Wilson has been pu the mat > bottom rived the nu, she p nd sold pape id her way to courts, and so protect their property; but so news! in the mountains they have no exclusive right to go about | When he started the Pike's F News it with handles to their names. The strange | Wa5 With some misgivings. He loca thing is the outcry with which the doctrine ak, but th has been received, not only by aristocrats, found it better to m but by republicans. The aristocratic jour- However, he is yet nals brand ft as an intentional insult to the level, and, with his v noble names of France. The republi Is a very pleas: who ought in that case to rejoice in it } y all work at the paper. not rejoice in it at all. Instead they all | train on the cog road come unite to call a halt upon a practice that has ; op from Manitou the pa: been going on for many years and bearing | duced to give their names with it danger to republican institutions. | they go to the the paper is printed and In every part of France they have begun t are the all who hay a publish lists of local titles that have thus | Of course, there is been “jumped” within the memory of man. | a 1 them they desire Week after week the lists are swelled, un | the enirs of the visit Ul it begins to look as if three-quarters of | The editor's wife is able to set type the pretenued nobility of France today is paper as well as her hust bogus. { y when he was away she got Napoleon's Merit System. | paper, and, not ying had time te As already indicated, the practice really | edition before the train started for the { | French, for the Napoleonic t imitations. princes, dukes, counts and barons, It was | UPhill by the re classed as his aim to build up take the place of that which had been thirds destroyed by but he did aot insult ing the old names and styles. To show that the new aristocracy was to be built connected the new with civil and military grades. A colonel merit, he even was a baron and a analogy prefects could aspire to the title baron, and ccunctlors of state and senators to that of count. regarded as the re: mede great efforts to melt the two nobill- | ties, the old and the succeeded. The amalgamation did not really | take place until after the restoration, after Napoleon’s fall, whi the old titles and recognizin; put them on an equal footing. Titles Not If matters had remained in that pesi there would not now be more than 2 families in France t! a title of nobility. of their holders. hed entailed would have continue many famit! tles are Napoleon creat not | d | enough to pay for the top on ¥ back, and s' walk of ten to ae The manager of the road saw her. “Where are you going?” he aske Iam going to walk home.” “Why don’t you rid “The papers did not sell very well today | and I have not money enough. I had to | Bet out the paper alone or J would not have | had to come down.” “Come in here.” and he | the superintendent's office. a new aristocracy, the French revolutic the old order by usurp- on utles led the way to general a count. B; f | When she came out it was with a pass good for the season on any train, and Napoleon, anxious to be | thereafter she was able to increase her storer of his country. | sales by riding longer trips on the road with the passengers Not much news is in this mountaintop per, for there fs little happening on Pike's Peak. With the coming of the early storms of winter the paper is suspended, for the v € not there to buy the new, but only partially | ich, by re-establishing | the new ones, | copies. Thi nd type are moved to Hereditary. | the warm vs of the town below and ‘there continue in service as an ald to a until there is a resumption of ring and travel up the 009 hat could lay claim to | noyance of the printer The titles attached to | 4), hen the newspaper certain offizes by the empire were not he- | man’s back is turned there is a rush of reditary, but became extinct et the 4 laughing girls for the type es to gather Only those titles. which > for souvenirs of the trip. He has sev estates attached to them en compelled to buy new type d. On the other hand. | t aken in this way. Stand- 2s belonging to what was iefi | ing open air, th mptation to | take a bit of the metal is very strong. One of the old 2obility had been wiped out | the misfortunes and hardships of da notice saying: The indemnity act in their favor oniy | “Ir seen a phew mistakes in htly repaired their disaster. Of the | this pap ve phail to spell ail names immense sum of $200,000,000 set apart to | right do phor it is the best aid the old noblesse in purchasing back its | we can do. Mighty girls phrom estates the greater portion went by favor | Boston philched all our ephs.” “Is this your favorite view, poppa, darling?” ‘—Punch, prefer it unframed “Why, certainly.