Evening Star Newspaper, March 6, 1921, Page 62

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTO! “THE NORTHWEST EYES” vt sor s ND you are quite certain that f\ o papers or documents of any F kind, by which he might be i identified, were found on him?" quired Sir Rutherford Cockrill. Brit- | h consul at Shanghai, of Inspector | ph McArthur of the police. “Nothing whatever. sir, though the tive sergeant searched every rag on; his body." ! (The foregoing question and answer | d referen to a mysterious murder | Jo) the settlement, the solution of hich was at present bafing the| ainds of the authorities. The body of | coolie had been found. very early| the morning, in the courtyard of he consulate, where it had apparent- ‘®een thrown over the rear wall on| he edge of the river bore no marks of violence whatever except a feep triangular wound right in the enter of the forehead, such as would jhave been made by a bayonet thrust, nd the opinien of the surgeon who ade the examination was th had heen killed only a very few hours be- fore.) “And this card which was found in the split bamboo by his hand,” saidi the consul, as he examined it carefully 'with his eyeglasses, “vou think was lintended as a warning to the lofficers to keep out of the case? “Most likely, sir. You see that' s their | l'way of using all kinds of slll-erslil'o\l." scares to avoid being caught. nothing on it but just: REWARE OF THE NORTHWEST EYES! H | Now that may mean anything, ! everything—or nothing, but 1 take it for granted that it's a warning to the | Jiving. sir, not only to beware of do- ing what the dead man did, but also to ask no questions “Ah! I understand,” said Sir Ruther- ford thoughtfully. “there is evidently then some person or organization of this name that swavs a rod of terror in our midst. and this cruel deed is an act of vengeance on their part?’ *“That's what it certainly looks like, \ or “But what do you suppose was their oblect in throwing the body into the consulate yard? The coolie was cer- | tainly not in our employ. Every one ‘down to the gardeners has had a look at him and they are all quite positive that they never saw his face before." “Well, that may be true,” smiled the fnspector, “and it may not. You know how afraid they are of saving or doing anything that may get them into the courts. It may be a general warning to Europeans, given to you as their official represantative. or it may be— which is much more likelv—some mys- terious thing right inside their own native circle here which we don't know anything about. As my deputy says, ‘They'ro as secretive as cats’ though my own private observation is that a cat hasn't anything on a China- man when it comes to_secrecy. Why | T remember a case in Hongkong of & secret order of this kind, where they actually found the meetings were held | in the consul's own kitchen. sir right| under his very nose, and he never even | dreaming of such a thing! “Well. how did they discover it?* “Oh, there's only one man who fer-; rets out that sore of game, when every | ‘ onme else fails, and that's our friend, Mr. Wang Foo, sir.” “Quite s0. quite so We may have to send for him yet, but in the meantime. e will go quistly to work ourselvei to try and unravel it And I think.! inspector. that I'll just step around to the News office and pass the word to the editor that for the present I don’t want a word about it to get into the papers.” “Right vou are. sir: we don’t want those fellows to be blocking our way right at the outset.” “And as for the card, I'll just tuck that carefully away in my private | safe” added Sir Rutherford. as he| drew from his pocket a bunch of keys | and started to open the little stcel door in his office wall. “Better put the bamboo arrow away slong with r if you don't mind the | suggestion,” said the officer as he rose to depart. ou never can tell how useful these little objects may prove later on T * * % X HE old Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamship Malacca was reeling off her usual number of knots along by the Loo Shoo Islands, taking it “fair and easy,” as the skipper says. and planning to drop her ancher off the Shanghal bar about daylight in the morning. The number of through passengers on her list was not very heavy, for the tide of travel at that season, as every one in the far east knows, flows homeward toward Zng- land, and not outward toward China. In a little group in the corner of the music room were two well-known | faces, and with them a third. who, | while evidently in the same business | with his older companions, was evi- dently a “griffin” (or “new hand"), as young gentlemen of his class are pop- ularly dalled. Messrs. Allston and Pe- terson were both of them tea-tasters and Beveryly Allston, the third mem- ber of the party and the promising £0n of the first-named. was coming out for the purpose of trying his hand at this very important and lucrative oc- | cupation, after & thorough preliminary training in the London office The work of a “tea-taster” is by no means the simple thing that the ordi- | nary and untutored public imagines it o be, or exists in the minds of the | hundreds of old spinsters at home. who sip the delicious beverage every afternoon of their lives. These men are carefully chosen from among ex- | perts in the business and receive some , of the very highest salaries paid in' the orient. To they work six months out of ear and the rest of the time you may find them at their clubs in Pall Mall, where they amuse themselves and rest up for the next season’s duties. They leave England! about the middle of Ma-ch and reach China in ample time for the opening of the tea season in the early part of | May. For xome sixt ¥s they de-| vote themselves alb profession. and then. when the last| crop has come in, they make their way leisur home again, 'on'r]!ly' by the way of Japan and Vancouver, | to avoid the summer heat in the In- dian ocean All indulgences in the way of tobacce. wines or spirits are supposed to be tahooed ‘“east of Suez'—even though Kipling does sing s0 seductively of that regiop “where a man can have a thirst"—for noth- ing, even ordinary toilet water or per- fumery, must interfere with the taste and odor of the delicate and fragrant Jeaves. The entire five senses are used in the selecting process. The tea I8 ex- amined with magnifying glasses. it is smelled, tasted, carefully felt with the i fingers in the palm of the hands and | row. finally listened to with tha ear as the roasted leaves are crackled between the thumb and finger. The room where the tasting is done is scrupulously the walls and ceiling are paint- ed u creamy white, and the light is thrown down on the tablis by slant- ing boards outside the windows, which the ignorant and innocent tourist takes to be awnings or windshields “Weill, now I understand for the firat time why vou gentlemen are so*gal- Jant to us ladies and why you are will- ing to forego the charms of the smok- ing room for our society.” said Miss Emily Kingman, after Mr. Peterson had delivered an interesting address on the above subject to his little gToup of fellow passengers. “It isn't that you really want to be with us, a0 much as that you have to be away from the ‘vile weed' and its user Well, of all the negative compliments There's| A I ever received in my life, I think that is the limit. If I had known that before I opened the plano, 1 wouldn't have bored you with my music,” and, swinging the revolving stool around, she slammed down the cover of the instrument and, seizing her wrap, jumped up and started for the door. She hardly had her hand upon the brass knob, when young Allston rose and rushed after her. My dear Miss Ki~gman," he sald, as ehe walked rapldly aft along the promenade deck, “you really musn't take it that way. Your sweet voice alone would be enough at any time to empty the smoking room, don’t you know that?" “Oh! Is that so? Well, thank you very much evidently not object- ing to his company, though she didn't appear to appreciate his consolation— “but musical artists, as a rule, don’t care to appear before compulsory au- diences.” She walked the whole length of the deck and then turned around and walked briskly back again before he ventured to continue. He made a brave effort and it was crowned with partial sucecess. “I hope you are going to stay long enough in Shanghai for me to have the pleasure of hearing you sing again. Of course, father and Mr. Peterson are going on to Hankow for the season, but I shall be right here at the Jar- dine Co.'s office, you know. There really is something in your voice that is_quite unusual—" They stopped for a moment and both looked over the rail at the phosphor- escent waters. What is that myastic something in its sparkling beauty that | always seems to bring us to our bet- | ter selves and soothes every wounded feeling? We all of us have felt its faseination and vielded to its spell. And so Miss Kingman felt it—she just couldn't help it—and in a moment she was her own sweet self again, n-d, turning to her companion, said, “Well, | it you really care to hear it again during the twe months I am in the HE HAD BEEN KILLED ONLY A FEW HOURS BEFORE. Shall it be told to the honorable guests who ask. or doth the master wish us to remain in precious ignorance?" imply §ay, to ene and all, the lord of the mansion is not within So at daylight on Thursday morning Wang Foo was “rocked in the cradie of the deep.” Arrived at the northern port, he made his way to the old basket- maker's home, where he received his usual cordial welcame from all the household, and promptly next morning | started out for Inspector McArthur's office. “Glad to welcome you again to Shanghai!” said the chief. as he rose and gave him a most cordial hand- shake. “We always have to send for you, Mr. Wang, when we gel into these native troubles, and you cer- lead, isn't it?—but, good gracious:” he exclaimed as he glanced at the captain’s card, “they're wnllen'ln English and not in Chinese! You never once mentioned that fact, and yet to my mind that is one of the most significant of all. Well, now I'm off to the consulate and we will meet again in this self-same pond, as the one little goldfish said to the other.” * k¥ X \[1SS KINGMAN had certainly kept L her promise and Mr. Allston had enjoyed the “quite unusual voice” more every time he heard it. As a matter of fact, his desire to hear the voice was not confined at all to the t'me of the singing, but entered the (4) Who, last and most important of all, threw the card over the con- sular wall? Outside of all this, but really under- lying it all, and absolutely necessary to any solution, was the greater prob- lem of the criminal or criminals them- selves. Who. what and where was the Soclety of the Northwest Eyes, and why had they killed the coolie aud thrown him into the co X The next morning he aros excusing himself from the | meal, put on his official dre | and, ordering a sed, itk ers, set out for the nativ terview his old friend ; (ruler of the cirzuit) in his ya men, | which answered to a very dilapidated city hall. Down the broad Nanking road, over and across the French conce sion they hurried, secming to grow happier ‘and happler as the streets early and grew narrower and dirtier. Down to the edge of the old canal, over the bridge of the beggar: till in this day and generation swarming with them and with all the loathsome things that go with them—under the double arches of the old city gate twisting and turning through the tor- tuous alleys until at last they put down their burden inside the va men court. H!s excellency was at home, and after the large red card had been sent in, Wang Foo had but a short time to wait before he was received in the inner sanctum. The attendants were all ordered out and the two con- ferred for an hour together on the subject of the murder and the myste- rious cards that were linked with it The name and history of every secret society were carefully gone over, hut nothing gave a clue to the “North- 8t Eyes. hi tzi yang jin tze shi tsing. poo kwai pen ti jin." said his excellency (“It s unquestionably the affair of the ocean man. the native son of the earth is not in it,” i.e, “it is entirely Eu- music school, perhaps I may give you a chane “A chance won't do—I want 2 defi- nite promise.” “Well, as we are a palr of little ‘griffins,’ both of us, and entirely apart from the rest of the company, I sup- pose we sh: have to stand by each other, so young Mr. Tea-Taster, of Jardine & Co. office—here’'s your promise IN the excitement of the landing and parting at the wharf the next morning the saying of “good-byes” was almost impossible. In fact, they would all have had to take the inten- tion for the deed, had not young All- ston's coolie, in his effort to dodge the bamboo of a native policeman, locked his wheel right in with Miss King- man’s. The disentanglement gave him just time enough to reach over to her little carriage, and, though he nearly upset them both in the effort, he seiz- ed her hand and said, “Not good-bye, but au revoir, and don’t forget the promise!™ She tried to hand him her card, but it slipped out of her fingers and drop- ped out into the roadway. ‘“Never mind; never mind!" he cried after her disappearing jinrikisha. ‘Tl pick it up! I'll pick it up!” And, poking his runner in the back with his um- brella, he said “Man, man (slow, stop) go catchee dat paper lady have makee drop!” The coolle put down the shafts and, hurrying back, picked up the card and placed it in his master’s hands. Young Allston rubbed off the mud and saw, to his utter astonishment, that it contained neither name nor address, but simply these mysterious words: * x k¥ BEWARE OF THE NORTHWEST EYES! After a long conversation with Dep- uty O'Keefe at headquarters, Inspector McArthur had about come to the con- clusion that the mystery of the secret organization was something that was beyond the European mind to satisfac- torily golve, and so, with the approval of Sir Rutherford, H. B. M. consul, he decided to cable to Hongkong for Wang Foo, and to put the whole case in_his hands. Sitting in the “Glade of Qulet Re- flectio as the great detective loved to_call his little upper room at No. 5-5-5 in the Red Cloud alley., Wang Foo, the detector of crime, heard a loud knocking at the outer gate, and the startling cry “Tlen pao lai! Tein Pao Lai (“The lightning-message has come! The lightning-message has come!" i. e., telegram). Old Chang has- tened to unbar the gate, and, recei ing the message at the coolie's ha hurried upstairs with it to his sover- eign lord. The little piece of yellow paper contained the following words: “Inspectorate of Pollce, “Shanghai. “Wang Foo. 5-5-5 Red Cloud alley, Hongkong “Serious crime here connected with secret organization. Can_ you come and assist the department”? Answer. “McARTHUR." He immediately wrote out a reply and took it himself later to the office. He picked up the daily paper and. glancing at the column of proposed sailings for the north, said to hims “Let me see, there doesn't appear to be anything until the day after tomor- The French mail leaves at day- I think that will have signing the receipt for light Thursda to do Aft the message-coolie and ordering old Chang to give him & cup of hot tea, & smoke and a handful of brass cash often forgotten by the Buropeans, who consequently are accused of mean- nexs, Wang Foo summoened the aged matron of the establishment. “Venersble grand one,” he said, “I am going away again to the upper sea” (Shanghai). ‘The elder born speaketh well was the dutiful answer. “When does the august departure take place? “After the morrow at sunrise, but everything must be ready on_the brighting day (tometrow). for I go aboard the ship in the evening. “It is already done as the master wishes. May the fire-wheel .t the lucky starp gulde it an its way! ! (steumer) be good and strong and may , N IR A TR tainly are most kind in coming up to help us out. ‘My services are always at the de- partment’s disposal,” was the graclous answer as he accepted the inspector's offer of a cheroot and a comfortable chair “You know the sages used to say that ‘he who lifts his brother's burden brightens up the path of life.’ | Now let me see if I cannot help to lift off some of yours." S0, over the green baize office table the two guardians of the peace and welfare of the eastern ports discussed the question of the “Secret Order of the Northwest Eyes” and its mysteri- ous doings. Wang Foo, who bmei more and more deeply interested as the English officer unfolded the facts| to him, inquired first of all whether| they had any further manifestations | of the soclety’s doings than the mere | card that was thrown over the con-! sul's wall. *“Oh, yes,” he replied, “there are two ~—I may say three—other very inter- esting and rather perplexing things, and the perplexing part is, let me say right here, that they all seem to come from Europeans d not one of them from the Chinese “And what are they, pray?" ““Well, first is the fact that when Lady Cockrill came down to break- fast the other morning she found in her morning mail another card, bear- ing exactly the same words as the one that was found in the court. It naturally made her a little nervous at | first, but being a sensible woman, she laughed it off and concluded to treat the whole thing as a joke, probably from one of her lady friends. .“Did she know of the other card found on the coolie’s body?" “Very fortunately, no; the consul had been very careful to conceal that fact from her.” ‘“Well, what next™ “Why, when Capt. McWilliams of the Gladiator had a little row with his rickashaw coolie on the Bund yes- terday, and in a moment of excite- ment hit him a few whacks over the head with his cane—of course stirring up an immediate crowd—his hat fell oft and rolled intv the gutter, and when he picked it up again, why la! and behold! the card was in it, and he swears it was empty before! “The card—what card?' “Why. the same old card with ‘Be- ware of the Northwest Eyes’ on it" | “Wait a moment ill 1 note that down, please,” and Wang Feo wrote| rapidly in the little notebook which | had figured in the detection of so many crimes. “All ready, now, ‘what | next, please’ as the clerks all say in your English stores.” “Why, the next is stranger yet, and 1 only happened to hear of it inci- dentally Iast night. It seems that a young lady arriving at the P. & O. wharf handed her card to a fellow passenger, and when he looked at it :llolrwudl he found the same words on “Just let me get that down, too, please.’ “Qf course she was just out from home, and being a very bright and attractive lady—my wife and I heard her sing and play at the music school’s reception yesterday—why. he naturally theught it was some kind of a new slang phrase from America or womewhere and belonged to some fortune telling game like ‘Look out for the girl with the nut-brown eyes.’ | or :t{melhing of that kind, don’t you | | “And_how did you happen to get| ahold of this? Did he come to head- | quarters and place a complaint with you? h, bless you, no, [ just was a-sit- ting beside him at the reception and 1 saw him hand it over to an Ameri- can lady and ask her, ‘Say. do you know what that little joke means in the states? “And what was her answer?" “Why, she just said, as she thought it over for a moment, ‘That's a new | one on me. You see I've been out here in the east two whole years now, and American slang changes a mighty Tot in all that time.” “And, now.” remarked Wang Foo, as | he closed the little book, “I think that is all I care for today; the next thing in order will be for me to ‘study the cards,’ as I believe you gentlemen say to each other at the club. You have the captain's, have you nat, the consul has the other two, and possibly we may be able to induce Mr. Allston to part for a While with the feurth.” The inspector smiled and. handing over the white pasteboard to his visi- t said, “Mr. Wang, you're a wit as well as a genfus. ell, here's the jack, the comsul of course holds the ing and the ace, and 1 ink the young man holds the quéen “Four bonorz! And now it's my realm of conversation, and rather in. timate conversation at that. So he made bold to open the subject of the card at the first opportunity. taking your good advice in regul doses,” he said with a smile. “My ‘good advice! why, what good advice. I never advised you in my life.” ghe answered. “The advice on the card you gave me at the wharf—you see, you're just like my old family doctor, he made us take all kinds of doses but never would tell us what was in them. “] don’t understand what you're talking about.” she interrupted, be- coming mure and more mystified every moment. “Oh, our memories are delightfully short things—when we want them to be—now come, be fair to a poor chap and tell me who the dear girl is that has them?” “Has what?” “Why those wonderful green or blue or yellow oculars that you call her ‘northwest eyes';"” and drawing out of his wallet the card that the coolie picked up in the street. he added, ‘per- haps this may refresh your delicate memory.” She took the card into her hand, and read very carefully and slowly the words in a large round prin BEWARE OF THE NORTHWEST EYES! 'm lar and handing it back to him said, in a voice of perfect sincerity, “I never saw that before in my life It was certainly impossible for hi to doubt the “gpite unusual voice, but he couldn’t help asking, isn't that the card you dropped out of | your rickshaw and my coolie went back and picked up?” “Never in this world! T gave you my own visiting card with my full name and the music school's address on it” “Good heavens! Then he must have Teft your card in the mud and picked up thig other by mistake!"” “That's exactly what the stupid fel- low did. “And here I've been wasting all this time racking my brain about who the other girl was that I was to be- ware of." The situation was really so ridicu- lous that they both had a hearty laugh over it, and finally the “quite unusual voice” said, “Northwest eyes, north- west eyes—well, the only thing I can ' think of is that as that is a slanting direction up into the corner of the map, and Chinese eyes are known to be slanting, it must be an indirect or poetical way of bidding you te beware of these fascinating little celestial maidens, over whom not a few Eu. ropeans break their hearts.” “Such good advice is entirely un- necessary for Beverly,” he replied, “the fascinating little maids of the slanting eye don't affect him one bit. He likes his eyes as level as the equ- tor. every time. “Oh, does he?’ inquired the voice (getting a little more unusual to Bev- erly every minute). “Well, to tell you the truth, Emily does, too!" And be- fore they realized it they both turned around and gazed into the mirror on the wall behind them, to see—silly lit- tle creatures!—just how nearly on a level line four human eyes could be. He put the little “card of advice” | back into his wallet, and there it would probably have passed into oblivion had not Inspector McArthur of the po. {lice astonished him beyond measure by calling at his room on the very next day and asking for the loan of the very same card, “to assist the de-! partment in securing evidence against a dangerous Chinese secret society!” THEN the four * k¥ % \‘ Wang Foo laid cards out on the table the next evening and started to examine them minutely, it didn’t take his trained eye very long to decide that they were, one and all, the work of the very same person, and that the writer was not a. skillful penman. Recalling the inspec. | tor's 1fttle pleasantry, who had named | them “ace, king, queen and jack,” he marked them in this way for future reference. He put a tiny “A” in the corner of the first, a “B" in the corner of the second, and a “C"” and a “D" on the third and fourth, respectively. Thus he had four problems before " Who ) o dropped Mr. A l in et st? p‘ liston’s card o placed the captain’ ity b ptain's card in 0 sent the card fi to Lady Cockrill? B.fhe mall “Why, ! ropean, not Chinese"), as he bowed his , D. C, MARCH 6, 1921—PART 4 distinguished visitor out to his sedan. Instead of returning straight to his room, he ordered the bearers to take him to the British consulate. “Sir Rutherford,” he said, as the consul bade him be seated in his private office, | “there is one leading question I forgot to ask you.” v that be d t pray?’ eally lying a little distance away from him. So it might have been thrown in there afterward, might it not?”" Mr. W q N, sir. I apologize for urbed you * ok ok ox MYNCE back i om, he O 1al d and put cain in runk blue gown, sat down and lig pipe. Hardly had the first puff of smoke curled upward when he jumy up with a s nd in rebuke exclaimed, “I mi myselt all the trouble of going to the tao ta it wax the work of a not of a native, for no C says or writes ‘north-wes | that nignt, “Yes: 1t bhelongs to the same set!” Why, simply in order hat he forge another link in the chain that was drawing closer around the guilty one And wh | did he sit for three long days, in the disguise of a vender of | cakes, and liste tales under the Hor why did he grow confide to drink he toug ! character among them al d draw out of him a story that blood th Why all fa T ely . that ut X out the doing of the Northw wicked deeds was read thy of t nel and doings the for the s The coolie who w wall was n u says and writes i 1) te one ‘west-north’! Now, 1 v fricnd, we will proe get after o dispose of vou' nd “get after” did, | 4 that the eas with very astonishing re , as the t rid of it was to throw it sequel shows. ome neighboring ya He took the litle bamboo arrow with »d to be that of (he cc him to the leading toy store in the[sul. Ah Ling bo who & British coneession and ted them if | bed him in the f 1d with a boat they had any like it. sret that fell overboard twi a we haven't a set left in the store; we | drawn under sold the last one to Lady Cockrill a|© to a watery grave few weeks ago,” said tho affable Eng-|cannot lay hands lish clerk. Wang Foo started, but Third. The card w nothing. | by his side was shot ir Why. after this, é1d he walk through | several hours afterward b consular _graun & and | party, and happened to fall by B of the body: it had no conne Nothing of except to him. to himself with T urder. h wha'ever with th Fourt The card picked wh Mr. wolie > of 3 culprit, | n all . 4t i IS to have been dropped in the street just beyond the wharf. Fifth. The card which Capt. Me- Williams found in his hat was placed there inside the lining (as a joke). while it was hanging on the consular hat rack that morning. While the hat was roiling into the guttem it out fro hiding place, and counts for his surprise on find- hat g it where he did Sixth. The card which Lady Cock- found in her mail was tucked rill ay the package of letters on the table by the culprit, while « boy was out in the Kitchen *And now, who was the culprit, Mr. chorus from his lis- not keep us any and gentlemen, r of presenting to ing under the tahble, ered with a heavy cloth, his hands after the \gicians, “Villain, ap- + from under the table, shment of all, crawl- tle son Egbert, who 1 and smiled to the ese four cards, get a story in The d thought he woyld e a 'itt on the family with He mailed one of them to hin ccidentally dropped e tucked the third 1's hat, and the of the window at toy arrows, in- ng it to go through the house- open door, but he missed his atm t landed by the side of the mur- Such, ladies and gentle- nocent ending of a story most somber beginning' As the great master said, i Capt fourth he s on one To sheot the arrow straight and far, How few there be that do f¢1' ™ The tension on Miss Kingman's rves had been so great through it that Mr. Allston had held both her hands till the close, which led Wang Foo to lean over to the inspector and quietly remark: You see. as you said in your office, Sl ix holding the queen 'THE RAMBLER TRACES THE HISTORY OF ANALOSTAN ISLAND FROM EARLY DAYS | When the Bit of Land| in the Potomac Was| Mortgaged to the| Branch Bank of the! United States—Will| of John Carter. Lack of Information on Certain Points About the Island. An Old Book. HE history of Analostan Island has been traced by the Rambler | from the grant to Capt. Ran-j dolph Brandt, in 1680, through ity ownership by Margaret and Friscis Hammersley, George Mason, his son, George Mason of Gunston Hall, and his son, John Mason of Analostan, to | the time when the island passed to the owenrship of the Branch Bank of the United States through foreclosure against John Mason. There are sev- eral chapters in that history which the Rambler cannot write because the necessary information is not in his possession, but he feels little doubt that he will come upon it. This is a confession that some writ- ers would not make, because the pos- session of necessary information is not always required. But the Rambler be- lieves that stories to be of immediate or future value ought to contain at least a few facts, and that the facts should be facts. It ought not to be necessary to write the word “facts” three times in that short sentence, but it often happens that things presented as facts are quite the contrary. Very often some of our best citizens will say “as a matter of fact,” or “I know as a fact,” or “let me make a state- | ment of fact.” or “the facts in the case are,” when they are about to present a statement quite the reverse of fact. And that phrase “best citizens” does not satisfy the Rambler's desire for exactness of speech. In the first place, in a grammatical sense, there cannot be more than one best citizen. But we will pass that, for what's the use bothering about such a linguistic refinement when a Chicago educator insists that “He don't” and “It's me” |are all right? “Best citizens” is a! difficult phrase. What is the standard by which one can measure the relative merits of citizens and give judgment as to who, or which of them, is best? Most good citizens have no press agents and are unknown except to their families and friends. And there we run into another dif- ficulty in that clause “their families and friends” because a good citi- zen, or what you and 1 call a good citizen, generally has only one fam- ily, and yet in another sense he may have two—his own and his wife's. It is rare to find a man who is con- sidered a good citizen both by his own and his wife's family. * k ok * Now, if we should write “the best known citizens,” instead of “the best citizens,” that would not help mat- ters much, because “the best known cltizons” are sometimes not really! well known, and if they are we might | not call them “the best citizens.” ! “The best citizens” are only known | for what they say in public places and not for how they act at home. A man may become one of the best! known citizens and be president emeritus of the association for smok- | ing out the devil and transforming | the shoylder blades into angels' wings, and yet be {ll-natured toward his | wife and owe for the gasoline that runs | " his_car. But, fesses to deal with the history of ! Anazlostan 1sland, it might be well| for ‘the Rambler to return to his| text. In the narrative last Sunday it was| {tolg that Gen. John Mason mortgaged the island to the Branch Bank of the United States in 1826, executing a deed of trust to secure his notes in the sum | of $28,500. | the ‘island in 1829, to secure his indorse- ment_of notes made by John W. Bro- naugh, John Cooke, William Brent, jr. and Edgar McCarty. The island. and tho fine home of Gen. John Mason on the island were soid at trustee's sale | in 1833. The story of the financial ven- | tures which ruined. or deeply em-! barrassed Gen. Mason is one of the| chapters of this series which thel Ramblor hopes to write. Analostan 1slang remained in legal possession of the Branch Bank of tho United States until 1842. By a deed signed on August 11, and recorded September 17 of that { vear, the island passed to John, Carter of Georgetown. The deed names Rich- ard Smith_of Washington as of the | first part: William S. Nichols of Georse- town, of the second part, and John Carter of Georgetown, of the third part. It recites that the president, directors and company of the Bank of the United States, had conveyed the island to Richard Smith and his heirs for certain uses, trysts and purposes. The island sed from Smith to Carter, the price ing set down as $8,600. The wit- nesses to the deed were W. E. Cross- field and C. E. Rittenhouse, and acknowledgement was made - before | | perhaps, as this story pro-| H ! i 118 | my Nicholas Calian and William B. Van- zandt, justices of the peace. The deed of trust executed by Gen John Mason and his wife, Anna Maria Mason, on ember 20, 1829, sets forth that: “Whereas the said John | Mason is indebted to said Bank of | the United States in sundry sums of money as the cndorser of the notes of John W. Bronaugh, John Coolk Brent and Cooke, William Brent, jr. and Edgar McCarty, and it hath be agTeed between the said Bank and the said John Mason that the said John to_ his friends, John Robert P. Duniop and John Kurtz of Georgetown, and authorizes them to sell certain securities with the con- sent of his wife Eleanor and “my daughter, Ann E. Thomas O'Neal, I 1 erty | quire.” He makes | provisions for the children of his | daughter Ann, should she have any. ' { and, in the event of her dyving before | her” husband, leaves ceriain trust { funds to_his nephews, Charles S, | Reese and John C. Reese. Although | he mentions “executors,” he names? Marbury, | O'Neal, the wife of | i of the friend-hip and confidence with which { you Lave %o long honored me. I wish it were | more wortly of the favored dsughter of the filustrious Washington I Lave great regret that the difculty of communication has prevented me from pro- curing other specimens of the birds and sects of this District, which would have en- sbled me to complefe the nomenclature cf cbiects of natural history. It will give me leasure to see this deficlency suppled by another, and the errors into which I have fullen eorrected with the same spirit which guided my researches. A publication of this kind is now called for HOLL! HALL. Mason shall give to the said bank as security for the ultimate payment of sald debts by executing for this pur- pose deeds of trust upon the same property for which he has already executed deeds to secure the pay- ment of his own debt proper to the said bank, that is the debt for which said bank holds his own promissory notes, and the said bank has agreed that their officers and agents shall use reasonable endeavor by suit or otherwise to obtain payment of the notes on which said John Mason is endorser for the makers of said notes. before the said John Mason shall be obliged to pay the same or any part thereof.” N This trust deed was witnessed by John Threlkeld and John Cox. deed vof John Mason and his wife, turning over the island to “the pres dent. directors and company of the i Bank of the United States,” in con- sideration of 35 was signed on_ the 26th of April, 1833, and recorded June It was signed by Mason and his devoted wife, in the presence of Jus- tices of the Peace John Cox and Ed- mund Brooke. The first deed of trust executed by John and his wife, Anna Maria Mason, was on December 31, 1825, to Richard Smith, “cashier of the office of discount and deposit of the Bank of the United States at th city of Washington® Tt was to se- cure notes for $3.260 $5.100. $2.000. $13.700 and $4,500. The trust was gigned. sealed and delivered in_ the presenca of Daniel Russard and John Cox. Witness to the signature of Richard Smith was Charles W. For. rest. * kK % Title to Analostan Island rested in John Carter of Georgetown from 1842 | until his death in 1850. The Rambler has before him a copy of the will of , John Carter, dated November 11, 1844, | probated July 2, 1850, and attached to it are two_codicils, the first mad April 4, 1845, and the second June 19, 1850. Witnesses to the will were E. M. Linthicum and John Marbury, jr. Witnesses to the first codicil were E. M. Linthicum, Matthias Duffey and John Marbury, jr. Witnesses to the second codicil were W. M. Boyce, Dr. Samuel Jackson and Ellen L. Mar- bury. It is a long and involved will, and the Rambler takes from it such ex- tracts as are needed to carry along I the story of Analostan Island and others which he believes will be of interest to old readers of The Star. In the first paragraph John Carter devises to his wife Eleanor during her natural life the dwelling house and ground appurtenant thereto, embracing an area of eight acres, “which I purchased of and which was He gave another trust on| conveyed to me by her brother, John i trustee of the heirs of David Peter, deceased.” He leaves to is wife for her lifetime, all his late, house linen, china, glass, fur- niture, household 'goods and books. and the stock of wine and provisions which may be in my said dwelling at the time of my death, and also my carriage and horses He gives 1o his wife $1.200 a year “for her yearly maintenance and support, to b paid her in equal sums semi-annually by trustees.” He leaves to his nephews, John Carter Reese and John Carter Marbury, $5,000. “to be paid to them réspectively one year after my decease.” This, the Rambler thinks. is an in- teresting paragraph: “I do hereby manumit, liberate and set free and discharge from slavery and every species of servitude whatever my faithful man Jesse, and all his chil- dren—namely, Mourning, Martha and Ellen, and also my woman Jedidah and her son Alfred—their freedom to take effect one vear after my de- cease. and not sooner. He directs that the executors appro. priate $1,000 for the relief of these servants. to be paid them after manu- mission. He makes over certain prop- Marbury, ‘The * | Jonn Marbury of Georgetown | sole and only executor.” In the first codicil he revokes the bequest of $5,000 cach to his nephews, | John Carter Reese and John Carter { Marbury, and makes the bequest | $2.500 to each. In this codicil he em | powers nis executor to sell certai lots in Georgetown “other than those appurtenant to my present dwell- ing”; a tract of land in Alexandria county, District of Columbia, near the Georgetown ferry landing, and bordering on the Alexandria_canal and my island called Analostan Island, and apply the proceeds of such sales to the payment of my pecuniary ' legacies.” *x %% In his third codicil he changes the annuity of his wife from $1,200 to $2,000 a year, and sets free “my serv- ant woman Hannah and her child, and my servant man Carlos, to take effect one year after my decease.” It was John Marbury, executor un- der this will, who sold Analostan Island to William A. Bradley, and that deed and the Widow Carter's conveyance of her dower interest in the island to Bradley will be present- ‘my. ed in a subsequent chapter. On the Rambler's table is an old book in which there is an entertain- ing chapter on Analostan Island. It is for the most part a study of the trees, wiid flowers and animals on that island. but it also gives a of the Mason home and fam- book was written by David Baillie Warden, and it was printed at Paris in 1816. Warden's visit to Analostan Island and other places in and around Washington seems to have been in 1811. The title page of the book is inscribed: “A Cho- and Statistical History of District of Columbia, the Seat of the General Government of the United States, With Engraved Plans f the District and View of the Cap- i0l . B. Warden. Paris. Printed and sold by Smith, Rue Montmorency. { To be had also of T. Barrois, foreign 1 88 ler, No. 11 Quai Voltalr, and D~- | launay, bookseller, in the Palais ! Royal. 1816.” | A part of the history of this copy jof the little book is told in ink on the fly-leaf. The writing follows: “This book has been given by John 10t only by the citizens of the United State but also by foreigners who, from motives o curiosity and interest, seek mipute informa tion concerning the present state of the Amer tropolis. . madam, the homage, esteem and re Your truly devoted, D. B. WARDEN. Hollin Hall, the picure of which § shown in this story, was the home of Thomson Mason, brother of John. It stands near the road to Mount Ver- non about a mile east of Wellingto home of Tobias Lear, Washington eacretary, tn‘or of the Cus’is chil- dren and auditor of the War Depart- ment. There is a tradition that | Thomson Mason's first home on thi site was burned and that the bufld- ing shown by the picture was the . “spinning house” close by the man- sion. Thomson Mason took up his residence in this home and 1t bore :the name Hollin Hall for at least a icentury. This farm and several oth- ers that have been added to it are jowned by Mrs. H. P. Wilson of Hol- ilin Hall, Washington, New York and |San Francisco. Mrs. Wilson, after occupying this old building for a number of years, has erected on Mount Hilbey, half |a mile away, a brick mansion of | early colonial architecture, which is j on ¢ the great country houses of America. This splendid new man- | sion_has been given the mame, Hol- lin Hall, and the “Hollin Hall” shown by the Rambler, and believed to be the spinning house of the first | Hollin_ Hall, has already come to be | called “Ola’ Hollin Hall" or simply “The Old Hall” The story of Hollin {Hall and the Buckner Stith home of i Mount Hilbey is one that the Ram- i bler will turn to when he has com- pleted a certain line of work to which he has set his hand. —_— The Cautious Convert. BISHOP PENGELLEY said at ner in Charleston: ‘Some men get converted after the manner of Calhoun Clay. “The Rev. Wash White met Calhoun on Hominy street one afternoon and took him by the arm fraternally. “‘Brudder Cal’ he says, ‘arter de Werckmuller, living in Paris, to his|sermon Sunday night we's gwine to nephew, John Adolphus Werckmuller of Norfolk, in Virginia. Paris, August , 183 One may wonder who was s John Adolphus Werckmuller of orfolk and how this little book t N | sent to him from Paris by his uncle came to find a place in the Library | of Congress. The Rambler did in- ‘tend to quote from this book that! chapter relating to Analostan Island, but it is getting too late to go_ into hat now, and besides, the Rambler's | nwers are beginnine to weary and go slow on the typewriter. |~ Warden's book is dedicated to “Mrs. | | Custis.” and the assumption is th | lady was the wife of John Parke gton. He refers to {her as the “favored daughter of the illustrious Washington,”” which is inac- curate. Here follows the deication to | { the book: 1t may not have escaped your recollection that you kindly honored me with your advice leisure hours at Washington in to ocenpy my examining th Intersting objects of thnt mag- n. You were even pleased to mpany me on some of my excursions and honor me b an introduction to your rela- and triends to whom 1 feel grateful for Valuable und unwearied attentions. 1" brought to Paris my notes and_ colleetions of plants. minerals and nsects which 1 had | ot eisure to examine us long as 1 exercised | my public functions. M labors, however. have have a rousin’ hallelujah meetin’ and burn up yore paraphernalia.’ “ My what, sah? says Calhoun. “‘Your gamblin' paraphernalia.’ ex- plained the minister. ‘When a sportin® man gits converted dey allus burns up, his _kyards and dice, and chips and sech like oniquituous trash in a halle- lujah meetin’. De converted gambler he’s de fust to staht frowin' de siuff on de fire. He frows roulette wheels and—-" White, sah. Not “*Hold on, None o' in mine! I pe- Rev. me. dat mah goodness, brudder, you verted, ain't you? Yes, sah,’ said Cal Clay, ‘I's con- verted, shore. but dat don’ make me no blame fool. 1 tell ye, reverend, I mought backslide and need dat stuff.’ " —_— College Spirit. COTT FITZGERALD, the youthful author, said at a luncheon in New York: - ‘College spirit is always the same. It is exemplified in the dialogue of i been of little avail in struggling against for- tune to whose capricious empire I huve been forced to submit. Since the snspension of my consular powers 1 have occupied myself chiefly with subjects relating to the United States, and 1 have pre- pared for your nceeptance thix sketch of the District of Columbia, which, T fiatter myself, will serve to perpetuate the fond remembrance o the two juniors. “‘What shall we do tonight?” smid the first junior. “T'll toss up a coin for it’ the sec- ond junior answered. ‘If {t's heads, we'll’ go to the movies; if it's 3 £0 to the Palais de la Danse, and If it stands on edge we'll stud: