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FICTION "MAGAZINE - SECTION. 43y ¢ Sundiy S fag. FEATURES Part 4—8 Pages "Captured Oran By Charles Mayer. Illustrated by Will Crawford. HE orang-outangs. high up in the tree. were huddled to- getner, swaying back and forth. Omar came Wwith the message that the space was cleared for the tree to fall; 1 ordered tho net carried to position and sent the two headmen to place the natives at their posts. Dense clouds of smoke rolied up from the smudges, enveloping the tree completely and hiding the orang-ou- tengs, who perched aloft, screaming and coughing. 1 could get occasional zlimpses of them, s they sat there, hugging each other. The big rattan nets were in place. with the men holding them ready to cast when the tree came down. Other men, armed with sharp-pointed pole stood behind, to pin the beasts down if the nets did not fall in the proper position. They were so excited that I spent several minutes in casually walking about, talking with them and calming them. Ali trudged a few fect behind me. earrying my express rifle. We cleared away the litter of tree trunks and_ creepers from the spot where the hig tree was to fall, so that there might be nothing underfoot to interfere with rupid work; then I ruve the signal for the tom-toms. The acket began again and the crew of n detailed to cutting the tree ran ihrough the smokc barricr,, waving heir parangs and shouting. 1 stood cutside. near the net. watching the ngs and keeping the men at their statio Omar was with me, and Munshee was with the men who were loing the cuttinz. We could hear the big Knives hacking into the tree. * % xw SSENGER from Munshee came h the word that the tree was ready to drop. I gave a hasty glance round me. told the men to be on the ert and sent him back with instruc- tions to let the trec fail. Once again. through the din_ of tom-toms and shouts, we could hear chopping: the ved for a moment. the orang- outangs screamed wilh terror and the men with the nets crouched. ready to spring. Slowly the tree toppled and came down, gathering speed as it fell. exactly in the spot we had mark- cd. ‘'When it struck the entire jungle seemed to be in upheaval. The orang-outangs abruptly stop- ped their outery. As they hit the ground. they were paralyzed with fright. A nel went sailing over them. In an instant they came to their senses and bezan fighting. With long. black. powerful arms they lash- ed at the rattan: they leaped and struggled, biting the ropes and tear- ing great gashes in their bodies. Thay screamed and chattered furiously. One of them reached out and grabbed a native by the throat. whipping him throug the air and breaking his neck. The native struck the ground several vards away. blood pouring from his nose and mouth. T velled to the men to cast the sec- ond nct and secure if to the trees. The orangs kept up aconstant battle. lashing and heaving under the ropes that pressed them 1o the ground. Their arms and lega became entan- gled in the meshes of the nets, and they wasted their _streng! in wrenching and squirming, while we fastencd them down. The natives, erazy Wwith excitement. pressed in. tumbling over one another. Our material had been put to the greatest test and would hold the ani- mals, 1 knew. for they could not again equal the strugzie of the frst few minutes. So. because I wanted them to have room to become thoroughly tangled in the nets. I ordered the ropcs slackened a trifle. Jut then. while 1 was standing near the nets. Superintending -the work of making them fast. & huze paw shot out and _grabbed my ankle. 1 was jerked off the xround and. as I fell, my hands caught the limb of a tree. I clung to it with all my strength, feel- ing my fingers weaken ang slip while the brute pulled. The joints at my hip and knec pained me for an_instant; then my les# became numb. The men stond terrified and 1 could not yell at them: I felt myseif growing dizzy and I simply wondered why some one did not do something. Then Omar zrabbed a club and pounded the orang’s arm: the pullinz stopped, and 1 realized that 1 was being dragged away from the nets. For several minutes 1 was too Sroggy to know what was happening. but the idea that the natives might kill the orang- outangs while 1 was disabled made me sit up. They were standing there, looking first at me and then at the animals, wondering what to do. I told them I was all right and I began feel- ing my leg. It was not broken, but it had been so badly wrenched that 1 could not stand on it. * x ok x v THILE T sat on the ground direct- the outside meshes of the nets and ran ing the work. the men gathered dinc and bandaged ft tightly. By the time the processioa arrived, I was ready to give Omar and Munshee or- ders about the new cage. * k X X JHILE the women prepafed the YV feast of chicken, rice and sugar cakes, the men went into the jungle again and cut logs eight feet loni and from six to eight inches in di- ameter. These they drove two feet into the ground, placing them not more than' three inches apart. so as to form a cage elght feet long and three feet wide. Then they bound | them together tightly with rattan. ropes, and_made and lashed down a strong roof of logs. One end of thé cage was left open for the animals to enter. . Propped upon my litter, 1 directed the work; then 1 was carried while I made a careful inspection of it. When the cage was ready, the orang-outans were brought up to the open end, the poles were drawn out and the slip- Knot of the outer net was loosened. By using poles and working at a respect- ful distance, the men forced into the cage the single net containing the animals; then they drove the end bars into the ground and lashed them. nally, by working beiween the bare, they loosened the slipknot of the net| and left the orang-outans free to un- tangle themselves. i By the time the job was finished, T was exhausted by the fever and my leg was paining me unbearably. T thanked the men for their good work and was carried back to Omar's house. {The people were disappointed that I | could not take part in the great cele- jbration they were preparing, and deputations arrived at the house to ask if they could do anything for me. iIn a hundred different ways they | showed their concern for me and their | Kindness. und T know that they would ‘have dispensed gladly with their { merrymaking if | had intimated that| | jthe “noise might kecp me awake. Sleep was, of course, out of the que I tion, but not because of the noise: m leg was puffed and swollen and the ! fever was growing worse. Outside | could hear the people celebrating. | The ceremonies began with the fu- neral of the man that had been killed | and they lasted untii daybreak. In the morning I sent for Munshee | and told him that it would be neces for me to go down the river to Sin- tang, where Dr. Van Erman lived. He nclected four of his fastest boatmen [and sent them off to the doctor with ithe message that | was coming. Their orders were that they might stop at Nanaoh-Pinoh to eat, but that they were_not to rest until the message was delivered. Just as soon as they were out of the way, Munshee turned to preparing a boat for me: an awn- ing made of palm leaves was put over the center and a bed arranged. * % kX I LEFT Omar in charge of the orang-outans, with Ali to assist; him. Ali objected to being left he-} hind. but I expiained to him that he could be of greatest service to me by staying. He was to see that the orang- utans were fed and watered and to have the matives trap other animals for me. [ instructed Omar to build a shed over the cage and to place a fence arsund it, so that none of the natives could venture too close. ‘When my boat was ready- il the peo- ple of the kamponz were on hand to bid me good-bye and wish me a speedy re- covery. Munshee steered and six men paddled. Another boat followed with my supplies. T went down the river, think- ing that T had never found a kinder. more_hospitable people than these. who are known throughout the worid as sav. and head-hunters. My fever grew worse and worse and I became delirious. 1 did not know until later that Munshee urged the men on, hour after hour, until we overtook the messenger boat. The last thing that I remember of the trip was that every- thing became a blur. The men who were | paddling, the river with its green banks. Munshee, the awning over my head and | the coolie boy all whirled around and grew indistinct. 1- was - unconscious when we reached Singtans. ! Two days later T awoke in Dr. Van Erman’s house and was unable for some ; time to realize where 1 was and why I was there. The doctor came in and talked with me for a few minutes. He said that I would be well in two weeks and that my leg was not badly damaged. Then I drifted off to sleep again. The next day I felt stronger. and the doctor repeated some of the tales the nativés were telling about the capture of the orang-outangs and the death of the crocodile. The stories had improved with age, and so I told him what had actually happened. “Mahommed Munshee has been wait- ing here for you to get well,” said the doctor. “I think he'd like to see you—if you don't mind.” Munshee came in, beaminz with de-| light. Taking my hand and pressing it to his forehead, he told me that onlv one | chosen by “God and Prophet” could re-! cover from the [{ever and the sickness caused by the paw of an orang-outang. All of the villagers, ho said, had been WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 19, 1921 \g_ sy | | | i the Zoo—The Process of “Netting” Animals in the Jungle—Traits.of the “Big Cats.” i JTREE. 1FELT MYSELF GROWING DIZZY. i Utans and Sea Tragedy of the Jungle F R. MAYER Tells, in This Article. of How He Landed the Big Orang-Utans in a Net—Jollification Among the Natives—Preparations for Shipment and an | Offer From Antwerp—The Tragedy at Sea—One of the Animals Fina]ly Reaches | | quiet spot and left Ali in charge with strict orders against letting too many people come to see them. Then 1 went to the cable office and sent to the Antwerp Zoological Gardens news of the capture. There was no question in my mind as to what the answer to my cable- gram would be, and, before it arrived T made ull the arrangements for ship-| ping. Antwerp offercd $10.000 cach | for the wnimals delivered. 1 knew that T could get offers of $23.000 or more in the United States. but that the orangs would not be abic to stand the voyage. 1 sent another message to Antwerp, saying that I was sailing and requesting that arrangements be made for shipping by rail from Mar- scille. A few days later, the cages were swung aboard and we started east- ward. Ali accompanied me to care for the animals. From the moment the steawmer headed out to sea, the orang-outungs began to fail. They became deathly seasick, especially the female. and re fused food. Ali and I were with them constantly. tempting their appetite with choice hits of food and doing everything possible to make them comfortable. The male grew better but the female lost strength rapidly Finally she slumped down to the floor of the cage, unable to sit up: she paid olk ~HE ship's carpenter built a vat, and we “pickicd” the body of the female in salt water. | knew that some natural history mugcum would be glad to have such a specimen for mounting. We steamed into the har- bor at Marseille witi the male still alive, and 1 thought that there was an even chance of getting him to Ant- werp if the pcople there had fol- lowed my instructions and arranged transportation. An agent met me at the dock. Everything was prepared for us, and we lost no Lanc in gel- ting the beast 1o the train When we rgached Antwerp 1 felt like standing on the platform and whooping. My job was finished. | The men the gard 00k no attention to us when we reached intq the cage and touched her. One morning she curled up on the floor, buried her face in her arms and died. Through her death 1 lost a grout deal of money. but I could not help fi g relieved. She had been 8o ab- miserable ard she had seemed 80 human in her suffering! I have often wondered if the male had any idea {that she was dead. He coased to im- prove in health and he became mo- rose. Many days of anxicty followed every minute 1 expected the message that” the poor fellow was dying. from charge and rushed the orang-o ng out 1o the cage 1 n built to res |eeive him. We transportation ‘(‘KRI' up 10 the door and cu way the bars. The oOrang-outang out xlowly, like a tircd and sick old m. He was not interesivd in his new roundings and he pushed away the food | that we put before him. terinarians {could do nothing for him. Ten days later he died. Al and 1 remained in Autwerp for | several weeks. It wax Ali's first trip to Europe, and not a ve ble one. He was bewildered zzled: b could not understand country Only once did he venture out of the h tel without me, and then he did not out of sight. He slept in 1y room the floor—he would have nothing to with the bed—and he would touch ne food that was not vouched for by me. ‘When we boarded the boat that w 0 to take us back to the far viust Al brightened. He had had a wond experience. but he said: “Oh, am happy 1o go home. T wu (Wopy i By Pierre Milne ' The Shade of Byron | 1 | Translated From the French by are WILLIAM L. McPHERSON. N 18 said my eacellent ¢4 1 triend, Prof. John Coxswain. whose remarkable works on psychical phenomena known everywiere. “there was mu talk about the communications which medium, Mrs. Margaret Allen of Ldinburgh, was recciving from the disincarnated spirit of the poet Byron. These presented a charucier of au- thenticity which was particularly striking and. it must be admitted, very unusual in such cases. Not on % ' < 4 rope through them. Then. as the|making offcrings to the different, deities | veling will kill them. I had been lucky | were far from accepting him as u other ropes were loosened, they pull-! for my recovery, and the people would | enough to find my capt, «d the noose close, and the two brutes were in a sack. For the first time, T had _an opportunity to examine our catch; they were the two biggest orang-outangs ever captured in Bor- neo. . Gradually they exhausted them- selves and gave up the struggle. They peered out through the mpeshes, snarling at the men who came near them and sometimes shooting out a long arm with the fingers opening and closing. The natives squatted about in a circle, watching the ani- mals and laughing. When the men had rested, I had them build two litters of boughs— cne for the dead man and the other for me. Then we strung the net on three long poles, to be carried by twelve men, and started back to the village. Messengers went on ahead to tell the people of the kampong of our success. 1 headed the procession; then came the orang-outans, natives dancing around them and beating tom-toms; then the dead man. It was necessary to stop often to change the crews that were carrying the litters and the animals—they weighed over 500 pounds—and the en- re population of Omar's kampong came out to meet us in the jungle before we had covered half the dis- ‘tance. My coolie boy, who had re- mained at the village. was ahead of them all. He was one of the fastest rickshaw men I have ever seen, and his old training came i{n handy that day. He wanted to carry me in his arms back to the village, but I told him to run back and put some water on to boil for me. I.Jeft Omar and Munshee in charge | touched by their affection. We rowed on larme of the orangs and had my men hurry abead with me, for my leg was pain- 1ag me intensely and I could feel the fever coming on. T had many things to do before I could afford to be sick, and 1 did not want to loose any time. For one thing, I realized that it would be impossible to get the ani- mais into separate cages and that it would be necessary to build a larger cage before we could take them from the nets. It would be too dangerous to leave them in the nets overnight, for they might chew their way out. At the village I found that my boy had laid out my medicine kit. - I soaked my leg in hot water and mas- saged -1t; them we painted it with io- with| be happy to h that Tuan was well | again. I told him that I would return! with him to Omar's kampong within two | [weeks. and he lcft, promising to come; for me. The days at Df. Van Erman's house passed quickly and pleasantly. I found; him a thoroughly fine man, as well as | a fine doctor. and I enjoyed his com- panionship. Under his care I rapidly threw off the fever and my leg healed | 0 that I could get about with little dif-' ficulty. The ankle had been dislocated| by the grip of the Orang-outang’s paw, : and the tendons badly strained. i * % % % | BY the time MaFommed Munshee came for me 1 was quite ready to; 80 up the river. I had seen enough of ! the country to know that the Junalul were full of animals, and 1 wanted to capture as many as possible before starting back for Singapore. Munshee } said that the orang-outangs were in good health and that Omar's men, work- ing with Ali, had made many capture Dr. Van Erman cashed a draft for me, o that 1 should have silver money to! distribute to the natives who had heiped | me, and I started up the river, promis- | ing to stop on my way down, 80 thatienough to hold the orangs, -without|what one hopes to capture. ! giving the: the doctor could see the animals. At Munshee's request, I stopped over- night in his village. The people gave me a royal welcome and we had a fine cele- bration. The news of my coming went ahead of us, and Omar and Ali came down the river, meeting us two hours’ distance below the kampong. They gav: me an enthusiastic reception and I wa: up tho river, and when we reached | Omar's village 1 found that the peo- ple had beer Lusy for days preparing the festivities in honor of my return. After greeting the people I went di- rectly to the cage of the orang-outangs. They showed little fight, and I was en- couraged to find that they were not too despondent. I did not want to.risk transporting them until they had -be- come thoroughly acctistomed to cap- tivity—or at least as much. accustomed jto it as is possible for orang-outangs. For homesickness grips them just-as it grips human beings, and they become pitiable objects. If they refuse to eat, it-is scarcely worth while to spend .time and money “in_transporting them, for weasickness and the excitement of tra- 8 eating quict- 1y and taking life calmly. 3 The celebration lasted until dawn, but 1 excused myself early and went.to bed. Omar explained to his .people that I would become ill again unless I rested, and they escorted me to the house with all the ceremonious attention that they would have shown to royalty. 1 did not appreciate at the time quite how near 1 was to being a roval person in- their eyes, but I found out later that Ali, dur- ing my absence, had been absolutely shameless in the tales he told abgut me. 1 habitually dined with sultans - rajahs, 1 was an xorcist, renowned the world over: I feared no hantu (ghost) and, in addition to that, I was a master of hobatan (magic), who, by using his ywers, could capture elephants as if they were monkeys. But apart from Ali’s stories, the people liked me be- cause I had engineered the capture of the beasts that had been terrorizing them. And I liked them better than any other people 1 had met in all my travels. * K kX BEFORE beginning the "work of capturing other animals, I turned my attention to preparing the trans- portation cages. These were three feet wide, three feet high and five and a half feet long—just large y chance to wrench at the barse. ey sat clutching each other while we placed the transporta- tion cages at each end of the big cage. Occasionally they snarled at us and jreached out between the bars. Natives d with sharpened poles held them back. Then, by poking and prodding, we separated them and ran bars through the center. of the Big~cage. These operations exci 1 S0 greatly that we left off ‘work for the day. The next morning we went to the cage again and cut away the end bars so that the animals could enter gheir _transportation’ :cages. Thess ghve them.more room, and I §tationed' an extra guard over them with Instructions to ca}l ‘me immedi- ately if they began to teas the bars. Ali_spent practically all of his time there, talking to them .and:feeding them. o customed to' him, and, altheugh’ they. | friend, they did know him and realize |that he was not there to hurt or annoy them. All others, except the headmen and myself, were kept away from the | cages. Food was always placed in the trans- portation cages, and, since the animals were deprived of each other's com- pany, they pecame accustomed to spending their time in them. That, of course, was exactly what I wanted, and the prospects looked more en- couraging each day. ‘We spent the next two weeks in trapping and snaring. and I kept the men of the kampong busy all the time, either at collecting the animals or at building ‘cages for them. I was fortunate enough to get one pro- boscis-monkey. It is a rare long- nosed species, difficult to capture. My standing orders from zoological gardens all over the world always included one of these creatures, but this was the only one I ever caught. We found him hopelessly tangled in a net we had put up near a watering place. He was a fine specimen, two feet high, with long arms, legs and tail, and a nose that measured two inches. Netting animals in the way in which we caught this monkey is\one of the easiest and best modes of col- lecting. The size of the net and of the meshes will depend entirely ,upon Our nets | varied from eight fect square to fif- teen fect long by ten feet wide. . The meshes measured from two to four inches. The net is placed at a spot where the animals are sure to pass; it s suspended across the trail and held in place by light bamboo poles. Leaves ‘and grass are scattered over it until it cannot be distinguished rom the ground. When an animal steps into.it, the net falls and he be- gins to struggle, instead of quietly working his way out. Within a min- ited. the beasts|ute he has himself so tangled in the meshes that It is sometimes necessary to cut the net to get him out. One great advantage connected with this imethod of trapping is that the ani- mal s never injured; he simply wears himself out and then, exhausted, stays in the net until some one comes along to releasc him. A cat animal, for ex- ample, comes running into a net; its feet catch and it goes tumbling, roll ing over and over, roaring and paw- ing. In a few seconds it becomes so Gradually ‘they - became ad~|tangled that it cannot move an inch. 1ts cries bring the men who have been posted as lookouts, and they carry it back to the kampong on poles. * K k% (CONTRARY to the general idea, cat animals. such tigers and leopards, are the easiest to catch in traps as well as nets. The work is as simple as baiting a rat-trap and it requires little sagacity. A box-trap with a spring-door will make a catch time after time, with no more trouble than transferring the animal to a transportation cage and rebaiting the trap with a chicken or a small goat. It is wise to allow a fairly long, run- way between door and bait, so that the captive will not be injured when the door springs shut. After recov- ering from the surprise of finding it- self trapped. the animal eats the bait, which supplies it with food until the natives come along on their regular tours of inspection. It is just routine work, involving but little excitement. Among the animals we captured while working from Omar’s kampong were thrce gibbons, or wah-wahs. These are «iso known as flying gib- bons, becauss they meke such long leaps from trae ‘o tree. “hey are a tailless breed of juonkey, rater rare and extremely difficult to catcis. Once captured, they become aftcctionate pets and they command a good piice r that reason. They have soft. downy, light brown, siiver-gray or yell3W hair. black faces and large, round, expressive eyes. The work of trapping and snaring went along steadily during the ten days I spent with Omar. By the time the orang-outangs were —ready to travel we had three gibbons, four baby orang-gutangs,. one proboscis monkey, ten black monkeys, eighteen long-tailed menkeys, twenty-two pig- tailed monkeys, three pythons, -which averaged eight feet in length, two sambur deer, one sun bear, three wild- cats, four civet cats, four porcupines, one anteater @nd two_armadillos. ‘We slipped the bars over the open ends of the cages in which thg big fellows were to travel, and .l3shed them securely with rattan ropes, Since the boats at the klmpnn? were too small, I had two large rafts-made of bamboo and T placed ali the cages on them. When everything was ready we boarded the boats and rafts and start- ed down the river. The people lined the banks. shouting and wishing us a safe journey; others followed us in boats. ‘At.each village the natives swarmed out to see the animals and wish us luck. I can still hear them calling: “Tuan, bila balik? Salamat jalan! (Sir, when will you come back? Safe journey!)” We stopped at Mahommed Mun. shee's village, and then at Sintang. 1 found+that Dr. Van Erman had gone down to Pontianak. Another swarm of natives met us when. we arrived there, and 1 had to station my men around the rafts to keep them from coming aboard. ¢ 5 .. Leaving Ali in charge of the animals, T went ashore and found that a steam- er was sailing for Singapore the next marning. T made arrangements for shipping. and then went to the resi- dent’s house to pay my respects. Dr. Van Erman was - there, and, after luncheon. T took the resident and the dogtor out to see my catch. The resi- dent, was profuse in his congratula- tions. and he confirmed my belief that the orang-outangs were the largest ever captured in Borneo. - * *x ¥ % (QMAR and Munshee assisted in the work of loading the crates on the steamer because they felt that their obligation to me did not end until we had the animals clear of Borneo. I ifelt, of course, that I was under ob- !ligation to them for all the fine work they and their people had <done for me ahd I wanted them to accept some money, for their services. They re- fuged ‘at first, but finally they gave in. From their point of view they had made sufficient profit merely in prestige, both with their own .people and with the resident. ‘I made them my agents in their districts and took them. with me to the offices of the steamship company while I arranged to have any animals they brought to Pontianak shipped to-me at Singa- ;Dore.; When we sailed the mext day they . were in their boats alongside, waving and yelling. There was great excitement in Singapore when the story of the orang-outangs got about. Hordes of Ppeople came to see them unloaded. I cajied upon the police 10 keep the crowd back, for 1 was afraid the ex- :1: ment might beé too wmsh for the At y anfmal house, ¥ put them in a \ dw the shade of Byron dictate ro markable poetry and express itself directly througn the mouth of the medium, instead ol employiig ous board or some other form ol aulo- matic writing, but it also spoke in a masculine voice, decidedly diffor- ent trom that o1 Mes. Allen u her normal personality, and used Lnglish PEUNUGCS L Die 1, vOEUC @1 L0E begin- ning of the nincteenth century, from which those of our own period are scnsibly different. Moreover. it had indlcated where letters and even un- [ uBlished poems of the ilustrious au- thor of “Chfide Harold® might be found. ‘I'hese happenings were considered so important by the London Society for Psychical Research that it asked me go lo Einburgh, take part in the make report on them. The society never publixhed my re- port in its proceedings bucause of a singular. und | may say. without be- ng taxed with exaggeration, # d.s- concerting, turn given to the com- munications shortly after my arrival It is impossible to accuse Mrs. Allen of trickery. She is a woman of unim- peachable morals, a widow thirty-five years old, with a high repulation and no tendency toward levity in her conduct or conversation. L shculd add that she possesses a con- siderable fortune, that she gave her services free and that her exceptional kifts were discovercd by Mr. Archi- Lald MacBraid, the highly respecte minister of the Presbyterian chapel which” she ficquentea and in which she had always shown a spirit ot active and enlightened piety. * % x % u\lfif MacBRAID attended the se- = ances regularly. He was great- ly edified by the religious sentiments which George Gordon, Lord Byrom, [ professed. That great poet declared :|iFfat he regretted the errors of his earthly existence and the scandal of his love affairs, which he mentioned only with great reserve, seeking to excuse himself by saying that it was in Italy, for the most part, that he had committed these faults. He didn't con- ceal the fact that they had prevented him from attaining as yet a high rank in the hierarchy of spirits, and that, for example, such an imbecile as John Ruskin had a place above him. Having been reproached for the un- just expression he used with regard 1o a glorious writer who had kept the faith, he attributed his bad humor, with touching modesty, to literary vanity. of which he blushed to say he had not yet been entirely cured. = 4 “At the first seance at which 1 as- sisted 1 asked him about Shelley, his friend, whose body he had burned with_sublime ceremony on 2 sandy |Beach in Livurnia, committing it to a pyre of cedars and myrtle. He replied in a grieved tone that he had never ceased to regret the fact that poor Shelley had lived and died a pagan. But at the last seance our surprise, and, 1 must admit. our disappoint. ment, werc great at hearing an en- tirely different voice speaking through the medium. This new spirit hastened to introduce himself. He was Augus- tus Lewis Barnard, who died in 1847, and was during his life minister of the little Presbyterian Church which already at that time existed in Florence. “Mr. MacBraid politely expressed the pleasure he found in entering into re- lations with a colleague from the other world. But that didnt prevent | his disclosing that we had counted on S versing with another person. T know that,” said Lewis Barnard. ‘It was Byron. But he will not come |today—and probably not for several (days. In fact, T am here to tell you that he can't come. It would have been annoying to me that a pastor of the church to which 1 belonged shouid walit in vain to talk to hinu to say nothing of a gentleman who has come here all the way from London.’ e added some little compliments addressed to me. I ask permission not to repeat them, the more so as they were of no scientific importance. But since I seemed to be unknown to this _inhabitant of the spirit world 1 ventured to ask him how we were to account for the absence—I w. [on the point »f saying the desertion |—of Lord By:on. *“He has ¢ cold,’ declared the dis- incarnated Lewis Barnard. * x x % u\]vfl noted a certain hesitation in this curt response. You can imagine also that the explanation seemed to usgincredible. Mr. Mac- Braid remarked that he had never heard of a spirit catching cold. ““Why not?" his colleague rejoined. ‘Everything with us is like it is here. There was recemtly an epidemic of grippe on the other side! A man who has followed a sacred profession about ! ;on earth oughn't to i ) smail | matters—cspecialiy 1o defend a rep- utation which is. alas. counterfeit. 1 [ prefer to tell you gverythi This poor i 1 $1c s mad again® T Hy “The medium gave # deep sigh. The voice of the spir't continucd: | _*“He is mad! He is mad about u French dan who has # German name—Fanny Elssler. He has even quarrels over her with a certain M jde Montrond. who claims to have iheen w contidant of M. de Talley-an.t jand to have died on the Cape Verde !Islands. The latier i » in love I with this dangerous person. My lord ! wants to t & ducl with him. AD 1 this is very scandalous® *But' 1 said, vou are telling us s absurd. Spirits cant fight duels nor be in love. It is a ridiculous sup- posit Why not™ xaid Lewis Barnard. in his wearicd munne T tell vou that { with us everything And i yYou ought to know tinually receive visits tell you that they go into the country that they listen to cangerts, thit claxsica music is much overdone and that in Lhe mild snasun they go o bathing beaches. You have only to remd works by Sir Oliver Lodge. , This unfortunale Byron ix mad, ali the same. 1t must be that his old vices still cling to what is left of is the sum: arnard, we understand you tanding, it's all very simple i ighly accentuated. And, b our superterrestrial existence is prolonged our sensibiiity diminishes. Take my casc. 1 died in 1847, 1t for me to resist temptations. 1 find *hat, compared with what they w my temp- tations are as for Byron, who what can be left of them 8 SEE derisory as it is shameles: i “CBut’ Mr, MacBraid put in, he toid {u tast he civd his conduct, that he had compleicly retormed and that he was patterning himsef after John { Rus] 1 My lord was spoofinz an- minister. {swered the shade The Ivy Plant. V¥ is not so common in the cities of the United States s in the cities of Burope, but it is making its way and in many places is being encourag- ed to spin its green web over brick and stone walls. It is climbing the towers of churches and hfs reached Ithe chimney tops of many houses. On the south xide of some streets, where too little sun comes for the health of grass, ivy is allowed to grow iand spread a screen of verdure over the ground, which gives the carth a pleasant look in winter and iIn summer. Ivy was held to be a sacred plant by the carly Greeks and many poets have sung of it. Ivy is often the symbo) of sentiment. Very often the ivy that igrows on ciurches, homes and on tombs has some memorial association. The |seeds or cuttings werc brought from | famous vines or from vines that grew jon famous castles, churches, ruins or tombs in Europe. ' Cuttings may have come from one of many historic homes or tombs in America. The ivy cuttings Ilhll have gone from Mount Vernon must perhaps be counted in great num- bers, and they and their offspring must be growing in many thousand places in America, Ivy is not so often met with in the United States as in mnorthern Europe. It thrives better there than here, be- cause our winters are said to be more scvere and our summers hotter and drier than in the ivy-loving parts of Europe. Then, it is sald that the ivy has a pur- ticular taste for ruins, “for a rare old plant is the ivy green that creepeth o'er ruins old.” There are many forms. of ivy, but generally persons do not differ- entiate between them. There are *“‘scan- dent” or climbing ivies, and sylvestral, arboreal or tree-form ivies. Some has small leaves and some varieties have larve leaves. Some ivies fruit themselves with green berries, some with yellow berries and some with ber- ries that are almost black. 'More than fifty varieties of what is generally called “English" ivy are recorded in the books. Irish ivy is perhaps the most popular in our country. 1t has large leaves, it is a fast grower, and its green is rich and deep. While the plant is climbing its leaves are mostly five-lobed in out- line, but they are generally three-lobed or not lobed at all when the plant is fruiting. Irish Ivy was a_ native of morthern Africa and the adjacent islands, and was carried into the British Islands so many centuries ago tbe: ane must merely guess at the time and about those ‘who set out the first cutting or planted the first seed. Then there s a native European ivy which has many varieties and_many leaf forms. which wears many shades of green and which has different flowering and fruiting habits. There is also an Asiatic ivy, which @iffers from all other ivies, and there is also an Australian ivy. which is_a l smooth and hairless shrub with pin leaves, grows wild in Queensland, and is practically unknown in cultivation, un- less the Australians.have brought it un- der cultivation within years. the past few