Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, August 30, 1902, Page 6

CHAPTER, XXXVU—(Continued.) And what a lot of plate there was on the table and sideboard! Some of it was gold, too. Merritt's greedy profes- atonal eye appraised the collection at, ome hundreds of pounds—hundreds of younds—that is, after the stuff had Been disposed of. In imagination he fhad already drugged the butler and ‘tuffed the plate into his bag. Benson said very little. He was too ttusily engaged in watching his confed- erate. He wished from the bottom of fiis heart now that Chris had never een Merritt. She was smiling on him mow, and apparently hanging on every @erd. Henson had seen society ladies doting this kind of thing before with well-concealed contempt. So long as people liked :o play his game for him he had no objection..-But this was quite different. Merritt had warmed a little under the influence of his fifth glass of champagne, put his eye looked lovingly and longingly in the direction of a sil- wer spirit stand on the sideboard. The dinner came to.an end at length, to Henson's great relief, and presently the whole party wandered out to the terrace. Bell dropped behind with ‘Chris. “Now is your time,” he whispered. “Henson dare not lost sight of Merritt Before he goes to bed, and I'll keep the fatter out here for a good long spell. Eve mufilei the striker of the telephone eo that the bell will make no noise when you get your call back from Brighton, so that you must be near enough to the instrument to hear the lick of the striker. Make haste!” Chris dropped back to the library and rapidly fluttered over the leaves of the “Telephone Directory, She found what she wanted, at length, and asked te be put on to Brighton. Then she sat 6own in an arm chair in the darkness, elose under the telephone, prepared to wait patiently. She could just see the men on the terrace, could catch the dull ged glow of their cigars. Her patience was not unduly tried. ‘At the end of a quarter of an hour the striker clicked furiously. Chris reached for the receiver and lay back, comfort- ably in her chair with the diphragm to ther ear. “‘Are you there?” she asked, quietly. “Is that you, Mr. Steel?” To her great relief, the answering woice was Steel's own. He seemed to ‘be 2 little puzzled as to who the ques- toner was. “Can't you guess?” Chris replied. “This is not the first time I have had you called. You have not forgotten 218 runswick Square yet?” Chris smiled as she heard Steel’s sud- den exclamation. “So you are my fair friend whom I saw in the dark?” he said. ‘Yes, I rec- egnize your voice now. You are Miss Chris—well, I won’t mention the name @loud, because people might ask what @ well-regulated corpse meant by rous- fag people up at midnight. I hope you @re not going to get me into trouble egain.” “No; but I am going to ask your ad- wice and assistance. I want you to be @e good as to give me the plot of a etory after I have told you the details. And you are to scheme the thing out because delays are at once, please, Gangerous. Dr. Bell—” “What's that? Will you tell me where you are speaking from?”. “Tam at gestae located at Littimer Castile. Yes, Dr. Bell is here. Do you want him?” “f should think so!” Steel exclaimed. “Please teil him at once that the man who was found here, half-dead—you ‘know the man I mean—got up and dressed himself in the absence of the murse and walked out of the hospital this morning. Since then he has not ‘been seen or heard of. I have been ‘ooking up Bell everywhere. Will you ell him this at once? I'll go into your ‘matter afterwards. Don’t be afraid; Fl tell the telephone people not to cut -you off till I ring. Please go at once.’ The voice was urgent, not to say im- erative. Chris dropped the receiver @nto its space and crept into the dark- mess in the direction of the terrace. CHAPTER XXXVIIL A Little Fiction. Bell seemed to know by intuition that Chris required him, or perhaps he «aught a glimpse of her white dress ‘from the terrace. Anyway, he strolled @eisurely in her direction. “Something has happened-?” he whis- ered, as he came up. . “Well, yes,” Chris replied,. “though I hould like to know how you guessed that. I had no difficulty in getting Mr. @teel on the telephone, but he would @ay nothing directly he heard that you were here, beyond a peremptory re- quest that you were to be told at once ‘hat Van Sneck has gone.” “Gone!” Bell echoed, blankly. Go you mean by that?” “He has disappeared from the hospi- tal at Brighton to-day. Mr, Steel thinks they were extra busy, or something of hat kind. Anyway, Van Sneck got up nd dressed himself and left the hospi- fal without being observed. It seems -extraordinary to me.” r “And yet quite possible,” Bell said, ‘thoughtfully. “Van Sneck had prac- “Ccally recovered from his flesh wounds; @t was the injury to the head that was the worst part. He resembled an irre- sponsible lunatic more than anything else. Steel wants. me, of course?” “He suggests that you should go Gown to Brighton without delay.” “Alt right; I'll have some excuse to ‘fake the first train in the morning. ‘We've got a fine start of Henson, and sthat's a good thing. If Van Sneck ~eomes within his net we shall have a deal of trouble. I had hoped to get per- raaission to operate on Van Sneck, and swelied upon him to solve the mystery. “What | By Fred Mf, ohite Hlin And now you had batper go back to your telephone.” é Chris hurried back genie A whis- pered word satisfied her that Steel was still at the other end. “Dr. Bell starts as early as possible to-morrow,” she said. “If you will listen, carefully, I will give you a brief outline of all that has happened since I have been here.” Chris proceeded to tell her story, briefly and succinctly. . From little sounds and signs she could tell that Steel was greatly interested. The, story of the man with the thumb fas- cinated him. It appealed to his profes- sional instincts, “And what do you want to do with him?” Steel asked. “Well, you see, I have him in my power,” Chris explained. ‘We can get the other Rembrandt any time we like now; but that is quite a minor consid- eration. What I want is for Merritt to know that I can have him arrested at any time for stealing my star. It's Enid’s star, as a matter of fact; but that is a detail.” “An important one, surely,” Steel’s voice came thin and clear. “Suppose that our dear friend chances to recog- nize it. ... No; don’t ring off yet.” “I'm not. Oh, you are speaking to the Exchange people. . . . Yes, yes; yes; we shall be a long time yet. . + Are you there? Enid bought it just be- fore the great trouble came, and, af- terwards, she never had the heart to wear it.” “T understand. You want Merritt to know this?” “Well, I do and I don’t,” Chris ex- plained. “I am anxious not to frighten the man. I want to get him in my power, and I want to prove to him that it would be to his advantage for him to come over to my“side. Suppose Enid gave it out that the star had been stol- en? And suppose that I could save him at the critical moment? I shouldn’t mind him thinking that I had stolen the star in the first place. This is why lam asking you, as a novelist, to help me.” “You would have made an excellent novelist yourself,” David said, admir- ingly. “Give me five minutes. . . Are you there? I fancy I have it. Can't you hear me? That’s better. I’ see Miss Gates the first thing in the morning, and get her to go over to Longdean and see your sister. . - Confound it, don’t cut us off yet! What dces it matter, so long as the messages are paid for? Nobody else wants the line. Well, I may for,an hour more. . +. Are you there? Very sorry; it’s the fault of the postoffice people. Here is the plot in a nutshell: Your sister has lost a diamond star. She gives a minute description of it to the police, and drops a hint that she be- lieves it was taken away by mistake— in other words, was stolen—from her in London by a chance acquaintance called Christabel .Lee—"” “Ah,” Christabel cried, you are!” “I have long suspected it,” the thin voice went on,drily. ‘The full descrip- tion of the star will be printed in the Folice Gazette, a copy of which every respectable pawnbroker gets regularly. I suppose the people where the star was pawned are respectable?” “Highly so. They have quite a Bond Street establishment attached.” “So much the better. They will see the advertisement and they will com- municate with the police. The Rev. James Merritt will be-arrested—” “T don’t quite like that,” Chris stg- gested. “Oh, it’s necessary. He will be ar- rested at the castle. Knowing his ante- cedents, the police will not stand upon ceremony. You will be filled with. re- morse. You have plunged back into a career of crime again a being who was slowly climbing into the straight path once more. You takegthe blame upon yourself—it was at your instigation that Merritt pawned the star.” “But, really, Mr. Steel—” “Oh, I know. But the end justifies the means. You save Mr. Merritt, there is a bond of sympathy between you, he will regard you as a great light in his interesting profession. You saved him because you had appropriated the star yourself.” “And go to gaol instead of Mr. Mer- ritt?” ‘ “Not a bit of it. The star you deemed to be yours. You had one very like when you saw Miss. Henson, when you were staying in London at the same hotel. By some means the jewels got mixed. You are confident that an exchange has been made. Also, you are confident that if Miss Henson will search her jewel case she will find a valuable star that does not belong to her. Miss Henson does so; she is dis- tressed beyond measure; she offers all kinds of apologies. Exit the police. You need not tell Merrit how you got out of the difficulty, and thus you in- crease his respect for you. There, that would make a very ingenius and plaus- ible magazine story. It should be more convincing in real life.” “Capital!” Chris murmured, ‘What an advantage it is to have a novelist to advise one! Many thanks for all your kindness. Good-night!” Chris rang off with a certain sense of relief, It was some time before she had a chance of conveying to Bell what had happened. He listened gravely to all that Chris had to say. “Just the sort of feather-brained idea that would occur to a novelist,” he said. “For my part, I should pre- fer to confront Merritt with his theft, and keep the upper hand of him that waves “And he would mistrust me, and be- tray me at the first opportunity. Be- sides, in that case, he would know at once that I wanted to get to the bot- tom of his ‘connection with Reginald Henson. Mr. Steel’s plan may be bi- zarre, but it is safe.” “I never thought of that,” Bell admit- ted. “I begin to imagine that you are , mi “how clever more astute than I gave you credit for, which is saying a great deal.” Chris was down early the following morning, only to find Bell at breakfast, with every sign of making an early de- parture. He was very \sorry, he ex- plained, gravely, to his Host and Chris, but his letters gave him no option. He would come back in’a day or two, if he might. A moment later Henson came into the room, ostentatiously studying a Bradshaw, “And where are you going?” Littimer asked. ‘Why do you all abandon me? Reginald,.do you mean to say that you are going to refuse me the light of your countenance?” ‘Is Dr. Bell going, too?” Henson asked, with just a suggeciicon of un- easiness. “I, mean—er—’ “Business,” Bell said. “I came here at great personal inconvenience. And you?” “London,” Henson replied. ‘A meet- ing to-day that I cannot get out of. A couple of letters by this morning's post decided me.” Chris said nothing; she appeared to be quite indifferent until she had a chance to speak to Bell alone. She looked a little anxious, “He has found out about Van Sneck,” she said. ‘Truly, he is a marvellous man! And he had no letters this morn- ing. I opened the post bag personally. But I am glad he’s going, because 1 shall have James Merritt all to myself.” CHAPTER XXXIX The Fascination of James Merritt. On the whole, Mr. James Merritt, ex- convict and now humanitarian, was en- joying himself immensely. He did not sleep at the castle, for Lord Littimer drew the line there, but he contrived to get most of his meals under that hos- piatble roof, and spent a great deal of time there. It was by ‘no means the first time he had been “taken up” by the aristocracy since his conversion, and his shyness was wearing off. Moreover, Henson had given his hench- man strict instructions to keep his eyes open with a view to getting at the bot- tem of the Rembrandt mystery. Still, there is always a crumpled rose leaf somewhere, and Merritt had his. A few days after Henson departed so hurriedly for town the stolen Rem- brandt disappeared from Merritt's rooms. Nobody knew anything about it; the thing had vanished, leaving no trace of the thief behind. Perhaps Merritt would have been less easy in Littimer’s society had" he known that the missing print was securely locked away in the latter’s strong room. Still, had Merritt been acquainted with the classies, carpe diem would like as not have been his favorite motto. He de- clined to worry over the matter until Henson's return, It was not for him to know, yet, that Chris had actually gone over to Moreton Wells, and, during the absence of Merritt’s' landlady, calmly walked into the house and taken the picture away. “You are going to see some fun pres- ently,” she said, coolly, to the aston- ished Littimer, as she laid the missing picture before him. “No; I shall not tell you anything more at present. You shall hear the whole story when Resi- nald Henson stands’ in the pillory be- fore you. You know now that Henson was at the bottom of the plot to de- stroy Bell’s character?” * “I always felt that our Reginald was a great scgundrel,” Littimer purred, over his cigarette. “And if you suc- ceed in exposing him thoroughly I shall watch the performance with the greatest possible pleasure. I am not curious, my dear young lady, but I would give sixpence to know who you are.” “Keep your sixpence,” Chris laughed, ‘and you'll know all in good time. All I ask is not to be astonished at any- thing that happens.” Littimer averred that he had long since lost the power of astonishment. ‘There was a brightness and restlessness about Chris to-day that considerably added to her charms. It Was nearly a week now since Bell and Henson had departed, and in the meantime Chris had heard nothing from Longdean. Half an hour before a ‘telegram had arrived to the effect that a gentleman in a blue coat might be expected at Lit- timer Castle at any moment. The po+ lice were coming, and Merritt was late to-day. If Merritt failed to turn up the whole situation would be spoiled. It was with a feeling of unutterable re- lief hat’ Chris saw him coming up the drive. “Come on’ the terrace,” she said. “I have something very serious to say to you. Mr. Merritt, you have got us both into very serious trouble. Why did you do it?” “Ain’t done nothing,” Merritt said,. doggedly. He repeated the old formula, “What's up?” ‘Er=it’s about my diamomd star,” said Chris. “I lost it a few days ago. If I had known what was going to hap- ren I should have put up with my loss. But I made inquiries through the po- lice, without saying a word to any- body, and now I find the star was pawned in Moreton Wells.”” “Oh, Io! Merritt gasPed. “You don’t mean to say the police know that, miss?” * he “Indeed, I do. You see, once I al- Icwed ma*ters to get out of my hands I was powerless. The case now rests en- tirely with the police. And I am in- formed that they may come here and arrest you at any moment. I fear there is no escape for you—you pawned the thing yourself, in your own name. ‘What a thousand pities you yielded big sudden temptation.” “But I found it,” Merritt whined. “Tl take ny oath I found it under the terrace. I—I—was rambling along the cliffs one day and found it, And I didn’t know it was yours. If I ha known it was yours I'd never have gone and done no such a thing.” Chris shoox her head, sadly. “And just as you were getting deg 50, nicely,” she said. “That’s it,” Merritt whined, br ly: “Just as I was properly spoo} everybody—I mean just as I was | ting used to a better life. But you’ save me, miss; ro Sy na were hard up for money, and knowing as I knew the ropes, oligo me to pawn for you. Put it in way. and there’s not a policeman in England as can touch me.” “I had thought of it,’ Chris said, prem eee It was not I who it was somebody to make. se the police; } else. You see, the star was not my property at all. I—I got it in London.” Mr. Merritt looked\up with involun- tary admiration. “You don’t mean to say as you nicked it?” he asked. ‘Well, well!” Chris bent her head Icwer to conceal her agitation. Her shoulders were heaving, but not with emotion. The warmth of Merritt’s agitation had moved her to silent laughter, and she had made the exact impression that she desired, ; “I have telegraphed to the lady, who is more or less a friend of mine,” she said. “I have urged her to take no further steps in the matter. I fancy that she is a good and kind girl and that—but a reply might come at any time.” There was a reply cn the way now,” as Chris. knew perfectly well. The whole-thing had been carefully ar- ranged and planned to the moment by Steel and others. “I dare say they'll let you éown easy,” Merritt sad, it'll be hot for me. I’v2 copped it too many times before, you see “Yes, I see,” Chris said, thought- fully. “Mr. Merritt, I've made tp my mind; if I had not—er—borrowed that star, it would not have been lost, and you would not have foun: it, and there would have been no trouble. My con- science would not rest if I allowed rou to be dragged back into she old life again. I am going to save you—I am going to tell the police thet you pawne that star for me at my instigation.” Merritt was touched, even ‘o tears. There was not an atom of chivalry in the rascal’s composition. }I2 had _Jittie or no heed for the trouble that his eom- panion appeared to be piling up for !: self, but he was touched to the depths of his soul. Here was a clever dirt who, in her own way, appeared to be a member of his profession, who was prepared to sacrifice herscif to save another. Self-sacrifice is a beautiful and tender thing, and Merritt had no intention of thwarting it. “Do that, and [’'m vour pal for life he said, huskily. “And £ never went back on a pal yet. Ask ybuily who really knows me. 'Tain't if you weren't one of us, neithcr. 1 give a trifle to know what your little game is here, eh?” Chris smiled, meaningly, Merritt's delusion was distinctly to be fostcred. “You shall help me, then, pr2seatly,” she said, in a mysterious whisper. “Help me, and keep your own counsel, and there will be the biggest fob you ever had in your life. Only let von and I get out of this mess, and we shall see what we shall see presently.” Merriit looked speechless admiration, He had read of this class of high-toned criminal sin, the gutter stories periled by certain publishers, but he had never hoped to meet one in the flesh. He wes still gazing, open-mouthed, at Chris, as {wo mea came along the avenue. They were boin in plain clothe, but the; had ‘policemen’ writ large all over them, “Cops, for a million!” Merritt gur- ‘gled, wih a pallid face. “You can tell ‘em when you're asleep. And they are after me; they're coming this way. 1¢!) be all right presently.” “I hope so,” Chris said, with a curling lip. “You look guilty enough now.” Merritt explained that it was merely the first emotion, and. would pass off presently. Nor did he boast in vain. He was quite cvol as the officers came up and called him by rame. “That’s me,” Merritt said. the trouble?” One of the officers explained. He had no warrant, he said, but, all the same, he would have to trouble Mr, Merritt to accompany him to Moreton Wells. A diamond star, not yet definitely iden- tfied, had been handed over to the po- “What's .lice, the same having been pawned by James Merritt. “That's quite right,” Merritt said, cheerfully. “I pawned it for this young lady here—Miss Lee. Of course, if it is not her propérty— ‘The officers were palpably taken aback. He knew more than he cared to say. The star had been pledged by Merritt, as he cheerfully admitted, but the owner of the star had lost the gem in London, under suspicious circum- stances, in which Miss Lee was- mixed up. At present it was not the policy of the police to arrest Miss Lee. That would come later. “Tam afraid that there has been a misapprehension altogether,” Chris said. ‘Allow me to explain: Mr. Mer- ritt, would you step aside for a mo- ment? I have to speak of private mat- ters? Thank you. Now, sir, I am quite preparéd |to admit that the ornament pledged does not belong to me, but to Miss Henson, whom I met in London. I took the star by mistake. You may smile, but I have one very like it. If Miss Henson had searched her jewels properly she would have found that she had my star—that I had hers. I heard of the business quite by accident, and telegraphed to Miss Henson to look searchingly among her jewels. She has a large amount, and might easily have overlooked the star. Here is a boy with a telegram. Will you take it from him and read it aloud? It is ad- dressed to me, you will find.” It was signed “Enid Henson;” it went on to say that the sender was fearfully sorry for all the trouble’she had caused, but that she had found Miss Lee’s star with ,her jewels. Also, she had tele- graphed at once to the police at More- ton Wells to go no farther. “Looks like a mistake,” the officer routtered. “But if we get that tele- gram— “Which has reached the police sta- tion by his time,” Chris interrupted. “Come into the castle and ask the,ques- tion over the telephone. I suppose you are connected.” ‘The officer said they were; in fact, they had only recently joined the Ex- change. A brief visit to the telephone, and the policeman came back with & puzzled air and a little more deference in his manner, with ‘the information that he was to By back at once, as the case was cle “T’ve seen gome near things in my time, but nothing nearer than this,” he said. “Still, it’s all right-now. Very sorry to have troubled you, miss.” ‘The officers departed with the air cf men who had to be satisfied, despite themselves. Merritt came forward | with an admiration almost fawning. He '| did not know quite how the thing had airy. His admiration was nearly be- yond words. “Well, strike me!” he gasped. ‘Did ever anyone see anything like that? You, as cool as possible, and me with my heart in my mouth all the time. And there ain't going to be no trouble, no sort of bother over the ticket “You hand over the ticket to me,” Chris smiled, “and there will be an end of the matter. And if you try to play me false in any way, why, it will te a bad day for you. Give me your assistance, and it will be the best day’s work you ever did in your life.” Merritt's heart was gained. His pride was touched. “Me go back on you?” he cried, hoarsely. “After' what you've done? Only say the word, only give old Jim Merritt a call, and it’s pitch-and-toss to_manslaughter for those pretty eyes of yours. Good day’s work! Aye, for beth of us!” And Chris thought so, too, (To be Continued.) BN ae RS Escaped. Many are the pretexts resorted to by ™en anxious to escape jury service. An unwilling juror, when called upon to serve in trial term, Part Four, of the supreme court, this week, said: “Your honor. I must ask to be ex- cused. I do not approve of the injust- ice of the justice administered in these courts.”” “Are you an Anarchist?” inquired the trial justice. “No, but I do not believe in some of the laws of this state. They are ou! rageous, there :s too much injustice—' “That will do,” exclaimed the justic sternly. “You are a disgrace to cit zenskip. You are unfit for service. You are excused.” As the man left the court room he smiled and remarked: ‘The old man was severe; but it worked all right.”— Only a Sojourner. Capt. Groome, of the City troop, once rode from Galveston, Texas, to New York city on the Mallory Line steam- ship Denver, under the experienced and killful but brusque and gruff Capt. Sam Risk. Several slight mishaps hal put Risk in a very bad temper, which was not mellowed when they ran into a dense fog off Cape Hatteras. One of the women passengers, who had be2n rushing considerably during the voy- age, ran up to Risk and exclaimed: “Oh, captain! Isn't this an awful fog? Is it always as bad as this out here?” “How should I know?” snorted the old skipper. “I don’t live here!”— Philadelphia Times. About the Same Thing. “Do yoa think that our civilization tends to lengthen men’s lives?” “I don’t know about that,” an- swered the practical man; “but, with the increased facilities for travel and ccmmunication, a man can come pretty near liviag twice as much in a given space of time as he used to.”—Wash- ington Star. Not Consistent. “Do you remember that dark-com- plexioned girl who was visiting the Pringles 'ast summer?” “Yes,” “They said she had Indian blood in her veins, But I don’t believe it.” “Why not?” “If she had been anything of an In- dian she wouldn't have married a bald- headed man.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer. An Exception. “Curious man, that Binx.” “What has he been doing?” “Nothing. It is what he refrains from doing that makes him remarkable. He's just purchased a residence out of town, and never says a word about be- ing obliged to sleep under blankets. Something Awful. “Thar bein’ nothin’ to cultivate in the city,” remarked the farmer, “of course, you folks don’t have no harvestin’ time?” “Well,” replied the summer boarder, whose city home was next door to 4 cohservatory of music, “there are voices to be cultivated, and then we have a harrowing time.”—Philadelphia Press. It Came With Her. “Your ‘husband,” said the talkative man, “has such a gentle disposition. He inherited it from his mother, I sup- rose?” “No,” replied Mrs. Henpeck, signifi- cantly. “I think I may safely say that was part of my dowry.”—Philadelphia Press. The Rainy Season. “Binks spent his vacation at an ap- propriate place.” “Where was ‘that?” “His uncle's.” “And why was that appropriate?” “Because he was in soak every day he was gone.”’—Cleveland Plain Dealer. No Satisfying Her. “Women are hard to understand.” “Think so?” “Yes; I told her she carried her age well, and she was offended.” “You don’t say!" “Yes; and then I told her she didn’t carry it well, and she woulin’t speak.” —Exchange. - Cause of the Trouble. Homer—Great guns! There’s Nex- @oor and his wife quarreling again. That’s the fourth time this week. Mrs. omer—Yes Mrs. Nexdoor told me the other day they couldn't agree as to what each should do to make the other happy.—Chicago News. Highly Inconsistent. “The Prohibition party doesn’t seem likely to cut much ice this campaign.” .“No. I believe there’s some bitter factionable trouble in the ranks.” “The idea! How inconsistent for tee- totalers to be at logger! ”—Phila- delphia Press. Careful of Appearance. * *Lize—De Mokeby’s doan nebah hab chicken on de table no mo’, é ’Rastus—No;. dey gittin’ rich an’ stuck-up now, an’ dey want ter let folks need know dey kin buy all de grub dey ‘yer when yer wuz out ter lunch. — |in broad daylight—Philadelphia, ‘Press. Office Boy—Dere wuz @ poet in ter see GREAT HEAT OF METEORS. Some Have Fallen as Molten Masses From a Volcano’s Crater. Ordinarily the meteors that flash across the sky at stated periods of time burn themselves out in the up- per air, but occasionally a meteoric mass lasts long enough to reach the earth. One fell on May 15, 1900, at Felix, Ala. Meteors were seen on the oceasion referred to and sundry ex- plosions were heard, while later on a mass of meteoric substance weigh- ing seven pounds was discovered im- bedded in soft soil. This meteorite was analyzed and found to be built up of such minerals as olivine, augite, triolite, nickel iron and graphite car- bon, The dark color of the Felix stone is stated to be due to the presence in fair amount of the last-named sub- stance. The interest attaching to me- teorites, of course, centers around the fact that they enable us to obtain glimpses of the composition of other worlds than ours. Astronomy is well agreed on the unity of chemical com- position wnich marks the orbs, and even the simple fact that it is hydro- gen gas which blazes in the sun ant gives us our light and heat is a test! mony to this fact. Meteoric iron and carbon similarly display links between these erratic bodies and our own earth, GREAT SALT LAKE RECEDING. Fall of the Level Since 1894 Amounts to Nearly Six Feet. Great Salt Laxe, in Utah, which for several years has been slowly but steadily receding, has, according to Director Murdock of the United States weather bureau, now reached the low- est level reeorded since observations have been taken by the department. Up to Aug. 1 the lowest mark ever re- corded was on July 11. Since that time the lake has receded four inches. The fall of the water since 1894 amounts to nearly six feet, and on the low, flat eastern shore this has resulted in a recession of the water line during that time of fully three- quarters of a mile. Speaking of this phenomenon Director Murdock said: _ “Utah has been in a dry cycle for seventeen or eighteen years. In this period the precipitation has been much below the average. Precipi- tation sometimes moves in cycles of this kind and duration, and I think a prolonged period of increased precipi- tation is nearly due. But it will take several years to bring the lake back to its former level. * Melody, Cash, and Ice Cream. “Tl give a dollar to have the violin- ist repeat that solo,” exdlaimed a man, who said he was from Alabama, to Evangelist Charles H. Yatman at the young people’s meeting in the tem- ple this morning. The young woman referred to was Miss Cecelia Bradford, who had just finished playing “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.” / “You'll have to bid higher, brother,” replied Leader Yatman. “Well, two dollars, then,” the man from Alabama shouted back. “Make it five and I’ll ask Miss Brad- ford to repeat the solo,” retorted Mr. Yatman. “Here’s the money,” said the south- erner, handing the evangelist a bank note. Miss Bradford played the hymn again. When she had finished Mr. Yatman said: “Half of this money I will turn into the fund being raised for the marine carnival on Wesley lake and the other half I will give to Miss Bradford to spend for ice cream.” The donor of the bill expressed his satisfaction and as soon as the meet- ing adjourned the talented violinist gathered her chums about her and started. for an ice cream parlor.— Ocean Grove Correspondence New York Press. Size of Head No Test. It has been a popular belief, espe- cially since the invention of phrenol- ogy, that the size and shape of the head are intimately related to the in- tellectual capacity. Almost every- body is accustomed to form dogmatic judgments of men based upon this postulate. But the results of statisti- cal investigation make it appear very doubtful whether the belief in ques- says the Cosmopolitan. The conclu- sion is that there exists, in the gen- eral population, very insignificant corelation between ability and either the size or the shape of the head. Very brilliant men may have a slight- ly larger head than the average, but the increase is so small that no weight can be laid on it in our judg- ment of ability. This is in accord with the results of other attempts to apply a scientific test to the assump- tions of phrenology. War and the Birth Rate. War not only influences the mor- tality of the army in the field, but has a maleficent effect.on the birthrate and death rate of the country which is fighting. A low birtn rate may be ex- plained to some extent, by the fact that when a nation is at war her peo- ple at home are less. pros us and consequently marriages are not so fre- quent. The increase of the ‘death rate oc: ‘cura, probably, for the reason that food is scarcer and also because at a time when a country is engaged in a Those who are in Rotiatactonitne or ene. are attacked with sickness, Eaitor—How did you know he was a 8 tion rests upon a sound foundation, ~