Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, July 18, 1903, Page 6

Barbara Bret,-t,on’s «+e Ambit ion~ ~ CHAPTER IX. A Thrilling Interview. Twelve silvery strokes from the lit- ‘tle French clock on the mantel an- mounced the hour of noon, and ere its ast echo had died’ away the door of Barbara Bretton’s boudoir noiselessly -opened, as Feline noiselessly entered, bearing in his hand Milton Lennox’s card. “I will see the gentleman here,” she cassented, languidly; “and, Felix, if Dr. Hayes calls, desire him to return wn an hour.” The valet bowed and withdrew. One glance she took about the room, then, secure from preying eyes, she pressed her lips passionately upon the soulless piece of pasteboard her servant had just handed her. What could have brought him, by appointment, at this early hour? Could Travis haye betrayed her secret? Even so, was she not secure at any cost? and to see him, was it not hap- piness enough without stopping to measure the why and wherefore?” “Monsieur Lennox!” Feline’s perfectly trained tones thus announced her visitor. One moment Lennox stood on the threshold of that exquisitely dainty room, his eyes resting spellbound cn the central figure Over a robe of blue she wore a zar- ‘ment of sheerest lace, whole, but half- defining her perfect form; a foot fault- less in shape with its tiny slipper and azure silken dress half-peeped from beneath its hem. Her lips parted ina smile of welcome; one little hand Jay, white and soft, upon the cushioned arm. of her chair. What wonder that she reigned queen royal over men’s hearts! But she had slain his friend—it ‘vas this sudden thought which chased away the momentary softening from Milton Lennox’s face, and brought iho tern lines about his mouth, and look of pittiless determination into his eyes, as, carefully closing the door be- hind him, he approached her. She stretched out the tapering, jew- eled fingers in welcome; but there was no answering movement of the gloved hands tightly locked behind him. “Madam,” and at something in his} tone new to her ear, she started, “T| cannot claim your welcome as a friend, since | come only as another’s amessenger.” “And can Mr. Lennox doubt his wel- -come, Ict his errand be what it ma Musically sweet rang out the question, as her dark eyes searched his face. “I ask no weleome,” he replied, un- vrelentingly—‘‘nay, more, I wish none Madam, may [| inquire whether it is a customary thing for brides thus ‘to spend their wedding day?” “Ah!” a dangerous fire now leaping ‘into his eyes; “then your friend has already ‘told you of my compliance with hts urgent entreaty that I should ‘become his wife before sailing?” “I have already made another call vthis morning, madam, upon the clergy- ‘man who performed the ceremony. He, it seems, had known of the affair even before the expectant groom—in fact, the bride had inclosed his fee. Under such circumstances it is scarce- ly remarkable that my friend’s elo quence was successful. In’ his case it might have been not unfitly termed golden eloquence!” ‘Sir, you insult me!” “No, madam, but I am here to throw aside the mask of conventionality and meet you face to face. No, do not summon your servant by that silver tell. As I said before, I am a messen- ger. A bride refusing to hear a,mes- -sage from her bridegroom of scarce twenty-four hours! What miracle is this? But a truce to idle talk. , Tell me, have you ever seen this paper be- fore?” Proudly, unfalteringly, her eye rést- ed on the column he laid beside her, ‘but in reality a sea of darkness swam ‘before her. Save in that first instant’s glance, which told her all, no word {penetrated ‘her brain. But with bent *head sh2 forced back her self-posses- seion, of which momentary losing she *had given no outward trace. “And you and he believed this lie?” «she said, aiter a moment’s pause. “We know it to be true,” Lennox wanswered calmly. “You have been a -wife, a mother, yet he married you, supposing you a young and innocent girl. He was your tool, your dupe. And why? Be@ause he was the heir tte a wealthy ahd dying father; be- cause by his name you hoped to re. deem your own; because he could sive | weight, and to which was appended you the means to gratify your ambi-| the well-known name of Richard In God’s name, had you no! Hayes, M. D. tions. 4 art, no conscience, that you could do *this thing?” “You dare to put to me that ques- “tion?” she answered, starting to her feet. “Conscience? No, what have ssuch as I to do with conscience? That 4s for little children that pray at their mothers’ knees. But heart? Yes, a ‘heart you toyed with as your play- ‘thing. Yes, Milton Lennox, for once -in our lives we will lay aside the mask, ; mot alone of conventionality, but. of sour inner selves. A few months ago you loved me. Ah, do not deny it. "The rapture I then felt was real. 1 dreamed of better, holier things, even for me. In the dark, silent watches of | love may be mine. the night I would determine to'tell you ail my life, but with the morning’s dawn would come the dread thought that perhaps you might turn away from me, and so I dared not. For the first time in long years my _ heart awakened from its lethargy, and sprang into such glorious life that | thought God had not forgotten me. I almost blessed him. Then came cold- ness, the winter's chill, and my little struggling heart blossoms blighted in its breath. I sought to win you back. Ah, from others’ lips you had heard the story the world tells of my life—a story [hadl thought buried in the past —a story resurrected to turn the fruit of happiness. into ashes at my touch. Even then I would have gone to you, and at your feet pleaded to be even your slave, but that the baby fingers of my dead child held me back. Would you believe me when I told you of that fatal night when, mad with horror, I took her in my arms and fled, I knew not whither, until the gates of La Madeleine burst upon my sight, and, knowing she would be safe and cared for, I laid her down upon its steps? I was mad indeed, the madness wom- en know from men and treachery. I married him for his gold, he said. It was alie! I loved him with the blind, unreasoning passion of a girl’s heart! Then I strove never to love again, to treat men as my playthings, to make ambition my god. I kept my vow until you crossed my pathway. Then J broke it and laid my heart at your feet. You ask me why I did this thing last night—why I linked my life with a weak boy, who was to me but as the dog that licks my hand. Because I returned to my god again—ambition— and because you drove me there!” The magnetism of Barbara Bretton’s acting, which had ever held men spell- bound, so held her listener now. Nev- er had she been more beautiful, more resistless; for it was truth, not acting, which swayed her. “You drove me to it!” What Nemesis was in her words, that on every side his should prove the hand to plunge his friend to ruin? Al groan escaped him. It was her oniy | answer; but as, freighted with misery, | it reached her ear, she sank on her | knees to the floor, clinging with both | hands to his arm. “Milton, save me from myself!” she | pleaded. “Take me with you—any- | where—anywhere! I will be your) slave if needs be, so that one word ot } Say you love me still in spite of the cruel fate which | has pursued me!” Her voice floated over his seus her touch thrilled him; her hair brushed his hand. It was as though he gazed, fascinated, upon the entrancing colors of a serpent. Then, with aj mightly effort, he unloosed her cling- ing hold. “Barbara,” he said, “though you never may lay claim to the title, I know you as my friend’s wife. I am here as his messenger, and the mes- sage I bring is this: Each month at his bayker’s you will find a sum pro- portionat? to his income for your sup- port. Willing)y he will never see you again, and at any attempt on your part to make public your claim to his name, he will expose your past and apply to the courts for instant release from a now hated bondage. As to what you} have said to-day, we will both forget it. Ino longer love, I loathe you!” “So be it!” springing ~ once more erect to her feet, and raising aloft her hand. “Thus: you have answered my prayer. But beware of the woman you put in the place I once hoped to hold. Ah, your face flushes! You re- member that little dark-eyed girl whose blossoming gives promise of such radiart beauty, whose perfect flower you hope to possess, whose very name you deem polluted by my lips. Take care; for by the gods above, Mil- ton Lennox, I will strike through her at your heart, even as you have struck at mine. 1} Jay no claim as yet to the Meredith name, the Meredith fortune. I bide my time and wait!” Then her finger fell until it pointed to the door, and with a white face, as though some curse had fallen upon his head, Travis Meredith’s messanger bowed himself from her presence, un- heeding the man who ascended even as he descended the steps, and whom Feline announced the next moment to his mistress as Dr. Richard Hayes. The vast crowd which a few hours later threaded their way to see the goddess of the public heart were met at the theater by closed doors and the certificate of Miss Bretton’s sudden and dangerous illness, which would necessitate her indefinite withdrawal, from the stage—a certificate to which that sudden faint the night before lent CHAPTER X. The Dying, Father. “Avice!” It was a sick man’s feeble call, but in an instant the slight, graceful form of the girl thus summone se weari- ly from the sofa on which she had thrown herself, and approaehed ber father’s bedside. His eyes, made larger by illness, rested with passionate devotion upon the young face on which her first grief —the knowledge that her best friend was slowly passing away from her— had already left its impress. “what is it, dear papa?” she said, tenderly. “TI taought you sleeping.” “No, I cannot sleep! I cannot even die till my boy comes! Is it not tim for him to. be here?” pi’ “The vessel’s arrival has been tele- graphed, papa, and Travis may be here at any moment. Try and be patieni:” “My darling—my own little Avice! I must place you in your brother's care until he may transfer his trust to an- other, who will guard it yet more sa- credly. Do not blush, my child, but promise me to fulfill your childish pledge to Milton Lennox, should he claim it. Nay, more, I would rather these years of waiting were dispensed with, and that you should at once be- come his wife. You are too beautiful to be exposed to the world without a father's or mother’s shielding love. Your heart will be safe in this man’s keeping, and I fear not but that his true nobility of character will soon win your confidence and _ respect. Promise me, Avice, that you will be- come his wife without delay.” “Oh, papa, do not force me ‘1pon him! For myself, I care not! If God takes you from me there is nothing left to live for; but do not thrust me into the arms of a man who perhaps opens them unwillingly to receive me. Do not forget I have your blood in my veins, papa, which could not turn sup- pliant for a forced affection.” What was there in her words which made the sick man’s face blanch to an awful pallor as he turned away from her clear, searching gaze? § “Travis! Travis! Why does he not come? I must see him—must arrange this matter! No, darling—no!” recov- ering himself. “You are right, but you do Milton Lennox wrong. He will love you, he will seek you. Promise me it shall not be in vain!” “Papa, I promise,” the girl answered, solemnly, falling on her knees by the bed, while the thin, wasted hands rest- ed on the sunny hair in silent blessing. It was this picture which met the gaze of the young man who impetu- ously burst open the door of the room where his father lay dying. “Father!” “Travis!” burst simultaneously from poth lips, as the young man sprang forward, and with a deep “Thank God!” bent tenderly over the dying man. Ten years seemed to have passed over that young head since the night on which his eyes had rested on Bar- bara Bretton’s pictured face. The ten days of his voyage had to him no measurement by hours, shut up as he was in the cabin, one moment overmastered by love for a woman who so cruelly had deceived him, the next outraged and hopeless by the pangs of memory, while now and again his father’s white dead face would float be- fore his senses, a look of reproach in the sightless eyes, until madness would threaten him. But this last agony had been spared him: His father lived, though one glance into the worn and suffering face convinced him that life was ebh- ing fest, that death had only so long | been kept at bay by the fevered hope of his coming. The kneeling figure he had, sur- prised, now kneeling beside him, had been forgotten in that first moment of mingled pain and happiness, until a low cry of “Brother!” burst from her lips, and in another moment the sob- bing girl was clasped close to his heart. Yet, as he held her there, a pang shot through him. What was there in this fresh young loveliness to recall the fatal beauty of the woman whose head so: lately had been pillowed there? Was her image hereafter to haunt him until he fancied her eyes, her features even, in those of the little sister who had been his plaything in all these years? “Travis, I must speak with you alone —at once. There is not time to lose. Thank God, you have come. You might have been—too—late—” (To Be Continued.) THE LAST WORD. ‘ The Barber Had an Opinion of His Own on the Temperance Question. Mary Noailles Murfree of Murfrees- boro, Tenn., better known as Charles Egbert Craddock, is the great-grand- daughter of Col. Hardy Murfree, the Revolutionary hero, andshe has on the tip of her tongue a number of stories which, according to tradition, Col. Mur- free used to tell with great success. One of these stories concerns @ judge and a drunken barber. The judge was being shaved, and the bar- ber, whose hand was unsteady from drink, cut him four or five times. Re- garding gravely in the mirror his coun- tenance bleeding from all these cuts, the judge said: “Friend, you now perceive, I trust, the evil effects of intemperance.’ “Intemperance does make the skin rather tender, sir,” was the reply. New York Tribune. A SAD MISTAKE. The Difference in a Word Did the Edi- tor Out of Spring Frys. “An! Good morning, Mr. Editor,” said the rural-looking visitor, briskly, entering the sanctum. “I’ve brought you in some nice spring poultry, which I~” : exclaimed the busy editor, savagely. exclaimed the bsuy editor, savagely. “T don’t want it! Haven’t any room for it.” The rural-appearing visitor hurried out, looking scared. The society re- porter got his breath and gasped: ‘Wh-wh-what’s this? No room for spring poultry?” “Poultry! Great heavens!” and the editor got up and tore his hair. “I thought he said poetry.”—New York ‘Times. When trouble finds a woman, inces- sant weeping is apt to spoil her eyes; with a man it is the end of the nose that most often tells the tale. Vast Extent of Salt Deposits. The salt mines of Poland and Hun- gary continue to turn out vast quanti- ties of salt. Near Cracow, in Poland, is a mine that has been continuously worked for salt since the year 1251, and such is the vastness of the de- posit that it is estimated there is yet’ enough salt in the mine to supply the world for centuries to come. The mine presents to visitors one of the most wonderful and beautiful sights in all nature. Vast caverns of salt are met with, and the owners at cer- tain places have had carved out of the salt houses, chapels, monuments and other ornamental forms, and when illuminated these objects present a scene of vast splendor. This mine is a great object of curiosity, and the owners keep a number of guides to take visitors through the workings, there being miles and miles of tun- nels, with great caves and galleries here and there. Attachment for Team Harness. There are but very few of the articles used by our great-grandfath- ers which still retain their old form, with little change or improvement, but among this number may be count- ed the harness which is used on horses for hauling purposes. Practi- cally the same pattern of harness has been used for many years past, while other things introduced with it have been altered beyond recognition or displaced altogether. That there was still a chance for improvement is shown by the picture here presented, illustrating a change in the construc- tion of a heavy team harness, which will at least add to the comfort of the animal. The principal advantage of this arrangement is that it does away with the strap passing around the animal’s body, which of necessity in- terfered somewhat with the muscular exertion and added to the discomfort in hot weather. In this improvement a short curved strap is laid over the Affords Free Movement of the Ani- mal’s Body. back, being held in place by a strap passing from the breeching to the col- lar, and only coming into play when the animals are backing. The traces are entirely free of the harness from collar to whiffletree, and afford a chance for a straight pull, without in- terference from any other portion of the harness. Frederick L. Ainsworth of Turner, Kan., is the inventor. Objects to the Submarine Boat. Mr. Yarrow, the celebrated English shipbuilder, comes out strongly against the submarine boat as a war craft. He says that he has no faith whatever in the submarine boat, either for offensive or for defensive purposes. He does not consider that anything practical will ever result from the experiments which all mari- time nations are making in this di- rection. Submarines, if entirely suc- cessful or otherwise, woull be of use only against stationary vessels. For the purpose of attacking vessels in |; motion they could not be guided, he maintains, with sufficient accuracy and knowledge to be relied upon, while, even if they could, at least as much has been accomplished already by torpedo boats with far less risk and cost. Varying Temperatures. Some years ago Weir worked out a rule for calculating the absolute tem- perature of a heated body from the wave length of its most energetic radiations. From this rule, which gives probable results, the sun’s tem- perature is found to range from 4,850 degrees to 5,450 degrees Fahrenheit; that of Siruis from 5,700 degrees to 6,400 degrees; Vega, 5,700 degrees to 6,400 degrees; Arcturus, 2,450 degrees to 2,700 degrees; Aldebaran, 2,50 de- grees to 2,850 degrees, and the elec- tric light, 3,150 degrees to 3,500 de- grees. White and blue stars are much hotter than red and yellow. New Magazine Rifle. The machine gun, with its auto- matic firing mechanism, marks a long step over-the muskets and can- non used at the time of our civil war, and the repeating rifle used by sports- Rotary Carrier Feeds the Cartridges. replaced the old muzzle- loading single barrel gun which our men has grandfathers used. Still another im- provement has been wrought out by the inventor, which we show in the accompanying illustration, combining features of the revolver with the magazine rifle. In this arrangement the stock is utilized for the storage of the loaded shells, while at the end of this chamber is a rotary carrier, which receives the cartridges and __ SCIENCE | | presents them one at a time in front of the opening of the barrel. As each cartridge is placed in position a back- ing block drops into place behind it, with a firing pin ready to explode the shell as soon as the trigger is pulled. The carrier is controlled by a coiled spring, which is wound when the magazine is filled, and upon the dis- charge of each shell its carrier drops out of position at the rear of the bar- rel, allowing the whole set of carriers to rotate and bring the next shell into place. Benjamin F. Perry of Grand June- tion, Col., is the inventor. Apparatus for Testing Eyes. To the lay mind the machine shown in the illustration may resemble a sausage stuffer, but the inventor prob- ably had no such thought in his mind when he designed it to aid him in Stimulates the Nerves. treating the eyes of his patients. The object of this apparatus is to provide a treatment for that class of disease of the eye where nerve stimulation crank or belt power are utilized to and increased circulation are neces- sary in order to obtain beneficial re- sults. This object is attained by changing the atmospheric pressure around the eye in such a manner as to cause the eye to move outward and inward in the bony walls of its socket, the am- plitude of these movements and their rapidity being under complete con- trol of the operator. An ordinary cylinder and piston driven by either a obtain the necessary pressure and vacuum, applying each alternately through the medium of an eye-cup at the end of a flexible tube attached to the cylinder. To vary the amount of pressure or vacuum inside the cylin- der, and its consequent action on the eye, a valve on the side of the cylin- der is arranged to open and close at each stroke of the piston, with ad- justment to give the piston greater or less movement before the valve is opened or closed. Marine Engine Governor. The landsman who has had no ex- perience with steam engines can little appreciate the damage which may be done to a marine engine from the al- ternate elevation of its propeller blades above and submersion beneath the surface of the water by the action of the waves in tossing the boat. It is easy to understand how a station- ary engine would “race” should a breakage occus of the belt which was driving a heavy load of machin- ery, and in a marine engine this prac- tically takes place every time the propellers are lifted out of the water. To prevent damage to the engines from this source an automatic cut-off has been designed to reduce the steam pressure automatically when the propeller is bared. A little study of'the drawing will show how this is accomplished. On either side of the Cuts Off Steam Pressure Automati- cally. boat is an open-ended cylinder, in which a piston is normally depressed by the weight of the sea water. When the water level sinks below one oj these cylinders the water flows oui and the piston slides forward, actuat ing a lever connected with a counter balancing cylinder operated by com pressed air. As the air pressuré varies under this action the steam yalves are regulated to increase or decrease the supply of steam fed te the engines. Peter V. Cornils of Seattle, Wash, is the inventor. Surface Tension of Liquids. Lord Rayleigh has for some time past been carrying out experiment re!. ative to the surfice tension of liquids. This tension is at the maximum in pure water, but by the application ol a small drop of oil or grease the ten- sion is considerably reduced. This fact may easily be demonstrated by dropping a small piece of camphor into pure water, when it will rotate rapidly. If a drop of oil be now ap- plied to the water the rotary motion ceases immediately. According to Lord Rayleigh, a film of oil on water may be so thin that its thickness is no more than the twenty-five mil lionth part of an inch—which is com puted to be in all probability the di ameter of a molecule of the oil. Automobile Garbage Collectors. The Paris municipality has called for tenders for the supply of auto mobile street refuse collecting vans} lemon is a delightful “cooler” It is stated that the successful firm oj| warm days. contractors will receive an initial or der for thirty vans. IT WAS PRESENTABLE. ‘Soldier's Wife Sat’ Up All Night’ to Mend the Flag Tattered in Battle. One of our leading generals, on his return from the P-ilippines, brought with him a flag all tattered with bul- lets whieh he had captured from the enemy, and which he showed with pride to his family and household. Next morning this trophy was to be presented to the commander-in-chief. When he came to look for the flag it was missing. “Where is my flag?” he cried in con- sternation. “What has become of it?” His wife brought it to him with a smile of proud satisfaction, “ft sat up al) night and mended it, and now it looks nearly as good as new,” she said.—Springfield Repub Hiean. ST. PAUL CARNIVAL. For the elaborate Summer Carnival in process of preparation in St. Paul $15,000 is being expended by the com- mittee on substantial booths and build- ings alone. A brilliantly illuminated arch and court of honor mark the ap- proach to the carnival; thence will follow several hundred elaborate. mer- cantile and manufacturing displays. ‘The location is centra} and beautiful, just fronting the new state capitol. About midway, the street opens into St. Paul’s new baseball park, where the delectable Jabour shows and spe- cial attractions imported from various parts of the world will hold entranced the interested spectator. Fireworks on a magnificent scale will illumine the entire street every evening. Excursion rates to St. Paul will be granted by all the railroads on July 28th and 30th, Aug. 3d and 5th. Just a Chaperon. The president was visibly affected. He rushed up to the little man, sus- rounded by a crowd of boys, and grasped his hand. “Allow me to congratulate you, sir,” exclaimed the president heartily. “On what?” exclaimed the little man, in puzzled tones. . “Why, on your large family.” “Oh, these are not my kids. I’m just taking the orphan asylum to see the circus parade.”—Chicago News. \ WHAT IS A GENTLEMAN. . | England Decides His Status by Laws and Judicial Decisions. England, having enriched the vo- eabulary of the world by the great name of gentleman, has now increased the obligation by a judicial definition; or, to speak by the card, by a judicial | declaration approaching a definition. | In a certain case tried in London the | other day the counsel objected to a \certain letter, because it described a | house painter as “a gentleman.” This objection obviously called for a ruling by the bench. The bench began by stating that, in view of the Herald’s college, no man was a gentleman un- less his grandfather, father or the man himself was entitled to bear arms, or, to speak in modern fashion, possessed armorial bearings. In mitigation of the rigor of this ruling, which would, of course, have barred the house paint- er, the bench pointed out that the jury would observe that not only the coun- sel on both sides, but even the bench itself, had addressed them as gentle- men; and further, the bench opined that much of them as were possessed of votes were invariable greeted with the title of gentleman, at least at po- litical meetings where there was a question of disposing of said votes. The learned judge then went on the other tack by pointing out that while the house painter had, it was true, a card, nevertheless a card was not the same thing as a coat of arms; yet, said the judge, the good painter has at least one characteristic, which is | thought invariably to be the mark of a gentieman, namely, the gout. If any one after reading the above ruling is still in doubt as to what a gentleman is, then there is no virtue in law. Let it be recorded that the legal luminary bears the fascinating name of Justice Darling.—Harper’s Weekly. EXPERIMENTS. . | + Learn Things of Value. Where one has never made the ex- periment of leaving off coffee and drinking Postum it is still easy to learn all about it by reading the ex- periences of others. Drinking. Postum is a _ pleasant way to get back to health. A man of Lancaster, Pa., says: “My wife was a victim of nervousness and weak stomach and loss of appetite for years and was a physical wreck; although we resorted to numerous methods of relief one of which was a change from coffee to tea, it was all to no purpose. “We knew coffee was causing the trouble but could not find anything to take its place and cure the diseasés until we tried Postum Food Coffee. In two weeks’ time after we quit cof- fee and used Postum almost all of her troubles had disappeared as if by magic. It was truly wonderful: Her nervousness was all gone, stomach trouble relieved, appetite improved plete and refreshing. “This sounds like an exaggeration, as it all happened so quickly; but we are prepared to prove it. Each day there is improvement for the better, for the Postum is ~ undoubtedly strengthening her and giving her rich red blood and renewed life and vital- ity. Every particle of this good work is due to Postum and to drinking Pos- tum in place of coffee.” Name given by Postum Co., Battle Creek, Mich Ice cold Postum with a dash of for Send for particulars by. mail of e: tension of time in the*$7,500.00 cook’s _ contest for 735 money prizes. and above all a night’s rest was com- « y