The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 16, 1898, Page 24

THE N FRANCISCO CALL, UNDAY, OCI'OBER 16, 1898. nd, Mr. round-faced natural mildne: antically exagg Ledbetter, is little man, e is of ey much ed, his e even done nt to wonder why I coun- the other hand, tion who mary such a disheveled, fon via Jamaica with Mr. st he o if it became known,” ts impressiv I doubt if h do not would do s living in Jamaica Hithergate-on- with Mr. Led- Thither ; from of the c into Jerson. es- to which, his aunt, he had : person was the ) did not be- come i . _And after that lon old days that we went out into - i up the cliff r together. sly of those ro r and so remote, fololoroIolcIololctoIotolc oot o R RO OO XOJOROROXOIOXOTOROJOXOXOROROJOJOROROROROJORORO) M. Cedbetter's Strange Vaeation. of quests and spies and condottieri and nany a risky blade-drawing busine suddenly came a doubt, a springing out ion_he found himsel parison betweer and that of th tried to meet with bl d_himself Ledbetter standing by itsel above a q window, gapin ured up that balcony, into that dark, eri “Bah! You would aid the spirit of doubt. *‘My llow-men forbids,” said Mr. -respect. the little seaside 1 2 He turned ack slo ard the villa of n window. He stood for a time the gate, a battlefield of motiv put thin o the action of these | show that you dare Commit a “burglary y rate is no in crime.” dow of the shrub- ald Mr. Ledbet- vected that,” His hea s beating fast, tainly not afraid. nt of the balcony it was evi- 1d have to be done with a rush, s ail in clear moonlight, and vis the gate into the avenue. set_ with young, ambitious sald but Doubt. he was ce The asc made the ascent ridicu- or a while Mr. Ledbetter the night, and then that vhisky tipped the balance. He dashed forward. He went up the trel with quick, convulsive movements, swung his legs over the parapet of the balcony and dropped panting in the shad- ow, even as he had designed. His mood & exultation. He could have shouted to find he was so little afraid. A line that he had learned from Wills shistopheles e into his - ched there, “I feel like a o He whispered it to him- self. It was far better than he had ex- pected—this adventurous exhilaration. And now for the window to make the burglary complete! Would he dare to do its position above the front door d it as a landing or passage. For a listened under the ledge, then he ves above the sill and peered Beyond was a broad landing faintly gleaming, a flimsy fabric of bead cur- n, very black and sharp against a fur- ther window. a broad staircase plung- ing into a gulf of darkness below, and an- other ascending to the second floor. He glanced bghind him, but the stillness of By H. G. Wells. nig unbroken. *‘Crime,” he ered ime,” and scrambled softly swiftly over the sill into the house. and His feet fell noiseles8ly on a mat of skin. burglar indeed! bout him, and suddenly the Burglars did critical s far more tha tranc thi Well, he they forced s was not raid. He could not force safes because that would be a stupid want of consider- ation for his hc . But he would go into the Tooms—he would go upstairs. More- over, he told himself that he was perfect- Iv secure; an empty house could not be i more reassuringly °sti Above was a square landing with one open and several closed doors, and all the house was Still For a moment he stood wondering what would happen if some sleeper woke sud- v and emerged. The open door showed 2 moonlit bedroom, the coverlet white and undisturb Tnto this room he crept in three interminable minutes and took a plece of soap for his plunder—his tro- nd even more ded. It was as He tu to ph; N dist! On the gravel outside the n_the noise of a latch-key, bang of a door, and the match in the hall below. stood petrified by the sud- of the folly upon which he How on earth am I to get out of this?” said Mr. Ledbetter. The hall grew bright with a candle flame, some heavy object bumped against the umbrella stand, and feet were ascend- ing the staircase. In a flash Mr. Ledbet- ter realized that his retreat was closed. He stood for a moment, a pitiful figure of penitent confusion. My goodness! “What a fool T have been!" he whispered, and then darted swiftly across the shad- owy landing into the empty bedroom from which he had just come. He stood listen- ing—quivering. The footsteps reached the first floor landing. Horrible thought! This was possibly the late comer’s room! Not a moment was to be lost! Mr. Ledbetter stooped beside the bed and erawled within its protection not too soon. He became mo- den discover had come. on hands and knees. The ad- g candle light appeared through the thinner stitches of the fabric, the shadows ran wildly about and became rigid as the candle was put down. “Lord, what a day! said the new- comer blowing nol , and seeming_ to deposit some heavy burden on what Mr, Ledbetter, judging by the feet, decided to be a writing table. The unseen then went to the door and locked it, exam- ined the fastenings of the windows care- fully and pulled down the blinds, and re- turning sat down upon the bed with start- ling ponderosity, ““What a d "’ he said; ‘‘good Lord!" and blew again, and Mr. Ledbetter in- clined to belleve that the person was mop- ping his face. After a time he removed some upper garments—a coat and walst- coat, Mr. Ledbetter inferred—and castin them over the rail of the bed remainec breathing less noisily and, as it seemed, cooling from a considerable temperature: o [} [} (<] o o (=} NE of the most thrilling of ex- periences in trying to reach Alaska is related by Captain G. A. Hatfield of the Alaska-Yukon Transportation Company, who | was foolhardy enough to start on voyage to the Arctic regions in the stern-wheeler, James Eva. He took | his wife with him, too, as well as forty-five of a crew, intending to work the boat on the Yukon River. And nobody now regrets the rash enterprise more than Captain Hatfleld, for he lost | not only hi§ steamer, but all his per- | sonal effects, and narrowly escaped | with his life. Also the Alaska-Yukon | Transportation Company is bemoaning the loss of an entire season’s trade on the Yukon, the profits of which, un- der present boom conditions, would have run into fabulous figures. For though the company bullt three fine steamers for the Yukon, not one of them was able to reach the river in time for the season’s trade. Therefore the shareholders in this enterprise ara despondent, and their only hope is that better weather and big profits will pull them through next year. The W. J. Scammell and the H. H. Barling, both built for this company, repose safely at their mooring in San Francisco Bay, while the James Eva, Captain Hat- field’s boat, is somewhere at the bot- tom of the Arctic Ocean. ““We gailed on the 11th of June last,” said Captain Hatfleld on his return to San Francisco a few days ago. “The stern-wheeler was towed by the Na- tional City, and for a time all went well with us. The boat proved remark- ably easy in a sea way, so much so that we never had to fasten a table or chalr. We had flowers in vases all over the cabin which were never dis- turbed during the voyage. The James Eva was very strongly buiit for a ves- sel of her class, and if we had only had reasonable weather we might have reached St. Michael all right. “We caught it, however, on the 23d of June, when we were about 600 miles south of Unalaska and 300 milés off the Alagkan coast. Hitherto the boat had hoth towed and steered well, but when we went right into the heart of a real Arctic storm things changed somewhat, The gale broke upon us from the south, veering to west, and creating a very heayy cross sea. The poor stern- wheeler rode the waves as best she could, but they were too much for her. All that the National City could do was | though it was summertime, the weath- For twenty-four hours we tossed about on the huge waves, and then ‘the trusses which bound the boat together began to go. She would pivot herself on the top of a huge wave, leaving both the stem and the stern unsup- | ported, and the strain was too much | or any craft constructed in this way to stand. | “At last the trusses went altogether, and there being nothing to hold the boat together, she naturaily doubled up and began to fill with water. Then we saw that it was time for us to go. There was a tremendous sea running, and, al- like ourselves, With the utter- er, to persons exposed seemed bitterly cold. most difficulty and danger the Na- tional City sent heg boats to save us. and one by one we dropped into the sea and were pulled into the rescuing craft. You can imagine what a task it was when it togk four hours to save our crew. Even then we had to leave everything behind and were landed at St. Michael with only what we stood in. ‘One enormous wave after another would come swooping down upon us while we were disembarking, shaking the stern wheeler from end to end and opening her seams still wider, so that we wondered whether she would last Jong enough for us all to get safely away. Somehow we managed it, but it was a pretty close shave, and the only accident occurred to the mate, who had hig leg broken.” to stand by ready to render assistance when needed, and I can tell you it was a good thing for us that she was theré. Captain Hatfield, who spent the whole summer at St Michael, gives an encouraging account of affairs there.|earthy deposits, which affect all the 0000000000000 000000000000000000000D000ODO0OO00OOODO0O0O0000000DO Braved Death BY SEA to Reach Alaska Gold. 0000000000000 0000EO00000000000000000000000000000D00000O0O 00000 “There is not going to be any trouble this winter,” he said, “because the military authorities at the station have taken precautions against overcrowd- ing. No steamer was allowed to land her passengers unless she could show that their transit up the river was al- ready provided for. We had made through contracts to Dawson with a number of gold seekers, and wherever we could we arranged for passage on some of the other river lines. When this proved impossible we had to send the passengers back to San Francisco. No, I do not think there will be a scarcity of food. When I left St. Mich- ael, on September 11, a great many boats were still coming down the river, but the people were all leaving for the south. The river trade would cease at the end of last month, and about the middle of this month all ocean traffic will be suspended and St. Michael will be hermetically sealed in to endure as best it may the rigors of an Arctic win- ter. Probably about two thousand peo- ple will rerhain in the town, but most of them are employes of the various transportation companies and are sup- plied for the winter. There are about thirty thousand tons of provisions stacked there, an abundant supply. “Going to try it again? Why of course we are. As soon as the season opens next spring we propose to send our two remaining stern wheelers to carry on our trade up the river. You see, getting through is very much a At intervals he muttered to himself, and once he laughed softly. And .ur. Ledbetter muttered to himself, but he did not langh. “Of all the foolish things!” said Mr. Led: better. “What on earth am I to do now?” What he should do he found it difficult to fmagine. To walt until this person had gone to bed, and then, when he seemed to be sleeping, to creep to the door, unlock it and bolt headlong for that balcony, scemed the only possible thing to do. Would it be possible to jump from the balcony? The danger of it! When he thought of the chances against him, Mr. Ledbetter despafred. He was within an ace of thrusting forth his head beside the gentleman’s legs, coughing If necessary to attract his attention, and then smiling, apologizing and exn.aining his unfortu- nate intrusion by a few well-chosen sen- tences. But he found these sentences hard to choose. *“No doubt, sir, my ap- pearance is peculiar,” or “I trust, sir, you will pardon my somewhat ambi pearance from beneath you,” W as much as he could get. “The position T had assumed,” said Mr. Ledbetter, when he told me of these things, “was in many respects an ill- advised one. A transverse bar beneath the bed depressed my head unduly aud threw a disproportionate share of my weight upon my hand 3ut I had to stay there motionless nevertheless.” After an interminable time there be- gan a_chinking sound. This deepened into a rhythm, chink, chink, chink twenty-five chinks—a rap on the writing table and a grant from the owner of the stout legs. It dawned upon Mr. Ledbetter that this chinking was the chinking of gold. He became incredulously curious as it went on. His curiosity grew. Already if that was the case this extraordipary man must have counted some hundreds ous ‘ap- as_about of pounds. At last Mr. Ledbetter could resist it no longer, and he began very cautiously to fold his arms and lower his head to the level of the fioor in the hope of peeping under the valance. He moved his feet, and one made a slight scraping on the floor. Suddenl the chinking ceased. Mr. Ledbetter became rigld. After a while the chinking as resumed. Then it ceased again, and everything was still—except Mr. Led- better’s heart. That organ seemed to him to_be beating like a drum. The stillness continued. Mr. I ter's head was now on the floor could see the stout legs as far up 1. dbet- 1d he s the shins. They were quite The feet were resting on the toes and drawn bac! s it seemed, under the chair of the owner. A wild hope came to Mr. Ledbetter that the unknown was in a fit or suddenly dead, with his head upon the writing tabie. The stillness continued. pened? The desire to ep became irre- sistible. Very cautiously Ledbetter shifted his hand forward, projecte i neer finger and began to lift the immediately next his eye. Nothing & the stillne He saw now the knees, saw the back of the writin and then—he was staring at the barrel of a heavy revolver pointed over the writing table at his head. $ “Come out of that, you scoundrel!” said the voice of the stout gentleman in a tone of_quiet concentration. Mr. Ledbetter came right out, a little reluctantly perhaps, but without any hanky-panky, and at once, even as he was ‘What had hap- “Kneel,” said the stout gentleman, “and hold up your hands.” _edbetter rose from all fours and “Dressed like a par- A Iitle the to- Mr. held up his hands. aid the stout gentleman. You scoundrel! ~What ssed you to come here , too 0 nignt?” e did not appear to requlire an ans but proceeded at once to several ve: jectionable remarks upon Mr. Ledbetter's ersonal appearance. He was not a very Pl man, but he looked strong to Mr. Led- better; he was.as stout as his legs had promised. “What the devil, I say, possessed you to get under my bed?” Mr. Ledbetter by an effort smiled a wan propitiatory smile. He coughed. I can’t quite undérstand,”” he said, * “Why! What on eart t's” soap! No—you scoundrel. Don’t you move that hand.” “It's soap,” said Mr. Ledbetter. “From oy your washstand. No doubt if—" C0000000000000000 “Don’t talk,” sald the stout man. matter of luck, or rather weather. Boats not half as good as the James Eva reached St. Michael all right be- cause they happened to escape a storm. ‘We had bad fortune last season, but we to balance matters by the next year's traffic, which is sure to be large.” — . ————— BANANA FLOUR. much attention in England. It is the exclusive use of banana flour in place of all other cereals, as a flesh. It is also vsed in St. Giles Hos- pital by the patients suffering from rheumatism. the banana which has been subjected to a drying process. It contains no gluten and is an almost exclusive arti- where the banana grows. The natives who live on bananas are invariably not corpulent. The grocers by their customers for banana flour, as there seems to be a multitude of people who wish there were not quite so much are not going to give it up, and hope NEW fad has been attracting diet for reducing an over abundance of Banana flour is made by pulverizing cle of food in many of the islands in San Francisco are being besieged of them. foXoJoXoXoFoJOXOXOROLOJOJO! [OJoJoloYoXoRoXCXOROROROXOROKO] [OJOJOYOXOYOXOYOXO] oo Io oot orerororcooRolcrololollofolofofolofofolofolofoleXofoXolofotololofoloofolofolclofolc] Of all incredible things.” see it's soag, t explain—’ “If 1 migi “Don't explain. It's sure to be a le, and there's no time for explanations. ‘What was I going to ask you? Ah! Have you any mates?" “In a few minutes, If you—" “Have you any mates, damn ¥y you start any soapy palaver I'll Hayve you any mates?” “No,” said Mr. Ledbetter. “I suppose it's a le,” said the stout man, “But you'll pay for it if it is. Why the devil didn’t you floor me when I came upstairs? You won't get a chance to, now, anyhow.” 1 'don’t see how I could prove an alibi,” remarked Mr. Ledbetter, trying to show by his conversation that he was an edu- cated man. “That’s all “But what to actly know.” “I know my position is ambiguous.” “Lord,” said the man. ‘‘Ambiguous! And goes about with his own soap, and wears a thundering great clerical collar! You are a blooming burglar, you are— if ever there was one!” “To be strictly accurate,” said Mr. Led- better—and suddenly his glasses slipped off and clattered against his vest buttons. The fat man changed countenance, a flash of savage resolution crossed his face, and something in the revolver clicked. He put his other hand to the weapon. And then he looked at Mr. Ledbetter, and his eye went dowfl to the dropped pince-nez. “}ull cock now anyhow,” said the fat man after a pa and his breath seemed to catch. “But I'll tell you, you've never been so near death before. Lord! I'm al- most glad. If it hadn't been that the re- volver wasn't cocked you'd be lying dead there now.” Mr. Ledbetter said nothing, but he felt that the room swaying. 3 “A miss is_as good as a mile. It's lucky for both of us, wasn't it? Lord! he blew nolsily. “I can assure vou, sir,” said Mr. Led- better with an effort. “There's only one thing to do. If I call in the police, I'm bust. A little ame_I've go® on is bust. That won't ou. If shoot. right,” said the fat man. o with you I don’t ex- 3 do. If I tie you up and leave you ain —the thing m be out to-morrow. To- morrow’s _Sun and Monday's bank holiday—I've counted on ° three clear da. Shooting you's murder—and hang- ing—and besides, it will bust the whole blooming bernooze. I'm hanged if I can think what to do—I'm hanged if I can. “Will you permit me—" “You gas as much as if you were a real parson. I'm blessed if you don't. Of all the burglars you are .the— Well! No—I won't permit é’nu. ‘There isn’t time If you start off jawing again I'll shoot you In your stomach. See? But I know now—I know row. What we're going to do first, my man, is an examina- tion for concealéd arms. ~And look here! When I tell you to do a thing, don’t start off at a gabble; do it brisk.” And with many elaborate precautions and always pointing the pistol at Mr. Ledbetter's head, the stout man stood him up and searched him for weapons. “Why, you are a burglar!” he said. “You're a perfect amateur. You haven't even a pistol pocket in the back of your breeches. No, you don’t shut up now.” So soon as this issue was decided the short man made Mr. Ledbetter take off his coat and roll up his shirt sleeves, and with the revolver at one ear, proceed with the packl his'_appearance had inter- rupted. From the short man's point of view that was evidently the only arrange- ment, for if he had packed he would have had to put down his revolver. So that even the gold on the table was handled by Mr. Ledbetter. This noctur- nal packing was peculiar. ~The stout man's idea was evidently to distribute the weight of the gold as unostentatious- ly as possible through his luggage. It was by no means _an _inconsiderable weignht. There was, Mr. Ledbetter says, altogether nearly £18,000 In gold in the black bag and on the table. There were also many little rolls of £5 bank notes. Pach rouleau of £2 was wrapped by Mr. Ledbetter in paper. Those rouleaux were then put neatly in cigar boxes and dis- tributed between a traveling trunk, a Gladstone bag and a hatbox. About £600 went in a_tobacco tin in a dressing bag. Ten pounds in gofd and a number of £5 notes the stout man_pocketed. Occasion- ally he objurgated Mr. Ledbetter's clum- siness and urged him to hurry, and seve- ral times he appealed to Mr. Ledbetter's watch for information. He appeared to be now in a less ag- gressive mood, and, having watched Mr. Ledbetter for some time, he offered a few Temarks. “From your accent I judge you are a man of some education,” he said, light- ing a cigar. “No, don’t begin that ~ex- slanation of yours. I know it will be ong-winded from your face, and I'm much too old a liar to be interested in other mnn';(;1 lying. You are, I say, a erson of educatiqn. p“l am a cur&le.“ said Mr. Ledbetter, “or, at least—" You are trying to be. I know. But you didn’t ought to burgle. You are not the man to burgle. You are—if I may the thing will have been pointed before—a coward.”” say it, out to you Do you know,” sald Mr. Ledbetter, trying fo get a fresh opening, “it was that very question—'" The stout man waved him into silence. “You should do one or two things. Either you should forge or you should embezzle. “Iisten! Midnight! Ten—eleven—twelve, There Is something very impressive to me in that slow beating of the hours, Time—space, what mysteries “they are? What mysteries? It is time for us to be moving. Stand up.” And then kindly but firmly he induced Mr. Ledbetter to swing the dressing bag over his back by a string across his chest, to shoulder the trunfi6 and, over- ruling a gasping protest, tb take the Gladstone bag in his disengaged hand. So encumbered Mr. Ledbetter struggled perilously down stairs. The stout gen- tleman followed with an overcoat, —the hat box and the revolver, making de- rogatory remarks about Mr. Ledbetter’s strength and assisting him at the turn- ings of the stairs. “The back door,” he directed, and Mr. Ledbetter staggered through a conserv- atory, leaving a wake smashed flowerpots behind him. “Never mind the crockery,” said the stout man; “it’s good for trade. We wait here until a Quarter past. You can put those things down. You have!” Mr. Ledbetter col- lapsed panting _on the trunk. *Last night,” he gasped, “I was asleep in my little room and I no more dreamt— “There's no need for you to incriminate yourself,” sald the stout gentleman look~ ing at the lock of the revolver. %h?re presently came the sound of a bell and Mr. Ledbetter was taken to the back door and Instructed to open it. fair-haired man In yachting costume en- tered. At the sight of Mr. Ledbetter he started violently and clapped his hand behind him. Then he saw the stout man. “Bingham!” he cried, “Who's this? ‘Only a little philanthropic do of mine —burglar I'm N‘{lnx to reform. Caught him under my bed just now. He's all right. He's a frightful as: He”ll be useful to carry some of our things. The newcomer seemed inclined to sent Mr. Ledbetter's ~resence at first, but the stout man reassured him. He's quite alone. There's not a gang in the world would own him. They went out into the darkness of the garden with the trunk still bowing Mr. Ledbetter's shoulders. The house was one of those that have their gardens right up -to the cliff. At the cliff was a sieep wooden re- stalrway descending to a bathing tent dimly visible on the beach. Below was a boat pulled up and a silent little man with a black face stood beside it. “A few moments’ explanation,” said Mr, Ledbet- ter; I can assure you—"' Somebody kicked him and he said no more, They made him wade to the boat, car- rying the trunk; they pulled him aboard by the shoulders and hair; called him no better name than " and “burglar” all that night. They hauled him aboard a vacht manned by strange, unsympathetic Orientals, and partly they thrust him and partly he fell down a gangway into a noisome dark place, where he was to remain many days—how many he does not know, because he lost count among other things when he' was seasick. They fed him on biscuits and in- comprehensible words; they gave him water to drink mixed with unwished-for rum. And there were cockroaches where they put him, night and day, and in the nighttime there were rats. The Orientals emptied his pockets and took his watch; but Mr. Bingham being appealed to, took that himself. And five or six times the five Lascars—if they were Lascars—and the Chinaman and the negro, who consti- tuted the crew, fished him out and took him aft to Bingham and his friend to play_cribbage and euchre and three- handed whist, and to listen to thelr stor- fes and boasting in an interesting man- ner. So Mr. Ledbetter fared for many days, twenty, perhaps, and one evening he, to- gether with some tinned provisions, was taken over the side and put ashore on a rocky little island with a spring. Mr. Bingham came in a boat with him, giv- ing him good advice all the way, and waving his last attempts at an explana- tion aside. “I am really not a burglar,” said Mr. Ledbetter. “You never will be,” said Mr. Bingham. *“You'll never make a bur- lar. I'm glad you're beginning to see it. n choosing a profession a man must study temperament. If you don't, sooner or later you will fail. Compare m: Self, for example. All my life I have been in banks—I have got on in bnnk{‘. [Iw:iv% even been a bank manager. bappy? No. Why wasn't 1 happy? Be- cause it did not suit my temperament. I am too adventurous, to0 versa Prac- tically I have thrown it over. do not suppose I shall ever manage a bank again. They would be glad to get me, no doubt, but 1 have learnt the lesson of my temperament—at last. “Now, your temperament unfits you for crime—just as mine unfits me for respec- tability. I know you better than I did, and now I do not even recommend for- ery. Go back to respectable courses, my fan. Your lay is the Silanthropic jay— that is your lay. “The island we are approaching has no name apparently—at least there is none on the chart. You might think out a name for it while you are there. It has I understand. It is quite drinkable water, ] one of the Grenadines—one of the Wind- ward Islands. Yonder—dim and bluc—are other of the Grenadines. I have often wondered what these islaridsare for—now, vou see, I am wiser. This one, at lcast, s for you. Sooner or later some simple native will come along and take you off. Say what you like about us then—abuse us if you like—we shall not mind. And here—here is half a sovereign’s worth of silver. Do mot waste that in foolish dissi- ation when you return to civilization. Broperly used it may give you a fresh start in life. I'm sorry, but I must ask you to carry your tucker to land in your arms. No, It's not decp. D.— that ex- lanation of yours! There is not time, Ko, no. T won't listen. Overboard you go.” And the falling night found Mr. Led- better, the Mr, Ledbetter who had com- pluined that adventure was dead, sitting eside his cans of food, his chin resting upon his drawn-up = knees, staring through his glasses in dismal mildness over the shining, vacant sea. He was picked up fn the course of three days by a negro fisherman and taken to St. Vin- cent’s, and from St. Vincent's he got by the expenditure of his last coins to Kingston in Jamalea. _And there he might have foundered. He had not the remotest idea what he ought to do. The only ¢hing he seems to have done was to visit all the ministers of religion he could find in the place to borrow a passage home. But he was much too dirty and in- coherent, and his story far too incredible, for them. I met him quite by chance. It was close upon sunset and I was walk- ing out after my siesta on the road to Dunn’s battery, when I met him—I was Tather bored and with a whole evening on my hands, luckily for him. He was trudging dismally toward the town. HIS woebegone face and the quasi clerical cut of his dust-stained, flithy costume caught my humor. Our eyes met. He hesitated, “8ir,” he said, with a catching of the breath, “could you spare a few moments for what I fear will seem an incredible story?” “Incredible!” T said. # ‘Quite,” he answered eagerly. ‘No one will believe it, alter it though I may. Yet 1 can assure you, sir—’ He stopped_hopelessly. The man’s tone tickled me. He seemed an odd character. “T am,’ he said, ‘‘one of the most un- fortunate being alive.” 2 “*Amon; other things, you haven't dined?” I said, struck with an idea. “I have not’ he said solemnly, “for many days.” ““You may tell it Bbtter after that” I said, and without mere ado led the way to a'low place I knew, where such 3 cos- tume as his was unlikely to give offense. And there—with certain omissions which he subsequently supplied, I got his story. ‘At first 1 was incredulous, but as the wine Warmed him, and the faint suggestion of cringing his misfortunes had gdded to his manner disappeared, 1 began to believe. At last I was so far convinced of his sin- Cerity that I got him a bed for the night, and next day verified the banker's refer- gnce he gave me through my Jamaica banker. And that done, I tock him shop- ping for underwear and such like equip- ments of a gentleman at large. Presently came the verified reference. His aston- ishing story was true. I will not amplify our subsequent proceedings. He started for England in three days’ time. “T do not know how I can possibly thank you enough,” the letter he wrote me from England began, “for all your kindness to a total stranger,” and proceeded for some time in a similar strain. ‘“Had it not been for your generous assistance I could cer- tainly never have returned in ti for the resumption of my scholastic duties, and my_ few minutes of reckless folly would perhaps have proved my ruin, The truth dare not tell. I have consulted a num- ber of law books in the British Museum, and there is not the slightest doubt that I have connived at and abetted and aided a felony. That scoundrel Bingham was the Hethergate bank manager, 1 find, and guilty of the most flagrant embezzlement. The worst of it is, neither my aunt nor her friend, who Kept the boarding house at which I was staying, seem altogether to believe a guarded statement I have made them_practically of what actually happehed. They suspéct me of some dis- creditable adventure, but what sort of discreditable adventure they suspect me of I do not know. “1f, when you write, you could write on two Sheets, S0 that I could show my aunt one, and on that one, if vou could show clearly that I really was in Jamaica this summer, and had come there by being marooned from a ship, it would be of great service to me. It would certainly 2dd to the load of my obligations to you, a load that I fear I can never fully repay. ‘Although if gratitude * * *" “And S0 forth. At the end he repeated his re- quest for me to burn the letter. So the remarkable story of Mr. Led- etter’s vacation ends. That breach with his aunt was not of long duration. The old lady had fully forgiven him before she died.—Copyrighted, 1885, by H. G. Wells. 00000000000DO00000°OOOOO00000000000000DOOOOOODOOOOOOOOOO 000000 NE of the most dangerous and probably the most perilous jour- ney ever attempted in the midst of winter through the wilder- ness of Northern Alaska was made two years ago by Joe Carroll and Dick Martin, two San Francisco sall- ors, who shipped for a whaling cruise in the Arctic Ocean. They have just returned from their adventures. Late in the preceding autumn the vessel was caught in an ice pack near the line between Alaska and the British possessions and the crew went into win- ter quarters. Carroll and Martin claim that the ship’s officers were excessively cruel to the men forward and as the long winter darkness enveloped the land of per- petual cold the forecastle became un- bearable. The seamen began to discuss plans for desertion. Many of them had left port heavily in debt to the boarding- houses and they knew full well that on return to port at the end of the three years’ voyage they would be penniless. To attempt to leave the ship and travel through a wilderness and across wastes of snow for a distance of 500 miles to the nearest settlement meant almost HOW TO POSTPONE R. W. KINNEAR claims that old age can be postponed by avold- ing food in which earthy salts abound. He says in The Hu- manitarian (London): “Anatomical experiment and investi- gation show that the chief character- istics of old age are the deposits of earthy matter of a gelatinous, fibri- nous character in the human system. Carbonate and phosphate of lime, mixed with other salts of a calcareous nature, have been found to furnish the greater part of these earthy deposits. As ob- servation shows, man begins in a gela- tinous conditfon; he ends in an osseous or bony one—soft in infancy, hard in old age. By gradual change in the long space of years the ossification comes on; but, after middle life is passed, a more marked development of the ossific character takes place, Of course these physical organs, naturally interfere with their functions. Partlal ossifica- tion of the heart produces the imper- fect circulation of the blood which af- fects the aged. When the arteries are clogged with calcareous matter there is interference with circulation, upon which nutrition depends. Without nu- trition there is no repair of the body. “None of these things interfere with nutrition and circulation in earlier years. The reparation of the physical system, as. every one ought to know, depends on this fine balance. In fact the whole change is merely a slow, steady accumulation of calcareous de- posits in the system, When these be- come excessive and resist expulsion they cause the stiffness and dryness of old age. Entire blockage of the func- tions of the body is then a mere matter of time; the refuse matter deposited by the blood in its constant passage through the system ‘stops the delicate and exquisite machinery whichwe' call OLD AGE. life. This is death. It has been proved by analysis that human blood containg compounds of lime, magnesia and iron, In the blood itself are thus contained the earth salts. In early life they are thrown off. Age has not the power to do it. “Hence, as blood is produced by as- similation of the food we eat, to this food we must look for the earthy ac- cumulations which in time block up the system apd bring on old age. Almost everything we eat contains more or less of these elements for destroying life, by means of calcareous salts deposited by the all-nourishing blood, Careful selection, however, can enable us to avold the worst of them. “To sum up: Avoid all foods rich in the earth solls, use much fruit, espe- clally juicy, uncooked apples, and take dally two or three tumblerfuls of dis- tilled water with about ten or fifteen drops of diluted phosphoric acid in each glassful. Thus will our days pro- fongea ot ase decared aud hesit 12 7 Dared Death BY LAND to Find Alaska Gold. OOOO00OOO000OOOQOOQO000000000DO000000000000000000000000 certain death. Many long hours were spent in discussing the question. Finally five of the able seamen de- cided to hazard the trip. They man- aged to secure three rifles and a small amount of ammunition. With a few pounds of sea biscuit, without a robe or blanket, they stole into the darkness toward the coast line a few miles dis- tant. Early the following morning the es- cape was discovered and a posse of well-armed officers hurried in pursuit. The trail was easily followed throuzh the deep dry. snow and snugly en- sconced in a little nook beneath some tall timber the little band of deserters was surprised. They were huddled around a blazing campfire, tired and weary from the day’s tramp, little dreaming that danger was so near. The terrors, they thought, lay in the dis- mal forest to the south. Without warning came the command: “Throw up your hands.” Every man Knew that that meant im- prisonment. Like a flash they started for their guns, but a volley of bullets killed one sailor and wounded two more. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion and concealed by the cloud of smoke from the attacking rifles Mar- tin and Carroll jumped into the un- Cerbrush. In the shelter of darkness — N — = 00000 they escaped into the dismal forest. They were free but were without weap- ons, food and blankets in the midst of the terrors of an Alaskan winter and in_an unknown country. For two or three days they were hunted like wild beasts and then the officers abandoned the chase and re- turned to the ship. The two men tell of their subsequent perilous adventures as follows: “One of us had a well filled water- proof box of matches. We crossed over a low range of hills and the next day we struck the headwaters of the Porcu- pine River. For over a week we sub- sisted entirely on green bark. At night we built roaring fires and managed to" keep warm. £ “We were on the trail nearly four months and had not tasted bread or coffee or tea. We were a sight to look at, emaciated, ragged, dirty and cov- ered with vermin. When we looked into the first mirror we were startled. Our hair had turned from a brown color to a whiteness as pure as the flelds of snow."” Both Carroll and Martin engaged in mining on Birch Creek, near Circle City, and in the Klondike, but not until this spring did fortune smile on them. Their clean-up was about $8000, and with that they returned here after be- —_——— —— — \ ing gone four years. =