The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 7, 1906, Page 7

I — - AVE you ever met the Cat Man? Or the Rat Man? Both hold unique positions in the busy life of the mercantile world of San Francisco. One is a crafty litle Frenchman, 2 quiet fellow of advanced age, who may be seen traveling about the lower por- tion of this city during the early part of the gay, usually carrying a double compartment’ basket, of extraordinary Jength. An inspection of the latter will generally reveal one or more cats, sometimes .kittens, crouching uneasily within one of the RAarrow compart- e in the other will be,found 2 gallon »f milk, portions of raw ecat o A, d a miscellaneous lot of articles pertaining to his business of a ments w cat man. His contemporary, for they are prac- tically engaged in the same business, h along different lines, is a tall an, a fellow with the ingenu- nd nutmeg coun o professes to have discover- effective means of protect- ess community against the ion of rodents. n, which is the name character in the district east of San- some street, where he has been pur- suing his peculiar vocation for more than ten years. Originally he held the humble position or porter in a pioneer importing house situated in the north end of Battery .street, where he first undertook the task of ridding his em- ployers’' establishment of rats which were a baneful tenantry of the old stone bulldings that mark that sec- tion of the city. In the early days, when these buildings were erected cement basements were not in common use and freedom of access was assured rals to.the lpwer portions of the strue- tures. ' The glmost incessant and usually in- discriminate ‘gnhawing of “the rats re-" sulted in much damage to the stocks of goods kept in these wholesale es- tablishments and eyentually added to Fremen's duties of porter the job of exterminating the persistent little marauders. Fremen and a newly ac- quired cat gained distinction in the neighborhood of his employers’ place of business. He soon beégan to be known as the most successful exter- minator of rats in that locality. He was appealed to to furnish cats for other business houses and for a long time cared for the latter, while they were preying upon the rodents, receiving a small remuneration for his services in the purveyance of the domesticated animal. Two years later the thrifty| little Frenchman had resigned his position of porter and developed into a special- ist in the/art of rat extemination with a reputation that has spread thwmough- out the business center of San !Fran- cisco. Since then he has been ay daily frequenter of the 'wholesale dwstrict, attending to the needs of his catis and providing new ones wherever they were wanted, For a . small stipend Fremen furnishes a business house with-one or more cats, as the casa may demand, and every morning he rhakes the rounds with his milk and meat or sh and feeds his proteges. He places ‘pan of water at the disposal df the cats” and if he discovers tlrgm gegting il or indolent he carries them away and brings & new cat on to the scene of rodent destruction., [ Fremen's hour of coming “is well known to His cats, which usually] are on hand to greet nim with a “meow” and, a gentle purring as he entet's a business house w'th his basket of sup- plies and proceeds to the basement to 'y a lay out the day's px-lnriliox_u.;s He care- fully strokes the furry backs of his feline charges and by fecling the tips of their noses Le determimes whether they are well and hearty.’ Ifinot they receive a dose of cat medicine, are kept on a diet for several days, and then, if their condition does not improve, they are promptly relegated’to his cattery which is the most attfactive feature of his modest little home on Shipley street. In Fremen's home cat life is seen in all its ‘phages. = It is there that the black, brown, white, gray and mottied cats live a life of indolence until their services dare demanded in- some of the rat-infested business places, when they are unceremonlously packed safely away in Fremen's basket and hustled off to a future basement home uptown. The Frenchman goes guietly about his work. He ignores inquisitors, except when they are in need of his services and few of his patrons know his name or his place of residence. When he is wanted the word is passed along the street and at some unexpected moment Fremen, better known as the cat man, puts in appearance. Henry Pladwell, the rat man, which is the popular contradistinction he has been given in order not to confuse him with Fremen, has no use for a cat as a rat exterminator. A - secret paste preparation; of which some strong vut odorless acid is one of the component parts, is his means of driving rodents from their accustgmed haunts. He: does not profess to decrease the rat Species, but simply keeps it moving from one place to another. You will find Plad- well at present diligently at werk in one of the: big downtown -hotels, where he has taken a contract to rid the hos- telry of:the rats that have infested it for years. With his ordinary clothes covered with a-pair of blue overalls, his hands incased in thick gloves and carrying a pail of his mysterjous “dope” In one hand and a paint brush in the other, he is to be daily observed guletly prowling around for rat holes. Wherever he finds one he daubs the frout of ‘he hole with a streak.of his paste and con- tinues on his explorations. Frequently his ever alert sense of hearing leads him to a place where an industrlous rat is busily gnawing a hole from the other side. . Making certain of the exact lo- cality where the rat will come through the partition or flooring, Pladwell smears his paste around and proceeds on his way. “He won't go through that hole a Second time,” is the rat man's assuring remark, and his prediction so far has never failed. Once the rat's feet come in contact with/the paste they are burned by the acid gcompound, and, smarting under the pain, the rat starts off om a.rum, for where no seems to know. Certain it is he will not return to the same hol¢ again; and probably not even to the same locality. +'The acid burns and burns and he runs and runs. Possibly the rat may Invade the premises of a neighboring establish- ment, but that is of no concern to Plad- well, for his scruples confine themselves entirely to the task he has undertaken in that particular spot and he is not worrying about the place next door. In his present job he has seemingly met with success, for rats are seldom seen in the places where they used to revel in numbers. He is pursuing the same method of fighting rats in other sec- tions of San Francisco, and should, if his theory proves correct, have an army of rats on the move in the course of another twelve months. “There. he goes!” he frequently shouts as he observes a whining rat scampering away affer having Im- mersed his feet in the burning pasteét § “Seat, you rascal!” is the derisory vell of the rat man as he shakes his slimy brush in the direction of the flee- ing rodent and continues on his search for more of the obnoxious little ani- mals. Cemtinued From Page 5. ough he could see what hind them, and was planning to An hour before ad been cursing the ittle chill Before many acles its Jiveli- Kettle's { WHY COLONIAL 53 DOORS ARE é § @WBEAUTIFULW® task he > the his- trtde and there foundations ‘and oneer conditions. e recognition of demands, but day of rivance ar upremacy of esteem and es- turns to the sur- > old, hand-wrought work which have proved them- es, through their own noble en- e. outiasting the products of our siecle ingenuity and our labor- ustries. » our architects of to-day ran- e old Jocalities for colonial s, which théy remove, if possible, Why not copy them in new d process? Why not follow 'y that preserves them? In oubtful old doorway In a house town, Pa., the penels in the nly add eventfulness to the they lighten the weight and of the door. It is inter- to see how harmoniously the s carried into the door jamb, giv- g the 5 simple harmony Ve, as as men of a hundred years ago, know that colonial lines are t the remembrance of classic forms. know that men who could build 14 also design and carve. They ve individual labor, and in that day manufacturing was not a misnomer ap- plied to workmanship. No machine-made carving, with its a relentless evenness, sends a expression into the carefully, ally cut design which ornaments ntrance to an old house in Ports- N. H., of which the owners are ritors—sons of many genera- e detafl is worked out with and expression which none 1ds of practical skill could pro- Frequently one finds & new house built on Colonial lines with the door to old mansion added to the new house in the place of & new one. gome hat professional ancestry had these master bullders of old times? The un nce of anclent Greece ot only materially, but did these peoples express what they builded. They d in details and in sys- le of their iridescent life red and collepsed in frames of e and under domes of incompara- lurability &nd grace, welded to- with the intensity that poured in lavish prodigality through jtude of the character of that e. When the fall of that splendor d the earth the ancient nucleus a center from which the shat- themselves were profou reached over civilization. forms of art, and doubtless in tecture most significantly, has the € ¢ of that art survived rough men like Batty Langley, who xpress the ancient spirit in 1 words, we have the books e brought by master builders world. At this point a st is interwoven through d lines of contour in arch- What atmosphere did these o rid builders meet in our country? heir nds were drenched with tradi- d its sufficient wine. The new were built on courage v the menace of impoverished ir antiquity was supplant- na re only for resource in ma- and all founded on an instinct to survive Therefore, when stone was i they turned to the meval” for the very pillars cir houses—and in the new homes he old proportions, the only ones that Langley and his contemporaries “knew, were changed and assumed the #ddec tk height in column and in pilaster t the early Colonial shows, modeled, =tone, but in wood, and not only me work moderations, but in the proportion of the forest's per- fect symmetry. methods before when things went con- trary to his plans and wishes. the night dragged: through, degrees the blackness thinned. ern waters grew grdy and the sky above them changed to dull sulphur yvellow Then a coal of crimson fire bu d out on the horizon and grew kly to a great half dish of scarlet; the rest of the sun was shot p, as an orange pip is slipped from the fingers; and it was brilliant, staring, tropical day. For full an hour the yacht had been under weigh at half steam with lead going, circling round the noisy reefs. The place was alive with the shout of breakers nd the scream of seafowl Inside, b nd the hedge of sprouting waters, were three small turtlebacks of yellow sand, and a lugger at anchor. The water outside was clear &s bot- tle-green glass, and of enormous depth. The only entrance to the lagoon was & narrow canal between the reefs, shown up vividly by the gap in the ring ‘of creaming surf. It was not likely that any one from the lugger would lend a hand for pilotage—or be trusted if they offered. So Kettle steamed the yacht to some half-mile off the en- trance, called away the whaleboat, and went off in her himself with a crew and a couple of leadsmen to survey the channel. He did it with all delibera- tion; returned; took his perch in the forecrosstrees, where he could see the coral floor through the clear water be- neath, and conned the yacht in himself. Carnforth leaned over the bridge-end and watched. The coral floor with its wondrous growths came up toward him out of the deep water. The yacht rolled into the pass on the backs of the great ocean swells, and the reef-ends on either side boomed like a salute of heavy guns. The white froth of the surges spewed up against her sides, and the spindrift pattered in showers upon her deck’ planks. The stink of the place grew stronger every minute. Then she shot through into a mirror of still, smooth water, slowed to half- speed, and with hand lead going dill- gently, steamed up to an anchorage in sixteen fathoms off one of the sandy islets. A white whaleboat put off from the lugger, rowed by three kanakas, and by the time the yacht's cable was bitted, a man from her had stepped up the accommodation ladder, and was looking about him on deck. He was a biggish man in striped pa- jamas, barefooted, roughly bearded and wearing a crumpled pith helmet well down on the back of his head. His face was burned to a fine mahogany color by the sun, and, dangling over his chest at the end of a piece of fine sennit, was a gold-rimmed eyeglasses which glittered like a diamond when- it chught the sun. He touched his helmet to Kettle. “You've brought a fine day with you, captain,” “sald he. “Rather warm,” sald Kettle. X haven’t looked at the glass this morn- ing. I hope it's going to keep steady.” The visitor glanced round and sized up the yacht and its resources. “Oh, I should say it's likely to for the present. You've a nice little boat here, and a likely looking lot of men. You'll be having ten of a crew all-told, captain, eh?” “Thirteen,” said Kettle. “Humph, it's an unlucky number. ‘Well, captain, if I were you I wouldn't stay here too long. The weather's a bit uncertain, you know, in these seas.” “We want some pearls and shell be- fore we go.” “I might have guessed that. Well, it'’s a nuisance from our point of view, because we thought we'd the lagoon to ourselves, and intended to skim it clear ourselves if the Japs didn’t interrupt. But, take the tip, captain, and don't be too greedy. If you stay too long, the glass may fall suddenly and—-" “Take care, my lad,” snapped Kettle, “I'm a man that accepts threats from no man living.” “Oh, all right,” sald the stranger care- lessly. “But whom have we here?” And be stuck the glass into his eye and whistled. Captain Kettle made a formal intro- duction. “My owner, sir, Mr. Martin of New York.” “Humph!” said the visiter; “you used to be Carnforth up at Cambridge, didn't you? M. Carnforth, I remember and M. might possibly stand for Martin. Captain Kettle smiled grimly and Carnforth swore: “Bit of a surprise to find you pearl- poaching, Carnforth.” I see your name in the Australian papers now and again and got a notion you were something big at homé.- Had a bust-up?” “No,” sald Carnforth. “I'm all right there” Come below and have a drink ard talk. By the way. it's awtully rude of me; I haven't tumbled yet to who you are.” “Never mind my name,” said the visi- tor coolly. *I don't suppose you'd re- member me. I was a reading man up there, and you wscren't. You did your best to torment my life out. I took a big degree and made a fizzle of after- life. You got plowed and became a commercia} success. 5o, you see, we've little enough in common; and, besides, I was here first, and I resent your com- ing.” y “Oh, rubbish, man!. Come below and ‘have a cocktail “Thanks, no. I prefer not to be under the tie of bread and salt with—er— trade rivals.” He dropped his eyeglass and walked to the head of the accom- modation ladder. “Look here, Master Carnforth,” 'he said, *“I'll give you a useful tip. Clear out!” Then he went down into his whaleboat, and the brown men pulled him back to the lugger. “Curse that beggar's Impudence,” said Carnforth hotly. “I wonder who the deuce he is?” “Maybe we'll find out,” sald Kettle. “I tried to catch your eye while he was speaking. If I had my way, he'd be on board now, kept snug till we were through with our business here. He'd have been a lot safer that way.” “Oh, no!” said Carnforth. “We could not have done the high-handed like that on the little he said. Wonder who he can be, though? Some poor beggar whose corns I trod on up at Cambridge. ‘Well, anyway, twenty years and that beard have completely changed kim out of memory. However, if he chooses to come round and be civil he can; and if he doesn't I won't worry, And now, captain—pearls. The sooner we get to work the more chance we have of get- ting a cargo under hatches and slipping away undisturbed.” “Right-0,” sald Captain Kettle. “They've got the other two sandbanks, and, by the stink, they-re doing a roar- ing business. We'll bag this empty one near us and set about fishing this very hour, and plant our shell to rot there. It'll smell a bit different to a rose gar- ( den, Mr. Carnforth, but it'll be a sight more valuable.” Then began a perfod of frantic toil and labor. Every man on board was “on shares,” for it had pleased Carn- forth’s whim to use this old buccan- neer’s incentive. Half of the profits went to the ship, and the rest to the crew. Each man had so many shares, according to his rating. Carnforth him- self, in addition to his earnings as own- er, earned also as an ordinary seaman, and sweated, and strained like any of the hands. From an hour before day- break to an hour after sunset he was away in the boats, under the dews of morn and eve, or the blazing torrent of midday sunshine. Every night he tumbled into his bed-place dog-tired, and exulting in his tiredness. Every morning he woke eager for tha fierce toil. He was unshaven, sunburned, blood-smeared from the scratches of the shell, filthy with rank sea mud. But withal he was entirely happy. Kettle toiled with equal vigor, work- ing violently himself, and violently ex- horting the others. Neither his arms nor his tongue were ever tired. But he was always neat, and seldom unclean. Dirt seemed to have an antipathy for the man, and against his disheveled owner, he looked like a park dandy be- side a regpicker. At the other side of the lagoon the white man from Cambridge, and a white friend, and their crew of ten Ka- nakas, worked with similar industry. The ring of the lagoon was some half mile in diameter, with lanes of deep ‘water running through its floor where divers could not work. There was no * clashing of the two parties. One of these water lanes se to set out a natural boundary, neither trans- gressed it. On each submarine terri- tory there was enough shell to work on for the present, and each party tolled with the same frantic energy, and- NSSPOEEEGE IR RSROS 'ADVENTURES OF CAP spread out the shell on the sunbaked sandbanks, and poisoned heaven with the scent of decay. But there was no further intercourse between the two bodies of men, nor indeed any attempt at it. How the others were doing, the vacht's party meither knew nor cared. Theirs was a mce against time for wealth, and not 'one striver among them all had leisure to be curious about his neighbors. In a nicer life the smells of the place would have offended them monstrously; here they were & matter for congratula- tion. The more, the putrefaction, the more the profit. ' They ripped the shells from the sea and spread them upon the beaches. The roasting sun beat upon the spread out shellish and melted away their soft tissues in horrible decay. The value was au a gamble. There might be merely so much mother-o's pear] for inlay work; or seed pearls; such. as the Chinese grind up for medi- eined or larger pearls of any size and color and shape, from the humble opalescent sphere worth its merger half- a-crown, to the black pearl worth its score of pounds, or the great pear-shaped pink pearl worth a prince's ransom. -It was all a gamble, but none the less fasei- nating for that. Carnforth was mad over the work; Kettle, with all his noncha- lance gone, was nearly as bad. But the process of realizing thelr wealth was none too fast, and, in faet, seemed to them tedious beyond words. Every filled shell,” with its latest possi- bilities of treasure lying out there upon the sand, was so much capital left in a perilously insecure investment. They were so bitterly afraid of interruptions. The dark shadow of Japan was always before their eyes. Still at last came the first moment of realization. They had toiled a month, and they had collected that day the fruits of their first day’'s labor. The mother-o’-pear]l shell was packed in the hold; the little crop of pearls stood in a basin on the cabin table, and they gloated over them as they supped. Carnforth stirred them lovingly with the butt of his fork. “Pretty little peas, aren’t they, skipper?” “For those they amuse, though I like to see a bit more color in a woman's ornaments myself.” “Matter of taste and matter of fashion. Pearls are all the rage just now. Dia- monds are slightly commonplace; but women willy spend their money on some- thing, and so the price of pearls is up.” “So much the better for us, sir. It's a pity, though some of them seem a bit off color, like that big gray chap for im- stance.” “Gray, man! Why, that's a black pearl, and probably worth any ten of the rest put together.” “Well," said Kettle, “I don't set up for being a pearl merchant. Poaching them’s trouble enough for me."” “Pass the biscuit, will you?' said Carn- forth, yawning. “I suppose that little lot —is worth—worth—anything over—a thou- sand pounds,” and with that he dropped back dead asieep in his chair with a fork- tul of food:in midair.: Captain Kettle fin- ished his meal, but he, too, man of wire though he was, suddenly tumbled forward and went to sleep with his head on the table. It was no new thing for them to do. They had dropped off like this into unconsciousness more than once during that month of savage toil. The next day they had a smaller crop ready to glean—a bare five hundred pounds’ worth, in fact. But they did not lament. There would be an enormous quantity ready for the morrow. That further realization of their wealth, however, never came. During the night another lugger sailed into the lagoon and upset all their plans. She was the consort of the lugger commanded by the Cam- bridge man, and she had taken away to a safe place their first crop of pearls and shells. Further, she was manned by four- teen whites, all armed and all quite ready to defend what they considerd thelr poachers’ monopoly. As a consequence a:,ey pulled g::;u to m:nz\néht mt.: urs before daybreak, Carnforth by three men, who carried Marlin repeat- ing rl&u and were quite ready to use pressed. v But the Iittle ‘was not easily cowed. “By James!” he crled, “this is " . 37 i AT e S bring it out empty. Now; do 3 “this is only NSNS NGOG0 G NAGOSSESO00, AIN RET 2 e N NSRS SOOGS0 B N N N N N N N N N NN A o PP P s s s L Captain Kettle did not chuck his life away usclessly. He let go his revglver and drew out his hand. “Well,” he said, “what are you grimy pirates going to do next? By the look of you you've come here to steal our soap and hair- brushes.” “Cdrnforth,” shouted the man with the eveglass, “come in here and be told what's going to hapen. I say, you fellows, bring Carnforth into the skip- per's room.” Martin Carnforth came into Kettle's room sullenly enough with his hands in his pockets. “Now I'll give you the whole case packed small,” said the spokesman. “A crowd of us found this place and dis- covered the pearls and the shell. We were all badly in want of a pile, and we took the risks and started in to get it. Most of us went away with the first cargo, and only two white men were left with a few Kanakas. Then you came. You were told you're not wanted, but you gently hinted at force majeure and iwere allowed to stay. Finally the resiof our ¢crowd comes back, and it's force majeure on the other side, .and now, you've got to go. If you've the sense of oysters you'll go peacefully. There isn't enough for all of us; at any rate we don’t intend to shar “Mr. Carnforth,” said Kettle, “I told Yyou we'd better have bottled that dirty man with the window-pane eve who's been talking.” “Look here,” said Carnforth hotly. “This is all nonsense. We've got as much right here as you.” “Right!” said the pearler. “Right had better not enter into the question. ‘We're all a blooming lot of poachers, if it comes to that. You know that, Mr. Martin, or Carnforth, or whatever you choose to call yourself for the time being. You come here under a purser’s name, your yacht is guyed out like a Mediterranean tunny fisher, and I guess you logk upon the thing much as you did bagging knockers and brass door- plates in the old days at Cambridge ~—half the fun i8 in dodging the bobby.” “You're talking the wrong sort of tone,” interrupted Carnforth. “I'm not used to being hectored at like this.” “I ‘can believe it,” said the pearler dryly. “You are a succesful man.” “And let me tell you this, You've got the upper hand for the present, that I admit. You may even force us out of the lagoon. But what then? I guess the account would not be closed; and when a man chooses to make me his enemy, I always see that he gets pay- ment in full sooner or later.” “All right,” sald the man with the “pay away. Don't mind us.” “A hint at one of the Japanese ports as to what was goin' on would soon upset your little game,” . “Not being fools,” sald the pearler coolly, “‘of course we've thought of that. We've—" 3 A hail came down the saloon skylight outside, from the deck above. ‘‘Scoot, boys, scoot! “The Phillstines be upon us.” “What's that?” shouted the man with the eyeglass. “Well, it's one of those confounded Jap gunboats, if you want to Kknow. Hurry, and we shall just get off. We'll leave these fools to pay the bill” “Humph!” sald the pearler, “that set- tles the matter another way; I must go, and I suppose you'll try to hook it too. Ta, ta, skipper; you're a good sort—I like you. By-by, Carnforth; can’t recom- mend the Jap Jails. Hope you get caught, and that'll square up for your glving me a bad time at Cambridge.” He followed the others out on deck, and a moment later thelr whaleboat was pulling hard for where the luggers rode lazlly at thelr anchors. Carnforth and Kettle went after him, and the engineers and the yacht's crew, who had been held down to the forecastle at rifle's muzzle, came on deck also. % = It did.not require any pressing to get the engine room staff to their work. The boilers were cold; but never were fires lit quicker. Paraffin, wood, small coal, grease, anything that would burn, was coaxed Into ‘the furnace doors. The told gauges began to quiver, but as “l;:ud well knew, no human means co get a working steam pressure under half an hour. / On deck the crew had run the boats up to davits, had hove short by hand, and then stood like men' on' the drop, waiting their fate. The luggers had mastheaded their vards, and were beat- ing down the against a spank- S e et e and the ‘outer _swell: and " [t With thelr ngs_ Goose-wingod. fled 1ns ~scared out over the blue froTTvees -=The Pearl Poachers cight knots, and she happemed to be foul, and so her advance was slow. But still to the watching men it seemed that she raced up like a western ocean grey- hound. The sun rose higher. The stink of the rotting shellfish came to them in poison- ous whiffs; At another time it would have spoken of wealth in sweet abund- ance. ' But now they disregarded it. Prison and dlsgrace were the only things before them, and these filled the mind. Then the chief engineer called up to the bridge through the voice tube that he could give her enough steam for steerageway in anéther minute. “Foredeck there!” cried Kettle, “Break out that anchor! By hand!” And the men labored with the hand gear, so as to save the precious steam. Then a thought flashed across Captain Kettle's brain, and he quickly ga'7e it to Carn- forth. “It’'s only a beggardly chance, sir, but we'd better try it, I suppose?” “Yes,” said Carnforth, “If only we. hadu’t painted out those names we might have done it more safe- Iy. As it is we must risk it. Off with you below, sir, and get into some decent clothes.” You'd give the whole show away if you staid on the bridge here In those filthy rags. You may be a yacht owner, sir, but, by James, you look far more like an out-of-work coal trimmer.”" Kettle gave crisp orders to the hands on deck, who disappeared also, and presently came back dressed as spruce vachtsmen, in white trousers, white drill jumpers and straw hats; and by that time the yacht was under way and steaming slowly to the pass. The gunboat was coming in with her crew at quarters, officers with swords on and everything cleared fot action. The Japanese flag ran up to her peak. Promptly an English Royal Yacht Club burgee broke out at the poacher’s main truck and a British blue ensign fluttered up to the poopstaff and dipped three times in salute. Carnforth came up on the bridge. “Now, sir,” sald Kettle, “you must do the talking. I guess it's got to be lles, and lying’s a thing I can’t go.” “What shall I say?” “Say what's needed,” replied Kettle con- cisely, “and don’t say it wrong. Remu.l?- ber, sir, you're lying for your liberty. It's neck for nothing. She’s got two big guns trained on ‘us, and a sbot ffom either would send us to Jones before we could et in a smack in return.” !“Whnl ship’s that?”’ came the hail in perfect English. “Steam yacht Vestrls, Lord Martin own- er,” said Carnforth, who knew the value of titles on forelgners. “I am Lord Mar- tin “What are you doing in here?” “Heave to and explain.” I shall do nothing of the sort, and it you dare to fire on me I will bring the British fleet' about your ears.” The Japanese spokesman and consulted with a superior, and the steam- ers drew abreast. “But you must heave to." 1 shall do nothing of the kind.” “But you are in forbidden waters. “Then you should put up & notice to say so. 1 shall report this to my ad- miralty in London.” “Go it,” sald Kettle, sotto voce. “For blooming cheek give me an M. P..” “But you must stop,” said the Japanese, wor I shall be compelled to fire."” « “You can do as you pleass,” sald Carn- forth. “I - report you'to your com- mander In chief at Nagasaki. I never came across such Insolence. You heard my name—Lord Martin. You'll hear more of me before long.” Steam was rising in the gauges, and the yacht was getting iInto her stride of 12 knots. She sped out through the passage, and rolled in the trough of the glistening swells beyond. The crew of the warship still stood to their guns, but the officers were in a dilemna. These pestilential Britishers always did - make such a row if any of their vessels were fired on; and th.s, aparently, was a yacht, though grotesquely unkempt, and tricked out with a black and red funmel; and, moreover, she was owned by a peer of the realm. 2 A last :e‘?l-\flu l::luumo over’ the waters: . you noble?” “Yes, haven’t I told you? Lord Martin. You'll know it better when you're next in larks in those days, skipper, but that's long enough ago now, and all that sort of foolighness is “past.” Captain Kettle laughed. with. pearl-poaching, sir? Or are you going to have anothér try at it? But don’t paint out the name of your ship next time. If that Jap had had the eyes of a mole he'd have seen the change and he'd have taken his chances and fired. Gov. L. C. Walthrop is no name for an English milord’s yacht.” “Have you done HOW A MAN MAY CONQUER HIS FOES. UR text this morning is from the gospel according to Roosevelt as found in his recent Thanksgiving proclamation where he remarked “The foes from whom we should pray to be delivered are our own pas- sions, appetites and follles, and against these there Is always need that we should war.” Pretty plain talk, this, from a man who belleves in ironclads, in football and in the manly art of self-defense as well as in the vigorous defense cf the nation’s homor when- ever imperiled. Do you know where your biggest foes live? Perhaps you have thought that the man who has pursued you so relentlessly all these years, who played you'a mean trick the other day, who Is undertaking to oust you from your position, who has designs upon your most cherished interests, is your great- est enemy. Not so. Or perhaps you think that you have no enemies. You have maintained peace with all your fellows by observing all the amenities of life, by carefully avolding treading on any one's toes. Oh, no, you have no enemy; everybody wishes you well, Ah, but you too are mistaken. With the X-ray of imagination look within your own breast and see the “passions, appetites and follies” which there reside. Note the impulses to Im- purity, greed, extravagance, backbit~ ing, sloth, seifishness. If you do not realize the deadliness of these foes it is because you are only hall awake moraily. In the old theologies all these foes to the better life were brought together in one conception, that of a personal devil. We may think we have outgrown this notion, but we ought not to throw away the idea for which it stands. The theory of a personal devil is a good working hypothesis, or at any rate, a good fighting hypothesis. ‘We are all engaged in a struggle to root out the beast that is in us and to establish ourselves in ways of de- cency and honor. Some of us are fight- that the foes are at hand and that they are foes not from without but of our z:ntnhmc in his room. He thought it & mouse, lit his can- dle -and hunted about until all of a sudden it burst upon him that this might be his old foe, the devil, and 80 he said with great relief, “Oh, it is you, is it?" blew out his candle and went peaceably to bed, not to be dis- turbed again until morning. taken the first step toward conquering FEL I HME L H g ] : §; i 558 (i BT ff:;:;' 5 % ]