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 by which the bill was quickly forced through. He moved that the enacting words of the bill be stricken out, which has precedence of all motions to amend, and is regarded as equivalent to the rejection of a measure. The vote upon this motion was immediately pressed, which resulted in 103 ayes and 22 noes; many of its opponents refusing to vote. Thereupon the Committee arose and reported its action to the House which refused to concur in the amendment, striking out the enacting clause. Mr. Richardson then moved an amendment by which all after the enacting clause was stricken out and in lieu thereof introduced the Senate bill (except Mr. Clayton's amendment) and demanded the previous question. The amendment was accordingly passed; the bill engrossed, read a third time and adopted by 113 yeas to 100 nays. The Congressional Globe says:

“[The announcement of the vote was received with prolonged clapping of hands, both in the House and Galleries and cries of “Order! Order!”] “The Speaker—Unless order is preserved, the Chair will order the galleries to be cleared.” “Mr. Stuart of Michigan—(in his seat), The trouble is not in the galleries.”

This bill passed the House as an original bill of that body, and was sent to the Senate for concurrence. An unsuccessful attempt was now made to reinsert Mr. Clayton's amendment excluding foreigners from certain civil privileges. In the course of the debate which ensued Senator Atchison, of Missouri, said:

“Mr. President, I voted for the amendment of the Senate bill proposed by the Senator from Delaware, but I must say now that I concur with the Senator from Georgia. I have not, however, changed my opinion, which I entertained then, that none but American citizens, native-born or naturalized, should be entitled to the right of suffrage or hold office either in the States or Territories of this country. But, Sir, there is a higher principle involved in this measure. There is no


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 constitutional question in my opinion involved in voting either for or against this amendment. It is a mere question of policy and that question of policy I am willing to yield for the sake of a higher principle entertained in this bill. Sir, I would vote for this bill, although there might be not only one, but one thousand obnoxious principles contained in it. I would vote for it because it blots out that infamous,—yes, sir, I think it a proper term to use—that infamous restriction passed by the Congress of 1820, commonly called the Missouri Compromise, passed when the State which I now in part have the honor to represent, asked admission into the Union of these States, and it was made a condition, an infamous condition, that slavery should be excluded from all the territory acquired from France, then called Louisiana, north of 36° 30' north latitude. Yes, Sir, if this bill contained one thousand obnoxious principles, with the repeal of that infamous ‘Compromise,’ as it is called, I should vote for it. When this is done we shall have achieved what, after thirty years of struggle, has only been consummated at this session.”

This exhibits the feeling with which slavery propagandists regarded the Missouri Compromise—a restriction which they had solemnly and voluntarily applied to slavery themselves in order that they might gain other ends. But after they had secured all the advantages of these concessions on the part of Free Labor, they break down the barrier of plighted faith and demand all that they had of their own accord surrendered up.

The bill which passed the Senate on the 25th and received the signature of the President on the 30th of May, 1854, will be found in the following chapter:

It is very evident that the scheme of organizing two territories instead of one, was designed to keep up the balance of power between the northern and southern States. The latter who saw that no reasonable objection could be interposed sooner or later against the organization of Nebraska, which must necessarily be a free Territory, determined, in order to preserve the equilibrium of power, to divide it into two territories,


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 one of which would, as necessarily, by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, come into the Union as a Slave State. That this was the real design and understanding of those who originated and supported the Nebraska-Kansas Bill is fully shown by what followed.


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 Rh miserable being who lay huddled on the ground and murmured at intervals, “Queen’s! Queen’s Hotel.”

But my new friend, who stood at my elbow, came to my rescue.

“Take his bag,” he said, “you’ve got to. You know the by-law. Take it or I’ll call a policeman. You know me. My name’s Narrowpath. I’m on the council.”

The man touched his hat and took the bag with a murmured apology.

“Come along,” said my companion, whom I now perceived to be a person of dignity and civic importance. “I’ll walk up with you, and show you the city as we go.”

We had hardly got well upon the street before I realized the enormous change that total prohibition had effected. Everywhere were the bright smiling faces of working people, laughing and singing at their tasks, and, early though it was, cracking jokes and asking one another riddles as they worked.

I noticed one man, evidently a city employé, in a rough white suit, busily cleaning the street with a broom and singing to himself: “How does the little busy bee improve the shining hour.” Another employé, who was handling a little hose, was singing, “Little drops of water, little grains of sand, Tra, la, la, la, la la, Prohibition’s grand.”

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And be it further enacted, That all that part of the territory of the United States included within the following limits, except such portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted from the operations of this act, to wit: beginning at a point on the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence north on said boundary to latitude thirty-eight; thence following said boundary westward to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward on said summit to the fortieth parallel of latitude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence south with the western boundary of said State, to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby created into a temporary government by the name of the Territory of Kansas, and when admitted as a State or States, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into the Union with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission; Provided, That nothing in this act contained, shall be construed to inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said Territory into two or more Territories, in such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem convenient


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 and proper, or from attaching any portion of said Territory to any other State or Territory of the United States; Provided further, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to impair the rights of person or property now pertaining to the Indians in said Territory, so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty between the United States and such Indians, or to include any territory which by treaty with any Indian tribe is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be included within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of any State or Territory; but all such territory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, and constitute no part of the Territory of Kansas, until said tribe shall signify their assent to the President of the United States to be included within the said Territory of Kansas, or to affect the authority of the government of the United States to make any regulation respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or other rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would have been competent to the government to make if this act had never passed.

And be it further enacted, That the executive power and authority in and over said Territory of Kansas, shall be vested in a Governor, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States. The Governor shall reside within said Territory, and shall be commander-in-chief of the Militia thereof. He may grant pardons and respites for offenses against the laws of said Territory, and reprieves for offenses against the laws of the United States, until the decision of the President can be made known thereon; he shall commission all officers who shall be appointed to office under the laws of said Territory, and shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

And be it further enacted, That there shall be a Secretary of said Territory, who shall reside therein, and hold his office for five years, unless sooner removed by the


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 President of the United States; he shall record and preserve all the laws and proceedings of the Legislative Assembly hereinafter constituted, and all the acts and proceedings of the Governor in his executive department; he shall transmit one copy of the laws and journals of the Legislative Assembly, within thirty days after the end of each session, and one copy of the executive proceedings and official correspondence semi-annually, on the first days of January and July in each year, to the President of the United States; and two copies of the laws to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to be deposited in the libraries of Congress; and in case of the death, removal, resignation or absence of the Governor from the Territory, the Secretary shall be, and is hereby authorized and required, to execute and perform all the powers and duties of the Governor during such vacancy or absence, or until another Governor shall be duly appointed and qualified to fill such vacancy.

And be it further enacted, That the legislative power and authority of said Territory shall be vested in the Governor and a Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly shall consist of a Council and House of Representatives. The Council shall consist of thirteen members, having the qualifications of voters, as hereinafter prescribed, whose term of service shall continue two years. The House of Representatives shall, at its first session, consist of twenty-six members, possessing the same qualifications as prescribed for members of the Council, and whose term of service shall continue one year. The number of representatives may be increased by the Legislative Assembly, from time to time, in proportion to the increase of qualified voters; Provided, That the whole number shall never exceed thirty-nine. An apportionment shall be made, as nearly equal as practicable, among the several counties or districts, for the election of the Council and Representatives, giving to each section of the Territory representation in the ratio of its qualified voters,


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 as nearly as may be. And the members of the Council and House of Representatives shall reside in, and be inhabitants of, the district, or county or counties, for which they may be elected, respectively. Previous to the first election, the Governor shall cause a census, or enumeration of the inhabitants and qualified voters of the several counties and districts of the Territory, to be taken by such persons, and in such mode as the Governor shall designate and appoint; and the person so appointed shall receive a reasonable compensation therefor. And the first election shall be held at such time and places, and be conducted in such manner, both as to the persons who shall superintend such election and the returns thereof, as the Governor shall appoint and direct; and he shall, at the same time, declare the number of members of the Council and House of Representatives to which each of the counties or districts shall be entitled under this act. The persons having the highest number of legal votes in each of said council districts for members of the Council, shall be declared by the Governor to be duly elected to the Council; and the persons having the highest number of legal votes for the House of Representatives, shall be declared by the Governor to be duly elected members of said House; Provided, That in case two or more persons voted for shall have an equal number of votes, and in case a vacancy shall otherwise occur in either branch of the Legislative Assembly, the Governor shall order a new election; and the persons thus elected to the Legislative Assembly, shall meet at such place and on such day as the Governor shall appoint; but thereafter, the time, place and manner of holding and conducting all elections by the people, and the apportioning the representation in the several counties or districts, to the Council and House of Representatives, according to the number of qualified voters, shall be prescribed by law, as well as the day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the Legislative Assembly; Provided, That no session, in any one year, shall


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 exceed the term of forty days, except the first session, which may continue sixty days.

And be it further enacted, That every free white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one years, who shall be an actual resident of said Territory, and shall possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed, shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office within the said Territory; but the qualifications of voters, and of holding office, at all subsequent elections shall be such as shall be prescribed by the Legislative Assembly; Provided, That the right of suffrage and of holding office shall be exercised only by citizens of the United States and those who have declared on oath their intention to become such, and shall have taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and the provisions of this Act; And provided further, That no officer, soldier, seaman or marine, or attached to troops in the service of the United States, shall be allowed to vote or hold office in said Territory, by reason of being on service therein.

And be it further enacted, That the legislative power of the Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation, consistent with the Constitution of the United States and the provisions of this Act; but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property of the United States; nor shall the lands or other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the lands or property of residents. Every bill which shall have passed the Council and House of Representatives of the said Territory, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor of the Territory; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to the House in which it originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise


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 be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, to be entered on the Journal of each House, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within three days—Sundays excepted—after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Assembly, by adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

And be it further enacted, That all township, district and county officers, not herein otherwise provided for, shall be appointed or elected, as the case may be, in such manner as shall be provided by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Kansas. The Governor shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council appoint all officers not herein otherwise provided for; and in the first instance the Governor alone may appoint all said officers, who shall hold their offices until the end of the first session of the Legislative Assembly; and shall lay off the necessary districts for members of the Council and House of Representatives, and all other officers.

And be it further enacted, That no member of the Legislative Assembly shall hold, or be appointed to any office which shall have been created, or the salary or emoluments of which shall have been increased while he was a member, during the term for which he was elected, and for one year after the expiration of such term, but this restriction shall not be applicable to members of the first Legislative Assembly; and no person holding a commission or appointment under the United States, except postmasters, shall be a member of the Legislative Assembly, or shall hold any office under the government of said Territory.

And be it further enacted, That the judicial power of said Territory shall be vested in a Supreme Court, District Courts, Probate Courts and in Justices of the Peace.—


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 The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief Justice and two Associate Justices, and two of whom shall constitute a quorum, and who shall hold a term at the seat of government of said Territory, annually, and they shall hold their offices during a period of four years, and until their successors shall he appointed and qualified. The said Territory shall be divided into three judicial districts, and a District Court shall be held in each of said districts by one of the justices of the Supreme Court, at such time and places as may be prescribed by law; and the said judges shall, after their appointments, respectively reside in the district which shall be assigned them. The jurisdiction of the several courts herein provided for, both appellate and original, and that of the Probate Courts and Justices of the Peace, shall be as limited by law; Provided, That Justices of the Peace shall not have jurisdiction of any matter in controversy when the title or boundaries of land may be in dispute, or where the debt or sum claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars; and the said Supreme and District Courts, respectively shall, possess chancery as well as common law jurisdiction. Each District Court or the judge thereof, shall appoint its clerk, who shall also be the register in chancery, and shall keep his office at the place where the court may be held. Writs of error, bills of exception and appeals may be allowed in all cases from the final decision of said District Courts, to the Supreme Court, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law; but in no case removed to the Supreme Court, shall trial by jury be allowed in said court. The Supreme Court or the justices thereof, shall appoint its own clerk, and every clerk shall hold his office at the pleasure of the court for which he shall have been appointed. Writs of error and appeals from the final decision of said Supreme Court shall be allowed, and may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, in the same manner and under the same regulations as from the Circuit Courts of the United States, where the value of the property or the amount in controversy, to


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 be ascertained by the oath or affirmation of either party or other competent witnesses, shall exceed one thousand dollars; except that in all cases involving title to slaves, the said writs of error or appeals shall be allowed and decided by said Supreme Court, without regard to the value of the matter, property or title in controversy; and except, also, that a writ of error or appeal shall also be allowed to the Supreme Court of the United States, from the decision of the said Supreme Court created by this act, or any judge thereof, or of the District Courts created by this act or any judge thereof, upon any writ of habeas corpus, involving the question of personal freedom; Provided, That nothing herein contained shall he construed to apply to or effect the provisions of the “Act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the services of their masters,” approved Feb. twelfth, seventeen hundred and ninety-three, and the “Act to amend and supplementary to said act,” approved September eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty; and each of the said District Courts shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction, and in all cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States as is vested in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States; and the said Supreme Courts of the said Territory and the respective judges thereof, shall and may grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the same are granted by the judges of the United States in the District of Columbia; and the first six days of every term of said courts arising under the Constitution and laws, and writs of error and appeal in all cases shall be made to the Supreme Court of said Territory, the same as in other cases. The said clerk shall receive the same fees in all such cases which the clerks of the District Courts of Utah Territory now receive for similar services.

And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the act entitled “An act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters,” approved


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 Feb. twelfth, seventeen hundred and ninety-three, and the provisions of an act entitled “An act to amend, and supplamentary to the aforesaid act,” approved September eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty, be and the same is hereby declared to extend to and to be in full force within the limits of the said Territory of Kansas.

And be it further enacted, That there shall be appointed an attorney for said Territory, who shall continue in office for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President, and who shall receive the same fees and salary as the attorney of the United States for the present Territory of Utah. There shall also be a marshal for the Territory, appointed, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President, and who shall execute all processes issuing from the said courts when exercising their jurisdiction as circuit and district courts of the United States; he shall perform the duties, be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the same fees as the marshal of the district court of the United States for the present Territory of Utah, and shall, in addition, be paid two hundred dollars annually, as a compensation for extra services.

And be it further enacted, That the Governor, Secretary, Chief Justice and Associate Justices, Attorney and Marshal, shall be nominated, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed by the President of the United States. The Governor and Secretary to be appointed as aforesaid, shall, before they act as such, respectively take an oath or affirmation before the District Judge or some Justice of the Peace in the limits of said Territory, duly authorized to administer oaths and affirmations by the laws now in force therein, or before the Chief Justice or some Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to support the Constitution of the United States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offices, which said oaths, when


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 so taken, shall be certified by the person by whom the same shall have been taken; and such certificate shall be received and recorded, by the said Secretary, among the executive proceedings; and the Chief Justice and Associate Justices, and all other civil officers in said Territory, before they act as such, shall take a like oath or affirmation before the said Governor or Secretary, or some Judge or Justice of the Peace of the Territory, who may be duly commissioned and qualified, which said oath or affirmation shall be certified and transmitted by the person taking the same, to the Secretary, to be by him recorded as aforesaid; and, afterwards, the like oath or affirmation shall be taken, certified and recorded, in such manner and form as may be prescribed by law. The Governor shall receive an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars. The Chief Justice and Associate Justices shall receive an annual salary of two thousand dollars. The Secretary shall receive an annual salary of two thousand dollars. The said salaries shall be paid quarter-yearly, from the dates of the respective appointments, at the treasury of the United States; but no such payment shall be made until said officers shall have entered upon the duties of their respective appointments. The members of the Legislative Assembly shall be entitled to receive three dollars each per day, during their attendance at the sessions thereof, and three dollars each for every twenty miles travel in going to and returning from the said sessions, estimated according to the nearest usually traveled route; and an additional allowance of three dollars shall be paid to the presiding officer of each House, for each day he shall so preside. And a chief clerk, one assistant clerk, a sergeant-at-arms and door-keeper, may be chosen for each House; and the chief clerk shall receive four dollars per day, and the said other officers three dollars per day during the session of the Legislative Assembly; but no other officers shall be paid by the United States; Provided, That there shall be but one session of the Legislature annually, unless, on an extraordinary occasion, the Governor shall think proper to call


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 the Legislature together. There shall be appropriated annually, the usual sum to be expended by the Governor, to defray the contingent expenses of the Territory, including the salary of a clerk of the executive department; and there shall also be appropriated annually, a sufficient sum to be expended by the Secretary of the Territory, and upon an estimate to be made by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, to defray the expenses of the Legislative Assembly, the printing of the laws and other incidental expenses; and the Governor and the Secretary of the Territory shall, in the disbursement of all moneys intrusted to them, be governed solely by the instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, and shall, semi-annually, account to the said Secretary for the manner in which the aforesaid moneys shall have been expended; and no expenditure shall be made by said Legislative Assembly for objects not specially authorized by the acts of Congress making the appropriations, nor beyond the sums thus appropriated for such objects.

And be it further enacted, That the seat of government of said Territory is hereby temporarily located at Fort Leavenworth; and that such portions of the public buildings as may not be actually used and needed for military purposes, may be occupied and used under the direction of the Governor and Legislative Assembly, for such public purposes as may be required under the provisions of this act.

And be it further enacted, That a delegate to the House of Representatives of the United States, to serve for the term of two years, who shall be a citizen of the United States, may be elected by the voters qualified to elect members of the Legislative Assembly, who shall be entitled to the same rights and privileges as are exercised by the delegates from the several other Territories of the United States to the said House of Representatives; but the delegate first elected shall hold his seat only during the term of Congress to which he shall be elected. The first election shall be held at such


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 times and places, and be conducted in such manner as the Governor shall appoint and direct; and at all subsequent elections, the times, places and manner of holding the election, shall be prescribed by law. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be declared, by the Governor to be duly elected, and a certificate thereof shall be given accordingly. That the Constitution, and all laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect within the said Territory of Kansas as elsewhere within the United States, except the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved March sixth, eighteen hundred and twenty, which being inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by the legislation of eighteen hundred and fifty, commonly called the compromise measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or States, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States; Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any law or regulation which may have existed prior to the act of the sixth of March, eighteen hundred and twenty, either protecting, establishing, prohibiting or abolishing slavery.

And be it further enacted, That there shall hereafter be appropriated, as has been customary for the Territorial governments, a sufficient amount, to be expended under the direction of the said Governor of the Territory of Kansas, not exceeding the sums heretofore appropriated for similar objects, for the erection of suitable public buildings at the seat of government, and for the purchase of a library, to be kept at the seat of government for the use of the Governor, Legislative Assembly, Judges of the Supreme Court, Secretary, Marshal


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 and Attorney of said Territory, and such other persons, under such regulations, as shall be prescribed by law.

And be it further enacted, That when the lands in the said Territory shall be surveyed under the direction of the government of the United States, preparatory to bringing the same into market, sections numbered sixteen and thirtysix in each township in said Territory, shall be, and the same are hereby reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in said Territory, and in the States and Territories hereafter to be erected out of the same.

And be it further enacted, That until otherwise provided by law, the Governor of said Territory may define the judicial districts of said Territory, and assign the Judges who may be appointed for said Territory to the several districts; and also appoint the times and places for holding courts in the several counties or sub-divisions in each of said judicial districts, by proclamation, to be issued by him; but the Legislative Assembly, at their first or any subsequent session may organize, alter or modify such judicial districts and assign the Judges, and alter the times and places of holding the courts, as to them shall seem proper and convenient.

And be it further enacted, That all officers to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for the Territory of Kansas, who, by virtue of the provisions of the laws now existing, or which may be enacted during the present Congress, are required to give security for the moneys entrusted with them for disbursement, and shall give such security at such time and place and in such manner as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe.

And be it further enacted, That all treaties, laws, and other engagements made by the government of the United States with the Indian tribes inhabiting the Territories embraced within this act, shall be faithfully and rigidly observed, notwithstanding any thing contained in this act; and that the existing agencies and superintendencies of said Indians be


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 continued with the same powers and duties which are now prescribed, except the President of the United States may, at his discretion, change the location of the office of the Superintendent.

Approved, May 30, 1854.


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(See page 366.)


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 Rh “Why do they sing?” I asked. “Are they crazy?”

“Sing?” said Mr. Narrowpath. “They can’t help it. They haven’t had a drink of whisky for four months.”

A coal cart went by with a driver, no longer grimy and smudged, but neatly dressed with a high white collar and a white silk tie.

My companion pointed at him as he passed.

“Hasn’t had a glass of beer for four months,” he said. “Notice the difference. That man’s work is now a pleasure to him. He used to spend all his evenings sitting round in the back parlours of the saloons beside the stove. Now what do you think he does?”

“I have no idea.”

“Loads up his cart with coal and goes for a drive—out in the country. Ah, sir, you who live still under the curse of the whisky traffic little know what a pleasure work itself becomes when drink and all that goes with it is eliminated. Do you see that man, on the other side of the street, with the tool bag?”

“Yes,” I said, “a plumber, is he not?”

“Exactly, a plumber. Used to drink heavily—couldn’t keep a job more than a week. Now, you can’t drag him from his work. Came to my house to fix a pipe under the kitchen sink—wouldn’t quit at six o’clock. Got in under the sink and begged to be allowed to stay

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 By

Illustrated by Alfred Leete.

some poet or philosopher fellow say that it's when our intentions are best that we always make the most poisonous bloomers? I can't put my hand on the passage, but you'll find it in Shakespeare or somewhere, I'm pretty certain.

Anyhow, it's always that way with me. And the affair of Percy Craye is a case in point.

I had dined with Percy (a dear old pal of mine) one night at the Bank of England—he's in the Guards, and it was his turn to be on hand there and prevent any blighter trying to slide in and help himself—and as he was seeing me out he said, "Reggie, old top" (my name's Reggie Pepper)—"Reggie, old top, I'm rather worried."

"Are you, Percy, old pal?" I said.

"Yes, Reggie, old fellow," he said, "I am. It's like this. The Booles have asked me down to their place for the week-end, and I don't know whether to go or not. You see, they have family prayers at half-past eight sharp, and besides that there's a frightful risk of music after dinner. On the other hand, young Roderick Boole thinks he can play piquet."

"I should go," I said.

"But I'm not sure Roderick's going to be there this time."

It was a pretty tricky problem, and I didn't wonder poor old Percy had looked pale and fagged at dinner.

Then I had the idea which really started all the trobule.

"Why don't you consult a palmist?" I said.

"That's not a bad idea," said Percy.

"Go and see Dorothea in Bond Street. She's a wonder. She'll settle it for you in a second. She'll see from your lines that you are thinking of making a journey, and she'll either tell you to fizz ahead, which will mean that Roderick will be there, or else to keep away because she sees disaster."

"You seem well up in this sort of thing."

"I've been to a good many of them. You'll like Dorothea."

"What did you say her name was—Dorothea? What do I do? Do I just walk in? Sha'n't I feel a fearful ass? How much do I give her?"

"A guinea. You'd better write and make an appointment."

"All right," said Percy. "But I know I shall look a frightful fool."

You would hardly believe the trouble it took to bring him to the scratch. In the end I took him round myself and left him there, and about a week later I ran into him between the acts at the Gaiety. The old boy was beaming.

"Reggie," he said, "you did me the best turn anyone's ever done me, sending me to Mrs. Darrell."

"Mrs. Darrell?"

"You know—Dorothea. Her real name's Darrell. She's a widow. Her husband was in a line regiment, and left her without a penny. It's a frightfully pathetic story. Haven't time to tell you now. My boy, she's a marvel. She had hardly looked at my hand when she said, 'You will prosper in any venture you undertake.' And next day, by Jove, I popped down to the Booles and separated young Roderick from fourteen pounds seven and six. She's a wonderful woman. Did you ever see just that shade of hair?"

"I didn't notice her hair."

He gaped at me in a sort of petrified astonishment.

"You—didn't—notice—her—hair?" he gasped.

Just then the bell rang, and I had to nip back to my stall.

I can't fix the dates exactly, but it must have been about three weeks after this that I got a telegram, "Call Eaton Square immediately.—."

She needn't have signed her name. I should have known who it was from by the wording. Ever since I was a kid Percy's sister Florence has oppressed me to the most fearful extent. Not that I'm the only one. Her brothers live in terror of her. I know. Especially Lord Weeting. He's never been able to get away from her, and it's absolutely


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 broken his spirit. He's a mild, hopeless sort of ass, who spends all his time at Weeting and has never been known to come to London. He's writing a history of the family or something, I believe.

You see, events have conspired, so to speak, to let Florence do pretty much as she likes with them. The family affairs have got themselves into a bit of a muddle. Originally there was Percy's father, Lord Worplesdon; Percy's elder brother Edwin, who's Lord Weeting; Florence, and Percy. Lady Worplesdon has been dead some years. Then came the smash. It happened through Lord Worplesdon. Most people, if you ask them, will tell you that he is bang off his rocker, and I'm not sure they're not right. At any rate, one morning he came down to breakfast, lifted the first cover on the sideboard, said, in a despairing sort of way, "Eggs! Eggs! Eggs! Curse all eggs!" and walked out of the room. Nobody thought much of it till about an hour afterwards, when they found that he had packed a portmanteau, left the house, and caught the train to London. Next day they got a letter from him, saying that he was off to the Continent, never to return, and that all communications were to be addressed to his solicitors.

And from that day none of them had seen him. He wrote occasionally, generally from Paris, and that was all.

Well, directly news of this got about down swooped a series of aunts to grab the helm. They didn't stay long. Florence had them out, one after the other, in no time. If any lingering doubt remained in their minds, don't you know, as to who was going to be boss at Weeting, it wasn't her fault. Since then she has run the show.

I went to Eaton Square. It was one of the aunts' houses. There was no sign of the aunt when I called—she had probably climbed a tree and pulled it up after her—but Florence was in the drawing-room.

She is a tall woman with what, I believe, is called "a presence." Her eyes are bright and black, and have a way of getting right inside you, don't you know, and running up and down your spine. She has a deep voice. She is about ten years older than Percy's brother Edwin, who is six years older than Percy.

"Good afternoon," she said. "Sit down."

I poured myself into a chair.

"Reginald," she said, "what is this I hear about Percy?"

I said I didn't know.

"He says that you introduced him."

"Eh?"

"To this woman—this Mrs. Darrell."

"Mrs. Darrell?"

My memory's pretty rocky, and the name conveyed nothing to me.

She pulled out a letter.

"Yes," she said; "Mrs. Dorothy Darrell."

"Great Scot! Dorothea!"

Her eyes resumed their spine-drill.

"Who is she?"

"Only a palmist."

"Only a palmist!" Her voice absolutely boomed. "Well, my brother Percy is engaged to be married to her."

"Many happy returns of the day." I said.

I don't know why I said it. It wasn't


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Kansas cannot boast of a remote antiquity. Her soil never became the scene of stirring events until of late years. Her level and far-reaching prairies afforded but little temptation to the early adventurer. No ideal gold mine or opulent Indian city were ever located within her boundary.

The name Kansas, signifying smoky, is derived from the chief river running from the east through the centre of the State; the name of the river having been derived from that of the tribe of Indians inhabiting its borders towards its mouth. It is variously spelled by early writers, Cansan, Kanson, Kanzas; but since the organization of the Territory it has been written Kansas. The Kansas Indians are sometimes called Kaws—a nick-name given them by the French.

In 1705 the French explored the Missouri River as far as the mouth of the Kansas. They were kindly received by the natives, and were soon engaged in a profitable trade with them, which they continued to carry on for more than a century afterwards. These were the first Europeans that beheld the soil and river of Kansas.

In 1719 M. Dutisne, a young French officer, was sent out with a party by Beinville, Governor of Louisiana, on an exploring expedition. He ascended the Mississippi as far as the Sabine river, and thence traveled westward over a rocky, broken and timbered country, about three hundred miles as near as he could judge, until he came to the principal village


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 of the Osages. As he describes the village, it was then situated on a hill, five miles from the Osage River, and contained about one hundred cabins. These Indians spent but a small part of their time at the village, being engaged in the chase at a distance.

Traveling thence to the north-west one hundred and twenty miles, he visits the Panoucas. They lived on the prairie which abounded in buffaloes, in two villages of about one hundred and thirty cabins. They had three hundred fine horses which they prized very highly. Then he advanced westward four hundred and fifty miles to the Paonis, a very brave and warlike nation. Here he takes formal possession of the country in the name of his King by erecting a cross with the arms of France, Sept. 27th, 1719. He now turns back and directs his march to the Missouri River, three hundred and fifty yards from which he discovers the village of the Missouries. Thus so early the French have discovered and explored the Territory of Kansas, and had opened a lively traffic with the Indians, which was kept up for a century afterwards.

The Spaniards, who always repelled with alacrity every western advance of the French, having driven them from Texas, determined to have command of the Missouri River before their rivals had permanently established themselves upon its border. They had heard of M. Dutisne's tour through the territory and knew that success required celerity. They sought by possessing themselves of the Missouri River, to command its waters and enjoy its commerce by restricting the French on the Illinois side of the Mississippi. Their object was first to conquer the Missouries who lived upon the banks of that river, and who were friendly to the French, and establish there a colony. The Pawnees, who dwelt west of the aforesaid Indians, were at war with them, and the Spaniards hoped to enlist the former as allies in the undertaking.


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 Accordingly a numerous caravan set out from Santa Fe in 1720 to take possession of the country along the Missouri and establish upon its borders a colony. They first sought the Pawnee villages in their march, but losing their way, they unfortunately fell in with the Missouries whose destruction they had planned. Mistaking them for the Pawnees, they made known their designs, and solicited their co-operation. The Missouries manifesting not the least astonishment at this unexpected visit and startling communication, requested time to assemble their warriors. In forty-eight hours two thousand assembled in arms. They attacked the Spaniards in the night and killed the whole party except one priest who escaped on horseback and returned to Santa Fe, where the records of this account are preserved.

This battle occurred a little below Fort Leavenworth, on the banks of the Missouri.

The French apprised of this bold undertaking of the Spaniards in advancing almost one thousand miles from their possessions into this unexplored country, resolved to establish a fortification in that direction. Accordingly M. de Bourgmont was dispatched with a considerable force, who ascended the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to an island in the latter above the mouth of the Osage River a short distance, and established on it Fort Orleans.

At this time the Padoucas, who lived north-west of the Missouries, were at war with the latter and their allies, the Kansas, Ottoes, Osages and Iowas. The above mentioned officer in 1724, made an extensive exploration from Fort Orleans to the north-west, accompanied by a few soldiers and some friendly Indians, for the purpose of establishing friendship among the native tribes and opening and strengthening trade with them. Setting out on the 3d of July, he returned on the 5th of November, having successfully accomplished his object.

Lewis and Cark in 1804 made an expedition up the Missouri


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 and across to the Pacific under the direction of the Government. They encamped at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers and spent two days. Here they found plenty of game. Somewhere near Atchison, they discovered the remains of an old French fort and village. A little farther up they found a house and a trading-post but met with no white people. A negro cook with them excited the curiosity of the Indians.

The first steamboat that passed Kansas on the waters of the Missouri was the Western Engineer in 1819, under the command of Major S. H. Long. He, with a corps of Topographical Engineers, went on a tour of observation up to the Yellow Stone. “The boat was a small one with a stern wheel and an escape pipe so contrived as to emit a torrent of smoke and steam through the head of a serpent with a red, forked tongue from the bow.” This was designed to imitate a powerful serpent, vomiting fire and smoke, and lashing the water into a foam with its tail, in order to strike terror among the Indians. Tradition says that they thought it was a “maniteau” which had come to destroy them.

The fur trade was early prosecuted along the Missouri River. In this extensive and lucrative traffic Kansas must have participated largely. During the fifteen years previous to 1804 the value of furs annually collected at St. Louis is estimated at $203,750. James Pursley was the first hunter and trapper to traverse the plains between the United States and New Mexico (1802), and consequently the first Anglo-American to behold the soil of Kansas. General William H. Ashley in 1823 fitted out his first trapping expedition to the mountains. He discovered the South Pass and thus opened the highway to Oregon and California. For forty vears the fur trade averaged from two to three hundred thousand dollars annually. The last named gentleman alone between the years 1824 and 1827 sent fur to St. Louis to the value of $180,000.


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 In the spring of 1823 the great Santa Fe trade from Missouri originated at Franklin, now Booneville, in Howard County, where the first enterprise was planned and outfit procured. It being an experimental trip, the stocks conveyed were slender, comprising a cheap class of goods, which were carried on pack mules and in wagons. This expedition proving a success, and awakening bright prospects of wealth, it was repeated the following year on a more extensive scale. In 1825 the Government, having its attention directed to this new channel of commerce by Colonel Benton, employed Major Sibley to survey and establish a wagon road from the Missouri State line to Santa Fe, which has been a great thoroughfare of travel ever since. The trade increased slowly but gradually during the next twenty-two years, the value of its exports averaging from $50,000 to $100,000 per annum.

The Indian tribes through whose territory the trains had to pass soon became very troublesome. They would suddenly swoop down upon the unsuspecting encampment of the transporters, drive off their draft animals, rob the wagons and frequently destroy lives. As but few traders in those days started out with more than two or three wagons, considerations of safety suggested a general rendezvous, from which point they could all start together and afford each other mutual protection. A spot well timbered and watered was selected for this purpose, which has ever since been known as “Council Grove.” The caravans that thus collected here, numbered hundreds of wagons and thousands of mules, horses and oxen, and their departures over the Plains noted in the papers through the States.

The town of Independence, Missouri, was formed soon after the opening of this overland traffic and became the principal outfitting post. From 1832 to 1848 it held this commercial ascendancy and its merchants accumulated vast fortunes. In 1834 the first stock of goods was landed a little below Kansas City, at Francis Chouteau's log warehouse,


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 destined for the New Mexico trade. From that time Kansas City and Westport continued to acquire more and more of this overland commerce, so that by 1850 they had secured its complete monopoly.

According to the record kept by Messrs. Hays & Co. at Council Grove, there were engaged in the New Mexico trade in 1860, 5,984 men; 2,170 wagons; 464 horses; 5,933 mules; 17,836 oxen. The wagons were loaded with fifty-five hundred pounds each on an average, making an aggregate of six thousand tons! The capital employed in carrying on this transportation for this season alone was not far from two million dollars!

To protect this trade and the western frontier from the depredations of the Indians the Government in 1827 posted a portion of the Third Regiment of United States troops, numbering about 200 men, where Fort Leavenworth now stands, under command of Major Baker. This post was named after the Colonel of this regiment, Henry H. Leavenworth. It was at first called a cantonment and the title of Fort was not applied until 1832. For several years after its establishment the troops were so greatly afflicted by disease that in 1829 it was temporarily reduced—the most of the troops being sent upon the prairies. In 1830 the Sixth Regiment of Infantry superseded the Third; and in 1835 it was commanded by the Third Division of Dragoons under Colonel Dodge, who, in 1845, made an expedition to Pike's Peak and back, in which he cultivated the friendship of the Prairie Indians. Fort Leavenworth attracted but little attention until the breaking out of the war with Mexico and the gold excitement in California when it became a great outfitting post for western travel and trade.

Soon after the admission of Missouri as a State into the Union, large cessions of land were secured to the United States from the natives west of that State. The Government then conceived the design and perfected a plan for the transfer


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 of all eastern tribes of Indians to the west of the Mississippi. Tribe after tribe was thus led to migrate westward, so that by the middle of the Nineteenth Century not a tribe remained in the States. Thus up to the time of the organization of this Territory, the lands of Kansas were held and inhabited solely by Indians, white people being forbidden by the terms of the treaties to settle on them without the consent of the former. This was literally the Indian Territory, and it was the design of the General Government to make it the permanent home of the Red Man.

Fort Scott was made a military post in 1841 to hold the Indians in check. A few Government buildings were erected, which were sold in 1855 for two or three hundred dollars a piece. The American Fur Company formerly had a post there.

From 1843 to 1850 General Fremont made repeated tours through this Territory.

The first train that ever crossed the Plains, over the Rocky Mountains, to the Pacific coast, was conducted in 1844 by Mr. Neil Gillem. He set out from Buchanan County, Missouri, with fifty wagons and one hundred men, and went to Oregon. The following year the Mormons assembled near Atchison preparatory to crossing the Plains. They made this their place of rendezvous for all companies going to Salt Lake for several years thereafter. They erected a house here afterwards and opened a farm, which is to this day known as the Mormon farm.

In 1845 the Mexican war broke out and Fort Leavenworth became the gathering point for soldiers and the shipping point for military stores, destined for Mexico. It was across the prairies of Kansas that General Kearney made his celebrated march to Santa Fe. Immediately after the termination of this war gold was discovered in California, and the tide of fortune seekers rolled across this soil. Kansas City, Fort Leavenworth and St. Joseph were the principal points at which the emigrants united into vast caravans, miles in


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 length, bound for the land of wealth. In 1849, thirty thousand, and in 1850 sixty thousand, persons crossed the Plains on their journey to the Golden Gate, the chief portion of whom crossed the prairies of Kansas.

As this kind of prairie travel and commerce is passing away, it is thought proper to insert an excellent description of it by one with whom it was perfectly familiar:

“The wagons, after receiving their loads, severally return to the camping places, until all belonging to the train are assembled. At that ‘the order of march’ is given. A scene then ensues that baffles description. Carriages, wagons, men, horses and mules and oxen, appear in chaotic confusion. Men are cursing, distressing mulish outcries, bovine lowing, form an all but harmonious concert, above the desonances of which the commanding tone of the wagon master's voice only is heard. The teamsters make a merciless use of their whip, fists and feet. The horses rear, the mules kick, the oxen baulk. But gradually order is made to prevail and each of the conflicting elements to assume its proper place. The commander finally gives the sign of readiness by mounting his mule, and soon the caravan is pursuing its slow way along the road.

“The trains reveal their approach at a great distance. Long before getting in sight, especially when the wind carries the sound in the right direction, the jarring and croaking of the wagons, the ‘gee-ho’ and ‘ho-haw’ of the drivers, and the reverberations of the whips, announce it in the most unmistakable manner. The traveler coming nearer, the train will by degrees rise into sight, just as ships at sea appear to emerge from below the horizon. The wagons being all in view, the train, when seen a few miles off, from the shining white of the covers, and the hull-like appearance of the bodies of the wagons, truly looks like a fleet sailing with canvass all spread, over a seeming sea. A further advance will bring one up with the train master, who always keeps a mile or so ahead, in order to learn the condition of the roads, leaving the immediate charge of the train to his assistant. On arriving up with the caravan itself, one will pass from twenty-five to seventy-five high-boxed, heavy-wheeled wagons, covered with double sheets of canvass, loaded with from fifty to sixty hundred pounds of freight, and drawn by from


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 five to six yoke of oxen, or five spans of mules each. One driver for every wagon is attached to the train. From four to ten extra hands also accompany it, to fill possible vacancies. One or more mess wagons, under the superintendence of cooks likewise form a part of the cortege, the whole being under the supreme command of the wagon master and his assistant. As to cooks the crew of the prairie fleet, after having traveled on the Plains a week or two, outshine the deck hands of our steamboats altogether. When ‘under sail’ the prairie schooners usually keep about thirty yards from each other, and as each of them, with its animate propelling power, has a length of eighty or ninety feet, a large train requires an hour to pass a given point.”


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 what I meant to say. I'm not sure I meant to say anything.

She glared at me. By this time I was pure jelly. I simply flowed about the chair.

"You are facetious, Reginald," she said.

"No, no, no!" I shouted. "It slipped out. I wouldn't be facetious for worlds."

"I am glad. It is no laughing matter. Have you any suggestions?"

"Suggestions?"

"You don't imagine it can be allowed to go on? The engagement must be broken, of course. But how?"

"Why don't you tell him he mustn't?"

"I shall naturally express my strong disapproval, but it may not be effective. When out of the reach of my personal influence my wretched brother is self-willed to a degree."

I saw what she meant. Good old Percy wasn't going to have those eyes patrolling his spine if he knew it. He meant to keep away and conduct this business by letter. There was going to be no personal interview with sister, if he had to dodge about London like a snipe.

We sat for a long time without speaking. Then I became rather subtle. I had a brainwave, and saw my way to making things right for Percy and at the same time squaring myself with Florence. After all, I thought, the old boy couldn't keep away from the ancestral for the rest of his life. He would have to go to Weeting sooner or later. And my scheme made it pleasant and easy for him.

"I'll tell you what I should do if I were you," I said. "I'm not sure I didn't read some book or see some play somewhere or other where they tried it on, and it worked out all right. Chap got engaged to a girl and the family didn't like it, but, instead of cutting up rough, they pretended they didn't object, and had the chap and the girl down to stay with them. And then, after the chap had seen the girl with the home-circle as a background, don't you know, he came to the conclusion that the shot wasn't on the board, and broke off the engagement."

It seemed to strike her.

"I hardly expected so sensible a suggestion from you, Reginald," she said. "It is a very good plan. It shows that you really have a definite substratum of intelligence; and it is all the more deplorable that you should idle your way through the world as you do, when you might be performing some really useful work."

That was Florence all over. Even when she patted you on the head she did it with her knuckles.

"I will invite them down next week," she went on. "You had better come, too."

"It's awfully kind of you, but the fact is"

"Next Wednesday. Take the three forty-seven."

I met Percy next day. He was looking happy but puzzled, like a man who has found a sixpence in the street and is wondering if there's a string tied to it. I congratulated him on his engagement.

"Reggie," he said, "a pretty rum thing has happened. I feel as if I'd trodden on the last step when it wasn't there. I've just had a letter from my sister Florence asking me to bring Dorothy to Weeting on Wednesday. Florence doesn't seem to mind the idea of the engagement a bit; and I'd expected that I'd have to put myself under police protection. I believe there's a catch somewhere."

I tapped him on the breast-bone.


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 "There is, Percy, old lovely," I said, "and I'll tell you what it is. I saw her yesterday, and I can give you the straight tip. She thinks that if you see Mrs. Darrell mingling with the home-circle, you'll see flaws in her which you don't see when you don't see her mingling with the home-circle, don't you see. Do you see now?"

He laughed—heroically, don't you know.

"I'm afraid she'll be disappointed. Love like mine is not dependent on environment."

Which wasn't bad, I thought, if it was his own.

I said good-bye to him and toddled along, rather pleased with myself. It seemed to me that I had handled his affairs in a pretty masterly manner for a chap who's supposed to be one of the biggest chumps in London.

Well, of course, the thing was an absolute frost, as I ought to have guessed it would be. Whatever could have induced me to think that a fellow like poor old Percy stood a dog's chance against a determined female like his sister Florence I can't imagine. It was like expecting a rabbit to put up a show with a python. From the very start there was only one possible end to the thing. To a woman like Florence, who had trained herself as tough as whalebone by years of scrapping with her father and occasional by-battles with aunts, it was as easy as killing rats with a stick.

I was sorry for Mrs. Darrell. She was a really good sort, and, as a matter of fact, just the kind of wife who would have done old Percy a bit of good. And on her own ground I shouldn't wonder if she might not have made a fight for it. But at Weeting, with the family portraits glaring at her from every wall, and a general atmosphere of chilly disapproval which would have taken the heart out of anyone who hadn't been brought up to it from childhood, she hadn't an earthly. Especially as poor old Percy was just like so much putty in Florence's hands when he couldn't get away from her. You could see the sawdust trickling out of Love's Young Dream in a steady flow.

I took Mrs. Darrell for a walk one afternoon to see if I couldn't cheer her up a bit; but it wasn't much good. She hardly spoke a word till we were on our way home. Then she said, with a sort of jerk:—

"I'm going back to London to-morrow, Mr. Pepper."

I suppose I ought to have pretended to be surprised, but I couldn't work it.

"I'm afraid you've had a rotten time," I said. "I'm awfully sorry."

She laughed.

"Thank you," she said. "It's nice of you to be sympathetic instead of tactful. You're rather a dear, Mr. Pepper."

I hadn't any remarks to make. I whacked at a nettle with my stick.

"I shall break off my engagement after dinner, so that Percy can have a good night's rest. I'm afraid he has been brooding on the future a good deal. It will be a great relief to him."

"Oh, no," I said.

"Oh, yes. I know exactly how he feels. He thought he could carry me off, but he finds he overestimated his powers. He has remembered that he is a Weeting. I imagine that the fact has been pointed out to him."


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11. 16

lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:  and Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:  and Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:  and Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:  and Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:  and Nahor lived after he begat Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.  And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.  And Abram and Nahor took them wives: The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.  And Sarai was barren; she had no child.  And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.  And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee:  and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing:  and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  So Abram went, as Jehovah had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.  And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.  And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto Jehovah, who appeared unto him.  And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto Jehovah, and called upon the name of Jehovah.  And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.

And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land.  And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:  and it will come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.  Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee.  And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.  And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.  And he dealt well with Abram for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, Rh


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12. 17

and men-servants, and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels.  And Jehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.  And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?  why saidst thou, She is my sister, so that I took her to be my wife? now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.  And Pharaoh gave men charge concerning him: and they brought him on the way, and his wife, and all that he had.

And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South.  And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.  And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai,  unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah.  And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.  And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.  And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land.  And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we are brethren.  Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left.  And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the Plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt, as thou goest unto Zoar.  So Lot chose him all the Plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.  Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.  Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly.

And Jehovah said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward:  for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then may thy seed also be numbered.  Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.  And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto Jehovah.

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,  that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar).  All these joined together in the vale of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea).  Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.  And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,  and the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness.  And they returned, and came to En-mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.  And there went out the king of Sodom, and Rh


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 "Yes, child, often. But the father only laughs, or he stares at me so strange I am glad to ask no more. When you and Gretel had the fever last Winter, and our bread was nearly gone, and I could earn nothing, for fear you would die while my face was turned, oh! I tried then! I smoothed his hair, and whispered to him soft as a kitten, about the money—where it was—who had it? Alack! he would pick at my sleeve, and whisper gibberish till my blood ran cold. At last, while Gretel lay whiter than snow, and you were raving on the bed, I to him—it seemed as if he must hear me—'Raff, where is our money? Do you know aught of the money, Raff?—the money in the pouch and the stocking, in the big chest?'—but I might as well have talked to a stone—I might as"

The mother's voice sounded so strangely, and her eye was so bright, that Hans, with a new anxiety, laid his hand upon her shoulder.

"Come, mother," he said, "let us try to forget this money. I am big and strong—Gretel, too, is very quick and willing. Soon all will be prosperous with us again. Why, mother, Gretel and I would rather see thee bright and happy, than to have all the silver in the world—wouldn't we, Gretel?"

"The mother knows it," said Gretel, sobbing.


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 24 found in the Timaeus, where he indicates the highest employment of the eyes: "By us it is asserted that God invented and bestowed sight on us for this purpose: That, on surveying the circles of the intelligence of the heavens, we might properly employ those of our own minds, which, though disturbed when compared with the others that are uniform, are still allied to their circulations; and that, having thus learned, and being naturally possessed of a correct reasoning faculty, we might, by imitating the uniform revolutions of divinity, set right our own wanderings and blunders."

Emerson closes his sketch of Plato in theses words: "These things we are forced to say, if we must consider the effort of Plato, or of any philosopher, to dispose of Nature—which will not be disposed of. No power of genius has ever yet had the smallest success in explaining existence. The perfect enigma remains. But there is an injustice in assuming this ambition for Plato. Let us not seem to treat with flippancy his venerable name. Men, in proportion to their intellect, have admitted his transcendent claims. The way to know him, is to compare him, not with Nature, but with other men. How many ages have gone by, and he remains unapproached! A chief structure of human wit, like Karnak, or the mediaeval cathedrals, or the Etrurian remains, it requires all the breadth of human faculty to know it. I think it is truliest seen, when seen with the most respect. His sense deepens, his merits multiply with study. When we say, here is a fine collection of fables; or, when


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 Rh we praise the style; or the common sense; or arithmetic; we speak as boys, and much of our impatient criticism of the dialectic, I suspect, is no better. The criticism is like our impatience of miles, when we are in a hurry; but it is still best that a mile should have seventeen hundred and sixty yards. The great-eyed Plato proportioned the lights and shades after the genius of our life."

Ever does Emerson propound the doctrine of self-reliance. He believes in action, not supplication. "Prayer that craves a particular commodity—anything less than all good—is vicious." With Emerson "prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view." It is "the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul;" but "prayer as a means to effect a private end is meanness and theft. It supposes dualism and not unity in Nature and consciousness." When a man "is at one with God, he will not beg. He will then see prayer in all action." To Emerson, Effort is prayer: "The prayer of the farmer kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke of the oar, are true prayers, heard throughout Nature."

"Another sort of false prayers," writes Emerson, "are our regrets. Discontent is the want of self-reliance; it is the infirmity of will. Regret calamities, if you can thereby help the sufferer; if not, attend to your own work, and already the evil begins to be repaired. Our sympathy is just as base. We come to them who weep foolishly, and sit down and cry for company, instead of imparting to them truth


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14. 9

the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar); and they set the battle in array against them in the vale of Siddim;  against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.  Now the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain.  And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.  And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew: now he dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram.  And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.  And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.  And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, at the vale of Shaveh (the same is the King's Vale).  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.  And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:  and blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him a tenth of all.  And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.  And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand unto Jehovah, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,  that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:  save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men that went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

After these things the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.  And Abram said, O Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?  And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.  And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.  And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.  And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.  And he said unto him, I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.  And he said, O Lord Jehovah, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?  And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.  And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other: but the birds divided he not.  And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.  And Rh


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 "If you ask my opinion," I said—I was feeling pretty sore about it—"that blighted blighter Florence is an absolute blighter."

"My dear Mr. Pepper, I wouldn't have dreamt of asking your opinion on such a delicate subject. But I'm glad to have it. Thank you very much. Do I strike you as a vindictive woman, Mr. Pepper?"

"I don't think you do," I said.

"By nature I don't think I am. But I'm feeling a little vindictive just at present."

She stopped suddenly.

"I don't know why I'm boring you like this, Mr. Pepper," she said. "For goodness' sake, let's be cheerful. Say something bright."

I was going to have a dash at it, but she collared the conversation and talked all the rest of the way. She seemed to have cheered up a whole lot.

She left next day. I gather she pushed Percy as per schedule, for the old boy looked distinctly brighter, and Florence wore an off-duty expression and was quite decently civil. Mrs. Darrell bore up all right. She avoided Percy, of course, and put in most of the time talking to Edwin. He evidently appreciated it, for I had never seen him look so nearly happy before.

I popped back to London directly afterwards, and I hadn't been there much more than a week when a most remarkably rum thing happened. Turning in at the Empire for half an hour one evening, whom should I meet but brother Edwin, quite fairly festive, with a fat cigar in his mouth.

"Halloa, Reggie!" he said. "What-ho, my lad!"

"What are you doing here?" I said.

"I had to come up to London to look up a life of Hilary de Whyttange at the British Museum. I believe the old buffer was a sort of connection."

"This isn't the British Museum."

"I was beginning to suspect as much. The difference is subtle, but well marked."

It struck me that there was another difference that was subtle but well marked, and that was the difference between the Edwin I'd left messing about over his family history a week before and the jovial buck who was blowing smoke in my face now.

"As a matter of fact," he said, "the British Museum would be all the better for a little of this sort of thing. It's too conservative. That's what's the trouble with the British Museum. What's the matter with having a ballet and a few performing dogs in the reading-room? It would brighten the place up and attract custom. Reggie, you're looking fatigued. There's a place at the end of that corridor expressly designed for supplying first-aid to the fatigued. Let me lead you to it."

I'm not given to thinking much as a rule, but I couldn't help pondering a bit over this meeting with Edwin. It's hard to make you see the remarkableness of the whole thing for, of course, if you look at it in one way, there's nothing so frightfully rackety in smoking a cigar and drinking a whisky and soda. But then you have never seen Edwin. There are degrees in everything, don't you know. For Edwin to behave as he did with me that night was simply nothing more nor less than a frightful outburst, and it disturbed me. Not that I cared what Edwin did, as a rule, but I couldn't help feeling a sort of what-d'you-call-it?—a presentiment—that somehow, in some way I didn't understand, I was mixed up in it, or was soon going to be. I think the whole fearful family had got on my nerves to such an extent that the mere sight of any of them made me jumpy.

And, by Jove, I was perfectly right, don't you know. In a day or two along came the usual telegram from Florence, telling me to come to Eaton Square.

I was getting about full up with Eaton Square, and I made up my mind I wouldn't go near the place. But of course I did. When it came to the point I simply hadn't the common manly courage to keep away.

Florence was there in the drawing-room as before.

"Reginald," she said, "I think I shall go raving mad."

This struck me as a jolly happy solution of everybody's troubles, but I felt it was too good to be true.

"Over a week ago," she went on, "my brother Edwin came up to London to consult a book in the British Museum. I anticipated that this would occupy perhaps an afternoon, and was expecting him back by an early train next day. He did not arrive. He sent an incoherent telegram. But even then I suspected nothing." She paused. "Yesterday morning," she said, "I had a letter from my Aunt Augusta."

She paused again. She seemed to think I ought to be impressed.

"Very jolly," I said.

Her eyes tied a bow-know in my spine.

"Jolly! Let me read you her letter. No, I will tell you its contents. Aunt Augusta


text:
Page:Weird Tales Volume 10 Number 5 (1927-11).djvu/144

 BLANK CARTRIDGE PISTOU ^«*££3 ’ type of Re¬ volver, the ttpaamiM SL»1». fnofrttottaMa largo num* urtridges 22-Caf.« shipped bV «X* Johnson Smith 4k Co., Depts- 710, Racine. WiS» -j pd.’l fa. fa height, will	A danco to marie	S&r and perform va ri -, WiW ous gyrations andwS'WfTMMIh '*jgr movements while y	•' the operator	n. bo somedistanceF-J/V • Mtgg&kyl (asseaf&KBH I Serpent’s Eggsj Bor contains 12 ere*. lit with a match, each «  ■ one gradually hatches ma w itself into	Ra >, a auakc A?SSS3k a m w 3 0veraljp-«JSaMM 'A fl ■ s $1’ -, curia and tWfete about fa a most Ufa» like manner* Prie© RCr tJQX 10c pptfg "? BOYS! Sneezing Powder Plwaavèry emailamount of thia pow¬ der on the back of your band and blow ft Into the air, and everyone fa r*^« the room or carwill begin t© ffljeete Without Imowfae tho reason why. Jtietnost amusing to near their re¬ marks, as they never «aspect the real Bource. but think they havo caught it one from the other. Between the laaahing end sneezing you yourself will be having the t we of your hfe. For partie*, polit!* Cal meetings, w rides, or any place at tar 25c Johnson Smith & Co. 					„
 * " Wlystio skeleton

BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! THROW YOUR VOICE & *nt0 ® 1trunk/ under the Q' bed or anywhere. Lots of fun fooling the teacher/ policeman or friends.^' aS? THEiVENTRILO a little instrument^ fits m^theM1» VfK mouth out of sights used, with !■ m J Ms above for Birdt^lls/etc.'rAny- Jf V M ’one can use itT	. Never Fails.A 16-page course on ventriloquism; and the Ventrilo, ALL FOR; lOc postpaid;^ ^"^ITCHING POWDER Thio is another good practical joke; the intense discomfiture of your victims to evexyone but themselves is thoroughly enjoyable. .AU that is necessary to start the ball rolling is to de* posit a little of the powder on a person’s hand and the powder can be yelled upon to do, the rest. The result is a vigorous scratch, then some more scratch, and still some more» iOo box» 3 boxesJorj^G or 73c per doz boxes, Johnson Smith & Co. Good Luck Kitting Permit 10c. Garter Jntpedor 10a Two very novel metal badges. nickel plated, that you can wear, glvin? you fun out of all proportion to their triflint coat, lOc. each badge. 3 far 25c, or 75c peg 1er. p^d. Johnson Smith & Co. PRlCB POSTPAID $1.00 LOOK! PISTOL,_ OPERA/&» FIELD GLASS It is made In the shape of and looks like a regular Auto¬ matic Pistol No one is likely to stop and ask you whether It is real or not. Thusi t is likely to prove Itself very bandy tn an emergency. On pressing the trigger it opens up. as shown in the illustration at the right. revealing ijme most usefu articles— Opera and Field Glass. Telescope, Mirror, Magnifying Glass and Burning Lens. Reading Glass. Sun Dia.. Sun Compass, etc In the handle of the revolver there is a place for various pocket necessaries,such as First Aid Articles. Buttons. Pins, etc. The Pistolia «i sheet metal, blued finish that can bo carried comfortably in pocket.PRICE Si.00. JOHNSON SMITH & CO. Dept 710, Racine, Wis.

the approach of two officers who ran up to Pollard and seized him.

"You are under arrest," said one of the policemen, "for entering a hotel guest’s room and destroying his property."

and I left Pollard in the safe hands of the officers and returned to the hotel. We repaired at once to Lee’s room. There, strewn on the table and floor, were minute fragments of what had once been a miniature likeness of the Arch of Titus. I commenced picking the pieces off the floor and Lee proceeded to clear up the fragments from the table, where they lay scattered across the books and papers which in his hurry he had left opened and thrown about.

A sudden exclamation brought me hurriedly to his side. He was staring with bulging eyes at a page of Latin wherein the words miles certus seemed to jump up out of the text to meet us, and immediately above the inscription, laid by the careful hand of Fate, was a fragment of the tiny arch; the breast and head of Josephus!"

"The twenty centuries are passed," I said, "and the prophecy is fulfilled. Josephus was right, though he did all within his power to prevent its accomplishment. He was unconsciously a tool in the hands of Fate."

After a silence of some moments I asked, "Why didn’t Tacitus correct his version of 'a certain soldier'? Pliny intended to tell him the revelation of Josephus and that would have made it unnecessary for two thousand years to pass before its becoming known."

Lee Clayton smiled. "If you will look up Pliny the Elder in the encyclopedia, you will learn that he died at Pompeii in the famous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A. D."


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 had seen Edwin lunching at the Savoy with a creature."

"A what?"

"My aunt described her. Her hair was of a curious dull-bronze tint."

"Your aunt's?"

"The woman's. It was then that I began to suspect. How many women with dull-bronze hair does Edwin know?"

"Great Scot! Why ask me?"

I had got used to being treated as a sort of "Hey, Bill!" by Florence, but I was hanged if I was going to be expected to be an encyclopaedia as well.

"One," she said. "That appalling Darrell woman."

She drew a deep breath.

"Yesterday evening," she said, "I saw them together in a taximeter cab. They were obviously on their way to some theatre."

She fixed me with her eye.

"Reginald," she said, "you must go and see her the first thing to-morrow."

"What!" I cried. "Me? Why? Why me?"

"Because you are responsible for the whole affair. You introduced Percy to her. You suggested that she should come to Weeting. Go to her to-morrow and ascertain her intentions."

"But"

"The very first thing."

"But wouldn't it be better to collar Edwin and pump him?"

"I have made every endeavour to see Edwin, but he deliberately avoids me. His answers to my telegrams are wilfully evasive."

There was no doubt that Edwin had effected a thorough bolt. He was having quite the holiday. Two weeks in sunny London, what? And from what I'd seen of him, he seemed to be thriving on it. I didn't wonder Florence had got rather anxious. She'd have been more anxious if she had seen him when I did. He'd got a sort of "London is so bracing" look about him which meant a whole lot of trouble before he trotted back to the fold.

Well, I started off to interview Mrs. Darrell, and, believe me, I didn't half like the prospect. I think they ought to train the District Messengers to do this sort of thing.

I found her alone. The rush-hour of clients hadn't begun.

"How do you do, Mr. Pepper?" she said. "How nice of you to call."

Very friendly, and all that. It made the situation dashed difficult for a chap, if you see what I mean.

"I say, you know," I said. "What about it, don't you know?"

"I certainly don't," she said. "What ought I to know about what?"

"Well, about Edwin—Lord Weeting," I said. "How do we go?"

She smiled.

"Oh! So you're an ambassador, Mr. Pepper?"

"I feel more like a bally ass. But as a matter of fact I did come to see if I could find out how things were running. What's going to happen?"

"Are you consulting me professionally? If so, you must show me your hand. Or perhaps you would rather I show you mine?"

It was rather subtle, but I got on to it after a bit.

"Yes," I said, "I wish you would."

"Very well. Do you remember a conversation we had, Mr. Pepper, my last afternoon at Weeting? We came to the conclusion that I was rather a vindictive woman."

"By Jove! You're ragging old Edwin so as to score off Florence?"

She flushed a little.

"How very direct you are, Mr. Pepper! How do you know I'm not very fond of Lord Weeting? At any rate, I'm very sorry for him."

"He's such a chump."

"But he's improving every day. Have you seen him? You must notice the difference?"

"There is a difference."

"He only wanted taking out of himself. I think he found Lady Florence's influence a little oppressive sometimes."


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 "No. But, I say," I said, "are you going to marry him?"

"I'm only a palmist. I don't pretend to be a clairvoyante. A marriage may be indicated in Lord Weeting's hand, but I couldn't say without looking at it."

"But, look here, I shall have to tell Lady Florence something definite, or she won't give me a moment's peace."

"Tell her Lord Weeting is of age. Surely that's definite enough?"

And I couldn't get any more out of her. I went back to Florence and reported. She got pretty excited about it.

"Oh, if I were a man!" she said.

I didn't see how that would have helped. I said so.

"I'd go straight to Edwin and drag him away. He is staying at his club. If I were a man I could go in and find him"

"Not if you weren't a member," I said.

"And tell him what I thought of his conduct. As I'm only a woman, I have to wait in the hall while a deceitful small boy pretends to go and look for him."

It had never struck me before what a jolly sound institution a club was. Only a few days back I'd been thinking that the subscription to mine was a bit steep. But now I saw that the place earned every penny of the money.

"Have you no influence with him, Reginald?"

I said I didn't think I had. She called me something. Invertebrate, or something. I didn't catch it.

"Then there's only one thing to do. You must find my father and tell him all. Perhaps you may rouse him to a sense of what is right. You may make him remember that he has duties as a parent."

I thought it far more likely that I should make him remember that he had a foot. I hadn't a very vivid recollection of Lord Worplesdon. I was quite a kid when he made his great speech on the egg question and legged it for the Continent; but what I did recollect didn't encourage me to go and chat with him about the duties of a parent. As I remembered him, he was a rather large man with elephantiasis of the temper. I distinctly recalled one occasion when I was spending my summer holidays at Weeting and he found me trying to shave old Percy, then a kid of fourteen, with his razor.

"I shouldn't be able to find him," I said.

"You can get his address from his solicitors."

"He may be at the North Pole."

"Then you must go to the North Pole."

"But, I say"


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 "Reginald!"

"Oh, all right."

I knew just what would happen. Parbury, Parbury, Parbury, and Stevens, the solicitors, simply looked at me as if I had been caught stealing milk-cans. At least, Stevens did. And the three Parburys would have done it, too, only they had been dead a good time. Finally, after drinking me in for about a quarter of an hour, Stevens said that if I desired to address a communication to his lordship care of this office, it would be duly forwarded. Good morning. Good morning. Anything further? No, thanks. Good morning. Good morning.

I handed the glad news on to Florence and left her to do what she liked about it. She went down and interviewed Stevens. I suppose he'd had experience of her. At any rate, he didn't argue. He yielded up the address in level time. Lord Worplesdon was in Paris, but was to arrive in London that night, and would doubtless be at his club.

It was the same club where Edwin was hiding from Florence. I pointed this out to her.

"There's no need for me to butt in, after all," I said. "He'll meet Edwin there, and they can fight it out in the smoking-room. You've only to drop him a line explaining the facts."

"I shall certainly communicate with him in writing, but nevertheless you must see him. I cannot explain everything in a letter."

"But doesn't it strike you that he may think it pretty bad gall—impertinence, don't you know—for a comparative stranger like me to be tackling a delicate family affair like this?"

"You will explain that you are acting for me."

"It wouldn't be better if old Percy sallied along instead?"

"I wish you to go, Reginald."

Well, of course, it was all right, don't you know, but I was losing a stone a day over


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He closed the Bible carefully, putting it down As if his fingers loved it. Then he turned. "Mr. Mate." "Yes, sir." The captain's eyes held a shadow. "I think, while this weather lasts," he said, after a pause, "We'd better get them on deck as much as we can. They keep better that way. Besides," he added, unsmiling, "She's begun to stink already. You've noticed it?"

The mate nodded, a boyish nod of half-apology, "And only a week out, too, sir." "Yes," said the skipper. His eyes looked into themselves. "Well. The trade," he said, "The trade's no damn perfume-shop." He drummed with his fingers. "Seem to be quiet to-night," he murmured at last. "Oh yes sir, quiet enough." The mate flushed. "Not What you'd call quiet at home but—quiet enough."

"Um," said the skipper. "What about the big fellow?"

"Tarbarrel, sir? The man who says he's a king? He was praying to something—it made the others restless. Mr. Olsen stopped it." "I don't like that," said the skipper.

"It was only an idol, sir." "Oh." "A stone or something."