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“The Least Of These” Ey LULU JOHNSON. Copyrighted, 130$, by Associated Literary Pres*. Betty shuddered as the heavy Iron gates clanged behind her at and she real ized that she was actually within the prison yard. It was her first visit to a jwnitentinry. and. though she found It not half so forbidding as she had an ticipated, the atmosphere sent a chid through her whole girlish figure. Instead of rock piles, with convicts monotonously breaking the stone, here were flower bordered walks and awards of softest green. But for the high walls and the barred windows she might well have imagined herself in a municipal park or on a million dollar estate. When she reached the office her bas ket of delicacies was consigned with others brought by loyal friends for the delectation of other convicts, but tlie keeper looked curiously from the tag on her basket to Betty’s face. "No. 11,800 hasn't had a visitor since he came here five weeks ago," com mented the man significantly. "Are you a relative?” "No,” said the girl simply. “He was just good to me when I needed help." “Fie was good to lots of folks," grunted the warden, “but somehow they seem to have forgotten It. He’s in the hospital.” The warden made a sign to a trusty, and with fast heating heart Betty fol lowed the man In the direction of the great gray building. In one wing of which was located tlie hospital. Moreton, ex boss of the —th district, was propped up in l>cd, and at sight of Bessie Vynne he smiled radiantly. Five weeks he had lain there fighting grimly for tlie life that he had begun to think was hardly worth the saving, for Mon-ton had indeed been through the valley of political humiliation. Less than two years before it had re quired two husky men to guard the door of his headquarters and keep buck the crowd of importunate callers who wanted financial help, influential word or perhaps just the chance to fawn upon the powerful political leader. Moreton had been the boss of his district, ruling with a rod of iron. He had controlled the machine through sheer force of will power. His enemies both without and with in the party had fought doggedly to break his sway, but the boss had gritted his teeth the harder at each fresh attack and beaten the malcon tents into submission. But there had come an end to his rule, as to almost all one man control. The opposing party had secured the services of a political revivalist. “In the interest of good government," they had explained, but the whole city knew that it was a ruse to rid the dis trict of Its dominating boss. It meant turning the district over to another clique as bad, but less experienced in municipal villainy. And the political world had sat back and watched the warfare with grim smiles. Perhaps, after all, the boss would win again. But in this they were wrong. By a mere quip of fate the wheel spun the other way. The boss lost, and after loss of power came scandals and lawsuits. The lat ter took most of the fortune he had filched from the city, much of which he had spent on the care of those who needed it more desperately than the taxpayers from whom he had filched it so remorselessly. In reality the boss when the blow fell could have counted his fortune only In thousands when his enemies ran It up to tens of thou sands. When he left the civil court room al most penniless he found himself face to face with criminal charges. Stoic ally he had accepted his sentence of five years In the penitentiary. Stoic ally he had accepted his desertion by those who had fawned upon him in prosperity and power. A child of the streets who had started carrying the water bucket for the marching club he had become a ward heeler, a lieu tenant and finally the boss without the aid of family ties or family influence. Stoically he had accepted the decision of the hospital staff He had an incur able disease. He probably would not live out his sentence. Yet at sight of Betty Vyrme's face his stoicism vanished, and after tin radiant smile of welcome came a ten derness almost pathetic. "What are you doing here, child?" he asked as be stroked the band th.r clasped his. "Sing Sing's a good way for a girl to come who's ouly making her eight a week.” The girl lavghod. but her voice was ►laky. "Just listen to the man! And I'm get ting ten—right in this town. I read in the paper—about—about your being so lonesome”— The man smiled grimly. So the papers were commenting on the fact that he was a deserted as well as deposed leader of men. "And I saw the ad. of a lawyer up here who want ed a stenographer, and 1 came and got the place. 1 ucb kettei here than in town. And lean come to see you once a week.'* Moreton. deposed boss, leaned over anil looked into her fact*. “You— com*—up—here—K> be neat me ?” The girl nodded her head. "And I’ve got the nicest boarding place with a widow, and you ought to see her flower beds" — Just then a physician in white uoi form came toward them. “You can stay only five minutes. ’ he said without waiting for the formality if an introduction. “I cannot have my patients unduly excited. In a few weeks we shall have him in fine trim. 1 hoi*?, but we don’t want our treat ment upset by too much company.” Moreton"s lips set in grim lines. The young doctor evidently did not know that this was his first visitor. “Hr. Lindsay, this is one of my best friends. Miss Betty Vynne. and her coming can’t hurt me. Why. say. I feel like a two-.vear-old right now.” Nevertheless the young doctor stood near the door, and when the five min utes were up lie led Betty from the wa id. “You can come again, as often as the rules permit, but do not stay too long." The next' time lie made the rounds Dr. Lindsay found Moreton oddly quiet, his fever reduced, ins pulse nor mal. “Doctor.” he said, with a smile, “that girl’s coining did me more good than all your dope. It’s good to know that there’s one person that hasn’t forgot you." And then the young doctor saw that something more than an organic dis ease was aiming for the old lions’ hea rt. “Daughter of an old friend?” he asked casually. "Not much—just a kid I picked up in a tenement; took her from a sodden old tiling who was beating the life and spirit out of her. 1 turned her over to the sisters. They did the rest.” Lindsay smiled, but he understood. It was the ex-boss who had paid the sisters for the girl’s care and put her through a business school and set her on her feet, saving a girlhood like his own boyhood from the slums and the gutter. After that Moreton slowly but surely began to mend. There was no curing the disease, but there was every chance to prolong his life for years if he want ed to put up the fight. And every time that Betty Vynne came to the hospital he seemed stronger for the fight. For a time Dr. Lindsay watched the case with purely professional interest, but gradually this feeling became dis tinctly personal. He generally met Betty in the reception room of the hos pital, lingered near Moretou’s bedside during her stay and escorted her to the entrance when she departed. And. oddly enough, he found many excuses for sitting with Moreton and learning more about "the kid’s" plucky fight for education and self support. Before the first year of his sentence had passed the ex-boss read young Lindsay's secret, and one night after Betty had paid her usual call the two men talked it over. “Mind you. she ain’t anybody. Nei ther she nor I know where site sprung from. So it’s up to yon.” said Moreton warningly and yet with loving anxiety in every word. Young Lindsay studied the cracks in the flooring for a few seconds, and then he turned resolutely to his patient. “She's true blue. There are not many like her, no matter what sort of blood was behind her, and I’m going to take chances if she’ll have me. And. what is more. 1 am going down to see her to morrow when I’m off duty,” “Is it all right, Betty?” inquired the ex-boss as he stroked her hand tender ly the next time she came. “Is it all right, little girl?” The girl smiled into his anxious eyes. “Oh. Mr. Moreton, do you think I’m half good enough for him?" “Mind that, will you?” inquired the invalid, as if addressing an audience; then he drew the girl close. “Let me tell you something. Betty. He wouldn't let me tell you before for fear you'd think you owed him something. He wanted you to love him for himself See? But Dr. Lindsay’s got some of the boys started, and it looks like a pardon, Betty; it certainly does." She sank on her knees beside the bed. “Oh. that is too good to be true.” "And that ain't all, Betty. I had some shares in a gold mine; thought it was a dead one, but Lindsay he’s been looking into it, and mebbe —well, just mebbe 1 can take you and Lindsay on a wedding trip over to Germany. Lind say says the springs over there would do wonders for me, and Lindsay needs a change, and—well, Betty, I'd been dead by this time if it hadn’t been for your coming " He looked up to meet the shining eyes of young Dr. Lindsay. "Sav. Lindsay, ain’t there something in tlie good 1 ook somewberes about the least of these? 1 want to' find that verse. I'm going to learn it. I cer tainly am. All. there is so much fer me to learn and so little time!" A girl may threaten to scream if a man attempts to kiss her, but she seldom does it if there is a chancefof one's hearing her. THE CHEEPFUL TURTLE. This Queer Creature Enjoys Many Pe culiar Advantages. “To be or not to lie—a turtle? To be certainly, if I could not be a man,” de clares one who speaks with knowledge of his subject. “Basking in tropica! suns or cruising leisurely in cool depths, the turtle lias an exceedingly good time. As soon as the baby turtle emerges from the egg lie scuttles down to the sea. He lias no one to teach him. no one to guide. In his little brain there is implanted a streak of caution, based on the fact that until a certain period his projecting armor is soft and no defense against hungry fish, and he immediately seeks shelter in the tropical profusion of the gulf weed, which holds within its branching fronds an astonishing abundance oi marine life. “Here tbe young turtle feeds unmo lested and knows that his armor is hardening apace. Once he lias attained the weight of twenty-five pounds he may ’cheek’ freely any monster of the deep. After that no fish or mammal ever interferes with him. Intending devourers may struggle all day to break through his iron shell. They al ways fail. “The turtle. like the sperm whale, has but one enemy—man. Now, even that sperm whale must come pretty frequently to the surface to breathe, and if it got beached high and dry on land what would become of it? But the cheerful turtle can stay below the surface for a week if he wants to, and lie often does, while if he had to spend an equal time on land he would enjoy the change and be none the worse for it. He is neither fish, flesh nor fowl, yet his flesh partakes of the character istics of all three. “Eating seems a mere superfluity with him, since for weeks at a time be may be placed in a barrel, with the bung out, and emerge after his long fast apparently none tbe worse for his enforced abstinence from food, from light and almost from air. Of all the warm blooded organisms there is none so tenacious of life as the turtle. Inju ries that would be instantly fatal even to fish leave the turtle apparently un disturbed, and his power of keeping death at bay is nothing short of mar velous.” AN EFFECTIVE SERMON. Trumpet Elast That Drove the People to Repentance. Old refer Cartwright was a famous preacher and circuit rider many years ago. The exhorter was holding a camp meeting in Ohio. TheVe was a great number of campers on the field, and the eccentric speaker addressed vast concourses at every service, but he thought too few were being converted. He felt that something should be done to stir the sinners to repentance, so he prepared a strong sermon on the second coining of Christ. He told how the world would go on in its sin and wickedness and at last Gabriel would sound his trumpet and time would come to an end. lie described the horrors of the lost and the joys of those who were saved. The sermon grew in intensity, and he brought his people up to a grand climax, when sud denly the sound of a trumpet smote the ears of the anxious throng. There was a great sensation, and many fell upon their knees in terror and began to repent and pray. Women screamed and strong men fcroaned. Pandemonium was let loose for a few minutes. After the terror had some what ceased the preacher called to a man up a tree, and he descended with a long tin horn in bis hand. The speaker then turned in fierce wrath arid upbraided the people. He cried out in stentorian tones that, if a man with a tin horn up a tree could frighten them so, how would it be in the last great end when Gabriel’s trumpet sounded the knell of the world! The sermou had a great effect upon the vast audience, and many hundreds flocked to the frout and were con verted. The Plot. Doctor—l think 1 shall have to call in some other physicians for consulta tion. Patient—That’s right. Go ahead. Get as many accomplices as you can.— Ijondon Telegraph. Thinks !t Saved His Life. Lester M . Nelson, of Naples, Maine, says in a recent letter: ‘‘l have used Dr. King's New Discov ery many years, for coughs and colds, and I think it saved my life. 1 have found it a reliable remedy for throat and lung com plaints, and would no more he without a nottle than i would he w.thou* food.” For nearly forty years Nev Discovery has stood at the head <> f throat and iung rem .edies Asa preventative of pneu monia. a’ and healer of weak lungs it has no equal. Sold under guar antee at G. W. DeLaperriere’s drugstore. 50c. and SI.OO. Trial bottle free. TORTRIfaHi MtlAiymiMiLES jr FIRL PROOIF^ That is another of their good features, an important one, as hun dreds of fires occur annually from sparks settling on the roof. Better put them on the roof now than wish you had later. They’re cheap enough. Last a life-time. Never need repairs, and they turn the appearance of any house into a heme. Come in and see them. LEATHERS & EAVENSON, Winder, Ga. Captivating a Queen. It was by his graceful execution of a dance that young Hatton first capti vated the heart of Queen Elizabeth, says Edward Scott in his book on “Dancing In All Ages.” He bad been brought up to the law and entered court, as his enemy, Sir John Perrot, used to say, “by the gaillarde,” as his first appearance there was on the occa sion of a mask ball, and her majesty was so struck by his good looks and activity that she made him one of her band of pensioners, who were consid ered the handsomest men in England. It is said that the favors which the virgin monarch extended to her new favorite excited the jealousy of the whole court, especially that of the Ear! of Leicester, who, thinking to depre ciate the accomplishments of the young lawyer, offered to introduce to Elizabeth’s notice a professional dancer whose saltatory performances were considered far more wonderful than Hatton’s. To this suggestion, however, the royal lady, with more vehemence than elegance, exclaimed; “Pish! 1 will not see your man. It is his trade.” An Inspiration. Little Willie—Say, pa, what Is an in spiration? Pa—An inspiration, my son. Is the sudden recollection of someone who will probably stand for a touch.— Kansas City Newsbook. The Bible's Good Use of Words. The Bible as n standard for the cor rect use of words has been urged upon readers by Professor Lounsbury of Yale, writing in Harper’s - Magazine. "Make up our mind,” says Professor Lounsbury, "that the Bible is a guide to be followed grammatically as much as it is morally. The language of our version belongs to the sixteenth cen tury. It therefore .naturally contains expressions which, though proper at that time, are not in accord with the common usage of our day. When it was originally translated, which was generally the relative pronoun refer ring to persons. Hence we say, ‘Our Father which art in heaven.’ More than this, the subtle distinction found in the employment of shall and will had not then become established in the language But these do not affect the correctness of its procedure in regard to expressions still met with every where. In such cases accept its au thority without question and conform your practice with it.” He Went. Mr. Lingerlong—l had a queer adven ture this afternoon. Miss de Muir (with a swift glance at the clock) —You mean yesterday afternoon, 1 presume. —Exchange. The Meaning of “Muff.” The record of the fact that muffs were once worn by more men than wo men in Paris suggests the old ingenious definition of a muff as “a soft thing that holds a lady’s hand without squeez ing it.” “Muff” appears to have come to us from German, in which language, curiously, "muff” means not only a band comforter, but also a sulky per son or a growling dog. These seem, however, to be two different words. Was our own metaphorical “muff” an allusion to the effeminacy of muff wearers or simply an intimation that the person was distinctly “soft?”— ■ London Chronicle. True to the Adage. . "My son, ray son!" exclaimed the dis mayed mother as she saw all her boy’s t*eloiigiiigs stacked in a corner of the closet. “Haven’t I tried over and over to teach you that you should have a place for everything?” “Yep.” said the son cheerfully, “and this is the place.”—Chicago News. Fame. “Who was James Boswell?” asked the teacher of the class in English lit erature. "He was Dr. Samuel Johnson's press agent.” answered the young man with the bad eye.—Chicago Tribune. Good temper is like a sunny day—it sheds its brightness everywhere.— French Proverb One cheer is better than a dozen howls. 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