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•mmrnmm J c|000C500000000000000COC<000GC 8 | What we . . § § Advertise § I . . We Sell! | XOCOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOGOOGGGGOO The Great Department Store, 1106 and 1108 BROAD STREET, gooccoocKssjooeoooocooeoocooo 5 | And what . . § we Sell § . Advertises us 1 § ^OCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOGOOOC*§ ' G5 AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. iL BUSINESS I With the most superb stock of Fall Merchandise ever brought to Augusta. Our various lines and departments are as complete as ripe experience and money can make them. Over ten years ago this store was launched forth into the business world, its policy then, now and and always, to handle the very best merchandise procurable at a lower than elsewhere price—has been grandly successful. At this the be ginning of a new season, we invite our friends and customers to view this magnificent collection of the brightest and best merchandise obtain able from tho best markets of this country. No house in Augusta can match our grand display of Ladies' and Men's Ready-to-Wear Apparel! Our stocks in Men’s Fail and Winter Suits are Now Complete. $3.50, $5.00, $7.50 Men’s Suits of good, honest quality in Cheviots, Cassi- meres, Vicunas and fancy Worsteds—enough styles at ihese prices alone to make a good-sized clothing stock. They all have that distinctive fit and style that is put in the Big Store’s Clothing. $10, $12 and $15 Men’s Suits of very high-class pure Worsteds, Scotches, Rough Cheviots, fancy assimeres and Oxford Vicunas, including some ordinarily used by the finest custom tailors only ; made up -in the new military fashion and tailored with precision and care. These garments are the absolute limit of elegance in effect. Are Here at 2.50, 5.00, 7.50, 10, 12, 15 and 18 Dollars, in Oxford Gray Vicunas, Black Cheviots, Kerseys and Meltons in all Sorts of Styles and Shades, Latest Fashions. SCHNEIDER’S GREAT DEPARTMENT STORE, Augusta, Georgia. 1106 and 1108 Broadway, 1L i no Englishman, on the contrary, ap peared especially organized to listen and to hear. When his aural appara tus had been once struck by tho sound of a voice, he could not forget it, and after ten or even twenty years he •would have recognized it among a thousand. His ears, to be sure, had r.ot the power of moving as freely as those of animals who are provided with large auditory flaps; but, since scien- tilie men know that human ears pos sess, in fact, a very limited power of movement, we should not be far wrong in affirming that those of the said Englishman became erect and turned in all directions while endeavoring to gather in the sounds in a manner ap parent only to the naturalist.- it must bo observed that this perfection of sight and hearing was of wonderful assistance to these two men in their vocation, for the Englishman acted as correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and the Frenchman as correspondent of the—of what newspaper or of what newspapers he did not say, and when asked he replied in a jocular manner that he corresponded with “his cousin Madeleine.” This Frenchman, however, beneath his careless surface was won derfully shrewd and sagacious. Even while speaking at random, perhaps the better to hide his desire to learn, he never forgot himself. His loquacity even helped him to conceal his thoughts, and he was perhaps even more discreet - than his confrere of The Daily Tele graph. It is needless to say that these two men were devoted to their mission in the world—that they delighted to throw themselves in the track cf the most un expected intelligence; that nothing ter rified or discouraged them from suc ceeding; that they possessed the im perturbable sang froid and the genuine intrepidity of men of their calling. En thusiastic jockeys in this steeplechase, this hunt after information, they leap ed hedges, crossed rivers, sprang over fences with the ardor of pure blooded racers who will run “a good first” or die. Their journals did not restrict them with regard to money, the surest, the most rapid, the most perfect element of information known to this day. It must also be added, to their honor, that neither the one nor the other ever look ed or listened at the walls of private life and that they only exercised their vocation when political or social inter ests were at stake. In a word, they made what has been for some years called “the great political and military reports.”lgB'V v WM ■ jjsjifefelS.11 . It will be seen In following them that they had generally an independent mode of viewing events and, above all. their consequences, eaen naving his own way of observing and appreciat ing. The object to he obtained being of adequate value, they never failed to expend the money required. The French correspondent was nam ed Alcide Joiivet. Harry Blount was the name of the Englishman. The dis similarity of their characters, added to a certain amount of jealousy, which j generally exists between rivals in the same calling, might have rendered them but little sympathetic. However, they did not avoid one another, but en deavored rather to exchange with each other the news of the day. They were two sportsmen, after all, hunting on the same grounds, in the same pre serve. That which one missed might be advantageously secured by the oth er, and it was to their interest to meet and converse together. From these two correspondents Mi chael learned that the town itself was menaced by the Tartar vanguard, and two days before the authorities had j been obliged to retreat to Tobolsk. There was not an officer nor a soldier left in Ichim. On arriving at the relay Michael Stro goff immediately asked for horses. He had been fortunate in distancing i the berlin. Only three horses were in a fit state to he immediately harnessed. The otb- j ers had just come in worn out from a ! long stage. j The postmaster gave the order to put to. I As the two correspondents intended J to stop at Ichim, they had not to trou- i hie themselves to find means of trans port and therefore had their carriage put away. In ten minutes Michael was told that his tarantass was ready to start. “Good,” said he. Then, turning to the two reporters, he said: “Well, gentlemen, since you remain at Ichim, I wish you success in the prosecution of your mission.” “What, Mr. Korpanoff,” said Alcide .Tolivet, “shall you not stop even for an hour at Ichim?” “No, sir, and I also wish to leave the nosthouse before the arrival of a berlin which I distanced.” “Are you afraid that the traveler will dispute the horses with you?” “I particularly -wish to avoid any dif ficulty.” “It is possible that we shall meet you | again in a few days at Omsk,” added Blount. “It is possible,” answered Michael, “since I anf going straight there.” “Well, I wish you a safe journey, Mr. Korpanoff,” said Alcide. Almost immediately the sound of a carriage was heard outside, the door was nung open and a man appeared. It was tho traveler of the berlin. a military looking man, apparently about fort} - years of age, tall, robust in fig ure, broad shouldered, with a strongly sot head and thick mustache meeting red whiskers. He wore a plain uni form. A cavalry saber hang at his side, and in his hand he held a short handled whip. “Horses.” he demanded, with the air of a man accustomed to command. “I have no more disposable horses,” answered the postmaster, bowing. '“I must have some this moment. “It is impossible.” “What are those horses which have just been harnessed to the tarantass I saw at the door?” “They belong to this traveler,” an swered the postmaster, pointing to Mi chael Strogoff. “Take them-out!” said the traveler In a tone which admitted of no reply. Michael then advanced. “These horses are engaged by me,” he said. “What does that matter? I must have them. Come, he quick; I have no time to lose.” “I have no time to lose either,” re plied Michael, endeavoring to be calm, but restraining himself with difficulty. Nadia was near him, calm also, but secretly uneasy at a scene which it would have been better to avoid. “Enough!” said the traveler. Then, going up to the postmaster: “Let the horses be taken out of the tarantass and put into my berlin,” be exclaimed, with a threatening gesture. The postmaster, much embarrassed, did not know whom to obey and looked at Michael, who evidently had the right to resist the unjust demands of the traveler. Michael hesitated an instant. He did not wish to make use of his podorojna, which would have drawn attention to him, and he was most unwilling either by giving up his. horses to delay his journey, and yet it was important not to engage in a struggle which might compromise his mission. The two reporters looked at him, ready to support him should he appeal to them. “My horses will remain in my car riage,” said Michael, but without rais ing his tone more than would be suit able for a plain Irkutsk merchant. The traveler advanced toward Mi chael and laid his hand heavily on his shoulder. “Is it so?” he said in a rough voice. “You will not give up your horses to me?” “No,” answered Michael. “Very well, then they shall belong to whichever of us is able to start. De fend yourself, for I shall not spare you!” ed himself. A duel! It was more than a delay; it was perhaps the failure of his mission. It would be better -to lose some hours. Yes, but to swallow this affront! “Will you fight now, coward?” re peated the traveler, adding coarseness to brutality. “No,” answered Michael, without moving, but looking the other straight in the face. “The horses this moment,” said the man and left the room. The postmas ter followed him. The effect produced on the reporters by this incident was not to Michael’s advantage. Their discomfiture was vis ible. How could this strong young man allow himself to be struck like that and not demand satisfaction for such an insult? They contented them selves with bowing to him and retired. A moment afterward the noise of wheels and the cracking of a whip showed that the berlin, drawn by the tarantass’ horses, was driving rapidly away from the posthouse. Nadia, unmoved, and Michael, still quivering, remained alone In the room. The courier of the czar, his arms crossed over his chest, was seated mo tionless as a statue. However, a color which could not have been the blush of shame had replaced the paleness on his manly countenance. Nadia did not doubt that powerful reasons alone could have allowed him to suffer so great a humiliation from such a man. Then, going up to him as he had come to her in the police station at Nijni Novgorod, she said: “l'our hand, brother.” And at the same time her hand with an almost maternal gesture wiped away a tear which sprung to her compan ion’s eyes. a uurn. “For my country and the Father,” he muttered as he ended his evening pray er. He especially felt a groat wish to know who was the man who had struck him, whence lie came and where he was going. As to his face, the fea tures of it were so deeply engraved on his memory that he had no fear of ever forgetting them. Michael at last asked for the post master. The latter, a Siberian cf the old type, eamo directly and, looking rather contemptuously at the young man, waited to be questioned. “You belong to the country?” asked Michael. “Yes.” “Do you know that man who took my horses?” “No.” “Had you never seen him before?” “Never.” “Who do you think he was?” “A man who knows how to make himself obeyed.” Michael fixed his piercing gaze upon the Siberian, but the other did not quail before it “Do you dare to judge me?” exclaim ed Michael. twenty vc-rsts distant. The Irtish is a iarge river and one of the principal of those which flow to ward the north of Asia. Rising in the Atai mountains, it flows from the southeast to the northwest and emp ties itself into tho Obi after a coarse of nearly 7.000 versts. At this time of year, when all the rivers of tho Siberian basin are much swollen, the waters of the Irtish were very high. In consequence the current was changed to a regular torrent, ren dering the passage difficult enough, swimmer could not have crossed, how ever powerful a one he might be, and even in a ferryboat there would be some danger. But Michael and Nadia, determined to brave all perils whatever they might be. did not dream of shriuking from this one. However, Michael proposed to his young companion that he should cross first, embarking in the ferryboat with the tarantass and horses, as he feared that the weight of this load would ren der It less safe. After landing the car- , riage on the opposite bank bo would ; return and fetch Nadia. 1 The girl refused. It would be the CHAPTER YII. ADIA, with the clear per> ception of a right mind ed woman, guessed that some secret motive di rected all Michael Stro- goff’s actions; that he for a reason unknown to her did not belong to himself; that he had not the power of doing what he de sired, and that in this instance especial ly he had heroically sacrificed to duty even his resentment at the gross injury he had received. Nadia, therefore, asked no explana tion from Michael. Had not the hand which she had extended to him already j replied to ail that he might have been I able to tell her? Michael remained silent all the even ing. The postmaster not being able to supply them with fresh horses until the next, morning, a whole night must “Yes,” answered the Siberian, there are some things that even a plain j merchant cannot receive without re- ! turning.” “Blows r “Blows, young man. I am of an age and strength to tell you so.” Michael went up to the postmaster and laid his two powerful hands on liis shoulders. Then in a peculiarly calm tone he said: “Be off, my friend; be off! I could kill you.” The postmaster understood this time. “I like him better for that,” he mut tered as he retired without adding an other word. At 8 o'clock the next morning, the 24th of July, three strong horses were harnessed to the tarantass. Michael and Nadia took their places, and Ichim, with its disagreeable remembrances, was soon left far behind. The next day, July 25, at 3 o’clock in the morning, the tarantass arrived at the posthouse in Tioukalrnsk, having accomplished a distance of 120 versts since it had crossed the Ichim. They rapidly changed horses. Here, however, for the first time the driver for I an hour, and she would not i for her safety alone be the cause of it. i The embarkation was made not with- ; out difficulty, for the banks were partly | flooded and the boat could not get in | near enough. i However, after half an hour’s exer- I tlon the boatmen got the tarantass and the three horses on board. Michael, Nadia and the driver embarked also, and they shoved off. For a few minutes all went well. A little way up the river the current was broken by a long point projecting from the bank and formed an eddy easily crossed by the boat. The two boatmen propelled their barge with long poles, which they handled cleverly, but as they gained the middle of the stream It grew deeper and deeper until at last they could only just reach the bottom. The ends of the poles were only a foot above the water, which rendered their j use difficult and insufficient. Michael I and Nadia, seated in tho stern of the boat and always in dread of a delay, watched the boatmen with some un easiness. “Look out!” cried one of them to his comrade. The shout was occasioned by the new the rate cf two versts an hour when Michael, springing to his feet. Lent his gaze up the river. Several boats, aided by oars as well as by the current, were coming swiftly down upon them. Michael's brow contracted, and °n ex clamation escaped him. “What is the matter?” asked the girl. But before Michael had time to reply one of the boatmen exclaimed in au ac cent of terror: “The Tartars! The Tartars!” They were indeed boats full of sol diers, and in a few minutes they must reach the ferryboat, it being too heav ily laden to escape from them. The terrified boatmen uttered excla mations of despair and dropped their poles. “Courage, my friends!” cried Michael. “Courage! Fifty rubles for you if we reach the right bank before the boats overtake us!” Incited by these words, the boatmen again worked manfully away, hut it soon became evident that they could not escape the Tartars. It was scarcely probable that they would pass without attacking them. On the contrary, there was everything to be feared from robbers such as these. “Do not be afraid, Nadia,” said Mi chael, “but be ready for anything.” “I am readv.” reDlied Nadia. [TO BE CONTINUED.J i be passed at the bouse. Nadia could So saying the traveler drew bis saber i profit by it to take some rest> aad a from its sheath, and Nadia threw her self before Michael. Blount and Alcide Jollvet advanced toward him. “I shall not fight,” sa.'d Michael quiet ly, folding his arms across his chest. “You will not fight?” “No.” “Not even after this?” exclaimed the traveler, and before any one could pre vent him he struck Michael’s shoulder with the handle of the whip. At this insult Michael turned deadly pale. His hands moved convulsively, as If he would have knocked the brute down. But bv a tremendous effort hp mnster- room was therefore prepared for her. The young girl would no doubt have preferred not to leave her companion, but she felt that he would rather be alone, and she made ready to go to her room. Just as she was about to retire she could not refrain from going up to Mi chael to say good night. “Brother,” she whispered. But he checked her with a gesture. The girl sighed and left the room. Michael Strogoff did not lie down. He could not have slept even for an hour. The place on which he had been struck bv the brutal traveler felt like made difficulties about starting, declar-, direction the beat was rapidly taking. It had got into the direct current and was being swept down the river. By diligent use of the poles, putting the ends in a series cf notches cut below the gunwale, the boatmen managed to keep their craft against the stream and slowly urged it in a slanting direction toward the right bank. They calculated on reaching it some five or six versts below the landing place; but, after all, that would not matter so long as men and beasts could disembark without accident. The two stout boatmen, stimulated, moreover, by the promise of double fare, did not doubt of succeeding in this difficult passage of the Irtish. But they reckoned without an Inci dent which they were powerless to pre vent, and neither their zeal nor their ing that detachments of Tartars were roving across the steppe and that trav elers, horses and carriages would be a fine prize for such robbers. Only by dint of a large bribe could Michael get over the unwillingness of the driver, for in this iustauee. as In many others, he did not wish to show his podorojna. The last ukase, having been transmitted by telegraph, was known in the Siberian provinces, and a Russian specially exempted from obey ing these orders would certainly have drawn public attention to himself, a thing above all to be avoided by the czar's courier. As to the driver’s hesi tation, either the rascal traded on the traveler’s impatience or he really had good reason to fear some misfortune. \ However, at last the tarantass start- ! ed and made such good way that by 3 skillfulness could under the clrcum- in the afternoon it had reached Kou- stances have done more, latsiuskoe, eighty versts farther on., 1 The boat was in the middle of the An hour after this it was on the banks current at nearly equal distances from of the Irtish. Omsk was now only either shore and beiug carried down at WOBIB’S life.... is hard enough as it is. It is to her that we owe our world, and everything should be made as easy as possible for her at the time of childbirth. This is just what Mothers Friend will do. It will mak e baby’s coming easy and painless, and that without tak- „ ing dangerous drugs into the sys- j tem. It is simply to be applied to j the muscles of the abdomen. It penetrates through the skin carry ing strength and elasticity with it. It strengthens the whole system and prevents all of the discomforts of pregnancy. The mother of a plumb babe in Panama, Mo., says: “I have used Mother’s Friend and can praise it highly.” Get Mother’s Friend at the Drug Store, $1 per bottfe. The Bradfield Regulator Co., ATLANTA, GA. Write for onr free illustrated book, “ Before Baby is Born.”