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14
WARLIKE EXHIBITS OF
GIGANTIC RUSSIA,
They Form a Most Imposing Part of the Big
Exposition in Paris.
Strong Hints of tlie r.nonnon* I’ower of tlie Muscovite near—Model* of
>nvl Vessel*. Some Unlit Abroad and Some llnllf at Home. That
Force the Admiration of All Beholder*—Gnn* That Combine
ftlngnltudf With ln*cnon Mount ini;*—Mb ny Interesting
nad Hihly Warlike Invention* Hon Ru**ia Ha©
Fronted by Her Relation* With Anieriean*.
(fopyriglil, 1000, by V. CJrlhn vedofT.)
Pari*. July 9 —Owing lo Bnglish notions
of diplomacy, a d the l>ißlish press, Rus
©la is forced thrse days mio the position
of the mo>i con**plcuous nation in the
world. Scarcely a day passes that she is
not credited, in a dispatch from lx>ndon.
with be;ng on the point of invading s n me
helplese territory or throwing covetous
g an- rs on another. Mfn look out of
their own eyes, and who think for them
ae’ves may be dispos'd to suspect that
Great Britain is s-imply trying to discredit
Russia with other nations, so that they
will jointly prevent her taking any im
portant step until England is better able
to look after her own interests than ©he!
1? at present, with nearly all her army in
South Africa. Thoughtful person*, how
ever, cannot fail to recognize in all this
clamor the mumblings of a coming storm,
and discern on the horizon an Imminent
war between the great empire, of Eastern
Europe and that other empire on which
the sun is never supposed to set. When it
comes, it will be nearer to universal strife
than any even known in the century, for
all of the great Powers In Europe will be
drawn into it, while even the United
States is likely to be involved, politically
Breach of One of the Big Russian Guns. 1
•nd commercially, If not ln a military ,
way.
Whatever may be demonstrated by suck
a war. at this time there Is no question
that Russia is en unknown quantify.
Since she figured last ln any important
European contest, ehe ha developed
amazingly ln all her resources and tn her
military strength. Within the last twen
ty years, progress has made more rapid
strides throughout the empire than in the
preceding 109 veara. Her population is
greater than that of any two nations of
Europe. From the gigantic numerical
gtrength of her army alone she must nec
ce*ear!ly prove a colossus in war. But
the number of her sokliefs Is by no means
her only strength. In military power,
discipline and equipment she has latterly
taken her place among the first of the
great Powers of the world.
It may be easy to dispute this state
ment, but it is not easy to disprove it.
Like every other nation. Russia does not
tell everything she has up her sleeve;
but what she shows to the world ln her
open hand is quite enough to hint at her
Bketches ln the Russian Exhibit, Beside the Big Gun a Bust of the Czar and
Types of Russian Soldiers Are Shown.
recent growth and her present stupend
ous force. She shows Just such an open
hand here at Paris, and unless the observ
er Is wilfully blind, he must realize that
the Russia of to-day is no element to be
despised by any power or combination of
powers on the earth.
Husain's Open Hand.
Nations that have made a less Imposing
display of their military force at the Par
is Exhibition, may possibly regard the
Russian exhibit a* ostentatious in Us ex
tent and completeness, and perhaps as
something of a bluff. The man without
prejudice, however, may read the lesson
as a sort of "nolle me tanagere" warning
to the universe; a hint that the great
white bear wants to be let alone, but is
able to take care of'himself If disturbed.
The showing Is an extraordinary one
along the lines of military development.
What la a particular revelation to the ex
pert is the marvelous expansion and
thoroughness of the Russian navy, as
well as the vast progress achieved in
the way of scientific and Inven
tive construction of all the Im
plements of war. The artillery exhibit
is one of the most remarkable ever shown
by any country at an International ex
position. ,
Fiance has been particularly cordial
towards Ber great ally in the allotment
of space. Though you miss a Russian
pavilion along the Street of the Na
eions—that unique thoroughfare where
nearly every country in the world Is rep
resented by a characteristic edifice—ln
another part of the grounds, over by the
Trocadero, you see the towering spirc-s
above an enormous structure, the archi
tecture of which proclaims it to be Rus
sia's national building. And as you sur.
vey its Immensity, you realize that a
place apart from the other countries was
given to Russia because she required an
infinitely greater space Ilian was avail
able along tha Street of Nations. Well,
the same idea of vastness is the oharac
terlst to keynota of all of Russia's ex
hibits.
The minister of war of the empire has
sent to Paris an exhibit so extensive
that it was found necessary to construct
n seperata building for those materials
which were crowded out of the general
grouping in the big "Palace of Dand and
Sea Armies.” This snnex, consplclously
Indicated by the imperial standard Ooal-
ing above It. must strikingly the
passer-by with Russia's military strength,
for over the door of the buiidiiig is the
sample notice, “Supplemental Ariillery
Exhibit.”
The Grnulnu Itnlnn \avy.
The army and navy pala is an enor
mous pavilion facing on the Seine. Just
in the middle of its interminable length
Is the *pa**e allotted to Russia —which, by
the way. chances to be the next door
neighbor of her best friend, France. Two
capacious stories house the general dis
play. On the lower floor are the exhibits
of the Russian navy, and the military en
gineers. The naval exhibit has proved a
revelation to experts, at <1 it Is obvious
that hereafter the Russian navy will b*
spoken of as one of the greatest in the
world. All around you. you find models
of vessels that have already rendered high
service to the empire, and of others that
are in course of construction or are just
finished. One of these models is the pro
tected cruiser Bayan, 7.600 tons, that was
launched this week at Toulon, Another
represents the Varia, constructed at the
Cramp’s shipyards in Philadelphia, end
which will make its first trip to Europe
this month. Th* Bogatir, built in Germany,
and just about completed, is the third of
Russia’s newest acquisitions in the way of
armored cruisers. AH these cruisers carry
fifty guns, and have a speed of twenty
one knots. Though built in different parts
of the world, the models show them to
be uniform in general design, demonstrat
ing, as was remarked by a well-known
naval expert, that though Russia goes
here and there to have her cruisers built,
they are distinctly and emphatically Rus
sian tn Invention and design.
If the visitor is disposed to think that
Russia is incapable of building her own
warships, he changes his mind when he
sees >he model of the Gromoboi, a gi
gantic and formidable-looking ironclad of
13,000 tons, that was built and entirely
equipped tn Russia. Asa sample of the
sort of vessel that fights for the Czar she
is most Imposing. Double-turreted, looking
as Invulnerable as a rock, she is majestic
in her proportions and graceful in her
lines. Her armament consists of twenty
eight ten-inch, eight-inch and six-inch
guns, and thirty guns of smaller clalibre.
Of ten-inch leviathans, she carries no less
than four. Swinging from her davits are
two torpedo boats, each equipped with
two latest model steel torpedoes. The
monster has a *pe> and of about twen y kno;s.
Of such marine gladiators as these is
the Russian navy constituted. As seen
by models exhibited, Russia has also a
number of smaller cruisers of about 3,000
tons, with a speed of 23 knots, whose
efficiency has been frequently demon
strated. She also possesses a very prac
tical form of torpedo boat and torpedo
boat destroyer, of about 300 tons, and
capable of a speed of 28 knots. Of this
particular model there will soon be fifty
in the Russian navy.
ItiiMNlnn \nvnl Inventions,
Tt is very evident that Russia has not
been any the less progressive in the in
finitesimal correlative details of her navy
than she has been in her warships. All
around you you see that the march of
improvement has beeen correspondingly
great in the matter of armament, and the
thousand and one things that go to make
up an efficient naval service. Here and
there are evidences that her Inventors
have more than kept pace with the times.
An enormous 8-tnoh, tS-callber cannon, for
Instance, made at Aboukof, near St.
Petersburg, Is equipped with a mercury
reservoir, quite anew thing in artillery
science, which was tnvented by Papt. Mil
ler, a Russian officer of marine artillery.
Other Russian inventors have applied
most practical and Ingenious modifications
to well known existing ordnances, tending
to enhance value or simplify their
mechanism very considerably.
In the general line of Inventions the
showing Is a most Interesting one. Thus
multitudes of things about a ship have
been vastly improved upon, not only In
navigating appliances and apparatus for
handling ammunition when in action, but
in such minor matters as contribute to
the comfort of officers and crew. A young
Russian officer has Invented n form of
telephone through which the slightest
sound Is audible, whatever may he the
disturbing noises about the ship.
The name telephone !r made applicable
to submarine uses by divers. Indeed, the
Inventions devoted to promoting the ef
ficiency of the diving service are innu
merable. This service Is one that occu
pies a conspicuous place In the Russian
navy, and under the minister of marine
is an important Divers' School at Cron
stadt, where a two years’ course of study
trains sailors for efficient submarine work
Among the many inventions of
value in this line Is a pump enabling
a diver lo descend to a depth of 230 feet
THE MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY, JULY 22, 1900.
b* ov *hc water ©urfa e. Another Inven
ton or ■ similar kind is a submarine
p :o.o?ri apbic camera and outfit.
Ai. .. /• Testing exhibit is made of the
c.-es of aluminum ond other light weight,
durab!f ir.c-tals iO the finishings of war
vtsreis, nd the d.ep'ay of ship armor*
;r_- . .jin r.ie works further de
monstrated the great advance in Russia’s
constructive skill.
ltu**la a * Army Exhibit.
On the upper floor of the Russian #ec
ion in the Army and Navy Pa ace are
shown the various uniforms worn In the
imperial service These are displayed by
an inieresnng collection of life-like wax
figures. Standing in a group before a j
srxtue of the Czar are officers in the brii- i
liant uniforms of the different arms of the ;
service—the gorgeously appara.led Cui- I
rassier in his white tunic, and wearing
rhe silver helmet; the Voltlgeur. in his
more businesslike unform of dark blue,
the brilliant L*ancer; the theatric Hussar,
with his gold braided red jacket, ami
rhe quieter costumes of the Engineers, the
Foot Artillery and the Infantry. Lounging
about are other conspicuous factors of the
great army, chief of which are the Cos
sacks in their picturesque, barbaric co©-
tumes of foimer days and the present
time.
The exhibit, hereabouts, ai?o comprise©
a display of the various stuffs and water
proof tissues worn by all grades of Rus
sian troops. The practical purpose of this
display is to demonstrate how important
a part color plays in the ©election of the
servi uniforms of an army.
The Russian Artillery Annex faces the
center of the Army end Navy building,
from which it is separated by one of the
chief promenades of the exhibition. This
structure, more than anything else, man
ifests by its contents the marvelous de
velopment of the end-of-the-century Rus
sia as a great military power. Nearly
everything in the way of war material that
can be f.>uiKl in the storehouse of any na
tion In the world is duplicated in the Rus
sian Annex, and in many instances is im
* proved upon. The whole range of death
dealing machinery, from a miniature rifle
as big as a scarf pin, to a colossal 11-inch
engine of war, is illustrated in the ex
hibit.
The chief show-pieces in this extraordi
nary collection ore the mountings of two
gigantic coast defense cannon. The can
non themselves are there, but simply to
demonstrate the appurtenances belonging
to them. This machinery, constructed in
St. Petersburg after designs of Col. Dour
laoher of the Russian army, manifests the
ease with which these enormous gun* can
be cleaned, loaded, pointed, raised or low
ered. sighted and fired, thanks to the sim
ple mechanical with which they
are equipped. The efficiency of the appa
ratus is a pnlpable tribute to the advanced
skill of the Russian artillerist©.
Among other entirely new appliances
devised by the Russian army are shown
the Nilus vertical projectiles and a variety
of other projectiles suitable alike for cam
paign, siege and fortress weapons; a gun
carriage equipped with rubber springs to
prevent dislocation of the vehicle by the
recoil from the cannon; a six-inch mortar
mounted on wheel© attached in an ingen
ious way so as to resist without fracture
from the recoil, demonstrating, moreover,
how Russia has solved the problem of em
ploying large caliber mortars in field artil
lery; and a cannon and caisson exhibited
by the St. Petersburg works and by tho
Riianik arsenal, so as to illustrate a pro
cess of wood turning serviceable for the
construction of cannon and caisson
wheels.
Itussif! ond the United State*.
Models of arms are exhibited from the
imperial factories at Taula, Sestroretk
and Ijevsk, and cartridges from the state
factories at St. Petersburg and Lougansk,
all bearing unmistakable evidence of be
ing up to date even to the smallest detail.
Specimens of steel made by anew Russian
process are also shown.
Not tho lenst Interesting and significant
feature of the exhibit Is a large collection
of Russian-made instruments of precision
used in the governmental works. The
most notable of these is a magnetic scales
to test the temper of gun metal. This is a
branch of science that, as is not generally
known, Russia excels in to-day. Another
fact that is also as little known, Is that
Russia owes her skill ln this respect to
the United States. Russia, however,
makes no secret that she had American
preceptors in this line of industry.
Gen. Alexander Van-der-Hoven, the im
perial representative ln charge of the Ar
tillery Annex, Is enthusiastic when he
speaks of the United States. He repre
sented Russia ln the same capacity at the
Centennial Exposition ln Philadelphia in
1876, and from that visit dates the intro
duction of many valuable and practical
ideas into the Russian artillery service.
“All we have learnt,’’ he says, “in the
way of making these necessary instru
ments of precision, we owe to the United
States, and we are proud to acknowledge
the indebtedness. We are also proud of
what we do to-day in. this same line our,-
selves, and we think the specimens ex
hibited here will show that we'have prov
en good pupils of a worthy master."
By way of an illustration the general
pointed to a machine that measures the
one-ten-thousandths of an inch in thick
ness.
From the one-ten-thousandths of an inch
In thickness to cannons of ships weighing
thousands ol tons, ts a range that Is al
most Infinite In Its comprehensiveness. By
what they exhibit in Paris the Russians
show themselves skilled and thorough in
the big things and the little things that
go to make up the military strength of
a nation. Expert observers have come to
lhat conclusion frotn an Inspection of the
Russian army and navy exhibit. When
the knowledge becomes generally known,
perhaps, there will be less disposition than
seems to exist at present to stir up the
wrath of the great white bear—the tradi
tional and historic friend of the American
eagle. Valerian Grlbayedoff.
MALARIA
Cliills and Fever, Fever and Aarne
Conquered.
Wm REM BELIEF
Not only cures the patient seized with
this terrible foe to settlers In newly set
tled districts, where the Malaria or Ague
exists, but if people exposed to it will,
every morning on getting out of bed!
take twenty or thirty drops of the Ready
Relief In a glass of water, and eat, say,
a cracker, they will escape attacks. This
must be done before going out.
There Is not a remedial agent in the
world that will cure Fever and Ague
and all other malarial, bilious and other
fevers, aided by Radway’s Pills, so
quickly as
Sold by all Druggists.
RADWAY & CO., 55 Elm St., N. Y.
SCi!RE VOURSEIF!
t.'sa tltg Cl for unnatural
tisiharges, tnfiaimuatiuna,
rritatioua or ihcersliuaa
>f iqiicou. memt'ranna.
i'umlau, and nut ulna
(put or poiaonoua.
Mold by Druggists,
or amt in plain wrapper,
to airman, pmpaid. for
•1 .no. or s hottlea, $.,7a.
Circular rent on reouesg
™ Morphine and Wkiikevhab-
Ua treated without pair or
confinement. Cure guaran
teed or no pay B H. VKAL*
Man'gr Lithia Springs San
itarium. Box 3. Austell, Ua.
The Chronicles
of Eleetra.
By MABY CATII %R IYE HEWS.
(Copyright, 1900. by Mary Catharine
Hews.)
Tn looordiact w t.i a promise give® to
ESecrra at breakfast time. Miss Wagner
went downstairs and entered Mrs. Bar
ker© little sitting room just as the clock
wa* striking 9. Eleetra, with hat al
ready on, stood by the table.writing some,
thing upon the margin of the Wecklv
Chronicle. Her forehead were a puzzled
frown, and she hesitated now and then,
moving her lips In apparent perplexity,and
gazing abstractedly at her pencil. Buc
she welcomed Miss Wagner with a beam
ing smile, and as soon as she had writ
ten the last word, folded the strip of pa
per into squares and tucked it indifferent
ly into her pocket.
In her and most stiffly s arch**d
calico tier, Eleetra had en air of being
lit full dress. It was pink—the pale, del
icate pink that ranked next to cross
barred muslin itself among her tiers--
and she knew' how to make it rustle with
ir.describabie elegance ns she walked.
In almost anybody else the rusiling and
elegance might have betokened self-con
seiousnee6. With Eleetra they were but
a part or the natural development of
things, no more to be considered, in the
“I Don’t Knok How It Strikes You, Si. But I Do Believe There’s Something Lack
ing in the Upper Story!”
general scheme of well being, than
dimples or laughter.
A sudden anxiety overspread her face
as they went down the steps; and, with
a murmered exclamation, which her com
panion failed to understand, she flashed
swiftly across the yord and out of sight
around the corner of the house. The sun
seemed to shine a little less brightly in
her absence. Miss Wagner even fancied
that she felt a slight chilliness in the air;
whereupon she stepped inside the door
again, throwing her thin cape over her
shoulders and fastening it at ■ the throat
with an impulse of habitual caution.
“Cold, Miss Wagner?” Mrs. Barker
stopped on her way from the Tlintng
room to the cellar, her eyes resting kind
ly upon the listless figure, silhouetted
against the lavish splendor of the sum
mer morning. “It’s this entry does it,"
she went on. "Most anybody’ll shiver ln
It. no matter what time o’ day ’tis. I
could use it for an ice chist on’ done
with It, I tell ’em. If 'twasn’t quite so
public.”
Y’ears of experience had familiarized
Mrs. Barker with nearly every phase of
the genus summer boarder, but this lan
guid young woman was anew type, not
easily classified. The average occupant
of her best chamber, for example, would
have thought it only courteous to reply
to her remarks. Mifs Wagner either did
not listen to them at all or quite forgot
to answer.
“It’s lucky for her’t she seems to take
to Electry so." Mrs. Barker soliloquized
as she descended the cellar stairs. "She'd
be mortal lonesome if she didn’t. Asa
gen’ral thing she ain't no better*n a mute
at a funeral when I try to talk with her;
an’ here they two'll travel off together,
day ln an’ day out. like a pair o’ lambs.”
A moment later Eleetra came back, her
steps unhurried now, her whole small per
son radiating serenity. An ancient-looking
bag of Java canvas hung upon her arm,
the faded splendor of its embroidery
brought into bifid relief by significantly
bulging outlines. It sent forth a tempting
orchard fragrane at close range; and be
fore the front gate had fairly clicked be
hind them Eleetra drew from It a mellow,
richly-tinted apple, streaked here and
there with vivid crimson by the August
sun.
"Mother says vlttles ch'np-'r'n doctors
any day,” she announced with serious
wisdom, ns she tasted It; the regularity
with which one rap'd mouthful followed
another demonstrating her hearty concur
rence In her mother’s opinion. For per
haps five minutes after this she trudged
along the narrow country road at Miss
Wagner's side in contented silence, her
feet falsing clouds of yellow dust that ob
scured at Intervals her sturdy little shoes
and home-knit openwork stockings. At
the end of that time she lnunched briskly
Into conversation.
"She that brown house over acrost the
field, Misa Dorothy? Miss McDaniel lives
over there. Father called her a blamed
fool once. I guess you'd like to hear
about that;" her gray eyes following the
closely bitten fragment of apnlecore that
was Just describing a prolonged curve over
the fence.
“She come over to stay with me one
time so't mother ccu’d go down't the Cen
tre with father; he'd got to have a wis
dom tooth hauled. Well, they hadn't been
gone no time before her daughter Llz
beth's hushan' come after her. He said
tlvy’d got oompanv’t heme an’ he must
go right back with him. at any rale. So
she got ready in a norfle hurry, an' took
me along with her. But she looked out
to put away mother's silver spoons, all
six of 'em. in the parlor stove before we
start and An' she Just wrote rut In great
big let’ers "balancelng herself on her toes
here and speaking with dramatic fervor—
" 'N. R —l’ve put the silver In the stove,*
an' she pinned it right up outside the win
der She did that, she said, so't mother
shouldn't worry one mite about the spoons;
an' when father saw it he called her
blamed fool."
A little red squirrel glided past on the
stone wail and darted up Into n chestnut
tree with the mysterious grace which na
ture has bestowed upon her woodland
creatures. Electro watched him eagerly.
She made a long chirruping sound which
the squirrel apparently saw fit to regard
as threatening; there was a *wift ©curry
among the branches, o sudden swirl and
flutter of the leaves, and then perfect si
lence.
“He’s hid.” decided Eleetra. after a
brief interval of waiting. •Squirrels ain’t
no foos-whatever!
“Wan t to know why father called Miss
McDaniel a blamed fool?” she went on
seductively. “I asked him afterwards,
an’ he said ’twaa because the dentist
most broke his jaw haulin’ that tooth, an’
he felt ugly. ‘Too ugly to live,’ father
said. But 1 found out for myself why he
called her a blamed —”
“Bl ase don’t repeht that part. Eleetra,
I can remembeV it now.”
“Why he called ner—it You see, fa
ther.- name was Noah Barker, an’ it
madded him to have his ’nitials, N. 8.,
wrote right out on the winder for every
body to read. I don’t know’* you could
blame him for ©hat.” wistfully. "Mother
didn't, a bit; but she raid t-he’d got to
laugh, if she was to die for it the next
minute.
“There's some more to that story. Miss
Dorothy. The lest ain’t the real story,
though, come to think of it. But that
man didn’t tell Miss McDaniel the truth.
P’raps you don't have to tell the truth
to a blamed—” she caught herself up
sharply. “Any wav he didn’t. When we
got to her houire there wasn't any comp’nv
there; nobody in the world but old
Perki?is. an’ a mosquiter wouldn’t call
her comp’ny. Liz’beth was sick abed, too.
an’ couldn’t ’ave done for cocnp’ny any
way; an* there I'd got Mis* McDaniel to
comb my hair ’n put on my ankle-ties, all
for nothin.* That was the day they
showed me the red baby, I remember, an'
Liz’beth’s husban’ made such a fuss about
weighin’ it.”
She sighed with an air of retrospective
melancholy.
“Father was took away after that, but
I most know ’twasn’t because he was too
ugly to live. Mother says he was always
good’s nangel,” with another sigh. At
this point her healthy appetite suggested
a diversion.
Opposite the driveway at Dr. Gordon’s,
Elecira fumbled in her pocket for the
torn margin of the Weekly Chronicle, and
held it up for inspection. It bore this
announcement, written in an unformed
childish hand: “The sowin* eerkles goin’
to bee at ower house necks Wensday,
ranershine without fale.”
“Elviry Gordon’s hard o’ bearin',” ehs
JiL,i
Q
When Father Sew It He Called Her a
Blamed Fool.
explained as she refolded It, “an’ she’d
ruthe-r read things than try to listen to
'em. I went to a picnic with her once"
—she had delivered the Important mes
sage to Miss Gordon and rejoined her
companion—"an't took me all the way to
Hackett's Crossin' to make her under
stand that Wiliiam Tell’d got his paws
all blacked up with medder mud that
mornln’. That was the day she told me
she was as deef’s a haddock; an' when
I got home I said to mother. If ever I
went to the village with a haddock I
wouldn't tell him a word about medder
mud, If I had to keep still an' not speak
at oil. 1 didn't know then that haddocks
was fishes, X thought they was folks. An’
I don't sec yet why the poor things have
to he Oe f, any more’n shad or mack’rts
“William Tell wasn't Will am Tell at all
then.” The echo of an unforgotten regret
was in her voice. “He come from Dam'rls
ootta, an’ so I called him Dam'rtscotta
till mother put her foot down't she
wouldn't feed him by ony such a name.
She said she shouldn’t cared anything
about It, one way or another. If he hadn't
always sneaked off'n hid, Just’s he was
wanted; but It made her feel foolish to
have folks see tar dodgin’ up'n down
the road an' yellin' ‘Dam'rlscotta,’ with
no dog anywheres In sight to answer her.
"I told mother once when I was tryln’
to do my sums that I Just wished Elviry
Gordon was my teacher, an’ mother said"
—her laughter gurgled forth unrestrained
—"that she should hate to say such a
thing's that before Troplokeroancer even
—let alone a human being. But Troplek
ercancer was out on the haymow watch
ln' for mice when I said It, an' of course,
•twas all right to tell It to mother. i
should hate long division dreadfly,
though. Miss Dorothy, if ’twasnt for
slngin'—on’ even that don’t bring the i
answer. But when you can sing 'Thir- |
teen will go in 65’ to ’Old Hundred,’ you
don't seem to care so nruch how many ;
times ’twill go—till the teacher stan’s ye
up in the corner to do it over.”
Mrs. Barker had asked them to call at
the Widow Chesley’s and return a sleeve
pattern. After much hospitable entreaty
Miss Wagner consented to remain there
for a half hour and partake of what her
hostess termed ”a sociable little snack.”
Eleetra, with a warm doughnut in either
hand, wandered out Into the yard. They
saw her soon after under the elm tree be
side the shed, turning the heavy grind
stone with timid rapture. A little later
Miss Wagner caught n fleeting glimpse
of pink calico at the farthest corner of
the barn. Thcrf it flitted down the hill,
in and out through the tall grass, and
disappeared for a time altogether.
"Eleetry's a curious child, ain’t she?”
commented Mrs. Chosley, sipping n littie
tea for courtesy. "You c'ouldn’t . hardly
believe, ’f you didn't know her, the fun
ny things she'll say when she gets to
goin’.’’
Miss Wagner wisely held her peace.
“My daughter Eunice keeps the school
here, an’ she tells me more or less about
It. ‘Twasn’t any time ago hardly that
Electry got all wrought up because Eunice
told her she lived in North America.”
“'I don’t,’ soys Electry. 'I live in
Maine.’ An’ she kep' on sayin' so, spite
of anything Eunice could do.”
" ‘We all live in Maine.’ says Eunice
finally, ‘but we live In North America,
too.' An’ that young one was madder'n
fury."
“ The state o' Maine’s Just—the state
o’ Maine,' says she. ‘Of course there’s
lots of place in it I ain’t never seen, an’
mebbe yer North America’s one of ’em.
I guess it’s somewhere way down in Sa
gadahoc or Andr'scoggin, if ’tis.’ An’ then
she burst out laughin' as pleasant's ever.
Her temper's always over in no time.”
She glanded out of the window from
time to time and spoke in a cautious un
dertone.
•‘The funniest thing I ever heard of her
sayin’ was one day in Sabbath School last
winter. There was somethin’ or other in
the lesson that made the ministers ask
’em who was the strongest man that ever
lived; an' Electry piped right up, before
anybody' else could speak, ’tl called out,
‘Tom Reed!’ It come so unexpected it
pretty near upset the minister, an’ every
boy in the room begun to giggle. ‘l’m
sure he is,’ went on Electry, just as
calm's a clock, ’for the Chronicle says’t
he's been holdin’ Congress in the holler
of his hand for the last eight days, an’
there ain't another man livin’ that could
do it.' Mr. Dennett passed over It as
well’s he could an’ took up the next ques
tion; but some o’ them that was there
will have it that the superintendent had
to get off behind the door and laugh it
out all by himself.
”1 often wish her father could have
lived,” she went on, her kindly face grow
ing grave. "He made a perfect idol of
Electry, an’ she’s just his breathin’ Im
age. It's from him she gets her likin’ for
music; and if there was one thing in this
world Noah Barker'd set his heart cn,
’twas buyin’ a pianner for her an’ lettin'
her have the good of it while she was
growin’ up. Of course poor Emetine can’t
affrd lo do It now; but after all, I don't
know’s there’s a happier—Hullo, Electry!
Back so soon?”
“Mother loves to swap work with Miss
Chesley,” remarked Eleetra, trailing a
great spray of golden-rod along the path
as they went out. “It don’t make her
back ache half so much, she tells me, to
wash Miss Chesley’s bakin' dishes as’t
does to wash her ow'n.”
The next house was at the end of a long
sti*etch of rising ground which left them
somewhat breathless. It was a pleasant
looking place, with honeysuckle vines
around the open front door and fragrant,
old-fashioned flower beds in the garden.
Eleetra began to speak, In a low and con
fidential tone, as they drew near It.
“This is where the Burleighs live, Miss
Dorothy’. Let’s go right by, as easy’s can
be. Miss Burleigh’s just killed a man,”
in an awestruck whisper, “an’ mebbe she
wouldn’t want to see us.”
“Eleetra!”
“I don’t know, but mother’d tune me
for tellin’ ye, but she didn't say I mustn’t.
Miss Curtis was talkin’ to her about it
last night, an' I set there on the cricket
studyin' about the Arctic Circle. I almost
know mother remembered I was there.
Miss Curtis told lots o’ things about
this man. He was a soldier; a drummer in
Mr. Jordan March’s comp’ny, she said.
He felt sick on the train, an’ got off liere't
the middle depot. Mr. Burleigh see him
there an’ brought him home—him and all
his drums, I guess.” At this point she
hesitated, but conscious rectitude upbore
her. “There was somethin’ about a fe
ver’s runnln’, I didn’t quite get that. An’
then she said: ‘I recon poor Miss Bur
leigh’s done it now for herself! She’s took
all the care o’ that Mr. Smith for two
mortal week, an’ now see hew It’s turned
out. He wanted to be histed up ln bed
this mornin’, Mr. Burleigh said 1 , after
she'd got the drarves on his feet and given
him his medicine; an’ she went and put
her hand under the back of his head, and
he was gone in no time. That’s a queer
thing to kill a man, ain't it! Miss Curtis
said she was a sick woman, an’ all wore
out with him. I s’pose that's how she
happened to do it. Now, there's the sol
diers home over to Togus; likely the poor
think would 'a been better off there*
They crossed the road involuntarily
and went by the house with an air of
virtuous avoidance. But under the pop
lar trees beyond the barn Eleetra sudden
ly halted. v
"I guess I ain’t never told you about
Harry Sylvester, Miss Dorothy. He hasn’t
got only one leg, but his mother says he
makes up for it in hands. I can’t ever
see any extra ones, but of course she'd
ought to know. Poor Miss Sylvester! She
has things enough to make her feel bad.
Dr. Gordon says that Harry’s father was
poorer’n one o' Job’s cats when they
first come here, an’ now he's gettln’ to
be a four-handed man. Seems as if some
thin’ kept happenin’ to him all the time,
don’t it? Now, Harry’s had his leg cut
off, an’ prob’iy he’ll be four-handed, too,
before he gets through with It. I was
thinkin’ that p'raps Miss Burlelgh’d send
him some o' them drums if anybody
spoke to her about It," her frank eyes
full of sympathy.
"I’m afraid you don't quite understand
about the drums at Mrs. Burleigh's,
dear,” said Miss Wagner faintly; "sup
pose we sit down here by the brook and
rest awhile.”
"Everybody likes Mr. Burleigh,” resum
ed Electra, after according what seemed
to her sufficient time for a graceful
change of subjects. /
“Aunt Octavia used to say that he’d
give ye his eyeteth If you asked for
'em. I never quite believed It when she
said It, but I went over there once to
do an errand, an' I was plannin' to speak
to him about It.” She burst into a
roguish laugh at the recollection, dis
playing to advantage her own teeth, safe
ly past the transition period, and now
gleaming in ever) whiteness.
"When I got there, Miss Dorothy, he
didn't have a tooth In the world, except
some that was up on the kitchen shelf In
a cracked tumbler. An' so I run home
an’ told Aunt Octavia that aomebody'd
asked him for ’em an' got 'em. That was
ever so long ago, when I didn’t know any
better.
"I love my Aunt Octavia dearly, but
she's queer sometimes. She don't like
dreams very well. I had a real bad
dream once when I was a little girl.
Seem's If mother didn't have father then,
hut I don’t know sure, for I was such
a little girl.
“But mother'n mo’d been havin’ a
norfle good time in the evenin'; poppln'
corn, an’ tellln' stories an’ all that. An’
she het up my feet In front o’ the stove,
an' said, 'Two little pigs went to market;
on 'em before she put me to hed. An’ then
afterwards I dreamt that I heard mother
rryln’. Of couorse I thought I'd waked
up. You always do think you’ve waked
up, don’t ye, Mlsa Dorothy, when you
get to dreamln’?"
"I aee mother lookin' dretfla sober, set
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tin’ down front o' the bureau an’ handlin’
over some papers she took out of n bo X
Then I dreamt she kissed a square thine
that was kinder shet up in her hand on*
cried an’ cried, Just as I did when I cut
my finger with the choppin’ knife.
“I fold mother about it the next dav
She laughed at me en’ said little folks
mustn't ’magine things; an' then she went
Into tho kitchen to stir her cramb’rv
sauce, ns smilin’ as could b“. But just',
soon's she and got out o' hearin’ up jumped
Aunt Octavia an’ grabbed holt o tnv
shoulder an’ shoojc me as if I was a table
cloth. An’ she says, ’Don’t never tel,
your mother that dream again, as longs
you live an' breathe.’ There's lots 0
things makes her nervous. Mother ain't
never nervous”-a satisfied ripple in her
voice.
“Aunt Octavia’n T had a secret ones.”
she went on in a gentle flow of reminis
cence. “I was stayin' over to her hous*
while Uncle Silas sugared off.’*
She threw a pebble into the brook, and
watching the widening circle on the w.
ter with an air of reflective speculation,
"What was the secret, Eleetra?” asked
Miss Wagner aft'r a moment's silence
“O yes,” still looking at the water and
speaking half absently, “I was lonesome
for mother one night after I got into bed,
an’ auntie left a candle burning; but
'twas a little bit of a one an' it spluttered,
I said ‘Now 1 lay me,’ Just's If mother
was there. Then the candle sputtered
again an’ T began to say 'Our Father'
They heard me then, an’ they came run
uin’ up stairs in a norfle hurry. An’
Aunt Octavia says. ’Y’ou little screech
owl, you’ll scare me Into fits! What under
the canopy are you shoutin’ that way
for?”
“That was worse’n the candle, for I
didn’t know what she meant; but I told
her that the prayer said. 'Hollered be thy
name,’ an’ that was why I'd been hol
lering.
"Then Aunt Octavia said, ‘I don't know
how it strikes you, Si, but I do believe
there's somethin’ lackin’ in the upper
story!'
“Uncle Silas said there wasn’t. He said
he’d bet a cookie ’twould come out all
right in tburse o’ time. Better wait an'
see.
“I guess I went to sleep after that, but
sometime—mebbo ’twas the next day
auntie told me we’d have a secret. Then
she got me to promise I wouldn’t tell a
livin’ soul about the upper story, not even
mother. I said I didn’t want to tell moth
er, she'd feel so bad if there was anything
the matter with auntie's house. I think
Uncle Silas felt bad, too, for he kep’ whit
tlin’ while she was makln' me promiae
an’ he said: ’I sh'd think you’d feel like
slngin’ pretty small about that speech,
Tavy.’ I asked Aunt Octavia about It
once a little while ago, an' she said the
upper story was all right now. So I
s'pose 'tis, but/I can't see a single bit o’
difference when I go there. Auntie ain’t
never been very well, mother says, an’
she takes notions. I s’pose that's why
he'salways teliin'menot totalk the board
ers stone blind, an' I never talked any
body blind in my life, ’cept p’raps Tropic
kercancer’s kittens—an’ they got right
over it.”
The intervals of fruit-scented silence be
gan to grow more frequent. Had B*a
been like Eleetra, Adam would have found
It easy to withstand her half-hearted so
licitations. Her occasional “Don’t you
want an apple, too?” sounded too mechan
ical and perfunctory to ellct even a re
fusal. Afterward, when she saw that the
long-suffering canvas bag went home
empty, Miss Wagner found it necessary to
assure herself In a- dazed sort of way
that she had positively not eaten a sin
gle apple that morning.
It was with a sensation akin to terror
that she detected indications of hunger
in Eleetra on the way home.
“Mother told me we was goln’ to have
stewed chicken for dinner; on' toast, with
lots o' gravy on it," began that young
person hopefully.
She was climbing the great stone
under the Osborne maples now, and her
next words fluttered! downward with soft,
uneven emphasis.
“We're go-in’ to have green applle P*£
too; an' new cheese, an' coffee. Now, look
out for leaves when I scrabble,” poising
herself securely on the post and begin*
ning a vigorous attack upon the lower
branches of the maples.
"Eleetra,” said Miss Wagner, suddenly,
a moment later.
“Yes, Miss Dorothy.” Her rosy UtU
face, with tangled curls blown aorosa n.
became gradually visible through
shower of leaves that had followed t •
“scrabble.” ,
"You’ve shaken the trees enough
one day, haven’t you, child? Come dew
now and listen, to me for a minute.
Eleetra sprang from the post in promp
obedience.
"I’ve been thinking of what your Aunt
Octavia said, Eleetra,”—Miss
was making futile efforts to reduce tn
tangled hair to something like order— ana
I really don't believe there Is any neea
of her worrying about the boarders,
have listened to you all the morning,
say nothing of other mornings that coal
be mentioned, and I am not stone 1,1
by any means. On the contrary I’m
ginning to suspect that I see better fro
week to week; and if that is so. y u
have been my atmospheric illuminant.
The smile with which she spoke
quizzical and merry. A sudden bktne
animation seemed to possess her.
The next few sentences Eleetra
entirely. With her eyes bent upon tn
ground she was struggling with the t
mysterious words that had caught a
absorbed her attention; words that a sur
instinct told her she was not likcly
hear again; “At-mos-pherlc 111-iUn—.
mospheric—”
And then Miss Wagner’s voice destros
) forever the possibility of fitting <h''.
fascinating but elusivo syllables into tn
mosaic of her vocabulary.
“iSo the new piano will come ne
week, Eleetra," the voice was sayl
with the same unfamiliar buoyancy
Its tones,” and its going to be your ve >
—precious—little—own.” ,
The ardent Joyousncss of Electr
smile rivaled the sunlight which floooej
the dining room that noon. It had i
none of its radiance, wha*. hav ‘ ns „. „
posed of two heaping platefuls of ctiu
en and baked polatoes, followed ln
course by "green apple pie, new eh
and coffee.” she laid down her knife
fork with a sigh of perfect satisfaction.
"I’m so happy I can’t eat ano
mouthful." she said, apologetically.
guess I'll go out and tell Tropicker
cancer."
Standing by the window Mss
ner saw her cross the yard with r 1’
steps in the direction of the bain,
fore Its open doop she paused In m
mentary indecision; then turned and ran,
with a hop. skip and Jump, straight
ward the furthest corner of the orenaru,
where the New York pippins grew.
—Mofakhamed-Dowieh, the new Per* 1 *"
represcntaTlve at Washington, was !nl ™
and bred a soldier. H entered military
•prvlce at the ago of 11 anti did f *
UP diplomatic life until he was 26 1"*"
Old.