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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 ,v , MUNYUNSI Jj'hhsjn 7 aH Free "medical ad o’ If vice 1.105 Arch Phila. *> BtOOD'tUm 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.