Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1912-6-20, Page 2ONLY A MONTH; OR, A CURIOUS MYSTERY EXPLAINED. CHAPTER VL On the stairs Frithiof was waylaid by Mr. Morgan ; it was with a sort of surprise that he heard his own calm replies to. the Englishman's polite speeches, and regrets, and inquiries as to when he returned to Norway, for all the time his head was swimming, and it was astonish. ing that he could frame a correct English phrase. His heart was so utterly dead that he weld not even think of his home; neither his father nor Sigrid rose before him as he looked down that long, dreary vista of life that lay beyond. He could see only that Blanche was no longer his; that the Blanche he had loved and believed in had never really existed; that he had been utterly deceived, defraud- ed; and that something had been taken from him which could never return. "I will not live a day longer," he said to himself ; "not an hour long- er." And in the relief of hawing some attainable thing to desire ar- dently, were it only death and anni- hilation, he quickened his pace and felt a sort off renewal of energy and life within him, urging him on, holding before him the one aim which he thought was worth pur- suing. He was alone again, and the twi- light for which he had longed was fast closing in upon hire; a sort of blue haze seemed gathering over the mark; night was coming on. What was this horrible new struggle which was beginning within him? "Evil," "sin," could he not at least do what he would with his own life? Where was the harm in ending that which was hopelessly spoiled and ruined? Was not suicide a perfect legitimate ending to a life? A voice within him answered his question plainly: "To the roan with a diseased brain—the man who doesn't know what he is about—it is no worse an end than to die in bed of a fever. But to you—you who are afraid of the suffering of life, you who know quite well what you are doing—to you it is sin." Fight against it as he would, he could not stifle this new conscious- ness which had arisen within him. Only women or children could hold such a creed; only those who led sheltered innocent, ignorant lives. Looking back afterward on the frightful struggle, it seemed to him that for ages he had tossed to and fro in that horrible hesitation. In reality all must have been over within a quarter of an hoUr. There rose before him the recollection of his father as he had last seen him standing on the deck of the steamer, and ho remembered the tone of his voice as he had said: "I look to you, Frithjof, to carry out the aims in which I myself have failed, to live the life that I could wish to have lived." He saw once again the wistful look ie his father's eyes, the ming- led love, pride, and anxiety with which he had turned to him, loath to let him go, and yet eager to speed him on his way. Should he now disappoint all bis hopes? Should he, deliberately and in the full pos- session of all his faculties, take a etep which must bring terrible suf- fering to his home people? Ancl then he remembered for the first time that already trouble and vexa- tion and less had overtaken his fa- ther; he knew well how greatly he would regret the -connection with the English firm, and he pictured to himself the familiar hose: in Kalve- • dalen with a new and unfamiliar timid upon it, till instead of the longing fur death there came to him •a nobler longing—a longing to go back and help, a longing to make up te his father for the loss and vexation and the slight•whise had been put upon him. He began to feel ashamed of the other wish, he began to realize that there was still eomething to be lived for, though indeed life looked to him as dim and uninviting as the twilight park • With its wreaths of gray mist, and its unpeopled solitude. Emerging °nee more into the busy world of traffic at Hyde Park Cor- ner, the perception of his forlorn desolateness came tit him with far fi more force than in the quiet path by the Serpentine. Fur the first • time he felt keenly that he was in tan unknown city, and there came over him a eick longing for Norway, for dear old Bergen, for the famil- iam mountains, the familiar faces, the friendly greetings <of passers-by. ;For a few minutes he stood still, un- certain which road to take, woe- dering how in the world he should get through the weary hours of his i solitary evening. Close by hire a young man stood talking to the oc- cupants of a brougham which had drawn up by the pavement; • h heard a word or two of their talk, clink, almost unconsciously. "Is the result of the trial known yet?" "Yes, five years' penal servitude and no more than he deserves." "The poor childrenwhat wi become of them?" "Shall you be home by ten ? w won't hinder you, then." "Quito by ten. Tell father tha Seldom. is free for the night he wanted him; I mot him just now. i Good-bye." Then to the coachman, "Home!" The word startled Frithiof back to the recollection of his own al - fairs; he had utterly lost his bear- ingsland must ask for direction. He would accost this man who seemed a little lees in a hurry than the rest . of the world, "Will you kindly tell me the way to the Arundel Hotel?" he asked. The young man turned at the Mina of his voice, looked keenly at him for an instant, then held out his hand in cordial welcome. "How are you?" he exclaimed. I "What a lucky chance that we should have run across each other lin the dark like this! Have you !been long in England 9" Frithiof, at the first word of hear- ty greeting, looked up with start- led eyes, and in the dim gas -light he saw the honest English face and kindly eyes of Roy Boniface, CHAPTER VII. Meantime the brougham had bowled swiftly away and its two oc- cupants had settled themselves down comfortably as though they were preparing for a long drive. "Are you warm enough, my child? 'letter let inc have this win- dow down, and you put yours up," said Mrs. Bon/face, glancing with motherly anxiety at the fair face beside her. "You spoil me, mother, dear," said Cecil. "And indeed I do .want you not to worry about me. I am quite strong, if you would only be- lieve it." "Well, well, I hope you are," said Mrs. Boniface, with a sigh. "But any way it's more than you look, child." .And the mother thought wistful- ly of two graves in a distant ceme- tery where Cecil's sisters lay; and she remembered with a cruel pang that only a few days ago some friend had remarked to her, with the thoughtless frankness of a rapid talker, about Cecil's dfolicate ap- pearance. "I am glad we have seen Doctor Royson," said Cecil, "because now we shall feel quite eomfortable, and you won't be anxious any mare, mo- ther. It would be dreadful, I think, to have to be a sorb of semi -invalid all one's life, though I suppose some people must enioy it, since Doctor Royston said that half the girls in London were invalided just for want of sensible work. I rather believe, mother, that is what has been the matter with me," and she laughed. "You, rny dear)" said Mrs. Boni- face; "1 am sure you are not at all idle at home. No one could say such a thing of you," "But I am always having to in- vent things to do to keep myself busy," said Cecil, "Mother, I have got a plan in my heed now that would settle rey work for five whole years, and I do so want you to say 'yes' to it." "It isn't that yeu want to go into some sisterhood?" asked Mrs, Boni- face, her gentle gray eyes filling with tears, "Oh, no, no," said Cecil, empha- tically. "Why, how could I ever o away from home and lesiva you, arling, jest as 1 am getting old nough to be of use to you? It's *thing of that kind, and the worst 1 it is that it would mean e good dual of expense to father, which emits hardly fair," "Ho won't grudge that," said Mrs. Boniface. "Your father would do anything to please you, clear. What is this plan'Let me hear about it." "Well, the other night when I was hearing all about those poor Grant- loys opposite to es—how the neither had left her husband and children and gone off no one knows where, and then how the father had forged that check and would certainly be promotes appetite, assistS digestion and builds up sound health. For 26 years wo have recommended Bovril for these reasons and they havo now been established by strict physiological tests made by W. H. Thomp- son, P11. D., D. So., of Trinity College, Dublin. imprisoned, I began to wonder what sort of a chance the children had in the world. „And no one seemed to know or to care what would become of them, except father, and he said we must try to got them into some asylum or school." "It isn't many asylums that ' would care to take them, I expeet," said Mrs. Boniface. "Poor little 11 things, there's a hard fight before them! But what was your plan ?" "Why, mother, it was just to per- suade father to let them male to t us for the five years. Of course it would be an expense to him, but I would teach them, and help to take care of them; and oh, it would be so nice to have children about the house! Ono can never he dull where there are children," "I knew she was dull at home," thought the mother to herself. "It was too much of a change for her to come back from school, from so many educated people and young friends, to an ignorant old woman like me and a silent house. Not that the child would ever allow it." "But of course, darling," said Because they act so gently (no purging or griping) yet so thoroughly NA. LAX /.PCO "FIVES are best for the children as well as the grownups, 25o. a bas at your .druggiset. Nellaillflreetndtlerdeilto,sfeanstisAlmllel let 0***.***.e.***Aile..****,*0 On the Farm MORE AND BETTER POTATOES. It is common belief that if we purehase a variety of potatoes from o seedsman that we have secured just one variety. This is true in a measure. If the seedsratte is reli- able, he will send potatoes time are uniform in color, depth of eyes, earliness of maturing, and other qualities. But unless these parti- cular potatoes have been pedigreed, then we have not received ono thing, but mosey, writes Professor L 11. Waldron. The farmer can demonstrate this fact to his own satisfaction. At dig- ging time let him lay off a portion of a row containing 100 hills. In order to show this each hill must have come from only one piece of seed. The 100 hills are dug and the tubers of each hill are kept by themselves on top of the hill. The products of the 100 hills are now ready to be studied. At first, glance the hills may ap- pear to run very uniformly. A lit- tle closer view will reveal the fact that about the only thing that is uniform is that they aro all pota- toes. The first hill has one large one, two medium-sized ones and half-aelozen small ones. The next hill has one medium-sized one and several small ones. Perhaps the next hill has three or four good- sized ones. Another hill has a soli- tary tuber, but of good size. Per- haps another hill has nothing but little runts. Thus it goes through the 100 hills. The ordinary farmer will pick up the tubers from all of the hills and put them all together. He dues this complacently and with satisfaction. His fathers did it be- fore him and all of his neighbors do it. Why should not he? Late in winter, when he begins to read the seed catalogues, he ONTARIO'S PRIZE FAT BABY. This youngster is only two months past two years old. He weighs 127 pounds. His name Is John Bras, and he lives 18 mites from Ottawa. Cecil, "I won't, say a word more about it if you think it would trou- ble you or make the house too noisy." "There is plenty of room for them, poor little mites," said Mrs. Boniface. "And the plan is just like you, dear. There's only one objection I have to it. I don't like your binding yenrself to 'work fur so many years—not just now while you are so young. I should have liked you to marry, deer." "But I don't think that is likely," said Cecil. "And it does seem so stupid to let the time pass on and do nothing for years and years just because there is a chance that some man whome you could accept may propose to you. The chances are quite equal that it may not be so, and then you have wasted a great part of yeur life." "I wish you could have fancied Herbert White," said Mrs. Beni - face, wistfully, "Ile would have made sueh a good husband." "I hope he will to some one else. But that would have been impos- sible, mother, quite, quite impos- sible." "Cecil, &alio, is there—is there any one else?" "No one, mother," said Cecil, quietly, and the celor in her cheeks did not deepen, and Mrs. Boniface felt satisfied, Yet, nevertheless, at that very moment there flashed frith CeciPe mind the perception of the real reason which had made it im- possible for her to accept the offer of marriage that a week or two ago she had refused. She saw that Fri- thjof Falek would always he to her a sort of standard by which to measure the rest of mankind, and she faced the thought quietly, for there had never been any question of love between them ; he would pro- bably merry the pretty Miss Mor- gan, and it was very unlikelythat the should over meet him again. "The man whom I could accept mast he that sort of man," she thought to herself, "And there is something degrading in the idea of standing and waiting for the doubt- ful chance that such a one may some day appear. Surely wo girls were not horn into the world just to stand in rows waiting to got married?" (To he continual) wonders why on earth, or under it, he cannot raise such splendid crops of potatoes as he sees pictured. Now, that is the point I am getting at; our variety is not a unit. In our 100 hills that we have dug, close study might reveal the pres- ence of at least ten strains or varie- ties, instead of the one that we thought we had. The hill that bore the little runts CUSZCtl, •1•1100•0•01 ....*1•••••••••• Each and Every 5—Pou d Extra Granulated Sugar contains 5 pounds full weight of Canad 's finest sugar, at its best. Ask your grocer f r theo..(4 5—Pound Package. 44. CANADA SUGAR REFINING CO., Limited, Montreal. i EMEEMEMESEEMimagaMTAMMogatagaig ,'ZIPZEE.X02216==== has the runt character as a. habit. It is going to persist for years and every tiine we plant seed of that strain we will know to a certainty that we will harvest little potatees. The hill that produced one or two large and several small ones, is a common feature of potato fields. The hill that bore three or four good-sized tubers is the one to fast- en our eyes on. That is the hill that has a:dlity and the one that we should get next to. We will assume that we have three tubers to every hill and that the total weight of the three tubers is i4 pounds. There is nothing absurd in this, for often an indi- vidual tuber will weigh more. We will further assume that our rows are 3X feet apart and that our hills are two feet apart in the row. This is open planting, probably more open than is commonly prac- tised. At this rale of planting there will be 6,200 hills per acre, assuming nearly a perfect stand. With 1% pounds per hill, we would have a yield of 155 bushels per acre, a yield worth striving for by the ma- jority of farmers. Now it may be that the bill with the three or four good tubers will not breed tree, but the chances are that it will. The offspring of tho hill is almost certain to produce a certain percentage of small tubers, but we may count upon it that it will produce a lesser percentage of small tubers than the average hill. What a farmer should do at po- tato -diming time is to dig a fair- sized pe7l'ah, leaving each hill by it- self. After the patch is dug he should carefully go over the patch and ef elect out those hills that have fewitubers of good size. The tubers from those hills should be sacked by themselves and laid away for seed for the year fel- :• wing. If ho is particular he may not be able 10 find more than ten hills to his liking. In the springtime these should be treated by themselves and planted in a separate patch. The second year's product from the ton hills will be sufficient to plant quite a piece of ground, perhaps as much aa the farmer desires, If the farmer wants to follow a method even better and mere ac- curate than this, he should plant each of the ten hills in a little plot by itself. This requires that each hill will be sacked separately at planting time. If the ten plats show up of about equal value and all good, it is not necessary to keep them longer separate, but the product of the ten plats may be sacked to- gether and saved to plant the main patch the year fallowing. It two or three of the ten plats are off, these should be discarded and the good plats saved. If an occasional farmer follows the method here laid out, he will soon find that his neighbors will be after him for seed and they will he willing to pay him a bonus for them. OFF THE SAME PIa. A young wife recently went into a provision shop and addressed the shopman thus: "I bought three or four hams here a•month or so ago, and they were fine. Have you any more of them ?" "Yes, ma'am," replied the man. "There are ten of those hams hang- ing up there now." "Well, if you're sure they're off the same pig, I'll take three of them," replied the young wife, meekly. SHE ADORED THE RING. Maud—When you Broke the en- gagement, of course you returned the diamond ring he gave you. Ethel—Certainly not! I don't care for Tack any more, but my feelings have not changed towards the ring. Weary William—"You condemn no tramps, but there's one thing we must get credit for." Mrs. Stingey—"What's that? Weary William—"You don't hear as ''*es dulgin' in labor disputes," .147412..«Tomainciracarratsu • mktisM, 1:19212.10211421921 When President' Taft and Col.Poosevelt are through with their mucl they muse clean up. "2 in.1" Shoe Polish is the Very best thing for their 'boots as all good Canadians and Americans realize. ‘4easesesettanee AT ALL DIEM RS Me. nest by test Will not soil the daintiest gar - menta. Quickbrilliant lasting. No other even hall as good. to BLUEJACKETS' GRIEVANCES DISCONTENT WIWI'S IN BRIs TISlif NAVY. Needs of the 'Sailors Overlooked jit the Craze for Big Warships, • The spirit of unrest and diesatia- faction with the things that are has now sprctul to the army and navy, writes 0 London correspondent. Tammy Atkins for the moment holds his peace, but his brother in ammo, the jack tart is fully alive to the fact that now is the time to air his grievances and to press for their removal. Such a thing as a blue- jackets' trade union of course does not exist. The regulations express- ly forbid any such combination. But things have come to such a pass that the 100,000 sailors of the Royal navy contemplate setting the King's regulation, and Admiralty instructions at defiance by forming themselves into a trade union. To those who have studied the question closely this determination will not come an a surprise, It has long been mi. matter of common knowledge that in the navy discon- tent amounting almost to a muti- nous spirit has been growing. 11 is no exaggeration to say that a continuance of the present state of affairs constitutes a grave national scandal. In the first place the regulations have compelled the men to suffer their injustices in eilence. They are not allowed even to petition the Admiralty through their command- ing officers,. Secondly, people have been taught to regard the seaman, and particularly the British ma,n-o'- warsma,n, as a born gambler, as a, man who would cavil at Paradise and whose complaints therefore are not to be taken seriously. Thirdly, the Dreadnought cra,zo has taken fast hold of the nation and little at- tention is given to the needs of the men. TIME TO WAIUT UP. It is high time that these ideas. should go by the board. It is time for the nation and the naval author- ities to realize that petty officers and men with a full sense of their risk and responsibility are advocat- ing publicly the amalgamation of all the lower deck societies into one formidable association that will be. strong enough to demand the re- dress of their grievances bymeth- ods with which the industrial his- tory of the last year or two has made us painfully familiar. The sailor has been patted on the back long enough. The pro- cess is not unplcasing, but at best it means nothing, it leads to no substantial recognition of the blue- jackets' admitted grievances. What Tack wants now is to be treated fairly as a citizen, and if he must be patted that the other hand shell not be employed in the extraction of cents from his pocket. The fact is the men of the navy are now being paid less than they were. A comparison between the estimates of 1909-10 and those for the current year shows that in four years the pay of natty officees and men of the seaman branch has drop- ped on the average $5.80 a year. Tho average weekly wage, inclusive of these allowances for various qualifications of which so much is made, is slightly under $3.50. Some years ago tho .Admiralty in. creased the period required to serve for pensions from 20 to 22 years; but although until then the basis of the pension had been a cent a day for each year's service, no ad- dition to the basis was made for the extra. permed re,quieed. A man gets no more for serving 22 yeaes than he did for serving 20; and while the whole pension scheme is based en the deferred pay system the de- pendents of e man who dies in the elst year of his service get nothing at all. GRATUITY REDUCED. Another instance of this sort of thing is the gratuity to chief petty officers on retirement, which, once fixed at $96, .has been reduced by the Admiralty to $12. Much is being made of the com- mittee under Rom -Admiral Brock, now enquiring into the system of summary punishments in the fleet, The haphazard manner•'in which these punishments have been In- tl/seed has for yeses been a crying scandal, A petty officer who is disrated and reduced to A.B. has absolutely no ppeal—hlsccami5settled nl1 the ship's13 who, an: it frequently happens, is at the same time prosecutor and judge. Mr. Yoxley points out in the cur- rent issue of the. Fleet that it is a fairly easy matter for a man to suffer a, financial loss of nearly 81,4413 in pay :mid pension "as resultof a summarypun ith meat in - flitted by ono captain for a 'crime' that another woulel not deign to 'no- tice." In seek circumstances a man is surely entitled to the jus- tice of a court-martial. A Scottish student, inn -mood to be deficient in judgment, was asked by a „professor in the course of his exeminatien how he would dissever a fool. "By the questions he would tEailslksos,io'agivi.:1.:1;pelsprompt and highle 1 s to