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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1926-06-17, Page 6al That is whY leopge . insist on &dada. LOW "assEss IN A LEGAT EE'S SHOES BEGIN, HERE TO -DAY, A'ovelist seeks nocturnal adventure. He walks. up Viking Square where he sees at elderly English parlormaid standing on the steps of "a house. When the maid sees him she jumps down the steps and with piteous ap- peal in her eyes cries: "Oh, Mr. Char- lie, you've come at lost." The novelist allows himself to be led into the house in which he finds costly furnishings. An elderly man in evening dress comes toward hint and greets him as "Charlie." He gets the ' impression) that both the man and the maid know he is not their man. The elderly man informs him that his aunt is very ill and is waiting for him. The novelist tells the 'maid and theman that he is not the man they think he is but offers to play his part in whatever drama they have for him. NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY. "Of course you can," I went on in a reasonable voice. "Can't you see that I am rather an adventurer? If I weren't, should I have taken the risk of entering alone and unarmed a strange house? When your maid called me Charlie, shouldn't I have told her she'd made a mistake and gone on? Come, tell me what -this is about, and I'll help you if I can." Then, after a hesitation, a twinkle eamo into the old man's eyes: "All right, I will. Though it would have been better if you'd said nothing. It would have been more adventurous." "If I'd said nothing," I replied, "I eh,ould have known less than I'm going to know now, and the adventure would have been less worth while. Now Mr. Smith, shall we say, tell me what you want me to do." After a pause, he began, first em- barrassed, then fluent: "Look here, I hope you won't think this very uncon- ventional, but it simply couldn't be helped. The situation is this: My sis- ter, who is supposed to be your aunt, is lying upstairs very, very ill indeed. She is older than I anr, over seventy, and has been in delicate hearth for • some time. Unfortunately, this 'after- noon, as she was coming down stave, she slipped, and she has broken two ribs. The doctor has been twice and will be coming again a little later on, I think. But he says that at her age it's practically hopeless, that she can't live." "Yes," I said, "I see, But why do you ..." "Well ..." he seemed a little em- barrassed, "it's like this. She's very weak because she's lost a lot of blood; you see, I forgot to tell you that in falling she also got a deep cut across the forehead, just over the eyes. Now you see, now you see," he went on ex- citedly, "that's what makes it pos- sible." "Makes what possible?" I asked in a puzzled tone. "Of course, I hadn't told you. I'm sorry, but my brain's rather muddled. What is the matter is that she is ask- ing for my boy Charlie. He's always been her favorite. You see, she never married, so he's been like a son to her. And she wants awfully badly to say good-bye to him before she dies." "Ohl I understand. So that's why?" "Yes, of course. I do hope' you'll excuse this, but I told Pomfret to stop any young pian she met, a young man whose voice would be . . well, the kid of voice she'd expect to hear." He stopped, panting, his excitement mak- ing him speechless. "All right," I said. "What you want me to do is to see her and impersonate Mr. Charlie. I'm willing to make her happy, poor old lady. But, by the way, she'll know me." "No, of course, she won't. Didn't I tell you, owing to that cut the forehead, her eyes are bandaged. Now , . : r At that moment there was a ring at the bell. The elderly man swore under his breath, went to the door and opened it, There entered a large man whose black bag and frock coat ex- posed hint as the doctor, `;1.0111'' rity toYou? Q millions of women the $5,000 Guarantee of Purity carried by every bar of Sun- light Soap means:— Cleaner clothes Sweet-smelling clothes New -looking clothes Sunlight Soap prolongs the life of fabrics. The Largest SeRn� Laundry Soap in the world 11111111111111 11 !Ili, Lever Brothers Limited,Toronto Sold ,Every?tlherc doctor,", said .the num, in .a hesitating tone. "I. didn't expect you soear:y'egain." �. T' heard vague whispered remarks. L.. gathered that, "though,.the': chances wore "small, the doctor had thought well to return early. At last my host came back to me and said: "I do hope you'll forgive me. But you won't be long, doctor; will you? No?, But,' look here," he went on, addressing me again, "I wonder if you'd mind wait- ing ten minutes, not more, perhops only five, in the dining room? Just a moment, doctor, please." I found myself in the dining -room, seated at a table on, which were de- canters of brandy and whisky, •while the footsteps of the two men echoed up the stairs. "Well," I thought, "new ,you've done it" When I looked about me, the effect of luxury was carried out on a larger soale, by pictures, one' of which, without the slightest doubt, was a Rembrandt. I wondered what actually I had been brought in for. 1 did not believe my host. That he should bring me to comfort an old lady at her last hour, that he should pick any stranger from the street in this. pious attempt would be believable only if he loved his sister beyond descrip- tion. But there had been nowords of love, no signs of agony. He was not Bitting with her when I arrived. He was quite willing to leave her. •It wasn't that;- it was something else, something darker. • . . It was at that moment that I be- came conscious of a sound in the dis- tance,. A regular sound. As if some- body were driving in a nail. I listened acutely. 'I could not hear it again. Next door, perhaps. Absurd! People didn't drive in nails at three o'clock in the morning. There it was again, faint but. persistent. I tiptoed to the doorway and listened. It came persist- ently, a muffled, regular sound. Sud- den:y I had the instinct rather than the certainty that the person who was making the sound could have made a louder sound, that the person was afraid, was throwing out a signal. The conviction rushed into niy mind that, somewhere, somebody was locked .up, and was faintly tapping at the door, "Oh," she murmured, "thank you for letting me out." Make Better Bread Askyour grocer for ROYAL. Y E ' CAKES STANDARD OF QUfIUTY ,FOR 01/21150 YEARS fine SmoJO. / to BUS and must confide in a stranger, she said:' "I'd better tell you everything.. It can't do any harm, and perhaps you can help. The lady you're going to see is my mother." "He told me that she hadn't mar- ried, and ..." "Lies, all lies. Are you surprised?" "Well ... not exactly. Go on." "The man you've seen," the woman went on, "is not my mother's brother at all. He's her third cousin, and he's bad, bad. There's only one man worse, and that's Charlie, his son. Oh, it makes me weep to think how my mo- ther had always loved. Charlie." In a tearful tone, she said: "Charlie's a criminal. .I don't know how it is. He wasn't poor. He had every chance, but he's always been like that. Ile was expelled from school, sent down from, college ... for stealing. He's bean in' gaol twice. And what's more , . after all, he's my cousin." She was quite close to me, so I took her hand and held it fast, suggesting sympathy. It must be painful for her to tell a stranger such a story, even of a distant relative. "Go on," I• said. "You'd better tell me everything." "I will. Do you know why they want him to -night? It isn't just to please mother. They'd kill her if they dared. If they weren't frightened of the doctor. Not Mother's always been fond of Charlie, and when she made her will she left hint something for himself. She makes him call her Auntie. But during the last few years she has hated me." (To be continued.) having heard me come, fearfully seek- ing release. I listened. I could not locate the sound at rat, Then I real- ized that it came from the back of the hall. Still on. tiptoe, I went out into the hall and opened a door at the end, This led only into a little washing place. But the sound came again. It was behind me now. Of course: the room behind the dining room. I tried the handle; the door was locked t And, as I touched the handle, the tapping within became louder, grew more. rapid, more febri;e. The key was in the lock. Evidently everybody in the house was in the plot to keep the per- son within. I turned the key: before me, lit up by strong lights, stood a woman, aged about f her g forty, emouth quivering, her face stained with q g, tearfi. She was so breathless with excitement that at first she could not speak. Her appearance surprised me. I saw now that she was more than forty, but she had a strange, tragic beauty, and was clad in an evening frock of which I could recognize the fashion and the price, About her neck, too, were sev- eral rows of pearls. There existed a cruel contrast between.theluxury of her appearance and the expression of her features. She was faded and wrinkled, and her cheeks were wet with tears, but I could .see by the straightness and delicacy of the nose, the shape of the lips, and the length of the eyelashes, that this woman had once been beautiful. Perhaps a long life of suffering had ruined her love - 1 • iness. "Oh," she murmured, "thank yon for letting' me out." I was minded to ask her why they had locked her in, but knew that she would tell me more easily if 1' kept silence. "I heard everything," she went on in a rapid. murmur. "1 hoard them bring you in," "Yes, of course," I went on, adding provocatively: "I'M Charlie." She had actually jumped back, and spread her hands before her, as if fearing a blow: "Don't!' she whisper- ed. "Pease ... don't say you're the same as they, that you're in the plot." "No, of course not," I replied. "I shouldn't have let you out if I had been. I'm only a stranger brought in to see an old lady upstairs who's dy-• ing, just to give her pleasure for a moment." The fear had gone out of her eyes. She half smiled: "Oh, surely you don't believe that," she said. "Then what ani I to believe?" She looked me up and clown, as if estimating in e, as if trying a guess at any loyalty. Then, with a shrug of the shoulders, as if she were desperate, The Taste Would Tell. "Did some friend give you that bot- tle of whiskey?" "That remains to be seen—and tasted." Minard's Liniment for Backache. • The Dark Days. The best story of the dark days in Europe comes down to us from the Monk of Padua, tubo, in 1260, wrote as follows: "Religions fears exerted upon the peoplesostrong an influence that men of noble and of ignoble birth, old and young, traversed the streets of all Italy naked, yet without shanie.Each carried a scourgs with which he drew blood from his tortured body, amidst sighs and tears, ,singing ,at, the 'same time penitential psalms and entreating the compassion of the Diety. Both by TIERS I TIERS! TIERS! With them you are smart—without them, that's another story. In this Smart ' frock of printed crepe the slightly flared flounces are slashed in an interesting manner before being set onto the straight dress. There are gathers at each shoalden where the back joins the front. The dress opens at the neck far enough to permit it to slip over„ the head easily, and long set-in sleeves have their fulness neat- ly gathered into narrow wrist -bands. No. 12394s in sizes 34, 86, 38, 40 and 42 inches bust. Size 36 bust requires 5% yards 36 -inch figured crepe. Price 20 cents. Many styles of smart apparel may be found in our Fashion Book. Our designers originate their patterns in the heart of the style centres, and their creations are those of tested popularity brought within the means, of the average woman. Price of the book 10 cents the copy. HOW TO ORDER PATTERNS. Write your name and address plain- ly, giving number and size of such patternsas you cant. Enclose 20c in stamps or coin (coin preferred; wrap it carefully) for each number and address your order to Pattern Dept., Wilson Publishing Co., 78 West Ade- laide St., Toronto, Patterns sent by return mail. Nothing to Boast. 01'. He had come down to Barham for the week -end, and, having adjourned to the local inn, he soon found a man to take him round the historic old spot and show him the sights. After spending a most pleasant and remunerative morning, the guide and the visitor were ,returning to the Tat- ter's hotel when they came across very old man—In fact, he was the old- est inhabitant of the village. "One hundred and two!" exclaimed .the visitor on hearing of the old man's age. "One -hundred and two! I sup- pose the townspeople are mighty proud of him." "I dunno," responded, the native. "His record aln't so much. He ain't done nothin' in this town 'Capt grow old, an' it took him a darir long time to do :that." NURSES The Toront, tloenitel for loom -Mlles, in affiliation with Bellevue and. Allied Hospitals, Now York City, offers a three you're Course of Trainingto young women, having the required education, and desirous of ineoming nurses, Tlds Hospital hal adopted the eight. hour system. The puplts receive uniforms of the Soh"oo1. a monthly allowance and traveling expenses to end from New York. For further Inform, tion write the Superintendent. day and .hy night and even in the cold.' /r est winters, by hundreds and by thous-; ands, they wandered through the streets and villages and churches and cities with buiinitlg wax candles. Music was then silent and the songs of love echoed no more, nothing was heard but atoning lamentations, . The : most unfeeling could not refrain from! tears," This self -torture was begun In the iirat century; whet both clergy and ; ro laity, men women and children, con. sten tly chastened themselves with' chains and rods, 'and it was not until 1418 that the practice began to atop:' 1n the country districts -of Spain and IlIeslco scourging is still popular on certain days of the year, -silence isthe s L+e. often resait of net knowing what to say-i.e.,1 ignorance. surd leaser' Eat 1Vioirtal .eta. rd! Enjoy it -on both hot and cold meats—with bacon, sausages, egg's, fish. Let the spicy flavour of Keen''s Mustard add greater relish to every meal.' It's best when freshly mixed with COLD water. Recipe Book mailed free Colmen•Iicen (Canada)Limited„Tient. ,,, ipso Amherst St rite:,Montreril d24 That delicious flavor, of fresh' mint gives a new, thrill to every bite. Wrigley's is good and good for you. SEA MYSTWES 'Zones of Silence Must. be Added to the Long List of Marine. Perils. i Storms, fogs, ,rocks, collision with derelicts or icebergs ---these are the ordinary .dangers• of the sea, with which every skipper is prepared to.. grapple when occasion arises. There are others less obvious -some; indeed, most mysterious, and not yet fully un-•' derstood even by mein of science. One of the graveyards of the sea is' off the southern end of Vancouver Is' lafid, where ship after ship has beet Piled up on the deadly rocks, The • Government has pat up a lighthouse 1. with a fog -horn and set out bell bleys, the noise of,which <ought to be heard for great distance yet over and over again survivors from wreaks have de- clared that no sound reached their Clear Evening. The crescent moon is Large enough to linger - A little while after the twilight goes; This moist midsummer night the gar- • den perfumes Are earth and apple, dewy pine and • ' rose. .. Over my ]lead four new -cut stare are n, And the•glintiinegvitable nightrd'raws' on; I am alone, the old terror takes me; Eveninge will come like this when I ani gone. - -. Evenings and evenings years on years fer— Be tautorev, any -senses, close upon and. keep ' The scent,. the growing chill,' the glad Ing $reify, ..A poem learned before I fall asleep. —Sara Teasdale. Minard's Liniment for burns. - All Depends. Housewife—"I want a maid who Is fond of children. Are, you?" New Maid -"It. depends on the wages, mum." •t The men who like the income-tax are those who make an income collect- ing it. The Thum ..._est little tin that, <S.ar: atg��$�i' CL The difference between tired, strained wrists and ironing ease depends on this exclusive Hot- point Thumb Rest, which Per - hand to rest in an easy, snits thea y, natural manner, instead of the tense grip needed with ordinary irons. Ask your dealer about the new low prices. $5.50 Special Hotpoint Iron $1 extra. THE Now angle cylinder 'hurley. Davidson Motareyole, has lust won a World'. 'nedod fee endurance. Loos than 0110' 0011' par mlio 50 operate, and duet 100 a rte; nor 0allon of pas, ;100 cash, 'inhume 120 pot nleoih, 'rioo 5305. Walter Andr'ews,Ltd, 346 Yonge St. Toronto ,nidedidestioi lu�er?:vrl H -27-a A Canadian' General Electric Produ . ISSUE No. 25—'26. When Currents Change Course, The only explanation is that there exists a "zone of silence” or of "dead - air," which hovers -about this part of the sea,' changing with wind and tide, but always in existence. Once a s'hdp is -in this zone, even the powerful siren -- of the Race' Rocks lighthouse Is in- audible. That this .silent zone is real is provedby the fact that on a recent occasion the crew of a smell tug that got In among the rocks could actually see the nien on the lighthouse, yet were unable to hear the bellowing sig; nals, which were plainly audible foul orfive miles away in other diredtions, Charts• used at sea show ocean cur- rents running like rivers in different directions at, regular speeds, ,arid in cloudy or foggy weather, whena ship's, captain cannot see th'e'sun anis is'cone polled to use "dead recleaning," 'he naturally depends to some extent on these currents. Butcurreuts'may change their speed or their course. Even the Gulf Stream may alter,. In March, 1913, it ran for a time at a spend nearly fifty per cent. above the usual, Agaln..in 1922, the North Sea currents changed their course and flotsam, usually carried southwards, was found on the beaches of the Shetland Islands. Caught In a "Seaquake." In September, 1923, a big steamer, the Manchester Brigade, •was in mid- Atlantic, when she suddenly stopped and quivered so violently that her cap- tain thought she had struck a dere- lict. But she moved on. Then, after a 1'ew•monrents, she; Leger'. to tremble and shake from bow to stern, and this went on for thirty seconds. The cause of this strange happening woe' a sub. marine earthquake, but luckily ,the cushions of water, nearly two miles thick, prevented serious harm, The steamer Nina had' an even worse experience spine years ago. At midnight, when about fifty mlies from Marseilles, her crew heard a sudden explosion and saw,an immense tongue of flame leap upwards out of the sea.. At the same time the ship quivered as it she had struck ground, ,At first it was supposd that a vessel near by -had blown up, but no wreckage could be 'found, so the actual cause was prob- ably the explosion of a submarine vol. cano. Missiles From' the Sky. Had the Nina been over the spot she would certainly have been lost. A peril of which little is heard is that of falling meteors. A- fo'iend of the writer, Captain Anderson, while commanding a' large tramp steamer carrying phosphate from Florida 'to Hamburg, saw a great mass of molten stuff fall from the sky, which missed his steamer by no more than half mile: Here 15 a similar. story, very. well authenticated. "Iv 190e the Dutch steamer Ocean was crossin the At. g h lantic between Rotterdam -rand Phila- delphia, when a gigantic meteor fell so close to it thatthe trennictous waves' flung up, flooded- the vessel's decks: Clouds of gas shot UP from the spot, and themen on deck were forced ..to hurry below to escape beteg suffo- cated. When they again ventured on deck everything was covered with a thick, brownish dust, while the water on, every side was phosphorescent as far as the eye could see. • An Engine's "Breathing." The puffing of a railway engine le a common' enough sound, but few people know by what it is regulated. Actually the number of puffs made by a loco- motive in the course of a journey de- pends on the circumference 'of its driving wheels. No matter what; th t speed of the train maybe, the engine will give four puffs for every complete turn of the driving wheels. The wheels may vary in circumference,' but the average is 20f•t. With average driving wheels and a spd feifn bons•, lemo tive.eewilof fil givetymil830s puffs a minaiuteoo, or 52,800 , puffs an hour, the driving wheels performing 13,200. complete re^ volutions in the sixty minutes. The Subtle Sex. A lady went into her butcher's with a neat brown parcel, and in a sweet tone snidt "I wonder if you would be so kind as to weigh this parcel for me on your scales?" "Delighted," replied the propriotar, "eo trouble' at all, I assure you." "Thank you very much." reputed the lady, "that parcel he the bones you cent me in ;my last week's joint.".