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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1915-12-31, Page 61 ------ THE G LDEN Or "The Itivenfores of Ledgard." By the Author of "Whet He (host Her w 11 CHAPTER XXXIII-----(Cont'd). I all those ether .thoughts away . and He nodded, and pointed to the num- { banished firmly that dangerous lend- ness of manner into which she had bers which were going up. She flash- been drifting.., 1 ed a sudden look upon him which more And be, on his part, felt a glow of than compensated him for his defeat,keen pleasure when he realized how At least he bad earned her respeet that day, as a man Who knew hew to accept defeat gracefully. They walk- ed slowly up the paddock and stood on the edge of the crowd, whilst, a great person went out to meet his horse amidst a storm of cheering. It chanced that he caught sight of Trent • on the way, and, pausing for a mo- ment, he held out his hand. "Your horse made a magnificent fight for it, Mr. Trent," he said, "I'm afraid I only got the verdict by a fluke: Another time may you be the fortunate one!" Trent answered him simply, but without awkwardness. Then his horse came in and he held out his hand to the crestfallen jockey, whilst with his left he patted Iris's head, "Never mind, Dick," he said cheer- fully, "you rode a fine race and the best horse won. Better luck next time." Several people approached Trent, but he turned away at ones to Ernes- • tine. "You will let me take you to Lady Tresham now," he said. "If you please," she answered the events of the day had gone in his• favor. If not yet of her world, he knew now that his becoming so would be hereafter purely a matter of time. He looked up through the green leaves at the biue sky, bedappled with white, fleecy clouds, and wondered whether she guessed that his appearance here, his ownership of Iris, the studious care with which he had placed himself in the hands of a Saville Row tailor were all for her sake. It was true that she had condescended to Bohem- ianisnl, that he had first met her as a journalist, working for her living in a plain serge suit and a straw hat. But he felt sure that this had been to a certain extent a whim with her. He stole a sidelongglance at her — she was the personification of dainti- ness,. from the black patent shoes showing beneath the flouncing of her skirt, to the white hat with its clus . vellous. The two men had come face ters of roses. Her foulard gown was to face upon the short turf, involun- as simple as genius could make it, tarily each had come to a standstill. and she wore no ornaments, save a Ernestine looked from one to the,other fine clasp to her waistband of dull a ewr gold, quaintly fashioned, and the fine gold chain around her neck, from The Viscountess Archesoai: formerly Miss Mildred Carter, of Bal- timore, the only daughter of J. Ridge - ley Carter, former American Minister to the Balkan States, 'whose work en the Duchess of Marlborough's : War Relief Committee of American ladies has been highly commended by 'Queen Mary. _ littlebewildered. "I should like a word with you, usual single ambulance wagon, there' Trent," Captain Francis said quietly. were three full of mourners, and in - Trent nodded. stead of the brief rites of the Jets or "In five minutes," he said. "I will the richer but scarcely longer core - return here—on the other side of the bandstand, say." monies of the Sikhs, we were to see Francis nodded and stood aside: something very elaborate and particu- Trent and Ernestine continued their lar, and in its odd way, impressive. progress towards the stand. Before the body was put into the "Your friend," Ernestine remarked, big black motor hearse a photogra- "seemed to come upon you like a mod- pher was allowedto come and take ern Banquo." a picture of the dead man's features, Trent, who did not understand the to be sent to his relatives in far In - illusion was for once discreet quietly, which hung her 'racing glasses. She They left the paddock by the un- • was to him the very type of every- derground way. When they emerged thing that was aristocratic. It might se upon the lawn the band was playing to �workas ifor her living, but he knee had told him that she w as and crowds of people were strolling though by inspiration that her peo- about under the trees. « "The boxes," Trent suggested, world to which he could never belong, must be very hot now!"save on sufferance. He meant to be - He turned down a her sake—to win her! Froin the stand towards zan empty seatde walk longeadmitted to l the presumption, but under an elm -tree, and, after a mo- then it would be presumption of any went s scarcely perceptible hesita- man to lift his eyes to her. He esti- tion, she followed his lead. He laugh- mated his chances with common sense; ed softly to himself. If this was de- . he was not a man disposed to under - feat, what in the world was better . value himself. He knew the power "This is your first Ascot, is it- not t'. of his wealth and his advantage over not? she asked. I the crowd of "My first!" young men who were "And your first defeat?" I her equals by birth. For he had met "I sup ose it is " lie admitte• d some of them, had inquired into their p " ' lives, listened to their jargon, and had cheerfully. I rather expected to evening." win, too." _ ,come in a faint sort of way to under- 13 then. I shall see you this :. stand them. It had been an encour- She nodded, and Trent was free You must be very disappointed,I . ani afraid," ! agement to him. After all it was only again. He did not make his way at n - "I have lost," he said thoughtfully, face witrious t work, greatlife realitiesof exist-`te edonce tthe smallstead heo the bandstand. en- aioond he eat "a gold cup. I have gained—" ence which could make a man. In a • the base of the building, and called, She half arose and shook out her dith way` he realized that there were for a glass of brandy. He drank it - skirts as though about to leave him; few in her own class likely to satisfy slowly, his eyes fixed upon the long He stopped short and found another Ernestine. He even dared to tell row of bottles ranged upon -the shelf himself that those things which ren- , opposite to him, he himself eerrjed dered him chiefly unfit for her, the )}tv.k ur.:n a ':_,R. wave of tilt- ,,. s'te acquired vulgarities' of his . rougher • .t little West African station where HOW IIS R DEAD I ENGLAND WHEN SOLDIER'S BODY • GOES ON THE FUNERAL PYRE. Ritual Demands Use of Odoriferous, Nutritive, and Sweet Things, Also Medicines. • So many incredible thing's are hap- pening that the imagination is apt to strike work and to take the incredi- ble'for granted. But the spectacle of Hindu burial rites performed on the Sussex Downs, England, is one to stir the most jaded sense of wonder. As I write, the. sound of the queer, whin- ing chant of the mourners lingers in my ears; the acrid fumes of the burn- ing pyre hang in my nostrils, I seem to see the brown, bare-footed figures squatting in prayer or busy about the complicated details of the long ritual, and I know that I did not dream it all, writes a London correspondent. There had been a death in the Kit- chener Military Hospital at Brighton. The dead man was not a combatant, but one of the personnel. The funeral, therefore, lacked the picturesque ele- ment of wounded men as bearers. But he was a Brahman, and of the Arya Somaj. There are many of his kind in the personnel, and so, instead of the "He is a man with whom I had dia. The bier lay in a small court dealings with abroad," he said. "I did among the hospital buildings, where a not expect him to turn up here." little crowd of the personnel had "In West Africa ?" she asked quick- gathered to watch. Over the body Iy. Trent smiled enigmatically. was stretched a pall of printed cre- There are many foreign countries tonne, bright flowers on a dark besides Africa," he said, "and I've ground, and white chrysanthemums been in most of them. This is box No. were strewn lavishly upon it. The folds of the swaddling clothes were turned aside to show the dead man's face—a face paler than in life, young and peaceful, with fine and clean-cut features. The photographing done, the face was covered, the bier was ,put into the hearse. the crowd clam- bered into the'big motor ambulances, and we set forth upon the long drive. era..- • Weird Procession. Through the pretty village of Pat- cham, intensely English with its church and its duck pond, this strange funeral procession went, till the road changed to a steep track, and before long the motors left the track and took their heavy way over the soft turf in a fold of the downs. Soon there cane into sight a very ugly little .screen and shelter of corrugated conclusion to his sentence. "Experience!" - A faint smile parted her lips. She xscumed her seat. • "I am glad to find you," she said, .life, were things which he could put � the moist heat rose in fever -mists' philosopher. Now talk away;'that a time would coxae when and where an endless sti•earn of men "so much of a �� he ould take his place Confidently in j passed backward and forward to their to me for a few minutes about what you have been doing in Africa." her world, and 'that the end would be.; tasks with wan, weary faces and slow - success. And all the while from out ly dragging limbs. What a cursed He obeyed her, and very soon she forgot the well-dressed crowd of men of the blue sky Fate was forging a chance which had brought hint once and women by whom they were sur- thunderbolt to launch against hint. i more face to face with the one weak • spot in his life, the` one chapter rounded, the light hum of gay conver- satioii the band which was playing CHAPTER XXXIV.. which, had he the power, he would the fashionable air of the moment. "And now," she Said, rising, "you 1 most willingly seal for ever! From She saw instead the long line of men really must take me to Lady Tresham. i outside carne the ringing of a bell, of many races, stripped to the waist They will think that I am lost." ; the hoarse shouting of many voices in iron.on, and toiling as though for their lives Are you still at your rooms?" > be i the ring, through the open door a At the foot of the hill on which it under a tropical sun, she saw the asked• , vision of fluttering waves of color, stood the vehicles stopped; the mourn - 1 t t 1 ttl great brown water -jars passed down the line, men fainting beneath the burning sun and their places taken lig others. She heard the shrill whistle of alarm, the beaten drum; she saw the spade exchanged for the rifle, and the long line of toilers disappear behind the natural earthwork which their labors had created. She saw black forms rise stealthily from the long rank grass, a flight of quivering spears, the horrid battle -cry of the na- tives rang in her ears. The whole drama of the man's great past rose up before her eyes, made a living and veal thing by his simple but vigorous language. That he effaced himself from it went for nothing; she saw him there perhaps more clearly than any- ' thing else, the central and domineer- ingfigure, a man of brains and nerve who, with his life in Iris hands, faced with equal immovability a herculean task and the chances of death. Cer- tain phrases in Fred's letter had sunk creep into her mind, they were recalled very vividly by the presence of the man himself, telling his own story. She at in the sunlight with the MU - sic in her ears, listening to his abrupt vivid speech, and a fearcame `t� her which blanched her cheeks and caught at her throat. The hand which held 'her dainty parasol of lace shook, and an indescribable thrill ran through her veins. She could no more think of this man as a clodhopper, a coarse upstart without manners or imagina- tion. In many ways he fell short of all the usual standards by which the men of her class Were judged, yet she suddenly realized that lie possess- ed a touch of that quality which hit - ed him at once far over their' heads: The tnan had genius. Without edia cation or culture he ,had yet achieved • greatneee. By his side the men who wee peesing about en the lawn be- : tame suddenly puppets. Fortin and iiwn" eiyk, mannere and easy speech be - Leri suelclenly etripped of their sig- na slur,-;tme to her. The man et her side to lad none of these things, yet he was I` , gm eater world. She, telt her en- lkitehee towards him sudtle.eav ,weaken - in. < Only her pride now could hells air• fehe called upon it fiercely. lie n7i " /11 txt•Ii; whom ;elle had deliber•- 1'» ' i' r•cd to he guilty ofher fa- ' liil' :•-h tmels he whom she had viii d h ur She nodded. lace palaso s ani pie e a s, i of t; , re ambulances "Yes, only I'm having there spring- , trills of feminine laughter, the soft ens clambered out and with much ch of tee and gesti- at for a few days. I am staying ; at rustling of muslins and silks. A few at Tresham House." moments ago it had all seemed so de- culating began to take the body from "May I come and see you there?" 1 lightful to him --and now there lay the hearse. In time the procession The man's quiet pertinacity kindled a hideous blot .upon the day. began to climb the hill, the mourners a sort of indignation -'in her. The sud- : It seemed to him when he left the chanting as they went: "Ram Ram den bearable. weakness in her defences was un- little s, as a niatier of fact barely five satya bait Om ka nam satya hai"— I "I think not," she answered short- ! minutes had passed since he had left Vedic verses telling of the eternal and ' ly. "You don't know Lady Tresham, ! Ernestine. He stood for a moment on single truth of the Name. and they might not approve. Lady ! the edge of the walk, dazzled by the The gates of the ghat were un - Tresham is rather old-fashioned." 1 sunlight, then he stepped on to the locked, 'and we passed inside a little • "Oh, Lady Tresham is all right," , grass and made his way through the enclosure, where stood three plat - he answered. "I suppose I shall see throng. The air was full of soft, gay forms of cement. One of these was you to -night if you are staying there. music, and the skirts and flounces of They have asked me to dinner!" : the women brushed against him attarefuily swept and sprinkled with She was taken aback and showed , every step. Laughter and excitement water, and ellen thus purified for the it. Again he had the advantage. He , were the order of the day. Trent, reception of the dead, it was heaped did not tell her that on his return he , with his suddenly pallid face and un- with wood blocks for the burning. had found scores of invitations from ; seeing eyes, seemed a little out of The body, under its bright pall and people he had never heard of before. place in such a scene of pleasure. the chrysanthemums, lay outside on "You are by way of going into so- ! Francis, who was smoking a cigar, the grassy slope; when'the prepare - "I then," she answered insolently. looked up as he approached and made "I don't think I've made any par 1 room for him upon the seat. tions had been made the mourners gathered round it. It was sprinkledeverlasthig force!" • . 'cis," Trent said. ."The people of your world," he "I did not expect," Francis answer -answered, with a flash of contempt, ed, "ever to be in England again. I"are the people who find. it so." am told ,tbat my eecovery was aShe was silent then, and Trent was miracle. I am also told that I owefar from being discoura,ged by ber , my life to you!"motnentary irritability. Ile was cross- I Trent shrugged his shoulders.ing the lawn now het her side, carry-. "I would have done as much foefidenee in his air and bearing which ' don't owe me anY thanks. To be sing -song chante, now shrill, nowshe did not fail to take note of. The frank with you, I hoped you'd die." soft, now a murmur, and then asunlight, the music, and the pleasant "You could easily have made sure , e'air of excitement were all in his veins. ' of it," Francis answered. semi s.WWII of the Pyre.He wee full of the strong joy of liv- 1 "It wasn't my way," Trent answer- 'inge And then, in the midat of it all, ed shortly. "Now what de you want At last came the time of the burnsclime a eluli, crashing Mote. It was as with nae?" • Mg and the ceremony of haven whichthough all. his entity.; 'in the air lead ! Francis turned to -wards him with a i accompanies it. The preparationscome toppling about his ears, the curious mixture of expressions in his ' bad beers long and complicated, fora dirge. Always a keen watcher of lieve in you! You.saved my life, andmen's faces, he had glanced for a see- I'm not over-anxious to do you a /Ilia.end thrse at a gaunt, sallow man, who chief. But you must tell me what you,wore a loose check suit and a grey , have done with Vill—Monty." IHomburg hat. The.eyes of the two : "Don't you know where he is?" 'men met. Then the blood had turned ' Trent asked quickly. How ,shotidto ice in Trent's veins and the ground I "I? Certainly not!had heaved beneath his toot. h was t?" 1the one terrible glance which rate i "Perhaps not," Trent said, "but!had held against him, and she had here's the truth. When I got back tol , ticular efforts" he answered, I did not expect to._ see you in with cleansing water; the face was exposed again, and honey and ghee, and minute portions of the eight me- tals, and other ritual things, were passed between the pale lips. Then the mourners gathered around in a semi -circle; and squatting on their haunches, with their hands folded and their eyes downcast, chanted their blue sky had turned to stony grey face. and the sweet waltz music had becomo "Look here," he said, "I want to be -1 played 1 the card,, I A.ttra Monty had disappeared—run Souza Inas got hold of him," Considering the nature and sudden- away to England, and as vet I've "Oom Sant's brothel'?" noes of the blow which had fallen heard never a word of him. :'d'meant Trent nodded. bring him back myself. Instead of that he gave us all the slip, but un- less he's a lot different to what be was the last time I saw him' he's not fit to be about alone." "I heard that he had left," Francis said, "from Mr. Walsh." "Ile either came quite alone," Trent said, 9n which case it is odd that no- thing has been heard of him, or Da •x, e entrap. She brushed upon hint, Tm•ent'8 recovery was mar - to do the square thing by him and (To be continued.) the ritual demands the right use of four kinds of things: odoriferous things, nutritive things, sweet thilags, and curative medicines. Some had been melting ghee, some preparing the raisins, the almonds, and other. food. When all 'was ready the body was laid on the pyre, and over it and around it were heaped more and more blocks of wood and much straw, Then crystals of camphor were lighted in a spoon on the end of a long pole, and when they were flaming well were poured on the centre of the pyre. A flame leapt up. A torch made of straw and camphor was lighted at this flame and 'applied to thefour corners; melted ghee was poured here and there, and soon the whole pyre was ablaze. And while it burned the mourners kept . tossing upon it little pinches. of ghee mixed with grains and fruits, scent, saffron, and spices. It will burn for long, and to -day, when the friends of the dead man go back, they will find nothing but per- haps a few fragments of his larger bones and a heap of ashes. And some SCOTCH WORKING ARO ON U MONS 200 -ACRE PLANT GRES'44' UP IN .'I MONTH. Participation of Women• Apparent :oat Every Hand North of Tweed. It might be assumed that to expand more than two -fold the great shine building plants on the Clyde so far as employes and output is concerned would be all that is expected of this centre in the way of munitions, But it is not all that the Scotsmen on the western coast are contributing by any means, for here' as in other parts of the kingdom new workshops are being erected for munitions and plants intended originally for other of these ashes they will take back to purposes are being turned into shell the hospital, where they will be ,put factories. into a little wooden coffer bearing the "Somewhere in Scotland" an Asp dead man's name. And in time the sociated Press correspondent recently coffer will be sent to his family in visited a two hundred acre filling India, and fronsthe Sussex Downs his plant, which has grown up in a little more than a month like a magic city, with its scores of separate structures. There are no less than eleven miles of trolley track to carry shells frons place to place. The plant will be finished soon and workers for it are now being trained elsewhere. Contractors Make No Profit. ashes will return home, to be sprink- led on the breast of some Indian stream, ALLIES' PEACE TERMS. Some Demands Suggested by British National Review. Among preliminaries to peace sug- gested by the "National Review" are the following:— All enemy troops to retire from all allied territories before any peace overtures be entertained. Belgium to be fully compensated by Germany for all losses she has sustained directly or indirectly through Germany's unprovoked at- tack, In addition to the amount of such losses to be fixed by allied commissioners, the sum of £500,- 000,000 to be paid by Germany to Belgium. France to be compensated on the same scale as Belgium. Alsace-Lorraine to 'be restored to France and -such other territory as she may deem necessary for national security. The plant is being erected by con- tractors who will make no profit and on a tour of munitions plants much of that sort of thing is seen. Engineers of large experience and reputation and owners of big estab- lishments are "doing their bit" with- out a thought of personal gain. As in the case of the famous Ar ni- strong works at Newcastle plants en- goged in shipbuilding on the Clyde were open to inspection. The shops on the Tyne and the Clyde are playing their part, and a tremendously impressive part it is, In Glasgow as elsewhere the par- ticipation of women in the industry is apparent on every hand. ` In their khaki or blue aprons, with dust caps of the same color, they are busy„ at the lathes and swarm in and out in Russia to be similarly compensated thousands at the shift periods. Every as Belgium and France, and to secure foreman with whom the correspond- ent talked was enthusiastic , in ap- plication of the efficiency of women of the works. Of course they are not set to , work at,the heavy ma- chines and they • are chiefly given tasks requiring only few days ex- perience. In every establishment, the as leniently as Russia's interests women workers learn how to work permit. Turkey to be leniently dealt with. No territory freed from German rule during the war in any part of the world to be returned to her. The German navy to be surrendered to the allies and distributed pro rata among them. All German shipping in allied ports to be confiscated. Kiel. Canal to be internationalized. Rigorous justice to be meted out to all German criminals and arch - criminals. General von Bissing to be publicly executed prior to any peace pour parlers. Military occupation of Berlin pend- ing fulfilment of treaty. similar security against future ag- gression. Serbia's claims to be formulated by the Serbian Government. Italy to obtain Trieste and the Trentino. Austria-Hungary to be dealt with • the machines for the lighter shells the men are taken out for the manu- facture of the heavier munitions. Problem After the War. What the permanent effect of Ali this change in the working operations of women will be after .the war is not concerning the employers now, though they appreciate that it will bring its chain of problems for ;o]u- tion later. To the women it is al- ready bringing more money than they ever had in their lives before and a sense of independence never experi- enced. • This alteration, in the Industrial fab- ric by women's increasing activity and broadening opportunity is perhaps the most vivid impression left on the THE UNSTABLE MOON. mind of one who devotes a week to a tour of the munition plants, second Not Yet Amenable to Astronomers'• only to the comprehension of the en - Mathematics. The celebrated observatory at Greenwich, England, the place from labor enterprise in modern history, which we reckon longitude, was found - THE ('*UN SILENCER. Acts on the Principle of the Muffler on a Motor. Several things give away the posi- tion of a big gun when it is fired, the two chief being the noise and the smoke. Thanks to smokeless powder, hbwcver, the latter: has practically been done away .with. The silencing of a big gun is a .more difficult prob- lem, and though in the case of rifles and small arms the report can be nolle almost negligible, the gigantic rush of gases when a big shell is fired prevents a complete silencing. A silencer which the French are using is so effective that no sound of firing can be heard over a greater dis- tance than a hundred yards or so, The silencer is attached to the muzzle of the gun. As the shell leaves the gun a small shutter springs up and prevents the explosive gases.escaping in the usual way. It is the sudden, fierce rush of gas which causes the "band" when a gun is fired. The gas passes out through the two channels with nothing like the rush that is caused in the ordinary way. It ie im- possible to stop the gases eseapin altogether, for the pressure is so ter- rific that the sun would be blown to pieces. -ormous scale of production that the Ministry has planned. It is in all pro- bability the biggest engineering and ed by Charles II. in 1675, mainly for the purpose of investigating the movements of the moon hi the inter- ests of navigation. Although in the intervening two and a half centuries astronomers have worked at the prob- lem, the moon Inc not yet become en- tirely amenable to their mathematics. The astronomer -royal of Great Bri- tain, in his report of the work at Greenwich during the past year, calls attention to the increasing deviation between the calculated position of the moon in the "sky and its real position as shown by the Greenwich observa- tions. The deviation has lately been growing in a serious manner. The error last year was more than twelve times as large as the error twenty years ago, and the average annual increase during the two decades has amounted to half a second of .arc in. longitude. The reason that astrono- mers have failed in getting exact re- sults from calculations based on the dynamical laws. of gravitation is nos- sihly the existence of some attractive force that they `Have not, yet discov- ered, although the result may also be affected. by the, true shape of 'the earth, which still awaits accurate de-. termination, In wilder the rise .of the barometer is a sign of f • rost. If you intend to do a mean thing wait till ,to -morrow. If you are to do a noble thing do it now. 1 Many 41 man who demands u t::.e would whine for mercy if he rot it..