Exeter Advocate, 1913-4-3, Page 2•
Oue of -the garrison;
Or, A ilysterious Affair.
CHAPTER 1. 1 mond anywhere for the only mental.
I James thFothergill West, student wares which he hail to dispose of,
re
of Tlaw ine University of St, An- we should hove been forced. totire into genteel povert., "nisei -
seeing
have endeavored in the en . g Y
seiu pages. to layng' statement be-ing our.'elties with the aphorisms
foreheg public inya collo/so and and ;precepts of lirdousi, Omar
business -1 e fashion. It is not my Chiang,and other of his Eastern
wish to achieve lierar success; nor favorites, had it not been for the
have T any desire by ythe graces of unexpected kindness and liberality
my style, r by the artistic order- of his half-brother, William Tarin-
ing
tosh, the Laird of Branksoxee, in
of ngy incidents; to throw a'
deeper :shadow'ever th.e strange pas 1'igtownahire,
sages of which 1 shall have to This. William Forint/05h was the
speak. My highest ambition i$ proprietor of a landed estate the
that these who know something of
the matter should, after reading
my account, be able to eonseienti-.
ously indorse it without finding a
single paragraph in which I have
either added to or detracted from
the truth. Should I attain this re-
sult, I shall rest amply satisfied
with the outcome of, my first, and
probably my last, venture in lit-
erature.
It was my intention to write out
the sequence of events in due or-
der, depending upon trustworthy
hearsay when I was describing that
which was beyond my own: personal
knowledge. I have now, however,
acreage of which bore, unfortunate -
1.•v, a most disproportional relation
to its value, for it formed the bleak-
est and moat barren tract of land
ne .the whole of a bleak and barren
shire, As a bachelor, however, his
expenses had been small, ; and he
had contrived from the rents of his
scattered cottages, and the sale of
the Galloway nags, which he bred
upon the moors, not only to live as
a laird should, but to put by a con-
siderable sum in the bank. We had
heard little from our kinsman dar-
ing the days of our comparative
prosperity ; but just as we were at
our wits' end, there came a letter
s co-operation of like a ministering angel, giving us
through the kind co-ops o assurance of sympathy :and succor,
friends, hit upon a plan which
promises tobe less onerous to Yue In it the Laird of Branksome told
and more satisfactory to the reader.
This is nothing less, than to make
use ef the various manuscripts
which I have by me bearing upon
the subject, and to add to them
first-hand evidence contributed by
those who had the best oportuni
ties of knowing Major-General J.
B. Heatherstone. In pursuance of
this design I shall lay before the
public the ° testimony of Israel
Stakes, formerly coachman at
Cloomber Hall, and of John East-
erling, F.R.C.P. Edin., now prac-
ticing at Stranraer, in Wigtown -
shire. To these I shall add a ver-
batim 'account extracted from the
journal of the late John Berthier
Heatherstone, of the events which
occurred in the Thul Valley in the
autumn of '41, toward the end of
the first Afghan war, -with a de-
scription of the skirmish in the
Terda defile, and of the death of
the man Gholab Shah. To myself
I reserve the duty of filling up the
gaps and chinks whish may be left
in the narrative. By this arrange-
ment I have sunk from the posi-
tion of an author to that .of a com-
piler, but on the ether hand my
work has ceased to be a story and
has expanded into a eeries of affi-
davits.
My father, John Hunter West, residence in stuffy apartments, it
e was a. well-known Oriental and was of regal magnificence. The
Sanscrit scholar, and his name is 'building was broad -spread and low,
still of weight with those who are with red -tiled roof, diamond -paned
interested in sueh matters. He: it windows, and a profusion of dining-
was who first after Sir William rooms with smoke -blackened cell -
Jones called attention to the great I ings and oaken wainscots. In front
value of early Persian literature, was a small lawn. girt round with
and his translations from both•Ha- a thin fringe of haggard and ill-
faz and from Ferideddin Ater have grown beeches, all gnarled and
earned the warmest commendations withered from the blighting effects
us that one of his lungs had been
growing weaker for some time, and
that Dr. Easterling, of Stranraer,.
had strongly advised him to spend
the few years which were left to
him in some more genial climate.
He had determined, therefore, to
set out for the South of Italy, and
he begged that we should take up
our residence at Branksome in his
absence, and that my father should
act as his land, steward and agent
at a salary which -placed us above
all fear of want. Our mother had
been dead for some years, so that
there were only myself, my father,
and my sister Esther to consult;
and it may readily be imagined that
it did not take us long to decide up-
on -the acceptance of the laird's
generous offer. My father started
for Wigtown that very night, while
Esther, and I followed a few days
afterward, bearing with us two po-
tato -sacks full of learned books,
and such other of our household ef-
fects as were worth the trouble and
expense of transport.
CHAPTER iI.
Branksome might have appeared
a poor dwelling -place when com-
pared to the house of an English
squire; but' to: us, after- our long
from the Baron Von Hammer-
Purgstall, of Vienna, and other dis-
tinguished. Continental critics. In
the issue of the Orientalishches
Scienz-blatt for January. 1861, he
is described as "Der beruhrnte unci
of the sea spray. Behind - lay the
scattered . hamlet of Branksome-
Bere—a dozen cottages at most -ie-
habited by rude fisher -folk who
looked upon the laird as their na-
tural protector. '1'o the west was
sehr gelehrnte Hunter West von the broad yellow beach and the
Edinburg h"—a paesage which I 'Irish sea; while in all other diree-
well remember that he cut out and
stowed away, with a pardonable
tions the desolate moors, grayish
green in the foreground and purple
vanity, among the most ':revered` in the distance, stretchedaway in
family archives. long low curves to the horizon.
Ile had been brought up to be a
solicitor, or Writer to the Signet,
as it is termed in Scotland, but his.
learned hobby absorbed so much of
his time that he had little to devote
to the pursuit of his profession.
When his clients were seeking him
athis chambers in George street he
was buried in the recesses of the
Advocates' Library, or poring over
some moldy manuscript at the
Philosophical Institution, withhis
brain more exercised over the code
which Menu propounded six hun-
dred years before the birth of
Christ than over the knotty 'prob-
lems of Scottish law in the nine-
teenth century. Hence it can hard-
ly he wondered at that as his learn-
• ing accumulated his practice dis-
solved, tenanted for many,years, and stood
until the very moment - with weather-blothed walls and va-
when. he had attained.the zenith of
his celebrity he had also reached cant staring windows looking blank-
the nadir of his fortunes. There be- ly out over the hillside. Empty and
ing rio chair of Sanscrit in any of
his native universities, and no de -
Very bleak andlonely it was up-
on this Wigtown coast. A man
might walk many a weary mile and
never see a living thing except the
white . heavy -flapping kittiwakes,
which screamed and cried to each
other with their shrill sad voices.
Very lonely and very bleak ! Once
out oaf sight of Branksome and there
was no sign of the works of man
save only where the high white
tower of Cloonaber. Hall shot up,
like the headstone of some giant
gravefrom amid the firs and larch-
es which girt it round. This great
house, a mile or more from our
dwelling, had been built by a weal-
thy Glasgow .nerchant of strange
tastes and lonely habits but at the
time of our arrival it had been un -
rt'm the CLEAp4ESZSYM4'Lts'r.ttnirnrs'rHOME
ret , one can tt>y,,Why you don't even boy., to
1 -now what YwfN»'of Cloth' your Cootie Are. lend.,
+:rletxxen ere TtOnonelhle,
Send Se (r r
b a tree Color Gard, Story' nook!'a,
naokirt,;tv,nstr%e,Ydlitu OtDyeing over othereolor.
i he 141rrDt^reear ctse nsoe 0b'., Llulltad,
Xiontte.d. (Maude,
mildewed, it served only as.a land-
anark to the fishermen, for they
had found by experience that by
keeping the laird's chimney and the
white tower of Cloomber in a line
they could steer their way through
the ugly reef which raises its jagged
back, like that of 'some sleeping.
monster, above the troubled waters
of the wind-swept bay.
To this wild spot it was that rate
had brought zny father, my sister,
and `myself, For us its loneliness
had no terrors. After the hubbub
and bustle of a great city, and the
weary task of upholding appear-
ances upon 'a slender income, there
vas a grand soul -soothing serenity
in the long airy -line and the eager
air. Here at least there was no
neighbor to pry and chatter. The
laird had left his phaeton and two
ponies behind him, with the aid of
which my father and I. would go
the round of the estate doing .such
light duties as fall to at agent;
while our gentle Esther' looked to
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Its favour and strength
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BIAsOK, GREEN Mild
U$9
MIXED.
our household needs, and bright-
ened the dark old building. Such
was our simple ,uneventful exist-
euoe until thesumrner night when
an tlnlooked-for incident occurred
Which. proved to be the herald of
those strange doings which 1• have
taken up my pen to .describe.
It had been my habit to pull out
of an evening in the laird's skiff and
to catch a few whiting whish might
serve for our supper. On this well-
rembered occasion my sister came
with me, sitting with her book in
the stern -sheets of the boat, while
I hung my lines over the bows. The
sun had -sunk down behind the 'rug-
ged Irish coast, but a long bank of
flushed clouds still marked the spot,
and cast a glory, upon the waters.
The . whole broad ocean was seamed
and scarred with 'crimson streaks.
I}; had risen in the boat, : and etas
gazing round in delight at the
broad panorama of shore and sea
and sky, `when my sister plucked
at my sleeve with a little sharp cry
of surprise.
"See. John,' she cried; "there
is a light in Cloomber Tower 1"
I turned my head and stared back
at the tall white turret which
peeped out above the belt of trees.
As I gazed I distinctly saw at one
of the windows the glint of a light,
which suddenly vanished, and then
shone out once more from another,
higher, up. There it flickered for
some time, and finally flashed past
two successive windows under-
neath before the trees obscured our
view of it. It was ciearhat some
onebearing a lamp or; candle had.
climbed up the tower . stairs • and
had then returned into the body of
the house.
"Who in the World can it be l" I
exclaimed, speaking rather to my-
self than to Esther, for I could see
by:. the surprise upon her face .that
she had no solution to offer. "Malty-
be : some of the folk ` from Blank
some-Bere have wanted to look over
the place.'
My sister shook her- head. "There
is not one of them would dare to
set foot within the avenue gates,"
she said. ",Besides,° ,John, the keys
are kept by the house -agent at Wig-
town. Were they ever aro curious,
none of our people could find their
way in."
(To be continued.)
REAL MEANING OF POTLUCK.
One Plunge of the Ladle and Take
What You Get.
The real origin of the word "pot-
luck" is unknown to most of the
people who use it. In Limoges,
France, however, one runs into pot-
luck itself. Ina certain corner of
that quaint city of jostling roofs
there is still segregated, much as if.
in a ghetto, a Saracen population,
probably a remnant -of the wave of
Saracens.• that swept over Europe
hundreds of years ago. Here "they'
live in., their crooked, na.(•row •
streets, following old customs hand-
ed down from generation to genera-
tion. There are many butcher
shops in the, quarter, and outside of
each -steams a great pot of soup
over a.; giowing brazier. In, each
pot stands a ladle as ancient as the
pot,
When a customer comes with a
penny, in goes the ladle and comes
up full of savory broth and chunks
ef meat, odds and ends, that the
butcher has had left over. 'And
what comes up the elastomer hn.s to
take. One can imagine how anx-
iously the hungry urchin or the
mother of seven must eye the inex-
orable ladle and how a pretty girl
might get another °"draw from the
butcher's boy.
At' any rate "to take potluck"
means to take what you get and tray
nothing whether the pot is in Li-
moges or in the flat of the man who
eagerly • invites a friend of • hi.s'
youth to dinner,
.v
When a man gets engaged to a
girl all the other fair maids of his
acquaintance begin to talk about
his poor taste.
"Look here, now, Harold," said
a father to his little son, who was
naughty, "if you don't say your•
prayers' you won't go to heaven:"
rI don't want to go to heaven,"
sobbed the boy ; I want to go with
you and mother."
1401,4
"The Fami'l Friend fat 40 years," A never
fining relief for Croup and Whooping bough,
1 OnthcFarin
A Useful Cate.
In feeding the little pigs with
order hogs, it is necessary to have
some sort of a separate feeding pen
for the pigs. :
The older ones can be kept out
and the pigs prevented from -enter-
ing the pen while the troughs are
being filled by means of a swinging
gate,
This ..gate swings outward ouly. It
is held up while the .little pigs en-
ter the feeding pen, and being
light, they can push it forward and
go out at will.
It may be used to advantage in
fattening hogs that run with the
stock hogs, .After putting out the
feed the feeder raises the gate and
lets in those to fatten, then lets it
fall; all others are kept out, yet
those in; the pen May go out when
through eating.
This style of gate is also conveni-
ent for the lamb lot where one uses
a creep. The gate should be just
large enough to admit a good-sized
lamb,
Dairy, Notes.
A scientific education -combined
with common sense and a natural.
love for the cow is the foundation
of success in dairying and getting
together a choice herd of cattle.
There is nom better system of .feed-
ing for milk than to give each cow
a ration according to the work she
is doing, and properly to nourish
her body. •
Opposition to a few -reasonable
reforms by a few crooked dairymen
not only brings the dairy industry
intobad repute, but turns people
from the use of dairy products.
In connection ` with the feeding
problem, do not underestimate the
A new effect in spring millinery—
the, girl with the Bulgarian turban
hate and - sailor collar.
necessity of inducing the cow to
drink large quantities of water.
Balky horses.
Whenever you see a balky horse
you may be sure that the fault lies
with the man who trained him, or
who over -loaded him, 'or beat him,
or in some way robbed him of part
of his senses. No horse balks from
pure meanness, much as we may
sometimes think so, and we have
never yet -discovered anything that•
will cure a balky animal. Occasion-
ally a fine 'tempere.d beast may be
coaxed and petted until his fear or
anger is allayed and be taught to
do his share of the work, but as a
rule the horse 'that balks in the
harness should never be used ex-
cept under the saddle.
Successful Farming.
•
There is one thing about farming,
which is not true of some other in-
dustries, andthat is that each far-
mer is really benefited by the suc-
cess of his neighbors. In a prb-
gressive neighborhood, where good
stock is kept and where farming is
generally, profitable, roads and
schools are better, the priee of farm
land•is' higher ;; and, owing do the
fact that a great quantity of ;farm
products is offered for sale; mar-
kets are. better; so boost your
neighbors, and by so doing help
yourself.
. The Compost Ieatr.
A few old fence rails, built to-
gether in a square in the garden;
will hold all the rubbish that is At
for decomposing, Add to it' the
weeds from the garden and manure
and ell ashes from the house. Pour
the wash water over it and allow'it
is h , will t� pack then „� ly I' t be of
value fax next spring while it con
centrates now all tlic waste aefuse are marked with an R,". This sig=
Per C
Of '1140 Compound Will
•L° `Germs "of DISTIMPER11 f'tlt EXIT
EPIZOOTIC
.Catarded Fairer and 'apneas*, under 'the, znierxocape.
liven An the :Horses l'onau4, it unites with the• ,flutde nr
the aliineutary canal, thrown, into the Blo+ed; passes' throat*
the Glands .and• expels the Germs of Disease, Absolutely eat*
� .+ and. sero for Brood: Mares, Bony Oche and all otherw: 3 o n
depend on any powder in blip oleos of .Diseases. Give it q•
brood mares ie times of Distemper, • Booklet, `Distemper. Causes, (lure +aa��nnaa
Prevention," ;nee. Druggists eell 5pahu'0 frnre,
3. PORN MEntGAL Go., Bacieriotoolsts, Ctshsn, Ind,
and prevents the hens from broad-
casting it again.
Farm Notei. -
One. way to supply ,forage is -t4
save all forage from •the corn field
by cutting the tops of the stalks off
just above the ears. Of course this
should be done 'before the fodder
becomes quite dry.
Oat straw is a pretty good' sub-
stitute and makes very good rough-
age when fed with plenty of grain.:
A feeder mayhave his bin full of
grain, but unless he has sufficient
roughage to balance up the ration
he will be slay on his profit at the
end of the season.
The feed cutter should 'be in use
on every farm,: the corn shredder
is tun excellent thing, but why not
put all of the corn crop,' in a silo
as the best -probable position toget
every pound of value out of it.
It takes a, little : more than two
.per • cent. of an animal's weight to
keep ; it up t,o normal condition
without making any gains and if
exposure to cold and rain and
storms is to be counted against it
the feeder can easily see where his
profit goes glimmering.
•
II1
ffS MAJESTY
INVITED OUT
•
PEN PICTURE OF AN EVENING
IN OUR RULER'S LIFE.
flow Ire Is Guarded From the Time
lie Leaves the Palace Until
Re Returns..
His 14lajesty dines out to -night.
Not at a great dinner -party, but at
the house of an old friend. It is to
be ' quite a quiet, • informal enter-
tainment, as is - evident from the
fact that the King is not wearing
Court dress, but a•n ordinary dress
suit and white waistcoat.
It is 7.30, . and his Majesty: is go-
ing through his short toilet, in his
dressing -room. The -chief valet un
locks a, very heavy, solid old gold
jewel -case, selects- from a treble.
row of sleeve -links a pair of old
purple enamels, gold framed. These
are perhaps the most valuable links
his Majesty possesses. They were a
present from•the Tsar. The- enam- Direct From the Premier.
els are many hundreds of years old;
of the rarest quality, and are worth
several thousand pounds.
Instrneting the Guardian.
The valet selects these links be-
cause he knows that the Russian
Ambassador is to be one of the
King's fellow -guests to -night, and
his Majesty, when putting on his
shirt, catches sight of the links,
and nods his approval of his valet's
selection. `
At 7.45 the King leaves his dress-
ing -room' and passes into the King'',s
Room, where the. equerry who is to
be in attendance on his Majesty for
the evening is engaged in converse-
bion with a alightly -built roan of
medium :height, dressed in a dark-
grey suit'. His eyes are keen, and
the mouth firm and well -cut. • He is
listening attentively to the equerry,
and occasionally jots down a few
notes in a pocket -book. When the
King enters the room the man in
a grey suit salutes, and retires to
the ante -room. He is the chief de-
tective at Buckingham Palace, and
is engaged in completing his a,r
rangemdnts for the evening.
In a -few moments the equerry
follows him to the ante -room, and
informs the detective that the King
will leave the Palace at a. quarter -
past eight, and tells him of the
route he will take going to and com-
ing from the house wi•ere he is din-
ing.
Our Sovereign's Safeguaiels.
"Thank you, sir!" says the detec-
tive, shutting up his notebook, and
then rushes off. He is wt, the tele-
phone in another couple of minutes,
and ere the King leave the Palace
every policeman on °duty in the
streetsthrough which the Ring will.
"drive that night 'has been notified
to expect his Majesty ; •arrd a min-
ute after the Bing leaves 'the Palace
the chief detective himself' will fol-
low the Royal oa•rriage on a bicyele,
and will enter the house of the
King's host a minute or eo after his
Majesty: and will not leave it until
the departure ef the Royal guest,
Whilst these arrangements for
safeguarding the sovereign are be-
ing unobtrusively carried out, let
us return to the Ring's Room,
where his Majesty is being helped
on with his overeoat by the equer-
ry. A. servant enters the room with
a pile of letters and telegrams,
which are placed on the Ring's
desk. The equerry
runs throughthe telegrams, and.takes up two of
'the latter, the, ' envelopes of which'
nifies that they are from „meinbers,
of the Royal . Family, and the King
opens them. One is from, the'
Queen, who left London that morn -1
ing for Sandringharn, and anarounc-1 :.
es her safe arrival. The other is
from the Duchess of Fife on a pool
mate family matter,
Guests o$ Distinction.
Whilst the King 'is reading these
messages, the equerry has pressed!
the elegtrie button on the King's'
desk, whieh aummoras a. clerk ori;
ni$'ht-duty in the private secre
tary's department. The equerry,
bands him the letters and tele -1
grazes, and they will be sorted,'
opened, and • got ready for .the
Ring's inspection op. his returnto'
the Palace, and, if necessary, any'-
that require immediate attention
will then be answered; otherwise=
the replies will go into the morn-,
ing's correspondence.. `
Twenty minutes' later the King ie:
seated at a retied dinner -table,
beautifully decorated with crimson.
ro.scs and white carnations. The'
room is filled with an exquisitely
soft light, thrown from'a-myriad of
little rose -shaded electric .lamps
with which ,the beautifully-paintedl
ceiling is studded.
The butler of the Ring's host
stands behind his Majesty's claire -
and it is he who attends on the
King during the meal. To the right
of the King sits his host, and on:
his Majesty's left the Russian Am-
bassador. The other guests, who
number but six, include a well-
known figure in the political world,
a distinguished Ffench artist, a
peer who is a famous shot, and two.
members of the Royal Household..
The oonversation,:is bright, amuse\
ing, and very "anecdotal." The'
King tells a kindly but amusing,
story of a famous diplomatist which•
makes the `Russian Ambassador
laugh very heartily, and his ExceI-
lencyreplies with an equally witty;
anecdote .concerning his early days
in the diplomatic service. The'
French .artist later on greatly(
amuses the company by some light -4 ..
ning sketghes which . he makes on'
the heck Of the menn-cards, at the
King's request- good -nattered, but'
exoeedingly . clever .caricatures of,
present-day celebrities—and the
King honors the artist by asking
him to present him with • oneof;
them.
After coffee and a. cigarette, the'
King rises. A servant at the same
moment conies up to the King's
host, who at once approaches his
Majesty and informs his Royal.
guest that a messenger has arrived
from Buckingham Palace with a. let -1
ter for his Majesty, and he conducts
the King and the equerry in atten-
dance to his own library, where a
Palace servant is standing' with 'a
long white envelope, which he
hands to the equerry, who opens it.;
The white sheet of paper is from.
the Prime Minister, seeking for an
interview with the King thefollow-
ing, morning. His Majesty 'sits,
down to write a short note to .Lord
;Knol'lys at 'Buckingharrl. -Palace to
inform the Premier at •once that the,
interview will be granted the follow-
ing morning at eleven. 'The ser
vent from Buckingham. Palace then
departs.
The Silent Rider.
A few minutes later the King is
playing a game of bridge with his,
host and •two of the other guests.!
After the'rubber his Majesty ' in-'speota his host's collection of
stamps, in which he is much inter-
ested, and gives his host quite :a
useful and interesting little bit of
information about a very rare class
of Spanish stamp. - w
At 11.15 the Ring takes his depar-
ture, and, as the Royal carriage
bowls rapidly : along Berkeley
Square, there comes stealing swift
ly after it the grey -clad figure of a:
man ona bioyele, who has appear-
ed suddenly apparently from . no-
where. He passes with the `Royal
carriage through the gates of Buck-
ingham Palace unchallenged, and
speeds away to the back entrance
of the Palace. Ile is the chief de-
tective, and when he gets his report
from the night detective on duty
his day's work will be over.—Lon-
don Answers,
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