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Show "Porry to disturb you. continued Gearhart, pljylng carelessly but ostentatiously with his revolver, "but I wish youd Just step over to Rack straws with me and explain what a tremendous lifting power one man can exert with an hydraulic Jack." At that instant that gentleman himself bolted In through the open door, a shotgun in one hand and an icepick. held daggerwise, in the other. "Saw you go this way thought Id (Copyright, by Sliorutory Pub. Co.) come help, he panted to Gearhart. Gearhart was huslly engaged in cal- tion for the others extraordinary "Why, Ryder, that you? What the to investiand curious keenly new steel a story, stresses for the culating deuce! as well as for bis for himself bridge he was designing when Rack-stra- gate it "Yes, said Gearhart, "its your of mind. friends peace his Into burst unceremoniously neighbor Ryder, and also the human As they drove up to the house he office. Jim Gearhart hates to be disagency that has caused all your sufnoted and its it carefully surroundings. turbed when wrapped up in complicatfering. ed computations like that, bo he It stood some little distance from the With a dreadful cry of hate and scowled viciously as he Jerked up his rest of the village, on a somewhat un- horror Rackstraw sprang toward Rydhead to see what all kinds of idiot had frequented road, from which all but er, and it was only by his utmost exdared to do it, but one look at the the roof was hidden by a clump of ertions that Gearhart prevented him other's face checked the angry wortfi trees. The house Itself was a small from then and there venting his wrath suburban villa such as are frequently t u his lips. upon the shrinking rascal. for built sale, by speculators perfectly Now thoroughly cowed, Ryder exWhy, old man, whats shaken your was conin this though square shape, nerve like this? he asked. plained the workings of his machinery cealed to some extent by the out to them. The house was in reality a time "Oh, I'm having a terrible and porches with which it I where live, a terrible time," replied was adorned. What struck Gearhart steel frame, supported entirely by the Rackstraw, wiping the clammy sweat at once as singular about it was that first floor, which was also the platform an hydraulic Jack, the piston runfrom his forehead with fingers that Instead of being placed in or near the of hi down through, and being conhold so trembled he could hardly center of the grounds it had been ning cealed by the central pier In the celhandkerchief. built far over at one side, standing lar which had excited Gearharts sus"All suburbanites do, according to some ten or a dozen feet from the only of the The other the papers," laughed Gearhart. line fence. He also noted that close picions.with the lever cylinder which it was by "But this is really awful, awful, in- up to the fence on Its other side stood jack, workthe in was concealed sisted Rackstraw. "I cant keep a a long story-anbuilding that operated, servant on the place, my wifes on the looked as though it might be a stable. shop, where, by an ingenious system of weights, he could at any time raise the verge of hysterics, the children scream No other building was in sight house clear of its foundations. Then at the slightest sound, thinking its an "Oh, no, explained Rackstraw, reogre coming to devour them, and you plying to his questions; thats a sort of by a system of multiplying gearing, can 6ee for yourself what a nervous a carpenter and machine shop belong- the mechanism of which ran under wreck I am. So Ive come to you as a ing to Mr. Ryder. Hes the man I the cellar floor, he could swing the last hope, Jim. For Gods sake, dont bought of, you know, and dabbles whole house around into any position disappoint me. If you cant furnish around a little as an amateur me- desired. "Exactly, said Gearhart, as he finsome rational explanation of the chanic. ished his explanation. "But what was strangest, most mysterious affliction was easy for Gearhart to see for It that ever happened to a man. Ill go himself under what a terrible strain your object in going to all the expense the construction of this thing cost you raving crazy I and all my family. the whole family was living. Their "What Is it? asked Gearhart, curi- faces were pinched and drawn and just to harass Rackstraw? "Oh, it wasnt him particularly. The ously. their eyes watchful and they shivered the one secret of wealth is to sell "My house wont stand still. It and shrank timorously at the slight- dear and buy cheap, said Ryder, with turns and twists around to all points est noise. It wras a most dismal meal, a sickly grin. of the compass like a weather-vane- , and Gearhart was glad to escape from "You mean that you planned this replied Rackstraw, solemnly. "Either It on the plea of examining the house. arrangement solely for the purpose of that, or else the whole landscape slides This he did thoroughly, as thorfor a fair market and slithers around it, irresponsibly. oughly as possible by lamplight, from selling this place and then deliberately fright"What? ejaculated Gearhart, eye- cellar to attic, but nothing unusual re- figure victims into selling it back your ening warded his efforts. It was simply the to you for a little or nothing? queried ing the other carefully. "Oh, I knew you wouldnt believe it. ordinary country cottage, four rooms Gearhart, slowly. "And you were sure Last week I wouldnt have believed and butlers pantry on the first floor, they would never tell simply because such a thing possible myself. I can four bedrooms and bathroom on the the story was so wild and Improbable hardly believe its so now sitting here second, and servants rooms and cis- they knew no one would believe it? quietly telling about it. But as I am tern in the attic. Ryder nodded a sullen assent. a living man it is true, asserted Rack-straThere was just one point in the conAnd how often have you been sucvehemently. "It began Sunday struction of the house that struck cessful? night. We went to bed as usual that Gearhart as a trifle unusual. In the Only four times so far. night, nothing disturbed us, but in the cellar, instead of partitions or rows of "And how much have you made morning we found that, instead of fac- piers, the structure was supported by each time? ing the road as it always had, the a single large brick pier, exactly unI I can't say exactly. house had swung clear around and der the center of it; and this deter"On the average? was facing directly away from it. We mined him where he would spend the Well, maybe four or five thousand, couldnt believe our eyes, but it was night. Carefully closing every opening reluctantly. so. The next morning it faced up the from which a ray of light might es- replied Ryder, Four fives is twenty, said Gearroad, the next down the road, and this cape, he began his watch. hart quietly, and the original purmorning it again faces the road. And It was hot until the early hours of chase money makes it twenty-seven- , theres no violence or noise about it; the morning, however, that his vigi- five hundred. Mr. Ryder, you are gotheres just a slight lifting sensation, lance proved fruitful. Then the whole once to buy it back more, but not and then the house swings around and house noiselessly rose some three or ing at your own figure. Kindly draw a sinks down again, leaving you sick four inches from the foundations and check for $27,500 to J. C. Rackstraws and dizzy and bewildered. The serv- slowly began to swing around. Breathorder. ants all left at once, claiming it is lessly Gearhart examined that cenFor perhaps two minutes the trio bewitched, my wife and children are tral pier for perhaps five feeconds; into each others eyes, Ryder scared almost out of their wits, and then, extinguishing his lamp, he let gazed Gearhart inflexibly, and you have no idea what a dreadful himself out and rapidly but noiselessly imploringly, Rackstraw inanely. Then with a sigh feeling of insecurity it gives you. slipped across to the fence, vaulted it, that came from his soul, Ryder relucNothing seems firm and stable any and crept to the front of the building a fountain pen from his drew tantly more. Why, every time I put my foot on the other side. pocket. down I half expect this old earth of When he started he had no other ours to bring up with a jolt and begin Wheat Fields Follow Civilization. thought than to investigate an idea whirling around the other way. which had suddenly flashed upon him, From the Atlantic coast the See here, Rackstraw, are you sure and, if it proved the solution of the of progress grain production has adyou havent got em? demanded Gear- mystery, to return the next night with vanced westward with settlement, unhart, with an incredulous smile. due precaution; but when he felt the til it now has reached the banks of Would all my family have em, door of the building yield under his the North Saskatchewan river and would the servants have em? cried Land, he threw caution to the winds, the foothills of the Rocky mountains. Rackstraw, hotly. "Why, I made the and snatching his revolver from his In the days of our fathers, the Richehun- pocket, last payment on the seventy-fivstepped boldly inside. A rap- lieu valley was the great wheat field. dred I gave for the place only last id glance around the room dimly il- It bore 40 crops in succession. week, but Ill sell it now for the five luminated by a lantern assured him hundred. Ill give it away or aban- that he was alone with a short, stocky An Explanation. don it if you cant discover what man, who was just pulling on his coat. A Boston woman seeking divorce agency, human or superhuman, is Ah, good morning, Mr. Ryder, said says her husband drinks 60 gallons of I ease with around the it Gearhart pleasantly. Her estimate is spinning whisky a month. would a top. Come on out there with The other man faced about with a probably an exaggeration. If not, it me now, old chap, and see for your- convulsive Jerk, turned a beautiful explains why the average per capita self, wont you? mottled green, and paused with his consumption of liquor is so high "I will, said Gearhart, convinced at hands stuck half way in the sleeves among this sober people. Rochester last that there must be some founda of his coat Herald. w bow-windo- d lf . e . CHIVALRY OF TODAY OLD FASHION HAS GIVEN PLACE-T- O NEW. Elaborate Compliments Now Seldom Exchanged Between the Sexes Men and Maidens Mors Than Ever Truly Companions. the young man of fashion' marries the girl with whom he has ridden, rowed, climbed, fished, hunted, played tennis and golf. He knows shes a good sport and the finest girl In the world, but if he ever thought her a saint, that Idea is knocked oue of his1 head long before the wedding day. He doesnt boost her by the elbow over every rock, because he knows she can climb better than he can. He doesnt gallantly give her points in games, because he knows that if be does, shell i beat him. And so It is with the women In in the arts and in business. There they meet men as fellow-work- ers, just as the more idle women' . meet them as They are drawn together by common interests, and in the cases where love and marriage result the common interests remain and form a serviceable and stable background for the romantic foreground. But the man who works In the same office with a woman cant bob up and offer her his chair every time she comes into the room. have time to do anything else. He cant stop smoking when she is in the room. If he did, he might as well give up smoking altogether. If he happens to keep his hat on in it doesnt show any disrespect: toward the women. Its simply a habit that is bad for his hair. This wholesome comradeship in work and play insures a mutual knowledge before marriage which is certainly a mofe seTo-da- y s, fellow-athletes- 't He-wouldn- , the-office- cure basis for permanent happiness-thaare romantic dreams. There is. slight danger that lovers will thus become too practical. The flowers of chivalry are fading. The lady of ruffs and. feathers and perfumes has indeed fallen upon evil days. Elaborate compliments are few and far between. The courtly gallantry of the dominant male-fo"the fair and weaker sex no longer flourishes. The frail parlor girl is no match for the vigorous golf girl. The old dowager of 40 is no match for the sprightly middle-agewoman of CO. The new woman is not as new as she was. With each few years she? becomes less uncouth and better understood. She is fast learning that, she hampers rather than promotes interests of her sex by aping men. She is coming to realize that feminine charm- is just as potent a force in the twentieth century as. ever it was in' the days of chivalry. She is beginning to understand the sacrifice of her womanliness is far too heavy a price-- ' to pay for independence, and that by no such sacrifice will she ever receive from men the justice she seeks. The woman, on the other hand, like her pug dog, is fast passings She will be, in no very distant future a memory of the past, like the mastodon of bygone geologic ages. survive Jn an age in which justice and independence are supplanting flattery and gallantry. Appleton! n old-fashion- r d - old-fashion- She--cann- ot Magazine. v How It Goes in Georgia. What do you think of his chances for recovery, doctor? Whats his age? Seventy-eigh- t. "Well, with his constitution, and being just in his prime, hell sure pull through. Atlanta Constitution. Easy to Answer. Uncle, they say there marriages of blondes than of brunettes. Why is it, I wonder? Uncle Singleton (a confirmed bachNiece elor) art-mor- Hm! Naturally, the ones go first. light-head-.-e- d Stray Stories. e |