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Show THE MISSING MAN By MARY R. P. HATCH Author of "The Bank Tragedy" Copyright. 18t. bj l r and hepard Prefatory Note. There needs but little explanation of the following pages, except that the strange incidents are the true ones, and the details most open to conjecture have basis In scientilk- fact, as set forth in the records of the Societies for Psychical Research. MARY K. P. HATCH. stance?'' he asked, returning to his wife's side. "Just yourself, and let it be soon,'' looking eagerly and earnestly into his face. "I shall be back soon, never fear. more beautiful Constance, you are CHAPTER I. than you ever were, and I love you better," he whispered. "1 wish I were A Mysterious Journey. I will be soon," And !t la the middle of May, 1879. Like at home again. his took her he valise, kissing hastily a living creature the sentient earth is after putting on his hat, gloves, and pulsing with the rush of vitality so and left the house. overcoat, long withheld by the reluctant season. His wife stood by the window The buds are ready to burst, the grass him until he was out of watching white-limbeis unsheathed, while when a thrill of superstitious birches and maples are sight,shot through her. losing their distinctive Aryan and Se- fear She had watched him out of sight. mitic types under the green robes May is weaving lor all. Contradictory eleAway back in her childhood a maidments are abroad this morning in the en relative had so strongly impressed weather; at all events here in Grove-dale- , her mind with the malevolent influNew Hampshire. There Is a stiff ences of such an act that she could northwest wind, a fog never, despite her common sense, get with the sun struggling to look rid of the belief. But she was cheered the next mothrough it, and a sky that looks like rain. If the sun comes out it will not ment by recollecting her tower. She be directly, and it is nearly time for sped quickly upstairs, then along the the seven o'clock train whistle. After corridor and to another flight. This , that a and then Mr. Hamil- brought her to the foot of the tower, ton must go, if he go at all this mornwhich was built at one side of the ing. house, and rose fifteen feet above it. Meanwhile, his wife is trying to con- There were windows in it on all sides, vince him that he would better wait and it gave a commanding view of the until it looks so much like country, romantic and unusual, for the rain. A fair, handsome couple, not house itself was built on high ground. Constance went straight to the winyet middle-aged- , they stand at the window of the dining-roolooking out, dow overlooking the street which led rather than at each other. A packed to the station. Far adown there was a valise rests on a chair, and the break- spot where her husband would cross fast table is let to the children, a boy the street (unless he had crossed it and a girl. Mr. Hamilton carries a already) to go to the train. Fronting light overcoat on his arm, his hat and the crossing was a hotel known as gloves in his hand, and yet his wife the Essex House. She might see him, declines to see that he is ready to go, she thought, at this point. If so. she but talks idly about the weather. He would just take one look to counteract answers in the same way, though it is the malignant effect of having watchevident to both that underneath their ed him out of sight. With expectant eyes and words there is deeper meaning, which neither wishes to make apparent. lips she eagerly watched the turn in "Must you, when it looks so much the .street which he might, or might brown-skinne- d half-hour- half-parte- "It is best that I do not explain rain?" she asks negligently, the ribbon which confines her morning dress, and picking out the bows before looking up. "Like rain, Constance! Why, who ever knew it to rain, with the wind in the northwest?" "That is the way it comes lately. It has been remarked, Vane, by a great many people; and if you should get wet you would get cold, and with your weak lungs " "Pshaw, Constance! my lungs are as strong as a horse, and so am I." "But your mother died with consumption." "Very true. But it isn't going to rain, mark my words; the sun will be out in less than an hour, and, if it should rain, I am neither sugar nor salt, to dissolve with the first drop. Oh, you may depend I shall be all right." "But you are not as well as usual. You are morn nervous. You talk in your sleep, and your appetite has failed lately." "The more reason why I need a change. The fact is, my business is too much for me this debilitating spring weather. I suspect I am a little bilious, and since Mr. Henderson and your uncle have chosen to leave the mill business so much to me. that with my duties at the bank, has worn me down. They will have to take the reins In my absence, and Tony will do very well at the bank for the two weeks I am away." "Always two weeks," murmured his at present." not, have passed. Ah! there he was, walking briskly. With a sign of relief Constance was about to turn away when a woman stepped out from the hotel door, and coming quickly down the steps, approached her husband. What could she want of him, she a stranger? or was it some one else down the street she was coming to greet? No, it was Mr. Hamilton. Constance was breathless now with interest and curiosity. The woman was evidently a stranger in Grovedale, young and pretty, if the distance did not lend undue enchantment, and she greeted her husband as if she knew him well better than her husband knew her, for he stepped back a pace or two as though surprised or not well pleased. There appeared to be but few words between them, and then the woman with slower step returned to the hotel, and Mr. Hamilton turned the corner, but not until his wife, remembering her object in coming to the tower, shrank back until he was out of sight. The fulfilment of her design did not, seem to have given Mrs. Hamilton unmitigated satisfaction, for she sank Into a seat beside the telescope while her thoughts flew backward to the beginning of her married life, slowly reviewing the years until now years of mystery, every one of them. Its entity impressed her at this moment as never before. Eight years ago when a girl of twenty-two she married Vane Hamilton. How well she recollected the first time she met him! She, the niece of the wife. wealthy mill owner, Mr. Carter, who 1 am seems a it sure like and "Yes; had but lately come to Grovedale; he " year soon to have an Interest in the same "Then why do you go?" business, though he did not know it "Because I must. You would not un- then. I exIt is best that do not derstand In a year from their first meeting plain at present. There goes the were married Vane's mysterious I they shall What whistle bring you, Claire?" going to his little girl's side journeys began the spring after their marriage, and they took place always and stooping to kiss her. in May How well she recollected her A small face, framed In golden hair, with hie. dark eyes looking oul from awn chagrin at not being Invited to under fluffy bangs, was raised to his accompany him; she. almost a bride, to be left while he went alone on his as' she sprang to her feet. trip! "Oh, a ring, papa a gold ring," Worst of all, he never told her "All right. I won't forget. And you, where he was going, nor his object in PeTley?" If you "A wr'Mng book. and from that time until now plea. going, It had been a mystery. Mine Is all written through." Among the "Very well." kissing the boy as he townspeople they were looked upon as business trips to Boston, but she her had his sister. nt elsewhere. "And wha'. shall I bring you Con- - self knew that ! hfce just as he left her, MHJ Aid" he stayed from home two week Once he left her quite ill. though out of danger, the physician assured him. Another time she asked him to take her with him and he refused. Always Hi. rt was an air of secrecy, a grave abstraction, an intangible different in his manner, as if called about an irksome business. Meanwhile, Clare and Perley were added to their home, and they had been happy through the eight years of their married l'fe despite the mystery of his yearly trips. For she trusted him. She was sure that he loved her; but each time as the middle of May approached she grew nervous, and in various indirect ways tried to hinder his going. Just at that moment the sun burst out. The most unbelieving could not call the weather into question, but still the cloud sat on Mrs. Hamilton's brow. "Some women," she whispered, for she was quite alone, "would susto pect their husbands of wrong-doing- , go awaj as Vane does every year so and then she went mysteriously"; slowly downstairs to her own room, pausing on a stair to listen to the children's voices in the dining room. 'I have them at all events," she thought. Going straight to her mirror she gazed long at her own reflection, noting the clear, colorless complexion, the dark luminous eyes, the rich biown hair with its gleams of gold, the tall, graceful figure, and the intangible charm which blent them all together into a charming personality, her own. She loved her husband deeply, and was not insensible to the compliment he paid her when going away. Why did he go, if he did not wish to? Surely business did not demand his absence. He had no relatives. He did not go for his health; besides, his trips were yearly. A wave of color sped over her face and she clutched her hands nervously. Just then the children came rushing in. and Perley said, clasping her hand, "I am glad you are pretty, mamma. I should hate to have a homely one, shouldn't you, Clare?" "I should get used to It in time, I presume," said the precise little maiden. Mrs. Hamilton took them both in her arms and hugged them tightly for a moment. Then she made them tidy for school, but instead of letting them go off alone, she put on a street dress and went with them. "I will go with you a little way," she said. "O mamma, will you, how far?" asked Perley. "Perhaps as far as the Essex House. I want to see Mrs. Fry. She is at work in the laundry this week, I hear. I must see her in regard to our washing." But most of all she wished to learn something about the woman who had spoken to her husband. How she wished she had lookedt at her through the field glass she haa in the tower! But it had not occurred, to her at the time. As it was, she had only a rather vague idea that the woman was young and pretty, and the uncomfortable conviction of jealousy on her own part, which she must try to rid herself of speedily. What better way than to learn something about the woman, and her object in speaking to her husband? She would not ask foolish questions, but if the desired information came to her, well and good. (To be continued.) His Reference. In the course of a conversation between two men at the club last night one of them jokingly a man with a "cheek" thing he desired, and with his statement remarked that could get anyhe backed up the following story: One of his friends, a merchant, had advertised for a porter. A big. Irishman applied for the job. looking him over the merchant burly After was satisfied with his appearance; the only objection was the question of references, and the Irishman did not seem to have a very good one. "Can you get no better reference than this?" asked the merchant. "0 yis, Sor; I kin git ye the very best kind of a wan, if that's all ye want, Sir; and I don't have to go far for it, either. Me farther and me morther, Sor, live down the sthrate, and they've known me all me life And he landed the job. Penurious Deacon. Rev. Dr Kay, once settled late The at Leonminster, when in charge of another parish had a close fisted deacon who occasionally loaned money when ho could get exorbitant rates of A Interest. The Experiment of Mrs. Hardiman i By NelLe Cravey Gillmore Mrs. Hardiman was trembling violently when she reached the top of the stairs, to the left of which was the door opening into the anteroom of Trenuer's office. Sever! persons passed her, and one or two looked back into the woman's white face and tell tale eyes. It was the supreme hour of her life, she felt. It was to be the culmination of months of au almost too daring experiment but if through the risk, her art should triumph, she might count as nothing the breath of gossip that was already beginning to stir insidiously. The office boy was not on duty. She knocked timidly on Trenner's private office door. There was no response, and she rapped again. Still no answer, and the blood tided to her diffi face. Here was an unlooked-foculty. She dropped Into a chair and glanced about the room a little bewildered. What if she should be defeated after all her pains! There were a number of amateurish sketches done in oil with which Tren-nehad chosen to ornament his walls, and Mrs. Hardiman amused herself by walking about from one to the other, trying to decipher the subjects. In the corner of each were the initials E. H. T. His wife, in all probability. She remembered having heard that Trenner had married some years ago, but that for an as yet undiscovered reason, he was not living with the woman at present. Half the people said it was because she was crazy the other half said they were not surprised that she was unable to live with a husband like him. Mrs. Hardiman confessed herself supremely indifferent upon the question. Presently a shadow cut across the light in front of her and she turned with a little startled gesture that was unavoidable. Trenner came into the room with his customary air of deliberation and stood drawing off his gloves placidly. "Will you be busy for the next half hour?" Mrs. Hardiman asked, as he questioned her with his uplifted brows.. "I am never busy with the prospect of your company before me," he answered, laying his hat on a table and moving toward the door of his office. Mrs. Hardiman dismissed his triteness with a little gesture of impatience and followed. "I want to ask you a question," she began without preface, the belligerence of her attitude at once unmistakable. ,., She hesitated a moment, scrutinizlashes, her ing him through half-shu- t lips compressed. Trenner endured her eyes for awhile, but presently began to be uncomfortable and prompted her. "Well?" he said. "Have you been misinformed in regard to me?" she asked, in a cold voice. "1 have never been informed of you at all," was the stiff reply. "Then I was personally responsible for your act of yesterday?" "We are all personally responsible for what happens to us, are we not?" The woman was silent for a moment. Her wits, usually keen and quick, threatened to desert her in the hour that she wanted them most. After a pause, she spoke again: "I am afraid, though, that you have A a made a mistake. ; r r ; "I think not. A man seldom does under certain conditions." Mrs. Hardiman felt the blood flame to her face in a scorching wave. "Men are profound egotists," she cut in sharply, "and I demand an apology for your conduct toward me." Trener smiled, uncrossed his knees and sat up quite straight in his chair. "My dear lady," he said, with great deference, "if I have offended you, I most humbly beg your pardon." "If. You are sure of it, are you not?" She bent toward him excitedly. "I well, perhaps I ought to be, but I'm not." he returned, candidly, his demeanor nettling the woman almost beyond endurance. "You took advantage of me of of the situation." she cried. "How is that.'" he questioned, with a faint uhow of Interest "The office boy was there In the next room. I was obliged to keep silent, list there should be a misconstruction,," she cried. "I wan not aware that I did anything to occasion your indignation," he persisted, Imperturbably. "That Is not true," she Jerked out, strugglii.g hard to keep her mastery. Trenmer shrugged anl laughed soft- A poor widow who owned a smull homestead applied to the deacon for a loan, and he let her have It. The interest mentioned in the note was 9 per cent. Dr. Fay heard of the transaction and took the deacon to task for the ex ly. orbitant demand. "Again I beg your pardon," he re"When the Lord looks down from with moca humility. peated, heaven, deacon, and sees that note, Mrs. Hardiman bit her lips, her finhe how can you justify your act?" gers clenching themselves In her lap. asked. "You are perfectly await? of the fact "Dr. Fay, If the Ixird should look that you that what you tried to do 9 will look down from heaven, that was against my will?" she went on, like a 6." breathing tensely. "I don't think It was," he responded, Sounded That Way. toyfng with his watch fob Yeast "I sen' a Russian "You are most insolent!" Ing boat is called the Ryeshtrinkoff-vlt'ch.Trenner oaimht his breath under the Crlmsonbeak "Did you say an Ic- look she gave him. temporising a hit. "You have made the mistake. Mrs. ebreaker? Sounds more like a Jaw Hardiman, of contusing the spiritual breaker, doesn't It?" and the material. There Is no spiritual." He made the announcement In Prefers a Heavy Tombstone. a tone of finality. Mrs. Hanks What sort of tomb tone shall we get for dear mother After a moment she replied, lamely: "The question now I neither material omCtblni elaborate or plain one? Mr. Hanks Well, I think something nor spiritual In aspect. It Involves good and heavy will be best. Clevc simply an abstrac- t- fact " land I eider. The other laughed again, and shook his head. "Aren't you talking just a Utile disconnectedly?" he asked, indulgently. "1 think not. am quite confident of my ground." There was a long silence. When she (Hiked toward Trenner again, he was running his fingers reflectively through a tawny mass of coarse, yellowish hair that gave to his face a distinctly leonine type of expression. "I shall always consider that you placed me In a false position,'' she remarked, angrily. "Still you will have to admit that you confess yourself unable to cope with circumstances." "The office boy, for instance," she hurled back. There was another silence. Trenner was the first to break it. "Well, have you found out all you wanted to know ?" he inquired. "All, and more. My experiment has been most successful. I owe you an untold debt. " She gave him a sphinx like look. Trenner's lips parted in an Involuntary smile. "I thought you'd come up here and explain it all," he observed. Mrs. Hardiman swallowed her rage and covered it up with a little quick laugh. "That was my intention," she agreed, rising. Trenner preceded her to the door and held it open He said nothing, and the woman did not speak either, or look back. When Mrs. Hardiman gained the open air, she drew a deep breath of relief. She felt faint and dizzy and wretched. The encounter she had had with Trenenr left her more than physically weak: it had seemed to take something vital forever from her life. Tin' experiment Into which she had plunged blindly for the sake of her work had proved a little more than she had been able to grapple with Trenner had to be sure showed himself all that she had wished and intended the exact opposite of the romantic amorist who might have met her reproaches with weak asseverations of his love and penitence. But she felt conscious of a keen sense of moral hurt. When she reached her own gate, she was worn out and spiritless. She raii upstairs to her room and flung herself face down on a lounge, a burn ing sense of mortification pervading her being. Presently, a rush of tears came to her relief and she sat up, refreshed. After all, though his hands had touched hers, he had not kissed her as he would have done, had not some last remnant of superior will power preserved her in the extreme moment, from that pollution. After awhile her husband came into the room looking for her, and she jumped up excitedly and threw her arms about his neck. "Dick!" she cried, hysterically, "yon must take me away from here, some where any whore for a time. I've worn my nerves to a shred over this last story, and I mean to burn it up. I shall never write another line as long as I live!" (Copyright, 1!X)6, by Dally Story Pub Co.) GUIDED BY THE TREES. The Indian Relies on Tall Pines to Show Him the Way. The Indians are guided by the trees more than anything else. If you look across the lake you will see that the tops of about half of the tall pine trees bend slightly toward the east, There is a distinct says Recreation trend to the forest, always toward the east. On this the Indian relies Implicitly, and it does not deceive him. Again, If an Indian, traveling in the forest, makes a loop and Intersects his own trail, he knows It immediately, without seeing any footprints, because of the character of the timber. One of our party, accompanied by an Indian, Big Paul, as guide, shot a moose"ig Paul had never been In that coun'ry before, and, as it was a stormy day. without the sun to guide him, he became confused In his sense of direction and had to wander around somewhat in order to find the camp again. But on the following day he led us three miles through the forest He did not follow the to the carcass. back trail, but went apparently by Instinct, I followed hi in with my compass. He would vary and waver in his course nearly 90 degrees, first to right and then to the left, but he went to the moose. Now and again he would point to something he remembered partleu' larly. "Here," he would say, "Is the rock where you set the compasH down;" or, "This is where we were when we heard the shot." Then he would point to the ground, where to our senses there wasn't anything at all to see, and make no comment, but would smile at is a little and go on. By and by he came out exactly at the moose. All I could get out of him was that he went by the trees. In addition to noticing everything else, your guide sees trails that you cannot see, anil notices the bitten twigs that you do not discover have been browsed off until he points It out to you. When a twig seems to have been very freshly bitten off, he will apply his own mouth to It, and bite it If ho sees froth on the off again twigs, he makes a sign to you not to crack so many branches. - . far Ok BLANCHING CELERY. How Paper May Be Made to Serve the Purpose. Blanching celery with paier Is usually practiced on the early plants for the reason, says Prairie Farmer, that during hot weather there is less danger of rut. The accompanying illus-- Blanching Celery with Paper. tration shows a plan for blanching a celery plant with tile and paper. As shown, the stalks are collected in a tile and wrapped In heavy paper so as to exclude the light. A stake is driven near to the plant to partially support. Any method that does not Injure the plant and will exclude the light will answer the purpose. GOOD Some of the SEED CORN. Important Points by Which It May Be Known. Some of the more Important observations to be made in the selection of seeds are: Yield, quality, uniform- Ity, hardiness, time of ripening, freedom from attacks of smut and rust, and, In the case of small grain, the stiffness of the straw. The corn crop requires, perhaps, as great care In the selection as any other, and merits special attention, The rapid says the Prairie Farmer. improvement that has been made in this crop, combined with the readi-- ; noss with which the different varieties cross and mix, renders it extremely subject to variation. Constant care is necessary in order to establish the desirable qualities that are brought out in these variations and to more thoroughly eradicate those not desirable. Some of the points to be observed in the selection of seed corn are: 1. The size and shape of ear; ear should approach as nearly as may be a uniform diameter from end to end. 2. Size and quality of cob, a medium sized cob being much better than a large, spongy one. 3. Depth of grain. 4. Shape of grain; grains should carry their wedge shape uniformly to the end, so that the ear may present as nearly as possible a solid surface. 6. Covering of cob; cob should be as completely and evenly covered as possible at both ends. 6. Hardness of grain, too hard and flinty a grain not being readily masticated and digested. A hard grain, also, is more liable to be a shallow one. 7. Grains of even, uniform size and similar shape, to make possible uniformity of planting. 8. Color of grain, purity of color Indicating purity of the corn. POINTS WORTH NOTING. For late lettuce sow in partial shade. Spinach for early spring "greens" should be sown about the 10th of this month. It Is the wasp, and not the honey bee, that punctures the grape. The bees profit from the work of the wasp. Close by the side of the road is the best place for the garden, for then it you will have pride in keeping clean. Keep a supply of early potatoes dug and at tho house, so that your wl'o can get at them; don't let her dig them. Keep the tomato plants off the ground. Mothlng rots tho fruit quicker or more surely than falling to the earth. Weeds will keep right on growing, whether anything else In the garden does or not. Don't let a single one go to seed, though. How Is the crop of boys and girls at your house this year? Good? Glad of It! No matter whethor Ihe corn and wheat and all things go wrong, If the harvest of young folks Is all right. Bunch onions are an easy and paying crop. While they do not sell as readily as indlshes they will sell well after radishes are a drug in the market. A dozen onions as large as a lead pencil make a good sized bunch. Don't Forget. When you finish shingling that building, don't forget and leave the boards there which you nailed on to keep yourself from slipping off. Take them off when you are through, or, later, you will be likely to find some rotten shingles under them. Farm Journal. |