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Show I I ladU I Hard Luck" 1 1 t i t $ Bu GENEVIEVE ULMAR E 4! I (Copyright, 1916. by W. Q. Chapman.) It was with an Iron hand, but a genial, patient heart, as was her splendid splen-did nature, that Inez Walton took up the distracted threads of destiny amid the wreck and ruin of a great fortune. "It's Incredible, but true," spoke the old family lawyer, Gideon Blake. "Your father, it seems, was the victim vic-tim of the most fantastic and unreasonable unrea-sonable experiments and speculations. A Rothschild couldn't afford it." "As I understand you, then," spoke Inez steadily, although her lip trembled, trem-bled, "the estate, as we have called it, has dwindled down to the little farm place at Bridgeton?" "And the wet meadows a mile beyond, be-yond, a worthless waste stretch." "But the sale of the estate equities will pay all the debts?" "Just that, with possibly a few hundred hun-dred over." "Then I am satisfied," said the clear-eyed clear-eyed young lady. "The debts can be honorably liquidated at least, there is shelter and the pensioners are sure of a home." T fear you will have to give up your philanthropic ideas, Miss Walton." Wal-ton." "Never!" came the firm, simple reply. re-ply. "When I fancied I was rich I adopted old Uncle and Aunt Daniels J t Boldly Waded After Her Hat and Restored Re-stored It. and their two helpless orphaned grandchildren. They are my sacred charges. Much or little, they shall ehare what bounty I have till the end." The good old lawyer viewed hU handsome client indulgently and with a certain shade of sadness, withal. with-al. In his estimation she was "a splendid splen-did lady!" He respected her force of character and admired her beauty. He wondered why, with all her capabilities capabili-ties for attracting attention, she had not chosen a life mate and evaded the harsh rigors her acceptance of four helpless charges was certain to bring to her. But Inez was loyal and sincere. She was naturally disappointed to see what had been considered a great fortune practically fade awt.y into nothingness. nothing-ness. There was one mighty consolation, consola-tion, however: all the debts were paid, within a week she and her pensioners were quite comfortably domiciled in the old house at Bridgeton. She sold off the horses and carriages. The lawyer law-yer saved a moiety from the sale of the real estate and Inez found herself the possessor of a liquid capital of about nine hundred dollars. "We're not so bad oft, after all," she observed cheeringly to her aunt and uncle. "We can all do some garden work. There is a cow, some chickens, and the twenty acres ought to provide for us with a littlo drawn from the ready capital. The children must go to school, Aunt Huldah can knit and I can sew, and we shall get along charmingly." "Yes, indeed," readily chirped in her uncle, "and I am not so old that I cannot can-not do a little work now and then for neighboring farmers." ft depressed Inez when for the first time she went to look at "the wet meadows." They covered a few acres and were a foot deep with swamp grass and water. There seemed to be a epring In the center which bubbled up irrepresslbly, the waste water having hav-ing made a sort of river bed, and draining Into the creek half a mile away. Surrounding it was a noble stretch of landscape woods, valleys, a little lake, and quite recently most of this land had been taken over by a city syndicate. Inez heard that the enterprising speculator controlling it was planning to buy up all the land available and start an up-to-date summer sum-mer resort. "It's ideal, that is sure," reflected Inez "all but my poor little damp patch of bog. Oh, dear!" The exclamation was caused by a sudden gust of wind taking her new hat flying. It was a dainty creation, and it skimmed the long waving grass and gently sailed down across the top of a stunted bush. Inez glanced at her low slippers and the treacherous glint of water under the grasses knee deep in some places. She was about to turn from the spot and find some barefooted farmer's boy to help her out in her predicament, when she noticed, appearing from behind be-hind some bushes near the spring, a young man. He wore high boots, lifted lift-ed his cap to her, boldly waded after her hat and restored it to her. In the interim Inez had noticed that a second man directly at the spring was filling some bottles with the water. She thanked the stranger very much, impressed with his courteous, mannerly ways, and let the spot wondering won-dering who he might be, but surmising surmis-ing that he was one of the group who were visiting the site of the new summer sum-mer resort regularly. It was about a week later that, as Inez came in from ttfe garden, her aunt announced a visitor waiting for her in the little parlor. She was Bur-prised Bur-prised to find that this was the young man who had rescued her runaway hat, "I represent the new syndicate which is to operate the summer resort here. Miss Walton," he stated. "We have been looking over your spring property. The truth is, we find that its water is of rare medicinal value. To add a spring equal in its virtues to the famous spas abroad is to have a very valuable feature in our general equipment. We wish to' secure the right to use it and to build a pagoda, park the surroundings and establish driuk-ing driuk-ing fountains and baths 'The negotiation negotia-tion has been left entirely in my hands. I have decided to offer you five thousand dollars." "Oh, what a blessing!" cried the delighted de-lighted Inez. "With that I can better provide for my dear ones." "Five thousand a year on a ten-year lease," concluded the young man, and Inez sat fairly stunned with amazement. amaze-ment. "You cannot mean It!" she gasped. "Why, I offered the land for one thousand thou-sand dollars outright when I first came here." "That may be true," spoke AJvin Hughes, "but its value was not then known. I might have bargained if 1 had been dealing with a man, but you " He paused; he did not go on to teli of all the good he had heard of this sterling young woman and the chival-ric chival-ric and noble in his nature that bade him protect her interests. And so Inez was no longer "Lady Hard Luck." And later she became Lady Thoughtful, and Lady Interested, when she learned that the syndicate managers, when they found out that their representative had acted like a man of honor instead of taking easy advantage of an inexperienced young lady, promptly turned him adrift. She could not get the sufferer on her behalf out of her mind. She located lo-cated him at last through a friend, filling a rather poor position. Hb had brought her comparative opulence, surely comfort and a competency. com-petency. He was the one in hard luck now, and all for her sake. A woman's wit brought about a meeting. A woman's love ruse, genuine genu-ine and supreme. Alvln Hughes would not share her fortune. Her loyal affection af-fection was sufficient, and he was the kind of a man who could make his way rapidly when the smile of a brave, encouraging woman was his all hla own. So Lady Hard Luck became old Lady Bountiful, her sweet life filled not only with the love of a loyal man, but scattering its perfume among all those with whom her radiant nature came in contact. The Sunshine. The child's character In future years will reflect Just as much sunshine sun-shine and cheer as surrounded hlra from the earliest days. We recognize unthinkingly that the child Is a reflection re-flection of his surroundings. The whining whin-ing child lives with Irritable people. The rude child Is not treated courteously. courte-ously. We recognize the beloved child at once. Whatever of strenglh or weakness may be hidden In the child's heart, his manners and mannerisms, or the reverse, are the reflections of his surroundings. No child speaks a harsh word until he has heard one. No child lies, In the essential meaning of the term, if he Is brought up in an atmosphere of kindness. And the beginning be-ginning of this silent training Is In the very beginning of his life. Love and truth must wrap the cradle. Firmness and self-control must be the mother's while the bnbe yet Bleeps In her arms. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) The production of thymol from horsemint may be, under favorable circumstances, a profitable commercial commer-cial undertaking, according to a recent re-cent publication of the United States department of agriculture, Bulletin 372. Thymol, which Is extensively used in medicine, was formerly Imported Im-ported from northern Europe where It Is manufactured from seed grown In northern India. The European war, however, has reduced the importations impor-tations of this substance from 18.000 pounds in 1914 to a little more than 2,000 In 1915. To make up this deficit It Is believed that thymol might be manufactured from improved horsemint horse-mint plants with which the department depart-ment of agriculture has been experimenting experi-menting for some time. Horsemint is found wild on light sandy soils over the entire region from southern New York to Florida, and westward to Wisconsin, Kansas and Texas, and it Is probable that it will thrive under cultivation over the same area. From 20 to 30 pounds of oil per acre should be obtained from a planting, according to the investigations investiga-tions of the department, and a little less than 70 per cent of this oil will be thymol. The yield of thymol per acre of horsemint, therefore, is estimated esti-mated at from a little less than 13 pounds from first year plantings to a little less than 20 pounds for subsequent subse-quent years. The average price of thymol for a number of years prior to the European war was about 52 a pound. The cost of producing the thymol will depend to a great measure upon whether the horsemint is grown in connection with other oil-yielding plants for which a distilling apparatus appara-tus is maintained. Unless this is done, it Is said. It Is not probable that the profits will be sufficient to warrant anyone engaging in the Industry. In-dustry. Excluding such items as land rent, taxes, depreciation, upkeep and Interest on the distilling plnnt, it is estimated that thymol can be produced pro-duced at an approximate cost of $23 per acre the first year, and $19 per acre thereafter. These figures include the growing of the plants, fertilization, fertiliza-tion, cultivation, harvesting and distilling. dis-tilling. A plantation of horsemint will not have to be replanted oftener than once In five years at the most, and by returning the distilled herb to the soil, a material reduction in cost of fertilization can be made after the first year. Fuller information In regard to methods of cultivation, harvesting and distilling ore contained in Bulletin Bul-letin 372 which has already been mentioned. |