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$31 in edeeaeeeeée sgcéhéeeeecccee<ceececesseeececgeeceeeeeceeceez? us up OR, A BRoTHER’s PROMISE é $9.39))999 ((666 W W9§D§§§§3BE§E>§§BDB§§D§§§§9§95BBB§§B9BP§§>>5§9Â¥993® CHAPTER I.-â€"â€"( Continued. They leaned on the eastern para- pet. The night had faired, and the moon was rising. A misty radiance I .hung over the housetops, and the] black bulk: of the riverside W'a:e-’ houses took on unreal magnificence of I Stature. The span of Blackfiais' Bridger was a dream, airy as gossa- mer. Paul‘s master of the East,i named his dome into the clearingl sky, supreme and absolute. And the; river, dark and mysterious, swept, on i in such majestic curves of sad in- difference that Hector was stirred to dreams of the sea, of stately ships of white sails under the stars, of roving to strange ports and ' islands green with palms. - - "Tile Isle of Palms is far away," said the old man in a low voice. Hector started as if he had been stabbed : his very thought had taken words, “The Isle of Palms is far away," the old man repeated. “Lil-.e a. green jewel it lies under the sun all day, and all night under the stars. like a sleeping maid. Blue waters ring its shores, white clouds kiss its hills, green ; covers it like a robe. But. the jewel sparkles in a tyrant’s crown, and the sleeping maid is a Slavic: The white clouds carry his Curses, the green hides the graves of' his victims, Your riverâ€"ah ! your riverâ€"I follow it, round everv bend, over every reach, down, couu to the sea. Then I go westua. :i with the sun, ‘and southward with the brave Windâ€"days and days I go, and »- as the seventh night fails I come to, my Isle of Palms. The lights glimmer on the shore; the thrum of the guiâ€" tar comes over the waters; I smell! the smell of. my own land, my ow1r hills; I fear a lover singing in the soft Palmetto s;:ee:hâ€"â€"â€"1 am home.” Hector could find‘no word to break the silence. The rear of Lonâ€" don was all about them. but the! silence that fol when the old man ceased to speak could be felt; a hush like that of the moment beâ€" twoen a dream and the waking. He looked at his companion who stood, hands lof’ed on the parapet, gazing! out over the river as if he could see! the green islands rising out of the dark waters of the Thames. At last Bravo turned and took Hector’s arm. "Come away i” he said abruptly. They wal‘-:ed Strandwaids. "The sight of your Thames always fills me with impossible dreams. All day I grieve that Palmetto lies un- der the iron heel of I-llispaniola, all my waking thoughts are of her misâ€" ery and despair. But, sometimesâ€"~â€" with night and the riverâ€"the hopes of years, the long deshes, come back to me, and I see my Palmetto de- livered from the oppressor. For a. little while I live in a fool’s para-! dise. Yet I can never forget that my hopes are impossible.“ “thy impossible ‘2” cried moved out of himself. "First because I am no longer young. Second, be-ause there is lacking the great solvent of all diliiâ€" culties, the key to open all doorsâ€"â€" golJ, always gold.” , - Grant’s heart went. out to the old man who, though his hair was alâ€"l qmost while, preserved still the fairI fancies of youth; who, though crushed by the hand of Fate, yet had divine moments of rebe‘lion; who, though knowing well that lais‘ hope was forlorn, clung to it with all the tenacity of a lover. Hector had| heard the old man speak in this! strain before, but his words, so. earnest yet so resigned, had neveri so moved him as they did now. I Forlorn hopes appealed ever to' the heart of Hector Grant. He came of stock whose hopes were all forâ€" lorn. His ancestors-witness the family treeâ€"were out with Montrose they lost life in the ’15; they lost lands and life in the ’45; they died penniless and lonely under the ban- ner of John Comp-any; they gavel their blood, their all, for Poland;' and his fatherâ€"so near us thatâ€"left the u 011:1 in a lllazo of gloxy at. Gravelotte, when Hector was wailing into it. This was l:Ie:.tor’s rosary all beads of glorious disaster. Hist bead '? Was it possible to add one? Scarce half an hour ago he had been grumbling over limself, lament-â€" ing his absorption into the drab Nirvana. of habit and daily routine. His brain was growing rusty and“ his blood (iawdled like a Lowland stream He was slowly drifting into a state of carelessness, wlzen 110 would be a mere walking emptiness, a galvaniz- ed corpse, a machine, and not a human being full of the Hot of blood and the joy of living. I-l'is line, like the Appian Way. would end in a mire, he himself anotl-er Galloway. Stillâ€"the lust of life and doing was hidden away somewhete in lim. For there were hours widen lie craved! madly for excitementâ€"the stir of, fighting, adventuring, peril of land and peril of the sea, jeopardy} and thrill of the open road, foray in‘ strange country and battle in lhel night. ’Ah ! if only the hour came ! 'A thought. leaped in his brain. This} man was old and he was young“ With this old man's know- ledge and his own strength (all the nn-onger became long at-lcc‘p), it )fllgiEi be possible to do S'nncthillg; Hector, the dream might be lannnered into reality, and Grant have his fill cl lighting. Was it possible ? The blood boiled in his throat with the heat of the impulse. There was 1:0 reasoning over it; inatiuct, long hereditary instinct, clamored and urged and batteierEâ€"and he found, on a sudden, to his no small amaze, thatv he had So a man. wonders who finds his sword in his hand, and cannot re- member having drawn it. le spoke before he knew. “Senor Bravo,” said he, in a. voice that was new to himself. They were passing the Lyceum Theatre, Grant all oblivious that his way lay eastward. The grizzled Palmetto looked up from under his broad sombrero, and his gley moustache and impezial bristled. "Yes ‘2" he said inquiringly. "I know something of your isâ€" land’s history.-. We have talked- [rather you have talked to me about it, how often? I have thoughtâ€"” He hesitated, for now that he came to speak the words, tl'ey seemed so feeble, he was so helpless-it was so ridiculous, lzere, in London’s heart, to propose so mad :3. thing. But in spite of fig boyih blush of shame the thought rushed into Words. "I want to helpâ€"I must help. Can't I ?” . Bravo drew a deep breath. He was cxrited, but kept himself in fine con- trol. He had been waiting for‘this, he had been expecting it. ‘ "Before I say a word of answer to your question, let us go over the ground again. You will not inter- rupt until I am finished. That is understood ?” "It is understood." For a few moments there was sil-l ence, and Hector made an ilSSlllnp- tion of calmness by lighting a cigar; ette. “To begin at the beginning,” said the old man in an even voi e. “For three centuries Palmetto was a. prosâ€" perous. kingdom under the rule of the Ribeircs, a royal family among royal families. Close on ninety years ago IiiSpaniela, by a knave’s trickâ€"all the wozld knows of itâ€" claimed sovereignty, deposed Eman- uele XIX. and took posses- , sion by force. The Powers were too busy to pay any at- iontion: Napoleon had his back to the wall, and the nations were at his throat. In the din and scuflie, the the t of Palmetto went practical- ly unnoticed. The royal family was exiled, and since then Hispaniolo has held what she stole. Possession is all the points of modern law: so none has questioned her right. “So ,much for the position histori- cal. “Nowâ€"the position a7tual ! "What is there to say ‘2 O ! I cannot be calm. Hispaniola grinds my brethren like so much coxn. She bleeds them of their hard-wrung carn- ings. She takes their sons and sends them to death in her western colonâ€" ies. Size racks them with taxes in- numerable; levies import duties on every imaginable article of necessity that the island does not produce; in a word, makes the right to live a luxurious privifcge. “Do you want an instance? if a Palmetto wis' cs to leave the island he must obtain a passport. Nominâ€" ally, on this there is stamp duty ‘of two posetas. But before all the His- pan-iolan official palms are oiledâ€"â€" from the Gm'ernor’s, down through sen‘etai‘ies’ and orderiies", to the gate porier’sâ€"forty pounds English do not cover the cost. Few Palâ€" mettos leave,tlzeir prison on these terms, and the world cannot hear of their troubles. "Can they not write? you say. Yes, they can write, but tlzeir letâ€" ters are opened, and they are promptly arrested on some trunipery charge, and linger in goals without trial for months and years. You 113.10 never been in an lzlispaniolan prison ‘2 Ah ! wellâ€"â€"â€"â€"? "l‘liSfJiMliOltlll spies are everywhere. Why, no one lights a cigaiillo in the streets of Palm City without look- ing round twice. "When you are b'orn you are tax- ed; when you are. married you are taxed; when you die. you cannot be buried until your relatives pay the burialâ€"tax. “This is outside. Every one knows this. Your British tourist knows it, but it is no concern of l'.l.S. The. inside is known only to those who have suffered. iolan, for he is a thief and a liar and a murderer. “We Would cast off his yoke but alas! we are not strong enough. We have men’ willing to die, but there are no guns because we have no money. "All the people are hungry for “10.1 relief from oppression, and they are ever faithful; hoping, almost against hope, for the return of their rightful rulerâ€"â€"â€"" "There is, then, a. descendant .the Ribeiros‘l" interrupted Hector, forgetful of his promise. "For the return of her Majesty, Queen Maddalena 2” continued the ma man, with a touch of that love for dramatic climax possessed by all Southern peoples. l‘e, Iletor Clisholml come to a resolution. I We hate the Hispan~ of room hung with curtains of "Queen Maddalena !” cried Hector. "The last and the best and fairest Iof her race !” I-Iector's impulse leafed in Hm, again, stronger and more madly than ever. “Can't I help, Senor Bravo ‘2" The old man smiled. “But 1 have not finished. When I have told you everything,‘when I l‘ave shown you my last argument-â€" {you may ask me then.” ' They were come to a dingy door, one of the hundred and twenty-five dingy (1001's of Chalford Street, Rusâ€" isell Square. - ‘ “You will come into my lodgings ,and smoke a (igarette,” said Bravo, iiizsezting his latchi-ey. ] They entered a room scantily furâ€" illifii-llcd in the early Victorian man- iner, the classic mode in all Bloom- isbury 1~::dgi"g houses. , On a table in the middle of the room were a lamp, a little tray with cigazettes and matches, and another tray with a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses. “Sit heie,” said the old man, pushing forward the o! e easy chair, "and pray help yourself to a glass of wine and a cigaette. Both wine and tobacco cue from Palmetto. You will excuse me for a moment?” "Certai 1y." ' Bravo lert. the room. Tiector glanced about him; he had seen it all before. lnrleed, in his early days in London he had lived. in a similar dungeon. ‘A Well-Wo.n horsehair sofa occupied the side of the room opposite. tl‘e fireplace. On the right hand of the fireplace was a. rickety side-board, and on the left a nest of crabbed book-shelves. By the window stood a writingâ€"table, and opposite the window Were foldi.g doors, obviously opering into a. be‘room. A few uncomfotable (hails gaudin antima'asa ed, and half a dozen exe'rable prints in frames of mildewed gilt, completed the furniture. Heater was not left. long to his whirling citele of thoughts. The slicing doors rattled in their grooves. llez'to‘r rose to his feet. with amaze at the figure that en- lered. It was Senor BraVo. indeed, but Senor Bravo transformed and transligured. Gone wore sombrero and volumin- ous cloak gore were the stooped shoulders, gone was tlte slouching ,gait. Here was a genileman of middle age, dignified, with a. pro on 0. Tue shaggy cyclnows and well-trimmed moustache and imperial lle.tor knew; he did not know the (loseâ€"cropped hair above a broad, heavily- Wx inkled forehead. But. it was Senor Bravo’s dress that riveted his gaze: a costume of black velvet and silver : black velvet coat with silver buttons, and with .a silver “ll” on each lapel; black Satin breehes, whi;e silk stockings. and shoes with silver buckles; ruffles of white lace at tine wrists, a jabot of white lace at the throat, and at the left lip a raiier, silverâ€"hilted, and sheathed in black enamel. For a. moment l-lector thought that his host was of a surety gone crazed. Bravo seemed to divine what was passing in i-Ie-tor's mind. He Waved a withered hand courteously, as to say “Your thought is natural. “No, my friend, I am not mad. “I have spoken to you of Palme- too, and you have responded in a] the warmth of your young heart. I â€"I, who am Suspicious of every hu- man being, I trust you. Will you not trust me ‘2" Hector puled himself together and laughed. “Sn-rely.” “Then follow me. And whatever you see or hearâ€"above all, whatever you feelâ€"do not fear.” He led the way into the bedroom, for bedroom it. was. A single can- 010 shed light. Hector looked aboul Lin). it was of the stereotyped Bloomsbury pattern: a bed, a. chest of drawers with a. mirror, a wash- handstand, a couple of ciairs, a laige’ wooden trunk, and the ii. vit~ able “Descent from tie Cro~s”-â€"a don to malae sleep a thing of dread. Bravo swung the chest. of drawers away from the wall. A low door was disclosed. I-le blew out the candle. “Place your hands an my shouldâ€" ers. So. Now, do not speak. When I go forward, folldw. Do not lose touch. We go down three steps -â€"-now.” . ' Il'eetor counted three steps. Then he mam the door close behind them. “Forward l” l-Iector kept touch. As he walked he felt once a hot breath on his cheek and'he heard a sigh, followed by the click of a trigger~or was it. the sibilant swish of steel '3 The sounds; we absolutely dissimilar, yet ‘uow he could not distinguish between ‘tllClll. “Stop i" There was a flood of light. They were standing at. the end of a narâ€" row passage, before a baizeâ€"zovevcd door. Bravo turned with a. smile. “Faith is good,” he said. “Look!” Ilector looked behind him. He counted ten men, in uniforms of white and purple, who stood like statues, with drawn swords against their shoulders. And Hector, al- though he smiled the superior smile his intel’igence and taste exacted, yet felt a queer little tremor run down his spinal column. Bravo opened the door. “Come,” l‘e said. They passed through into a great silver tissue and lit. by a huge chandelier of a hundred lights. ion a carpet. like velvet,- soft and {thick and wlzite. Chairs of White velvet with anus of silver, lined each dais, stood a high throne, seemingly Their feet; rested side of the hall. At one end, on Q ~ an». -___.__â€".~â€"--â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"â€"--â€"â€"'â€"â€"" all of silver. a curtain of purple, in the centre of which shone a gigantic silver “R” surmounted by a silver crown. Grant seized the old man's arm. “In God’s name, what sorcery is this ?”‘ Bravo's eyes glittered and he drew himself up to Us full height. "My last argument. You are in the palace ofâ€"â€"-â€"” One of the white curtains parted and there appeared the slim figure of a young woman robed in unrelieved black. A bloodâ€"red rose flamed in her hair. . Bravo advanced a pace and raised his voice : t _ “Her 'Majesty Queen Maddalena, whom God preserve i” (To be Continued.) _.+_____... THE 100â€"MILE- TRAIN. We’re Likely to Be Travelling} at That Rate. We note with pleasure that our spa-e devouring f iemis at Zossen, Germany, have not yet saiiated their hunger for pace, and touched the re- covd the other day for no less than 140 miles per hOur, says 1;7 0 Street Railway Journal. They seem to be me. coming air pres-Sure rather comio'ltably up to t e presant, and we hate leard not} ing about the motors failing or the proosuc cavâ€" ing in the front end of the car. I’e.ha1:s the doubting gentlemen who figured on tie motors burning out from me load at 80 miles per hour to 100 miles per hour will now be convinced that higher speeds are both possible and practicable. One hundred and forty miles per hour is a decidezly hot. pa. 0, but it. will mole than likely be beat-en before we go to press. it has taken a good many years to .evolve the twoâ€"min- ute trotting ho: se, but tlis yea-r we have him in triplicate, and just so it has been wi..h electric tailroa"ing. One the records began to break they fairly blew up and left lenly small fragments. ~ One hundred and forty mi'es per lrowr, even if not outdone by a. conâ€" si 'erable margin, still means that lthn hundred-m'ile-arâ€"hour train is 1much nearer to reality than it has ever been before. That speed is :quitQ feax'l'ble whenever it is remand- 1ed. and it is moreover, quite high innou-gh to meet the requirements of humanity for some lit 10 time to come. Its real importance lies, as we have often remarked, in its tip-â€" pli-ation to long lines on which the saving of time woxld be material. Cutting down the running time 'to Flatbush or Hac'kensack may Ce- ler tic dyspepsia of the commuter for another season or two, but it is not commercially important. It is Behind the throne fell I brother AS TO NICKNAMES- Given Often for Absurd Reasons and Generally Stick. “Wonderful how names stick to a person,” said the observant ‘man. “Tree were two nice little women ix our village who came to call on 111 ore evening, and we offered that! 130. corn which the children had jus( brought in from the .hitthen. The] refused, but not so einpliatdiwaliy an to leep us from giving them twq heaping plates of tie corn. Wokep'l refilling the plaies and they kept crunching all the eve:-.-irg. Tron was sometl ing so funny about it that I called them 'tlte popcorn laa-ies’, and tie name has stuck to them so that the whole village know them by it. “I once .knew a man who talked incessantly in a high piohecl. .voice. and a. bright gill dubbed him 'th( clii'rper.’ The name was quickly pass-ed around among the young peo< ple, and now the g: eater part/of his frien"s know him by that name. A dignified young woman of my act qu-ai tance goes by the name of ‘Whont’ to this day because when she was a little girl sl-e used to call hen self ‘lvfrs. Whout’ when she played glr'OW'lr-llfp ladies, and the family piCk‘x ed it up. She simply can’t sham the absurd name. . "More than one redâ€"haired man is known by ti 0 name (i “Pink” and philosophically accepts the title. 1 have an unquaizitame who holds 1 leagonr-ille position who is known by the name of ‘Do-tty.’ It seamx that one day a. mis<himous girl «is» rovered that lie hadzthree prominent vim: les. She promptly dubbed him ‘Dotty llimple,’ ard now he is known to all his associates as Dotty.’ 'An< other man of my acquaintance is al- ways called ‘Bluebeard' because he has such a white and thin skin that if he does not shave daily his beard shows bl -e through it. That. name. too, came through a woman’s quick wit. "An 01:1 lady friend of mine is still called ‘Peaohy’ be a'r-se when she Was a young girl she had a complexâ€" ion lihe peaches and cream. I-Ier promptly dubbed hen 'Pearliy,’ and ‘Peac-hy’ she will re- main to tie end .01! her days. In a ce'tain household a very feminin( little woman is still called ‘Tlu Boy,’ because when she was a. young girl she went through a serious ill- ness wl.i_-h made it necessary to cut her hair short. Her younger sister Said she was 'the boy’ of the family, and the dainty lady is still called by that absurd name. “An efieminate man was once call- ed ‘Viola’ by one of the boys in th( oflice, and now we u-no-w him by nothing else. Another one off the boys in the office is always called ‘Chesty,’ and though he got angry cutting tie time on long runs; that at ' fnst, he has cheerfully accepted countsâ€"reducing the time to Wash- ina'ton to less than three hours, and converting tie trip to Chicago into a mere night's run. It is now announced that the periments have been conducted largeâ€" ly with the icea cf the early applicaâ€" tion of the system to the railroad (‘Ol'lT'Qi ting Be lin with Hamburg, risâ€" tant by Jail 176 miles from each the new name now. , "Our'boo-klweper is always putting in his oar when it is not at all nee; esssary, and I think now he will ex~ be known until the 0nd of time as ‘Goneral Butts.’ 'A friend of mine who is always called 'Clwerful’ does not know whether he is called that because his fiends believe he has a cheerful ti position or because they other, and that an early conversion consider him a. cheerful idiot. But, of that 'bable. anâ€"hour train looks nearer than it did a few months’ ago, and our-spyâ€" glass is still trained in. the dire2t'10n of Germany. ._.___._.+__........ FETICH DOCTORS. ....â€".â€" Have Just Stirred Up a. Revolt in the the Congo Free State. 'A despatch f'om London says that x ' . ‘ at is in the Lomami District Who _ . . touch 0m 0 900 miles eastern third of the island informer: of the Congo State, about from the Atlantic, have stirred up many natives to re oit, fortifying their cou'rage.__to this point by incanâ€" tationc wirith will ren or them in- vulnerablc to the bullets of whics. ' ' Fetichism is recognized as an unâ€" pediment to progress on the Congo. Just as the Congo State has mace We”? I?rov the crimes of slave raiding, cannibalâ€" ism, and human sacrifices punis line is by no means improâ€" at any rate, he Somehow the hundre’lâ€"imle- mum: can’t shake the , .+_‘__* FORMDSAN’SAVAGES. Thought .0ne Chinaman Was the Same as Another. When the Japanese seized Formosa they had a. sharp campaign againsi Chinese, population, many of whom resented their arrival by tali- ing up arms. The savage taxibe: occupy the mountains of tht the Japanese that they would like tc- help in the war against their invet- erate eiemies. Tine J apanere with some hesitation the accepted a small party of these al- lies, and have been telling ever since a curious story about the failure of the experiment. Food and quarto": ' ided for the hillmnen with the army, and off they started over huble the plains to meet the Chinese in- with death, so it has pdacod the arts surgents. ,o’f tie. iotich doctOr on the list of iii-isdemeanors, and punishes these men when 'tltey are caught plying tieir trade. These fellows live by their wits. 'l‘hey keep alive faith in the efllc many other harmful supelstitions. Any one. is likely to be. accused of being a witch if he happens to have propelty that is coveted by the chief or the fetich. doctor, or has in» curred the hatred of some one whom the fetid] man desires to please. '1‘}: natives believe. that the person thus acused is a wizard, and when takes the and falls under the influence of the drug, his guilt. is consi'ered as es- tablished, and the byâ€"standers rush at him and beat him to death. Dr. Bentley, cf the Baptist mis- sions wrote a while ago that many W . ' ’ this they were started back for their lulli hundreds of terrible stocies of kind with much variety of detail might easily be co‘lectcd. eighteen men were compelled to sui- tor death because a fetich doctor acâ€" cused them of causing the death of six men who had been drowned by the upsetting of their canoe. As fared. as the influence of the. Congo State is e:<teu'?ed over its vast domain, the authorities are making much trouble for the fetich doctor by ciznin-inisbing his; prestige and punishing llm for practicing his art. So he regards white men as his special, enemies, and, if possible, stirs up the natives against "them. All went Well for a few days, when it became eviz'eut that. tie rew re- cruits were discontent-ed. They fin~ ally presented tlemselves before to commander of the forces and plainly , .. . 0 an, expressed their msappmutmcnt and of charms. belief in witch craft, and d'lSQU'S‘t- They said tl'e Japanese had come to Formosa to lvill Chinese; but here they had been marching for days among thousands of C-hirese, work- ing in the iielc‘s or busy about the houses. To be sure, there people 9 were unarmed, and for that reason it would have been all the easier to kil? he them, and why the Japanese had el- pmsml 10%, and staggers lowed these thousands to live {mused their comprehension. .They said they (lesiled to return to their tribe. Whore warriors, thorgh , few in number, could make 9. large.- collection of Cl'1-irzese heads than the hole Japanese force. iogcihe‘. So under escort, and thus ended their He tom participation in the Japanese cam- of a case on tie Lower Congo where Valli“. +~-_ . DISRAJCLI WAS A COWARD. The late earl of Beacousiie'ld was gifted with any amount of poli‘ticrc {and moral courage, but. he was at abject coward physically. When he was still Iz-laiirliir. .llisraeli his wik once said of him: “Benjamin is. tiu [greatest wward l ever saw. Wily ‘do you know 1 always have to pul the‘string of his shower 1mm 9” An: the great man was lain to canine that this was actually the .- v- ins-5", I , ‘ I: .sla.gaw~r~mrv-ou.=_,x . :-._.<.v,_t~cg.W Wu; 3 “Y 'm ,r‘.«.,,.._,., -. .fi-t.'.‘u~‘t .v‘-_u'-,'.~' W wwmfi.\.~ l. "w ‘l 1 "av" .\»~-V\. Ix. Ava,“ A 'V‘\,~V «err. \ ‘-v\,r\/~.x\.v\v’\. '\ "x '