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: By ISABEL GOR | Author. of " The Wemah trom. Wolvertons ©) thie su When he climbed the uneven steps of the sidewalk the world had grown | Worth. sunnier; there was a future before 3 him, fame, riches, and the applause of millions, He reached Third Avenue, ran up the stairs to the elevated, and, Pulling slowly at a cigar, gazed on the life below. He was deliberat« ing how it was to approach Merry - on the subject of changing that second "ach. Oswald was akeen critic, and Enoch had seen the necessity of it himself; it was the one weak spot in the play. From the moment when he burned the labor of half a lifetime he realized his own incapacity for: play- writing. He himself could do nothing to the drama, but he felt a chill of terror at the thought of speaking to Merry on the subject. SuAPTER XI A city's electric lights were begin- ning to blaze through the twlight when Wentworth knocked at the door of Merry's dressing room. "Come!" cried the actor sharply. As Enoch entered he felt a throb of longing for the old warm friendship. Andrew's face paled for a moment as -he looked up at his visitor. He nodded but did not speak. = Kelly, who acted as Merry's valet during his prosper- ous seasons, lifted a heap of garments from a chair and set it before Enoch, who took it in silence. Andrew sat staring into a mirror while he ex- perimented with a make-up for the broken-down convict in the third act. He dashed line after line into his face, blending each lightly into the grease paint. Nobody spoke--even Kelly seemed to have fallen under the spell of quiet... He knelt on the floor polish- ing shoes with stolid industry. Enoch wondered curiously what the keen old Irishman was thinking, He had known nothing between them but a most fra- ternal friendship.The silence became oppdessive. At last Wentworth spoke "Are you going to be alone soon, Merry? I wanb to have a talk with you about business." Andrew did not look up while he an- swered carelessly, "I'll be alone in a few minutes. Kelly has an errand to do at the tailor's. You may go now," he added, nodding to the valet; "there's no hurry about the shges." When the old man shut the door be- hind him Andrew did not turn his gaze from the mirror. The reflection of Wentworth's face was close beside his own. He could see that his visitor was ill at ease. "Well?" he said interrogatively. "Can't you turn round and face me while we talk?" asked the elder man impatiently. - Andrew wheeled about and his eyes met Wentworth's calmly. "Certainly I can face you." The red surged inte Enoch's face, then hard lines wrinkled about his mouth. ° His mood had changed. He spoke with brutal consciseness. "Oswald and I have decided that there ought to be a few changes made in the text of--the play." "Of your play," corrected Merry. "There is one weak point in it," Enoch went on deliberately. " 'Mrs. Esterbrook' draws on the sympathy of the audience for a few moments when 'Cordelia' leaves her, A woman of that caliber could have no such feel "No." Wentworth repeated the worg almost furiously. He began to twist his hands. "I suppose that act ought to be re- written." "Not rewritten, simply elaborated. Strike out some lines, put in others." "Why don't you do it?" "Why don't Ido it?" Enoch jumped pulse of rage. "That's a nice question to his feet shaken by a sudden im- "#0 ask me." "It has never seemed to me there was anything particularly nice in the whole situation." Andrew's tones were on a calm level. * "We'll leave that out of the ques- tion--altogether," growled. Went- worth. "I should nover have intruded 'you but for wih reason. You i wa STE ggestion T made ond ae act?" he hey turning "We were discussing it when you came in." "What do you think of Marist" "I really have it a thought" A looked upnin- Yterested. - - "Besi 1-ynow I do not gome into that act, and I haye searcely seen it rehearsed." He pi ed up a towel and began fo wipe the make-up off his face "It is simply this. 'Mrs. Esterbrook' is an utterly heartless woman. Dead to conscience as she is at the begin- ning, she comes out of her life's trag- edy, calloused beyond all redemption. It strikes a false note to have her re- pent for even a second. She does not know what mother-love or love of any ought to leave an audience hating and despising her. Now one feels a sud- den touch of sympathy. She must be irredeemably bad. Then, too, it is not only true to the woman's character, but 'Cordelia' shines whiter against it." Merry nodded. "You're right, I fancy, Wentworth has only to change a few lines to throw the whole thing plumb. You can do it in half an hour, old chap." When Oswald turned. to Wentworth he caught a look on the man's face that puzzled him, a flash of importent rage, hate, .and apprehension. Enoch a moment. He picked up his hat and spoke brusquely. "You two finish talking it over, I have a thousand things to tend to." "Is Wentworth--is he touchy? Did he feel that I was criticizing his play?" asked Oswald anxiously when the door closed with a hasty rap. "I don't think it's that." Merry spoke slowly, then he dashed to an- other.subject. "I want to consult you about changing one of the people in the cast, little Katie. Durham." "Oh, the child in the first act?" "She's a bright enough youngster. She tells me she once gob a hundred dollars a week in vaudeville as a toe dancer." Merry laughed. "A toe dancer scarcely fills the bill for the small 'Cordelia' ." "She struck me in rehearsal . this morning as lacking in semething." "She is lacking in everything. She's a stilted, grown-up, little brat; there's nothing childlike about her. When she clings to my neck shrieking, 'Father,' in that ear-splitting baby pipe of hers, she jars every nerve in my body." "Let her go. Only it is a problem where to find a sweet, natural stage chili " I can lay my hands on one immed- diately," said Merry quietly. "It's a youngster who has never been behind the footlights in her life." *Could you do anything with her in ten days?" "I should like to try. 'She's a gen- tle, refined, sweet-voiced little girl; besides, she has dramatic blood in her --~that always tells. Do you rememb- er. George Volk 7" & "George Volk! Why, of course," cried Oswald after a moment's hesita- tion. "What ever became of the man? Did he die?" "Nobody knows." Merry's voice had a bitter tone in it. "Better for some people if he had died. This lit- tle Julie Iwant a chance for is his child." "Where is Volk?" "I can't tell you. If he's alive he must be far down by this time. He was a wretched sot when Isaw him last." "By Jove! what an impetuous stage lover he did make! I saw him in a big production the first time I came to America, then in London. He was the handsomest man that ever stepped on the stage." ¢ £ "A handsome piece of beef! Ten years ago he married one of the sweetest, most loyal women I ever never won much notice. ' Her work was 80 quiet and delicate that she ap- pealed to the few. She was in a company with me for two seasons. How Volk made her f Dr time to give | realized he had revealed his soul for | knew. She was on the stage, but she | can't help it. Haves you r 1 mother 7" : Er "Yes," said Oswald gravely. 1 "What feazes me is how we could sort means.' With her last exit shedelude an audience into believing that this sharp-iidsed. = uncanny-looking shrill-tongued little ape could develop into Miss Wentworth's They're different breeds entirely." "You're right." Oswald's voice was emphatic. © "I don't know why Idid not see it. Perhaps because the child has little to do except to follow her father about." "It's that following the father about which I mean to make the strongesb point in the first act." "Engage the child emmediately. n "I'll have to do diplomatic work to get her." "How?" "Alice Volk would rather starve than let her child go on the stage. She has been hoping we might find a small part for herself which she could play--crippled." "Poor soul." "I hinted that we might give the lit- tle Julie a chance. She snatched the child away as if she thought I meant to kidnap her. When a woman has seen the seamy side of life as she has --you understand." Oswald nodded gravely. "We must find a way to geb around her." Merry sat writing a letter "in the manager's office the next afternoon when Oswald entered, accompanied by Dorcas. "I want you to tell Miss Wentworth about the little Volk girl," said the Englishman, "I have enlisted her sympathy. If the mother felt that some woman here would be interested. in the child she might change her mind." "Ill do anything I can," said Dorcas heartily. 'I am glad you are making achange. It will improve the first act-wonderfully to have the child sweet and real. Then the girl laugh- ed in a half-embarrassed way, "did you ever look at a picture of yourself when you were at the tadpole age and wonder if it could have possibly béen you? That has been my frame of mind since I laid eyes on the little 'Cordelia'." (To be continued). tata fii aa TORN FROM THEIR HOMES.. Inhabitants of Northern France De- ported to Germany. y Poignant deails of the deportation at an hour and a half's notice of 25,- 000 citizens from the French towns of Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing by the Germans last Easter, are given in: a French Yellow Book. The Germans' orders were for the people in certain districts of these towns to assemble in readiness for | departure at their front doors, and none was to leave the house before 8 am. The orders stated that "all protests will be useless and any one trying to evade deportation will be pitilessly punished." The victims in all cases were chosen arbitrarily by the officer in charge of the deporting party, The Yellow Book continues: / "The measure caused the greatest anguish and despair among the popu- lation of the notified districts, while in some cases it led to madness. * "Men especially suffered torture seeing their wives daughters and children of both sexes over 'Cordelia.' | hangers, ution (1-1,000) or 5 per cent. carbolic solution (not crude). Flush the floors with a saturated solution of iron sul-| | phate or 'a solution of chloride of lime (1 1b. to 8 gallons of water). Spray the interior of the feed boxes 'bails and partitions with the 5 per cent. solution of carbolic acid. | This is done for the reason that there is danger of the bichloride of mercury is used for a spray upon those structures which the animals can lick with their ton- gues. The carbolic acid is absolutely harmless if used in a 5 per cent. sol- ution. A whitewash applied to wails, ecil- ings and partitions, will add to the cleanliness of the shed. To make ab per cent. solution of carbolic acid use one part by weight ol pure carbolic acid "to 20 parts of water. Add the carbolic acid to a gallon of moderate- ly warm water, stir vigorously, then, add enough more warm water to make up the amount. The solution can be applied by spray pumps, sprinkling cans, or with a brush, In the mixing and application of bi- chloride of m , it must be re- membered that this disinfectant is extremely poisonous when taken in- ternally, not only to cattle, bub also to man. All of the buckets, tubs, pumps, ete., which have been used in applying the solubion should be thor- oughly scrubbed with soap and rinsed with clean water before being used for any other purpose. The mercury solution must be used with caution about the feed boxes, mangers and sbarichions for fear of the cattle contracting mercurial poi- soning by licking the spots covered with it. For this reason it is advis- able to use the carbolic acid solution on the feed boxes and mangers and the bichloride of mercury for the walls and ceilings.' To make up the bichloride of mer- cury solution (1-1,000) use one-eigth of an ounce of corrosive sublimate to a gallon of water, or one-half ounce to four gallons. The addition of a small amount of sal-ammonias will cause the corrosive sublimate to about one gallon of moderate sublimate to dissolve more easily. It is advisable also to add the corrosive sublimate to about one gallon of moderately warm | water containing' the sal-ammonaic. Stir thoroughly, and after all the poisonirig the animal if { to the fly. ne ake ng best. dates for Socal loca ido om our Bea, "WHEAT "PRO "not give the necessary ani wheat )DUCTION, z Soil Improvement Committee Li A National Fertilizer Es Nsocton particles have been dissolved, add en- ough clear water to make the requir- ed amount. ! To make a saturated solution of iron sulphate, as much of the sulphate should be dissolved in.the water as possible, The copperas should be put in a barrel or some such thing, the water poured on and the solution al- lowed to stand for a day. © The liquid above the sulphate of iron will be the saturated solution, which is to be used on the floors and gutters. Chloride of lime solution is used in the proportion of one pound of lime to three gallons of water. It is a very good disinfectant for floors, gutters and partitions and can be applied with a brush, sprinkling can or bucket. * Directions for Using Pepsin. Two drachms of Soluble powdered Pepsin (1 to 8,000 test) are sufficient to coagulate 1,000 pounds of milk. Dissolve the pepsin in water in the proportion of three ounces of water for each two drachias of pepsin, us- ing preferably a round-bottomed cup or bowl as a container. must be at a temperature of 105 de- grees F. When the water is added it must be stirred immediately and con- tinuously, or ib, will become a sticky mass, very difficult to dissolve. After being thoroughly stirred it is well to pour the liquid from one vessel to an- other to se that there "is no undis- solved pepsin adhering to the vessel. It is a good plan to add at first only enough of the water to: make a creamy paste. Stir until smooth and then add the full amount of water. A few drops of hydrochloric acid added to the water helps 'to dissolve the pepsin. Dilute the above in the same quan- tity of water as is used with rennet extract before adding it Lo the milk. It is advisable to dissolve the pepsin at least half an hour before ds SAAC) PRESERVING HINTS The water |f using. net extract is used. = 1 is available it is recommended . use half the usual quantity with half the above quantity of pepsin, mixing the pepsin before diluting with water. portion. If either Soluble Por Pepsin or Scale Pepsin is of strength the quantity used must varied accordingly. For instance; if the strength is 1/to 6,000, only half the quantity should be used. Cg Great care must be observed ta keep the stock of pepsin® "from the slightest dampness. Store in a dry place and keep tightly covered. «Jf it: gets damp it will cake and j soluble and useless i n Ottawa. Live Stock Notes. 2 ¢ If you want to make make use of plenty of clover, rape, or some other form .of Beef valting has come back to ts - own and the dairyman is not the only man who can show a profit from hig farming operations. This is an opportune time to Keep all the good females for breeding pur- poses. . The outlook for livestock husbandry never was brighter... The man, or group of men, not showing enough interest in good stock to purchase and 'look af a good pure-bred sire will not likely make the best of a sire given to them for no- thing. 'Where sufficient-feed is assured for winter it might be better to keep the stock up in condition by pasturing the second crop 'of clover on one field rather than let them down to save the crop for later use. TE Here' s the Way to Succeed i in lo--Use ripe -- but not over- ripe fruit. 20--Buy St. Lawrence Red Diamond Extra Granulated Sugar. It is "Sugar Cane aranteed Ey 'and free from fr substances a pure Jam or Jelly Making. 30--Cook well. 40--Clean, and then by boiling : at least 10 minutes, sterilize your jars perfectly before youyithe preservssor js