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The Green Seal By CHARLES EDMONDS WALK Author of "The Silver Blade," "The Taternoster Ruby," "The Time Lock," etc. 5a> CHAPTER I I any- Perhaps poor Charley licked it To begin with, my curiosity in the "" ?«'a Anyway-afterwards-before Ting was aroused, at first only mildly, i ^"ybody thought of po.son-a dozen, by the gingerly way in which the pub- iP««P'«'""«t have handed the ring. lie administrator handled it. It was I ""d "«» » ^ef e'!..')"* »f them sustam- an unsightly object, to be sure; but i ^' ?"y '" effect H.s next words this did not account for the extreme | «K?in drew my attention to it. caution with whicfc he laid it up the! , . ", V"" ' °t^^''\ ^^^ *T^ desk between u8. Indeed, to tell no ^'""B s made-how the mi-tal conies more than the simple truth, if human "P »» 'â- Â»""'» ^^e edges of the set- expressions mean anything at all, I y°" "J^y «?« "^"^ anybody could fool now know that he looked at it with , ^^h the ring-even carry it m his mingled suspicion and fear. j closed hand-w.thout the jade - j closed hand â€" without the jade set 'Afraid touching the flesh. Then again it i might. And there you are." Taking chances with such a dreadful I lethal instrument seemed very much j like playing with a cobra. Quiteasamatterofcourse, then, l' Mr.Unruh was not yet through, expressed a polite interest, sufficient .^t'^f', - i ^i. ^ to inquire what the thing might be. i J^''} ,';""K«. ^^ '» ^^ strangest "A ring," the public administrator P**"* °^ he whole affair said he. told me, e^ing me with a sort of fur- ' p" the ball of one of Charley Yen s I smiled and a.iked lightly: it will bite you?" He did not respond to my humor. "Something of the kind, yes," was i the sober reply. thumbs â€" the one he licked â€" was a print of the character carved on the set; green, too, it was, like the jade. Looked more like a bruise than a tive intentness â€" "a finger ring." "Doesn't look like it," I commented disparagingly. "Looks to me more like a broken off section of some . , , „ thug's brass-knucksâ€" only it doesn't ^^'i»"'.*';°"8h- â- eem to be brass " \ ^ shuddered. The very mystenous- "No," Mr. Vnkh agreed, "it is not "f,^! °^ ^^^ «"''''^". fata''|y "yde it brass. Doc Hagan scratched off a «» t'r ?""â- * shocking and awful. bit of that black crust; underneath Ye*, for some unaccountable reas- it's silver. But, Brice-my dear boy" »"• t^a ring was beginning to have an -his glance grew peculiarly keen- ""^"""K. ^f^'L"^ fascmation for me. "it is a thing of the devil!" 'â-  Where had the governor ever oome My interest mounted a degree. ^V ^"<^h an object? And had he been though my min<l remained more or ^'^^''^ "^ '^^ ''^"et' ''"* none the less less occupied with the melancholy ob- ject of my errand. Dr. Ilagan was the coroner, and even though brought into the talk only casually, suggest- ed tragedy. "What do you mean by that?" I asked "As you like it" "SAUDA" TEA SEALED PACKETsi BLACK, MIXED ONLY. I OR GREEN. BM deadly, potency? With considerable pains not t^ let my fingers touch the set. as you may j very well believe, I dropped the ring ' into the little carved box and snap SMART CLOTHES FOR THE YOUNG GIRL. The plaited skirt for the young , ,. , , , girl is proving a great success, if we ped down the lid. It was stowed away j^^^ j^e great number seen at „^„. with most of my other belongings, and ,;,/ „ ,„„„w= »» » rritorion. Without replying directly, he went J" f f'^y,"'" \^''°J,'^'^^ "" ""^ ^."^ back to New York to resume my in- terrupted studies. The conversation just recorded oc- "I don't know what associations it may have had for your father, but it must have held some very special value for him; some unusual senti- ment that none of his papers that I have been able to find explains. I the summer resorts as a criterion, When the whole dress, shirtwaist and skirt, is made in plaited effect, the re- sult is very pleasing indeed. This curred shortly after my father's dress, Ladies' Home Journal Pattern death; and in order that you may fol- I No. 8988. has a raised waistline, low the story I have undertaken to and consists of a waist opening in tellâ€" I am sure before I am through front with yoke finished with a turn thought perhaps vou might throw ', y"." .*'" ''*" '* «" extraordinary one j^^n collar, full-length sleeves with â-  -It IS necessary that set down some ^^^ ^^^ ^ f^^^^ ,;„; ^ ^^^^„ facts about him and about myself. i "^ ... _, . â-  . . j .„„ You already know how I came to f.^ ^kirt Perforated for deep hem ve the ring. Although personally f^cmg. The pattern cuts m size 14, •ome light â€" give me some clue "I'm sure I don't know." I broke into his groping utterance. "What makes you thing so?" akeTvou thin^ so'" "V have the ring. Although personally '^cing. inepauern cuts in size i-.. "Be Juse he ifot o^lv kent it in that ^ '"'''y ^« ^^ho'ly unknown to you, as 16. 18 and 20 years, requiring in size tl^cT^Vi^ory ffiff afso"loS "o doubt I am my father's name in- 16. 11% yards 36-inch material. littl ed in one cf his safe-deposit boxes â€" the one containing Uic most import- ant and private of his papers." 8980 8981 Ladies' Home Journal Pattern No. 8980 is a Ladies' and Misses' Peplum Waist, opening in front with roll col- lar or Quaker collar and full-length or shorter sleeves, and a circular peplum. The pattern cuts in size 32 to 44 inch- es bust measure. Size 86 requires 3% yards 36-inch material. Pattern No. 8981 is a Misses' One- Piece Skirt, gathered to a three-piece yoke, with slightly raised waistline. Suitable for flouncing. The pattern cuts in sizes 14, 16, 18 and 20 years. Size 16 requires 3% yards 36-inch material. Patterns, 15 cents each, can be pur- chased at your local Ladies' Home Journal Pattern dealer, or from The Home Pattern Company, 183-A George Street. Toronto. stantly will be identified with a rhyming advertising catch-line which has stared America in the face, from of his prosperity, it is strangre that Mr Unruh had mv undivided at »'» «orts of unexpected places, for he should have died intestate; but Mr. unrun nad my unaivuied at-, ., '.. „ â-  ' i „,,„. ^„„ ,> „ „„„„ „„ ,, , ^„„ ,. „ „„,„ tention now. Investing as they did the insignificant looking trinket with an importance far beyond anything it seemed to warrant, his concluding words certainly were strange. I sat staring at it, puzzled and wondering, and bv-and-hy glanced at the odd ivory box, which I had not noticed be- fore. Then I reached forward to pick up the ring. Quick as a fla.sh, Mr. Unruh's hand shot across the desk and caught my wrist before I could touch the thing. "Don't!" he cried in a tone so start- ling that I submitted out of sheer as- more than a generation "Ferris Teas Always Please." such was the case, and I was the only child. I Under certain provisions of- the Californian law, his affairs were tak- He was none other, in short, than en charge of by the public adminis- \ the late, Peter B. Ferris, whose chain trator, who at some time years before, of tea stores at one time dotted the it appeared, had been a very good ' country over. friend of my father's. When the Long before my father was mar- estate was finally wound up. and he ried, he was "buyer" for a prominent had been discharged by the Probate New York tea and spice importing Court from further obligation to me. I concern, and consc(iuently spent most it was this gentleman. Mr. Unruh, of his time in China, Japan. Ceylon who gave me the ring, as I have al- j and other tea-growing count, ies. His ready described. j „..^.. „„- ^'as a profession that calls for a high- 1 jjr. Unruh was sorry for me and I tonishment. "For God's sake, don't 'V ^'â- '""ed knowledge, and his salary tried to cheer me up. I was alone, i touch it! Wait till you have heard ^'"^ correspondingly large. But he without a living relative, that I knew the rest!" was too aggressive and possessed ^f^ „nj instead of being rich and in- Satisfied, after a moment's alarmed busmcss acumen of too high an order dependent, as I had securely expected Bcrutinv, that I was fully awakened ^o remain content m another s cm- to be, 1 was brought face to face with to the ring's latent po.ssibilities of ploy. no matter how large the salary; ^^g gj^rn realization that I would danger, he released my hand, saying fo by degrees he built up and control- have to grub for my bread and but- ; led the vast business referred to. ! ter. But I was not altogether dis- The lady who afterwards became maycd. I even found heart after a his wife and my mother he met at moment to grin at him; thus forestal- Hong-kong, the daughter of an Eng- ling, I suspect, a homily of advice and lish officer at the time stationed in â-  â-  . . - the Anglo-Chinese city. That I happened to be born in with a sigh of relief: "What a start you gave me! You ' haven't heard the worst â€" not by a jug-ful! I "This very morning, while I was < Borting these papers of your father's,' quite unexpectedly I came across the ' small box. Just as I opened it to see what mitcht be inside, in came Charley Yen. one of our regular Chinese court interpreters. Poor devil!" The speaker's serious air was hav- encourapement, which no doubt he felt it his duty to offer mc. My talk with Mr. Unruh â€" Charley California instead of the Orient was , Yen's deathâ€" my acquirement of the fatal ring â€" this all happened six yearn ago. And much can happen within the space of six years! For little more than an accident. My mo- thcr, on a sudden impulse, accom- panied my father difring one of his .â€" ., ..„„ ,.„.^ rare visits home, and the journey was one thing^ fhad built'upTdesirablo ing its proper effect on me: I was fast b>""ken at San Francisco by my inop- an,i lucrative practice in my special growing impatient. I Portune arrival and my mother s branch of the law. Dut all the cir- "Go on, for Heaven's sake!" I urg- death. This period fell somethmg oumstances that fell so soon after ed. "You make me feel like an ae- ''•*« twnnty-eight years ago, from the father's, death had slipped far into a parcel among the letters and pa- pers. In size and shape it was sug- gestive of the ring-box. Stub, my office-boy, had not yet returned from his noontide outing, and moved by an odd, incomprehen- sible curiosity, I went myself and fetched the parcel back to my deck. I quickly had the wrapping off. Im- agine my amazement when the coun- terpart of the ivory box stood reveal- ed before me! For several minutes I painstaking- ly compared the two. slowly scrutiniz- ing with the aid of a reading-glass every minute line of the finely engrav- ed pattern. My untrained eye could not detect a shade of difference to dis- tinguish the one from the other. "Then it occurred to me to look in- side the second box. Did it also con- tain a strange, outlandish instrument of death, a duplicate of the first? I lifted the lid and caught my breath sharply. In a blaze of multi-colored corusca- tions, there rolled out upon my blot- ting-pad a diamond as big as a hick- ory-nut! (To be continued.) Cow Testing Associations. The cow testing associations is a plan of co-operation among dairymen for the purpose of regularly and economically testing their cows for production of milk and butter fat. A usual estimate places the average production of cows at 175 pounds of butter per cow per year. In these days people who are familiar with dairying think in terms of butter fat, and if the above average be translat- ed to fat it makes about 150 pounds. At 30 cents a pound, which has been the average price for the last three years, the annual income per cow is $45. If the above figures are taken as a foundation, it is very apparent that there are many cows which are not paying the cost of their keeping. The use of the scales and the Babcock test has discovered in almost every herd tested some cows that do not pay the cost of keeping. If dairying is to be made as profitable a business as it ought to be and as it has a right to be under proper management, these robber cows must be apprehended. There is no means of knowing what a cow is producing without weighing and testing her milk at regular inter- vals. A dairyman selling milk by col- ume may not be concerned in the but- ter fat content farther than is neces- sary to keep up to legal standard, but one who is selling butter fat is vitally concerned in the amount each cow pro- duces. Each dairyman may test his own cows, but facing the condition squarely it is known that very few do. I At a recent dairymen's meeting thi< I point was raised â€" that a testing asso,- ciation was not necessary, because ! each man could test his own cows. The question was then asked: "How many present have Babcock's testers?" Twelve out of a gathering of 50 an- swered in the affirmative. In repl/ j to the question, "How many of you who have testers use them?" only ' one answered in the affirmative. The object of cow testing associa* tions is to make the use of scales and Babcock machine a community affair j â€" to unite dairymen into a partner- ; ship for the purpose of employing a trained man to visit each herd at reg- , ular monthly intervals and weigh and test the milk of each cow. At the end of the year, this man gives each dairy- man a record of the individuals in his herd with little work or trouble to ; him and at the cost of about $1 per I cow. I The tester weighs and samples the ; milk of each cow at the evening and morning milking and tests the com- bined sample for butter fat. Before leaving, he makes calculations so that ; he may leave with the dairyman the : record of each cow down to date. i In European countries and some of the states in this country, one of the ! duties of a tester is to weigh and keep a record of food consumed by the cows. The cost to the dairyman for complete testing varies from 80 cents to $1.50 a year for each cow. This variation is due to the number of cows in the associations and to the size of individual herds. complice in something criminal; if something terrible were about happen." He solemnly nodded his head me. "Terrible is right." he said. gg date of this writing. ,.._ ^ ^^ to I The collapse of my father's busi- remain"'u"ntif the'm'orni'ng'of'whTch I i ness and his sudden doath. the second ani now about to write. jjt' event following the first in a sequence^ This was the way of it. It was a I of immediate cau.se and effect, is a jay in April; to be precise, the four- He subject I need not enter into at teenthâ€" calendar day in Court. In the background of memory, there to ointed at the ring. "Notice the set? length. Like many another man of the morning I had occasion to go to No. No, don't touch it. It's jadeâ€" «'*''«"«"* ''"^'"e'"' ju/limient before ^y own safe-deposit box, and there Chinese green jade. It looks clean him, in his later days he was led away quite unexpectedly I happened upon and blight enough now; it was half ^V ^^^ glamor and lure of unwise the carved box, where it had lain ac- hidden by a layer of dirt. \ speculationsâ€" gold mines, copper cumulating dust. The ring's mysteri- "I handed it to Charley, asking him mines, Wall Street, and what-not. It ous potency, the tragic morning six what he could make of it. Twice he •'^ ^ ^o'"'" °^ obsession difficult if not years before, came back with a rush impossible to account for. - . . It is sufficient to record that when the company's affairs were readjust- ed my patrimony consisted of means all j""' ample enough to enable me to _^ I'll complete my post-graduate course at with infinite precautions f took the Columbia, to provide me with an ade- ring from the box. Excepting the quate law library and a suite of of- green set with its enigmatic symbol, rtces in a desirable building, and to where Charley Yen had licked it clean, the desk. Charley crumpled up on '•'^e mc comfortably over the empty ijt was tarnishedâ€" badly tarnishedâ€" the floorâ€" right where you're sitting period of waitingâ€" providing that jncrusted all over with a sort of black now. He didn't make a sound." I period should not prove too long â€" I scale, as if it had been through fire, I confess that I shot my chair back ! that is more or leas every young law- or had lain a long, long time at the in a jiffy. yer's lot. i bottom of the sea. "Dead?" I cried in horror. I There was also a quantity of bizarre For the first time I examined the "Dead," replied Mr. Unruh, simply. ' bric-a-brac, which represented my fa "Whvâ€" what^how did the thin<r ther's tastes as a collector of Fasten wet the ball of his thumb with his tongue and rubbed the set so he might examine it better. The second move ment was the last he will ever make in this world. He saw the set right and what's carved on it. never forget the look on his face if I live to be a hundred! "All at once the ring clattered "Well!" I voiced my surprise. "What the dickens arc you doing here?" I carried it with me back to my of- fices. During the idle hour after luncheon, the thing , "Whyâ€" what â€" how did happen?" I stammered. Mr. Unruh's gesture was as elo- quent as his spoken reply. "You can search me. Poison? Ila- gan couldn't find the least trace of curiositiesâ€" and the queer ring. set at leisure. The single character, Eastern which I took to be a Chinese or Jap- anese ideograph, naturally enough So while Ferris teas still continue was quite meaningless to me. A de- to pleaseâ€" the name has too great a tail to be remembered is, that is was commercial value to be abandoned â€" ' carved into the jade, not in relief. But they please and interest me only re- 1 as I was destined to encounter its fac- motcly, since I haven't the slightest gimile before many days had elap.sed,' monetary concern in the huge enter- 1 under circumstances peculiarly tragic prise that stands as a monument to ^ and mysterious, it may bo well to the memory of Peter D. F'erris. | have a look at it. | I chose Los Angeles as the mostj By and by I proceeded to rub the promising field in which to carvo out, metal part with a chamois pon-wiper; my career. To save my life I couldn't but the exercise produced no appre- now tell v.'hy, unless it was that fa- [ ciable effect. Emery-paper, manifest- ther had regarded it as his home ly, was indicated for this Job. I rub- , townâ€" though Heaven knows he saw ^ bed harder. Then I was interrupted little enough of it. Anyway, for |,y (he outer door opening. ! some Fiich hazy reason I had special- 1 The postman entered. He tossed izcd In the exceedingly intricate and some pieces of mail upon the table in complex Californian Irrigation Laws, the recaption room. He uttered a Also, at one time and another, ' pleasant salutation, indicative of n Peter R. Ferris had owned consider- sprightly mood, as became a good ' able property in and about Los An- genie, and then he went his way. All , preles. Very little of this property, it this was a familiar four-times-a-day , may be added, descended to me. When occurrence to me. But through the you con.sidor his exact business meth- ' doorway between the two rooms my ods, as they had been in the season attention was attracted and hold by THE GERMAN LIAR AGAIN. Untruths Told About Britain to De- ceive German People. The most amazing untruths con- cerning Great Britain are daily circu- lated in Berlin for the purpose of de- ceiving the German public into the belief that Great Britain is in a state of panic. Here are a few of these gems which make up in humor what they lack in veracity: "Sir John Jellicoe is to be tried for incapacity." "The organ of the Labor Party de- mands that the whole Cabinet shall be impeached for participation in the war." "The Indian troops in France were told before leaving India that they were being taken to Europe for exhi- bition-purposes." "Half of London is burnt down, and Zeppelins are always hovering over it. Plymouth has also been destroyed by fire, caused by bombs from the air." "Mr. Asquith has fled from Eng- land, and is hiding in Ireland." "The citizens of London now hurry hither and thither like scared mice because their battalions of football- kicking louts are melting away before the fire of the German artillery." "Instead of blowing their victims from the mouths of their guns as they did in the Indian Mutiny, the British now employ the truly humane and gentle acting dum-dum bullets, with the approval of Lord Kitchenen." "The French Government pays for the support of British troops, so that each man draws on a day on which there is no fighting four franca, while on each fighting day he is entitled to eight franca. The British are also completely clothed and fed by the French." "The deeds of the German fleet are already causing the Lords of the Ad- miralty sleepless nights while on board the British ships fearful appre- hension lurks in every corner." " 'Come into the army,' says the British recruiting sergeant to tha youths. "You shall have a villa in Rome, a bungalo on the Mediterran- ean, and in two months you shall be King of the Belgians.'" DEATH OFFENCES IN ARMY. Soldiers May Be Shot for Many Rea- sons on Active Service. There are more than a dozen dif- ferent offences for which a British soldier may be sentenced to death while on active service. The first on the list of death of- fences applies to a commanding offi- cer and reads, "Shamefully delivering up a garrison when in command of troops, without due necessity â€" pun- ishment, death." A soldier can be shot for throwing away his rifle in the presence of the enemy, for cowardice, or for leaving his commanding officer in order to plunder. If he forces his way past a sentry on active service he may be sentenced to death, or for assaulting any one bringing up provisions for the troops. Soldiers are expressly forbidden while on active service to commit any offence against a resident of the coun- try in which he is fighting under pain of death, nor may he break into any house in search of plunder, or dis- charge his rifle intentionally to create a false alarm on the march. A^ soldier while acting as sentrj who is found sleeping at his post may be shot. Any man causing or joining a mutiny is liable to be shot. Deser- tion or attempt at desertion while on active service is naturally a death sentence. * Letting Well Enough Alone. "Madam," said a doctor one daj to the mother of a sweet, healthj babe, "the ladies have deputed m« to inquire what you do to have such a happy, uniform good child ? " The mother mused for a moment over the strangeness of the ques- tion, and then replied, simply and beautifully: "Why, God has given roe a healthy child, and I let it alone." afford Whatever It Is. "I don't see how they can to do it on his salary." "Do you know what his salary is ?" "No, but I don't see how they can afford things, just the same." It's sure to be Pure ififs For sixty years the f^ ^oSSo^ Refinery has led Canada in modem equipment, up-to-date methods, and the pursuit of one ideal â€" absohttefy pure sugar. In the Packages introduced by ^^^^ â€"the 2 and 5 lb. Cartons and the 10, 20,^ 50 and 100 lb. Cloth Bagsâ€" you get Canada's favorite sugar, in perfect condition. <<\ C^^^ 143 CANADA SUGAR REFINING CO., UMITED, MONTREAL, mk mm