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x under an afr sun br george manville fenn l chapter x dlgbya awakening from his stupor was stranger and more wild han his recovery from the stunning f all it was hours before he could grasp where he was and then he fowd himself lying npon the soft dust so stiff that he could hardly move an itch it waa dark as ever and he lay listening and hoping for the relief which did not come trying to be cool and think out some means of escape and still telling himself that he had exaggerated and that helen was safe this waa but an accident as he lay there longing tc rise and dreading the pa thit followed every move ment he became conscious that the air waa cool and pleasant and refreshing to his burn ing brow then by slow degrees it struck him that the wind came in a soft steady current on one cheek and by and by reason suggested to him that this cool current of air must come from some opening far away in the great cavern he shivered at first at the idea of plung ing farther into the darkness for how did he know where his faltering steps might lead him and what hideous chums might be yawning in his path t still there was the cool current oi air so forcing himself to rise he began to walk slowly and cautiously in the direction from which it came with the result that after about an honrs slow progression over what was really but a short distance he suddenly caught bigot of a pale greenish ray of light and his heart seemed to give a bound the rest was easy ten minutes cautious progress over the d ast brought him to the opening a rift in the rock overgrown with hanging creepers and pushing these aside he found himself gazing out of what was like a roughly broken natural window in the perpendioular rocky face of the barranco which seemed to go down hundreds of feet below how far up he could not tell ir was dull and the wind blew in fitiul puffs which swept the leaves aside as he stood there for a time asking himself what he would do he wab in ns trim for cimbing up such a place as this but would i be possible to geb down it seemed a risk but anything was bet ter than staying in that loathsome place so seizng the stoutest creeper within his reach he began to descend and to his great de light found after cautiously goiog down about ahundred feet from creeper to creep er that the rocky side of the dcrranco grew ess perpendicular and less and less so till there was no danger only an awkward descent a soje which landed him at last by a triok- itream while on geziog up right and ft there were the rooky sides of the ravine and above them the dull gray sky with one tiny orange speck far ahead then he grasped the idea that it was early morning before sun rise and that he must hve passed the night in a feverish slumber in that dreadful place the next step was easy he knew that if he followed the little stream sooner or later it would lead him to the seashore and after slaking hia thirst at one of the pools he bath ed his feverish temples and set off refreshed somehow he could not think about he len lie felt as if he dared not he could only dwell njon the fact that a pitfall had been prepared for him and he wanted to call r imon to account then too he want ed to know where fraser waa why he had not come to hia help and why he had crone off before him strange problems these for an injured man to solve and the only result of his at tempts waa for his head to grow more con fused it was a long and painful journey and the sun had risen hours before digby had crept out on to the black sands where qnite a gale was blowing as the great atlantio billows came rolling ir then he made his way round to the little inn xhe landlady gazed at him in horror and began talking to him volubly in spanish to which digby oonld not reply the senor senor fraser he said but the woman only shook her head and he was the point of starting off when redgrave came hurriedly to the door to ask if fraser and he had returned ah yon are here 1 cried redgrave excitedly what does all this mean where is fraser why are yeu hurt helen yes helen gasped digby excitedly howie she gone 1 cried ridgrave wth a fierce vindictiveness in bis tones which made the young inangszsxthlm wonderingly gone panted digby caching sharply at the table for everything soenoi to be whirling r ud yes lou do not know how is uyou are hnrb like this dont question me a fall but helen ramon no said redgrave sadly ho swears he knows nothing it ia not true cried digby fiercely it ia hia work he planned to mnrder me and he hat taken her away rsdgrave atood g zug at him wildly for a long apace and then gripped him by the arm come he said laconically and almost ready to fall with bodily weakness bnt with his agonising thoughts spurring him on digby thrust his arm tbrongh red graves and walked with him step by atop in a few minutes he saw whither he was bmng led and ten minutes later with his heart sinking lower redgrave waa going down the path which led to ramons house you will not find him groaned digby bnt ridgrave whose face looked stony in its despair made no reply strode on to the door and knoched a quietlooking spanish servant answered the summons where is your master 1 said redgrave aternly in bed ul replied the man what does be say asked digby hoarsely that ramon u in bed ill it is a lie i roared digby he is not here redgrave gt horses we must follow and hunt him down what ia this noise said a familiar voice and ramon looking painfully sallow and 111 came into the open hall ah redgrave 1 my dear digby what la this some one has attacked yon noaaid the yong man yea he added fiercely an enemy a cowardly treacherous enemy struck at my life to a to separata me from the woman i love dj you hear you spanish dog i from the woman i love and who love me now answer if you value your life where is helen helen why do you ask mo because i can see through your curaed plot now sir once more if you value your ufe apeak the truth where is helen is the young senor mad redgrave said runon coldly let me answer redgrave ye sir mad mad against ym once more if you value your life where is helen oh yea aaid runon mookingly i value my life then where ia she the aenor thinks i have taken her away dont madden merimon iamaquiet easygoing fellow but dangerous wher roused where is she i do not know you lie hound 1 cried digby and weak as he was he sprung at the spaniard ant caught him by the throat the moment before rimon was oalai and smooth and soft of word but as he felt dlgbya hadns at his throat he flashed out into a rage that was almost volcanic he struggled but vainly weak as his aggressor was for he too seemed to be auffering from some injury which turned blm faint but hia words were fierce and strong and his eyes glittered as he orled menacingly ah then the senor is j salons he feels pang and fierce with rage does he became the pretty child is not here i will yon osase this before i strangle youl cried digby savagely where ia helen fool i idiot dog 1 hissed out the spani ard delivering each word as if it were a deadly blow dant ask me go and ask your ounning false friend ask fraser when yon can find him he has taken her away what it is not true it is another of your cowardly tricks to throw us on the boent indeed then where ia fraser murdered for aught i know as you tried to murder me cried diby fiercely but with a horrible suspicion gaining upon him fast you are a boy a weak boy snarled ramon yonr friend where is he ah it is always the friend who deceives ramon for heavens sake the truth cried redgrave my child i my child i gone with this idiots false friend there gobbth of you i tell you i am ill pedro your arm he reefed and would have fallen but for his servants quick action and as he was lowered fainting to the mattingcovered floor digby saw that his head had evidently recoived some severe injury chapter xi i cannot understand it aaid redgrave wearily i was out the greater part of yesterday and when i returned helen had disappeared but you heard what he said mr red grave fraser gone oh it seems impos sible 1 rsdgrave sank wearily upon a stone and let the cool wind whioh oame fiercely from the north blow upon his brow you dont speak blr cried digby pas sionately i what oan i say sir tell me about yourself what did you mean by charging senor ramon with an attempt to murder you digby impatiently explained it is strange said redgrave but i cannot think he would go so far as that never mind whether he oould or would cried digby helen we must find helen is that man disoeiving us redgrave shook his head you saw the condition he was in there was no deceit in that could he have taken her away is she hidden at some place he owns no it is too improbable theae are not days of abductions young man could helen have deceivod me he muttered bat dgby oaught what he aaid no he cried proudly she ia incapable of de ceit in an instant hia hands were grasped tightly and redgrave was gazing almost sffeotlonatery in his eyes god bless you for that my biy i he cried in a choking voice god bless you for that i digby returned the warm frank pressure and from that moment it seemed as if they worked together with renewed spirit and aa one i cannot think that fraaer would fight against me or play a deoeptlve part cried digby wamly after a long discussion whioh followed a vain search for news it is bard to donbt one you believe to be a friend said redgrave but there is no donbt of one thing and that la fraaer loved my ohlld oh impossible dlgbya ejaculation was wonderment and doubt was she not sufficiently beautiful and true and good dont talk like that as if she were no more i noticed it from the first continued redgrave i saw how he was struck by her and in my trouble with ramons ad vanocs i f ou d myself thinking how muoh happier she would be with the qiiet grave middleaped stndent and i hoped that she would return his affection and i air orled digby resentfully ab yes i aaw that you loved her too but i looked upon you si the hot change- able lover of a day attracted by the first pretty face he saw bnt helen ohoae yon and fraser did he ever speak to me no i wtaohed him care fully aaaman would who bad hi daughters happiness at stake but he seemed to think hia chance were hopeless and to acquiesce in yonr position i do nob think helen ever suspected his love she oould net i never dreamed of such a thing no aaid redgrave sadly when one is young one is selfish and blind to all bnt self yon both were blind then all this points to the fact that fraaer haa been playing a double part against us all and that ny some cunning jugglery he hat persuaded helen to listen to him to accompany him no ill never believe that my old friend haa fallen a victim to the fate i escaped no mr redgrave i cant believa that ixquiriea were made in every direction especially down in the port bat no vessel had touched there not even a fishing boat had left the little place and it was blowing so hard off shore that no boat would have dared to approach or leave from that aide of the island left go back to ramons i am sure we shall learn something there cried digby at last that scoundrel is at the bottom of it all im sure they went straight to the spaniards house to meet the english doctor of tne place about to leave bad sir very bad quito insensible concussion of the brain from a fall or from some blow the case b serious im afraid rsdgrave and digby exchanged looks do not have him disturbed i shall be here again in a couple of hours aaid the doctor and he walked briskly away no deceit here said redgrave no but question his man pedro pro mise him any bribe so that we may get at the truth we are on the wrong scent said red grave dismally as they walked away pedro knows nothing 1 am sure digby did not feel convinced but be could do no more and he followed red grave to the desolate home sick and weari ed out bis injuries from his fall forcing him to keep bis bad for the next three days and submit to the doctors ministering at the end of those three days during which time redgrave had scoured the island in every direction digby waa able to leave his bed while the news of the doctor as he tended ramon was of the darkest hue he may recover i can say no more was the only reply digby oould obtain it was on the fourth morning that with the gentlenesa of one wbo bore for him a real affection sallow and haggardlooking red grave helped digby to a seat in front of that once pleasent villa where he could breathe the sweet pure sea- air and at the fame time be sheltered from the fierce raya of the sun once more shining in all its glory for the gale bad blown over and the sea softly rip pled in the gentle breeze no news no news 1 groaned digby as he lay back with his head resting upon the pillow his host had placed at the back of his chair and i used to think this place a perfect heaven 1 that day bad nearly passed and after being within doors during the hottest timo digby was again seated beneath the tree gaz ing sadly out to sea and asking himself how long it would be ere he recovered nis strength i mu9t find them i must find them he groaned and then ho started up tottered holding on by the back of the chair dfzzy with excitement for unmistakably that was feasors voloe he heard and direotly after the gate was opened and helen entered with him leaning srtiotionately upon his arm the moment they were inside the gate helen darted into the house and from where he sat digby oould hear rsdgraves cry ot joy and reafrzs as well aa if he had seen it that the sobbing girl had thrown heraelf into her fathers arms my darling 1 said fraser softly as he took off his hat and stood gazing toward the house then with a bitter sigh he turned away and caught bight of the pale drawn faoe of digby standing motionless in the shadow beneath the tree ah my dear old tom 1 he orled and his whole manner changed aa be literally ran at him what is it hurt keep baok 1 orled digby in a suffocat ing voice you mean despicable traitor 1 what i oh i see said fraser genial ly and then a mocking look oame into his face as he added tlyly dont take on about it tom we cant all win digby was too weak to reply he merely darted a bitter look at his friend and sank helpless and with his brain swimming in the chair he was concious of voices and of seeing figures come as it were through a mist then as be struggled back to him self it was to find that helen was leaning over him with her arms abont his neck you he panted i dont i dont understand have you not told bim fraser my dear fellow orled rsdgrave i no poor boy he wa too cross no too upset there tom my dear lad he orled going down on one knee and taking bis friends band dont lets play at cross purposes i i dont understand said digby hoarsely soon f xpalned my doar lad i was very suspicious of ramon as you know t hough you snubbed me and after the last pressing way in which be proposed that we bhould visit the bead of the joryanco i felt sure there was something on the way it is a plan to get rid of us for the time i said and after turning the matter over in my mind i thought i would let him think we were going and see ns start then step baok and wutob yea orled digby eagerly well i started early and left a line for yon to follow and of courae i let yon go on while i dropped into the bushes and watched you first then onr friend qoiok i you torture me cried digby tnat ought not to be torture said fraaer quietly as be glanced at where helen clung to her injured lover well there is little to tell i saw you go and an hour after when 1 was beginning to grow suspicious of myself and my doubts i saw ramon come out and i followed him right up to here ye- here he came as with a message im ploring help for you old fellow you had fllen from one of the rocks down by the seashore and wanted brandy and bandag es thesconrdrel i yea the sooundrel was very sorry our host here was out so he said but glad to esocrt poor little helen down to her wound ed lover she followed blindly thinking only of yon and when she reached the spot you were not lying there bat a boat was ready to tall somewhere or another ramon only knows and then tom cried helen who had been listening excitedly mr fraser oame up a he waa trj lag to drag ma into the boat come cried frsaer laughing that isnt fair let me tell my own story youll knock all the gilding oft i dont have a chance every day to play knighterrant go on for pity sake cried digby he dragged her on board au right pushed off and i thought i wa too late but a wave checked him and i rushed inn the water and got hold of the side then he raised the boatbook and struck me well that naturally made me feel savage my hand went to my belt and somehow i hardly know how i gave him a topper with my geological hammer and the next thing 1 aaw clearly was ramon crawling out of the sea while i waa trying to manage the boat for a fierce puff of wind came down the barranco ana nearly capsized us that a all no no that cant be all cried digby excitedly well not quite the squall increased to a gale it was impossible to land we were blown right out to sea ocean i mean and after being nearly aware ped about ahundred thousand times we managed to get under the lee of palma right acroasyonder mlashelen here behaving like a heroine and there we stayed ith some f rlendsof mr redgrave till the weather lulled and then we sailed back there that is all no that la not all orled helnn flush ing he has said nothing hardly about his gallantry in defending me from that nor about his brave true chivalry all through our perilons trip you ought to be proud she paused and ook digbys hand between hers as she looked blushingly in his eyes we onght to be proud to have so trne a friend horace old man whispered digby ss he held out his hand oan you can i orled the other warmly grasping the extended hand an hour later when they two were alone and sf or all further explanations had been given fraser said softly bis face nearly hidden by the cloud from his cigar yes old fellow why should i deny it who could help loving so sweet and pure a woman i love her too well ever to let her think otherwise of me than as her true and chivalrous friend the rest is our secret tom and after a pause she loves you her every thought is yours and as for me i have but one wish to see her happy there you see i can take yonr hand there is litle more to tell runon did not die but he was still anything but the same man when the radgraves returned to england with an escort redgrave pero having found means to pay off his indebt edness to the spaniard not a very large amount when he had succsssfully parted with his interests in an island of whioh he had long been weary how he obtained the money he did not say digby suspect ed that it came from fraser but the latter would not confess the other matter was a year later and there were no cards flhb end water pob fuje1 an alleged invention thu 1 calculated to revolutionize everything what appears to bo an important inven tion has recently been made public in phillips wis says light heal and powir it is no less than the practical and cheap use of water as fuel the appliance con sists of nothing but a piece of gasplpe from 2 inches to 6 inches in diameter as may be desired and of convenient length to fit a cookjtove or a parlor or other heater with short legs or stable rupport to keep it in position this is placed in the stove with one end slightly projecting to which is at tached a vessel of water with stop cock con duit from the water vessel into the pipe before reaching the steam ohamber the water passes through the important part of the invention the part that constitutes or contains the great discovery by means of it the water may pass into the steam chamber while the steam oan not pass out the part of the pipe containing the steam ohamber is within the stove although a small part may be without if desired to this the heat of a moderate wood or ooal fire is applied so aa to heat the steam to a high temperature say 300 or nearly 400 de grees when it passes out of a small orifice immediately into the midst of a bed of coals or same from burning wood or coal when it is at once raised to the required tempera ture 400 degrees or more to be immediate ly decomposed into its gases oxygen and hydrogen which inatantly become flame only a moderate summer fire of wood or coal will be re qiired the coldest day in winter the gaseous fume furnishing the balance of the heat needed in the coldest room the capacity for reducing heat in burning five times greater than carbon or about 2000 degreesone may form some idea of the capa city of this little contrlvanoe for producing heat by increasing the temperature of the gas pipe to about 400 degrees the vapor may be decomposed into its gases before exit from the pipe and in such cases it is emitted in a jat of blue fume in either case the oxybydrogeu fltme is easily produced and with a very small consumption of fuel two pounds of wood an alabama woman loses her tire from a strange cause mrs j j murphy of birmingham ala died a few days ago from a disease which had been puzzling physicians for eight years about eight years ago the woman began to complain of pain in the stomach sho slowly but gradually grew worse until she died a dtzn physlolans had treated her but lone of them were able to aay whst waa the matter for two yeara past ahe has constantly suffered the most intense pain and she said sho felt something growing in in her btomaoh the doctors could feel a hard substance in her stomach but could not determine what it waa the woman was too weak for an operation when mrs murphy died an autopsy was made and in her stomach the doctors fonnd two pounds of wood for twenty years mrs mnrphy had been addloted to the habit of dipping snuff she used small wooded brashes for snuff dlpplcg and would often bite oft and swallow small pleoes of the brush the small particles of wood had formed a solid masa in ber stomach and the block weighed just two pounds the phy slolans say this was the cause of her death it la the only case of the kind on reoord wanted to see bella jump bobby who has been sitting patiently half an hoar mr boomer j wish yea would pop the question to bella bella robert yon naughty boy what possessed you to make such a preposterous remark bobby sulkily well anyway ma said if he did youd jump at the chance and i want to seo you jump texas sifting busothicitlasthkexeoutiohbr a protest against the debasement of i el- erme and invention at this writing the judical inquiry in tho state of new york to determine whether or not an electric current ia a good substi tute for the hangman hempen cope ia till in progress and is watched with deep inter eat by the general public how it may eventuate we will not undertake to predict bnt iu behalf of the social and material progress of mankind dependent on science and invention we are bound to utter a protest against the proposed debasement of the grandest agency of human advancement whether killing by an electrio shock would be loss or more cruel than killing by the scaffold and rope se do not certainly know nor do we greitly care but wet do know that it would be a degradation xr science to substitute the electrician for tie hangman it is the province of science to help the race is all its aspirations in all its movements toward higher planes of life in order that scientific oiscoverles and appli ances may be in the largest degree ntioial to humanity we must avoid atouviating them in the public mind with things thtc are repulsive with events that excite horror or dread with circumstances that are regarded as digraceful ever since franklin ident fied the thunder bolts of heaven with the elcctrio sparks produced by motion all tho uses to whioh eleotrlo scienoe has been applied have been exalted it has been make a grandly benefi cent helper to mankind it baa brought all nations into close relations it has b sen and is a leading faotor in the advancement of civilization it has reduced days to seconds leagues to inohes in tha transmission of intelligence as a protector of soolety against crime if has won some of its brigb- est laurels no criminal oan travel so fast or so far that his arrest cannot get ahead of him it lights up the alleys where crime was wont to work- in darkness it rings bells when orime attempts to invade a bank a store or a dwelling it is no debasement cf scienoe to use this agency for prevention anddetcotion of crime but when the criminal has been brought to j astice when the jury has oonviotcd the murderer and the court has placed him in the hands of tne sheriff to be killed we submit that it would be such a debasement to tell the hangman to step down and out with his ropi and direot the electrician to the front with his bittary it will be urged that the execution of a murderer is as neebsary for the protection of society as his arrest trial and conviction we shall go into no discussion on that point tikipg facts as wa fiid tham in eirope as well as in this country the executioner is a synonym for all that is horribk so repulsive is the taking of lifeso loathed is the man who takes it under the obligations of official duty that the hangman in thi country isalways concealed so that it may not be known by whose hand a felon dies 1 1 is proposed now to load alt this odium all this horror all this popular execration on electric science to make the electrician the hangman against this we protest and watfoab with a 6cm conviotion that our protest is in 1 10 interest of civilization of the advancemeit of society in all that contributes to our material moral intellectual and social well being inventive age does itpay to live if any man can tell me how it pays to live i went him to step right out aud do it saidthe rev w t meloy of the first unit ed presbyterian ohuroh yesterday morning he was discussing the timehonored qies- tion is life worth living and he mo- oeeded in drawing a very gloomy picture of the value of mankinds presence iu this vale of tears the saddest faot in the world said he ia the faot that we live we are placed here wlthont our volition we have no choioe about the fact of existence good and evil light and darkness happiness and misery are blende in the kaleidoscope of life andthe darker colors invariably over shadow the lighter ones and ye their is nothing- to whioh the human race clings j more tenaoiously than to life and at the same time there is nothing that is treated with so little consideration as life men shorten its existence by crime dissipation and overwork and when the structure whioh they have thus undermined begins to totter and fall they seek to prop it up with all sorts of unnatural devices is life worth living is not a question whether we will live or not bnt simply re solves ibser into the allabsorbing query d job it pay to live tula qiestion must be determined by us the question of ex- istence has been determined for ns from a wormly standpoint life is a com plete failure it is a game that must be played but in which we are certain to lose what is life to breathe and then atop to work until the heart bueda and the eye oeiflows with tears to gather wealth for whom we know not and to leave it to whom we know not the things whioh men esteem most are those in which they are most dis appointed tne gift of god are what make life en joyable and he usually gives mors than we ask he does not give us relief from pain but heglves us strength to bear bar burdens life is not a perfection bat simply a pre paration for a better state and it ia tbla view alone that gives value to our exist ence took the bsaponsibility there are timas when a subordinate must use bis own discretion orders or no orders a striking instance oocurred on the penn sylvania railroad on the awful afternoon of the johnstown disaster a train with two locomotives running cautiously and laboriously np the already inundated conemaugh river valley reached the bridge over the river and stopped the oonduotor having orders to wait there on aooount of the supposed insecurity of the bridge the warnings of the threatened breaking at the dam oame into bis ears and realizing the danger to hi freight of human lives he tent forward one of his engines a very large ine to teat the bridge the experiment seemed to justify him in venturing foreward as the oholce of two perils he reconpled the locomotive and proceeding carefully took his train in safety over the bridge a t ten minutes after he bad crossed the lam burst and the bridge and several walt- ng train were swept away with the ill-fat- sd city r i