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a strange legacy chapter hl mr dottleson who had jut coma back from the city walked away to the park and sought a secluded bench whereon he seated bimsrif and drew out the letter he had taken possession of what did bis motherinlaw want with this young doctor now 1 and why did she send her letters by hand instead of putting them inthopcstbag hehadaright to know what it meant and he intended to find out the c live ope was carelessly gummed and came open without difficulty he unfolded the enclosure snd bit his lips with chagrin as he read it my dear doctor come and meet sir aured blodget here in consultation at noon tomorrow ne is coming to see me xours sincerely mabja lamshed mr dottleson stared at it and a few emphatic words escaped him what could his motherinlaw be thinking of to ask a youn man who was little more than a medical student to come and consult with the very first authority of the day 1 it was ridiculous it made a farce of sir alfreds rlslt what aa outrageous thing it was for the wonun to do 1 of course it cant be allowed he said to himself and ill just take the respon sibility of posting this letter in time to be too late for him to keep the appointment he replaced it in his pocket and returned home deeply vexed at what he looked upon as a mean attempt to take advantage of his generosity his thoughts bw back to tho conversation he had had with mrs lamshed the day before how he had nrged his duti ful anxiety for herhealthas thereasonfor call ing lu sir alfred blodget and then in spite of himself he recalled how he had carefully arranged this to supplant dr jlakeworth and now instead of doing anything in that direction his sohemo was made nae of to benefit the man oh i was very dishearten ing and enongh to aggravate any one no wonder that mr dottleson entered his house in a frame of mind which caused kate to avoid him and mido the servants quake in their shoes as they waited upon him at din ner everything had gone wrong as things have a way of doing when oar little tempers get the better cf us the soup was smoked the fish done to rags and the joint as tough as leather kate who was skilled in reading the paternal barometer took little time to diicover that the band was set at stor ny and knew better then deliver herself of her grandmothers message asking if mr dottle son was quite sure he had left the note for charles likeworth at the right house in deed she had a faint suspicion that the said note might have caused the present diaturb- ance in the domestic atmosphere and judiciously abstained from referring to it so her father shielded by his smouldering passion was allowed to keep it in his breastpocket undisturbed and the nnrruth he had ready remained nnspoken he started for the city earlier than usual next morning be wanted to evade being questioned about the letter until he had oejpatohed it but he was oareful not to commit it to the post until nearly eleven oclock then he felb easier he had foiled the first attempt to make capital out of his liberality and had gained time to remons trate mildly with mrs lamshed upon the absurdity of her ideas it occurred to him more than onoa during the day that detain ing the letter was not quite the best way of beginning operations but if that cropped np aa it was tolerably sure to do he must plead failure of memory or make some ex cuse of that kind he walked home to blakewood square that afternoon wonder ing much what the result of his maioeuvre had been and warning himself that he must be prepared for an outburst of wrath hereto fore unheard cf on the part of his mother- iu law the nearer homo ho came the more awkward he felt his own attitude in the matter to bo and had ho found it neces sary to confront mrs lamshed at once be would have mado out a poor case for himself it chanced however that she was indulg ing in her customary afternoon siesta when he came in and ho was fully posted by bis daughter in the events of the day before the old lady awoke i it seemed that pnnotually a twelve oclook sir alfred blodget had called but thero was ho dr lkowoithto meet nim at mrs lamehcds earnest re quest he had oonsented to waste five minutes of his valoablctime in waiting to be intro duced to her dootor at a quarter past twelve just as kate entered the room bo drew one bis watch and rose to go she rihed rookltsaly into the breach and luceeded in detaining him until nearly twentyfive minutes past tho hour luc still ao charles lakeworth appeared then the great physician was annoyed and ploked up vila hit making caustic remarks about the independent manners adopted by struggling practitioners whon mr dottleson heard this he felt that he bad at all events sown the seeds of a good misunderstanding be tween sir alfred and dr lakoworth and that his task with mrs inmahed would ba easier bnt he had not heard all that kate bad to tell him three oclock brought charles lakeworth to the house in a flutter of disappointment he had with him the i note which had been writ ten yesterday but whioh the city postmark proved to have been despatched today grandmamma had been exceeding ly angry and told dr lakeworth that she would sift the matter to tho bottom as soon as mr dottleson came home and- further premised to make another opportunity of introducing him to sir alfred blodget mr dottleson did not feel quite so well after hearing that but aa ho received a summons from bis mother inlaw almost im mediately af tor kate had finished her story he had no time to prepare a brief for his i do- fenoe mrs lamshed was lying amongst her pil lows panting for the fray she waved her n inlaw to a seat at the bodsldo and attacked blm at once it was a great pity you forgot that note after taking it from sarah montague jj the contents wero most important meat important so kate has been tolling mo said mr dottleson and sol imagined from the foot of your sending it by hand it was worth i every rtiigtlo charley lakoworth to meet sir alfred professionally consideriog how the boy stands towards kato yon ought to regret i bavins deprived him of the ohanco he had to day j w mr dottleson was very far from regret ting it but did not think it advisable to say so on the contrary he hastened to expound his own views ton could not have weighed the matter with your usual good sense when yon asked that young fellow who is scarcely more than a student to meet such a man as sir alfred in consul tation sir alfred would i am sure have felt grossly insulted had he seen the person you wanted to introduce to him in such a manner it was an unhappily worded sentence the backhanded allusion to her good sense the suggestion that sir alfred would have been grossly insulted through her in strumentality and finally the careless refer ence to the person stung the old lady to the quick she turned upon him sharply and spoke with rising temper youre jealously careful of sir alfreds sensibilities montague jfou dont see the advantage of extending a helping hand to a deserving man who wants it do you 1 have no wish whatever to impede his progress 41 or to help it either no doubt you seem to forget that hes engaged to kate he isnt engaged to kate end wont be till he can satisfy my requirements mr dottleson was a passionate man and was letting his feelings get the mastery of him it irritated him sorely to be taken to task like this by mrs lamehed and he lose sight of his own interests in the anger of the moment mrr lamshed paused for a few seconds and then produced the card she al ways had in her sleeve when she wanted to ornsh her soninlaw but this time it failed utterly must i remind you again that theres still plenty of time for me to alter mj will montague i have no control over yonr intentions madam you are quite aware that my daughter kate is dependent upon me and will ultimately inherit all i possess it was a very gentle hint that if he were cut out of her will in favour of dr lake- worth kate would be tho real sufferer but it had its effect upon mrs limshed i dont think kte would iobs much those two will be faithful to each other however long you may keep them apart in your greed i will never raise a finger to thwart kates happiness if she marries a j man of whom i can approve then you dont approve of charles lakeworth no mrs lamshed i do not as things stand now i most emphatically dis approve of him and theres an end of it there was a dead silence for five minutes nntil mrs lamshed spoke again calmly and quietly please ring the bell montague he did so without a word and stepped back to bis place by the bedside where he stood facing his motherlnlaw mrs limshed neither moved nor spoke till her maid appeared and asked for her commands itten she cblleoted her self as if for a spring and eat bolt upright with her white hair failing over her should ers whilst she pointedwith her thin trembl ing finger to the door her sunken eyes flashed with suppressed excitement as she spoke the words whioh montague dottleson remembered till the very last day of his life send for smuggless partner said mrs limahed although the order was ostensibly ad dressed to the maid mr dottleeon know that it was in reality given to hlmsolf h offered no protest perhaps ho recognized that it would be useless he pulled out hla watch and glanced at it before he answered which he did in tonea whose coolness surprised himself and were evidently not pleasing to mrs lmshed it is now half past sk and the office will be shut do you know the gentle mans name and his private residence his motherinlaw glowered angrily at bim for a few t eoonds before she replied no i dont i want smuggless partner mr dottleson bowed and quitted the room be was in no hurry to discover the nameless individual who was to assist in altering the will ill wait until tomor row he thought as he went to his own chamber she may hava changed her mind by the morning but morning came and mrs limshed was as firm in her purpose as she had been tho evening before tier soninlaw went to her room to make inquiries about her health before he bet out for tho city and was startled at the change for the worse which had taken place dnrlng the night her breathing was heavy and laboured and there was a listless apathy in her manner whioh contrasted painfully with her wont ed brightness she seomod- indisposed to speak to any one but when he referred to her demand for smuggless partner she roused herself with an effort its starbone and smuggles lincolns inn- ask for hla partner v ii are you well enongh to attend to busi ness today asked mr dutleson anxious ly it yea said mrs lamshed send him to mo now at once ho said nothing more but as hla gaze rested on the form of the old lady who seemed to bo drawing near her end a dark thought orossed his mind she could not last very long she was breaking up rapid ly a tew days in all llkolihood would see the last ho could forget her commission to day and perhaps i dont forget to call at starbone and smuggless office montaguo i shall expect the solicitor here at twelve oclook she spoke more fluently than she had done be fore and seemed to bint pointedly at his singular forgetfulness in that matter of the note to dr lakeworth he turned red under her searching eyes and heartily dis missing his halfformed design promised to attend to her wishes without fail after all it would answer no good purpose to neglect them she could eatlly send another messenger ii oho distrusted him and he felt that he had little claim to her confidence she would put the true interpretation on his remissness and visit it all the more severely upon htm no he must close his oyes to the nature of his errand and exe- cute it with that honesty whose mother is necessity and whose child is selfinterest he had no difficulty in jindlng messrs starbone and smuggless effbo where he was received by the surviving partner a gaunt melancholy man who dwelt la allttlo ackroom lined with battered riff deed- tonururmw urli gafimwrtt i i alrf lamehed said the gaunt man wearily lamshed ah yes i remem ber 10 potflold gardens isnt it that was mrs limsheds address at blakewood square she is particularly anxious to tee you as soon as possible could oa conveniently call upon her at about midday the melancholy solicitor chewed the stump of a very old quill pen thoughtfully and referred to s memorandum slab on the table today is wednesday i will attend mrs lamshed at noon he said in a funeral voice will you be good enough to say that i mr reginald sllmp will be in attendance at noon j mr dottleson shook hands with him and withdrew he intended to telegraph down to let his motherinlaw snow that he had lost no time in carrying out her directions it would look disin terested and might have a softening effect accordingly he wired telling mrs limshed that she might expect mr reginald sllmp to be with her at the hour appointed i may wash my hands of it now i suppose he said as he affixed the telegraph stamp i may sit down and wait for the earth quake that was a longremembered day at 21 blakewood square mr slimp arrived at twelve oclook armed with a fashionable parchment envolope whioh he carried in his hat np to mrs lamshed room the old lady dismissed hecfmald with instructions not to return and to prevent others disturb ing her until she heard the bell as she was ffolng to be busy with the visitor charles lakeworth called and for the first time during his acquaintance was told that his patient was engaged and could not see him was miss dottleson engaged no then he would see her and was taken up stairs forthwith is anything wrong kate he asked as bo took her hands why wont mrs lamshed see me hush 1 said kate the old ladys apartment was next to the drawingroom there was a quarrel of some kind last night and grandmamma sent for her law yer i suspect its about her will he is with her now theyve been shut up alone together for nearly an hour the bell rang sharply at that moment and a message was sent to the butler to go to mrs lamshed at onoe he was not detained very long he was only called npon to sign his name after seeing the old lady inscribe hers at the bottom of a dooutnent and a letter from the servant and tore it open in nervous haste sir alfred blodget presents hli compli ments to mr dottleson sod has pleasure in assuring him that mrs lamthed was perfect ly capable of transacting any business such as he refers to at the tame fas visited her to day foiled he crushed the paper into a shapeless lump and threw it into the waste- paper basket whatever the old harridan bad done it was done and would hold good he swallowed his passion and went up to see his daughter to bb coktuoted amiable barbarians anecdotes of tolstoi and melikoff from the tsar down to the humblest mu- jik the russians are more or leas barbari ans from the point of view of the refined west but certainly most amiable barbari ans so far as foreigners are concerned their hospitality knows no limits no trou ble is too great when it is a question of obliging a foreign visitor but charming as they are you are constantly being remided of the wildness of their real underlying nature by the strange contrasts of delicacy and brutality of olviltzation and barbarism whioh their daily life offers to hear the russians talk about the unwritten contem porary history of their social and national life is like listening to the stories of the arabian nights the true narrative of skobeleffs career and death and the true narrative of the circumstances of the assassi nation ot the late tsar are far more thrilling and extraordinary than print has ever told as an example cf the strange contrasts of real russia we will olte two anecdotes that were related to us by a distinguished official whose intention was certainly not to throw dust in our nyea or even to astonish us be yond measure the conversation happened to turn upon general loris melikoff the famous chief of the dreaded third seotlon the emperor we were told by our inform ant had given lorls melikoff unbounded power to act against the nihilists and had virtually created him viceemperor as melikoff himself used to eay now melikoff had discovered that one of tho ene time said mr dettleson my mother- i but of the house here was the answer in law now resides with me at no- 21 1 from sir alfred at last ho snatched the uera a sue uuobuiu ui a uwuwauv j uu leading nihilist chiefs was in the habit of few minutes after he left the room with the i frequently visiting count tolstoi the novel maid sarah who also acted as a witness mr slimp with his papers followed looking if possible more melancholy than ever his aspeot gave an increased air of solemn ity to the occasion and impressed the under- housemald who let him out with the convlo tion that something very deep and mysteri ous indeed had taken plaoe up stairs sir alfred blodget paid his visit soon after the solicitor had gone and found the invalid with her grand daughter and the young dootor for whom he had been kept waiting the day before explain tald mrs lamshed to kate nodding at charles lakeworth and then at sir alfred nothing loth kate informed the latter how the mtsoarriage of a note had caused the mistake of the previous day and introduced dr lakeworth as the physician who had taken oare of her grandparent for the past twelve months sir alfred was ex tremely gracious but miss dottleson was a little disappointed to find that he did not at onoe retire to the window with charles and earnestly discuss the oase in low tones which was her preconceived idea of a con sultation on the contrary heonly patted mrs lamtheds hand kindly and told her to stay where she was for a day or two said so quite independently without even asking the younger dootor if he didnt agree with him it was not muoh of a consultation reflected poor kate when the great man went out followed by the small one and ahe told mrs lamshed her opinion of sir alfred whioh was quite at variance with that usually entertained about him you- ore intimate with the family i understand he said to charles lakeworth as hr drew on hla gloves in the ball 41 yes i have known them well for some time well you may mention to mr dottle- eon that i can do nothing more than yon oan and shall not look in again very old woman course ot nature i shall be sur prised if she sees the light of sunday goodday very pleased to havo met you the brougham rolled away with sir al fred and charles lakeworth returned to mrs limsheds room he had known be fore that she was seriously ill but did not possess the experience whioh told the older man that her lease of llfo had bo nearly ex pired he was oharged with the duty of telling mr dottleson that the oase had been left in his bands as hopeless and he would have to break the news to kate also a task he oared for even less he would not tell her yet he decided she had no idea of mrs limsheds real condition and it would only prolong her grief to reveal it sooner than was actually necessary mr dottleson must be told of course and ho waited until that gentleman oame home in order to see him you arrived here soon after noon you say mr lakeworth said mr dottleson when he had been told sir alfreds opinion did yon see mrslmshed at onoe she was engaged when i oame and i did not see her until her visitor had gone mrs lamshed seemed to me to be a little strange in her manner last night and this morning do you think her faculties are perfeotly dear perfeotly dear she is very weak and is growing weaker almost every hour but her mind is qnlto sound j r i mr dtttlson had ooncelved the idea that his motherinlaw might if necessary be proved mentally incapable of making a new will and did hot intend to give hp the notion yet he would send a ltne to sir alfred blod get about it dr lakoworths opinion was hardly worth having and might moreover be prejudiced he lost no time in writing to tho dootor and waited until late that evening in keen anxiety for his reply it would bo a groat triumph if he succeeded in getting this codicil legally set aside for he had firmly persuaded himself that it was in charles lakeworth s favour whatever its provisions might be he would be acquainted with them in a few daysby sunday or monday at the latest it was hard that after all these years a slight blundei should throw out his calculations when the end was almost in sight it was very hard still there was a shred of hepo left it suohan authority as sir alfred blodget oeuld certify that he had seen mrs lamshod half an hour after she had altered her will and that she was then incapable of understanding what she had done he was safe he oould snap his fingers at dr lake wort fa and kick him ist and one day he went ont to tolstois country house before the visitor had announced himself tolstoi reoognizsd him andsatd lift you are lorls melikoff ohlef of the third section do you come to see me official ly or as a private man if yonoome officially here are my keys search open everything you are free i come not officially replied melikoff j very good- answered tolstoi and calling two mnjlks hesald to them throw this man out of the house i the mujlks obeyed tolstoi to tha letter and lotls mellkdff had to accept this treat ment for in his way tolstoi is a mightier man even than our father the tsar in the oyes of the russian people he is an ex ceptional being being more than a saint and almost a saviour the mention of loris melikoff brought np another anecdote some twelve years ago the emperor sent for melikofl and announc ed to htm that the plague was raging in two villages oe the empire and oidered him to do whatever was needful with a view to stopping its ravages at the same time giv ing him unlimited powers t thereupon lorls melikoff went first of all to the minister of finance informed him that he should perhaps require a great deal of money in order to ory out the emperors commands and demanded a credit of fifty millions ot rubles the minister of flnanoe made a long face but was unable to refuse lorls melikoff then posted to the villages in question and having observed the situation he telegraphed for twenty fire engines to be sent from the neighboring towns had the pumps oharged with petroleum and ordered the firemen to approach the villages by night inundate the cottages with petroleum set them on fire and save nobody the order was executed the cottages and their few hundred inhabitants men women children and cattle were burned to ashes and those villages disappeared from the map of russia and from the registers of the empire the measure was radical but it stamped out the plague effectually- loris melikoff thereupon reported to the emperor that his commando had been executed and then called on the minister of finance to tell him that out of the oredit of fifty millions of rabies granted to blm he had spent only two hundred to buy petroleum and that consequently his excellency the minister oould dispose of the balance i in both of these stories whioh we have reason to believe to be literally exact we find that ourious mixture of the grandiose of ostentation and of barbaric recklessness whioh are oharaoteristlo of the russian tem perament harpers magazine electric gar brakes the expression electric brake is now often heard and requires a word of explan ation there are various forms of so called eleotrio brakes which are practicable and even efficient working devices in none of them however does electricity furnish the power by which the brakes are applied it merely puts in operation some other power in one typs of eleotrio brake the active braking force is taken from on axle of each cor a small friction drum is made f ast to the axle another frictiondrum hung from the body of the cor swings near the axle if when the car ts in motion these drums are brought in contact that one which hangs from the car takes motion from the other and may bo made to wind a chain on its shaft winding in this chain pulls on the brokelevers precisely as if it had been wound on the shaft ot the hand irake the sole function of electricity ldkhis form of brake is to bring the frlotlon- drums together in a french brake whioh has bean used experimentally for some years with muoh success an eleotro onrrent controlled by the enginedriver energizes an electro magnet which forms part of the swinging- frame in which the loose frlotlon pulley is carried this electro magnet being vitalized is attracted towa d the axle thus bringing the frictiondrums n contact in an american brake lately exhibited on a long freight train a small r electromagnet is used but the same end is accomplished by multiplying the power ly the intervention of a lever and wheel the other type of socalled electric brake is that lu whioh the motive power la compressed air and the function of the eleotrio device is simply to manipulate the valves under each car by whioh the air is let into the brake- cylinder or allowed to escape thus putting on or releasing the brakes all of these devices have this advantage that whatever thr length of the train the application of the brakes is simultaneous on all the wheels and stops oan be made from high speed with little shock fscribnera ape aid lwkingtxl8fis a lookingglass is a mystery an object of intense interest to many animals and it is often very amusing to watch the their man- reavers prof c robertson describes the behavior of a large ape in the jordln des plantes n he was in an iron oage lording it over some smaller monkeys ferns and other things had been thrown between the bars whioh the ape attempted to seizi at length a small hand lookingglass with a strong wooden frame was thrown in the ape got hold of it and began to brandish it like a hammer when suddenly he was arrested by the rofleation of himself in the lass after looking puzued for a moment he darted his head behind the glass to find the other ape whioh hoevtdently supposed to be there binding nothing be apparently thought that he had not been quick enough in his movements so he raised and drew the glass nearer to him with great oaution and then with a swifter dart looked behind and again findjng nothing he mado tho attempt onoe more he now growj very angry and began to beat the frame violently on tho floor of the cage soon tho gloss was shattered and pieces fall out again he was arrested by his own image in the piece of glass still re maining in tho frame and ho resolved to try again more carefully than ever he began and more rapidly than ever was thermal dart made rlajjmitiitm issod his fury over this last failure knew no bounds and he crunched the frame and glass together with his teeth till nothing but apllntera remained a fast bide on a locomotive we cannot tell from the timetables how fast we travel the schedule times do not indicate the delays that must be made np by spurts between stations the traveller who is ourious to know just how fast he is going and likes the stimulus of thinking that he is in a little danger may find amusement in tiklng the time between mile posts and when these are not to be seen he can often get the speed very accurately by counting the rails passed tn a given time this may be done by listening attentively at an open window or door the regular clicks of the wheels over the rail joints can usually soon be singled out from the other noises and counted the number of raillengths passed in twenty seconds is almost exaotly the number of miles run in an hour bat if one wants to get a lively sense of- what it means to rusu through space ia fifty or sixty miles an hour he must get on a locomotive then only does he bgtn to realize what trifles stand batween him and destruction a few weeks ago a lady sat an hour in the oab of a locomotive hauling a faat express train over a mountain road she saw the narrow bright line of the rails and the slender points of the switches she heard the thunder of the bridres and saw the track ahut tn by rocky bluffs and new perils suddenly revealed as the engine swept around sharp ourvea the experience was to her magnificent but the aense of danger was almost appalling to have made her exper ience complete she should have takenone en gine ride in a dark and rainy night in a day light ride on a locomotive we come to real ize how alender ia the rail and how fragile its faateninga compared with the ponderous maohlne which they carry we see what a trifling movement of a switch makes the diffeienoe between life and death we learn how short the look ahead must often be and how cloae danger sits on either hand bnt it la only in a night ride that we learn how dependent the engineer must be after all upon the faithful vigilance of others the headlight reveals a few yards of glisten ing rail and the ghostly telegraph poles and switch targets were a switch open a rail taken up or a pile of ties on tho track we oould not possibly see the danger in time to stop soribners the oldest and smallest beet in the world there ia to be found in the heart cf thi small city of nablna in north palestine a little religious community now number in about ono hundred and fifty souls j whioh has defied the ravages of war anr poverty and oppression nearly three thou sand years unlike the vaudols thetf samaritans have had no friendly system o mountain buttresses to defend them througl the centuries and still more unliko to longlived savoyard protestants they hav been right in the pathway olongwhlolis devastating armies have marched back an forth from the time of sargontonapoleoc but they have lived on and their unity hs never been broken they have olunz t little nablus and to their sacred mont gerizlmas the very oaotus roots to tb granite sides of the sombre ebal that cor fronts them across their little enchante valley the feeling with whioh the present sac arltana regard the mohammedans is of thi intenso bitterness nvhioh they havo alwa manifested toward the jews j and why not does riot the samaritan date hfa faith fro abraham or rather from adam andh he not a right to cill that on infant rough whioh has been in existence for only t trifle of twelve centuries is not the kori one of your new catchpenny romances whli that mysterious copy of the pentateuo mado of sacredlambskios which tho sama tans have been roading and kissing throng these many ages is the oldest copy in exu once written down by aarons own gran son and the veritable original of all tj the pentateuohs in the world as tho population of nablus is juat abc 12000 the little samaritan community almost absorbed by the surrounding moha 1 medan mass save to a oareful observ the very existence and presence of the ss oritans as a dlstinoi element of citizens in nablus would not bo noticed ts samaritans wear a turban muoh llkf of their true moslem neighbors bu tween the history and theology of the t classes there is not a single point of posit resemblanos harpers magazine- jii r i a a kitchen tablo with as many drawers neath it as a writingdesk and harfn high back like a sideboard full of pigt holes for tho kitchen utensils is a rei addition to the birod girls comfort i r