The Merthyr Express

> ■»••• ■ ■ « I Ir Clean and 2ain ty I | ffome Jjakitjg. xvSr It is light work for '■*] jl dainty hands to mix i J^fCsjLJ PartotFloar1 to Parts °f ordinary Vu flour in a dry state. (I J This done no matter | \klJJuf what other ingredients are 1\ added after, you can leave "Paisley Flour" to do its work of raising thoroughly i \7l and be sure of light and \l i\v7 a we^ raised cakes. < |M "Paisley Flour" Hi 4uro miming mmxi ffl powder~ M\M\\PI V\ is sold in yd., 3Jid-. and id. packets everywhere. L

POET'S CORNER. BLUEBELLS Nodding in the sunlight, Dancing in the breeze, Murmuring sweetest musio 'Mid the forest trees Rivalling: skies of summer With thy colour rare, Shedeling fragrant odouia On the soft spring air. Hushing fears to wlenoa. Bidding doubt to flee: cooing us to worship God, who faahion-ed thek —Eileen Carfrae. TO BRIGHTER DAYS. 0 happy year, what wilt thou bring When winter dayr have ceased to be? tWiU flowers awaken with the spring. And will the birds sing o'er the lea ? !A snowy wreath, was on thy brow When thou didst usher in thy year; Cold was the icy breath, but now The anowdropli in the land appear. Soon wilt thou take us by the hand And lead us by a Bowery way; Soon wilt thou deck a smiling land With beauteous robes and sunny day. And in the hedgerows we will hear The nesting-birds sweet mueic make And once again on listening ear The song of summer shall awake. 0 happy year 0 cominjr morn! Haste ye, 0 haste thy laggard feet! And, till thy gladsome spring is born Fill thou our breasts with promise sweet. —Gilbert Rae (in "Chambers's Journal").

HER VENGEANCE BT B. R. PUNSHON. 'Author of "The Chcice," "The Spin of the Coin," etc., etc. CHAPTER XXVII.—CAPTURED. Hugh kne~ not in which direction to go, 1>ut ran by chance. Here in the bush there was welcome shelter from the sun, but Eira was heavy, and he himself much exhausted. He went on as long as he could till presently he stumbled and nearly fell, while a sudden darkness seemed to ewim before his eyes. He beat the weakness down, and conquered it but he could go no further, and sank beneath to tree, still supporting Eira. in his. arms. After a time she opened her eyes and looked round uncomprehendingly- "What has happened?" she asked, and then: T have had such dreanw." Hugh did not answer, for he knew those dreams of hers had been no dreams, but cruel teality. She sai up, with one hand held to her forehead- "Oh, I remember now, she said slowly; "are they following us still?" "I do not know." said Hugh; but this was not true, for he knew well, and was assured that the lynchers were hafd upon their track. "I remember," she said again, "that was Editor Keene we saw in the buggy. Where is Mr. Hethering-ton?" "I do not know, "Hugh answered. He has gone on. fr. 1 -1 toe „ ( "If 'he escaped, that uf '3ALSJ'" said EiM. "It is you who should have escaped, LVid Hugh slowly, "you who have risked so much for him." His eyes said more than his words; so mucn more, that a vivid colour spread over the pale- ness of her faco. But then she seemed to re- member. and she tried to move away from him. When he would not let her, she sa:d: "You are forgetting Miss Hetlierington. vNo," he said. "You are going to marry her," Eira. exciaim- ed quickly; "if you have forgotten that, I have ^"No," he said again. "Eira, listen. I got to Delia—I cannot explain, never loved her. It was all a mistake--& blun- ider I loved you from the first moment I saw you when you were pretending to be a flower girl. I did not understand then, but now I know I loved you." "You must not talk like that," she said '^tbere is Mio Hetherington, and beaiAes, this is not a time to talk of sueh things. We axe not safe yet. If they find us "That is why I must speak,* he said passion- ately, "because the time may be short for me —if they find us." "And tor me," sh eaidr "they will treat me the same as they will you." „ "That ifl my right to speak," he eried. that we share the same dangers. Listen. Eira, I love you. You have risked so much for us. •Tou gave me your hand to hold." • "I never did," she cried, for in fact LllM action of hers had beeft so instinctive that she bid remained half uncenscioth of it; "at leoit. I mean-well. it is nothing if I did. And you have given your word to Miss Hetherington, "If we evel get back into safety," he said, "'I will go to hr and tell her all the truth. I ehould have dope so before. I did not under- stand. It is only when the end seems near that one understands how little everything else matters beside the truth. Well, I shall tell her —if we go back "And if we do not—" Eira asked, still very *^Then I shall have done no treachery to her Iin, telling you I love you," be answered. "We have not planned or wished this, he said, with a. certain exultation in hie manner, "but it has come, and whatever comes now, you and I must share it together." She shook her ii«*d and moved a little away from lum. "•Ah1" he cried, stung by her action, 'you eave me my life, and you would deny me even "You are unjust," she said, averting her faoe. "This ia not a time to talk of such t things. They may be on us any minu "The more need to epeak while there » yet time," he cried vehemently- Eira, I love you, and I have always loved you, and you tnust love me, too." What she would have answered, one cannot Wejj tell, for at that moment they plainly heard 'someone shouting at only a. little distance be tween them. "Hark!" said Eira. "The lynchers!" "Then speak the truth now." said Hugh quickly; '•this is a good time for everything veept lies. I love you, Eira. Love me. too! She did not answer. She was listening in- ntry, but the next sound they heard was a voice calling them by name, and then Mr. Hetlierington appeared. "Be quick," he gasped out, for he, too, was touch exhausted "they are quite close." "Oh, I thought you had gone right 09, said Huerh, astonished to see him again. "And deserted you?" said his uncle. "I tried. t think, but I couldn't. Strange! If I had been a better man I might have done it. But t remembered all the mean and selfish things in my life, and J could not end it with one meaner and more selfish than any. So I came back. We will keep together. The railway^ is only ibout a mile away, if we can reach it." "There is r trair due about now," said FAr, 7,piish on and leave me. You can catch it, perhaps, and perhaps the men will not hurt ma—much." "I wish to heaven you had not come with ps but gone another way," said Hugh. "But it is too late now." He and his uncle took Eira between them and they hurried on. When they had gone •Jbout half a mile they heard the whistle of an engine, and saw above the trees a long trail of white smoke The train had passed. They had missed it, fend safety, by perhaps two minutes. Bjehind them men were shouting, and the .kound of the shouting seemed to be converging Ðn the path they followed. They came at last io the railroad, and by it they sank down ex- hausted, unable to proceed another step.. L "If that WM tha eastward train," Eira panted, "it passes the westward train near Athens, and 60 the westward train should pass her- soon. There is still a chance for uj," bu*; she did not speak with hope. 'I don't much care!" Mr. Hetherington gasped out. "I would rathei they found us than go another yard." Hugh and Eira sat in siience. Mi. Hether- ington lav at full length, breathing heavily. Behind them the sound of shouting rrrew ever more distinct, the mob of lynchers gre'v ever nearer. Hugh and Eira held other by the hand. Quite suddenly Mr K^i^nugton raised his head. His ear, close to the greund, had caught first of all the sound 01 an approach- 109 train. Hugh and Eira heard too. They looked at each other; they lived h gaintheir lips approached and they kissed. Mr. Hether- ington sat upright. "It's a train," he said. "This way, cross the railroad track, boys, and pnsb straight shouted a vo>oe apparently hundred yards north of where "Hey sat. "Y. wo are saved," whispered Hugh. Ho l-cofc Bira's hand, and said with paesion in his voice, "You are mine, for we have kissed." "That is nothing," she said, resisting him, "a.nd you are not mine but Delia Hethering- ton's." "By God!" cried Mr. Hetherington entranc- ed, "how bsautiful it is to hear a train com- ing." "Here they are!" screamed a loud voice just behind them; "here they are, boys, all three of them!" A rush of men appeared; as if by magrc every tree-trunk disclosed a man, every bush r spurted an enemy;, from all sides men came running, as if the old earth were sick and vomited men. "This is the end. and I can't pretend any more." said Eira. "I love you. Hugh. and you are mine, and nov Dla. Iielh^rinEton's." there!" Hugh should, and sprang forward to mee* the rush of their enemies. He felt in himself the swelling strength of heart and tongue to make alltheee men listen. know, understand :n9 felt he had but to speak to show himself their master. "You hear me!" he shouted. "I want to apeak for a moment." But it seemed they did not mean to give him even the moment he asked for; and so to gam that moment he jumped forward and knocked the first man head over heebs. It was the worst, most foolish tbinpr he could have done. Shouting with rage at this act of defiance so that Hugh's voiÚ lost in a tumult of cries, the other men bore down on him and overwhelmed him and flung him to the ground. As he lay one kicked him on the head so brutally that he lost consciousness, and the last thing he heard above the shouts of his triumphant enemies was the whistle of an ap- proaching locomotive and the roar of the pass- ing train. Once again they had safety by not much more than a couple of m'nutea. When he recovered his senses he was lying no longer among the trees, but out on the open prairie, though not much more than or three hundred yards from the edge or bush. The sun was now near to setting, a dying glory in the west. Close by him sat, Mr. Hethenngton, looking pale and rather dazed. Hi3 hands were bound behind him and hie mouth was bleeding, as if from a heavy blow. At a little distance stood Eira. Her clothing was torn and one cheek was bruised her hair was loose and hung down in a tangled mass of darkness that veiled her to below her waist. A cord had been tied around her neck, and the other end of this was held by one among a group of men close by. These men were talking among themselves and looked at her sideways, and, as it seemed, with a strange abhorrence. But she paid them np heed, and stood very still and silent. "Now, what's all this?" Hugh muttered to his uncle. "Theæ devils have got us," said Mr. Hether- ington, looking round at him and speaking with difficultly, so sore was his mouth. "They aco all mad, and they will not listen to a word. Do you know what thoy say they are going to do to us?" what?" eaid Hugh. His uncle did not answer, and looking further away, Hugh saw a number of men, apparently busy with three posts it seemed they had just been filing upright in the ground. Hugh won- dered vaguely what they were for, and he noticed that a wagon laden with wood had that moment emerged from the shelter of the hush. One of the men from the group near Eira separated from the others and came towards Hugh. Hugh waited, eager to speak to him, but when he was near he quite deliberately, and without saying a word, kicked Hunrh heavily in the ribe. At once Hugh put out his hand, and catching the fellow by the ankle threw him down. Some of the oth. men laughed, and the overthrown one got up and walked away. swearing and scowling at Hugh over his shoulder as he went. "Will you Irive me some water? I am thirsty," Mr. Hetherington asked. "You will want water for something ely- than drinking soon, you black villain," said one man, spitting as in sign of abhorrence. "Have you not told them who WI6&re?" Hugh asked hie uncle. will not listen," his uncle muttered; "they are all mad. They hit me on the mouth and eaid that was a game we had tried before; they said that was played out. Hugh, do you, know what they say they are going to do with us?" "No," answered Hugh. "What?" But Mr. Hetherington did not reply. He bowed his head as in despair, and seemed to sink into an apathy, overwhelmed by the strangely awful fate that threatened them. There came towards the three prisoners a tall, thin man with a. white face like that of a corpap and a màdman's burning eye. Hugh knew him at once for Editor Keene. "You, James Hetherington, nigger, he besran in a loud voice. That is my name," interposed Mr. Hether- ington rousing himself for a moment, "but I am not a nigger I am as white as you are.' "You don't look it," said one man standing near. "If he answers to his name we might have made a mistake in," said a third man, "he might as well admit his colour we can all see for ourselves." j. "And you other nigger," Keene continued to Hugh, "you have had a fair trial and been found guilty——" 4. "Why a trial! shouted Hugh in great ex- citement, petting to his feet, "thAt is all we want—a fair trial; let us be tried; hand us over to the polioe, and we can prove our story "Or else go on appealing and appealing from one court to another for the next few years, said Keene coldly, "and then get off at last on some smart dodge of your lawyer's. No, this is our own job, and we will run it our way we are not going to have lawyers playing with the honour and the lives of our women.' A low murmur of hate and rage echoed this declaration, and not a man there but looked at the two prisoners as though wishing to see them already suffering. Hugh held himself upright and cried loudly: "I tell you we are white men-I tell you we are Englishmen—we are as white as you, I 6aHe spoke with such a vehemence and strength of conviction that for a moment one or two seemed to doubt. Bu* Editor Keene said cold- iy; „ or black, what does it matter? You murderd Mrs. Bryan-that is the main ihuiflT; whether you are white or black does not matter -1.. "Always trust Editor Keene for talking horsa- senea," said admiringlv a little man with a narrow face and red hair. "But we are innocent!" ccied Hugh. HOb. you are all sorts of thines," retorted Keene. "If you are innocent, how is it your boots fit the tracks made at the Bryan farm? There are footmarks there, made by a man wearin. a boot with three largo naus showing on the left heel. Your left boot has three exactly similar nails showing on its heiel. xlow do you explain that? If you are innocent, why are there blood marks on your partner's trou- &ers"? Why does a picco of stuff we found caught on the wire fence at the farm just fit with a tear on his coat, eh?" ■ It flashed upon Hugh in an instant that this was all part of the snare in which they had be9n taken. No doubt the clothes Dodd had provided for them had been specially prepared to confirm the suspicions so carefully roused against them. "Well, let us be tried," he said despairingly. "If you will give us a fair trial we can explain everything." "You havfe been tried already, said Keene coldly. "If you were knocked silly and didn't know what war going on, you have only your- self to thank. You have been tried and found guilty by Judge Lynch, and we want no more of your -slack. Jabez Hunt, just go and stand bv the prisoner, and if he gives any more jaw, knock him over the head." The man addressed as Jabez, who was the same who had already kicked Hugh and been overturned for his pains, came forward grin- ning with a heavy stick in his hand. •"You also, Eira Siddle," Keene continued. "There is no need to try you at all, for we have all seen you doing what not a man of us would ever have believed the meanest white woman living, would ha.ve done. You ha.ve gone against your own race and your own sex, and you have been ready to help the murderers of another white woman to escape. Worse even than that, you actually tried to escape with them." Bia face and voice expressed a. genuine horror that was sUmpel also on the face of every listener. They a.!l thought Eira's action a crime beyond credence; not one of them. in fact, would have believed it possible had they not thought they had seen it themselves—it was to them the unpardonable sin. The loathing and abhorrence they felt towards the two men was intensified tenfold towards the woman who they thought had betrayed her woman-

DELICIOUS ^l|ST'i'r'iT*lh"M/T « fVll Vav.y iMiw ■ II n/ 0 C,

FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS." THE SINGING THRUSH. There's a merry brown thrush sitting up in a He's singing to me! he's singing to me! And what does he say. little girl, little boy? "Oh, the world's running over with joy! Don't you hear? don't you see? Hush! look! in my tree! I'm as happy as happy can tV* And the brown thrush keeps singing "A UE 6t do you see, And five eggs hid by me in the juniper tree? Don't meddle! don't touch! little girl, Uttlo boy, Or the world will lose eome of its joy! Now I'm glad! now I'm free! And I always shall be If you never bring sorrow to pad." So the merry brown thrush sings away in the tree To you and to me, to you and to me; And he sings all the day, little girl, little boy, "Oh, the world's running over with joy! # But long it won't be, Dent you know don't you see! Unless we are as good as can be." — LUCT L&bcom. GOD IS WITH ME. God is with me when I wake, Life more beautiful to make, He is with me all the day, And is smiling when I play. God is sorry when I cry, He it is my tears doth dry, All He sees; the work I do Thrills His heart with pleasure, too. God is happy when I sing Songs of every lovely thing; God is Love; the love I see In their eyes who care for ma. God is Love; the love I give All around me where I live, ^n God's breast I lay my head, -Pj6 4 tljP at fiiglit iu bed. I .Ÿ1U2I!, <

0. _=- FOR MATRON AND MAID. 1 NEATNESS IS BUSINESSLIKE. It is not vanity that leacts a woman to bother over clothcs. Tbiit they are a bother she does not deny; often she sighs that she was net born a savage or in the era of one best black silk for half a lifetime. The beauty cannot afford to be scornful of clothes and the ugly woman dare not afford it. A becoming dres*; or a fetching hat has sealed many a rift in the family circle that no amount of argument could banish. Whore is the business man who is not influ- enced insensibly by well-dressed employees? A dowdy, unkempt woman about a business of- fice or shop has become a rarity, not because woman lovos clothes, but because she knows they are a distinct ai6 £ t, and that no long- headed employer woulaletand for careless dressy ing. WRITE FEWER LETTERS. This is not generally considered a letter-writ- ing age. Tho telephone and telegraph have done away with volumes of correspondence; and the hurly-burly and rush of modern exis- tence with more. There are persons, however, who overdo in writing letters in ways that are injurious to their general health. One of the first commands to nervously ex- hausted patients when put into the hands of a specialist, is "Stop your letters for a time." Doctors declare this pursuit uses up a sur- prising amount of nervous energy that should be stored up for building up of tissues and nerves. This may seem ridiculous to the woman who writes easily. She feels-it is nothing at all, a mere matter of course to dash off half a dozen notes and one or two friendly letters at a sit- ting. Yet let her once give the subject considera- tion and she will acknowledge a feeling of las- situde and a certain sense of strain after get- ting up from her desk. THE SENSIBLE MOTHER. The mother who desires. comfort does not spend her time telling her children what not to do; she provides them with things they will want to do. She frowns on daintiea between meals except as a special treat. Indigestion means family ructions all round. She does not believe in fine feathers making fine birdlings. She knows that the dressed-up child is thoroughly uncomfortable, and soon has his mother in a like state. Nor does she think it conducive to her own child's comfort to keep it up to all hours. The early to bed rule is worked for the peace of the household. She is not inordinately' ambitious. Prodigies are flattering to maternal vanity, but the un- pushed boy or girl is more comfortable to live with. with. She does not think indulgence makes for content. The mother who is thoroughly uncom- fortable in her children is the one. who has ,never trained them to obey. OLD TEAR TRACKS. Some folks keep straying back mentally to the paths where their feet wandered in the gar- den of sorrow. They continue to dwell in the temples of lost joy, and live over again the moments of their keenest sufferings—sometimes even of their bitterest mistakes. These "tracks of old tears," as the poet has called them, allure so that the woman who forces herself apparently to forget things that are best forgotten is often spoken of as heart- less, flippant and superficial. A BEAUTIFUL SILENCE. Good listeners rarely have things to regret— and that is much in the favour of silence. Then, too, by listening attentively there will be gain- ed a certain knowledge and valuable informa- tion that may in time result in an easy, self- possessed ability to talk well. Indeed, it is often found that more good listeners are needed in the social world. This is a plea for the useful art of keeping the lips closed while others speak. For the silent ones there should never be despair. LEARNING EARLY. To learn to respect the perfection of things is of infinite value to a child. If it is a .flower, to shelter and try to keep it alive, never wan- tonly to pluck and fling away a blossom; if it is a book, not to deface or mar it; if it is a wall, not to mark or deface it; if it is a smooth rolled lawn, not to litter it with rubbish or j spoil it with wheel marks. To learn to wait ] patiently, all the lives long they will give i thanks for having been taught how to do this. How many a pleasant talk has been interrupt- | ed, how many an otherwise helpful visit has been lost by a teasing, pulling child, torment- ing its mother either to listen to its demands or to go out! The whole of its life lies in what the child learns of these things, and unless taught happiiy and early, it must either grow into eaJfhh manhood or womanhood, or have the evil beaten out by the bard and bitter teachings of the world. JOTTINGS. To conquer one great fault is something. It is well to repeat anything good of others. Avoid useless conversations which make you lose time and hinder real work. We always hear the sermon for the folks in the next pew. One sharp word is worse than all the faults you see in others. Politeness is an air cushion. There is not much in it, but it eases the joints wonder- fully. Wisdom consists in knowing when and how to speak, and when and where to be silent. PREPARE FOR EMERGENCIES. It, should be no hardship for any girl to take hold and learn the science of housekeeping, even if she may never be obliged to do a single one of things taught her. She should learn that there is an easy as well as a difficult way to prepare a meal, and that if she will but bring a small part of the intelligence she has shown in mastering rules of syntax and per- fecting herself in languages to the doing of these apparently homely but really vital neces- sities of daily existenoe, she can do them far better than if that intelligence had never been tested. Even if your daughter rejoices in the fact that she need never trouble about house duties her- self, forget not that life is full of woeful sur- prises in the way of changing fortunes, so pre- pare her for the emergency which may never come. HINTS FOR THE HOME. When Pouring Hot Fat into a basin add a tablespoonful of boiling water to it. This will cause all pieces of meat to sink to the bottom. When it is set dripping that is treated in this way will be found beautifully clear and white. Sulphur Ointment.—Take 1 lb. of pig's flare, cut up and render down. Strain off. Add 4 oz. flour of sulphur, and mix well together. When thoroughly mixed cool and pot in small jars. This is a simple recipe, and will be found very cooling for irritation, etc. This is also excel- lent. for limb3 with rheumatism which irritate. Strengthening Jelly.—Steep 2 ozs. of isin- glass and £ oz. of gum arabic in a pint of port wine all night. Then put it in aclean sauce- pan with 2 oz. of brown sugar candy and half a small nutmeg grated; simmer them to- gether until quite dissolved; strain through sieve or piece of muslin. When cold cut :n small pieces. Take one three or four times a day. This recipe is excellent. To Revive Dusty Black Straw Hats, put a kettle of water on a gas stove or over a good fire, and when it boils hold the hat in front of the spout, shake gently, and move the hat about so that all over the straw gets the steam. It removes all dust and makes the hat quite fresh. Artificial flowers can be freshened in tLc same way. The kettle of water must bo kept boiling fast during the proiess. Rhubarb and Orange Jam. Take equal quantities of rhubarb and, preserving sugar, and to every pound of fruit allow two sweet oranges. Cut rhubarb into inch lengths, grate the rind of the oranges very fine, being careful to re- move all white pith, cut fleshy part up thinly, as if for marmalade; put all in preserving pan, brinpr gently to the boil and then boil quickly for 40 minutes. Pour into pots, and tie down when cold. CAKES AND PUDDINGS —No. 20. A good substantial and perfectly harmless Cake is made from the fol lowing:- BUNLOAF. 1 packet of Cakeoma. 5 ozs. of Butter or Lard. 4 Eggs. 1 lb. Currants. 1 lb. Raisins. 4 ozs. Candied Peel. 3 or 4 tablespoonfuls of Milk. Method. Rub, the butter or lard into the Cakooma. until it is as fine as breadcrumbs. Beat the eggs, and with the milk add them to the prev- ious ingredients, and lightly mix; then add the fruits, etc, and again mix lightly but thorough- ly, and bake in a moderately warm oven. Plain Gingerbread recipe next week. Cakeoma is sold only in 3jd. packets by Grocers and Stores everywhere.

UNO'S COUGH CURE Ths purest and surest remedy obtainable for ACUTE COLDS INFLUENZA CHRONIC COUGHS WHOOPING COUGH BRONCHITIS NASAL CATARRH CHRONIC ASTHMA WEAK LUNGS BRONCHITIS NASAL CATARRH HRONIC ASTHMA WEAK LUNGS I Albckt Smith, Esq.. M.S.B.Sc., the celebrated I^r.don analyst, savs:—"VBNO'g I.igmv.-ino Cocou CVAT. la (Composed of ;ure iriijredini.t*, nr.;l is a most excellent 'remedy for bi-onclillfsi, a»tlima, and ail lung a flections." Prica Did., l/l i and 2/0, of all Cliemiata. J r f J F! 1 J- JSJ \ME have nothing to say regarding the sunlight and shadow of April's fickle month. All we wish to infer is that Sunlight Soap has dispelled the shadow that once over. hung the wash tub. No Rubbing | orJ Scrubbing nowadays but Sun; light always. Guarantee of Purity on every Bar. TI»:«aaiefLEVER oa Soapfr a | S 73 I -u_ i A Heart to Heart Talk Don't judge, sir, and don't condemn "Park Drives" at "Ten for Twopence" ,until you've tried them. Their flavour, their fragrance, their coolness is such that, not knowing, you'd never Park Dritle guess their price. There are thou- PQ"rc. sands smoking Park Drives to-day who but a few weeks ago would have scoffed at the idea of getting ten such splendid cigarettes for 2d. P RK DRIVE CIGARETTES It's only a matter of making up your mind to give these Park Drive Cigarettes a trial; aftet ■ that it's a matter of reckoning up how much Pert DrIves enjoyment you've been missing all along. Park Drivet told by all sold by at Tobacconist*. TEN FOR TWOPENCE. TobucconitU Made by GALLAItElt, Ltd., Belfast and London. '47;Æ}!:T>>{l"f!f i WHY should you exhaust your strength jfl unnecessarily in climbing hills I and cycling generally ? Why not I m fr' f r have your bicycle fitted with the ■ genuine and original W!FW STURMEY MK ARCHER 3-Speed Gear or "Tricoaster"? the gear that makes cycHng ^Cfr Icveh theghills' hilarating treat. Seai a p.c. for booklet to | STURMEY-ARCHER GEARS. LTD, I X NOTTINGHAM. £ M Makes cycling easy." j g I w tNL PJF^?CTCSV-\ THE WORLD'S BEST. J I The product of the oldest in years, but most modern in equipment, I— I factory in the world. Many models at prices and on terms to | suit aiL I Prices from £ 6-10-0 or on E.P. Terms from S I 10/- per month. I | Obtain list to-day either from the undermentioned or direct from 1 I THE SWIFT CYCLE CO., Ltd., COVENTRY. I 1 J. LEWIS, 354, High-street, Penydarren, 8 MERTHYR LoNDON: 15.16, Holborn Vi-duct.

hood. her sex, be* rac? everything that they held "You pnek of fool*. ba a- Hugh ai the top of his V01' ho got. no further, for the man Jabez promptly aimed a heavy blow at him. Hugh forded it with his arm and so avoid-ed the full force of it, but it struck liitn I down all the same. "Bring them along," said Editor Keene. Men seized hold of them and hurried them to the spot where those 1.Ie stout poets had been fixed upright in the ground. Another wagon laden with wood had joined the first that had issued from the bush. Both wore quickly approaching behind, a third was visible, loaded; too, with dry wood. In the west t: ? lo,;ing rim of the sun just dipped beneath the horizon. CHAPTER XXVIII .-DEATH AT THE STAKE. Each one of the prisoners was hurried in the oentë, oi a. group of ""ptor#, and none of them «. Dnld see what was happening to the others. Hugh, a little dazed by blow he had just reserved, found himself pushed with his back against one of the tall, thick posts, whose t1'1 1-oS had wondered concerning. One man held h;(l1 there by th-* throat, and he could not resist for others held his arms. He felt something and tight drawn round his waist, and there was a sound of someone ham- mering behind: He could feel his post against which be wa.s Vld Iuivering with the force of the blows. "What aTA "ou doing?" he said, and then, "I am an Englx-hm?.n and you will have to an- swer for this." One of them struck him across the face, but they made no other ars*ver. Tlj-en they drew away from him. He was left standing alone, leaning against the pcsx behind him, and look- ing down he realised b," "as secured to it by a iron chain, passed round his middlo and fastened behind. The sbcck of this called him to himself. It was as though a kind of veil had fallen from before hie eyes, and he ilaw and understood everything with preternatural clearness. Be- hind everything else in he mind was a vivid recollection of a picture he had known as a child in Faxe's 'Book of Martyrs," represent- ing two of the Protestant reformers in the sixteenth century chained t;) stakes and on the point of being burnt alive His brain roeled as he now clearly understood that, this sso.rtve awful fate was now to be hie and thai o; his Tompanions. He strove iVr ? against the iron links that bound l; the was wet! and truly fastercn, post itself stout and driven dp into 1, -wlb. Not if he had had the strength of r, of old in all his fury could he have ri.:mseif or loosened himself by so much as t" inch. He turned his head. On h's right was an- other, p-ost, and to that Mr- Hetherington was fastened in like manner. He seemed to have swooned and was hanging down, doubled over the chain securing him. Jesting coarsely, one of the lynchers was fastening a cord llnd-T his shoulders, so as to hold him in an upright posi- tion. On Hugh's left, as h" well knew, there was another post. but at this atfirst he dared not look. Then by a great effort he turned his head and looked. There it was and, most horrible to see, there Eira stood against it, ehe, too, sacur- ed bv a chain drawn fast about her waist. She was very pale, but she held herself upright, with her hands clasped before her and her face turned upwards. She had herself, in order to avoid being handled, walked to the stake, plac- ed herself in position with hal- to it, and had with her own hands adj ;-1 the chain about her slender body. She knew at once when Hugh looked at her, and glancing to- wards him, she made him a slight sign, to which he could give no reply. A wagon was drawn up near her, and men had begun piling dry wood around her, so that already she stood knee deep in faggots. But she seemed to heed very little wha.t they did; and even her executioners, though they loathed and abhorred what they believed she had done, yet were forced to admire the calm and quiet courage that the showed. — Another wagon drew up beside Hugh. Two men threw the pile of dry wood down from it; men threw the pile of dry wood down from it; others arranged it about him. For the first time despair seized on him and made him its sad prey. He was aware of an impulsa to open his mouth and scream, and scream, and scream, and never cease. To the preternatural clearness with which the mo- ment before he had Fn and understood every- thing there now f jeered "v dull hazeot horror, through which seemed to see the mon about him, like moving to and fyo- He could not. b?Ii«vo iu the reality of what was ^"Vfhat^are you doing with that wood? ho said to the men busy about bun. They looked at him s^de.vays, but non of them answered. They were very pzle and silent, but very resolute, He his eyes to tbe heaven aljpve with a belief that from there som voice must come, some sign sh°"I1Vto save them from a fate so awnil. But the sky, soft with the shades of evening, showed notn ing, and the wood the men piling aoout him reached now above his middle. From the »kv his eves turned to search ove. the prairie, for he thought he might see an army there, marching to their rescuc. Bat a i that was visible upon its va«t expanse was a few buggies and wagons, and two men on horse- back and a woman riding. Most of these wero just sutlers ot the neighbourhood hastening lost thSy should be late for a rare spectacle But all were not, for one of the foremost was an old man with a strange, noseless face, who rode wildly; and behind him, a long way be- hind him, the one woman rode desperately too a? if with some purpose other than the mere fascination of horrible things. Hugh turned his eyes away from the prairie and looked towards his uncle. Mr. Hethering- ton was siMI unconscious, and Hugh envied him. Then the thought struck him to wonder what his colleagues, of the London Stock Ex- change, those respectable, top-hatted, frock- coated men, would think if they could see the senior partner in Messrs. Hetherington, Financiers, Lombard-street, in his present po- sition. The incongruity of the thing seemed to him so wild that he laughed. "Hullo," said Jabez Hunt., who was one ot those arranging the dry wood about lum, glad you see the fun of the thing. "Got to answer for this to England, hey, Mr. Britisher?"' said* another. „ "Why, no," said Hugh, "to God. I think. Thev locked a little uncomfortable at that, but said nothing. Their work finished they went away, and Hugh was left standing breast high in carefully arranged faggots of wooa He turned his head and looked towards Eira. Wood was piled so high about her that only her head was visible, but seeing him looking shf again waved her hand to him. He knew the gesture meant he was to be brave, and he marvelled afresh at the calm courage she showed. "Just look." said one of the men near, hor- rified. "she is making signs to the young negro. Absolutely shameless, isn't she" "I don't believe she can be a white woman at all declared another; "it don't seem credible. Can she be a quadroon, do you think "If so, she ought to be release.d, said the fint man- "if she were coloured, she would just have ehown herself clear grit. It is only because she is white that what she did was so abominable." xi "The abomination of desolation, the unpar- donable sin," said a third man, a deacon of the local Baptist church. "Editor Keene, are we not ready? It is getting dar." "There will be plenty of light soon," replied ^"Bovs," shouted someone from the back- ground, "here is old Noah Siddle coming to see his pet niggers burnt. In fact, it was Noah Siddle who, riding wildly on a aaddlelesa horse, now drove his way into the oentre of the crowd, and in the centre of it fell rather than jumped to thc ground. "Mr. Siddle! Mr. Siddle!" shouted Hugh, striving against his chain, "tell them we are white men and innocent." "Take that old man away, said Editor Keene. "What are you coming interfering for, Noah Siddle? These negroes have been tried and condemned by Judge Lynch; and if you value your safety, you won't try to interfere. Noah looked wildly round. Another wagon laden with dry wood had just been drawn up close to the stake to which Eira was fastened, so that she was hidden from her grandfather's hasty glance round. "Do what you like with those two black vil- lains," panted Noah "they deserve it all." "Oh, you know we are white men—you know it!" cried Hugh despairingly. "You are two black cursed niggers, said Noah with a gesture of inextinguishable hatred towards the 6till half-conscious Mr. Hethering- ton. "But where is Eira, mv granddaughter? Someone told me Eira—but that's clean impos- sible. Please tell me whre she is, for she is a good girl, you know." Although np one answered him, he saw how they all looked in one direction, and he moved his position and looked that way, too, past the loaded wagon. Now he saw Eira, looking at him palely over the piled wood that sur- I rounded her, and at that he gave a great and lamentable cry. "She is the worst of them all," said Keene. "These brute beasts only followed their own beastly nature; but she is a white womt^.her- self. and yet she helped them——" "You fools, you blind fools!" the old man cried. "Why, she had nothing to do with it— free her at once! Why, I never meant her," he said thickly, with one hand to his throat. "Take him away," said Keene. "Give me that can of oil. Has anyone a box of matches?" Some of the men took hold of Siddle, but he resisted. They exerted greater force; he still resisted, screaming incoherent things. At last, by a greater effort than they had expected from so old a man. he broke-away from them. "V ou must not hurt her!" he shouted wild- ly. "I never meant her, my own boy's child, my Eira. Just listen: these two men are not negroes, they are white men—they are English- men." I:> ( "That is a pretty thio yarn at the best of times," said Keene coldly "and I guess we are all about tired of leanng. it this trip—it's only a dodge to gain time. Take him awuv." But Noah drew a pistol from his pocket and threatened those who approached him, so that, taken by surprise, they drew back. "God have mercy!" Siddle screamed, "I planned all this—for years I planned it against that roan Hetherington. but now it has struck Eira too. Every one, listsu to mo You are isii jw eymVu 2 & Uuu j v, .4' ranged every single thing you have done to- day these two men are white men and are innocent; my girl is innocent; lrs. Bryan has never been murdered at all. Do you hear. "Mrs Bryan not murdered at .all? repeated fhe Baptist deacon. "Why, I helped to get the bodv out of the flames myselt "We are his puppets, «re .• sawl Jabe* Hunt laughing. "Thalfc is a ;ood-s:zed cla.lm, ain't it, boys? ) f "He is either plu^n-crazy -r ^xcs \l-5f fools," said Editor Kettle dr.y^ns a pistol fiom his nccket. "Hands Vp, old m»n Unheeding this demand No-ih heid up in on hand a paper, and fluttered it hkc a flag in the W1"Li5ten to this, then!" he cried. cret here that will make every nl""°fhy°^et —I'll give it you to let my Eira go—the secret of making diamonds^ "He certainly does take us .or fools, said Editor Keene. "Hands up, old man, or 111 plug -a No.* swung round fiercely on him. Each had his pistol levelled a. the other, each fired at the same moment, neither miss. With a bullet through his "tormy and unquiet brain Editor Keene leaped up into the air three feet high, and then fell down m & ?rumP^ heap that looked most strangely small, bho* through the body, his lungs Pureed INoah Siddle fell forward on us knees ) face. The Baptist. deacon ran and lifted him "My revenge," No&.h Si<;ldle uttered, ralS. UP"My revenge," Noah Siddle muttered, rais- ins- himself and looking with Winded eyes to- wards Eira. "I've planned it the6C fill years and thought out every detail of it, and now I've got it' -and a suaden rush of bkod choked him thai; he died. -_j His body and that of Keene were earned it.and that tern, wrought-up oro^dot .uen, unawed by the tragedy they hadjustw.t ne=<d. set themselves to carry outthetemble thev firmly anc'i honestly belicved be ■their duty. It was Jabez Hunt who P10^ the can of oil from where Keene s dead hand had dropped it. had dropped it.. "I have matches,be said. urtl,+ He went towards F:ugh and poured out about a pint of oil on some small sticks, arranged all readv at the base of the pile of wood. He struck a match. The ?mall dame burnt steadily in the cX evening »r Every eye was fixed upon this small flame. It seemed the 00'^ thing that lived and moved so still were all things else, men and nature together Bo m tense the silence upon that strange and dread ful scene. Stooping, Jaboz put the rn^a to the oil. A flame leaped up at once And ^ew upon the fuel ready for it. There was no smoke only a small and very bright flame, and a crackling of wood that sounded like thunder to those who one; that's done," said Jaboz Hunt, •^CDping backwards. (To be continued.)