)(&'B&lch<torcted*
, Prire Short Stone* (of four instalment! #
* each) by a master »tory-teller. .... They’re Rea Peach at his best. « v>y cay jssatu
FINAL INSTALMENT
Mechanically Ben made an ef
fort to rise, but could not manage
it.
"Must have hit on my head,”
he mumbled thickly, and raised
groping fingers. Then he sat up.
He knew now that he had not
fallen into a pit.
"Where are they? What’s—hap
pened?”
Betty was sobbing wildly; her
hair hung in a cascade about her
sohulders; she was clad only in her
nightdress, and it was soaked with
the water she had poured over Ben
to revive him.
Besides the open door to the hall
lay the wreck of a chair; two of
its leg^ were splintered, brokeji
off: Ben realized more clearly now
what it was that had crashed
down upon his head. With an
effort he scrambled dizzily to his
feet. Watelr was trickling into
his eyes and blinding him; he
brushed it away, then discovered,
to his great surprise, that it was
not water at all, but blood, his
own blood. His head felt twice
its normal size; his brain did not
function clearly and his limbs re
fused to obey him.
Betty’s voice came to him as if
from a long distance; she was tell
ing him something, trying to
make him understand that they
were alone in the house and that
their assailant had fled. When
this became plain to Furlong, he
sat down.
< ^ « >1
It was some .time Deiore me giri
succeeded in stanching that flow
of blood wound, for she was
scarcely in condition to render
help to anybody. By the time her
task w'as completed Ben had man
aged to get a pretty clear idea of
what had happened. She had been
awakened by a sound and had real
ized that somebody was in hei
room; she had uttered a frighten
ed challenge, only to feel gropinj
hands upon her, to find herself it
the grasp of some unseen person
She retained no very clear recollec
tion of anything after that; th<
rest was a hideous nightmare. Nol
until the miscreant had bolted out
of the house and she had finally
managed somehow to strike a light
was she made aware of the reason
for his flight. Then she had
stumbled over Ben and had realized
that it was his voice she had heard
calling to her, that it was the
sound of his coming that had in
terrupted the attack. His plight
had done a good deal to bring her
back to herself but now she threat
ened to again abandon her self
control.
n i 1 ( t 1 • 1 •
x uinjilg cnei^ivcu tins uy aaymg.
"Betty Durham! You’ve got noth
ing on but your nightie!”
It was some time later when the
girl emerged from her room, dress
ed after a fashion, to find her de
livered waiting in the kitchen
with a scowl upon his face.
"You got a gun?” he inquired,
harshly.
"No, Ben. Why?’
"I’m going to kill Maddox.”
For a moment Betty stared at
the speaker; with shaking fingers
she plucked at her dress. It was in
a thin, reedy voice that she said:
•"It wasn’t Maddox.”
'"How do you know?’
k "“Oh, I knaw! It wasn’t Mad
dox.”
"Are you sure?” The girl nodd
ed, and Ben bowed his throbbing
head in his hands. "I’m glad,” he
groaned. "Providence certainly
brought me back. It wouldn’t
happen that way once in a thou
sand times. Whoever it was, I’ll
find him.”
Both the man and the girl were
in wretched condition. The rest
of the night they sat together,
watching the clock and listening
for a possible return of the mar
auder, waiting for the day tc
break.
It was shortly after they had
finished breakfast that Furlong was
surprised to discover signs of ac
tivity, movements goings-on at
the well which caused him to stare
fixedly, then to announce, incre
dulously:
"Say! I believe Maddox is fixing
to shoot the well!”
Betty took her place at his side.
"Why—he can’t! He dassent! The
powder men won’t be here till to
morrow.”
"All the same, he’s doing some
thing queer. See those cans—those
shiny things?”
"You couldn’t hire Tiller to
touch nitrolycerine. He’s scared
of it—”
Ben uttered an oath. "I tell you
he’s filling those cartridges. He’s
crazy! You’ve got to stop him!”
Betty turned white; she shook
her head. "I won’t go near the
place. It’s—it’s Aunt Mary’s well.”
"Then I’ll stop him. Why, it’s
ten to one he’ll sear the rock, ruin
the whole job and—Damned if I
don’t believe jhe’s trying to do
that very thing!”
Furlong started for the door,
but Betty clung to him. When he
pushed on past her she followed
him. Together they hurried across
the field and took the path through
frantic tones of appeal: "Let him
go, Ben. He knows what he’s do
ing. You’Ve got no right stop
ping him. You’ll just make trou
ble—”
"It’s none of my business,” the
latter agreed, impatiently, "but
agreed, impatiently, "but there’:
something crooked—” He ceasec
speaking then he seized Betty and
whirled her around with the sharp
cpmmand, "Run! Get back!”
■! They were still perhaps a hund
r:d yards from the well, but Fur
long’s practiced eye had seen some
tiing that suddenly raised the hail
upon his head. That rope from
•which was suspended the heavy
charge of liquid death no longet
hung vertically, it no longer ran
oyer the block and into the casing;
instead it was falling in loops about
Maddox. It was coming up out
of the well!
Maddox himself was alive tc
what had happened. That which
he most greatly feared had come
upon him, and he also turned tc
flee. But the platform was slip
pery or else he tripped over the
rope and fell. The others heard
his cry of terrior. He quickly re
gained his feet, but to Furlong it
seemed as if his movements there
after were maddeningly slow and
deliberate.
The engineer’s apprehension:
had been well grounded. Once
again gas had been released fat
down in the earth, and now, like
breath forced from the lungs ol
some tortured giant, it rose, pro
ptelling the smoothly fitting cart
| He seized Betty, whirled her around and yelled, "Run! Get back!”
the mesquite. As they went the
girl continued to implore him not
to interfere.
Halfway to the drilling camp
they met the engineer hastening
towards the farmhouse, and the
latter announced, breathlessly:
"Tiller’s gone plumb off his nut!
He’s goin’ to shoot the well him
self. You better stay clear.”
Furlong dashed past the speaker
and emerged from the shelter of
the bushes in time to see Maddox
gingerly swing a long, cylindrical
tin over the well mouth and guide
it into the opening. A new man
illa rope had been run through a
block on the derrick, and with this
he lowered the charge.
Ben pelled at him; he waved his<
arms. Maddox glanced over his
shoulder, then let the line slide
smoothly through his hands.
"Take my tip an’ don’t go too
close,” the engineer shouted. "He
ain’t no powder man an’ that well’s
makin’ gas. She blows off every
few minutes.”
Betty seconded this warning in
ridge of nitroglycerine ahead of it
as a pea is propelled out of a pea
shooter. It was a phenomenon b)
no means unusual in a well as un
stable in its balance of forces a:
this one. In fact, under like con
ditions none but a madman woulc
have dared to risk Maddox’s man
euver.
The latter had not put fifty feel
behind him when up out of the
well mouth shot the gleaming tir
cylinder. Directly above and ir
its path hung the massive forty
foot steel bit suspended from it!
wire cable.
What happened next the observ
ers were never able to agree
upon, but the world dissolved intc
an inferno of smoke and flame anc
the suddenness of it rocked the
sky, upheaved the earth. The two
came together with a cataclysmic
roar. Furlong and Betty Durharr
were tossed headlong, flung
down like straws. When the)
scrambled to their feet, dazed
shaken, terrified, it was to fine
themselves enveloped in a might)
dust cloud. The eighty-foot towei
of heavy timbers was gone; in at
instant it had utterly vanished
Where it had stood was a shallow,
smoking crater. Splinters oi
planking, debris of every sort
were scattered far and wide; par
ticles of earth and gravel were
raining from the heavens with the
sound of a heavy hailstorm; noth
ing in the neighborhood of the
well remained except the boiler and
engine, and the former lap upor
its side. Even the bushes had been
whipped out, uprooted, shaved
off as by a sweeping scythe.
That afternoon Furlong’s friend,
the engineer, came over to the
farmhouse with a considerable
bundle in his arms.
“How’s Betty?” he inquired.
'’She’s all right, but pretty well
bruised, of course.”
“Well, I guess there’s nothin
more us boys can do, so we’re
goin’ in to town.”
"Right: "I’ll stay here until Mrs.
Durham gets back.”
“Heres all of Tiller’s stuff that
we could find. I reckon you better
look after it.”
"Anything besides clothes?”
"Not much. A few letters an’
things we found in his bunk. Miz’
Durham can keep ’em in case he’s
got relatives. There’s one suit of
clothes that would fit me. No use
to throw ’em away. Say! It’s fun
ny how scared he was of powder.
It musta been a hunch.”
Shortly after the enigneer had
left, Ben came to Betty with a
queer light in his eyes. In his
hand he held a soiled sheet of fool
scap paper.
"Feel strong enough to stand
another explosion?”’ he inquirred
with an effort to suppress his agia
ation. "Well, the queerest thing—!
This farm doesn’t belong to your
aunt Mary, after all; it belongs to
some breathless query, but }Ben
you!” The girl gasped; she voiced
ran on: "Your uncle Joe left it to
you, just as he promised. Fie left
everything to you, except a thou
sand dollars to her. This is his
will and Maddox had it. I guess
it’s a good will, even though your
uncle wrote it himself. Anyhow
it’s witnessed by two people—
Maddox and another. From the
date I figure it must have been
signed just a day or so before he
was killed.”
"Where did it come from? How
did Maddox—?”
I ve figured that out, too. Mr.
Durham must have had it in his
pocket when Maddox found him.
That would explain everything—
how he made your aunt do just
what he wanted and why she did
n’t dare to fire him.”
"That’s why she said I’d have to
marry him! That’s why—Oh,
Ben!’ Betty rose suddenly and
clutched Furlong.” I knew she was
a mean, selfish old thing, but I
never thought she was so—wick
ed. This oil is a curse to poor peo
ple. I hate it!”
"Why, Betty!” Furlong ex
claimed. "You’re the wicked one
to quarrel—”
"She’s the only kin IJve got left
and I tried my best to love her.
But she was so greedy for quick
money that nothing mattered.
Maddox, too! It made beasts of
i them. I almost wish we’d never
heard of oil.” After a moment the
speaker continued, more quietly:
"I lied to you last night.. It was
Tiller who came here.’
Furlong’s body stiffened, he
breathed an oath, then he muttered:
"I thought so. Why didn’t you
1 tell me?”
"What’s more, she knew he was
—coming! They arranged it. She
as good as sent him! That’s how he
got the kitchen key.”
This announcement the man
greeted with the growl of an ani
mal. He began to pace about the
room; his face had grown black
and threatening; his fingers were
The
Man Who
Knows
Whether the Remedy
You are taking for
Headaches, Neuralgia
or Rheumatism Pains
is SAFE is Your Doctor
Ask Him
Don’t Entrust Your
Own or Your Family’s
Well-Being to Unknown
Preparations
BEFORE you take any prepara
tion you don’t know-all about,
far*the relief of headaches; or the
pains of rheumatism, neuritis or
neuralgia, ask your doctor what he
thinks about it — in comparison
with Genuine (Bayer Aspirin.
We say‘this because, before the
, discovery of Bayer Aspirin, most
so-called “pain” remedies were ad
vised’against-by physicians as being
bad for the stomach; or, often, for
the ’heart. And the discovery of
Bayer Aspirin largely changed
medical practice.
Countless thousands of people
who have taken Bayer Aspirin year
in and out without- ill effect, have
proved that the medical findings
about jts safety were correct.
Remember this: Genuine Bayer
Aspirin is rated among the fastest
methods get discovered*ior the relief
of headaches and all common pains
... and safe for the average person
to take regularly.
You can get red Bayer Aspirin at
ana drug store — simply by never
asking for it by the name “aspirin*’
BAYER
Bayer Aspirin
working as he stormed:
"Wait! Wait till she gets back'
here!”
"You can’t lay your hands on a
woman—”
"Can’t I?” he breathed.
Betty shook her head; a moment,
then a new expression slowly crept
into her eyes; her chin set itself
firmly. "No!” she declared. "But
you can lay ’em on her trunk and
drag it out here where I can pack
it.”
"I sure can,” Ben agreed. "And
what’s more, when you get it
packed I can lug it out to the gate
where it will be nice and handy
for her.” As he finished speaking
his frown disappeared; it was re
placed by a grin and he said: "Say,
Betty! What d’you think? I’m go
ing to marry an heiress .after all.”
THE END
The Woman’s Angle
(By Nancy Kart)
New in the market are baby
clothes in slip-on styles that are
claimed to save 48 per cent time
in dressing the infant.
* * *
And rubber panties—layttex,
really—for the baby. They’ll
stretch to nine times their normal
size without damage.
* * *
And a new style diaper that is
form fitting, avoids the I use of
pins, and ties gently about the
baby’s waist. They’re at Chicago’s
merchandise mart.
» » *
When you’re preparing ham
burger steak, frequently so deli
cious, and yet inexpensive, add hall
a cup of milk to a pound of meat
and assure yourself your cakes will
be juicy. Cook one side and sea
son. Turn and season while
cooking instead of mixing the sea
soning beforehand. It makes :
difference.
* * *
fclla fcrardner or tne Agricuituri
Department’s extension % Service
after travelling far and wide
throughout the country, maintain:
that farm women are not only a:
well dressed, as cultured and a:
poised as city women, but bettei
informed on the political situation
and current events. Her extension
work lies principally in the field of
recreational pursuits.
» * *
In the days when you and I were
very, very young, there was usual
ly a "Sunday best” outfit in the
closet on week days, and we wore
older shoes and darned stockings tc
school . . . That’s changed consid
erably, these days, and I rathe)
wonder what lessons our childrer
are getting that will take the place
of that "ace in the hole”' feeling
of conservation? That something
set aside for a rainy day?
* * X
Rings to match bracelets and
clips in the new catalin jewelry is
a feature of the winter costume
jewelry line.
s- * . se
lf, when your soup is about
ready to serve 'it seems too salty,
add from half a cup to a whole
cup of raw sliced potatoes to the
soup, and let it stand ten to fif
teen minutes. Remove the pota
toes which absorb the saltiness and
serve.
QUEER THINGS THAT HAP
PEN TO SLEEPWALKERS
An interesting article which dis
closes the strange freaks of som
nambulists. One of the illustrated
articles in the American Weekly,
the big magazine which comes
every Sunday with the BALTI
MORE AMERICAN. Your news
boy or newsdealer has your copy.
' It is claimed the American peo
ple talk too loud, but there isn’t
much complaint on that account
the day after the football games
in North Carolina.
—READ THE WATCHMAN—
Lady Took Cardui
When Weak, Nervous
“I can’t say enough for Cardui if
t talked all day,” enthusiastically
writes Mrs. L. H. <Sald- —
well, of Statesville, N*C.
“I have used Cardui at
intervals for twenty-five ■=»=»
-aasioa
years,” she adds. “My »Jk
trouble in the beginning
was weakness and ner- Jg:.
vousness. I-read of Car- JUsj;
dui in a newspaper and -J
decided right then to try it. It seemed
before I had taken half a bottle of
Cardui I was stronger and was soon
up and around.”
Thousands of women testify Cardui bene
fited them. If It does not benefit YOU,
consult a physician.
\
, ) '
1
| TIMELY FARM QUESTIONS
j ANSWERED AT STATE
COLLEGE
I-•
Q. What minerals do brood sows
need during the gestation period?
A.' A satisfactory mineral mix
ture can be made by thoroughly
mixing 10 pounds of acid phos
phate, 10 pounds of hardwood ash
es or ground limestone, and twc
pounds of common salt. The ani
mals should have access to this
mixture at all times. Proper care
and feed for the animals during
this period is also necessary fol
best results and this information is
given in Extension Circular 151.
copies of which may be had free
upon application to the Agricul
tural Editor of State College.
Q. How long ” does it take tc
cure sweet potatoes and what
should be the average temperature
of the house?
A. It usually takes about twc
weeks for proper curing with the
temperature maintained at 80 tc
85 degrees. Plenty of ventilation
however, must be given during the
curing in order to drive off, al!
moisture. Watch the potatoes care
fully and when the buds show t
tendency to sprout and the skit
feels "velvety” the curing is com
pleted. After1 curing, ,aIlow the
temperature to drop to about 5(
degrees F. and keep it as close tc
that mark as possible while the po
tatoes are kept in storage.
Q. What size lights must I put
in my poultry house for artificia
lighting?
A. This depends upon the siz<
of the house, but two 40-wati
bulbs for each 400 square feet oi
floor space gives the most satis
factory results. The bulbs shoulc
be placed in the center of the housi
ten feet apart and six feet abovi
the floor. To prevent lighting th
entire house, a reflector 16 inche
in diameter and four inches deep
should be used with each light bulb.
AUCTION SALE
AUCTION SALE — Personal
property. Friday, November 15, at
10:00 a.m. near Third Creek
Church, 2 1-2 miles north of Cleve
land.
D. N. STEELE
Nov 1-Nov 8
—Buy In Salisbury—
1 ————■———
Don’t Prolong
The Agony!
Next time you suffer from Gas
on Stomach, Headache, Sour
Stomach, a Cold, Muscular,
Rheumatic, Sciatic or Periodic
Pains; That Tired Feeling, That
“Morning After” Feeling. Get a
glass of water and drop in one
or two tablets of
Alka-Seltzer
The New Pain-Relieving, Alka
lizing, Effervescent Tablet
Watch it bubble up, then drink
it You will be amazed at the
almost instant relief.
It is called Alka-Seltzer because
It makes a sparkling alkaline
drink, and as it contains an
analgesic (Acetyl-Salicylate) it
first relieves the pain, of every
day ailments and then by re
storing the alkaline balance cor
rects the cause when due to
excess add.
After trying many brands of
medicines—so-called relief for
gas, and all of them a failure.
I gave up hopes. By chance I >
tried Alka-Seltzer—I am more
than satisfied. Geo. Bennett
New York, N. x.
Get a glass at your drug store
soda fountain. Take home a 30
cent or 60 cent package.
==*-'
2 FOR 1 OFFER
2 ROYAL
Two COMPLETE ElectricVacuum Cleaners I
SSL* "wn« Both
mou< "boyal” with “r *•' -g M r
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liSS'-iibYAL^UNj WEEKLY
HFpSik* ^PAYMENTS
HirbuMt «a
T. M. CASEY
N N. Main St. Phone 204
RUFTY LEADS
H il
Seasonable Foods
The changing of the season demands a change of foods.
Rufty’s are always on the alert in this respect—always
beeping meats and groceries in accordance 'with the
season, and at the same time keeping the prices down
as low as quality foods can be sold.
If you are not one of our satisfied customers, give us a
call today, and let us prove to you that
IT PAYS TO TRADE AT RUFTY’S.
OUR DELIVERY SERVICE IS FREE, AND VERY PROMPT
E. L. RUFTY
604 North Main Street-Phone 883
" m
WASHINGTON '
Overlooking the spacious beauty of Capitol Plaia ’
aid jiet a Hock and a half from the Union Sta
tion, .an idegl location in Wehington. Every
room has an'outside exposure. Free Garage
Stprage to our guests.^ Unusual food at \am
,fcod prices in the dining roan and coffee shcp.
RATES with BATH
42® to $5PP We
44.°? to 47:00 Double
- uUnt DatUZj&sbpe—IX Of double:
HOTEL •'
' CONTINENTAL