PARROT&QQ HAROLDMTGBATftt i|J AuAor of Hie Carpe t The Place °f floneymooivs, evC. W* GQPY/UG/iT Of TH£ DQB&J-fJ&WU. COnftWY W SYNOPSIS. Warrington, an American adventurer, and James, his servant, with s caged par rot, the trio known up and down thenr rawaddy as Parrot A Co., are bound for Rangoon to cash a draft for 300,0110 rup«e« Elsa Chstwood, rich American girl tour ist, aeea Warrington anil aaks the purair t* Introduce her. He tella her that War rington ha* beaten u *yndlc*te and sold his oil claims for £10.009 Warrington puts Rajah, the parrot, through his trick* for Elsa and they pass two golden days together on th* river. Martha, htaaa companion, Warns her thst there is gos sip. In Rangoon Warrington bank* his draft, pays old debts, and overhears and Interferes In a row over card*, flnds that the row lsca«ised by an enemy, Newell Craig, and threatens to shoot him unle** ha laavea town. Elsa Is snnoyed by Craig and ataba him with a hatpin. Warrington bids Elaa good -by CHAPTER Vll—Continued. That there was resl danger In her Interest In Warrington did not occur to her. The fact that she was now will ing to merry Arthur, without analys ing the causes that had brought her to this decision, should hsve warned her that she was dimly afraid of the stranger. Her glance fell upon the Jnandarln's ring. She twirled It round undecidedly. Should she wear It or pat It away? The queatlon remained suspended. She saw Craig coming aboard; and she hid her face behind her magazine. Upon second thought she let the magazine fall. She was quite confident that that chapter was closed. Craig might be a scoundrel, but he was no fool. A sharp blast from the tender's whistle drew her attention to the gangplank. The last man to come aboard was Warrington. He lmmedl ately sought James; and they stood together chatting until the tender drew up alongside the steamer of the Brit ish India line. The two men shook hands finally, Warrington added a friendly tap on the Eurasian's shoul der. No one would iiave suspected that the white man and his dark com panion had been "shipmates," in good times and in bad, for nearly a decade. Elsa, watching them from her secure nook, admired the lack of effusiveness. The dignity of the parting told her of the depth of feeling. An hour later they were heading for the delta. Elsa amused herself by casting bits of bread to the gulls. Always they caught It on the wing, no matter in what direction nhe threw it. Some times one would wing up to her very hand for charity, Its coral feet stretched out to meet the quick back play of the wings. Its cry shallow and plaintive and world lonely. Suddenly she became aware of a presence at her side. A voice said: "It was not quite fair of you." "What wasn't?" without turning her head. Shu brushed her hands free of the crumbs. "You should have let me know thet you were going to sail on this boat." "You would have run away, then." "Why?" startled at her Insight. "Because you are a little afraid of me." She faced him, without a smile either on her lips or in her eyes. Aren't you?" "Yes. I am afraid of all thinga I do not quite understand." "There ls not the least need in the world, Mr. Warrington. I am quite harmless. My claws have been clipped. I am engaged to be married, and am goit\g home to decide the day." "He's a lucky man." He was aston ished at his calm, for the blow went deep. "Lucky? That Is in the future. What a lonely thing a gull is!" "What a lotrt-ly thing a lonely man is!" he added. I'oor fool! To have dreamed so fair a dream for a single moment! He tried to believe that he was glad that she had told him about the other man. The least this infor mation could do would be to give him better control of himself He had not been out in the open long enough en tirely to master his feelings. "Men ought not to be lonely," she said. "There'B the excitement of work, of mingling with crowds, of go ing when and where one pleases. Woman's lot Is wondering and wait lng at home When 1 marry I sup pose that 1 shall learn the truth of that." Perhaps it was because he had been away from them so long and had lost track of the moods of the feminine mind; but surely it could not be pos sible that there was real happiness in this young woman's heart. Its evi dence was lacking in her voice, in her face, in her gestures. He thought It over with a sigh. He felt sorry for the girl, sorry for the man; for it was not possible that a girl like this one would go through life without experiencing that flash of Insanity thajt is called the grand passion. He loved her. He could lean against the roll, his shoulder lightly touching here, and calmly say to himself that he loved her. He could calmly per ; mit her to pass out of his life as a cloud passes down the sea-rlm. He hadn't enough, but this evil must be fall him. Love! He spread out his bends unconsciously. •'What doe* that mean?" she naked, Z~l sailing now"; "An Invocationt" , . » ■'mm iilmM "It's a sign to ward off crll," be re turned. "Are yog expecting evil?" "I am |ilwaya preparing myself to meet It. There Is one thing that will always puzzle me. Why should you have asked the purser to pick out such a tramp as I was 7 For 1 was a tramp." "I thought I explained that." "Not clearly." "Well, then, I shall make myself clear. The sight of you upon that bank, the llghta In your face, struck me as the strangest mystery that could possibly confront me. 1 thought you were a ghost." t "A ghost!" "Yes. So I asked the purser to In troduce you to prove to my satisfac tion that you weren't a ghost Line for line, height for height, color for color, you are the exact counterpart of the man I am going home to marry." She saw the shiver that ran over him; she saw hla eyes widen; she saw his hands knot In pressure over the rail. "The man you are going to marry!" he whispered. Abruptly, without explanation, he walked away, his shoulders settled, his head bent, it was her turn to be amazed. What could this attitude mean? "Mr. Warrington!" she called. But he disappeared down the com panlonway. CHAPTER VIII. A Woman's Reason, Elsa stared at the vacant doorway. She recognized only a sense of bewil derment. Tills was not one of those rhlldlsh flaHhes of rudeness that had amused, annoyed and mystified her. She lukl hurt him. And lirfwT They hud been together three days on the boHt, and once he had taken tea with her in Rangoon. Hhe could find noth ing save that she had been kind to him when he most nc>eded kindness, and tliikt Hhe had not been stupidly curious, j only sympathetically so. He Interested j lier and hold that interest because he was a type unlike anything she had met outside the covers of a book. He wus so big and Btrong, and yet so boy ish. He had given her visions of the character which had carried his man hood through all these years of strife and bitterness and temptation. And because of this she had shown him that she had taken It for granted that whatever he had done in the past had not put him beyond the pale of her friendship. There had been no de grading entanglements, and women forgive or condone all other trans gressions And what had sl*Just said or done to put that look of dumb agony In his face? She swung Impatiently from the rail and began to promenade the deck, still cluttered with luggage over which the Lascar stewards were moil ing. Many a glance foliowod the sup ple pleasing figure of the girl as she passed round and round the deck. Other promenaders stepped aside or permitted her to pass between. The resolute uplift of the chin, and the staring dark eyes which saw but inner visions, impressed them with the fact that It would be wiser to step aside voluntarily. There were some, how ever, who considered that they had as much right to the deck as she. Before them ahe would stop shortly, and as a current breaks and passes each side of an Immovable object, they, too, gave way. The colonel fussed and fumed, and his three spinster chargea drew their pale Hps Into thinner paler lips. "These Americans are impossible!" "And It Is scandalous the way the young women travel alone. One can never tell what they are." "Humph! Brag and assertlveness. And there's that ruffian who came down the river. What's he doing on the same boat? What?" Elsa became aware of their presence at the fifth turn. She nodded absently. Being Immersed In the sea of conjec ture regarding Warrington's behavior, the colonel's glare did not rouse in her the sense of Impending disaster, The first gong for dinner boomed. The echoing wall spoke In the voice of the East, of Its dalliance. Its con tent to drift In a sargasso sea of en tangling habits and desires, of its fa talism and Inertia. It did not hearten one or excite hunger. Elsa would lather have lain down In her Canton lounging-chair. The dtnlng-saloon held two long tables, only one of which was In commission, the starboard. The saloon was unattractive. A punka stretched from one end of the table to the other, and swung indolently to and fro, whining mysteriously, sometimes subsiding altogether and then flapping hyatertcally and setting the women's hair awry. Elsa and Martha were seated some- 1 where between the head and the foot of the table. The personally-conduct ed surrounded them, and gabbed in cessantly during the meal of whet they had seen, of what they were going to see. and of what they had missed by not going with the other agency's party. Elsa's sympathy went out to the tired and faded conductor. ic". ■ THIIWTBRPRIBI, WILLIAMBTON, WORTH OAEOLDIA. , . There waa bat one reseat chair; and aa ahe aaw Warrington nowhere, Elaa assumed that thla must be hla reaervatlon. She waa rather glad that be would be beyond conversational radius. She liked to talk to tbe strange and lonely man. but sbe pre ferred to be alone with him when sbe did ao. Sbe began as of old to study care lessly tba facea of the diners and to speculate as to tbelr characters and occupatlona. Her negligent obaerva tlon roved from tbe pompous captain down to the dark picturesque face of the man Craig. Upon him her glance, a mixture of contempt and curiosity, rested. If he behaved blmaelf and made no attempt to speak to her, she was willing to declare a truce. In Kan goon the man had been drunk, but on the Irrawaddy boat he had been aober enough. Craig kept hla eyea directed upon his food and did not offer her even a furtive glance. He waa not In a happy state of mind. He bad taken paaaags the last moment to avoid meeting again tbe one man he feared. For ten years this man had been reckoned among tbe .lost. Many believed him dead, and ' Craig had wlahed It rather than be lieved. And then, to meet him face to face in that sordid boarding house had shaken the cool nerve of tbe gambler. He was worried and bewildered. He had practically sent thla man to ruin. What would be the reprisal? He reached for a mangoateen and ate tha white pulpy contenta. but without the customary relish. Tbe phrase kept running through his bead: What would be the reprisal? For men of his Ilk never struck without expecting to be struck back. Something must be done. Should he seek him and boldly ask whst he Intended to do? Certainly he could not do much on board here, except to denounce him to the officers as a professional gsmbler. And Paul would scarcely do that since he, Craig, had a better shot In his gun. He could tell who Paul was and what he had done. Bodily harm waa what he really feared. He had seen Klsa, but be had worked out that problem easily. She wax sure to say nothing so long as be let her be; and with tbe episode of tbe hat pin still fresh In his memory, he as suredly would keep hla distance. He had made a mistake, and waa not like ly to repeat It. Hut Paul! He finished his dessert and went off to the stuffy little smoke room, and struggled with a Burma cheroot. Paul was a smoker, and Elsa Stared at tha Vacant Doorway. sooner or later he would drop In. He waited In vain for his man that night. And so did Klsa. She felt Indignant at one moment and hurt at another. The man'a attitude was Inexplicable; there wsa neither rhyme nor reaaon In it. The .very fact that she could not understand l made her wonder march beside her even In her dreama that night. She began to feel genuinely sorry that he had appeared above her horizon. Just before she retired she leaned over the rail, watching the re flection of the stars twist and shiver on the smooth water. Suddenly she listened. She might have Imagined it, for at night the ears deceive. "Jah, Jah!" Somewhere from below came the muffled plaint of Rajah Next day, at luncheon, the chair was still vacant. Klsa became alarmed. Perhaps he was 111. She made In quiries, regardless of the possible mis interpretation her concern might be given by others. Mr. Warrington had had his meals served In his cabin, but the steward declared that the gentle man was not 111, only tired and Irrita ble, and that he amused himself with a trained parrakeet All day long the sea lay wavelass and unrlppled. a sea of braes and lapis lazull; brass where the sun struck and lapts-lazult In the shadow of the laxy swells. Schools of fiylng-flsh broke fan-wise in flashes of silver, and por poise sported alongside. And warmer and warmer grew the air. Starboard waa rigged up for cricket, and the ship's offlcers and some of the paasengers played the game until the first gong. Elsa grumbled to Martha. There was little enough space to walk In as it was without the men taking over the whole side of the ship and cheating her out of a glorious sunset. Martha grew troubled and perplexed If there was one phase of character unknown to her In Elsa it was Irritabil ity; and here ..she was, finding fault like any ordinary tourist. "Where Is Mr. Warrington?" "1 don't know. 1 haven't seen htm since yesterday." Elsa dropped her book petulantly. "I am wearjrof these 1 namby-pamby stories." MtrOn'i (T« Li 4 a topbM Jaeft In them as aba asked: "Elsa, what la the matter?" "I don't know, Martha. I believe I should like to loae my temper utterly I'm Irritable becauae I do not know my own mind. I hate the stuffy stateroom, the food, the captain. Nothing aeema to dlaturb bis conceit. Tonight wa sleep on deck, the starboard aide. At Ave o'clock we have to get up and go inalde again ao they can holy-atone the deck. And I am alwaya soundest aaleep at that time Doubtless, 1 shall be Irritable all day tomorrow." "Sleep up here on deck? But tba men?" horrified. "They sleep on the port side." Rlsa laughed mallcioualy. "Don't worry. Nobody minds." "I bate the Bast," declared Martha vindictively. "Everything la so alack. It Just brings cct tba shlftlessnese ia everybody." "Perhaps that 1a what alia me; I am growing eblftleaa. When I came on board I decided to marry Arthur, and have done with the pother. Now I am at the aame place as when I left home I don't want to marry anybody. Have you noticed that fellow Craig?" "What will you do If be apeaka?" t "1 have half a do sen good batplna left," dryly. "I bate to hear yon talk like that" "It's tbe Eaat. . . . There goes that hateful gong again. Boup, chick en, curry, rice and piccalilli. Lam go ing to live on plantalna and mango ateena. I'm glad we bad aense enough to order that diatllled water. Come; we'll go down as we are to dinner, and watch tba ridiculous captain and bis fan-bearer. Tbe punka will at leaat give us a breath of freab air. Thera doean't aeem to be any on deck. One regreta Darjeellng." Martha followed her young miatress Into the dlnlng-saloon; aha waa anx ious and upset. Where would thla mood end? With a glance of relief aha found Warrington'a chair still vacant. Tbe saloon had an air of freshness tonight All the men were In drill or pongee, and ao receptive la the imagi nation that the picture robbed the room of half Its heat. To and fro the punka flapped; the pulleys creaked and the ropes scraped above the sound of knives and forka and apoons Klsa ate little besides fruit. She spoke scarcely a word to Martha, and none to those around her. Thus, she tnisned the frown of the colonel and the lifted brows of the spinsters, and the curious glances of tbe tourists. The passenger list had not yet come from the ship's press, so Elsa's name was practically unknown. But In some unaccountable manner It had become known that she had been making In quiries in regard to the gentleman In cabin 78, who had thua far remained ayay from the table. Ship life la a dull life, and goaalp la about the only thing that makea It poaalble to liva through the day. It was quite easy to couple this unknown sloof young woman and the Invisible man. and then to wait for reaults. It would have amused Klsa had ahe known tha Interest ahe had already created If not Inspired. Her beauty and her ap parent to her surround tnga were particularly adapted to tha romantic mood of her fellow-travel ers. Her own mind was so broad and generous. so blgh and detached, that so sordid a thing aa "an affair" never entered her thoughts. Aa she refused course after course, a single phrase drummed Incessantly through her tired brain. She was not going to aaarry Arthur; never, never la this world. Bhe did not love him, and this was to be final. She would cable him from Singapore. That night Craig found It Insupport able In the cabin below; ao be ordered hla steward to bring up his bedding. He bad lain down for half an hour, grown restless, and had begun to walk the deck in bis bath' allppera. Ha bad noted the atlll white figure for ward, where the cross-rail marka tha waist. As be approached, Craig dis covered his man. He hesitated only a moment; tben he touched Warring ton'a arm. (TO BE CONTINUED.) DANGEROUS GAME WITH BULL Popular Pastime That Marka tha Cel ebration of Fesst Days In South America. In the Interior of Venexuela and Co lombia toro coleado 1a a feature of fiesta days. A principal street of the town Is roped off and a wild bull ia liberated. Prom eight to ten mounted horsemen enter the Improvised arena, their only defenae against attacks of the bull being their superb horsemaa ship and a knowledge of how to twist the bull'a tail in such a manner as to cause him to tumble over. While tha attention of the bull Is attracted by aome of the party a horseman dashaa from the rear at full speed, gives a dextrous twtst, and over rolls the bull Tbls sport Is not without tta danger, and almost every coleado festival adda to tbe hospital Hat The honor of be ing champion bull-tail twlater developa keen competition, for the winner ii cAwned with flowers by the prettleat «lrl In the village. Some performers become so expert aa to be sure of their twist at a specified point the great achievement being to bring the animal to the duet just In front of the balcony of one*a ladylove New Enemy of Pralrla Dog. In South Dakota the automobile has been found a great success as a prairie dog exterminator. A piece ot boae slipped onto the exhauat conducts tbe ' gases into the dog hole for a few mtnutea, when the hole is eovered with earth That la enough toe tha dog. JN, -■ ,f . V'-.v ' - i- 1 -> " : ■ Paraguay.- itsj£ „ Resources IN order to study tbs trad* iltuition In Paragusy, M. Draw Carrot, com mercial representative of tbo Buenoe Aires branch of a New York bonk, recently made a trip through that country, aad In The Americas he writes entertainingly of what he saw there. His article Is thus summarized In the bulletin of the Pan- American Union: The only practical routee of access to the country, the heart of one of the richest agricultural regions of South America, are the river and tho rail way running from Buenos Aires, a thousand miles away. If Asuncion, the oapltal and chief city of the republic, be taken as the traveler's destination. There Is direct connection between Buenos Aires, via the Argentine Cen tral, Entre-Rlos, and Paraguayan Cen tral railways, and Asuncion. Through trains leave once a week each way. Off from Buenos Aires betimes, the train arrives at Zarate early In the eve nlng, some sixty miles up country where the expanse of the River Plate has narrowed Into the Parana Here all except the engine Is run on to a huge Iron ferryboat for a four-hour voyage up and across the river to Iblcuy on the eastern shore. Nearly all day Saturday Is spent Journeying through the flat country of Entre-Rlos. The orange groves increase, with here and there tobacco fields, giving way as the tropics are neared to numerous royal palm trees Possdas, the last station In Argen tina, is reached and the train Is again run upon a large ferryboat and car ried across the upper part of the Parana river to Encarnaclon In the Republic of Paraguay. The level of the deck of the ferry Is some fifteen feet below the level of the roadbed, on both sides of the liver, and It Is necessary to lower and raise the trains down and up au Incline by means of cables and steam wlnchse to the proper level. After running over a switch-back on the Paraguay aide, Encarnaclon is reached, some ISO feet above the level of the river. Room for Many Immigrants. All through Paraguay to Asuncion the road runs across mt tracts of luxurious grazing land, broken her* and there by Itnea of low, tlmber-cov end hills. Bnlldlnga and other evi dence* of development are few and tlur between, oompared with the ex teat of the country, and one la Im preaaed with the fact that there la ample room there for thouaanda of home-seeking Immigrants from the congested districts of Europe, who wonld And an agreeable climate and ■oil fertile and extensive enough to feed not only themselves but many of the other Inhabitants of the world. Timber is so plentiful In the Para guayan country that the railways use It for fuel. At every railway station are huge logs and squared timbers ready for shipment. On the hillsides where clearings have been made, as well aa In the bottom lands, bealdee the rich grass, the corn, the alfalfa, and the tobacco, healthy sugar cane la seen. Arriving at Asuncion at 8 p. m. Sun day, the train runs into a large termi nal station which, though modern In appearance, is said to be the first rail way station built In South America. A British engineer constructed It about fifty years ago, and the girders and other parts of the framework, which at a haaty glance one would aay are Iron, are in fact wood that Is aa sound today as when the building was erect ed. Asuncion la an Important port for river movementa. The larger vessels from the River Plate bring their car goes to Asuncion, whence merchan dise Is taken overland or tranaahlpped In smaller boata for points farther up the river. Although It la a river port, over a thousand miles from the sea coaat, the else and number of large veaaels at the dock, or at anchor awaiting their turn to go to the docks, and the many smaller craft, aa well aa the large and commodious harbor, give it much the appearance of a sea port Enclosed by Big Rivera. The Republic of Paraguay la al most completely surrounded by wa ter. being bounded on nearly all aidee : ,\i£ h'. -.* V - . m by the great rivers Parana and Par* guay or their tributaries, which fui* nish transportation to many interior parts of the country and provide abundant irrigation and adequate drainage. The soil is typically fer tile, consisting for the most part of red clay mixed with sufficient saad to it porous, and oovered wUk rich alluvial deposits. The area of the country is estimated at about 17t*> 000 square miles, and It is divided into two parts by the Paraguay river. The southeastern part, which Is In* closed by the rivers Paraguay, Parana, and Ape, contains meet of the white population. The northwestern part, known as the Oran Chaeo, Is Inhabited mostly by nomadic tribes of Indians, and contains vaat expenses of graslng land and Immense forests awaiting ex ploitation. The resources of the southeastern section alone, however, are sufficient to engage the attention of the inhabitants for many years to come. It Is estimated that the coun try haa about 1,000,000 Inhabitants, and the government has been encour aging Immigration as much aa possi ble. Immigrant* who have settled In the country have done well, especially those from Europe. The cllmste Is a happy medium be tween temperate and tropical, the av erage temperature being 79 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer begins In Octo ber and lasts until March; winter stsrts in April and laats until nearly the end of September, with an average temperature of 64 degrees. Rarely have there been frosts and on few occasions has the thermometer regis tered aa low as 24 degrees. Asuncion s Busy City. Asuncion, with about 80,000 Inhabl tsnts. Is the capital and principal busi ness city of the Republic. It Is about 880 miles north of Buenos Aires, and Is located upon a bay-shaped enlarge ment of the Paraguay river, about two and a half miles long and one mile wide, which affords-smple shelter and accommodation for many vessels. Be ing at the head of river navigation for the larger river steamers, and the place of transhipment for points farther north, as well as the plaea from which the principal highway* and traila Into the Interior diverge. It Is a center of commercial activity. It la the termlnua of the railway froaa the south. It has four banks, numer ous Industrial planta. Including saw mills, ship repair and building yards, soap and candle factoriee, ahoe and cigar-making establlahmenta, two breweries, and many pretentioua wholesale and retail mercantile houses. Most of the larger cities and towna of the country are located either on the Central Paraguayan railway or on the Paraguay river. The most impor tant of these is Encarnacloo, at the southern boundary of the republic, where the railway trains are ferried acroea from Argentina. It has about 16,000 Inhabitants. The principal in dustries of the district are grazing, timber-cutting and the preparation of yerba mate. Encarnacion la a port of entry and la the distributing point for the southern portion of Paraguay. The town of Paraguay, north of En carnacion of the railway, baa a pop ulation of about 11,000, and la located In a rich cattle and timber regioi. Luque, a town of 14,000 Inhabitants, a short distance from Asuncion. Is In a district from which tobacco and mtacellaneoua agricultural product* and alcohol come. The other place* along the railway rang* In *lx* froaa shipping points for larg* estate* to small communities mora or lea* Inter ested in gracing, agriculture and tim ber cutting. On the Paraguay liver from south to north among the places of Impor tance may be mentioned Pilar, with about 7,000 Inhabitants. North of Asuncion Is Villa Hayes, with a pop ulation, Including that of the adjacent country, of 30,000. It Is on the west side of the river in what la known aa the Oran Chaco country. T&e princi pal industries are grazing and agri culture, Including a cane-sugar mill' and a distillery. Further north on the river is another cattle dlatrict In Con»- cepclon, having about 16,000 '"fr-frVi tanta. •.

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