The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

w ?^. „t The Price Of Liberty OR, A MIDNIGHT CALL CHAPTER XII. â€" (Continued.) Some enemy had done thi.s thing, and "The following morning the great | from that day to this I have been a discovery was made. The Van Sneck i ^mrked man." I have alluded to was nn artist, a I "liut how on earth was it done?" dealer, a man of the shadiest ropu- 1 "For the present I can only make tation whom my patron, Lord Lit- ' surmLses." licll replied. "Van Sneck timer, had picked up. It was Van j was n slipperj' dog. Of cour.se, he Sneck who produced the copy of ; had found two of those plates. He 'The Crimson Blind.' Not only did kept the one back so as to sell the he produce the copy, but he produc- „ther at a fancy price. My enemy ed the history from sonie recently j di.scovered this, and Van Sneck's discovereif papers relating to the { sudden flight was his opportunity. Keizerskroon Tavern of the year l(j56, which would have satisfied a more exacting man than Littimer. In the end the Viscount purchased the engraving for JCSOO English. "You can imagine how delighted he was with his pri-/e â€" he had secuixjd and engraving by Rembrandt that was ab.solutely unique. Under m.ore favorable circumstances I should have shared that pleasure. But I was face to face with ruin, and therefore I had but small heart for rejoicing. "I came down the next morning af- wild endeavor to scheme some way of getting the money to pay my cre- ditor. To my absolute amazement I found a polite note from the lieu- tenant coldly thanking me for the notes I had .sent him by messenger, ond handing me a formal receipt for X8.00. At first I regarded it as a hoax. But, with all his queer ways. Von Gulden was a gentleman. Some- body had paid the debt for me. And somebody had, though I have never found out to this da3'." "All the same, you have your sus- picions?" Steel suggested. "I have a very strong suspicion, but J have never been able to verify it. All the samo. you can imagine what an enoi-mous vyeight it was off my mind, and how comparatively cheerful I was as 1 cro.^.scd over to the hotel of Lord Littimor after breakfast. I found him literally be- side himself with passion. Soma thief had got in his room in the nijjht and stolon his Rcmbiandt. The framo was intact, but the engraving had been rolled up and taken awn.v." "Very like tlie story of the stolon Gainsborough." He could afford to get rid of me at an apparently dear rate. He atolo Littimcr's engravingâ€" in fact, ho must have done so, or I should not have it at this moment. Then he smudged out some imaginary spott) on the other and hid it in my bag- gage, knowing that it would be found. Also he knew that it would bo returned to Littimer, and that the stolen plate could be laid aside and produced at some remote date as an original find. The find has been mine, and it will go hard if I can't to listen to my arguments," he said. "I am going into the house. Don't worry about me, but Send Mi.fs Gates home in the cab. I shall man- age somehow." David turned enge'rly to R\ith. "That will bo host," he siiid. "We can put your machine on the cab, and I'll accompany you pari of the way home. Our 'cal)rann will think ter a sleepless night, and with a .get to the bottom of the mystery now. It is strange that yoin- mys- terious trouble and mine should be bound up so closely together, but in the end it will simplify matters, for the very reason that we are boUi on the hunt (or the same man." "Which man we have got to find. Bell." "Granted. We will bait for him as one does for a wily old trout. The fly shall be the Rembrandt, and you see he will rise to it in time. But beyond this I have one or two im- portant discoveries to-day. We are going to the house of the strange lady who owns 218 and 219, Bruns- wick Square, and I shall bo greatly mistaken it she docs not prove to be an old acquaintance of mine. There will be dojiger." "You propo.sc to to-night?" "I propose to go at once," Bell said. "Dark hours are alwa.vs best for dark business. Now, which is the nearest way to Longdean Grange?" "So the house of the Silent Sor- row, as they call It, is to be our destination! I must confess that the place has ever held a strange fascin- ation for mo. Wo will go over the BO suddenly face to face with one who was very dear to him, David bo- cause It seemed to him that he had recognized the voice from the dark- nosa, the voice af his great adven- ture. And there was another sur- prise ns he saw Ruth Gates side by side with the owner of that wonder- ful voice. "Enid!" Bell cried hoarsely. "I did not expect " "To confront me like this," the girl, said, coldly. "That I (piite un- derstand. What I don't understand is why you intrude your hated pre- sence here." Roll shook his handsome head mournfully. He looked strangely downcast and dejected, ajKl none the less, perhaps, because a fall in cross- ing the downs had severely wrenched Ills ankle. But for a belated cab on the Uotliiigdoan road he would not have been here now. "As hard and cruel aS over," ho 3ni:l. "Not one word to me, not one word in my defence. And all the time I am the victim of a vile conspiracy "Conspiracy! Do you call vulgar theft a conspirac,y?" "It was nothing else," David put in, eagerly. "A most extraordinary consi>iracy. The kind of thing that j-ou would not have deesued possible out of a book." "And who might this gentleman Iporimonts being conducted on liia own be?" Enid asked, haughtily. Ipersou, however salutary the resjlta "A thousand pardons for my want 'are expected to be that you came from the house sha'n't be long. Bell." Ruth assented gratefully. As David put her in the cab Boll whispered to him to return us .soon as nossible, but the girl heard nothing of this. "IIow kind â€" how kind you are," she murmured. "Perhaps some rlnv vou will ha kind to me," David said, and Ruth blushed in the darkness. (To be Continued.) TEEATIENT_BY DEPUTY TEIAL PATIENTS FOH. RICH IITVAI-IDS. Poor People Who Reap the First Fruits of Great Discoveries. "The average human being iha.9 a pronounced objection to medical ex- of ceremony," David said. "If I had not been under the impression that we had met before I should never have presumed " "Oh, a truce to this," Bell cried. "Wo are wa.sting time. The hour is So ."jpoke a celebrated doctor to the writer of this aj-^icle, and lie ad- ded: "On iruvuiraerable occasion.s when a certain course of treatment is recomimeaded to patients, who are at tlie some time both rich, scepti- not far distance, Enid, when you will |cnl, and perhaps nerVous, they ex- ask my pardon. Meanwhile I am ko- 1^,.^^^ ^ desire to watch tho effects of ng up to the house, and you are go- ^^^ ^^^^ t,-eatnient on anothei- per- ing to take me there. Come what , if ji •..â-  ^ ^ ., may, I don't sleep to-night until 1 l^"" T ^Z '^*'â„¢"^"^,^to it th.m- have speech with your aunt." if'''^'^''' ^'^^ so'netimw they have been David had drawn a little nsi.ie. i'^T" ? ^'", ''"' ''^'*"* '" """"' By a kind of instinct Ruth (Jates P'^«'"'^s for large sums of money in followed him. A .shaft of grey light i "'''^'''' ^^"* *'"-'y "^^ '^" completely glinted upon her cycle in the grass by satisfied in this way." Thus, a few weeks ago, according to tho ."nimo authority, a new treat- ment for cancer was announced by a Continental doctor. which could only be properly tested at his own place in Germany. There was one case of A lUCH BNGLilSH PATIIiNT, who had tried all recogniaod nethods of dealing with this terrible malady without guccese, and he was at this time not only sceptical as to nny- 'No doubt the one theft inspired j golf links and behind Ovingdean vil- lage. It is a rare spot for a trag- edy." 13ell rose and lighted a fi'osh cigar. "Come along," he said. "Poke that Rembrandt behind your books with its face to the wall. I would not lose that for anything now, No, on second thoughts I ftnd I yh.xll have to take it with me." David closed the door carefully be- hind him and the two stepped out into the night. CITAPTEU XIII. Two dancing eyes of flame wore streaming up the lane towards the girls, a long shadow slanted across the white pathway, tho steady flicks of hoofs drew nearer. Then the hoofs ceased llieir smiting of the dust and a man's voice spoke. "Better turn and wait for us by the farm, driver," the voice said. "Bell, can you manage, man?" "Who was that?" Enid whispered. "A stranger?" "Not precisely," Ruth replied. "That is Mr. David Steel. Oh, I am sure we can trust him. Don't annoy him. Think of the trouble he is in for our sakes." "1 do," Enid said, drily. "I am also thinking of Reginald. If our dear Reginald o.scnpes from the fos- tering care of the dogs we shall be luiued. That man's hearing is won- derful. He will come creeping down hero on tbob<e flat feet of his, and that cunning brain will take in everything like a flash. Good dog!" A hound in the distance growled, and then another howled mournfully It was the plaint of the beast who has found his quarry, impatient for the gaoler to arrive. So long ns that continued Ilenson was safe. Any attempt at escape, and he would be torn in pieces. Just at tho present moment Enid almost hoped that the attempt would be made. It certain- ly Was all right foi- the present, but then Williams might happen along on his way to the stables at any mom- ent. 1'he two men were coming nearer. They both paused as the dogs gavo tongue. Through the thick belt of trees lights gleamed from one or two windows of the house. Steel pulled up and shuddered slightly in spite of himself. "Crimson blinds," he said. "Crim- !-Wn blinds all through this business. They are beginning to got on my nerves. What about those dog.9, liell?" "Pogs or no dogs, I lun not going back now," Bell muttered. "It's per- fcctl.v uselees to tome here in the the roadside. Enid and Bell were talking in vehement whispers â€" they seemed to be absolutely unconscious of anybody else but themselves. Dav- id could see the anger and scorn on tho i)ale, high-bred face; he could .see Bell gradually expanding as he brought ail liis strength and firm power of will to bear. "What will be the upshot of it?" I Ruth asked, timidly. j "Bell will conquer." David replied. I "He always does, vou know." ' "I am afraid you don't take my i *^'""e "e^, but not well enough to meaning, Mr. Steel." |nia.ke a long journey unless fairly David looked down into the sweet, troubloil face of his companion, and thence away to the vivid crimson patches beyond the dark belt of fol- iage. Ever and anon the inton.'^o stillness of tlie night was broken by the long-drawn howl of one of the hounds. David remembered it for years afterwards, it formed the most realistic chapter of one of his most popular novels. "Heaven only knows," he said. "I have been dragged into th; Ibusiness, but what it means I know no more than a child. 1 am mixed up in it, ai>d Bell is mixed up in it, and so are you. Why wo shall perhaps know some day." "You are not angry with me?" "Wiy, no. Only yo<i might have had a. little more confidence in me." "Mr. Steel, we dared not. We wanted your advice, and nothing |!l"i7"v more. Even now I am afraid I am if ^ , . , ,. , ,. . saying too much. There is a wither- \''^° ''"I for a long time bec-n lirmg ing blight over yonder house that 18^,^'°'^ health-bron.kinff sort of life, beyond mere words. And twice gal- I ''^" '^^ ^"^ °^ complication of malw long journe.v unless lairly well satisfied beforehand that there wa.'i at least a respectable chance of the resalts being satLsfactory, His own doiotors were also doubtful as to whether the cn'iiience aliorded justi- liccl taking .such a course. him a substantial pension for the rest of his life. KOCH CURE WAS rRTKD. When the Koch troatmeut for co»- i^imption first came out and mado « sorivntion a few years ago, thera wei-o thousands of poor people who wore clamoiing to go to Berlin and try it there; whilst, on the other, hantJ. the more well-to-do, under th« advice of homo »i>eciallsts, who wore not at all saiisllwl about it. pro- ferreil to stay at home for the time bcini;, nltihouiglj they were very airi- ous as to the results that were being said to ho achieved. Thus It hap- pened that in <rulte a large numboj« of cn!?e.s poor coiistimiptives wei-e ,s-ont' to Berlin, with all ex^iKjnses paid by rich ones, melroly that they miight return homo to report to the latter upon the beneiit, if any, thai, they had received. This kind of thing has its humor- ous side as well ns tho other. There aro hangers-on to most; hospitals who are willing to sMbuiit to any kind of medical or surgical treat- ment, not ntt«mdod by abpoluta danger, for n consideration, and the adaptability of thoso por.sons is often, surprising. ILL TO ORDER. One time a cuj-ious case of a very infrequent skin dl.seose was submit- ted to a loading Institution, and, thei'o were cii-cumstances which msade the staff hesitate about taiing the surgical courjw; which 'they felt was most likely to be cfllci9(it.-*nfter all. A trial was necessary beforehan'd, but such patients were scarce to tho last degree. JTowever, the doctor's perplexity became known to ono of tho })angei'.s-oii, ^md ten da.vs later he came forward with the signs of this discosQ â€" not ijy any means a dangerous one â€" In full evidence ii,pon himi. How on oftrth he had managed to contract It in the time was then, and still remains, a mystery. lis was operated upon, and cured im- mediately, receiving a suitable hon- orarium for tho inconvenience to which he hod been ptit; and then tho other patient was taken in hand anul .similarly relieved. "GIN-CHILDMS DOIMO]J JUVENILE DRINKING IN LON- DON, ENGLAND. Diseased levers are Commoiif Among Three-year-old Children. Inquiries among the hospitals and nuising siisters of London hardly bear out the evidence given bofoi'e the Comlmittee of Physical Detorior- Ution on the subject of juvenilo t V ' pay all tho expenses of any other poor Bufferer who.'se case might bo apjffoved by his medical man as be- ing very similar to liis own, and to give him a bonus of $1,000 as woll. on condition that ho would proceed at once on a thiee months' course of this new treatment, and report weekly to his patron as to tho re- sults. The n;atter was arranged, a patient selected, and he is at the present limo putting the trcattment to the lest, and reporting Again, a couple of years since, a middle-aged gentleman who is pretty nown In London society, and who had for the other. I was sent off on foot to look â-  for Van Sneck, only to find that he had suddenly left the city. Ho had got into trouble with the police, and had fled to avoid being sent to gaol. And from that day to this nothing has been seen of that picture." "But I read to-day that it is still In Littimer Castle," said David. "Another one," Bell observed. "Oblige me by opening yonder par- cel. T'herc you see is tho print that I purchased to-day for £5. 1'hen this, my friend, is the print that Was stolen from Littimer's lodgings in Amsterdam. If you look elo.sely at it you will see four du-ll red spots Jn the left-hand corner. They arc supposed to ba blood-spots from a cut linger of the artist. I am pro- pared to swear that this is the very print, frame and all, that was pur- chased in Amsterdam from that shady scoundrel Van Sneck." "But Littimer is credited with hav- ing ono in his collection," David urged . "He has one in his collection," Bell said, coolly. "And, moreover, ha is firmly unoer the impression that he is at present happy in the possession of his own lost treasure. And up to this very day I was un- der exactly the same delusion. Now I know that there have been two copies of the plate, and that this knowledge was u.setl to ruin me." "But," Steel murmured, "1 don't exactly sec " "I am just coming to that. Wo hunted high and low for the picture, but nowhere could it be found. Tho afl\air created a profound impro.'sion in Am&'terdam. A day or two later iVon Gulden went back to his duty on the Belgian frontier and business called nic home. 1 packed my soli- tary portmanteau and - . departed. .When I arrived at the frontier I oj)- ened my luggage for the Custom officer and the whole contents wore turned out without ceremony. On the bottom was a roll of jiaper on a Btick that I quite failed to recognise. An inquisitive Custom House olh- cer opened it and immediately called the lieutenant in charge. Strange to say, ho proved to be Von Gulden. Ho came up to me, vei'y gravely, with the paper in his hand. 'May I inquire liow this came amongst your luggage? ' ho asked. "I could say nothing; 1 was dumb. For there lay the Rembrandt. The red spots had been smudged out of the corner, but there the picture Wa.«». "Well, I lost my head then. I ac- cused Von (lultton of all kinds of dis- graceful things. .And he behaved like |dn.\time; therefore we must fall back I very badl> . i i ,», i (, a gentlemanâ€" ho made me ashamed I upon a littlo amateur burglary. But David would not hear nny- ""d the lalter engaged him. and re- o( myself. But he kept tho picture ' There's n. girl .vonder who might thing of tho kind. Tho whole adven- 1 'f»»^°'^' "â- '" nandsomoly for submit- nnd returned it to Litt-imcr, and I j h.->.vc a.isistcd mo at one time, but â€" " ture was strange to a dtgree, but j ''â- '"♦' ^° " sovore method of treatinout wa.s ruined. Lord Littimer dcclinc4 | Enid "lipped Into the road. The | it hcemod to matter nothing so long i **'<^'' '''<' oculists felt thoy would lant gentlemen ha^e como forward to our assistance. Both of thorn aro dead. And if we had dragged you, a total stranger, into the arena we should morally have mui-dered you." "Am I not within the chaimed cir- cle now?" David smiled. "Not of our free will," Ruth said, eagerly. "Vou came into the tangle with Hatherly Bell. Thank Heaven .you have an ally like that. And yet 1 am filled with abamc. "My dear young lady, what have yon to be ashamed of?" Ruth covered her face with her hands for a moment and David saw a tear or two trickle through tho slim fingers. He took tho hands in his gently, tenderly, and glanced in to the line, grey eyes. Never had ho been moved to a wonaan like this be- fore. "But what will you think of me?"' i Ruth whispered. "You have been so good and kind and I am so foolish. I What can you think of a girl who is | all this way from home at midnight! It is so â€" so unmaidenly.' "It might be in some girls, but I not in you," David said, boldly, j dies, and his doctor, when con-suited prescribed a very drastic and un- plea.'jant course of treatment, which involved long ab.ttontioii from al- most everything which in the pa- tient's opinion made life worth liv- ing He declared that, however ill he was. he would like to sec tfte ef- fect of this sort of doctoring on some other person before ho under- went such .s-acriflces on his own ac- count. A TRI\L THAT FAILED. It 150 hapjiencd that a ))recisely similar cnse came under the atten- tion of the medical man about the same time; but the patient was poor, and could not leave his woi-k for such a long pericxi as this treatment would involve, This being mention- ed to the other, he took hiivk into his own hon.'.e. jmid him a .mJary whicli was double what ho )iad boon getting, guarrtntoed him satisfactory cmployinont afterwards, and settlc<l all tho doctor's foes for tho treat- ment pii'.scrihed. lihen ho had the pJensuro of watching its effects day by dny. and studying them. In three week,s ho was stotisficd as to "If you had only come to me. Miss Ruth •â-  "I know, I know now. Oh, it is R blessed thing for a lonely girl to hnve one good man that she can re- ly upon. And you have been so very good, and wo have troated you very. to prosecute, but he would not sec | night was passably light and her Q3« and lie would hear of no explnn- l#eautiful (aatures were fnirly clear to the startled men in the road. "^Tio girl is here," sh» said ation. Indeed. 1 had none to offer. Kntd refused to .siec mo also or reply to my 'sttors. The story of my big gambling dobt. and its liquidation, ^ol aSoiit. Steel. 1 was ruined. What do you want?" Bill and bis companion cried out simultaneously : Boll becauco b'e was "One has only to look in your face . and see that only the good and tlio i '^^ offlcacy. pure dwell there. But were you not I But one of the most remarkable in- afrald?" j stances on record of this kind of "Horribly afraid. The very shad-ithing wa<» Ihht afforded in the ca.se ows startled me. But when I discov-|of Mr. Rouss, tho New York niillion- eied your errand to-night I wnslaire, who had lost his sight entiroI.via little twelvc-vcai^-old patient used bound to come. My loyalty to ky too nvich study of astronomy 1 to explain eagerly that her parents Enid demandoJ It, and 1 had not through a t*IePCopp at night. Ho wcro not exactlv drunkards, but one single person in the world whom ^ns so overwhelmed by his terrible they thank a good deal, and sho could trust. affliction that he offered a reward of could "do with" her glns.i toe. Btit $1,000,000 to any medical man who no evil efTocts apj>a.rently rt^nwiin. would di.scover a means of restoring The chiWron slwp off their drowsl- to him the use of his o.ves. Tho ness, which Is often cnuwxl bv brnndy pri7c wa-; a very tempting one. A administero<l for honest, if mistoJien, poor m*n was diacovored who was I medicinal rca.wM. and soon coaso .suffering from precisely tho same dia- j their clamor for these soothing doa- casT! of the o[itic nerve ns Mr, Rouns j es. It is hig-hly jirobablc that man.v cnsvji of weak digestion conipltcatiTifj other illnoKsc*, or a sindden oollapaa under pneumonia or some such com- mon nmlad.v, may be duo to a atata of lowerod reslatnnco caused b.v al- cohol; but hc-epital autl-jorities do not c.nro to commit thotnsolTes poai* >lively o\-on to tM« moAJidod »tmit9< mmt. To tho other p«»rtl«n> tliml oppose a flat denial. OS ho had Ruth for company. Still, | •"'<' ^ ♦'".V. but with which thoy the girl must ho got home. She j were afraid for many reasons of cx- could not be allowed to remain here, nor must sho be permitted to return to Brighton alcme. Hell strode up at the same moment. "Misa Hanson has been so good na perimoniing on thn rich blind mnn. Tlio pity of It wa.i that it failed. and Vioth h.id to remain in darkness; but tho niillioni«>rp, (rrateful nnyhow. to hia fellow-«i(Jcrer. settled ujwn Accordingly the patient ofTered to 'drinking, or what is luiown in somo medicinal circles as "the gin-child. Livers diseased by gin, according, to Mr. F. Maurice, ai~e comjmon nnrong children under thi'ee years old in ho,spitals. and sorei-al witmessea refen'ed to the same evil. In the children's ward of tho Lon- don Hospital, however, only ono ca.se of "drumkaixl's liver" has been Icnown. The patient was a boy of eight, and it is not at all cortaia whether this was du.o to inherited maladies or to the boy himself drinking spirits, WHAT MOTHERS SAY. ''â- ' It is practically impossible for tho roost .symj>athotic or experienced waitl .sister to find anything out fi-om the parents on this point. Ac- cording to the mother's account, erv- ery baby has been fed consistH.intly on fresh milk from a dairy, and tho other children have drunk nothing but water. At the Kast London Hospital for Children, again, only one child has been brought in the worse for dVink, This was a fTmulI boy who had found a boUle of rum on the table and di-unk a largo quantity of it; such a case can only be desicribed as an ac- cident. Neither doctors nor sisters at ei- ther hosjii'tal can remember any other ciuse in the children's ward di- rectly attributable to drink, or even for certain iu'dirdrtly so atil-ibutable. It miust lie ronicinil>ored that the LoDr- don Hospital is in the poorest (|uar- ter of Lomlon, and deals with twice ns many children as any hospital in tho cit.v, except that in Great Or- mond street. That little childi-en are giv^ij "nips' of beer and spirits is with- out ,^ doubt. I'X-eryonc has seen the ini<iuity with his o.vos; siok children aro brought into a ^^col•o of hoapitala drowsy with soporifics. They wako up at niffht In the wards now ami again cnllin>: for them. BOY WANTED BltANDY. A bo.v of eight in a hospital used to demand brandy con-stantly. and a ward si.stor in nnotlier narrates how