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f '^t(-Â¥lChÂ¥<HXH<H^ChÂ¥<iH>^1>4-ri^^-H*^^^^ I A House of Mystery OR, THE aiRL IN BLUE CHAPTER XX. "Now," I said, turning to Gedge, "perhaps you will show me over this new domain of mine. They seem to be pretty comfortable quarters, at any rate." He looked at me strangely. "You surely don't mean, sir, that you wish me to show you over your own house?" he said with incredu- lity. "Of course I do," I answered. "I've never been over it yet, and I think I may as well embrace the op- portunity now." "But ha_n't you better go t<5 your room and rest ] It will surely do you good. I'll ring for Rayner, the va- let." He spoke as though solicitous of my welfare. "I want no relets, neither do I re- quire rest," I answered impati- ently. "I mean to fathom this mystery." "But pardon me," he said defer- entially, "there is no mystery, as far as I can see. You accidentally struck your head against the statue while passing through the drawing- room, and were rendered unconsci- ous. The blow has, according to the doctor, impaired your mental capa- city a little. In a few days you'll be all right again. Poor Mrs. Heaton ! â€" she's awfully upset." "I will not have her called Mrs. Heaton!" I cried in indignation. "Understand that! I jiave no wife â€"and a hag like that I certainly Trould never marry." He raised his eyebrows with a gesture of regret, sighed, but haz- arded no remark. "Come," I said, "show me over the place. It will be a most inter- esting visit, I'm sure." And I laughed, reflecting upon my extra- ordinary position, one absolutely unparalleled in man's history. "But before doing so will you â- not sign one or two cheques?" he urged, glancing at his watch. "The postman will call for the letters in naif an hour, and they must be de- spatched to-day." "What cheques?" "There are six," he answered, taking out a large cheque-book and opening it. "I've already made them out if you will kindly •ign them." I glancad at them. All six were for large amounts, each consider- ably over a thousand pounds. "They relate to business transac- tions, all of which are exceeding- ly good bargains," he explained. "Well," I said, laughing again, 'I've never before signed cheques for such big amounts as these. But here goes, if you wish. Whether they'll be honored is quite another thing." And I took up a pen and append- ed my signature to each, while he (.laced one by one in envelopes ready directed to receive them. "Now," he said at last, "if you really wish me to take you round I'll do so, but the whole thing seems so droll and absurd that I hope, sir, you'll excuse my doubts as to your insanity." "Well, why do you think I'm in- sane?" I asked, looking straight at him. "Do I look like a mad- man?" "Not at all. With your head swathed in those bandages, you look like a man who's received a serious injury." "Of course, that confounded old charlatan Britten put forward the suggestion that I'm not in my right mind!" I said. "But I tell you quite calmly, and without fear of contradiction â€" indeed, I could swear upon oathâ€" that never in my life have I entered this place or set eyes upon you or upon that painted old girl before to-day. Now, if you were in my place, sure- ly you would resent being called husband by a woman whom you don't know from Adam ; you wouldn't relish being condemned as a lunatic by an idiotic old coun- try quack, and being imposed upon oil round by persons in whom you l.ave not the slightest interest." His face relaxed into a amile. "If I may be permitted to ad- vise you," he said, "I think it best not to discuss the matter further ai present. A solution must pre- sent itself before long. Meanwhile your intellect will be rendered the clearer by response." "I've already told you that I don't intend to rest urtil I've ex- tricated myself from this absurdly false position," I said determined- ly. "I feel absolutely certain that I've been mistaken for some one of th» same name." He shrugged his shoulders. He was evidently a shrewd fellow, this man who said he was my secretary and was apparently a very confi- dential servant. "I'd like to know what to reply to Mawson's cable,'' he said. "You really ought to take some rotice of such a marvellous stroke of good fortune. His discovery means fabulous wealth for you as holder of the concession." "My dear sir," I said, "for mercy's sake don't bother me about this fellow and his confound- ed pans. Reply just as you like. You sem to know all about it. I Uon't â€" nor I don't want to know." "But in a case like this I do not care to act on my own discretion alone," he protested. "They are 6%idently av.-aiting a reply in Daw- son City." "Let them wait," I said. "I don't want to bother mv head over matters in which I can have no possible concern. This alleged "The only Eraser I know is a bak might set up in the vain endeavor to develop into a country gentle- man ; for to become such i.s the ideal of every silk-hatted business man, whether he trades in stocks or stockings. "That I should be compelled to ahcv you over your own house is, to say the least, very amusing," said Gedge, as we were passing up the grand staircase. 'If people were told of this they wouldn't be- lieve it possible." "I myself don't believe what you tell me is possible," I remarked. "But who gave orders for this fur- niture 1" "You did." "And who chose it â€" approved of the designs, and all that sort of thing?" "You certainly did," he answer- ed "Some of the ideas were, of course, Mrs. Beaton's." "I thought so. I don't believe ffivself capable of such barbaric taste as those awful blues and gieens in the little sitting-room." "The morning-room, you mean."j "I suppose BO. The whole place] is like a furniture show-roomâ€" this ; style complete, thirty-five guineas j and so on. You know the sort of thing I mean." He smiled in amusement at my words. "Your friends all admire the place," he remarked. "What friends?" "Sir Charles Stimmel, Mr. Lar- combe. Lady Fraser, and people of that class." "I never heard of them in all my life. Who are theyl" I inquired, interested. "Friends of yours. They visit here often enough. I'ou surely ought to know them. Lady Fraser is your wife's dearest friend." Fraser?" I said reflectively tain prospectuses, tainly is none m soundness." (To be Continued but there cer your financial matrimonial alliance of mine is of far more importance to me than all the gold in the Klondyke." "Well, the lady is your wife, so why worry further about it?" he said. "And how do you know, pray?'' "Because I was present at the ceremony." I looked at him for a moment, unable to utter further words. "I suppose you'll tell me ne.xt that you were my secretary in my bachelor days?" I said at last. "Certainly I was." And you say that you were ac- cr in Clare Market, who supplies my old servant. Mrs. Parker, with bread. " Then, after a pause, I added, "And you say that these people are friends of mine ? Have I many friends?" "Lots. A rich man has always plenty of good-humored acquaint- ances." "They like to coma down here I'or a breath of country air, I sup- pose, eh?" I laughed. "That's about it," he answered. '.\ good many of them are not very sincere in their friendghip, I fear. The man who has money, lives well, GETS THE DOCTOR HABIT. Womao Who Likes Ut Puur Out Story of Aches and Pains. One of the tendencies of ill-health is to make one morbid. People who are constantly thinking about thir ailments, worrying about their trou- bles, suffering pain, often develop a morbid passion for sympathy. They want to tell everybody of their aches and pains, to describe their symptoms, says a writer. Have you ever known a woman who has ac- quired the doctor habit, a woman who loves nothing in the world quite 80 well as an opportunity to tell the doctor of her ailments ? She has poured them out to unwelcome ears, to forced listeners, till she longs for some one who uau really appreciate it all, who sympathizes with her in her troubles ; so she sends for the doctor or goes to see him. This be- comes almost a mania with some women, who have a few outside ac- tivities to divert them. Their minds naturally revert to themselves, and they think of their unfortunate con- dition until they become saturated with the pois' ned thought. â- tually present at the church, and | keeps a good table, and has choice saw me married?" I cried, abso- wines in his cellar need never be lutely incredulous. "I was. You were married at St. Andrew's, WelU Street. It was a smart wedding, too, for Mrs. Fordyce was very well known in society, and had a large circle of friends." "Fordyce?" I echoed, puzzled. "Yes, that was Mrs. Heaton's name before her marriage with you." "Then she was a widow?" I gasped. He nodded in the affirmative. I groaned. The affair grew more puzzling now that he declared him- self an actual witness of my matri- 1 nionial misfortune. I ut a loss for genial companions." "Y'ou seem to be a bit of a philo- sopher, my friend," I remarked. jlf smiled knowingly. 'I haven't' acted as your secre- tary without learning a few of the crooked wavs of the world." "What?" I exclaimed. "Don't I always act honestly, then?" This was something entirely new. "Nobody can be honest in fi- nance. "Well," imputation, 1 had ever sixpence in TITTLE TATTLE. ' Those people who do nothing do much harm. Small mistakes may have big con- sequences. Some men could only save money in prison. Generally speaking, a woman is generally speaking. Deserve the good opinions of those who think welt of you. It is not sufficient merely to aim straight â€" you must hit. Conceit in a woman is bad enough, but in a man it is awful. Enthusiasm can't do much with- out a certain amount of "hustle." We can excuse meanness in our- selves, but how we despise it in others? You m-.y lead an ass to knowl- edge, but you cannot make him think. Learning t-o be content with what we have is hard work for most of us. Experience shows that if we want a thing cheaply we must pay pretty dearly for it. "Laugh, and the world laughs with you" â€" so long as you are not laughing at the world. I said, resenting his "I wasn't aware that swindled a person of my life." Sixpences in such sums as they deal in at Winchester House don't KEEPING DOWN EXPENSES. "Mary," he said, as he scowled at her over the breakfast table. "John," she replied, fearlessly. "Mary," he said, "what kind of a breakfast do you call this?" "I call it an excellent one!" she replied, bravely. "You do !" he exclaimed. "Well, I don't I think a little variety oc- casionally would be a good thing SYZE OF BABYLON. Mueh Wild Conjecture Swept Away by Be«ent Exploratioafl. The report of the German Orien- tal Society on the extensive explor- ations carried out on the ruins of ancient Babylon, which has juit beon issued under the editorship of Dr. Friedrich Delitzsch, is a do- cument of more than usual inter- est, says the London Chronicle. Perhaps one of the most as- tonishing discoveries in the field of topographical research has been the tracing of the walls of the city and the ascertainment of the true size of the great city. Wonderful de- scriptions of the size of Babylon have |jr-en given, based chiefly on tha hearsay evidence of Herodotus, in ancient times, and the theories of the late Dr. Oppert. These writ- ers made the city a vast parallelo- f^ram, surrounded by a wall fiity miles long and a hundred feet high, with one hundred gates, and bisect- ed by the Euphrates. According to them the area was about as large as London and Paris together, or some forty square miles. All this wild conjecture has been swept away. The exploration of the walla commenced at the Babil fort, %Ba here was found a wall twenty-fivs f?et thick, with buttresses every sixty feet. The line of the waU was traced to the southeast angle, until it bends to the west and joins the great quay on the banks of th« river. This portion was pierced by only one gate, the gate of Isar, t!anked by tall towers decorated with friezes of lions and dragons in encaustic tile work. On the north it was traced to the river bank. The whole enclosure cover- ed an area of a little over one square mile, or roughly that of our City of London. In the Ksar or "palace" mound were found the remains of two great palaces, one built by Natupalaasar, the other by Nebuchadnezzar. Both were most complex in plan, con- taining hundreds oi rooms for the accommodation of retainers, offi- cials in the royal family. The two palaces are separated by a street. The later or new edifice is on the eastern side and consists of sev- eral groups of chambers arranged around quadrangles separated by strong walls and gateways. The largest of these is a royal quad- rangle, entered by a double gate- way. On the south side of this square ii the northern facade of the royal audience chamber or Selamlik. This facade was forty feet wide and had been richly decorated with flor- ai designs in enamelled brick in yellow, white, blue and black. The audience hall measures 60 by 170 feet and on the south side is a deep alcove with a dias in front, where the royal tlirone was placed. What a historic chamber this is I Here Nebuchadnezzar had sat and received homage ou his conquest of Jerusalem. Perhaps in thia very chamber Belshazzar's feast But how could such a thing have|count. It's the thousands.'' taken place without my know- We passed a couple of gaping Icdgo ? It was impossible. The Uuaid-servants in long-stringed n'ystery, like the strange incidents I caps, who stood aside, Rooking at which had preceded this remark- ' nie in wonder. No doubt the news able situation in which I found my- i that a demented man was in the self, grew more and more ine.xpli- j bouse had reached the servants' cable each hour. ihall. I was. in fact, on show to We went forth together, passing ^'^^i''^""^'*'''^^- . , , from room to room through the! "Tbeu you mean to imply that great country mansion. The place i ^•"^'^*' financial dealings of mme â€" T*as handsome, of rather modern!"' which, by the way, I have no t.\pe. furnished glaringlv in the i ''"*'*' '^"^K'" whatsoeverâ€" are not al- niannor which bespoke ' the par-i*'"'-^'^ l"'^* straight? I said, as venu. It possessed no mellow, I '^ walked •together down a long time-worn appearance, as did the *^*""P*^'^'^'' â„¢'"'"*"'''"- dear old Manor House beside the | He looked at ine in hesitation. Severn. 'The furniture and hang- 1 "It's, of course, business," he ings were too apparently of the I answered â€" "sharp business. I Tottenham Court Road type, and don't mean to imply that the deal- the art displayed was that of tli-i iigs at Winchester House are any .irt-furni!>>ier given carte blanche i '""re unfair than those of any furnisn witn the newest and Df. you realize that this is the ! held and the plaster covered walli • had received the terrible message. Here Cyrus the Coi queror was en- throned in June 538 B. C, and per- haps in this very chamber Alexan- der of Macedon hell the fatal rev- els after his overthrow of the Emr pire of the East. Nebuchadnezzar speaks of richly decorated palaces and temples, but the one prevailing feature of all the buildings was the dull, monotonoua brickwork, void of decoration. If gold and silver and precious stones, cedar and cypress wood, had been used, all disappeared long ago. H â€" t most fashionable fancies in the niatter of wall-papers, dados, cor- nices, and art-pottery. There were art-carpets and art-curtain.s. j clever art-cupboards and art-chairs, art- 1 court. china and art-chintzes. Art was everywhere in painful enamel and iinposisble greens. There were pic- tures, too, but different, indeed, to the long row of noble faces with their ruffles and doublets and their arras painted on shields in the cor- ners that looked down so solemnly in the great hall at Heaton. The I'.ictures in that modern mansion were of the queue-de-siclc French school, daubs by the miscalled im- pressionists, and some rather too chic to be decent. That a large amount of money had been expended upon the place T could D«t doubt, but the effect was that of dazzling the gaze by color, and nowhere seemed there a good, comfortable, old-fashi(>ned sitting-room. .\11 the apartments were arranged to please the eve. and not for personal comfort. The house was just the kind that a man suddenly succesaful in the city (fher financier in the City ; but sometimes, you know, there's just ;» flavor of smartness about them that might be misconstrued by a counsel in a Criminal "What I" I cried, halting and glaring at him. "Now. be frank with me. Gedge. Tell me plainly, have I ever swindled anybody I" "Certainly not," he said, laugh- ing. "Why, it's this very smart- ness that has made you what you are to-day â€"..a millionaire. If you had not been very wide awake and shi-ewtl you'd have been ruined long ago.'" "Then, I suppose, I'm well known in the city, eh?" "Y'our name's as well known as Bennett's clock, and your credit s-tands as high a.s any one's be- tween Ludgatc Hill and Fenchurch Street. " "Extraordinary!" 1 said. 'What >ou tell nie Sounds like some re- markable fairy tale " "The balance at your banker's is sufficient prc>of that wh:»t I s.iy is truth. " lie leinarkod "T third morning this week that we have had cold bacon?" "Certainly, John." "And that we had cold boiled bacon for dinner yesterday, and cold boiled bacon for supper' " "Of course, John. You wanted me to manage the house as econo- mically as I could." "Yes, but " "You said that the amount of meat consumed in thifli house would bankrupt a brewer." "I know, but I " "And that I ought to plan with n;ore regard for the expense." "Certainly, certainly, Mary; but hang it all " "I've been following your in- structions." "But I don't like cold boiled ba- con !" "I know it, John," .she said, in a businesslike way. 'That's what makes it last so long. It keeps ex- penses down splendidly, and if you want " "I don't!" he exclaimed, "I don't ! Let them run up ! You've got too good a business head for anything outside of a boarding- house." ere may I provoked if lie has to do it all over ; tain be a good many fi;iry talcs lu cer- a^r-ia." GOLD IN SOAKED ENVELOPE. A London firm recently received from a gold miner in Alaska the fol- lowing carious letter : "Gentlemen,. â€"Enclosed you will find an envelope which you will tear up in small piec- es and place in a glass of water ; let soak for an hour or so, then stir and drain, and you will find thirty grains of gold for which you will send me a stylographic pen wrapped up in a late newspaper." "These in- structions were duly carried out, and the gold, value 68., obtained,, in exchange for which the ingenious miner was sent a stylographic pen and two newspapers. â€" 1« A FOE TO MALARIA. That most animals have some specific function to perform is we.ll Jtnown. Now, scientists claim that a species of fish exists in .\ustralian waters which feeds on the larvae of mosquitoes and so reduces the pros- pects of malaria. It belongs to a family of carnivo/ous or flesh-eat- ing fish which is frequently found in the temperate and tropic zones, and usually in shallow water. Very small in size, being only about o.ie end a half to two inches in leng'i\ n iit has, in the ma'e. yellow and black Father painted it this I strined fins, while the eye is of a and he will be awfully I bright blue. The fins di-ring cer- seasons of the yenr aoquira great brilliancy. The young man was leaning on the garden-gate chatting with the c>bject of his affections when the latter said, hesitatingly:-- "I am gi ing to ask a great favor of you.' "It is already granted;" he -an- swered, devotedly. "\ very greal favor," she repeated, as if doubt- ful of the propriety of sVatiing it. "You're sure that yoif wonH thihk it presumptuous or forward of me ?'" "Never." he answered. "I gJory ill this evidence of your trust and confidence. Only tell me what t can do for you." 'â- Well," she re-- plied, with evident reluctance, "uould you mind not leaning that gate. Efternoon.