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if t V i*a4-icwa4-c(-fO. A Ht OR, THE GiRL i. CHAPTER XXVI.â€" {Cont'd). I "I demand to k. My Words perplexed her. That the was acquainted with tho An- scns I had no duubt, and I was likewise certain that she would never risk information being given to the police. More than once in the days long pas^ I had entertained a shrewd suspicion that she herself was the actual murderer of that young unknown man. I looked at her pale face, and vaguely wonder- ed again whether such were the truth. The fact that «he had secured my silence in return for my life as an outcome of that moat ingenious conspiracy had seemed to me proof conclusive of her guilt, and now that we had met in those strange circumstances the idea became im- pressed upon me more forcibly than ever. What might Se her real positioa in the secret diplomacy of Bulgaria I knew not. It was evident that cc'usiderable confidence was repos- ed in her. She had come to me with a cool demand to raise a loan of half a million sterling, end it was plain from what she had e.xplaincd that the money was urgently needed for the protection of the State against enemies both internal and external. My own position was uni- aue. Had not Qedge shown me tliose official documents, which gave me concessions in the Principality of Bulgaria, I should have laughed this woman's curious story to scorn Ksi a piece of impossible fiction. But I had glanced over some of those papers at Denbury, and was satis- fied that I had actually had many dealings with that State during the si?- years of my unconscious but prosperous existence. Thire seem- ed every truth in her statement that to her had been due my success in the City in the first instance. "And supposing you broke your promise and went to Scotland Yard?" she suggested at length, her eyes still fixed upon mc. "What would you expect to find?" "To find?" I echoed. "I should find traces of the crime within that room." She nodded. I had expected u-.'^ words to have some confusing ef- fect upon her, nevertheless, on the contrary, she remained perfectly calm. Her self-control was extra- ordinary. "And what would it profit "you, pray?" she asked. "I should at least know that I had endeavored to bring to justice those responsible for the poor fel- low's death." "It would only be an endeavor â€" a vain one, I assure you." "You mean that th'j secret is too well concealed ever to be reveal- ed," I observed quickly. "Yes,'" she said; "you have guessed aright." "And, in other words, you defy me to discover the truth?" "I have not said so. The wori defy is scarcely one which should be used between us, I think, con- sidering that our interests are to- day mutualâ€" just as they were on the night of the crime." "I fail to see that," I answered. "I have no interest whatever in keeping this terrible secret hidden, for while I do so I am acting iiie part of accessory." "But surely yoa have an interest in preserving your own life?" she urged. "Then you imply that if I were to lay information at Scotland Yard I should be in peril of my life i" I asked, looking straight into those Cfr.lm eyes that ever and anon seam- ed full of mystery. "Of that I cannot speak with any degree of certainty," she respond- ed. "I would only warn you that in this matter continued silence is by far the best." "But you have uttered a veiled threat!" I cried. "You are aware of the whole facts, and yet refuse to impart to mc thij sira(>le informa- tion of the whereabouts of Mrs. .\n- son. Do you think it possible in suoh a case that I can entertain any eonfidento in you. or in your eiiraordinary stojy regarding the ah'airs of Bulgaria and it."* Prince?" "I am unable to give you any information regarding the lady you mention," sho replied, with a slight frown of annoyan(.e. "But you are acquainted with fcer?" "I may beâ€" what then ?" la" "And in reply I am in ignorance.'' "In that case," I aai refuse to have any fur! whatsoever with you. first I became drawn ii by you, bound down ani. years held silent by your t. But, madam, I now tell you p ly "flf my intentions. I msan morrow to lay the whole facts fore the Director of Criminal vestigations, including thip. storj yours regarding the Prince and people." She rose slowly from her chs perfectly calm, her dignity unri fled. Her manner was absolute, perfect. Had she been a princess, herself she could not have treated my sudden ebullition of anger with greater disdain. She gathered up the papers she had put before mc, and, replacing them in the despatch-box, locked ^t with the golden master-key upon her bangle. Afterwards, she turned to me and said, in a hard distinct voice â€" "Then I understand that I have to inform Eis Serene Highness that you refuse to assist him further?" "Tell him whatever you choose, madam," I answered, rising and taking up my hat and cane. "I shall, in future, act according to niy own iucliuations." "And at your own risk!" she ad- ded, in a harsh voice, as, bowing stiflBy before her, I turned tuw&rds tht door. ' accept vour challengeâ€"*' my ova risk." A CHAPTER XXVII. The mellow summer twilight was fast deepening into night as 1 stiode along Piccidilly towards the Circus, after leaving the grey-eyed woman who held the secret. What she had revealed to me was :>tartling, yet the one fact which r.iuR^d me more apprehension than • all ( thers was the curious means by ' wri.?h she had discovered my where- abouts. If she had been enabled to i(u this, then the police would, no doubt, very soon find me and return mt to iny so-called "friends." In despair I thought of Mabel. Long ago I had surrendered my whole heart to her.. She had at roi pa 1 wa: .•,n t r(,t 'Tar .1 tel "at- .ue ho- . entries, . that Mrs. .^t had arriv- .Q, 1891, and had the best suites of jjune 5th, when they _,ill and left suddenly. J at Mabel's letter. It i June 4th. She had left lay following. I could learn 'g further. iPjan excited, unsettled state of minff, unable to decide how to act, .1 retttr'ned to London, and then, out of .'.beer want of something to do, I trnvelled down to Heaton. The old Aace was the same : neglec- ted and deserted, but full of me- mories of days bygone. Old Baxter and his wife were both dead, and the caretakers were fresh servants whom my agent had apparently en- gaged. I also learnt that Parker, the faithful old won;«Ln wjio had tt'nded to my wants in Essex street. Yes, madam," I answered; "l^ad also passed away more than two years before I spent a dismal day wandering through the house and park, then drove back to Tewkesbury, and on the following morning returned to London. In the six years that had elapsed since my last visit to the Manor nothi^ig had changed save, perhaps, that the grass had grown more luxuriantly over the gravel- led drive, and the stone exwrior was being gradually rendered grey by the lichen which in those parts overgrows everything. The mystery of the crime, and of the singular events which had fol- lowed was an enigma which seemed utterly beyond solution. My nerves were shattered. As the days went by an increasing de- sire possessed me to ascertain more of that woman who called herself fi) St placed a strong and high-mind- i O^'nger, and was the confidcnUal el confidence in uie, judging me bvlon'issary of a reigning prince, blie her own loftv spirit, but that unac-|a'one knew the truth therefore countable rupture had occurred, h^hy should I not caiefully watch and she had gone from me crushed I her movements, and endeavor to and heart-broken. In mv pocket I discover her intentions? trorn tlie carried her letter, and the more I thought over it the more puzzled I became. Daily, hourly, 1 lament- e ' over the broken and shattered f.-agments of all that was fairest on earth ; 1 had been bore at cnce from calm and lofty and delighted spo- ci'lations into tho very heart of fear and tribulations. My love for her was now ranked by myself as a fond veiled threat she had uttered, it was evident that although she did rot fear any revelations that 1 might make, yet she regarded mc as a person detrimental to her in- terests. As long as 1 had acted as her agent in negotiating loans for the Principality, she had secured f. r me hiffli favor in the eyes of Prince Ferdinand. But the fact record whichTm'ust'erase for ever I that I had gained consciousness from mv heart and brain. Once llai'd re/used to assist her ^f"rt»ie»- had thought to link my destiny with hers: but, alas! I could not now marry hor, nor could I reveal to her, knowing them not, tho mysteri- ous influences which had changed the whole current of my life and purposes. My secret burden was that of a heart bursting with its cwn unuttered grief. The whole of the cventc swept past me like a torrent which hur- ried along in its dark and restless course all those about me towards^ some overwhelming catastrophe. Tormented by remorseful doubts and pursued by distraction, I felt assured that Mabel, in her unresist- ing tenderness, her mournful sweet- ness, her virgin innocence, was doomed to perish by that relentless power which hed linked hor distiny with crime and contest in wh'ch she had no part but as a sufferer. It, is, alas ! the property of crime to e.Ktend its mischiefs over inno- cence, as it is of virtue, to extend its blessing over many that de- serve them not. Plunged \u th<»i sea of troufcies, of perplexitira, of :xgonies, uud of terrors, 1 rellected upon all that the woman Edna had told me. It seem- ed inconceivable that Bulgaria's ruler should demand assistance of meâ€" and yet it was undoubtedly true. had taken her completely by sur- prise. That same evening I called at the Bath Hoel, and ascertained that "Mrs. Grainger" had left some days before. She had not, it ap- peared, given any address where letters might be forwarded, but a judicious tip administered to a hall- porter caused him suddenly to re- collect that a couple of days before her departure she had sent a dress- ing-bag to a trunk-maker's a little further down Piccadilly, to be re- paired. This bag had not been re- turned to the hotel, therefore 't was quite probable, thought the hall-porter, that the trunk-maker had forwarded' it to her. "You know the people at the tiunk-inaker's, of course?" I said. "Yes. sir. Many visitors here want repairs done to their boxes and bags." "The Bath Hotel is therefore a good customer?" I remarked. "They would certainly give you her address if you asked for it."' He seemed a trifle dubious, but at my request went along to the shop, and a quarter of an hour lat- er returned with an address. She had not moved far, it ap- peared. Only to the Midland Ho tel at St. Pancras. Late that night I myself left the .fa doctor y sight. . ,ing most a room on ., numbered iQt room I io- . - cu secure .-otiT of eggs from .«;n. It is characteris- businesB of producing at a shortage in the summer ,»n overplus in the winter does ^^|ut affect prices to any great de- Continued.) ON THE Fii BETTER CREAM NEEDED. Too much caunct t;e said on the question uf separtiting and caring ree. This is because the law of average applies. If one poultry- man's hens lay well in winter the increased supply is not large enough to lower prices, while if one flock ceases to produce in early summer other Hocks go right on producing the usual summer out- put. This gives the individual pcultryman an opportunity to con- duct his business so as to get the best results by producing the larg- est number of eggs at a time when tiie prices are highest. In the poul- try keeping as in any other busi- ness it is ability tu see ahead which makes fur success. THE FLRST MILK. Some recent English investiga- tions, carried out un behalf of some of the County and Borough Coua- cils in Yorkshire, demonstrated for cream at the cream gathering ' that the first milk drawn from each creameries. It is a string that cow contained an enormously great- cann'ot be played upon too often in j er number of germs than either the the present condition of the but- 1 raid-milk or the strippings. The ter business. Cleanliness is at the first or fore milk represented the root of the matter. Keep the cows ' firsc 26 cubic centimeters drawn clean and in clean places. Let the | from the teat, the mid-mi:k being milker be clean, his clothes as well â-  taken when the milking was half a? his hands. Clean the udder bo- | accomplished. fore beginning to milk, and milk | The aumbero were quite variable, with dry clean hands. but the results largely confirmed More patrons are weak in sep- tliose of other inve:3tigators, one of arator management and handling ! whom found 97,000 bacteria in the the cream than anything elae. One I first mijk, as compared with about jf the creamery instructors report- j 9,000 in ',he mid-milk, and 500 in the ed last year that he found separa- i strippin^'s. It see.ns that the bac- t<.rs sitting in every conceivable teria clustered in colonies about the place from the kitchen to the hog : end of the teat are largely washed pen. A clean separator is one of | away by the first few streams of the most valuable adjuncts of the i milk drawn from the quarter. The doi-y. But it canuut keep bad llav- i practical lesson is, of course, to re- o. J and dirt out of the milk orlject the first two t)r three streams cream unless properly used. It I of milk from each teat, not evefl should be thoroughly cleaned after ' allowing it to come in contact with each separation and kept clean. It ; the inside of the pail. As the fore- should be operated in a place where ! milk is very thin and watery, prac- everything is clean a.id the atinos- j tically no butler-fat is lost, while phere pure. When the milk is run the bacterial content of the mess of through the separator it is at the milk will be very much reduced, temperature at which it is taken i and its wht)lesonieness and keeping from the cow, or nearly so. In 'other words, it is just in a condi- tion to absorb bad flavors. In the separating process the milk is ex- posed to the surrounding air. It passes through the separator in a fine stream, every particle coming j in touch with the separator. If the qualities accordingly improved. STKONGEH THAN RILES. Uomen Prixonors in Italy Found .Means of "M.iliiHg I p." ^ __ ^ ^^ ^_ __^ Prison rules in Italy are most iatterrs "not clean ''and'Tree ^from ! ='"^t' cs^pecially so far as the dress taint, the milk, or rather the cream, ! '^^ '"« prisoners is concerned Fow- ls sure to be affected. jder, scent, cosmetics,, and ,n;l other There is too much thin, sour I n«ndnia!ds of vanity .-.re f.ir'udden, cream being sunpiied. This is due U?ut coquetry is stronger than rules, to improper separating, A richer '^^'â- Â«'"* Prisoners found the cream should be secured. It wiinj?*^'^"^ "f. P'-wd^mg their :voes keep better; there will be a smal- j ^,'"^.>' P»tu'ntly licked the walls of ler amount to keep cool, less load ^''^"' tor the driver, and. less bulk for th? butter maker to handle. The bet- ter quality uf cream will insure iictter butter being made and a better financial return to the pat- rons. .Many creamery patrons lack pro- per cooling facilities. Some pat- rons seem to think that the buying of a cream separator will enable them to do without ice. 3iit ice 'is just as necessary for cooling the cream as it was for cooling the milk to facilitate the raising of the cream before the separator was bought, loe in plenty should be supplied for cooling the cream as soon as separated. ADVA>}T.\GES OF POULTRY KEEPING. The poultry" keeper above all other business men has the advan- tage of having for sale a product which is saleable every day in the year in any part of the country. There is no town so small, no vil- lage so remote that poultry and eggs are not in demand at all times, and in many instances the more re- mote the towu the better the prices. The poultry keeper has also the ad- vantage of being able to foretell within a narrow range what price he will obtain for his produce. He knows that at certain times he will be able to get high prices and at other tunes prices are very likely Ic fall. He knows that year after year certaiii price curves Tvill be found in the market quotations and these will not vary widely in any series of years. Tlie price of beef, mutton, pork, wool, cotton, farm produce of any kind, is likely to swing through a wide arc in conse- cutive years, prices being made on demand or according t^ the qua- lity produced. With the products of the poultry yard it is different, .talk. Prices go up and down almost as regularly as if thoy had been fixed to remain permanent, and the poultry keeper need not worry about supply and demand. He cells, niasticatcf! thvi white- wash and thus obtained r. kiiid of white paste. wit!i which thoy pioudly coateu their faces. One woman was fiuind with her cheeks covered with rouge li':o a ballet girl. Xo cjnc could realize how she haol managed it. Her cell was thoroughly but \aiuiv search- ed. Evcntu.ally the niystv*ry was solv- ed. In tho nightgowns u-ed by the prisoners there are .a few red threads. This wi^man had pat'cnt- ly pulled out these threads one by one, had soaked them in water, a id in this originftl \va\»had made sumo rouge hir hor private use. BRITAIN'S LAllGEST STATION. .\lthough London is the largest city in the world, there are certain respects in which it is beaten. One of these is railway-stations. Liver- pool Street, London's largest .sta- tion, is smaller by about half an acre than Waverley Station, Kdin- burgh, which covers twenty-threo acres in all. Waverley Station â€" which is the l.irgest in the world â€" contain.s two main platforms, each 660 yards long; seventeen (jpcks, of an average length of 180 yards each ; and a cab-yard 2,200 squar<i yards in area. Within the boun- daries of the station are 1S,850 yards of permanent wa.v. The sta- t'on staff ciimprises some 400 men. There are fi\o signal-cabins, and in the telegraph department forty op- erators handle some 4,000 messages daily. GENEK.VLLY THUS. Jackâ€" "I .ittendod a piano recital last night." Tomâ€" "What is a piano rec'tal ?" Jackâ€" "It's a so-called entertain- ment where one person pounds a pi.ano and all the others pre.scnt OPTIMISTIC. "Is he optimistic?" "Optinii.stic ? Why mc i. ho talhs like a mine prospector" 1 I