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+H HWW++++++++++++I HM+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++1 t - + Face to Face 1 @@@@@@@@ i ' + 0R, GERVASE RicKMAN’s AMBITION. '+ 57++++++++H ++ +++++++¢+ ++++++++++++++++++ (ItlAl’l‘liR \'. 'I‘he thick-moted sunbeam.- of a June midday fell broadly through the win- dows of \Vhewcll & tticknian's ottices, Scorning the flimsy screen of the dingy white blinds, rejoicing the companies of flies buzzing drowsity in ttieir complex evolutions through the tliii-k air. and making those clerks swear whose desks were not in the shadow; they poured in a broad strain of light into tiervase Rickinan's private room. where he sat at his writing-table out of their range. and commanded a view of the l‘ltsy street beneath. Sheets of paper covered with figures lay before him; he had been at, work for an hour mid more solving Complex arithmetical problems. deduced from various documents scattered here and there; the final result, of his calcula- tions was evidently satisfactory. though he looked pale and exhausted as well as relieved, like one just delivered from great peril. “Of one thing I am quite resolved," he said to himself, lifting his face from the papers and leaning back in his chair, “never again will I speculate with other Pmpit“s moneyâ€"at least not in large sumsâ€"it is too risky." Only two days before he had been ap- palled by the receipt of a telegram from a trusty tiand in the East to the effect that tile hitherto rapidly risingr Chinese Chin-buns in which he had largely iii- vested were about to fall heavily, and an expression unintelligible to any but him- self at. the end of the dispatch told him they would soon be worthless. tle iii- stantly telegraphed to his broker to sell the whole of his Chinese stock ; next day he received a telegram to say that the sale was effected at a hiin though low- crcd price. Then he breathed freely. satisfied at having doubled his capital, in spite of all. And now the morning papeis announced a fall in Chin-Luns heavy enough to have absorbed half his invested money; lO-lllOl'l‘0\\"5 quotation he knew would be lower; he had only just been in time. The Cliin-Luns were not. the only perilous stocks in which he find specu- lated; they serve as a specimen of the terribly exciting game Grrvcse lticknian was playing, a game as dependent on chance as any played over green cloth, and yet, like those, subject to certain laws and capabable of occasionally yielding satisfactory results to a player of iron nerve and cool and steady brain. By constantly and closely watching Commercial and political affairs; by dint of information which he managed to obtain from all sorts of unsuspected channels and which he never hesitated to act upon; by an intuitive insight into men and affairs which amounted to genius, together with a great capacity for calculating and combining. and de- ducing order from chaos, and a courage that nothing could daunt. this hard- hcaded young man, NSolutcly following the noble maxim of buying in the cheap- est market and selling in the dearest. had, in spite of many a hairâ€"breadth es- cape from ruin, doubled and quadrupled his capital in the brief course of a few years. His face wore a triumphant ex- pression as he sat. at his writing-table and looked at the final result of the complicated net-work of investments which he was carrying on. suspected by few. and fully known to nobodyf A newspaper lay on tlicIIable: his eye caught the leading points of a crimi- nat trial recorded in the uppermost colâ€" unins, mid he smiled an indulgent, half~ pitying smile, such a smile as a skittfiil artist may accord to the failure of a lie- ginner. “\Vhat a number of fools~ there are in the world.‘ he thought “uncon- scious fools, who blunder themselves into the grip of the law. thinking themselves capable t" lle hastily glanced through the case, that of a lawyer who had spec- ulated with trust-money and lost it, then be tossed the paper aside, and began pondering the question of reinvestmcnts for the. Chin-Lun funds. It really went to his heart. to tiave to give such low iii- terest to Alice Lingard after having doubled her money; but he could not give more. than the interest legal for trustâ€"money, and after all it would come te the. same in the end: was it not all fox her? [to thought of others whose money had been the golden seed for his rich harvest, widows and orphans among them: and quieted certain faint qualms of what still remained of his conscience by reflecting that all the strictest justice required of ltilll was to return them their capital with fair iii- terest. It is no doubt a line. thfiig. he considered, for lawyers to manage the affairs of incapables. and take care of their money for them; but then lawyers must live. He was a ieiiiurkably clever young man, and, as he frequently thought, it was really a great pity that talents so brilliant and a courage 5o magnificent were not employed in the direction of large national, even Euro- pean affairs: a lawyer's ott‘iCe was too narrow a cell for capabilities like his. they could not. expand and develop as they ought. "Soon." be reflected. “if I do not breakâ€"and I will notâ€"I shall have enough." 'l‘lii< saying alone proved him to be a reinarkabte man. flow often does one L :‘Cl with a human being who knows a tiuiil to his desire for wealth, especially oni- who has tasted the fierce rapture for giiiiibhng‘.’ Rut tiervasc llicknian was no money \VOlSlllpOl': he desired wealth only as a stepping- stone to power: nor was he a slave to the passion of gain- l-ling; had he been so. he would never have kept the cool brain necessary to a winner. i “I do wonder, l‘lickman," said his new partner. .\fr. Duisti. one day. “that, with yt-ui' capacity for public life you are not more ambitious." “Do you 1’" returned flicknian. sweetly. “\\'cll. it is no doubt a tine thing to be Mayor of Medinglon. but I think Davis will make a better mayor than t should." So Mr. llavis was elected to the munici- pal \acaney Mr. Daiin wished his part- nci' to tilt, and Gervase Ricknian saw the latter march to the parish church. in a black silk gown trimmed with blue Velvet behind the mayor in scarlet and fur. and thought how funny ‘.\lr. Daish's notions of ambition were. .\tr. llaish. ,who knew what an immense practice \\‘|iew-ctt & Rickman's was. so immense that. in spite of the addition of a partner t‘. the firm. they were about to give up the affairs of the illedeswi’irth estate. Yet the financial crisis. or rather crises, through which (lei-vase ltii"i\'lltttll had just passed. coming as it did so shortly before the day of recto'ining. Alice Li -' gard's twenty-first birthday. shook ev his iron nerves, so that he rose to leave his otlicc for luncheon at an unusually early hour, feeling an. unwonted lassi- tude and distaste for work, and strolled quietly along the shady side of the streets “'1 he came quite suddenly upon a rus- tic lane with a mill and bridge. under which a clear. deep stream flowed tran- quitly. shadowed by the green gloom of overâ€"arching trees. Here at test. leaning on a. rail and let- tint.r his thoughts wander at will with the quiet flow of the waters. as thoughts will wander. borne peacefully upon a pass ing stream. The water made the sole barrier between the road and an orchard which sloped from t]. gentle rise down to the, verge. grassy, cool. and fresh. full of the quiet lights which fall at midday through summer trees, and rest upon brown trunks and green grass. But he could not find the mental re- pose he sought by the water-side; some- thing which had passed between him- self and Alice Lingard a day or two be- fore came mid troubled him. satisfac- tory as on the whole he considered it. It was the, day after Edward Annes» lcy's visit to the Manor. and Gervase had [ridden over in the evening, to look, .lie said. to the marking-of the shorn sheep. but really to see how Alice, whom he had missed in the morning. was faring. Of late Alice had drawn i-loser to him. ceiiipt-etely set at rest, by the perfect way in which he cloaked the true nature of “his feelings toward her. and referring;r to him in every little doubt and dilliculty as she did to no one else. Much as she loved her adopted father and mother, she relied little upon them; llt'l' nature was stronger than theirs. and she un- consciously regardcd herself as a stay to them. and did not look to them for sup- port. Sibyl was her coinpanii'ni and he- loved sister. btit a sister. however dear. is not a brother. which G-ervasc was and proved himself in a thousand unobtru- sive ways. He told Sibyl that he wanted to be alone \vith‘Alii-e that evening. and Sibyt. accustomed to confer privately with him herself. thought this perfectly natural, she therefore soon found an excuse for leaving them to the quiet stroll (lei-vase ])l'|l])(lSCt.l. and he and Alice walked on tranquilty alone together in the cool hush of the evening. “What is it?" he asked. quietly. when their desultory talk had come to an end. and they were resting half-way up the dcwn against a gate. Alice did not. answer for a few min- utes. but gazed on silently at the house and church steeping beneath them in the last rays of evening. “\Vollidllt it be a relief to speak ‘7" he cenlinued, after a little. “You are pale and worn. you look as if you had had no sleep: something is worrying you." “Yes.” she replied, “nothing will eru- set this right." Stow tCut‘s rose to her ieyes. and fell on the rough wood of the gate on which her arms rested, and the tears went to his heart. “Home. my dear child," he said, at- n‘.0st roughly. “this won‘t do. This is not like you. .\lice." “0h. (‘ierv she cried. “you were always a good brother to me." and she turned to him and beat her head tilt her forehead touched his shoulder and rested there. tte summoned all his iron strength to resist the feeling< stirred by that light teach: to yield now to one impulse would be fatal. the impulse to fold the graceful burden stayed thus lightly upon him to his heart, and though hati‘em- bled slightly he did not move ii muscle, lt was but. a moment that Alice leaned against the strong arm. feeling an in‘ dcscribable accession of moral support from the momentary contact, then she lifted her head, and the wild throbbing within him. of which she was so uncon- scious, quieted down. and Gervase's in- vincible will resumed its undisputed sway. use I She looked up in his face withchild-like hilt?" she added; confidence. and asked herself why she should bear a crushing burden alone, when she had so true and strong a friend to share it with her; (iervase answered tier appealing look witli a re- assuring smile. “I have no brother of my own,“ she continued. “and neither father nor mo-l ltier to consult, and t have had to make a decision~ and ~l am not quite sure if t have done right." . She. had done it, then; a weight was lifted off his heart. and he smiled n’iore paternally than before. “My dear child," he returned. “t have no dotibt that you have acted wisely and well, but th- wisest of us not-it a little friendly counsel at times." “.\nd besides the Confidence l have in you,” she added. “there is no one tilted by cirriiinstaiiees to advise upon this subject." “No? That is a good thing." “(iervawf' she said. in the low tones of intense feeling, “1 was under the trees iv the lloubs that afternoonâ€"l had been asleep. I overheard what you and lid- ward Anncsley said." tiervase was startled for a moment fl‘tlfll his self-Control; all the, bloodi rushed to his heart as he gazed half ter- rified upon her. wondering what she eeuld tiave heard, and trying,r to recall tin exact circumstances of their tllt‘l‘t- iltth and the words iii the t'tltl\t'l'\'iliti)li.l “I heard your promise,“ she continued, “and I will not ask you to break it, but i will ask you this. tl‘eczitise of what occurred that day. and for no other rea- son. I refused toalay to marry l-ldward Annestey. \\'as I right?" He did not answer for awhile; all the sunny. peaceful ticlds whirled before his eyes. his brain throbbeit, Had be known that she \Viltlltl put this terribly direct question to him he would never have, l‘l>l\'t.‘tl being alone with her. He looked at her earnest face. worn by inward suffering and noble wnn pure and loyal feeling. and felt that never before had she been so dear to ilillt as now. while she i N) lllt‘, was ttiiis guitetessly contidiiij,r to his ears her love for another lllilll. In a dim way he realized the depth and beauty of that love, slli'il it love as he could never hope to win. He knew that he held Alice's happiness in his hands, that the whole of her future life dcpenib ed upon the next words he should say. and his heart was rent asunder with (Hindu-ting feelings. it would ire sweet to make her happy, to see her face tighten and brighten and break into per- tei'l, joy at his words; that would be better than any more, settish satisfneth'ini that might. come from making her his own. “0h. Alice!" he tattered. lifted above himself for a moment by the purifying passion of his love. oblivious of self. de- siring nothing but the good of the gutte- less being whose iiipral beauty had so conquered hiin,, “Alice I" Yet he paused. true to his cautious character. before yielding to his higher nature, and irrevocably changing the course of their lives, and the pans-e. as such pause». are. was fatal. All his life, with its aims. ambitions and strong‘ j'iurposes. flashed before him in a iiio< ment of limeâ€"for the 'l‘cinpter exercises a strong i‘iecronianey over those who’ patter with their better impulses. and crushes a life-time of thought and feet- ing into a lllt)lllt‘ltlvlli‘ thought with poignant self-pity of the long years dur- ing which his heart hint been wasting in patient love for .\liee. and he stiuddircd to think how black and unbeatable a future without her would be. Then the Sl’Cttlltl :‘tl‘iilig‘ feetii'g of his licfll‘t, his love for Siliyt. appealed to him along with more selliin passii'ins: all her life, so closely bound up in his own. came before him from her babyliood till now. and that subtle soiiielhing. which twists everything within us to sottish ends, aiid justities our evil wishes. persuaded him that Sibyl's interests rather than his own were at stake. tle reralteit his sorrow, when she lay as a child at the point of death. and they told him she must die; he reiiieiiibcrid how he prayed. as he never prayed before or sinccwprayer was a longr disused habit with himâ€"how ir,’ nursed her. feeling as if his strong affection had \yrrslcd her from the jaws of death. lie-thought with leiidcr pride oi her beauty and talents, and he thought of her face the evening before. when she looked upon Edward in his trouble; Sibyt must be happy at any Cost. $0 llt‘ resolved. _\lice interpreted his apparent agita- tion with a sinking heart; she scarcely new needed words to confirm her worst fears. “\\'as I right?" she repeated. There was a singing in his ears. his lips were so dry that he could scarcely speak: he pausiid again. and at last said in a voice that sounded strange and harsh to lmth of them. “Quite right." Alice made no reply. but the look in her face was one he never forgot. never could forget. and the tnies of his own \‘(ice rang hauntingly in the ears of his memory loin,r after. lowly (is they were spoken. “Quite right." echoed the harsh voice of the corn-erake in the eveing stillness. “Quite right I" cawed the long string of 1‘00le proceeding solemnly lionieward. dark specks against the pure sky. “Quite right." tinkted the belts of the browsing sheep on the down above. “Quite right," murmured the rhythmic beat of his own heart, till the words, simple and few as they were. became meaningless by repetition. and yet more dreadful. 'l‘o Alice, resing on the gate. with bowed head and averted face, they were the final knell of all that made life dear. After some minutes of painful silence, .\tice lifted her head, and the rose-light oi the setting sun struck full upon the marble calm of her face, enhancing and still further spiritualizing its already spiritual beauty. “Dear Gervase." she said. with the in- describable smile which comes from the depths of suffering, “you will never again refer to this.” “Never again," he murmured. “Shall we go just. to the crest of the and they strolled ESTIMATES and RESULTS. When the Greatâ€"Wont Life. commenced business in 1892, participating rates were issued calling for dividends in 15 and 20 years. and also with the "Quin- qucnninl" or 5 year dividend period. Life Policiea issued in 1892 on tho flva year dividend plan received their first. dividend of the full estimated bonus of $50.00 per $1,000.00: their second dividend in 1902 of 50 per cent. over the. estimated dividend ; and this year, 1907, are receiving their third dividend of just. double the first. dividend and estimate. . Every Policyholder has expressed his gratification with these. dividends. which are paid at the option of the Polieyholder as fully paid bonus addi- tions. the. equivalent in cash. or in reduction of future premiums. The distribution is on the English basis of an equal percentage of the ‘ sum assured, and not. on the American ao-called “contributton” system, and the eminent English Actuaries. R. P. Hardy, F.I..-\.. and George King, F.I.A.. F.I“.A., reported recently to the New Zenland Government. "that as a work- ing system it. has marked advantages over ‘che contribution plan. because it. gives more uniform results." Our 15 your Deferred Dividend Policies issued in 1892 mature this year, and our Actuary has reported that they have earned. and are entitled to be paid. the full amount. of the profits estimated at. the time. Our Non-Participating rates are. and always have been. very low. but. the results of our fifteen years' experience prove that. the cost. of Participat- ing Insurance has been very much less than these low non-participating rates. because of our hiuh interest earnings. The applications for the first, quarter of 1907 are. over a. million dollars in excess of the some period of 1906. every Province of the. Dominion having con- tributed its quota to theso magnificent figures in appreciation of the unpro- cedcntied results accomplished by this representative Canadian Company. No attempt. of faddy foreign actuaries. disgruntled newspapers that. fail to get. the advertising they expect, or legislative committees. well described by D. P. Fackler. the well-known ex-Prcaidem. of the Actuarial America. as "absolutely innocent of any life insurance knowledge. Society of " must- be allowed to "knock" the Canadian business of Life Insurance. For fuller particulars, Send for a copy of the Great-West. Life Report for 1906. The Great-West Life Assurance Company HEAD OFFICEâ€"WINNIPEG. BR ANCII OFFICESâ€"Vancouver. Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax. St. John, NE. 1906 shows large gains over 1905. New business amounts to $5,503,547 in 3,026upolicies, of this $46,000 was written in Newfoundland and the balance entirely within the Dominion. The following are some interest- facts from the Company’s 37th Annual Statement. , moonm. Premiuml, lens ten-lur- nnce. . . .0 1,604,581.74 Interet and rents . . 464,046.93 Profit from male 01 Real Estate .. .n, . . ... u 3,194.41 -â€"_â€"â€"â€" 3 2,072,423.13 DISBURSEMENTS. Death Claims Mntux‘ed Endowments Purchnled Policies Surplus ._ Annultles _ . . . Expenses, Taxes, etc. .. Balance , , . , . . . a 321,97530 168,480.00 88,007.41 83,047.55 10,845.68 338,711.40 1,054,043.53 9912213343 .-,. . â€"____â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€" ______â€"_..__â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€" ASSE'BS. Mortgages. . . . .3 5,013,647.45 Debenturen and Bonds 8,429,025.49 Loans on Policies .. . 1,129,517.25 Premium Obllgatlonn 25,780.38 Real Estate . . . . 000.20 “ “ Company's ’ Bend Ofllce . . . . Club In Bank. . ... Call: at Head Ofllce Due and Deferred l’remluml (net) Interest and rents due and necrqu a). uno- 30,875.70 207,552.05 3,540.53 280,981.81 197.712.” _. 010.385.530.84 LIABILITIES. m Reserve, 43 334, and 3 per cent. . . . . .8 9,053,332.18 Reserve on lapsed pol- lcles lluble to re- vive or surrender _ , Death Clnlnu unad- Junted .. .. .. Mann-ed Endowment- unadjusted Present Value of Death Clnlmn pay- able 1n Instalmentn . Premiumsmahl In ad- vance . . . . . . Amount due for medi- cal tees . . . Accrued rents , _ Cred" ledger balance- Sundry current ne- eount- . . . . . . . . _ _ Surplus on Company’- Valuation Standard. 3,001.90 43,083.00 8,000.00 45,338.06 13,781.50 6,483.00 805.00 10,307.50 2,370.00 1,203.37 3-58 310.385.538.84 “IIâ€"â€" The Company has a surplus on Government standard of valuation of $1,552,304.26. The following are some striking gains made in 1906. In Income, $115,904.22; In Assets, $1,089,447.69 ; In Surplus (Company’s Stand- ard) $251,377.46; In Insurance in Force, $2,712,453.00. Send to Head Office, Waterloo, Canada. for booklet giv- ing Annual Report; and proceedings of Annual Meeting. Robert Melvin, President A. Hoskin, K.C. Geo. Wegenast, Manager Hon. Justice Britton Pres- W. H. Riddelt, Secretary tranquilly on, occasionally talking upon homely, trivial subjects. (To be continued). EXTRAORDINARY DENTISTRY. Perhaps the greatest dental operation on record was performed upon an ele- phant. some years ago in the city of Mexico. The aching tooth was 12in. long and I In. in diameter at the root. Vice- After Mr. Elephant had been securely fastened by chains his mouth was prised open and a quantity of cocaine applied to deaden the pain. When this was done a hole was bored through the tooth and an iron bar inserted; then a rope was twisted around the bar. four horses at- tached. and the tooth pulled out. Every boy knows several men he ex- pects to whip when he grows up.