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CHAPTER ’XIV. Lady Blanche drew a. long breath and looked at Raymond. .The dark, piercing eyes met hers With a faint smile of confidence, a forecast of triumph in them that contrasted very strongly with the disguises of age and poverty. “Your ladyship would like to know how I am going to bring this muchâ€"toâ€"bedesired result about. I Will tell you. Will you not sit down! We are quite out of sight from the road." Lady Blanche sat on a fallen tree and Oscar Raymondâ€"with the broâ€" ken sticks he had gathered at his feet, .ready to his hand if he should find it necessary to resume his as- sumed characterâ€"leaned against a tree beside her. “This is my little plot, Lady Blanche,”~ he said. “Pardon me if, during the recital, I exhibit any Signs of pride. They say that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was rather conceited with the little plot of the apple, whereby he caught lave; and a little self~glorification must be permitted me.” . Lady Blanche made a gesture of impatience, and lowering his voice ~bending down as he approached the most critical parts of the reci- talâ€"he unfolded his scheme for the destruction of Lord Norman’s and Floris’ happiness. Lady Blanche listened, and her face grew aler and paler. A faint s udder ran through her as he proceeded, and when he had finished, when the insidious voice had whispered its last word and he closed with a low, sardonic laugh of satisfaction, she drew a little alaway from him shuddering palpabâ€" y. “Ingenious, is it not, my lady i” he said, with a sinster smile. “It is diabolical,” fell from her pale lips. d“0h, you flatter me!” he retort< e . “Diabolicall” she repeated. ‘But she did not get up and leave him; she eat, her fingers entwined together, her brows knit, pondering in ‘Silence for a moment or two, while he watched her. “Ifâ€"it should fail,” she said, in a hushed whisper, “it will cover me with shame! able to hold up in ' should die!" clinching her hands. “Oh, it will not fail,” he said, confidently; “it is too good a plot to fail. It is just a little comedy that requires nice, careful, artistic acting; and I think I can manage my part. As to your ladyship, I have _no misgivings respectin »you' it IS, Just the part you can p ay, i I mistake not, to perfection.” Lady Blanche's face grew crim- son for a moment~crimson with shamcwthcn the color died away, lcaVing her pale as marble. “There is Josine,” she said, after a moment‘s thought, “can you rely on hm"! Persons of her class are not always to be trusted. You have bought her, no doubt. but she may betray us for gold as readily as she consented in betrayâ€"«them? He laughed. . “No doubl. But I hold Josine Ih a stronger chain than that of gold, my lady-~I hold her by fear. Josmc, in a weak moment, was foolâ€" ish enough to steal seine letters of her mistress, and I have them. If I am not mistaken, she had appro- priated other things besides let« torsâ€"~such unconsidcred things as rings and a bracelet. I have seen her wear them, which was a blun- der on her part. A word from me *a,nd she would lose her place and her character. Besides, Josine is Frenchfshc enjoys an affair of in- trigue, it is meat and drink to her; and she hates, she dctests Miss Car- lisle. Oh, you may rely on Josine my lady !”‘ “At the mercy of a servant!” murmured Lady Blanche, with sup- pressed bitterness. He laughed. “We are all at the mercy of. some one or other. my lady. Lord Nor- man, for instance. is at the mercy of you and inc; while Iâ€"oh, I am at the mercy of my tailor, my landâ€" lady-wthc world at large. Is your ludyship afraid l” he broke off, with a sarcastic smilc. “If so, admit it, and let us have done with the mat- ter. After all, it will not affect me, this marriage of Miss Carlisle and Lord Norman, so much as it will affect you-~-" She put up her hand to silence him. head againâ€"I Fighting life’s Battle; 0“, LADY BLANCHE’S BITTER PUNISHMENT I shall never be) “I am not afraid!” she said, with calm hauteur. “I am merely anxi- ous to guard against failure which would mean ruin to me, ruin and shame unspeakable,” and her lips quivered. “Pardon me,” he said suaver; “it is my part to take all the pre- cautions against failure, and I have done, and will do so. Leave it to me, Lady Blanche! Rest assured that I am too fond of my little plot to permit it to miss fire! If you will carry out the instructions I have given you, you will find that we shall succeed beyond our expec- tations.” Lady Blanche rose, and drew her veil over her face, and he stopped and picked up his sticks. “You will send Josino to me, my Indy?” he asked. “Send her to the plantation to gather some wild flowers for your hair to-night. I will wait here for her. And, if I might make a suggestion 2” Lady Blanche inclined her head. “If I were your ladyship I would give her some trifle in the way of ornament. Josine’s heart is set on baubles, and a bracelet or a pair of earrings would bind her to you in a bond closed than love itself,” and he smiled. Lady Blanche nodded, and turn- ed to leave the wood, but paused to look back over her shoulder and say: “Do not send me any more notes. Give Josine any message you may have for me, please." He nodded, approvingly, and without a word of adieu she glided from the plantation. As she neared the house she saw Lady Pendleton and several others standing on the terrace. Lady Betty bent over the stone coping to nod a greeting. “Why, where have you been, Blanche 1” she asked. All eyes were turned on her, and for a moment her face flushed; it seemed to her as if the dullest of them must read her secret in her face. “To the plantation,” she said; “and I am almost inclined to go back. There were such lovely flow- ers there, and it never occurred to me until I had left them behind how nice some of them would look in one’s hair to-night!” Two or three of the young men who were loitering about instantâ€" ly pushed forward. “We’ll go and gather You a bunch, Lady Blanche!” sai one, and the rest eagerly echoed the ofâ€" fer. She smiled. “Thanks,- but you would not know which to pick, or you would pick them with too short a stem. No, but if Lady Pendleton will allow her maid to goâ€"â€"-” “Of course I will!” said Lady Betty. “Josinc will be glad of the excuse to get out. Will one of you be so kind as to ask one of the army of footmen to go on a voyage of discovery for her? I'd go to my room and ring for her if it were not such a terrible way!” One or two of the men laughingly went to find Josine, and in a min- ute‘or two that young lady stood before her mistress, with her dark face set demurely. “Oh, go into the woods and get some wild flowers, Josine!” said Lady Pendleton. “You will find them in the planâ€" tation by the hedge,” said Lady Blanche, languidly, and without raising her eyes. Josine shot a curious glance from one to the other. “We want them for our hair,” exâ€" plained Lady Betty. “Certainly, miladi,” said Josine with a respectful bend of the head, and a second sharp glance at Lady Blanche as she Went off. Lady Blanche sat on the teriace with the rest, joining in the con- versation, and even laughing, a rare thing for her, at the feeble sallies of wit provided by the young gentlemen in attendance; and Lady Betty, to whom Lady Blanche was a perpetual enigma, was wondering what had put her in such a good humor, when the figure of Josinc was seen in the distance returning to the house. “Isn’t that Josine?” asked Lady Betty. “She hasn’t been. gone long!” Lady Blanche smiled, she knew at once that Josine had found the flowers already picked for her. “I don't expect she cared very much for a lonely wood," she said, and as she spoke she rose and walked slowly and languidly away, as if she had either forgotten the flowers, or ceased to care for them. With a fast-beating heart she went to her room, and sitting down before the glass scanned her face anxiously. When Josine came there must be no chink in the mask through which the girl might catch a glimpse of the troubled soul within! Presently she heard a knock at the door, and in response to her languid "Come in, please!” Joâ€" sine entered. With downcast eyes she ap- proached, and held out a bunch of flowers, without a word. “Put them on the table, please,” said Lady Blanche. Josine obeyed, and stood with folded hands and lowered lids. “Will they suit your Iadyship i” she asked. Lady Blanche took them up looked at them carelessly. “Yes, thanks!” she replied, and raised her eyes to Josinc’s face; as she did so, .Iosine raised her eyes, and the two looked at each other in silence for a moment; but Jo- sine’s glance was eloquent, and Lady Blanche read and understood all that it meant. “You have taken a great deal of trouble, Josine,” she said, 1anguid~ ly, her voice calm and cold. “Not at all, my lady,” she anâ€" swered. “I am very pleased to be of any service to your ladyship-” “Thank you !” said Lady Blanche, reaching for the jewel case as she spoke, and taking out a pearl and ruby ring. “Will you take this ring, please? I have no doubt it will fit you. You have,” glancing at her hands, “slight fingers.” . Josine colored with flattered vanâ€" ity, and her eyes flashed on the ring greedily. “0h, your ladyship is too good,” she murmured. “Oh, no!” said Lady Blanche, with a little quiver. “It is a. mere trifle, Josine. By the way”â€"careâ€" lesslyâ€"“it would be as well, per- haps, if you did not wear it while you are here! The other servants might be jealous; you understand 1” Josine's black eyes twinkled very intelligently. “‘I understand, my lady! No, I Will not wear it! I am very grate- ful! Your ladyship may always re- ly on me, in everything!” she adv ded. significatnly. “I am sure of that, Josine,” said Lady Blanche. Josine hesitated a moment, as she put the ring in her pocket, then turned to leave the room. “I hope the flowers will prove suitable, miladi,” she said, in a low voice. “I did not gather them myself, an old man .picked them for me.” Lady Blanche flushed for an inâ€" stant and seemed about to speak, then inclined her head, and with a reveretial sweep of the body, J0â€" sme took herself off. Lady Blanche remained in her room nearly all that day; she was “learning her part,” a part diffi~ cult to play, for the words were of necessity unwritten and would de- pend upon circumstances; but as the dressingâ€"bell rang she rose from the sofa, on which she had thrown herself for a few minutes’ rest, and sleep if possible, prepar- ed to play that part, though its failure, as she had told Oscar Raymond, would mean shame and disgrace to her. With the sound of the dressingâ€" bell the great place began to echo to the voices of the gentlemen who had been out since luncheon after grouse. Floris, who was in the pretty litâ€" tle boudoir which she shared with [lady Betty, heard Lord Norman step outside, and opened to his knock. He leaned against the door, his gun in his hand, looking supremeâ€" ly handsome in his businesslike shooting rig, and particularly hapâ€" py and satisfied. “Well, my darling!” he murmurâ€" ed, putting his arm round her and drawing her to him; “what have you been doing with yourself? We have had splendid sportâ€"wonderâ€" ful bag for so short a time and so few guns!” “Is this one loaded, pray 2” asked Floris. “I don’t know that I care to have it quite so near, Bruce. Ho whcavy is it! Ain’t you tired?” with that little upward glance of wonder and admiration which a woman bestows on the man she loves. He laughed. “Not a bit. By the way, don’t forch that we are going to have a dance this evening; so put on ycur hurry, and prepare for con- quest “I wish you’d go, and let Floris get dressed, "’ called out and Bruce: Lady Betty from the inner room. MW "An accident l" echoed Floris. winter manure is spread on the sodl turning paleâ€"on his accountâ€"and and this is glancing at the gun. He smiled. “Yes, and all my fault! a little ahead of the others near the plantation, when some birds rose right in front of me. I raised my gun, and without thinking of the possibility of there being any one in the wood, fired. The next instant an old man, with long gray hair, came out from the very spot I had fired at!” “Oh, Bruce!” “Don’t be alarmed, I hadn’t hi‘ him; at least, so I concluded, for the old fellow went off pretty smartly, and disappeared without saying a word; but he shook his fist as he went, which you may con- sider equivalent to a whole dic- tionary. He was a curious-look- ing fellow, dressed in a rough coat. I suppose he was one of the pen- sioners on the estate, and was gathering firewood, for he had a bundle in his hand. I asked Sir Joseph if he knew him, but he didn’t seem to. I must get him to make inquiries.” “So that you may give him a sovereign to cure his fright!” said Floris, archly. “Exactly!” he said, and taking her face in his hand he kissed her, and went off humming: “The Bride’s Welcome." (To be continued.) ,++++o o+++o+oo+. About the Farm VALUE OF BARN YARD MANURE _In the efforts to maintain the fer- tility of the soil on farms in the eastern provinces barnyard manure plays an import-ant part. Expert ments carried on for twenty years in succession with all the more im- portant farm crops, have demon- strated the value of barnyard ma- nure and have shown that a given Welght of manure taken fresh from the'barnyard is equal in crop~pro~ ducmg power to the same weight of rotted manure, while the fresh ma- nure loses during the process of rotting from 50 to 60 per cent of its weight. Economy in the use of barn- yard manure is of the utmost imâ€" portance in connection with success- ful farming in this country, and the fact that it is estimated that the solid and liquid excreta of animals in Canada amounts to about 100,’ 000,000 tons per annum indicates what enormous losses must result from a wasteful handling of such a large quantity of valuable fertiliz- ing material. The results obtained from experiments with artificial fer- tilizers have not been so satisfac~ tory as from those with barnyard manure. They have been carried on for a long period of years'so that the conclusions drawn from them may be said to be very safe. The best results obtained from artifi- Cial manures have been had when they have been associated with barnyard manure. One reason why artificial manurcs used alone do not produce the effect on crops which might be expected from the large proportion of valuable plant food they convey to the soil is that they contain no humus and the pro portion of vegetable matter in the soil having been rcduccd by frequent croppiug, its capacity for hold- ing moisture is lessened and thus cropâ€"producing power is reduc- e . The ploughing under of clever has also been most effective in inâ€" creasing the store of plant food in the soil. The beneficial effect of this treatment has been manifest by increased crops. A clever sod supplies the soil with a large ad dition of humus whereby the land is made more retentive of moisture and the soil deepened and mellow- ed. In the preparation of land for crop in the eastern provinces fall ploughing is now generally follow- ed, as‘the seed can thus be sown earlier in the spring. In the north- west it has been found an advantâ€" age to summer fallow a portion of 'the land under cultivation each year. This practice conserves the moisture, destroys weeds and brings the farmer larger crops. More attention is paid now than formerâ€" ly to the systematic rotation of crops. This method economizes the use of the plant food in the soil; since different crops take the ole» merits of fertility in different prov portions, the rotation helps to maintain a balance. A four years’ rotation is perhaps the most fol- lowed. This is begun with a hood crop, which is well manured; clo~ tor and timothy are sown with the i i i “All right,” he Said. laughingly. 'grain the second year, a crop of “I’m fearfully hungry! Oh, I hay is taken off the third year and didn’t tell 3'0“ 110W nearly we had the fourth year the field is used as an accident this afternoon!" pasture and during the following I was- turned under in the spring in time to begin the course again with a heed cropâ€"Dr. Saun- ders, Dominion Experimenta Farm, Ottawa. FARM NOTES. The merchant and manufacturer, plan ahead, but the successful farm-( or must both plan and plant aheadJ Any tree or shrub planted on the: premises that adds to our comfort,i also adds to the money value of“ the place. Whatever will make a place worth more to us, will also! to others who might like to possess it. This is a consideration that, should stimulate activity in provid-I iiig the place with trees and vines. One of the advantages of white-. wash is that it renders the poultry? house light and cheerful, which in- duces the lions to stay indoors on stormy days. Although whitewash, is liberally used during the suin-' mer to guard against lice, yet it», is equally as serviceable in winter in rendering the quarters comfor- table and in partially serving as a, disinfectant, but for winter wash! more glue should be used in the mixture. One proof of unbusinesslike hab~r its was that a large per cent. of. farmers kept no accounts. They d0! not charge the merchant with pro-! ducc sold him, or even carry a pass-4 book, but depend on the merchant’s books entirely, letting the account run a full year, and often do not know within a hundred dollars the amountof the account. To a still; greater extent they do not keep1 an account of their own busine‘sH and while the manufacturer knowsj to a penny what it costs him to proâ€"I duce the article he offers to the pub-, lie, and the merchant can strike a” balance and tell just what he has madeâ€"«or lost-during the year, with the farmer it is mostly guess-l work. .â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"_â€".â€"â€"â€"-â€" ARE FAT PEOPLE STUPID? Some of the Finest Intelligences Were Fleshy Men. l Both the willowy people of the world and those of average weight associate fatness with stupidity,. whereas often such is not the case. They have been to the shows at country fairs and have seen the, obese ladies and the fat men there, displaying their ‘s‘uperabundant‘ collection of adipose tissue, and have gone away with the idea thatl fat people merely because they are fat, are stupider and more defici-i ent in intelligence than people of! average avoirdupois ; and this, their-1' opinion on the subject, has been," extended outside of the shows to apply to fat people generally. At the present moment William1 Howard Taft is the second fat man sitting in the Presidential chair, and the first Republican of mor than average weight to occupy that, position, the first fat man being; Stephen Grover Cleveland, of De-“ mocratic persuasion. , These are only two men of they present time, though Cleveland is dead, having a fine intellect in a. body of supernormal weight. Look-1 ing into history we find that some: of the finest intelligences the worldl has ever known have been encased in fleshy caskets plump even to obe-Z sity. Napoleon Bonaparte, not-j withstanding his active career, was decidedly stout. Dr. Johnson was inclined to flabbiness, while Bos- well, his biographer, was in the same condition. 1 Honorc do Balzac, the great French novelist, was so large that toâ€"day he might be nicknamed “Jumbo” Balzac; Dumas pere was stout, while St. Beuvc had a Fal-‘ stafiian stomach. In spite of his great corpulency, which he tried to keep down by drinking vinegar, Eugene Sue wrote “The Wandering Jew.” Rossini, the composer. was so fat that for six years he never saw his, knees; and Jules Janin, the prince of critics, broke down all ordinary: sofas he sat upon, his cheeks and} chin protruding beyond his beard: and whiskers. Lablache, the Itali- an singer, was charged three fares, when he travelled. .â€"-â€"rlkâ€"â€"â€"_â€". LAZY BOY. A clergyman on his round of visâ€" its interviewed a youngster as t 1 his acquaintance with Bible stories. “My lad,” he said, “you hailed of course, heard of the parablesl”‘ “Yes, sir,” shyly answered the boy, whose mother had instructed him in sacred history. ! “Good!” said the clergyman. “Now which of them do you like the best of all?” The boy squirmcd. but at last, liceding his mother’s frowns, he re- plied : “I like that one where sonich. dy loufs and fishes.” A fool and his boat arc Him) r .c!:â€" cd apart.