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Five minutes passed, and then he rose and began to pace up and down. The balcony ran the length of the housn, and, making a, turn, reachedjhe head of the staircase leading to the street. As he did so, 'Lady Blanche came through the window with the letter she had written in her hand. “Bruce, I have written my letter. Shall we go and post it? A walk would be beautiful now, it is so cool and pleasant. Bruce, are you asleep?” and she went up softly behind him and touched his arm. “Blanche,” he said, laying his hand gently on her shoulder, “will M“ In: mv WWII?" The man turned round slowly and raised his hat, the moonlight fall- ing upon his wan and haggard face. “Nothing, nothing at all, Bruce,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I felt rather lowâ€"spirited, that; was all. Eerything seems to go wrong and at crossâ€"purposes, doesn’t it? Go back to your cigar, Brrrvgce, and I’ll play something excruuatingly live- Iv.” Lady Blanche staggered and clutched the rail with one hand while the other flew to her heart. One evening, in the midst of a song she was singing while he was lounging in the glasshouse within hearing the song came to an abrupt stop. _ ‘ “W118i; is the matter, Blanche?” he asked. After the recovery from the shock of Floris’ supposed bascness, he had declared that he would never again look upon a woman with the eyes of kindness, would live and die hating and avoiding her sex. For weeks he had kept himself secluded from the world, had shut himself up and yielded to the bitâ€" terness and grief which the destruc- tion of his faith in his beautiful girlolove had caused him. He flung his cigar away and went quickly to he}: She looked up and tried to smile, as if ashamed and annoyed. He knew that she loired him; she “as beautifulâ€"â€"a woman of whom any man might well _be {grout}. it was neéessary that he should marry, unless he wished the 0101 title he bow to die out. Why not she as well as any other? In time, he told himself, with a swift pang~he should forget Floris, should learn to love Blanche. W He made up his {mind in a moâ€" ment as he stood there. “Oscar Raymond!” she breath- ed, with ashy lips. “Oscar Ray- mond!” Lord Norman stood fora moment at the bottom of the steps, then aimlessly turned to the right and Sagptered along the quiet street. But men of Lord Norman’s, class cannot remain in seclusion long. They have duties to perform which may not be neglected, and graduâ€" ally he emerged from his retireâ€" ment and was seen in his old world againâ€"the world of the clubs and “the shady side of Pall Mall.” Lady Blanche played a- waiting game, and her reward came in due season. He turn-ed to see the cause, and saw that her head had dropped On her hands, as if she had broken down. The beauty of the city, hushed in the serene rays of the moon, touched him with a pensive sadness and recalled the past with a pecu- liar poignancy. He was to be married to Lady Blanche in two or three weeks, by which time they expected to reach Paris in their wanderings; but if any one had stopped him and ask- ed him why he was marrying her, he would have been puzzled to find a good and sufficient reason. ' “Do not,” he said. ‘ Then he stood still and looked down at her. CHAPTER XXIX.-â€"(Cont’d) Pigtng Life’s Battle; OB, LADY BLANGHE’S BITTER PUNISHMENT For a moment, the color left her face, and her heart seemed to stand still. It had come at last. “Be my wife, Blanche,” he said: gently, “and I will try to make you happy.” She turned her face upon him and looked at him with all her soul in her eyes. “Ah, Bruce, you would have to try such a. very little. Ah, you knowâ€"your know.”_ _ > Then he bent and kissed her, and she put her arms round his neck and drew him down to her in a. pas- sionate embrace. And so she had won him at last. She was too clever to rest assured on a false security. VVhile Bruce was in England he might meet Floris Carlisle at any hour,’ explanations might ensue, andâ€" She persuaded him to take her, Lord Seymour accompanying them, on a. continental trip. “We can be mariied at Paris, Bruce. I hate London. Let us be married at Paris.” He had consented, as he would have done if she had asked him to take her to Timbuctoo; and so here they were in Florence, and in a. few weeks they were to be mar- ried. “My sweet girl-love, with frank gray eyes, hough years have passed, I see you still, There where you stood beside the mill, Beneath the. bright autumnal skies. Low o’er the marsh the Curlew flew, The mavis sang upon the bough. Oh, love, dear love, my heart was true, It beats as truly, fondly, now, Though years have passed, I love A few minutes passed, and he was about to go on his way when he heard a light step behind him. Some one had come from the house into the garden, tempted into the night air by the moonlight. He wondered vaguely Whether it was the unknown singer. The steps came nearer, and the tall, slim figure of a. girl name slow- ly down to the gate and stood be- hind it, so near that he could have touched her with his hand, but he could not see her face. Lord Norman sauntered on, thinking of it all, wandering menâ€" tally back to the old days when Floris was at his side, and he had so often tried to persuade her to name the day for their union. She had always put him off. Presently h e heard the sound of a piano. It would not have attract- ed his attentionâ€"for it was not; the first piano he had heard that night â€"-but there was ‘something in the air that seemed familiar. What was it? A voice now rose, a very soIb, pretty voice, and acâ€" companied the piano. He could not catch the words, and yet, al- most unconsciously, he found him- self supplying them! What were they’.l Surely he had heard them sung to this tune! you yet; Do you still remember, or do you forget?” Where had he heard them? They were the verses Floris had sung to Bertie one morning-the morning of the fancy fair! A pang shot through his heart; in his mind’s eyes he saw her as she looked that; day, so fair and bright and girlish! Uu‘y, DU 10/11. wuu uLLauv mu“ 5.---.." . He looked up at the house. It was a Villa almost shrouded by trees; there was a. light burning in the window on the ground floor, and , through the open Window came the sound of the piano and the voice. VSO there she stood within reach of him, all unconscious of his proxi‘ mitv. “She loved Bertie all the time, poor girl,” he thought bitterly, as he stopped and looked at che river, leaning on the bridge, all uncon- sciously, »where Floris so often stood. “Poor girl, why did she de- ceive me? Why did she not come to me and say, ‘Bruce, I do not love you; I find that my heart is not given to you; I love Bertie 2’ Heaven knows I would have let go Without a single hard thought. He lit anothver cigar, and fumed from the bridge. She stood for a. moment and then turngd, but at that instant a long- ing to see her faCe which had falâ€" len upon Lord Norman, became ir- resistible. He knew he; at once, and his heart seemed to stand still. He rose to his full height and turned to the gate. If it had been to save his life he could not have resisted speaking her name. “Floris!” he said, softly, yet in a. tone of intense feeling. She heard him, and httering a. faint cry, put her hand to her heart, but she did not turn her head. Perhaps â€"- who knows? â€" she thought that it was a. trick of her imagination. How often in her dreams had she heard him call her thus! In her dreams! “Floris!” he said again. Then she turned her white face and looked at him. For a minute they looked into each other’s eyes, as if they were both looking at the ghosts of their dead selves. Then she saw it was indeed he, and with a. low cry of painâ€"actual painâ€"she covered her face with her hauds. “F10ri§,” he said in a. low voice, “is it 1ndeed you? Are you afraid of me ‘1” Her hands dropped from her face, and she shook her head, her great eyes fixed on him with a wistful yearning. He set his teeth. He misunder- stood the gesture, and took it for one pf guilt and mmorse. “Will you speak to me?” he said, holding the gate with his hot hands, his heart beating fast. “You are not afraid of me! You have no mood to be! Speak to me, Floris!” A pause for a. moment. She could not summon strength enough to leave him. His eyesâ€"so wist- ful, so sad, so reproachful â€" held her as by a. charm. The look of reproach, of angelic sadness that shone from her dark eyes to his soul. . He sighedâ€"it was almost a groan. “Has he tired of you already I” he said, hoarsely. “Great Heavâ€" en! is it possible? Floris, I could almost; Wish that I had not seen you !â€"â€"and yet ” “For Heaven’s sake’ , don’t cry 2” he. said, hastily; “theâ€"the past is over and done with. 1â€"1 am sorâ€" ry you are not happy. Oh, Heav~ en! to see you standing there and to know the gulf that divides us. Florisâ€"Floris, why did you do it '2” “Why did you, Floris? Heaven 'â€"why did you not tell meâ€"why did you not come to me andwand -but to go like that, without a word! Did you want to break my heartawere you quite heartless, Floris?” “I do not understand! Why do you speak to me like this ?~why do you ask me these questions? Oh, it is cruel, cruel, knowing how wicked you have beenâ€"how hard and heartless yourself!” She opened her lipshthe lips he had kissed. “No; I am not afraid,” she murâ€" mured, and her voice sounded to him like a, ghost’s. “How â€"â€" why did you com“ here ’1” and she lookâ€" ed around. “I am staying here, in Florence,” hm. said, with a voice that shook from agitation. V “I did not knowâ€"â€"â€"” “You did not ‘know that I was here,” she finished for him, “or you would not have come.” “No; I should not have come! No! And yet I am not sorry that I have seen you!” N “Have youâ€"been ill '2” he asked, suddenly, almost gently. She shook her head. “Why do you wear that; black dress?” he asked. “My motherâ€"” she faltered. He hung his head. “I did not know. Why did you not tellâ€"but why should you'.l And you are not ill ’2” (‘No.’7 “Andâ€"andâ€"you are happy 2’” he continued, hoarsely. She looked at him wi‘ih troubled, wondering questioning. She looked abhim as if she could not believe her senses, and one white hand went to her forehead tremblingly. “I I” he said, in amazement; and in his eagerness and eXcitementvhe pushed the gate open; but, as she shrank back, he too stepped back and closed it again. "I!" - “Oh, do not mock me,” she a1- “Oh, do not mock me,” she :11- most wailed. “I do not want you to say that you are sorry; I did not wish to see you; I was learn- ing to forgetâ€"’_’ V Two teais gathered in her eyes and fell slowly on her cheek. The sight of them tortured him. Her micâ€"e filtered and broke. CHAPTER XXX. “Forget!” he echoed, almost fiercely. “You can talk of forget- ting to me} Do you think that any human being, however callous, can forget another she has so wronged as you have wronged me 2” ‘EWronged you f” she cried, in a low voice, “wronged you! 1? Oh, Bruce, Bruce I” “Yes, cruelly, foully wronged me!” he said, passionately. “Did ever man love a woman more clear- ilj than I loved you? And you stole away from me, jilted the without a. word of warningâ€"one word of remorse or penitence! If I’did not love you, I could strike you down at my feet-0 now.” Why is it, when the proof is over- whelming, that the heifers from a registered bull are worth a third more in the cow market, that a gradedâ€"up herd, is twice as proclzw tlve in milk, that a great majority of farmers owning cows, with m es in their heads to see these things, will still persist in using a. cheap grade or scrub bull worth posmhly for beef $25 or $30? Why is it, with proof on every hand to confirm it, fhat ii' is w mh while to feed a good r‘ow all she will eat of a well-balanced ration with milk, butter and cheese at present prices; that you will find a. host of farmers who believe that they will lose money if they feed such a cow a. liberal grain ration? Why is it, that it. is so hard and such slow work in getting farmers to take especial pains to produce clean, sweet cream for the cream- ery, and see to it that the cream is sent to the creamery before it is spoiled and unfit to make good butter from it? Why is it, that farmers as a class, are so slow and ditficult to convince of the value of 311 these much needed improvements and of a change on their part towards such improvements The Experimental Station of Kansas has been doing some most excellent work in improving seed wheat, beginning with the Turkey or Turkish Red, which was intro- duced in that state some twenty- five years ago by Mennonites from Russia.~ Why is it, when it must be appar- ent before their eyes every day, that the farmers who are most in- telligent are the most prosperous. that so large a proportion of men who keep cows will not read or take any pains to inform them- seR/es on this dairy question? Why do such men prefer to be ignorant rather than inteiligent? Why is it, that. When thousands upon thousands of farmers use silos and declare constantly that the silo is a moneyâ€"mtking- thing, it is so hard to convince a large portion of other farmers that it would be a wise thing for them if they built a silo? Why is it, that a, great propor- tion of farmers will persist in feed- ing oats worth $23 a ton. and corn worth the same, when they could sell the grain and buy a. better feed that will produce a quarter to a third more milk, for a much less proportion in price. '2 Why is it that so many farmers will still use the dirty, uncomfortâ€" able rigid old stanchion with all the danger of injury to the cow stepping on the teats and udder of the next cow when she is laying down? Why is it, that so few farmers will put in the King system of ven- tilation in their stables and more will persist in building new barns and stables with no provision whatâ€" ever for such a system of ventila- tion when it would be very easy to provide this almost indispensiblo thing for the health and increased efficiency of the cattle? After all the missionary work that has been put forth, but comâ€" paratively few of our farmers are alive to these questionsstoa‘rd’s Dairyman. The United State Department of Agriculture has been bringing over Why is it, when any common mind could easily reason to it that a cow needs just as goodair as the men and women do, that farmers shut up a stable of cows with all their manures and urine about them, w thout a, supply of fresh air and proceed deliberately to poison their cows to death? A SERIES OF QUESTIONS IMPROVED SEED WHE (To be continued.) EAT in the last ten years a. large num-‘ ber of samples. The experimentI station has been growing amtI breeding them, and has been dis- tributing them among Kansas farmers. It may perhaps surprise those who have only a very little faith in growing winter wheat to: know that the average yield from: the different varieties of this Turk- ish Red wheat, which goes under the various names of Kharkov, De- fiance, Malakof, Crimean, Hungar- ian, Weisenberg, and Ghirka,,have averaged from thirty-eight to fifty- siX bushels per acre. This, be it ‘remembered, is the average for five years. A number of varieties have yielded this last year from forty- six to fiftyâ€"four bushels per acre. The station has also been experi- menting with soft wheats, which do better in the southern part of that state and cerresponding cliâ€" mates than in the central or north- ern parts and climates north. The yield of these has averaged for the last four years from thirty-five to fortyâ€"one bushels per acre. WON’T SEE COMET FOR YEARhn The Sun Will Interfere With Early Observations. Problems gather in the wake of Halley’s Comet as it wings its flight towards the sun and earth. Little by little more of its romantic story becomes known, but the greater light; casts a denser shadow, and a. completer view reveals more clear‘ ly the central problem of the comet. Eveerine night; the comet is phoâ€" togr‘aphed at Greenwich, (England) Observatory, and Mr. Crommelin recently informed a. newspaper re- presentative that is is brightening very rapidly indeed. When it was first photographed its magnitude was about sixteen. Now it; is about twelve. That is, it is about eighty times brighter than in September, and it is brightening shout one- magnitude (i.e., twenty times) a month. About B. C. 1300 the Hittite, Babylonian and Egyptian people held the balance of power in West- ern Asia. One thing of striking in- terest was the recent discovery of a message which the King of Baby- lon sent to the King of the Hittite, which read: “I hear you are carry~ ing on with the King of Egypt. What does this mean 2” The Hittite king then made an extract from the treaty he had just concluded with a Pharaoh and sent it to the Babylonian king, at the same time keeping a copy of his let- ter. That copy had now come down to us. Other letters ,too, had been found. Some interesting details are given by Prof. John Garstang of the ancient race of people mentioned in the Bible as the Hittites. He said there could be nothing more romantic than the findi g of Bog- has, the old capital of tie Hittites’ country in Southern Syria. A few yards below the surface of this once famous city had been found the re- mains of the palaces which belong- ed to the great Hittite king who fought the Pharaohs. The land of the Hittites had been discovered by the finding of a. whole series of mon’uments, carvings, and rock sculpture. As early as B. C. 2000 they were a. force in Southern Syria, and we could learn that they were an extremely mixed race, with a. touch of the Mongoliafi. It is now thought that the comet may become faintly vicible to the naked eye by the middle or end of February, but it will then be near- ing the back of the sun and it will be too close to that object to be clearly visible. For two months after it will remain in the very near neighborhood of the sun and no ob- servations will be possible. If it is not seen in February the comet will not become visible until the end of April, wheh it will be a morning star, rising about 21-2 hours before the sun. It will trainâ€" sit the sun’s disc about 2 mm. on May 19, and this will be a moment of intense interest to astronomers, as it will then be posgible to see whether the nucleus shows in front of th sun of not. If i'; can 'be seen it will be possible tu form some idea of the density of the comet. Recently Discovered Facts Abom the Hittites. ' A gentleman may be merely a, lazy man who has money. Mother ~- “There ‘were two apples in the cupboard, Tommy, and now there is only one. How’s that?” Tommy (who sees no way of escape)â€"“Well, ma, it w:; so dark in there I didn’t seq the other!" AN AN CIE‘NT PEOPLE.