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“I am not mad, most noble Fes- tus. but speak the words of truth and soberness. Ask that snow queen of_beauty, your fair, proud sister!” “Oh! Wallmvcn, my heart’s dearest brother, is there no way in which I can relieve, can serve you '1” Again 'the- spasm shook him. “I will not, in the days of my thoughtless boyhood, ask youfor your secret, my soul’s dear Wolf- gang, but~4-â€"-” ‘ ‘Again' the 'shudvder, again the long, low, and bitter laugh, and the:- .he said, “Am I not a Wallraven, whose family dates back to a period an- tegior toithe iSaxon Heptarchy?” I gazed at him in a fixed hérror. He seemed to know my thoughts, for he replied to them sardonicalâ€" 1y. I was'ép'ellâ€"bound ‘by grief and terror. I could not; stir. I gazed at him. “Oh! heaven! but this is horri- ble' Wallravcnl- Wallraven!” “I am not mad!" he said, with an omnipotent effort that at length sent apart the curdled blood in his veins; and dispersed the storm clouds that darkened over his spirit. “Oh! Wolfgang! Wolfgang! you are not mad but 'you will become so You will inevitably become so, if this secret suffering of yours reâ€" commences and augments so {ca-r- fullyi” said I. A spasm convulsed his frame. He dropped his head upon his hands, and his stringy black locks fell forâ€" ward, veiling both. For then ’tis like I should forget myself. 0h! if‘I could, what grief should I forget! I am not mad! This hair I tear is mine,” he r‘declaimed, travestying'the lines with sardonic exaggeration, and finishing with a shouting laugh of mockery. “But I will tell you! I will tell you!” he exclaimed desperately, “tell you while my good angel has power over me! while her escape is possible! tell you the dark and fa- tal thing that- has burned, blighted, and blasted me and mine forever? Listen I” Terrified for his health, for his fife, I sprang toward him, seized his frozen hands, gazed into his stony eyes, placed my hand upon his deathâ€"like brow. At that touch a. shudder ran all over him, relax- ing the rigidity of his form, and he laughed! Such a sardonic, such a. maniac, such a devilish laugh, I never heard in my life before, and never wish to hear again! It was not loud, but long, low, and bitter. Dreadfully alarmed for his sanity, I exclaimed, “In the namevof heaven, Wall- ra-ven, what is the matter? speak! Te}! me, Irconjurreryou I” (‘1' Good heaven! were the old horrid days of lthe preparatory school come back, and with a vengeance, Loo! He was sitting bolt upright art the foot of his bed, his hands on his knees, his open gray eyes starin into vacancy, his black locks l‘zmg- ing Wildly, elf-like, about his livid and haggard cheeks, his whole ap- pearance cold, stiff, corpse-like. A blood-guilty and unconverted crimâ€" inayl on the eve of his executionâ€"- a man in a cataleptic fitrâ€"one struck dead by a thunderboltâ€"might sit. so rigid, statue-like, still. My very bldod ran cold wit-h a vague horror, as I looked at him. no longer a necessity of hastening to bed, I went down into the draw- ingâ€"room, for the purpose of find- ing and congratulating my sister. Thu drawing-room was vacant, nhc had gone to her chamber. I re turned to mine in a well satisfied frame of mind; but I wished to bee Wallraven again. Before retiring to bed that night I tapped at his door, and then Without waiting for leave, and with the freedom of old friendship, I pushed the door open, and enter-v] the room. Mentally resolving that our jour- m’y must now be deferred a flay or two3 and that therefore there was I am not mad! I would to heaven I were! cll, I listened eageriy, too eag- CHAPTER III.â€"â€"-(Cont’d) The Lady Bramiolin; CHAPTER IV. OR, THE LOST PATRIMONY. “Sir, you are my guest. I be- seech you, with all convenient speed that you put yourself in some more practicable relation to the brother of the woman you have offended, that he mayâ€"â€"â€"” “Blow my brains out with a. bet- ter grace I” “ Iall you to a strict account of your proceedings of this evening.” “I have betrayed friendship, trust, hospitality; I merit death! Shoot me where I sit, Ferdinand. I wish you would!” “You are mad.” “I kissed her twenty times, Fer- dinand, and I never intend to mar- ry her. Come, why don’t you shoot me. '1” “You are a lunaticâ€"you are not, responsible for any word or act,” said I, and I was beginning to feel “From what I witnessed this ev- ening, I presume that you are en- gaged,” I replied, gazing at him with anxious scrutiny. “Then, by heaven! much as I have forgiven you on my own ac- count, you shall first give me satis- faction for your unpa-rdonable con- duct of this evening, and then swear never to offend Miss Fairfield by coming into her presence again.” “Oh! Ferdinand, my fine fellow, don’t flare up. You do not know what you are talking about!” “I say I will have satisfaction “And so you shall; any and every satisfaction you please, and as much of itas you please! Come, I will fight, or apologize, as you will.” 'n “To what existing circumstances do you refer?” he asked, quickly. “To your relations, or implied relations, with Miss Fairfield.” “And What do you suppose them to be 2” “You are wrongâ€"we are not en- gaged!” “Not: Is it possible that Regina has rejected yqu “l” “N07; for II have not offered her my hand.” “‘What! not! Then you intend to do so at the first opportunity.” “No! I have no iniéntion of ever offering myself to Miss Fairrfield !’: “I did not solicit your confidence, Wolfgang. It was voluntarily prof- fered on your part; and I tell you new, that unless by so doing I can very materially serve you, I have n) wish to pry into your secrets, further than fidelity to my sister’s interests under existing circumâ€" stances seems to require.” Deep silence reigned between us, breken only by the supernaturally loud ticking of the chamber clock, hurrying on toward midnight. TIL-ere he sat upon the foot of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his face buried in the palms of his hands, his stringy, jet black locks falling forward, shudder after shudder shaking his frame! “Ha! ha! ha! Oh, thou son of Eve! Never tell me of woman’s curiosity! We have not a bit, have w'e?” laughed he, in the most sarâ€" castic and exasperating manner. ’ You will wonder, perhaps, at the strange patience I had with that bitter and sardonic youth; but, in truth, I was more pained than angry at his sarcastic and insulting tone, for under all was betrayed the profoundest sorrow, the acutest suffering. I felt the same compas- sionate toleration for his ill-temper that we feel for the irritability of any dearly loved silflerer. I re- plied, gently, eriy. He paused, dropped his head upon his hands, and seemed to be diving into the past. “Poor fellow! he does not know how to begin,” thought I, and wait- ed anxiously some time, a feeling of delicacy withholding me from inâ€" terrupting him, until I found, by the cessation of his shudders and the perfect immobility of his form, that he had fallen into a fit of deep abstraction, and that his thoughts were far, far from me. Then, af- t-‘r some hesitation, I recalled, by a word spoken in a low, gentle tonne, “Wallraven l” He started slightly, raised his shaggy black head, and gazed upon me from his light gray eyes with the bewildering look of one awakened from a deep sleep, with a, dream stiLl overshadowing his spirits. “Wallraven!” said I again, in a. still kinder tone, “you were about to give meâ€"” “I love and worship your beau- tiful and haughty sister! Love her because she is fair, worship her because she is proud! Yes! yes! 1 worship the ground she walks onâ€" for it is holy ground; the pebble her foot spurnsâ€"for it is a precious stone! Words! words! breath! air! Look you! People have talked amut dying for their beloved! I am doing it! I am doing it!” (To be continued.) 'First, obtain of any well stocked druggist, three onnces‘of essence of pepsin and three ounces of syrup of rhubarb in an 8 ounce bottle. Then add one ounce compound essence cardiol. Shake and let stand two hours. Then add one ounce tincture cadomene compound (not carda- mom). Shake well and take one teaspoonful before each meal, one after each meal. Drink plenty 01 water between meals and when m tiring. Keep up this treatment regularly and of a certainty from one to three pounds will he added to the weight each week, and the general health will also improve. is to cover wire the same ‘shade as the wall paper. This does away with the out up appearance caused bv the ordinary metal wires. This wire can be had at any well equip- ped firm of electricians. Picture wire is supposed to last about three years. It is well to renew the wire every three years and thus avoid so. If I had been ever'so angry with him, my resentment would have vanished, when with one of his sudden changes of mood he dropped his head upon my shoulder, and sobbed and wept like the melting of an avalanche, gasped between whiles, in low, earnest, fervent, interrupted tones. Rosettes of soft satin ribbon are much used for trimming gowns. Head of flour mill company says reason for high cost of living is to be found in the fact that people do not eat enough bread. Naturally. He’d be out of a. job if he thought otherwise. Picture Hanging. â€" A good _sch~eme to improvga the appearance accidents to pictures People who are very thin and scrawny ought- not to be so. Un- donbtcdly they are more subject to disease and contagions than the normally fleshy. Thinness is usual- ly accompanied by weakness, and weakness subjects any one to colds, :oughs, consumption, pneumonia, etc. It; has been discovered, almost by accident, that tincture cado- mene, when combined in a prescripâ€" tion with proper accelerative medi- cmes, becomes one of the most valuable, effective, and reliable nu- tritive or flesh making medicines known to science. It is especially beneficial to men and women be- tween the ages of sixteen and fifty- five, who from lack of proper nerve force and digestion, remain unde- veloped in body, limbs, arms and bust. A well, rounded symmetrical figure in man or woman indicates health, magnetism, stamina and happiness. The reader who wishes to add from ten to forty pounds should not fail to begin with this vauluable prescription: 1 ‘ No Need to Be Thin. Now as Reports Show This Method Ef- foctive. By Clever Prescription Which Can Be Filled at Any Drug Store. UNNATURAL THINNESS EASILY CORRECTED. Osmium. Bornted. Mentholuyed, Carbo- hoed. Camphomted. Whine Oxxde 01 Zinc. etc. Each for Ipccm panama. Write (or Free Vaseline Book. OHESBBROUOH MFG. co. (Oont'd) 379 Oral; 8:. w.. Montreal FOB GIIAPPE‘D'SKIH Mm LIPS. GOLD SORES, WWW)“. 12 Vaseline Remedies in Tubes Gamphor Ice FREE l' o r l on I I: u flown- “am um- Bonds. “Mum-d silver Nicki] Hon'l Witch, for lawn; only .1136 worth of Armor and unstabl- needs. Thu 0 Mb: hot oakea. and w: your name and “drool sud we'll mail you the Iced: to nu It So ‘Inull ad 100 forlnrge Package: Write at woe. A post- card mn do. 8-for- truce! Hui n'l ml) 0 unblo Pg"; GAO”. in? {Wfiafiooro‘l'l‘th The National Life Assu‘ranee Go. Applications for New Insurance Reco'lved‘ Policies 1899 (5 months) .. ...,$ 666,500.0031899 (5 1900 . . . . . . .. 1,359,500.0011900 .. 1901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,456,500.00I1901 .. 1902 1,672,500.0031902 .. 1903 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,641,100.001I1903 1904 1,632,250.00i1904 .. 1905 . . . . . . . . 1,816,300.00;1905 .. 1906 . . . . . . . . 2,011,600.0031906 .. 1907 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,079,250.0031907 .. 1908 . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,284,040.00;1908 .. 1909 3,300,000.0011909 .. Dusters.â€"A bag made of soft outing flannel with a, ruffle at the bottom and a drawstring at top to Assurance Record. I Assurance Annual Premfilggg 1899 (5 Mos)’ $ 604,000 $ 22,954.60 1900 1900 .. .. .. 1,792,500 62,605.9(53190I 1901 .. .. .. 2,554,904 92,029.30: 1902 .. .. .. 3,425,897 126,695.21i1902 1903 .. .. .. 4,086,112 150,644.68;1903 1904 .. .. .. 4,509,754 166,384.201904 1905 .. .. .. 5,125,437 176,764.39§1905 1906 .. 5,80‘,358 190,222.41§1906 1907 .. .. .. 6,678,057 218,745.9211907 1908 .. .. .. 8,625,509 308,093.761908 1909 .. .. .. 10,310,500 370,671.1431909 1899 (5 months) 1900 1901. . 1902 1903 . 1904 19051.... 1906 1907 1908 1909 lntorest Earnings. Etc. .‘ ASSETS. 1899 (5 months) ..; . . . . . $ 1,794.211899 105.004.00 1900 3,239.0111100 118.417.2410 1901 3,431.8711901 151.534.1111 1902 ...... 5,536.201902 . . . . . . . . 199,070.00 1903 - - - - - - 73360371903 . . . . . . .. 273,604.09 1904 . ..... 10,041.241904 . . . . . . . . 362,833.91!- 1905‘.... ...... ’14,810.91;1905 5713:1000 1906 . ...... 35,410.1031906 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720.405.1111 1907 . . . . . . 40,177.321907 834.202.00‘ 1908 ...... 00507-281908 1.104.874.1111 1909 . - ~ - - - - ~ - . ~ 80,379.761909 . . . . . . .. 1.304.832.03 ALBERT J. RALSTON. Managing Director. ELIAS ROGERS, Esq., HON. J. J. FOY. WM. STONE. Esq” President. lst Viceâ€"Pres. 2nd Vice-Pres The National Life wants a first-class agent in this locality to whom a liberal contract will be given. THE GREAT-WEST LIFE HEAD OFFICE, NATIONAL LIFE BUILDING, TQRONTO, ONT. In 1909 the Paid~fqr business oi the Company in Canada, amr‘unbed to $9,564,269.00â€"â€"-the largest Paid-for Canadian business ever secured in a year by any Company. This prominence is readily explained. In The Great-West Life high interest earnings (7.05 p. 0. net in 1909) are added to low experi- ses‘ and the result isâ€"~low rates and unequalled profits to 'Policyâ€"‘ holders. Far-Three: Smssm Years F ire Fxre Fire Aesotsm . Unearned Premiums and other Liabilities.. Surplus to Policyholders Losses paid since organization of the Company $52,441,172 44 Marine Marine Marine Interest and~other receipts . Profits. on Year’s Trading T’he Great-West Life has written the largest Canadian business of any Company. Western Assurance Céfifim Applications for ‘Agmcies at dressed to the Secretary. HEAD OFFICE, is sold only in sealed lead packetsâ€"never in buik. It not only loses flavour, but worse than this, loosw‘ tea takes on new odors, such as coal oil, molasses, onion-s, cofiee, soap, etc.,â€"to say nothing of its exposure to the sun, dust, dirt and air. Therefore for your protection [.0036 Tea Loses F lavoum (o mom-r13) .... .... .... .... .-.v .... .... .... gou- .... ..-. u... anon .... III. a... n... u..- c... .uc. Write for booklet shOwing details of these profits. W. B. MEIKLE, General Manager. uxuuuuc/ .-.... ..-. ..-u .n.. - .... .... . .... .... . .... ..-. u o... .... . Premiums .. Losses. .. . Expenses . . ASSURANCE COMPANY, HEAD OFFICE, - WINN Premiums Losses. .. H Expenses A RECORD OF PROGRESS. STATEMENT FOR YEAR ENDING DEC. 31, 1909. OI‘ CANADA... INCORPORATED A.D. IBSI. $1,086,875 39 $58,121 as $490,896 16 155,894 55 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 unrepresented points to be ad- fit over t-he broom. will be found exsgllent for dusting walls and ceilings. 3 I . 1.. . l. .... . . . . . . . . .... 2 . .. . .. . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . .. .... ‘ 00.. - - o g . I I . 3.. .. . . . . . . .... §.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ? .... . . . . . . .. .. 3 .. .. . . . . . . . . . . l Issued, Taken months) . . . Mortality ..s 2,111,879 94 1,864,997 47 ..S 638,426 61 “6,590 71 3 3,287,082 55 1,735,711 13 3 1,531,371 42 WINNIPFGn C. FOSTER, Secretary. . . . . . . Nil. ...... $ 6,000.00 ...... 11,500.00 ...... 22,269.00 ...... 9,250.00 ...... 23,714.00 ...... 14,893.00 ...... 10,091.00 .' ..... 23,250.00 ...... 27,103.00 ...... 41,831.00 Experience TORONTO and Paid tor .$ 646,000.00 . 1,350,000.00 . 1,378,755.00 . 1,528,331.00 . 1,569,000.00 . 1,474,594.00 . 1,617,646.00 . 1,724,090.00 . 2,001,300.00 . 2,877,500.00 . 2,950,000.00 ..... $383,596 21 105.004.00 118.67.“..00 151.534.00 190,070.00 273,604.09 362 £33.00- $249,332 41 51.335 so gum so