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The two squires fussed and raved, and stormed till the sweat stood in gremt drops upon them. but they tout! not get half the work out of The weapon smiths were grumbâ€" ling because they were short; of hands for the heavier parts of their labor. Fire or six of the most re- liable. serfs could not be found any- where. Some one had seen them going into the forest, and it was supposed that they were acting as heaters for Geoffroi. Every one grumbled at the Baron. It was thought that this was no time for amusements. A boar would keep, herons would last- till the world’s cud, deer would get them young chry year till the world stopped. Every hour Roger Bigot came slowâ€" ly nearer, and the men of Hilgay{ wanted the‘ comfort of a, master mind to direct and reassure them at a time like this. Long before dawn, scouts on swift horses had been posting along the Norwich road, and messages had been sent to all the villeins proper to fulfil their pledge of service. A row of patient oxen were stab- led in a pen. In the field by the castle side, the swine shricked hor- ribly as a serf killed them relentâ€" lessly, and in the kitchens the wo- men boiled, dried, and salted beâ€" f(_are glowing wood fires. In one corner of the bailey a. man was. cutting lead into strips so that ‘it could be more easily made molten and poured upon be- siegers. In another a, group were heisting pitch barrels on to the walls with a pulley and tackle. In and out of the great gateway rough carts were rattling every moment, full of apples and Wheat from the farmhouses round. The castle-works were humming with activity. The weapon smiths were forging and fitting arrow heads, and making quarrels aisd bolts. The carpenters were build- ing hoards, or wooden pent hous- es which should be run out on the top of the curtains. The crenelets, which grinned between the roof and the machicolade at the top of Out- fangthef, were cleared of all Oh- structions. A trebuchet for slingâ€" ing stonesâ€"invented in Flanders, and very effective at short rangeâ€"â€" was being fitted together on the roof of the Barbiean. Hammers were tapping, metal rang on metal, tle saws groaned, and a great din of preparation pervaded ever-ya thing. 1 The forest; became silent; again, until he heard feet crackling on the’leaves and twigs, and looking up saw a radiant vision approachâ€" ing him. A tall, dark girl, lithe as a willow, was coming through the wood. The two people in the wood went back to the castle by devious ways. They found that Lord Geoffroi with a. few attendants had already left the castle, and entered the forest. Lewin sprang up from the little lawn and went down the path to meetiher, holding out; his hands; “Ah, Gundrudi!” he said, “I hqve waited your coming. How {am ‘you are this beautiful mornâ€" "Then your fine speeches lose all their value, minter. But Ilhave a message.” He dropped his banter at once. Suddenly {he mellow notes of a. horn in all their proud sweetness came floating through the wood._ Geofiroi was starting out to the hunt. ' “Go away,” she said, with a flash of pearls. “That is what you say to every girl.” “Of éofirse, Gundruda, mine. I love all women! my heart is as largg as an abbey.” "Yes! yes‘f” he said eagerly. “My lord goeth after a, boar this afternoon with Sir Fulke, and my Lady Alice will be by the well in the. orchard when they have gage]: “Good,” said he, “there _will I be also. Are Richard and Brian going hupting’lff “No; they will be hard at work with all the theows and men-at- alms fortifying the castle. Oh, Lowin, there is such a to-dol Last night as ever’was, came a, messen- ger to say Roger Bigot is coming to Hilgay to kill us all.” Ing ! A shrill note of alarm had come into her voice, for she had seen war before, and knew something of the unbridled cruelty that walk- ed with conquerors: FREEDOM AT LAST CHAPTER v. (Cont’d) History of a Man Who Lived in Misery and Torture “My Lord Geoffroi is dead, gen- :tl-cmen,” said he. “He has been murdered. I came upon him stand- iLg by the three trees in Monks- hood. He had an arrow right through his mouth, nailed to a. tree was he, and the grass all sprent with him. Gentlemen, I came into the glade ha‘lf-an-hour after I had seen my lord well and alive. He rod-e fiercer ahead of us after the boar, towards Monkshood. My lord loves to ride alone, and Sir Fizlke followed but slowly, and set a peregryn at a heron on the way. But I pressed on faster, so that as Lord Geoffroi killed the boar, and when he had made the first cuts, I should do the rest. God help us all! I did come into the glade half a mile‘ away from where the three For a moment he could not speak in his exhaustion, but by his white face and haunted eyes they saw that he had some terrible news. The rider was now close upon them, and vainly trying to pull in his horse. The animal was madâ€" dened by the goring of his spurs â€"long single spikes in the fashion oE that timeâ€"and would not stop. So, with a shrill shout of warning and. an incredible echoing and thunder of noise, he galloped over the drawbridge, under the vaulted alchway of the gate tower, and only pulled up when he was in the bailey itself, and confronted with the great rock of the keep. “It’s Kenulf, the forester,” shouted two or three vmces at- once. “Surely some one rides after him.” In a moment more they saw him turn out from among the interlacâ€" ing forest trees, and come furious- ]y down the turf towards them. “We shall know before one should tell to twenty, listen!” The newsâ€"bringer, whoever he might be, was close at hand, and with startling effect he sent before him another keen vibratory note of his invisible horn. It seemed to come right up to the very castle gate, and to break in metallic sound at the feet of those standing near. “Godis head! surely Roger is ten days away.” the» men that Geoffroi, or even Fulke, were able to. They had no personality and were ineffective, lacking that most potent and most powerful of human things. But every one did his best, neverthe~ less, and by “noon-meat” work had distinctly advanced, and al- ready the castle began to wear something of an aspect of war. ‘V‘So thé scouts have said. He mcveth very slowly. Oswald saw it with his ofwnfieygn.” The thundering of a horse’s feet growing nearer and nearer throb- bed in the air. The sound seemed a great way off. Some one shouted some quick orders. The pins were pulled from the portcullis chains, so that upon releasing a handle it would fall at once. That was all they could do for the moment. They heard that the horseman was coming on at a most furious galâ€" lop. The sound came from the great main drive of the forest. Quick conjectures flew about among them all. In a country lane on a, hot sum- mer afternoon, on Sunday, we say that a “Sabbath peace” is over all the. land. The wind in the trees seems whispering litanies, and the soft voices of the woodâ€"pigeons sound like psalms, the woods are a}; orisons, and the fields at prayer. As evening comes gently on, the feeling becomes intensified, though there is nothing but the chance linâ€" laL-lone of a distant bell to help it. The evening is not really more peaceful and gracious on the day of rest. The rocks wing home with mellow voices indeed, and the plo- ver calls sweetly down the wind for his mate, but these are ordinary sounds. You may hear them on week days. The peace is in our own hearts, subjective and holy, informed by our own thoughts. In the very air of the castle there was a tremulous expectation of war. Lady Alice, in her chamber, far away from the tumult, knew it. Little Gertrude, in the orchard, fPJt in her blood that the day was nut ordinary; the very dogs sought wist°tu to understand the excite- mcnt that pervaded everything. A deep silence fell uponythen; all. Then they heard it again, no hunt- ing mot or tuneful call bf peace, but a long, keen, threatening note of alarm! He was awakened suddenly, when the sun was already at its height, by the sweet fanfaronade‘ of distant horns. He glided away towards Monkshood swiftly and silently, a brown thing stealing through the undergrowth upon his malign er- rand. At last he came to the place he sought. - To sit on. a jury is what it someâ€" times nee-«ls. He was wearing Pierce’s dagger rcund his waist, and he took it out tn see if it was sharp enough. The stains of blood still held to it in films of brown and purple, but its point was needleâ€"like, and the edge bitter keen. He put it down by his side upon a great fern tuft over which countless ants were hurryâ€" ing. It fell among the ants as a streak of lightning falls among a crowd of men. Then, like some un- couth spirit of the wood, some faun, one might have fancied, he fell into a long, droamless sleep. When he had get far on upon his way to Monkshood he lay down deep in the fem to rest, and watched the sky between tho delicate lace of tho, leaves. After the first meal they slunk off to their posts with little outward emotion and but few words of part- ing. The clear cold light of the morning chilled them, and robbed the occasion of much of its excite- ment. But for all that went they doggedly towards their work. For a certain distance Hyla went in company with the three heaters, but at a point they stopped, and he proceeded onwards alone. Early in the morning the con- spirators took a meal together be- fore setting out to play their variâ€" ous parts in this tragedy. Harl was already far away with the wo- men. Gurth was to go down to the river and take the swiftest punt :avay from the landing-plaice and hide in the reeds‘upon the other side. A whistle would summon him when Hyla and Cerdic came down to the water ready for flight. Gurth was to sink the other punts, to make pursuit impossible for a time. Cerdic, Richard, and a third man called Aescwig were to lie in the wood to turn the boar, as well as they were able, towards the glade of Monkshood. They were lean, wiry men, swift of foot, and knew that they could do this. Cerdic had a swift dog concealed, for it was unlawed, which he used for poaching. It would help them. Hy- la himself would lurk in the glade with his knife, waiting in the hope‘ of. his enemy. trees stand. My eyen go far and they are very keen. There was a. man, I could see, standing still, but as I blew a call he went swiftly in- to the underWood. Then came I to the trees and saw my lord standing dead. Sir Fulke and the train came up soon after, and they are bring- ing It home. Make you ready. Cwaeth he to me, that you were to make proper mourning. Hasm! haste! for soon they will be near, and there is scant of time with- outen great haste. Take me to my lady, for I would tell her.” “No,” said a girl, who was stand- ing. by, very hastily, “I will pre- pare her first,” and with that Gundruda, with a face full of won- der, slipped away to the postern which led to the orchard. So this was how the first tidings of Hyla’s vengeance came to the castle. A great exultation was born in the heart of each man. Hyla show- ed them his blood-stained hands, with vulgar merriment at the sight, rejoicing in the deed. They were all animated with the lust of slaughâ€" ter. Wild hopes began to slide in and out of their minds. One could hardly expect anything fineâ€"in ex- ternalsâ€"from these rough boorish men. Although their purpose was noble, and the feelings that ani- mated them had much that owed its existence to a love for their fel- low, a. protest of essential human nature against oppression and foul wrongs, vet their talk was _coarse and brutal about it all. This must be chronicled in order to present a proper explanation of them, but if it is understood it will be for- given. No doubt the canons of ro- mance would call for another kind of picture. No doubt it was horrible of Hyla to call up a sleeping puppy and make it lick Pierce’s blood from his hands, but this story is written to make Hyla explicit, and Hyla was not refined, ’ As one might imagine, there was no sleep for the serfs on the night before the attempt. From the time when they had stolen up the hill after the murder of Pierce to the coming of dawn was but. short. Thev spent it round the cleadv fire among the noises of the night. 7 Now the killing of Geoffroi de la. Bourne happened in this way. (To be continued.) always the lambs must be forced, and brought to market at from two to three months. At two months, the lambs can be brought to about forty pounds, and at three months sixty-five; the latter weight is get- ting rather heavy. For these fancy But there is money, more money, in sheep and lambs than ever be- fore, if the methods of procedure Were adapted to the present de- mands. What is wanted particular- ly is lamb, not mutton. The mar- ket wants Christmas lamb, Easter lamb, spring lamb, early summer lamb. This trade is almost as eas- ily met, and is highly profitable. 'llie producer must plan his crop for the market he wishes to suit. If for Christmas and the post-i Christmas trad-e, they must be fall lambs for Easter, they must 'be January lambs, and so on. What misses for Januarv will sell later on almost as good a market. But :1 sufficient profit in the business, endled after this fashion, to com tmue its prosecution. This is the quasi economic reason of the dieâ€" ciine in popularity of sheep in Can- aoa. The dispersion of farm flocks all over older Canada has an economic reason. Other reasons are fre- quently given, but they are inade- quate. The our dog is a nuisance; sheep surely will go through poor- lyrbuilt wire fences, if large flocks are maintained on small pastures; other stock prefer not to graze af- ter sheep; but these reasons are inâ€" sufficient. If sheep were paying reâ€" latively, as they did formerly, they would not have been thus abandon- ed. When sheep were in their zen- ith, dairying had scarcely appeared above the horizon, beef-making had 150 frequently and irregularly parti- ‘al or total eclipse, that many men felt they could not rely upon it as their guiding star, and pork-pro- duction oscillated then as now. Now dairying is developed into a highly- piofitable, permanent industry; b-eefmaking has probably become more restricted, but is more reli-‘ ably profitable; pork productionl has shifted from fat pork to bacon, increasing the profit and constancy of the trade. But no such improveâ€" ment can be noted in mutton proâ€"l duction. The business stands too, much where it did in the long ago. Lambs dropped in the spring are; retained all summer and sold in the " fall or early winter, when thcy are: not especially desired. There is notf It is not wellthat the sheep have gene from so many of our farms. They are splendid gleaners, at least eighty per cent. of the weeds in a. pasture will be eradicated by sheep; very few weeds seeds, if any, escap- ing destruction. They get much in a pasture that all other stock refuse. In winter, they are splendid con- sumers of coarse roughages. as pea. stiaw. stemmy clover, and barley and cat straw. They do not demand painstaking care, save at weaning time. Thus, they are a sort of in- expensive accessory, gathering up the loose waste ends, and convert- .ug them into a cash surplus WHY NOT MORE SHEEP? Before the days of the American tariff on sheep and wool, a flourish- ing business was done with sheep through the greater part of Eastern Canada. The breeder of pure-breds is still in the business, duties not interfering with his export trade; but on the farms of the mutton- producer. even the old sheep shed has disappeared; farmers them- selves have forgotten the flavor of mutton chops, or leg of lamb, else surely there could be found a small flock somewhere back of the barns; and the children have to adopt a pig for pet, and wear factory-knit stockings and mittens. It was not always so. To serveâ€"â€"heat in oven, pour hot milk over it and salt to taste. Sold by all grocers,.13c. a carton; two for 25¢. Builds Strong, Healthy, Sturdy Youngsters; When the air temperature from ' their breathing and the radiations from their bodies drove the ther- 'Vm01neter up to 88 degrees Fahren- “heit (most people keep their rooms at about 68 degrees Fahrenheit), Professor Hill shouted: “Are you ready for the fans?” A chorus of “Yes” from the prisoners, and three electric fans were turned on from the outside. No fresh air was iao'mitted, the fans simply stirring ‘up the moist carbonic-acidâ€"laden atv mosphere. The effect was little less than ma- gical. The students immediately stood more erect, breathed more easily and deeply, and began once again to chat and joke with one ianother. 0n coming out none of [the men showed any signs of the j'ti‘.\'ing ordeal he had just gone ! through. I When she returned she summoned the maid. ‘ “Did you receive any message for ma. Jane?” she inquired. “Only one, ma’am.” “And what was that?” “Why, I thought I heard th’ bell ring, ma’am. an’ I took down th’ receiver, ma’am, and just» then a voice said. ‘Listenin’ again, are ycu. you old snoop?’ An’ that’s th' only message I got for you. mw’am.” The lady of the house where they we a. “party line” told the new maid to leave the door open so she could hear the ’1')h0nc, and to care- fully repeat to her any messages shv received. i: the moisture, high temperature am‘ stagnation of the air which gives us the headaches and dull: noss.”‘ “This experiment,” Professor Hi}! stated, “proves conclusively that the carbonic acid present; in a stuffy, overcrowded and illâ€"ventilatâ€" cu' room is not the cause of the un- pleasant symptoms we formerly as- sociatgd with these, conditions. If note their perépiring, flushed cheeks, quivering nostrils and gun ergkair of physical discomfort. In their hermitica-lly sealed box the eight students experienced all the sensations of gradual suffoca- tlon for threeâ€"quarters of an hour, until the carbonic acid gas rose to four per cent. A stuffy theatre at- mosphere might contain oneâ€"thirti~ eth of one per cent. Peering through the large glass windows in tvm walls of their prison, we could To eight perspiring, shirtâ€"sleeved students, crowded in an airtight box five feet long; five feet wide and seven feet high, breath- ing their own expired air over and over again, at a, tem- perature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit, :is due the proof that carbonic acid gas, formerly considered such a deadly poison, can be breathed with impunity in doses forty times as‘ large as the law allows. Not so Deadly as People Have Been Led to Believe. The danger of an excess of car- bonic acid gas in the air, the pro- perty which makes an overcrowded, stuffy room so unpleasant, has been robbed of all its terrors as the re- sult of an experiment carried out at the London Hospital, says The Daily Mail’s medical correspom dent. It is true here, as elsewhere, that the wool produced by most sheep will pay for their keep. They are worth much as gleaners; they are worth much as a source of wool and meat supply to farms; they are a delight to have about the farm- home, and they will pay, and pay well to those men who will adapt them to the market demands.â€"â€"Far- mer’s Advocate. markets, the lambs at from two to three months will bring from seven and a, half to ten dollars. A spring lamb, kept all summer, and mark- eted in the fall at 90 to 100 pounds, Em five or six cents a pound will bring no more. CARBONIC ACID GAS. ONLY 4a: