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To Misszachel, her halfâ€"sister, Mrs. Moore, had offered a, home, and the offer had perforce been accepted, even though to the counâ€" tryâ€"bred woman life in a, London street meant something nearly akin to purgatory. But Mrs. Moore had no welcome to extend to the child of Rachel Sterne’s adoption. From the very first she had regarded with disfavor Joy’s advent into hex- sisâ€" ter’s house, and she resolutely and consistently disliked the girl, who to Miss Rachel and Miss Prudence had been the embodiment of her name. “Robert- and I will be glad to welcome you as a. permanent guest, in our house,” she said to Miss Rachel on the terrible day when she had gone to the old Manor House at Mottesley to discuss the elder woman’s financial difficulties. “My house is the proper and fit- tingf place for you to live, and I am sure I will do my best to make you comfortable there. But I be- lieve in plain speaking, and I had better come to the point at once about Joy.” - “About Joy 2” “Yes, about Joy. I need not go over the old ground; youlknow I never approved of your absurd, quixotic conduct in adopting the girl, and I .must tell you frankly that I cannot offer her a, home. She will have to find some work as other girls do. She can come to us until she finds it, but she must not look to us for a. home.” It was in the sitting-room speci- ally set apart for Miss Rachel’s use in Mrs. Moore’s house that she and Joy sat on the December morning when, by her interview with the Martinda-les, the girl had taken her first independent plunge in life ; and in the same room, late that after- noon, Miss Rachel spoke long and earnestly to her nephew, Roget Hassall, about Joy and Joy’s fu- ture. As has been said, Roger’s forâ€" tune had been swallowed up in the same catastrophe that had swept away his aunt’s little all, and dur- ing the past few months the man who had looked forward ’00 the peaceful and pleasant existence. of For one wild moment Mis's Ra- chel very nearly acted on a. wild impulse and refused the proffered home which was to exclude Joy. But long years of self-control had taught this strong, yet gentle, wo- man the folly, and worse than £01- ly, of acting on impulse, and after due thought and conversation with her nephew, Roger, and with Joy, Mrs. Moore’s offer had been ac- cepted. an English squire, had found him- self obliged to face the necessity of working for bare existence. And work is not easy to find when a man is thirty-five, and untrained for any profession whatever. “An average brain, a. strong body, and a pair of handsâ€"these are my qualifications,” Roger said 'to a friend when, in the early days of his financial disaster, professions and ways and means were under discussion. .“I shall have to leave England. No sane man would stay in this over-crowded market look- ing for work. A colony is my only hope.” And thus resolved, Roger Has- sall had, so to speak, squared his shoulders, looked Fate boldly in the eyes and taken up his burden with the quiet endurance that was at the very core of his character. Left an orphan early in life, he had always considered his mother’s sisâ€" ter, Rachel, more in the light of a mother than an aunt, and as his It is prime beef, highly con-’ centrated, and prepared so that it is easily and quickly digested. Try a few drops of Bovril in a. lettuce sandwich. That is why a. cup of Bov- ril rapidly relieves fatigue and gives strength to the'ail- ing. A DIFFICULT SITUATION; YGUR GHILDREN » STRENGTH CHAPTER X.â€"(Cont’d) \N'ILL GIVE OR, THE END CROWNS ALL. If Roger had wmced just a little at the lightly spoken words â€"â€" if Joy’s gay acceptance of brother and sisterhood as the relationship between them had seemed to him inadequate, and not really meeting his View of the case, he was wise enough not to divulge his feelings to the innocent girl of sixteen. Deep down in that quiet heart of his he cherished a hope that some! day, when she was older, when the; woman in her was awake, he should i be able to speak to her of a love that was something very different from the brotherly affection shex imagined; something which shook‘ his own soul to its depths andl would surely shake her soul too, in that some day that was to come. But now-the world had changed; for him. With the upheaval of his fortunes had come also the stern necessity for thrusting away all those dreams that had made his; life so sweet. It was a Roger grown ‘ older, sterner, and sadder, who' stood with his back against thel mantelpiece in Miss Rachel’s sit»! ting-room on the afternoon of thati day when Joy had entered into herl engagement with the Martindales.l “It’s just the same as if I had a real elder brother,” she said to him once, looking into his face with her innocent blue eyes. “I am very sorry for girls who haven’s got brothers to take care of them and give them good advice.” property in Mottesley adjoined the old Manor House in which Rachel and Prudence Sterne lived their lives, he had been as much with them as in his own house, the Hall. During Joy’s days of toddling babyâ€" hood, Roger was growing from boy to man, and the small child had found in him an untiring playmate, a never-failing friend. A look of pain crept into his brown eyes as Miss Rachel, some- what falteringly, told him of Joy’s interview with her future employ- ers, and for a moment after her gentle voice had ceased speaking, he was so silent that his aunt glanced up at him nervously. “You are not vexed at me for allowing the child to do this, are you, Roger 2” she said. “I did not see how I could prevent it, for your Aunt Grace does not wish to keep Joy here any longer than can be helped.” 7 “‘Aunt Grace b'eâ€"” Roger pull- ed himself up and laughed confus- edly. “I was gomg to say some- thing rather rude about Aunt Grace,” he went on, his eyes twinkling' for an inst-ant; “butâ€"in the first place, it is bad manners to swear at one’s aunt; and, in the second, it is useless. Uncle Bob- ert, cannot be moved to see rea- son '1” “You uncle never sees anything that your aunt does not wish him to see,” Miss Rachel answered shrewdlv; “she has him very well in hand,” the old lady added with a. smile . I imagine, suffering from some de- ficiencies in her education.’ But both ladies were most kind and pleasant; to Joy. She has made up her mind she will be happy with them.” 7“7Yes, dear boy; I knew, I have always known. We old maids are not blind. Sometimes I even think “He always was as weak as water,” Roger ,said shortly; “but now, Aunt Rachelâ€"about, Joyâ€" You are sure these people éhe is going to be with are all right? I will find out what I can about them. We can’t let the child go just any- Where.” “I fancy there is no doubt that Lady Martindale is the kind of per- son we should like Joy to 1i_ve with. “She would make up her mind to be happv in a caveâ€"dweller’s hut, if it was her lot to live there. She is true to her name through and through. Aunt Rachelâ€"” he paused,~â€"a long, long pause,â€"and the gentle, k-een old eyes watched his troubled face anxiously. _ The step-daughter, 'to Whom our little girl is go _be qompanion, 3's, “I think you must have known, must have guessed,’«’_ he stumbled on, “what I shoulq have liked about Joy. ~ Ever since she was a, tiny‘ thingâ€"oh! before you put up her hairâ€"I made up my min-d that 77 some dayâ€"f _ His voice {altered and failed: he turned and looked down into the fire, as though he found the sow- tiny of Miss Rachel’s eyes unbear- able. we see more than other people do -â€"andâ€"if you and Joyâ€"nothing would have made me happierâ€"if o‘nlyâ€"” she broke off incoherent- ly, and Roger turned back again, ftraightening himself determined- y. “I know you are right,” the old lady said quietly, “of course you are rightâ€"but it seems hard. Ade wom‘e-timevsâ€"Roger, it is fairer to a woman to tell her that you love, even if it may involve long wait- ing for her. She would rather know of the love, than have to eat her heart out, wondering whether it exists.” “Joy won’t eat her heart out for me,” he said. “I quite agree with you about the fairness of telling a Woman you love her if there is a fraction of a chance that she cares for you in the same way..But Joy’s heart, as far as I am concerned, is untouchedâ€"entirely untouched. To tell her the truthâ€"to try to bind her to a beggar like myselfâ€"would bo grossly unfair. And she is made of the stuff to give herself and her life to a man out of pity, just to make him happy, without any thought of her own happiness. No, Aunt Rachel, if the someday ever comes, it must com’eywhen I have something more to offer to Joy than just six foot one of me that stands in these shoes. Meanwhile, I’ll find out about these Martin- dales, and arrange for the child’s journey to Standon. I don’t sail myself for another fortnight.” ‘ Roger stooped and tenderly pat- ted Aunt Rachel’s hands, laughing a. little ruefully. r A week later, Roger, having dis- covered that the Martindale me- nage Was in every respect unim- peachable and all that could be de- sired, stood upon the platform at Waterloo, beside the train that was to carry Joy to her new surround- ings. The girl leant from the car- riage window, her bright face a. lit- tle dimmed because of her recent parting with Miss Rachel, and the coming parting with Roger; but she was speaking eagerly. ‘ “One can’t go through life saying ‘if only!’ ” he exclaimed. “I like you to know what my dream was, Aunt Rachel, butâ€"as things are, the dream cannot be fulfilled. If I make a. fortune in Australiaâ€"well and good: perhaps there may still be some day for me. But meanâ€" while, Joy will see plenty of other men. She will probably marryâ€"~ one might almost say she will cer- tainly marry. In any case, under present circumstances, I could not speak to her of what is in my heart. I could not attempt to bind her.” “Oh, Roger!” Miss Rachel ex- claimed, “would it, be wrong just to tell her how much she is to you ’1” “Her heart is not touchedâ€"~her heart is not; touched.” His own words to Aunt Rachel raced to and fro in his mind. whilst; he talked of mails and steamers, of sheep-runs and the Bush, and of Joy’s own new “You dear, little, sentimental auntie, yes, it would be wrong. She thinks of me now merely as a nice, comfortable elder brother. She has no notion that my feelings for her are more than brotherly. And be- ing the pauper- I am, I have no right to open her eyes.” “And oh, please, you will write ever so often, won’t you? I shall want to hear everything about Auâ€" stralia, and about What you are doâ€" ingâ€"andâ€"everything.” _ . Roger'nodded and smiled. He was doing his best to make the parting brotherly and common- place, and if his eyes looked into the girl’s grey Ones with a light that was not entirely brotherly, he was quite unaware of all his glance expressed. Constipafion is the root of many forms of sickness and of an endless amount of human misery. thoroughly tested by over'fifty years of use, have been 1 proved 'a. safe and certain cure 'for constipation and all kindred troubles. Try them. . Dr. Morse’s Indian Root Pills, 25¢. a box. ISSUE NO. 24â€"11 “Her heart is not touched,” he said to himself again, when, hav- ing wrung her hand with a. grip that almost hurt her, he stood back from the moving twin and watched the face he loved so swiftly out of his sight. “Her heart is not touch- ed,” he said to himself yet once more, as he made his way out of the station, and down into the busy roadway below, “I was right about that!” And at the same moment Joy, watching the receding roofs of London through a. burst of tears, felt her heart beating with strange, unmcustomed beats, because of the close pressure of Roger’s hand â€"- felt her pulses quicken oddly be- cause of the remembrance r__of that look of Roger’s eyesâ€"the look which seemed to say so much, and yet to leave so much unsaid. CHAPTER XI. “I suppose you’ve had a lot of fellows after you ‘1” “A lot ofâ€"l” “A lot of fellowsâ€"chapsâ€"well, you must be a. silly if you don’t understand. I mean you’ve had a goodish bit of attention, haven’t yogi”? __ a... .‘ u-x “Iâ€"didn’t understand,” Joy answered, the color deepening on her face. “Oh, no! I certainly didn’t have any fellows, or attenâ€" tion. I mean, one doesnft care to talk about things like that, does one?” she added, with a touch of girlish dignity that gave new charm to her face. Violet Martindale’s rather high- pitched voice became quite queru- lous, as she saw the effect of her remarks upon her new companion, who stared at her with heightened color, and with a. curious look of dismay_ in her eyes. VLUlUU’ WAJU uuu uuvu 1.] nub "v"... V.. a. couch in front of the drawing- room, drew herself into a. sitting position, and stared at the other girl as though Joy were a. strange creature, new to her experience. “Why, anybody would certainly call you pretty, even in the simple clothes you wear, and I should have thought you would have had fellows round you_ all the time.” â€" y)! 77“My ghodness, you are funny Violet, who had been lying_back_ on Joy swallowed her disgust with the best grace 'she could muster, trying to remember, as she had to try many times a day, that Violet Martindale’s points of view on al- most every subject were diametri- cally opposed to any she had ever conceived possible. During all her sheltered girlhood at Mottesley she had never come across a type of young woman who even remotely resembled the mistress of Standon Towersâ€"the small vulgarities, the cockney accent, and the extraor- dinary lack of reserve in the girl to whom she was companion, filled Joy with a neverâ€"ending amaze- ment. life, in a random, headlong fashion, qxiite unlike his usually quiet man- ner. ' “She is learning how to behave on the surface,” was Joy’s shrewd reflection, “but underneath the surface she has an innately vulgar way of looking at everything; and, though she is so ready to talk about the most intimate things in the most unreserved way, her mind has some corners into which nobody is admitted.” This thought, which had passed through the girl’s brain more than once before, recurred to her now, on the January afternéon, when persistent torrents of rain having made outdoor pursuits im- Sold in all parts of the World. Canada’s Most Brilliant Representative. It has proved its superiority over scotes of other makes, and has won popularity solely on its merits. , 7 It’s good for your shoes. THE F. F. DALLEY CO., Limited, HAMILTON, Ont. BUFFALO, N. Y. and LONDON. Eng. possible, Violet and her companion were driven to the big couch by the drawingâ€"133011} fire. 'l‘nis organization consisted of sixty of the most highly born wom- en in England, including Queen Alexandra, then of course Princess of Wales. For three or four gener- ations in succession Signor Francis» used to go every summer to Ken- sington Palace or to Bridgewater House, Lady Ellesmere’s house in St. J ames’s. Queen Margherita. of Italy, an expert mandolinist, had set the fashion for this instrument and from Rome, Naples and Milan the fashion spread toy-England. Few of us become round shoul- dered from carrying othervpeople’s burdens. Few people outside her family and her most intimate friends knew until the other day that Queen Alexandra is an expert mandolin- ist. Her tutor, Signor Leopold Francia, has now told how he first met his royal pupil in 1895, when he was appointed director of the. Ladies’ Mandolin and Guitar Band Orchestra. v Anxious ParenFâ€"“Doctor, v my daughter appears to be going blind, and she is about to be married.”" Doctorâ€"“Let her go right on with the wedding. If anything can open her eyes, marriage will.” “Queen Alexandra,” sayys Signor- Francia, “had rare musical attain-l ments. She played both piano and guitar with great skill and feelin and her knowledge of harmony an counterpoint was remarkable. She has wrm‘en several compositions of real beauty. One of these, ‘A Wedding March,’ for piano and! mandolin, was played at. the mar- riage of Lady Beatrice Egerton and‘. Mr. Kemp. “She appeared several times on the concert platform with mandol- in or guitar. Only a few ladies of the court and her tutor were in the secret. When she appeared on the platform she dressed like the other members of the Ladies’ Orchestra, in a black costume relieved by a sash of red, black and yellow if she played the guitar. No one could detect her identity, as she always» appeared in the programme under. the name of Countess Gage.” The Hunterâ€"Oh! I beg your pan don. I mistook Xgu £0;- a. deer: Queen Alexandra Is An Expert ' Mandolinist. The Nativeâ€"No harm done, mister. I reckon I’d a. bin safe enough if ye’d mistook me fer I» barn door.-â€"Life.’ ‘ SHE IS A GREAT MUSICIAN. (To be continued.)