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hair dres up _w} silly ass! hard jour need all 1 to land y< “Here, wake up, Monty!” be ex- claimed. "Supper‘s come from the royal kitchen. Bring your plate and tuck in!” Monty struggled to his feet and came meekly towards where the pot stood simmering upon the ground. “I'm not hungry, Trent,” he said, “but I am very thirsty, very thirsty indeed. My throat is all parched. I am almost uncomfortable. Really I think your behavior with regard to the brandy is most unkind and unâ€" generous; I shall be ill, I know I shall. Won’t you ” , “No, I won’t,” Trent interrupted. ‘_‘Now_ shut” up all that rot and eat something." “I have no 3]) Monty answered: “Eat somethin “If the w62‘st comes‘weushall never get away quickly,” he muttered. “That old carcase can scarcely drag himself a]oyg.” 7 eyes. “He not fit only die,” he said soft- ly. “He very old, very sick man, you leave him here! I see to him.” Trent turned away in sick disgust. “We’ll be off to-morrow, Sam,” he said shortly. “I say! I'm beastly huggi‘y. What’s in that pot?” "He all right, I see him cooked," he declared. “He two rabbits and one monkey.” Trent took out a plate and helped himself. “All right,” he said. “Be off now. We’ll go to-morrow before these tows- ley-headed beauties are awake.” Trent stood up in the shadow of the overhanging roof. Every now and then came a wild shrill cry from the lower end of the village. Some one was beating a frightful, cracked drum which they had got from a trader. The tumult was certainly increasing. Trent swore softly, and then looked irresolutely over his shoulder to where Monty was sleeping, "v... mu: nun-co, uuu. Dec: “I see,” Sam answered; “but him not safe to wait. You believe me. I know tam niggers. They take two days get drunk, then get devils, four â€"raving mad. They drunk now. Kill any one toâ€"{norrowâ€"perhape ypu. 17:“ ,, , ,, Km u»- ‘ - ' ' ’ __ ,J‘ m ' ..... aw ceuam toâ€"morro'w .32.... YO‘ listen now!” 85rd spread out the rpélrh-s of his hands. 'Sam nodded and waddled of Trent threw a biscuit and hit his companion on the cheek. “Not quite, Sam,” Trent answered. “There’s an Englishman, Captain Francis, on his way here up the Coast, going on to Walg‘etta Fort. He must be here to-morrow. I want him to see the King’s signature. If he’s a witness these niggers can never back out of the concession. They’re slippery devils. Another chap may come on with more rum and they’ll forget us and give him the right to work the mines, too. See!” “Stew all right,” Sam whispered confidentially. “You eat him. No fear. But you got to go. King be- ginning get angry. He say white men not to stay. They got what he promised, now they go. I know King â€"know'this people well! You get away quick. He think you want be King here!‘ You got the papersâ€"all you__want, eh ?f’ Tâ€"reI-lt nodded, andrtlrle rrfién with- drew. Sam lookea away. “vVery big rab- bits »round here,” he remarked. “Best kegp pot. _S_en_d mqn _away.” Trent bent over the pot which the two men had set upon the ground. He _took a fork from his belt and dug it m. “Very big bone for a rabbit, Sam,” he_remz}rk_ed,_ doubtfullx._ “0h, thafi be blowed!" Trent mut- tered. “What’s this in the pot? It don’t smell bad." "Rabbit," the interpreter answered tersely. ““Very good. Part King’s osvn supper. White men very favor- e . ’ “No news,” the little man grunted. "The King, he send some of his own supper to the white men. ‘They got what they want,’ he say. ‘They start work mine soon as like, but they go away from here.’ He not like them abggt the place! 7 Seei’f» A fat, unwholesome-looking creatâ€" ure, half native, half Belgian, wad- dled across the open space towards the hut in which the two strangers had been housed. He was followed at a little distance by two sturdy natives bearing a steaming pot which they carried on a pole between them. Trent set down his revolver and rose to his feet. “What news, Ooom Sam?" he askâ€" ed. “Has the English officer been hegygl of? He must be close up now.f' Sa_m looked 11 the' s but T THE GOLDEN KEY $891116 Or "The AdVentures of Ledgard.” By the Author of “What He Cost Her." CHAPTER II. befo .etore us, ‘ength in y 3uckomari : some of yc t him with cunning Jet ite, thank you ith sulky dignit and don’t be Isisted. “\Ve’ve him Ike} your whispered him. No King he- say _ white lips we're- ryes were prec carcase 1. Here. “Looked at it! You looked at it! VLike your confounded impertinence, ‘, sir! Who are you to look at her! If Lever I catch you prying into my con- cerns a ain. I’ll shoot youâ€"by .Heaven will!” 4 Trent laughed sullenly, and, having finished eating, lit his pipe. ‘ “Your concerns are of no interest to me,” he said shortly; “keep ’em to yourselfâ€"and look here, old ’un, :keep your hands off me! I ain’t a safe man to hit let me tell you. Now sit down and cool ofl"! I don’t want .any more of your tantrums.” : Then there was a long silence beâ€" tween the two men. Monty sat where Trent had been earlier in the night at jthe front of the open hut, his eyes Yfixed upon the everâ€"rising moon, his face devoid of intelligence, his eyes dim. The fire of the last few minutes had speedily burnt out. His half-sod- dened brain refused to answer to the ‘ sudden spasm of memory which had , awakened a spark of the former man. ,If he had thoughts at all, they hung jaround the brandy bottle. The calm ‘beauty of the African night could lweave no speli‘ upon him. A few 1 feet behind, Trent, by the light of the ‘moon, was practising tricks with a pack of greasy cards. By and by a ‘spark of intelligence found its way into Monty’s brain. He turned round ifurt_ively. 7 . the cards. “You’re “I have it," he declared. “The very thing.” “Well!” “You are pleased to set an alto~ gether fictitious value upon that half bottle of brandy we have left,” he said. “Now I tell you what I will do. In a few months we shall both be rich men. I will play you for my I.O.U. for fifty pounds, fifty soveâ€" reigns, Trent, against half the conâ€" tents of that bottle. Come, that is a fair offer, is it not? How we shall laugh at this in a year or two. Fifty pounds against a tumblerfulâ€"posi- tively there is no moreâ€"a tumblerful of brandy.” “Oh, shut up!” Trent growled. “I don’t want your money, and the brandy’s poison to you! Go to sleep!” Monty crept a little nearer to his partner and laid his hand upon his arm. His shirt fell open, showing the cords of his throat swollen and twitching. His voice was half a sob. “Trent, you are a young manâ€"not old like me. You don’t understand my constitution. Brandy is a neces- sify to me! that I shall me! Reme “What?” he “You don’t agree! Did you understand me? Fifty pounds, Trent! Why, you must be mad!” fith... ... V ‘ .muuvy umue a wry face. “POkEI‘ for love, my dear Trent,” he said, “between you and me, would lack all the charm and excitement. It would be, in fact, monotonous! Let us exâ€" ercise our ingenuity. There must be something still of value in our pos- sessmn.” He relapsed into an afi'ectation of thoughtfulness. Trent watched him curiously. He knew quite well that his partner was dissembling, but he scarcely knew to what end. Monty’s eyes, moving round the grassâ€"bound hut, stopped at Trent’s knapsack which hung from the central pole. He uttered a little exclamation. He was watching Trent’s face all the time, but the younger man gave no sign. When he had finished, Trent took up the cards, which he had shuf- fled for Poker, and dealt them out for Patience. Monty’s eyes were dim with disappointment. “I do not mind," Monty replied af- fably. “Just which you prefer.” “Single Poker, then,” Trent said. “And the stakes ?” “We've nothing left to play for,” Trent answered gloomily, “except cartridges." “Trent,” he said, “this is slow! Let us have a friendly gameâ€"you and I.” Trent yawned. “Come on, then,” he said. “Single Pok_er or Euchre, eh?” “You infernal young blackguard! You impertinent, meddling blackhead! How dare you presume to look at that photograph! How dare you, sir! How dare you!” Trent was too thoroughly astonish- ed to resent either the blow or the fierce words. He looked up into his aggg'essor’s fece‘ in blag}; surprise. _ “‘71 only looked at it,"fli1éflnin{1iié11éd “I§_wa§ lying on the floor." brimming with laughter, the pose was full of grace, even though the girl’s figure was angular. Trent had seen as much as this, when he felt the smart of a sudden blow upon the cheek, the picture was snatched from his hand, and Montyâ€"his face con- vulsed with angerâ€"glowered fiercely upon him. Trent Itm ," he sald bluntly, you’ll worry me it lon’t have your 0“ :e hu: aused adfas se to We e. 1011 don't understand Ition. Brandy is a necesâ€" I’ve lived on it so long die if you keep it from ‘mber, it’s a whole day ed a drop! Now I’ll make ‘d. Whajzmdo you say to can’t bet, the stake 3th The metal in the shell is fairly thick. The explosion is very violent, and has a thoroughly destructive ef- fect upon anything near the point where the shell explodesâ€"concrete walls, entanglements, steel shields for the trenches, or for guns. The French and Germans use these shells to prepare the way for assaults on hostile trenches, demolishing with them all obstacles. Shrapnel are quite different pro- jectiles, and are serviceable, against infantry in the open or lightly en- trenched. They are thin steel cases containing a very small charge of low or moderate power explosive, which opens the cases and liberates What a High Explosive Is. The shell question for the British army concerns the supply not of shrapnel, but of shell containing high explosive. These high-explosive shells are strong steel cases with a fuse, usually placed in the base. The charge employed may be either lyd- diteâ€"which is a preparation of picric acidâ€"or tri-nitrotoluol. “I am a man of humors, my dear friend,” he said, “and to-night my humor is to talk and to be merry. What is it the philosophers tell us ?â€" that the sweetest joys of life are the joys of anticipation. Here we are, then, on the eve of our triumphâ€"let us talk, plan, be happy. Bah! how thirsty it makes one! Come, Trent, what stake will you have me set up against that other tumblerful of bramiy?"i “No stake that you can ofi'er,” Trent answered shortly. “That drop of brandy may stand between us and death. Pluck up your courage, man, and forget for a bit that there is sugh a thing as drink.” Monty frouwned and looked stealth- ily across towards the bottle. (To be continued.) Monty was reolnfiassionate. “My young friend,” he said, “I would give my soul to have our future before us, to have your youth and never to have tasted ghumpagne. P13}: ‘l‘ne me- LIA-y or 1c 15 delicious!” “Why don’t you go to bed?” Trent said. “You’ll need all your strength to-morrow!” Monty waved his hand with serene con’gempt. “Névgr,” Trent answered gruffly. “D_o_n’t know that I want to either.” “Not when I am carrying my life in my hands," Trent answered grim- ly. “I get drunk sometimesâ€"when there’s nothing on and the blues come â€"never at a time like this though.” “It is pleasant to hear,” the old man remarked, stretching out his limbs, “that you do occasionally re- lax. In your present frame of mind â€"you will not be offended I trustâ€" you are just a little heavy as a com- panion. Never mind. In a year's time I will be teaching you how to dineâ€"to drink champagne, toâ€"by the way, Trent, have you ever tasted champagne? Trent made no further protest. He walked back to where he had been lying and recommenced his Patience. Monty drank off the contents of the tumbler in two long, delicious gulps! Then he flung the horn upon the floor and laughed aloud. “That’s better,” he cried, “that’s better. What an ass you are, Trent! To imagine that a drain like that would have any effect at all, save to put life into a man! Bah! What do you know about it?” Trent did not raise his head. He went on with his solitary game, and, to all appearance, paid no heed to his companion’s words. Monty was not in the humor to be ignored. He flung himself on the ground opposite to his companion. “What a slow-blooded sort of creat- ure you are, Trent!" he said. “Don’t you ever drink, don’t you ever take life a little more gaily?”r 11‘1' . . l Vermin Proof Protection is the for increasing the n in any area, and the tection are in direct the amount given. 1 birds against every f tion by human kind, them from various In most effectual single round the proposed with a vermin-proof fence should prevent by digging or by cli) serve its greatest use climbed, and is, thert If it is impracticable penetrable fence, the vice is to put guards . .._ -v y». ........ vu u up “I uv - ' J 0' walk sixty miles through the swamps and bush, with perhaps a score of these devils at our heels? Come now, old__’un, be reasonable.” The veins on the old man's fore- head stood out like whipcord. “I won it,” he cried. “Give it me! Gile it me. I say." Trent rose up, measured the con- tents of the bottle with his fore- finger, and poured out half the con- tents into a horn mug. Monty stood tremblingr by. “Mind,’ Trent said, “you are a fool to drink it and I am a fool to let you. You risk your life and mine. Sam has been up and swears we must clear out to-morrow. What sort of form do you think you’ll be in to “Four cards," he whispered hoarse- ly. Trent dealt them out, looked at his own hand, and, keeping a pair of ueens, took three more cards. He ailed to improve and threw them upon the floor. With frantic eager- ness Monty grovelled down to see themâ€"then with a shriek of triumph he t_hrew___down a pair of races. “Mine!” he saia. “I kept an ace and drew another. Give me the brandy!” fingers trembled, as though the ague of the swamps was already upon him. He took up his cards one by one, and as he snatched up the last he groan- ed. _Not a pgir, V an 0V3 well-planned use unprote tion, dlalect steel cases charge of explosive, d liberates s in them. as they the seven trer ~msand in the glut- men A breeder told his county institute that he always found it profitable to keep the following mixture in a dry place, where his hogs could always help themselves. One wagon load of coal ashes, 100 pounds of salt, 50 pounds of sulphur, twenty pounds of copperas, one barrel of lime. A little charcoal and soft coal might help. Making a Tree Comfortable. In planting a tree to make it grow â€"and there should be no other aimâ€" the tree should be made just as com- fortable in its new environment as possible. If the land is wet it should Soil well pulverized before the crop is planted is much more pro- ductive than cloddy land or any land left: with an uneven surface, because the plantfood already in the land is made more accessiblg and the little root feeders which literally fill the ground can better gather nourishâ€" ment from both earth and air. Land thoroughly plowed and thoroughly pulverized before planting is not only rendered more fertile from a natural viewpoint, but is in far bet- ter condition to receive whatever arti- ficial fertilizing one may wish to ap- ply- the amount given. Besides insuring birds against every form of persecu- tion by human kind, we must defend them from various natural foes. The most effectual single step is to sur- round the proposed bird sanctuary with a vermin-proof fence. Such a fence should prevent entrance either by digging or by climbing, but will serve its greatest use if it can not be climbed, and is, therefore, cat-proof. If it is impracticable to build an im- penetrable fence, the next best de- vice is to put guards of sheet metal on all nesting trees and on poles sup- porting bird houses. This should be done in any case where squirrels or snakes are likely to intrude, as it is usually impracticable to fence out these animals. Tree guards should be six feet or more above ground. At- tacks by hawks, owls, crows, jays or other enemies are best controlled by eliminating the destructive individâ€" uals. ‘ Protection is the prime re‘ for increasing the number of The cool, tempered breezes of the hill-top gardens in Ceylon, produce a tea of delicate, yet rich and flavoury quality. A careful selection of the finest growths is blended to Nature Makes T he Flavour of Put This in Your Scrapbook. make “SALADA”. Media: Grain Linn Vermin Proof Fences Well Prepared Soil. 1g the number of birds and the results of pro- iq direct proportion to Though only best fruit is use in cooking and placing unaccountably refuse ‘0 set. Many cooks don't know the ST. LAWRENCE EXTRA causé, as If it contains ‘ in and Jelly will not Set the prime requisite In Malines the supply of food is said to have been stopped because the mechanics refused to work in the railroad shops. At Courtrai the workers are reported to have been de- prived of food because of their re- fusal to work in barbed wire fac- tories, while similar action was taken at Roubaix on the refusal of the workâ€" ers to make sandbags for trenches General von Bissing, Governor of Belgium, has issued a decree provid- ing for the expropriation of the grain crops for the feeding of the civilian population. The decree, it is stated, aims at preventing a speculative ad- vance in prices, and at an equable distribution of supplies. Starving the Belgians. It is reported in Rotterdam that the German military authorities in several of the Belgian provinces, in an effort to force the civilians to work for the army of occupation, have withheld food supplies sent in by the commission for the relief of Belgium. The dietary of a toad contains 71 per cent. of insects and the remain- der is composed of spiders, crustacea and worms. Having an amazingly active tongue, he captures much of his food on the wing. There is every reason why farmers and gardeners should encourage and protect the toad. European gardeners often pur- chase toads, considering their vigil- ance in hunting insects well worth a trifling outlay. Toads become very tame when ‘treated with considera- tion, and as they never do any harm, beyond occasionally excavating a lit- tle cave for midday retirement in a favorite flower bed, while destroying a vast amount of insect life, there is every reason why they should be welcome guests, be drained, for trees will never thrive with wet feet. The best results are obtained by preparing the land the previous year for the setting of the trees. Clover or cowpeas plowed un‘ der in the fall will make humus the following year and keep the soil about the roots. Trees will often do well in poor soils and unfavorable conditions if good soil is placed about their roots, so that they get a good start the first year or so. After they once become established they can do considerable towards taking care of themselves. GRANULATED SUGAR The Farmer's Friend. guests. Coam B78