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1 _Tr________,_ CHAPTER VI.â€"(Cont’d). “The concession," he remarked, “15 granted to Scarlett Trent, and to one Monty jointly. Who is this Monty, and what has he to say to it?" Trent set his teeth hard and he never blenched. “He was my partner, but he died in the swamps, poor chap. We had. horrible weather coming back. It pretty nearly finished me.” . Trent did not mention the fact that for four days and nights they were hiding in holes and up trees from the, natives whom the King of Bekwando‘ had sent after them, that their bear- ers had fled away, and that they had i been compelled to leave the track and make their way through an un- known part of the bush. “But your partner’s share,” the Jew asked. “What of‘ that?” “It belongs to me,” Trent answered shortly. started. We neither of us took much. stock in our relations. If I had died, Monty would have taken the lot. was a fair deal. You’ll find it there!” The Jew nodded. “And your partner ?” he said. “You saw him die! that!” Trent nodded. , “He is as dead,”,” he said, ‘ as Ju- lius Caesar.” “If I offered youâ€"” Da Souza be- gan . “If you offered me four thousand: ninety-nine ‘ nine hundred and pounds,” Trent interrupted roughly. “I would tell you to go to glory.” De. Souza sighed. It was a hard man to deal withâ€"this. “Very well," he said, “if I give way, if I agree to your terms, you will be willing to make over this sixth share to me, both on your own account and on account of your late partner ?” “You’re right, mate,” Trent assent- ‘ ed. “Plank down the‘ brass, and it’s a deal.” “I will give you four thousand' pounds for a Souza said. Trent knocked the ashes from his pipe and stood up. “Here, don’t waste any more of my time,” he said. “Stand out ‘of the way, E’m ofi’.” quarter share,” Da Souza kept his hands upon the‘ concession. “My dear friend,” he said, “you are so vioient. You are so abrupt. Now listen. I will give you five thousand for a quarter share. It is half. my fortune.” “Give me the concession," Trent said, “I’m off.” “For a fifth,” Da Souza cried. Trent moved to the door without speech. De. Souza groaned. “You will ruin me,” he said, “I know it. Come then, five thousand for a sixth share. It is throwing money away.” “If you think so, you’d better part,” Trent said, still lingering the doorway. “Just as you say. don’t care.” For a full minute Da,Souza hesitatâ€" ed. He had an immense belief in the richness of the country set out in the concession; he knew probably more about it than Trent himself. But five thousand pounds was a great deal of money, and there was always the chance that the Government might not back the concessionâ€"holders in case of trouble. He hesitated so long that Trent was actually disappearing be- fore he had made up his mind. “Come back, Mr. Trent,” he called out. “I have decided. I accept. I join with you.” ' Trent slowly returned. ner showed no exultation. “You have the money here?” asked. . » Da Souza laid down a heap of notes and gold upon the table. Trent count- ed them carefully and thrust them into his pocket. Then he took up a pen and wrote his name at the foot of the assignment which the Jew had prepared. “Have a drink,” he asked. Da Souza shook his head. “The less we drink in this country,” he said, “the better. I guess out here spirit comes next to poison. I’ll smoke with you, if you have a cigar handy.” “Trent drew a handful of cigars from his pocket. “They’re beastly,” he said, “but it’s a beastly country. I’ll be glad to turn my back on it.” “There is a good deal,” De. Souza said, “which we must now talk about.” “To-morrow," Trent said curtly. “No more now! I haven't got over my miserable journey yet. I’m goâ€" ing to try and get some sleep.” He swung into the heavy darkness. The air was thick with unwholesome odors rising from the lake-like swamp beyond the drooping circle of trees. He walked a little way towards the sea, and sat down upon a log. A faint land-breeze was blowing, a me!â€" ancholy soughing came from the edge of the forest only a few hundred yards back, sullen, black, impene- trable. He turned his face inland un- willingly, with a superstitious little thrill of fear. Was it a coyotte call- ing, or had he indeed heard the moan of a dying man, amongst that dark, gloomy jungle? not in His manâ€" he He scoffed at himself! Was he becom-' ing as a girl, weak and timid? Yet a moment later he closed his eyes, and pressed his hands tightly over his hot eyeballs. “We fixed it so before we1 Iti There is no doubt about, Da‘ somewhere back ; He was a man of little imâ€". ! Yaginative force, yet the white face {of a dying man seemed suddenly to, lhave floated up out of the darkness, to have come to him like a willâ€"o'-the- wisp from the swamp, and the hollow, ‘ lifeless eyes seemed ever to be seekâ€" ing his, mournful and eloquent_ With dull reproach. Trent rose to his feet twith an oath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was tremb- iling, and he cursed himself heartily. “Another fool’s hour like this,” he muttered, “and the fever will have ime. Come out of the shadows, you .white-faced, skulking reptile, youâ€" bah! what a blithering fool I am! There is no one there! How could there be any one?” He listened intently. From afar of! came the faint moaning of the wind 'in the forest and the night sounds of <restless animals. Nearer there was no oneâ€"nothing stirred. He laughed i out loud and moved away to spend his .last night in his little wooden home. On the threshold he paused, and faced once more that black, mysterious line of forest. “Well, I’ve done with you now,” he .criedf'a note of coarse exultation in his tone. “I’ve gambled for my life and I’ve won. To-morrow I’ll begin to spend the stakes.” CHAPTER VII. In a handsomely appointed room of one of the largest hotels in London a man was sitting at the head of a table strewn with blotting-paper and writing materials of every descrip- tion. Half a dozen chairs had been carelessly pushed back, there were empty champagne bottles upon the sideboard, the air was faintly odorous of tobacco smokeâ€"blue wreaths were still curling upwards towai‘ds the frescoed ceiling. Yet the gathering had not been altogether a festive one. There were sheets of paper still ly- iing about covered with figures, a brass-bound ledger lay open at the further end of the table. In the backâ€" ground a young man, slim, pale, ill- dressed in sober black, was filling a _ large tin box with documents and letâ€" ters. It had been a meeting of giants. Men whose names were great in the world of finance had occupied those elaborately decorated leather chairs. There had been cynicism, criticism, and finally enthusiasm. For the man who remained it had been a triumph. LHe had appeared to do but little in the way of persuasion. His manners had been brusque, and his words had been few. Yet he remained the mas- ter of the situation. He had gained a victory, not only financial but moral, over men whose experience and knowl- edge were far greater than his. He was no City magnate, nor had he ever received any training in those arts and practices which- go for the mak- ing of one. Fbr his earlier life had been spent in a Wilder country where the gambling was for life and not merely for gold. It was Scarlett Trent who sat there in thoughtful and absorbed silence. He was leaning a little back in a comfortably uphol- stered chair, with his eyes fixed on a certain empty spot upon the table. The few inches of polished mahogany seemed to himâ€"empty of all signific- . ance in themselvesâ€"to be reflecting in some mysterious manner certain scenes in his life which were now very ' rarely brought back to him. The event of toâ€"day he knew to be the cul- mination of a success as rapid as it had been surprising. He was a mil- lionaire. This deal toâ€"day, in which he had held his own against the shrewdest and most astute men of the great city, had more than doubled his already large fortune. A few years ago he had landed in England friendless and unknown, toâ€"day he had stepped out from even amongst the! chosen few and had planted his feet in the higher lands whither the faces of all men are turned. With a grim! smile upon his lips, he recalled one by one the various enterprises into which I he had entered, the courage with which he had forced them through, the solid strength with which he had thrust weaker men to the wall and had risen a little higher towards his! goal upon the wreck of their fortunes: Where other men had failed he had‘ succeeded. Toâ€"day the triumph wasi his alone. He was a millionaireâ€"one of the princes of the world! The young man, who had filled his box and also a black bag, was ready to go. He ventured most respectfully . l to break in upon the reflections of his i employer. : ; “Is there anything more for me to]L 4 do, sir?” i ’ Trent woke from his day-dream, into the present. He looked around; the room and saw that no papers had! i been omitted. Then he glanced keen-i 1 1y into his clerk’s face. ‘ l 'i "Nothing more,” he said. “You! , can go." i i i It was significant of the man that, ! notwithstanding his hour of triumph! the did not depart. in the slightest de-; igree from the cold grufl’ness of his, .tone. The little speech which his, lclerk had prepared seemed to stick. in his throat. { “I trust, sir, that you will forgiveâ€"I that you will pardon the liberty, if I‘, presume to congratulate you upon: such a magnificent stroke of busi-i ness!" a Scarlett Trent faced him coldly. “What do you know about it?” he lnote, even the smallest, would be 1 humbly. asked. “What concern is it of yours, young man, eh?” The clerk sighed, and became a litâ€" tle confused. He had indulged in some wistful hopes that for once his master might have relaxed, that an opportune word of congratulation might awaken some spark of generâ€" osity in the man who had just added a fortune to his great store. He had a girlâ€"wife from whose cheeks the roses were slowly fading, and very soon would come a time when a bank- a priceless gift. It was for her sake he had spoken. He saw now that he had made a mistake. “I am very sorry, sir,” he said “Of course I know that, these men have paid an immense sum! for their shares in the Bekwando, Syndicate. At the same time it is' not my business, and I am sorry that! I spoke.” i “It is not your business at any time to remember what I receive for proâ€" perty Scarlett Trent said roughly. “Haven’t I told you that before? What did I say when you came to, me? You were to hear nothing and" see nothing outside your duties! Speak up, man! Don’t stand there‘ like a jay!” The clerk was pale, and there was an odd sensation in his throat. But he thought of his girl-wife and he pulled himself together. “You are quite right, sir,” he said. “To any one else I should never have mentioned it. But we were alone, and I thought that the circumstances might make it excusable.” His employer grunted in an ominousi . for the purpose manner. “When I say forget, I mean for-‘, get,” he declared. “I don’t want to‘ be reminded by you of my own busi-i ness. D’ye think I don’t know it ‘2” “I am very sure that you do, sir,” the clerk answered humbly. “I quite. see that my allusion was an error.” Scarlett Trent had turned round‘ in his chair, and was eyeing the ale,. nervous figure, with a certain iiard disapproval. “That’s a beastly coat you’ve got on, Dickenson,” he said. “Why don’t you get a new one ?” “I am standing in a strong light,, sir,” the young man answered, with a1 new fear at his heart. “It wants. brushing, too. I will endeavor to get' a new oneâ€"very shortly.” His employer grunted again. “What’s your salary?” he asked. i “Two pounds fifteen shillings a week, sir.” “And you mean to say you can’t dress respectably on that? What do you do with your money, eh How do you spend it? Drink and music-halls, I suppose!” The young man was able at last to. find some spark of dignity; A pinch spot burned upon his cheeks. i “I do not attend music-halls, sir,= nor have I touched wine or spirits for' years. 1â€"1 have a wife to keep, endl perhapsâ€"I am expectingâ€"â€" i" He stopped abruptly. How could he‘ mention that other matter which, for all its anxieties, still possessed for him a sort of quickening joy in the face of that brutal stare. He did rot», conclude his sentence, the moment-1 ary light died out of his pale commonâ€"1 place features. He hung his head and was silent. “A wife,” Scarlett Trent repeated with contempt, “and all the rest of it, of course. Oh, what poor donkeys you young men are! Here are you, with your way to make in the world, with your foot scarcely upon the bottom rung of the ladder, grubbing along on a few shillings a week, and you choose to go and chuck away every chance you ever might have for a moment’s folly. A poor, pretty face, I suppose. A moonlight walk on a Bank Holiday, 9. little maudlin sentiment, and over you throw all your chances in life. No wonder the, herd is so great, and the leaders so‘ few,” he added, with a sneer. (To be continued.) 7 >5 A Female Veteran. I-Ieâ€"Isn’t that General X. and his, daughter over there? i Hcâ€"Yes. They say that she has; been through more engagements than?{ her old father. , f AVFRE’NCIH “FIFTY-FIVE” GUN , SEALED PACKETS BLACK,’ MIXED ONLY. 820 W 012 GREEN. Cow Testing Associations. ! The cow testing associations is plan of co-operation among dairymen a o of regularly and economically testing their cows for production of milk and butter fat. A usual estimate places the average production of cows at 175 pounds of butter per cow per year. In these days people who are familiar' with dairying think in terms of butter fat, and if the above average be translat- ed to fat it makes about 150 pounds. At 30 cents a pound, which has been the average price for the last threei years, the annual income per cow isi ‘ $45. ' If the above figures are taken as ai foundation, it is very apparent that‘ there are many cows which are not! , paying the cost of their keeping. The, use of the scales and the Babcock test! has discovered in almost every herd tested some cows that do not pay thei cost of keeping. If dairying is to be‘ made\as profitable a business as it ought to be and as it has a right to‘ be under proper management, these robber cows must be apprehended. ! There is no means of knowing Whati , ciation was At‘ a recent dairymen’s meeting this pomt was raisedâ€"that a testing asso- not necessary, because each man could test his own cows. The question was then asked: “How many present have Babcock’s testers?” Twelve out of a gathering of 50 an- swered in the affirmative. In reply 1to the question, “How many of you ;who have testers use them?” only one answered in the affirmative. The object of cow testing associa- tions is to make the use of scales and Babcock machine a community affair â€"to unite dairymen into a partner- ship for the purpose of employing a trained man to visit each herd at reg- ular monthly intervals and weigh and l test the milk of each cow. At the end of the year, this man gives each dairy- man a record of the individuals in his herd with little work or trouble to him and at the cost of about $1 per cow. _ The tester weighs and samples the milk of each cow at the evening and morning milking and-tests the com- , bined sample for butter fat. Before leaving, he makes calculations so that he may leave with the dairyman the a cow is producing without weighingi record of each cow down to date. and testing‘her milk at regular interâ€"1 In European countries and some of vals. A dairyman selling milk by col-i the states in this country, one of .the ‘ ume may not be concerned in the but-i ter fat content farther than is neces-i sary to keep up to legal standard, but! one who is selling butter fat is vitally concerned in the amount each cow pro- duces. Each dairyman may test his own cows, but facing the condition squarely it is known that very few do. duties of a tester is to weigh and keep a record of food consumed by the cows. The cost to the dairyman for complete testing varies from 80 cents to $1.50 a year for each cow. This variation is due to the number of cows in the associations and to the size of individual herds. From the Ocean Shore BITS OF NEWS FROM THE MARITIME PROVINCES. Items of Interest From Places Lapped By Waves of the Atlantic. The city engineer estimates the population of Halifax at 55,400. Halifax has upwards of a thousand unlicensed dogs running at large. Altogether, Newfoundland will con- tribute five aeroplanes to the British army. Restigouche, N. B., municipality contributed $1,000 towards the relief of the Belgians. Truro Red Cross Association will send a nurse to the war and support her while on duty. [his photograph was taken in a wood near Arras and gives a good idea of the angle at which guns are frequently fired in order to drop the projectile upon the enemy. Absence of freighters will likely send a million tons of coal from Cape Breton to Montreal by railway. Six million feet of logs went adrift ,when the south-west boom broke ow- ing to high water on Burnaby River. Gilbert M. Ganong, of St. Stephen, N. B. is among those giving $1,000 to the Government for a machine gun. Y The post office at Dorchester, N.B., Ewas entered, but the burglars did not .blow the safe, taking only a few odd dollars. The Carleton cornet band of St. ,John has offered to aid a recruiting .campaign and then enlist as a body themselves. Frank Gallagher and Medly Mip- reau broke out of the county jail at Edmunston, N. B., and got away; both were theives. Extensive additions are being made to the Marconi wiréless plant at, Louisburg, C.B. Better accomoda- tion is being buiit. The first patient at the Ross Con- valescent Hospital at Sydney, 03.7 was a midshipman from the armored cruiser Leviathan. Alexander Graham Bell stated at Baddeck, N. S., that aerial warfare would be the feature of future con- fiicts of the world. The motor ambulance to be given by the women of New Brunswick to the Canadian forces will cost $1,600 and is now on order. Dr. Gordon D. Atkinson, of Derby Junction, N. B., has gone to Serbia to aid in hospital work; his father is the, station agent on the I. C. R. Judge McKeown granted three ab«, solute divorces at the last court at, Fredericton, N.B., one case each from, St. John, Moncton and Woodstock. The Dominion Conservation Coma lmission is studying the fungus that, ldestroys pit props in Cape Bretorr imines with a view to aiding miners; ! l I I There is a plant at Windsor for evaporating potatoes for export td i the War Office, London. Formerly it isent apples, but the war killed that, i l o .uâ€" â€" How Did He Dodge That. Designing Widow â€"~ Speaking of conundrums,‘can you tell me Why the letter “(1” is like the marriage service? Slowboyâ€"I’m no good at conun- drums. Why? Widowâ€"Because “wed” without it. u n we can’t be