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“Well, I am glad to tell you this at my rate,” he said. “I always liked our father, and I saw him off when e left England, and have written to him often since. I believe I was his only correspondent in this country, ex- cept his solicitors. He had a very adventurous, and, I am afraid, not a very happytime. He never wrote cheerfully, and he mortgaged the greater part of his income. I don’t blame him for anything he did. A man needs some responsibility, or some one dependent upon him to keep straight. To be frank with you, I. don’t think he did.” “Poor dad,” she murmured, “of 1. - LA__» so changed, he said, that no one in the world would recognize him. Poor fellow! It was the last line I had from him." “And you are sure,” Ernestine said slowly, “that Scarlett Trent was his partner?” “Absolutely. Trent’s own story clinches the matter. The prospectus of the mine quotes the concession as having: been granted to him by the King of Bekwando in the same month as your father wrote to me.” “And what news,” she asked, “have you had since?” “Only this letterâ€"I will read it to youâ€"from one of the missionaries of the Basle Society. I heard nothing for so long, that I made enquiries, and this is the result.” “Fortnrenig. “Dear Sir,â€"In reply to your letter and inquiry respecting the where- abouts of a Mr. Richard Grey, the matter was placed in my hands by the agent of Messrs. Castle, and I have personally visited Buckomari, the village at which he was last heard of. It seems that in February, l8â€"- he started on an expedition to Bekwando in the interior with an Englishman by the name of Trent, with a view to buying land from a native king, or obtaining the conces- sion to work the valuable gold-mines of that country. The expedition seems to have been successful, but Trent re- turned alone and reported that his companion had been attacked by bush- fever on the way back and had died in a few hours. “I regret very much having to send you such sad and scanty news in re- turn for your handsome donation to our funds. I have made every en- quiry, but cannot trace any personal effects or letter. Mr. Grey, I find, was known out here altogether by the nickname of Monty. “I deeply regret the pain which lfil‘figgti_r;evé(v)ok it and read it out ,eadily. CHAPTER XVII.â€"â€"(Cont’d) THE GOLF “ZN KEY Or "The ildVentures of Ledgard." By the Author of “What He Cost Her." ‘s‘IIIe murmured, “of 2! I know I'd have , as fast as I could if Have you never tried “Crown Bram!" ’ with Blane Mange and other Corn Starch Puddings? They seem to blend perfectlyâ€"each improves the otherâ€"together, they make simple, in- expensive desserts, that everyone says are "simply delicious”. “CROWN BRAND” CORN SYRUP 55 ready to serve over all kinds of Puddingsâ€" nmkes a new and attractive dish of such 2m old favorite as Baked Applesâ€"is far cheaper than butter or preserves when spread on breadâ€"and is best for Candy-making. ASK YOUR GROCERâ€"IN 2. 5,10 AND 20 L9. TINS. THE CANADA STARCH C0.. LIMITED Head Office - Montreal 30 [can nu. 1 NV..- est when he told me that for hours he had hesitated whether to- send me those few lines or not. Eventually he decided to do so, but he appealed to my honor to destroy the note as soon as I had read it.” “Well!” “He thought it his duty to let me know that there had been rumors as to how your father met his death. ‘ Trent, it seems, had the reputation of ‘being a reckless and daring man, and 1according to some agreement which they had, he profited enormously by 7 your father’s death. There seems to ‘have been no really definite ground lfor the rumor except that the body Iwas not found where Trent said that he had died. Apart from that, life is held cheap out there, and although {your father was in delicate health, !his death under such conditions could not fail to be suspicious. I hope I [haven’t said too much. I've tried to i put it to you exactly as it was put to this letter will doubtle and trusting that you I receive consolation whm be found, Ernestine read the letter carefully through, and instead of handing it back to Dnvcnant, put it into her pocket when she rose up. “Cecil,” she said, “I want you to leave me-at once! You may come back to-morrow at the same time. I am going to think this out quietly.” He took upi his hat. u‘iThere is one s 1 _1 __.. uuun m...- v..- He took up his hat. “There is one thing more, Ernestine,” he said slow- ly. “Enclosed in the letter from the missionary at Attra was another and a shorter note, which in accordance with his request, I burnt as soon as I read it. I belieye the {nan wn: hon- EDWARDSBURG Alvv u we. D.-.” ,,,,,,,,, 1great matters in his brain, and was i not in the least disposed to make con- ‘versation for the sake of his unbid- den guests. Da Souza’s (few remarks fhe treated with silent contempt, and iMrs. Da Souza he answered only in 1monosyllables. Julie, nervous and Edepressed, stole away before dessert, ;and Mrs. Da Souza soon followed her, :very massive, and frowning with an lair of offended dignity. Da Souza, I who opened the door for them, return- Ied to his seat, moodily flicking the crumbs from his trousers with his serviette. ___7"'I‘hank you,” Ernestine said, think I understand.” CHAPTER XVIII. 1 Dinner at the Lodge that night was I not a very lively affair. Trent_ had} “One isn’t usually amiable to guests ! who stay when they’re not asked," Trent answered gruffly. “However, if I hadn’t much to say to your wife and daughter, I have a word or two to say to you, so fill up your glass and ‘ listen.” “Hang it all, Trent,” he remarked in an aggrieved tone, “you might be a bit more amiable! Nicely lively dinâ€" ner for the women I must say.” Da Souza obeyed, but without heartiness. He stretched himself out in his chair and looked down thought- fully at the large expanse of shirt- front in the centre of which flashed an enormous diamond. “I’ve been into the City to-day as you know," Trent continued, “and I found as I expected that you have been making efforts to dispose of your share in the Bekwando Syndicate.” “I__can assure you ” “Oh, rot!” Trent interrupted. “I know what I’m talking about. I won’t have you sell out. Do you hear. If you try it on I’ll queer the market for you at any risk. I won’t marry your daughter, I won’t be blackmailed, and I won’t be bullied. We‘re in this to- gether, sink or swim. If you pull me down you’ve got to come too. I’ll admit that if Monty were to present himself in London to-morrow and demand his full pound of flesh we should be ruined, but he isn‘t going Delicious 3’3: with Blane Mange yours most sincerely, “Chas. Addison fill doubtless cause you, that you may seek and ‘lation where alone it may |what I think best. If you play any hankyâ€"panky tricks-â€"look here, Da Souza, I’ll kill you, sure! Do you hear? I could do it, and no one would be the wiser so far as I was concernâ€" ed. You take notice of what I say, De. Souza. You’ve made a fortune, land be satisfied. That’s all!” “You won’t marry Julie, then?” Da Souza said gloomily. “No, I’m shot if I will!” Trent an- swered. “And look here, Da Souza, I’m leaving here for town to-morrow â€"-taken a furnished flat in Dover Streetâ€"you can stay here if you want but there’ll only be a caretaker in the place. That’s all I’ve got to say. Make yourself at home with the port and cigars. Last night, you know! ‘ You’ll excuse me! I want a breath of fresh air." Trent strolled through the open window into the garden, and breathed a deep sigh of relief. He was a free lman again now. He had created new dangersâ€"a new enemy to faceâ€"but what did he care? All his life had been spent in facing dangers and con- .miering enemies. What he had done to do guering enemles before he could do again! As he lit a pipe and walked to and fro, he felt that this new state of things lent a certain savor to lifeâ€"took from it a certain sensation of finality not alâ€" together agreeable, which his recent great achievements in the financial world semed to have inspired. After all, what could Da Souza do? His prosperity was altogether bound up ,LMHJA (3.... san his in: Ho ’11Vnyun In] no.” in the success of the Bekwando Syn- dicateâ€"he was never the man to kill the goose which was laying such a magnificent stock of golden eggs. The affair, so far as he was concern- ed, troubled him scarcely at all on cool reflection. As he drew near the little plantation he ever forgot all about it. Something else was filling his thoughts! The change in him became physical as well as mental. The hard face of the man softened what there was of coarseness in its rugged outline be- came altogether toned down. He pushed open the gate with fingers which were almost reverent; he "came at last to a halt in the exact spot where he had seen her first. Perhaps it was at that moment he realized most com- pletely and clearly the curious thing . which had come to himâ€"to him of all men, hard-hearted, material, an utter ‘ stranger in the world of feminine things. With a pleasant sense of selfâ€"abandonment he groped about searching for its meaning. He was a man who liked to understand thor- oughly everything he saw and felt, and this new atmosphere in which he found himself was a curious source of excitement to him. Only he knew that the central figure of it all was this girl, that he had come out here to think about her, and that hence- forth she had become to him the standard of those things which were worth having in life. Everything about her had been a revelation to \him. The women whom he had come across in his battle upwards, barmaids ,and their fellows, fifthâ€"rate actresses, \occasionally the suburban wife of a prosperous City man, had impressed him only with a sert of coarse conâ€" tempt. It was marvellous how thor- oughly and clearly he had recognized Ernestine at once as a type of that other world of womenkind, of which he admittedly knew nothing. Yet it was so short a time since she had wandered into his life, so short a time that he was even a little uneasy at the wonderful strength of this new passion, a thing which had leaped up like a forest tree in a world of magic, a live, fully-grown thing, mighty and immovable in a single night. He found himself thinking of all the other ‘Ahâ€"tâ€"brn" lalbcxcu, Ina “noun...” "Hunt..- ,7, no longer omnipotent. He was in- clined even to brush them aside, to consider them more as an incident in his career. He associated her now ‘with all those plans concerning the future which he had been dimly for- mulating since the climax of his sucâ€" cesses had come. She was of the world which he, sought to enterâ€"at once the stimulus and the object of his desires. He forgot all about Da Souza and his threats, about the broken-down, half-witted old man was gazing with wistful eyes across the ocean which kept him there, an exileâ€"he remembered nothing save the wonderful, new thing which he had come into his life. A month ago he would have scofi‘ed at the idea of there being anything worth consider- ing outside the courts and alleys of 'the money-changers’ market. To- night he knew of other things. To- night he knew that all he had done so far was as nothingâ€"that as yet his foot was planted only on the thresh- old of life, and in the path along ‘ which he must hew his way lay many fresh worlds to conquer. To-night he told himself that he was equal to them all. There was something out here in 'the dim moonlight, something sug- gested by the shadows, the rose-per- 1fumed air, the delicate and languid stillness, which crept into his veins and course through his blood like magic. Rom a” changed standâ€" point! His sense of proportions was altered, his fingncial‘triginphs wgre Yet every now and then the same thought came; it lay like a small but threatening black shadow across all those brilliant hopes and\ dreams which were filling his brain. So far he had played the game of life as a hard man, perhaps, and a selfish one, but always honestly. Now, for the first time, he had stepped aside from the beaten track. He told himself that he was not bound to believe Da Souza’s story, that he had left Monty with the honest conviction that he was past all human help. Yet he knew that such consolation was the merest it. By your own showing there immediate risk, and you’ve got Viz tie thing in my hands to do 'e! Do you no one would was concern- what I say, le a fortune, he lit l I Fresh and Refreshing Stovesâ€"Place a metal stove-board on the wood floor under the stove. and extending at least twelve inches in front of the ash-pit door. Protect all walls and partitions within two feet of any stove with a metal shield. leaving an air space between the shield and the wall. Leave no kindâ€" ling or other wood in the oven over night. Do not hang clothes too near ‘the stove or stovepipes. sophistry. Through the twilight, as he passed to and fro, he fancied more than once that the wan face of an old man, with wistful sorrowing eyes was floating somewhere before him and he stopped to listen with bated breath to the wind rustling in the elmâ€" trees, fancying he could hear that same passionate cry ringing still in his eafsâ€"the cry ofâ€" an old Iiian part- ed from his kin and waiting for death in a lonely land. Pipesâ€"See that the lengths of: stovepipe are well fitted together, free from rust holes and parted seams, wired firmly and fitted perfectly into the chimney. Stovepipes passing through partitions, walls, floors, at- tics and roofs are dangerous at best. Where these must pass through par- titions, walls or floors, always use a large, ventilated double thimble. You should examine the stovepipes in the attic. They may come apart or rust. Fluff and spider webs are likely to gather on and around them, to be set on fire when you least expect it. Chimneysâ€"Chimneys should be built from the ground up, and never rest on wood supports. The settling of the woodwork will cause cracks in the chimney. Nor should the chimâ€" ney'walls be used to support joists or How the Dangers of Fire May Be Minimized. The season is fast approaching when cool evenings will demand the starting of fires in our homes. Sep- tember and October have become known to firemen as the months when chimneys and flues cause the most trouble. The following suggestions of a practical nature, if faithfully follow- ed, will do much to prevent damage to property and loss of life: Hints for the Fanner. Every farmer should raise bees. Dryness is more essential‘ than warmth in the hog-house. Honey is an especially profitable crop for the fruit farmer. Bees are easier to care for than chickens, and yield good returns on the investment. I The mammoth Russian sunflower is grown for its seeds. While it is bloom- ling at the back of a lot it is a sight 'worth seeing. The seeds are used for Lateâ€"sown carrots, beets, etc, store much better than those which are sown early and are too old when har- vested. Cut out and burn the old raspberry canes as soon as they are through fruiting. Cultivate the young shoots and keep out all the weeds. Alfalfa offers one of the best honey making materials. Alsike is also valuable, as is sweet; clover, which may be grown to advantage in most provinces. It will cost not less than 75 cents to raise a baby Brahma chick up to the point of laying. Leghorn chicks could be raised for about 50 cents, as they mature much earlier in life. It pays to prepare vegetables as well as fruits neatly for market. Clean, attractive packages do not cost much more than unattractive ones and bring much better prices. Try it. When it is necessary to prune trees, the branches should be cut or sawed off smoothly and a thick coat of paint applied to the cut surface, and a sec- ond coat applied after the first is dry. is composed of clean, whole young leaves. Picked right, blended right and packed right. It brings the fragrance of an Eastern garden to your table. BLACK, MIXED OR- GREEN HINTS T0 HOUSEHOLDERS. (To be continued.) l Overheatingâ€"Beware of overheat-t l ing stoves, boilers, furnaces and pipes.’ [ Ashesâ€"These should never be' ‘placed in wooden receptacles or bins. on wood floors or against wood par- titions, walls, fences, buildings or any ‘other Woodwork. Use metal recept-- l ncles only, and dump ashes away from !all buildings. other woodwork. Soft brick and{ poor mortar are often responsible for defects in the chimney. Use a: good quality of brick and cement mot-3 tar. Chimney walls should be at; least eight inches thick, the flue of-K ample size and lined with rags on paper, nor cover them with anything; but a metal stock. Chimneys should? be cleaned frequently. ‘ Care.-â€"These matters are technical, :but very simple and merely call for“ {ordinary care. You cannot afford to’ [be careless, when the lives of your ‘loved ones, and the property of your? !self and neighbors, are at stake. Let “Care and Caution” be the watch. iword and in this way assist in reduc? ling Canada’s enormous fire loss.â€"~ lBulletin from Commission of Con-- servation. Furnacesâ€"Protect all wooaworn‘ above and around boilers, if within‘ three feet, with a metal shield, also‘ all woodwork near furnace pipes. It is best to rivet the lengths of pipel together to prevent disjointing. Thei pipe should fit perfectly into thel chimney. Examine the pipe frequent-' 1y for rust holes 01‘ other defects.Keep them free from dust, fluff andl spider webs, which are easily ignited.’ ‘Defects.â€"â€"'Defective stoves, boilers.‘ furnaces, pipes and chimneys should be promptly repaired or rfzplaced. He Opened It. A little girl stood one day before a closed gate. A man passed, and the little girl said to himâ€"“Will you please open this gate for me?” The man did so. Then he said, kindlyâ€" “Why, my child, couldn’t you open the gate for yourself?” “Because,” said the little, girl, “the paint's not dry yet.” ‘ Molting hens need particular care and attention. The change of coat is, a big drain on the bird’s system, and vitality. You must make up in food. An occasional feed of sunflower seed is good. Mix a little oil meal in the mash, and give increased ration of imeat, green bone, beef scrap, or .whatever it may be. ‘ The colony plan of keeping poultry iis best suited for the farmers and 'those who have plenty of land at their disposal. It makes it possible ‘to keep several hundred hens on th ordinary farm without the expense 0? yarding them, and still have them away from the home buildings. It’s the farmer’s way. Even a wise man and his money are soon partedâ€"by the undertaker. Lord Nelson was one of eleven children. chicken feed and a variety of purâ€" poses. From eight to fifteen colonies 01 bees are the right number for th( average farmer to have, ten being us‘ ually preferable to a larger number! and still fewer being desirable to start with. For the fruit farmer bees shbuld be regarded as a neces‘ sary side line just as chickens are in many parts of the country. The equipment cost for five colonies oi bees is about $50. It is possible for careless help to leave a considerable portion of the grain crop in the field by neglecting to gather up scatterings, loose buns dles, etc., and by hauling grain on open-bottom racks. From a, few pounds to a few bushels of grain maj be sued every day during stackingl by using a tight-bottom rack, or ( canvas over the rack that will cath all of the heads. In seasons whet the grain shatters badly, a surprising ly large amount of grain can be saveL in this way. rotect all woodwork und boilers, if within‘ h a metal shield, also‘ 1931‘ furnace pipes. 112‘