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Mantague paused again, and for a short time no one spoke. Elsa was sobbing quietly, with her head on Mona’s shoulder, and Mona’s arm-en- circling her protectingly. The Scarborough said:â€" “And the scratched stone?" “Gillies lgnew nothing of it. Mrs. Carrington, in my hearing, sir, chaff- ed him for having overlooked it. That woman is clever, sir. but I do not think she has a heart.” “Because he had tricked him," said Montague; “as served the canting, blackmailing blackguard right! Dur- ing those three hours whilst the black- mailer was cooling his heels at the redezvous which your father had given, the latter 'was busy hiding the diamonds. When he met the man at the Caldeira de Morte, he snapped his fingers in his face, laughed at him, and told him to do his worst. The stones were safe now. At that Gil- les admits that he lost his temper, Ext your father did nothing but laugh. 'There was no actual quarrel, because your father refused to show anything but amusement at bhe other man's anger. Then Gillies, seeing that the game was up for the present, went away; bat before he had gone ahun- dred yards he heard his name shouted in atone of terror. He went back, Mr. Carrington was lying on the ground in what appeared to be afit, and a minute later the end came. The man waited a minute until he was sure that he was dead, and then left without looking behind him." Morbe?" said Elsa. “And why was my father trying to avoid Gillies when Mr. Davis saw him?” “Mr. Carrington had himself, sug- gested that Gillies should wear them It seems that Miss Carrington knew the clerk by sight, and her father was very anxious that she should not bp any chance recognize him. Gillies wore the things to humor this whim, which he admits that he did not under- stand; but afterwards when the meet- ing at the Caldeira. de Morte had reâ€" sulted in atragedy, he was glad for his own sake that he had worn them. He declares solemnly that he had no- thing to do with causing the tragedy, but he did not: know if he would be able to prove that if he were accused. He had the efirontery to say to the dead man's widow, in a canting shuffling whine, that it was ‘provid- ential’ that he was disguised on that afternoon. He may be a clever scoundrel; I dare say he is; but, Je- hoshaphat; he’s a worm, too, sir!" “What happened at the Caldeira de “What was bhe object of the capote and capello?” asked Scarborough. , road he caught sight of the man for whom he had been waiting, gave chase, and caught him near the hot spring of the Caldeira de Morte.” "Did he say how my father died?” asked Elsa in a low VOICE. “Yes,” admitted Montague reluc- tantly. “Then tell me that first, please.” “He said that your father had writ- ten to him the day before, proposing a place and time where they could meet and come to terms. He kept this appointment, but Mr. Carrington didn’t. He waited for nearly three hours, and then decided to go to the Chinelas and find out why he had been tricked in this way. On the “I’ll give you the rest as quickly as I can," he said. “The man had been present at Richmond Carrington’s death, but had not caused it. Mrs. Carrington took his word for that, and having done so, dismissed the sub- ject, and proceeded to strike a bargain with him.” CHAPTER XXIV. “There was a long interval before the answer came. We, the woman and I, waited for it almost without drawing a breath. At length the man looked her straight; in the eyes, and answared: “ ‘Yes, Rachel Carrington, Iwas. When Val B. Montague came to the point in his story at which the Scotch clerk had admitted that he was pre- sent at: the death of Richmond Car- rington, he paused, and looked round the circle of his shearers. It was a dramatic moment, and both the natural temperament and profeSSional training had made him something of a poseur. He was tempted, there- fore, to play the situation for what it was worth. But the expression which he saw on one face, the look of pleadâ€" ing distreSS which he saw in Elsa’s eyes, made him change his mind hur- riedly. He remembered that the dead man was her father, and that he had been told how she loved him. He hurried on with his tale. )1! “She told him about the acne!" fifTHE CABLEMANTi {$15523 AN EXCITING PRESENT-DAY ROMANCE BY WEATHERBY CHESNEY “I dare say not," said Montague, “but they won’t wait for asbeamer, My ring-master didn’t, and they’ll go by his road. See here. I'll improve your mind by imparting some of the knowledge of local politics which I’ve learned lately myself. They've got conscription in these islands. Don’t fidget man you’ll see in a minute that I'm talking strictly to the point â€"â€"they’ve got conscription, and one consequence of that is that! no young Azorean is allowed to emigrate till he has served his time in the army, or till he has paid atax of some forty pounds to go to the cost of providing a substitute. Well, there are lots of young fellows who haven’t. got forty pounds in the world, and have no prospects of ever raising it, and yet “Good! If he succeeds you’ll have apull there. The widow knows only the words she heard when she was at the keyhole, and I don’t think Gi1~ lies knows more. Like to hear a bit of advice from me? I’Ve bungled my job, you will say, so I ought to be humble about advising. But as I think the advice is good I’ll risk your snub, and give it you. Watch the coast.’ ‘What do you mean '2" “This. If the widow and Gillies find the stones, they will be in a hurry to get away from the island of San Miguel, won’t they '2 “I thought of that, and I've made inquiries," said Scarborough. “There’s no steamer out for the next five days. “What for? Shouldn’t waste time, if I were you. Follow them now, sir!” Scarborough explained how Mr. Davis expected to get abebter readâ€" ing of the message on the scratched stone by photography, and Montague said:â€" “Then we shall probably follow them there," said Scarborough. “But first we are going back to the Casa Davis.” “They took the road which leads to Sete Cidades, but: I don’t know whe- ther they struck to it.’ “With the meckness of an unshorn ‘ewe lamb! I have hopes from that! I anticipate that when the day of divi- sion comes, her conscience will have ‘to be consulted, and it will tell her ithat it cannot sanction the payment ‘of blackmail at all! It would please ,me if that crawling thing got very [badly left in the end.” “The widow’s. She held it over me while Gillies changed the saddle from ‘his donkey on to mine, and Ididn’t fdare to move. She promised to put a bullet through my leg if Idid, and I thought she probably would. After- ‘wards she gave the revolver to Gillies ‘to hold, while she rode on ahead. I thought of making adash then, in 1spite of the fact that Gillies had been instructed to wing m'e if I tried; and if I had been as young as either of you I should probably have done it, because I didn’t really think the worm would have the courage to pull the trigger. But, sir, I am fortyâ€"two, and I have lived in countries where revolvers do occasionally go off, and I know that sometimes a man pulls the trigger, as you might say, thoughtâ€" lessly, without meaning it, and is sur- prised afterwards to find that there has been an accident. I sat where I was. After the widow had got a quarter of a mile away Gillies follow- ed her, and his donkey soon caught hers up. I watched them till they were out of sight, and then I walked on here. And as I am dead beat, here for the present I mean to stay. What are you going to do ?” “Which way, did_ these two asked Varney. “Well,” said Scarborough laughing “that‘s what we are going to try to do. How did they get rid of you I" “With a revolver." “What? Whose?” came from Scar- borough and Varney simultaneously. “The same which he had proposed to the dead manâ€"thirty per cent, which he pointed out was not black- mail, Int 3 fair commission earned by eminent, and as yet unrewarded serâ€" vices in the past. The sanctimonions hound said that hxs conscience allow- ed that percenbage, but forbade him to ask for mbre. Jumping Jehoshaâ€" phat, sir! if Iowned a‘ conscience like that, Iwouldn’t let it work for less than cent. ped cent). on each transacâ€" terms ? Scarborough exclaimed. “Was before she made her bargain him?" tion "It was after, sir,” said Montague, smiling. “What was the bargain?” V'arney asked. “Did Mrs. Carring‘ton agree to those 1n 9n '1” that with A)" Many agirl has given up job at a good salary for the working all the rest of her her board and clothes. “So did I. To-day she told me. Phil Varney told you that her father made his money in cattle ranching; did he know thab there was an uncle in partnership?” over the job you did give me to do." Five minutes later the party had started. Scarborough rode with Elsa, Varney with Muriel Davis, as had been arranged. The problem of how to dispose of Mona la Mar had been settled by that lady herself. She said that she would wait to see that Mon- tague was made comfortable by the Scotch landlady, and then would fol- low alone. Elsa gave Scarborough a hint of the possible reason for this. “I have found out why she said last night that she did not need the dia- monds now. Do you remember that she blushed when she told us that she had a reason for not saying at pre- sent: how it came about that she did not want them?” “Yes,” Sa. dered why.’ (they emigrate. How do 370“ “PM” ‘they manage it? The Yankee orange ship helm ’em, sir, My great °°““' try is always at hand to help the cause of reedom, cor crate or indiviâ€" dualâ€"at a profit! T e would-be emi- grant goes out in asmall boat in a fog, or on a dark night, if there isn't a fog; the orange ship, which has been hanging about for the express pur- pose, takes him abroad, and carries him to the land of freedom, for money down if he has any, and if not, for the value of his boat, which, ten to one, he has stolen. Since Ibegan to make inquiries in the matter I have heard of askipper picking up as many as twenty passengers of that sort in a single foggy night. My ring-master seems to have known of that earlier than I did. I used to wonder what his idea was in running away with my ship as he did; it seemed to me a pointless bit of piracy, if prison waited for him when he came back, as of course he must: have known that it did, barring the lucky fog and the luchier orange boat. But I don’t wonder now; I know. There was no luck about it. He calculated on both the fog and the orange boat; and mark my words, if “you don’t look out to prevent it, that’s what Gillies will do, too, See sense in what I say ?" “Yes,” said Scarborough. “But we can’t watch the whole coast." “No 'need to. Watch the place where Gillies keeps his boatâ€"the one he went to the Ring-Rock in. Miss Carrington has a boat, too, hasn’t she ? Have it handy, night and day, with a couple of men in it who know how to row. Now off with youll I‘m here for the night; but if I have recovered sufficiently in the morning, I'll con- trive to report to you somewhere, and you can make use of me in any way you like. Sorry I’ve been such afool over the job you did give me to do." We advise purchasing the Red Diamond Extra Granulated in the 100 lb. bags which as a rule is the most econo- mical way and assures absolutely correct weight. St. Lawrence SugarRefineries, Limited, Montreal. Zoâ€"Buy St. Lawrence Red Diamond Extra Granulated Sugar. It is guaranteed pure Sugar Cane Sugar, and free from foreign substances which might prevent jellies from setting and later on cause preserves to ferment. loâ€"Use ripeâ€"but not over- ripe fruit. ," said Scarborough. (To be continued). Here’ 3 the Way to Succeed in Jam or Jelly Making. an easy sake of life for wonâ€" In th Spring of this very year, the Canadian Forestry Association, through their Secretary, met the As- sociated Boards of Trade of the Te- miskaming District at a meeting in Haileybury and asked that joint ac~ tion be taken to stop the extravagant 'and dangerous burning of the northâ€" }ern forest areas by settlers. Some of the members of the Associated Boards frankly opposed any interfer- ence, asserting that many of the {settlers favored free-running fires, The real business of forest rangers and the Governments responsible for them, is to stop fires from starting. Ontario, particularly in the Northern clay belt section, now so severely deJ vastated, has practically no real ran- ger patrol carries on no preventive campaign, and offers no opposition to the wholesale use of fire by set~ tlers for stripping their soil of tree growth. Under a watchful and modern for~ est administration, the recent period of abnormal drought would have found every settler under a prohibi- tion to set out fires of any sort. There was no such prohibition. Settlers’ fires were started at the heigh of the danger season. Hundreds of lives, entire towns, and incalculable amount of growing crops and timber growth have been swept away and the whole Claybelt seriously set back in its de- veiopment. What is the situation in Ontario? There is neither law nor regulation to prevent a settler letting loose confla- grations in any way and at any time he may select. No ranger has author- ity to advise or interfere with a set- tler in the employment of fire. The laws of Quebec, British Colum- bia and Nova Scotia place heavy pen- alties of fine or imprisonment upon any settler who starts a fire during the season of danger, April to No- vember 15, without a written permit from a qualified forest ranger. This places no unreasonable hardship on the settler and, on the other hand, is a necessary guarantee for the safety of lives and immensely valu- able timber in his neighborhood. For many years the menace of settlers' fires during excessively hot spells has been increasing. largely for the reason that no machinery of any sort existed whereby a settler’s so-called “liberty” of burning down lives and property could be curtailed. Investigation shows that both in Ontario and Quebec, the settler and not the railways primarily, must shoulder a very large part of the re- sponsibility for annual forest fires, with a considerable contribution also from campers, fishermen, prospectors, etc. What the Canadian Forestry Associa- tion Says About Them. The frightful loss of life and proâ€" perty from forest fir'es in Northern Ontario need not be accepted by the people of the province as whiily due to unavoidable causes. Evidence thus far received indicates that the huge conflagration had its beginning in “slash” fires started by settlers for the purpose of clearing their lands. BUSH FIRES IN ONTARIO. 3oâ€"Cook well. 4oâ€"Clean, and then by boiling at least 10 minutes, sterilize your jars perfectly before pouring in the preserves or jelly. Success will surely follow the use of all these hints. Many other handy refinery sealed packages to choose from. Dealers can supply the Red Diamond in either fine, medium, or 3. Sufficient rangers must be pro- vided to competently patrol the Clay- belt region, most of which is now un- der tree growth, and these rangers must have authority to control the burning operations of settlers so that holocausts, such as that of recent date, shall have less opportunity to recur. 2. Employment of inspectors in the ratio of at least one inspector to ten rangers, so as to get the maxi- mum degree of actual forest protec- tion. Over an area of 10 million acres of timber lands under license, Ontario has just eight supervisors, each being required to manage, on an average, 36 men, an impossible task. 1. Remodelling of the ranger ser- vice so as to give real protection to the forest wealth of the province and supply a fair return in service ren- dered for the money spent thereon. Ontario’s system is recognized gener- ally as out~of-date and inefficient. From February to June, 1916, through the representations of this Association, twenty-two of the lead- ing Boards of Trade of Ontario ask- ed the Ontario Gov_ernment to bring“ legislation to control settlers’ fires and also to reorganize the entire for- est protection service of the province. The reply of the Minister of Lands and Forests to these communications was to the effect that the matter would be considered. But it is being considered too late. Ontario forest protection service stands urgently in need of three main reforms, which, year after year, have ben urged upon the Governments by the Canadian Forestry Association, the Commission of Conservation and other bodies. and would not support such a meas- ure as was proposed. Other members of the Board took a more favorabla point of view, but no joint action was taken. coarse gram, at your choice.