14

ABAFTill

T-4- H

The whistle rose to an

LAST OF THEWherefore I perceive that there Is

nothing better than that a man shouldrejoice In his own works; for that 1"his portion. fee. ill, 22.

ENCH with a lone hand.lazy one," I said to theliunkah coolie. "Hut I amtired," said the cooiie.

"Then go to Jchannum and get an-

other man to pull," I replied, whichwas rude, and when you come to thinkot It, unnecessary.

"Happy thought bo to Jehannum!"said a volco at my elbow, I turnedand saw seated on the edge of my beda large and luminous Devil. "I'm notafraid," I said. "You're an Illusionbred by too much tobacco and notenough sleep. If I look at you steadilyfor a minute you will disappear. Youarc an Ignis fatuus."

"Fatuous yourself!" answered thoDevil blandly. "Do you mean to sayyou don't know me?" He snivelledup to the size of a blob of sediment ontho end of a pen and I recognized myold friend the Devil of Discontent, wholived in the bottom of tho ink pot, butemerges half a day after each storyhas been printed with a host of uselesssuggestions for Its betterment.

"Oh. It's you, is it?" I said. "You'ronot due till next week. Get back toyour Ink pot."

"Hush!" said tho Devil, "I have anIdea."

"Too late, as usual. I know yourways."

"No. It's a perfectly practicableone. Your swearing nt tho coolie sug-gested It. Did you ever hear of aman called Dante charmin' feliow,friend o" mine?"

" 'Danto once prepared to paint apicture,' " I quoted.

"Yes. I Inspired that notion butnever mind. Are you willing to playDante to my Virgil? I can't guaran-tee a nine circle Inferno, any morethan you can turn out a cantoed epic,but there's absolutoly no risk, andit will run to three columns at least."

"Hut what sort of Hell do you own?"I said. "I fancied your operations weremostly above ground. You have nojurisdiction over the dead."

"Sainted Leopardl!" rapped thoDevil, resuming natural size. "Is thatall you know? I'm proprietor of oneof tho largest hells In existence thoUmbo of Lost Endeavor, whero thosouls of all the characters go,"

"Characters? What characters?""All the characters that are drawn

in books, painted In novels, sketchedin magrizino articles, thumbnalled Infeullletons or In any way created byanybody and everybody who has hadthe fortune or misfortune to put hisor her writings into print."

"That sounds like a quotation froma prospectus. What do you herd char-acters fop? Aren't there enough soulsIn tho universe?"

"Who possess souls and who do not?For aught you can prove, man may bosoulless and tho creatures ho writesabout Immortal. Anyhow, about ahundred years after printing becamoan established nuisance, tho loosecharacters used to blow about Inter-planetary spaco In legions which

with tralllc. So they werecollected and their chargo becamemine by right. Would you care tosee them. Your own arc thorp."

"That decides me. Hut is it hotterthan northern India?"

"On my Devildom, no. Put yourarms round my neck and sit tight. I'mgoing to dive!"

Ho plunged from tlw bed headfirstInto tho floor, Thero was a smell ofJail durrin and damp earth; and thenfell tho black darkness of night,

Wo stood before a door In a top-less wall, from tho further sldo ofwhich came faintly tho roar of In-

fernal fires,"Hut you said there was nn danger!"

I cried in an extremity of terror."No more thorn Is," said tho Devil.

"That's only tho furnace of first edi-

tion. Will you go on? No otherhuman being has set foot here In thoflesh. Iet mo bring the door to yournotice. Pretty design, Isn't It? A Jokeof the master's."

ear-splitting shriek and a naked

I shuddered, for the door was noth-ing more than a colli n, tho backboardknocked out. sot on end In the thick-ness of the wall. As I hesitated, thesilence of space was cut by a sharp,shrill whistle, like that of a live shell,which rapidly grew louder and louder."Get away from the door," said theDevil of Discontent quickly. "Here'sa soul coming to its place." I tookrefuge under the broad vans of theDevil's wings. The whistle rose toan oar splitting shriek und a nakedsoul flashed past me.

"Always the same," said the Devilquietly. "The little writers are soanxious to reach their reward. H'm,I don't think he likes ihls'n, though."A yell of despair reached my ears andI shuddered afresh. "Who was he?"I asked. "Hack writer for a porno-graphic firm In Belgium, exporting toLondon, you'll understand presentlyand now we'll go In," said tho Devil."I must apollglzo for that creature'srudeness. He should have stopped ntthe distance signal for line clear. Youcan hrnr the souls whistling therenow."

"Are they souls of men?'' I whls-lere- d.

"Yes writer men. That's why theyare so shrill and querulous. "Welcometo tho Limbo of Lost Endeavor!"

They passed Into a domed hall,mors vast than visions could embrace,crowded to Its limit by men. womenand children. Round the eye of thodome ran a flickering fire, that ter-rible quotation from Job: "Oh, thatmine enemy hnd written a book!"

"Neat. Isn't it?" said the Devil, fol-lowing my glance. "Another Joke ofthe Master's. Man of Us, y' know.In the old days we used to put thecharacters into ft disused circle ofDante's Inferno, but they grew over-crowded. So Balzac and TheophlloGautler wore commissioned to writeup this building. It took them threeyears to complete, and Is one of thefinest under earth. Don't attempt todescribe it unless you are quite sureyou are equal to Balzac and Gautler incollaboration. Look at the crowdsun:i tell me what you think of them."

I looked lon and earnestly and sawthat many of , the multitude werecripples. They walked on th-i- r heelsor their toes, or with a list to thoright or left, A fow of them possessedodd eyes and iwrtlcolored iholr; morethrew themsehvs Into absurd and Im-possible attitudes; and every fourthwoman seemed to 'be weeping,

"Who are these?" I sold.''Mainly tho population of threw

volume novels that never roach thesix shilling stage, See that beautifulgirl with one gray eye nnd ono brown,and tho black and yellow hair? Ijother bo nn awful warning to you how

ou correct your proofs. She wascreated by a careless writer amonth ago, and he changed allcolors in the second volume.So sho came here as you soo her.Therp will bo trouble when sho meetsher author. Ho can't niter her nowand sho says she'll accept no apology."

'Uiut when will she meet her au-thor?"

"Not In my department. Do younotlco a general air of expectancyamong nil tho characters? They arewaiting for their authors. Look!That explains the system bettor than Ican."

A lovely maiden, at whoso feet Iwould willingly havo fallen and wor-shipped, detached herself from thecrowd and hustenod to tho doorthrough which I hnd Just come. Therowan a prolonged whistle without, a souldashed through tho coffin and foilupon her neck. Tho girl with thoparticolored hair oyed tho couple en-

viously as they departed arm in armto tho other side of tho hall.

"That mnn," said the Devil, "wrotoone inngazino story, of twenty-fou- r

ages, ten years ago when ho was des-

perately in love with a flesh and blondwoman. Ho put nil his heart Into thowork nnd created the girl you haveJust seen. The flesh and blood womanmnrrled somo one elso nnd died it's away they havo but the man has thisgirl for his very own and she

grow sweeter"

THE SUN, MAY 2, 1915.

FUNNEL''':JiJmlmKti&

l$SM 1

jiiHIIIIIIIIIIIIb JEViilnlilllllllH;

SliiiiiiiiWIViliiiiiiiiiiiiVliVIWiiV IH

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllW

STORIES

wlllever-lastingl- y

SUNDAY,

soul flashed past mc.

"Then the characters are lndcpend-tnt?- "

"Slightly' Havo you never knownone of your characters even yoursget beyond control as soon as they aremade?"

"That's true. Where arc those twohappy creatures going?"

"To the levels. You've heard of au-

thors finding their levels? We keepall the levels here. As each writerenters he picks up his characters, orthey pick him up, as the case may be,nnd to the levels he goes."

"I should like ".o see "

"So you shall, when you comethrough that door a second timewhistling. I can't take you theronow"

"Do you keep only the characters ofliving scrilblers In this hall?"

"We should bo crowded out If wo

d.dn't draft them off somehow. Stepthis way nn.i I'll take you to themaster. Ono moment, though. Thero s

John Itidd with Lorna Doone andand thethero are Mr. Maliphunt

folk, those llcsantcharacters don't let the twins talk to

vou nbout Literature and Art. Come

along. What's here?"The white face of Mr. John Oak-hurs- t,

gambler, broke through theexplain," said he Inpress. "1 wish to

a level voice, "that had I been con-

sulted I should never have blown outmy brains with the Duchess and all

that flat lot. I wish to add

that the only woman I ever loved was

the wife of Brown of Calaveras. ' He

pressed his band him sug-

gestively. "All right. Mr. Oakhurst1 said htistily; "1 believe you." Kin

you set It right?" he asked, dropping

into tho Doric of the gulches. I

caught a trigger's cloth mullled click.

"Just heavens!" I grouned. "Must I

Ik shot for the sake of another manscharacters?" Oakhurst levelled hisrevolver at my head, .but tho weaponwas struck up by the hand of Yuba

Ulll "You durned fool!" wild thostage driver. "Hevn't I told you no

ono but a blamed Idiot shoots nt sightnow? t the galoot go. You Kin

see by hi eyes he's no party to yourmatrimonial arrangements." Oak-

hurst retired with an .irreproachablebow, but In my haste to escape I fell

over Caliban, his head In a melon nnd

his tame ore under his arm. He spatlike a wildcat.

"Manners none, customs beastly,said the Devil. "We'll tnke tho Bishop

with us. They all respect the Bishop."

And tho great Hishop Blougram Joinedus, calm nnd smiling, with tho news,

for my private ear, that Mr. Glgadibsdespised him no longer.

We were nrresUd by a knot of semi-nud- e

Bacchuntes kissing n clergyman.The Hlshop's eyes twinkled nnd Iturned to the Devil for explanation.

"That'H Itobert Elstncre what's,left of him," said the Devil. "Thosenio French foullleton women nndscourlngs of the Opera Continue. Hehas bei'tv lecturing 'om and they don'tlike it." "lie lectured me!" said theUlshop with n 'bland smile. "Ho hasbeen a nuisance ever since ho camehere. Hy the holy law of propor-tlo- n,

ho had the audacity to talk tothe master! Called him a 'pot bellied'barbarian'! That Is why ho Is walk-

ing so ttlllly now," said the Devil."LiHon ! Mario Pigeonnlcr is swear-ing deathless lovo to him. On myword, we. ought to segregate tho Frenchcharacters entirely. Iiy tho way, yourregiment enine In very hnndy forZola's importations,"

"My regiment?" I said, "How doyou mean?"

"You wroto something nbout thoTynesldo Tall Twisters, just enough toglvo tho outllno of the regiment, andof course It camo down hero onethousand nnd eighty strong, I told Itoff In hollow squares to pen up thollougon-Mncqun- rt scries. There theytiro," I looked ami saw the TynesldoTall Twisters ringing an Inferno ofstruggling, shouting, blaspheming menand women In the costumes of thoSecond Empire. Now nnd again thoshndowy ranks brought down theirbutts on the toes of the crowd inside

tho square and shrieks of pain fol-

lowed. "You should have indicatedyour men moro clearly; they archardly up to their work," said thoDovll. 'Tf the Zola tribe increase, I'mafraid I shall have to use up yourtwo companies of the Black Tyronennd two of the Old Iteglment."

"I am proud " I began."Go slow." wUId tho Dovll. "You

won't be half so proud In tt. littlewhile, nnd I don't think much of yourregiments anyway. But they are goodenough to fight the French. Can youhear Coupeau raving In the left angleof the square? He used to run nboutthe hall seeing pink snakes till thechildren's story book characters pro-

tested. Come along!"Never since Caxton pulled his first

proof and made for the world n newand most terrible god of labor hadmortnl man such an experience asmine when I followed the DevSl of Dis-

content through the shifting crowdsbelow the motto of the dome. A fewa very few of tho faces were of oldfriends, but there were thousandswhom I did not recognize. Men Inevery conceivable attire and of everypossible nationality, deformed by In-

tention or the Impotence of creationthat could not create blind, unclean,heroic, mad, sinking under tho weightof remorse or with eyes made splendidby the light of love nnd fixed en-

deavor; women fashioned In Ignorancoand mourning the errors of their cre-ator, life and thought at variance withbody and soul; perfect women suchas walk rarely upon this earth, andhorrors that were women only becausothey had not sufficient self-contr- ol tobe fiends; little children, fair as thomwnlng, who put their "hands Intomine and made most Innocent confi-dences; loathsome, lank haired Infantsaints, curious as to the welfare ofmy soul, nnd delightfully mischievousboys generallcd by tho IrrepressibleTom Sawyer, who played among mur-

derers, harlots, professional beauties,nuns. Italian bandits tind politiciansof state.

The ordered pence of Arthur's courtwas broken up by the Incursions ofJohn Wellington Wells, and Dagonet,the Jester, found that his antics drewno attention so long as tho "dealerIn magic and spells," taking Tris-tram's harp, fang patter songs to theRound Table; while a Zulu Imp!,headed by Allan Quaternwln, wheeledand shouud In Pham light for thopleasure of Little Lord Fauntleroy.livery century nnd every type wasJumbled In the confusion of one colos-sal fancy ball where nil the characterswere living their parts.

"Aye, look long," said tho Devil."You will never be able to desorlboIt, and the next time you come youwon't have the chancf. Look long,nnd look at" Good's passing with amaiden of the di must havesuggested tliu idea ''look at theirlegs." I looked and for the secondtime noticed the lameness that seamedto be almost universal In tho Limboof Lost Endeavor. Bruve men andstalwart to all nppearancv had oneleg shorter than the other; some pacedu few inches above tho floor, nevertouching It, and others found thegreatest difficulty in preserving theirfewt at all. The stiffness and tailoredgait of these thousands was pitifulto witness. I was sorry for them.I toid the Dev,l as much.

"H'm," nald ho reflectively, "that'sthe world's work. leather cockeye,ain't It? They do everything butstand on their feet. You could w

them, I suppose?" There wasan unpleasant sneer In his tone andI hastened to change the subject.

"I'm tired of walking." I said. "Iwant to see some of my own char-acters, and go cn to tho master, who-ever he may be, afterward."

"Reflect." said the Devil. "Are youcertain do you know how many theybe?"

"No but . I want to see them.That's what I camo for."

"Very well. Don't abuse mo if youdon't like tho view. Them are one andfifty of your make up to date, andit's rather nn appalling thing to bo con-fronted with lifty-on- o children. How-ove- r,

here's a special favorite of yours.Go and shake hands with her!"

A llinii Jointed, staring eyed dollwas hlrpling toward mo with a stnalnejsmile of recognition. I felt that Iknow her only too well if linked shewere she. "Keep :her off, Devil!" Icried, stepping back. "I never madethat! She begnn to Wtep nnd shebegan to cry, Lord ha' mercy on mo,this is none of I!' You're very rudeto Mrs, Hauktbco, und she wants tospeak to you," said the Dell. Myface must have betrayed my dismay,for U,u Devil wont on soothingly."That's as sho Is, remembtr. I knewyou wouldn't like It. Now what w.llyou give If I make her as she oughtto bo? No. I don't want your soul,thanks. I hav-- It already, and manyotherH of better quality. Will you,when you write your story, own thatI om tho best and greatest of all thedevils?" The doll was creeping nearer"Yes," I said hurriedly. "Anythingyou like. Only 1 can't stand her Inthat state."

"You'll have to when you come nextngnin. Look! No connection withJokyll and Hyde!" The Dovll .pointeda loan and Inky finger toward thedoll und lo! radiant, bewitching, witha smile of dainty malice, her highheels clicking on the floor like casta-nets, advanced Mrs. Hauksbee ns Ihad imaglm-- her in the beginning.

"Ah!" t.he said, "You ore hero sosoon? Not dead yet? That will come.Meantime a thousand congratulations.And now, what do you think of me?"She put her hands on her hips, re-

vealed n glimpse of the smallest foothi Simla and hummed: "Just iook ntthat Just look at this'And then you'll see I'm not amiss."

"She'll use exactly tho same wordswhen you meet her next tune," baldthe Devil wnrnlimly. "You ilowiiedher with any amount of vanity, If youleft out Kxetiso mo n minute'I'll fetch up the rest of your iiunng-erii.- "

Hut I was looking at Mrs.Hauksbee.

"Well?" she said. "Am I what youexpected?" 1 forgot tho Devil and allh.s works, forgot that this was notthe woman I had made, and couldonly murmur rapturously; "lty Jove'You are a beauty." Then, Incau-tiously: "And you stand on your feet,""Good ho'avens!" said Mrs. Hauksbee."Would you, at my time of life, havemo stnnd on my head?" She foldedher arms nnd looked me up and down,I was grinning Inlxcllely the womanwas so nllve. "Talk," I said ab-sently; "I want to hear you talk." "Iam not used to being spoken to llko

- - - By Rudyard KiplingThirteenth of aSeries of Little Known Stories by theFamous

Author, Appearing Each Sunday in "The Sun,"Which Represent His Earlier Style

n coolie," she replied. "Never m.nd."I said, "that may be for outsiders, butI made you and I've a right "

"You havo a right? You made me?My dear sir, if I didn't know thatwe should boro each other so Inextin-guishably hereafter I should read youan hour's lecture this Instant. Youmade mc! I suppose you will havethe audacity to prttend that you un-

derstand me that you ever under-stood me. Oh, man, man foolltfhman! If you only knew!"

"Is that the person who thinks heunderstands us, Loo?" drawled n voicent her elbow. Tho Devil had returnedwith a cloud of witnesses nnd it wasMrs. Mnllowe who was speaking.

"What Insolence!" said Mrs. Hauks-bee between her teeth. "This Isn't aPeterhoff drawing rcom. I hav-n- 't

the slightest Intention of being leveedby this person. Polly, come hero nndwe'll watch the animals go by." .Sheand Mrs. Mnllowe stood nt my side.I turned crimson with shame, for It isnn awful thing to so one's charac-ters in the scl.d.

I turned to the company and sawthat they were men and women, stand-ing upon their feet as folks shouldstand. Again I forgot the Devil, whostood a par; and sneered. From thedistant door of entry I could hear thowhistle of arriving souls, from thesemi-darkne- ss nt the end of the hallcame the thunderous roar of the fur-nace of first editions nnd everywherethe restless crowds of characters mut-tered nnd rustled like windblown au-tumn leaves. Uut I looked upon myown people and was perfectly contentns man could be.

"I have seen you study a new dresswith Just such nn expression of Idioticbeatitude," whispered Mrs. Mallowc toMrs. Hauksbee. "Hush!" said the lat-ter. "He thinks ho understands."Then to me: "Please trot them out.Eternity is long enough In all con-science, but that Is no reason for wast-ing It. Pro-coe- or shall I call themup? Mrs. Vansuythen, Mr. Uoult, (Mrs-Hoult- ,

Capt. Kurrel and the Major!"The European population in KashimaIn the Dosehrl hills, the actors In theWayside Comedy, moved toward me;and I saw with delight that they werehuman. "So you wroto about us?"said Mrs. Poult. "About my confes-sion to my husband and my hatred ofthat Vansuythen woman? Did youthink that you understood? Are allmen such fools?" "That woman Isbad form," snld Mrs. Hauksbee, "butshe speaks the truth. I wonder whatthese soldiers have to say." GunnerItarnabas and Private Shacklockstopped, saluted and hoped I wouldtnke no offence If they gave It as theiropinion that I had not "got them downquite r.ght." I gasped.

A hussar succeeded, his wifeon his arm. it was Capt.'Gadsby andMinnlo and close behind them swag-gered Jack Mafllin, the Brigadier-Gener-

In his arms. "Had the cheek totry to describe our life, had you?" saidGadsby carelessly- "Ha-hm- S'posohe understood. Minnie?" Mrs. Gadsbyraised her face to her husband andmurmured: "I'm sure he didn't. Pip."while Poor Dear Mamma, still In herriding habit hissed: "I'm he didn'tunderstand, me." And these also wenttheir way.

One after another they filed byTrewinnard. the pit of his depart-ment; Otis Yeere, lean and lan-tho-

Jawed; Crook O'Neil and HobbyWick arm In arm; Jankl Meah,the blind miner In tho Jnmaharicoal fields; Afzul Kahn, the police-man; the murderous Pathan

Durgn Doss; the bunn a,l!oh Da Thone; the dacoit Dana Da.weaver of faUe magic; the Leander of

tho Barhwl ford: Peg riarney drunk usn coot; Mrs. Delville, tho dowd; DinahShndd, large, red cheeked and reso-

lute; Simmons, Slano and Larson;Georglo I'orgie nnd his Burmese help-

mate! n shadow In a high co'.lar, whowas all that I had ever Indicated oftho Hawley Hoy the nameless mennnd women who had trod tho Hill ofIllusion ami lived In tho Tents ofKedar, and last, his Majesty the King.

Each one In passing told me thosame tale, and the burden thereof was:"You did not understand." My heartturned sick within me. "Where's WeoWillie Winkle?" I shouted. "Llttlochildren don't lie."

A clatter of pony's feet followed andthe child appeured, habited as on thoday he rode Into Afghan territory towarn Coppy's lovo against the "badmen." "I've been playing," ho sobbed,"playing on ve Levels wlv Jackanapesand Ullo, an' he says I'm only Justborrowed. I'm Isn't borrowed. I'mWillie WI-lnkl- e! Vere's Coppy?"

" 'Out of the mouths of babes andsucklings,'" whispered the Devil, whohad drawn nearer. "You know thoroat of the proverb. Don't look as Ifyou were going to be shot In tho morn-ing! Here are the last of your gang."

I turntd despairingly to tho ThreeMusketeers, dearest of all my childrento me to Privates Mulvaney, Orthtrlsand Learoyd. Surely the Three wouldnot turn against me ns the others haddone' I shook 'hands with Mulvaney."Terence, how goes? Are you goingto make fun of mo too?" " 'TIs notfor me to make fun nv you, sorr," saidthe Irishman, "knowln' as I du knowfwat good friends we've been for thematter av three years."

"Fower." said Ortheris. " 'twas In theHelnnthaml barricks, II block, we wasbecome acquaint, an' 'ore's thankln'you kindly for all the beer we've drunktwlx' that and now."

"Four ut Is. therl," said Mulvaney."He an' Dinah Phadd are your friends,but " He stood unvnsi'.y.

"Uut what?" I said."Savin your presence, sorr, an' It's

more than onwlllin' I am to be hurtin'you; you did not ondorMhand. On mysowl nn' honour, sorr, you did notondersthand. Come along, you two."

Hut Ortherls stiyed for a momentto whisper: "It's Gawd's own trewth,but there's th.s 'ore to think. Taintthe bloomin' belt that's wrong, as PegBarney sez, when he's up for bcln'dirty on p'rade. 'Taln't the b'.oom'.n'belt." sir; it's the bloomin' pipeclay."Ere I could seek an explanation heKnd Joined his comjwxnlons.

"For a private soldier, a singularlyshrewd man," said Mrs. Hauksbee,nnd she rep:nted Ortherls's words.The last drop filled my cup and I nmashamed to say that I bade her bequiet In a wholly unjustifiable tone.I was rewarded by what would havebten n notable lectur- - on propriety,

I not slid to tho Devil: "Chan1.'')that woman to a d d doll again!Change 'em nil back ns they werens they ore I'm sick of them."

"Poor wretch!" said the Devil ofDlscont nt very quietly. "They arechanced."

Tho reproof died nn Mrs. Hauksbeo'slips and sho moved away marionettefashion, Mrs, Mnllnwv trailing afterher, I hastened after the romalnd rof tho characters and they werochanged Indeed even as tho Devilhad said, who k pt at my side.

They limped and stuttered nndar.d mout'".ed and staggered

round mo, till I could endure no more,"So I nm tho master of this idiotic

puppet show, am 1?" I said Lltterly,watching Mulvaney trying to com- - toattention by spasm.

"In s.Tculorum." saM thoDevil, bowing his head: "and yo.trtcdn't kick, my dear fellow, because

they will concern no ono but ;. Ifby the time you whistle updoor. Stop reviling mo nnd uHero's tho mnster!" t

L'ncover! I would have droi , ,i ,my knees had not th-.- Devil pn i4i(,imo, at signt or tne portly i r.fMaltre Francois Rabelais, sum nvCure of Meudon. He wore a K1

stained apron of the colors iar- -gantua, I made n sign win w .(duly r turned. "An Entered Atico in difficulties with ais "! I

ashlar, Worshipful Sir," cxpl.ur theDevil, I was too angry to spe

Said tho master, rubbing his n"Are thoso things yours?" "E so.Worshipful Sir," I muttered, p n?inwardly that tho characters ..1nt least keep quiet while tho i rwas near. He touched one wthoughtfully, put his hand ' mmy shoulder and started: "I;Great Bells of Notre Dame, y ireIn tho flesh the warm liesflesh I quitted so long ah, sAnd you fret nnd behave

of these shadows,now! I, even I, would give my '

tPanurge, Gargantua nnd Ian'for one little hour of the life t isin you. And I am the master'

But the words gave me tv avfort. I could hear Mrs. M iveiJoints cracking or it might ha1 enmerely her stays.

"Worshipful Sir, he will nllevc that," said the Devil,live by shadows lust for el,Tell him something more t

need."The master grunted confc

ously: "And he Is flesh andKnow this, then. Tlv FirIs to make them stand up,'feet, and the SeconJ Is to mattestand upon their feet, and ti TIs to make them stnnd up nftet. But, for all that, Tr ,

a fisher of frogs." He passedI could hear him say to h .."Ono hour one minute .f ; :

the flesh nnd I would sell the ,

Perhaps thrice over!""ll." said the Devil, ".

made tho master angry, seer,all there Is to be seen, exec;Furnace of First Edition, and,master Is In rlnrgo of that. I --

avoid it. Now you'd brtter gknow what you ought to do?"

--I don't need nil Hell ""Pardon me. Better men thn-hav-

called this Paradise.""All Hell, I said, and tho n.

to tell me what I knew I

What I want to know Is how''nnd find out." said the Devi,turned to the door, and I was ,

that my characters hnd gtthemselves at the exit. '"Th- -

going to give you an ovation. To' that, now',1" .said tho Dinshuddered and dropped mywhile ono and fifty voices brokin walling song, whireof the w

mi far as I recollect, ran:But wo brought forth and rcarf

hoursOf change, alarm, surprise.

What shelter to grow ripe Is r.What Ivlsurt to grow wise?1 ran tho gantlet, narrowly m

collision with an impetuous so.hop-- d ho liked hi characters wh-

ine t them), and flung free Intnight, where I should have knmy head nealnst the stare. ButDevil caught me.

Tho brain fever bird was 11

ncrn tho gray, dewy morn, anpunkah had stopped again. ' '"Jehannum and get another mpull," I said drowsily "Esaid a voice from the inkpot

Now the proof that thi s'absolutoly true lies In the f.there will be no other to foil-

BELGIAN GIRLS WORKING IN MINEf

The young women of the Belgian coal fields around Charleroi, in territory now occupied by the C

have gone into the pits to take the places of their husbands, fathers and brothers who are fighting inTheir work supplies fuel for Belgium and their earnings support their impoverished homes. The i'chows three who have been at work under ground leaving the pit.

ar.s.

tct-

MD3