VOL. LV.
INDIANAPOLIS. IND., FEB. 10 1900.
NO. 6
J&tosies atuft Jfeetcfres.
11+ THE HEART OF THE ROCK,
Ae tbey. stepped to the edge of the cliff, Walter Gary exclaimed, softly: "By Jove, what a
matchless, view."
'Beautiful, beyond doubt; but what puzzles
me la how life can be eo deadly dull in euch a
paradise ae thle world." Ae Harvey Winthiop
drawled out thle reply he {{lanced languidly at
Walter, whoee face wae radiant ae he drank in
the exceeding beauty of the ecene. Harvey
turned petulantly away.
"You fellowe in love are too irritatlngly
content."
'You fellowe whom fortune hae em Hed upon
are toe Irritatlngly discontent," Walter replied.
"Bib! you are like all the rest of the world,
alwaye harping on my fortune. What good le
it, anyway? It no longer even enables me to
amuee myself. Indeed, I believe I ehould
quite enjoy a good lively 'struggle for existence.' The next moet amusing thing I can
think of ie to be in love. By Jove, I am going to advertise ln the 'Herald personals.' "
Walter looked up appreheneively, knowing
Harvey would do lt If he really felt like It.
Harvey caupht his glance and laughed, eay-
Inj: 'I am perfectly earnest about lt, How
would this eound: ' Wanted—by a man of fortune, any woman who can compel his love?'
I think I will sign it, too, to prove that lt ls
genuine. Oome on, old man, the mood ie on
me."
They started carefully down the steep sides
of the rock-bound Island, bat had gone only
a short distance when Harvey lost his footing;
reaching out to save a fall he grasped a large
bowlder; to his surprise, the top of the bowlder moved a trifle.
"Hallo, Walter," he called out, "here is
something interesting. Look at that bowlder. It looks ae 'solid as a rock,' and yet I
distinctly felt the top more when I fell against
lt, and not the faintest crack le visible. Not
even the Japaneee are euch artificers ae nature."
"It has been done by the action of the frost.
Nothing has ever disturbed it since the Invisible but potent force rent it ln twain. Probably we could never replace it were we once
to disturb it."
"I mean to d'e .urb it all the same," said
Harvey.
Cautiously he pushed against it and found
the crack to be about a foot from the top.
Very carefully, eo ae to break no edgee and
thus epoil tbe wonderful fit of the two pieces,
he raleed the top off. Tben the two etood
and looked at each other ln dumb amazement In the very middle of the rock, in a
slight depression made by a few shales scaling
off, lay a little golden heart, tied by a pink
ribbon to a eaid.
"S une one hae evidently been able to replace it with exactne.e, after having disturbed
it," remarked Harvey.
With a feeling almost of awe he leaned forward and picked it up. With a ecaile and a
half elgh, a flu.h mounting to his face, he
looked at Walter and exclaimed: "May the
gods be propitious!   For here lies my fate."
Then, hesitatingly, and es though half
afraid, he slowly read the name—"Mies Beatrice Lamont. 414 St Clair place, St. Pdul."
On tbe reve.se side he read the following:
"Who finds this may c'alm my heart. May
the gods be propitious.   October 1, 1897 "
Again they looked at each other in utter
amazement, and Harvey gaeped—"My very
worde. It muet be fate." Then quite excitedly he exclaimed: "And Walter, look at that
date! One tear ago to-daj! This surely must
be more than chance. I ehall make lt the
quest ot my life to find this darling, beautiful
creature."
"We know that ehe ie a 'darling,' Sir
Launcelot. but how do we know that she le
beautiful?" aeked Walter quizzically.
"Oh, etop your grinning," replied Harvey;
"of courte ehe ie beautiful! D_> you think you
have the call on the only beautiful woman ln
the world?" And then, more good naturedly:
"But come, old fellow, you and I can't quarrel. And besides this ls quite serious with
me. I feel as though I were being led to my
fate Do you think that we could start for
St. Paul tonight?'.'
Two evenings latar theee same two men
were dining together at a St Paul hotel. Harvey was nervously rolling and unrolling the
evening paper, as he eought ln vain for an
answer to Walter's last question: "Well, what
is the next step on the program?"
"Confound the luck, Walter, can't you think
of any one whom we know who would likely
be able to give UB|an introduction?"
'Can't think of a soul. Suppose we take
the night to think it over, and do nothing
until the morning."
"Think lt over? Haven't I been thinking
about it, and nothing else, for two days and
nights?" Harrey answered and then opened
his paper and tried to read, As he turned the
first page, his eyes fell upon a large headline,
he turned deathly pale and silently handed
the sheet to Walter, who read the following:
"First soclSl function "W the eeaeon'. The
marriage of Miee Beatrice Lamont, of St,
Clair, to Herbert Ailing, of San Francisco, on
the evening of 0_t. 6, an event which will
bring many people to town earlier than le
their custom."
In hie secret heart, Walter felt an intense
relief, which he carefully refrained from allowing Harvey t_> see, and merely said: "Well,
I should say tbe game is up."
"The game is not up," Harvey replied, "but
I must be alone to think lt over. Can't say
when I will be back, old man," and tben he
abruptly left the table.
Walter watched his white, set face ae he
walked away, wondering what wild plan he
would evolve out of hie bitter disappointment.
Sereral^hourellater, Harvey returned, and
when they were alone in their roome, he told
Walter of all he had done.
"I think I walked for an hour without knowing where I was going or what I was doing.
Never before'have I been eo bitter and angry
and disappointed. I really felt ae though I
had been robbed of the woman of my choice.
Of course I realize how foolieh and unreasonable I have been, and I am going to give the
whole thing up, with the exception of sending
back, as a wedding gift, the heart I found, together with another I have just bought. Then
we will await developments and stay here until after tha wedding, anyway. And I mean
4j att-nd the church ceremony, if I have tj
biy our way in."
He took from hlefrocket a small packet and
handed lt to Walter. It was an exquisitely
wrought silver jewel casket, and in it lay tbe
golden heart, tied by thej pink ribbon to the
card, juet ae he had found lt ln the heart of
the rock, and beside it another heart, larger
and thickly etudded'with diamonds, tied by a
similar ribbon to one of hie own cards. On
the reverse side he.had written:
"I had come to claim the promise written
here. Since I am too late, may I ask tbat you
will accept this other heart as a wedding
gift?"
Harvey watched eagerly for the expression
on Walter's face as he looked at the gift and
read the card,   He hastened to explain:
"I am not sending lt in a spirit of impertinence or to take advantage of ber, but because
it gives me a very definite pleasure to do eo,
and because I believe ehe will understand the
spirit in whioh I send lt, and that she will be
glad to know the history of her burled treae-
uee and to have it safe in her own possession
once more.   If you approve I will eend lt by
messenger the first thing ln the morning "
Walter smiled and nodded hie approval.
"I ecarcely think ehe could sake offense; Indeed, you have been quite discreet "
Late ln the afternoon a messenger brought
the following note to Harvey, together with a
card of invitation to the ceremony at tbe
church. Much to Walter's secret amusement,
Harrey flushed like a girl and hie hande
trembled ae he opened the note and read:
"I fully recognize that my own daring and
folly of a year ago have given you a claim
upon me which lt would be unfair for me to
deny. As to the exquisite wedding gift you
have rent me, in a way I feel that I have no
right to accept lt; and yet, ln another way, I
feel that I have still less right to refuse to accept it. Therefore I thall keep the gift, and,
frankly, it gives me a very definite pleasure to
do so," Ae Harvey read thle line he started
and exclaimed: "My very worde again! I declare lt is stranger than any fiction." The
letter continued: "I fully appreciate the gen-
tlemanllneee which taught you to know the relief it would be to me to have the foolish,
hidden thing restored to me, and I congratulate myself that the fruit of my folly fell Into
the hande of one bearing the honored name
you beer, and with wbotn I may feel aeeured
n_y folly '* ae eafe ae though still hidden ln
the heart of the rock."
Harvey exclaimed eagerly: "Did I not eay
that ehe would understand me? I tell you,
Walter, old man, the fates are all wrong here;
we two ehould have met and married."
Time dragged heavily for the ensuing two
daye, but at length the night of the wedding
came. Harvey and Walter made a point of
arriving early and securing end seats about
half-way down the middle aisle,
Aa the solemn tones of tbe wedding march
pealed forth and the stately procession came
slowly up the aiele, Harvey Wlnthrop was
strangely affected and a great feeling of desolation and conscious loee eeemed to fix>d over
him.
Alas, had fate gone astray, and did the
wrong man stand there at the altar awaiting
thia beautiful bride?
About her neck ehe woro a wondrous string
of pearls—the gift of her father; the first loop
wae close about her throat and from it hung a
magnificent pendant—the gift of the bridegroom; tbe second loop fell below her waist,
and from it hung the diamond-studded heart
—the gift of the stranger, who felt that he
should be her husband.
When the ceremony wae finished and tbe
bride, radiant and lovely, turned to come
down the aisle, Harvey fixed his eyes In the
prof oundest scrutiny upon her face; a whole
lifetime of emotions seemed to be burning in
hi* eyes, an■" so Intense wae hie gaze that ln a
moment it drew bar eyes to his, Instantly she
recognized him and seemed powerless to with,
draw her gaze from hie. Her newly made
hueband felt her band tremble on hte arm,
and those who were watching her saw her
grow pale, and following tbe direction of her
almost unconscious gaze saw a tall and handsome stranger, ae pile ae tbe bride herself, returning her gaze in the same rapt way.
Slowly down the aisle she came, and at
every step the glittering diamond heart swung
ln and obt, and in those few brief moments
these two each read the very soul of the other,
and both knew in their inmost hearts that
fate had gone all astray and that the wrong
man had etood there at the altar to claim thie
bride.—Ex.
Over 40,000 Acres Cultivated by Tenants.
Lord Scully, of London England, has just
completed the purchase of a vast body of land
ln Bates county. He no a owns outright over
40,000 acres of the choicest land ln the county
for which he paid about $1,500 000. The pur
chase wae simply an Investment, so his agents
declare, for his son and his widowed daughter-
in-law. What effect this heavy purchase will
have on the values in the community, it Is
certain that tbe merchants of Butler are beginning to feel the effect of the change ln
ownerehip, Whether Lord Scully is proposing to carry out the ideas already fastened on
England, 1. e., the growth of land estates under one ruler, with tenantry to work the farms,
is left for the future to decide It ls certain
that such a condition now exists on his various farms, ln the county.
The first purchase of land in this county
was made by Lord Scully's agents in 1894,
Since then they have bought up, from time to
time, the best farms in the county. His
agents, the principle one of whom was F. W.
Eenoble, of Springfield, 111,, took overland
trips through the county. When they came
to a piece of land that struck their fancy It
was bought without question as to the price.
In tbis way many of the old settlers of the
county sold out their homeeteade and were
glad of the opportunity. The land brought
from $25 to $35 per acre. Most of It ranged
at $30. It was months after the Scully agents
began to buy farm land before any one suspected that such big deals -»m -___.___>____.
Then the farmere who bad iaDO to eell besieged the agents with Importunities to buy
their farme. The agents quit buying and disappeared from Batee county, giving out that
they had all the land they wanted. For a
while the farmers who had land for eale de-
eisted in their efforts and Lord Scully wae
forgotten.
A year or eo later they appeared again in
the county, and for months they rode from
one end , to the other. They would start out
from Butler every morniDg and return ln the
evening The receipts from the recording
fees placed that cffi_e at the top of the list as
the best paying one. Instruments by the
page are recorded there and the fees are all
paid by William Scully. In one week over
$50,000 changed hands through the Scully
transactions.
Then the people of the county began to inquire into the matter. A bill preventing an
alien from owning more than 10,000 acres of
land in any county in the State was introduced and passed in the Thirty-eighth General Assembly. This was introduced by the
representative of this county and directed at
Lord Scully. The latter was too wise to be
caught napping. He slipped over from London, and before the law went Into c Sect a
telegram was sent out from Washington that
Lord Scully had become a citizen of thle
country, and had been naturalized. Thus the
law was evaded, and his agents continued to
purchase land in hts name, which they kept
up until a few months ago. At the preeent
time his farme are scattered all over Batee
county. Tnese farms contain from 40,000 to
50,000 acres, and the valu° Is placed at moro
than $1,200,000 at the minimum,
The one feature which the citizens of the
county are eo bitterly opposed to is the fact
that improvements are allowed to wane, and
the farme, lnetead of being the pride of their
tenants, are running to waste. At the present
time they are all placed under the tenant system. The rents are not exorbitant. Oaly $2
to $2 50 per acre is .charged, and eo far ln caee
of a crop failure, thle hae been refunded in
many Instances. Three men who have headquarters in Butler are constantly engaged in
looking after the Scully Interests. They collect the rents and otherwise look after the
farms. Lord Scully pays about one-tenth of
the taxes of the county and the land he owns
measures nearly eight square miles if the
farms were placed side by side. Although
there are more than 50,000 acres of land ln
the county, the Scully lands make a big Inroad on the valuable portions.—St. Louis Republic.