The Strand 1912-6 Vol-XLIII № 258 June mich

THE MESMERIC LADY. 7°3 and fell, and in an instant the doctor was upon unprofessional conduct, instead of starving him. in respectability ? Yes, that's the case/' said For a minute the other tried to hide his he, coolly. face. Then, realizing that he was beaten, he \" You must give it up,\" said Webley, suddenly looked up, and the amazed Dr. sternly. Webley recognized the handsome features of Broughton shook his head. Wilfred Broughton, M.D. Lond. \" And starve again ? Not me ! \" said he. \"HK WALKED SUDDENLY OUT OF THE SHADOW INTO THE LIGHT CAST BY THE LITTLE LAMP THAT HUN'J OUTSIDK THE CARRIAGE, AND THE WOMAN UTTEKED A SCREAM.\" \" What are you doing here ? Surely you at this contented degradation. \" Good heavens ! '' ejaculated Webley. Dr. Webley's anger flashed up within him don't mean that you——' \" Then I must expose you,\" said he, sternly. off his clothes. \" For Heaven's sake, don't do that,\" he Broughton was on his feet, brushing the mud The other turned to him quickly. \" That I—am making a hundred a week by said, earnestly. \" I do no harm. My wife

7°4 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. is only a figure-head, as you guessed. I hear the complaints, prescribe, make up the medicines. She scrawls—nothing on one paper, and my red velveteen assistant substitutes another paper, on which I have written the advice. I hide behind her chair, and it's I who feel the patient's pulse.\" \" I know that. It's a disgraceful business. I must put an end to it.\" \" Oh, you can do that, and welcome,\" said he, contentedly. \" If you report me to the Medical Council for unprofessional conduct my public will never hear of it, and it will do me no harm. But for Heaven's sake don't expose me to my public as a qualified medical practitioner. My receipts would go down to zero to-morrow, and even the brass band and the red velveteen and spangles wouldn't save \" HR SUDDENLY LOOKED UP, AND THE AMAZED DR. WEBLRY RECOGNISED THE HANDSOME FEATURES OF WILFRED BROUGHTON., M.I>. IOND.\" \" For mercy's sake, don't!\" Broughton's tone was tremulous with feeling. But the other stood firm. \" I must. 1 owe it to the profession. I shall report you to the Medical Council.\" Broughton's agonized countenance gre.v clear in a moment. me. For the sake of my wife, come, Webley, be merciful.- You go and cure all the wise folk your-way, and leave me the fools. The game's a better one than yours, though it's beneath you to play it.\" Dr. Webley allowed himself to be persuaded, and retreated—thoughtfully.

Some Strange Predicaments. By T. C. BRIDGES. Illustrated by W. E. Wigfull. T is always a mistake to jump to conclusions, and here is an instance in point. One day last summer a wealthy Ameri can who lives in Paris was playing baccarat at the Casino* at Enghien. The gentleman in question has a simple system of his own. He loses only a fixed sum, and, when this is gone, stakes no more. On this occasion he had reached his limit looses, and, turning to a lady who was sitting next him, remarked : \" There goes my last louis. I shall not play any more.\" At the satie time he took a little tortoise-shell box from his pocket, opened it, and slipped a small white lozenge into his mouth. Next thing he knew was that he was in the hands of four s'.alwart attendants, who caught him from behind, swung him out of his chair, and carried himout of the Casino into a small room adjoin ing. Refusing to listen to his angry protests, they hastily laid him on a sofa; forced his jaws open, and poured a strong emetic 'down his throat. The conse quence\" were so immediate and disastrous that the poor man was be yond speech for the next quarter of an hour.' By that time it was too late for his ex planation that the lozenge was merely sulphate of quinine, anc1 that the Casino authorities were idiots for jumping to the conclusion that he had lost his last penny and taken poison. Ignorance of local customs will sometimes land the ignorant one in a dreadful dilemma. Some little time ago a carnival to celebrate the birthday of a Western town was attended by a .party of L'te Indians. Another visitor was a telegraph manager, a new arrival in the place. He was much interested in the Indians, and made each of their number a small present. To the youngest of the party, a particularly pretty young squaw, daughter of the chief, he gave a string of beads, a gift which she accepted with evident pleasure.

706 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. due to his ignorance. The reply was that the preparations for the wedding were already well t.civanced, and that if he failed to turn up there would be serious trouble. The upshot was that the poor man, panic- stricken, applied to his company to change his headquarters, and he has never since dared so much as to show his nose in the State which harbours his would-be bride iind her fierce old father. Talking of matrimonial tangles, it is hardly possible to conceive anything more embar rassing than to find oneself wed without knowing it. That such a situation is not wholly impossible is proved by the strange experience of Count Robert de Pomereu, a French nobleman, who has served as Mayor of Heron, near Rouen, and also as deputy for the department of Seine-Inferieure. The count himself is a bachelor. Imagine, then, his amazement at receiving one day a letter from a lady signing herself the Comtesse de Pomereu, and upbraiding him for not behaving as a married man should do, and deserting herself and his only child ! At first he believed the letter to be a hoax, but subsequent inquiries proved that this was not the case. The lady showed her marriage certificate, dated April i9th, 1892, and signed with the name Robert de Pomereu. More over, the certificate, although the ceremony had been performed in New York, had been properly registered at the French Consulate in that city. Distracted, the count took the advice of counsel, and learned to his horror that, according to French law, he was in the inconceivable position of being married to a lady whom he had never so much as set eyes upon. The only way to extricate himself from the dilemma was to bring an action for divorce, and this he was compelled to do. The identity of the swindler who personated the count remains a mystery. \"CIVE UP THAT WATCH, YOU SCOUMJRKL, OR fl.L CHOKE THE L1FK OUT OF YOf.\" Next to being married by mistake, one can hardly imagine a more un pleasant predicament than that of unconsciously be coming a highway robber. This was the misfortune which befell a well-known Spanish soldier, General Martinez Campos, and the way of it was as follows :— The general, on his way home from his club one winter evening, was hustled in the street by an unknown man, and, clapping his hand to his waistcoat, made the discovery that his gold watch and chain were missing. If not very young, the general is an extremely active man. He rushed after the un known, caught him up, seized him by the throat,

SOME STRAXGE PREDICAMEMS. 707 there on going out ! He snatched out the watch which he had, as he believed, re covered from the thief. It was a strange one ! Evi dently the unknown had taken the general for a robber, and handed over his own watch. General Campos did the only thing he could do — advertised for the owner. And that was how the story came out. Cases of mistaken identity often crop up, both in real life and in fiction, and some ' novelists are fond of using this device to get their heroes into the very hottest of hot water. But never, even in fiction, did any individual ever get into worse trouble as the result of a mistake of this kind than did an American woman named Catherine Rooks. A few years ago Miss Rooks, whose age was then twenty-three, was living at Pitts- burg, when she got news that her favourite brother, who lived in Chicago, was very ill. Intensely anxious to go to him, she had not money enough to pay for the long journey, so determined to travel like a tramp and steal a ride. She therefore dressed herself as a man and hid in a luggage-van. Now, it so happened that on the very day she started a horrible murder was committed by a negro at Newcastle, a town on the way between Pittsburg and Chicago. As the luggage train pulled into the siding at New castle a mob of forty or fifty men, intent on hunting down the murderer, came rushing up. Seeing the crowd, the young woman was terrified, and, jumping out of the truck, ran away. The sight of her face, blackened with coal-dust, made the mob believe that she was the man they wanted, and with a roar of fury they rushed in pursuit. They caught her before she had gone a hundred yards, and dragged her to the nearest tree. A rope was noosed round her neck, and she was ordered to say her prayers. Terror struck her absolutely dumb. It was not until the rope was actually tightening around her neck that she managed to give a last despairing scream. The tones were so unmistakably feminine that the startled lynchers slackened the rope at once. As they did so her cap came off and her hair fell about her shoulders. Then the mob fully recognized their error, and promptly took the rope off and asked her pardon. Trem- \" SEEING THE CROWD, THE YOUNG WOMAN WAS TERK1F1KD AND RAN AWAY.\" blingly she told her story, and, to make some amends, the men hurriedly took up a collec tion, realizing enough money for her to continue her journey to Chicago in comfort. Talking of likenesses, one would not care to be standing at present in the shoes of a certain Frenchman, whom we will call by the

7o8 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. Dubois, with every intention of re deeming his promise, called upon the young woman, and masqueraded as Leroy with such zeal that presently he discovered that he was in love with the girl and she with him. The end of it was that, in spite of his solemn promise to his friend, he married her. It will be distinctly interesting to see what happens when Leroy is released from prison. The French apache has unpleasant methods of wreaking vengeance upon any of his associates who play him false. A doctor's blunder was the means of landing an American named Early in about as ghastly a predicament as could well be im- agined. John R. Early, who had been a private in the American army, after his discharge got work in a puJp mill in Nor.h Carol i n a . Noxious fumes caused an ill ness, signs of \" DUBOIS MASQUERADl'.D AS I.EROY W! I H SUCH ZKAL THAT PRESENTI.Y HE 1HS- COVEREH THAT HK WAS IN l.OVB WITH THE GIRL AND SHE WITH HIM.\" w:hich were redness and swelling on face, hands, and feet. Early was obliged to give up his work, and went to Washington, hoping to be able to obtain a pension. While there the swelling ^rew worse, and he went to a doctor. To the doctor he jokingly said : \" It isn't leprosy. I hope, doctor ? \" Little did he imagine in what terrible trouble that innocent remark was going to land him. As it hap pened, two cases of leprosy had recently been discovered—one in Washington, one in New York ; and apparently the doctor at once made up his mind that Early's was a third. He went away, locking the door behind him. At one in the morning he returned with another doctor. These two ordered Early to get up, dress, and enter an ambulance which was waiting outside the house. He demanded to know what was the matter, but got no answer. There was no help for it but to obey, so he got into the

SOME STRANGE PREDICAMENTS. 709 stopped at a wayside inn and called for drinks for himself and his companions, his idea being to make the lunatic too intoxicated to resist. The result was what might have been anticipated. Not only the lunatic, but the other two arrived eventually at the asylum in the state popularly known as \" blind to the world.\" They were all utterly incoherent, and the superintendent was quite unable to make out which of them was the lunatic. In order to ascertain, he telegraphed the mayor of Cholet. The mayor replied in one word, \" Legrand.\" The message arrived in two words, \" Le grand,\" which, of course, means \" the tall one.\" The policeman, who was in plain clothes, happened to be much the tallest of the three, and was at once placed in a cell, while the other two, including the real lunatic, were allowed to go. When the unfortunate policeman came to his sober senses he naturally made a vehement protest, of which—equally naturally—no notice what ever was taken. And for four long days he was left to kick his heels in his cell, think ing of the wigging he was due to get when he returned. Those who have read thatdelightfulold book of Max Adeler's, \" Out of the Hurly- Burly,\" will remem ber an absurd adven ture of one of the characters, a young man, who goes to call upon the girl he is in love with, and acci dentally sits upon some glue which has been spilt by a careless workman upon the edge of the veranda. There is a ridiculous sequel in which the young man sneaks home by unfrequented by-ways with a square foot of board glued to the seat of his trousers. A somewhat similar episode occurred not long ago in real life. Mr. Jackson, superin tendent of the poor-house at Portland, Oregon, repainted a zinc bath with a preparation of enamel, purchased in a local shop, which was warranted LO dry hard. A couple of days later he took a hot bath and. while reclining com fortably in the water, went to sleep. Waking up, he found to his horror that his hair, back, and legs were securely glued to the bath. He could not reach the bell ; the door was locked. •The only thing was to shout. The water was nearly cold by the time his cries were heard, and then the door had to be broken down. Even after that it was a most difficult and painful piece of work to prise him loose, and he required a doctor's attention when the job was at last completed.

A STORY FOR CHILDREN\". Re-told from the Russian by Post Wheeler. Illustrated by H. R. Millar. I N a village across the ocean there once lived an old peasant who had three sons. The eldest, Danilo, was the most knowing lad in the place ; the second, Gavrilo, was neither clever nor dull ; and the youngest, who was named Ivan, was called \" Little Fool Ivan.\" Now one morning when the peasant went to his haystack he found, to his dismay, that someone in the night had stolen some of the hay, so that evening he sent his two eldest sons to watch for the thief. On this night there was a biting frost and heavy snow, and Danilo said to Gavrilo, \" Why should we freeze stiff to save a little worthless fodder ? \" So. finding a warm corner, they lay down, wrapped themselves in their thick fur coats, and went to sleep. Copyright, 191 ••• \"HE SAW A WONDERFUL MARE AS Will IE AS SNOW.\" In the morning they saw that some of the hay had been stolen. They rolled in the snow, went home, and knocked at the door till their father let them in. \" Did von ~>ee the thief ? \" asked he. \" We heard him prowling not far off,\" answered they ; \" but we shouted, and he dared not come nearer.\" by Post Wherler.

THE LITTLE HUMPBACKED HORSE. 711 Their father praised them, and the next night sent Little Fool Ivan to wat'eh. Suddenly, just at midnight, Ivan heard the neigh of a horse, and, looking out from the bush, he saw a wonderful mare, as white as snow, with a golden mane curled in little rings, eating the hay. \" So,\" said Little Fool Ivan to himself. \" you are the thief of our hay !\" The mare came nearer and nearer, and at last Ivan leaped out, seized her tail, and jumped on to her back, wrong side before. The white mare's eyes darted forth light ning. She curled her neck like a snake, reared on her hind legs, and shot off like an arrow. She raced over fields, she flew like a bird over ditches, she galloped like the wind along mountains, and dashed through thick forests. But, run as she would, and rear and snort as she might, .she could not throw off Little Fool Ivan. At last, just as day was beginning to dawn, the mare stopped, and, panting, spoke to him with a human voice. \" Well, Ivan,\" she said, \" since you can sit me, it seems you must possess me. Take me home and give me a place to rest for three days. Only, each morning, just at sunrise, let me out to roll in the dew. And when the three days are up I will bear you three such colts as were never heard of before. Two of them will be Czar's horses, of brown and grey, and these you may sell if you choose. But the third will be a little humpbacked horse only three feet high, with ears a foot long, and him you shall neither sell for gold nor give as a gift to any one whatsoever. So long as you are in the world he shall be your faithful servant. In return for these three colts you shall release me and give me my freedom.\" Little Fool Ivan agreed. He rode the white mare home, hid her in an empty shep herd's corral, whose entrance he covered with a horse-clo'.h, and went and knocked at the door of his father's house till his brothers let him in. When they saw him they began to question him. \" Well, no doubt you saw the thief ! Perhaps you even caught him ! Tell us.\" \" To be sure I did,\" he replied. \" I jumped on the thief's back and laid hold of the villain's tail, and he ran a thousand miles or more. My neck was nearly broken in the end, and you may believe I am tired ! \" So saying he lay down by the stove without taking off even his bark sandals and went to sleep, while his brothers and his father roared with laughter at the story, not a word of which, of course, they believed. Little Fool Ivan kept the white mare hidden from all other eyes. For three mornings he rose at daybreak and let her out to roll on the dewy\" meadow, and on the fourth morning, when he went to the corral, he found beside her, as she had promised, three colts. Two were most beautiful to see ; they were of brown and grey, their eyes were like blue sapphires, their manes and tails were golden

712 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. who took them away, and 1 can take you to them. Sit on my back and hold fust by my ears. and have a care not to fall oil! \" So Little Fool Ivan sat on his back, holding up his feet lest they drag on the ground. And, almost before Ivan had time to take breath, he was miles away on the high road to the capital. When his brothers saw Little Fool Ivan coming after them like the wind on his toy horse, they knew not what to do. our crops, and a bad harvest, and for despair I and Gavrilo have been like to hang ourselves. When we came by chance upon these two steeds we considered that you had little knowledge of bargaining and trading, and doubtless knew not their worth, whereas we could get at least a thousand roubles for them at the fair. Witn this money we could help our father. So forgive us.\" \"Well,\" answered Little Fool Ivan, \" your words sound fair enough. If this was your thought, go and sell my two horses, but I will go with you.\" Now, when they reached the market-place, where the traders were assembled, so wonderful were the two steeds that the people swarmed about them, buzzing like bees in a hive. Perceiving this, the headman himself rode out, in slippers and fur cap, with a body of soldiers, who cleared the way with their whips, ' FOR SHAME, YOU RASCALS '.' SHOUTEI1 HR. ' YOU MAY BE MORE Cl.RVliK THAN I, BUT I HAVE NEVER STOLEN YOUR STEEDS.' \" \" For shame, you rascals ! \" shouted he, as he overtook them. \" You may be more clever than I, but I have never stolen your steeds ! \" \" Our dear little brother ! \" said Danilo. \" There is little use denying. We took your two horses, but we did so with no thought of wrong. As you know, this has been a poor season with so that he came to the middle of the market and saw the horses with his own eyes. And. bidding the crier proclaim that no buyer should buy them, he rode to the Palace of the Czar and told him of them. The Czar could not sit still for curiosity. He ordered his State carriage and rode at

THE LllTLE HUMPBACKED HORSE. 713 once to the market, and when he saw the horses tugging at their halters and gnawing their bits, with their eyes shining like sapphires, their curling golden manes, and hoofs of diamond and pearls, he could not take his eyes from them, but asked who owned them. \" Your Majesty,\" said Little Fool Ivan, \" I am their master.\" \"What wilKyou take for them?\" asked the Czar. \" Fifteen caps full of silver,\" answered Ivan, \" and five roubles besides.\" \" Good ! \" said the Czar, and ordered the money to be given to him. Then ten grooms, with grey hair and golden uniforms, led the pair to the Royal stables. On the way, how ever, the horses knocked the grooms clown. bit their bridles to pieces, and ran neighing back to Ivan. Then the Czar called him to his presence and said: \" It seems that my wonderful steeds will obey only you. There is nothing for it but to make you my Chief Equerry and Master of my Stables.\" And he ordered the crier at once to proclaim the appointment. So Little Fool Ivan called his brothers Danilo and (iavrilo, gave them the fifteen caps full of silver, and the five roubles beside, kissed them, bade them not neglect their father, but to care for him in his old age, and led the horses to the Royal stables. Five weeks went by, while Ivan wore red robes, ate sweet food, and slept his fill. Each morning at sunrise he took the horses to roll in the dew on the open field, and fed them with honey and white wheat till their coats shone like satin. But the more the Czar praised him the more envio'us many in the Court were of him. The one who hated him most was the officer who had been the Czar's Master of Horse before his coming. Every day this man pondered how he might bring about Ivan's ruin, and went to all those C'ourt officials' who were envious of the new favourite, and bade them hang their heads and go about with sorrowful faces, promising, when the Czar asked the cause, to tell him what would ruin Little Fool Ivan. They did so, and the Czar, noticing their sad looks, asked :— \" Why are you cast down and crestfallen ? \" Then he who had given this counsel stood forth and said: \" O Czar, we grieve not for ourselves, but we fear your new Master of the Stables is a wizard and an evil-doer and familiar with Black Magic. For he boasis openly that he could fetch you, if he chose, VoL xliii. in addition to your two wonderful steeds, the fabled Pig with the golden bristles and the silver tusks, with her twenty sucklings, who live in the hidden valley of the Land of the South.\" Hearing this the Czar was wroth. \" Bring before me this wild boaster,\" he said. Thereupon they ran to the stables, where

7'4 THE STRAND MAGAZINE, Little Fool Ivan did all as the little horse bade him. He entered the forest, put the corn and wheat in two piles, hid himself in a thicket near the latter, and rested till evening, when there came a sound of grunting. and the Pig with the golden bristles and silver tusks led her young into the forest. She saw the corn, and at once began to eat it,, while the twenty sucklings ran to the wheat. He caught them, one by one, tied and tie them to my saddle with the silken lasso, and I will bear thee back. As for the Pig, she will follow her sucklings.\" running without stop for a night and a day, they arrived after dark at the Czar's capital- When they reported to the Czar that Little Fool Ivan had performed his task, the Czar bestowed high rank and all manner of honours upon him, till, for hatred and malice, the envious ones were beside themselves. \"THK PIG CAMP. RUNNING AFTER THEM, ERECTING HER GOLDEN BRISTI.I.S AND GNASHING HER SII.VKK TUSKS.\" them with the silken lasso, and, hastening to the little horse, made them fast to his saddle-bow. Scarcely had he mounted when the Pig perceived them, and, seeing her suck lings borne away, came running after them, erecting her golden bristles and gnashing her silver tusks. The little humpbacked horse sped away like a (lash back along the road they had come, with the Pig pursuing them, and, alter They conferred together, and, coming before the Czar. they said : \" 0 Czar, your Master of Horse is now boast ing that he could fetch from across three times nine lands, where the little red sun rises, the beautiful Girl-Czar whom you have so long desired for your bride, who lives on the ocean in a golden boat, which she rows with silver oars.\" Then was the Czar mightily angered. \" Summon this boaster again be fore me,\" he commanded, and when Little Fool Ivan was come in, he bade him bring him the lovely Girl- Czar within twelve days, or pay the forfeit with his head. So, for the second time. Ivan went weeping to the little humpbacked horse and told him the Czar's will. \" Dry your tears, little master,\" said the other, \" for 1 can assist you. Go to the Czar and ask for two handkerchiefs cunningly embroidered in gold, a silken tent woven with gold thread and with golden tent-poles, gold and silver dishes, and all manner of wines and sweetmeats.\"

THE LITTLE HUMPBACKED HORSE. 7'5 \" Now pitch your tent on the white sand/' said the little horse. \" In it spread your embroidered handkerchief's, and on them put the wine and the gold and silver plates piled with sweetmeats. Then hide behind the tent and watch. From her golden boat the Girl- Czar will see the tent and will approach it. Let her enter it and eat and drink her fill. Then go in, seize and hold her, and call for me.\" So saying, he ran to hide himself in the forest. miles, till they reached a forest at the very end of the world. Here they stopped, and Ivan alighted on the seashore. Ivan pitched the tent, prepared the food and wine, and, lying down be hind the tent, made a tiny hole in the silk through which to see, and waited. And lie fore long the golden boat came sailing over the blue sea. The beautiful Girl- Czar alighted to look at the splen did tent, and, seeing the wine and sweetmeats, entered and began to eat and drink. So lovely was she that no tale could de scribe her, and Liitle Fool Ivan could not gaze enough. He running up, Ivan, too late, repented of his folly. \" I am guilty,\" he said. \" And now I shall never see her again ! \" And he began to shed tears. \" Never mind,\" said the little horse. \" She will come again to-morrow ; but if you fail next time we must needs go back without her, and your head will be lost.\" . Next day Little Fool Ivan spread the wines and sweetmeats, and lay down to watch as before; and again the lovely Girl- Czar came rowing in her golden boat and entered the tent and began to regale her self. And while she ate and drank Ivan ran in and seized and held her and called to the little horse. The girl cried out and fought to be free, but when she saw how handsome Little Fool Ivan was she quite for got to struggle. He mounted and put her before him on the saddle, and the hump- backed horse

7i6 THE STRAXD MAGAZINE. curtain, on a cushion of purple velvet, and spoke to her tender words. \" 0 Girl-Czar, to whom none can be!com pared I \" he said. \" My bride that is to be I For a long time I have not slept, either by night or day, for thinking of your eyes I \" But the beautiful Girl-Czar turned from him and would not answer, and again and again he tried his wooing, till at length she said : \" 0 Czar, you are wrinkled and grey, and have left sixty years behind you,_ while I am but sixteen. If I should marry you the Czar of all Czardoms would laugh, saying that a grandfather had taken his grandchild to wife.\" Hearing this, the Czar was angry. \"It is true/' he said, \" that flowers do not bloom in winter, and that I am no longer young. But I am nevertheless a great Czar.\" Then she replied : \"I will marry no one who has grey hairs and who lacks teeth in his head. If you will but grow young again, then will I marry you willingly.'' \" How can a man grow young again ? \" he asked. \" There is a way, O Czar,\" she said, \" and it is thus : Order three great cauldrons to be placed in the courtyard. Fill the first with cold water, the second with boiling water, and the third with boiling mare's-milk. He who bathes one minute in the boiling milk. two in the boiling water, and three in the cold water becomes instantly young, and so handsome that it cannot be told. Do this, and I will become your Czaritza, but not otherwise.\" The Czar at once bade them prepare in the courtyard the three cauldrons, one of cold water, one of boiling water, and one of boiling mare's-milk, minded to make the test. The envious courtiers, however, came to him and said :— \" 0 Czar, this is a strange thing, and we have never heard that a man can plunge into boiling liquid and not be scalded. We pray you, therefore, bid your Master of Horse bathe before you ; then you may be assured that all is well.\" Now, this counsel seemed good to the Czar, and he straightway summoned Little Fool Ivan and bade him prepare to make the trial. When Ivan heard the Czar's command he said to himself: \" So I am to be killed like a sucking-pig or a chicken ! \" And he went sorrowfully to the stables and told the little humpbacked horse. \" You found me the Pig with the golden ,bris.les,\" he said, \"and the beautiful .Girl- Czar; but now these are all as nothing, and my life is as worthless as an old boot.*' • Arid •he began to weep bitterly. \"Weep not, master,\" said the little horse. \" This is indeed \"a real service that I will do you. Now, listen well to what I say. When you go to the courtyard, before you strip off your clothes to bathe, ask the Czar

THE LITTLE HUMPBACKED HORSE. 717 The people, well pleased, shouted : \" Health to Czar Ivan ! \" And so Little Fool Ivan led the lovely Girl - Czar to the church, and they were married that same day. Then Czar Ivan ordered the trumpeters to blow their trumpets and the butlers to open the bins, and he made in the palace a feast \"THE CZAR JUMPED INTO THE BOILIM; MILK.\" like a hill, and the officers and princes sat at oak tables and drank from golden goblets, and made merry till they could not stand on their feet. But Little Fool Ivan, with his Czantza, ruled the kingdom wisely and well, and grew never too wise to take counsel of the little humpbacked horse.

PERPLEXITIES. By Henry E. Dudeney. 91.-INSPECTING A MINE. THE diagram is supposed to represent the passages or galleries in a mine. We will assume that every passage,.A to B, B lo C, C to II, II tn I, and so (in, is one furlong in length. It will be seen that there are thirty-one of these passages. Now, an official has to inspect all of them, and he descends by a shaft to the point AFK'.•TK&L<)I'HMKD1HsE:jo1must he travel, and what route domend ? The reader may atthirty - onepassages, each* i r> i will have to travel just ihirty-une furlongs.\" But • this is assuming that he need never go along a passage more than once, which is not the case. Take your pencil and try to find the shortest route. You will soon discover that ihcre is room for considerable judgment. In fact, it is quite a perplexing liitle puzzle. When you think you have solved it, try to find the inspector's shortest routes, starting from points A and B respectively. Also discover I he best point in the mine from which to start. We will assume that a shaft descends at every point. 92.—THE LETTER BLOCK I'UZZLE. IlF.KE is a liitle reminiscence of our old friend, the Fifteen Block Puzzle. Eight wooden blocks are lettered and placed in a box, as shown in the illustration. It will be seen that you can only move one block at a time to the.place vacant for the time being, as no block may be lifted out of the box. The puzzle is to shift them about until you get them in the order— ABC I) G F This you will find by no means difficult if you are allowed as many moves as you like. But the puzzle is to do it in the fewest possible moves. I will not say what this smallest number of moves is, because the reader may like to discover it for himself. In writing down your moves you will find it necessary to record no more than the letters in the order that ihey are shifted. Thus, your first five moves might be -C, II, G, E, K : and this notation can have no possible ambiguity. In practice you only need eight counters and a simple diagram on a sheet of paper. 93.—A CHAIN PUZZLE. THIS is a puzzle based on a pretty little idea first dealt with by the- late Mr. Sam Loyd. A man had nine pieces of chain, as--shown in the illustration. He wan'ed to jointlie.se fifty links into one endlesschain. It will cost a penny to open any link and twopence lo weldalink to

CURIOSITIES. [We shall be glad to receive Contributions to this section and to pay lor such as are accepted.} A PRETTY(TPTOM. THIS picture, show ing the liner Sierra leaving San Francisco for Honolulu with a big crowd of tourists bound for Hawaii to see tin- floral parade and visit the volcano of Kilauea, Dhistrates • pretty cus tom that marks the departure of most pas senger ships for the island port. When the passenger pc.cs aboard he is handed a package of serpentine confetti. He throws a coil of the coloured paper to each of his friends on the wharf, retaining one end of the string until the steamer's moving parts the fragile ties.—Mr. G. L. Campbell, 1,727, Euclid Avenue. Berkeley. Cal., C.S.A. ORIENTAL POLE-CLIMBERS. AN interesting feature of some s|>orls held at Tourane, in French Indo- China. is here shown The Annamites are seen negotiating a particularly stiff pole climb to secure the prizes of umbrellas and other articles which are suspended at the top for those who can reach them. Judging from the photograph, competition was very keen, while those who gained the awards certainly earned them by their exertions.—.Mr. C. K. Edmunds, Tourane. Annam. FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. HIS extraordinary object was recently picke 1 up at sea near Greystones. County Wicklow. It was travel ling at a great s|>eed, keg up wards, and had to be towed ashore. The keg must have been at the bottom of the sea, perhaps in some sunken ship, for a century, with the result that thousands of the most wonderful creatures imaginable had got fixed to it. These animals, or fish, were in a mass live feet high and four feet in circumference. They have sn ike-like foodie*, and ter minate in the most beautifully- shaped and gorgeously-coloured shells of orange, white, arid blue, and have the extra ordinary power of propelling themselves through the water by wings. 1 he Irish /oo arc interesting them selves in the wen lerfu! \" freak,\" and arc contemplating its purchase for the Gardens. The keg was found to contain a quantity of old parchment, which, though quile undecipherable, goes far to prove that it must originally have

2O THE STRAND MAGAZINE. PLAYING BILLIARDS WITH ARTIFICIAL ARMS. MIE subject of the a c c n m p anying photograph had the misfortune, some ten years ago, to lose both arms from above the elbow, but so expert has he become in the use of his artificial limbs that he has taken to billiards with no little success. Mr. Harold Cave, who owns the Star Restaurant, Irthlingboro, thus describes the manner in which lie handles his cue: \" I had a piece of leather screwed on to the side of the cue, passing my right arm through it, with a thin strap, twelve inches farther bark, buckled round my arm. The puzzle then was, how was I to steady it through my other hook ? At last I hit upon an idea which answered very well. I had a piece of oak tapered off all round and two eyes screwed into the top, so that I could pass the left hook through them, as will be seen in the photograph. My highest break is twenty, and highest score eighty-two in half an hour, though I hope to be able to beat these figures.\"—We are indebted to.rhe courtesy of Messrs. E. J. Riley, Limited, the well- known billiard-table makers, for the interesting photo graph showing Mr. Cave at the table. are practically harmless, though possessing formidable claws. 'Ihose shown in the illustration have, of course, been tamed. They are grey in colour, with muzzles absolutely black. In Queensland they may be purchased for lings each, but are difficult to rear the line. Their A QUEER CATCH. THIS fine specimen of the rare stellated globe-fish was obtained by Mr. Fred Tiltman, a fisher man living here. It was twenty-three and a half inches long between the eye and fork of tail. Its abdomen, which was largely distended with about two quarts ot water,' which contained itfbris of seaweed, etc., hung down from its parrot-like mouth towards its vcr.', and was covered with spines, each one ot which arose from a distinct stellated root of four slellattts Donovan). The body of the processes—hence its name (Tetrodon fish was of a steel-blue colour and scaleless, and the fins were very long and of great strength. The toughness of its abdominal bag was very great, a sharp knife making little impression on it.—Mr. Frederick G. Tiltman, Downderry, St. Germans, Cornwall. REAL TEDDY HEARS. THESE dwarf or \" fruit bears \" were taken from life in Bris

1HE STRAND MAGAZINE 77 Fashions co:nc and fashions gc; With Joh nie Walker ' 'tis not so. Born IK i8>o he Still is going strong you sc<' \" THE \"ADVANTAGE\" IN asking for \" Johnnie Walker\" is that you are sure of being \"served\" the whisky without a \"fault.\" Johnnie Walker—the bottled experience of four generations in the art of distilling—is obtainable in three ages : Johnnie Walker \" White Label,\" 6 years old. Johnnie Walker, \" Red Label,\" 10 years old. Johnnie Walker\" Black Label,\" 12 years old. And as even experts disagree as to the age at which whisky is at its best, it is for you to make your choice. Every bottle bears this label : \" Guaranteed same quality throughout the world.\" JOHX WALKER & SONS, LTD., SCOTCH WHISKY DISTILLERS, KILMARNOCK.

4 true Friend if the Family ! THE STRAND MAGAZINE. Price Vaseline (Trade Mark) 4/9 MEDICINE CHEST. The finest emergency equipment in the World ! There is no ailment that cannot receive Emergency Relief from the \" Vaseline\" Compendium of Remedies. No Home should be without one. The Traveller's first and last thought — always : The \"Vaseline\" Medicine Chest. No matter what the season, he is always equipped for emergencies : guarded at all points. CONTENTS & USES: For Colds in Chest, Throat and Lung*, Stomach Cramps, Chilblains, and all Rheumatic, Neuralgic and Gouty Complaints. Is. Tube CAPSICUM \" VASELINE.\" Especially valuable for ! 1-idache and Toothache. Apply exter nally. For Wounds, Cuts, Insect Bites, Barber's Itch, etc. (External application.) Is. Tube CARBOLATED \"VASELINE.\" For Rheumatism, Gout, etc. (External application.) Is. Tube CAMPHORATED \"VASELINE.\" • For Headaches, Neuralgia, Rheuma tism, Stiff Neck, Nasal Catarrh, etc. (External.) Is. Tube MENTHOLATED \"VASELINE.\" For Catarrh—splendid all-round anti septic Ointment. (External.) Is. Tube BO RATED \"VASELINE.\" For general External and Internal Use. Invaluable (or Colds (internally), Chafinps. Soreness, Burns, etc. 8d. Tube PURE PLAIN \" VASELINE.\" The safest and surest general emollient, antiseptic healer. Tasteless. Odourless. A R the family trill lit intemted in the practical home hint! iiirrn in otir free \" Yam-line\" J3vf>\\ttt. free and jtost free on receipt of i/fntr aildrtsx. JW>7'A\". -Snl>stitntfs are tlanperoui! Insist on \" Vaieline\" in the Comfiany's nrnjinal tuict anil juidcatjei. CHESEBROUGH MFG. CO., 42, Holbom Viaduct, Londoc, LC

'IhE STRAND MAGAZINE. 79 L Puccini endorses the Pianola \" No other instrument I have ever heard can approach the Pianola.\" (Signed) GIACOMO PUCCINI I T FRF is an opinion that cannot be lightly set aside. It is the firm conviction of the man whose genius has enriched modern music by \" La Boheme,\" \" La Tosca,\" and \" Madame Butterfly,\" that the Pianola cannot be approached by any other piano-playing instrume.it. Equally emphatic is the praise of the other famous musicians. They are unanimous in their preference for the Pianola Piano. Now, when you contemplate buying a piano-player it is important to remember this fact:— practically every prominent musician alive to-day endorses the Pianola. Common sense will tell you that there must be a good reason. It is not far to seek. The Pianola Piano is the only instrument that these musicians can trust to reproduce their work faithfully. They concede it a place in the world of art. The Pianola Piano conquers the manual difficulties of music by playing the notes for you, but you must not think there is anything mechanical about it. The expression, the tempo, the emphasis—all the artistic colouring of the melody over the accompaniment—are under your control as much as if you were a gifted musician playing from the score. Your personality pervades and dominates every interpretation. The Pianola Piano is a combination of the only perfect piano-player, the Pianola, with the best in pianos—the famous Steinway, Weber, or Steck. Call at Aeolian Hall and play it for yourself, or write for Catalogue \" F.\" The Orchestrelle Company, ^ AEOLIAN HALL, 135-6-7, New Bond Street, London, W.

So THE STRAND MAGAZINE. Opportunity should be taken to impress upon parents their responsibility in preventing the spread of infec tion in Schools.\" Extract from memorandum issued by the Loca] 'Government Board and Board of Education. In other words, parents should see that the children use Lifebuoy Soap. More than Soap yet costs no more.

THE STRAND MAGAZINE. Si The Magical Spell of the \"Kastonome\" Will enchant you with wonder and delight. Until you hear it you cannot possibly estimate the rare beauty and magnificent effects with which the finest Musical Works are rendered through the operation of this unique feature. The \" Kastonome \" should on no account be confused with other devices claiming to accent the theme. The latter necessitate the alteration or revision of the music, whereas the \" Kastonome,\" found only in the utoptatto governs the power of every individual note independently, and does not require the slightest re-arrangement of the music. If the supremacy of the \" Autopiano \" depended and maintains at upon this one feature alone it would still be far in advanqe of all other Player' Pianos ; but it has, in addition, many other valuable and exclu sive patents which cannot possibly be obtained in any other instrument. These include the \" Etronome,\" the infallible guide to the Composer's idea of Tempo, which indicates unmistakably the speed and every' variation of same required for the artistic interpretation of a composition. The \" Soloist \" gives you separate control over treble and bass and allows you to regulate the touch to the exact defies required. The \" Correctoguide\" is the all - important con trivance for automatically ensuring true tracking of 88-note music and is absolutely indispensable to full compass . instruments. The Patent Flexible Fingers give the human-like touch, and the Kastner \" Reliance \" Motor answers to the slightest movement of the Tempo I.ever even, steady progress \"of tTie music. . .. Klease call immediately and flay the \"Aiitopiano'' yourselj, or teritt . • at otue for Art Catalogue A 3. Your present-piano will />(' taAeii in cvcHange at full rjiiti and terms arranged to suit your ea'rtfnifhft. KASXNBR &» Co., Ltd., i 34, 35, & 36, Margaret Street, Cavendish Square Corner, London, W. I (Second turning on left K')ing fropj Oxford Circus to Quern'> Hall). MANCHESTER SAMPLE EXHIBITION AND NORTHERN MUSIC ROLL LIBRARY, 1, Police Street, St Ann Street iFacing I>e»ns(rtt'*. Firnt Floor). Insist on seeing thia Trade Mark on the fall; none genuine withoat.

THE S'IRAMD MAGAZINE. The following impor tant report appeared in a recent issue of 'The Daily Chronicle' CHEESEMAKING AS A SCIENCE. Interesting information con cerning cheeses, of which there are 156 kinds made in various countries, was given by Mr. A. Ikewer, a member of the Institute of Hygiene, in a lecture on \" Cheese and Cheesemaking,\" at Batlersea Polytechnic. Mr. Brewer described in detail the various processes in the making of cheese, and the methods of testing the condition of the finished product. As an example of what is known as \"hard\" cheese he cited Canadian Cheddar, and in the forefront of the \"soft\" category he placed St. Ivel Lactic cheese. The great dietetic value of the last-named was, he said, due to its purity and the fact that it contains an abun dance of the organic phosphates. The makers had achieved a great success, for they had ( ro- duced a cheese which, owing to the rapid action of the special culture used, converted the curd into a cheese ready for the consumer. He hoped that the community would soon awaken to the great advantages of cheese generally as a substitute for flesh foods, and of this cheese in par- titular, which had a health value peculiar to itself. CHEE5E \" The Pride of the West Countrie. Cleanser and Mouth Wash In One. Polishes the teeth to dazzl ing whi teness, wh le its fra grant antiseptic foam reaches every part of the moulh — neutralizing all tooth- destroying acids, preventing discoloration and decay. comes in a handy metal box—nothing to break or spill. A convenient cake that insures beautiful teeth, healthy gums, and a sweet breath. At your druggist. I/-. Strong's Arnica Tooth Soap Strong's Arnica Jelly Keeps Your Skin Smooth. No need to endure the discomfort of lunbum or winter chapping. Apply with finger lips, rub gently into pores. In collapsible metal tubes, I/-. til nil cli\"niintn. or jiott free from Thou. Christy .£ Co.. 4 io.,I-12, OlilSwtiu Lmtfyp«rT'Aam«t«L London

THE STRAND MAGAZINE. [EM ! JANE MADE Jl Quite Trui Story, told by her Husband. HE* 1Mb 1.—Doing Up Covers and Curtains. JANE had Iwen feeling downhearted. The coal strike had affected us badly, halving the income and doubling the expenditure, and the results of Jane's spring cleaning were extremely depressing. The blue casement curtains, so carefully washed and ironed, looked laded and woebegone ; and as for the cretonne cover on my favourite easy chair— well, Jane was simply vicious on the evening when she tied it into place after \"doing it up\" for the seventh year running. \"The aggravating bit of it is,\" said Jane, \"that the stuff is as strong as when it was new ; but just look at the colour! It's like—like\"—and she caught her breath in a warning little sob— \" like the middle part of a badly-washed roller towel.\" As with curtains and chair cover, so with side board cloth, table covers, and cushion slips; and my house - proud little woman, who had been reckoning on spending seven or eight pounds upon brand-new furnishings, couldn't seem to get the better of her disappointment, until one day Jane stood right still and read it, and found that the pleasant changes all had to do with Drummer Dyes— the wonderful little magicians that will so change and beautify all sorts of faded and shabby curtains and covers that nobody would think they were anything but new. One day, quite early in the morning, Jane was tidying up the books and papers in the sitting-room, when a magazine fell open at a certain page, and her eye caught the words, \" PLEASANT CHANCES IN THK HOME, ' set in big letters along the top. \" That was enough for me,'' said Jane, \"and when I found that the dyes and Dolly Creams cost only a penny each —why, I made up my mind in next to no lime, and before an hour had passed I had liought six penny Drummer Dyes from the grocer, and had slipped of) that wretched chair cover, clean and ugly as it was, and had got it and the art linen sideboard cover and the miserably shabby table covers all in a heap on the centre table. Then I took down the blue casement curtains, and last of all down came the white curtains with crochet tops, because I thought that if rny blue casement curtains v.'ere going to be dyed a pretty sage-green, then I would have the short curtains cream for a change, and the Dolly Cream seemed to l>e just the very thing to colour them a soft buff shade, not flaring yellow, and not mousey grey.\" I quite expect Jane had a high old time of it, as she was just bubbling over with the

*4 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. A Boon to our Readers Across the Seas! The big London shops and stores brought-to your door: to your tent : to your hut : to your camp — or wherever you chance to be. In a sentence, this is the service offered by THE STRAND MAGAZINE PURCHASING DEPARTMENT to \"STRAND\" readers out in the Colonies, or abroad—in city, township, camp, or homestead. The vast resources of the big London stores —the cheapest and best and most reliable market in the world !—are now placed at the disposal of our readers in all parts of the globe, no matter how remote, through the medium of this useful Department. No charge whatever is made for this money- saving, satisfaction-promoting service. This is a II you hade to do :— Write to \"The Strand Magnzine Purchasing Department,\" Southampton Street, Strand, London, W.C. Say exactly what you want—it doesn't matter what it is—we can get it for you. Describe the article as fully as possible, if you want something specific. If you are in doubt as to the best thing al the price you are prepared to go to, you may leave the rest to the judgment and discretion of the Department. Bui you must give us an \" outside price.\" With your order you should send the amount which you estimate will cover cost of goods, freight, and incidental charges. Any surplus will be dealt with as you may direct. The rest you may safely leave to the experience of our buyers, and their intimacy with London merchandising conditions. Where catalogues, price-lists, or other advertising literature is required, please send stamps to cover postage to the firms to whom it will be necessary for us to apply. v. Remember : this Department is in existence solely for the convenience of our readers. There is no charge whatever. Nothing is \"a trouble.\" The Department is staffed expressly to cope with our readers' instructions. If it can be of service to an exiled or inconveniently-located reader, it will be a pleasure to the publishers to be in a position to render such small aid.