IN THE PARK CHAPTER XLV Inly Merritt set off at a brisk pace from the camp and soon reached Pigeon River Farm. Lydia and Eliza were already up and dressed and were in the garden. ex ladies!" Have you any 'Good morning, claimed the little man. message for the Burgh?" "No, thank you," said Lydia. "We ourselves shall be going there immediately after breakfast." She and Eliza had advanced to the fence, on which they were now leaning. Their faces were so fresh and lovely-Eliza's bright with exuberant happiness, and Lydia's sadly sweet-and their forms were so charmingly outlined by their trim morning gowns, that Inly felt a wild longing to make mad love to both. It really required the whole of his mental strength to. prevent him from breaking out into some desperate and foolish speech. He forced a smile, however, and said: "I think both of you are desirous of adding to the happiness of the world." "What you say is very true, Mr. Warner," replied Lydia, smiling in re turn. "Then I will make bold enough to ask each of you for a flower." ness, here and hereafter," said Lydia. "I would sacrifice any hereafter for this here," rejoined Merritt, as he placed the two little roses in the buttonhole of his coat. "Pleased to the last' you'd 'crop the flow'ry food,' Mr. Warner," said Eliza gayly. And so, with an interchange of kindly words, with sweet music lingering in his ears, with his heart throbbing, with a solemn chord faintly, almost unconsciously, vibrating to the touch of Lydia's grave words, and with a tender, fragrant memento of two beautiful faces, Inly Merritt passed on. The river seemed to be a little swollen, although the stepping stones were not fully covered. Rain, probably, had fallen away in the southeast Clouds, dense and threatening, hung overhead, and dimmed the glancing of the water. The mist lay no thicker along the stream than up on the hillsides. It was, as Inly had remarked to Tevis, not mist-like. It was rather some universal thickening of the atmosphere which blurred all objects. fifty yards or so away and rendered them unrecognizable in detail, although the view was not completely obscured at any distance. The boughs and leaves of the trees were still swaying and rustling in the windless air. Frequent rumbling of thunder came from afar beyond the Burgh, and the deep black canopy of the sky in that direction was, ever and anon, quickly There was something so earnest, so serious, so pleading, in Merritt's tone and glance, that the ladies went without a word to the nearest rose-bush and picked two half-opened flowers, which they gave him. "With my complete good will," said and briefly illumined. The temperaEliza. ture was more sultry and oppressive "With my wishes for your happi- than it had been on the Thursday. Merritt slowly ascended the hill from the ford. He could just distinguish a horseman, a blurred dark figure on a blurred white horse, pausing as if uncertain whether or not to ride down the hill, and then proceeding slowly on. He caught himself thinking of his childish days, of his little feats at school, of his fond mother and father, and their glistening eyes when he would boast to them of what he would do when a grown man. He wondered why he should think of those far-off days and scenes of the past that was so dead, and yet lived so green in his memory. This led him to think of the future, and the glorious eyes of Dr. Blauenfeld, as she had given him her good wishes for the hereafter. Why did she say that? What made her so divinely sad-looking? And Miss Drax, too, the rich, ripe, luscious peach that the carpenter bee had watched and worked for until the splendor of last Monday's sunset, before which all other glamour had faded! Was she really loved by, did she really love, this young Wyndham -or Spinks? Curse him! Yet, stay! What was the story of noble heroism, of dauntless courage, of a generous aversion to slaying, which had been told by the thrilling, matchless voice of the blue-eyed maid? The hero of Bahia Honda and of the lighthouse on the Morro point-had he done foul murder upon an old man for money? It did not seem very probable. But if not he, who, then? Who would have known of the money? And who would have been able to visit Waldorf Astor as a friend and drink grog with him? Astor! Astor & Tevis! Sanford Tevis! There was the chain! Those were the links! Sanford Tevis had been away from Pittsburg at the very time of the murder. And did he not pay a large sum in new gold and promise a still larger sum in international notes to the Treasury at Newport News? Then, too, he, Sanford Tevis, was a man capable of the deed. No scruples, no generous sentiments would weaken his arm. He would mock on, even while murdering! on. By this time Inly had reached the point where the road through the park struck off to the left, while the highway to the Burgh continued straight He entered through the open park gates, and, excited by the tragic current of his thoughts, stepped out briskly along the wooded way. In the hazy condition of the air he could not see clearly to the end of the road as usual, and, therefore, was unable to notice whether Westeron was already at the appointed spot. Nor could he see down the bosky slope on his left to the terraced walk beside the river. No one was in view. The footfall of a horse sounded close behind him. He mechanically turned his head to notice the rider, and then uttered a yell of affright that rang far and wide through the park. The horseman was the black-browed individual who had so nearly pushed him from the Hygeia Pier. There was an uplifted cudgel in his hand. In his glance was death. (To be continued.) "THE AMERICAN INVADERS" In this extraordinary age a fashion of self-depreciation sweeps over certain nations. A few years ago, says the New York Journal, it was France that went through it. One Frenchman wrote a book on "The Grandeur and Decadence of the French," and another one wrote on "Anglo-Saxon Superiority." Now it is England's turn. Everything English, from the army to the morals of society, has been weighed in English balances and found wanting. Commercially, the · foreign terror loomed up with the publication of "Made in Germany;" but it did not reach its most appalling proportions until the German ogre was superseded by one from America. It appears now that a veritable panic is reigning in England over American competition in trade, and, moreover, there is good reason for it. The latest book on the subject-" The Invaders," by Mr. Fred A. McKenzie, of the London Mail is jammed with startling facts. There seems to be no line of business in which Americans are not crowding Englishmen off the track in their home markets. It is not merely the purchase of a steamer line by J. Pierpont Morgan. "The real invasion," says Mr. McKenzie, "goes on unceasingly and without noise or show in five hundred industries at once. From shaving soap to electric motors, and from shirtwaists to telephones, the American is clearing the field. To-day it is literally true that Americans are selling their cottons in Manchester, pig iron in Lancashire, and steel in Sheffield. They send oatmeal to Scotland, potatoes to Ireland, and our national beef to England. It only remains for them to take coals to Newcastle." But it is not what Americans have actually done, but what they may be expected to do, that is most portentous. The things Mr. McKenzie describes are the mere beginnings of a new experiment. They are our first tentative gropings after a foreign trade. Moreover, this invasion of European markets has taken place in a boom time at home. Most of our greatest manufacturing establishments have been fully occupied in supplying the American demand. It has been only a little surplus energy that could be used in attacking new markets abroad. Finally, the goods we have sent over to England thus far have been mostly sent in British ships, on the terms of British ship-owners. But that is about to change. Mr. Morgan's purchase of the Leyland line is only one symptom of our determination to do our own carrying. The rush of work in American shipyards is a more important one. And now how will it be when our experiment has been fully tested, when our footing in the foreign markets has been definitely won, when the home demand slackens so that we shall have to export enormously increased amounts to keep our mills busy, and when we shall have a fleet of American steamers able to carry our goods abroad in any quantities greatly facilitate the trade between the at the most favorable rates? These are points that may well make foreigners think. AMERICA THREATENS ENGLAND'S SOUTH-AMERICAN TRADE The interest felt by the great manufacturing countries of the world in the growth of exports from the United States and their invasion of new fields is illustrated by a recent official report of the British commercial agent at Chicago, in which he discusses the export trade of the United States for the last fiscal year. The trade returns," says Mr. E. Seymour Bell, the author of the report, "show evidence of a considerable increase in exports to Mexico, Central and South America, and the West Indies. There are many indications that an attempt is about to be made to capture the trade of South America. Shipping facilities are being improved, though slowly, and every effort is being made. to draw more closely the commercial relations of the two American continents. Particular attention is being paid to the needs of buyers and the conditions of trade are being closely studied. “Everything that can give satisfaction to buyers is being done. Close attention is given to packing of goods, and price. lists are circulated in Spanish with, in many cases, prices quoted. in the current coin of the country per one hundred kilos. The advantage of this to the customers cannot be overestimated. "The States on the Pacific coast have chiefly benefited by the increase of trade with South America. The new steamships trading between Pacific ports of South America and Pacific ports of the United States, due, perhaps, to the new interests acquired in the Pacific Ocean, several countries. The development of railways in Venezuela, Colombia, and Argentina, often with American capital, has also greatly aided the expansion. In all probability this increase will continue, especially if the plans of certain American investors are carried out. "The whole of South America only takes about three per cent. of the total exports of the United States, but its share is increasing. The increase in trade with Chili is considered particularly gratifying, as it was unexpected. Chili is recognized as one of the most prosperous and most progressive countries in South America, and it is expected to have a great future. The desire to increase trade with South America is very keen, and there is probably no part of the world where greater efforts are being made to obtain a supremacy. Not only has the trade been very small, but in most cases the South American republics have been selling to the United States more than they have been buying. 66 Particular attention is being called to the trade in cotton goods. That the United States should have only sold in 1900 to Mexico, Central and South America cotton goods of the value of $3,605.269, while the United Kingdom sold to these same countries similar goods to the value of $38,007,564 causes amazement, taking into consideration the fact that the United States sold to the United Kingdom raw cotton worth about $100,000,000. I merely mention this in order to indicate an important line of goods where severe competition may be expected." The report also discusses the growth of the export trade from the United States to Japan, which, it says, "is becoming an important importing country of American goods." The report gives tables showing the total imports of Japan and the total from the United States and United Kingdom, respectively, at quinquennial periods from 1881. The imports into Japan from the United States have risen from 1,781,108 yen in 1881 to 62,761,196 yen in 1900; and that the imports into Japan from the United Kingdom have only grown from 16,364,740 yen in 1881 to 71,638,219 yen in 1900. Thus the United States exports to Japan were in 1900 more than thirty-five times as large as in 1881, while those of the United Kingdom to Japan were less than five times as large as in 1881. Commenting upon these facts, Mr. Bell says: "If we make a comparison between the quantities of certain merchandise exported this year with those exported the year previous many a useful lesson may be learned. That the United Kingdom makes such a poor showing in competition with the United States is due almost entirely to the use of more perfect and more economical machinery in this country. By improvements in methods of manufacture and close attention to the wants of buyers, there should be no difficulty in competing with the United States. "As regards heavy steel goods, such as rails, structural material, etc., the abundance and cheapness of raw material in the United States makes competition more difficult. For finished articles, such as machinery, etc., it is more a question of economy of manufacture and design than in the first cost of material. In this country of high wages and in many cases long railway carriage, the only way to be able to compete with other countries is to cut down expenses as much as possible by the use of laborsaving machinery and general economy. If this is possible in America it ought to be equally possible in other competing. countries."-New York Journal. THE DOMINION'S COMMERCIAL POLICY Mr. John Charlton, a member of the Anglo-American Joint High Commission, in a recent address on "The Past, the Present, and the Future of Canada,” spoke in part on the Dominion's relations with the United States: 66 "Within the last few years," said Mr. Charlton, there has been a rapid growth of imperial sentiment in Canada. It is not probable and not desirable that organic union of Canada and the various colonies with the central power, Great Britain, should be the result. The union between Great Britain and her colonies is now and should remain a bond of sympathy and voluntary union. It is not improbable that the trend of movements will draw powerfully toward the adoption of imperial zollverein." He then spoke, says the New York Times, of the two great Anglo-Saxon commonwealths on the continent, and the great disparity between their comparative developments, and the much smaller disparity between their respective resources. Natural tendencies as to trade have, however, he said, been dwarfed by thirty-four years of repressive fiscal legislation, for since the abrogation of the reciprocity treaty in 1866 the tariff of the United States seemed to have been designed for the purpose of discouraging and destroying Canadian trade. Canada's policy toward the United States in the period has been a moderate and reasonable one, and at the present time Canadian duties upon total imports from the United States are only half in percentage of those levied by the American Government on Canadian imports. "There is a lack in our country," Mr. Charlton continued, "of diversity of employment, and unless the United States will consent to reasonable concessions, |