The record-union., 1896-08-09
NO LONGER CARRIED SAMPLES.
Thrilling Love Story of John Still
ingsbee Jones.
PROLOGUE.

1t was John Stillingsbee Jones, and
he stood with downcast eyes before
Elfrida Hochsteinhauser
Never" the maiden cried. Never
will I wed a man who sells wall pa
per from samples" John Stillingsbee
Jones cast his eyes yet further down,
for 1t was in this very pursuit that he
was engaged, and the remark seemed
| almost personal.
Il will go away" he cried, land un-
der another flag I will begin life
again"
| From the window the fair Elfrida
Hochsteinhauser watched with dry
eyes the back of John Stillingsbee
Jones as he went slowly down the
broad steps of the mansion; but when
his manly figure was lost behind the
form of the copper on the corner she
threw herself upon the lounge in pas
sion Of tears and sobbed, and from that
hour she hoped he would return. But
he came not back.
Within two weeks John Stillingsbee
Jones, accompanied by his trunk of
samples, had left New York Harbor
for the Cape of Good Hope.
THE STORY.
Upon the operating table at the Con-
go College of Native Surgeons lay a
man. He was dressed in close irni-
tation of Venus rising from the foam,
| and his body quivered spasmodicalIy
under the practiced touch of the oper-
ators around him. Again, it was John
Stillingsbee Jones.
Many had been his adventures since
leaving America. He had known peril
by land and by sea. Of all that happy
sbipload which with glad hearts and
lemons left New York but a few weeks
before John was the only one alive.
Awful had been the wreck Even vet
in his minds eye John Stillingsbee
Jones could see the white lather OF
waters into the heart of which he had
been thrown when the ship struck
But too well he remembered the hard
fight against the battling billows Then
the weary journey inland, and the
meeting with natives, seemingly
friendly, but as treacherous as cock
tails.
These things came to his memory as
he lay on his back on the table and
watched the dark forms and cleaning
eyes Of the cruel natives about him
AT command the natives sprang
back, and John Stillingsbee Jones
struggled to his feet.
All! what a sight
John Stillingsbee Jones was tatooed
from head to foot in neat designs imi-
tative of the samples of wall paper
which had been washed I'D on the
beach.
EPILOGUE.
Again the Hochsteinhauser mansion.
carriage rich in its appointments
and patent pneumatic in its tires draws
up before the house From it comes a
man draped in regal robes He enters
the house
In the parlor he is met by the fair
Elfrida, little paler, perhaps. than be-
fore, but still beautiful as a runaway
bride
II have come regarding the wall
paper" says the man in the emotionless
voice Of an ice trust.
The robe drops from him
This patch on my elbow" he re-
marks may do for the upper half"
Suddenly his words are lost in a shrill
cry
The fair Elfrida stands swaying
backward and forward like the price of
wheat.
Who are you?" she says, hoarsely.
But she already knows.
And you no longer carry a sample
case?" she demands. calling up the last
vestige of her strength.
She waits for no answer It is but
too obvious that If he had a sample
case concealed about him he has swal-
lowed it. With happy cry the fair FL
frida falls into the arms of John
Stillingsbee Jones.-Chicag Tribune.