Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1902-04-03

while weird tongues OF lurid naine
flickered on the slope and ridge behind.
An 1 looked q great repulsion seized
me. ! recalled the Prophets descrip-
tion In the Old Testament OF tho Valley
Of Hinnom or Tophet, Ia which men
sacrificed 10 strange gods, and caused
their sons and daughters to "pass
through the fires 10 Moloch." This,
surely, was one OF the Tophets Of mod
ern days, In which the sons and daugh-
ters OF England are made 10 pass
through the fires Of the Moloch Of
Wealth and the Baal Of all.devouring
Industry.
And still as looked and thought Of
this the bell tower OF the ruined mill
before me fell With loud clang, and
there uprose into the air 10 mingle
with the other sounds the frantic
screaming Of pigs and neighing oI
horses. / was not surprised; l was
somehow prepared by the scene not TO
be surprised at anything that might
happen In this strange region. /
passed. however, hurriedly down the
slope by rough path. and found the
road into the valley and the villsge. I
heard voices and saw dim crowd Of
people about the ruined mill, but the
stream, black and evil.smelling, was
between me and ID, and | had perforce
10 lot my curiosity wait. continued
my way into the village. which, l
found, lay behind the many-storeyed
mill toward the mouth of the valley and
close 10 the high road by which l
should have entered II. had, as II
were, let myself in by the back door.
Before was we'll into the village I
passed an arrangement Of low buildings
with blank walls to the road, from
which came no sound Of life or work
but, instead. the vilest and strangest
smells that ever offended the sense,
and from the midst OF which rose a
towering chimney that smoked con-
sumedly. These, guessed, we're part
Of the chemical works Of which had
heard. found the rectory at the
other end Of the village. I did not 20
the rector was in bed ill--but asked
to be directed TO my lodgings.
had some ten and then prepared IA
90 to dinner at the house of Mr. En-.
manuel 6teinhardt, one Of the creators
and lords Of the Tophet into which |
had entered. He was rectoris church
warden, and had corFesponded with
him concerning the curaoy. and had
made this dinner arrangement a week
ago. I asked my landlady where
should find Timperley Hall.
"0h," said she, looking at me with
a comical eye OF respect, you'll be GO
ing 10 Muster Steenheart's (so she
pronounced the magnate's name)
Hes at tn other end o. tn village on
Shale Brow" (she called 1t "Brew'')
"Stop bit, mon." She went TO the
door Of the room and called, "Dick,
lad, you mum tax the parson up to
Muster Steenheart's. Then turning
to me, she said, "He'll tax tina, mon, y
and withdrew.
was amused; and when a minute
or two later she called from the bottom
OF the stairs,
cart ready, parson2 TIL lads wait
ing
| positively laughed TO myself. My
amusement increased when / saw my
guide, young Hercules in clogs, who
might easily have "taken" me TO Tim.
perley Hall and farther under his arm.
Timperley Hall / discovered over.
looked the valley from the side oppo-
site to that from which I had first
viewed It. Soon / was in its drawing
room, shaking hands with Mr.. (or
Herr) Emmanuel Steinhardt; for saw
at once that he was OF pure TeutoniC
breed, and / heard, when he had spoken
few words, that he must have spent
all his youth and part of his manhood
in the Fatherland: he spoke perfect
English, but with an indescribable
tell-tale accent. l had just time tc
notice his burly figure, his somewhat
rounded shoulders, and his massive
bald head, when / was introduced tC
his wife, tall, handsome, Lancashire
woman cher speech betrayed her), with
grey hair, evidently good deal Older
than he then TO Miss Louise Lacroix,
of whom I will only say at present that
she looked refined and foreign--a rare
exotic in this region Of surprises; and
lastly, to ''my son, Frank" young
manaof one or ,two-and-twenty, who
looked in every way and spoke like ar
Englishman. These introductions over
we sat down to wait for the announce
ment OF dinner. There was very little
eaid. they seemed constrained, and ]
was, perhaps. shy. No one seemed tC
think OF trying to set me at my ease,
Mr.. Steinhardt sat watching the clock
and at intervals throwing questions
over his shoulder to his wife. Zone
question noted was, "Is Jim coming
at all2''--to which she answered, "Jim
said he might look in after dinner and
smoke a pipe"--and l wondered who
Jim was. ] was wishing had not &C.
cepted this invitation for my first even.
ing in Timperley, when the young lady
edged her chair little nearer to me,
and said, with the sweetest OF smiles
and the most musical of tones:
"You come from the south-from
London; yes?"
Her accent was that most delightful
of all foreign accents-the accent of an
educated FrenChwoman. / answered
that had come from London, though
was not native there.
"I, also" said she, "come from the
south; from London last, but from
Paris before =
Here was common ground for pleas
ant reminiscence, and we became
friends at once.
While we we're talking | happened
to glance across In Mr.. steinhardt's di-
rection: he was looking straight at me