The Washington times., 1912-04-13

| metal dishes, especially OF solid golq,
| their PLACE on the crude table he had
| fashioned with his axe. Not for esthetlc
| effect did they now value gold. but
merely because that metal had perfectly
withstood the ravages of time.
In the ruins of magnificent store
near Thirty-first street Stern found
vault burst open by frost and slow dis
| fntegration of the steel.
/ Here something over quart of loose
diamonds, big and little, rough and cut.
We're lying in confusion all about. stern
| TOOK none of these. Their value now
was no greater than that of any pebble.
But he chose a massive clasp of gold for
| Beatrice, for that could serve TO fasten
her robe, And in addition he gathered
up few rings and oneitlme costly jew
] after all. was one Of Ewes daughters.
,ecIs. nit by bit he accumulated many many
Ssss which he found ssled d,s n glass
articles. Use was his first considera-
u9n now. Beauty came far behind
| In the corner of their rooms. after
time, stood a, fair variety OF tools, some
alrea"y serviceablc: others waiting TO
be polished. ground and hafted. and IN
some cases retempered. Two rough
The north room. used only for cook
, i!'p, became their forge and oven all In
one For here. close to a window
! built a circular stone fireplace.
| And here Beatrice presided over her
copper casseroles and saucepaiis from
| the little shop on Broadway. Here, too.
Stern planned to construct a pair of
skin bellows. AMI presently to set up
the altars Of Vulcan and of Tubai Cain
Both OF then, thanked whatever gods
there be" thai the girl was good
! cock. She unIazed the engineer by the
variety Of dishes she managed to con-
et Stem 'hf sho anned ned fes hs
greens dug near the spring. These
edihles. with the blackest OF black
coffee, soon had them in fine fettle.
weight" laughed the man after dinner
| on the fourth day, as he lighted his
fragrant pipe with roll OF blazing
My l,earskin IS. getting tight. You'll
! nave IN let 1t out for ne or else stop
SUCH magic in the Kitchen
at ease in the S sunshine % by Rg The Window. snss
| slipping her coffee out of q glass Jar with
| sold gold spoon.
bis face. hearing the bird songs in the
forest depths, felt well-beine, glow
| OF health and 10y such as he had never
In bis whole life known-the health Of
ocrfnct digestion. the 10y of ACCOMPLISH
ment and the girls near presence.
II sunposc, we do live pretty WELL"
| of the fe;,st '.Pottej tongue and peas.
! fried squirrel. partridge. and coftce
ought I? satisfy anybody But still"
II would like some buttered toast ami
some. cream for my coffee. and some
Stern laughed heartily.
You don't want much" he exclaimed,
vastly amused. the while he blew a
! cloud of Latakia smoke. well, YOU be
| natient, and everything will come in
time. You mustn't expect me to do
! ma oic nm tbe foI,rtb Joy I,o,,s 49,.
imagine I've had time enough to round
up the ten-thousandth descendant of the
crstwhile COW. do you?
| "Or grow cane and make sugar? Or
| find grain for seed, clear some land,
Dlow. harrow. plant, hoe, reap. winnow,
grind and bolt and present you bag of
prime -four? Now, reallx?"
ment there was silence. while he drew
| at his pipe. At the girl he looked a
little while. Then, his eyes bit far away,
he remarked in tone he tried to rend-
er casual:
by the way. Beatrice, 1t occurs to me
that We're doing rather well for old
people--very old"
"very?" she exclaimed. You know
how old. them"
VERY, indeed" he answered. Eyes,
I've got some sort of an idea about II.
7 hope II won't alarm you when you
know"
"Why-how so? Alarm me?" she
queried with a strange expression.
long time snee we you Went to sleep quite
| so. You see, I've been doing little
calculating, off and on, at odd times.
Been putting two and two together, as
"First, there was the matter Of the
| dust in sheltered places to guide me.
| The rate of deposition of what. in one
or two spots, can't have been anything
tAess than cosmic or star-dust. Is fair
| ly certain.
'"Then again. the rate of this pres
ent deterioration of stone and steel has
| night I had a little peek at the pole
star, through my telescope while you
"The good old star has certainly
Tve been observing certain evolutionary
changes in the animals and plants
about us. Those have helped us, too:
"'And-snd what have you found outF
| asked she with tremendous interest.
well. I think I've got the answer,
more or less correctly or course, It's
only an approximate result. as we say
in engineering: But the. dinerent items
check up with some degree OF con-
And I'm safe in believing I'm within
at least a hundred years of the date
one way or the other. Not bad factor
The girls eyes widened. From her
hand fell the empty gold cup: IL rolleu
away across the clean-swept floor.
"What?" cried, she. you've got II,
within a hundred years. Why. then
YOU mean it's more than hundred?'
Indulgently the engineer smiled.
Come now" he coaXed. Just guess,
for instance, how old you really are
and growing younger every day? How
old?'
not as old as that! It's horrible to
think OFF,
Listen" bade he 'If count your
twenty-four years, when you went to
sleep. you're now
"What?"
You're now at the very minimum
calculation. just about S24! Some age,
that, eh?"
Then. as she stared at him wide-eyed.
he added with smile:
4 "No disputing that fact. no lodging
y II. The things as certain as that you're
now the most beautiful woman In the
whole wide world!'
A Continuation OF This Story VIII
BE Found In TOmOrrOw's
Issue Of The Times.
Yelled Prophets Plan