The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser for the Counties of Brecon Carmarthen Radnor Monmouth Glamorgan Cardigan Montgomery Hereford

{ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.) THE STOLEN PORTRAIT. BY HAROLD BINDLOSS Author of "Mrs. Daventry's Mistake," "Hil Adversary's Daughter," "For Love and Honour," "On Blacklaw Sands," &c. It was with misgivings Harding wheeled his borrowed bicycle up to a creeper-covered house at the edge of a beech wood one summer afternoon. Everything was very peaceful; a change from the tense activity lie had known in Canada. The shadows of the leaves scarcely moved upon the sunny lawn; the bees murmured drowsily among the flowers. Harding, however, had expected Alice 'Vernon, who was marked by a curious, gra- cious calm, to live in a place like this. He had not seen "her yet, but lie had studied her portrait when it hung in Tony Blake's house of shiplap board on the Saskatchewan prairie. Tn the end. he had stolen it one night when Tony, who uot- '.i.Utc sober, thought he had thrown it into the stove. Harding was a practical engineer, and, not, he hoped, a romantic sentimentalist, but., he had been strongly attracted by the girl's pic- ture. It was now his business to explain, as tactfully as he could, why her lover was gofiig to marry JUt cisr. An embar- rassing job. but he had promised Blake, and Ynust \ecp his word. Q»g rg^n f"°-r hi5 giving the ridiculous promise \vns wanted to see Alice Vernon. Besides, Blake, although obviously not good enough for her, had charm, and had been his friend. He was received by two white-haired ladies in a shady, old fashioned room smelling of roses, and although they asked few questions, felt they' studied him keenly, and were satis- fied. He was staying with some people they happened to know, which perhaps counted for something, Then one said Aiice was in the garden, and went out with him. When he bowed to the girl Harding was not surprised; she was all he had expected, I and something more. He knew the level glance she gave him the hint of pride in her face, which was calm but slightly flushed, was familiar. After Mrs. Vernon left them, she indicated a garden chair in the shade of a copper beech. You have just come home from Canada," she said, with a smile that set him at his ease. If you are going to stay in the neigh- bourhood, I expect you will find it a change." Harding glanced across the lawn and saw the quiet countryside, checkered with woods, roll away into the blue distance. » He had lived amidst the elaivj of hammers and the scream of electric drills that wont on while the blaze of the blast-lamps flared across the grassy waste. "Yes," he said, it's restful." "You were building the bridge when you met Tonv Blake," she resinned, and Harding noted her slight hesitation over the name. I was; used to go to his place at nights when I wanted samething different, and the work got on my nerves, Tony could make one forzet things; lie talked rather well." fit- did" talk well," Alice quietly agreed. ".But you were in the mountains, too, where I thev built the "track down the eaiion." I That's so, but Tony knew nothing about I it," Harding sttid, with surprise. Alioe smiled. You are not so much of a stranger as you think. She paused a moment. Well, perhaps this makes it easier Harding felt an impulse to be frank. In a way, I've known you for some time. Yott see, your portrait hnng in Tony's house, and p I I used to look at it when I sat by the stove on the long, oold nights. Sometimes Tony had a quiet mood, and I was too tired to talk. We often had trouble at the bridge and I had a curious feeling that you encouraged me." She stopped him with a gesture. But you have a message. Tony wrote, of course, but he said you would explain Harding pulled himself together. It was a Harding pulled himself together. It was a delicate job, but he'must do the best he could. There was no excuse for T-fny, but he might make things easier for the girl. He could see that she had pluck, but imagined that her calmness cost her much. He had trouble. A dry summer spoilt his crop, and he was unlucky in a contract he took for some of our grading work. Tony's rather a sanguine fellow, but the thing looked pretty-good until you studied it." Tony didn't like to study things. But go on. Well, I'm afraid he got in rather deep, andplunged on his next harvest to get C, straight. Unluckily, there was autumn frost, and the wheat was spoilt. Then the store- keepers and the mortgage jobbers came down on him. You mean he was ruined But hasn't a plucky man a chance of making good, as they call it, afterra blow of this kind in Canada? A single man has. It's different if he's .married. I don't mean a wife keeps you back, but when imes are bad. on a prairie farm the woman has to pay. It's endless work; she must cook, and mend, and wash. You can't buy much, and you can't hire help. In fact, it's an unthinkable life for a girl like you. Tony, of course, knew this, and so- "So lie broke off our engagement," Alice said, quietly. Do you think I would be badly daunted by poverty and hardship?" Not in a way," said Harding. I see you have pluck. But it's harder than you imagine." For all that, there are women, perhaps women used to our English life, who stand the strain and help their husbands through." "There are," Harding admitted. "In fact, I know some. Still, you see-" She stopped him. But Tony thought I would be afraid! Well, you have told me about his change of fortune. Was that the only change? Harding, who felt embarrassed and sympa- thetic, was silent for a few moments, and she studied him, reading his thoughts. He had an honest, brown face with a hint of force, but he was not clever; that is, not subtle. She knew more about him than he thought, but she did not know all about Tony yet, and Harding could not tell her that he had begun to go to pieces morally and taken to liquor. Well," he said, with some awkwardness, Tony, so to speak, lost heart when things looked hopeless. He got a bit slack and care- less. Of course, lie really hadn't a fighting chance; but you know Tony better than I do." Yes," said Alice, I know him very well. Still, I would not have given him up." She mused for a miniue or two. Her know- ledge of her lover had come rather late. They were very young when he went to Canada, and friends had disapproved the romantic love affair. When he returned 011 a short visit she had seen a change. Tony had somehow got coarser, small, likeable weaknesses had be- come faults; yet she knew he was not really different. It was she who had grown wiser and more fastidious;' his handsome face and careless lemeh had daxilod her at first. For all that, she was loyal and would not draw back. It would he her business to make him the man she thought. Now it was too late. Tony had made that plain. But what will he do now he has lost hie fariii? she asked. Tony needn't bother about that. You see, Calvert's getting old, and there's the store, the pool-room, and the hotel. Tony'll look after them, and the business is pretty good." "But who is Calvert? Ili'i-ding gave her a sharp glance. "Sadie's father. Don't you know? The colour rushed int-o Alice's face and her eyes sparkled. It was obvious that she did r t 1 now. and Harding tried to control his Tony had let him think he had told 1; he ought to have known one could not trust the fellow Tony's love of shirking had been his ruin. 0 Then Alice said, "I understand now why Tony said you would explain. It's obvious that when he wrote he left out the most im- I. portant thing." If I'd known he left it out, I'd never have promised," Harding grimly replied. "How- ever, he's going to marry Sadie." He paused, and, forgetting that he had meant to be tact- added: "It's the best thing he could do, if she ts satisfied." Alice gave him a curious look, "You call her Sadie?" I "Oh, yes," said Har^ Rg- Everybody does." In the bar and poo" In! But what it the girl -I-ike To begin with, they don't have women in Canadian bars. Sadie's what they call a hustler; perhaps the best word is smart. Prettv in a way, but shrewd, determined, and has a temper. I think she wanted Tony for some time, and Sadie generally gets what she sets her mind upon, but I imagine she's clever enough to keep it afterwards." Alice did not reply for a time, and Hard- ing pondered. Tony, of course, had lost much. Harding had noticed things in the house—old furniture, pictures, music—hints not of wealth but tast-e, while Alice seemed to stand for high purpose and refined thought. But, after all, Tony no longer valued such things; he was going to pieces, and though Sadie would bring him down to her level, she wotted firmly keep him from sinking lower. Then "Alice broke in upon his thoughts. I Would you have married a girl like Miss Calver-t, if you had stayed in Canada?" No," he" said, sharply. Certainly not Alice gave him a faint smile and resumed in a thoughtful tone: Perhaps it's strange that I should talk so frankly, but you brought the— explanation—and I have got something of a shock. When Tony first went out, I read aU I could about the prairie, and tried to imagine- the life the pioneers led. It seemed very clean 111(1 bracing; the romance of it ap- pealed te me. A fight with savage Nature, virghi soil to be turned to use, the wilderness to be*coiK;uei'ed by healthful effort. It ought to make fine men." It does. When you get back a,bit'from the settlements, they're a remarkably fine lot. Still, it's a life that has it* drawbacks.* Some men make good." "• And'* some go under. 'Alice said, with forced quietness. l'ony preferred the bar and the pool-room., We41, i-onifliiee breaks down—and all that's done with." She was silent for a moment or two. and then got up. I i,ittit thank you for the way'you have car- ried out all unpleasant task but it must not be spoken about again." I Hiding bowed, and they went back to the house. I It was two or three weeks before Unling. who was waiting for a post on an English waterworks, met Alice again. Then one after- noon his friends took fcim to a garden- party. and his eyes brightened when he saw Alice leave the tennis-court. She was alone and looked grave. lie thought the news of Twnv's marriage had left its mark on her, but she looked round and tame to meet I sm with a smile. Harding did not remember \\hat he said, but. she went with him to a bench in the shade, where one could see the white-clad figures at the net across the lawn. "You have not come back to see us," she remarked, presently. No," he said. I wanted to. come, and imagined.I had your mothers permission, but I was half afraid. I thought I nii £ ht remind you." That is done with," she answered, quietly. My mother wants to see you. You may remember I said you were not so much of a stranger as you thought." Harding looked puzzled, and she resumed: "When you were in the mountain section you helped a young English lad." "I did," said Harding, with, some embar- rassment. He was, so to speak, on the rocks—had been ill and lost his money, and wasn't strong enough for rough work. Too proud to beg from his people at home, I ex- pect It didn't cost me anything to give him a-job." He got on afterwards? Oh, yes he was a capable lad, and one of the head bosses gave him a lift up.' I lost sight of him when I went to the bridge; sorry I didn't.answer when he wrote. But how did you-" Alice smiled, and Harding's brown face turned red. I certainly never guessed-you see, it isn't a very uncommon name. A rela- tive of yours?" My brother." Well," said Harding, naively, "I'm sometimes very dull—I ougnt to have known." Alice, who did not seem to remark this statement, looked at him with amusement. "As it happened, he wrote to us rtgularly after he began. the railroad work; but I don't suppose you imagined you were rather a hero of his. He told us about the work in the mountains, and the struggle with the ice and snow; how you took the dangerous posts, and how the boys, as he called them, followed you." It was my job. The construction chiefs would have fired me if I hadn't made good." "It was not part of your job to help a friendless lad you didn't know, who might have gone under if you had left him alone. But why did you say you ought to have known he was my brother?" Harding, who was badly embarrassed, an- swered without thinking: "He had your eyes; your steady, level glance. That's one rea- son I took to him; I felt he could be trusted, and would do me credit." He paused, fear- ing he had been rash, and then resolved to make the best of it. "I told you I had your portrait. In fact, I have it now." Ah said Alice, rather sharply. Did Tony give it to you? Harding could not tell her that Tony had meant to burn her picture. No," he said, I stole it." It was impossible to guess what Alice thought, and after a few moments she got up. I promised to play another game, and think my friends are waiting. My mother expects you." Harding did not succeed in finding her alone again, although he loitered about the tennis-courts as lone as he could. and when

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Breconshtre Lighting Times. Light up. Subdue. p. jr. P.M. May 23 11.10 „ 24 9.41 11.11 25 9.42 11.12 „ 26 9.43 11.13 27 9',45 11.15 28 DAti 11. 1 il) 29 9.47 11.17 30 9.48 11.18 —<——————

MATERIAL USED IX AEROPLANES. There is a surprising amount of material of various kinds necessary to build a single aero- 11 plane of the more simple kind. says the S'cicn- tifir Ati'triran. Materials involving metals of various kinds include the following: 11 Nails 4.326 Screws .3.377 Steel Stampings. P21 Porgings 798 q:tirnl' tickles 276 Wire 3,262 feet. Aluminium 65 pounds. The various kinds of wooden material mount up as follows: up a follows: Spruce. 244 feet. Fine. 58 feet. Ash 31 feet. Hickory I-t feet. Other material necessary' for the finished plane is as follows: plane is as follows: Veneer. 57 square feet. Varnish 11 gallons. Dope 59 gallons. Rubber S4 feet. Linen 201 square yds. This mass of material is exclusive of every- thing necessary for the engine alone. The foregoing data were^obtained from the Signal Corps Aviation Section.

— HOW WOMEN WILL VOTE. Some Practical Our Free Trade and Pacifist friends are playing a »<*>«d deal of uneasiness over the e of the wcrniea s vote upon their propafj1'1. The aaWiiiQii of some six-and-a-half 111 | voters to' Parliamentary register I necessarily ftftre its effect upon the bala*ice parties, even at a time when party govern!1lC f{ is supposed to be in abeyance. It is nO Il matter, of course, for women to interest selves in politics. They have long bad P3^ organisations of their own. and it is not much to say 4hat the Primrose League other great mm-party societies owe their to the enthusiasm and sustained efforts of lady members. But. as a oule. women have taken the same keen interest in politics men have. Their horizon has so often bounded by the affairs of the household J CIJ the family that they have had neither the nation nor the opportunity to take part in wider affairs of their country and the Empire' A NEW WORLD. The war has changed all that. Women, • now universally acknowledged, have well eari^ th§ vote which they have demanded received. However mistaken they may hs been in their methods during the earlier of their agitation for enfranchisement, the duct both of the leaders and of the rank file of the "Womens Party since the of war has been beyond all praise. They thrf* themselves into the recruiting movement euergy and enthusiasm they-organised emplO ment for women in multitudes of unaccnstOIl1 industries in order to liberate men for t Front and they have been amoyg the l110 determined opponents of the Pacifist" proposal of the Snowden-Macdonald gang. They ha" shown that, when the opportunity comes, the can be as quick to grasp it as their brothers Of husbands, and that they fully realise the 1l conditions which are now transforming the 1*% of the nation. Therefore they may be truste to exercise the vote wisely and judiciously' Their interests arc identical with those of the community at large, of which indeed they fr1"1* the greater part, and there is no reason wh^' ever to doubt either their patriotism or common-sense. If faddists, revolutionary Bolshevists, Socialists, and other political cra»^ think that they can capture or even influei1"' the W omen s Party they are very much 1111 taken. Women may be sentimentalists, they are not mere idealists. They ure as acquainted with the practical side of life most men, and bear its burden much "Ore patiently. They are not likely to rise, the fore, to the bait which is being thrown to the by the Atkjatoh Party, the Labour Party, the Socialist Party, and the other groups whi seem so eager to secure their support. Te have, in formally announced thoir decisi^' to stand as a separate party, and to sup'f!1. only those candidates who are in favour of ilit4 general [ntfy^nime. They will repeat "J political ei^ftAjoleth, and vrili obey the whip no politic*! taskmaster. a THE FE^H 01' L(MV PRICES. In the PaN Mall Gazette "of May K interview with Lady Aberconway, President" the Liberal Women's Federation, is report^ which cast# n curious light upon the econol1*1 views of- the Liberal Party, and incident*1^ fully accounts for that party's decadence. A^r stating that a greatly increased effort is bei'^ made just now both by the Liberal and Labour parties to sweep women voters i^ their ranks, she goes on to say :— b Nto doubt the Liberals sympathise WIt much of the programme of the Labour Party a the moment, but there is a great divisic" I between the interests of womell and the prop' sals put forward by some branches of thQ Libo'O Party. The interest of the men is to have hl wages the interest of the women is to h¡¡. low prices. A woman knows that a few shiIlil1 added to her husband's wages will not go far I everything she buys is raised in price." It is amazing that any sane or sensible won1 calgi ve expression to views so shallow and short-sighted. One would have imagined tb the experience of wage-earners during the '\1 would have saved any student of indu,- problems from the delusion that women no interest in high wages. Apparently, ever, it has not yet dawned upon Lady Abel" conway that low prices are poor compensate11 for low wages, or that high prices matter coal, paratively little to those in regular receipt o high wages. Nor does it seem to have str'Jc her that increased production and wider marketS can and do raise wages without increasing prices of the necessaries of life, and wotf!<} enable our workers to live up to a higbef standard of comfort and culture. We that this is the case in the United States, Cån3dllf Australia, New Zealand, and other CoulltrieS, and it certainly would be the same here were IJ similar policy adopted. ASK THE WORKERS. r Lady 'Aberconway has peculiar facilities ascertaining the feelings of the working-cla^ on this question. Her husband, who, previo^ to 19.11, was known as Mr. C. B. McLaren. is actively interested in steel, colliery, and shif building undertakings. Let her go into homes of her husbands' employees in an? the industrial towns from which he derives wealth, and put her views before their wi^ Let her ask them if a spurious cheapness w'hi^ must necessitate low wages.is to be their higbeS object in life if after the war, cheap bou»^ fed German iron and steel are to be admitt^ into our home market to take the place British metal and if German pots, pans, 1** steads, and ironware are to furnish the hoii?e, of British working-men ? We fancy we kiloo the sort of answer her ladyship would get. SIt, would quickly learn that the doctrine of "che^P' ness at all costs is no linger one to conj1^ with, and that a woman s chief interest "is to buy goods at the lowest possible price, reV, less of their origin, but to maintain wages the highest possible level, and to spend money in such a manner as will tend to ifiere. employment in her own country. This el so, the women voters, we believe, will be f?^c among the strongest and most enthusi*1 supporters of a tariff policy which will sec'u^ British industries against the ruinous Brstish wages of foreign competition.

ne went to see mrs. vernon tne girl treated him with conventional friendliness. She made him feel that the rather intimate confidences that had marked their previous meetings must be dropped. He somewhat resented this, hut thought lie had perhaps gone too far, and re- solved to be patient and cautious. He made a "number of visits, and Mrs. Harding and her sister seemed glad to see him but Alice, so to speak, kept him firmly at a distance. Some- times he got angry, as he wondered whether she was still thinking about the worthless |Tonv. Then his new duties took him away, Jand six months passed before he came back to the creeper-covered house in a determined moot!. Mrs. Harding welcomed him, but he found it hard to talk about nothing in particular, until at length she left him and Alice alone. For a time the girl confined the conversation to things that had happened in the neighbour- hood since he left, and then he got up. I haven't much ground for supposing you are interested in my affairs," he remarked. But I am," she said, with a smile. I'm interested in all that concerns my friends." "Then I've been offered a nejv job in South Africa, and may be able to persuade my employers to let me go." "Ah!" said Alice, rather quietly. "If it's a better post, I suppose you mean to take it." That depends," Harding answered, with a steady look. "I don't want to take it, but if I do, I'll be away for two or three years." Three years is a long time. People change," she said, and was silent. Not everybody. I don't change, for ex- ample," Harding answered, as he took a por- trait out of a Russia leather case. "I've car- ried this about since I stole it in Canada, and if I go away again it goes with me. For all that, a photograph's a very poor substitute for the original." And yet," said Alice, softly, you valued the picture." Thin she paused and sailed. Of course it's wrong to steal things I did value it. But if I'm to stop in Eng- land I want something b«tter. In fact, I want you,, and woa't be satisfied with anything else." Alice, who had lowered her eyes, looked up with a blush, and her glance was very gentle. Then perhaps it would be a pity if you had to go away. I really think you needn't She stopped because Harding took her in kit ETM iciwi