narrative stimulated him to superhuman effort. "Comrades, you know the charge at Mount Apo." The Macabebes jumped as from an electric shock, then looked at him more intently. "When I reached the earthworks, I tore their yellow flag from its place and called for you to come on. Then all was

dark. See! They cut me here with a barong." He put his hand on the terrible scar that ran across forehead, eye, and cheek. The eyeball had been cut open.

"I awoke with an awful pain shooting through my right eye. A Moro girl was nursing me and she spoke to me. With my left eye I could see that her face was kindly, but I could not understand her words. The Moros knew who I was, and looked at me with respect, but soon the Dato came and told me I must be a Mohammedan. The priests came every day to read from the Koran, but I would not listen."

The sun had gone down behind the Zambales Mountains, dull and red. The sickly glare refle ted from a salmon sky gave the objects in the sala a pale, ghostlike hue, and a feverish light began to shine in the man's eye. "One day I thought they were not looking; so I began to run. A guard soon blocked the path, and then Dato Alim came running up in an awful rage. 'You will not escape again, you dog of a Christian !' The men held me down while he chopped off my feet with a bolo."

Go on!" pleaded Major Luna.

"The little Moro girl nursed me back to life again, but the priests kept coming every day." His voice began to grow weak. They put spies around my room. They heard me pray to the Saviour. Dato Alim came again; he would make me forget my Saviour! He struck me on the forehead many times with a little iron ball. Here in this hollow place. I became unconscious. Each day he struck me again in this same place."

The look of a beaten, cringing man came

over his face. He threw his arms over his head to ward off an imaginary blow, and seemed to lose his senses. "Please, Dato Alim, do not strike to-day! Oh, oh! in the name of Allah, do not strike to-day !”

Then

A

The Macabebes cursed out loud. the man seemed to regain his senses. smile hovered weakly around his mouth, but the fire in his eye had faded. His lips moved. "Comrades!" came the whisper. At that his muscles relaxed, his eyes closed. and a slight quiver ran through his wasted body. The Macabebes bowed their heads as though in submission to a divine Providence, but the last rays of the twilight saw their faces set in hard lines of hatred.

As the Macabebes stood with bowed heads in the twilight gloom, one of the privates who had helped carry the little bugler from the room entered from the kitchen, crossed the floor quickly but silently, and touched Major Luna on the shoulder. "Marcos has gone to kill the Moro," he said.

Not a word was uttered, not a movement made, for almost a minute; then old Capitan Juan seemed to wake up. "Major! Dato Boda is our guest. He must not be attacked here." Major Luna remained hesitatingly on his knees by the litter for a moment, and rose to his feet. "You are right, Capitan. We must stop Marcos."

The moon was obscured by a cloud as the officers approached the bulky outline of the Vargas House, which overhung the street like a cavern. Before they could call to Colonel Border, whom they knew to be somewhere inside, they saw a figure dart across the balcony and strike a figure in a square cap that was sitting there smoking. The cigar tumbled to the floor and the figure that was struck jumped to its feet, stood proudly erect a moment facing toward Mecca, and then fell full length on the balcony floor.

The two Macabebes ran up the stairs and out onto the balcony. A stream of moonlight at the far end near the railing revealed three statue-like figures as though in a spot-light scene at a drama. The Moro lay at full length on the floor, the red fez still on his head, and a knife handle sticking out of his back ridiculously. Colonel Border's massive figure was kneeling beside the corpse, and he was looking tragically at the little bugler who stood stiffly to one side in an awkward position, gazing blankly at the victim of his revenge. Colonel Border was speaking. Marcos! You-you-why did you kill him?”

Oh,

"He is beside himself."-Mark iii. 21.

H

AVE you ever met Sally Double?

No, she isn't a twin, although you might think so from her name; but there are two Sallys. When you meet Sally, you have a strange feeling that there is another Sally around the corner listening to the conversation; and the other Sally is always a great deal more interested in what Sally is saying to you than in what you are saying to Sally. Sally is bright, and very entertaining. One of her mother's friends remarked the other day: Sally Double is one of the cleverest girls I know; but what a pity it is that she knows it!" How do you suppose that Sally found out that she was clever? It was that second Sally, whom we never see, who eavesdropped on the Sally we know, and whispered to her: "Sally, you're a wonder!"

Whenever Sally does anything, she appears to think that somebody is looking at her. She is really looking at herself. She divides herself, and puts a Sally Number Two in the audience to watch Sally Number One; and sometimes you think you can hear very loud hand-clapping. That's Number Two applauding Number One; Sally is very pleased with herself.

Sally doesn't have a very good time when she plays; she doesn't put her whole heart into the game; she keeps wondering whether she is enjoying herself or not. Some of her feelings are always busy feeling how the rest of her feelings feel; so she does not feel all the pleasure other boys and girls get out of the game.

She is a pretty girl, but you do not find her as attractive as you think she ought to be. She takes a long look at herself in the glass

before she leaves her room in the morning, and, although she is far away from the mirror now, she has not forgotten what she saw there. People who think about their looks always spoil them. I overheard a lady say that Sally was self-conscious. Her little brother told her that she was stuck on herself. The glue must be the Vanity Brand,” I think, and Sally is a good advertisement for its ability to stick tight, for she never becomes unstuck. She is fastened to herself all the time.

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One of her small brother's friends remarked that he did not think that she had a great deal to be stuck on. And he was quite right. Nobody has a very large self who thinks about himself. You know how the Bible describes an idiot; it says, · He is beside himself." We say, "He isn't himself." Sally Double is seldom herself; she is beside herself." It is not surprising that she does not do as well as she might ; only half of her tries to do it, the other half looks on. If only all that is in Sally Number Two could be kept in Sally Number One!

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How often the Bible tells us that Jesus made people "whole"! God does not want fractions but units, whole men and women, boys and girls. And the way Jesus made. people "whole was to tell them of their Father who watches them, thinks of them, loves them. They need never look at themselves, because God's eyes are on them. They need never applaud themselves; God will give them all the praise they ought to have. No one needs to be beside himself, because God is always beside every one of us.

F

NOR the second time in the history of the United States the cotton crop has become a politico-economic issue of the first magnitude. The Southern monopoly of cotton production and the belief that it could not be maintained without slavery led to secession and the war of the Confederacy. To-day it is a National question as to whether the Government should or should not do anything that will directly or indirectly sustain the price of cotton until the almost entirely arrested export demand for the article revives. Most people realize the importance of the subject, but are without an accurate knowledge of the facts in regard to it.

The twelve so-called Cotton States now produce annually about fifteen million bales of cotton, which, with the by-products derived from cottonseed, are worth about one billion dollars. About forty per cent of this production is consumed in the United States,

and the remainder has hitherto been exported. Cotton is peculiar in that it is the only crop of importance all of which is sold by those who produce it. Only seventeen per cent of the corn crop, for instance," leaves the farms;" the balance is consumed or fed to stock by those who produce it. Cotton, therefore, generates directly an enormous commerce and provides a medium of exchange that almost entirely takes the place of gold in the settlement of our inter-State and international balances. The late William B. Dana, for many years editor of the Commercial and Financial Chronicle," once said that cotton, being practically imperishable and always convertible, possessed more of the attributes of a legal tender than anything produced by human labor except gold. That it does take the place of gold in the settlement of American indebtedness to Europe is shown by the following summary of our entire foreign trade for the past five years.

The foregoing figures will make clear the following important facts not generally understood:

1. That during the past five years a total foreign trade of over nineteen billions of dollars

96

has been "cleared" by the shipment back and forth of only $220,577,952 worth of gold and silver which means that hardly more than one per cent of the balances arising from this enormous commerce have been settled in cash or bullion.

2. That during the same five years the trade balance in favor of the United States (including

gold and silver) aggregates...... $2,573,011,666 and that during the same period the total value of raw cotton exported was.....

3. That for the past five years the average annual balance of trade in favor of the United States (including gold and silver) has been ...

and that the average value of the raw cotton exported has been.....

The sequence of these statements will make it plain that our annual payments in merchandise, gold, and silver to foreign countries exceed their payments to us in kind by...................

2,759,447,880

514,602,333

551,889,576

$514,602,333

and that since the value of our cotton exports exceeds this sum it is accurate to say that "our debts are paid in cotton."

These who have studied the sub-
ject closely estimate that this
annual balance in our favor oí,
say....

is applied to the liquidation of the
following debits:
Interest at five per cent
in a principal of $4,000,-
000,000, being the nor-
mal value of American
stocks, bonds, and
other evidences of
American debt held
abroad......

Spent in Europe an

nually by Americans resident or traveling abroad.....

.$200,000,000

..... 100,000,000

Remitted out of their

earnings by Europeans

$500,000,000

resident in America.. 100,000,000 Insurance and freights 100,000,000 $500,000,000

These figures are of course conjectural, but it is evident that, if any of the items are underestimated, American indebtedness abroad unpaid must be increased by the amount of such underestimate, for our payments cannot exceed the net balance of trade in our favor, known and ascertained to be about $500,000,000 a year.

In the present situation it is undoubtedly true that our accrued indebtedness payable abroad is largely in excess of the amount normally due in current account, for it has been enormously increased by European resales in the United States of American

97

securities held for investment and by the maturity of many short-time American obligations owned abroad and now due or shortly to become due.

The amount already owing and unpaid to Europe on account of the indebtedness thus arising is estimated at about $300,000,000, and our Stock Exchanges are being kept closed that Europe may be estopped from increasing this debt by further resales in the United States of the $4,000,000,000 of American securities assumed to be still held abroad. They are the only securities left for which there is a possible market, and the war need of gold is so great that their resale at very low prices is altogether likely if the markets are reopened.

In that case we should either have to denude ourselves entirely of gold in order to pay. or declare a moratorium in regard to foreign debts, as most other countries have done. If, however, Europe can be prevented from increasing the amount of American indebtedness upon which she is entitled to demand immediate payment, it is not impossible that her need of food will compel her acceptance of our cereal crops at prices which will liquidate a substantial portion of the amount now due, and that later on the balance due or to become due can be paid in cotton, which, next to wheat and corn, is the commodity that she will be the most in need of. If, however, in the interval, as a result of the congestion in the cotton market, the value of that article, as measured in terms of gold, shall be cut in half, it is perfectly evident that our debt-paying power would be reduced by fifty per cent, and our National solvency to that extent impaired.

It is plain, therefore, that the price of cotton is a matter of concern to the Nation at large as well as to those who are engaged in its production or manufacture, and it was in view of the broader and National importance of the question that the Secretary of the Treasury called into conference with him at Washington, August 24, one hundred representative Northern and Southern business men who, as producers, manufacturers, merchants, or bankers, were presumed to be qualified to advise upon the subject.

As the Southern men present were in numerical preponderance, it was agreed that tobacco and naval stores should also be considered, it being evident that any serious impairment in their value would jeopardize the financial strength of the section where the

cotton is produced and upon which the burden of maintaining its price would chiefly fall.

The Secretary of the Treasury presided at the conference, and the entire Federal Reserve Board, as well as the PostmasterGeneral and the Secretary of Agriculture, were in attendance most of the time.

The problem before the gathering was how to avoid any unnecessary impairment of our debt-paying power as a Nation and the financial prostration of the South without involving the Government in an effort to support the price of any commodity by purchase, guarantee, or "valorization," which is the word that was coined to describe the futile attempt of Brazil to support the price of coffee by buying up the surplus supply.

At first there was a somewhat clamorous demand that the United States should buy up and hold the prospective excess of the cotton crop, but Mr. McAdoo promptly made it clear that no such proposition would be entertained, and thereafter the discussion was confined to devising, methods which would enable the South to help itself, and so help the Nation.

After a two days' session of the Conference, the Secretary of the Treasury made an announcement reading in part as follows:

Among the eligible securities to be used as a basis for the issue of currency I have decided to accept from National banks, through their respective National Currency Associations, notes, secured by warehouse receipts, for cotton or tobacco, and having not more than four months to run, at seventy-five per cent of their face value.

In this statement Mr. McAdoo expressed the opinion that

This plan ought to enable the farmers to pick and market the cotton crop if the bankers, merchants, and cotton manufacturers will cooperate with each other and with the farmers, and will avail of the relief offered by the Treasury within reasonable limits.

The Secretary's announcement that he would accept warehouse receipts for cotton and tobacco as a basis for the issuance of emergency currency was followed by the publication of the report of a committee of Northern and Southern men appointed by him from among those present at the conference.

On this Committee the producers and manufacturers of cotton and tobacco were represented as well as the bankers, mer

chants, railways, and warehousemen who finance and handle these two great staples.

Mr. W. P. G. Harding, of the Federal Reserve Board, and Messrs. Brand and Carver, of the Agricultural Department, were designated to act in advisory co-operation with the Committee on behalf of the Treasury Depart

ment.

The report of this Committee, which was signed by Royal A. Ferris, of Texas; S. T. Morgan, of Virginia; W. B. Thompson, of Louisiana; J. O. Thompson, of Alabama; D. Y. Cooper, of North Carolina; Lewis W. Parker and R. G. Rhett, of South Carolina ; G. Gunby Jordan, of Georgia; Wm. Elliott and B. L. Mallory, of Tennessee; F. G. Ewing, of Kentucky; Richard H. Edmonds, of Maryland, and Henry Walters and Theodore H. Price, of New York, contained among others the following important recommendations:

That it is the sense of the Committee that cotton, tobacco, and naval stores should be marketed as deliberately as possible until they can again be exported in normal quantity, and that when properly conditioned should be warehoused with responsible concerns, that they should be protected against weather damage, and be properly insured against loss or damage by fire.

That warehouse receipts for these commodities are proper collateral for loans by banks, and should be so accepted, with such limitations as to margin, inspection, and valuation as conservative bankers may each in their discretion see fit to impose.

That the average market value of middling cotton for the past six years has been in excess of 12 cents per pound, that the Committee is informed that the cost of producing cotton averages throughout the United States about 91⁄2 cents a pound, that it is a rule of economics that the production of staple commodities will decrease if they continue unsalable at less than the cost of production plus a reasonable profit. That cotton does not deteriorate when properly warehoused, and is as good twenty years after it is picked as when it is first gathered; that it can therefore be carried over until the restoration of normal business conditions enables the world's consumption to absorb it. The Committee is therefore of the opinion that every effort should be made to assist the producers to hold their cotton for a price that will minimize their loss as far as possible until such time as the channels of foreign trade shall be reopened. That loans upon cotton made upon a basis of 8 cents per pound for middling, less such margin as the lender shall consider necessary, will afford reasonable protection to bankers, and will greatly facilitate the financing of our most