t to kill.

"Richard!" he cried, "escaped again!"

"Now, Jasper, I have you."

With a triumphant cry they rushed at each other; a terrible contest
ensued; and then Jasper, with one blow of his palm, hurled his adversary
over the precipice.

Illustration: Over the Precipice.

VII.

How many times the two made an end of each other after this the films
will show. Sometimes Jasper sealed Richard in a barrel and pushed him
over Niagara; sometimes Richard tied Jasper to a stake, and set light to
him; sometimes they would both fall out of a balloon together. But the
day of reckoning was at hand.

[MANAGER. _We've only got the Burning House and the 1913 Derby
left._

AUTHOR. _Right._]

It is the evening of the 3rd of June. A cry rends the air suddenly,
whistles are blowing, there is a rattling of horses' hoofs. "Fire!
Fire!" Richard, who was passing Soho Square at the time, heard the cry
and dashed into the burning house. In a room full of smoke he perceived
a cowering woman. Hyacinth! To pick her up was the work of a moment, but
how shall he save her? Stay! The telegraph wire! His training at the
Royal Circus stood him in good stead. Treading lightly on the swaying
wire he carried Hyacinth across to the house opposite.

"At last, my love," he breathed.

"But the papers," she cried. "You must get them, or father will not let
you marry me."

Once more he treads the rocking wire; once more he re-crosses, with the
papers on his back. Then the house behind him crumbles to the ground,
with the wicked Jasper in its ruins.

Illustration: Richard Recovers the Letters.

VIII.

"Excellent," said Mr. Bellingham at dinner that evening. "Not only are
the papers here, but a full confession by Jasper. My first wife was
drowned all the time; he stole the documents from her father. Richard,
my boy, when the Home Secretary knows everything he will give you a free
pardon. And then you can marry my daughter."

At these words Hyacinth and Richard were locked in a close embrace. On
the next day they all went to the Derby together.

A. A. M.

* * * * *

Illustration: A MASTERPIECE IN THE MAKING.

LORD LANSDOWNE (_Art Dealer, to Mr. ASQUITH_). "YES, I QUITE SEE YOUR
IDEA--A FIGURE OF PEACE; BUT, SINCE YOU INVITE SUGGESTIONS FROM ME, I
SHOULD SAY THAT THE ADDITION OF A FEW RECOGNISABLE SYMBOLS, SUCH AS A
PAIR OF WINGS, OR A DOVE, OR AN OLIVE-BRANCH, MIGHT HELP TO MAKE IT
CORRESPO