losses of from five dollars to one thousand in bills, no one had a sign of a bill on his person—people seemed to be going mad, for every one would swear they had so much money in the morning and some time during the day it disappeared like the dew before a hot August sun. The police were at work on the case, so were the newspapers.

Hearst’s “American” got the real first news; said a man in a big house in the suburbs had all the money that had been lost, but not much came to light till some days later, for the house had a high stone wall and was guarded by big men, who said Mr. Worthington, the author, was busy writing a book on his European travels and could not be disturbed, so no one was let into the author’s house. Mr. Worthington was also a clever scientist—although no one knew that except his servants. He was always seeking to find some new hidden power he believed to be attraction, that was yet unsolved, so he spent his life among his books in study, also making experiments and writing when nothing of greater interest came to hand. For a few days he had been operating a peculiar machine that in appearance looked like a telegraph instrument, with the result that had caused all the commotion in town those few days. It seemed he had dreamed that a combination of chemicals, used with the peculiar machine, would attract money to it on account of the silk in the paper money was made of. It would go through everything except a vault; leather was no protection at all, and no one could explain it, and when the servants waited till ten A. M. on the fifth day, not having seen or heard of the author after leaving his food in the dining-room that was eaten always, till the dinner the night before—which was the general cause of alarm—they pushed in the door. Well, they tried. It would not yield much, but it was dark and stuffy, so they got a ladder and went to the window. They could see nothing but one solid mass of green, with now and then a gleam of yellow. What to do they did not know, so they telephoned the police, and they came and saw—what? Why, the poor man actually dead in the middle of a room crowded, packed down, with greenbacks, of all denominations from one dollar to one thousand dollars. The police said there were millions of bills; some of them went crazy looking at it, and some wondered how it could have been done. No one had an idea. The servants declared that Mr. Worthington had not left his house in ten days, and had not left his room except to go to the dining-room for five days, but he was in the midst of millions, and it had smothered him to death. A man was found who tried to explain how the machine attracted that silk in the money. Some believed him, others said he was a fool. The money was restored, as far as it could be. Pa and I got ours back because we had the first experience, but oh, my! such excitement I never heard or witnessed before. People didn’t dare carry any greenbacks in their purses or pockets for weeks after the whole thing was over. Pa said his check-book would be his closest friend for a time; said that infernal machine might go off any minute and make another collection, and he was going, for one, to be on the safe side. I am glad it couldn’t attract automobiles, for Pa would have lost his Brass Band and the whole business, and my car might have gone, too, then I would have had a good cry, for I most surely love my dear old Franklin. She is such a flyer, and I have had so much fun touring in that car.

I am glad, however, to be settled down once more to our normal life, and I feel much better. I, with many more, have had a horrible nightmare. I have related these facts as well as one could expect of a girl fourteen years of age; anything one may wish to know more about, my Pa can tell them, he’s a very learned and wise man, and he says he fully understands all about the attraction of the money to that machine—but I am sure I don’t and Levey Cohen says he don’t see any sense in it at all, and so I don’t feel so awfully alone in not understanding all such high science. Pa is way up in science.

I hear Pa calling for his girlie, so

Good-bye,

ELSIE.

LETTER VIII

I have been very much interested in a Benefit for the Sufferers of the late California Earthquake. It was held in Mechanics Building and twenty thousand dollars was raised. It was all done by the young people of Boston. We had the Salem Cadet Band as a foundation, and then the children gave pretty dances, marches, songs, readings, etc. It was a vaudeville and pop concert show all in one and it lasted two days. Such gay crowds I never saw. Pa said the ladies were lovelier than ever and every one was glad to help, by her presence, and also many brought friends who were strangers here. I think that the Salem Cadet Band is a peach. Every one enjoyed listening to the band and then they made a splendid orchestra for the fancy dancing; so that it all together was a fine success. I have jotted down two of the selections given by children present. David Westfield, six years of age, gave a wonderful selection which I shall put right here; it was called “Esau Buck and the Buck-saw.” Pa said how a boy six years old could recite a piece so complicated was a wonder. He said that David Westfield was a live wire, and he should keep track of him to see what end he made. He says he is liable to be a big man some day, and something will drop at City Hall if he got power there. Now for the selection. David made a low bow to the big audience, stood up on the seat of a big automobile that was on the stage as one of the props, and began thus: “An old farmer, way out in Kansas, whose sons had all grown up and left him, hired a young man by the name of Esau Buck to help him on his farm. On the evening of the first day they hauled up a load of poles for wood and unloaded them between the garden and the barnyard. The next morning the old man said to the hired man, ‘Esau, I’m going to town this morning, and while I’m gone you may saw up the wood and keep the old Buck out of the garden.’ When the old man was gone, Esau went out to saw the wood, but when he saw the saw, he didn’t saw it. When Esau saw the saw he saw he couldn’t saw with that saw, so he didn’t saw it. When the old man came home, he said, ‘Esau, did you saw the wood?’ and Esau said, ‘I saw the wood but I didn’t saw it, for when I saw the saw, I saw I couldn’t saw with that saw, so I didn’t saw it.’ Then the old man went out to see the saw, and when he saw the saw, he saw that Esau couldn’t saw with that saw. Now when Esau saw that the old man saw that he couldn’t saw with that saw, he picked up the ax, and chopped up the wood and made a seesaw. The next day the old man went to town and bought a new Buck-saw for Esau Buck and when he came home he hung the new Buck-saw for Esau Buck on the sawbuck, by the seesaw. At this time Esau Buck saw the old Buck eating cabbage in the garden, and when driving him from the garden Esau Buck stopped to examine the new Buck-saw that hung on the sawbuck, by the seesaw. Now when Esau stopped to examine the new Buck-saw that hung on the sawbuck, by the seesaw, the old Buck made a dive for Esau, missed Esau, hit the seesaw, and knocked the seesaw against Esau Buck, who was getting up with the Buck-saw, which hung on the sawbuck, by the seesaw. Now when the old man saw the old Buck make a dive for Esau Buck, miss Esau, hit the seesaw, and knock Esau over the sawbuck, by the seesaw, he picked up the ax to kill the old Buck, but the old Buck saw him coming, dodged the blow, knocked