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Show k" BLITHE MAIDS OF 3EjBS PARADISE jljit, .y Robert W. Chambers iRitt !HA0idrDf "Cariiaai'',rhe Conspirators" BLHKSl':,r KttirHon 5-xXor.aM IW bDMW&tm BHm?yav WWm,'&.irn& Myers ' CooynDMltvPrColltfASoo (Continued from LnsfWedt.') ' '"! "think," T"B7ld,"that we had better bet-ter ride over to Trecourt after tho show not that there's any, immediate danger" ' , ' "There la no .Immediate .danger,"' said 'Speed, ''because she la here."' My face began to(burn I looked at htm miserably. "How do you' know?" "She Mr there In' "the tent I saw her. Don't misconstrue her presence. Don't be a contemptible fool, -If I have' read her face and ,1 have never spoken to ho'r, aa you 'know' I tell you, Scarlett, that young girl. Is going , through an ordeal I 'Do women .of that, kind come to ahowa like tls" to'W amused?" And he turned on hts htol, leaving me speechless. - I do not remember dressing. 'When' I came out lnto-tha passage-way By-ram By-ram beckoned me, and pointed at a crack In the canvas through which one could soe the Interior of the Amphitheater. Am-phitheater. ' Jm lf The show was on. "" ' I stood In the shadow of the stable-tent, stable-tent, dressed In my frock-coat, while, stock, white cords,' andhuntirig-bool-,'' sullen, embittered, red with a '-taUe, shame that better men than I have weakened under, -Imdst desperate in my humiliation, almost ready' ta-tfad-It all there among those ,ta?nr. reti less brutes pacing behind .the bare at my elbow, watching me stealthily with luminous eyes. .. t f, Bho knew what I waa but that Ml, could come to see with' her owa eyee' I could not. understand, J 'could, mot torsive. Because she had, 1'JhtV Jgrai clous ignorance, given me" it yoiag glrte Impulsive friendship, Majut mlstake'-W? .' VT.. , "Have jroa eeen her?" Whispered -peed, coming up to me, long whip1 trailing. I ahook my head. ' He looked'at.me In disgust "Here's; something or you' he said, .rtortly, and thrust an envelope Into my hand, In the envelope was a little card on which .was written: "I ask you to bo careful, for a friend's,, saW . On the other stde of the card was engraved en-graved her name. "Where Is she?" I said, steadying" my voice, which my leaping -heart al most stiffed. " He drow me by the ' elbow and looked toward the right of the-Kmphlj theater. Following the direction oj his eyes, I saw her leaning forward, pale-faced, gravo, small, gloved hands' Interlocked. Desldo her sat Sylvia Elven, apparently amused at the an-, tics oT the clown. . "I will bo careful," I said tb Speedi In a low voice. "If It Wore not fol Byram I would not go on today buj that Is a matter of honor. Oh, Speed.'' I broke out, "is she not worth dylna for?'' ' "Why not live for- hor.r-' he ot served, dryly. ; Ho let go of my an&'and stood back, as tay llon-cagce camo rolling out drawn by four horses. ' "It'sypur turn," he sold, in a dazed way. "Look out for that llonoss." I'ontered tho cago. afraid. - Almost Instantly I warfitho center of a snarling mnss of Hons I saw tnoth-Ing; tnoth-Ing; my whip rose ajd fell mechanically. mechan-ically. I stood llko ono stunned, while thd tawny forms leaped right and loft, Suddenly Ihcard a keeper say, "Look out for Emprew Khatoun, slrl" And a moment later a cry, "Look out slrl" Something went wrong with another ilon, too, for tho peoplo "were standing ip and shouting, and the "slpovo of my coat hung from tho elbow, showing ray bare shoulder. I retneinbor say. Ing, cloud: "I must kcop my. feet; 1 must not fall I" Then daylight grew rod, and I was on my knees, .with thq 'foul breath of a Hon In mylfaco. A hot Iron bar shot across too cage. The roaring of beasts and peopfo died, out tn my ears; then, With a shock, "my soul eeemed to bo dashed 6ut of me Into a terrific darkness. PART THIRD - CHAPTER XVIII. i . i A Queit-Charnber. A light was shining In my eyes and I was talking excitedly; that and the -odor of brandy I remember and (eomothlng else, a steady roaring In ray ears; then darkncea, out of which ulo,,,a,voh:o, ompty, meaningless Anally soundless. After a while? I realized that I was tin pain; that, at Intervals,- somebody forced morsels of Ico botween my lips; that tho darknosa around ma bad turnd grajrer. , ' Tea?' ana "years later a yellow star 'rose and stood still before my open eyes; and after a long while I saw With the Foul Breath of a Lion In My Face. It w.as the flame of a candle: and '.somebody' spoke my name. ' T know you, Speed," I said drowsily. drow-sily. "You are all right Scarlett?" "t-tes, ... all right What Ume la Jt?" I heard the click of his hunting- aso. "Eleven, o'clock." ,.,:Wbat day?" .Saturday." ' "When waa I . hurt? Many daya ago many weeks?" '...iVYou were hurt at half-past three, Jfhtt afternoon." sift turned on the "white pillow. itWhere Is this bed?,' Where is this rdbsa?" ' .-h ' - - ' ' ''"Hsnall I tell your -. '-- ' I was silent struggling with mem. ,ofK . ' ' ' ?Tell me," I said, "whose bed la !thls ' .fit Is hors." The candlo-flamo gllmmored before my-wlde-open eyes onco more, and 1 ",,','pb, you aro all right'," ho muttored, .'ttjea ..leaned heavily against the bodi side," dropping his arms on the cover, let' That Is all I remember that night all 1 remember clearly, though ij leeass'-to me that onco I heard drume beating in tho dlstanco; and perhaps ,1- did. ... Dawn was breaking when I awoke. -Speed, partly dressed, lay beside me, sleeping -heavily. "Idiot get up I" ,1 'cried, hitting him feebly, "He was yery angry when he found put why I bad awakened him; perhaps, the sight' of my bandaged bead restrained re-strained him from violence. He stumbled to tho floor, bathed, gramollng all the while, and then, to my surprise, walked over to a flat trunk-which stood under the window and which I recognized as mjne. ' Til borrow some underwear," be remarked viciously, "What's my trunk doing here?" I demanded. r "Madamo de Vassart had' them bring It" "Had who bring It?" , ."Horan and McCadgor bo'fore they left" "Before thoy loft? Havo thoy gone?" "1 forgot," ho said, soberly. "Of course you don't know that .tho circus cir-cus has gone" "Gone!" I echoed, nstonlbhed, "Gono to Lorlont Uuckhurst Is la town again with a raft of picturesque 'ruffians," ho said. "They marched In fast night, drums boating, colors unfurledthe un-furledthe rod rag, you know and the, first thing thoy did was to order Byram to decamp. "Byram'e peoplo, elephant and all,1 struck tho road a llttlo nftor three, o'clock this morning, In ood order, not a tent-peg nor a frying-pan missing. miss-ing. ' Thoy ought to bo In Lorlent by early afternoon." , VGonol" I repeated, blankly. I lay looking at him, striving to real-Ire. real-Ire. the chango that had occurred In no brief a tlmo trying to understand Iho abrupt severing of ties ana condli lions to which, already, I had become accustomed porhnpH attachod. "Thoy all sent their lovo to ou," ho said. "Thoy know you wore out of dangor I told them there was no fracture, onTy a, slight concussion. Byram camo to look at you; he brought your back salary all of It. I've got It" After n moment r, eald: ."Haa Jacqueline Jacque-line gono with thorn?" 'Yes. They sail today from Lor), ent Tho governor mado monoy yesterday yes-terday enough to atari again. Poor nyram! He's frantic to get back to America.! and, oh, Scarlett, how that r ' W7. good old man can sntaxi' "Speed, did you say' that little Jacqueline Jac-queline went' with Byram?" Ho lookod at nje miserably. "Yes' he said.' I was silent ' "Yes," he repeated, "she went, lugging lug-ging her pet cat In her arms. Shi would go; the life has fascinated, her. I begged her not to I felt I was disloyal dis-loyal to Byranv.ioo, but what could 1 do? I tell you,. Scarlett I wish I had nerer seen her, never persuaded be to try that foolish dive. Shell sales pome day llko the other one." ' He walked to the window and stared pjoodlly at the see, ' "Meanwhile," I said, quietly, 1 am hlng to get up." He gave me a look which I Inter jiretod as, "Oet up and be damned I" eo-tpllad In part CHAPTKR XIX. Trecaurt Cardan. About nine oclockwe were sum. Kned by a Breton maid to the pretty taktast room below, and I waa ashamed to go with my shabby clothes. taadaged bead, and.face the color of leUy. ( The young countess was not pros, lent; Sylvia Elven offered us a supercilious super-cilious welcome, and we ate tn co-trained co-trained silence. "Will the pensive gentleman with nine Uvea have a little more nourish, ment to sustain him?" she asked, aa the meal drew to an end. Looking up from my empty plate, I declined politely; and we followed heg signal to rise. She led the way Into that small room overlooking the garden where 1 had been twlco received by Madamo de Vassart Here she took leave of us, abandoning us to our own designs, On the wall a cat sat, sunning her sleek flanks. Something about the animal ani-mal seemed familiar to me, and after 'a 'while I mado up my mind that this was Ange Pltou, Jacqueline's pet, labondoned by her mispress and now a feline derelict I watched tho cat .for a few moments, then sat down on, the bench. The Inertia which follows recovery from a shock, however light, left me with the laiy acquiescence ot a convalescent, willing to let the world drift for an hour or two, contented to relax, apathetic, comfortable. And then my reverie endod abruptly; abrupt-ly; a step on the gravel walk brought mo to my feet. . . . There she stood, lovely In a fresh morning gown deeply-bolted with turquoise-shells, her ruddy hair glistening, colled low on a neck of enow. For the first time she showed em. barrassment In hergreetlng, scarcely touching my hand," speaking with a new constraint in a voice which grew colder as she hesitated. "We were frightened; we are sa glad that you were not badly hurt. 1 thought you might And It comfortable here of course 1 could not know that yo.uwere not seriously Injured." ? think you did the most graciously unselfish thing's woman could do," I said, quickly. "You offered your best; and the man who took It cannot dare not express his gratitude" "We brought you here because wo thought It was good for you," elm said, reverting to the themo that had at first embarrassed her. "Wo wcro perfectly certain that you have always been unfit to tako care ot yourself. Now wo havo the proofs." (Contlued next wook ) |
