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Show THE DARK STAR I By ROBERT W. CHAMBERS Uior of "The Firing Line," "In Secret," "Tha Fighting Chance," "The Dangor Mark," "Lorraine," "Cardigan," otc. him capable of reconstructing from memory mem-ory any of tho Htolen plans. He hail not thought about that npcclflc contingency; liiHtlnct alone .had troubled him a little when he tlrat entered the Cafe dea Kulgara. However, his unquiet eyes could discover dis-cover nothing of either Kestner or Hres-lnu; Hres-lnu; nnd, Homehow, he did not even think of encountering lUe Pumont In hucIi a place. As for IJitindes and Stull, they did not recognize him at all. So, entirely reassured onco more by tho absence of All-Baba and (Joldt-n Reard, and of Scheherazade whom he had no fear of meeting, Neeland ate his caviar with a relish und examined hla surroundings. surround-ings. Of course it was perfectly possible that tho Htolt-n papers had been brought hero. There were three other Hooch in the building, too, and he wondered what they were used for. Sengoun's appetite for conflict waned as lie ate and drank; and a violent desire to gamble replaced It. "You poke about a bit," he said to Necland. "Talk to that girl ovor there and see what you can learn. As for me, I I mean to start a little tlirtatlon with Mn(tirnriHllA l-r f 1 1 mi . Toh thflf Biilt . r they had honored the toast, Ami-. Ami-. coked about him pleasantly, reoep- eady for any eventuality. And ob-T ob-T uo symptoms of any eventuality '";.er ' ho Fusg..sted creating one. W comrade." ' he said. "I think I 1 Srise and nu;ke an invendiary ad- y ' y well, if you feel that way about jt there is another way to render r.ing u tree-able. You see that side-he side-he continued, pointing to a huge buffet piled to the ceiling with , within an hour of the timenhat the rob- bery was committed? , Leaning buck carelessly on the lounge i and keeping his eyes on the people In the j cafe, NeOiand imparted these ideas to i Sengoun in a low voice told him everything every-thing he knew in i rgard to the affair, and asked his opinion. "My opinion," said Sengoun, who was enchanted at any prospect of trouble, "is that this house is 'suspect' and is worth searching. Of course the Prefect could be notified, arrangement a made, and a search by the secret police managed. But, I Xeeland. my friend, think of what pleas- I noisy dispute began, listened to atten- tivoly by the pretty but brightly painted j cashier, the waiters, the gerant, and every guest :n the neighborhood. I "As for me," cried Sengoun, feigning to lose his temper, "I have no intention I of being tricked. I waa not born yes-I yes-I terday not 1! If there is to be found an honest wheel in Paris that would suit me. Otherwise, I go home to bed!" "U is an honest wheel, I tell you " 1 "It is not! I know that place!" ; "Be reasonable " "Reasonable !" repeated Sengoun ftp-1 ftp-1 pealmgly to the people around them. f iin and crystal. "What will you I - thiu I cannot push it over with ir.d?" ,S, iNeeiand declined the wager with patient gesture, and kept his eyes n on a man who had just entered t. He could see only the stranger's '--.roonvd back, but when, a moment iC.-th.- man turned to seat himself, id was not surprised to find him-okir.g him-okir.g at Doc Curfoot. - leoun,' he said under his breath, type who just came in is an Amer-tambier Amer-tambier named Doc Curfoot ; a ml ., here with ether gamblers for the & of obtaining po I i ; i c a 1 i n f o r m a -or some government other than oun regarded the new arrival with e curiosity : it worm? Oh, well, every city in i swarms with such maggots, you It wuuld be quite funny if he anv blandishments 0:1 us, j't it?" may. He's a capper. He's looking 2iqw. I believe he remembers haven hav-en me in the train." ej-for an hour or two at chemin-de-aecarat, or roulette," remarked in. "1 am not averse to a " tch him! The waiter who is tak-5 tak-5 order may know who you are e telling that gambler. I he did: Now let us see what hap- " I oun, delighted at the prospect of ntuaiity, biandly emptred his irob-IVd irob-IVd smiled generally upon every- ype he will make our acquaintance k us to -play.' he said. "I'm very at ehemin-de-fer.' And if I lose 1 conclude that there is trickery. u would make it very lively for ody." he added with a boyish smile. -9 dark eyes began to glitter and :rwed his beautiful, even, teeth when ghed. " he said. "A little what you call .(.up might not come amiss! That t)jH1.e an appetite; that permits one . -Wire; that does good to evervbodv Sj lk$.one sleep soundly ! Shall we, . EaV in America, start something?" Lir.d, thinking of All-Baba and Beard and of their undoubted in-;,:-n by telegraph of the morning's rX.t, wondered whether the rendez- . f the robbjrs might not possibly -'l 3 in the Cafe des Bulgars. - fan? of Americans in the train had , , ; Kestner. Breslau. and Wtishelm 5. i nidn of the gan whom he had .-- seen as prospective partners in - terprise. , somewhere in this building, were ambling headquarters. "Was there - Ssibie chance that the stolen box rcontents might have been brought r temporary safety? l !; 11 not now be hidden somewhere . very building by men too cun-";'. cun-";'. risk leaving the city when even-- nd , every road would be watched ure we should be deprived! "How do you mean?" "Whv not search the place ourselves?" "How?" ''Well, of course, we could be picturesque, pictur-esque, go to my Embassy, and fill our pockets with automatic pistols, and come back here and well, make them stand around and see how high they could reach with both hands." Xeeland laughed. "That would be a funny jest, wouldn't it ?" said Sengoun. "Very funny. But " He nudged Sengoun and directed his attention toward the terrace outside, where wait- ers were already removing the little iron 1 tabies and the chairs, and the few lingering linger-ing guests were coming inside the cafe. "I see." muttered Sengoun; "it is already al-ready Sunday morning, and they're closing. clos-ing. It's too late to go to the Embassy. They'd not let us in here when we returned." re-turned." Xeeland summoned a waiter with a nod: "When do you clo?e up inside here?' "Tomorrow being Sunday, the terrace j closes now, monsieur: but the cafe re- j mains onen all night." explained tne waiter with a noticeable German accent. "Thank mi." And. to Sengoun: "I'd , certainly like to go upstairs. I'd like to see what it looks like up there take a glance around." "Very well, let us go up " "We ought to have some excuse " "We'll think of eevernl on the way." rising with alacrity, but Neeland pulled him back. "Wait a moment! It would only mean a fiirht " "All fights," explained Sengoun serl-ouslv. serl-ouslv. "are agreeable some more so. So if you are ready, dear comrade " "But a row will do us no good " "Pardon, dear friend. I have been in serious need of one for an hour or two " "I don't mean that sort of 'good,' " explained Xeeland, laughing. "I mean that I wish to look about up there explore ex-plore " "Quite right, old fellow always right! But here's an idea! I could stand at the head of the stairs and throw them down as they mounted, while you had leisure to look around for your stolen box " "Mv dear Prince Erlik. we've nothing to shoot with, and it's like they have. There's only one way to get upstairs with anv chance of learning anything useful. And that is to start a row between be-tween ourselves." And. raising his voice as, though irritated, he called for the reckoning, adding in a tone perfectly audible aud-ible to anybody in the vicinity that he knew where roulette was played, and that he was guinp: whether or not his friend accompanied him. Sengoun, delighted, recognized his cue and protested in loud, nasal tones that the house to which his comrade referred was suspected of unfair plav; and a 1 you?" If Kengoun wished to play it was none of Xeeland's business. "Do you think It an honest game?" he asked, doubtfully. "With negligible stakes all first-class gamblers are honest." "If I were you. Sengoun, I wouldn't drink anything more." "Excellent advice, old fellow !" emptying empty-ing his goblet with satisfaction. And, rising to his lirm and graceful height, ho strolled away toward the salon where play progressed amid the moat decorous and edifying of atmospheres. Neeland watched him disappear, then he glanced curiously at the girl on the sofa who was still preoccupied with her newspaper. So he rose, sauntered about the room examining the few pictures nnd bronzes, modern but excellent. The carpet under foot was thick and soft, but aa he atrolled past the girl who seemed to be so intently in-tently reading, she looked up over her paper and returned his civil recognition of her presenco with a slight Buttle. As he appeared inclined to linger, she said with pleasant self-possession : "These newspaper rumors, monsieur, are becoming too persistent to amuse us much longer. War talk la becoming vieux Jeu." "Why read them?" inquired Xeeland with a smile. "Why?" She made a slight gesture. "One reads what is printed, I supixse." "Writ ton and printed hy people who know no more about the matter in question ques-tion than you and I, mademoiselle," he remarked, still smiling. "That Is perfectly true. Why is it worth while for anyone to search for truth In these days when everyone is paid to conceal it?" "Oh," he said, "not everyone." "No; some lie naturally and without pay," she admitted indifferently. "Hut there are still others. For example, ex-ample, mademoiselle, yourself." "I?" She laughed, not troubling to refute re-fute the suggestion of her possible truthfulness. truth-fulness. He said: "This club is furnished in excellent taste." "Yes; It is quite new." "Has it a name?" "I believe It is called the Cerc!e Extranational Extra-national e. Would monsieur also like to know the name of the club cat?" They both laughed easily, but he could make nothing of her. "Thank you," he said; "and I fear I have interrupted your reading " "I have read enough lies; I am quite ready to tell you a few. Shall I?" "You are most amiable. I havo been wondering what the other floors in this building are used for." "Private -apartments," she replied smiling, looking him straight in tho eyes. "Now you don't know whether I've told you the truth or not ; do you?" "Of course I know." WVi(ili t Hon f" L'ermit me to ask these unusually Intelligent In-telligent gentlemen whether it is reasonable reason-able to play roulette in a place where tho wheel is notoriously controlled and tho management a dlshonest one! Could a gentleman be expected to frequent or i even to countenance places of evil ro-putc? ro-putc? Messieurs, I await your verdict!" And he folded his arms dramatically. Somebody said, from a neighboring table: "Vous avez paxfaitement ralson, monsieur!" mon-sieur!" "I thank you," cried Sengoun. with an admirably dramatic bow. "Therefore, I I shall now go home to bed!" j Xeeland, maintaining his gravity with difficulty, followed Sengoun toward tho ! door, still pretending to plead with him; j and tlie. gerant. a tall, blond, rosy and unmistakable German, stepped forward to unlock the door. As he laid his hand on the bolt he said 4Ti a whisper: "If the gentlemen desire the privilege of an exclusive club where everything I Is unquestionably conducted " j "Where?' demanded Neeland, abruptly. "On the third floor, monsieur." "Here?" I "Certainly, sir. If the gentlemen will , honor me with their names, and will be seated for one little moment, I shall see what can be accomplished." "Very well," said Sengoun. with a short, incredulous laugh. "I'm Prince Erltk, of the Mongol embassy, . and my comrade is Mr. Xeeland, consul general of the United States of America in the Grand Duchy of Gerolstein!" The gerant smiled. After he had gone away toward the further room of the cafe, Xeeland remarked to Sengoun that douhtlt-ss their real names were perfectly well known, and Sengoun disdainfully shrugged his indifference: "What can ono expect in this dirty rat-nest of Europe? Abdul the Damned employed one hundred thousands spies in Constantinople alone! And William the Sudden admired him. Why, Neeland, mon ami, I never take a step in the streets without being absolutely certain that I am watched and followed. What do I care! Except that towns make me sick. But the only cure is a Khlrglz horse and a thousand lances. God send them. I'm sick of cities." A few moments later the gerant returned re-turned and, in a low voice, requested them to accompany him. They passed leisurely through the cafe, between tables where lowered eyes seemed to deny any curiosity; but guests and waiters looked after them after they had passed, and here and there people whispered together particularly two men , who had followed them from the sun-dial fountain in the Rue Soloil d'Or to the Jardin Russe. across the Place de la Concorde, and into the Cafe des Bulgars in the Rue Vilna. On the stairs Neeland heard Seruroun still muttering to himself: "Certainly I am sick of cities and narrow nar-row strips of sky. What I need is a thousand lances at a gallop, and a little Kirghiz horse between my knees." "The truth." She laughed and indicated a chair; and he seated himself. "Who is the dark, nice-looking gen-tloman gen-tloman accompanying you?" she Inquired. ! "How could you see him at all through your newspaper?" "I poked a hole, of course." "To look at hlrn or at me?" "Your mirror ought to reassure you. However, as an afterthought, who is he?" "Prince Erllk of Mongolia," replied Neeland solemnly. "I supposed so. We of the infernal aristocracy belong together. I am the ContesHa Diabletta d'Enfer." He inclined gravely: "I'm afraid I don't belong here," he said. "I'm only a Yankee." "Hell is full of thorn," she said, smiling. smil-ing. "All Yankees belong where Prince Erllk and I are at home. p0 vou play?" "Xo. Do you?" "It depends on chance,." CHAPTER XXXII. THE CERCLK EXTRANATIONALE. The suite of rooms into which thev were ushered nppeared to be furnished in irreproachable tnte. Except for the salon at the further end of the suite, where play was in progress, the charming charm-ing apartment might have been a private pri-vate one; and tho homelike simplicity of the room, where books, flowers, and even a big, gray cat confirmed the first agreeable impression, accented the lurking lurk-ing smile on Sengoun's lips. I oc Curfoot, in evening dress, came forward to receive them, in company with another man, young, nice-looking, very straight, and with the high, square shoulders shoul-ders of a Prussian. "Bong solre, mussoors," said Curfoot genially. . "J'ai l'honnoor do vous faire connaitre mong aim, Mussoor Welshelm." They exchanged very serious bows with "Mussoor" Welshelm, and Curfoot rotired. In excellent French Welshelm inquired whether they desired supper; and learning that they did not, bowed smilingly and bade them welcome: "Y'ou arc at home, gentlemen; the house is yours. If it pleases you to sup, we offer you our hospitality; "if you care to play, the salon Is at your disposal, or, if you prefer, a private room. Yonder is tho buffet; there are electric bells at your elbow. You are at home." he repeated, re-peated, clicked his heels together, bowed, and took his leave. Sengoun dropped Into a comfortable chair nnd sent ft waiter for caviar, toaat and German champagne. Xeeland lighted a clgaret, seated himself, him-self, and looked about him curiously. Over In a corner on a sofa a rather pretty woman, a cigaret between her Jew-eled Jew-eled fingers, was reading an evening newspaper. Two others in the adjoining room, young nnd attractive, their feet on the fireplace fender, conversed t together to-gether over a sandwich, a glass of 'the widely advertised Dubonnet, and another of the equally advertised Ron Lalt Mag-pi Mag-pi as serenely and as comfortably as though they were by their own firesides. "Perhaps they are." remarked Sengoun, Sen-goun, plastering an oblong of hot toast with caviar. "Birds of this kind nest easily anywhere." Xeeland continued to gaze to ar'1 the salon where play was in progress. There did not seem to be many people there At a small table he "recognized Brando? and Stull playing what appeared to be bridge whist with two men whom he had never before seen. There were no women playing. As he watched the round, expressionless expression-less face of Tlrandes, who was puffing a long cigar screwed tightly into the corner of his thin -lipped mouth, It occurred to him somewhat tardily what Rue Carew had said concerning personal danger to himself if any of these people believed |