Show i 1 1 I s ffin DiviV d r VMARroN CnAwrODD CGe AUTHOR Of I lflACtlEclfAJ n AR THUSA Tffi IL LJI yTRATIONW s WEL tOpYRCHT 1907 Y FMRRoN CRRwoR0 = = g jiT3 I l 1 I It l I Mr Van Torps Solid Arms Slipped Into the Sleeves SYNOPSIS Barakn Tartar girl became enamored of a Kol ln bearded stranger who was rrnMcitmi and studying herbs In the vicinity or her horn In central Asia and revelled In him the location of n mint of rubles i hoping that the stratiKer would tit love hrr In rpturn for her disclosure They were followed to tho cave by the girls relatives who blocked up the entrance t en-trance and drew off the water supply leaving the couple to die Bnrakus cousin I Saatl her bitrothcd I attempted to climb don a dire overlooking till mine hut the traveler shot him The stranger was revived from a water gourd Sand cart car-t ried due his way out of tho tunnel and departed deserting tho girl and cnrryliiR a huB of rubles Haraka gathered all the I gems she could 1 carry and nrin imm la i I uon tcarnry nn t n f irn rl t n 1 11 su nn n Cordova a famous prlmn donna became engaged In London to Knnstnntln Lo pothetl a wealthy Cireek financier Her Intimate friend was Countess Leven known as Lady Maud whose husband hall been killed by a bomb In St Petersburg Peters-burg ami lady Mauds I most Intimate friend was Unfits Van Torp an American o Ameri-can who had become one of tho richest men In the world Van Torp was In love with Margaret and rushed to London as soon as he heard of her betrothal lie e offered Lady Maud OflO000 for her pet lnntng r charity If she would aid him In wlnnliiR 6 the singer from LoRothcti Ilnrnka ape ap-e proaehed Logothetl at Versailles with rubles to sell He presented a ruby to i Margaret Van Tarp bought n yacht and sent It to Venice lIe was visited by llnrnkn In male attire She gave him u ruby after the American had told her of having seen In the United States n man answering the description of the one she loved The American followed Margaret to the llayreuth Iarslfal festival Mar Rare took n liking to Van Tarp who presented I pre-sented her with the ruby Haraka had given him CHAPTER VIContlnued Stomp he asked as he threw off his coat and kicked off his dusty shoos were you ever seasick Yes sir answered the admirable valet but he offered no more Information Informa-tion on the subject During the silence that followed neither wasted second It Is 110 Jolt to wash and got Into evening dress In six minutes oven with the help of a body servant trained to do his worl at I I H ui speed I mean said Van Torp when ho was already fastening his collar are you seasick nowadays No sir replied Stomp In precisely precise-ly the same tone as before 1 I dont mean on a 20000ton liner Black cravat Yes I moan on a facht Fix It behind night Would you be seasick on a steam yacht aca ° No film C Sure Yes sir I er Then Ill take you Tuxedo Thank you sir erI Stcmp held up the dinner jacket I Mr Van Torps solid anna slipped Into the sleeves he shook his sturdy shoulders and pulled tho Jacket down In front while tho valet settled tho I back Then ho faced round suddenly like a soldier at drill All right ho Inquired Stomp looked him over carefully from hard to foot In tho glare of the electric light Yes sir Van Torp loft ho I room at once Ho found Mrs llushmoro slowly I moving about tho supper tablo more Imposing than ever In a perfectly now black lea gown and an extremely smart wld Ow t cap Mr Van Torp thought she was a very fine old lady Indeed Margaret Mar-garet had not entered yet a waiter with smooth yellow hair stood by a portable sideboard on which there were covered dishes There were poppies pop-pies and cornflowers In a plain white jar on tho table Mrs Hushmoro uiiled at the linancier it would hardy hard-y bo an exaggeration to say that she reamed upon him They had not met alone since his first visit on the previous afternoon Miss Donne is a little late she said as if tho fact were very pleas Ing You brought her back of n course nvVliy certainly said Mr Van Corp with an amiable smile You can hardly have come straight from the theater continued the lady for 1 heard the other people In the hotel coming in fully 20 minutes before be-fore you did We walked home very slowly said Mr Van Torp still smiling amiably ami-ably ablyAh I sec You went for a little walk to get some air She seemed delighted We walked home very slowly In order to breathe tho air said Mr Van TOIIto breathe the air as you say I have to thank you very much for giving mo your seat Mrs Hush more To tell the truth replied the good lady 1 was very glad to let you take my place I cannot say I enjoy that sort of music myself It gives me a headache Margaret entered at this point In a marvelous creation of Chinese crape of tho most delicate shade of heliotrope Her dressmaker called It a teagown but Mr Van Torp would have thought It quite appropriate for a dinnerdance at Bar Harbor My dear child said Mrs Hush more how long you wore in getting back from tho theater I began to fear that something had happened ° We walked homo very slowly said Margaret with a pleasant smile Ah You wont for a little walk to gel some air We just walked home very slowly In order to breathe the air Margaret answered innocently It dawned on Mr Van Torp that tho not Rushmore was dignified Mrs It quite devoid of a sense of humor also occurred to him that her repeti to Margaret and tion of the question must havo revealed the lattors answer vealed to her tho fact that the two hVd what they would had agreed upon say Sine they used Identically l the same words and that they therefore understanding about some had an conceal from to thing they preferred Nothing could have given Mrs her Rushmoro such profound satisfaction this and It revealed Itself in her as smiles and her anxiety that bright should nnd Van Torp Margaret both overeat themselves with If possible excellent things she had been at the for them and for her pains to provldo somothlng of an self For she was epicure and her dinners in Versailles In Paris fame even wen of Rood Great nppetlles are generally silent like the sIncerest affections Margaret Marga-ret was very hungry and Mr Van Torp was both hungry and very much In love Mrs Rushmore was neither and she talked pleasantly while tastIng tast-ing each delicacy with crlllcal sails faction By the by she said at last when she saw mat tile millionaire was backing his foretopsall lo come to anchor an-chor as Capt Brown might have expressed ex-pressed it I hope you have not had any trouble about your rooms Mr Van Torp None at all that 1 know of nn Bwerod the latter My man told me nothing u h The uussian prince arrived tins evening while you wore nt the theater thea-ter and threatened tho director with all sorts of legal consequences because be-cause the rooms he had ordered were occupied lIe turns out to be only a count after nil You dont say so observed Mr Van Torp In an encouraging tone What became of him Margaret asked without much Interest Did Potts not tell you my dear Why Tusllne assisted at the whole interview In-terview and came and told mo at once Justine was Mrs Rushmoros ParisIan Paris-Ian maid who always knew every 1 thing thingThat happened Inquired Margaret Marga-ret still not much Interested Ho arrived in an automobile answered an-swered Mrs Hushmore and she paused What old Grlggs calls n sudden death cat Mr Van Torp put In What a shocking name for It cried Mrs Hushmore And you are always In them my dear child I She looked at Margaret A sudden death cart It quite makes mo shiver Grlggs says that all his friends either kill or get killed In them ox plained the American My 1 throatdoctor says motoring Is very bad for the voice so Ive gl nIt n-It up Margaret said Heally Thank goodness your profession I fession has been of some use to you at last my dear Margaret laughed Tell us about the Russian count she said lias he found lodgings or is he going to sleep in his motor My dear lies tho most original man you over heard of First lie wanted to buy the hotel and turn us all out and offered any price for it but the director said It was owned by a company in Munich Then ho sent his secretary about trying to buy a house while he dined but that didnt succeed either Ho must bo very wealthy or else quite mad Mad I should say observed Mr Van Corp slowly peeling a peach Did you happen to catch his name Mrs Rushmore Oh yes Wo heard nothing else all the afternoon Ills name is Krn Husky Count Krallnsky Mr Van Torp continued to peel his peach scientifically and economically though he was aware that Margaret was looking at him with sudden curiosity curi-osity Krallnsky ho said slowly keeping keep-ing his eyes on the sliver blado of the knife as ho finished what ho was doing do-ing Its not nn uncommon name I believe Ive heard it before Sounds Polish doesnt it He looked up suddenly and showed Margaret the pooled peach on his fork lIe smiled ns he met her eyes and she nodded so slightly that Mrs Hushmore did not notice the movement move-ment mentDid Did you ever BOO that done better lie asked with an air of triumph Hipping Margaret answered Youre a dandy dab at It My dear child what teirlblo slang Im sorry said Margaret Im catching all sorts of American expressions expres-sions from Mr Van Torp and when they get mixed up with my English ones the result is Babel 1 suppose Ive not hoard Mr Van To Ill mist any slang expressions yet my dear said Mrs Hiiahmore almost severely You will Margaret retorted with a laugh What became of Count Ira llnaky I didnt mean to spoil your story sloryMy dear lies got the pastor to give up his house by offering him a hundred pounus lor the poor nero Van Torp left them soon after supper sup-per and gave himself up to Stemp pondering over what he had accomplished accom-plished in two days and also about another question which had lately presented pre-sented itself When ho was ready to send his valet to bed he sat down at his table and wroto a telegram If you can find Barak please explain ex-plain thai I was mistaken Krallnsky Is not In Now York but hero In Bay reuth for some days lodging nt tho pastors house I This message was addressed to Lo golheli at his lodgings In London and Van Torp signed It and gave it to Stemp to bo sent at once Logothetl never went to bed before two oclock as he knew and might very possibly get tho telegram tho samo night When his man was gone Van Torp drew his chair to the open window and sat up a long time thinking about what he had Just done for though he held that all was fair In such a contest con-test ho did not mean to do anything which he himself thought low down Ono proof of this odd sort of Integrity l Integ-rity was that tho telegram Itself was a fair warning of his presence In Bay youth where golhell knew that Margaret was still slopping EI n t 1 As for the rest ho was quite convinced con-vinced that It was Krallusky himself tho ruby merchant who had suddenly appeared at Dnyrouth and that this man was no other than the youth ho had met long ago as a cowboy In the west who used to whistle Parsifal with his companion in exile amid who having grown rich had lost no time In coming to Europe for the very purpose pur-pose of hearing lime music he nail always al-ways loved so well And that this man had robbed the poor Tnrlur girl Mr Van Torp had no manner of doubt nnd he believed that he had probably promised her marriage and abandoned her and If this wero true to help her to find Krnllnsky was in Itself a good action CHAPTER VII When Van Torp and Logolholl left Mr Plnncys shop the old jeweler meant to have a good look at the ruby tho Greek had brought him and was going to weigh It not merely ns n matter of business for ho weighed every stono that passed through his hands from crown diamonds to sparks but with genuine curiosity because in a long experience he had not seen very ninny rubles of such a slzo which wero also of such line quality and he wondered where this ono had boon found Just then however two well dressed young men entered tho shop and came up to him Ho had never seen either of thorn before but their looks inspired him with confidence and when they spoke their tone was that of English gentlemen which all outer out-er Englishmen find It practically impossible im-possible to Imitate and which had been extremely familiar to Mr Pin Hey from his youth Though he was the great jeweler himself tho Wealthy descendant of five of his namo in succession suc-cession and much better off than half his customers ho was alono In bin shop that morning The truth was that his only son tho sixth Plnney and the apple of his eye had just I been married and was gone abroad for a honeymoon trIp and time head shopman who was Scotch was having bin mouths holiday at Ayrshire and the second man had been sent for to cat nn and restrIng the duchess of Bar cheaters pearls at her graces house in Cadogan Gardens as was always done after tho season and a couple of skilled workmen for whom Mr Pin ney found occupation all tho year round were In the workshop ii their tables wherefore out of four responsible re-sponsible and worthy men who usually usual-ly wore about only tho great Mr Pin noy himself was at his post One of tho two welldressed customers custom-ers asked to see some pins and the other gavo his advIce Tho first bought a pin with a small sapphire set in sparks for ten guineas nnd gave i only ten pounds for It because ho paid cash Mr Plnnoy put the pin into its little morocco case wrapped it up neatly nnd handed It to mite purchaser The latter and his friend said good morning in a civil and leisurely manner man-ner sauntered out took a hansom a few steps farther down the street and drove away Tho little paper twist containing Lo gothoUs ruby was still exactly where Mr Pinney had placed it on tho counter coun-ter and he was going to examine the atone and weigh It at last when two more customers entered tho shop evidently evi-dently foreigners and moreover of a sort unfamiliar to tho good jeweler and especially suspicious rime two were Baraka and her interpreter inter-preter and servant whom Logotholi had called a Turk and who was really real-ly a Turkish subject and a Mohammedan Mohamme-dan though as to race he was n half bred Greek and Dalmatian Now Dalmatians are generally honest trulhful and trustworthy and tho low I class Greek of Constantinople Is usually us-ually extremely sharp If ho is nothing more definitely reprehensible and Barakas man was a cross between time two ns I have said and had been brought up ns a Musulman in n rich Turkish family and recommended to Barnkn by the Persian merchant In whose house she had lived He had been originally baptized a Christian under tho name of Spiro and had been subsequently renamed Salim when lie was mndo a real Moslem al i i 12 u years old so ho used whichever I I name smieu the circumstances in i which ho was placed At present he was Splro Tho interpreter spoke broken but Intelligible English Ho called Ba raka his master and explained that tho latter wished to seosomorubles if Mr Plnney had any cut or uncut The young gentleman ho said did not speak English but was a good ju goof go-of stones For one moment tho Jeweler forgot the little paper twist as ho turned towards his safe pulling out his keys at tho samo time To reach time safe ho had to walk the whole length of the shop behind tho counter and before he had gone half way ho remembered re-membered the stone turned canto back and slipped it Into his waistcoat pocket Then ho went and got tho little japanned strongbox with a patent pat-ent lock In which ho kept loose stones somo wrapped up In little pieces of paper and some in pill boxes He brought it to his customers and opened it before them They stayed a long lime and SpIro asked many questions for Baraka chiefly relating to tho sliding scale of prices which Is regulated by tho weight of the stones where their quality qual-ity Is equally good and Buraka made ir c l k r l t r c t J 1 i k c 10 c = t = j 1 t4 I i I I = I q I c J 4 TA4 rr ric mf k 1 H It 7 V 1 Merciful Provldencel Cried Mr Pinney notes of somo sort In a little English Eng-lish niemornniUiin book as If she had done It all her life but Mr Plnnoy could not see what she wrote lie was careful and watched limo stones when she took them In item lingers mutt ml hold them up against the light or laid them on it sheet of white paper to look at them critically I She bought nothing and whon Bhu hud seen all he had to show her she thanked him very much through Splro I said she would come hack I another day and went out with a leisurely I oriental gait ns If nothing In the I world could hurry her Mr 1lnney counted the stones again and was going go-ing to lock the box when his second man came In having finished stringIng I string-Ing the duchess pearls At tho samo I moment It occurred to Mr Plnney that ho might as well go to luncheon and that ho had better put Logothella ruby Into the little strongbox and lock it up In time safe until ho at last had a chance to weigh It Ho accordingly ac-cordingly took tho screw of paper from his waistcoat pocket and as n matter of formality ho undid l It once more Merciful Providence cried Mr IInney for ho was a religious man The screw of paper contained n bit I of broken green glass He throw his keys to his shopman without another word and rushed out into the street without his hat his keen old face deadly pale and his beautiful frock coat flying in his wake lIe almost hurled himself upon a quiet policeman Thief he cried Two foreigners in gray clothes ruby worth ten thousand thou-sand pounds just gone Im Plnnoy tho Jeweler You cannot astonish a London policeman po-liceman rime one Plnney had caught looked quietly up and down the I Direct and then glaccd at his Interlocutor Inter-locutor to be sure that it was he for I ho knew him by sight All right he said quickly but very quietly Ill havo them In a minute sir for theyre in sight still Better go in while I take them sir lIe caught them In less than a minute min-ute without tho slightest difficulty 1 and by some odd coincidence two other i oth-er nolicemen suddenly appeared quite close to him There was a little stir in tho street but Baraka and Spiro were too sensible and too sure of themselves to offer any useless resistance resis-tance and supposing there was somo misunderstanding they walked back quietly to Mr Plnneys shop between two of the policemen while the third went for a fourwheeler at tho nearest stand which happened to bo the corner cor-ner of Brook street and Now Bond street Mr Plnnoy recognized his late customers cus-tomers without hesitation and went with them to the police station where he told his story and showed the piece of green glass Spiro tried to speak but was ordered to hold his tonguo and OB no rubles wore found In their pockets ho and Baraka were led away to be more thoroughly I searched But now at last Baraka resisted and with such tremendous energy e that there would have been serious tr < ublo if Spire had not called out Komothlng which nt once changed tho aspect of matters Master Is lady ho yelled Lady man clothes That makes a pretty bad case observed time sergeant who was superIntending super-Intending Send for Mrs Mowlo Huraka did not resist when alma saw the matron and went quietly with her to a cell at the back of tho station In less than ten minutes Mrs Mowle mule out and locked tho door after her She was a cheery little person very neatly dressed and she had restless rest-less bright eyes like a ferret Sho brought a little bag of soft deerskin In her hand and a steel bodkin with a wrought silver handle such ns southern Italian women used to wear In their hair before such weapons were prohibited Mrs Mowle gavo both objects to tho officer without comment Any scars or tnttoomarks Mrs Mowlo ho Inquired in his business hue way i Not n 1 one answered Mrs Mowle who had formerly taken In washing at homo and was the widow of a bravo policeman killed In doing his duty dutIn In tho bag there were several crows of paper which were found to contain uncut rubles of different sizes to a 1 largo value But there was one m much larger than the others which Mr Van Torp had not soon that morning morn-ing Mr Plnney looked at It very carefully held It to tho light laid It on n sheet of paper and examined it long In every aspect Ho was a conscientious con-scientious man To tho best of my belief ho de nosed this Is the stony that was on ny counter half an hour ago and for which this piece of green glass was substituted It is tho property of a r customer of mine Mona Konslanlin flffl Logolholl of Paris who brought it to r mu this morning to bo cut I think it may be worth between nine and ten f thousand pounds I can say nothing J as to the Identity of the paper for tissue paper Is very much alike every where v Tho woman observed tho officer In charge of tho station appears to steal nothing but rubles It looks like n a queer case Well lock up the two Mr Plnnoy and If you will bo kind enough to look In tomorrow morning Im sure tho magistrate wont keep you ti waIting for the case Vastly relieved and comforted Mr i Pinney returned to his shop Formality t For-mality required that tho ruby Itself r with tho others In the bag should remain re-main In the keeping of tho police till tho magistrate ordered It to be returned re-turned to Its rightful owner the next morning but Mr PInney felt quite assure as-sure of Its safety as If It were In the japanned strongbox In his own pate and possibly oven a little more sure for nobody could steal It from tho police po-lice station TO BE CONTINUED + 1 1 a |