Show i I J r 1 SYNOPSIS I kn n Tartar girl became enamored Uln bcardd stranger who was and studying herbs In the ting of her home In central Asia and 21 to him the location of n mine fif hoping that the stranger would Irs here it cin for11 irr in return for her disclosure followed to the cave by the were IretollvM who blocked up the en roan v drehoffblthe water and drew off the water supply i tho couple to die Unrakas cousin her betrothed attempted to climb a cliff overlooking the mine but Lplr shot him Tho i stranger was s i gourd B from a water gourd Saad car lug his way out of thu tunnel and ed deertlng the girl and carrying of rubles Baraka gathered all the the could carry and started In pur I Margaret Donne Margarita da n i n famous prima donna became d In London to Konstantln Loa wraith Gtrek Ilnr a wealthy Greek financier Her to friend was Countess Leven ns Lady Maud whose husband leS kllfed by a bomb In St Peters land Lady Maud most Intimate Iwns mifus Van Torp an lined ho had become 0110 of tho richest B the world Van Torp was In love Margaret and rushed to London ass as-s he heard of her betrothal Ho Lady Maud 3000000 for her pet > if she would aid him In winning Ber from gothetl Baraka np d LoKolhetl at Versailles with Fto sell He presented a ruby to I let Van Tarp bought a yacht and to Venice lie was visited by I l in male attire She gave him a tttcr the American had told her of Cscen In the United States a man rag the description of the one she The American followed Margaret bayreuth Parsifal festival Mar Eok a liking to Van Torp who profiler pro-filer with the ruby Baraka had Kim Count Krnllnsky n Russian t at Hayretith Van Torp believed ilie the one Ilnruka was pursuing I was rested In London on the lot stealing from Ilnney a Jew I ruby she had Hold to Logothetl angers wero the thieves Lady lieved that Logothetls assocla ilth Baraka were open to suspl l nd so Informed Margaret Van Believed that Krallnsky was the She had known In his young man Io cothrll secured Barakas real re-al then with her as his guest f sta on his yacht Krlnna Baraka ft her plans for revenge on theo the-o had deserted her and left her LoKothetl succeeds In moderating c Lady Maud arrived In Bay APTER XI Continued account of her temper I sup I answered the good lady ab jlor she was looking up ando and-o columns In search of some he had already seen Here she said It Is under tho news Capo Flnlsterre Int 4 p m going south steam Erlnna with owner and party d All well My dear child It clear that if this is Mons Lo yacht ho Is going to Gib bt know anything about geog BMnrguret said and her wrath Sail been smouldering sullenly began to glow again ret said Mrs Rushmore jrprlse me You were very t ght I he prima donna did not heart hear-t tirade of mild reproof that eIi She knew well enough la ptbraltar was and that Logos Is going all the way round to s Blterranean on his yacht with el Be for company and that tho was a long one After what aud had said there was not btt t doubt In her mind as to his ate on who could bo no one but L lIe had been told that ho el wanted at rtayreuth and ho tr ebratlng the sunset of his pal life In his own way That fir If ho received the tele u at had Just been sent to him Id get It at Gibraltar should Were and as for answering It g IB Margaret left Bayrouth she Irrtl lined to make such a thing 1m I by going away the next morn lot that very night esi t ngry reflections and Mrs and res lecture on tho Importance aphy In education were inter n y the discreet entrance of Mr yeas rp who was announced and asks to the door by Justine in a > d each manner On the thres the t over he stood still and asked Igbtl ht como In being pressed toe F to-e yielded advanced and sat st tWlU the two ladles vet an Torp said Mrs Rush stye Insist upon knowing what 50cr me of Countess Leven Of ft know Mrs Rushmore nn Isstrs instep Ie millionaire enet slowly rubbings Si rubbing-s I havent spoken to her 41 rought her from tho station has jy silo s all right Shes prob l1 to take a walk Sho often turn IK dt INC country I know her fa at untry seat Is next to urine irks aeld hmoI I hOle youll pay Ibutet t somo day Why yes Lady Ibute heafj inetimes goes off alono and lee and miles a Ibh fort i Margaret said Mrs Rush mmaiuly what did I toll oned Ks Van for Torp says the countess outs miles and miles tnadaf certaInly said Mr Van ugh I m hound to shes d < say teen mid of horseback lit friends teless call 1111 r Lady Ialld Jirs erlf tot Iorhapa you wont mind it g J yen as sho t prcforn It a yOl ncrbeir ym HPO Ive had m url r of h I n oss lug her IAolul Veldt I daresa P ll Olj1f + Conivo mo aeP tr n It Nor It tad 18 ne In t hind te of you ono cI ary I t 11 erect Mrs Rush VTRarct why did r you hover this lint Ilii you any reason IIhl1 met me-t think I noticed what yon it 1 I called her Margaret answered pa tiently Because If you Lad any reason said Mrs Rushmore following her own thoughts I Insist upon knowing I what It was Well now Ill tell you rejoined Mr Van Torp to save Margaret the trouble of answering tho futile little speech her husband didnt treat her very well Theres not a purer woman wom-an in the six continents Mrs Rushmore Rush-more but ho tried to divorce her because be-cause hed lost his money If ho ever had any and she had none and he wanted to marry an heiress However How-ever they automobllzed him or sonic thing in St Petersburg last June Autowhat did you say Inquired Mrs Rushmore Killed by nn automobile explained ex-plained Mr Van Torp gravely But now I come to think it wasnt that Ho got hlown up by a bomb meant for a better man It was quite Instantaneous Instantan-eous I recollect Ills head disap Neared suddenly and the greater part of him was scattered around part they found his pocketbook with his cards and things BO they knew who It was It was driven through some body elses hat on the other side of the street wasnt it Miss Donne Things must have been quite lively just then where it happened I sup posed you knew Mrs Rushmore explained that she had never heard any details Resides said Mr Van Torp In answer an-swer though not quite relevantly everybody always calls her Lady Maud instead of Countess Loven which she has on her cards She would naturally use the higher title observed Mrs Rushmore reverently rev-erently Well now about that objected Mr Van Torp Im bound to say I think the daughter of an English earl as good as a Russian count anywhere I west of Siberia I dont know how they figure those things out at courts when they have to balance em up for seats at a dinner party of course Its just my Impression thats all asa as-a business man Hes dead anyway and one neednt make personal remarks re-marks about dead men All the same It was a happy release for Lady Maud and I doubt If she sits up all night mourning for him Have you been out this afternoon Miss Donne Ho changed the subject with extreme ex-treme directness and Mrs Rushmore who was used to tho dictatorial ways of lions took the hint submissively enough though she would have been glad to discuss the relative and Intrinsic In-trinsic values of the designations Lady Maud and Countess Leven But It was much more Important that the lion should be left alone with Margaret as much as possible and the excellent lady therefore remembered that she had something to do and left them I had a little talk with Krallnsky before he left said Van Torp when she was gone Ho says hell meet us In Venice any time In the next few days lies just going to run over to Vienna In his suddendeathcart for 24 hours then hell go south he says Ho ran me up to the hotel and dropped me I dare say you heard the toots I thought I saw Lady Maud looking out of the window of your room as I got out Yes Margaret said But how do yon know that Is my window In the first place Ive counted the windows I felt a sort of Interest In knowing which was yours And then I often see your maid opening the shutters In the morning Oh Margaret smiled Did you notice anything unusual about Lady Maud when you saw her she asked for she know that lie had good eyes Since you mention it 1 thought she looked as If she didnt feel quite up to the mark pale I thought she was Yes Margaret said She felt III for a moment and 1 thought she was going to faint But It passed almost al-most directly and she Insisted on going go-ing for a walk Oh mused Mr Van Torp Is that so Well I dare say It was the best thing she could do I was telling you about Krnllnsky lies not Levi Longlegs Long-legs after all and Im not suro he was ever in the west I thought It sounded unlikely I Margaret said I asked him Just like that In a friendly way and he thought a moment mo-ment and made an effort to recollect and then he seemed quite pleased to remember that Id been Fanny and hed been Levi Longlegs and that he used to whistle things out of Iarslfal by the lire of an evening Well but in that case Margaret look ret stopped with an inquiring Just so continued Van lore nod trial ever attend a ding Old you witness being crossex and hear a who wants him to unlined by a lawyer iciuuubur something and he wants to omemhur It himself but cant because never heard of it blfore III cause no beforoi The law his I life Its quite funny i ir makes steps for him and puts his that hegets < lIons feet II > them so to happens unless the judge nicely little allli then the wake and kick UII stops right there and somebody gllme 1lIIl1nsk with IlIlIghs ell my talk there was no only Will IM that P I i tr S tr1 I I v f I L 1 Im Not Sure He Was Ever In the West judge so he went away happy and were old friends now and punched cows on the same ranch and hes coming on my yacht 1 only wonder why ho was so anxious to remember all that and why he thought it would be kind of friendly if I called him Levi Longlegs again and he called me Fanny Cook I wonder He says hes still very fond of Parsifal and came on purpose to hear It but that hes completely forgotten how to whistle whis-tle Thats funny too I Just thought Id tell you because If you come on my yacht and he comes too youre liable to bee quite a good deal of one another Did you tell him that Mrs Rushmore Rush-more and 1 would come Margaret asked And Lady Maud Why no Youve not promised yet any more than you did last night when we talked about It so how could I 1 forgot to mention Lady Maud to him or else I thought I wouldnt forget which It doesnt matter No Margaret smiled Not a little lit-tle bit You secern amused observed Mr Van Torp By your way of putting It and your pretending to forget such a thing It wasnt quite true that 1 forgot but I wanted to so I didnt say anything any-thing about her Thats why I put it in that way I dont choose to leave you any doubt about what I say or mean even In the smallest things I The moment you feel the least doubt about the perfect accuracy of anything any-thing I tell you even if its not at all a downright lie or anything resembling resem-bling one you wont trust me at all in anything Because If you trust me youll end by liking me and If you dont trust me youll go back to thinking that Im the lIeast out of Revelation or something as you used to Ive forgotten all about the Beast Margaret said Thank you answered Mr Van Torp To change the subjectIve got a little scheme to propose Maybe May-be youll think well of It Anyhow as its a mere matter of business connected con-nected with your career you wont mind my explaining It to you will you No Indeed Margaret was interested inter-ested at once Do tell eel she said leaning forward a little Well he began Ive looked around this place a good deal since Ive been hero and Ive come to the I conclusion that Its not very well done anyhow except Parsifal Thats what most of tho people really come for Im Informed that they give all the other operas better In Munich with the advantage of being In what you may call a Christian town compared com-pared with this Is that correct do you think Yes I believe so It Now It Is you can depend upon what I want to know Is why you and I shouldnt go Into a little business partnership and do this kind of thing brown as It ought to bo done Margaret I Mar-garet opened her handsome eyes wide Benusu continued Mr Van Torp I as coolly as If ho were explaining anew I a-new Plan to a board t > J directors wevi got tho capital and tho ability I between us and theres a demand In i UTJ I A M + 47 I a i I 7If9i lf 11U 7 The Company Which Is You and I Will Probably Rule = New York for what I propose to do Itll fill a want I know and that means success and money Why dont we build a theater together When I hay a theater I mean a firstclass opera house and not a barn Well employ the best architects to build It and of course Id leave everything about It to you Ive got u block in New York just about In tho right place and It wont take long to build Ill give the land and put up tho money for the building If youll undertake un-dertake the management Youll put In any money you like of course and well share the profits Maybo theyll bo quite handsome for well lease the theater to other people outside of the I season Well have tho best talent In Europe and pay for It and the public will pay us back Well call It the Cordova Opera If you like and youll rim It according to your own Ideas and sing or not whenever you please Are you In earnest Margaret had some difficulty In pronouncing pro-nouncing the words clearly Was there ever a great soprano who did not dream of having tho most perfect theater of her very own and who could receive unmoved the offer to build one from a man who could build 20 If ho chose Very rarely In her life had she been aware of her bodily heart but she could feel It now beatIng beat-Ing liko u hammer on tho anvil Im In earnest Van Torp answered an-swered with perfect calm Ive thought tho wholo thing over In all Its aspects Just as 1 would a railroad or a canal or a mine and Ive concluded to try It If youll help me because Its going to ho a safe Investment You see Miss Donne ho went on slowly theres no artist on the grand opera stage now whos so well equipped for the business as you are Im not flat torlng you cither In your own kind of parts youvo simply got no rival Everybody says so and I suppose you wont play kitty and deny It Lots start fair now It would be silly to deny that Im one of tho first Margaret admitted Thatll do thank you One of tho first nnd the first Is ono of them and youre it Besides youve got before Lt Bv rM ION CRAwrORD q2 AUTHOR Or s i ACJlYlclfAJ jRETIIUJIlElr ll LWTRATIOSJBV allWEl oPYRICWT 1901 DY MRRIoN WRWFVRO you whats behind most of thorn Youre young Im not talking uliout your personal appearance Imf hunts just ono more Item In the assets Another An-other big ono Is that youre a first class musician whereas halt these singers can only hang the box like great thundering overgrown schoolgirls school-girls Allow that I suppnno I must allow anything laughed tho prima donna Voll now 1vo tohl you Youvo got tho name I need and youve got the volco nnd the talent nnd youve got tho science and culture I mipimso youll lot mo say that 1vo got tho business ability wont you Tho Iron mouth smiled a little grimly Hathor I fancy some people have wished you hnd less And the moneys here for I always have a blank chcquo In my pocket If you like Ill 1111 It In and well deposit de-posit It wherever you any In the name of the Cordova Opera Company or Imo da Cordova Rufus Van Torp Co Wo can make out our little agreement In duplicate right here on the corner of tho table and sign It and before wo leave hero you might go around and speak to tho best sug era about an engagement In New York for n Vngner festival a year from next Christmas Thats business and this Is a purely business proposition If youd like to think It over Ill go and take a llttlo walk before dinner It sounds like a dream Margaret answered In a wondering tone Moneys an awful reality Van Torp remarked Im talking basic ness nnd as Im tho ono whos going to put up most of tho capital youl do mo the credit to believe that Im quite wide awnko Do you really really really mean it She spoke almost like a child It was not tho first tlmo In bin life that tho financier had seen tho stun ulng effect of a big sum projected with precision like n Moll at exactly the right moment Ho was playing the great game again < > ut for a prize he thought worth more than any he had yet won and tho very magnitude of the risk steadied his naturally steady brain Yes ho said quietly I do Per baps Ive startled you a little and I shouldnt like you to imltio n decision till you feel quite ready to Ill just sly again that 1vo thought tho Bolo thing out as a gonulno venture and that I believe In It or I wouldnt propose pro-pose It Maybo youve got some semi slblo lawyer you have confidence In and would like to consult him first If you feel that way Id rather yo should A business partnerships non no-n thing to go Into with your eye shut and If wo had any reason for I i distrusting ono another It would be better to make Inquiries Hut so far as that goes It appears to mo that we o got the facts to go on which would make any partnership succeed Youve certainly got the musical brains besides a little money of your own and Ive certainly got tho rest of the funds Id like you to put somo money In It though If you can spare It because thats a guarantee that youre going to be In earnest too and do i your share In tho musical side You I see Im talking to you Just as I would to a man In tho same position Not because I doubt that If you put your name to n piece of paper you really will do your share as a partner but I because Im used to working In that sort of way In business How does that strike you I hope youre not offended Offended Thero was no mistaking tho suppressed sup-pressed excitement and delight In her voice If he had possessed the Intelligence Intel-ligence of MephIstopheles and tho charm of Faust ho could not have said anything more subtly pleasing to her dignity and her vanity Of course he said It neednt boa bo-a very large sum Still It ought to be something that would make a difference differ-ence to you She hesitated a moment and then spoke rather timidly I think perhaps If wo did ItI 1 could manage a hundred thousand pounds she said Would that bo too little do you think Tho largo mouth twitched and then smiled pleasantly Thats too much he said shaking his head You mustnt put all your eggs In ono basket A hundred thousand thou-sand dollars would bo quite enough as your share of the capital with option op-tion to buy stock of mo at par up to a million or so If Its a success Really Would that be enough And please what Is stock In such a case Stock said this fltmnclol Is a lit tie plant which when well watered will grow like tho mustard seed till all the birds of Wall street mako their nests In Its branches And If you dont water It too much Itll bo all right Ii our case tho stock Is going to bo that share of tho business which most people sell to raise money and which wo mean to keep for ourselves I always al-ways do It that way when clrcum stances allow I once bought all the stock of a railroad for nothing for Instance and sold all the bonds and let It go bankrupt Then I bought the road ono day and found all the stock was In my own pocket Thats a ollly a little Illustration Hut I guess you can leave the financial side In mr lands You wont lose by It Im pretty pret-ty aura I fancy not Marga rots eyes were wide open her hands wero 1 clasped tightly on her knee and sill Ki vim leaning forward a little Besides i Ides she wont on It would not ba ho money that 1 should care nboutti I can earn more money than 1 want sand s-and I have a little fortune of my own the hundred thousand I offered you Oh nol It would bo tho splendid power to have the most beautiful nuslc In tho world given ns It could be given nowhoro else Tho Joy of singing myself tho parts I can sing In tho most perfect surroundings An orchestra picked from tho wholo u world of orchestras tho greatest livIng liv-Ing leaders tho most faultless chorus 1 And tho scenery and tho costumes t everything ns everything could bo If It were really really tho best that can bo had I Do you believe It Is pos slblo to have all that Oh yea and with your namo to It f ju il too Well have everything on earth that monoy can buy to make a perfect i opera nUll Ill guarantee Itll pay after II I tho first two seasons That Is If youll r work at It as hard as I will Dut youve got to work Miss Domino youvo got to work or Its no HBO thinking of It Thats my opinion Ill work like n Trojan cried Margaret Mar-garet enthusiastically She had enough experience In herself her-self and enough knowledge of tho conditions to believe that her own hard work combined with Van Torp8 unlimited capital could and certainly would produco such an opera house and bring to It I such artists as had never been seen and heard except perhaps In Ilnyreuth during Its first I great days now long past l Then too he hnd put the matter before her so skillfully that she could I look upon It honestly as n business partnership In which her voice tier Judgment and her experience would bear no contemptible proportion to his money ahd in which sho herself was 1 to Invest money of her own thereby sharing tho risk according to her fortune for-tune as well ns giving tho greater part I of the labor Sho felt for some weak place In tho schema groping as If sho were dazzled but she could find none I dont think I shall need tlmo to think this over sho said controlling her voice better now that she had made up 1 her mind As I understand It I am to put In what I can In tho way of ready money and I urn to give my time In all ways as you 1 need It and my voice when it is wanted Is that It Except that when yon choose toy lug the company will allow you your usual price for each appearance answered an-swered Van Torp In a businesslike manner You will pay yourself or we both shall pay you just ns much us wo would pay any other firstclass soprano or as much more ast you would get In London or Now York If you signed an engagement Is that fair Margaret asked Vhy certainly Hut the company I which Is you and I will probably rule that you mustnt sing In grand opera anywhere In the states east of ho rockles Theyve got to como to New York to hear you Naturally youll be free to do anything you liken like-n Europe outside of our season when you can spare tho time Of course Well now I suppose wo might as well note that down right away as a irollinlnary agreement What do you say ayI t I say that I simply cannot refuse such an offer Margaret answered Your consent Is all thats necessary neces-sary he said In a matter offact tone onoHe He produced from an Inner pocket a folded sheet of foolscap which ho t spread on tho corner of tho table beside be-side him Ho took out a fountain pen and began to write quickly The terms and forms wero as familiar to him aa the alphabet and ho lost no tlmo besides be-sides us ho had told the prima donna he hnd thought out tho whole matter before hand iPLJ What If Mrs Rushmore comes In 4 r Just as we are signing It asked Margaret Mar-garet Well tell her and ask her to witness wit-ness our signatures replied Van Torp without looking up I Judgo Mrs Hush maIo to have quite a knowledge I knowl-edge of business You seem able to write and talk at tho same time Margaret said smiling Business talk yes The pen ran on swiftly Thero Thats about all I should say Do you think you can read my writing I dont suppose youve ever seen It TO BR CONTINUKD |