Show w D L JA r sat Mt on a pile of vivid cushions cush- cush 1 DAPHNE ions heaped on the veranda steps t and gazed pensively across the moon moon- i drenched garden The night was serenely t beautiful as only a winters winter's night lk r r can be The air was very still and subtly IV fragrant with the perfume of big red lilies which grew grev In the velvety darkness rr beneath bereath the trees r Daphne threw back her little head and 5 quite gratuitously made a a. a face at the thew w I moon of Egypt who ho continued to practice Cd her Immemorial witchcraft regardless of l Daphnes Daphne's e. e express press disfavor Daphne made another face put out outI I a a. pink tongue pulled it in again and remarked rev re- h marked emphatically Its dull dull dull Nothing ever happens hap hap- lIt pens anywhere Not even in Europe Which displayed an American r t ence ence to the geography ot of the Old Old World r that was only to be expected from a at ayoung t young person capable of such irreverence h I to 00 the moon i S S Daphne unclasped her fingers from her slim silk ankles and scrambled to her herr r P feet For a moment she stood upright a gracious slender young body in a M- M skimpy blue frock and the amber light lighth h that streamed from an arched window b behind hind her played delightful tricks with h.- h. her coppery head Perhaps It wa gas the i transparency of that Impalpable blue silk 4 that caused the moon to retire modestly g behind a cloud though any anyone one knows that Diana wasn't overmodest herself U it ir j the Greek and Roman sculptors chiseled r truly Who knows Anyhow a cloud 5 S blew along at that psychological moment t and things began to happen c A figure stale out of the shadows at atthe the foot of the lawn and dashed across U the open space toward Daphne For heavens heaven's sake let me in quick t S- S Daphne did t When sh she had slammed the French windows and jerked a curtain across S th them m she turned to inspect the Intruder j He was a young oung Egyptian in the blue cotton cotton cot cot- ton worn by the peasant class tip His broad chest was heaving and a little trickle of perspiration ran down the side 4 of his neck into the hollow at the base of his throat His bare feet were wet and and i. i mUddy Well said Daphne her eyes shining v After me an hour hide hero here said the in excellent English and fainted on a very fine player rug for which Daphnes Daphne's father had paid an exorbitant price in Daphnes Daphne's parents were dining at the American Am rican Ministry She was alone in the house except for Said the butler and Abdul his assistant For a split seco second d she considered and decided noO nOi to summon help speaking English fellahin were phenomena that would raise r Said's curiosity and her sev- sev ti nth sense informed her that in this case publicity might be undesirable c r Daphnes Daphne's mother was a tremendous disbeliever dis- dis believer In the theory that In women beauty should be an end of itself divorced from usefulness and for the first time in her twenty years ears Daphne was glad she had been forced to take that weary aid lust course By and by the fellah ti a a opened his eyes They were nice honest eyes she decided He gr 1 Right shoUlder and rolled over k There was a nasty knife wound hastily wrapped round with a dirty cotton rag She dealt with it to the best of her ability ability abil- abil ity and had just stuck in the last safety safety- Y pin when the bell rang t SAID Bung on Ws his goldt gold gold- embroidered zouave and bestowed be- be stowed a hefty curse on all who disturbed his leisure at late hours Evil livers and w slow bellies grumbled he may Allah 3 destroy them utterly and as he tied fied into the house spat accurately upon the beady head bead y of Daphnes Daphne's SealYham The terrierS terrierS' terrier S' S snarled and followed him barking loudly The barking increased in fury when Chips the Sealyham discovered two of I A. A his hated enemies to wit the Egyptian f police upon the doorstep The senior a til smart young N. N C. C 0 rapidly explained that there had been a robbery In a villa nearby and the thief had been traced to the garden of thIs house He was anxious r I to make a thorough search of the house t and garden I t i polite by deeply ingrained Instinct to all representatives of authority informed His Excellency that he would r confer with his mistress and would doubtless doubt doubt- r less return speedily with a favorable an- an J awer to His Excellency's request Whereupon Whereupon Where Where- I upon he departed In haste baste leaving the doorstep in charge of the terrier Said found his mistress c lying on the big sofa in the draw drawing g room S-i. S It had been pulled back a little from the fireplace toward the wall behind it the V curtains were drawn across an n alcove in Y which there was a window Daphne put do down her novel Yes explained in in a mixture of c French and broken English K All right bring them inN in in inThe N The N N. C. C O. O was courteous and efficient Khi He regretted to disturb mademoiselle but it the crime had been committed by a noX nor no- no r X evildoer upon whose head was set a a. reward Had mademoiselle seen anybOdy anybody any any- bOdy Charlesworth was nothing Now Daphne rl V if 11 not feminine and therefore trusted to her own instinct rather than the judgment of others All she had to go upon were a pair of honest brown eyes but she went the limit No I haven't seen a thing After dinner dinner din din- ner I had coffee on the veranda and sat there for half an hour Id I'd surely see anybody prowling around Although there was no breath of wind 5 inside the house or out the curtain behind behind be- be hind tier her sofa swayed visibly The rustle J of heavy silk sounded sounded incredibly loud In her ears but the N. N C. C O. O did not appear i to notice It At that moment Chips def de- de f tided that tha t he be was too much in the backI back back- I 1 i i l J l IVi i 4 I A ground for his liking and trotted across the parquet floor toward his mistress He stopped abruptly sniffed at the prayer rug and growled sava savagely ely Chips Come here called Daphne patting the sofa Invitingly come here darling Chips sniffed ignored her and went on growling Daphne caught him by the collar and smiled at the N. N C. C O. O Of course you may Inay look around He cant can't be here for Ive I've been her myself ever since dinner but will take you around the house Down darling darling dar dar- ling dont don't get so ex excited It was all Daphne could do to hold In Inthe inthe the little dog until the police had gone out into the hall Then she whispered to the the curtains Wait a bit Are you all right Yes Its It's rather stuffy though Hang on Ill I'll open a window She released the Sealyham who made madea a beeline for the curtains His Investigations investigations seemed satisfactory Chips wagged Ws his tail and paid no further attention to the stranger Daphne noted it as she flung open the tall windows and marked it up to the criminals criminal's credit Chips was wasa a good judge Then quickly she pulled out the used bandages from behind the sofa cushions the bowl of stained blood water from under the sofa and temporarily disposed of both among the rosebushes around the veranda steps The N N. C C. C O. O was still In the house She could hear the three men moving about Daphne went back to her sofa and picked up the book once more hind 1 her a voice whispered Does this window open too Yes Its It's still stiff though Catch at atthe atthe the bottom Ears straining she listened to a guttural guttural gut gut- tural conversation in Arabic that was being carried on in the hall The front door shut MAD Je jYl pardon Daphne sat up and looked around Forgive me If I frightened you permit permit per per- mit me to Introduce myself A man stood in the open window an old Egyptian Egyptian tian very portly in a well cut dinner suit His tie was obscured by a flowing white beard and the broad forehead above set close piercing eyes was cur mounted by a tarbush He fumbled In a waistcoat pocket whence he produced a agold agold gold and extracted a card Daphne noticed that his hands were perfectly manicured and much younger than the rest of him But it was his nose that revolted her hooked cruel cruel-a very carrion beak of a nose Mechanically she glanced at the card and read Suleiman Pasha I regret the intrusion his smooth voice purred In fluent French I regret It infinitely Mademoiselle Mademoiselle- Charlesworth supplied Daphne But my house has been robbed and my people are out helping the poUce pollee We are sure that the thief IS nearby His eyelids eyelids' dropped which dimmed the glitter of his black eyes and increased the illusion of a bird of prey He paused as though expecting an answer but Daphne made no reply He was seen In your garden made made- moiselle Im a little tired of this thief Pasha I haven't seen any thief The police pollee have been through the house He looked slowly round the room then walked toward Daphne She found herself herself her her- self unable to take her eyes from Ws his face There is a good place of mademoiselle he pointed to the curtains Daphne laughed Nonsense Pasha He couldn't have come in here without my knowing it itHe it He nodded placidly That is true It Is not wise to shelter a criminal mademoiselle Very unwise Daphne could hear her own heartbeats heart heart- beats The horrible implacable old vulture vulture ture was coming nearer Pasha this Is intolerable I must ask you to leave the house right now She stood facing him her young body tense and vibrant He smiled slowly then with incredible agility slipped past her and pulled d the curtains aside The alcove was empty In a flash the Pasha was all smiles and apologies regretting his Intrusion intrusion In- In a a a. silvery old gentleman of exquisite politeness Daphne shivered as she watched him depart through the window as he had come comeS S WHEN Mr and Mrs Charlesworth reH re- re H turned Daphne was reading qUietly Hello dad Had a good dinner Not so bad Guess youve you've had a dull evening hero here Very dull said Daphne ya yawning ing Before getting into bed D Daphne opened the bedroom windows and looked at the moon of Egypt Mr Moon said Daphne tak take it all back It was some time before she got to sleep and when she did it was to have jumbled dreams of vultures and dogs In policemen's uniforms with nice brown browney ey eyes s. s Next morning the local papers were full of the daring robbery at the bouse of Suleiman Pasha which was wS dished up to the pUblic liking in various ways The accounts of the Times of at Egypt and the Egyptian Gazette agreed in one particular Articles of great value had been stolen but the nature of the articles in question remained unspecified Daphne sitting up In bed perused both journals avidly and then proceeded to take stock of her behavior on the previous previous pre pre- night There was no evasion ot of the fact that she had sinned grievously the rhe pernicious influence of bright moonlight Is notorious But but Daphne came cameto cameto to a lull full stop Shed She'd go through with it and keep her mouth shut Highly immoral immoral im- im moral Yes but Daphne was a woman I e ii i ii I t I A The Winter Season in Egypt Proved Dull f for or Daphne Until She Sh Sheltered a Stranger Strange Wanted by th the Police Who W Was s Steeped in Adventure a Mystery and Romance As she dressed she reviewed the days day's engagements Golf with Dicky Burton Lunch with Dicky and Ws his wife a swim in inthe inthe the evening and dinner at the before the Semiramis dance Not so bad Daphne dressed quickly ran Into her mothers mother's room kissed her good morning and just caught her father before he set setout setout out on his dally daily pilgrimage to the museum Mr Charlesworth was an amateur ardent as he was affluent Daphne pecked his smooth shaven chin and snapped open her handbag under his nose Hold up Put em em up dad How much A thousand dear not dollars Dont Don't get scared so easily Comes off next months month's allowance daughter Daphne smiled She thew khew the allowance allowance allow allow- ance would arrive intact It always did Before the car came around she peeked into the drawing room It looked perfectly perfectly per per- normal Chips beat a sofa cushion with a guilty tall tail Cl Chips You come right away from there dogs are not allowed on n sofas darling It was all just as though nothing noth- noth ing had ever happened She wandered over to the embrasure where he had hidden hidden hid hid- den and looked out at the lawn Down darling Mustn't spoil Daphnes Daphne's frock down Chips Chips' immediate obedience was so enchanting en- en chanting that Daphne bent down to kiss the top of his head As she stood up her eye caught something scribbled on the white enamel of the shutters Things arent aren't always what they seem Homage and thanks It was badly scrawled Written in the dark of course Daphne nodded wisely ely Ill tell the world they arent Then she pulled out a scrap of lace handkerchief licked it and proceeded to rub out the pencil marks before sending Abdul for the carIT car IT TWO or three weeks passed and the burglary was almost forgotten Cairo has a short memory and the season was boiling up Golfing dining dancing swimming and flirting just a little little- Daphnes Daphne's time was very agreeably disposed disposed dis- dis posed of There was one fly in the ointment ointment ment namely Second Lieutenant the Honorable Hugo Vyse Hugo was rich and eligible but he was also ponderously in inlove inlove love with Daphne and without much sense of humor Daphne adored him on a apolo apolo polo pony but found Wm him troublesome In Ina ina a ballroom or rather in the garden outside outside out out- side a ballroom By degrees she was forced to cut down his rations ot of dances but being the kind hearted little person she was permitted the ponderous Hugo to swim with her at the Sporting Club He looked rather nice sitting on the edge of the bath dripping with water much nicer than he did by moonlight dripping with sentiment In extenuation be It mentioned that Hugo was barely one and twenty One afternoon they were sunI sunning ng themselves themselves them them- selves round the foot of the diving platform platform plat plat- form with Dicky Bentons Benton's wife Vera and little Heathcote from the American Ministry Ministry Min Min- when the baths were invaded by a Everybody Everybody Every Every- noisy gang of gunner subalterns body knew everybody else e and a general rag ensued with much ducking splashIng splashing splash splash- Ing and laughter When it was over Hugo patiently cut Daphne Daphne- out Daphne out of the party and got he he- into a corner comer by herself her her- self Hugo youre you're like a dog with a bone r I believe I am the bone You sharpen your teeth on me to get practice Hugo pr protested tested that It wasn't practice but deadly earnest Daphne sighed You'd be so much nicer If it was lust Just practice Who's that Hugo the man who's just going to dive What a beauty Wish I could dive like that You dive joll well Daphne Hes going to do it again look Who i is he Dunn Dunno Seen him about before Ill I'll find out If yo like Afterward they partook ot of tea and other refreshments In the enclosure Inclosure tac- tac tn mg the cricket ground A pleasant place where the tea tables are set under the trees and one may watch the sunset Jl flood od odthe the western sky with orange and purple wh where re all Cairo congregates and gossips agreeably Daphne joined Lady party She wa just a little tired and was content to listen to other people talking r Hugo Vyse sat on her left and was content content con con- tent to regale himself gloomily with an occasional glimpse of a delicate profile Lady ever watchful smiled behind behind be- be hind her fan and thought that the curve of that childs child's throat |