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Show mind and accompanying her must alao have h.-en thought of, for the Khelk had provided against the resistance that w.iuld certainly hue then been mud' bv the number of followers hi-hnd hi-hnd brought with him a large enough force to frustrate easily unv attempted opposition to the i tuck. The net ihnt ahe hnd felt closing round her earlier In the afternoon MfMinfd wrapped round her now hi-extrlrnbly, hi-extrlrnbly, drnwing tighter and lighter, light-er, smothering her. She gusped for breath The miking sun ncmcd aud-denl aud-denl to leap up wildly into the henv-eiiM; henv-eiiM; then flip pulled herself together with n trenvndous effort. "Why have you done this?'' she murmured faintly. -J,"nt ,n il tomorrow ) - i By . M. Hull It'opyrlght, tittiall, Maynard at t'o.) J 1 - Cegtee vf Tha gait Lake TeieQram contai may ba had at The Tel ti'ontinued from yesterday) ) She ground the heel of her hoot Into j ihe soft carpet. "There will be In- j iiiries,' she t hotted furiously. . I ami not such a nonentity th.tt nothing will ! done when I am missed. The Kn- glish authorttUa wilt make the French j Kovtrnment find out who Is rnaponai-ble. rnaponai-ble. iin.l you will have to pay fr what you have done." He laughed -the little aniuaed laugh I hat aent the same cold feeling of dread through her that she had felt the day before. I "The French government h no Jurisdiction Ju-risdiction over me. i him not subject to It I am an Independent chief, my j n it master. I recognize no govern- i merit. My tribe obey me, and only : me " Her shaking fingera found the handkerchief for which they Were e - - Vict bin thit grew ileap.l e her efforts to crush It Her hand w ere locked togeth.-r tighiU, her -yrs anil staring out unseeing at the wonderful sunset. l She felt d.r. d. hop. less, like a fugitive fugi-tive who has ;umetl into a cul-de-sac, hemmed in on every sub-; there se.-mel no wnv out. no loophole of 1 escape. She wrung her hands oll-vulsivelv oll-vulsivelv and a great shudder shook her. Then In her cbspair a faint ray of b pe came "Mustafa AH or one of the raravnn men may have given Ihe alarm already in Hi a km if you have ioi murdered them all," she whispered Jerkily. "I have not murdered t hem all," he rejoined shortly, "but Mustafa All will not give any alarm In Biskra " "Why'."' She tried to keep silent, but the (iiet on wa forced from her, j nn.. she watted tense for hia answer Tales of ruthless Anb cruelly surged through her mind What had been the fate of the unfortunate caravan leader.' lead-er.' Her eves closed and her throat grew dry. 'There waa no need for any murder." mur-der." he continued warrant icnily. "When on come u know me better you will realize that I do not leava too much to chance. 'All things are with Allah, blessed be hia name.' tlood! Hut It Is well to remember that Allan does not always concern himself with ihe affair of men. and a trail if" accordingly. If I had left this iffvr to chance there might very easiiv have been, aa yoil suggest, murder mur-der done though we do not cat! It murder In i he desert. It was very simple Voyons' Vmi paid Mustafa Ali well to guide vou in ihe desert. I paid him better t. lead oi to me. I paid him well enough to make hlin content to remove himself from Hisk-ra. Hisk-ra. where awkward questions iniKht be ak-d, to another sphere of usefulness wlieie he is not known and where he can build up for himself a new reputation repu-tation aa a caravan leader" There wis a not her silence and her hands went groping m her throat. It had been no chance affair, then no accidental meeting that the Arab chief had turned to hia own account, but an organized outrage that had been carefully care-fully planned from the beginning. From the very outset she -had been a dupe. She ground her teeth with. rage. Her suave, subservient guide had been leading her the whole time, not In the direction that had been mapped out lu Hiskrn, but towards the man who had bought him lo betray his trust. Mua-tafa Mua-tafa Ali'e shifting eye, his desire to hurry her f i om th oasis where they had rested nl midday, hia tone, were all explained He had arte, well. The last much the imaginary wound that had i op pled him slowly out of his saddle, had been a masterpiece, ahe reflected bitterly. , Nothing had been omitted to make t he at tempt a auc-eeaa. auc-eeaa. The horae that hud been given her to ride- was the Khelk's, bcv.tnd all doubt, trained to hia whistle Kven her revolver had been tampered with She had not missed. as she had thought. She remembered the, noise, the fleeting vision she had had ?n t in-hot in-hot et at Hiakra. It had been someone In her room. Mustafa Ali himself, or one of his rpen, who had stolen in and .aubsiitiMed the blank cartridges. The 1 pOts.LUii o. y.ubiey changing ,j ning peevlous Instaiownts of "The fthslk" arm'i businsss office, groping, a'nd she wiped the moisture that bad gathered on the palm of j her hand. "When ( nm missed-" she beyar. : denpi.rat.'ly, trying to keep a hold front, but her ut.au ram e w us leaving her. I "Vou will not be missed for ao long .that It will be too late." he replied 1 dr I v. "Too late' What do you mean?" she ga.sped ; "Vour own plans will stop anv pos-sibsiltv, pos-sibsiltv, ,,f itmniry for some time to ct-iiii'" He paustd. anil behind her lhana heard him strike another match The banal little incident nearly snapped her nerves that were stretched to breaking point. She put her hands to her head lo t rv and stop the throbbing in h,-r temples. "You engaged a caravan In charge of Musi a fa Ah," he went on evenlv ' "to travel in ihe deaert for a month! Vou act out from Hiskra. but vour ln- lentlon was at the end of the time to ttael northward to Or. in and there, dismiea the caravan. From there oii wero to cross to Marseilles, then to Cherbourg where you would embark for America to follow your brother, who haa already Stat ted.,' She h tened -breathlessly with an ever Increasing fear growing tn her es. The slow, casual voice detall-I detall-I lug her Itinerary with th quiet cer-jtainty cer-jtainty of perfect knowledge filled her I with n t.rror that made her w int lo I scream. She swayed a little she Ho,., , ner ev es fined on the endless . atrip of deaert and gold flecked k .visible through- tho opening of the , tent, but she saw nothing of the un- dula 1 1 ng k i ml. nor t he red glory of ' t h sett ing sun. i "How !., you know a'.l this'.'" ahe whispered wnh drv lips that trembled ' I w l-he.l to know. i u is -jolte simple." The answer was even care-j care-j lejisly. and again Ihe thin thread of smoke drafted ..-TO-ia her fare. Her anger flamed up again." "Is It money that ou want '.' Aie jou hujd-; hujd-; ing mo for ransom?" Put her scorn -j fill voice faltered and died awav on lh.- iynt wortl. and it did not need hia Hileirce to convince her that it waa no I rt'!'ii, of ransom She had only ix .ken to try and stifle the Inner con |
