Show 0 lane jy iy ay oo 00 C e atu t 0 can you imagine yourself under taking such luch a task tak as a that given con levinston a task from which you would probably never return CHAPTER 11 II continued it nus andrew starch march who had found him running wild neild one spring night ln in lower cincinnati with a gun speaking front from each hand annd the riot call was in andrew march hall had by the graco grace of god appeared belfeld end and understood the elder ninn mail hild had recognized the equinoctial madness of one whoso head was filled vi with ith beauty tile tho heart passionate for life and more of it the feet rebelling against tho the ugliness of pavements march had hurried him away and inter tit nt his fits leisure soaked some soine of tile tho deviltry out of tile the young frame st steaming earning him clean and reasonable lie ila hall had needed to bo be dintle patient nt with levington while the rioter found a new sensation called health presently the car turned in beneath a vine covered ay and 0 tit nt the tha door of it a great house A lit lantern ant that was mellow and friendly hung filing tit nt tho the step there was a terraced garden ridging gently down dow ti to a pond far back from tile rond road these terraces with lanes of roses and columbine were respite front from tile the olno bogged streets that wanted him film marces housekeeper amri allies a cheerfully dazed woman who choso whoso narrow body never recovered from frodi the exertions of yesterday opened the door to them they went directly to tho the stairs and ascended to tin in open door front from which firelight danced out into tile tho hallway As they entered a very old ninn man put down ills hook book and turned to face them there were no glasses before lilt his eyes and through the pallor of age re on oil ills his faco face showed yet a seasoned reasoned strength 1 I know it Is early for a ire fire I 1 was not cold he said sti smiling alling but there are certain thoughts ono one cannot an no think without ft a batik bank of coals chali t to 1 look it into arid and my iny ire here has been out nearly four months inon thi yes tea and think of the alio people who can call always get along without an open grate sald said andrew march the very old man had the manner 0 of f ono one who has fount found a vital pence peace filled with more than memories nie morles ills head was strangely long and something lice nobility hovered about the tha wasted shoulders lie ile was the father of andrew march now the my gray haired son closed the ho hall door and brought to his fits fathers tile tho tiny lien leather ther packet ito iio said levington has lone done very well mie father nodded and the light in his hh eyes meant long acquaintance with defeat expectancy taught caught ills hta tea fea tures and turned them almost you youthful tho the bit of leather was placed in his hand and ho he drew from it n square of white silk it was tightly creased crena cd of firmest texture in purple upon ono one side was a line curiously crooked and trailing it was dotted tind crinkled fanciful ns as some river of the moon along tile margin of the silk certain eel tain chinese characters were etched tilts tills Is not a mantra ns is we had hoped at these words con cali felt a n rush of disappointment hut but tho the old voice went on it may bo be of groat great help to us its it la Is it a map the three roen men studied tho the purple line fint us it treed across the hut but only tho the eldest could read the characters A in antra lie said would have been houi oui passport with traders and thieves and they would try us its always to deceive you direct yon falsely it if they hoy weta content not to murder r their theirl linte of one another they hey iague I ague ng dinst the ho trav eler who would pass their heir inner boun darlea i it would have been beell a bodily protection in the desert denert tribes it if yon hall had to ro fur far hot aut on tills this silk bilk Is tile the route itself intended for the lie return journey of their messenger what are the vv vor ordal ds all prayer signs save one which readi nhan lian sung 1 you know IDOV lite village andrew Step stephen lien matcha son knew it bitter ay h levington was na trembling with e eagerness age aness the old man did not glance up tip front the lie silken map tills this begins fit at sung and runs inns westward each ilot dot marks a days travel I 1 suppose in favorable circumstances no v water liter Is indicated until tills point nearly a month into tile lie west these faint stars show tile the lay of the wits hills levington was asked to tell how lie he speared tills this treasure square you found the inan for me inc replied con and that was the most difficult part two nights UKO ago I 1 walt malt cd on the lie kitchen roof of the amger folasa until chee sling find finished reading tits lits chinese news newspaper paper ills window opens out upon the roof there tire only treetop tree top arld open spaces beyond find ills his privacy should have been perfect ile iio neglected to draw the curtain until after I 1 lind seen tile ho bit of leather ranging ia nging on ills his hest bliest you lind hail told me to expect something hometh ln of tile alio sort ort although lie did not raise it to his lips before retiring since tins tills Is not a concluded oil the old inari hero was the boundary of loving leving tons knowledge nn nil the subject clieo cheo aling lind had bren been pointed out by andrew A marczii larch and a tusk assigned con had reason to trust lite new friend even cien it lie felt that the march interests w more 0 re remote nud and strangely secret fec cret the father leaned back lit in its ills chair sighing lie ife looked lip III at tile grave face of his son don nil ond said it may be the hand of god or it rony may be only tile hope of our foolish hearts failure that Is never final but it seems andrew you ou have found another beginning 11 the son bowed ills head stephen march added levington hag I 1 as I 1 indeed I 1 lone done very ery well iloth father and son quietly regarded the young man before them it seemed its as it they lind had known hlin him a long that alint lie ho belonged to them hem they were aware of the quality iu allty that had find been suppressed in a disastrous childhood tile the old father was always searching for some sign of violence of which which andrew had spoken an and dit it scented deemed to please him to find in lev Ing tona tons modesty and calmness n quick mint glint now newl then a light that touch N I 1 1 I boeer zi 4 be both father and son regarded the young man filan before them ed cd cons edeh in unexpected moments a far line to passion reminiscent of satyr and centaur anti tile the wine wille dim slopes of abandon they aliey felt his power and its many dangers tn himself above nil all they loved it personal integrity which they hey found perfect what further preparations asked Ste nheu I 1 andrew turned to levington when will you be ready to go to the ancient figure in the chair looked thoughtfully into tho the ire nis ilia words nindo made ll floating pictures tor for con na as if the shadowy golden stories ot of chinky bill were about to continue be tore fore ills his eyes you seek a country that may never bo be known perhaps it Is entirely it rumor a race old fancy and fear you have liburd the talea that are told if they bo be fillio or true and if thip the white ninn litis itis aver ever passed beyond that corder antill of pain no one tills lias coir back to us with proof I 1 have e been the look on oil tile the fes of those wild who hail the pas passa cv anti and h 14 t as it was wag not pleasant my son the centers centera of this the world have shifted many times yet that weird realm of tho the half true tho the half real has gone unchallenged I 1 think its I 1 life ile goo goes tit nt too swift a pace for us up dizzy about it kven tile bt wild mild beasil mold avoid thoe boundaries tito tho air will rise and fall about you like ilko a living presence your night ight iii will be whipped shipped across with bewilderment and pain you have seen been that their bravest carry a map by which to return home if home it be in tile the silence that followed tile the old mans thoughts seemed to live in tile air of the room and the glow from tho hearth was oddly like desert sunlight CHAPTER III the far call although they supplied him with more money than tiny one needs levington was not inclined to stack worldly possessions ills his very humble years lit in Dowa glac tin hod taught hlin him how little the human creature requires somewhere in it a boyhood of neglect find frayed edges lie he had learned liow to feel rich without nn an array army of trinkets tonight to night his travel bag a black slouchy leather affair dear to ills his henrt heart for having been through a great deal with him was packed wit with clean things and room at the top ile ho traveled light tito the distant draw of the sands wits was upon him now rousing the old loneliness that sometimes made trouble at such ahnes con cin thought of ills his mother the woman next door had told ill him enough to identify ills fathers beloved with lite nameless beauty in hn his own heart the hurt of tills love iove lins was often the starting point for 11 rampage lit in tho the gutters A sweetness was forever eluding him it swept near in tho the words of stephen march arch and at last there was a guidance upon ills energies their talk of danger was nag only n courtesy ns as con regarded it for one who had known the red tangles of the lie underworld peril was no nomore more to be feared than thunder in the night andrew starch march entered cons room it might bo be better to leave a dark house 11 lie he suggested 1 I wider stand replied levington ill find it cab over oer at the end of the park that ought to break any connection with you ou hero here yon do not regret your our accept anco fil far r from it declared nied con hastily do you ou mind going alone no it will do me good I 1 line have everything to think over its rather 11 strain you ou see such a novelty tills this nil and narrow they laughed lau glied you collapsed under it sold said starch march it narrow uie the way youve youe brou glit it to me ine 1 I have told you continued the alie gray haired friend that probably you will never return 1 their glances met and held a it moment the elder sought a possible trace of fear but did not find it le bev ington had the good taste not to utter titter brine bricye words lie he hall had accepted ills his mission there Is used in the orient a very thin parchment hent as grateful to the he fingertips finger tips its as the cheek of a babe smooth its as bunns town down and even een more sacred to yellow allow men wear tills this over our heart said andrew march stalling smiling A small folded parchment was placed in cons hand it was a duplicate of the map on the stolen square of silk tilts copy was in a soft leather stick sack tile tho size of a visiting card to be secured about ills his neck by a leather cord andrew then gave him a sealed envelope elope and in regard to it said 1 I been very ery explicit with will you iou con there are some things that ore are not aulne to tell you yet now when you have opened and read it you will mill have committed yourself and you must not turn back the breaking of tile the seal Is your pledge dut but until then you ou are tree free you yon have no obligations of any kind to mo me or any one else you will under understand in shan sung starch march smiled faintly almost with solemnity levington bowed accept ing tile tho small settled sealed packet ile iio packed it to the bottom of tile bag presently they went to tile the fathers room the old man stood up tall and steady the light of youth in III ills his eyes eye there was a brief farewell firmly spoken again in Leving tons room andrew march gripped tile the young soung anna hand a little more tensely than usual and the silence between these two was vital with enduring endur lne affection barch then took hla his leave it was not yet set midnight con waited in his room willie while the lights of the lie march house were dimmed into a rew new clarity of mind came calme images from ills his earliest ilys shasta that beckoned tho the alley in humid evening in the harbor of elop urn con wanted ills father forgetting that he was twenty five about one lie ho turned out ills hla own light and left tile tha friendly room passing down tile hall the black bag with wit him at the door of oc andrew marcais Marc room he paused tin an instent ills ilia was waa Ble sleeping the bedro bedroom orn door partly open C con oil had not stopped from froin sentiment but to in tile the darkness lie ho caught a curious scent 1118 of cinnamon and musty wine it whisked him hack back to to n kitchen lit in dory street and lift ho shuddered without knowing e exactly why it II was like blia rather futher intimate henvy fated no na it if Atit relt dinst share tills with john Li evington as aa a 11 con almost bell believed eved ho he liing ined tit alic it was tho lift very odor of darkness soft and satiny ae he tiit 0 01 down til through rough the darkened house and suddenly found himself Irl shing lie ho had not paused before tile oven open door in III ivalin the lie starch march house was part of if halaver ha lever the hie fiol cook jill glit have told lils his master mill anti young ledger it in turn communicated to tilt an lice titter alter tile the singular occurrences it in the pantry bevington felt safe for the pre present ent lie ho doubted doubled if chee aling would dun dare give un tin account because of the file linture of that which lilt and been taken from him film cecil would be annoyed puzzled oven even angry with tits his vanished guest dice clice ming aling would probably obscure tile the Il matter latter further con recalled the energy bf 0 that slim body pan panthers therl ike not a brawny brawn strength for tho the chinese wits beyond tin nn age for mut cles but a silent writhing power nerve driven con did not go down to the front gate but turned niong along tile the garden path across the fragrant terraces even tho the roses into blossoming bloss oming did not clear ills his nostrils of fit that spice in the open doorway upstairs up stairs tile the shock of that was just I caching him lie had tin nn impulse to turn back and sniff again to prove to himself that lp A eli g q I 1 X stephens ears were shut to the cries of gold lie had fancied the familiar odor lie laughed tit at himself and began to ride down lila ills fear cir lie he passed around the little pond where autumn had touched the shrubbery and given it a drier music to its rustling this wits was a barred gate tn in alie wall levington drew it bit back ek glanced once lit at the dark house on oil the hui and emerged upon the street store afore than three score years before stephen march hall hail faced aced the west A boy of seventeen he had taken tile tho prairie wagon trails to san francisco and here lie antl heard strange stories seamen blew upon the alaine in fit tits his young henrt heart when they told of cathay oil and the indies stephen would stride along the lie hoard board walks elbowing the world and rubbing in its ills buckskin pocket the gold that eliat meant nothing to him except the unlocking of life often ills his long knees rubbed the bablo in n certain saloon where lie be could drink the lie wine ane of and once as the slow rich blaze crept into tits his veins some one spoke oi of the gobi it seemed then lie he remembered many things lie ho hall had never known lie went next day to the same table and tile next but could not find and the man who had spoken lie he almost believed believe that the wine itself had whispered to him but now tile the deepest cup was mute stephens ears earn were shut to the cries of gold the cormons |