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Show A Bride in Ultimate By Don Mark Lemon (Copyright, by Bliortalory Pub. Co.) "In God's namo, sign tho passport and let mo go!" "Pordon, monslour; my signature will not mako good tho passport. Monsieur Mon-sieur must a now passport obtain from his legato." "A now ono! It will take hours days to do that, and ho will bo out vt my reach by morning." "Monsieur, It Is tho law," "Tho law I Shall this man be allowed to rob mo of my dearest possession, whllo tho law binds mo hero hand and foot? Must I delay for a needless sheet of paper whllo ovory mlnuto takes him nearer tho sea coast and farthor from mo? Can't you seo my causa Is honest? Can't you understand that I am no fugltlvo that I want only to como up with this man? That ho has robbed me, and theso formalities that help to cover his flight are an outrage out-rage against Justice!" "Pardon, monsieur; It tho gentloman has robbed you, It Is best for you to watt hero and let tho law the officials, offi-cials, monslour seek him." "Tho law again!" "Yes, monsieur." "Then I havo lost her forever!" Tho traveler, who for somo ton minutes had been pleading with tho courteous official to honor his expired passport nnd allow him to cross from Franco Into Spain, sank down upon a chair In tho private quarters ot tho French railway station and burled his faco In his hnnds. "Lost her, monslour?" tho official questioned, with a now show of interest. inter-est. "Is It a lady?" "Yes!" tho othor groaned. "Ho has robbed me of my wlfo!" "And tho lady?" "Is with him." "Pardon again, monsieur; tho gentloman gen-tloman you scok Journeyed alone. Ah, monslour is mistaken! Ho need not despair! Take courage! Tho gentleman gentle-man Journeyed alone!" "No, I say. She is with him and as helpless as the dead." "Monslour!" "I say, yes sho Is with him." "In spirit, monsieur?" "In bodv " "Will monsieur explain to the officials offi-cials how the gentleman has robbed him of his wlfo? Wo havo tho tolo-graph tolo-graph and. may tbo gentleman detain before ho reaches tho sea coast But If motiBlcur will listen, ho will learn how tho gentleman was not accompanied accom-panied by a lady, nor by a servant attended." at-tended." "Tho lndy is dead!" camo tho amazing amaz-ing reply. "Dead, monsieur!" exclaimed tho official. of-ficial. "Ah!" A doubt as to tho other's sanity seemed to strlko the Frenchman French-man and ho looked about M,xslly. "Will monsieur rca'd to tea the tlmo?" ho questioned. "Head!" Tho American traveler laubhed an unpleasant laugh. Then his smothered Impatience broke out. "Can't I follow him on foot without A passport?" "No, monslour; not Into territory Spanish." "May death stop him then!" tho other oth-er cried with uplifted hands. Tho Frenchman's suspicions deepened; deep-ened; but, courteous oven to a madman, mad-man, ho only begged tho othor to havo patience "Yes, I know you think I ravo," tho Amorlcan broke In, passionately; "and you would think mo mad It I told you the wbolo truth. Yet I say ho has robbed me ot my wlfo and she Is with him ln person. You, yourself, bow her." "Pardon, monsieur; I saw hor not" "Did ho not wear a great diamond upon his hand?" "Monsieur 1b right." "Thon " . "It wns a pool ot light, monslour," continued the Frenchman. "Ah, it Is monsieur's Jowol, and bo lovely that ho salts It his wlfo!" "It Is my wlfo!" camo tbo amazing reply. For a moment tho othor was wholly nonplused. Then he questioned: "Has monslour wedded n Jewel?" "No 1 havo wedded no Jewel. That stone, I say, Is no Jowol! It Is a womanmy wom-anmy wife flesh nnd bloodl Ah, honor tho passport and let me go!" Beforo tho Frenchman, could answer an-swer tho sudden changing of a boll, a hiss ot escaping steam and tho rum-bio rum-bio of car wheels was heard without. Both men rushed to tho door and out upon tho pjattorm. An englno with thrco passenger coaches attached drow Into tbo station from tbo wrong direction and contrary to official time. What was wrong? Tho men wore soon to learn. Two coaches from tho rear ot tho train which had drawn out ot tho station about halt an hour beforo be-foro had broken from their couplings i and boon wrecked and, a high French j ductal being among tho number Injured, In-jured, tho engineer had reversed his englno nnd returned for surgical aid Into French territory. Despite tbo traglo nature ot this return, re-turn, tho American gave a cry ot Joy and began searching nraong tho passengers pas-sengers for lo fugltlvo tbo fatso friend who had robbed him ot his ring. That friond was not to be found among tbo living, nor among tbo injured, in-jured, and four of tbo flvo dead had already been removed from the rear coach to the station! Would the fifth and last corpso bo that of the fugltlvo? fugl-tlvo? Brushing by tho porters, tho Amerl can leaped to where tho fifth dead body lay, crushed and mangled past recognition snvo by Its clothing, and yos, tho great whlto polar Btar-llkt diamond that tlnmod upon a finger oi Its bloodless hand! Tearing tho splendid Jowel away tho American brought It passlonntcl) to his lips and murmured: "Darling look up! I am hero!" "Will monsieur Bhow mo tho ring?' the French station official questioned, when again in his prlvato quartort alono with tho American. Tho latter drow tho Jowel from his breast and hnnded It with a powerful magnifying glass to tho Frenchman "Look at tho heart of tho stone through tho glass," ho sold, softly. Tho official did as ho was bidden and a cry ot astonishment escaped him. "Monsieur, it is divlno!" "Dtvlno! It Is tho work of God himself him-self 1 Is not Ho an artist?" Tho FronchmaU turned ngaln to tho diamond ln tho ring and for fully flvo minutes gavo It his unbroken attention, atten-tion, scarcely breathing, as if ho trembled trem-bled to dim for a moment tho magnifying magni-fying glass or the limpid gom beneath. And well might the Jewel hold his gaze, for In tho heart of tho perfect 40-carat stone, attired in simple Grecian Gre-cian costume, with a red roso In tho dark hair, lay In reposo tho minute, exquisite figure ot a woman. "MonBlour, sho?" "Is human." "Ah!" "Yes and once a divine nnd stotcl) woman." "Monsieur, how?" "Sho was my bride, and, as sho reclined re-clined ono day within a largo artificial crystal, diamond-shaped we wero rehearsing re-hearsing for an entertainment In which she wob to appear as tho spirit of tho diamond as sho reclined In tho attitudo which sho now keeps, somehow I don't know exactly how, but I think that tbo crystal In which There Wi a QHnt of Report, and He Pitched Headlong. sho was imprisoned had been mado of an unknown sand with some Btrange Inherent quality somehow a bolt ol lightning leaped out ot tho clear sky that mysterious crystal seemed tc draw down upon itself nil tho clcctri city In heaven, and whon I found my sight again this diamond lay at my feet" "And, monsieur, this is your brldo?" "Yes!, yesl" A great passion shook tho speaker and his votco broke painfully. pain-fully. "Tho forco of tho lightning compressed that crystal and her sweet body Into what you see Into ultimato form." "Monsieur, It Is a Jowol for a deity." Tho other mudo no immodlato reply, but stood looking upon tho cxqulstto form In tbo diamond ns a lovor looks Into the face of his beloved. Finally, ho said: "Sho Is not dead to me, and whllo I thus havo her with mo I earo not what I suffer." Ho took tho ring from tho hollow of his hand and waa about to placo It upon his flngor tho diamond Inward when tho lovely Jewel slipped from his hold and fell to tho floor. As It came In cotitact with tho hard tiles, there wns a slight explosive sound and a shower of mlnuto scintillating particles seemed to burst from tho ring itself and scntter llko dust on tho air. With a cry ot horror, tho American stoopod and snatched up tho ring. The diamond wns gone utterly 'from Its netting! "My God I" The word was a shriek, and the American staggered back ngainst tho wnll. hls faco drawn with unspeakable agony. "Monsieur! Monsieur! Monsieur!" Tho American's right bond mado a quick backward moyement. "Sho nover died till now!" he cried "Oh, my God!" There was a glint of steel, a sharp report, and, as the Frenchman rushed forward, tho other pitched headlong to his feet, dead I |