Show r fl i f HEART MASKS by HAROLD macgrath authora Au thoro etc with drawings by harrison fisher j ha by bobbt co CHAPTER II 11 continued 1 I drew out my wallet I 1 bad ar rived too late to go to the bank and I 1 was carrying an buncom ort ably large sum in gold bills As I 1 opened the wallet to extract a small bill I 1 saw the stranger eying me quietly well well the dullest being brightens at the sight ot money and ailts representatives I 1 drew out a ismall bill and handed it to the pro praetor he took it together with the mask and sidled over to the cash register the bell gave forth a auf fled sound not unlike that of a fire bell in a snowstorm As he was la the act of wrapping up my pur chase I 1 observed the silent custom er s approach when he reached my side he stooped and picked up some thang from the floor with a bow he presented it to me 1 saw it drop from your pocket v ie said and then when he saw what it was his jaw fell and he sent me a hot penetrating glance the ten of hearts he exclaimed in amazement I 1 laughed easily the ten of hearts he repeated yes four hearts an one side and tour on the other and two in the middle which make ten in all raillery in my tones what the deuce was the matter with everybody to night marvelous card ita very strange 1 he murmured pull tag at bis lips and in what dav Is it strange I 1 asked rather curious to learn the cause of bis agitation there are several reasons brief ly ah T have seen a mans hand pinned to that card therefore it Is grew some some card sharper he nodded then agala idlest a email fortune because card T diffidently yes why will a man try to fill a royal the man next to me drew the ten or hearts the acry card I 1 needed the of it always un ayerves me I 1 beg your pardon oh that s all right said I 1 won darlng how many more lies he had up ails sleeve and there s still another reason I 1 saw a man put six bullets into the two central spots and an hour later tho seventh bullet snuffed the candle of a frieada of mine I 1 am from the west 1 I can sympathize with you I 1 returned after all that trouble the sight of the card must have given you a shock then I 1 stowed away the fatal card and took up my bundle and change I 1 be in my own time tried to fill royal and the disappointment still with a bitter taste the element of chance Is the most fascinating thing there Is the stranger from the west volunteered so it Is I 1 recalled suddenly re calling that I 1 was soon to put my trust in the hands of that very fickle god dess ho nodded and returned to his vers while I 1 went out of the shop hailed a cab and drove up town to my apartments in riverside it was eight 0 clock by my watch I 1 leaned tack against the cushions ruminating there seemed to be something colne on that night the ten of hearts was acquiring a mystifying not to say sin aster aspect I 1 arst it had alarmed the girt in and now this 1 stranger in the curio shop I 1 was con fluent that the latter had lied in to tila explanations the card had startled bilm but his reasons were altogether of transparent thinness A man never likes to confess that he Is malucky at cards there Is a certain itrice in lying about the enormous stakes you have won and the wonder ful draws you have made I 1 frowned it was not possible tor me to figure out what his interest in the card was it ho was a westerner his buying a pistol in a pawnshop was at once als robed of its mystery but the incon elegance of his evening clothes my suspicions bah what was the use of troubling with strangers affairs 9 ho would never cross my path again p in reasonable time the cab drew ap aln front of my apartments I 1 dressed donned my capuchin s and took a look at myscal in the pier glass then I 1 the package and put an the brask the whole made a capital outfit and I 1 waa vastly pleased with myself this was going to be hsuch an venture as one reads about in the ancient numbers of alick wood I 1 slipped the robe and mask into m suitcase and lighted my pipe durans great like this a iman feathers courage and confidence from a of rubt cco I 1 dropped tanto a comfortable touched the gas logs and fell into a pleasant dream it was not necessary for me to start for the twenty third street ferry till nine so I 1 had something like three quarters of an hour to idle away what beautiful hair that girl had it was like sunshine the silk of corn the yield of the bar vest and the marvelous abundance of it was true that she was an artists model it was equally true that she had committed a mild impropriety in addressing me as she had but tor all I 1 could see she was a girl of delicate breeding doubtless one of the many whose family fortunes or misfortunes forced them to earn a alv ing and it Is no disgrace these days to pose as an artists model the classic oils gowada s call only for ex creations in gowns and hats mythology was exhausted by the old masters rome paris london pos a bohemian bohe existence in these cities accounted for her ease in stalk ing up a conversation harmless enough with a total stranger in paris and rome it was all very well but it Is a risky thing to do in anro mantic new ork and london how ever her uncle had been with her a veritable fortress had I 1 overstepped over stepped the bounds of politeness the smoke wavered and rolled about me I 1 took out the ten of hearts and studied it musingly after all should I 1 go would it be wise I 1 confess I 1 gaw goblins heads peering from the spots and old poo stories returned to me it was only a frolic no serious harm could possibly come of it I 1 would certainly go now I 1 bad gone thus tar what tool idea the girl was bent on I 1 baan t tho least idea but I 1 easily recognized the tolly upon which I 1 was about to set sail heigh ho what was a lonely young bachelor to do at the most they my opera hat outside ahe ilora araa still active but the snow hid a aiom isling softness and there TITO patches of stars to be seen bera and there in the sky dy there would be a full moon I 1 gf I 1 to jersey city without mishap and when I 1 took my seat in the smoker I 1 found I 1 had ten minutes to spare F bought a news paper and settled down to read the day s news it was fully half an hour between jersey city and la that time I 1 could begin and finish the paper there never was a newspaper those days that haan hadn t a war map in some one of its columns and when I 1 had digested the latest phases of the war in the far east I 1 quite naturally turned to the sporting page to learn what was going on among the other professional fighters have I 1 men to you the fact that I 1 was all through tho spanish war the mix up in china and that I 1 had resigned my commission to adept the post of traveling salesman tor a famous motor car company it I 1 have not pardon me you will now readily accept my recklessness of spirit as a matter of course I 1 turned over another page from this I 1 learned that the fair sex was going back to puff sleeves again many an old sleeve was going to be turned upside down fudge the train was rattling through the yards another page crackled ha here was that un known gentleman thief again up ta bis old tricks it Is remarkable how difficult it Is to catch a thief who has good looks and shrewd brains I 1 had already written him down as a quasi swell for months the police had been finding clues but they had never laid eyes on the rascal the famous of the new york detective force a man whom not a dozen ne took a look at in the glass bould only ask me to vacate the prem ases should I 1 be so unfortunate aa to be discovered in that event teddy hamilton would come to my assist ance she wag really beau alful and then I 1 awoke to the alarm ing fact that the girl in was interesting me more than I 1 liked to confess presently through the haze of smoke I 1 baw a patch ot white paper on the rug in front of the pier glass I 1 arose and picked it up hav thorne blue domino tr S 30 P M annaf west sh street I 1 stared at the bit of pasteboard fascinated how the deuce had this got into my apartments A blue domino ha I 1 had it old filard had accidentally done up the ticket with my mask A adlue domino evl deally I 1 gasn wasn t the only person who was going to a masquerade without doubt this fair was about to join the festivities of some a masquerade where money and pedigree are inconsequent things and where everybody is either a boldy or a gent persons who went to my kind of masquerade did not rent their costumes they laid out extravagant sums to the fashionable modiste and tailor and bad them made fr order A niue domino humph it was too lato to take the ticket back to filard s so I 1 determined to mall it to him in the morning it was now high time for me to be off I 1 st into my coat and took down york policemen knew by eight and no criminals save those behind bars earthly and eternal was now giving his whole attention to the affair some gaily dressed lady at a ball would suddenly fand she had lost some valuable gems and that would be the end of tho affair for none ever recovered her gems the gentleman thief was atall at large and had gathered to bis account a comfortable fortune that Is it he were not already rich and simply a kleptomaniac hio doubt he owned one of my racing cars and was clear ot the delinquent lists at his clubs I 1 dismissed all thought of him threw aside the paper and mentally figured out my commissions on sales during the past month it was a handsome figure large enough for two this pastime too soon tailed to interest me I 1 gazed out of tho window and watched the dark shapes aa they sped past I 1 saw the girls face from time to time what a fool I 1 had been not to ask her name she could easily have refused and yet aa easily have grant ed the request at any rate I 1 had permitted the chance to slip out of my reach which was exceedingly careless on my part perhaps they she and her uncle frequently dined at I 1 determined to haunt the place and learn it would be easy enough to address her the next time we met besides she would be curious to know all about the ten of hearts and tho desperate adventure upon which I 1 told her I 1 was about to embark many a fino friendship bas grown out of smaller f lugt to be continued |