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Show . H"'' (i 1; t c " Ma,. 'l . . n ATGRATH ir HAROLD of Author Oxa MAN HEARTS AND .MASKS OH THE VOX llluslraliorvs Ity M.G.Kkttmbu. COPYRIGHT l)ll by DODD3 lent Moses, an Incident mors or less forgotten these days. From th tall of bis eye be gave swift scrutiny to bis chance acquaintance, and be found nothing to warrant suaplclon. It was not an unusual procedure for tnen to NIEKRILL COMPANY of lo go and toms as I pleased. To do (bis and lit meant precarious exploits. Tbls run represents on of them. 1 am telling you tho family secret; I am showing you tbs skelo I ton In tho closet, confidentially. tol that rug; and when I say that the seven labors of our old friend Hercules were simple diversions compared, you'll recognize the difficulties I bad to overcome. You know something of tbs Oriental mind. I handled tho Job alone, I may not bo out of tho Junglo yet." George listened entranced. He could readily conetruct tho scenes through which tbls adventurer bad gone;,tbo watchful nights, tho untiring patience, t! thirst, th hunger, th heat. And yet. he could hardly bvllev. II was n trifle skeptical. Many rogue had made the mistake of playing George's age. against his experience.. It bad mad some srlous blunders In the early stages of the business, however; and everybody, to gain something In the end, must lose something at the start "If that rug Is the one I have In mind, you certainly have stolen It And If It's a copy, I'll tell you quickly shops. I wanted to be my own man, Forty Thieves; Georg wss transport' d mentally to that magic city, stand Ing between th Tigris and the Eu phratea, In all Its whits glory df a thousand years gons. Ryanne, th room and Its furnishings, all bad vanished, all savs the exqulsits fabric patterned out of wool and cotton and knotted with that mingling love and eklll and patience the world knows no more. Its let his hand stray over It. Ilow many knees had pressed Its thick yet pliant substance? How many strang scenes had It mutely witnessed, scenes of beauty, of terror? It shone under the light Ilk th hid of a healthy hound. The nerves of a smoker sr generally made apparent by the rapidity of his exhalations. These two. la th several minutes, bad filled the room with a thick, blue haze; and through this th elder man eyed the younger. The sign of the wolf gleamed In his eyes, but without animosity, modified as It was by the half friendly, us. A dlsgresslon, perhaps, bt pertinently aa application. Temptation then no longer: shoulder, Georg began to qualms, llttlt chaps, who startc ' I sing Into his moral ears with 1 1 I maddening. Interminable dron makes on marvel however do hi their first teachers survlv Among these qualms ther wti that pleaded for th dsolat f rk his minions whoa csrelessnet i ! mad th theft possible. For all cared, th Moslem might grt forehead In tbs soulless sen make the sir palpltat with hla to AHih. No. Ths disturbs n f dut to th fact that nsver bef 1 a', hunt him up In Cairo, In Constantinople, 1 In Smyrna, or In any of the Oriental cities where bla buslneaa Itinerary led bim. The bouae of Morilmer A Jones was widely known. This man Ryanne might have been anywhere between b been wittingly th purrhl thirty and forty. !l was tall, well set stolen goods. Ht never trUtd I smooth-skinned- . blond and True, up, over ths suhtl distinction b be appeared to hav been III fed reknow Ing and suspecting; and if cently. A little more flesh under the been variously suspicious In r cheek bones, n touch of color, and the rertatn past bargains, consdeq Irishman would have been n handsome found no slxeabl wedge for man. George could read n rug a league murrers. Tbs Yhlordes wss coj off, as they aay, but be was a child In smile. ly stolen. the matter of physiognomy, whereas II paused, with hla band u "Ill risk It," said George finally, r In this reRyanne was a off th magical carpet, door knob of bis room. If b i10 having stepped bla waa for It both gard; necessary as It were. "I can't glv you a thou- keep th rug. It would fall la ju!d buslneaa and safety. sand pounds tonight. 1 can give you hands of a collector less senes11 1'U n It. look at take "Certainly, three hundred, and the balance tomor- To return It to th Tasha at Fw'bk went on Hut I tell you frankly," ! row, between ten and eleven, at would b pur folly, and thank.? George, "that to Interest me It's got Cook's." was on of th most beautiful f bln to te n very old one. You see, It'a t It "That will be agreeable to me." Ings In exlstenc. It wss as pr little fad of mine, outside the bualneaa I I As In H George pasted over all the available In Its way as any Raphael end of It. I'm crazy over real rugs, h he cash Its desired And rolled ran. treasure fUhln the and had, up possesi and I know something about every tuckrd It under his arm. That some- tensely. Why not? Insidious i J)n rare one In existence, or known to exwhere In the world was a true be- Was It not better that thef unm: ist. la It a ropy?" enough." I "No. Ill tell you more about "That's fair. And that's why," liever, walling and beating hla breast should see and learn what a woe I : elf II t rare of a and from down curses Allah th craft calling making when we get to my room." "1 wanted you to Ryanne declared, "Come on, then." George wa now look at It To me, considering wbat I upon the giaour, the dog of an Infidel, been, than to allow It to return ttur of a harem, to Iftd to to me It who had done tbls thing, disturbed sordid chamber quite willing to discuss rugs and car- have gone through to get ' In not "Tht As least. the ruin? able George Ryann said, w Is the genuine carpet To your expert pets. "1 say as be opened the door, "you deuce was a fanatical Turk or ried. I It a fine know be may copy. only Having gained the room, Ryanne eye "Wb t threw off his coat and relighted bla this much, that rare rugs and paint- must tell me all about th adventure. tb him? It must have been s thriller." thes 'Coarse argum specious Against some have n and that In had which. he many copies, ings cigar, saving mood, "It was," replied Ryanne. "The favor of becoming the adveCi Hit allowed to go out. He motioned George one Is being booked, sold, bamboozled, will Later, If you care to abcttoi1 and accomplice, tbers pin, to be seated. sandbagged, every day In the week. If story It." keep. "Well, Ive Cot Rug Up In My Room d Llk to Show You. hear first the possible stain of blood, niters I Is to this the real article, want 'you "Just a little yarn before I show you Of course," added George, moved man agreed that be had com Stmm: off It take the adventurer See the cuffs?" hands, these my rug. fellow I What did be want at this moSYNOPSIS. by a discretionary thought, this trans- from Ragdad In doubt Geoipio, i finished pleasantly. "Yes." ment? ( action Is Just between you and me." not like the thought of blood .f t hli There will be a hue and cry." "You will observe that I have had If Ryanne saw that be was too "You may lay odds on that," heart- he had collected a hundred tnei ygn Algernon Jonee, 0orr ofJVrcIvsl "No doubt It." of to reverse Note them. this collar? Iho Metropolitan Oriental Rug much, as the French say, he also perTrousers-hem"And the devil's own Job to get It ily. "Well, good night. Se you at not one of which was without tC r!fl s a bit company of New York, thlratln for ro- ceived the cause. The desire to shake Same thing. record. Again, If bs carried th Th, Cooks In the morning." mance, to In Cairo on a bualnoaa trip. frayed, coat shiny at the elbows." out of Egypt" These were set phrases Horace Hyanna arrlvaa at tha hotel In George till bis teeth rattled was Inbar;ind t to of tbs expert, preliminaries 8h hadn't seen Ryanne exhibited his sole fortune. Cairo with a carefully guarded bundle. stantly overcome. ? throng aa "One well between me "Four might gaining. carry and sovereigns blm, and for this he was grateful. round a stolen elephant" CHAPTER III (Continued.) "You are Interested In nigs? I mean W "But a man who Is as familiar with George became thoughtful. He waa George romance gathered Itself for old ones, rare ones, rugs that are among the gams as you are would have little a flight. Perhaps It was love thwart' bought once and seldom It ever sold generous and those he knew Intimately or slightly, difficulty. Your Integrity la an estabad and the gentleman with the mus- again." he had the Instinctive reserve of lished fact on both sides of the water. but tache and Imperial, In spite of his ami"Why, yes. That's my business." seasoned traveler In cases like You could take It to New York as a the no Ideas about trade. ability, might be the ogre. Perhaps George had silly this. copy, and no appraiser would know He waited. It was love and duty. Perhaps her He bad never posed as a gentlemans The truth la. I'm all but done for. the difference. It's worth the attempt lover bad gone down to sea... Perhaps son In the sense that It meant IdleAnd If I fall to strike a bargain here I'd take It to New York myself, but (for lovers are known to do such ness. with you. . . . Well, I should hate you see, I am flat broke. Come; what run he had with the card. hts Ryanne away things) presented son-of-1 gun to tell you the result. Our consul do you or care about a "How do you pronounce It?" asked other glrL If that was the case, a Turk?" of drolly. would have to furnish me passage George did not think highly of that George naively. Wbat do you want for It supposhome. Were you ever up against It to "As they do In Cork.1 tentative gentleman's taste. Perhaps and perhaps sgaln; but George might "I never saw It spelled that way be- the extent of reversing your cuffs and ing its genuine?" Georges throat was have gone on perhapslng till the fore. turning your collars? You dont know dry and his voice harsh. His conscience roused herself, feebly, for It crack o' doom, with never a solitary "Nothing surprising In that," replied what life la, then." George gravely produced two good had been a long time since occasion glimmer of the true slate of the girl's Ryanne. "No one else has, either, mind. Whenever he saw an unknown George laughed and waited for the cigars and offered one to his host. had necessitated her presence. Ryanne narrowed his eyes, carefully There was an absence of sound, man or woman who attracted his at- explanation, the possibilities. "Say, one broken balancing cheerful imthe never could he "You by is resist see. the as good a name presently tention, Ryan Is like giving It pulse to Invent a romance that might as they make them; but It classes crackle of matches; two billowing thousand pounds. It devil when But the drives, you clouds of smoke sway. floated and outward with and apply. bar politicians know. It Is it any set Immediately after dessert the two chemists. The two extra letters put upward. Ryanne sighed. Here was a Is worth whatbeyondcollector laprice; willing any one could not In all cigRr the touch to A name. the the purchase finishing rose; and George, finding that nothing to pay for It. 1 believe I know the more. Important than a pineapple Ice Jewel is all right, but what tells Is length and breadth of the Orient, of man you are, Mr. Jones, and kind detained him, got up and followed. Mr. tho way you hang It round your neck Pedro Murlaa. In one of hla doubt Is why, when 1 learned you were that he had smoked prosperous fully To additional epochs those letters repreme, Ryanne almost trod on his heels as I came directly to you. You in Cairo, them How dally. long ago bad that they went through the doorway Into sent the Jewel Ryan In the hands of a sell this rug. No. You never would been? . lounglng-roomthe cosy George Lnllque. like a miser over his become would , Is You talk like an American." Yonder a rug, a prayer-rugas dropped Into a vacant divan and waitYou would keep It with your gold. to "I as Moslem the three idol's the am; Whats holy ed for his cafe a la Turque. eye generations. Mr. Is to the Hindu, as the Bible Is to the emeralds (I have heard about them, the matter?" with sudden concern. s Ryanne walked over to the "Havent 1 Christian. For hundreds of years It too); draw the curtains, lock the George was frowning. bureau and asked If that gentlenever saw the outside of the Sultan's doors, whenever you looked at It. Eh? met somewhere before?" man would be so kind as to point out you A specu- palace. One day the late, the recently You would love it for its own sake, "Not to my recollection. Mr. George P. A. Jones, If he were and not because It Is worth so many now frown lative marred In Ryanne's late, Abdul the Unspeakable Turk, anywhere sight He thoughtfully, You are sailing In not to say regretfully, laid down a forehead. It did not Illustrate a search gave It to the Iasha of Bagdad thousand pounds. will help. The Pasha in his memory for such a casualty as Whenever this rug makes Its appear- a few days; that small bribe. and It will be In Is Constantinople, ance forHe In of never George. Holy Mecca, It la worshiped, "Mr. Jones?" The porter knew Mr, the meeting three or four weeks before he hears of none face a reand and not did a but Sultan or a got Sultan's certainly Jones very well. He was generous, the theft, or the cost," with a certain and treated the servants as though member George's. Rather, tfc) frown favorite may kneel upon It. Bagdad, source in the mild dread that the hundred mosques, the old capital grimness. they were really human beings. Mr, had its "You haven't killed any one? whls Perclval Algernon had seen him some- of Suleiman the Great, the dreary Ryanne, either by his Inquiry or as one of those lndisposl Tigris and the sluggish Euphrates, a pered George. the result of his bribe, went up sev- where during I dont know; perhaps. Christianof tlons muezzin from the turret calls to pray the after. "No; morning eral degrees In the porters estimaOccidental the paganism; a against have ity mistake. all made and er, that; eh? tion. "Mr. Jones Is over there, on the think you "Likely enough. It Just struck me George leaned forward from his conscience permits it." Ryanne made divan by the door." gesture to Indicate that he would that you looked something like a chap chair, a gentle terror In his heart "Thanks." submit to whatever moral arraignment half-bacwas who Yhlordes? Jove! named "The Wadsworth, is By that the But Ryanne did not then seek the Mr. Jones deemed advisable to make. on the varsity, when I entered my Yhlordes?" young man. He studied the quarry But George made none. He rose Admiration kindled in Ryannes from a diplomatic distance. No; there freshman year. sought his knife and, without hastily, "A man? To have bulls-ey- e no! I hit the Lord, eyes. university with was nothing to Indicate that George as by your leave, slashed the much so loose at was been an turned so aim was ample ten; free and quick hustling Perclval Algernon Jones was In any since." Ryanne spoke easily, not proof that Perclval Algernon had not twine, flung aside the paper, and threw ever It Was the Yhlordes. way handicapped by his Arthuresque It a tremor In his voice, although he boasted when he said that he knew the rug across the counterpane. lor he middle names. . was the Yhlordes. There was not the "Good night. George passed down home with hts other purchases, had received a slight mental Jolt. something about rugs. "No fool, as Gloconda In her Infinite could pull it through the customs j no college record here. But I slightest doubt In his mind. He had the corridor to the adjoining room. Youve guessed It. "No; 1 r wisdom hath said; but romantic, ter- want to chat with And now, bang! goes Pandoras box. by lying, which was as dlatasteft . "How did you come by It? George heard it described, he had seen a you about rugs. 7.0U he knew of Its ribly romantic, yet, like the timid Ive heard of you. Indirectly." his aa si mind a of It, receiver photograph being history demanded excitedly. 1 ni bather who puts a foot Into the water, ) CHAPTER IV. goods. and, most vital of all, be owned a do you Rsk that?" "From the carpet fellows? We do "Why Ba,aai finds it cold, and withdraws It It will a of It. He had already paid a goodly j Man, big business over here. What have pounds could good copy all depend upon whether he Is a real Old Acquaintance. An the purchase; and It was was that robust against temptation Against that not carbit that of rug, got?" purchase collector or merely a buyer of rugs. you on decides which and a man who waa down that the That likely a and faculty (like the in energetic alluring rug up Well, Ive my room pet. Collectors from every port have Ho Forward, then, Horace; a sovereign Id like to show you. I want your Judg- been after It In vain. And you mean man who insists upon your having a lawlessness of our actions; so the his collars and cuffs vr cy has already dashed headlong down the ment for one thing. Will you do me to tell me that It lies conand refund want It and ought not noted etymologist back described take the when you rug drink there, wrapped "On I The curse of speaking the favor? far horizon. to distinwas fell Yhlordes another chance what The It conhla, had science. have money. to It), In butcher's paper? n his thoughts aloud did not lie heavily science, grown Innocuous In the long guished Intellect to add that con- pen what might. So conscience snt Rlght-O!- " Since the girl had disappeared and alt on of cowards us retired all. and makes red upon him tonight, for these cogitations with her those Imaginary out lantern of mans the her beAy. science young good Ryanne solemnly detached a cuff period I 01 P1 were made in silence, unmarked by nances that had for a space appurte(TO BE CONTINUED.) transand rolled up his sleeve. The bare havior? Collectors are always honest She may be overcome at times, sided any facial expression. He proceeded formed the lounglng-rooInto a stage, muscular arm was scarred by two before and after that moment arrive tracked for any special desire that def Re across the room and sat down beside George saw again with normal vision long, ugly Sometimes. want a clear way; but 6hes after us, when mands Happen something they desperatescarcely I beg your pardon, he be- that the room was simply a common healed. Next he drew wratc "Get off and lets go to the George. up a trousers-leg- , ly; and George was no more saintly fast enough, with that battered red 1 d kind. And how down of his gan, "but are you not Mr. Jones? which, game. than lantern meeting-grounbrought for hers, deep Ryanne perdisclosing a battered shin. "And "I got off the other day. Canl do thi and his confederates had delved Into from all tongueB crisply into our own, Mildly astonished, George signified sons and persons, of the theres another on my shoulder-blade- , I ; It on Dont do It! She herself is peat so soou. that he was. unimpeachable, the Impeccable, the the closest call I ever had. A man human hnture, how well they could reads "Then well go to the theater At doubtful and the peccant; for In Cairo, who takes his life In his hands, as I read and Judge it, was made manifest not wholly without cunning. She rare"George P. A. Jones?" bent f ; George nodded again, but with some as In ancient Egypt, there Is every have done, merits some reward. Mr. In this moment of Georges moral re- ly stands boldly upon the track to flag night." "Cant do that either. The o led oi heat in his cheeks. "Yes. What Is class and kind of humans, for whom Jones, Ill be frank with you. I am a lapse. us as we come. She realizes that she It? , The girl had Just finished her the Decalogue was written, tran- kind of derelict. Since I was a boy, I and we worl rectlo Bagdad, the Jinns, Slnbad, the Thou- might be permanently ditched. No; It plays a double-heade- r J the p coffee and was going away. Hang this scribed, and shattered by the turbu- - have hated the humdrum of offices. sand and One Nights, Alibaba and the is Air safer to run after us and catch night. j past-maste- if j half-cynic- 11 it ti s kind-hearte- a prize-fighter- head-porter'- 1 k knife-wound- d well-dresse- d Ur I j F - |