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Show CD. lROLD MACCiPTJ Q ) q Place qJ Honeymoons, etc. hA &R!GHTV TM BOBB3-7ERRIU. COHPAh Y j SYNOPSIS. 4 irmlnirton, an American adventurer. , i,nu-s his servant, with a caged pilr-,he pilr-,he trio known up and down the Ir-,"jv Ir-,"jv s Parrot & Co.. travel along the i iii the landing, bound for Hansoon .ah a draft for 300.000 rupees. Elsa .'.,'.ood rich American girl tourist, sees ',: '.rinstiin come aboard the boat at the ..'ir.f and, amazed at his liKenvss to !L "lisiice Artliur Klllson. asks the purs-"to purs-"to 'introduce her. He tells her that Ti-r'ncton has beaten a syndlcnte and 'i his oil claims for 20.00U Wnrrlnir-T.. Wnrrlnir-T.. put Kniah. the parrot, through his r"s for Elsa and warns her against -iintanee with unknown adventurers 'r..-eif. In fact. They pass two golden J'i" together on the river. CHAPTER IV Continued. Warrington rushed ashore to find tie dry-roods shop. His social redemption redemp-tion was on the way, if vanity went lir anything. It was stirring and i.-liEg with life again. With the ec:ev advanced by the purser he SKfbt shirts and collars and ties, and is be possessed no watch, returued tirely in time to dress for dinner. He us cot at all disturbed to learn that 4e inquisitive German, the colonel ird bis fidgety charges, had decided ti proceed to Rangoon by rail. Indeed, !i;:e was a bit of exultation In his Eisner as he observed the vacant chairs. Paradise for two whole riay3. izi be proposed to make the most c! it Now his mind was as clear of e;il as a forest spring. He simply Tiited to play; wanted to give rein ;o lie lighter emotions so long pent :p in his lonely heart Tie purser, used to these sudden thaiges and desertions in his passen-fir passen-fir lists, gave the situation no i:zAt But Elsa saw a mild danger, ill the more alluring because it hung rfjlcusly. What harm could there l in having a little fling? He was soacazingly like outwardly, so aston-isg!y aston-isg!y unlike Inwardly, that the situ-icn situ-icn had for her a subtle fascination ijsisst which she was in nowise in-tied in-tied to fight She was not wholly iporant of her power. She could bend the man if she tried. Should she try? They were like two children, setting Ktto play a game with fire. She thought of Arthur. Had he gone ie length of his thirty-five years with-c:t with-c:t bis peccadillos? Scarcely. She c:ferstood the general run of men sll enough to accept this fact. Whom-fier Whom-fier she married she was never going lo worry him w ith questions regarding his bachelor life. Nor did she pro-fcie pro-fcie to be questioned about her own Pt. Besides, Bhe hadn't married Ar-rtir Ar-rtir yet; she had only promised to isd such promises were sometimes K-'ibly broken. These thoughts tsbed through her mind, disconnecter, disconnect-er, while she talked and laughed. It never occurred to her to have Mar-la Mar-la moved up from the foot of the Wit Once or twice Bhe stole a glance the woman who had in the olden k?s dandled her on her knees. The Elace was a mixture of guilt and tschief, like a child's. But the glance not the power to attract Martha's f Martha felt the glances as nrtl? as if she had lifted her eyes to t them. She held her peace. She "iJ not been brought along as Elsa's Kardian Elsa was not self-willed but Krong willed, and Martha realized that interference would result In easement. ea-sement. In fact Martha beheld Harrington a real menace. The ex-"Mrdmary ex-"Mrdmary resemblance would natu-appeal natu-appeal to Elsa, with what results could only imagine. Later she EM Elsa if she had told Warrington tbe remarkable resemblance. "Jercy no! And what is more, I oot want him to know. Men are -n as a rule; and 1 should not like , Urt his Tanity by telling him that JUSht his acquaintance simply be-he be-he might easily have been Ar- L Ellison's twin brother." j man you are engaged to marry." Martha?" 2 beg your Parlon, Elsa; but the , S terrifies me. He is some-8 some-8 uncanny." 'Nonsense! You've been reading about yogi." '8 a terrible country." Be,) tbe East. Martha, the East. and a1I,an may wear a dress su!t E-6., b0ler without offending any- Ad a woman may talk to anyone ; Pleases." rj v.bave been witn me twenty J' tpean Elsa coldly. orl4 i yU better than tne wno,e !!,,' ,And 1 wsn I could guard you -wh ,Jm harra and evil. Those I"d old Englishwomen . . ." on kl,80 there's been gossip already? 0 10 ow my views regarding gossip. 'S as I know that 1 am doing no wrong, ladles may gossip their heads oft. I'm not a kitten." "You are twenty-five, aud yet you're only a child." "What does that signify? That 1 am too young to manage my own affairs? af-fairs? That I must set my clock as others order? Good soul!" putting her arms around the older woman. "Don't worry about Elsa Chetwood. Her life is her own, but she will never misuse it" "Oh, if you were only married and settled dowu!" "You mean if 1 were happily married and settled down. There ycu have It I'm in search of happiness. That's the Valley of Diamonds. When I find that. Martha, you may fold your hands in peace." "Grant It may be soon! I hate the East!" "And I have Just begun to love It" CHAPTER V. Back to Life. The two days between Prome and Rangoon were distinctly memorable for the subtle changes wrought In the man and woman. Those graces of mind and manner which had once been the man's began to find expression. Physically, his voice became soft and mellow; his hands became full of emphasis; em-phasis; his body grew less and less clumsy, more and more leonine. The blunt speech, the Irritability in argument, argu-ment, the stupid pauses, the painful study of cunning phrases, the suspicion suspi-cion and reticence that figuratively encrust en-crust the hearts of shy and lonely men, these vanished under her warm if careless care-less glances. If the crust of barbarism is thick that of civilization is thin enough. As Warrington went forward Elsa stopped and gradually went back, not far, but far enough to cause her to throw down the bars of reserve, to cease to guard her impulses against the invasion of interest and fascination. She faced the truth squarely. The man fascinated her. He was like a portrait with following fol-lowing eyes. She spoke familiarly of her affairs (always omitting Arthur); she talked of her travels, of the famous fa-mous people she had met, of the wonderful won-derful pageants she had witnessed. It was not her fault that, with the exception ex-ception of Martha, who didn't count, they two were the only passengers. This condition of affairs was directly chargeable to fate; and before the boat reached Rangoon, Elsa was quite willing to let fate shift and set the scenes how it would The phase that escaped her entirely was this, that had he not progressed she would have retained her old poise, the old poise of which she was never again to be mistress. It Is the old tale sympathy to lift up another first steps down. And never had her sympathy sym-pathy gone out so quickly to any mortal. mor-tal. Elsa had a horror of loneliness, and this man seemed to be the living presentment of the word. What struggles, strug-gles, and how simply he recounted them! What things he had seen, what adventures had befallen him, what romance ro-mance and mystery! She wondered if there had been a woman in his life and if she had been the cause of his downfall. Every day of the past ten years lay open for her to admire or condemn, but beyond these ten years there was a Chinese wall, over which she might not look. Only once had she provoked the silent negative nod of his head. He was strong. Not the smallest corner of the veil was she permitted to turn aside. She walked hither and thither along the scarps and bastions of tbe barrier, but never found the breach. "Will you come and dine with me tonight?" to-night?" she asked, as they left the boat "No, Miss Innocence." "That's silly. There Isn't a soul I know here." "But," gravely he replied, "there are many here who know me." "Which infers that my Invitation Is unwise?" "Absolutely unwise. Frankly, J ought not to be seen with you." "Why? Unless, indeed, you have not told me the truth. Where's the harm?" "For myself, none. On the boat It did not matter so much. It was a situation situ-ation which neither of us could foresee nor prevent. I have told you that people here look askance at me because be-cause they know nothing about me, save that 1 came from the States. And they are wise. I should be a cad if I accepted your invitation to dinner." "Then I am not to see you again?" The smile would have lured him across three continents. "Tomorrow I promise to call and have tea with you, much against my better judgment." ' "Oh, if you don't want to come . . ." "Don't want to come!" Something in his eyes caused Elsa to speak hurriedly. "Goodby until tomorrow." to-morrow." She gave him her hand for a moment, mo-ment, stepped into the carriage, which already held Martha and the luggage, and then drove off to the Strand hotel. He stood with his helmet In his hand. A fine, warm rain was falling, but he was not conscious of It. It seemed incredible that time should produce such a change within the space of seventy hours, a little more, a little less. As she turned and waved a friendly hand lie knew that the desolation deso-lation which had been his for ten years was nothing as compared to that which now fell upon his heart. She was as unattainable as the north star; and nothing, time nor circumstance, could bridge that incalculable distance. His heart hurt him. He must see her no more after the morrow. Enchantment and happiness were two words which fate had ruthlessly scratched from his book of days. Mr. Hooghly had already started off toward the town, the kit bag and the valise slung across his shoulders, the parrot cage bobbing at his side. He knew where to go; an obscure lodging for men in the heart of the business section, known In Jest by the derelicts dere-licts as the Stranded. Warrington, becoming suddenly aware that his pose, If prolonged, would become ridiculous, put on his helmet and proceeded to the Bank of Burma. Today was Wednesday; Thursday week he would sail for Singapore Sin-gapore and close the chapter. Before banking hours were over his financial affairs were put in order, and he walked forth with two letters of credit and enough banknotes and gold to carry him around the world if he so planned. Next he visited a pawnshop and laid down a dozen mutilated tickets, receiving in return a handsome hand-some watch, emerald cuff buttons, some- stickpins, some pearls and a beautiful old ruby ring, a gift of the young maharajah of Udaipur. The ancient an-cient Chinaman smiled. This was a rare occasion. Men generally went out of his dark and dingy shop and nevermore returned. "Much money. Can do now?" affably. "Can do," replied Warrington, slipping slip-ping the treasures into a pocket What a struggle it had been to hold them! Somehow or other he had always been able to meet the interest, though, often to accomplish this feat he had been forced to go without tobacco for weeks. There is a vein of superstition in all of us, deny It how we will. Warrington Warring-ton was as certain of the fact as he was of the rising and the setting of the sun, that if he lost these heirlooms heir-looms he never could go back to the old, familiar world, the world in whicn he had moved and lived and known happiness. Never again would he part with them. A hundred thousand dollars, dol-lars, almost; with his simple wants, he was now a rich man. "Buy ling?" asked the Chinaman. He rolled a mandarin's ring carelessly across the showcase. "Gold; all heavy; velly old, velly good ling." "What does it say?" asked Warrington, Warring-ton, pointing to the characters. "Good luck and plospelity; velly good signs." It was an unusually beautiful ring, unusual In that it had no setting of jade. Warrington offered three sovereigns sov-ereigns for it. The Chinaman smiled and put the ring away. Warrington laughed and laid down five pieces of gold. The Chinaman swept them up In his lean, dry hands. And Warrington Warring-ton departed, wondering if she would accept such a token. By four o'clock he arrived at the Chinese tailors in the Suley Pagoda road. He ordered a suit of pongee, to be done at noon the following day. He added to this orders for four other suits, to be finished within a week Then he went to the shoemaker, to the hatter, to the haberdasher. All this business because he wanted her to realize what he had been and yet could be. Thus vanity sometimes works out a man's salvation. And it marked the end of Warrington's recidivation. When he reached his lodging house he sought the Burmese landlady. She greeted him with a smile and a stiff little shake of the hand. He owed her money, but that was nothing. Had he not sent her drunken European sallorman husband about his business? busi-ness? Had he not freed her from a tyranny of fists and curses? It had not affected her in the least to learn that her sailorman had been negligently negli-gently married all the way from Yokohama Yoko-hama to Colombo. She wus free of him. Warrington spread out a five-pound note and laid ten sovereigns upon It. "There we are," he said genially; "all paid up to date." "You go 'way?" the smile leaving her pretty moon-face. "You like?" with a gesture which indicated the parlor and its contents. "Be boss? Half an' half?" He shook his head soberly. She picked up the money and jingled It in her hand "Goo'-by!" softly. "Oh, I'm not going until next Thursday." Thurs-day." The smile returned to her face, and her body bent in a kind of kotow. He was so big, and his beard glistened like the gold leaf on the Shwe Dagon pagoda. She understood. The white to the white and the brown to the brown; It was the law. Warrington went up to his room. He was welcomed by a screech from the parrot and a dignified salaam from James, who was trimming the wick of tbe oil lamp. For the last year and a half this room had served as head quarters. Many a financial puzzle had been pieced together within these dull, drab walls; many a dream had gone up to the ceiling, only to sink and dis sipate like smoke. There were no pictures pic-tures on the walls, no photographs In one corner, on the floor, was a stack of dilapidated books. These were mostly old novels and tomeB dealing with geological and mathematical matters; mat-ters; laughter and tears and adventure, adven-ture, sandwiched in between 4he dry positiveness of straight lines and squares and circles and numerals without with-out end; D'Artagnan hobnobbing with Euclid! Warrington was an educated man, but he was in no sense a scholar. James applied a match to the wick, and the general poverty of the room was instantly made manifest "Well, old sober-top, suppose we square up and part like good friends?" "I am always the sahib's good friend." "Right as rain!" Warrington emp tied his pockets upon the table; silver and gold and paper. "Eh?' That's the stuff. Without it the world's not worth a tinker's dam. Count out seventy pounds, James." Calmly James took sovereign after sovereign until he had withdrawn the required sum. "Gold is heavy, sahib," he commented. "You go back home?" "Yes. Something like home. 1 am going to Paris, where good peple go when they die. I am going to drink vintage wines, eat truffles and mushrooms mush-rooms and caviar and kiss the pretty girls in Maxim's. I've been in prison for ten years. I am free, free!" Warrington War-rington flung out his arms. "Good by, jungles, deserts, hell heat and thirsty winds! Good-by, crusts and rags and hunger! I am going to live." "The sahib has fever," observed the unimaginative Eurasian. "That's the word; fever. I am burning burn-ing up. Here; go to tbe Strand and get a bottle of champagne, and bring some ice. Buy a box of the best cigars, ci-gars, and hurry back. Then put this junk in the trunk. And d n the smell of kerosene!" James raised his hand warningly From the adjoining room came the sound of a quarrel. "Rupees one hundred and forty, and I want it now, you sneak!" "But I told you 1 couldn't square up until the first of the month." "You had no business to play poker, then, if you knew you couldn't settle." ! "Who asked me to play?" shrilled the other. "You did. Well, I haven't got the money." "You miserable Jittle welcher! The ring is worth a hundred and forty." "You'll never get your dirty fingers inside of that." "Oh, I shan't, eh?" Warrington heard a scuffling, which was presently followed by a low, choking chok-ing sob. He rushed fearlessly into the other room. Pinned to the wall was a young man with a weak, pale face The other man presented nothing more than the back of his broad, muscular mus-cular shoulders. The disparity In weight and height was sufficient to rouse Warrington's sense of fair play. Besides, he was in a rough mood himself. him-self. "Here, that'll do," he cried, seizing the heavier man by the collar. "It isn't worth while to kill a man for a handful of rupees. Let go, you fool!" He used his strength. The man and his victim swung in a half-circle and crashed to the floor. With a snarl and an oath the gambler gam-bler sprang to his feet and started toward Warrington. He stopped short "Good God!" he murmured; and retreated re-treated until he touched the footboard of the bed. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |