| OCR Text |
Show Ougo: W1LDVR D.NESDIT Cl ! blippOSHY rbO rr and the Pool of Flame had vanished. I "Because . . ." O'Rourke paaused. For several years It stayed vague suspicions taking shape in hie Tlie story opens at Monte Carlo with quiet, so far aa Is known. Then the mind. "Why did he ask about Cham-curs- e oh Terence O'llourke. a military free of the thing began to work, and I bret? be demanded. "How could ha anre and aoinethlnx of a xamliler. In hta it came to the surface In a drunken I have learned that the Jewel was with iiotel. Leaning on the balcony he aeea a beautiful (fir I who suddenly enters the brawl In the slums of Port Bald. The him? elevator and paaaea from alxht. At the He Jumped up and began to pace police, breaking Into some dive to faming table O'llourke notices two men Bertie a row, found nobody In the place the floor. Hatching him. One Is the Hon. stop Olynn. while his companion Is Viscount hut a dead Greek; they say twas a His wife rose, grave with conster-shamblelies Trebes. a duelist. The viscount tells him the French government has directed what nation. "What," she faltered One of found the the police him to O'llourke an a man who would ?" In makes and fist the man's big think, you ded ruby suspect his a At mission. secret apartundertake ment O'Rourke, who hiul agreed to unbefore bis companions guessed what I Because the fellow lied to me about dertake the mission, finds a mysterious was up slipped away with the stone, you this very night. Ye were with letter. The vlsruunt arrives, hands a . lea led package to O'Rourke, who Is not .He was murdered some months Lady Plinllmmon In the Casino, were A pair of 10 open It until on the ocean. In a Genoese bagnio, by a French ye not? Faith, and didn't I see ye? 1 later from seen are protruding dainty slippers under who got away with it somehow. I wae in chase of ye when the man doorway curtain. The Irishman girl, Hilda the owner of the mysterious feet to . . The O'Mahoney came across stopped me with his rigmarole about be his wife. Reatrix. from whom he had run away a year previous. the thing In Algeria, when he was representing the French government serving with the Foreign Legion. He and having a secret commission for CHAPTER IV. (Continued.) was In Bid! Bel Abbns one night, off me. Ye heard him Just now. . . . She shook her head sadly, wistful-y- . duty, and wandering about, when he And when I asked him was he of your How do I know? How can I tell? heard a man cry out for help in one party, he denied knowing Lady Plln-o- f We waste our time supposin' things. Imaginin' an' wound'rln' how Surely, dear, no two people were ever He made a later the narrow black alleys of the llmmon. We'd act or what we'd do If we He thought he recognized a I polntment with me here, to talk tappier than we yet within a year Were not the snnie as we are now. Tom our wedding you . . . you left comrade's voice, and surely enough, things over. I'm thinking he only We worry over lots of tilings. we ought to know . . . Why?" When all the He, rail away trom me. when he ran down to aid him, he wanted time to think up a scheme for Isn't evidence Well ye know why, dearest, and found a Dutchman, a man of his own getting me out of the way. Also, he Thnt guesalnso don't muke It so. 8uppuxln' well ye know twaB love of ye alone regiment, fighting with half a dozen wanted to find out where Chambret .bat drove ine from ye. Could I let natives He was about done for, the was. D'ye not see through hie little Bnme fellows wear your putlenre out t be said ye bad a husband who was Dutchman, when the O'Mahoney came game? To get me away from Monte X-- Udigs'ou X e incapable ol supporting ye? Could 1 ip, and eo were three of the Arabs. Carlo by the first morning train, that you should up an die! supposin' let It be said that your husband lived The O'Mahoney took care of the rest we might not meet; to get me on the Supposin you should lose your health; dke a leech upon your fortunes? of them, and left seven dead men be- - first Atlantic liner, that I might not Suppose your friend should prove a foe An' things like that. They got to leara hind him when be went away the interfere with hie plot agalnet Cham-siFaith, didnt I have to go for your Supposin' so don't make it so. natives and the Dutchman, who bret. For what other reason would he take?' e Bn what's the use supposin' things bad died In hie arms and given him give me sealed orders? Sealed No," she dissented with a second When trouble s almost sure o come. Pool of Flame with his last whis-- ders! ORourke laughed curtly, weary shake of her pretty head: 1 It's best to wait until U strikes from his think It was love of yourself, a little, the Ing pocket long envelope There ain't no sense supposin' some! That's how It came to me, said and tearing It open. "Dehold hie "Supposin' things" don't educate and Terence that your pride. I tis like the things we're sure to know. O'Rourke. . sealed orders. If ye please! . Why should any of our world we are sure to learn I And where Is It now? He shuffled rapidly through hie fin- - And some day nave guessed you were not the rich Supposin so don't muke It so. In we Back six of If folded when sheets letter fancied mletsknot Im gers paper, Algeria, yourself ingn you en. . . . Ye remember Chambret guiltless of a single wero married? Who would have told The Jocular Neighbor Again. he was with ue In the desert and crumpled them Into a wad and threw them that your landed heritage In The man next door was at hla alley from him. Not to wanted him it Ireland had turned out profitless? afterwards? ye marry the aahea from the fur It seems that there's a certain lie has It the dear man; I love him What more do I need to prove that gate, lifting I, my dear." when the neighbor spied him nace, I know He sickened of he's conspiring to steal the Pool of from hla hack highly respectable temple In one of like a brother. that." be contended porch and came hurthe Shan Statea of Burmah ('tis me-se- Europe when he found his case with I Flame and claim for himself the but I know, too, sooner or the garden walk. down rying was hopeless, and went to' Al- - ward? A bankrupt, dlscred-glenforgets the name of It) and In later it would have come out, and "I've got a new one, said the neighI lted. with nothing but hie title and that temple there'a an Idol, a Buddha Joining the Foreign Legion. they would have said: There she while the man next door was Inbor, I of pure gold, 'tie said. It would he 4. But how ? hie fame aa a duelist to give him the ad goes with her fortune-hunteswearing because the wind wardly "Well, we were fold of each other, standing; Is It wonderful that he's shifted Just in time to blow a peck of perfectly good Buddha, only that It venturer who married her for her an an hie lacks eye; therea empty socket Chambret and I. I helped him out grasping at any chance to recoup money What Is tha ashes Into his whiskers. in Its forehead, and tis there ibe of some tight corners and he helped fortunes? He took a ewlft stride to- difference "And if so? Wbat earthly diffe woman between a young And Pool of Flame belongs or come from. me along when me money ran abort I ward the door, halted, turned. snee could it make to ua, sweetheart? man dancing to a lively a and young In the old days the natives called this Wae as it always did, and will, I'm young Glynn? be demanded. Wbat can gossip matter to ue If you tune and a man who stops to figure stone the Luck of the State, and thinking. After a while I got to won- - be with you, and was he thick with out love me?" whether or not he Is on tha right I were when for it dering how much I owed the man this precious rogue of a vlcomte? right; maybe they If he cried, almost angrily. "If! roadr and figured It up; the sum total They were much together. . . Where's the man going?" asked the Ah, but no, darling! 'tla your I out life then its clear ae window-mad- man next door, the of me. and frightened "Faith, self knows there le no' if about It. that heaving another scuthim take the ruby by way of se-- glass that the two of them, both I'm sick with love of ye this very of ashes Into the sifter at the optle curity and never was able to redeem broke, have figured out this thing b- portune moment when the vagrant minute sick and mad for ye . . Well and good! elt for Twas only a little after that tween them. . . . wind would puff most of It Into the "Then, she pleaded, with a desperI came Into me enormous - 1 want no more thin a hint of warn-mon- y that patrlate little break in her Incomparable clothing of his neighbor. and squandered It riotously get-- 1 lng. "It doesn't make any difference," voice; and again held out her arms He wae Interrupted by a knocking, ting married to the most beautiful the neighbor. lo him "then have pity on me, oh, my gasped woman living. With a start and a muttered exdamawould to me, growled the man "It dearest one have pity on me if only Ile warned me to hold the stone, tlon he remembered Van Elnem, and next door, shaking the sifter. or a title while. e the O'Mahoney did. saying that the stepped to the door end out Into a The And suddenly he had caught her to question Is: What la the difwould come when some native rldor, shutting the woman In. between a young man and a ference In hie her and she arms, him. lay prince would offer to redeem the Luck I She remained where he had left young woman dancing to a lively tune young strong body molded to hie. her of the State as an act of piety and pa- her, her pretty brows knitted with and a the lips to his. her eyes trlotlsm. He prophesied a reward of thought, for a time abstractedly conan Informal bop or a dress afIs I sweet fragrance of her too well rein the fair? it st least fifty thousand pounds. And sclous of a murmur of voices membered Intoxicating him; lgy su I now its come twice over! hallway. These presently ceased as That baa nothing to do with it. pine In bis embrace, yet held him And now what can you do?" the speakers moved away. She turned are simply dancing to a lively They strongly to her. and trembled In symDo? cried O'Rourke. "Faith, to one of the windows, leaning against la the difference " pathy with the deep, hurried poundtng what would I be doing? D'ye realize its frame and staring at the ominous tune, and what It's all right, as long as they like ol Ins heart. . . . what this means to me, dear heart? flicker and flare of What's the difference? I'm to dance. In tne south the horizon flamed It means you Independence, a little which lent the night a ghastly lumin- not with the pleasures for Interfering livid to the zenith, revealing a great, to claim my wife!" oslty, fortune, the right of the block wall of cloud that had stolen A cool breeze sprang up, bellying Ue drew her to him. Do? Sure, and "But you don't grasp the idea. up out of Africa; beneath k the sea by the first train and boat 111 go to the curtains. The woman expanded to What's the difference between them I shone momentarily with a sickly silkAlgeria, find Chambret. get him to it, reviving In Its fresh breath from and a man who stops to figure out en luster. Then the dense blackness give me the stone, take it to Rangoon, the enervating Influence of the even-claior not he Is on the right whether d ol the night reigned again, as facul-anthe reward, repay Chambret ing's still heat Her Intuitive road?" I as though impenetrable, eternal. ties began to work mure vivaciously; "He should have asked before he a dull growl of thunder rolled And what, my paladin?" she began to divine .hat which had started. That's all I've got to say. in across the waste., With It came the Dare ye ask me that madame? been mysterious to her ere now. snorted the neighbor. well!" Oh, first fitful warnings of the Impending will for me?" ye wait Say, "The young couple waits In a hurry wind storm. She laughed softly. "Have I not The llhtning grew more Intense and the man halts in a worry, but I the the thunder and waited, Ulysses? beating Incessant, care a rap whether you see the don't who to Twas ye A heavy me, dear sang long roll f the charge. not. or 'Tell he point me." "have demanded, ye sst? of Blr chlll as death made her And he was gon& talked with anyone about this letter?" shiver. She shrank away from the Who else, you great silly boy? to Flinlimmon!" Clara Only . And when you followed me to . windows, a little awed, wishing for Good Lord! groaned the Irishman. The Golden Future. the door, making aa much noise as a O'Rourkes return, wondering what Only to her! Could ye not have had made him leave her so abruptly. Horrified, we listen to the small lad young elephant. Terence 1 was mind printed broadsides, the better to make ed to punish you a little, a very little, Then auddenly she knew. . . . who la speaking to hla friend. the matter public? We aay We, but this la not IncluSo I merely opened mine my dear She could have screamed with horDid I do wrong? sive of the benevolent looking, white-haireand closed it sharply. ror. Twas Indiscreet and tha'ts put- gentleman who smiles happily the door Almost slmultaneous'.y There was a woman in the hall ting It mildly, me dear. D ye know gamroej - her husband had returned, when the small boy remarks: saw her. dear, and laughed, thinkthe woman a a walking newspaper? wftb a little cry she flung herself You lie, you daehblanked, ing how puzzled you would be. . How much did ye tell her? Did ye daalidashed, blank-dash- ! hlmi clllBlng t0 hlm. panting. Was 1 cruel, my heart? But 1 did not 16 ,etterr You !" lie, you I'd be. mean to 5"!1 answered his last sobbing. planned this surprise No. -quet- Again wo shiver with apprehenTell me. slie demanded, "what you you know, from the minute I found tlon first "And I told her very little tend to do? Do you mean to fight sion. and the old gentleman chuckles our rooms adjoined." only about this reward for a ruby him Des Trebes" gaily aa the little friend of the small I didnt know you owned. We were he answered boy smitea him hip and thigh, and ln the morning, "And this letter O'Rourke fumbled wondering whore to find you. In bis pocket and holding her tight and comfort- they roll In the street, beating and got it out ye And she told no one or who do lightly, Herself her. She Tts unavoidable; I pro- gouging each other. It me?" Him, Upon Sobbing. io Flung ing brought think? you Ah, exclaims the benevolent-looking- , his voked challenge. He was obliged It came lo me In London, dear, two white-hairewoman looked a little frightdate. 8aid disappeared the state became a Brit The from months six within old gentleman, "who to fight But don't let that worry weeks ago; we were together Clara ened. She told she must have told be made either In per- lab possession. some knows but might delivery day these lads may 1 at the Carlton son or Pllnliuunon and In the war of 'eighty-five- , says the that man Monsieur des Trebes. fulfill the promise of their youth end by proxy. With which Messrs. She dear! iy dear, my he "Oh, to her lor into put yacht wailing of That blackguard! Secretan and Sypher begged to re- O'Mahoney, a small detachment sobbed convulslviy upon his breast become members of the United States commission. Meanwhile she was mak British troops out of touch with their He was with us on the yacht, one his. main respectfully 'Twill be nothing bardly that; an senate? for this Meditermg up the parly The Irishman read it once and again, command, happened upon this temple of Clara's guests. Believe me, no more. 1 annoyance had no idea ranean trip. She has a pretty taste for commemorizing Its Import; then deliber- we're speaking of and took It. dlspos The Reason. dear. where lo send you the letter. Have ately shredded It into mlnnte parti- cessing priests and populace without pany my word! How d'ye know she bone said Is a queer-lookinIt can mean? you What it?" read you so much os & day's notice. The officer told him? He asked you about It?" cles. I of and BE the CONTINUED.) osteology, (TO professor Have I bad time, sweetheart of The letter? Yes. Ue wanted to So it's come." be said heavily, "just in command happened to see this eye know what It Is. I can't make hardly mine?' in the Buddha's forehead, pried It out know the name of the eollcitors and as the O'Mahoney foretold it would Getting Back at Her, head nor tall of It Theie was an Interlude. He sank hack in his chair, and hie and put it in his pocket. In less than their address. 1 wouldn't tell him. 1 She 1 wouldn't marry you If you Of course yon cant," said tha othrolled thunder the an hour the In thr natives surrounded the disliked him. went to him and perched beracU were the only man on earth. er man. Its a place from the midHad ye told Lady Plinllmmon? lod ru:i:licd lie Well, considering that In such dle of a backbone. upon the arm of It, Imprisoning his temple and attacked In force. The No . . a case I would have a large number I Resolutely the young woman dis- head with her arms and laying her British stood them off for three days litto a were then withdrew and In . . ahla. but and for cheek "Praises herself be the that! of relieved; stunners to velect from, 1 don't fSw against engaged meantime the officer had been killed "What has come, my heart?" think you would. Why? tle diril.'ilirc SYNOPSIS. stub-oornl- y, r, "Head, monsieur," she Insisted, peremptorily. I've better thlnge to do, me dear," he retorted with composure. "You'll find It interesting." 1 find me wife more Interesting How dye know I will?" than Perhaps I have read It" O'Rourke turned the letter over In his hand and noted what had theretofore escaped his attention the fact that the envelope, badly frayed on the edges through much handling, was open at the top. Bo ye may, he admitted. It was that way when I received It. And I have read It. How could I help It?" Then yeve saved me the bother. He prepared to rise and capture her. She retreated briskly. "Read! she commanded. Read about the Pool of Flame! He stopped short thunderstruck. The Pool of Flame? he reiterated slowly. What d'ye know about that?" What the letter tells me no more. What has become of It? But he bad already withdrawn the enclosure and tossed the envelope aside, and was reading absorbed, excited. oblivious to all save that conveyed to his Intelligence by the writing beneath his eyes. It was a singularly curt, dry and business-lik- e document for one that was destined to mold the romance of bis life strangely terse and tritely phrased for one that was to exert so an influence over the lives of so many men and women. Upon a single sheet of paper bearing their letterhead. Messrs. Secretan and Sypber, solicitors, of Rangoon, Burmah. bad caused to be typed a communication to Colonel Terence O'Rourke, Informing him that on behalf of a client who preferred to preserve his Incognito they were prepared to offer a reward of one hundred thousand pounds sterling for the return. Intact and of the ruby known as the Pool of Flame. The said ruby was. when last heard of. In the possession of the said Colonel O'Rourke, who would receive the reward upon the delivery of the said stone to the undersigned at their offices in Rangoon One hundred thousand pounds," he said. . . . "Treble its worth, double what the O'Mahoney expected. . . Who is the O'Mahoney, dear? He roused. "An old friend, Beatrix an old comrade. Ue died some years back, on the banka of the Tugela. fighting with a Boer commando. He wae a lonely man, without kith or kin or many friends beside meself. That. I presume, la how he came to leave He the Pool of Flame with me. wound an arm round her and held her close. Hearken, dear, and Ill be the story of It." ye telling Behind them the infernal glare lit Thunder up the portentous skies. echoed between clouds and sea like The wife shrank heavy cannoning. close to her beloved. "I am not at ail afraid, she declared, when her voice could be heard "with you. . . Tell me about the Pool of Flame." "The O'Mahoney left It with me when he went to South Africa." exTwas a pasteplained O'Rourke. board box the size of me fist, wrapped In brown paper and tied with a bit of string, that he brought me one evening. saying he was about to leave, and would I care for It in his absence. 1 knew no more of It than that 'twas something he valued highly, hut 1 put vault which it away In a he mightve done if he hadnt been a scatterbrain an Irishman. . . . Then he wrote me a letter I got it weeks after his death saying be felt he was about to go out, and that He the Pool of Flame was mine. went on to explain that the box contained a monstrous big ruby and gave me its history, as far as he knew it. s. ... e. safe-depos- it lf or-th- ... tak-per- - pen-scratc- ... ... re-yo- u . cor-tim- half-veile- sheet-llghtnln- g pro-luun- I d 1 blank-blanke- d ye" ... g e e - |
