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Show j Dice of Destiny ; ,'j By JACKSON GREGORY ' I Copyright J I 'f ' 1 ON THE MEXICAN BORDER 1 Action, always action, It the , outstanding feature of this stir. ; ring romance by Jackson Greg. ' ory. "Dice of Destiny" Is a tale ' of the Mexican border, about as lively a spot as there Is In the world. The actors In the story are Interesting for themselves, aside from their thrilling story a fine old Spaniard living on his ancestral estate this side of the border; his villainous kins-, kins-, man, with his rascally accom. 1 pllces; his entirely charming ! granddaughter; his efficient ' young American neighbor, and various Mexican bandits from across the border. Love, danger, dan-ger, fighting, a Just retribution and a happy ending all the elements of a thrilling tale are here. And the tale Is well told, CHAPTER I. An Error Rectified. Pedro, tho mestizo, having lighted the wnx (npers In tho mnsslvo candle- I sticks, having placed bottlonnd glasses 1 upon the great mahogany table, to bacco and papers upon tho Hinnll mahogany ma-hogany table, withdrew Bllcntly, an wan his way, swiftly, as was his train- Ing. I Ills old master, Scnor don Antonio ' tlu la Qucrru, looking as genuinely an- 1 tlquo In his oId-fnshloncd black coat, small, high-heeled boots and curled wlilto hair and mustncho as any ar ticle of the antique furnlturo In the vast drawing room of tho hacienda, turned his lively black eyes upon his guest, "You will forglvo tho rudeness of nn old man, Scnor Dcmpton," ho said softly, his English perfect, his utter-ancu utter-ancu still tho honeyed speech of Castile, Cas-tile, "hut may I nsk you to understand that I know nothing of what you Americanos call business? And that I I havo no wish to learn? Thnt Is why B I placo theso matters In tho hands of Jj an attorney." Ho bowed after tho way jl y j, of tho old school, and ended, smiling, 3 ' r" "In tho bands of n thoroughly compc- I' tent attorney, scnor." I Dcmpton, n llttlo man with n rest- I less, nervous manner and eyes llko n rat's, shifted In his chair, cleared his I throat and thanked his patron, looking plcnsed on tho whole. "This Is a very Important matter, Mr. do la Guerrn," ho offered, n trifle hesitantly and with keen eyes upon his host. "To bo sure," tho old man cut In Impatiently, though with no lessening of tho courtesy of his speech. "A will Is always Important." He leaned forward, poured himself a gloss of the red southern wine, lifted lift-ed It .so that tho still candlo flames shone In It brightly, and drank slowly. ; Already Dcmpton had been asked to HI nk, ns ho was always asked when ho camo to tho Ilnncho do la Qucrra ; already ho had refused, as ho always S refused. Tho old man set t'own his glass and took tobacco and fine-whlto pupcr from tho trny upon tho smaller table, his steady, slim whlto hands making tho clgnrctto swiftly. I "You sny, Scnor Dcmpton," lio said when ho had lighted a paper lighter at tho nearest candlestick, "that you havo found a flaw In tho original will?" "Yes, Blr." Dcmpton spoko hurriedly hurried-ly and ran on very much nfter tho manner of a schoolboy who has gotten his lesson by hcurt and wants to "say" j; It beforo ho forgets, 1 "Only a small matter, a technical , error, which might never be noticed. I And yet thero Is n risk thcro Is dan- S; ger that tho will might eventually bo set aside; becauso of It thnt your dc-yS- sires might come to naught ; In n word, that tho Senorltn Teresa, whom you wish to mako your solo legutec, might ' never como Into tho fortuno you havo . . willed to her. I havo thought It best, sir, to draw up a new document." "You havo dono so?" Inquired the ' ' old Spaniard, his eyes musingly upon tho thin wisp of smoko from tho cigarette. ciga-rette. , Jt "Yes." fccmpton slipped n red , , band Into his breast pocket. "If you ' will read It and sign It, sir If wo can , ;i get tho matter settled right nway, do- v , stroylng tho original documents " "Tho details, Senor Dempton, I , ,. 1 trust I may lenvo with you." De la Guerra waved a whlto hand gracefully. ' , "You havo attended to my business for j , .me for soventeen years now, and I fr r 'have never found causo for criticism." I "You do not even care to havo mo , go Into detail concerning the flaw 1 which I allowed to creep In?" uv , ' Dempton had leaned forward n llttlo & In his chair, his eager eyes upon tho v other's. De la Guerra laughed softly Sf3 nud shook his head. ' "You would force mo to appear stu- 'M pld." Ho put his hand upon tho bell rV- snTinrnBrng-fToTn-tno eugo u nnr ' big table ono bell tlnklod from be-l be-l ' ,yond the door. "Let mo havo tho pall pa-ll pens you wish mo to nlgn." M Pedro brought pen and Ink, retreat- .. 4 cd upon nnother errand, and onco more returned, bringing with htm two of tho other servants about the great adobo houso to witness tho signature. The old man looked at tho new will carelessly and signed carelessly, asking ask-ing merely If tho will wcro In nil essentials es-sentials tho samo as tho original one. Tho servants withdrew with their master's thanks and looso silver, and Do la Qucrra, returning to Dcmpton ono copy of tho paper which was Intended In-tended after his death to dispose of the hacienda, a great rango heavily stocked and an Indefinite sum In gold nnd sliver, folded tho other and placed It upon tho shining tablo top. "I shall read It tomorrow," ho said lightly. "You know thnt I do not read after tho candles nro lighted, scnor." Dcmpton, his errand done, was already al-ready upon his feet, his eyes roving for tho hat which Pedro had taken from him a few minutes ago, "But," cried Do la Qucrra, "you nro not going back tonight, scnor? Surely you would not think of putting my hospitality so to sharaol You must spend tho night with us." Dempton's cyo hod found his hat nnd ho speedily crossed the room to toko It up, "Thank you, Mr. do la Guerra," ho said hastily. "Hut I must return to I.n I'nnzn Immediately." He managed n bow with n poor trlot at the Spaniard's dignified grace, put out his hand quickly as though to have tho farewells over and done with, nnd "Thank You, Mr. de la Querra." retreated to tho door which gave passageway pas-sageway through tho three-foot ndobo walls from tho drawing room to tho patio. Do la Guerra looked at him with n curious smile. "You aro Incqmprehonslble, you Amerlconos," ho said softly. "You will Insist on riding n dozen miles through tho dork when thcro Is u warm bed and bright candlo light Inviting you to stny. Your business must bo urgent, ur-gent, Mr. Dcmpton, to toko you out tonight olonc. Your rldo Is not without with-out danger, and" Ho put his hand again to tho bell cord. "At least, If you Insist, you must allow mo to send soma of my va-qucros va-qucros with you." "No, no I" cried Dempton, already at tho door. "It Is unnecessary, Mr. de la Guerra. Thero is no danger." "As you will." Scnor don Antonio spread out his whlto hands and lifted his shoulders slightly. "Hut you must remember thnt we nro only half u mile from tho border, and that those rascally ras-cally Mexicans aro a thieving, treacherous treach-erous lot. "I have already given orders to close-herd my steers, and yet Gaucho, my foreman, reported to mo this morning morn-ing that tho rebels had crossed over nnd had driven off half a dozen cows for mo." Again he spread out his hands and lifted his shoulders. "In tho daylight It Is one thing nfter dark t Is another. I should bo glad to send some of my vaqucros with you, senor." Still Dempton protested. Thero was n moon, his way ran across n wide open level land, and tho rebels wero not looking for complications with Undo Sam. De la Guerra, too courteous n host to Insist, smiled gravely, roso nnd went Into tho patio with tho lawyer, directing direct-ing Pedro to havo Mr, Dempton's horzv brought up from tho stables. "Miss Teresa, I did not see her,"' Dempton remembered to say from tho -Bmrars: -"SuinrwWTTropeT r"" "Very well, thank you, scnor. I shall tell her thnt you Inquired. And it was kind of you to take this long ride to tell mo about tho mistake In the will." "Good night, Mr. do la Guerrn." "Iiucnns noches, scnor." And Lawyer Dcmpton, his horse's mono nnd tall flying, was on his way through tho moonlight night, nnd tho old man, lcnvlng Pedro to closo tho door nfter hlra, had gone back to his choir and wlno and cigarettes. "Los Americanos," ho muttered when ho was alone ngnln, "they nro all alike. You cannot trust them. That Demo-ton Demo-ton has tho eyes of n rat, tho faco of n liar, tho manner of n convict. Americanos Amer-icanos on tho ono hand, Mcxlcnnos on tho other I Songro do Dlosl I must take Tcrcslto away from them. Pedro I" "SI, senor." "Whcro Is tho senorltn?" "In her rooms, I think, scnor." . "Bueno. Convey to her my affectionate affec-tionate compliments, and tell her that I shall bo for tho half-hour nddlng a certain noto to my American memoirs. After that I shall bo pleased If she will coino to me." "SI, scnor." Swift nnd silent, Pedro went upon his errand. Senor don Antonio do In Guerrn, pushing tho will to ono side, drew n thick manuscript from tho tabic drawer, nnd, writing In n fine, scholarly schol-arly hand, began to add certain highly Insulting commentaries to tho chapter dealing with tho vitriolic description of tho churacter of "Los Americanos." (Tho book ho plunncd to print in Spain.) Meantime, tho Senorltn Teresa do la Guerra, his demuro granddaughter, was not In her room but upon her llttlo rose-twined balcony, and tho moonlight, bright about her, was not more bright than tho laughing eyes she turned downward toward tho ndor-Ing ndor-Ing faco of an Americano 1 CHAPTER II. Abduction. Tho hacienda whcro Antonio do la Guerra had lived for tho fifty-odd years of his exllo from his beloved Spain, whcro his granddaughter had been born ami reared, wus ono of tho landmarks which linger on In stately white walls under dark red tiles from tho tlmo of tho Spanish occupation, a Tho old Spaniard was overlord of what had onco been a grant from Ms grandfather's king, tho boundaries carelessly marked In leagues Instead of miles. Ho bred cattlo nnd One horses, Intrusted In-trusted Gaucho Morales, his foreman, with tho business details, and yet managed, man-aged, so largo nud fcrtllo was his empire, em-pire, to go on from year to year swelling swell-ing his wealth. The wlde-vcrandoed house with non of Its walls less than threo feet thick with great, spacious rooms, spreau out across u wldo exmit of tho hIiu(Km1 land among tho olive nnd pear ami pepper trees. In thu tlmo of tho father fa-ther of Antonio do la Guerra thcro hod been fourteen rooms now there wero twenty. No less could sufllco for tho master of the estato and his cherished granddaughter. Thero wns tho patio with Its flowering flower-ing go. den and leaping fountain. About It wcro tho rooms, all on the ground floor with tho exception of tho (lireo rooms added by tho old man for tho use of In senorltn. Hero nt tho southeastern exposure of tho rumbling dwelling, u wldo and winding staircase hud been constructed to lend upward to a spacious landing. Then camo brood doors, n deep window, win-dow, unil beyond tho senorlta's prlvnto sitting room. Her bedroom wns high-celled, high-celled, with much ornato embellishment embellish-ment nfter tho Moorish fashion, and u lavish display of gilt under tho domed roof. Upon tho binding' u couch whcro each night Pedro lay across his mistress' mis-tress' doorway. And then tho balcony. Teresa must pick up her skirts daintily dain-tily to step out through tho deep windows win-dows to It from her bedroom, and onco thero sho was nil hut lost behind tho bonk of flowering roses, swallowed by a dim dusk through which the moon had dllllculty In filtering, lapped In tho perfumo of the flowers which clung about the balcony In tho warm Juno night. And from here, while her scholarly grandfather annotated his remarks concerning tho hated Americano, Teresa Te-resa leaned out, her beauty ns soft and dellcnto a thing as that of tho roso brushing her cheek, and tulkcd with ono particular Americano. Readery meet the adorable adora-ble Senorita Teresa and the adoring Billy Stanway. (TO BH CONTlJTOEEo |