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Show , . u ...sEagaaesg j SAX MOHMEB ( j j H ii I J I ' Copyright by Sax Rohmer. i I I li I III s:rvlce- I Jx pa.-Lici.lai-. there was nothing whatever what-ever to go upon. His P:;"Ve,eev order or appeared to be. He had een produced correspondence which seemed o leave no doubt upon the point And since he was certainly bound for Aus tralia, common sense suggested -that this part of his story, at least, was true The woman Kdnam produced a contract con-tract with an Australian vaudeville circuit and displayed a number of pro fessional photographs, programmes, and billing matter relating to recen engagements en-gagements in Europe. She declared fhat although she had made the acquaintance ac-quaintance of Doctor Oestler on board, she had never met him before. The agent was In a quandary. 10 hold the ship meant transferring mails and a loss of thousands of pounds to ....'"' CHAPTER VI Continued 8 i Eileen was enjoying that sense of ! martyrdom so dear to woman's nature. ',IIer spirit was seeking Dawson Halg all the time. Where was he? Was he safe? Did he appreciate what she was doIrig? With it all, she was so happy that she was frightened. Doctor Oestler had stepped to the open doorway to examine the casket 'by daylight ; and : "My gentleman," said a soft voice. ' The doctor stared through his glasses lat the speaker. It was the Armenian fortune teller. "I do not wish to buy anything, ha?" eald the doctor good humoredly. "I do not wish my palm to be read no? And I do not wish to know my future. Is it so?" "It Is not so, my gentleman," the soft voice continued. "It Is that I know where there are boxes such as this, but ever so much better and cheaper." "You know this ha?" said Doctor Oestler, smiling at Eileen. "You think perhaps I don't know this?" "I think ha? you may. I say I do not wish to buy even such a box." "I make with you a bargain," the man went on earnestly. "I charge you nothing nothing unless you buy from the shop I take you to. This is my bargain." bar-gain." Eileen began to laugh. "My lady laughs," said the Armenian earnestly. "But I will show her." He took her hand, as Doctor Oestler returned and placed the casket on the counter from which he had taken It. The doctor rejoined re-joined them. "If I tell this lady true," said the man, still holding Eileen's hand, "something "some-thing I cannot know except from the palm, will you come with me to the shop I show you?" Eileen agreed. "But he'll fall down on It and expect half-a-crown all the same." "We shall see ha? Proceed, my good fellow." "You belong," said the man, staring into her hand, "not to England not, I think, to Europe, but to some country far west of Europe perhaps It Is America." "Detected my accent," was Eileen's mental comment "You come not to Egypt, but to somewhere some-where farther to India, I think. And In India some one Is waiting for you eome one you love and who loves you. (No 1" He stared closer. "It Is not so. ner the proprietor, whom the guide addressed ad-dressed as Mohammed, appeared. .Mohammed was quite the most venerable ven-erable specimen of a living Egyptian upon whom Eileen had ever set eyes. His face was a maze of tiny wrinkles, and of the color of a walnut shell. His eyes, bright as a snake's, lurked deep In cavities resembling small caves. Wisps of dirty white hair, almost Indistinguishable In-distinguishable from his turban, and a straggly beard of the same, outlined that aged countenance. Mohammed bowed low, opened a door hidden In the dark recess from which he had emerged, and stood aside. Eileen glanced back In the direction of the street. ... Dawson Halg was outside. Confidently, now, she stepped through into a big room to pause, breathless with astonishment. The fortune teller had not exaggerated. This was, indeed, a wonder house, a treasury of beautiful beauti-ful things ! And there were other rooms beyond. "You see, my lady," said the palmist palm-ist softly, "what I tell you true." It was Indeed true, since this, and not the establishment in Stamboul, was the principal warehouse of that great and mysterious industry controlled by Yu'an Ilee See. Here, to Port Said, came the choicest pieces, to be distributed distrib-uted for sale. Some even found their buyers in Turkey, some in France, and some In England. . . . Eileen experienced a sense of bewilderment. be-wilderment. It was amazing, In fact, terrifying . . . opening as it did out of that tawdry little shop what did It mean? What could it mean? She looked around that Aladdin's cave, and slowly the realization came to her that only a Rockefeller could have bid for the contents. CHAPTER VII Dawson Haig pulled up before the shop of Mohammed. Further consideration had convinced him that his earlier fears for Eileen were groundless. His own life hung upon a thread. This he recognized. And he scrupulously avoided overhanging windows and watched warily anyone who walked too closely behind him. But he had no Intention of leaving Eileen alone In the company of Doctor Oestler. Oest-ler. He entered the shop, and looked about him. The place was empty. Halg clapped his hands and a moment later stride, entered the passage almost on the heels of .Mohammed and . . . The floor collapsed beneath his feet ... a stilling drug-like smell swept up to meet, to envelop him, as he fell. "My G d !" Too late, he knew ... to what "other door" this old fiend had led him. . . the "Bath of Feathers!" Doctor lleatherley, and the two women passengers from the Wallaroo sat at a table outside the Eastern exchange, ex-change, long drinks with straws before them. Presently Doctor Helitherley glanced at his watch. "Our friends are late," said he. "They must have found the Mystery shop." "What's the Mystery shop?" one of the women asked. Doctor lleatherley smiled. "All sorts of stories are told about Port Said," he replied, "most of them frankly lies. There's supposed to be a store here compared with which Simon Arzt's is merely Woolworth's. I've never found anybody to lead me to the Mystery shop, but I believe there Is such a shop. Doctor Oestler may know where it is." Even as he spoke, Doctor Oestler, smiling broadly, bore down upon them. "Well, my friends," he said, taking a chair, removing his hat and mopping his forehead. "I have walked quickly, ha hoping to overtake our Miss Kearney." Kear-ney." "Hoping to overtake her?" said the ship's doctor blankly. "But she was with you ! You said that you and Miss Kearney were going to make some purchases pur-chases elsewhere." Doctor Oestler nodded his head vigorously. vig-orously. "It Is so," he agreed, "It Is so. Yes. We went; as I said. This shop is not a hundred yards from here. It belong to a Greek ha? who has most excellent perfumes. Miss Kearney also knows it well. I excuse myself ha? while she is making her selection, for I see it will occupy her for at least a quarter of an hour yes?" He shrugged deprecatlngly. "I call at another establishment estab-lishment that I know of, and purchase ha these five hundred cigarettes, look then hurry back. Miss Kearney has already left the shop of Ostopolos, and so I continue to hurry and here, yes, you see me." The ship's doctor stood up. "It sounds very odd to me," he said. "Port Said's healthy enough in these days, but not for a woman walking about alone. I'll walk back with you." Doctor Doc-tor Heatherley turned to the two wom- Yu'an Ilee See read: "No news of the Hangman. May take it for granted he Is drowned. "l.en Chow has succeeded. The lady is on her way. "Joseph, the new Armenian, did good work here. "Mohammed reports Dawson Haig, chief inspector C. I. D., Is dead. "Joseph, recommended by Mohammed, Moham-med, joins up here in place of Fernand. "11. M. S. Wallaroo in the Canal. British and American consuls Port Said very active. "Position on Wallaroo strained In regard re-gard to doctor and madame, but legally legal-ly secure. "Len Chow due at Keneh tomorrow five o'clock. Franz Hartog reports from Cairo. "Polodos arrived Stamboul tonight." Yu'an Ilee See removed his glasses, remaining motionless for several minutes,- hissing softly. Then, again he pressed the bell. The Chinese servant came instantly to his summons. "Effendi Aswami Pasha." The servant bowed low, and withdrew with-drew silently. Port Said was seething with Indignation. Indigna-tion. When towards dusk it became evident that Eileen Kearney had been abducted, for no other conclusion remained, re-mained, both the American and British consulates' set to work in earnest. The town was combed with a nicety calculated to discover a rat in a cornfield. corn-field. But no trace could be found of the missing girl. Doctor Oestler's account ac-count of what had happened was simple sim-ple enough. Miss Kearney had suggested sug-gested walking along to the shop of the scent merchant, and he had accompanied accompa-nied her. The doctor's statement was confirmed both by the Greek scent merchant mer-chant and by the Egyptian tobacconist. Mr. Len Chow, It was learned from the Eastern exchange, had caught the train to Cairo, only having had lunch in the hotel. Of Franz Hartog no trace could be found. The news, of course, was known on board, and a state of consternation prevailed. Port Said was living up to Its ancient reputation. Every woman passenger who was ashore hurried back to the ship. Captain Peterson paced his cabin, his tanned, lined face haggard with anxiety. The company's agent sat at the desk, Shale, the British consul, standing beside him, and the American consul stood by the door. "It's all very well, Mr. Forman," SI1?I1IP "But Not At All!" Doctor Oestler Replied Genially. the company. And If Eileen were found any time during the night or early morning she could quite easily be transported to Suez In time to rejoin the Wallaroo there. The suspects were actually on board. "If only Inspector Haig would turn FOR NEW READERS: THE STORY FROM THE OPENING CHAPTER Matt Kearney, young American living in London, says good-by to his sister Eileen, on board the Wallaroo bound for Colombo. The Wallaroo Is conveying 2,000,000 In gold to Australia, Kearney meets Inspector Dawson Haig, of Scotland Scot-land Yard, very much In love with Eileen. Halg, convinced opium is concealed In Jo Lung's warehouse, delegates Kearney, Kear-ney, with Detective Norwich, to visit the place and And out what he can. While there Kearney picks up a notebook. Yu'an Hee See, whom Haig has long been seeking as the leader of a band of international thieves, Is at Jo Lung's. Discovering the loss of his notebook, he sends two of his followers after Norwich and Kearney, one of whom he realizes real-izes must have picked it up. Norwich Is found murdered. Haig is puzzled over cryptic notes in the book. While he is poring over them, a weird creature enters, seizes the book, and escapes. Matt's story of hearing horrible laughter at Jo Lung's satisfies Haig his quarry was there, he recognizing the peculiar malignancy of Yu'an's laugh. At Marseilles the Inspector boards the Wallaroo, disguised. From radio messages he decodes, he realizes passengers on board are members mem-bers of Yu'an's gang and that they have recognized him. A Chinaman tries to throw Haig overboard but goes over himself. up !" Forman exclaimed irritably. "He may hold the clue to the situation." "I'm putting all my faith in the Inspector," In-spector," the captain declared. "It's because he's evidently on the job that I still have hopes." "But there's nothing to show," Forman For-man cried, "that he's on the job at all! If I undertand the situation, no one has seen this man, Halg, since he left the ship early this morning." "It's my belief," said Captain Peterson, Peter-son, "that he was following Miss Kearney Kear-ney and Doctor Oestler." "I agree with you, captain 1" cried the British consul. "Inspector Halg was following them. And I think we may venture to hope that he's the only man who knows what actually took place. If It's an abduction, It's highly probable that he's in pursuit of the abductor." "It's very odd he hasn't got In touch," Forman cut In. The agent nodded In agreement "I think that odd, too, captain," he admitted. ad-mitted. "I don't care for the look of, it. Assuming that the Inspector witnessed wit-nessed this outrage If an outrage has occurred and went off in pursuit, he wouldn't do so without leaving some clue to his route, in case he should fail. He was too experienced a man for that." "Might I ask, Mr. Dimes, the exact meaning of your remark?" Forman a man of action, knew himself helpless-and helpless-and he was getting angry. "Are you Implying that this Inspector Hal" is not engaged In looking for Miss Kearney, Kear-ney, but has also disappeared?" (TO BE CONTINUED) Xet there is some one who waits. There Is some one I think In England this one I have spoken of who is now on his way to India, or to some place very near to India. And there he will meet you. . . . Ah, but still I am not right! He is here, this one here, in Port Bald !" Eileen betrayed herself by a sudden Btart "For him there are many dangers . . . and for you, too, lady. I read it In your palm. But you will be married, and be very happy. There will be " "That's enough," said Eileen, startled star-tled by the man's reading. "Then we must stick to our bargain yes?" said Doctor Oestler. The man smiled triumphantly. "Please follow, my lady, my gentleman," he said. "It is not far. Please follow." Eileen was conscious of a sudden vague uneasiness. It was very difficult to appreciate the fact that she was In the company of a criminal, but It remained re-mained a fact, nevertheless, a fact that the man's strange charm of manner Invariably made her forget "Perhaps the others would like to come?" she suggested. Doctor Oestler nodded, returned to the shop, and presently came back. "The ladles are still absorbed with silk wear," he said, smiling, "silk undies ha? So I have left Doctor Heatherley to take care of them, and I arrange that we shall meet at the Eastern exchange ex-change In half an hour." The Armenian led them into the native na-tive quarter. Eileen's brain began working rapidly. The question repeated Itself over and over again : "Should I go? Should I go?" Perhaps even at the last moment he would have conjured up some excuse. ex-cuse. But suddenly she saw a sight which reassured her . . . made her heart sing. Dawson Haig had followed Len Chow, when the Chinaman, apparently ap-parently aimlessly, had set out and had temporarily lost sight of him at a corner. Almost at the same moment he had seen Eileen alone with Doctor Oestler accompanied by the fortune teller. And so Eileen, glancing back apprehensively appre-hensively along the narrow street, recognized rec-ognized the glitter of "Mr. Smith's" smoked glasses. Dawson Haig followed, twenty paces behind ! Doctor Oestler ,was talking to the palmist-guide and could not possibly have noticed her backward glance. . . On they went into several streets. Presently, in a street native from end to end. they paused. A dingy little lit-tle shop on the left was evidently their objective. Eileen glanced hack. Dawson llaig was s;i!l only twenty paces behind ! The s!i"i wo purely .Aral) in nn :,:'., I"' ' V '- o twn steps ,!'n cor- the aged proprietor appeared, bowing low. "What can I do for you, my gentleman?" gentle-man?" he creaked. "I came to join my friends, who arrived ar-rived here just ahead of me," Haig replied. re-plied. "Ah!" Mohammed nodded. "Yes, yes. Wait but one moment." The door of the treasure house was opened, and he had a glimpse of a long, low room lined with shelves and cases. The sound of Mohammed's shuffling shuf-fling slippers grew faint died away. A blank wall faced the shop, and there were no passers-by. It was a queer backwater, and Halg wondered what had induced Eileen to visit it He stared again through the open door. Then he moved forward ami looked along the room. Like a flash of summer lightning revelation came. . . . This was a branch or perhaps the parent establishment of Jo Lung's Limehouse emporium. Came the sound of shuffling footsteps foot-steps returning. The aged Arab reappeared. reap-peared. "My gentleman," he said, "I am sorry sor-ry to keep you waiting, but your friends have gone." "Gone !" "By the other door." Haig stared through dimness, seeking seek-ing for the expression in those sunken eyes. "They didn't stay long!" he snapped. The old Arab spread his palms eloquently. elo-quently. "They buy nothing, sir." "Show me the way to this other door," Dawson Haig directed. "I shall overtake them more quickly by going out that way." Mohammed bowed low. "Please follow," fol-low," he said. Haig entered, his hand upon the butt of an automatic. Yes, the very arrangement arrange-ment of the place told him now that this was the receiving house. Jo Lung's was merely a salesroom. But Eileen. "This way, my gentleman." The Arab, mounting three steps, indicated a fur-her fur-her room beyond. Dawson Haig followed. A second treasure cave stretched before him. There v.-as a ort of narrow passage connecting ttiis room with another beyond be-yond Through this corridor the aged I Arab was hurrying. Haig increased his en. "Please excuse us for five minutes," min-utes," he added. "Don't start back until we rejoin you, or you might get lost, too." With Doctor Oestler he set out. Before Be-fore a small shop not more than two hundred yards from the Eastern exchange, ex-change, they paused. A suave gentleman gentle-man who wore a black pointed beard smiled agreeably. "I left a lady here about twenty minutes ago," said Doctor Oestler. "You remember?" "I remember, sir." "When I returned, she had gone you remember?" The surgeon was watching the speaker. speak-er. "Did she say where she was going?" he demanded. "No, sir. She purchase a small sample of jasmine, such as this " he Indicated one "a larger size of attar of roses, of this kind " he held up a long cut-glass cut-glass phial shaped like a square ruler "and three small tubes of other essences ess-ences I forget which she selected." The surgeon stared at Doctor Oestler, Oest-ler, and then, without a word, walked out of the shop. "I suppose there's nothing to worry about," he admitted, "so, as you seem to know an A-l Egyptian tobacco merchant in this town, doctor, I like a really genuine Egyptian cigarette myself, and my stock is low. Do you mind taking me along?" "But not at all!" Doctor Oestler replied re-plied genially. When they reached the store, the Egyptian owner Immediately recognized Doctor Oestler. The ship's surgeon, baffled, baf-fled, bought fifty cigarettes and departed. de-parted. But when they returned again to the Eastern exchange, Eileen Kearney Kear-ney had not returned. At the end of a very uneasy half hour, Doctor Heatherley stood up suddenly. sud-denly. "Let us see the ladies into a taxi for the ship," he suggested. "And then, perhaps, Doctor Oestler, you would step along to the American consulate con-sulate with me?" , r. As Yu'an Hee See sat at a large writing table, he pressed a bell. A Chinese Chi-nese servant entered, and dropped on one knee, extending a silver tray upon which a paper lay. Taper fingers took the document the servant went out said Shale, addressing his American confrere. "But what can I do?" "What can -you do, sir?" the other retorted. "A young American citizen daughter of my friend Kearney in Colombo is kidnaped in broad daylight day-light when she is in the company of a suspected person ! What can you do!" "Suspected, yes," cried the other desperately. des-perately. "But that's not proof!" "What puzzles me," the captain interjected, in-terjected, trying to pour oil on troubled waters, "is the absence of Inspector Haig. If we had the authority of Scotland Yard behind us, we might be able to act. Besides, what evidence there Is, he holds." "It's little enough," said the British consul "unless he had added to it since this morning." Mr. Forman's face was very stern. "In short, sir," he said, "you don't Intend In-tend to take any steps about this gang of crooks, you've got on board; although al-though you know whatever the evidence evi-dence may be, and I say d n the evidence! evi-dence! that they are certainly responsible?" re-sponsible?" "But the inspector himself assured me that there was nothing to justify an arrest," said Captain Peterson. "Another point; the attempt to murder mur-der Inspector Haig off here last night is good enough to show the type of desperados des-perados we're dealing with." "That's true enough," the captain admitted. "But nobody on board ever saw the missing Chinaman speak to a soul except to the stewards." "There's nothing," Shale explained wearily, "nothing whatever, to connect him with the rest of the gang. Surely you can see that, F6rman? I menni the attempted murder can't be used as evidence to hold these people." Forman tugged savagely at his mustache. mus-tache. "That man Oestler Is yin he declared outright. "You all think the same as 1 l. How can I ever face Mike Kearney with a tale like this 1" Doctor Oestler had only just left the .abin, where he had been submitted to a close cross-examination on the ex'iet circumstances of his visit to tnose two shops with Eileen. However as the shopkeepers had been questioned and had confirmed his statement la every |