Show SERIAL E R IAL STORY the fal pool of 0 flame lea e by LOUIS JOSEPH josiph VA NCE by ertil tommil 1 IM by I 1 outa joseph vance V SYNOPSIS the th story opens at monte carlo ith el L terence 6 rourke murke a military free lt md and something om ethin of a rambler tn in hia his leaning on the balcony he 2 sees el birl girl who suddenly ente the end and pares from might at the lunina able notices two men witching him one la in the lion bertie bertle olenn while his hi companion la in viscount dt ebes a duelist th the viscount tells him the th french government has directed him to 0 0 rourke an a man who would vader take a secret minion mission at his hi spart bunt 0 bourke rourke v w ho had agreed to un the mission finds a mysterious lous atter the miscount is count arrives han hands a a louled package to 0 rourk rourke who Is 1 not i to open it until on the ocean A pair of anty slippers upper are een seen protruding from under vader a doorway curtain the tho irishman and the th owner of the mysterious feel feet to be t his wife beatrix from whom he nad had run way away a year previous they are reconciled and opening the letter he rinds that a rangoon law firm offers him am pound u n d s tor for a jewel known aa as the da pool J of F flame 1 e and left to him by a dying friend but now in keeping of one named Ch chamaret ambret in algeria onti the nobleman la in a duel the wife 0 rourke farewell and he ho promises to oon soon return with the reward he dis dim cotin both glynn and the viscount vie count on loud board the th hip ship ai As he finds Ch ambret there Is an attack by bandit bandits and his friend die dies that he has wily left the pool of flame arne with the governor central oa 01 who at eight night of a signet ring 1 1 yen the colonel will deliver over the ands kil wel Arri arriving ing at algeria the irishman tail the governor general 1 away dea des tribe makes a mysterious appointment and tells 0 rourke that he hae has rained a possession of the jewel by stealing it it in a duel masters the viscount secures cun possession poise islon of the pool of flame and starts by ship for rangoon he finds tb captain to be a smuggler who tries to tell the lewel it Is finally secured by the th captain and esc escapes ape to jand with the aid of one on danny and its sweetheart twe etheart 0 rourke recovers the pool of flame on board ship once more bound for rangoon a mysterious dyste 1 ous lady ppe irs drourke Q rourke comes upon n a lascar boot bout to attack the lady who Is a mrs prane ne and kicks the man into the hold bold mr rl claims she Is en route for on a mission for or the king rourke li is attacked by the lascar who secures the pool of flame the captain ts i hot shot and the lanc laachr r jumps jump into the sea ea the tt ship arrives in port danny hands the pool of flame which he Us bi stolen from mrs it Is the rul till jewel the one lost at sea see being a goes to calcutta and nd discovers des ies disguised he lie now tow know knows that mrs was an ac conduce toni pUce he gets to the klawier er who no hi has the reward dellvera delivers the jesel and gels the money coins going to the residence of the lawyer layer on an invitation finds him murdered and des is 1 found dying an officer appears IM 1114 0 rourke assists him tn in un unraveling rave ing yam ytm y 0 leaves w with th th the a atward CHAPTER continued he confessed he vms as in the pay uke eke these chaps were we re after now ot of it highly respectable chinese merchant bild d head of one of the tongs one of the richest men in rangoon who it sais 2113 s ais was also after that ruby I 1 it at imagine what he wanted ot of it cat but tha 11 come out probably the nine IMs rich enough to buy dozens of tonea ae as fine however I 1 other hed laid hia his plan far ahead the coolies intimated been etched all the way from bombay at 94 1 tents events the brutes vere ere ready you arrived was a u 0 mad man from the moment you traded over the pool of flame they surrounded tir rounded his house this night corn bg up from the it river just as soon jj waa as dark enough to conceal their actions 1 ebeo then they found a third elb el tent ent in the business busl ness your friend des brebes ebe ml all unsuspicious or of them lurk tg 6 on the veranda and watching byther vw tw rough the window so they ir tc ce hat he was up to and ulsoon soon they found out ame lB downstairs dowD went to the safe and in his hi i it I 1 presume be he had the stone L hind band ready to put away while was standing ding there the frenchman hill up behind and stabbed lda S the the stone and leav ay lay he got in the in n he u chinese chin stepped off the veranda the got 0 hira lla but ho he managed to ic M ind drew before 0 they could silence ence him bold hold be the attention alon of at the house b iss sent your wife and the to so to tolover cover things ss up they t ogather gather atta ther n all in the L mand M ere and na killed there wore ro three of the women M couch man spoke 10 fors time then dolle was an out outsider aider a 01 the theli the me chants eha not one gang 21 eo 80 ho he stayed ashore thon abt thought lt it would be scherie to a fine young 0 lar op QZ return and do d a little atle loot hill edi the 0 own ive Itel ephon curi head ead effice to arrest nn est that aw haat and confiscate conf lacate lab 4 bouse bousa and good goods and detain they y could catch connected anybody with him the the nets viii enough laid think and u I 1 the lights of ut the city beC became v is ible strung along the right bank of the river as the launch rounded bend bond couch swung the little boat a out into midstream rheed wheeler he ald said adding to 0 rourke ive got to pick out that junk I 1 nr pr ume the right one will have P all ball beet et and be moving downstream the tide if its juat just on the turn with now and fortunately there theres no IF wind ind worth mentioning I 1 wish I 1 could something of the other launch he lie peered noxiously anxiously into the obscure ity ahead it there were only starlight I 1 be ho complained bitterly stand by wheeler to atop stop the motor well drop alongside with the current as quietly as va we e can colonel Ono Ollo urke will you get forward and take the boat hook and head warp please im needed at the wheel and wheeler at the engine until wo we make fast cautiously the irishman rose took the boat hook couch offered him blin and crept out upon the narrow triangle ot t deck at the bows bowa crouching fuere he be found the head warp and waited tense with ith anxious expectancy staring ahead in futile effort to penetrate ho the wide aha shadowy doy reaches of the river dut the mystical distances con fused and eluded him the launch seemed to move panting in an abyss of she made little noise a hiss of water beneath her stem the steady humming of the motor throttled down to halt half speed the muffled gasping of the exhaust and presently even these ceased at a word from couch and the launch moved only iab with the tide abruptly a towering wall of opaque black rose out of the darkness to starboard Ollo urke braced himself for the imminent instant of action poised so lightly upon bis his toes and fingertips that a swell from a moving vessel would have thrown thron him off on his tits balance perhaps overboard the launch closed swiftly and silently in upon the black wall it towered over him nim like a cliff far above bo be could see dim divisions between black and black that must be the rail and be tie chook ble his bead head dismayed be he could never yer scale that he thought not even the could accomplish a mtr mir ado dut but in a breath it bad had faded back and be he realized that the tower ing poop of the junk had misled him they were now alongside at the waist he lie stood up and saw a low railing moving and caught it over the edge of t the rail drew the launch in let go the boat hook and with the head warp wrapped about his band hand jumped blindly something dealt him a vicious all but paralysing paralyzing para lysing blow blaw in the pit of the stomach he be doubled up for a moment helpless hel across the junks rail but retained ed sufficient presence of mind to bold hold on to the head warp then recovering a trifle be he squirmed over and fell sprawling upon the dec deck k his heels beels drumming an abrupt and violent alarm from som somewhere ebere he heard a shrill jabbering arise with an ensuing patter of bare feet swiftly he got upon his knees and drew in the head warp with his freo free hand band searching along alon thy the rail for a cleat seine thing thumped heavily on the deck beside him and grunted and something else followed with a second bump and the launch swung outward and caught by the current jerked the bead head warp from hia his grasp may the luck of the still bold he be prayed fervently getting upon his feet to realize that with couch and the man wheeler he was imprisoned aboard the junk doomed there to remain whatever might befall until the of the second launch or perhaps for a longer time As be he rose some indistinct body ran into him and cannoned off with an uncouth yelp with no time to draw his revolvers the adventurer struck out k q I 1 1104 1 the boarding carding 13 party stood at bay with a bare hand and bad the satis for his blon goal faction t finding a heavily on bare and landing T dull sound of a tru of hearing the the deck upon were flashing synchronously T revolver spat ven for and aal A out u a emoury beside him somewhere man roan screamed and fell whimpering horribly the revolver ond end exposed a sec eo time there were confused oka of a furious struggle clo rouge and ind tumble and ho he that one or another of his companion companions had been tackled bodily by ono of ot tho the junke junks crew on hia bin own part ho caught 11 glimpsy of a ahapow moving ghostlike oni on of the lights and ilia promptly ezord aed it with a ahot ahat BY this time thue t tn he vessel seemed to be caught in tho the grip of pan pandemonium demou choats and shots ailed aed with scream screams groans confused padding footsteps to make the moment ona a of a nightmare night maro the boarding party stood nt bay not darlig daring to venture from the pot spot on which they had landed grins firing steadily but with discretion huddled together like children in fear of the powers of darkness the three held their fire against the inevitable assault in force handicapped fearfully by their absolute ignorance of the lay of the deck of the number FIT A S L 01 the woman clamped faintly and clung tightly to her husband husbands arm of their opponents and of from which quarter they had to expect the attack and the silence and the tile suspense wore vore upon their nerves until the final struggle came in the shape of a boom to save them irom madness and it came with a rush and a will cyclonic tremendous overpowering by sheer weight of human flesh the europeans csere pinned against the rail fighting at handgrips with a cruel and cunning foe tar far better prepared for such buh ness than they for at such close quarters pistols were practically worthless save as clubs while knives could slip to slay through almost any interstice however straitened had bad no time to think of his companions stung to desperation by the silent unrelenting fury of his aseal gallante lante lants twice he was conscious 1 of the ft bite hite hot agony of a knife thrust one penetrating the flesh of his side and scraping hia his rib ribs the other biting deep into bis his thigh he fired ered until he had but one cartridge left in bis his revolver and expended expend erd that blowing out the brains of an extraordinarily persistent coolie then dropped the use less weapon and trusted to his naked strength it served him well for a attle one man precipitated by the weight of behind him into the adventurers arm arms be seized by the throat and throttled in a twinkling than lifting him from the deck he be exerted his po power er to the utmost and cast the body like a log into the midst of the melee thus clearing a little space he be found himself able to step aside and let another run past him into the bulwark and seeing the sheen of a in the fellows hand before he be could recover r seized bis his wrist twisted it savagely gely and wrenched the weapon away aar the finale camo came a moment later sig big by a blinding flash of light more bright than that of day which fell tell athwart I 1 the he deck and illuminated instantaneously every I 1 inch of the fighting ground fervently be blessed the near by vessel that thal had turned its searchlight on the junk the scene it revealed beggared the experience of whose trade was fighting it a man fell upon decks slippery with blood and littered with the bodies of at dead and wounded it silenced a contusion confusion indescribable upon that insane turmoil turra oll the light tell fell with the effect oi of a thun thuu herbolt from a clear eky sky 13 creaming shrilly in their panic pante ht h chinee a scattered and fell icae 1 ing OHo Ollo urke beside couch wheeler being do down n and burled buried beneath three chinese and instantaneously something grated harshly against the starboard side of tho the junk and a man his figure stark black against the cold hito glare leaped upon tb the rait raft und and tumbled inboard other others to tho the ber of a dozen followed him swarming warm over the th decke decks couch reeled to wards words them babbling order orders and in tuo frond second launch bad had sick and faint slouched back the roll rail watching hl ng with lack lackluster buiter eyes the end of the chapter it was wa simple to tho the point of seaming farcical in comparison comp arlson with that which preceded it the dazed dated and outnumbered chinese offered no further tuther resistance disarmed and put linder guard they disappeared from hi hie mat m foulness x nalle hile ho he matched the ho men from the second launch purred spurred by couch scatter in search of ho abducted women loss ot of blood wae was beginning to tell upon him his strength seemed altogether gone bla his wits buzzed in his bead head like a swarm of gnats he grasped his support convulsively be ginning to appreciate how seriously he was hurt hurl he beard heard as from a great distance thin faint cries of men shout bout ing in triumph saw couch a pygmy shape holding in his arms a doll who wore the face of miss sent then of a sudden be he wait conscious of a woman hastening toward him a fantastic and incongruous figure in a din ner gown her skirts trailing in the slime of the shambles her arms out held to him and knew know her for bis his wife he lie essayed to speak but could not he felt her arms armis close about him in the face of the searchlights ing and undeviating glare night closed down upon him CHAPTER in after days when he be was altogether well and whole they journeyed forth these two the man and bis his wife from rangoon northward the railway carried them some distance later they struck off with their train into the primitive wilderness beyond the ultimate british on the Chin dwine main tributary to the ra the land was peaceful hospitable and very very lovey lovely in its wilderness their happiness wab wai ecstasy by day they rode through jungle wood and rolling uplands or less east ly through tho fastnesses of the hills side b aide side thought linked to thought their hearts attuned by night their camps were pitched in a newfound new found world orld of beauty wonderful in its shadowy mystery it was so ordered that they came toward sundown of a aitt n day to the foot of a bill hill crowned with ith a great pagoda of many multiplied roofs fring e ed d with a myriad silver bells that tinkled ceaselessly in the evening airs here they dismounted and together made the ascent of an age old wooden stairway broad and easy and throng ed from tram the first rise ale to the last with weary neary pilgrims beggars lepers laugh IP ili children holy men |