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Show Mt-'".t"l-.'...,..i..i.......) The Pool of Flame i w i in LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE IlltiitrnlUnt h, ElUwrtfc Yoaag 1 ...- . ...I..M...l.ll...l ....... 9 CourrUM UOfl b LouIm Jounh V CHAPTER III. As he stepped out of tho lift Colonel O'Hourke remarked a light In his room, visible through tho transom over the door. "Tho femmo do cbambro," ho thought. "Sure and tho poor thing's still busy trying to clear up. , , ," To the contrary, ho found tho door fast. "'Tls careless sho was tolcavo tho light on," ho observed, fitting his key In the lock. If thoughtless In that ono way, tho woman had fulfilled tho letter of her word In the other. It was with comprehensive com-prehensive relief (slnco ho anticipated a caller) that ho found (he room once again presentable. But one thing surprised htm; and more surprising still was tho fact that his ordinarily Indifferent eye should have detected It at tho first glance. Ho had Indeed hardly entered beforo he became aware of a squaro of white paper tucked in the corner of tho bureau bu-reau mirror. "Tho dlnle, now!" he greeted It. "That's curious. . . . Could one ol mo manr admirers have bribed the femme de chambre to bring a note to me?" He chuckled, holding to hc light a much soiled envelope, grimy with the marks of many fingers, Mastered Mas-tered with stamps and black with postage marks and substitute addresses, ad-dresses, having evidently been forwarded for-warded over half the world before It reached the addressee: who was, In a bold hand, "Colonel Terence O'Hourke." He whistled "low over this, examining examin-ing it Intently, Infinitely less concerned concern-ed with Us contents than with the manner by which It had reached him. The first postmark seemed to bo that of Rangoon, the original address, the Cerclo Mllltnlre, his club in Paris. Thence, apparently, it had sought htm lb Galway, Ireland, Dublin, Paris again, and finally after half a dozen other addresses "C. of Mme. O'llourke, Hotel Ho-tel Carlton, London." The London postmark was Indecipherable. . . . He found himself trembling violently. violent-ly. By one hand alone could this have reached him, since the post had not brought It to Monte Carlo. . . . He recalled thnt woman's voice which had so stirred him, the woman of tho Casino whore hearing had seemed to him so familiar, . . . Some one tapped on the dpor; he smothered a curce of annoyance, and went to answerr thrusting tho letter into his pocket. A pago announced Monsieur le Comte des Trebes, "Show the gentlemen up," snapped O'Hourke. He was about to add, "In The Frenchman Rose, Offering Him the Envelops. fire minutes," when Dei Trebes him- selt appeared. "Anticipating that message, mon-' Uur," he said, moving Into view from one side of the door, "I took the ' liberty of accompanying this boy. I am late, I fear." O'Hourke forced a nod and amlle of welcome. "Not to my knowledge," said he. i The Frenchman consulted his watch. "Ten minutes laU, monsieur; It Is ten past mMslgtit" Tfcen," said O'Jtourke, "the top o' tho morning jo ) e, Enter, monsieur." He stood aside, cjoslng the door be-hlm be-hlm his guttt. "'Tls no matter; if I thought ye punctual, 'tis to ye are to all Intents and purposes. , . . A chair, monsieur." He established Des Trebes by a window, 'JAnd ciff- ' aretto? ... A drop to drink! . , . As ye will, , . . And since 'tls to talk secret business that we're here would ye like the door locked?" "That Is hardly essential!" Des Tre- I bee reviewed his surroundings with Bwift, searoblng ilanoe. "We are at least secure from interruption; one could ask little more." "True for ye," laughed O'llourke. He moved Joward Jh.a. , alcove. "Npw first or an nn totfuhrim proots of mo Iden-1 tlty, I bellove," ho added, Intending to ' dig out of his trunk a dispatch-box , containing his pasaports and other pa- j pcrs of a privato nature. I But Des Trebes had changed his mind. "That Is unnecessary, monsieur. mon-sieur. Your very willingness Is suffl dent proof. I havo your word and am contenL" "That's tho way of doing business that I like," assented O'Hourko heartily, heart-ily, warming a llttlo to tho man as he turned back a chair facing the - vl-comte. vl-comte. "Besides, I quarrel with no man's right to bo reasonable. . . . And now I'm at your service, monsieur." mon-sieur." Des Trebes, lounging back, knees crossed, thin white fingers Interlacing, Interlac-ing, binck eyoB nnrrowlng, regarded tho IrlBhmnii thoughtfully for a moment. mo-ment. Abruptly he sat up and removed re-moved from Hn Inner pocket a long thin white envelope, thrleo scaled wltt red wax and Innocent of any superscription super-scription whntever. "Aro you prepared, monsieur," he demanded Incisively, "to play blind-man's blind-man's buff?" "Am I what?" asked O'Hourke, startled. star-tled. Then he smiled. "Pardon; per haps I fall to follow ye." "I menn," explained -tho vlcomto patiently, pa-tiently, "thnt I havo to offer you a commission to net under sealed orders" or-ders" ho tapped tho envelope "tho orders contained heroin." "And when wou'.d I bo free to open that?" "As Eoon as you are at sea away from France, Montleur." O'Hourke considered the envelope doubtfully, "From you, monsieur from the Government of France, which you represent," ho said at length, "yes; I will accept inch a commission. France," he averred simply, "knows me; It wouldn't he asking me to do anything a gentleman shouldn't." "You may feel assured of that," agreed Des Trebes gravely. "Indeed, I venture to assert you will find this let us say adventure much to your liking. . . . Then you accept?" "One moment a dozen questions, by your leave. . . . When must 1 tart?" "Tomorrow morning by the Cote d'Azur Rapldo, at ten minutes to eight." "And where will I be going?" I "FJret to Paris; thence to Havre; thence, by the first available steamer, to New York; finally, it may be to Venezuela, monsieur." "Expenses?" "I will myself furnish you with funds sufficient to finance you as far as New York. There our consul-general will provide you with what more you may require. It Is essential that your connection with this affair shall be kept secret; should you draw on the government in this country, It would expose you to grave suspicions, per- naps to uangcr. "I understand that," assented tho Irishman. "But to obvlato all danger of mistake, would It not be well to have one of jour trusted agents meet me on tho stenmer and provide mo with whatever yo figure I might require? re-quire? 'Tls barely possible your consul-general might not recognize mo In New York. Why should he? I never heard his name, even." Des Trebes meditated this briefly. "It shall be as you desire, monsieur. It ehnll be arranged as you suggest." "Finally, then, what Is to be my recompense?" "That must depenj. I am authorized to assure )Ou that In no caso will you receive less than twenty-five thousand thou-sand francs; In event of a successful termination of your mission, the re ward will be doubled." " 'Tls enough," said O'Hourke with a sigh; "I accept." The Frenchman rose, offering him the envelope. "You must pledge jour-self, jour-self, moiiBleur, not to break theso sealc until you are at sea?" "Absolutely of course." O'Hourke took the packet, weighed It curiously In his hand and scrutinized the seals. He remarked that they were yet soft and fresh; the wax had been hot with In the half hour. "I will do myself the honor of meet Ing you at the train to see you on, mon sieur," said Des Trebes. "At that time, nlso.'wlll I provide you with the fundi you require." "Thank ye." Their hands met. "Good night, Monsieur O'nourke." "Good night. . . ." Halt way to the doqr, Des Trebes .. I MSM. U.. .1 . t. - yuuBcu. wu, uy iuv vvity, no exclaimed ex-claimed carelessly, "I believe you an a. friend of my old school-fellow, Cham-bret Cham-bret mon cher Adolph?" " Tls so," assented the Irishman warmly. "The best of men Cham-hret!" Cham-hret!" "Odd," commented the vicomtt; "only this afternoon I was thlnVlrig of him, wondering what had become of the man," "The last I heard of htm, he was lu Abjeria, monsieur with eomo French force in the deiert." i 'Thank you . , ." On the point of leaving the ylcomte snapped his teeth on a second "Good night," and swore beneath his breath, O'Hourke, surprised, stared. The Frenchman was standing stiffly at attention, at-tention, as it alarmed. HIb pallor was, If possible, Increased, livid his closely close-ly shaven beard showing blue-black on bis heavy Jowls and prominent chin. His eyes blazed, shifting from the alcove al-cove to O'Hourke. "Monseur?" he demanded harshly! "what does this Insult mean?" "Mean?" Iterated O'nourke, "Insult? Faith, ye haye me there." Ppeechless with rage, Des Trebes gestured ges-tured violently toward the alcove; and O'llourke became aware that the curtains cur-tains were shaking wavering as thoughB draught, iilrredthena JDut tliero wns no draught. And bcniath their edge he saw two f;ct two small, bewitching feet In tho dnlntlest and most absurd of cv 'tilng slippers, with an Inch or so of silken stockings showing show-ing above each. Des Trebes' ejes, filled with an expression ex-pression unspoakcbly offensive, met the Irishman's blank, wondering gaze. "It Is, no doubt," tho Frenchman stammered, stam-mered, "sanctioned by your code to have mo spied upon by the partner of your liaisons." i "But, monsieur " ' "I compliment the lady upon tho smallncss of her feet, as well as upon nnklcs to charming that I cannot bring myself to leave without a glimpse of tholr mistress' frnturcs." Des Trebes moved toward tho alcove. al-cove. Thunderstruck, O'Hourke rapped rap-ped out n stupefied oiith, then In a strldo forestalled the man. With him it was as If suddenly a circuit had closed In his Intelligence, establishing; definite coun'ctlon between the three now four most mjsllfylng Incldcutj of the oenlng. "Lets luiUr, monsieur," ho counseled coun-seled In a voice of Ice. Ills hand fell with almost paralyzing forco upon tho other's wrist as ho sought to graBp tho curtain, and rwun;; him roughly ' back. "Yourself will never know who's there whocttr the l.id mn be. . . . Ah, but no, moii'kur!" Mnrtdrmd beyond prudence, Des Trebes had ttrucL at his face. O'Hourke warded off the blow and In what bee v.cd tho same movement whirled the man round by his captive wrist and caught the other arm from the back. The brlefctt of struggles ensued. en-sued. The Frenchman, taken at a complete com-plete disadvantage, was for all his resistance re-sistance huetlcd to the door ainl thrown through It before ho fnlrly comprehended com-prehended what was happening. Free at length, If on all fours, ho Bcramblcd to IiIh feet to find O'Rourko had shut the door behind him, calmly awaiting the next move. "Haven't ye had enough?" demanded demand-ed the Irishman as tho vlcomte, blinded blind-ed with passion, heemed about to renew re-new the attack. "Or are ye wishful to be eolng downstairs In the same fashion:" Dei Trebes drew back, snarling, he had first heard the voice of tho on woman to whom his love and faith and Honor were irretrievably pledged, no had then seen her (or another who remarkably re-markably resembled her) for the scantiest scant-iest of Instants; and finally he had mysteriously received a letter which could, he believed, have been conveyed convey-ed to him by no other hnnd but hers. And now he was persuaded bejond a, ' doubt that the person of the alcove, ' the eavesdropper for whose fair lcputo he had chosen to risk his life, was no-uody no-uody In the world but that samo ono woman. But l.iore than all else, perhaps, ho expected and feared to find the room deserted: for tho balcony outside tho windows afforded a means of cscapo too facile to be neglected by ono who wished not to be discovered. . . . His first definite Impression was of consternation and despair; for tho lights had been shut off In his absence'. ab-sence'. Then quickly he discerned, with eyes dazed by the change from the lighted hallway to the llghtless chamber, the shadowy shape of a worn an, motionless between him and the windows, waiting. . . . An electric switch was at IiIb elbow. el-bow. ""With n single motion he could havo drenched tho place with light For an Instant tempted, kome strange scruple of delicacy, abetted It may be by his native love of romantic mystery, stayed hits hand. "Madame," said he, "or mademoiselle, mademoi-selle, whichever je may be tho windows win-dows aro open, mcsclf's not detaining ye. If yo choose, ye may go; but ye'd favor mo by going quickly. . . . I give ye," he continued, seeing thai she neither moved nor replied, "thlj one chance. In thirty seconds I turc on the lights." The Woman did not ttir; but he thought ha could detect in the stillness. still-ness. her quickened breathing. "Vyhat ye've taken," he -amended, "I'd thank ye to leavo as ye go If ye camo to steal. 'Tls little 1 have to lose. . , ," There was no answer. He touched the switch with an Impatient Im-patient hand, stopped forward a single pace, caught himself up and stopped short, now pale and trembling who had a moment gone been flushed with calm. "Beatrix!" he cried thickly. Dumbly bis wife lifted her arms and offered herself to him, unutterably lovely, unspeakably radiant. . . . It were worse than a waste of time to attempt a portrait of her as she seemed to blm. Seen through her husband's hus-band's eyes, her beauty was Incomparable, Incompar-able, Immaculate, too rare and fine, too I delicate a thing to be bodied forth In words, dependent upon the perfection ff no slp'glo feature. Not In her hair, fair as sunlight on the sea, not In her eyes of autumnal brown, not in the wonderful fineness of her skin or In the daintiness of her features, not in the (raciousness of her body, did he find the beauty of her that surpassed expression, but ip the love she bor blm, In the sweetness of her InvlolaU sou), In the efeadfastness of ber Impregnable Im-pregnable heart. . . . But it's doubtful If ever he had analysed an-alysed his passion for her so minutely. minute-ly. .Mostly, I think, at that moment o her abrupt disclosure to him, he Ions ed tnutterably for her "lips and the proffered wreath round his neok of hoi Bllm, round, white arms. Tet he would not. Trembling though he was, with every instinct and every fiber of, his bejna; straining toward her, with the hunger for her a keon pain in his heart, he held himself back; or hit conoept.on of honor held him back, That which be had voluntarily orelb ecf and put away from htm for his honor's hon-or's sake, he would not take bnck though It wcro offered freely to him. "So," ho snld, after a bit, shakily; then pulled himself together, and controlling his volcei "So 'twas yourself, your-self, after all, Beatrix! Mo hoart told mo no other woman could have sung that song as yo did" Tho woman dropped hor arms. "Your heart, Tcrcnco?" tho asked a little bitterly. bit-terly. "Whnt else? Do yo doubt It?" Sho shook her bead sadly, wistfully. wistful-ly. "How do 1 know? How can I toll? Surely, dear, no two people wcro ever happier than wo yet within a year from our wedding you . . . you left ino, ran away from me. . . . Why?" "Well yo know why, dearest, and well yo know 'twns lovo of yo alone that drove mo from yo. Could I let It be Bald jo had n husband who was Incapahlo of supporting yo? Could I let It bo said thnt your husband lived liko a leech upon your fortunes? Faith, didn't I have ttf go for your sake?" "No," sho dissented with u se-cond weary shako of her pretty head; "I think It wns love of yourself, a little, Terenco that nnd your prides . . . Why should nny of our world havo guessed you were not the rich man you fnnclod yourself when wo were married? Who would have told thorn that your larded hc-ltnge In Ireland had turned out profitless? Not I, my dear." "I know that," he contended stubbornly, stub-bornly, "but I know, too, sooner or later It would havo como out, and they would havo snld: 'There Mie goes with her fortune-hunter, the Bd-venturer Bd-venturer who married her for hor money '" "And If so? Whnt eatthly difference differ-ence could It make to us, sweetheart? What can gossip matter to us If you love me?" j "If!" he cried, almost nngrlly. "If! . . . Ah, but no, darling! 'tls yourself your-self knows there Is no 'If about It, that I'm sick with lovo of ye this very minute sick and mad for ye . . ." "Then," chc pleaded, with a desperate desper-ate lltt'o break In her Incomparable voice; nnd again held out her arms to hint "then have pity on me, oh, my 'You do?!" he cried Then abrupt y, by an adiuliable effort, he calnud himself surprisingly, drawing himself up with considerable dignity and throt' lung his temper nn lie qiiiciij unjust-ed unjust-ed the disorder of his clothing. Only ' In his eyes, black as sloes and small, did there remain any trace of his malignant ma-lignant and unquenchable hatred. I "I am unfortunately." ho sneered, "Incapable of participating In such srawla as you prefer. Colonel O'nourke. Hut I am not content. I warn you . . . My rank prevents me from punishing you personally; I am obliged to fight gentlemen only." . O'Hourke laughed openly. "But I advise you to leave Monte Carlo before morning. Should you re-1 main, or should you como within my ' neighborhood another time at what ever time I will kill you as I would a rabid cur or" cause you to be shot." "There's always the coward's al-, ternallve," returned the Irishman "But yo mustn't forget ye've only the ono leg to stand upon In society your notoriety as a duelist. And I shall tako steps to see that yo fight me before be-fore sunset. Klso shall all Kurope know ye for a coward." Behind tho vlcomto the lift Bhot up, paused, and discharged a single, pas senger. As swiftly the cage dlsap peared. Out of tho corner of his eye O'Hourke recognUed the newcomer at an old acquaintance, nnd his heart swelled with gratitude while a smile of rare pleasure shaped Itself upon his lips. Ho had now the Frenchman absolutely at his mercy. "Captain von Klnem," ho said quickly, "by jour leave, a moment ol your time." ! The man paused stiffly, with the square-set and erect polso of an ofllcet of the German army. "At your service, Colonel O'Hourke," he said In lmpec cable French. ' But the Irishman had returned mull vided nitentlon to Des Trebes. "Mon slour," he announced, "your note an noys me." And with that he shot out a. hand and seized the offensive mem ber between a strong and capable thumb and forefinger. "It lins annoy ed me," he explained In parenthesis "ever since I first clapped me two eyet upon ye, scum of the earth that ye are." And he tweaked the nose of Mon sieur le Yiscomte des Trebes, tweak I ed It with a will and great pleasure, tweaked it for glory and (he Saints; carefully, methodically, even palnstak lngly, he knoaded and pulled and twist ' ed It from side to side, ere releas Ing It. Then stepping back and wiping hit fingers upon a handkerchief, he cock ed hs head to one side and adalred the result of his handiwork. '"Tit an amazingly happy effjet," he ob served critically "the crimson blotch It makes against the chalky complexion complex-ion ye affect, Monsieur des Trebes. 1 - . .Anld now Infancy, yeMl fight Your friend's may cair upon mine Cora Captain von EInom, with your per- H mission." H "Most happy, Colonel O'Hourke," a H sontcd tho German, blue eyes sparkling I in nn Immobile countenance. "I ihaU JM await the seconds of Monsieur dca Tro bes in my rooms." IH I Tho Frenchman essajed to speaJc, choked with passion, nnd turning h I ruptl)', somewhat unsteadily descent H I Ing the stalrcaso. H j O'Hoiirku laughed briefly, o florin a H tho Clenna u his hand. " 'Twas wondor HH fully opportune, your nppcaranco, cap- H tain dear," snld he. "Thank ye from H the bottom of mo heart. . . . And now will yo forgive mo excusing mo- H self until I hear from yo about the t jH fair of the morning? I've n friend waiting In mo room here. . . . Tux don the rudeness." M To Bo Continued. H |
