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Show I sf0 By. ROir z,.mS CARDBLL L Copyright. 1913. by "Roy L. McCardclt . A novslliatlon of th photo play salsctsd th bait In over 19,000 submitted to ths scenario department of tha Chicago Tribune In a $10,000 prlss eontett during December and January. Th manuecripti In this competition competi-tion came from many icctiona In the United States and Canada. Authors of note as well ae thousands of ama Uura took part. $10,000 For 1,000 Words or Less For an Idea For a Sequel to "THE DIAMOND FROM THE SKY" The American Film Manufacturing Manufac-turing Company's Picturizcd Romantic Novel In Chapters. This conlesl is open (o any man. woman or child who is not connected, directly or indirectly, with the Film Company or the newspapers publishing publish-ing the continued story. No literary ability is necesaary to qualify as a contestant You are advised to see the continued photo play in the theaters where it will be shown to read the story aa it runs every week, and then send in your suggestion. Contestants must confine con-fine their contributions for the sequel to 1,000 Uiordx or Ic-t-t. It is the idea that is wanted. SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAP-TERS. CHAP-TERS. A feud has existed between Colonel Arthur Ar-thur Stanley ami tils cousin, JuJko Lamar Stanley, over an heirloom, tho (Unmoral from the sky, found In a fallen meteor by an ancestor. Also, the Buccmslon to the Stanley earldom In Kngland may come to an American. When u daughter la born to the colonel and tho mother dies, the colonel buys a Kypiy boy nml substitutes lilm. Three years later the eypsy mother, havInK had no part In thio bargain, steals tho girl, being reared In secret, and leaves rlicr son undetected as tho heir. Tho gypsy gyp-sy has obtained possession of the diamond from tho sky, and. a document witty the Stanley sccrot. 'When Esther Is grown a beautiful young girl, llagar, now gypsy queen, returns to Virginia with her. Dr. Lee, tho lata Colonel Stanley's friend, adopts Lsthor, but demands that llagar turn over to him the diamond from tho sky. Arthur Stanley, son of llagar, falls In lovo with L'sthcr and bo dots his companion com-panion and cousin. Illalr Stanley, rightful male heir of Stanley. In stealing tho diamond dia-mond Illalr causes tho death of tho doctor doc-tor and tries later to put the blame on Arthur, who takes tho diamond from him. Illalr, tscaping, Infers that he has left Esther's room. Arthur forces him to fight a duel In uli'cli Illalr Is only stunned Tho DhcrlfT uttempts to take Arthur, but ho eludes his pursuers and joins llagar, who rvtcala his Identity and upbraids him for his wild life. Needing money, ha piwus tho diamond In Richmond. Rich-mond. At a ball, nt which n uupposed Now York belle, Vivian Marston, It tho guest of honor, Arthur nml Illalr llnd tho diamond on tho visitor. Shu Is uu adventuress adven-turess who has honov.cd It. Lulto Lovcll. Hn r's gypsy guard, steals the dlamonu, u..-. to uuld detection drops It Into a mall box. A sheriff tries to arrest Arthur on tho murder chargo. Ho escapes from Richmond and goes to tho west. Tho diamond passes Into a mall bag, picked up by Quabba, organ grinder. Quabba's monkey steals tho diamond, llagar takes Usthor to llvo at Stanley hall. Tom Blake, a dctcctlvo of Richmond, who Is hired by llagar, produces linger prints convicting Illalr. llagar proposes hllenco to Mrs. Stanley ns tho prlco of Hagar's and Ksther's being received in Fairfax society. Illalr btrlkcs down llagar lla-gar and steals tho linger prints, leaving tho gypsy demented, Thu dlumond Is found by a negro boy and Is taken by n tramp. Tho latter Is murdered by Hung 1.1. It Is stolen just as a slumming party inters Hung I.t's den. Hagar Is again with Ksther among tho gypsies. Marma-duko Marma-duko Stnythc, lawyer, arrives to announce Arthur Is heir to tho deceased Karl of Stanley. Learning Arthur Is a. fugltlvo ho seeks Blair Instead, To win Vivian, Illalr steals tho diamond, Inter marrying her and leaving for tho west. Their train Is robbed, Vivian losing tho diamond, which n, slain train robber drops In tho desert. I Tho JIOO.OCO ho etolo Is found by Arthur, now known ns John Powell, sheep herder. Vlvlnn deserts Illalr, telling him ho must regain the diamond for her. Luko Lovcll, driven from tho camp after learning Hagar's Ha-gar's secret, leaves to seek Illalr. llogar is under treatment nnd Ksthcr Is In lllchmond society, protege of Mrs, Stanley, Stan-ley, who suspects her ronl name, and of Mrs. Randolph. Abo Bloom, gambler, who knows Blair's guilt, covets tho diamond nnd calls It tho prlco of his Bccrecy. Blair will not listen to Lovcll, nnd Arthur also insists on his silence. Blair returns to Richmond and. Instigated by his mother, pays unwelcomo court to Esther, Mrs. Btaidey asserting Vivian had been married before. Tho diamond Is picked up by on Indian woman. Either, resolving to find - Arthur, leaves Tllchmond with Quabba a3 - attendant I CHAPTER XXIII. "To tho Highest Bidder." "" HE Impulsed of youth oro gen-I gen-I erous. Not for himself nlonu B did ho who had been Uuown ns Arthur Btanlcy of Btnnloy hall, Virginia, drenm his drentns of wealth nnd power, as John Powell, California Califor-nia millionaire to be. True, tho factor of wilty, osieclally strong when life U joutiB, uctuntwl him in part. Ho hod V'ft the proud, old countrysldo of Fairfax, Fair-fax, where, as master of Stanley hall, ho had been nn aristocrat of aristocrats, aristo-crats, a fugltlvo accused of murder. IIo had felt no shamo tit this, for ho knew his own lnnoccnco nnd know It could bo. proved. But tho deeper shnine that had drlv-en drlv-en him to this desperate course was tho shame nt the thought that his life had been a living lie. lie was not n Stanley of Stnuley hall, proud heir of nn English earldom nnd tho diamond from tho shy. IIo wns n KJ'1'sy changelliiK, an lmpo-tor! lmpo-tor! This had been through no fault of his. but It wns his fault that lie bad wasted the fair heritage of Stanley hall, n heritage not his, and had left It bankrupt. Hn had stood nnd he still stood usurping Blair's heirship to all these things. it was perhaps vanity, and a natural one. that Inspired Arthur's resolve to return to Virginia rich In his own right, tell the truth, tho whole truth, sparing Blnlr from the consequences of being responsible for the sudden death of Dr. I.ec. For Hlnlr had assured him this had been tho effect of suddcu excitement on an old man's weakened heart, when the kind but Irascible doctor, alone with Hlnlr in his study, had qunr-reled qunr-reled with the younger man over the diamond from the sky. The Impulses of jouth nro generous. Laying aside even his plans for his future fu-ture realization of power and Justification, Justifi-cation, Arthur's llrst thought was to employ the means he had nt hand In the finding of the train robbers' btolcn plunder, to nld Esther and his gypsy mother, bitter and cruel as the latter had been to him. Then ho would save Stanley hall, the proud old place his prodigality had Imperiled, Im-periled, from thu hands of greedy strangers. Whom should ho employ as his trusted trust-ed agent In these matters? He thought of tho taciturn nnd Inscrutable Tom Ulake, the Klchmond detective. Arthur Ar-thur remembered vividly how, nt n look from Hagar, Hlnke had deftly aided him In escaping from the sheriff of Fairfax and the police of Klchmond In the exciting encounter at Mrs. Randolph Ran-dolph ball. Arthur resolved to trust Illnko. Reaching Los Angeles with tho outlaw loot, tho first thing Arthur did wns to wlro the Itlchmond dctcctlvo In n guarded message. He received n reply In a few hours, which read: "Know you nro all right. Will act for you In confidence. Trust mo fully." Then It was that Arthur wired ample funds nnd Instructed Illnko to secretly guarantee all expenses for Hagar's treatment at the sanitarium, Irrespective Irrespec-tive of what Sirs, Stanley might do. for Arthur had all particulars In brief by wlro from Hlake. From Ulnke he also learned that L's-tlicr L's-tlicr was hcciulngly In good hands with Mrs. Stanley nt Mrs. Haiidolph's mansion man-sion In Itlchmond, nnd from tho snuie source ho learned that Stanley hall. In tljo due courso of tho bankruptcy proceedings against tho missing Arthur Ar-thur Stanley, was to bo sold to the highest bidder. Of tho money, some hundred thou sand dollars, ho had found under tho skeleton of tho horse In the desert. Arthur placed 520,000 by wlro at the disposal of Illnko In Itlchmond with Instructions to bid In Stanley hall nt all hazards, and If more money wcro necessary more would bo forthcoming. Ho could save Stanley hall from strangers and nld Esther and his gjpsy mother, both penniless nnd on the bounty of strangers, since Hngnr, In her mental Infirmity from tho blow that none know Illalr had dealt her, had no menus of telling where her supposed weulth wns hidden. Hut It was a bitter thought to Arthur Ar-thur that even In this ho wns using means not rightfully his. As tho spendthrift heir of Stanley hall ho hnd unwittingly been nn Impostor nnd a cheat. And now, even In secretly coming com-ing to tho rcscuo to save Stanley hall from strangers or to nld Esther nnd Hngnr, ho was using stolen money. An nwakculng to higher Ideals had come to Arthur, and these rellcctlous wero bitter ones. Ho hoped good might como out of evil and resolved to make ovcry effort to found his own fortune and refund with Interest. With Esther tho Impulses of her fair young womanhood wero moro thnu generous; they wcro lovlug and self sacrificing. Sho know sho was right ful heir of Stanley hall, oven though by accident of sex no titled honors nbroad could como to her. nut her birthright wns n proud herltnge. Yet for tho snko of Arthur, n fugltlvo, nnd Hagar, a crazed gypsy woman, who had done hor n wrong In permitting Arthur to dwell ns master at Stauley hall, wtallo she, tho truo Stanley, was rcnml among tho rodo Ilomany, sho would keep silent. Tho tender henrt of Esther wns per-mentod per-mentod only with loving kindness for tho nflllcted Hngnr nnd tho reckless, hnndsomo gypsy son who had masqueraded masque-raded as the rightful master of Stanley Stan-ley ball. Except for tho humble help of the poor hunchback, Qdabba, Esther was i !i s rtiA J 1 At tho Door of the Sanitarium now alone surrounded by cold heartcl bchemers, save perhaps tho light bntiu-ed bntiu-ed nnd frivolous society lender, Mrs. Randolph. So when the persecutions of the returned ne'er do well, Hlnlr Stanley, hnd become unbearable, and when lib austere mother dropped tho mnsk of kindliness and held over Esther's bend tho threat regarding Hngar, Esther had lied. Sho tied with Quabba, seeking Arthur, hoping, trust-tiig, trust-tiig, bellevlug Arthur would be her help. For his sake she kept silent, though she had proofs hidden nt Stauley hall of who nnd what sho was Esther Stanley, not Harding. No daughter of n maddened, dependent gypsy woman wns she. So Esther's Impulses, loving nnd self sacrificing, led her first to where Hngar I . --...ly-J H j' . f 1 A Gleam of Reeoanltlon In Hanar's Eyes was. It was lato on tho night of her tllgut when Esther nrrlved tit tho pri-vato pri-vato sanitarium. A long cloak concealed con-cealed the plain nttlro In which she had clambered down tho vines In tho moonlight from her room In tho Itun-dolpli Itun-dolpli mansion and Joined tho faithful Qunbbn waiting below Outsido the sanitarium sho handed to Quabba tho gypsy headdress slio had donned for her tllght, and, whllo Quabba lurked nt n distance, sho rang tho boll nt the door of tho snnltnrlum and wns admitted. She had doffed tho cloak, for tho night wns wurm, but donned It ngnhu In her cloak with her curls about her protty head she seamed to tho super intendent Hliuply the Miss Hnrdlng he knew ns Wiling tho well known society so-ciety lender of Itlchmond, Mrs. Randolph, Ran-dolph, nnd vtho-o mother was under treatment for mental trouble here. "I nm called suddenly from Richmond." Rich-mond." Esther explained to thu house surgeon "You will pardon the lateness late-ness of ill rail, but 1 want to see my mother eie 1 Kae tho city." At llrst tho head of the Institution made polite efforts to deny her request. Hut he imt proof against the agitated agi-tated Esther's pathetic appeals. "Under oidlnnry elreiiinstnnces, Miss Harding." mild the house surgeon, "I could not let ou see a patient at this hour Hut I inwe good news for you. Your mother shows signs of Improvement, Improve-ment, nnd if you do not excite her it mny do m harm to let you sec her. I enn also lit out n hope mind. I do not promise this that In time, with rest and quiet, sho wlh completely recover, nnd nn operation will not bo needed. So kind wit" his manner that Esther could no lunger restrain herself. She briefly told the surgeon that conditions welt1, such she wns compelled to remove re-move herself from being under further obligations to Mrs. Stanley and the hitter's relative, the moro kindly Mrs. Randolph. "I inn going to seek n friend," snld Esther, "a friend who has every reason to assume all ittpouslhllltles for nil charges the treatment of my mother Incurs. 1 also pledge mjself personally person-ally to this "Will you see that even If Mrs. Stanley Stan-ley withdraws her aid that my mother Is not taksu from here, that she will continue to reeelve the benefit of the treatment which will, ns you believe and 1 trill hope, lestore her reason?" The head smgeoti regarded Esther with n look of earnest sympathy. "Set your mind nt ease. Miss Harding." Hard-ing." he said quietly. "An unknown friend, nnd 1 am not nt liberty to give ecn the nrnm nf the agent of this tin known friend, has guaranteed nil financial finan-cial responsibility for your mother's expenses nnd treatment here. I nm authorized to leturn to Mrs. Stanley what she has paid out for your mother. moth-er. Resides this, wore It otherwise, the case Is su Interesting nnd has responded re-sponded so well to treatment without operation that we would bo Inclined to consider It worthy of our attention without recompense." It was with n glad heart that Esther received this cheering Information, and It wns with an even gladder one she beheld Hngar and noted n glentn of recognition In those eyes so long vacant va-cant and Inexpressive. To Do Continued |