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Show SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS. CHAP-TERS. A feud lins existed between Colonel Arthur Ar-thur Stmiley nnd his cousin, Judgo Lamar Stanley, over an heirloom, the diamond from tho sky, found In a fallen meteor by an ancestor. Also tho succession to tho Stanley, earldom In England may come to an American. When a daushtcr la born to tho colonel and tho mother dies tho colonel buys a Kypsy boy and substitutes htm. Thrcs years later tho gypsy mother, having had no part In this bargain, steals the girl, Esther, reared In Becret, and leaves her son undetected as the heir. The gypsy has obtained possession of the diamond dia-mond from tho sky, and a document with the Stanlsy secret. Years later linear, gypsy queen, returns to Virginia w Ith Esther. Es-ther. Dr. Lee, tho late Colonel Stanley's friend, adopts Esther. Arthur Stanloy, son of Ilagar, falls In lovo with Esther, nnd so does his companion nnd cousin, Blair Stanley, rightful raalo heir of Stanley. In stealing the diamond Dlnlr causes tho death of the doctor and trlcH later to put tho blama.on Arthur, who takes tho gem. Arthur Stanley eludes his pursuers and joins Ilagar who rnvcals his Identity nnd upbraids him for his wild life. Needing money, ho, pawns tho diamond In Hlch-mond. Hlch-mond. At'S. bnll, at which un adventuress, adventur-ess, Vivian Marston, wears tho borrowed gem. LukeLovell, Hagar's gypsy guard, steals tha'dtamond. Arthur leaves Itlcli-mond Itlcli-mond andgocs to the west. Quabba, organ or-gan grinder, befriends Esther. Tom Dlake, a dttcctlvo of Illchmond, who Is hired by Hngar, produces finger prints convicting lilnlr Hngar propobes silence to Mrs. Stanley ns the price of Ilngar's and Esther's being received In Fairfax society. lilnlr strikes down Hn-gar Hn-gar and steals tho nnger prints, lenvlng tho gypsy quoen demented, Mnrmaduke Smytlio, lanycr, nrrlves to unnounco Arthur Is heir to the deceased 'Earl of Dlnnln.. T aik.!... t.tlii.n I., n unl.l.ii. I.n seeks Illnlr Instead, To win Vivian, Hlalr steals tho diamond, later marrying her nnd leaving for tho nest. Tholr trnln Is robbed, Vivian losing the dlnmond, which n slain trnln robber drops In the desert The 1100,000 he stole Is found by Arthur, now known as John Powell, Bhcep herder. Lulte Lovcll, driven from the camp nftcr learning Hagar's secret, leaves to seek Dlalr. Hagar Is under treatment, and Esther Es-ther Is In nichmond society. Abo liloom, gambler, knows I31nlr"s guilt and covets the diamond. The diamond Is later picked up by an Indian woman. Dr. Lee, Arthur learns, died of heart dlseoso. Becoming very rich, he buys Stanley Hall, sold nt auction, through lllake, nnd also provides for llu-gar llu-gar nnd Esther Vivian Is saved from drowning by Tow-ell, Tow-ell, who is Infatuated by her. Smytho finds tho diamond nnd gives It to Esther to deliver to Arthur. nialr loins Vivian In Los Angeles. Du-rand, Du-rand, "king of diamonds," a crook known to Vivian, goes to n saloon to try to discover dis-cover the diamond. Arthur appears on tho J Bceno. Tho diamond Is lost In a melee. Esther saves Arthur, who Is Injured, and ho goes to Los Angeles In caro of tho pliy-slclan-crook, Durand. The diamond Is found by two billposters, ono of whom murders the other for It. Arthur Is "doped" "dop-ed" by Durand, De Vnux nnd Vlvlnn. nialr makes Arthur bcllevo he suffered suffer-ed from hallucination In thinking ho saw Esther. Luke Is "railroaded" to prison by nialr. Arthur bus tho diamond. Hlalr kills Durand, and later Esther and Smytho return to Virginia, the girl rejoining Hagar Ha-gar at tho nanltnrlum. Tho diamond Is stolen by Do Vaux Ho Is later struck clown nnd the diamond tnken lifter Luke, nldcd by Quabba, escapes Esther will not lenvo Hugar and tnko her rightful place In society. Smytho examines an old parchment bearing Hngar'H pedlgrco The dlnmond Is given by Lulto to Esther, who will not keep It, but sends It back to Arthur. Ar-thur. Hngar and Esthor, icjolnlng tho KMisles, travel westward Arthur, repent- fin 1 nml intnrmrt cit thn Iritfinlmri, nf -lr- Ian and Hlalr. Is nbnut to tnko poison just ns I.uko breaks Into his room, but Luko drinks It by mlptnko nnd Is then killed by un nuto driven by Hlalr. lie Imb taken somo of Arthur's clothing, nnd tho nuto disfigures him so tl1 .1 ho Is taken for Arthur. Hlalr removes tho diamond from his body. Aithur, now nameless, lllos In his nuroplnne, with which Hlalr has tampered, tam-pered, nml falls near Esther. Hagar dies, forgiving Arthur and clasping Esther's hand In his. Tho two, assuming rulo over tlio gipsies, nro married near Stanley Hall In Virginia. Hlalr, having Arthur's tioney and the diamond, obtains tho earldom earl-dom and Is struck down by Do Vaux, In armor, in the London houso of tho Stanleys. Stan-leys. CHAPTER LIX. Arthur Stanley Harding. B.vuiUiU out, niuyiuo unci tuo htcUeys of Stanley Houso hammered ham-mered ut the bolted door, whllo within they could hear tho shrieks of l,udy Vivian resounding through the somber old Tudor mansion. man-sion. Hmytho, keener than tho scr.vnnts, though not renowned for quickness of wit, sensed that somo murderous Intruder, In-truder, cause of tho commotion within, with-in, had lmrie! il.s Ki'tat don. Tho lawyer ran tirouml to fho bnek of tho houso just In tlmo to hco Do Vnux, who had shed the armor ho had concealed himself In, Jump through the old (lothlc window from tho stair hindlng. tho wl.idnw turning back nnd minpiiiiii; shut ugiiln I Charging swiftly down upon tho Intruder In-truder to him unknown, tho lanky I mm) of law mado n perfect low tackle, although ho was no exponent of football. foot-ball. In tiny cube, he grubbed tho hastening has-tening Ho Vnux below tho knees nnd down went thief and barrister. Tho diamond from tho sky, which De Vnux still clutched, flew from his ' hand nt tho Impact and, curving through the nlr, dropped unnoticed Into the upturned hat that had fallen iiKn tho ground from the lawyer's pate. Mriimvhllo Vivian, In her coronation rolie. wns bonding over tho stricken form of Illnlr. In his court dress nnd peer's nttlre. Instinctively Vivian realized what had happened. She hnrdly needed to place her hnud upon the breast of Illnlr tlio diamond from tho sky wns gone! The lackey, who had been carrying lilt the tea trny from her boudoir when the sound of Hlnlr's fall In tho hallway -' Vivian In Her Coronation Robes Held Blair's Gtrickon Form. below anil tho clanging down of tho discarded minor told some tragedy had befallen the American earl, run to thu door past his countess nml tho bleeding bleed-ing carl prone In the hallway. With trembling lingers the footman threw buck tho old bolt, and his fright eucd fellow servnnts. shoving and beating outsldu the door, tell In almost upon their uoblo master. Hlalr by this tlmo wns recovering from tho dreadful blow that had been dealt him by the mulled figure with thu buttle mace. Tho blood trickled down his ghastly face nnd empurpled nnd smeaied the snowy shirt front ot his court nttlre and stained theeimlnoof his coronation robes. Vivian held his stricken form. With n sickening pang nt her heart Vivian Kulled there would bo in-Hiiiip in-Hiiiip and ceremony for Hlalr, carl of Stanley, uud Vivian, his fair countess, to grace this day. (leorge, king of Great Ilrltnln, emperor of Indl.i mid ruler of dominions beyond tlio sens, would bo crowned today, miriouiiilcil by the nobles of his realm, but the American Karl of Stanley and his lady would not be there. Something of this mut havo passed through Uhilr's dulled, aching con Hclousuess. "Stop him! lie struck me down! The diamond Is gone!" Ilo gnsped and fumbled ut his blood stained finery us ho spoke. Tho Gothic window had closed bnek in place. Seemingly the nrmoreil ns-Bullniit ns-Bullniit bad vanished as If by magic. Only tho heap of old mull nccouter-incuts nccouter-incuts uud helmet on tho Hour told how tho murderous intruder bud hidden. The servants stood open mouthed and helpless as Illnlr rose to his feet, assisted by Vlvlnn, and thou ho roused to drho them out by his llerco com. mnnds uud curses. was strenuous, hut brief. Tho doughty lawyer "wns no mutch for tho younger and more muscular De Vnux. Throwing Smythe aside and striking nnd kicking him viciously. Do Vaux sprang to his feet nml made, off just ns tho servants, followed by tho enrl nnd his lady, camo around upon tho scene. Suspicious nnd ever distrustful of Smythe, Illatr refused to bcllevo tho lawyer had attempted to stny tho mysterious mys-terious assailant who hail struck htm down and borne away the diamond. Forgetting his grlovous wound nnd tho blood that trickled down his livid face, Illnlr screamed hoarsely In bin wild fren,y of nnger and chagrin. "Pack your things!" ho shrieked. "You woro In tho plot; yon wero nn accomplice, and I'll' havo your Ufo.for itr -h&idi&Su- Vivian pnlcd; a chill went through her being. "Come, comol" sho whispered whis-pered tensely. "Come, dear; let us go Into tho house. You aro badly hurt, and tho diamond Is go no. Never mind wo will recover It! "i:vprthlng will bo nil right; yes. everything will bo nil right!" And for the first tlmo In her wicked life that pity which Is nkln to lovo filled her heart with n deep affection. After nil, wicked as ho was. Hlalr won a mnii who hnd fought his wnv. uii'iiTiipulmiHl) mid desperutely. I Is l nif. but ho hnd fought and never Vthlmpered and for her! And In this Jll hour preceding more el ,iavs t. to como Vivian felt n wild affection for H tho stricken man beside her which wis ill never to falter nor weaken. ' II U In farnway Virginia there ure love H and happiness, Incrcnsed una seller i In tho Joyous hearts of Usthni t,nd r' tlmr in tho sweet, dear jeur tknt has M passed. At tho gypsy rendezvous, unvbltcd 1 by tho outside world, Arthur and l's ther, man nnd wife, have seen the hap. I py year speed by and In Its course bring them their heart's dcslro-n - V child. SU4 Again n Joyous gypsy festival, the '"W christening of tho llttlo gypsy prince. I Again tho, stranger minister, who was I brought to olllclato at their wedding from distant Itlclimond, comes. This time there Is no such wild rev clry ns nt the maypole wedding, which so amazed and Interested the good mnu. Hut onco nguln tlio gypsy muni clnns play, nnd once again Quabba N drunk with Joy. At the hillside fountnln tbnt gusho In n crystal stream Into the hollow trough that Is nature's own christen lng font tho minister from Richmond dips his fingers nnd sprinkles the son of Esther nnd Arthur and says, ") christen tlieo Arthur Stanley Ilnrdlng." Then, nfter tho christening feast and tho strango gypsy rites by which n mnn child Is taken into tho tribe, thr parson departs, wondering, ns he bat wondered before, what strange gypsle nro theso who nro ruled In love and kindness by n young king nnd queen bearing every evidence in speech and action of education nnd refinement. Hut thut Is their secret, nnd tho good mnn respects it and goes ns he has como and says no word to any one, n ho has pledged himself to do. When tho pursuit of tho murdcrou thief had halted nnd when Illnlr had been helped back to his chambers In Stanley Houso tho still bewildered Smythe, dully smnrtlng under the unjust un-just nccusntlon of Blair, hud retrieved his hat mid nbsentmlndedly had placed it upon his bend. Ho winced us ho felt n sharp, lieavj object fall down within tho crown am) rap him smartly on the skull, ill scratched his head and then In mlU suiprWu felt libs fingers entangled In r Jeweled chain. He drew It down nm' gnzed nt it, dumfounded. "My word," lie said, "if It Isn't tlu bnlly old diamond from tho sky!" Stupid, ns Illnlr might think, yet wise us the serpent, ns Hlalr might also tliliik, Mnrmaduke Smythe tool tho great Jewel nnd placed it cnrefullj In the Inside brent pocket of his frock coat and then buttoned that most re sportniilo garment tightly nround him Ono n'ternooii u few days later whri. -rfuiythe returned to his room, half bed C- chamber, half oil library nnd olllco i-iimn i-iimn tors n.irrcd to hint ns family nolle Iter of the carls of SI'iiV for oves ihlity years, he found the present en btislej among tho pni urs mid docii nitwits. The curious old parchment Ungnr hm' git en Iilni tlit g.vjsv family .tree o1 tho Hurdlngs had been tossed up Y?i3Bwmi Wfmh PWWWiiiltl.jM'Jii' Tho Ynar Had Orourjht Them Thou Heart's Desire. tho floor contemptuously by Illnlr, win .....nH.1.l I. .... U..1W. ... I,. 1-1- Ikfi'tiucu lb tin nuiuu it I. ........ j . i,v 'Tack up your things nnd get." said JSjr" Illnlr, "Your own things nnd nothing but your own things, remember." Smytho iinswcred dutifully, but crisp ly, "As your lordship wishes," um picked up tho parchment of tho Hur ding gypsy genesis from tho floor. Ills bags wero already packed, nnd ho now shouldered tho gun ho hud car rled In tho wilds of America and wn turning lo reinovo the deer 1. tin cherished souvenir of Ills sc a vl'li to tho Yankee Jungles, when nialr's ex elamatlon, "I.oavo that nlonol" caused him to wheel nround startled. Tho gun went off pointed back over Smylho's shoulder, and tho lie.iv charge of shot struck the dter head fair between (ho eyes. Tho Impact loosened whatever bound tho deer herd to tho wooduu mount. |
