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Show t?z. AutW of HEARTS AND 7ASKS Ca AAN Ofl THE BOX IllualratioriS 4r M.G.KrrrNEi . . . COPVRIQHT 1911 ty - MERRILL COnPAlVf bis lights, the Arab was only paying portrait for any gallery gUen over to coin for coin. Dut for the girl, Ry- rogues. And ha hadn't worried much anna would have accepted tb sltua- over the moral problem confronting Hon with a ehrug. to await that mo- him, that the way of the transgressor ment when Mahomed, eaaed by the Is hard. It waa only when love rent sense of security, would naturally re- the veil of bis fatuity that be saw lx vigilance. The preaence of For- himself as he really was. tune changed the whole face of the Love? He gawd ahead at Fortune affair. Mahomed could have bis eyes under the mabmal. That a guileless and heart If he would but spare ber. young girl as she was should cncbaln He must be patient; be must accept him! That the sight of her should Insults, even physical violence", but always send a longing Into his soul some day he and Mahomed would play to go back and begin over! His Jaws the-final round. hardened. Why not? Why not try His past, bis foolish, futile psst: all to recover some of the crumbs of the the follies, all the petty crimes, all fine things he had thrown away? At the low dissipations In which he bad least enough to permit him to go Indulged, seemed trooping about bis again among bis fellows without con-camel, con-camel, mocking and gibbering at him. stantly looking behind to note If he Why hadn't he lived clean like Jones were followed? Ry the Lord Hsrry! there? Why hadn't he fought temp- once he waa out of this wb of his tatlon as he had fought men? Envl- own weaving, he would live atralght; ronment was no eicuse; bringing up be swore that every dollar hereafter offered no palliation; be had gone put In hla pocket should be an honest wrong simply because his Inclinations one. Fortune could never be his wife, had been wrong. On the other hand. He came to thla fact without any no one had ever tried to help him roundabout or devious byways. In the back to a decent living. Hla mother Si it place, he knew be had not had died during his childhood, and touched her heart; she had been friend-her friend-her Influence had left no Impression, ly; and now even her friendship hung ills father bad been a money maker, by a thread. All right. The love he conaumed by the pleasure of building bore her was going to be bis salvation up pyramids of gold. He had never Just the same; and at this moment reaaoned with his youngest born; be he was deadly In earnest, had paid his bills without protest or It was after nine when they were reproach; It was so much a month to ferried across the two canals, the be written down In the expense ao fresh water and the salt, several miles count. And the, first born had been below Serapeum. The three weary his natural enemy alnco the days of captives saw a great liner slip past the nursery. Btlll. he could not acquit slowly and majestically upon Ita way himself; his own arraignment was as to the Far East. She radiated with keen as any Judge could have made, llpht and cheer and comfort: and all Strong aa he was physically, brilliant could hear faintly the pulsations of as he wss mentally, there waa a mor- her engines. 8o near and yet so far; tal weakness In bis blood; and search a cap of water to Tantalus! At Hildas Hild-as he might the history of his ances- night they made camp. There were tors.1 their lives shed no light upon no palms this time; simply a well in his own. the center of a Jumble of huge boul- In stating that his face bad been ders. The tents were pitched to the granted that dubious honor and con- southwest, for now the wind blew, bit-cern bit-cern of the perpetrators of the rogues' ng from the land of northern snows; gallery, be had merely given rein to ait-a fire was a welcome thing. This a selxure of soul bitterness. Dut there was Arabia; Africa bad been left be-waa be-waa truth enough In the statement hind. Here they awaited the return U ' 8YNOP8I9. ' f!enr Ivrclval Alternun Jonea. vlre frealdent t'f Meimfolltan Orlenla tun company of New York, tlilrtln fo romance,, In In Cairo on hualne trip Horace Kyanne arrive al the hotel In Cairo Willi a carefully guarded bundle Kyanne arlla June the (anion holy V lit "! run which he ailinll having stolen from a pualia at itnadad. Jonea niwli Major Callahan anil later la Introduced tu Kor (tine hrdmv tiy a woman lo whom lie hail loaned liVl pound at M ini Curlu mil mniilli pravluualy. and who turn il In he Knrtune'a mother. June take Mm Clie.Unye and hurt una to a polo Kama. Kurt one return In Jonea the money borrowed by her mother. Mr I 'lieilwiy appear to enmiiced In Some tnyaterloua enierprlae unknown to the daughter It vu line intereala Jonea In the Culled Human' and Adventure company, com-pany, concern which for a price wi.l arranav any kl'id fit an adventur to fir-dee. fir-dee. Mr. 'helnya, her brother, Major Callahan. Walliice and It vanne, a the C nlied Humane and Adventure rniiipiwiy. Plan a rlakv enlarprlae Involving June, ltyamie imtkes known In M-a Cheileoy til Intention to marry Kurt one. Mr 4'hedaoye declare aha will not permit It 1'lan are IhIiI In prevent June anal II rial tor lion. Itvann aleala Jonna' letter and cable rilHpati'he lla wire aavm In New York, in Jo-lea' name, thai ha la renting hnuae In New York to some friend. Mi homed, keeper f the holy carpet, I on Kyanne' trait. Ityann Sirnmlae 1'iirtillie thai ha will e that om-a cornea to no harm a a reault nf hi piTihaaa nf the rug M-thomed arcoela Ityann and demand I ha Yhlorde rug lUann t.-lla him Jon-a ha the rug and ueifeM the ahdin tlon of lha New York merchant aa a mean of aecurlng It re. turn. The rug diniara from Jonea' room, Knrtuii ((iiarirl allh her mother when the Utter rrfuaea to eplaln her myaierlinia a tlona Fortune geta a tm-a-aaaa purmrttng to he from Kvnnna ak-i"K ak-i"K her to miet him In a secluded plica that avenlng Jonea recelvea a mraaaga kin t tin to meet H valine at the Kugllh-l'ir Kugllh-l'ir the n ni(i evenln, Jonea I carried off Into the denert by Mahomed ami hla 'coniplli ea aficr a deaperate flKht. Ila diacaver that Kyanne and Fortune alan are rapthe. the former I badly haltered and un'bnwloii. Kyiinne recover run-iioiini-a and the mtit nf I'nrtiine In rap'lvllv reveala In him Hie fact that Miihomed Intenda tu a;e vena.nr on Mm through the airl I'ortuna acknowl-elea acknowl-elea that ha alula lha rug from Junes' f'Kim. CHAPTER XIV. (Continued.) "Why not tell Mahomed at once, and have Mm send a courier back for the rug?" supM-sted Fortune. "Ity Jove, that clears up everything WeTJ do It Immediately." George felt better than be had at any stage of the adventure. Here was a simple way out of the difficulty. - "Boftly," said Hyaline. "Let us eome down to the lesn facts. If thst rug Is In your room, Fortune, your mother has discovered It long before now. She will turn It over to your estimable uncle. None of ua will ever see It again. I'm thinking. The Major knows that Jonea gave me a thousand pounds for It." Htruck by a sense or Impending disaster, Kyanne began to fumble In bla pockets. Gone! Every shilling of It gone! "He's got that, loo; Mahomed; the caah you gave me, Jonea. Walt a moment; don't speak; things are whirling about some. Over nice hundred pounds; every shilling of It We mustn't let hint know that I've missed 1L I've got to play weak In order to grow strong. , , Hut they will at least start up a row as to your whereabouts, Fortune." "No," thoughtfully; "ne. I do not think they will." The undercurrent was too deep for George. He couldn't see very clearly Just then. The United Romance and Adventure Company; waa that atl? Was there not something sinister behind that name, concerning him? He looked patiently from the girl to the adventurer. Ryanne stared at the yellow desert beyond. His brain was clearing rapidly rap-idly under the stimulus of thought. IU himself did not believe that they would send out search parties either for him or ror Fortune. He could not fathom what had given Fortune ber belief; lut be reallxed that his own was based upon the recollection of that savsge mood when he had thrown down the gauntlet Now they would accept It. He had run away with Fortune For-tune as be bsd boldly threatened to do. The mother and her precious brother would proceed at once to New York without him. He had mad a fine muddle of It all. Hut for a glaaa of wine and a grain too much of confidence, con-fidence, be bad not been here this dsy. Mahomed, himself astir by this time, came over to the group, leisurely. leisure-ly. The three looked like conspirators conspira-tors to his suspicious eye, but unlike conspirators tbey made no effort to separate because be approached. He understood: as yet they were not afraid of him. That was one of the reawns he hated white men; they could seldom be forced to show fear, even when tbey possessed It. Well.' these three should know wbst fear was before they saw the laat of him. He carried a kurbaih. a cowhide whip, which he twirled Idly, even suggest tlvely. Flf e. le to George. "If you ! Yblordes. there Is s'lll a chance I t you. Cairo Is but fifty mllesawa;. I'agdad Is several hundred." hun-dred." He flw the whip careaslngly through bis fingers. "I do not He - replied George, a truculent tru-culent sparkUs In bla eyes. M 0I4 yoe thst 1 bad It not It was the truth." A nrp- of anxiety passed over Mahomed Ma-homed s face. "And yowT turning apoa Hyan-, with lupproaed savsge-teesa. savsge-teesa. How b longed to Uy the Ush bp" a the rVg! Dont at me." answered Ry. use waspish y. "if had U I should it be hare." Ah, for a bit of bla oU irsngth! He would have strangled Inhumed then and there. Hut the 'rug and the beating bad weakened ilm terribly. "If I give you the rug,' Interposed fortune, "will you premise freedom o us all?" Mahomed stepped back, nonpluased. Tie bsdn't expected any Information rom this quarter. "I hsve the rug." declared Fortuna almly, though she could scarcely hear her own voice, her heart beat to furiously.' "1'ou huve It?" Mahomed waa con-itiiM'd. con-itiiM'd. Here was a .turn In the road upon which he had set no calculation. All throe of them! "Yes. And upon condition that you liberate us all, I will put It Into your hands. Hut It must be my writing this time." A white man would have bluahed under the reproach of her look. Mahomed Ma-homed entiled amiably, pleased over his cleverness. "Where Is the kls-weh?" kls-weh?" "The klsweh?" "The Holy Yhlordes. Where Is It?" "That I refuse to tell you. Tour word of honor first, to bind the bargain." bar-gain." Kyanne laughed. It acted upon Mahomed Ma-homed like a goad. He raised the whip, and had Ryanne'a gaxe swerved the part of an inch, the blow would have fallen. "You laugh?" snarled Mahomed. "Why, yes. A bsrgaln with your honor makes me Isugh." "And your honor?" returned Mahomed Ma-homed fiercely. He wondered why be held hla hand. "I have matched trickery trick-ery agalnat trickery. My honor has pot been called. 1 fed you, I gave you drink; In return you lied to me, dishonored me In the eyes of my friends, and one of them you killed." "It was my life or his." exclaimed ftysnne, not relishing the recital of this phase. "It was my life or bis; and he waa upon my back." Fortune shuddered. Presently she laid her hand upon Mahomed's arm. "Would you take my word of honor?" Mahomed' sought ber eyes. "Yes. I read truth In your eyes. Ilrlng me the rug, and my word of honor to you, you shall go free." "Hut my friends?" "One of them." Mahomed laughed unpleasantly. It waa an excellent Idea. "One of them shall go free with you. It will be for you to choose which. Now, you dog, laugh, laugh!" and the tongue of the kurbash bit the dust within an Inch of Ryanue's feet. "What shall I do?" asked Fortune miserably. "Accept," urged Ryanne. "If you are afraid to chooae one or the other of ua, Jones and I will spin a coin." "1 agree," said George, very unbap- PJ"llave you any paper, Jones V George searched. He found the dance-card ! the ball at the hotel. In another pocket he discovered the little pencil that went with It "You write," said Mahomed to Fortune. For-tune. "I Intend to." Fortune took the card and pencil and wrote aa followa: "Mother: Horace, Mr. Jones and I are prlsonera of the man who owned the rag which you will find In the large steamer roll. Give It to the courier who brings this csrd. And under no circumstances set spies upon bis track." In French ahe added: "We are bound for Hagdad. In case Mo-hamed Mo-hamed reoelvea the rug and we are not liberated, wire the embassy at Constantinople and the consulate at Hagdad. FORTUNE." 8he gave It to Mahomed. "Read It out loud," be commanded. While he apoke English fluently, be could neither read nor write It In any services hie degree. The note he had given to Fortuna had been written by a friend of bis In the baxaars who bad upon a time lived In New York. Fortune For-tune read slowly, slightly flushing as she evaded the French script. "That will do." Mahomed agreed. He shouted for one of the boys, hsde him saddle the bagln or racing-camel, racing-camel, wblch of all those twelve, alone waa bis. and be off to Cairo. The boy dipped hla bowl Into the kettle, ate greedily, saddled the camel, and five minutes later was speeding back toward Cairo at a gait that would bring htm there late that night. Fortune and George and Ryanne watched him till he disappeared below a dip and waa gone from view. In the Kinds of the three watchers the aame question rose: would he be too la'e? George was cheerful enough thereafter, but his cheerfulnees wss not of the Infectious hind. At noon the csravsa wss once more noon Its way. Ryanne was able to ride. The fumes of whatever drug had been administered to him hsd finally evaporated, and h felt only bruised, old, disheartened. A evil day tor him when he hsd set forth for Bagdad la quest of the rug. He ss confident that there would be no mg awaiting the courier, and what would be Mahomed's procedure when the boy returned empty handed was, not difficult to Imagine. Mahomed, was right; ao fsr honor had not en . tared Into the contest According to and disappeared within. She looked neither at Ryanne nor at George. 81m knew that George, his soul filled with unlucky quixotic sense of cnlvalrj which had made him ao eaay a victim to her mother, would not accept hli liberty at the price of Ryanne'a, Ry anne, to whom be owed nothing, not even mercy. And If she bad had to ask one of the two, George would have been the natural selection, foi she trusted him implicitly. Perhspi there still lingered In ber mind a recollection rec-ollection of how charmingly be had spoken of his mother. She could bave set out for Cairo alone: even as she could have grown a pair of wings and sailed through the air! The fate that walked behind her was malevolent, cruel, unjust She had wronged no one, in thought or deed. 8he bad put out ber hand confidently confi-dently to the world, to be laughed at, distrusted, or Ignored. Was It possible pos-sible that a little more than a month ago she wandered, If .not happy. In the sense she desired, at least In a peaceful state of mind, among her ca-meliaa ca-meliaa and roses at Mentone? Her world bad been. In this short time, remolded, reconstructed; where once had bloomed a garden, now yawned a chaam: and the psychological earthquake earth-quake had left her dlxzy. That Mahomed, Ma-homed, now w rought to a kind of Der-setk Der-setk rage, might begin reprisals at once, did not alarm her; Indeed, ber feeling was rather of dull, aching Indifference. In-difference. Nothing mattered now. Dut Ryanne and George were keenly alive to the danger, and both agreed that Fortune must go no farther. Ryanne, under his bitter raillery and seeming scorn for sacred things, possessed pos-sessed a latent magnanimity, and It now puahed up through the false layers. lay-ers. "Jones, It's my funeral. Go tell her. You two can find the way back to the canal, and once there you will have no trouble. Don't bother your head about me." "Dut what will you do?" "Take my medicine," grimly. "Ryanne, you are offering the cowardly cow-ardly part to me!" "You fool, It's the girl. What do I care about the rest of It? You're ss brave as a Hon. When you put up your fists the other night, you solved that puzzle for yourself. For God's sake, do it while I bave the courage to let you! Don't you understand f I love that girl better than my heart's hi (Md. and Mahomed can have it drop by drop. Go and go quickly! He will give you food and water." "You go. She knows you better than me." "Dut will she trust me as she will you? Ferclval. old top, Mahomed will never let me go till he's taken his pound of flesh. Fortune!" Ryanne called. "Fortune, we want you!" She appeared at the flap of the tent. "Jones here will go back with you. Go, both of you, before Mahomed changes his mind." "Miss Cliedsoye, he Is wrong. He's the one to go. He was hurt worse than 1 was. Pride doesn't matter at a time like this. You two go," desperately. des-perately. Fortune shook her head. "All or none of us; all or none of us," she repeated. re-peated. And Mahomed, having witneased and overheard the scene, laughed, a laughter Identical to that wblch bnd struck the barmaids ears slnlsterly. He had not studied bis white man without gathering some Insight Into his character. Neither of these men was a poltroon. And when he bad made the offer, he knew that the conditions con-ditions would erect a barrier over wblch none of them would pasa voluntarily. vol-untarily. So much for pride aa the Christian dogs knew It. Pride Is a fine buckler; none knew that better than Mahomed himself; bnt a wise man does not wear It at all times. "Whst la It to ber he demanded of Fortune. "What shall I ssy to him?" "Whatever you will." Ryanne was tired. He saw that argument would be of no use. "All or none of us." And Fortune looked at Mahomed with all the pride of her rsce. "It Is not because you wish me to be free; It Is because you wish to see one of my companions msde bsse In my eyes. I will not have It!" "The will of Allah!" He could not repress the Ore of admiration In hla own eyea as they took In her beauty, the erect, slender figure, the acorn upon her fare, and the fearlessness In ber grest. dark eyea 8urh a woman might have graced the palace of the Great Caliph. He bad bad In mind many little cruelties to practice upon her, tbst he might see the men writhe. Impotent and helpless to aid her. Hut In this tense and dramatic scene, a sense of shame took possession of him; Ms psgsn heart sertrned; not from pity, but from the respectwhlcb one brave person gives free handed to another. Mahomed waa not a hsd msn. neither nei-ther was be a rrwl one. He bad been terribly wronged, and bts eastern way had hut one angle of vision: to avenge himself, believing that revwge alone could soothe his outraged pride and re-establ!tti tls honor as he viewed tt I from within. Had the courier re-i re-i turned with the Holy Yhlordes, It la i not Impossible that he would have ltb-' ltb-' erated them all. Dut now be dared i not; be was not far enough away. To i Dagdad, then, and as swiftly as the exigencies of desert travel would per ! mlt One beacon of hope burned la i his bresst. The Pasha might be de- posed, and In that case he could Ira- mediately dispose of bis own goods i and chattels and seek new pastures. It would come hard, doubly hard, sine be never could regain the position he was to lose. 1 Nine hundred pounds English, and 1 a comfortable fraction over; the yel-1 yel-1 low-haired dog would have nothing In the end for bis pains. It would be 1 what the Feringhl called a good Joke. A week passed. Christmas. And not one of them recalled the day. Perhaps It was because years had passed since thst time when It meant anything to them. The old year went out alagglng! neither did they take note of this. Having left behind civilization, civi-lization, customs and babita were tor-gotten. tor-gotten. Sometimes they rode all day and all night, sometimes but half a day, and again, when the water was sweet, tbef rested the day and night. Never a human being they saw, never a caravan cara-van met or crossed tbem. In thla week, the secret marvels of the desert became theirs. Tbey saw It gleam and waver and glitter under skies of brass, when the north wind let down and a breese csme over from the Persian Per-sian Gulf. They saw It covered with the most amazing blues and greys and greens. They saw It under the rarest azure and a atately fleet of billowy clouds; under the dawn, under the set of sun, under the moon and stars; and unfailingly the Interminable reaches of sand and rock and scrubby bush, chameleon-like, readjusted Ita countenance to each change in the sky. George, who was a poet without the gift of expression, never oeased to And new charms; and nothing pleased his fancy more than to see the cloud shadows scud away across the sands. Once, toward the latter end of day. Fortune cried out end pointed. Far away, palely yet dlatinctly, they saw an ocean liner. She stood out against the yellowing sky as a magt lantern picture stands out upon the screen, and faded similarly. It waa the one and only mirage tbey saw, or at least notloed. Once another caravan, composed wholly of Arabs, passed. What hop the prisoners had was Instantly snuffed out Before the stranger came within hailing, Mahomed hustled his csptlves Into bis tent and swore he would kill either George or Ryanne If they spoke. He forgot Fortune, however. As the caravan passed she screamed. Instantly Mabomed clapped his hand roughly over ber mouth. The sheik of the passing caravan looked keenly at the tent, smiled grimly and passed on. What waa It to him that a white woman lay In yonder tent? Hia one emotion was of envy. After thla the prisoners became apathetic. Upon the seventh day, they witnessed wit-nessed the desert's terrifying anger. The air that bad been cool, suddenly grew still and hot; the blue above began to fade, to assume a dusty, cop-perish cop-perish color. The camels grew restless. rest-less. Quickly there rose out of the horizon saffron clouds, approaching with Incredible swiftness. Little whirlwinds of sand appeared here and there, rose and died as If for want of air. Mahomed veered the caravan car-avan toward a kind of bluff composed of sand and precipitous boulders. All the csmels were made to kneel. The boys muffled up their mouths and noses, and Mabomed gave Instructions Instruc-tions to his csptlves. Fortune buried her head In ber coat and nestled down beside ber camel, while George and Ryanne used their hsndkerchlefs. George left his camel and sought Fortune's For-tune's side, found her hand and held It tightly. He scarcely gave thought to what be did. He vaguely meant to encourage tier; and possibly he did. The storm broke. The sun became obscured. Pebbles and splinters of rock sang through the pall of w hirling ssnd. A golden tone enveloped the little gathering. Had there been no natural protection, protec-tion, they must have ridden on. blindly blind-ly and desperately, for to have remained re-mained still In the open would bave been to await their tombs, it spent Its fury In bslf aa hour; and the clearing air became cold again. The caravan proceeded. The hair of every ev-ery one was dimly yellow, their faces and their garments. CTO BB COJTTINUED.) Australia Would Ssva Biros. Strong protest Is being made la South Australia against the continual slaughter of such rare birds as the Ibis, the egret cranes and spoonbills to supply sup-ply the demands of anilUnera. The slaughter renders South Australia even more prone to plagues of grasshoppers, grass-hoppers, and Is a prime causa of the decline of Ita fish resources. As the wading birds disappear the rruslsce-bds rruslsce-bds thst destroy fish spawn Uxrreasa la tulUtude. "I Hava You Three, Then; and You Shall Pay." that be had been short In his accounts many thousands at his father's bnk; gsmbltng debts; and In msking no if fort to replace the lots, he wss soon found out by bts brother, wbo seemed only too glad to dishonor him. He was given bis choice: to sign over his mllUon. due him a year later (for at this time the fstber wss dead), or go to prison. The scandal of the affair had no weight with his brother; be wsnted the younger out of the wsy. Like the hot headed fool he waa, he had signed away his Inheritance, taken tak-en a paltry thousand and left America, Amer-ica, facing Imprisonment if he re turned. Thst wss the kind of a brother broth-er he hsd. Once he hsd burned his bridges, there came to him a dozen ways by which he could have eztrl rated himself. Dut once a fool, always a fool! Disinherited, outcast, living by his wits. Ingenious enough; the finer en wee callousing under the contact with bla Inferiors: a gambler, a hard drinker periodically; all In all, a Dae t ! of the courier, who arrived two days later, dead tired. The persona to whom the card had been sent bad sailed for Naples with the steamer Lad wig. Mabomed Ma-bomed turned upon the three miser ablcs. "1 have you three, then; and by the beard of the Prophet, you shall pay. you ahall payl You have robbed and j beaten and dishonored me; and you ahall pay!" "Am I guilty of any wrong toward you?" faltered the girl. Her mother bad gone. She bad hoped against hope. "No," cried Mahomed. He laughed "Yoa are .'re to return to Cairo. , . . alone! Free to take your choice of these two men to accompany you Free, free aa the air. . . . Well, why do you hesitate?" CHAPTER XV. Fortune's Riddle Salved. Fortune, without deigning to reply, walked aloly and proudly to her tent. |
