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Show ' AutKor o HEARTS AND .MASKS Crt MAN Ofl THE BOX etc. Illvislraliorvs 4r -M.O.Kkttnkr- COPYUIOHT 1911 by - nCKRILL COMPANY Vitally Important to Msst Him at Nina O'Clock at tha English-Bar; orabla to break hli parole. And where was Ryanne? "Help!" Mahomed swung bla arm round George's neck, and the third cry began be-gan with a gurgle and ended with a sigh. Deftly, the Arab rebandaged the prlaoner'a mouth. Bo be It He had had hia chance for freedom; now he ahould drink to the bottom of the bitter cup, along with the others. He had no real enmity against Oeorge; he was aim ply one of the pawns In the game be waa playing. Hut now be aaw that there waa danger In liberating liberat-ing him. The otherl Mahomed caressed ca-ressed bla wiry beard. To subject h'm to the utmost mental agony; to break him phyalcally, too; to pay him bark pound for pence; to bruise, to hurt, to rack blm, that was all Mahomed Ma-homed desired. George made no further effort to free himself, nor apparently to beatlr himself about the future. Somewhere In the fight, presumably as he fell against the table, he had received a crushing blow 'n the small ribs; and when Mahomed threw him back, he fainted for the second time In his life. He reclined limply In the corner of the carrluge, the bosom of his shirt bulging open; for the thrifty Arabs had purloined the penrlstuds, the gold collar-buttons, and the sapphire cufflinks. And consciousness returned re-turned only when they lifted him out and dropped him Inconsiderately Into the thick dust of the road. He stirred again at bla bonds, but presently Isy still. The pnln In his side hurt keenly, keen-ly, and he wasn't sure that the rib was whole. What time had passed alnce his entrance to the English liar was beyond bis reckoning, but he knew that It was yet In the dark of night, aa no light whatever penetrated the cloth over his eyes. That he was somewhere outside the city he was assured by the tang of the winter wind. He heard low voices Arabic; and while he possessed a smattering of the tongue, his head ached too aharply for him to sense a word. Later, a camel coughed. Camels ? And where were they taking him upon a camel? IlagdadT Impossible: there were too many white men following the known camel-ways. He groaned a little, but the sound did not reach the ears of his captors. To ride a csmel under ordinary conditions waa a painful pain-ful affair; but to straddle the ungainly brute, dressed as be was. In a swallow-tall and paper-thin pumps, did not promote any pleasurable thoughts. They would In all truth kill him before be-fore they got through. Hung the rug! was It, since he waa now certain that Mahomed had It not? It waa Ry-anne; Ry-anne; Ryanne, smooth and plausible of tongue. Not being satisfied with ft thousand pounds, he had stolen It again to mulct some other simple, trustful person. George, usually to unsuspicious, was now quite willing to believe anything of anybody. , He felt himself being lifted to his feet. The rope round his ankles waa thrown off. His feet stung under the renewed flow of blood. He waited for them to liberate his hands, but the galling rope was not disturbed. It wss evident that the natives still entertained en-tertained some respect for his fighting ability. Next, they boosted him, flung a leg here and a leg there; then cam a lurch backward, the recurrence of the pain in bis sido, and be knew that he was upon the back of a camel, desert des-ert bound. There were stirrups, and aa life began to spread vigor once more through tils legs, be found the steel. The straps were too short, and In time the upper turn of the steel chafed his insteps. He eased himself by riding ildewlse, the proper way to ride a camel, but with constant strolnlng to keep his balance without the use of his hands. Fortunately, they were not traveling very fast, otherwise, oth-erwise, what with the stabbing palna In his side, produced by the unvarying dogtrot, he must have fallen. He was miserable, yet defiant; teara of anger and pain Oiled hla eyes and burned down his cheeks In aplte of the cloth. And he, poor fool, had alwaya been longing for an adventure, a taste of life outside the peaceful harbor wherein where-in he had sailed his cat-boat I Well, here he was, In the deep-sea water; and he read himself so truly that he knew the adventure he bad longed for had been the cut-and-drled affairs of atory-tellers. In which only the vll-lalna vll-lalna were seriously discommoded, and everything ended happily. A dnshlng hero he was, to be aurel Why hadn't he changed bis clot heat Wss there ever such an ass? Ityann had told blm that there was likely to be sport; and yet he had left the bote! bo-te! as one dressed for the opera. Assl And to-morrow the Ludwlg would sail without him. (TO E CONTINUED.) All About Nothing. Some of the saddest "misunderstandings" "misunder-standings" In life have arisen all about nothing. Looking backward, we cannot can-not think why we were so angry or what our friend could aee In our words Inquired about Fortune, and waa Informed In-formed that she had dined In her room. A case of doldrums, Mrs. Chad-so Chad-so ye believed. "I'm la a peck of trouble," said George, craving a little sympathy. "In what way?" "The rug I told you about Is gone." "What? Stolen?" "Yes. Vanlahed Into tbln air." "That's too bad. Of course the police po-lice will eventually find It for you." "I'm afraid ibat'a, exactly the trouble. I really daren't put the case In the hands of the police." "Oh, I see." Mrs. Chedsoye looked profoundly sorry. "And here I am due for Fort Said tomorrow." "That's the kind that bowla you over," aald the Major. "If there Is anything I can do after you are gone. . . " "Oh, I shouldn't think of bothering you. Thanks, though." "Yod must have lost your key," suggested sug-gested Mrs. Chedsoye. ."No. It's been hanging up in the lorter's bureau all day." "Wen, I hope you find the rug." aald the Major, with a sly glance at his sister. "Thanks. I must be off. The chap I bought It of says that the official guardian from Dagdad has arrived, and that there's likely to be some sport! I'm to meet blm at a place called the English-Par." "The English llur?" The Major shook his bead. "A low plsce, If I remember." re-member." "And you are going dressed like that?" asked Mrs. Chedsoye. "Haven't time to change." He excused ex-cused himself and went In starch of a carriage. ' "The play begins, Kate," whispered the Major. "This Hoddy of ours is a wonderful chap." "Poor fellow!" "What; Hoddy?" "No; Perrlval. He'll be very uncomfortable un-comfortable In patent leather pumps. Tb Major laughed light-heartedly. "I suppose we might telegraph for reservation res-ervation on the Ludwlg." "I shall park at once. Fortune can And her way to Mentone from Naples I am beginning to worry about that girl. She has a temper; and she Is beginning to have soma Ideas." "Marry her, marry her! How much longer must I preach that sermon? She's growing handsomer every day, too. Watch your laurels, Kate." Mrs. Chedsoye Inspected her rings. Meanwhile, George directed his driver to go post-haste to the English-liar. English-liar. That he found It more or less of a dive In nowise alarmed him. He had been In places of more frightful aspect As Hyanne had written him to make Inquiries of the barmaid relative rela-tive to finding him, he did so. She Jerked her head toward the door at the rear. George went boldly to It opened It, and stepped Inside. And vanished from the baunta of men. CHAPTER XII. The Caravan In the Desert. Tea, Oorge vanished from the haunta of men aa completely as If the Great Hoc had dropped him Into the Valley of Diamonds and left him there; and as nobody knows Just where the Valley of Diamonds Is, George was very well lost Still, there waa, at the end of a most unique experience, ex-perience, ft recompense far beyond Its vslue. Put, tf course, George, being 1 without the gift of clairvoyance, saw nothing save the Immediate and Imminent Immi-nent clrcumstsnces: a door that banged behind him. portentously; a sack, ft cloak, ft burnouse, or whatever 1 It was, flung about hla head, and smelling evilly. ' George hit out valiantly, and ft mer- 1 ry scuttle enaued. The room was small; st lesst, George thought It wss, 1 for In the space of one minute he thumped against the four sides of It. 1 He could see nothing and he couldn't breathe very well; but In spite of I these Inconveniences be put up thre rounds that would have made some i stir among the middleweight. In the phraseology of the fancy, he had a good punch. All the disappointments of the day seemed to become so many pounds of steam In his shoulder; and 1 he waa aware of a kind of barbaric Joy whenever he bit some one. All i the circumspection of years, all of the gentle blood of hla peaceful for-beara. for-beara. gave way to the strain which stilt lurks In the blood of civilised humanity, hu-manity, even In the veins of poets and persona. He fought with all the tactics tac-tics of ft sailor In ft bar-room, not over nicely. A table toppled over with a amash-Ing amash-Ing noise. George and bla asaaliscts fell in a besp beside It Thwack! pang! George struggled to his feet and tugged at the stifling envelope. Some on Jumped upon bis back. Old Man of the Sea style. A savage elbow- Jab disposed of this Incubus. And then the racket began nil over again. George never paused mentally to wonder won-der what all this rumpus waa about; time enough to mnko inqulrlea after the scrimmage. Intrepidly, as Here-ward Here-ward the Wake, as Hussy d'Arabois, as 1'orthos In the cave of Loch-Maria, George fought. He waan't ft trained athlete; he hadn't any aclence; he was simply ordinarily tough and active ac-tive and clean-lived; and the Injustice of an unprovoked assault added to physical prowesa a full measure of nervous energy. It was quasi Homeric: Homer-ic: a modern young gentleman In evening eve-ning dress holding off for several minutes min-utes five slock, sinewy, unhampered Arabs. But the days of the gods were no more; and no quick-witted goddess cast a veil across the eyes of the Arabs. No; George had to shift for himself. Suddenly there came ft general gen-eral rush from the center of the room into one of the right-angular corners. The subsequent . snarl of legs and arms was not unlike that seen upon the foot ball field. George was the man with the ball. And then to George came merciful darkness. The conjunction, as In astronomy, of two planets In the same degree of the Zodiacmeaning Zo-diacmeaning George'a head and the stuccowall gave the Araba complete mastery of the field of battle. From the opposite side of the room came the voice of the referee: "Curses of Alloh upon these white dogs! How they fight!" And Mahomed Ma-homed peered down Into the corner. One by one the Arabs got up, eacii examining bis honorable wounds. George alone remained unmoved, quiet and disinterested, under the folds of the tattered burnouse. . "Is he dead?" demanded Mahomed. "No, my father. His head hit the wall." "Hasten, then. Hind his feet and hands and cover his eyes and mouth. We have but little time." There was ft long way to go, and Mahomed was too wise and cautious to congratulate himself at this early stage. George was thereupon trussed tip like ft Christmas fowl ready for the oven. They wrapped him up la the burnouse and carried him out to the closed carriage In waiting. No one In the street seemed curious. No one In the English Bar deemed It necessary nec-essary to be. Whatever happened In this resort had long been written In the book or fate. Had a white man approached to Inquire what was going on. Mahomed would have gravely hlspered that It waa a case of plague they were hurrying away to prevent Interference by tb English authorities. Onoe George was snug Inside the carriage. It was driven off at ft run toward the tombs of the callpha. .Aa the roads were not the levelest, the vehicle went most of the way upon two wheels. Mahomed sat beside his victim, watchful and attentive. . His Intention was to take him no farther far-ther than the outskirts of the city, force him to send back to the hotel a duly credited messenger for tLe rug. after which he would turn George adrift, with the reasonable assurance that the young man would And some one to guide him back to the hotel. After a while he observed that George had recovered and was grimly fighting the Imprisoning ropes. "You will need your strength." Interposed In-terposed Mahomed gently. "If I take the cloth from your mouth, will you promise not to cry out?" There was sn affirmative nod, and Mahomed untied un-tied the bandage. "Llstm. I mean you no harm. If you will aend o the bolel for the Holy Yhlordes, you will be liberated the moment It la put Into my hands." "Go to the deuce!" snapped George, till dlxxy. The fighting mood hadn't rvsporated. by any means. "You know where It Is better than I." So this waa Mahomed? "Fool!" cried the other, shaking George roughly. "Easy there! I bad the nig, but It waa stolen this afternoon." He waa very weak and tired. "And If I had M. shouldn't give U to you." with renewed truculence; "and you may put that In your mater-pipe snd smoke It" i Mahomed, no longer pacific, struck Oorge violently upon the mouth. He. dd his part, waa unknlghtly enough rq attempt to sink- bis teeth In the hru-'' (si bsnd. Queer fancies flit through man's head In ttmee like thia; for the ItieflectuBltty of the bite reminded him of Hallowe'ens and the tuba with the bobbing apples. One thing waa certain: he would kill this pagaa the rery Brat opportunity. Kather a startling metamorphosis In the character char-acter of ft man wboee life bad been passed In t&e peacefulest environments. environ-ments. And to kill blm without the laat compunction, too. To strike a man who couldn't help himself! "Hey there!" he yelled. "Help foe a white man!" After such treatment ha considered K anything but dlahoa- And Then to George Came Merciful 'Darkness. 11 8YNOP8I8. Oeore I'erclval Algernon Jonea. vlce- f rraiili-rit of the Metropolitan Oriental lug company of Now York, thlrattiiK for romance, la In Cairo on buelneaa trio. Ilorao livanne arrtvea at tha hotel In Cairo with a run-fully guarded bundle. Hyanne rll Jnnea (ho famous holy Yhl-rujt Yhl-rujt whlrn lia atlmila having stolen from a paaha at lUg.lad Jonea weeta Major Callahan and later la introduced to Fortune Chedaoye by a woman to whom tie hait loaned 1M pounds al Monte Carlo anma month prev lonely, and who turn nut to ha Fortune's mother. Jonea take Mr. Ctiednoye and Fortune to a polo tame. Fortune reiurna to Jonea tha money borrowed hy her mother. Mra. Chedaove appears to he engaged In soma mvalerlf.ua enterprlaa unknown to tha g daughter ttyanno Intoreata Jonea In tha t'nited Homanca and Adventure com-pany. com-pany. a ronrern whli-h tor a prira will arrange any kind of an adventure to order. or-der. Mra. Chedaoye, her brother, Matr Callahan. Wallace and Hyanne. as tha t'ntted ftomanc and Adventure rotnpanv, 1an a rlaky enterprlaa Involving Jonea. Ityanne make known to Mrs. Chedeoya til Intention to marry Fortune. Mra. Chedaoye declares aha will not permit It. f'tana are laid to prevent Jonea Bailing tor noma. Hyanne steals Jonea" letter and cable dlapairhea. II wlrea asent In New Tork. In Jonea' name, that ha la renting hnoee In New York to soma frtenda, Mahomed, keeper of the holy carpet, la on Uyanne'a trail. Ilyanna 5 mm lee Fortune that ha will aea that onea cornea to no harm aa a reault of hla rorchaaa of tha rue Mahomed act-neta tyanna and demanda the Yhlordes rue Ityann tells him Jonea baa the rug and auggeata tha abduction of the New York merchant aa a nieana of aerurlng Ita return. re-turn. Tha rug dtaappeara from Jonea' room. Fortune quarrela with her mother when tha latter refuaes to a i plain her myatartous anions. ( CHAPTER XI. (Continued.) She bad gone scarcely a hundred yards when she was accosted by ft tall Arab whom ahe Indistinctly recollected recol-lected having seen before; where, she could not definitely Imagine. It was the 'ragged green turban that cleared away her puiilement. The Arab was the supposed beggar over whom Percl-val Percl-val (how eaally she bed fslleo into the bablt of calling him that!) had stumbled. stum-bled. He stood so tall and straight thst she knew he waan't going to beg; so naturally she stopped. Without a word, without even ft look that expressed ex-pressed anything, be allpped note Into her hand, bowed with Oriental gravity, and stepped aside for her to proceed. She read the note hastily as she continued ber way. Horace? Why ahould he wish to meet her that evening, at the aoutheast corner of the Sharl'a Mahomotid F.l Falakl. a etep from the Pritlsh Consulate's? And she mustn't come In carriage nor tell any one where ahe waa going? go-ing? Why all such childish mystery? He could see her fsr more conveniently conven-iently In the lounging room of the hotel. She tore the note Into scraps end flung them upon the air. Sh was afrftld. She was almost certain why he wished to meet her where neither her mother's nor ber ancle's eye would be within range. Should she meet him? Deeper than this, dared h? Why hsd she come to Cairo, wbea at Mentone she hsd known peace, such peace as destiny wss generous gen-erous enough to dole out to her? And tiow, out. of this tolerable peace, a thousand lands were reselling to rend ber heart, to wring It. She decided quickly. Since she hsd come this far. to go on to the end would add but IfIe to ber burden. Better to know all to soon than too late. Thst tie note bed not ben directed direct-ed to ber end 'tat she was totally aa-fnw'iirr aa-fnw'iirr with Rjanne'a handwriting, amtptd ler. She had too many other things upon ber mind to see all things dearly, especially auch trifles. She finished her walk, returning by the wsy she had gone, gave the key to the liftboy, and In her room dropped down upon the bed, dry-eyed and weary. Tbe most eventful day she hsd ever known. And all the while George sat by the window and watched, and at length fell into a frame of mind that aa Irritable, Irascible and self condemnatory. con-demnatory. And when he found (hat his precious Yhlordes was gone, his condition was the essence of all disagreeable disa-greeable emotions. It waa beyond blm how any one could have stolen It. He never felled to lock his door and leave the key with the porter. And surely, only a man with wings could have gained entrance by the window. Helng ft thorough business roan among other accomplishments, he reported his loss at once to the management; and tbe management eet about tbe matter with celerity. At half after seven every maid and servant In the hotel had been questioned and examined, exam-ined, without the least noflcesble result. re-sult. The rug wss nowhere to be found. George felt tbe loss keenly. He waa not so rich that he could afford af-ford to loae both the rug and the thousand thou-sand pounds he had paid for It. Hla first thought hsd been of Ryanne; but It waa proved that Ryanne had not be n In the hotel since morning; at least, no one had seen him. George gloomed about A beastly day, all told; everything bad gone wrong, and all because be had over-alept. over-alept. At dinner something wss wrong with the soup; the fish wss greasy; the roast waa dry and atrlngy; the wine, full of pieces of cork. Out Into the lounging room again; and then the porter hurried over to him with ft note from Ityanne. It stated briefy that It waa vitally Important for Mr. Jones to meet him at nine o'clock at the English Par In the Quarter Quar-ter Rosettl. Any driver would show him tbe wsy. Moharaed El Gebel. the guardian of the. Holy Yhlordes, hsd turned up. and the band waa beginning begin-ning to play. Would Mr. Jones like ft little fun hy tbe wayside?" "I'm his man." aald George. "Hut how the devil did this Mshotned ever get Into my room?" Had Fortune dined down ttelrs Instead In-stead of alone In her room, events might have turned out differently. Ryanne Ry-anne bad really written to George, but not to Fortune. Mahomed, fatalist that he waa. had thrown everything upon tbe whirling scales of chance, and waited. Later, he may have congratulated himself upon his good luck. Hut It wasnt lurk; It was tbe will of Allah that he, Mahomed, should contribute his slender slen-der sbsre la working out tbe destinies des-tinies of two young people. George waa la the proper mood for aa adventure. He went so far as to sdmtt to himself that he would have liked nothing better than a fisticuff. The one mlatake be made In his calculations cal-culations waa dress. Men didnt generally gen-erally go a venturing Id aucb finical attire. They wore bowlers and ssck-coats ssck-coats and carried heavy walking-atlcka. walking-atlcka. The only weapons George hsd were his two hands, bow adorned with snug fitting opera gloves. He saw Mrs. Chedsoye, spoke to her. I And doubly hang the man who had sold It to him! His whilom friend, conscience, came back and gibbered at him. Once be said: "Don't do It!" and now ahe waa saying quite humanly: "I told you ao!" Hadn't she warned him? ilsdn't she swung her red lantern under hla very hose? Well, she hoped be wss satisfied. His reply to this brief Jeremiad Jere-miad was that If ever he got his hsnds upon the rug ftgftln. he. would bang on till the crack of doom, and con-science con-science herself could go hang. Mere careers, probably. An4 whsr to be so bitterly offended. Great wrongs may be righted, and the sky be clear again, but the "all about nothing" quarrels have ft way of last-leg last-leg Indefinitely. There la nothing to explain, and nothing to apologise for. we tell ourselves: the whole thing waa "too allly for words" Exactly so; and It la ft pity w did not think of this at tb time. After Piece. The man who ha to eat bla oa words dm erow for flesaert Washington Washing-ton poeft, |
