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Show r c : 1 Author o HEARTS AND ZASKS L Ctf MAN OH THE BOX lllusiraliorvs by M.G.KrrrjMER- ... COPYRIOHT f)U jy - J-IERKILL COMPANY - the dark beauty of a high-clan Span, lard, possessing humor, trenchant comment, com-ment, keen deduction and application; worldly, cynical, high bred. The student stu-dent of natloni might hare tried In vain to place ber. 5 She epoke the French of the Parisians, the Italian of the Florentine!, the German of the Hanoverians, and her English wa the envy of Americana and the wonder of the Londoners. The daughter fell behind be-hind her but little, but ibe was more reserved. 'Aa Fortune aat beside the young collector col-lector that afternoon, she marveled why they bad given him Perclval Algernon. Al-gernon. Join's was all right, solid and substantial, but the other two turned It Into ridicule. Still, what was the matter with I'erclval Algernon? History His-tory had given men of those names mighty fine things to accomplish. Then why ridicule? Was It due to the perverted angle of vision created by wits and humorists In the comic weeklies, week-lies, who were eternally pillorying these unhappy prefixes ' to ordinary cognomens? And why this pillorying? She hadn't studied the subject sufficiently suf-ficiently to realize that the business of the (humorist Is not so much to amuse as to warn persons against becoming be-coming ridiculous. And Perclval Algernon Al-gernon Jones was all of that. It resolved re-solved Itself Into a matter of values, then. Had bis surname been Montmorency, Mont-morency, Perclval Algernon would have fitted as a key to Its lock. She smiled. No one but a fond mother would be guilty of such a crime. And If she ever grew to know him well enough, she was going to ask hi in all about this mother. What Interest bad her own mother In this harmless young man? Oh, some day she would burst through this web, this Jungle; some day she would see beyond the second act? What then? she never troubled to ask herself; her-self; time enough when the moment arrived. "I had an Interesting adventure last night, a most Interesting one," ! she bad often heard blm referred to as "that brute' or "that fool" or "that drunken Imbecile." If a portrait of blm existed. Fortune bad not yet seen It. She visited his lonely grave once a year. In the Protestant cemetery, and dreamily tried to conjure up what manner of man be had been. One day she piled ber old Italian nurse with questions, "Handsome? Tes, but It was all so I'tng Ago, cara mla, that I can not describe Mm to you." "Did he drink?" Iiohlnd this question ques-tion there was no sense of moral obloquy aa applying to the dead. "Sainted Mary! didn't all men drink their very souls Into purgatory those unrellglous days?" "Had be any relatives?" "I never heard of any." "Was be rich?" "No; but when the slgnora, your mother, married blm she thought be was." It was not till later years that Fortune For-tune grasped the true significance of this statement. It Illumined many pages. She dropped all Investigations, concluding wisely that her mother, If she were minded to speak at all, could supply only the Incidents, the details. It was warm, balmy, like May In the northern latitudes. Women wore white dresses and carried sunshades over their shoulders. A good band played airs from the new light-operas, and at one side of the grand-stand were tea-tables under dazzling linen. Fashion was out Not all ber votaries enjoyed polo, but It waa absolutely necessary to pretend that they did. When they talked they discussed the Spanish dancer who paraded back and forth across the tea-lawn. They discussed ber jewels, ber clothes, her escort, and quite frankly ber morals. In life flocked about her, why, It Is the eternal tribute demanded of beauty. beau-ty. Hure and there the men were not all the daughter might have wished. Often tbey burnt sweet flattery at ber, shrine, tentatively; but as she coolly stamped out these Incipient fires, tbey at length came to regard her as one regards the beauty of a frosted window, as a thing to admire and praise In pnsslng. One ahe always abided; the bitter knowledge that, had she met In kind smile for smile and jest for jeat, she might have been her mother's boon companion, Hut deep back In some hidden chamber of ber heart lay a secret dread of aucb a step, a dread which, whenever she strove to analyze It, ran from under her Investigating touch, as little balls of quicksilver run from under the pressure of a thumb. She was never without the comforts of life, well-fed, well-dressed, well-housed, well-housed, and often her mother flung her some jeweled trinket which (again that sense of menace) she put away, but never wore. The bright periods were ben they left her In the little villa near Mentone, with no one but ber old and faithful nurse. There, with ber horse, her books and ber flowers, she was at peace. Week Into week and month Into month she was let be, Never a letter came, save from some former schoolmate who was coming over and wanted letters of Introduction to dukes and duchesses. duchess-es. If she smiled over these letters It was with melancholy; for the dukes and duchesses, who fell within her singular orbit, were not the sort to whom one gave lettera of Introduction. Where her 'mother went she never had the least Idea. She might be in any of the great ports of the world, anywhere between New York and Port Said. The major generally disappeared dis-appeared at the same time. Then, perhaps, she'd come back from a pleasant tram-ride over to Nice and find them both at the villa, maid and luggage. Mayhap a night or two, and off they'd go again; never a word about their former Journey, uncommunicative, uncom-municative, rather quiet These absences, ab-sences, together with the undemonstrative undemon-strative reappearancea, used to hurt Fortune dreadfully. It gave ber a clear proof of where she stood, exactly nowhere. 1 The hurt had lessened with the years, and now she didn't care much. Like aa not, they would drag ber out of fcden for ft month or two, for what true reason she never could quite fathom, unless It was that at times ber mother liked to have the daughter near her as ft foil. At rare Intervals she saw steel-eyed, grim-mouthed men wandering up and down before the gatea of the Villa There was one man more persistent than the others. Her mother called blm Horace, which the major mellowed mel-lowed Into Hoddy. He was tall, blond, good looking, a devil-may-care, educated, edu-cated, witty, amusing; and In evening dress he appeared to be wbat It was quite evident he had once been, a gentleman. At first she thought it strange that he should make ber, Instead In-stead of ber mother, his confidante. As to what vocation he pursued, she did not know, for be kept sedulous guard over his tongue; but, hi past, up to that fork in the road where man-hood man-hood says good by to youth, was ber. And In this direction, clever and artful aa the mother waa. she sought In vain to wrest this past from ber daughter's Hps. To the mother, It was really necessary nec-essary for ber to know who this man really was, had been, knowing thoroughly thor-oughly as she did whst he was now. Persistent be undetilubly was, but never coarse nor rude. Since that time he had come back from the casino at Monte Carlo, much the worse for wine, she feared blm; yet. In spite of this fear, she had for him a vague liking, a hazy admiration. Whatever his fault might be, she stood witness to his great physical strength and courage. He waa the only mun, among all those who appeared at the Villa Fanny and immediately vanished, who returned again. And be, too, soon grew to be a part of this unreal drama, arrtvlng mysteriously one dsy and departing de-parting the next. That a drama was being enacted under un-der ber eye she no longer doubted; but It wa as though she bad taken her seat among the audience in the middle of the second act. She could make neither head nor tall to It. Whenever she accompanied ber mother upon these Impromptu journey, jour-ney, her character, or rather her attitude, at-titude, underwent a change. She wept aalde her dreams; she accepted the world a it waa, saw things as tbey were; laughed, but without merriment; merri-ment; jested, but with the venomed point. It waa the reverse of ber real character to give hurt to any living thing, but during these forced marches, march-es, as the major humorously termed them, and such tbey were In truth, she could no more stand against giving giv-ing the cruel atab than, when alone In ber garden, ahe could resist the tender pleasure of succoring a fallen butterfly. She waa especially happy In finding weak spots In ber mother' I SYNOPSIS. George Terctval Algernon Jones, vice-president vice-president of the Metropolitan Oriental lluf company of New York, thirsting fur romance, la In Cairo on a business trip. Horace Ryanns arrives at the hotel In Cairo with a carefully guarded bundln. Ilyanna sells Jones the famous holy TM-ordes TM-ordes rue which he admits having stolen from a pasha at llaardad. Jones men Major Callahan and later Is Introduced to Fortune Chedsoye by a woman to whom ha had loaned IM pound at Mont Carlo soma montha previously, and who turns out to be Fortune's mother. CHAPTER V. (Continued.) "Well?" said Mrs. C'bedsoye, ft quls-clcal quls-clcal smile slsntlng ber Hps. "You wish my opinion?" countered tbe daughter. "He la shy, but he Is neither stupid nor silly; and when be miles he is really good-looking." "My child," replied the womsn. drawing off her glove and examining ber shapely hands, "I hsve looked Into In-to the very heart of that young mnn. A thousand years ago, red cross on his mrtout, be would bave been beating beat-ing hla fists sgalnst the walla of Jerusalem; five hundred years later, he would have been singing chant-royales chant-royales under Isttlce wlndowa; a paladin pa-ladin and ft poet" "How do ou know that? Did he make love to you?" "No; but 1 made love to him without with-out bl knowing It; and that was I more to my purpose than having blm tnake love to me," enigmatically. "Three days, and he waa so guileless thai he never asked my name. Hut In Monte Carlo, as you know, one asks only your banker's name." "And your purpose 7" "It la still mine, dear. Do you realize real-ize that we haven't seen esrh other In four months, and that you haven't offered to' kiss me " "Did he go awsy without writing to you about that money?" Mrs. Cbedsoye calmly plucked out tbe inturned fingers of her gloves. "I believe I did receive ft note inclosing bis banker's address, but, unfortunately, unfortu-nately, In tbe confuaion of returning to Paris, I lost it My memory has ftlwaya been trial to me," aadly. , "Since whenr coldly. "There I not woman living with ft keener memory than youra." 1 i "You flatter me. In affair that In- ' terest me, perhaps." "You never meant to pay blm. It I horrible." "My dear Fortune, bow you Jump at conclusions! Did I not offer blm ft draft the very first thing?" "Knowing that at aucb ft moment he could not possibly accept It?" derisively. de-risively. "Sometimes I bate you!" "In these dsy filial devotion la a lost art." "No, no; it Is a flower parents bave ceased to cultivate." And there was In tbe tone a trslned note which described an Intense In-tense longing to be loved. For It George Perclval Algernon Jones was 'ft lonely young man, it was tbe result of his own blindness; whereas Fortune Cbedsoye turned hither and thither In earch of that which ahe never could find. The wide Lybian desert held upon It face a loneliness, a desolation, less mournful than that which reigned within her heart. "Hush! We are growing sentimental," sentiment-al," warned the mother. "Hen Ides, I believe we are attracting attention." Her glance swept a half circle complacently. com-placently. "Pardon me! I should be sorry to draw attention to you, knowing how eou abhor It" i "My child, learn from me; temper I the arch-enemy of smooth complexions. complex-ions. Jones It make you laugh." t "It 1 ft homely, honest name." 1 "I grant that Dut ft Perclval Algernon Alger-non Jones!" Mrs. Chedsoye laughed oftly. It was one of those pleasant ounds that caused persons within bearing to wait for it to occur again. "Come; let us go up to the room. It la dull, dusty journey la from Port Bald." i Atone, Fortune was certain that for ber mother ber heart knew nothing 'but hate. Neglect, Indifference, Injustice, In-justice, misunderstanding, the chill repellence tbat always met tbe least )utreai liing of the child's affections, ihe unaccountable disappearances, -the terror of tbe unknown, tbe blank all of ignorance behind which sbe was always kept, upon these hate bad Lullded ber dark and brooding retreat re-treat Yet. sever did tbe mother come wltbln tbe radius of ber sight tbat she did not fall under tbe sp4l of trsnge fascination, enchaining, tight against It bow she might A kindly touch of tbe hand, ft single mother- smile, and she wouUI bave flung ber 'arms about the other woman's neck. Hut the touch and the mother smile never came. She knew, she under- atood; she wan't wanted, sbe badnl I ben wanted In tbe beginning; to ber i 'mother ahe was as tbe young of an I- 1 (mala. Interesting only up to tbat time I iwben tbey could stand alone. Tbat the mother never made and held i . feminine friendships wa In nowise astonishing. Beauty and charm, such i a ahe poaaeased, served Immediately 1 to fttimulate envy la other women's I hearts. And that men of all stations and bumoroualy explained why he did so." "Is be young, old, good looking, or, wbat?" Mr. Chedsoye eyed ber offspring through narrowed lids. j "I should say tbat he was about thirty five, tall, something of n ath-j lete; and there remains some indlca-1 tlons tbat in tbe flush of youth he was, handsome. Odd. He reminded me of a young man who waa on the varsity j eleven footballer when I entered my freshman year. I didn't know htm,, but I was ft great admirer of his from tbe grand stand. Horace Wadawortn waa bis name." 'Horace Wadsworth. Fortune bad tbe eensaUon of being astonished at something sbe bad expected to bap- pen. Just before going down to dinner that night. Fortune turned to ber mother, her cbln combative in ita. angle. "I gave, Mr. Jones ft hundred and fifty pounds out of tbat money you left in my care. Knowing how forgetful forget-ful you are, I took tbe liberty of attending at-tending to tbe affair myself." Sbe expected a storm, but Instead her mother viewed her with appraising apprais-ing eyes. Suddeuly sbe laughed mellowly. mel-lowly. Her sense of humor wa too excitable to resist so delectable a situation. sit-uation. "You told him, of course, tbat the money came from me?" demanded Mrs. Chedsoye, when she could control con-trol ber voice. "Surely, since it did com . from you." "My dear, my dear, you are to m . like the song In tbe Mikado;" and she bummed lightly " To maka th prisoner pent t'nwllllngly represent A source of Innocent merriment Of Innocent merriment !' " "Am I prisoner, then?" "Whatever you like; It can not be said that I ever held you on the leash," taking a final look Into the mirror. "Wbat Is tbe meaning of this rug? You and I know who stole It" "I bave explicitly warned you, my child, never to meddle with affair that do not concern you." "Indirectly, some of yours do. You are In love with Ryanne, aa be call himself." "My dear, you do not usually stoop to auch vulgarity. And are you certain cer-tain tbat be has any other name?" "If I were I should not tell you." "Oh!" "A man will tell the woman he love many thing be will not tell the woman be admires." "A wis as the aerpent," bantered the mother; but she looked again Into tbe mirror to aee If ber color waa still what It should be. "And whom doe be admire?" tbe Mona Lisa smile hovering hov-ering at the corner of ber Up. "You," evenly. Mr. Chedsoye thought for ft moment mo-ment thought deeply and with new Insight It was no longer ft child but ft woman, and mayhap she had played upon the taut strings of the young heart once too often., Still, she was unafraid. "And whom does be love?" "Me. Shall I get you tke rouge, mother?" Still with that unchanging smile, the woman received the stab. "My , daughter," aa If speculatively, "you will get on. You haven't been my pupil pu-pil all these years for nothing. Let ua go down to dinner." Fortune, aa she silently followed, experienced ft aense of disconcertion rather than of elation. CHAPTER VI. Moonlight and Poetry, A ball followed dinner tbat night, Wednesday. The ample lounging-room lounging-room filled up rapidly after coffee; officers In smart uniforms and spurs, whose principal function In times of peace la to get In everybody's way. rowel exposed anklea, and demolish lace ruffles. Egyptian and Turk and sleek Armenian In somber western frock and scarlet eastern fes or tarboosh, tar-boosh, women of all colors (meaning, aa course, aa applied) and shape and tastes, the lean and the fat, the tall and short, auch aa Billy Taylor Is said to bave kissed In all tbe ports, and tall-coat of aa many styles aa Joseph's Jo-seph's had patches. George could distinguish dis-tinguish bis compatriots by the fit of the trousers round the Instep; the Englishman bad bla fitted at the waist and trusted In Provldenee for the hang of tbe rest This trifling detective de-tective work rather pleased George. The women, however, were all Eves to bis eye; liberal expanses of beautiful beauti-ful white skin, the bare effect being modified by ft string of pearls or diamonds dia-monds or emeralds, and hair which might or might not have been wholly their own. He waited restlessly for tbe reappearance of Mrs. Chedsoye and ber daughter. All was right with the world, except that be waa to eall altogether too soon. Ills loan had been returned, and be knew that bl former suspicions bad been mot t unworthy. un-worthy. Mrs. Cbedsoye bsj never received bis note. (TO BE CONTIJfrm . Expect Evsry Hour to Hesr of Some One Arriving From Bagdad." 1 There Wren1 Tw Other Weenen In AH Cairo to Compare With These d To. 1 vhlch of the four waa by all odds tbe I nost popular theme. All agreed that i ibe was handsome In a bold way. This Modification Invariably distinguishes he right sort of women from the rrong sort, from which there Is no en- t eal to ft higher court. They could ( veil afford to admit of her beauty, , ilnce tbe dancer was outside wbat Is j railed tbe social pale, for all that ber , lewest escort waa a prince Incognito, j rbey also discussed the plsy at bridge, he dullness of this particular season. , be possibility of war between Eng- , and and Germany. And some one isked others who were the two well- ;owned women down In front, sitting ( n either side of the yeung chap In , jesrl grey. No one knew. Mother and j laughter, probably. Anyhow, they , mew something about good clothes, j George waa happy. He wa proud. . oo. He saw tbe glances, tbe nods of ipproval. He basked In a kind of lunsbine tbat was new. What an ass i bad been all bis life! To hsve 1 een afraid of women Just because e waa Perclval Algernon! Wbat be i ihould bave dnne was to bave gene ' brth boldly, taken hat pleasure be I ound, and laughed with the rest of 1 hem. There weren't two other women In I ill Cairo to compare with these two. "be mother, shapely, elegant, with 1 !egan George, who was no longer the ihy, blundering recluse. Tbey were an the way back to town. "Tell It me." aald Mra. Cbedsoye. He leaned over from his seat beside be chauffeur of the hired automobile. (Hang the expense on ft day like his!) "A fellow brought me a nig ast night, one of tbe rarest outside he museums. How and where be got t I'm not fully able to state. Hut )e bad been In a violent struggle tomewhere, arma slashed, shins bat-ered. bat-ered. He admlttej that be had gone n where many shapes of desth lurked. It waa ft bit Irregular. I nought the rug. however. Some one lse would bave snatched It up If I sadn't. I wanted blm to recount the idvecture, but he emiled and refused. tell you what It Is, these eastern orts are great places." How Interesting!" Mrs. Chedsoye's olor was not up to tbe mark. "He sat not seriously wounded?" "Oh. no. He looks like ft tough In-llvldual. In-llvldual. I mean, a chap strong and lardy enough to pull himself out of retty bad boles. He, needed the noney." D1d he give bis name?" asked For-une. For-une. "Yes; but no doubt It wa assumed, tlyanne, and be spell It with an ne.' Fanny, but tbey never rang tbe belt i cor spoke to ber whew sbe passed I Ihem on tbe street. If she talked of 1 these men. ber mother and tbe major 1 would exchangw amused glances, notb- i Ing more. 1 If. rightly or wrongly, she bated ber 1 mother, she despised ber uncle, who wa ever bringing to the villa men of ' money, but of coarse fiber, ostensibly I with the view of marrying her off ' Dut Fortune bad her dreams, and ahe i waa quite content U wait armor, and she never denied herself t the thrust Mrs. Chedsoye enjoyed i these sharp encounters, for It must i be added that she gave aa good as I she took, and more often than not her I thrusts bit deeper and did not always I beat i Fortune never asked questions rela- ! live to tbe family finances. If ahe f harbored any doubts as to their origin, t lo tbe source of their comparative lux- nry. sbe never put these Into speech, i She bad nsver seen ber father, but 1 |