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Show Author HEARTS AND .MASKS ca AAN Ofl THE BOX etc,. Illuslraliorvs Ai.G.KKT-rjvEn . . . COPYRIGHT lyll t-y BOBB3 - MERRILL COMPANY " "Along Comes a Pack of Carda or a Bottle wf Wlna, and Back I Slip." l "I'm George P. A. Jonat, oMortlmar e Jonea, New York. the comforta of life. How he waa going to keep auch a vow waa a qu nation na-tion that did not enter bla head. Somehow Some-how he waa going to accomplish the feat. What mattered the ragged beard upon bla fare, the ragged clothea upon hit body, the tattered rlotba upon hla feet, the grotesque attitude and en-aeinbleT en-aeinbleT The Lord of Life aaw Into hla heart and underatood. And who might say with what Joy I'andora gated upon her work, knowing aa ahe did what attll remained within her casket? From these heights, Rood occaalonat-I7 occaalonat-I7 for any mini aoul, George came down abruptly and humanly to the prosaic question of where would he make hla bed that night? To lie down at the north aide of the Are meant a rhill In the morning; the aouth aldo, the Intermittent, acrid breath of the fire Itaelf; ao he threw down bla blanket blan-ket and baga en at of the fire, wrapped hlmaelf up, and sank Into alumber, light but dreamleaa. What waa that? He aat up, alert, training hla cara. How long had he been asleep? An hour by hla watch. What had awakened him? Not a sound anywhere, yet aomethlng had startled him out of hla sleep. He glanced over the camp. That bundle was Ryanne. He waited. Not a movement move-ment there. No alien of life among the camel boys; and the flaps of the two lente were closed. Hah! Nerves, probably; and he would have lain down again had hla gaze not roved out loward the desert. Something moved out there, upon the misty, moonlit ipace. He shaded his eyes from the Hr. now but a heap of glowing embers. em-bers. He got up, and ahlver after ihlver wrinkled hla spine. Oh, no; It could not be a dream; he was iwake. It was a living thing, that long, bobbing camel-train, coming directly di-rectly toward the oasis, no doubt attracted at-tracted by the firelight. Fascinated, Incapable of movement, he watched ihe approach. Three white dota; and these grew and grew and at length became be-came . . . pith helmets! I'lth-helmets,' I'lth-helmets,' Who but white men wore )lthh"lmete In the desert? White men! The temporary (paralysis left lilm. Crouching, he rah over to Ry-inne Ry-inne and shook him. "What . . . " Hut Oorge amofhered the question with hla hand. "Hush! For God'a 1 take, make no noise! Get up and 1 itand guard over Fortune'a tent, "here's a caravan outside, and I'm tolng out to meet It. Ryanne, Ryanne, 1 beree a white man out there!" 1 George ran aa fast aa he could I oward the Incoming caravan. He met t t two or three hundred yards away. 1 rhe broken line of camels bobbed up t ind down oddly. i "Are you whit men?" he called. 1 "Yea." aald a deep, resonant voice. And atop where you are; there's no 1 lurry." "Thank God!" cried George, at the 1 erge of a breakdown. c "What the devil . . . Flanagan, lere'a a white man In a dress suit! 1 iod save us!" The speaker laughed, r "Yea. a white man and there'a a t thltv woman In the camp back there, r i white woman! Great God, don't you I inderstand? A white woman!" George f lutched the man by the foot desper- t tely. "A white woman!" c The man kicked George's hand away 1 nd alashed at hla camef. "Flauagan, 1 nd you, Williams, get your guns in hapa. Thla doesn't look good to me, wenty miles from the main gamelieb. 1 told you it waa odd, that Ore. Llve-y, Llve-y, now!" George ran after them, ataggerlng rwtce he fell headlong. Hut he aughed as he got up; and It wasn't 1 xactly human laughter, either. When le reached camp be aaw Mahomed a nd the thre strangers, the latter rith their rifles be!d menacingly. For un stood before the flap of her tent, t lewlldered at the turn In their affairs, tehlnd the leader of the new-comers -ras Ryanne, and he waa talking rap- r ily. "Well." the leader demanded of Ma- I lomed, "what have you got to say 1 or yourself?" f "Nothing!" r "Take care! - It wouldn't come hard t o put a bullet Into your ugly hide fou can't abduct white women tbeae laya, yon beggar! Welt, what have t ou to eayT" t Mahomed folded hla arms; hla ex- r iresslon waa calm and unafraid. Hut town la bla heart the ttrea of bell 1 tare raging. If only he had brought ls rifle from the tent; even a knife; 1 md one mad moment if ha died for It! c lad be bad been rentle to the girl; t e bad withheld the lash from the 1 neo; be bad not put Into action a 1 iln plan arranged for their misery I ind humiliation! Truly bla blood bad I urned to water, and be waa worthy I f death. The white man, always and 1 ver the white man won la the end. ro have come tMa far, and then to be heated out of bit revenge by chaaoel t Kismet! There was but one thing left for Mm to do, and he did It. He spoke hurriedly to his head boy. The boy without hesitation obeyed him. He ran to the racing-camel, applied a kirk.' flung on the saddlebags, stuffed dates and dried fish and two water-bottUs water-bottUs Into them, and waited. Ma-hom. Ma-hom. d walked over to the animal and mounted. "Stop!" The white man leveled hla rifle. "Get down from there!" Mahomed, aa If he had not beard, kicked the camel with hla heels. The beast lurched to Ita feet resentfully. Mahomed picked up the guiding-rope which served aa a bridle, and struck the camel across the neck. Click! went the hammer of the rifle, and Mahomed waa at that moment very near death. He gave no heed. "No, no!" cried Fortune, pushing up the barrel. "let him go. He waa kind to me, after hla fashion." Mahomed smlltd. He had expected this, and that was why he had gone about the business unconcernedly. "What do you say?" demanded the al ranger of Ryanne. Ryanne, having no love whatever for Mahomed, shrugged. "Humph! And you?" to George "Oh, let him go." "All right. Two to one. Off with you, then," to Mahomed. "Hut wait! What about these beggars of yours? What are you going to do with them?" "They have been paid. They can go back." The moment the camel felt the sand under hla pads, he struck his gait eastward. And when the mists and shadows crept In behind him and his rider, that was the lust any or them ever aw of Mahomed EI Gebel. keejx-r of the Holy Yhlordea In the I'asha's palace at Hagdad. "Now, then," said the leader of the strung) caravan, "ray name Is Ack- , ermaiin, and mine la a carpet-caravan, In from Khuzlstan, bound for Smyrna. How may I help you?" "Take us aa far as Damascus," answered an-swered Ryanne. "We can get on from Ihere well enough." , "M'bat'e your name? directly. "Ryanne" ! "And yours?" ! "Fortune Chedsoye." "Next?" "Jones." The humorous brusknes put a kind of spirit Into them all, ahd they an-iwertd an-iwertd smilingly. "Ryanne and Jonea are familiar , pnougb. but Cbedaoye Is a new one Here, you!" whirling suddenly upon , he boys who were pressing about. He volleyed some Arabic at them, and hey dropped back. "Well, I've heard lome atrange yarns myself fn my I me. but this one beats them all. 1 Shanghaied from Cairo! Humph! If 1 tome one bad told me thla, anywhere ! lse but here, I'd have called him a lar. And you, Mr. Ryanne, went Into ! tagdad alone and got away with that I'hiordes! It must have been the levll'g own of a job." ' "It was," replied Ryanne laconically, le did not know thla man Acker-nann; Acker-nann; he had never heard of him; , ut be recognized a born leader of nen when he aaw him. Gray-haired, ean, bearded, aharp of word, quick f action, rude; he aaw In thla carpet-mnter carpet-mnter the same Indomitable qualitiea . f the Ivory-seeker. "Yon did not nop at Hagdad?" be naked, after the iwlft Inventory. ' "No. I came direct. I always do," . trimly. "Hetter turn In and sleep; . veil be on the way at dawn, aharp." . "Sleep? Ryanne laughed. "Sleep V echoed Georga. Fortune shook her head. "Weil, an hour to let the read Ion 1 tear away," said Arkermann "Hut 1 ou've got to aleep. I'm boss now, nd you won't find nae an easy one," t It b n humorous grance at the girl ' "We are all very happy to be bossed 1 y you," she said. 1 "Twenty days." Ackerminn mused. You're n plucky young woman. No I lysterica? "Not even a algh of discontent." put 1 t George. "If It hadn't been for her I iluck. we'd neve gone to pieces J net I rora worry. Are you Henry Acker- I nsnn, of the Oriental Company tn I Smyrna?" -Yea; wbyT "Tin George P. A. Jonea, of Mortl-ner Mortl-ner A Jonea, New York. I've beard if yon; and God blesa you for thla ilght's work!" "Mortimer A Jonea? Ton don't say! 1 Yell. If thla doesn't beat tbe Dutch! iVhy, if you're Robert K. Jonea' hoy, 1 II tell yon every carpet In tbe park at l -oat." He laughed; and It waa laugh- er good to hear, dry and harab though I t waa. "Your dad waa a fine gentle- t nan, and one of tbe beat judges of lis time. Yon coulJnt fool him a c mot. He wrote toe when you came 1 n'o tbia world of ala and tribulation, t Wdn't they eall you Pereival Algernon. I r something like that?" They Id!" And George laughed, 00. I "You're a sight. Any one sick? Got ft medicine-chest aboard?" "No. only banged up and discouraged. discour-aged. I aay, Mr. Ackermann, got an rxtra pipe or two and aome 'baccy?" "Flanagan, see what'a Id the chest." Shortly Flanagan returned. He had half a dozen fresh corn-cob pipes and s thick bag of tobacco. George and Ryanne lighted up, about as near contentment con-tentment as two men in their condition condi-tion could possibly be. Said Flanagan to Fortune: "Do you Phew?" Fortune looked horrified. "Oh, I mean gtim!" roared Flanagan. No, Fortune did not poaacss that dubious du-bious accomplishment. "Mighty handy when you're thirsty," Flanagan advised. They built up tbe fire and sat round It cosily. They were all more or less happy, all except Fortune. So long aa the had been a captive of Mahomed, ihe had forced the thought from her mind; but now It came back with a 'ull measure of misery. Never, never would she return to Mentone, not even for the things that were rightfully tiera. Where would ahe go and what would she do? She was without money nd the only thing ahe possessed of ralue waa the Soudanese trinket Ry-inne Ry-inne had forced upon her that day n the bazaara. She beard the men alklng and laughing., but without tensing. No, she could not accept harity. She must fight out her battle til alone. . . . The child of a thief: or never would her clear mind accept imuggllcg aa other than thieving. . , Neither could ahe accept pity; ind she atole a glance at George, aa le blew clouda of smoke luxuriantly rom hla mouth and nose, bla eyea lalf closed In ecstasy. How Utile It 00k to comfort a man! Ryanne auddenly lowered bla pipe md smote hla thigh. "Hell!" be mut-ered mut-ered "What'a upr asked George. "I want you to look at me, Perct-ral; Perct-ral; I want you to take a good look it thla thing I've been carrying round is a bead." "It looks an right," observed George. lUtiled. "Empty aa a dried cocoa nut! I lever thought of It till thla moment. wondered why he waa In aucb a urry to get ont I've let that copper-tided copper-tided devil get away with that nine mndred pounds!" CHAPTER XVII. Mrs. Chtdaoye Haa Doubts. Mra. Cbedaoye retired to ber room srly that memorable December night. Her brother could await tbe return f Horace. She hadn't tbe least doubt is to tbe reault; a green young man iltted against a seasoned veteran's du-llclty. du-llclty. She w ished Jonei no barn hyalcally; In fact, ahe bad put down1 be law against It. 8(111. much deluded de-luded upon chance. Hot for all ber onfldence of tbe outcome, a quality of wstlessness pervaded ber. She tiled o analyse It. ineffectually at first. Vraap ahe did not look deep enough; perhaps ahe did not care thoroughly eaaalae the source of It. Insistent-y, Insistent-y, kowever. It recurred; sod by re peated assaults It at length conquered ber. It was the child. Did she possess, after all, a latent sense of motherhood, and was It stirring stir-ring to establish itself? She really did not know. Waa It not fear and doubt rather than motherly Instinct T She paused In front of tbe mirror, but the glass aolved only externals. She could not see her soul there In the reflection; she saw only tbe abundant gifts of nature, splendid, double handed, hand-ed, prodigal. And In contemplating that reflection, aha forgot for a space w hat ahe waa aeeklng. Hut that child I From whom did she Inherit her peculiar pe-culiar Ideas of life? From some Purl' tan anceator of her father's; certainly not from her aide. She had never bothered her head about Fortune, save to house and clothe her, till the past forty-eight hours. And now It waa too late to pick up the thread ahe bad cast aside aa not worth considering;. To no oue Is given perfect wisdom; and ahe recognized the flaw In here that had led her to Ignore the mental attitude of the girl. She bad not even made a friend of her; a mistake, a bit of stupidity absolutely foreign to her usual keenness. The child lacked little of being beautiful, and fn threw or four yeara ahe would be. Mra. Ched-soye Ched-soye waa without jealousy; she ao cepted beauty In all thlnga unreserv edly. Possessing aa ahe did an Incomparable Incom-parable beauty of her own, ahe could welt afford to be generous. Perhapa the true cause of this disturbance lay In tbe knowledge that there waa on thing her daughter had Inherited from her directly, almost Identically; In-deed, In-deed, of this pattern the younger possessed pos-sessed the wider margin of tbe two: courage. Mra. Cbedaoye was afraid of nothing except wrinkles, and Fortune was too young to know thla fear. So then, the mother alowly began to comprehend com-prehend the spirit which had given life to thla alngular perturbation. Fortune For-tune bad declared that ahe would run away; and ahe bad tbe courage to carry out the threat. Resolutely Mrs. Cbedaoye rang for ber maid Celeste. Thoughts like thea only served to disturb the marble smoothness of ber forehead. The two began to pack. That la to say, Celeate began; Mra. Cbedaoye generally took charge of these maneuvers maneu-vers from the heights, aa became the officer In command. Hendlng waa likely to enlarge the vein In tbe neck; and all those beautiful gowns would not be worth a soldi without the added perfection of ber ilneless throat and neck. She waa getting along In yeara. too, a fact which waa assuming tbe proportions of a cross; sod more and more ahe must husband those lingering linger-ing (not to say beguiling I evidences of youthfulness. (TO BE CONTINUED I Ne Monument to Eve. , 1 Tbe proposal to erect n statue In honor of Eve may be dismissed without with-out Inquiry aa to tbe worth of tbe woman. It simply wouldn't do. Tbe garb of tbe first woman of the land does not lend itaelf both to tbe statuary statu-ary scheme and tbe growing sensitive, ness of the public aa to tbe amount of drapery necessary to make a anarbl peraon an faJL Los Angeles Tribune SYNOPSIS. Oeor fVrrlvat Alacrnnn Jim. (ralctimt of lit M.-tnHilHnn oriental Hu tompmiy of Now Vork. Ihlrstln for romance. Is In Cairo on a bualiien trip. Moriu ryann arrlvtw at I ho hiitel In ('aire with a rarwfully Rarill bunll. Ityanna sella Juii- th famous holy Vhl-nrdmi Vhl-nrdmi ru willed ailmlla tiavln stolen from a pasha at Hnailati. Jone meets Major Callahan ami later la Intrudm-d to ('orlune ChmUoyn l,y a Woman In whom i hail loaned I.Vi pounds at kloiil Carlo soma months previously, and who lurna ot to he fortune's mother. Jonea takes Mrs. Cliedsoya and r or I una to polo tina. Fortune returns t Jonea the money burrowed by her mother. Mrs. I'hensoye appears to nened In eome myslerloua enterprlae unknown tn tha lausjhter Ityanna Interests Jonea In tha I'm ted Romania and Adventure roin- taoy, a conrern which for a price will rrance any kind of an adventure tn order. or-der. Mra. t'hedsoya, her brother. Major Callahan, Wallace and Ityanne, aa the United Hotnanre and Adventure company, lilan a rtaky enterprise Involving Junes, ityanne makea known to Mra. Chedeoye hla Intention to marry Fortune, Mra. Chedeoye declares aha will not permit It. Clans are Inld to prevent Jonea ealllna -for bome. Hyanne ateala Jonea' letters and cable dlspatchea. Ha wires aft-etit In New York, In Jonea' name, that he la eentlna house In New York to aome friends, Mahomed, keeper of the holy carpet, la on Ityanne a trait. Ityanne promises Fortune that he will see that Ivnes .comes to no harm as a reamt of ins purchase of the rua Mahomed accoata Hyannw and demande the Yhlordea ru Hyanne tells lilm Jonea haa the rua ami ausaeeta tha abduction of Ihe New York merchant aa a tneane of securing Its return. re-turn. The rug dleeppeara from Jonea' fiKim. Kortune quarrels with her mother when the latter refueea to ei plain her mysterious actlona. Fortune gets a mea-aage mea-aage purporting to be from Ityanne asking ask-ing her to meet him In a aecluded place that eenlng. Jonea recelvee a message asking him to meet ityanne at the Knchali. Bar the earns evening. Jonea la curried eft Into tha desert by Mahomed and hla accomplices after a deaperale right, lie llecovera that ltr" "' Kortune also are captives, the former la badly battered and um-wnectoue. Hyanne recovera con-ectmtaneea con-ectmtaneea and the alght of Fortune In raptlvlty reveala to him the fact that Mahomed Intemla 10 gt vengeance on turn through the girl Fortune s. knowledges knowl-edges that ahe atole the rug from Jonea' room. Rhe orTera to return It to Mshome.1 . f he will free all three of them. Mahomed Ma-homed agrees to liberate Fortune and one f the nien In return for the rug A cour-r cour-r it sent to Cairo for the rug. but returns re-turns with the Information that Mra "hedaoye and her brother have sailed for New York. Fortune spurns offered free-lom free-lom which does not Include her two com-anlona com-anlona The caravan ronllnuee the tour-sey tour-sey toward ttagjad. Hyanne letla Jonea that Mra. Cbedaoye le the most adroit tmoggler of the age. and le overheard by Fortune, CHAPTER XVIe-(Contlnued ) Ryanne folded bla anna and stared tt the sand. George aat down and aimlessly bunted for the stub of the rlgar he bad dropped; a kind of reflex tctlon. The two men were all alone. Tbe Mtnelboya r" aaleep. Mahomed tad now ceaaed to bother about a guard. "I can't see where she gets this idlcnloua aenae of honesty," said Ry-tnre Ry-tnre gloomily. George leaned over and laid hla land upon Ryanne'a knee. "She gets It tbe name way I do. Ryanne from aere." touching hla heart; "and ahe m rlght." -1 belteve I've missed everything worth while. Pereival Till I met you I ntwsys bsd a sneaking Idea that coney made a man evil. Tbe boot teems to be upon tbe other foot" -Ryanne. yon apoke about becoming aooest, once yon get ont of thla. Did torn mean It!" -1 did. and still do." tt see Ne that I ran give yon lift You worked in your father's bunk. You know something about fig- , ures. I own two large fruit-farms , In California. What do you aay to a . I hundred and fifty a month to atart . I with, and begin life over again?" Ryanne got up and reatlessly paced. , Nonchalance had been beaten out of him; the mercurial humor which had once been ao pleasant to excite, . which had once given him a foothold in such moments, waa gone. He bad only one feeling, a keen, biting, bitter ahame. At length be atopped In front of Oorge, who smiled and looked up expectantly. "Jonea, when you stick your finger , Into water and withdraw it, what happens? hap-pens? Nothing. Well, tbe man who ' givea me a benefit la sticking his finger Into water. I'm just aa un- . stable. How many promises have I . made and broken! I mean, promises . to myself. I don't know. This moment mo-ment I swear to be good, and along comes a pack of carda or n bottle of wine, and back I slip. Would it be worth while to trust a man ao damned weak aa that? Look at me. I am six-foot six-foot two, normally a hundred and eighty pounds, no fat. I am as sound ' as a cocoanut. There lan't a boxer In the States I'm afraid of. I can ride, f shoot, fence, fight; there lan't a game ( I can't take a creditable band In. 80 much for that. There'a the other aide. Morally. I'm putty. When It's soft you can mold It any which way; when It'a u hard, tt crumbles. Will you trust a r man like that?" "Yes. Out there youH be away from temptation." "I'erhapa. Well, I accept. And If one day I'm missing, think kindly of the poor devil of an outcast who want- : ed to be good and couldn't be. I'm . fagged. I'm going to turn in. Good-night." Good-night." He picked up his blanket and saddle- , baga and made his bed n doxen yards 11 away. George set his gaxe at the fire, now 11 falling In places and showing Incan- descent boles. A month ago, In the 1 rut of commonplace, moving round In ' oiled groovea of mediocrity. Hang! J like a rocket. Why, never bad those liars In ihe smoke-rooms recounted anything hah! so wild and atrange aa thla adventure. Smugglers, card-sharps, card-sharps, an ancient rug. n caravan In 11 the desert! He turned bla bead and ' looked long and earnestly at the little tent. Love, too; love that bad put Into hla diffident heart the thrill and 1 courage of a Rayard. Love! He aaw 1 her again aa ahe stepped down from 4 the carriage; In the dining room at his ' side, leaning over tbe parapet: ineffably inef-fably sweet, bauntlngly aad Would t she accept the refuge b bad offered? He knew that old Mortimer would ' take ber without question. Would ahe t accept tbe abetter of that kindly roof? 8he Muat! If ahe refuted and went J ber ovn way Into the world, he would 1 lose brr for ever. She must accept! t He would plead with all tbe eloquence of bla aoul. for hla own happlaeaa, and mayhap here. He rose, faced tbe t teat. and. with a gesture not unlike ( that of tbe pagan la prayer, registered a vow that never should the want for 1 protection, never should the want for |
