| Show x 1 4 1 VIC 4 q A IMM r of 7 faut alj a dupy V SYNOPSIS baraka a tartar girl became enamored or a goldell be rd d stranger who wats prospecting mid studying shudyin 6 I 1 erb I 1 in tile of u her lionie in ce cental asia and revealed led to him the hie location of a mine ot or rubles rubies hoping that the stranger wo would id love e tier her lit in return fur lir her disclosure ahr aliey we vero re followed follow dl to it alie Is me cave by tile gli bill a I 1 avem vem aho vho blackd up tilt tha allt entrance and drew oft tile witter i liter appl leaving the coul couple ili to dle die Il arakas cousin saad baad her baro betrothed nil to climb bhea loin a rill dill im el looking the lie mine but the traveler shot film the hie stranger was rev bed from at a water gourd saad curried carried dug his wui way out of the tunnel and departed deserting tho the girl and vu va 1 m 1 9 of i I 1 bublis li araka gathered il all it t tho I 10 nil eema she lie could lorry carry anti and started in pu C ault donno donne margarita Mar Kairn da la corana Cor dna a famous prima donna beca became me engaged in ili london to Konstant ln lo 10 11 affied u wealthy brcek finan financier cler iler her intimate friend wits Counte hs loven leven known as 1 adi maud whose husband had bun been killed hilled by a bomb lit in st peters byg and andy silly maud 11 most intimate trend wat was tufu van torp an american who had bce lipoma b lip ce omu mu otie one oi tit lh ill clest ll men in the tha lorld van torp corp was in ili love loo with margaret and rushed ir f london us as on non o H is lie ile heard 1 ot of hr her ite ire 0 offeree frenc 1 tady lady maul tor for tier her pit t eha chairty lItY it 1 she would at aid I 1 him 1 I in in winn winning ng the singer from I 1 Looth etl Tl aralia approached pro proa ached cliNt lingoth bego nit nt ill rubles to voll all lla lie presented it ruby to van torp op bought a yacht anti and pent alt it to venice ito he was visited by baraka 3 rak lit in ditale attire she gave hire a aby ruby after the lie american had tol told d tier her of having 9 seen been in the united stiles states a annn answering tile tho description of the ono one olio loved the amerlean in foll follower tollow owea cd MarR Nf argaret iret to the festival mar afar kurd garet t tools tk k a liking to van torp who pre anted her with iia ruby had find given lint him a Itus arrived sit at da y van balled belle bl led him fill tit ta be ba the one baraka wits ai pur ulna var haraka ak a was wag arrest arrested pd in lildon on lh alio llio charge ot of stealing from any 1 inacy a lew li the tha ruby she t lie its biad bold to Log othell two ivo strangers abie the tha lady matio d believed that I a assort associations tie 1 1 9 with verp pre open to sural clo lon i i and so BO informed Al marcaret Mar argaret van torp be bp belec lovd lec e that was abe cowboy he hail known in lit ills young manhood antoo secured barakas baraka a re lense and and then with her is as ills his gues finest wint went to sen sea on his lacht brinna 13 araka explains tier her plina plane for or leene on the ruan who hit biad I 1 deserted 1 r ed cpr ier and left lef t her to die succeeds BiK oeds in ra III hr ra laap g r bif maud arrived in alay ru rauth th argaret 1 l and van torp entered an nto an n R gr tell on t to build it a tremendous tiemen dous iacia house ahouse in new york tile llie thief who well the ruby ul front from mr pinney Is arrested t in nw isow volk and the stone r lady 1 adv ala maud W annles onn les to van torp that she bhe belles ei 4 Kr Krill alinsky to be the husband lius band sit blip had h id believed dead van tor torp prom uca lies ills hla help to unravel tho the ro yaler CHAPTER XIII continued she had already come to the lon glon that it if Kr Krall alinsky was really leven levell the falter had seized tho the anity offered him by his own supposed death to td disappear from st petersburg and had bad taken another iame blame leven had been a ruined man when he half had tried to 0 o divorce her when ho be died or ar disappeared hl ho left nothing but debts which were extinguished with him for no one attempted to make his bis widow responsible tor for them since there was no estate and sho she had no fortune beyond the allowance her father ather made her lord creedmore Creed moie was far from being a rich peer too and what he gae her was not much although it would more than suffice for her simple wants now that she intended to live allye with him again dut but if leven had not been killed and had turned into Kr Krall alinsky he now had bad plenty of ready money though it was not easy to guess how he had obtained possession of a quantity of valuable asiatic rubles within the few weeks that had elapsed between his supposed eup posed destruction by the bomb and the date of van corps transaction with him in new york that was a mystery so was his big possible acquaintance or connection with the eastern g girl irl who was looking for him it if there was a shadow of truth in logothetis story etory lady maud did not believe there was and she felt morally sure that the tale had evolved itself out of tho the greeks fertile brain as a fantastic explanation of his atrocious conduct while she was thinking over these matters arid and rehearsing lu in her thoughts the scene that was before her ber she saw a gondola making straight for the yacht across tho the fast fading green of the lagoon that lay idy between the vessel and the Plaz zetta it came nearer and sho she drew back from rom the rail against her cabin door under the shadow of the promenade deck which extended over the gangway and was supported by stanchions as on an ocean liner the lancashire lass with her single yellow tunnel funnel itter her one short signal mast her turret shaped wheelhouse wheel house and tier her generally businesslike business like appearance looked more like a cross between a fast modern cruiser and an all ocean greyhound than like a private yacht she even tad a couple of quick firing guns mounted just above her bier rail lady maud alaid looked at the gondola and as it came still nearer she saw that it brought only one passenger and that he had a fair beard she quietly opened her cabin door and went in to dress for dinner meanwhile mr van torp had can plated his toilet and sent for the abo captain 1 I suppose youre ready at any moment captain inquired the millionaire yes air the pilot Is on board and the gentleman you expected Is just coming alongside then you can start now said the owner after a moments thought where are we bound sir air oh well I 1 dont know I 1 wanted to say a few words about that captain do you happen to know anything bout about P yacht abbt called the arlana be longing to a ml logotheti a greek gentleman who ito lives in ili paris yes sli sir answered capt brown for it was a 1 part of ills hla business busl nebs to roud read the ho yachting news she was vida at cowes when wo 0 o sailed she was ro ported polled tho the other day daiy bioni gibraltar as having entered the alt aft or er taking tailing fresh provisions owner and party parly on oil boud board there la Is no further word w of her I 1 well r aid sir van torp 1 I have anve an idea ashes she a gone to naples but I 1 want you ou to lied find tier her right away whir eap r site bhe li is owner and party on oil hoard board all captain if you happen to kee bee tier her anywhere you just come and tell ell me file if im ione aone anil and it im not why send one of your hiir young men to say you iou want to linow know something any thing you happen to think of and come to our room and tell you whit what to do see all arid and now lets start please all right sir when the party assembled in ili the deck saloon for dinner lady maud aland w was it 8 1 missing who did not intend that ills his master should dine without withof it his personal pe onal lit attention no mat ter how much the chief steward inight object to his presence approached appi cached mr van torp and whispered something andy I 1 aa d y maud alaid begged that the party would sit pit down donn without her and she w would join them in a moment so they took their places and the vacant one was on the owners right between him and the tha prima donni you see said mr van torp explaining pla ining to sirs mrs rushmore kushmore which wits was W wholly holly liine unnecessary essary we are americans and this ship Is america so the english guest goes first 11 but mrs rushmore more know these things for she was used to handling lions in numbers and the little lions anti and the middle sized ones are very ery partle blar about their places it at table but the great big ones do not care orie one dingle sim sam as mr air van torp would have hale elegantly expressed their indifference for he was a great big lion himself f did you ou ever meet lady 11 maud aull he be inquired speaking to Kr gralinsky alinsky Krall which lady lal maud aull asked the for elgner eigner in his rather oily voice there are aie several countess leven who was lady maud foxwell rov well explained mrs rushmore Kr Krall alinsky turned quietly to her hla his s single ingle eyeglass fixed and glittering no lie he anavi answered ered I 1 knew poor leyen leven well but I 1 was never introduced to his w wife ire I 1 have heard that she Is very be beautiful auti ful you say you knew the late count leven leyens observed mrs airs ru rushmore s amore with an encouraging and ginterr rogatory smile intimately answered Kr gralinsky alinsky Krall niky with perfect self possession we were in the samo same regiment in the caucasus a I 1 dare say you remember that ho he began life as a chivalry officer and then entered the diplomacy gifted man very the russian added in a thoughtful tone but no balance it seems to me that I 1 have heard he be did not treat hla his wife very well wel I 1 mr van torp had met several very coo cool I 1 characters in his interesting and profitable career but he thought that it if the man before him was leven himself as he be seemed to be he be beat them all tor for calm effrontery were you ever told that you looked like him hima asked mr air van torp carelessly even at this question Kr Krall alinsky 8 showed no embarrassment 41 to tell the truth he replied 1 I remember that one or two in the regiment saw a slight resemblance and wo we were of nearly the same height I 1 should say but when I 1 last saw leven he did not wear a beard at this point lady maud came in quietly and made directly for the vacant place the two men rose as soon as she appeared and she faund herself face to face with Kr Krall alinsky with the table between them their eyes met but lady ladi maud could not detect the slightest look of recognition lit in his van torp introduced him and also wa watched ached his face narrowly but there was not the least change of espres slon sion nor any quick glance of surprise yet Kr Krall alinsky possibly did not ot know that lady maud was on the yacht for he be had bad not been told previously that she wits wis to be of the party and in the short conversation which had preceded her appearance appears app earence nee no one had actually mentioned the tact fact she het herself had come to dinner late with the express purpose of presenting herself before him suddenly sudden but she had to admit that the intended surprise did not take place she was not astonished however for she had bad more than once seen her husband placed in very difficult situations from which he had generally extricated himself by his amazing power of concealing the truth being seated nearly opposite to ta him it was not easy to study his features without seeming either to stare at him rudely or to be bestowing more attention lon on him than on any of the others tier eyes were very verr good and her memory for details was fair and if she fhe did not look often at his face she watched his bis bands find and listened to the antona eions alons of his voice and tier her conviction that he was leven grew during dla din ilk 0 Q t Y I 1 ol 01 I 1 their eyes met rier ner yet there was still a shadow ot of doubt though she sha could riot not have told exactly where it lay she longed to leadham lead him into a trap by asking some question to which it lie he were leven he would know the answer answell swell though not if he were any one else a question to which he would not hesitate to reply unsuspectingly it tho the answer were known to him jut hut lady maud was not ingenious in such cor COK tricks and could not of f anything that would do the outward difference ot of appearance between him and the man sh she 0 had married was so small that she could assuredly not have sworn in evidence that Kr Krall alinsky was not her husband there was the beard 0 ard and she had not seen leven with a beard since the first months of her marriage four years ago when he had cut it oft off for some reason known only to himself ot of course a recollection already four years sears old could not bo be trusted like one that dated only as far back as three months for he be had left her not long before his supposed death there were the hands bands and there was the left hand especially that might bo be the seat of the doubt possibly she had never noticed that tha t leven even had a way of keeping his left little finger almost constantly crooked and turned inward as if it were lame but slie she was not sure even of oc that tor for she not one ot of those people who study the hands of every one they know and can recognize them at a glance she had certainly never watched her husbands as closely as she was watch watching ing now INI Mai grei argaret was in the best of spirits and talked more than usual not stopping to think how van corps mere presence would have chilled and silenced her three or four mon months t hs earlier on the whole it was a gay dinner and mrs airs rushmore and Kr alinsky knew that it was a very good one and told each other so afterward as they walked slowly up and down the great promenade deck in the starlight 1 for or people who are very fond of good eating can chatter pleasantly about their food for hours recalling the recent delights of a perfect ceaud chaud frold or a faultless sauce and it was soon evl evi dent that there was nothing connected with such subjects which kralin sky did not understand and appreciate from a chinese birds bards nest soup to the rules of the great alarie antohne antoan careme and brillat physiology of taste Kr Krall alinsky also knew everybody between gastronomy and society Bo claty he appeared to airs rush more to know everything there was to be known lady maud caught snatches of the conversation as the two came near her and then turned back and she remembered that leven used to talk on the same subjects with elderly women on whom he be wished to make a pleasant impression tho the voice was his too and yet she knew she had a doubt somewhere a very small doubt which it was a sort of slow torture to feel was still unsatisfied mr air van torp zat eat between her and lady margaret argaret AI while the two others walked the deep cushioned straw chairs stood round a low fixed tabla on which there had bad been coffee and at ATar margarets garets request the light fight hail had been put out though it was only a small opalescent one placed under the awn ing abaft the wheelhouse wheel house hoube anti and bridge we must be going very fast said lady maud for the sea Is hat fiat as a millpond rind and yet theres a gale a as a soon as one gets out of 0 the lee of things 11 22 2 1 I believe replied rep aled van torp and she eha can do 23 it praised sedi sed sho she will by and by when she gets w warmed armed up where are we going Al margaret argaret asked at this rate we are sure to get g et somewhere 1 11 I 1 dont know where were going im sure bufe the millionaire am smiled tied in the gloom but as you say it take more moie than five minutes to get somewhere in a |
