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Show I 1 THE FORTIETH DOOR 1 I : ... , , By Mary Hastings Bradley "1r m , i 1 SYNOPSIS. Js-1- Ryder a youn; .American. I dMn some er-; er-; l car Ml - n EfrPi tnd i induced by Jinny Jrffrlee, ;' .'.mtvtern iut h . fcsioitn la (.'tend a mijr.. b', t hr ot;. He oileJii l"0ttil " lUins (r juj InSfeW. AhArfi Vc lil A:ta-h of hi EnfUib fOTrr.meoi ana at Mel j I be hevr t&rr ol a Tracb scholar ).up:cirnl In ll levari flfwvn : btfo.' Tfcf -n--. wis re-.'-d de4, asd U and libr n." Nrt ' ft. now i hi ,iinw i ir 'it mj it toddeoly - !' , ;v : .nl tl btUM rp th hlld tut Ml trw-" U rone. MoLeas ihawi Jlrilsr MtolMVi oottrSU of tho -t 'rB jtno, "Moualj tntfuxt M the ball V.rj- fp.r. id i myalertoaa tonne rlrl la MA!U etiadar. oMts -b 1I e'ro no hint of Ler ldtntitj t (4sBo4 she (Up a-sy and find I tf 1urv-tc oi Tewflali ) llhl, ft Turkish r i, ial :c th BirV.brtrr pa'.as t parting in the, r ' 16 f'rl't brro.- and oma.vnicnt RJt ! he.r That ilrtt hr falr.or Inf. rn:i her he Ifhet bar lo eiajry w re; :'1t o'f! mm to save h:nj'f from ruin. Ry'er MM Almee an.-in. nnd III. T.-bcn ? ltsct 'hat at. li in ). married leSTM her In arr-r s.nrt neiu.-s- to hi desert to bis cxca-vsit cxca-vsit is Tbr ha ArtiJrr.T which cofitlneci lilm tbt t th rtaathUT of tbo rrenohmnn wb'" :,'orv' M HsKriri .. lo rrt.-nv her. and r ( rm u ;J.-e. Th rb i lufpidoui and on i tard in' ra 'htt A;tn5 l Lis own dauclitT Js.-k xcrTi Jit b :w and find way to riict Aim h ory of her rN i - nt,-r Alm- is ..nab.e ess ; md is !'irrvj (,j jrry throujh jif he fottrr fithtr pim. At the mar.-lax leesl Jack ppean befort ibe ;nhappy bride, He siiKywia in iriTinr her hipo Gt itoinie. The eroom. comlnc lstr. it Mjm-sd in his lore maliinc by sell n. In turn 13 ovei taken by H-imdl'i slave and made NINTH INSTALLMENT. HAMDI MAKES TWO PRISONERS. Irp HE'S seemed to be In the wine cellars. Ho saw bins and bairclf) and barred X vaults that would have done credit to p.n Ensllsh squire, and he reflected fleetly that wine bibbing was forbidden to Mohammedans and that Homdi Bey was a fanatic BiosleMm. l Then lie aaw open spaces of ancient stuffs, broken tables, and a dl.smantled caloche, and a broken "oar. His enrlkr observation of the ralace had told him " I that it had a witer cnle nnd he thought now that they might be ncAr 'nm? opening. Ho wondered If they weio fjolng to throw him, pinioned, into the river. Ho wouldn't put It past this lhld. silent, shaklnc man and yet the thing appeared so impossible, so theatre, so utterly unrelated to any of the iways that he. Jack Ryder, might be expoctM to end his days, that it couldn't possibly send more than a 6hiver of speculation down his ij spine. And yet mer had been thrown Into rivers i'B' this very river. Anil men had disappeared ; from just such palace? as this There was the story about younc IfonktOh, He knew It perfectly; he had reminded himself of it the last evening while he reflected upon this escapade, but he had nevrr actually .ppre-ffH .ppre-ffH W 1 ciatcd the peculiar poignancy of the thing until now. Monkton had met rumor reported a Turl;ib lady of position, flirted with her. it I Hi, was said, while on hr.rsrbark outside her motor, when caught in the crush at Kasr-, Kasr-, 1 el-N'll bridge There had been a meeting or two in the back of .shops, ond then he had boasted, light-heartedly, of a design to tako I u tea in her harem He had never boasted about the tea. No one had ever seen Monkton and he was , generally reported, after a stifled inquiry, to ji'l have been thrown from his horse in the !jn desert, or spilled out of his sailing canoe Tho government, English or Egyptian, assumed no interest in the matter of gentlemen found It In other gentlemen's harems. There were other stories, too. There was one of a little Viennese actress who after a dramatic escape reported a whole winter of captivity In one of these old palaces, and there v3b a'vaguer rumor of a rash young Amcruan jlrl, detained for days. Ryier had always known these stories. They were part of tho gossip and thrill of Cairo Hut he had never till now realized how exquisitely possible was '.heir occurrence. Anything, everything might happen In these hidden, .' rel chambers. These Turks were as much master here as their old predecessors pred-ecessors Who hid reared these stones. This black upon his hetli might have br-en the griniiing: fallhfq ee:ulloner of some caliph he might have I con the very Masrur, the Sword of Vengeance of Al ftttchld. He told himself that It was no time to think of tho past. His business acutely was the present If only he could get his hands untied! If only he could get tlio? untied hands upon that demoniac Turk! But strain as he could upon the knots, they held. It seemed to him that they had been walk-Ing walk-Ing for an interminable distance, in odd, roundabout ways. Onco they had stopped nnd he had involuntarily glanced bark over his shoulder, but at a word from the general gen-eral ho had kept his head forward again while he heard the black behind him gathering gather-ing something that clinked. Later a stolen glance had revealed the eunuch with somo tools In one hand and a bag slung ovei nil shoulder. t The bag disquieted him. Bairs filled a fore boding place In eastern literature of vengeance. ven-geance. He wondered If he were to go into H 111 th river in that bag. with the tools for weight. He decided, feeling now a wry odd and definite disturbance In the region of his stomach, that ho would tell that general that he was a cousin of tho late Lord Cromer and a nephew of Lord Kitchener. Something Some-thing insistent would have to be done about They were passing now through a strange, open space, between old arches that for an blatant arrested his excavator's Interest. He saw in the shadows about them, a crumpled, crumbling dome and broken ?hafia, with half a wall of masomy pierced with arabesques. ara-besques. Traces of old ruins, fragments of ome old. forgotten moeque, over Which fie Is' 1 1 1 palace had spread its foundations In bygone H days. Burled treasure, looted some of it. H ' for the palace overhead, but still rare ami lovely. That was a gleam of lapis latull that winked at him from tho crumbling mor- 1 Sill under his feet. H Tnr Then they were between other walls, not Of the pglaoi masonry with here and there broad reaches of old brick. They stopped. Between two arches the general held his lantern high, flashed It over the surface, while Tussuf swung down his sack nnd knocked with the handle of his tool Suddenly ho stopped and looked at his master, nodding cheerfully The general lowered his light and stepped back and Yussuf reared tho pickaxe In his powerful arms and Pent it dexterously at the wall, be-twron be-twron two broken bits of brick It caught, and lent the mortar spraying; another blow and another lOOMntd a hole In which the black inserted a short Iron and began nerv-ouBly nerv-ouBly grlndlnp and prying Ryder, watching with helpless fury, saw the bricks at last break and tumble faster nnd faster In a cloud of dust, and saw a pocket In the will become revealed, a long, upright niche, the size, perhaps, of a man's coffin, on end. He tried, suddenly, to talk. His tongu felt thick and swollen and there seemed no words In all the world to fit his need of overcoming this fan'atic madman, and after all, he had no chance for therm for Tussuf, with a hupo palm upon his mouth urged him suddenly backwards towards that hor rible niche. "Gently, Tussuf, gently," said tho general, nuavely. and with a slow distinctness that v nr. for Ryder's cars. " I gavo my word that I would not hurt a. hair of his head." Grinning, tho black lifted him over tho remaining wall, and set him down Into tho niche, leaving him standing In there like a helpless statu", tasting to tho full fury of his heart the bitterness of his helplessness and the ludicrous impotence of all struggle " Good God, sir, you must be mad," he raid In a strained sharp voice that his ears would not have known as his own " Do you reallz1 there will be an Inquiry there Is such a thing n.s law?" It seemed to him that he talked, In English Eng-lish and Ktammorinc Arable, for a long time. The black was kueelmg, out of sight, atoop-lng atoop-lng over a baln of .. .tior nnd his Ahomlnablet sack, and Ryder was facing that silent, sardonic sar-donic face, with its fantastic mustache, its evil, gloating eyes. He stopped for Very shame. Tho man was mad. Mad and drunk and there was no appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober Mad or drunk, he had devised his vengeanco shrewdly. Upon Ryder's helpless body a cold sweat of incredulous horror broke softly out. At his feet he heard the black beginning to fit bis bricks nnd smooth his mortar. "You do well to save your breath," snld Hamdl Bey at last, as Ryder still stood silent. ' You will need it in this chamber I am prn-UiUnp. prn-UiUnp. t.i.i it may be," he said thought inn, 111:11 yiur ureai n win insi your neeo. Thirst may be the more impatient tor her victim; they tell me thirst is an obtrusive visitor. As you Terc, this evening. Still, why do you not cry out a llttlo? It will amuse my black." Yes, thlr was real. Ryder reminded himself him-self And these tldng.; could happen had happened He remembeted suddenly tho hideous scene, outsido tho dungeon, in Fran cesca do RJmlnl when that bestial brother goes In to those helpless prisoners. He remembered re-membered the sick horror of those groans. He remembered also various excursions of his, in the Tower of London and the Sou; nerle of Florence, and tho sight of old rings and stakes and racks, and tho feeling of their total unrelatedness to every actuality. And yet they had happen. -d And this thing, for all Its fantastic medieval horror, was happening Brick by brick tho Imprisoning Im-prisoning wall was rising. Brick by brick It Intervened between him and sane, sensible, happy, normal life. Kc for eye he gave the general back his look. He had always wondered about the poor devils in underground torture chambers. Had wondered how they had the stuff to hold out, against 6uch odds, for some belief, some information. Now he knew the stiffening stuff of a personal hate, upholding to tho very grave. That sardonic, devil's face. That face which was going bck upstairs to Almee. Bilt he must not think of that or ho should fcivo way and begin to babble, to plead He must simply stand and meet that glance. And there came the Incredible. Insane moment mo-ment when Ryder looked out on that face through one last breathing space, and then s.iw tho fitted brick, settled Into place, blot the world.to darkness before his eves Alone, in the gloom of that strange room, Aimf-e sat rigid, listening. Not a sound, beyond be-yond the closed door, from tho lonK drawing room. Not a sound, beyond the other door, from the room where the slave. Fatlma. waited to assist In her disrobing. Silence o cry-where save for a low lapping of water against the masonry beneath her window. The palace was on the river, then, or on some old backwater. She remembered glimpses of dark canals on her drive that morning had It only been that morning' The aound of that soft, hidden water added to her feeling of isolation and remoteness from everything that had been her life before, be-fore, she thought fleetlngly, almost Indifferently Indiffer-ently of her friend?; Axlma, who today bad crowned her for happiness, and fond, foolish old Miriam and Madame de Coulevaln and Tewfkk Tacha. weak, cruel, but amiable. ho thought of them all as unreal figures from whom she had long taken leave. The old life was over. It had dld for her when a'.ie passed through the dark doorway nnd met that arrogant, sardonic, fatuous man. the Bttter of this palace. Or more truly that old life had died for her when she had filing a black mantle about her chiffon fro-k nl 1 stri ct veil across her sparkling face and had stolen, daring and breathless, Into the lights and revelry of that hotel masquerade There, when she lnd shrunk back from the harlequin, and had looked up to meet the kindling glance of that mask In tartans yes. there, the old life had died for her forever If only eho had know n it. And now she would only like to die, so 6he thought miserably, after she had been asst red of Ryder's safety. She was tenso with fear for him. distrusting In every fiber the assurance of that fanatic, outrage ! Turk. She was not utterly resourceless. When Ryder's revolver had dropped to the floor she had maneuvered, unseen by Hamdl Bey, to get her train over it, and when she had stooped for her train her one free hand had Mosed over the revolver handle beneath the satin and lace. Now tho revolver lay on the divan, and eagerly she drew it out, feeling it In tHo darkness, curling her finj-ei about the trigger. trig-ger. Neer, In her life had she fired a shot, for her most formidable weapon hnd been tho bows and arrows of tho children's archery contest 01 tne jfcmgusn ciuo, nut siie reit in herself now that hlghstrung tensity which at all cost would carry her on. Carefully she bestowed the small, stel thing in the bosom of her dress then sho stared questlonlngly at the dress itself, hastily unpinning the veil, and tying tho long train up to her girdle. Then, with a wary glance for the closed door behind which waited that Fatlma she stole to the door tho general hnd shut and pressed It softly ajar, peering OUt Into the deserted throne room. Like a great cavo of darkness, the room stretched before her. peopled with goblin shadows from tho dying candles upon the disordered, dis-ordered, abandoned table She saw tho chair pushed back whore she had risen to etrugglo with tho bey. the long folds of white cloth. Sweeping the floor, behind which Hamdl had rolled so agile!;, . a stain was still spreading about an upset glass, and from the overturned over-turned cooler the ico Water was dripping, drlppinr: with a steady, sinister implication. She thought of flight. There was another black, the general had warned her, beyond the door, nnd there would be bars and bolts on any egress from the harem, but with tho revolver In her possession some desperate escape might be achieved. But Rydei No, the gun was for another purpose. She would not squander it yet upon herself. Back to the boudoir she moved slowly, carrying car-rying one of the gilt candelabra from tho tho table to light tho room. She would need light for her plan there waiting A hundred times it seemed to her that she could stand no more, that she must make her way out at all costs, must discover what fate they were dealing to Ryder, but still she forced herself to sit there, he1 pulses racing, her heart eick with suspense, but desperately waiting She felt a sudden wave of weakness go through hef at on advancing step from the next room. But her chin was up. her eyos fixed and desperate as the figure of tho general gen-eral appeared in her opening door. "Ah, light This is more cheerful, little one " Sho had risen, half moved towards him. " Is ho safe'' "The stranger" Safe as treasure bur'.od treasure, little one." Tho bey laughed, and that laughter, and the glittering satisfaction of his eyes, filled her with foreboding, although his next words came with smiling reassurance. "That a hair of his head it not hurt. I give you my word " "But where Is he what have you done?" "Shut him up, to be sure Kept him as hostage for your sweet humility a novel way to win a bride, O essence of shyness'" Malevolently he smiled down at her and in the back of her frightened mind she realized real-ized that this man did well to be angry, that tho "ffront to him had been immeasurable, and that many a Turk would have simply driven his dagger through the Intruder's heart and her own, too. But though she tried to tell herself that there was forbearance In him, sho felt. Instinctively, In-stinctively, that there was deeper kindness in direct, thrusting fury than In this man's sinister mockery. She hnd sunk hark nnnn the fllvnn on tho bey's approach; now as he stood beforo her with that mask of a smile upon his face, drawing a silk handkerchief across a forehead fore-head she saw glistening in tho candlo light, she leaned tow-ards him again, her hands Involuntarily In-voluntarily clasping " Monsier. I seem to have done you a great wrong," she said tremblingly. " but It Is not so great as you suppose. "Will you listen to me? I " "Useless; useless." Ho waved the handkerchief hand-kerchief negligently at her "I havi had words enough. You are not the daughter of Tewfick PashS. you are his stepdaughter your French family dc-slrei to capture vou; 1 know the rlgmarolo by heart, you obssrvs And. of course, when a French family desires to obtain possession of a charming up-daughter, up-daughter, on the eve of her marriage, that family always employs a handsome young man to break into the bride's chamber and polr.t a gun at the husband." HIS mustache llfte-d tn a grimacing sneer. " But it is true, and I am French," she in-terpo.i in-terpo.i swiftly. " Excellent I do not object In the least." Ho t-oot his handkerchief uo his cuff and turned to her with eyes that lightly mocked the agonized appeal of the young face. " French blood is delightful quicksilver and champagne. You will enliven me, I promise you " "But the marriage it Is not legal monsier," mon-sier," she said desperately, summoning all her courage. " Tew fick Pasha had no right to give mo to you " Indulgently he smiled down at her; then his narrowed eye.i traveled slowly about the room " But this is a strange, time and place to talk of legalities Do not distress yourself your stepfather Is your guardian and your marriage will be as binding as the oaths of the prophet. Have no qualms. And now, If your French blood will smile a little ' He started to seat himself beside her. but 10 that instant she was on her feet. "With nil the courage In her beating henrt she whipped o'U that revolver and pointed it at him. " If yo'.' call, I shoot!" she said breathlessly. breath-lessly. The round mouth of the gun shook ever sc. sllghth In the e::olted hand gripping It, but in the blnr.lng look she turned on him was the unshaken. Imperious passion of a woman swent absolutolv hevonrl nil fear Meeting that look, Hnmdl Bey stood extremely ex-tremely still and inado no sound, "There nro plenty of shots for you. at the first nnise, and for the servants. If they come," she went on In that fierce undertone, nnd then, passionately: ""What did you do to him? Take me tn him at once!" trfeSOlUtet the ninn stood and looked up at her under Ills hnif lowered lids. He was rem- enough for a spring and yet If that exejted finger should press! The girl was capable of anything.- She was possessed. And men have died of such accidents before that "May I speak1" ho murmured In a tone Scarcely audible, yet preserving, somehow, Its flavor of sardonic amusement. "Under your breath. One sound, remom-ber remom-ber and I am n v ery good shot." "But what a wife," he sighed. "All the talents " "I tell ou that T will see him for myself. Take mo to him, this moment'." "Shall I glvo orders and have him brought here" He la n'lllo p.afo, I assure you." "Orders? I von summon a servant I will shoot. No id the way and I will follow you. And If y 11 make one sound one false move " Decidedly the girl was possessed. She stood there me a white Image of war, her hand on that uifernai automatic. He hesitated, hesi-tated, gnawed his mustache, then swung sullenly upon his heel. Like some fantastic sculpture from an Amasonian triumph, they crossed the long drawing room the erect, gilt braided general preceding, very slowly, tho whlto clad feminine femi-nine creature who held one hand extended, with something boring almost into his shoulder shoul-der blades He did not lead her down tho long stairs, post the guarding eunuch. He took, instead, an inner way, through the late supper room, which led down Into the pillared hall of banquets. ban-quets. That way was safe of servants now; crossing tho plllnred hall there were no more sounds of late work from tho service quarters quar-ters beyond Oblivious of the wild developments develop-ments of that weddlYig reception, the tired servants, stuffed with the last pastry, wormed with the last surreptitious drop of wine, were asleep nl last Out6lde the door In the stono wall the bev took down the lantern which so short a time ago he had replaced upon its nail and lighted It still smoking wick. He had not restored the key to Yussuf, and he drew It now from his pocket and fitted it Into the loci:, drawing back the door "These stulrs are steep," ho murmured. "I hardly like vou to descend them unaided, but If you Insist " " Go on." she said Imperiously. Down ho went, and after him she came, following the way he led h-r down the long stone underground ways. We have, of course, very pleasant stairs down to our water gate," he murmured apologetically, "but since you prefer this very way really not tho way that I wou'.d have chosen to have you first explore our palace, madame' These, you perceive, aro the cellars and old storerooms " " I do not want you to talk," she said Urgently "But you would not shoot me for it? Only for raising an alarm? And surely you cannot be unreasonable about a few words you must be very careful here; this doorway is low " It was not past the o.d ruined mosque, Ir.eiuded In the palace's underground world, that he was leading her. but down a narrow branching way, between walls so low that the general's head was bowed In caution "This part of the palace is very old," he murmured over his shoulder. "An ancestor of mine. Shahryar the "vTazlr. raised theso walls during the wars, for the dispensing of that sacred duty of hospitality which Allah enjoins upon the faithful It is reported that he was host hero to fifty of the enemy during their remaining lifetime although they had tho delicacy not to cumber him with ovorlong living. It Is not. as I said, a pleesai piu. 0 but the walla are strong tad bo I selected a spot here " Here somewhere, then. In these grim ruins, Ryder was penned, helpless and questioning the tomorrow The girl trembled with excitement ex-citement when sh thought of his Joy. his deliverance ar.d at her hand, for their escape she lui no plana, only the dciion to thrust the gun Into his hand and fa 1 leftvt tne general In his place and he couia wear the general's uniform for disguise Everything was possible now that she was nearlng him and his safety was at hand. She thrilled with a reanimating excitement that fievr lis scarlet banners in her cheeks. Only a fow steps now! " Go on!" she said breathlessly. The bey had stopped nnd now flashed his - over low, timbered door, studded with ancient nail heads In a design whoso nrtlstry did not arrest her From a peg be-side be-side it ho took down a key of brass, fitted it to the lock, and turned it with a deliberation maddening to her tense nerves. Her heart was beating as if It would bunrt Its bounds. Only a moment or two He had trouble with that door It took his shoulder, at last, to set It swinging Inward slowly on lis crooking hinges Then he stepped back and with a wavo of his hand invited her to enter. " Not a chamber of luxury, you understand, but substantial, as you will see " " Go first," she ordered He laughed. " Ever distrustful, little thorn of the rods! PbitbWi then," and he stepped wltnln, Into the darkness, which his falling lantern but little Illumined enlllng out in a louder tone In his haltlnE- BnMlsti " A vln. ltor, my friend a tourist of the subterranean subter-ranean " She hnd followed him to the threshold, seeing see-ing nothing In the blackness but the senmed blocks of stone within the lantern's ra s, afraid always to turn her eyes from him or her hand from its outstretched pointing He -nld very quleklv to her in Turkish" " If you will wait by the door the floor is bad and there Is another lantern here on the wall ' At her left he fumbled alomf the stono wall. She heard him mutter and then reach. And then she did not know what was happening hap-pening For the very ground on which she stood, the solid block of stone began to slip swiftly beneath her feet, she staggered, nnd felt herself falling, falling, into some precipitately pre-cipitately opened abyss. She gave a wild scream, flinging out her arms In u-rror, nnd then cold waters closed above her and the scream ended In a gurgling cry. . It to no great distance that she felL What the dropped stone had revealed, answering an-swering the signal of the old lever In the wall that the general Had pressed, was a stone well, narrow, ilcop Implanted there by some Ingenious lord of the. palace In bv gone days for the subtle elimination of friend or foe or rival But it was no part of Hamdl'a plan to leave the young girl thoro nnd close the Obliterating store. Scarcely had the waters met abov e her head than ho was flinging clown a rope ladder whose upper ends were fastened to rlncs In the floor nnd descending this with swift agility until the waters reached his waist Then he leaned out and clutched the floating float-ing satin bubbling nnd ballooning, yet unsub-merged, unsub-merged, above the stagnant depths and drew it towards him. As the struggling gbi camo gasping within his reach he carried her, panting, pant-ing, up the ladder again and laid her down in the darkness while he drew up the ladder and closed the stone by pressing that hidden lever. But the stone, which had dropped so swiftly swift-ly was slow and heavy In slipping back In place, ;md when he turned again to Almoe she had ceased her choking cough and was elttlng up. thrusting bark the dripping hair from her blank eves, staring bewlldoredly about the gloom as murky as any genie's env e The lantern light was almost out. In Its expiring gleams she saw no more Inky water, but only the damp, moss grown stones, on which a poo', was widening from her wet garments, and tho half defined figure of the general stooping over to squeeze the streams from his own wet clothes. The nightmarish horror of Its overwhelmed her. For a moment she could have screamed with horror, and then she felt a rold and terrible despair lay its paralyzing hand upon her heart. Somewhere she felt, beneath those secret stones lay Ryder, drowned. And she was living tn her helplessness No revolver now. That was gone In the water, perhaps. There was no reeoureo now, no refuge. Strength went out of her, and, passive in a dream of evil darkness, ahe felt herself being hurried, stumbling!-, back through the secret corridors and the dark halls. There wns no measure of time for Ryder in that walled coffin of death Tho seconds seemed hours: the minutes, ages. Ho drew quick short breaths, as if economizing econ-omizing the nlr that was so soon to fall him; he tugged at his bonds till the veins rose on his forehead, but the silk held and the confines con-fines of the prison permitted him no room for struggle. Then he leaned forward, to press with all his might upon the bricks before be-fore him; he grunted, he sweated with the agony of his exertions, but not a brick waa tlrred, not a crack was made In the mortar that gripped them tighter every Instant. He died a thousand deaths In tho horror that Invaded him then Already he felt strangling, and tht painful pumping of bli heart seemed the beginning of the end. Cold sweat btood out all over him; It ran down hla face in trickling streams and hit body waa drenched with that clammy dew of fear. He tried to count the minutes, the hours, to estimate how long he would hold out. And then ho heard his own voice saying Very distinctly and clearly and dlspaaslonau-l dlspaaslonau-l ' This thing Is absurd ." It waa absurd. It was Idiotic. It was utterly Irrational It was an impossible end for an able bvdied young Amtrlcan. an ex- " cavator of no moan attainments a young scholar and explorer of twentieth century til sclenco, a sans, modern, harmlesa young man, to die Immured in the nr.clent walla of a Turkish palace because ho hud lr.vp.ded a marrtago reception and Intervened between man ami wife . Violent death In any form must alwayt V appear absurd to the young and energetic p And tho fantastic horror of his death re- rai moved it definitely from any realm of pol- 'i 1 bllity The thing simply could not happen. Ho thought of the am.urement and the Incredulity In-credulity of his friends . Was there any possibility of his being 1 traced, of any rescuo renchlng him? Ho thought hard and long upon his last rre., jjjj moments .T'.nny Jeffries knew that he wo ris'l in the palace and Jinny had been reltrratedly ' warned about the danger of botraylng that knowledge. It would tako aome little time for alarm before Jinny said anything. Arid It b 1 j would take B little time for Jinny to begin '' to worry -rli: He had not been so Instant In attendance upon Jinny of late, for all their residence I ll'j in the snmo hotel, that sho would suspect I 1 that hla sbaenci Of twenty-four hours waa I due to actual Incarceration. I Btt . . . . I - t xiis cursea passion ior irceuom In which y, to ramble up and down that deserted lane V; without Tewflck Pasha's garden! His Inane 1 f?' love of solitary mooning! :r."" No, .Tlnnv would not Poon wonder abont him. She had not expected to see him that JJJ -. evening, anyway ho had muttered some- n!wl ti.lng to her about a mnn and an engage- I Hi ment. ": She would rather look to see, him the nxt r;ai dav nnd talk nhout their adventure. But dcrd etlll she would feel no more than pique at ?&3' his absence; positive worry would not develop tfXH&t. until later. ' '' r f"rtrc There was no hopo to be looked for. fin! And yet he could not believe It There rv.nt were moments when the black terror mastered mas-tered him. but Involuntarily his voung fillM strength shook it off He could not believe in Its reality. Ho could not bellevo that he "Pin! was actually here, bricked and bound, In this 'xrci infernal coffin. 1 MUtol But, Indisputably, tho evidence was la iat. favor of belief. Only to believe was to feel sjrjot again that horror. TW4n He tried to tell himself that It didn't mat. 1.1 1 n ter. One had to die some time Everybody 3tlnj did. One might as well go out young ar.d "Pirdi strong and still Interested In life. Ui dnV But that waa remarkably cold comfort He didn't want to go out at oil. He didn't want 1 jj. to die not for fifty or alxty years yet and : wa; of all the ways of dying he wanted least to smother and choke nnd etiflo like a rat walled In its hole in the wall. Nt Ml Ho recalled, w-lth peculiar pain, a wood- jj chuck that he hnd penned up as a boy. and he hoped with extraordinary passion that the poor beast had made another hole. Never iSt again, he resolved, would he pen up a Living I swith creature never again. If only again he could Btletl see the light of day ar.d breathe the free air. He thought of Almee And when he , ( thought of her his h art seemed to turn to BbUHd water Useless to repeat to himself noTv those old reminders that he had seen her to wi beat little known her so slightly Useless to i cf lid: measure that strange feeling that drew him ttttoi by any nrtlflee of time and acquaintance jy She was Almee. Sho was enchantment and 3ut'tb delight. She was appeal and tenderness. J tttj She was blind longing and mystery. Sh ! was beauty and desire. :T-r-at Even to think of her now, in the Infernal horror of this cramping grave, was to f?l I Tb Til his heart quicken and his blood grow hot In Slfcl a helpless passion of dread and fear. Sho 1 fnt waa alone there, helpless, with that madman. '-''8 her He tried to tell himself that she was not wholly helpless, thnt she had wit and spirit ;''V0n nnd courage and that somehow sho would Stli manage to quell the storm; she might per "Oa" j suade Hamdl to their story make him re- , member that this was the twentieth century. r -,a wherein one does not go about Immuring un Inconvenient trespassers ns In tho earJer W UIj years of the Mad Khedive years which had probably formed the general's Impu'ses but BiIoq in telling himself this there was no comfort ' ai at for tho thought of the price that Atrnea would have to pay. i--!0 It was pleaeanter to pretend that Harodl "Os!" waa really only Joking, In a shockingly. J g aggerated, practical way and that prestntlTi Tai when the suitable time had elapaed. he would fcaVJJJ,1 present. himself, smiling, to end the ghastly ll5r antiquated Jest. 7? la For some time ho continued to tell hUni J , 'Uaey . ... And then suddenly he told hlmseir I this was merely aon-.e dov'.. " '': "r hl3 I U B, apprehensive imagination. There must be . ff great deal of air left. But he was distress- . ,.t Vq Ingly Ignorant of the cublo contents of sJr. flB and hi calculation were lamentably unsup- ported by any aound basis of fact. tj Mistake, not to have gone In for chemistry ) lat W) and physics A chap who'd done time W '.'a those subjects now wouldn't be rocking ! uspense; he'd comfortably and satisfactor . . Ol know Just how many hour" minutes, I seconds were allotted before his finish an r-JOly he could think hla thoughts ftocordlnfflr- I ben Undoubtedly, so he Insisted to hImJfij j I ,ew,Jj there was air erough here to last him l TjSg morning. This gasping stuff w.is all lnUZ I Ofl a , Hon Ha wanted to keep 1 ;, ;t I er for all his reassurance there was tomttt I ' (t a little queer with his lungs, and his JlgJ was lurching slckenlngly In his -!Jf- I Zf, q runaway ship's engine. I lu-lB And then he heard his own volc!r'J tb I very toneleasly. " O God! O God!'' ar. I horror of It all came blackly over b feeling of profound nnd awful sickness. gg To be continued I --ggd (.-. ' " P M The Secret DoOr By Derek Vane Continued from Preceding rage. lng mistrusted me for putting somebody else in my place." "Never that, Ralph Nobody was ever anything like you in my eyes; you stood alono always, even in my darkest days. That other wbb but a poor makeshift at best a weapon of revenge, as I thought Id my madness " "We will not speak of him again; we will let the whole miserable story go. It shall bo burled and forgotten. " ou have sorrowed and suffered enough. Tf you want to. make me happy, be happy again yourself Lei me &ee that the ter rible past is done with at last. There is no one to remind you ol It now. Of your enemies one is dead, the other is leaving L'ng land." "Olga Lethbridge Is going away? What a relief" Then at Iat I may be happy again, if you can Indeed forgive me1 Are you quite sure, Ralph 7 Is there no bitter feeling Wft?" "All the anger and bitterness died In a great fear," he said, irttely "They were swept away, as smaller things are carried oil by a flood. They are gone, never to return. Don't let such a thought trouble you again. There are only peace and joy in my heart now, though I am half afraid of my hap- pincss. It seems too good to bo true." "Then it was worth while to be nearly drowned for that. . . . Ralph. I shall never see death more closely than I did to-day until I die." Sho shuddered convulsively as sho thought of that awful moment when she found herself struggling in the water, the threatening sky above her, the hungry sea all round, trying to tear her feeble arms away from her only support. Again she felt the sudden, awful chill of the water, and she was appalled ap-palled by the vast waste In which sho was so small and insignificant "I've heard nothing yet." he said, gently, soothing the trembling girl "Can you tell me wh?t happened how you managed to escape? Or will you wait till you are Btronger? Perhaps that would be best " As he put his arm round her his hand touched her hair. It was still damp iind heavy from the sea. for she had been too exhausted for Marie to do very much. Estcourt caUghl his breath. That touch brought it all home to him so closely Ills arms tightened round her How nearly they had beon left empty for ever! "I'll tell you now," Ihe said, turning turn-ing her face to his arm. It was so good to have him back again; to feel his strength nnd tenderness after that weary time of estrangement estrange-ment when she had had to fight for (Lj 1010, International I herself. "I'd rather get it over; then perhaps I shall forget It some day, though I think it will be a long time first I can feel the sea washing wash-ing round me now; I can hear it roaring In my ears. What a helpless" help-less" atom I felt!" "We'll go away as soou a you can be moved," he said "I shall never trust you on It again without with-out me." "Nobody could have done more than old Isaac did," she said "He saved my life. He hold me up long after I should have let myself go in despair. I was more 'han half unconscious when they lifted me into the fishing boat that picked us up. I had been watching ihe boats orne in an hour or two before, and this was one that had been delayed, de-layed, fortunately for us. P was caught In the storm, as we were, on the way home." "I'll go and sec Isaac to-morrow." Estcourt said. "I can never thank him enough, but ho shall be I eusloned for life." "It's wonderful, isn't it," f.he said, happily, "what a nice lot of people there arc iu the world? There are some whose kindness I shall never forget Aunt Sarah above all others. You don't know how good she lias been to me. I wonder what we could do for her?" "If you go on at this rute you'll land me in the bankruptcy court." Estcourt said, laughing. "But Aunr Sarah is one in a thousand. ratlin Itrtict, Inc. Croat Brltal She is as kind as she Is wise, and that is saying a great deal. She will be almost as happy as we are when she hears the good news " "Had you been here long eefore I woke up''" she asked, presently. "I couldn't believe at first it was you " "Five or ten minutes, perhap3. I don't know I was not in n condition con-dition to notice the timrt or anything any-thing else. I was sick with despair. You see, I almost gave up hope when I cam" in and found sveYy-thing sveYy-thing dark and quiet and nobody about. I thought that if all had been well 1 should have heard at "I BUppQ&e they were too much upset to think of anything I gave them a nice fright Poor old boy! What a homecoming for you " "Then, as I was coming up the stairs. 1 heard Felicity crying, and I hat killed any hope 1 had had left Of course, I thought the worst had happened. I can't tell vou what 1 ft It when I heard those sobs in the uulet house, which was as silent as death." "Poor Felicity! She whb so brave all the time; sho didn't cry in here. But I suppose the broke down when It was nil over and I was safe Not much wonder." "I couldn't have borne to see anybody any-body then; there seemed nothing more to know that mattced. and, following a blind instinct, I turned in here. It was your room and I wanted to be as near you as I n Rlstats Rrxcrrtd. saaal could. Somehow I hadn'f. realized what might be here, and when I saw you lying under the coverlet, so straight and still, I thought I thought" The memory choked him and he stopped abruptly. 'Of course, you would," she si'id. tenderly, stroking his hnnd. "It must have been a horrible --hock HOW I wiaT) I had known' But I was too weak to think of anything The doctor said I was to be kept perfei llv trulet, and almost as soon as ho had gone I must have fallen asleep, and, seeing I was all right, j suppose they left me alone for a little while." "And now I'm breaking the doctor's doc-tor's orders and making you ill again We have talked oo much already. If you say another word, sweetheart, I shall go aw.iy" "Promise to stop till I m asleep and I will be very good and quiet." she said. "I'm so happy there's nothing to keep me awake I can go to sleep and dream about you, which will bo almost as good, d'ood-nlght, Rnlph." As he stooped to kiss her she smiled up into his eyos. "There was a very happy person once," she whispered, softly, "who said that she only knew when It was night because the sars were shining. In her heart It was always al-ways sunshine and day afl it Is in mine now." THE END. eeleU |