OCR Text |
Show j mm By Mary Hastings Bradley SsTXorsis. . T0-,n- Amrrnn. f doinr onif ex-BTr ex-BTr . arJ )f ,nia,yHl by Jlnnr Jrffncs rlTlllnr J1 ,r,.r.st he h- Lnwn to altfnd k ' 'Titar hotel. He obtain. I Scoteh eos-"fSLSrl eos-"fSLSrl frifS. Andrew KeUaa, In slUcM of MS ''Trmm'.it. and at M, Iah'. He hear ,!, F-n'n rrencb -botar who ilnnteireJ In iVt fiery 01 xrlr. Wore The man wjt r- tv inert nit" jnd bibjf rfr, mm tU. now ,orted rff,d.n" f in r.tatf ooUrs it u1denly lea lb lohr.n,f nn- ur th ehlld But all trare, to sons. 10 ""v oWlrr miniature portrait of the "USfimin curiously mounts At the ball ,'nnal"! by myatenom your. Hrl la x V'JZJES JpstUniC "ho w.ll rlre no hint of jjohimrJ'-'Jnn . - , h, ,lnK ,w.iT and find identity ' ' pf Tewfl,-U r,!,. a Turkish ", - At n5bb0rlBf Pl'-- At nrtrtinr In the, r(BdJl lUh Ji', hon-or and amusement , Ryder ItnfeO. t y-Ji n,hl her father Inform her he W w to mtXTT rrpuHlro old man to mtp L'Am rnln Ryder Aim ncatn and Upielt H?" ,,, he t to be m.-irriM leare VaW a0(1 rrtnma to the deerl to hi ex-a- Iff in an'Thfrt he find r-rld.-m-e o hl. h convince !T,:ioni! i ilm. io the daticbter of the Frr n-f-cam birfl l"11 .irr) 1e ,)etrrmn.i to rr. un her. and (,(, rL"''I Cjlro Thr ra-h. i fuplcloa and on return" ' . th1 Xlmr. ,H hla own .lauchter. J??w that be l.ea and Bfldl a WO to .end Jrki -lory Ol br rrrn-h r-arcntare Almee A" k ! o MCtPf "d I ff,rrcd to ',rTT through I"", ?tlS?, plan At the marriage feast Jsck tn be 're 'he unhPr7 brkk He eucrcta in her hone Ol re ne The (rroom omlnir pnI"i. ,urDHed In hl lore makinr by Jack. who. I,"r- i. overnoerJ bx Hr.ni.ii a elavc- mde ona-iodbSed ona-iodbSed UlTf in the cutta w4.ll A Turk or'r-'". L-ii. hcrslf Ann hlr Jack to escape. in hrD him rescue Alrn. and then dlecon-tS",A dlecon-tS",A vinerlran by makinsr paamouate lore to pg1 jjck' ghoirs his lndiffereno to her adraaew. ELENTII INSTALLAfENT. f BLIND GODDESS. HE - the (lame in Aziza's eyes- He caw the stiffening of her defiance, of half incredulous affront. Then, her Mm drawn up. her bared arms outflunff. her ri, ,rl plinth, furious face challenging him. -jam r.ot beautiful like Aim'-c ? " she nald in 8 voice of venom. And In the English, for double measure. "You not like me no?" -You are beautiful and I do like you." g, fler combatcri. feeling a bungling fool. And then went on to thrust into that half second of suspended fury a faint breath of appeasing appeas-ing " But don't you see It's my duty " "You ro?" s.he said clearly. Even in that moment he had a sharp prescience of th unwisdom of his rejection. A cold calculator of chance and probabilities ivould Have reckoned that a half hour here would have been a wiser investment of his mortal moments than any virtuous plunge into single hearted duty. But Ryder did not calculate. He could not. Kith Aime under that beast's hand. His heart and soul wei e possessed with her danger, dan-ger, and his heart and soul carried his body Instinctively back from the dancing girl's advance, ad-vance, and he whispered: ' I must go. There 1$ no time " She flung back her fiery hued head with a gesture of Intolerable rage. Her eyes were lightnings. Dog of a Christian" she said chokingly, and flew to the doors Back she thrust the heaw hangings, (urnin? a quick key in thr look ani wrenching wrench-ing the door wide. And before Ryder could understand, before he could bring himself to realize that she was not simply violently expelling ex-pelling him from her room, she gave a shriek that rang wildly down the long unseen corridors. At the top of her lungs, with one hand out to thrust him back or cling to him if he attempted to pass, she shrieked again and ; again. M Instantly there came a running of feet. when Hamdl Bey had taken Aime oack ! to her apartments he pulled sharply upon a L iell cord. In a few moments the slave worn-ft worn-ft an Fatlma made her appearance, no kindly yed old crone like Miriam but a sallow, fur-live fur-live faced creature with an old disfiguring i:at across a cheek. The general pointed to th wet and faint-'cng faint-'cng girl huddling weakly upon the divan. "Tour new mistress has met with an accident acci-dent out boating a curse up".n me for gratifying grati-fying forbidden caprice!" he said crisply. 'Be silent of this and array her quickly in ;arments of rest. I will return " Very hurriedly he tnok himself and his wet I nc'ltlon away. He was furious through and I through. "What a nigh'. what a wedding olght' Scandal and frustration a bride with desperate lover a bride who herself drew revolvers and threatened' It was beyond anj old tale of the palace, for less girls had had his father's dagger 3rlvn through their hearts his grandfather, tt a mere whisper from a eunuch, had given bis favorite to the lion. The whisper was Bound Incorrect at a later too late date and 'he eunuch had furnished the lion another I ratal. His modern leniency In this case would have outraged his ancestors. But it was not In the bey's nature to deal he finishing stroke to anything so soft and ,m el' as Aimee. He had no intention of depriving himself of her. If she were red Win guilt he would feign belief in her to Mve his face until his infatuation was gratl-fled. gratl-fled. kut actually he did not behee in any r?at guilt of hers. Tewflck Pasha, for all hls indl,lgent modernity, would keep too tfrict a harem for that. What he rather be-'vl be-'vl had happened was that the young erlcan now so happily immured in his masonry had become aware of the girl I jnrouh the story of her French father, and I " t,iat cnnection had struck up the clandes-Jtoeand clandes-Jtoeand rom.-.ntlc correspondence which had to their mutual Infatuation and his des- venture there that afternoon. he oung man had been dealt with and he thought of the very summary and con Went way he had bean d9att with ilrOW ' sfmm ,iie ll:e ,f ,.t nighfs Invasion. His fury felt soo:h!r;y w'-jUaO hm been a rna,;h for . itm called in, ,,Tn .ub.,.. .5:, tg..3 ih c laUint : -e ea.-hao...! i.:, Cn.r-g H i uniform for more Informal trousers and house cont. He had taught that young mnn a lesson a final and ultimate lesson And h was beginning to teach one to that girl. Before he was done with her He felt for her a mingled passion for her beauty and a lust for conquest of her resist ant spirit tlmt fed every base and cruel in siinct of his nature. A find a rare And even with her clrcum-vonted clrcum-vonted lover! He would have his sport with her. But though he promised this to himself with feline relish, apprehension and chagrin were still working. The fond fatuity with which he had welcomed wel-comed and star-.y eyed little creature that been rudely overthrown And his prldo smarted at the idea of the whispers that might echo and reecho through his palace. He was too wise an old hand to flatter himself him-self that it would preserve its biand and silent si-lent un awareness of this night. So far, he believed, ho had been unob served In Tussuf s i ilence he had absolute abso-lute confidence But of course thero were a hundred other chances some spying, by-stairs by-stairs eye, some curious, straining ear. And now this matter of the boating mls-hap mls-hap he cursed himself, now as he combed up his fair mustaches and settled a scarlet fez upon his thinned thatch of graying hair, cursed himself roundly for his malicious ma-licious resort to that old oubliette Anything else would have done to frighten and overwhelm over-whelm her, and yet he had gratified his dramatic dra-matic itch and now had paid for il with that idiotic story of the boating expedition. He had reason to trust Fatlma there was history behind the old sword scar upon her cheek, and he had a hold over her through her ambition for a son. But Fatlma was a woman. And she or some other who would seo that drenched ;-atin would be curious of that boating story. And of course they could find out from the boatman It occurred to him to go and see the boat man and order him awa, so that afterward the man could say he had been sent off duty and the story of a nocturnal river trip would not appear too Incredible It w a.s a small concession to stop gossip's mouth. So, drawing on a swinging military cloak, the general stolo down through the stair of the water entrance into the lower hall, where tho pale light gleamed through tha cross barred iron of the gate and the gatekeeper gate-keeper slept like a log in his muffling cloak. The soundness of that slumber loudly attested at-tested by the fumes of wine afforded tho general a profound pleasure He took the man's keys softly, and went to the gate, it afforded him less pleasure to observe that the gate was unlocked, but he put this down to the keeper s muddleheadedness. Carefull he turned the lock and pocketed the keys for a lesson to the man's overdeep sleep in the morning and to attest his own presence there that night, then he went back and brought out an oar, which he placed conspicuously batida the smallest boat drawn up just within the pates He was afraid to alter the boat's position lest the noise should prove too wakening, but he considered he had laid an artistic foundation founda-tion for his story, and with a gratifying sense of triumph he mounted the stairs. He was not conscious of fatigue. He had always been a wh , indefatigable person, and the alarms and emotions of this night had cleared his head of its wines and drowsiness. He felt the sense of tense high strung power which came to him In war. In righting. In any element of danger Youth: He snapped his fingers at it Youth was buried in his masonry and helpless In is shuttered room. Power was master power, cr.'ft. subtlety But hH elation ebbed as he crossed again that long drawing room, with Its faded flowers flow-ers about the marriage throne and- Its abandoned aban-doned table with it6 cloth askew. Its crystal disarrayed, its candles gut'ed and spent. The mamor) of that Insolent moment when a man's hand had gripped him, had whirled him from Aimee when a man's voice and gun had threatened him that memory waa too overpowering for ecn his triumph over the Invader to lay wholly its mart of outrage. He felt again the tightening of his nerves, like quivering wlrs. as he crossed the violated vio-lated reception room and entered the boudoir. Jt WBB empty, but on the divan the flickering candle light revealed the damp, spreading stain where Aimee's drenched satins had been. He thrust aside a hanging and pushed open the door Into the room beyond. Aimee herself, in a gay little French boudoir bou-doir robe of jade and citron, sat huddled In a. chair like a mute, terrified child, in the hands of her dresser, who was shaking out the long, damp hair and fanning it with a peacock fan At the bey's entrance Fatlma suspended the fanning, but with easy familiarity exhibited exhib-ited the long ringlets. Curtly the bey nodded, and gestured In lis missal; the woman laid down her fan and with a last slant eyed look at that strangely still new mistress she went noiselessly out u small service door With an r.ir of negligent assuram e Hnmdi Bey gazed about the room and yawned. 'Truly a fatiguing evening." he remarked in his dry sardonic voice. "But you look so nntouche,!' What thing Is radiant youth'" He sauntered OVSr to her. who drew a iittl; cdoaai toajathtr at his approach, and y.'lnH one oi th lplf, dark curls that 0:e .Crvlrtg vromA?. had exhibited. "Th'i ;i ig ts l'.' . .e.i:e-c." hi r. t-.r.in;ro.l. "Tea kiiow lh r!J aying of thi bad!? ' Tbo rim-lets of the lovely are a chain on the feet of reason and a snare for the bird of wisdom ' How long ago he said it and how true today! Yet such a charming chain' Suppose, then, I forgive you, little one. since sages have forgiven beauty before?" She was silent, her eyes fixed on him with the silent terror with which a trapped bird sees its captor, In their bright darkness the some mute apprehension, the sajne filming of helpless despair. Ryder was dead, she thought. This cruel. Incensed old madman had killed him for all his oaths. Somewhere beneath those ancient an-cient stone he was lying drowned and dead, a stennse, pitiable addition to the dark secrets of those grim walls He had died for her sake and all that she asked now of life, she thought in the uttor agony of her youth, was death. And very quickly, " I am so soft hearted." ho sighed, still with that ringlet In his lifted hand, his hand which wanted palpably to settle upon her and yet was withheld by some strange inhibition of those fixed, helpless eyes. " "Who knows perhaps I may forgivo you yet? You might persuade me " "Ho Is dead," she said shlverlngly "Dead? He? Ah, the invader, tho intruder, in-truder, the young man who wanted you for a family In France." The bey laughed gratingly. " N'o I assure you he is not dead I have not harmed a hair of his head. He is alive only not with quite the widest range of liberty ' He broke off to laugh again. " Ah, you disbelieve?" ho said politely "Shall I send then, for some proof an ear, perhaps, or a llttlo finger, still very warm and bleeding, to convince you? In flvo minutes it will he here." Then terror stirred again in her frozen heart. If Ryder were alive and still in this man's power " Tou are horrible," she said to him in a voice that was suddenly clear and unshaken. "What is it you wnnt of me fear and hate and utter loathing?" Her unexpected spirit was briefly discon carting;. The Turk looked down upon her in arrested irony and then he smiled beneath his mustaches and bent nearer with kindling kin-dling gaze. "Not at all nothing at all like that, little dove with talons I want sweetness and repentance and submission. And " " Tou have a strange way to win them," she said desperately. "You have taken a strange way with me. my love. Little did I foresee, when I es corted you up the stairs this morning " He broke off. " There are men ' he reminded her. "who would not consider a cold bath as a complete recompense for your bridal plans " She was silent "But I." he murmured. "I am soft hearted " He dropped on one knee befora her nnd tried to smile Into her averted face "I can never resist a charming penitent I assure you I am pliability itself in delicate fingers although Iron and steel to a threatening threat-ening hand. If you should woo me sweetly little one " She could not overcome and she could not hide from his mocking eyes the sick fhrinking that drew her back from his least touch. But she did fight down the wild hysteria of her repugnance BO that her voice was not thetrembling gasp It wanted to be "How can I know what you are?" ehe told him. " You mock me you threaten to torture that man It would be folly not to think that you are deceling me. If you would only prove to me so that I could believe be-lieve " " If you would not prove to me so I could believe! Prove that you are mine and not that infidel's Prove that you bring me a wife's deotlon not a wanton's indifference " He caught her cold hands trying to draw her forward to him. "Proe that 5 ou only pity him," he whispered, "but that your love will be mine." She felt ao if a serpent clasped her. And yet, if that were the only way to win Ryder's safety if it were possible for her 6lckened senses to allay this madman's suspicions sus-picions and undermine his revenge QuUeringly she thought that to save Ryder she would go through fire But the hideous, mocking uncertainties! Her utter helplessness her lost deference. It was not a sudden sound that broke In upon them but rather the perception of many sounds, half heard, but gaining upon their consciousness Running feet a stifled voice something faint and ahrlll Almee sprnng to her feet, the general roso with her and turned his head inquiringly in tho direction. Then he jerked open the door through which Falima had disappeared; it led to a daik service corridor and small ante 100m, from whose bed the attendant was absent An outer door was ajar. -"o need to question the sounds now. Faint but piercingly shrill shrieks wera sounding from above, while the foosteps were racing, some down 6ome up The bey flung shut the door behind him and hurried towards tho confusion Ryder had stood stock still with amazement when the girl began to scream She had gone mad. ha thought for on Instant, in masculine mascu-line bewilderment, and then her madness re x'eated Ita ireaehtroua ounning, for she began crying w;;d y &f against an invader, an irinJc!. r. ticjc of it Christian who had stolen into her moms. She had chucked him to the lions Ryder perceived; one furious flash of lightning jealousy and oriental anger had overthrown, in that wild and lawless land. c ory other design for him for which she had risked o much. He had scorned her. He had flouted her caprice. He had dared to refuse the languors of those dangerous eyes. The hurrying footsteps appeared to him the tread of a legion in action, and he had no desire to rush out upon the oncomers; he had. Indeed, distinct doubts of hla ruth Isss ability to pass that supple, clawing, incensed in-censed creature at the door. He whirled and made a bolt for the window, win-dow, striking at the fastened grill He heard the snapping of wooden bolts and the splintering of wood and out through the hole he climbed to a precipitous, headlong flight that fairly felt the clutching hands upon his ankle. He had meant to make a jump for it. A ihree story plunge into the Nile appeared a gentle exercise compared with the alternative alter-native within the palace, but In the very act of releasing his hold he changed his mind. Quicker than he had ever moved before in any vicissitude of his lithe and agile youth, he clambered up, not down, and crouching back from sight upon the jutting top of the window, he sent his coat sailing iolently through space He dared not look over for its descent upon the water, for other heads were peering peer-ing from below, and he could hear an excited ex-cited outburst of speech that broke sharply off. Evidently they were hurrying down to the water gate. Swiftly he utilized this mlsdl-lcction mlsdl-lcction for his own ends The roofs That was the refuge to mako for. Flat, long reaching roofs, from which one could climb off into a well or a palm or a wide street. He had only a story to ascend and he mado it in record time, fearful that the searchers whom he heard now launching a boat below would turn their eyes skyward But he gained the top without an outcry being raised and found himself upon the roof where the ladles of the harem took their air unseen of any save the blind eyes of the muezzin in the sultan's mosque upon tho hill. There were divans and a llttlo taboret or two and a framework where an awning could be raised against the sun. There was also a trap door. And here tempestuously he changed his mind again. He abandoned the goal of outer walls and chances of escape He wrenched violently at that trap door It was bolted, but the bolt was an ancient one and gave at his furious exertions, letting him down Into a narrow spiral staircase between walls. Down he plunged in haste, before some confused searcher should dash up. It was no place to meet an opposing force. Nor was the corridor In which he found himself much better It was block and baffling as a labyrinth, with unexpected turnings, and he kept gingerly gin-gerly close to the wall with one hand clutching 0 bit of iron which he had taken into his possession and his pocket when Ariza had led him out of the underground walls the Aery bit of pointed iron it was with which the volatile creature had ef fected his rescue He considered it an invaluable souvenir, and twice. In his nervous apprehension, ha almost brought it down upon shadows Direction he judged vaguely by the screaming, scream-ing, which was still going on at a tremendous rate evidently the girl had gone off Into genuine hysterics or else she had determined not to leave her agitation at the Intrusion in any manner of question. No doubt the out cries were a relief to her mingled emotions remorse at her impetuousity and chagrin nt her thwarted plans might conceivably be now among those emotions and since the vicinity of those shrieks must be a gathering gath-ering place to be avoided by him. he stole on, clown the upper holl. and finding a stair, he went down for two continuous flights Almee s rooms, he knew, had been upon the water, and recalling the general direction of those two lighted windows that he had seen so recently from without, his excavator's excava-tor's instinct led him on Once he saw the flitting figure of a turbaned woman In time to draw back Into a heaven sent niche, and again he flattened into a soundless shadow against the wall as two young serving girls ran by on slippered feet, their anklets tinkling, chattering to each other In delighted de-lighted excitement. And then the stealthy opening of a door It was the very door by which Yusauf had precipitated htmself upon the struggle at the supper tnble some age long hours ago gave him a glimpse Into the far glooms of the reception room, where its long side of mashrublyeh windows repealed now between Its fretwork tiny chinks of a paling sky He could make out the dark draped marriage mar-riage throne and the parlor of the disordered disor-dered cloth upon the abandoned table below, and behind the table the dark draperies of tho remaining portioie before the doorway Into the boudoir where he had hidden himself him-self and into which he had laat seen Aimee thrust. At the other end of the great room were the entrance r.tairs to the harem, and there, he imagined, a watchman was stationed, or ..e atOUl bOlta nnd bars were guarding the situation. There remained an nrch doorway Into other formal rooms through which he ! r l .seen Ahnee and the guests disappear j: Lha wedding supper, and that way led, he surmised, down into the service quarters. A sorry choice of exits! He could form no plan In advance but trust blindly to the amazing chances of adventure. And first, before he rushed for escape, there waa Almee to find. Yet for all the mad hazard of the situation he was elated with life. He felt as if he had never fully lived until now, when every breath wns informed with the sharp prescience presci-ence of danger. He was at once cool and exultant, wary yet reckless, with the joyous recklessness of utter desperation. With scoutllko care he surveyed the drawing draw-ing room; It appeared deserted, but as he watched his tense nerves could see the shadows shad-ows forming, taking furtive, crouching shape and then dissolving harmlessly into a rug, a chair, or a stirring drapery His eyes grown used to the dimness, he identified the mantle upon the floor in which he had come and which he had extended to Aimee In that brief moment of fatuous triumph, nnd beyond it, across a chair, was the portiere por-tiere which the black had torn down from the doorway to wrap about Ryder's helpless help-less form as ho had carried him down to living death. That mantle, he thought, might yet be useful, and he stole forward and recovered it, but, as he straightened, another shadow darted out from the boudoir door and silhouetted sil-houetted for an instant against the lighted room he saw a figure in a long, swinging military cloak. Discovery was inevitable and Ryder mado a swift plunge to take the cloaked flgure by surprise, but even as one hand shot out and gripped (he throat while the other held his threatening iron aloft, his clutch relaxed, his arm fell nervously at his side. For from the flgure had come the broken gasp of a soft voice, and tho face upturned to his was a pale oval under dark, disordered disor-dered hair. "Almee!" he breathed In exultant, still half incredulous joy. "Almee' Did I hurt you'' " " O, no, no!" came Almee's shaken voice. " O, you are safe! " He felt her trembling in his clasp and ho swept her close to him. For one breathless instant they clung together, In a sharp, passionate pas-sionate gladness which blurred every senso of dread or danger They were safe they were together and for the moment It was enough. Every obstacle was surmounted, every terror conquered. They clung, obliviously, like children, her pale face against his shoulder, her hair brushing his lips, her wild heartbeats throbbing throb-bing against his own Then the girl, remembering, lifted her head ' Quick we must go " she whispered. ' For there I made a fire." He followed her frightened, backward glance at the boudoir door and suddenly saw Its cracks and keyhole strangely radiant with light " He left me to go to those screams," she was saying rapidly. " I tried to run that way and found that woman coming back. And I told her to wait In her own room nrt T l!rmerf hack in there and suddenlv it came 10 me to thrust the candle about-I about-I thought I would run out and if I met any one I would call, ' Fire," and say the general gen-eral was burning and perhaps In the confusion con-fusion " The terrible desperation of her both stirred anl wrung him. She was so little, so helpless, help-less, so trembling In his clasp, so made for love and tenderness And to think of her In auch fear and horror that she went thrusting thrust-ing reckless candles Into her hangings, setting set-ting a palace on Are in the blind fury for escape To such work had thia night brought her. This night, and three men for he and the craven Tewflck and the fanatic bey were all linked In this night's work. Yes, and another man and he thought swiftly, In a lightning flash of wonder, how little that Paul Del-casse Del-casse had known when he set hla eager face toward the old world, with his wife and baby with him. that he waa setting hla feet into such a web. that his wife would die, languishing In a pasha's harem, and hla little lit-tle daughter would one night be flying in mad terror from the cruel beast the weak pasha had sold her to! And how little, for that matter, he had known when he had set his own face toward those same sands what secrets he would discover there and what forbidden ways his heart would know. , These thoughts all went through him like one thought, In some clear, remote background back-ground of his mind, while he was swiftly drawing on the military cloak she gave him and wrapping her in the black mantle There was a veil on the mantle's hood that she could fling across her face when she wished, but Ryder had no fez to complete the deceptive outline of his masquerade. He must trust to the dark and to the con cealment of the high, military collar o" the cloak "Do you know a way"" he whispered, and at her shaken head, "The water gate," he said, thinking swiftl There would bo a crowd now about tho gate, but if they could only manage to gain thiise collars nnd hide somewhere they could steal out later upon that waterman. It seemed the most feasible of all the desperate plans. The roof might be a trap. The harem entrance led Into a garden and the garden was guarded by rtn Impassable wall But if he could only get to the river lie knew that he was a strong enough swim- mer to save Aim6e. or he might even tet rorlze the watchman into furnishing a boat She did not question, but guided hlrr swiftly through the arch that led down intc the banqueting hall. Iijk I Keeping Almee a few steps behind him he went down the soft carpet and peered out at the bottom towardR the water gate. Hf saw no bars; the gate was open, and against the pale square of the water were the black silhouettes of the general and the gateman. both leaning out at some splashing in the river. He knew a boy's reckless Impulse to shove them both In It was an unholy thought his better judgment rejected unless driven to it yet some prankish element in his roused recklessness would not have deplored the necessity. If they looked about' But they did not stir as, with Aimee's cold ' Vii hand In his he made the tiptoed descent nnd slipped softly about the corner of the steps Then, instead of going on down the hall to some hiding place In the ruins, he took a suddenly revealed, sharper turn into a narrow passago just beyond the stairs. It might lead to another gate, some service entrance, en-trance, perhaps. It ran so straight and direct between its walls Intuitively that excavator's sense of his 1 dofined the direction. They were going parallel with the river, although a little way back from the water wall, and in the dlrec tlon of the men's part of the palace, the selamlik. Bitterly he blamed himself for his lack of complete Inspection that morning To bo sure he had told himself, then as he strolled about the high garden walls and peered down the narrow lane on one side of the Nile backwaters, that he didn't need a map of ,' v tho place for his arrival at an afternoon reception; he was simply going In and out, and clothes and speech were his onlv real concern. l He had even said to himself that he might not reveal himself to Aimee if aha did not discover him. He wanted merely to see her again, and be sure that she understood under-stood her own history he had no notion of attempting any further relations with her. anv resumption of their forbidden and dan-gerous dan-gerous acquaintance. k He recalled the selamlik vaguely as an Irregular mass of buildings, and though the formal entrance was of course through the garden from the avenue, there was a narrow aide street or lano leading baok to tho water's wa-ter's edge between this part of the palace and the next building, and very likely thers was some entranco on that lane. , vi J And it wae true that had been the defiant and protesting surface of his thoughts, but deep within himself there had always been that hot. hidden spark, ready to kindle to a flame at her word, and with It the unowned, secret longing that she would speak the word. And when she had called on him for help, when the trembling appeal had sprung past hor stricken pride, and he had seen the terror ter-ror In her soft, child's eyes, then the sparVc had struck its conflagration. He had become be-come nothing but a hot, headstrong fury of devotion. U'' And he said to himself now that he might have known It was going to happen, and that if he had not been so concerned that morning about saving his face and preserving preserv-ing this Action of indifference he would know a little more about the labyrinth they were poking about in the little more that tips tho scale between safety and destruction destruc-tion 1M But he did not know and blind chance was his only goddess. The passage had brought him to a wall and a narrow stairs, while another passage led off to the right, apparently to the forward for-ward regions of the place. He took the stairs. He had had enough of underground regions when they did not lead to water gates, and the stairs promised novelty nov-elty at least. He wished he knew mora about Turkish palaces. He supposed they had a fairly consistent con-sistent ground plan, but beyond a few main features of inner courts and halls he was culpably ignorant rf their Intentions. If.it were an early Egyptian tomb or temple now! But then, perhaps, the Turks were more in definite in their building and rebuilding At the head of the stairs a door stood half ajar Through the crack he strained his oyes. but his anxious glance met only ths darkness of utter night. Not a gleam of light And not s sound, except the far, hollow stamping of some stabled horse. Softly he pushed the door open, and he and Almee slipped within. The place, whatever what-ever It was, appeared deserted; a dark, bars, backstairs region for he stumbled over a bucket from which to the right he could just discern a hall leading into the forward part of the palace wanly lighted some distance dis-tance on. with the pale flicker of an old celling lamp They seemed to be at the end of the hall, and the darker shadows In the walls about them appeared to be a number of doors closed, so hla groping hands Informed him. What was behind those doors" Not a H crack of light came from them; that was one comfort. The rooms, kitchen, service, storerooms, store-rooms, or whatever they were appeared in the same blackness and oblivion. But any door might open on a roomful of sleeping gardeners and grooms. Life and more than life hung on the blind goddess. To be continued 1 Copyright : 191J. By Mary Hastings Bradley. i |