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Show , ass theja CJ CC O EL E N I lose both ijursuertT" and" ou selves- Tn the breakneck puriieus of Slaruboul. We succeeded in Thai-ring off the gypsies gyp-sies finally, but we were hopelessly astray, and it was past midnight when we found the khan of the Georgians and stagL-ercd through the gate to thread a iw.T.rious path between sleeping men, camels, bullocks, asses J and horses. Wasso Mikuli awakened with the first knock on his door, and admitted us. Smoking cigarette after cigarette as rapidly as he could roll them, he listened to the story of our adventures adven-tures with avidity, and immediately dispatched his young men to spy around Tokalji's house, and learn the dispositions the enemy were taking. Then he insisted that we should sleep while he kept watch. When we awakened the sun was streaming in through the open door along with all the noises of the kahn and many of its smells. Our guardian had coffee ready for us, and his young men had sent in a report The women and children had left Tokalji's house under escort of several of the men shortly after dawn. A vigilant guard was being maintained on the entrance, and nobody had come or gone aside from the party of women and children since observation had been established. estab-lished. We decided to take our European clothing and adjourn ti l. neighboring Turkish bath where we could remove the evidence of our gypsy life. CHAPTER VIV Continued. TuTHyTkmie JeTfelT from his muz-S muz-S an( a man dropped dead. Toutou .Fitte pushed a gypsy lu the line of re before himself, and dived into the DtTCIir.g shadows as the fellow rt'n-.pled up with a broken leg. To-ain To-ain Ililyer, Vassilievich and Hilmi ) Altered. I swung on my heel and C,t twice over the group of gypsies ' the fire. I could not bring myself , .-hoot at them, for there were worn-D worn-D and children close by. Then a built bui-lt whistled past my ear, and Toutou's 0;ce whined : "No shooting! Use your knives! 'al:c them alive!" I had a fleting glimpse of Kara, run-in;; run-in;; at me with her knife raised. "There are only two !" roared To-alji. To-alji. "Pull them down !" "Kun!" I heard Nikka shout. We pelled fHr lhe nulise 011 our lel ie Jouse of the Married, as Kara had allwl It. Despite Toutou's warning. second bullet spattered on the stones etween Nikka and me; but we were oor marks Ll the bar-light, .with poo-le poo-le running in every direction, ' many f them uncertain who were friends r foes. I turned as I ran, and tired jto the ground in front of Kara, who ins the closest of our pursuers; but be refused to be frightened and dually plunged through the doorway D our heels. "I'll tend to her," panted Nikka. Xou fasten the door, Jack." There was a wooden bar, which 1 roiped into place, and the next m.iu- of the rooms. A Lad d e r Tearied again si the wall below a trapdoor in the roof. In a corner stood a bedstead, which she stripped of its clothes, revealing the cords that served for springs. "Cut those with your knife," she said. "When we take to the roofs we will need them to help us down again.' Nikka did as she directed, while I shut the door, and piled the few articles ar-ticles of furniture against it. Tokalji's men were in full cry downstairs. "There is more than enough rope here," said Nikka, coiling it on his arm. "Some of it I am going to use for you. You cannot go with us, little one. We have no place to take you. And you do not know me. Tomorrow you would cry your eyes out." He cut the rope In two. gave me half, and with the remaining section, approached her. She backed away from him. "Im not going to hurt you," pleaded Nikka. "But i must bind you so they will not suspect that you aided us. Don't you see. Our enemies will be here in a moment," She extended her hands, wrists joined togeiher. "Bind me," she said wearily. "I love you, Nikka Zarnnko. If I can help you in no other way, then, I will help you by staying here." He bound her gently, hand and foot, without a word, and laid her on the floor by the bed. ascended the ladder, lad-der, and pushed back the trapdoor. Nikka stooped over Kara, and 1 scrambled up on the roof. I believe he kissed her. I heard his feet on the , ladder rungs, and his voice calling back: "Yon are a brave girl. We will talk about this some other time, if trie stars are kind." "Oh, we shall meet again," she replied, re-plied, her cords creaking as she dropped flat on the floor. "1 am as sure of it ns If Mother Kathene had told me when the sight was on her." To me Nikka merely said: "Hurry, Jack 1 We've lost too much time. Which way?" But I reached down list, and hauled up the ladder. The door was shaking under a shower of blows. "Next house," I panted, and we set off across the roof. To our left was the inner courtyard, a well of darkness in which tinkled the Fountain of the Lion. To our right lay Sokaki Masyeri. Ahead was a drop of ten feet onto the adjoining roof, the difference in height represent-, represent-, ing the declining slope of the ground, . We made it without any difficulty. The people in this house had been . aroused by the shooting, and we could hear their voices and movements. But we shuffled on cautiously, until we : came to their courtyard, which ran clear from the street front to the old seawall. "No choice," grunted Nikka. "Here's a chimney. Knot your rope. It can't be more than twenty-five feet to th ground." He went down first, and I followed him. I was In mid-air when I heard an exclamation beneath me, and a thud. "What the devil- I started to whisper. "Hsstl" came from Nikka. "Don't sny anything." He was standing over an Inert figure fig-ure lying on the ground beside a half-opened half-opened door. "Did you" "No, only belted him over the head with my pistol." A woman's voice sounded Inside the house, aggressively Inquisitive. "My God!" breathed Nikka. "She'll be out In a minute, and I can't hit her. We've got to try (he street." We stole through the courtyard to the street door. Behind us Toutou's house was seething with activity. Somebody, apparently, bad just gained the roof. The woman inside the house we had invaded became impatient, aud a iight showed. My fingers fumbled for the latch; it seemed to me I should never find It. The light wavered into the doorway, nod n scream rose shrilly. "Let me try," said Nikka. "Here it is!" He pulled the door toward us slowly, and i eercd Into the street. Not a figure showed in the liroct'on of Tokalji's To-kalji's bouse. We sped into the street, letting the dooi slam behind us. Tln: noise distracted ll:e at;o:t:ien of tl:e woman from her unconscious husband and she left him to run a ft it us. We bad not gone fifty feet when we were seen by gypsies on the roof of Tokalji's To-kalji's house, and t hoy, with the woman wom-an to help tlioru, cried the rest of the pack hot on our trail. At the corner by a coffee shop I looked back and counted six in a tapering strii.i- with more emerging from the courtyard or climbing over the roofs. The only thing for us to do in the circumstances was to twist and turn without heed. to directionanjl hero Waa a Wooden Bar, Which I ln Dropped Into Place. CHAPTER X Cui of Luck "So far, Jack, you and Mr. Zaranko seem to have had most of the fun,'1 pronounced my cousin Betty, as we sat at luncheon in the Kings' private sitting-room in the Pera palace. "What interests me," said Hugh thoughtfully, "is how many of those Johnnies you scragged last night." "Only the one, I think," replied Nikka. "You hit another chap," I reminded remind-ed him. "Yes, but two off their strength doesn't mean any great reduction in their fighting force." "Still, counting in those two aud the men they sent off with their women, wom-en, as Nikka's pals reported, they'll be a good bit weaker than they were," argued Hugh. "Just the same," Insisted Betty, "we ought not to rue any unnecessary risks." - : ''Who's we?" I inquired. "See here, Jack," she flashed, "you might as well understand that I am in tliis and I am going to have my part in whatever we do." "Hear, hear," Hugh applauded servilely. ser-vilely. Nikka laughed. "How about it, Vernon?" I demanded demand-ed of my uncle. He spread bis hands in a gesture of deprecation. "My dear Jack," he aid, "within reasonable limits, Betty's judgment is to be depended upon. Moreover, a not unimportant consideration is that she knows how to run a motor, and in our excisions in the Curlew her aid has been of some value." "Don't be stuffy, Jack," urged Hugh. "Give the girl a chance. There are lots of things she can do, 'sho t of mixing it -dth your friend Toutou. I gather that Nikka's lady friend in the hostile camp was ret averse " "That's a different matter," I interrupted, inter-rupted, perceiving the embarrassment on Nik' t's face. We had slurred over Kara's personal per-sonal interest in his fortunes, but even so, the incident, to quote Betty's analysis, was "romantic to the nn degree." "I don't see that it is," asserted Betty stubbornly, "and I Intend to play my part." "Darn it all," I laughed. "You won't let up, will you? Well, haye It your own way. What do you want to do?" "Run you down the Bosphorns after dark for a look at Tokalji's house from the water side," she answered promptly. Hugh Intervened. "There's uo question ln the minds of you two chaps but that any attack ought to come from the water front, is there?" he asked. "It couldn't very well come from the street," replied Nikka. "There's a high windowless wall and a strong door, and even In that lawless quarter quar-ter publicity would attend an armed invasion of private property." "Of course," said Betty, her head In the ai. "it couldn't be any other way. Now tell us some more about the hiding-place of the treasure." "What more can we say?" 1 answered. an-swered. "There's the courtyard and the red stone." "It would be a task ot some difficulty difficul-ty to pry loose the covering of the treasure chamber," King remarked. "We have or rather, I should sav. Betty has taken precautions to Install In-stall on board the Curlew nn equipment equip-ment of crowbars, pick-axes, shovels, chisels and other tools " "and a knotted rope with a gratr net on ti.e . :. 1 to :.; I;, ii g ing Up li.tr j sca-ail." ivmin.tcd IV;;y. ; "True, try i!.-ar. Your forct!.. U-i.t ! has hi-, n admirable. What 1 was : about tii say. however, was that a cor-j cor-j tain amen;. t of time 1 foar, pet ha; s. an inordinate amount of time will he requirod to pry loose the cover in 2 id the vault. How r.re we to secure our ; selves su.i h a:i o; rturuty? "1'y citi- inu a time when the oc I cur.at-ts of the house are r.rr-wat-b and their rs ui n :ini -i,-I." d - dared f !:-!. "True." od Nikka. " Ct I confess con-fess I don ! o how " (To Be Continued) ate the framework groaned under a )j 'eight of bodies. ,, "One hundred Napoleons a head for lent," burked Toutou. "Dead or live." "Come on, Nikka," 1 urged. "We ant guard every point We must uu (or It." "r-nt what about this?" demanded "n whimsically. Ue jerked his tol muzzle ut Kara sitting demurely n the door, playing with her knife. we show our backs, she'll knife r open the door-nnd besides, where Hill vo go?" "T'e her U" answered Impn rally, U " a- wh. f course, could not uu .island word of what we were say 'P. laughed with glee. 'Vo sou think I am your enemy?' jo uomamio-j the Tzigane dialect. "-'H .vou I am your friend. See!" Ami site tossed her knife across the JUnme witli you to help you, Ulorgl name Is Nikka Zarnnko," he an-eteu an-eteu shortly, "What matters your name?" She UJ P and flung her arms around im " la you 1 love-"-Jt your mlSu" .y0j me s'-eoplshly across her fr'nod "o PmV' l''Ii1""- I ve Vl"',s 110 tt-'e for talking c, I'O dead in five min vc:'-i ,'''' S'' S:iili' v.oasill8 Him. :;n- ' ,' 7- ',''n' :V tm.l '' How aml il VV;' "-''lie- Tok-ilr Y:" !''utu'11 'I' Hie manner , ...nscr-viil set you free de., :1S ! .. Cone." she avy have h, " '. s"'m'l'-'l outside. iv,,, U b,l'k " a window. Fob 'nVl'ie mm ;,'U"i,!;,,S room, -rrow s,.. ' ',Uk,K'ss (,f Hie wall a hoyu,Uu '; 'way corkscrewed upward. - il'i- 'iihL a,uJ onto,.C(, onfc |