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Show wW,Bror"ut,anMBa''"'r"lrlg':Jt"ll,L'" "' '"-"t .llSIC TREASURE fZZX.Mtmi THtBiDMwAYCo HOVVPEN SMSTH n ii rrrTi-"'-rnTrm-rnirnr-iiri-iiriiriifii" i rramiiiTm CHAPTER XIII Continued. "Don't ..orry about me," an swered Bti valiantly. "I can take (sre of .myself. Do hurry!" 'Ere, your ludship," came a throaty whisper from Watkins. "This way, gentlemen." He was at the far end of the room, and while we watched, he put his hat on Hie end of his crowbar from which He refused to be parted and stuck it above tlie sill of a window. "I've done this twice now, your lud-ship." lud-ship." he added, "and nothing's happened. hap-pened. Tliey ain't watching 'ere." A little investigation proved that he was rit'lit, and we crawled out into the rain and huddled against the house wall, attempting to disentangle the situation. The rain was descending descend-ing in slanting, blinding sheets. Pistols Pis-tols cracked and men gasped or shouted, shout-ed, but we could not tell whether they were friends or foes. As we waited, two men dashed by, one In pursuit of the other. It was Impossible for us to Intervene. Then, with a preliminary crash of thunder, the lightning zig-z.iirt'Ml zig-z.iirt'Ml across .the sky, and for the winking of an eye the courtyard was as bright as day. 1 had an Impression of bodies scattered scat-tered here and there, and little clusters clus-ters of men that struggled and ran. Over in the corner of the courtyard wall by the bachelors' house men swirled In a tumultous mass. The darkness dark-ness closed down once more, thick and wet and eold. "Coming, Nikka !" shouted Hugh. Mi to us. "The hig tight is the key to "Peace," he ordered royally. "Be quiet, girl !" She cowered before him, and he recognized rec-ognized me. "Oh, hullo. Jack! Where's Hugh?" Hugh loomed up through the rain as he spoke. "Thai you, Nikka? We think we've got Tokalji's people rounded up, hut we need you 10 talk to them. lias Teuton " "He's there." Nikka pointed his knife to the heap of drab garments that had been the French "killer." "Good for you!" exclaimed Hugh. "I'm glad he didn't get off. When you think of Uncle James and that girl we saw and I suppose others! What a beast I" We splashed after him, Kara following follow-ing Nikka like a dog. Wasso Mikali, his surviving young men, King and Watkins were guarding thirteen shivering shiv-ering gypsies in the lee of the bachelors' bache-lors' quarters. In reply to questions, Tokalji told Nikka and Kara, shamelessly shame-lessly throwing In her lot with us, corroborated cor-roborated him that there had been fifteen of their band on the premises. A search of the courtyard disclosed two of them dead, together with one of Wasso Mikali's men. We bound the arms of the prisoners, most of them suffering from bullet wounds or stabs, and marched tliem over to the House of the Married. The one lantern was still flickering when we entered, and Betty rose to greet us. "Thank God!" she said soberly as her eyes envisaged us all. "What did you do with Mrs. llilyer?" "Isn't she here?" asked Hugh. "No. 1 don't know just when she left. There was a lot of firing, and 1 looked to where she had been sitting by her husband, and she was gone." Nikka and 1 sped back Into the courtyard. We picked our way over the occasional bodies to the street door. It was ajar. "I locked it myself!" cried Nikka. ''Old Wasso Mikali picked it without damaging the spring. I took time when we entered to fasten it again." I was feeling very weak. My shoulder shoul-der throbbed. Nausea assailed me in recurrent waves. But I clutched the gate post, and peered into the street Nobody was in sight. . "She escaped," said Nikka. "Too had! We might have" What's the matter, Jack?' He caught me as my knees bent under un-der me. I fell the rain on my eyelids, and then everything was blotted out. When I opened my eyes Watkins was bending over me. "Ah, there. Mister Jack," tie said, '"ave a drink of this. Thank you, sir." And as I struggled to a sitting position posi-tion : "No need of 'aste, sir. All's well. And you 'ad a bit of a knock, If I may say so, sir." "It seems as though you and I were the Jonahs, Watty," I answered. "This Is the third time I've passed out cold' "Quite right, sir. The same thought was in me own 'ead. If Mrs. Prouty and 'Awkins the butler, sir and the others in the servants' 'all could 'ave seen me last night, they would 'ave been startled, sir. I do assure you thej would. There was that Russian young lady, now. I give you my word, sir, she cursed like a maniac, and 'er brother broth-er was no better when 'e came from 'Is faint. A fair rowdy lot of peoph-we peoph-we 'ad on our 'ands including the young person in whom Mister Nikka happears to be interested, as the saying say-ing goes, sir." "You said 'last night,' I believe," 1 interrupted. "Yes, sir. It's close to noon, Mister a squeai. Kara pulled out her knife as cas ually as though it had b"en a familiar occurrence, and turned to watch Nik ka's fight with Toutou. Nikka from the corner of his eye saw the two ot I us, plainly waiting a chance to help i I him, and he leaped clear of the circle I i long enough to snap: I "Let be! I finish this alone!" I couldn't have helped him, In nn; case, for as redoubtable a person as Tokalji, himself, attacked nie at that moment. Kara did not even notice my danger. She also Ignored the man she called father. Her Whole attention was concentrated upon Nikka. I fired once at the gypsy chief, and missed. That was the last cartridge In the magazine, and 1 attempted to lose him in the rain. But he refused to be lost, and I was making up my mind to take his knife in my wounded arm and bat ter his head with my pistol butt, when Watkins loomed in the mist and brought down his trusty crowbar on Tokalji's knife-wrist. The gypsy yelpd like a dog, and the knife clattered on the ground. Watty produced some-rope some-rope from a pocket and deftly twisted the man's arms behind him. Tokalji yelped again. "Easy," I said. "The fellow's wrist Is broken." "I'm tying 'im above the elbows, Mister Jack, sir," answered Watty. "But if it did 'urt 'im a bit I wouldn't worry, sir. I 'ave an hidea, sir, 'e was one of the scoundrels that bashed me 'ead." My one thought was of Nikka, and 1 sought him over the rain-battered area of the court The fighting had drifted away toward the sea wall. There seemed to be nobody near me. I listened hard, and In a lull of the storm my ears detected the click of blades. I stumbled toward It, and nearly fell on top of Kara, crouching as I had left her, eyes glued on the two men who circled tirelessly, steel-tipped steel-tipped arms crooked before them. Toutou had a huge advantage In reach, but Nikka had the . benefit of lithe agility, a wrist of iron the result re-sult of years of bowing; a hawk's eyes; and all the tricks with the blade that the people of his race have amassed In centuries of bloody strife. Four times, while 1 watched, Toutou endeavored to force down Nikka's knife by the sheer strength of his gorilla-like arm, and each time Nikka disengaged and refused to give the op portuuity his adversary needed. Twice Nlkka tried a certain trick, a combination combi-nation of lightning thrusts and clever footwork. But the Frenchman parried it each time, and retaliated so quickly as to drive Nikka out of reach. Neither of them said anything. Toutou Tou-tou spat and whined in his throat, cat- Jack. But Lord bless you, sir, there's been no rest. We 'ad a largish bun dertaker's job, let alone tidying up and minding the prisoners." "What have we done with the bodies?" bod-ies?" "In the garden, sir. The prisoners did the work except the Russian persons, per-sons, sir. 'E couldn't, account of 'is leg, and she, being a lady, so to speak, was hexcused." "Well, I'm going to get up," I nn nounced. "My shoulder feels better." "If you wish, sir. My Instructions were to get you anything you required, but with submission, sir, might I suggest sug-gest you sleep a little longer? There's nothing oh, 'ere's Mister Nlkkn." . Nikka strolled In from the courf-ynrd. courf-ynrd. with Kara trailing him. (To Be Continued) "Coming, NJkka!" Shouted Hugh. everything. We must break It up. They've got Nlkka pinned in." Tokalji's gang faced around as e attacked their rear; but we went clean through them and almost drove "o to the knives of Nikka's party. "After t!,em !" panted Hugh. "We've ll em breaking I" Nikka called to his men In their own onsiie, and they lined up with us In thin Die across the courtyard from ""j" to wan.- Behind Nlkka I had a er vision of an assassin who had """ked us and lifted my automatic something, the proud poise of the rij Perl"tl'3, warned me it was Kara, f.,, , re wns crackle of pistol fire In sr U8' and a knot of Sures Th'p'rt 1 Vlew' distorted, Indistinct, e deluge seemed to uct as a freak s to play tricUs with normal vision ; Possibly nmt was why conpara. mm f 1 Were 8h0t Twice 1 had m h m VOr tlle barrel of mr P'sto1-i P'sto1-i " t!mes 1 mlssed-and I am Ilinrtn ,ter ttlan a eood shot. But 6 0 time for philosophizing. ka u and mi"'! Bey went for Nik-the Nik-the ,? Was bleedii)S from a cut in SaMS nBnd " Dls fflen were n-a n-a d !'gh' wlth KIng and Watty, "tent nn 8 an enclrc"ng move-1 move-1 st" . ' le 0PlosIte end of the line, man s 60 t0 Nikka's aid, but a 1 ,"f at me from nowhere, and had a oh t0 dlKlge him until I that th, ,0 sll00t- 1 d'd not miss ka 0 JVUen 1 l00led again, Nik-othet. Nik-othet. , "tou were circling each Kara; nUd UI1'"1 was at grips with so,,Hp!! ! tll0Ugllt tlle 1-evantine was drc neJ Itl,row ",e eifl. nut as I cllned'v!, Peroeived that he had llor knife si niort;l1 terror of b!' her pp lle'd his own powerless light t "Sp of hIs wrist. A mocking shook V'V ln her eyes' nml s,le t bin, 'in , l0l'sp hnir nnd J'red 0ne pu.lv I j''ne 'haled- With ' hpr blade" 1, 'le stPove rn Wfm' 0T "the mus,'., he emi,d not control her "'e steel S''e tore ller wrlst free, den frock 'e h"1e """""S" h's sod-- sod-- c:it nnd he collapsed with fashion. Nikka panted from exertion. Both of them dripped with sweat, notwithstanding not-withstanding the rain. There was something of an epic quality about their struggle, and I discovered myself my-self taking the same almost impersonal Interest in it that Kara demonstrated. By all the principles of normal right behavior, I should have Ignored Nikka's command to let him fight it out alone, and rushed in at the first opening to kill a monster, who did not deserve and had no appreciation of knightly treatment. But I could not, I was chained by an emotion I could not fathom. And yet I was absorbed In Nikka's succesa. My heart leaped In my throat when I saw that he was trying for the third time the trick which had twice failed. His knife went up in the same way, he shifted posture ns he had In his other tries, and Toutou mechanically side-stepped ns experience experi-ence had told him was safe and aimed a stab which should have cut Nikka's throat. But Nlkka was not there. He had varied the trick. Stooping, his knife had fallen, then sliced upward and Toutou staggered, a look of bland surprise on his face, ripped open from belly to chest. "Pt-sss-ss-tss-sst !" he hissed, and fell forward. Kara hurled herself Into Nikka's arms. "You are the greatest knife-fighter of the Tziganes I" she cried triumphantly. trium-phantly. "You are a king! You are my man I See, while you conquered your enemy, I, too, stabbed the rat who tried to put his knife in your back." And she led Nikka to the body of Hilml, which, T regret to say, she kicked with her brown toes. Nikka absentmindedly leaned over to wipe his knife on the Levantine's coat-tails, but Kara intervened. "No, no," she exclaimed. "Here Is my hair! Wipe it on my hair, beloved of my heart. Let me suck It clean with my lips I So we shall have strong sons." Nikka looked sutlleiently annoyed to show that he had some instincts of civilization remaining. |