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FRIDAY. JULTIif.
& HAROLD M ac GRATF
Author of HEARTS AND A\ASKS
XDh« MAN ON THE BOX ctes. •
hy ♦ • ♦
COPYR.IOHT lgil hy BO&BS - /MERRILL COMPANY ♦
SYNOPSIS.
OWAPTER I—Q«iorge Percival Algernon :
Jones, vlco president of the Metropolitan
Oriental Rug company of New York, ar
rives at Cairo on a business trip.
CHAPTER ll—Horace Ryanne arrives
at the hotel in Cairo with a carefully
guarded bundle.
CHAPTER lll—Ryanne sells Jones the
famous holy Yhlordes rug which he ad
mits having stolen from a pasha at Bag
dad.
CHAPTER IV—Jones meets Major Cal
lahan and later Is Introduced to Fortune
Chedsoye by a woman to whom he had
loaned 150 pounds at Monte Carlo some
months previously, and who turns out to
be Fortune's mother.
I
CHAPTER V—Jones takes Mrs. Ched
sove and Fortune to a polo game. For
tune returns to Jones the money bor
rowed by her mother. Mrs. Chedsoye
appears to be engaged In some mysterious
enterprise unknown to the daughter.
CHAPTER Vl—Ryanne interests Jones
Jn the United Romance and Adventure
company, a concern which for a price
will arrange any kind of an adventure
to order.
CHAPTER Vll—Mrs. Chedsoye. her
brother. Major Callahan, Wallace and
Ryanne. as the United Romance and Ad
venture company, plan a risky enterprise
Involving Jones. Ryanne makes known
to Mrs. Chedsoye his intention to marrv
Fortune. Mrs. Chedsoye declares she will
not permit It. Plans are laid to prevent
Jones sailing for home.
CHAPTER Vlll—Ryanne steals .Tones’
letters and cable dispatches. He wires
agent In New York, In Jones’ name, that
ho is renting house in New York to
some friends. Mahomed, keeper of the
holy carpet. Is on Ryanne’s trail.
CHAPTER IX—Ryanne promises For
tune that he will see that Jones comes to
no harm as a result of his purchase of
the rug.
s
CHAPTER X—Mahomed accosts Rvacne
and demands the Yhlordes rngf. Ryanne
tells him Jones has the rug and suggests
the abduction of the New York merchant
as a means of securing Its return. The
rug disappears from Jones' room.
CHAPTER Xl—Fortune quarrels ....
her mother when the latter refuses to ex
plain her mysterious actions. Fortune
Sets a message purporting to be from
lyanne asking her to meet him In a se
cluded place ths.¥ evening. Jones re
ceives a message asking him to meet
jtyanne at the fingllsh-Bar the same eve
ning.
CHAPTER Xll—Jones is carried off In
to the desert by Mahomed and his ac
complices after a desperate fight. He dis
covers that Ryanne and Fortune also are
captives, the former Is badly battered and
unconscious.
CHAPTER Xlll—Ryanne recovers con
sciousness and the sight of Fortune in
captivity reveals to him the fact that
Mahomed Intends to get vengeance on
him through the girl.
CHAPTER XlV—Fortune acknowledges
that she stole the rug from Jones' room
She offers to return It to Mahomed If he
will free all three of them. Mahomed
agrees to liberate Fortune and one of the
men in return for the rug. A courier Is
sent to Cairo for the rug, but returns
with the Information that Mrs. Chedsoye
and her brother have Bailed for New
York.
CHAPTER XV.
Fortune's Riddle Solved.
Fortune, without deigning to reply,
•walked slowly and proudly to her tent,
end disappeared within. She looked
neither at Ryanne nor at George. She
knew that George, hie soul filled with
unlucky quixotic sense of chivalry
which had made him so easy a victim
to her mother, would not accept his
liberty at the price of Ryanne’a. Ry
anne, to whom he owed nothing, not
even mercy. And If she had had to
ask one of the two, George would
have been the natural selection, for
she trusted him implicitly. Perhaps
there still lingered in her mind a rec
ollection of how charmingly he had
spoken of hlg mother.
She could have set out for Cairo
alone: even as she could have grown
a pair of wings and sailed through the
air! The fate that walked behind her
was malevolent, cruel, unjust. She
had wronged no one, in thought or
deed. Bhe had put out her hand confi
dently to the world, to be laughed at,
distrusted, or ignored. Was tt pos
sible that a little more than a month
ago she wandered, if not happy, in
the sense she desired, at least in a
peaceful state of mind, among her ca
melias and roses at Mentone? Her
world had been, in this short time,
remolded, reconstructed; where once
had bloomed a garden, now yawned a
chasm: and the psychological earth
quake had left her dizzy. That Ma
homed, now wrought to a kind of Ber
serk rage, might begin reprisals at
once, did not alarm her; Indeed, her
feeling was rather of dull, aching in
difference. Nothing mattered now.
But Ryanne and George were keenly
alive to the danger, and both agreed
that Fortune must go no farther.
Ryanne, under his bitter raillery and
seeming scorn for sacred things, pos
sessed a latent magnanimity, and It
now pushed up through the false lay
ers. ‘‘Jones, it’s my funeral. Go tell
her. You two can find the way back
to the canal, and once there you will
have no trouble. Don’t bother your
head about me.”
"But what will you do?”
“Take my medicine,” grimly.
"Ryanne, you are offering the cow
ardly part to me!”
"You fool, it’s the girl. What do
I care about the rest, of it? You’re
as brave as a lion. When you put up
your fists the other night, you solved
USE HERALD WANT ADS.
that puzzle for yourself. For Rod's
sake, do It while I have the courage
to let you! Don’t you understand? I
love that girl better than my heart’s
blood, and Mahomed can have It drop
by drop. Go and go quickly! He will
give you food and water.”
"You go. She knows you better
than me.”
"But will she trust me as she will
you? Percival, old top, Mahomed will
never let me go till he’s taken his
pound of flesh. Fortune!” Ryanne
called. "Fortune, we want you!”
She appeared at the flap of the tent.
“Jones here will go back w r ith you.
Go, both of you, before Mahomed
changes his mind.”
"Miss Chedsoye, he is wrong. He’s
the one to go. He was hurt worse
than I was. Pride doesn’t matter at
a time like this. You two go,” des
perately.
Fortune shook her head. "All or
none of us; all or none of us,” she re
peated.
And Mahomed, having witnessed
and overheard the scene, laughed, a
laughter identical to that which had
struck the barmaid’s ears sinisterly.
He had not studied his white man
without gathering some Insight into
his character. Neither of these men
was a poltroon. And When he had
made the offer, he knew that the con
ditions would erect a barrier over
which none of them would pass vol
untarily. So much for pride as the
Christian dogs knew It. Pride is a
fine buckler; none knew that better
than Mahomed himself; but a wise
man does not wear It at all times.
“What is'it to be?” he demanded
of Fortune.
“What shall I say to him?”
"Whatever you will." Ryanne was
tired. He saw that argument would
be of no use.
"All or none of us." And Fortune
looked at Mahomed with all the pride
of her race. “It is not because you
wish me to be free; it is because you
wish to see one of my companions
made base in. my eyes. I will not have
it!”
“The will of Allah!” He could not
repress the Are of admiration in his
own eyes as they took in her beauty,
the erect, slender figure, the scorn
upon her face, and the fearlessness in
her great, dark eyes. Such a woman
might have graced the palace of the
Great Caliph. He had had in nlind
many little cruelties to practice upon
her, that he might see the men writhe,
impotent and helpless to aid her. But
in thia tense and dramatic scene, a
sense of shame took possession of
him; his pagan heart softened; not
from pity, but from the respect which
one brave person gives free-handed to
another.
Mahomed was not a bad man, nei
ther was he a cruel one. He had been
terribly wronged, and his eastern way
had but one angle of vision: to avenge
himself, believing that revenge alone
could soothe his outraged pride and
re-establish bis honor as he viewed it
from within. Had the courier re
turned with the Holy Yliiordes, it is
not Impossible that he would have lib
erated them all. But now he dared
not; he was not far enough away. To
Bagdad, then, and as swiftly as the
exigencies of desert travel would per
mit. One beacon of hope burned in
his breast. The Pasha might be de
posed, and in that case he could im
mediately dispose of his own goods
and chattels and seek new pastures.
It would come hard, doubly hard, since
he never oould regain the position he
was to lose.
Nine hundred pounds English, and
a comfortable fraction over; the yel
low-haired dog would have nothing
in the end for his pains. It would be
what the Peringhi called a good Joke.
A week passed. Christmas. And
not one of them recalled the day.
Perhaps it was because years had
passed since that time when it meant
anything to them. The old year went,
out a-lagging! neither did they take
note of this. Having left behind civi
lisation, customs and habits were for
gotten.
Sometimes they rode all day and all
night, sometimes but half a day, and
again, when the water was sweet, they
rested the day and night. Never a
human being they saw, never a cara
van met or crossed them. In this
week, the secret marvels of the desert
became theirs. They saw It gleam
and waver and glitter under skies of
brass, when the north wind let down
and a breeze came over from the Per
sian Gulf. They saw it covered with
the most amazing blues and greys and
greens. They saw it under the rarest
azure and a stately fleet of billowy
clouds; under the dawn, under the set
of sun, under the moon and stars;
and unfailingly the interminable
reaches of sand and rock and scrubbi
bush, chameleon-llke, readjusted its
countenance to each change In the
sky. George, who was a poet without
the gift of expression, never ceased
to find new charms; and nothing
USE HERALD WANT ADS.
\
As the Caravan Was Passing She
Screamed.
pleased his fancy more than to see the
cloud-shadows scud away across the
sands. Onoe, toward the latter end
of day, Fortune cried out and pointed.
Far away, palely yet distinctly, they
saw an ocean liner. She stood out
against the yellowing sky as a magic
lantern picture stands out upon the
screen, and faded similarly. It was
the one and only mirage they saw, or
at least noticed.
Once another caravan, composed
wholly of Arabs, passed. What hope
the prisoners had was Instantly
snuffed out. Before the strangers
came within hailing, Mahomed hustled
his captives into his tent and swore
he would kill either George or Ryanne
If they spoke. He forgot Fortune,
however. As the caravan passed she
screamed. Instantly Mahomed clapped
his hand roughly oyer her mouth. The
sheik of the passing caravan looked
keenly at the tent, smiled grimly and
passed on. What was it to him that a
white woman lay in yonder tent? His
one emotion was of envy. After this
the prisoners became apathetic.
Upon the seventh day, they wit
nessed the desert’s terrifying anger.
The air that had been cool, suddenly
grew still and hot; the blue above
began to fade, to assume a dusty, cop
perish color. The camels grew rest
less. Quickly there rose out of the
horizon saffron clouds, approaching
with incredible swiftness. Little
whirlwinds of sand appeared hers
and there, rose and died as If far
want of air. Mahomed veered the car
avan toward a kind of bluff composed
of sand and precipitous boulders. All
the camels were made to kneel. The
boys muffled up their mouths and
noses, and Mahomed gave lnstru*
tlons to his captives. Fortune buried
her head in her coat and nestled down
beside her camel, while George and
Ryanne used their handkerchiefs.
George left bis camel and sought For
tune’s side, found her hand and held
it tightly. He scarcely gave thought to
what he did. • He vaguely meant to
encourage her; and possibly he did.
The storm broke. The sun became
obscured. Pebbles and spllntersj of
rock sang through the pall of whirling
sand. A golden tone enveloped the
little gathering.
Had there been no natural protec
tion, they must have ridden on, blind
ly and desperately, for to have re
mained still in the open would have
been to await their tombs. It spent
its fury in half an hour; and the
clearing air became cold again. The
caravan proceeded. The hair of ev
ery one was dimly yellow, their faces
and their garments.
When camp was made that night
It found the captives untalkative. The
girl and the two men sat moodily
about the fire. Fatigue had dulled
their bodies and hopelessness their
minds. The men were ragged now,
unkempt; a stubble of beard covered
their faces, gaunt yet burned. George
had lost his remaining pump, and as
his stockings were now full of holes,
he had, in the last flicker of personal
pride, wound about them some cast
off cloths he had found. There was
not enough water for ablutions; there
wag scarcely enough to assuage thirst.
By and by, Ryanne, without turning
his bead, spoke to George. "You say
you questioned the courier?”
"Yes.”
"He says he showed the note to no
one?”
"Yes."
“And so no one will try to find us? n
’’No.”
Ryanne had asked these questions
a dozen times and George had always
given the same answers.
TJp and away at dawn, for they must
reach the well that night. It was a
terrible day for them all. Even the
beasts showed signs of distress. And
the worst of It was, Mahomed was
not quite sure of his route. Fortunate
ly, they found the well. They drank
like mad people.
Ryanne. who had discovered a pack
of cards in his pocket, played patience
upon a spot smoothed level with his
hand. He became absorbed in the
game; and the boyß gathered round
hirn curiously. Whenever he succeed
ed in turning out the fifty-two cards,
he would smile and rub his hands to
gether. The boys at length consid
ered him unbalanced mentally, and In
consequence looked upon him as a
nearjioly man.
Between Fortune and George con
versation dwindled down to a query
and an answer.
“Can I do anything for you?”
"No, thanks; I am getting along
nicely."
To-night, she retired early, and
George joined Ryanne’s audience.
"It averages about nine cards to the
ply,” he commented.
1 USE HERALD WANT ADS
THE AUGUSTA HERALD. AUUUSiA. GA.
Ryanne turned over an ace. Ten or
fifteen minutes went by. In the sev
eral attempts he had failed to score
the full complement.
George laughed.
"What’s In your mind r" cried Ry
anne peevishly. "If it’s anything
worth telling, shoot It out, shoot it
outl”
“I was thinking what I’d do to a
club-steak just about now.”
Ryanne stared beyond the tire. "A
club-steak. Grilled mushrooms.”
“Sauce Bordelaise. Artlohokes.”
“No. Asparagus, vinaigrette.”
"What’s the matter with endives?”
“That’s so. Well, asparagus with
butter-sauce.”
•’Grilled sweets, coffee, Benedictine,
and cigars.”
“And a magnum of ’l9oo’ to Btart off
with!” Ryanne, with a sudden change
of mood, soooped up the cards and
flung them at George’s head. "Do you
want, us both to become gibbering
idiots?”
George ducked. He and the boys
gathered in the fluttering paste boards.
"You’re right, Percival,” Ryanne ad
mitted humbly. “It will not hurt us
to talk out loud, and we are all brood
ing too much. lam crazy for the want
of tobacco. I’d trade the best dinner
ever cooked for a decent cigar.”
George put a hand reluctantly into
his pocket. He brought forth, with ex
treme gentleness, a cigar, the wrapper
of which was broken in many places.
"I’ve saved this for days,” he said.
With his pen knife he sawed It deli
cately into two parts, and gave one to
Ryanne.
“You’re a good fellow, Jones, and
I’ve turned you a shabby trick. I
shan’t forget this bit of tobacco.”
"It’s the last we’ve got. The boys,
you know, refuse a pull at the water
pipe; defiles ’em, they say. Funny
beggars! And if they gave us tobacco,
we shouldn't have paper or pipes.”
"I always carry a pipe, but I lost It
In the shuffle. I never looked upon
smoking as a bad habit. I suppose
it's because I was never caught before
without It. And it is a bad habit,
since it knocks up a chap this way
for the lack of it. Where do you got
your club-stealcs In old N. Y.?"
And for an hour or more they sol
emnly discussed the cooking here and
there upon the face of the globe.
By Judicious Inquiries George ascer
tained that the trip to Bagdad, barr
ing accidents, would take fully thirty
five days. The dally Journeys pro
ceeded uneventfully. Mahomed main
tained a taciturn grimness. If he
aimed at Ryanne at all, it was in
trifling annoyances, such as forget
ting to give him his rations unless he
asked for them, or walking over the
cards spread out upon the sand.
Ryanne carried himself very well. Had
he been alone, he would have broken
loose againßt Mahomed; but. he
thought of the others, and restrained
himself —some consideration was due
them.
But into the blood of the two men
there crept a petty irritability. They
answered one another sharply, and
often did not speak. Fortune alone
seemed mild and gentle. Mahomed,
since that night she had braved him,
let her go and come as she pleased,
nor once disturbed her. Had she
shown weakness when most she need
ed courage, Mahomed might not have
altered his plans. Admiration of cour
age Is inherent in all people. So,
without appreciating It, that moment
had been a precious one, saving them
all much unpleasantness.
By the twentieth day, the caravan
was far into the Arabian desert, and
early in the afternoon, they came up
on a beautiful oasis, nestling like an
emerald In a plaque of gold. So many
days had passed since the beloved
green of growing things had soothed
their inflamed eyes, that the sight of
this haven cheered them all mightily.
Once under the shade of the palms,
the trio picked up heart. Fortune sang
a little, George told a funny story, and
Ryanne wanted to know if they
wouldn’t take a hand at euchre. In
deed, that oasis was the turning-point
of the crisis. Another week upon the
dreary, profitless sands, and their spir
its would have gone under completely.
This oasis was close to the regular
camel-way, there being a larger oasis
some twenty-odd miles to the north.
But Mahomed felt safe at this distance,
and decided to freshen up the caravan
by a two-days’ rest.
George immediately began to show
Fortune little attentions. Hei fixed her
saddle-bags, spread out her blanket,
brought her some ripe dates of his
own picking, insisted upon going to
the well and drawing the water she
was to drink And oh! how sweet, and
cool that water was, after the gritty
flat liquid they had been drinking!
Just before sundown, he and Fortune
set out upon a voyage of discovery;
and Ryanne paused In his game of pa
, tlence to watch them. There was
more self-abnegation than bitterness
in his eyes. Why not? If Fortune re
turned to her mother, sooner or later
the thunderbolt would fall. Far better
that she Bhould fall In love with Jones
than to go back to the overhanging
shadow. A smile lifted the corners of
his lips, a sad smile. Percival didn’t
I look the part of a hero. His coat was
; variously split under the arms and
across the shoulders; his trousers
| were ragged, and he walked In his
: cloth pads like a man who had gout
In both feet. A beard covered his
face, and the bare spots were blistered
and peeling. But there was youth In
Perclval’s and youth in his heart,
and surely the youth in hers must
some day respond. She would know
this young man; she would knew that
adversity could not crush him; that
the promise of safely could not make
a coward of him; that, he was loyal
and brave and honest. She would
know in twenty days what it takes the
average woman twenty years to learn,
the manner of man who professed to
USE HERALD WANT ADS.
fove her. Ryajme left the game unfin
ished, stretched himself upon the
ground. Oh, the bitter cup, the bitter
cup!
Round the fire that night, the camel
boys got out their tom-tomß and reeds,
and the eerie music affected the white
people hnuntingly and mysteriously.
For thousands of years, the high and
low notes of the drums (hollow- earth
en-jura or large gourds covered with
goat-skin at one end) and the thin, me
tallic wall of the reeds had echoed
across the deserts, unchanged. The
boys swayed to and fro to the rhythm,
gradually working themselves into an
ecstatic frenzy.
Fortune always remembered that
night. Wrapped In her blanket, she
had lain down Just outside the circle,
and had fallen Into a doze. When the
music stopped and the boys left tjio
prisoners to themselves, George and
Ryanne talked.
“I never forget faces," began
George.
"No? That's a gift.”
"And I have never forgotten yours,
I was In doubt, at first., but not now.”
“I never met you till that night at
the hotel.”
“That'B true. But you are Horace
Wadsworth, all the same, the son oi
the millionaire-banker, the man I used
to admire in the field.”
“You still think I’m that chap?”
“I am sure of it. The first morning
you gave yourself away."
"What did 1 say?” anxiously.
“You mumbled foot-ball phrases."
“Ah!” Ryanne was vastly relieved.
He seemed to be thinking.
“Do you persist in denying If?”
“I might deny it, but I shan’t. I’m
Horace Wadsworth, all right. Fortune
knows something about that chapter,
but not all. Strikes you odd, eh?” con
tinued Ryanne, iron In bis voice.
“Every opportunity In the world; and
yet, hero I am. How much do you
know, I wonder?"
"You took some money from the
bank, I think they said.”
"Rlght-01 Wine, Percival; cards,
wine and other tilings. Advice and
warning went Into one car and out ot
the other. Always so, eh? You have
hoard of my brother, 1 dare say. Well,
he wouldn’t lend me two stamps were
I to write for the undertaker to come
and collect my remains. Beautiful Ills
tory! I’ve been doing some tall think
ing these lonely nights. Only the
straight and narrow way pays. Be
good, even 1f you are lonesome. When
I get back, If I ever do. It’s a new leal
for mine. Neither wine nor cards noi
women.”
Silence. The fire no longer biased;
It glowed.
“Who Is Mrs. Chedsoye?” George
finally began anew.
“First, how did you chance to mnk<
her acquaintance?”
“Some years ago, at Monte Carlo.”
“She Is One of the Most Adroit Smug
glors of the Age.”
"And she borrowed a hundred and
fifty pounds of you.”
"Who told you that?” quickly.
“She did. She paid you back.”
"Yes."
"And she hadn’t Intended to. You
poor Innocent!"
"Why do yoii cal! me that?”
"To lend money at Monte Carlo to n
woman whose name you did not know
at the time! Green, green as a paddy
field! I’ll tell you who she is, because
you’re bound to learn sooner or later.
She Is one of the most adroit smug
glers of the ago; jewels und rare laces.
And never once has the secret service
been able to touch her. Her brother,
the Major, assists her when he isn’t
fleecing tender lambs at all known
games of chance. He’s a card sharp,
one of the best of them. He tried to
teach me, but I never could cheat a
man at cards. Never makes any false
moves, but waits for the quarry to of
fer Itself. That poor child hag always
been wondering and wondering, but
she never succeeded in finding out the
truth. Brother and sister have made
a handsome living, and many a time I
have helped them out. There; you
have me in the ring, too. But who
cares? The father, so I understand,
married Fortune’s mother for love;
she married hirn for his money, and
he hadn’t any, Drink and despair dis
patched him quickly enough. She is a
remarkable woman, and If she had a
heart, she would be the greatest of
them all. She has as much heart as
this beetle,” as he flipped the green iri
descent shell into the fire. "But, after
all, she’s lucky. It’s a bad thing to
have a heart, Perclval, a bad thing.
Some one Is sure to come along and
wring It, to Jab It. and stab It.”
"The poor little girl!"
"Perclval, Pin no fool. I’ve been
watching you. Go in and win her; and
God bless you both. She’s not for me,
Bhe’s not for me!”
“But what, place have I in all this?”
evasively.
"What, do you mean by that?”
(Continued Tomorrow).
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