Ceredo advance. [volume], April 30, 1913, Image 6

About Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939

Image provided by: West Virginia University

                
1 --
14
SYNOPSIS.
Perclval Algernon .Tones vie
prtslilent of the Metropolitan Or1ent»i
Rug company of New York, thirsting foi
romance Is In Cairo on a business trip
Horace Ryanne arrives at the hotel Iti
Fairo with a carefully guarded bundle
Ryanne sells Jones the famous holy Yld
ordcs rug which he admit* having stolen
rrom » pwha at Itagdad. Jones meet?
£?R..,or Ciulahun and later Is Introduced to
* ortune, Chedsoye by a woman to whom
ns had loaned 150 pounds at Monte Carl"
eome months previously, ar.O who turns
to be Fortune's mother Jone* takes
Mrs. Chedsoye and Fortune to a polo
game. hortuns returns to Jones the
money borrowed by her mother Mrs
hertsoye appears to engaged In some
«n>s,erlous enterprise unknown to the
daughter Ryanne Interests Jones In the
' Rom&nre End Advpntur* com
pany, a concern which for a prie* will
arrange any kind of an adventure to nr
der Mrs. Chedsoye, her brother. Major
rk«lR*a*l' Wa,lac« and Ryanne. as the
', ' "<l Romance and Adventure companv.
pian a risky enterprise involving .Tone's.
Ryanne make* known to Mrs Chcdsove
ms Intention to marry Fortune Mrs.
Chedsoye declares she will not permit It.
rians are laid to prevent Jones sailing
Tor home. Ryanne steals Jonas’ letters
and cable dispatches. He wires agent In
. tork, in Jones' name, that he is
renting house In New York to some
trtenirs. Mahomed, keeper of the holy
carpet, la on Ryanne's trail. Ryanne
promises Fortune that he will see that
•tones come* to no harm as a result of his
purchase of the rug. Mahomed accost#
R arne and demands the Yhlordos rug
Rtnnne tells him Jones has the rug an<!
suggests the abduction of the New York
H0 n, mcr -hant as a menu* of securing its re.
turnI he rug disappears from Jones*
room. For bine quarrels with her mother
when the latter refuses to explain her
HiyutorlouH action*. Fortune Ret* n men
sag- purporting to be from Ryanne ask
ing h-r to meet him in « secluded place
th.a, evening. .Tones receives a message
Msalng him to meet Ryanne at the Engllsh
l"' ' ~r, . ',aTT'p evening Jones Is curried
ofT Into the desert by Mahomed and his
•cconipilces after a desperate fight. He
discovers that Ryanne and Fortune also
are captives, the former 13 badly batfered
and unconscious. Ryanne recovers con
scioustness and the sight of Fortune in
captivity reveals to him the fact that
Mahomed Intends to get vengeance on
l lm through the girl Fortum* acknowl
edges that she stole the rug from Jones’
room
CHAPTER XIV.—(Continued.)
Why not tell Mahomed at once,
and have him send a courier back for
the rug?” suegested Fortune.
“By Jove, that clears up everything.
Well do It. immediately.” (Jeorgo felt
better than he had at any stage of the
adventure. Here wan a simple way
out of the difficulty.
"Softly,” said Ryanne "Let us
eome down to the lean facts. If that
v fug 1s in your room. Fortune, your
> mother has discovered it long before
mow. She will turn it over to your
estimable uncle. None of us will ever
«e© li again. I’m thinking. The Major
knows that Jones gave me a thousand
pounds for H.” Struck by a sense of
Impending disaster. Ryanne began to
fumble in his pockets. Gone! Every
shilling of It gone! "He's got that,
too; Mahomed; the cash yon gave me.
Jones. Walt a moment; don’t speak;
things are whirling about some. Over
nine hundred pounds; every shilling
of It. We mustn’t let him know that
I've missed It. I’ve got to play weak
In order to grow strong. . . . Rut
they will at least start up a row as
to your whereabouts. Fortune.”
No,” thoughtfully; ’no, I do not
think they win.”
j ne undercurrent was too deep for
George. He couldn’t see very clearlv
Just then. The United Romance and
Adventure Company; -was that all?
Was there not something sinister
behind that name, concerning him? Ho
looked patiently from the girl to the
adventurer.
J ' Kyanne stared at the yellow desert
' beyond. His brain was clearing rnp
Idly under the stimulus of thought
Hp himself did not believe that they
would send out search-parties either
for him or for Fortune. He could not
fathom what, had given Fortune her
belief; but he realized that his own
was based upon the recollection of
that savage mood when he had thrown
down the gauntlet Now they would
accept It, He had run away with For
tune as he had boldly threatened to
do. The mother end her precious
brother would proceed at once to New
York without him. He had made a
fine muddle o? It all. HUf for a glass
of wine and a grain too much of con
fldence, he had not been here this day
Mahomed, himself a(,t|r hy this
time, came over to the group, leisure
ly The three looked like consplra
'ors to his suspicious eye. hut unlike
conspirators they made no effort to
separate because he approved. He
urderstood: as yet they were not
af’ald of him That was one of the
****** be hated white men; they
could seldom he forced to show fear.
* ren when they possessed It. Well
throe should know whnt f«r
->ugn ms nngers.
1 do not lie.” replied George, a tn.
r »*P»rkle In his eyes ‘ i toJd
Tou^thst , had lt ^t ,t was the
— - —^ •% s WUMUiU
at i>o here.’* Ah. for a bit of hi* old
trength! He would have strangled
Tahomed then and there. But the
Irug and the beating had weakened
Jim terribly.
"If I give you the rug," Interposed
fortune, "will you promise freedom
o us all?"
Mahomed stepped back, nonplussed.
He hadn't expected any Information
from this quarter.
"I have the rug," declared Fortune
calmly, though she could scaroely
hear her own voice, her heart beat
so furiously.
"You have it?” Mahomed was con
fused. Here was a turn In the road
upon which he had set no calculation.
All three of them!
"Yes. And upon condition that you
liberate us all. I will put It Into your
hands. But It must be my writing
this time.”
A whlto man would have blushed
under the reproach of her look. Ma
homed smiled amiably, pleased over
his cleverness. "Where la the kis
weh ?"
“The klsweh?”
"The Holy Yhlordcs. Where Is It?"
"That I refuse to tell you. Your
word of honor first, to bind the bar
gain.”
Ryanne laughed. It acted upon Ma
homed like a goad. Ho raised the
whip, and had Ryanne’s gaze swerved
the part of an Inch, the blow would
have fallen.
“You laugh?" snarled Mahomed.
"Why, yes. A bargain with your
honor makes me Inugh.”
"And your honor?" returned Ma
homed fiercely. He wondered why, he
held his hand. "I have mntched trick
ery against trickery. My honor has
not. been called. I fed you, I gave
you drink; In return you lied to me,
dishonored me In the eyes of my
friends, and one of them you killed."
"It was my life or his,” exclaimed
Ryanne, not relishing the recital of
this phase. "It was my life or his;
and lie was upon my back."
Fortune shuddered. Presently she
laid her hnnd upon Mahomed’s arm.
"Would you take my word of honor?"
Mahomed sought her eyes. "Yes.
I read truth In your eyes. Bring me
the rug. and my word of honor to you.
you shall go free."
“But my friends?"
"One of them.” Mahomed laughed
unpleasantly. It was an excellent idea.
"One of them shall go free with you.
It will be for you to choose which.
Now, you dog, laugh, laugh!" and the
tongue of the kurbash bit the dust
within an inch of Ryanne’s feet.
"What shall I do?" asked Fortune
miserably.
"Accept," urged Ryanne. "If you
are afraid to choose one or the other
of us, Jones and I will spin a coin."
“I agree,” said George, very unhap
py
"Have you any paper, Jones?”
George searched. He found the
dance-card to the hall at the hotel, in
another poeket he discovered the little
pencil that went with It.
"You write,” said Mahomed to For
tune.
“I intend to." Fortune took the card
and pencil and wrote as follows:
"Mother: Horace, Mr. Jones and T are
prisoners of the man who owned the
rug which you will find in the large
steamer-roll. Give It to the courier
who brings this card. And under no
circumstances set spies upon his
♦rack.” In French she added: "We
are hound for Bagdad. In case Mo
hamed receives the rug and wo arc
not liberated, wire the embassy at
Constantinople and the consulate at
Bagdad. FORT (INK.”
Hbo gave It to Mahomed.
"Read It out loud,” he commanded.
While he spoke Kngllsh fluently, he
could neither read nor write It In any
serviceable degree. The note he had
given to Fortune had been written by
a friend of his In the bazaars Who had
upon r time lived In New York. For- 1
tune redd slowly, slightly flushing as
she evaded the French script
"Thnt will do.” Mahomed agreed.
He shouted for one of the boys,
bade him saddle the hagln or racing
camel. which of nil those twelve, alone
was his, and be off to Cairo. The boy
dipped his bowl Into the kettle, ate
greedily, saddled the camel, and five
minute* later wan speeding back
toward Cairo at a gait that wonld
bring him there late that night.
Fortune and George and Ryanne
watched him till he disappeared below
a dip and wan gone from view. In
the minds of the three watchers the
same question rose: would h* be too
late? George was cheerful enough
thereafter, hut his cheerfulness was
not of the Infectious kind.
At noon the caravan was once more
upon Us way Ryanne was able to
ride. The fumes of whatever dmg
had been administered to him had
finally evaporated, and he felt only
bruised, old, disheartened. An evil
day for him when he had set forth
for Bagdad In quest of the rug. He
was confident that there would be no
rug awaiting the courier, and what
would be Mahomed's procedure when
the boy returned empty-handed was
not difficult to Imagine. Mahomed
was right; so far honor had not en
tered into the contest.According to
— - —
hi ex HAROLD MACGRATH
AvitKor of HEARTS AND /AASKS
04* A\AN ON THE BOX ^.
11 lvistraliorvs ^ M.G.fGrr-r^eit . . .
COPYRIGHT 1911 by 50BB3 - /AERRILL OOA-'IPATN Y •
bis lights, the Arab was only paying
coin for coin. Hut for the girl, Ry
anne would have accepted the situa
tion with a shrug, to await that mo
ment when Mahomed, eased by the
sense of security, would naturally re
Inx vigilance. The presence of For
tune changed the whole face of the
affair. Mahomed could have his eyes
and heart if he would but spare her.
He must be patient; he must accept
, insults, even physical violence, hut
some day he and Mahomed would play
ihe flnai round.
His past, his foolish, futile past: all
the follies, nil the petty crimes, all
tho low dissipations in which he had
indulged, seemed trooping about his
camel, mocking and gibbering at him.
Why hadn’t ho lived clean like Jones
there? Why hadn’t ho fought temp
tation as ho had fought mon? Knvl
, ronment was no excuse; bringlng-up
offered no pnlliatlon; he had gone
wrong simply because Ills inclinations
had been wrong. On the other hand,
no ono had evei iried to help him
back to a docent living. His mother
had died during his childhood, and
her Influence had left no Impression.
His father had been a money-maker,
consumed by the pleasure or building
up pyramids of gold. H© had never
reasoned with his youngest-born; he
bad paid his bills without protest or
reproach; It was so much a month to
he written down in the expense ac
count. And the first-born had been
his natural enemy since the davs of
the nursery. Still, he could not acquit
himself; his own arraignment was as
keen as any judge could have made.
Strong as he was physically, brilliant
as he was mentally, there was a mor
tal weakness in his blood; and search
as he might the history of his ances
tors, their lives shed no light upon
his own.
In stating thnf his face had been
granted that dubious honor and con
| cern of the perpetrators of tho rogues’
gallery, he had merely given rein to
a seizure of soul-bitterness. Hut there
was truth enough in the statement
I---7^=
-----— I
portrait for any gallery given over to
rogues. And he hadn’t worried much
over the moral problem confronting
him. that the way of the transgressor
Is hard. It was only when love rent
the veil of his fatuity that be saw
himself as he really was.
I^ove! He gazed ahead at Fortune
under the mahtnal. That a guileless
young girl as she was should enchain
him! That the sight of her should
always send a longing into his soul
to go bark and begin over! His Jaws
hardened. Why not? Why not try
to recover some of the crumbs of the
fine thingB he hnd thrown away? At
least enough to permit him to go
again among his fellows without con
stantly looking behind to note If he
were followed? Ily the Ixjrd Harry!
once he was out of this web of his
own weaving, he would live straight;
he swore that every dollar hereafter
put In his pocket should bo an honest
one. Fortune could never be his wife.
He came to this fact without any
roundabout or devious byways. In the
first place, he knew he had rot
touched her heart; she had been friend
ly; and now even her friendship hung
by a thread. All right. The love he
bore her was going to be his salvation
Just the same; and at this moment
he was deadly in earnest.
It was after nine when they were
ferried across the two canals, the
fresh-water and the salt, several miles
below Serapeum. The three weary
captives saw a great liner slip past
slowly and majestically upon Its way
to the Far East. She radiated with
light and cheer and comfort; nnd all
could hear faintly the pulsations of
her engines. So near and yet so far;
a cup of water to Tantalus! At mid
night they made camp. There were
no palms this time; simply a well In
the center of a Jumble of huge boul
ders. The tents were pltche.d to the
southwest, for now the wind blew, bit
ing from the land of northern snows;
and a tire was a welcome thing. This
was Arabia; Africa had been left be
hind. Here they awaited the return
7T7ZZB7}-n'/IBTu V-1
"I Have You Threa, Than; and You Shall Pay.**
mai uv nau uf'pn snort, in ms accounts
many thousands at his father's bark;
gambling debts; and In making no ef
fort to replace the loss, he was soon
found out by his brother, who seemed
only too glad to dishonor him. He
was given his choice: to sign over his
million, due him a year later (for at
[ this time the father was dead), or go
to prison. The scandal of the affair
had no wpight with his brother; he
wanted the younger out of the way.
Hike the hot-headed foot he was, he
had slgnpd away his Inheritance, tak
en a paltry thousand and left Amer
ica, facing Imprisonment if he re
turned. That was the kind of a broth
er he had. Once ho had burned his
bridges, there came to him a dozen
ways by which ho could have eTtrl*
cated himself. Rut ones a fool, always
a fool!
Disinherited, outcast, living by his
wits, Ingenious enough; the finer
senses callousing under the contact
with his lhferlors; a gambler, a hard
drinker lodlcallj; all In all, a flna
or tn« courier, who arrived two days
lator, dead tired. The persons to whom
the card had been sent had sailed for
Naples with the steamer Ludwig. Ma
hornod turned upon the three mlser
ableg.
"I have you three, then; and by the
beard of the Prophet, you shall pay.
you shall pay! You have robbed and
beaten and dishonored me; and you
shafl pay!"
"Am i guilty of any wrong toward
you?" faltered the girl. Her mother
had gone. Bbe had hoped against
hope.
"No," crl®d Mahomed. He laughed
"You are free to return to Cairo.
. alone! Free to take your
choice of these two men to accompany
you. Free, free as the air. . , .
Well, why do you hesitate?"
CHAPTER XV.1
Fortune's Riddle Solved.
Fortune, without deigning to reply,
walked slowly an<4 proudly to her teat, i
and disappeared within. She looked
neither ut Ryanne nor at George. She
knew that George, his soul filled with
unlucky quixotic sense of cnivalry
which had made him so easy a victim
to her njother. would not accept his
liberty at the price of Ryanne's. 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 his mother.
She could have set out for Cairo
alone: even as she could have grown
a pair of wings and aalled through the
air! The fate that walked behind her
was malevolent, cruel, unjust. She
had wrcnged no one, in thought or
deed. She had put out her hand confi
dently to the world, to be laughed at,
distrusted, or Ignored. Was It 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 Btate 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 Rer
serk rage, might begin reprisals at
once, did not alarm her; indeed, her
feeling was rather of dull, aching In
difference. Nothing mattered now.
Rut Ryanne and George were keenly
alive to the danger, and both agreed
that Fortune must go no farther.
Ryanne, under bis bitter ruillery 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."
i3ul nai win you ao :
“Take my medicine,” grimly.
“Ryanne, you are offering the cow
ardly part to ine!”
“You fool, it’a 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
that puzzle for yourself. For God’s
sake, do it whilo 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? Perclval, old top, Mahomed will
never let me go till he’s taken his
pound of flesh. Fortune!” Ryanne
called. “Fortuue, wo want you!”
She appeared at the flap of the tent.
“Jones here will go back with 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 tho barmaid’s ears sinisterly.
He had not studied his white man
without gathering some insight into
his character. Neither of these men
wns a poltroon. And when he had
made the offer, ho knew that the con
ditions would erect a harrier over
which noue 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 bo?” he demanded
of Fortune.
what atian I say to him?"
"Whatever you will.'* Rvanne wan
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 raoe. "It is not because you
wish me to be free: It 1s becausa 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 tire of admiration In bin
own eyes ae they took in her beauty,
the erect, slender figure, the acoru
upon her face, and the feurlessneas In
her gpeat, dark eyes. Such a woman
might have graced the palace of the
Great Caliph. He had had In mind
many little cruelties to practice upon
her, that he might sea the men writhe.
Impotent and helpless to aid her Rut
in this tense and dramntlc scene, a
sense of shame took possession of
him; his psgan heart softened; not
from pity, hot 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 bad been
terribly wronged, and his east«\ni way
had but one nngle of vision: to\venge
himself, believing that revenge alone
could soothe bis outraged pride and
reestablish his honor %s be viewed It
I
—■ '1
from within. Had the courier r»
turned with tb« Holy Yhlordes. It la
not Impossible that he worrid have Ulc
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 heacon of hope burned In
his brenst. The Pasha might da
posed, and In that case he could Im
mediately dispose of hjg own good*
and chattels and Beek new pasture*
It would come hard, doubly hard, siac*
he never could regain the position he
was to lose.
Nine hundred pounds English, aad
a ocoafortable fraction over; the yel
low-hatred dog would have nothing
In the end for bts pains. It would be
what the Ferlnghi railed a good joke.
A week passed. Christum*. And
not one of them recalled the day
Perhaps It was because year* had
parsed 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
lization, customs and habits were for
gotten.
Sometimes they rode all day and all
night, sometimes but half a day, and
agal-, when the w'ater 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 marrrls of the desert
became theirs. They saw it glealb
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 r nd
greens. They saw it under the rarest
azure and a stately fleet of billow;'
clouds; under the dawn, under the scl
of sun, under the moon and stars?
and unfailingly the Interminable
reaches of sand and rock and rcrubby
bush, chameleon-like, 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
pleased his fancy more than to eee the
cloud-shadows scud nway across the
sands. Once, toward the latter end
of day, Fortune cried out and pointed
Far away, palely yet distinctly, thoy
sj*w an ocean lir«er. She stood ont
against the yellowing sky a« • maglo
lantern picture stands out upon the
screen, and faded similarly. It wrac
the one and only mirage th*y saw. at:
at least noticed.
unce anomer caravan, cumpoMC
wholly of Arabs, passed. What hop*
the prisoners had was instantly
snuffed out. Before the Btrangerp
came within hailing, Mahomed hustled
his captives into his tent and swort)
he would kill either George or Ryannq
If they spoke. He forgot Fortune,
however. As the caravan passed she
screamed. Instantly Mahomed clapped
his hand roughly over 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? Hi*
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 kbov*
began to fade, to assume a dusty, cop
perlsh color. The camels grew rest
less. Quickly there rose out of th*
horizon Baffron clouds, approaching
with Incredible swiftness. Uttl*
whirlwinds of sand appeared her*
and there, rose and died ns If for
want of air. Mahomed veerpd the car
avan toward a kind of bluff composed
of sand nnd precipitous boulders. All
the camels were made to kneel. Th*
boys muffled up their mouths nnd
noses, and Mahomed gave instruc
tions to his captives. Fortune hurled
her head In her coat and nestled down
beside her camel, while George and
Ryanne used their handkerchiefs
George left hla camel nnd sought For
tune's side, found her hand And he!/
It tightly. He scarcely gave though* t
what he did. He vaguely meant t*
encourage her; and possibly he did.
The storm broke. The sun becam*
obscured. Pebbles nnd splinters of
rock sang through the pall of whirling
sand. A golden tone enveloped th* ,
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 hav*
been to Rwait their tombs. It spent
its fury In half an hour; and th*
clearing air became cold again. Th*
cantvan proceeded. The balr of ev
ery one was dimly yellow, their fruoi
and their garments.
(TO BIS CONTINUED.) A
Australia Would Save Birds.
Strong protest Is being made li
South Australia against the contlLi
slaughter of such rare birds as ths
the egret, cranes and spoonbills to
ply the demands of nriUlners. _
slaughter renders tifouth
even more prone to Plj
hoppers, and is a prl|
decline of Its fish r<
wading birds dlsapi;
ans that destroy fli
In multitude