The Holly chieftain., 1902-09-19

he did the beauty wrong in allowing
it to creep into his brain, but some
how Mark Merrick feared her intlu
ence for evil more than that of the
allies two-fold
\ She had the rare knack of making
HRen believe that, while to all others
Y e had been the adventures, to them
81 was only a weak woman with
Yheart that long had sought its mate.
And the natural love of fattery in
man had done the rest.
But Jones-surely, he had shield
and buckler in his knowledge of the
Awitch's methods. and would be able to
estimate her at her true worth.
At the same time Merrick thought
1t well to keep an eye upon the treas
ure trove.
Somehow he was not free from care
with respect to Count Leon.
Who could guarantee that the par
titions between the several compart-
ments were sound-Merrick had
heard of such thing as panel game,
and it seemed to be a piece of busi-
ness about in accord with the meth
DDS adopted by these fortune seek
ars.
He secretly wished some such move
might be made by the enemy.
1t would give him an opportunity
to work his personality into the game,
and at least prove that he was able
to resist the intoxicating influence of
such dangerous woman's presence.
No such adventure befell them,
however, on the trip from Monte
Carlo to Nice.
Merrick was constrained to believe
his fears had as little foundation as
the wonderful dreams of hasheesh
eater.
For the two little sacks that repre-
scented the broken bank at Monte
carlo still reposed upon the seat of
the railway carriage as the train
slowly rolled into the seaport on the
Riviera.
To transport the golden fruit of the
argosy to the hotel was another piece
of business that required delicate en-
, gineerng lest the enemy get the bet
Y ter of them.
Merrick had depended on Jones for
this, and now he began to fear lest
his friend might lose his grip through
the uncanny influence of this dazzling
witch.
At least he would be left to guard
the treasure.
1t was not because he cared for
the gold so much but determined
spirit, so characteristic of the bull
dog Anglo Saxon. not to give up that
which had been won in fair, open
fight.
Sure enough Jones jumped out and
assisted the princess to alight, doing
the honors with all the graces of a
Raleigh or Chesterfield
Merrick was amused.
He even laughed softly when he
saw Jones run for vehicle and place
the Olgavitch within.
Hold on! draw the line there, old
man." muttered Mark, seeing his
friend apparently hesitate, as though
in doubt whether to accept an invi-
tation or not.
Apparently he had enough stamina
left to decline. for Mark saw a daz-
zling white hand slip out of the We.
hicle. upon which Jones actually
pounced and raised to his lips.
Good heavens was all the world
going crazy about the princess-what
manner of sorcery did she apply, so
that even such confirmed woman
haters fell humbly before her shrine?
Poor Jones! Merrick thought, to
surrender SO expeditiously-appar
ly there are more dangerous weapons
than cudgels, and pair of flashing
black eyes have done more damage
than the keenest swords could ever
accomplish, since they had riddled
his flinty old heart
Perhaps our modern Don Ouixote
might not now be so deeply concerned
with the troubles of poor suffering
world that called for a champion
since he would have plenty of woes of
his own to nurse.
Whatever might have been the con.
dition of Jones heart at present, once
the intoxicating presence of the en-.
chantress was missing he seemed to
become himself again.
He came up smiling, and Mark
looked keenly at him, desirous of |
learning just how far he had been hit,
for Jones was more or less of a puzzle
TO him, and he could not decide
whether he had been acting n mart nr