Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-10
CHAPTER xvII-Continued.

forgetful of her recent peril, forgetful of
everything but the sight before her.
Loreiie stood with parted lips and dilated
eyes. spellbound by the giittering array OF
wealth. Her knowledge of art taught her
that the antiquity and workmanship Of the
ornaments far exceeded the intrinsic value
of the materials composing them. There
was crucifix, formed from one entire
piece Of amber, the plumber Of some Saxon
monastery; an ivory drinking-h horn, on
graved with runic letters that spoke of the
old Norseland; a golden lamp, inscribed
with verse from the Koran, a relic Of
Moorish rule In Spain; rare coins that had
found their way from the Byzantine treas
ury. Every part of medieval Europe had
apparently contributed some memorial to
this store.
But, as previously stated, the quantity Of
plate was small in comparison with the
gems. 1t was these that riveted Lorelie' 8
attention. Never In any collection of crown
Jewels nad she seen the equal of these
stones for variety and size for brilliance
and beauty. The richest caliph of the east
might have envied the possessor Of such a
S.ore; II suggested dream Of the
Arabian Nights"
An! you may well gaze!' cried the earl
10 Lorelie. In fierce exultant tone Find
me the man in Britain who owns such
wealth as this! Take every object ont ri
the coffin.' he continued, addressing Ivar-
Lay each and all upon the table, Let Lady
walden handle them, that she may realize
the wealthy match she has made"
T., Loreue quite understood the earrs motive
IN making this display. Since he could not
get rid of her, his only other policy was to
conclilate her. She smiled disdainfully to
lerseii. 1t was not to her interest how
rn',s. W ~, quarrel with him at present; she
.nusl simulate friendly relations till the
purpose for which she had come to Rayen-
nan ~ should be accomplished
res let me see everything" she said in
seeming eagerness N IA
Drawing the table to the entrance 30 ~.
alcoVe WAR proceeded to empty the coffin Of
It's contents. During this operation LoreIte's
surprise rose almost to fever heat at sight
or some OF the objects drawn forth
When the coffin had been emptfed the ca r,
produced pocket book containing list of
the treasures. -
Article L." he read out. Ancient
Morse funeral urn of pure gold sat n,,th
opals.'"
Inc viscount handed a vase to his father.
Safe, l see," said the earl II have been
unjust to you in thought. WAR" he con-
tinued. apologetically. when your wife
my thoughts associated themselves with
this l acknowledge my error"
war cast an anxious look at Lorelie,
dreadlng lest her words should lead to the
betrayal OF his secret. But Lorelie said
nothing, though in a state of extreme
amazement and perplexity: for the teweIed
vessel now In the earl's hands seemed to be
the very vase given to her by Ivar some
weeks previously-the vase that had played
SO important part in her hypnotic expert
ment with Peatrice.
On coming to Ravenhall Lorelie had left
1t behind her at The Cedars: how came it to
be here in the vault of the Ravengars? Was
it replica? If so, it was certainly a mar
velous imitation of the original. since she
could detect no points of difference.
observe the luster of the opals." said
he ~ y ~vI4
and Lorelie perceived that his love of study.
great though it might be, had not quenched
in him the passion of avarice. IAN inter-
esting and precious relic of Morse antiquity.
affectionately. 1T contains the ashes of
Draco the Golden. the founder of our fam
lily. From the gray dust within this urn all
we Ravengars have sprung"
The vase at The Cedars also held the re-
mains of the same Viking, if the story told
by Beatrice in her hypnotic trance was to
be relied upon. The supposition that the
ashes of Orm had been divided between
two urns seemed absurd: and yet how
otherwise was this mystery to be explained
unless indeed Ivar, unknown to her, had
paid a visit to The Cedars, and having OBJ
tanned the vase had restored it to the place
whence he had originally taken it. Unlike
ly as this last hypothesis might be, 1t SEEM
ed the only one capable of meeting the re-
quirementS of the case.
The earl. having carefully deposited the
urn In one corner OF the coIHn, feIerreo
again to his catalogue.
"'Article 2 Morse altar ring of pure
silver, inscribed with runic characters
Yes, this Is it, he continued, receiving the
article from WARS hand. THE ring of
Odin, that figures in our armorial shield.
Many a legend of blood clngs to this relic.
What a history it could unfold, were 1t but
endowed with speech!'
The golden vase had puzzled Lorelie, but
this silver relic puzzled her still more. She
xl,a I>aF0 h..
the Identical ring. the non-production of
which at the trial of Eric Marville was one
of the points that had told against him
She knew the story Of its theft from Mrs.
Breakspear, and, like Idris, knew not
whittier it had vanished Now, after all
these years, it thus reappeared! By what
circuitous route. through how many blood
stained hands had it passed before regain
ing its ancient abode?
Mechanically she took the ring from the
earl's hand. If this were indeed the very
relic. there should be a black mark upon
the inner perimeter Of the ring. Upon ex-
amining it. however, she could discover no
stain at ali; the metal band was bright and
unsullied.
Was this ring. like the vase, replica
or was there truth in the ancient legend
that the bloodstain would vanish when
some one should meet with violent END
as an atonement for the Staying of the
Morse herald? Certain 1t was that a death
had occurred in connection with the find
ing of the treasure.
With a bewildered air she handed back
the ring to the earl, who placed 1T within
the coffin beside the vase, and turned again
to his list.
Article 8. A sapphire drinking cup.
Weight'-ah! look at this!" he cried,
breaking off from his reading in an ecstasy
of delight Look at it! Handle it! Ad-
mire it! Can the Dresden Gallery produce
it's like?"
A low and prolonged cry of admiration
flowed from LorelieS lips. The object
handed to her by the earl was a miniature
goblet, the tiny bowl, stem and stand being
delicately sculptured from one entire sap
phire It was a work of art, as well as a
splendid gem. With the delight of child
over new toy Lorelie raised the cleaning
brilliant aloft, placing it between her eye
and the light in order to mark Its lovely
azure transparency. Its beauty was such
as almost to reconcile her to her lot with
War. To think, if she chose, she might in
time to come be the joint possessor Of such
a gem!
"a million Of money would not buy that
cup." cried the earl, watching her look of
TT belonged originally to the
great caliph, Abderahman the Second, and
was taken by Draco and his Vikings at the
sacking of the Moorish palace at Seville.
1t vanished from human ken, and has lain
hidden in a night Of ten centuries. The
lapidaries Of the present age scott at its
in history, believing the gem to
be the creation of Arabian fancy; but here
1t is, existing today, to confute their shall
HI ia Inn n