Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-26

bis pocket square of hard tobacco, plucked
at his waistband, and drew forth an ugly
looking sheath knife. Here was the oppor-
tunity. Frank leaned forward.
let me offer you cigar" he said
| The man lifted his head, and their sur
prise was mutual 1t was astonishing to the
Russian to be addressed in the true patois
of his race by young, gentlemanly Eng
lshman. But 1t was even more amazing TO
Frank to find how the deep-set eyes illu-
mine the boorish lineaments and gave them
character, courage, purpose.
Thank you," said the stranger, clv1lly,
and the talk began.
Carlingham knew enough of Russian TO
follow vaguely what they said.
"You ask If Demidoff'-no prince" on
this mans lips-"has told the TRUTH" he
said, in voice with the sound Of rasp.
! mo. No man can do that. He can feel 1t
here" and he pointed to his heart; but
there are no words that can picture It,
But surely" urged Armstrong.
| The other, though putting the cigar
seemed to find pleasure in carving the STUB
born tobacco. He sliced 1t on the rough
deal table, and they saw that the KNIFE
would either cut or stab. 1t was good STEEL
and the haft was of crinkled horn On the
side of the handle were cut three small trl-
angular spaces. They showed white against
the brown.
Glow can YOU English believer" asked the
| Russian calmly You have forgotten for
long ages Danes came here, they say, and
Normans; but that was thousand years
ago. A thousand years ago we Russians
were happy We were free tribes, and we
fought and killed Now we are not free,
and we neither can fight nor kill"
He smiled pleasantly. His eyes, great,
glowing, melting eyes, and his smile, SO
kindly and courteous, redeemed his hang-
dog EXPRESSION. A fanatic, this man, per-
haps, and a dangerous one, for he had re-
straint and grim humor in him. Certainly
he was an enigma. He would not be drawn
He uttered platitudes, and they knew 1t.
| Soon they babe him Good night In
Tottenham Court road they hailed a ham
som. Armstrong; rented rooms were on
Jermyn street.
| "a funny crowd" commented Lord Car
bingham. Difficult to reckon up, eh?'
| off ia the Asiatic strain that perpleXes.
Inference between fox terrier and Jun
gle dog. you know; both dogs; but-there
| vou are. One is of the tame land, the other
of the Wild
"IJm. Did you spot how he used that
knife? Seemed to be cutting throat with
each slash!'
CHAPTER II.
The Fire Opal.
Somehow. Frank Armstrong found himself
| mixing a great deal with the ValetorI
menage. Her ladyship forgot the anarchist
lecture and ceased to suspect him. he al
ways was cold, distantly polite, TO Lazy
Ermyntrude.
| Nevertheless, he became increasingly con-
sc,ous that the pleasant London holiday 10
which he had looked forward so was a oes-
ror.+e failure, He told himself SO often
tba+ tn see SO much of Lady Ermyntrude
was a dangerous pastime that the admohl-
ton ceased to have any effect.
! Under ordinary conditions a young stan
jcorns officer neither could belong to the VAL
letort set nor afford to mix In IT. Loro
lcar,inaham saw to the first phase of the
problem, while years economy IN RUSSIA
io,ned to the bonus he had earned by pass
ing the highest possible language test, made
the second easy for such a limited time.
| vat if his heart was afiame, none knew of
the consuming fire. By neither word nor
look did he seek to win his way with the
girl She. needless of consequences, know
ing only that she liked him, encouraged his
presence on every possible occasion, ana
caused him to be hated by several people
who did not even know his name.
The brother and sister were curiously
alike Their high-lineaged father was a
nonentity 1t had done the Valletort strain
| a vast amount of good to be enlivened by
the new blood of the states, while the VAL
letort fortunes were benefited equally by an
inexhaustible supply of American dollars
Hence these two young aristocrats were free
to think and, practically, to act as they
chose. The girl especially, being only nine
teen. lived in a dreamland Of her own. Sc
cure in rank and wealth, beautiful, accom-
nlished in the arts taught by governesses
and masters. she now was vaguely compre-
hending the vastness of the world and the
position to which she was born.
ANY idea of love. of matrimony, had not
entered her pretty head. Perhaps she did
not stop to analyze her feelings toward
Frank Armstrong, with his subaltern's pay
and his hundred year of private means.
The pity Of 1t was that they came together
so early in that eventful month Of furlough.
The days passed. Armstrong, musing on
the rnhappiness OF life because he saw no
possible chance of meeting Ermyntrude in
the next week Ego to Ascot on the Off
chance Of an encounter on the lawn he alb
solutely refused to do) was electrified by re-
ceiying a nicely worded invitation from the
Countess Of Valletort to Join her party at
The Cedars. Go to Ascot, indeed!
So much for good resolutions He was
there by the earliest train. Between Car
bingham and his sister the affair was well
managed. There were thirty guests-among
them another Russian prince, but this time
not a socialist lecturer. Frank who saw
II -
! knew In an instant that the big, blond man
HAD q fascination for Lady Ermyntrude.