The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-09-23

inches higher than his own head. He
had bought the ruby from a very tall
man. Putting both hands to her chin
and then drawing them down az If
stroking long beard, she inquired II
the man had one, and again the an
swer was affirmative. She nodded ex-
citedly and pointed first to Van Torp's
sandy hair and then to her own short
black locks. The American pointed to
his own, and then touched his watch
chain and smiled. The mans hair
was fair, and even golden. By SIM
liar process she ascertained that his
eyes were blue and not black, and her
excitement grew. Last of all she tried
to ask where the man was, but it was
some time before she could make Mr..
Van Torp understand what she meant.
AS II to help her out of her difficulty,
the sun shone through the clouds at
that moment and streamed into the
room; she pointed to it at once,
turned her back to 1t, and then held
out her right hand to indicate the
east, and her left to the west.
"Oh, yes," said Van Torp, who had
seen Indians do the same thing, 1T
was west of here that bought it of
him, good way west"
He pointed in that direction, and
thrust out his arm as if he would
make it reach much further II he
could. At this Barak looked deeply
disappointed. Several times, to show
that she meant London, or at least
England, she pointed to the floor at
her feet and looked inquiringly at Van
Torp, but he shook his head and
pointed to the west again, and made a
gesture that meant crossing some
thing. He spoke to her as if she could
understand.
1--WE got your meaning" he said.
You're after the big man with the
yellow beard, who is selling rubies
from the same place, and has very
likely gone off with yours. He looked
like bad egg in spite of his hand
some face"
He turned his eyes thoughtfully to
the window. Barak plucked gently at
his sleeve and pretended to write in
the palm of her left hand, and then
went through all the descriptive ges-
lures again, and then once more pre-
tended to write, and coaxingly pushed
him towards little table on which
she saw writing materials.
You'd like to have his address,
would you, Miss Barrak? l wonder
why you don't call in your Interpreter
and tell me so. 1t would be much
simpler than all this dumb crambo."
Once more he made a step towards
the door, but she caught at his sleeve
and entreated him in her own Ian
guage not to call any one; and her
voice was so deliciously soft and be-
seeching that he yielded, and sat down
at the small table and wrote out an
address from memory. He handed her
the half-sheet of paper when he had
dried the writing and had looked over
it carefully.
Poor little thing!" he said in a
tone of pity. IF you ever find him
he'll eat you"
Barak again showed signs of great
emotion when she put the address
into an inside pocket of her mans
coat, but it was not of the same kind
as before. She took Van Torp's big
hand in both her own, and, bending
down, she laid it on her head, meaning
that he might dispose of her life ever
afterwards. But he did not under
stand.
"You want my blessing, do you, Miss
Barrack? Some people don't think
Brassy Van Torp's blessing worth
much, young lady, but you're welcome
to it, such as 1t is"
He patted her thick hair and smiled
as she looked up, and her eyes were
dewy with tears.
That's all right, my DEAR" he said.
Don't cry!"
She smiled, too, because his tone
was kind, and, standing up, she took
out her little leathern bag again quick
ly, emptied the twists of paper into
slipped the rest back. She unwrapped
a large stone and held it up to the
light, turning it little as she did SO.
Van Torp watched her with curiosity,
and with an amused suspicion that
she had perhaps played the whole
scene in order to mollify him and in.
duce him to buy something. So many
people had played much more elabo-
rate tricks in the hope of getting
money from him, and the stones might
be limitations after all, in spite of Lo-
gothetis penciled line of recommends
ton.
But Barak's next action took Van
Torp by surprise. To his amazement,
she pressed the ruby lightly to her
heart, then to her lips, and last of all
to her forehead, and before he knew
what she was doing she had placed it
in his right hand and closed his fin
gers upon it. It was thank-offering.
"Nonsense!" objected the million
iare, smiling. but holding out the stone
to her. Its very sweet of you, but
you don't mean it, and l don't take
presents like that. Why, it's worth
thousand pounds in Bond street any
day."
But she put her hands behind her
back and shook her head, to show that
she would not take it back Then with
her empty hand she again touched her