Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-11-13

might have Jared worse. Thank heay-
en-. arrived In time to save her from
your stiletto"
The retainerS wrenched the knife
from O'Rorke's hand, and the crowd
surged up kissing, for nothing excites
the Latin mind like the sight of naked
weapons. The affair was becoming des-
perate for O'Rorke. but luckily at this
moment Mr.. Cuthbert pushed through
the crowd. which fell back sulleIIy as
they recognized the consul.
Hold on there!' he called as the
walters tried to drag Jim away.
There must be some mistake, project
1 know Mr.. O'Rorke quite well. and
no doubt we can settle this affair in a
moment"
The 'prefect interrupted angrily. but
the consul turned his back on him and
asked Jim to explain what had hap
pened.
81 had gone up to my room for this
stiletto, a eurio which 1 wished to
show my friends on the porch" Jim
explained, "and on my return from the
head of the stairs 1 saw the sonora in
the hands of q man who held her by
the luIOdI. l. bnOulC0 ~ " lGL
go and was surprised to see it was the
project, who by that time had wrench
ed loose her necklace and slipped it
into his pocket. Then. realizing that he
was caught, he rushed at me as though
/ was the culprit."
The project stamped his foot and
shouted Liar" But the consul held
the floor, and Jim in proof of his hon.
esty turned his pockets inside out. AS
he emptied his right hand pocket a
glimmering gold chain fell from it. at
the sight Of which he staggered as
though he had been struck. 1t was
the diamond necklace.
An exclamation broke from the on
lockers, and the project, catching sight
Of the jewel, sprang down the stairs.
With a malicious shout OF triumph he
held it up before the view of all.
But che who laughs last laughs
best" The project had overreached
himself, for entangled I'm the meshes
of the chain was his police whistle.
engraved with his own name, PEDRO
Menendos" Unknown to him, it had
chung to the necklace during the scuf-
fie when, in order to throw the blame
on hOEkeR nG udu NIdnSAGAlN0 IL ~
the latter's pocket.
Hargraves and I could not restrain
a cheer, and some of the crowd in the
hallway Joined with us, though others
sided with their countryman. The face
of the project blanched, but he fell
back on the dignity Of his office.
"This proves nothing" he said
haughtily.
"It proves the necklace was in your
pocketr' Hargraves called out, and
what might have been a general riot
was at this moment prevented by Sc
nora Garcias regaining consciousness.
For an instant she swept the crowd
with q bewildered glance; then as her
eyes fell on the project she realized
the situation and, with cry of anger,
snatched her necklace from his hands.
"Oh, you ingrate" she exclaimed.
"You pretended to love me, but it was
only for my jewels. 1 owe my life no
doubt to this young man." And she
turned to O'Rorke. HE arrived just
in time to save me-" Then as her
hands caught the police whistle she
disentangled it from the chain and
hurled it in the projects face.
at is a Hep he reiterated.
The crowd, however, easily swayed
from one decision to another. closed IN
on the guilty officer and forced him
up on the stairs. In that elevated po-
sition he became the target for vari-
Gus missiles that CHANGED to be handy
until. drawing the dress sword that
hung at his side. he brandished it in
a circle at arms length. In this man
ner he fought his way through the
crowd and made his escape by a rear
door.
Later Hargraves and 1 laughingly
suggested that Jim might supplant the
project in the sepora's affections, but
he declared he had enough Of South
American dealings, and we left the
next morning on q Pacific steamer.