Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-11

the chance to strike such a bargain. -
Such. in short, had been his frame of
mind up to 3 o'clock of the previous
evening. At that hour he had made a
discovery which had diverted the entire
trend of his thoughts.
feeling i'll and Amber had excused him
early in the afternoon. About 6 O'Clock
he had gone to his stateroOm and dressed
for dinner. unattended. Absorbed in an
should set foot in Calcutta and take the
first step in pursuit of Sophia Farrell,
he had absent mindedly neglected to
empty the pockets of his discarded cloth
ing. At Z he had gone to dinner. leav-
ing his stateroom door open, was his
habit-a not unusual one with bin
passengers on long voyages-and his f1an-
nels swinging from hooks in the wall.
About g. discovering his oversight through
the absence of his cigarette case, he had
hurried back to the stateroom to discover
that he had been curiously robbed.
His watch, his keys, his small change
and his sovereign purse. his silver cigar
cite case-all the articles, in fact, that he
was accustomed to stuff into his pockets
with one exception. were where he had
left them. But the leather envelope con-
tanning the portrait of Sophia Farrell
was missing from the breast pocket of
his coat.
From the hour in which he had OBJ
tanned II he had never but once let it out
of his personal possession. The envelope
he had caused to be constructed for Its
safe-keeping during his enforced mac
ton in London. He had never once
looked at ii save in strict privacy. secure
even from the eyes of Doggott. and the
latter did not know what the leather case
contained.
Thus his preconceived and self-con-
structed theory as to the extent of the
enemy's knowledge was in an instant
overthrown. They had seized the very
first relaxation Of his vigilance to rob
him Of that which he valued most. And
in his heart he feared and believed that
the incident indicated their intimacy
not alone with his secret but with that
which he shared with Col. Farrell.
Since then his every move toward re-
gaining the photograph had been fruit
less. His stateroom steward, sleek,
soft Bengal boy, who had attended him
all through the voyage with every indica-
ton OF eagerness TO oblige him. professed
entire ignorance of the theft. That was
only to be expected. But when Amber
went to the purser and the latter cross
examined the steward i'm his presence.
the Bengali stuck to his protestations of
innocence without the tremor of an eye
lash In fact. he established an alibi by
the testimony of his fellow stewards.
Further. when Amber publicly offered
reward of five guineas land no questions
asked and in private tempted the Ben
gall with much larger amounts, he ac-
complished nothing.
In the end and i'm despair Amber posted
a notice on the ships bulletin board. Of
fering fifty guineas reward for the return
Of the photograph to- him either before
Calcutta. and having thereby established
his reputation as a mild lunatic. sat down
to twirl his thumbs and await the out
come. confidently anticipating there would
be none. They" had outwitted him and
not five hundred guineas would tempt
them" he believed. 1t remained only
to contrive a triumph In despite Of this
setback.
But how to set about it? How might
he plan against forces of whose very ma
ture he was ignorant-sace that he
guessed them to be evil? How could he
look ahead and scheme to circumvent the
unsuessable Vaccinations of the UNI
known? His wits. like wild things
In a cage. battered themselves to ex
haustion against the implacable bars of
his understanding.
For the thousand and-first time he re-
viewed the maddeningly scanty store of
facts at his command. turning them over
and over in his mind. vainly hopeful of
inferring q clue. But. as always. he
found his thoughts circiing beaten
power had bounded Rutton. forth from
the haunts of his kind. from pillar to post
of the world las he had said to his death
among the desolate dunes OF Long Island?
What staggering blow against the peace
any power possibly strike. with Rutton
for its tool, once it had caught and bent
him to its will? What fear had set upon
his lips a seal so awful that even I'm the
shadow Of death he had not dared speak.
though to speak were to save the one be-
ing to whom his heart turned in the end
To save his daughter from what, had he
voluntarily renowned her, giving her into
another's care. forswearing his paternal
title to her love. refusing himself even
the cold comfort OF seeing her attain to
the flower Of he womanly beauty an
others child? What-hnally-was the or
deal of the Gateway of Swords, and
what could II be that made the Gateway
of Death seem preferable to 1t?
For the thousand-and-first time Amber
abandoned his efforts to divine the In
scrutable. TO overcome the insurmount-
able. to attain to the inaccessible, but
abandoned them grudgingly. grimly deny
ing the possibility Of ultimate failure.