The Tupelo journal., 1910-03-11

on the way. Lady Maud's husband
had been a brute, but he knew the
east tolerably well, having done some
military duty in the Caucasus before
he entered the diplomatic service; his
stories had chiefly illustrated the pro-
found duplicity of all Asiatics, and
she had not seen any reason to dis
believe them.
When Spiro had nothing more to
say, therefore, she rose from the only
seat there was and shook her head
with an air of utter i~ncredulity, min
gled with the sort OF plying contempt
she felt for all lying in general. She
could easily follow the case, by the
help of the sergeant and the police
court reports, and she might be able
to help Baraka hereafter when the
girl had served the sentence she
would certainly get for such an i'm
portant and cleverly managed theft.
The poor girl implored and wept in
vain; Lady Maud could do nothing,
and would not stay to be told any
more insane stories about ruby mines
in Tartary. She called the sergeant,
freed herself from Baraka's despair
ing hold on her hand and went out.
And when she thought of what must
have gone before, and of the part Lo-
gotheti had almost certainly played
in the girls life. her anger was
reused, and she sat down and wrote
to Margaret on the impulse of the mo-
ment. She gave a detailed account of
her experience at the police station,
including especially a description OF
the way Baraka had behaved in trying
to send a message to Logotheti.
Il tell you quite frankly" Lady
Maud wrote in conclusion, that my
friend Mr.. Van Torp has begged me
very urgently to use any friendly in
fiuence l may possess, to induce you
to reconsider your engagement, be-
cause he hopes that you will accept
him instead. You will not think In
less well of him for that. A man may
ask his best friend to help him to
marry the girl he is in love with, l
am sure! l told him that | would not
do anything to make trouble between
you and Logo. If | am making trou-
bic now, by writing all this, it is there
fore not to help Mr.. Van Torp, but be-
cause the impression L have had
about Logo has really frightened me,
for you. | made such a wretched fail
ure of my own married life that /
have some right to warn a friend who
seems to be on the point of doing just
the same thing. You have a right to
be sure that the nan you marry is
quite free, and that you won't sud-
denly meet a lovely eastern girl of 20
who claims him after you think he is
yours; and your friend has a right to
warn you, if she feels sure that he is
mixed up in some affair that isn't
over vet.
81 don't know where Logo is, but if
he were "a enough l should go to
him and tell him what | think. OF
course he is not in town now-no-
body is, and I've only stayed on to
clear everything out of my house,
now that I'm giving it up. 1 suppose
he is with you, though you said you
did not want him at Bayreuth! Show
him this letter if you like, for I'm
quite ready to face him if he's angry
at my interference. l would even
join you in Paris, if you wanted me,
for l have nothing to do and strange
to say l have a little money! I've
! sold almost all my furniture, you
know, so I'm not such a total pauper
as usual. But in any case answer
this, please, and tell me that l have
done right, or wrong, just as you feel
about it-and hen we will go on be-
ing friends, or say good-by, whichever
you decide"
Lady Maud signed this long letter
and addressed it to Miss Margaret
Dome, at Bayreutn, feeling sure that
it would be delivered, even without
| the name of the hotel, which she did
not know. But the Bayreuth post
office was overworked during the linn
tied time of the performances, and it
/ happened that the extra assistant
through whose hands the letter passed
for distribution either did not know
that Miss Dome was the famous Cor
dova, or did not happen to remember
| the hotel at which she was stopping,
or both. and it got p~igeon-holed under
ID, to be called for. The consequence
| was that Margaret did not receive it
until the morning after the perform
ance of "Parsifal' to which she had
taken Van Torp. though it had left
I .rd~, DaIxr civ haurc offar him. fDr
such things win happen even In ex-
tremely well-managed countries when
people send letters insufficiently ad-
dressed.
Furthermore. it also happened that
Logotheti was cooling himself on the
deck of his yatch in the neighborhood
of PenZance, while poor Baraka was
haif-stified in the police station. For
the yacht, which was a very comfor-
table one, though nc longer new, and
not very fast according to modern
ideas. was at Cowes, waiting to be
wanted, and when her owner parted
from Van Torp after promising to
dine on the next day but one, it oc-
Cured to him that the smell of the
wood pavements was particularly
nasty, that it would make no real diff
ference whether he returned to Pin
ney's at once or in two days, or two
weeks, since the ruby he had left
must be cut before it was mounted,
and that he might Just as well take
the fast train to Southampton and get
to sea for Sc hours. This he did, after
telegraphing his sailing-master to
have steam as 0 % IS possible: and
as he had only just time to reach the