Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1911-12-18
ILLUSTRATIONS B
HLLSWoRIH NouNC<
ecFYR1cnF 1903 sy IoUIs(5ostl


far.reaching an influence over the lives
Of 40 many men and women. Upon
single sheet OF paper bearing their let
terhead, Messrs. Secretan and Sypher,
solicitors. OF Rangoon, Burmah, had
cauaed to be typed communication
to Colonel Terence O'Rourke, inform
iny him that on behalf OF a client who
preferred to preserve his incognlto
thew were prepared to offer q reward
of one hundred thousand pounds ster-
ling for the return, intact and un-'
marred, OF the ruby known as the
Pool of Flame. The said ruby was,
when last heard Of, in the possession
ne tbe said Colonel O'Rourke, Whe
would receive the reward upon the
delivery of the said stone to the IN
ders!gned at their offices in Rangoon
within six months from date. Said
delivery might be made either In per-
son or by proxy. With which Messrs:
secretan and Sypher begged to re-
main respectfully his.
The Irishman read 1t once and again,
memoriz!ng its import; then deliber-
ately shredded 1t into minute parts-
cles.
80 IT'S come" he said heavily, Gust
as the O'Mahoney foretold 1t would
He sank back In his chair, and his
wife went to him and perched' herseif
upon the arm Of it, imprisoning his
head with her arms and laying her
cheek against his.
What has" come, my hearth"
Zone hundred thousand pounds
ne said. "Treble Its worth,
double what the O'Mahoney expect
ed. II. -. !.
"Who is the 0'Mahoney. dear?"
He reused. IAN old friend, Beatrix
-an old comrade. He died some years
back, on the banks of the Tugela,
fighting with Boer commando. he
was a lonely man, without kith or kin
or many friends beside meself. That,
presume, Is how he came to leave
the Pool Of Flame with me-" He
: wound an arm round her and held her
close. "Hearken, dear, and III be
telling We the story Of It,"
behind. them the internal glare lit
up the portentous skies. Thunder
echoed between clouds and sea like
heavy cannoning. The wife shranE
close to her beloved. y am not at all
afraid" she declared, when her voice
could be heard-"with you. :.
Tell me about the Pool of Flame"
"The O'Mahoney left 1t with me
when he went to South Africa" ex-
plained O'Rourke. "'Twas a paste
board box the size of me fist, wrapped
in brown paper and tied with bit of
string, that he brought me one even
ing, saying he was about to leave, and
would care for 1t in his absence. |
knew no more of it than that twas
something he valued highly. but put
1t away in safe-deposit vault-which
he might've done if he hadn't been a
scatterbrain-an Irishman.
Then he wrote me letter. got
1t weeks after his death-saying he
felt he was about to 80 out. and that
the Pool Of Flame was mine. He
went on to explain that the box con-
tanned a monstrous big ruby and gave
me its history, as far as he knew it.
ut seems that there's a certain
highly respectable temple in one Of
the Shan States of Burmah Cts me-
self forgets the name OF it) and In
that temple there's an idol. Buddha
of pure gold, tits said It would be
perfectly good Buddha. only that it
lacks an eye; there's an empty socket
in its forehead, and tits there the
Pool Of Flame belongs-or come from.
In the old days the natives called this
stone the Luck of the State. and
maybe they were right; for when 1t
disappeared the state became a Brit.
tsh possession.
"In the war. Of :eighty.fve, says the
OMahoney, small detachment OF
British troops out OF touch with their
command, happened upon this temple
we're speaking OF and took 1t. dispos'
sessing priests and populace without
so much as a days notice. The officer
in command happened to see this eye
in the Buddha's forehead. pried 1t out
and put it In his pocket. In less than
an hour the natives surrounded tne
temple and attacked In force. The
British stood them OFF for three days
and then were relieved; but in the
meantime the officer had been killed
and the Pool of Flame had vanished.
For several years 1t stayed
quiet, SO far as is known. Then the
curse OF the thing began to work, and
1t came to the surface in drunken
brawi In the slums Of Port Said. The
police, breaking into some dive to
stop a row. found nobody in the place
but q dead Greek; they say twas a
shambles. One Of the police found the
biz, ruby in the dead mans fist and
before his companions guessed what
was up slipped away with the stone
He was murdered some months