The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1911-01-05
The DIAMOND SHIP
MAX PEMBERTON
Author OF Doctor Xavier" THE Hundred Days" ea
Copyright by D. Appleton & CO.

of ancient wounds and more than one
Jagged cut. A goats beard, long and
unkempt and shaggy, depended from a
chin as sharp as a wedge: the nose was
prominent, but not without a ugges-
ton of power: the hands were old nj
tremulous. but quivering still with the
desire of life. So much q glare of the
furnaces light showed me at a glance.
When 1t died down I was left alone in
the darkness with his revolving figure,
and had but the dread suggestion OF
It's presence for my companion.
DR.. F'abos, of London! Is 1t not DR..
Fabos? 1 am an old man, and my
eyes do not help me as once they did.
But | him 1t Is DR.. Fabos!"
turned upon him and declared my
self, since any other course would
have made me out afraid of him.
Il am DR.. Fabos-yes. that is so.
And you, think. are the man they call
Val Imroth?"
He laughed, q horrible, dry, throatly
laugh, and drew a little nearer to me.
Il expected you before-three days
ago" he said, just in the tone of a cat
purrins; you made a very slow pas
sage, doctor, q very slow passage in
deed. All is well that ends well, how
ever. Here you are at Santa Maria.
and there is you yacht down yonder.
Let me welcome you to the villa
SO he stood, fawning before me, his
voice almost a whisper in my ear.
What to make of it, l knew not at all.
Harry Avenhil. the young thief I cap
tured at Newmarket, had spoken of
this dread figure, but always in con-
n%ection with Paris, or Vienna. or Rome.
Yet here he was at Santa Maria, his
very presence tainting the air as with
a chill breath of menace and of death.
My own rashness in coming tc the
island never appeared so utterly to be
condemned, so entirely without excuse.
This fearful old man might be deaf to
every argument l had to offer. There
was no crime in all the story he had
not committed or would not commit
With General F%ordibras l could have
dealt but with him!
Yes" 1 said quite calmly. that Is
my yacht. She will start for Gibraltar
tomorrow if l do not return to her. It
VIII depend upon my friend, General
FordibraS."
l said it with what composure I could
this was all my defense.
His reply was a low laugh and "a bony
finger which touched my hand as with
a die of ice.
1T is a dangerous passage to Gibral-
tar, DIR. Fabos; do not dwell too much
upon 1t. There are ships which never
see the shore again. Yours might be
one of them"
"Unberufen. The German language
IS your own. If my BOAT does not re-
turn to England, and after that to Lon
don, IN that case, Herr Imroth. you
may lave many ships at Santa Maria,
and they will fly the white ensign. Be
good enough to credit me with some
small share Of prudence. should
scarcely stand here as I do, had I not
measured the danger-and provided
against it. You were not then in my
calculations. Believe me, they are not
to be destroyed even by your presence"
Now he listened to this with much
interest and evident patience; and I
perceived instantly that it had not
failed to make an impression upon him.
To be frank, I feared nothing from
design. but only from accident, and al
though I had him covered by my re-
volver, I never once came near to
touching thet trigger of it. So mutual
~ In accord. indeed, We're our thoughts
that when next he spoke he might have
been giving tongue to my apprehen-
sions.
"A clever man, who relies upon the
accident of papers. My dear friend.
would all the books in our great
library in Rome save you from yonder
men IL raised my voice to call them ?
Come, DR.. Fabos. you are either a fool
or a hero. You hunt me, Valentine
Imroth, whom the police OF 20 cities
have hunted in vain. You visit us as
a schoolboy might have done, and yet
you are as well acquainted with your
responsibilities as / am. What shall I
say of you? What do you say of your
self when you ask the question: Will
these men let me go free? Will they
permit my yacht to make Europe
again?' Allow me to answer that. and
in my turn I will tell you why YOU
stand here safe beside me when at a
word of mine, at a nod, one of these
White doors would open and you would
be but a little Whit Of ashes before a
man could number 10. No, my friend,
l DO not understand you. Some day I
shall do so-and then God help you!"
Her Imroth,' / said quietly.
whether YOU understand me or no is
the smallest concern to me. Why /
came to Santa Maria you will know In
due season. Meanwhile. I have a little
Information for your ear and for your
Gloire de Marie, No. 90. a young wom-
an Of the name Of
paused. for the light, shining anew.
showed me upon the old mans face
something | would have paid half my
!, fortune to see there. Fear. and not
more than dread-human love, inhn.
man passion. the evil spirit of oil
malice, all desire, all hate.
i dewitt ne cried, devil! what have
/. you to do with her?"
I clutched his arm and drew hin,
down toward me.
Life for a life. Shall she know the
truth OF this old mans story, the old
man who goes to her as a b Glad
In benevolence and well-doing? shall
she know the truth or shall my friends
In Paris keep silence? Answer nid
man. or. they shall tell it to her to-
morrow"
He did not utter a single word. pas
| sion or fear has mastered him utterlv
and robbed him of both speech and
action. Ana herein the danger iay. for
no sooner had I spoken than the iipht
of 9 lantern shone full upon nv face.
while deep down. as 1t were. in the
very bowels Of the earth, an alarm bell
!, was ringing. 81
The unknown We're coming up ont al
the pit. And the ma who could have
saved me from them had been struck
dumb as though by a Judgment Of God.
CHAPTERFIx.
. Imroth seemed unable to utter q
round; but the men who came up ont
Of the cave made the night resound
I with their horried cries.
What happened to me in that instant
Of fierce turmoil, OF loud alarm. and
towards frenzy. I have no clear re-
Z collection whatever. 1t may have been
ii that one of the men atrticl, * 800