Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1912-05-17

CO : I-;;-g7-: y,--lIlton seizos a revolver
anu dashes out after Chatterjl. He re-
turns wildly excited and says ne has kln-
ed the Hindu. Then, wrought up over
some apparent danger he takes poison,
lyme, he asks Amber, as friend, to 80
10 lndla on a mysterious GRAND
CHAPTER VT-The servant hoins Am
per bury his dead friend. The next day
A a. ,ts finds Quain. tells him something
OF ms adventure and decides to leave AZ
once for India. Quain takes him ia MS
motor boat TO intercept an outward bound
steamer
fame, scarlet, yellow, violet and
green. spurted up from the driftwood
Under the hypnotic influence OF the
comforting warmth, WEAKNESS de
seconded upon Amber like burden;
he was afraid to close his eyes or to
sit down, lest sleep should overcome
him for all his intense excitement and
anxiety. He forced himself to move
steadily round the room, struggling
against @ feeling that all that he had
witnessed must have been untrue, an
evil dream, akin to the waking Wis
ions that had heset him between the
loss of Quain and the finding of Rut-
ton The very mediocrity of the sur
roundings seemed to discredit the
tectimony of his wits.
In a'setting so hopelessly common
place and everyday, one act of
drama of blood and fire had been
played; into these mean premises the
breath of the storm, as the babu en-
tered, had blown Romance. -.
Incredible!
And yet Amber's hand, dropping
idly in his coatpocket, encountered
priceless witness to the reality of
what had passed. browning, troubled,
he drew forth the ring and slipped it
upon his finger; rays Of binding EN-
erald light coruscated from it. daz-
zling him. With a low cry of wonder
he took it to the lamplight Never
had he looked upon so fine a stone, so
strangely cut.
1t was set In rudy soft gold, work
ed and craven with exquisite art in
the semblsnce of a two-headed cobra;
inside the band was an inscription so
worn and faint that Amber exper-
fenced some difficulty in diciphering
the word Rao (king) in Devanagari,
Banked by swastikas. Aside from the
stone entirely, he speculated, the
value Of the ring as an antique would
have proven inestimable. AS for the
emerald itself, in its original state,
before cutting, 1t must have been
worth the ransom of an emperor;
much had certainly been sacrificed to
fashion 1t in its present form.
To gaze into its depths was like
questioning the inserutable green
heart OF the sea. Fascinated, Amber
felt his consciousness slip from him
as mantle might slip from his shout
ders; awake, staring wide-eyed into
the emerald eye, he forgot self. for
got the world, and dreamed, dreamed
curiously. e,
The crash of the door closing be-
hind him brought him to the right
stupidity for a time before comprc-
bending that Rutton and Doggott had
returned.
Ii there were anything peculiar in
his manner, Rutton did not remark Il
Indeed, he seemed unconscious, for
time, OF the presence either of Amber
or OF Doggott. The servant relieved
him of his overcoat and hat, and he
strobe directly to the fire, bending
over to chafe and warm his frost
nipped hands. PROFESSIONALLY he la
bored under the influence of an ex-
traordinary agitation His limbs
twitched and jerked nervously; his
eyebrows were tensely elevated. his
eyes blazing, his nostrlls dilated; his
face was ashen gray.
From across the room Doggott sig
nailed silence to Amber with fore
finger to his lips and with discre-
ton bred of long knowledge of his
masters temper, tiptoed through into
the back room and shut the door.
Amber respected the aamonition
thseughegt wait that seemed end
lsaa H. s 49, aA III
Suddenly Rutten started ana w}esis
ed ronnd, every trace sof excitement
sn1oothed away. Meeting Amber's
gaze he nodded as If casually, and
said, "oh, Amber" quietly, with an
effeet Of faint surprise: Then he