The evening world., 1912-04-02

aTHE CARPET
! FROM BACDADE
! A ROMANCE OF BROADWAY AND THE SAHARA /
BY HAROLD M'CRATH


fortune dreadfuiiy. II nve her . cssss
I'LL OF where she s~tood--exactly ~.
years n now she admit care muSN.
~ a. not. they would dras her oct
u Eden for . month or two. for What
.ue reason she never could uuttn
Istnom, unless II was that At times ~
her as a foil. ~
At rare intervals she saw steei-ev>d
.nm-mouthed mon wandering up Ana
a"wh before the gates OF the yfia
Fanny. but they never rang the ben.
nor spoke to her when she paused them
on me street. II she talked Of these
men. her mother and the Major would
eAcnahse amused glances, nothing
u. rishtiy or wrongly. she hatsd her
motner. she despissd her uncle. Who
~ ever bringing to the villa men Of
With the visw Of mseryfng her an. MT
Fortune had her dreams, and she va
quite content 10 wait.
Ihere was one man more persisteat
nan the others. Her mother called MIN
,,o.sce' which the Major mellowsd into
IIodoy. He was tall. blond. good look.
ms. = oevtI-mAy-care. educated. witty.
smus'ns; and In evening dress he az.
peared to be what II was quite evident
Persistent he undenIabiy vaa ~
never coarse nor rude. Since that tine
ne had como back from the casino ct
Monte Carlo. much the worse for wine.
reared him: yet. IN spite Of this
rear. she had for him Q vague likins. .
hasy admiration. Whatever his favlts
might b. she stood witness 10 his srsat
physical strength and courage. He was
the only man. among those Who .
ately vanished. who returned NJ.
And he. too. soos grew q bs Q part
OF this unreal drama, arriving mysters.
ously one day md departing the net.
That . drama was being enacted IN.
der her eyes she no longer doubted: Sut
II was a. though she had taken ~
seat among the audience In the middle
OF the second act. She could make
neither head nor tail to IT, .
She had never Q her father. ut
she had often heard him referred q e
that brute" or shat foor' or ."thao
drunken imbeciie." II Q portrait 81
him existed. Fortune he'd not ret seeo
II. h visited his lonely grevs zee
a year. In the Protestant cemetery, ga
dresmily tried 10 c~onjLre up what man,
ner OF man he had been. One day she
piled her old italian nurse with cues.
lions.
"Handsomss Yss. bat Il wss IN 9
long ago. cara mia. that ] cannot -
scribe him 10 you"
did he drinkr Behind this euss-
ton there was no sense Of moral oele.
| guy a. applying 10 the dead.
"sainted Naryi didn't all msa Asink
their very souls into purgatory thoaP
unreiigious daysf"
Had NJ any relativcsr'
1T v heard Of any"
was he rich?"
mo: but when the signora, youI
mother. married him she thought q
was"
It was not tn later years thse Tos.
tune grasped the true simihcancs Of
this statement. II iiumined many
pages. She dropped all investisatioos.
concluding wisely that her mother. u
she were minded "a speak at all. could
supply only the Incidents. the dstaila
II was warm. balmy. like May In the
northern ATTITUDES. Women wore white
dresses and carried sunshaaes owe
their shoulders. A good band played
airs from the new light-operas. and Ct
one side OF the grand-stand were tea
tables under daszling linen. Fashion
was out. Not all her votaries enjoyed
polo, but II was absolutely necessary
TO pretend that they did. When they
talked they discussed the Spanish dan
Ger who paraded back and forth across
the tea-lawn. There. the hrst half
was over. All down for tea! Thank
goodness!
George was happy. He was proud.
too. He saw the glances. the mods Of
approval. He basked In q kind of sun.
shine that was new.
IL had an interesting adventure last
night, a most interesting one." began
George. who was no longer the shy.
laundering recluse. They were On the
way back to town.
Tell II me- said Mrs. Chedsoys.
lie leaned over from his seat beside
(Hang the expense on a day like thisil
"A fellow brought M q rug last night,
one Of the rarest outside the museums.
How and where he got u I'm not fully
able to state. But he had been In Z
violent struggle somewhere. arms
slashed, shins battered. He admitted
that he had zone In where many shapea
OF death lurked. 1t was q bit Irregular
I bought the rug. however. Some oae
else would have snatched Il up u !
hadn't. wanted him to recount the
adventure. but he smiled and refused.
/ tell you wbeti u 10. these eastern port
are great piS~ts.'
Elbow interestingly" Mrs ChedsoySa
color was not up to the mark -
vas not ssraously woundedf"' AZ
- -A-~> af.."sI