The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1912-10-12

70
swell, I've Got Rug Up In My Room
I'D Like to Show YOU"
that the room was simply q common
meeting-ground for well-dressed per
sons and addressed persons, of the
i unimpeachable, the improbable, the
doubtful and the peccant; for in Cairo.
as in ancient Egypt. there is every
class and kind Of humans, for whom
the Decalogue was written, tran
scribed, and shattered by the turbu.
lent Moses, an incident more or less
forgotten these days. From the tail
Of his eye he gave swift scrutiny to
his chance acquaintance, and he found
nothing to warrant suspicion. It was
not an unusual procedure for men to
hunt him up in Cairo, in Constantinople.
in Smyrna, or in any Of the Oriental
cities where his business itinerary led
him. The house Of Mortimer & Jones
was widely known. This man Ryanne
might have been anywhere between
thirty and forty. He was tall, we'll set
up, blond and smooth-skinned. True,
he appeared to have been ill-fed re-
Gently. A little more flesh under the
cheek-bones, touch of color, and the
1rishman would have been handsome
man. George could read rug league
off, as they say. but he was a child in
the matter Of physiognomy, whereas
Ryanne was q postmaster in this re.
gard; it was necessary both for his
business and safety.
Certainly, I'll take a look at it.
But I tell you frankly" went on
George, that to interest me it's got
to be very old one. You see, it's a
little fad Of mine, outside the business
end Of it. I'm crazy over real rugs,
and l know something about every
rare one in existence, or known to ex-
list. Is 1t copy?"
mo. III tell you more about it
whsh we get to my Eoom."
Come on, then" George was now
quite willing to discuss rugs and car.
pets.
Having gained the room. Ryanne
threw off his coat and relighted his
Cigar, which, in 2 saving mood, he had
allowed to go out He motioned George
to be seated.
Gust little yarn before I show you
the rug. See these cuffs?'
EYES,"
"You Vill observe that I have had
to reverse them. Note this collar7
Same thing. Trousers-hems a bit
frayed, coat shiny at the elbows"
-Four sovereigns between me and a
JAIL"
George became thoughtful. He was
generous and kind-hearted among
those he knew intimately or slightly,
but he had the instructive reserve of
the seasoned traveller in cases like
this. He waited.
"Ths truth is, I'm all but done for.
And II fail to strike bargain here
with you. Well, should hate
to tell you the result. Our consul
would have to furnish me passage
home. Were you ever up against 1t to
tho extent Of reversing your cuffs and
turning your collars? You don't know
what life is, then"
George gravely produced two good
cigars and offered one to his host.
There was an absence Of sound,
broken presently by the cheerful
crackle Of matches; two billowing
clouds Of smoke 1oated outward and
upward. Ryanne sighed. Here was a
cigar one could not purchase in all the
length and breadth Of the Orient, a
Pedro Murias. In one Of his doubt
fully prosperous epochs he had smoked
them daily. How long ago had that
been?
"Yonder is rug, prayer.rug, as
holy to the Moslcm as the idols eye
Is to the Hindu, as the Bible is to the
Christian. For hundreds of years 1t
never saw the outside of the Sultan's
palace. One day the late, the recently
late, Abdul the Unspeakable Turk,
gave It to the Pasha Of Bagdad.
Whenever this rug makes its appear
ance in Holy Mecca, 1t is worshiped,
and none but Sultan or a Sultan's
favorite may kneel upon 1t. Bagdad,
the hundred mosques, the old capital
OF Suleiman the Great, tho dreary
Tigris and the sluggish Euphrates, q
muezzin from the turret calls to pray.
er, and all that; eh?"
George leaned forward from his
chair. gentle terror in his heart.
"The Yhiordes? By Jove! is that the
Yhiordes?"
Admiration kindled in Ryanne'e
eyes. To have hit the bull's-eye with
so free and quick an aim was ample
proof that Percival Algernon had not
boasted when he said that he knew
something about rugs.
you've guessed it." a.
"How did you come by it," George
demanded excitedly.
"Why do you ask that"
Man, ten.thousand pounds could
not purchase that rug, that bit Of car.
| net Col1octora from evorv nor+ hovo