New-York tribune., 1912-02-18

save only for an enormous, green painted
steel safe that stood in corner, seeming
strangely inCongruouS among Its VolupIuouS
surroundings.
"Thc papers are here, said The Shoulder
softly, indicating the safe "Be seated While
| get them"
Belmont sat on a big, luxurious couch, the
padding Of which seemed soft and yielding
as down.
Smoke, if you will, said The Shoulder,
passing a box of cigarettes. They were not
Arabian, but Egyptian, big, fiat things
dangerously heavy with opium, aromatic,
sleep compelling Such cigarettes were
sheer luxury to lcgionnairc, and Belmont
lulled and drowSy from the heavy, languor-
ouS scented atmosphere of the house, the
soft comfort of the couch, and ycarnlng tor
deep, drcamlcSs sleep, took a cigarette CRATE
fully Drcnchcd with WEAKNESS though ne
was, he wondered miStily why the eyes OF
The Shoulder burned 50 red. He lighted the
cigarette, leaning back dreamily. The
heavy, blue smoke curled up about his face
like some slow, stcalthy, poisonous thing.
The Shoulder opened the safe and took
thcrcfrom a bundle of letters and handful
of gold. 81 will be generous he said softly,
cropping in the safe, looking sidcwisc on the
Englishman. "Hcrc are the lettcrs-here IS
money will -giv givc-them-lreely-l
have c-a-gcncrous- nature
HcpauScd for Bclmont's eyes were closed,
the cigarette had slipped from his fingers.
Then The Shoulder took a long, thin
bladcd knife from the safe and moved
noisclcssly across 10 the couch.
BELMONT was drifting swiftly down to
- the seas of sleep, sliding TRANQUILITY, Sc
rcncly, into the deep and profound uncon,
sciousncss that follows prolonged physical
effort. The present was passing out OF his
understanding: swiftly the faces slid by be-
fore his inner vision, shadowy, dim, unreal
the face OF The Shoulder, sinister and
malign: Of Pcrdita, beautiful but wet with
tears: Of the Colonel, hard and twisted with
rage and alarm; Of the Sergeant in the cell
al midnight, brutal, greedy, and cunning
Of the Arab gcndarmcS who had captured
him in the desert; Of their horses, and then
the shadowy forms and the eyes Of the desert
beasts. the hycnas and jaCkals that had
scuiilcd about him out there in the darkness
their eyes little points Of yellow light
Belmont was dreaming now. And he
dreamed that one Of the desert beasts, hun
gricr and bolicr than the others, was cdging
in and in upon him, nearer and nearer. lie
shouted To scare it away; but instead II
lcapcd at him, burying its teeth in his thigh.
And Belmont woke suddenly with little
s,ihcl scream and sprang up from the couch,
every muscle strung like steel wire, every
nerve alert and tense with the horror OF the
thing and the sudden mad cXaltation OF SELF
defense. And in that one keen, winged mo-
mcnt ne saw not a yard from him a man
with knife swung far back over his shoulder
10 strike, a man whose right shoulder was
hunchcl. whose face famed with murder.
And Belmont, supcrhuman for brict sec
ond from the horror Of his dream struck like
lightning For an instant OF time. no more,
he was invinciblc, invulncrablc His
clcnchcd fs, smashed full into the horrii
face before him and The Shoulder dropped
like a dead thing.
II was ovcrl
Belmont stood over the form At his feet,
his ccry cxalta,ion cbbing. He became con-
scious Of little pain at his thigh-and a
smell Of burnt cloth. He looked down, and
saw that the cigarette that had slipped from
his fingers had fallen on his thigh and burnt
a hole through the cloth OF his uniform and
touched his flesh
He had dreamed the pain to be the teeth
Of a wild animal: it proved to be no more
than a smoldcrIng cigarette. But II had