Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-08-19


him capable of such baseness, though
at the time Of her abduction she had
been inclined to accuse him. That
he was here. a prisoner like herself,
was conclusive evidence, 30 far as she
was concerned. Of his innocence. But
she knew him to be responsible for
tho presence of Jones; knew him to
be culpable Of treachery Of the mean.
eat order: knew him to be lacking in
generosity and magnanimity toward q
man who was practically his benefac-
| tor. what does Mahomed want?''
1.-THE bally rug, Fortune. And Jones
here. who had It, says that it is gone. !"
Vanished, magic-carpet-wtse." sup
plemented George.
"And Jones would have given it up. -
"And a thousand like 1t, If we could
have bought you out Of this"
Jones and I could have managed
to get along"
eve shouldn't have mattered."
"And would you have returned to
F. Mr.. Jones his thousand pounds?"
j Eyes. and everything else have. :"
quite honestly.
Don't worry any moro about the
rug, then. I know where 1t u.s."
'Tcu?" cried the two men.
eyes. I stole It. did SO, thinking
to avert this very hour; to save you
from HARM" to George. "and you from
doing q contemplate thing" to Ry-
anne. 1T is in my room, done up in
the big steamer-roll. And now am
glad that I stole It,"
Ryanne laughed weakly.
Said George soberly: what con.
temptible thing?" He remembered
Mahomeds words in regard to Ry.
| anne as the latter lay inseusible in
the sand.
Ryanne, quick to seize the opportu-
nifty Of solving, to his own advantage,
the puzzle for George. and at tho same
time guiding Fortune away from q
topic, the danger Of which she knew
nothing. raised a hand. II bribed Ma
homed to kidnap you. Jones. Don't
b jnDatisnt. You laughed at me
when laid before you the prospectus
| Of the United Romance and Adven-
ture Company. wished to prove to
you that the concern existed And so
here 10 your adventure upon approval.
I thought, Of course. you still had tho
| rug. Mahomed was to carry you into
tho desert for a week, and by that
time you would have surrendered tho
rug. returned to Cairo, the hero Of q
full-hedsed adventure. Lord! what a
! mess Of It I've made. I forgot. next
to this bally rug, Mahomed loved me. :"
The hitherto credulous George had
OF late begun to look into facts in
stead of dreams. He did not believe
word Of this amazing confession, de-
spite the additional testimony Of For
tune, relative to Ryanne's statements
made to her in the bazaars.
"The bitter bitten" was Georges
sole comment.
Ryanne breathed easier.
why not tell Mahomed at once,
and have him send q courier back for
the rug?" suggested Fortune.
by Jove. that clears up everything.
Well do IL Immediately" George felt
better than he had at any stage OF the
adventure. Here was o simple way
out Of the difficulty.
Softly" said Ryanne. LET us
come down to the lean facts. II that
rug Is in your room, Fortune, your
mother has discovered It long before
now She will turn It over to your
estimable uncle. None Of us will ever
see 1t again, I'm thinking. The Major
knows that Jones gave me thousand
pounds for It." Struck by a sense Of
impending disaster, Ryanne began to
tumble in his pockets. Gone! Every
shilling of it gone! "He's got that,
too; Mahomed; the cash you gave me,
Jones. Wait moment; don't speak;
things are whirling about some. Over
nine hundred pounds; every shilling
Of It. We mustn't let him know that
I've missed II. I've got to play weak
in order to grow strong. But
they will at least start up row az
to your whereabouts. Fortune"
mo" thoughtfully: mo. do not
think they will"
The undercurrent was too deep for
George. He couldn't see very clearly
just then. The United Romance and
Adventure Company: was that all:
Was there not something sinister
behind that name. concerning him? He
looked patiently from the girl to the
adventurer.
Ryanne stared At the yellow desert
beyond. His brain was clearing rap
idly under the stimulus Of thought
He himself did not believe that they
would send out search.parties either
for him or for Fortune. He could not
fathon what had given Fortune he,
belief: but he realized that his owl
was based upon the recollection Of
that savage mood when he had thrown
down the gauntlet. Now they would
accept 1t. He had run away With For
tune as he had boldly threatened tt
do. Tho mother and her precious
brother would procsed At once to New
York without him. He had made .
fsne muddle Of It an. But for glass
Of wine and grain too much Of con
hdence. he had not been here this day
Mahomed, himself astif by this
9ne. came over e the group. leisure