The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1912-04-19


gument of his attitude. Il beg to call
your attention." he remarked. Ito the
fact that ye have left me own brace
OF revolvers here at me feet, when ye
so joyoUsly turned me bag inside OFT.
I'm not touching them, mind ye. but
mind ye further: I'll brook no nom
sense II We make a move as If to at
tack me, I'll There! That's
much better Wise lads. We are. both
Of ye: graceful in defeat Let me see:
We've a long ride together, though
We did come unlimited. trust ye
will help me beguile the tedium with
society chatter, me friend" with a
twinkle at the discounted vicomte.
I'm in danger of forgetting me man
ners. Pardon me- pray. but-but |
trust your nose is convalescing?"
In high feather with himself,
ORourke entertained bis companions
with a running fire of pleasantries for
the balance of the darkened hours
And he touched both more than once
with the rapier-point Of his wit and
irony, and had the pleasure of seeing
both squlrm in impotent rage. They
cut wretched figures. two against one,
yet failures, while he tainted them in
one breath, with the next declared
himself their captive. Toward the end
thu reserve which the vicomte i'm
posed upon the Honorable Berthe was
worn down: the Englishman turned
with raw nerves upon his tormentor.
You damned asst" he stammered,
all but incoherent You sit there
and-and gloat, damn you'll When all
the time we've got the upper hand! z"
BE quiet!" interposed the vicomte.
81 won'tl" ragged the honorable, HE
thinks himself so Internally cleverl
What 'dyou say, you Irish braggart, If
| told you you'd never see the Pool
of Flame again?"
I'D say" returned O'Rourke, that
you were either lying or fool. In
either case a fool. If, as We seem to
be trying to make me believe-which
| don't for one instant-ye have sue
ceeded in stealing the Pool of Flame,
I'll hunt the pair of ye to the ends OF
the earth. II need be-"
He eyed them refectively during a
moment or two made interesting by
Glynn's desperate attempts to blurt
out indiscretions against the prohibi.
ton Of the vicomte: something which
the older man enforced crudely by
clapping his hand across the English.
mans mouth, as we'll as by whisper.
ing savagely in his ear.
But there'll be no need" continued
the Irishman, when Glynn was calm
Lets consider the matter dispassion
ately, presupposing that ye have the
stone. Well, what then? Ye dare moi
attempt to sell it-twould result IN
instant detection. 1t would not pay
ye to have 1t secretly cut up into
smaller stones-the loss in value
would be stupendous, the whole mo-
worth your while. as l say. Ye can
not take the Pool of Flame (don't get
excited: I'm not going to tell ye
where) to claim the reward, for "
don't know where to go. IT'S a white
elephant it would be on your hands.
1T does not seem to strike mon
sieur that there are other ways o
finding out who offers the reward.
the vicomte suggested icily.
81 can see ye wandering around ask
Ing somebody please to relieve We o
the Pool Of Flame and pay We com
mission. | wonder how long ye thinl
ye'd last. But tbs no use trying Il
hoodwink me: don't believe on,
word ye say. I'll wait until find on
the truth before bother meself will
ye"
Their persistence in limiting tina
they had gained possession of thu
ruby perplexed and discounted him
He did not believe it; twas incon
ceivable: yet-he had known strange
things to happen. Still. without
clue, to have stumbled upon the sc
cret, to have made off with 1t from
under the very nose of the Governor
General! No; 1t was not reason
able to ask him to believe all that
Nevertheless, when he arrived a
Algiers. his anxiety had grown s,
overpowering that he called a cab an
desired to be conveyed post-haste Il
the Palace de la Government
HIApTEP