The Bourbon news., 1912-01-09

Ah6 up tHc party IOi ILLS MS0Itcx-
ranean trip. >. I had no idea
where to send you the letter. Have
you read it?"
Have had time, sweetheart Of
miner"
There was an interlude.
In the distance the thunder rolled
and rumbled.
Resolutely the young woman dis
engaged herself and withdrew to q lit
tie distance.
Read, monsieur" she insisted, per-
emptorily.
I've better things to do, me DEAR
he retorted with composure
You'll find 1t interesting"
Il find me wife more interesting
than How dye know I will?"
Perhaps / have read it."
O'Rourke turned the letter over I'M
his hand and noted what had thereto.
fore escaped his attention-the fact
that the envelope, badly frayed on the.
edges through much handling, was.
open at the top.
so We may" he admitted.
1T was that way when I received IT,
And I have read it. How could help
it?"
Then ye've saved me the bother."I
He prepared to rise and capture her.
She retreated briskly. 'Reads"s
she commanded. Read about the.
Pool of Flannel
He stopped short, %thunderstruck.,
"The Pool of Flame?" he reitefated
slowly. What dye know about that?
What the letter tells memo more.
What has become of it?"
But he had already withdrawn tho
enclosure and tossed the envelope
aside, and was reading-absorbed, ex-
cited, oblivious to all save that con-
veyed to his intelligence by the writ.
| ing beneath his eyes.
1t was a singularly curt, dry and
| business-like document for one that
was destined to mold the romance Of
his life-strangely terse and tritely
phrased for one that was to exert so
far-reaching an influence over the lives
of so many men and women. Upon a.
single sheet of paper bearing their let
| terhead, Messrs. Secretan and Sypher,
solicitors, of Rangoon, Burmah. had
caused to be typed communication
| to Colonel Terence O'Rourke, inform
| ing him that on behalf of client who
| preferred to preserve his incognito
they were prepared to offer a reward
of one hundred thousand pounds ster-
A fnr ho int or nm
marred, of the ruby known as the
Pool of Flame The said ruby was,
when last heard Of. in the possession
Of the said Colonel O'Rourke, who
would receive the reward upon the
delivery OF the said stone to the un-
| dersigned at their Offices In Rangoou
within six months from date. Said
| delivery might be made either In per-
son or by proxy. With which Messrs.
Secretan and Sypher begged to re-,
main respectfully his
The Irishman read it once and again.
| memorizing it's import; then deliber.t
| ately shredded it into minute parti-
cles.
so it's come" he said heavily, Just
| as the O'Mahoney foretold 1t would!"
He sank back in his chair, and his
| wife went to him and perched herself
| upon the arm of it, imprisoning his
head with her arms and laying her
cheek against his.
What has come, my heart?"
"One hundred thousand pounds
he said. Treble its worth.
double what the O'Mahoney expect
WHO is the O'Mahoney, dear?"
He reused. "An old friend, Beatrfx
an old comrade. He died some years
back, on the banks of the Tugela.
| fighting with a Boer commando. He
| was lonely man, without kith or kin
or many friends beside meself. That.
l presume, is how he came to leave
| the Pool of Flame with me-" He
wound an arm round her and held her
close. "Hearken, dear, and I'll be
telling We the story of it,
Behind them the inferpaL glare lit
up the portentous skies. Thunder
echoed between clouds and sea like
heavy cannoning. The wife shrank
| close to her beloved. Il am not at all
| afraid" she declared. when her voice
could be heard-'with you :
Tell me about the Pool of Flame"
"The O'Mahoney left 1t with me
when he went to South Africa" .ex-
| planned O'Rourke. Twas a paste
board box the size of me fist, wrapped
| in brown paper and tied with bit OF
string, that he brought me one even
ing, saying he was about to leave, and
would care for it in his absence I
knew no more of it than that twas
something he valued highly, but / put
| it away In safe-deposit vault-which
he might've done if he hadn't been a
| scatterbrain-an Irishman.
Then he wrote me a letter. got
| it weeks after his death saying he
felt he was about to go out. and that
| the Pool of Flame was mine. He
| went on to explain that the box con-