Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1912-10-16

| forgotten these days. From the tail
of his eye he gave swift scrutiny to
his chance acquaintance, and he found
nothing to warrant suspicion. 1t 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, well set
up, blond and smooth-skinned. True,
he appeared to have been ill-fed re-
Gently. A little more flesh under the
cheek-bones, a touch Of color, and the
Irishman would have been handsome
man. George could read rug league
off, as they say, but he was child in
the matter Of physiognomy, whereas
Ryanne was postmaster in this re-
gard; 1t 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 a very old one. You see, it's
little fad of mine, outside the business
end of 1t. I'm crazy over real rugs,
and know something about every
rare one in existence, or known to ex-
list. Is 1t copy?"
mo. I'll tell you more about 1t
when we get to my room"
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 saving mood, he had
allowed to go out He motioned George
to be seated.
Just little yarn before I show you
the rug. See these cuffs?"
yes"
you will observe that 1 have had
Same thing. Trousers-hems bit
frayed, coat shiny at the elbows"
Ryanne exhibited his sole fortune.
-Four sovereigns between me and
jail"
George became thoughtful. He was
S0l1SAOuS anu hIAO-hCcIA ISu 1AAAOh6
those he knew Intimately or slightly,
but he had the instructive reserve of
the seasoned traveller in cases like
this. He waited.
"The truth is, I'm all but done for.
And If l fail to strike a bargain here
with you. Well, l should hate
to tell you the result. Our consul
would have to furnish me passage
home. Were you ever up against it to
the extent of reversing your cuffs and
turning your collars? You don't know
what life is, then"
George graveiy produced two good
cigars and offered one to his host.
broken presently by the cheerful
crackle Of matches; two billowing
clouds of smoke floated outward and
upward. Ryanne sighed. Here was
cigar one could not purchase in all the
length and breadth of the Orient,
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 Moslem 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 it's appear
ance in Holy Mecca, 1T is worshiped,
and none but a Sultan or a Sultan's
favorite may kneel upon 1t. Bagdad,
the hundred mosques, the old capital
of Suleiman the Great, the dreary
Tigris and the sluggish Euphrates, a
muezzin from the turret calls to pray
er, and all that; eh?"
George leaned forward from his
chair, a gentle terror in his heart.
"The Yhiordes? By Jove! is that the
Yhiordes?"
Admiration kindled in Ryanne's
eyes To have hit the bu1l's-eye with
so free and quick an aim was ample
proof that Percival Algernon had not
boosted when he said that he knew
something about rugs.
you've guessed it."
"How did you come by H?" George
demanded excitedly.
"Why do you ask that?"
Man, ten-thousand pounds could
not purchase that rug, that bit Of car
pet. Collectors from every port have
been after it in vain. And you mean
to tell me that it lies there, wrapped
in butchers paper?"
"Right-O"
Ryanne solemnly detached a cuff
and rolled up his sleeve. The bare
muscular arm was SCARED by two
long, ugly knife-wounds, scarcely
healed. Next he drew up a trousers
leg, disclosing a battered shin. "And
there's another on my shoulder-blade.
the closest call ever had. A man
who takes his life in his hands. as
have done, merits some reward. Mr..
Jones, I'll be frank with you. l am a
kind of derelict Since I was a boy. I
have bafod tho hum r,,y,, ~ oHo1~