Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-01-20

! Gil.
The door closed behind her mother
and the maid She waited for time.
Then she sprang to the window and
stood there She saw her mother
driven of. She was dressed in pearl.
grey, with Reynolds hat Of grey
velour and sweeping plumes; as hand
some and distinguished a woman as
could be found that day in all Cairo
The watcher threw her Baedeker, her
notebook and pencil violently into 3
corner. It had come to her at last,
this thing she had been starving for
since noon. She did not care what the
risks were; the storm was too high
in her heart to listen to the voice OF
caution. She would do It; for she
Judged 1t the one thing, in Justice to
her own blood, she must accomplish.
She straightway dressed for the street:
and IL she did not give the same care
as her mother to the vital function,
she produced an effect that merited
comparison.
She loitered before the porters bur.
eau till she saw him busily engaged in
answering questions Of some women
tourists. Then, with a slight but
friendly rod, she stepped into the bur-
eau and stopped before the key-rack.
She hung up her key. but took 1t down
again. as II she had changed her mind.
At least, this was the porters impress
sion as he bowed to her In the midst
of the verbal bombardment. Fortune
] went upstairs. Ten or fifteen minutes
elapsed, when she returned. hung up
the key, and walked briskly toward
the side-entrance at the very moment
George, in his fruitless search of her.
pushed through the revolving doors in
front. And all the time she was wond-
ering how 1t was that her knees did
not give under. It was terrible. She
balanced between laughter and tears,
thysterically.
She had gone scarcely q hundred
yards when she was accosted by q tall
Arab whom she indistinctly recollected
having seen before; where, she could
not definitely imagine. 1t was the
ragged green turban that cleared away
her puzzlement The Arab was the
supposed beggar over whom Percival
chow easily she had fallen into the
habit of calling him that!) had STUN.
bled. He stood so tall and straight
that she knew he wasn't going to beg:
so naturally she stopped. Without a
word, without even look that ex-
pressed anything, he slipped a note
into her hand, bowed with Oriental
gravity, and stepped aside for her to
proceed. She read the note hastily az
she continued her way. Horace? Why
should he wish to meet her that even
ing, at the southeast corner Of the
| Sharia Mahomoud-El Falaki step or
so from the British Consulate's? And
she mustn't come in carriage nor tell
any one where she was going? Why
all such childish mystery? He could
see her far more conviently in the
lounging-room OF the hotel She tore
| the note into scraps and flung them
upon the air. She was afraid She
was almost certain why he wished to
meet her where neither her mothers
nor her uncle's eyes would be within
range. Should she meet him? Deeper
than this, dared she? Why had she
come to Cairo, when at Mentone she
had known peace such peace as des.
tiny was generous enough to dole out
to her? And now, out of this toler.
able peace, thousand hands were
reaching to rend her heart, to wiring
| it.. She decided quickly. Since she
had come this far, to 60 on to the end
would add but little to her burden.
Better to know all too soon than too
late.
That the note had not been directed
to her and that she was totally unfami.
liar with Ryannes handwriting, es.
capped her. She had too many other
things upon her mind to see all things
clearly, especially such trifes She
finished her walk, returning by the
way she had gone, gave the key to the
lift-boy, and In her room dropped
down upon the bed, dry-eyed and
weary. The most eventful day she had
ever known
And all the while George sat by the
window and watched, and at length fell
into frame Of mind that was irri.
table, irascible and self-condemnatory.
And when he found that his precious
Yhiordes was gone, his condition was
the essence Of all disagreeable emo
tons. It was beyond him how any one
could have stolen 1t. He never failed
to lock his door and leave the key with
the porter. And surely only a man with
wings could have gained entrance by
the window. Being thorough bust
hess man among other accomplish
ments. he reported his loss at once to
the management; and the manage.
ment set about the matter with celer-
| ity. At half after seven every maid
and servant in the hotel had been
questioned and examined, without the
least noticeable result. The rug was
nowhere to be found. George felt the
loss keenly. He was not so rich that
he could AFFORD to lose both the rug and
the thousand pounds he had paid for
| it. His first thought had been Of
Ryanne; but 1t was proved that
Ryanne had not been in the hotel since
morning; at least, no one had seen
him.
George gloomed about A beastly
day, all told; everything had gone
wrong, and all because he had over
slept. At dinner something was
wrong with the soup: the fish was
greasy; the roast was dry and stringy;
the wine, full Of pieces of cork. Out
into the lounging-room again; and
then the porter hurried over to him