The Lamar register., 1912-01-17
CHAPTER =.

one u hose days whose Bolo Iunction
seems to reside In rendering us irri-
tably conscious OF our too-close cas-
ings Of too-solid flesh; whose humid
and inert atmosphere, sodden with
tepid moisture. clings palpably to the
body, causing men to feel a. II they
orawled, half-suffocated. at the bot
tom of a sea of rarefied water.
The hour may have been eight; II
may have been not quite that. but II
was almost dark. The windows were
oblongs, black as night In the yellow
walls Of O'Rourke's bedchamber In the
Hotel d'Orient. Monte Carlo.
have the honor to make known
to you the O'Rourke OF Castle
oRourke in the county Of Galway.
ireland; otherwise and more widely
known as Colonel Terence O'Rourke:
a chevalier OF the Legion Of Honor OF
France; sometime an oficer In the
Foreign Legion In Algiers; wander
or, spendthrift. free-lance. cosmopol
fte-a gentleman adventurer, he's been
termed.
He was dressing for dinner. Tho
glare of half dozen electric bulbs dis
covered him all but ready for public
appearanoe-not. however. quite ready.
In his shirt sleeves he faced . cheva.
glass, pluckily az with the haggard
eye Of exasperation) endeavoring to
outmaneuver q demon Of inanimate
psrversity which had entered into his
dress tie, melting It to refuse to as
sumo, for all his coaxing and his STRAIT
agems, that effect Of nonchalant per
lection 90 much sought after. % sell
dom achieved.
Patiently was the thing possessed
By devil: O'Rourks made no manner
Of doubt Of that. Though for minutes
at . time he fumbled. ndgetsd. TUNED.
It was without avail.
His room itself was in . state Of
considerable Misunderstanding due
mainly to O'Rourke's Characteristic Of
forts to md Just what he might hap
pen to desire at any given time with
out troubling to think whore II ought
properly to Be.
Something Of this confusion. mir
rored In the glass. was likewise re-
6scted In O'Rourke's eyes, what time
he paused for breath and profanity.
-
the place." he admitted. scandalissd-
How ever did I-one lone man-do
all that. will ye be telling met" He
dung out two helpless baffled hands.
and let them fall. After . msditative
pause he added: Damn that Alsar
uani"-with reference to his latest
and least competent valet. who had
but recently been discharged with .
dea in his ear and q months unearn-
cd wage in his pocket. FOR moving
me ways" sighed O'Rourks. there
was never anyone the like Of Danny"
For a. many a. three livelong days
this man had been reduced to the ne
oessity of dressing himself with his
own fair hands-and that at least
thrice daily. who did nothing by
halves. And. somehow. mysteriously.
his discarded garments had for the
most part remained where he had
thrown them, despite the earnest Of
forts Of the femme de chambre to re
store something resembling order from
this man-made chaos. For servants
all liked well the O'Rourks. IMPROVE
dent soul that he was, frsehandsd
to q fault
You are invited to picture to your
self O'Rourke as invariably he was
In one Of his not infrequent but ever
transient phases OF anluence: that II.
q very magnificent figure indeed.
Standing a bit over six feet, deep OF
chest and lean OF flank. with his long.
straight legs he looked what he had
been meant to be, q man Of arms and
action. His head was shapely, its
dark hair curling the least In the
world: and. incredibly stained. q trans
parent brown. his features were lean.
eager. and rendered very attractive
BY quick boyish eyes in whose warm
blue-gray depths humor twinkled
more often than no. though those
same eyes were not seldom thought
full. a trace wistful. perhaps. with
the look of one who recalls dear mem
cries, old friends and swesthearts
loved and lost. For he had
begun to live early in life and had
much to look back upon. though for
an that it's doubtful II he were more
than thirty at the time he became In
volved In the fortunes Of the Pool
OF Flame.
For the rest of him, barring the re-
fractory tie. the man was strikinsly
well groomed, while his surroundings