The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-02-09

! titude puzzled O'Rourke; he would
! hardly have believed this of the man;
rather he could have conceived Of him
as denying the theft to the last and
fighting like an unclaimed fend to re-
tain his booty His present pose was
out of character, or the 1rishman mis-
judged him.
Out of character or no, it was com
Portable. The serang, will. 'load bent
was fumbling in the folds cf Lis sash;
O'Rourke thought him over long about
it, yet was inclined to give him time
in view of his abject surrender.
At length, still smiling oddly, the
man lifted his eyes md stretched
forth hand tight closed. The sa-
hib," he said gently, shall see thai
his servant spoke truth. Lei this
weigh with the sahib for mercy. Be-
hold"
The brown fingers Enclosed and in
the hollow of his Palm trembled that
which seemed a ball of crystalized
rose fire, the stone that man has
named the Pool of Flame. O'Rourke
uttered a low cry of satisfaction, STEP
ping forward to snatch up the jewel.
simultaneously he was aware of a
quick gasp from the direction Of the
woman, followed, ere he could account
for them, by two pistol shots.
The adventurer groaned, pitching
forward blindly, one side of his head,
from the ear to the temple, a-quiver
with an agony as II a white-hot iron
had scared him there. He stretched
forth an arm aimlessly and gripped an
iron stanchion, stopping his fall, and
hung there for what seemed an con,
sea and skies swimming blood-red be-
fore his eyes, in his ears thunder
Gus rushing as Of mighty waters.
By a supreme effort Of will he kept
himself halt-erect, clinging to the rail,
and opened his eyes. So briefly had
pain blinded him that It was patent
barely a second had elapsed since the
Sring Of the shots. To his left a
stricken lascar was still in the act Of
falling; before him Mrs. Prynne stood
motionless, her face mask Of horror,
revolver still poised; to the right the
serang, drawing kris, was smiling
sardonically, his eyes fixed upon the
woman who had set at naught his
plans.
O'Rourke tried to call warning to
her, for it was plain that she was ap-
palled by what she had done, needless
of all but the man she had killed; but
it was as if the bullet that creased his
temple had temporarily paralyzed
him; his tongue clave to the roof of
his mouth and he could neither move
nor speak.
Powerless Che believed), he watched
the serang gather himself together,
like some gaunt cat, and spring; in
two strides he would have been upon
the woman and the night had been
crowned with it's most pitiful crime.
Yet in midair, O'Rourke saw the man
falter and fall back, dropping the
kris and clutching frantically at moth
ing.
Stupidly the adventurer saw the
smoke trickling from the muzzle of
his own revolver and knew that, some
how, he had managed to pull the trig~
ger. His heart leapt in his breast, so
keen was his gratitude. Trembling
in every limb, he essayed second
time to fire and put final period to
the serang's career. But his shot
went wide and the cylinder jammed
so that the hammer would not rise
a second time. With an oath he let
go the rail and attempted to bridge
the distance between himself and the
lascar, who was now at a considera,
BILE distance reeling away toward the
rail.
But his overtaxed strength, sapped
by loss of blood, failed him; and NAL
ice infused new vigor into the serang,
new power to accomplish his final
fendish act.
Grinning with anguish, the man
leapt away from O'Rourke, staggered
and, jerking back his arm, flung the
Pool Of Flame from him with all his
might.
O'Rourke paused, petriied with de-
spair. The great stone, glinting in
the moonlight like the very heart Of
fire, described long and flaming arc
and the sea leapt up witt a
hiss to welcome it and it was gone.
A bitter cry broke from the Irish
nnan,e Inns. he mada for the mar