Holbrook argus., 1912-03-19

of a woman in the caravan, or ot Prince Ralikim Khan.
 will your highness not rest in the shade and partake of cotfee?" the old Turk asked.
 I refused. Weary and dispirited, I turned away. Had they passed us or eyaded us2 And then, just when all was blackest, my foot struck against something half hidden beneath a bale of goods It was the dog collar that had seen in the apartment in Lon don; there was no mistaking 1t. l | sprang upon the old Turk and grssped 1 him by the throat.
 ''You lying scoundrel, which way have they gone?" I cried, shaking him back and forth till his false teeth rattled In their setting.
 He gurgled feebly. I released him, and he pointed feebly with shaking finger down the road by which they had come.
 "They had ridden on horseback-all three," he stammered. "The prince
 and she and the priest. They will
 cross the mountains by the footroad
 five miles away. Curses on him for
 disturbing the progress of us mer-
 chants; we have been in mortal fear of him and his heretic priest, the
 Persian"
 cast my eye along the line of
 picketed beasts, evidently the stable
 which Rakkim had abandoned when
 he discovered us awaiting him. must
 select the best and ride swiftly. Once
 over the Taurus, he could enlist un-
 limited aid among the Damascenes.
 picked out two supple splendid beasts.
 Two minutes later they were bridled and saddled and was following the
 sharp hoof-tracks into the mountains, as fast as I could pick them up.
 Ten minutes afterward 1 saw them ascending g slope two miles away from me. They looked back, I think, for all halted, and the horses appeared to be turned in irresolution. Then they were of again, over the crest and away.
 !. I rode each horse alternately, which
 gave my mounts an advantage Of speed. Half an hour afterward and , only the width of the valley divided us. Now I could see them plainly; l ,, saw the green turban of the priest dark against the snows of the sum-
 init that rose in front of them. And
 then my heart leaped with joy. They T could not cross that peak before . should be upon them. They had mis- calculated the viability of the pass in early April, when every stream was 6
 torrent and every path a morass.
 hurried onward.
 AS my horses picked their way ur
 the slope I saw the prince confer
 with his bishop. Then they delib
 erately turned back and rode toward
 me. Less than three hundred yards
 separated us now. saw him spur his
 steed; he came toward me at furious gallop; as he did so he pulled some
 thing from his breast and, an instant 1 later, I heard the sound of the dis
 mighty leap into the air as the bulle
 struck her. She bent at the knees
 her head hung; could scarcely sprin.
 clear of her before she toppled ant
 fell, pierced through the heart. A the same instant the other steet broke from my hand and went plunging and rearing, down the snow, slope. As I rose felt in my pisto pocket for my weapon. It was no there. Whether the old Turk ha robbed me or whether I had lost 1t do not know, but at this crisis I wa totally unarmed.
 Meanwhile the prince had refined i his horse hundred feet away in a1 ticipation of an exchange of bullet: Then he perceived my dilemma anC with furious cry, rode me down an encircled me in the abandonment C his triumph, pointing pistol at m brain.
 II I had risen to my feet; watche him silently, because there was notl ing to say. At last he spoke. 'In London" he said, his voic l trembling with rage, "the laws do nc permit an injured husband, whateve U his rank, to take the life of the vii
 lator of his home. But in Syria-el TX monsieur, why should you not die?" on I hardly understood the meaning { se- his harangue; I was thinking of m he unfulfilled mission and the failure ( ne my country's ends.
 ms He raised the pistol, took deliberat 'w- aim-then lowered it as scream ran ho through the hills. A moment later na' saw the princess come galloping dow on' toward us, the priest at her side, ln- vain attempting to restrain her.
 You shall not kill him." she e 'ed claimed in French. q lied to you. F lao was no lover of mine.' 'an "What?" cried the prince. Did the mt find him at vour side in the ga Ign den?"
 'i'' She burst into tantalizing laughte