The Marshall republican., 1912-01-04

isned a long goose quill and adjust.
huge horn spectacles on bis nose.
II am ready" he uttered. his littl'
black eyes fixed greedily on the ruby.
Lawler. In the suffering Hindu
stani he had learned. dictated tn,
terms of the short document. WheI
he had concluded and the paper hal
been duly signed and witnessed Law
Ter counted out the price of the Eye o
Benares and pushed a pile Of COLDER
rupees across the table.
At the same instant he picked up th,
ruby and, carefully rolling 1t In n sill
handkerchief. placed 1t in the innei
pocket of his linen coat The Brahmai
watched him ceaselcssly.
Lawler rose to his feet with q sharI
breath Of satisfaction Mt the conclu
sion of such a good piece Of business
His firm had given him n commission
to purchase for one Of their customer,
as large a ruby as the worlds market,
Afforded, and the agent confidently be
lieved he had accomplished the task.
Hanzai- Benal placed the rupees In ,
large bag and tossed the bag over hi,
shoulder. IL did not fail to the floor
but disappeared soundlessly. as though
Il might have been caught by a pair OF
dark hands and passed on to one anc
another pair until secrecy had swal
lowed 1t up. The riahl.an moved {,
the narrow entrance OF the shop anc
blocked the opening by carelessl,
lounging there.
Farewell. Hanzai-Benal." said Law
Ter courteously. 81 shall return nexi
year and look ut your goods. II 20,
have anything of great merit-like the
Eye OF Benares-let me know through
the medium Of the public letter writer
Here's my card"
He dropped the bit OF pnsteboaro
down on the table and turned to 20
As he did so there was n rushing for
ward from the shndowy corners. o
heavy cloak was thrown ovcr his head
while agile fingers slipped here and
there among his garments In search Of
the Eye Of Benares.
Help. helpr" yelled LAWYER M he
pulled out his revolver and ~endcavored
20 crowd the muzzlc under tho edge
Of the mufiing cloak.
They pulled out the white hnndker.
chief in which he had wrapped the
Eye OF Benares. only to fpd It empty
for Stephen Lawler by clever sleighi
OF hand had deluded them and con.
cealed the ruby elsewhere. While
they searched him with nImble fingers
he struggled to release himself from
their wiry grasp. IL was n case OF one
losing his strength when all at once
there came the welcome sound Of nm
English speaking voice. and n stout
stick was laid heavily among the
squirming legs in the shop.
Az II the stick had possessed some
magic inspired by tho sharp authori'
tative voice OF its wielder. LAWYERS
assailants vanished. bearing with them
the ~enveioping cloak. Hanzai- BenaI
stili sat before his table. replacing the
jewels in the box. his placid features
somewhat disturbed.
In the doorway was n stout figure
clad in gray nannels-a good Ameri
can foce. clean shaver, strong and ut,
terly fearless. whats oil this2 Hey
there" bawled the stranger ut the
jewcler.
LAWYER stepped down into the street
aud his hearty hand struck the open
palm of the newcomer. "Mr. Ferriss
where did you come from7 I have &c
thank Won for saving me from a nasty
row.. You came In the nick Of time
Don't thank me-thank Beatrice
here. Ny dear. where arc you hiding
All. this Is Stephen Lawler-used e
know his father. This is my daughter
Lawler found himself greeting the
most charming girl he had ever met
and he wondered why he had never
known that Mr.. Ferriss must have
had a daughter. He had missed year
Of Joy In not knowing her before.
Mr.. Ferriss wal indulging In a lin
guistic combat with Hanzai-B cnal In {
broken mixture Of English, Arabic
scraps of Latin aud very little Hindu
stani. LAWYER came TO the rescue.
"Just tell him." sputtered Ferriss
hopping his heated brow. shat hav'
called to get the ruby my daughteI
left here to be engraved. She took /,
fancy to have Il engraved. II isn't
first class stone; 1 nav as well admi
u. picked It up last year Mt an auc
ton in Paris. but Bee doesn'
know that. She thinks its a pigeoI
blood. Tell the old rascal I've come
for 1t and I want 1t In a hurry; got 4
catch a train for Calcutta"
Lawler looked long into the shrinking
face OF Hanzai- Benai. and then from
some mysterious source about his gar
ments he brought forth the Eye o
Benares. "This the :hing?" he aske'
carelessly.
Eyes. and the rascal hasn't touche,
n vet. Never mind. Here. Beerp III,