The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-04-05
cHAPTERi III.

As he stepped OUT VI 'he NV -
0,Royrke remarked a light IN NE
room visible through the trahson'
ever the door. =,
.rho femme de chambre,' ne
,houobt Sure ard the poor thlns :
stll busy trying to clear up :
To the contrary, he found the uool
foet IT'S careless she was to leaVe
t5e Ijght on" he observed, fitting MS
Key In the lock.
II th~oughtless in that one way. Inc
woman had fulfilled tho letter OF heF
vord in the other. 1t was win com
rrehenslye relief (since he anticipated
caller, that he found the room once
again presentable.
Rut one thing surprised him; ana
more surprising still was the fact that
his ordinarily Indifferent eye shoulu
have detected 1t at the first glance
pe had indeed hardly entered before
he became aware Of a square oil "hl'e
MAJ nor tucked in the corner OF the ou'
reau mirror.
"The divvle, now!" he greeted IT.
.7,ha.,s curious Could n Of
mo many admirers have bribed the
femme de chambre to bring a note TO
me?~ He chuckled. holding to the
I;pht n much soiled envelope, grimy
with the marks of many fingers. plas'
tered with stamps and black with
hostage marks and substitute ad-
dresses. having evidently been for
yarded over half the world before II
reached the addressee; who was,
in a bold hand, Colonel Terence
O'Rourke."
He whistled low over this, examin'
ing It jntently, infinitely less concern
ed with Its contents than with the
manner by which it had reached him.
The arst postmark seemed to be that
OF Rangoon, the original address, the
Cercle MilitaIre, his club in Paris.
Thence, apparently, 1t had sought him
In Galway, Ireland, Dublin. Paris again.
and finally-after half a dozen other
sddresses-"C. of Nine. O'Rourke, Ho-
tel Carlton, London" The London
postmark was indecipherable. 4.
He found himself trembling violent
". By n hand alone could this
have reached him, since the post had
not brought 1t to Monte Carlo. .
He recalled that woman's voice which
had so stirred him, the woman OF the
Casino whose bearing had seemed to
him so familiar. . .
Some one tapped on the door; he
smothered a curse of annoyance, and
went to answer, thrusting the letter
into his pocket.
A page announced Monsieur lie
Comte des Trebes.
Show the gentleman up" snapped
0'Rourke. He was about to add, I'm
five minutes" when Des Trebes him.
self appeared.
Anticipating that message, mon
%sieur," he said, moving into view
from one side of the door, 81 took the
liberty of accompanying this boy. |
am late. | fear"
0Rourke forced a nod and smile Of
welcome, Not to my knowledge" said
he.
The Frenchman consulted his watch.
Ten minutes late, monsieur; it Is ten
past midnight"
Then" said O'Rourke, the top O
the morning to ye. Enter. monsieur"
he stood aside, closing the door be-
him his guest. IT'S no matter; II
thought ye p%unctual, It's SO ye are
10 all intents and purposes. . Il
A chair, monsieur" He established
pes Trebes by a window. And a Gig
arctic? A drop to drink?
-. AS We will. And since
Ills to talk secret business that we're
here-would ye like the door locked?"
That is hardly essential" Des Ire.
Oes reviewed his surroundings with
swift. searching glance. I'VE are at
least secure from interruption; one
NNulu dsh Lllle more.
True for ye." laughed O'Rourke. He
moved toward the alcoye. Now first
OF all I'm to submit proofs of me iden.
t'y, believe" he added. intending to
Gig out of his trunk a dispatch.box
containing his passports and other pa.
pers o. a private nature.
But Des Trebes had changed his
mud. That is unnecessary, mon.
sleur' Your very willingness is sufis
Gent proot- ! have your word and
am content"
That's the way of doing business
mat | like" assented o'Rourke heart
ny warming a little to the man as he
turned back a chair facing the vi.
eomte. Besides, | quarrel with no
mans right to be reasonable. =.
ana now I'm at your service. mon.
Des Trebes, lounging back. knees
crossed. thin white fingers interlac.
black eyes narrowing, regarded
1ne irishman thoughtfully for a mo.
nlent- Abruptly he sat up and re.
nuVeo from an inner pocket a long
.Aln white envelope. thrice sealed with
~ wax and innocent OF N super.
Scrlption whatever.
are Q prepared. monsieur" he
demanded incislyely. to play blind.
buff?"
Am ! WHAT. asked o,Ror.sa st.r