El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-04

Wne L returned from China to
spend a couple of weeks with him.
Nine. PujOl, also was charming. She
was a very beautiful woman from
Marseilles, who IeIt like an exile in
this place It was the first time I had
seen her as my friend had not been
long married.
We talked about his home and the
social pleasures it offered 10 cultured
people. With sigh Nine. Pujol told
me that the list Of those who called or
her contained but two names, an cd
English woman who could not sp ak
word of French, and the prophecies
OF Hotel de IUniVer, a brave woman
from Champagne, who was more used
to Quarreling with Arab iCafers than
cOnEersing with a woman.
When 1 pitied Nine. PujOI her hus-
band smiled and said.
Now don't conceal anything dear.
Why don't you tell US you have an
admirer in the Arab quarter?
Nine. PujOl shrugged her pretty
shoulders and said. Yes. an admirer
who is as black as a chimney sweep"
Black he is indeed" said PujoI,
but very handsome and very rich. He
owns the largest coffee business here
he controls the whole output Of Mocha.
L VIII take you to mis- house tomorrow
and will bet you have never seen lux
like his Ny wife spends many hours
there and If were not on my guard
our brave friend MUlud would send
US everything his house contains. under
the pretext that it pleases her ladyship,
as he calls my wife"
How you always do exaggerate."
said Nine PujOl, now visibly annoyed.
You must not believe everything he
says, NJ de Tinseau. ] have not been
weeks"
MY wife is out Of humor because
she lost piece Of jewelry this morn
ing" said PujOl-
4
day have been looking for one Of my
two black pearls which L always wear
in my ears and which my husband
brought me from CeylOn. Look at the
one I have left Isn't it beautiful?"
7 looked at IL very closely and
found that Nine PujOrs favOrite per-
fume was violet and that she had IN
unusually pretty little pink ear.
The next day we drove through the
native quarter to visit Mulud. Nine.
PujOPs admirer. accompanied by a well
known scientist and globe trOtter, a
correspondent member Of the Institute
de France
Mulud who speaks English like a
LOndOner and is splendid specimen
OF the genuine thoroughbred Arab. re-
ceived Us most cordially and was de-
lighted to show Us his house. When
we had seen everything coffee was
served. and with the coffee the inevi-
table pipe and a jug Of cold water.
Now there are only two kinds OF
water in Alden. that which is manu-
featured by an English syndicate in
the town itself and that which has
come Is kilOmeters across the desert
on the back Of a camel PuJOl used
the former exclusively even for bath
ing purposes
Strange enough this water served
by Mulud had absolutely no taste OF
sheepsSin nor did IL appear to be 81
the manufactured variety 1t was per-
haps not quite clear and il actually had
q smell OF violets-
The scientist noticed this as well as
I did for after tasting and. smelling il
several times he asked me- Don't You
think this water has very peculiar
taste"
yes" I said. ct tastes Of vioIets.7
Exactly" he whispered And now
I will tell you something you perhaps
do not know. Among the numerous
products derived from coal, there are
some which have distinct smell OF
viOlets and which are used by manu-
facturers of perfumes. From this !
deduct that this water must come
from a stratum containing coal
coal mine near Adeni That would be
to the man who finds it. Remember
that every ounce OF coal used here
comes from England"
And then he began to ask all kinds
OF questions about the location of the
spring from which the camel drivers
brought the water. He meant to eX-
anime it the very next day, but first
he wanted sample to have II an
alyzed. What surprised me most was
that this seemed to make our host
feel very uncomfortable. Indeed. his
answers grew more and more confused
Finally we were forced to leave, and
I poured a last tumberfun Of the wa
ter I heard something hard falling
into my glass. 1t was black pearl
exactly like the one Nine. Pujol had
showed me the day before.
I felt sorry for my friend PuJoL
Nine. Pujol must have visited Mulud
Yesterday, though she said she had
not been here for weeks. Mulud looked
at me in a way which did not please
me at all and the presence Of PuJol, OF
course. prevented me from making
further inquiries
While the scientist corked his bottle
I succeeded in slipping the pearl in
we then left the Arab and I went
back alone to my friends house as Re
said he had some business on board
Before left for France saw Nine
PujoI alone and said. to her in very
stern voice:
Before I say good bye to you must
give you back this pearl
She bIushed with joy
why it is my black pearl Where III
the world did you find it.?
IN Muluiaben Said's house, / re-
piled. Colby GUlUllcLSlAAAA6 NclNA-
Thank God PujOI knows nothing
about it,
AS she seemed greatly surprised. 1
went on in the same tone: That Is
all know. and 1 do not wish to know
any more. I hope I need not tell YOU
that your secret is perfectly safe with
me. Goodbye
I barely touched her finger tips and
made no attempt to conceal my indig-
nation I wanted her to feel that at
least she had not deceived me-
The other day I met Pujol and mis-
wife on Boulevard des ltalien IN
Paris They seemed to be more IN
love with each other than ever and !
noticed that Pujol was wearing both
black pearls. We dined together and
naturally talked about Alden.
"By the way" said PujH suddenly
"you nearly drove US crazy about the
pearl YOU found at Mulud's house.
Were you not surprised YOURSELF!
At the moment 1 must admit was
greatly confused at this question and
my answer was unintelligible.
Imagine" said PujOl. my servant
had invented a novel way Of making
money. He sold TO the Arabs the wa
ter that was taken from my wife's
bath. The pearl must have fallen into
the tub and thus come to Mulud. But
how did you find it2'
'I nearly swallowed it the day we