The Mena weekly star., 1913-06-26

camel-way, there being a larger oasis r~re tveaty-odd miles to the north. Cut Matomed felt safe at this distance. and decided to freshen up the caravan by a two-days' rest.
 George immediately began to show Fortune Title attentions. He fixed her saddle-bags, spread out her blanket brought her some ripe dates of his own picking, insisted upon going to the well and drawing the water she was to drink. And oh! how sweet and cool that water was, after the gritty fiat liquid they had been drinIing, Just before sundown, he and Fortune set out upon a voyage of discovery; and Ryanne paused in his game of pa tience to wa ch them. There was more seli-abnegation than bitterness in his eyes. Why not? If Fortune re- turned to her mother, sooner or later the thunderbolt would fall. Far better that she should fall in love with Jones than to go back to the overhanging shadow. A smile lifted the corners of his lips, sad smile. Percival didn't look the part of a hero. His coat was variously split under the arms and across the shoulders; his trousers were ragged, and he walked in his cloth pads like a man who had gout in both feet. A beard covered his face, and the bare spots were blistered and peeling. But there was youth in Percivals eyes and youth in his heart. and surely the youth in hers must some day respond. She would know this young man; she would know that diversity could not crush him; that the promise of safety could not make a coward of him; that he was loyal and brave and honest. She would know in twenty days what it takes the average woman twenty years to learn. the manner of man who professed to love her. Ryanne left the game unfin- ished, stretched himself upon the ground. Oh, the bitter cup, the bitter cup!
 Round the fire that night, the camel boys got out their tom-toms and reeds. and the eerie music affected the white people hauntingly and mysteriously. For thousands of years, the high and low notes of the drums (hollow earth en-jars or large gourds covered with goat-skin at one end) and the thin, me- tallic wall of the reeds had echoed across the deserts, unchanged The boys swayed to and fro to the rhythm, gradually working themselves into an ecstatic frenzy.
 Fortune always remembered that night. Wrapped in her blanket, she had lain down just outside the circle, and had fallen into a doze When the music stopped and the boys left the prisoners to themselves, George and Ryanne talked.
 q never forget faces," began George.
 No? That's a gift"
 And I have never forgotten yours. I was in doubt at first, but not now"
 q never met you till that night at the hotel"
 That's true. But you are Horace Wadsworth, all the same, the son of the millionaire-banker, the man used to admire in the field"
 You still think I'm that chap?"
 q am sure of it. The first morning you gave yourself away"
 What did I say?" anxiously.
 You mumbled football phrases"
 "Ah!" Ryanne was vastly relieved He seemed to be thinking
 Do you persist iii denying it?" "I might deny it, but I shan't. I'm Horace Wadsworth, all right. Fortune knows something about that chapter but not all. Strikes you odd, eh ?" con. tinued Ryanne, iron in his voice Every opportunity in the world; and yet, here I am. How much do you know, I wonder?"
 You took some money from the bank, think they said"
 "Right-O! Wine, Percival; cards wine and other things. Advice and warning went into one ear and out of the other Always so, eh? You have heard of my brother, dare say. Well he wouldn't lend me two stamps were to write for the undertaken to come and collect my remains. Beautiful his tory! I've been doing some tall think ing these lonely nights. Only the straight and narrow way pays. Be good, even if you are lonesome. When get back, if l ever do, it's new leai for mine. Neither wine nor cards nor women"
 Silence. The fire no longer blazed; it glowed
 "Who Is Mrs. Chedsoye?" George finally begaf anew.
 First, how did you chance to make her acquaintance?
 Some years ago, at Monte Carlo"
 And she borrowed a hundred and fifty pounds of you"
 "Who told you that?" quickly.
 "She did. She paid you back"
 "Yes."
 And she hadn't intended to. You poor innocent"
 "Why do you call me that?"
 "To lend money at Monte Carlo to a woman whose name yoH did not know at the time Green, green as a paddy field! I'll tell you who she is, because you're bound to learn sooner or later. She is one of the most adroit snug glers of the age; jewels and rare laces. And never once has the secret-sCrvice been able to touch her. Her brother, the Major, assists her when he isn't f1eecing tender lambs at all known games of chance. He's a card-sharp, one of the best of them. He tried to teach me, but I never could cheat a man at cards Never makes any false moves, but waits for the quarry to of