Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-03-15

quite willing to discuss rugs and car
pets
| Having gained the room. Ryanne
threw of his coat and relighted his
cigar. which. In a saving mood. he had
/ allowed TO go out. He motioned George
to be seated
Just a little yarn before l show you
| the rug. See these cuffs?"
Yes"
You will observe that I have had
to reverse them. Note this collar!
Same thing. Trousers-hems bit
frayed. coat shiny at the elbows.
Ryanne exhibited his sole fortune.
-Four sovereigns between me and
jail"
George became thoughtful. He was
generous and kind-hearted among
! those he knew intimately or slightly.
but he had the instructive reserve OF
the seasoned traveller In cases like
this. He waited.
The truth is, I'm all but done for.
And II | fail to strike a bargain here
with you. Well. , should hate
TO tell you the result. Our consul
would have to furnish me passage
home. Were you ever up against II TO
the extent of reversing your cuffs and
turning your collars? You don't know
what life Is, then"
George gravely produced two good
cigars and offered one to his host
| There was an absence OF sound,
broken presently by the cheerful
crackle OF matches; two billowing
clouds OF smoke floated outward and
upward Ryanne sighed. Here was
cigar one could not purchase In all the
length and breadth OF the Orient. a
Pedro Murias. In one of his doubt
fully prosperous epochs he had smoked
them daily. How long ago had that
been?
"Yonder Is a rug. a prayer-rug, as
holy to the Moslem as the idols eye
is to the Hindu, as the Bible is to the
Christian. For hundreds Of years IT
never saw the outside OF the Sultan's
palace One day the late. the recently
late, Abdul the Unspeakable Turk.
gave II to the Pasha Of Bagdad.
Whenever this rug makes its appear
ance in Holy Mecca, 1t is worshiped,
and none but Sultan or a Sultan's
favorite may kneel upon II. Bagdad.
the hundred mosques, the old capital
OF Suleiman the Great, the dreary
Tigrjs and the sluggish Euphrates, a
muezzin from the turret calls to pray
er, and all that; eh7"
George leaned forward from his
chair, gentle terror In his heart.
THE Yhiordes? BY Jove! is that the
Yhiordes"
. Admiration kindled in Ryanne's
eyes. To have hit the bull's-eye with
so free and quick an aim was ample
proof that Percival Algernon had not
boasted when he said that he knew
something about rugs.
You've guessed it."
How did you come by it?" George
demanded excitedly.
why do you ask that?"
Man, ten-thousand pounds could
not purchase that rug, that bit OF car.
pet. Collectors from every port have
|, been after it In vain. And you mean
to tell me that it lies there, wrapped
; In butchers paper"
"Right-O!"
Ryanne solemnly detached a cuff
and rolled up his sleeve. The bare
muscular arm was SCARED by two
long, ugly knife-wounds, scarcely
healed. Next he drew up a trousers
leg, disclosing a battered shin. And
there's another on my shoulder-blade
the closest call | ever had. A mar
who takes his life in his hands, as
, have done, merits some reward. Mr.
Jones, I'll be frank with you. ] am g
kind of derelict Since was a boy,
have hated the humdrum of offices
of shops. ! wanted 10 be my own man
to go and come as / pleased. To de
this and live meant precarious ex
ploits. This rug represents one o.
them. ] am telling you the family
secret; l am showing you the skele
> ton in the closet. confidentially.
, stole that rug; and when ! say tha
the seven labors of our old frient
Hercules were simple diversions com
!, pared, you'll recognize the difficultie:
had to overcome. You know some
; thing of the Oriental mind. ] hand
, led the job alone. / may not be ou
of the jungle yet"
George listened entranced. He could
readily construct the scenes through
, which this adventurer had gone; th'
, watchful nights, the untiring patience
, the thirst, the hunger. the heat. Ant
. yet, he could hardly believe. He wa,
, a trife skeptical. Many a rogue hat
made the mistake Of playing George
/ age against his experience. He hat
, made some serious blunders In th'
! early stages of the business, how
. ever; and everybody. to gain some
, thing in the end. must lose something
Z at the start.
"If that rug Is the one j have IL
!. mind, you certainly have stolen II
q And II it's a copy, I'll tell you quickly
o enough"
. That's fair. And that's why,
q Ryanne declared, Il wanted you t.
\ look at 1t. To me, considering what
q have gone through to get 1t, to me
: ia the genuine carpet To your exper
g eve It may be only fine copy. know
this much, that rare rugs and pain,
. ings have many copies, and that SOM
a one is being hooked. sold. bamboozled
I sandbagged. every day in the week.
. | chic 10 the real article | want Won I,