The Neshoba Democrat., 1913-01-16


to trust the copper-hided devil? All
for the sake of one glass OF wine!
With an effort entailing no meager
pain In his side, he stilled the stra1g-
| ling hiccoughs, swung round and tried
| to smile reassuringly at the girl.
you are better?" she asked.
There was in the tone Of that CUES
tton an answer to all his dreams. One
| nights work had given him his ticket
to the land Of those weighed and
found wanting. She knew; how much
| he did not care; enough to read his
guilt.
| 1t appeared to George that she was
accepting the situation with a philos-
ophy deeper than either his or Ry-
anne's. Not a whimper, not a plant,
not protest so far had she made.
She was Roland in petticoats.
"Oh, I'm Dashed up bit," said Ry-
anne. "I'll get my legs in a day or
so. Fortune. will you answer one
question:"
"As many as you like"
How did you get here?"
| Don't you know"
George wasn't certain, but the girl's
voice was cold and accusing.
| "I?"
yes. Wasn't 1t the note that you
wrote to me- ?"
Ryanne took his head in his hands,
wearily. Il wrote you no note, For
tune; | have never written you a note
Of any kind. You do not know my
handwriting from Adams. In Gods
name, why didn't you ask your mother
or your uncle? They would have rec
ognized the forgery at once. Who
gave it to you" ,,
"Mahomed himself"
Damn him!" Ryanne grew strong
under the passing fit Of rage. mo,
don't tell me to be silent. don't care
about myself. I'm the kind of man
who pulls through, generally. But
this takes the spine out Of me. I'm
to blame; It's all my fault"
Say no more about It," She be-
lieved him. She really hadn't thought
him capable of such baseness, though
at the time Of her abduction she had
been inclined to accuse him. That
he was here, a prisoner like herself,
was conclusive evidence, so far as she
was concerned, Of his innocence. But
she knew him to be responsible for
the presence of Jones; knew him to
be culpable of treachery Of the mean.
est order; knew him to be lacking in
generosity and magnanimity toward q
man who was practically his benefae
tor. What does Mahomed want?'
"The bally rug, Fortune. And Jones
here, who had it, says that it is gone"
vanished, magic-carpet-wise," cup
iAemented George.
"And Jones would have given it up"
"And g thousand like 1t, If we could
have bought you out Of this"
Jones and l could have managed
to get along"
1--WE shouldn't have mattered"
and would you have returned to
Mr. Jones his thousand pounds?"
yes, and everything else ! have"
quite honestly.
Don't worry any more about the
rug then. l know where it is"
"You?" cried the two men.
yes. l stole it. l did so, thinkins
to avert this very hour; to save YOU
from HARM" to George. "and you froH
doing contemplate thing" to Ry
anne. "It is in my room, done up in
the big steamer-roll. And now I am
glad that l stole It,"
Ryanne laughed weakly.
Said George soberly: What con-
temptible thing?" He remembered
Mahomeds words In regard to Ry,
anne as the latter lay insensible in
the sand.
Ryanne, quick to seize the opportu-
nifty Of solving to his own advantage
the puzzle for George, and at the sam4
time guiding Fortune away from a
topic, the danger Of which she kneN
nothing, raised hand. 81 bribed Ms4
homed to kidnap you, Jones. DonY
be impatient You laughed at me
when l laid before you the prospectus
of the United Romance and Adven-
ture Company. l wished to prove to
you that the concern existed. And 50
here is your adventure upon approval
| thought, Of course, you still had the
x,
the desert for a week, and by that
time you would have surrendered the
rug, returned to Cairo, the hero Of q
ull-fedged adventure. Lord! what
mess of 1t I've made. l forgot, next
to this bally rug, Mahomed loved me-"
The hitherto credulous George had
of late begun to look into facts in.
| stead of dreams. He did not believe
Ii word Of this amazing confession, de-
spite the additional testimony Of For
tune, relative to Ryannes statements
made to her in the baZaars.
"The bitter bitten" was George'r
| sole comment.
Ryanne breathed easier.
(To BE CONTINUEpS
When Philosophy Comes Easy.