The Washington herald., 1915-12-26
ILLING ADVENTURES OFDICK ANTHONY OF ARRAN

and helped her TO the steps where she
sat with her head between her hands and
out again on the arm Of q man in uni.
form. She was laughing. and the man
who. by the rtbbous on his breast, wa
That nes con-
sidering her dustiness and saddie-tired
disheyelment
| He waited for her while she rallied the
Cossack onlcer for looking more pinched
and weary than his h6rse-dismissed The
escort without thanks-snd stood to laugh
st the stf6 leg-action as the weary horses
I, trotted Oh. Then she took her coinpAn-
| IONS arm and turned with a little laugh
at the dead horse that had carried her.
Come alsng!" she said. with another
to look around once to see whether the
maid came after her or not
Marie MouQuin recovered after three
or or four days from the physical effect.
again In favor for the sake Of her good
services as maid. sailed out to see things
She began to scheme-to plan-to dis.
guise herself and wander when she dared
and where she dared. about the city,
hoping to pick up some thread or other
! that might lead to the solution of the
problem she had set herself to solve.
IL was late on one afternon when she
had gone. yelled Ike a Persian woman,
| to the outskirts of the city. and paused
while a muezzin chanted from his tower.
Allah Is mighty" doomed the voice
above her.
The man paused and the city seemed
to hush. waiting for him to begin again.
She looked up and saw him leaning out
ward-gapins-his jaw dropped In aston
fshment and his hands ciutched tight to
the stone rail Of his little balcony. She
ran to the tower steps-opened the little
door-and hurried. painting and stumbling.
up the winding stone steps to the top.
There she. too. leaned far out over the
rail and stared in amazement at the
sight on the plain beyond.
There came q column Of men. marching
In fours. who hung their heads. 1t was
most Of a regiment, without its horses
or its arms, dragging its feet painfully.
Il was led by commanding officer who
iimped in tight riding boots. unciean. un-
shaven. There was no advance guard to
announce their coming: they came In
silence. overhung by a pail of powdery
dust that seemed like the blanket of
their shame.
"Dee-k-Anthonee has fought his first
fight, and has won it.'' went the murmur
through by-ways and down passages:
until the whole Of native 'Astrabad was
a-whisper. and a spirit Of unrestfulness-
a hint OF the reawakening courage Of a
Marie MouQuin hurried down the steps
and found her way to the palace where
her mistress waited for her. fuming with
But she was stopped at the palace cor
ner by a tattered man who plucked her
skirt and pulled so hard at II that she
was forced to turn and speak to him.
Three hundred rubles was the price"
he said. pushing his face close to hers.
Come back tonisht-at midnight she
ordered him. There will be a letter
ready to be taken back"
So 1t happened that two letters reached
Dicks mountain glade within an hour
one was for Andry. One messenger had
been sent by Dick before he assumed the
chieftainship. The man had no means Of
knowing just what had happened in the
unpleasant news. for the letter had been
handed him with scowls: 1t bore the
mark of the British Legation and q Rus
sian frank as we'll
Dick-mounted on a Cossack charger
was drilling horseman. now. on big
fiat parallelogram OF ground beyond and
above the glade. He leaned from the
saddle-snatched the letter from the rag
ged messenger-and tore II open.
The letter ran:
MY good man. whatever your real name
and nationality may be, let me inform
you that Richard Anthony, Of Arran in
he was the last male Of his line. You
are, therefore, a proved fmpostor. Your
letter was forwarded to me through the
courtesy Of the Russian authorities i & to
pretensions, and whatever your offense
against the law-I recommend YOU to sur
render. I0can take no ofiicial cognizance
Of you. am, sir, etc
At the end was the penciled. scrawled
signature OF man who would have
risked life willingly to help an Anthony
Of Arran had he even half believed that
a real Anthony needed help.
watched Dicks face from a
"Hoots. Hoots." he muttered as he
watched Dick now. 'There1l be
storthr% MSrih t~. o. .ny that's bse1 yee
Ouay-weel / ken the signs:
while he was still watching the
second note arrived. The tattered mes.
senger brought It to him in a cleft
stick and held 1t out at arms length.
His face. when he saw that the
envelope was addressed to MI AndrE
MacDougal, was a sight to have made
scorn for the spelling: and astonish-
ment- He tore the envelope open under
the eyes of small army. whose at
tention had been caught by his GRIM
aces.
Marie MouQuin wrote:
The Cossacks came this evening.
without horses. without rifles. with
She says it Is very good. but they say
it is too bad. The telegraph now says
that King Dick is too much and kill
him quick. Positively yes. other Cos
sacks and artillery will march against
King Dick very soon now. So. beware.
Send another man TO me and 1 will
send all the news I paid this man
three hundred rubles.
MARIE MoUoUIN"
He walked over. grinning. to where
Dick sat listening to Usbeg Ais no.
There he said. holding out the
letter. That comes O kissin' a wum-
man instead O treatin' her WI
scorn."
Dick read the letter, frowning. Then
he tossed it back.
"Ali right" he said quietly. Can
you use that machine gum"
There's naethin' I'd like betteri'
do it. then. Do you want men to
draw 1t or horses"
Dom horses"
Very will-choose the men. Take
five hundred rounds tomorrow An.
practise at a target" said Dick. How
many men do the last arrivals say
the Russians have in Astrabad?" re-
suming hIs talk with Usbeg ALI where
They say more than five thousand
bahaiur. including guns"
Good. Very well. Usbeg Ali. Get
your seven together some time to-
night and give them a good talking
to: put tirs into them: But impress
And caution the men to be ready for
a start at dawn the day after to-
morrow. This time I shall serve out
a hundred rounds per man. but other
wise we will march light"
March on where. sahib?'
On A:'rab.d' Of course"
When Marie Mouquin wrote Andry