Evening star., 1918-06-30
BV THOMAS w. MANSH[]EW


ed the mongrel dog up in his room
instead of carrying him about. And
the dog, feeling its loneliness or. pos.
sey no g. for food he bse hsd S gyen found
It. howled and howled until the din
became unbearable.
Monsieur. I wish you would silence
shas beast eetsh2 eE else 1ssa hoEns saa
the wretched thing gets on my
sake"
am getting it hungry enough to eat
ed little parrakeets."
a, "Yeu ea,, think they have to "a DO With With
~ am sure Of it. He would not
carry the beastly little things about
for nothing"
"Ah. you are clever. you are, very.
very clever. monsieur" she made an an
swer. with a laugh. But he must be-
gin his bird eating quickly. that nui-
sa1se + &c dH de- or it. W BE 1ne Go LATE retire tire
to my bed in another hour ana
half, ms always, and then your last
hope he is gone-z-zic! like that;
day dor 1t % be the na ena Of nrese oe not
With a att little outburst Of temper do
stop the little beast his howl. 1t Is
unbearable! would you to sing to
the dog is maddening."
"Oh, If it annoys you like that. ma
DAME" said Cleek. TIL take him
there. 20 we may have the song un--
disturbed. Your men will not want
to search ne, Of course, when ] am
merely. porping out and popping IN
again like that I am sure?'
Nevertheless they did. Aithough
they had heard and did not stir Wneh
he left the room and ran up for the
dog, when he came down with 1t un-
der his arm and made to leave the
house he was pounced upon, dragged
into an adjoining apartment by half
dozen burly fellows, stripped to the
buff. and searched, as the workers In
a diamond mine are searched, before
they suffered him to leave the house:
There was neither sign OF pearl
nor a scrap Of a letter to be FOUND
upon him: they made sure of that be-
fore they let him go.
"An enterprising lot, those Iackeys
of yours. madame" he said, when ne
returned from tying the dog up in the
stable and rejoined her In the salon.
"It will be an added pleasure to get
the better of them. can assure you,
"Oui, If you can!" she answered,
with a mocking laugh. "Clopin, cher
ami, your poor little parrakeets are
safe for the night. unless monsieur
grows desperate and eats them for
himself"
Gwen that. If 1t were necessary to
get the pearl, madame" said Cleek.
with the utmost &ansfroid. "Faugh"
looking at his Wotch, "a grnl twenty
minutes wasted by the z2alousness Of
those idiotic seaTchers of yours. Ten
minutes to 10, Just time for one brief
song. Let us make hay while the sun
lasts madame, for it goes down sud-
denly here in Mauravania: and for
some of us it never comes up again.
Then, throwing himself upon the pi-
ano seat, he ran his fingers across the
keys and broke into the stately meas
ures OF the national anthem.
He jumped to his feet and lifted
both hands above his head
"Mauravania" he cried. "Oh. Mau-
ravania! For thee! For thee!" Then
jumped to the mantelpiece. and, catch
ing up a lighted candle, flashed II
twice across the windows width and
broke again into the national hymn.
Monsieur" cried out madame,
monsieur. what is the meaning OF
give signal! For what? To whom
ITO the guards of Mauravania't
king. madame, in honor of his safe
escape from you!" he made reply: ther
twitchcd back the window curtains
until the whole expanse Of glass was
you. madame?" he said. His majesty
of Mauravania sends Nine. Tcharno
vetski q command to leave his king
dom, since he no longer has cause t.
fear, q. wasp whose sting has beer
plucked out"
Her swift glance flashed to the nre
place, then to the corner where Clopir
still sat with his jabberlng parakeets
then flashed back to Clcek, and sht
laughed in his face.
II think not. monsieur she said
with a swaggeriny air. Truly.
What a pity you only think 90
madamei AS for E1e----- An. welcome
count. welcome a thousand times. tn,
paper. my friend; YOU have. brouEh
the paper? Goedl good Quick. give 1
yours and your peoples You ieav,
Maurayaain, by the midnight train
and YOU have but little time to pacl
your effects. Your passport. madame
and your bedroom candle. Oh. yes
the paper Is. ,atill round It, scew slip
ping on q sheet; of white note pape
that was wrapped round the full
length Of tho candle from top to bot
tom. but II you will examine. II, mad
anne. you will ind 1t IL blank. i burnet
the real letter the night before las
whom put this In its place"
You what?' she snapped; thel
caught the tube, shaped covering h,
had stripped from the candle, un
curled II, and screamed. ..
BLANK. madame: quite blank, yo,
see." said Cleek serenely. For one q,
clever In other things Won should ha W.