, 1922-10-23

Cup ana LIP.
CHAPTER I.
Two miles beyond ClInchis Dump.
Hal smith pulled stormant's horse 70
a walk. He was tremendously c1-
cited.
With, naive sincerity he believed
that what he had done on the spur
Of the had been the only
thing 10 do.
BY s~natehing the Flaming Jewel
from Quintana's very fingers he had
diverted that rlndictive bandit's fury
from Eve, from Clinch. from stor-
mont, and had conferred Il upon him
self.
More than thai. he hac sown the
reeds Of suspicion among Quintana's
own people. They never could dis
cover salzar's body. Always they
must believe that Il was Nicolas
salzar and no other who so reach
erously robbed them, and who rode
away in a rain OF bullets. shaking
the emblazoncd morocco case above
his masked head in triumph. derision
and defiance.
At the recollection OF what had
happened, Hal Smith drew Bride anc
sitting his addle there in the false
dawn threw back his handsome head
and laughed until the fading stars
overhead swam in mis- eyes through
tears Of sheerest> mirth.
Smith set his saddle. thinking, be-
ginning 70 be sobered now by the IN
rvitable reaction which follows ex-
cite,nent and mirth as relentlessly as
rare dogs the horseman.
He bought of Riga: and Of h
Rec Terror: Of murder at MONDAY
and outrage by night. He remem-
h.red his only encounter with a
lovely child-once Grand D1chess OF
Esthonia-then a destitute efuGee IN
silken rag
What a day tina a been. :.
Only one day and n evening
And never had he been SO near III
love in all his life. .
As the false dawn began to fade'
he loosened hunting coat and cart
rtSr. sl,nq drew from his shirtbosom
tho morocco case.
n bore the arms and crest of the
Grand Duchess T~heodorica OF hs-
thona-
His fingers trembled slightly as he
uTetHeQ FNlo JtNftAO@
on an empty casket-
In the sudden shock of horror aud
astonishgnent. his ~convuisive Gluten
on the .pring STARTED a tiny bell
,4nrinR. Then, under his very nose
,ha empty tray slid aside
.rother tray underneath, set solidly
Ter b~rilIiants. A rainbow of glitter
x,reamed from the unset gems IN tho
.nken tray. Like an
ibid he touched them. They were
msgnificently real.
Il, the center lay blazing the great
Ero,.te sem-the Flaming Jewel IT,
.slf. Priceless diamonds
emeralds ringed 1t. In his HANDS ne
hs,d nearly four millions OF dollars
cirqerlv he balanced the embiaz-
,al case. fascinated. Then he re-
nlaeed the empty tray. closed the Do@,
thrnst it into .he bosom Of his TANNER
shirt and buttoned 1t In
Now there was little more for this
.xc,ted Young man to do. He was
.hrcs,gb with ClInch. Hal Smith,
ha,d.un man and dishwasher at
Ci,,oh,s Dump, had ended his ca
80 The time had now arrived Tor
~ 20 vanish n make room Tor
James Darragh.
For by his time the Grand Ouch
40, NJ Esthoria-Ricca. Is she was
called by her companion. Valenune'
The pretty Countess orloff-streiwi'@
must have arrived in New YORK.
He lifted the bride from the horses
nacr divided curb and snafile
.hn,vh4fugly, touched h splendid
srimal with heel and toe.
AZ he cantered on into the wide
.ore.t road that led TO his late un-
.,a,s abode. curiosity led him 10
rbeei into a narrower trail runnins
.ss+ slong Star Pond, and from
whence he could t.uke 4 fareweh We"
OF Clinch's Dump.
Alders still concealed tho mouse
across he lake, but the trail was az
.a.6v coming out into the starlight
suddenly his horse stopped snor.'
tremblinr. its ears pricked forwaru.
Da-ragh sat listening tntentiy TOT
n moment Then with infinite eau,
tto1 he leaned over the camille 1no
rent,v parted the alders.
On the pebbled beach. ruh IN nv
starlight. stood two figures. n white
and slim. the other dark.
Eve! Jack Stormont! what the
savii are you doing over here
stornont walked slowly up to us
own horse. LAID one unsteady hana
or It's silky ~ kept it there Will