Evening star., 1923-05-13


voyage would be one fraught with
terrors, but she thanked God she was
fureWarned.
by the light Of the moon. which
fell full upon his face. she saw that
It was much altered; she would
scarcely have recognized him had
she met him. but not heard his voice.
His short. jet-black beard had been
shaven OFF; the heavy eyebrows which
| met across his long, sharp nose had
also been treated in the same man
ner; as he took off his turban to wipe
his brow, she noted that his hair,
rather long. was clipped straight
across. His change of appearance
was certainly amazing. That he was
| going on board to wreak his ven
geance in some manner upon her for
/ marrying Jack she readily conject.
| ured.
| She meant to watch her young hus
band by day and by night. No harm
should befall him while she stood
! guard. She had learned that wha:
/ he meant to do. Ben-Ali intended t"
accomplish before midnight. She
would tell Jack, praying him 10 ba
on his guard.
The strain of not moving muscle
| was SO great Jil-Bett felt that sh"
would soon swoon If they did not
pass on.
And that" queried Ben-Alrs com
panion. pointing to the box.
1T is Of that shall speak: listen
rwell, and heed my every word"
With deliberation he shifted the
! box from one arm to the other, as
! though 1t had much weight.
| Listen" said BenAli. You viii
note with great attention where /
| SINK this box. Should anything unJ
| expected happen to me, dive at night
! secure it. and make your way into
! the heart of the desert; once there,
YOU know what disposition to make
! Of its contents"
! The youth nodded answering III
! his native tongue. which JilBett did
| not understand
| They passed on to the waters edge
| Jil-Bett following, impelled by a de
! sire she could not control keepiue
| well in the shadows of the trees. A.
! this point was an unused pier. AZ the
| end Of which was IA apparatus 70:
| lowering the divers, The depth o.
! the water was less than five fathoms-
| AS all of the pearl Oysters had been
| gathered from this p&tnt, il had re
| Gently been abandoned The divers
were now working farther out. The
structure was soon to BE removed 20
| be set up elsewhere.
| Jh-Rett saw them dive from tho
! far end of the pier. They wer"
| scarcely two minutes under water.
| reappearing. they swan ashore. sour
| ryir- away III an opposite direction.
| She wondered long aud earnestly
! over what she had just witnessed.
| What did the zinc box contain which
| the Arab had deposited with 50 much
! secrecy" Through the long hours
. of th" night She wondered over il.
for she was unable To sleep. Sud-
! denly startling thought came IN
her: could it be he was the thief.
| and that box contained her poor old
| graEdfath@rs gold ana the ruby III"
agent might come for at any time
now?
Like an inspiration the determina-
| ton came to Jil-Bett TO investigate
| the matter as soon as daylight shouli
/ come. Her diving suit had not ye'
| been turned IN, she was glad of that.
| .IiBett was not th" only one who
! had witnessed this unusual proceed,
/ urc- Unable To find cOmposure. JachI
| had paced tho deck. the marine glass
which the first mate had loaned him
! in his hand
lie Va. taking his last look =
| the pla which ne hoped nev,'
again 10 see after the morrow.
AS his powerful glass swept tn.
! shore. he saw two forms. one Of then
] carving a box, creep stoalthily out
/ to the edge of tho pier and div,
| down, rcappearing without the box.
! He recognized the man who carried it
| as Ben-Ali.
! As he watched them disappear into
! the shadows of the night, he. too, feli
| 70 wondering what that packet con
! tanned.
| Suddenly he struck his hands to-
gethcr. his breath coming in hot
! easpS Could it he the contents or
! that hon had anything TO do with
! the theft which Jil-Eett's grand
! father had bewailed SO bitterly. and
| of which lie was accused?
| '"Tomorrnw. quite as soon as II 5s
light. | shall make it my business t"
lnvestigat" the contents of that
! sunken box" he decided.
| Jll-Bett crcpt back. trembling with
| excitement She could i'll suppress
Her light tread made no noise as che
! entered tho house 1t was a relief
TO her to find both of the Mudges hah
! retired and We're asleep-she could
i hear their deep regular brea thing as
! she passed their door
Gaining her own room. she threw
| herself into a chair by the window
| She knew there would not be the
slightest use of lying down. she could
not sleep a wink.
with her elbows on the sill, and
her head buried on her arms, Ji'-
| Bett watched the long hours drag
| their slow length by.
! What did that box contain which
! Ben-AiI was so anxious to conceal
! There Was but one solution To the
mystery. and that was to investigate
| foelinG that it was securely hidden.
the Arab would not be about to watch
it, nor would his man he in evidence
| She had heard Nudge tell his wira
about the unusually heavy cargo
which the vessel was taking on
which would prevent her from get
ting off at as early hour as had
] been counted upon. High noon would
| be nearer the time when she would
! drag up her gangplank
! nat viii give me plenty of time"
concluded Jil-Bett. Still, the detcr-'
mination to wait no longer than day
! light took possession of her =
1 She had often heard of divers who,
| mad accidentally come across lost.
| treasures on the oceans bed, hiding
! them securely in some Granny OF
i rock or wreck, and stealing quietly
| down for them later on. They be-.
| lleVed there was no hiding place so
safe as the oceans bed
| The moments of the divers when
| below were too heeting and precious
| to spend a single instant in explor-.
| ing. They could not lose any time
in rapidly filing their baskets and
getting to the surface again. 'e
None knew those waters bettar'
| than Ben-Ali; that was the reason
| his services were SO valuable to the
peari-ishfng company.
Jil-Bett had almost as accurats
! knowledge of them. There was nor
a hidden rock for miles therea bouts
| that her grandfather had not en-,
countered and told her about These
talks had held great fascination sfoI.
| her.
She could measure with her eNa-
with astonishing accuracy. the spet;
where Ben-Ali had gone down. -:
| Inc Mudges We're early risers Te.
their surprise, they found Jil-Betta E5lz.
ready up and dressed. Mrs. Mudgs,s
sharp eyes detected that the lit3Ie
cot had not been slept on-she was sin
too diplomatic - question the girl
concerning il =