Evening star., 1928-03-27
The Devils Mantle
A MYSTERY STORY.
By FRANK /. PACKARD.
sv Frankr scksri
4 MYSTERY STORY
By FRANK l.. PACF
" Frank T.. Packard.

she is a woman who was taken from a
ship by Taial Ali. who has taken many
women for himself before, and that
she is loved by the Sahib"
Il see!" Peter calculated again But
it's money you want just the same
Il am poor man, sahib,
And so that puts 1t up to me?' said
Peter harShly.
Yes. sahib.
Peter was silent for an instant.
How much DO you want?' he de-
nandcd IN a suddenly helpless way.
"SahiN~ r. Sghar Pind, my price
is five .Ssy.r nd pounds"
"Gcc5 C2d!" Peter laughed out
raucouSly. Five thousand pounds!
Did you think / had five thousand
pounds I Cou'd not pay you even
one pound So far as l know, i've or
six ShillngS would account Tor every
penny | have in the world J.
what the Sahib says may be true.
replied Aghar Pima calmly. but If the
sahib wills he can pay five thousand
pounds TO save the Miss Sahib'
All right" said Peter, and laughed
raucouSly again. III pay ii gladly,
or any other sum YOU name, if yonll
show me how
asked Aghar Pind.
For moment Peter neither moved
nor spoke. His hands had knotted
suddenly at his sides,
What do YOU mean?" he cried out
at last hoarScly.
Does not the sahib understand" re-
turned Aghar Pind evenly. 1t is said
of the Sahib that he killed man.
and 70 him who delivers the Sahib TO
the law payment will be made Of 5000
pounds.
"Weu-Peter spoke through clenched
teeth-"thats true enough so far as
the money goes. but what has that to
do with YOU?
"Sahib." said Aghar Pind. thus it
might come about If it is in the sahlb's
heart that the Miss Sahib should be
saved: If the escape is made, then the
sahiS would so with me to the officers
of the law. and !. Aghar Pind, would
say. See. I bring you Blake Sahio;
pay me. therefore, according to the sum
that is namedr And so, Sahi0, in that
manner I shall receive 5000 pounds"
Blood mOnev!" The words came
from Peter in a surge Of contempt and
fury.
4 am a poor man. Sahib-have not
said SOP" murmured AghaT Pind dis
pasSionately. If We make the attempt
to escape and it comes about that we
fail. then. sahib, I die. and the sahib
likewise Why, then. should / play with
death without payment? do not want
10 die But if no attempt TO escape Is
made then l am still the servant Of
Tajal Ali and all is well. But what will
become of the sahib. and what will be
done to the Miss Sahib that the Sahib
loves?"
Instinctively, as the fury within him
deepened, Peters hands shot out, and.
grasping at the others throat, tightened
around it--and then. with a sudden cry
of Ioathing, he pushed the man violently
away from him.
Aghar Pind choked a little.
rs that the sahib's answer?" he
asked. rs 1t the Sahibs viii that go
I now?"
Peter swept his hands across his eyes.
His mind seemed suddenly in turmoil. in
chaos-his lOathing of the man was
something that now. in an instant, was
relegated 10 the background, that was a
minor thing. that mattered not at all.
There was Marlon--a way TO save her.
II meant almost certainly his own death.
or. at the least. life imprisonment-he
knew that There was no chance for
him against the evidence. But the cost
was greater still than taat He would
lose her--foreyeT--for always. Vague,
perhaps hopeless though those embry-