Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-02

And the pressure Of ais arms was
enough response.
STEADY, Desmond" she managed 10
gasp. "Oh. darling-one breAthl" And
then, illcgically: II suppose you would
have come here anyway. ] didn't need
TO go chasing all over the world after
the shadow of memory"
I'm not so sure" returned Howard
II haven't told you this, but---just when
was It you saw Ghulam Buk2" -,
She told him.
"Peculiarl 1t was that night Or The
next met an American aviator who'd
come UP from Shanghai to sell Chang
q bunch of aid JennieS. We got to talk
ing about the war, and he spun yarn
of a girl who'd been standing them all
up on the flying fields at San Antonio.
Why asked him more about her I
don't know: but I did. She was you,
Of course. And prodded him on. He
told me Of your marriage and your
husbands death. Next day started for
America. and, naturally, headed for
the ranch"
"And what does all this mean7
Surely, you don't think that Ghulam
Buk did some white magicl"
Howard stared out into the emptiness
that surrounded them.
II don't know, Dagger" he con-
fessed. There are forces in this world
that few of us understand. The strong
est power in mans possession is an
idea, thought. Perhaps you had been
building up a whole chain Of thoughts
in your pilgrimage. chain which car
| Tied you to Ghulam Buk and tmpelled
him to will that aviator to meet me-
and then influenced Chang to admit TO
| you I was alive. And If you knew
Chang as well as did you'd realize that
that was the most remarkable act In
the chain
"I wonder" exclaimed Dagger. "And
yet there's reason in your theory. 1t
was Raoul who moved me to follow your
courage to go on to India. And Ghu-
lam Buk-yes, it all does dovetail"
| She fumbled in her breeches pocket
and produced the Jade luckplece the
Tu-chun had given her.
"By the way" she continued, "I can't
help thinking well of Chang. He gave
me his luckpiece. He'd carried it ever
since he was boy"
MY God" exploded Howard. snatch
ing at the carved bit Of stone, a hands
breath long. "D'you realize what that
meant? D'you know what's happened?
But no. you didn't see the papers that
came today, Dagger, this thing was
famous all over China. Men have died
trying to steal it. Attempts were
| AhiuSC w doodoo4IldbC OIldIlk
der to win 1t. And yesterday one sue
ceeded. His train was blown UP iust
outside of the Sung-fu Station"
| "Oh!" Dagger's mouth Quivered
How terriblel But 1t wasn't because
he gave it to me, Blaine. That's ridicu-
| lous"
ANY more ridiculous than that your
thoughts built a bridge over which we
might come together? No, Chang gave
it to you deliberately. He believed i'm
plicitly in luck--or call it destiny, if
| you choose. And he believed that his
luck was dependent upon this stone.
When he gave it to you, he was giving
hostage to his luck. He was saying,
in effect: This woman is all to me.
Bring her to me. If that may not be,
I do not choose to live''
| But 1t can't be true" she insisted.
Blaine, it's only little piece Of jade
that's cold when you touch it, with a
dragon twisting around 1t. How could
that kill a MANI"
at didn't kill him. What killed him
was the power that he attributed to it
in his mind. Thought, again. What
! you believe in, If you believe with suf-
f1cient conviction, is very likely to hap
PEN"
Dagger took 1t back from him.
Shall we throw it away?" she asked
suddenly.
| "Why?"
! well, IL we believe in 1t, as you say,
1t will help TO keep us happy. # We
don't, or II we lose tt"
He frightened his arm around her
waist.
| Suppose we keep tin memory Of
Chang" he interrupted. But let's be-
lieve in each other. If we believe truly,
no harm can injure u.s.
We'll keep It," she decided ''We'll
call it the luck of the oasis, and when
ever we go away it will have to bring
us back
do you want to go away" she
asked, laughing.
| She drew closer to him. Her eyes
were seeking his.
80 long as I am with YOU" she
said, what does 1t matter?"
(The end.)