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j by LOUIS JOSEPH Wi I JlLOSTfcATIONS^EY ^ ELLSWQRXB VOiTNC ^ COPTRTCHT \<KX) By LOUIS ^OSEPH J CHAPTER I. A still and sultry dusk had fallen, Closing an oppressive, wearing day: one of those days whose sole function seems to reside in rendering us irritably conscious of our too-close casings of too-solid flesh; whose humid and inert atmosphere, sodden with tepid moisture, clings palpably to the body, causing men to feel as if they crawled, half-suffocated, at the bottom of a sea of rarefied water. The hour may have been eight; it may have been not quite that, but it was almost dark. The windows were oblongs black as night in the yellow walls of O'Rourke's bedchamber in the Hotel d'Orient. Monte Carlo. I have the honor to make known to you the O'RourUe of Castle j O'Rourke in the county of Gulway, Ireland; otherwise and mere widely j known as Colon *1 Terr nee O'lloorke: j a chevalier of the Legion of Honor of | France; sometime an officer in the 1 Foreign Legion in Algiers; a wanderer, spendthrift, free-lance, cosmopolite?a gentleman-adventurer, he's been termed. He was dressing for dinner. The glare of half a dozen electric bulbs discovered him all but ready for public appearance?not, however, quite ready. In his shirt sleeves he faced a cheval- . glass, plucklly (If with the haggard ere of exasperation) endeavoring to ' out maneuver a demon of inanimate j You are invited to picture to yourielf O'Rourke as invariably he was in one of his not infrequent but ever , transient phases of affluence: that is, a very magnificent figure indeed. Standing a bit over six feet, deep of 1 chest and lean of flank, with his long, straight legs he looked what he had been meant to be, a man of arms and action. His head was shapely, its dark hair curling the least in the world; and, incredibly stained, a transparent brown, his features were lean, eager, and rendered very attractive ^ by quick boyish eyes in whose warm j blue-gray depths humor twinkled j more often than not, though chose same eyes were not seldom thoughtful, a trace wistful, perhaps, with the look of one who recalls dear memrories, odd friends and sweethearts loved and lost. . . . For he had begun to live early in life and had much to look back upon, though for , all that it's doubtful if he were more than thirty at the time he became in- \ k volved In the fortunes of the Pool of Flame. , For the rest of him, barring the refractory tie, the man was strikingly ' well aroomed. while his surroundings spoke for comfortable circumstances, f On the authority of the absent and regretted Danny, -who had long served the O'Rourke In the Intimate capacities of body-servant, confidant and chancellor of the exchequer (this last, of course, whenever there happened to be any exchequer to require a chancellor), there was never anyone at all who could spend money or wear clothes like himself, meaning the mas ter. And at this time O'Rourke was ostensibly in fines and consequently (as the savins rims) cutting a wide swath. Rr i ; ,).< himself only knew the Mm:.:. resources; but his manner a ? . ...o Cnsto might have perversity which had entered into his dress tie, inciting it to refuse to assume, for all his coaxing and his strat- . v agems, that effect of nonchalant perfection so much sought after, so sel- . dom achieved. Patently was the thing possessed by a devil; CRourlte made no manner J of doubt of that. Though for minutes ! at a time he fumbled, fidgeted, fumed, j It was without avail. His room Itself was in a state of : considerable disorder?something due , mainly to O'Rourke's characteristic efforts to find just what he might happen to desire at any given time without troubling to think where It ought properly to be. i Something of this confusion, mirrored in the glass, was likewise reflected in O'Rourke's eyes, what time i he paused for breath and profanity, j "Faith, 'tis worse than a daw's nest, , the place," he admitted, scandalized. "How ever did I?one lone man?do all that, will ye be telling me?" He flung out two helpless baffled hands, and let them fall. After a meditative naiiao ha "Damn that Alsa- i Itian}"?with reference to his latest and least competent valet, who had ! but recently been discharged with a , flea in his ear and a month's unearned wage in his pocket. "For knowing me ways," sighed O'Rourke. "there was never anyone the like of Danny." For as many as three livelong days this man had been reduced to the ne- j cessity of dressing himself with his own fair hands?and that at least thrice daily, who did nothing by halves. And. somehow, mysteriously, his discarded garments had for the most part remained where he haa , thrown them, despite the earnest efforts of the femme de chambre to restore something resembling order from this man-made chaos. For servants all liked well the O'Rourke, Improvident soul that he was, freehanded to n fnnlt <L w ?il %r- -ar?? T5. ^nSTSN. S 1' \ AzSi ^3?s***ir^ Li^i^' ? i!1M.4?L aped to advantage. His play was a wonder of the Casino: for the matter of that, his high-handed and extravagant ways had made the entire Principality of Monaco conscious of his presence In the land. And you fall in the least to understand the nature of the ma; if you think for a moment that it irl.? ' him to he admired, pointed out, cof.ro:-:!. p-fsu-M. He was, indeed, never so spier- .id as when aware that he occupied ilv public eye. In shor". he was Just an Irishman. ... then. if. nothin;: v.onderi ful that he shor.Iu - ?-< v a thought finical abcut the set of his tie. Now a.~ he stood scowling at his image. and wishing from the bottom of his heart he ha-! never b'-.n fool enough to lei Dar.tiv leave blrn. and calling fervent hi- ings down upon the head cf the flcr.:i who firrt designed modern evening-uress for men?he found himself suddenly with a mind divested of auy care whatever and attentive alone to a scT.ud which came to him faintly, born.- upon the heavy wings of the s'nggish evening air. It was nothing more nor less than a -I /kl.W WUIlitUI MUfeiUfe HKJli:} IU LICIBOIL ^uuur mir.g would probably be the more accurate term), and it was merely the tune that caught his fancy; a hit of an old song he himself had once been wont to sing, upon a time when he had been a happier man. It seemed strange to hear it there, stranger still that the woman's voice, Indistinct as It was, should have such a familiar ring in his memory. He frowned in wonder and shook his head. "The age of miracles is past," he muttered; ** 'twould never be herself. I've had me chance?and forfeited It. "Twill not come to me a second time. . . The singing ceased. Of a sudden O'Rourke swore with needless heat, and, plucking away the offending tie, cast it savagely from him. "The divvle fly away with ye!" he said. "Is It bent on driving me mad ye are? I'd give me fortune to have Danny back! . . . Me fortune?faith!" He laughed the word to bitter scorn. " Tis meself that never had the least of anything like that without 'twas feminine ?with a 'mis-' tacked onto the front of It!" And he 6trode away to the window to cool off. It was like him to forget his exasperation in the twinkling of an eye; another mood entirely swayed him by the time he found himself gazing out into the vague, velvety dusk that momentarily was closing down upon the fairy-like panorama of terraced gardens and sullen, silken sea. His thoughts had winged back to that dear woman of whom that fragment of melody had put him in mind; and he was 6lghing and heavy of heart with longing for the sight of her and the touch of her hand. Even as he watched, stark night fell, black as a pocket beneath a portentous pall of cloud. . . . Far out upon the swelling bosom of the Mediterranean a cluster of dim lights betrayed a stealthy coasting steamer, O'Rourke Caught his Breath, 6tunned making westward. Nearer, In the harbor, a fleet of pleasure craft, riding at anchor on the still, dark tide, was revealed in many faint, wraith-like shapes of gray, all studded with yellow stars. Ashore, endless festoons of colored lamps draped the gloom of the terraces; the facade of the Casino stood out lurid against the darkness; the hotels shone with reflected brilliance, the palace of the Prince de [ Monaco loomed high upon the peninsula, Its elevations picked out with lines of soft Are. The O'Rourke shook his head, condemning It all. " Tis beautiful," ho said; "faith, yes! 'tis all of that. But I'm thinking 'tis too beautiful to be good for one?like some women I've known in me time. 'Tie not good for Terence?that'B sure; 'tis the O'Rourke that's going stale and soft with all this easy living. ... Me that has more than many another to live for and hope for and strive lor! . . . And I'm lingering here in the I very lap of luxury stuffing meself with rare food, befuddling meself with rarer wines?me that has fought a day and a night and a half a day atO? night I'm done with ye; not a sou of < n,:ne will ever again cross your tables. I'll have ye to understand the O'Rourke's a reformed character from the morning on!" i He laughed softly, in high feather i with his conceit; and. thinking cheer- < fully of the days of movement and j cnange that were to follow, the song in his heart shaped itself in words upon his lips. "I'm Paddy Whack From Ballyhack, Not long ago turned soldier?O i At grand attack. Or storm or sack, None than I will prove bolder?O!" Hit voice was by way of being a tenor of tolerable quality and volume, but untrained?nothing wonderful. It waa just the way he trolled out the ! rollicking stanza that rendered it infectious, irresistible. For as he paused the voice of the woman that had reminded him of the song capped 1 the verse neatly. "An* whin we (ret the route WId a shout. How they pout! i "Wid a ready right-about Goes the bould soldier-boy !** O'Rourke caught his breath, startied, stunned. "It can't be?" he whispered. For if at first her voice, I subdued in distance, had stirred his memory with a touch as vague and thrilling as the caress of a woman's hand in darkness, now that he heard the full strength of that soprano, bellclear and spirited, he was sure he J knew the singer. He told himself that th*r? could h? no two women in the world with voices Just like that; not ( another than her he knew could have rendered the words with so true (a . spirit, 60 rare a brogue?tinged as : 1 that had been with the faintest, , quaintest exotic Inflection Imaginable. | But she had stopped with the verse half sung. His pulses quickening, O'Rourke leaned forth from the window and carried it on: "O, 'tis thin the ladles fair In despair Tear their hair! But?"Tls dlvvle a bit I care!* Cries the bould soldier-boy he sang and then paused. He heard . no echo. And again he essayed, with that In his tone to melt a heart of Ice: "For the worrld is all befo-ore us " i And now he triumphed and was dfted out of himself with sheer delight; for from the adjoining room came the next line: i "And landladies ado-ore us " Unable to contain himself, he hlmed in, and In duet they Bang It ' out to tne rousing nnaie: 1 "They ne'er rayfuse to ico-ore us, l ; But chalk us up wld joy ] ( We taste her tap. we tear her cap? *0, that's the chap 1 For me.' cries she? 'XVhiroo! ( i Isn't he the darllnt, the bould soldier- ] boy!' " j 1 As the last note rang out and died,! 1 1 the next window was darkened; the i 1 woman had switched oft the lights. > There fell a pause. He listened with his heart in his mouth, but heard nothing. And it seemed impossible to , surmise whenee, from which one of all | , the rooms with windows opening upon j ' that side of the hotel, ha*? come the ; . voice of the woman. She might as | ] well have been above as below him, : or on either side: he could not guess. But he was determined. Now there was beneath his window j a balcony with a floor of wood and a rail of iron-filigree?a long balcony, extending from one corner of the ho- 1 tel to the other. At intervals It was ^ eplashrd with light from the windows , > of chambers still occupied by guests ! belated or busy, like himself, with the 1 ! task of dressing for the evening. The window to his left was alight; that on his right, dark. With half his body on the balcony, his legs dangling with- ; ' | in the room, O'Rourke watched the i 3 opening on his left with jealous, j * I breathless expectancy. Not a sound J ! came therefrom. He hesitated. "If that weren't her room, I'd hear j ; somebody moving about," he reasoned, i " 'Tls frightened she Is?not suspect- ] in 'tis me. . . . But how do I know 'tis herself? . . . Faith! could me l ears deceive me?" With that he took heart of hope and broke manfully into the chorus, singing directly to the lighted window, singing the first line with ardor and ! fervor, with confidence and with hope, . 6inglng persuasively, pleadingly, anxiously, insistently. "For the worrld la all befo-ore us?" 1 i 1 > in; '.va; !?risking me money as j ; if liter-' n-j.r no en.! : > t! :t"-"ing it ; : j iv-v m s< ..d:iJo:j: .y , . i drunken v*iK -r! A: .<:i tor I I satisi < : .1 o*' bo?.;iv> a of H11 !>\. . i.f'.ri. t iS Si .veiling??iio- I gusting; naught 'ess. . . . I'm 1 thinking tcis night er is it, though; i come the morning I'll pu'bng no 1 stakes and Htrikir.fr out tor a healthier. ; j simpler place, where ihen-'s some- 1 , tiling afoot a man can take an inter- < I est. in without losing his self-respect. 1 i . . . I'll do just that, I will!" 1 I This he meant, firmly, and was glad I of it. with a heart immeasurably light- ' ; ened by the strength of his good res- ' olution. Ho began to hum the old , tune that the unknown woman's voice ] had set buzzing in his brain, and 1 broke off to snap his fingers defiant- i ly at the Casino. "That for ve!" he < i flouted it?"sitting there with your painted smile and your cold eyes, like 1 i the brazen huzzy ye are?Goddess of Chance, indeed!?thinking ye have but to bide your time for all men to come and render up their souls to ye! : I TToro'c nnno va Incft rr? a H 3 m flff pr thlfl .1 .. ..it r. . .[ i; :. . : u?s. " 'Tis herself," he declared 11: agony r>r anticipation?"herself and acme o i..-r! And I'm thinking she'll be v.k -ig to the window now?" 1. Was right. Abruptly he discovved her by :he n fleeted glow from t'-e illumine!ion behind him. He was conscious of the pallid oval of her F.aco, of a sleek white sheen of arms arid shoulders, of a dark mass of hair, but more than all else of the glamour >f eyes that shone into his softly, like limpid pools of darkness touched by dim starlight. Inflamed, he leaned toward her. 'Whist, darling!" he stammered. "Whist! 'Tis myself?'tis Terence?" But she was gone. A low, stifled laugh was all his answer?that and the silken whisper of her skirts as she scurried from the window. He flushed crimson, waited an instant, then flung discretion to the winds, and found himself scrambling out upon the balcony. Heaven only knows to what lengths the man would have gone had not the slam of a door brought him up standing; she had left her room! So she thought to escape him so easily! He swore between his teeth with excitement and tumbled back whence he had come. Regardless of the fact that h? was still in his shirtsleeves he rushed madly for the door. On the way a shooting-jacket on the door, perhaps In revenge for neglect *nd ill-treatment, maliciously wound itL "The Dlvvler He Said Beneath Hfi Breath. jelf around his feet and all but threw bim headlong; only a frantic clutch at the footrall of the bed saved him. Kicking the thing savagely off he flung himself upon the door and threw It open. His Jaw dropped. The lift shaft was directly opposite. Before It, In more or less patient waitLng, stood a very young and beautiful woman in a gown whose extreme candor was surpassed only by the perfection of its design and appointment? both blatant of the Rue de la Paix; a type aa common to the cognoscenti of Monte Carlo as the Swiss hotel porters. But O'Rourke did not know her from Eve. "The dlvvle!" said he beneath his oreath. He was mistaken; but the young woman, at first startled by his unceremon.ous appearance, on instantaneous second thought decided to permit him 10 discover that twin imps, at least, resided in her eyes. And when his disappointment prevented him from recognizing them, her dawning smile was 6wiftly erased and her ascending eyebrows spoke eloquently enough of her haughty dlsp'easure. Synchronously the lift hesitated at Lhat landing and the gate clanged wide; the young woman wound her skirt about her and showed him a back which at any other time would have evoked his unstinted admiration. Then the gate shot to with a rattle md bang, and the lift dropped out of sight, leaving the man with mouth agape and eyes as wide. A beaming but elderly femme de ihambre on duty In the corridor, remarking O'Rourke's pause of stupefied jhagrin, hoped and believed he needsd her services. She bore down upon aim accordingly. "M'sieu' is desirous of??" He came out of his trance. "Nothing," he told her with acid brevity. 'But, yes," he reconsidered with iaste. "That lady who but this moment took the lift?her name?" "Her name, m'sleu'? Ma'm'selle Voltaire." "Impossible!" he told himself aloud, itterly unable to forge any connecting [Ink between the lady in the lift and aer whose voice had bewitched him. "But assuredly, m'sieu'. Do I not know?I who have waited upon her Sand and foot these three days and to whom she has not given as much as ?that" The woman ticked a flngeraail against her strong white teeth. "Ma'm'selle Victorine Voltaire," she asserted stubbornly. O'Rourke fumbled in his pocket and !ound a golden ten-franc piece, surreniering it to the woman as heedlessly as though it had been as many centimes. "I'll be leaving me room In five minutes, now. And do ye. for the love 3f Heaven, me dear, try to set me things the least trifle to rights. Will ^e now, like the best llttl# girl in the world?" The best little girl in the world, who was forty-five if a day, promised miracles?with a bob of a courtesy. But so disgruntled was O'Rourke that ie shut his door in her face. " Tls meself that's the fool," be jald savagely enough, "to think for a noment thai ever again I'll set me ?yes on her pretty face?God bless It, vherever she may be! ... For vhy should I deserve to?I, the penailfcss adventurer?" '''.. I There will a) w&r A T 1 . _ I %8fflfr l c a market , - r Half the people of rtu , )-.*.*-v';-r)bpp3!^<! on e, :u) 1 t " Jemai; i " ''""S '"I* i:?j? ' !> l?..t it you [ - -""i- "; , \" 'I and market z" ??r- : ' y'i j 'Jpx s Is rich ci?o?v;b ia avaiLi I :lMS^ Pfll ! li \ Grain crops and rice esj l',e so'' Keep y< duction by insisting on a ferti j If your dealer doesn't < ?|?f __ ^ write to us for prices on an ft O Write, also, lor free boo k'/tf 1 lol and directions. MM GERMAN KAI Yf/ST , _ fi Baltimore: Contin \'?\ V? If FH 1 Chicago: Monai mm IvL lr? New Orleans: ' ? in Central Ban, ???????????????? I is rd | H-gssd The Best Pm NOAH'S LINIMENT gives re and Muscle Aches and Pains r other remedy known. IT triple strength and a pow< PAIN REMEDY. Soldbyal 25c per bottle and money b I WHAT OTHE Cured of Rheumatism O "I had been suffering with rheumatism for " three yean. Have been using Noah's Lin*- an meat, and will say that it cured me com- No pletely. Can walk better than I have In two nu years. Bev. S. E. Cyrus, Donald, 8. C " Rl For Cuts and Bruises St a ' While working at my trade (Iron work) I " - J ?- ? mi m I pUSlLIVCIjr I\.CCp I1U k/WJV. M this additional cost on gro< I POOL ROOM IN REAR. Lengthen the Life of Your I By insisting on having those r in your buildings. If your deal< write to us for prices. L.WETHERHO MANUFACTl CHARLESTON, - 2-8-l3w K>*C urUISOQ anu cui iio)u uiw? i ? ? !J Nooh'i Liniment takes all tne soreness out ea; d nnd heals the wound Immediately. Edward dy 3 Kyan, Swansboro, Va." 5 Bro , Rheumatism in Neck ? U "I received the bottle of Noah's Liniment, an ] and thlr.k It ncs helped me greatly. I have CO! ; rc.eumatisra In mv nepk and It relieved It N< 1 ripht much. Mrs. Martha A. Lambert, Bea- ba - ver Dam, Va." an Pains in >he Back ;; ' I suffered ten vears with a dreadfully ? (, -one pui.i In my beef:, and tried different re- ' 2 medics. Less than half i bottleo." Noah's su o Liuimrntrni lea p?-.>'*t ci:re. Mm. Rev. J. re j Rnijpj'-ioy, i'zmc Eastern, Va." an I. J.t,yJU?LCTEJa !0,-r.* <e> Ui W? td. The Count} WB A Aaff* HARCOL'RT CLi I MANUFACTURING Prices Quite as Reasor.ableas Cor J * r_! i Iio My f-nenos anu rain I have opened a first-clas, Fancy Grocery Store next niture Co., and will be gl time. My stock is new ani MY TERMS ARE STRICTLY CAS and my price as low as pos T am* *?/\l ? r* /\ POTASH M forRice. PAYS ,M : world live principally .! makes raising too much . /* arc to profit by this demand t : n:t;.t ite that your land ^IrT. rASH )fc;al!y make great inroads on the nir soii up to the high mark of pro- ' e Iizer containing at least %/* Potash. M j "* :arry such brands, nor Potash Salts. Mfy y amount from a 2fl0-lb. ban up. JLr k of profitable fertilizer formulas jjulJ JKmM LI WORKS jtk entnl Building Whitney *Wa kBidg. ?? .ICl.'m-Vl-^UWJ-. )! <.0, ':i\? fl :nRe.nedy 1 Uef for all Nerve, Bone more quickly than any PENETRATES?It it arful, speedy and sure 1 dealers in medicine at ack if not satisfactory IRS SAY! ared of Neuralgia "xj For fire years I suffered wtth neuralgia '0 d pain In aide. Could not sleep. I tried fl ?h*s Liniment, and the first application ide me feel better. Mrs. Martha A. See, chmond,Va " iff Joints and Backaches 'I have used Noah's Linimaat for rhenitlsm, stiff Joints and backache, and I can . < 7 it did me more cood than any pain reme- *\jaj , Rev George w. Smith, Abberlle, 8. C." nchitis and Asthma 'My son has been suffering with brooch ftl* " d asthma and a very bad oough. Was n fined to his bed. Some one recommended " ^ tab's Liniment, and I rubbed his chest and ck with It and gave him six drops on sugar, d he was relieved Immediately. Mrs. A. L. .1 ilttaker, Ola Holly Street, Richmond,Va.'' ; '/ otter Than $5.00 Remedies : 'We have obtained as good !f not better re. , ~ t Its from Noah's Liniment than we did from t . i no lies .vc tlng ?*>C0 per bottle. Norfolk ' > Portsmouth Tracider Co., Norfolk, Va." LU-.-iauxs^. acmssmaw .jnstaun*! r Record S 1 .EE | CO J ftiikviilp Kv S " E^Kavei^S ' | ' I isisfent with Quality.' g X wm sible, considering quality. ? 9 Doors, Sash and Blinds J nade of CYPRESS placed j| er has no CYPRESS stock RN & SON, I JRERS, fl " s. c. ^