Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Ibe Di~ BYLOUI JOS] AUTUOR OP "THEs BRAS 0.[LWU[9MUO? Y W& COPYMWCT OY 1.041/4 /DJW VANC SYNOPSIS. David Amber, starting for a duck-shoot tag visit with his friend, Quain, comes UP n a young lady equestrian who has been oisn ounted by her horso becomin fright nedat the sudden appearance in he road Of a burly Hindu. He declares he *Is Behari Lal Chatterji "the appointed mouthpiece of the Bell," addresses Amber as a man of high rank and pressing a mysterious little bronze box. "The To ken," lito his hand disappears in the wood. The girl calls Amber by name. e in turn addresses her as Miss Sophie arrell, daughter of Col. Farrell of the ritish diplomatio service in India and visiting the Quains. Several nights later the Quain home is burglarized and the bronse box stolen.' Amber and Quain go hunting on an island and become lost and Amber - is left marooned. He wanders about, finally reaches a cabin and roc ognizes as its occupant an old friend amed Rutton, whom he last met in Eng d, and who appears to be In hiding. aen Miss Farrell Is mentioned Rutton is strangely agitated. Chatterji appears and summons Rutton to a meeting of a mysterious body. Rutton seizes a revol ver and dashes after Chattorjl. He re turns wildly excited, says he has killed the Hindu, takes poison, and when dying asks Amber to go to India on a mysteri ous errand. Amber decides to leave at once for India. CHAPTER VII. Masks and Faces. ' Like many a wiser and a better man, Amber was able upon occasion to change his mind without entertain ing serious misgivings as to his sta bility of purpose. Therefore, on sec ond thought, he' elected to journey Indiawards via the Suez canal rather than by the western route. Rutton's instructions had been explicit upon one point: Amber was to enter India only by the port of Calcutta. In de ferring to this the Virginian lost sev eral days waiting in London for the fortnightly P. & 0. boat for Calcutta: a delay which might have been ob viated by taking the overland route to Brindisi, connecting there with the weekly P. & 0. boat for Bombay, from which latter point Calcutta could have been quiekly reached by rail across the Indian peninsula. Now Quain's letter to Labertouche went by this quicker route and so an ticipated Amber's arrival at the capi tal of India by about a week; during all of which time It languished un read. A nice young English boy in Mr. Labertouche's employ received and stamped it with the date of delivery and put it away with the rest of the incoming correspondence in a sub stantial-looking safe. After which he returned to his desk in the ante-room an resumed his study of the law; i he 1jursued comfortably enough w i'a cigarette in his mouth, his chair tilted back, and his feet gently but firmly implanted upon the fair printed pages of an open volume of Bllackstone. His ofilal duties, other wise, seemed to consist solely in im parting to all and sundry the informa tion that Mr. Labertouache was "some where up in the Mofussil, hunting bugs--I don't know exactly where." Precisely why -Mr. Labertouche maintained his office was a matter for casual conjecture to his wide circle of acquaintances; although it's not uin likely that, were he the subject of dis cussion, the bulk of the wonder ex pressed would be inspired -by his un reasonable preference for Calcutta as a place of residence. Now upon the morning of the day that found the steamship Poonah nuz zling up the Hooghly's dirty yellow flood, Mr. Labertouche's clerk arrived at the Dhurrumtollah street office at the usual hour; which, in the absence of his employer, was generally be tween 11 o'clock and noon. Having assorted and disposed of the morn :ing's mail, he donned his office coat, sat down, thumbed through Ulack stone until he found two perfectly clean pages, opened the volume at that place, tipped back his chair, and with every indication of an untroubled con science imposed his feet upon the book and began the day's labors with a cigarette. Presently he became aware that an especially dirty and travel-worn Attit mendicant had squatted down across the way, in the full glare of sunlight, and was composing himself for one of thoso apparently purpose less and interminable vigils peculiar to his vocation. lBoneath their droop ing lashes the eyes of the clerk brightened. But he did not move, Neither did the Attit mendicant. In the course of the next half-hour the clerk consumed two cigarettes and entertained a visitor in the per son of a dapper little Greek curio dealer from the Lal bazar, who left behind him an invitation to Mr. La bertouche to call and inspect some scarabs in which he had professed an interest. It Ww quite a fresh im portation, averred the Greek; the clerk Wias to be careful to remember that. When he had gone the clerk made a note of it. Then, glancing out of the window, he became aware that the Attit mendicant, for some reason dissatisfied, was preparfng to move on. Yawning, the clerk resumed his street coat, and went out to lunch, carelessly leaving the doer unlocked, and tne memorandum of the Greek's invitation exposed upon his blotter. When he returned at three o'clock, the door of Mr. Labertouche's private office was ajar and that gentleman was at his desk. The memorandum was, however, gone. Mr. Tahertoumc ..w.. i- th pro f C f 1 PH VAND I 1 cess of opening and reading a ten- V days' accumulation of correspondence, 1 an occupation which he suspended b temporarily to call his clerk in and r receive his report. This proved to be a tolerably lengthy session, for the l clerk, whose name appeared to be g Frank, demonstrated his command of r a surprising memory. Without notes a he enumerated the callers at the of- d fce day by day from the time when e Labertouche had left for the Mofussil t with his specimen box and the rest a of his bug-hunting paraphernalia; nam- 1 Ing those known to his employer, 0 minutely describing all others, even a repeating their words with almost 1 phonographic fidelity. h Labertouche listened intently, with out interrupting, abstractedly tapping his desk with a paper-cutter. At the end he said "Thank you," with a dry, preoccupied air; and resumed consid eration of his letters. These seemed ( to interest him little; one after the other he gave to his clerk, saying: "File that," or "Answer that so-and thusly." Two he set aside for his personal disposition, and these he took up again after the clerk had been dismissed. The first he read and reconsidered for a long time; then crumpled it up and, drawing to him a small tray of hammered brass, dropped the wadded paper upon it. and touched a match to it, thoughtful ly poking the blazing sheets with his paper-cutter until they were altogeth er reduced to ashes. Qualn's was the second letter. Hay ing merely glanced at the heading and signature, Labertouche had reserved the rather formidable document-for Quain had written fully-as probably of scant importance, to be dealt with at his absolute leisure. But as he read his expression grew more and more serious and perturbed. Finish ing the last page he turned back to the first and went over it a second time with much deliberation and fre quent pauses, apparently memorizing portions of its contents. Finally he said, "Hum-m!" inscrutably and rang for Frank. "He left New York by the Lusitania, eh?" said Mr. Labertoucho aloud. The clerk entering interrupted his solilo quy. "Bring me, please," he said, "Bradshaw, the News-and the latest P. & 0. schedule." And when Frank had returned with the articles, he desired him to go at once and enquire. at Government house the whereabouts of Col. Dominick James Farrell, and further to search the hotels of Cal cutta for a Miss Farrell, or for infor mation concerning her. "Have this for me tonight-come to the bunga low at seven," he said. "And... I shall probably not be at the omlce again for several days." "Insects?" enquired the clerk. "Insects," affirmed Mr. Labertouche gravely. "In the Mofussil ?" "There or thereabouts, Frank." "Yes, sir. I presume you don't feel the need of a capable assistant yet?" "Not yet, Frank," said Labertouche kindly. "Be patient. Your time will come; you're doing famously now." "Thank you." "Good afternouon. Lock the door as you leave." Immediately that he found himself alone, Labertouche made of Quain's letter a second burnt offering to pre judice upon the tray of hammered brass. This matter attended to, he lost himself in Bradshaw and the Penin-1 sular & Oriental Steamship company's1 list of sailings; from which he do rived enlightenment, "lHe was to come direct," mused Labertouche. "In that case he'll have waited over in I4)n don for the Poonah." IHe turned to1 the copy of the Indian Daily News which lay at his elbow, somewhat anx-1 iously consulting its shipping news. Under the heading of "Duo this Day" he discovered the words: "Poonah, London - Calcutta -- Straits Settle ments." And his face lengthened with concern. "That's short notice," he said. "Lucky I got back today--uncommon lucky! . . . Still I may be mis taken." But the surmise failed to comfort him, He drew a sheet of paper on which there was no letter head to him and began to write, composing deliberate ly and with great care. The building in which his offices were located stood upon a corner; at either end of the long corridor on the upper floor, upon which the various offices opened, were stairways, one descending to Dhurrumtellah street, the ether to a side street little better than an alley. It may be considered significant that, whereas Labertouche himself was not seen either to enter or to leave the building at any time that day, an Attit mendicant did enter from Dhurrumntollah street shortly after Frank had gone to lunch--and disappeared forthwith; while, in the dusk of evening, a slim Eurasian boy with a clerkly air left by the stairs to the alley. CHAPTER Vli, First 8teps. Forward on the promenade dack of the Poonah, in the shadow of the bridgre, Amber stood with bohebw n the rail, dividing his sorewhat erturbed attention between a noisy 3t of lascar stewards, deckhan4s, and ative third-class passengers in the ows below, and the long lines of laugor island, just then slippingjpast M the starboard beam. Up to the day that the Poonah had ailed from Tilbtry dock, London, rom the time he had left Quain mong the sand dunes of Long Island, e had not been conscious of any sort f espionage upon his movements. lut from the hour that the Poonah rith its miscellaneous ship's con any, white, yellow, brown, and black, ad warped out into the Thames, he ad felt he was being watched--had ealized it instinctively, having noth ig definite whereon to base his feel ig. He was neither timorous nor Iven to conjuring up shapes of ter or from the depths of a nervous im gination; the sensation of being un er the sUrveillance of unseen, prying yes is unmistakable. Yet he had tried a reason himself out of the belief fter taking all sensible' precautions, uch as never letting the photograph f Sophia Farrell out of his possession nd keeping the Token next his skin, i a chamois bag that nestled beneath is arm, swinging from a leather cord ound his neck. It was quite con eivable that that jewel, intrinsically avaluable, was badly wanted by its ormer possessors, whether for the imple worth of it or because it pla3 - d an important part in the intrigue, r whatever it was, that had resulted n Rutton's suicide. For his own part, Lmber cared nothing for it. Such, in short, had been his frame if mind up to eight o'clock of the irevious evening. At that hour he had nade a discovery which had diverted he entire trend of his thoughts. Doggott, ever a poor sailor, hap een feeling ill and Amber had excused irm early in the afternoon. About six )'clock he had gone to his stateroom Like a Flash th4 and dressed for dinner, unattended. Absorbed in anticipations of the nmor row, when first he should set foot in calcutta and take the first step in pursuit of Sophia Farrell, ho had ibsent-mindedly neglected to empty :he pockets of his discarded clothing. Xt seven he had gone to dinner, leav ng his stateroom door open, as was als habit--a not unusual one with 3rst-cabin passengers on long voyages -and his flannels swinging from iooks in the wall. About eight, dlis :tovering his oversight through the ibsence of his cigarette case, he had iurried back to the stateroom to dis yover that he had been curiously robbed. Is watch, his keys, his small shange and his sovereign purse, his siver cigarette ease-all the articles, n fact, that he was accustomod to stuff into his pockets-with one ex letion, were where he had left them. But the leather envelope containing the portrait of Sophia Farrell was uissing from the breast-pocket of his 30at. From the hour in which ho had ob ained it he had never but this once et it out of his personal possession. rho envelope he had caused to be con itructed for its safe-keeping during dis enforced inaction in London. He sad never once looked at it save in strict privacy, secure even from the eyes of Doggott; and. the latter did act know what the leather case con :ained. Thus his preconceivedl and self-con ;tructed theory as to the extent of rho Einemy's knowledge, was in an in itant overthrown. "They"' had seized ;he very first relaxation of his vigi ance to rob him of that which he ralued most. And in his heart ho eared and believed that the incide~nt ndicated "'their" intimae-v not alone rith his secret but with that which ho ihared with Colonel Farrell. Since then his every move towar~d 'egaining the photograph had been ruitless. In the end, and in despair, Amber posted a notice on the ship's bulle in board, offering 50 guineas reward or the return of the photograph to uim either before landing or at the Great Eastern hotel, CalcuttA, and having thereby established his reputa tion as a mild lunatic, sat down to twirl his thumbs and await the out come, confidently anticipating there would bo none. "They" had outwit ted him and not 600 guineas would tempt "them," he believed. It re mained only to contrive a triumph in despite of this setback. The Poonah slipped In to her dock under cover of darkness. Amber, dis embarking with Doggott, climbed into an open ghari on the landing stage and was driven swiftly to his hotel. As he alighted and, leaving Doggott to scttle with the ghariwallah, crossed the sidewalk to the hotel entrance, a beggar slipped through the throng of wayfarers, whining at his elbow. "Give, 0 give, Protector of the Poor!" Preoccupied, Amber hardly heard, and passed on; but the native stuck Leach-like to his side. "Give, hazoor-and the mercy of God shall be upon the heaven-born for ten thousand years!" Now "heaven-born" is flattery prop erly reserved for those who sit in high places. Amber turned and eyed the man curiously, at the same time dropping into the filthy, importunate palm a few annas. "May the shadow of the heaven born be long upon the land, when he shall have passed through the Gate way of Swordsi" And like a flash the man was gone -dodging nimbly round the ghari and across Old Court House street, losing himself almost instantly in the press of early evening traffic. "The devil!" said Amber thought fully. "Why should it be assumed that I have any shadow of an inten tion of entering that damnable Gate way of Swords?" An incident at the desk, while he was arranging for his room, further Man Was Gone. mystified him, Hie had given his name to the clerk, who looked up, smiling. "Mr. David Amber?" he said: "Why, yes-" "ewere expecting you, sir. You camne by the Poonah?" "Yes, but--" "There's a note for you." The man turned to a rack, sorting out a small squaro envelope from others pigeon holed under "A." Couldl it be possihle that Sophia Farrell had been adlvised of his com ing? Amber's hand trembled slightly with eagerness and excitement as ho took the missive. "An Eurasian boy left it for you halt an hour- ago," said the clerk. "Thank you," returned Amber, con trolling himself sufllciently to wait until he should be conducted to his room beforoe opening the note. It was not, he observed later, super scr'ibed in a feminine hand. Could it b)0 from Qua!in's friend L~abertoucho? Who else? . .. Amber lifted his shoulders resignedly. "I wish Quain had minded his own business," ho said ungratefully; "I can take care of myself. This Labertouche'll proba bly make life a misery for me." There was a quality in the note, however, to make him forget his re sentmient of Quain's well-meant inter ference. ."My Dear Sir," it began formally: "Quain's letter did not reach me un til this afternoon; a circumstance which I regret. Otherwise I should 1)0 better prepareu to assist you. I have, on the other hand, set afoot enquiries which may shortly result in some interesting information bearing upon the matter's which engago you. I expect to havo news of the F's. to night, and shall be glad to communi cato it to you at once. I nam presum lng that you propose' losing no time in attending to the affair of the gold smith, but I take the liberty of ad vising you that to alttemplt to find him without proper- guidance or- prepara tion would 1)0 an undertaking haz ardlous; in the extreme. Mlay [ offer you moy services? If you decide to aec cept them, be good enough to come before ten tonight to tho ,mailors' ing Ing house known as 'Honest George's,' back of the Lel bazar, and ask for Honest George himself, refraining from mentioning my name. Dress yourself in your oldest and shabbiest clothing; you cannot overdo this since the neighborhood is question. able and a well-dressed man would immediately become an object of sus picion. Do not wear the ring; keep it about you, out of sight. Should this fail to reach you in time, try tomor. row night between eight and ten. You would servd us both well by burning this immediately. Pray believe me yours to command in all respects." There was no signature. Amber frowned and whistled over this. "Undoubtedly from Labor toucho," he considered. "But why this flavor of intrigue? Does he know anything more than I do? I presume lie must. It'd be a great comfort if . . . Hold on. 'News of the Pa.' That spells the Farrels. How in blazes does he know anything about the Farrells? I told Quain nothing. . . . Can it be a trap? Is it possible that the chap who took that photograph recognized . . .?" The problem held him in perplexity throughout the evening meal. He turned it over this way and that with out being able to arrive at any com forting solution. Impulse in the end decided him-impulse and a glance at his watch which told him that the time grew short. "I'll go," he de clared, "no matter what. It's nearly nine, but the Lal bazar's not far." In the face of Doggott's unbending disapproval he left the hotel some 20 minutes later, having levied on Dog. gott's wardrobe for suitable clothing. Once away from the Great Eastern he quietly insinuated himself into the tide of the city's night life that tire. lessly ebbs and flows north of Dal houslo square-the restless currents of native lifts that move ceaselessly in obedience to impulses so meaningless and strange to the Occidental under standing. Before he realized it ho had left civilization behind him and was breathing the asmosphere, heady and weird, of the Thousand-and-One Nights. The Lal bazar seethed round him noisily, with a roaring not unlike that of a surf in the hearing of him who had so long lived separate from such scenes. At a corner where there was more light lie came upon a policeman whose tunic, helmet, and truncheon were so closely patterned after those of the L.ondon Bobby that the simple sight of them was calculated to revive con fidence in the security of one's person. He inspected Amber shrewdly while the latter was asking his way to. ion. est George's, and in response jerked a white-gloved thumb down the wide thoroughfare. "You carn't miss it, sir-'ylors' boardin' 'ouse, all lit up and likely a row on at the bar. Mind your eye, guv'nor. It nyn't a plyco you'd ought to visit on your lone." "Thanks; I've business there. I reckon to take carn of myself." Nevertheless it was with a mind preyed upon by forebodings that Am. ber stunibled down the cobbled way, reeking with filth, toward tho estab Ilshmnent of Ihonest George. lio stopped in front of a building whose squat brick facade was let. teredi with the reassuring sobriquet of its proprietor. A bench, running the wvidth of the structure, was thick with sprawling loafers, who smoked and spait and spoke a jargon of the seas, the chief part of which was bias phemy. Within, visible through win dlows never closed, was a crowded bar room ablaze with flaring gas jets, up roarious with voices thick with drink. One needed courage of no common order to run the gauntlet of that rowdy room and brave the more se cret dangers of the infamous den. "You've got to have your nerve with you," Amber' put it. "Blut I suppose it's all in the game. Let's chance it." And he entered. Compared with the atmosphere of that public room a blast from hell were sweet and ecoling, thought Ant h~er; the first whiff he had of it all but staggered him ; and he found himself gasping, perspiration startinag from every pore. Faint with disgust lie el bowed his way through tlie mob to the bar, thankful that those ab~out him, absorbed in the engrossing occui pation of getting drunk, paid him not the least heed. Flattening himself against the rail ho cast about for the proprietor. A blowsy, sweatling bar maid caught his eye and without a word slapped~ clown upon the sloppy counter before himi a glass four fIn gers deep with unspeakable whisky. Arid ho realized that ho would have to drink it; to refuse would be to at tract attention, perhaps with unpiltas ant consequences. "It's more thanl I bargained for," ho grumled, ma king a pretence of swallowing the dose, and to his hugo relief rnanag ing to spill two-third of it down the front of his coat. WVhat he swallow ed bit like an acid. Tears came to his eyes, but he choked down the cough, and as soon as he could speak paid the girl. "Where's the boss?" he asked. (TO B3JJ CONTINUlEn.) Film Drama for 108,000,000 Russians. Cinematograph theaters are tre mendously popular in Russia. Almost every village has one. Moscow and St. Petersburg have ttbout 80 each. For the empire the number is esti-. mated at 1,200, withI an aggregate at tendance last year of 108,000.000. A t the average admission of 20 cenits, $2i,600,000 was taken in. Admissioni charges range from 8 to 67 cents. Many houses; entortain 1,000 a night. On Sundays and holhinys the crowds arIOe enorm1ous5. Thl~e ictures~Q shown are hiargely educa tion al and do n muelit good, especially as so large a priopor ion of the Russian population is 11 literate. Why suffer backache, headache dizziness, weariness, urinary irregu. larities and other troubles that arise from disordered kidneys when reliet ew r Q; is so near at hand? t Doan's Kidney Pill* jhave cured thou. sands. Mrs. A. M. M11. burn, So. Covington, Ten., says: "A ter rible pain centered in my back. My nervous system was shattered, and noise , of any kind drove 1e almost frantic. I was overcome with dizziness and subject to smother ing spells. My eyesight became poor and kidney secretions were intensely painful in passage. After doctoring without help, I began using Doan's Kidney Pills. In six weeks I was en. tirely cured." Remember the name-Doan's. For sale by druggists and general storekeepers everywhere. Price 60o. Foster-Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y. Incident Overlooked. A New England farmer, noted for his uncontrolled temper, became con verted, according to the St. Louis Re publi. - A month later he was holding forth to a number of friends and relatives gathered at the Thanksgiving dinner table on the subject of his religious principles, his entire change of char acter and his kind and forebearing dis position. Finally growing enthusiastic In his description, he called on his wife to uphold his assertions. "Jane," he shouted, "you haven't had an unkind word or deed from me since I got converted-now, have you ?" There was a dead silence; then camie in meek, yet reminding tones from the other end of the table. "Jerome, Jerome, you've forgot the time you bit me." Knew Just What to Do. A parlor lamp which did duty for the samo young man seven nights in the week had struck, and was slowly going out. The red glow grew faint er and fainter, and as the shadows merged one by one into the gloom a weird and eerie feeling crept into the young girl's soul. "George," she ask ed, in tones that were tremulous with suppressed agitation, "what would you do if you were strapped hand and foot in a chair while a candle, stuck in the top of a keg of gunpowder a foot from your head, burned slowly down and down and down?" And George, who has been gazing expectantly at the lamp, answered, "I would blow It out." She shivered. NEVER IDLE. Wifoy -- You're always Intimating that woman has too much Idle curi osity. Hlubby-Idle curiosity! Idle! Non sense. It's thle most active thing about hleri FOUND RIGHT PATH After a False Start. "In 1890 1 began to drink coffee. "At that time 1 wvas healthy and en joyedl life. At fis I noticed no bad effects from the indulgence but in Course of time found that various troubles were coming upon mei. "Palpiat ion of the heart took unto itself sick and nervous headaches, kid ney troubles followed and eventually my stomach became so deranrged that even a light meal caused mo serious distr'ess. "Our physician's prescr'iptions failed to help me and t hen 1 dosed myself withl patent medicines till I was tiler eughly dilsgustedl and hopeless. "Finally I began to sumspect that cot. fee was the cause of my tr'oubles. I ex perimented by leaving it off, except for one small cup at breakfast. This helped some but d1id not altogether re lieve my distress. It salisfiedl me, however, that I was on the right track. "So I gavo up coffeo altogether and hegan to use Postumn. In ten days I found myself greatly improved, my nerves steady, my head clear, my kid neys working bettor and better, my heart's action rapidly improving, my apipetife uimproved and the ability to eat a hearty mecal without subsequent suffering restored to me, And tis con dition renmains. "beaving off coffee and using Postumu dlid this, with no0 help1 from dlrugs, as I abandoned the use of medicines when I began to use the food drink." Name given by Postum Co., lBattlo Creek, lMich. "There's a reason," and it is ex plained in the little book, "The Road to WVellville," in pkgs. Ever rend lhe nJbov lettert A new onew apipeairn fromt time to tiame. They nre g e'tne, frrue, and full of human