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63L0UIS JOSEPY A LLUSTRATIONS,,BY ELLSWORB-YOUN> COPRIcnT 190') by LOUi OSESEPH SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I.-Tie story opens at Monte Carlo with Col. Terence O'Rourke in his hotel. O'Rourke, a militarr free lance and something of a gambler, is dressing for appearance in the restaurant below when the sound of a girlish voice singing attracts his attention. Leaning out on the balcony he sees a beauLiful girl who suddenly disappears. He rushes to the corridor to see a neatly gowned form enter the elevator and pass from sight. CHAPTER II.-O'Rourke's mind is filled with thoughts of the girl, and when he goes to the gaming table he allows his remarkable winnings to accumulate in differently. He notices two men watch ing him. One is the Hon. Bertie Glynn, while his companion is Viscount Des Trebes, a noted duelist. When O'Rourke leaves the table the viscount tells him he represents the French government and that he has been directed to O'Rourke as a man who would undertake a secret mission. CHAPTER III.-At his room O'Rourke, who had agreed to undertake the mission, awaits the viscount. O'Rourke finds a mysterious letter in his apartment. The viscount arrives, hands a sealed package to O'Rourke, who is not to open it until - on the ocean. He says the French gov ernment will pay O'Rourke 25,000 francs for his. services. A pair of dainty slip pers are seen protruding from under a doorway curtain and the viscount charges - O'Rourke with having a spy secreted there. CHAPTER IV.-When the Irishman goes to his room he finds there the own er of the mysterious feet. It is his wife, Beatrix, from whom he had run away a year previous. They -are reconciled. and opening the letter he had received, he finds that a law firm in Rangoon, India, offers him 100.000 pounds for an Indian jewel known as the Pool of Flame and left to him by a dying friend. O'Rourke tells his wife that it is in the keeping of a friend named Chambret in Algeria. CHAPTER V.-O'Rourke is forced to fight a duel with the viscount. The brag gart nobleman is worsted in the combat and acts the poltroon. CHAPTER VI.-The loyal wife bids O'Rourke farewell and he promises to soon return with the reward offered for the Pool of Flame. He discovers both - Glynn and the viscount on board the .shtD which takes him to Algeria. CHAPTER VII.-Chambret has left Al geria and O'Rourke has to gain a mili tary detachment going across the desert to reach his friend. As he finds the latter there is an attack by bandits and -Chambret is shot. .CHAPT ER VIII.. -Preparations for breakfast were to ward; an aroma of coffee and bacon hung in~the still, crisp air. The troop -ers were bustling about as if noth -ing had happened, laughing and jok ing, cleaning rifles, feeding the me - hara, striking tents, drawing water from the palm-ringed well round which the camp had been made. Out of sight beyond the edge of the sunken oasis a detachment was dig ging shallow trenches for the dead. In the open. Chambret lay dying, a stark grim figure in the growing light. O'Rourke sat by his side, near the head of the improvis'ed litter, el bow in knee, chin in hand, eyes fixed on the face of his friend. Just before sunrise the man on the litter stirred, moaned, opened his eyes -and turned his head to see O'Rourke. H le smiled wanly. "Mon ami," he said Sin tones faint yet thick. The Irishman ro,se. "Don't talk," Ssaid he. "I'll be calling the surgeon." But Chambret stayed him with a .gesture. "Has he not told you, dear friend?" he asked. O'Rourke hesitated. "Told me what?" "That my wound was fatal-mortal? ...Surely he must have told you. It is so. Presently I die . . Con tent. . . . Let him be-this su?r geo 2: I am beycnd his aid. Atternd to me, in my last moments, O'R~ourl:e, my friend." The adventurer vacillated, torn by an agony of compassion. "I must do something for ye," he said miserably. ...."I must do something. .. What can I1 do ?" "Comfort me." The dying man closed his eyes and lay still for a lit tie. "You ar.e not gone, O'Rourke?" be asked presently. "I'm here, be your side, mon ami." "Tell me . . . of madame.. .. your wife. She is well?" "She is very well, Chambret." 'CYou have seen her recently?" "Within ten days." "You have . . . returned to ber?" "No-and yes. 'Twas not for lack .f love for her that I gave her up-" "Yes," said Chambret impatiently. "That I understand. . . . I com prehend utterly your feeling.... But you owe her happiness, though you sacrifice your own-everything to give it her. She loves you... as she might have loved even me had you mot come inte her life." "Youare 'abeat to pocket your scruples that she msay ka've her due portion of happiuess?" "I've promised, Chamnbret." "I am glad.. . . But you-what ihas brought you hither?" "I--I wished t, see ye," But the dyin2g are oftentimes and .eangely endowed with curious in sight into matters beyond their ken. Wkthiout perceptible h.esitation Cham bret made this apparent. "You have come for the ruby," he said with conviction. "'Haw did ye know?" "It is true, then? . . . I fancied . I knew that some a y ou would ILOf IANC..-. come to clairn it. . . . ZenG neare: to me. . . . The Pool of Flame i, in the keeping of my good friend, th< Governor-General of Algeria. It is al arranged. When I am gone, take m] signet ring, tell him your name, an demand the package-a small morocco leather box, wrapped in plain browi aper and superscribed with- my nam and yours. He knows nothing of it: value, save that it is great, and wil deliver it to you and only you withou question. . . . That is all." The hand that clasped O'Rourke'; was like ice. "Chambret!" "Beatrix. . . ." The cold fingers relaxed. Gentl: O'Rourke disengaged his hand and pu it to the pitiful, torn bosom of tho man who had died with his wife' name upon his lips. CHAPTER IX. Shortly before midnight the tri weekly train from Constantine to A] giers pulled up over an hour late a the town of El-Guerrah. It took up single passenger, discharged none, an {i Thyd Lieal,auh(i a -fpmg Thesey Haduneredauh oniwestad rocking and jarring over a road-bel certainly no better than it should hav< been. Such, at least, 'was the passer ger's criticism, as, groaning in ar ticipation of the, long night of disconr fort ahead of him, he disposed himse] and his belongings about the cushion of the first-class compartment whic] he occupied in solitary grandeur. O'Rourke had no intention' of' leas Ing anything undone that;n..ight ten' to mitigate the terrors of the journey Five days had elapsed since tha morning in the oasis. In the interva he had again dared the danger of th< desert, returning to Biskra alone by route more direct than that which hai brought him up with the flying co] umn. Discharging the guide -with gratuity larger than his ebbing mean warranted, he had proceeded to El Guerrah by the first daily train, an' so now found himself on the direc line of communication with Algier; and the Governor-General. His chiefest concern now lay wit] the future and the Pool of Flame both bulked large upon the horizol and were at once the architects an< the nuclei of a thousand differen plans of action. So far, the affair had worke< Ismoothly; he anticipated little trou ble. So thinking he drowsed, and in th< course of time lulled by the hammer ing of a fiat-wheel at the forward en< of the, coach, fell asleep. He waken Ied suddenly after a nap of some tw Ihours or so, to a confusion of impres Isions: that the train had stopped that some one had invaded his com partment; that a c'old blast was blow ing across his wrists. Bewildered an< not half master of his senses, he start Ied up and fell back with a thud, as sisted to resume a recumbent posltior by a heavy blow upon his chest, deliv ered by some person for the momen unknown. Simultaneously he wa' Iaware of a clicking sound, followed b; the sensation of being unable to mov his feet; and then, the clouds clearin from his .understanding, he realize that the cold upon his wrists was tha of steel. With handcuffs also on hi: ankles, he lay helpless, unable ever to protest because of a cloth wadded tightly into his mouth and a drm hanm that prevented ejection. Other hands were rifling his pock~ ets, swkftly but after a bungling fash Ion. The train, having paused briefi: at Setif (he afterwards located the station by conjetture), began ti move again, was presently 13 full thundering flight. Abruptly thi examination of his person-whici was so thorough that it includes the opening of his shirt to as sure ihe thieves that he carried noth ing in the shape of a money-belt was concluded and the adventure1 was roughly jerked into a sitting po sition. At the same time his gag wa: He asped, blinked, coughed, and rolled a resentful eye around the com partment. "Be the powers!" he saic huskily; and no more. At first glance it became apparent that he had mis calculated the audacity and resourc' of the vicomte and Mr Glynun. They had literally caught him napping. The Honorable Bertie, O'Rourke dis covered kneeling in the act of turning the adventurer's traveling gear inside out; at least, he seemed to be try ing to do so. Monsieur le Vicomte des Trebes on the contrary was seat ed at ease, facing O'Rourke, a revolver on the cushion beside him, his in terest concentrated not upo. his cap tive, upon his collaborator. O'Rourke remarked an expression on the French man's face, a curicus compound of eagerness, triumph and apprehension. Without noting the Irishman's ejec ulation, he addressed Glynn: "Find it?" "No-worse luck!" grumbled the Englishman, rising and kicking the hand-bag savagely. "There isn't so much as a scrap of paper anywhere a about him." 1 The vicomte favored O'Rourke with t a vicious glance, mutterirg something about a thousand devils. The Irish man, quick to grasp the situation and inwardly exulting, acknowledged Des Trebes' attention with a winning smile. "Good evening," he said, and nodded t amiably. "Oh, shut up!" snapped the Honor. able Bertie, unhandsomely. "Where's that letter?" O'Rourke chuckled. "Ye're - a hard loser, me bright young friend," he commented. "I though Englishmen always played the game as it laid." Glynn grunted and flushed, shame faced, but the Frenchman cut short 3 the retort on his lips by a curt repe l tition of Glynn's own question: "Where's that letter, monsieur?" O'Rourke glanced at him languidly, yawned, and smiled an exasperating strictly personal smile. Then sig nificantly he clinked the handcuffs un til they rang on wrist and ankle. "Answer me!" snarled the vicomte, picking up his revolver. "Divvle a word," observed O'Rourke, "will ye get from me if ye shoot me dead, monsieur le vicomte. Put down your pistol and be sensible." Des Trebes' face darkened, suf fused with the blood of his rage. Yet the man asserted that admirable con trol of self which he was able to em ploy when it suited his purposes. Evi dently, too, he recognized the cold common-sense of the wanderer's re mark. At all events he put aside the weapon. "Where's the letter?" he demanded again, more pacifically. Again O'Rourke yawned with mal ice prepense, yawned deliberately and ~exhaustively and dispassionately "Not a word," he volunteered al length, "until ye loose me hands and feet. Which," he added, "ye need nol hesitate to do, fcr I'll not strike bacbi -unless ye crowd me." The vicomte scowled darkly for a moment, plainly dubious. Then pre Isumably upon the consideration that he could trust O'Rourke's word -and that most assuredly he would learE nothing from him until his requesi was compled with, he growled an or der to Glynn to unlock and remove the handcuffs. The Englishman obey Ied. Free, O'Rourke stretched himself rubbed his wrists, and observed a collection, of his pocket hardware ly ing upon the seat by him, thrown: aside by Glynn in his disgust at noi finding what he sought. "Ye'll i not - be wanting to deprive me of these few trifles, me gay high waymen, I'm thinking?" he inquired placidly of the pair. "If ye've no ob. jection I'll make so free as to take back me own." "Take what you want," returned Des Trebes in an ugly tone. "But I give you three minutes to tell me where you have put that letter." "Indeed? Your courtesy overpowers Ime." The Irishman took up his watct' and .calmly made a note of the hour hard upon three in the morning; then with.easy nonchalance stowed it .away w~ith the rest of the miscellaneous col lection-the knives, coins and keys his wallet, tickets and so forth. "Your time," the voice of the vi comte interrupted this occupation, "is up." He fingered his revolver "Whe,re is that letter? I am losing patience.' "Where rust nor moth cannot cor rupt nor thieves break in to steal,' ~O'Rourke misquoted solemnly "Steady. Don't call names-or I'[: forget ineself. I mean that the lettel is in fragments, scattered to the four winds of heaven, destroyed. There ye Ihave your answer. Ye fools, did ye think I would carry It about me?" "By God!" said Glynn tensely. "Nc -don't shoot him, Des Trebes! He's telling the truth. Make him tell whal was in the letter." "I'm afraid 'tis useless," O'Rourke Imocked them. "I have forgotten the Ieontents. What use to me to re member?" he demanded, inspired "What made ye think I would have it at all? Sure, and the letter was prQyerly Chambret's. Why would ] Rot turn it over to him?" "Oh, cut it!" Glynn interrupted im patiently. "We know he's dead. The news was heliographed in from the eolumn day before yesterday." "Quite so. Yet, if ye know so much if-as I gather-ye suspect that Cham. bret turned over this precious jewel to me, why do ye not demand it as well as the letter? Not that I have either." "Because we jolly well know yov haven't got the ruby," blurted the Englishman. "Be quict!" snapped the vicomte. "Quits right," c2h2ed O'Rourke with .-srnrdjgarmon a3 muet Ber tie. Children should be seen and no heard. Mind your uncle." And, "Oho!" he commented to himself. "And they knew I didn't have the Pool of Flame! Let me think. . . . Oh, faith, 'tii just bluffing th? are!" "You say," the viscomte continued slowly and evenly, "you've destroyed t the letter." O'Rourke took up pipe and tobacco. "I told ye," he replied, filling the bowl, "that the letter was non-exist ent. Now, me man," he continued, with t an impercptible change of tone, "drop the bluff. Turn that pistol away from me. Well I know that ye won't shoot, t for if ye did ye would put beyond r your reach forever the information that would win ye the reward-al ways providing ye had got possession t of the ruby, be hook or crook. 'Twould c be crooks, I'm thinking." c He lit a match and applied the u flame to the tobacco. "There's me last G word on the subject," he added in-a distinctly, puffing and eyeing the pair through the cloud of smoke. The revolver waved in the vicomte's c hand; he was livid with passion and disappointed, yet amenable to rea son. Glynn bent and whispered brief ly in his ear, and the Frenchman, nod-' ding acquiescence, laid aside, his weapon. The Honorable Bertie con tinued to advise with him in whispers until O'Rourke,' though quite at loss to 1 understand this. phase of the affair, saw that their attention was momen tarily diverted and, with a swift move. ment. leaned over, snatched up the re volver and, with a flirt of his hand. flung it out of the window. Glynn started back with an oath, c his hand going toward his pocket; but O'Rourke pro;nptly closed with him. A breath later a second pistol was eject ed from the carriage and the English. man was sprawling over the knees of the vicomte. They disengaged themselves and mad with rage, started up to fall upon I and exterminate the wanderer. 1 think it must have been the very impertinence of his attitude thai made them pause in doubt, for he had resumed his seat as calmly a. though nothing at all had happen ed and was pulling soberly at his pipe. As they hesitated he re moved the latter from his lips and gestured airily with the stem. "Sit j ye down," he invited them, rand take I it easy, me dear friends. The mischief's I done, and naught that ye can do will r repair it. Faith, I said I'd not strike t back unless ye crowded me. I re member me words to the letter b Your guns made a crowd out of thi$ a happy reunion. I've merely dispensed -e with them; I call ye both to .witness that ye have neither of ye suffered Sure, I'm as peaceable as any lambI Sit down, sit y&.down and take it likE little men. The situation's unchanged save that I've put temptation out 0: your reach." t And as they 'wavered, plainly o two minds, O'Rourke clinched the ar gument of his attitude. "I beg to cal your attention," he remarked, "to the fact that ye have left me own bracE cf revolvers here at me feet, when ye so joyously turned me bag inside out I'm not tcuching them, mind ye, but mind ,ye further: I'll brook no non sense. If ye make a move as if to at tack me, I'll . . . There! That': much better. Wise lads, ye are, boti .of'ye: graceful in defeat. Let me see: We've a long ride together, tnhougt ye did come uninvited. I trust yq 1 will help me beguile the tedium with society chatter, me friend," with a twi'nkle at the discomfited vicomte' "I'm in danger of forgetting me man ners. Pardon me, I pray, but-buti trust your nose is convalescing?" I In high feather 'with himself ' IO'Rourke entertained his companion: with a running fire of pleasantries fo: I the balance of the darkened hours And he touched both more than once with the rapier-point of his wit and Iirony, and had the pleasure of seeing both squirm in impotent rage. They cut wretched figures, two against one' yet failures, while he taunted them i11 one breath, with the next declarec himself their captive. Toward the enc the reserve which the vicomte im posed upon the Honorable Bertie was worn down: the Englishman turnec Iwith raw nerves upon his tormentor ''You damned ass!'' he stammered all but incoherent. "You sit therE and-and gloat, damn you! 'When a1: the time, we've go.t the upper hand!': "Be quiet!" interposed the vicomte "I won't!" raged the honorable. "iHe thinks himself so infernally clever: What 'dyou say, you Irish braggart, i: I told you you'd never see the Poo: of Flame again?" "I'd say," returned O'Rourke, "that c you were either lying or a fool. I{ f either case a fool. If, as ye seem tc be trying to make me believe-whici I don't for one instant-ye have suc ceeded in stealing the Pool of Flame I'll hunt the pair of ye to the ends 01 the earth, if need be." c He eyed them reflectively during 2 moment or two made interesting b; Glynn's desperate attempts to bluri out indiscretions against the prohibi' tion of the vicomte: something whict the older man enforced crudely by I clapping his hand across the English 1c man's mouth, as well as by whisper ing savagely in his ear. "But there'll be no need," continuec the Irishman, when Glynn was enm "Let's consider the matter dispassion c ately, presupposing that ye have thE stone. Well, what then? Ye dare not f attempt to sell it-'twould result ir instant detection. It would not pa3 t ye' to have )t secretly cut up in?tc snmcr stones-the loss in valuEt would be stupendous, the whc!e not worth your while, as I say. Ye can not take the Pool of Flame (don9 01 f 1lephanf it would be on your hanCs. "It does not seem to strike mo:l. ;ieur that there are other ways of inding out who offers the reward,". .he viconne:g te'e. "I can " ye .i ; r.,:nd ask ng eomebody please to relieve ye of he Pool of Flame and pay ye a com aission. I wonder how long ye think 'e'd last. But 'tis no use trying to toodwink me: I don't believe one vord ye say. I'll wait until I find dut he truth before I bother meself with Their persistence in hinting that hey had gained possession of the uby perplexed and discomfited him. le did not believe it; 'twas incon eivable: yet-he had known stranger hings to happen. Still, without a lue, to have stumbled upon the se ret, to have made off with it from nder the very nose of the Governor eneral-! No; it was not reason ble to ask him to believe all that. Nevertheless, when he arrived at giers, his anxiety had grown so verpowering that he called a cab and esired to be conveyed post-haste to he Palace de la Government. (TO BE CONTINUED.) WHY WOMEN SUFFER. 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Account the Christmas holidays, the ~olumbia, Newberry and Laurens rail ad announces very low round-trip ates from all points on its line, tick-' :ts on sale December 15, 16, 17, '20, 2, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 and January 1, 912, with final limit .to return Janu .ry 8, 1912. For full information regarding rates, tc., call on Agents or write J. F. Liv ngston, S. A., Columbia, S. C. LSSESS1MENT OF PERSONAL PROP ERTY FO'R FISCAL YEAR 1912. I, or an authorized agent, will be t the following places r.amed below or the purpose of taking returns of iersonal property for fiscal year 1912: Newberry, January 1 to 9, inclusive. Kinard, Wednesday, January 10. Whitmire, Thursday and Friday, anuary 11 and 12. Jolly Street, Monday, January 15. Pomaria, Tues'day, January 16. Walton, Wednesday, January 17.' Glymphville, Thursday, January 18. Maybinton, Friday, January 19. Prosperity, Monday and Tuesday, anuary 22 and 23. Little Mountain, Wednesday, Janu ry 24. O'Neall, Thursday, January 25. St. Lukes, Friday, January 26. Longshores, Monday, January 29. Silverstreet, Tuesday, .ianuary 30. Chappells, Wednesday, January 31. And at Newberry until -February 20,! fter which date a penalty of 50 per' ent. will be added against all persons, .rms or corporations failing to make heir returns. The law requires a tax to be charg d on all moneys, notes and mort ags, also an income tax on gross in omes in excess of $2,500. There shall be a capitation tax of .fty cents on all dogs, the proceeds: o be expended for school purposes. ogs not returned for taxation shall t be considered as property in any f the courts of this State. All male persons between the ages f 21 and 60 years are liable to pay o1 tax, except Confederate soldiers, r those persons incapable of earning support from being maimed or rom any oth,er cause. Nothing but personal property is to e assessed this year, but all persons rho have bo.ught or sold any real es ate since last return are required to* ote such transfers on their returns 2r 1912: All property must. be -assessced "at mean "the sum of money for which such property, under ordina,7 cir cumstances, would sell for cash." Please do not ask that your prop erty be taken from the auditor's du plicate the same as last return, for the law requires that all property must be listed on regular tax return blanks and signed and sworn to by person listing same. Name of township and school dis trict must be given on every return. EUG. S. WERTS, Auditor Newberry County. Newberry, S. C. COFFEE Goodwith millr delici o - pure sweet cream. B ndsperfet ly with either losing nopart of its ftavor. Its guaranteed to Please.- Try it.. THE REILY-TAYLOR CO. NEW ORLEANS,.sA. ROUND TRIP WINTER TOURIST FARES NOW IN EFFECT SOUTHERN RAILWAY--"PREIEB - CARRIER OF THE SOUTH." 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