The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, July 06, 1916, Page SIX, Image 6

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SIX " The Diamoi Fr By ROY L. C +r>y righted 1915, by Roy L This instalment of this romantic novel and absorbing narrative will be shown in motion pictures at The Casino Theatre on Thursday afternoon and night. $10,000For 1,000 Words or Less For an Idea For a Sequel to "THE DIAMOND FROM THE SKY" The American Film Manufacturing Company's Picturized Romantic Novel In Chapters. i ,. -? ~ i This contest is open to any man, woman or child who is not connected, directly or indirectly, with the Film Company or the newspapers publishing the continued story. No literary ability is necessary to quality as a contestant. I ou are advised to see the continued photo play in the theaters where it will be shown to read the slory as it runs every week, and then send in your suggestion. Contestants must confine their contributions for the sequel to 1,000 tvords or less. It is the idea that is wanted. \ SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAP TERS. A feud has existed between Colonel Arthur Stanley and his cousin. Judge I.a:r..u Stanley, over an heirloom, the diamond from the skv, found In a fallen indoor by an ancestor. Also the succession to the Stanley earldom in Kngland may come to an American. When a daughter is born to the colonel and the mother dies the colonel buys a gypsy boy and substitutes him. Three years later the gypsy mother, having had no part in this bargain, steals tlie girl, lOsther, reared in secret, and leaves her son undetected as the heir. The JSJ ?>?.> IlilES UUUIIIR'U possession OI llie lliamond from the sky, and a document with the Stanley secret. Years later llagar, gypsy queen, returns to Virginia with Mather. Dr. Dee. the late Colonel Stanley's friend, adopts Esther. Arthur Stanley, son of llagar, falls in love with Esther, and 30 does his companion and (^>usin, Blair Stanley, rightful inaTe heir of Stanley. In Ktealing the diamond Blair causes the death of the doctor and tries later to put the blame on Arthur, who takes the gem. Arthur Stanley eludes his pursuers and Joins llagar, who reveals his identity and upbraids him for his wild life. Needing money, he pawns the diamond in Richmond. At a ball, at which an adventuress, Vivian Marston, wears the borrowed 'gem, Luke Lovell, llagar's gypsy guard, stealg the diamond, Arthur leaves Richmond find goes fo the wesf. Quabba, organ grinder, befriends Esther. Tom Blake, a detective of Richmond, who is hired by llagar, produces finger prints convicting Blair, llagar proposes silence to Mrs. Stanley as the price of Tlagar's and Estl .being received in Fairfax society, i r strikes down Ila<gar and steals the linger prints, leaving the gypsy queen demented. Marmaduke Smythe, lawyer, arrives to announce Arthur Is heir to the deceased Earl of , Stanley. Learning Arthur is a fugitive, he seeks Blair instead. To win Vivian, Blair steals the diamond, later marrying her and leaving for the west. Their train is robbed, Vivian losing the diamond, which a slain train robber drops in the desert The {100,000 he stole is found by Arthur, now known as John Powell, sheep herder. Luke Lovell. driven from the camp after learning llugnr's secret, leaves to seek Blair, llagar is under treatment, and Esther Is in Richmond society. Abe Bloom, gambler, knows Blair's guilt and covets the diamond. The diamond is later picked up liy^an Indian woman Dr. Lee. Arthur learns, died of heart disease. Becoming very rich, ho buys Stanley Hall, sold at auction, through Blake, and also provides for llagar and Esther Vivian is saved from drowning by Powell. who Is infatuated by her. Smythe finds the diamond and gives it to Esther to deliver to Arthur Blair joins Vivian in Los Angeles. Dura nd, "king of diamonds," a crook known to Vivian, goes to a saloon to try to discover the diamond. Arthur appears oh the scene. The diamond is lost in a melee. Esther saves Arthur, who is injured, and be goes to Lofl Angeles in care of the physician-crook, Durand. The diamond is found by two billposters, one of whom murders the other for it. Arthur is "doped" by Durand, I >e Vaux and Vivian. Blair makes Arthur y?oiw>v? im on < <] from hallucination hi thinking he saw Esther. Luke is "railroaded" to prison by Blair. Arthur buys the diamond. Blair, trying to take the gem from Durand, who steals it from Arthur, hurls Durand from a. window, killing him Esther and Smythe return to Virginia, the girl rejoining I lagar at the sanitarium. The diamond is stolen by Do Vaux. He is later struck down and the diamond taken after Luke, aided by Quabba, escapes Esther will not leave Hugur ami take her rightful place In society. Stnvthe examines an old parchment bearing Hagar'n pedigree. The diamond Is given by Luke to Esther, who will not keep It. hut sends It hack to Arthur. Hagar and Esther, rejoining the gypsies, travel westward. Arthur, repentant and Informed of the treachery of Vivian and Blair, Is about to take poison Just as Luke breaks Into his room, but Luke drinks It by mistake and is then killed by an auto driven by Blair. He has taken some of Arthur's clothing, and the auto disfigures him so that he is taken for Arthur. Blair removes the diamond from fils body. Arthur, now nameless, flies in tils aeroplane, with which Blair has tampered, and falls near Esther, ilagar is 4ylng. ? X nd om the Sky McCARDEL Z2m McCARDEL CHAPTER LVII. The Pauing of Hagar. WK all deal with destiny, wittingly or not. He who had beeiT Arthur Stanley and John Powell, alike wastrel and profligate and yet fondly beloved, had mounted the stairway of the wind ; and ridden upon the wings of the morning,. without fear ?iHi*l*1thrt>ut hope./ He had dealt with destiny and had won. By some miracle of the commonplace the falling aeroplane had struck n low. thick, sturdy tree, niul the man plunging to death had been thrown up into the canvas wing of the bird machine, and so. save that he was stunned by the Jar. had escai?ed unharmed. 'I'hn nwtiidoHni* />Knf/ul i<<> - ..X ? ?**ri I'SMV O VIIII4.TTM III ^ hands and brow, one put a brandy flask to bis li|*< and forced a few of its fiery drops betweeu the clinched teeth. All the while Rather hold his head upon her lap and a great joy filled her being, for she knew he lived and had tome back to her shed of the husk of sin and selfishness. And so when ho opened his yea he looked into Esther's. and they both read what their lips could not utter?forgiveness, love and happiness I They bore Arthur hack to the gypsy camp near by in wondering silence, and then Esther relieved the gypsy woman watching by the side of 11agar and whispered to the dying woman. "Can you hear a great happinessV" A smile transfigured the wan face of II a gar. "I know the good news you ' ' "Arthur, my dear sen, i3 here!" Hagar murmured. 1 >rinir," she murmured. "Arthur, my dear sou. is here!" Prescient in the face of death. Ilagar also knew that the husk of evil had fallen from Arthur and that the winjjfs of the morning had wafted clean strength to his soul. He leaned his head against that lovln^r. tired breast an 1 knew full, deep and satisfying?that a mother's prayer was indeed a charm against harm, above all diamonds! In those few moments of deep rap tare Ilairar realized at last that all her sorrows and sacrifices had not been in vain. Her son. parted from her since his birth hour, was in her arms at last?the man she had always hoped that he would mow to be. She laid F.sther's hand in his and breathed a final hlessinix upon these two she loved above all else. And so this gentle. yet strong. heroic soul passed to its reward. This was the news thrtt Qua Mm came sadly hack to find. This was the noivs that wrenched his faithful, humhlo soul. Hut Ksther and Arthur did not ivooji. They felt that Ilagar had passed In Joy beyond eomprehenshm. and Ksther had no cause for tears, and Arthur had cause too deep for them. They gazed upon the calm face of Ilagnr hand In hand while Arthur plcdired his vows again to lie whole of heart and body as the dead would wish. 4 TT.n.. I 1 t I - * ? ' - ai in iiiiKdi IIJUI UtftMl 1111(1 TO resi the gypsies, led by Artliur, now call inp himself by the nnme of Hardinp. journeyed on back to fnlr Vlrpinla to their mountain rendezvous in the Blue Ridpe. The journey wns lomr and slow and yet a happy one for the fond lovers. As If, In truth, the evil husk had fallen from him in the plunpe from the elouds that Blair's treacherous tampering with the aeroplane had caused. *?rthur had found "the drug addiction THE HORRY HfV ? * ^?LiL-zi__ Hurt lt<s desire pass from him. If 1t was by a Ktrujrjrle with the flesh be did not show it. His eyes Jr Tha Happy Lovers Journey Across Nation's Breadth. crew bright; Ills tanned faro- ff lowed with happiness, and ever through the) sun and shade Esther. Ills beloved. . rode by his side, her tender hand In his. So. while those happy lovers journey across a nation's breadth with the simple jrypsy folk, how fares It with tile uroat of earth? How fares It with Blair Stanley and his fair wife, who was Vivian Mars i / i l I ? ' $ 11: 'V! ton? Have they not. everything tlicit hearts have iong desired? They have the wealth of .John Pow ell, lor Blair was next of Kin when it was proved the supposedly dead John Powell was Arthur Stanley, fa gitive. They have the diamond from the sky and the Stanley earldom, for to these things long desired Blair also is heir as next of kin. And Luke Lovell. with a face crush ed beyond recognition, lies in a western graveyard with the nxine of Ar thtir Stan ey on his tomb. The physicians who examined the dead man knew nothing of the drug nidations of John Powell. Thov t (light for no marks of these. The wounds and sears on Luke's body from his escape from prison ami other hard knocks he had endured were believed to he the marks of injuries that Ar time Stanley, alias .John I'owell, had , sustained in the brawl and riot at his mines that had fer a while incapaci I tated him. such time as he had been tinder the care of the dead Inirand. posing as his private physician. Blair and Vivian shunned proximity to the dead nor looked upon the crushed ini i-oilined form au tin. , Then lie fore Blake, the detective, or Abe Bloom, the Richmond gambler, the first deeming justice should he done and the latter desiring the diamond from the sky. could make a ; move Blair and Vivian had crossed the I continent from Los Angeles and had , sailed for London. Blake waited cautiously to strike. , , and Alio Bloom had been in too many ' I shady transactions to Ik* in any posl tlon to make an open demand on Blair | for the diamond, which had been promised him in the bargain for his ! silence. So Blair and Vivian Journeyed toIyomlon and were received, with som; ill grace, by Marmaduke Smytbe, for a lifetime solicitor and family lawyer to tlwt (Uirla t\f Win iiloit v >i\ i? in v/i l?l 1.j icj Hut Marmnduke Smythe did Ids duty iih he saw it. lie had all the e red en tin is. and In due time Hlnir was in | ducted into the house of lords. This brief and somewhat bald ceremony was not at all satisfying to the luxury and display loving Vivian. She had sat in the peeress' gallery in ordinary afternoon attlve and had seen Blair introduced to the lord ehan cellor by a fat and stupid old baron of the realm, whom Smythe had se , cured to l>e Blair's sponsor. The robes an earl wears at. ids It. traduction to the house of lords and at sittings of parliament are neithet graceful nor becoming. It was the iirst bitterness to Vivian \vho had imagined an occasion of great > lp, oohwAt, r o. splendor. Blair wore an ordinaty morning suit under bie robes, for it was the custom. Smytbe had assured them, and when one is u i>eer one must do everything according to custom. Then when Vivian and Blair were to be presented at court, which meant something more satisfying In costume und ceremony. King Edward VII. died and King George V. reigned in his stead. There was the usual |s?riod of mourning and no royal drawing room until after the coronation. The coronation! That was worth the waiting, for it meant the only occasion a |>eer and his noble lady may wear their coronets and the more graceful and beautiful coronation rolies. Here. too. the diamond from the sky could 1k? worn, literally, as the ad veil Mirer. Sir Arthur Stanley, who found It in a meteor three centuries before, had desired. "When n descendant of my body shall 1h? called to the English earldom of the Stanleys!" Sovwhije Vivian ami Bi dr are busy with" court tailors and court dressmnk ers and are feverishly preparing for the glories they are to he part of. an I while day by day the suspicion and distrust between them and Mnrinaduk< Sinythe grow in Intensity, let us retur to America and to the gypsy folk. The gypsies had reached Virginia and the neighborhood of Fairfax. The cur avan moved on under the leadership of Quuhbfi. Skirting around Fairfax. Arthur and Esther rode In the twilight and stoodi nt the-portals of Stanley Ilall. Tliv>| place was barred and bolted and fast! falling to decay. Weeds rankled on the once well kept lawns and dower beds. A weather stained, discolored sign. "For Rent.1* hung by rusty nails to one of the great pillars. A whlppoorwill called mournfully from the shrubbery CHAPTER LVIII. rving Arthur harries CJueen Esther. rn or IRTKKSS oI Stanley Hall. iWH List her. nty wife to bo. 1 salute you!" said Arthur in deep earnestness as he drew | list her to him. "Too long ha\ e \ ou been cheated of your birthright. ! am not guilty of any wrong except to you, and you have forgiven me. Ulnir St aide;, is guilty of the death of I)r Lee. and I feel sure that Blake has the ptvofs "The time has come when, for you: sake, the truth must he known, and , you must take your place in this state l.v home of your people, where I due . so long an Impostor to foster the a:nhi tions of the dead and to augment their feu-Is tttul hat re is." leather shuddered and threw Itcrsel' into Ids arms. "No. Artliur!" she erie I "I have never been happy here! Let tit ' dead and their secrets ret in ft" grave. "Rich and of position, you know m> happiness, nor would I. It was no, your dying mother's wish, I know | Looking into the faee of death, sh * saw j clearly. All she dusire.l was that we i should be happy together "When last within this gloomy house with her I asked for a sign, ami it was given to me. And I repeat this to yon as we repeated it together th t night: " Tintreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee. fo. \ whither thou goest 1 will go. an ! ] Vivian and Blair Make Merry In Lon* don. where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.' " And as the twilight turned to darkness these two rode away from Stanley hall to dwell unknown, obscure, among the simple gypsy |>eople who loved them. Here the astute Tom Blake of Richmond found them, and here he brought a copy of the proofs of Blair's guilt, the linger print markings from the murder scene, the library where Blair had slain the kind old doctor. Henry Lee. in his first attempt to gain the diamond from the sky. Blake pleaded with Arthur to halt Blair In the hour of his supposed triumph. hut Esther and Arthur refused. 71>ct Blair have the Powell millions; let him have Stanley Hall; let him have the earldom In England and the diamond from the sky,'* said Arthur. "We have more than all these things, for in casting them aside we have found love and happiness!" "Your mother, Hngnr Harding, was my best friend. Shq gave me my start I I *" in life." said Blake huskily. "I will abide by your wish. Abe Bloom usiwcta much, but kuows little regarding Blair Stanley. "Bloom dare not move unless I say so and I can hold him quiet. Even near Fulrfax you will uever be recognised In the gypsy.^Arthur Harding, by the people who knew you us Arthur Stan ley. "The few short years have chnuged you. but It is different with Miss Es ther Stanley here. Who could not tell her? You cnnuot keep the secret on this account. I know." "This is a sheltered place which only the gypsies know the way to. only the g.vjwles. with the exceptlou of yourself." replied Arthur. "You know the way because my mother taught you. and you know the Homany password that admits you past the outer vans. "This Is the old rendezvous of my mother. The gypsies own the very land. We will not be here loug?only for our wedding, which will be a gypsy one. None but a Romany ?hti be at the wedding?none but youVror you* were adopted Into the triln? as a boy. I am told." "Yes. I was picked tip by your mother n starved and wretched lad. a runaway from a miserable almshouse in the middle west." replied Blake softly "I was adopted Into llagnr's tribe, fed. lotbed and educated by your mother. "But I cannot come to the wedding. I /think-you are wrong, and 4 could not C'hetir to see the mistress of Stanley hall wedded as a gypsy when she should bo wedded as her mother was? the way her people have been. "You will pardon ine for speaking r from nry heart?" Esther smiled. "You are too serious. Mr. Blake." she said "It is the only I way I would be wed. You may be an adopted gypsy, and Arthur may bo a born one. but of us three I am the real Romany, and I will have the wedding of a gypsy queen and none other!" But in the privacy of his sanctum in life p? //) tf^Si Pi HK%Swff| And So King Arthur Marries Queen Esther his Richmond agency the next dav Blake suiiled to himself us he said: "Blair Stanley, you destroyed one set of proofs when you struck down Ha gar and wrested them from her. Ar thur destroyed the set I took to him hut Tom Rlake had tlie originals!" Then he sighed and gazed at a por trait of llagar that l*mg upon the wall of his sanctum. The picture was inscribed from llagar to Rlake. The. eyes of the portrait seemed living ones in the earnest gaze of the detective. "You are dead." he said, "but your spirit lives, I know. Whatever was the wish of your steadfast heart that thing shall be accomplished, and per haps I yet shall be the instrument of it!" He spoke prophetically. In far away Loudon the sincerely faithful lawyer Suiythe writhed in secret protest at the title having come to Blair and Vivian while the two dine and make merry lii London's famous restaurants Smythe had seen I>la|r take his seat in the house ol* lords, and no word cuine from Blake, although he had cabled the Richmond detective to send prooffc of Blair's guilt and secure u requisition Blake now went to this latter task. But, influential as lie was. he found the Virginia Jurists were averse to moving in the matter. After long delay lie secured with all the secrecy possible a warrant for Blair and a | requisition to return him to America, and this he sent to Smythe. Meanwhile In the fastness of the Blue Ridge there is a royal wedding, the nuptials of royulty in Romany. King Arthur marries Queen Esther, and gypsies from all over the lund have gathered for the event. There is a maypole, and there is music, and there are garlands. The vans are garlanded; the little children strew flowers and the elder gypsies bear branches of blossoms to form a flower archway for the royal young couple. The goats and horses are garlanded. Quabba wears a garland and a big bridal favor and leads the gypsy musicians, who play all the while the merry Romany wedding j strains. 0k T* Mr* - .-4 iTT-"^ I Clarence. the monkey, bt? a wedding 1 favor uiid wears a garland and ti* 1 -made to beat iu* trlungle. though. 1. I sooth. Clarence Is cynically Indifferent 1 being a bachelor by lustinct. I And so the maypole ribbons an I twined, and so the wedding dnnct I goes on. aud so at sunset the royai I pair. King Arthur and Queen Esther. I jump over the gypsy broomstick held I by Quabba?and so they are married. J But because Esther is a Stanley of I the blood a minister Is brought from I Richmond to marry them In the con- I reutlonal manner also. And the mlti* I Ister comes and goes and wonders. I Then the happy, dancing gypsies I light them to the royal ran with flnm-l I beaux and return to dance and drink i I and sing beneath the moonlight by the, I maypole. i I But the royal pair steal n way unseen 1 1 and clamber up the sheer hillside, aud I I from a great rock pinnacle they sit 1 embraced and watch the moon, like a J shield of sjlver caiMbe wall of heaven, ] hhng oVer the duBP^rale below. ' j On sucli a night the dapper Count de I Vatlx. once "knave of clubs of the dlu- I mond pack." sits In Ids bachelor chum- ] hers In London and reads again the coronation story that tells that on the morrow George V. and Queen Mary Klin 11 he crowned with pomp In Westminster Abbey. He reads that Bhilr. earl of Stanley, and- his countess, who was Vivian Mnrston. will ho auiong the privileged tdvh horn present The American earl. so*ks.vs the London newspaper, will wear the famous Virginia Jewel, the diamond from the sky. wldch. according to family tradition. was found In a fallen meteor by a colonial ancestor,(rpi. ?-> i i in* rum >imi < outness of Stanley nn? residing in London nt Stanley House. Mnyfair." concludes the article. And the dapper Do Vaux lays aside tho papor and uoos ant He takes a cnh .and rides to the neighborhood of Stanley House. Mnyfair. It fronts Ilrrenfs park and is a detached old edifice ??r Tudor architecture Dismissing the cab. Do V;>ujc watches and loiters till late, lie sees against a window shade of Milady Stanley's chamber the silhouetted reliecj ion of his nobte lord, ihe earl, cl;.spina the diamond from the sky around the shapely throat of the Countess of Stanley! The next day' the earl and Ids lady a re tip early, att iring themselves in l heir coronation robes, for the crush wi I I e jrroat. and they must be in their state cone 11 to the abhey in due time Lawyer Smythe in his Cothie chumher in the old house is not happy. He has received his con^e from the noble earl, my lord Blair. and. besides, lie has not h< ard from Blake, the Bicli- i I1M/1MI UO 1 I'l l I \ l*. "1 lonjj in my soul." muses the ec- j centric lawyer. "to have his lonls!:i|> arrested iti t!ie vi ry doorway of the J ahhey and drayryed to Xewunte in fetters! Though that would make tlm dead and p.one earls of Stanley turn I in their stately graves!" As if in answer to his wishes a flunkey taps at his chamber door and announces that the postman is below with a registered package for him; and. taking his hat. without which he Lawyer Scnythe It Not Happy. never at Irs outdoors, Smytlie descends to the portals of Stanley house. ^ Called to my lady's boudoir as he passes In the corridor, the lackey informs the questioning lord of the registered mall package for Smythe. Fearful of some bitter disappointment. fearful o'f.;hls criminal past in Amer^cM."'Blair, earl of Stanley, leaving the lackey to do some service for the Cotintess Vivian at Iter tiring, bur ntfH uuwii in uuvKrent uotuie stairway to Intercept any ill omened tuessnge that may hnve come from America to Smythe. On his breast ithere gleams the diamond from theeky that the American earl would wear .Into his earldom, as the ancestral finder bad decreed. The flunkeys usually loitering In she hall have been.drawn by curiosity to follow the family lawyer out to the mall man waiting with receipt book and the registered package. Aa Blair, ninth, earl of Stanley, reaches the last landing of the Gothic stairway the armor of Sir UeofTrey Stanley of Agincourt'ls- behind him. Then the mailed arm.!* silently uplifted and then It descends,: bringing the battle mace k holds down with crushing