Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

' ' ' ( $10,000 For!,000 , Words cr Less i For an Idea For a Sequel to "THE : DI AMOND FROM , THE SKY" i 1 TU A morir>n Film Mantifac. I I , A UV nmvi ivuii m. ? ? v taring Company's Picturized Romantic Novel In Chapters. 1 ( This contest is open to any man, 1 woman or child who is not connected, directly or indirectly, with the Film Company or the newspapers publish' ing the continued story. No literary ability is necessary to qualify as a contestant I You are advised to see the continued ^ photo play in the theaters where it will I be shown?to read the story as it runs t every week, and then send in your suggestion. Contestants must con- ] fine their contributions for the sequel I to 1,000 Words or less. It is c the idea that is wanted. I r SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAP- t TERS. ; A feud has existed between Colonel Arthur Stanley and his cousin. Judge Lamar j Stanley, over an heirloom, the diamond j cirx' fnnnrl in a fallen meteor bv I I an ancestor. Also, the succession to the 1 Stanley earldom in England may come to t 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, 5 having had no part in this bargain, steals r the girl, being reared in secret, and leaves her son undetected as the heir. The gypsy has obtained possession of the diamond I from the sky, and a document with the Stanley secret. When Esther is grown a beautiful young girl, Hagar, now gypsy queen, returns to Virginia with her. Dr. * Lee, the late Colonel Stanley's friend, t adopts Esther, but demands that Hagar j turn over to him the diamond from the sky. Arthur Stanley, son of Hagar, falls ^ in love with Esther and so does his com- I panion and cousin, Blair Stanley, rightful male heir of Stanley. In stealing the dia- j mond Blair causes the death of the doctor. Outside is Arthur serenading Esther. 51 Bla>r, escaping, infers that he has left 1 Esther's room. Arthur forces him to j fight a duel in which Blair is only stunned. He tries, with the aid of his ( mother, to place the blame for the murder 1 of Dr. Lee upon Arthur, who now has the diamond. The sheriff attempts to take j Artnur, but he eludes his pursuers and joins Hagar, who reveals his identity and 1 upbraids him for his wild life. Needing 1 money, he pawns the diamond in Richmond. Blair is in Richmond, and he, too, j is forced to visit the pawnshop. The two agree to stand by each other. At a bail, " o cnrtnncA^ Kow Ynrk hpllp is CI I n ntvi i a ou|/pvwvu *'v ? -- ? the guest of honor, they are stunned to | find the diamond on the visitor. She is an adventuress who has borrowed it While Hagar is telling the "belle's" for- ' tune Luke Lovell, Hagar's gypsy guard, < steals the diamond and to avoid detection j drops it into a mail box. A sheriff tries to arrest Arthur on the murder charge. ' He escapes from Richmond on a freight i train. The diamond passes into a mail bag, which is lost from a wagon and is picked up by Quabba, an organ grinder. ' < Quabba's monkey steals the diamond and ! . leaves it in a nest in a tree. Arthur is | robbed by hoboes, who leave him in tatters. He se%s work at a farm. Hagar takes Esther to live at Stanley hall. An old time tournament is held. Arthur at- 1 tends in disguise, proves himself the best . knight, defeating Blair, but is betrayed by th$ latter to the sheriff. Quabba. in Jest. handcdfTs the sheriff and Blair. By daring horsemanship Arthur escapes. Later he leaves the farm. Tom Blake, a detective hired by Hagar, produces fingerprints proving Blair guilty of the death of Dr. Lee. Blair and his mother quarrel about Vivian. Hagar proposes 6llence to Mrs. Stanley as the price of Hagar's and Esther's being received in Fairfax society. Blair strikes down Hagar and steals the fingerprints and money from his mother. The diamond is found by a negro boy. CHAPTER XV. MA Mind In the Past." A DULL, aching resentment burned in the bosom of Blair's mother as with a voice hoarse to her own ears she called to summon Blair to make his part of the bargain with the implacable visitor, who waited for them in the somber | living room upstairs, with the photographs of the guilty thumb prints of Blair. No answer was returned to her call, and Mrs. Stanley remembered again the bitter quarrel she had had with Blair over Vivian Marston. With a bitter sigh the realization came to her again that all the stern, persisting ambitiofis that had embittered her life?the desire for the earldom and the great diamond for her most unworthy son?were not worth the heartache and tragedy that had darkened her life.. I It was with a fierce resolve, in a sudden revulsion of desperation and 1 .. despair, that Mrs. Stanley returned to 1 *the living room to tell her strange vis- < -iitor, Hagar, to do her worst, let the 1 ^ consequences be what they might. t -For herself the austere Mrs. Stanley 1 rresolved to strive no more for the sake . *of .her dissolute and desperate son. i jjl vrtM tnake no bargain with this { woman even to save Blair from the l gallows," was her grim thought. "Neither she nor the strange girl who was < i>r. Lee's ward and whom she now t i -mothers at Stanley hall shall have so- < ? cial countenance from me." 3 Jtft ajj she ascended the stairs to make known her resolve she heard the j slam of a door and the sound of hur- i rying feet from the living room to the 1 -?of fho lmfk of the house. COUiiiutris ??. i-v She opened the door from the stair i landing to the living room. The cen- i ter table was overturned, and there ! were other signs of a struggle, but the room was empty. i Then a muffled groan, a low moan of pain, fell upon the ears of Blair's moth* ?r The sound came from near tue r io;r. behind the- fireplace. , t Mrs. Stanley pressed the spring, and lie wall wiih the fireplace turned out, mil there in the seminalkaess of the 1 "Tory's hiding \ lace" i:i\ the uncoil- * teious tignre ol linear, it was man- e icle.l with t!;e sheriff's handcuffs that * t'ivian Marston had brought to Die r louse after the tournament in mockery e >f Blair. f The form of Ilagar lay half reclining (gainst the rifled family strong box.' 1 v.ir-.. Stanley picked up the key of the j 1: jandcuffs, lying near, and unfastened! 1; he manacles on the wrists of the! r lazed and unresisting Hagar. j 1 Then the judge's widow realized that j ? ",rt * Trlnl* ! S JCtt? ?i? I Lit* I (lllillll.uiwil ui I Lie 11 1LU- I Hi deeds of the sou she had Inculcated I c tvith n lawless desire for things that jvere not his. i She raised Hagar, dragged her out v nto the room and closed the hiding T )laee. She was not surprised to note i * hat the photographs of the thumb I >riuts were gone. She revived Ilagar ! ' md regarded her stricken visitor, prewired for a harsh defiance with no bought of compromise. But the whole expression of Ilagar t iad softened to a pathetic, cowed wist-' ulness. iler face seemed younger, her j yes moist and pleading. She turned to Mrs. Stanley with out- j ;tretched arms and murmured, "(live! no my child!" And then Blair's moth- I J r saw that the blow her son had dealt he strange visitor had deprived her of ill realization of the present. The stricken brain of Ilagar Hardng was cognizant of no recent happening. Her mind was in the past. 3ut the judge's widow was not aware hat the disordered intellect of the wonan before her dwelt only on the great ragedy of Hagar Harding's life, the sale of her son to be foisted as the nale heir to the earldom and the dianond from the sky. nearly twenty rears ago. Mrs. Stanley had no suspicion of the mport of Hagar's words, but she realzed the crazed woman was no menace 0 either herself or her son, and she ed her downstairs and'to the door, vhere she set her on her way to Staney hall. At Stanley hall in the gnthering twi- t lght Esther waited for Hagar. It was r 1 sad homecoming. The dull eyes of t lagar gleamed with recognition of the e >orta!s of Stanley ball. Hut tue race i< >f Esther, the gentle, loving Esther, vas the face of a stranger to her. i Alarmed and weeping, Esther led the uoaning woman she deemed to be her 0 nothor up the broad steps and into c lie wide hallway of Stanley hall. 5 Here a lieree. wild change came over " Elagar. She sprang to the door of the f ibrary and threw it oi>en. r "See. he is in here!" she cried. "They j iave him in there, the child they stole l ind sold from me. See the diamond I hat blazes on his little breast! Take )ff the diamond! There is a curse on t t for all our race! Take off the fine t *aimeut! Give him back his rags! He j is my son!" I As it had been with Blair Stanley's u tustere mother, the wistful Esther r sensed no importance in the wild t deudings of Hagnr. 1 * -- 1 s A0W. too. Well I lib Cl'lliilHl UiliiU UI Hapar seemed to realize the library * ivas empty and unoccupied, for she * rave a wild cry and fell sobbing on he breast of Esther. 1 Summoning the servants, Esther had 1 dagar carried to her chamber. The ( i "Giy ma mv child!" 1 Dlow Blair Stanley had dealt Hagar) l frith the heavy poker had made no cut t >r external wound. She was soon in e 'evered sleep, and Esther was forced f o leave her bedside at urgent sum- c uons from below. There she found Luke Lovell, head- i nan for Hagar here as well as at the } typsy camp, bidden in the mountains 1 :wenty miles away. \ Suspicioning that Hagar was ill both 1 >f mind and body. I>ovell had already 4 usurped authority. Even now he was jrdering the wandering hunchback or- i ?an grinder from the place. I t But if Quabba was frail he was cour- J 1 igeous. lie was insisting he would j 1 not leave the place until he had said I 1 farewell to the strange, grand lauy j who had spoken Romany to him and j I iilso farewell to her fair faced daugh- j < rer, who had also hidden him to stay , * ml he refreshed. j ' There was something so loyal and i < true in the hunchback's respectful gaze ! ' that, stranger as he was, it made Es- j ' ther take his band, after sternly dis- ' ui .-iiM. uie -.(ovtiir: Love!!. and he? [ he humble hand.I.. :<? s.ay. "I>o 1 i<-! leave us." die whispered. ! 'Something t. il - l. \ v. in ! c ;i rieiid. ;u.<i v.,? n . ; io..ds i. v.ave .. . r . .; ;k- !e." Aiiu ' veil 11> s!i sp< !;e i.ihcr o h il l ie ^ cone in the d 'an . ; Ike Inurta:- g uent ami how iIds . d; w.ui Icrr had warned Arthur dial he ha;l u teen betrayed. s At this juncture a < ariir.ge drove up a o Stanley had. this a strange ? igure alighied. tin- ha;.re of a tail, ank. serious, side whiskered English-1 s an wearing a |<lald suit with a heavy ^ nourning baud on the arm and a ;lls telling white tropic helmet. This y trange individual had a rille in the a urriage. g At the sight of Quabba's chattering a nonkey the lank Englishman grew vildly excited. "Some of their native n vild beasts!" he exclaimed and rushed j tack to the carriage for his rifle. ^ It took some effort on the part of t >oth Esther and Qiiabba to reassure ,, i L C ' 1 ^ ' %A i% i r ^ 8 I larmaduke Smythe, Lawyer, Gets His p Gun. f be excited visitor that Clarence, the nonkey, was not at all a wild beast of r be Virginia jungle, but simply an itin- * rant organ grinder's friend, compan- r on and collector of external revenue. r Then the stranger made known his f lame and errand. "I am Marmaduke Smythe, barrister, n if London, England, solicitor and agent ^ f the estate of the earls of Stanley of 1 Itanley castle, Warwickshire," he said. 0 'Lord Stanley died there a month ago h rum the infirmities of old age. leaving c 10 heir in England, the succession fallng to the eldest son of the elder \ >ranch of Stanleys of this place, Stan- i ey hall. ^ "I remember it well, for I was here * o verify the American heir nearly wenty years ago. And a beustly ex erienee I had. my dear young lady. 1 was ambushed by croaking savages j ^ ind fell off a horse and was thrown? J lot off the horse, but figuratively j i brown into the midst of a terrific and ! a doodthirsty feud between Colonel I ^ Stanley and Judge Stanley, lioth rip | norting, bally fire eaters, as you Yan- s ;ees way down east in Virginia say. s "So my errand, young lady, in these vild parts of the American border is j f o notify young Arthur Stanley, both j Jolonel Stanley and the judge being ; c lead, that be is the Earl of Stanley, ind the title and estates await him In * iVarwickshire." And then it was Esther's painful task o tell the strange caller of the amissions against the young man be sought, >f his wild flight and disappearanee. "My word!" exclaimed the embar-assed London lawyer. "What a dreadul way you wild Yankees have of :omahawking each other, don't you enow! If the American earl is a crimnnl in hidlnar I must notify the next >f kiu. the late judge's sou, whom I | listirictly remember as n vicious little >eggnr who bit me severely. "In case his lordship, as I must call dm. the fugitive, is captured by your vhite cap chaps he will undoubtedly ie lynched, as is your invariable cusom on the American frontiers here, I >elieve. Hence the son of the late udge will be the Earl of Stanley. "That is, provided, of course," the ^ondou lawyer added, "that this Hon. Jlair Stanley, as he would be called vith us, has not outgrown his vicious iropensities as a child. For I assume f he bites your prominent border rufians he will be tomahawked or lynch d or put an end to in some unpleasant nanner. So you must excuse my takng leave, as I must notify the next of :in." And he raised his tropic helmet poitely and walked in a wide circle iround the chattering monkey, Clar>nce, as though he rnther doubted the digged harmlessness of the animal he i leemed a denizen of the local Jungle. At the gloomy threshold of Mrs. Lanar Stanley's bouse the London lawrer received further confirmation of j ? lis personal belief that Blair Stanley,; vhose vicious propensities he remem >ered. would never outgrow the san-; c Milnnrv TirnnormiMps of Ills childhood. I i In the bitter mooil that now obsessed I ler Blair's mother informed the star- 1 led lawver that her son, now next in i * I ine for the proud Stanley earldom, had 1 3ed, no one knew whither, and she i loped to never see his lace again. J : All she would say in reply to the i jarrister's nervous pleadings?for he 1 Ireaded a Ions search for the heirs of s Stanley in barbarous America?was hat Blair might be found at the home j >f Mrs. Burton Randolph, his cousin, ( in Richmond. And for that place the t lawyer took the first train from Fair- ( fax. f 3 ouseil him with a shriek. lie saw the ear struck face of Esther and near j ter the sinister Luke Lovell. with 1 lis great gnarled hands stretched as hough to clutch and crush her. * ? * * * * . * One who is in society in Richmond nay forget unpleasant things in a easeless round of new frivolities. Mrs. Burton Randolph returned from ter stay in Fairfax to find her friends a an attitude of delighted commiseraion toward her. She confided to her learest friends that her life seemed ated to be one of turmoil and tragedy. Jut instead of finding herself pitied u society in Richmond Mrs. Randolph ound herself envied as a social hefoae in these "delightfully dreadful afairs." So as the beautiful wistaria was emlurpling her house and grounds Mrs. 3urton Randolph announced a wistaia fete, and all Richmond society was tervously expectant of more deligbtully dreadful occurrences. But, although the wistaria fete was wondrously brilliant affair, accordug to the society columns of the Rich- j uond pai^rs. no untoward event oc- I urred to mar the pleasure of the day, I omewhat to the disappointment of so- | 1ety. T)l..4? CfonlAv irith ulantv nf rnnnpv. I U1U11 UU4UIVJ? "ita l'?vav mt keeping: sedulously away from Mr. i.be Bloom's temple of chance, turned ip in Richmond in pursuit of Vivian darston, with whom he was still inntuated. lie knew the risk he took, or it was evident some one in Richnond had secured from Abe Bloom the heck that, besides l>eing worthless, lad the fatal print of his thumb upon 1 t. For the photograph of this check j nd thumb print, together with photo- J graphs of his thumb prints taken from ' Dr. Lee's study, had been in the pos- | ession of Hagar Harding when he had J truck her down. But such was his tierce passion for ' he luxurious and beautiful Vivian j darston that Blair walked in the shadow of death for her sake. He intimated as much to her when j ie had led her aside beneath the bow* ? ik Vj j^9v i(^9Hpr ' ;ik|KSQ|lQ|v^9 -\ |i I have gone to the foot of the gallows for you, Vivian!" ,r- n fhr, nnvnlo lilrwcnmg nt his ('OllS n's wistaria fete. "I have gone to the toot of the gallows for you. Vivian!" le whispered to her. For lie realized that this beautiful, angorous woman was one to whom an mscrupulous and desperate deed would lppeal. lie felt that she. too. had a mst and that in wickedness they were well matched, and for that the desperite Blair loved her all the more. For herself. Vivian Marston had Unbred in Richmond, leading an existence that was puritanical and galling o her in the vapid restraints, as she loomed them, of conventional southern social restrictions. Her one strong, ea\ / \ per, compelling desire, a desire that 1 held her in provincial Lichnioi.J. was ( her desire for a star?her desire for the ; diamond from the sky. Once in all iis Mazing magnificence ) it had shone upon her bu-ist. Vivian 1 Murston longed lo again hold and pes- { sess the diamond, tier thoughts were 1 upon it day. and at r.ight her i drearns were bright iike gold and red ' like blood. 1 She had heard its story and knew that, after Arthur, Blair was next in claim for its possession. Vivian sank her head upon Blair's breast beneath the wistaria bough. She tempted him with languorous glance and alluring lips. "Get and give me the diamond and I will lie yours," she I ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ I I Applies the Barrel Stave to the Bent Over Negro Lad. whispered. And Biuir, much us he had longed for the baleful jewel himself, i now longed more for this woman. "I shall never rest till I get it for | you!" he replied fiercely. And he' would have kissed her to. seal the con- j tract, but she drew herself from his arms, and lie knew that her caresses were only to be purchased by the dla- I mond, be the price of the diamond lives, souls or honor. But the luxurious and vivacious Viv- j ian was a practical person. She did ! not depend upon the romantic, if des- J perate, efforts of a lover alone to secure for her the star of her desire. She consulted the businesslike and equally eager brothers Bloom. To the gai>e mouthed Abraham and Isaac she confided the romantic story of the diamond and the confirmation of its great intrinsic value, which she had learned from Blair Stanley and others while in Fairfax. "The diamond from the sky, as they call it, disappeared in Richmond, torn from your neck by the hands of an unseen thief, the night of Mrs. Randolph's ball," said Abe Bloom, the gambler. "The chances are a hundred to one it is still hidden in this town. Whoever stole it will want money on it. That's reasonable enough to as sume. It will turn up." "It ith enough to make a man put a thine in hith windowth thaying 'Higheth Prltheth Paid For Big Diamondth and No Questionths Athked,' " remarked Mr. Ike Bloom, who lisped when he was excited, and excited he was when he heard the romantic history of the diamond from the sky and its price. But especially did its price excite him. "It shan't thllp through my handth again if I get hold of it," he added. "I wouldn't lent it to the queen of i Thpain." And as he said this he gave j his brother's "lady friend" from New York, as he called her, a meaning ! glance. "Let bygones be bygones!" Abe Bloom snarled at his brother. "Vi didn't lose it on purpose. I have telephoned for Tom Blake, whom I consider the smartest detective in this country. He does what you pay him to do and keeps his mouth shut. If the diamond is in Richmond Blake will find it" In a few moments the suave and reticent Mr. Blake arrived. Placed in possession of all the facts the Blooms and Vivian could give him. he remarked that he would do his best, and the first and last meeting of the syndicate to find the diamond from the sky broke up and the detective departed. He was followed shortly afterward I by Miss Marston of New York, whose j Richmond society friends would have | been shocked beyond expression did they know she paid an occasional secret visit to the establishment of Abe Bloom. Meanwhile where is the diamond ' from the sky? It is not a i>earl to be cast before swine, nor is it fated to remain the tinsel playthinjr of a negro i lad who is a herder of swine. In the frayed and dirty dress suit, j all the dirtier for its jail stains, Mr. j AT r><~" fvn tnab-oc ncmti! rvinntrv I k7lia|/ ?>1 V-VJw umav,o , . cursing his luck. He pauses by a pig I*?n to play a grim and intensely practical joke on a negro boy bent over the sty. Mr. Strap McGee picks up a barrel stave and applies it to the per- ; son of the bent over negro lad. Then Mr. McGee notes the boy, in sudden pain and fright, has dropped some bauble plaything into the swill of j :ne swine. jh-. m vJCC iO livt tUOUUi>us. He fishes out the b.'.uble. It is tlic diamond from the sky! I And it iook3 gtx d to Jlr. McGee, and 9 le flees with It at 1-.- be speed, fol- I owed by a shower from the 9 olored pig b >y, bereft f the sparkling 9 :hing Le ion: d in an nest. Richmond is not far away, and Mr. 9 Strap MebSeg lias some loose change 9 le won j.t gaming In the jaiL He pro- 9 ec ds to IxnL.be. bidi: * Ills time to dis- 9 ?03\' of the bauble hi Idea in his rags. Bnt when he drops Into the curio shop, opium (U ? >ss i;i use in: intained \ iy Chiuese ?u\:u.nnt::n< his tipsy 1 . unity impels him show the bauble / ^9 :o the crafty Hung Li. priest, den ^9 Keeper and tong leader. ^9 It is n fatal thing to do. for luck has ^9 seen bad with Ilung Li and hi3 friends. 9 rhe police have closed their gambling joint and shut down on opium smokng. Hung Li believes that the god of :he sky. the great goa i-ung, neeus m propitiating, and then he will bring ' H !>ack good luck in plenty. H lias word from the diamond from H the sky traveled to China and back? fl The effigy of the great god Lung is ill fl its sanctuary in the next room, and .fl Lung is the god of the sky. The body H }f a strangled tramp is dropped through H i trap door, and the diamond from the H ?ky is hung alwnit the neck of the great god Lung. J^fl This night Mrs. Burton Randolph fl would a slumming go. Blair and Miss fl Marston are all the little party, and fl Tom Blake, the detective, is to be their H guide. A significant glance of caution H and silence passes between the de- H tective and Miss Marston when they H meet again. H The Chinese quarter, with its Joss house, is the first place they visit. The fll wily Hung Li wishes no visitors to the Inner sanctuary of his joss, the great Hj god Lung, hut Blake will not be dealed. He says his friends have come espedally to burn incense for good luck before the great god Lung. And so they enter the sanctuary and behold H on the breast of Lung the diamond ' from the sky! " l/fl Detective as he is, and, possessing great and evil powers in the eyes of H Hung Li, Blake and his friends are fl forced from the place. The ladles, H Mrs. Randolph again in a "state of nerves," are sent home, and Blake fl from the nearest telephone summons fl ? ?- - * Utr. IWhA> H Aue DiWiii unu uia uwvuci. Meanwhile an English lawyer has ar- 9 rived at the Randolph house seeking 9 Blair Stanley. Determined upon his ^ quest, the lawyer gets directions and fl arrives at the joss house. Hung Li fl and his confreres will have none of fl the London lawyer. But the exasperated Marmaduke fl Smythe will not be denied. He says ^ he knows the persons he is searching J I for are inside this beastly Chinese W~ I place. I Here now he is, re-enforced by the I excited and money proffering Abraham I Hung Li Examines the Diamond From the Sky. and Isaac Bloom and the equally urgent but more self controlled private detective, Tom Blake. The investing allies, English, Irish and Hebrew, surge in upon the in- ^ trenched Chinese. The struggle of the invaders to gain the sanctuary and get for money or by force the diamond from the sky is now at its fiercest , "S But all the while a desperate man is climbing the fire escape at the back of the Chinese den. He has noted a curtain draped window behind the Joss. \ A crash of glass is heard within. The frenzied Hung Li breaks from the invaders and rushes into the sanctuary, followed by the other Chinese, the two Blooms, the detective and the bewildered Englishman. A hand through the broken glass behind the idol has torn the diamond from the sky from the neck and breast of the great god Lung. With a demo?v\ f l?/\ IT t* T f iiiai p\.iciuu IUC iicu?iic\i ia seizes >1 keen Chinese sword at the foot of the idol and aims a swift blow * at the disappearing hand. Woe and bad luck forever for the unfortunate Hung Li! The blow has missed the despoiling white hand and has severed the head of the great god Lung! Another slash in excited frenzy and down comes the burning altar light, and the flimsy furnishings of the sane- \ furry and the whole den itself are a L roaring blaze of fire! ^ CHAPTER XVI. An Ido! Adorned arid Cccpoi'cd. BT'OYEI) by tlit* li pe that renewed ass* "in ion . i;!i k< ? gypsy j iL.g.il* to ! i ;:swu, I .?> .1 r tit*arted that night wiili lia,. r iroiu i Itauley li;;ii. Slii? w.is accompanied by ijaabba, ! ow her fait'it'll! attendant. and file ! illicitly insistent Luke LovcL. I* was j sad return of their stricken cm ?ui to ! lie grieving Koinnny pe pie. Ilagar recognized the gypsies gyp- ! ies. but she called on the names of ! hose long departed, including the name ! f her dead husband. Matt Harding, j rhorn she evidently deemed was alive j n/i Mirontf?nlii<? her. For when she i ? ? ? poke his name it was in grim revolt j nd with bitter maledictions. That night Quabba slept with his aonkey beside him at the threshold of lagar's van. Inside Esther had sunk a exhausted slumber on her cot beside he fever dream atnicted Ila/fcr. Quabia's light slumber was broken by the runching of a pebble l>eneath a heavy oot. Quabba roused and drew his ;nife, and the menacing figure of Luke X)vell slunk back from the accusative Qoonlight into the shadows and was een no more. That night at this same hour Arthur Stanley, a fugitive and a wanderer, a J tranger in a strange land, by his ! moldering camptire in a far western I esert. dreamed a wild dream that \