vl
AUTHOR Or
BY
SYNOPSIS.
Baraka , .a Tartar girl , became enamored
of a golden bearded stranger who wa
prospecting nnd studying herbs In the
vicinity of her homo In central Asia , and
rovenled to him the locution of a mine
of rubles hoping that the stranger would
love her In return for hur disclosure.
They were followed to the cave by the
Hlrl's relatives , who blocked up the en
trance , nnd dtew oft the water supply ,
leaving the rouple to die. Hnraka'n cousin
Haad. her betrothed , attcinptud to climb
down a cliff overlooking the mlno ; but
the traveler shot him. The stranger was
t-QVlVed fjom a water gourd Saad car
ried , dug his way out of thu tunnel , anil
Imparted , deserting the girl and carrying
a. bag of rubles. Baraka gathered all the
Kerns she could carry , and started In pur-
null. Margaret Uonno ( Margarita da
Cordova ) , a fatnotm prlma donna , becntnu
engaged In Ixmdon to Konstantln Lo-
Kothetl , a wealthy Greek financier. Her
Intimate friend was Countess Leveji.
known as Luly : Maud , whoso husband
hr.d been killed by a bomb In St. Peters
burg ; and I idy Maud's most Intimate
friend wan Hufus Van Toip. an Amorl-
can , who had become ono of the richest
men In thfi world. Van Torp was In love
with Margaret , and rushed to London as
soon as ho heard of her betrothal. Ho
offered Ludy Maud fo.OOO.OOO for her pet
charity If she would aid him In winning
the Blngor from Ixjgothetl. Buraka approached
preached Logotheti at Versailles with
rubles to pell. Ho presented a ruby to
Margaret. Van Torp bought a yacht and
sent It to Venice Ho was visited by
Baruka In mule attire. She gave him a
ruby after the American had told her o
having seen In the United States a man
answering the description of the ono she
loved. The. American followed Margaret
to the Bayreuth "Parsifal" festival. Mar
garet took a liking to Van Toip , who pro-
aentcd her with thn ruby Baraka had
given him. Count Krallnsky. a Russian ,
arrived at I3u ] ruuth. Van Torp believed
him to be the one Baraka was pursuing.
Baraka wus arrested In London on the
ohargo of stealing from I'lnney , a Jow-
jler , tlm itiby she had sold to Logothoti.
Two strangers wore the tldoves. Lady
Maud believed that Logothetl's associa
tions with Baraka wore open to suspi
cion , and so Informed Margaret. Van
Torp believed that KrallnMiy was the
cowboy ho had known In his young man
hood.
CHAPTER XIII Continued/
"I should have thought you were
more used to riding , " said the Ameri
can.
can."Ah
"Ah , yes ! " The indifferent answer
in a peculiarly oily tone ,
/ though the pronunciation was perfect.
"I was in the cavalry before I began
to travel. But I walked over 2,000
miles in Central Asia , and was none
I
the worse for it. "
on his table , with his letters , a flat
and almost square parcel , which the
addressed label told him contained
the Archaeological " Report of the |
Egyptian Exploration Fund , nnd ho
had heard that the new number would
contain an account of n papyrus re
cently discovered at Oxyrrhynchns , on
which some new fragments ? of Pin
dar had been found. No dinner that
could be devised , and no company
that could bo asked to meet him at
it , could bo half as delightful as that
to the man who so deeply loved tTio
ancient literature of his country , and
ho made up his mind at once that ho
would not even take the trouble to go
to a club , but would have a bird and
a salad In his rooms.
Unhappily for his peace and his an
ticipated feast of poetry , he looked
through his letters to see if there
were one from Margaret , and there
was only a colored postcard from Bay-
reuth , with the word "greetings"
scrawled beside the address , in her
large hand. Next to the card , however -
over , there was a thick letter ad
dressed In a commercial writing ho
remembered but could not at once
identify ; and though it was apparent
ly a business communication , nnd
could therefore have waited till the
next morning , when his secretary
would come as usual , he opened it out
of mere curiosity to know whence it
came.
It was from Mr. Pinney , the jewel
er , and it contained a full and con
scientious account of the whole affair
of the theft , from the moment when
Logotheti and Van Torp had gone out
together until Mr. Pinnoy had locked
up the stone in his safe again , and
Baraka and Spire had been lodged in
Brlxton jail. The envelope contained
also a cutting from the newspaper
similar to the one Margaret had ro
celved from Lady Maud.
Logotheti laid the letter on the
table and looked at his watch. It
was now a quarter-past six , and old
fashioned shops like PImiey's close
rather early in the dull season , when
few customers are to he expected and
the days arc not so long as they have
\
"It's a Grand Ruby , " He Said.
Margaret was sure that she was
not going to like him , as she moved
on with him by her side ; and Van
Torp , walking with Mrs. Iluslunoro ,
was quite certain that ho was Levi
l onglegs , who had herded cattle
with him for six months very long
CHAPTER IX.
Logothcti reached his lodgiugs in
St. James' place at six o'clock In the
evening of the day on which ho had
promised to dine with Van Torp , and
the latter's note of excuse was given
to him at once. Ho read it , looked
out of the window , glanced nt it again ,
and threw it into the wnsto-papor
basket without another thought. Ho
did not care in the least about din-
lug with the American millionaire. In i
tact , he had looked forward to it rath
er a * R bore than a plousaro He saw
been. In the latter part of August ,
in London , the sun sets soon uftor
fiovcu o'clock , and Logotheti realized
that lie hail no time to lose.
As ho drove quickly up towards
Bond street , he ran over the circum
stances in his mind , and came to the
conclusion that Burnka had probably
boon the victim of a trick , though ho
did not exclude the bare possibility
that she might bo guilty.
lie found Mr. Pinney In the act o [
turning the discs of the safe before
going homo and leaving his shopman
to shut up the place. Ho smiled vlth
grave satisfaction when Logothotl en
tered.
"I was hoping to see you. sir , " ho
said. "I presume that you had my let
ter ? I wrote out the account with
great care , ns you may Imagine , but I
Khali bo happy to go over the story
with you it thorp Is any point that is
not clar "
IvOgothctl did not wish to hear It ;
he wished tn * m th ruby. Mr. Pin-
ncy turned the discs again to tholr
places , stuck the little key Into the
secret keyhole which then revealed
Itself , turned it three times to the left
and live times to thn right , and opened
the heavy iron door. The safe was an
old-fashioned ono that had belonged
Jo Ills father before him. Ho got out
the japanned tin box , opened that ,
nnd produced the stone , still In Us
paper , for it was too thick to bo put
Into one of Mr. PImiey's favorite pill
boxes.
Logothcti undid the paper , took out
the big uncut ruby , laid it In the palm
of Ills hand , and looked at It critically ,
turning it over with one linger from
time to time. Ho took It to the door
of the shop , where the evening light
was stronger , and examined it with
the. greatest care. Still he did not
seem satisfied. .
"Let mo have your lenst , Mr. Pin-
ncy , " ho said , "and some electric light
and a sheet of white paper. " '
Mr. Pinney turned up a strong drop
light that .stood on the counter , and
produced the'paper and a magnifier.
"It's a grand ruby , " he said.
"I see It is , " Logotheti answered
rather curtly.
"Do you mean to say , " asked the
surprised jeweler , "that you had
bought it without thoroughly examin
ing it sir yon who are an expert ? "
"No , that's not what 1 mean , " an
swered the Greek , bonding over the1
ruby and scrutinizing It through the
strong magnifier.
Mr. Pinney felt himself snubbed ,
which had not happened to him for a
long time , and lie drew himself up
with dignity. A minute passed , and
Logotheti did not look up ; another
and Mr. Pinney grew nervous ; a few
Heconds more , and lie received a shock
that took awny his breath.
"This is not my ruby , " said Logo
theti , looking up , and speaking with
perfect confidence.
"Not your ruby ! " Mr. Plnney'a
jaw dropped. "But " Ho could get
no further.
"I'm sorry , " Logotheti said calmly.
I'm very sorry , for .several reasons.
But it's not the stone I brought you ,
though it's just as large , and most ex
traordinarily like it. "
"But how do yon Know , sir ? " gasped
the jeweler.
"Because I'm an expert , as you
were good enough to say just now. "
"Yes , sir. But I am an expert , too ,
and to the best of my expert belief
this ia the stone you left with me to
be cut the day before yesterday. I've
examined it most thoroughly. "
"No doubt , " answered the Greek.
"But you hadn't examined mine thor
oughly before it was stolen , had you ?
You had only looked at it with me , on
the counter here. "
"That is correct , sir , " said Mr. Pin
ney nervously. "That is quite true. "
"Very well. But I did more than
merely look at it through a lens or
weigh it. I did not care so much
about the weight , but I cared very
much for the water , and I tried the
ruby point on it In the usual way , but
it was too hard , and then I scratched
it In two places witli the diamond ,
more out of curiosity than for any
other reason. "
"You marked it , sir ? There's not a
single scratch on tills one ! Merciful
Providence ! Merciful Providence ! "
"Yes , " LoRotheti said gravely. "The
girl spoke the truth. She had two
stones much larger than the rest when
she first came to me In Paris , this one
and another. They were almost ex
actly alike , and she wanted me to
buy both , but I did not want them ,
and I took the one I thought a little
better in color. This is the other , for
slio still had it ; and , so far as I know ,
it is her legal property , and mine is
gone. The. thief was ono of those
two young fellows who came in just
when Mr. Van Torp and 1 went out. I
remember thinking what nice-looking
boys they were ! "
Ho laughed rather harshly , for ho
was more annoyed than his consldoiw
tlon for Mr. Pinney made him care to
show. Ho irad looked forward to glv
ing Margaret the ruby , inoui\ted just
as she wanted it ; and the ruby wau
gone , and ho did not know where ho
was to find another , except the one
thai was now in Pinney'n hands , but
really belonged to poor Baraka , who
could certainly not soli it at present.
A much larger sum of money was
gone , too , than any financier could
lose with equanimity by such a pe-
eullrfrly disagreeable mishap ns be
ing robbed. There wore several rea
sons why Logothoti was not pleased.
"I am deeply humiliated , " said the
worthy old Jeweler. "I have not only
leon ) tricked and plundered , but I
have been the means of sending inno
cent people to prison. "
"You had hotter be the means of
getting them out again ns soon as pos
Bible , " said Logothoti. "And you
must also make an effort to trace
those young men who stole the ruby. "
"I most certainly shall. " replied the
Jowcler , "and If it is not found wo
w.v. make it good to you , sir , what
ever price you set upon It. I am
deeply humiliated , hut nobody shall
say that Pinney & Son do not make
good any loss their customers sustain
through them. "
"Don't worry about that , Mr. Pin
noy , " said Logothoti , who saw how
much distressed the old Jeweler really
was.
was.So
So they wont out and hailed a ban
and drove away. '
It would fop tiresome to give a de
tailed account of what they did. Suf
fice it to say that the prisoners were
sot at largo ; Mr. Pinney restored the
ruby to Bnrakn. and all her other be
longings wore given back to her. even
Including the smart gray mill of men's
clothes In which she had been ar
rested ; and her luggage and other
things which the manager of the hotel
where she had been stopping had
handed over to the police were all re
turned ; and when Spire appeared at
thn hotel to piy : the .small bill that
had been left owing , he held his head
an high as an oriental can when he
ban got the belter of any one , and
that l proliy high Indeed. Further
more. Mr. Pinney insisted on giving
Logothoti n formal document by
which Messrs. I'lnney & Son bound
themselves to make good to him , his
hoIrK , or assigns , thu loss of a ruby ,
approximately of a certain weight and
quality , which he hnd lost through
their carelessness.
On the day following Baraka's lib
eration , I uly Maud received Marga
ret's pressing message begging her to
go to Itiiyrouth. The message reached
her before noon , about the time when
Margaret and her companions had
coino back from their morning walk ,
and after hesitating for half an hour ,
she telegraphed that she would come
with pleasure.and would start at once
which meant that evening.
She had just read the olllclal ac
count of tins ruby case In its new as
pect , and she did not believe a word
of the story. To her mind it wa quite
clear that Logothetiiw still Infatu
ated wllh the girl , that he had come
to London as fast as he could , and
that ho had deliberately sworn that
the ruby was not his , but another one ,
in order to got her out of trouble. If
it was not his it had not been stolen
from Pinney's , and the whole case fell
through at once. If she was declared
innocent the stone must ho given back
to her : lie would take it from her as
soon ns they were alone and return
It to his own pocket ; and being an
oriental , ho would probably beat her
for robbing him , but would not let her
out of his sight again till he was tired
of : her. Lady Maud hud heard from
her late husband how all Turks be
lieved that women had no souls and
should be kept under lock and key ,
and well fed , and soundly beaten now
and then for the good of their tem
pers. This view was exaggerated , but
Lady Maud was In a humor to recall
it and accept it without criticism , and
she made up her miud that before
leaving town to join Margaret she
would make sure of the facts. No
friend of horn should marry a man
capable of such outrageous deeds.
So she wont to Logothetl's lodgings
and asked to see him , as regardless of
what any ono should think of her , if
she were recognized , as she had been
in the old days when she used to go
to Van Torp's chambers in the Tem
ple in the evening.
She was told that Logothcti was
out of town. Where ? The servant
did not know that. The lady could
see the secretary , who might , per
haps , tell her. Ho received every one
who had business with Mons. Logo-
tliell.
She went up one flight and was ad
mitted to a very airy sitting room ,
simply furnished.
The Swiss secretary rose ponder
ously to receive her , and as she did
not sit down he remained standing.
His vast face was fringed with a beard
ol' no particular color , and his eyes
were fixed and blue in his head , like
turquoises set in pale sole leather.
"I am Countess Levon , " she said ,
'and ' 1 have known .Mons. Logothoti
some time. Will you kindly tell me
where he Is ? "
"I do not know , madam , " was the
answer.
"Ho Is not in London ? "
"At present I do not know , madam. "
"Ila.s he loft no address ? Do you
not forward his letters to him ? "
"No , madam. I do not forward his
letters to him. "
"Then I suppose he Is on his yacht , "
suggested Lady Maud.
"Madam , I do not know whether ho
is on his yacht. "
"You don't seem to know any
thing ! "
"Pardon me , madam , I think 1 know
my business. That Is all 1 know. "
Lady Maud hold her beautiful head
a little higher and her lids dropped
slightly as she looked down at him ,
for ho was shorter than sho. But the
lingo leathern face was perfectly Im
pabsive , and the .still , turquoise eyes
surveyed her without winking. She
had never seen such stolidity in a
human bolng.
There was clearly nothing to bo
done , and she thought the secretary
distinctly riulo ; but as that was no
reason why she should bo , she bade
him good-morning civilly and turned
to go. Somewhat to her surprise , ho
followed her quickly across the room ,
opened the door for her and went
on Into the little hall to let her out.
There was a small table there , on
which lay seine of Logothoti's hats ,
and several pairs of gloves wore laid
out neatly before them. There was
one pair , of a light gray , very much
smaller than all the rest , so small , in
deed , that they might have fitted a
boy of seven , except that they looked
too narrow for any boy. They wore
men's gloves as to length nnd buttons ,
hut only u child could have worn
UK-HI.
Lady Maud saw them instantly , and
remembered Baraka's disguise ; and
us uhe passed the big umbrella jar
to go out , she saw that with two of
Logothetl'ii slicks there was a third ,
fully four inches shorter ! Just a plain
crook-handled stick with a silver ring.
That was enough. Baraka had cer
tainly been in the lodgings and hnd
probably left In them everything that
belonged to her disguise. The fact
that the gloves and the stick were In
the hall looked very much as if oho
had como In dressed as a man and
had left them there when she had
gene away In woman's attire. That
she was with Ijogothett , most prob
ably on his yacht , Lady Maud had not
the least doubt , as she -went down the
stairs.
The Swiss secretary slood at the
open door on the landing till she was
out of sight below , and then went
In again , and returned to work over
a heap of business papers and letters.
'When lie had worked half an hour , ho
leaned back in his leathern chair to
rest , and stared ilxodly at the book
case. Presently ho spoke aloud in
English , ns if Lady Maud were still In
the room , in the same dull , matter-of-
fact tone , but more forcibly as to ex
pression.
maid. You can find anything in a-
great city , if yon know how to look
for it , and ho had discovered through
an agency a girl from Troblzondo who
hnd been caught at 12 years old by
missionaries , brought to England and
educated to go Into service ; she spoke
English very prettily , nnd hnd not alto
gether forgotten the lingua franca of
Asia.
The consequence of her presence
wan that Baraka was dressed with
great neatness and care , and looked
very presentable , though her clothes
were only ready-made things , bought
by a man-servant , who had only her
height and the size of her waist to
guide him. Logothoti watched her
delicate , energetic profile , admiring
the curves of her closed lips , nnd the
willful turning up of her little
chin. She was more than very pretty
now , ho thought , and ho was quietly
amused at his own audacity in taking
her to sea alone with him , almost on
the eve of his marriage. It was espe
cially diverting to think of what the
proper people would say If they know
it , and to contrast the intentions they
would certainly attribute to him with
After Five .Hours He Had Come Back.
"It Is perfectly true , though you do
not believe me , madam. I do not know
anything. How the dickens should 1
know where they are , madam ? But
I know my business. That Is all. "
CHAPTER X.
The Erlnna was steaming quietly
down the channel In a flat calm , at
the lazy rate of lli knots an hour , pre
sumably in order to save her coal , for
she could run JG when her owner
liked , nnd ho was not usually fond of
going slow. Though September was
at hand , nnd Guernsey was already on
the port quarter , the son was motion
less and not so much as a cat's paw
stirred the still blue water ; but the
steamer's own way made a pleasant
draught that fanned the faces of Ixgo- )
tiicti and Baraka 'is they lay in their
long chairs under the double awning
outside the deckhouse.
The Tartar girl wore a skirt and
jacket of dark blue yachting serge ,
which did not lit badly considering
that they had been bought ready-made
by Logothoti's man. She had little
white tennis shoes on her feet , which
wore crossed one over the other on
the deck chair , but instead of wear
ing a hat she had bound a dove-col
ored motor veil on her head by a single
glo thick gold cord , in the Asiatic
way , and the thin folds hung down on
each side , and lay on her shoulders ,
shading her face , and the breeze
stirred them. Logotheti's valet had
been sent out in a taximeter , pro
vided with a few measurements and
plenty of cash , and commissioned to
buy everything that n girl who had
nothing nt nil to wear , visible or in
visible , could possibly need. Ho was
also instructed to find a maid who
could speak Tartar , or nt least a little
Turkish.
After five hours he had come back
with a heavy load of boxes of ail
shapes and sizes uud the required
the perfectly honorable ones Ife enter
tained.
As for Baraka , it never occurred to
her that she was not ns safe with him
as site had been in her father's house
in the little white town far away ,
nearly three years ago ; and besides ,
her stool bodkin with the silver han
dle had been given back to her , and
she could feel it in its place when she
pressed her left hand to her side.
Logotheti has boon first of all preoccupied -
occupied about getting Baraka out of
England without attracting attention ,
and then for her comfort and recov
ery from the strain nnd suffering of
the last few days. As for tliat , she
was like a healthy young animal , and
as soon as iiho hnd n chance she had
fallen so ; sound asleep that she had
not waked for 12 hours. Logothotl'a
Intent was to take her to Paris by a
roundabout way , and establish her
under some proper sort of protection.
Margaret was still In Germany , but
would soon return to France , and ho
had almost made up his mind to ask
her advice , not dreaming that in sucli
a case she could really doom anything
he did an unpardonable offence. Ho
had always laughed at the convention
alities of European life , and had paid
very little heed to them when they
stood in ills way.
( TO UK CONTINUED. )
Wit Often an Affliction.
Wit Is an affliction unless used with
discretion and good sense. The habit
of being invariably amusing will bring
you into great disfavor. The sharp-
tongucd woman who will have her little
tlo laugh at the expense of her neigh
bors usually pays dearly for her fun.
It is ns much an art to bo quiet aud
self-posisossed as to bo vivacious and
entertaining , and the woman who can
adjust her moods to the occasion is
the one who finds herself usually the
most popular member of her com
munity.