REPUBLICAN NEWS-ITEM
Published by C. S. I>AI'BERMAN, Lesseo
LAPORTE PA.
I .
Being a philosopher with $1,000,000
In the bank Is our notion of a 60ft Job.
"The whale," says a naturalist, "will
eoon be extinct." But why blubber
about It?
Sometimes the exception proves the
rule, but it is generally the unexpect
ed which happens.
A beauty doctor says that slapping
the face Is good for the complexion.
She may prefer freckles.
A genius in California has succeed
ed in developing a seedless tomato,
but the odorless onion still Is afar oft.
Our notion of a true philosopher is
one who can take a calm and unruffled
view of life while seated In a dentist's
chair.
A Maryland doctor says that cutting
out the tonsils Is a serious mistake,
from the doctor's point of view, we
presume.
Some of the doctors say the adop
tion of the kilt would be more hygienic
than trousers. Yes, but would it be as
modest?
"Drink buttermilk and live long,"
says Prof. Metchnlkoff. But where is
the joy of living long If one must drink
buttermilk?
A vacation would be beneficial to a
hard working mortal were it not for
the fact that it takes two weeks to
recover from It.
Kissing may be dangerous, as our
physicians say, but a little danger
now and then Is relished by the best
of men—and women.
The shah of Persia's kitchen uten
sils are valued at $23,000,000, and at
that we'll bet he can't find a bottle
opener when he wants it.
A New Yorker informs us that no
body can be happy on less than $5,000
a year. Verily, there is a vast amount
of unhappiness In this world.
A Cleveland man has Invented it
steel car "strap" that will not carry
germs. While he was at it, why didn't
be Invent a few seats instead?
The anti-kisslng crusade may be ail
right In its way, but it strikes us
that a great deal depends on the age
and pulchritude of the kissee.
Cincinnati is proud of Its woman
teacher in a vacation school who um
pires baseball games so fairly the ire
of the bleachers is never aroused.
Only the female mosquitoes prey on
human beings, and sometimes we are
led to believe that the females out
number the males by 1,000,000 to 1.
Some people are born famous, some
nchieve fame, but a girl in Newport
•won the easy way by wearing an auto
mobile veil floating five fret in the
breeze.
"Hobble skirts," says an investi
gator, "were worn in early Biblical
days." Evidently one of the reasons
for the destruction of Sodom and Go
morrah.
Once upon a time there lived a man
who really enjoyed his vacation, but
that was in the ancient days before
the summer hotel had been inflicted
on humanity.
The New York waiters who several
weeks ago organized a strike have ap
plied to their former employers for
work. They found a tiplesa world a
cheerless one.
Some day the art of farming may
be so far advanced that humanity
will be enabled to eat a blackberry,
the substance of which is less than 75
per cent, seeds.
Quoth a woman novelist: "It takes
a clever woman to keep out of matri
mony." But if a mere roan would
keep out of wedlock he must be noth
ing short of a genius.
China insists that if she borrows
any money she must be allowed to
spend it in her own way. If the lend
ers do not like that they need not
lend it. This seems reasonable.
One of the courts has decided that
a woman who steps off backward from
a street car has no claim for damages.
The wife of the Judge who rendered
the decision must be slim and ob
servant.
An exchange tells us that France
Is training eagles to attack aeroplanes.
Far be it from us to contradict any
body, but the man who invented that
story has all the qualifications of a
successful fisherman.
The conspiracy to oust the hobble
by beginning with the pannier not
liavlng succeeded, it is now proposed
to do the trick by having plaits in the
hobble. They seem determined to
make women use more cloth someway
or other.
An attempt to raise a considerable
fund of money for the New York teach
er who accomplished the gigantic
work of equalizing salaries in the
schools, has failed lamentably. Post
facto gratitude is the rarest tliinji
tnov.n to modern science.
COPY RICHT lqoc) /.v/ LOUIS <] O5 EPH VANCE
SYNOPSIS.
The story opens at Monte Carlo with
Col. Terence O'Rourke, a military free
lance and (something of a gambler. In hla
hotel, leaning on the balcony he sees a
beautiful girl who suddenly enters the
elevator and pauses from sight. At the
gaming table O'Rourke notices two men
watching him. One ts the Hon. Bertie
Glynn, while his companion Is Viscount
Des Trebes, a duelist. The viscount tells
him the French government has directed
him to O'Rourke as a man who would
undertake a secret mission. At his apart
ment. O'Rourke, who had agreed to un
dertake the mission, finds a mysterious
letter. The viscount arrives, hands a
sealed package to O'Rourke, who Is not
to open It until on the ocean. A pair of
dainty slippers are seen protruding from
under a doorway curtain. The Irishman
finds the owner of the mysterious feet to
be his wife, Beatrix, from whom he had
run away a year previous. They are
reconciled, and opening the letter he finds
that a Rangoon law firm offers him
100,000 pounds for a jewel known as the
Pool of Flame and left to him by a dy
ing friend, but now in keeping of one
named Chambret in Algeria. O'Rourke
worsts the nobleman In a duel. The wife
bids O'Rourke farewell and he promises
to soon return with the reward. He dis
covers both Glynn and the viscount on
board the ship. As he finds Chambret
thaae Is an attack by bandits and his
friend dies telling O'Rourke that he has
left the Pool of Flame with the governor
general who at sight of a signet ring
given the colonel will deliver over the
jewel. Arriving at Algeria the Irishman
finds the governor general away, rtes
Trebes makes a mysterious appointment
and tells O'Rourke that he has gained
possession of the jewel by stealing It. In
a duel O'Rourke masters the visonunt,
secures possession of the Pool of Flame
and starts by ship for Rangoon.
CHAPTER Xlll.—(Continued.)
He mopped his brow, simply (as be
fitted one of his apparent statlor In
life) with the back of a hand, and
stood erect, exulting In the scent, the
Indescribable, Impalpable, Insistent
odor of the East that Is forgotten of
none who had ever known It. The hot
wind drove It gustily In his face, and
he sniffed and drew great lungfuls
and was glad.
"'Tis good!" he said simply. And,
a bit later, while on the shorl-llne the
brazen arcs were beginning to pop out
silently: "There's the customs boat.
I'm thinking I'll slip below."
No lamps had yet been lighted be
low, but O'Rourke knew the way to
his room. He entered and shut the
door. The afterglow of the sunset,
entering through the porthole, ren
dered the little coop light enough for
his purpose. Dropping to his knees,
the Irishman pulled his kit-box from
beneath the bunk.
The lid came up freely as he
touched It. For a full minute he did
not breathe. Then. In ominous si
lence, he bent and examined the lock.
It became immediately evident that
his memory had not tricked him; the
trunk was locked, as he had left it
that morning. But the clasp had
yielded to a cold chisel.
It was hardly worth the trouble,
still O'Rourke rummaged through the
contents of the box, assuring himself
that the chamois bag was gone. So
far as he could determine then, noth
ing else had been taken.
He shut down the lid and sat down
to think it out, eyes hard, face grimly
expressionless, only an intermittent
nervous clenching and opening of his
hands betraying his gathering rage
and excitement. At length he arose,
determination in his port.
One phrase alone escaped him:
"And not a gun to me name!"
He went on deck. Already the trop
ic night had closed down upon the
harbor, but it was easy enough to lo
cate the captain and first officer, still
waiting at the gangway. From over
side arose the splutter of a launch —a
raucous sound, yet one that barely rip
pled the surface of O'Hourke's con
sciousness. He stepped quickly to
the captain's side and touched him
gently on the arm.
"Captain," he said quickly, "I'll be
asking the favor of a word with ye in
private."
Hole caught the gleam of the Irish
man's eye in the lamplight and —
stepped back a pace.
"Get forrard," he said curtly. "Carn't
you see the customs officer coming'
aboard? I'll see you later."
"Ye will not. Ye'll hear me now,
captain—"
Hole backed further away. "Wot!"
he barked hoarsely, raising his voice.
"Wot! I'll show you 'oo's master
aboard this ship. Get forrard to your
quarters! S'help-me-gawd!" he ex
ploded violently. "'Oo ever heard the
like of It?"
O'Rourke stepped nearer, his fists
closing. "Drop that tone, ye scud!"
he cried. "D'ye want me to spoil your
little game?"
The shot went home. The captain
gasped, and in the darkness O'Rourke
fancied he lost a shade or two of his
ruddy color.
"Wotcher mean?" he demanded, low
ering his tone.
"I mean," replied O'Rourke In a
quick whisper, "that the Egyptian cus
toms officer Is at the side. Return
what' ye've stolen from me this day.
ir I'll tell the whole harbor what
ftm U>«n up to! Aud, 11 ye want
tne to be more explicit, perhaps the
word 'hashish' will refresh your mem
ory !"
"I'll talk to you later —"
"Ye'll give me back me property this
minute or—"
O'Rourke was at the rail In a stride.
"Shall I tell him?" he demanded.
A swift step sounded beside him.
He turned an instant too late, who had
reckoned without Dennison. As he
moved to protect himself the first of
ficer's fist caught the Irishman Just
under the ear. And one hundred and
seventy-five pounds of man and malice
were behind it. O'Rourke shot into
the scuppers as though kicked by a
mule, struck his head against a piece
of iron work and lay still, half
stunned, shutting his teeth savagely
upon a moan.
Hole and the first mate stood over
him, and the captain's voice, guarded
but clear enough, came to his ear:
"You'll lie there, me man, and not
so much as a whimper till I give you
leave. Take 'eed wot I says. Mr.
Dennison 'ere is goin' to clean 'ls re
volver."
O'Rourke lay silent, save for his
quick breathing. The first officer,
grinning malevolently, sat down near
at hand, keeping a basilisk eye upon
the prostrate man while he fondled au
able-bodied, hammerless Webley.
Hole moved off towards the gang
way, whence his voice arose, an in
stant later, greeting his visitor. The
latter put a hurried question, which
O'Rourke did not catch, but the cap
tain's reply was quick enough:
"Only a mutinous dorg of a deck
'and. Wanted shore leave and refused
togo forrard when ordered. 'E ain't
'urted none. Mr. Dennison 'ere Just
gyve 'lm a tap to keep him quiet"
The Irishman swore beneath his
breath and watched the first officer.
The light from the lantern at the
gangway glanced dully ui>on the pol
ished barrel of the revolver, and the
gleaming line was steadily directed
towards O'Rourke's head. Upon re
consideration he concluded to lie still,
to wait and watch his opportunity;
for the present, at least, he was in
disposed to question Dennison's wil
lingness to use the weapon. O'Rourke
Th« Just Under tIM Ear.
was to be kept quiet at all hazards,
and he knew it full well; for once he
conceded discretion the better part of
valor, and was patient.
CHAPTER XIV.
In the face of the fact that the Im
portation of hashish Into Egypt has
been declared illegal by Khcdival leg
islation, the drug is always to be ob
tained in the lower dives of Alexan
dria, Cairo and Port Said —It one only
knows where togo and how to ask
for it. Manufactured in certain
'stands of the (Jrecian Archipelago, it
is mysteriously exported under the
very uo&es oi complainant authorities
and, eluding the rigor of Egyptian
customs, as well as the* vigilance of
Egyptian spies, finds its way to the
fellaheen —among other avid consum
ers; speaking baldly, is smuggled into
the land. Customs inspections, fur
thermore, are as severe as might be
expected by anyone acquainted with
the country and its inhabitants —as
was O'Rourke.
He felt, then, no sort of surprise at
the brevity of the official visitation.
The inspector, accompanied by an
excessively urbane and suave Captain
Hole, consciously but briefly
glanced into the hold, asked a few
questions which would have been
pertinent had they not been entirely
perfunctory, and took his leave.
From the gangway the captain
turned back directly to his first offi
cer and the latter's charge. Hearing
his approaching footsteps, O'Rourke
gathered himself together and sum
moned all his faculties to his aid.
"Troublesome?" demanded Hole,
pausing.
"Not a syllable." said the mate.
"Th' mon's sensible. I ha'e me doubts
but he's too canny altegither."
"Peaceful as a byby, eh? Well,"
savagely, " 'ell learn wot for. Get up,
you Irish —"
O'Rourke lay passive under the
storm of Hole's profanity. He had
all but closed his eyes, and was watch
ing the pair from beneath his lashes.
Failing to elicit any response,
" 'Asn't 'e moved?" demanded the cap
tain.
"Not a muscle —"
"Shammin'! 'Ere, I'll show "im."
'O'Rourke gritted his teeth and sup
pressed a groan as the toe of Hole's
heavy boot crashed Into his ribs.
"Th' mon's nae shamming," Denni
son declared. "He's fair fainted."
"Fainted hell!" countered the cap
tain. "Give 'is arm a twist, Denni
son."
The mate calmly disobeyed. The
arm-twist desired by the captain re
quires the use of the twister's two
hands, and stoutly as he defended his
opinion, the first officer was by no
means ready to put up his revolver.
He advanced and bent over the
Irishmau, who lay motionless, his up-
per lip rolled back to show his
clenched teeth. "Heugh!" exclaimed
the first officer, peering into his face,
his tone expressive of the liveliest
concern. Without further hesitation
he dropped the revolver into his pocket
and—received a tremendous short-arm
blow in the face.
With a stifled cry he fell back,
clutching at a broken nose, and
sprawled at length; while O'ltourke.
leaping to his feet, deliberately put
a heel into the pit of llennlson's stom
ach, thereby effectually eliminating
hiin as a factor in the further contro
versy. Simultaneously he advanced
upon Captain Hole.
But Lu the latter be encountered no
mean antagonist. The man—lt has
been said —was as tall as and heavier
than the adventurer, and by virtue of
his position a competent and experi
enced rough-and-ready fighter. In a
breath he had lowered his head and,
bellowing like a bull, launched him
self toward O'Rourke.
The Irishman met the onslaught
with a stinging uppercut; which, nev
ertheless, failed to discourage the
captain, who grappled and began to
belabor O'Rourke with short, stabbing
blows on the side of the head, at the
same time endeavoring to trip him.
The fury of his onset all but carried
the Irishman off his feet. At the same
time it defeated Hole's own purpose.
O'Rourke watched his chance, seized
the man's throat with both hands and,
tightening his grip, fairly lifted him
ofT his feet and shook him as a ter
rier shakes a rat. Then, with a grunt
of satisfaction, he threw the captain
from him and turned to face greater
odds.
The noise of the conflict had brought
the crew down upon the contestants.
Surrounded, he was rushed to the rail.
With that to his back he drew on his
reserve of strength and. poising him
self, began to give his assailants per
sonal and individual attention. They
pushed him close, snarling and curs
ing, hindering one another in their
eagerness, and suffering variously for
their temerity. O'Rourke fought with
trained precision; his blows, lightning
quick, were direct from the shoulder
and very finely placed; and BO straight
did he strike that almost from the
first his knuckles were torn and
bleding from their impact upon flesh
and bone.
Fight as fiercely as he might, how
ever, the pack was too heavy for him;
and when presently he discerned, not
in one but in half a dozen hands,
gleams of light—the rays of a near-by
lantern running down knife-blades —
he conceded the moment imminent
when he must sever his connection
with the Pelican. Moreover he had a
shrewd suspicion that Hole was up
and only waiting for an opening to use
his revolver.
Leaping to the rail, he poised an
Instant, then dived far out from the
vessel's side, down into the Stygian
blackness of the harbor water; a good
clean dive, cutting the water with
hardly a splash, he went down like an
arrow, gradually swerving from the
straight line of his flight into a long
arc—so long, indeed, that he was
well-nigh breathless when he came to
the surface, a dozen yards or more
from the Pelican.
Spitting out the foul harbor water,
and with a swift glance over his shoul
der that showed him the Pelican's
dark freeboard like a wall, and a
cluster of dark shapes hajiging over
the rail at the top vaguely revealed
by lantern light, he struck out for the
nearest vessel, employing the double
overhand stroke, noisy but speedy.
That he heard no cry when he came
to the surface, that Hole had not de
tected him by the phosphorescence,
and that he had held his hand from
firing, at first puzzled O'Rourke; but
he reasoned that Hole probably feared
to raise an alarm and thereby attract
much undesirable attention to himself
and his ship. In the course of the first
few strokes, however, he managed to
peep again over his shoulder, and from
the activity on the Pelican's decks
concluded that he was to be pursued
by boat; which, in fact, proved to be
the case.
Fortunately the Pelican rode at an
chor in waters studded thick with
other vessels, afTonling plenty of hid
ing places on a night as black as that.
The adventurer made direct for the
first vessel, swam completely around
It, and by the time the Pelican's boat
was afloat and its rowers bending to
the oars, he was supporting himself by
a hand upon the unknown ship's cable,
floating on his back with only his face
out of water.
Under these conditions, it was
small wonder that the boat missed him
so completely.
At length rested, the Irishman re
leased his hold and struck out for
land at an easy pace.
Eventually he gained the end of a
quay, upon which he drew himself for
a last rest and to let his dripping gar
ments drain a bit ere venturing abroad
in the streets.
Not until then, strangely enough,
did It come to him with its full force,
how he had been tricked and played
upon from the very beginning. And he
swore bitterly when he contemplated
his present position of a penniless
outcast in a city almost wholly strange
to .him, without friends (save Indeed.
Danny—wherever he might he), with
out a place to lay his head, lacking
even a change of clothing His kit
box was aboard the Pelican and likely
to remain there, for all be could do
to tbe coutrary; In big present stat*.
to apply to the authorities or to at
tempt to lodge a complaint against
Captain Hole would more likely than
not result in incarceration on a charge
of vagrancy more real than technical.
And —the Pool of Flame! He
fumed with Impotent rage when he
saw how blindly he had stumbled into
Hole's trap, how neatly he had per
mitted himself to be raped of the jew
el. For In the light of late events he
could not doubt but that Hole had
sought him out armed with the knowl
edge that O'Rourke was in possession
of the priceless jewel—more than
probably advised and employed by Des
Trebes; assuming that he had failed
to inflict a mortal wound upon that
adventurer.
"Aw, the divvle, the divvle!" com
plained O'Rourke. "Sure, and 'tis a
pretty mess I've made of it all, now!"
Saying which he rose and clambered
to the top of the quay—with the more
haste than good will in view of the
fact that the splashing of oars, the
dimly outlined shape of a boat head
ing directly for his refuge, had sud
denly become visible. Of course, it
might not be the Pelican; but
O Rourke was too thoroughly Im
pressed with the conviction that the
laws of coincidence were working
against him, just then at any rate, to
be willing to run unnecessary risks.
Chance, too, would have it that
there should be an arc-light ablaze
precisely at the foot of the pier, be
neath which stood, clearly defined In
the white glare, the figure of a hulk
ing black native representative of the
municipal police, whom O'Rourke must
pass ere he could gain solid earth.
For this reason he dared not betray
evidences of haste; his appearance
was striking enough in all conscience,
without any additional touches. So he
thrust his hands into his pockets and
sauntered with a well-assumed but
perhaps not wholly convincing air of
nonchalance toward the officer.
The latter remained all unsuspicious
until—and then the mischief of it was
that O'Rourke was still a full fi.'e
yards the wrong side of the man-
Hole himself leaped from the beat
upon the end of the quay and ten: a
yell echoing after the fugitive.
"Hey!" he roared. "Stop 'tm! De
serter! Thief! Stop thief!"
The black was facing O'Rourke in
an instant, but simultaneously the
irishman was upon him and had put
an elbow smartly into his midriff In
passing, all but toppling the man back
wards into the harbor.
R had been well for him had he suc
ceeded. As it was the follow saved
himself by a hair's breadth and the
next minute was after O'Rourke, yell
ing madly.
The Irishman showed a fleet pair of
heels, be sure; but, undoubtedly, the
devil himself was in the luck that
night! Who shall describe in what
manner a rabble springs out of the
very cobbles of Alexandria's streets?
Men, women, naked children and yap
ping pariah dogs, fellaheen, Arabs, Be
douins from the desert, Nubians,
Greeks, I^evantines—the fugitive had
not covered two-score ,r*.rds ere a mob
of such composition was snarping at
his calves.
Turning and twisting, dodging and
doubling, smiting this gratuitous en
emy full in the face, treating the next
as he had the limb of the law (and
leaving both howling), he seized the
first opening and swung into a narrow
back-way, leading inland from the wa
terfront.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Care of the Eyes.
If a woman has the slightest did
culty with her sight, she should lose
no ttme In consulting an oculist. Noth
ing will bring undesirable crows leet
more quickly than straining the eyes,
and local treatment to prevent the
lines will be inefficacious if the seal
of the..rouble Is not attended to It is
lar better to wear glasses when sew
ing and writing than to let the wnoie
tace have a drawn and aged look
Of course, massaging about the cor
ners of the eyes will make a tremen
dous improvement In a woman s ap
pearance. but the work will be witn
out results unless she does It regularly
every night. Also, If she Is trying to
smooth away crows' feet, she must re
member that stroking Is not to be
done so severely as to loosen the t>Km.
which would cause bagginess, but
merely that friction is to stimulate cir
culation, nourishing the skin tissues.
Foolish Question.
"Are you going to permit your son
to play football when he goes to col
lege?"
"No. I'm going to keep him from I
in the same way that I have kept hin
from smoking cigarettes."
"Oh, have you kept him from doln
thfat?"
"Certainly—when M tao-ww IT
looking."