Coweta Times. (Coweta, Okla.), Vol. 5, No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 12, 1910 Page: 3 of 8
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SYNOPSIS
Baraks a Tartar girl baoama enamored
"1 of a golden bearded atranger who waa
prospecting end studying herba In the
vicinity of her home In central Asia and
' revealed to him the location of a mine
of rubles hoping that the stranger would
love her In return for her disclosure
They ware followed to the cave by the
girl's relatives who blocked up the en-
trance and drew otf the water supply
leaving the couple to die Baraka’s cousin
Baad her betrothed attempted to climb
down a clllf overlooking the mine but
the traveler shot him The stranger was
revived from a water gourd Saud car-
ried dug hla way out of the tunnel and
departed deserting the girl and carrying
a bag of rubies Baraka gathered all the
gems she could carry and started in pur
suit Margaret Donne (Margarita da
Cordova) a famous prima donna became
engaged In London to Konstantin Lo-
fiothetl a wealthy Greek financier Her
ntlmate friend was Countess Leven
known as Lady Maud whose husband
had ben killed by a bomb In St Peters-
burg and Lady Maud's most Intimate
friend was- Rufus Van Torp an Ameri-
can who had become one of the richest
men in the world Van Torp waa In love
with Margaret and rushed to London as
soon as he heard of her betrothal He
offered Lady Maud $ou0U000 for her pet
she would aid him In winning
charity tf s —
the singer from Logothetl Baraka ap
Broached Logothetl at Versailles with
rubles to sell He presented a ruby to
Margaret Van Torp bought a yacht and
sent It to Venice He was visited by
Baraka In male attire She gave him a
ruby after the American had told her of
having seen In the United States a man
answering the description of the one she
loved The American followed Margaret
to the Bayreuth ''Parsifal" festival Mar-
garet took a liking to Van Torp who pre-
sented her with the ruby Baraka had
given him Count Krallnsky a Russian
arrived at Bayreuth Van Torp believed
him to be the one Baraka was pursuing
Baraka was arrested In London on the
charge of stealing from Pinney a Jew-
eler the ruby she had sold to Logothetl
Two strangers were the thieves lady
Maud believed that I-ogothetl's associa-
tions with Baraka were open to suspi-
cion and so informed Margaret Van
Torp believed that KraHnskv was the
cowboy be had known in his young man-
hood Logothetl secured Baraka s re-
lease and then with her as his guest
went to sea on his yacht Erlnna Baraka
explains her plans for revenge on the
man wbo bad deserted her and left her
to die Logothetl succeeds In moderating
her rage Lady Maud arrived in Bay-
reuth Margaret and Van Torp entered
Into an agreement to build a tremendous
opera house in New York
CHAPTER XI— Continued
He turned the page round and
landed It to her The writing was
large and perfectly legible but very
different from the "commercial" hand
of most American business rnenT Any
one word taken at random might
haVe seemed unformed at first sight
hut the appearance of the whole was
oddly strong and symmetrical Mar-
garet read the clauses carefully She
herself had already signed a good
many legal papers in connection with
her engagements and her own small
fortune and the language was not so
unfamiliar to her as it would have
been to most women
"Shall I sign first?" she asked
when Ghe had finished "My own
name? Or my stage name?"
"Your own name please” said Van
Torp without hesitation "The other’s
only binding In your profession be-
cause you appear under it and It's
your ‘businfss style’ ”
She wrote “Margaret Donne” at the
foot of the page In her large and rath-
er irregular hand and passed the pa
per back to Van Torp wbo signed it
Ended Abruptly In a Ceil
CAAWFOM
He waved the sheet slowly to and fro
to dry the Ink -
“It's only a preliminary agreement”
he said "but it's binding as far as It
goes and I’ll attend to the rest You'll
have to give me a power of attorney
for my lawyer In New York By the
by If you decide to come you can do
that in Venice where there’s a real
live consul That's necessary But
for all matters of business herein set
forth we are now already ’The Mme
da Cordova and Rufus Van Torp Com-
pany organised for the purpose of
building -an opera house In the city of
New York and for giving public per-
formances of musical works in the
same with a nominal capital hereaft-
er to be agreed upon’ That's what
we are now”
He folded the sheet returned It to
bis inner pocket and held out his hand
in a cheerful hualness-Uke manner
“Shall we shake hands on It?” he
asked
"By all means" Margaret answered
readily and their eyes met but she
drew back her hand again before tak-
ing his “This Is purely a matter of
business between ug” she said “you
understand that? It means nothing
else?"
“Purely a matter of business ” an-
swered Rufus Van Tqrp slowly and
gravely
CHAPTER XII
On the morning after the transac-
tion last described Van Torp’s atten-
tion was arrested by a sensational
"scare-head' about a thief and a ruby
worth $50000 Some disaffected col-
league In London had known or
cleverly guessed here the stone was
that had been stolen from Mr Pin-
ney'g and had Informed the police
the nice-looking young fellow who
spoke like an English gentleman had
walked directly Into the arms of the
plain-clothes man waiting for him on
the pier in New York the atone had
been found Bewn up In his waistcoat
and his pleasant career of liberty had
ended abruptly in a cell
Mr Van Torp whistled softly as he
read the account a second time Then
he neatly cut the column out of the
paper folded it with great precision
smoothed It with care and placed It in
his pocket-book next to a cheap little
photograph of Mme da Cordova as
"Juliet" which lie had bought in a
music shop In New York the day after
he had beard her for the first time
and had carried In his pocket ever
since
lie took up the mutilated newspa-
per and looked up and down the col-
umns and among other information
which ho gathered in a few moments
was the fact that Logotheti's yacht
had “passed Capt Saint Vincent going
east owner and party on board” The
previous telegram had not escaped
him and if he bad entertained any
doubts as to the destination of the
Erlnna they vanished now She was
certainly bound for the Mediterranean
He remembered having heard that
many eteam yachts coming from Eng-
land put into ’Gibraltar for coal and
fresh provisions coal being cheaper
there than In French and Italian
ports and he thought It very probable
that the Erlnna would dp the same
he also made some deductions which
need not be explained yet The only
one worth mentioning here was that
Logothetl would be likely to hear In
Gibraltar that the ruby had been
found and waa on Its way back to
England and that as he would know
that Margaret would be anxious about
It since be had already given it to
her he would hardly let the occasion
of communicating with her go by As
for writing from Gibraltar to any
place whatsoever In tho hope that a
letter will arrive in less than a week
it is sheer folly Mr Van Torp had
never tried It and supposed it pos-
sible as It looks but he was tolerably
sure that Logothetl would telegraph
first and had perhaps done so al-
ready for the news of his passing
Cape Saint Vincent was already 24
hours old
This was precisely what had hap-
pened When Mr Van Torp opened
his door he came upon Margaret and
Mrs Rushmore on the landing on the
point of going out for a walk fend a
servant had just brought the prima
donna a telegram which she was read-
ing aloud so that the American could
not help hearing her
“ ‘Cruising till wanted’ ” she read
quickly " ‘Ruby found Address
yacht Erlnna Naples’ ”
She heard Van Torp close hiB door
though she had not heard him open It
and turning round she found herself
face to face with him Her eyes were
sparkling with anger
“Very sorry” he said “X couldn’t
help hearing”
- "It’s of no consequence for I should
have told you” Margaret answered
briefly
He argued well for himself from her
tone and manner but' he chose to
show that he would not force his com-
pany upon her just then when she
was In a visible rage and instead of
stopping to exchange more words he
passed the two ladles bat In hand and
bowing rather low after bis manner
he went quietly downstairs
Margaret watched him till he disap-
peared “I like that man” she Bald as if to
to herself but audibly ‘T cannot
help It”
Mrs RuBhmore was more than de-
lighted but had tact enough not to
make any answer to a speech which
had probably not been meant for her
ears
“Perhaps” she said "you would
rather not go out just yet my dear”
Margaret was grateful for the sug-
gestion and they turned back Into
their rooms
Meanwhile Van Torp had reached
the door of the hotel and found Lady
Maud standing there with her parasol
up for the sun was streaming In
“I was waiting for you” she said
simply as soon as he reached her
side and she stepped out into the
street “I thought you would come
down and I wanted to speak to you
for I did not get a chance last night
They were "both watching me prob-
ably because they thought I was 111
and I had to chatter like a magpie to
keep up appearances”
“You did It very well” Van Torp
said “If I had not seen your face
at the window when I got out of the
automobile yesterday I shouldn't have
guessed there was anything wrong”
“But there Is — something very
wrong — something I can hardly bear
to think of though 1 must until I
know the truth”
They turned Into the first deserted
street they came to
“I dare say I can give a guess at
what It Is” Van Torp answered grave-
ly “I went to see him alone yester-
day on purpose before he started and
I must say if It wasn’t for the beard
I'd feel pretty sure”
"He had a beard when I married
him and It was like that— just like
that!”
Lady Maud's voice shook audibly
for Bhe felt cold even In the sun-
shine “I didn't know” Van Torp answered
“That alters the case If we’re not
mistaken what can I do to help you?
Let's see You only had that one
look at him through the window Is
that so?”
“Yes But the window was open
and It's not high above the ground
and my eyeB are good - He took off
his hat when be said good-by to you
and I saw his face as distinctly as I
see yours When you’ve been mar-
ried to a man” — she laughed harshly
— "you cannot be easily mistaken
about him when you're as near as
that! That Is the man I married I'm
intimately convinced of it but I must
be quite sure Do you understand?”
“Of course If he's really Laiven
he's even a better actor than 1 used
to think he was If he's not the re-
semblance Is just about the most ex-
traordinary thing! It's true I only
saw Leven three or four times in my
life but I saw him to look at him
then and the last time I did when he
made the row in Hare court he was
doing most of the talking ao I remem
her his voice" ' -
- “There's only one difficulty'! Lady
Maud said “Some one elae may have
been killed last June It may even
have "been the pickpocket who had
stolen hls pocket-book Such things'
have happened pr do In boflts! But
this Is certainly the man you met In
New York and who Bold you the stone
you gave me is he 'not?”
“Oh certainly And that was at
the end of July and Leven was killed
late In June”
“Yes That only leaves a month
for him to have been to Asia — that’s
absurd”
“Utterly totally' and entirely Impos
slble" asseverated-Mr Van Torp
"One of two things Either this mac
is your husband and tf he is he's not
the man who found the rubles in Asia
Or else If he Is that man he’s not
Leen I wish that heathen girl had
been here yesterday! She could have
told In a minute She’d better have
been here anyway than cutting around
the Mediterranean with that fellow
Logothetl!"
‘ Yes" Lady Maud answered grave-
ly ' Hut about myself — If Leven le
ali p a hat la my position — I mean — I
don't really quite know where 1 am
do 1’"
"Anybody but you would have
thought of marrying again already" ob-
served Mr Van Torp looking up side-
ways In her eyes for she was taller
than he “Then you'd really be In a
bad fix wouldn’t you? But as It is I
don't see that It makes much differ-
ence The man's going under a faUe
name so he doesn't mean to claim
you as his wife nor to try to get a
divorce again as be did before He's
just going to be somebody else for his
own good and he’ll get married that
way maybe That's his business not
yours I don’t suppose you're going
to get up In church and forbid the
banns are you?”
"1 would like a shot!” said Lady
Maud “So would you I'm sure!
Think of the other woman!”
“That's so” answered Van Torp
without enthusiasm "However we've
got to think about you and the pres-
ent and decide what we'U do- I sup-
pose the best thing Is for me to put
him oil with some excuse so that you
can come on the yacht"
"Please do nothing of the sort!”
cried Lady Maud
"But I want you to come” objected
her friend
"1 mean to come Do you think I'm
afruid to meet him?"
Van Torp looked at her In some sur-
prise and not without admiration
"There isn't anybody like you any-
way” he said quietly “But there’s
going to be a circus on that ship if
he's Leven” he added “If he makes
a fuss l'U read the riot act and lock
him up”
“Oh no" answered Lady Maud who
was used to Mr Van Torp's familiar
vocabulary "why need there be any
trouble? You’ve not told him I am
coming you say Very well If he
sees me suddenly after he has been
on board a little while he'll certainly
betray himself and then I shall be
sure Leven is a man of the world —
'was' or 'Is' — God knows which! But
If it Is he and he doesn't want to be
recognized he’ll behave as If nothing
had happened after the first moment
of surprise At least I shall be cer-
tain I must be positively sure
whether Iieven Is alive or dead for
what I have got back In these last
two months Is my whole life A mere
recognition at first sight and at ten
yards is not enough It may be only
a marvelous resemblance for they
say evqry one has a 'double' some-
where in the world”
"They used to say too that If you
met your 'double' one of you would
die” observed Van Torp “Those
things are all stuff and nonsense of
course I was just thinking Well"
he continued dwelling on his favorite
monosyllable “if you decide to come
on the yacht and if the man doesn't
blow away we shall know the truth In
three or four days from now and
that's a comfort And even if he turns
out to be Leven ma) be we can man-
age something ”
Lady Maud chose not to ask what
her friend thought he could "manage"
for she had glanced at bis face when
he had spoken and though It was half
turned away from her she saw his
expression and It would have scared
a nervous person She did not like
him to be in that mood and was sor-
ry that she bad brought him to It
But Mr Van Torp who was a strong
man and bad seen more than one af-
fray In bis ranching days could not
help thinking how uncommonly easy
it would be to pick up Count Kralin-
sky and drop him overboard on a dark
night next week when the Lancashire
Liass would be doing 22 knots and
there might be a -little weather about
to drown the splash
CHAPTER XIII
The -millionaire did things hand-
somely He offered to motor his party
to Venice and as Margaret declined
because ipotorlng was bad for her
voice he telegraphed for a comfort-
able special carriage and took his
friends down by' railroad and they
were all very luxuriously comfortable
KrallnBky was not on board the
yacht when they came alongside at
sunset In two gondolas following the
steam-launch which carried the load
of luggage and the two maids —
8temp led the way and Mr Van
Torp took the three ladles to their
cabins first Mrs 'Rushmore who was
surprised and delighted by the 'rich
and gay appearance of hers for It
Was entirely decorated In pink and
told' r
r'Oa tha writing-table stood a tall
gilt vase full of immense pink roses
with stems nearer four feet long than
three Mrs Rushmore admired them
very much
"How did you know that I love
roses above all other flowers?” she
asked “My dear Mr Van Torp you
are a wizard I’m sure!”
Lady Muud and Margaret entered
and kept up a polite little chorus of
admiration but they both felt uneasy
as to what they might find In their re-
spective cabins for Margaret hated
pink and Lndy Maud detested gild
ing and neither of them was especial-
ly fond of roses They left Mrs Rush-
more very happy In her quarters and
went oh Lady Maud's turn came next
and she began to understand when
she saw a quantity of sweet wood vio-
lets on her table just loosened in an
old Murnno glass beaker
“Thunk you" she said bending to
smell them "How kind of you!”
There was not a trace of gilding or
pluk silk The cabin was paneled and
fitted In a rare natural wood of a
creamy-white tint
“Beg pardon my lady" said Stemp
“This and Miss Donne's cabin com-
municate by this door and the door
aft goes to the dressing-room Each
cabin has one quite Independent and
this bell rings the pantry my lady
and this one rings Miss Donne’s
maid’s cabin as I understand that
your ladyship has not brought her own
maid with her”
“Very nice” said Lady Maud smell-
ing the violets again
Stemp threw open the door of com-
munication to the cabin he had pre-
pared for the prima donna The two
cabins occupied the whole beau of the
vessel excepting the six-foot gangway
on each side and as she was one of
the largest yachts afloat at the time
there was no lack of room
“Carnutions at this time of year!”
cried Margaret seeing half an arm-
ful of her favorite dark red ones In a
silver wine-cooler before the mirror
"You really seem to know everything!
Thank you so much!”
She buried her handsome face In the
splendid flowers and drew in a deep
warm breath full of their sensuous
perfume the spicy scent of a laden
clove-tree under a tropical sun
“Thank you again!” Bhe said en-
thusiastically “Thank you for every-
thing the delightful journey and this
lovely room and the carnations!"
She stood up suddenly to her height
in sheer pleasure and held out her
hand to him He pressed It quietly
and smiled
“Do as you would be done by" he
said “That's the company’s rule”
She laughed at the allusion to their
agreement of which Lady Maud knew
nothing for they had determined to
keep it secret for the present
Mr Van Torp had not found an op-
portunity of speaking to Lady Maud
alone but he wished her to know
when Krallnsky might be expected
“Stemp” he said before leaving the
cabin “have you heard from the
count?”
h fiwrled Hr Handstm Fat
"Yes sir He got here this morn
tng from Vienna in his motor sir and
sent hts things with his man and hi
compliments to you and the ladles
and be will come on board In time for
dinner That was all I think sir”
Lady Maud heard and made
scarcely perceptible movement of the
head by way of tbanka to her friend
while listening to Margaret’s enthusi-
astic praise of everything she saw Mr
Van Torp and his man departed just
as Potts appeared accompanied by
very neat-looking English stewardess
In a smart white cap Lady Maud was
unusually silent but she smiled pleas-
antly at what Margaret said and th
latter made up her mind to drown her
anger against Logothetl and at the
same time be avenged on him In an
orgy of luxurious comfort sea-air and
sunshine The capacity of a perfectly
healthy and successful singer for en-
joying everything from a halfpenny
bun and a drive in a hansom to a mil- -lionaire's
yacht and the most expen-
sive fat of the land or sea has never
been measured And if they do have
terrible fits of temper now and then a
who Bhall blame them? They are al-
ways sorry for It because It Is bad
for the voice
Mr Van Torp reached hts quarters
and prepared to scrub and dress com-
fortably after a week at Bayreuth and
a railroad journey
Lady Maud did not begin to dress at
once as there was plenty of time be-
fore dinner Bhe left the stewardess to
unpack her things and came out upon
the six-foot gangway outside her cab-
in door to breathe the air for it was
warm The city lay half a mile away
In the afterglow of the sunset
But she felt none of that healthy
pleasure which a lovely sight naturally
gave her She was at a crisis of her
life and the exquisite evening scene
was the battlefield of a coming strug-
gle with herself or with another she
hardly knew In half an hour or In
an hour at moBt she was to sit at ta-
ble with a man she fully believed to
be the huBband for whom she had
been wearing mourning out of mere
decency but' With the profound inward
satisfaction of being free
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Spider Colonies
Our native spiders are notable for
their extreme unsoclablllty Of those
which are splnnere each one con-'
structs its web apart from those of
Its kind And those which hunt pur-
sue their prey alone says the London
Globe
In other countries however there
are spiders which live In communities
and one such a native of Mexico 1s
described by M L Dlguet It is known
as the uoBquero and makes a large
nest in oaks and other trees Here
the epiders live gregariously and along
with them in the nest Is found a mi-
nute beetle and another species of spi-
der The beetle Is said to act as '
scavenger Parts of the nest of the
mosquero are hung up In the bouses
during the wet season to get rid of ths
files
In th Iplendld Flowers
I
' a'
4
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Leftwich, Mark A. Coweta Times. (Coweta, Okla.), Vol. 5, No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 12, 1910, newspaper, May 12, 1910; Coweta, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1743696/m1/3/?rotate=270: accessed July 3, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.