The Red Mirage
A Story of the French Legion
in Algiers
By I.A.R.WYLIE
(All ikhu resrve(LjriM Bnbb-MrrUl Co.l
8YNOPSI3.
18 .
Sylvia Ompey, her lover, Richard Far
quhar, finds, has fallen In love with Cap
tain Arnaud of the Foreign Lesion. Far
quhar forces Bower to have Preston's I 0
U's returned to him. Sower forces Far
quhar to resign his commission, Gubrielle
eaves Farquhur from suicide. To shield
Arnaud, Sylvia's fiance, Karquhar pro
fesses to have stolen war plans. As
Richard Nameless he joins the Foreign
Lesion. Farquhar meets Sylvia and Ga
brielle. Arnaud becomes a drunkard and
opium smoker. Sylvia becomes friendly
with Colonel Destinn. Arnaud becomes
jealous of Farquhar and IB shot down by
him. Arnaud goes to a dancing girl who
loves him for comfort. Gabrlelle meets
Lowe, for whom she had sacrificed posi
tion and reputation, and tells him she Is
free from him. Sylvia meets Destinn be
hind the mosque. Arnaud becomes 111 but
Sylvia will not help him, nor Interfere for
Farquhar. Gabrielle, aiding Farquhar,
who la under ounishment. Is mistaken by
him In his delirium for Sylvia. Farquhar
delivering a message to JJestinn at
night finds Sylvia with him. He learns
that It was Gabrlelle who aided him. Ga
brlelle leaves Sylvia and goes to Far-
quhar's mother, who has come to Algiers
In an effort to save her son. While on a
march Farquhar saves Destlnn's life. Ar
naud brings relief to the column attacked
by Arabs. Farquhar is tried for mutiny.
Suppose that you had saved
the life of another and that he
realized his obligation, and sup
pose that he was given the op
portunity of saving your life
and refused to do so could you
die serenely, with faith in the
Justice and goodness of God? -
CHAPTER XIX Continued.
It stopped at last, abruptly, tragically,
and Destinn lifted his head as though
released from a hypnotic trance. A
little group of men in white drill uni
forms were crossing the courtyard.
They were carrying something between
them something that fought and
struggled.
Colonel Destlnn's eyes were fixed
on the broad red line which ran from
north to south, past carefully -marked
towns and villages, through white
spaces of open plain, skirting broad
waterways and low-rldged mountains,
to the Immense yellow bank where it
ended abruptly, like some proud
thought that bad come to nothing.
Colonel Destinn bent lower, his brows
contracted In impatient bitterness,
With a red pencil he struck off an inch
of the great line and marked It with a
cross. The place of the seven hundred
dead,
The door opened again. He did not
hear it. , His knuckles were pressed
against his forehead, as though crush
ing back an intolerable recollection,
down. It was a curious, terrible thing
to see this man, who had brazened
out death and every law of humanity.
reel with the shaking foundations of
his secret temple. "You gave your son
his life," Lowe went on quietly. "Ton
have ruined it. In a few hours It may
finally be taken from him. It lies in
your power to give him back that life
and the conditions which make It
worth the living. Have you not as I
have some sense of atonement?"
Atonement you?"
Lowe bowed his bead in grave depre
cation.
"I am t blackmailing scoundrel, and
quite ruthless as you have been and
are. But I understand atonement
Moreover, you know that I am not
lying and that what I promise to do
I will do."
Colonel Destinn turned and crossed
the room. Lowe waited composedly,
without triumph. He saw Destinn take
a key from the inner pocket of his dol
man and Insert -it in the lock of the
small iron safe let into the wall. He
came back a moment later with a sheaf
of transparent paper In his hand. He
swayed slightly.
"These are the plans."
Lowe made a little movement of as
surance.
"Consider! A friendly power"
Destinn laughed under his breath.
Very deliberately he tore the delicate
paper across arid across. "Not that,'
he said under his breath, "not that. My
son would not desire that."
There was a silence, Stephen Lowe
glanced curiously and a little bitterly
at the white shreds fluttering through
the sunlight, and then for the last time
at the peaceful face of the men beside
him.
"You may be right," he said. "It Is
SOME Mtt
:p fv vm r:- -- ----
FAIRY Wb
kWW'GRAHAM BONNER:
C
ONTRAKY to popular belief,
the Isonzo river, along which
the Italians made their first
attack ngnlnst Austria and
where their lines held firmly ngalnst
the vigorous Teutonic offensive, is
not the boundary line between the
two countries, but lies wholely with
in Austrian territory, from two to
twelve miles from the border. Its
source is near the juncture of the
Carole and Julian Alps, on Mount
Terglou, the loftiest peak of the latter
range, and It follows a tortuous chan
nel for 75 miles, emptying Into the
Gulf of Trieste, says the National Geo
graphic society bulletin. So turbulent
are the Isonzo's waters that the river
Only as he was addressed by name he lbe that 'm re rf ht Buf is practically unnavlgable, except for
.,. -fn,t anA nl.niwj Hanlr Aval hla H . tha Tow mlloa (if Ha ostnnr-J wnpra ITS
dli.vcu a-,, 6'"--- m-v- t nm not made like that Colonel Des-
shoulder. t, course Is through a rapidly extending
"I must apologize, Colonel Destinn. ' w . . ,, rhB Annr anM delta. On its way through the alluvi-
after him.
"Legionary, you are charged on your
own confession. Do you still insist
that you were the sole instigator and
leader of the mutiny?"
"Yes, my colonel."
"You have no statement to make, no
explanation to offer?"
"None."
Colonel Destinn leaned forward on
bis elbow. And suddenly It seemed
to the man beside him that he had
ceased to Interrogate that he was
pleading with a smothered passionate
energy.
"Captain Arnaud, you were with me.
You were the sole survivor of my staff.
Have you anything to say for this
man?"
There was a brief silence. It Beemed
as though Arnaud had not heard He
was still staring In front of him, and a
full minute passed before he lifted
his eyes slowly, reluctantly to Des
tlnn's face.
"I?" And then suddenly he half
arose, his hands gripping the edge of
the table. "I I have " He stopped.
His blank gaze bad passed on. It rest
ed on the prisoner's gaunt untroubled
features and lit up with a flame of
awakened recollection. He relapsed.
"No, I have nothing to say," he said
slowly and distinctly.
It seemed that the heat became
denser, more stifling. There was no
sound but the soft maddening buzz of
the flies in the circle of sunshine.
Colonel Destinn drew himself up stiffly.
"Then I have no option but to pass
the highest sentence on you. Le
gionary," he said. "There is only one
mitigation which lies In my power. I
know that you are a brave man you
shall die as one. You will he shot
unbound at daybreak by your com
rades." "I thank you, Colonel Destinn."
The major looked up shyly. Through
out he had been conscious of something
nnseen passing between these two
men; he saw now that they gazed at
each other unflinchingly with that in
tensity which seeks below the surface
for the inexplicable.
The sergeant came forward and
touched the condemned man on the
shoulder. He turned at once with a
little whimsical shrug of apology,
bowed ceremoniously to the whole
court, and to his own horror the major
realized that he had returned the sa
lute. He glanced anxiously around
him, and recognized on the faces of his
companions the same uncertainty and
bewilderment Destinn looked at no
one.
Richard Nameless was led out Into
the sunshine. With his passing the
spirit of tension passed also; there re
turned the old torpor, touched with the
petulant irritation of exhausted nerves
that have been too highly strung.
Colonel Destinn picked up his kepi
and, without greeting, strode out of
the courthouse. The rest followed. But
as they reached the door they hesi
tated. Someone had laughed. It was
no usual sound; In the heavy stillness
It rang shrill and unnatural. They
turned and saw that Desire Arnaud
had not moved. He sat at the table
with his hands spread out before him
and laughed.
The major shrugged his shoulders.
"I have seen it coming," he said re
gretfully. "1 have seen It coming a
long time. Ah, this terrible country
this terrible, beautiful country! It Is
pitiable and his poor wife! Well, I
shall give our friend, the doctor, a hint
He will know better"
He too went out, but the laughter
followed him. It drifted out on to the
courtyard, and rose with the stifling
waves of heat to the windows of the
whitewashed room where Colonel Des
tinn sat with his forehead pressed
gstast his clenched hands, listening.
I ventured to come In unannounced.
The sentry appears to regard me as
one of the family with the right to
come and go as I please."
"You have earned the privilege.
Pray be seated."
The visitor came slowly, haltingly
across the room. He canSe to the table,
but did not accept the proffered chair.
He stood In an attitude of listless ex
haustion, his hands clasped on the
CHAPTER XX.
Fate Decides.
Destlpy had decreed that Desire Ar
naud should die. He was in his room
now, dying quietly and unostentatious
ly, "from the brain downward," as the
doctor had explained to Madame Ar
naud with extreme gentleness, and had
heavy walking-stick, his face with its been deeply moved by the manner of land).
al plain It Is known ns the Sdobba,
whose mouth Is less than 20 miles
from the important Austrian port of
Trieste lying to the southeast.
The Isonzo Is the principal river of
the country and crown-land of Gorz
and Gradlsca, which have an area
about equal to that of Rhode Island.
This principality and two other
crown-lands, Istria and Trieste, consti
tute Austria's kustenland (coast
almost unearthly transparency half
turned to the lnpourlng sunshine.
"I was In the Arab quarter last
night, Colonel Destinn. A,ll-Mahomed's
brother heads a fresh rising. There
will be an attack from the north. The
Arabs in the town are arming stealth
ily, but they will only move If there
has been success outside."
Colonel Destinn nodded.
"That is interesting. If your Infor
mation Is correct, we shall have further
cause to be grateful to you, Mr. Lowe."
"It is probably one of the last serv
ices I shall be able to render, Colonel
"You Will Be Shot, Unbound, at Day
break, by Your Comrades."
Destinn. I am retiring from the
service."
"France will be the loser."
Stephen Lowe did not speak for a
moment He was gazing fixedly and
apparently indifferently at the great
map spread out on the table before
him.
"I wish to retire a rich man, Colonel
Destinn."
Destinn looked up into the keen sig
nificant eyes.
"You are very persistent Mr. Lowe,"
he said.
Stephen Lowe leaned forward; his
frail body emanated a sudden power
and the knowledge of power.
"I do not know. My offer Is not the
old offer, Colonel Destinn. It's not
money. As a French officer and a
naturalized Frenchman, you never can
offer your Invention to another na
tion." "There Is a man who will inherit It
my son."
"Tomorrow you may have no son."
Destinn made a single gesture the
instinctive, upward movement of a
man seeking to protect the face from
a sudden blow.
"My son Is In England; he Is with
his regiment."
"If you had accepted my second offer
you would know that he resigned his
commission over ft year ago. He did
so at Sower's request to save your
honor." He waited a moment, study
ing the livid Immobile features with
a pitying interest The Iron mask was
its reception. She bad not cried or
fainted. She had looked at him with
her warm brown eyes, and had given
him her hand with a quiet dignity.
"It is the will of God, doctor."
He had admired her Immensely, and
she had admired herself. "The will of
God!" It was beautiful and simple,
and it was wonderful to find that in
spite of modern skepticism all things
work out for the beBt for those who
surrender themselves to the unseen
guidance.
And now this woman was here this
woman in the paie gray aress, vnui
the brown hair and small dead-white
face, out of which the eyes burned
with a fierce consuming energy and
purpose.
Mrs. Farquhar lies stricken wltn
total paralysis," Gabrlelle Smith said,
She cannot speak to me, but I can
read her eyes. She is asking for her
son. Madame Arnaud, you have Influ
ence with Colonel Destinn. You can
set Richard Farquhar free. You can
atone." ,
"Atone!" It seemed Incredible,
ridiculous. It was tactless. Above all,
It broueht storm into her peace. ' Yet
she remained gentle very calm.
"You ask me to Intervene at a
strange moment for a strange cause,
Miss Smith," she said. "My husband
is dying."
"And the man who saved him?1
Sylvia glanced toward the curtained
doorway and laid her finger gently to
her Hds.
"Hush, you must not talk so loud.
My husband Is sleeping. And then
I am sorry I can do nothing. Should
J be Justified in trying? Your feeling
blinds you, Miss Smith. I cannot, even
for the memory of a girlhood's friend
ship, take up arms risk perhaps hu
miliation and misunderstanding for ft
.who sold his country for ft
woman."
"Mr. Preston is In Sldi-bel-Abbes,"
was the answer. "Mr. Preston knows
that Richard chose the appearance of
dishonor to save your husband your
happiness. Madame Arnaud."
Sylvia recoiled the step she had
taken. Her hands were pressed to her
face.
"If that were true" But she did
not ask a question. She knew that It
was true. It was pitiable terrible
beautiful. Her whole soul seemed to
expand beneath its beauty. There had
been no "other woman" in bis llfi
only the one Sylvia Arnaud, for whom
he had sacrificed his honor, his name,
his place. And now it was for her to
act and to use her power nobly to re
gain the ground lost on that fatal eve
ningto win back the holy place in his
life. Suddenly she held out her hands,
"Gabrlelle, forgive me!" she said
gently, and there were tears gathering
on her lone lashes. "I must have
seemed hard wicked. I did not un
derstand. I had not your love or the
faith that love gives. I saw only dis
honor and sometimes we who stand
outside the stress of life Judge very
harshly."
"But you knew him," was the stern
reproach.
"I was a child, Gabrlelle. Can't you
understand? Will you, too, Judge
harshly?"
atlon of the equally unique Reka,
whose waters disappear in the grot
toes of Sankt Kunzian, some 20 miles
southeast of the mysterious Tlmavus.
MAZATLAN IS A BUSY PORT
Rich Products of Mexico Are Shipped
From the Paclflo Coast
Metropolis.
Was Highly Productive Valley.
Before the devastation wrought by
the war, the valley of the Isonzo was
a highly productive region, agricul
ture and vine-growing being the chief
occupations of that part of the popu
lation (mainly Italian) which was not
engaged In silk-worm culture.
The leading city of the Isonzo val
ley is Gorltz (Gorz), with 30,000 In
habitants, known as the Nice of Aus
tria on account of its popularity as
a fashionable resort. Its growth co
incides with the decline of Aqullela,
now an Insignificant town of less than
8,000 people, situated to the south
west, six miles from the sea, but
which was reckoned the ninth city of
the Roman empire and a great seaport
during the closing years of the fourth
century.
It Is about 20 miles from Gorltz to
the Italian frontier. The place Is
a center of trunkllne railways to the
Italian cities of Venice In the south-
Mnzatlan, Mexico's metropolis of the
Pacific coast, reported to have been
the scene of an unprovoked attack
upon officers and men from the Amer
ican gunboat Annapolis, Is thus de
scribed in the National Geographic so
ciety's war geographic bulletin :
The north entrance to Its harbor,
marked by a lighthouse perched on the
crest of an eminence called Cerro del
Creston, making It one of the loftiest
guides to navigation In the world, Ma
zntlan is the chief entrepot for one of
the richest mining sections of the
southern republic. It not only exports
the gold and silver from its own im
mensely wealthy state of Slnnloa (esti
mated by some experts to have the
most valuable mineral deposits In
Mexico) but It also handles the ore
shipments by sea of Zacntecas and
Durango. '
The city, which has a population of
20,000, Is situated on a small peninsula
opposite the Bay of Olns Altns (High
Waves), and is surrounded by coco
nut groves. It is a six days' voyage
by steamship from here to Snn Fran
cisco, the Mexican port being 225
miles east of the southern tip of Low
er California. The distance from El
Paso, due south, to Mazntlan Is about
the same as from St. Louis to New
Orleans.
The aspect of the territory adjacent
to Mazatlan is little affected by the
prosperity of the report. The Indians
live In the same type of huts which
they have occupied since the Spanish
conquest and perhaps for centuries be
fore that. The strip of lowland along
the shore has a tropical climate, with
an abundance of rain. Beyond this
verdant margin to the East rises the
towering, thickly wooded Sierra Mndre
range, extending for hundreds of
miles to the north and south.
Among the rich products of Mex-
FROQ FAMILY HI8TORY.
"Mr. Frog had been boasting," said
Daddy, "and this was what he said :
'In the future I want to be called
Mr. Pond Frog. I don't want to 1
mixed up with Grandpa Frog, or Mr.
Bull Frog. I always want to be called
by my name. Now you all know that
it you looked up In a book a picture
of me you would find out that Pond
Frog is my name, and that is what
you must call mo
not just plain
Mr. Frog. You
don't pay ma
enough respect
Mr. Pond Frog Is
so noble as a
name!'
" 'Well said
Grandpa Frog,
'we all know you
are one of the
Pond Frog fam
ilyso why need
we say It every
time. And I've
heard that in that
book you speak
of they don't call
us anything
friendly like Mr.
or Mrs. or Grand
They simply call us
give our family
And School Began
SSW3 iff- "Za wtfttl&t
Kk ... jsBWJ.w.nu'r yMssst ' . ..WBHW T, IM.
fa .i m JrzSttcZ
: .a tug'invs.' u-xrsi
Suburbs or Coritz.
But will Sylvia plead for th
life of Richard If she learnt
that Colonel Destinn will ex
pect her to sacrifice her honor
to him for the sake of the con
demned man?
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
west and Undine In the northwest, :
and to the Austrian cities of Trieste
In the southeast and Klagenfurt in
the north. The situation of Gorltz Is
a picturesque one, greatly enhanced
by the rare pleasure gardens that
have been called Into being by the
winter guests. It is built on the left
bank of the Isonzo river. The worn
rocks of the old castle ruins of the
counts of Gorltz dominate the city
from the hillside. The custle is now
used partly as a barracks and partly
ns an arsenal. The cathedral, built
la the fourteenth century, is another
interesting monument to the city's
past
Where Theodorlc Defeated Odoacer.
The fighting which Is now occurring
on the Isonzo recalls the groat buttle
of the Isontius (Isonzo) in the fifth
century, where the Roman emperor
Odoacer met signal defeat at the
hands of Theodorlc, the Ostrogoth.
The vanquished leader was driven
back to Iinvenna, where, after a pro
tracted siege a truce was agreed upon.
During the parley Odoucor fell before
the treacherous Ostrogoth, who clove
his enemy from shoulder to flunk with
a broadsword.
One of the most Interesting natural
phenomena of the Isonzo district is
the short Tlninvus river, which emp
ties into the Gulf of Trieste five miles
from the mouth of the 'larger water
course. The Tlmavus gushes from a
mountainside, fullformed, In three
streams of sufficient volume to float
small vessels at the very source. In
Virgil's day, according to the descrip
tion in the Aeneld, the Tlmavus
rushed from the rocks In nine streams.
The river Is supposed to be a contlnu-
Ico's fertile fields, undersea caves and
riven hills which find their way to the
outside world through the Mnzatlan
gateway ore rubber, gums, dyewoods,
silver, copper, gold, lend, pearls, tor-
tolseshell, salted fish, and cublnet
woods. The city's manufacturing ac
tivities Include saw mills, cotton fac
tories and rope works.
Fourteen years ago Mnzatlan was
almost depopulated by a frightful epi
demic of bubonic plague which sur
passed In severity some of the most
terrible ravages of the "black death
In Europe during the middle ages.
According to one uuthority only 4,000
people out of a total of 18,000 -were
spared, and more than a thousand
houses were burned In an effort to
stay the march of the disease. Dur
ing the lust decade sanitary condi
tions have been improved greatly.
Strategy.
"Nora has Just dropped another
plate," said Mrs. Twohblc.
"Well, my dear," replied Mr. Twob
ble, "suppose you go Into the kitchen
and drop a hint to that effect that
she must not break any more china?"
"Evidently you don't know how to
munage Norn. If I lead her to be
lieve that we rather enjoy having her
break a plnte occasionally, I think she
will be more careful."
Can't Tell.
"Animals are so different," suld the
city boy In the couutry.
"How so?" asked the farmer.
"Well you see when the dog wags
his tall he's pleased, but when the cow
wags her tall I can't tell If she is
pleased or it's only files."
pa or Grandma.
Frogs and then
names. The only way I know that la
because I beard a little Boy say so
who was wading in our Pond not long
ago.'
Well,' said Mr. Pond Frog, 'I am
sure they'd call me Mr. Pond Frog
In the book if I asked them to. Books
are very obliging I Imagine and not
bit like Frogs.'
'But,' said Grandpa Frog, 'you're
talking a lot of nonsense about some
thing you don't know a thing about.
You've never read a book, have you?
Of course not, neither have I. And
what's more I have no desire to. It
would hurt my eyes and make them
water. Water should be In the Pond
and not in my eyes. And why should
I read in a book what I already know?
I know I'm a Frog and so are you.
What's more still, you don't know
whether books are friendly or not
They may be awful snobs we can
never be sure until we know and wa
never can know as I don't suppose any
of our family would ever care to send
their Children to a book School when
there are so many other more Impor
tant things to learn.'
'What's more Important," said Mr,
Pond Frog, 'than family history?'
'But we all can learn family his
tory from each other.'
" 'Some of us won't bother to tell.
I should think you'd know a Profes
sor when you Baw one,'
'Grandpa Frog opened his mouth
very wide with surprise. While it
was open he swallowed a very nice
bug and when he had blinked with
pleasure over that he said:
At last I see. You want to be
called Mr. Pond Frog to add dignity
to your appearance. That's quite noble
I will admit. And you want to be a
Professor In the new Pond School
down by the creek of which I am the
chief head. Urn-urn, Gr-rr-r-r, I shall
think about It. Yes, now I've thought!'
'What, what?' croaked Mr. Pond
Frog.
" 'You may be the new Professor in
our School, and you may teach Fam
ily History. From now on we'll all
call you Mr. Pond Frog, the now Pro
fessor of Family History.'
"Oh, how happy Mr. Pond Frog was,
and the next morning he was In his
place on top of a stump in the creek
at the end of the pond.
"All the little Frogs gathered
around soon after, and School began.
Of course there were other classes
and lessons for the Frogs, but Mr.
Pond Frog had a class every half hour
in Family History. He taught them
of the different kinds of Frogs, and of
all their cousins,
uncles , aunts,
and Just what!
they were famous
for. He told
them of all the
great happenings
in days gone by,
and of the won
derful things that
had been done by
their grandpas,
grandmas, and
great, great,
great, great
grandpas and
grandmas.
"The little
Frogs thought"'
Family History
was a fine study,
and they enjoyed
hearing all the Fairy stories too that
Mr. Pond Frog told them at recess.
"And when It came time for the
Summer vacation there was an ex
amination in Family History. All the
little Frogs got 'one hundred' as they
couldn't make a mistake when Mr.
Pond Frog had made it so Interest
ing for them.
"And the Frogs decided it had been
a great success and were very grate
ful to Mr. Pond Frog for suggesting
It and to Grandpa Frog for allowing
It. As for Mr. Fond Frog he was
the happiest Frog you can imagine
and croaked and croaked with joy for
Grandpa Frog had asked him to teach.
Family History In the School again
In the fall!"
Want to Be
Called Mr. Pond
Frog.