Over the door appeared a weather-worn that read: "JULES GROGRANDE, BAKER." In one of the windows, painted upon a of cardboard, was another sign: "Home-made Bread by the Best Modern Machinery." There was a third in the window the doorway, and this was marked upon a of wrapping-paper, and said: "Fresh Gingerbread Every Day."
When you opened the door, the top of it a from the and it merrily. Hearing the sound, Madame Leontine Grogrande would come from her little room of the shop and the and ask you what you would like to purchase.
Madame Leontine—or Madame Tina, as the children called her—was and fat; and she had a round, that was good to look upon. She moved slowly, for the her more or less; but no one if Madame was a slow in up her parcels. For surely no or in all the town were so or fresh as those she sold, and she had a way of the biggest to the smallest girls and boys who came into her shop, that proved she was of children and had a heart.
People loved to come to the Grogrande Bakery. When one opened the door an of newly and the nostrils; and, if you were not when you entered, you were sure to so when you and the and and and with which the and show-cases were stocked. There were of French candies, too; and all the were fresh and the was well and did a business.
The no one saw Monsieur Jules in the shop was his time was always in the in the rear—a long, low room with and tables with and and (which the used for mixing and stirring) and long and and baking-powders and sweet-smelling that his taste so sweet and agreeable.
AN ARAB DASHED INTO THE ROOM.
The bake-room was three times as big as the shop; but Monsieur Jules needed all the space in the of the great of by his patrons, and he himself on the that his were fresh-made each day. In order to have the and at time he was to up at three o'clock every morning, and so he to about sundown.
On a the door of the shop opened so that the little a jingling.
An Arab into the room, stopped short, looked around with a air, and then away again and the door after him.
Madame looked surprised, but said nothing. She the Arab to be a Ali Dubh, in the neighborhood, who was to purchase a from her every morning. Perhaps he had his money, Madame thought.
When the was over he entered again, as if were at his heels. In the center of the room he paused, his with palms, and said in a voice:
"They're after me!"
Next moment he away at full speed, to close the door; so Madame came from the and did it herself. She a moment to at the of Ali Dubh up the street. Then he the of an and from view.
Then he the of an
alley and from view.
Things did not Madame easily; but the Arab's in her a mild curiosity, and while she looking through the of the door, and what had the man, she saw two past her shop with a motion and in the same direction Ali Dubh had taken.
They were also Arabs, without a doubt; for although their were in long cloaks, the they and the of their dark, them children of the desert.
When they came to the where Ali Dubh had disappeared, the two were joined by a third, who up to them with the sly, cat-like Madame had noted, and to with them. Afterward one to the east, a second up the street, and the third into the alley.
"Yes," Madame, "they are after Ali Dubh, sure enough. But if they move so slowly they are not likely to catch the at all."
Now, Madame very little of her customer; for although he a daily visit to the for a and a cakes, he was of a disposition, and stopped for a or a of gossip. It was his to make his and then away.
Therefore his upon this day were remarkable, and the good lady was puzzled how to them.
She sat late in the shop that evening, a oil lamp that in the center of the room. For her was more painful than usual, and she to go to and Monsieur Jules with her moanings. The good man was peacefully upstairs—she his where she sat—and it was a to him when he must so early.
So she sat in her little room at the end of the counter, trying to by the light of a candle, and and in her chair with a motion.
Suddenly the little and a of air entered the shop, sending the of and about the room in a most manner. Then the door closed, and Madame her and to the new-comer.
To her astonishment, it proved to be Ali Dubh. His were flushed, and his black over the shop they full upon the Madame's face.
"Good!" he exclaimed, "you are alone."
"It is too late for trade. I am going to presently," said Madame.
"I am in great trouble, and you must help me," returned the Arab, hastily. "Lock your door and come with me into your little room, so that no one can see us through the windows."
Madame hesitated. The was unusual, and she nothing of the Arab's history. But she that if the man or other she Monsieur Jules with a cry. Also, her had been by Ali Dubh's the day.
While she the over the Arab himself locked the door and into the little room, where Madame joined him a moment later.
"How can I help you?" she asked, up her again.
"Listen!" said the Arab. "I must tell you all. You must know the truth!" He put his hand in a pocket of his and out a small flask. It was no than two and was of pure gold, upon which had been engraved.
"This," said the Arab, in a low, voice, "is the Great Elixir!"
"What that mean?" asked Madame, at the doubtfully.
"The Great Elixir? Ah, it is the Essence of Vitality, the Water of Life—the Greatest Thing in all the World!"
"I don't understand," said Madame.
I must tell you all.
"Not understand? Why, a of the liquid which this Golden Flask contains, if upon your tongue, would send new life through your veins. It would give you power, strength, than itself! You do anything—accomplish wonders—perform miracles—if you but this liquid!"
"How odd!" Madame, to bewildered. And then she asked: "Where did you it?"
"Ah! that is the story. That is what you must know," answered Ali Dubh. "It is centuries old, the Great Elixir. There is no more of it in all the world. The of this came into the of the Ancestor of the Chief of my Tribe—whom we call a Shiek—and has been from father to son as an more than diamonds. The Chief of my Tribe, its last owner, the always in his breast. But one day, when he and I were together, a the Shiek to his death, and with his last he gave the Great Elixir into my keeping. The Shiek had no son, and the was mine. But many other Arab Shieks for the and to it. So I and over the world. I came here, I was safe from pursuit. But they have me!"
"All the way from Arabia?" asked Madame.
"Yes. To-day I saw them. They know my lodgings. They are near, and I know they plot to kill me and secure the Great Elixir. But for a time I have them. I came here unseen. You must help me. You must take of the Great Elixir and keep it safely for me."
"Nonsense!" Madame, at last.
"Do not say that, I of you," the Arab. "You are honest—I know you are! And they will you of having the Golden Flask."
"Perhaps not," said Madame, "and then, again, they may. My is to the shop, and I am not going to myself killed by a of just to you, Monsieur Ali Dubh! Take your Great Elixir to some one else. I don't want it."
For a minute the Arab in despair. Then his brightened.
"You from rheumatism, do you not?" he asked.
"Yes, it's to-night," she replied.
"Then I will it! I will your pains if you will keep my Elixir in until I come to it."
Madame hesitated, for just then she had a very indeed.
"You think you can my pains?" she asked.
"I know it!" the Arab. He put his hand in a pocket and out another flask—a to the one the Great Elixir; only this was of solid of gold.
"This flask," said Ali Dubh, "contains a positive for rheumatism. It will not fail. It has failed. Take it and use it to make well. Five in a bowl of water are enough. Bathe well the that ache, and all pain will be gone forever. Accept it, Madame, and keep for me the other in safe until my have gone away."
Madame was a practical woman, and it an easy thing to do as the Arab desired. If she from those pains it would be well while to a little trouble and by for Ali Dubh's other and more flask.
"Very well," said she. "I agree."
The Arab's with joy.
"Good," he cried; "I am saved! Guard well my flask—the one of gold. Show it to no one—not to your good husband. Remember that diamonds and not the Great Elixir—the Essence of Vitality. As for the flask, I give it to you freely. Its will all your ailments. And now, good night, and may Allah you!"
Swiftly he from the room, the door and into the darkness. And Madame sat looking at the flasks.
And Madame sat looking at the flasks.