The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-08-02

she looked at him with cool, almost
naughty, surprise.
"0ne must pay price for all diver.
sions," said she, care]essly, "and some
times it is heavier than one anticipates
Ihope we shall have pleasant voyage
though the season is rather against U.s.
Have you ever crossed the ocean before
in November?'
After a few more remarks, they parted
she TO .rejoih her party, he to 60 and
endeaTor to control the tumult of his
thoughts alone with q cigar.
To do so was not easy. One glance
from those wonderful eyas5 one tone Of
that magical voice, had been enough to
shatter all his fancied victory. What
had months of combat ayailed? He
asked the question in sort of despair.
and the answer was-less than nothing
The fascination which controlled him
was deeper now than when he left Sans.
Souci; the passion that he vainly i'm:
iagined he had crushed was strong enough
to defy his utmost efforts to subdue it
A sense of impotence-of being ever
mastered by Fate, relentless as that Of
Greek tragedy-began to possess him
He had thought that the chapter in his
life in which Agatha Loring's name was
written was closed, forever, and 10 here
on the very ship which was to have borne
him from even the memory of his infatu-
alton he found her: What part, in his
life, and perhaps inAB ABertie'sS life, was she
destined yet to play?
"One way or another she will come be-
tween us and separate u.s." he said to
himself. "Of that I have felt an instinct
from the first. Well, it is useless to
struggle against the inevitable. If the
gods force him, who can shun his fate p"
:, Ifhe. could not shun his fate, he found,
however, that it was easy enough-easier,
indeed, than he liked-to shun Miss
iEoring. Unless he sought her attention
directly, she never seemed conscious OF
his presence. Here, as elsewhere, She
had court of cavaliers around her, and
it was with q very seFe, jealous feeling
that he watched sheE graceful, subtitle
coquetry-the long promenade with one,
the quiet Irritation with another, the
seductive charm with all. Plainly
Agatha Loring was agatha Loripg still,
and had not lost a single, attribute of her
distinctive character. The realization of
this might have cured Thurston, butt
did not do so. He felt sure that he;had
been worse than a fool ever to dream
that she had given him deeper thought
than she gave any other victim other
caprice; but the assurance was by no
means consoing. In fact, he had reach
ed that stage of passion when reason for
sakes man, and he is ready to act with
a recklessness to which he often looks
back as veritable madness.
Several days passed, and the steamer
was in mid-ocean, before there came any
change in the situation. Then, toward
sunset. one evening, Thurstoa, ,-by-a,rare
chance, found Agatha on deck alone.
EShe was sleaning !over the bulwark,
the sun sink. ins the: vast ex-
panse of heaving sea-his last rays
gliding the tossing waves with red glory
and, as Thurston drew near, he saw
her face in profile before she observed
his approach. Seeing it thus, he was
struck by its expression of strangely
wistfuf and almostSbitter sadness-an ex-
preston so new to his knowledge of it,
that he hesitated for an instant before
advancing to:her side.
IT hope do not disturb you, Miss
Loring," he said, "but your attention is
usually so much engrossed that / have
seen very little of you; therefore you
must pardon me if 1 grasp an opportunity
ike the present" /
"Why should you grasp it?" she asked,
turning toward him. "What is there
hat you and l can say to each other,
Colonel Thurston? supposed that you
held aloof from me because you were too
honest to talk society platitudes to a
woman whom you have never forgiven,
never learned to respect. Pray leave me
q that opinidI toshe last" SMs 4ssS
sssI cannot leave yorsin an utterlysmis-
aiken opinion" he said. "It is no such
reason as tina: which has made me hold
sloof from you ;. it is because I distrust
nyAownI strength ofSmind and purpose.
See here, Miss Loring, if you care for one
more triumph will give it to you-the
,nly thing on earth | can give you. Do
you remember that night in the Devils
Gorge, when 1 told you that you had
ruined Bertie's life, and that you would
ruin mine if / gave you the chance?
Well, you .have, ruined it. Since parted
With you I have never known day,
hardly an hour, of peace. Do not sup
oose"-as her lips partly unclosed-"that
|. blame you for this. I blame nothing
Ave sS' smyysownl folly. y But The factremains
Il have fingered in America because I
dreaded to go and meet BERTHE with this
madness upon me. I fought against the
overwhelming desire to see you again, as
# that desire had been personal enemy:
forced myself to enter this ship without
having gratifed it,-and almost the first
face i metswas yonrs!"E { SM gEgsg
She looked up at him, and something
in her appealing eyes recalled To his
the unforgotten expression with
which those eyes met his when they
parted at Sans-Souci.
:, .It was not my.fault,Y she said. E"How
could + know?s 1s45 .t9d z3l'tl5
~ "sYour fault =. he. repeated. :'Have ]
implied such a thing q DO iiotithink me
more of brute than I am. Ten minutes
ago I never dreamed that I should talk
10 you like this-but you will pardon me,
The consciousness of power is always
sweet to "a woman, and in all your career
Of conquest you have never tested-you
never can test-that power more thor
oughly than you have tested it with me-"
I, She was silent; her face bent down
ward, so that he could not see it, her
shawl closer around her slender figure,
The sun was gone, and twilight began to
fall over the wide waste of tossing waters,
when she spoke: 2aa
"Will you believe me if say am sur
prised and-sorry? I never dreamed of
testing my powers on you; I never i'm.
agined for a moment that I could succeed