The Republican., 1891-11-06

| ner TO escape. And since no one was to
know on what errand he had gone, the
chances were against his fate being dis
covered.
Nevertheless, after weighing all con-
siderations, he resolved to 90. 1t was a
chance, and the only one that had Of
/ fered itself. Were he to neglect it he
might repent it forever. The only pre-
caution he took was to place revolver
in his pocket, and at twelve o'clock the
next day he rang the bell at Sallie
Matchin's door.
Sallie, of course, was far too clever to
think Of attempting to influence her Wis
itor by accentuating the seductiveness
of her beauty. She had already expert
enced the i'll success of such an effort,
and even had it been otherwise man
in an agony about one woman is not in
humor to be attracted by ;nother, apart
from the question of previous enmity.
But Sallie enjoyed her beauty on her
own account, and took pleasure in adorn-
ing it. So the tiger seems to feel Il pride
| in her glossy stripes and the coral snake
| in its gaudy scales. This woman had
never felt SO sweet Il satisfaction with
herself and her prospect us when she
! bade her visitor welcome that day; and
| she looked as she felt. At the first
! glance there seemed 10 cna.Iatc from
her III" pure bloom and freshness
of May itself; but as one looked
more closely he became conscious of
something behind this innocent and
baliny aspect which was as poisonous
and cruel as sin. The rich, glowing
color, the queenly grace, the dark, daunt-
less eyes, the smiling, curving lip, the
sparkle Of Jewel here and there, and
certain oriental luXuriousness of cos
tune and GrmeauOr, all contributed 10
rendd' her Il splendid, presidential Great
ure, such rs the y, omen Of medieval Italy
might have been, OF Cleopatra. There
she stood, like IL queen i'll her Kingdoms;
and ahe greeted the count with Il smile
of pleasure 50 bright and spontaneous
that, had he been in a mood to speculate
about it, he might have imagined she
was glad to see him for his own sake.
81 am heartily glad to see you, Count
de Lisle, she said. Il thought it even
chances that you did not come You
evidently have courage. Shall l clap
my hands and let the assassins spring
forth upon your She actually did clap
her hands as she spoke, and at the signal
the curtains in doorway at the upper
part of the room parted, and in came
not band of assassins, but-a pretty
French maid-in waiting, with the Rus
sian Samovar on tray. Sallie watched
her guest under her eyelashes, but he
did not even turn his head to see who
entered. He was turned to sterner is
sues than this, and Sallie smiled again.
II am here on business" he said, seat
ing himself in the chair she indicated,
''and | must request you to conduct this
interview on business basis. You say
you have something to sell that l want
to buy. If you prove that you have it
you can name your price"
ooh, my dear count, you forget that l
am woman, with all woman foibles
and frailties," she exclaimed "Women
cannot move in straight lines, like bull
lets; they must undulate, like snakes.
Besides, l want to feel that am hu-
man being dealing with another human
being, not one part Of an abstract COM
mercial transaction. You must remem-
Der that this is one of the most interest
ing moments of my life. You cannot
expect me to let it pass by in so frigid
manner. must get what meat there is
out of it; or, if you cannot spare the time
and patience, you can always get up and
go away. But l give you fair warning
that will not tell you what you want
to know until I have told you every
thing want you to hear"
"Perhaps, you had better give me
some assurance, in the first place, that
you can tell me what want to know"
Sallie hesitated moment, and her
hand moved toward box on the table.
But she withdrew it and said: 'No,
will not do even that. You think me
unreasonable, of course, but l can't help
it; I must conduct this affair in my own
way or not at all"
This whimsical pretense of feminine
fussiness in the face of situation so grim
and tragic had a certain informal humor
about it that almost made the count
laugh. 1t was as if she were to protest
that it would quite make her head ache
to murder a man with a carving knife;
an Italian poinard of the Fifteenth cent
ury was the only instrument she could
think of operating with.
$50 on, then," he said. "There is a
limit, but 1 hope, on all accounts, you
wont transcend it. Recollect that I,
too, am desperate!'
"Come, that is bond of sympathy at
any rate" exclaimed Sallie, in musical
warble. "Now we chat together cosily!"
CHAPTER XVIII.
OVER CUP OF TEA.