, 1891-11-14

A pen tCds put In his hand, IND he dGiLcd
his signature to each document.
"You mustn't expect from me any at
tempt to return you an equivalent for
your hospitality" remarked Sallie, as
she gracefully began the brewing of the
tea. 81 haven't the material nor the
ingenuity. There is not so much as an
ASSASSIN on the premises, not 30 speak of
magic mirrors and oriental enchanters,
and beautiful specters. By the way, that
was a wonderfully clever trick. How
was it donel"
you must ask Garcia" replied the
count, quietly, as one who had made up
his mind to endure up to a certain point,
and then no more.
do you think Garcia would tell me
any secret of yours?' said Sallie. She
gave the question a flavor of arch sur
prise that sent the count on a swift jour
ney of expectation. After all. why had
Garcia left himI He began to surmise a
possible reason, but he said only, tIhave
always found him a useful man. OF
course l NOW he has his weaknesses"
"Yes; 30 have we all" she replied.
Even the Count de Lisle has weakness
es. And yet, it seems to me, were l in
YOU place l would have none. No mar
ever had a greater opportunity than you.
If you stood for yourself alone, what
could you not do? No one could attack
you. You could buy friends, police,
juries, judges and legislatures, You
could make laws and elect rulers. You
could yourself be the real ruler of this
country and hold the balance of power
in the world. With genius and purpose
ool a,,nA pyaa1tl n. r,,,r, oil thut .,,..Il
not be impossible. But, then, You must
make sacrifices. You must be solitary.
If you give your confidence to n friend
or your heart to a You are vul-
nerable and can be overthrow. When
1 first learned who and what you were !
feared you. Here is a man, l said to
myself, who, from having a rope around
his neck, has risen 10 power incalcu-
liable. The world has lone its worst to
him; he will have his revenge upon the
world. The iron has entered into his
soul, and now his soul will be like iron.
He must be obeyed, for he can enforce
obedience. But when | heard" contin-
ued Sallie, suddenly changing from this
serious vein to a light and bantering
tone, chat the Count de Lisle was in
love and about to be married | did not
fear him so much. To havc attempted
to overthrow you by questioning the
means that had obtained you your wealth
would ave been a desperate enterprise.
Even robbers and murderers, If they be
bIrong ana reSoIuUe enough, need rear
nothing. But to have given your heart
to a girl-that was another matteri You
could be reached through her."
'And you? Are you impregnable?"
asked he.
"Only in so far that if l saw my way
to accomplish what 1 supremacy desire /
would let nothing deter me. l was an
innocent little girl once, but aver then i
had strong desires, and without any OPP
p~ortunity to carry them out. | made
some serious mistakes, and suffered from
them, but l had had my way, and l
found that most failures in this world
are due to mot having been INSCRIPTIONS
enough. 1t needs courage to begin, but
when you discover what it is to be with
out scruples you wonder why anybody
is controlled by them. They are the
great Shareholders of the human race.
But was going to say that l should be
willing to pc in your hands any evil
dence again myself that you might re-
quire for rLy destruction rather than
forego the purpose l have in view"
What is your purpose
1.-THE poets say that love is lord of all,
you know. l have had my doubts of
that, and l want you to settle them.
You think you love Olympia Raven.
How much would you be willing to sac
riice to save her lifey'
That is a hypothetical question. /
could answer it only after l was made
certain that her life was in danger"
whether she lives or dies depends
upon the result of this interview. She
is in my power-as the people in melo.
drama say. What becomes of her de,
ponds on my will"
The count, who had been sitting with
his elbows on his knees and his eyes low
cred, looked up, and his glance and Sal
lies met. What she saw in his mint
sent a quick flush to her face. For a mo
ment she held her breath. No soldier il
battle was ever nearer death thar Salli
then. But she had a r~esolute heart. =