Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-02-24

Seek not to detain me. Leander."
she said for goddess as l am. I am
dropping under this persistent obstin-
acy. Somewhere beyond this murky
labyrinth it may be that l shall find n
shrine where | am yet honored. l viii
go forth and never rest till l have found
1t and my troubled spirits are revived
by the incense for which l have Ian
gulshed so long. l am weary of abas-
ing myself to a contemptuous mortal
nor will l longer endure such indigni-
ty. Stand back and open the gates
for me! Why do you not obey?"
He knew now that to attempt force
would be useless, and yet if she left
MN this time he must abandon all that
life held for him and fly to distant parts
from the burglars vengeance-or re-
main to meet too probable doom!
He fell on his knees before her. "Oh,
Lady Venus" he entreated, don't leave
me! 1 beg and implore you not to. If
you do YOU will kill me! l give YOU
my honest word you will
The statues face seemed irradiated
by sudden JOY; she paused, and glanc-
ed down with an approving smile upon
the kneeling figure at her feet.
why did you not kneel to me be-
fore?" she said.
Because l never thought of it," said
the hairdresser honestly: but III stay
on my knees for hours, if only you will
not go!'
But what has made you thus eager.
thus humble?' she said, half in wonder
and half in suspicion. Can it be that
the spark l have sought to kindle in
your breast is growing to a flame at
last? Leander, can this thing Beg
He saw that she was gratitied, that
she desired to be assured that this was
indeed so.
L shouldn't be surprised if something
like that was going on inside of me-" he
said encouragingly.
Answer me more frankly" she said
DO you wish me to remain with Won
because you have learned to love my
presence?'
1t was very embarrassing position
for him. All depended upon his CON
vincing the goddess of his dawning
love, and yet, for the life Of him. he
could not force out the requisite tender
ness; his imagination was unequal to
the task.
Another and more creditable feel
ing helped to tie his tongue-a sense of
shame at employing such a subterfuge
in order to betray the goddess into the
laWless hands of these house breakerS
However, She must be induced to stay
by some means.
''Well,' he said sheepishly, ',you do
not give me a chance to love YOU, #
you so wandering out every evening, do
your
She gave allow cry of triumph. 1T
has conner She exclaimed. What are
clouds of incense, flowers and homage
to this? Be of good heart, l will stay,
Leander. Fear not, but speak the pas
sion which consumes you
He became alarmed, He was anxious
not to commit himself, and yet employ
the time until the burglars might be OK
pected.
'"The fact isl he confessed. lit hasn't
gone so far as that yet-its beginning;
all it wants is time, you know; time,
aud being let alone"
"Au Time will be before us, when
once your lips have pronounced the
words of surrender, and our spirits are
transported together to the enchanted
ISLE"
You talk about me going over to
this isle-this Cyprus" he said; but
it is long journey and | can't afford
it. How you come and go l don't know,
but 1 have not been brought UP to it
myself. / can't flash across like a tele
gram!'
Trust all to me-" she said; lis not
your love strong enough for that?''
Not quite yet" he answered.; its
coming on. Only, you see, it's Il serious
step to take and l naturally wish to
feel my way, / declare, the more / gaze
upon the-the elegant form and figure
which I see before me the stronger and
the more irresistible comes over me q
burning desire to think the whole thing
carefully over. And if you only allowed
me little longer to gaze Owe no time
to myself except in the evenings ! do
not think it would be long before this
affair reached a happy termination
don't indeedr'
"GaZe then" she said, smiling; gaze
to your souls content
II mean no offense," he represented,
having felt his way to stroke of SUI
preme cunning, but when / feel there
is q goddess inside Of this statue I do
not know how it is exactly, but it puts
me off. I can't fix my thoughts; the
the passion don't ferment as it ought.
If, supposing now, you was to with
draw yourself and leave me the statue?
l could gaze on it and think of thee,
and Cyprus, and all the rest of it, more
comfortable, SO to speak, than what ]
can when you are animating Of it, and
making me that nervous words can't
describe it!''
He hardly dared to hope that so lame
and transparent a device would succeed
with her; but, as he had previously
found, there was certain spice Of
credulity and simplicity in her nature,
which made it possible to impose up
on her occasionally.
1T may be so,' she said. ] overaWe
thee, perchance"'
Every much So" said he promptly.
'sYnu don't intend it I know; but it's a
fact"
Il will leave you to mediate upon
the charms so family Swallowed in this
image, remembering that whatever of
ovelineSS you find herein will be multi |