Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-02-22
Out Of the Jaws Of Death.
BY FRANK BARRETT.



y cheerful outlook in the future only proved |
how persistently memories of the past
haunted linn, how tedious the present mo- |
ment was. Now you have changed all that"
"In'
eyes YOU were more to him than sight |
The loss of you was the real grief, not the
loss Of his eyes. That he looked upon al
most as foreseen calamty-'the chance of
war; AS he says. He has always main
tanned that you would come back The
next room is yours. II was furnished eX-
pressly for YOU, and all that belonged to
You in Lambeth is i'll there. Nothing vet
from my little friend;' he has asked some
times after | have read his letters to him
You have always been present here to him.
| felt that. 1t hurt me sometimes to feel
that ! could never be so much to him as
YOU were. I am sure that my presence ir-
ritated him sometimes and that he was
glad to be left alone In those moments he
was thinking of you. Something in my
manner compared unfavorablv with his
recollection of you. can afford to tell you
all this now, dear. At one time it wounded
my pride to suspect it, and would not have
confessed the fact to myself, but it gives me
Joy to tell you all now
She left me as Mere Lucas tapped at the
door and humbly begged to speak to her
dear mademoiselle. ! wished / could es-
cape also. thought the poor old woman
would never be comfortcd or cease to beat
her ample breast and call herself hard
names.
ITO think of the indignities, the afTronts,
the insults | offered you, my dor, my most
respected mademoiselle! What a brute
was, what an animal, what an imbeciel TO
~. ia tio IN,
this house: 60 take you into my own room
when ought to have led you into the best
drawing room to permit myself to eat at
the same table with you, and to offer you
the little wine and the remains of food that
are only good enough for a fool and II dolt
such as | am-though certainly they are
bette than deserve. And to think that
YOU had behaved unworthily at the very
| time when you were risking your life to
rave my dear master. and, what is more, to
! believe i'll Of that dear NJ. Gordon, who
tould do no wrong to save his life, God
| bless him--a, droll as ever and as kind!
| But am richly punished for it, look you,
! Tor broke three things since lunch and let
my milk boil over for the first time in my
life. Nh, mon Dicu, that it should come
to this AT my age
Happily the fear of some further Gull
nary disaster put an end to her sobs and
self reproaches. but for n long while after
! never passed her without hearing her adj
dress herself as a camel, II pig or some
other object of contempt.
George Gordon. going to the window
| after dinner, exclaimed:
"A glorious night. 10y Jovel How would
it he if we went out for half an hour2'
Very agreeable, | should say" replied
Taras
| The idea was equally acceptable to Jul
dith and me, and when we had pu: on our
| wraps we Joined Gordon ard Taras in the
garden. Chatting and laughing we strolled
down the broad walk in Il row, but passing
through the gate Taras and Judith took
the lead, and in that order we salntered
along the Working road, Judith, ! believe
intending to take the bypath to her favor
tie scat in the wood.
At the angle of the road Gordon stopped
to relight his pipe
This is the old box said he, scratchin.
a Vesta. "Do you remember that day
when we found there were only two
matches left"
made 10 reply, for looking down the
ROAD I saw 1aras and Judith, who We're
dozen yards or so in advance, suddenly
stop.
Bother the wnd!' exclaimed Gordon
throwing away the dead vesta and takins
out another.
But he r@lsed in the act of striking it
for we both heard well known voice say
ing:
"Taras-.Judith! Why. this is a surpris,
for me, and suppose my coming is TO
you? thought might steal a few hour
to satisfy my anxiety"
1t was Kayanagh. His voice bad dropped
from tone of cheerful astonshment t,
!, uneasy perpleXity, and he added
HAS anything happcned?'
I Come oI,N muttered Gordon, catchin!
my land in his, ''we'll show the villain
: what has happencd.' And he shook tina
fine new stick of his.
! | heard Taras speaking in terrible ton
as we hurried out, but | could not catch hi
words. Then we came up and stood befor
! Kavanagh, near enough for him to distin
guish our faces in the pale starlight
> 81 understand now" he said, with force,
compoSure. You have come back
Yes, come back to call you to account,
u thundered Goreon. "What have you t
= say for yourself, you COMPOUNDED vllain?
= Nothing, if you take that tone" Kava
u nagh replied, tapping the palm of his lcf
-, hand lightly with TIE cane he held IN hi
right. when you can listen to reason,
, shall he able to justify every act that ma
. seem inscrutablc to you now"
\ You'll have plenty Of scope for your il
penuity in that way when you are in til
. dock. The lawyers will fight YOU there
l. here ycu have to settle matters with me.
There was no installing what he mean
II as he threw off his Inverness.
. Take this warning" said Kavanagl
closing his left hand tightly on his can
g and stepping back pace. "If you attemr
=, to offer violence, the result may be fatal
to you. | am not unprepared 10 protec
u myself
II As he spoke he gave the head of his can
atwist, whipped out the rapier to which
u was handle, and throwing aside the site
- placed himself in an attitude of defence.
J. With a cry of terror Judith ATTEMPTED
throw herself between Gordon and Ka,
L anagh, but Taras, who had caught ii
sound of the steel forcbly restrained her.
u For my own part, could neither mo,
u nor utter n sound The long, thin swor
u was scarcely visible in the dim light.