Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1897-06-10
OF FATE;
BY LOUIS cOUPERUS.
TRANSLATED FROM THE DUTCH. =
By LOUIS COUPERUS.
TRANSLATED FROM THE DUTCH.


destroyed my whole life's JOY, and that
you are a low ~scoundrel, who bribed a
servant to stop my letters. out of gross,
vile, unfathomable seifishness. Bribed
him? Tell me, rascal, wretch. coward
-bribed him, With what, in Heavens
name? Tell me with what you bribed
him."
xvi th-with-" but Van Maeren
hesltated in abject fear, for Westhoye
had collared him by the waistcOat as
he grovelled on the floor, and shook
him again and again.
by thunder, you villain. you bribed
him with my m~oney-with my money!
Tell me-speak. or I'll kick it out of
your
Yes
with my money!
Yes, yes, yes" Frank flung him
down with a yell OF contempt, OF
loathing of such a thing as he.
But Van Maeren was experiencing
a reaction from his reimbursement.
The world was so stupid, men We're
stupid. Exs.ak was stupid. He did not
understand that a man should be such
as he, BERTHE, was; he could not under
stand; he beloved out. in his brutal
IaSC, tAhC III Win ptdSt, ithou
brains or sense. He. himself, had
brains; happier was he who had none;
he enyied Frank his lack OF them.
He sprang up with one leap,
tYes, If you will have it. Yes, yes,
yes" he Missed it hard. IF you don't
understand, if you are too idiotic to
take 1t in-Yes. / say. Yes, yes. yes. i
bribed him with your money, that you
.xr on bind nc - live ~. fhn xynyx-
last day we were leaving London. You
gave me a hundred pounds to pay Will
iam!-do you remember? To pay Will
lam. You do not understand? Well
you don't understand You are a stu
pid brute, without brains. Ay. and L
envy you for having none. There was
a time when / had none; and do you
know how | came by them? Why,
through you. There was a time when
I toiled and worked. and never thought
and never cared. l ate all l earned,
aud when / earned nothing l went hun
CRY. And vas happy! 1t was you
you who fed me on dainties, and gave
me wine to drink; and 1t was you who
clothed me, so that l had not 10 work.
but had nothing to do but TO think.
think, in my contemplate idleness, all
udy iOnE. <iIu HOW Il Willy nirlf 4
could crack my skull open and throw
my brains into your face for having
made me what / am, so finikin and full
of ideas. You don't understand?
Then perhaps you vii mot understand
that ut this moment feel no gratitude
for you for all that you have done for
me-that l hate you for ii all. that |
despise you, and that you have made
my life more infinitely wretched than
/ have made yous! Do you under
stand that much, at any rate?
That l despise you and hate You. hate
you. hate your
He had entrenched himself behind a
table, sputtering out this yoliey of
words in a par0xysm of nervous excite
ment: he felt as though every fiber of
his frame was ready to crack like an
overstrained cord. He had got behind
the t.ible because West'love was stand
ing before him, ut the other side row;
his eyes starllngly white and bloNlsnot
in his purple face ;his nostrils diiated:
his shoulders up. his fists c~lenchei,
ready, as ii seemed. to spring upon
him. Westhove was waiting. rs it APP
peared, till Van Maeren had spit on i'll
his face all the foul words he could
find.
"Yes. I hate you BERTHE repeated.
Il hate you." He could find nothing
else to say.
Then Frank let himself go With a
below like a wild beast, a sound that
had nothing human In 1t. he sprang
over the table. which title don it's side,
and came down with all the weight OF
his impetus on BERTHE, who fell under
him like n reed. He seized his foe by
the throat. dragged him over the legs
OF the table. into the middle of the
room. dropped him with a crack on the
floor. and fell upon him with his bony.
square knee on Berries chest, and his
left hand holding his neck like a wise.
And n hard, dry feeling. like n thirst
for sheer brutality. rose TO Westlfoye's
throat: with a dreadful smile on his
lips he swallowed two or three times.
fiendishly glad that he had him in his
power, In the clutch of his left hand.
under his knee. And he doubled his
right fist and raised 1t like a hammer.
with a tigerish roar.
There. there, there he growled:
and each time a sledgc-hammer blow
fell on BERTHE. There, there, there
VII niS iiOSt. liS trtSt HIS hiOutu. His
forehead-and the blows resounded
DULY on his skull, as il on metal. A
red mist clouded Westhoye's sight: ev-
erythlng was red-purplc. scarlet. YER
million. A blood-stained medley cir
cled round him like whirling wheels.
and through that crimson halo a dis
torted face grinned at him under the
pounding Of his fist. The corners OF
the room swan in red. rs if they were
full of tangible red terror, whirling.
whirling around him-a purple dizzi-
ness, a scarlet madiiess, a nightmare.
bathed in blood; and his blows
fell fast and steadily--"there, there.
there" and his left hand closed tightly
on the throat below that faee-
The door flew open. and she. Eva.
rushed up to them through the red
mist, parting it, dlspelling it with the
swift actually of her appearance.
Frank Frank" she screamed.
"Stop, | entreat yon. Stop. You are
numbering hint"
He let his arm drop and looked at
her as in a dream. She tried to drag
him back, to get him away from the
battered body, to which he chung In his
fury like a vampire.