Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-10-28
CHAPTER VII.

Z lHt ping ICfCA tACA N7s%4Nf - - -
| youthful and excitable temperame
and partly by the encouraging words y.
Mark Gerard that same afternoon.
| Upon his own confession he had antici-
pated some such explosions; and l was
| not the man to balll his fancy.
81 thought" my companion faltered,
"that you were in love with another
woman-the goddess?"
"You are the goddess" 1 said, fervent-
ly. "And 1 began to worship at your
shrine the very moment we met"
"Oh!"
"You seem surprised. If you had
fallen in love with me, Nancy, that
! would indeed have been surprising; but
/ that 1 should fall in love with you is
the most natural thing in the world"
''You must fall out of it again." she
answered, gravely.
''Neverl'
''Mr. Livingston, 1 say you must.
Please don't be ridiculous"
'I can't help it," I replied. you
would make a craven image love
sick"
"And we were such good friends" :"
she murmured.
81 don't want to press you" l con-
| tinued.
81 should hope not" she returned,
| her absurd sense of the ludicrous up
| permost, as usual. "Afr. Livingston, I'll
| try and forget this-this indiscretion.
I've no love to give you. It's better TO
| be frank, isn't it? Don't frown, and
don't sull. You are such a nice boy"
"Boy!" 1 CALCULATED. Il am &c. Do
| you know that Valerus Corvus was con-
| sui at %? Boy, indeed"
"You provoke me, Mr.. Livingston.
Let's suppose for an instant that /
could return this love of yours; are
| you in a position to support wife?"
| ''I swear I could support a dozen
upon the terms you mention. Your love
would spur me to Titanic efforts"
She laughed outright. And lost my
| temper.
eff you look at this from a dollars
and cents point of view, Miss Gerard, /
have nothing more to say"
''That is spoken like a man." she
said, mockingly. Truly, the fend Of
mischief possessed her.
Nancy I cried, cut to the quick by
her scornful words, "why are you so
cruel? Is mans love so small thing
that you can afford to fling it aside?''
Her mood suddenly changed, and,
hating, she confronted me with flash
ing eyes.
For your sake" she said, with dig
nifty, 81 made light of your love. We
l;,-;,,or IN, ha n
house, meeting a dozen times day.
did my best to patch up the woof of our
friendship, but you have chosen to
burst the stitches. 1 tried to spare you,
and man of tact would have appreci-
ated my effort. / have no love to give
you, Mr.. Livingston, because-because
my life is already pledged to another.
1 pity you from the bottom of my heart.
Good night"
She walked away, leaving me abashed
and speechless.
"Hugo," murmured, softly, you are
fool"
Having registered myself among the
vast majority of my fellows, / trudged
moodily towards the island. My
thoughts followed Nancy, but my foot
steps pointed in the opposite direction
"a fact which furnished me with meat
for reflection. Was / destined to love
this fair woman and leave her? Nor
ally and intellectually Nancy had be-
come the magnet which swayed my fac
ulties; what if my wretched body were
constrained to bear me henceforwara
| from-not to-her?
Chewing this bitter cud, / rapidly ap-
preached the island. Already 1 had
come to the margin of the lake. En-
| circled with tules and bulrushes, it
| cleaned cold and placid in the moon
shine. In the winter its surface was
covered with wild fowl-geese, ducks
and occasional swans. Tonight not
| living creature met my eye. Solitude
| reigned supreme.
Skirting the fules, came TO point
| of land so near to the island that stone
| might be thrown from one to the other;
| and across the channel / noted boat
moored to a post and light twinkling
| in the window Of the hut. To attract
| the notice of the Greek 1 shouted
| louder than Stentor-thrice. At the
| third shout the door of the hut opened
and I could see plainly the huge body
of Demetrius filing the entrance and
outlined sharply against the back
ground of light.
"Who is it?" His bass voice rolled
sonorously across the water.
"I--IIugo Livingston"
He turned and entered the hut, shut
| ting the door. For a moment I sus-
pected that he meant to ignore my
| presence, but / was mistaken. He APP
| pcared again almost Immediately and
walked slowly towards the boat. A
minute later he was by my side.
"Good evening"" he said, TRANQUILITY.
'I came here" l began, bluntly, ito
tell you that am not the fool you take
me for. You can impose upon Mr.. Ge-
rard, but not upon me. l saved you
only yesterday from committing das-
tardly murder"
"Tm not ungrateful," he returned,
softly
what lies between you and Burling-
ton is unknown to me. a furious per-
sonal hate upon both sides, / suspect
n hate which the facts hardly warrant.
Mr.. Gerard has suffered torment at the
hands of the enemy, but you are merely
paid servant" Ispoke harshly, aaame
! with repugpance. Demetrius listened
to my words in respectful silence. II
say youare servant, but you are usurp-.
ing the functions Of master. How
dare you lay trap for me?"
"a trap?" he repeated. 81 have laid
no trap, sir"
"You lie!"
Hedisplayed no noresentment. Thought
it may have been fancy-that smile
hovered upon his lips.
"You lie,' repeated, "Demetrius, as
glibly as honest men speak the truth.
You pandered to your masters fears
and urged him 10 send his family to Eu-
rope with me, knowing that l should
refuse to leave Burlington at your mer-
cy, the mercy Of "A coward"
He spread out his hands with a de-
preciating gesture.
"Mr. Livingston, l swear that you do
me an injustice. ! agreed to stay here
and watch this madman, but | had no