Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1898-04-14


shine In the winter its surface was
| covered with wild fowl-geese, ducks
and occasional swans. Tonight not a
| living creature met my eye. Solitude
| reigned supreme.
| Sl1irting the tules, 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 post and a light twinkling
| in the window of the hut. To attract
the notice of the Greek I shouted
| louder than Stentor-thrice. At the
| third shout the door of the hut opened
| and 1 could see plainly the huge body
| of Demetrius filling the entrance and
outlined sharply against the back
ground of light.
''Who is it?' His bass voice rolled
| generously across the water.
"IHugo 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
| peared again almost Immediately and
walked slowly towards the boat. A
| minute later he was by my side
Good evening"" he said, TRANQUILITY.
81 came here" 1 began, bluntly, ''to
| tell you that am not the fool you take
! me for. You can impose upon Mr.. Ge-
rard, but not upon me. I saved you
| only yesterday from committing das-
tardly murder
I'm 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
hate which the facts hardly warrant.
| Mr.. Gerard has suffered torment at the
hands of the enemy, but you are merely
| paid servant" spoke harshly, af1ame
| with repugnance. Demetrius listened
| to my words in respectful silence. 81
| say you are servant. but you are usurp-
| ing the functions Of a master. How
dare you lay trap for me?'
ga trap?" he repeated. 81 have laid
no trap, sir
| 'tIou liei"
Hedisplayed no resentment. Thought
! it may have been fancy-that a smile
lowered upon his lips.
| You lie / repeated, "Demetrius as
! glibly as honest men speak the truth.
i You pandered to your masters fears
and urged him to send his family to Eu-
rope with me, knowing that 1 should
refuse to leave Burlington at your mer-
cy, the mercy of coward
He spread out his hands with a de-
preciating gesture.
MIR. Livingston, I swear that you do
| me an injustice. I agreed to stay here
and watch this mailman, but had no
intention of arousing his fury by going
| near him. The doctor and competent
| nurse have him in charge. I suggested
10 hE -.
Mark to Europe because you know
Europe and because you can teach the
boy what I cannot
''Yes-honesty," 1 said, with en-
| phasis.
What happened yesterday, Mr.. Liv-
ingston, justifies these tuunts. I've
served Mr.. Gerard faithfully-he saved
me from starvation, or a worse fate
and, seeing his relentless enemy at last
in my power, II lost my head. You
saved me, as you say, from the crime of
murder, and from the bottom of my
heart 1 thank you"
His extraordinary f1uency of speech
took me aback. Anglo-Saxons, as
rule, express themselves so unreadily
that a freely flowing diction almost be-
| wilders.
|
| I promised to hold my tongue about
what occurred in the cave, but your
action tonight absolves me from that
promise. Before I go to bed Mr.. Gerard
shall be placed in possession of the
/ facts. We will see, then, what he will
say"
In the moonlight I could see his lips
| whiten and culver. I noted these signs
| They proclaimed the absence of col
fusion between the Greek and Gerard.
''For Gods sake, sir, don't tell him
that
you've left me no choice in the mat
ter
He began to urge me to keep silence.
employing such arguments as his pro-
life brain afforded. When he had ex-
hausted these shook my head.
''Will you think this over, sir?" he
pleaded. "Sleep upon it. and remember
that fve-and-twenty years of faithful
service are at stake
every well,'' replied. ''I'll think it
over. AS for sleep, watch tonight in
Burlington's room. There will be no
sleep for me-
He thanked me for the IL hours grace,
but cut him short.
Mr.. Livingston, pardon me, but are
you not afraid of being alone with that
mailman? His injuries are not so severe
as"
"As you could wish, Demetrius. Rest
assured, my friend. that the prospect
of spending the night with Mr.. Burling-
ton does not scare me at all. don't
think he could move if he tried. And,
in my case, I'm stronger than he"