The Portland daily press., 1898-10-27
Chapter TX.
THE AYOF TR4-NSGRESSORS.

THE WAY OF TRL-NSGRESSoho.
One thought alone possessed hlane.
Zertho loved her. :,
Next 1norning, when the maid brought
her coffee, she rose, and opening tne
sbutters stood at the window gazing upon
the broad ex?anse OF prlgnI oiue i1 a eco.
The words the Prince had uttered all came
hack to her. She reoollected how he had
:,ressed her hand and declared that she
was his ideal of what woman snouio pe
how. not satisfied with her refusal, ne
had promised to repeat his questi on;
Should she acceptP No, she dlstrus1eu
him az much as she had eyar done:
While thus plunged in deep Tef1ecGion'
her oIear eyes fixed upon the distant horl-
zon where ships were passing, enueaVoI
ing to convince herself that marriage Was1
Zertno was i'm possible because sne couIa
never love him, a light tap was hearu up
on the door, and the girl re-entered, Dear
ing letter.
By its blue English stamp she knew IN
stinottvely it was from George.
Slowly she tore open the envelope and
read its contents. Then, with q sudden
movement she cast herself upon her peo'
hurving ner face in the lace edged ptilow,
and bursting into q torrent of passionate
tears. She hated Zertho, and still loved
George.
gone out for an early turn along the
Promenade. He let himself out at tne
rear into the Rue de France, in order not
to pass the Villa Cheyrier, and after
strolline for some time about the town
he reached the sea again, walking alone,
his face sst towards the high castle hili
which he presently assembled by the vino.
ing flight of stone steps, sna standing at
last ON the summit. In the beautiful gar
den laid out on the side of the long-ruined
chateau, paused to rest. The sun was
strong. the sky cloudless, and in every
direction the view was superb. AS ne
stood leaning over the stone parapet the
Cade of ntibes, the Isles de Lerins, the
mouth of the broad stony Var. and Gne
town of Nice were at his feet. while be-
hind stretched the green valley of the
Paillon with the white monasteries OF
Cimezs and t. Pous the distant chateau
of st. Andre, the peaks of Mono Chauve.
and the Aspremont, with the blue distant
Alps, forming a picturesque background.
Fl removed his hat, end allowed the fresh
breeze that came up from the sea TO ian
his heated temples.
He was alone, save for solitary senti-
mel standing with fixed bayonet some dis
tance away at the entrance to large plat
form. where several guns were mounted.
behind baskets filled with STONES. ana as
he leaned, his eyes fixed blankly upon 6he
seas, some low words escaped him.
"Yes." he murmured in desperation.
nThis is indeed the last drop that has
filed INV cup of aff1iction. Poor Liane!
How can / tell her? How can l go to
her and confess the CHASTITY truthY II l
do. if tell her of the terrible secret which
I had believed was mind alone, she, the
child whom 1 have loved and cherished
ell these years, will turn from me with
Loaf hing"
His hands were clenched, his brow fur
roWed. and upon his usually merry coun-
renance was settled look Of unutterable
ssNo it is impossible-absolutely i'm
nossibie.' - he went on signing deeply,
after a few moments. "To tell her the
truth would only be to increase her un.
bsppiness and cause her to hate me, there
fore oannot-I dare not! No, Zertho is
memorable. / must sacrifice Llane IN or
der to save myself.
Again he was silent, pondering deeply,
and striving to form some plan by which
TO save his daughter from being forced
into this undesirable onion. But he could
conceive none. Even II he deheo this
man who was endeavoring to secure
Liane, and boldly met the terrible conse-
quences of the exposure OF his secret. he
saw that such a course must reflect upon
her. for she would then be alone in the
world, frsendless, forsaken, and penntless;
while If he fed he must be found sooner
or later, for Within twenty four hours the
police Of Europe would be actively search
ing for him. Then, calmly and without
feey, he thought of suicide. his one desire
being to save Liane from disgrace. Lean
ing over the parapet he gazed far down
upon the brown rocky orags, beaten time
after time by the great rolling waves as
they broke and threw up columns OF
white spray. He was contemplating how
hest to end his life. He could leave her
letter confessing all the truth, and thus
save her from becoming the wife OF this
titled adyenturer. Yet again difficulty
presented itself. To act thus would be
cowardly; besides which Liane would
also be left without money and without
a protector. For long time he carefully
reviewed all the facts, at length arriving
at the same conclusion as before. that his
suicide would only bring increased disas-
ter upon the child ne 1dolized.
'No," he exclaimed aloud. between his
set teeth. "TheEe is but one way-one
way alone. She must become Princess.
/ must obey ertho, and compel her to
marry him. All these long weeks have I
striven against 1t, knowing that once
united to such an unprincipled brute her
days must be full of wretchedness and
despair. Nay, am prepared to sacrifice
everything for her sake; nevertheless, If
boldly face my enemies, or take my life to
escape them, the result would be the
same. Liane would be left friendless.
10 me through all these dark days she
has been the one JOY of my aimless. weary
that has cheered me times without num-
ber when I should have otherwise
knocked under. 1 have striven my best
to keep her uncontaminated by the
reckless world in which I've been COM
PEELED to move. and none can ever charge
ne with neglect of her. Yet this IS the
END. She must be torn from me, and bs
given to this uncrupulous blackmailer
whom the possession of wealth has con-
verted from my friend into my enemy"
Erie Brooker, by profession an advent
urer, but at heart generous and tender as
q woman, had come to Nice solely on
Liane's account, because he had been con-
vinced by Zertho's argument that she was
,noping sadly at Stratfield Mortimer. AL.
though he had accepted the invitation he
hadsnever for one moment intended that
Liane should become Princess d'Auzac
until his whilom partner had pronounced
it imperative. Then, hour by hour. day
by day. he had sought means whereby
Zertho might be dissuaded from pressing
his claim, until now he was compelled to
acknowledge his hope an utterly forlorn
one. ----.-.-.+. --..--.
'Alas!" he sighed, leaning his feyered
I.o+L