The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1901-05-30
She was. at her fiercest. Cecil, disre-,
garding her protest, stopped and raised

dark, lustful face was set in the rigid
ity of death The bullet had passed
straight through the temples.
"Did you never see a dead man be-
fore?" demanded Cigarette impatiently
as he fingered. Even in this moment
he had more thought of this Arab than
he had of her. II :. e
He laid the body down and looked at
her with glance that, rightly or
wrongly, she thought had rebuke in it.
every many. But - it is never a
pleasant sight. And they were in drink.
They did not know what they did"
'"What divine pity! Good powder
and BAH were sore wasted, it seems.
You would have preferred to lie there
yourself, it appears. I beg your par
don for interfering with the prefer
ence"
Her eyes were flashing, her lips very
scornful and wrathful. This was his
gratitude!
swat, watt" said Cecil rapidly, lay
ing IFS hand q. ii5f shoulder as she
flung herself away. "My dear child, do
not think me ungrateful I know we'll
enough I should be a dead man myself
had it not been for your gallant assist
Fance. Believe me, thank you from
my heart"
"But you think me 'unsexed;' all the
samer'
The word had ranked in her. She
could launch it now with telling re-
prisal. He smiled, but he saw that his
phrase, which she had overheard, had
not alone incensed but had wounded
her.
"Well, little perhaps" he said gan
tly. 'How should it be otherwise?
And, for that matter, 1 have seen many
great lady look on and laugh her soft,
cruel laughter while the pheasants
were falling by hundreds or the stays
being torn by the hounds. And they
had not a 1.-THE of your courage"
ut is well for you that was unsex.
ed enough to be able to send an ounce
Of lead into a drunkardv' she pursued,
with Unreasonable disdain. eff I had
been like that dainty aristocrat down
there, it had been worse for you
should have screamed and tainted and
left you to be killed while I made a
tableau. Oh-he, that is to be feminine
is it not?''
''Where did you see that lady?" he
asked in some surprise.
ooh, l was there" answered olga:
rette, with a toss of her head south
ward to where the villa lay. II went
to see how you would keep your prom
ise."
"Well, you saw kept it."
She gave her little teeth sharp click
like the click of trigger
Eyes. And would have forgiven
you If you had broken it."
"Would you? I should not have for
given myself"
"Ah, you are just like Marquise. And
you will end like him."
every probably"
to that silver pheasant" she asked
him abruptly. .
'Silver pheasant?"
eyes. See how she sweeps, sweeps,
sweeps so languid, SO brilliant, so USE
less-bah! Why did you give them?'
'She admired them. 1t was not much
to give"
"Ah, you would not have given them
to daughter of the people,"
"Why not?'
"Why not? Because her hands would
be hard and brown and coarse, not fit
for those ivory puppets, but miladls
are white like the ivory and cannot soil
it. She will handle them so gracefully
for five minutes and then buy a new
toy and let her lapdog break yoursv'
Like enough" He said it with his
habitual gentle temper, but there was
a shadow Of pain in the words. The
chessmen had become in some sort like
living things to him through long asso-
citation. Cigarette, quick to sting, but
as quick to repent using her sting, saw
the regret in him. With the rapid, un-
calculating liberality Of an utterly un-
selfish and intensely impulsive nature
she FASTENED to make amends by say
ing what was like gall on her tongue in
the utterance.
"And yet" she said quickly, perhaps
she will value them more than that. I
know nothing Of the aristocrats-not Il!
When you We're gone, she championed
you against the Black Hawk. She told
him that if you had not been a gentle
man before you came into the ranks
she had never seen one. She spoke
we'll. If you had but heard her!'
"She did,"
She saw his glance brighten as it
turned on her in surprised gratiica-
ton.
"Well, what is there so wonderful"
Cigarette asked it with a certain pet
ulance and doggedness, taking name
sake out of her breast pocket, biting it's
end off and striking a fusee. A word
from this aristocrat was more welcome
to him than bullet that had saved his
life!
Her generosity had gone very far,
and, like most generosity, got nothing
Tor it's pains. E'Well! Well!' thought