The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1901-07-06

loullA- II tou itthin AZ, hiith Az
will be favor no more. / have
only done for you what every man
should do 10 his neighbor, and so
far from needing thanks for my
services / would rather give them
for the occasion, for ! know of no
source of JOY so pure and pleasur-
able as that feeling in the soul
which tells us we have done a good
act"
The dark monk reached forth and
took the youthful artisans hand,
and, with more than ordinary emo
ton, he said:
'TYou touch the harp strings of
the soul with noble hand, my
son, and if any deed Of kindness
can give me JOY it will be a deed
for you. We may meet again, and
until then ! can only say, God bless
and prosper thee"
With these words the monk turn
ed away, and ere Ruric could COM
mand presence of mind enough TO
follow him he had gone from the
house. The youth wished TO say
something, but amid the varied
emotions that went leaping through
his mind he could gather no con-
nected thoughts.
After the monk was gone Ruric
returned to his bench and resumed
his work. He asked his boy if he
had ever seen the strange man be-
fore, but Paul only shook his head
and answered obviously.
"What do You mean?" the gun
maker esked, gazing the hoy IN the
face. DO YOU thirk yoa L.yc seen
him beforey
81 cannot tell, my master may
have. seen him before and | may not.
But surely YOU would not suppose
that my memory would serve you
better than your own.
Ruric was not fully assured by
this answer. He razed INTO Paul's
face, and he fancied he detected
some show Of Intelligence there
which had not been spoken But he
resolved to ask no more questions
at present. He had asked enough,
he thought, upon such a subject,
and he made up his mind to bother
himself no more about it, feeling
sure that if his boy knew anything
which would be for his masters in
terest to know it would be commu-
nicated in due season. So he APP
piled himself anew to his work, and
at noon the pistols were finished
Toward the middle of the after
noon, Just as Ruric had finished
tempering some parts of gun lock,
the back door Of his shop was open
ed, and two men entered. They
were young men, dressed in costly
furs and both Of them stout and
good looking. The gunmaker rec
ognized them as the Count Conrad
Damonoff and his friend Stephen
Urzen.
81 think ] speak with Ruric Ne
vel? said the count, moving for
ward
"You do" returned Ruric, not at
all surprised by the visit, since peo-
pie of all classes were in the habit
of calling at his place TO order
arms.
The count turned a shade paler
than before, and his neither lip trem-
bled. But Ruric thought that might
be the result of coming from the
cold into a warm place However,
he was soon undeceived, for the
counts next remark was significant
'cYou are acquainted with the La
dy Rosalind Valdais" he said.
81 am" returned Ruric, now be-
ginning to wonder
'WelI, sir" returned Damonof,
with much haughtiness, perhaps
my business can be quickly and sat
| isfactorily settled. 1t is my desire
to make the Lady Rosalind my
wife"
Ruric Newell started at these
words. and he clasped his hands to
hide their tremulousness. But he
was not long debating upon an an
swer
"And why have you come to me
with this information, sir - he ask
ed.
"You should know that already.
Do YOU not love the Lady,"
upon my soul, sir count, you
ask me a strange question. What
right have YOU to question me upon
such theme z"
"The right that every man has to
pave tho way for his own rights, +"
replied Damonoff sharply. "But if
you choose not to answer let il pass.
| know you do love the lady, and
now / ask you to renounce all
i