The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1903-08-12

clamatiol nad died away. Had he not
supported her she would have dropped
to the floor. Her hands, her face, were
like ice, her breast was pusseless, and
there was the widest terror in her
eyes.
"My darling-my queenv' be cried
passionately. cat last am with you!
Don't look at me like that! It is really
IL could not stay away could not
permit this sacrifice Of yours! Speak
to me! Do not stare like that!''
Her wide blue eyes slowly swept
his face, plteous wonder and doubt
struggling in their depths.
Am awaken she murmured, touch
Ing his face with her bewildered, ques
tioning hands. "Is it truly you" a
smile illumined her face. but her joy
was short lived. An expression Of ter
ror came to her eyes, and there was
agony in the fingers that clasped his
arm. "Why do you come here?' she
cried. 1T Is madness! How and why
came you to this room?"
he laughed like delighted boy and
hastily narrated the events of the past
twenty-four hours, ending with the
trick that gave him entrance to her
room.
"And all this to see mc:' she whis
pered.
'To see you and to save you. l hear
that Gabriel has been annoying you
and that you are TO give up half Of the
kingdom tomorrow. Tell me every
thing. 1t is another reason for my
coming"
Sitting beside him on the divan, she
told Of Gabriers visit and his dismissal,
the outlook for the next day, and then
sought to convince him Of the happi-
ness it afforded her to protect him
from an undeserved death. he obtain
ed for Cuinnox the royal pardon and
lauded him to the skies. So ravishing
were the moments, SO ecstatic the SEN
satons that possessed them, that nei-
ther thought Of the consequences If he
were to be discovered in her room, dis
guised as one Of her guardsmen. He
forgot the real import Of his reckless
visit until she commanded him to stand
erect before her that she might see
what manner Of soldier he was. With
q laugh, he leaped to his feet and stood
! before her-attention! She leaned back
among the cushions and surveyed him
through the glowing, impassioned eyes
which slowly closed as if to shut out
temptation.
"You are perfect soldier" she said,
ner lashes parting ever so slightly.
'fNo more perfect than you! he cried.
She remembered, with confusion, her
own masouerading, but it was unkind
Of him to remember It Her allusion
to his uniform turned his thoughts into
! the channel through which they had
been surging so turbulently up to the
moment that found him tapping at her
door. He had not told her Of his de-
termination, and the task grew harder
as he saw the sparkle glow brighter
and brighter in her eye.
"You are brave soldier, then,' she
l
substituted. ut required courage to
come to Edelweiss with hundreds OF
men ready to seize you at sight, pack
Of bloodhounds."
"I should have been q miserable cow
ard to stay up there while you are so
bravely facing disaster alone down
here. I came to help you, as I should" :"
"But you can do nothing, dear, and
you only make matters worse by COM
ing to me. have fought so hard to
overcome the desire to be near you, L
have struggled against myself for days
and days, and I had won the battle
when you came to pull my walls Of
strength down about my ears. Look.
On my desk is letter was writing to
you. No, you shall not read it. No
one shall ever know what it contains. ;"
She darted to the desk, snatched up
the sheets Of paper and held them over
the waxed taper. he stood in the mid
die Of the room, a feeling Of intense
desolation settling down upon him.
How could he lose this woman?
Tomorrow night Quinnox is to take
you from the monastery and conduct