Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1904-10-27
Copyright, 1so!, by Keith Gordon

youth at Qer SlQe, VINO was RlOWeTlnB
at her with an odd mixture of rebel
Hon and alteration in his face.
Really, Steve" she replied at last,
"Pm ashamed of you. It's not my
heart that's at fault; it's your purse.
You know that perfectly we'll" And,
with her chin at an angle beautifully
eloquent Of injured innocence, she pre-
tended to study the sculptured figures
about her. In reality she watched him
felt him straining at his chains-with
an exultant sense Of the charm of be-
ing queen.
Her words and glance made him saw
age. 1t was hard enough to bear her
delay In putting their love affair on
that practical basis which points like
long as it had seemed to him an honest
hesitation he had borne it with what
grace he could summon.
His lips set In an infiexible line, and
without q word his hand closed firmly
upon her arm, and with more determi-
nation than gentleness he guided her
to bench near by.
''WellT' she questioned when she had
settled herself in corner of the seat
and he had squared himself beside her.
In truth. though she strove valiantly
to conceal II, the queen was a tribe
startled.
Her late obedlent subject studied her
for some moments In silence and with
an expression rather too suggestive Of
flint to be entirely to the queens taste
Then lie spoke, and his words fell as
crisply as icicles.
ut is abput time that you understood
me-" he began at last You have play
ed with me long enough. What / have
to say now IL just this: You may take
me or leave me, precisely as you
choose, but whichever you do must be
done at once"
He paused moment and then elab-
Grated
I'm tired of playing the devoted
subject, tired of being made to feel
that my love Is nothing and my lack
of wealth everything. / have twelve
hundred year" He paused for q brief
moment, conscious Of q mad desire to
make the matter as bad as possible,
then added, "And there Is no certainty
that I'll ever have more"
Though he would have thrashed
cheerfully any man who had dared to
make such an assertion about him, to
say 1t to her about himself at this par
ticular moment afforded him a grim
satisfaction.
what want-what will have" he
continued in a mufiled voice without
giving her chance to speak, ''ls a def
mite, n final answerw And then, before
the queen had really caught her breath.
he finished In tone nothing short OF
command, "And ! want II within FIVE
minutesw
For one 1eeting moment something
like pale dlsmay showed In the girls
face. She had never counted Oh a mo
ment like this, Then her eyes kindled
royalty, ana flush of anger over
spread her face.
Almost unconsclously she rose, her
companion following her example, and
her eyes blaZed their resentment into
the cold determination OF his for full
second before she addressed him.
'You may have your answer this mo
meut" she flung at him In n tone OF
dangerous clearness. II only wonder
that / could ever have hesItated! 1t Is
'No'-a thousand times 'NoP"
She noticed with cruel delight the
sudden, still whiteness that overspread
his face as. with an ironical bow. he
turned and walked rapidly away. Then
new feeling suddenly clutched Mt her
heart.
Had she not lately been a queen, with
a loyal, faithful subject to whom she
had turned an ear quite royalty indif-
ferentl Had not a revolution occurred
In her small domain and republic
been proclnlmcdf Could she not un-
derstnnd now the sorrows Of Marie
Antolnettc or Eugenlei
And 80 nt last the latest OF dethroned
queens reached her own door trying TO
philosophize about the matter pa,
doubtless, her predecessors had before
her. After al. u was Tor the best. She
waa poor aud Steve was poor-in pos
ressions. But by some freakIsh opera
ton OF the law of compensation both
were endowed with tastes OF an un.
mistakablc richness,
Eyes. it's all for the best she said
aloud IA sho closed the door OF her
room behind her. ITS ALL
The rest was lost In the pillow, for
the ex-quocn had thrown herself face
downward on the bod ana was In
dulglng In tho pleboinn comfort Of n
good cry.
For days thereafter such interest as
she felt IN the dull. gray world was
centered In the postman aud such mes
Bengcr boys as appearsd from time
to time Ia tho street In which she
lived.
Not that she repentcd that ringing
mo" that she had given Steven on the
day OF their quarrel-by no means Her
heart, she told herself, was dead. She
could not be poor. She would not.
She would marry some good old soul
TO whom she could render the respect
OF daughter aud the bills OF wife.
That was all that a girl In her position
could do. II was the fault OF modern
ideas.
IL was after she heard about his at
tcntions TO the Folsom girl that she
wcpt no more and became markedly in
different 10 the coming OF the post
man. From this time. too. she con
scientiously tried 10 tolerate old Mr..
Fullerton and his flowers. the two ever
arriving with un alternate regularity
that was full Of meaning.
She pictured herself ns n queen again.
and this time with all the outward
semblnncc OF one. But. pcrycrBcly
enough. she could not keep steven
Converse ont Of the scene. lf she saw
herself rolling down Fiftb avenue III
the Fullerton vehicle she ~ instantly
evoked the Image OF Steve dofing his
hat with cold polltcness. while she
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