Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-01-19

l in which human life should be the
 stake. He used as practical execution
 CT the woman who was possessed by one of them, and wh o, in the crude no-
 tions of the savages, was no doubt
 coveted by both. It must be the hand
 of this woman that should cast the ] dice, white one and red one for
 each man. and he whose red die fell l closer to the line was winner in the 1 grim game of life and death
 l Jean Breboeuf and Pierre Noir stood ! apart, and tears poured from the eyes l of both. They were hardened men, 1 well acquainted with Indian warfare; l they had seen the writhings of tor l tured victims, and more than once had ! faced such possibilities themselves; 1 yet never had they seen sight like this.
 Near the two men stood Mary Con- | nynge, the bright blood burning in
 her cheeks, her eyes dry and wide open, l looking from one to the other. God, 1 who gives to this earth the few Mary l Connyngcs, alone knows the nature of those clements which made her, and
 the character of the conflict which l now went on within her soul. Tell such
 8 woman as Mary Connynge that she ! has rival, and she will either love
 the more madly the man whom she de- l mands as her own, or with equal mad l ness and with greater intensity will i hate her lover with a hatred undytng and unappeasable. 1 Mary Connynge stood, her eyes l glancing from one to the other of the men before her. She had seen them both proved brave men, strong of arms 1 undaunted of heart, both gallant gen. 1 ,tlemen. God, who makes the Mary l Connynges of this earth, only can tell l whether or not theres arose in the heart of this savage woman, this wo- man at bay, scorned, rebuked, mas l tered, this one question: Which? If
 Mary Connynge hated John Law, or if
 she loved him-ah! how must have pulsed her heart In agony, or in bit
 terness, as she took into her hand those lots which were the arbiters of life and death!
 Teganisoris looked about him and spoke few rapid words. He caught Mary Connynge roughly by the shoul- der and pulled her forward. The two men stood with faces set and gray in 1 the pitiless light of morn. Their arms were fast bound behind their backs. Eagerly the crowding savages pressed up to them, gesticulating wildly, and peering again and again into their l faces to discover any sign of weak ness. They failed. The pride of birth, I the strength. of character, the sheer animal vigor of each man stood him l in stead at this ultimate trial. Each had made up his mind to die. Each proposed, not doubting that he would l be the one to draw the fatal lot, to die as nan and gentleman.
 l Teganisoris would play this game
 with all possible mystery and impor 1 tance It should be told generations hence about the council fires, how he, Teganisoris, devised this game, how he played it, how he drew 1t out link 1 by link to the last atom of it's agony. | There was nc receptacle at hand in which the dice could be. placed. Te- ganisoris stopped, and without cere- mony wrenched from Mary Connynge's l foot the moccasin which covered it. l the little shoe-beaded, beautiful, and now again fateful. Sir Arthur smiled
 as though in actual joy.
 l "My friend" said he, 'I have won! i This might be the very slipper for
 which we played at the Green Lion
 long ago."
 1 Law turned upon him a face pale and
 solemn. 'Sir," said he, T pray God 1 that this issue may not be as when we last played. pray God that the dice
 may elect me and not yourself "You were ever lucky in the games of chance,' replied Penn broke.
 1 'sToo lucky" said Law. "But the
 winner here is the loser, if 1t be n.y.
 self''
 Teganisoris roughly took from Mary 1 Connynge's hand the little bits of bone. He cast them into the hollow of
 the moccasin and shook them dra- matically together, holding them high
 above his. head. Then he lowered them
 and took out from the receptacle two
 of the. dice. He placed his hand on
 Laws shoulder, signifying that his was 1 to be the first cast. Tben he handed
 back the moccasin to the woman. l Mary Connynge took the shoe in her 1 hand and stepped forward to the line which had been drawn upon the | ground The red spots still burned up-
 on her cheeks; her eyes, amber, feline, { still famed hard and dry. She still
 glanced rapidly from one to the other,
 her eye as lightly quick and as bril-
 liant as that of the crouched cat about
 to spring. sy a Which? Which would it be? Could
 she control this game? Could she
 elect which man should live and which l should die-this woman, scorned,
 abased, mastered? Neither of these ! sought to read the riddle of her set 1 face and blazing eyes, Each as he
 might offered his soul to his Creator. The hand of Mary Connynge was raised above her head Her face was turned once more- to John Law, her
 master, her commander, her repudi- l ator. Slowly she turned the moccasin
 over in her hand. The white bone fell { first, the red for q moment hanging in
 the soft folds of the buekskin. She
 shook it out, It fell with it's face near [ 3-~ Mi l.