The San Francisco call., 1905-04-30

Copyright, 1905, by Keith Gordon.)
tt0 H, no." concluded ,Askew, re-
ssTsi4s 9. his tsa h0s5sss se.as iatso5,g ot oas1
mastery in his glance that
always made her wonder if the tell
tale blood were rising in her cheeks
and which, at the present moment,
caused her somewhat naughty eyes to
avoid him, like quivering, cornered
arimals. "A mans manhood is a
greater thing even than his love! And
the poor man who asks a rich woman
co. marry him is like the chap who
sold his birthright for a mess of pot
tAge."
You place high value upon love!"
she murmured, and despite her efforts
there was little catch in her breath.
Yes, I think do" he resumed i'm
sSerturbably. so high a value, in
fact, that I would place it above all
sEspicion-above even the suspicion
OF suspiciop!' he ended in emphatic
tone.
Askew was e man of 30 years, with a
square jaw, strongly cut features and
that pronounced air Of masculinity that
caused Miss Vance to realize with a
thrill that 10 such a man his manhood,
as he had said, must be first It could
not possibly be otherwise. Deep down
IN his heart Of hearts a woman might
reign-loYed with the passion that only
such natures can feel-but never really
dominating his life
Always he would be complete master
ofehimself-and OF heri He would love
her with g tenderness strong and deep.
In her own domain she would be su-
preme, but that domain would never be
coextensive with his own larger life.
And yet. TO the tips Of her fingers, she
felt that she would rather be loved by
him than by any other man in the
world.
Moreover, she was loved by himi She
knew IL, though he had never by SO
much as a word admitted it. She was
as sure Of it as she was Of her own love
for him, and at the mere thought the
blood danced riotously through her
veins and her head involuntarily went
up.
Few Of her associates would have rec
oognized the expression that softened
and glortffed the face Of the naughty
Miss Vance," as she was called behind
her back, as she turned more fully to-
ward Donald Askew and demanded
softly:
do you mean to say that If you hap
pened TO fall IN love with a rich woman
-and-and-"
'And?" he interrogated.
And she loved you-or you had rea-
son TO think that she did
For the second time she paused with
q confused impression that the air OF
the room was suddenly exhausted and
that breathing WIS by no means the
simple, natural matter it had always
seemed.
do you mean to say" she blurted
out with school-girlish impetuosity
that you would not tell her that you
loved herr"
Never in the worldlp was the de.
liberate reply. Never" Then he
added coolly: But / should be care
fuI not to do anything so asinine as
to fall in love with a rich girl in the
frst place, knowing, as / do, that the
money making talent is not one to
which I can lay claim"
For a moment her heart turned tc
ice. Then the blood flowed back
warm and strong and she understood
He was taking this stand in the hope
of throwing her off the track, because
his fantastic sense of honor put him
out Of the running and he wished t
divest himself even of the interest thai
an undeclared love might arouse ii
her. She could have laughed for yer,
Joy at his assembling.
What would you do, assumins
that, in spite Of yourself, you should
fall in love with an heiress?" she per.
sisted.
He fenced manfuily. ''Well, thinl
I should clear out 1t would be tn,
best thing to do in case like that
Miss Vance-the naughty Mis-
Vance-the. heiress of the Vance mil
lions, regarded him demurely. Sh,
was a person who was accustomed I,
having her wishes complied with
She wondered vaguely what it wa
about the man before her that mad
her ready-even eager-to step dowi
from the regal position she had al
ways occupied and sue for his favo
g why IN her eyes he should seem thi
kingl And when at last she spoke he
voice was almost wistful.