Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-14
BY MAX -PEMBERTON.

iowa. And the one supremacy cowardly
thing he had done in the course of his life
had been done at the dfctation of an un-
controllable passion which would sacrifice
even honor for her sake. Georges Odn,
the counts father, had met him in fair
fight-the better swordsman had won.
Never would he forget the day--the snow
capped hills the white glen in which they
fought: the keen sword lightly engaging
his own; then the swift attack, the mas
terly reposte and that sensation as of red
hot iron passing to his very heart No
shame here, II is true; but there were days
Of shame afterward when the story came out
and King Charles himself asked the ques-
ton. 1t so? A word from Robert For
roster would have saved his enemy from the
mines. He never spoke it. The man dis
appeared from his ken. and he believed
that he was dead He could scarcely deny
the justice of the retribution which now
overlook him.
Georges Odin alive and a prisoner still in
some unknown fortress citadel How the
very name could awaken forgotten sensaz
tons 1t seemed to the earl as though
the madness of his youth struggled once
more for mastery with the finer impulses
and desires which a later day had inspired
Yesterday he had been a country gentle
man seeking to cast behind finally that
cloak of unconventionality he had worn
with such pleasure In his youth. He had
meant to whitewash the sepulcher; to take
his seat In the lords; to equip himself for
the great honorS thrust upon him; to
marry Evelyn sedately to a son of noble
house, and then. as II were. to convince
himself that the abnormal had been purged
out of him and would afflict him no more.
These ambitions, however, were powerless
now to combat the more natural instincts
which the story of his youth could recreate
for him. Once more in Imagination he rode
the hills of Roumania as a free adventureI,
submitting to the laws neither of God nor
of man Once more the senSuOuS voluptu-
BUSINESS of the earl dominated him, and
the spirit within him rebelled at its cap
tiyity. He must escape convention, he
Thought become a WanderPr more,
And EveIyni Had he not feared to read in
her acts this very inheritance his own ma
ture cried out for. He shuddered when he
thought of Evelyn. Who would save her
in the hour of cataclySm?
Such were the thoughts of that night long
drawn and terrible. In moments of revul-
sion against those who had thus brought
him to bay, there were mad whfSperings
which reminded him that Georges Odin's
son was the prisoner of his house and that,
as he would, he might readily be detained
there until some understanding had been
come to. This was thought the earl
could recall again and again. The man was
alone and helpless in his hands. 1t would
be folly to open the doors and to say, Go
out and tell the story to the world Mel
bourne Hall had harbored greater secrets
before that day, and might witness them
again. Why should he stand irresolute;
what forbade him to save Evelyn from all
that revelation must mean to her? He
knew motif remained for the house to
answer him, silently and finally, with the
answer of one who has set out upon no
idle mission, but is well aware OF the danger
he must face.
This was at the hour of dawn. Unable
to sleep, the earl sat by his open window
watching the chill gray light creeping over
the dew-laden grass and disclosing the trees
one by one as though unseen hand drew
back the curtain of the night from the
stately branches. thrush with sweet
note heralded the day-the deer began to
browse beneath the great avenue of yews
Anon a sweet fresh air, invigoratfng as q
very draught of life itself came down from
the hills and sent the ripples leaping and
splashing beneath the arches OF the ora
bridge, as though the river also had awak-
ened from lovers dreams. And now all
stood revealed in a picture of forest
land; the vast spaces OF ripe green grass .
delicious vistas of wood and thicket; home
scenes and scenes OF nature untrammeled.
JJnon other days, often at such an hour as
this, the earl had looked down upon them
and said, Mine, Mine all these
are mine" Today he viewed them with
heavy eyes Something unfamiliar in the
Landscape attracted his attention ana reused
him from his musings.
A loom of heavy white smoke floating up
ward from the glen! Nothing but that A
drift of smoke and anon the figure OF a
man seen between the trees! Another would
hardly have remarked the circumstances,
but Robert Forester became awake IN an
instant and as vtgilant as one VINO oreaus
that which his eyes discover.
They are gypsies, by he said, and
they have come at this mans bidding
He knew the meaning OF their presence
without words to tell him They had come
to demand the freedom of their old master
Georges Odin whose son had carried them
across the seas with him
II must answer them" the earl said and
If I answer them. what then? VIII the
other be silent?"
He turned away and shut the window vio-
Iently. as though to shut the specter out.
He would kill me-" he said, the world
is not big enough to hide me from Georges
Odin."