The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1907-01-10

very coming and going of the breath at
her nostrils, as a man on the operating
table is conscious OF the slightest ges-
ture OF the surgeon.
You are-suffering!!" she said, and
her voice was like the flow of oil upon
a burn. 81 have never seen you like
this. I.didn't believe YOU capable Of
of much feeling.
/ could not trust myself to speak. If
Bob Corey could have looked in IN that.
, scene, could have understood 1t. how
amazed he would have been!
ssWhat happened down town today2"
! she went on. Tell me, if / may know"
"Tll tell you what / didn't think, ten
minutes ago, I'd tell n human being"
said /. They've got me strapped down
In the press. At ten o'clock in the morn
ing-precisely at ten-they're going to
put on the screws I laughed. Il
guess they'll have me squeezed pretty
dry before noon"
She shivered.
$50, you see," I continued, 81 don't
deserve any credit for giving you up. l
only anticipate you by about twenty
four hours. Mines a death-bed repent
| ance."
I'D thought Of that" said she re-
fiectively. Presently she added: Then,
it is true And I knew Sammy had
given her some hint that prepared her
for my confession.
"Yes-I can't go clustering through
the matrimonial market" replied l.
I've been thrown out. In a beggar at
the gates
"A beggar al the gates" she muir
INJURED.
I got up and stood looking down at
her.
Don't pity met I said. MY re-
mark was a figure of speech. / wan
40 aims. I wouldn't take even YOU as
\ o1,,, Frl,1,,I1H o,AI1l,ixy rrafa ,an down
and stamp the life out OF me-nearly.
But not quite-don't you lose sight of
that. They can't kill me, and they can't
tame me. Til recover and IN strew
the street with their blood and broken
bones
She drew in her breath sharply.
And q minute ago [ was almost lik-
ing you!" she exclaimed.
I retreated to my chair and gave her
a smile that must have been grim.
Your ideas of life and of men are
like a cloistered nuns" said l. II
there are any real men among your ac-
quaintances, you may find out some
day that they're not much like lapdogs
as they pretend-and that you wouldn't
like them, if they We're"
.'What-just what-happened to you
down. town today-after you left me?'
"a friend of mine has been Turing me
into a trap-why, i can't quite fathom.
Today he sprang the trap n ran
away"
1.-The man we We're talking about
your ex-god-Langdon."
"Langdon,' she repeated, and her
tone told me that Sammy knew and
had limited to her more than l sus-
pected him of knowing. And, with her
arms still folded, she paced UP and
down the room. I watched her slender
4 r--4 ~ - y 49, r. x~ ~ 49,
d~isappear-first one, then the other
at the edge of her trailing skirt. Pres
emily she stopped in front of me. Her
eyes were gazing asst me.
you are sure it was hep" she asked
I could not answer Immediately, sc
amazed was ] ct her expression. ]
had been regarding her as a being
above and apart, an incarnation OF
youth and innocence; with a shock IL
enced, intelligent, that she understood
the whole of life, the dark as fully as
the hight, and that she was capable tc
live it, too. Tt was not a girl thai
was questioning me there; it was 6
woman.
"Yes-Langdon," 1 replied. "Rut I've
no quarrel with him. My reverse is
nothing but the fortune of war. I as,
sure you, when I see him again, I'll be
as friendly as ver-on a bit less OF
a trusting ass, l fancy. We're a lot
of free lances down in the street. We
fight now on n side, now on the other
We change sides whenever it's expedi,
ent; and under the code It's not neces.
sary to give warning. Today, before J
knew he was the assassin. / had made
my plans to try to save myself at his
expense, though [ believed him to be
the best friend I had down town. Nc
doubt he's got some good reason for
creeping UP on me in the dark"
You are sur it was he?" she re-
peated.
He, and nobody else,'' replied I. 'He
decided to DO me up-and / guess he'll
succeed. He's not the man to lift bis
gun unless he's sure the bird will fall
DO you really not care any more
than you show" she asked. "Or is
our manner only bravado-to show
off before Ine?"
Il don't care a damn, since I'm tc
lose you,' said l. It'll be a godsenC
to have q hard row to hoe the next
few months or years"
She went back to leaning against
the table, her arms folded as before, ]
saw she was thinking out something
Finally h said:
II have decided not to accept you,
release"
/ sprang to my feet.
"Anita!" I cried, my arms stretched
toward her.
But she only looked coldly at me
folded her arms the more tightly and
said:
do not misunderstood me. The bar
gain is the Same as before. If Won
want me on these terms I must-glvc
myself"
"Wky?" I asked.
A faint smile, with no mirth in it
drifted round the corners OF her mouth
An impulse" she said. Il don't quite
understand it myself. An impulse from,
from" Her eyes and her thoughts
were far away, and her expression was
the n that made it hardest for me
TO believe she vas a child of those
parents of hers. AN impulse from a
sense OF justice-of decency. I arn the
cause of o u trouble, and / daren't be
a coward and a cheat" She repeated
the last words. "a coward--a cheat,
We-I-have taken much from you
more than you know. 1t must be re-
paid. If you still wish, / will-wil.
keep to my bargain"
ITS true, I'd not have got into the
mess" said 1, "if I'd been attending tc
business instead of dangling rfter you
But you're not responsible Tor tina,
folly"
She tried to speak several times, be-
fore h finally succeeded In saying: