The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-12-17
CHAPTER XVI
A Faithful Servant.

well, that is candid, at any
rate" Walter said. you came here
prepared to take my uncle's life. 1t
was the second attempt that you
made upon it. Oh, you know what
| mean. You mistook a guest who
was coming here for Lord Roven-
spur"
THAT was a mistake" Silva said
coolly. "a mistake | realized just
in time. l should have greatly re-
GREETED any harm coming to an in
nocent party"
Il suppose 1t would have quite
upset YOU" Walter said sarcas-
tically. But we are wandering
from the point. What is the
grudge you have against my
uncle?
A contemptuous smile fitted over
Silva's face.
Il don't suppose l shall be able
to make you understand" he said.
your race is different from mine.
The blood in your veins flows
much slower and colder. You have
no traditions in this country which
are part Of your religion. You can
not comprehend that it is" ones
duty to avenge insult and outrage.
even at the cost Of life.
Look you here, signor. l have
a mistress to whom I am devoted
ly attached would lay down my
life for her. Let us say that my
mistress is married to a man who
outwardly possesses all the graces
that nature can bestow; intellec-
tual gifts, too. He is widely be-
loved and popular wherever he
goes But at heart he is a fiend.
Theh refined cruelties which he
uses toward his wife arouse re-
vengeful feelings in my breast,
though l dare not crafty them, in
case | perish and leave my be-
loved mistress in a worse case than
ever. But there are others of my
clan also serving the noble house
from which my mistress came, and
they write the count the letter. You
don't know what that means, and
| am not going to tell you. But it
is the death warrant, and the count
knows 1t. He cannot appeal
against that. All the forces of the
crown cannot save his life. And
then, mysteriously, he dies.
But he does not die before he
has done one last piece of ire
parable mischief. He sees a way
to strike his wife to the heart from
the other side of the grave. 1t is
through her child. He gets his
friend, Lord Ravenspur, to kidnap
that child.
Think of the degradation, the
bitter insult of it all! If the true
facts of the case had been known
to me at the time, Lord Raven
spur would have been a dead man
years ago. | did not know until
quite recently what had happened.
Then when cast my mind back
to the past I had no difficulty in
fixing upon Lord Ravenspur as the
culprit. The rest you know"
The deep ring Of sincerity in
, the words was not lost upon Wal
ter Lance. Here was man who
| would not hesitate for a single
moment, who would laugh con
temptuously at the mere sugges,
ton of personal danger.
What could you do afterwards? p
Walter urged.
Silva shrugged his shoulders
contemptuously.
"Why go into that?" he said
| "The honor of the house would be
avenged"
"Now, is it not a fact that the
| Countess Flavio was VIGOROUSLY a
woman of evil disposition?
Everybody said So" Silva re-
| piled. Had | chosen, I might
have thrown a different light upon
it. Count Flavio kept a diary. Aft
er his death | found it."
"And you did not produce u al
the trial?"
''To what good. signor? Popular
prejudice was too strong against us
! Why, feeling ran so high at the