The Washington herald., 1907-10-13
CHAPTER K.

BuL WITHIN very Few seconds the
crash came, and the rage and consterna-
ton Of the scandalized Frenchman broke
all bounds and placing himself quickly
/ between the two young people. who were
both trembling with the excitement OF
I the kiss given and received. he turned
from the one to the other and gave vent
to his feelings in an exclamation;
Mon DIeu.''
! st. Quintin burst into laughter.
Wen, Monsieur Leblanc. and where
is the harm Of my kissing her, when
we're engaged to be married.
All. no. I never said that. I never
promised"
Marie uttered an exclamation of sur
prise
You let him give me this?"
''Ah, Yes. yes. I do not deny. But
that Is not the same thing" cried poor
Monsieur Leblanc. almost forgetting his
command of the English language. which
was usually complete, in his indignant
| excitement.
! Miss Densley drew herself up.
Surely you don't think 1 should have
taken such a present as this from man
unless I meant"
She stopped, confused, and St Quintin
! came boldly 10 the rescue. finishing her
| speech for her and dashing into one on
/ his own account
Unless you meant TO marry me, OF
| course not. What nice girl would? When
you allowed me TO give your niece pres
eurs ATor,Sforrr aHIa~~ Irr,ar- 20, r-ofl
/ how seriously French gentlemen take
these things not to take il for granted
/ you knew how 1 should understand that
/ permission"
| Now the truth was. as both St Quintin
and Monsieur Leblanc very well knew.
that neither Of them had looked upon
this giving Of the watch as anything but
a pledge on the lovers part of the sin
cerity Of his feelings and an earnest of
his generous intentions. And this il
would have been, and no more. but for
the young mans aTtfulness in refusing TO
let the gift pass through the uncIe's
hands .On its way to the niece
Monsieur Leblanc, confronted by the
difficulty of choosing between letting the
gift be given without his knowledge. or
not given at all, had solved it hastily
and 'clumsily by permitting the presen-
tation under his very eyes. But never. in
his widest moments Of imaginative
dread would he have conceived a possi-
bility so frightful as that of his niece
deliberately offering her face 10 be kiss
ed in return for the gift, and then com
plicating matters still further by look
ing upon herself as engaged 10 the giver.
His anxiety and horror were stiH plain
~ TO be seen on his face and, indeed,
his expression as he turned TO the young
man had something stronger. something
more alarming in IL than mere annoy
ance.
For moment there was silence. He
was wondering how he should get out of
his difficulty without either offending the
young man or exciting mis- suspicious.
and without causing curious questions to
arise in his nieces mind
st. Quinun now felt sure that Marie
hod seen nothing Of the present given to
her uncle for her by Monsieur Marbeau.
but he dared not ask her about it until
they were alone together. In the mean
time, Marie herself had begun to look
rather frightened, and even TO make an
attempt to return the present by hold
Ing out her hand to ST Quintin with a
deprecatory glance. He took her hand
in his. in spite of Monsieur Leblanc who
was too much disconnected by these au-
dacious movements to prevent them, and
taking the beautiful brooch and its
watch-pendant from the case, .apOlogfzed
to monsieur for passing in front of him.
and himself pinned the jewels on the
girls breast
The diamonds sparkled in the sunlight,
and attracted the attention of the other
Indies within a very few moments.
The group ahead of these three had
been passing up the other paths, aware
that something Of an interesting nature
was going on, but unable to make out
exactly what 1t was. When, however,
Nine. Leblancs quick eyes caught sight
of the dazzling ornament, she cried out