Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-08
CHAPTER XVI.
A Faithful Servant.

GOODNESS that caused Walter to shiver
This was worse than any OUTBREAK OF
fury worse than homicidai mama III Ne
most acute form. The man was sane
enough beyond all doubt; put, a AT '1 ne
crafty his vengeance, even If his own
life paid the penalty.
"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 1 mean. You mis-
took a guest who was coming here Tor
Lord Ravenspur-
THAT was a mistake" Silva said coolly
1T was a mistake that l reahzed Just IN
time. 1 should have greatly regretted
any harm happening to an innocent
party"
II suppose it would have quite upset
YOU" Walter said sarcasticaily But
we are wandering from the point what
lis the grudge you have against my uncle!
You have never even seen him TIL quite
lately He has been an utter stranger 10
you"
contemptuous smile fickered over
Silva's face.
Il don't suppose shall be able to make
YOU understand" he said. Your race is
different to mine. The blood In your
veins flows much slower and colder. iou
have no traditions in this country WhlcI
are part of your religion You cahliot
avenge insult and outrage. even at the
cost of life. In my part of the world
a man would be held a coward who hesi-
tated to retrieve his honor in such
fashion. But in this case 1t was not my
honor, but the honor of the noble house
to which I belonged. 1t would have been
bad enough II the thing had been done
by one of my own countrymen, out
stranger like Lord Ravenspur-
-"I fail to see the distinction" Walter
'murmured.
"Ah. that is because you cannot under
stand. Look you here. signor. l have
mistress to whom I am devotedly at
tached. I would lay down my life for her
would do anything to shield her from
pain. Let us say that my mistress is
married to a man who outwardy pos
sesses all the graces that nature can be-
stow. He has the Intellectual gifts, too.
He Is widely beloved and popular wher-
ever he goes. But at heart he is fiend.
The refined cruelties which he uses to-
ward his wife arouse revengeful feelings
in my breast, though I dare not crafty
them. in case l 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
the letter. You don't know what that
means. and I am not going to tell you.
But 1t Is the death-warrant, and the
count knows it. 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
irreparable mischief. He sees a way to
strike his wife to the heart from the
other side of the grave. There is child
perhaps the only thing on earth that the
count loves purely and sincerely. He gets
his friend, Lord Ravenspur, to kidnap
that child / tell you If his lordship had
come amongst US and dishonored the
threshold of the greatest chief in south
Italy he could not have unlocked the
f1oodgates of vengeance in a more thor
ough manner. Think of the degradation.
the bitter insult of 1t all. If the true
facts Of the case had been known to me
at the time. Lord Ravenspur would have
been dead man years ago. But when
my mistress vanished from the world
naturally thought that she had taken the
child with her. / did not know until
quite recently what had happened. Then
when 1 cast my mind back to the past l
had no difficulty in fixing upon Lord
Ravenspur as the culprit. The rest you
know"
The words were quietly and evenly
spoken but the deep ring of sincerity in
them was not lost upon Walter Lance.
Here was a man who saw his way clearly
before him. man blinded by prejudice
and bigotry, who would not hesitate for q
single moment. who would laugh con-
temptuously at the mere suggestion of
personal danger.
What could you do afterward?" Wal
ter urged.
Silva shrugged his shoulders con-
temptuously.
"Why go into that?" he said THE
honor of the house would be avenged. ]
should have done my duty, and have
earned the appreciation of my friends.
There would be great cutlery, no doubt.
The thing would be inquired into and
probably the child l speak Of would have
been restored to her mother. though, to
be sure. / am not quite certain whether
the countess Is proper person.
$50 you have doubts on that scorer"
Walter cried eagerly Now is it not a
fact that the Countess Flavio was no
toriously woman of evil disposition"
Everybody said So Silva replied.
Had I chosen. 1 might have thrown a
not pleased with my late mistress, but
there were excuses plausible enough. l
cannot forget that it was horrible thing
for a mother to go off and leave her only
child all those years. Still. that is no
matter. If the time ever came 1 could
show the world something which would
open their eyes as to the doings In his
lifetime Of Count Flavio. He kept a
diary, After his death I found that
And you did not produce it at the
trial?'
"To what good. signor? Popular preju-
dice was so strong against US that, be-
yond doubt, the prosecution would have
proved that diary to be a forgery. Then
should have been cast into prison, and
my mistress would have been deprived of
the one protector whom she so sorely
needed. Why. feeling ran so high at the
time Of the trial that 1t was dangerous
for me to walk the streets alone at night
But why discuss this now? Why con-
tinue this unnecessary conversation? You
have made up your mind what to do. You
have only to ring the bell and there is an
end of me-"
Silva paused and shrugged his shoulders
significantly. He rose as If to take an
other cigarette. The box slipped from his
hand. and some OF the little white tubes
rolled across the polished floor With an
apology for his clumsiness, he stopped to
pick them up. Then he rose again, his
right hand shot out in the direction of a
figure in armor, grasping a huge battle
animal the battle-ax was snatched away,
and before Walter could realize what had
happened. the italian had smashed a
couple of the heavy plate-glass sheets,
thus clearing way into the garden.
Walter yelled at the tep of his voice and
darted forward. but he was too late. He
realized the folly of a search in the
darkness. No doubt by this time the man
was far away. He opened the studio
door. which closed sullenly behind him,
owing to a draught which came streaming
through the broken panes. He saw Lord
Ravenspur standing before him in the
corridor, with white face and agitated