Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1908-09-24


1T was just two weeks ago tonight that
We met on board the Majestic"
Mo- Sarto shook his head. '"You
have known me longer than that. Look
at me -
| He drew nearer. with sudden deter
mination. where have you seen me be-
! fore? Think Remember -
But the girl only gazed at him with as
toniShed. half-frightened eyes.
"Before:" she faltered "I-don't un-
derstand.'
Sarto moved impatiently. The sus-
pense was becoming unbearable.
"Think,' he urged relentlessy. "Of
whom did you say reminded you? Have
You forgotten Sarto. the chauffeur?'
You Sarto?' Annette half whisper
ed the word. "Sarto-and the Prince del
Pine ~
Her irrepressible imagination was at
work again.
With a half groan Sarto turned away.
NO more fairy tales, child" he said
roughly. The book is closed now The
man you have known is not the Prince
del Pine" His voice vibrated. only
an impostor-a miserable impostor. Lis
ten He hesitated. standing with his
back TO the window, a silhouette of
man, looking at the girl between her two
candles as lost soul might look at an
angel in heaven.
Then he told his story from the mo-
ment that he looked into Mrs. Warnings
trunk to the present.
Perhaps never in the course of his
oh hAalya ho1 lo
master as he was in the science of the
tongue. acquitted himself so i'll. BY a
skillful suppression of a fact here, the
strengthening of an episode therein
fact, little judcous light and shade
the tale might have made very credit
able autobiography, in which Ludovic
Sarto. the hero, would have shone forth
in an adventurous, seductive-possibly an
heroic-light.
To lover all things are possible, per-
missible. But for the time being Sarto
was not lover.
He stood as it were in his confessional.
speaking to hidden ear, dissecting his
conduct with the scrupulous exactness
of the penitent And the pale girl sit
ting between the two candles was to him
a distant vision in dim church. silent,
inspiring, uplifting. Only at the last
the man looked out through the sinners
eyes. with faint satisfaction in his own
sin. an irresistible pride in his own per-
fOrmance.
Il must say I played the part we'll -
Sarto boasted. My acting was success
full as far as it went. I dare say there
boo
word for me-
A wall crept into his voice. "Ah, the
irony of fate. While they are applaud
ing the Prince del Pine out there in the
audience, the poor mountebank must
crawl off to hile himself and his broken
heart. But | forgot" with a jarring
laugh" chauffeurs-people of a certain
class-are not permitted to have hearts,
He stood. poor Sarto, very human and
very much in love, his face working, his
heart rebellng at the bitterness of his
cup the injustice that deprived him of
the fruits of his own triumphs-the en-
joyment of his own happiness.
And there was silence in the little
room. while from the street outside came
the smooth roll of wheels and mans
tenor in the distance singing the air from
Paglacci bird-like atoms of sound thread
ing the roar of the city.
At last Annette spoke. what have
you done with the diamonds?" she asked
very quietly.
The man before her caught his breath
"Ah. the diamonds | had forgotten
about them
For an instant he stared at the girl
blankly. All this time Ludovic Sarto had
been thinking of himself as the chauffeur.
Surely that was low enough But now,
with heavy, irretrievable sense of doom.
he saw in her eyes whence he had fallen
and how far. From the pedestal on
which she had placed the Prince del Pine,
down to the thief-the robber Of Mrs
Warnings diamonds. What a descent
And in the fall-love, that brittle, deli
cate thing. lay shattered, broken into
fragments.
Sarto was suddenly face to face with
a judge. young, austere, implacabe, in |
whose clear tones there sounded an echo
of some distant Puritan ancestor in
whose glance he saw himself condemned |
The diamonds" he repeated with an |
effort. "go to Mrs. Waring tomorrow, |
with note of-Of explanation. | shall |
see to 1.-THE first thing in the morning" |
He spoke with the submissive imper-
sonal air of a servant, his eyes on the |
ground, and for moment Annette list
ened silently.
What are you doing here them" she |
asked suddenly. Don't you know that if |
Count Souravieff is after you, he may |
be here at any moment?" Her voice rose
sharply. You will be caught, impris-
oned ~
But the chauffeur only smiled, with a |
sparkle in his keen eyes which had not |
been there before. Slight as it was, that |
note of anxiety had not escaped him. |
Though in fragments, still there was love |
for him in the girls heart.
"Oh. | am safe enough indeed ~ he an
swered confidently. MY motor, in which |
led them a chase. is standing in front |
Of a pharmace in + street at this mo- |
ment For myself, | left my hotel an |
hour ago and took my valise with it's CON
tents to'-he hesitated-"well, never
mind where. When one leads double |
life Miss Bancroft, one finds it conven-
lent sometimes TO live in two places. And |
them came on here. Yes, it Is quite /
safe: but it is we'll that you remind me
that / must GO
"What will become of yOu:" asked the |
Girl n lnoSf in a uhispar