The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-25
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(C0ufinmea)
 Then the stern axe of his fanaticisr crashed down on the picture and hrok it to pieces.
 Leave mel" he cried fiercefy. 'Hav you come here to tempt me? Do yol think that because have been i'll an too weak to resist temptation7 I tel you I am not. shall do my work til I break--yess break It will not b' | for long,
 spoke of the unbalanced mind. Lady Betty recovered her self-possession Her moment of, weakness was past She realized that she would need all her strength to do battle for the life of the man she loved. She raised heI head and smiled.
 There is no need to shout at me Dick" she said quietly. "Sit down and talk to me. There is a lot that wish to know. I suppose you don't object to my presence"
 NO" he replied feebly The tone oi her voice made it impossible for him to reply in the heroic strain of his last speech.
 T cannot tell you how glad was to know that you were alive and well. she said calmly. Yet, when I recog- nized you, I thought 1t better to say nothing. could see that you did not wish to be recognized"
 He seated himself in his big easy chair, and then rose again to his feet.
 'T beg your pardon" he said hastily. Tt is rude of me to take the only com fortable chair in the room. Please sit down in 1t. You must excuse my man. ners. I am not used to the society of ladies'"
 'No, thank you," she replied lightly. "It is too near the fire, and besides. if once got down into it, I'm afraid should never get out again" She smiled as she spoke. and there was more in that smile than the man could see. She had carried the first outwork of the fortress. She had brought his mind down to the ordinary civflittes of everyday life.
 He reseated himself. and looked as her with grave, earnest eyes.
 'You are tiring yourself out with your work" he said after pause; you need a resi-
 People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" she replied He shuddered. as though she had touch ed a raw nerve. She saw that she had made mistake, and hastened to remove a bad impression of levity.
 Tell me about yourself" she said gently. How you escaped from the WIGCAS I uAN6 WOUACFGQ Ul(Sl.
 T will tell you" he replied simply, and he narrated the story in the bald est possible language. He told of his life among the Arabs. and of his sub sequent return to England. But he said nothing of the great change which had come into his life. or of the voice that he had heard in the wilderness. Nor, on the other hand. did he mention the episode of the woman who had heeD with him on the raft
 'It is wonderful" she said. when he had finished his narrative Tt certain ly seems as though you had been saved for some great work in life.''
 "I know itP' he exclaimed, raising his voice. And all I ask is that may be given the strength to finish my task"
 The conversation was once more on the verge of high and dangerous ground. and Lady Betty hastened to bring 1t down to a safer level. She commenced to talk of the past. of the friends they had once known in Wales, of little episodes of their childhood, of the ring he had given her as a boy. Then she mentioned his brother, and mimicked the ridiculous and pompous manner of Sir Henry Gaunt. And he listened to her with pleasure, little knowing the snare that she was set l ting about his soul
 when at last Bne nad created the atmosphere she desired, and saturated his mind with all the more pleasant memories of the past, she began to speak of her own work. She told him what a comfort it had been to her. She explained the details of her scheme. She talked of the poor women she had saved from degradation. But she spoke of everything in a quiet. prac- tical manner. which formed a marked contrast to the wild words that had fallen from his own lips. She had a definite object In view. She wished to take him outside the region of fanaticism.
 And all through her conversation she touched lightly but firmly on the per sonal note Whether as a child play ing on the seashore, or as a woman turning from all the joys of life to hard and unselfish toll. she never let him lose sight of her own personality in the picture. And, as he listened to her. he forgot everything save that he had once loved her. and had left her to a life of loneliness. She rose up be- fore him as something great and real in his life, something that he could not break away from, even something holy that he could not cast aside with the sins and follies of his youth.
 Then at last she was silent, and there was no sound but the soft oraciEie of the fire, and the roar of the wind outside the inn. His eyes wege fixed upon her face, but she did not look as