The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1908-08-21

be wrong. At this distance from you
am sure Of It, for can think more
, clearly now that am no longer near
you. Please do not ask me again"
''Of course he will ask her again; Q
man does not like being baked by q
woman" said Dmitri Anatovitch to
himself, on reading these sentences
in letter Christabel had written to
Norman Forde on the day after her
arrival at Sulja. All letters going to
the post, as were those coming by It.
were seen by Dmitri If he chose to
open them, and he had chosen to open
hers. "Of course" he repeated, with
an emphatic shake of the head, ''he
,, will ask her again. and there will
come time when she will not be able
to deny him, unless-I make certain
that the time will never come"
He glanced at herr letter once more.
debating with himself whether, to let
it so or not. FINELY he came to the
conclusion to send it to Forde, as
there was no immediate necessity for
carrying out any scheme for doing
away with Christahel. But he was
quite determined that she must dis
appear. Her letter to F0rde made it
more necessary than ever; he did not
trust her, for he asked how it was
that Forde could even put the ques-
ton his letters contained unless she
had given him some indication that
there was something to be told. No,
she YVES not 10 be trusted.
Perhaps the maxim. Cali is fair in
love and war;" is more frequently
quoted than any other, but like many
other maxims. it only glimpses half
truths. It would be truer to say that
it is the unexpected, the incalculable,
that is found to happen both in love
and war, and these unforeseen things
occur because, in both, men are driven
on by pressure of circumstances and
the untempered but unquenchable
heat of the blood to do things they
otherwise would not do, nor even
thing of doing. And as this pressure
and this heat are common in greater
or less degree to all men, they have
united in Judging lightly, and even
calling fair, anything done under this
pressure and in this heat. In a word,
it is human nature.
To kill Christabel was in sense to
Dmitri an act of war, for all great In
dustries. and for that matter all lit
tie industries, are in a state of war
with other industries of the same
kind, and for her to threaten the ex-
istence of the vast Sisterson industry,
as she did by the possession Of its
secret, was in a manner an act of war.
Trade competition is war, often brutal
war, though no blood is shed. but her
knowledge of the secret was more
serious even than competition, for it
struck at the very source of bust
ness. 1t was fair, therefore, thought
Dmitri, to put her out of the way. It
was fair to read her letters, to destroy
them. In a word, again, it was human
nature.
But what is to be the end when war
conflicts with love? 1t is one Of the
most interesting problems in the
world. And here was man with a
character at bottom immobile, but
based on half-savage lines. He had de-
termined that his enemy, this English
girl, Christabel Joyce, should die; but
there is always a 'but" in mortal
life-what now happened Slapped his
determination until love was the foe
he had to fight. It came about very
simply.
Christabel had given to Katia her
letter to Norman Forde-the letter
Dmitri had read-and Katia had hand
ed it, along with one from Mary to
Lady Sisterson, to Dmitri at the mid
day dejeuner with the remark that
Mary was so tired after her journey
that she proposed staying in bed for
the day, and Katia added that the
nurse would remain with Mary.
ITO BE Contlnueo,)