The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-12-01

terror and dismay constructing her
throat.
She wavered. He thought she was
going to fall. He stepped closer to
her and put his arm about her.
mo. mol" she said, repulsing.
1t was the first command she had
given him in those bygone days when
he had stood dumbly before her.
mo, mol" she pushed him away. 81
shall be all right"
And has the approach Of men de-
prived me of the privilege of touch
ing you?" he asked, wistfully. What
is the matter?"
Don't ask me now" she answered.
"I-I-cannot explain"
The vessel was nearer now and as
she stared it came to a stop and
swung broadside to the reef. There
was no installing 1t. 1t was the South
ern Cross. She knew it as we'll as she
knew her own face. The thing which
she had dreaded so when she fed
from that vessel in the launch, which
she had dreaded for time in the
first period Of her sojourn on the is
land, had come to pass. 1t was the
very yacht from which she had es-
capped. Undoubtedly it bore the man
from whom she had fed. He had
come to claim her. OF all the teem-
ing millions which the world held, this
was he whom she would fain have
avoided. Rather anyone and every
one had come to her than he! What
would happen when these men met?
The story that she would have told
him to-day in her own way had the
ship not appeared. the story that she
would have told him on her decks,
had that ship been other than It was.
he must now learn by the brutal force
of circumstances, through some COM
polling necessity which she could not
in any way influence or alter. She
loathed the man who was coming to
aid her. Her Christianity trembled In
the balance. She would fain have
called invectives down upon his head,
and for the moment she swept the
hatred and resentment In which the
man Of the island participated. What
sorry jest had blind fate played upon
her?
She moved farther away from her
companion under the constraint of
these thoughts, and when he would
have approached her nearer, she
famed upon him in sudden anger that
left him appalled,. But under the in
fiuence of it he kept his distance She
saw the way of the yacht checked. She
saw the boat dropped from the davits
and manned by the men. She saw a
figure, too far off to recognize, but
which she OWNED must be his, de-
scend the battens from the gangway
She saw the little boat headed toward
the shore. Then she turned to the
man. He was standing with folded
arms, his brow black as midnight,
staring out to sea. He knew nothing,
understood nothing. comprehende6
nothing, suspected nothing. His only
realization was that she, his gentle
goddess. whom he had loved, was
angry with him. SO far as he was con-
cerned, without rhyme or reason or
cause
me stoppage of the ship, the lower
ing of the boat, Its approach to the
island were now matters Of indiffer'
ence to him. She was angry. He
could think of nothing else and there
was bewilderment in his dismay
the enigma of her conduct. Where she
gazed with serious intentness, he
looked listlessly. Her heart smote
her again. The sense Of justice upor
which she prided herself came to he
rescue. She stepped close to him anG
laid her hand upon his arm.
Forgive mel" she murmured and
her heart leaped within her bosom t.
meet the great flush of pleasure in hi!
face as he responded instantly to he
caress and her appeal.
You said you knew men," the mai
asked as they threaded their wa,
through the trees and won the hill
along the familiar path, do you knoN
anyone on that ship, do you Think
The question was an absurd one III
der almost any other circumstance
than that. Yet chance had shown hiI
the one point in her armor and hi
innocent and casual question ha
driven into her soul stab. Evasio
should have been easy. Indeed, h
trust in her was so great that dece
would have been simple. But she ha
always told him the truth and 81
could not begin now.
YES" she said, Il think l do"
He stopped abruptly, illuminate
and anguish, the light of pain in h
SOUL.
Was it because you know that ms
that you suffered so on the hill?"
YES" she said, again forcing he
self to speak
'Te he one of those who loved you
"He said so, but"
And you, did you love him?"
81 hate him."
"Why?" asked the man sternl
Had he injured you In some way
I'm the greatest way" she answer
with deepening gravity. And here h