The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-08-12

the door swung open.
/ The man thrust q hand inside,
touched an electric switch, flooding
the room with light. and motioned the
girl to enter She obeyed passively,
thoroughly subjugated. and found her
self in large and well-furnished Of
fee apparently the outer Of two
rooms. The glare of electric light at
first partly blinded her; and she
halted instinctiVely few steps from
the door, waiting for her eyes to be-
come accustomed to the change.
Behind her the door closed softly:
and there followed thud as a bolt
was shot. An instant later Anisty
caught her by the arm and, roughly
now and without wasting speech, hur-
risd her into the next room. Then,
releasing her, he turned up the lights
and, passing to the windows. threw
two or three Of them wide; for the
air in the room was stale and llfeless.
"And now" said the criminal in q
tone Of satisfaction, now we can talb
business, my dear"
He removed his overcoat and bat,
throwing them over the back of a con-
venient chair, drew his fingers
thoughtfully across his chin, and,
standing at little distance, regarded
the girl with shadow Of a saturnine
smile softening the hard line of his
lips.
She stood where he had left her, -
II volition was no longer hers Her
arms hung slack at her sides and she
was swaying a trife. her face vacant.
eyes blank; very near the breaking
down point.
The man was not without percep-
ton; and recognized her state-one
in which, he felt assured, he could get
very little out Of her. She must be
strengthened and revived before she
would or could respond to the direct
catechism he had In store for her. In
his own interest, therefore, more than
through any yielding to motives OF
pity and compassion, he piloted her to
chair by a window and brought her
a glass of clear cold water from the
filter in the adjoining room.
The cold, fresh breeze blowing in
her face proved wonderfully invigorat-
ing. She let her head sink back upon
the cushions Of the easy, comfortable
leather chair and drank in the clean
air in great deep draughts, with a
sense of renewing Yigor, both bodily
and spiritual The water helped, too;
she dabbled the tip of a ridiculously
small handkerchief in It and bathed
her throbbing temples. The while,
Anisty stood over her, waiting with
discrimination if with scant patience.
What was to come she neither knew
nor greatly cared; but, with an in
stinctiYe desire to postpone the newt
able moment of trial, she simulated
deadly languor for some moments aft.
er becoming conscious Of her position;
and lay passive, long lashes all but
touching her cheeks-in which now a
faint color was growing-gaZe wander
ing at random out over dreary will
derness of fiat rectangular roofs, livid
in the moonlight, broken by long,
straight clefts of darkness in whose
depths lights cleaned family. Far in
the south the sky came down purple
and black to the horizon, where sill
yer spark glittered like a low-hung
star-the torch Of Liberty.
Il think" Anistys clear-cut tones,
incisive as a razor edge, crossed the
listless trend of her thoughts, Il think
we will now get down to business, my
LADY,"
She lifted her lashes. meeting his
masterful stare with look of calm in
Quiry. ''Well?"
$50 you're better now? Possibly it
was mistake to give you that rest,
my lady. Still, when ones a gentle
man-craeksman-i" He chuckled TN
pleasantly, not troubling to finish his
sentence.
"Well?" he Knocked, seating himself
easily upon an adjacent table. Were
here at last, where well suffer no in
terruptions to our little council of war.
Beyond the Waterman, there's prob
ably not another soul in the building;
and from that window there it is a
straight drop of "a stories to Broad
way, WQll0 III OSlWe0u you anu LHo
door So you may be resigned to stay
here until l get ready to let you go.
If You scream for help. no one will
hear you"
Very we'll" she assented mechanic
ally, turning her head away with a
SILVER of disgust What is it you
want?"
The jewels he said, bluntly. You
might have guessed that"
81 did"
"And have saved yourself and me
considerable trouble by speaking ten
minutes ago"
YES" she agreed, abstractedly.
Now" he continued, with a hint Of
anger in his voice, you are going to
tell"
She shook her head slightly.
"Oh, but you are, my lady" And
his tone rasped, quickened with the
latent brutality of the natural GRIM
fnal "And I know that You'll not force