The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-02-24

meet you halfway the marriage con
tract cannot be broken. In the old
days it was your conscience. The still
small voice seems no longer to trouble
you" turning suggestively to Hillard.
"YOu are stopping at the Hotel taller
II am. You will find me there" re-
turned Hillard, with good understand
ing.
Good! Your highness, tomorrow
night l shall have the extreme pleas
ure Of running your lover through the
throat" He picked up his cap and
took his princely presence u Of their
immediate vicinity.
ut will do my soul good to stand
before that scoundrel." said Hillard,
stretching out his hands and closing
them with crushing force.
La Signorina laid a protesting hand
on his arm.
Il love you" he murmured as he
bent to kiss her hand. And 1t is not
d~ishonorable for you to hear me say
So"
II forbid you to say that" But the
longing Of the world was In her eyes
as she looked down at his head.
This is what comes Of American
girls marrying these blamed foreign
ers," growled the tender hearted
O'Mally. "Why did you do itY
II am almost Italian, Mr.. O'Mally. I
had no choice In the matter. The af-
fair was prearranged by III parents,
after the continental fashion"
When Hillard and La Signorina were
at length alone he asked, when shall
l see you again?'
"Who knows? Some day, perhaps,
when time has softened the sharp
edges of this moment. Tomorrow l
shall write, or very oon."
You will send for meY" with eager
ness and hope.
"Why not? There is nothing wrong
in our friendship, and l prize it.
Promise"
II promise. Goodby! For a little
while / have lived in paradise. Wher-
ever l may be, at the worlds end.
you have but to GILL me. In a month,
In a year, a decade, l shall come.
Goodby!" Without looking at her
again he rushed away.
She remained standing there as mo-
%tionless as a statue. He had not asked
her If she loved him, and that was
well. But there was not at that mo-
ment in all the length and breadth Of
Italy a lonelier woman than her high
mes : the Principessa di Monte Blanca.
Meanwhile the prince, raging,
mounted his horse. Eth, well! This
time tomorrow night the American
should pay dearly for 1t all.
And the woman-he could never
understand her. But for her FOOLS
conscience he would not have been
riding the beggar's horse today. She
was now too self reliant, too intelli-
gent. She was her father over again,
soldier and diplomat.
He was riding past the confines Of the
villa when a man darted out suddenly
from the shadows and seized the bride.
"At last. my prince!"
"GiovanniY'
~Instinctively the prince reached for
his saber, knowing that he had need
Of 1t, but the scabbard was empty.
He cursed the folly which had made
him lose it. Oddly enough, his thought
ran swiftly back to the little casa in
the Sabine hills. Bah! Full of cour
age, knowing that one or the other
would not leave this spot alive, he
struck his horse, with purpose this
time, to run his man down. But Clio
vanni did not lose his hold. Hate and
the nearness Of revenge made him
strong.
"No, nor he laughed. "She Is dead,
my prince. And II was not going to
seek you. l was going to let hell claim
you in it's. own time. But you rode by
me tonight. This Is the end"
The prince unlocked his scabbafd
and swung it aloft. But Giovanni was
fully prepared. He released the bri-
die, his arm went back, and his knife
spun through the air. Yet in that in
slant in which Giovanni's arm was
poised for the cast the prince lifted
his horse on it's launches. The knife
gashed the animal deeply in the neck
Still on its launches, it backed, wild
with the unaccustomed pain. The Lip
of the road, at this spot rotten and
unprotected, gave way. The prince
tried to urge the horse forward. The
hind quarters sank, and the prince
tried in vain to slip from the saddle.
There came a crash, a cry, and horse
and rider went pounding down the
gorge.
Giovanni trembled, and the sweat on
his body grew cold. For several min
utes he waited, dreading, but there
was no further sound. BE searched
mechanically for his knife, recovered
1t and then crept down the abrupt
side Of the gorge till he found them,
They were both dead.
Holy Father, thou hast waited sew.
en- years too long, Giovanni crossed
himself.
He gazed up at the ledge where the
tragedy had begun. The cloud passed
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