, 1910-02-17

'oDlem Inc Question.
must ne pursued to the bitter end. NV
NE your life depends upon what
we 10 now. perhaps his life, too"
u God,' cried the man. ~recurrin,
again to that bitter thought. 81 had
nun IN my hands and spared himrp.
But you spared him for my sake ;,
SAD the woman; think of that"
For your sake declared the man
pointedly. 81 would and should bava
killed him"
shalt not kill" said the WON.
an, softly.
An eye for an eye. and a tooth
Tor a tooth" returned the man. "He
ma you between you slew my heart
His death would be no murder. hut
retribution."
BHt = was in part my fault" re
woman, bravely making her
confession.
I viii never believe it. 1t cannot
Le."
Ana vet it was. but you shall have
the %hole wretched story to-day, and
you snail judge. This much | will
say, that tholgh all that he said was
true. yet I hold myself blameless and
innocent. The world judges me
harshiy. and it may be that you will
find its judgment just. Yet / do not
hold myself as on trial at this moment,
but you"
Il do not understand"
There are many things that you do
not understand, my friend"
u would that | had been left in L.
%nordnce."
Nay, that is not a mans wish, but
a child's.H
"Of one thing I am certain"
And what is that?'
That should have killed him!"
Nay" said the woman again, that
Is not a child's wish, but a brute's."
You said yourself" he flashed al
her, that there were some things a
woman could not forgive, and this
is one that a mar puts in the same
class"
The woman sighed. There occurred
to her at the moment no answer which
was adequate to the stark realism OF
this fact The conversation had reached
an impasse beyond which 1t could not
progress without the full and com.
Pie, explanation which now there wal
neither time o opportunity to give,
for the boat from the man-of-war was
approaching the shore. The woman
stepped resolutely down the strand to
meet It, and the man, after q slight
hesitation, followed her.
So soon as the boats keel grated on
the bottom in the shallow water a
m~iddle-aged officer rose from the stern
sheets n stepped ashore followed
by a younger companion in the uni
form of a sergeant of marines. A
little squad of privates in the bows
':elerity and precision. The officer in
charge, who wore the white tropfc uni
form of a lieutenant commander, now
faced the people on the island who
had instinctively divided into two
groups, n on either side of him.
To the right stood the man and be-
hind him the woman, to the left Lang
ford, back of him his crew. 1t was
to the latter that the officer first ad.
dressed himself.
Sir" he began. 81 am the execu-
tive officer of the United States
cruiser Cheyenne, detached on special
service. We raised this island this
morning, raj it down. circled it. saw
the yacht yonder-"
He paused.
1T is my yacht, sir, the Southern
Cross" answered the other. MY
name is Langford."
Glad to meet you, Mr.. Langford.
Mine is Whitaker"
The lieutenant commander touched
his cap as he spoke. Langford lifted
his, and the W o shook hands.
we saw" continued the lieutenant
commander. what appeared to be
some sort of a fracas with the natives
and fired a gun to attract attention,
n Capt. Ashby sent this boat party
ashore under my charge to do what
ever was necessary. Perhaps you can
explain how you came to be en-
broiled with the natives"
Sir" said the woman And the
fact that she addressed him in his own
language. and with the cultured &C.
cents of the well-bred and the we'll
educated, caused the officer to start
violently-'the island is mine"
Mr.. Whitaker turned and looked
deliberately at her, his surprise only
equaled by his admiration. The tunic
that she wore was a rough garment.
and shapeless. but few vestments were
better calculated to set of her ex-
quisite proportions, The grace and
beauty OF her figure, the nobility and
intelligence of her face took added
luster from the contrast of the utterly
simple. natural and primitive. Whit
takers glance fell upon a well-nigh per-
feet woman The constraining inffu-
ences of civilization had been so long
absent that nature had time and OPP
rortunity to reassert its claim. She
was fall. exuuisitely modelled. Her