, 1910-01-27

spe mao dreaded SO wnen she red
from that vessel In the launch, which
she had dreaded for a time in the
first period of her %sojourn on the is
land, had come to pass. It was the
very yacht from which she had es-
capped. Undoubtedly 1t bore the man
from whom she had fed. He had
come to claim her. OF all the TEEN
ing millions which the world held, this
was he whom she would fain have
avoided. Rather anyone and every
n had come to her than hei 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 beer other than 1t was,
he must now learn by the brutal force
o: circumstances. through some com
polling necessity which she could moi
In any way influence or alter. She
loathed the man who was coming to
aid har Her Christianity trembled in
the balance. She would f.in have
called invectives own UPON his head.
and for the moment she swept the
whole sex together in one unreasoning
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
f1uence of 1t he kept his distance. She
saw the way of the yacht checked. She
saw the boat dropped from III 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, comprehended
nothing, suspected nothing. His only
realization was that she, his gentle
goddess, whom he had loved, WIS
angry with him, so far as he was con
cerned, without rhyme or reason or
cause.
The %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 n there
was bewilderment in his dismay.
Nothing had given him power to solve
the enigma OF her conduct. Where she
Qnzal With cnripuc intnptnncu ba
looked listlessly. Her heart smote
her again. The sense of justice upon
which she prided herself came to her
rescue. h stepped close to him and
laid her hand upon his arm.
Forgive met" she and
her heart leaped within her bosom to
meet the great flush of pleasure in his
face as he responded instantly to her
caress and her appeal.
You said you knew men," the man
asked as they threaded their way
through the trees and won the hill
along the familiar path, do you know
anyone on that ship, do you Think"
The question was an absurd one I'm,
der almost n other circumstances
than that. Yet chance had shown him
aiC ohc punt III e dIulOl anu HIS
innocent md casual question had
driven into her soul a stab. Evasion
should lave been easy. Indeed, his
trust in her was so great that deceit
would have been simple. But she had
always told him the truth and she
could not begin now.
YES" she said, 81 think | do"
He stopped abruptly, illumination
and anguish, the light Of pain in his
soul.
Was 1t because you know that man
that you suffered so on the hill?"
Yes" she said. again forcing her
self to speak.
"1e he one OF those who loved your
"He said so, but"
"And you, did o love him?"
81 hate him"
"Why?" asked the man sternly.
Had he injured you in some way?'
I'm the greatest way" she answered
with deepening gravity. And here her
sense of Justice pricked her. But it
was partly my fault"
"And have you forgiven him?" he
asked with a little ~softening of his
voice.
To him forgiveness was as natural
and inevitable as breathing. In his
ethics there was no other course. He
a never a anything to forgive, be
1t remembered. She was not so true
to her standards as the man she had