The Washington times., 1911-04-28
-Milady of the Mercenaries
y LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE
Copyright The Frank A. Munsey Company.

| ard sat astIide a horse; and by his side,
also mounted was Mr.. Arthur.
Hold on. jose" Curtice heard the
latter say; I'm not ready to shoot 'em
vet. I want to talk to these very reck-
less young peoDle!"
The mercenary snarled cruelty; he
was lusting for the blood of Cur
tice, and he liked it i'll that he should
'All right" he told the woman. But
be quick"
I'm likely to take my time" she an
] swered insolently. Il think we've set
| tied the question as TO who commands
| here"
tie. senora," he said. meeting her eyes
without giving an inch: land that is
| concerning the death of this man, Senior
Crtice. Upon that / am determined,
and YOU may as well swallow it. Cap
tain "-hc turned to the commander Of
me company-'s those men and bind
them securely. Put them up against the
church-wall yonder. Station a file of
men ready to shoot them. and-well
then You may permit the sonora to con-
verse with them for a little space"
The woman bit her lip, controlling her
self with some eXertion. She was dress
ed as OF old. when she had been the
dominant influence aboard the Miranda
J.. in the character OF Mr.. Arthur. The
yellow wig was gone, and the rouge
wherewith she had dabhed her cheeks
TO the undoing Of Malone was missing;
her shallow eyes were as inscrutable as
ever, and her glance as unashamed
CurtiCe thought her masculine attire the
more fitting to her; she seemed to him
A sort of seNless creature. having little
Of the tenderness of woman or the quail
ity Of mercy that is in most men.
And this was the woman who had
humhlcd herself to his feet begging for
his love! AS the native soldiers bound
his arms behind his back and squared
his shoulders against the saffron wall
whose pitted surface told that it had
served before as place of execution,
he caught himself wondering what man.
nor of love was hers to give. The man
who, within the last few days, had come
to know what a gracious gift was the
heart Of a pare woman, and how ur-
worthy of her he must ever be. could
not comprehend what fashion of loving
might belong to this woman of blood
and iron and double dealing.
He met her gaze for a moment with
his puzzled stare: at which she dropped
her heavy lids, and the blood rose slow
" TO her cheeks For the first time per-
haps, in her life she stood abashed be-
fore the eyes of man. And for some
reason Curtice. too, felt impelled to look
away from her. 1t would be his last mic
ture OF this world to carry into the next:
he would drink his fll of It, sordid and
mean ana commonplace as was the
scene For all that. 1t was a part OF
the world with a wide catholicitv: It
went rather hard that he must leave it
lust al this time at the dawn of-but
he dared not think of that, even as he
dared not look at her. his sweetheart.
TIe knew that she stood apart, a pri-
vate holding her either arm, out Of
range of the firing line: and he could
feel the dull. hopeless agony of her ex-
preston. He knew that her dear eyes
would not leave his face until
Rut he must think Of the world il his
thoughts went to her, he would become
unnerved. and fail to face his death like
man.
The sky he observed. was deeply blue
and unlocked. with the great sun hang
ing high in ITS midst, like a shield of
blazing brass-a sun pitiless as Lazard.
The heat devils were dancing above the
piazza, and the shadows were purplish-
blue and hot There were chickens
scratching in the dust and some of the
inha bitants were clustered, languidly
watching. One little black piCkaninny
stared at him with open mouth and
wide, wondering. vacant eyes. Then
there was the sea, SO softly blue.
The Injun Ocean sets and smiles,
So soft, so bright. so blooming blue"
And there was the cap'ns ship. 1t
seemed pity that they couldn't let the
old man go back to his vessel!