The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1911-06-18
ture, deep sadness in her face and

eyes.
Not cow. please" she murmured,
II must go away and-and think"
But he had no intention of permit
| ting her to escape-nOt until he had
! made her understand
Il must expIan. dear" he added,
| with a smile.
lis it necessary now?" she asked
| h0peleSsIy Il heard it all and-and
Know why you did it. But-but is it
! Fight? Can a woman accept love with
out honOr-unG~r such conditions? III,
| l cannot explain it | do not knoW
| how you men look at these things
But woman must believe in a mans
word know that he is honorable even
| among men, and that his word is
! is
she stopped and turned away with
O weary gesture There was a pathet-
| ic droop to her shoulders. Her mind
| was struggling hopelessiy between de-
sire and d sense Of ethical grief The
man she loved had betrayed his trust,
| yielded to the intimidations Of others,
| but for what purpose? For the love
Of a wUnan, Oh, she could not be-
| lieve that bribery had had any weight
| in the decision He had scorned to
touch the reward offered him, had re-
| fused to do it for her brothers sake,
but could she love him so we'll for
| yielding for her sake?
Then flush of shame mounted her
| cheek and forehead when she recall
ed the words Of Charley, "She needs
the money. and it will make life so diff
ferent to her"
| She bit her lip and faced him reso-
| lutely Her pride would not permit
! her to touch his hand. Those words
marked the impossible gulf With
! quiet reserve she drew herself to her
full height and. with frank eyes meet
| ing his, said:
! There is no need Of explaining.
understand all, and-and thank you for
! your consideration Of me-" The words
/ came hard Poor Charley was be
side himself, frightened into that con
fession and knew not what he was
saying He is weak and easily led,
/ but | thought you Wer>were'-
! Vera" be interrupted as her words
! trailed off on her lips and the fine
eyes fingered awhile to search his
! face-"Vera, there is a misunderstand-
ing. Poor little girl! You have been
! sorely tried-a weak brother and
! lover who yielded to a great tempta-
/ ton"
! He paused a moment, then took her
hand in his and forced her back until
he could look her squarely in the
! eyes.
mot even for your love, dear, would
I have sold my reputation and honor
/ to those villains" he said tenderly,
! but with wistful smile on his lips
IF it makes you love me less to say
| it, you must hear it from my lips now
! It was not Charleys appeal for you
j that made me apparently yield"
| She looked bewildered, but an ex
! preston of relief came into her face
| Still holding her a half willing pris
oner, he continued:
II have not compromised my honor.
nor shall break my word with those
conspirators. They have bungled and
! been caught in their own trap, and /
left them gloating over their supposed
triumph. The mine is not worth more
than they offered the owners. The
vein of gold which they thought
meant fabulous wealth to them is q
false lead. ii does not extend down
a dozen feet. | knew that before ]
went to the meeting, and l shall So
report to the owners. In their eager
ness to perpetrate this swindle and