The Washington herald., 1911-03-04
CHAPTER xxI11.
cathewe Ak aaestions.


Catheve Asks Questions
The hunter of butterflies rubbed his
released wrists and ankles. tried his col
lar, coughed, and dropped his legs to the
floor.
Il am getting DID, he cried in self
communion: '-near-sighted and old I've
worn spectacles so long in jest that now
1 must wear them IN earnest"
How long have you been hereT asked
Fitzgerald.
IT should say about two hours. 1t was
very simple He came to the door.
opened it He came in. zut! He is as
powerful as a lion"
why didn't you call?'
IT was too busy, and suddenly 1t be-
came too late GoneT'
yes" And Fitzgerald swore as he
rubbed the side Of his head Briefly ne
related what had befallen him.
.@You have never hunted butterfiesT'
mo" sharply. '-Shall we start for
him while his heels arc hotT'
1T is very exciting. 1t is the one thing
1 really care for. There is often danger.
hut il is the kind that does not steal
round your back Hereafter 1 shall de-
vote my time To butterflies. You can
make beIieVe-is that what you call 1t?
each butterfly is a great rascal. The
more difficult the netting, the mere cum
ming the rascal What did you
sayZ'
Look here, Ferraud," cried Fitzgerald
angrily; do you want to catch him or
not? He's gone, and that means he has
got the odd trick-" I"
A. <-NT0
When you set a trap for a rat or a
lion, do you scare the animal into 1t, or
do you lure him with a tempting bait?
1 have laid the trap; he and his friend
Will walk into il. I am not a police
officer. make no arrests My business
is to avert political calamities, without
any one knowing that these calamnes
exist. That is the real business OF
secret agent Let him dig up his fortune.
Who has a better right? Peste! The
Pope will not crown him IN the gardens
of the TuiIeries What" with ring in
his voice Fitzgerald had never heard be-
fore; lam one to be overcome without
q struggle, without a call for help? The
trap is set and in <orty-eight hours II
will be sprung. Be calm, my SON. To-
night we should not find horse or car
riage ir the whole town of Ajaccio."
But what are you going TO dor
10 W 7IIoHS5 " A1iN H -
ground
'.But the admiral!''
Let him gaze into the hole. and then
tell him what you will. / owe him that
much Come on,''
''Where?'
''To the admiral, TO tell him his secre-
tary is fine rogue and that he has
stolen the march on US. good chase
win soften his final disappointment"
You're a strange man"
mo; only what you English and Amer
leans call a game sport. To start on
even terms with man, to give him odds.
if necessary What have beaters for my
rabbits, shoot pigeons from traps? Fl
doncr'
Hang it," growled the young man.
undecided.
MY son, give me my way. Some day
you will be glad. I will tell you this:
am playing against desperate men, and
the liberty. perhaps honor, Of one you
love is menaced.'
MY Godr'
''Shi Ask me nothing; leave it all to
me. There! They are coming Not
word
The admirars fury was boundless, and
his utterances were touched here and
there by strong sailor expressions The
scoundrel! The blacklegI And he had
lTuSIGo T6ScTNdllOu. ne
wanted to start at once. Laura finally
reason of NJ. Ferraud convinced him of
the folly of haste. There was a comic
side TO the picture, too, but they were
all too serious to note it; the varied tints
of the dressing gowns, the bath-slippers
and bare feet, the uncovered threats, the
tousled hair, the eyes still heavy with
sleep. Every one of the party was in
Ferraud's room, and their voices hummed
and murmured and their arms waved.
Only one of them did Ferraud watch
keenly; Hildegarde. How would she act
now?
Fitzgerald's head still rang, and now
his mind was being tortured. Laura in
danger from this madman? No; over his
body first, over his dead body How
often had he smiled at that phrase; but
there was no melodrama in it now. Her
liberty and perhaps her honor! His
strong fingers worked convulsively: to
put them round the blackguard's throat
And to do nothing himself, to wait upon
this Frenchman's own good time, was
Your head It all right now?-' as she
turned to follow the others from the
room.
1T was nothing" He forced smile
to his lips. I'm as fit as a fiddle now;
only, I'll never forgive myself for letting
him go. VIII you tell me one thing?
Did he ever offend you in any way?'
A woman would not call it an offense."
a CLINT of humor in her eyes. Real Of
fense Eo.''
He proposed to your
The suppressed rage in his tone would
have amused il 1t hadn't thrilled her
strangely. 1T would have been pro-
posaI if 1 had not stopped it. Good
night"
He could not see her eyes very well;
there was only one candle burning. I'm
pulsively he snatched at her hand and
kissed It. With his life, If need be; ay,
and gladly And even as she disappeared
into the corridor the thought intruded:
Where was the past. the days of wander
ing. the active and passive adventures.
he had contemplated treasuring up for
club career in his old age? Why, they
had vanished from his mind as thin ice
vanishes in the spring sunshine To love
is to be born again.
And Laura? She possessed secret
that terrified her one moment and enrap-
tured her the next. And she marveled
that there was no shame in her heart
Never in all her life before had she done
such a thing; she, who had gone SO calm
~ through her young years. wondering
what 1t was that had made men turn
away from her with agony written on
their facesi She would never be the same
again, and the hand she held softly
against her cheek would never be the
same hand. Where was the tranquility
Of that morning?
Fitzgerald found himself alone with
Ferraud again. There was going to be no
assembling; he was going to speak
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