The Washington times., 1911-04-11
CHAPTER XIX.
- HE man Burke stood stiffiy at at
tention. His set features, mod
eled to impassivity during long

- HE man Burke stood stiffy at at
| tention. His set features, mod
eled to impassivity during long
years of service, were fixed yet
| more firmly than was their wont. By
| his side was a chair upon which he had
arranged the evening clothes of the
president, his master, to wait until their
owner should be pleased to don them.
Malone himself strode restlessly from
| wall to wall of his room in the steel eK-
tension Of the Green House. A cigar
between his teeth held an inch Of cold
no rose-red soul of My Lady Nicotine
the president. deep In the valley of
! thought, had suffered It to expire before
| its time. His hands were thrust far into
the depths Of his trousers pockets; his
shoulders slouched as II bowed with
the weight of his years, or as II care
, sat there enthroned. He had none of
the alert, military erectness which
characterized his figure during his pub
lie appearances.
FROM wall to wall the PAGES were
| twelve; Burke counted them as the
president measured them off with the
monotonous. insistent regularity Of a
pendulum One, two-and so to eleven ;
of the left foot, to repeat the maneuver.
Meanwhile, Malone grumbled softly and
chewed the damp, dead butt Of the cigar
impatiently.
IneTe are men VINO cannot IIllnK wen
II they are not on their feet; movement
swings their thoughts into line as alb
solute inaction does in others. OF these
Malone of Anahuac was one; the vola-
tile, virile Cclt that was in him might
not rest and plan. And now the presi-
dent plapned-laid out q campaign OF
conquest, nor dreamed that he followed
but in the lines anticipated for him
by a mind to which his type Of strategy
was as a book welcomed.
Burke received no reply; nor had he
expected one. He shifted ever so slight
ly upon his heel and resumed his
apathetic demeanor-shoulders back,
chin up, eyes to the front-staring va
cantiy at nothing-ntddie fingers at the
seams of his trousers. But the lines at
the corners of his mouth froze still
more rigidly; he disapproved, and was
unable to express his dissatisfaction
other than by those hard wrinkles. But
upon the corner of the portrait directly
opposite him, missed not one motion OF
Malone's.
He loved this man; he would lay down
his life for him. He loved him with the
unreasoning devotion of a dog. with the
blind obedience which a soldier accords
a trusted commander, with the loyalty
with which his father had served the
parent of Barry Ney Malone. 1t had
been ever thus. A Burke had been the
trusted servant of a Malone beyond the
memory of either family. OF old the
Burkes had furnished the arms that
the MRlones welded, the armor that
protected them; Of late they had added
to the duties Of bodyguard and watch
dog the personal attendance OF Wallets
and the responsibility of tried and
proven friends.
II now Burke dared to show displeas-
ure, it was with the license Of his 10y
atty The presidents companion from
childhood, he knew Malone better than
he knew himself Hts masters thoughts,
ambitions, desires, were common prop
erty with Burke, whose instant percep-
ton of Barry's least inmost emotion
made attempts at concealment futile.
Burke knew very well what agitated
the president. He perceived most clear
ly the pole to which pointed the mag
netic needle of his mind; 1t had been
given to Burke lately that he should
see the Sonora de Casada, the lady of
the Paseo de la Independence; and he
had identified her no less quickly than
had his master with one Adele of the
almost forgotten, save by Burke.
In that bygone time she had held an
influence over Malone which had been
hard to break; the valet felt that 1t was
not unreasonable to suppose that she
might regain her prestige over his mas
ter's mind. He allowed for her physi-
cal attractions, for her sensual mag
retism, for the weakness of the pres-
dent, for his lonely estate, and for hts
inherent gallantry-using that word
with its baser modern meaning. Given
these elements in the crueible of sex,
one instant's flame of passion-even OF
duration no longer than that of a light
ming fash-would fuse them inseparably.
The president, the adventurer, would
thereafter be bound to the chariot
wheels Of the adventures, whom Burke
feared instinctively.
That any one person, male or Iemale'
should acquire an influence over Malone
would be dangerous in the extreme at
such a time as this. when men OF all
parties and classes were wearied of the
foreigner's rule and athirst for the ex-
citement Of a change, waiting but for
one who, bolder than his brothers,
should raise the fiery cross and sweep
ton. Dangerous? Aye. suicidal would
it be for the president to allow himself
to become entangled with an outsider.
ra