The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1911-11-24

@7f verely. you betrayed me,
III whom you professed to
serve. You would now betray him to
whom you have transferred your al
legiance."
"For your sake" he answered. DO
not forget that"
For my sake?"
:You are a princess In Drussenland,
You would be queen. AS your knight
| could but draw good sword in your
service; as a king l can give you my
hand to help you mount the throne you
covet''
81 have ceased to covet a throne. To
morrow l die
Never by my will l am here to
save you. By the kings permission l
am here If can win your consent to
be my wife he has promised you life
and freedom. Even so far is Count
vasca powerful But l have far
greater aim. Consent, and we will
leave this dungeon and the city. Be
| fore nightfall tomorrow Yadasara will
be in our hands. the king our prisoner.
| 1t wants but the sharp note of trum-
pet to call half the city to my banner.
"Then let the trumpet sound at day
break. Revolution will shake the city,
and I shall be saved
He paused a moment.
1.-THE fortress is not yet in my hands,
else had not been forced to gain the
kings permission before | came to
you. cannot save you unless you
come with me. From this dungeon
the king protects us, afterward my
friends-your subjects"
! "And Sir Verrall?"
Him l cannot save. l would have
done so if l could. but it is impossible.
NY followers demand his death, as
they do the death of all those who
have been brought into this land to
| fight for hire. He is a foreigner-a
brave man. grant-still, foreigner"
"Yet you will be king tomorrow. so
you tell me-"
AYE. as surely as that torch begins
to burn low and shows that time clam
ors for your answer"
| He spoke in different tone. | per
ceived that his patience was nearly
exhausted.
my answer is no." she said firmly.
1.-THE rack is a cruel companion,
princess. Were l the greatest villain
in Drussenland, yet should be a gen
tier comrade than the rack"
''The rack kills the body. villain
would break my heart
Thine is meaningless when in the
racks embrace" he answered. Every
second is an hour when agony thrills
through every nerve. You may live
for hours, and hours in such a case
mean a lifetime.-
Yet | shall die honestly, loving a
! erue man. Can a lifetime, be 1t of
hours or years, be better spentT'
"You love this foreign .dog?"
las my owp soul"
She rose to her feet as she said it.
My time had nearly come. Cautious
" | felt that my sword was loose in
| its scabbard
The torch burns low. Think once
more"
I wondered how he intended to take
her without her consent. as O'Ryan
had said he might do. Would he at
tempt to drug herr Suddenly he drew
| his sword Was he about to wound
her and thus secure her? He stirred
| the torch into a brighter flame with
the point of his weapon
See. | make the time as long as
possible" he said defantly.
Though all the torches in Drussen-
| land were here and each one were
| lighted from the dying fame of an
other. yet that time would not suffice
to make me change" said Daria slow
| ly. Il believe know-that the God
who looks down upon us will give me
strength to bear what is before me-
Go. Count Vasca. go. You are a dou-
BILE traitor. See that do not betray
you when the rack cracks these limbs
of mine"
II will see to that" he answered
] harshly. "Your folly shall neither XIII
my ambition nor make me careless