Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1913-04-09
Copyright 1911 by Bobbs-MerriIl Company
Continued from last week.

from which, as in death, there is no
return. She was 30 lonely, so sad
and forlorn, that there was as much
brother as lover IN his sympathy
How patient she had been during all
those inconceivable hardships! How
brave and steady; and never muir
muir! The single glass of wine had
brought the color back to her cheek
and the sparkle into her eye; yet he
was sure that behind this apparent
liveliness lay the pitiful desperation
of the helpless. He had not spoken
again about old Mortimer. He would
wait till after he had sent long
cable. Then he would speak and
show her the answer, of which he
had not a particle of doubt. AS mat
ters now stood, he could not tell her
that he loved her; his Quixotic sense
of chivalry was too strong to permit
this step, urge as his heart might
upon it. She might misinterpret his
love as born of pity, and that would
be the end of everything He was con-
fident now that Ryanne meant moth
ing to her. Her lack Of enthusiasm,
whenever Ryanne spoke to her in
these days; the peculiar horizontally
Of her lips and brows. whenever Ry-
anne offered trifling courtesy-aIl
pointed to distrust. George felt
guilty gladness. After all, why
shouldn't she distrust Ryanne?
George concluded that he must &C
quire patience She was far too loyal
to run away without first giving him
warning. In the event of her refus-
ing Mortimer's roof and protection, he
knew what his plans would be. Some
one else could do the buying for Nor
timer & Jones; his business would be
to revolve round this lonely girl, to
watch and guard her without her be-
ing aware Of it. Of what use were
riches if he could not put them to
whatever use he chose? So he would
wait near her, to see that she came
and went unmolested, till against that
time when she would recognize how
futile her efforts were and how wide
and high the wall Of the world was.
That mother of hers! To his mind
it was positively unreal that one so
charming and lovely should be at
heart strong as the wind and merci-
less as the sea. His mother had been
everything; hers, worse than none,
an eternal question. What a drama
she had moved about in, without IN
Outstanding!
George did not possess that easy
and adjustable sophistry which made
Ryanne look upon smuggling as a
clever game between two cheats. His
point Of view conceded with For
tunes; it was thievery, more or less
condoned, but the ethics covering it
were soundly established. He had
come very near being cuIpable him
self. True, he would not have been
guilty of smuggling for profit; but
none the less he would have tried to
cheat the government His sin had
found him out; he had now neither
the rug nor his thousand pounds.
All these cogitations passed through
his mind, disjointedly, as the dinner
progressed toward it's end They babe
Ackermann good-by and Godspeed, as
he was to leave early for Beirut, upon
his way to Smyrna. Fortune went to
bed; Ryanne sought the billiard
room and knocked about the balls;
while George asked the manager if
he could send a cable from the hotel.
Certainly he could. 1t took some
time to compose the cable to Morti-
mer; and it required some gold be-
sides. Mortimer must have a fair view
of the case; and George presented it,
requesting reply to be sent to Cooks
in Naples, where they expected to be
within ten days.
'How much will this be?"
The porter got out his telegraph
book and studied the rates carefully.
Twelve pounds six, sir"
The porter greeted each sovereign
with a genuflection, the lowest being
the twelfth. George pocketed the re.
ceipt and went in search of Ryanne.
But that gentleman was no longer
in the billiard-room. Indeed, he had
gone quietly to the other hotel and
written a cable himself, the code of
which was not to be found in any
book. For long time he seemed to
DS Ill UOuUI, 1OF no IO1USU ana r6IOIQ-
ed his message half a dozen times be-
fore his actions became decisive. He
tore it up and threw the scraps upon
the floor and fastened into the street,
as if away from temptation. He
walked fast and Indirectly, smoking
|tnnumerable cigarettes. He was fight
ing hard, the evil in him against the
good, the chances of the future against
the irreclaimable past. At the end of
AN hour he returned to the strange ho-
tel. His lips were pulled and bleed.
ing. He had smoked so many ciga.
Tettes and had pulled them so impa-
tiently from his mouth, that the dry
paper had cracked the delicate skin.
He rewrote his cable and paid for
the sending of it. Then he poked
about the unfamiliar corridors till he
found the dingy bar. He sat down be-
fore a peg of whisky, which was fol-