Middletown transcript., 1914-07-18

I'LL. Day the worn IudI Will df1AAJ es--0
1 will see to it that the vital evidence
is missing, that he remains unscathed.
Marry mel"
''Neverl" cried. 81 lOathe you and
despise you"
81 am unfortunately aware OF that,
he answered. Nevertheless, you shall
have the completest liberty. Until /
win your love shall never molest you.
You will be free to come and to go;
only ask you to go through the form
of the ceremony with me-"
You may plead forever" an
swered, "but you will waste your
breath. l do not believe word Of
your concoction of falsehoods, and, II l
did, would not marry you.
mot to save Clichy?"
"How- how" stammered.
Marry me and, on the day Of the
ceremony soon as the union has
been pronounced-I will present your
grandfather with full and free re-
lease"
"You will induce your father to fore
go his revenge?" I cried. "You lack
the power monsieur. Not for a thou
sand worlds would he be balSed now,
after these years of scheming."
"He must" answered Leopold. 81
have MIN in my power. He knows 1t;
that is why he made terms with me-
Howl"
Because I hold your bonds" he an
swered. you know their value now"
"They are his; have sold them"
anne" said by persecutor, I'VE are
wasting words. Can never convince
you? Listen! Give me your solemn
promise to marry me and, on the morn
ing of the ceremony will restore Gil
chy to your grandfather. And the chew
alier shall go free"
"Wait-wait!" I cried desperately,
trying to pierce the tangled net Of
cunning that surrounded me. Give
me until tomorrow to make my de-
cision."
Suddenly he seized my hand.
20, Anne, be wise," he cried. Il love
you; l worship you; you are the one
woman have loved out Of all who
have come into my life. You can re-
deem me with your goodness. Marry
me and 1 swear to heaven that will
adore you, will be your slave. l will
consecrate my life to you. love you
Anne"
And falling at my feet, he poured
forth a more impassioned plea to me.
1t was impossible to mistake the sin
cerity Of his passion; l could not but
recognize that in this, at least, he was
not base. l turned away and left him
kneeling in the path.
In the hallway l met Charles. /
feared that he would see my agitated
face, but his own was so distressed
that feared that the greatest Of sor-
rows must have come to him.
THE comte!" gasped; and then !
noticed that in one hand he held a
can Of kerosene.
"My monoplane," he answered wild
ly. 'T am going to burn her, Anne.
She shall never fall into his clutches,
she who bore US aloft that splendid
day"
Il took the can from him. wait
until tomorrow, Charles" l whispered
Much may happen by then"
l left him standing irresolute and
went up to my room and sat down in
a chair. 1 did not weep. My brain
was in a whirl, and a thousand
thoughts and doubts oppressed me.
Magniff's threats, his infamous sugges-
tions as to the honor of my fiance, the
imminent loss Of Clichy-an this pre-
sented aspects and strove dimly to
pierce to the heart of the problem
which confronted me.
If l married Magniff, Cichy would
at least be saved. That seemed the
chief consideration. My happiness
that of Charles, even, was nothing
compared to the preservation Of the
old home that had w1thstood SO many
vicissitudes. Other women, braver
than l. had sacrificed themselves in
the past for Chateau Clichy. Then
why not I, even though 1 should kill
myself afterwards?
Then, in the midst of these cogita-
tions there flashed into my mind, in
the most incongruous way, the. mem
ory of Mr.. Spratt.
Angrily sought to free myself from
this recollection. What had this lit
tie Winnipeg teacher to do with my
present troubles? He was the last,
the very last and least thought that
should come to me. But my mind wan
dered, and again seemed to see him
bidding me a timid farewell upon the
Winnipeg platform. MY great work,
Miss Ives," he painted, offering me the
code. "The work Of many years. Take
it; you will need it in France" His
odious little rabbit-like face rose up so
plainly in my minds eye that seemed
to visualize him in the room, and 1
pressed my fingers hard upon my eye
lids in .fruitless effort to dismiss him
/ rose at last, still miserably uncer-
tain. My suitcase lay packed upon
the bureau and, opening it idly,
caught sight Of that wretched gift of
Mr.. Spratt to me. / raised it; an en-
velope fell from beneath the paper
cover. 1 opened it-and recoiled with
a suppressed scream.
Five bank-notes, of the value Of one
| hundred pounds apiece, fluttered upon