Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-04-18

undoubtedly near this one who even commanded
the hghtnings to do his will.
CHAPTER VIII.
An Armed Neutrality.
CURIOUSLY Hugo Loubeoue watched 4be on
orator as he settled back in his chair al
most Immediately receiving the flash that a mes
sage was on the way to him from some unseen,
unknown source The brief fraction of a second
etched every incident that followed clearly lpou
his brain. f
Came long silver of light that seemed to
Judge the switchboard violently from its fast
enings a shaft that reached out and pierced him
through and through, binding him with its
bursting light-vapor. Then Loubeque felt him
self falling, falling into pit that seemed to
nave no bottom. He was vaguely conscious of
cries plying hands, being lifted and carried
somewhere, of low murmurng voices purposelv
hushed, then q heavy, black silence.
1t was hours before he could piece together
what had happened, how he chanced to be in
bed, what the of the terrible throbbipp
pains upon his arms and torso was Then the
wonder of Lucile's being with him, ministering
TO him, drove every pain away and he watched
her from under cover of his heavy ashes as she
moved about the stateroom quiet COOL svm-
pathetic. 1t had seemed impossible that Lucille
should ever be near him, that she should come
back to him after all the years, that the days
at West Point with the eliminating horror of
that dismissal should be forgotten
He Strengthened in bed so abruptly as to
orlng moan of anguish from his lips. In the
lassitude induced by his burns and the shock of
the wireless room explosion he had concentrated
the forty years that were past into the living
presence of the daughter of the woman he had
loved at that time. And this no more girl,
but woman with all the capacity for love and
hate that ever woman had. And she was his
enemy
The impulse to speak with her. to order her
away, was strong upon him, but he conquered it,
the habit of carefully planning before doing
anything coming to the fore again despite his
pain. He must not show resentment of her kind
~ interest must not betray the fact that he
had papers for which she was looking He must
be very certain of his ground with this girl for
definite purpose was behind her strange board
ing OF the liner; the coincidence of her tending
him was too strange to be unprecedented.
You are very kind" he smiled as, seeing he
had returned to consciousness, she softly crossed
the floor, balancing herself against the motion
OF the liner as though she a part of the
boat. There was an explosion in the wireless
room, there not?"
You must not talk till the surgeon comes,'
she smiled Il must obey orders, you know, be-
cause L am only volunteer"
"A volunteer! You volunteered to help a
stranger!
But you are not stranger" She smiled
curiously, wrinBing her nose in a delightful
way he remembered her mother to have had.
You knew my name and that made me feel
really acquainted when you were hurt" There
was something penetrating in the eyes fastened
upon his own, something guileful about the sug-
gest1ve expression of her tones that put him in
stantly on guard. He closed his eyes again and
simulated slumber, and then stealing a
glance at her as she sat opposite him, her pretty
brows bent in thought
Day followed day with his faculties
fastened on the necessity for caution. A curious
sort of friendship sprang up between them q
friendship partaking more of armed neutral
ity without the formality of flag of truce than
anything else he could imagine. Without men
tioning their mutual attitude both recognized
the enmity that must exist between them, both
knew the other was conscious of the. others
thoughts.
Times there were when Lucille would find
herself wandering in memory fields back to the
days at Manila. And times there were when she
would have to conquer the impulse to take this
powerful, sardonic, silent she nursed and
shake the secret of the papers from him. Then
again she would be all compassion, her very
heart crying out in it's innocence against the
bitterness that poisoned her patients heart and
soul. Something within her told her of the times
when his eyes would soften and the natural af-
fection within him would attempt to steal
through the shell with which his hate had en-
crusted him. And then she would fight down
with an effort the impulse to throw herself upon
the better nature she knew he making such
an effort TO hide to plead with him for the
happiness he had stolen from her. for the honor
of the she loved
Nature weakens the body that it may nour-
ish the soul. But with the alienation of Hugo
Loubeque's sufferings the old animosity and pur-
pose fourished with redoubled vigor. This girl
nau undouDtedly sought the opportunity OF nurs-
ing him that she might defeat his purpose. She
the daughter of the he had spent his
life in working out complete degradation for.
He must fight down the weakness which assaied
him when her resemblance to the Lucille of
forty years ago surged strong within him; he
must fight against her he would fight against
anyone else, he had fought against the very
world.
And Lucille felt the change, felt it and re-
doubled her effort to get the secret of the stolen
papers. The spirit of the game in her and
she yielded grudging admiration for the cum
ming of the who, even in his most acute
suffering, managed to conceal everything from
her. Even in delirium his powerful brain resisted
her suggestions, her hints
Detective stories she had read and she tried
now to bring the methods of those sleuths of
fiction to her aid. Strangely enough though she
recalled their exploits WELL these heroes seemed
febrilee puppets when compared to the man she
nursed. One story alone had impressed itself
upon her and she knew there was chance to
use the ingenious method of that one who had