The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1916-06-23

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he gave me-here." He paused, sto
ically unconscious of the almost the,
atrical tension which his silence
caused. Farquhar glanced about him.
His own pulses were beating faster.
"Well?" 1t was Lowe who had
broken the intolerabe silence. He
had never for an instant lifted his eyes
| from the face of the man seated be,
meath the light and now he took a
step forward as though to meet the
! answer. Arnaud looked up with a
twitching smile. He put his hand to
his breast pocket and drew out thir
sheaf Of transparent paper and LAID
it OH the table.
lie voila!' he said.
| For 4 full minute no one spoke q
! word. Each mans attention was cen
| tered on the silent, deadly witness
against the honor of one among them
| Then Farquhar looked up and met Ar
naud's eyes. He read there more than
mere bravado-a nerveless, hideous
| fear, the panic-stricken appeal of a
| man who has trembled for days on the
brink of ruin and feels the ground
| slipping beneath him. And this was
| Sylvia's Omney's future! Farquhal
turned involuntarily to Lowe. A
faint ironical smile played around the
mans hard mouth. 1t was the meres,
shadow, but it bespoke a purpose trt
umphantly accomplished.
Captain Arnaud has saved a great
| deal of trouble" he observed brutally.
Still Arnaud did not move. His
white hands lay paralyzed in front OF
him, and his eyes had become blank
and stupid looking, like those of ar
animal which is being done to death
Richard Farquhar took a step nearer.
and, picking up the papers, held them
as though weighing them.
wait a minute. Don't be in such
a hurry 1 take the responsibility for
this business
They stared at him. He was still
weighing the papers and smiling rather
| wryly. He was thinking Of Sylvia at
that moment, and Preston's stricken
cry OF horror sounded dull and far off
| "You! What do you mean, Far
quhar? l won't believe it. It's intol-
erable-impossible. Say you didn't
didn't sell them, Farquhar!
Captain Arnaud will explain" was
the answer.
| Arnaud rose slowly to his feet. He
was staring across the table into Far
quhar's face, stupidity, incredulously,
and when he spoke it was in the mono
| tone of a man under a hypnotic com.
mand
They were offered me-" he said.
| 'I.ieutenant Farquhar offered them to
me. / disliked it; but l am a good
| Frenchman, and the temptation was
too great l bought them. l can only
add-that l regret" He stammered
| and broke off with a real helplessness.
| FarQuhar turned from him to Sower.
The latter's fea lures had assumed q
mask of ironical acceptance.
I'm that case there is no more to be
said,'' he observed coolly. I'VE can
now credit Mr.. Farquhar's statement"
| Farquhar bowed. J.
THANK you," he said simply.
| Preston crossed the room and flung
open the door with a cool deliberation.
"Good-by, Farquhar 1 hope you have
decency enough left to know what to
do"
| For short space which seemed an
eternity Farquhar hesitated. The
scorn and bitterness in the boys eyes
had stung him. An hour ago he had
been half hero, and now was moth
| ing, beneath even contempt Then he,
too. bowed.
II resigned my commission this
morning"
God be thanked for that
He went down the narrow stairs into
the street. Someone touched him on
the arm. He turned and saw Arnaud
"a new Arnaud. grown calm, almost
Indifferent. He was smoking. and the
| faint reflection from his cigar lighted
up the white composure of his features
Il want to speak to you for a mo-
ment,' he said. Il want to ask yOu--
why you did that?" Farquhar made
no answer, and lie went on deliber-
| ately: You are not mad. You do not
| love me. You have good reason to hate
| me-
You are to be Miss Omney's hus-
band. My feelings toward her have not
| changed | considered it my business
to defend you. The sacrifice was not
so great as it may seem. l had lost
practically everything before. What
remained | chose to lose in my own
way"
1T wasn't all for myself. l was
pretty desperate and not SO cool when
! Lowe came with his second offer. You
can guess what that was. Compared
to betraying ones own country it
seemed clean business. And I let you
bear the brunt. How does that strike
you?'
"Panic-the instinct of self-preser-
vation. l counted on it. The future
will be different
How do you mean?"
Farquhar turned round and faced
| him with deliberate significance.
1T must be-" he said. ''As for me.
| am done for. Though no one will
speak of what has happened, the fact
remains. Miss Omney believes in you
and so do Ito some extent | am
sufficiently in sympathy with you to
credit the sincerity of your feelings.
Am | justiied?"
| Arnaud met his eyes full.
You are
We'll. that is what believe I hold
you in pawn. Captain Arnaud. for your
wife's happiness. If you fail her il
yCsl risk her faith in you a second time,
shall not hesitate TO act"
He lifted his hat tremendously and
passed along the narrow street to the
great thoroughfare beyond.
| II viii Farquhar's influence over
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