The Washington times., 1919-06-16
HEARTS OF THREE
Francis Encounters Band of Natives
Who Would, Make Him Pris-
:..,:. Oner-TOrreS Again -
BY JACK LONDON.

had put up for 'hEs life dssplte the
fact that II was fOredOoned 10
futility.
When she had made Francis roll
up the sleeve and, sxpoae Ais left
forearm, he had seen the Jefe
Politico shrug his shoulders cor
temptuOusly. And he had seen
LeoneIa ding passion Of Spanish
words. too ,duiek for. him to follow,
at Torres. And he had seen and
heard the gesticpIstiOn ADD the
roar Of the mob-dlled courtroom a.
Torres had taken The stapd- ..
UAdsE- Cover.
But what he had not seen was tie
whispered coiloauy between Torres
and the Jsfe, a. the FORMER NaSfih
the thick Of forcing his way
through the press to the witness
box. He no more saw this paFtiGu-
lar side-play than did he know that
Torres was. In the pay Of Regan:tO
keep him away fFpm',Ne York -
long as possible, and 50 long IS
ever, IL possible, nor then did he
know that Torres himself In loYe
with Leoncia, was cOhsumed with
a jealousy that knew no limit 70
it's ire. o. ''
All of5whieh had Blinded Francis
to the play under the Interrogation
OF .TOrres BY Leoncia, which had
compelled Torres to acknowledge
that he had never seen q scar on
Francis Morgan's left forearm.
While Leoneia had looked At the
little old Judge in triumph. the yefe
PoIiticD had, advanced and demaad-
ed OF Torres in ,stentoriap tones:
"Can you swear that you ever
saw a scar on Henry AorgAn'S
arm?
Torres had been bafEled and EN-
barrassed. had looked bewildeF-
ed to the judge and pleading
ness to Leoneia,i and, In the end,
without speech, had shaken his
head that he could not swear.
The roar Of triumph had gone up
from the crowd Of ragamufdnA 'rhe
Judge had pronounced sentence, the
roar had doubled. on itself, and
Francis had been hustled out and
to his cell not entirely unresisting-
ly, by the gendarmes and the COM
missario, all apparently solieittous
of saving him from the mob that
was unwilling to wait till 10 next
morning for his death
That poor dub, Torres, who fen
down on the scar on Henry" Fran
els was meditating sympathetically,
when the bolts OF his cell door shot
back and he arose to greet Leoneia-
But she declined to greet him
for the moment, as she flared red
at the CDmissario in rapid fire
Spanish. with gestures OF command
to which he yielded when he or
,dered the Tailor to. remove the
poems to other cells, and hinlAsif.
with q nervous and apologize
bowling, went out md closed rasa
door.
And then Leoncia broke down.
sobbing on his shoulder, in his arms
1T Is a cursed country, a cursed
country. There is no fair play"
And as Francis held her plant
form, meltingly exquisite in its mad
dingnesS Of woman, he remembered
Henry. in his canvas pants. bare
footed, under his floppy. sombTero.
digging holes in the sand OF the
Bull.
He tried to draw away from the
armful OF deliciousness, apd oRly
half succeeded. Still. at such
slight removal Of distance he e.
sayed the intellectual part, rather
than the emotional part he desired
all too strongly to act
and now I know at last what =
frame-up is" he assured her, far
thest from the promptingS; OF his
heart "If these LAtins Of your
country thought more. eoolly in
stead Of acting so pasaionately,
they might be building railroads
and developing their countly. That
trial was q straight. passionate
frame-up. They just knew / was
guilty, and were 50 eager to punish
me that they wouldn't even both
or for mere evidence or establish
ment OF identity. Why delay? They
knew Henry Morgan had knitted Al
faro, They knew Il was Henry
Morgan. When one knows, why
bother to find out?"
Deaf to his words, sobbipg and
struggling to cling closer while he
spoke, the moment he had finished
she was deep again in his arms,
against him. to him. her lips raised
to his; and ere he was aware, hl8
own lips to hers 49,
II Love Yea"
Il love you. I love you" sbs
whispered brokenly.
mo. no." he dentsJ what nc, mast
desired. Henry and are too
alike. 1t is Henry you love. and
am not Henry"
She tore herself awSv from her
own clinginE, drew Henry's ring
from her. finger, and threw it. On
the floor. Francis WAS 50 beyond
himself that he knew not what was
going to happen the next moment,
and was only. saved from whatever
it might be by the, entrance OF the
Comisario. watch in hand, with
averted face striving to see naught
else than the moments registered
by the secondhand on the dial
She stifened herself proudly. and
all broke down again as Francis
slipped Henry's ring back on her
finger and kissed her hand in faFG-
well. Just as she passed out OF
the door she turned and. with =
whispered movement of the lips
that was devoid Of SOUND" she told
him: Il love you"
Promptly at the stroke OF the
clock, at 10 o'clock. FRANCIS was
led out into the jail patio, where
tonic was jeyously and shoutingly
present, including much Of the
neighboring population and LS-
oncia, Enrico SoIano. and his ive
tall sons. ERrieo and his sons
fumed and Istrutted. but the Jefs'
PoFitico, backed by the. ConlissFjo
and his gepdarmes, was adamank
In-svain. as Francis Was forced -
the foot OF the seaRold. ala Leopiea