The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1920-08-10
CHAPTER y.

ed. A few minutes more and %hey
would no longer be able to speak free
ly and quietly.
Stephane replied;
IF survive, l swear to fulfil my
task to the end swear II in mem
DRY 80,
In memory of me-" she said In a
firm voice, "in memory Of the Vero-
uique whom you knew and
loved"
I He looked at her passionately:
$50 you known"
yes and 1 tell you frankly, 1 have
read your diary. | know your love for
me and / accept It," She
gave a sad smile "That poor love
which you offered to the woman who
was absent and which you
are now offering to the woman who Is
about to die"
] mo, no." he said, eagerly, don't
believe that Salvation may
be near at hand l feel H.
My love does not belong to the past
but to the future"
/ lie stopped to put his lips 70 her
hands.
kiss me-" she said. Offering him
her forehead.
Each of them had been obliged to
place one foot on the brink OF the
precipice, on the straight edge Of
granite which ran parallel with the
fourth side of the spring-board.
They kissed gravely.
Hold me firmly" said VeroniqUe.
She leant back as far as she could
raising her head, and called in q
muf1ed voice:
Francois o. Francois
but there was no one at the upper
opening, from which the ladder wa
still hanging by one of its hooks, vel
out of reach.
Veronique bent over the sea. At this
spot, the swell OF the cliff did not pro
ject as much as elsewhere, and sh
saw, in between the foam-tuppeC
reefs, q little pool of still water. yer!
calm end SO deep that she could no
see the bottom. She thought tha
death would be gentler there than OF
the sharp pointed rocks and, vie. 1int
to a sudden longing to have done ':itl
IL all and to avoid a lingering agony
she said to Stephane:
why wait for the end? Better di
than suffer this torture"
/ Ia. Lot naA hNVs Il a
the thought that Veronique might dis
appear from his sight
Then you are still hopingT'
Until the last second, since It.
yorr life that's at stake"
! II have no longer any hope"
Nor was he borne up by hope; bu
, he would have given anything 70 lu
Veronique's sufferings and TO bear tn
whole weight of the supreme orc ed
himself.
The floor continued to rise. III
vibration had ceased and the sloI
. became much more marked, alread
!. reaching the bottom of the wicke
: half way up the door. Then thel
!: was a sound like a sudden stoppal
|: of machinery, followed by q violel
}. jolt, and the whole wicket was COZ
/. cred. II was becoming impossible II
]: them to stand erect.
They lay down on the slanting noo
n bracing their feet against the grant
}; edge.
!; Two more jerks occurred, each tin
pushing the upper end still highe
u The top of the inner wall was reacl
* ed; the enormous mechanism mov'
s. slowly forward, along the ceilin
4. towards the opening of the cave. Nh
a could see very plainly that IL wou
Z; At thil opening exactly and close
< Theoretically, like a draw bridge. ~
9 rock had been hewn in such a W;
: that the deadly task might be a
rs complished without leaving any loo
D hole for chance.
Il They did not utter q word, WI
3; hands tight-clasped, they resign
e themselves to the inevitable. The
o: death was assuming the aspect OF I
event decreed by destiny. The m
~ chime had been constructed far ba
in the centuries and had no dou
been reconstructed, repaired and p
in order at a more recent date; a.
during those centuries, worked
invisible executioners, 1t had caus
~ the death of culprits, OF guilty m
and innocent, OF men OF Ameri'
Nv Gaul, France OF foreign lands. PR
oners OF war, sacrilegious monl
re persecuted peasants, renegade ChO
IT, ans and soldiers of the Revolutio
as one by one the monster had hurl
:, them over the cliff.
~ To-day 1t was their turn.
nj They had not even the bitter sola
of rage and hatred.
. Whom were they to hate2 TIL
were dying In the deepest obscuri
n with no hostile face emerging fr
TO that implacable night. They w
~ diving in the accomplishment OF
ms task unknown TO themselves,
Of make up a total, 80 to speak, and
90, the fuflment of absurd prophet
ST. OF imbecile intentions, such as
er orders given by the barbarian &
IS and formulated by fanatical pries
They were--it was a thing unhel
of-the victims OF some expiatt
-. sacri flee, OF some holocaust offe
N, 10 the divinitles OF a blOodthn
creed!
- The wall stood behind them. II
few more minutes II would be peip
dicular The end was approaching
1as Time after time Stephane had
nal hold Veronique back. An increas
% terror distracted her mind
,ed yearned TO fling herself down.
~ "Please, please" she stammel