San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-08-09

answer.
cts de Barsac, Chatterton," he
said, with spasm twitching his
lips. "Haven't you guessed that
yet? "A marriage has been ar
ranged Judy forgot to tell us
when we were all behaving so dra'
matically last night"
Judy took her eyes from the
laughing brown faces which sur
rounded the crriage and looked at
Tony gravely. The lined accusa-
ton of his eyes hurt her through
all the bewilderment of her soul.
She saw his belief. He believed
that she had known of these cele-
brations which had turned San
MARITIME into little carnival city;
that she was an open-eyed accom-
plice of de Barsac.
"You are very generous, Tony"
she said quietly.
A shower of rose-petals scat
tered the carriage. Judy felt a
contraction in her throat at the
thought of the audacious stroke
which Leon de Barsac had made.
1t was beginning to dawn upon her
clearly. He and Gossec had simp-
ly come to San MARITIME town
and announced the immediate
wedding of Ezra van "Opens
daughter, and the French, chevalier
to whom she was betrothed. A few
thousand lire, flung generously,
and general holiday proclaimed,
a gift to the village of Tagliari to
soothe its disappointment. The
scheme must have been simple.
All this flashed across Judy's
brain in quick understanding.
"Good Lord, what's this they're
bringing?"
John Chatterton raised an i'm
passive face. Down the steep
slope of side street a trundling
wagon, ribboned and buried deep
in flower-clusters came, drawn by
a score of-men. A hum of excite
ment arose from the throng of
color and peasant mirth which Vi
brated around the galera.
81 think they mean to take US
up to the palazza in ii" Judy said.
She had the feeling of one
caught up in some fantasia fairy
play, and that gave her a GOODNESS
that she could not otherwise have,
had. Only when she looked at
Chatterton, who sat with the limp
reins in his hand and his elbows
resting on his knees like one who
watched a spectacular frolic, did
she regain touch with life and
reality.
you're not going" he said I'M
emotionally, "are you, Judy?"
Her hands closed upon the cool
petals of flower that had fallen
into her lap.
81 shall have to-" she replied,
and again, 81 shall have to-"
She knew she was trembling.
All at once she wanted ChattertOn
to touch and hold her. The depths
of peril which had surrounded her
always on that wild adventure,
seemed to be revealed for the first
time in the laughing eyes of those
simple half-civilized islanders, who
believed that she was their owner
and mistress.
you're frightened" Chatter
ton said softly. by Heaven,
you're frightened, little Judy
frightened at last"
The tenderness and fire in his
brown eyes made her close her
own. His sunburnt hands fell on
hers, imprisoning it between them.
"Tell them" he said, "tell them,
Judy. It's not too late. You can
speak their language. They'll be-
lieve anything you say. Stand up
and tell them. Tell them that
there's a mistake in the bride
groom, and that de Barsac is a
wrong 'un. Let them know that
I'm going to marry you today, and
not him. It's got to be, little girl.
Some day and soon. We might as
well do it while they've got their
Sunday things on. Stand up, Judy,
and-tell them. They'll believe"
He spoke swiftly. Beneath the
beating blue sky, with the sea of
sun-burnt faces around them, his
voice vibrated passion and pro-
lection. All the cold strength and
mastery which had made her think
of herself as his prisoner was gone.
"Why should II" she whispered.
The pulse in every part of her
body was beating as it had been
beaten after she had trapped him
in the palaZaa with her kisses.
because 1 want a mate" he
answered harshly. "A mate who
can do all you have done, and yet
compel me to keep on loving her"
He did not look at her. Neither
looked at the other. The carnival
car was rolling alongside the car
riage, with its painted and be-
jewelled driver waving his whip
merrily. Only a very few minutes
had passed since the carriage had
stopped. But time was a phantom
TO Judy just then, and nothing was
real except the man beside her.
"If I did"-she spoke inco.
herently. "If l stood up and told
them that you-yOu we're going to
marry me today and they believed
me, what would happen to the
island? Could you give it to me
as a wedding-gift as you promised?
And should | be able to do as /
q