The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1907-04-20 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

CHAPTER XII.-KNITE AGAINST PISTOL.  A sudden tightening about the heart, and ' a thrill succeeded by an immediate tenseness of the muscles and a moral bracing, warned him that this was Spiro. He had , never seen the man's face clearly before, but the tall form corresponded with the mental picture of the Greek whom Maud Persephone had pointed out to him, dancing at the cafe on the evening of the betrothal. This man was of goodly stature, and his picturesque fustanellas gave him that burly and semi-savage effect which is attained to perfection by the Highlander in kilts. His sturdy legs were encased in skintight trousers of homespun, and he came on with a swinging stride, oscillating his arms, which were slightly bent at !..he el. bows. When first seen at a distance, be made a bright bit of colour against the grey background of rock; his ruffled shirt-bosom, his leggings and his fustanellas were white, but his embroidered jacket with wide blue, while his soft round fez and the pompons at the tips of his tsaroukia or slippers, were of bright red About his waist was a broad leather belt of many pockets, from which peeped the handle, in shape not unlike the butt of a Moorish gun, of a Cretan knife.  Walter gripped his heavy stick a trite tighter, and then strode on, trying to imagine that this was some ordinary meeting, and yet conscious that there was something exaggerated and strained in his air of indifference. Spiro's face, if this were indeed Spiro, was that of a man about thirty-five years of age, bronzed by sun and wind, with high cheek bones, narrow forehead, high, thin nose, shaped like the rudder of a rowboat, a big chin, deeply cleft. Walter wondered if this could indeed be Spiro, and, if so, what he was doing so far from the village. The answer that naturally entered his mind was not reassuring, for if this man had actually peeped over the wall, and had seen his betrothed talking alone at night with a foreigner, then it was very possible that there was murder in his heart; besides, it was plain that the face. at the window was no dream.  liei7-had—n-u-paiiaihr;-f;e-ling of exasperation against Spiro, who had been up to the .present time, a rather shadowy individual in his mind. He certainly did not wish to kill him, cud his unwillingness to be killed by the Greek was even more pronounced. He would have preferred another place of meeting if this were indeed Spiro; he would have liked it better if the path had not been so narrow and the cliff so sheer to the sea below. If one were to fall over there, would he strike deep water, or would he hit some rocks on the way down? A man thinks fast in concentrated moments, and all these thoughts passed through Walter's mind as the Greek advanced toward him. But he did not one whit slacken his own speed or look behind. Here was his opportunity to prove himself, and he did not mean to show the white feather. _  --rchi;t the Greek was only ten paces off. Walter stepped to the right, away from the edge of the precipice, and lifted his hat politely. The Greek returned the salute bowing with what seemed, to the American's suspicions mind, exaggerated court exy. They stood thus for several seconds, looking into each other's eyes, but unable to communicate by means of speech. Walter found the position quite embarrassing, and one which, commonplace as it seemed, offered no immediate prospect of solution, unless the Greek would wish to take the initiative. If Walter passed him, he would be compelled to walk on down the narrow path with his back toward him. On the other hand. it he kept looking backward at the Greek, it would be a cdnfession that be had cause to fear him. At last be smiled. amiably, and, pointing to the monastery, said "Going there, eh, up that way?' The Greek immediately began to talk,