Year: 1874

III W SUOinAO W ic1 IdJO take YOU
from me as well? Do you not know
I love you, Eugenia ?" he said, with
rapid speech, "and can you think
shall ever abandon you-to what,
and to whom, my Godl-to the mis-
cradle boy l saw with you just now!"


"Mr. Goodlake," she said, "you
shall not speak thus to me Of


''Listen!" he said, interrupting
her, and speaking with his teeth set,
and look of fury on his face; '1ist-
en- to what I say. Unless you ratify
the promise you made to me here
unless you swear, before you leave
the spot you stand on, that you will
be mine, / will do this-before Heav-
en- l swear that 1 will not shrink
from it! 1 will walk strait to the
people yonder-I will


PROCLAIM YOUR SHAME OPENLY
before them ALL will say that of
you Which shall make every honest
woman shun you, and every man
you know despise you!''


"Oh, Mr.. Goodlake, spare mel"
said the girl, in extremity of dis
tress. "YOu could not say of me
what you know to be false!"


He saw the impression he had
made, and went on


'EDo not provoke me too farl 1
have told you that l was desper-
ate man. One thing alone will save
me-will save the man you pretend
to prefer to me, whom you promised
to love forever. One thing only will
save yourself. Choose-now, this
moment! or the time will have gone
by!" He sprang forward, and seiz-
ed her wrist.


"Eugenia! your fate is in your
own hands-my love or my hate!"
And he grasped both her hands with
such force that, partly from the
pain, partly from her sudden terror
and loathing of the mans touch. she
inVOluntarily gave a half cry. He
held her more and more tightly as
she struggled to free herself.


A rustic among the underwood
was heard, and, in moment, Lord
Vereker was standing between
them.


HIS HAND WAS ON GOoDLAKE's THROAT;
and before a word had been spoken
Lord Vereker had forced him back
ward against the tree, and held him
there in his Tightening grasp.


The bigger man struggled, but he
struggled Intellectually. A better
man than Stephen Goodlake, caught
in the doing of a mean action, and
called on to defend himself, is apt to
make but poor fight of it; and, not
withstanding his powerful frame
and good pluck, there was some
thing that paralyzed him in the very
face of his adversary; and that ad-
versary was not one that even such
an athlete as he could make light
of. Lord Vereker was not so big
man as Goodlake; though nearly as
tall, he was more slightly made;
there was not the same muscular de-
velOpment-but muscle Is an affair
of quality rather than quantity, as
connoisseurs in the matter well know.
In such a hand-to-hand struggle as
this, when two men are so fairly
matched, endurance goes for much;
and man does not get into the low,
drinking habits that Goodlake had
acquired, with impunity; nor, again,
does another hunt four days a week,
and spar, fence, and shoot the other
two, with no result to wind and
limb.


Goodlake made a hinge effort to
shake off his asSailant, but Lord Yer
eker's grip on his throat remained.
Goodlake struck out wildly with his
closed fists; but mau whose wind
pipe is compressed as in a steel vice
delivers no very formidable blow.
His face got black; he opened his
lips to curse, but the sound that
came from them was more like hor-
rible gurgle. For one moment he
seemed exhausted, and leaned his
back against the tree; and Lord Yer
eker used the opportunity to


TAKE STRONGER HOLD


with the left hand that had never
left his throat.


Then Goodlake summoned all his
remaining force for that supreme eff
fort which is made by every man
and every animal in struggle be-
tween life and death-an effort
which is partly a convulsion. The
two men swaYed together as one
body, straining limb against limb,
their teeth clenched, their brOws fur
rowed and lowering with the fury
of the fight. Then Goodlake's
strength and breath began TO fail;
he yielded inch by inch as his antag-
onist pushed him, by sheer excess Of
endurance and spirit, back again to
the tree. There ne held him, still
fighting and resisting, though all
but overcome. There Lord Vereker
held him a minute or two; then he
put in practice the old wrestling
back-fall, and his opponent fell sud
denly and heavily among the twist
ed roots of the great beech tree un-
der which the struggle had taken
place.


He made no effort to move, lying
there, breathing stentoriously with
the blood slowly oozing from mouth
and nose, and his arms out-stretched
helplessly. Lord Vereker looked
down at him curiously for a minute
or two; then he turned to see If any
one had witnessed the encounter.
The head keeper was there, who
touched his hat and smiled.


ssYoU'vE PRETTY WELL SETTLED HIM,
my LOrd!"


Il hope not" said Lord Vereker,
though the scoundrel deserved it.
Loosen his tie, William, and raise
his head"


The keeper knelt down by the
fallen man and performed the Offices
which his profession had taught him
how to render.


81 sent him through the wood with
my little boy" said Newall; sand
when the boy did not come back