Show efte astery ro d by E phillips oppenheim copyright by bj little brown co CHAPTER HI continued 20 ali I 1 when I 1 give I 1 give all slie she said boti do not understand tile the people of my race we cannot give in driblets drib lets a kiss here a caress there the pro pi online nilse of more tomorrow ool god never acer made russia I 1 like I 1 ke that when I 1 give it will viii be tile the full glory of love urine bring paul back to tile me and you may inny know what alint can menu mean gerald rose to his feet 1 I should go to my iny tusk task n stronger ninn finan lie he complained a little lili terly if you could throw me the dulo dole one might give ghe to a beggar site she gave gae him tier her linger finger I 1 tips I 1 ps she 11 e wits standing by his side so neat tint that the desire to hold her bet in tits his arms arins it nd take from her lips lip the one kiss lie craved was almost irresistible at ant moment he almost hated tier her IIi ent you even eveh tile lie grace to pre pie tend he muttered she laughed wringing hor her linger slightly BS as though ills lips had scared heared them you have been spoilt slie she murmured alie tile women you 1011 have hae pilly placed ed with have been tour nour too willing slaves A trine trifle of homage tion inge it a trifle of philandering a few fen shadowy caresses that Is all you have known of love walt I 1 gerald spent that afternoon afler noon lit in the city the next few days das lit in making rest lesa le ii preparations for ills ids absence from london on the afternoon of tit lie last ilay day he wits was permitted to see gee lle render ind and lie he recognized in lafin at once tile the ninn man whom lie he tin biad seen watching over oer madame de Ion lere arid and tier her niece ln in hyde II 11 de park the meeting took place lit in the sitting room of the lie south kensington hotel Rei lie isser usser who let leaned ined heavily upon two sticks was brought thither by a tit nil tits son who waited for him outside outride the door lie he wits was as thin as am a skeleton tits his cheeks were sunk n and every now and then his voice rued nned it to tile die away it Is n y first iny out of the hospital it os he told gerald apologetically 1 I caught cold on the lie way back and tall mv lungs are not good please pleas ask what ati questions alons you desire I 1 am subject to attacks attack of weakness 1 I understand gerald said that you reached sokar 1 I readied reached it lie he admitted hut bill mast alas I 1 was po powerless to act I 1 tool took with me every penny of money we could scrape together but hy hv the time I 1 ren reached clied the city I 1 was penni penniless Ies I 1 lodged at the lie bouse of it a saddler wit whose 0 P name you ion will find in the lie hook book I 1 have hae brhen rayen ton lie took pie ine to look at the afo fortress rf rear lie he showed me the lie room the brother of mademoiselle lies lie ile told tile me much about major kross kros nes tit aliu commandant of the lie fortress nut bill of what arvall was it we had not enough enrigh money between us its to pay for a bottle of w vine inc how to do yon propose pio pose gerald in quiren that I 1 can approach kross nos themay Th lic eway any Is arranged re plied piled enserly ene eniz erly there Ili pre Is a woman IN ing in the town half german half anglish Un glish tier her name Is easa francks today krossner krossnes Kross nes Is her slave you go TO first to tier her her address Is in the little hook honk you have she speaks eng g lish and french besides tier her own lan an guage even soine rome russian talk to tier her frankly she will bring you ion to Kro kronka noa there is one thing though J you oll must go 0 o Rs as an american no one will do dc anything to help you ou although they hey are nil all greedy for money if they think that you tire are english it it will be quite easy that there tire aie many Amer americana tenna in russia pro prospect ing there Is a great oil clelo on tile lie plains south of kreusinger Kreus iner some s iiii I 1 ly Is ol 01 there others deny denv it that Is how flow your our bribes in must list he worked you tou will buy property it will ill hp be worth nothing you will lint lint Kross krosnes ling lias land to sell so has elsa 1 I under annd gerald said you leave leae tomorrow at ten from kings king s cross verald gerald assented the rite boat leaves le ies tit at night raised his hir right hand tile the father of god GM G M speed vim lip said speed la is ery necos nry tile dip government lins lias kept lint voting lining mull mail nilve hillve hoping that botne iby lit lie would he be useful its as a bribe or it a ho tape stage hut bill there tire still many man fanatics in russa hitters of his race who would tear ear him blin ilium from limb litell it if the they know knew 1 I shall be in Petro petrograd grad id in it a fortnight gerald df blaed and lit at sokar I 1 hol hope e a few dis later filter ite isser etite anve more raised his hand find and muttered inaudible words bev cr c r r th eless though his strength dal arted lip tried to kneel wb ft lien n pan line came into the room slie she raised him film to tits bin feet and ailed i to ills bis sun oll all Is veil relf she suld said them take tahe care of your strength iteus iier you must be one of the first to 0 welco welcome lile hani athe bowed tits bis head anti and prayed atly then thea his hl on led him film anway eri orald ild also rose fl tits ills feet lie he lim had nerved himself hims elf for this llila interview 1 I have the pleasure 0 of wishing sit madame ta farewell rewel tie lie naked my aunt sends you lier her excuses anti her prayers pr arera pauline replied slie site Is 1 too ton agitated to risk n meeting ng you do not quite know L now what this means to us ua 1 I know berald what its it rt re dinits may mean to rne me she looked at t tilro film a little sadly adly my unhappy country sho sighed U w today wy only a furm furnace ikee of woe wo anil suffering yet et tit in the lie jumble of it there ire are a few millions still who would kneel through the night nud find pray for you lou if they knew knett your our inis lon ion I 1 bid you iou farewell gerald rind every throb of my body will live with ith you ou I 1 have sworn burn that no word ord of love line shall puss pass my lips nor any feeling of love loe linger in my heart so long as ni my brother lies in that fortress hut I 1 nin am licie I 1 arnild give ghe you ion anything that would auld speed speed you on oil your our J joanu eunit y it Is fur for you ou to choose slip she stood perfectly passive tier her arms hanging by tier lier sides her eyes looked sadly haid into tits ills tier lier lips were composed and still for a moment tile tires fires burned in ili tits blood lie ile took a lulek step she wilted unmoved Y rt t w without shrinking 4 so 0 they one e ti nother for it moment she extended ten I 1 it tier her it heind ind gerald seized it then dropped it 1 I shill do my best lie he od hoarsely Good goodby byl site she listened to ills departing footsteps she mile even een moved to the window watching film lea glenve c the lintel hotel and st step p into tits his waiting malting atto automobile mobIle ile he was MUS well vell enough to look ht at good looking as ever eer in fit tits his blim lithe way arid and etli tits ills tine carriage nevertheless there was ns neither love nor pride in ill tier lier eyes its as slie site watched hlin film there was something else which seemed to point back down doin the lie avenues of tile the bilk tory of tier her family something perhaps which holcli had sounded the knell of their doom generations genet athons before it was there lit in tier lier lips tier her eyes spelled out in tier her used fixed stare the cruelty of i t race ft whose hose heart Is glen given only to passion chapter IV gerald worn out with long and corn com footless foit fort less travel pulled the long iron bell outside the closed door of illan Fran franks eks house in sokar with a sense of relief that tile the first part of hla his quest was the street was one which formerly had been possessed of some pretensions the houses bouses were ere tall solidly hullt built and had ap if parent ly been occupied by it a wealthy class of merchants they were now mo let out mit in 4 all gerald rose to hlis his feet and bowed opposite where gerald stood sitting nn men und and women shrunken looking creat nies most of thein were continually pasing in and out or of a broad entrance from whish the gates gatea liml had hern been lone done away with altogether with sucks sticks or baskets of partly finished hoots tin ancl the sound or if fitful limn mering seemed to denote debott a factory de vold void of machinery lit in tin the renter center of if the rond were some rusty ralls nills arwind which some grass wits the lip of tin nn electric car service most of the houses seemed or overfull locked und battered with broken mildow frames and lii itter or converted convert pd I 1 anti inti n to houts hou ll llla t s the die lont long etcel full of holes and strewn with wilt till nil manner of I 1 refuse ended in it 11 1111 ay wily iy he heintl tt it tile the 0 so o called nl leJ it 11 st gruy or of ninny many st orles sKi rios glittered in I 1 the lie sifter after until au tun 1 I tim the I 1 loor it ir front 0 of which 4 bild vas stun sounding ding ans suddenly opened A dark 1 caged corpulent woi wo inin dressed ire apparently in ili nn liln but it anti shawl rut out tier lipitis lip itil 1 ier er aid handed tier her a curd card on in which through tin the friendly of the file hotel porter win was inscribed ills desire to tiec nee mad title francks tile bollian turned it over looked gerald up till und anti dona down n with wide mouthed astonish ment and finally motioned him tu to enter As soon us as lie hu had hille sr no and stepped luto into the lie little cobbled bourt yard slip she drew the lie bolt mid and til littered something lie understood RN ns un tin a to follow lier her site she pushed per 4 lipney door on mi the right nud they ascended a it a gloomy stid rense the atmosphere re wits wa rinse binse liuio l stifling there st it lo 10 lie he no window ni any menns nil tins of giving light or ventilation arrived on in the first floor I throw threw open the door of nf u room departed with will I 1 wholly holly grunt brunt outside she began to tc shout alpar enily through the door of another apartment there was waa is duet tile other voice shriller sh riller but scarcely scar rely more pleasant then there was silence followed by the sound of bime anine one about in the lie room gerald took ook a sent upon a conch ial bip bolstered in stained purple velvit rr which bev arai soiled coverings in u aut tation lace hail had ben been thrown ali room itself was largo large and lofty but bui scantily furnished there was a huge bug k undecorated stove in one corner which notwithstanding tile the heat beat of the tiny day already al giuly exuded turtles of burning coke the llie polished kolii hod floor door was innocent of tiny nn rug or pet and covered cohered with status stains and fragments of and cigars there was a 1 piano littered with soiled unit und torn coples copies of music in a distant corner it a am small ill phone with black enamel mouthpiece blistered by bi the continual heat of the room tile the walls were loing hung with the faded reni of sonic rome former fonner attempt ill at decoration tile the window li wert men covered with will a sort of alie i ire netting which kept wit out alike light anti and air there then was everywhere at an odor of state stale to bacco smoke mingled with a strange smell in 11 of cheap intense incense or rude crude per theof feime of willie some unit nort gerund gerlld exceedingly sensitive to surroundings felt a momentary inen fal as lit lie sit anti and waited for the woman whom horn i h he P had come to visit ile he began to fidget lit in tits lili place lie ile walked up ill and down ile he mas its even meditating tin an attak upon one of the window when lie ns aware of tile the ho bound unit of beavy liea footsteps foot steph outside tile door was opened A woman entered and vaine ime hlin him till an inquiring ex pre aln upon tier ler face it seemed to G arald that the new comer alone was needed to complete the lie squalor of his surroundings slie shee wits was it a big 11 woman oman coarsely hullt built and w with fill indications of obesity she wore a dressing rown gown of some soine red mitter material lal tri mined with soiled white fur and fastened round tier waist with a girdle e tier her hair was a bright yellow jellow aban dant but badly arranged arian ged it lay la in III loose tolls coils upon the top of her head bend fastened with some flamboyant naming ant ornament her features were not ill shaped but were partly concealed under tinder a thick coating of powder she had eyes ees of a light blue shade large and 1 ilke when she first entered the room but with a habit of nur narrowing rowIng nt at intervals she spoke in english with a strong man recent accent you to see ece me ine sir I 1 vm eini elsa francks gera gerald rose roe ro e to lili his feet and AIn madame daine he said bald 1 I have hae found foi ad tuy my way iere bere under the nume name of harmon I 1 cross I 1 haxe have told ev epo t ry one that I 1 am an american looking for an opportunity to invest money that story Is not true it Is my NO fh if you yea will allow tile me to ile be perfectly candid fill ion aou oli con in sit down site she invited incited re garding erald fill su not lot till nil mixed with favor faor 1 I will hear what oil liae have to say sav site she threw herself lier self in at the fir far end of tile sofa and pointed to a battered horsehair eusy eais chair bring lint to the lie side of me title she continued 1 I do not hear very ery well and it Is some time since I 1 listened to english tell tile me what you iou want 1 I have a further confession to malte mahe gerald began bean 1 I urn um an englishman lis hinan there aie englishmen and men sep sall sald indulgently some soine are different from ni you tire are not hot like ilke those choin out line have had to correct in the streets and cafes of berlin bow now what is your our business please it Is very ery milt to state gerald admitted frankly and I 1 am only emboldened to approach you i ou because becal lse in these difficult times and in russia ilus la eq 09 pec lall one needs money it if you sou will do tile me a service I 1 can find you ou a great deal of r rey ney ey garalos fie nilos methods hild harl at any rate succeeded it in exciting the interest of the woman lie he lind had come to visit her lips were parted tier her pale pes eyes were cre tilled filled with the light doht of cu there Is not much we ne would not do for conry nowadays over oer here she declared laug laughing bing hardly you are n very erv interesting min man oo go on maifair Inis nc is li IN it 11 friend of 1 ains wi ibid i iid ito ho lie ito the woman laughed so yon ion dabble in politics it h never mind Krois nes Is my friend eliut bill of it ile HP Is ill tin governor Roer nor of the fort resit here erald went on lie ile lias has it a great number of ii Miners tits lilt en ca rp re one hundred indred lii anti thirty seven edi elsa franek 4 replied promptly tl 1 I 1 pee ee oine of them exercising when 1 uni uin tit lit tit lie fortress forert at alint hill lie he keep them aliv I 1 f for r I 1 ell allot lanil gine 1 laii av Y iral ulmont the ilie yard ilk like lice IV klinl till about these prison prisoners erg moved tits chair a lit I 1 nearer rite woman smiled at ill lalni n graciously it if one of them thein should p e cupe capp lit he remarked there would lit be it krent grent deal of fit woney ti do you jiuu all a c rant deal of I 1 money 1 11 I do ito not hot virgain gain gerald replied 1 I 1 know alno epry ei ell that |