Show we have ae changed all that by herbert quick and ana elena mac mae Mii mabon ilion copyright by the bobbs dobbs merrill co service CHAPTER XII continued 21 but there was no encouragement in his face in response to her query there was disappointment in it and just a shade of the annoyance of a man who finds a conversation on mat of interest to him tl tuned ned off upon things which are an old old story some of the annoyance of the official who has heard beard petitions and requests all day long and ants to be rid of them I 1 no he said shortly 1 I I have no sews at all on that matter I 1 am sorry I 1 want to I 1 elp your brother because he be Is your brother I 1 hope it will turn out if I 1 save him that be Is a little like his sister he ile walked walled several times the length of the room while she waited for that which she thought I 1 e must be ing to say about ilya his tits words of compliment to her she had already forgotten he a as no thinking of ilya at all he was pondering on his own situa lion and hers on the new conditions of their live lives of the truth of the say ing that nobody may know what a day kiy bring forth of the precious ness of this hour and in his strange life of every hour of the necessity of doing in an hour what in other times might consume months or clars of the importance of cutting knots he halted before her and looked fooled down into her eyes lifted pleadingly to his and then he sat down by her side I 1 loved you from the first moment I 1 saw you said he eagerly I 1 this Is no time said she haug haughtily glattly no time he interrupted for waiting waltin to woo no time for wooing I 1 thought of that before I 1 spoke do you remember the story of the man in the french revolution the common fellow who was bound face to face to a lady of high birth and thrown together with her into the river though drowning he tell fell in love with her and thanked god for the great privilege I 1 am like that hven even in this maelstrom I 1 have fallen in love with you I 1 this said she this Is insanity sanity sir air you thought the other day 1 I dishonored you in my thoughts he supplied for her won wont t you par don me I 1 was misled by circum stances and appearances how could I 1 know I 1 should have known at the first glance but even when I 1 mis judged you I 1 loved iou ou and I 1 was angry the thing seemed so base and so beautiful I 1 would have taken you on any plane high or low until after you you repelled me that lifted you up in the I 1 shall always keep that sword among my treasures it made you known to me it if it if anything could only make me known to you youl I 1 was there a half sm ie le on musia 8 face at the remembrance her ex cit ement was mounting higher every moment you have conquered my heart my mind my admiration my love I 1 watched you as you went away with do not stay with heri herl I 1 cannot exist without you you are every thing I 1 there wis in his voice and manner those elements which move the hearer the heat of a powerful passion in his tones the vibration which sways the passions of others something that told of his feeling that he was staking much on this desperate appeal some thing very tender aad and winning in the dark face bent toward her in the half light she she lowered her eyes and with her fingers played with her dress like a schoolgirl receiving her first proposal even under udder all the circumstances such an avowal from such a man meant something to musia musts I 1 will do anything to win you be went on I 1 am capable of doing any thing to win you who am 17 I 1 you say I 1 am a commissar of the bol yes I 1 am just a russian of some mind and some power shaken out of the old life unsure of tomor row with no firm ground under my feet I 1 am russia I 1 I 1 am a man who has lived long among people who have lost the sense of what Is white what black what right what wrong I 1 am a soul on trial wandering in chaos and night so are you who Is not who Is not lost in this whirlpool stirred up by satan of the elements of hell bell kings today tomorrow dust I 1 wish I 1 had a little more time for making 5 joi 0 i love me mel I 1 silence tor for a long time it seemed to her a very very long time she had no idea what to do she bad for gotten her errand for a moment in this bizarre crisis in her own affairs lons loris started up and resumed his walk to and fro across the floor can you believe and trust me he asked he waited with his eyes fixed tenderly on her expressionless face I 1 can 3 ou not lov love e me a little she felt a sense of guilt as the thought of her brother brothers s peril for her errand swept back into her conscious ness and all at once this lovemaking this man making love to her became repugnant to her she felt as she had done when she took the sword in her hands and yet her mind told her that she ought to be friendly with loris to show trust in him for ilya ayas s sake and even for her own safety but she could find no words in which to reply she could not force herself to utter a syllable A physical d s ost for herself tor for this man with whom she bad had come to plead tor for her whole questionable position tools took possession of her he ile watched her questioningly and seemed to know what she felt tor for his expression changed anger flushed his face fac facette ethe abe anger of love denied and the cruelty of passion replaced the bind hind and gentle tenderness of a moment ago passions like his have filled the world with murders he deac reached bed the divan with a stride and seized her hand ah ali I 1 he said in a low hoarse tone tolle hia his hinds pressing hers until she winced you hate me mel I 1 she compressed herdale her pale lips but uttered no word of denial dental or protest her passiveness provoked him and he became the man of that former day who was this slip of a girl to treat with silence and contempt the wn before whom so many trembled love anger of love denied and the pride which in such natures as hie big blows such anger to flame com combined bloed L L L he watched her questioningly and seemed to know what she felt to render him half insane and wholly reckless and to see her sit thua thu impassive I 1 he threw himself upon the divan beside her took her in nig his arms pressed her passionately to his breast and kissed her with the brutality ot a cave man and then I 1 e was calmed by the fact that she did not resist with lips tightly closed she lay in hia his arms calm cold impassive hia HA storm of passion passed in a moment I 1 am a brute 1 he be whispered still holding the yielding form so small so slight in his arms I 1 went mad for fear of losing you I 1 love you youl I 1 let me try to make you understand how much I 1 love you and perhaps you can forgive mo me I 1 want to marry you and take you away with me only consent 1 we will leave all this tor for everi evert it was some comfort to him after ward that she lay in his arms all this time quite conscious if she would only speak I 1 it if she would only too look up into h s eyes I 1 of course you cannot trust me I 1 be went on still whispering in her ear but I 1 would give my life for you would give my life to take back the pain I 1 have given you musia did not move or protest ot of make reply I 1 want to help your brother he went on I 1 wanted to help him from frona the time of the first glimpse I 1 ever had of you darling but the pris boners are not und my control they are in the hands of the sailors and the sailors suspect me and spy upon me thomp on the outside think I 1 am all powerful pow pov erful but perhaps my days are numbered also but what do you caret care 1 W he ile paused for a gesture or a tremor of her body as a sign that she had heard but none came softly be tie placed her upon the divan and rising stood before her I 1 do not know he exclaimed despairingly how to make you believe I 1 she made an effort to rise but sank back from weakness he took her hand and raised her to her feet with no expression in her voice she said aid allow me to go obediently he be dropped her hand walked t tt tl e door and opened it for her he ile saw her going from his life for ever and the intolerable pain of the thought showed in his face seq she remembered it aft afterward emard never to see her again I 1 tt it seemed that unless h he could see her every hour it would be impossible to live and yet two hours would measure all the time he had ever passed in her presence I 1 love you said he once more stooping over her looking into her eyes asking beseeching solicitous not to lose one instant of this precious time As long as they will let me I 1 shall be waiting for you here every moment you will come will you she slipped past him and passed from the car without a word when morning broke loris was still sitting there on the divan TO BB BE DJ aa rf A |