The Argosy, Vol. XXV, No. 1 — page 87: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

BY RIGHT OF SWORD. 87 eyes. ‘‘ And then I wonder how I can have been so blind as not to have seen all that lay hidden in you; all that was noble and brave and daring. But I love you, Alexis, twenty thousand times more than ever; and to have saved your life now is a thought of infinite sweetness to me.’’ I stared back asif she had stung me. , ‘*Do you mean you had anything to do with ’? I stopped, and she knew what I meant. She smiled, and in a voice exquisitely sweet and tender, though hateful to me, she answered : ‘‘ Your life is mine, Alexis! Do you think I would let that butcher from ot. Petersburg take it? Let him keep to his own shambles. Yes, I set the wires in motion, and I did not stop until the one man was utterly ruined and the other degraded in the eyes of all Russia. Your life is mine, Alexis’’— she seemed to revel in this hateful phrase—‘‘ and those who would strike at you must reckon with me as well. We are destined for each other, you and I; and we live or die together.’’ ‘“ You have done me a foul wrong, then,’’ I cried hotly. ‘‘ You have dis- graced me ; made me out for a braggart that provokes a fight and then shirks it by screening {myself behind the law. Do you suppose I thank you for that?’’ I spoke as sternlyasI felt. But she only smiled as she answered : “I did not think of your feelings. This man would have killed you. His hands are bloody to the armpits. Do you think I would let him find another victim in you when I could stop him and save you? Did you not reproach me when I did not interfere before, and tell me my love was cold? Would I suffer such a reproach again, think you? No, no. Your life is mine I repeat, and for the future I will protect it whether you will or no. That is how I love ; and so it shall be always. I have come now to warn you. Hush! What is that?’’ I listened and heard some one moving in the lobby of my rooms. ‘‘ It is Borlas returned,’’ I said, and opening the door called him. Getting no answer I called him again loudly ; and then my visitor whispered to me to come back. But I paid no heed to her, and went forward a few steps to go into my servant’s rooms. AsI did so, a desperate rush was made and three men, disguised, dashed at meviolently. They had gained an entrance somehow and were no doubt making their way to attack me in my room or were going to lay in wait for me, when my quick ears heard them and thus spoiled their plans. I was unarmed, and ina moment saw the foolishness of attempting to fight three men, probably armed, while I had not so much as a stick. Making a feint of an attack upon the nearest, therefore, I jumped aside and darted back into the room I had just left, closing the door instantly behind me, while my companion and I held it shut until I had secured it. Then I turned to her for an explanation. ‘‘“They are my husband’s agents,’’ she whispered. ‘‘ He suspects us, as you know ; and he arranged this attack, thinking that if you were killed, the act just at this juncture would be set down to Devinsky’s revenge. I came on purpose to warn you. If they catch me here now, we are both ruined beyond all hope.’’ CONNIEGLOOOLK (<@)