lare you would peril your very soul, fall into the heart of the
flames.' And drawing from her breast a roll of bills, she stretched them
out above the fire before which she was standing.

"'You -----' broke from the gray-bearded lips of the old man, but he
stopped where he was, eyeing those bills as if fascinated.

"'I am not a girl of many words, as you know,' continued she in a lofty
tone inexpressibly commanding. 'You may strangle me, you may kill me,
it matters little; but this gentleman leaves the house this night, or I
destroy the money with a gesture.'

"'You -----' again broke from those quivering lips, but the old man did
not move.

"Not so the younger. With a rush he left his post and in another instant
would have had his powerful arms about her slender form, only that I
met him half way with a blow that laid him on the floor at her feet.
She said nothing, but one of the bills immediately left her hand and
fluttered into the fire where it instantly shrivelled into nothing.

"With the yell of a mad beast wounded in his most vulnerable spot, the
old man before us stamped with his heel upon the floor.

"'Stop!' cried he; and going rapidly to the front door he opened it.
'There!' shrieked he, 'if you will be fools, go! and may the lightning
blast you. But first give me the money.'

"'Come from the door,' said she, reaching out her left hand for the
lantern hanging at the side of the fireplace, 'and let Karl light this
and keep himself out of the way.'

"It was all done. In less time than I can tell it, the old man had
stepped from the door, the younger one had lit the lantern and we were
in readiness to depart.

"'Now do you proceed,' said she to me, 'I will follow.'

"'No,' said I, 'we will go together.'

"'But the money?' growled the heavy voice of my host over my shoulder.

"'I will give it to you on my return,' said the girl."

CHAPTER XII. A WOMAN'S LOVE

"Shall I ever forget the blast of driving rain that struck our faces and
enveloped us in a cloud of wet, as the door swung on its hinges and let
us forth into the night; or the electric thrill that shot through me as
that slender girl grasped my hand and drew me away through the blinding
darkness. It was not that I was so much affected by her beauty as
influenced by her power and energy. The fury of the gale seemed to bend
to her will, the wind lend wings to her feet. I began to realize what
intellect was. Arrived at the roadside, she p